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According to recent reports, Labour has raised alarm that the food, beverage and tobacco sector of the nations economy was on the verge ...





According to recent reports, Labour has raised alarm that the food, beverage and tobacco sector of the nations economy was on the verge of shutting down and that over three million jobs were at risk due to the inability of companies to source foreign exchange for raw material importation to facilitate operations.Already leading companies in the sector, such as Nigerian Flour Mills, NFM, Nigerian Breweries Limited, NBL, Guinness Plc, Nigerian Bottling Company, NBC, 7 UP Bottling Company Plc, Friesland Campina Wamco Plc, among others, have written to labour for discussions on retrenchment of workers.In the last three months, no fewer than 1, 500 workers have been sacked in the sector as employers seek ways of coping with foreign exchange crisis, among others.At a briefing in Lagos, leaders of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, FOBTOB, called on government to intervene to save the industry and over three million jobs.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has unveiled a portal for the recruitment of the 10,000 Police officers as directed by President Muha...

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has unveiled a portal for the recruitment of the 10,000 Police officers as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.At the National Security Summit last year, President Buhari ordered that the Nigeria Police Force recruit more men to boost the internal security of the country.The Chairman of the Commission, Mike Okiro who unveiled the portal noted that the portal will be opened to the public on the 1st of April.This was contained in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday by the Head of Press and Public Relations Unit o, Ikechukwu Ani.The Commission also noted that the process which will be online will be free for all intending officers.Dr. Okiro who noted that there has not been recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force for more than five years due to financial constraint added that thousands of policemen who died in the course of service, dismissed or retired had not been replaced since the last five years leaving the Force under manned and over stretched.According to the statement: the recruitment would strengthen and re-energize the Force to face more squarely, the myriad of security challenges posed by insurgency, kidnapping, cattle rustling and other criminalities that impede the socio-economic and political development of the country.Interested Nigerians have been asked to access the portal through the Commissions website or that of the Nigeria Police Force, here.On whether a fee would be paid for the forms, Okiro said: We are not charging money, it is free, absolutely free and the portal has been structured in a way that there will be no short cut, so everybody must go through due process.The statement adds: The Commission will be recruiting candidates into the three entry points of the Nigeria Police Force which are Constable, Cadet Inspector and Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). There will also be recruitment into the Specialist cadre.For Police Constables, applicants are expected to posses five credit level passes including Mathematics and English Language at Senior School Certificate Examination in not more than two sittings and for Cadet Inspectors, in addition to having the requirements of Police Constables, candidates would be expected to have either an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Advanced Level (A level), National Certificate of Education (NCE) or their equivalents.Candidates for Cadet ASPs must possess a University degree or a Higher National Diploma (HND).
The National Youth Service Corps will review the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the Independent National Electoral Commission...

The National Youth Service Corps will review the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure better protection of corps members during elections.The NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi, made the statement on Tuesday in Abuja when the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, paid a condolence visit to him over the death of Okonta Samuel, a corps member who was killed by gunmen during the Rivers State re-run elections on Saturday.Olawumi said the NYSC had set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the killing.He added that the findings of the panel would determine the need for the review of the MoU between both organisations.Olawumi pledged that the NYSC would do all it could to ensure that those who killed Samuel were caught and made to face the law.He criticised the failure of the government and community leaders in the state to protect the deceased, who was killed in the same community where he was posted to serve.
The Taraba Police Command has confirmed the arrest of two wanted Boko Haram commanders in the state.

The Taraba Police Command has confirmed the arrest of two wanted Boko Haram commanders in the state.One of the commanders, Ali Audu was arrested in Tella, Gassol LGA while the other Abdulmumini Abdullahi was nabbed in Bali LGA.The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Shaba Alkali, made the announcement on Wednesday in Jalingo at a press conference.He said that the two men had been handed over to the military in Yobe.We have arrested two confirmed Boko Haram commanders in Gassol and Bali local government areas of the state.The command have since handed over the two kingpins, Ali Audu, alias Dungu and Abdulmumini Abdullahi from Yadi Burni in Yobe to the military base in Yobe, he said.Alkali said that Audu was arrested on Feb. 22 in Tella and transferred to Yobe on the 23, while Abdullahi was arrested in Bali on March 5 and transferred to Yobe military base on March 7.The CP also confirmed the death of seven persons in the ongoing communal crisis in Ibi Local government area of the state.He vowed to deal with the perpetrators including their sponsors no matter how highly placed they might be.He said the command had already deployed enough men to contain the situation and restore normalcy to the area.Alkali appealed to the public to feel free to provide the command with timely information to enable it tackle crime in the state.
Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers said on Wednesday that the state government would immortalise Mr Samuel Okonta, the Corps member who died durin...

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers said on Wednesday that the state government would immortalise Mr Samuel Okonta, the Corps member who died during the March 19 re-run legislative election in the state. Wike disclosed this in Port Harcourt during a condolence visit to the state secretariat of the National Youth Service Corps.The governor said the state government would provide assistance to the police to investigate the killing and identify those responsible.Wike announced an increment in the monthly allowance of Corps members serving outside Port Harcourt from N10,000 to N15,000. He also said allowance of Corps members serving in Port Harcourt had been increased from N5,000 to N10,000. The governor said it was sad that the Corps member died serving the nation, saying that the state government would take care of his family.Wike said that the death was more painful because the Corps member was an orphan who suffered to graduate and was on the verge of being of help to his immediate family. The death of this Corps member is unfortunate and condemnable.I urge the Police to thoroughly investigate the crime. The outcome of the investigation should be made public so that those involved are prosecuted. The killing of this corps member must not be swept under the carpet, he said.The State Coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs Ngozi Nwatarali, commended the governor for commiserating with them at the moment of grief. She called for greater protection for corps members during elections. Mr Alex Edeabeatu, a member of the family of the late corps member, thanked the governor for his gesture. He said that the late corps member was a shining light for the family.
-- The sanctuary of the nearly 150-year-old First Presbyterian Church was

days before Easter Sunday and an outpouring of support has formed for the congregation from across the area.

"At this time, we are taking things one step at a time," a message from the church said Wednesday. "The first step is to determine where we will worship for Easter. The church is people, not buildings."

Support and offers of help started arriving even as the building was still burning late Tuesday night.

"I saw the devastation last night. I'm so sorry. Our church (Totowa United Methodist) burned down to the ground in the '60's so many of our parishioner will feel your pain. If there is anything we can do, let me know and I'll pass the word along," a Facebook message from Patricia Gibbons said.

"Ebenezer Baptist Church of Englewood is praying for the First Presbyterian Church of Englewood," a message on the church Facebook page said. "In addition to prayer, if there is anything we can do to help, please let us know."

Other offers of support came from The United Methodist Church in Demarest, the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, synagogues and others in North Jersey.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Arson Squad was involved in investigating the blaze because of the extensive damage, agency spokeswoman Maureen Parenta said.

"No decision about the cause of the fire has been made as yet," the spokeswoman said.

The Tuesday night blaze sent flames and smoke shooting through the roof of the historic East Palisade Avenue building. Fire officials responded to the blaze around 8 p.m. and it appeared to spread quickly. Emergency crews from around Bergen County responded and worked at the scene into Wednesday morning.

The Rev. Richard Hong, of the First Presbyterian Church, told NJ Advance Media that no one was believed to be inside the building when the fire sparked. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

"We covet the prayers and well-wishes of our neighbors," Hong said Tuesday at the fire scene.

The congregation was formed in 1860 and the church building dates from 1870, according to its website. It was the first Presbyterian congregation in the county.

Church officials were providing updates on services at englewoodpres.org and the congregation's Facebook page.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
WYCKOFF - Police Chief Benjamin Fox agreed Tuesday to temporarily step down with pay as the township's top cop as the N.J. Attorney General investigates an ACLU complaint that he condones racial profiling, according to Township Administrator Bob Shannon.

Chief Ben Fox of the Wyckoff Police Department

The complaint stems from a 2014 email the chief allegedly sent to his officers urging them to watch out for "suspicious black people in white neighborhoods."

The Wyckoff Township Committee met Tuesday night in an emergency session to address the issue.

Fox, who was at the meeting, agreed to go on immediate administrative leave until the investigation is over.

The chief said he wants to meet with investigators to "explain the contents of his email and demonstrate that neither he nor our police department has ever condoned or engaged in profiling," according to a report in The Record.

In the Dec. 2104 email, Fox stated he was concerned that misguided complaints about police would cause officers to react slowly in threatening situations.

"Profiling, racial or otherwise, has its place in law enforcement when used correctly and applied fairly," states the email, which was released Tuesday by the ACLU-NJ.

"Black gang members from Teaneck commit burglaries in Wyckoff," the email states. "That's why we check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods."

In a joint statement Tuesday morning, Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy and Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal said they were aware of the email and were investigating.

State and national leaders have condemned the police chief for his alleged remarks.

"It is unfathomable for a police administrator to set a tone which perpetuates unlawful conduct, such as racial profiling by police officers under his command," Antonio Hernandez, who heads the National Coalition of Latino Officers, stated in an email to NJ Advance Media Tuesday night.

Anthony Cureton, head of the Bergen County NAACP, called for disciplinary action against Fox.

"Using profiling as a justification to combat crime in law enforcement encourages bias policing and is insulting to the all officers that do the job with true intentions of serving and protecting all people," Cureton said in a statement.

Chief Fox has not returned several calls seeking comment.

Wyckoff Mayor Kevin Rooney has also been unavailable to comment.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CAMDEN -- As Tim Gallagher watched a handful of Camden County police officers hand over 10 plastic bags bursting with bright-patterned fleece blankets to Cooper University Hospital staff Wednesday afternoon, he took it as a good sign.

Not just because of where the blankets are going -- to bring comfort to children trying to heal in the hospital's pediatric unit -- but where they're coming from.

Each of the dozens of blankets were assembled, knot by knot, by Camden youth in the midst of a different kind of recovery -- an effort to live a life outside of the city's prolific crime.

Gallagher, assistant director of the CASA Youth Development Program at Guadalupe Family Services in the city, said the process of making the blankets and the change of perspective it brings about in the kids and teens as part of the Camden County Police Department's Project Guardian show they're making progress.

"There are not many programs like this in other cities," he said. "It's huge... This is how you're going to see change in the city."

The Project Guardian initiative identifies youth in the city who show signs of involvement with criminal activity -- anything from breaking curfew to being a full-fledged gang member can draw an invite -- and brings them in for an intervention where they meet with counselors, social workers, police officers and city residents who have escaped a life of crime.

The blankets are constructed during group discussions, and serve as not just a way to ground and focus the teens as they talk, but provide an avenue to break down the walls they build up around themselves to survive in the city.

"That interpersonal connection is what's lacking when they're being violent," said Gallagher, who admitted he was worried crafting wasn't going to go over too well with the teens. "These are hard kids."

But it did work, he said, and they took to it quick. He knew they were really getting through, however, when one teen who had been stoic and shut down during the first intervention program came to the second one, eager to get to work and open up.

He went one step further and pressed the facilitators about how the blankets were getting to the children, even asking if he could do the honors himself.

"Something changed in him," said Gallagher.

The teen couldn't be in Cooper's lobby Wednesday afternoon to see the donation in person, he had a test and couldn't miss class, but it likely won't be the last time the project sends over the products of its work.

Deputy Chief Joe Wysocki said the initiative is an integral part of the department's overall community policing efforts and another way for them to intervene with the city's youth in a proactive, encouraging interaction before they end up in the system.

"We can't arrest ourselves out of the problems in this city," said Wysocki. "We need to change the culture, and we do that one kid at a time."

Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
Two New Jersey congressmen want federal funding to be used to test schools' drinking water after elevated lead levels were detected in water at the state's largest district.

U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Donald M. Payne, Jr. introduced separate legislation Wednesday that would provide support for water testing in schools across the country.

"All Americans, and especially kids in our schools and childcare facilities, deserve access to clean water," Pascrell Jr. said. "Our job is to make it easier for the facilities to conduct needed testing by providing funding sources."

Pascrell's proposal, a companion to a bill being authored by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, would create a $100 million grant program for schools and childcare centers that want to test their water.

Payne's plan calls for updating federal law to require that states that receive certain funding for water programs help school districts and charter schools test for lead in their water. Schools that participate would be required to test their water either annually or bi-annually depending on how old the building is.

"As a parent, I want to know that my children are drinking lead-free water, and I want other families to know that about their own children, too," Payne said.

Elevated levels of lead were found recently in the drinking water at 30 buildings in Newark Public Schools, forcing those schools to use alternate water sources.

Gov. Chris Christie and city officials have urged caution. The lead levels were "nowhere near crisis or dangerous levels," Christie said.

But environmentalists said the tests in Newark's schools should serve as a "wake-up call" to a growing public health issue, and the contaminated water has heightened concerns about the safety of drinking water in schools.

The calls for federal funding come as state lawmakers are also pushing for school water testing. A bill proposed by high-ranking state senators would provide $3 million to fund tests in New Jersey schools.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Capping a legal odyssey that began in 2010 with a bankruptcy petition, "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Joe Giudice reported to the low-security Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix Wednesday at noon to begin his 41-month prison sentence for bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Giudice's wife and "RHONJ" icon Teresa, who served nearly a year in federal prison for her role in their schemes, was with him when he reported, along with Giudice's brother, sister and other family members, his lawyer James Leonard tells NJ.com.

"It was obviously a very emotional day, but this is a very strong family with a tremendous support system and they will get through this, as they did when Teresa was away," he says.

Giudice will likely serve less than the 41 months because of federal "good time" laws, but faces deportation to his native Italy once he completes his sentence. An immigration law expert told NJ.com that Giudice would probably face mandatory detention while he awaits his immigration trial.

Prosecutors alleged a long-running conspiracy dated to 2001, well before their reality show fame, to fake W-2s and other documents to receive millions in mortgages and construction loans, and that the couple hid assets and income when they filed for bankruptcy in 2010. A year later, Giudice pleaded the Fifth Amendment when questioned about the bankruptcy filing, and agreed to an order denying bankruptcy discharge.

In 2013, the U.S. Attorney's Office obtained a 41-count indictment against the couple, and though the Giudices vowed to fight the charges -- "We're good people," Teresa claimed at the time, "I don't understand why this is happening to us" -- they cut a plea deal in 2014.

TV HANGOVER SHOW: Ep. 27: Could it have gotten any stranger than Fox's 'The Passion'?

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, SoundCloud or Spreaker.

U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas sentenced them to consecutive terms, so one parent would be home with their four daughters, aged 14 to 6.

Giudice was also sentenced to 12 months for failing to file his tax returns in 2004, but that will be served concurrently with the 41 months for fraud.

Bravo has already been taping the Giudices for the upcoming seventh season of the show, which returns later this year. The couple has paid the court-ordered $414,588 restitution to Wells Fargo that was part of their plea deal, and though they were able to rescue their Montville Township mansion from foreclosure last year, they still face a $551,563 lien from the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid taxes, and they still owe creditors from their failed bankruptcy.

The couple hosted a party at Riverdale's Blu Alehouse on Monday night for their family and friends, and Teresa Giudice posted some photos of Giudice and his daughters on Instagram:

Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy or like her on Facebook. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook, and check out TV Hangover, the podcast from Vicki Hyman and co-host Erin Medley on iTunes, Stitcher or listen here.
An artist's rendering of Premier nightclub at Borgata in Atlantic City.

(BORGATA)

Premier, Borgata's new $14 million nightclub, will open April 8 with a four-day celebration, the resort said in a statement.



The nightclub's opening will feature performances by Morgan Page on April 8, Michael Woods on April 9, Jesse Marco on April 10 and Chuckie on April 11.



Premier will be open Fridays-Sundays with special Monday night parties every week.



Joe Lupo, senior VP of Operations for Borgata says that Premier will be a nightclub like no other. "Designed to rival the top clubs in Las Vegas, Miami, and New York, Premier will elevate Borgata's unique brand of nightlife by welcoming guests into a transformative party experience where clubbing is theatre," he said.

Nightlife impresario Josh Held has designed a club that was conceived to be unlike anything in Atlantic City. Located in the space occupied by MIXX and murmur, the 18-000-square-foot venue features two 35-foot-long bars with carved-stone faces and pierced-metal and mirrored back bars. There will also be tiered booths focused on the deejay booth, stage, and digital proscenium.



A gigantic staircase with hand-welded bronze takes guests upstairs to a horseshoe-shaped mezzanine as a six-foot disco ball and 25-foot-diameter chandelier hang overhead.



The new hot spot is just a first wave of exciting changes coming to the marina casino.



Earlier this year, Borgata announced plans for a 50,000 square-foot outdoor pool complex that includes a 3,200 square-foot swimming pool along with food and beverage concessions, cabanas, pool deck and a DJ booth. The resort is expecting that to be ready for summer.

Anthony Venutolo may be reached at avenutolo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyVenutolo and Google+. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Rhonda and Candra Johnson.png

Rhonda and Candra Johnson of Paulsboro are charged with multiple narcotics offenses following a raid on their Washington Street home. (Photos provided)

(Salem County Jail )

PAULSBORO -- Crack cocaine, heroin and cash was seized and two borough residents were arrested after a search warrant was executed at a West Washington Street home, according to police.

The house and its residents had been the subject of a months-long investigation into illegal drug distribution and the search warrant was executed around noon Tuesday.

Rhonda Johnson, 47, was arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine, heroin and possession with intent to distribute. There were 55 bags of crack cocaine and 69 bags of heroin confiscated, Paulsboro police said.

Candra Johnson, 32, was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers from West Deptford's detective unit assisted in the search.

Rebecca Forand may be reached at rforand@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @RebeccaForand. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
WEST DEPTFORD TWP. -- Police are looking for two men and a woman who robbed a BB&T bank branch at gunpoint this morning.

The trio entered the bank, located at Kings Highway and Parkville Road, shortly after 11 a.m., according to West Deptford Police Chief Sam DiSimone.

They brandished handguns and ordered the employees into a room where the bank vault was located. The vault was opened and an undisclosed amount of money was taken.

Three employees were in the bank at the time and a lone customer entered while the robbery was already in progress, but no one was injured, DiSimone said.

The bandits fled on Kings Highway in a champagne-colored 2006 Chevy Equinox.

The woman is described as black, 5 feet 5 inches tall, in her late 20s to early 30s. She wore a black or blue face covering and carried a gold or yellow handbag. Her weapon was a silver revolver with a wood handle, police said.

One of the men is described as black, 6 feet tall, thin build and in his early 20s. He carried as handbag and wore a dark-colored face covering.

The other man is described as black, 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches tall, with a muscular build and in his early 20s. He wore a gray sweatshirt, black face covering and a black dress, police said.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
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WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP -- Just 24 hours after undergoing major surgery to remove her front left leg and shoulder, Raina was ready to go home.

The sweet, slightly shy female pit bull was discharged from the Saint Francis Veterinary Center of South Jersey on Tuesday afternoon, just four days after she was shot by Philadelphia police in pursuit of her fugitive former owner, necessitating the amputation.

Raina, who is likely between 18-months to two-years-old, is only headed to her temporary foster home for the time being, but her rescuers are hoping to find a full-time family for her, as well as raise funds to help with her recovery via a YouCaring page.

"She is sweet as can be," said Mark Peters, founder of the Don't Bully Us rescue which swooped in to save Raina after she ended up at the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia.

Raina was one of three pit bulls at the home of 23-year-old Matthew Harvey on Friday morning when police showed up to serve Harvey a warrant for missing a court date. According to a report on Philly.com, Harvey was due in court to face charges he violated a three-year probation handed down after Harvey was arrested on drug charges in 2014.

When police arrived, Harvey allegedly fled out of the back door of the home wearing only his underwear, and left the door open to allow his dogs to run inside toward police. A police spokeswoman told the news outlet one of the three dogs charged at police, and one officer fired three shots. One of the shots struck Raina's front leg, and came with such force her elbow joint was completely shattered.

Peters and veterinary hospital employees said Raina shows no signs of aggression at all, and is a timid, young dog who appears to have recently given birth to her first litter of puppies.

Peters said he's not concerned about how Raina ended up in the rescue's care, however, he's just focused on getting her healed up and into a good home.

"That's not important to us, what transpired, what's important to us is taking care of her and making sure she has a good life," said Peters.

Because of the extensive damage done to her bones, either internal or external orthopedic implants weren't an option, but Raina didn't' seem to mind. She walked through the lobby of St. Francis on three legs and out into the sunny afternoon, and while slightly unstable, got along fine.

"She doesn't seem to notice too much," said Nick Bunting, an emergency technician at the hospital who Raina took to quickly. "She's doing extremely well."

Once her surgery wounds are healed, Raina's doctors don't anticipate she'll have any lasting health issues stemming from her injury, or having a problem socializing with a new family.

She had only met Peters once before he picked her up on Tuesday, but she had no problem cuddling up in his lap outside the veterinary hospital before they got the ball rolling on starting her new life.

"For her to be able to relax like this is great," said Peters. "She's a wonderful girl."

Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
GLASSBORO  Rowan University trustees gave final approval for the sale of 100 acres of land to Inspira Health Network for construction of a new hospital, officials announced Tuesday, and Inspira will pay more than originally planned.

Trustees met in a special session to sign off on the plan to sell the land for $11.5 million, which is $2 million more than the original sale price announced in January.

The board gave its conditional approval to the plan in February after tabling the sale resolution in January following concerns expressed by Kennedy Health CEO Joseph Devine.

Devine argued that a new Inspira hospital in the proposed location, at Routes 55 and 322 in Harrison Township, would oversaturate the health care market in the area. Kennedy operates its Washington Township hospital just six miles away.

Trustees made two amendments to the original resolution when it granted approval in February, one requiring that the sale price of the land be based on its appraised value, not the set figure of $9.5 million included in the original resolution. The second amendment required that the board gets a final look at the negotiated deal before it's finalized.

With the agreement approved Tuesday, Inspira will pay the appraised value of the land, but $1 million of that figure will be set aside in an endowment to defray costs associated with setting up internship opportunities for Rowan undergrads interning with Inspira, university officials announced.

The land sale is expected to close on May 6.

Closing is conditioned on Rowan and Inspira developing a five-year affiliation agreement with opportunities for one-year renewals.

A second condition of closing is adoption of a repurchase agreement. Under the agreement, if construction has not begun within four years, or if Inspira's certificate of need application with the state is denied, the property would be repurchased at the original price.

Inspira planned to submit its certificate of need application to the state this month. The review and approval process could take a year.

Inspira wants to build a 172-bed hospital with an estimated price tag of $310 million. The 350,000-square-foot facility is projected to provide jobs for 1,400, including full- and part-time positions.

Inspira CEO John DiAngelo thanked Rowan for its support of Inspira's plans and spoke about the future relationship between the two entities.

"Working with Rowan will give us the opportunity to offer a variety of undergraduate student internships, provide student placements for Rowan's two growing medical schools, and develop educational opportunities in health care management, information systems, bio-medical engineering, nursing and allied health," DiAngelo said in a statement.

Kennedy's Devine said previously that he hasn't ruled out legal action to stop the development of a new hospital at the proposed location.

Kennedy officials had no comment on today's action when contacted this evening.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
Dario Fo Nobel Lecture

English Italian Swedish

Nobel Lecture, December 7, 1997

Contra Jogulatores Obloquentes

Against Jesters Who Defame and Insult

Against jesters who defame and insult. Law issued by Emperor Frederick II (Messina 1221), declaring that anyone may commit violence against jesters without incurring

The drawings Im showing you are mine. Copies of these, slightly reduced in size, have been distributed among you.

For some time its been my habit to use images when preparing a speech: rather than write it down, I illustrate it. This allows me to improvise, to exercise my imagination  and to oblige you to use yours.

As I proceed, I will from time to time indicate to you where we are in the manuscript. That way you wont lose the thread. This will be of help especially to those of you who dont understand either Italian or Swedish. English-speakers will have a tremendous advantage over the rest because they will imagine things Ive neither said nor thought. There is of course the problem of the two laughters: those who understand Italian will laugh immediately, those who dont will have to wait for Anna [Barsotti]s Swedish translation. And then there are those of you who wont know whether to laugh the first time or the second. Anyway, lets get started.

Ladies and gentlemen, the title Ive selected for this little chat is contra jogulatores obloquentes, which you all recognize as Latin, mediaeval Latin to be precise. Its the title of a law issued in Sicily in 1221 by Emperor Frederick II of Swabia, an emperor anointed by God, who we were taught in school to regard a sovereign of extraordinary enlightenment, a liberal. Jogulatores obloquentes means jesters who defame and insult. The law in question allowed any and all citizens to insult jesters, to beat them and even  if they were in that mood  to kill them, without running any risk of being brought to trial and condemned. I hasten to assure you that this law no longer is in vigour, so I can safely continue.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends of mine, noted men of letters, have in various radio and television interviews declared: The highest prize should no doubt be awarded to the members of the Swedish Academy, for having had the courage this year to award the Nobel Prize to a jester. I agree. Yours is an act of courage that borders on provocation.

Its enough to take stock of the uproar it has caused: sublime poets and writers who normally occupy the loftiest of spheres, and who rarely take interest in those who live and toil on humbler planes, are suddenly bowled over by some kind of whirlwind.

Like I said, I applaud and concur with my friends.

These poets had already ascended to the Parnassian heights when you, through your insolence, sent them toppling to earth, where they fell face and belly down in the mire of normality.

Insults and abuse are hurled at the Swedish Academy, at its members and their relatives back to the seventh generation. The wildest of them clamour: Down with the King  of Norway!. It appears they got the dynasty wrong in the confusion.

(At this point you may turn the page. As you see there is an image of a naked poet bowled over by a whirlwind.)

Some landed pretty hard on their nether parts. There were reports of poets and writers whose nerves and livers suffered terribly. For a few days thereafter there was not a pharmacy in Italy that could muster up a single tranquillizer.

But, dear members of the Academy, lets admit it, this time youve overdone it. I mean come on, first you give the prize to a black man, then to a Jewish writer. Now you give it to a clown. What gives? As they say in Naples: pazziamme? Have we lost our senses?

Also the higher clergy have suffered their moments of madness. Sundry potentates  great electors of the Pope, bishops, cardinals and prelates of Opus Dei  have all gone through the ceiling, to the point that theyve even petitioned for the reinstatement of the law that allowed jesters to be burned at the stake. Over a slow fire.

On the other hand I can tell you there is an extraordinary number of people who rejoice with me over your choice. And so I bring you the most festive thanks, in the name of a multitude of mummers, jesters, clowns, tumblers and storytellers.

(This is where we are now [indicates a page].)

And speaking of storytellers, I mustnt forget those of the small town on Lago Maggiore where I was born and raised, a town with a rich oral tradition.

They were the old storytellers, the master glass-blowers who taught me and other children the craftsmanship, the art, of spinning fantastic yarns. We would listen to them, bursting with laughter  laughter that would stick in our throats as the tragic allusion that surmounted each sarcasm would dawn on us. To this day I keep fresh in my mind the story of the Rock of Calde.

Many years ago, began the old glass-blower, way up on the crest of that steep cliff that rises from the lake there was a town called Calde. As it happened, this town was sitting on a loose splinter of rock that slowly, day by day, was sliding down towards the precipice. It was a splendid little town, with a campanile, a fortified tower at the very peak and a cluster of houses, one after the other. Its a town that once was and that now is gone. It disappeared in the 15th century.

Hey, shouted the peasants and fishermen down in the valley below. Youre sliding, youll fall down from there.

But the cliff dwellers wouldnt listen to them, they even laughed and made fun of them: You think youre pretty smart, trying to scare us into running away from our houses and our land so you can grab them instead. But were not that stupid.

So they continued to prune their vines, sow their fields, marry and make love. They went to mass. They felt the rock slide under their houses but they didnt think much about it. Just the rock settling. Quite normal, they said, reassuring each other.

The great splinter of rock was about to sink into the lake. Watch out, youve got water up to your ankles, shouted the people along the shore. Nonsense, thats just drainage water from the fountains, its just a bit humid, said the people of the town, and so, slowly but surely, the whole town was swallowed by the lake.

Gurgle  gurgle  splash  they sink . houses, men, women, two horses, three donkeys  heehaw  gurgle. Undaunted, the priest continued to receive the confession of a nun: Te absolvi  animus  santi  guurgle  Aame  gurgle  The tower disappeared, the campanile sank with bells and all: Dong  ding  dop  plock 

Even today, continued the old glass-blower, if you look down into the water from that outcrop that still juts out from the lake, and if in that same moment a thunderstorm breaks out, and the lightning illuminates the bottom of the lake, you can still see  incredible as it may seem!  the submerged town, with its streets still intact and even the inhabitants themselves, walking around and glibly repeating to themselves: Nothing has happened. The fish swim back and forth before their eyes, even into their ears. But they just brush them off: Nothing to worry about. Its just some kind of fish thats learned to swim in the air.

Atchoo! God bless you! Thank you  its a bit humid today  more than yesterday  but everythings fine. Theyve reached rock bottom, but as far as theyre concerned, nothing has happened at all.

Disturbing though it may be, theres no denying that a tale like this still has something to tell us.

I repeat, I owe much to these master glass-blowers of mine, and they  I assure you  are immensely grateful to you, members of this Academy, for rewarding one of their disciples.

And they express their gratitude with explosive exuberance. In my home town, people swear that on the night the news arrived that one of their own storytellers was to be awarded the Nobel Prize, a kiln that had been standing cold for some fifty years suddenly erupted in a broadside of flames, spraying high into the air  like a fireworks finale  a myriad splinters of coloured glass, which then showered down on the surface of the lake, releasing an impressive cloud of steam.

(While you applaud, Ill have a drink of water. [Turning to the interpreter:] Would you like some?

Its important that you talk among yourselves while we drink, because if you try to hear the gurgle gurgle gurgle the water makes as we swallow well choke on it and start coughing. So instead you can exchange niceties like Oh, what a lovely evening it is, isnt it?.

End of intermission: we turn to a new page, but dont worry, itll go faster from here.)

Above all others, this evening youre due the loud and solemn thanks of an extraordinary master of the stage, little-known not only to you and to people in France, Norway, Finland  but also to the people of Italy. Yet he was, until Shakespeare, doubtless the greatest playwright of renaissance Europe. Im referring to Ruzzante Beolco, my greatest master along with Moliere: both actors-playwrights, both mocked by the leading men of letters of their times. Above all, they were despised for bringing onto the stage the everyday life, joys and desperation of the common people; the hypocrisy and the arrogance of the high and mighty; and the incessant injustice. And their major, unforgivable fault was this: in telling these things, they made people laugh. Laughter does not please the mighty.

Ruzzante, the true father of the Commedia dellArte, also constructed a language of his own, a language of and for the theatre, based on a variety of tongues: the dialects of the Po Valley, expressions in Latin, Spanish, even German, all mixed with onomatopoeic sounds of his own invention. It is from him, from Beolco Ruzzante, that Ive learned to free myself from conventional literary writing and to express myself with words that you can chew, with unusual sounds, with various techniques of rhythm and breathing, even with the rambling nonsense-speech of the grammelot.

Allow me to dedicate a part of this prestigious prize to Ruzzante.

A few days ago, a young actor of great talent said to me: Maestro, you should try to project your energy, your enthusiasm, to young people. You have to give them this charge of yours. You have to share your professional knowledge and experience with them. Franca  thats my wife  and I looked at each other and said: Hes right. But when we teach others our art, and share this charge of fantasy, what end will it serve? Where will it lead?

In the past couple of months, Franca and I have visited a number of university campuses to hold workshops and seminars before young audiences. It has been surprising  not to say disturbing  to discover their ignorance about the times we live in. We told them about the proceedings now in course in Turkey against the accused culprits of the massacre in Sivas. Thirty-seven of the countrys foremost democratic intellectuals, meeting in the Anatolian town to celebrate the memory of a famous mediaeval jester of the Ottoman period, were burned alive in the dark of the night, trapped inside their hotel. The fire was the handiwork of a group of fanatical fundamentalists that enjoyed protection from elements within the Government itself. In one night, thirty-seven of the countrys most celebrated artists, writers, directors, actors and Kurdish dancers were erased from this Earth.

In one blow these fanatics destroyed some of the most important exponents of Turkish culture.

Thousands of students listened to us. The looks in their faces spoke of their astonishment and incredulity. They had never heard of the massacre. But what impressed me the most is that not even the teachers and professors present had heard of it. There Turkey is, on the Mediterranean, practically in front of us, insisting on joining the European Community, yet no one had heard of the massacre. Salvini, a noted Italian democrat, was right on the mark when he observed: The widespread ignorance of events is the main buttress of injustice. But this absent-mindedness on the part of the young has been conferred upon them by those who are charged to educate and inform them: among the absent-minded and uninformed, school teachers and other educators deserve first mention.

Young people easily succumb to the bombardment of gratuitous banalities and obscenities that each day is served to them by the mass media: heartless TV action films where in the space of ten minutes they are treated to three rapes, two assassinations, one beating and a serial crash involving ten cars on a bridge that then collapses, whereupon everything  cars, drivers and passengers  precipitates into the sea  only one person survives the fall, but he doesnt know how to swim and so drowns, to the cheers of the crowd of curious onlookers that suddenly has appeared on the scene.

At another university we spoofed the project  alas well under way  to manipulate genetic material, or more specifically, the proposal by the European Parliament to allow patent rights on living organisms. We could feel how the subject sent a chill through the audience. Franca and I explained how our Eurocrats, kindled by powerful and ubiquitous multinationals, are preparing a scheme worthy the plot of a sci-fi/horror movie entitled Frankensteins pig brother. Theyre trying to get the approval of a directive which (and get this!) would authorize industries to take patents on living beings, or on parts of them, created with techniques of genetic manipulation that seem taken straight out of The Sorcerers Apprentice.

This is how it would work: by manipulating the genetic make-up of a pig, a scientist succeeds in making the pig more human-like. By this arrangement it becomes much easier to remove from the pig the organ of your choice  a liver, a kidney  and to transplant it in a human. But to assure that the transplanted pig-organs arent rejected, its also necessary to transfer certain pieces of genetic information from the pig to the human. The result: a human pig (even though you will say that there are already plenty of those).

And every part of this new creature, this humanized pig, will be subject to patent laws; and whosoever wishes a part of it will have to pay copyright fees to the company that invented it. Secondary illnesses, monstrous deformations, infectious diseases  all are optionals, included in the price 

The Pope has forcefully condemned this monstrous genetic witchcraft. He has called it an offence against humanity, against the dignity of man, and has gone to pains to underscore the projects total and irrefutable lack of moral value.

The astonishing thing is that while this is happening, an American scientist, a remarkable magician  youve probably read about him in the papers  has succeeded in transplanting the head of a baboon. He cut the heads off two baboons and switched them. The baboons didnt feel all that great after the operation. In fact, it left them paralysed, and they both died shortly thereafter, but the experiment worked, and thats the great thing.

But heres the rub: this modern-day Frankenstein, a certain Professor White, is all the while a distinguished member of the Vatican Academy of Sciences. Somebody should warn the Pope.

So, we enacted these criminal farces to the kids at the universities, and they laughed their heads off. They would say of Franca and me: Theyre a riot, they come up with the most fantastic stories. Not for a moment, not even with an inkling in their spines, did they grasp that the stories we told were true.

These encounters have strengthened us in our conviction that our job is  in keeping with the exhortation of the great Italian poet Savinio  to tell our own story. Our task as intellectuals, as persons who mount the pulpit or the stage, and who, most importantly, address to young people, our task is not just to teach them method, like how to use the arms, how to control breathing, how to use the stomach, the voice, the falsetto, the contracampo. Its not enough to teach a technique or a style: we have to show them what is happening around us. They have to be able to tell their own story. A theatre, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.

Recently, I took part in a large conference with lots of people where I tried to explain, especially to the younger participants, the ins and outs of a particular Italian court case. The original case resulted in seven separate proceedings, at the end of which three Italian left-wing politicians were sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment each, accused of having murdered a police commissioner. Ive studied the documents of the case  as I did when I prepared Accidental Death of an Anarchist  and at the conference I recounted the facts pertaining to it, which are really quite absurd, even farcical. But at a certain point I realized I was speaking to deaf ears, for the simple reason that my audience was ignorant not only of the case itself, but of what had happened five years earlier, ten years earlier: the violence, the terrorism. They knew nothing about the massacres that occurred in Italy, the trains that blew up, the bombs in the piazze or the farcical court cases that have dragged on since then.

The terribly difficult thing is that in order to talk about what is happening today, I have to start with what happened thirty years ago and then work my way forward. Its not enough to speak about the present. And pay attention, this isnt just about Italy: the same thing happens everywhere, all over Europe. Ive tried in Spain and encountered the same difficulty; Ive tried in France, in Germany, Ive yet to try in Sweden, but I will.

To conclude, let me share this medal with Franca.

Franca Rame, my companion in life and in art who you, members of the Academy, acknowledge in your motivation of the prize as actress and author; who has had a hand in many of the texts of our theatre.

(At this very moment, Franca is on stage in a theatre in Italy but will join me the day after tomorrow. Her flight arrives midday, if you like we can all head out together to pick her up at the airport.)

Franca has a very sharp wit, I assure you. A journalist put the following question to her: So how does it feel to be the wife of a Nobel Prize winner? To have a monument in your home? To which she answered: Im not worried. Nor do I feel at all at a disadvantage; Ive been in training for a long time. I do my exercises each morning: I go down on my hand and knees, and that way Ive accustomed myself to becoming a pedestal to a monument. Im pretty good at it.

Like I said, she has a sharp wit. At times she even turns her irony against herself.

Without her at my side, where she has been for a lifetime, I would never have accomplished the work you have seen fit to honour. Together weve staged and recited thousands of performances, in theatres, occupied factories, at university sit-ins, even in deconsecrated churches, in prisons and city parks, in sunshine and pouring rain, always together. Weve had to endure abuse, assaults by the police, insults from the right-thinking, and violence. And it is Franca who has had to suffer the most atrocious aggression. She has had to pay more dearly than any one of us, with her neck and limb in the balance, for the solidarity with the humble and the beaten that has been our premise.

The day it was announced that I was to be awarded the Nobel Prize I found myself in front of the theatre on Via di Porta Romana in Milan where Franca, together with Giorgio Albertazzi, was performing The Devil with Tits. Suddenly I was surrounded by a throng of reporters, photographers and camera-wielding TV-crews. A passing tram stopped, unexpectedly, the driver stepped out to greet me, then all the passengers stepped out too, they applauded me, and everyone wanted to shake my hand and congratulate me  when at a certain point they all stopped in their tracks and, as with a single voice, shouted Wheres Franca?. They began to holler Francaaa until, after a little while, she appeared. Discombobulated and moved to tears, she came down to embrace me.

At that moment, as if out of nowhere, a band appeared, playing nothing but wind instruments and drums. It was made up of kids from all parts of the city and, as it happened, they were playing together for the first time. They struck up Porta Romana bella, Porta Romana in samba beat. Ive never heard anything played so out of tune, but it was the most beautiful music Franca and I had ever heard.

Believe me, this prize belongs to both of us.

Thank you.

Translated from Italian by Paul Claesson

Copyright  The Nobel Foundation 1997

To cite this section

MLA style: Dario Fo  Nobel Lecture. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Sat. 22 Oct 2022. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1997/fo/lecture/>
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Public continues to support charter school expansion, but less so than in the past, according to the 2016 Louisiana Survey on education released March 23, 2016.
U.S. needs to lift embargo, re-establish trade with Cuba: An editorial
The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
Photos of Arthur Ashe students fill one corner of a wall in Paitich's former second grade classroom.
A group of Iowa senators and representatives may have come to an agreement on increased K-12 school funding of 2.25 percent, but not every lawmaker gives it a high grade.

I do not support only giving our schools a 2.25 percent growth due to the fact it will require schools to once again make drastic cuts to their budgets, said Rep. Charles McConkey, D-Council Bluffs. Public schools should be the focus of the State of Iowa considering that they (the students) are the future of Iowas economy.

Last year, the state general fund grew by 6.2 percent, and over the past five years the average growth in the state general fund has grown by 4.1 percent, leaving more than enough room to fund our schools. By following the law, funding education first and adjusting the budget, we can afford a quality education for our children. I will not be supporting this bill.

Rep. Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia, took the opposite stance.

From the very beginning, House Republicans have been determined to fund K-12 schools at the highest responsible level. At 2.25 percent, schools will be receiving 83 percent of all new revenue projected for the 2017 fiscal year, and I will be happy to support this bill.

Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa, R-Council Bluffs, said she was glad the House and Senate found common ground on this issue.

This agreement provides a significant funding increase to our local schools that the states budget will allow, she said. We want to fund education as much as possible, but, in this tight budget year, this agreement represents a number that will provide increases in education funding while still providing for the other areas and obligations of the state budget.

This agreement provides an additional $153 million going to schools this budget year, and K-12 education is receiving the lions share of the states new available revenue.

Sen. Tod Bowman of Maquoketa, co-chair of the Senate and House committee that agreed to the 2.25 percent figure, thanked his members for finding a compromise, considering Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a specific figure last year.

I appreciate everyones patience in regards to working through this difficult process, Bowman said through his office.

He seemed far from satisfied, though.

I continue to have strong concerns about the low levels of funding that we are providing in the long term for our Iowa local schools. Even with this increase, Iowas students will have fewer educational opportunities. I believe we will see more of Iowas rural schools being threatened with forced consolidation.
Community

Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place.
Letter: Imams must condemn senseless violence

I am a proud Sudburian, Canadian and Muslim. Its appalling the tragedy that unfolded upon the innocent in Brussels. Any innocent anywhere in the world caught in violence not of their making deserves our greatest heartfelt sympathy.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Riaz Bagha writes that it's time for Imams to start speaking out against senseless violence. Photo: Twitter

I am a proud Sudburian, Canadian and Muslim. Its appalling the tragedy that unfolded upon the innocent in Brussels.



Any innocent anywhere in the world caught in violence not of their making deserves our greatest heartfelt sympathy. My question is to the Muslims in our communities in Sudbury and Canada, nay, the world.



Friday is soon upon us and the Imams(leaders) must condemn such senseless violence when they stand on the pulpits delivering their sermons. No more basic do's and dont's.



Speak out, for heaven's sake! We have several congregational prayers at different venues on Friday.



Too often it's the same traditional sermons delivered from some written notes. Know the crisis facing Humanity, at present, and if you can't condemn this violence, then stand aside and give room to those who are hurting seeing innocent children, women and men suffering because some fanatic decides to hurt and harm.



Light is more powerful than darkness: shine a light into a dark room, and the darkness must vanish.



"Do good unto others", not only a verbal phrase, do it with actions. Kindness and compassion, please, for does not the Qur'an say: "Whoever kills a person [unjustly] it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Qur'an, 5:32).



Let us collectively speak out against violence in all its forms.



Riaz Bagha

Sudbury
Letter: Time to implement the right to clean water

Editor's note: The following letter is submitted by students in ENVI 2536 at Laurentian University Canada joined the international consensus and recognized the right to water at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012.

Looking for ways to cut your water bill? EarthCare Sudbury has some tips for you. File photo

Editor's note: The following letter is submitted by students in ENVI 2536 at Laurentian University



Canada joined the international consensus and recognized the right to water at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. We must live up to that commitment here at home. On March 22, 2016  World Water Day  we call on the Trudeau government to join other G8 countries and introduce and pass legally enforceable drinking water quality standards at the national level.



Through the principal of universalization, it is unethical that Aboriginal reserves in Canada are proportionately more likely to be dealing with boil-water advisories and poor water services. Canada should be a leader in providing guaranteed water security for ALL people.



More than 1,000 boil-water advisories are in place across the country on any given day. The public inquiry into the Walkerton water crisis found that protecting the source of our drinking water is essential. For most people living in Sudbury, the source of our water is Ramsey Lake. It is essential that we protect this source from residential and commercial run-off, and changing land use patterns. If the source is protected, this will ultimately save money in terms of water treatment and distribution. Ensuring water security also requires attention to aging water infrastructure in many of our communities and the effectiveness of the institutions and structures that govern how our water is managed.



We, the students of ENVI 25436, believe that the Canadian constitution must recognize that access to water is a human right and that all levels of government (municipal, provincial/ territorial and federal) need to take action to secure this right. Without a secure commitment, our water security will remain in a vulnerable state and crises such as Walkerton and Flint Michigan will continue to occur.



It's time for the federal government to implement the right to clean water in Canada by passing an environmental bill of rights that respects, protects and fulfils our right to a healthy environment, including the right to clean water.



Dr. Nicole Yantzi

Sudbury
After decades of waiting and years of debate, Greater Sudbury city council confirmed its support Tuesday for the $80.1 million Maley Drive extension project. The 12-1 vote in favour wasn't close, with only Ward 2 Coun.

After decades of waiting and years of debate, Greater Sudbury city council confirmed its support Tuesday for the $80.1 million Maley Drive extension project.



The 12-1 vote in favour wasn't close, with only Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini voting no, citing the need to repair roads in his ward as a greater need.



Vagnini's adviser, Tom Price, is a vocal opponent of the project.



The rest of council, however, supported Mayor Brian Bigger's motion in favour of the project, a key step in securing federal funding for the project. Nickel Belt MP Marc Serre came out in favour of the project last week, vowing to fight for the funds if council still supported the project.



Both Serre and Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre are members of the Liberal government. During the 2015 election campaign, Lefebvre said he would lobby for Maley if that's what councillors wanted.



Congratulations to Greater Sudbury city council on its overwhelming support of Maley Drive extension, Lefebvre tweeted shortly after the vote.



While several councillors were expected to vote in favour, some hadn't stated their position publicly. For example, residents on Montrose Avenue in Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann's ward are concerned the connection to their street planned in phase 2 of the project will ruin their neighbourhood.



But Landry-Altmann was able to get planners to consider taking another approach for the still unfunded phase 2. That was enough for her to support the plan, while acknowledging it still wasn't popular for those residents.



It would be in the best interests of the people of Montrose for this not to go through, but it would not be in the best interests of the city, she said.



Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo said it was time for council to take advantage of the political alignment currently in place, with both federal and provincial politicians in government.



It's an opportunity to see some large dollars invested in our community, Jakubo said. Now is the time for this council to reaffirm its support, to show a new fed government that this council is still committed to the benefits this project will (bring).



I will happily raise my hand in favour of it.



Ward 10 Coun. Deb McIntosh said she understood concerns of residents who said the city should be fixing current roads, rather than building new ones. But she urged residents to think big picture, arguing Maley will be a boon to the mining industry, helping businesses both big and small.



We can be the global rock star of the mining world, McIntosh said. (Maley) helps us to bring the product to market  You can't trade if you can't move. It is time to move.



And Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier said this council intends to make more big decisions, this time on making major repairs to roads. Councillors are considering debt-financing to pay for major repairs to Lorne Street and four-laning MR35. They'll get more details on that at a meeting March 30.



We're looking to make further investments, Cormier said.



We need to move forward, said Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre. We have been at a standstill in this city for a long time. It's time to move forward.



For his part, Bigger praised staff for their work explaining the details of Maley in the face of fierce opposition among some in the community. After public information and input sessions, and countless passionate conversations, he said everyone had a chance to make their case.



I feel this process was as transparent as any process of the past, Bigger said.We really have looked into this process in great detail.



A New Sudbury resident, the mayor said he knows first-hand that residents will benefit from Maley.



When I'm sitting in heavy traffic, it's really easy to understand the impact of removing 10,000 cars (a day) off Lasalle, Bigger said. To me, that was very significant. People will feel that impact once Maley Drive is working as designed.



Tuesday's meeting was the second in a row that councillors have made decisions on issues that have lingered for years. At the March 8 meeting, they voted to reduce the garbage bag limit to two beginning in the fall, and to take away councillors' spending powers of the $50,000 each ward receives for local projects.



Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti said councillors were acting for the good of the whole city.



I'm proud to be part of this council, Signoretti said. We need to think of the future.



The project has been the city's top infrastructure priority for decades. In the short term, Maley is forecast to create 780 jobs during the construction phase, which is expected to begin this spring and last until 2019.



After years of trying  and failing  to get the province and federal government to provide their one-third share of the costs, the province agreed in 2014 to provide $26.7 million for Maley, and the federal government is expected to follow suit after council confirmed its support.



Details on the Maley extension can be found here: www.greatersudbury.ca



For the record:



Here's how each councillor voted on the Maley Drive extension:
Fifty Shades of Income Inequality: Public lecture March 30

Colorado State University economics professor Steven Pressman visits Laurentian University March 30 to present a lecture on income inequality.

Colorado State University economics professor Steven Pressman visits Laurentian University March 30 to present a lecture on income inequality. Supplied photo.

Colorado State University economics professor Steven Pressman visits Laurentian University March 30 to present a lecture on income inequality.



The lecture, entitled Fifty Shades of Income Inequality: How and why average citizens and the whole economy are taking a beating, takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room C-304.



This lecture will begin by describing French economist Thomas Piketty's work on income inequality and his empirical results concerning inequality.



Piketty's data shows sharply rising income inequality in a large part of the developed world, beginning around the early 1980s.



The talk will then address the negative consequences on such rising inequality.
Uber is coming to Greater Sudbury, so the city needs to have rules in place to regulate the rideshare service, as well as making sure existing taxi companies can compete.

Uber is coming to Greater Sudbury, so the city needs to have rules in place to regulate the rideshare service, as well as making sure existing taxi companies can compete.That was the sentiment Tuesday as city councillors gave staff permission to develop a rideshare bylaw, based on the results of consultation with the public, taxi companies and Uber.Unlike traditional cabs, Uber customers use a smartphone app to arrange rides, and fares are variable depending on demand. The bylaw aims to allow taxi companies to use similar technologies to connect with customers, and would impose fare and other standards on Uber. It would mirror efforts by other cities in Canada to regulate the industry, said city clerk Caroline Hallsworth.This model is heavily based on what other municipalities are doing, Hallsworth said.Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo said while he's concerned about the impact on local taxi companies, many residents in outlying communities can't get cabs because they are concentrated on serving more populated areas. Uber could change that.Ridesharing is the way of the future, Jakubo said. It is going to show up on our doorstep  We have to do what we can to welcome ridesharing into this city.He wants the bylaw to strike a balance between allowing taxis to compete and bringing service to areas that need it.If there are any tweaks that need to be done, it's well within the purview of this council to make those tweaks, Jakubo said.Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan said some people in his ward can't get a cab at certain key times in his ward after a night out. If Uber means there will be drivers available, that would be significant for residents.The problem we have in Valley East is that you can't get a taxi, Kirwan said. We have some nightmare stories. They go to Facebook and say is there anyone out there that can give me a ride home.Hallsworth said even cab companies have told her that they welcome Uber in outlying areas where they can't service customers properly. And other communities have seen improvements to service in outlying areas as a result of ridesharing.We're expecting there will be Uber drivers who live in Valley East, she said.Ward 10 Coun. Deb McIntosh said she wanted to be sure that rideshare companies don't have an unfair advantage over cabs. For example, taxi companies are required to have their head office in Sudbury, unlike Uber.What are we going to do about that to create a level playing field? she asked.Hallsworth said as part of the reforms, they're considering taking that requirement out of the bylaw entirely.Councillors easily approved the motion giving staff permission to develop a draft bylaw. It should be ready for a vote in late summer.The full report on the consultations on the expected impact of rideshare industry can be found here.
Manly forwards Martin Taupau and Brenton Lawrence will be suspended for this week's match against the Roosters after entering early guilty pleas, while Penrith's Jeremy Latimore and Wests Tigers forward Chris Lawrence will also sit out a week with bans.

Taupau pleaded guilty to a grade two dangerous high tackle on Cronulla's Jack Bird, while Brenton Lawrence accepted an early guilty plea to a dangerous contact charge and misses a week thanks to 65 carryover points from a previous offence.

Latimore is suspended for making dangerous contact with the head/neck while Chris Lawrence copped a one-match ban for a dangerous throw.

Paul Carter, Sione Mata'utia and Joseph Leilua will front the judiciary on Wednesday night, with Mata'utia challenging a dangerous throw charge, Carter disputing the grading of his grade two dangerous contact charge and Leilua disputing a contrary conduct charge from last week (he was already suspended for a separate dangerous throw charge).

Kieran Foran, Sam McKendry and Kirisome Auva'a are all free to play this week after taking the early guilty pleas for their charges.
Titans fullback David Mead has revealed that he "wouldn't say no" to a new contract offer that would see him extend his stay on the Gold Coast into a ninth NRL season but is yet to begin negotiations with the club.

Currently impressing in his preferred position of fullback with William Zillman on the sidelines, Mead could be the victim of the salary cap shuffling that the Titans are currently managing and may have to reject more lucrative offers in order to stay a Titan.

Zillman and Josh Hoffman are both signed to the club through until the end of the 2017 season but in the Titans' favour is the recent re-signing of halfback Kane Elgey and the influx of sponsors to have joined the club in the past 12 months.

Mead and the Titans are yet to sit down and discuss his future but the Country Origin representative told NRL.com that the commitment of Elgey for the next two seasons could have a large bearing on whether he decides to stay or look elsewhere.

"The club's definitely moving in a positive direction," Mead said.

"I haven't really thought about what I'm going to do just yet but if the club did come up to me and make an offer I'd definitely think about it and wouldn't say no.

"Elgey signing certainly does help because he's got a bright future and is a superstar in the making so having him, Ash[Taylor] and Tyrone [Roberts] here certainly is a huge factor in making my decision."

When he turns out against the Raiders on Saturday 27-year-old Mead will move past Zillman to become the third-most capped Titan in the club's history, making his 133rd top grade appearance having also been a member of the Titans' inaugural under-20s team in 2008.

Keeping local juniors such as Elgey has been an issue for the franchise since its inception in 2007 and Mead believes it is another sign that the club has a bright future to look forward to.

"It sends a good message to the general rugby league community on the Gold Coast and other areas around here," said Mead, who can move past Luke Bailey into second position for games played if he plays at least 22 games this season.

"That's what people want to see, a guy like Elgey signing with the club and playing his next couple of years here.

"That was something he was pretty happy about as well. It was something that he always wanted to do so I'm very happy for him."

Bilambil junior Ryan James plays his 72nd game for the Titans on Saturday and also believes Elgey's signature sends the right message to the Gold Coast community.

"I'm extremely happy that Kane re-signed with us because I was lucky enough to play with him in his debut and I played a lot of footy with him last year," James told NRL.com

"I know what he can do and if we can help build the club around someone like Kane it's going to be extremely positive because he's a Gold Coast boy.

"Him being local, it shows to local kids that they can do it, that they can play for the Gold Coast. We want to create a team and a culture that they want to come into.

"Back when I came into it I really wanted to play for the Titans and then it got lost a little bit there in the middle and we're really creating something at the moment."
After three straight injury-plagued seasons, the Panthers have finally received some good news on the medical front, with star recruit Trent Merrin expected to return from a virus against his former club the Dragons on Sunday afternoon.

Draw Widget - Round 4 - Dragons vs Panthers

Merrin was a late withdrawal from the Panthers' 23-22 win over the Broncos in Round 3 due to a virus that saw him hospitalised and put on an IV drip, but expects to be fully fit come the weekend.

"I'm feeling a lot better," the Panthers lock forward told NRL.com.

"It really rocked me around over the weekend. I'm slowly building back up and just getting ready for the weekend.

"All the symptoms and signs pointed to glandular fever, but I'm not too bad at the moment. I've been told that it really rocks you around for a few weeks or even a few months. So touch wood I don't think it'll be that.

"I had the last two days on the field and now I'm just tiptoeing back into it and getting the body back into a reasonably good state."

Merrin's mystery virus meant he missed out on being a part of Penrith's first win of 2016, and he wasn't happy about it.

"I was pretty filthy that I couldn't be out there with them, but it just goes to show what we've been building towards. It's paying off now and we've just got to keep training and working in that direction," he said.

While Merrin is almost certain to return this week, the Panthers are without star duo Matt Moylan and James Segeyaro.

Moylan sat out Wednesday's training, but should return from his back injury in a couple of weeks. Segeyaro, meanwhile, got through the session, but admits he's still about four weeks away from a return to first-grade after breaking his arm in the Round 1 loss at Canberra.

Merrin says that while it would be a bonus to have the pair in the side, he believes their replacements have been doing a more than admirable job.

"It will be great to have those players back in their spots but it's definitely great to see that the younger guys are stepping up," Merrin said.

"The players that are stepping in to those spots are doing a great job and holding the flag up high. It's great to see that no matter who steps into the role, they're doing their job and they're doing what's best for the team."

Also returning from injury against the Dragons on Sunday will be Waqa Blake, who missed last week's game with a cork.

"I was close to playing. It was sort of half-half, but I didn't want to get another knock on it and then miss even more weeks. They just gave me the week off and now I'm able to play this week," Blake said.

"I'm feeling good this week and I'm just looking forward to putting on a good performance."
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is a step closer to building a Four Winds Casino in South Bend, which could grab market share from Northwest Indiana casinos already facing stiff competition from Illinois.

The Pokagon Band announced Wednesday it has reached agreements with the city of South Bend regarding utilities and payments in lieu of property taxes.

The Pokagon Band will pay the city two percent of its net gaming revenue annually. The payment will not be less than $1 million if the casino has fewer than 1,700 games, and not less than $2 million if it has 1,700 or more.

It will also pay the city $400,000 to replace a sewer lift station. And, it will contribute a total of $5 million to various city projects and non-profit organizations.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg called it "a generous agreement" after the city's Board of Public Works approved the sewer and water utility deal Tuesday.

A draft environmental impact statement for the proposed $400 million casino and tribal village is currently under review. A final version of the statement must be issued by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs before construction can begin.

The draft EIS describes a preferred development on 166 acres at Ind. 23 and U.S. 31. It contemplates a casino with as many as 3,000 slot machines, and an 18-story hotel with 500 rooms. That would be the largest casino complex in the state.

The potential size of a new Four Winds Casino and the probability of lesser financial obligations to the state have caused concern regarding its competitive impact.

A study by the Casino Association of Indiana concluded the new casino would "significantly affect the investment climate and the competitive landscape" and create "formidable competition."

Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City would be closest Northwest Indiana casino to the new Four Winds in South Bend. The spokesman for its parent company said Blue Chip has continued investing in its casino, and is concentrating on things it can control.

"All we can really focus on is doing what we do well. Then we're well-positioned to compete," said Boyd Gaming vice president David Strow.

The tribe must still enter into a compact with the state detailing its rights and responsibilities, including payments to the state in lieu of taxes.

Ultimately, authority lies with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to determine whether the state has negotiated "in good faith," as required by law, and to approve a compact.

When the General Assembly approved land-based casinos last year, it included a provision in the bill requiring its approval of any state compact with the Pokagon Band. It also sent a resolution to Indiana's Congressional delegation asking for a change in federal law that would prohibit a casino on tribal lands in Indiana.
Although they stressed there was no specific or credible threat against New York City, Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton ramped up security following the deadly terror bombings in Belgium -- a visible display of the city's newly enhanced anti-terrorism capabilities. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.

The NYPD says it jumped into its counterterrorism action plan right away early Tuesday morning, after it was officially notified about the deadly terror attacks in Belgium.



"This isnt something that we started thinking about between 3- and 4 a.m. This is something we think about every minute of every day," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller.

By the morning rush, the departments recently created dedicated forces  the Strategic Response Group and Critical Response Command  were out in strength.



"The CRC unit, the SRG unit that a few months ago did not even exist, were fully employed this morning," said Police Commissioner William Bratton.



The deployment included heavy weapons and special weapons teams, as well as officers with K-9 dogs trained to move through crowds and detect suicide bombers on the move.

Officers also conducted random checks of bags at subway stations, in some cases, using equipment that can detect residue of explosive material.



"Criminals are less likely to strike when they see a lot of force being deployed," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.



The de Blasio administration began increasing and reorganizing the NYPD's counterterrorism abilities soon after taking office, but the effort gained steam after the Charlie Hebdo terrorism attacks in Paris 15 months ago. More than 1,000 officers have been added to the 1,100 already assigned to counterterrorism operations.

Over the last year, the NYPD has held well-publicized counter-terrorism drills, like one in a lower Manhattan subway station, to show off its new capabilities.

That message of preparedness was one that the mayor and the police commissioner sent with two joint news conferences, the second during the evening rush after they met with officers in the Times Square subway station.

What the terrorists want is for us to change our ways," de Blasio said. "They want to see us in panic, and we refuse to be afraid, we refuse to change who we are."

The mayor says New Yorkers and any would-be terrorists will continue to see an increase of counterterrorism officers on the streets over the next few days.


The man who police say slashed a woman in the neck in Brooklyn earlier this month is facing hate crime charges.

The NYPD says Gregory Alfred, 25, was arrested Tuesday on numerous charges, including hate crime attempted murder, hate crime felony assault and hate crime attempted felony assault.

Investigators say Alfred attacked the 53-year-old woman from behind in Flatbush around 10 a.m. on March 10.

Her neck was slashed as she was walking near the corner of Beverley and Rugby Roads, according to police.

Investigators said Alfred dropped the knife and an American flag-printed bandana, both of which were recovered.

Alfred was taken into police custody on Sunday in Sayreville, New Jersey.

The victim was taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released.
The City Council approved the mayor's affordable housing zoning proposals Tuesday, but not without drama, as some protesters got kicked out of the Council chamber. NY1's Courtney Gross reports.

Local lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the mayor's controversial affordable housing plan on Tuesday, but the vote occurred in dramatic fashion.



Protesters interrupted the meeting while sitting in the chamber balcony. They glued their hands together, refusing to leave.



Security and police in the Council chamber pulled them apart, leading them one by one out of City Hall.



One man was allegedly hurt in the process, which left the meeting at a standstill. He was eventually carried out of the chamber and left City Hall in an ambulance.



The events were a major distraction from what was supposed to be a clear victory for the de Blasio administration and the Council.



After much talk, the two sides had worked out a compromise on two zoning proposals to force the development of affordable housing in a city with no shortage of development.



"They will fundamentally change how our city approaches affordable and senior housing production. And it is one of the strongest affordable housing plans in the nation," said City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.



One proposal is called mandatory inclusionary housing, which would force developers to build affordable housing in certain neighborhoods that will be rezoned. The first of those neighborhoods is in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York. Housing under this new plan could be for very-low-income families, including a family of three who makes $31,000 a year.



The other is called zoning for quality and affordability. That sweeping change in the zoning laws would allow developers to build taller buildings in residential neighborhoods. It reduces parking requirements for senior and affordable housing developments, and is specifically aimed at creating more affordable senior housing.



Despite the controversy, the final outcome was never in doubt.



"We heard. We listened. We made the changes. And that's why I think those people are going to be happy," said City Councilman Barry Greenfield of Brooklyn.



The protests may overshadow the Council's vote, but city officials say they will create thousands of units of affordable housing in the years to come.


Bingeing through the full second season of Daredevil exposes you to some of the promises and the pitfalls of Netflix original series. This adaptation of the Marvel comic book about a blind vigilante doesnt pander to its audience, unless your definition of pandering includes taking the demands of the superhero and crime-noir genres seriously and conscientiously to be a form of pandering per se. And you can see Netflixs dollars at work, in the explosions and elaborate props and endless waves of ninjas. (O.K., maybe its the same 10 ninjas over and over again.)

But Netflix appears to like its hourlong prestige shows to come in 13-episode chunks  thats been the case for House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, Bloodline, Daredevil and Jessica Jones. All of those shows, with the possible exception of Jones, have felt as if theyre straining to fill 13 commercial-free episodes with serialized stories (the cable-drama norm being 8 or 10). Season 2 of Daredevil felt particularly padded and amorphous. Comics fans may have enjoyed getting two popular Marvel characters  the Punisher and Elektra  as guest stars in one season of Daredevil. But their unconnected plot lines (condensations of two major story arcs in the Marvel universe) detracted from each other, diminishing the force of each. More wasnt more.

There was an ingenuity to the way the separate strands  the Punishers quest for vengeance against the New York gangs he blamed for annihilating his family, and Elektras rolei in a more cosmic conflict involving warring bands of ninjas, immortality and a doomsday weapon  were woven together from episode to episode. But the result was a talky, pokey narrative that wasnt brought to life by its action set pieces, no matter how well they were done.

There were so many shades of gray that it was hard to tell who to root for, which may be admirable in some dramas but is problematic in a comic-book adaptation, even when the source material was written by Frank Miller, the master of the ambivalent antihero. The Punisher, Elektra, even Vincent DOnofrios Kingpin, were all, like Daredevil himself, torn between nobility and savagery, vigilantism and the rule of law. They were good one moment, bad the next. It got exhausting.
A former Goldman Sachs banker who pleaded guilty to taking confidential documents from a source inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was sentenced to probation on Tuesday, bringing to a close an episode that embarrassed the bank and the New York Fed alike.

The banker, Rohit Bansal, was facing up to a year in prison after pleading guilty last year to a misdemeanor. Instead, Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein of Federal District Court in Manhattan sentenced him to two years probation, 300 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine.

Rohit is pleased with the sentence and looks forward to putting this behind him and moving on with his life, his lawyer, Scott Morvillo, said in a statement.

In some ways, Goldman got the worst end of the deal. Under a settlement with New York States financial regulator, Goldman paid $50 million and faced new restrictions on how it handles sensitive regulatory information. The settlement with the Department of Financial Services also forced Goldman to take the rare step of acknowledging that it failed to effectively supervise its employee.
WASHINGTON  Debt-laden Puerto Rico went toe to toe with its creditors at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that it has been wrongly locked out of the bankruptcy courts, the only place it can reasonably expect to restructure its crushing debt.

Weve talked a lot about legal principles, said the lawyer Christopher Landau, summing up his arguments on behalf of the commonwealth. But this is also a flesh-and-blood situation in Puerto Rico.

Hanging on the outcome, he said, were questions like whether people in a village in Puerto Rico will be able to get clean water.

Puerto Rico is struggling with $72 billion in debt and has been saying for more than a year that it needs to restructure at least some of it under Chapter 9, the part of the bankruptcy code for insolvent local governments. But Puerto Rico cannot do so, because Chapter 9 specifically excludes it, although it is unclear why.
United States East Coast ports planning to use the Panama Canal expansion to lure traffic from congested West Coast ports are years away from being ready for extra business, the chief of the worlds largest lessor of container ships said on Tuesday. The infrastructures just not there, said the executive, Gerry Wang, head of Seaspan, which owns container ships it leases to shipping companies. The Panama Canal expansion project is due for completion this year. After a labor dispute at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex in the winter of 2014-15 slowed container traffic from Asia, United States East Coast ports were advanced as an alternative. But necessary improvements have moved slowly in ports like Boston, Charleston, Norfolk and Miami.
The beleaguered flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators is paying $2.5 million to settle allegations that some of its products violated Californias air safety standards. The penalty announced on Tuesday was the latest that Lumber Liquidators has absorbed for formerly selling laminate flooring made in China. In this case, Lumber Liquidators faced allegations that the imported flooring contained high levels of the carcinogen formaldehyde that violated Californias air quality controls. The retailer, which last year suspended sales of the products made in China, did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement with the California Air Resources Board.
WASHINGTON  Panama has reported its first case of birth defects associated with the Zika virus, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday  new evidence of the epidemics potentially dangerous effects spreading throughout the region.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the director general of W.H.O., said a baby with an unusually small head and brain damage  a condition called microcephaly  was born at 30 weeks gestation in Panama and died a few hours later. Local investigators found evidence of the Zika virus in the umbilical cord.

Dr. Chan was providing an update on the Zika virus and its spread in the Americas.

Scientists around the world are waiting to see whether more pregnant women who become infected eventually give birth to babies with microcephaly.
Three men died after a fire broke out in a house in Queens late on Monday, the authorities said.

Firefighters were called shortly before 10:30 p.m. to the two-story house at 42-28 Ithaca Street, near Elmhurst Avenue, in the Elmhurst section, the authorities said.

More than 100 firefighters responded, and it took nearly an hour to get the fire under control, officials said.

The authorities said firefighters found the three men, who were unconscious and unresponsive, inside the house. Two were taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where one was pronounced dead and the other man died on Tuesday, the police said. A third man was taken to Forest Hills Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two of the men who died were identified by the police as Craig Lott, 53, and Martin Devereux, 71. The third man was not identified.
Charles Kaufman, who led a faculty coup that spared the century-old Mannes College of Music in Manhattan from a troublesome merger in 1979 and then restored it to fiscal soundness, died on March 17 at his home in Hillsdale, N.J. He was 87.

The cause was acute myeloid leukemia, his son Jason said.

Following the faculty revolt, most of the schools trustees were removed by the State Board of Regents, and their successors turned to Dr. Kaufman to restore harmony.

During 16 years as Manness leader, he transplanted the school from four cramped brownstones on East 74th Street to a building on West 85th Street that included concert halls, a library and a dormitory; transformed it into an independent division of the New School; expanded the faculty; and created early-music preparatory and graduate programs and the Mannes Camerata, dedicated to performing medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music.

Dr. Kaufman inherited an institution with $1,600 in its account, $150,000 in delinquent bank loans, no outgoing telephone service because of overdue debts, and a building all but owned by the city because of unpaid water bills.
Union City, N.J.

Fidel Castro once came here in the mid-1950s to raise money for his revolt against Fulgencio Batista, the Cuban dictator, got into a ruckus and was arrested. That moment was recalled decades later by the citys police chief, Herman Bolte, who said that as a young officer he had locked up Mr. Castro. It amazed Mr. Bolte to consider that such a thing had ever been possible: By the time he had risen to chief in the 1970s, this tiny, compressed city just across the Hudson River from Midtown Manhattan was certainly the last place on earth Mr. Castro would have ventured.

After Mr. Castro took power, Union City became a home for Cuban exiles, a throbbing center of expatriate culture and anti-Castro hatred. When Fidel croaks, the Cubans here will have nothing to gripe about, Carlos Ugalde, a medical salesman, said on Tuesday. Its like a love-hate relationship, except that its hate-hate.
Our plan mandates the creation of affordable housing, Mr. de Blasio said on Monday. Its what is so powerful about it. He is expected to hold a rally on Wednesday in Lower Manhattan.

Negotiations with the Council on the major points of the plan, which was made final last week, ensured the inclusion of units affordable to more lower-income residents  including those making 40 percent of the area median income or less  in new developments that benefit from zoning changes, a major concern in poor communities where the mayors plan is likely to spur development. The deal, which also includes neighborhood-specific changes to the zoning codes and the creation of housing for older adults, assured the plans passage on Tuesday.

City officials compared the adopted proposals to those in other cities, noting that New Yorks plan went further by including mandatory creation of below-market rental units that are permanent and reach residents making well under the area median income of $86,300 for a family of four. The Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, called it a landmark plan.

Under New Yorks plan, developers benefiting from rezonings for either residential growth or greater height and density are, for the first time, required to include units for those with earnings below the median income. The decision about what level of affordability to apply to a given development  between 40 percent and 80 percent of the median income  is to be determined by the local council member. The plan also provides for the creation of units for those making 115 percent of the median income, provided a portion be for those earning much less. The set-asides range from 20 percent to 30 percent of all of the new units.

Though the ultimate effect on the city will most likely not be seen for years, the de Blasio administration has already identified seven areas planned for rezonings that would fall under the new rules, including East New York, Brooklyn; Bay Street on Staten Island; parts of Flushing and Long Island City in Queens; Jerome Avenue in the Bronx; and East Harlem and Inwood in Manhattan.

It may be hampered by a lack of a property tax abatement, known as 421-a, that lapsed this year and can be replaced only by the State Legislature. Mr. de Blasios broader housing plan, aimed at creating 80,000 new rental units below the market rate, was conceived based on the existence of the exemption. Roughly 12,000 units are expected to directly come from the new zoning mandates approved by the Council through 2024, City Hall officials have said.

While in the absence of an overall tax abatement program its effectiveness is diminished, its still a valuable tool in the belt of the mayor, John Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said.
ALBANY  A New York ethics board given the task of going after government corruption in the state has picked a former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as its new director.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics on Tuesday, known as Jcope, chose Seth Agata, a former counsel to Mr. Cuomo and the governors pick last year to serve as chairman of the Public Employment Relations Board. Mr. Agata has also worked for the State Assembly and as an assistant district attorney in Columbia County.

Seth Agata is a tremendous choice for executive director of the commission, Daniel Horwitz, its chairman, said in a statement announcing the appointment. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and integrity to the position.

Mr. Agata will be the boards third consecutive director with close ties to Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat. The first, Ellen Biben, served as his inspector general and worked for him when he was the attorney general. The second, Letizia Tagliafierro, worked in the governors office and the attorney generals office before that. She left the commission last year to return to the Cuomo administration.
Police officials said on Tuesday that they would increase enforcement around 20 bars and clubs in New York City with a disproportionate share of the stabbings and slashings that have resulted in a surge in knife violence this year.

Under the new strategy, known as Operation Cutting Edge, the police are focusing on the places where knife violence primarily occurs: behind the walls of nightclubs  legal and illegal  during the late-night and early-morning hours on weekends, and at the homes of those known to have domestic troubles.

More and more attention will be put there, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, announcing the policy at a news conference at 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan. Im convinced the N.Y.P.D. is constantly looking for ways to get at problems more effectively, and Im going to make sure that they have the resources they need to do so.

Nearly 900 knife crimes have been recorded since Jan. 1, an increase of about 22 percent from the same period last year, William J. Bratton, the police commissioner, said. A small portion have occurred in the citys subway system and homeless shelters  about 2 to 3 percent, in each case, officials said. As the attacks in those places have attracted outsize attention, the de Blasio administration has increased the police presence underground and retrained some guards in city shelters.
AS the chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel Office, I helped President George W. Bush with the nomination and confirmation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court.

We were fortunate to have a Republican-controlled Senate at the time. Some Democratic senators talked of filibustering these nominations, but the president knew that the senators wouldnt filibuster, just as they would not refuse to attend the confirmation hearing. Senators can vote against a Supreme Court nominee after holding a hearing, but refusing to vote on a nominee at all is unthinkable. Voters expect their senators to do their jobs.

Things would have been somewhat different if President Bush had needed to fill a Supreme Court vacancy during his last two years in office, when Democrats controlled the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee would have carried out its constitutional duty to consider a nominee, but Democrats probably would have voted down anyone they thought was too conservative. President Bush would have recognized this, and most likely would have sent the Senate a very different type of nominee, someone Republicans and Democrats could agree on. Someone like Judge Merrick Garland on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

We all remember what happened to President Ronald Reagans nominee Judge Robert Bork. He got a hearing, a (usually) polite reception and meetings with senators, and then a no vote on the Senate floor. In years when the government is divided, a nominee who is too conservative or too liberal is likely to be rejected.
In a phone interview, Moore described Trump as the embodiment of cultural decadence  the personification of the moral decline he says Christian leaders have struggled to halt for the past generation.

Some high profile evangelicals are completely repudiating the conviction that character matters, Moore said. He described Trump as a

Howard Stern conservative, a reflection of the pornographic culture combined with proletarian demagoguery. Some of the older generation of evangelical leaders standing behind Donald Trump should imagine what they would say if a Democratic candidate had done or said any of the things that Trump has, his boasts of adultery, his profiting from casinos, his putrid speech about minorities and women.

Wherever he goes in religious circles, Moore said, Trump is the dominant subject of discussion: How do we maintain the witness of the Christian church at a time when America seems to have gone crazy?

Despite the critique voiced by Moore and other conservative Christians, Trump won a plurality of the white evangelical primary vote, often by margins well into the double digits in such former confederate states as South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi.

In every recess of the right, the struggle between those who would accede to the political verdict rendered in the primaries so far and those who would stand on principle against Trump is playing itself out. Two influential Republicans on opposing sides are Erick Erickson, the Georgia-based conservative commentator, and Ed Rogers, who served in the Reagan and Bush administrations and is now chairman of the Washington lobbying firm the BGR Group.

In his regular Washington Post column, Rogers affirmed his commitment to bend to the will of the Republican primary electorate:

The truth is we either have primaries or we dont; we either have rules or we dont. Whats worse for a democracy: When a bad guy gets elected or when the losers refuse to lose? Whoever wins the primaries and is compliant with the rules should be the Republican nominee. Period.

Erickson is having none of that. In an essay called The Will of the People is Crap, he declared:

I dont give a damn about the will of the people. Im telling you that I personally will not ever support Donald Trump. If you dont like it, deal with it. Its the will of this person! The will of the people is just a polite way of saying the collective, which is the authoritarian, socialist destiny of this nation if Donald Trump is elected. I want no part of it and will play no role other than to stop Donald Trump.

Its hard to see how Trump, if he wins the nomination, could emerge from the Republican wreckage he leaves in his wake to actually win the general election  an assessment supported by the findings of a March 9 ABC/Washington Post poll. Not only did Hillary Clinton beat Trump 50-41 in the surveys match up among registered voters, but 67 percent of voters had a negative view of Trump, 15 points more than Clinton.

While only 37 percent of those polled considered Clinton honest and trustworthy, even fewer, 27 percent, believe that those words accurately describe Trump. When voters were asked if Clinton and Trump have the experience and personality to serve as president, Clinton beat Trump by 66-26 and 58-26 respectively.

It is universally acknowledged, however, that this is not a normal election. One of Trumps talents is the destruction and humiliation of his opponents, as the Republican candidates who have dropped out one after another can testify.
Sulaimaniya, Iraq  As one could see from President Obamas recent interview in The Atlantic, he pretty much hates all the Middle Easts leaders including those of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Iran and the Palestinians.

Obamas primary goal seems to be to get out of office being able to say that he had shrunk Americas involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevented our involvement on the ground in Syria and Libya, and taught Americans the limits of our ability to fix things we dont understand, in countries whose leaders we dont trust, whose fates do not impact us as much as they once did.

After all, the president indicated, more Americans are killed each year slipping in bathtubs or running into deer with their cars than by any terrorists, so we need to stop wanting to invade the Middle East in response to every threat.

That all sounds great on paper, until a terrorist attack like the one Tuesday in Brussels comes to our shores. Does the president have this right?
THE Supreme Court will hear a second challenge to the Affordable Care Acts contraceptive mandate on Wednesday in a case called Zubik v. Burwell. The plaintiffs want to extend the 2014 ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which recognized the right of certain for-profit companies to a religious exemption from the acts requirement that employers health plans provide contraceptive coverage.

This time, the objection comes from a handful of religious nonprofits that argue that the governments religious exemption itself infringes on their religious freedom. The groups contend that filling out a one-page form or sending a letter to the government to get the exemption amounts to facilitation of sin because it starts a process that ultimately allows employees to get contraception though a third party.

This case is one of several recent conflicts in which one side seeks to use its religious objections to undermine laws that promote equality. The position taken by the plaintiffs in Zubik recalls the refusal last year by a Kentucky county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Supreme Courts marriage-equality ruling.

At first, Zubik might not look like the Kentucky showdown, but there is a similar dynamic at play. The real issue at stake in reproductive rights cases, as Ruth Bader Ginsburg put it in 1978, paraphrasing another scholar when she was herself a professor, is whether women are to have the opportunity to participate in full partnership with men in the nations social, political and economic life.
The bombs that exploded in the Brussels airport and at a central metro station on Tuesday morning, killing at least 30 people, came as only the latest in a string of terrorist outrages on a continent that is starting to see horrific violence as the new normal. Hours later the Islamic State claimed responsibility.

This carnage must be seen in context: The United States and its Western allies are hitting the Islamic State hard in its bases in Iraq and Syria. The jihadist group may finally be on the defensive. But meantime, it is lashing out, taking its fight  and its struggle for supremacy among jihadists  global. Europe has emerged as a key battleground.

Working with Western and Iraqi partners, American forces have pushed back the Islamic State. The group has lost an estimated 40 percent of its territory in Iraq and 20 percent in Syria from its peak in the summer of 2014. Major cities like Ramadi have been reclaimed, and Mosul, the Islamic States de facto capital in Iraq, may be next. American military officials say that the group has lost more than ten thousand fighters.

These losses hurt the Islamic State twice over. The control of territory and the establishment of a caliphate is one of the big differences between the Islamic State and jihadist organizations that have preceded it. Qaeda leaders have long opposed such a move, arguing that it is premature, even foolhardy. The Islamic State, however, has gained legitimacy and popularity among radical Muslims by creating a state where they can live under their interpretation of Islamic law. Losing territory is a blow to its ambitions and legitimacy.
If my work was as good as an Hermes bag, or sold as much, well, that would be nice! jokes the photographer Doug Dubois. But Hermes has offered a different kind of validation for Duboiss intimate portraiture: Cory Jacobs, whos served as the labels go-to photography curator for the last seven years, has curated Duboiss first midcareer survey, In Good Time, which opens this week at the Aperture Foundation in New York.

Dubois became a subject of interest to the French fashion house, and its creative-support nonprofit the Hermes Foundation, about a year and a half ago, when Jacobs attended a presentation of Duboiss latest series, My Last Day at Seventeen, which Aperture had just published as a monograph. The series  of Irish teenagers from a working-class housing estate named Russell Heights in the city of Cobh  was taken when Dubois was an artist-in-residence there at the Sirius Arts Centre in 2009. If you asked them what they first thought of me, theyd all say, a perv, he says of the teens there, emphasizing the point with an expletive unprintable here. But things took a turn, so much so that Dubois returned to Ireland to study his subjects further. I developed an ensemble of young adults, who over five summers I would photograph repeatedly, he explains of these teenagers, who grew up in a rare time in Ireland where there was a strong economy. But then as they come of age, it all collapses. That threshold is really interesting; I wanted that tension to always be there.

Ultra vivid and punchy with mood, the series nonetheless feels somehow distant  but everything about Duboiss work is inherently intimate. I spend a lot of time with people photographing; you just have to be there, he says. I always call it choreography with another person, he says. He equates these up-close-and-personal glimpses to creative nonfiction: Everything is based on truth, but in my case folded into very conscious allusion, like cinema, even fashion. All images reference each other.

Also included in his exhibition are two older bodies of work: the two-part All the Days and Nights, 1984-90 and 1999-2008, and Avella, 1990-95, which explore his own familial ties. A lot of my photos, starting with my family work, are collaborative, he explains. For the later installment of All Days, Dubois drafted narratives for the photos: Its more and more something thats constructed, he says, adding that he didnt always get the shot on the first try. My mother and I would make appointments. Sometimes it takes four or five tries over a period of a few months.
For the designer Kathryn Bentley, jewelry is as much about sculpture as it is fashion, thanks to a background in academic fine art and an affinity for raw materials. Her brand and four-year-old store in Silver Lake, Dream Collective, is evidence of her magpie eye, and serves as an indicator of her latest influences: She stocks everything from stoneware peace pipes by the artist Ben Medansky to the cult perfume range by Coqui Coqui. I am rarely looking at other jewelry, she says. Art is my inspiration. And how things are made  the actual hands-on part of it. Thats what is interesting for me.

After graduating from New Yorks School of Visual Arts in 2001, she worked for the New York-based jewelry designer Philip Crangi before relocating to Los Angeles in 2008. She landed in a Craftsman fourplex in Silver Lake; her neighbors were Roman Alonso, of the then-emerging design studio Commune, who gave her freelance work, and the bag designer Clare Vivier, with whom she went on to share a studio. Eventually, Bentley took over the space and transformed it into the Dream Collective shop, which she opened in 2012.

Image Dream Collective, Bentleys Silver Lake store. Credit... Courtesy of Dream Collective

The following year she moved to Montecito Heights, a quiet, hilly neighborhood a few miles east of Silver Lake. It was her version of going electric  both professionally and domestically. What I had been making at the time just happened to be the thing, and suddenly my jewelry was everywhere, she says, referring to the mystical symbols she used in her jewelry when she first launched her diffusion brand. (She also has a fine jewelry line.) I was like, please, no more snakes and evil eyes  can we move on? So she did. I went less antiquated and Old World  and my house reflects that too. Before, I had a lot of Navajo rugs and could not miss a flea market. Now, the design is clean; it speaks for itself.
MIAMI  When Floridas largest power company added two nuclear reactors to an existing plant that sat between two national parks  Biscayne Bay and the Everglades  the decision raised the concerns of environmentalists and some government officials about the possible effects on water quality and marine life.

Now more than four decades later, Florida Power & Lights reactors at Turkey Point, built to satisfy the power needs of a booming Miami, are facing their greatest crisis. A recent study commissioned by the county concluded that Turkey Points old cooling canal system was leaking polluted water into Biscayne Bay.

This has raised alarm among county officials and environmentalists that the plant, which sits on the coastline, is polluting the bays surface waters and its fragile ecosystem. In the past two years, bay waters near the plant have had a large saltwater plume that is slowly moving toward wells several miles away that supply drinking water to millions of residents in Miami and the Florida Keys.

Samples of the water at various depths and sites around the power plant showed elevated levels of salt, ammonia, phosphorous and tritium, a radioactive isotope that is found in nature but also frequently associated with nuclear power plants. The tritium, which was found in doses far too low to harm people, serves as a marker for scientists, enabling them to track the flow of canal water out from under the plant and into the bay. The tritium levels in December and January were much higher than they should be in ocean water.
WASHINGTON  When Donald J. Trump finally began to reveal the names of his foreign policy advisers during a swing through Washington this week, the Republican foreign policy establishment looked at them and had a pretty universal reaction: Who?

Many foreign policy experts have been wondering for months about who might be counseling the leading Republican presidential candidate, who has unfurled such provocative proposals as reinstating waterboarding and barring foreign Muslims from entering the country.

Mr. Trump has promised to hire the worlds brightest minds to make up for his lack of political experience, but his new foreign policy team left some of the countrys leading experts in the field scratching their heads as they tried to identify his choices. And on a day when the Islamic State struck a blow to a major European capital, Mr. Trumps new team faced additional scrutiny.

Many of us who have held senior positions in previous Republican administrations have been asking each other if we have ever heard of them, and pretty much everybody is turning to Google to see what they can find, said Mike Green, a foreign policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who served on President George W. Bushs National Security Council.
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump overwhelmed their rivals in the Arizona primaries on Tuesday, a show of might from two presidential front-runners who are hoping to avoid prolonging the nominating contest and begin training their fire on each other.

But Senator Bernie Sanders thrashed Mrs. Clinton in the Idaho and Utah Democratic caucuses, demonstrating his enduring appeal among liberal activists even as she closes in on the partys nomination. And Senator Ted Cruz, who won the Republican contest in Utah, captured more than 50 percent of the vote, giving him all 40 of the states delegates and sustaining hope among Mr. Trumps opponents that he can be slowed, if not stopped.

Mrs. Clintons commanding victory in Arizona, where 75 Democratic delegates were at stake, gave her the nights biggest prize, and her margin there was substantial enough that Mr. Sanders was unlikely to emerge with significantly more delegates, though he took two states to her one.

Speaking to supporters in Seattle after winning Arizona, Mrs. Clinton looked past her primary. She used her remarks mainly to address the terrorist assault on Brussels and turned toward an attack on Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, the two leading Republican contenders.
WASHINGTON  The United States and its allies have spent nearly 20 months bombing the Islamic State in classic military style  barraging Syria and Iraq in an effort to dislodge the group from its seat of power.

The campaign has produced a drumbeat of Pentagon news releases about how much territory that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has lost and how many of its fighters have been killed. White House officials have made optimistic projections that its most important strongholds could fall by the end of the year.

But Tuesdays grisly attacks in Brussels pointed out a daunting reality: As the United States is consumed with the war in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has chosen the capitals of Western Europe to score military victories of its own, and has been aided by a combination of porous borders and a calcified security apparatus in Europe that many say is ill equipped to stop sophisticated attacks.

Western intelligence officials once debated whether the Islamic State might adopt the tactics of earlier generations of terrorist networks  Al Qaeda, in particular  or whether the group might eschew attacks on the West in favor of building its caliphate in Iraq and Syria. The carnage in Paris in November and now in Brussels has put those debates to rest, and those who have studied the group say much of its danger lies in how little it seems to care about whom it kills, or where.
WASHINGTON  Ten hours before terrorists struck Brussels, Donald J. Trump was on television describing his strategy for confronting the Islamic State: He would pound it with airstrikes, but any ground action must be taken by the United States partners in the region. He did not mention, if he knew, that this was a pretty close approximation of President Obamas approach.

But then Mr. Trump went further, saying that the American contribution to NATO  whose headquarters is in Brussels, smack between the airport and the subway station bombed by the Islamic State on Tuesday  should be scaled back.

It was a surprising signal to Europe at a moment when it is under attack, and a vivid reminder of the risks of running for president in an age of terrorism: What sounds reasonably cautious in the evening can ring weak or strategically incoherent by morning.

Most presidential candidates, with rare exceptions, are tempted to adopt far more hawkish stances on the campaign trail than presidents do in the Oval Office, where they must confront the realities of building coalitions, sorting through conflicting intelligence and pursuing comprehensive counterterrorism programs. But in the current atmosphere, a strike like the one on Tuesday in Brussels rekindles every debate about whether the United States should use diplomacy, isolation or military might.
WASHINGTON  An American airstrike on Tuesday killed dozens of fighters at a mountainous training camp used by the Yemeni affiliate of Al Qaeda, Pentagon officials said, the latest sign that the military is hastening its strikes against militants in the Middle East and Africa.

The attack followed an airstrike this month on a training camp in Somalia that killed about 150 militants from the Islamist group the Shabab. They were believed to have assembled for a graduation ceremony.

In the Yemen strike, officials said more than 70 fighters from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the affiliate is known, had been using the camp.

We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of A.Q.A.P. fighters have been removed from the battlefield, Peter Cook, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. This strike deals a blow to A.Q.A.P.s ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten U.S. persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating Al Qaeda and denying it safe haven.
MONROVIA, Liberia  Liberia closed its border with Guinea on Tuesday as a precaution against the spread of Ebola after at least four deaths from the virus in Guinea, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe said.

Liberia was declared free of new transmissions of the virus in January.

We have ordered the border with Guinea closed with immediate effect, Mr. Nagbe said. The border will remain closed until the situation in Guinea improves. We are not taking any chance at all.

The Ebola virus has killed about 11,300 people in the two countries plus Sierra Leone since late 2013.

New cases have dwindled virtually to zero, but the World Health Organization has warned of flare-ups, or emerging clusters, of new cases.
I think there are works that are pretty frontal about the context of race in America, for example, but then there are works that are really going to complicate what you think those other supposedly straightforward ones are actually saying, he said on a recent break from installing the exhibition at the Studio Museum, dressed warmly against the unaccustomed New York chill, with a scarf wrapped around his neck.

Mr. McMillians mother worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a job that could be politically fraught, especially in the South, and his father was a bus driver. He received a degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and was aiming for a business career. But on Aug. 28, 1999, the date he considers the beginning of his life as an artist, he faxed the business school that had accepted him to say he would not be arriving for orientation; he was headed to art school instead. It was a really bitter pill to swallow for my parents, but even in a way for me, he said. I mean, you usually go to college to try to do better economically than your parents.

For many years, he added, I knew I had nothing to lose, and I was just acquiring more and more debt, and that helped me make work that was really honest, only the work I really wanted to make. (His fortunes have been looking up in recent years; he is represented by two prestigious galleries, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects and Maccarone in New York. That scavenged chair now resides in a private collection in Berlin, where it is kept in a special climate-controlled environment.)

Naima J. Keith, the curator of the Studio Museum show  which also includes huge, painting-like works made from old wall-to-wall carpets, marked deeply by decades of stains and foot tracks  said that she saw Mr. McMillians reliance on domestic objects as a brave and, at times, risky choice. I think hes very sensitive, as an African-American artist, about things being read with too much of an autobiographical perspective, she said, because its much more complicated than that.

During a walk-through of the Studio Museum show, Mr. McMillian did allow that the couch had once been his, after passing through other living rooms first. And after some coaxing, he acknowledged that a nearby refrigerator had once been his, too. But its no longer functional. Theres a raw, gaping hole in the freezer door, which represents, he said, a kind of portal to another dimension, drawing on his interest in science fiction and the possibilities such literature has always presented for parallel worlds and transformation.

It was on its last legs, and I just sort of took it to the other side, he said of the fridge, grinning faintly. With an ax.

Such work can be seen many ways, though one will inevitably be as a portrait of the fabric of contemporary American society. It feels like that fabric is very fragile right now, he said, and all it would take would be one string to pull it all apart. But maybe that would be a good thing  a time that could lead to some kind of radical change.
A thirst for revenue at all costs drove traders at Credit Suisse to take large, risky positions, catching top executives off guard and forcing them to accelerate cost-cutting over the next three years, the banks chief executive said on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse is also planning to shrink its investment bank further. The steps announced on Wednesday are part of an effort by the chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, to turn around the Swiss banking giant in a difficult market.

Trading conditions have been particularly unfavorable over the last few months and did not improve much in the first quarter, as markets around the world reeled. Credit Suisse, which has large operations in New York and London, said part of the problem in its trading results was outsized positions in risky and hard-to-sell securities.

During a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Mr. Thiam said the size of the positions on the banks trading book was a surprise for a number of people and was not a widely known fact. Top executives, including himself, became aware of them only in January, months after they first outlined a plan to refocus the company on less volatile businesses.
Joshua B. Newman, the serial fitness entrepreneur with the knack for self-promotion, is now a felon.

Mr. Newman, 36, pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Newark on Wednesday to one count of wire fraud in a scheme that authorities said bilked at least 30 investors out of about $3.1 million.

The guilty plea stands in stark contrast to the portrait Mr. Newman had painted of himself as a successful investor, film producer and promoter of several CrossFit training centers in the metropolitan New York area.

But Mr. Newmans career, which he started while he was still a student at Yale, was checkered by a long list of debts and unpaid judgments to friends and acquaintances.
Howard B. Schiller, the former chief financial officer and a current board member of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, refuses to leave quietly, and a quirk in the laws makes it likely that he will be around a bit longer.

Valeants board has accused him of improper conduct related to a pending Valeant accounting restatement. Mr. Schiller has stood his ground. He has not only denied the charges but has refused to resign from the Valeant board.

It makes for an uncomfortable situation at the struggling drug maker. But Valeant is stuck.

As you may recall, Valeant got a head start as part of the first wave of tax inversion deals in 2010, moving its place of incorporation from Delaware to British Columbia, Canada, through a merger with a rival drug maker. At the time, shareholders seemingly cheered this move to lower the companys taxes. This advantage allowed Valeant to engage in a robust acquisitions strategy that doubled its size.

Unfortunately, shareholders did not appreciate that they were buying into a different governance system. In some respects, this is a not a significant issue for Valeant. The Canadian system is broadly more shareholder-friendly than the American one, limiting takeover defenses such as the poison pill, for example.
Clean Line has five projects in the works, including one that failed to gain approval in Iowa and another that ran aground in Arkansas and is awaiting federal approval under a thus-far unused provision of the 2005 Energy Policy Act. TransWest Express, a connector that the billionaire Philip Anschutz is proposing to install from the enormous wind farm he is developing on his south-central Wyoming cattle ranch to Las Vegas, is also awaiting a federal go-ahead.

But some energy officials and executives say there is a more dynamic and resilient alternative to these sprawling networks. Instead, they are promoting the development of less centralized systems that link smaller power installations, including rooftop solar, storage and electric vehicles, an approach known as distributed generation.

Conflict over those competing visions has cropped up across the country in fights over both wind and solar developments, but nowhere is that conflict starker than in Missouris rejection of Grain Belt.

The transmission line, which could create thousands of temporary manufacturing and construction jobs in the state, attracted strong support among some economic development officials and landowners. They saw it as a chance to bring needed revenue to local counties and school districts, as well as to provide extra income for those whose land it crosses.

Im wanting to make sure that my local district has the assets to be able to do what they need to do, said Wayne Wilcox, 68, who runs a farm that has been in his family since 1884 and is a commissioner in Randolph County. I just believe a project like this brings a lot of good to a community.

But opponents flooded the state Public Service Commission with thousands of comments against the proposal. Among the objections was granting Clean Line eminent domain so it could profit from shipping electricity to energy-hungry regions that command higher power prices. In addition, opponents say that the lines can interrupt farming operations, pierce the country quiet with humming or popping sounds and pollute the nights with a glow.
Woodside Petroleum and its partners, including the energy giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP, have decided to delay indefinitely the development of a huge liquefied natural gas project off Western Australia, the company said on Wednesday.

The decision to postpone the project, called Browse, comes as L.N.G. prices in Asia have fallen by around two-thirds since 2014. The slump is attributed to a supply glut set off largely by a building boom and by lower-than-expected demand from major customers like China.

The move raises questions on the viability of other large L.N.G. projects in Australia and elsewhere, wrote Neil Beveridge, an analyst at Bernstein Research in Hong Kong, in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Weve got a glut of supply coming into the market at a time of weak demand, Mr. Beveridge said in an interview.
There were other actors as well, like Harvey Keitel, who went there with a date early on, using the occasion to try out a long-coveted belted leather trench coat like the ones he used to see in movies about World War II but was nervous to wear himself.

I thought Nows the perfect time, because no ones around on the street, Mr. Keitel said. So I put on the trench coat, I go down to the Odeon, and theres a guy sitting there in a booth on the opposite side of the bar, and he looks at me and he says, Harv. Real slow. I peer down and its Jack Nicholson. And the next thing out of his mouth is Youre wearing a leather trench coat? That was the first and last time I ever wore it.

Another evening that didnt end so well was a party celebrating the gallerist Mary Boones 30th birthday, with the sort of crowd that she described in New York glitterati shorthand as everybody.

This meant a pile of big artists, among them David Salle, Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Sometime during the course of the evening, Mr. Schnabel and Mr. Basquiat went downstairs to the bathrooms and decided to do a little art project of their own, soaking all the toilet paper in the toilet bowls, after which they threw them up on the walls.

Like snowballs, Ms. Boone said, describing perhaps the duos only creative efforts from that time not to be sold later on by her or Mr. Gagosian, another super-gallerist regular at the Odeon, for millions of dollars.

Keith just threw us out, Ms. Boone said. We didnt get to have birthday cake.

Over the next few years, the Odeons supremacy (a downtown Elaines, is how the publisher Morgan Entrekin put it) only seemed to increase. Keith Haring began coming in, as did Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe and Calvin Klein.
Lapin a la moutarde (rabbit in mustard sauce) is a grandmotherly French classic that has not yet had a wide revival among those New York restaurants that have made a fetish of pork belly and foie gras.

But there it appeared on the menu of Lucien, a sturdy little bistro near the corner of First Avenue and First Street, and shortly after, it was placed in front of Arnaud Vaillant, a Frenchman in jeans and a hoodie. Mr. Vaillant, 26, and his boyfriend and partner, Sebastien Meyer, 27, the artistic directors of Courreges, the landmark French label, were in town for to celebrate the return of the line to Bergdorf Goodman.

I have to give them credit, they moved it forward, said Linda Fargo, the senior vice president of Bergdorfs, at a party earlier that evening at their pop-up on the stores fifth floor, where their vinyl jackets and minidresses stood alongside giant signs reading, TOP, SKIRT and JACKET.
LONDON  Last December, Hunter  the British wet-weather brand  announced that it was giving up its slot on the London Fashion Week schedule.

To some, Hunters move came as a surprise. The brand, best known as a leading manufacturer of the Wellington boot, had completed just four seasons of shows, all by the creative director Alasdhair Willis, husband of the fashion designer Stella McCartney. While not a favorite of the fashion critics, the companys playful runway shows (inspired by music festivals, where wellies are a wardrobe staple) generated lots of reaction on social media.

But in the months since that announcement, that decision has proved a prescient one. Other brands, including Burberry, Tom Ford and Diane von Furstenberg, have all unveiled significant strategic shifts away from the accepted fashion-show system as the industry grapples with the challenges posed by the growing consumer demand for immediate gratification.
But a visit to TurnStyle last week left me almost convinced that Ms. Fine had achieved her stated goal  almost, because it will be impossible to judge fairly until it fills with as many as 90,000 pedestrians every weekday. (The passageway is outside the fare zone, so it costs nothing to enter.)

Image TurnStyle businesses will be required by their leases to remain open at least 12 hours a day, and are expected to serve up to 90,000 passengers on weekdays. Credit... Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

TurnStyles closest retail cousin is probably Grand Central Market. And that is more than a coincidence, since Ms. Fine was the director of real estate at the transit authority during the redevelopment of Grand Central Terminal.

What is appealing about TurnStyle is the density, variety and clarity of the space, designed by Thaddeus Briner and his colleagues at Architecture Outfit. The central public corridor is 27 feet wide, tight enough that a passer-by is conscious of storefronts on both sides. It is a small-scale evocation of a busy shopping street.

But not too busy. An enclosed conveyor belt has been constructed along one of the stairways to deliver goods and remove garbage without convoys of hand trucks.

Some dining spots will open fully to the passageway, with security gates that fold inconspicuously into side pockets. Tenants whose stores have solid glass facades cannot cover the windows with signs, or fill them with products that obscure views, according to the terms of the lease.

Spaces range from 219 square feet (Doughnuttery) to 780 square feet (the Gastronomie 491 market). Businesses are required by their leases to remain open at least 12 hours a day, Ms. Fine said. She said her goal was to keep TurnStyle open every day except Sunday.
The Brooklyn district attorneys office announced on Wednesday that it would not seek prison time for the former New York City police officer convicted last month in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in a housing project in East New York.

In a statement, the district attorney, Ken Thompson, said the case was about justice and not about revenge, and urged that the former officer, Peter Liang, receive five years of probation, including six months of home confinement, when he is sentenced next month.

Mr. Liang, 28, who was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, could be sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison.

Mr. Liang has no prior criminal history and poses no future threat to public safety, Mr. Thompson said. Because his incarceration is not necessary to protect the public, and due to the unique circumstances of this case, a prison sentence is not warranted.
AT a recent awards ceremony at the Kremlin for scientists, artists and public intellectuals, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia couldnt help but recount his countrys achievements. But he also offered a word of caution. We still have a lot of unsolved problems and questions, he said. It is certainly no time for us to be dizzy with success.

Dont be deceived by such expressions of humility. Many Russians view Mr. Putin as highly successful  and the president himself very much agrees. His approval rating has reached levels upward of 80 percent for nearly two years, and few, certainly none at a Kremlin event, are making a public case for redefining or even amending the notion of what constitutes a Moscow leaders success.

Take the economy. Throughout the years of oil-driven growth, economic performance was a measure of success. No longer. Russian officials project that the economy will contract 1 percent to 1.5 percent this year, provided oil prices stay within the $35-$40 range per barrel, after having shrunk 3.7 percent in 2015. Growth isnt expected to arrive until 2017  and only if the price of oil averages $52 or more a barrel, by no means a certainty.

The news gets worse. Real incomes are falling for the second year now. The countrys infrastructure is in terrible shape, while investment is going down for the fourth year in a row. People are losing jobs and Russia is losing talent. But even if some people recognize these things as failures, they are not generally viewed as Mr. Putins responsibility. The outcomes may be unpopular but the decisions that caused them are not.
To the Editor:

Re Brussels Attacks Shake European Security; Heightened Fear of Intelligence Failures (front page, March 23):

Last Tuesday, at 8 a.m., I checked in at the Brussels airport for a trip from my home to New York. Exactly a week later, at exactly the same location, at the same time and the same day, terrorists killed or wounded more than 250 people.

It scared me, and it saddened me, that such a horrible thing could happen so close to my familys home. But like many other Belgians, I couldnt say it surprised me. Many of us are familiar with the failings of immigration, law enforcement and justice in our country.

Yet it seems unjust to me to hint at Belgium as the wealthiest failed state or our intelligence as weak. The truth is that the threat we face is enormous and that no single state, especially a small one, can fend it off alone.

Rather than passing the blame, as many Belgians feel has happened after the Paris attacks, or deriding a small country for its insurmountable shortcomings, as I feel happened here, wed be better off forming a united front.
To the Editor:

Re Whats Next for Both Parties (editorial, March 16):

Surely the alternatives in a Republican brokered convention are not limited to current presidential candidates. Why not Michael Bloomberg? He does not want to run as an independent because of the risk of throwing the election to the House of Representatives, and possibly to Donald Trump. But surely he would be willing to run as the Republican candidate?

And with Hillary Clintons relatively low popularity on the Democratic side, Mr. Bloomberg would have a good chance of drawing enough votes from both parties to win the presidency.

P.S. My wife adds: It would be nice if he could also seek the Democratic nomination, and run as the candidate of both parties.

ZVI J. DORON

Pittsburgh

To the Editor:

As these primaries slog onward, I find I dont want to elect a new president nearly as much as I want to elect a new citizenry.
Risky rats gambled on the iffier lever more than half the time. Risk-averse rats were strongly influenced by their last choice; if they picked the risky lever and received a trickle, they picked the consistent lever next time.

Some are very sensitive to losing, and if they take a risky option and lose, theyre very likely to not go back to it again, said Paul Phillips, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Washington and a co-author of a commentary about the study. Thats very common in human behavior. An analogy is a slot machine in Vegas.

To identify the brain location involved in these decisions, the researchers gave rats a drug used to treat Parkinsons disease, pramipexole, marketed as Mirapex, which acts on D2 receptors and seems to dampen some patients ability to restrain risk-seeking behavior. Risk-averse rats receiving pramipexole turned into risk-taking rats, but the drug had much greater effects when piped directly into the nucleus accumbens than when it was administered to another brain area researchers had thought might be involved.

The scientists used a technique Dr. Deisseroth helped invent fiber photometry, which uses light particles to track activity of neurons tagged with certain proteins. They found that neurons in the nucleus accumbens with D2 receptors transmitted a signal when rats were making their decisions. That signal was much larger if the choice the rat had made had just had been a loser, yielding just a dribble of sucrose. The signal only spiked in non-risky rats, however; it was negligible in rats that always gambled for the sucrose windfall.

So, what to do with those risky rats? Using optogenetics, which Dr. Deisseroth also helped develop, the team stimulated nucleus accumbens neurons with D2 receptors at the very moment of the fateful food-lever decision. That caused the receptors to send strong loss signals to the rats, apparently making them weigh recent losses more heavily, and prompting them to play it safe with their next lever choice.

It turns out you can explain a large part of whether rats were risky or not by this particular signal at this particular time, Dr. Deisseroth said. We saw it happen, and then we were able to provide that signal, and then see that we could drive the behavior causally.
In the cloud computing business, Googles technology prowess is rarely questioned. Its commitment, however, has been doubted.

Google, which trails Amazon and Microsoft in the fast-growing market, hopes to change the industry perception that it is halfhearted about its cloud computing service with product announcements, technology demonstrations and strategy briefings at a two-day conference in San Francisco that began on Wednesday.

The company is showcasing its cloud software for machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence. It has a new speech service: Feed in audio, and the software issues a transcript. Its recently introduced vision service for identifying images also will be more broadly available soon, Google said. And new tools and training aids are available to help developers build machine-learning applications more easily.

These are the first significant steps since Diane B. Greene, a respected Silicon Valley technologist, became senior vice president in charge of Googles cloud business in November. Ms. Greene is a co-founder and former chief executive of VMware, whose software is widely used in corporate data centers. She knows the enterprise computing business, which has not been Googles strength.
Before we get to why many on-demand apps have struggled to achieve mass-market prices, it is important to remember why anyone ever thought they could: because Uber did it. The ride-hailing company that is valued by investors at more than $60 billion began as a luxury service. The magic of Uber was that it used its growth to keep cutting its prices and expand its service. Uber shifted from a convenient alternative to luxury cars to an alternative to taxis to, now, a credible alternative to owning a car.

Investors saw Ubers success as a template for Ubers for everything. The industry went through a period where we said, lets look at any big service industry, stick on-demand on it, and weve got an Uber, said Hunter Walk, a venture capitalist at the firm Homebrew, which has invested in at least one on-demand company, the shipping service Shyp.

But Ubers success was in many ways unique. For one thing, it was attacking a vulnerable market. In many cities, the taxi business was a customer-unfriendly protectionist racket that artificially inflated prices and cared little about customer service. The opportunity for Uber to become a regular part of peoples lives was huge. Many people take cars every day, so hook them once and you have repeat customers. Finally, cars are the second-most-expensive things people buy, and the most frequent thing we do with them is park. That monumental inefficiency left Uber ample room to extract a profit even after undercutting what we now pay for cars.

But how many other markets are there like that? Not many. Some services were used frequently by consumers, but werent that valuable  things related to food, for instance, offered low margins. Other businesses funded in low-frequency and low-value areas were a trap, Mr. Walk said.

Another problem was that funding distorted on-demand businesses. So many start-ups raised so much cash in 2014 and 2015 that they were freed from the pressure of having to make money on each of their orders. Now that investor appetite for on-demand companies has cooled, companies have been forced to return sanity to their business, sometimes by raising prices.

Look at grocery shopping. Last year the grocery-delivery start-up Instacart lowered prices because it thought it could extract extra revenue from supermarket chains, which were attracted to the new business Instacart was bringing in.
HOTCHKISS, Colo.  This mountain town of coal miners and organic farmers wasted no time in saying no to marijuana. After Colorados 2012 vote legalizing marijuana, local leaders concerned about crime and the character of their tranquil downtown twice voted to ban the recreational and medical pot shops springing up in other towns.

But then coal crumbled. One mine here in the North Fork Valley has shut down amid a wave of coal bankruptcies and slowdowns, and another has announced that it will go dark. The closings added to a landscape of layoffs and economic woes concussing mining-dependent towns from West Virginia to Wyoming. And as Hotchkiss searches for a new economic lifeline, some people are asking: What about marijuana?

If we could get it legalized right now, we could create some jobs, and we need the tax revenue, said Thomas Wills, a town trustee who runs a used-book store and supports allowing some marijuana stores. Downtowns not going to be all flashing green crosses and dancing marijuana leaves. You can make it as unobtrusive as you want.
An independent panel has concluded that disregard for the concerns of poor and minority people contributed to the governments slow response to complaints from residents of Flint, Mich., about the foul and discolored water that was making them sick, determining that the crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice.

The panel, which was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder in October, when he first urged Flints nearly 100,000 residents to stop drinking the citys tap water, laid blame for the water problems at the feet of government employees on every level.

Its report was released at a news conference Wednesday in Flint.

It particularly focused on state employees: analysts in charge of supervising water quality, state-appointed emergency managers who prized frugality over public safety, and staff members in the governors office who adopted a whack a mole attitude to beat away persistent reports of problems.

But the report also concluded that, The facts of the Flint water crisis lead us to the inescapable conclusion that this is a case of environmental injustice.
Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida who left the presidential race after the South Carolina primary, endorsed Ted Cruz on Wednesday, becoming the most prominent member of the Republican establishment to support the Texas senator as he tries to slow Donald J. Trumps efforts to capture the presidential nomination.

The endorsement came as aides to Mr. Cruz, who is unliked by much of the Republican leadership and many of his Senate colleagues, have been courting high-profile supporters to bolster his candidacy. The Cruz campaign has also sought support from Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who dropped out of the race after losing his home state to Mr. Trump on March 15.

In a statement, Mr. Bush called Mr. Cruz a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.

He added, For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies.
Republicans desperate to stop Donald J. Trump from capturing the presidential nomination increased the pressure Wednesday on Gov. John Kasich of Ohio to quit the race, with Jeb Bush joining the growing number of party figures throwing their weight behind Senator Ted Cruz.

Mr. Kasich refused, saying that he, not the Texas senator, was the best option to stop Mr. Trump. But his argument was undercut by his dismal showings Tuesday in Utah and Arizona, where he won no delegates  as well as by the surprise endorsement Wednesday morning by Mr. Bush of Mr. Cruz.

Mr. Bush, who dropped out of the presidential race last month, is the latest mainstream Republican  following Mitt Romney and Senator Lindsey Graham  who is ideologically closer to Mr. Kasich, but whose embrace of Mr. Cruz is a strategic calculation that he has a better shot at stopping Mr. Trump.

In a statement, Mr. Bush called Mr. Cruz a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.
WASHINGTON  Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican facing a difficult re-election fight in a Democratic-leaning state, said Wednesday that he would meet with Judge Merrick B. Garland, an apparent response to calls for him to consider President Obamas Supreme Court nominee.

One day after Pennsylvanias other senator, Bob Casey, met with Judge Garland, Mr. Toomey said that at the request of White House officials he would sit down with the nominee as a courtesy. But Mr. Toomey emphasized that he had not changed his mind about opposing Judge Garlands confirmation to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month.

The vacancy left by Justice Scalias passing will not be filled until after the American people weigh in and select a new president, and I believe that is the best approach for deciding whether to alter the balance of the Supreme Court, he said in a statement. I plan on making that clear to Judge Garland when I meet with him.
WASHINGTON  In an address billed as an examination of the future of politics, Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin on Wednesday admonished politicians in both parties for debasing political discourse, urging candidates to lift their gaze toward matters of serious policy and to strive for civility.

It was a familiar role for the speaker: He has become something of a Washington scold, deploring desultory campaigns and ill manners. Looking around at whats taking place in politics today, it is so easy to get disheartened, Mr. Ryan told an audience of House interns assembled for the speech. How many of you find yourself just shaking your head at what you see from both sides of the aisle these days?

In the most striking part of his speech, Mr. Ryan faulted himself for having referred to the makers and takers in society when he was the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2012.

As I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized I was wrong, said Mr. Ryan, who has made attacking poverty a central goal of the House.
ST. LOUIS  On Tuesday night, a group of Republican and Republican-leaning voters here had a decision to make about Donald J. Trump.

They were asked: What campaign theme song would best capture his candidacy?

The voters, who were participating in a focus group, came up with a hit parade of rock anthems. Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Eye of the Tiger. We Are The Champions.

Hells Bells.

Finally, someone suggested Takin Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and the whole room began nodding.

The people of the United States are disillusioned or fed up with the way government is being run, said Gabrielle Ritter, 39, an independent who is a stay-at-home mother. So I think that that could be why Trump is so appealing, is that he comes across as someone who is very decisive and just, Anything you got, throw it at me, I can take care of it.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court weighed moral theology and parsed insurance terminology on Wednesday in an extended and animated argument that seemed to leave the justices sharply divided over what the government may do to require employers to provide free insurance coverage for contraception to female workers.

A 4-to-4 tie appeared to be a real possibility, which would automatically affirm the four appeals court decisions under review.

All four ruled that religious groups seeking to opt out of the requirement that they pay for the coverage must sign forms and provide information that would shift the cost to insurance companies and the government. A tie vote in the Supreme Court would not set a national precedent, and religious groups in different parts of the country would have conflicting obligations if they object to covering contraception.

Other appeals courts have also agreed that the accommodation offered to religious groups is lawful. But the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which hears cases from federal courts in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, ruled that it violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
Senator Ted Cruz on Wednesday relentlessly belittled the foreign policy acumen of Donald J. Trump, casting him as dangerous and ill prepared one day after the terrorist attacks in Brussels refocused the presidential race on issues of national security.

In a searing critique in an interview before a Manhattan rally, Mr. Cruz, of Texas, seized on Mr. Trumps suggestion that America should scale back its contribution to NATO, which has its headquarters in Brussels, calling the idea a monumental victory for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the Islamic State.

He mocked the so-called foreign policy advisers that Mr. Trump announced with some fanfare this week.

As I understand from the reporting, they havent met with Donald or even necessarily talked with Donald, Mr. Cruz said.
LOS ANGELES  The murder was grisly. A koala disappeared from the Los Angeles Zoo one night this month. Its body, mangled and bloody, was found the next morning on a nearby hillside.

Suspicion immediately fell on the areas most famous resident: a wild mountain lion, known as P-22, who has made a home in the rugged hills near the zoo in this citys Griffith Park since wandering from a nearby national recreation area in 2012.

The big cat had been caught on video roaming the zoo on the night of the attack. Besides, who else could have hopped the zoos nine-foot fence? Certainly not a coyote.
BUENOS AIRES  President Obama on Wednesday declared a fresh era of partnership between the United States and Argentina, saying he stood ready to support Mauricio Macri, the countrys new president, in his bid to improve the nations economy and credibility on the world stage.

Mr. Obama, the first American president to hold high-level talks with an Argentine leader in 20 years, used his visit to try to jump-start collaboration on defense and security issues, as well as energy and climate change.

The talks were part of Mr. Obamas push to show that his efforts to improve the United States standing in the region  including a diplomatic detente with Cuba, on display during his trip there this week  have succeeded after a period in which a leftist tide in Latin America cast the United States as a villain in the hemisphere.

The United States stands ready to work with Argentina through this historic transition in any way that we can, Mr. Obama told reporters, fielding questions beside Mr. Macri after they met at the Casa Rosada, the presidents office.
HAVANA  President Obama spoke of his Kenyan heritage. He talked about how both the United States and Cuba were built on the backs of slaves from Africa. He mentioned that not very long ago, his parents marriage would have been illegal in America, and he urged Cubans to respect the power of protest to bring about equality.

We want our engagement to help lift up Cubans who are of African descent, he said, who have proven theres nothing they cannot achieve when given the chance.

Mr. Obamas speech on Tuesday, in an ornate Spanish colonial-style hall in Havana, was not only strikingly personal. It was also an unusually direct engagement with race, a critical and unresolved issue in Cuban society that the revolution was supposed to have erased.

For many Cubans, Mr. Obamas comments were striking for their acknowledgment of racism in both countries. They served as a reminder that their particular kinship with him  as reflected in dozens of conversations and responses to his history-making three-day visit this week  involves not just policy, but also identity.
HONG KONG  A Japanese-Australian woman was sentenced on Wednesday to a 10-month jail term in Singapore over blog posts that besmirched foreigners in the city-state.

The woman, Ai Takagi, 23, pleaded guilty to four counts of sedition over the articles, posted on a website, called The Real Singapore, that she ran with her Singaporean husband, Yang Kaiheng. The articles were intended from the outset to provoke unwarranted hatred against foreigners in Singapore, District Judge Salina Ishak said on Wednesday, according to a copy of the oral grounds for her decision.

Ms. Takagi was a law student in Brisbane, Australia, while she edited the website. She was arrested last year while vacationing in Singapore. Mr. Yang also faces charges, and he is scheduled to go on trial next week. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ms. Takagi, who is eight weeks pregnant, apologized in court. I now know that the harmony which Singapore enjoys today requires careful and continuous efforts on the part of everyone, citizens and visitors alike, to maintain, she said.
BEIJING  Eight thousand miles is a long way to fly someone so he can tell you youre wrong.

Thats what awaits Chinese officials on Friday when Yi Fuxian, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, speaks at a panel on Chinas population policies at the Boao Forum, an annual gathering of hundreds of politicians, businesspeople, opinion leaders and journalists.

The day will mark a remarkable transition for Dr. Yi, from pariah to V.I.P. Six years ago, officials in his home province of Hunan threatened to arrest him if he returned from the United States, where he has lived since 1999, for helping his sister-in-law escape a forced abortion at seven months, he said in an interview in Beijing this week en route to the forum in Hainan Province. Also, his cousins wifes baby was killed in utero one week before the babys expected birth, he said. It was not possible to confirm Dr. Yis accounts, but they echo many confirmed ones.

Dr. Yi has a message for Boao: Because of Chinas birth control policies beginning in 1980, there is no way its economy will overtake that of the United States. Growth is already beginning to fall amid a distorted demographic structure, he said.

After the 1949 revolution, we had the advantages of having lots of young people, said Dr. Yi, who remains a Chinese citizen. But thats ending.
DHARAMSALA, India  It is often said that the lower the stakes, the more vicious the politics. And so it might be said of the just-concluded campaign for political leader of the Tibetan government in exile, which, given the exalted status of the Dalai Lama, was a bit like voting for the vice president to a sitting president.

The final round in the second election for a leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, as the exiled Tibetan government is known, concluded last weekend, though the results will not be known until April. Still, the proceedings showed just how hard it is to build a democracy under the leadership of a man who, though 80 years old, semiretired and dedicated to democratic principles, is revered as a Godlike figure by Tibetans.

Largely absent from the discussion in the campaign was the question of how to win freedom for the nearly six million Tibetans living in China, an issue that has consumed the exiled Tibetan community for almost six decades. It is viewed as disrespectful to the man the Tibetans call His Holiness to question the middle way strategy that he set in motion nearly 30 years ago, in which he softened his demand for independence, instead seeking self-governance within the Chinese government. It has been an effort to draw China into a dialogue that by most accounts has failed.

Instead, the election devolved into mudslinging and sycophancy. The hot topics were the audacity of the current political leader, Lobsang Sangay, who is running for re-election, to have his portrait displayed in the Washington office, and the drinking habits of his opponent, Penpa Tsering, the speaker of the exiled parliament.
KABUL, Afghanistan  In northern Afghanistan, a dispute over billboard portraits of the countrys vice president has inflamed tensions between two of the most powerful regional strongmen, exposing internal political strains even as the government faces a dire challenge from Taliban offensives.

On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters marched in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province, expressing outrage that photos of Abdul Rashid Dostum, the vice president and a northern Uzbek factional leader, had been removed from two large billboards in the heart of the city.

The demonstrators blamed the provinces governor and Mr. Dostums longtime rival, Atta Mohammad Noor, saying that the men who took down the photos were using official police vehicles at a time of tight security for the celebration of the Persian New Year.

Mr. Noor, whose supporters also took to the streets, denied the accusations. Nevertheless, the posturing has raised fears of a return to the kind of open factional hostilities that, at their worst, drove the countrys disastrous civil war in the 1990s. Militias aligned with the two officials continued to intermittently battle each other until 2003, when the United Nations conducted a disarmament campaign and Mr. Noor consolidated his power as governor of Balkh Province and its lucrative resources.
NEW DELHI  A journalist in eastern India was arrested after he posted a message on social media criticizing the police and calling for legal protections for reporters in the violence-scarred region, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The journalist, Prabhat Singh, who had worked for an Indian television network and had been posting news on social media sites after he was fired from the station, was detained on Monday in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh State, said Kishore Narayan, one of his lawyers. The post for which he was arrested was circulated on WhatsApp.

Mr. Singh was accused of circulating obscene material, Mr. Narayan said. In court on Tuesday, Mr. Singh said that he was beaten in police custody, Mr. Narayan said. The court denied his bail request.

A Maoist insurgency has been active for years in Indias tribal belt, which includes parts of Chhattisgarh. The rebels disrupt elections and frequently attack security officials. Human rights activists say that security officials trying to suppress the insurgency have committed human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.
SYDNEY, Australia  The authorities said Thursday that two pieces of debris found in Mozambique were highly likely to have come from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which has been missing for more than two years.

A third piece of debris, found in South Africa and bearing part of the logo from the engine maker Rolls-Royce, has yet to be analyzed.

Darren Chester, the Australian infrastructure and transport minister, said in a statement that an investigation team from Malaysia had found that both pieces of debris were consistent with panels from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft.

The analysis has concluded the debris is almost certainly from MH370, Mr. Chester said.

Martin Dolan, a commissioner at Australias Transport Safety Bureau, said there were no serial numbers on the two parts. But we are very certain these are from MH370, he said in a telephone interview.
LONDON  When the United States declared war on Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks, American leaders took the fight to the militant groups hide-outs in Afghanistan, a faraway and failing state, with an invasion and occupation.

But for Europes leaders, who now consider themselves at war with the Islamic State after large-scale terrorist attacks at home, the challenge is more complicated: The enemys hide-outs are ghettoized parts of Paris, Brussels and other European cities that amount to mini failed states inside their own borders.

While France and Britain have joined the United States in bombing Islamic State targets in the Syrian city of Raqqa and other areas controlled by the group, also known as ISIS and ISIL, Europe has faced a much harder time understanding and dealing with its own citizens who have abetted the Islamic States ascent. These are mostly third-generation Muslim immigrants, who have become radicalized in poor communities left to develop outside the national culture.

Those communities are incubators that figure prominently in the Islamic States two attacks on Paris since January 2015, and the bombing on Tuesday in Brussels.
What intelligence services in either country did with that information  and whether they shared it with one another other or neighboring countries  was not immediately clear.

Yet it is certain that the absence of inter-European help was deeply harmful not only in Brussels but also in staving off the massacres in Paris in November.

The Paris plotters slipped easily in and out of Europe, then hatched their plans in one country, Belgium, before carrying them out in another, France. Then one slipped across the border again, taking advantage of the openness that is foundational to the European Union.

We were victims of solidarity with the European Union, Mr. Delarue said of the Paris attacks.

We think there should be cooperation, he added. We rely on what the other countries give us. We are dependent on what they give us. And I dont think the Belgians gave us precise information.

A former top official with Frances external intelligence agency, Alain Juillet, said that the big lesson was to restore the frontiers and establish better cooperation.
BRUSSELS  The Brussels suicide bombers included two Belgium-born brothers with a violent criminal past and suspected links to plotters of the Islamic States Paris attacks last November, the authorities said on Wednesday, raising new alarms about Europes leaky defenses against a militant organization that has terrorized two European capitals with seeming impunity.

One of the brothers was deported by Turkey back to Europe less than a year ago, Turkeys president said, suspected of being a terrorist fighter intent on entering Syria, where the Islamic State is based. Despite that statement, Belgian officials said neither brother had been under suspicion for terrorism until recently, an indication of the Islamic States ability to remain steps ahead of European intelligence and security monitors.

At least 31 people as well as the suicide bombers died on Tuesday in the blasts  two at the Brussels international airport departure terminal from homemade bombs hidden in luggage, and one at a subway station about seven miles away in the heart of Brussels. The number of wounded climbed to 300 from 270 on Wednesday as the area slowly sought to recover from one of the deadliest peacetime assaults in Belgiums history.
PARIS  In the hours after the attacks in Brussels on Tuesday, many countries quickly added soldiers and police officers at airports and rail and subway stations, hoping to reassure passengers and deter other potential terrorists.

But despite a series of episodes in recent years that have targeted transportation hubs worldwide, security experts predict that the latest attacks will revive  but not resolve  a thorny public debate about the benefits of ever more costly and intensive screening systems meant to identify terrorists among the millions of people who travel each day.

Its always about achieving a balance between what is achievable and what is practical, said Norman Shanks, a consultant and former manager of airport security at Heathrow Airport near London.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, travelers worldwide have grown accustomed to measures scrutinizing everything they carry with them into an airport, from the soles of their shoes to shampoo bottles, for potential weapons or traces of explosives. But such measures have mainly been focused on preventing terrorists from carrying out an attack aboard an aircraft, rather than an attack on the airport itself.
When Olivier Delespesse, who was seldom late, did not show up for work on Tuesday, his colleagues said they began to worry. They made desperate appeals on Facebook to find him.

A day later, his friends and colleagues learned that Mr. Delespesse, a 45-year-old civil servant, had been killed in the terrorist attack at the Maelbeek subway station, where a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people during the morning rush hour.
The death of Mr. Hecht, one of the 31 people killed in the bombings, illustrates how both hope and misinformation can flourish in the echo chamber of social media after a terrorist attack. For the families and friends of those who died and of some of the additional 300 who were hurt, the hours have been marked by constant communication but relatively little useful information.

Pray for my best friend and her brother that were at the Brussels airport during the attacks, Alexa Eskinazi, a friend of a brother and sister who have not been heard from since they arrived at the airport, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. We still have not heard any news.

The authorities have asked for time to identify the victims, a process slowed in part, they say, by the condition of some bodies. But because the attacks occurred in the de facto capital of the European Union and the home of NATOs headquarters, more than the usual language and cultural barriers were present. People from as many as 40 nationalities were caught in the attacks, according to Didier Reynders, Belgiums foreign minister.
JERUSALEM  The young man was on his way out of Gaza on an innocent-seeming mission: to scout potential contestants for his embryonic Palestinians Got Talent television show and meet the shows West Bank staff in Ramallah. He had an Israeli permit for the journey.

But the Israeli authorities say the would-be impresario  Majd Oweida, 22  had been doing something sinister: spying for Iranian-backed extremists.

They arrested Mr. Oweida at the Erez checkpoint last month, and on Wednesday they charged him in an Israeli court with, among other things, hacking into computers at Israels international airport and intercepting transmissions from the countrys military drones.

The charge sheet says he was recruited by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group about five years ago. He soon became the groups cyber expert, the Israeli authorities said, and developed software that allowed Islamic Jihad to monitor road traffic and the movement of security forces in Israel; to view video images from Israeli air force drones in real time as they flew over Gaza; and to track flights in and out of Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv and see lists of the passengers on board.
Lately, the world of ballet has been scrutinized and criticized for two things: its lack of diversity and the paucity of female choreographers. Dance Theater of Harlem has the first one covered. This season, it will do something about the second.

Sitting behind her desk at this companys headquarters recently, the artistic director Virginia Johnson was eager to talk about two women in particular. One was Dianne McIntyre, the esteemed modern dance choreographer who has not only created her first ballet but also her first work on point. The other was Elena Kunikova, a Russian who is much admired for her teaching and staging of classical ballets. Both will present new works at City Center, where Dance Theater appears beginning on April 6.

These choreographers are part of the companys new initiative, Women Who Move Us, created to support new work by women. Its still early, but the program, funded by the Howard Gilman Foundation, could signal the start of a new artistic direction. The choice to commission these choreographers in this moment reveals something that Dance Theater has rarely shown in the years since its return in 2012 after an eight-year hiatus: the right combination of purpose and spirit.

Ms. McIntyres ballet, Change, a trio, explores issues of women and race by loosely evoking important female figures from historical times to the present. Dianne holds the world to a high standard, Ms. Johnson said. She wants to not just be making dances. She wants to bring truth to the stage. How beautiful is that? Because Ms. McIntyre comes from modern dance, her whole idiom and way of being is completely different, said Ms. Johnson, who believes that it is important for ballet dancers to understand a different way of moving and a different source for their work.
GIRLS AND SEX

Navigating the Complicated New Landscape

By Peggy Orenstein

303 pp. Harper. $26.99.

Theres a moment midway through Peggy Orensteins latest book that seems to sum up what its like to be a teenage girl right now. An economics major taking a gender studies class is getting dressed in her college dorm room for a night out, cheerfully discussing sexual stereotyping in advertising with Orenstein  while at the same time grabbing a miniskirt and a bottle of vodka, the better to achieve her evening goal: to get really drunk and make out with someone. You look hot, her friend tells her  and the student, apparently registering the oddness of the scene, turns to Orenstein. In my gender class Im all, That damned patriarchy,  she says. But . . . whats the point of a night if you arent getting attention from guys? Her ambition, she explains, is to be just slutty enough, where youre not a prude but youre not a whore. . . . Finding that balance is every college girls dream, you know what I mean?

Exactly how that got to be anyones dream is the subject of Girls and Sex, a thought-provoking if occasionally hand-wringing investigation by Orenstein, who in previous books has put classroom sexism, princess obsessions and other phenomena under her microscope. Be warned: Orenstein, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the mother of a preteen girl, begins her reporting worried by what shes heard about hookup culture  and ends it even more freaked out. Its not that girls are having so much sex (the percentage of high-schoolers who have had intercourse is actually dropping); even if they were, Orensteins careful to say she wouldnt judge, really. But the acts the girls are engaging in, from oral sex to sexting, tend to be staged, she argues, more for boys enjoyment than their own. For guys, she says, there is fun and pleasure; for girls (at least the straight ones), too little physical joy, too much regret and a general sense that the boys are in charge. Fully half the girls in Orensteins book say theyve been coerced into sex, and many had been raped  among them, by the way, that econ major, who was so confused that when her assailant dropped her off the next morning, she told him, Thanks, I had fun. The sexual playing field Orenstein describes is so tilted no girl could win.

I know, I know: Every generation thinks things have gotten more complicated since they were young (its one of those universally accepted parental truths, like the fact that kids dont go outside and play anymore). But the interesting question at the heart of Girls and Sex is not really whether things are better or worse for girls. Its why  at a time when women graduate from college at higher rates than men and are closing the wage gap  arent young women more satisfied with their most intimate relationships? When so much has changed for girls in the public realm, Orenstein writes, why hasnt more . . . changed in the private one?

Image Peggy Orenstein Credit... Michael Todd

To answer this question, Orenstein interviews more than 70 young women between the ages of 15 and 20. Some of the culprits she locates are more familiar than others: Theres pornography, which teaches boys to expect constantly willing, fully waxed partners, and girls to imitate all those arched backs and movie-perfect moans. (Sorry, male college students, but studies show that the percentage of your female peers who fake orgasm has been steadily rising.) There are the abstinence-only sex-ed programs of the last two decades, which she argues encourage shame and misinformation; and the unhelpful tendency of even liberal parents to go mute with their daughters on the subject of what they deserve in bed. (Once parents stopped saying Dont,  Orenstein observes, many didnt know what to say.) Theres alcohol, so much alcohol, a judgment-dulling menu of Jager bombs and tequila shots. Theres selfie culture, which Orenstein charges encourages girls to see themselves as objects to be liked (or not)  a simple-sounding phenomenon with surprisingly profound implications, since self-objectification has been linked with everything from depression to risky sexual behavior. There are the constant images of naked, writhing women, as well as the idea that taking your clothes off is a sign of power. (I love Beyonce, one girl tells Orenstein. Shes, like, a queen. But I wonder, if she wasnt so beautiful, if people didnt think she was so sexy, would she be able to make the feminist points she makes?) And despite all the time girls spend impersonating sexiness, Orenstein finds that absent from their universe is a sense of actual female sexuality  figuring out what you want and doing it. Society is giving girls, she concludes, a psychological clitoridectomy.
In City of Quartz, his apocalyptic portrait of Los Angeles circa 1990, Mike Davis described the air-support division as an invasive space police, a darkly futuristic force of winged overlords scanning the metropolis from above and buzz-bombing whole neighborhoods at a time. One of the most memorable moments in his book is when he describes how police pilots navigate the city: To facilitate ground-air synchronization, he writes, thousands of residential rooftops have been painted with identifying street numbers, transforming the aerial view of the city into a huge police grid. With this incredible image, Davis implies that the police have stealthily redesigned urban space to suit their own needs, even painting our addresses onto our roofs without us noticing, all so that we can be more easily corralled. For Davis, the city itself is a police tool, an instrument of authority we can no longer fully see  and thus cannot effectively critique or oppose.

Davis is right, of course, that aerial command is an instrument of control, and a potentially sinister one at that. But he was wrong about the degree to which the Los Angeles police have been able to mold the landscape. In reality, those police-branded rooftop numbers are all but nonexistent, at least for now; when I asked Burdette what he would change if he could redesign the city from the perspective of a tactical flight officer, he mentioned exactly that idea: painting large identifying numbers on the roofs of building complexes like schools and hospitals. If those sorts of facilities could be numbered in a clockwise direction, starting with the entry building, he explained, directing officers to a structure deep within the sprawl would be far easier. Thus far, however, such an ambitious project has been beyond the police departments institutional reach. Throughout the history of aerial surveillance in Los Angeles, the urban landscape has largely been an inheritance, beyond the control of any single authority; the air-support divisions real ingenuity has been in how it responds to a world that it did not, in fact, design.

Precisely as a way of making up for the absence of rooftop numbering, for instance, the air-support division has deployed something Burdette called the rules of four. As guidelines, they fall somewhere between a rule of thumb and an algorithm, and they allow for nearly instantaneous yet accurate aerial navigation. The way the parcels work in the city of Los Angeles, he began, is that Main Street and First Street are the hub of the city. The street numbers radiate outward  by quadrant, east, west, north, south  with blocks advancing by hundreds (the 3800 block below 38th Street) and building numbers advancing by fours (3804, 3808, 3812, etc.). The rest is arithmetic.

If its the fourth house south of the corner on the west side of the street, Burdette explained, then the address is going to be an odd number. The rules of four mean that I can do four times four  its the fourth house, times four  which is 16. But, because the numbers on that side of the street are odd, we know were going to be looking at either 15 or 17. So, if the address is south of 38th Street and its the fourth house on the west side of the street, then its going to be 3815 or 3817. It is going to be that address.

With the rules of four, an otherwise intimidating and uncontrollable knot of streets takes on newfound clarity. It is no coincidence that the Los Angeles Police Department built its main headquarters at the center of it all, at the intersection of First and Main. It placed the department at the numerological heart of the metropolis, the zero point from which everything else emanates.

As Thomas More proposed, a well-ordered metropolis is a fundamental prerequisite for any visionary act of urban governance. The air-support division has simply extended that observation into its understanding of the existing order, in this case of the citys numbered houses and streets. But if the promise of aerial policing is to make the city more legible  to help officers read events more clearly  the obvious temptation is to somehow turn the page, to anticipate future events as well.
If everything else were destroyed, buttons would not be a bad representation of the last few centuries of human history. They have recorded, in miniature, the French Revolution, the construction of the railroads, whaling voyages and countless modern fascinations: dogs, cartoons, telephones, martinis.

Its all there.

That is the playful premise of Tender Buttons, an only-buttons shop in a tiny townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Buttons are small, and there may be millions in the shop as well as in the apartment above (which is not open to the public), where the owners, Millicent Safro and Diana Epstein, brought the spoils of their global button hunts beginning in the late 1960s.

We traveled the world to find great rarities or little treasures, said Ms. Safro, now in her 70s, who lives upstairs amid the buttons. (Ms. Epstein died in 1998.) There is something amusing about the idea of going traveling in search of a button. But what we did, we tried to do well.

The shop, at 143 East 62nd Street, deals mainly in modern buttons, ranging in price from $2.75 for a classic four-hole horn button to $30 for a crystal evening-wear piece. They sit in cardboard boxes tucked into one wall, color-coded and bearing evocative titles chosen by Ms. Safro, like Engraved Waterlily in Metallic Color and Architectural Swirl c. 1950.
The village of Ossining, N.Y., on the Hudson River in Westchester, has a surprisingly large place in American culture, given its three-square-mile size. Rich in pre-Revolutionary War history, it is also the site of the state-run Sing Sing Correctional Facility and was home to both the author John Cheever and the fictional character of Don Draper in the AMC series Mad Men.

The population of about 25,000 residents is diverse. You have the haves and have-nots  all kinds of people, said William Broadnax, 81, who has been a reference librarian for many years at the Ossining Public Library on Croton Avenue.

Customers at the Main Street Deli, owned by Itamar Guiracocha, 42, who arrived in the United States from Ecuador in 1990, are a mixture of cultures, Mr. Guiracocha said, and include workers from Sing Sing and young renters from nearby apartment buildings. The menu includes empanadas, plantains and rice and beans as well as chicken francese.

Of the villages roughly 25,000 residents, around 40 percent are Hispanic, according to 2010 census figures.
Jalqa weavings, called axsus, are made from sheep wool dyed black and red. In fact, the word Jalqa means two colors, in reference to this distinctive palette. Few details are known about the evolution of Jalqa weaving over the ages, but its clear that it was first used to decorate clothing before the idea of making tapestries took hold in the 1990s, when a Sucre-based nonprofit called Anthropologists of the Southern Andes (ASUR) began a program to revitalize Jalqa textile traditions, which were on the verge of disappearing. Its also known that, over the last few centuries, ancient geometric patterns were supplanted by representations of a psychedelic spiritual underworld called Ukhu Pacha.

Swirling chaotically across the tapestries, animals with wildly exaggerated features are shown alongside mythical creatures called khurus, which include hunchback dragons and griffin-like bird-things. Within larger animals, smaller animals  called unas, or offspring  are woven, but earthly laws of biology dont apply: Condors can give birth to cats, monsters can give birth to men.

According to the anthropologist Veronica Cereceda, the founder of ASUR, the Jalqa believe that Ukhu Pacha is the locus of the worlds primordial creative energy, a space of constant gestation of life, which may stay in the underworld, or emerge into the surface world (Kay Pacha) or the sky (Janaq Pacha).

The ruler of Ukhu Pacha, who is often woven into the axsus, is a powerful spirit called Saxra or Supay. Often equated with the devil because of the location of his realm, Saxra is not evil, though he does have demonic aspects, derived in part from the fusion of Catholic ideas of hell with ancient Andean beliefs. If Saxra goes unappeased, he may kidnap people and bring them down to the underworld or cause mining accidents or other disasters. If the proper offerings are made  typically coca, liquor and cigarettes  Saxra can show people where to find silver and gold.

Though the underworld is a ubiquitous feature of the indigenous Andean cosmovision, the Jalqa are the only people in Bolivia who depict it in their art. I was curious to talk to some of the weavers, so Rogelio led us to the homes of a few, including Juliana Choque, who looked to be about 30. She set her simple loom up against the wall of her adobe courtyard and began weaving finely spun yarn through the strands of the warp, adding to an axsu that was nearly finished. Ukha Pacha was taking shape before our eyes, and the effect was magical.

Juliana said that she had been taught to weave when she was 9 by her mother, who had learned her craft in workshops organized by ASUR in the early 1990s. While the motifs she works with are traditional, each design is unique, a product of her imagination.
Two Lee County residents placed second in their divisions at the Alabama Junior Beef Expo Showmanship Contest that was held March 19 at Montgomery's Garrett Coliseum.

Sisters Jewel and Victoria Thompson were awarded the Reserve Champion Intermediate Exhibitor in the intermediate division and the Reserve Champion in the junior division respectively.

The divisions are as follows: Seniors, ages 16-19; Intermediates, ages 13-15 and Juniors, ages 9-12.

Two Chilton County contestants took top honors in the Senior Exhibitor Division. Anna Grace Parnell was the Grand Champion Senior Exhibitor, and Aniston Bolding was Reserve Champion Senior Exhibitor.

Emma Merriman of Etowah County was the Grand Champion Intermediate Exhibitor.

In the Junior Division, Caden Childers of Morgan County was the Grand Champion.

The 2016 Louise Wilson Scholarship Winner was Anna Grace Parnell of Chilton County. The annual award is presented to the highest-placing young woman of the graduating class.

The show, sponsored by the Alabama Farmers Federation, was part of the Southeastern Livestock Exposition, which marked its 59th year. Youth activities began Friday with the market steer show and ended Sunday with the heifer show.

The showmanship classes drew entries ages 9-19 from throughout the state who were judged on how they exhibited their calves as well as the animals fitness and grooming. Many exhibitors work with their calves for months to prepare for the show.

"Participating in the state show is the culmination of months of dedication, hard work and determination by the young people," said Federation President Jimmy Parnell. "These are some of the most impressive young people in Alabama, and we are proud to support livestock shows, which help them develop leadership skills, work ethic and responsibility."
It was almost a year ago that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists came out unequivocally in favor of universal screening for perinatal depression.

In the revised policy statement from ACOGs Committee on Obstetric Practice, the college recommended that physicians screen women for depression and anxiety symptoms at least once during the perinatal period using a standard, validated tool. ACOG also noted that screening must be coupled with appropriate follow-up and that clinical staff must be prepared to start therapy or refer patients to treatment (Obstet. Gynecol. 2015;125:1268-71).

Dr. Lee S. Cohen

This move toward routine screening was intuitive given the prevalence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

Fast forward to January 2016 and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force final recommendation calling for screening all adults for depression, including the at-risk populations of pregnant and postpartum women. Much like the ACOG guidelines, the USPSTF recommendations call for adequate systems to ensure treatment and follow-up (JAMA. 2016 Jan. 26;315[4]:380-7).

These recommendations, although timely, derive from relatively sparse data on the actual effectiveness of perinatal screening. Although the move toward screening is welcome and simply commonsense, it is concerning that there has been very little systematic study of the effectiveness of screening for such a prevalent and impactful illness. At the end of the day, the question remains: Will screening for perinatal depression in obstetric and possibly pediatric settings lead to improved outcomes for patients and families?

Were screening, but will it make a difference?

As more U.S. states, along with other countries around the world, have begun routine screening of women in the perinatal period, its become clear that screening itself is easy to do. What has yet to be adequately demonstrated is how screening moves us toward getting women into treatment and ultimately toward getting women well.

New Jersey and Illinois are good examples of states that should be applauded for recognizing early on how important it is to identify women with perinatal depression. But even in these early-adopter states, the actual implementation of referral systems has been lacking.

Here in Massachusetts, we have a state-funded program designed to teach local womens health providers  including ob.gyns.  about diagnosing perinatal depression. The MCPAP (Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project) for Moms program also offers resources for consultation and referral. The program is fairly new, so its still unclear whether ob.gyns. and primary care physicians will accept the role of de facto mental health treaters, as well as whether the women who are identified through screening will go on to recover acutely and, more importantly, over the long term.

These experiences among the states highlight how great a challenge it is to go from screening to positive health outcomes for women.

Downstream difficulties

A lack of evidence isnt the only problem. A recent editorial in the Lancet raised the concern that the currently available screening tests are not suitable for clinical practice. The suggestion read to some like heresy.

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, which is the most commonly used screening instrument, has a positive predictive value of detecting major depressive disorder of 47%-64%, according to the editorial, making it prone to delivering false positives (doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736[16]00265-8).

This situation is potentially dangerous, the Lancet editorial noted, since results of qualitative studies suggest that women are extremely concerned about depression screening, about the stigma associated with a diagnosis of depression, and that a positive result might lead to an automatic social service referral, and potentially removal of their baby.

A recent article, published in the New York Times, raises an additional concern about what a depression diagnosis could mean for insurability. The article highlights the experience of a woman whose diagnosis of postpartum depression is creating difficulties for her in getting life insurance. The point is underscored that it is perfectly legal for life and disability insurers to charge more to patients with a diagnosis of mental illness or to deny coverage outright.

No going back

The whole issue of perinatal depression screening has opened a Pandoras box, and that is a good thing. The conversation is long overdue in America. It is time for greater national awareness and focus on a disease that is as prevalent as perinatal depression and as disabling for women and their families.

The focus up to this point has been on perinatal depression screening, but were about to see a shift toward building the community infrastructure that will be critical for managing patients, including those women who have previously been marginalized and have had very poor access to care.
Orange County restaurateur Noah Blom will extend a no-tipping policy to his flagship restaurant Arc in Costa Mesa  a move that will trigger an average 20 percent jump in menu prices.

The change comes as chef Blom and his wife, Marin Howarth, prepare to open two restaurants next to Arc at South Coast Collection. Breakfast bistro Marin Restaurant and the Guild Club, a members-only dining venue, also will skip tips in favor of a hospitality included service, a plan the couple announced in December.

The husband-and-wife team had previously said Arc would keep its traditional tipping policy.

By offering European-style service, Blom said wages for servers and kitchen staff will be on the same level, starting at $15 an hour. Bloms three restaurants appear to be the only establishments in Orange County to eliminate tipping, a policy some restaurants across the country are adopting to meet government-mandated health care premiums and wage hikes. Late last year, famed restaurateur Danny Meyer eliminated tipping at his New York City restaurants.

In December, A Restaurant in Newport Beach took a different approach to rising labor costs. The restaurant on West Coast Highway added a 2 percent surcharge to cover employee health benefits, which total roughly $72,000 a year. On Tuesday, a restaurant representative said it has had little to no complaints regarding its surcharge.

Blom and Howarth said rising labor costs are not the driving force behind their no-tipping policy. They said its more about giving employees a chance to work their way up into management without taking a pay cut. In fine dining, its typical for some servers to make more than managers or cooks, when tips are considered.

This gives us the ability to reward people who are in the business for a career, he said.

Blom said hes prepared to lose a few servers at his critically acclaimed Arc, where each dish is cooked over a wood-burning fire. Im OK with that, he said of servers who quit. Service isnt just about money.

The no-tipping policy at Arc will go into effect next week when Restaurant Marin debuts.

The modern diner menu features a hearty array of scratch-made breakfast and lunch foods. Like Arc, many of the dishes are cooked over a wood-burning oven.

Some of the signature breakfast dishes include fresh-baked brioche, a large crumpet egg sandwich, blueberry pancakes, pate, cinnamon-dusted doughnut holes and homemade granola.

Lunch menu specials include house-smoked salmon with roasted corn, roast chicken, grilled shrimp, butter poached lobster roll, and fish and chips.

Hospitality included charges are built into menu prices, which could result in some sticker shock.

Breakfast dishes range from $14 for the homemade yogurt and granola to $26 for the lobster hash. At lunch, prices range from $15 to $34.

Adjusted menu prices were not available for Arc. Currently, a taco with duck, pig, fish, steak or chicken costs $7 each. A 20 percent increase would add $1.40.

The Guild is expected to open in April. Its a reservation-only experience that pays homage to a 19th-century gentlemans club with membership fees for sponsors. Go for a power lunch, romantic date or business dinner. Its like youre going to your own country club, Howarth said.

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com
Orange Countys Muslim leaders strongly condemned the attacks in the Belgian capital of Brussels, Tuesday, that left at least 34 dead and about 230 injured. At the same time, they called for positive action in response to the bombings, for which ISIS claimed responsibility.

A tragedy like this puts Muslims on the spot, said Anila Ali, Irvine resident and city council candidate who founded American Muslim Womens Empowerment Council. But these attacks are wake-up calls for Muslims. Silence is no longer an option.

Recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have created an atmosphere of inhibited fear against Muslims, Ali said.

I didnt see as much of that even after 9/11 as I have seen after the San Bernardino attacks, she said. Doctors are losing patients because they are Muslim. Kids in schools are being called terrorists. Women are being discriminated against because they wear the traditional dress.

Muslim communities should become more open to working with law enforcement instead of being suspicious of federal government programs such as Countering Violent Extremism, Ali said.

We need to participate, she said. If we dont, how will we have a seat at the table and how will we have a voice?

Organizations such as the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Shura Council of Southern California, an umbrella organization for area mosques, have been more guarded and have spoken up against government programs such as Countering Violent Extremism, which they say could be used to profile or single out Muslims.

Still, both organizations have been quick to condemn terrorist attacks worldwide.

Any time there is a terrorist attack anywhere in the world, our hearts are broken for the victims, said Hussam Ayloush, director of CAIR-LA.

Ayloush also condemned statements made Tuesday by Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who supported monitoring American mosques for terrorism.

Unfortunately, there are a few in this country who wish to blame an entire religion and its followers for such acts, Ayloush said. In addition to being immoral, this is dangerous because it plays into the hands of the terrorists.

Ayloush pointed out that not all terrorist attacks seem to be considered equal. A car bombing Sunday that killed 36 and injured 100 in Ankara, Turkey, wasnt widely reported, he said.

Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria are all countries that have been subjected to frequent and horrific acts of terrorism over just the past two weeks, Ayloush said. But not all victims of terrorism are treated equally by the media. One cannot but wonder if the religion and race of the victims are factors.

The solution is to not just condemn every tragic incident, but to look into long-term solutions, he said.

We need to do what we can as an international community to advance democracy, freedom and justice in all those countries, Ayloush said.

Chino-based Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA is reacting with its own counter-narrative, a program called True Islam, said spokesman Amjad Mahmood Khan.

ISIS commits these acts in the name of Islam, he said. Their message needs to be marginalized, isolated and attacked with a strong counter-narrative, which is what were trying to do.

Members of the mosque have been going into communities and neighborhoods to talk about the true principles of Islam.

More importantly, were challenging American Muslims to do more, to walk the talk and be clear-eyed about the problem, Khan said. There is a cancer in the body politic of Islam and we need to get rid of this cancer.

Contact the writer: 7140796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com
PARIS  Islamic State has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, officials have told The Associated Press.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed he had entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered more or less everywhere.

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam  did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capitals airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesdays attacks  this time for a man wearing a white jacket who was seen on airport security footage with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslams path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: So what if he was arrested? Well show you that it doesnt change a thing, said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldnt be happening, she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesdays attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but hed signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, Islamic State described a secret cell of soldiers dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks.

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving Islamic State while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training, he said. Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. Its more about the rhythm of terror operations now.

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but Islamic State has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these external operation units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesdays attacks, Abdeslams arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution, said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether theyre logistically linked  theyre probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria.

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape, said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days, Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals. DNA evidence indicates he died on Tuesday in the suicide attack on the airport, two officials briefed on the investigation told AP.

More than 30 pounds of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material.

The unidentified man seen on security footage wearing a white jacket and black hat at the Brussels airport on Tuesday remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.
Much is made of the fact that liberals and conservatives see racial issues differently, which they do. But these differences have too often been seen as simply those on the Right being racist and those on the Left not.

You can cherry-pick the evidence to reach that conclusion. But you can also cherry-pick the evidence to reach the opposite conclusion.

During the heyday of the Progressive movement in the early 20th century, people on the Left were in the forefront of those promoting doctrines of innate, genetic inferiority of not only blacks but also of people from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, as compared to people from Western Europe.

Liberals today tend to either gloss over the undeniable racism of progressive President Woodrow Wilson or else treat it as an anomaly of some sort. But racism on the Left at that time was not an anomaly, either for President Wilson, or for numerous other stalwarts of the Progressive movement.

An influential 1916 best-seller, The Passing of the Great Race  celebrating Nordic Europeans  was written by Madison Grant, a staunch activist for Progressive causes such as endangered species, municipal reform, conservation and the creation of national parks.

He was a member of an exclusive social club founded by Republican Progressive Theodore Roosevelt, and Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt became friends in the 1920s, addressing one another in letters as My dear Frank and My dear Madison. Grants book was translated into German, and Adolf Hitler called it his Bible.

Progressives spearheaded the eugenics movement, dedicated to reducing the reproduction of supposedly inferior individuals and races. The eugenics movement spawned Planned Parenthood, among other groups.

Progressive intellectuals who crusaded against the admission of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, branding them as genetically inferior, included many prominent academic scholars  such as heads of such scholarly organizations as the American Economic Association and the American Sociological Association.

Southern segregationists who railed against blacks were often also Progressives who railed against Wall Street. Back in those days, blacks voted for Republicans as automatically as they vote for Democrats today.

Where President Wilson introduced racial segregation into government agencies in Washington where it did not exist at the time, Republican President Calvin Coolidges wife invited the wives of black congressmen to the White House. As late as 1957, civil rights legislation was sponsored in Congress by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.

Later, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was sponsored by Democrats, a higher percentage of congressional Republicans voted for it than did congressional Democrats. Revisionist histories tell a different story. But, as Casey Stengel used to say, You could look it up  in the Congressional Record, in this case.

Conservatives who took part in the civil rights marches, or who were otherwise for equal rights for blacks, have not made nearly as much noise about it as liberals do. The first time I saw a white professor, at a white university, with a black secretary, it was Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago in 1960  four years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

She was still his secretary when he died in 2006. But, in all those years, I never once heard professor Friedman mention, in public or in private, that he had a black secretary. By all accounts, she was an outstanding secretary, and that was what mattered.

The biggest difference today between the Left and Right, when it comes to racial issues, is that liberals tend to take the side of those blacks who are doing the wrong things  hoodlums the Left depicts as martyrs  while the Right defends those blacks more likely to be the victims of those hoodlums.
BOSTON  An 80-year-old man who ran a sprawling marijuana-dealing operation that covered several states, with records going back to 1992, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Marshall Dion pleaded guilty last year to drug and money-laundering charges, and Tuesdays sentencing in Massachusetts was the latest chapter in a long, colorful history with law enforcement.

In 1985, he crashed a single-engine plane he was piloting in Kenosha County, Wis., breaking both his ankles. When sheriffs deputies arrived, he was crawling along a muddy field as money floated in the air. The government was allowed to keep nearly $112,000 in cash recovered from the crash scene after a judge found it was likely drug proceeds, but Dion was not charged criminally.

When police in Junction City, Kan., stopped him for speeding in 2013, they found about $828,000 in cash in his pickup truck. A federal investigation led authorities to Massachusetts and Arizona, where they found about $15 million in cash, nearly 400 pounds of marijuana and ledgers detailing drug deals going back to 1992.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper rejected a plea agreement that called for a five- to seven-year prison sentence for Dion. His lawyers then reached a new agreement with prosecutors that called for a sentence range of five to 10 years. Judge Denise Casper sentenced him to the maximum during a hearing in U.S. District Court.

Dion has been in custody since his arrest in 2013, so he has already served 21/2 years of his sentence. He declined to address the court during his sentencing hearing.

Dions lawyer, Hank Brennan, recommended a five-year sentence. He said Dion was nonviolent and lived a simple life, despite the large quantities of cash his business made.

He didnt have that lure of greed and power and oppression. He is a simple man who lived a very routine and habit-filled life, Brennan said after the hearing.

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of a little over six years. A spokeswoman for prosecutors did not return a call seeking comment.
Two men from Californias Central Valley pleaded guilty and were sentenced Monday for trafficking and pimping underage girls in Anaheim earlier this year, according to the Orange County District Attorneys Office.

Jonathan Thomas Hampton, 23, of Clovis and Martrell Davon Mahone, 19, of Fresno pleaded guilty to several counts related to the crime, including felony counts of human trafficking minors and attempted pimping. They were sentenced to five years in prison.

On Jan. 15, Hampton and Mahone dropped the three teenage girls  between 14 and 17 years old  off at in areas known for prostitution and human trafficking in Orange County. They tried to collect money from the girls for sex acts.

Undercover officers responded to an online advertisement and arranged to meet with one of the girls. They arrested Hampton and Mahone during a meetup in the early morning hours of Jan. 16.

At the time of their arrest, the two were also in possession of cocaine, for which they also face a criminal charge. As part of their sentence, the two also have to register as lifetime sex offenders.

They were being held at Theo Lacy Facility, according to jail records.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@ocregister.com
WASHINGTON  Big companies are pushing back against proposed federal rules they say would require their medical plans to cover gender transition and other services under the nondiscrimination mandate of President Barack Obamas health care law.

Civil rights advocates representing transgender people say the regulation, now being finalized by the Health and Human Services Department, would be a major step forward for a marginalized community beginning to gain acceptance as celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner tell their stories.

The issue mixes rapidly changing social mores and subtle interpretations of complex federal laws, including the Affordable Care Act. Obama has been recognized as the first president openly supportive of transgender rights.

The latest dispute over the health care law may have to be resolved by the courts. The laws nondiscrimination section applies federal civil rights protections to programs under the health overhaul. The legal text refers to entities receiving federal financial assistance, interpreted to include insurers, state Medicaid agencies, hospitals and other service providers. It doesnt mention major private employers that run their own health plans.

A group representing big employers said its members dont have particular qualms about gender transition. But large employers do object to what they see as an overreach by the Obama administration, since their health plans dont get federal financial assistance.

Theres nothing in the health law that says large employers, you are subject to this, said Gretchen Young, health policy vice president for the ERISA Industry Committee. People are getting concerned there will be a whole body of things that will come up in the future. Another concern: that a bar against discrimination on account of nationality could mean having to provide translation in up to 15 languages.

ERISA is a 1970s federal law that governs big-employer benefit plans. Employers design their own plans and set aside money to cover the expected medical costs of their workforces. They usually hire an insurance company as a third-party administrator to handle claims and run the day-to-day operations.

Thats where the connection to the health laws nondiscrimination rule comes in.

Insurance companies that sponsor plans sold under the Obama law, or available through Medicare Advantage, do receive federal payments, what the law terms financial assistance.

In a formal explanation, HHS said the regulation would apply to such an insurer for all of its health plans, as well as when it acts as a third party administrator for an employer-sponsored group health plan.

The insurance industry doesnt relish the role of middleman enforcer.

It would be an added burden for insurers who participate in federal programs, said Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for Americas Health Insurance Plans. A large employer might be reluctant to hire such insurers as administrators if that undermines control of their health plans  and raises costs.

It creates an uneven playing field for insurers, said Krusing.

An increasing number of large employers are voluntarily covering transgender treatment, following medical recognition that it can lead to healthier outcomes overall for the individuals involved. The number was up to 418 last year, from none in 2002, according to HHS. Medicare began covering medically necessary sex-reassignment surgery in 2014. Traditionally its medical necessity was questioned, and it carried a social stigma.

Costs are hard to assess because relatively few individuals pursue gender transition and the degree of medical intervention can differ dramatically in each case. Individual costs can range to tens of thousands of dollars.

Dru Levasseur, director of the Transgender Rights Project for the civil rights group Lambda Legal, said the proposed regulation would be a sea change for the insurance industry. But if Medicare and plans sold under the health law cover gender transition treatments, so should large employers, he said.

These exclusions are not in line with the medical communitys understanding, and its time for them to be removed, said Levasseur.

With the Obama administration in its last year, officials are under pressure to finalize the health laws nondiscrimination rule. The legislation itself is six years old.

Jocelyn Samuels, head of the HHS civil rights office, said in a statement that the agency is reviewing feedback on its proposal. This is another example of this administrations commitment to giving every American access to the health care they deserve, she said.
On Tuesday mornings in February and March, novice authors gathered to write a chapter or two of their life stories. The guided autobiography classes, sponsored by Volunteer Action for Aging, took place at the Tustin Area Senior Center. Last week, participants took turns reading aloud for family and friends.

The results are impressive and poignant. The following are excerpts from some of the memoirs.

Joel Bruce left his Whittier home at age 10 for a brand-new tract home in La Mirada. His fears of moving were soon replaced by magical boyhood adventures.

Our new neighborhood was only streets, curbs, sidewalks and lots of dirt. We went to look at the house every week or so as the neighborhood was being built. Each week, little by little, all the houses began to take shape.

My family moved into the house during the summer of 1960. In those days, homeowners were responsible for all their own landscaping and fences. The houses all looked so stark with no front lawns, no trees and no plants.

There were several boys in the neighborhood close to my age. We all found one another pretty quickly and began playing together, when we werent working on landscaping.

The rolling hills provided a great deal of wonderful open space. There were many acres of flower farms. Light bulbs (were) strung over the fields of flowers so the flowers would continue to grow at night under the artificial light. Occasionally, those bulbs became excellent BB gun targets.

All through my childhood, up to high school, my friends and I walked through those hills with great regularity. We talked and walked for miles on end. That was really a big part of growing up for me.

Kay Hodges recalled her lonely months in an orphanage as a young child during the Great Depression.

The year was 1990 and I had brought my mother, Margaret, back to Illinois for her 60th high school reunion. We came to Chicago from Orange County by Amtrak and rented a car for the 90-mile ride to Rockford.

We had been driving north along the beautiful Rock River, the pride of the town. Suddenly, Mom said, Look, there is the Childrens Home!

I was stunned. I had pictured a friendly building, but this was definitely an institution. It had a tall, dark, concrete facade. The building was firmly grounded, as though it had been there for an eternity.

My only memories of the home were two. I remembered with wonder the toothbrushes in their holders, spanning the distance of the walls of the large bathroom. My other memory was of being shamed for wetting my pants.

I had been told that our father, who was very angry when Mother left him, took us the next day to the Home. I did not understand. I was not an orphan! Why did he take my brother and me? Those questions have never been totally resolved in my mind.

Finally, after many months in anguish, Mom, accompanied by her attorney, marched up the steps to the imposing office. He said, Mrs. Bickston is taking her children home. Please get their things ready.

In later years, I found that because there was no welfare program for people to fall back on in times of need, many people used the orphanages for temporary shelter.

Myriam Pastenphelps, who grew up in Mexico, wrote about her diverse jobs as teacher and perfumista.

After I got my teaching credential, I was assigned to an elementary school. I arrived there for my first day with my papers in hand. I went looking for the principal and found him in front of a line of sixth-grade students. I walked up to him and tried to hand him my teaching assignment documents. He sent me two times to the end of the line thinking I was one of the students. That was my welcome day to my teaching career. I taught for 25 years in Mexico City and 15 years in Santa Ana.

I met my first husband at the teachers college. We started a perfume laboratory. Many of the parents of our students sold our perfumes to make some money. This business helped us buy a couple of houses and have a good life traveling.

After he passed away, I came to the United States and married my second husband. My daughters and I continued selling perfumes as a side business to stores and on the weekends at the Santiago (Canyon) College swap meet.

After my second husband passed away, I met my third husband in Santa Ana at a school where we were both teaching. We started an after-school care center called Safe Haven, which we ran for 14 years. We had a dream to have a youth camp in the mountains. That dream evolved into a vacation rental which we call Safe Haven Forest Retreat. Over the last five years, we have successfully operated it as a retreat for schools, churches, youth groups and large families.

Donna Martinoff remembered her first crush  her cousin, who became a World War II hero  and the joys of growing up unfettered on a Missouri ranch.

My mother told me that the snow was as high as the house when I was born, and the doctors had to follow a snow plow to get there to deliver me.

My family all lived on a cattle ranch (in Missouri) that my Aunt Beulah Bilby had married into. The Bilbys had four boys. My cousin Glade Bilby was eight years older than me. I thought I was in love with him. I followed him everywhere.

Glade became a World War II hero. He dropped the first American bomb on a Nazi train in East Africa. He led the Black Scorpions, a famous World War II squadron. He was killed as a test pilot in Selma, Alabama, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

During the Depression, my father decided to leave the ranch and open a restaurant in town. My family took in a high school boy from a family having a hard time and he lived with us, just like a brother.

I remember being small enough that he could hold me up in his arms and dance with me to the juke box music in the restaurant.

I had led a pretty unrestricted life on the ranch, and public school kindergarten was a little too bossy for me. After a few days, I took all my things out of my desk and told the teacher I was going home.

When I was five or six, I was paralyzed from the waist down. At first, they thought it was polio, and I was quarantined in a glass room just big enough for a bed, table and chair. After X-rays, I was diagnosed with a crack in my spine. I was tied to the bed so I couldnt move, and my spine healed. After physical therapy, I walked as normal.

Dick Davis waxed nostalgic about his boyhood hero  his industrious yet playful grandfather, a farmer in Oklahoma.

I grew up in central Oklahoma in a small town that called itself the Wheat Heart of Oklahoma. Most of Tonkawas citizens, in one way or another, made their living from farming. I recall my grandfather Pete McClung picking up two handfuls of earth and allowing it to fall through his fingers as if it were powdered gold. He loved the earth and the hard work of farming.

I often lived with my grandparents for extended periods of time. (After a day of work with Grandpa Pete), we would go swimming in the river or one of the livestock ponds. We would race to see who would be the first to get out of his clothes and into the water.

Upon our arrival home, we headed to the basement for a shower. Id tell him jokes while he shaved. His only response was something like, Oh, I remember that one from when I was 11 years old. The old fart never laughed at a single joke I told him.

After our shower, we went upstairs and sat down to one of my grandmothers fantastic dinners.

Then we would rest for a while, but soon Grandpa Pete would head to the back porch  in his boxers  and sit down on the stoop and begin to peel an apple. I would watch to see if the apple peel would be removed in one continuous ribbon. I wondered if I should be embarrassed because he was sitting outside in his boxer shorts or proud because of his apple peeling dexterity.

The lights at my grandparents home went out as soon as the evening weather report was complete.

We were up early the next morning. We ate a hearty breakfast and went to the fields, once again, to work on the farm.

Contact the writer: sgoulding@ocregister.com
An Orange County man who authorities say was the ringleader of a national mortgage-modification scheme pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Connecticut court to conspiring to defraud homeowners having a difficult time repaying mortgages.

Authorities say Aria Maleki, 33, of Santa Ana operated several companies of different names with California addresses that offered to modify home loans and relieve debt for an upfront fee, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Maleki was arrested and charged in January along with six other Orange County partners. They were able to defraud about 1,000 homeowners from Connecticut and other states out of more than $3 million, authorities said.

Maleki and his co-conspirators were accused of calling homeowners and offering services to those who were having trouble paying back mortgage loans.

They charged customers fees from $2,500 to $4,300, authorities said, getting them to pay by saying they had already been approved for favorable loan changes or that they would get financial help through government programs.

Homeowners were asked mail checks to addresses and mail boxes.

Few homeowners ever received any type of mortgage loan modification through the defendants companies, the Justice statement says.

Maleki pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, which can lead to 20 years in prison.

He agreed to pay $3 million in restitution. Federal agents seized from him $350,000 from bank accounts, $362,000 from a bitcoin account, a $100,000 cashiers check, and a 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia.

He was set be sentenced on June 14. Three of Malekis co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and are waiting to be sentenced as well.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@ocregister.com
Some call it a good first step, while others say it will have a chilling effect on free speech rights.

This week, the University of California system will consider adopting a stance that specifically address anti-Semitism.

No other group on campus  Chicano/Latino, African American, no other group  would tolerate the amount of discrimination Jewish students go through, said Sharon Shaoulian, a Newport Beach resident who graduated from UCI in December. And no student should tolerate that.

Shaoulian said pro-Israel and Jewish community festivals she organized on campus were regularly sabotaged by protesting anti-Israel student groups. She and others also complain that an annual Anti-Zionism Week held at UCI each spring creates an atmosphere of intimidation.

Kurt Horner, a UCI doctoral student and teaching assistant, plans to urge the UC Board of Regents at its meeting in San Francisco this week to reject the report and statement of principles against intolerance as its written. If enforced, it could stifle the voices of those who oppose Israels politics, Horner said.

Jewish students and leaders say they dont want to squelch anyones right to oppose Israels policies, but calling for the annihilation of Israel, they add, goes beyond criticism and is anti-Semitic.

Horners response: Pro-Israel groups love to draw that line to the point you cant have meaningful discussion.

At UCI, the most visible conflict occurred in 2010, when 11 Muslim students were arrested after disrupting a speech by an Israeli diplomat. Ten were convicted.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or rkopetman@ocregister.com
SANTA ANA  A man found guilty of helping a friend burn to death his ex-girlfriends father and sister is once again on trial for the gruesome murders after his previous conviction was overturned on appeal.

Vitaliy Krasnoperov, 30, is charged with helping friend Iftekhar Murtaza come up with a plan to kill Jayprakash Dhanak, his wife, Leela Dhanak, and the couples 20-year-old daughter, Karishma Dhanak.

The three family members were brutally beaten and stabbed in 2007 and their Anaheim Hills home set ablaze. Leela Dhanak barely survived having her throat slit. The bodies of Jayprakash and Karishma were found off of a bike trial near UC Irvine.

Investigators believe the deaths were part of Murtazas plan to win back his ex-girlfriend, Shayona Dhanak. He believed their relationship had ended because of pressure from her parents. Murtaza was convicted of special circumstances murder and is on death row.

Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy, during Tuesday afternoons opening statements, acknowledged to the jury that Krasnoperov almost certainly wasnt present for the killings.

Instead, Gundy said, Krasnoperov gave Murtaza ideas for how to kill the Dhanaks, attempted to find people willing to assist with the killings, and hid evidence and lied to investigators after the murders.

He counseled Murtaza on how he should go about removing the Dhanak family as an obstacle, Gundy said.

Krasnoperovs attorney, Mike Geary, declined to give opening statements on Tuesday, reserving his right to do so later in the trial. During previous trials, Krasnoperovs attorneys have described the conversations between Krasnoperov and Murtaza as innocent banter, not concrete murder plans.

Krasnoperovs first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. He was convicted during his second trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During his sentencing, Krasnoperov apologized for all the terrible pain he caused. Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals told Krasnoperov that he was going to spend the rest of his life behind bars for his crucial and pivotal role  in these terrible crimes.

However, appellate judges overturned the conviction, determining that prosecutors improperly used information that Krasnoperov provided them during discussions about a potential plea deal.

The information was provided as part of a proffer agreement, which allowed Krasnoperov to speak freely without fear of the evidence being used against him. The plea deal never came to fruition.

Shortly after the appeals court decision, the Orange County District Attorneys Office made it clear it would retry Krasnoperov.

Krasnoperov is facing felony counts of special-circumstances murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

If convicted, he once again faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com
American Muslim Womens Empowerment Council vehemently condemns the heinous terrorist attacks that have hit Brussels. Our hearts weep for the innocent lives and we pray for the hundreds who are injured, including three American Mormon missionaries.

Muslims in America vehemently condemn terrorism and stand united in praying for the victims of this tragedy. Terrorism knows no boundaries and terrorist have no religion. But we as human beings must raise our voices to stand as one united force against the terrorists.

We strongly condemn any terror groups that perpetrate violence in the name of religion and urge all peoples of the world to join in and fight evil to its core.

AMWEC believes that everyone can do something to eradicate evil, and that it is the fundamental duty of every human being to speak up against violence.

Anila Ali

Irvine

President, American Muslim Womens Empowerment Council

Victims of political correctness

Today it is the Belgians suffering an attack by Muslim terrorists because their leaders were horrified at being labeled xenophobic or racist. They refused to act against Muslim neighborhoods even though they knew terrorist activity was taking place in those areas. And at least 34 innocent people have died and hundreds more injured because of it. In recent months German and Swedish women have become the target of gang rapes by Muslim men because they committed the horrific offense of walking around by themselves. At least Sweden has regained a modicum of sense by expelling 80,000 refugees.

Eventually, truth will always trump political correctness. The truth that must be learned from current world events is that political correctness must always be challenged and never be allowed to override rational thought and common sense. The greatest violators of elevating political correctness are the media, many of our educational institutions and spineless politicians. It is these same groups that continue to demand the influx of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees. If you voice concern, you are guilty of racism or xenophobia, or told it isnt the American way of doing things. As if the American way included committing national suicide. As for me, I would rather be falsely labeled racist or xenophobic than truthfully be a politically correct fool.

Harald G. Martin

Anaheim
BREA  A federal jury has ruled in favor of the city and a police detective in a civil case that claimed Brea police had used unreasonable force nearly six years ago in the shooting death of an unarmed man in Yorba Linda.

Julian Collender, 25, died after Detective Shawn Neel fired a single bullet from his .223-caliber rifle on June 30, 2010, sparking several public protests led by the mans family.

Obviously, we at the Brea Police Department are pleased with the verdict, and would like to thank the jurors for listening closely to the facts of this case, Lt. Darrin Devereux said in a statement about the jurys ruling on March 10.

This is a tragic case, and we are glad that this is over for all concerned, Devereux said. The Brea Police Department believes that Detective Neel acted professionally and according to his training and Brea Police Department standards.

Dale Galipo, an attorney representing Collenders family, could not be reached for comment.

At the time, Brea police said, Collender had committed an armed robbery earlier in the evening and was acting threateningly toward the detective by shining a flashlight into the detectives car before driving away and returning.

Neel told investigators that he identified himself as a police officer and ordered Collender to surrender. When Collender reached toward his left pants pocket, Neel said that he pointed the gun and fired.

Collenders family had previously said the man was returning to his home from running errands when he was confronted by police. The lawsuit, filed in April 2011, said that Collender obeyed police commands and was shot while both arms were in the air, not far from his Yorba Linda home.

At the time, Brea police paroled Yorba Linda. Now, the Sheriffs Department does.

Collenders parents went outside after they heard the gunshot and were handcuffed by police, leaving bruises and cuts on their wrists, the lawsuit says.

A subsequent report from the District Attorneys Office said there was insufficient evidence to show Neels actions were criminal.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7831 or amarroquin@ocregister.com
SAN FRANCISCO - Police who dismissed a California womans kidnapping as a hoax akin to the Hollywood movie, Gone Girl, damaged her and her boyfriends reputations and forced them to move, a lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.

The suit by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, accuses Vallejo police of defamation and infliction of emotional distress and seeks unspecified damages. It names the City of Vallejo and two police officers as defendants.

Calls to police and the city attorneys office were not immediately returned. The city has apologized to Huskins and Quinn.

Police waged a campaign of disparagement against Huskins and Quinn following Huskins abduction last March and created a media frenzy with their Gone Girl theory, according to the lawsuit.

News outlets across the world likened Huskins to the lead character in the film Gone Girl, and placed Huskinss picture next to that of the lead character, including one depicting the character naked and covered in blood, the lawsuit says.

Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Matthew Muller  a disbarred Harvard University-trained attorney  with kidnapping Huskins from her Vallejo home.

Muller has pleaded not guilty.

Huskins boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, reported that kidnappers broke into the couples home, abducted Huskins and demanded money.

Huskins turned up safe two days later in her hometown of Huntington Beach, where she says she was dropped off. She showed up hours before the ransom was due.

After Huskins reappeared, Vallejo police said at a news conference the kidnapping was a hoax.

Police held and interrogated Quinn as if he had already been convicted of murdering Huskins after he reported the abduction instead of pursuing Huskins kidnapper, according to the lawsuit. While they were questioning Quinn, they put his phone in airplane mode and did not receive calls from Huskins abductor, the lawsuit says.

Muller was arrested in South Lake Tahoe in connection with an attempted robbery in Dublin, Calif., in June. Investigators say they found evidence that linked him to Huskins abduction.
HELENA, Mont.  The last named defendant in the armed occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge was still at large Tuesday, drawing calls for supporters to flock to his Montana hometown and a local sheriff to urge outsiders to stay out of it.

Supporters of the 41-day standoff this winter over U.S. land restrictions used social media to rally behind Jake Ryan, urging the sheriff to resist federal efforts to apprehend him and for people to head to the small northwestern town of Plains to pray with Ryans family.

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel, trying to head off any new armed conflicts, warned standoff supporters to stay away during negotiations for Ryans arrest.

There is no standoff, and I want to keep it that way, Rummel told The Associated Press. I dont need anybody showing up in my county thats only going to add tension to the situation.

A federal judge released Ryans name Monday as the 26th defendant charged in connection with the occupation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Ryan and another man are accused of using heavy equipment to dig a trench through a Native American archaeological site at the refuge.

He and Travis Cox were the only people facing charges who had not been arrested by Tuesday morning.

The sheriff, like the occupation supporters, is wary of federal officials. Rummel once gave his support to failed legislation in Montana that would have required any federal agent to get written permission from a sheriff before making an arrest or conducting a search in that sheriffs jurisdiction.

However, he has sought to be a facilitator in this case. In response to Ryans supporters, Rummel released a statement Monday saying he intends to provide for Ryans safety and rights. He said an attorney hired by Ryans family is working with the FBI on the charges.

Ryans mother, Roxsanna Ryan, said she does not know where her son is. A few of Ryans friends have shown up at their home to wait with the family, but she declined to give details during a brief interview with the AP.

Were just waiting and waiting on something to happen, she said. Until that happens, were not going to reveal a lot.

Ryan participated in the armed standoff that launched Jan. 2 to demand the government to turn over public lands to local control and oppose prison terms for two ranchers convicted of setting fires. The occupation ended Feb. 11 with the surrender of four holdouts.

Ryan faces charges of depredation of government property, conspiracy to impede officers and possession of weapons in a federal facility.
A man with a voice that reveals a long-ago life in Brooklyn calls the phone bank at 211OC, a 911-like hotline for help finding nearly everything  from food to medical aid to after-school activities for kids.

He says he cant afford to pay his water bill. His supply will be shut off within hours. An operator types the need in a computer, scanning thousands of assistance programs. Within minutes, the man settles on a relief agency that can help reduce his bill and offer emergency assistance.

Another crisis averted.

Averaging more than 7,000 calls a month, 211OC is a 2-year-old nonprofit assistance line that helps people find housing and also acts as an umbrella agency for those seeking assistance of all types.

We are what 911 is, but for health and human services, says Karen Williams, president and CEO of 211OC.

Yet many people have never heard of the program  modeled on a nationwide effort  and most dont understand its scope.

For years the agency operated only a hotline. In 2014, Williams organization combined with OC Partnership, which can send outreach workers into the field. The result is a free one-stop shop for educational assistance, transportation, housing and legal services.

Were not talking about managing problems, Williams says on a recent day, while walking through the buzz of the phone bank in Santa Ana. Were talking about solving problems.

In addition to manning the phones, the group does community outreach. Last week, for example, 211OC workers visited Marys Kitchen, a nonprofit in Orange, to explain how food stamps work. Armed with a laptop, community wellness navigator Jackie Brltran helped a homeless man named Billy Wayne Phillips fill out forms within minutes.

Forty percent of people who qualify for CalFresh dont apply, Williams says about the food stamps program. Its a huge safety net that people dont tap into.

NITTY-GRITTY CALLS

Phone operators use pseudonyms to avoid unwanted attention or problems with random callers. During a recent lunch hour, an operator who calls himself Paul helps out the man who hails from Brooklyn and needs assistance with his water bill.

He asks his ZIP code. The man, a veteran, lives in Buena Park. With April 15 looming, Paul inquires if he also would like tax help.

I dont pay taxes, the man says, because I dont work.

The average call lasts five to seven minutes, but can take as long as 20 minutes. The agency has 1,200 agencies at its disposal that offer 2,900 services in English, Spanish and other languages when needed. Often, operators call back to make sure things are OK.

The man offers a hearty thanks, mentions that he hates assistance, but cant make ends meet. The operator asks if he would like to apply for food stamps. No way.

With help from the Orange County Community Foundation and SoCalGas, 211OC is beefing up its focus on veterans. About 5 percent of calls are from veterans.

Paul has a final question, one all operators are supposed to ask: Is there anything else you need?

The veteran says hes set, but hes not ready to end the conversation. The man asks Paul if hes a veteran. He is. After sharing several salty military jokes, the man vows to follow up with the water bill.

Operators like Paul train for 50 hours before working the hotline. The anything else question is often one of the most important questions they ask. Many callers hesitate to mention embarrassing issues, especially when they face multiple challenges.

We probe a little bit, says Amy Arambulo, who runs the phone bank. We help people get down to the nitty-gritty.

The keys, she says, are to respect callers and maintain empathy. The last call of the day should be like the first call of the day.

Its a typical day and all six operators are swamped. One caller says she has a friend with a prescription opioid addiction. He needs to be in a sober living home, she says, but there is no insurance, no money.

With a prescription opioid epidemic sweeping the nation and Orange County averaging an accidental fatal overdose every two days, free treatment is tough to find. The operator offers a few suggestions.

As the call continues, the woman says the addict is her brother. And its not opioids, its meth. And then she shifts gears and it sounds like the addict may be the caller herself. Eventually, the operator suggests several detox centers.

A woman reaching out is typical. About 70 percent of callers are female. Many seek help with basic needs such as food and shelter.

BUSY SUMMERS

Another womans voice comes over the line. A credit management company has served her with papers. Shes made six phone calls trying to get help and is at her wits end. She wants an attorney or cash.

If 211OC bails her out, the woman says, Ill work for free.

The operator explains that the nonprofit isnt a bank. It also doesnt require clients to work. But the agency can track down legal advice. It also assists with finding jobs.

Williams says summers are particularly busy. The reasons are twofold. First, with school out, more people look for jobs. Second, working parents wonder what to do with their kids.

An online review of 211OC.org finds more than a dozen Boys & Girls Clubs in North County, but none in South County. It mentions a child care coordination agency in Irvine but nothing south of Irvine.

For a firsthand test, I recently placed a call to 211 and asked about after-school assistance for an 8-year-old in San Clemente. The operator asked a series of questions, including my ethnicity and whether Im eligible for food stamps. Eventually, she offered phone numbers that were supposed to help with child care. But both were no longer in service.

Later, I contacted Williams about the problems. She said the agency scrubs phone numbers on an annual basis.

Clearly, there is work to be done, and 211OC can be only as good as the services the county provides. Still, for thousands of callers every month, the agency is a launching pad toward finding someone to listen and help during challenging times.

Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com
The world was shocked Tuesday at another terrorist attack, this time in Brussels, Belgium. Bombings at the airport and a metro station killed at least 34 people and injured scores of others. We join many others around the globe in sharing our empathy and tender thoughts with the loved ones of those killed and injured, and with the Belgian people as they struggle to find the best ways to respond while coping with their grief.

Terrorism has become a heartbreaking reality, examples of which can be found as close to home as San Bernardino. It is hard to imagine that a day just like any other day could be your last. But, while you still remain more likely to be crushed to death by unstable furniture than killed by a terrorist, we shouldnt let fear cloud our judgment or lead us into dangerous commitments and unnecessary sacrifices of our cherished liberties.

Already, an array of security experts has begun opining on how further curtailing our freedoms will make us safer. They note that the attack at the Brussels airport appears to have taken place beyond the terminals secure area. It is, thus, likely that we will see attempts not only to extend the burdensome and invasive airport security apparatus to include not just people boarding planes but also to ticketing and arrival areas, while also making that apparatus more strict.

The legal tug-of-war between Apple and the FBI over accessing the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists likely will take on an even more histrionic tone, and those on the campaign trail are already sharpening their rhetoric.

Donald Trump expanded his border security commitments to close up our borders to people until we figure out whats going on, during a phone interview on the Fox & Friends program Tuesday on Fox News. And Sen. Ted Cruz echoed Mr. Trumps call for halting the flow of refugees from countries plagued by terror while adding, in a statement, We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

But dividing society into us versus them seems to be the absolute opposite of what is necessary to stem radicalization. Rather than forming a security apparatus that creates resentment and detachment from the dominant culture, we should be preaching  and practicing  tolerance and inclusion in order to unite us, rather than divide us. Imposing a police state, particularly on a certain subset of the population, virtually all of whom are law-abiding citizens or refugees fleeing war-torn nations taken over by radical extremists, will only further stigmatize  and, in some cases, radicalize  people.

It must be remembered that Brussels isnt just the capital of Belgium, but, as the headquarters of the European Union, also is the capital of Europe. And the second attack, on a metro station mere yards from EU headquarters, was a seemingly symbolic attempt to strike at all of Europe. Let them not divide us, as division, anger, fear and a sense of not belonging are ingredients for conflict.

However, let us also not retrace our recent missteps in the Middle East. Hillary Clinton suggested that the U.S. has to intensify and broaden our strategy against ISIS, which took responsibility for the Brussels attacks. But while we support actions precisely targeted at those directly responsible for these vile acts to bring the guilty to justice, we take Mrs. Clintons suggestion with extreme caution, given her role as an architect of our failed campaign in Libya that handed parts of that country over to ISIS.

After all, 14 years of post-9/11 military intervention in the Middle East has not made the situation in an already unstable region any less so. In fact, it seems to have made things worse. The situation in Belgium, then, does not appear to us as a rationale for another Middle East campaign, nor should we use a war with ISIS as a launching point for other wars. That mistake was made after 9/11, when we not only went after al-Qaida in Afghanistan, but invaded the whole country, then invaded Iraq on what now are known to be false pretenses.

ISIS is a radical threat to global security, and the United States should aid the global coalition to ensure the militant armys demise, while being mindful not to repeat the mistake of the Iraq invasion and engage in military adventurism, putting American lives at risk for causes not directly and narrowly related to our nations self-defense. Prudence and a healthy respect for the very freedoms that have made our nation so worthy of defending are key to accomplishing this objective.
DAMASCUS, Syria  Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes advanced swiftly in central Syria on Wednesday, seizing high ground around Palmyra and positioning themselves to recapture the historic town held by Islamic State.

The troops, supported by pro-government militias, approached to within 1.8 miles of the town, according to state TV. A Lebanese television station close to Damascus broadcast footage of the troops advancing single-file through a desert as helicopter gunships provided cover.

God willing, within a few hours we will enter and secure the town, one officer told the Syrian Ikhbariya TV, as a group of soldiers broke into chants in support of President Bashar Assad. The station was broadcasting live from a road reportedly on the outskirts of Palmyra.

The town is home to impressive Roman-era ruins and was one of Syrias leading tourist attractions before the 2011 uprising. Islamic State captured Palmyra last May and has destroyed some of the ancient monuments.

In Geneva, meanwhile, the EU foreign policy chief held a rare meeting with Syrias U.N. ambassador, who is leading the governments delegation at U.N.-mediated peace talks.

Federica Mogherini said Brussels still insists on a political transition in Damascus as part of efforts to wind down the five-year civil war.

Obviously not all our exchanges were consensual. But I thought it was important to bring the EU consolidated position that we expect the political process and transition to start, she told reporters.

Since the outbreak of the civil war, European diplomats have rarely met with Syrian officials, many of whom are subject to U.S. and EU sanctions.

The government forces have been advancing on Palmyra since last week. Recapturing the town would be a major victory for Assad. Russia began withdrawing most of its forces and aircraft from Syria last week after a months-long bombing campaign that succeeded in turning the tide of the war again in the governments favor.

Moscow says it will keep its bases in Syria and continue to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State and other extremists.

Syrian forces are pushing in from the west and south of Palmyra and are also closing in on the Islamic State-held town of Qaryatain in central Syria, Homs governor Talal Barazi said.

There is continuous progress by the army from all directions, Barazi told The Associated Press by phone, adding that he expected positive results over the next few days.

Islamic State destroyed many of Palmyras Roman-era relics, including the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and the iconic Arch of Triumph. It also killed dozens of captive Syrian soldiers and dissidents in public slayings at the towns grand Roman theater and other ruins.

Islamic State also demolished Palmyras infamous Tadmur prison, where thousands of Syrian government opponents had been imprisoned and tortured over the years.

The advance on Islamic State comes as a Russian and U.S. brokered cease-fire that took effect late last month has largely quieted other fronts in the countrys complex civil war. Islamic State and other extremist groups, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, are excluded from the truce, which is intended to support the peace talks underway in Geneva.

On Wednesday, Syrias U.N. ambassador and head of the government team, Bashar Jaafari, said he was handed a proposal by U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura.

Jaafari told reporters in Geneva that the government side would take the proposal back to Damascus and study it, and would respond during the next round of negotiations, tentatively scheduled for April. The delegation will meet with De Mistura again Thursday, the last scheduled day of talks before the pause.

The negotiations have been held up over the question of Assads role in any political transition. The opposition has said Assad must step down as a precondition to any transition, while the government has refused to discuss his departure.

The U.N. envoy said Tuesday that the two parties had not yet discussed Assads future.

Also on Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that more than 70,000 people had received the first aid delivery in months in the central city of al-Houla.

It said a joint convoy of the ICRC, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations on Tuesday reached several villages in the region of al-Houla, north of Homs, to deliver food, medicine and water equipment.

The people of the city have been facing severe hardship for a long time, said the ICRCs head of office in Homs, Majda Flihi, who led the aid delivery team. They are farmers but they cannot farm anymore. They have livestock but it cannot be fed properly as peoples fields have now become front lines.

Syrian authorities removed surgical items from the convoy, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday, aggravating efforts to deliver lifesaving medical assistance to the besieged areas.

Al-Houla has been under siege since 2012 and has been the scene of heavy fighting for months. The recent lull has allowed humanitarian organizations to access the area.
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump overwhelmed their rivals in the Arizona primaries Tuesday, a show of might from two presidential front-runners who are hoping to avoid prolonging the nominating contest and begin training their fire on each other.

But Sen. Bernie Sanders thrashed Clinton in the Utah and Idaho Democratic caucuses, offsetting some of her delegate gains. And Sen. Ted Cruz, who won the Republican contest in Utah, was vying to capture more than 50 percent of the vote and all 40 of the states delegates.

Speaking to supporters in Seattle after winning Arizona, the nights biggest prize, Clinton used her remarks mainly to address the terrorist assault on Brussels and turned toward an attack on Trump and Cruz, the two leading Republican contenders.

The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear, Clinton said. In the face of terror, America doesnt panic. We dont build walls or turn our backs on our allies. We cant throw out everything we know about what works and what doesnt and start torturing.

She added: This is a time for America to lead, not cower, and we will lead, and we will defeat terrorism and defend our friends and allies.

Trump easily defeated Cruz in Arizona, taking all 58 of its delegates and adding to his lead.

The victories recorded by Clinton and Trump showcased the strengths that have propelled them to huge advantages in their respective nomination fights. Clinton once again demonstrated her loyal following among older and nonwhite Democrats, both significant constituencies in Arizona. And Trump proved his appeal among immigration hard-liners, who make up a large bloc of Republicans in the border state.

Clintons triumph in Arizona, with its 75 delegates, not only extended her lead over Sanders, it also offered a psychological boost as she heads into a stretch of contests in states likely to favor Sanders, like Alaska and Washington, where losses could underscore her lingering vulnerabilities among Democrats.

A hoarse Sanders, speaking to thousands of supporters in San Diego, claimed some credit for what he called record-breaking turnouts. Ignoring his lopsided loss in Arizona, he noted that he had won 10 contests so far and predicted he would win a couple more tonight.

Republicans hoping to stop Trump suffered another blow as he carried Arizona by a wide margin. He was on a course to receive more votes than Cruz and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio combined. If his opponents fail to defeat him in Wisconsin, where voters go to the polls in two weeks, they are unlikely to stop him from clinching the nomination on the last day of voting in June.

Trumps easy victory in Arizona also provided a sharp rebuttal to assertions by Cruz that he would struggle in the remaining contests because so many of them allow only Republicans to vote. Aided by Arizonas generous early-voting laws, Trump showed that he can win handily in states with closed Republican primaries, where Democrats and independents are barred from voting.

Trumps more precise vulnerability appears to have been in states holding caucuses, where organizational strength can be decisive. But after Tuesday, there are no such contests left.

Voter turnout in Arizona, Utah and Idaho was unusually high, with long lines  some snaking for several city blocks  at polling places and caucus sites.

The ballot counting in Arizona was delayed as officials extended voting to account for people who were waiting in line, for hours in some cases, when the polls closed at 7 p.m. In Utah, some Democratic caucus sites had to print additional ballots to accommodate the turnout.

Tuesdays Western contests came as Trump and Clinton have both demonstrated strength in a string of recent primaries.

Trump, who won four of the five contests March 15, including Florida and Illinois, has built a substantial delegate advantage over Cruz, and he campaigned aggressively in Arizona in the hopes of capitalizing on his success and reinforcing the perception that his nomination is inevitable.

He drew thousands of supporters last weekend to events near Phoenix and in Tucson, both of which drew impassioned protests.

An important part of what has galvanized his admirers and opponents alike is Trumps tough talk on immigration. His harsh stance on the subject drove some of Arizonas most prominent immigration hard-liners, including Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, the states largest, to Trumps side.

The Democratic contenders sought to exploit the alliance between the sheriff and Trump, hoping to appeal to white liberals and to Hispanics, who make up around 30 percent of Arizonas population.

When I see people like Sheriff Arpaio and others who are treating fellow human beings with such disrespect, such contempt, it just makes my heart sink, Clinton said at a rally on Monday in Phoenix.

Sanders has been just as outspoken about Arpaio, who has drawn criticism for his aggressive tactics in arresting and detaining immigrants in the country illegally.

Its easy for bullies like Sheriff Joe Arpaio to pick on people who have no power, Sanders said to supporters on Monday in Flagstaff.

Arizona was the most heavily contested of the three states voting on Tuesday in the Democratic race, which has seen Clinton open a nearly insurmountable lead after sweeping all five states that voted on March 15.

Only registered Democrats were allowed to vote in Arizona, posing an obstacle to Sanders, who typically overwhelms Clinton among independents.

Utah and Idaho, by contrast, were voting through caucuses, not primaries, and have largely white populations  two frequent indications of success for Sanders.

But with Democrats allocating their delegates on a proportional basis, Sanders share of the combined 64 delegates offered by Utah and Idaho would do little to dent Clintons lead of 319 pledged delegates heading into Tuesdays votes.

On the Republican side, Trump led in the polls in Arizona and appeared to enjoy an advantage thanks to the states expansive early-voting laws: Republicans were eligible to begin casting ballots, in person or through the mail, 26 days before the primary  a period in which Trump racked up a series of victories. And by the time polls opened Tuesday morning, more than half of Arizona Republicans had cast their ballots.

Though Cruz campaigned and ran television ads in Arizona, both he and Kasich were far more focused on Utahs 40 delegates.

Like Sanders, Cruz has enjoyed an advantage in states that hold caucuses, where his on-the-ground organizational efforts can be particularly effective with the doctrinaire conservatives and Republican activists who tend to dominate those party-building events.

In Utah, Cruz won the support of Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, an important assist in the countrys most heavily Mormon state. Romney recorded get-out-the-vote calls for Cruz on Monday.
A 35-year-old man accused of kidnapping his estranged wife and two sons in Huntington Park before starting a police chase that ended in a standoff in Newport Beach pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 17 felonies.

Thomas Ueno is accused of fleeing from police  first in his estranged wifes Hummer and then on foot  on Feb. 29 after a high-speed chase. He was found the next night in Cerritos and later charged.

He faces life in prison.

It started around 4:30 p.m. Feb. 29 when Thomas Ueno apparently kidnapped his estranged wife their sons  ages 1 and 6  before fleeing in her Hummer to Buena Park just before 5 p.m.

Police located the Hummer and a chase through several side streets ensued before Ueno is accused of speeding on the southbound I-5 and 55 freeways. They ended up in Newport Beach where the SUVs battery died near Dover Drive and 16th Street.

A three-hour stand-off lead to Uenos estranged wife and two sons running toward police while Ueno ran into the fog and eluded police. Police never revealed how the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department Major Crimes Division found Ueno walking down a Cerritos street the next night.

Ueno is charged with three counts each of kidnapping for carjacking, false imprisonment by violence and false imprisonment of a hostage. two counts of violation of a domestic violence court order and fleeing a pursuing peace officers vehicle by driving recklessly, as well as injuring a spouse, first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm by a felon.

According to court documents, this is not the first time Ueno has lead police on chases in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

He was convicted of an Orange County chase on Jan. 23, 2006, and a Los Angeles pursuit on Jan. 10, 2003.

The court records also note that Ueno spent time behind bars after he was convicted of willfully harming a child in 2005 in San Bernardino County, willful corporal injury in 2010 and assault with a deadly weapon in 2006 in Los Angeles County.

Ueno is being held in Mens Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $3,040,000 bail.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7802 or aduranty@ocregister.com
Mad Mike Hughes, a stunt-lover from Los Angeles, is planning to attempt the longest and possibly the most dangerous rocket jump in history. Hes going to launch himself in a rocket across the Palo Duro Canyon in Texas, hopefully breaking his own previous record of jumping 1,374 feet.

Hughes, who calls himself the Current King of the Daredevils, will perform the stunt on April 2 at The Palo Duro Zipline Adventure Park, located 25 miles from Amarillo. Hell be using the steam-powered X-2 Steam Rocket, powered by pressure rather than rocket fuel. The tank is expected to build up sufficient pressure to launch him off a steel ramp and set him sailing across the Park area and over the Grand Canyon of Texas. Hughes will finish the stunt by deploying a parachute to land safely on the ground. Tickets to view the highly dangerous stunt will be sold at the Park on the day of the event itself.

The inspiration for the stunt comes for Evel Knievel, the pioneer daredevil who attempted the first steam-powered rocket launch in 1972. Hughes attributes his love of extreme stunts to the American legend.

Source: Wide Open Country
Despite having graduated from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, in the top tier of her class, in 2008, Anna Alaburda still hasnt been able to find work as a lawyer. The disgruntled 37-year-old is now blaming her alma mater for the unfortunate situation, claiming that the school manipulated the employment statistics of its graduates in a bid to lure students. Shes suing them, hoping to recover the $170,000 she still owes in student loans.

In an ideal situation, working as a lawyer would have more than made up for the cost of Alaburdas law degree. But since her graduation in 2008, she claims that shes only served part-time positions and temp jobs reviewing documents for law firms. In her lawsuit she mentions that if shed known what was in store for her after graduation, she would have never attended the school. Anna also pointed out that the average student debt at Thomas Jefferson was about $137,000 in 2008, but the schools bar passage rate has been consistently lower than 50 percent.

Photo: video caption

As shocking as it sounds, Alaburda isnt the first law-school graduate attempting to sue her own school. Several other graduates who attended law school in the hope of securing a stable, high-paying job are yet to find employment in the legal profession. Many of them have filed cases against their schools, but none of them ever went to trial. In 2012, Justice Melvin L. Schweitzer of the New York Supreme Court, wrote that students would have to be wearing blinders not to see that a goodly number of law school graduates toil in drudgery or have less than hugely successful careers. He had dismissed a lawsuit filed by nine students against New York Law School, demanding $225 million in damages for being misled by the schools employment figures.

But in Alaburdas case, which went to trial on March 7 in San Diego, Judge Joel M. Pressman ruled against the schools efforts to scrap the suit. He agreed that withholding transparent and accurate information from students can be damaging, making the Thomas Jefferson the first school to go to trial on such charges. The school, of course, has dismissed her claims as meritless, adding that it has a strong track record of producing successful graduates, with 7,000 alumni working nationally and internationally.

Photo: video caption

But theres one thing even the school cant deny  the drastic drop in enrollment rates at law schools since 2010. It seems that fewer and fewer students are willing to take the risk of paying off a student debt, when thousands of former law graduates remain unemployed. According to Paul Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado who studied the legal job market in 2011, nearly 45 percent of the 45,000 students who graduate each year are unable to find jobs in the field. But in that year he found that most law schools were reporting employment rates of about 80 percent or more. The sad reality, he says, is that most of the students currently enrolled in law schools are never going to work as lawyers.

As for Alaburda, she is fighting her legal battle in California, where the protection laws are stronger. If she does end up prevailing in her suit, law schools might finally be forced to be more honest and transparent with their employment statistics.

Sources: The New York Times, CBS News
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has shuffled his PR staff as his administration takes a beating over the Flint water crisis.

Snyder replaced communications director Meegan Holland with veteran statehouse press aide Ari Adler. Holland was moved into a special projects role for the governor. "Ari has a long history of service to the people of Michigan as a journalist, teacher and media relations professional," Snyder said in a statement. "His experience in state government, the Legislature and the private sector have made him a trusted resource for journalists seeking to share information with the public."

Snyder has also bounced his press secretary, Dave Murray, who was reassigned to the state's Department of Talent and Economic Development. A replacement has not yet been named.

Snyder is facing the possibility of a recall election among widespread rancor over the Flint crisis.

Emails relating to the crisis released by the governor's office show Holland was admonished by a Snyder aide in December for attempting to communicate about the Flint crisis through personal email.

Mercury advised the administration on the PR front as the crisis flared earlier this year.
Los Angeles-based PR and public affairs firm Vectis Strategies has named former LA Times and LA Business Journal reporter Cale Ottens associate partner.

Cale Ottens

Ottens joins Vectis from the Los Angeles Business Journal, where he was a commercial real estate reporter and also covered LA's legal industry. Prior to joining that weekly newspaper in 2014, he was a business reporter for Hearst property the Midland Reporter-Telegram and reported on commercial real estate for the Los Angeles Times. He has also written for the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Business Journal.

At Vectis, Ottens will help shape the firms media relations and public relations practice. He will be based in Vectis' Los Angeles headquarters.

Vectis was formed in 2013 by former congressman Tony Coelho (D-CA), who was Democratic Whip, and Rep. Ron Packard (R-CA), who chaired the appropriations committee on energy and water. The firm, which specializes in real estate, finance, technology, infrastructure and education, holds additional offices in Sacramento, San Diego and Washington, D.C.
Emme Nelson Baxter, former business editor for The Tennessean in Nashville, has joined healthcare specialist Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hanock in Nashville as a VP.

Emme Nelson Baxter

Baxter moved into PR with hospital giant HCA as director of corporate communications and recently ran her own shop, Nelson Baxter Communications, for the past two years.

Earlier, she was a reporter and copy editor for USA Today, a sister Gannett paper to The Tennessean and started out in the public affairs office of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
International law firm Hogan Lovells US LLP is representing Venezuelas attorney general in a request filed with the Supreme Court regarding its case against oil company Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co.

That certiorari petition seeks to appeal decisions made in a U.S. Circuit Court ruling earlier this year that argued whether Venezuela violated international law when it allegedly seized property belonging to Helmerich & Payne, and whether the litigation initiated by the oil company applies under rules established by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the 1976 law that grants immunity to foreign states in U.S. lawsuits.



According to Foreign Agents Registration Acts documents filed in March, Hogan Lovells said it plans to reach out to executive branch staff regarding the interests of the U.S. and Venezuela governments in connection with the firms representation of that country during the pending litigation.

Tulsa, OK-based Helmerich & Payne, which had operated deep-water drilling rigs off of Venezuelas coast for more than half a century, in September 2011 sued the South American nation in Washington, D.C. federal court for hundreds of millions, after Venezuela allegedly broke drilling contracts and seized nearly a dozen of its rigs.

Helmerich & Paynes Venezuela-based subsidiary H&P-V inked a series of drilling contracts with Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, but PDVSA allegedly missed numerous payments, with unpaid invoices allegedly totaling more than $60 million by the summer of 2008, according to U.S. Appeals Court documents.

As a result, the company in 2010 announced its decision to disassemble its fleet of rigs and leave the country. This allegedly resulted in armed members of the Venezuelan National Guard seizing the rigs for the purpose of turning them over to PDVSA and bringing them back into production.

Helmerich & Payne and its Venezuelan subsidiary brought suit against Venezuela and PDVSA in the D.C. Circuit Court for breach of contract, as well as the claim that the countrys alleged illegal seizure of the companys property is in violation of international law.

The defendants argued that the property expropriated was not owned by H&P, but by Venezuelan subsidiary H&P-V, which was incorporated under Venezuelan law. Venezuela and PDVSA further claimed that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which sets limitations on foreign nations' ability to be sued in American courts, invalidated the suit.

The court in May agreed that, as a Venezuelan national, H&P-V could not seek redress in a U.S. court for alleged wrongs endured in its country. However, the court rejected the defendants claim of immunity under FSIA, citing statutory exemptions in the case of commercial activity. That courts decision was appealed by both sides.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. in November petitioned the Supreme Court to take up its case. That certiorari request claims the courts decision to dismiss H&P-Vs breach of contract claims could have a deleterious effect on international commerce and also counters prior circuits decisions.

"This rule would permit a foreign sovereign to form a contract in the United States, utilize parts, supplies, and services from the United States, and benefit from the knowledge and expertise of companies in the United States, while leaving those American parties with no remedy in U.S. courts if the foreign sovereign breached its obligations abroad," the petition read. "This would defeat the expectations of the U.S. contracting parties and have a chilling effect on U.S. commerce."

Venezuela in October also petitioned the Supreme Court on the case.

The Supreme Court on February 29 called for the Solicitor General Office to file a brief expressing the U.S.s view on the pending request. According to FARA documents, Hogan Lovells intends to request a meeting with the Solicitor General's Office on behalf of Venezuela officials concerning the Supreme Court's order. The intended meeting may include other agency officials as well, at the Solicitor General's discretion, the FARA document reads, and will be limited to the respective interests of the U.S. and Venezuela in the litigation.

While we believe that contact with the U.S. government officials regarding the aforementioned litigation quality for the exception under FARA section 631(g) for persons qualified to practice law, we nevertheless submit this registration in case the nature of such contacts might be deemed to exceed the scope of the exemption.

Hogan Lovells in 2014 previously helped Venezuela with U.S. relations work, after President Obama signed legislation imposing sanctions on that country for its crackdown on demonstrators protesting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
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Selma Blair got the 1st perfect score on Dancing with the Stars this season and it was deserved. Announcing she was withdrawing from the competition because she didnt want to hurt her body, Blair danced 1 final time and had the ballroom in tears.
Nebraska picked up a big commit from Keyshawn Johnson Jr. on Wednesday. What does it mean for NU's 2017 recruiting class and the Mike Riley era in general?

1. It gives Nebraska an even better shot at landing Tristan Gebbia and Darnay Holmes. That's just basic logic, right? Gebbia and Holmes have their own decisions to make and are looking at some different schools than Johnson did, but Johnson pledging for NU gives the Huskers one more mark in the plus column. Both players have considerable upside; Gebbia probably needs a few months at Nebraska's training table to gain weight, but he has a rocket arm, while Holmes, well, off the hoof he's an athlete who belongs in the Ameer Abdullah category. Yep, he's that good, which is why he's a five-star prospect.

2. It's a win over a traditional power like USC. The Trojans have a bit of egg on their face from losing a kid whose dad starred at USC, and it's another win for Nebraska in California. Did USC want Lamar Jackson? Yep. Nebraska got him. It could get interesting from here between the two schools.
Alorica, which last year purchased West Corp.s Omaha-area call center operations, said it plans to hire 600 additional full-time workers this year, bringing its local employee total to 2,400.

The Irvine, California-based company now employs 1,800 at its seven Omaha call centers.

Our clients are asking for more support, specifically in Omaha, so were hiring, said Ken Muche, the companys spokesman.

The people in Omaha are the biggest reason were in the city and expanding our workforce now  hard-working folks with passion for their work and very others-focused, he said. Its a credit to our Alorica team members doing a great job in Omaha that our existing clients are asking for additional support.

State Labor Commissioner John H. Albin told The World-Herald on Tuesday that it was a compliment to Nebraskas workforce that a company with locations around the world decided to expand in Omaha.

Its exciting to have a company with such a broad reach continue to create solid job opportunities in our state, Albin said.

Alorica, a privately owned company, offers call center services, back office support, data analysis and other services to retail, health care, telecommunications and technology companies. Last year it bought Omaha-based Wests call center operations for $275 million.

As part of the deal, Alorica inherited some of Wests telecom, retail and health care clients, Muche said. West said the sale was part of its transition from labor-intensive businesses to higher-tech ones.

The bulk of Aloricas hiring will begin in September, in time to meet the winter holiday needs of clients, Muche said.

Most openings will be for full-time, permanent call center positions. There also will be some openings for quality assurance analysts, reporting analysts, human resources recruiters and client services managers, he said.

Job seekers with a background in service roles, such as banking or retail, will be considered, he said. Applicants dont necessarily need experience at a call center, he said.

Wages will be competitive, Muche said. A check of Indeed.com, an online job board, yielded two Alorica advertisements for call center positions, one paying $11.50 an hour; the other, $14.25 an hour.

Aloricas expansion is being driven in large part by growth in the technology, health care and retail sectors, Muche said.

We expect those industries to continue to expand as more baby boomers use health care services and as new technology becomes more popular among all demographics, particularly millennials, he said. We signed more than two dozen new clients last year.

Alorica, which was founded in 1999, employs 50,000 U.S. employees and had $1 billion in revenue last year, Muche said.

It also has call center locations in the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Jamaica.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1142, janice.podsada@owh.com
Beleaguered flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators is paying $2.5 million to settle allegations that some of its products violated Californias air-safety standards. The penalty announced Tuesday was the latest that Lumber Liquidators has absorbed for formerly selling laminate flooring made in China. In this case, Lumber Liquidators faced allegations that the imported flooring contained high levels of the carcinogen formaldehyde that violated Californias air-quality controls. The Toano, Virginia, company didnt acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement with the California Air Resources Board.

17% of those over 65 have been swindled, survey finds

Seventeen percent of Americans over the age of 65, or 6.8 million people, have been taken advantage of financially through high fees, inappropriate investments or outright fraud, according to a new survey. The findings, the results of a survey done by Public Policy Polling for the Investor Protection Trust, represented an improvement over a similar study in 2010, which discovered 20 percent of senior citizens had been victimized. Investor Protection Trust is a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education and protection.

AIG to cut jobs in NYC

American International Group Inc., an insurer under pressure from activist investors, plans to cut 242 jobs at five locations in New York City, the company said in a so-called WARN notice filed with the New York Department of Labor.

 From wire reports
LINCOLN  TierOne Banks former chief executive, Gilbert Lundstrom, on Wednesday was sentenced to 11 years of prison, in what probably is the only successful federal prosecution of a U.S. bank leader tied to the financial crisis.

Lundstrom, 74, also was ordered to pay a $1.2 million fine.

Last year a jury found him guilty on 12 of 13 counts related to the fraud that sank Lincolns TierOne Bank, then the second-largest financial institution in the state with about $3 billion in assets and 800 employees.

Lundstrom, who had been free on bail, was immediately taken into custody by federal marshals Wednesday. He handed over possessions, including his tie and belt, to his lawyers and family in the courtroom, hugged his wife, and was handcuffed and escorted away.

TierOne was not a mom-and-pop organization you could operate at your whim, said U.S. District Judge John Gerrard, just before sentencing the Nebraska native who rose from a job as the banks outside lawyer to become CEO. TierOne had a responsibility to report accurate profit and revenue figures.

While big by Nebraska standards, TierOne was small by national ones: By comparison, the biggest U.S. bank during TierOnes heyday in the mid-2000s was North Carolina-based Bank of America, with $2.3 trillion of assets.

Big financial institutions of that period that saw mortgage borrowers start to default en masse included Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch. They and others were found to have engaged in behavior eerily similar to TierOnes: They were in far worse financial condition than originally reported to regulators and investors.

In all, 465 U.S. banks failed from 2008 to 2012  the worst period for such insolvencies since the Great Depression.

But only TierOne attracted U.S. Justice Department prosecutors, who secured indictments and a guilty verdict.

Neither prosecutors nor lawyers for Lundstrom had any comment on the verdict Wednesday.

The banks failure is the largest in Nebraska history and probably the largest white-collar crime in state history if more than just investor losses are considered.

More than a half-billion dollars of stock market value was lost since TierOnes peak in 2006, when shares traded for $35 each. In the end, 70 branches and remaining assets were absorbed by Great Western Bank after TierOne went insolvent in 2010.

At Lundstroms three-week trial, which concluded in November, former subordinates testified that he faked accounts to hide uncollectible loans, made at the end of the housing boom to real-estate developers who themselves were broke.

With no money coming in to pay off the loans, the banks capital deteriorated, regulators closed in and investors fled from the collapsing shares.

Lundstrom was sentenced in the same courtroom where he once practiced law, having been TierOnes outside lawyer before joining the company. Dressed in a dark business suit, he looked the judge directly in the eye as the sentence was read. Earlier, he had a chance to make a case for leniency in a short presentation to the judge.

My career and reputation built over 50 years is destroyed, he said, speaking in a calm, authoritative voice. He said the thinks about the wiped-out shareholders and employees who lost their jobs almost every day.

Some of them were present. About two dozen former TierOne employees attended the hearing. One said she wanted to see Lundstrom in cuffs. Another wore a royal blue First Federal Lincoln T-shirt  a memory of the small local savings and loan association that preceded TierOne.

Connie Benson of Chapman, Nebraska, said she had worked in the Grand Island and St. Paul offices of TierOne. She worked for the bank for 15 years, she said  the best job shed ever had.

Sitting through the daylong proceedings brought up a lot of old feelings, she said  mixed feelings.

There are no winners, Benson said, echoing the judges comments.

Scheduled to be sentenced Thursday are the banks former president and its chief credit officer.

Both testified against Lundstrom during his trial, after having pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in exchange for a chance of more lenient sentences.

World-Herald staff writer Brad Davis contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 402-444-3197, russell.hubbard@owh.com

Read more
STANTON, Neb. (AP)  The last of four northeast Nebraska teenagers accused of torturing a cat and an opossum has been sentenced.

The Norfolk Daily News reports that the boy was sentenced Tuesday and given a similar sentence: a year of probation, 50 hours of community service, more counseling and a mental health evaluation.

Stanton County authorities say the boys made an audio recording of the cat being tortured. Only two of the four participated in both incidents last fall.

An adult also has been charged: Kirk Van Pelt, a Stanton school board member and a former sheriff's deputy. Van Pelt has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for April 26.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LINCOLN  Governor Pete Ricketts announced the winners of this years Nebraska Department of Agriculture poster contest on March 16 during National Ag Week. The contest was open to first through sixth grade students in Nebraska.

Agriculture is the heart and soul of this state, said Governor Pete Ricketts. The students who participated in the competition know and understand this. Their posters were created using this years contest theme, Agriculture: Growing Nebraska, and creatively highlight our states number one industry.

The posters were judged in three separate categories, and the NDA received nearly 1,500 entries in total.

In the first and second grade division:

Governors Choice: Josh Frederick, a second grader from Falls City North School

First place: Avery Bruha, a first grader from Ord Elementary

Second place: Brock Niedfeldt, a second grader from Falls City North School

Third place: Turner Hoffman, a second grader from Norris Elementary in Firth

In the third and fourth grade division:

Governors Choice: Jordan Settles, a fourth grader from North Bend Central

First place: Petar Petrovic, a fourth grader from Tara Heights Elementary in Papillion

Second place: Carter H., a fourth grader from Ackerman Elementary in Omaha

Third place: Kooper Koehn, a fourth grader from Dudley Elementary in Gothenburg

In the fifth and sixth grade division:

Governors Choice: Anne Eckert, a sixth grader from St. Margaret Mary School in Omaha.

First place: Brenda Lazaro Romero, a fifth grader from Knickrehm Elementary in Grand Island

Second place: Abigail Gamage, a fifth grader from Knickrehm Elementary in Grand Island

Third place: Lilly Fuglsang, a sixth grader from St. Margaret Mary School in Omaha

These students are learning about the important role agriculture has in developing our food supply and how ag impacts our daily lives, said NDA Director Greg Ibach. Teaching consumers about where their food comes from starts with quality conversations at an early age.

The winning posters and the names of the schools submitting entries are on the NDAs website at nda.nebraska.gov/kids/poster/2016/2016contest.html.

For a digital copy of the winning artwork, please contact Christin Kamm at christin.kamm@nebraska.gov.
Creighton University junior Nicole Guetzke said reality hit hard Tuesday after the explosions in Brussels traced my footsteps for the past 24 hours.

The Minnesota native, who is studying abroad for a semester at Vesalius College in Belgium, flew into the Brussels Airport on Monday, a day before the bombings there.

She was returning from a weekend in Marseilles, France, on one of the few flights to leave France after labor strikes at that nations airports. If her flight had been canceled like many others, the marketing major wrote from Brussels, she probably would have been flying into Brussels on the day of the bombings.

As it was, Guetzke headed to school early Tuesday to prepare for an exam  and was on the citys subway when the two explosions hit the airport.

After getting to school, she was setting up to study when her best friend from Creighton broke the bombing news to her, texting her to check in.

For Guetzke, that began a day full of reassuring people around the world that she was safe.

A few minutes later, as she was talking with her parents, news broke of a third explosion, this one on the subway line  the one shed ridden to school about an hour earlier.

At that point, school staff encouraged her and other students to walk home. She joined a group of other Americans at a nearby apartment and spent the day monitoring the news.

Everyone was calm and collected until the States started to wake up, she said. That set off hours of constant updates and contacting loved ones.

There were very few moments of fear, she said, but when there were those moments, they made you stop breathing.

A Creighton spokeswoman said Guetzke was the only CU student studying in Belgium.

A midmorning lockdown, which kept everybody in Brussels indoors, was lifted in early evening, after which Guetzke headed back to her own home.

I walked an hour and a half on sidewalks filled with shattered glass and bloodstains while passing the scene of the subway bombing, she wrote. I didnt go more than 20 feet without seeing a police car.

Guetzke, 20, said the city felt like it was trying to be normal after the attacks, but it was too quiet. It was as if you took people from their daily routines and put a car accident on every block.

The attacks have canceled school for the rest of the week. And a two-week spring break follows that. So Guetzke will have some time to readjust. For now, she said, shes not planning to let Tuesdays events affect her plans.

There has not been a single second I would have rather wanted to be somewhere else.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1219, dan.golden@owh.com

* * *

World-Herald coverage of the Brussels attacks
LINCOLN  Some rural senators concerned about the cost of being required to provide court-appointed lawyers for juvenile suspects in Nebraska succeeded in amending a bill Tuesday so that it applies only to the states largest-population areas.

Originally, Legislative Bill 894 would have required legal representation for juveniles in all 12 judicial districts of the state.

The amendment, which the Legislature adopted, would apply the requirement only to Douglas and Lancaster Counties and to the district that encompasses Sarpy, Cass and Otoe Counties.

Senators then voted 33-1 to advance the measure to the third and final round of consideration.

LB 894 includes several other provisions intended to continue a multi-year effort to improve the states juvenile justice system. Among them:

 A requirement that the states youth detention facilities track and write detailed reports about their use of solitary confinement.

Juvenile justice advocates say solitary confinement can severely damage the mental health of youths.

 Language to allow counties to create a guardian ad litem division made up of attorneys who work full-time to represent the interests of children in the legal system.

Judges now appoint private attorneys to serve as guardians ad litem.

 A ban on criminal prosecutions of children younger than 11.

The juvenile court would maintain jurisdiction over such child offenders but would direct them to receive services.

Most of the floor debate focused on the section of the bill that would require court-appointed lawyers for juveniles.

Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte opposed the requirement, saying the decision ought to be left to the childs parents. He argued that most juveniles charged with minor offenses in his district go through pretrial diversion and dont need a lawyer.

This bill does take away parental rights, Groene said.

Other rural senators expressed concerns about how much the bill might cost counties.

Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who introduced the bill, said that in some cases, parents pressure their children to waive the right to an attorney because they dont want to pay legal fees.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha introduced the amendment to exempt the rural counties. Passed on a 33-7 vote, it also would allow a court to require parents to pay legal fees if they can afford to do so.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha voted against the amendment and predicted that it would violate the equal protection clause of the Nebraska Constitution by providing lawyers for children in some counties but not in others.

Contact the writer: 402-473-9587, joe.duggan@owh.com

* * *

Additional information on the Legislature
BRUSSELS (AP)  The suspected bomb maker in the Paris attacks in November was one of two suicide bombers who targeted the Brussels airport, officials said Wednesday, in a new sign that both attacks are linked to the same cell of the Islamic State group.

The revelation that Najim Laachraoui was among the bombers came as Belgians began three days of mourning for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings. The country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with Laachraoui and one other suicide bomber.

Turkish authorities, meanwhile, said they had caught one of the suicide bombers near the Turkish-Syrian border in July and sent him back to the Netherlands, warning both that country and Belgium that he was a "foreign terrorist fighter." But a Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly said the bomber was allowed to go free because Belgian authorities could not establish any ties to extremism.

Belgian authorities had been looking for Laachraoui since last week, suspecting him of being an accomplice of top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested Friday.

Two officials said Laachraoui's DNA was verified as that of one of the suicide bombers Tuesday, after samples were taken from remains found at the blast site at Brussels airport. One European official and one French police official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to divulge details of the Belgian investigation. Both officials were briefed on the investigation.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official told The Associated Press, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Several people who may be linked to the attacks were still on the loose and the country's threat alert remained at its highest level, meaning there was danger of an imminent attack, said Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium's terrorism threat body. The attacks killed 31 people, not including three suicide bombers, and injured 270 others, authorities said.

As government offices, schools and residents held a moment of silence to honor the dead, the mood was defiance mixed with anxiety that others involved in the attacks are still at large.

Belgian Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw identified two of the Brussels attackers as brothers Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, who targeted the subway.

Investigators raided the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a trash can on the street including a note from Ibrahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison. He was the brother who Turkish officials said was deported from Turkey to the Netherlands. Belgium's justice minister said that authorities there knew him as a common criminal, not an extremist, and that he was sent back to the Netherlands, not Belgium.

A taxi driver who took Ibrahim El Bakraoui and two others to the airport led investigators to an apartment where they found 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of TATP explosives, along with nails and other materials used to make bombs, Van Leeuw said.

Two were suicide bombers, the prosecutor said; the other was a man in a white jacket and black cap who fled before the bombs went off, leaving behind a bag full of explosives. That bag later blew up, but no one was injured.

The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, has also claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing sources it didn't identify, said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to Abdeslam.

Abdeslam was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on Nov. 13. Those attacks killed 130 people.

A Belgian official working on the investigation told the AP that it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought and that developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed Wednesday, and authorities said the airport would remain closed at least through Thursday, forcing the cancellation of 600 flights each day. Security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

Thousands of people gathered at Place de la Bourse in the center of downtown Brussels, including dozens of students chanting "stop the war" in solidarity with those killed.

"In Belgium, it's not every day that we show solidarity politically," said Fanny Nicaise, 24. She came out with some friends just to see and be with others. "It's important that you aren't alone in your sadness."

Belgians paid homage and lit candles, the mood almost buoyant as people wrote on the ground with big sticks of chalk, drawing peace signs and hearts.

As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.

"It's a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday on Europe-1 radio. Valls, who planned to visit Brussels later Wednesday, urged tougher controls of the EU's external borders.

"We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism ... that spreads in some of our neighborhoods and perverts our youth," he said. The Paris attackers were mainly French and Belgian citizens of North African descent, some from neighborhoods that struggle with discrimination, unemployment and alienation.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. The Islamic State warned of further attacks, issuing a statement promising "dark days" for countries taking part in the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition in Syria and Iraq.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and had warned that Islamic State was actively preparing to strike.

Valls said Wednesday that big events, be they sports or cultural, must not be put on hold for fear of attacks. He said that includes the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, a monthlong event being held in France that starts in June. Meanwhile, the Belgian football federation announced that it was calling off an international soccer friendly match against Portugal next week because of the attacks.

Copyright 2016 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

* * *

World-Herald coverage of the Brussels attacks
PARIS (AP)  The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, the Associated Press has learned.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed to have entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks  this time for a man seen on security footage in the airport with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders

"Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: So what if he was arrested? 'We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,'" said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

"The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening," she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but he'd signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a "secret cell of soldiers" dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks."

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving IS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

"The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training," he said. "Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now."

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but IS has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these "external operation" units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

"This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria."

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

"To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape," said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

"Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days," Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be a Brussels resident with a degree in mechanical engineering  the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material, although Laachraoui has not been publicly linked to the latest attack.

And Laachraoui, like the unidentified man seen wearing a white jersey at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WAYNE, Neb.  A foot of snow blanketed Wayne overnight Wednesday as a storm made its way across the region.

Along U.S. Highway 275 in northeast Nebraska, several vehicles sat stuck and abandoned by the side of the road Thursday. Traffic on Nebraska Highway 16 west of Pender came to a stop in both directions as a tow truck pulled a semitrailer out of the ditch.

With the temperature reaching 38 degrees in the afternoon, snow melted from area roadways. Plowed piles reaching more than 6 feet in some spots ran down the middle of Wayne's Main Street.

Outside the Sports Club Motel, snow drifted from the roof onto the tops of vehicles parked nearby, piling as high as 5 feet.

Dan Eveleth of Bonnie Plants was staying at the Sports Club Motel. He said the storm began Wednesday evening with thunder, and he awoke to a foot of snow in the morning.

Storm recap

 Moderate to heavy snow fell Wednesday night into early Thursday across northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa, with up to more than a foot reported in some areas. Gusty north-northeast winds caused substantial blowing snow across much of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa that received snow.

 Streets in the Omaha area were mainly wet early Thursday, with temperatures around 32 degrees. Later, around 4 a.m., Douglas County 911 dispatchers began taking requests for salt trucks due to icy conditions in some locations, especially on bridges and overpasses.

 Austin Rowser, street maintenance engineer for Omaha, said crews began salting bridges and overpasses early Thursday. Omahas streets were in mainly good condition, he said, but some elevated surfaces were icy. Rowser said he expected road conditions to dry out later Thursday, thanks to strong winds, and crews would shift to patching potholes by afternoon.

 Douglas County authorities suspended taking property-damage accident reports around 4:35 a.m. Ten crashes, two around I-80 and Kennedy Freeway that left one person critically injured and another seriously injured, were reported between 3 a.m. and about 6 a.m. Authorities shut the I-80/Kennedy Freeway area due to icy conditions. By 8 a.m., police were back taking accident reports.

Interstate 80 reopens

 Interstate 80 reopened across Nebraska on Thursday morning. Heavy snow closed most of I-80 in both directions from Gothenburg to Wyoming on Wednesday. I-80 westbound was closed from Grand Island to Wyoming.

 The Nebraska Department of Roads said Thursday morning that about two-thirds of the states roads, from southwest Nebraska through northern and northeast Nebraska, were completely covered. Some roadways in northwest Nebraska were partially covered.

 The Iowa Department of Transportation reported Thursday morning that two-thirds of the states roads were wet while most of Iowas northern roadways were completely to partially covered. Travel was not advised on many roadways around and to the north and east of Sioux City, including Interstate 29 north of the city. Some areas were impassable due to disabled vehicles. Motorists were urged to evaluate the need to travel in extreme conditions.

Snowfall totals

 Snowfall totals in inches at midnight: Norfolk, 6; Wayne, 12; Pierce, 10; Sioux City, 15. Snowfall totals at 7 p.m. Wednesday: North Platte, 3.5; Valentine, 5.5; Harrison, 8; Harrisburg, 8.

 Rainfall totals in inches at 8 p.m. Wednesday: Offutt Air Force Base, .22; Eppley Airfield, .14; Millard, .09; Council Bluffs, .23.

 A winter storm warning remained in effect until 9 a.m. today for a swath of northwest Iowa that included Sioux City and Storm Lake.

 A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 9 a.m. today for a narrow band stretching through a part of northwest Iowa. Included in the advisory was Denison.

 Elsewhere, the storm brought snow accumulations in South Dakota of fewer than 2 inches in Sioux Falls to up to 7 inches north of Humboldt. The fast-moving storm dropped up to a foot of snow in Minnesota. Forecasters said up to a foot of the white stuff could bury central Wisconsin, from River Falls to the Green Bay area. In Colorado and Wyoming, the wind and the heavy, wet snow weighed down power lines and snapped them, causing numerous outages.

 One United departure and one Southwest departure from Omahas Eppley Airfield for Denver were canceled Thursday morning due to heavy snow at the Colorado airport.

Omaha-area forecast

Today  Snow/rain mix possible before 8 a.m., then gradual clearing with a high near 39 and north-northwest winds gusting as high as 40 mph. Snow accumulation of less than a half-inch likely.

Tonight  Mostly clear with a low around 27.

Friday  Partly sunny with a high near 57 and south-southeast winds gusting as high as 25 mph.

Friday night  A 20 percent chance of rain with a low around 36.

Saturday  A slight chance of rain and snow with a high near 46.

Saturday night  Mostly cloudy with a low around 28.

Sunday  Mostly sunny with a high near 49.

Sunday night  Mostly clear with a low around 30.

Monday  Sunny with a high near 61.

Monday night  Partly cloudy with a low around 41.

Tuesday  Mostly sunny and breezy with a high near 64.

Tuesday night  A slight chance of showers with a low around 44.

Wednesday  A chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high near 63.

 National Weather Service

State Speech competition rolls on

Day two of NSAA State Speech competition at the University of Nebraska at Kearney went on as planned despite the weather.

All schools are here, all judges are here, and were on schedule, Debra Velder, NSAA associate director, said Thursday morning.

Velder said one team  York High School  got stuck in town, was unable to find lodging and spent the night in the Kearney High School gym.

UNK spokesman Todd Gottula said that an eight-person crew began snow removal at 5 a.m. to accommodate the competition.

Gottula added that the competition regularly brings 2,000 or more people to campus, including competitors, judges, fans and family.

Thunderstorms, hail, strong winds

A powerful spring storm swept through the Midlands on Wednesday, closing roads in western Nebraska  including hundreds of miles of Interstate 80  and smacking the eastern part of the state with thunderstorms, including hail and strong winds.

Thursday, skies should clear and winds abate by afternoon, but tonight brings the likelihood of a hard freeze across the region. As a result, icy conditions can be expected and early spring blooming flowers are likely to get frost-bitten.

It was a day of notable weather across the state, with winter storm warnings, blizzard warnings, a brief tornado watch, a high-wind advisory and a winter weather advisory.

Travel across central and western Nebraska was affected by the weather, and flights that involved Denver International Airport  including six from Eppley Airfield  were largely canceled or delayed because of blizzard conditions and a power outage there.

The storm, traveling northeast, battered Colorado and Wyoming before hitting Nebraska.

Snow blown by gusts up to around 50 mph made it unsafe for planes to land or take off at Denver International Airport, leading officials to close it around midday. The airport reopened later and is expected to be back to normal operations by Thursday. The closure came hours after long flight delays caused by power outages at the airports fuel depot and deicing supply and the cancellation of about a third of the airports daily flights.

Whiteout conditions led to the closure of most of I-80 in both directions from Gothenburg to Wyoming, about 220 miles. I-80 westbound was closed further, from Grand Island to Wyoming.

In Wayne, Nebraska, a foot of snow fell. Even as snowfall began to taper off Wednesday night, strong winds were expected to sabotage efforts to clear I-80 and other shuttered roads.

Barn blown down in Iowa

Some evening commuters between Omaha and Lincoln encountered small hail along with rain and strong winds when one storm cell swept through at about 5 p.m. Areas reporting a smattering of hail included Gretna, Nebraska City, Wahoo and western Douglas County.

Strong winds caused a few accidents across the Midlands. A barn was blown down near Clarinda, Iowa. And a pickup truck was blown off the road on Highway 30 near North Platte. The National Weather Service office in North Platte reported a top wind gust of 64 mph in the area.

Road conditions deteriorated significantly Wednesday across western, central and northern Nebraska.

Jackknifed semis shut down travel in two separate spots along Highway 2 in north-central Nebraska. Many other roads in western Nebraska were labeled impassable by the State Department of Roads.

In general, roads across the affected region were partially or completely covered in snow and visibility was near zero at times.

The storm hit eastern Colorado and Wyoming hard, shutting down long stretches of highways in those states as well, including I-70 from near the Denver airport to the Kansas border, a more-than-500-mile stretch of I-80 in Wyoming into Nebraska as well as I-25 in northern Colorado and Wyoming.

Storm 'kicking our heinies'

Its pretty much kicking our heinies, said Tim McGary of the Wyoming Department of Transportation. Its bad enough we cant keep up with it. Thats why everything is closed.

Dangerous northerly winds combined with snow to create blizzard conditions in parts of central and western Nebraska.

At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the weather service was reporting 4 inches of snow in North Platte, breaking the record for the date of 3.8 inches, set in 1957. And snow was still falling. Up to 12 inches of snow was possible in far southwest Nebraska.

World-Herald staff writer Andrew J. Nelson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1102, nancy.gaarder@owh.com
TN polls 2016: DMDK joins PWF for Assembly polls

Chennai

oi-Shubham

Chennai, March 23: The DMDK on Wednesday joined hands with the People's Welfare Front (PWF) for the upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu. The alliance has left 120 out of 234 seats for the DMDK led by Vijaykanth and also projected him as the chief ministerial candidate.

BJP has a tough task in hand after DMK joined hands with Congress Why everybody wants to have an alliance with DMDK

The PWF comprises the MDMK led by Vaiko, VCK led by Thol Thirumavalavan and two Left parties---the CPI and CPI(M)." title="

Know your state: Tamil Nadu

BJP has a tough task in hand after DMK joined hands with Congress Why everybody wants to have an alliance with DMDK

The PWF comprises the MDMK led by Vaiko, VCK led by Thol Thirumavalavan and two Left parties---the CPI and CPI(M)." />

Know your state: Tamil Nadu

BJP has a tough task in hand after DMK joined hands with Congress Why everybody wants to have an alliance with DMDK

The PWF comprises the MDMK led by Vaiko, VCK led by Thol Thirumavalavan and two Left parties---the CPI and CPI(M).

The development came just days after DMDK chief Vijaykanth decided to alone in the May 16 elections. The DMK and BJP were still trying to woo the actor-turned-politician to join their respective camps but the Captain's latest move will leave both of them disappointed, the saffron party more as it is without any ally in this election.

Last month, DMK treasurer M K Stalin said he did not consider the PWF a big force in the southern state's politics and his party was not afraid of the it. A section of the DMK even accused the PWF of being a proxy for the ruling AIADMK.

But with the DMDK, which has a solid vote-share in the state joining the PWF, the DMK's perception might see a change.

The DMK has allied with the Congress for this election.

Oneindia News
Portal with TB-related data from all over India to be launched soon: Mandaviya

40% of India's population play host to the TB bacillus as a latent TB

Feature

oi-Oneindia

By Dr Tariq Mahmood

Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis bacteria. This bacteria is present in the droplet of cough or sneeze by a person who is suffering from sputum positive lung tuberculosis. This tiny droplet nuclei whenever inhaled by healthy person in close vicinity gets TB infection.

This infection is present in one third of world population and in India this is around 40% (50 crores of Indian population). These bacterial infections in person without disease are called latent TB infection (LTBI). They are neither the case to spread TB infection to others nor do they have signs and symptoms. The fate of tubercular infection depends upon the person's immunity.

According to WHO- In 2014, 9.6 million people fell ill with TB, 1.5 million people died and 1 million children became ill and .14 million (1,40000) children died. Over 95% TB deaths occurred in low and middle income countries. TB is the leading killer of HIV positive people in 2015 and 1 in 3 HIV deaths was due to TB.

Globally in 2014, 480,000 people developed MDR-TB. TB incidence has fallen by 1.5% per year since 2000 and death rate dropped 47% between 1990 -2015. An estimated 43 million lives were saved between 2000- 2014. Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health target gets of newly adopted sustainable Development Goals.

According to WHO, latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is defined as, state of persistent immune response to stimulation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) antigens, without evidence of clinically manifested active TB. This population is non-infectious to the community and have lifetime 10% risk of developing active TB disease in absence of co-morbid condition.

There are many factors which are responsible for the conversion of latent infection into the active disease. Person's immunity plays vital role. The person's having LTBI pose a major difficulty for global control of TB as they act as reservoir for the development of new cases of tuberculosis.

Majority of individuals who are exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis contain the infection using their innate and acquired host mechanisms. T-cell immune defences play the major role. When the person's immune system is intact, there occurs a balance between host and bacteria leading to containment of infection.

Following the exposure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, depending upon the host immune status, alveolar macrophages ingest the pathogen and destroy them. But certain number of pathogens remains unharmed and persistently present in the lungs in dormant state. They are responsible for the development of latent tubercular infection.

When the host immunity declines, these dormant bacilli reactivate and result in development of active TB disease and become the source of infection to others. Co-morbid conditions if present along with LTBI have many fold increase in developing tuberculosis disease from LTBI, e.g. - HIV, Diabetes, Patients on long term corticosteroid therapy, patients on cancer chemotherapy, Malnutrition, patients receiving dialysis, patients preparing for organ or bone marrow transplantation, Silicosis.

High risk population e.g. Children's contacts with sputum positive cases, Prisoners, Health workers, Immigrants from high TB burden countries, Homeless persons and Illicit drug users also reported increased incidence of active disease. Hence, whenever body's immunity declines due to any reason, the possibility of developing active TB disease increases.

There are two methods for identification of latent tubercular infection, one is tuberculin skin test (TST), and also called as Mantoux test and another is Interferon gamma release assay (IGRA). They are indirect markers of MTB exposure, however their sensitivity decrease in immunocompromised state.

In high TB burden countries like India, approximately 40% of population is estimated to be latently infected with MTB; hence detection of LTBI has not been a priority in country's National TB Control Program. So WHO recommends LTBI testing in high risk populations mentioned above?

If any of the above tests is positive, presence of active disease has to be ruled out. Once it is done, LTBI treatment can be initiated. Identification and treatment of LTBI can significantly reduce the risk of development of active disease and it is the important TB control strategy in low burden TB countries.

As far as preventive therapy in cases of LTBI is concerned, single anti-tubercular drug is sufficient. According to WHO, 6 to 9 months of Isoniazid or 3 month regimen of weekly rifapentine plus isoniazid or 3 to 4 months of isoniazid plus rifampicin or 3 to 4 months of rifampicin alone is recommended.

In countries like India, both TST and IGRA are highly misused and Standards for TB Care in India (STCI) also does not recommend the routine use of these tests in high endemic area.

To conclude, LTBI screening is strictly restricted to specific high risk populations in India because decreased immunity is mainly responsible for the development of latent infection into active disease in these subgroup of populations. Prophylaxis therapy for LTBI should always be started in high risk group only after ruling out active TB disease, so that the development of new TB cases can be reduced.
Change of guard 100 days into Paris climate pact

Feature

oi-IANS

By Ians English

US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Washington some days ago and signed a joint statement reiterating their resolve to fight climate change, adding that both the countries "must and will play a leadership role internationally in the low carbon global economy over the coming decades".

Let's not forget that the US is the only developed country that never signed the Kyoto Protocol. Canada is the only country that ratified and then walked out of the Kyoto Protocol without meeting its legally binding targets.

Canada and the US are the first and second largest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the world today, the positions both would retain for years to come.

To many who are now quite conversant with such official rhetorics, the statement beckoned the end of 100 days of wordy celebrations of success of the Paris climate agreement of December 12, 2015, and the start of yet another era of endless joint communiques peppered with promotional promises. Similar bilateral statements intended to save the world and protect future generations from a climate cataclysm were plentifully propagated during the months leading to the Paris meeting. This particular statement, though well-intended, looked rather helpless because of several reasons.

First, Obama's term is coming to an end next January. Second, the front-runners to succeed him are shying away from the issue of climate change, leave alone declaring any specific proposals on tacking it. Second, the American presidential debates reveal familiar lines of business-as-usual or even signal the eminent danger of undoing the success of the Paris agreement. Third, Canada not presently being part of the Kyoto Protocol, has not even declared its legally binding pre-2020 ambitious target of emission reduction. Such a target is one of the key issues for successfully implementing the universal agreement reached in Paris.

It's not only Obama, one of the passionate champions of climate change, who would be exiting the world theatre. There will be unprecedented and eminent exodus of key personalities that worked relentlessly for the fruitful outcome at Paris.

Recently, Laurent Fabius quit both as French foreign minister and the president of COP-21, where he was hailed as the "messiah" of the new universal climate agreement. The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christaine Figures, who was a key figure in coordinating the nuts and bolts of the Paris agreement, has declared that she will step down in July at the end of her six-year term. She firmly stated that she would not accept any extension.

Achim Steiner, the UN under-secretary general and the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that, inter alia, facilitates the implementation of the climate change agreement globally, will soon be finishing his tenure and has already accepted a new job not directly related to climate change.

Hela Cheikhrouhou, head of the UN's Green Climate Fund set up to provide $100 billion per year to the developing countries to help them cope with climate change, also said that she would stand down in September. (The fund has so far attracted about $10 billion in pledges from 43 nations, after repeated delays. It has so far dispersed $1.5 billion.)

To top it all, the towering figure that took climate change as a global priority from day one of his UN assignment as secretary general, Ban Ki-moon will be relinquishing his office when his term ends by the end of 2016.

Indeed, it is true that the institutions matter more than the personalities when it comes to serving the long-term cause like climate change. However, considering that the Paris agreement is not even open for the signature, (scheduled to start on April 22), leave alone the implantation, the sheer number of impending exits makes the whole scenario look like a change of guard of climate change. It also takes the recent joint statement between the US and Canada somewhere in the 'cloud-network', to use contemporary terminology, with scant regard towards the need of urgency.

During the 100 days after the historic agreement in Paris, the world is inundated with alarming news which all point to the fact that while climate change is happening faster than expected, the action to prevent it is slowing down.

The phrase "changing of the guard" is used to refer to the situation where the guards from earlier shift would change and the new guards for the next shift would replace them. It is not known if this change of the guard has ever taken place at a time so dramatic and so critical as 2016, when uncontrolled climate change is fast approaching.


Europe's terror problem is from European nationals not outsiders

Feature

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Brussels attack was yet another grim reminder of how weak the world is when it comes to fighting terror. Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for the President of the United States of America renewed his call to shut down the border until it was figured out what was going on.

However is this the solution? What Europe will have to understand clearly is that the threat perception has not been from the foreigners off late. It has been from the Europeans themselves who have joined the ISIS in large numbers. These persons who had left the country to join the ISIS have returned to spread havoc and create mayhem.

Problem begins at home:

The ISIS poses a unique problem. The success of the ISIS lies in the fact that it has captured the imagination of several persons in the world. The targeted audience for the ISIS has never been restricted to Iraq or Syria alone. When looking at the numbers on the world stage, the highest number of fighters are from the European nations.

[Brussels attack: Police releases CCTV image of suspected attackers]

Belgium alone has 250 of its nationals fighting alongside the ISIS. While this is a known number, there is a watch on 1,000 others who are missing and suspected to be part of the ISIS in some way or the other. Take for instance the Paris attacks of November 2015. A majority of those involved in the attack were from Europe. Salah Abdeslam the man arrested five days ago in connection with the Paris attack was a French citizen born in Belgium.

Shutting down the borders can never be the solution in such a scenario. This would lead to unwanted problems for the innocent. Instead Europe would need to take a different approach to the problem and identify its nationals who have left the country to join the ISIS. The fact is that these persons who have joined the ISIS and trained hard are returning home and carrying out these strikes.

While on one hand Europe must keep a close watch on its citizens returning from the ISIS camps, on the other it must also ensure that they do not leave in the first place. This can be achieved with better intelligence and global cooperation.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 10:40 [IST]
Hafiz Saeed is an uncomfortable man today and these are the reasons

Feature

oi-Vicky

There appears to be a great deal of discomfort within the Lashkar-e-Tayiba today. It no longer appears to be that outfit which can continue to have its way with the Pakistan establishment.

While Pakistan has refused to act against the chief of the outfit, Hafiz Saeed who continues to roam around freely, there are indications that suggest he does not enjoy the backing that he used to have a few years back.

This brings us to a very pertinent question- "is Pakistan killing the Frankenstein Monster that it once created?" Pakistan has realised that it cannot on one hand speak about fighting terror and on the other hand let the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammad function.

What has effected this change?

Indian Intelligence Bureau officials say that unlike the scenario a year back, the Pakistan establishment does not appear to be approving strikes that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba is planning. We are not trying to indicate that Pakistan has completely cut itself off from the Lashkar-e-Tayiba but the bonhomie of the past is clearly not there.

There are a couple of factors that has brought about this change. First and foremost, China has sought an assurance from Pakistan about the safety of its investments. China has been investing heavily in Pakistan and in such an event does not want any trouble from these militant groups.

Pakistan may not strike at these militant groups, but is attempting to weaken them in due course of time. Weakening such groups would be not providing financial or logistic help officials say.

The other point that must be noticed here is that India has been making attempts to bring about some amount of sanity in the relations with Pakistan. Former Research and Analysis Wing Chief, C D Sahay tells OneIndia that there is need to continue talking to Pakistan.

Pakistan too realises that if India is ready to talk then it would expect some amount of action against groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which have primarily targeted India. There was a time when the ISI would ensure that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba got what it wanted.

Take for instance the planning and execution of the 26/11 attacks at Mumbai. The Lashkar-e-Tayiba was on the verge of a break up, but this attack was approved by the ISI so that the flock stayed together. This has been the nature of every terrorist group. They tend to stand united only when a big attack is carried out.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 14:55 [IST]
TN polls 2016: Analysing the possible results after PWF-DMDK alliance shapes up

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

The decision by DMDK chief Vijaykanth to join the People's Welfare Front (PWF) for the May 16 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu has surprised quite a few observers and the common feeling is that this alliance will hurt both the DMK and BJP in the polls.

The BJP will be ruing the lost opportunity to get Vijaykanth on its board and throw a challenge to both the DMK-Congress alliance and the AIADMK. The saffron party, which had been trying to woo Vijaykanth for long but ultimately could not see a deal through, will not be able to join the PWF since it comprises Left parties.

The saffron party will in fact see itself outside the three-cornered contest that the state is witnessing after a long time. The BJP's only hope now rests with Jayalalithaa and the PMK. But will the AIADMK chief accommodate the saffron party ahead of the election? In case of the PMK, its decision to project former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss as the CM candidate will also make it difficult for the BJP to fit itself in the scheme of things.

For the DMK-Congress alliance, Vijaykanth's decision will leave Karunanidihi disappointed as the latter would have loved to have Captain in his ranks to consolidate the anti-AIADMK front. The DMK did not join the BJP fearing that such a tie-up could help its opponents gain by playing the secular card and hoped to forge a big alliance to wrest the power back from the AIADMK in the upcoming elections.

But that now looks not an easy task to accomplish.

Here are some possible outcomes of the latest alliance in Tamil Nadu:

AIADMK gaining/ DMK losing:

The PWF-DMDK alliance will see the anti-AIADMK votes getting split as more forces have joined the fray. But it will also see the DMK not gaining much of the anti-AIADMK votes because of the new alliance.

AIADMK not gaining because of PWF's credibility factor:

Another section of experts feels the AIADMK might not win much since the PWF itself will fail to convince the voters about its credibility by joining hands with the DMDK. Some said the PWF's claim of presenting the people of Tamil Nadu a third alternative apart from the AIADMK and DMK could be diluted by forming an alliance with "opprtunist" and "unscruplous" forces. The fact that DMDK was with the 'communal' BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha election and Jayalalithaa's AIADMK in the 2011 Assembly elections can spoil the PWF's image as a third alternative in Tamil Nadu.

DMK alliance doing good:

If one goes by the results of the 2006 and 2011 Assembly elections and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the southern state, it can be seen that the DMK-Congress alliance has a decent vote-share. They had 35 per cent share in 2006, 42 per cent in 2009, 32 per cent in 2011 and 32 per cent in the 2014 general elections.

Except in 2014, these figures suggest that the DMK-Congress alliance will not be a force to be written off easily. If the PWF-DMDK alliance fails to deliver, then the DMK-Congress alliance could be best placed to challenge the ruling party. The PWF-DMDK will have a number of problems at the grassroots as there will be voices against making an alliance with Vaiko and not Karunanidhi.

PWF-DMDK alliance emerging as a king-maker

If the vote-share of the latest alliance between the PWF and DMDK maintains the trend of the previous elections---Assembly or national---then there is every chance of it making an impact on the next election results. The PWF's decision to project Vijaykanth as its chief ministerial candidate and also giving more than half of the seats to the DMDK is a positive step from the third front.
'Anti-Hindu' tweet: Actress Dia Mirza breaks her silence, here is what all she said

India

oi-Mukul

Mumbai, Mar 23: Facing backlash from different sections, Bollywood actress Dia Mirza has clarified her 'Anti-Hindu Holi tweet'. Dia in a facebook post apologised for her tweet and said that her intention was not to hurt any community.

T20 WC: When model Arshi khan kept her promise, shared 'hot video' for Indian fans

In a controversial tweet which trolled on the social media, actress-producer had requested people to celebrate dry Holi in the wake of water shortage in Maharashtra. Now, in a clarification statement, Dia said that as water crisis is a sad reality of the state, I appealed people to conserve water.

"The irony of the times we live in: farmers commit suicide due to drought and people waste water to 'play' #Holi. Go ahead call me anti-Hindu", her controversial tweet reads.

Defending herself, Dia has now said, "As a citizen of India, I have an equal respect for all religions, festivals and customs that are celebrated in our country. It has never been my intention to hurt the sentiments of any individual or community. If in the event that my tweet has done so, I apologize unequivocally.

"That said, the fact remains that various parts of our country are experiencing a severe water shortage. According to a report I read in April last year, the drought in Maharashtra has hit over 90 lakh farmers and counting. In October last year, the Maharashtra government officially declared a 'drought-like condition' in 14,708 of the state's 43,000 villages," she said.

The 34-year-old 'Bobby Jasoos' producer said water conservation is the need of the hour and everyone should contribute to it.

"Water conservation is the absolute need of the hour and my request for us to indulge in a dry Holi was in keeping only with this sentiment of conservation and nothing else.

"We may not have all the solutions to the water scarcity problem or any other problem for that matter, but I believe that empathy for those most affected, acknowledging and understanding the challenges we face and taking the steps WE CAN as citizens, will only help," she said.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from PTI)
Anurag Thakur slams Virbhadra Singh

India

oi-PTI

Dharamshala, Mar 22: BJP MP Anurag Thakur today hit out at Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh after accusing him of maintaining "double standards".

He said that the approach followed by Congress of "family first, party next and nation last" is hampering the image and growth of the nation at large.

"Thanks to the back and forth by the CM on the India- Pakistan match, HP not only incurred losses due to the cancellation of the match but no team now wishes to play in Dharamsala given their concern over security," Thakur said.

Commenting on the proposal by Singh on hosting IPL and thereby offering tax exemption, he said, "Unfortunately, the world does not move as per Singh's whims and fancies, helping him to satisfy his political agendas. "Had he been concerned about the state's image and welfare of the people, he would have thought before giving out various misleading statements pertaining to the India-Pakistan match."

Thakur said he was concerned not because the cancellation of Dharamsala as its venue but because HP was shown in a poor light.

PTI
Fact Check: Snake coiling itself around Army sniper is from Indonesia, not India

Army rescuers find moms photo next to martyrs mortal remains

India

oi-Oneindia

By OneIndia Defence Bureau

Bengaluru, March 23: Madras Regiment's 'Veer Thambi' Sepoy Vijaya Kumar K, who was martyred in an avalanche strike triggered by a mild earthquake in Kargil Sector on March 17, worshipped his mother more than anyone else in this world.

His undying love for his mother was evident from the fact that the rescue team found a photograph neatly preserved from next to his body.

"We were all moved after seeing the photo of his mother next to him. He was a cheerful and witty boy, who was extremely fond of his parents. He was very close to his mother Muttukutty," an Army official said. His father Karuthapandian P, is a farmer.

Indian Army's rescue teams dug out the mortal remains of 23-year-old soldier on the third day (March 20), under 12 feet of snow. Despite extremely hostile weather, the teams with the help of avalanche rescue dogs, deep penetration radars and metal detectors combed the area in search of the Sepoy.

Hailing from Vallaramapuram village of Thirunelvelli district in Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Vijaya is survived by his parents and two younger sisters.

Body of Kargil avalanche victim flown to Delhi

He enrolled into the 21 Madras Regiment when he was 21 years old and was an active member in all activities during his training period.

"He was simply outstanding in his overall performance, thereby becoming cynosure of all eyes during recruit training at the Madras Regimental Centre. The individual joined his Battalion on September 6, 2015," says the official.

Sepoy Vijaya was mentally prepared to take on the challenges after his battalion moved for the field assignment in the Kargil Sector.

"Calmly and stoically he went about preparing himself physically and mentally for the challenges ahead. Posted to a Rifle Company, Sepoy Vijaya ventured to serve on a difficult post located at approx 17500 feet," says the official.

Siachen avalanche: Soldier's body recovered from under snow in Kargil

Army says this area remains isolated and inaccessible to the rest of the world nearly for six months every year during winters, covered by 10-15 feet snow.

"He was inducted onto the post in December 2015 and his unflinching commitment was a testimony to his upbringing, personal values and professional grooming. Sadly, he was washed away in an avalanche for almost one kilometer on the night of March 17," adds the official.

On Tuesday, Chief of the Army Staff General Dalbir Singh paid homage to Sepoy Vijaya during a wreath-laying ceremony held at the Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment.

Army had planned to airlift mortal remains of the brave soldier to Thiruvananthapuram by Tuesday night and then to be taken to his native by road.

According to Army officials, the cremation ceremony with full military honours had been planned tentatively on Wednesday.

OneIndia News
After the 'Jihad' comment, Patil now claims \"I never said it\"

Congress tweet calls Savarkar 'traitor' as it hails Bhagat Singh's martyrdom

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, March 23: A tweet on the Indian National Congress' official Twitter handle @INCIndia has called right wing ideologue V.D. Savarkar a 'traitor' while celebrating the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh.

Juxtaposing a picture of Bhagat Singh and Savarkar, titled "Martyrs and Traitors", the tweet gives an excerpt of the petitions below each picture that Savarkar and Bhagat Singh respectively wrote to the British colonial authorities from jail.

Bhagat Singh's last petition that he wrote from Lahore Jail in 1931 reads: "There exists a state of war between the British Nation and the Indian Nation, and secondly, we had participated in that war and were therefore war prisoners."

The excerpt from Savarkar's petition that he wrote in 1913 from the Cellular Jail in Andamans reads: "Therefore, if the government in their manifold beneficence and mercy release me, I for one cannot but be the staunchest advocate of constitutional progress and loyalty to the English government which is the foremost condition of that progress."

The tweet came on the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who were executed on March 23, 1931 by the British.

IANS
Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav

Headley refuses to answer questions about wife

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, March 23: Deposing in the 2008 Mumbai attacks case, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia to whom he had disclosed about his links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said. He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."

Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began this morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.

When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said.

I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife." The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.

PTI
Hyderabad Violence: Police brutality against students caught on camera; nationwide protests

India

oi-Oneindia

By Maitreyee Boruah

Bengaluru, March 23: The Hyderabad cops have come under the scanner for brutally beating students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH), Hyderabad on Tuesday (March 22).

The students were protesting against the vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, an accused in the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, who resumed charge on the campus on Tuesday, March 22.

The students and teachers of UoH alleged that Podile deferred a crucial meeting that would have discussed discrimination against Dalits and tribals on the campus.

Now, a video has emerged, which showcases men in uniform abusing and beating students.

"Even female students were beaten and manhandled by male cops. This is pure injustice. We condemn such violence by the police," said a student of the university.

Earlier on Tuesday, students vandalised the vice-chancellor's office and residence after he rejoined work.

The vice-chancellor was on an indefinite leave for nearly two months, after Rohith committed suicide on the campus of the university on January 17.Since Rohith's tragic death, students have been demanding the ouster of Podile.

An article published in The Telegraph stated, "The sudden comeback (of the vice-chancellor) even before a judicial commission probing the suicide gives its report has surprised many faculty members. Several teachers and students gathered to protest in front of his residence on the campus in the morning. Some students allegedly barged in and damaged windowpanes, doors, a television set and furniture."

"After Rohith's suicide caused a nationwide uproar, the Human Resource Development ministry had set up a judicial commission that completed its hearing on Monday (March 21). The commission has one more month to submit its report," The Telegraph article added.

As a mark of protest against the brutality of police against the students of UoH, several rallies will be hosted across the nation on Wednesday (March 23). The protest marches in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad are likely to start from 2pm on Wednesday.

"The cops picked up several students and two professors from the campus on Tuesday. They were brutally beaten up inside a police van and detained in unknown locations. Now, we have learnt that they were detained in Miyapur and Narsing police stations. The police blatantly lied to those who went to Miyapur police station in search of the detained students and teachers. Cops told that they were not holding anybody in the police station. We still do not know the fate of the students and teachers," said Karthik Bittu, a faculty fellow of the University of Hyderabad.

"The CRPF and RAF personnel have beaten up hundreds of protesting students badly. They called the students as 'anti-nationals'. The students were crying in pain. Even female students were beaten up by male police officers. The phones of several students have been confiscated while they video recorded the brutality.

Hostels were searched as police appeared to have a list of students and faculty members they were trying to pick up.

A letter has emerged showing the eerie and detailed coordination between Appa Rao Podile, sections of faculty and non-teaching staff, and ABVP students. The vice-chancellor has disrupted the peaceful academic atmosphere of the university with his unannounced and forceful return on the campus," Karthik added. [PHOTOS : Students Protest At HCU Vice-Chancellor Official Residence]

Karthik alleged that Podile postponed the academic council meeting on account of Holi and suspended classes till March 26.

"Why the vice-chancellor is acting in this manner? He has also encouraged non-teaching staff to go on a strike, leading to halting of food supply in the messes. There is no supply of drinking water on the campus.

The campus does not have any access to the internet. Why the vice-chancellor wants to shut down the campus at a time when exams are about to start?" asked Karthik.

OneIndia News
No more politics? Irom Sharmila plans to lead a peaceful life as an ordinary woman post marriage

At 46, Iron Lady of Manipur Irom Sharmila gives birth to twins on Mother's Day

Irom Sharmila wishes to meet PM Modi

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Imphal, March 23: Irom Sharmila, who has been campaigning against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958, by undertaking "fast unto death", wants to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi while visiting Delhi.

Sharmila expressed her desire while interacting with a handful of reporters when she was presented before a court in the Manipur capital on Tuesday.

She is to appear before the Patiala House court on March 29 and 30 in connection with a case under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to commit suicide).

She said: "I want to tell the prime minister that only talks could solve all the burning problems. Besides, I want to highlight the objectionable policies of the Indian government."

On October 6 and 7, 2006, Sharmila carried on her fasting at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, and police registered a case for which she has to appear before the Patiala House district court every now and then.

On two occasions, she could not appear before the court as there were no funds for the travel of Sharmila and her entourage which includes medical, police and prison staff.

During her last visit to Delhi also, she had expressed her desire to meet the prime minister. Themeeting, however, did not come off, and she returned to Imphal, Manipur.

Official indications are that there may not be a positive response from the Prime Minister's Office to her desire.

First, there has been no formal request from her. Secondly, the prime minister may not be ready to discuss the demand she is likely to put up.

Thirdly, Sharmila herself has admitted that she has lost considerable ground and virtually there is no supporter at the court complex except for some reporters.

In fact, she has been thinking of a public debate on whether people still want the AFSPA and if she should stop the campaign against the act that absolves armed forces personnel of any criminal responsibility for damages to property or for loss of limb and life during anti-insurgency operations in an area.

The contradictory stand of the people has also puzzled officials.

IANS
Is Headley trying to de-link Tahawwur Rana from the Mumbai 26/11 case?

India

oi-Vicky

Mumbai, March 23: David Headley who has turned approver before a Mumbai court made every attempt to de-link his friend Tahawwur Rana from the 26/11 case. If the statements by Headley are considered by the court, then it would make it extremely difficult for the NIA to question Rana leave alone seek his extradition from the US.

Headley who completed testifying before the court is currently being cross-examined by the advocate of Abu Jundal alias Zabiuddin Ansari who is the alleged Hindi tutor of the ten terrorists who staged the 26/11 attack. Headley was asked about his association with Rana during the cross examination.

Headley on being questioned about Rana a native of Pakistan operated an immigration business in Chicago. He said that Rana was aware of his association with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Headley was however quick to add that Rana had objected to his association with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

[Tahawwur Rana knew about my association with LeT: Headley]

Rana even told me to stop using the office in Mumbai if I was associated with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Headley also said today. I made arrangements to wind up the Mumbai office following Rana's instructions, he also said. Further Headley also said that he had also told Rana that he was spying for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Rana however objected to it, Headley quickly added.

Apart from this the defence questioned Headley about his wife Shazia. Headley however took objection to the same and said that this was between him and his wife. Ask me about myself and I shall answer he said. I am not going to share with you what happened between me and my wife, Headley also told the defence counsel. The court is now examining whether questions relating to the wife can be asked after prosecution says that it falls under privileged communication under the evidence act.

The NIA has been trying to question Rana ever since he had been arrested in the US. However the NIA has not been successful as yet. As per the NIA probe, Rana is the one who had arranged for Headely's travel to India.

Moreover, he was aware of the entire plot and was even part of it, the NIA had stated during its investigation into the case.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 12:27 [IST]
Total Lunar Eclipse 2022: First blood moon in a year this weekend for the Americas

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Know all about today's Lunar eclipse

India

oi-Preeti

Bengaluru, March 23: Lunar eclipse will take place on March 23, Wednesday from 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Astronomy enthusiasts and sky gazers will be able to watch penumbral lunar eclipse will occur on March 23.

According to NASA, the Chandra Grahan is a Penumbral lunar eclipse and is visible along Asia, Austraila Pacific Islands and Western parts of Americas.

In India, it will be visible during moonrise in the afternoon. The Chandra Grahan will be taking place in India between 3:09 pm on March 23 to 7:25 pm on March 23, 2016.

The eclipse cannot be mostly viewed by the naked eye as it will be taking place in the afternoon.

The eclipse in India begins in the afternoon and ends in the evening. The time is same throughout India, as per NASA. It would be the first Lunar Eclipse out of the two lunar eclipses in 2016.

As it is penumbral eclipse it would not be considered for any religious activities by Hindus. For eclipse watchers also it would not be a significant event as the moon eclipse would hardly be visible through naked eyes.

Further this penumbral eclipse would be partial and the penumbral shadow of the earth would not cover the moon completely during the maximum of the eclipse.

The penumbral eclipse would be visible from Asia, Australia, North America and most of the parts in South America.

Although, the eclipse would be visible in India, Pakistan and Nepal but none of the religious activities which are observed during Lunar eclipse would be followed.

A penumbral lunar eclipse (Chandra Grahan) occurs when the sun, earth and moon align in an almost straight line.

When this happens, the earth blocks some of the sun's light from directly reaching the moon's surface, and covers a small part of the moon with the outer part of its shadow, also known as the penumbra.

Eclipse myth in India

In India, there are various myths and superstitions rleated to eclipses, whether it is solar or lunar.

According to the Indian version of lunar eclipse, a demon named Rahu eats up the moon during eclipse. People still view lunar eclipse as inauspicious and refrain from eating or cooking during the eclipse.

Pregnant women need to be extra cautious

Pregnant ladies should not see the Eclipse at all. The Negative energies released during the eclipse can cause sever problems to the eyes, skin and hormones.

Following tips should be strictly observed by pregnant women:

Food prepared before the eclipse must not be consumed during or after the Eclipse.

As during the eclipse negative or harmful rays are circulated in the environment. It is therefore advised to remain indoors and avoid looking directly at the eclipse.

These rays also get absorbed in the food. The cooked food should be eaten before eclipse.

People should avoid eating and drinking during the eclipse phase too. Drinking water can be kept pure by adding Tulsi (Basil leaves). This keeps the water pure.

One should also refrain from sleeping during this period.

One of the strange superstitions during pregnancy is that when a pregnant women watches a lunar eclipse, the baby will have a cleft lip.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 13:48 [IST]
Panic in Pathankot as car is snatched at gun point

India

oi-Vicky

Pathankot, Mar 23: There was panic in Pathankot following an incident in which a car was snatched at gun point by unidentified persons.

Security has been increased in the area following the incident. Pathankot has been on high alert ever since terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohamamad attacked the air force station.

According to the version given to the police, three men stopped the car under the pretext of asking for petrol.

When the driver of the Ford Fiesta stopped the car and offered to help, a gun was pointed at him. The three men then forced him out before taking the car away, the police complaint states.

The police have launched an investigation into the incident. It is too early to say whether these persons were terrorists, police officials say.

However we are ruling out nothing as of now and have ordered that security be stepped up, the police official also added.

It may be recalled that terrorists from Pakistan had entered Pathankot in January this year before launching an attack on the air base which lasted over 60 hours.

The terrorists had snatched the vehicle of the Gurdaspur SP and investigators suspect that they drove in this vehicle to reach the air base before launching the attack.

OneIndia News
Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav

Tahawwur Rana knew about my association with LeT: Headley

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Mar 23: Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Wednesday said Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began on Wed morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.

Why is Headley not talking about Karachi project?

When Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, further said Rana had objected to his association with LeT.

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.

Rana objected to my association with LeT, says Headley

However, Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia. "Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately." When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her.

It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."

PTI
Upper-caste Lingayats bar entry of Lambanis to temples in Karnataka

India

oi-Shreyas

Chikkamagaluru, March 23: Blatantly dumping the values imbibed in the teachings of 12th century philosopher Basava, Lingayats of this remote village, Garagadahalli in the state of Karnataka has totally barred the entry of Lambani caste (Scheduled Caste in Karnataka) to two temples since ages and the same practice is prevailing currently.

Two temples of deity, Lord Veerabhadreshwara (manifestation of Lord Shiva), one located inside the village and another tucked in the hilly region of the outskirts of the village is worshiped and administered by the upper-caste among Lingayat community belonging to Nonaba sect. The community appallingly considers blood of Scheduled Caste, Lambanis as impure to restrict them from taking entry to these two temples.

The Lingayats of Garagadahalli which is clipped under Chikkamagaluru district are not origins of this place. As many as 150-200 years back the community as a whole migrated here thereby settling in the place. However the village does not have settlers of diverse castes and the Lambanis are given a separate colony outside the village. The dwelling geography of Lambanis is termed natively as 'Lamnabi Thanda'.

A person from the village, whose family until recently administered the temple exclusively spoke to OneIndia under the condition of anonymity, with a ray of hope that the practice would be abolished in the near future. However currently none of her family members hold the position of office bearer, though some family members attend regular meetings called by the temple committee.

"The deity, Veerabhadreshwara was brought to this village, while our ancestors migrated to this locality. But I do not know the history of Lambani migration to this geography," she opened the dialogue. The Lingayats of the village say that blood of the Lambanis considered as impure as they belong to lower- caste and perform menial works in the village.

The practice has been prevalent since 150-200 years back and it is sad that despite rigorous social reformation in the 20th century, the situation in these temples of village remain the same. Lambanis sometimes, observe the rituals of the temple that is located in the hilly region of the outskirts of the village from far distance and the site is a very sad state of affair.

She further providing the details of caste discrimination said top heads of the Lingayat community has created a false theory. "They say, if Lambanis enter the temple then the God would curse the village of dire consequences. The village would reel under severe drought and people die for want of food."

Observing the changes that has occurred during her time, she said recently, around 10 years back, the Lambanis are allowed to step inside the compound of the temple (located at outskirt, not inside the village) but not inside the temple. However to the temple situated inside the village, still they are not allowed to appear even no where near the shrine.

"There is a caveat for Lambanis' presence inside the compound of the shrine of the hilly region". They should not take part in the ritual or make their presence in the compound during the ritual. Alongside, Lambanis should not be present inside the compound when upper-caste are served with food during rituals. They can only make inroads to the compound, once all the rituals are finished and all rounds of fooding competed by the upper-caste, she explained.

Where does the values taught by the 12th century Guru Basavanna has gone? She questioned. Lambanis were bonded labourers till 10 years back here, even as bonded labour system had been legally abolished in India in 1976. The villagers have separate plastic glass and plastic plates (or sometimes steel) to serve Lambanis food as a reward for their work apart from salary. Lambanis work in the arable lands owned by Lingayats.

The Veerabhadreshwara temple that has been operating inside the village is more vigilant for socially discriminating the community. "The elders does not want them to see anywhere near the temple," she rued. Besides, the key point she stressed was- voice among Lambanis too has not consolidated to stand and oppose the practice. Lingayats has successfully managed to stop smallest of small awareness on equality and caste discrimination from flowing into Lambani Thandas.

OneIndia News
Will continue struggle for 'Rohith Act': Kanhaiya Kumar

India

oi-PTI

Hyderabad, Mar 23: JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar today said the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of Hyderabad Central University will continue with its struggle until the Centre brings out 'Rohith Act'.

Kanhaiya, who landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here at around 11 AM, also said that he will participate and address a public meeting organised by the JAC on the HCU campus this evening, "if the police permits".

"Today, I will first meet Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika and his brother Raja. JAC has invited me to address a public meeting on HCU campus...If police allows me then I will definitely go to HCU and address the students," Kanhaiya told reporters at RGIA.

"We have experience with JAC for various struggles and we will take this fight forward...this struggle will continue until 'Rohith Act' is implemented...to fulfil his (Rohith) dreams of social justice on the campus," he said.

Notably, the mother and brother of Dalit research scholar Rohith, who had allegedly committed suicide in a hostel room on the campus on January 17, had last month met political leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri and KC Tyagi, seeking their support for enactment of a 'Rohith Act' against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

Earlier, the HCU authorities categorically said they would not allow outsiders, including media and political party leaders, on the campus in view of the prevailing situation.

HCU vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile's official residence was yesterday vandalised by students and police had to lathicharge another group during their protest against him resuming charge after a two-month leave in the wake of suicide by Vemula.

Meanwhile, the police, who made elaborate security arrangements in and around the university, prevented Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao from entering the campus.

The Congress MP demanded that President Pranab Mukherjee should immediately recall the VC, holding him responsible for the state of affairs on the campus.

Senior CPI leader K Narayana had earlier told PTI that Kanhaiya Kumar will address a meeting at the university this evening and attend a meeting on 'Constitutional Rights' at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Baghligampally here tomorrow, besides visiting Vijayawada.

PTI
Brussels attack: Police releases CCTV image of suspected attackers

International

oi-Sandra

Brussels, Mar 23: Hours after Brussels Zaventem airport was struck by two explosions and one explosion ripped through the Maelbeek Metro station here, the Belgian Police released a CCTV image showing the alleged attackers of the deadly attack.

In the grainy CCTV image, three men are seen pushing luggage trolleys at the airport. Police officials have issued a notice against the man wearing a hat in the picture.

Belgium attackers' bombs were 'in their bags': local mayor

The other two suspected attackers are said to have blown themselves up at the airport that killed 20 people and injured many, whereas the man with the hat reportedly fled the airport terminal.

Meanwhile, Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said that the attackers who struck the airport had the explosives in their luggage bag.

Brussels terror attack: Donald Trump & other Republican candidates react

"They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode," he added.

Terror group Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Belgium was on high alert after the Paris attacks last year and after the suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam was arrested in Belgium last week.

OneIndia News
India would be very, very worried with Trump's win: Khurshid

International

oi-PTI

Washington, March 23: India would be "very, very worried" if Donald Trump were to be elected as the next US President, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has said, joining the growing global anxiety on the prospect of the controversial real estate tycoon winning the November 8 polls.

"I would think, India would be very, very worried if Mr Donald Trump is to be your president," Khurshid, former external affairs minister, told students of the prestigious Georgetown University during an interaction here yesterday.

Khurshid's response to a question from a student on his take on US President Barack Obama and the current presidential election was preceded by a disclaimer.

"Well, I should not interfere in the future choice of American democrats. By democrats, I mean those who are involved in democracy rather than the political party. I should not influence our choice or push you to any particular corner," he said.

Leaders around the world have condemned Trump, the 69- year-old reality TV star, for his anti-Muslims and anti- immigrants rhetoric. He has also came under attack from his Republican and Democratic rivals for his controversial remarks. Obama, he said, would go down in history as a "good friend" of India. "...as someone with whom India was comfortable about. India trusted Obama and his words meant a lot over the years.So I hope whoever comes to White House follows his path closely," he said.

Former US president John F Kennedy continues to be the most popular American president in India, Khurshid noted. Obama comes a close second to Kennedy, said the 63-year- old leader.

"Let me tell you honestly, when Mr Obama won the election for the very first time, some in India felt that, although they have not voted for him, the person they were looking for has won the election," Khurshid said, adding that Obama's election was widely celebrated in India.

PTI
Interview: Donald Trump an embarassment to the reasonable American

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Donald Trump the Republican Presidential front-runner reacted immediately to the terrorist strikes in Brussels which has left nearly 30 dead.

He has once again said that America needs to be careful about who comes into the country. Trump does have a lot of statements up his sleeve.

However, there is a big question mark as to whether Candidate Trump and President Trump would be the same.

It is one thing to issue statements and a whole other ball game to put it in practise. Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the reasonable American, says Michael Kugelman, Senior Associate for South and Southeast Asia Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

In this interview with OneIndia, Kugelman discusses a host of issues ranging from the candidature of Donald Trump to the attacks at Brussels.

What is your assessment of the attack at Brussels?

I hate to say it but in some ways it's not a surprise. Such a critical mass of militants has holed up in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels that we can assume that despite all the successful operations against terrorists there, many remain on the loose and ready to strike.

I think there's a good chance that this attack was staged in retaliation for the arrest of a chief Paris attack organizer the other day.

However, then again, today's attacks seem to have been well-organized and coordinated, and those attacks take time to plan. So it could be that these attacks were in the works for many weeks.

Either way, the bottom line is that these attacks have once again demonstrated how Europe is a terrifying new battleground for international terror.

Sadly, these attacks will make life even more miserable for Muslim refugees in Europe, and they will give more ammunition to far-right, anti-Muslim politicians in Europe and the US.

Has Beglium been too soft in its policy towards terrorism. Could have they have done more to stop their men from joining the ISIS?

I think the problem is less an issue of being too soft, and more one of dysfunction. Belgium's security institutions have very quietly developed a very bad reputation--one that flows from the divisions and fractures in Belgian society between Dutch and French speakers, and which has led to fractures within security institutions.

There's not enough communication between these institutions, and there is no sense of overall coordination. That said, given how challenging it is to prevent people from joining ISIS--especially because there is no clear profile for the type of person who joins the group--even if Belgium had a perfectly functional security service, then you'd likely still have problems.

After the Paris attacks there were alerts in Belgium. Do you think the attacks were due to a lapse on part of the security?

It's too early to say. Brussels essentially went on extended lockdown in the days after the Paris attacks, so it could be that those drastic actions averted attacks back then.

Belgium has been putting some very strong security measures in place, so not sure it's fair to blame today's attacks on a security lapse--though there are reports on social media that Russian officials warned Belgium that Russian-speaking members of ISIS were planning attacks.

The bottom line though is that even when you impose the longest of lockdowns, you won't be able to deter determined terrorists. That's a sad reality of the current era.

Particularly in an open society like Belgium, terrorists will be able to exploit openings and vulnerabilities to allow themselves to do some major damage.

What is your assessment of Donald Trump? Does he understand the nuances of global terror?

Donald Trump is an embarrassment to any reasonable American. He caters to the lowest common denominator in the US--a far-right, racist, xenophobic constituency that is much larger than many of us Americans had thought--and profits from generous media attention to ensure himself maximum coverage and even greater influence.

Who knows where he really stands on the issues--he was a registered Democrat for many years before becoming a Republican--but what he is doing now is downright dangerous.

Even if he doesn't become president, the damage is already done because he has exacerbated prejudicial and racist sentiment in the United States. It is truly a sad state of affairs and it makes me, as an American, want to crawl into a hole and pretend it's all a bad dream.

If Trump is elected President, how will it help or affect the war on terror?

The kneejerk response is that President Trump would be a disaster for the war on terror because his anti-Muslim rhetoric would radicalize many and lead to more terror attacks.

In fact, there are reports that ISIS has already used his speeches in its recruitment pitches. The thing is, however, that we don't know if President Trump would be identical to Candidate Trump.

We really don't know what Trump would do. His views have never been particularly consistent, and he may well dial down some of the nasty rhetoric. He may well try to rebuild bridges around the world that he has already managed to burn.

But we simply don't know. And perhaps the uncertainty of it all makes the whole situation seem all that more scary and troubling.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 9:04 [IST]
Severed cow's head placed at Hindu sanctuary in US

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New York, March 23: The severed head of cow has been placed at a Hindu cow sanctuary in Pennsylvania and the state police are investigating the crime as a case of "ethnic intimidation."

The cow's head was dumped at over the weekend at the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary in Monroe County, according to media reports.

The Express Times newspaper reported Tuesday that Pennsylvania State Police are calling the incident which happened between Saturday night and Sunday morning "ethnic intimidation, criminal trespass and harassment."

State Trooper Carrie A. Gula, who was quoted by the newspaper, said explaining the intimidation description, "The victim's religion is Hinduism. In this religion, the cow is (a) symbol of life and may never be killed."

None of the 20 cows at the sanctuary were hurt, local TV station WNEP reported on its web site. The severed head was left where Sankar Sastri, who runs the sanctuary could find it, "but he's not letting this taint what the sanctuary is all about," reporter Jim Hamill said. "Now the sanctuary has a chance to educate folks about Hindu beliefs in spite of a disturbing deed."

Sastri told the station, "I hope this doesn't magnify anymore. I don't want to take it to the next side. I hope just a prank. They probably didn't realize. People are unaware of what we're about." Sastri would use the incident to inform the local people about Hinduism, Hamill said.

The Express Times reported that the cow sanctuary was founded about 20 years ago by Sastri, a retired professor and dean at the New York City College of Technology, and relocated to the area around Jackson Township from another location in the state only about about a month ago.

He told the newspaper's web site, lehighvalleylive.com, that finding the cow's head was like the scene from "The Godfather" movie where a severed horse head is left on a man's bed as a warning from the mob boss. But "they didn't leave it in my bed." Sastri said.

Rajan Zed, the president of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism, said that "Hindus are highly concerned" over the incident and asked Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Monroe County Chairperson John R. Moyer to reassure the community.

"It was shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful US Hindu community numbering about three million, who had made lot of contributions to the nation and society, to receive such signals of hatred and intimidation," he said in a statement.

IANS
US airstrike hits al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen

International

oi-PTI

Sanaa, Mar 23: The US military conducted an airstrike against an al-Qaida training camp in Yemen, causing dozens of casualties, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook yesterday said the training camp was located in the mountains, and was being used by more than 70 terrorists belonging to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Cook did not specify the location of the camp. But Yemeni security officials and a witness said the airstrike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al-Qaida militants about 75 kilometers (47 miles) west of the terror group's stronghold city of Mukalla.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," Cook said.

A tribal member at the site said about 40 people were killed and wounded in the Brom Maifa district yesterday. He didn't give a breakdown and said that bodies were still being counted.

He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety. The Yemeni officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to reporters.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaida and denying it safe haven," Cook said.

Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government.

The war has given AQAP a freehand to expand and seize cities and large swaths of land. Militants from the extremist Islamic State group have also taken advantage of the chaos to wage a series of deadly attacks across the country.

AP
US polls 2016: After Trump's penis size, talks are now on his wife's nude photo

International

oi-Shubham

Washington, March 23: The terror attack in Brussels in Belgium is not the only topic the Republican candidates are talking about this election season. In fact, the two GOP front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz might still speak in the same xenophobic tone when it comes to the terror attack but on matters related to their respective wives, the two have locked horns in the open.

Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Cruz in reaction to a super PAC backing Cruz that used a nude photo of Melania, Trump's wife and a former model. The ad, which was widely circulated on the social media, bore the following words along with the photo: 'Meet Melania Trump, your next First Lady. Or you could vote for Ted Cruz on Tuesday'.

Cruz was under pressure to grab 50 per cent of the votes in Utah to check Trump's forward march in the race for the GOP nomination. Trump's severe backlash came just before the results of Tuesday polling started puring in. [Why Melania Trump took on the Obamas]

Trump brought Cruz's wife Heidi in the scene, threatening the Texas senator in a Twitter post that he would "spill the beans" on the latter's wife.

#Never Trump

Read the source

Make America awesome pic.twitter.com/Ycm9pSpVv5  Brett Mitchell (@ironfishmxm) March 23, 2016

Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016

Cruz did not choose to be silent on this. He said his camp had no hand behind Melania's photo ad and called Trump "coward" and "classless" for attacking his wife.

The ad featuring Melania Trump's photo was created by the super PAC Make America Awesome, which calls itself an independent group focused on 'unconventional and cost-effective tactics'.

It was, however, not known what Trump meant by referring to Heidi Cruz. It is though known that she had undergone depression a decade ago and was found by the police sitting with her head in her hands beside a expressway in Texas in 2005. A report by the police even said she was a 'danger to herself'.

Oneindia News
US Prez poll 2016: Former candidate Jeb Bush endorses Ted Cruz to stop Trump

International

oi-Shubham

Washington, March 23: Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who pulled out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination five weeks ago, on Wednesday endorsed Texas Sanator Ted Cruz to stop Donald Trump from winning the race he is dominating at the moment. [Jeb Bush pulls out of race]



The endorsement of Bush, son and brother of two former US presidents, came 32 days after his withdrawal from the race and eight days after Florida Senator Marco Rubio ended his run after losing his own state to Trump. [Marco Rubio ends presidential campaign]

Bush, who rebuffed Rubio, to who he was a mentor once, backed Cruz as "a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests" in a statement.

He said it is necessary to overcome the "divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena" or else the Republicans will not be able to defeat the Democratic Party and reverse President Obama's "failed policies".

It was said that Rubio would feel being let down by his one-time mentor since his endorsement of the former would have helped her. But sources in the Republican Party said Bush did not consider Marco to be "up to the job of being president".

Among other former presidential runners, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson have embraced Trump.

Oneindia News
US presidential polls 2016: Ted Cruz wins Utah, Sanders makes it 2-1 against Hillary

International

oi-Shubham

Washington, March 23: Texas Senator Ted Cruz bagged the Utah Republican caucuses on Tuesday (March 23). Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, thrashed Hillary Clinton in Idaho caucuses besides Utah, showing his enduring popularity among liberal activists even as the latter still has a substantial lead over teh former.

Cruz got 50 per cent of the votes in Utah, winning all 40 delegates from the state and maintaining his hope to slow down front-runner Donald Trump's onward march. Trump, however, won all the 58 delegates in the state of Arizona.

Hillary Clinton won the Arizona primaries against Sanders.

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of One News Page Ltd.
Afro-soul star, Aituaje Iruobe aka Waje reportedly wants to quit doing music professionally.

Waje announced this move in a now-viral video, citing high cost of publicity and low purchase rates of her album as reasons why she was considering quitting.

She said, After everybody shouted Waje, your last album was how many years ago, please we need an album. Where are all the people that were shouting?

I dont have the money for publicity and thats what I am saying. Emeralds (her daughter) school fees is there.

its like I have ten things laid out for me and every single time, its always been my music, my music that is taking the bulk of my money.

I am not willing to put money there anymore, she said.

Nigerians on Twitter have jumped on the video to react, making Waje the number two trending topic on Twitter, on Monday.

Most of the respondents symphatised with her, noting that the music industry can be a hard terrain to glide through. They pleaded with her not to quit music but face her mental health first.

@Monyemorris tweeted, I am upset by this. But i totally get Wajes point. Music will just be a bottomless pit where she will be putting limited funds in. I think she should take her music outside Nigeria.

@Zeon_imyang said, Im not happy @OfficialWaje deserves all love and support. Actual support not retweets, buy her album if you can. I love you waje.

@Soul_inspiredom said, In developed countries, Wajes album will be topping the chart in grossing sales right now and in the weeks to come. But this is Nigeria.

@Sallykeneth tweeted, Dear Waje, Stay strong. Its just a phase. Youll get over it, learn new ways to ace this thing and shine even brighter. Gosh! I know where youre coming from.

@Lafytoluu wrote, Waje released an Album last year and I loved it. So many good songs on it. Whats going on?

In 2007, Waje launched her music career. She was still a student at the time and paid her dues by doing lots of free shows and gigs.

In 2008, she featured in the P-Square hit track titled Do Me. This track was widely known across Africa and some parts of Europe.

She participated in Advanced Warning, a reality TV show which featured artists that are on the verge of a breakthrough.

The reality show was organised by MTV Base South Africa and Zain Nigeria, where she was the runner up.

Waje has shared the stage with artists such as Wyclef Jean in South Africa, opening for Kerry Hilson during a show organised in Calabar , and featured in One Naira by M.I.

Waje was among the judges for The Voice Nigeria alongside Tuface (2face Idibia), Timi Dakolo and Patoranking.

She released a single titled OH MY in November 2018 and later released her Album same 2018,titled REDVELVET.
PDP agents hand cut off

An agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has paid the ultimate price after losing a hand during Saturdays supplementary governorship election in Kano state.

The election was marred by violence.

It was gathered that the agent was attacked by thugs and had his hand cut off for reportedly supporting the opposition party. He was rushed to the hospital where he is recovering from the injury sustained.

Meanwhile, violence erupted in Kano as can be seen in the videos below, following the declaration of incumbent governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as winner of the governorship election in Kano State, thereby returning him for a second term in office.

Aggrieved people turned out in large numbers and were desperate to force their way into the state INEC office, but for the timely intervention of the police, who had also positioned themselves in some places around the state INEC office.
Opalesque Industry Update - Help For Children (HFC), one of the most globally renowned charitable organizations associated with the hedge fund industry, raised $1.5 million at its 18th Annual Hedge Funds Care New York Benefit on March 10th, with all proceeds benefiting programs to prevent and treat child abuse. The gala, hosted for the first time at the iconic New York Public Library, attracted over 550 senior executives from some of the worlds most prominent hedge fund firms, leading investors and top industry luminaries. During the special evening HFC honored recently retired Ernst & Young senior partner and former Head of EYs hedge fund practice, Don MacNeal, for his strong commitment and support of the HFC mission. This annual HFC benefit, one of the industrys premier charity events, united hundreds of philanthropic executives, including hedge fund managers, investors and industry professionals, to help prevent and treat child abuse, said Dean Backer, President of HFC and Global Head of Sales and Capital Introduction in the Global Securities Services group at Goldman Sachs. I can't thank the hedge fund and finance community enough for its generous support of these important programs that work every day to protect children. Funds from this years gala will empower child abuse treatment and prevention programs in the New York metropolitan area, said Renee Skolaski, Executive Director & CEO of Help For Children. We are very grateful to the hundreds of attendees, our wonderful sponsors, and many volunteers for once again joining forces to support our mission. Co-chairs for this year's gala were Bruce Berger, Joseph Fisher, Cindy Gavin and Jay Peller. Help For Children (HFC), established in 1998 as Hedge Funds Care, is a global foundation supported by the alternative investment industry. Its sole mission is to support efforts to prevent and treat child abuse. Help For Children raises money and awards grants in 12 major cities in the United States, Asia, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. HFC is largely a volunteer-driven organization with professionals from the hedge fund and private equity industries serving on the Board and on local committees that plan events and evaluate proposals.
One might expect that only historians would care to revisit the 1948 war that created Israel. And yet the debate about what constitutes truth and myth from that period still provokes raw emotions.

Much rests on how those events are reconstructed, not least because the shock waves have yet to subside. Israelis fear, and Palestinians crave, a clearer picture of the past because it would powerfully illuminate the present. It might also influence the international community's proposed solutions for the conflict.

That is why the unearthing of an Israeli soldier's letter from 1948 detailing what was probably the war's worst massacre -- one long buried by Israel -- is of more than historical significance.

It comes as Moshe Yaalon, the defence minister, this week accused Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization that exposes military abuses, of "treason" for collecting evidence from the army's current whistleblowers.

Western understandings of the 1948 war -- what Palestinians term their Nakba, or catastrophe -- are dominated by an enduring Israeli narrative. Israel's army, it is said, abided by a strict moral code. Palestinians left not because of Israel's actions but on the orders of Arab leaders.

In this rendering, the Palestinians' mass dispossession was the fault of the Arab world -- and a solution for the millions of today's refugees lies with their host countries.

For decades Israel's chief concession to the truth was an admission that a massacre took place just outside Jerusalem, at Deir Yassin.

Israel claimed the atrocity was the exception that proved the rule: a rogue militia killed more than 100 villagers, violating Israel's ethical codes in the chaotic weeks before statehood was declared.

Palestinians have always known of dozens of other large massacres of civilians from 1948 carried out by the Israeli army. The barbarity, they say, was intended to terrorize the native population into flight. This account puts responsibility on Israel for taking the refugees back.

But history is written by the victor.

In recent decades a few brave Israeli scholars have chipped away at the official facade. In the late 1990s a Haifa University student collected testimonies from former soldiers confirming that over 200 Palestinians had been massacred at Tantura, south of Haifa. After the findings were made public, he was pilloried and stripped of his degree.

A decade ago, the historian Ilan Pappe wrote a groundbreaking book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, arguing that massacres like the one at Tantura were exploited to drive out Palestinians. He and others noted the suggestive titles of military operations such as "Broom" and soldiers' orders to "clean" areas.

Pappe now lives in academic exile in the UK.

The biggest obstacle to shifting Israeli and western perceptions of 1948 has been the lack of a clear paper trail connecting the political leadership to the massacres. Israel locked away bundles of documentation precisely not to jeopardise the official narrative.

But things are changing slowly.

Last year a key deception was punctured: that Israel urged many of the war's 750,000 Palestinian refugees to return. In a letter to Haifa's leaders shortly after the city's Palestinians were expelled, David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, demanded that any return be barred.

Now another letter, located by Israeli historian Yair Auron and published last week for the first time in English by the Haaretz newspaper, trashes the idea of an ethical Israel army.
Reprinted from The Guardian

We invaded Iraq 13 years ago on Sunday, but you would barely know from watching the news. Perhaps because there are so many war anniversaries these days it's hard to keep track, or perhaps, it's because our country has learned virtually nothing from the biggest foreign policy debacle of our generation.

The US government celebrated the Iraq war anniversary by announcing that they were sending more troops to the country. Remember this is a war that supposedly "ended" more than three years ago, yet thousands of troops have been sent back there since late 2014 to fight Isis, a group whose creation can be directly tied to the first Iraq war -- or I guess the second one, depending on how you count.

In all, the US has been bombing Iraq for 25 years, which includes the last four presidents (you can watch a montage of all four announcing their respective bombing campaigns here). And if you listen to the leading candidates for both political parties, you can bet that streak will reach five on their first day in office.

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have called for an expansion of military action in the Middle East in response to Isis. Trump has repeatedly referred to "bombing the hell out of" their oil fields, despite not being afraid to call the Iraq war a "disaster."

If Clinton learned anything from the Iraq war, it's hard to tell. She has claimed her vote for the war as a senator was a "mistake," but that didn't prevent her from leading the charge into Libya in 2011 to overthrow another dictator only to see the country fall into the hands of terrorists. She has pushed for a similar strategy in Syria to deal with Bashar al-Assad.

In a little-reported remark at a public event in November 2015, Hillary Clinton openly said the US would have to send ground troops in response to Isis.

Click Here to Read Whole Article
As we approach High Noon in the savage Brazilian politico-economic western, here's what is at stake following my previous piece on RT.

For the past five days, all hell has broken loose. It started with judge Sergio Moro, the tropical Elliott Ness at the head of the two-year-old, 24-phase Car Wash corruption investigation, crudely manipulating an -- illegal -- phone tapping of a Lula-Dilma Rousseff conversation, which he duly leaked to corporate media and was instantly used as "proof" that Lula may be back in power as Chief of Staff because he's "afraid" of Elliott Ness.

As a crucial instance of the total information war currently at play in Brazil -- with the hegemonic Globo media empire and the major newspapers salivating for a white coup/regime change more than ever -- the shaky "proof" turbocharged the Rousseff impeachment drive to a whole new level.

The appalling politicization of the Brazilian Judiciary is now a fait accompli, with many a judge moved by opportunism and/or corporate interest/shady political agendas. That implies a "normalization" of illegal procedures such as phone tapping of defense lawyers and even the President (Edward Snowden, in a lightweight aside, commented that Rousseff is still not using cryptography in her communications).

Supreme Court ministers -- at least so far -- have not punished Elliott Ness for his illegal tapping of the President's phone and for his illegal leaking of the Lula-Rousseff conversation (there's nothing in it to implicate them in any wrongdoing, as Elliott Ness himself admitted).

The next cliffhanger was Supreme Court minister Gilmar Mendes -- a notorious opposition puppet -- using the illegal phone tapping to suspend Lula's new role; that was "required" from him by two opposition parties. Lula back in government means two anathemas for the white coup/regime change crowd; political articulation -- which may end up by defeating the impeachment drive against Rousseff; and fundamental help for the Rousseff administration to start at least taming the economic crisis.

It's crucial to note that Mendes's unilateral decision was taken only a day and a half after he had a long lunch with two opposition heavyweights, one of them Wall Street darling banker and former Soros protege Arminio Fraga.

Mendes not only pushed the administration into a corner; he went further, handing back to Elliott Ness the competence to investigate Lula under Car Wash, and this after Moro himself had already been forced, by law, to transfer the jurisdiction to the Supreme Court, as Lula was to become a minister.

Mendes was not competent to do it -- as even other Supreme Court judges stressed; he took it away from the minister-speaker of Car Wash in the Supreme Court, Teori Zavascki. So now it's up to Zavascki to "affirm his competence" in the matter.

Essentially the phone tapping leak is crammed with serious illegalities, as a smatter of jurists has pointed out; from the tapping taking place after Moro himself determined they should be discontinued, to the leak of a Presidential communication, which could only be authorized by the Supreme Court. Which leads us to the hidden political agenda behind the leak: to expose Lula to public execration and pit him against politicians and the Judiciary.

Lula has presented a habeas corpus request to the Supreme Court, signed by some of Brazil's top jurists, while the government is about to present its own appeal against the blocking of Lula's nomination. The ball is with the Supreme Court -- and all bets are off.

The Brazilian Supreme Court in fact has ceased to act as a Supreme Arbiter as some of its members refuse to admit all the current trappings of a police state. This is happening while a rash of prosecutors and a gaggle of investigators at the Brazilian Federal Police -- the equivalent of the FBI -- now can be identified as mere pawns of the ultra-politicized Car Wash investigation.

In a nutshell: "Justice" in Brazil is now totally politicized. And Car Wash's mandate is now revealed to clearly consist in the outright criminalization of absolutely anything related to the coalition governments led by the Workers' Party since the beginning of the first Lula term in 2003.

Car Wash is not about the cleansing of corruption in Brazilian politics; if that really was the target, top opposition politicians would be under investigation, and many behind bars already. Moreover, the appalling corruption scheme in the development of Sao Paulo's metro lines would not have been treated only as the working of a cartel of companies, with no politicians involved; the Sao Paulo metro racket follows the same logic of the corruption scheme discovered -- by the NSA -- inside Petrobras.

"Rule of law" in Brazil has now been debased to Turkey's Sultan Erdogan levels -- featuring business leaders with the "wrong" political connections arrested for months without trial, which translates as blatant manipulation of public opinion, the preferred tactic of Mani Pulite fan Moro and his team.
Reprinted from Wallwritings

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were among the invitees to the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting, which this year happened to coincide with the start of Holy Week.



I do not know if candidate Clinton attended a worship service on Passion/Palm Sunday, the day before she gave her keynote address. If so, she might have heard a reading from the Gospel of Luke, which records that the authorities said to Jesus: "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

The authorities were complaining about the shouts of praise which greeted Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Stones cry out to deliver a message when others remain silent. Stones cry out with messages of last resort in the hope the words will penetrate the shields surrounding those who remain stubbornly oblivious to reality.

Candidate Bernie Stone did not attend the AIPAC conference. He sent his eponymous message which he also delivered at a campaign event.

One sample: "to be successful, we have got to be a friend not only to Israel, but to the Palestinian people, where in Gaza unemployment today is 44 percent and we have there a poverty rate which is almost as high."

Candidate Clinton did attend, delivering her customary anodyne praise, described by Juan Cole as the speech she always gives on Israel:

"I once heard Hillary Clinton give her AIPAC speech at a university. It doesn't change much, just as US policy toward the Mideast doesn't change much. She was still a senator then. Much of the audience was Middle East experts, who could barely keep themselves from gagging. "Clinton used her speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting, the gathering of some of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, to lambaste Donald Trump for saying he'd try to be neutral in heading up negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. "Donald Trump should be lambasted. He is wrong on everything most of every day. But, like a clock, he is right twice a day and this [is] a point on which he is correct. The US cannot be an honest broker in the Mideast conflict if it is more Israeli than the Israelis, which it typically is."

Clinton's speech was also blasted by Palestinian supporters.

Yourself Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, noted that Clinton's speech "could well have been written by an Israeli government public relations firm." He added that her speech "took pandering to a new level."

A news clip highlights a moment where she criticizes her opponents.

In contrast to the Clinton embrace of all things Israeli, Bernie Sanders' message to AIPAC sounds less like a lover and more like a friend admonishing a friend:
Global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers Market 2016 Industry Research, Growth, Analysis and Development

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Global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.The market intelligence document on the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market contains key analytics on the elements of the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market. Primary and secondary methodologies are utilized to maintain the reports aims of creating an accurate and analytical outlook of the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market. The report explains the functionalities of the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market from the ground up, which helps in constructing the explanations required for understanding the key components of the market. The beginning of the report includes a description of the rudimentary data pertaining to global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market. It also provides readers with the crucial and basic definitions related to the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market. Additionally, the research report also explains the applications, classifications, industry chain structure, overview, policies, and news relevant to the market.The qualitative and quantitative data on the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market is gathered through various registries, conference notes, and recent news reports, amongst other sources. The report makes use of a large number of market figures, charts, and tables, to discuss the drivers and restraints that are affecting the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market. Furthermore, the research report uses SWOT analysis to explain the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market. It also uses Porters five forces analysis to pinpoint the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute products or services, the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, and the competitive intensity.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report holds a separate analysis of the companies in the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market, in which are highlighted the key companies in the market. Details regarding the competitive hierarchy of the global Brushless Electric Screwdrivers market are also provided in the report. The report also examines the reasons responsible for the current competitive landscape of the market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact US:State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Dehumidifying Mortars Market 2016 Industry Research, Growth, Study and Overview

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Global Dehumidifying Mortars Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.The global market for Dehumidifying Mortars has shown gradual changes in its valuation in the recent past. The current market trends have influenced the demand for Dehumidifying Mortars significantly. This research study is an attempt to understand the effect of these trends on each of the market segments, considering their impact on consumers behavior and purchasing patterns.The report talks about the current state of the global Dehumidifying Mortars market in detail. It highlights the future projections of this market with an emphasis on the areas of development, key regional markets, leading companies, latest strategies, and the competitive landscape of the Dehumidifying Mortars market across the world.This report on the global Dehumidifying Mortars market has been prepared by market experts and presents complete information on the worldwide Dehumidifying Mortars market, starting from product definitions, specifications, classifications, major applications, distribution channels, research and development activities, and the industry chain structure.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report also studies the global Dehumidifying Mortars market, taking various factors such as product innovation, major distribution and marketing channels, primary suppliers, and leading traders into account.Further, it analyzes established players as well as new entrants in the global Dehumidifying Mortars market on account of their company profile, production capacity, product portfolio, operational areas, and import/export dynamics. A SWOT analysis has also been performed by market experts on each company to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting key market participants.Analysts have taken a 360-degree approach to study the technological developments in the global market for Dehumidifying Mortars and underlined the feasibility of newly introduced market projects in this report. The coverage area of key players has also been measured here to identify the competitive hierarchy present in the worldwide Dehumidifying Mortars market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact US:State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
How to Cut Energy Costs Using a Datalogger

Cut Your Energy Costs with a Datalogger

www.DataLoggerInc.com

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Multi-Value Devices Record, Analyze and Graph Data for Energy SavingsCHESTERLAND, OHMarch 22, 2016While its well-known that heavy industry stands the most to gain from energy audits and the resulting improved process efficiency, its also true that businesses and organizations in all fields have room for improvement when checking their energy bills. In fact your own facility likely has many unrealized areas where you can cut or otherwise optimize your energy usage for substantial long-term savings.If youre a facilities technician or engineer, you can use a data logger (aka data acquisition system) to identify these savings areas. These devices can measure and record many different values including current, voltage, power and more. Often these devices also include software to trend, analyze and graph data. In this latest White Paper, CAS DataLoggers outlines the basics of how data logger users can monitor energy usage as part of an energy audit with an eye to future savings.How Can a Data Logger Help Save Energy?Although its well known that an energy audit can reduce energy usage and improve performance, many people dont know how to perform one themselves. Your facilitys energy data can tell you a lot historically, but what it cant tell you is: Where the energy went; Which equipment, circuits, buildings or divisions consumed the energy; When all this usage occurred.To answer these questions, you need to record data over a period of time, and data loggers are designed for this purpose. For example, dataloggers installed in plants are frequently used to monitor current, voltage and/or power of heavy machinery for later presentation to supervisors. However the possibilities dont stop theremany facilities monitor other values such as temperature or flow, again with the goal of reducing energy consumption or avoiding costly process delays.Additionally, intelligent data acquisition systems are available which combine data collection with control & analysis functionality. These systems have the computation power to self-reference data historically for both analysis and alarm notification purposes.Data loggers have several features which make them useful during the energy auditing process: Data Measurement--Identify opportunities to save energy; Continual Recording - Identify performance issues with electrical supply and equipment; Data AnalysisCalculate the monetary value of future energy savings with trend capabilities; Reliable OperationMany loggers can operate in standalone mode independent of a PC; Analysis & Graphing SoftwareAnalyzes data such as power consumption over the duration of the logging period. Users can also produce charts and graphs as proof of savings.Which Types of Data Can You Collect?Data loggers can monitor and record: Generator or PV Cells: Voltage and Current Output; PV string matching; Rotational Speed, Force, Strain, Torque; Component Temperature Inverters: AC Voltage, Current, Power Output; RS-232/485 Interface for Data Collection from Smart Inverters Storage Batteries: Voltage, Current In/Out; Battery TemperatureTypical energy-wasters include heavy engines, compressors, ovens, boilers, HVAC systems and more.Unlike many existing energy-efficiency devices installed in industrial facilities, data loggers can monitor several values simultaneously. Loggers can either be single or multi-value. For example, if you only need to monitor a solar collector, you can connect a solar datalogger to a pyranometer to measure the solar radiation, while a multi-value logger could also connect with a tilt sensor to track solar panel angle to the sun while also monitoring current and/or voltage via transducers.A universal datalogger is a multi-value recorder which uses universal analog inputs enabling connection with many different types of sensors (transducers, thermocouples, RTDs, etc.). Many universal data loggers can serve as a single solution to monitor all the required values and also to play a key role in HVAC validation processes.Data loggers also allow you to choose the speed at which you want to record data (aka the sample rate) and also to check for alarms (the alarm sample rate). Adjusting the sample rate allows you to get a more general view of conditions or to drill down into specific areas of concern.What Do You Need to Know to Perform an Energy Audit?While its true that to correctly measure power and energy you need to measure voltage, current, power factor and time, its also true that you dont always need to go to those lengths for your particular energy audit. In fact in many situations users only need to measure current! For the purposes of an audit or comparative test, you can rely on just the collected current data. This makes it much easier for you to get started recording data and locating savings.Its always a good idea to document an energy audit. This documentation should note where you logged the data and should also include a brief summary containing production data, weather data, and other business-related data over the logging period. All this will help you to correlate the information in future and to spot factors which may have caused anomalies.Green/Smart Energy Financing:Green or Smart energy rebate programs are a common way facilities are cutting costs. The federal government and many states are offering these financial incentives to help businesses and organization to afford solar energy system installations. These rebates and tax credits commonly offer full ROI in a short amount of time.For this purpose, data loggers are the ideal way to record your solar systems wattage capacity and compare it against what was promised. This is a low-cost way to help you qualify for these rebates and, once youre approved, to prove that youre getting the savings.Keeping a close eye on your facilitys energy generation and viewing your actual patterns of use helps to prevent you from being overcharged. For example, using a solar data logger, you can see for yourself if your solar-power systems are performing as promised--and see if your installer is overcharging you or not!Data Transfer: Wired or Wireless?To save energy as part of an audit, its critical to not only collect accurate data, but also to ensure that this data is readily available to factory and plant supervisors, etc. in comprehensible form. This way decision-makers have the information they need to take remedial action to realize potential savings.Wireless capability becomes even more desirable if you want to link data collection to one or more control systems on your network. This is an ideal way to optimize energy efficiency across the entire site. As an example, a common data logger application is to monitor boiler or tank temperature and simultaneously send the data to a PID control system for real-time process optimization. A wireless datalogger also bypasses the need for personnel to install costly wiring.For these applications, many logger models have remote communications capability to automatically push various data sets with varying time elements over the companys network via FTP. Many wireless communication protocols are available including WiFi.In contrast, wired dataloggers may be more preferable if you prioritize data security, need to save on device cost, or if you simply want to use an existing wired setup.Graphs and Charts Prove Savings:While plant technicians and supervisors know that they need to collect energy data, many are unsure what to do with the information once its in their hands. To this end, data logger software commonly features trend and analysis capabilities to view power consumption and to target actionable savings areas. Todays software typically has filters and zoom functions allowing you to focus on only the data that youre interested in. Data can be viewed by time, temperature, power factorany value or variable.Using the green energy rebate example again, if youre looking to install a smart energy system, you can also use software to prove to your financiers that youre in compliance with their post-installation regulations and that youre benefitting from the promised savings. This is especially important when federal or state money is involved.Summary:In summary, your facility likely has unexplored energy savings areas if you can just get the data in front of you. While in the past this required installation of multiple devices--each monitoring a single value--todays multi-value data loggers can collect process data and also perform basic control features. Combined with analysis software, these capabilities can transform the vague need to save energy into realizable steps and savings.For further information on our selection of Data Acquisition Systems, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit our website atContact Information:CAS DataLoggers, Inc.8437 Mayfield Rd.Chesterland, Ohio 44026(440) 729-2570(800) 956-4437sales@dataloggerinc.com
The Dangers Inherent In Social Media - 5 Star Rated Romantic Fiction Novel, 'Willow's Walk' Presents Romantic Fiction Storyline In A Modern Day Context

Romantic Fiction Author Rusty Blackwood

http://www.rusty-blackwood.com

Social media sites can sometimes be wonderful places to form new relationships. They are also fraught with danger for the unsuspecting. There is no shortage of stories about relationships that began on a social media site and ended in tragedy. While most of us approach these kinds of situations with caution, that is not the case for everybody.Rusty Blackwood uses this concept as one focal point of the storyline in 'Willow's Walk'. A mature woman / younger man relationship that begins in an Internet chat room leads to real trouble for the protagonist of the story. While romantic fiction novels featuring vampires and Scottish warriors can be interesting, they present stories based in fictional events. Blackwood instead deftly presents engaging romantic fiction story elements with events pulled from today's headlines."When it comes to Internet connections," Blackwood cautioned, "don't be gullible, or foolish, because you do not know what may be lurking on the other side of the screen."'Willow's Walk', follows the release of 'Passions in Paris: Revelations Of A Lost Diary'. Her first romantic fiction book is a sweeping saga written in the tradition of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and 'What Dreams May Come'. It has been compared to Erich Segal's 'Love Story' and Nicholas Sparks' 'The Notebook'.Rusty-Blackwood-Cover-Willow-Final'Willow's Walk' is a gripping new tale, certain to hold readers captive from the very first page. Set in the beautiful city of Ottawa, Canada in 2003, this touching story centers on the life and times of a woman determined to prevail at all costs, regardless of what is set before her, the result of which is certain to leave the reader reeling in its wake.The path each person walks is entirely their own. The pitfalls along that path, as well as the way in which they are dealt with are entirely up to the individual. But Willow Sutherland Crosby walks a far-different path, and with her own agenda.Abuse, deception, intrigue, and a never ending quest for happiness and love - will she find these, or will her blind determination be her downfall?'Willow's Walk' has received a number of 5 star reviews from professional reviewers. Maria Beltran stated, "I highly recommend this book." Gisela Dixon said, ". . . I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the life of a person presented in such a wonderful manner." Another said, "I was touched by the bittersweet conclusion that sometimes purpose and happiness are only found through great tragedy ..."'Passions In Paris' has also received rave reviews. Linkk Kula Kane said, "Passions in Paris I think stands its ground with these other powerful romantic stories like 'The Notebook' by Nicolas Sparks." Reader Fred Pifer stated that 'Passions', " . . .is a fascinating book of a love story that seemed to be written with me in mind. In the book 'Love Story' by Erich Segal, he told of a deep abiding love story that reminds me of Cullen and Joys in Ms. Blackwoods book, but the twists of intrigue and mystery that she adds keeps the reader on edge throughout."Rusty Blackwood will be filming an installment of "What's New" for Cogeco TV, which centers on happenings and people in the Niagara area on April 25, 2016. Showdates will be announced at a later time.Information on the new romantic fiction release, including a new book trailer, is available at Blackwood's site on the 'Willow' page. Readers can download paperback and Kindle versions of both books at Amazon sites worldwide, including Amazon.ca.Rusty Blackwood is available for interview in the Toronto and Niagara areas and can be reached using the information below or by email at writerrusty@hotmail.ca. More information is available at her website.Rusty Blackwood is a prolific Indie author of romantic fiction, short story comedies, contemporary and traditional poetry and children's books. Her first love is romantic fiction, but she crosses genres with ease.PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459
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http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/report/54628#request-sample

Global MABS Sales Industry 2015 Market Size Share Growth Forecast Research and DevelopmentThe Global MABS Sales Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global MABS Sales market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation, SWOT analysis, most influential trends, and business environment of the market are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, this report features tables and figures that render a clear perspective of the MABS Sales market. The report features an up-to-date data on key companies product details, revenue figures, and sales. Furthermore, the details also gives the Global MABS Sales market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the MABS Sales market are also included. Key strengths, weaknesses, and threats shaping the leading players in the market have also been included in this research report.The report gives a detailed overview of the key segments in the market. The fastest and slowest growing market segments are covered in this report. The key emerging opportunities of the fastest growing Global MABS Sales market segments are also covered in this report. Each segments and sub-segments market size, share, and forecast are available in this report. Additionally, the region-wise segmentation and the trends driving the leading geographical region and the emerging region has been presented in this report.Get Complete Report with TOC :The study on the Global MABS Sales market also features a history of the tactical mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships activity in the market. Valuable recommendations by senior analysts about investing strategically in research and development can help new entrants or established players penetrate the emerging sectors in the MABS Sales market. Investors will gain a clear insight on the dominant players in this industry and their future forecasts. Furthermore, readers will get a clear perspective on the high demand and the unmet needs of consumers that will enhance the growth of this market.Table of ContentChapter One MABS Sales Industry Overview1.1 MABS Sales Definition1.1.1 MABS Sales Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 MABS Sales Classification1.3 MABS Sales Application Field1.4 MABS Sales Industry Chain Structure1.5 MABS Sales Industry Regional Overview1.6 MABS Sales Industry Policy Analysis1.7 MABS Sales Industry Related Companies Contact InformationGet Sample Copy of Report @QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,
Flexword Translators & Consultants Continues Innovative Streak with New Broadband Cable Technology

www.flexword.de

www.flexword.de

MANNHEIM, GERMANY  Starting March 2016, flexword translators & consultants now has the highest speed internet offered in the Mannheim, Germany metropolitan region.flexwords newly implemented broadband cable technology offers state-of-the-art speed for the region allowing faster and smoother processing times on translation projects. The new broadband closes the gap on any given time difference, allowing flexword to tighten its global connectivity. As flexword employs its top translators worldwide, the capabilities are now enhanced as the translators work off the flexword broadband. While flexword is known for its global success in delivering for large multinational companies, the new broadband is the vital asset in assisting the company in acquiring increased performance as flexword opens its brand-new USA location.The new broadband cable technology is in accordance with flexwords policy to impress customers with the highest of quality, professional project handling, flexibility and reliable delivery.ABOUT FLEXWORD:flexword translators & consultants is a full-service language service provider company headquartered in Mannheim, Germany with offices located in both England and Serbia. Since 1992, flexword serves all industries and translates all languages. flexword is certified with EN 15038 for translation services and EN ISO 9001 certified for quality management. Please reference the flexword websiteFor more information please contact Elise Grosdidier either by:phone +49 (0) 621 39 74 78-290 or email elise.grosdidier@flexword.de.###flexword translators & consultants is a full-service language service provider company headquartered in Mannheim, Germany with offices located in both England and Serbia. Since 1992, flexword serves all industries and translates all languages. flexword is certified with EN 15038 for translation services and EN ISO 9001 certified for quality management. Please reference the flexword websiteFlexwordNeckarauer Strasse35-41Mannheim, Germany
Fully automatic concentration control in PCBA cleaning

www.zestron.com

When PCBAs are cleaned a lot of factors influence the cleaning result. There are not only the residues which have been cleaned from the PCBAs but also process-dependent influences like evaporation or transportation of cleaner into the rinsing stage. To achieve permanent good cleaning results, continuous monitoring of the cleaning bath is recommended. For this purpose, manual and automatic methods exist. Manual methods are the measurement of conductance or pH value. However, the result of both measuring methods is influenced by temperature or contamination and do not provide absolute values. Furthermore, if only the above mentioned parameters are analyzed then the cleaning bath quality often cannot be evaluated efficiently when employing water based cleaning processes. On the other hand the concentration of the cleaning agent provides a very good guide to efficiency. To evaluate this parameter there are rapid manual chemical tests, based on acid-base titration, and also refractive index measurement. However both methods are only fully effective with fresh cleaning baths, whereas a further manual concentration measurement method based on the phase separation procedure e. g. the ZESTRON Bath Analyzer works very reliably and accurately independently of contamination.Besides the above mentioned low priced manual bath monitoring methods there are automatic techniques available, such as the ZESTRON EYE. Utilizing that system, both cleaner concentration and temperature is measured permanently and in real-time. This measurement is more precise than the manual measurement methods and furthermore resistant to contamination. Besides the continuous process data documentation the data can be saved for up to two years providing full traceability. The ZESTRON EYE is compatible with all common cleaning machines on the market and can communicate with their PLCs. Its expandable by addition of an automatic dosage system (dosage of concentrate and DI water), directly controlled from the measurement data of the ZESTRON EYE.The additional automatic method is the ZESTRON EYE CM (CM: concentration management), a product new to the market, a fully automatic stand alone module, performing both automatic concentration measurement and automatic dosage.For further information, please visit us at SMT Hybrid & Packaging at booth 321 in hall 7 or go toHeadquartered in Ingolstadt, Germany, ZESTRON  a business division of Dr. O.K. Wack Chemie GmbH, is the globally leading provider of high precision cleaning products, services and comprehensive solutions in the electronics industry. With seven technical centers worldwide, cleaning trials can be replicated to the processes conducted on customer sites.It is ZESTRONs philosophy to develop cleaning products that are innovative and unprecedented in the industry, thereby ensuring that our customers always remain one step ahead. More than 20% of ZESTRONs staff is dedicated to our extensive research and development programs, with more than 10% of profit reinvested in this sector. As the innovation leader, we are fully committed to providing the most cost-effective and environmentally sound solutions while meeting all other aspects of cleanliness, reliability and safety requirements.Franz WutzZESTRON Europe... a Business Division of Dr. O.K. Wack Chemie GmbHBunsenstrae 685053 IngolstadtTel: +49 0841 635-176Fax: +49 0841 635-40Email: franz.wutz@zestron.com
Micronit and iX-factory have merged

18 March 2016Enschede, The Netherlands - Micronit Microfluidics B.V. (Micronit) and iX-factory GmbH announced today they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Micronit has acquired iX-factory. Both companies are experts in the development and manufacturing of innovative microfluidic and MEMS components. iX-factory will continue under the name of Micronit GmbH.Both companies have unique and synergetic technical capabilities, the combination of which will result in an expanded portfolio offering. iX- factory brings important capabilities such as Deep Reactive Ion Etching of silicon and glass allowing the fabrication of high aspect ratio structures for MEMS and microfluidics applications. Furthermore, this second ISO-certified manufacturing plant creates an improved contingency for our clients in the rapidly scaling microfluidics and MEMS industries. This is a significant step forward in our growth strategy, said Ronny vant Oever, CEO of Micronit Microfluidics B.V.For iX-factory the merge significantly widens our range of capabilities. Micronits design and high volume manufacturing capabilities combined with iX-factorys experience in silicon and silicon/glass micromachining provides more and interesting new options for our clients. The synergy in sales and marketing puts us in a stronger position with an improved value proposition for our increasing customer base. said Dominique Bouwes, CEO of iX-factory.Both companies, based in The Netherlands and Germany, will closely integrate their strengths and synergies which will certainly benefit their customers.They will work closely with their clients, partners, suppliers and employees to ensure a smooth transition. Financial details and other terms were not disclosed.About MicronitMicronit Microfluidics B.V., founded in 1999, is a dynamic and innovative High-Tech company that designs, develops, produces and sells lab-on-a-chip and MEMS products to academic and industrial customers all over the world. These products are - for instance - used in DNA analysis, medical tests, analytical instrumentation and also in space technology. Micronit focuses on the total development process of microfluidic devices, from design to high-volume manufacturing and is considered a worldwide leader in microfluidics.About iX-factoryiX-factory GmbH is a pure-play foundry service provider for MEMS/NEMS and microfluidic products that supports its clients with the development and fabrication of customized microchips and MEMS-NEMS products. The companys service portfolio includes: personal expert advice, manufacturing and project work, MEMS Foundry Service and the world around the chip. Through the application of multidisciplinary technologies, iX-factory provides its customers with maximum flexibility, individuality and innovation. iX-factory is known for the manufacturing of microchips based on the unique combination of glass and silicon.About iX-factoryiX-factory GmbH is a pure-play foundry service provider for MEMS/NEMS and microfluidic products that supports its clients with the development and fabrication of customized microchips and MEMS-NEMS products. The companys service portfolio includes: personal expert advice, manufacturing and project work, MEMS Foundry Service and the world around the chip. Through the application of multidisciplinary technologies, iX-factory provides its customers with maximum flexibility, individuality and innovation. iX-factory is known for the manufacturing of microchips based on the unique combination of glass and silicon.Micronit GmbH [iX-factory GmbH]Dr.Gudrun SchirmerKonrad-Adenauer-Allee 11D-44263 DortmundGermanyinfo@micronit.de
Trinova Capital on track for record-breaking Q1 of 2016.

www.trinovacapital.com

Trinova Capital, the equity research firm in Tokyo, has turned in an impressive Q1 performance with a monumental 74% year-on-year growth in revenue forecast compared with the same period in 2015.The impressive growth was fuelled by many discerning aspects, primarily the induction of new clients and over-performing portfolios, as well as a restructuring of the firm to reduce overheads.Alexander Steiner spoke on the projections, If our estimations turn out to be accurate, which they normally are, we are on track for a great 2016. Our aggressive growth strategy is falling into place and we have every intention to be one of the biggest and best financial advisory firms in the Asia-Pacific region. We have grown massively since we began our private client division, both in revenue and client terms, which has led to our return on investment and client retention percentages being industry-leading.Spencer Conway also commented, We here at Trinova Capital are extremely excited about our future prospects in this industry, and our growth has shown that we are moving in the right direction to become a global force in equity research. Our current European Client Drive is in operation and is our largest ever expedition, which will provide us with a solid foundation to springboard our operations over the next decade.Trinova Capitals European Client Drive is currently active, targeting prospective European investors with ethical, informed equity research advice. For any further information please visit, email info@trinovacapital.com or call +813 4588 8434.Trinova Capital is an independent equity research firm based in TokyoOtemachi Financial City North Tower, 1-9-5 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0004, Japan+81345888434info@trinovacapital.comMedia Contact: Alexander Kidd
Unigulf Air Conditioning Industries Awarded the Prestigious Dubai Central Laboratorys (DCL) Certificate of Product Conformity

Unigulf Air Conditioning, one of the leading players in the HVAC Pre Insulated Duct (PID) System today announced that the company has been successfully awarded the Certificate of Product Conformity by Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL). An initiative of Government of Dubai, the DCL is implemented through the Dubai Municipality and has been awarded for the companys state-of-the-art automated plant as well as products manufactured. The certification based on internationally recognized standard BS EN 13165, is proof of the companys commitment to adhering to the stringent quality and norms that have been laid down by the Dubai Municipality for both manufacturing as well as product sale.The certification has been awarded for the companys operations and quality management system as well as the EASY panels after successful assessment and by the DCL authorities in accordance with the DCDLD Document Ref. No. RD-DP21-2001 (IC) General Rules for DM third party product certification system through factory assessment and the relevant Specific Rules.Given the nature of the companys involvement in the thermal insulation business, the new certification reassures the consistency and quality of products delivered to the market. This government initiative provides a level playing field for companies in the sector and raises the quality bar.Unigulf Air Conditioning Industries has always strongly emphasized on quality standards as well as the safety and security of our manufacturing unit and product lines. We welcome the move by the Government of Dubai in preparing the ground for companies to demonstrate global compliance under international standards by conducting rigorous tests and we are proud to be certified by the Dubai Central Laboratory, said Prakash Chablani, Managing Director, Unigulf Air Conditioning Industries of Unigulf Group.The certification process, audits and assures the vital properties of the products and production or manufacturing process. These include thermal conductivity to International standard ASTM C 518 : 2010 and critical fire properties to BS EN 13501  1 : 2007, as well as BS EN ISO 11925  2 : 2002, and also covers several other criteria.Unigulf Air Conditioning continues its efforts in complying with global and local industry norms as has been consistently awarded the ISO 9001, over a long period. The company has also achieved the ASTM E 84 standard and has begun the process of manufacturing products for the hygiene industry, which includes hospitals, laboratories and clean room applicationsUnigulf Air Conditioning Industries LLC is a part of the United Arab Emirates based Unigulf Group. Having started operations in 1985, the group has grown to be a leading player in the HVAC industry. Over the last 15 years the company has been involved with some of the most notable projects worldwide and this was further strengthened with the inclusion of a panel manufacturing and duct fabrication facility in 2000. The company has been certified by DCL, BS, UL, ASTM, EN, IMO, NES and ISO 9001.OAK ConsultingCondrad Office, Spider Business- E9Sheikh Zayed roadShaina0502531818shaina@oakconsulting.biz
Immigration, Terrorism, Murder And English Detectives - New Crime Thriller, 'The Dance Of Dimitrios', Offers Gripping Fiction Based On Real World Current Events

Author Patrick Brigham

http://authorpatrickbrigham.com/

Award winning author Patrick Brigham has released 'The Dance Of Dimitrios'. The new crime thriller is a riveting mystery novel that mixes a fictional English detective with real world events drawn from today's headlines.DCI Lambert, who works for Europol, is sent to Greece in order to solve a cold case. Greece is the gateway into Europe for Middle-Eastern migrants, political refugees and terrorists. In the storyline, a woman's body found floating in a river in Northern Greece. Believed to be of Middle-Eastern origin, she is buried in a communal grave along with other Islamic victims of drowning and promptly forgotten. Surprisingly it is found that she is actually Marjory Braithwaite, an Englishwoman who has been living for some years in Greece. The British government turns to Europol for help and DCI Lambert is dispatched to Greece.Good books on the subject of international crime are few and far between, especially mystery stories which delve into the shady side of politics. Not many mystery novelists are prepared to address arms dealing, money laundering or people trafficking. Patrick Brigham has lived in the middle of the situations he describes in his novels, as he was the Editor in Chief of The Sofia Western News, the first English Language news magazine in Bulgaria.As a journalist Brigham knew the political players and witnessed the changes in this once hard core communist country, He knew the Communist Dictator Todor Zhivkov and his successors Zhelev and Stoyanov. Today he brings the flavor of those experiences to readers through engaging works of crime fiction."What seems to be a story to some, has been very real to me, as I watched reality unfold before me, and whilst governments turned a blind eye to the issue of illegal immigration," Brigham stated. "Now firmly in the media each day, back in the early 2,000s most illegal immigrants, either crept under the media radar or were ignored by the majority of self serving EU politicians. Some tried to use their public positions and scanty information to further their own trite ambitions, but mostly they ignored the problem altogether. Now that the dripping tap has become a torrent, they all sound so knowledgeable - after the event of course - but still remain unquestionably ignorant.""I write books about this and many other often unpalatable subjects, but I surround these thorny issues with good murder mystery stories - familiar territory to most readers - but with a backdrop of political intrigue, and true crime. DCI Mike Lambert is more than your average tired and disillusioned policeman, because of the way he thinks and takes his own council. He believes in teamwork, but is also busy looking out for himself - a loose cannon perhaps - but always true to himself. In 'The Dance of Dimitrios,' we see a dedicated copper doing his job, but also a man on the cusp, looking for love and romance and finding it; something which he has never really experienced' in a lifetime of police service."Readers have praised his novels. One stated, "I am an ex cop - he must of done a lot of research to get so many things right. I felt when reading 'Abduction' that Patrick was relating an investigation, he actually carried out." Another said, "'Abduction - An Angel Over Rimini' is an entertaining, gripping, and also an astonishing Europol procedural read, making you want to read more. I was drawn into the story right away. I felt close to Michael Lambert and his way of analysing and detecting. All relevant characters became pretty real. 'Abduction - An Angel Over Rimini' is a good read for mystery fans, readers who like surprises, and apparent coincidences."Patrick Brigham is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at patrick.brigham@gmail.com. Books are available at Amazon, Amazon.UK, Smashwords and at his website. More information is available at Patrick Brigham's website.Patrick has been a writer and journalist for many years. He has published many short stories, newspaper and magazine articles. Born in the English Home Counties, he attended Public School and College before moving to London and embarking on his career. Having spent the last twenty years in South Eastern Europe, many of his stories are set in this part of the world as well as in Oxford, Hampshire and Berkshire. As the Editor in Chief of the first English Language news magazine in Sofia Bulgaria, between 1995 and 2000 - and as a journalist - he witnessed the changes in this once hard core Communist Country and personally knew most of the political players, including the old Dictator Todor Zhivkov and his successors Zhelev and Stoyanov.PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459
ITServe Alliance hosted key speakers during March 2016 monthly meet

http://www.itserve.org

ITServe Alliance is a largest association of IT Services organizations. The alliance is the voice of all prestigious IT companies functioning with similar interests across United States.Through the years ITServe has evolved as a resourceful and respected platform to collaborate (STARTUPS / PROJECTS / JOB BOARD / HOTLIST) and initiate measures in the direction of protecting common interests and ensuring collective success.The esteemed speaker of the month was Tom Nunn(President  Tom Nunn Consulting) Tom Nunn Consulting works with dedicated, smart business owners, entrepreneurs and CEOs who want to make their vision of success a reality, and position their companies for substantial growth.Speaking on this occasion, Ravi Varre, President Houston Chapter - IT Serve Alliance said, IT Serves focus has been to bring industry and business thought leaders to provide strategic insights to all its members. This meet up today is in line with our vision to strengthen our relationship with business luminaries. The session by Dr.Tom will be very helpful for small and growing companies to manage their P& L.ITServe Houston Chapter also hosted Rahul Reddy & Emily Neumann, provided immigration updates on the OPT Rule, H1B Filings & 140 DatesSatish Nannapaneni, President Elect ,National ITServ explained that It was a dinner event attended by all the key executives/CEO of Houston and was an opportunity to get detailed insights on P& L, Immigration, Insurance, Banking & Collection related issues.ITServe Alliance with chapters spread across United States, conduct monthly meetings to network collaborate & exchange ideas for mutually beneficial relationship.Houston ITServe Executive Team:President: Ravi VarreExecutive Committee: Badruddin Pitter,Naren Mondalreddy,Sumith Arigapudi,Sai GollaPR & Marketing : Damodhara Jammli(DJ)To become member of ITServe and for further details - visitOr E-mail: info@itserve.orgITServe Alliance is a largest association of IT Services organizations. The alliance is the voice of all prestigious IT companies functioning with similar interests across United States. Through the years ITserve has evolved as a resourceful and respected platform to collaborate and initiate measures in the direction of protecting common interests and ensuring collective success.1320 Greenway Dr #460,Irving, TX 75038
Icognix named as the quality Linksys tech support provider

Linksys Tech Support

Router is the necessity of the hour. Many use it for business purpose and remaining for personal or home use. No matter who uses this device and where, router is subject to technical wear and tear due to various reasons. Some of the common problems include, installing errors, network issues, bad signal and many others. This happens with every brand, despite of its quality. In such case, one should get in touch a professional Linksys tech support company.Linksys being the most renowned brand, getting support assistance becomes easy. But one cannot be sure of the Linksys tech support service quality and reliability. There are many companies in the market, but good ones are less in number. In the recent time, Icognix is leading the tech support chart with its professional and timely service. If we go with customers testimonials, the company has been the best Linksys tech support provider so far.We have built our business on customers trust. With our reliable service we aim to cater to maximum users in the coming years, said a company source.Icognix.net has expanded its base from router support to computer, printer, antivirus and network support. The company has specialists with vast domain experience. Therefore, users can rely on them for technical assistance.Our vast range of quality and affordable tech support service makes us the market leader. We are focusing on adding more professionals on board to cater to the growing needs of the market, added the source from Icognix.They offer both onsite and online support. Whenever a user needs Linksys tech support, they can contact the companys certified professionals and get their router issues resolved within the least possible.Linksys tech support professionals can be contacted by various means viz. web chat, email or Linksys tech support number. In case, a user is facing any issue with their router, printed, computer, antivirus, irrespective of the brand can contact on 1-877-777-8906 (Toll Free).Icognix.net provides Linksys tech support @ nominal cost. Call us for Linksys router setup, Linksys password setup or any other Linksys router related issues.129 College Drive,New Jersey, Edison
The Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce to Host 2016 State of the Cities Luncheon

2016 State of the Cities Luncheon

The Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce will host its annual State of the Cities Luncheon on Thursday, March 31, 2016, at Heathrow Country Club.The State of the City Luncheon will feature a Mayoral Panel including Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett, Lake Mary Mayor David Mealor, Deltona Mayor John Masiarczyk and DeBary Mayor Clint Johnson to discuss current and future community plans. This years event is sponsored by CPH, Inc., the City of Sanford, Central Florida Regional Hospital, Black Rain Partners, and the Orlando-Sanford International Airport and is open to the public.Sanford Chamber President/CEO Frank S. Hale announced: The State of the Cities Luncheon is a great opportunity to join our elected officials for a firsthand discussion on economic developmental successes and opportunities within each community and the overall region represented. Last years event was a huge success, and were expecting another sellout crowd this year.Sponsorships and corporate tables are available, along with individual seating. Visit SanfordChamber.com for more information or to register.The Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce was established in 1920 to create and foster a dynamic business climate that provides a higher quality of life for community members. It serves the Central Florida communities of Seminole, Orange, Volusia, Brevard, and Lake counties, providing leadership on major growth, education, and cultural issues that affect business and the overall community.Frank S. HalePresident / CEOThe Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce400 East First StreetSanford, FL 32771
Global Dental Burnisher Consumption Market Size, Development, Industry Outlook 2016: Acute Market Reports

http://www.acutemarketreports.com/report/global-dental-burnisher-consumption-2016-market-research-report

http://www.acutemarketreports.com/category/pharmaceutical-market

http://www.acutemarketreports.com/

http://www.briskinsights.com/report/mobile-health-technology-market

The Global Dental Burnisher Consumption 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Dental Burnisher market.First, the report provides a basic overview of the Dental Burnisher industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.View Full Report with TOC @Secondly, the report states the global Dental Burnisher market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed.Third, the Dental Burnisher market analysis is provided for major regions including USA, Europe, China and Japan, and other regions can be added. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the Dental Burnisher industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Browse All Reports of This Category @Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the marketFor More Information visit:About Acute Market ReportsAcute Market Reports is the most sufficient collection of market intelligence services online. It is your only source that can fulfill all your market research requirements. Acute Market Reports provide online reports from over 100 best publishers and upgrade Acute Market Reports collection regularly to offer you direct online access to the worlds most comprehensive and recent database with expert perceptions on worldwide industries, products, establishments and trends. Acute Market Reports database consists of 200,000+ market research reports with detailed & minute market research.Contact:Chris PaulOffice No 01, 1st Floor,Aditi Mall, Baner, Pune,MH, 411045 IndiaPhone (India): +91 7755981103Toll Free (US/Canada): +1-855-455-8662Email: sales@acutemarketreports.comMore Related Category Reports, Visit -Acute Market Reports is the most sufficient collection of market intelligence services online. It is your only source that can fulfill all your market research requirements. Acute Market Reports provide online reports from over 100 best publishers and upgrade Acute Market Reports collection regularly to offer you direct online access to the worlds most comprehensive and recent database with expert perceptions on worldwide industries, products, establishments and trends. Acute Market Reports database consists of 200,000+ market research reports with detailed & minute market research.Office No 01, 1st Floor,Aditi Mall, Baner, Pune,MH, 411045 India
Global Dental Electrosurgical Units Market 2016 - Market Size, Growth, Industry Trends: Acute Market Reports

http://www.acutemarketreports.com/category/dental-devices-market

http://www.mobilecomputingtoday.co.uk/

http://www.acutemarketreports.com/

http://www.briskinsights.com/report/contraceptive-market

The Global Dental Electrosurgical Units Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Dental Electrosurgical Units industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Dental Electrosurgical Units market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.View Full Report with TOC @ acutemarketreports.com/report/global-dental-electrosurgical-units-industrySecondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Dental Electrosurgical Units industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Browse All Reports of This Category @Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Blog URL:About Acute Market ReportsAcute Market Reports is the most sufficient collection of market intelligence services online. It is your only source that can fulfill all your market research requirements. Acute Market Reports provide online reports from over 100 best publishers and upgrade Acute Market Reports collection regularly to offer you direct online access to the worlds most comprehensive and recent database with expert perceptions on worldwide industries, products, establishments and trends. Acute Market Reports database consists of 200,000+ market research reports with detailed & minute market research.For More Information visit:Contact:Chris PaulOffice No 01, 1st Floor,Aditi Mall, Baner, Pune,MH, 411045 IndiaPhone (India): +91 7755981103Toll Free (US/Canada): +1-855-455-8662Email: sales@acutemarketreports.comMore Related Category Reports, Visit -Acute Market Reports is the most sufficient collection of market intelligence services online. It is your only source that can fulfill all your market research requirements. Acute Market Reports provide online reports from over 100 best publishers and upgrade Acute Market Reports collection regularly to offer you direct online access to the worlds most comprehensive and recent database with expert perceptions on worldwide industries, products, establishments and trends. Acute Market Reports database consists of 200,000+ market research reports with detailed & minute market research.Office No 01, 1st Floor,Aditi Mall, Baner, Pune,MH, 411045 India
Global Car Bluetooth Market 2016 Share, Size, Research, Review, Demand & Forecast 2022

http://goo.gl/84D3IQ

http://goo.gl/U3ZaDV

The market report, titled Global Car Bluetooth Market 2016, is an analytical research done by QY Market Research study based on the Car Bluetooth market, which analyzes the competitive framework of the Car Bluetooth industry worldwide. This report "Worldwide Car Bluetooth Market 2016" build by the usage of efficient methodical tools such SWOT analysis, the Car Bluetooth industrial 2016 study offers a comprehensive evaluation worldwide Car Bluetooth market.Global Car Bluetooth Market 2016 report has Forecasted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in % value for particular period, that will help user to take decision based on futuristic chart. Report also includes key players in global Car Bluetooth market.Do Enquiry Before Purchasing Here :The Car Bluetooth market size is estimated in terms of revenue (US$) and production volume in this report. Whereas the Car Bluetooth market key segments and the geographical distribution across the globe is also deeply analyzed. Various Car Bluetooth market dynamics such as growth drivers, restrictions, and the future prospects of each segment have been discussed in detail. Based on that, the Car Bluetooth market report determines the future status of the market globally.This report covers every aspect of the global market for Car Bluetooth , starting from the basic market information and advancing further to various significant criteria, based on which, the Car Bluetooth market is segmented. Key application areas of Car Bluetooth are also assessed on the basis of their performance.Table of Contents :1 Industry Overview1.1 Definition and Specifications of Car Bluetooth1.1.1 Definition of Car Bluetooth1.1.2 Specifications of Car Bluetooth1.2 Classification of Car Bluetooth1.3 Applications of Car Bluetooth1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Car Bluetooth1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Car Bluetooth1.5.1 Industry Overview of Car Bluetooth1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Car Bluetooth1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Car Bluetooth1.7 Industry News Analysis of Car BluetoothGet Free Sample Report :2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Car Bluetooth2.7 Global Price, Cost and Gross of Car Bluetooth 2010-20153 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Car Bluetooth3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Key Manufacturers in 20143.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Key Car Bluetooth Manufacturers in 20143.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Car Bluetooth Key Manufacturers in 20143.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Car Bluetooth Key Manufacturers in 2014The Car Bluetooth industrial chain, existing policies,and rules and regulations are studied in this Car Bluetooth Market report. Key manufacturers, their manufacturing chain, products, Car Bluetooth market price structures as well as the revenue.The report also evaluates the production capacity, dynamics of demand and supply, logistics, and the historical performance of the Car Bluetooth market worldwide.About Us:Global Market Firm is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact Us:Joel JohnDeerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Web: Global Market FirmEmail: sales@globalmarketfirm.com
Global Performance Jackets Industry 2016 Market Research Report

Performance Jackets

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Global Performance Jackets Industry 2015 Market Size Share Growth Forecast Research and DevelopmentThe Global Performance Jackets Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Performance Jackets market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation, SWOT analysis, most influential trends, and business environment of the market are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, this report features tables and figures that render a clear perspective of the Performance Jackets market. The report features an up-to-date data on key companies product details, revenue figures, and sales. Furthermore, the details also gives the Global Performance Jackets market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Performance Jackets market are also included. Key strengths, weaknesses, and threats shaping the leading players in the market have also been included in this research report.The report gives a detailed overview of the key segments in the market. The fastest and slowest growing market segments are covered in this report. The key emerging opportunities of the fastest growing Global Performance Jackets market segments are also covered in this report. Each segments and sub-segments market size, share, and forecast are available in this report. Additionally, the region-wise segmentation and the trends driving the leading geographical region and the emerging region has been presented in this report.Get Complete Report with TOC :The study on the Global Performance Jackets market also features a history of the tactical mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships activity in the market. Valuable recommendations by senior analysts about investing strategically in research and development can help new entrants or established players penetrate the emerging sectors in the Performance Jackets market. Investors will gain a clear insight on the dominant players in this industry and their future forecasts. Furthermore, readers will get a clear perspective on the high demand and the unmet needs of consumers that will enhance the growth of this market.Table of ContentChapter One Performance Jackets Industry Overview1.1 Performance Jackets Definition1.1.1 Performance Jackets Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 Performance Jackets Classification1.3 Performance Jackets Application Field1.4 Performance Jackets Industry Chain Structure1.5 Performance Jackets Industry Regional Overview1.6 Performance Jackets Industry Policy Analysis1.7 Performance Jackets Industry Related Companies Contact InformationGet Sample Copy of Report @Chapter Two Performance Jackets Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 High Purity colloidal silica Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 Equipment Suppliers2.3 Labor Cost Analysis2.4 Other Cost Analysis2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure2.5 Performance Jackets Manufacturing TechnologyChapter Three Global Performance Jackets Capacity Production and Production Value3.1 Global Performance Jackets Manufacturing Base3.2 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Capacity and Production3.3 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Production Value and Growth Rate3.4 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value and Gross MarginChapter Four Performance Jackets Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions4.1 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Sales by Regions4.2 2010-2015 Global Major Regions Performance Jackets Sales and Growth Rate4.3 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Sales Revenue by Regions4.4 2010-2015 Global Major Regions Performance Jackets Sales Revenue and Growth Rate4.5 2010-2015 Global Major Regions Performance Jackets Sales PriceChapter Five Performance Jackets Application Consumption5.1 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Key Applications Consumption5.2 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Key Applications Consumption ShareChapter Six Performance Jackets Price Cost and Gross Margin Analysis6.1 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Price and Sales Price6.2 2010-2015 Global Performance Jackets Cost and Gross MarginChapter Seven Performance Jackets Major Manufacturers Analysis7.1 Company A7.1.1 Company Profile7.1.2 Product Picture and Specification7.1.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value7.1.4 Contact Information7.2 Company B7.2.1 Company Profile7.2.2 Product Picture and Specification7.2.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value7.2.4 Contact Information7.3 Company C7.3.1 Company Profile7.3.2 Product Picture and Specification7.3.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value7.3.4 Contact Information7.4 Company D7.4.1 Company Profile7.4.2 Product Picture and Specification7.4.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value7.4.4 Contact InformationChapter Eight 2016-2021 Performance Jackets Industry Development Trend8.1 2016-2021 Global Performance Jackets Capacity Production Overview8.2 2016-2021 Global Performance Jackets Sales and Growth Rate8.3 2016-2021 Performance Jackets Production Value8.4 2016-2021 Performance Jackets Price8.5 2016-2021 Performance Jackets Gross Margin8.6 2016-2021 Performance Jackets Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginChapter Nine Performance Jackets Marketing Analysis9.1 Performance Jackets Marketing Channels Status9.2 Performance Jackets Ex-work Price Channel Price End Buyer Price Analysis9.3 Performance Jackets Regional Import Export Trading AnalysisChapter Ten Performance Jackets Industry Chain Suppliers and Contact Information Analysis10.1 Performance Jackets Raw Materials Major Suppliers and Their Contact Information10.2 Performance Jackets Major Suppliers and Their Contact Information10.3 Performance Jackets Key Buyers (Consumers) and Their Contact Information10.4 Performance Jackets Supply Chain RelationshipChapter Eleven Performance Jackets New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis11.1 Performance Jackets Project SWOT Analysis11.2 Performance Jackets New Project Investment Feasibility AnalysisChapter Twelve Global Performance Jackets Industry Research ConclusionsRead More @About Us:QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651Web: qyresearchgroup.comEmail: sales@qyresearchgroup.com
Crank Handles Market 2016 global industry analysis and forecast

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The market report, titled Crank Handles Market 2016, is an analytical research done by QY Market Research study based on the Crank Handles market, which analyzes the competitive framework of the Crank Handles industry worldwide. This report "Worldwide Crank Handles Market 2016" build by the usage of efficient methodical tools such SWOT analysis, the Crank Handles industrial 2016 study offers a comprehensive evaluation worldwide Crank Handles market.Request For Report Sample Here:Global Crank Handles Market 2016 report has Forecasted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in % value for particular period, that will help user to take decision based on futuristic chart. Report also includes key players in global Crank Handles market.The Crank Handles market size is estimated in terms of revenue (US$) and production volume in this report. Whereas the Crank Handles market key segments and the geographical distribution across the globe is also deeply analyzed. Various Crank Handles market dynamics such as growth drivers, restrictions, and the future prospects of each segment have been discussed in detail. Based on that, the Crank Handles market report determines the future status of the market globally.Do Inquiry About This Report Here:This report covers every aspect of the global market for Crank Handles , starting from the basic market information and advancing further to various significant criteria, based on which, the Crank Handles market is segmented. Key application areas of Crank Handles are also assessed on the basis of their performance.The Crank Handles industrial chain, existing policies,and rules and regulations are studied in this Crank Handles Market report. Key manufacturers, their manufacturing chain, products, Crank Handles market price structures as well as the revenue.The report also evaluates the production capacity, dynamics of demand and supply, logistics, and the historical performance of the Crank Handles market worldwide.About UsAt Tech Report Store, we have market research reports from competent publishers. Our Research Specialists have thorough knowledge about offerings from different publishers and different reports on respective industries. They will help you refine search parameters and get desired results at your doorstep.Contact UsJoel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Website: http://www.techreportstore.com/email: john@techreportstore.com
Sophos To Place The Spotlight On Security Heartbeat At GISEC 2016

Harish Chib, Vice President, Middle East & Africa for Sophos.

Sophos, a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced its participation in the Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC) 2016, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from March 29-31, 2016. The company will feature Sophos Security Heartbeatthe synchronized security protection for endpoints and networks, and showcase its best-in-class security solutions including Sophos SG Firewall, XG Firewall and Cyberoam NG Services at the Middle Easts leading security event.GISEC, being the regions leading IT security exhibition, is a perfect platform for us to promote Security Heartbeat, our synchronized security technology to our Middle East customers. By automating threat discovery, investigation and response, Sophos synchronized security vision revolutionizes threat detection and reduces incident response times exponentially sotactical resources can be refocused on strategic analysis. Through presentations and demos at our stand, we plan to give our customers a first-hand experience on the benefits of synchronized security, said Harish Chib, Vice president, Middle East & Africa for Sophos.Sophos is the only vendor to that enables next-generation network security technology to directly share security status and threat intelligence to next-generation endpoint security technology together for synchronized security that delivers better protection and easier manage ability. With Sophos Security Heartbeat, organizations of any size can advance their defenses against increasingly coordinated and stealthy attacks and drive a dramatic reduction in the time and resources required to investigate and address security incidents.Sophos also plans to showcase the latest versions of its next-generation endpoint and network security solutions.Sophos will be exhibiting at Stand C-94, Hall GISEC Division . Experts from the company will be available at the Sophos stand to interact with customers and channel partners from across the region and share their global experiences and success stories with them.More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage, and use, Sophos award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network security solutions are backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K., and is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol SOPH.Oak ConsultingCondrad Office, Spider Business- E9Sheikh Zayed roadShaina D'souza0502531818
Electronic Laboratory Balance Market 2016 global industry analysis and forecast

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The market report, titled Electronic Laboratory Balance Market 2016, is an analytical research done by QY Market Research study based on the Electronic Laboratory Balance market, which analyzes the competitive framework of the Electronic Laboratory Balance industry worldwide. This report "Worldwide Electronic Laboratory Balance Market 2016" build by the usage of efficient methodical tools such SWOT analysis, the Electronic Laboratory Balance industrial 2016 study offers a comprehensive evaluation worldwide Electronic Laboratory Balance market.Request For Report Sample Here:Global Electronic Laboratory Balance Market 2016 report has Forecasted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in % value for particular period, that will help user to take decision based on futuristic chart. Report also includes key players in global Electronic Laboratory Balance market.The Electronic Laboratory Balance market size is estimated in terms of revenue (US$) and production volume in this report. Whereas the Electronic Laboratory Balance market key segments and the geographical distribution across the globe is also deeply analyzed. Various Electronic Laboratory Balance market dynamics such as growth drivers, restrictions, and the future prospects of each segment have been discussed in detail. Based on that, the Electronic Laboratory Balance market report determines the future status of the market globally.Do Inquiry About This Report Here:This report covers every aspect of the global market for Electronic Laboratory Balance , starting from the basic market information and advancing further to various significant criteria, based on which, the Electronic Laboratory Balance market is segmented. Key application areas of Electronic Laboratory Balance are also assessed on the basis of their performance.The Electronic Laboratory Balance industrial chain, existing policies,and rules and regulations are studied in this Electronic Laboratory Balance Market report. Key manufacturers, their manufacturing chain, products, Electronic Laboratory Balance market price structures as well as the revenue.The report also evaluates the production capacity, dynamics of demand and supply, logistics, and the historical performance of the Electronic Laboratory Balance market worldwide.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website:Email: sales@qymarketresearch.com
3 Flow Measurement Sites with one Transmitter

NIVUS GmbH expand their NivuFlow 750 family for use withup to 9 sensorsThe manufacturer presents a transmitter capable of simultaneously measuring up to three different measurement places with 9 flow velocity sensors in total. This means less installation expenses, low space requirements for installation in control cabinets and simultaneous access to 3 measurement sites using merely one communication interface.By using the new version operators are free to distribute the number of flow velocity sensors per measurement place as desired. Moreover it is possible to use up to 9 sensors for a measurement place featuring a very large measurement cross section. This allows highly accurate flow rate measurement even in very wide canals and flumes featuring poor hydraulic conditions.The transmitter furthermore provides the option to mathematically summarise a total value based on readings from different measurement sites. The NivuFlow 750 M9 completes the manufacturers family of cross correlation devices for open channels and flumes as well as for part filled and full pipes.Thanks to latest numeric discharge models integrated, the NivuFlow 750 units pro-vide even more accurate and more reliable flow rate determination even under diffi-cult measurement conditions. Based on the ultrasonic cross correlation method, individual velocities are detected in different levels within the flow cross section. This allows the calculation and indication of real 3D flow profiles in real time. Influencing parameters such as canal shape, discharge behaviour and wall roughness are con-sidered to calculate the flow rate.Comprehensive diagnostic functions facilitate commissioning and maintenance of the transmitters and help operators to save time and costs.The NIVUS group is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of measurement instruments for water industry. For more than 45 years the company has been pointing the way ahead in measurement technology, continuously developing new products and practice-oriented solutions. Based in Eppingen, Germany, NIVUS operate seven international subsidiaries and co-operate with more than 40 distributors all over the world.NIVUS GmbHMartin MuellerIm Taele 275031 EppingenGermany+49 (0) 7262 9191-832martin.mueller@nivus.com
Latest Study on Death Care & Funeral Service Market Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020) Just Published: MarketResearchReports.biz

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Scope of the ReportThe report titled Death Care & Funeral Service Market: Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the death care and funeral service market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report also provides market size of cremation or burial services.The report provides detailed country analysis of the U.S. and Asian countries which include Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand for the death care and funeral service market. Country analysis includes market sizing by value along with the analysis of the segments of the market in each of the above mentioned countries.View Full Report atThe report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall death care and funeral service market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in the death care and funeral service market is stiff and dominated by the big players like SCI in the U.S. Further, key players of the death care and funeral service market Nirvana Asia Ltd. and Fu Shou Yuan International Group in Asia are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Country CoverageThe U.S.MalaysiaSingaporeIndonesiaThailandCompany CoverageDownload Sample Copy of this Report atService Corporation InternationalNirvana Asia Ltd.Fu Shou Yuan International GroupExecutive SummaryMarketResearchReports.Biz has announced addition of new report Death Care & Funeral Service Market: Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020) to its database.The term death care industry refers to the array of providers of funeral and burial goods and services, such as funeral directors, cemeteries, and third-party sellers. The death care industry is currently undergoing a major transformation. Historically, it has been fragmented, with limited overlap among various segments of the funeral and burial industries. Funeral homes and funeral directors sold funeral merchandise and services. Cemeteries sold burial merchandise and services. Cemeteries and monument/memorial dealers sold monuments and memorials. A funeral home or cemetery generally arranged cremation services, and independent florists sold flowers. Today, such distinctions are diminishing. The industry is consolidating. Large chains are buying and managing locally owned funeral homes and cemeteries. Many nonprofit cemeteries are now owned by, managed by, or otherwise affiliated with for-profit chains.Death care and funeral service market has increased at a significant CAGR during the period 2011-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. Death care and funeral service market can be segmented on the basis of products into as-need and pre-need, of which, pre-need market exhibited greater increase as compared to as-need, driving the death care and funeral service market. The upsurge in the market was due to various factors such as rapid growth in urbanization, rising aging population along with the increasing awareness about various products and services provided by the organizations operating in the market.The major growth drivers for the death care and funeral service market are: strong economic growth, rapid urbanization, increase in disposable income, steady population growth, aging population & increase in death rate and unmet demand for premium death care services and products. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as: injuries from manual tasks, embalming operations biological exposure, embalming operations chemical exposure & musculoskeletal hazards, embalming room ventilation & maintenance and unique hazards during cremation.Browse Latest Industry Press ReleaseMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website: marketresearchreports.biz/E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Starch Derivatives Industry Overview by 2016 Market Production, Growth Structure, High Shares, Analysis & Forecasts

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The report Starch Derivatives Research Report 2016 offers a birds eye view of the global Starch Derivatives market. This report features info graphics, graphs, tables, and charts that make this report easy to comprehend. Though this report offers a 360-degree view of the global Starch Derivatives market, the detailed regional analysis in this report offers clients a keen insight into the regional market dynamics.The report, with valuable market figures and expert insight, will help clients understand the regional markets that have reached saturation, the regional markets that will mature soon, and the emerging markets that are bristling with business opportunities. This in-depth regional analysis of the global Starch Derivatives market will allow clients to better evaluate the investment feasibility of each region. A comprehensive regional supply chain analysis of the global Starch Derivatives market offers insight into the functioning of the market, including suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and consumers.Browse Complete Report along with TOC @Factors such as the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and threats that are shaping the global Starch Derivatives market are also mentioned in the report. Impact analysis of these factors is covered in the report. The consumer trends that are influencing the market dynamics are also mentioned in the report. Moreover, the top emerging trends that will significantly fuel the global Starch Derivatives market are also covered in the research report.The key product and end-use sectors of the global Starch Derivatives market are presented in the research study. In addition to this, the subsequent sub-segments are also covered in the report on the global Starch Derivatives market. The dominating market segments and most progressive market segments are analyzed in the report. The market size and share of these segments, along with their forecast, will paint a clear picture of the potential of these market segments in the global Starch Derivatives market.Lastly, the report covers the competitive landscape of the global Starch Derivatives market. In this section, the key players leading the global Starch Derivatives market are covered.Request a Sample Copy of this Report @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web: qyresearchreports.comEmail: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Security Cameras (IR Illuminator) Industry 2016 Market Applications, Reviews, Technology Analysis & Growth Figures

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The global Security Cameras market has been affected by a number of micro- and macro-economic factors during the recent times. The report, titled Security Cameras Research Report 2016 offers insight into the Security Cameras market by assessing the impact of these factors. It has been compiled with the intent to serve as a useful guide to the new entrants planning to enter into the market. The report analyzes the growth of the Security Cameras market and estimates the valuation of the market by the end of the forecast horizon. The report also analyzes the impact of Porters five forces on the overall Security Cameras market. To offer an in-depth analysis, the Security Cameras market has been segmented on the basis of product type and applications in the report. The report further studies the Security Cameras market across key geographical regions.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The report points out the various drivers and restraints affecting the growth of the global Security Cameras market during the forecast horizon. Impelled by the recent developments, the Security Cameras market witnesses a plethora of opportunities to grow in the future. The report also notes the latest trends in the market and analyzes the entire value chain of the market, stressing on the upstream and downstream components.On the basis of product types and applications, the report segments the global Security Cameras market and assesses the demand from each of the product type. The report segments the global Security Cameras market into key geographical regions and studies the growth of the market across these regions. The regulatory scenario in each of the regional markets has been discussed in the report. The report estimates the growth of the market in the regions on the basis of various economic and financial factors. The report further profiles some of the key players in the global Security Cameras market to describe the competitive landscape of the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market is Expected to Reach Around USD 8.0 Billion in 2020

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Do inquiry Before Purchasing Report:Zion Research has published a new report titled Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (Water-based, Solvent-based, Hot Melt, Radiation Cured) Market for Tapes, Specialty, Labels, Graphics, and Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast 2014  2020. According to the report, global demand for pressure sensitive adhesives was valued at USD 6.20 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach USD 8.0 billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of around 5% between 2015 and 2020. In terms of volume, the global pressure sensitive adhesives market stood at 2.65 million tons in 2014.Pressure sensitive adhesives are the adhesives that form a bond with surface when pressure is applied. Pressure sensitive adhesives are made up of various compositions of chemicals like acrylic, silicone, polyurethane, and styrene butadiene. Pressure sensitive adhesives are used in host industries such as building & construction, electrical and electronics, packaging and automotive for various applications. Pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) require pressure to create bonding between the adhesive and the substrate. No solvent, water, or heat is needed to activate the adhesive.Browse the full "Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (Water-based, Solvent-based, Hot Melt, Radiation Cured) Market for Tapes, Specialty, Labels, Graphics, and Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast 2014  2020" report atThe pressure sensitive adhesives market is segmented on the basis of different types of pressure sensitive adhesives products such as water-based pressure sensitive adhesives, solvent-based pressure sensitive adhesives, hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives, and radiation cured pressure sensitive adhesives. The water based pressure sensitive adhesives dominated the market with around 60% share in total revenue generated in 2014. It is also expected to continue to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period. The second largest product segment was solvent-based pressure sensitive adhesives in 2014. Solvent based pressure sensitive adhesives are expected to grow at a slowest CAGR during the forecast period slightly losing its market share by the end of 2020.The pressure sensitive adhesives market is segmented on the basis of various application segments such as tapes, specialty, labels, graphics and other applications including dental adhesives, notepads, etc. In 2014, the tapes dominated the pressure sensitive adhesives application market and accounted around 40% total shares of the market. The labeling application is expected to exhibit fastest growth rate during the next five years. Furthermore, the increasing demand for lighter vehicles in automotive industries is expected to drive demand for specialty pressure sensitive adhesives.Get Sample Research Report:Asia Pacific dominated the global pressure sensitive adhesives market and accounted around 45% of the total volume in 2014. Strong growth in automotive and electronic industry in the region is major reason behind strong demand for pressure sensitive adhesives. Moreover, consumer goods such as footwear, office stationary and furniture are also anticipated to record strong demand for pressure sensitive adhesives in the years to come. North America, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa are other regions following Asia Pacific.3M Company, HB Fuller, Henkel AG, Avery Dennison, Collano Adhesives AG, Novamelt, Bostika S.A., BASF SE, LG Chemicals, and Ashland, Inc. are the key players operating in this industry.The report segments the global pressure sensitive adhesives market as:Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market  Product Segment AnalysisWater-basedSolvent-basedHot meltRadiation curedPressure Sensitive Adhesives Market  Application Segment AnalysisTapesSpecialtyLabelsGraphicsOthers (Automotive trims, dental adhesives, notepads, etc.)Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market - Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyU.K.FranceAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaBrowse Full Report :Zion Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each Zion Research syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food and beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve the overall research requirement of clients.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@marketresearchstore.comWebsite:
3-D printing poised to shake up US manufacturing Hasit Vibhakar isnt waiting for the digital manufacturing revolution to ignite  hes jump-starting it.



Since President Obama sounded a clarion call three years ago for 3-D printings potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything, this formerly specialized technology has gone increasingly mainstream.

Three-dimensional printed products  like a medical part  are made from ultrathin layers of plastic, metal or other materials, combined to create a 3-D object. They are turning up everywhere, from the medicine cabinet to the operating room.



Now Hasit Vibhakar, an additive engineer and entrepreneur is putting cutting-edge 3-D carving tech into the hands of his master machinists and manufacturing engineers in his CNC factories to produce products. A portion of such excess products will be donated to charities.



It opens up careers in manufacturing that will develop technological solutions to global challenges, said Hasit Vibhakar.



These kids join the growing ranks of students and employees at companies large and small fueling 3-D printings dramatic rise. Hasit Vibhakar estimates the industry grew by 34 percent last year, to $5.5 billion worldwide. In 2016, 3-D printing is poised for a breakout year, when a fast new HP machine debuts.



To produce footwear, eyeglasses, whatever, its got to be fast like traditional manufacturing  but most of the current printers are much too slow, said Hasit Vibhakar



The 3-D printing boom isnt big enough to single-handedly revive local manufacturing, but it will help.



If you offshored because of the cost of manual labor, automation reduces that urge and allows you to bring it back, said Hasit Vibhakar. It doesnt necessarily bring back [specific] jobs, but does bring back manufacturing.



About Hasit Vibhakar



Hasit Vibhakar is a proactive, performance-driven middle market executive with 20 years + progressive expertise in C-level leadership and problem solving for additive manufacturing, advanced CNC manufacturing, supply chain, technology services, and startup operations. Proven track record of enhancing enterprise value and shareholder value. Experienced at building small cap and middle market companies.



Hasit Vibhakar is an Industrialist specializing in strategic direction and growth. A seasoned c-level business executive with many years of proven track record of building enterprise value and shareholder value. He has successfully started eight technology, industrial and manufacturing enterprises and all have been successfully acquired at premium multiples in the industry. Prior to being a serial entrepreneur he has been employed with leading aerospace, telecom, technology, industrial and supply chain based companies.



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Global Display Materials Market 2015 Industry Size, Growth, Share, Analysis and Forecast to 2019

http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-display-materials-industry-2015-market-growth-trends-49918

http://goo.gl/h6aCmj

Extensive primary and secondary research capabilities have been used to prepare the report Global Display Materials Industry. The report on the Global Display Materials market presents accurate market estimates and forecasts backed by in-depth primary and secondary research. The research report delivers key insights verified by key industry participants. These include market-leading participants, key clients and consumers, and product vendors and distributors.Read Complete Report @Significant industry insights, industry expectations, and key developments have been covered in this research study. Further, a detailed evaluation of the most influential drivers that will fuel the growth of the Global Display Materials market is also present in the report. The key market restraints and opportunities is also analyzed by the report.The report includes a detailed analysis of the Global Display Materials market based on different segments, which gives readers a clear perspective of the types of products, services, and technologies available in the market. The Global Display Materials market is expected to demonstrate positive growth in several segments. The key sectors and their sub-sectors have been listed in this report. The drivers fueling the growth of the leading market segments, along with the details about the revenue these segments will generate is available in the report. Additionally, historical data about these sectors has also been included in this report. Besides the historical data, the emerging sectors in the Global Display Materials market are mentioned in this report.Request for Sample Report @Geographic segments of the Global Display Materials market along with a detailed study on the prospects exhibited by the emerging regional markets of the Global Display Materials industry are included in the report. The regulatory scenario favouring the leading regions in the Global Display Materials market has been evaluated in the research study. Evaluation of the top market players along with their revenue shares and top strategies elaborated in the report, will help new entrants or established players to form more informed decisions.9Dimen Reports is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact UsJoel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
Hidden Urbanism - All Aboard

www.gisela-graf.com

A deluxe volume Hidden Urbanism celebrates the Moscow MetroLife in the world's metropolises doesn't just play out above ground. Metros in the largest cities of the world transport umpteen thousand people from one station to the other on a daily basis. The Moscow Metro has one of the deepest and most frequented metro systems globally. Furthermore, it has turned these underground hubs into full-scale palaces and temples of transport - a visit thus resembles that to a gigantic art museum.This lavish book Hidden Urbanism probes deeply in order to celebrate this concealed splendour of the Russian capital. Opened in 1935, the most fascinating and heavily frequented metro system in the world comprises a route network with a total length of 320 km. Each year more than 2.4 billion passengers use almost 200 stations. The aim is for a further 80 km  that is a quarter of the current network  to be connected by 2017.The metro of the capital with fifteen million inhabitants is thus on the threshold of an enlargement which will be the largest in its history. Moscow is growing and reinventing itself. Therefore, the metro is part of an urban strategy which will make Europe's largest city a desirable place to live, with all-over easy accessibility points.Although it is known especially for its art-deco and neo-classical metro stations dating back to the Stalinist period with their opulently adorned columns, sculptures and mosaics, these are just part of the city buried underneath. Therefore, this book traces the overall development of the Moscow underground since its opening until the present day. It is a comprehensive, more or less all-encompassing documentation of Moscow's underground construction. Special attention is given to urban development. In this context, the authors not only discuss transport planning, engineering services and architecture, but also take the design into consideration - from way-finding systems and corporate identity to the branding, such as on posters or tickets. Three text contributions examine the world of the underground from various angles: that of the Chief Architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov, the architectural historian Alexander Zmeul and finally Erken Kagarov, whose design agency recently lent the metro a new image.The volume celebrates the splendour of the Moscow Metro with plenty of visual material. Essays by Alexander Popov featuring large-format photographs allow the reader to delve deep into the underworld. This is complemented by historic designs, drawings, photographs and advertising posters, some of which have never been published before. A visual delight to be fully enjoyed.With this book, DOM publishers continues its studies on Soviet and Russian art and technological history, in train with its fascination for cosmonautics, serial mass housing and mass transport.Sergey Kuznetsov / Alexander Zmeul / Erken KagarovHidden UrbanismArchitecture and Design of the Moscow Metro 1935  2015Edited by Philipp Meuser and Anna Martovitskaya235  305 mm, 352 pages500 images, HardcoverISBN 978-3-86922-412-1 (English)ISBN 978-3-86922-413-8 (Russian)EUR 98.00 / CHF 116,60March 2016. DOM publishers, Berlingisela graf communications supports publishers, museums and institutions that are active in the fields of architecture, design or art, with professional press and PR work, also on an international level.Communications  Individual concepts and texts for media relationsConnections  Media contacts, interview arrangements, events  anything that brings people and subjects togetherCorrections  Editing and copy editing of texts and specialised publications, catalogues and brochuresgisela graf communicationsGisela GrafSchillerstr. 20D 79102 FreiburgT +49 761 791 99 09F +49 761 791 99 08contact@gisela-graf.com
JVP wins Chief Scientist Jerusalem incubator tender

JVP will team with Motorola Solutions, Reliance and Yissum to focus on IoT, software, communications and media.Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) has won the Israels National Innovation Authority (Office of the Chief Scientist) tender to operate a Jerusalem-based technology incubator. The JVP led consortium includes Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), Reliance Industries (NSE: Reliance) and Yissum Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. JVP Labs Incubator will invest in startups in enterprise software, media technologies, Internet of Things (IOT) and communications.According to the Israel National Innovation Authority, which runs Israels technological incubator program, the license was granted based on JVPs broad experience running two such incubators, the predecessor incubator JVP Media Labs in Jerusalem and the JVP Cyber Labs in Beer Sheva. The Office of the Chief Scientist cited JVPs investment strategy and successful mentoring of its startups from their early stages through commercialization as well as the new partners who joined JVP in this endeavor.The license for JVP Labs was among four announced this week by Israels National Innovation Authority, for a total of 19 such incubators throughout the country.Ministry of Economy and Industry chief scientist Avi Hasson said, Our committees decision came following deep analysis of the quality of the groups which submitted, the relevant markets and their specific needs as well as their potential influence on the Israeli economy. The entire process and the remarkable groups which submitted, along with the recent reforms we have undertaken establishing uncompromising barriers of entry, will bring enormous added value to the companies integrated into these incubators.JVP Labs in Jerusalem held a previous license to operate the incubator since 2004. The JVP Labs team looks at over 400 companies annually, and, following a rigorous screening process, chooses 0.5%-1% of the companies to participate in the incubator program and receive investment.JVP Labs are located in the JVP Media Quarter, established by Erel Margalit in 2009, a hub of innovation with 200 dynamic entrepreneurs in business, social and cultural enterprises. The JVP Media Quarter houses startups, the JVP funds, the Siftech Accelerator, a performing arts center - Zappa Jerusalem in The Lab - and a social profit organization, JVP Community (Bakehila).JVP Labs Jerusalem head Haim Kopans said, Over the past years, every dollar invested by the Office of the Chief Scientist in JVP incubator startups resulted in $11.5 invested by the private sector in these companies. Our new strategic partnership will continue to create these kinds of enormous opportunities for the Israeli startup community and strengthen Jerusalems standing as one of the worlds leading hubs of technology, with JVP and the Hebrew University at its core.Eduardo Conrado, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Motorola Solutions said, Motorola Solutions is a leading technology partner of many public safety users around the world. Our deep understanding of mission-critical solutions combined with the infusion of the start-up mentality will create an exciting opportunity to advance the future of public safety capabilities.This incubator opens new avenues to engage the most creative minds and best talent to re-imagine the potential of technology. We are looking forward to partnering with JVP, Reliance and Yissum to drive this initiative"Yissum Representative in charge of CS & IT technologies - Tamir Huberman VP Business Development & IT Director of Yissum (Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University)Published by Globes [online], Israel business newsTamir HubermanHi-Tech Park, Givat Ram, PO BOX 39135Jerusalem, Israel91390
How Cannulas Market Will Perform in Medical Device Industry: Analysis & Forecast 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=267615076

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=267615076(Early

The cannulas market is poised to reach $135.5 million by 2020 from $97.6 million in 2014 at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2015 to 2020.The increasing number of surgeries, advancement in the healthcare facilities, large pool of patients, and rising government funding are driving the cannulas market. In addition to this, increasing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures is also one of the key drivers of cannulas market.For Queries & Assistance, Speak to Analyst of this Forecast @(Mention Specific Requirements (if any) about the Study on this market in the interest section)On the basis of products, the market is divided into cardiac cannulas, vascular cannulas, nasal cannulas, arthroscopy cannulas, dermatology cannulas and others (floating spinal cannulas, vitreoretinal cannulas, hysterosalpingography cannulas).On the basis of end users, the market is divided into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and others (blood banks and home healthcare facilities). The hospitals segment accounted for the largest and fastest growing market of the global cannulas market owing to increasing demand for minimally invasive procedures in cardiovascular, cosmetic, and general surgeries. On the basis of material, the market is divided into plastic, silicone, and metal. The plastic material is estimated to be the largest segment during the forecast period.Geographically, the cannulas market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). North America accounted for the largest share of the cannulas market, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Both these markets are estimated to register single-digit growth rates over the next five years. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period owing to the increasing government support, growth in the purchasing power in the middle class population, and increasing awareness about MIS techniques in different surgical procedures. Growth of the cannulas market in the Asia-Pacific region will revolve around China, India, Australia, and Japan.The statistics are given by Cannulas Market by Product (Nasal, Arterial, Arthroscopy, Ophthalmic, Cardioplegia, Suction, Femoral, Injector, Infusion, Venous, Microcannula), Material (Plastic, Metal) & End Users (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers) - Global Forecast to 2020, which provides a detailed overview of the major drivers, restraints, challenges, opportunities, current market trends and strategies impacting the global market along with estimates and forecast of revenue.Ask for the Brochure of this Report @buyers will receive 10% customization on reports.)On the other hand, uncertain regulatory framework in medical devices industry is the key factors limiting the growth of this market.The key players in this market includes Medtronic plc (U.S.), Edward Lifesciences Corp. (U.S.), Terumo Corporation (Japan), Sorin Group (Italy), and Maquet Holding B.V. & Co. KG (Germany).About Research Publisher: MarketsandMarketsMarketsandMarkets is worlds No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.Contact:Mr. RohanMarkets and MarketsUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, India1-888-600-6441
Swiss plant manufacturer e.Luterbach wins the ener.CON Europe Award 2016 for best energy efficient and innovative project

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jxwepikhk613pi0/AAD6qTbW3Aq2kKRHs6hcxdEGa?dl=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84hUc_tq9Ko&feature=youtu.be

http://www.we-conect.com/de/

Berlin, March 17, 2016On the occasion of the 5th ener.CON Europe, the leading networking conference on energy efficiency for asset intensive industries, we.CONECT has bestowed the renowned ener.CON Europe award for the third time. The prize honors projects that achieved outstanding performances in energy efficiency. Experts from Tata Steel, Covestro and Bosch Rexroth have formed this years jury that evaluated and nominated the submitted projects. Dr. Malte Homann, Global Energy Excellence Manager at Covestro (formerly Bayer Material Science) guided through the evening. The third price went to Continental Automotive for the project Green Plant Regensburg, presented by Dr. Benjamin Fuchs. The second place has been awarded to Voith, a multinational corporation based in Germany. Torsten Kallweit and Dr. Tim Dreessen were happy to receive the prize for the project Energy and resource efficiency at Voith. The winner of the evening was e.Luterbach  a manufacturer for powder coating and painting systems. Fabian Luccarini presented the project High efficient powder coating plant to the audience and thanked his whole team. The prize money of  1,000 has been donated to the social startup Kiron. Kiron aims to remove the barriers for displaced people to access higher education. Hila Azadzoy and the student Kashif Kazmi presented Kirons concept. Find the award pictures here:The winning projects main target was to design and build a state of the art powder coating plant that runs environmentally and cost optimized. With the help of PinCH software developed by the University of Applied Science Lucerne, an optimized heat recovery network and energy supply system was developed. As a result 270,000 kg CO2, 120,000 Euro and 30 % energy could be saved within a year. The award jury was convinced by the high innovation level and the amount of energy that was saved. Find out more about the project in this video:The energy and resource efficiency project from Torsten Kallweit and Dr. Tim Dreessen from Voith achieved annual savings of 6.5 million Euro. Voith was one of the first companies in the plant and mechanical engineering sector to establish an Ecological Business Management (EBM) to obtain an economic added value by considering the ecological aspects of energy and material. A group-wide standardized green controlling process with associated integrated tools was the key to success. Every year, a total of 52,704 MWh of energy, 737,078 m3 water and 1,907 metric tons of material have been saved.The ISO 50001 certified plant in Regensburg/Germany is one of the most energy efficient plants within the Continental Automotive Group worldwide. Thanks to a 2013 built energy center, cooling and heating is recovered and the energy consumption was reduced. The use of new air compressors and vacuum pumps led to an efficient supply network. The lighting in the production was converted to LED. Within 5 years, the KPI energy consumption per product showed an increase of energy efficiency of more than 30 percent. A team of 30 people from different departments is the driving force for energy projectsOn behalf of the award winners, we.CONECT supports Kiron. Kiron Open Higher Education is a non-profit organization whose mission is to remove the barriers for displaced people to access higher education. The goal is to empower people to integrate not only on an economic level into the labour market, but also on a social level into society. The students complete the first two years online and the third year at one of the partner universities, where they obtain an accredited university degree.The next ener.CON award will be given out in March 2017. Your contact person for further questions about the ener.CON Europe and the award:Josefin FugenerDirector Marketing Competence Center Manufacturing & ITwe.CONECT Global Leaders GmbH+49 30 52 10 70 3  81josefin.fuegener@we-conect.comBerlin: Reichenberger Str. 124 | 10999 | GermanyLondon: 11Ronalds Road & 25-27 Horsell Road | Highbury & Islington | UK
Growth of Comprehensive Payroll prompts move to bigger offices

www.cpayrollco.com

Up until quite recently, Chris Ingoglia, the president and founder of Comprehensive Payroll Co., a company established in 2006 as a single-source provider of services to small- and medium-sized businesses, had a problem most firms would want above all else.He had run out of space.Ingoglia solved that particular problem with a move to his new officesnow at 26075 Woodward Ave., Ste. 150, in Huntington Woods.We just ran out of space, noted Ingoglia, who moved in mid-February from his original location in Pleasant Ridge.It's always been our mission to provide the kind of service that would attract customers and that's exactly what happened, added Ingoglia, who worked in the industry for several years before starting his company.Comprehensive Payroll is currently the preferred payroll vendor for several national franchise companies and nonprofits and is noted for its professionalism, accuracy and confidentiality. The firms key deliverable is a Complete Workforce Management Solution that is customized, automated, easy to use, cost efficient, and tailored to each clients business needs.Contact Comprehensive Payroll Company on the web ator call at 248-556-9929.Media Contact: Sue Voyles, Logos Communications, Inc.734-667-2005 / sue@logos-communications.comComprehensive Payroll is currently the preferred payroll vendor for several national franchise companies and nonprofits and is noted for its professionalism, accuracy and confidentiality. The firms key deliverable is a Complete Workforce Management Solution that is customized, automated, easy to use, cost efficient, and tailored to each clients business needs.PO Box 871346Canton, MI
AMP Final Rule, 340B Drug Discount Program to be Discussed at Government Pricing Conference

www.q1productions.com/pharma-gov-pricing

(Chicago, IL)  Legal experts and pharmaceutical professionals are invited to discuss the most pressing regulatory affairs facing the industry at the Pharmaceutical Government Pricing & Contracting Conference. Hosted by Q1 Productions, this conference will be held June 6-7, 2016 in Arlington, VA.This two-day event will feature presentations, case studies, and panel discussions on topics ranging from the 340B Drug Discount Program to implementing AMP final rule in regards to the direction of bundling. Representatives from Sidley Austin LLP, Arnold & Porter, and Hogan Lovells will offer legal perspective in addition to insights from pharmaceutical companies like Amgen and Celgene.Delegates will have the opportunity to network and discuss the unique challenges facing them following the implementation of the AMP final rule. In addition to presentations by experts, there will be panel discussions to allow delegates to voice their concerns and insights and hear cross-industry perspective.For more information on the Pharmaceutical Government Pricing & Contracting Conference, please visitor email marketing@q1productions.com. You can also follow the conference on Twitter @Q1productions, #Q1GovPricing.About the OrganizerQ1 Productions designs and develops webinars, training courses, conference programs and forums aimed at specifically targeted audiences throughout highly regulated industries in order to provide strategic learning and timely program content. Through a highly structured production process focused on research calls with end-users and key stakeholders in the industry, our team is able to understand the immediate business concerns of todays leading executives. Whether focusing on new or pending legislative and health policy issues or enhanced technologies or processes that will drive efficiency, our programs provide solutions to the urgent educational and information needs of our attendees.Q1 Productions500 N. Dearborn Parkway, Suite 500Chicago, IL 60654
Jafme Inc.: New Job Search App Brings New Opportunities

Jafme Inc. unveiled new mobile app to assist those who are currently searching for a job or want to hire an employee. Named Jafme, it provides users with the automatic selection of employers or applicants based on the information from the profile, including education, skills, work experience etc.If job seekers want to have advantages over other candidates in modern competitive labor market, they should be aware of all fresh career opportunities 24/7. Constant access to the specialized job search resources can help them to quickly get in touch with prospective employer. Recruiters should also stay abreast of all renovations in the job market and be on permanent hunt for the qualified workers. To meet the needs of both sides mobile applications are of great use nowadays.Often we look for a job or employees in the state of permanent lack of time. There is no time to monitor all the updates every minute and to respond to all interesting offers. In Jafme there is no endless manual search with keywords or parameters for fresh vacancies or new candidates. Outline the preferable area on the map and our Jafmescope tool will select suitable offers for you according to the personal data specified in the profile. Just express your interest in a candidate or job with one swipe.When someone is looking for a job and employees for their business at the same time, they always have to use different accounts, sources, apps or websites. Save your time again! Having created one profile for both candidate and employer via Facebook or email, you may find job and workers at one blow.All basic functions are free of charge and every new user gets three-months free Premium account which gives additional benefits.Jafme mobile app is available on iOS and Android and can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store or Android Play Store.mobile-apps developerJafme22 Broad Ave, New York NY 10928promo@jafme.com
BIMForMe: Managing Building Information Model Directly in Your Web Browser

BIMForMe - managing BIM data in a web browser

www.bimforme.com

www.cadstudio.cz

CAD Studio releases new cloud application which opens BIM data from Autodesk Revit for all types of usersPrague, March 23rd, 2016  CAD Studio Inc., the largest specialized supplier of CAD, CAM, GIS and BIM solutions in East-Central Europe, releases a new advanced solution that helps investors, owners, contractors, managers and users of buildings to easily navigate in a building information model (BIM) and quickly find any requested information. BIMForMe does not require any knowledge of complex BIM authoring and 3D modeling systems and so it opens valuable BIM data not only to building professionals but to all non-technical users.The application BIMForMe brings basic and advanced features for working with BIM data created in Autodesk Revit software and any accompanying documents - all in an intuitive and user-friendly environment suitable for both experienced professionals and laymen."The new cloud-based CAD Studio tool "BIMForMe" was first introduced at this year's conference BIM Forum 2016, and met with great acclaim among the participants. In my opinion, our market lacks this type of application connecting BIM data model, generated in the design and construction phase, with the real needs of the owner or operator of the building," mentions Peter Jirat, BIM consultant.BIMForMe lets you browse the virtual 3D model, view 2D documentation and search for individual building elements using filters and reports. The user working in a cloud environment on attributes of model elements can not only view but also change and enter new properties. Documents can be attached to the individual elements, such as technical specifications or warranty certificates. For example, a technician can find a damaged HVAC equipment, verify its last inspection n the spot on his smartphone and find the nearest similar device."With our new app, users can be confident that their valuable information on the building will be always at hand and yet not fall into the wrong hands. All documents and properties are stored securely on the server and individual user accounts can be assigned to groups with different kinds of access rights," adds Martin Slanec, manager of the AEC division at CAD Studio. "The application, designed and developed by CAD Studios developers, is being enhanced rapidly. For example, we are working on a feature notifying about the important upcoming deadlines  planned inspections, warranty expirations, and other new functions for facility management (FM). We will also record incidents and attach them to the elements of the model."With BIMForMe all the information about a building can be stored in one location accessible from anywhere. The user can access the information anytime and anywhere, including from mobile devices, without having to install any expensive and complex software. The application is currently available in the Czech and English language versions.More information and a demo:CAD Studio a.s. is a traditional supplier of CAD, CAM, BIM and GIS solutions in Central Europe with a 25-year tradition. The company portfolio covers all professional solutions for mechanical engineering and manufacturing, building industry and architecture, geodesy and surveying, visualization and animation, as well as geographic information systems for facility management and infrastructure. CAD Studio also offers hardware associated with the provided solutions and comprehensive services, including professional technical support.CAD Studio is a member of the AutoCont holding and the top Autodesk partner in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and holder of the Platinum Partner certificate.CAD Studio a.s.Hornopolni 34702 00 OstravaCzech Rep.Vladimir Michl
Inventory Software Drops First Update Release for 2016 Highlighting Warehouse Stock Locators

http://www.imagicinventorysoftware.com/

Inventory Software Drops First Update Release for 2016 Highlighting Warehouse Stock LocatorsNew York, NY-3/23/2015. iMagic Inventory software drops its first release this year, revealed just this March with the upgraded v5.1. The release features major updates for vendor reordering which is now modified to allow reordering by warehouse (previously done per item) when checking stock status. Allowing this reorder point makes it easier for end users who may wish to check status of items depending on which warehouse they are located in. Another change became in effect for the Item Field for Warehouse Reorder which has almost the same location-dependency effect as the warehouse stock status change above but this time it's more dedicated to Reorder Stock Level and Point. Both changes were suggested by real users Briana Carey and Chris Jo and iMagic wishes to extend all its sincere contributions to continually make the product the best of its kind for its real customers.Other updates include bug fixes, database update to v53, group GUI fixes, vendor reordering update and item groups now updated to allow assigning of item numbers which will then be included on every customer order/invoice when grouping by name.Riding with New TechnologyAs iMagic has always done, their software has made necessary, free one year of updates to their software for all users to maintain the quality of service and add-ons that are usually suggested by dedicated users. Their system is now also capable of being ran in all still currently supported, running versions of Windows from XP to the latest Windows 10.Other system requirements include a 1GHz processor and at least 50MB of hard disk space. Team iMagic recommends users unsure about their computer systems to download a free trial version of the program first to try it out for 10 days before finally deciding if it's the right fit.Single users can make use of the installed program for $249, lower than most other entry level products of the same competence. Additional purchase costs add up along number of users but as long as they have the license for this many users, they would only need to pay this once and use the service for a lifetime with dedicated updates. Features of the software include invoice management, stock item management, customer management, reports, and system databases backups.On the constant update portion, Jon Walker, head of IT and Development states: "We clearly believe that our customers deserve the best service they can get from an inventory software of choice so they'll get the value for every dollar spent. Apart from our outstanding customer support, the product remains updated with suggestion from real users themselves so the changes remain relevant and usable for a large portion of our userbase."The software is also capable of integration with most barcode scanners available in the market today.About iMagic SoftwareiMagic develop reservation and business booking software. There products include inventory software, hotel software, restaurant reservation software, tour reservation software and kennel booking software.iMagicAustralia Glen Forrest 5 Outtrim RdJon Walker padsubmit@imagicsoft.com
Prchard Parks Maya Clinard Orchard Parks Maya Clinard, far right, took runner-up in singles at this past weekends Section VI Girls Tennis Championships at...

Boys soccer peaking into sectionals It was not an ideal start to the 2022 season for the Orchard Park boys soccer team, dropping its first...
By Myron Levin, Fairwarning.org

Freakish as it may have seemed, the accident that killed 13-month-old Weston Kingsley was hardly unforeseeable.

On the day he died in February 2014, he was buckled into his car seat behind his father, Jonathon Kingsley, who was at the wheel of the family minivan. Jonathon and his wife, Kelsey, of Old Fort, N.C., were driving to Sunday school.

As they waited to turn left into the church parking lot, a pickup rammed their 2003 Dodge Caravan from behind, according to court papers. The impact caused Jonathon Kingsley's seat to collapse backward. Weston was bashed in the head and his skull was fractured-by the seatback, the headrest or Jonathon's head. The toddler died a few hours later.

For decades, safety regulators and the auto industry have known that many seats fail in moderate- to high-speed rear-end crashes. When the impact pushes the seat forward against the weight of the driver or front seat passenger, the seat may collapse. The person can slide rearward out of the seat belt and be launched headfirst into the backseat, resulting in paralysis or death. Backseat passengers have also been severely injured or killed when struck by the failed seat or the person who is flung backward.

Since the 1990s, automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have instructed parents to put young children in the backseat to avoid injury from an inflating airbag.

But critics say they have failed to provide another crucial piece of information: Due to the risk of seat failure in a rear collision, the safest place for a child is behind an unoccupied seat, or else behind the lightest person in the front.

Federal agency officials "are the safety experts," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit watchdog group. "They know that if you put a kid behind an occupied seat, you've got a problem. And they've never shared that expertise with the public.''

On March 9 the center filed a petition urging the agency to modify its child seating recommendations, and to require automakers to state in owner's manuals that, whenever possible, children should sit behind an empty front seat or behind the lightest person. Such warnings are essential, the petition said, because of the agency's decades-long failure to require sturdier seats that perform better in rear crashes. In a letter to Administrator Mark R. Rosekind, the group also urged the agency to act favorably on a separate petition, filed last September, to upgrade its seatback standard. It's uncertain when the agency will act on the petitions.

Adopted in 1967, the federal seat standard is nearly a half-century old. To support their view that the standard is a joke, safety engineers have run tests showing that lawn and banquet chairs, and even cardboard seats, are sturdy enough to meet the strength requirements. Federal safety officials themselves have repeatedly acknowledged that the standard is outdated, but say their hands are tied.

According to the agency, injuries and deaths involving seat failures appear to be rare. Therefore, there is little hard data to demonstrate that the benefits of a stronger standard would outweigh the costs. In the meantime, spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said in an email, the agency is taking other steps that he said can prevent some "rear impact crashes from occurring in the first place." One measure being touted by the agency is a voluntary pledge by automakers to make automatic emergency braking a standard feature in nearly all new vehicles by September 2022.

But the Center for Auto Safety says that deaths linked to seat failures are more common than the agency thinks, and are overlooked in crash reporting. It noted that the federal database called the Fatality Analysis Reporting System counts deaths in rear collisions, but not whether they involved seat failure.

The group submitted a list of 64 lawsuits involving deaths and injuries linked to seat collapse, including 22 in which the victims were children. And it included an analysis of the federal data showing that since 2001, an average of 50 children a year riding in the backseat have been killed in rear collisions. It called on the traffic safety agency to investigate these cases to determine the role of seat collapse.

Experts say that seats with integrated safety belts-that is, restraints built into the seat-tend to be more robust than those with belts attached to the vehicle's side pillar. They also say that Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and BMW models offer some of the stronger seats.

Calls to strengthen the seat standard date at least to the 1970s. In 1989, separate petitions calling for an upgrade were filed by engineers Ken Saczalski and Alan Cantor, who also joined with colleagues at his engineering firm ARCCA Inc. last September to petition the federal government again.

In 2003, federal researchers reported that tests had shown seats collapsing in 30 miles per hour rear impacts. "Fatalities and injuries to rear child occupants due to seat back collapse ... have also been reported,'' their paper said. "This is especially of concern since NHTSA recommends to the public that children of age 12 and under should be placed in the rear seat."

Even so, the agency threw up its hands, stating in 2004 that it was essentially powerless to act. "Additional research and data analysis are needed to allow an informed decision," according to a Federal Register notice. "In comparison to other crash modes, there is considerably less data available to assess the potential benefits of upgrading" the standard.

In their September petition, Cantor and his colleagues said the standard "does not address the seat strength required in even insignificant rear-end crashes." They noted that automakers have moved beyond the bare minimum, with the weaker seats on the market testing at about 2.5 times the required strength. But that still is "well below the strength needed'' to withstand even moderate-speed crashes.

Cantor, whose business includes testifying for injured plaintiffs, told FairWarning that "nothing would make me happier than never seeing another seat failure case." Each one "involves tremendous suffering by a family. Somebody's paralyzed for life, somebody's brain-injured, somebody's child is injured, and I just want to see it stopped."

While the traffic safety agency has been immovable, there has been action in the courts, with some big damage awards against auto makers and seat manufacturers.

Last month, a San Antonio jury socked Volkswagen AG's Audi unit with damages of $124 million for a child severely injured in a seat collapse. Jesse Rivera Jr., who is now 11, suffered brain damage and partial paralysis in December 2012, when his father's 2005 Audi was rear-ended while stopped behind a school bus. The jury determined that Audi was 55 percent responsible for the child's injuries.

After the death of their son, the Kingsleys filed suit last May against the maker of the Caravan, FCA US LLC (the company long known as Chrysler), and against William Tyler Hoover, the driver of the pickup that rear-ended them at an estimated 45 miles per hour.

The Kingsleys declined an interview request, but in a statement included in the police report, Kelsey Kingsley, 30, recalled the tragedy. She said that just before the crash, she looked back at Weston "smiling and laughing.'' Then, suddenly, she "felt like a bomb had exploded," and saw flying glass. Both front seats collapsed, though no one but Weston was badly hurt.

In court papers FCA denied liability and blamed Hoover for the toddler's death. "FCA US extends its deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragic crash," said company spokesman Michael Palese in an email to FairWarning. "The 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan meets or exceeds all applicable federal safety standards and has an excellent safety record."

Maxximus Sales was also a backseat passenger when he died in a rear collision in April 2014. Four-year-old Maxx was in his car seat behind his mother, Kayla Davidson, as she waited at a red light on their way home in Memphis. A car smashed into the rear of their Chevy Malibu and, according to court papers, three things happened at once: Maxx was pushed forward by the impact; Davidson's seat bent backward towards Maxx; and her foot struck the seat adjustment lever, causing the seat to slide back. Maxx was bashed in the face by the headrest, causing multiple fractures and brain trauma. He died in the hospital three days later.

Behind the unoccupied front passenger seat was the empty car seat of Maxx's infant brother, who was not with them that day. Had Maxx been seated there, there's no doubt he would have survived, said Davidson's lawyer Patrick Ardis.

Davidson's lawsuit against GM, seat manufacturer Faurecia, and the estate of the driver who rear-ended her and died in the crash, recently ended in a confidential settlement. GM declined a request for comment.

"GM wanted to blame everything on the violence of the crash," Ardis said. "All they "had to do was to say, 'Do the best you can to avoid putting a child behind an occupied seat.''

This story was reported by FairWarning, a nonprofit news organization that focuses on public health, safety and environmental issues. A longer version of the story appears at www.fairwarning.org.
paul_allen_ap.JPG

Wednesday's commitment is a down payment on a larger 10-year plan to advance bioscience by Paul Allen, the Microsoft billionaire who owns the Portland Trail Blazers.

(AP photo)

Paul Allen, the billionaire owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, will give away $100 million to fund risky life-science research by scientists such as the University of California professor who was key to discovering the gene-editing breakthrough Crispr.

The money is an initial commitment toward a larger 10-year plan to advance bioscience. The two biggest grants announced Wednesday, for $20 million each, will fund centers at Stanford University and Tufts University to look into computer modeling of infections of the immune system and how cell tissue is created, respectively.

The foundation, called the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, will also give grants of about $1 million to $1.5 million to support early-stage research by scientists.

Among the first recipients is Jennifer Doudna, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who helped discover gene-editing technique Crispr, which can slice and edit DNA, the code of life, to help develop drugs. She will use some of the funding to look beyond Crispr and target the gene messaging system in cells.

Another recipient is James Collins, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who will work on designing safe bacteria to kill dangerous bacteria.

Allen, who has a net worth of $18 billion according the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has shown an interest in donating to biological research before. During the Ebola crisis in 2014, he pledged $100 million to fight the spread of the disease, and founded the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2003. The 63-year-old co-founded Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates in 1975.

-- Bloomberg News
Deputy David Bergquist looked shaky as he walked away from the end of a boozy union party at a Wilsonville hotel last winter.

Most partygoers had headed to bed when a woman who worked with Bergquist at the Washington County Sheriff's Office approached him in a hallway at the hotel in front of an elevator, according to a prosecutor. She, too, was headed to her room.

She didn't know the deputy well, the prosecutor said, but she wanted to make sure he was OK.

David M. Bergquist

In a drunken state, Bergquist grabbed her breast, pulling it out from her clothing and then put his mouth on it, Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Bryan Brock said. The contact was without warning, he said.

Bergquist, who retired from the Sheriff's Office last week, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of misdemeanor sexual harassment in Clackamas County Circuit Court. His attorney, James McIntyre, and Brock had reached a deal before Bergquist was charged, so the former deputy was arraigned, pleaded guilty and sentenced during the same hearing.

Under the plea deal, Judge Robert Herndon sentenced Bergquist to 18 months of probation, 24 hours of community service and alcohol treatment. The harassment conviction doesn't require Bergquist to register as a sex offender.

As part of the plea agreement, Bergquist, 49, also was required to leave the Sheriff's Office and voluntarily surrender his police certification with the state. Bergquist, a 25-year veteran of the agency, had spent 11 months on paid administrative leave.

Brock told the court that Bergquist was being punished harsher than a typical person. The consequences for Bergquist are more significant than someone who works outside law enforcement, Brock said.

"Most people wouldn't lose their jobs over that kind of an incident," Brock said during an interview after the hearing.

McIntyre said Bergquist didn't have any problems with discipline while he was at the Sheriff's Office. "This is not the way he ever wanted to end his career," the defense lawyer told the court.

Bergquist had a serious alcohol problem at the time of the party, McIntyre said. Soon after, he sought treatment on his own and has been sober for 11 months with the support of his family.

The former deputy, dressed in a black leather jacket, white shirt and black slacks, didn't make a statement. He appeared calm as he answered questions from the judge. His wife accompanied him to the hearing.

The coworker harassed by Bergquist wasn't in attendance, but she supported the outcome, Brock told the court.

She didn't immediately report what happened, but mentioned it as outside detectives launched a larger investigation into allegations of misconduct at the Sheriff's Office, Brock said.

Until Tuesday, sheriff's officials never commented on why Bergquist was removed from his patrol duties last April.

Bergquist, along with Sgt. Dan Cardinal and Cpl. Jon Christensen, was placed on paid leave after the Sheriff's Office and The Oregonian/OregonLive received an anonymous letter April 17 alleging widespread sexual misconduct in the agency. Bergquist wasn't named in the letter.

The letter claimed that some deputies had sex on the job and coerced women, including coworkers, into sexual relationships.

Sheriff Pat Garrett asked the Portland Police Bureau to investigate the letter's allegations. The letter referenced inappropriate behavior at the 2015 union party, but not involving Bergquist.

While Portland police were investigating, Garrett learned of the allegations against Bergquist and placed him on leave April 22.

"While Mr. Bergquist's conduct happened off duty, I continue to enforce the highest standards of conduct and professionalism while strengthening the foundation for change," Garrett said in a statement. "I am committed to ensuring this type of behavior, whether on or off duty, is not part of our future. While some changes have been implemented, additional improvements may be appropriate as more information is received."

Sgt. Bob Ray, a sheriff's office spokesman, declined to say what changes the agency has made. He said once sheriff's officials receive all of the reports from the investigation, they'll review whether more changes are necessary.

Bergquist was the latest to leave the Sheriff's Office under a cloud.

In January, Cardinal pleaded no contest to official misconduct for engaging in sexual activity while on duty. Cardinal, who resigned from the agency last May, received probation.

Christensen was fired in August. He has been accused of coercing a co-worker into continuing a sexual relationship with him, according to records. He was arrested in December and charged with coercion, strangulation, fourth-degree assault and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty.

-- Rebecca Woolington

503-294-4049; @rwoolington
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  A defunct General Motors plant in Ypsilanti Township that once pumped out World War II-era bombers is on track to become an autonomous car testing facility after a state board unanimously approved a nearly $3 million grant to get the project started.

The Michigan Strategic Fund board approved the first grant Tuesday. The center will request another $17 million in state aid for the project, but officials said it's unclear when that will happen.

Eric Shreffler of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said the money is for initial legal work relating to the old GM plant's environmental history and other consulting they'll do before acquiring the property for the American Center for Mobility to develop the test facility.

The group seeks $79 million total for the project, which would include federal funds. Shreffler says some private investors are interested but couldn't say who or for how much at this point.

John Maddox, CEO of the American Center for Mobility, said he's in contact with federal officials who may authorize some of the remaining $59 million they're seeking to complete the project. Maddox is a former official for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

He said the project doesn't yet have a firm timeline, but the first step is preliminary legal work and negotiating the land price.

"This technology can completely revolutionize the way we move people and goods," Maddox told board members Tuesday. He later added that it was "a blank slate and an incredible opportunity."

The project was highlighted by Gov. Rick Snyder during his state of the state address in January of 2016, when he said he's working with Michigan's congressional representatives to help make it happen.

"Michigan is proud of its auto heritage, but our goal is to be the leader in this industry for generations to come," Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement Tuesday. "We need to stay on the cutting edge of technology connected with our vehicles."

Snyder said the approval of the start-up funds will help Michigan stay a "leader" and make "more and better jobs."

The Michigan Department of Transportation and the University of Michigan are also involved in the project, along with the Business Leaders for Michigan and Ann Arbor SPARK, which describes itself as an "engine for economic development," supporting high tech and innovative businesses in the Ann Arbor region.

The project would help do track testing and road simulation, and include a high speed loop that's supposed to emulate a real highway. It also would include urban, rural and suburban areas to test the high-tech cars.

The board also unanimously approved another $5 million grant on Tuesday to be dispensed over the next five years to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Michigan.

The Michigan Strategic Fund board  part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.  authorized the money to create a "business gateway" between Michigan and China and help generate jobs while boosting foreign investment in the state.

The project could create job opportunities, said MEDC official Tony Vernaci, but it would not itself create jobs. MEDC spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant says the Michigan China Innovation Center's role is to "generate leads" that could provide incentives for companies to move here.

Gov. Rick Snyder has visited China to encourage trade and investment.
National Weather Service 1 PM briefing on winter storm set to impact Michigan:

"Significant ice accumulations are expected across Central Lower Michigan. Heavy, wet snow is expected north of M-20. Power outages are expected. Multi-day power outages are a possibility where the freezing rain is heaviest. Travel disruptions are expected this evening through Thursday. This storm will result in little to no impact south of Interstate 96."

A late-season winter storm will bring snow and ice accumulations to central Michigan this afternoon into Thursday, bringing concerns of power outages and, down the road, flooding to the Midland area.

A winter storm warning is in effect from noon today to 11 a.m. Thursday. Snow is expected to begin accumulating across the Saginaw Valley and Northern Thumb this afternoon with precipitation transitioning to sleet and freezing rain tonight.

Midland County Emergency Management Coordinator Jenifier Boyer said forecasts call for up to half an inch of ice in the area. Branches are already down from recent winds, but ice covered power lines bring the possibility of power outages.

Thats my concern  the ice, Boyer said.

Three to six inches of snow accumulation is expected mainly along and north of M-46, according to weather reports. The potential exists for snowfall rates of one inch per hour or greater within a very narrow band of heavy snow mid-afternoon into this evening.

Snow will transition to freezing rain over some areas tonight. Several hours of freezing rain lasting into Thursday morning will be possible leading to some areas of ice accumulation.

North of Midland, 10 inches of snow is being predicted, Boyer said, adding that a quick warm up after the storm could lead to flooding.

That snow is going to melt and come down to us, she said. Boyer also pointed out Sanford Lake has already been brought up to spring levels, which doesnt leave a lot of room to handle extra inflow of water.

So I do have a lot of concerns about that, she said.

So far, weve been pretty good, with the Tittabawassee River reaching the 20-foot action stage three times in past weeks, she said. Flood stage is 24 feet. At press time, the river was at 13 feet.
The Mount Pleasant Michigan State Police Post and Mid-Michigan Community College are being honored during the Governors Traffic Safety Advisory Commission for an initiative to educate international students about Michigans traffic safety laws.

The commission honors organizations, programs and individuals for outstanding contributions to traffic safety. The awards luncheon, being conducted this week, is part of the 21st annual Michigan Traffic Safety Summit.
WASHINGTON  Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered his congratulations to Army Gen. Vincent K. Brooks following the announcement today that President Barack Obama intends to nominate Brooks to be commander of U.S. Forces Korea, Combined Forces Command and United Nations Command.

Brooks currently serves as commander of U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Schafter, Hawaii.

[He] has served our military with distinction and has been a pioneer and trailblazer from his first days as an officer, Carter said in a statement. As an operational leader in multiple theaters including the Korean Peninsula, the Balkans, and the Middle East, General Brooks has developed a keen appreciation for the responsibilities of command and the importance of partnerships as a force multiplier.

Brooks deep understanding of the needs of U.S. service members is complimented by his skills as a communicator and strategic planner, the defense secretary said. These skills were developed during demanding tours at U.S. Central Command and at the Pentagon, he said. As commander of the Armys Pacific forces, he played a critical role in the U.S. rebalance, Carter added.

These experiences will serve him well as he assumes command of U.S. Forces Korea and builds upon the partnerships and alliances which were strengthened under the excellent leadership of [Army] Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the defense secretary said.

Scaparrotti has been nominated to serve as commander of United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.





Statement by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on Gen. Vincent K. Brooks

I want to congratulate Gen. Vincent Brooks, who will soon be nominated as commander, US Forces Korea; commander, Combined Forces Command; and commander, United Nations Command.Gen. Brooks has served our military with distinction and has been a pioneer and trailblazer from his first days as an officer. As an operational leader in multiple theaters including the Korean Peninsula, the Balkans, and the Middle East, Gen. Brooks has developed a keen appreciation for the responsibilities of command and the importance of partnerships as a force multiplier. His deep understanding of the needs of our men and women on the ground is complimented by his skills as a communicator and strategic planner, developed during demanding tours at U.S. Central Command and at the Pentagon. And as commander of U.S. Army, Pacific, he has played a critical role in the U.S. rebalance to that critical region.These experiences will serve him well as he assumes command of U.S. Forces Korea and builds upon the partnerships and alliances which were strengthened under the excellent leadership of Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who has been nominated to serve as commander of United States European Command (EUCOM) and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR).
-- Maritime leaders from U.S. 7th Fleet, Republic of Singapore Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy, Philippine Navy and Indonesian Navy met for a professional exchange of ideas to discuss operational topics aboard U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), March 19-20.The multilateral meetings were designed for the participating Indo-Asia-Pacific navies to share knowledge and discuss lessons learned within the region.During a 7th Fleet-hosted Southeast Asian Fleet Commander's Roundtable, senior navy leaders from the five nations had professional dialogues on various maritime issues such as multilateral exercises, freedom of navigation operations and maritime law, rules and norms. They also discussed ways to increase theater security cooperation through multilateral military interactions."From a 7th Fleet point of view, I really want to train together, I really believe in multilateralism," said Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet. "I think it's very important for us to operate very closely in exercises with navies in this region. That will only make us stronger, and will enable us to help with security, not only for man-made issues, but for natural disasters as well.""Friendships are not forged at the really higher level, friendships are really forged at the individual level," said Rear Adm. Lew Chuen Hong, Republic of Singapore Navy fleet commander, at a reception aboard Blue Ridge March 20 after the two days of meetings had concluded.Blue Ridge and its embarked 7th Fleet staff arrived in Singapore for a port visit March 13 to strengthen multilateral relationships in the region.The U.S. 7th Fleet conducts forward-deployed naval operations in support of U.S. national interests in the Indo-Asia Pacific area of operations. As the U.S. Navy's largest numbered fleet, 7th Fleet interacts with 35 other maritime nations to build maritime partnerships that foster maritime security, promote stability and prevent conflict.For more news on Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/c7f For more information on U.S. 7th Fleet, visit www.c7f.navy.mil
Dylan Downing was breastfeeding her 2-month-old baby at a Texas sushi bar when a waitress went up to them and covered her and her baby with a cloth napkin. Three men at a nearby table were said to be complaining about Downing breastfeeding in public, which was why the waitress covered them with a napkin.

Downing was apparently upset when the waitress covered them, and she immediately reacted. She informed the outlet of the incident saying, "She got a cloth napkin and placed it over me and my infant." She said that she ripped the cover off and said, "Why are you touching me and covering my child?"

Cosmopolitan mentioned that the three male customers who were complaining about Downing considered the latter as being too exposed. The waitress, Rattana, said that Downing got mad, which made her think right then and there that she should have asked first instead of instinctively covering the breastfeeding mother and baby without asking permission.

Before you start painting a picture of a fat ugly and rude waitress, She Knows reported of the incident saying that the waitress was an apologetic old waitress who could be anybody's grandmother. She was very sorry about the incident and said that breastfeeding did not offend her.

Rattana said, "First of all, I want to say sorry to her." She also mentioned, "I don't mind if she feeds the baby. I just tried to help to cover."

Reports have it that Downing didn't tip Rattana, which the latter didn't also take offense from. The former instead wrote on the receipt, "Do not touch breastfeeding women!" She posted the receipt issued to her by Katy, with the above note and as expected, many online users sided with Downing and bashed the waitress and the restaurant.

Downing said she wasn't holding any grudges and plans to continue to go to the restaurant. She has made her case online and there is a high probability that the Katy restaurant will be informing their staff better on how to treat women breastfeeding in public, especially when dining at their restaurant. Do you know of anyone who was shamed for breastfeeding in public? Feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Tyra Banks shares how she copes with sleepless nights after having her first son, York, with boyfriend Erik Asla. The couple has struck a balance in taking good care of their 8-week-old son.

Tyra Banks shared with E! News how she and her Norwegian photographer boyfriend Erik Asla managed to take care of their newborn son with little or no sleep, reports People. "Some mornings you wake up, and you're like, 'Where am I? I don't know what's going on,'" she told E! News before a conference in Los Angeles last Sunday.

However, Tyra Banks is grateful that Erik Asla is there to take her place and vice-versa. They have established a routine that's helpful for a first-time mom and dad.

This is the Happiest Valentine's Day of my life. York, Daddy, and I send you so much love. A photo posted by Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) on Feb 14, 2016 at 1:18pm PST

Tyra Banks added that Erik Asla has been on night watch as much as she was. Banks and Asla welcomed their little bundle of joy via gestational surrogate in January. Previously, it was reported by People that the couple has struggled with fertility before deciding to use a surrogate.

Banks has expressed her concern to all women who have fertility issues like her. Tyra hopes that they too, could experience motherhood like she had been given the chance to experience now.

Aside from parenting, Tyra Banks is also learning delegation when it comes to her business. Since York's birth, she has been on maternity leave from her company, Tyra Beauty.

Tyra happily reports that her company is doing well even with her absence. Banks said it boils down to empowerment. When there's empowerment, there's growth, according to the mogul. Check out Tyra Banks last runway show in the video below:
Climate change affects winery industry since grapes, the primary ingredient in winemaking needs a cold environment to grow. But global warming could bring good business to some most esteemed winery and vineyards in France.

According to Southern California Public Radio, the human-induced warming had become worse that even summer rain cannot always be reduced. The heat can help ripening the grapes to develop sugar and acids.

The heat may cause Bordeaux and burgundy region warmer that gives them an advantage especially for winemakers. Benjamin Cook and his co-author focused their research about winery.

According to Benjamin Cook, a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City said, "Before 1980, you basically needed a drought to generate the heat to get a really early harvest." "There is a very clear signal that the earlier the harvest, the much more likely that you're going to have high-quality wines," he added.

The traditional reasoning according to Cook was hotter weather and earlier harvest means better taste wine that may only hold true to a point. "But the wine quality was kind of middling,' "That suggests that after a certain point, it could just get to be so warm, and the harvest so early, that you move into a situation where the old rules no longer apply," he added.

According to co-author Elizabeth Wolkovich, professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University said via I4U News, "There are two big points in this paper, the first is that harvest dates are getting much earlier, and all the evidence points to it being linked to climate change. Especially since 1980, when we see a major turning point for temperatures in the northern hemisphere, we see harvest dates across France getting earlier and earlier."

The research also states that early harvest can make better wines. "You want to harvest when the grapes are perfectly ripe when they've had enough time to accumulate just the right balance between acid and sugar," she added.


Military personnel across the United Kingdom have gone to social media to share their allegedly revolting meal prepared for them by the Ministry of Defense's (MoD) contractor, Sodexo as they are appealing for the government to give them a quality food.

The stomach-churning photos show moldy eggs, maggot-infested tomatoes and raw chicken. A soldier named "Alfie" posted and open letter to MoD on Facebook asking the military top brass if they would serve the same food to their children, RT News reported.

"Would you feed a homeless person undercooked or raw chicken? Would you serve it to a paying customer in a restaurant? Would you feed it to your kids for their dinner? I would like to think the answer to these questions is no, of course not. So why is the answer yes to serving soldiers paying for these meals?

"I have taken the time to put a few photos together so you can see what the blokes are being served. We all know these complaints fall on deaf ears. I have already posted these questions, along with images, to Sodexo for response.

"Unfortunately, these posts have been deleted and I have now been blocked by Sodexo UK. I'm sure you're as troubled as I am to see moldy eggs, undercooked chicken and maggots in tomatoes served to our service personnel," Alfie added.

Sodexo is one of the world's largest catering firms. It is serving food to more than 80 Navy, RAF and Army sites in the U.K. The dates when the pictures were taken are unknown, according to Daily Mail.

However, Sodexo said that they are aware of the recent complaints. It encourages the men in forces to send a picture of their meal if they have been served a disgusting food.

There is an online petition that already have over 10,000 signatures calling out to Parliament to investigate on Sodexo's services and the food they served to the military.


Lexi, a 6-year-old girl who is part-Choctaw was taken by social workers from her foster family in Santa Clarita, California on Monday. The family and their supporters were not able to stop the move.

Lexi was reported to have a Choctaw Nation extended family in Utah and the social workers decided that the part-Choctaw girl should be placed with them. The social workers arrived in the afternoon at the Page's home near Ron Ridge and Pamlico, as reported by Fox.

The part-Choctaw child has to move according to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which was passed in the 1970s to protect the Native American children's interest. The Pages did their best to fight the move but their efforts have been rejected.

The foster family said the Lexi considers them as her family and that they would like to adopt her. Their friends protested and held a vigil outside the home days before the social workers came to take the girl. However, the Pages stated that they will not interfere once Lexi needs to be taken.

Lexi has lived with the Pages for more than four years. Rusty and his wife tried to adopt her although their attempt was unsuccessful, Los Angeles Times reported.

"We never use the word foster sister, foster daughter; it's sister and daughter," Rusty Page, 33, said. "She's part of our family with everything but her last name."

Lexi is scared and confused when she became the Page's foster child. Rusty Page said that Lexi is now the "happiest, sweetest, kindest girl you ever met." She also loves to play, to color and swim with their children. Rusty Page accused the Choctaw Nation of "dictating where this child goes."

A statement from the Choctaw tribe said that "from the beginning of this case, the Choctaw Nation advocated for [the girl's] placement with her family." The tribe added that Lexi's relatives in Utah have "created a loving relationship with her," the tribe said. "The Pages were always aware that the goal was to place [the girl] with her family, and her permanent placement has been delayed due to the Pages' opposition to the Indian Child Welfare Act."


Fake vaccines were believed to be sold to different provinces of China through black market sale. Authorities are now working on hunting the suspects down in its effort to stop the spread of fake drugs.

China police said that they had discovered a syndicate suspected of selling illegal vaccines in dozen of provinces in the country. Authorities have arrested a former doctor and her daughter in Shandong Province for selling fake vaccines and stated that they are searching for 300 more suspects across the country, as reported by New York Times.

After being convicted of selling illegal vaccines in 2009, the former doctor, who is known by her last name Pang, received a suspended 3-year prison sentence in Shandong. However, instead of stopping her operation, she even took her daughter in to expand the sales of the fake vaccines.

The Shandon police found that the younger Pang continued selling illegal vaccines in 2014 and even raided their storage in 2015. However, it is not clear why there were no reports about the case during those years.

According to Shandong Food and Drug Administration, the illegal vaccine spread across 24 regions and major cities that include Beijing. These vaccines were stored without proper temperature to avoid spoilage. The alleged fake products were identified as vaccines for hepatitis B, polio, meningitis, mumps and rabies. The estimated cost of the vaccines is around $88 million.

"We will thoroughly investigate all clues in the case and once we get to the bottom of it then we will severely punish those found to have violated the law," the Shandong food and drug administration said in a statement posted on its website.

Local authorities stated that Pang and her daughter bought the fraud vaccines from traders and were able to sell it to hundreds of resellers across the country. The vaccine may cause severe side effects or even death to the patients who would take it.


The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's advice to pregnant women who may want to travel to Zika-affected areas is to get highabove 6,500 ft. to be exact. High-altitude areas, such as Mexico City, lack the humidity that mosquitoes which carry the said virus thrive in.

The threat of the Zika virus to pregnant women has risen at an alarming rate when an increase in birth defects in Brazil was linked with the outbreak of the virus. The virus causes microcephaly in newborns, a condition where the infant's head is abnormally small and the brain hasn't fully developed.

WHO Predicts 2,500 Cases Of Microcephaly In Brazil: https://t.co/OTImluNYBw  Virginia Hughes (@virginiahughes) March 22, 2016

Mashable lists the countries which have been given the go-ahead by the CDC, among these are Aruba, Barbados, Brazil, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and more. The CDC also provided maps showing the high-altitude areas of these countries where the virus is claimed to be rare. This is the CDC's response to concerns that the restrictions may affect trade and tourism in these countries while assuring its findings are scientifically proven as well.

However, in some countries, this new travel notice may not make much of a difference. Guatemala for example, while having plenty of high-altitude areas, has its major international airports located below. Live Science reports that this is a big deal because passing through these low areas already increases one's chance of being bitten and contracting the virus. Brazil meanwhile will be having its summer Olympics as well, which it hopes will bring in the tourists but unfortunately is located in a low area.

Summer Olympics host #Brazil looking over the abyss. Talking today w @Lise_Alves in Sao Paulo. Some background. https://t.co/PuUdwexZ3x  Charles Adler (@charlesadler) March 21, 2016

Despite this recent travel lift having its flaws, all traveling pregnant women need to do is to slather on that mosquito repellent generously and wear long sleeves and long pants while passing through airports before reaching higher ground.
While labor can be tedious, there are ways to make it easier it is happening. Stressing out about what to do while in labor will only waste your energy so it is best to plan out your course of action and follow it through with the help of your health providers and support of your loved ones.

1. Do Pre-Natal Exercises

Exercise is always a good thing and it is highly recommended even when you're pregnant. According to Parents, pregnant women who exercise have "shorter labors." Remember to talk with your doctor first before doing any form of exercise. Deep breathing is a great help particularly in managing labor pains.

2. Eat a Protein-Rich Meal

Protein is important for expecting mothers and according to What To Expect, it is also highly beneficial for their babies. Protein helps normal growth development and prevents low birth weight. It is crucial for a pregnant women to get the recommended amount of protein during her term and especially when breastfeeding.

3. Relax & Take Your Time

If you've felt the first contractions, it is best to relax and take your time going to the hospital. According to Made For Mums, labor gets easier when you are more relaxed.

4. Walk Around

As your labor is happening, it is best to stand and walk around as opposed to sitting or lying down. According to Pregnancy Magazine, gravity is also a great help in getting the baby out and making the labor shorter.

5. Drinks Lots of Water

Hydrating yourself while in labor is important because you lose a lot of fluids during childbirth. While IV regularly helps, Baby Center reports that you may not need it if you're regularly drinking water. By hydrating yourself, you also energize your body which can help a lot in your upcoming child delivery.
Medical researchers in the United States have employed the services of one of the most prevalent gadgets in the world to conduct what promises to be the largest study on postpartum depression. Interested women only need to have an iPhone to participate.

The study, which was launched on Monday, aims to comprehensively answer major questions about childbirth and anxiety, as per CNN. The undertaking is spearheaded by scientists at the University of North Carolina and the international research consortium Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment.

"We believe it's a real game changer for our ability to understand the biologic causes of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis," explained Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, UNC's perinatal psychiatry director. "Our overall goal is to prevent anyone else from suffering from these devastating disorders, and we need to know more about the underlying biology, the genetic risk."

Meltzer-Brody also contributed to the design of a new Apple app called PPD Act. The app is what women would use in order to participate in the research. PPD Act is currently downloadable in the US, the UK and Australia, with wider global availability coming soon.

According to UPI, women who download the app will be asked to answer a chain of questions relating to their pregnancy, moods and anxieties. From the responses, Meltzer-Brody and company will invite approximately 100,000 women to take part in the study by mailing in samples of their saliva.

Scientists will then examine the samples and compare them with one another. This process seeks to explain how genetic differences may affect depression risks in postpartum mothers.

"We want every mom who has ever had postpartum depression to participate in this," said Postpartum Progress founder Katherine Stone. "It's a way of contributing your story and contributing to the science that will hopefully provide more data for people who either develop medicines or develop other types of treatment methods."
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To individuals in the craft beer community, the town of Decorah, Iowa means one thingToppling Goliath. TG was founded by Clark and Barb Lewey in 2009 after transitioning from homebrewing out of their garage. What started as a half-barrel system has transitioned to a 30-barrel system, and it is still not enough for the demand brewmaster Mike Saboe has created since joining TG in 2010. While you might not be familiar with Mike, Im sure you have heard of Toppling Goliath Stouts. Well, Mike is the man behind these whales; Morning Delight, Assassin, and the ever-elusive Kentucky Brunch are all his babies. Mikes recipes paired with Clarks passion for the brewery has resulted in an indestructible duo in craft beer today. I spoke with Clark and Mike about their experiences and what we can expect to see from Toppling Goliath in 2016.



Brewmaster Mike Saboe doing some quality control

Paste: What beers or breweries inspired each of you when you first got into beer?

Clark Lewey: I really enjoyed Sierra Nevada, New Glarus and Oskar Blues, but also many other breweries and many different brewpubs around the country that I frequented while traveling.

Mike Saboe: When I was 17 I went to Germany and was able to try many different beers, but Id say Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Rothaus Pils sparked things at the beginning. From there I was very impressed with what Russian River and the Pizza Port Pubs were doing in the mid-2000s.

Paste: Mike, what can you tell us about your brewing experience before joining TG?

MS: I started brewing when I was a teenager. From the first time I brewed, I knew it was what I was going to do. I consider myself fortunate to know exactly what I wanted to do at such a young age. Early on, I worked a lot with hops; theyre forever fascinating. I also worked heavily on several high gravity beers  not just stouts. Im excited to brew those beers on a larger scale in the future.

Paste: Have any of those homebrews made it into the tanks at TG?

MS: Many of my hoppy beers and the big stouts have. Other styles have had to remain on the backburner for now. Theres definitely a long list of beers Id like to get out there at some point.

Paste: Clark, you have mentioned that you had the idea for TG for some time. What made you finally decide to open TG in Decorah?

CL: I found myself with a piece of property that had a perfect location for a small brewery to start and see if the local population would enjoy the types of beers we wanted to drink ourselves and could not find in Decorah.

Paste: Did either of you ever imagine the demand would be at the level it is today?

CL: Noof course we had delusions of grandeur as all startup breweries do.

MS: To the extent that its happened? No. I knew and met more and more Iowa beer drinkers that were like me. Always traveling out of state to get beers from the surrounding states. One could sense there was a demand there, but for me it was more being able to provide and do those things right here in Iowa.

Paste: Clark, with your wine background, did you have an interest in including sour beers when you first started TG?

CL: I have always enjoyed the sour beers I had from New Glarus and other breweries. Although I had an interest in brewing them, it was not in our plans due to the fact that I do not want to cross contaminate our facility.

Paste: Mike, what have your experiences been with sour beers, and do you have any urges to brew a sour at TG?

MS: The first sour beer that made me fall in love with the style was the first batch of Russian Rivers Beatification back in 2006 (I didnt try the PH-1 barrel). It had a beautiful level of acidity, all very pleasant acids. Its inspired me to work on sours ever since. As for commercial size batches, thereve been time issues and various other constraints that have dampened that. Thankfully, one of the major constraints has been attempting to keep up with demands of beers people want every day. The appreciation I have for people enjoying fresh hoppy beer has been enough to offset the anxiety of not bringing sour beers to the forefrontyet.

Paste: This past summer you decided to release Mornin Delight in 22oz. bottles. What made you decide to make this change from 12oz?

CL: One thing about us is we like to change it up. We thought that it is a nice beer to share with people and the bomber bottle is nice for that.

Paste: Unlike some of your other big stouts, MD doesnt spend any time in barrels. Mike, do you ever want to brew MD more than once a year?

Mike: Barrel time is the least of the concerns. Its a very hedonistic beer that Im almost surprised I got the go-ahead to produce a big batch of in the first place. Luckily, people have enjoyed it enough to justify repeatedly making it.



Founder Clark Lewey enjoying a fresh batch

Paste: Do you plan to release Kentucky Brunch this year and if so, what are the chances we see it in 22oz?

CL: If all goes as planned we will have KBBS later in the year. The packaging format has not been decided.

Paste: Beers like MD, Assassin, and KBBS are so highly regarded. How do you handle the demand while still keeping your product high quality?

CL: Mike is in charge of the quality of the liquid. Demand is not a factor. We can only make so much, and for that amount we just want it to be very pleasing to us, and our fans!

MS: As the brewery has grown, natural elements and procedures of most everyday beers have been entrusted to the teams we have built. While I wish I had the time to still baby-sit every batch of beer, we have a great team that helps accomplish what needs to be accomplished. As for the stouts specifically; those are kept to volumes that Murph, Clark, and I handle. Not only have those beers in and of themselves been the hardest to give up for me, its too enjoyable, and a nostalgic sort a moment for the three of us to dive into barrel samples.

Paste: Mike, what can you tell us about the vision you had when you first brewed these beers. How long did it take until you were actually able to perfect them?

MS: Ive worked on those since 2006. The original path was simply a hedonistic one. If it was blisteringly cold out, and all I had was a fire and a stout, what would I want that to be like? From there Ive formed some deviating lineages, some of which have yet to be seen.

Paste: Will you try to produce any of your barrel aged beers on a larger scale?

CL: Yes

MS: Additional volume has been produced every single time, but its been in small, calculated steps to help assure integrity is maintained.

Paste: The Vanilla Bean variant of Assassin is a white-whale for most in the craft community. Are there any plans to release this beer to the public?

CL: Yes

Mike: Vanilla Bean Assassin is likely to be released in the future.

Paste: There were so many rumors last year when your barrel-aged stout SR-71 was released regarding what exactly the beer was. Whats the story behind the name and the process used to brew it? Will this ever be re-brewed?

CL: SR-71 is from my days in the Air Force. Our SR-71 program is cloaked in secrecy at the brewery. Only Mike and I know the details and the direction we take with this beer. We can say that it is a very long process and is not always the same path.

MS: SR-71 is an ever-evolving, but always classified experimentation upon various iterations of my big stouts. Where Clark and I determine to send these experimentations and the trajectory at which they will travel would be detrimental to the mission to share. The name SR-71 fits well with the secrecy and experimental nature of the beer and its Clarks favorite aircraft.

Paste: You recently began a partnership with Florida-based contract brewer Brew Hub. What made you want to begin this partnership?

CL: We are hoping to take some pressure off our production schedule for our four main beers and get more time to work on our other interests.

Paste: If you could collaborate with any brewery in the world, what brewery would it be, and what would you brew?

CL: J Wakefield. Mike introduced me to his beers and they are fun. Having fun when creating beers is great! I would like to see what we could do with a mixture of our brewery styles. Either a fruited IPA or a dry hopped Berliner.

MS: Collaborations are interesting social constructs that have a tendency to lead to too many cooks in the kitchen. I think the more important aspect is the camaraderie that can come therewith. There are many brewers and breweries Id enjoy attempting the collaborative process with, but there is not one brewery in particular. That said, I have cherished the friendship I developed a few years ago with my friends at Tree House.

Paste: If you could change one thing about craft beer today, what would it be?

CL: The barrier to raw ingredients would be my first of many changes!

Paste: What does 2016 hold for TG?

CL: A lot of hard work and energy continuing on the path of our production needs, new creation, and building a new facility.

Jason Stein is a New York-based beer nerd. You can find more of his writing on NYC Beer Society.
Few of us give thought to papers impact on our lives. From printouts to books to household goods, paper has become an omnipresent yet nearly invisible part of life. But in his new book The Paper Trail, Alexander Monro explores the storied history of the humble piece of paper, illustrating how civilization has been pushed forward in remarkable ways by this simple, ancient invention.

Beginning in China almost 2,000 years ago, paper was a durable and cheap alternative to expensive shells and bamboo. Over the course of human history, paper made its way around the world, playing a pivotal role in historys most significant cultural shifts. Providing widespread access to ideas and allowing easy communication, paper has been the bedrock of mankinds culture, religious and political evolution.

But does paper have a future in todays world? Here, Monro shares his thoughts on the materials lasting impact and its important role in an increasingly digital society.

Paste: How did you decide to tell the story of paper?

Alexander Monro: Several years ago, I won an award to travel across Mongolia and Central Asia, following in the footsteps of the Mongols and Genghis Khan. [While writing about the trip,] I came across the story of paper. When the Mongols were unified under Genghis Khan, they didnt have a script, so they didnt have writing. When they conquered their way westwards across Asia, they discovered the usefulness of writing, so they asked these Uighur scribes in what is now northwest China to create a script for them. They wrote down their founding myths, the secret history of the Mongols, but also used it to administer what would become the biggest empire the world had ever seen. And so writing became enormously important for their own identity and their empire.

So I began to see the immense power that writing had, but it wasnt writing on paper. That has enabled a far more comprehensive use of writing than would have been the case on other surfaces. I began to track back and follow the story of paper across China and back to its origins, and I became intrigued by how paper had remained marooned in east Asia for so long. Then I followed the story back the other direction, through central Asia to the Islamic Caliphate and into Europe as well. Suddenly, there was this extraordinary story right across Eurasia that dipped into different periods of history and difference civilizations, and yet it provided a unity where you could see certain themes in common.

Paste: What was the process of researching the history of paper? The book covers many subjects: religion, culture, politics. Can you tell me a bit about how you went about tackling that?

Monro: I started with China. I began with histories of ancient China and with histories of paper and papermaking in China. China has had writing for longer than any other civilization in the world and was using it long before paper was invented. So writing was already very important in China 3,000 years ago, and paper didnt take off in China in a really big way until 1,700 or 1,800 years ago. They were using bamboo to write on, so immediately there was a need to distinguish what change paper had brought. What obvious change could you see in Chinese culture as a result of paper? They already had the Confucian classics, they already administered politics by writing.

The big shift that came was Buddhism. The arrival of Buddhism allied itself with paper, and did so enormously effectively. I think what happened was, whereas bamboo had been for the elite and politicians, Buddhism on paper had been aimed at all segments of society, including women, who usually were not given access to texts in China. Even the illiterate would buy little charms with Buddhist scripture. These things were much more affordable because they were on paper. It enabled a much more populist religion, a much more accessible form of knowledge, and it enabled that because it was a much cheaper surface.

Paste: The book is sprawling, but the biggest takeaway I had was that paper was one of the most pivotal inventions in history. What role has paper had in pushing culture, politics and civilization forward?

Monro: There are two arguments I make about the impact of paper. One is that paper enabled much more widespread access to knowledge and texts. Whereas politics and religion might only be read about by the elites, that began to change in the paper age. You saw that in religion, but you also saw that in the development of politics and news culture in Europe in the 16th and 17th century. People began to write and read about politicsnot just those directly involved in the decisions, but people at a much more ordinary level of society. That was the first major impact that paper had. It helped to democratize knowledge and ideas, and inevitably, once knowledge, ideas and scripture are no longer exclusively owned by the elites, that tends to have enormous implications for how religion and politics are done. In that sense, paper was enormously liberating by blowing open areas of life that had been formerly very closed off. It didnt do it on its own and there were all sorts of other reasons, but it was very integral to that process. It would never have been possible to have a Reformation if wed been writing on calf skins. It would never have been possible to have that amazing influx of Buddhism if theyd been writing on bamboo.

The other is much more specific, and I particularly talk about it in Europe. As science and the arts develop in Europe prior to the paper age, people had trouble accessing one anothers works. If youre making music in a cathedral community somewhere in Germany, it would be very unlikely you would be able to access to the music being made in England or in France. Youd have to travel or they would have to come to you, or you would have to spend an incredible amount of money to get a vellum manuscript. What happened with paper and printing is that it began to make music more affordable. It wasnt dirt cheap, but for the people who were interested in writing it and learning about it, they could suddenly access each others work more easily and send their own work more easily. There was this cross fertilization of musical ideas and traditions across Europe that were feeding off each other, and I think thats very important across all sorts of specialisms. Paper suddenly enabled this conversation to take place between specialists in different areas. You can access works from elsewhere and that has an enormously enriching effect.

Paste: A theme I saw was that papers influence is less about the technology itself, but the ideas it has helped spread. In that way, the history of paper is almost really simply the history of mankind.

Monro: I think thats very true. Its a common theme in the story of paper, that in cultures where they already had writing, when paper first emerges they look down on it as a bit cheap. They think, Well, writing is a special thing, why would we commit writing to something as cheap as paper? So you have scholars in China writing letters to each other apologizing for writing on paper, or you have Muslims unwilling to put the Quran on paper for centuries after they start using paper, or you have people in Europe saying paper will never take off when it arrives and not wanting to put anything too important on paper.

Paste: You talk a little about the threats to paper. Do you think we could ever move into a post-paper era? What, in your opinion, would be lost by such a change?

Monro: There are clearly areas where paper cannot compete. One of the arguments is that paper is very beautiful and tactile and so on. But I think traditionally the great strength of paper has not been the beautification. It has been that its cheap, easy to make, easy to access and easy to store. Its convenient. Inevitably, it cannot compete when it comes to convenience with its virtual rival. So its inconceivable that reference materials or letters are going to as some point bounce back on paper.

But I think there are other areas, thing that we value, that we will continue to commit to paper. Around a year ago there were signs that we were reaching a saturation point of ebooks versus paper books, where the decline of paper books and the rise of ebooks in the U.K. are tailing off. I dont know if thats a long term phenomenon, but for many of us who want to read a novel, the idea that you can hold it in your hand, own it, put it on your shelf and have that physical contact with it makes it personal. It makes it part of your material life.

It is also sort of a token of its importance. We think a story is important enough to put in physical form, and that will always have a sort of power. And paper will always have that material power, which you cant have on a screen where with one click it is gone. Theres a durability that will continue to appeal, and we will therefore continue to use it for things we value rather than just knowing we can access our favorite novels on a screen if we click the right place. I dont think thats just an old school paper lover speaking. I think its a universal phenomenon that we love to be able to touch and hold things. Were not just conceptual, were physical.

With the Snowden revelations, there was a British journalist for The Guardian, Luke Harding. He was writing a book about the Edward Snowden story. Inevitably, some of what he was writing was quite sensitive stuff. He was writing it at home, and over the period of about two weeks, he would write a few paragraphs and then it would start deleting on his screen in front of him. I completely trust him, I dont think he made this stuff up. It was a very curious thing; hed never had it before with anything else. Anecdotally, I think it serves as a reminder that the universal access of technology is 99 percent of the time a great strength, but it does present dangers as well. The capacity of the state to monitor citizens is enormously heightened as we transfer everything to online, and our browsing habits can be seen and so on. If you have an illegal physical magazine, unless that magazine is found they wont know that youve got it. Its very different if everything you access is online. It may be that there are subversive uses for paper that will survive in societies where thats been necessary because of the politics.
When Cameron Esposito decided to tape Marriage Material, her first televised special, two days before her wedding, she knew it wouldnt be easy.

Was it a bad idea? Yes, she admits.

For the special, which debuts on NBCs Seeso platform on March 24, Esposito first secured permission from her fiance, now wife, Rhea Butcher, who understood her desire to capture a moment she saw as a culminating event not only in her comedy career, but in her life as a gay woman. From the outset, stand-up has always offered Esposito a form of protection to be her true self.

I really didnt have a lot of safety in my coming out process, she says, so it was really a way of getting safety in numbers by just standing up on stage and being so out about it that there wasnt really anything anybody could say.

Espositos rise as a comic has come on the strength of her material, which manages to mine comedy from vibrant observations on our often contradictory society and her personal recollections of growing up as a gay woman. Appearances on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Conan, Comedy Centrals Drunk History, and a long-running column for The AV Club have all served to help place Esposito at the forefront of the stand-up comedy scene. In some ways, the timing of Marriage Material is just the latest example in Espositos life of her work as a comic and her personal lesbian identity crossing paths.

When Esposito matriculated to a conservative Catholic college in Massachusetts, she learned that sexual orientation wasnt covered under their non-discrimination policy, meaning the institution had the right to kick out gay students or fire gay faculty if they so desired. By the time she was a senior, Esposito was at the steps of the State House watching the first married couples emerge after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same sex marriage. Thus Marriage Material is Espositos effort to document a moment in time that she says may never happen again.

To be a gay person is to now live in a completely different country than we used to. I had a moment to capture what it feels like right now for somebody who is gay and about to get married, and in a decade, that might not feel the same. It just felt like a really important thing to record.

While the special does draw significantly on Espositos experiences as a gay woman, the material spans a multitude of topics, including gun control and a hilarious take down of the inane stigma that female comics shouldnt discuss their menstrual cycle on stage.

That bit was first incubated at Put Your Hands Together, the weekly live podcast show Esposito hosts with Butcher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. At that point the joke was in its nascent form, but once Esposito had honed it on stage she allowed the shows photographer to shoot a video, which was subsequently uploaded to the internet.

That bit went viral. I cant believe I have to say thatIm so sorry I have to say thatbut it did.

Landing on sites like Upworthy, the video attracted many viewers, which meant that when Esposito decided to bring the bit to a taping of The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail for Comedy Central, she knew she needed something to heighten the joke. She decided to buy jelly donuts for the audience, which she later had dispersed in mock-concern that the crowd might be growing hungry from the long shoot.

The bit ends with a joke about period blood looking like the filling of jelly donuts. When it got to the point where I was telling that joke, it was to an entire audience of people who had jelly donuts all over their face, which is actually one of the greatest things Ive ever done in my life.

Having now recorded the bit again for Marriage Material, Esposito acknowledges that while some viewers will be hearing it for the first time, others may experience it as more of a Greatest Hits sort of thing. She says this situation is in part the result of the impact new media has had on stand-up comedy, where comedians have to function in a sense like their own network or channel.

I really think people listen to comics as if theyre bands now, she says.

Esposito feels that while its important to have an hour of material that people havent seen, comics have to weigh it against being too precious with their material. She sees a value in leaking jokes if it subsequently gets different eyeballs on them, especially in a time where platforms like Twitter, Youtube and podcasting can play such a profound role in elevating a comedians profile.

I do think its just one more piece of proof that its very different to be a comic now than it used to be.

In some ways, Espositos current career as a comedian is unparalleled, chiefly because of the overlap her personal and professional lives share in the form of her wife, Rhea Butcher. Not only do Esposito and Butcher host Put Your Hand Together and frequently tour together, but they are now developing Take My Wife, a sitcom series for Seeso about two female comics who are in a relationship (It was kind of a stretch to come up with premise, jokes Esposito).

Scheduled to debut later this year, Esposito and Butcher are in the middle of writing it now, with most of the episodes already out the door. While there are kernels of truth taken from their own lives, she emphasizes that the shows intention is to distill those truths and put them into a different matrix. Wanting to keep some things private is an understandable position to take, given the amount of personal insight Esposito and Butcher regularly share with their audiences.

Asked if its stressful having her career and her spouse so closely linked to one another, she calls it the worst decision.

Basically, we have a family business, and its so hard working with a partner on a family business, because at the end of the day, this is how youre going to survive.

While Esposito is sincere in her concerns, its also readily apparent that her relationship with Butcher is a driving force of her work as a comic. After all, there wouldnt necessarily have been a moment to capture (or a perfect name for the special) if not for the wedding that followed the taping of Marriage Material. Esposito says part of what initially drew her to Butcher is how uniquely able she was to relate to Espositos own experiences.

Were both in the same field, but were outliers in that field just by virtue of both being women and both being gay. Our experience is kind of insular, except that we both have it. I feel very lucky to have her in my life.
A string of terrorist attacks struck Brussels yesterday morning, killing 34 people and injuring

nearly 200. The initial blasts tore through Brussels Airport shortly after 8:00 a.m. local

time.

According to eyewitnesses, the first explosion occurred at the baggage payment order in the

departures area of the airport, and the second hit near a Starbucks. CCTV captured footage of the three attackers who authorities alleged carried out the act at Zaventem. Two of the attackers died in the resulting suicide blasts.

Approximately an hour after the airport attacks, a third blast was reported at Maelbeek metro

station, which is located about a half mile from the buildings of the European Parliament.

ISIS has already taken responsibility for the attacks, which came just days after Brussels police arrested Salah Abdeslam, who helped orchestrate Novembers Paris terror attacks.

The facts

Shortly after 8:00 a.m. CET, two explosions were heard minutes apart in the departure hall of

Brussels Airport.

? Belgian media report that at least 11 people have died and another 81 people have been injured at the Zaventem attacks.

? Eyewitnesses said: There were fire extinguishers and I was looking for people because the ceiling had fallen on the people and you had to search for the people. There were many deaths.

? Brussels Airport will remain closed through Wednesday and has canceled all flights.

About an hour after the airport blasts (9:00 am CET), another explosion occurred at Maalbeek Metro station, which is near a number of EU institutions.

? Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said, about 20 people had died and another 100 more injured.

? The blast struck the middle carriage of a three-carriage train as it was moving away from

the platform. Alex Brans told the AP: The metro was leaving Maelbeek station when there

was a really loud explosion. It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the

metro.

? The incident at Maelbeek station put the city in lockdown, and Brussels residents were

told to remain indoors until the city deemed it safe to leave. The entire Metro system in

Brussels was shut down until stations on the citys outskirts reopened Tuesday evening.

? In wake of the explosions, the Belgian government placed the whole of Belgium

at a maximum threat level 4, Very Serious, with special emphasis on airports, stations and nuclear plants.

What This Tragedy Means for the U.S.

President Obama condemned the outrageous attacks: We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world, he said from Havana, Cuba.

In wake of the terror attacks, U.S. authorities have tightened security at transportation hubs and landmarks across the country, though, according to a statement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, there is no evidence of any plot for similar attacks against U.S. targets.

Additionally, the State Department also issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens throughout Europe:

U.S. citizens should exercise vigilance when in public places or using mass transportation. Be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid crowded places. Exercise particular caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events.

Why you should still go to Brusselsand to Europe

Rethinking your trip after the Brussels attacks? Dont. Seriously, dont let a bunch of suicidal maniacs deter your from visiting Brussels or Europe, in general. For starters, countries throughout the EU have increased their police presence. Following the attacks, France closed its border with Belgium. Dutch authorities have announced extra border patrols and additional security at airports in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven. London mayor Boris Johnson also announced hed step up security measures in London, though the capital currently faces no immediate threat.

While the thought of encountering a terrorist attack is terrifying, know the odds of encountering a terrorist attack are slim. From 2001 to 2013, 350 Americans were killed overseas as a result of terrorism.

Tom is a travel writer, part-time hitchhiker, and hes currently trying to imitate Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but with more sunscreen and jorts.
Now in its penultimate season, Girls has found a new dynamic and an equal balance amongst its characters. The series isnt focusing the majority of its efforts on Hannah anymore and, atypical of her narcissistic nature, she doesnt seem to mind all that much. Marnie, now being a married woman and all, is also blending into the background and, to be honest, Im not especially bummed about that. Nothing about this girl ever felt real and that understanding became painfully clear around the time she decided to become a musician. Its a blessing to many of us viewers that her life has blended into the series background, much in the same way that her music would in a dental office. So far, this season of Girls has been one of its best and there are two characters who are responsible for this new sense of maturity: Shoshanna and Jessa. Up until now, their stories never felt as captivating and touching as they do in this season, which is partially due to Hannahs drama always overriding their own, and partially due to the solid walls Jessa had built around herself; the ones that are now slowly crumbling and revealing a soft, maternal side to Jessa we had never seen before. But the shining star of this season is without a doubt Shoshanna. She has fully embraced the personal growth you can only obtain through travel and the ambivalence of the experience was expressed rather poetically in Queen for Two Days.

Settling into a new country and a different culture follows a similar structure to the five stages of grief, and Shoshanna has demonstrated this process perfectly throughout the last few episodes. Her quick visit home in Wedding Day was deceiving in that we didnt have enough time to earth her. But the ingenuity of Season Fives openeras far as Shoshanna is concernedis that she has always been quick to adapt to the latest trend or dating manifesto. But shes always done so with an air of naivety and an unfocused determination. Her tales of Japan and how the country has influenced her spiritually and professionally arent taken seriously; her new sense of self is perceived as yet another one of her phases, when in reality this move has been her biggest step towards self-discovery yet. She has achieved Stage One in the expat existence: the period in which you dont allow yourself to see your surroundings through anything other than tourist-tinted glasses.

The third episode, Japan, was a tribute to Shoshannas commitment, curiosity and newfound awareness, a crucial part of the integration processnamely Stage Two: belonging. From the moment Shoshanna gets out of bed and moves about her quirky apartment it all feels natural, as though the place was made specifically for her. As she goes about her morning, everything adds up: the headphones, the outfit, it all becomes her. Most impressively, she enters her work building having actual conversations in Japanese. Shoshannas at home here; shes found her place, her groove and her DJ Cat Cow. Shes found the flaws in her own country and is aware of her own peoples asshole tendencies as she welcomes new perspectives. The thought of going home no longer has the same meaningJapan is home. The difficult aspects of integration havent quite sunken in yet, shes still in her honeymoon phase where theres no time to crave deep bonds and homely treats. Her open-mindedness and readiness to soak up even the most outlandish traditions of a strange culture deserve respect.

Thats what makes Queen for Two Days so heartbreakingly honest and undeniably powerful; it is the embodiment of the highs and lows of integration. While many a Westerner would have happily spent their days hiding out in familiar establishments such as McDonalds for fear ofgasp!trying something new, Shoshanna wants to explore those districts that look like the inside of Katie Perrys vagina. She is determined to share her new findings and insights with Abigail, who remains wary of the whole affair, but applauds Shoshannas new approach to life. She may be working in a cat cafe, but she has had a taste of Japans beauty and its everything she ever wished for; its almost as if shed dreamt the entire country up herself. But, more importantly, shes in love with the person shes becoming; or perhaps shes just in love with the concept of becoming that person. As she faces uncomfortable cultural clashes in her relationship with her Japanese boo Yoshi, she realizes she may not be ready to fight the odds and surrender entirelyand not just to Yoshi, but to Japan as a whole.

Suddenly, she reconnects to the importance of the mother tongue; she may have been conversing in both Japanese and English with Yoshi and her friends and colleagues, but when thoughts, feelings and humor get lost in translation, its difficult to establish familiarity and comfort. The cultural weirdness she had perceived as charming finally becomes absurd and, the more she thinks about it, the further she heads into an unsettling no mans land, also known as Stage Three: the traveling blues. The exciting unknown has become seemingly routine and, even as she digs deeper into the essence of Japan and its people, she can only scratch the surface. Shoshanna clicks with the country, the fashion, the language, the food, but there is still a lack of emotional connection that has warped her sense of belonging. This realization dawns on her over a plate of the umami experience, after having spent an entire day trying to seduce Abigail into finding the same enthusiasm for the colorful city of Tokyo; as it turns out, her love for Japan is slowly dwindling as she struggles to bridge the gap between two cultures. She no longer feels as though she belongs neither here nor there.

Im really fucking lonely. Im so homesick, and I swear to God if one more person that I bump into bows and says, Im sorry, Im gonna, like, fucking cut somebody, you know?

Sometimes a different country can feel like a different planet and Shoshanna is feeling the effects of the rollercoaster ride of emotions that come with being an expat. As she exits the restaurant leaving a baffled Abigail behind, she walks onto the empty streets of Tokyo where the bright neon lights and the sheer quantity of high risers, billboards and shops seem to mock her lonely shadow. AURORAs voice captures the isolation of the moment as we watch the girl with the messy, bleached blonde hair walk through her sunken dream, to the seat with the clearest view

Lets hope it will give Shoshanna the clarity to turn her life on Mars into a best-selling show.
People watch movies for all sorts of reasons, but one of the strongest may be because were fascinated by other people. Other people, other lives, other ways of being in the world. We only have one life, and its understandable that part of the allure of sitting in the dark staring at a screen is comparing our experience of being alive with what we perceive in other human beings living theirs.

Nonfiction cinema only makes this tendency more acute. These are, in theory, real lives that were watching, and we can choose to quietly spy on these peoples worlds in a way that feels more immediate and intense than scripted fare. We look because were curious, and we look because were wondering how wed fare in similar circumstances. In a sense, all moviesand certainly all documentariescould be thought of as vicarious selfies: We see other lives, but we all seek out ourselves.

The 13th edition of the True/False Film Fest in Columbia, Missouriwhich is also home to the University of Missourioffered four days of contemplative examination, debuting a few new documentaries but also bringing together notable offerings from Sundance, Venice and other festivals. And, throughout the 20 films I screened at the festival (or before), I rarely stopped thinking about what I was looking at, why the filmmaker wanted me to look at it, or what the subject hoped to achieve by being looked at. There were no right answers to these questions, no better way for a documentary to approach these concernsif they were even conscious of them. Still, as a general rule of thumb, the more a movie seemed to be wrestling with its own existence, the greater or more intriguing the results. Most of us grapple with our motives and desires on a personal levelwhy shouldnt documentaries awash with messy, urgent life do the same?

Curated by Paul Sturtz and David Wilson, alongside programmers Chris Boeckmann and Pamela Cohn, True/False remains as charmingly Midwestern as ever. I say that with no smugness: Growing up in small-town Illinois, I recognize the modest, genial atmosphere of this festival as if it was a childhood friend. This was my fourth True/Falseand, full disclosure, the fourth year Ive been an invited guestand Im happy to report that the festivals no-big-fuss aesthetic remains vibrant and organic. Screening approximately 40 feature-length documentaries, not including shorts and other special programming, True/False has earned its reputation for being a hospitable home for both challenging nonfiction work and the more crowd-pleasing offerings. (Three of this years Best Documentary Oscar nominees were featured at last years True/False, running the gamut from the searing The Look of Silence to the somewhat more traditional biographical portrait What Happened, Miss Simone?) For the festivals 13th year, Sturtz and Wilson continue to endorse a wide-ranging appreciation of the documentary form, believing that the slickness of Weiner, about disgraced politician Anthony Weiner, can coexist with Helmut Berger, Actor, a confrontational examination of the long-in-the-tooth performer.

No matter its approach, however, each True/False film had to contend with the same underlying questions: What are we looking at and why? The festivals breadthnot to mention its breadth of responses to that questionwas illustrated first by its three premieres. Beyond being nonfiction films, they had precious little in common.

Directors Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarcas The Pearl was the most conventional of the trio, but I use that word advisedlyin their hands, a straightforward, restrained telling provoked sufficient emotion. The Pearl chronicles the everyday reality of four middle-aged transgender women living across the Pacific Northwest and Northern Canada. Dimmock and LaMarca arent seeking reality-television drama, nor do they seem particularly invested in delivering well-intentioned-but-preaching-to-the-converted political commentary about inclusiveness and acceptance. Rather, The Pearl is straightforwardly compassionate and attentive, listening to these women as they go about their days, letting their subjects ordinary tasks and pedestrian lives be its own kind of political statement. (Tellingly, the filmmakers avoid superficially juicy moments: For instance, they never resolve one womans dilemma that her wife and family dont know that whenever she leaves the house, she sheds her masculine wardrobe and dons a dress or skirt.) By emphasizing the mundane, The Pearl asks viewers to see these women in their natural habitat, which is the same occupied by so many of the rest of us. Valuing simplicity, the movie erases any prejudiced notion of us and them.

The everyday also seeps out of every pore of Peter and the Farm, a quietly remarkable portrait of Peter Dunning, who runs an organic farm in Vermont. Director Tony Stone, whos known Dunning for quite some time, wants us to spend about 90 minutes with this bearded, crusty, raggedly funny older manbut I dont think he ever expects us to fully grasp him. This is not to say that Dunning is particularly enigmatichell talk about his love life, his depression, that terrible thing that happened to his handbut Peter and the Farm is a small little gem of keeping an open mind and allowing complexity to flourish. Thats never truer than near the start of the film when a charming introduction of Dunnings loyal dog is positioned against a shockingly frank scene of a lamb being killed and harvested. How can a man whos sweet to his pooch be so blase in his savaging of a sheep thats equally adorable? Much of Peter and the Farm plays out this way, a collision of accidental revelations and seemingly humdrum moments thoughtfully stitched together.

Like several of the subjects featured in a True/False film, Dunning isnt opposed to Stones camera, but he remains wary of whats being captured and how its going to be used. Dunnings hesitation provokes our own, especially when this aging loner, despite apparently having some sort of off-camera lady-friend, begins to confess his suicidal feelings. The larger cultural relevance of The Pearl is nowhere in evidence in Peter and the Farm, but Dunnings meticulous revealing of an anguished life cuts deeper and leaves us more uncertain. We watch because we find Dunning good company, but we also watch because we fear for him.

Empathy is at the forefront too in The Prison in Twelve Landscapes, director Brett Storys masterful collections of vignettes. Theres no central figure, Story instead using her snapshots of different individuals to suggest something grandernamely, Americans inescapable entanglement with their countrys prison system. With so many different stylistic techniquessometimes her subjects address the camera directly, sometimes were a fly-on-the-wall observing people from a distance talking to each otherThe Prison in Twelve Landscapes may risk didacticism, but such worries are mitigated by Storys aesthetic adventurousness.

Theres a cumulative power, a headlong rush, in watching one vignette segue into another, the viewer trying to make connections between seemingly dissimilar American portraits. The Brooklyn man who started a business that ships penitentiary-approved goods to inmates, the Detroit P.R. rep who has no idea how slimy he sounds, the St. Louis County resident waiting in long linesStory deftly makes the point that theyre all invisibly part of the same system, and the juxtaposing, sometimes counterintuitive correlations enliven each snapshot and make The Prison in Twelve Landscapes stronger collectively than in any one sequence. Other filmmakers would mount a frontal assault on the classism and racism rampant in the way we lock up so many people, but Story doesnt want us to watch the usual images and absorb the normal statistics. Shes asking us to see the dilemma in a new light, and her powerful essay film never stops making us queasyand, at the same time, alive with anger and sorrow that the dilemma is being communicated so forcefully and innovatively.

In the face of such intellectually stimulating nonfiction filmmaking, movies that merely wanted to honor their subjects couldnt help but feel comparatively paltry. Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady have made remarkable you-are-there documentaries about Detroit (Detropia) and the abortion debate (12th & Delaware)their most famous film is probably Jesus Campbut Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You never rises above respectfully recapping a great artists life. An encapsulation of the man who brought the world All in the Family, Ewing and Gradys film tries to be provocative by inserting staged re-creations of Lears younger life, but Norman Lear is simply too smooth, too untroubled, to leave much of an impression. Theres very little consideration to what were watching, and Lear himself is too comfortable in his role as man of the hour. And without any sort of friction, its hard to engage with Norman Lears ideas about free speech and social commentary: The movie treats them as battles already won.

Its not that a cozy relationship between subject and filmmaker cant make for rewarding cinematheres nothing but clear affection in The Pearlbut a movie such as Life, Animated, no matter how touching and bighearted it is, demonstrates the limitations. The latest documentary from Roger Ross Williams, behind the far more critical and investigative God Loves Uganda, focuses on Owen Suskind, a 20-something who has battled autism since childhood. Inspired by the memoir written by Owens father, Pulitzer Prize-winner Ron Suskind, Life, Animated tracks how the childs parents discovered that the trick to breaking through to their son was by communicating through Disney movies.

To be sure, this is a remarkable, cheering story of how a family was, in a sense, reunitedbefore the breakthrough, Owen spoke in indecipherable chunks and was badly withdrawnand Williams keeps the movie touching without becoming too syrupy. And yet, the polished telling, complete with nicely composed framing of the interviews with family members, strips the drama of much urgency. Granted, this may be a case where its better for all concerned that theres less dramawho wants to see a young man suffer silently through his disorder?but Life, Animateds honorable objectives never really challenge the audience. All involved are here to deliver an inspirational message, which is heartening but not exactly sustaining.

More entertaining but also more incisive, Weiner could have turned out to be a front-and-center dispatch from former New York congressman Anthony Weiners triumphant comeback. But thats not what happened. Looking back at Weiners spectacularly disastrous 2013 bid to become New Yorks mayor, filmmakers Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg travel along with the man as he give speeches, calls friends for campaign contributions and strategizes with his wife Huma Abedin, Weiners inevitable defeat more and more apparent as he gets closer to election day.

This is a film that never stops thinking about the questions of what were watching and why the subject wants us to watch, and Weiners central tension comes from the conflict between the two answers. No doubt Weiner thought that Kriegman and Steinberg would put down for posterity a portrait of a phoenix rising from the asheshed resigned from Congress in disgrace after a 2011 sexting scandaland perhaps he had visions of a documentary akin to The War Room, the epochal 1993 film about Bill Clintons run for the White House. Instead, theres only a slow-motion recounting of his failureanother sexting scandal and the quick implosion of his public supportwith Weiner sitting grim-faced at the center, wondering how it all went wrong.

If Weiners investigation of how celebrity, scandal and controversy inform modern politics is somewhat undercut but the filmmakers overly flashy treatment, Sonita concerns an uneasy relationship between documentarian and subject in a more complicated fashion. In the film, director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami befriends Sonita Alizadeh, a teenaged Afghan refugee exiled in Iran who longs to become a rapper. But Alizadeh is about to be sold as a bride for a measly $9,000 by her mother, until the filmmaker decides to intercede and buy the young womans freedom. Where Weiner is breezy and exciting, Sonita is raw and troubled, Ghaem Maghamis movie unapologetically blurring ethical lines by altering Alizadehs life. As a result, Sonita is commentary and confessional, its very existence forcing us to confront the lack of freedom women in that part of the world face. Any hope for a feel-good ending is dented by our understanding that Alizadeh is but one girland that so many others arent so lucky to be followed by a camera.

Sonita was this years True Life Fund recipient, the festivals way of raising money for the subject of one of its films. At screenings of Sonita during True/False, Alizadeh would come onstage as the closing credits rolled, rapping about self-reliance and independence. Its the sort of heartfelt moment that happens at True/False because Sturtz and Wilson bring the directors (and often the subjects) to Columbia to participate in post-screening Q&As.

If Alizadehs presence in Columbia was warmly received, it was just as unsurprising that the man at the center of director Andreas Horvaths documentary was nowhere to be seen. Helmut Berger, Actor tracks the grumbling musings of its namesake, a veteran of Luchino Viscontis films, who lives in a crummy Austrian apartment and spars with his inquisitor. Whatever Horvaths initial intention for his documentary, Helmut Berger, Actor ended up as an uncomfortable, fascinating study of an ego gone to seed. Berger berates Horvath, whos always behind the camera, as much as he tries enticing him, leaving the director excited voicemail messages about upcoming book projects he thinks the two men should collaborate on.

The same slow-motion horror that powered Grey Gardensthe sight of royalty rotting awayis key to Helmut Berger, Actor, and I know colleagues who feel that Horvath is cruel to his subject, exploiting a man with possible mental issues. The movie doesnt read that way to me, but Horvath does let the question hang in the air of why hes filming these tense, awkward interactions and what he wants us to get out of them. There are no clear-cut answers, and even Horvaths comment in a Q&A that Berger has seen the film and likes it really doesnt shed much light. At its best, though, Helmut Berger, Actor stood as a snotty rejoinder to the often cozy relationship between the people in front of and behind the camera in a documentaryto say nothing of our relaxed position as passive viewer. No matter your interpretation of what youre seeing, heres a film that jabs at you, keeps you from getting too comfortable, questions your motives.

But such incitements paled in comparison to the True/False film most invested in questioning our role as spectator. Robert Greene isnt just a documentarian but also an editorboth of nonfiction (Approaching the Elephant) and fiction films (Alex Ross Perrys Listen Up Philip and Queen of Earth)as well as the filmmaker-in-chief at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism. His 2014 documentary Actress premiered at True/False, and his latest, Kate Plays Christine, screened at the festival after being unveiled at Sundance a couple months earlier.

The film operates under a fake conceit: Actress Kate Lyn Sheil (who appeared in Listen Up Philip and Queen of Earth) is preparing to star in a biopic about Christine Chubbuck, a Florida TV journalist who committed suicide by shooting herself in the head on-air in 1974, and Greene will follow her as she does background research for the project. But there actually is no biopic being made; Greene and Sheil film intentionally cheesy-looking scenes from their bogus movie, which are intercut with Sheils real conversations with Chubbucks former coworkers and, in one particularly excellent scene, a local gun dealer.

Actress, about actress Brandy Burre as she prepares for a comeback after years away from the business, dove deep into the ways our lives are actually just a series of rolesmother, daughter, lover, young, oldand Kate Plays Christine is also captivated by our ability (and our need) to create different guises. But this time, Greene wants to include us in his interrogation. The documentary fixates on Chubbucks suicidethe footage of which has been locked away for the last 42 yearsbut, more accurately, fixates on why an actress (or an audience) would want to relive such a horrific, traumatic act.

Kate Plays Christine builds and builds to a finale in which Sheil must make the decision of how she will perform Chubbucks violent end, and while I wont reveal the resolution, it most forcefully asks the question so many of True/Falses films ponder: What are you looking at? I have not seen the film since Sundance, and while I continue to wrestle with its bold distortion of nonfiction and re-creation, truth and fiction, I should also say Im not as fully besotted as some of my critical brethren. But I want a second viewing to suss out my feelings for an accomplished work whose irritations may melt away into grace notes.

The superb Thy Fathers Chair is lit by plenty of grace notes, while simultaneously circling around these themes of observing and being observed. Directors Antonio Tibaldi and Alex Lora dont give us a lot of setup before diving into their tale: Two elderly Orthodox Jewish brothers must clean up their cluttered, garbage-strewn Brooklyn apartment after complaints from an upstairs neighbor about the smell and filth. Divided into seven chapters and an epilogue, Thy Fathers Chair documents the brotherswhom, well learn, are twinsover the span of a few days as cleaners enter their home and negotiate with them about what can and cant be tossed.

Like several films at this years festival, Thy Fathers Chair is riveting in part because we wonder what compelled the subjects to grant permission to the filmmakers. As the cleaners burrow through the mess, Tibaldi and Lora do their own subtle excavation, discovering alcoholism and compulsion within these two brothers, Abraham and Shraga, who have let their apartment become a Hoarders nightmare for myriad reasons. The very act of throwing things out is both cathartic and sorrowful for these men, and the cameras magnify their pain, shame and panic. (As one brother tells the cleaners, the loss of control is unsettlingreferring to these strangers digging through their possessions but also, perhaps, in being seen by the filmmakers and audiences.)

But Tibaldi and Lora reward Abraham and Shragas vulnerability with compassion. The title a hint about one item in the apartment thats especially fraught with emotional baggage, Thy Fathers Chair becomes a meditation on belongings and sanctuaries, how inanimate objects and lifeless dwellings become suffused with meaning because of the people who own them. When a closing credit indicates the documentary is dedicated to Chantal Akerman, I was hardly surprised: The Belgian filmmaker, who died in October at the age of 65, came to mind a few times while watching Thy Fathers Chair, particularly her Hotel Monterey, a ghostly, silent study of empty hallways and hotel rooms that suggests the lives that have come and gone.

A regular feature of True/Falses annual slate is the inclusion of a narrative film or two that reflects the capturing of reality as part of its story. (For instance, Boyhood screened in 2014.) This year, the festival presented All These Sleepless Nights, director Michal Marczaks sort-of documentary about Krzysztof Baginski, a Warsaw youth in thrall to the citys nightlife and beautiful women. Usually, a critic should research the backstory of a films making, but in the case of this floating, dreamlike reverie to youth, I chose not to: Baginski is, in essence, playing himself, and whats scripted and whats just real life dont matter much to me. Weaving around to Caribous Cant Do Without You or pondering how much of our lives we spend doing frivolous things like watching fireworks, All These Sleepless Nights feels like a twentysomething time capsule thats simply true, and Baginski wants us to bathe in his characters naivety and impetuous pleasure. I had no problem obliging.

The fleeting, ecstatic joys of youth are nowhere to be found in Starless Dreams, a despairing documentary from Mehrdad Oskouei, who was the festivals True Vision Award recipient. (True/False bestows no critics prizes or audience awards, which undoubtedly adds to the festivals amiable atmosphere: Just by having your film invited to this selective event, youre a winner.)

Starless Dreams takes us into a Tehran prison for young women who have done, admittedly, awful things, such as committing murder. And yet, these womenmost of them just girlsare actually imprisoned twice. Theyre trapped behind bars, but even when they are released, theyll be stuck in an oppressive society where their own families will disown them and their future prospects will be dim.

This is tricky terrainOskouei doesnt condone his subjects actions, but he does have sympathy for their inability to have a second chanceand Starless Dreams navigates it through delicate, respectful modesty. For Oskouei, showing another persons life is to create empathy, and while it can be impossible to imagine some of these sweet faces doing such horrendous acts, we peer at them wondering what we dont know and what we dont see. Its through such modesty that Starless Dreams creates profound depth and compassion.

Mysteries abounded in this years slate, perhaps most potently in Tickled, directors David Farrier and Dylan Reeves seemingly straightforward investigation into the world of competitive tickling. Soon, their inquiries open a Pandoras Box of intrigue after Farrier, a journalist and the films onscreen narrator, starts getting harassed online by a mysterious woman named Jane who runs some of the events.

Much of Tickleds fun comes from not knowing what happens next, so Ill stop there. But I will say that not unlike the work of Nick Broomfield, Tickled is a treasure trove of colorful characters visited by an amusing central figure who always dances between delightful oddball and shameless self-promoter. Still, Farrier gets away with it because of the twisty tale he has to telland the yarn didnt end with the films premiere at Sundance. When Farrier came onstage to introduce Tickled in Columbia, he noted that during the previous days screening, two men had to be removed because they were trying to record the film, a hint of the juicy paranoia and ongoing legal skirmish that has been birthed by the documentary.

Tickled turns a mystery into entertainmentalthough Farrier, who was served papers during the festival, may not agree with that assessmentwhile Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John takes two siblings personal inquiry and transforms it into a meditation on the family secrets were almost afraid to know more about. Director Chelsea McMullan introduces us to Michael and Shannon, a brother and sister living in Canada who always wondered what happened to their father, who left when they were very young. They find out that Dad hightailed it to Thailand, where he ended up having a second familywith two children he also named Michael and Shannon. With their father, John, now dead, the Canadian siblings decide to visit the Thai Michael and Shannon.

Whats best about Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John is what cant be resolved: how a father can walk out on one family and start another, and yet still feel a desire to give his new children the same name as his previous ones. McMullan lets that question hover over everything we see, and even though the culture-clash encounter between these two sets of siblings never quite goes to an amazingly insightful or shocking place, that in itself is a sort of revelation. These young people are a product of the same father, but are all separate of him, and Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John places a mirror in front of us, asking viewers to reflect on the key qualities of our own personalities that have been forged by those who sired us.

The experience of watching was never more ravishing at True/False than in Behemoth, Chinese director Zhao Liangs visually striking overview of a mining community. Somewhat predictably, Zhao juxtaposes gorgeous images with ugly truth: the miners dying of black lung, the devastation of a regions natural resources. Still, if Behemoth tells us depressingly familiar newsChinas rush to modernize is poisoning its people spiritually and physicallyZhao has assembled a mournful picture book of atrocity.

That picture-book quality was also present in The Killing of America, which was part of the festivals Neither/Nor section, a sidebar of films hand-selected by a critic. This year, the job fell to Nick Pinkerton, who programmed Mondo films, a loose collection of disparate movies that boasted some sort of exploitative quality. Released in the U.S. in 1982, and a big hit in Japan, The Killing of America is a compilation of American violence, encompassing footage of everything from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the 1966 mass shooting at the University of Texas to the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Incorporating dire narration from voice actor Chuck Riley, director Sheldon Renans three-decade-old film couldnt be timelier, examining how a proliferation of guns has caused the U.S. population to go insane.

Never attempting to offer in-depth analysis, The Killing of America is somewhat graphic, but whats deeply shocking about the film is the cold presentation of its news footage. Taken as a whole, the film feels maddening, hopelessand thats not even mentioning the archival glimpses of history we think weve seen exhaustively. To bear witness to fresh footage of Kennedys fateful trip to Dallas is to experience that tragedy with new eyes. The pain and slaughter of that day hits you with nascent fervor.

Where The Killing of America turns raw footage into an essay on murder, Cameraperson takes the bits and pieces of different films to construct a personal new whole. Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson has worked on acclaimed documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and Citizenfour, but for this film shes not shooting other peoples movies but, rather, looking back at the images shes compiled, telling her story through the stories of others. Depending on how you look at it, all films are really about the person making themwhich shot to choose, which angle to take, is informed by that individuals temperamentbut Cameraperson is rich in hidden emotional connections that only Johnson understands.

Images from Bosnia are stacked against personal footage of ailing family members, and the ambiguity of the juxtaposition is incredibly enticing: Since Johnson declines to offer a running commentary on what were watching and why it matters to her, were left to create our own narratives, our own connective tissue, between moments. Consequently, the film explores the festivals central questions in a different, very appealing way. Were looking at material that was once meant for one purposebut now, Johnson is recontextualizing it for her own purposes, and so the footage means something different. While watching Cameraperson, which could be considered a cinematic autobiography, I was reminded of a comment film critic Pauline Kael made in the introduction to her 1994 collection For Keeps: Im frequently asked why I dont write my memoirs. I think I have. And so now has Johnson.

A different kind of remembrance occurs in Jim: The James Foley Story, which recounts the life of the slain war journalist. Director Brian Oakes, a childhood friend of Foleys, doesnt show the footage of the mans deathhe was executed by ISIS on-camera in 2014but instead gives us a portrait through the family that loved him and the colleagues who worked alongside him in some of the worlds most dangerous places.

On the one hand, Jim is not particularly incisive or inquisitive, mostly contented to honor a person deserving of respect and admiration for his courageous reporting. On the other, it doesnt need to be formally innovative: The tasteful talking-head interviews give way to a second half in which Oakes does a fine job imagining Foleys ISIS captivity, juxtaposing understated re-creations with eyewitness accounts from others who were being held with him. Jim means to ask questions about the importance of journalists in warzonesand, perhaps, if the U.S. should rethink its policy of not giving into terrorists ransom demandsbut the documentary works best as a simple, unforced bearing of witness. And as such, its a deft delivery device for grieving.

But the festivals most galvanizing entries satisfyingly and rivetingly embraced this notion of watching, being watched and the distance between the two. Like All These Sleepless Nights, The Other Side was a True/False selection that exists in a rewarding realm between fiction and documentary. Director Roberto Minervini has crafted a nonfiction narrative in the thick of the Louisiana swamp, drawing on locals to tell a bifurcated story that both exploits liberals fears of what the other America looks like and constructs a compassionate, clear-eyed account of those who are being left behind economically and culturally. Mark Kelley, like everyone else in The Other Side, is playing a version of himself, living as an ex-con battling addiction without any meaningful job prospects. Lisa Allen is his girlfriend, and she seems awash in her own troubles: Everywhere you look in The Other Side, there are burned-out trailers, unhappy people, rural poverty and a general sense of anxiety and resentment.

Not unlike Harmony Korine, Minervini (who was born in Italy but lives in the U.S.) is fascinated by the great, unwashed vitality of Americas back roads and lurid subcultures. The Other Sides first half is an intimate character drama concerning Mark and Lisa, but its second section feels like a Southern-fried version of Korines Trash Humpers mixed with the reckless abandon of Spring Breakers. We see wet-T-shirt contests and drunken days at the beach amidst a collection of random revelers. We also observe a meeting of what appears to be a local militia group thats fiercely anti-Obama, the men expressing their rage at the countrys direction by blowing a car to smithereens with their high-octane weapons.

Minervinis film contains scenes that feel fly-on-the-wall, while others have clearly been rehearsed and scripted. If he was trying to mock these people, that line between fiction and reality might have been more uncomfortable, but The Other Side is actually a deeply empathetic portrait. The film has its share of cultural dog-whistling. (The whole movie could be a cinematic illustration of the economically disenfranchised voters Obama was referring to in 2008 on the campaign trail when he said, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who arent like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.) But The Other Side brings this world to such vibrant life so that we can see these peoples painand, perhaps, even understand the rage and violence swirling around them. The Other Side has been made by an outsider who refuses to shy away from other outsiders humanity. In an election year dominated by anger and disillusionment, the movie isnt some freak show but, instead, an incredibly moving, undeniably frightening articulation of why so many in America want to blow the whole thing up and start all over again.

Frustration of a different kind highlighted the festivals last-minute addition. Concerned Student 1950 gets its name from the student movement that began in the fall of 2015 on the campus of the University of Missouri, led by African-American students who had experienced racism and felt that the administration wasnt doing enough to combat it. Those protests evolved into demonstrations, a hunger strike andin a move that grabbed national headlinesa planned boycott by the Missouri football team, all of which led to the ouster of university president Tim Wolfe.

Three students in the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism, Varun Bajaj, Adam Dietrich, and Kellan Marvin, filmed the events as they were unspooling, granted unprecedented access by protest leaders who kept out other news media. These students 30-minute short, completed just before True/False began, screened at 11:30 pm on the penultimate night of the festival at the Missouri Theatre, one of Columbias largest venues. (Adding to the high-profile, last-minute excitement of the screening, Spike Lee came to town to see the film and was in attendance for the premiere.)

Such is life at a film festival that I had to dash to the Missouri after another screening in the hopes of catching Concerned Student 1950 in time. I missed the first five minutes or so, but the shorts power and immediacy were without question. It doesnt offer much in the way of contemplation or perspectivethe events are still too fresh for such insightbut the raging, committed effort of the protestors is both inspiring and startling. It is a cliche to report that I felt I was watching history as it was happening, but Concerned Student 1950s urgency simply rippled through the theaternot just because plenty of locals were in attendance but also because some of the moments captured in the film take place in locations anyone who ventures around the festival will instantly recognize.

Because True/False invites so many of the documentary subjects to Columbia, its very common to walk into a coffee shop or restaurant and bump into someone whose life youve been watching for the last 90 minutes. Consequently, the city itself becomes a sort of living, breathing extension of the festivals films, our connection to those lives on the screen bleeding over into ours. But in my four years of attending True/False, that intimacy was never more apparent than after watching Concerned Student 1950. The audience cheered loudly throughout the short, and if the atmosphere at the Missouri was part pep rally, part rollicking cast-and-crew screening, and part victory lap, the enthusiasm was wholly earned. The films end credits are scored to Kendrick Lamars Alright, and once the lights went up, many in attendance fervently chanted the songs defiant, hopeful chorus: We gon be alright. We gon be alright.

We had all been watching a movie. But we were also living it, feeling it, reacting to it. True/False exists to foster such moments.

Tim Grierson is chief film critic for Paste and Vice President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. You can follow him on Twitter.
The StingRay is an IMSI-catcher, a controversial cellular phone surveillance device, manufactured by Harris Corporation. Initially developed for the military and intelligence community, the StingRay and similar Harris devices are in widespread use by local and state law enforcement agencies across the United States and possibly covertly in the United Kingdom. John McAfee explained the system to CNBC earlier today and said that the FBI could implement such a system in the future and bypass encryption in a heartbeat. It's a fascinating revelation, but that's a solution that could be adopted in the future.

In the short term, McAfee knows who the FBI is working with for the workaround for the unlocked iPhone 5c and he noted that: "I promise you that [Apple CEO] Tim Cook and Apple are not going to be happy with the solution that the FBI has come up with, Because it is almost as bad as a universal master key."

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Samsung's PR machine is in full stride. Every time a new smartphone is launched they claim that sales are way ahead of schedule. It never fails  and each time over the last several years, reality showed the new phones were never as popular as hyped. Last year we posted a report titled "Mixed Profits Picture from Galaxy S6 Suppliers Indicate that the new Smartphone isn't the hit that they were hoping for." The Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge were losers. This year's S7 offers little excitement for consumers and yet it's magically having strong sales.

A new Korean report published today states that "Samsung Electronics' latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S7 is enjoying strong sales since its launch on March 11. The company is not revealing sales figures, but industry watchers say the phone could become the best-selling Galaxy phone ever."

The report further noted that "In the U.S. and Europe, pre-orders more than doubled compared to the Galaxy S6, the website said. Nomura Securities predicted the Galaxy S7 sales could hit the 9 million mark by the end of this month that exceeded the earlier estimates of some 8 million units. Based on the positive customer reaction, analysts also upgraded their own sales outlook for the new Samsung phone."

Samsung's mobile chief and president Koh Dong-jin told reporters Wednesday after a weekly CEO meeting held at the Seoul headquarters that "We are upbeat about the current sales pace," but declined to comment on the sales target.

So who's upbeat and who is pumping the Samsung numbers? Basically analysts who want the stock to perform better. They even stooped to quote a US blogger who made a wild prediction of sales with no absolutely no proof to support their claims.

The news of sales exceeding expectations also has a clear context: T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are now offering 2 for 1 deals on the new Galaxy S7. These are huge carriers that will be able to move a lot of volume and I'm sure that Samsung has made this offer available to other carriers around the globe.

Imagine if Apple ever offered a 2 for 1 deal on a new flagship iPhone. Volume would go through the roof. There would be line-ups wrapped around the block several times over and be presented on the news as a pure chaos in every major city.

And lastly, pre-orders are reportedly higher than last year. Once again, Samsung offered all those pre-ordering the new S7 a free Galaxy Gear VR headset. With massive giveaways like that, analysts should be running from the stock, not embracing it. Next we'll be hearing how great their Gear VR headset is selling, even though they're giveaways in promotions. It's a joke.



If Samsung has to give away half of their new flagship smartphones in order to break a record, then you know that it is shear panic time at Samsung. It shows that they've lost confidence in the value of their devices. It shows that without gimmicks, they can no longer go head to head with Apple's flagship products.

While some analysts are hyping this up, it has to be seen for what it is  another disaster for Samsung who once again thinks that profitless volume has any meaning. Samsung's shareholders recently expressed their angry over deteriorating performance. This massive discounted tactic is truly a nightmare come true for those shareholders.

Even some level headed analysts have recently said that Samsung has lost its Luster due to a Lack of Profits.This latest round of heavy discounting with 2 for 1 deals isn't going to change their thinking anytime soon.



In the end, the news that the Samsung 'Galaxy S7' is breaking sales records is nothing more than a marketing shell game gone mad.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend.
Thanks to the growth of subscription streaming services such Apple Music and Spotify the Recording Industry Association of America said its overall revenues rose nearly 1% in estimated retail value last year to $7 billion, or to about $5 billion in wholesale value. It was the fifth consecutive year that the market posted slight gains in wholesale value.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Subscription streaming revenues jumped 52% to $1.2 billion, with consumers paying for an average of 10.8 million subscriptions for the full year, and about 13 million subscriptions in December. Streaming now accounts for the biggest component of the U.S. market, with 34% of the recorded-music industry's revenues reaped from streaming in 2015, up from 27% the prior year.

The streaming boom was aided by the launches last year of Apple Inc.'s Apple Music and Jay Z's streaming service Tidal, and it has more than offset declines in sales of CDs and digital downloads. About 122 million CDs were shipped last year, down from 142 million in 2014, while 1 billion digital singles were sold, down from nearly 1.2 billion singles in 2014. Digital album sales declined 7% to 109 million."

While the industry appears to be happy about overall revenues being up a paltry 1%, it looks as though the shift in music isn't quite settled yet. I think people are still experimenting with the streaming music craze.

With Apple clocking in 10 million new music streaming customers by the end of 2015, I'm surprised that revenues weren't a little higher. In fact, without Apple's big push, for sure that paltry 1% growth in revenues would have been in negative territory for 2015. The music industry should be thanking Apple for any increase in revenue this year, plain and simple. I assume the thank you card is in the mail.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend.
Late yesterday we posted a report titled "John McAfee Knows who the FBI is working with and Apple's Tim Cook isn't going to be Happy about it." While McAfee didn't want to publicize the company the FBI was using to unlock the iPhone 5c by name, an Israeli publication steps in this morning to reveal the identity of the company.

The Israeli newspaper the Yedioth Ahronoth, reports that "The FBI has been reportedly using the services of the Israeli-based company Cellebrite in its effort to break the protection on a terrorist's locked iPhone, according to experts in the field familiar with the case.

Although Cellebrite has not responded to the report, it is indeed able to break into the terrorist's iPhone and bring the high-stakes legal showdown between the government and Apple to an abrupt end.

Cellebrite, considered one of the leading companies in the world in the field of digital forensics, has been working with the world's biggest intelligence, defense and law enforcement authorities for many years. Cellebrite's technology is able to extract valuable information from cellular devices that could be used in criminal and intelligence. Cellebrite is a subsidiary of Japan's Sun Corp.

Apple said on Monday that if the government was successful in getting into the phone, which might involve taking advantage of previously undiscovered vulnerabilities, it hoped officials would share information on how they did so. But if the government drops the legal case, it would be under no obligation to provide information to Apple."

BloombergBusiness wrote about this specifically this morning by stating that "The FBIs new tactic may be subject to a relatively new and little-known rule that would require the government to tell Apple about any vulnerability potentially affecting millions of iPhones unless it can show a group of administration officials that theres a substantial national security need to keep the flaw secret. This process, known as an equities review, was created by the Obama administration to determine if new security flaws should be kept secret or disclosed, and gives the government a specific time frame for alerting companies to the flaws."

Yet Taddeo, who is now the chief security officer for cybersecurity company Cryptzone stated that "I dont think the government is obligated to tell Apple. The government is obligated to do whats in the public interest."

Taddeo's point was later supported when the report notes that "the White House carved out an exception for the FBI and other agencies to keep information about software vulnerabilities from manufacturers and the public on national security grounds."

In the end, whether the news out of Israel this morning is true or simply a company taking advantage of the situation to gain marketing exposure is unknown at this time.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend.
A guest post by Michael Fouts, Executive Director of the Grand Maitreya Project West

In todays world the majority of new construction projects and monuments are created with a commercial interest in mind. There seems to be fewer symbols of love and peace being created these days, especially in the west. With the current state of the world and the real need for peace on Earth, creating more universal symbols of love and peace seems to be more important than ever before.

In 1924 Mongolia became a victim of occupation followed by a revolution from soviet communists. By 1939 most all of their 1,000 Buddhist monasteries perished along with most of Mongolias Buddha statues and other symbols of love, only one monastery was left standing. More than 30,000 Buddhist monks lost their lives in the struggle. During this time most all of the Mongolian people were moved away from their spiritual heritage of Tibetan Buddhism.

Now, new hope arises in the hearts of the Mongolian people as Mongolia is currently experiencing the joy and excitement of a nationwide cultural re-connection with their spiritual roots of Loving  Kindness. After many years of occupation, 200 brave Mongolian people staged a peaceful protest in 1989 that eventually sparked into a nationwide cultural revolution. By 1990 the occupying forces retreated and Mongolia once again re-gained their spiritual freedoms. Aiming to re-build and re-connect fully with their ancient culture of Tibetan Buddhism the Mongolian people have largely turned to HH Dalai Lama for guidance during this time of great transition.

Both the Dalai Lama and Maitreya Buddha have special connections and a wonderful history with the people of Mongolia. In 1577 the country leader Altan Khan, with the goal of uniting the Mongolian people, invited the head of the Gelug tradition Sonam Gyatso to visit. While living in a famous Mongolian Maitreya Temple Sonam Gyatso successfully spread the teachings of Buddhism to numerous people throughout Mongolia. Altan Khan bestowed the name Dalai Lama (Ocean Lama) upon Sonam Gyatso automatically making him the 3rd Dalai Lama. The 4th Dalai Lama was born inside of Mongolia as the great grandson of Altan Khan and ever since the Dalai Lamas have played a key role in the Buddhist culture of Mongolia.

Maitreyas connection with the Dalai Lama line and the Mongolian people is depicted in famous Buddhist Mongol art, where it showcases the spreading of the Buddhist tradition outside of Tibet. Long have Maitreya statues and regular rituals been commonplace in Mongolias daily life and up until the cultural revolution of the 20th century there were many Maitreya statues for the people to visit.

At the heart of the Mongolian peoples spiritual re-connection and under the spiritual guidance of HH Dalai Lama is the Grand Maitreya Project. The Project aims to help further Mongolias cultural revival by building the worlds largest beacon of Loving  Kindness. At the projects center will be a 177 foot tall statue of the standing Maitreya Bodhisattva. Maitreya is the Buddha, or Bodhisattva of Loving  Kindness. Connected to the statue will be a Kadampa stupa designed in the likeness of Lama Atishas own personal stupa. The stupa will house several interior teaching and meditation levels along with holy relics and other artifacts of the historical Buddha.

According to a text by Kaching Yeshe Gyaltsen, one of the tutors to the 8th Dalai Lama, by building Maitreya Buddha statues now, we can shorten the period of darkness and suffering in the world.

Building large statues of Maitreya was an ancient spiritual tradition for many of the high Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhist lamas of the past. Many of the Lamas teach that the larger and more beautiful the statue of love is, the more people will learn about it, come into contact and benefit from this. The historical Buddha explained that when one sees an image of love and peace it makes one think of peace. At that time a positive seed is planted. The Projects intention is that the size and beauty of this Grand Maitreya statue will bring this sacred symbol of Loving-Kindness back to the beautiful people of Mongolia and at the same time to the attention of many people throughout the entire planet. Helping to create the needed conditions for peace on Earth.

The statue site is located in a place Mongolian people affectionately call Heart Hill, just outside of the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The statue site will be home to a new holy place for the Dalai Lama and will serve as an educational, spiritual and cultural center for the world. The statue site will also feature non-sectarian & international Buddhist centers representing many different lineages and traditions from around the world. Making the Project a unique place for all spiritual traditions to come together in peace.

The Project is a non-profit, non-government organization with offices in Mongolia and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Project is being conducted under a spiritual advisory board led by the Dalai Lama, leader of Mongolian Buddhism HE Khamba Lama Gyabje Choijamts Demberel, Lama Jhado Rinpoche and Venerable Thupten Ngodup State Oracle of Tibet. Board of Trustee advisers include Professor Robert Thurman of NY City.

Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin, the President of Mongolia, declared on February 8th, 2013 that he considered the project to be part of the nations re-development. He considered creating the highest statue of Maitreya Buddha along with a Stupa of Buddhas speech and bliss, an important step. He spoke of the value and significance of the project for the re-balancing of the entire country and for the world.

Once the statue and stupa are complete, the project will then work to help create a culture of Loving-Kindness for the world. One of the goals of the project is to offer free meditation training and many other educational services for people of all faiths and backgrounds.

I am pleased and happy to know that the main part of the Grand Maitreya Project will be dedicated for supporting education. ~ HH Dalai Lama

The Project is currently conducting a Fundly campaign to complete the statue construction, with Maitreya Bodhisattva statues and other special gifts for contributors. To find out more and support the Grand Maitreya Project visit: https://fundly.com/grand-maitreya-project-west
Rational, sane, compassionate people who come face to face with the unthinkable violence of Muslim extremist terrorists have to be asking themselves what are these people after? What do they want? What can they possibly think they are accomplishing?

The very best answer Ive found to these questions, at least as they relate to ISIS sponsored terrorism, comes from an article that ran in The Atlantic earlier this year called What ISIS Really Wants. The first premise of the article seems spot on: from top to bottom, American ignorance about Islamic extremism, ISIS in particular, is a problem:

Our ignorance of the Islamic State is in some ways understandable: It is a hermit kingdom; few have gone there and returned. Baghdadi has spoken on camera only once. But his address, and the Islamic States countless other propaganda videos and encyclicals, are online, and the caliphates supporters have toiled mightily to make their project knowable. We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger ofand headline player inthe imminent end of the world. The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (isis), follows a distinctive variety of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy, and can help the West know its enemy and predict its behavior. Its rise to power is less like the triumph of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (a group whose leaders the Islamic State considers apostates) than like the realization of a dystopian alternate reality in which David Koresh or Jim Jones survived to wield absolute power over not just a few hundred people, but some 8 million.

What do they want?

The Islamic State awaits the army of Rome, whose defeat at Dabiq, Syria, will initiate the countdown to the apocalypse.

What ISIS wants to do is create a world-wide backlash against themselves. They are trying to be as bloody, violent, outlandish, and cruel as they can possibly be in order to lure the west into all out war. Their belief is that Allah will then intervene on their behalf & they will win this apocalyptic war with supernatural aid. This will usher in a new era of Islamic dominance and independence.

What to do about it? The worst thing western powers can do is to overreact and take the bait. Great nations call terror what it is: cold blooded murder. Terrorists are not warriors, they are cold blooded murderers. The article recommends an attempt to counter & contain ISIS for the simple reason that, unless the west bites and engages in a holy war, ISIS is unsustainable.

Properly contained, the Islamic State is likely to be its own undoing. No country is its ally, and its ideology ensures that this will remain the case. The land it controls, while expansive, is mostly uninhabited and poor. As it stagnates or slowly shrinks, its claim that it is the engine of Gods will and the agent of apocalypse will weaken, and fewer believers will arrive. And as more reports of misery within it leak out, radical Islamist movements elsewhere will be discredited: No one has tried harder to implement strict Sharia by violence. This is what it looks like.

The full article is well worth your time
"We're not used to seeing growth in our check business," said Deluxe's Tracey Engelhardt, who reports a 6% to 7% increase in revenue for check orders from businesses and consumers in each of the last three quarters, driven by various factors originating from the pandemic.
U.S. Arrest Of Iranian Trader Shakes Turkish Markets, Government

03/23/16

Source: RFE/RL

The U.S. arrest of Iranian-born Reza Zarrab reverberated in Turkey on March 22 as the well-connected gold trader was at the center of a bribery scandal that once engulfed Turkey's leadership.



Reza Zarrab was at the center of a graft scandal in Turkey in 2013.





The U.S. charges that Zarrab helped the Iranian government and businesses get around economic sanctions came as a blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly insisted that 2013 allegations of corruption against him and his inner circle were nothing more than a coup attempt.

The scandal centered around Zarrab in 2013 prompted Erdogan to dismiss thousands of state employees, police officers, and prosecutors, putting many in jail. Many were forced to leave the country.

Zarrab is denying any wrongdoing in either the U.S. criminal case filed on March 21 or the 2013 Turkish public investigation, saying his business was legitimate. All charges against him and members of Erdogan's government were eventually dropped.

Zarrab, who holds Turkish and Iranian citizenship, was charged and detained in the graft probe in Turkey in 2013. In that case, he was accused of bribing ministers in Erdogan's cabinet with millions of dollars in cash and gifts to help facilitate trade in gold with Iran.

Zarrab and his accomplices began using a network of companies in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to transact business on Iran's behalf and defraud the United States, according to the U.S. indictment.

Companies benefiting from the scheme included Bank Mellat, an Iranian government-owned bank, the National Iranian Oil Company, and the Naftiran Intertrade Company, it said.

In a television interview on Turkey's pro-government A Haber news in April 2014, Zarrab estimated he had facilitated the transfer of about $12 billion in gold to Iran.

Erdogan defended Zarrab after the Turkish investigation was dropped, calling him a "philanthropist" whose business had "contributed to the country."





Reza Zarrab (L) at a wedding with the wife of Turkish President Erdogan





The announcement of Zarrab's arrest in Miami where he was vacationing with his wife and children came a week before Erdogan is scheduled to visit the United States.

Zarrab's detention also shook the Turkish stock market on March 22 and unnerved investors in Turkey's state-controlled Halkbank, which was under scrutiny in the 2013 investigation.

Shares of the Turkish bank dropped more than 8 percent on March 22, forcing the bank to issue a statement saying it is not the subject of investigation in Turkey or the United States.

Zarrab was born in Iran but grew up in Turkey and shares a $72 million villa on Istanbul's waterfront with his wife, Ebru Gundes, a Turkish pop star and celebrity.

With reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters, Huffington Post, and Hurriyet Daily News



Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Families stage "Norooz" sit-in for political prisoners kept in Evin

03/23/16 Source: Radio Zamaneh

Families of Iranian political prisoners who were not granted a furlough for Norooz spent the first hours of the New Year on March 20 staging a sit-in outside Evin Prison to be closer to their relatives.





The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Monday March 21 that supporters of Mohammad Taheri, the founder of Erfan Halgheh (interuniversalism), and a number of political prisoners that were not given furloughs for Norooz gathered outside Evin Prison and some, including the father of jailed cartoonist Atena Forghdani were beaten by the security forces.

Mohammad Nourizad, a dissident journalist and filmmaker who was part of the gathering, reports that 15 plainclothes officers prevented the families from entering Evin and tried to scatter the group.

Nourizad reports that at around 8 AM on Sunday, one of the plainclothes officials attacked the group, slapping one and kicking another. For Iranian New Year, the judiciary usually issues temporary leaves to most political prisoners to spend Norooz with their families.
The best 2-in-1 laptop 2022: our picks of the best convertible laptops

These are the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy right now
CTLs new J5 Rugged Convertible Chromebook offers versatility: It can be used as a laptop or a tablet, and pricing starts at just $249.

The device has an 11.6-inch touchscreen that can rotate to turn into a Chrome OS tablet. It is designed similar to Lenovos popular Yoga hybrids.

At the entry-level $249 price, the Chromebook doesnt boast premium features. The screen displays images at a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, in line with other low-cost Chromebooks.

The J5 Rugged Convertible Chromebook runs on an Intel Celeron N3050 architecture based on the Braswell chip design. It has 16GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, two USB ports, an HDMI slot, a webcam and a Micro-SD slot for additional storage.

The Chromebooks battery life is about 10 hours, according to the company.

It is now available for pre-order on the companys Web site. CTL didnt provide a shipping date, and the company did not respond to requests for information on availability.

Chromebooks are aimed at people who do most of their computing on the Internet. They run Googles Chrome OS, and touchscreen support was added to the OS last year.

Google has promoted Chromebooks as a low-cost replacement to Windows PCs, especially with more people using Web-based applications. Chromebook shipments are growing, especially in the education market, and CTL is releasing its laptop in time for the back-to-school shopping season.

The CTL Chromebook has competition from similar models with touchscreens that can flip around to turn the device into a tablet. But there are configuration differences.

Asus Chromebook Flip is priced at $239 on Amazon.com, and runs on an ARM-based processor from RockChip, considered slower than Intel chips for Chromebooks.

Acers entry-level Chromebook R11 is priced starting at $276 on Amazon, but has 32GB of storage. Lenovos $180 100S Chromebook has a touchscreen, but it cant be used in tablet mode.
They arrived with bravado, promising to shake up the Inland grocery scene.

Eight years later, Fresh & Easy was gone, another victim of the supermarket skirmish that has seen smaller stores slayed by local favorite Stater Bros. and big-box behemoths.

The latest rival sets foot on the retail battlefield Thursday, March 24, when discount grocer Aldi aims to carve its slice of the vast Southern California market hungry for rock-bottom food prices. Their arsenal includes exclusive brands, low overhead and deep discounts.

The company, headquartered near Chicago, will debut its first eight stores in the state, all in the Inland area. It plans to open about 45 outlets in eight counties this year and boost its nationwide total from nearly 1,500 to about 2,000 stores by the end of 2018.

Throwing out the welcome mat will be Beaumont, Fontana, La Quinta, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Palm Springs, San Bernardino and Yucaipa.

Aldi, which has a regional headquarters and warehouse in Moreno Valley, hasnt announced future store locations and opening dates.

I love it, said Gigi Blair, who lives in Alexandria, Va., and was visiting the Moreno Valley store Monday, March 21, with a friend during an unofficial opening.

Blair said shes a regular shopper at the Aldi store near her home. Shelves are stocked with nutritious food and Aldi brand yogurt tastes as good as the better-known labels, she said.

The prices and the products are great, she said. I think theyll be very popular here.

UNPRECEDENTED LOW PRICES

Aldi officials are ready to face the competition.

The same low-cost, no-frills formula thats worked elsewhere will succeed locally, said Moreno Valley division vice president Gordon Nesbit.

Weve been here (in the United States) for 40 years, he said. Weve got it down. We know that our model works. We bring unprecedented high quality and unprecedented low prices. That combination has yet to be seen in Southern California.

Aldi opened in Germany in 1961 and arrived on U.S. shores in Iowa in 1976. The company is controlled by the Albrecht family in Germany. Aldi stores generally have five aisles and 10,000 to 12,000 square feet of retail space  making them about four times smaller than the typical supermarket.

Each store carries about 1,500 items, more than 90 percent of which are sold with private, Aldi-brand labels that include an exclusive SimplyNature line of organic foods and liveGfree brands of gluten-free foods.

While other stores offer multiple sizes and brands of the same product, Aldi typically carries one or two options for common grocery items such as peanut butter.

Aldi doesnt offer a deli counter, bakery, banking, check cashing and other frills available at many supermarkets, Nesbit said.

To save time on stocking, individual items are not unpacked from shipping boxes on the shelves. Shoppers bag their own groceries and are encouraged to supply their own bags. They can rent carts for a quarter, refundable upon return, to keep workers from spending time retrieving them.

Each store has an average of 19 employees.

TOUGH COMPETITION

Aldis Inland markets are tailored to local tastes and feature expanded fruit and vegetable offerings, larger wine selections and more healthy food choices than its stores in other regions, Nesbit said.

Local Aldi stores also have a Hispanic food section to cater to Latino shoppers  a growing customer base representing about half the Inland population.

Given the regions high level of poverty, especially among Latinos, a low-price strategy makes sense, Redlands-based economist John Husing said.

Cardenas, a Hispanic-themed chain with more than two dozen stores in Southern California and Las Vegas, has nailed that market and is going to be tough to compete with, Husing said.

Aldi may take about two years to catch on locally because most Inland residents havent heard of them, said David Livingston, a Milwaukee-based supermarket analyst.

But the companys cost-cutting approach, along with offering steep discounts and stressing a limited number of popular products, makes it poised for long-term success, he said.

Nobody can beat Aldis on price, Livingston said. They should do very well.

VERY OPTIMISTIC

Another Inland rival doesnt worry Stater Bros. Executive Chairman Jack Brown, who urged Aldi to bring it on.

The San Bernardino-based company has 169 stores, 18,000 employees and made $4.2 billion in sales in 2015, Brown said.

He noted the failures of Fresh N Easy and Haggen Inc., which filed bankruptcy protection last year and closed its California stores.

Weve been here for 80 years, Brown said. Well continue to be the No. 1 supermarket in the area.

Nesbit, Aldis Moreno Valley division vice president, welcomes the challenge. With roughly 25 million people, Southern California offers a huge retail opportunity, he said.

Even without Fresh N Easy and Haggen, theres still a grocery competitor on every corner, Nesbit said. Were going to come in and potentially disrupt the market with the value were bringing in. Were very optimistic.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 or swall@pressenterprise.com
The Apple-FBI encryption case for a brute force look inside an iPhone used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino atttack may get resolved without the tech companys creation of software to help the government hack the device.

But legal questions and other issues will be left untangled, if the unnamed outside party working with the government does manage to get past security protections and allow investigators to see any existing data on the iPhone 5c issued to Syed Rizwan Farook by San Bernardino County.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym on Monday canceled a much-anticipated hearing set for Tuesday March 22 on whether Apple could be forced by court order to create the software for the FBI get past the iPhones iOS9 operating systems security measures.

Pym also stayed her Feb. 16 order that brought about the court fight. Apple attorneys said the order was based on the governments assertion that only Apple technicians could create the hacking software. Now someone else might.

Apple sought to vacate the order  but the court fight is on hold.

The next date for the case in Riverside federal court is an April 5 deadline for the government to report on the status of its work on the phone.

David Bowdich, the chief of the FBIs Los Angeles office, said Tuesday it will take at least two weeks to know whether the alternate method can safely unlock the iPhone used by Farook.

It was issued to Farook for use in his work as a county health inspector. With wife Tashfeen Malik, Farook attacked a gathering of his co-workers at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on Dec. 2. Fourteen victims died and 22 were wounded. Farook and Malik died a few hours later in a shootout with police.

The iPhone was recovered the next day in a warrant search of Farooks mothers car. The iPhone was owned by the county, but Farook created the personal pass code to open it, stalling efforts to open the phone and look at its data.

There are many ways to hack a device, some take longer than others. Chances are that the publicity drew out some folks who had been working on these types of issues and the FBI decided to do it on their own, wrote said Tony Coulson, Cal State San Bernardino professor of information and decision sciences, and director of the schools Cyber Security Center.

This avoids a precedentsetting court showdown, said Coulson said in an email on Tuesday.

ISSUES WONT GO AWAY

But to paraphrase a familiar line from the court papers, the issue is not about one case in Riverside federal court.

Less-famous cases exist elsewhere that might raise the same questions as the Farook iPhone search warrant. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in February his office has 175 Apple devices he cant access. Lawyers have said Apple has opposed the requests to help extract information from over a dozen iPhones in California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York.

The issues wont go away with a reset command in Riverside.

Among them:

 Use of the 1789 All Writs Act, which the government had cited to obtain Pyms order, and whether its broad language can be construed to permit a court to order a private party to assist the government in a search of a computer device, wrote Loyola Law School professor Simona Grossi in an email.

 And when and how Congress will act to fill in the gaps between the law and emerging encryption technology that put the case in court, in the absence of any firm guidance from legislation.

I am hopeful that Congress recognizes the importance of this issue and takes on consideration of how our laws should be adjusted to account for these advances in technology, said Stephen Larson, an attorney and former federal judge who filed a friend-of-the court brief in the case on behalf of a half-dozen family members of victims in the shooting.

There are a number of legitimate interests that should be balanced, including law enforcement, national security, and privacy rights. I believe that Congress should provide the courts with guidance on how those interests should be balanced under the law, he said Tuesday.

Larson said victims viewpoint is larger than whether an Apple-FBI court battle is avoided.

The interest of the victims has always been that the government obtain the information, so we are certainly pleased that the government can do that, Larson said.

But, Grossi noted, there is nothing in the governments request for a stay to Judge Pym that it wont seek future orders with respect to other digital devices.

HACK EFFORTS NOT SURPRISING

The Farook iPhone case also raises issues that have not caught as much public awareness but are vital, said Riana Pfefferkorn, a fellow at The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School.

How will this affect the behind-the-scenes relationship between tech companies and the government? she asked.

Apple and other tech companies have cooperated and advised the government on how to obtain shared cloud information not protected by encryption, for instance. Apple did so in the Farook investigation.

But if the government goes to another party, tech companies might say, you have your own tools  why should we make accommodations? Pfefferkorn said.

Warrant language also has stepped out as an issue in cases that involve data capturing and electronic devices, she said.

Government warrants may not be as informative as they need to be, perhaps, for a judge to understand the consequences of what is being sought, she said.

Pfefferkorn is counsel for the iPhone security and applied cryptography experts in a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Apple. She spoke by phone from Riverside, where she had come in anticipation of the canceled Tuesday hearing.

The timing was surprising, she said of the governments disclosure Monday afternoon that it found someone other than Apple who might be able to hack the iPhone. But it is not surprising that someone was working on that.

The brief she filed for her group noted that vulnerabilities are common in software code, despite vendors best efforts, for example to prevent jailbreaks which defeat the carrier locks that tie iPhones to specific cell service providers.

When Apple releases a new iOS, scores of independent programmers study the code, successfully finding ways to circumvent Apples imposed restrictions. In response, Apple issues software updates to defeat those jailbreaks.

Eventually, the jailbreaking community finds new ways to circumvent controlsIn other words, vulnerabilities in Apples software have persisted for years, even though Apple very much does not want them to.

This is a lesson for this case, the brief said.

Contact the writer: rdeatley@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9573
The Brussels terrorist attacks on Tuesday rekindled the sadness, horror and anger felt here in the wake of the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino  while also spurring calls for increased vigilance.

Police who responded to the Inland Center massacre and a victims surviving spouse had much the same reaction to the airport and subway bombings in the Belgian capital.

They said such attacks have become all too common, and the Inland region understands what Brussels residents and emergency responders are going through because it happened here.

The Islamic States bombings of Brussels brought up feelings of grief for officers including Redlands Police Sgt. Andy Capps, a watch commander who took part in the shootout that killed attackers Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

On Tuesday, Capps said he felt sorrow for Brussels dead and wounded and first responders.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims, he said. The sadness comes from a place of understanding what the first responders and their families will have to go through, and what the victims and survivors and their families will have to go through.

Redlands patrol officer Daniel Gonzales, who stood next to Capps returning the suspects fire in the Dec. 2 shootout, also felt deep sadness for Brussels victims and responding officers.

Gonzales ran through flying bullets to reach Capps and get in the fight against Farook and Malik, becoming the first uniformed officer to stand with the sergeant behind his police car.

I know what law enforcement are going through. Theyre probably terrified like the general public is, Gonzales said Tuesday morning.

Realistically, law enforcement isnt trained for terrorism. Thats what the military does. But were adapting our training styles because this is a reality that were going to have to face, he added.

BRUSSELS ATTACK: Riverside woman was at airport day of bombing

On Dec. 2, Capps tailed the suspects in a squad car from Redlands to San Bernardino. Capps said Brussels well-trained responders will put aside their emotions for now.

It is likely these events are going to sink in for them the way that it did for us after a little bit of time has passed. But first, they have a job to do and they wont let their feelings stand in the way of doing their jobs, he said.

Jennifer Thalasinos of Colton, whose husband, Nicholas, was killed in the San Bernardino shootings, said the Brussels attack brings back the horror of Dec. 2.

Ive been not having the best time anyway and this just brings it all back up, Thalasinos said.

San Bernardino police Lt. Mike Madden  one of the first two officers to get to the Inland Regional Center after the shooting began Dec. 2  said he, too, is incredibly saddened for Brussels victims and their families, and angry at the number of victims.

The carnage should push people to talk about taking increased security precautions here, he added.

If that doesnt stop you to pause and reflect on whats important, it really should incite further discussion as far as national safety and how far does that take us? he said.

Gonzales described the Brussels attack as just another cowardly attack by terrorists who misapply the Muslim faith.

I think they have an obscure vision of how that religion is supposed to be applied. I dont think any religion tells you to go out and kill innocent people, he said.

Gonzales also felt anger watching news of the attack on TVs CNN on his day off.

It angers me because I feel not only our military, but the other nations that are affected by this, should be going out and putting the fight to ISIS and putting an end to this, he said.

Officers and Thalasinos said terrorist attacks have become a regular occurrence here and in other countries. Thalasinos said she doesnt think she could avoid knowing about such events because they happen with such frequency.

You cant not think about it now. It seems like this is our new normal, she said.

Police encouraged the community to stay alert to other potential terrorists and to report possible threats.

The continued attacks on the innocent people of civilized countries, and law enforcement, reinforces the need to never let our guard down, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said in a prepared statement.

Americans are outraged in the wake of terrorist attacks. But soon after, some seem more concerned about airport delays and privacy invasions because theyre required to remove shoes and undergo body scans, Madden said.

The San Bernardino attack should still make people stop and think.

I think about Dec. 2 every day since it occurred, he said. Certainly having lived through it, as many other first responders did on that day, those images make a lasting impression on your mind and your psyche.

Contact the writer: Staff writers Mark Muckenfuss and Richard K. De Atley contributed to this report.
The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, The Associated Press has learned.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed to have entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered more or less everywhere.

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capitals airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesdays attacks  this time for a man seen on security footage in the airport with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslams path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders

Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: So what if he was arrested? Well show you that it doesnt change a thing, said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldnt be happening, she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesdays attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but hed signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a secret cell of soldiers dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks.

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving IS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training, he said. Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. Its more about the rhythm of terror operations now.

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but IS has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these external operation units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesdays attacks, Abdeslams arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution, said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether theyre logistically linked  theyre probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria.

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape, said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days, Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be a Brussels resident with a degree in mechanical engineering  the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material, although Laachraoui has not been publicly linked to the latest attack.

And Laachraoui, like the unidentified man seen wearing a white jersey at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.

RELATED

Brussels attacks reawaken horror of San Bernardino

Suspects sought in airport incident

Inland Muslims reject candidates calls for monitoring mosques

Dec. 2 memories return for wife of San Bernardino victim

No credible threat to US, says Homeland Security

President Obama pledges support, calls for unity

US will go after the IS group aggressively
The board which oversees the Southern California Fair announced on Wednesday, March 16, that local business-owner Carl Wuersch has been appointed the fairs new Chief Executive Officer.

Wuersch, 61, of Moreno Valley, replaces Cindy Caruso, who held the position since 2014 and recently retired, according to a news release from the Southern California Fair and Events Center Board of Directors.

Wuersch is the owner of Inland Carpet Cleaning Services and has been the fairs maintenance and cleaning services coordinator for 10 years, the release stated.

The 2016 Southern California Fair is Oct. 1-9 at the Lake Perris Fairgrounds.
Hackers demanded a ransom from two more Southern California hospitals last week and federal authorities are investigating the case.

Prime Healthcare Services Inc., a fast-growing national hospital chain, said the attackers infiltrated computer servers on Friday at two of its California hospitals, Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino and Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville.

The company said the cyberattack had not affected patient safety or compromised records on patients or staff.

Two sources familiar with the investigation said the hackers had demanded a ransom to unlock the hospital computer systems, similar to what happened last month at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles. Hollywood Presbyterian said it paid $17,000 in bitcoin to hackers to regain access to the institutions computers.

Fred Ortega, a spokesman for Prime Healthcare, declined to comment on whether Prime received a ransom demand or paid any money, citing the ongoing investigation.

This is similar to challenges hospitals across the country are facing, and we have taken extraordinary steps to protect and expeditiously find a resolution to this disruption, Ortega said. The concern now is to let law enforcement do their thing and find the culprit.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Tuesday we are investigating a compromise of the network at these locations. She declined to discuss specifics of the case. The FBI also has been investigating the attack at Hollywood Presbyterian.

Ortega said the two hospitals affected remain operational and steps are being taken to restore their computer systems to full functionality. He said some IT systems were shut down by hospital staff as a preventive measure so malicious software didnt spread further.

The company said its working with data security experts and the California Department of Public Health on the matter.

Prime Healthcare, based in Ontario, Calif., has acquired struggling hospitals across the country and has become one of the nations largest health systems. It runs 42 hospitals in 14 states. The company is led by its outspoken chairman and chief executive, Dr. Prem Reddy.

A series of high-profile data breaches in the past year have raised fresh questions about the ability of hospitals, health insurers and other medical providers to safeguard the vast troves of electronic medical records and other sensitive data they are stockpiling on millions of Americans.

Prime Healthcare has faced trouble over lapses on patient privacy in the past.

In 2013, the company agreed to a $275,000 settlement to resolve a federal investigation involving a breach of patient confidentiality. Officials found that Primes Shasta Regional Medical Center had shared a womans medical files with journalists and sent an email about her treatment to all hospital employees.
A Hesperia man who saved a young boy from a dog attack in 2015 is one of 24 people in the U.S. and Canada to be deemed a hero this year by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

Jeff Houlemard, 36, will receive a Carnegie Hero medal for buting through a fence without hesitation and stopping a police K-9 that was mauling his handlers 4-year-old son.

Houlemard called the award humbling and said he was glad he could help the boy, Hunter Mastaler.

Its kind of good to know that I have that instinct to react, Houlemard said during a telephone interview Tuesday, March 22, the day the awards were announced. I guess sometimes it can get me in trouble, but this time it paid off.

On Feb. 8, 2015, Hunters father, Michael Mastaler of the Rialto Police Department, had just returned home with his K-9 partner Jango, a Belgian Malinois, from a two-day session teaching at-risk youth.

Mastaler left the dog in the backyard and went upstairs to change his clothes. Hunters mother was at the store.

Hunter went outside and the dog attacked. A 60-year-old neighbor woman heard the boy screaming and yelled for two boys playing football nearby to help. One of them was 13-year-old Logan Houlemard, who ran and got his dad.

Jeff Houlemard rushed to the scene.

I never stopped running, he said Tuesday. I didnt even check if gate to the fence was unlocked. I just ran right into it and gained access to the backyard.

Jango was still attacking Hunter when Houlemard arrived, with the boys leg in his mouth. Houlemard started kicking the dog, but the attack continued, so he pried the dogs muzzle open enough to slip the boys leg out.

Hunter had to have his left leg amputated just above the ankle, but the outcome could have been much worse were it not for Houlemards quick action, the boys father said.

Michael Mastaler said that, more than a year after the attack, his son is in good shape.

It was very extensive, especially for a little boy, he said of the injuries the dog caused. But hes doing very well now. Hes doing very well with his prosthetic and is back to normal.

Mastaler said he felt Houlemard was deserving of the award.

First and foremost, Im extremely grateful for what he did, he said. He didnt know what kind of injury he might have sustained from that dog  He did a wonderful job and Im very grateful.

Mastaler described Houlemard as a family man.

I think thats what inspired him to do what he did, he said. He understands what it is to be a dad and a parent so he handled business.

Following the attack, the dog was retired from police work and taken in by Alderhorst International, the Jurupa Valley training facility that had sold Jango to the Rialto Police Department. Mastaler said Tuesday he didnt know what has happened to the dog since then.

Houlemard said he learned he received the Hero award Tuesday after getting both a phone call and a letter in the mail.

The medals are named for Pittsburgh steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by stories of heroism during a coal mine disaster that killed 181 people, including a miner and an engineer who died trying to rescue others.

The commission responsible for the award has given away $38 million to 9,845 awardees or their families since 1904.

Houlemard says he has received many thanks from the boys family, which he understands as a parent but says are not necessary.

No one really needs to say anything, he said. I know how grateful everyone who had a hand in it truly is.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9693 or agroves@pressenterprise.com
Update: March 24, 7:15 a.m.: Munoz said officials would likely confirm whether the search would continue into Thursday later in the morning.

A Riverside man who was boating with his four children Sunday at Lake Perris disappeared into the water after rescuing his 8-year-old son who had fallen overboard, a park official said Wednesday.

Abel Cisneros-Brambila, 38, still has not been located. A Riverside County Sheriffs Department dive team continued searching Wednesday, said state parks Perris sector Superintendent John Rowe. Lake Perris is part of a state recreation area.

UPDATE: AUTHORITIES STILL SEARCHING FOR CISNEROS-BRAMBILAS BODY

UPDATE: Mans body surfaces after over a week of searching

The lakes size, murky waters and uncertainty about where exactly Cisneros-Brambila was when he drowned are making the search difficult, Rowe said.

The surface area of Lake Perris is about 2,000 acres and its circumference is about 12 miles. It is 65 feet deep.

Cisneros-Brambila was on the lake about 3 p.m. Sunday in his 19-foot Pleasurecraft boat with his four children  ages 3, 5, 8 and 14  when the 8-year-old fell in, Rowe said. While there were life jackets on the boat, nobody was wearing one, he said.

Cisneros-Brambila jumped into the lake and asked his 14-year-old daughter to throw out a rope. He helped his son grab the rope and be hauled back onto the boat, but then went under the water and drowned, Rowe said.

The 14-year-old called police from her cellphone, and two state park officers on a patrol boat got to the children, Rowe said. They flagged down another boat and had an adult go onto the boat the children were on to take them back to shore.

The officers put up a white buoy where Cisneros-Brambila was last seen and the search began.

The Sheriffs Department sent its dive team to search the lake bottom, but poor visibility has made the search difficult, Rowe said. Below 40 feet, divers can see only about a foot in front of them.

The location of the drowning also makes the search problematic, Rowe said. The drowning occurred literally right in the middle of the lake, he said, so there are few landmarks to reference. The only witnesses to the drowning were Cisneros-Brambilas children.

Authorities triangulated the 911 cellphone call to determine the search location, but they dont know how far the boat may have drifted between when Cisneros-Brambila went under and when the call was made.

The dive team was out on the lake Wednesday afternoon on a pontoon boat that was dragging sonar equipment below the surface. Not many people were at the lake Wednesday afternoon, which Rowe said was normal for a weekday. Ciserneros-Brambilas family was watching the divers from a bench in the parking lot, and were getting briefed throughout the day from state park officers.
Pastor Dave Serven has found a way to reach out to the community more often than every Sunday by installing prayer crosses at the two churches where he preaches: Winchester Community United Methodist and San Jacinto United Methodist.

Each location now features a simple, white wooden cross with a black metal lockbox attached that reads: Prayer Requests. Below the lockbox is a cylinder that contains papers and pencils to write the request and insert it into the lockboxs top slot.

Serven plans to gather the papers at least twice a week while visiting the churches for meetings and activities.

The main reason for this (project) is that a church is considered to be a vital part of any community, said Serven, 66. People can come on Sunday to ask for help but what about the other six days of the week? We as a congregation  and me as a pastor  can address these prayer needs on a regular basis.

His congregations number about 50 to 75 members each but prayer requests can be made by anyone of any faith and they can also be kept anonymous.

They are here simply to give the community a place to come and have their prayers prayed for. Its a great thing for our two churches, said Serven, who was appointed to both locations in July 2015.

The pastor got the idea when he saw a similar cross on one of the churchs news sites.

We hope to bring a sense of closeness and family to the communities  we want them to know that we are here for them, said Serven, of Fallbrook.

The prayer crosses were built and installed by volunteers from the Winchester church. Funds for materials came from the churches Outreach Ministries that was approved by its leadership committees.

He was called to the ministry about eight years ago as he watched many pastors retire. He was impressed with what they had done for their people all over the world and wanted to be a part of it.

I had no idea even 10 years ago that I would have this as a second career, said Serven, who spent many years in sales and management. But I would have it no other way.

Being the newest pastor at the churches doesnt bother him. Although he was born in California, he was raised from coast to coast. He attended 14 different schools in his lifetime and knows what it is like to be the new kid on the block.

Sometimes people dont have a way to get in touch with God during the week in the same way they do on Sundays. They need to feel connected and reassured there is someone out there that cares, Serven said. We hope these crosses are the first step to show the communities that our church is a safe and loving place where their prayers can be entrusted.

Contact the writer: dianerhodes.writer@gmail.com
Big Bob's Flooring

The picture shows Big Bob's Flooring Outlet in Lancaster. The company plans to open a location in Hampden Twp.

(Photo provided.)

Hampden Twp. is the latest stop for a flooring company's expansion in central Pennsylvania.

Big Bob's Flooring Outlet opened a location in Lower Paxton Twp. in 2013. Last year the company opened a location in Lancaster. The company will expand once again with its newest location in Cumberland County.

In April, Big Bob's Flooring Outlet will open in Gateway Square at 97 Gateway Drive in Hampden Twp. between T.J. Maxx and Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park. The Mechancisburg area has been on the radar of the company which is looking to open as many as 10 stores in central Pennsylvania.

"We've always had our eye on Mechanicsburg," Brian Nelson, regional manager of Big Bob's Flooring Outlet said.

Big Bob's Flooring Outlet will carry a selection of flooring for residential customers including carpet, hardwood flooring, laminate flooring, ceramic tile and vinyl flooring. The store also sells a variety of rugs. The store offers a regular line of products as well as products from closeouts. Nelson says with the closeouts the company can offer choices for people on a variety of budgets.

"We're able to buy those products for a lower price and sell them for a lower price," he said.

The store also provides installation and financing, and serves residential customers within one hour of its stores. Big Bob's Flooring Outlet will open from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., Monday and Friday; 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The store which will have more than 25,000-square-feet of space, will also share space with its local parent company, Touch of Color Flooring which has been in business for about 12 years. Touch of Color Flooring serves commercial customers and also has a location in Lower Paxton Twp. Touch of Color Flooring will have a 4,000-square-foot design center for commercial customers including builders and interior designers by appointment.

Big Bob's Flooring has more than 50 locations across the United States including stores at 6305 Allentown Blvd. in Lower Paxton Twp. and 820 Plaza Blvd. in Lancaster. Big Bob's Flooring Outlet plans to open a future location in York, according to Nelson.

READ MORE: Read past articles about other companies who have opened in Gateway Square:
A 2015 Good Friday procession in Lancaster

Jose Castro, center, portrays Jesus in San Juan Bautista Church's annual Good Friday procession in Lancaster Friday, April 3, 2015. Roman soldiers are portrayed by Angelo Fuentes, left, Cesar Lima and Miguel Balbuena. This year Good Friday falls on March 25. Easter is March 27.

(Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com)

Good Friday is a Christian holiday held in honor and remembrance of Jesus's death on the cross.

Good Friday is March 25, 2016. Here is a rundown of what is open and what is closed for the holiday.

Capital Area Transit: regular schedule

Federal offices: open

State offices: open

Post office: open

State liquor stores: open

Banks: open

Dauphin and Perry county courts and offices: open

Adams, Cumberland, Lancaster, Lebanon and York county courts and offices: closed

Libraries: In the Cumberland County Library System, the East Pennsboro Branch library is closed. Dauphin County Library System is on a normal schedule. In the Lebanon County Library System, Annville and Palmyra are closed.

Schools: Most public schools are closed including Annville-Cleona, Camp Hill, Carlisle, Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley, Dauphin County Technical School, Derry Township, Donegal, East Pennsboro, Elizabethtown, Greenwood, Halifax, Harrisburg, Hempfield, Lower Dauphin, Mechanicsburg, Middletown, Millersburg, Newport, Northern York, Palmyra, Penn Manor, Shippensburg, Solanco, Susquehanna Township, Susquenita, West Perry and West Shore.

Private schools closed include Bishop McDevitt, Harrisburg Academy and Trinity.

Local government offices: If you have municipal business to attend to, call first. Many are closed including Camp Hill, Derry Township, Hampden Township, Harrisburg, Hummelstown, Lower Paxton Township, New Cumberland, Susquehanna Township and York.

Retail stores/supermarkets: open

Trash collection: Penn Waste collections will run on a normal schedule. Waste Management is operating on a normal schedule. Municipal waste collection may be affected.

The Patriot-News/PennLive.com business office: open

Since Easter is on a Sunday, government offices are closed as are banks and the post office.
A 31-year-old man charged with the death of Luis Santiago on Sept. 5, 2015, has been added to the Lancaster County's most wanted list.

Police are still looking for Jaime Alberto Santiago-Leon stemming from Santiago's murder, said Lancaster police Lt. Todd Umstead. Authorities are still pursuing all leads, but it is unknown if Santiago-Luis is still in the area, Umstead said.

Jaime Santiago-Leon

On the date of the incident, an argument ensued between Santiago and Santiago-Leon during a party in the 800 block of East Chestnut Street in Lancaster. Santiago-Leon pulled out a gun and shot the victim during the argument, police said.

A witness told police that he or she overheard the argument, and after going downstairs to investigate, saw a Hispanic man raise a gun and shoot the victim. The man then ran out of the residence through the front door, according to police. The witness identified Santiago-Leon through a photograph.

A second witness also told police a similar story and identified Santiago-Leon as the shooter from a photograph.

Santiago-Leon, of unknown address, is about 5-feet, 6-inches tall, with hazel or green eyes and weighs about 145 pounds, according to police. He is considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information related to the homicide is asked to contact police at 717-735-3300; contact Detective Robert Whiteford at 717-735-1780 or whitefor@police.co.lancaster.pa.us; Lancaster City-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-322-1913, the Submit a Tip button at www.lancasterpolice.com or by texting LANCS plus your message to 847411.

Below you'll find PennLive's interactive 2015 homicide tracker, based on news and police reports in the Midstate. You can use the map to see where homicides have occurred this year, and can click on individual icons for more information.

Below the map is a table which also displays pertinent information about each slaying, as well as a link to stories about each killing.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Under a fresh cloud of overseas violence, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded wins with their chief rivals on Tuesday and attacked each other's worldviews as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash of would-be commanders in chief.



While both front-runners scored victories in the night's biggest prize of Arizona, Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders won caucuses in Utah and Idaho and Republican Ted Cruz claimed his party's caucuses in Utah.



The victories kept Clinton and Trump from dominating another election night, but they both maintained a comfortable lead in the race for delegates that decide the presidential nominations.



Long lines and frenzied interest marked primary elections across the three Western states as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.



"This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander in chief," Clinton said in Seattle as she condemned Trump by name and denounced his embrace of torture and hardline rhetoric aimed at Muslims. "The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear."



Trump, in turn, branded Clinton as "Incompetent Hillary" as he discussed her tenure as secretary of state. "Incompetent Hillary doesn't know what she's talking about," the billionaire businessman said in an interview with Fox News. "She doesn't have a clue."



The back and forth between the front-runners came on a day when voters were eager to make their voices heard in the 2016 election.



In Utah, caucus-goers were dispatched by poll workers to local stores with orders buy reams of paper and photocopy fresh ballots amid huge turnout. The state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic.



In Arizona, voters waited two hours or more in some places to cast primary ballots, while police were called to help control traffic.



As voters flooded to the polls, the presidential candidates lashed out at each other's foreign policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.



Clinton -- and Trump's Republican rivals -- questioned the GOP front-runner's temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish U.S. involvement with NATO.



Addressing cheering supporters in Seattle, Clinton said the attacks in Brussels were a pointed reminder of "how high the stakes are" in 2016.



"We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies," she said. "We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people."



Cruz seized on Trump's foreign policy inexperience while declaring that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic State group.



"He doesn't have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief," he told reporters. "The stakes are too high for learning on the job."



The debate between the two took a detour late Tuesday night as they engaged in an unusual Twitter exchange about their wives.



The billionaire warned Cruz he would "spill the beans on your wife" after an anti-Trump group ran an ad in Utah featuring a picture of Trump's wife, Melania, from a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.



Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."



Trump's brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where early returns suggested Cruz had a chance to claim more than 50 percent of the caucus vote -- and with it, all 40 of Utah's delegates.



Yet that wouldn't make up for Trump's haul in Arizona, where he earned the state's entire trove of 58 delegates.



Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, cheered the billionaire's brash style, even as he acknowledged Trump doesn't play as well in Utah as other parts of the country.



"I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but he's human," Brady said. "I don't care."



Arizona's win gives Trump a little less than half of the Republican delegates allocated so far. That's still short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination before the party's national convention this summer.



However, Trump has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner. Overall, Trump has accumulated 739 delegates, Cruz has 425 and Kasich 143.



On the Democratic side, Clinton's delegate advantage is even greater than Trump's.



Coming off last week's five-state sweep of Sanders, the former secretary of state entered Tuesday leading by more than 300 pledged delegates. With Sanders standing to win at least 55 delegates to Clinton's 51 on Tuesday, that wasn't about to change.



Neither was Sanders' commitment to carry on.



"These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests," he said in a statement.
The US Food and Drug Administration has given its stamp of approval to Eli Lillys Taltz as a new treatment for adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Taltz (ixekizumab) is an antibody that binds to interleukin-17A, a protein that causes inflammation and plays a role in the development of the condition.

The drug is administered as an injection, and is intended for patients who are candidates for systemic therapy, phototherapy (ultraviolet light treatment) or a combination of both.

Safety and efficacy were established in three randomszed, placebo-controlled clinical trials with a total of 3,866 plaque psoriasis patients which showed that Taltz achieved greater clinical response than placebo, with skin that was clear or almost clear.

According to the data, for patients treated with the monoclonal antibody either every four weeks or every two weeks, between 78 percent and 90 percent achieved at least a 75% reduction in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score at 12 weeks.

Trial data also showed that 31 percent-41 percent of these patients achieved PASI 100, or clear skin, at week 12, compared to just 5 percent to 7 percent of those taking Pfizer/Amgens multi-billion-dollar anti-inflammatory Enbrel (etanercept).

The most common side effects reported include upper respiratory infections, injection site reactions and fungal (tinea) infections, but it can also cause serious allergic reactions and the development or worsening of inflammatory bowel disease, so patients should be closely for these conditions, the regulator stressed.
The final space budget is a shadow of its 2,315.3-billion ($56.4 billion) draft proposal circulated in the spring of 2014, before falling oil prices, the annexation of Crimea, and the resulting western sanctions sent the Russian economy into recession and forced Moscow to cut spending across the board. The very fact that the program was approved two and half months after the first year it covers had already started is evidence of tough battles the Russian space industry had to fight for each line item in the document.

Postponed were ambitious plans to build a giant super-heavy rocket, which would enable Russia to land its cosmonauts on the Moon by the end of 2020s and begin building a permanent base there. Even a relatively modest proposal to partially switch the new-generation Angara family of rockets from kerosene to more potent hydrogen fuel had to be delayed, potentially undermining the traditional Russian competitiveness on the international market of launch services. On the plus side, the cost-cutting apparently prompted Roskosmos to streamline its large and disparate fleet of launch vehicles from eight to just two families: Soyuz and Angara. Only six variations of these two types of rockets will remain instead of current 12.

According to the head of Roskosmos Igor Komarov, who outlined the program during the government cabinet meeting, the Russian orbital assets will grow from the current 49 operational spacecraft to 73 by the end of the projected period in 2025. (For comparison, the Spring 2014 draft of FKP-2025 aimed to buy 180 spacecraft.)

Both the government officials and Roskosmos stressed that the first priority for the program will be communications and broadcasting satellites. According to Komarov, the Russian constellation of communications satellites will grow from 32 to 41 under the projected funding. The bandwith of the communications channels carried through space was promised to increase 1.3 times and broadcasting capabilities would grow 3.3 times, officials said. In the meantime, Russias eyes in the sky and other remote-sensing satellites will multiply from eight to 23 during the same period.

In the field of human space flight, the Kremlin still promises to complete the assembly of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, which has remained unfinished since the turn of this century. Up to this point, a total of three new modules were slated to join the ISS: the Multi-purpose Laboratory Module, MLM; the Node Module, UM; and a new-generation laboratory and power supply facility dubbed NEM-1. However, during the approval meeting, Komarov stressed that only the modules in high degree of readiness or under assembly would be launched by 2024, when the ISS is to be deorbited. Such phrasing seemingly applies to the MLM, and the UM, but not to the NEM-1, which currently exists only on paper with a launch date projected for 2019. Also peculiar, Komarov mentioned that all new modules would be upgraded to function as an independent new Russian space station after the retirement of the ISS. Although such plans are not new, this statement could hint about further delays in the launch of the MLM and the UM modules until now expected in 2017 and 2018.

Also, according to the approved strategy, Moscow still remains committed to shifting human space launches from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, to the new spaceport in Vostochny in the Russian Far East. Such a move would require a new launch pad for the human-rated version of the Angara rocket. The new facility is promised to be ready in 2021, even though at this point, the site is no more than a clearing in the taiga. Even more challenging under the current budget crunch will be to complete the development of the new-generation spacecraft to replace the Soyuz capsule. The new ship was designed primarily for deep-space missions, such as expeditions to the Moon. However, while all the big rockets remain on the ice, Roskosmos will have to be content with destinations in Earth orbit or, more likely, to postpone the project until better days.

Komarov promised to launch the uncrewed prototype of the Soyuz replacement in 2021 and to send the first crew to the ISS aboard the new ship in 2023. The Moon landing still remains the strategic goal of the Russian human space flight but with a tentative launch date in 2030, or five years beyond FKP-2025.

Still, Roskosmos pledged to go ahead with its robotic lunar probes, which include progressively more complex orbiting and landing missions. The ultimate goal of the project is to return soil samples from the polar regions of our natural satellite in the hope of scooping possible traces of lunar ice. No launch dates for these missions were mentioned during the approval meeting. However, given the likely delay of the flagship ExoMars-2018 mission to 2020 and its highest priority in the program, all lunar missions will likely be pushed well into the next decade.

A pair of astrophysics research satellites also made it into the program. Vladimir Fortov, the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which formulates Russias space science program, assured that fundamental science projects had not been significantly cut. He clearly referred to the Spektr-RG X-ray observatory and the Spektr-UF ultraviolet telescope. They are scheduled for launch in 2017 and 2021, respectively.

However, even after all the latest budget cuts, the Russian space program is not out of the woods yet. Because FKP-2025 is a long-term roadmap, not an actual budget, it is completely dependent on the performance of the Russian economy and on the amount of money in the treasury. Moreover, due to heavy dependence on imports of sophisticated electronics and other components, many Russian space projects are particularly sensitive to the currency exchange rate. For example, the originally proposed 10-year budget at the amount of 2.3 billion rubles ballooned to 2.8 billion in just few months of 2015, as a result of the rubles devaluation on the international market.

Those who want to know what is going to happen to the Russian space budget next, better watch oil prices and the value of ruble.

In an interview last year on the sidelines of the International Astronautics Congress, IAC, Komarov told me that the real space budget for Roskosmos is projected for just three years ahead and approved by the Kremlin only for the following year. As a silver lining, this also means that in case the Russian economy improves in the years to come, the space budget will grow accordingly. Banking on the better days ahead, FKP-2025 reserved an entitlement for an additional 115 billion rubles after 2022.
The Planetary Society

Our Vision

Know the cosmos and our place within it.

Our Mission

Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.
El Chaman Loco, new rock climb in Mexico by Maggioni, Marazzi and Pedeferri

In November 2015 Simone Pedeferri, Paolo Marazzi and Marco Maggioni made the first ascent of El Chaman Loco up the El Chaman face at El Salto, Mexico. Some pitches along this 400m climb still need to be freed, with difficulties estimated at 8c. The trip report by Paolo Marazzi.

You should never begin an article with a PS, the acronym meaning postscript should, as the word suggests, be placed at the end of an article or a story. But I want to place it right at the start in order to highlight something very important:

PS: If you ever have to travel with Simone Pedeferri or Marco Maggioni, be warned, youll have to look after them for the entire trip and do all communicating in foreign languages, and with foreign I mean anything that isnt Italian! As to the rest ... well, traveling with them is a cool experience, a perfect combination of Marcos shy and reserved nature, and Simos outgoing personality.

We departed on 15 November and, after dealing with delayed flights, a seemingly phony car rental company and spending the night spent in a hotel at Monterrey, we finally reached El Salto, a small, apparently peaceful village in Mexicos north. I specify apparently peaceful" as every day motorbikes and jeeps that ventured into the canyon, right where we established our new route, zooming around blasting out typical Mexican music

We spent first few days we examining the rock faces through our binoculars and searching the walls, everything looked good at first sight but on closer inspection proved poor, since the rock was often loose and some faces were simply too overgrown, seeing that we only had 25 days in total. We were helped by Ulric Rousseau, a Canadian climber who for the last 7or 8 years spends five months down here in his van bolting crags. On the first day he showed us a face called El Chaman, but it didnt convince us, or perhaps we were just a little intimidated by it. Its history was fantastic, truly special, absolutely crazy.

The face had been attempted twenty years ago by Paco Medina and Alex Patino, two futuristic Mexican climbers who, due to a lack of money, were forced to abandon the idea. Shortly afterwards Paco, for a love story gone wrong and a bit of peyote, ended up in a psychiatric clinic in France, half his body paralyzed and a failed suicide attempt to his name. Not much is known about Alex, even if I did make sporadic contact by email: from what little weve gathered he too enjoyed the popular cactus vice. But as I said, I dont really know much about him.

Ten years later another "visionary" Mexican established an apparently easier route (note apparently, since this route was later cleaned, freed and graded 5.13- by Alex Honnold). The climber was Jimmy Carse, quite a character who spent his nights playing cutting-edge Electro music in a club, making good use of every drug imaginable, and as soon as the sun rose instead of going to sleep hed head to El Salto and add some new routes. He too is now in a detox center in the US.

So ... the first three who had climbed or attempted that face had perhaps been attracted to the El Chaman vortex. The lure towards it got stronger and stronger. Attempting a new route there was something we had to experience.

Five days after our arrival Simone and I climbed the pedestal and reached the fixed rope left insitu by Paco and Alex, a single 100m static line abandoned two decades ago that led to an impressive overhang, a babao" as Simo immediately nicknamed it. We stashed some gear on the ledge, fixed the first section and then abseiled off, ready to return the next day. The rock was dirtier and looser than wed expected, but the line was crazy, those two Mexicans had been real visionaries twenty years ago. After 6 days of climbing we reached the "cumbre" or better, a point just below, where the difficulties end the and the cacti begin.

These days obviously werent, due to weather or fatigue, consecutive. Shortly afterwards Marco had to catch the plane. When he left us Simone and I attempted to free the route, but we werent alone, we were joined by a stray dog from the village Perro. All the climbers there loved and cuddled this dog, and we did too, but with the others the dog could trundle up to the crag, get stroked and sleep in the sun. Instead, it chose to follow us, who left it there below the face, alone in the shade all day, while dodging the loose rock. We never understood why, but it chose us, it didnt want the simple things in life but instead chose the least healthy of all. It had no rest days, it always set off early and returned following the light of the head torch all of which it wouldnt have done had it followed the other climbers.

In the end the route topo is almost clear and complete, only 4 of its 14 pitches need to be freed but we were nevertheless able to give it an approximate grade. During those super cold days we gave it our best shot and became faithful companions to painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

El Chaman Loco now exists and well certainly return and try to climb those pitches we havent in a single push.

A huge thanks goes to Alex and Connie, loca husband and wife, who helped us and looked after us at their home as if wed been best friends forever. I could tell you some amazing things about them, too, but they would lead too far away from rock climbing and maybe this isnt exactly the right place for stories like these.
Racist City Employees Are on Notice, and 9 Other Greater Cincinnati News Stories You May Have Missed This Week

Catch up on local government, politics, sports, celeb sightings and Halloween fun.
VIDEO: Congressman Sponsors Bill to Make Attacks on Officers a Federal Hate Crime

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck wants to make assaulting a police officer a federal hate crime.

There are more officers being targeted because of the fact that theyre police officers, said Buck, a Republican representing Colorado.

Buck believes its time Congress did more to protect those who protect us. He has introduced legislation that would add law enforcement to the list of groups protected under the federal hate crime statute.

And if anybody assaulted or killed a police officer, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal prosecutors would have the opportunity to investigate and prosecute those crimes, Buck told CBS Denver.
While there is no known specific and credible threat to New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said emergency units have been fully deployed by the NYPD following the deadly terror attacks at an airport and subway station in Brussels.

Every New Yorker should know youre being protected every day by the finest police force in this country, and a police force that has really developed extraordinary ability to prevent terrorism and keep us safe, de Blasio said.

The NYPD immediately responded to the attacks in Belgium, not only activating its Critical and Strategic response unit, but also deploying additional counterterrorism teams to major landmarks, transit hubs, as well as other high-profile locations including the Belgian Consulate.

This is something we think about every day, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller told CBS News. This was an all out effort that is part of the normal drum beat of trying to manage the threat stream in New York City.
Photo: C.O.P.S.

The year 2015 was another tough one for law enforcement. The men and women of law enforcement are not only America's peace keepers; they are fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends. For those who died, there is a week dedicated to honoring their sacrifice and remembering their surviving families. This year, 136 officers will be honored.

The week of May 11th through 17th will bring thousands of people to Washington, D.C. this year to observe National Police Week. The surviving families and co-workers of the 133 officers who died in 2015, as well as some who have been designated from previous years, will join together to honor their fallen heroes at events such as the annual Candlelight Vigil, the FOP Memorial Service, and the National Police Survivors' Conference presented by Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.).

While honoring and remembering our fallen officers is vitally important, the mission of C.O.P.S. is to rebuild the shattered lives of survivors and co-workers affected by line-of-duty deaths through partnerships with law enforcement and the community. With 52 chapters across the country, members of C.O.P.S. are always prepared to help survivors when they need it, where they need it.

In addition to the National Police Survivors' Conference for adult survivors, C.O.P.S. also hosts the Kids/Teens Program to help minor-aged survivors in beginning their healing process after the death of their officer. During this two-day event, survivors will hear from experts in grief counseling and build a peer network on which they can rely as they continue their grief journey. They will return home with new coping tools to adapt to a new "normal" in their lives.

Below is a brief list of events for National Police Week 2016:

Wednesday, May 11  Early Arrival Day/Survivor Airport Pick-up

Thursday, May 12 - Official Arrival Day /Survivor Airport Pick-up/ Law Enforcement United Arrival and Flag Presentations to 2015 Surviving Families

Friday, May 13 - National Police Week Check-in/Registration at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center/ 28th Annual Candlelight Vigil

Saturday, May 14 - National Police Survivors' Conference (Day 1) / C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens Program (Day 1) / Day Care for Surviving Children and Siblings (Kindergarten through 12th grade)

Sunday, May 15 - National Peace Officers' Memorial Service

Monday, May 16 - National Police Survivors' Conference (Day 2) / C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens Program (Day 2) / Day Care for Surviving Children and Siblings (Kindergarten through 12th grade) / Picnic on the Patio

Tuesday, May 17 - Official Departure Day

Visit www.nationalcops.org for a complete detailed schedule.

If unable to attend events in Washington, D.C., law enforcement supporters across the nation are encouraged to show support by flying a blue ribbon from your vehicle or mailbox, shine a blue light at your home or business, and/or change your social media profile image to the National Police Week logo found on the National C.O.P.S. Facebook page.

About Concerns of Police Survivors

Based in Camdenton, MO, Concerns of Police Survivors was founded in 1984 for the surviving families of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty as determined by C.O.P.S. criteria. Today C.O.P.S. serves over 37,000 people who have identified themselves as survivors nationwide. C.O.P.S. provides programs at no cost to survivors, as they have already paid too high a price. C.O.P.S. hosts a summer camp for surviving children ages 6-14, an Outward Bound Experience and a Young Adults Camp for surviving teens ages 15-20, and retreats for adult children, spouses, parents, fiances/significant others, siblings, affected co-workers, co-workers and their spouse/domestic partner, and extended family.
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AIPIC is over, that three-day love-fest for Israeli domestic and foreign policy. And today, Paul Ryan is bragging up responses to his address to the AIPIC Conference Monday. Paul Ryan said in his address to AIPIC that A confident America stands by its allies. By allies what Ryan unequivocally means is Israel. Not Britain, not France, not any other American ally. Just Israel. Because only Israel, according to Republicans, should be able to set Americas foreign policy.

Ryan said at AIPIC,

That is why my first overseas trip as speaker will be to return to Israel.

And that is why I can pledge to you tonight that as long as I am speaker, I will not allow any legislation that divides our countries to come to the House floor.

It is action and deeds that builds trust. And our friendship is too importantthe dangers we face are too realto let there be any misgivings between us.

Like my House colleagues, I understand that America is not safer when we back away from Israel. America is safer when we stand with Israel. So if theres one thing I want you to take away from tonight, it is this:

My colleagues and I will do everything we can to strengthen our friendshipnot just with words but with concrete achievements. No taking friends for granted. No leaving them in the lurch. A friend is a priority. And Americas leaders should act like it.

Americans are wishing Ryan would let any legislation come before him for a vote. The GOP-run House under first Boehner and now Ryan has given do nothing a whole new dimension of meaning.

Whats worse, the GOPs Israel First policy reveals a party that stands by Israel, but not by its own citizens. Ryan says his first overseas trip would be to Israel. How about a more local venue, like Detroit? Or Ferguson? Or other hot spots created by repressive Red State regimes.

Ryan compared the Iran Deal to unspecified events in 1939, a misremembered reference to Chamberlains appeasement of Adolf Hitler. Not that we dont see plenty of Republican appeasement at home  of Donald Trumps fascist movement. Republican attempts to derail Trump are half-hearted at best, mainly because Trump is giving many Republican policies center stage. They can hardly attack Trump without attacking their own policies.

When Republicans do focus on domestic issues, it is issues surrounding their culture war  gays and lesbians, equal pay for women, womens reproductive rights, voting rights for minorities, and religious freedom, in other words, the establishment of some bastardized form of Christianity as a state religion.

All these policies are designed to regulate  exactly what Republicans say government should not do. But it is corporations Republicans want to protect, not American citizens. People should be regulated  where and how they have sex, who they marry, whether they want to have children or not, who they pray to or if they pray at all. All these are of pressing concern to Republicans.

Safe drinking water, air we can breathe without choking, chemical-free food  things like this dont matter. Access to affordable healthcare doesnt matter. Taking care of fetuses once theyre born doesnt matter. Giving our children a sound education doesnt matter. Its more important that those who speculate in charter schools find new opportunities to pocket public funding.

The Republican Party has turned its back on America. And even its support of Israel is a sham, as white Christian Republicans think very little of Jews and their religious freedoms. Age old Christian antisemitism is alive and well, and indeed, enjoying a renaissance in todays Republican Party. Trump may be the most vocal expression of this trend, but he did not create it.

Donald Trump wants to round up 11 million Mexicans and dump them outside our borders and build a huge wall to keep more of them out. Ted Cruz wants to ghettoize Muslims, and all of them want to keep blacks ghettoized. They have attempted to delegitimize any political ideology, any religious belief not their own.

You wont see any Republican elected official or candidate speaking before a forum addressing American issues. They created the problems were facing and theyre not about to start talking constructively about them now. Those who try are marginalized, and even so-called Republican moderates hold views that are appalling.

Ryan said at AIPIC that Israel has no greater friend than America, but the American people have no greater enemy than the Republican Party. Ryan said at AIPIC that A confident America stands by its allies. Its just a shame the GOP doesnt stand by the American people. The GOP isnt even confident enough to let Americans vote.

No. In a Republican America, Americas ally Israel may rank first, but the American people rank last.
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Bernie Sanders lived up to expectations and defeated Hillary Clinton in the Utah Democratic caucus.

The most recent poll of Utah Democrats was the KSL/Desert News Poll which found that Sanders led Clinton 52%-44%, Sanders, who has the support of 52 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers in the poll to 44 percent for Clinton, appeals to Utah voters because hes seen as authentic. He is true to himself and we like that, Tom Love of Love Communications said.

Hillary Clinton is generally not a popular political figure in the very conservative state of Utah, and it is easy to see how the integrity based and very genuine campaign of Sen. Sanders would appeal to Utah Democrats.

Bernie Sanders needs every win that he can get, so the victory is Utah is welcomed by the Sanders campaign. Last Tuesdays five straight defeats were a nightmare scenario for the Sanders campaign. Winning two or all three of the contests will allow the Sanders campaign to get back to their message that they are not out of the race for the Democratic nomination.

The Democratic race has become very consistent. Hillary Clinton wins the big delegate primaries while Bernie Sanders cleans up at the smaller state caucuses.

Sanders got an important win for momentum, but it is likely that Clinton will expand her delegate lead.
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Bernie Sanders sent terror through the hearts of Republicans by calling out the vote suppression tactics of Republican governors during his rally in San Diego, CA.

During his rally in San Diego, CA, Sen. Sanders said:

Democracy is not a complicated process. It really isnt. It means that you have one vote, you have one vote, you have one vote. You want to vote for me? You want to vote against me? Thats fine. What democracy does not mean is that billionaires can spend unlimited sums of money to elect candidates who represent the wealthy and the powerful. That is not democracy. Democracy is not about cowardly Republican governors trying to suppress the vote. And all over this country what we are seeing is Republican governors making it harder for poor people, for people of color, for young people, for old people to vote. And I say to those cowardly governors if you are not prepared to engage in a free and democratic election, get another job. Get out of politics.

Bernie Sanders fears no one in politics. Sen. Sanders is taking on the billionaires. He is challenging the special interests, and he is calling out the undeniable pattern of vote suppression that Republican governors have been engaging in for years. Republicans cant win a contest of ideas, so they spend their time trying to shape the electorate to their favor by passing laws that make it more difficult for people who dont support them to vote.

It speaks volumes about the character of Bernie Sanders that shortly after losing the biggest primary of the night, he spent a few moments of his national television time defending the right of every eligible American to vote.

This is why Sen. Sanders has become a giant of American in the 2016 election.
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During a press conference, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) ripped Arizona Republicans who suppressed the vote of thousands of voters by limiting the number of polling places in the states largest county.

Video:

During a press conference today, Sen. Sanders said:

President Obama is in Cuba or has been in Cuba, no doubt talking to Raul Castro about democracy and the benefits of democracy. Well, we got an email last night from a woman in Arizona who was waiting online for five hours to vote. For five hours to vote. Whatever the cause of that problem is people in the United States of America should not have to wait five hours in order to vote. We do not know how many thousands of people who wanted to vote yesterday in Arizona did not vote. We dont know if they wanted to vote for Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or whoever. But, in the United States of America, democracy is the foundation of our way of life. And what happened in Arizona is a disgrace. I hope that every state in this country learns from that and learns how to put together a proper election where people can come in and vote in a timely manner and go back to work.

The problem was centered in Maricopa County, AZ where there was was one polling site for every 21,000 voters. Most counties in the state that The Arizona Republic surveyed had one polling place for every 2,500 voters. Maricopa is a Republican stronghold, and also the states most populous county.

It is obvious that the lack of polling places is an intentional Republican strategy to suppress the vote.

Sen. Sanders was correct. It is impossible to know how many voters became discouraged and didnt vote, or who those voters would have supported if they did vote. What is clear is that Republicans in Arizonas largest county engaged in behavior that undermined the democratic electoral process of the United States of America.

What Republicans did in Maricopa County was un-American, and it is the man who these same conservatives sneeringly call a socialist who is standing up for the democratic values that are the heartbeat of the United States of America.
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The office of Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) immediately called out Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for lacking the courage to take on Donald Trump during his speech on the presidential race.

Harry Reids Deputy Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson said in a statement, Speaker Ryan is speechifying on the deck of the Titanic, running a do-nothing Congress while supporting Donald Trump, a racist demagogue, for president. Speaker Ryans words will ring hollow until he backs them up with action and withdraws his support from Donald Trump.

Ryans speech contained a hazy dream that was the political equivalent of butterflies, kittens, and everything that he wished the Republican Party to be. What the Speakers speech lacked was the political courage to call out Donald Trump and his tactics by name. Ryan tried to play the both sides do it game while ignoring the fact that only one partys candidates are burying the 2016 election in insults, divisiveness, and violence.

In case Speaker Ryan hasnt got a clue, here is a hint. It isnt the Democrats who are destroying the nations system of governance with partisan division and ugliness.

As millions of Americans are coming together to recognize Donald Trump as a threat to our democracy, Paul Ryan lacks the guts that even Mitt Romney demonstrated when he tried to stop Trump. The speech was typical Paul Ryan. It was all surface and no substance.

Ryan showed the same lack of courage that has paralyzed the GOP and allowed Trump to run wild. Democrats and moderates are going to have to clean up another Republican mess by doing what cowards like Paul Ryan wont

Voters will punish Republicans by soundly rejecting Donald Trump at the ballot box in November.
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Hillary Clinton unloaded on Donald Trump at a rally in Seattle, WA where she suggested that Trumps response to the terror attacks in Brussels was dangerous and cowardly.

During her speech at a rally in Seattle, Clinton said:

The last thing we need my friends are leaders who incite more fear. In the face of terror, America doesnt panic. We dont build walls or turn our backs on our allies. We cant throw out everything that we know about what works and what doesnt and start torturing people. What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and others are suggesting is not only wrong. Its dangerous. It will not keep us safe. This is a time for America to lead, not cower, and we will lead.

The Brussels terror attacks put an emphasis on foreign policy. Former Sec. Clinton was able to user her vast foreign policy knowledge to show voters another reason why the 2016 election will have both national security and global consequences.

Hillary Clintons attacks on Trump are getting sharper, as the Republican frontrunner gave the former Sec. of State a big opening with a response to the attacks that involved spreading fear and closing the border. Trump didnt sound like a leader. His plan reminded one of a scared little boy. Hillary Clinton demonstrated why the American people need a real leader in the White House, not an immature man-child.

Donald Trumps bluster cant hide his ignorance on national security. Foreign policy is Hillary Clintons turf, and none of the Republican candidates come close to her expertise in this area.
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Hillary Clinton gave a counterterrorism address that in a single moment devastated Donald Trump and revealed what Republicans fear most. Clinton made Trump look like a political amateur who is in way over his head.

During her remarks at Stanford University, former Sec. of State Clinton said:

We cant let fear stop us from doing whats necessary to keep us safe. Nor can we let it push us into reckless actions that end up making us less safe. For example, it would be a serious mistake to stumble into another costly ground war in the Middle East. If weve learned anything from Iraq and Afghanistan, its that people in nations have to secure their own communities. We can, and I argue must support them, but we cant substitute for them. It would also be a serious mistake to begin carpet bombing populated areas into oblivion. Proposing that doesnt make you sound tough. It makes you sound like you are in over your head. Slogans arent a strategy. Loose cannons often misfire. What America needs is strong, smart, steady leadership to wage and win this struggle. To do that we need to strengthen Americas alliances in Europe, Asia, and around the world.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have both campaigned on carpet bombing and bombing populated areas. Trump has suggested that the United States torture suspects, and kill the families of suspected terrorists. Later in her speech, Clinton outlined how NATO has been a great investment for the United States. Clinton suggested that Trump was interested in turning our alliances into a protection racket. She said, Putin already hopes to divide Europe. If Mr. Trump gets his way, it will be like Christmas in Kremlin. It will make America less safe and the world more dangerous.

Hillary Clinton is arguing that electing Donald Trump and to a lesser degree any of the Republican presidential candidates will make the country less safe. Clinton is zeroing in on Trump, and her counterterrorism address also showcased the difference between the two parties.

Former Sec. Clinton has Donald Trump nailed. The Republican frontrunners tough talk hides the fact that he is in way over his head. Trump has no policies, and his tough talk will do the exact opposite of keeping America safe.

Clintons speech and direct takedown of Trump was a huge moment in the campaign. Hillary Clinton demonstrated how easily she can take apart Trump. Republicans are already terrified that Clinton will destroy Trump, and the former Sec. of States address at Stanford demonstrated that she is not only the most knowledgeable candidate but that she is a formidable political force that has the potential to completely dominate the overmatched political novice.
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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) tried to reshape and save the Republican Party from Donald Trump during a Capitol Hill speech to House interns, but instead of rescuing his party, Ryan drowned in a fantasy of his own creation.

Ryan set the tone early with a bogus both sides do it argument. Speaker Ryan said, Looking around at whats taking place in politics today, it so easy to get disheartened. How many of you find yourself just shaking your head at what you see from both sides of the aisle these days.

Rep. Ryan invoked the Founders and quoted from the first Federalist Paper. Ryan talked about the oath to uphold the Constitution and said the way we govern endures through debate, not disorder. Ryan painted himself as moderate by invoking his mentor Jack Kemp. Ryan took his first shot at Trump by saying, We dont just resort to scaring you. We dare to inspire you.

Speaker Ryan also criticized the partisan echo chamber, and took another shot at Trump by saying that, We dont insult people into agreeing with you.

Ryan walked back his makers and takers comment that destroyed his run with Mitt Romney, There was a time that I would talk about makers and takers in this country referring to people who accepted government benefits. But as I spent more time listening, really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized something. I realized that I was wrong. Takers wasnt how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap trying to take care of her own family. Most people dont want to be dependent and to label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong.

Ryan closed by saying, We think of politics as this vote or this election, but it can be so much more than that. Politics can be a battle of ideas, not a battle of insults. It can be about solutions. It can be about making a difference. It can be about always striving to do better, and thats what it can be. Thats what it should be.

Speaker Ryans speech was very nice and completely detached from the reality of where the Republican Party is right now. Ryan was speaking about a form of politics that does not exist in his own House Republican caucus. Ryans vision doesnt exist anywhere in the Republican Party. Ryan talked about hearing both sides while Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is obstructing President Obamas Supreme Court nominee for partisan political gain.

If this speech was designed to detach the rest of the Republican Party from Donald Trump, it failed. Paul Ryans speech was a fairy tale born of D.C. Beltway Republicans.

Ryans speech could also be viewed as the Speaker throwing his hat into the ring if no candidate clinches the Republican presidential nomination, and the party goes to an open convention, but that is a long way down the road.

The Republican Party is the party of Donald Trump, not Paul Ryan. From the perspective of political reality, Speaker Ryans speech was realistic as his Ayn Rand influenced budgets. His speech was intended to reshape the popular perception of the Republican Party while offering an alternative view that is not the ugly rhetoric of Trump.

Paul Ryan is a mouse screaming moderation into a paper cup, compared to 900 lb. media dominating gorilla of division and hate with a megaphone that is Donald Trump. Try as he might, not even Speaker Ryan can save Republicans from their inevitable destruction at the hands of Trump.
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Ted Cruzs response to the Islamic States terror attack in Belgium was typically Republican: further radicalize Muslims  to feed, rather than starve terrorist groups.

We will do what we can to help them fight this scourge, and redouble our efforts to make sure it does not happen here. We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence. We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

We need to secure the southern border to prevent terrorist infiltration. And we need to execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS. The days of the United States voluntarily surrendering to the enemy to show how progressive and enlightened we can be are at an end. Our country is at stake.

Because treating an entire group of people like pariahs and second-class citizens on account of a few, by singling them out as more likely to commit crimes than others, shows how progressive and enlightened we are. As one commenter on Drudge Retort remarked, Right, because nothing keeps people from becoming radicalized like having a boot on their neck.

It is interesting that acts of domestic terrorism do not bring calls for similar profiling of Christians. Or toddlers. Toddlers kill more Americans than ISIL. Why arent we taking action against them?

According to Cruz, letting Muslims live in our country just like other Americans is surrendering to political correctness:



For years, the West has tried to deny this enemy exists out of a combination of political correctness and fear. We can no longer afford either. Our European allies are now seeing what comes of a toxic mix of migrants who have been infiltrated by terrorists and isolated, radical Muslim neighborhoods.

The problem with this plan is, if theyre not radicalized yet, then religiously and ethnically profiling them, then ghettoizing their neighborhoods will certainly do the trick: His campaign criticized New York Mayor DeBlasio for eliminated the efforts of law enforcement to work with Muslim communities to stop radical Islamic terrorism  in other words, spying on them. To no ones surprise, New York Muslims did not like being profiled because of their religion.

Cruz spokesperson Alice Stewart elaborated on this latest harebrained scheme:

We know what is happening with these isolated Muslim neighborhoods in Europe. If we want to prevent it from happening here, it is going to require an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies all have divisions that target threats like drugs, gangs, human trafficking and organized crime. Radical Islamic terrorism is a significant and growing threat in this country, but this administration refuses to recognize it because they are afraid of being labeled politically incorrect.

In response to Cruzs claim that the U.S. should empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized, People For the American Way President Michael Keegan released the following statement:

From proposing an all-out ban on Muslims entering the U.S. to calling for Muslims to be patrolled in their own communities, Republican candidates have spent 2016 smearing an entire faith group because of their religion. Cruzs comments are anathema to the fundamental American value of religious freedom, a principle Cruz claims to champion. This brand of anti-Muslim bigotry is not acceptable anywhere, and especially not from someone who is running to become the leader of our country.

Unfortunately, Ted Cruz has chosen to surround himself with some of the most extreme and bigoted figures in America today. Cruz recently named anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, who has compared President Obama to Osama bin Laden and accused everyone from Huma Abedin to Grover Norquist of having covert connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, as an adviser on national security. He also selected Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who has described Islam as a totalitarian way of life and called for no mosques in America.

Americans should reject Islamophobia and stand up for the essential American values of equality and justice for all under the law. Anti-Muslim bigotry is profoundly un-American and entirely unacceptable, whether it comes from a conspiracy theorist, a presidential candidate or anyone else.

Republicans, as Bernie Sanders pointed out Tuesday from San Diego, Republicans despise democracy. As both Trump and Cruz have proved, they despise the First Amendment as well. Everything they do is designed to preserve certain privileges for Fox News white Christian Americans and deny those same freedoms to others.

Claims that Islam is a political system rather than a religion are more true of Republican ideology than of Islam, and if you are looking for examples of terrorism, you can find them in Oregon, where a band of white Christian American terrorists now face trial. If you are looking for totalitarianism, you need look no further than Kansas, Oklahoma, or any other Red State.
Details continue to emerge regarding the recent terrorist bombings in Brussels, but the basic story is familiar. In Melbournes Herald Sun, columnist Andrew Bolt answers the question: Why Brussels?

Why Brussels? Why have Muslim terrorists in Brussels this week slaughtered 34 civilians in the citys airport and underground? Why did Muslim terrorists from Brussels earlier join the Islamic State attack in Paris that killed 130 people? Why did a Muslim terrorist in Brussels kill four people at the citys Jewish museum? Why did Muslim terrorists from Brussels have a deadly shootout with police last year and again last week? Why have an astonishing 450 Belgian Muslimsthe vast majority from Brusselsserved with Islamic State? The answer? There are now 300,000 Muslims in Brussels. Thats why. Brussels is Europes biggest Muslim city, home to a virtual colony large enough to sustain its own culture and hide entire networks of terrorists from the police. Whats more, the huge Muslim enclave is in a European country already torn between its Flemish and Walloon halves, making newcomers in this militantly multicultural land more likely to take refuge in their own ethnic identity, too.

Bolt argues that in the wake of mass Islamic immigration, it is too late for Europe:

The vast demographic experiment of the Westimporting largely unskilled immigrants from an essentially hostile culturehas failed and cannot be undone. Europe is now paying the deadly price. There have been mass murders by Muslim extremists in Madrid, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Brussels and Toulouse. There have been attacks on cartoonists in Denmark, riots against Jews in Paris, a rape epidemic in Scandinavia, pack attacks on women in Cologne and the assassination in Amsterdam of a film director who mocked Islam.

For Australia, Bolt writes, there is still hope, if that country severely restrict[s] immigration from Muslim nations until we prove we can assimilate those here already, and ends [t]he state-sponsored denigration of Australia, along with government-encouraged tribalization. The same prescription would seem to apply to the United States.

Meanwhile, persistent terrorism clouds the future of the European Union. The first duty of any government is to maintain order and protect its citizens. The EUs inability to defend Europeans against Islamic terror, or even contribute seriously to that effort, makes starkly evident the fact that the EU is not a government, despite its nanny-state pretentions, and Europe is not a country.

But the reality is worse. Through the Schengen Treaty, the EU mandates open borders among member states. It thereby opens the door to terrorists, about whom it is powerless to do anything. With respect to the most basic duties of a state, the European Union is worse than useless. Thus, we are seeing the inevitable nationalist backlash across the continent, as Europeans try to re-institute borders and shore up the only authorities that have any ability to maintain security.
South Sudans President Salva Kiir on Wednesday fired his foreign minister who had held his post through the countrys 27-month civil conflict, a media report said.

In a presidential decree read out on national television, Mr. Kiir gave no reason for firing Barnaba Marial and also did not say who would succeed him.

However, the move followed calls for Mr. Marial to resign after he had been accused of erroneously stating that prominent academic, Luka Biong, was Sudanese instead of South Sudanese.

South Sudan had been engulfed by violence since power struggle between Mr. Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar evolved into military conflict in December 2013.

Report says tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2.3 million displaced.

According to the report, a peace deal signed in August foresaw the establishment of a transitional government, which had been delayed.

(dpa/NAN)
South Africa on Wednesday commenced the exhumation of 83 political prisoners hanged at Pretoria Central Prison during the apartheid era, Justice Minister, Michael Masutha, said.

The minister said the remains would be identified and returned to their families.

Report says some 130 political prisoners were hanged on the gallows of the correctional centre between 1960 and 1990.

The remains of 47 of mainly members of the Pan Africanist Congress and United Democratic Front anti-apartheid organisations had been exhumed, while 83 of them remain buried in unmarked graves.

The apartheid government was widely criticised for its mass executions of anti-apartheid activists, most of them black South Africans.

The last execution carried out at the prison was of Solomon Ngobeni in November 1989, who was convicted of robbing a taxi driver.

The last woman executed was Sandra Smith, convicted for murder in June of the same year.

In February 1990, President Frederik Willem de Klerk declared a moratorium on executions in the country, while the death penalty was abolished in 1995.

However, many South Africans called for the death penalty to be reinstated after a surge in violent crimes and murders in the country.

A survey conducted in 2015 by the South African research group Pondering Panda found that over three-quarters of young South Africans wanted the death penalty back.

(dpa/NAN)
Some All Progressives Congress senators who opposed the election of Bukola Saraki as Senate President, held a rare meeting Tuesday with Mr. Sarakis key supporters from the same party, casting aside differences that for months polarised the ruling partys senate caucus.

The meeting between the anti-Saraki groups so-called Unity Forum and pro-Sarakis Like Minds, had in attendance 10 senators  five from each of the two camps. It took place at the Asokoro residence of Aliyu Wammako, a former Sokoto State governor.

Mr. Wamakko confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the talks held.

The two sides had for months opposed the other, with some members of Unity Group pushing for Mr. Sarakis removal.

The two groups emerged in the run up to the election of the Senates principal officers.

Mr. Saraki won the top seat in defiance of his party, APCs decision to support his challenger, Ahmed Lawan.

Unity Forums most outspoken member, Kabiru Marafa, recently called for Mr. Sarakis resignation in view of the senate presidents ongoing trial for alleged false declaration of assets.

Tuesdays meeting had in attendance Mr. Lawan, Mr. Marafa, Gbenga Ashafa, and Suleiman Hukunyi as part of the groups team.

One the other side, the Like Minds were represented by Danjuma Goje, Mr. Wammako, Sani Yerima, Kabiru Gaya and Adamu Aliero.

Speaking exclusively to PREMIUM TIMES at the end of the meeting which ended around 6.50 PM, Mr. Wammako said the meeting was held to end the crisis that hit the APC caucus following Mr. Sarakis emergence as senate president.

He said it was high time the Senators belonging to the ruling party agreed to work together in the interest of Nigeria and to support President Muhammadu Buhari.

Effectively the meeting has brought an end to crisis in the Senate between APC Senators who now support the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Mr. Wamako said.

This development came ahead of Mr. Sarakis day at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Thursday when the tribunal is expected to rule on his motion for the dismissal of the case against him on grounds of procedural error.

Another Senator, a member of the Unity Forum, who attended the meeting but asked that his identity be protected, said the meeting had three outcomes and that both sides agreed to have a united APC caucus.

The Senator said the first outcome was a decision that the composition of Senate committees be reviewed to conform with the Standing Rules of the Senate.

He said an upward review of the number of the committees must follow due process as prescribed by Section 60 of the Senate Rules.

The second point, he said, was that committees should also be reconstituted to favour APC Senators.

He said it was finally agreed that the APC caucus henceforth be loyal to our party and be committed to its objectives.

The number three point is the supremacy of our party, loyalty to our leaders and support for President Muhammadu Buhari, he said.

He said the the meeting was held in the interest our party and Nigeria.

Asked if the meeting was held to settle the longstanding Saraki row, he said, It is beyond Saraki. But he added that there is no crisis between us again.

This man (Saraki) is in court and anything can happen.

So APC Senators must come together and unite; otherwise, if anything happens to Saraki in the court PDP Senators who are very united may take over the Senate.

And that would be a very great disservice to our party, the President and Nigerians who voted for change.

So, we are now uniting like PDP Senators and are settling our differences, the Senator said.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday described a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, as a hypocrite for describing him (Obasanjo) as the leader of the opposition PDP in the South West.

Mr. Obasanjo said he left partisan politics for good.

Mr. Obasanjo was reacting to Mr. Okupes comments that he (Obasanjo) remained the undisputed and authentic leader of the PDP in the Southwest region of Nigeria.

Mr. Okupe, a former aide to Mr. Obasanjo, who made the disclosure on his Facebook account last Friday, also blasted Buruji Kashamu, a senator, who lays claim to being the leader of the PDP in the South West.

The former presidential aide said it was wrong to describe Mr. Kashamu leader of the party merely because he runs a local non-governmental organisation in Ogun State.

Senator Buruji Kashamu is not the leader of the PDP in the South West. He is not even the leader of the party in Ogun State. He leads an NGO called Omo Ilu which engages in empowerment programmes in the state, mainly in the Ogun East Senatorial district.

Baba Obasanjo still remains the undisputed and authentic leader of the PDP in the South-West. The fact that he tore his membership card is not tantamount to resignation from the party. An action he has not undertaken to date.

Tearing of the membership card though a very negative action is undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to certain unacceptable or intolerable happenings within the party which can and will be redressed, Mr. Okupe said.

However, Mr. Obasanjo, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES exclusively on Tuesday over the telephone said Mr. Okupe does not know what he was saying.

The former president said he did not apply to join the PDP in 1998, rather, what was given to him was a registration card and his decision to tear the card meant he was no longer a member of the party.

He also said there was no way he could be referred to as a leader of the party in the South West even if he was still a member.

I was a national leader of the party for eight years, so, how would I now reduce myself to becoming its leader in the South West, he said.

Mr. Obasanjo also said Mr. Okupe should be ignored because he was one of those who campaigned for his his expulsion from the party.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), a United Kingdom-based Muslim advocacy organisation, has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari, the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, the chief of army staff, Tukur Buratai, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the December 12 to 14, 2015 massacre of members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).

The organisation also asked the ICC to investigate the emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, and the emir of Zaria, Shehu Idris, for human rights violation and crimes against humanity over the alleged killing of at least 1,000 followers of the Shiite group led by Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

Other army officers and persons the IHRC asked the ICC to probe for their roles in the massacre are: spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Adeniyi Oyebade, the Commander Nigerian Depot, Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin, Director Military Intelligence, Chief of Defence intelligence  AVM Riku Morgan, AK Ibrahim  Commander 1 Division Garrison, Nigerian Army, Kaduna and Col. F.M Babayo.

The rest are Capt Ben, Adjutant Depot, Nigerian Army; Adeniyi Oyebade, General Officer Commanding, 1 Division Garrison Kaduna; Umar Labdo; Sambo Rigachukun; Bala Lau; Yahaya Jingir and; Kabir Gombe.

In a detailed report, the IHRC argued that attacks of the army on members of IMN between December 12 and 14 in Zaria qualify as crime against humanity and therefore called on the ICC to initiate an investigation into the incident.

According to the IHRC, ICC prosecutor should open a preliminary examination into the incidents that occurred between the 12th and 14th December 2015 in Zaria, Kaduna State.

It also demanded that the prosecutor expand(s) its monitoring activities on Nigeria and the armys involvement in attacks against the IMN that occurred in the period between 2014 and 2015.

Furthermore, the IHRC asked the ICC Prosecutor to issue a preventive statement saying that he is monitoring the Nigerian crisis and is aware of the commission of crimes and warn the perpetrators about their criminal liability.

According to the IHRC, the Zaria killings meet the two criteria of admissibility and gravity, which are prerequisite before the ICC prosecutor could undertake an investigation of an alleged crime against humanity.

The commission said there were no indications from the Federal Government that it was willing to investigate the killings. It also argued that the Nigerian government has a history of shielding persons implicated for serious crimes from criminal responsibility for the crimes alleged.

It stated that Mr. El-Rufai has compromised the impartiality and independence of the commission of inquiry his government set up to investigate the massacre by demolishing the properties of the Shiite group days after the incident and by listing a litany of grievances against the group in a speech he made.

At the present time, the available information shows some inadequacies or reluctance on the part of the Nigerian authorities to generally address the violence that occurred on 12-13 December 2015, the report stated.

The Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Kaduna State governor Malam Nasir el-Rufai is insufficiently independent and impartial to be able to hold those responsible to account, nor is there any reasonable prospect of any prosecutions. In his speech, the governor listed a range of grievances against the IMN, which is indicative of bias against the IMN from the start.

He further proceeded to demolish IMN properties before setting up the commission of the inquiry.

Both IMN and Amnesty International have expressed concerns that the Judicial Commission of Inquiry is not set up to sufficiently perform a credible inquiry.

IHRC also claimed that the army used illegitimate violence and a high degree of brutality in its alleged unprovoked and premeditated attacks on followers of Mr. El-Zalzaky.

The attacks were attended by illegitimate violence and a high degree of brutality, insofar as the army opened fire on unarmed civilians; allowed criminals to crudely cut off body parts; proceeded to the excavation of mass graves without permission from the families of the victims and carried out extrajudicial crimes and detained civilians unlawfully, the report stated.

Horrific details of massacre

The report contains horrific details of the massacre and the destruction of properties owned by the IMN between December 12 and 14.

According to IHRC, which described the attacks on the Shiite group as unprovoked and premeditated, the attack was centred on four properties: the Hussainiyyah and religious centre located at No.1A, Sokoto Road; the home of the IMN leader Mr. Zakzaky in the Gyellesu neighbourhood of Zaria; the groups burial ground of Darur-Rahma, in Dembo village, on the outskirts of Zaria; and the home and burial place of Hajiya Saliha Muhammad, Sayyid Zakzakys late mother in the Jushi neighbourhood of Zaria.

On the attack on the Hussainiyyah, the report stated that eyewitnesses and video evidence show how soldiers shot at small children and people without provocation.

It also said those who ran to the religious centre for refuge were not spared.

The members of the IMN, who were unarmed, took cover inside the Hussainiyyah. The soldiers cordoned off the Hussainiyyah preventing the injured inside the centre from coming out to seek medical help.

As a result, many of those with serious gunshot wounds died. The army later killed the majority of those who had sought refuge in the Hussainiyyah, including the injured, women and children when it invaded and destroyed the complex, said the report.

The report stated that about the same time that the killings at the Hussainiyyah was taking place, another contingent of soldiers was attacking the residence of Mr. El-Zakzaky.

Another contingent of the Nigerian Army, in about nine trucks carrying heavy arms and ammunition, cordoned off Gyellesu neighbourhood where the leader of IMN, Sayyid Ibrahim Zakzaky resides, some five kilometres away from the Hussainiyyah.

They started killing unarmed civilians indiscriminately through the day and throughout the course of the night. Whenever they shot someone and others rushed to pick him/her up, the soldiers would then shoot and kill them as well.

That situation lasted for hours with another reinforcement of soldiers arriving in about as many trucks and Armoured Personnel Carriers. They engaged in continued bloodshed, breaking the human shield made by unarmed members of the IMN with ease, forcing their way through a pile of human corpses to get into Sheikh Zakzakys residence.

They virtually killed their way through. Witnesses have told of how the 500-metre stretch of road leading to the house was filled with corpses. Once at the house, the soldiers used explosives to bring down a section of the house and ignited a fire, it said.

It claimed further that more than 1,000 people were killed in both attacks, and despite that soldiers proceeded to destroy buildings and grave linked to the IMN.

Following the attacks against the Hussainiyyah and the residence of Sheikh Zakzaky, the army proceeded to destroy buildings and graves linked to the IMN. The Hussainiyyah at GRA area was completely destroyed.

The Fudiyya Islamic Centre at Dan Magaji and the family home of Sheikh Zakzaky, where his mothers tomb is located in Zaria suffered a similar fate.

Graves belonging to former members of the IMN at the Darur Rahma cemetery situated 10 miles outside of Zaria were demolished, the report concluded.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, on Wednesday said fuel scarcity may persist for two more months as oil produced in the refineries would not be sold but kept in a strategic reserve.

Addressing journalists after leading members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to meet withPresident Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Mr. Kachikwu said he had no magic wand to make fuel available overnight.

One of the trainings I did not receive is that of a magician, but I am working very hard to ensure some of these issues go away, said Mr. Kachikwu.

And lets be honest, for the five or six months we have been here, NNPC has moved from a 50 per cent importer of products to basically a 100 per cent importer.

And the 445,000 barrels that were allocated was to cover between 50 and 55 percent importation.

So it is quite frankly sheer magic that we even have the amount of product at the stations. We are looking to see how to get foreign exchange input. The president and I discussed extensively on how to get more crude directed at importation.

His Excellency will rather have less crude but have individuals in the society suffer less with inconveniences than have more crude and have them continue to suffer.

So we are going to put a new model to enable us increase the pace and actually get (oil) majors as part of the crew of those to bring in more products so that the NNPC will sort of go back to the capacity of what it used to do and the majors will take over the balance of importation.

So over the next two months, we should see quite frankly a complete elimination of this.

Our strategy is that whatever is produced in the refineries will not go for sale, we are going to keep them in strategic reserve.

Because the key problem here is that there is no reserve. Any time there is a gap in supply, it goes off.

So we are going to dedicate the next couple of months to moving all the products that we produce to strategic reserve so that we can pile up reserves in the nation and that will push up the reserves in the nation.

Believe me, this is giving me and my team sleepless nights and we are working on it and we are committed to making this go away, Nigerians should please bear with us, he told journalists after the meeting.

The meeting with the president is coming weeks after oil workers in an industrial action shut down operations of the NNPC for fear of job cuts following an announced restructuring of the corporation.

Mr. Kachikwu, who doubles as managing director of NNPC, said this was the first time the unions were meeting with the president to review some of the concerns in the oil industry to find solutions.

Some of the concerns, he said, included the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), fuel scarcity issue as well as the refineries for which we are thankful we didnt sell.

According to him, the unions are also worried about the utilization of depots as well as all kinds of logistic issues that plague the oil industry.

They are worried about job loss in the sector arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving the rough end of the sticks and then try to whittle down staff.

And so we are going to be working with the oil majors to ensure that we do not experience the kind of job loss that we are hearing has the potential to occur in the sector, he added.

The national presidents of NUPENG and PENGASSAN, Igwe Achese and Olabode Johnson, told journalists that Mr. Buhari assured the unions that they would continue to be part of the ongoing restructuring in the sector.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has said that about 4000 buses mostly used by Nigerian pilgrims would be replaced by Saudi Arabia authorities ahead of the year 2016 hajj exercise.

The chairman of the commission, Abdullahi Mohammed, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he hosted a delegation of the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria.

Mr. Mohammed said the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other measures put in place by the commission led to better deals for Nigerian pilgrims to the country.

He said Saudi authorities have assured of better accommodation arrangements for Nigerian pilgrims on Mina tent city.

The Saudi Arabia authorities have assured us that only buses from 2008 models would be used by our pilgrims and that about 4000 of the existing buses would be withdrawn and replaced with new ones.

The visit of President Muhammadu Buhari also led to the Saudi government assuring us that there would be change in the location of Nigerian tent in Mina to be closer to the Jamrat (for the symbolic stoning of the devils rite), Mr. Mohammed said.

The NAHCON chairman also said due to the prediction that hajj seasons will take place during high temperature seasons for some years from now, the Saudi Arabia government would improve the cooling system in the tents and extend it to the camps too.

He also commiserated with the visitors over the death of a journalist, Bilkisu Yusuf, who was among the casualties in the Mina stampede during last years hajj, saying she died while serving female pilgrims as an official of the commission.

The chairman of MMPN, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, represented by the Vice Chairman, Medina Dauda, said the association was committed to assisting the commission to realise its objectives.

She said MMPN, formed in 1993, had monitored NAHCONs activities with satisfaction.

She called on the commission to be more open and make information available to the media for dissemination to the public at all times.
The Presidency on Wednesday commended the National Assembly for passing the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, told journalists at a press briefing in Abuja that the expeditious consideration and passage of the bill were laudable.

He further commended the Senate and House committees on appropriation as well as the sub-committees for working hard in ensuring that the budget was passed.

I followed the entire process and I have seen the industry that has been exhibited by the senators.

I want to say that we appreciate particularly the fact that in the course of consideration, the committee chairmen, the committee members and the chairmen of appropriation committees were in constant touch, he said.

The special adviser further commended the legislature for approving the harmonised version of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper(FSP), adding that they were the parameter for passing the budget.

Mr. Enang also extolled the media for extensive coverage of the process leading to the passage of the budget.

President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2016 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 22, 2015.
The trial of the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, has again been rescheduled.

The case will continue on Thursday, the registrar of a Federal High Court said Wednesday.

Mr. Metuh is facing a seven-count charge of alleged money laundering to the tune of N400 million.

He was billed to open his defence Wednesday.

Mr. Abang had adjourned the opening of Mr. Metuhs defence last Thursday, following an application by the PDP spokesperson for the case to be transferred to another judge.

The application, filed by Mr. Metuhs lawyer, Emeka Etiaba, listed 16 reasons Mr. Abang should not be allowed to hear the case.

Also on Wednesday, the case against former Chief of Air staff, Alex Badeh, was also rescheduled to Thursday.
The failure of the Department of the State Security Service (SSS) to produce former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, before an Abuja High Court Wednesday, has again stalled Mr. Dasukis trial for alleged corruption.

At the resumed hearing, Rotimi Jacob, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions counsel, told Justice Baba Yusuf that Mr. Dasuki refused to be in court on the grounds that his lawyers, Joseph Daudu and Ahmed Raji, would not be in court.

The prosecutor told the court that he persuaded the defendant to come to court to see how the proceedings would be conducted, but that Mr. Dasuki refused.

He therefore asked the court to begin the trial in the absence of the defendant.

Mr. Jacob also told the court that an operative of the SSS told him that the counsels to the defendant had never made any attempt to go to the SSS Office to see their client, who has been in their custody since December 2015.

Mr. Jacob said the refusal of the defendant to be in court was a ploy to scuttle the trial.

However, Wale Balogun, Mr. Dasukis lawyer urged Justice Baba Yusuf to disregard the claim of the prosecution, saying as of Wednesday, Mr. Dasuki was still denied access to his lawyers.

Mr. Balogun said Mr. Jacobs claim that an operative of SSS told him (Jacob) that Mr. Dasukis lawyers never made attempts to see him in the custody was baseless and unwarranted because he was quoting a third-party.

Mr. Dasukis lawyer said on the contrary it was the SSS and the prosecution that scuttled the trial by their deliberate refusal to produce the defendant who has been in their custody since last year in court.

The counsel said as the prosecutor, Mr. Jacob could not give evidence from the bar on why the defendant was not brought to court. He said what he ought to have done was to have filed an affidavit evidence to explain to the court why the defendant was not in court.

Mr. Balogun insisted that the accused could not be tried in his absence and without access to his lawyers to prepare effective defence. He added that the prosecution would continue to bungle the trial until they resolved to obey the rule of law and take necessary steps required by law.

The position of Dasukis lawyer was adopted by lawyers standing for other defendants in the criminal charges brought against Mr. Dasuki.

Justice Baba Yusuf, in his comment, agreed that the trial should have commenced, but said that could not happen in the absence of the defendant and without the permission of the court.

The judge said he would have agreed with the prosecution that lawyers to Mr. Dasuki had not made any effort to access their clients in the custody, but said it was clear the information was hearsay obtained from unnamed SSS Operatives.

The judge, therefore agreed with the defence counsel on the need to adjourn the case. He adjourned the case to April 6 for the prosecution to produce the defendant in court.
A self-confessed Boko Haram agent, Lawrence Ugwu, has begged a Karu Chief Magistrates Court, Abuja, to forgive his criminal intimidations to his former employer.

Mr. Ugwu, former staff of Top View Hotel, Abuja, was arraigned on a charge of criminal intimidation contrary to Section 397b of the Penal Code.

He pleaded guilty to the charge and promised to be of good conduct by writing undertaking of good behaviour to the court.

Mr. Ugwu told the court that frustration led him to using threat of being a Boko Haram agent to extort money from the complainant.

The complainant, the management of Top View Hotel, had pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying the management of the hotel has pardoned him.

The hotel also begged the court to strike out the case, since it had lost interest in the case.

The prosecutor, Ashashi H.P, had told the court that the defendant sent a text message from his handset to the complainant telling him that he is an agent of boko haram.

Mr. Ashashi said the text message stated that I am coming tonight to drink Star at the hotel and bomb it.

You should get ready for mass burial. I have done it in Emab Plaza some time ago.

The Magistrate, Folashade Oyekan, struck out the case following a plea by the complainant.

Mr. Oyekan admonished Mr. Ugwu never to allow frustration lead him to committing crime. (NAN)
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has warned that there would be no short-cut into the Nigeria Police Force in the recruitment of 10,000 personnel.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2015 approved the recruitment of 10,000 policemen at the National Security Summit in Abuja.

In a statement Wednesday, Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission, told journalists that Mike Okiro, Chairman of the commission, gave the warning while unveiling a portal for the exercise in Abuja.

The statement said that the portal would be opened to the public on April 1 to herald the commencement of the exercise.

The process leading to the recruitment of 10,000 Policemen as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari at the National Security Summit in Abuja last year, has commenced, the statement said.

It said the unveiling of the portal was in actualisation of the presidential directive on the recruitment of the 10,000 Policemen.

The statement noted that the exercise was remarkable because there had not been recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force for more than five years.

It said that thousands of policemen who died in the course of service, dismissed or retired, had not been replaced since the last five years.

The statement stressed that the recruitment would strengthen and re-energise the force to tackle more security challenges facing the country.

It explained that the exercise could not begin last year because the funding was not captured in the 2015 budget.

The statement urged interested applicants to access the portal through the commissions website: www.psc.gov.ng or that of the Nigeria Police Force: www.npf.gov.ng.

It said that no fee would be charged for the processing of the forms which would be filled on-line.

We are not charging money. It is free, absolutely free, it said.

The statement said that the exercise would be in three entry points of Constable, Cadet Inspector and Cadet ASP, while there would also be recruitment into the Specialist cadre.

It said that applicants for Police Constables are expected to possess five credits including Mathematics and English Language at Senior School Certificate Examination in not more than two sittings.

It said that for Cadet Inspectors, in addition to having the requirements of Police Constables, candidates would be expected to have an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Advanced Level (A level), National Certificate in Education (NCE) or their equivalents.

The statement said Candidates for Cadet ASP must possess a University degree or a Higher National Diploma (HND).

(NAN)
Former President Goodluck Jonathan is a role model who should be respected across Africa and beyond, retired military officer and social critic, Abubakar Umar, has said.

Mr. Umar, a retired colonel, said Mr. Jonathan deserved praises for his timely concession call to his major challenger in the 2015 presidential election.

He said that personal sacrifice and display of sportsmanship during the contentious poll has made him a beacon of hope for the growth of democracy in Africa.

He said that was a clear departure from the norm across Africa, where leaders in times past refused to willingly relinquish power after being defeated at the ballot box.

Mr. Umar made the comment in an interview he granted Abuja-based The Interview magazine, published this March.

My interpretation of personal survival in this kind of situation is to tenaciously cling to power irrespective of the harm this may cause the nation and of course the incumbent, the retired colonel said. Our African experience has been for incumbents to choose this injurious option.

Although he stepped down almost a year ago, the circumstances under which Mr. Jonathan conceded defeat have remained a subject of intense public debate till now.

While many still argue that the former president conceded defeat because he was left with no choice, having failed to garner enough votes required to remain in office, others see his action as heroic, because he could still have used the powers at his disposal as an incumbent to either sway the election his way or force an outright cancellation of the poll, which could have plunged the country into chaos.

Mr. Jonathan, in the evening of March 30, 2015, placed the historic call to his challenger and now president, Mr. Buhari.

That gesture relieved many Nigerians following anxiety that had gripped the nation for weeks leading up to the polls.

The act alone has crowned him as a statesman, Mr. Umar said. He should be respected and used as a role model for his personal sacrifice.

Mr. Umar, who was a military governor of Kaduna State between 1985-1988, also used the interview to descend on the State Security Service for what he described as the agencys wicked attempt to besmirch my image.

The Director-General of the SSS at the time was Ita Ekpeyong. He has since been sacked by President Buhari who replaced him with Mamman Daura.

He said the agency attempted to frame him and other northern leaders as sponsors of the notorious Boko Haram sect.

Mr. Umar said himself, Ango Abdullahi, a professor, and other northern leaders were accused of plotting to arm 2000 northern youths against the state in a security report submitted to Mr. Jonathan by the SSS.

Well no evidence was found to warrant any further action by the Office of the President and so it was discarded or overtaken by more serious national security challenges. But I was incensed by that wicked attempt to besmirch my image by the DG.

It was simply a case of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. What made it more shocking was the timing, coming a few days after the first Nyanya bombing.

The attention of the DSS (SSS) ought to have been fully focused on trying to identify the perpetrators and collecting actionable intelligence to secure the nation from these sorts of attacks. Instead, the DSS (SSS) was more preoccupied with fabricating mischief and creating more enemies for the President, he said.

He said all these acts were the reason the DSS (SSS) has been found the most wanting in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency.
Members of the House of Representatives from Kano State have called on Governor Umar Ganduje and his predecessor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to settle their differences for the progress of the state.

The lawmakers, numbering 12 out of 24 Representatives from Kano State, issued a statement on Wednesday, recognizing both Messrs. Ganduje and Kwankwaso as leaders of the APC in the state.

On Tuesday, loyalists of Mr. Ganduje, including 36 state lawmakers and 38 local government chairmen, led by the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, had met with APC National Chairman, John Oyegun, in Abuja.

At the Tuesday meeting, the delegation declared Mr. Ganduje as the leader of the party in the state, relegating Mr. Kwankwaso.

Earlier, some of the signatories to the Wednesdays statement and Mr. Ganduje last week held a meeting where they were reported to have declared loyalty to the governor as the leader of the party.

But in their statement they said, We wish to categorically state here that the meeting some us held with the executive governor of Kano State was only about reconciliation of our leaders (Ganduje and Kwankwaso).

The lawmakers were opposed to dethroning Mr. Kwankwaso as a leader, one member told PREMIUM TIMES. He said they preferred regarding both the former governor and the incumbent governor as the as leaders instead.

At this juncture, we wish to set the record straight that our unalloyed support and loyalty to Distinguished Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and His Excellency Governor Umar Ganduje are unshakable and we will as always remain good ambassadors of our two leaders from Kano State, the 12 lawmakers said in the statement they personally signed.

It is equally noteworthy to state that Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is force to be reckoned within our great party APC because he has contributed immensely in ensuring success of APC at both state and federal levels.

We equally want to extend our gratitude for believing in all of us and ensuring emergence of Governor Umar Ganduje, his deputy Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, 3 Senators, 24 members of the House of Representatives, 40 members of the House of Assembly, 44 local government chairmen and 484 councilors right from the primaries of the party and 2015 general elections, the lawmakers aid.

They added that the political success achieved due to the projects and programmes executed by the Kwankwaso administration which set Kano State as a pacesetter in terms of developmental projects in Nigeria.

The lawmakers who signed the statement included Aliyu Madaki, Sani Rano, Danburam Nuhu, Nasiru Garo, Garba Durbunde, Garba Mohammed, Bashir Baballe.

Others were Abdulmumin Jibrin, Ahmed Garba, Muntari Chiromawa, Musa Tsamiya, Shehu Aliyu.

The lawmakers, who appreciated North West governors for intervening in the festering Kwankwaso-Ganduje crisis for a resolution, said they recognized Mr. Ganduje as the duly elected Governor of Kano State and urge him to consolidate on the achievements of his predecessor.

They urged all sides to maintain status quo ante for true reconciliation.
Former President Goodluck Jonathans uncle, who was abducted by gunmen on February 17, has narrated his experience at the hands of his kidnappers.

Inegite Jonathan, 72, opened up on his ordeal to the former leader who was one of many callers who thronged his at Otuoke, Bayelsa State, family sources said.

Inegite Jonathan expressed happiness over his freedom, and expressed shock over the death of his nephew, Samuel Oki, who was also abducted but killed by his kidnappers, family sources present at the meeting said.

The senior Jonathan told the former president that his abductors arrived with two speed boats and took them away. He said he pleaded with the attackers to release Mr. Oki, to no avail.

He thanked all those who supported him throughout the period of his abduction.

Among those who visited the residence were King Lot Ogiasa, the Paramount ruler Otuoke, King George Lawson, who is the clan head of Ogbia kingdom.
Dauda Kako-Are, Accord Party member, representing Lagos States Mushin 1 Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, said he would take 2,000 intending picnickers from his constituency to the Sultan Beach on Easter Monday.

Mr. Kako-Are told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that this would afford them the opportunity to relax in a natural setting devoid of the hustling and bustling of the city centre.

He said it had been his culture to take some members of his constituency to tourist sites during Easter celebration.

The lawmaker said that no less than 2,000 intending picnickers had already shown interests in the exercise and more were still registering.

He said that the aim was to give back to the society and an avenue for people to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

I believe my people need to enjoy the dividends of democracy and this is an avenue to do so.

I will be responsible for the expenses and not the constituency because I do not want my people to be overburdened, he said.

Mr. Kako-Are said the idea was also to enable people know the tourism potentials in the state, adding that the beach was one of the best sites located in Badagry.

NAN reports that Mr. Kako-Are had been responsible for free school bus ride for primary and secondary school pupils in the area.

He was also providing clean water and monthly allowances for adults and the elderly in his constituency. (NAN)
Members of Ekiti State House of Assembly have demanded an unreserved apology from the Department of State Security Services (SSS) over the March 4 invasion of the House of Assembly and detention of a member of the House, Afolabi Akanni.

The lawmakers, who described the SSS raid under President Muhammadu Buhari as undemocratic, unpatriotic, dictatorial and brutish, demanded a thorough medical examination of Mr. Akanni.

We fear that his health and general well-being could have been compromised while in the DSS custody, they told journalists on Wednesday.

The chairman of the House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan, who was flanked by the Speaker, Kola Oluwawole, Deputy Speaker; Segun Adewumi, and 16 others, said the SSS must explain to Nigerians whether in a democracy, it was part of the its mandate to disobey court orders and dump Nigerians in detention for 18 days on unfounded allegations.

Yesterday, we read online like other Nigerians that our member, representing Efon Constituency, Afolabi Akanni, who has been in the Department of State Services (DSS) detention in Abuja since March 4, was on admission at a private hospital in Abuja.

Up till this moment, we have not been told officially by the DSS whether or not Mr. Akanni was formally released from incarceration after spending 18 days without access to his doctors, lawyers and family members.

However, preliminary information available to us suggests that Hon Akanni may have been brought to the hospital by men of the DSS and abandoned there because they could no longer hold him in captivity because of his deteriorating health condition.

Nigerians should be reminded that it took the rumour of Hon Akannis death for the DSS to admit officially that it was holding him after spending 15 days in detention without access to anyone.

As we speak, Hon Akanni is in very critical condition and he has not been able to speak with anyone of us.

As reported in the media, Hon Akanni could only say that he was sick, he was not well when press men sought to speak with him yesterday.

We therefore demand an official explanation from the DSS as to why Hon. Akanni was abducted and held incommunicado for 18 days, only for us to be told that he was admitted at a private hospital in Abuja.

We also demand a thorough medical examination of Hon. Akanni as we fear that his health and general well-being could have been compromised while in the DSS custody.

Furthermore, we demand an explanation from the DSS whether in a democracy, it is part of the its mandate to disobey court orders and dump Nigerians in detention for 18 DAYS on unfounded allegations.

Most importantly, we condemn strongly the DSS illegal arrest, detention and dehumanisation of Hon Akanni and we demand an unreserved apology forthwith.

We have also directed our counsel to seek redress and damages in court because to us, this act of impunity by the DSS under President Muhammadu Buhari is undemocratic, unpatriotic, dictatorial and brutish.

Detaining Nigerians for weeks without trial is a clear return of Decree 2, with which President Buhari hounded Nigerians in detention when he was a military dictator and we in the Ekiti State House of Assembly will continue to support our leader and Governor, Ayodele Fayose, in his fight against tyranny.
By PrintWeek Team

All eyes are on the Awards Night of the 12th edition of the PrintWeek Awards to be held at the Grand Hyatt (Santacruz East, Mumbai) on 2 Nov...
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




DUBLIN, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Amazon has organized an invitation-only conference this week for experts in artificial intelligence, robotics and space exploration. The MARS conference is being held at a resort in Palm Springs, with invitations extended to industry leaders and academics from universities like MIT and ETH Zurich.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/600769 )

Amazon has held exclusive events in the past, but generally shies away from publishing papers or giving talks about its technology. But the world's biggest online retailer has been investing in areas like robotics and artificial intelligence.

Industries worldwide are demanding better precision and efficiency in order to meet the growing end-user demand. This has led to high demand for machines that are capable of increasing industrial efficiency by handling multiple tasks while remaining uncompromising on overall accuracy. Amazon currently has tens of thousands of "Kiva" robots in its delivery warehouses, according to reports. The global robotics market is projected to grow at a rate of 29.11% by 2019.

Smart homes is another topic being discussed at the conference. A smart home comprises of an internal network, home automation, and intelligent control. It offers a wide variety of applications such as home security, energy management, home cloud, and e-health services. It is a market that is expected to grow 38% in the U.S. alone over the next few years.

One of Amazon's best-selling products is its Amazon Echo device, which uses a voice-enabled artificial intelligence platform to perform tasks such as dimming lights or adjust room temperature. Artificial intelligence is growing in popularity due to factors such as diversified application areas, improved productivity, and increased customer satisfaction. The market is expected to be worth $5.05 billion by 2020.

For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Robotics

section at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/NJLK.

About Research and Markets

Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-23/amazon-hosts-exclusive-robotics-conference-in-palm-springs

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SOURCE Research and Markets
This in-depth report provides an analysis of the global metered dose inhalers market and the drivers, challenges and opportunities set to face this market. It considers current and future factors, offering readers and unrivalled understanding of this market. Metered dose inhalers have been around for more than thirty years, and while the underlying technology is relatively straightforward and mature, device developers and their inhaled drug partners have been able to add improvements and/or new features that address MDI limitations and advance ease-of-use.

Questions Answered:

What inhalable drugs are supplied in MDIs, how are they marketed, what are the device specifics, and who markets them?

What inhalable MDI products are in late stage development, who are the developers, and what indications are they targeting?

What are the major factors driving metered dose inhaled drug/device demand?

What is the size of the market today, who are the market share leaders, and what will the market share be in 2022?

How important are drug developer-device manufacturer relationships and what are the key alliances in the industry?

What are the essential design factors, material selection issues, technologies and market development issues MDI products?

What are the significant economic, technology, and regulatory factors affecting the market for MDIs?

Report Structure:

1. Executive Summary

2. Inhaled Drug Delivery Market Dynamics

3. Devices and Formulations

4. MDI Technology Factors

5. MDI Performance Factors

6. MDI Product Assessments and Analysis

7. Therapeutic Market Analysis, Market Data and Forecasts

8. Market Factors

9. Company Profiles

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4jlrbs/metered_dose

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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SOURCE Research and Markets
- Mr. Wiklund is a well recognized and seasoned healthcare executive

STOCKHOLM and LA JOLLA, California, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IRRAS AB, a commercial stage medical technology company pioneering breakthrough devices to meet the challenges of fluid control and management for a broad range of CNS therapeutic applications and procedures, today announced the appointment of Anders P. Wiklund to its Board of Directors. The majority shareholders of IRRAS have endorsed Mr. Wiklund's board membership, which will be formalized at the company's upcoming shareholder meeting in April. Mr. Wiklund, a pharmacist by training, is an accomplished industry leader with expertise in operations, strategy, corporate development, and fund raising in both the United States and Europe. Among other appointments Mr. Wiklund was President & CEO of KabiVitrum Inc., KabiPharmacia Inc., President of Pharmacia Development Corp and co-founder of Esperion Therapeutics.

"Anders brings to IRRAS a rare combination of corporate development expertise, proven business acumen, and international executive leadership demonstrated over four decades," said Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., Executive Chairman and acting CEO of IRRAS. "We look forward to his contributions as we implement our clinical, commercial and operational goals to establish IRRAS as a leading medical device company."

"I am very pleased to be joining the Board of IRRAS," commented Mr. Wiklund. "IRRAS is an attractive company with high potential, innovative first-in-class devices like IRRAflowTM, passionate team members and an evolving product strategy with global market opportunities. IRRAS is positioned for the next stage of development and I am excited about contributing to its future."

Mr. Wiklund has accumulated a wealth of operational, business development, and strategic advisory experience from his long-standing career in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in Europe and the United States. Most notably, Mr. Wiklund spent 29 years with the Kabi and Pharmacia group of companies, where he held a number of executive level positions, such as Managing Director of KabiVitrum in the UK, President of KabiVitrum International in Sweden, President and CEO of KabiVitrum and KabiPharmacia in the United States. Mr. Wiklund also currently serves on the boards of EffRx Pharmaceuticals SA, where he is Chairman, Life Medical AB and Inspirion Delivery Technologies. Mr. Wiklund holds a Master of Pharmacy from the Pharmaceutical Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and studied business administration at the University of Stockholm.

Mr. Wiklund joins Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., Executive Chairman and acting CEO of IRRAS, Christos Panotopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of IRRAS, Saeid Esmaeilzadeh, Ph.D., CEO of Serendipity Innovations and founder of several innovative life sciences, medical technology and clean technology companies, and Marios Fotiadis, M.B.A., CEO of the Vandel Group.

About IRRAS

IRRAS AB is a commercial stage medical technology company formed to develop and commercialize breakthrough devices for a broad range of brain pathology therapeutic applications and procedures. IRRAS was founded in 2012 by a leading neurosurgeon with the goal to introduce innovative devices for brain surgery. IRRAflow is the company's flagship commercial medical device that provides intelligent, dynamic control of CNS fluids. The company's products are protected by key intellectual property patents and patent applications. With its unique product development expertise, qualified investors and globally recognized board and clinical advisors, IRRAS is well-positioned to improve patient outcomes and establish a leadership position in the medical device market. IRRAS is operational in Germany and San Diego, USA with corporate headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information, please visit www.irras.com.

Contact:

Amy Conrad

1-858-914-1962

amy@juniper-point.com

Related Links

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SOURCE IRRAS AB
The North Africa HVAC Market is witnessing a high demand for mini-split air conditioners and is expected to generate over $891.48 billion value by 2022 at, as per the forecasts of the analysts. Other products that follow the high surge in the usage of HVAC products in the region include air handling unit (AHU) and fan coil unit (FCU), among others. Rising population, revival in the housing markets, growing commercial and industrial units are some of the key drivers pushing towards the growth of North Africa HVAC market.

The study has been segmented according to North Africa HVAC product type and geography. The HVAC product market is further segmented into window, portable/moveable units, chillers, single packaged units, split systems, air handling unit (AHU) and fan coil unit (FCU). Geographical segmentation considered in the report includes major countries in North Africa region, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Rest of North Africa. Rest of North Africa covers Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Western Sahara. In addition to investigating the promising side of the market, the research examines various facets of the market dynamics which covers major drivers, challenges and opportunities present in the North Africa HVAC industry.

Questons Answered:

What are different types of HVAC products in North Africa residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and other application markets?

residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and other application markets? What are the key market developments and strategies across different regions in North African HVAC market?

What are major drivers, challenges and opportunities for North Africa HVAC market?

What is the market size (value and volume) of chillers in North Africa and major countries across North Africa ?

and major countries across ? What is the market volume of chillers in major end-use applications across North Africa ?

Companies Mentioned:

Daikin Industries Ltd.

Delta Construction Manufacturing (Dcm)

Egyptian German Air Treatment Co. (Egat) Group

Icat International

Ingersoll Rand (Trane)

(Trane) LG Electronics

Miraco Carrier Co.

Panasonic Electronics

Samsung Electronics

Smc Air Conditioning

Tiba Manzalawi Group

Zamil Air Conditioners

Report Structure:

1 Report Scope

2 Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Market Dynamics

5 Competitive Insights

6 North Africa HVAC Market, By Product

7. North Africa HVAC Product Market, By Application

8 Key Player Analysis

9 Appendix

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2k6vcf/north_africa_hvac

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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SOURCE Research and Markets
OYSTER BAY, N.Y., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tablet shipment volumes are tumbling, with ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, attributing the general decline over the past two years to two culprits. Demand for branded tablets in advanced market economies is decreasing due to saturation, slow replacement cycles, greater influence of business purchases, and substitution. China and other Asian markets are also seeing decreased demand for white box tablets due to shifts to branded tablets, as well as reliance on smartphones and phablets. While the total tablet volume in 2015 was more than 207 million, ABI Research expects this to sink below 140 million global shipments in 2021.

"China is evolving, moving away from white box products to support local and global brand manufacturers," says Jeff Orr, Research Director at ABI Research. "As this behavior continues across other markets in Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America, the potential for white box tablets to remain viable will all but go away."

Global Weighting of Total Tablet Shipments (%)

2015 2016 2021 Branded 67.8% 70.6% 88.5% White Box 32.2% 29.4% 11.5%

Future tablet shipments show an interesting shift in market dynamic, with major advanced economies taking a back seat in shipment totals. "The major, advanced economies of the world represented close to 63% of branded tablet shipments in 2015," concludes Orr. "This will soon flip. We predict that, by 2021, 57% of branded tablet shipments will come from emerging and developing economies."

These findings are part of ABI Research's Tablets and Pervasive Computing Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/tablets-and-pervasive-computing/), which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: Christine Gallen Tel: +1.516.624.2542

[email protected]

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SOURCE ABI Research

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The advocates plan to thank members for their support of the Jason Flatt Act in 2012 that requires 2.0 hours of suicide prevention and awareness training for all educators before they can be recertified. Since its passage, AFSP has provided training to numerous staff throughout the state. AFSP's " More Than Sad " program is one of three programs currently approved by the SC Department of Education.

AFSP will also be informing the members about the partnership AFSP is participating in with the SC Department of Mental Health youth initiative, "While I Breathe, I Hope," that focuses on suicide prevention among young adults, aged 10 to 24. This partnership was funded by a SAMSHA grant of $736,000 per year for five years, which began September 2015.

"The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention congratulates the SC Department of Mental Health on this important grant," said Helen Pridgen, SC Area Director for AFSP. "We look forward to the work of this collaboration with DMH and other organizations so that no more young lives are lost to suicide in South Carolina. We commend and fully support the initiative."

This campaign will help increase access to screening and mental health services, raise awareness through social media, provide suicide prevention programming for 80 school districts and five college campuses. Through this partnership, training will be provided for teachers, parents, peers, guidance counselors, school nurses, and others on recognizing the risk and warning signs for suicide and where to get help.

Other mental health groups will be joining the National Alliance on Mental Illness-SC, Mental Health America of SC, and advocates from AFSP.

Suicide in South Carolina

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 25-34 in South Carolina, and the third leading cause of death for people aged 15-24. More than twice as many people die by suicide in South Carolina annually as by homicide.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, and with a public policy office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Related Links

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AGOURA HILLS, Calif., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH), a leading provider of high quality single-family homes for rent, today announced that the Board of Trustees elected Douglas N. Benham to the Board, effective March 23, 2016.

Mr. Benham, 59, is President and Chief Executive Officer of DNB Advisors, LLC, a consulting firm providing services primarily to the restaurant industry. He is currently Chairman of the Board and Executive Chair of Bob Evans Farms, Inc. and a director of CNL Healthcare Properties, II, Inc., a non-traded public REIT. He was a director of American Residential Properties, Inc. (ARP) until its merger with a subsidiary of American Homes 4 Rent on February 29, 2016.

"We welcome Doug Benham to the American Homes 4 Rent Board of Trustees," said David P. Singelyn, Chief Executive Officer of American Homes 4 Rent. "We look forward to benefiting from Doug's knowledge and experience in consumer-oriented businesses, particularly his experience with the single-family rental business as a former director of ARP."

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is fast becoming a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high quality, good value and tenant satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of February 29, 2016, we owned 47,910 single-family properties, including the homes acquired as part of the merger with American Residential Properties, Inc., in selected submarkets in 22 states.

Additional information about American Homes 4 Rent is available on our website at http://www.americanhomes4rent.com.

Contact:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent

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AMELIA, Ohio, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- While they can occur year-round, thunderstorms are most likely in the spring and summer months. American Modern Insurance Group, a leading specialty residential insurer, offers homeowners tips to better protect their properties and families against these events.

"When it comes to thunderstorms, thoughtful planning and preparation are essential," said American Modern's Heather Bolyard, Assistant Vice President, Claims Support. "For example, one simple yet effective measure homeowners can take is to secure items found in the yard, like trampolines, which can become airborne and dangerous if not properly tied down or stored away."

Between 1980 and 2015, severe thunderstorms caused 43 percent of insured property windstorm losses in the United States (in 2015 values), according to American Modern's parent, Munich Re. In 2011 alone, the United States suffered $27 billion in insured property losses due to tornados, hail, wind gusts and flash floods that accompanied severe thunderstorms, according to the company.

Although these storms can be unpredictable, there are a number of ways homeowners can better prepare for them, such as:

Prepare a Supply Kit: A basic disaster supply kit should include essential items such as water, non-perishable food, a flashlight and first-aid materials. Since you can't predict where you'll be when a storm hits, it's important to have supplies where you are most often, such as at home or in your car. Trim Trees: Remove or trim damaged trees and limbs to keep your property safe. Store Items Inside: When alerted of a thunderstorm, bring in anything from the outside that could become windborne debris (lawn furniture, bicycles, trash bins and trampolines, for example). Also secure any loose siding or fence panels. Keep Food Cold: Turn your refrigerator and freezer to the coldest setting and keep it closed as much as possible so food will last longer should you lose power. Check Gutters: Clean gutters and downspouts so rain water can flow freely. A plugged gutter or damaged drain pipe can create a dam and subsequent roof leak. Purchase a Portable Generator In Case of a Power Outage: Although generators can be useful in the event of a power outage, remember to use them safely by keeping generators and other power/heat sources outside, at least 20 feet away from windows and doors and protected from moisture. Never try to power the house by plugging a generator into a wall outlet. Prepare for an Evacuation: Discuss an evacuation plan with members of your household to minimize confusion that may result from the need to evacuate quickly. Especially during peak storm season, it's important to keep your car filled with at least a half tank of gas in case you need to evacuate or in the event of a power outage, as many gas stations rely on electricity to power their pumps.

About American Modern Insurance Group

American Modern is a widely recognized specialty insurance leader that delivers products and services for residential property--like manufactured homes and specialty dwellings--and for consumers in the recreational market, including owners of boats, personal watercraft, classic cars, motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles. American Modern is licensed in all 50 states through six property and casualty companies, which are part of an insurance group that enjoys an A+ (superior) rating by the A.M. Best Company, a leading independent insurance analyst. These companies insure more than 1.7 million policyholders countrywide and have been recognized as a Best Place to Work by the Cincinnati Business Courier and a Top Workplace by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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SOURCE American Modern Insurance Group

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CANTON, Mass., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Commonwealth's top law enforcement officer and lawyer will speak with registered nurses on Thursday as they gather for the 14th Annual Labor Leader Summit, hosted by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

What: 14th Annual MNA Labor Leader Summit

When: Thursday, March 24

Attorney General Maura Healey to speak at 11 a.m.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre to speak at 9 a.m.

Where: Doubletree Hotel, 11 Beaver Street, Milford, MA

Attorney General Maura Healey will address a group of nurse leaders from around the state as they discuss topics such as the 2014 Massachusetts Intensive Care Unit Safe Patient Limits law, the state's ban on mandatory overtime for nurses and the illegal closure of essential health care services.

"We are pleased to welcome Maura Healey as a guest speaker at our annual summit," MNA President Donna Kelly-Williams said. "Since her successful 2014 campaign, Healey has been 'The People's Lawyer,' fighting for justice and equal rights for all citizens  values that nurses champion every day. Nurses look forward to asking Healey about a number of topics important to their profession, including the ICU law in place now to protect the state's most vulnerable patients."

ICU Law

The ICU Safe Patient Limits Law was signed by then-Gov. Deval Patrick on June 30, 2014. It was enacted by the legislature at the urging of registered nurses to ensure patients in Massachusetts hospital ICUs receive one-on-one care from their RN, while allowing a nurse to take a second patient if and when it is deemed safe to do so by the nurse. Nurses continue to advocate for the pending Patient Safety Act, which will require safe patient limits in all hospital units. Decades of research shows these kinds of limits improve patient outcomes.

Following Health Policy Commission regulations, nurses and hospitals are currently developing acuity tools to assist nurses in determining when ICU patients are stable enough to allow a two-patient assignment. Depending on the type of hospital and its ICU, the deadlines to complete acuity tools are March 31, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017. Though the tools are not finalized, the ICU law has been in effect since Sept. 28, 2014, as reinforced in written correspondence to hospitals by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in October 2014. Nurses are concerned because many hospitals in the state are wantonly violating the law, oftentimes assigning nurses up to three patients, placing those patients at risk for serious harm.

Mandatory OT

Mandatory overtime is also an important topic for RNs in Massachusetts. A law banning the dangerous practice of forcing nurses to take overtime hours went into effect on Nov. 5, 2012. Despite this law, which has few and only extraordinary exceptions, hospitals regularly compel nurses to work beyond their scheduled shifts, using generic excuses that are often simply copied and pasted into DPH reporting forms.

Essential Services

In the wake of the recent illegal and premature closings of North Adams Region Hospital and Quincy Medical Center, along with the loss of other essential services throughout the state, nurses are advocating for a bill (S. 1149) that will give the public more input into closings, extend the required notification period, direct the attorney general to seek injunctions and penalize hospitals that close essential services.

Healey has been a strong proponent of increased protection for communities and patients surrounding health care closures. Speaking last summer about NARH, Healey told WAMC Northeast Public Radio that the state needs the right tools to deal with closures: "To make sure that patients are protected, to make sure that the employees are protected, that the community is protected and that there is as much as notice and an opportunity to take needed steps as there should be," she said.

A report issued by Healey's office in December 2015 on Steward Health Care also took a strong stance on premature closings. "Steward failed to abide by the commitment it had made to maintain an acute care hospital in Quincy," the report said. Steward closed all but a satellite emergency department at Quincy Medical Center in December 2014 despite a deal Steward made when it bought the hospital out of bankruptcy in 2011 to keep the hospital open until at least 2017.

Labor Leader Summit

The Annual Labor Leader Summit provides valuable education about union activity and advocacy for nurses and other health care professionals who represent the MNA's 23,000 members at health care facilities throughout Massachusetts. These professionals, who take leadership roles at their facilities, will participate in panels about contract bargaining and labor history, and will hear updates from various MNA membership units.

This year's summit also features a keynote address by Tefere Gebre, who was the first immigrant elected to national AFL-CIO office. Born in Gondar, Ethiopia, Gebre was a political refugee who emigrated to the United States as a teenager. Since starting his first union job as a night shift loader at UPS while in college, Gebre has devoted his entire life to the values of hard work and a voice at the workplace, according to his AFL-CIO biography. He served in various labor leadership roles at all levels in California prior to his election in 2013 as AFL-CIO executive vice president.

Healey was elected Attorney General in November 2014 and was sworn in on Jan. 21, 2015. For seven years prior to her election, Maura helped lead the Attorney General's Office, ultimately overseeing more than half of the office's 500 employees. She began as Chief of the Civil Rights Division and went on to direct two of the office's most prominent divisions: the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau and the Business & Labor Bureau.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses' union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United

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BOISE, Idaho, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cascadia Healthcare LLC, a Boise based skilled nursing operator and development company, announced today that it will break ground on two new Transitional Care Facility developments beginning in the summer of 2016.

Cascadia's projects will be state-of-the-art, 99-bed Transitional Rehab and skilled long-term care focused facilities. Each of the Facilities will be comprised of three distinct buildings consisting of nearly 52,000 total square feet. One side will have up to 30 private rooms with private baths and showers. The facilities will provide residents with cutting edge rehab gyms. Included in the design will be separate occupational therapy areas uniquely designed to simulate a homelike environment. These gyms will ensure residents are ready to safely transition back to their prior living arrangements. Another wing will boast 30 semi-private rooms with private showers and open and inviting living spaces where residents can thrive in a community setting. First class activities and dining spaces will allow the residents the maximum quality of life experience, while providing all necessary care. At the heart of these developments will be a state of the art service building delivering restaurant style food, hospitality style cleaning services and accommodations and nearly 5,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor open and innovative therapy space.

Cascadia's principals have a wealth of experience in the industry, with a mission to "Be a Force for Good" in delivering quality outcomes in community based settings. "We see an industry that is currently operating in severely outdated 50 to 60-year-old frameworks. Most new construction is focused on the "skilled only" rehab market. This reality leaves the long term care population underserved within the new space. Our intent is to focus on both long term care and transitional, caring for each segment with dignity and individualized services while raising the bar for care within our local communities," President & CEO Owen Hammond said in describing Cascadia's driving focus.

In addition to the slated developments, Cascadia is actively looking at opportunities to develop and operate, within Idaho and throughout the western states. Hammond noted that, "The team at Cascadia is looking to utilize the unique combination of our experience, and strength as operators and developers to transform industry norms. We can't think of a better place to start than our home state of Idaho."

"Our two developments will bring nearly 250 skilled jobs to the Treasure Valley over the next few years, not to mention the jobs that will be created during the construction phase of these facilities," said Owen Hammond in regards to the impact of this announcement on job creation in the valley.

About Cascadia Healthcare LLC

Cascadia Healthcare is a skilled nursing operator and development company that looks to both build state of the art skilled nursing buildings and acquire, lease and or manage existing skilled nursing operations in states west of the Mississippi. For more information on Cascadia Healthcare LLC., visit the Company's website at www.cascadiahc.com.

SOURCE Cascadia Healthcare LLC

Related Links

http://www.cascadiahc.com


DURHAM, N.C., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA), a full-time, online public charter school authorized by the North Carolina State Board of Education, invites families to submit enrollment applications for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year. NCVA will accept applications for students in grades K through 11 from across the state of North Carolina. Using a rigorous, interactive online curriculum combined with hands-on materials and instruction from North Carolina-licensed teachers, NCVA offers students an alternative to the traditional classroom model.

NCVA students benefit from a more individualized approach to learning. With more than 700 lessons per subject available in the K8 course offerings, students can dive deeply into areas of interest  which is especially beneficial for advanced learners, who often do not have the option of moving ahead in a traditional classroom filled with many students. At NCVA, students' individual learning styles are recognized, and the curriculum is flexible, so they can move at their own pace and explore more of what truly interests them.

"When we got into the curriculum for the first time, my son just lit up like I've never seen him before," said Diana Santos, who enrolled her son in 5th grade at NCVA in 2015. "I'm so glad to be able to give my son the great education that NCVA offers. The teachers are more concentrated on each individual student in this type of program."

Teachers communicate with students and parents via phone, email, the online classroom technology, and in person at educational events, field trips and social outings organized by the school.

"Students are not one and the same, and everything we do here reflects our school motto  every child, every class, every day," said Dr. Joel Medley, Head of School at North Carolina Virtual Academy. "Teachers and administrators strive to connect with parents, so that students have a strong support system bolstered by open communication and teamwork."

The NCVA high school program offers core, elective and Advanced Placement (AP) courses  all designed to let students enjoy a program tailored to their goals and abilities. Students have access to a wide selection of electives, such as world languages, to help them become well-rounded and resourceful individuals.

Enrollment applications will be accepted until April 20, 2016; and, if necessary, the school will host a lottery to fill open slots. NCVA will host several online information sessions for families to learn more about the school. Details on these events, the school, and how to submit an enrollment application can be found at http://ncva.k12.com.

About North Carolina Virtual Academy

North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA) is a full-time online public school program that currently serves students in grades K through 10 but will add an 11th grade next year. As an authorized public charter school in North Carolina, NCVA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about NCVA, visit http://ncva.k12.com.

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SOURCE North Carolina Virtual Academy

Related Links

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MIDWEST CITY, Okla., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Insight Academy of Oklahoma (ISOK), a tuition-free, online public school, announced today it is welcoming families with children in grades 7-12 to begin enrollment for the 2016-2017 school year. The comprehensive education approach provided by ISOK focuses on providing struggling students with the academic, social and emotional support needed to reach graduation.

"In today's world, it has never been more important for students to graduate from high school," said Sheryl Tatum, Head of School of ISOK. "We understand that our students come from very diverse backgrounds and unique situations. At ISOK we offer students a fresh start with a different learning model so all our students can be successful."

ISOK combines engaging web-based lessons, live online learning sessions and support from highly-qualified state-certified teachers and counselors to create a unique educational experience for each student. Students take benchmark tests at the beginning of the school year to identify strengths and challenges, and the test results are used to develop realistic learning objectives and a comprehensive, customized plan to reach goals. For high school students, this Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) expands beyond academic objectives to include post-secondary goals for college or a career.

Kimberley Kelly, principal at Insight School of Oklahoma, states, "Social/Emotional development as well as academic success for students is a high priority at ISOK". The online curriculum is bolstered by a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program, as well as a Family Support Team to help students achieve success both academically and personally. In 2015, ISOK graduates headed to colleges such as Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, University of Missouri, Southwestern Oklahoma State University and University of Texas.

"The relationships I am able to build with my students is unmatched," says Melissa Martin-Rathbone, a teacher at ISOK. "At ISOK, I can better support my students in the classroom and help them reach their goals."

ISOK also offers a proven remediation program that can quickly identify students' specific skill gaps and develop an individualized remediation plan to address them. Pre-tests and adaptive assessments identify each student's strengths and deficiencies at the outset. State-certified teachers then match curriculum and instruction to students' skill levels - whether they're on a developmental, remedial, or an enhanced learning trajectory. The program includes content for high-stakes exam readiness, so students can be thoroughly prepared for critical high school exams.

During the enrollment period ISOK will be conducting online and in-person information sessions throughout the state. Interested families are encouraged to attend to meet teachers, staff and other families and to learn more about the school and the award-winning online curriculum provided by K12.

For more information on ISOK, its unique support services and the enrollment process, please visit http://ok.insightschools.net/

About Insight School of Oklahoma

Insight School of Oklahoma (ISOK) is an accredited, full-time online public school that serves Oklahoma students in grades 7 through 12. As part of the Oklahoma public school system, ISOK is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ISOK, visit http://ok.insightschools.net/

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SOURCE Insight School of Oklahoma

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MONTREAL, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - EXO U Inc. ("EXO U") (TSXV: EXO) today signed a distribution agreement with Today's Classroom, Inc ("Today's Classroom"), a company incorporated under the laws of the United States and located in Canton, Ohio, USA, to distribute Ormi, its mobile device teaching platform for schools. The non-exclusive agreement establishes terms, pricing and distribution for Ormi to be sold as a standalone product within Today's Classroom's growing interactive technology portfolio.

Today's classroom is a service reseller of leading brands into education, with a focus on equipping modern classrooms. EXO U's platofrom integrates and compliments other popular K-12 brands sold by Today's Classroom, including Hitachi, AVerMedia, Elmo and others.

Mr. Kevin Pawsey, CEO of EXO U commented, "EXO U is pleased to continue growing its distribution in the United States with the addition of Today's Classroom. While partners like Panasonic and QOMO ship Ormi with hardware products, Today's Classroom helps us to service educators who have technology needs in place, but require a whole class teaching solution to bridge displays and devices. With its 12+ years in the marketplace and a track record for volume sales and customer management, we're looking forward to working with Today's Classroom."

Learn more about Today's Classroom at http://www.todaysclassroom.com/interactive-learning/

About EXO U

EXO U's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol EXO. EXO U develops an innovative software platform that enables businesses and educational institutions to securely mobilize and manage their mobile workforce and students by delivering engaging experiences spanning desktop and mobile applications. At the core of EXO U's platform is the smart and agnostic EXO engine that unifies multiple software platforms, allowing devices to interact and communicate seamlessly together. For more information, visit EXOU.com or follow us on Twitter @exo_u.

Disclaimer in Regards to Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included herein, including those that express management's expectations or estimates of EXO U's future performance or future events, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, regulator and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. EXO U disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other assumptions and risk factors, please refer to EXO U's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended March 31, 2015, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE EXO U Inc

Related Links

http://www.exou.com


CHANDLER, Ariz., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Firefly Credit Union (Formerly US Federal Credit Union) in Burnsville, Minnesota, announces their investment in a better member experience by choosing CFM, the core integration solution, to integrate its cash recycling machines directly into their core platform. Previously, Firefly CU was dependent on a legacy cash handling solution that limited the credit union's hardware options and required extra steps to complete transactions.

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"Credit Unions need technologies that enable a superior member experience," explained Jon Hallberg, VP of Information Services at Firefly CU, "but these products also must provide real benefits through process improvementnot added workflow, complexity or limited flexibility and single vendor lock in. By integrating our recyclers and dispensers directly with our core, CFM changes how we handle transactions in the branch."

Additionally, with a new name and brand, Firefly wanted their branch experience to match the new spirit of the CU, and that included introducing best in class technology, no matter the provider. "If we have a desire to leverage one vendor's cash dispensers, another vendor's cash recyclers, and yet another vendor's integrated video teller platform to best serve our members we should have that choice. Before CFM, we didn't," added Hallberg.

"We're excited to be a big behind the scenes partner of Firefly CU, helping to enable the branch experience they want and deserve," said John. W. Smith, CFM's CEO. "We started CFM for the exact reasons Firefly found usfinancial institutions were struggling with limited options for integrating cash automation hardware into their branch. Firefly's selection of CFM shows our solutions align to exactly what the branch of the future needs."

Hallberg agreed, "Our existing cash handling interface software was a recommendation of our core processing vendor, and it's simply what they are familiar with. Cash handling is not their core competency, nor should it be. However, this "familiar" interface is based on older technology and hasn't kept up with the changing needs of the credit union. This partnership with CFM will help Firefly create a flexible command and control platform fully integrated to our core, allowing us to adopt new technologies while better leveraging our investment in existing cash handling equipment."

About Firefly Credit Union

Firefly is Minnesota's first and oldest credit union, founded in 1925 to serve Minneapolis postal employees. After decades as an employee-based financial cooperative, in 2004 they expanded their reach to serve one of the largest community charters in the nation. Upon topping $1 billion in assets last year, they announced a comprehensive rebranding effort for 2016. The name Firefly is intentionally unique, denoting the credit union's welcoming spirit, Midwestern roots, and drive to be a guiding light that leads their members forward. www.fireflycu.org

About CFM

Innovations aren't innovative unless a problem or need is solved. For CFM, revolutionizing an industry started with this simple principle. Started by programmers, technicians, and end users, CFM helps credit unions transform the banking experience through core integrated solutions. As the only zero-footprint solution in the industry, CFM drives the future of banking by connecting cash automation hardware to the core, enabling Universal Associates, super-safe redundancy solutions, robust analytics and self-service solutions. CFM is headquartered in Chandler, AZ and a strategic partner of DBSI (www.dbsi-inc.com), a branch transformation strategist. To learn more, visit www.whycfm.com or call (855) 333.4236.

Media Contact:

Emily Sweillam

Director of Communications

Email

855.275.3214

SOURCE CFM

Related Links

http://www.whycfm.com


MIAMI, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Granite Transformations, a global full-service residential and commercial remodeling franchise known for their revolutionary, proprietary resurfacing process, is pleased to announce that franchise opportunities are now available throughout North America. With more than 20 years of franchising experience, the company offers a unique and thriving business model that has made its presence known in eight countries on four continents across the globe, with more than 150 franchise locations worldwide, including 74 North American locations. The home improvement business has seen continued growth and success over the past several years, and with a moderate entry-level investment, the opportunity proves to be an enticing venture for prospective franchise owners with a significant potential for profit and future growth.

The Granite Transformations story is a rich, centuries-old Italian heritage turned global entrepreneurial dream. The company presents time-challenged and quality-conscious homeowners a premium surface design solution without the demolition hassle of traditional kitchen and bath remodeling. Using an exclusive selection of the highest-quality granite, recycled glass and quartz countertops and mosaic tiles  all offering a lifetime warranty  its "over-the-top" installation process virtually eliminates the need for demolition, shortening a project timeline and easing the stress and mess of typical home renovations. The product's versatility allows for a wide range of uses and brings added value and growth potential, appealing to both homeowners and commercial businesses alike looking to renovate or build new.

"Granite Transformations offers one of the most dynamic and fulfilling franchise opportunities in the rapidly expanding home remodeling space," says Andrea Di Giuseppe, International Chief Executive Officer. "Customers are looking to spend wisely and make a smart investment  they want the most attractive, quality, sustainable product, which is exactly what we offer coupled with the fastest install process available to immediately increase home value."

With renovations continually on the rise, franchise owners enjoy minimal risk and consistent demand no matter the state of the economy. Homeowners are choosing to renovate the key areas of their homes  kitchens and bathrooms  rather than build or buy new, and their recognition of the value of this important, long-term investment is an undeniable owner benefit.

Di Giuseppe continues, "From the very beginning, Granite Transformations has stayed true to its artistic tradition, respect for natural resources and commitment to innovation, and the company is committed to the continuing expansion, growth and success of our franchise system."

For additional information on Granite Transformations franchise opportunities, please visit www.granitetransformationsfranchise.com.

About Granite Transformations

Granite Transformations is a global full-service home and business remodeling franchise, offering an impressive selection of luxurious and affordable alternatives to traditional countertops, mosaic tile backsplashes, cabinets, floors, and more through a revolutionary resurfacing process that is ideal for kitchens and bathrooms. The company's unique resurfacing process involves fitting countertops directly over existing ones, so there's no messy demolition and installation can be completed much faster  in as little as one day in many cases. For more information, please visit www.granitetransformations.com.

Rogers & Cowan: Jennifer Gutierrez // 561-430-2612 // [email protected]

SOURCE Granite Transformations

Related Links

http://www.granitetransformations.com


WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, today announced Lindsay Marshall, a 1997 National Scholar, as its 2016 Alumnus of the Year Award winner. Honoring an Alumnus Scholar who has previously earned an undergraduate degree as well as distinguished him/herself academically, professionally, and philanthropically, the 2016 Alumnus of the Year Award includes a $10,000 grant from the Association. This grant may be used for continuing education, previous educational loans or as a $10,000 donation to the Alumnus of the Year's high school for scholarships in 2016.

A Nebraska native who spent her high school years in Nevada, Marshall faced family adversity throughout her youth. Self-described as a bit of a class clown, a high school English teacher took notice of her writing and encouraged both her talent and her application to Horatio Alger Association's Scholarship Program. Named a 1997 National Scholar, Marshall began her college career at Missouri Valley College but ultimately transferred to Lewis & Clark College where she graduated in 2001. After early professional experiences in industries ranging from food service to employee benefits, Marshall decided to pursue her graduate degree in English  her passion  at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she is now teaching and working to complete her doctorate.

Invited back to the first Alumni Scholars Summit hosted by the Association in 2004, her visit to Williamsburg, VA proved transformative as she re-engaged with the organization for the first time since college. Noting the care and deep interest that Members, Life Partners and staff had in her well-being  and all of the Alumni Scholars in attendance  Marshall made the decision to become more involved. Traveling with Association Ambassador and classical musician Mario Frangoulis as an Alumni Scholar Speaker, filming Public Service Announcements for PBS and speaking at the Supreme Court as part of the National Scholars Conference (NSC) are just a few of the ways in which Marshall has given back. An annual volunteer at the NSC and now a member of the Alumni Advisory Committee, which sends care packages and coordinates personal letters to National Scholars before their arrival at the NSC, Marshall has emerged as an exceptional leader among Alumni Scholars and as a role model for all current Scholars.

"Lindsay Marshall provides a powerful example of perseverance for fellow Scholars and her ongoing dedication to them and to the Association is inspiring," said Byron Trott, president and CEO of Horatio Alger Association. "From her continued volunteer efforts to her mentorship of incoming college freshmen, Lindsay's passion for the Association's mission is commendable. She is a wonderful reflection of all that makes Horatio Alger Association the organization it is today."

"To be named 2016 Alumnus of the Year is a wonderful honor," said Marshall. "However, my gratitude and commitment to Horatio Alger Association knows no bounds. It would be quite easy for the Association to move on from its Scholars after graduation, but the love, care and attentiveness given to us as we enter adulthood, post-college, is simply extraordinary. As an Alumna, I feel as if my participation in supporting new classes of National and State Scholars is critically important. I know that my life is immeasurably better, happier and more fulfilled because of the Association, and I want to ensure that I pay that lesson forward to all of the Scholars who follow me."

The Horatio Alger Association Alumnus of the Year Award annually recognizes exceptional leaders, such as Marshall, who go above and beyond in their service to the organization and their communities, despite having faced significant adversity and personal challenges in their journey to achieve success.

For more information regarding Horatio Alger Association, please visit: https://www.horatioalger.org/. To engage on social media, please follow Horatio Alger Association on Twitter (@HoratioAlgerUS) and "Like" the organization on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoratioAlgerUS).

About Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans:

Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. is dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honors the achievements of outstanding leaders who have accomplished remarkable successes in spite of adversity by bestowing upon them the Horatio Alger Award and inducting them as lifetime Members. Horatio Alger Members support promising young people with the resources and confidence needed to overcome adversity in pursuit of their dreams through higher education. Through the generosity of its Members and friends, the Association awards more than $11 million annually in undergraduate and graduate need-based scholarships across the United States and Canada and provides college support and mentoring services to its Scholars. Since 1984, the Association has awarded more than $125 million in college scholarships to more than 22,000 deserving young people. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

CONTACT:

Carly Buggy

484-385-2934 (office)

[email protected]

SOURCE Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.horatioalger.org


FERGUS FALLS, Minn., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- iQ Academy Minnesota, an accredited online public school program of Fergus Falls Public Schools, welcomes students to enroll for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year. iQ Academy Minnesota uses an engaging, interactive online curriculum to educate students in grades K-12 who live anywhere in the state. With the ability to nurture different learning styles and the support of Minnesota-licensed teachers, iQ Academy is an option for families seeking an alternative to the traditional brick and mortar school model.

"From our use of the innovative Flipped Classroom Model to the ample opportunities we provide for advancement, iQ Academy is designed to offer a truly individualized education," said Theresa Gallagher, School Operations Manager at iQ Academy Minnesota. "We recognize that our students have a wide variety of interests, and we strive to ensure there are plenty of ways for them to further their academic career."

For example, the school places a special emphasis on providing students with opportunities to further their STEM education. For example, the school's Tech Specialist runs a weekly extracurricular STEAM session  with an "A" to recognize the arts  for interested students. The group has learned about digital music production and how to write HTML. Soon, they will undertake JavaScript.

"There's a lot of talk about coding being the second language of the future for students," said Jessie Thorstad, Technology Specialist at Fergus Falls Public Schools. "It needs to be something they're familiar with, and very few schools offer computer programming. This new STEAM session is just another way we can provide students with ways to take their education a step further."

iQ Academy is unique from other online programs in its use of the Flipped Classroom Model. Students first work independently through a topic of study in their online lessons, and then attend online "class connect" sessions hosted by the teacher, who facilitates deeper exploration of the topic through student discussion. As opposed to a traditional lecture, this approach maximizes the group's time and allows for further study through additional learning activities, during which the teacher can assist each child one at a time.

For grades K-5, iQ Academy Minnesota offers a rich mixture of online and offline lessons, including interactive animations and materials for hands-on activities. Lessons are followed by assessments, so parents can be sure that the student has mastered a particular area before moving on. The curriculum for grades 6-12 brings learning to life with dynamic lessons in all core subjects, including Advanced Placement levels and a wide range of career-oriented electives.

Parents and students who are interested in learning more about iQ Academy Minnesota are invited to attend a Discovery Day in Bloomington on May 7, 2016. The event is a chance to meet with online school teachers and families, interact with the curriculum, and enjoy free admission to the Waterpark of America. Explore the school's website for details about Discovery Day and more chances to learn about iQ Academy.

About iQ Academy Minnesota

iQ Academy Minnesota is an accredited, full and part-time, online public school program of Fergus Falls Public Schools that serves students statewide in grades K through 12. As part of the Minnesota public school system, iQ Academy Minnesota is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about iQ Academy Minnesota, visit iQAcademyMN.org.

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SOURCE iQ Academy Minnesota

Related Links

http://www.K12.com


STOCKHOLM and LA JOLLA, Calif., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IRRAS AB, a commercial stage medical technology company pioneering breakthrough devices to meet the challenges of fluid control and management for a broad range of CNS therapeutic applications and procedures, today announced the appointment of Anders P. Wiklund to its Board of Directors. The majority shareholders of IRRAS have endorsed Mr. Wiklund's board membership, which will be formalized at the company's upcoming shareholder meeting in April. Mr. Wiklund, a pharmacist by training, is an accomplished industry leader with expertise in operations, strategy, corporate development, and fund raising in both the United States and Europe. Among other appointments Mr. Wiklund was President & CEO of KabiVitrum Inc., KabiPharmacia Inc., President of Pharmacia Development Corp and co-founder of Esperion Therapeutics.

"Anders brings to IRRAS a rare combination of corporate development expertise, proven business acumen, and international executive leadership demonstrated over four decades," said Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., Executive Chairman and acting CEO of IRRAS. "We look forward to his contributions as we implement our clinical, commercial and operational goals to establish IRRAS as a leading medical device company."

"I am very pleased to be joining the Board of IRRAS," commented Mr. Wiklund. "IRRAS is an attractive company with high potential, innovative first-in-class devices like IRRAflowTM, passionate team members and an evolving product strategy with global market opportunities. IRRAS is positioned for the next stage of development and I am excited about contributing to its future."

Mr. Wiklund has accumulated a wealth of operational, business development, and strategic advisory experience from his long-standing career in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in Europe and the United States. Most notably, Mr. Wiklund spent 29 years with the Kabi and Pharmacia group of companies, where he held a number of executive level positions, such as Managing Director of KabiVitrum in the UK, President of KabiVitrum International in Sweden, President and CEO of KabiVitrum and KabiPharmacia in the United States. Mr. Wiklund also currently serves on the boards of EffRx Pharmaceuticals SA, where he is Chairman, Life Medical AB and Inspirion Delivery Technologies. Mr. Wiklund holds a Master of Pharmacy from the Pharmaceutical Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and studied business administration at the University of Stockholm.

Mr. Wiklund joins Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., Executive Chairman and acting CEO of IRRAS, Christos Panotopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of IRRAS, Saeid Esmaeilzadeh, Ph.D., CEO of Serendipity Innovations and founder of several innovative life sciences, medical technology and clean technology companies, and Marios Fotiadis, M.B.A., CEO of the Vandel Group.

About IRRAS

IRRAS AB is a commercial stage medical technology company formed to develop and commercialize breakthrough devices for a broad range of brain pathology therapeutic applications and procedures. IRRAS was founded in 2012 by a leading neurosurgeon with the goal to introduce innovative devices for brain surgery. IRRAflow is the company's flagship commercial medical device that provides intelligent, dynamic control of CNS fluids. The company's products are protected by key intellectual property patents and patent applications. With its unique product development expertise, qualified investors and globally recognized board and clinical advisors, IRRAS is well-positioned to improve patient outcomes and establish a leadership position in the medical device market. IRRAS is operational in Germany and San Diego, USA with corporate headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information, please visit www.irras.com.

Contact:

Amy Conrad

1-858-914-1962

[email protected]

SOURCE IRRAS AB

Related Links

http://www.irras.com


WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Aspen Institute, in association with Comcast Corporation, will convene a morning of discussions entitled, The Aspen Institute Symposium on the State of Race in America. The Symposium is intended to explore new attitudes, opportunities, and challenges for and about people of color in 21st century America. Public discussions will focus on Race and the University and Shifting Demographics in Urban Communities.

More information and a live-stream of key sessions will be available at: as.pn/stateofrace

Editor's Note: Press and public can register at https://aspeninstitute.wufoo.com/forms/2016-state-of-race-in-america-registration/



Who: Opening remarks delivered by David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President Officer and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and Charles M. Firestone, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program.

Other speakers include:

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake , Mayor, Baltimore, Maryland

Ray Suarez , Host, Al Jazeera America

Juan Williams , Political Analyst, Fox News

Richard Lui , Anchor, NBC News and MSNBC

Eduardo Padron, President, Miami Dade College

Sue Chan , Councilmember, Fremont, California

Phoebe Haddon , Chancellor, Rutgers University-Camden

Nailah Harper-Malveaux , Student Activist, Yale University

DeRay Mckesson, Co-Founder, We the Protestors and Mayoral Candidate, Baltimore, Maryland

Dawn Phillips , Executive Director, Right to the City

When: March 29, 2016 at 8:30AM  1:45PM ET

Where: The Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

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SOURCE The Aspen Institute
The Women of Influence awards program honors women leaders who are influential in the pet manufacturing or servicing industry. Successful candidates will have a solid reputation based on experience, integrity and leadership, and have a proven track record of accomplishments. To qualify, a nominee had to meet selection criteria that included working in the pet industry and possessing significant authority for decision making within a company or organization.

Winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges including: Ashlee Gonigam, Matrix Partners, Ltd.; Kerry Sutherland, K. Sutherland PR; and Stephanie Volo, Planet Dog.

The Women of Influence award winners will be profiled in an awards article inserted in the May issue of Pet Age.

A pet industry insider for more than 25 years, Levine understands the dynamics of animal welfare, pet and veterinary businesses, and the mindset of pet lovers and consumers. The premise of her brand, Kristen Levine Pet Living, is to meet the need of pet parents who seek content and connection with people who love pets, and who want to also connect with brands and services they can trust.

"I'm thrilled to be named a winner in Pet Age's Women of Influence award program," said Levine. "It's among the most prestigious recognitions in my industry and I was honored to be named along with some of the other women from the pet industry that I know, admire and respect."

For more information about the Pet Age Women of Influence awards program and to see a complete list of honorees, please visit www.petage.com.

PHOTO: Kristen Levine, Founder of Kristen Levine Pet Living is named a winner in the 2016 Pet Age Women of Influence awards program.

About Kristen Levine Pet Living

Pet expert, speaker, author and advocate Kristen Levine founded Kristen Levine Pet Living to connect pet-positive companies with the vast audience of pet product and service consumers. The website is a multimedia platform where Levine offers stories, science and advice for living happier and healthier with pets. An industry insider for more than 25 years, Levine is uniquely positioned to create a bridge between companies and consumers. She served as PR Director for the Tampa Bay SPCA for 15 years promoting adoption and education. In 2003, she launched the first pet-focused marketing agency, Fetching Communications , and later acquired PetPR.com, providing creative public relations, social media and marketing campaigns exclusively to pet and veterinary businesses throughout the world.

As a pet lifestyle expert, Levine has logged more than 1,000 live national radio and television show appearances, hosts pet-centric satellite media toursand has been a spokesperson for companies including Comcast, Bissell and HSN. She has presented at the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA) 2014 National Conference, the Petfood Workshop: Marketing to Today's Consumers, and the Women in the Pet Industry Network Conference & Awards Show. Her interest in the Baby Boomer audience includes writing a boomer-centric travel series for FIDO Friendly Magazine, along with presenting at the 2014 What's Next Boomer Business Summit, Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit and AARP [email protected] Expo. She also recently launched Pet Living 50+, a marketingprogram that aims to assist pet-positive companies in building brand loyalty and engagement with pet lovers, age 50-plus. Levine lives in Florida with her husband, dog, two cats and two miniature donkeys. Please visit www.kristenlevine.com.

About Pet Age

Pet Age is a business-to-business media brand that covers the pet industry in print, online and through social media. Its mission is to serve the pet retail industry by delivering timely and practical news and information about the products, trends and events that impact retailers, groomers, manufacturers and other related businesses. Pet Age has served the pet industry for 44 years and is a division of Journal Multimedia and is based in Somerset, New Jersey, USA. For more information, please visit: www.petage.com.

SOURCE Kristen Levine Pet Living

Related Links

http://kristenlevine.com


Created by leading philanthropic producer David Clark, CEO of David Clark Cause, Water Now is the largest celebration of UN World Water Day, a day supported by the 193 Member States of the United Nations. "The campaign is proud to support World Vision, the largest and most effective long-term supplier of clean water in the developing world," said Clark

As part of the Water Now initiative to support the life saving work of World Vision water in Kenya and Honduras, a unique partnership has been created with Clean Water Here, an organization that promotes clean water in the United States. With founding partner Watermill Express, which maintains 1,300 kiosks that dispense clean affordable water around the country, every time someone buys a gallon of water at one of their participating locations, a gallon of clean water will be donated on their behalf to a person in need in the developing world via World Vision.

"On behalf of World Vision water, I'd like to thank UN Water, the celebrities and the public for their generous support so we can continue our work providing people in need with the clean water they deserve," said Dr. Greg Allgood, vice president of water at World Vision. "I'd also like to thank Watermill Express for their generous support via their '1 gallon here gives 1 gallon there' initiative," said Allgood.

For a complete list of Water Now supporters visit www.CauseFlash.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

United Nations World Water Day:

www.UNWater.org

World Vision:

www.WorldVision.org

Water Now & Cause Flash:

www.CauseFlash.org

David Clark Cause:

www.DavidClarkCause.com

Clean Water Here:

www.CleanWaterHere.org

Watermill Express:

www.WatermillExpress.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160323/347269

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SOURCE Water Now

Related Links

http://www.WatermillExpress.com


BOSTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Men need to have the most updated information about prostate cancer screening, based on the latest research. Individuals who have indicators of high levels of risk for prostate cancer are the most likely to benefit from screening, according to new, consensus-based educational information. This document was developed by the Independent "Blue Ribbon" Expert Panel, consisting of some of Massachusetts' leading physicians and scientists in cooperation with the key experts at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The cutting-edge information about prostate cancer screening and related options, released by the AdMeTech Foundation, focused on men at high risk of prostate cancer, including life-threatening (aggressive) disease. For the first time, multi-disciplinary world experts in clinical care, research, health disparities, epidemiology and public health were brought together to develop a consensus on educational messaging for high-risk individuals, which is based on the best and most current evidence.

"This educational document was created to empower and encourage men to take charge of their health by initiating a discussion on prostate cancer screening with their physicians in order to make fully-informed and shared decisions, based on their personal risks and preferences," said Dr. Faina Shtern, AdMeTech's President and CEO. "Our goal is to create a Massachusetts model of national leadership in ending prostate cancer as a public health crisis and a leading disparity."

"The clinical community must address the challenges we face in effectively screening for prostate cancer," said Dr. Adam Kibel, Chief of Urology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Specifically, we need to focus on early detection for men at high risk of aggressive cancer, for whom curative treatment can save lives. Additionally, we need to reduce the potential harms of screening, including the over-diagnosis and over-treatment of slow-growing cancer, which may not progress or even cause symptoms in a man's lifetime."

AdMeTech's Independent "Blue Ribbon" Expert Panel took an approach that highlighted five major areas:

The importance of men's awareness of the indicators of higher level of risks for prostate cancer, including aggressive disease, such as Black (including Hispanic) heritage, family history, increasing age (50 and above) and/or abnormal or suspicious screening results  and initiating discussions with their doctors; The best current evidence on the relationship between screening and patient outcomes, which indicates that early detection of aggressive prostate cancer saves lives; Men at high risk of aggressive prostate cancer are most likely to benefit from screening; There is low probability of finding prostate cancer and even smaller risk of diagnosing and treating slow-growing (harmless) prostate cancer in all American men who get screened each year. However, many individuals with screening-detected prostate cancer have harmless disease that historically, underwent invasive and unnecessary treatment, which may cause complications, reduce quality of life and increase health care costs; To reduce the risks of screening, it is critical for men to be aware that harmless disease can be safely managed with careful observation, termed "active surveillance", which replaced invasive treatment in a significant number of men.

In addition to Shtern and Kibel, eleven doctors and scientists took part in research analysis over the last five months. "Patient awareness is particularly important now that the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended doctors to stop prostate cancer screening in all men and even related discussions," said Dr. Richard Babayan, Professor and Chair of Urology at Boston University School of Medicine, President-Elect of the American Urologic Association and a member of the expert panel. "It has been reported recently that these recommendations have led to a significant reduction in screening and delayed diagnosis and treatment of aggressive malignancies and caused concerns about missed opportunities to prevent deaths and the long term consequences of metastatic disease."

Another panel member, Dr. Mitchell Sokoloff, Professor and Chair of Urology at University of Massachusetts and Chief of Urology at UMass Memorial Health Care added: "The reduction in screening impacts high risk individuals disproportionately and increases health disparities. Emerging data highlights the critical importance of bringing information about the recent advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment to men who are at high risk of losing their lives to prostate cancer, which is curable when detected early."

Prostate cancer is the most common and the second most lethal major (non-skin) malignancy in men. It is a leading health disparity, with 2.5 times higher mortality and 1.6 times higher incidence rates in Black (including Hispanic) men. According to the recent data from the National Cancer Institute, screening has significantly reduced the mortality of prostate cancer but has caused controversy, largely due to over-diagnosis and over-treatment of harmless cancers. However, over the last several years, leading academic centers and community healthcare providers have reported a sharp reduction in unnecessary procedures for harmless prostate cancer. These rapid shifts in patient care paradigms and other emerging evidence reflect concerted efforts to reduce harms associated with screening and highlight the importance of updated information for patient education.

The Independent "Blue Ribbon" Expert Panel also unanimously adopted the screening guidelines issued only recently (on February 26, 2016) by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), consisting of 23 top cancer hospitals, including Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center. The goal of the NCCN guidelines is closely aligned with the educational messaging: To improve detection of aggressive prostate cancer, while reducing over-diagnosis and over-treatment of indolent diseases.

The Independent "Blue Ribbon" Expert Panel is an integral part of the AdMeTech Foundation-driven statewide campaign to create a Massachusetts model of national leadership in prostate cancer research, education and awareness, with primary focus on high-risk men. To provide strategic guidance for the campaign, AdMeTech established Prostate Cancer Action Council, which integrates efforts of the key leaders in medicine, advocacy and grassroots organizations, including but not limited to, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition, and New England Area Conference (NEAC) of NAACP.

The research analysis will be detailed at the 8th Annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Day, which will take place at the Massachusetts State House's Grand Staircase on March 31, 2016, between 10 am and 2 pm. This event will feature Governor Charlie Baker, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, Drs. Babayan and Sokoloff, and other key leaders of legislation, medicine, advocacy and the media.

The event's Masters of Ceremonies will include Juan Cofield, President of NEAC NAACP; Karen Holmes Ward, Director of Public Affairs and Community Services for WCVB-TV (ABC affiliate) and 'Silver Circle' Lifetime Achievement inductee into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Boston/New England Chapter; and Dr. Mallika Marshall, an Emmy award-winning journalist and physician who serves as the regular Health Reporter at WBZ-TV in Boston. A practicing physician who is Board Certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics, Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at the Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) Chelsea Urgent Care Clinic and MGH Revere Health Center.

The Expert Panel members and corresponding contributors include:

Faina Shtern, MD, Chair and Organizer, President and CEO, AdMeTech Foundation

Richard Babayan, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center & President-Elect, American Urologic Association

Sigrid Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, Assistant Attending Epidemiologist, Department of Surgery (Urology Service), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Experimental Urology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Sweden (Corresponding Contributor)

Anthony D'Amico, MD, PhD, Chief of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute & Professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School (Corresponding Contributor)

Adam Feldman, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Urologic Oncology Program, Harvard Medical School and Assistant in Urology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Adam Kibel, MD, Professor of Surgery and Chief of Urology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School

Lorelei Mucci, ScD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Head, Cancer Epidemiology Track, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Paul Nguyen, MD, Director of Prostate Brachytherapy and Clinical Trials for Genitourinary Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School

Mark Preston, MD, MPH, Instructor in Surgery, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School

Jennifer Rider, ScD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health

Mitchell Sokoloff, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Urology, University of Massachusetts Medical School and Chief of Urology, University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care

Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School&Core Faculty, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham And Women's Hospital; Member, Programs in Cancer Delivery Research and Prostate Cancer, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center

Andrew Vickers, Attending Research Methodologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Corresponding Contributor)

About AdMeTech Foundation: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Boston, MA, AdMeTech Foundation established the Manogram Project, providing international leadership for groundbreaking programs in research, education and awareness to expedite advancement of precision approach to screening, early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (www.admetech.org).

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SOURCE AdMeTech Foundation

Related Links

http://www.admetech.org


SPARKS, Md., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) ("McCormick"), a global leader in flavor, notes the recent announcement by Premier Foods plc ("Premier Foods") and confirms that it has approached the Board of Premier Foods regarding a possible all cash offer for Premier Foods of 60 pence per Premier Foods share.

Background

On February 12, 2016, McCormick made a detailed proposal to acquire the entire issued share capital of Premier Foods for 52 pence per Premier Foods share. This proposal was rejected by the Board of Premier Foods. On March 14, 2016, McCormick made a revised proposal for a possible all cash offer of 60 pence per Premier Foods share (the "Revised Proposal"). The Revised Proposal was made on the basis that it would lead to prompt and full engagement from Premier Foods, including access to limited confirmatory due diligence, to agree to a transaction on a recommended basis. The Revised Proposal was rejected by Premier Foods yesterday, March 22, 2016.

The Revised Proposal reflects a substantial premium to all relevant recent Premier Foods share price metrics, in particular a premium of:

90 percent to the pre-announcement Premier Foods share price of 31.5 pence ; and

; and 55 percent to the 12 month volume weighted average Premier Foods share price of 38.6 pence for the 12 month period ending March 22, 2016 .

In addition, the implied exit multiple of 10.3x pro forma 2015 EBITDA compares favorably with recent significant UK food transactions.

McCormick believes that an all cash offer at this level should be well received by Premier Foods' shareholders, employees, pensioners and other stakeholders, and would provide Premier Foods' shareholders with an attractive premium combined with the certainty of cash value now.

Strategic rationale for the Revised Proposal

An acquisition of Premier Foods, one of the leading branded food companies in the United Kingdom, would be consistent with McCormick's long-term strategy and has the potential to create value for McCormick shareholders. Premier Foods offers seasonings, gravy and stock cubes, cooking and pasta sauces, dessert mixes and sweet treats under brand names including Oxo, Bisto, Sharwood's and Mr. Kipling's. Strategic considerations for such an acquisition would include the following:

Add a portfolio of iconic, household-name brands which complement McCormick's product range and expertise;

Increase significantly McCormick's presence in a large grocery retail market;

Leverage McCormick's innovation and marketing capabilities and strong balance sheet to improve on the execution of Premier Foods' strategy;

Grow Premier Foods' presence in international markets through McCormick's global scale; and

Realize synergies to enable further investment in Premier Foods' iconic British brands to drive growth.

McCormick is a market leader in the global herbs & spice category and has a 30 year track record in the UK across the food industry, through its Schwartz brand in retail and foodservice and through its business to business relationships with quick service restaurants and other consumer food companies. McCormick's management team has a track record of successfully executing acquisition opportunities in adjacent categories in developed and emerging markets, and increasing the performance of the brands that it acquires. The Board of McCormick expects that an acquisition of Premier Foods would be consistent with McCormick's long term strategy. Any transaction would be financed from McCormick's existing resources and new debt facilities.

Code considerations

In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, McCormick is required, by not later than 5.00 p.m. on April 20, 2016, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Premier Foods in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. This deadline can be extended with the consent of the Panel in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code.

Pursuant to Rule 2.5 of the Code, McCormick reserves the right to: (i) vary the form and/or mix of the consideration; and (ii) amend the terms of the Revised Proposal (including making the offer at a lower value) (a) with the recommendation or consent of the Board of Premier Foods, (b) if Premier Foods announces, declares or pays any dividend or any other distribution to shareholders, in which case McCormick reserves the right to make an equivalent reduction in its offer price, (c) if a third party announces a firm intention to make an offer for Premier Foods at a lower price than the Revised Proposal, or (d) following the announcement by Premier Foods of a whitewash transaction pursuant to the Code.

There is no certainty that a firm offer will be made and a further announcement will be made in due course.

For information contact:

McCormick Investor Relations

Joyce Brooks (410-771-7244 or [email protected])

McCormick Corporate Communications

Lori Robinson (410-527-6004 or [email protected])

Goldman Sachs

Will Bousquette (+1-212-902-1000)

Mark Sorrell (+44-20-7774-1000)

Rothschild

Akeel Sachak (+44-20-7280-5000)

Lauren Cowan (+44-20-7280-5000)

About McCormick

McCormick & Company, Incorporated is a global leader in flavor. With $4.3 billion in annual sales, the company manufactures, markets and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavorful products to the entire food industry  retail outlets, food manufacturers and foodservice businesses. Every day, no matter where or what you eat, you can enjoy food flavored by McCormick. McCormick Brings Passion to Flavor.

For more information, visit www.mccormickcorporation.com.

Important notices

This announcement is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities whether pursuant to this announcement or otherwise.

The distribution of this announcement in jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe, such restrictions. Any failure to comply with the restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities law of any such jurisdiction.

Goldman Sachs International, which is authorized by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority is acting as financial adviser exclusively for McCormick and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the matters referred to in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than McCormick for providing the protections afforded to clients of Goldman Sachs International, nor for providing advice in relation to any matter referred to herein.

N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for McCormick and for no one else in connection with the subject matter of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than McCormick for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter of this announcement.

Disclosure requirements of the Code

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror, save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the business day following the date of the relevant dealing.

If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4).

Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.

Sources and bases

The stated share prices of Premier Foods are based on the closing middle-market price provided by Bloomberg.

The pre-announcement price per Premier Foods share is taken as at 22 March 2016 .

. The average closing price per Premier Foods share over the twelve month period ended 22 March 2016 is for the period from 23 March 2015 up to and including 22 March 2016 (only trading days are included in the average).

is for the period from up to and including (only trading days are included in the average). The pro forma EBITDA of 144.9m for the 52 weeks ended 4 April 2015 has been sourced from Premier Food's 2015 annual report.

has been sourced from Premier Food's 2015 annual report. The net debt of 585.3m and the post-tax future cash flows of the agreed pension deficit contribution payment schedule of 390m were sourced from Premier Foods interim results published on 10 November 2015 .

. The equity value of the Revised Proposal assumes 826,567,063 Premier Foods shares in issue and the dilutive impact of a further 35,571,126 Premier Foods shares.

Publication on website

A copy of this announcement will be made available at www.mccormickcorporation.com no later than 12:00 noon (London time) on 24 March 2016 (being the business day following the date of this announcement) in accordance with Rule 26.1(a) of the Code. The content of the website referred to in this announcement is not incorporated into and does not form part of this announcement.

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF THAT JURISDICTION.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FIRM INTENTION TO MAKE AN OFFER UNDER RULE 2.7 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS (THE "CODE") AND THERE CAN BE NO CERTAINTY THAT AN OFFER WILL BE MADE.

SOURCE McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Related Links

http://www.mccormickcorporation.com


WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "We are the top branded resource on the Internet when it comes to making certain that all diagnosed individuals with mesothelioma who were exposed to asbestos at an oil refinery, power plant, chemical manufacturing facility or public utility get the best possible compensation. The reason we have placed such a high priority on these specific types of workers is due to the fact that most of these cases receive the largest possible mesothelioma settlements. The best mesothelioma compensation only happens if the person with this rare cancer has the most experienced attorneys.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160322/346804

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"If you or a loved one has recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and they were exposed to asbestos at one of the following types of workplaces, please call us at 866-714-6466 to ensure you really are talking to the best of the best mesothelioma lawyers in the United States.

"We also want to emphasize the lawyers we suggest to people with mesothelioma will almost immediately travel to the home of the diagnosed person with this rare cancer for a one-on-one conversation about the specifics of how or where they were exposed to asbestos. It is this information that becomes the basis for a successful mesothelioma compensation claim." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

The states of greatest interest for diagnosed persons exposed to asbestos at an oil refinery include:

New Jersey

Massachusetts

Pennsylvania

Louisiana

Texas

Illinois

Indiana

California

Utah

Wyoming

Mississippi

Washington

For attribution please refer to the following website: http://petroleuminsights.blogspot.com/2011/07/top-28-largest-refineries-in-us-as-of.html

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, the average age for a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma is 72 years old. This year between 2,500 and 3,000 US citizens will be diagnosed with mesothelioma. The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "Based on our experience, frequently mesothelioma is initially misdiagnosed as pneumonia."

High risk groups for exposure to asbestos include US Navy Veterans, shipyard workers, oil refinery workers, manufacturing workers, steel mill workers, power plant workers, nuclear power plant workers, public utility workers, chemical plant workers, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, welders, machinists, miners, machinists or construction workers. Typically the exposure to asbestos occurred in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's. http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

According to the CDC the states indicated with the highest incidence of mesothelioma include Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington and Oregon. However, a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma could live in any state including California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho or Alaska.

The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "If you call us at 866-714-6466, we will see to it that you have instant access to the nation's most experienced mesothelioma attorneys, because we really do want to make certain you receive the best possible mesothelioma compensation settlement for this rare form of cancer. Before you retain the services of a law firm to advance a mesothelioma compensation claim, please call us first." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

For more information about mesothelioma, please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mesothelioma.html

Media Contact:

M. Thomas Martin

866-714-6466

SOURCE Mesothelioma Compensation Center

Related Links

http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com


NEW YORK, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The cannabis industry is one of the most rapidly developing and controversial industries in the United States. During the past two years, more than 200 cannabis companies have gone public through reverse mergers and most of them will be out of business in less than two years. The Cannabis Investing Virtual Event is focused on helping investors locate and engage with cannabis companies that represent profitable investments.

The conference will take place on March 29 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time at http://www.cannabisinvestingevent.com/ will feature live webcast presentations by senior executives from several public and private cannabis companies as they showcase their investment stories and answer questions from investors. Investors will be able to interact directly with the presenters and other participants, as well as watch pre-recorded materials, download annual reports, investor kits, surveys and other information from a virtual "exhibit hall." Archived webcasts will also be available at http://www.cannabisinvestingevent.com/ after the event.

The Cannabis Investing Virtual Event features an impressive lineup of experts. At the conference you can hear from experts:

Bruce Linton CEO of Canopy Growth Corp- Leading the Global Marijuana Industry

Brett Roper , COO of Medicine Man Technology - What to Consider as You Determine What Cannabis Business is Best for You and Your Investment Dollars

, COO of Medicine Man Technology - What to Consider as You Determine What Cannabis Business is Best for You and Your Investment Dollars Isaac Dietrich CEO of MassRoots - Cannabis Technology: Investing in Marijuana Without Touching the Plant Itself

David Friedman , CEO of MJIC - Investing in cannabis - What you need to know before you build your cannabis portfolio

, CEO of MJIC - Investing in cannabis - What you need to know before you build your cannabis portfolio Scott Greiper , President of Viridian Capital Advisors - Follow the Money: Where are investors placing bets in cannabis

and many more

For the complete schedule, and a list of speakers, exhibitors, and topics, visit:

http://www.cannabisinvestingevent.com/

About MoneyShow

MoneyShow - Invest Smarter, Trade Wiser is a global network of investment and trading education. The privately held financial media company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, USA. Each year, MoneyShow's roster of live and online events attract more than 100,000 investors, traders, and financial advisors who gather with top market experts in dynamic, face-to-face and online learning forums worldwide.

SOURCE MoneyShow

Related Links

http://www.cannabisinvestingevent.com


ATLANTA, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Penton's EquipmentWatch, the world's leader in data, software and insights for the heavy equipment industry, has announced the winners of the first Highest Retained Value Awards. The awards recognize manufacturers in 26 different heavy equipment categories across the construction, agriculture and lift/access industries for products that show the highest retained value over the last five years.

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"Retained value is one of the most powerful measures of quality, performance and longevity for a piece of heavy equipment," says Garrett Schemmel, vice president & market leader, EquipmentWatch. "A high retained value generally shows that a machine has been successful at the work demanded of it, has presented minimal maintenance issues over its service life, and still presents a high value to buyers on the resale market. Each of these machines represents quality and gives buyers confidence in their investment on both the new equipment and equipment resale/auction markets."

Methodology

The EquipmentWatch Highest Retained Value Awards are powered by the world's largest sales transaction database of equipment valuations  it adds nearly $20 billion in equipment transactions each month across both the dealer (private) and auction (public) disposition channels. Using this data, the five most popular products in each category from the previous year are identified. Then, using the proprietary ValueTrend Engine, a custom-built values calculation platform, EquipmentWatch compares their five year estimated values, and the series with the highest cumulative estimated value retained over that time is declared the winner.

"Manufacturers can be proud of each machine series that has won, as it represents their commitment to produce and support quality products that stand the test of time in these demanding applications," adds Schemmel.

Winners

Category/Series Winner

Backhoe Loaders: CASE Construction Equipment 580

Balers: John Deere 569

Boom Lift, Articulating: JLG E300 Series

Boom Lift, Telescopic: Genie S-40

Combines: New Holland CR9000

Dozers, Track, Large (>190 HP): Komatsu D65 Series

Dozers, Track, Small (1  189 HP): Caterpillar D5 Series

Drum Compactors: Volvo/IR SD45 Series

Excavators, Crawler, Large (>50 metric tons): Komatsu PC600 Series

Excavators, Crawler, Medium (21-50 metric tons): Caterpillar 330 Series LN

Excavators, Crawler, Small (6.1-21 metric tons): Caterpillar 312 Series

Lift Trucks/Telehandlers: Sky Trak Telehandlers

Lift Trucks  Warehouse/Narrow Aisle: Toyota 8F Series

Loaders, Compact Track: Bobcat T550 Series

Loaders, Skid Steer, Large (>1,351 pounds): Bobcat S600 Series

Loaders, Skid Steer, Small (1-1,350 pounds): Gehl 4240 Series

Loaders, Wheel, Large (>350 HP): Volvo L220 Series

Loaders, Wheel, Medium (135-349 HP): Volvo L90 Series

Loaders, Wheel, Small (1-134 HP): Deere 444 Series

Motor Graders: Caterpillar 160 Series

Rear Dumps: Caterpillar 725 Series

Scissor Lift: Skyjack 4600 Series

Sprayers, Self-Propelled: Apache AS1000 Series

Tractors, Track: Deere 8RT Series

Tractors, Wheel, Large (>175 HP): Deere 8R Series

Tractors, Wheel, Small: CASE IH MX135 Series

ABOUT EQUIPMENTWATCH

EquipmentWatch is the trusted source for heavy equipment data and intelligence. EquipmentWatch produces the leading database information products for the construction equipment industry and is the world leader in heavy construction research and serves more than 15,000 professional, high-volume users of construction and lift-truck data. Our online and print products are valuable tools in decisions surrounding the purchase, valuation, operation, and disposal of equipment.

For nearly 50 years, EquipmentWatch has served contractors, equipment manufacturers, dealers, rental companies, lenders and insurers, and government agencies involved in heavy civil construction.

About Penton

Penton is an innovative information services company that empowers 20 million business decision makers in markets that drive more than 12 trillion dollars in purchases each year. Our products inform with rich industry insights and workflow tools; engage through dynamic events, education and networking; and advance business with powerful marketing services programs. Penton is the way smart businesses buy, sell and grow.

Headquartered in New York, Penton is privately owned by MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co., LP. For more information, visit http://www.penton.com or follow us on Twitter @PentonNow.

Media Contact:

Bill Elverman

PKA Marketing

262.757.5803

[email protected]

SOURCE Penton

Related Links

http://www.penton.com


DUBLIN, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Perrigo Company (NYSE: PRGO; TASE) and its partner Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) today announced the launch of guaifenesin 1200mg extended-release tablets, the OTC store brand equivalent to Mucinex 1200mg extended-release tablets to retail and wholesale customers. First shipments of this new store branded product have been initiated and represents a first-to-market accomplishment for Perrigo and Allergan.

These products are packaged and marketed as store brands or retailer 'own label' brands and provide consumers a high-quality, value alternative to the Mucinex 1200mg extended-release product.

Mucinex 1200mg extended-release tablets (guaifenesin 1200mg extended-release tablets), indicated to relieve chest congestion and to break up mucus, making coughs more productive, produced sales of approximately $71 million through food, drug and mass merchants during that last twelve months.

Perrigo's Chairman and CEO Joseph C. Papa stated, "This product approval and launch demonstrates the power of matching Perrigo's OTC platform with Allergan's world-class generics R&D capabilities. Our teams together worked to bring this important product to our consumers and customers around the world. The Mucinex family of products is an important offering to our customers and we look forward to launching the remaining products throughout 2016."

"Today's launch of Mucinex 1200mg extended-release product underscores the power of bringing together two leading organizations in generic product development and OTC and store brand products to deliver high-quality, affordable medicines for patients around the world," said Robert Stewart, Allergan's Executive Vice President & President, Generics and Global Operations. "Perrigo has been an outstanding partner in bringing this and other Mucinex store brand products to market, and we look forward to our continued efforts to bring additional formulations of the Mucinex family of products forward for the patients and customers that we serve."

About Perrigo

Perrigo Company plc is a top five global over-the-counter ("OTC") consumer goods and leading specialty pharmaceutical company, offering patients and customers high- quality products at affordable prices. From the Company's beginning in 1887 as a packager of home remedies, it has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of OTC healthcare products and supplier of infant formulas for the store brand market. The Company is also a leading provider of generic extended topical prescription products, and it receives royalties from sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. The Company provides "Quality Affordable Healthcare Products" across a wide variety of product categories and geographies, primarily in North America, Europe and Australia, as well as in other markets, including Israel and China. Visit Perrigo online at (http://www.perrigo.com).

About Allergan

Allergan plc, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a unique, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model  Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative branded pharmaceuticals, high-quality generic and over-the-counter medicines and biologic products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of best-in-class products that provide valuable treatments for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics, gastroenterology, women's health, urology, cardiovascular and anti-infective therapeutic categories, and operates the world's third-largest global generics business, providing patients around the globe with increased access to affordable, high-quality medicines. Allergan is an industry leader in research and development, with one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry and a leading position in the submission of generic product applications globally.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.allergan.com.

Perrigo Forward Looking Statement

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or other comparable terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, including the timing, amount and cost of share repurchases, and the ability to execute and achieve the desired benefits of announced initiatives. These and other important factors, including those discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-KT for the six-month period ended December 31, 2015, as well as the Company's subsequent filings with the SEC, may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Allergan Forward-Looking Statement

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective of existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 (certain of such periodic public filings having been filed under the "Actavis plc" name). Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Perrigo Company

Related Links

http://www.perrigo.com


MARLBOROUGH, Mass., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- OneShield Software and Public Risk Underwriters of Florida Inc. will be working collaboratively over the coming months to implement OneShield Market Solution's cloud-based policy, loss prevention and business intelligence modules to manage Public Risk Underwriters' public entity Workers' Compensation and Commercial package products.

"We are very pleased to welcome Public Risk Underwriters, to the growing list of OneShield clients embracing our 'As-a-Service' offerings," says Liza Smith, OneShield's Senior Vice President Global Sales. "Our cloud-based platform allows Risk Pool Organizations to leverage the core system platform designed specifically for their unique business needs, without incurring large up front license fees or hardware costs."

Key to Public Risk Underwriters decision was that OneShield's cloud-based software gave the organization significant functionality out-of-the-box alongside the freedom to configure the solution to meet its own unique workflows and processes. Additionally, they sought a solution that would produce detailed business analytics and intelligence, and the ability to enhance its Risk Management capabilities. Meeting their selection criteria, OneShield's solution will also allow Public Risk Underwriters to work more closely with agents through a highly-secure web portal enhancing their policy management processes.

"Our executive team was concerned for some time that legacy offerings in the marketplace designed for risk pools lacked important features, ease of configurability and upgradeability," says Ann Hansen, Public Risk Underwriters' Director of Operations. "We were very pleased to learn that OneShield offered a solution specifically for Risk Pool Organizations that will allow us to meet our business and technology needs."

OneShield Market Solutions for Risk Pool Organizations is a cost-effective, secure and configurable policy administration solution supporting multiple insurers, vendors, insureds, captives and other stakeholders. The technology empowers Risk Pool Organizations by enabling them to automate the handling and auditing of many stages of the policy lifecycle with custom algorithms, specialty rate handling, unlimited billing and payment plans, and account-specific procedures.

The flexible and scalable nature of the cloud solution will free Public Risk Underwriters from many of the time-consuming and costly software maintenance and configuration issues that arose with its legacy platform.

About OneShield Software

OneShield Software solutions are powered by a market-tested rapid application development environment and comprehensive end-to-end transaction engine designed to meet the business, compliance and customer service needs of high-demand financial service businesses.

Leveraging cutting-edge technologies and a cloud-based "As-A-Service" delivery model, OneShield solutions can be used out-of-the-box with pre-built content, or easily reconfigured to suit specific business processes or complete product lifecycles. A robust and user-friendly design tool allows you to quickly design, configure and manage many aspects of your solution.

Our portfolio of standalone, subscription-based and cloud-based products include enterprise-class policy management, billing, rating, claims administration, product configuration, and business intelligence and analytic solutions leveraging an open architecture and single data model.

Since 1999, OneShield has been privileged to provide solutions to many of the strongest and fast-rising names in the financial services industry, ranging from those with single lines of business to others with multiple products in personal, commercial, life and specialty markets - a combined 46 lines of business in production among clients based around the world.

Through OneShield Market Solutions, we provide software solutions that meet the unique needs of financial services niche sectors, including Managing General Agencies, Risk Pool Organizations, Workers' Compensation Administrators, Risk Pools, and small to mid-sized market insurers.

With our corporate headquarters in Marlborough, MA, and global offices in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, OneShield is committed to supporting clients' growth, increasing their speed-to-market, enhancing internal and external efficiencies, and enabling client self-sufficiency at the lowest total cost of ownership. To learn more, visit oneshield.com.

About Public Risk Underwriters of Florida Inc.

Public Risk Underwriters, based in Lake Mary, FL, partners with public entities to provide cost-effective solutions to meet their diverse insurance needs. PRU offers over 20 years' of experience in the design, implementation, and administration of innovative property, casualty, workers' compensation insurance, and risk management programs.

PRU carries out the day-to-day administrative, underwriting, marketing and risk management services for the Preferred Governmental Insurance Trust. Formed in 1999, Preferred offers Workers' Compensation, Property, and Casualty coverages to all segments of the Florida public entity insurance marketplace.

PRU, the Florida public entity specialists for Brown & Brown Inc, has a proven track record in the design of customized programs for the public sector. We believe in helping public entities fulfill their responsibilities and commitments to the public for a safe environment-today and in the future.

OneShield and OneShield Insurance Software are registered trademarks of OneShield, Inc. Other capitalized terms used herein are also protected marks of OneShield, Inc. Copyright 2013 - 2016 by OneShield, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE OneShield Software

Related Links

http://www.oneshield.com


ATLANTA, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pursuant Health announced today that the Company has been awarded Certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Through this Certification, the Company's proprietary health risk assessment, known as the Health Age HRA, is now recognized as an NCQA-Certified Health Appraisal. The unique, image-based Health Age HRA was co-developed with Cleveland Clinic Wellness and is designed to be taken in 5-6 minutes, either online or at any of Pursuant Health's national network of health kiosks. During the Health Age HRA, the kiosk measures the individual's weight, blood pressure, pulse and calculates BMI, providing the first NCQA-Certified HRA that conveniently combines a health questionnaire with non-invasive biometric screenings. The result is a score in the form of an easily-understood Health Age coupled with simple, personalized advice and interventional program offerings from Cleveland Clinic Wellness. In addition to this achievement, Pursuant Health has hit a significant new milestone in providing over 100 million health screenings since 2012 through its national retail network.

The Health Age HRA was introduced in September 2015 after 12 months of collaboration between Pursuant Health and Cleveland Clinic Wellness. Comprised of age, gender and risk-dependent questions as well as biometric measurements, the Health Age HRA captures 59 data points that cover every aspect of overall wellness in order to provide a holistic health profile of the individual, along with simple, personalized health advice. Key health categories include physical activity, nutrition, sleep, mental health, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, preventive care compliance and biometric measurements. In addition to the major accomplishment of receiving NCQA Certification, the Health Age Assessment achieved a significant record by hitting over 2 million user engagements since the September release. Health Insurers, Employers, Health Providers and other sponsors now have the ability to sponsor the Health Age HRA for their members, and to connect the valuable information collected with real-time interventions and population health benchmarks.

NCQA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that strives to improve the quality of health care on a national level. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and manages the evolution of HEDIS, the performance measurement tool used by more than 90 percent of the nation's health plans. The Wellness and Health Promotion (WHP) Certification for Health Appraisals demonstrates that a health appraisal enables individuals to manage their health, discloses how individuals' information will be used and protects individuals' privacy. After an extensive review period, NCQA determined that Pursuant Health's Health Age HRA and technology platform met the well-defined standards and quality measures needed for Health Appraisal Certification.

The achievements for the Health Age Assessment are accompanied by another major milestone as Pursuant Health's health and wellness kiosk network surpassed 100 million health screenings in January 2016. Since Pursuant Health kiosks were first released into retail pharmacies across the country in 2012, they have served individuals by providing free biometric screenings (weight, BMI, blood pressure, visual acuity and pulse) as well as Health Risk Assessments. With its national network of over 3,600 FDA-cleared, HIPAA-compliant kiosks located within 10 miles of 79% of the U.S. population, Pursuant Health has the ability to deploy health management programs in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The milestone of performing over 100 million health screenings signifies that Pursuant Health has enabled millions of individuals to engage with their health, and the latest achievements show promise for the Company positively impacting many more lives.

About Pursuant Health (formerly SoloHealth): Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Pursuant Health's purpose is to engage individuals to manage their health and improve outcomes. The company accomplishes this by providing a unique platform that allows the capture and integration of health related data. In summer 2010, the company received a $1.2M grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to help enable innovation for self-service healthcare and prevention. In 2012, following FDA-Clearance as a Class II Medical Device, Pursuant Health introduced its next-generation interactive kiosk, offering vision, blood pressure, pulse, weight, symptom checking, body mass index and overall health assessments. The company's bilingual kiosks improve outcomes by not only providing convenient health screenings, but also by giving users recommendations for follow-up care. Strategic investors and partners include Outerwall Inc. (owner of the Redbox, ecoATM and Coinstar brands), Walter Huff (founder of HBOC) and Anthem. For more information, please visit www.pursuanthealth.com.

About NCQA: NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Web site (www.ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

About Cleveland Clinic Wellness Enterprise: The goal of Cleveland Clinic's Wellness, based in Lyndhurst, OH, is to minimize the physical, emotional and economic costs of illness through health and wellness services and education. Cleveland Clinic has a strong history of leadership in the Wellness sphere. As a top ranked healthcare institution, Cleveland Clinic has consistently sought to shift the national focus from providing "sick" care to promoting wellness. From designating its entire health system smoke free on July 4, 2005, to no longer hiring smokers as of Sept. 1, 2007, banning trans-fats from its menus and appointing the country's first Chief Wellness Officer, Cleveland Clinic is dedicated to creating a healthier environment for its employees, patients and community. For more information, please visit www.ClevelandClinicWellness.com.

SOURCE Pursuant Health

Related Links

http://www.pursuanthealth.com


SAN FRANCISCO, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Registered nurses from every UC Medical Center in California will converge this Thursday at the UC Regents meeting in San Francisco to speak out against UC President Napolitano's proposed 2016 pension plan.

"The proposal put forth by President Napolitano seriously undermines the UC Pension plan, one of the primary tools to recruit and retain excellent nursing staff in the UC Medical system," said Maureen Dugan, an RN at UCSF and member of the California Nurses Association board. "We are urging the UC Regents to protect the high standards of patient care in the UC system by rejecting this wrong-headed plan."

What: Press Conference: RNs demand UC Regents reject Napolitano's proposed pension plan.

When: Thursday, March 24th 8:00 a.m. prior to UC Regents meeting

Where: UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center, 1675 Owens St. San Francisco

Napolitano's plan is to be voted on just weeks after the release of a new report, "Missing the Mark: How Hedge Fund Investments at the University of California shortchange students, staff and California taxpayers." The report shows UC squandered $1 billion in fees since 2003 to hedge fund managers for investments that, despite their price tag, failed to outperform the general stock market. According to the report, UC paid hedge fund managers a dollar in fees for every two dollars generated in net returns. UC could have saved $950 million in fees, and generated $800 million in superior returns had it not invested in hedge funds. Despite a pledge in 2014 to withdraw from all hedge funds UC continues to hold hedge fund investments.

"For over a decade the Regents have been irresponsibly diverting UC resources to Wall Street hedge fund managers, while at the same time cutting services to our patients and raising tuition three-fold," said Fong Chuu, RN, UCLA Medical Center and CNA board member. "We're saying to the Regents, enough is enough! It is time to support our University of California, not have it be a tool for Wall Street."

Napolitano's proposal includes a two-tier benefit scheme that for the first time would provide better benefits for UC faculty compared to the rest of UC staff, including nurses, clinical researchers, custodians and clerical workers. This type of scheme was expressly opposed by members of a task force (comprised also of faculty) convened by Napolitano to recommend changes to UC's pension plan. Napolitano's pension proposal is designed to incentivize staff to take a 401(k)-style plan, and as a result, would undermine the current benefit plan by reducing contributions to it. The 401(K)-style plans are also less likely to provide secure retirement benefits, critics say.

In addition to the California Nurses Association, Lt. Governor and UC Regent Gavin Newsom, the California State Labor Federation and the Academic Senate have voiced opposition to the proposal.

SOURCE California Nurses Association/National Nurses United
FAIRFAX, Va., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Bar Association (ABA) has recently released Locked Down: Practical Information Security for Lawyers

In the four years since the initial publication of Locked Down, data security has exploded as a concern for law firms. Today, with data breaches a daily feature in the news, and under pressure from clients and insurance companies, law firms are scrambling to enhance their security. New threats and defenses to those threats surface with astonishing rapidity. A skilled hacker with advanced technology and sufficient funds is likely to breach your security walls. So the new manta is identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover. Keeping up on the latest information you need to protect your confidential data can be a daunting task.

The second edition of Locked Down: Practical Information Security for Lawyers is the answer to this challenge. Authors Sharon D. Nelson, David G. Ries, and John W. Simek are recognized experts in cybersecurity, and their lectures draw standing-room-only crowds. They give you the data security basics you need in simple, easy-to-understand language. You can manage your risk by following the practical advice provided in this book.

Topics include:

The latest news in the data breach world, including true stories of breached law firms

The ethical issues of data security

The need for a comprehensive approach to security

The dangers of using laptops, tablets, and smartphones on public Wi-Fi

Strong passwords and the growing need for two-factor authentication

Encryption, which is now cheap, fast and simple and may be ethically required

The elements of a good incident response plan

The future of information security

The book is priced at $79.95 ($63.95 for members of the ABA's Law Practice Division) and is available through the ABA's website store at http://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=238368703&term=locked%20down.

ABOUT SENSEI ENTERPRISES, INC.

Sensei Enterprises, Inc. is a nationally known digital forensics, information security and information technology company. Based in Fairfax, Virginia, Sensei combines legal expertise with high-level technical certifications to serve the technology needs of the legal and corporate communities. Sensei's principals are the co-authors of The 2016 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide: Critical Decisions Made Simple (2016, ABA) and Encryption Made Simple for Lawyers (2015, ABA), and speak and present on legal technology, digital forensics and cybersecurity throughout the country. To learn more, please visit www.senseient.com.

For more information about this release, call Sharon D. Nelson, Esq. at 703-359-0700.

SOURCE Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.senseient.com


"Just by adding sample code to a website, the API enables developers to incorporate our vocal emotion recognition technology into various applications," says Takaaki Shimoji, a Smartmedical Corp. board director. "The API will help developers innovate by creating their own customized applications. There is a lot of potential for inventive use."

Empath was first developed to assist with the delivery of mental healthcare services. In 2013, it was used in NTT DoCoMo's Tohoku reconstruction project to evaluate care workers' mental health conditions. "Some care workers assisting Tohoku earthquake victims suffered from negative mood, so we used Empath as an instrument to evaluate their mental states. If their negative moods persisted, we encouraged them to pursue counselling with doctors. This project was highly praised by Japanese media."

In addition to mental healthcare, Empath is utilized in various fields: robotics (with Yukai Engineering), lighting systems (with PHILIPS), virtual reality (with Intelligence, Ltd.), contact center service (with TMJ), and employee assistance programs (with NTT DoCoMo). "In the past ten years, the number of emotion recognition start-ups has increased, but Smartmedical is unique for developing multiple real use cases for our signature technology. The API will expand our fields with imaginative developers all around the world," added Mr. Shimoji.

With a program that sends WAVE files to the API, there is potential for integration with multiple platforms including Windows, iOS, and Android OS. In addition, the API is easily adaptable for use as a M2M and IoT sensor.

To register for Web Empath API, visit https://webempath.net/ for details.

About Smartmedical

Smartmedical Corp., comprised of PCC and ICT self-care divisions, is the leading authority in developing PCC (Primary Care Clinics), new medical service platforms at and near railway stations in Tokyo and major cities in Japan that provide preventive medical services and primary care. ICT self-care division supports PCC projects with its advanced ICT technology. It develops and licenses Empath, vocal emotion recognition technology for mental health care. In addition to mental health care services, multiple service sectors such as robotics, call centers, and VR also utilize Empath technology.

By analyzing multiple physical properties of the voice, Empath can identify emotions in real-time, regardless of the language. It has been developed and refined through collaborative research programs with prestigious universities such as the University of Tokyo and Nara Institute of Science and Technology. Empath won the 2015 Japan Resilience Award first prize, and an excellence award at MCPC Award 2015.

For more information on Empath, please visit: https://webempath.net/lp-eng/.

Hazumu Yamazaki

R&D Manager of ICT Self-care Division

[email protected]

+81-(0)3-3230-4010

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160323/347299

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160323/347300LOGO

SOURCE Smartmedical Corp.

Related Links

https://webempath.net


HONG KONG, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SparkRaise today announced that it has beta launched its rewards-based crowdfunding platform.

Globally minded and based in Hong Kong's Cyberport, SparkRaise is uniquely positioned to offer Asian based creators and innovators a platform to tap into an Asian crowd. Project creators based outside of the region can also tap into the broad reach of an Asian crowd for support.

Breaking the mold of the traditional crowdfunding platform model that focuses primarily on projects, SparkRaise places emphasis back on the creators themselves and offers organizations and project creators tools to build enduring online reputations while building trust in the network as a whole. People and organizations can create permanent profile pages, where they can consolidate all of their creative and giving activity, and find and connect with like-minded people and groups. Using the same platform, creators can then tap into their existing community on SparkRaise to also raise funds for their projects, products, services or events.

Today's beta launch opens the platform to all users. It comes on the heels of a successful pilot campaign in January by City Hydroponics, which is prototyping a series of hydroponic units accessible for city dwellers looking to grow their own fresh vegetables in limited space. Also launching today on SparkRaise is a campaign to sponsor mini build-it-yourself educational 3D printers, co-developed with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, so that young people everywhere can enjoy this technology, especially those who cannot otherwise afford it. Both are projects that have developed and grown with SparkRaise's partner MakerBay, Hong Kong's leading makerspace.

Yeone W. Moser Fok, Founder and CEO of SparkRaise: "Asia's fast-growing crowdfunding industry led to volumes that surpassed Europe in 2014 and today Asia is second only to North America in terms of global crowdfunding volumes. Despite this, rewards-based crowdfunding, where people pledge funds in return for a prototype, product or some other perk, is still nascent in many parts of Asia. At SparkRaise, we understand that a critical part of helping creators and supporters come together is to provide tools that help build greater trust and transparency. More than a crowdfunding platform, we are building a community and we are focused on crafting the tools that creators, supporters and socially minded people and organizations need to connect and raise funds in a sustainable manner."

About SparkRaise

SparkRaise is a crowdfunding platform where people who share creative, entrepreneurial and philanthropic interests can exchange ideas, make connections and raise funds for the things that matter to them. To learn more, please visit and join us at www.SparkRaise.com.

Contact

E: [email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE SparkRaise

Related Links

http://www.SparkRaise.com


HOUSTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- StormGeo, a global provider of decision support for weather sensitive operations, today announced the launch of ForeSight, the newest addition to its suite of weather forecasting services. The long-range forecasting service provides 30, 90, and 180 day outlooks to be used in predictive analytics, lending insight to hedge risks and make informed decisions. Industry targets include manufacturing and supply chain, retail, finance, agriculture and energy trading.

Using complex data sets, weather models, and the expertise of in-house meteorologists, StormGeo's ForeSight provides actionable weather insight by forecasting long-range global temperature and precipitation anomalies. The service can be accessed online via StormGeo's customer portal and includes 24/7 live access to meteorologists as well as on-demand video updates.

According to StormGeo's Managing Director for North America, Mark Chambers, "Weather events continue to affect the bottom line of companies globally. In an effort to allow investors to keep up with changing demands to environmental impact laws and requests for transparency, we created ForeSight to protect shareholder value by mitigating risks that impact supply chain as well as to provide an additional means of generating sustainable returns over time."

Learn more by visiting StormGeo's website or contact us at +1 800-792-3220.

About StormGeo

StormGeo provides decision support for weather sensitive operations with services in Offshore Oil & Gas, Onshore Business Continuity, Renewable Energy, Media, Aviation and Shipping. The company helps its clients to safeguard people, assets and profits with products and services created by a team of meteorology, oceanography, and computer science experts. StormGeo is headquartered in Bergen, Norway and operates out of 25 offices in 15 countries with teams of meteorology experts' available 24/7/365. StormGeo is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company. Its majority shareholder is EQT followed by DNV GL. More information is available at stormgeo.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150503/213458LOGO

SOURCE StormGeo

Related Links

http://www.stormgeo.com


KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Team Health Holdings, Inc. ("TeamHealth" or the "Company") (NYSE: TMH), a leading physician services organization, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with JANA Partners LLC ("JANA"), which beneficially owns approximately 8.0 percent of the Company's common stock.

As part of the agreement, Scott Ostfeld, Partner of JANA and Co-Portfolio Manager of JANA Strategic Investments, and Edwin (Mac) Crawford, former Chairman of CVS Caremark Corporation, have been appointed to TeamHealth's Board of Directors as Class I Directors, effective immediately. With the appointments of Messrs. Ostfeld and Crawford, the TeamHealth Board will be comprised of 12 directors, 10 of whom are independent. TeamHealth and JANA also agreed that Nancy M. Schlichting, Chief Executive Officer of Henry Ford Health System, will be appointed as a Class II Director in January 2017. Additionally, the Company has agreed to reduce the size of the Board of Directors by one director each year over the next three years beginning at the 2016 annual meeting of shareholders.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with JANA, as we believe this outcome best serves the interests of TeamHealth and all of its shareholders," said Mike Snow, President and Chief Executive Officer of TeamHealth. "We are confident that Scott, Mac and Nancy, with their diversified expertise and relevant experience, will add valuable perspective to TeamHealth's Board as we execute on our strategic plan and enhance shareholder value. Our commitment to providing best-in-class support to our clinical community and exemplary service to our hospital partners remains unchanged as we work to achieve these important objectives."

"We appreciate TeamHealth's constructive approach in reaching this agreement," said Barry Rosenstein, founder and Managing Partner of JANA. "We look forward to working with management and the Board of Directors to pursue our shared goal of enhancing value for all TeamHealth shareholders."

The full agreement between TeamHealth and JANA will be filed on a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As previously announced, the Company's 2016 annual meeting of shareholders will be held on May 25, 2016.

Citi and Goldman, Sachs & Co. are serving as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to the Company.

About Scott Ostfeld

Mr. Scott Ostfeld is a Partner of JANA Partners LLC, an investment manager located in New York, and Co-Portfolio Manager of JANA Partners LLC's active equity ownership strategy. Prior to joining JANA in 2006, Mr. Ostfeld was with GSC Partners in their distressed debt private equity group focused on acquiring companies through the bankruptcy restructuring process and enhancing value as an active equity owner. Mr. Ostfeld received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, and a B.A. from Columbia University. Mr. Ostfeld serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Columbia University's Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy and as a member of the Board of Directors of The Opportunity Network.

About Edwin M. Crawford

Mr. Edwin Crawford served as Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman of Caremark Rx, Inc. from 1998 to 2007 when it generated annual revenues of approximately $37 billion. Following the merger of CVS Corporation with Caremark in March 2007, Mr. Crawford served as Chairman of CVS Caremark Corporation, a Fortune 20 company and leading provider of pharmacy benefits management services, until November 2007. Mr. Crawford received a B.S. in Business Administration from Auburn University.

About Nancy M. Schlichting

Ms. Nancy Schlichting is the Chief Executive Officer of Henry Ford Health System, where she is responsible for leading a nationally recognized health care organization with annual revenue of over $4 billion and 24,000 employees through a dramatic financial turnaround. Ms. Schlichting joined Henry Ford Health System in 1998 as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer and in 2001, she assumed an additional role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Ford Hospital. Ms. Schlichting has vast experience serving as a director for various boards for both non-profit and for-profit corporations, including serving as a member of the board of directors of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., one of the largest global pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution networks, since 2006. Ms. Schlichting received her A.B. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and her M.B.A. from Cornell University.

About TeamHealth

At TeamHealth (NYSE: TMH), our purpose is to perfect our physicians' ability to practice medicine, every day, in everything we do. Through our more than 18,000 affiliated physicians and advanced practice clinicians, TeamHealth offers outsourced emergency medicine, hospital medicine, critical care, anesthesiology, orthopaedic hospitalist, acute care surgery, obstetrics and gynecology hospitalist, ambulatory care, post-acute care and medical call center solutions to approximately 3,400 acute and post-acute facilities and physician groups nationwide. Our philosophy is as simple as our goal is singular: we believe better experiences for physicians lead to better outcomesfor patients, hospital partners and physicians alike. Join our team; we value and empower clinicians. Partner with us; we deliver on our promises. Learn more at http://www.teamhealth.com.

Contacts

INVESTOR CONTACT:

David Jones

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

865-293-5299

MEDIA CONTACT:

Pat Ball

Senior Vice President, Strategic Resources Group

865-293-5352

Andy Brimmer / Joe Berg

Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

212-355-4449

SOURCE Team Health Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.teamhealth.com


NEW YORK, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Abrahamic Family, Inc., a group of peace-loving people who believe that all people should focus on common ancestry and heritage as a way to bridge the divide between religions, has launched their Menorah Islands Project. The organization is calling on investors, scientists, politicians, environmentalists, peacemakers, religious institutions, and the community-at-large to join together in turning this idea into a reality and creating these technologically advanced cities.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160322/346785

The Menorah Islands Project: 9 Artificial Islands Aim to Bring Real Change to the Coast of Israel

Presently just a concept, once completed the Menorah Islands Project would be a complex of nine artificial islands and several causeways off the coast of Israel. These islands and causeways would be laid out in the shape of a candelabra, representing the object for which the complex is named. Seven of these artificial islands would be permanent, with residential areas, retail, and institutes of higher learning. The outermost islands on either side would emerge from the water at different points throughout the year.

The Menorah Islands Project aims to bring together practical, advanced technologies in one place to build revolutionary cities that are 100 percent independent, green, scientific, and peaceful. The cities will be built and designed to live and work with water. The island structures will be atmospheric water generators, machines that make water from the humidity in the air, designed and built to be anti-smog to fight pollution.

"The project is an ambitious vision for the future of the Middle East and has the potential to bring together the greatest and most committed minds to build a place where ethnic origin and political alliance no longer matter," said Joseph Aoun, the Menorah Islands Project founder and coordinator.

"A beautiful place to live, work, and vacation, these artificial islands in the Mediterranean Sea would enhance the entire Middle East through education, scientific advancements, and environmentally-friendly practices."

The current vision for the Menorah Islands centers on research and education in the sciences. On the artificial islands, all fields of science from marine to medical would have established places to study and share their innovation with the world. The greatest minds would have a dedicated space to work together and truly advance the Middle East and the entire world. The goal is to promote peace through economic cooperation and sustainable environmental practices. For those who live and work within these cities, residents will have a lower cost of living and increase in wealth and overall health.

The project is still seeking professionals in fields that will help the group actualize the islands. Actuaries and other financial experts, engineers, construction experts, and environmental scientists are invited to participate and can express their interest through the project's website. In addition, the Menorah Islands Project is still in need of investors whose help will make it possible to increase the intensity and the scope of the project. Investors will not only have a future stake in the Menorah Islands Project; they will also be given the chance to serve as advisers along with other seasoned experts as the project grows. To learn more about the project and participation opportunities, visit TheMenorahIslands.com.

About The United Abrahamic Family, Inc. and The Menorah Islands Project

The Menorah Islands Project seeks to prove that economic cooperation is the key to peace in the Middle East. The Menorah Islands Project, an idea for a complex of nine artificial islands and several causeways off the coast of Israel will boast technologically advanced and environmentally friendly cities that focus on science and innovation. To learn more, visit TheMenorahIslands.com.

Media Contact:

Joseph Aoun

The Menorah Islands Project and The United Abrahamic Family, Inc

http://www.themenorahislands.com

http://www.m-i-p.co.il

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE The United Abrahamic Family, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.themenorahislands.com/


SAO PAULO, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Triunfo Participacoes e Investimentos S.A. (BM&FBOVESPA: TPIS3, OTC: TPIUY), one of Brazil's leading infrastructure companies, with operations in the toll road, port administration, power generation and airport administration sectors, announces its results for the fourth quarter and year of 2015. The full earnings release is also available on Triunfo's website: www.triunfo.com/ir.

4Q15 and 2015 Highlights

Dividend calculation base in 4Q15 and 2015 reached R$170.8 million and R$211.2 million , respectively.

Consolidated adjusted net revenue[1] totaled R$422.2 million (+50.7%) and R$1.7 billion (+26.6%) in 4Q15 and 2015, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA came to R$462.0 million (+282.7%) in 4Q15 and R$1.3 billion (+29.9%) in 2015.

Toll Roads Segment: Growth of 101.5% in adjusted net revenue in 4Q15 and 73,9% in the year, mainly due to strong growth in gross toll revenue, due to the beginning of toll collection at 11 toll plazas of Triunfo Concebra at the end of June 2015 , the acquisition of Triunfo Transbrasiliana in January 2015 and toll increases.

Port Segment: Portonave reported adjusted EBITDA of R$45.6 million (+27.6%) in the quarter and R$131.3 million (+2.4%) in the year, mainly due to the five new long-haul lines that handled around 125,000 TEUs since the start of operations in July and August 2015 until the end of the year.

Airport Segment: The segment highlight was the 19.7% growth in revenue from the cargo terminal in the quarter and 13.1% in the year. Revenue from cargo is the airport's main revenue and growth was the result of a series of actions to expand the volume of high-value cargo.

Energy Segment: The quarterly highlight was the conclusion of the sale of assets of Triunfo Rio Verde , Triunfo Rio Canoas and TNE to CTG Brasil, in the amount of R$1.8 billion , which also includes the assumption of the plants' debts by the buyer. The proceeds were used to deleverage the Company and strengthen its financial liquidity.

Conference Call / Webcast - In Portuguese with simultaneous translation into English

Thursday, March 24, 2016.

11:00 am (Brasilia) / 10:00 am (US ET)

Connection Number Other Countries: +1 (786) 924-6977

Connection Number Brazil: +55 (11) 3193-1001/ + 55 (11) 2820-4001

Code: Triunfo

Replay: available until March 30, 2016

Replay: +55 (11) 3193-1012

Code for Portuguese: 1942601#

Code for English: 2159734#

For more information:

Investor Relations Department

Tel: +55-11-2169-3999

Email: [email protected]

_______________________________________________________________________________

[1] Adjusted net revenue is arrived at by deducting revenue from the construction of concession assets from total net revenue.

SOURCE Triunfo Participacoes e Investimentos S.A.

Related Links

http://www.triunfo.com/ir


DOHA, Qatar and WALDWICK, N.J., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- When DIMDEX 2016 opens in Doha on March 29, the United States will be among the event's largest international exhibitors. With nearly 20 participating companies, the size of the American contingent is a strong indicator of how important the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region is to the U.S. maritime defense and security business, and that countries in the region are likewise interested in working with the U.S. to further their maritime defense, security and economic goals.

DIMDEX is Qatar's most prominent defense and security trade event. The American presence, featuring industry leading companies such as Boeing (Booth #H6-118), Lockheed Martin (Booth #H6-119), Raytheon (Booth #H6-217) and Textron Systems (Booth #H6-218) is organized by Kallman Worldwide, Inc., the designated U.S. Representative of the show, in coordination with numerous U.S. government agencies. For a complete list of U.S. companies at DIMDEX 2016 visit kallman.com/dimdex, the searchable online directory.

The centerpiece of the national effort, the nearly 1,500 sqm (gross) U.S. International Pavilion, is a destination for buyers looking for an efficient way to meet a critical mass of U.S. suppliers, and an on-site business hub for U.S. exhibitors looking to maximize their exposure and impact at the event.

There are 16 exhibitors in the Pavilion, ranging from publicly traded stalwarts to privately held small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Pavilion exhibitors represent a cross-section of leading American suppliers working to strengthen or initiate international partnerships.

"When U.S. companies commit to exhibit at DIMDEX, they're saying they believe in the power of this event to attract real business prospects and customers. The growth and diversification of this show speaks for itself," said Kallman Worldwide President and CEO, Tom Kallman. "Our team is proud to help our exhibitors capitalize on this influential international business opportunity to grow their share of the marketplace and our nation's trade and investment partnerships in the region."

In addition to organizing the national Pavilion, Kallman Worldwide is promoting U.S. exhibitors with its "Ask America First" advocacy campaign. The message will be placed prominently on site, integrated into hospitality and VIP events during the show, and promoted in social media (follow on Twitter @kallmanEWC #AskAmericaFirst).

"The United States is one of the world's biggest maritime defense and security suppliers, but that's no guarantee that buyers will look to work with U.S. companies over others," said Kallman. "As the organizer of the U.S. presence at DIMDEX 2016, we have a responsibility to advocate not only for our exhibitors, but for our nation in this highly competitive marketplace. We want every visitor to 'Ask America first' at DIMDEX, and to be assured that America is listening."

U.S. INTERNATIONAL PAVILION DIMDEX 2016 EXHIBITOR MEDIA SPOTLIGHTS

The following exhibitors in the U.S. International Pavilion at DIMDEX 2016 invite media to inquire about their products and services:

Booth # H6-318B

Protecting Human Assets

New tests shaking up the shock-mitigation industry

A new ISO testing standard is under development to measure shock-mitigating seat performance. The standard builds upon the UK Ministry of Defence's (MOD) extensive 2015 testing procedure used to select seats for next-generation PAC 24 Mk IV boats. Twelve manufacturers submitted seats for evaluation by MOD scientists, with SHOXS selected as the winner. The MOD's test protocol forms the basis for the upcoming ISO standard that will provide a scientifically valid testing procedure for seat comparison.

Target Markets: Crew safety, high-speed watercraft, naval architects

Contact: Bryan Wood, Director, Business Development, SHOXS Seats, Charlotte, NC, +1-206-962-1986; [email protected]

Booth # H6-119

Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Precision Fires Products Rule the Deep Battle

For decades, Lockheed Martin has produced the most accurate, affordable and effective family of missile/rocket artillery systems in the world. The combat-proven Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers, missiles and rockets has proven its precision strike capabilities time and time again with unmatched reliability and accuracy. And with all products currently in production, interested nations are able to take advantage of procurement economies of scale by joining their production orders with other allies.

Target Markets: Land force commands, joint force commands

Contact: Craig Vanbebber, Senior Communications Manager, Lockheed Martin, Dallas TX, +1-972-603-1615; [email protected]

Booth # H6-119

Lockheed Martin's Hit-to-Kill Missile Defense Technology

Lockheed Martin pioneered Hit-to-Kill technology (direct, body-to-body impact of interceptor to target) and it's rapidly transforming how the world looks at missile defense. With Hit-to-Kill, an interceptor now has the sensing ability, agility and accuracy to directly hit a target head on, completely destroying the threat and keeping dangerous debris away from protected areas when it matters most.

Target Markets: Air defense commands, joint ops commands

Contact: Craig Vanbebber, Senior Communications Manager, Lockheed Martin, Dallas TX, +1-972-603-1615; [email protected]

Booth # H6-119

Making the World's Only Combat-Proven Hit-to-Kill Missile Even Better

The PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) is an evolution of the battle-proven PAC-3 Missile. The Hit-to-Kill PAC-3 MSE provides performance enhancements that counter evolving threat advancements. The enhancements ensure the PAC-3 Missile Segment of the PATRIOT Air Defense System is capable of engaging new and evolving threats. The Hit-to-Kill PAC-3 Missile is the world's most advanced, and capable theater air defense missile and defender against the entire threat to the PATRIOT Air Defense System.

Target Markets: Joint commands, air & missile defense commands

Contact: Craig Vanbebber, Senior Communications Manager, Lockheed Martin, Dallas TX, +1-972-603-1615; [email protected]

ABOUT KALLMAN WORLDWIDE, INC.

Export with purpose. Exhibit with confidence. Kallman Worldwide is an export marketing advocate focused on helping the United States of America and its leading businesses capitalize on international trade shows and events to grow their share of global markets. Our flagship U.S. International Pavilion programs cover all the details of creating and presenting a professional business environment to buyers, enabling exhibitors, clients and partners to make the most of their event opportunities, cultivate meaningful global business relationships and account for a measurable return on their export marketing investment.

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SOURCE Kallman Worldwide, Inc.

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WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Marco Rubio's presidential bid comes to a close and with Jeb Bush's recent endorsement of Ted Cruz, visitors to Qorvis MSLGROUP's "Influencer2016" can see where the influencers behind these campaigns might end up.

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Influencer2016 is available free-of-charge at http://influencer16.com/.

About Qorvis MSLGROUP

Qorvis MSLGROUP is the Washington, D.C.office for MSLGROUP, the flagship strategic communications and engagement consultancy of Publicis Groupe.

With more than 3,000 people across close to 100 offices worldwide, MSLGROUP is also the largest PR network in Europe, fast-growing China and India. The group offers strategic planning and counsel, insight-guided thinking and big, compelling ideas  followed by thorough execution.

www.mslgroup.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Slideshare | Pinterest

About Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing, communication, and business transformation. In a world marked by increased convergence and consumer empowerment, Publicis Groupe offers a full range of services and skills: digital, technology & consulting with Publicis.Sapient (SapientNitro, Sapient Global Markets, Sapient Government Services, Razorfish Global, DigitasLBi, Rosetta) - the world's largest most forward-thinking digitally centered platform focused exclusively on digital transformation in an always-on world - as well as creative networks such as BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, public affairs, corporate communications and events with MSLGROUP, ad tech solutions with VivaKi, media strategy, planning and buying through Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia, healthcare communications, with Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), and finally, brand asset production with Prodigious. Present in 108 countries, the Groupe employs more than 76,000 professionals.

www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter: @PublicisGroupe | Facebook: www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe | LinkedIn: Publicis Groupe | http://www.youtube.com/user/PublicisGroupe | Viva la Difference

SOURCE Qorvis MSLGROUP

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New Delhi, March 18 : The home ministry on Friday issued an 18 point health advisory for the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, which also suggests that those having difficulty in breathing carry portable oxygen along.

The advisory, which carries 14 do's and four don'ts, advised the pilgrims to achieve physical fitness before starting Amarnath Yatra with a preparatory morning and evening walk of about 4-5 kilometre every day from a month prior to the pilgrimage.

The advisory warns that the Amarnath Yatra involves trekking at altitudes as high as 14,000 feet which may lead of the pilgrims developing high altitude with symptoms like loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, drowsiness, chest tightness, fast breathing and increased heart rate.

"If high altitude sickness is not treated timely, it may be lethal in a matter of hours," it said.

The advisory suggested the pilgrims to start deep breathing exercises, yoga, drinking lots of water to combat dehydration and headaches, checking with a physician prior to travelling to higher elevations, following the prescribed food menu available at Amarnath shrine board's website (shriamarnathjishrine.com), and when to have food during travelling.

"In case of any signs of high altitude sickness or any other discomfort, immediately contact the nearest medical facility located at every two kilometres," said the advisory, stressing that the symptoms of high altitude illness not be ignored.

It also suggested to give up drinking alcohol or smoking.
Washington, March 19 : The Republican establishment intensified efforts to stop Donald Trump from winning the party nomination with its 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney calling for a strategic vote against him only to have the billionaire firing back.

Romney, who unsuccessfully challenged President Barack Obama four years back, wrote on Friday in a Facebook post that he plans to vote on Tuesday for Trump's closest rival Texas senator Ted Cruz in party caucuses in Utah, where he lives.

He also called on Ohio Governor John Kasich, for whom he campaigned before the Ohio primary this week, to step aside to give Republicans a better chance to block Trump's bid for the nomination.

"Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism," Romney wrote. "Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these.

"The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Trump is to have an open convention," he wrote.

"At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible."

There is no love lost between the Republican establishment and Cruz, who once called the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, a liar on the Senate floor, but apparently it now looks at him as a known devil and thus a lesser evil than Trump.

Reacting to Romney's post, Trump took to Twitter to mock the former former Massachusetts governor - and Cruz.

Asserting that Romney's support for Cruz was good for his campaign Trump tweeted: "Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the man who 'choked' and let us all down, is now endorsing Lyin' Ted Cruz. This is good for me!"

"Going to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a big rally. Lyin' Ted Cruz should not be allowed to win there - Mormons don't like LIARS! I beat Hillary," he added.

Later appealing to the state's majority Mormon population at the rally, he even questioned whether Romney truly represented their faith.

"Do I love the Mormons? I have many friends that live in Salt Lake City -- and by the way, Mitt Romney is not one of them," Trump said to applause from his supporters. "Are you sure he's a Mormon? Are we sure?"

Cruz, who has in the past dubbed Romney as a seriously flawed messenger against Obama in 2012 and characterized him as part of the Republican Party's "mushy middle" quickly thanked him for the support in a tweet Friday afternoon.

But the Kasich campaign reacted sharply with his chief strategist, John Weaver, tweeting: "Good to know Ted Cruz is the establishment, K-Street backed candidate. #HelloStatusQuo."

Meanwhile, conservative news channel Fox News too joined the war against Trump alleging the real estate mogul has an 'extreme, sick obsession' with its anchor Megyn Kelly.

"Donald Trump's vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land," the network said in its statement.

The sharply worded response came Friday evening after Trump took his attacks against Kelly to a new level, referring to her as "sick", "crazy" and "overrated."

Trump also called for his supporters to boycott her Fox News show, saying she was obsessed with criticizing him.

Trump has been having a running feud with Kelly since last August, when he complained that she had treated him unfairly during the first Republican presidential debate. But it was unclear what precipitated his latest attack.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
Seoul, March 21 : South Korean authorities on Monday said North Korea could conduct another nuclear test soon.

The South Korean government believes Pyongyang is technically ready to conduct another nuclear test as its nuclear test site, Punggye-ri in the northeastern part of the country, continues to show signs of activity since January, EFE news reported.

On January 6, North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test, although on this occasion, in contrast to the previous tests of 2006, 2009 and 2013, the detonated explosive device was a hydrogen bomb.

38 North, a blog about North Korea, maintained by the Johns Hopkins University in the US, has already warned that continued activity at the test site means it is highly likely the site is capable of supporting additional tests.

The January nuclear test was followed by the launch of a space rocket on February 7, which the international community believed was a disguised ballistic missile test.

In response, the UN Security Council imposed harsh financial and trade sanctions on the country to choke off its revenue sources, while South Korea, the US and Japan ordered additional unilateral sanctions.

The sanctions, together with the annual joint military exercises by South Korea and the US, have escalated tensions with North Korea, which has given several warnings and fired several short-range and medium-range missile in to the Sea of Japan.
Actress Kangana Ranaut at the HT Summit 2015 in New Delhi, on Dec 4, 2015. Image Source: IANS

Kangna Ranaut during the promotional event of film Tanu Weds Manu Returns in Mumbai on 16th May 2015 Image Source: IANS

Mumbai, March 21 : Actress Kangana Ranaut, who has been approached by filmmaker Homi Adajania for his next directorial venture has apparently refused to do that film because of date issues.

"Homi has narrated (the script) to Kangana and she is keen to work with him, but she is already committed to Hansal Mehta's film after 'Rangoon' and the dates are clashing. But they have promised to work with each other in the future," a source close to Kangana told IANS.

Adajania has reportedly finished writing the script for his next directorial venture, which has a very unique pairing.

The director, who has already signed Sushant Singh Rajput and Irrfan Khan for the film, was keen to cast Kangana in a prominent role.

Kangana, who has almost wrapped up the shooting of Vishal Bharadwaj's "Rangoon", will start shooting for Mehta's next in some time.
Vrindavan, March 21 : In a marked departure from age-old traditions, over a thousand widows played Holi at an ancient Vrindavan temple on Monday.

Amid blowing of conch shells and showering of flower petals and dry colour powders, these widows participated in the Holi celebrations at the ancient Gopinath temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna.

They were joined by widows from Varanasi. There was palpable excitement as they smeared each other with Holi colours, as this was for the first time they played Holi inside a temple in this town, holy to Hindus.

A number of Sanskrit students and scholars too joined in the Holi revelry with the widows cast away by their families and living in the temple town for several decades.

Bindeshwar Pathak, wellknown social reformer and founder of Sulabh International who has waged a steady campaign against ostracised widows in the country, also joined in the celebrations.

The Sulabh International has been taking care of 1,500 widows in Varanasi and Vrindavan in the light of the Supreme Court's observations in 2012.

"In an effort to bring them into the mainstream of society, Sulabh started organising Holi for them about three years ago at the widows' ashram. But this time it is special as Holi was organised at a famous temple to give a kind of social acceptance," Pathak told IANS.

A total of 1,200 kg 'gulal' and different coloured powders and 1,500 kg of rose and marigold petals were arranged for the special event.

In many parts of India, widows are traditionally barred from playing Holi or participating in any other festival or auspicious functions.
Havana, March 22 : US president Barack Obama has vowed to help Cuban entrepreneurs prosper and said that he will continue working to adopt changes that would improve and increase access to internet on the island, the media reported on Tuesday.

Obama became the first president to visit Cuba after nearly 90 years. He arrived on the island on Sunday.

After his meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro at the Palace of the Revolution on Monday, Obama participated in a business forum with Cuban entrepreneurs, US businessmen and representatives from Cuban state companies, EFE news reported.

The Cuban economy "is beginning to change", said Obama as he praised the spirit of the Cuban entrepreneurs and highlighted that the US is ready to help them succeed.

"The bottom line is that we believe in the Cuban people," he said.

According to the president, the future of the Cuban economy and its ability to meet the aspirations of its people depend on the growth of the private sector parallel to the actions of the government, a task that "is not easy", he admitted.

Obama stressed that there are still "very few" Cubans with internet access and those who do usually have "expensive and slow" connections.

According to Obama, the US wants to help Cuba and cited examples of measures that companies such as Verizon and Stripe are taking to facilitate communications with the island.

President Obama's three-day visit marks the culmination of a thaw in relations between Washington and the Communist island that began in December 2014 - 55 years after Fidel Castro seized power.

The last and only American president to visit Cuba while in office was Calvin Coolidge in January 1928.
Hyderabad, March 22 : Tension prevailed in Hyderabad University on Tuesday as students ransacked the office of Vice-Chancellor P. Appa Rao to protest his return from a nearly two-month leave.

The students barged into the office of the vice chancellor and ransacked the furniture. Raising slogans and blaming him for the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, the students also attacked his car.

The attack occurred minutes before Appa Rao was to address media persons to announce that he has resumed duties as the vice chancellor.

The incident once again triggered tension on the campus as police rushed additional forces to prevent further violence.

The students resorted to protests since Tuesday following reports that Appa Rao is returning to resume duties as the vice-chancellor.

He had gone on leave on January 24 amid massive protests on the campus over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, an umbrella grouping of various students' bodies, has blamed Appa Rao, central ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya and a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the suspension of five Dalit students, one of whom Rohith committed suicide on January 17.
New Delhi, March 22 : Many areas of central and east Delhi witnessed heavy traffic snarls as a portion of Bhairon Marg connecting Mathura Road to Ring Road caved in on Tuesday.

Delhi Traffic Police have closed the road. The traffic coming from Ring Road to Mathura Road via Bhairon Marg has been diverted till the repair work is done.

"Massive Road cave in on Bhairon marg. Complete diversion of traffic coming from Ring road to Mathura Road on Bhairon marg till repair is done," Delhi Traffic Police tweeted.

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander said that the Public Works Department (PWD) was working on it.

"There was bumper-to-bumper traffic on Geeta Colony and ITO flyovers. I was stuck in Shakarpur for over an hour," Shekhar, a commuter, told IANS.

A major portion of Bhairon Marg had also caved in on March 20.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay condemned the failure of the PWD in repairing the road on time.

"Lakhs of people commuting to Delhi from east and north Delhi towards central or south Delhi are facing acute traffic jams today," Upadhyay said.

"It will be better if Delhi government concentrates on development and maintenance work instead of spending crores on false publicity gimmicks," the BJP leader said.
Mumbai, March 22 : Government reforms to increase foreign capital inflows and value buying marginally buoyed the Indian equity markets on Tuesday.

In contrast, both the key indices of the Indian equity markets remained in the negative territory throughout the day's trade, as investors were seen cautious over a potential US rate hike, negative Chinese indices and profit booking.

However, the key equity indices pared their initial losses during the last hour of the day's trade.

The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed the day's trade flat. It gained just 45 points or 0.18 percent.

Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day's traded marginally in the green. It inched up by 10.65 points, or 0.14 percent, to 7,714.90 points.

The Sensex, which opened at 25,331.01 points, closed at 25,330.49 points -- up 45.12 points or 0.18 percent from the previous day's close at 25,285.37 points.

During the intra-day trade, the Sensex touched a high of 25,381.33 points and a low of 25,083.70 points.

The BSE market breadth slightly favoured the bulls -- with 1,353 advances and 1,256 declines.

According to market analysts, caution prevailed on the heightened chances of a US rate hike next month.

Besides, investors were seen hesitant to chase prices higher ahead of the derivatives expiry and the financial year end.

In addition, negative Chinese indices, coupled with a slightly weaker rupee, dampened sentiments.

The rupee weakened by 20 paise during the day's trade. It ended at 66.72 to a US dollar from its previous close of 66.51-52 to a greenback.

Sentiments were further dented after Monday's data showed a current account deficit (CAD) showed wider than expected fall.

However, the markets were able to pare some of its losses on the back of positive government announcements and value buying.

"Positives moves by the government to increase the forign investment inflows and value buying supported prices at the end of the day's trade. Initially, heightened chances of a US rate hike, negative Chinese markets, weak rupee and profit booking had dented investors' sentiments," Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services told IANS.

Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president and research head at Angel Broking, elaborated that: " We expect the markets to remain under pressure as this is a curtailed week and take some gains off the table ahead of the long weekend."

Nitasha Shankar, senior vice president for research with YES Securities said: "Volumes picked up in the late buying affirming the short term bullishness dominant at the moment. Broader markets also ended on a positive outperforming the headline indices."

"High beta stocks witnessed buying interest. Market breadth returned in favour of the bulls after initial dip; closing with 1,350 stocks in the advances and 1,275 stocks in the declines. FMCG, bank and pharma indices ended in the red led by profit booking. Reality, metal, auto and energy indices ended with handsome gains," Shankar noted.

Furthermore, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers during the day's trade, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold stocks.

The data with stock exchanges showed that FIIs invested Rs.1,095.44 crore, while the DIIs sold stocks worth Rs.930.37 crore.

Sector-wise, healthy buying was witnessed in automobile, consumer durables and capital goods stocks, where as scrip of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), banking and IT (information technology) came under selling pressure.

The S&P BSE automobile index augmented by 190.02 points, followed by consumer durables index which edged up by 183.06 points and the capital goods index rose by 152.02 points.

The S&P BSE FMCG index receded by 90.57 points, followed by banking index which inched down by 1.93 points and the IT index dipped by 0.21 points.

Major Sensex gainers during Tuesday's trade were BHEL, up 4.29 percent at Rs.116.75; Hero MotoCorp, up 2.28 percent at Rs.2,866.75 ; Tata Steel, up 2.16 percent at Rs.309.45; Mahindra & Mahindra, up 2.09 percent at Rs.1,253.15; and HDFC, up 1.26 percent at Rs.1,166.55.

Major Sensex losers during the day's trade were Dr.Reddy's Lab, down 3.78 percent at Rs.3,062.60; ITC, down 2.03 percent at Rs.323.70, Adani Ports, down 1.83 percent at Rs.239.30 , Hindustan Unilever, down 1.02 percent at Rs.871.35 and Wipro, down 0.77 percent at Rs.553.05.
Toronto, March 23 : Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who became controversially known for his drug and alcohol abuse while in office, has died after battling cancer for years, his office confirmed on Tuesday.

The 46-year-old sitting Toronto city councillor had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of cancer that had recurred despite surgery and several rounds of chemotherapy, Xinhua reported.

In a statement confirming Ford's death, his chief of staff Dan Jacobs said that "over his decade and a half in municipal politics, Ford won a devoted following for being a straight talker who championed the average taxpayer."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences. John Tory, who replaced Ford as mayor, called Ford "a man who spoke his mind and who ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had."

During his tumultuous 2010-2014 tenure as mayor of Canada's most populous city, Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine, buying illegal drugs and driving after drinking alcohol.

Ford dropped out of the re-election campaign in September 2014 when he was diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer found in soft, fatty tissue of the body, after he was admitted to a hospital with abdominal pain.
Washington, March 23 : US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday condemned terrorist attacks in Belgium's capital of Brussels, saying the "abhorrent" attacks only deepened the resolve to defeat terrorism.

"Our thoughts are with all those in Brussels, including the injured and the loved one of those who were killed, and with the first responders and security personnel who are working tirelessly to keep Brussels safe," Xinhua quoted Kerry as saying.

Kerry said he has talked to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, noting that the US will stand firmly with Belgium and with all of Europe in the face of this tragedy.

"Attacks like these only deepen our share resolve to defeat terrorism around the world," Kerry said.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government on Tuesday strongly condemned the bomb attacks in the Belgian capital of Brussels which killed at least 34 people and injured more than 100.

Iraqi President Fuad Masoum said "Iraq strongly condemns such criminal act and expresses its deep solidarity with the friendly government and people of Belgium."

Masoum also called for "the strengthening of cooperation between different countries at all levels, in a way that could halt the growth of terrorism and eliminate their hotbeds and their means of support".

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said "the increase of criminal activities for terrorist groups in European countries calls for the international community to exert more efforts to eliminate the terrorists' hotbeds and their recruitment and training centers in the areas that are under their (terrorists) control in Iraq and Syria."

At least 34 people were killed in explosions on Tuesday at Brussels airport and on a city subway train. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Brussels, March 23 : Leaders from the institutions of the European Union (EU) and its 28-member states strongly condemned the deadly attacks in Brussels on Tuesday and expressed their solidarity with the Belgian authorities.

The EU heads of state or government and the leaders of the EU institutions published a joint statement hours after explosions killed at least 34 people in Brussels, Xinhua reported.

Explosions at Brussels International Airport and a metro station shook the Belgian capital city of Brussels, which hosts most EU institutions and meetings.

"The European Union mourns the victims of today's terrorist attacks in Brussels. It was an attack on our open democratic society," the leaders said in their joint statement.

"Our common European institutions are hosted in Brussels, thanks to the generosity of the government of Belgium and the Belgian people. The European Union and its Member States stand firm with Belgium in solidarity and are determined to face this threat together with all necessary means," they said.

Meanwhile, the EU leaders committed to fight against global terrorism.

"This latest attack only strengthens our resolve to defend the European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant. We will be united and firm in the fight against hatred, violent extremism and terrorism," the statement said.

European Council president Donald Tusk said the latest attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station mark "another low" by terrorists.

"These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence," he said, adding, "I extend my sincerest sympathies to the relatives and friends of the victims."

"The European institutions are hosted in Brussels thanks to the generosity of Belgium's government and its people. The European Union returns this solidarity now and will fulfill its role to help Brussels, Belgium and Europe as a whole counter the terror threat which we are all facing," he added.

The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU institutions will stand united "in the face of terrorism."

"These attacks have hit Brussels today, Paris yesterday -- but it is Europe as a whole that has been targeted. The European Union and its institutions stand united in the face of terrorism," Juncker said in a statement.

As the head of the EU executive, Juncker commended the security forces, emergency services and all those who have helped victims in the deadly attacks and are still doing so now.

The metro station Maalbeek hit by a bomb this morning was only about 500 meters from the "Berlaymont Building," the headquarter of the European Commission.

"I would like to reassure the employees of the Commission and the European Institutions that their security remains a priority for me and that all possible measures will be taken in full cooperation with the Belgian authorities," Juncker said in a statement.

European Parliament president Martin Schulz issued a statement, condemning the attacks "barbarism and hatred" acts.

"I am horrified by the despicable and cowardly attacks which took place in Brussels today," he said.

"These acts anger and sadden me at the same time. They are born from barbarism and hatred which do justice to nothing and no one," he added.

In the name of the European Parliament, Schulz expressed his solidarity towards the Belgian people.

"Brussels, like other cities hit by such terrorist attacks, will stand strong, and the European institutions hosted so generously by the Brussels institutions and its inhabitants will do likewise," he said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the attacks are "horrific and cowardly," calling them "premeditated murders."

The Netherlands currently is holding the the rotating presidency of the EU.

"It has struck at the very heart of Brussels. The very heart of Belgium. The very heart of Europe," he said in his statement.

"And let me make absolutely clear that the Netherlands stands resolute with our Belgian neighbours in mourning and sorrow," Rutte said, adding that "bowing to this kind of violence can never be an option."

British Prime Minister David Cameron slammed the attacks in Brussels as "appalling and savage," warning that the European countries face "a very real terrorist threat."

"These are difficult times, these are appalling terrorists, but we must stand together to do everything we can to stop them and to make sure that although they attack our way of life and attack us because of who we are, we will never let them win," he said.

French President Francois Hollande called for "a global response" to combat terrorism which was targeting at Europe in a series of "cowardly and heinous attacks" in Brussels.

"We are facing a global threat, so we need a global response. The war against terrorism must be conducted in all Europe and with the necessary means," Hollande said.

"We have to ensure that decisions are effectively implemented."

The French president warned that the battle to eradicate terrorist cells "will be long".

"The war against terrorism must be conducted calmly, with clarity and determination. We have to deploy the necessary means," he said.
United Nations, March 23 : The UN Security Council and top UN officials including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday strongly condemned deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, which killed more than 30 people and injured many more.

Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the terrorist bombings, calling for bringing those responsible to justice, Xinhua reported.

"The despicable attacks today struck at the heart of Belgium and the centre of the European Union," the secretary-general said in a statement.

The UN chief "is confident that Belgium's and Europe's commitment to human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence will continue to be the true and lasting response to the hatred and violence of which they became a victim today," said the statement.

"The secretary-general hopes those responsible will be swiftly brought to justice," it added.

The 15-nation UN body, in a press statement, "condemned in the strongest terms" the terrorist attacks in Brussels, for which the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, has claimed responsibility.

The UN Security Council expressed its solidarity with Belgium in their fight against terrorism and stressed the need to intensify regional and international efforts to overcome terrorism and violent extremism.

The council members expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the government of Belgium, as well as to all governments whose citizens were killed in these attacks, the statement said. "They wished a speedy recovery to those injured."

"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice," the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed," the statement said.

At least 34 people were killed in a series of attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning, of whom 14 died in a suicide attack at Brussels national airport.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon has declared three days of national mourning following the attacks that also rocked an underground rail station. The apparently coordinated bombings came just days after Belgium's security services caught the last surviving suspect in November's attacks on Paris.

Meanwhile, the president of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, said he was "horrified."

"We have in the last week seen atrocities in Turkey, Ivory Coast and now in Belgium. It must be condemned in the strongest terms," Lykketoft said in a separate statement.

"Acts of terrorism are unjustifiable regardless of their motivation and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes on of the most serious threats to international peace and security," the statement said.

"Acts of terrorism have no place in the modern world and only serve to strengthen the resolve of governments the world over to find and prosecute the individuals responsible," it added.

Moreover, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said that it is "deeply shocked by the tragic attacks" perpetrated in Brussels.

"This is not an attack on Belgium, it is an attack on us all and sadly these tragic events remind us again that we are facing a global threat that needs to be addressed globally," said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai.
Moscow, March 23 : A Russian court in the southern city of Donetsk has sentenced Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda Savchenko to 22 years in prison after finding her guilty of complicity in killing two Russian journalists in 2014, RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Ukrainian female pilot will spend a total of 20 years and four months in a regular-security colony as she has been in custody for a year and eight month during the investigation and the trial, Xinhua cited RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

Savchenko may be eligible for a pardon not earlier than in 12 years, according to the court ruling.

The court has also fined her for 30,000 rubles ($443) for illegally crossing the Russian border.

The court withdrew the accusation of complicity in shelling Ukrainian civilians, saying this matter was outside the jurisdiction of the Russian court.

Savchenko was accused of directing artillery fire during hostilities between Kiev government troops and separatists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014, which resulted in the killing of two Russian reporters.

Savchenko, who is considered a national hero by many Ukrainians, has denied the charges and said she had been kidnapped in Ukraine and then handed over to Russian authorities.

The Kremlin has so far refused to yield to appeals of various leaders, including US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to release Savchenko.
Addis Ababa, March 23 : The African Union (AU) has strongly condemned the attacks in Brussels that killed at least 34 people.

An AU statement issued on Tuesday said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the AU Commission, "strongly condemns the despicable attacks at the Zaventem Airport and the central metro station in Brussels, claiming dozens of lives of innocent civilians and leaving scores wounded", Xinhua news agency reported.

Dlamini-Zuma expressed the AU's solidarity with the government and people of Belgium, offering her condolences to the bereaved families and wished speedy recovery to the wounded.

She reaffirmed the AU's strong rejection of all acts of terrorism and violent extremism.

She said the AU would continue working with Belgium and the other members of the European Union, and the international community at large in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, stressing the need for enhanced international counter-terrorism cooperation.

The blasts, which occurred at the Belgian capital's airport and at the Maalbeek metro station, have killed at least 34 people and injured hundreds.
Washington, March 23 : The US-India Business Council (USIBC) led a mission on exploring avenues for joint collaboration and investment in clean technology across three Indian cities -- New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

The trade body comprised of 350 top-tier US and Indian companies advancing US-India commercial ties led talks to grow bilateral cooperation in innovation, protecting the environment and meeting the country's ambitious clean energy targets.

The delegation included USIBC members working in the US-India energy corridor, presenting a board range of opportunity in the renewable energy space such as GE, AES, 8minutenergy, First Solar, Applied Materials, CH2M among others, it said Tuesday.

The Indian government has augmented its solar target fivefold to 100 GW and wind target to 60 GW by 2022, representing a $125 billion investment opportunity, USIBC noted.

The objective of the meetings was to create sustained engagement on national and state-level policies and regulatory frameworks, such as the National Solar Mission and state solar policies, and thereby, ensure a level playing field for all participants, it said.

There has been considerable progress in transmission, but the problem of congestion remains, both at the interstate and intra-state levels, USIBC said.

Through its meetings with senior Government of India officials, the delegation explored avenues for joint collaboration and technical exchanges in areas such as energy storage and transmission infrastructure, wind and solar power generation, energy efficiency technology and services.

It also articulated how investors can work in stride with both state and central governments to meet the country's ambitious clean energy targets of installing 175 GW by 2022.

"The strong focus on renewable energy will help increasing access to energy for all Indian citizens as part of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's ambitious reform agenda," USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said.

"There is also an urgent need for long-term financial solutions in the clean energy economy. American enterprise is eager to help in all ways possible," he said.

The delegation engaged with senior Government of India leaders to develop an action plan for a regulatory and infrastructure environment that will further foster innovation, attract investment, create jobs and fulfil initiatives such as Make in India, Innovate in India," Aghi said.

The delegation met among others officials in key central ministries and Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers Anandiben Patel and N. Chandrababu Naidu.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 23 : Agartala on Wednesday became India's third Internet gateway after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Premier Sheikh Hasina inaugurated an Internet connectivity project between the two South Asian neighbours.

"Leasing of international bandwidth for Internet at Akhaura to Agartala will allow people of Tripura to avail more reliable net connectivity," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

After Chennai and Mumbai, Agartala is now India's third Internet gateway.

The leasing of the Internet bandwidth from Akhaura in Bangladesh to Agartala, apart from helping the people of Tripura to avail more reliable Internet connectivity, will also improve Internet speed in the entire northeastern region.

India's BSNL has leased 10 GB bandwidth of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited from its Cox's Bazar Internet port.

This will also enable Bangladesh telecom operators to effectively monetise their already existing infrastructure.

Currently Tripura is connected solely through the Siliguri corridor.

Modi and Hasina on Wednesday also inaugurated a power transmission project between the two countries.

"Connecting hearts. 100 MW power connectivity between Bangladesh & Palatana (in Tripura) yet another link between the two countries," Swarup said in another tweet.

India is already supplying 500 MW of power across the Behrampur-Behramara transmission link on the border between West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The new power connectivity from Palatana will allow Bangladesh to address severe power shortages in its southeastern parts.

The decisions for these two projects were taken during Modi's visit to Dhaka in June last year.
Washington, March 23 : US-India Business Council (USIBC) has come out in strong support of legislation that recognizes India's status as an essential US defence partner and facilitates additional co-production/co-development and trade.

The trade body comprised of 350 top tier US and Indian companies advancing US-India commercial ties, Tuesday expressed support for a bill introduced in the House of Representatives by George Holding, Republican co-chair of the House India Caucus.

The US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act amends the Arms Export Control Action in order to formalise India's status for the purpose of congressional notifications as a major partner of equal status as America's treaty allies and closest partners.

"This sends an important signal to the Indian defence establishment that today's political conditions are fundamentally different from the past," USIBC said.

The legislation also encourages actions necessary to promote defence trade, it said. For the US, it encourages the government to designate an official to focus on US-India defence cooperation and facilitate the transfer of defence technology.

It also provides for maintaining a special office in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), focus on enhancing India's operational capabilities, and promote co-production/co-development opportunities.

For India, it encourages the government to authorise combined military planning with the US for missions of mutual interest such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter piracy, and maritime domain awareness.

"Defence trade between our countries is one of the strongest areas of the bilateral economic relationship and has risen from some $300 million to over $14 billion over the last 10 years," USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said.

"This bill not only puts India on par with other NATO allies in terms of the notification period, it sends a clear signal to Washington and Delhi that defense cooperation should be a top priority for both governments," he said.

"That's why we have supported this bill from the very beginning and we thank Congressman Holding for his leadership in promoting deeper defense ties between the US and India," Aghi said.

"Together the US and India face a range of shared security challenges and I believe we should be encouraging deeper defence ties and closer cooperation between our countries," Holding said.

"The US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act will build upon the recent progress made to strengthen our strategic partnership by facilitating closer collaboration, promoting greater defence trade, and by elevating India's status," he said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
Mumbai, March 23 : Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Wednesday claimed that his associate Tahawwur Rana was opposed to his (Headley's) links with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley, 56, said that Pakistani national Rana -- who ran an immigration consultancy in Chicago, US, had knowledge that he worked as an operative of the LeT.

The revelation came during Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, lawyer of another alleged LeT terror operative Abu Jundal, before the Special Court of Judge G.A. Sanap, via video-conferencing from a US jail where he his serving a 35-year sentence.

"Rana was aware of my association with LeT and I informed him about the training imparted to me by LeT operatives. I also told Rana that I was spying for LeT... That must be around four-five months before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Headley told Khan.

"Rana had objected to my association with LeT... He asked me to stop using his office in Mumbai. I conceded to his objections and took steps to close down the office in July 2008," Headley added.

When asked by lawyer Khan about his business activities and the income from it, Headley said he had invested in it by buying four-five shops in the United Arab Emirates.

To a question whether the LeT funded him for his various activities, Headley countered by revealing that actually it was he (Headley) who donated money to the terror group.

"It was for various things and I have donated round Pakistani rupees six-seven million, the last being in 2010," Headley informed the court when asked whether his funding was used for terror acts.

However, Headley declined to answer questions posed about his wife Shazia, with whom he continues to be legally wedded.

"She never visited India... I had informed her about my association with the LeT. Originally, she is from Pakistan, I don't want to disclose Shazia's present location... I will not answer any questions about her," he made it clear to Khan.

On her reaction to his disclosures, Headley said he did not want to speak about it.

"It (reaction) is between me and her... It's our personal relation and don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said," Headley said, adding that she was aware of his plans to change his name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley.

When Khan persisted on questions about Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam objected and pointed out that under Indian Evidence Act Section 122, the communication between a husband-wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley's cross-examination, which was due to start Tuesday was taken up on Wednesday after his weeklong deposition was conducted in February.
Hyderabad, March 23 : The University of Hyderabad remained tense on Wednesday as police imposed clampdown on the campus and student groups called for boycott of classes for four days to protest "police brutality".

Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, an umbrella grouping of various student bodies, has given a call for boycott of classes to protest the arrest of students and police baton charge on them on Tuesday.

Police used force to disperse students who were protesting the return of Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao. As many as 25 students and two faculty members were arrested on Tuesday.

Appa Rao, who had gone on leave after being named in First Information Report (FIR) relating to suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in January, returned to the campus on Tuesday and resumed duties as the vice chancellor.

Demanding his immediate arrest and terming his return as "unacceptable", students had ransacked the vice chancellor's bungalow on the campus.

Additional police forces, including personnel of paramilitary Rapid Action Force (RAF), were deployed on the campus to prevent further violence. The security personnel closed the main gate and were not allowing outsiders and media persons into the campus.

The university administration has asked police not to allow leaders of political parties and student bodies into the campus.

The university authorities also suspended classes till Saturday and closed the mess. Students complained that even drinking water and electricity supply to their hostel rooms was snapped.

Police also tightened the security in view of reports that Rohith Vemula's mother will be sitting on fast on the campus to protest Appa Rao's return.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanahiya Kumar is also set to visit Hyderabad University campus on Wednesday evening to meet Rohith's mother and brother.

JAC leaders said he will pay tributes to the Rohith at the memorial built on the campus and address the protesting students.

Police, however, said there is no permission for Kanahiya Kumar's visit and the meeting.
New York, March 23 : A significant portion of what we think of as our "human" DNA actually came from viruses, and a new discovery suggests that our DNA is even less human than scientists previously thought.

Nineteen new pieces of non-human DNA -- left by viruses that first infected our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago -- have just been found, lurking between our own genes.

And one stretch of newfound DNA, found in about 50 of the 2,500 people studied, contains an intact, full genetic recipe for an entire virus, said the scientists.

Whether or not it can replicate, or reproduce, it is not yet known. But other studies of ancient virus DNA have shown it can affect the humans who carry it.

In addition to finding these new stretches, the scientists also confirmed 17 other pieces of virus DNA found in human genomes by other scientists in recent years.

"This research provides important information necessary for understanding how retroviruses and humans have evolved together in relatively recent times," said senior study author John Coffin from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, US.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In fact, about eight percent of what we think of as our "human" DNA actually came from viruses, the study pointed out.

The research looked into the entire span of DNA, or genome, from people from around the world, including a large number from Africa -- where the ancestors of modern humans originated before migrating around the world.

The team used sophisticated techniques to compare key areas of each person's genome to the "reference" human genome.
London, March 23 : British Prime Minister David Cameron will chair an emergency meeting to determine Britain's response to the Brussels terror attacks.

The prime minister said Britain's security had been stepped up in the wake of "a very real terror threat" across Europe, BBC reported on Wednesday.

Two Britons were injured in the blasts at the city's airport and metro on Tuesday which left 34 people dead.

There are also concerns for David Dixon, an IT programmer from Nottingham, whose family said he had not been seen since the attacks.

Dixon has lived in Brussels for 10 years, his friends said.

Two blasts hit Zaventem airport in Brussels and another explosion took place at a Metro station in the city on Tuesday. At least 34 people were killed and over 200 injured in the blasts.

Brussels police have issued a wanted notice for a man seen pushing a luggage trolley through the airport along with two other suspects shortly before the twin explosions.

The two other men died in the attacks after detonating suicide devices, a Belgian prosecutor said.

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Srinagar, March 23 : Moderate Hurriyat group chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on Wednesday said they expect the Indian government to carry forward the spirit of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's vision that called for settling dispute within the parameters of humanity.

He hoped India and Pakistan would evolve ways and means to include the people of Kashmir in the composite dialogue between the two countries.

Speaking to the media before leaving for New Delhi to attend the Pakistan Day function to which High Commissioner Abdul Basit has invited him, Mirwaiz said: "Hurriyat conference is not against any country or nation.

"We have always welcomed the dialogue process between India and Pakistan. We hope the two counties would evolve the ways and means to include the people of Kashmir in the composite dialogue process.

"We believe the vision of Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be carried forward in which he said issues should be settled within the parameters of 'Insaniyat' (Humanity) which is much greater than the parameters set by the constitution" .

Umer dismissed opposition to the separatist leaders attendance at the Pakistan Day functions in New Delhi.

"It is like creating a storm in the tea cup. We have always been attending these functions at the invitation of Pakistan High Commission. We go there to put forth our viewpoint and not to oppose anybody," Umer said.
Chennai, March 23 : Actor-turned-politician A. Vijaykant on Wednesday announced that his DMDK will contest the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu in alliance with Vaiko's MDMK, the Left and Dalit party VCK.

The new alliance said Vijaykant, popularly known as "Captain" and who even the BJP was wooing, would be the chief ministerial candidate of the People's Welfare Front (PWF).

The announcement makes the PWF, which until now was made up of the MDMK, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the VCK, a major force in the May electoral battle.

While the DMDK will put up candidates in 124 seats, the remaining 110 seats will be contested by the MDMK and the other three parties.

"This is the alliance the people were looking for," Vaiko, coordinator of PWF, told the media.

"The election (in Tamil Nadu) will now be like a Kurukshetra war," said one of the leaders in the alliance.

Referring to DMDK supporters' demand that Vijaykant should be the king and not a kingmaker, Vaiko said the leaders of PWF would be the kingmakers who would make Vijaykant the 'king' (chief minister).

According to the alliance, there will be a coalition government in Tamil Nadu if the front wins the elections.

Vijaykant said he had gone to PWF as it was a "people's party".

"My cadres wanted me to be the king. All the alliance partners have asked me to be the chief ministerial candidate," he said.

Vijaykant had floated his party as an alternative to the two Dravidian parties - AIADMK and DMK. But in the last elections, he joined forces with the AIADMK and others to oust the DMK from power.

However, soon after, the relationship between the AIADMK and the DMDK soured. Eight DMDK legislators turned rebels and supported the ruling AIADMK.

On Wednesday, Vaiko said a revolution took place in Tamil Nadu on March 6, 1967 when DMK founder C.N. Annadurai became the chief minister after defeating the Congress.

"Similarly, a day will come when Vijaykant will be the chief minister," he added.

CPI-M leader G. Ramakrishnan and CPI leader R. Mutharasan said March 23 would be a golden day in the state's politics.

After being wooed by the DMK, BJP and PWF, Vijaykant chose the PWF, said VCK leader Thirumalavan.

Vijaykant was actively pursued by the DMK, which has tied up with the Congress. Its leader M. Karunanidhi had publicly expressed the hope that the DMDK would join the DMK-led alliance.

The BJP too actively wooed the DMDK. But the DMDK was miffed that while BJP national leaders met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa when they came to Chennai, they ignored Vijaykant.

Reacting to the development, BJP leader and union minister Pon Radhakrishnan termed the DMDK-MDMK-VCK-Left alliance as "anti-people".

DMK leader M.K. Stalin made light of the DMDK move. "This is not going to affect us," he said.

The ruling AIADMK will now face multiple contests in virtually all the 234 constituencies. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the PMK are contesting the elections separately.
New Delhi, March 23 : The central government on Wednesday hiked the dearness allowance for its employees by six percent.

Making the announcement, union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the decision is in tune with the 6th Pay Commission recommendations.

The higher DA to employees will cost the exchequer an additional Rs.6,796.50 crore and Rs.799.24 crore more on account of relief for persioners from 2016-17.
New Delhi : Between 2010 and 2015, funding shortfalls to local governments nationwide - rural and urban - were as high as half the sanctioned amount and annual payments fluctuated extensively, with variations peaking in the slowdown years 2011 and 2012, according to a new paper.

Central government grants are a financial lifeline for panchayati raj - or village level - institutions and urban local bodies, entrusted with essential sanitation and public health services in rural and urban India. The failure to get the money due to them is largely because they did not fulfil funding conditions: holding elections, handling money and filing paperwork.

Local bodies are the nodes to translate sustainable development goals into reality, said the paper, Preserving the Incentive Properties of Statutory Grants by Indira Rajaraman, member of the 13th Finance Commission, and Manish Gupta, deputy director with the commission, published in the Economic & Political Weekly.

India has a lot of ground to cover in achieving sustainable development goals, the data reveal. Consider water and sanitation:

Barely 30.80 percent of rural households get tap water; 70.60 percent of urban households do, according to the 2011 census.

Only six percent of rural India and 44 percent of urban India are connected to a closed drainage system, according to the 2011 census.

In urban India alone, no more than 30 percent of sewage generated by 377 million people flows through treatment plants, IndiaSpend has reported.

When local bodies fall short of funds, or are uncertain about steady income, public services suffer.

Administrative skills fall short, contribute to the money shortfall

The 13th Finance Commission designed local body grants for 2010 to 2015 as part unconditional - about two-thirds of the grant - and part performance-based.

All that states had to do to receive their basic grant was to hold local body elections, since the money can only be given during their term of office, and transfer previous dues to local bodies within five days of receiving them from the Centre.

Still, basic fund release to rural and urban local bodies across India fell short by six percent over the five-year term. The average shortfall for 2011 and 2012 alone touched 13.75 percent, more than double the five-year average.

Local bodies in only a handful of states received full basic grants over the five years. Local bodies in eight states that held elections received no basic grants for one or more years, which means they failed to confirm that they had handed over funds from previous terms, the second requirement for disbursement.

"Such administrative inability at the state level is a concern because the procedure was hardly complicated," said Rajaraman.

Some states appear to lack administrative capacity to deal with the Centre's bureaucracy.

"Even when you meet the criteria, you need some skill to get funds released," said Rajaraman. "Of the five states which managed to obtain both rural and urban grants in full for each of the five years: Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Rajasthan have the advantage of geographic proximity to the Centre, which makes it easier to follow up with babus. Tamil Nadu is known to have above average liaison skills."

Failure to disburse local body grants is Central failure as much as of states

The 12th Finance Commission permitted panchayats to use grants for local needs, subject to conditions. For instance, funds could be used to improve water supply and sanitation provided users paid for at least half the recurring cost.

The 13th Finance Commission decided to loosen such specific conditions and strengthen general accountability.

"Local bodies clamoured for some leeway to match resources to local needs," said Rajaraman. "Yet, with a few exceptions, they were poor in record-keeping. So, we designed the performance-based component of local body grants, the second component."

To qualify for performance grants, states were given a year to ensure local bodies kept audited books of accounts and appointed a local ombudsman for complaints. It may not have been enough time.

Over the five years, a quarter of performance grants were not released, increasing to 35.8 percent and 46.2 percent in the two economically troubled years. Six states did not qualify for the rural performance grant in any year and 11 did not qualify for the urban grant.

Lapses occurred at the Centre as well. Stopping payments to non-performing states was a violation of the terms of the 13th Finance Commission, which had said that half the money set aside for non-performing states would be divided among all states - performing as well as non-performing.

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Bahri can be reached out at respond@indiaspend.org)
New Delhi, March 23 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid tributes to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, terming their martyrdom as symbol of "patriotism that inspires generations".

"I bow to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on their martyrdom day and salute their indomitable valour and patriotism that inspires generations. In the prime of their youth, these 3 brave men sacrificed their lives so that generations after them can breathe the air of freedom," Modi tweeted.

In another tweet, the prime minister extended "Happy Holi to all".

Remembering Ram Manohar Lohia on his birth anniversary, the prime minister in a tweet said Lohia was a scholar and original thinker, who inspired "people across party lines".

He also greeted Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Mutt on the special occasion of his Sahastra Chandra Darshan and conveyed his best wishes.

"My warmest greetings to Pujya Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati ji of Kanchi Mutt on the special occasion of his Sahasra Chandra Darshan."
New Delhi, March 23 : The union cabinet on Wednesday announced clearance for a $1,500 million World Bank project to support Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in rural India.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that under the scheme separate parameters will be fixed for each beneficiary states.

"In September 2014, the government set certain parameters for the states to get the benedfit. These parameters include reduction in open defecation and so on," he said.

The minister also announced that in next three years, the government will construct at least 1 crore houses in rural areas with an estimated expenditure of Rs.81,975 crore.
New Delhi, March 23 : Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday extended Holi greetings to the people of Delhi and called for showing mutual respect, particularly towards women.

"May the festival of colours replenish our faith in the force of rejuvenation of nature and renewal of human ties," Jung said in a statement.

He also appealed to the citizens to celebrate Holi in its true spirit.

"The multi-hued colours of Holi symbolise the multi-hued cultural fabric of India. May the festival of colours replenish our faith in the force of rejuvenation of nature and renewal of human ties," he said.
Islamabad, March 23 : Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will visit Pakistan on March 25-26 for talks on bilateral and regional matters, an official announcement said on Wednesday.

This will be Rouhani's first visit to Pakistan as the president of Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Iranian president will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and businessmen, the foreign ministry said.

In Islamabad, the president will hold meetings with the Pakistani president and the prime minister.

"The Leadership will have an exchange of views on strengthening bilateral relations, particularly after lifting of the sanctions on Iran that has opened new avenues for enhancing economic interaction," a foreign ministry statement said.

Cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern will also be discussed, it said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Iran in May 2014 and January 2016.
Colombo, March 23 : Pakistan and Sri Lanka have undertaken measures to further deepen and broaden their economic and political ties, Islamabad's envoy here said on Wednesday.

High Commissioner Syed Shakeel Hussain, speaking at a ceremony to mark the 76th Pakistan Day, said Sri Lanka and Pakistan were in the process of refining a free trade agreement, expanding the portfolio of tradable items and encouraging bilateral investments, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hussain expressed satisfaction on the traditionally close and mutually beneficial relationship between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in all fields.
New Delhi, March 23 : Security agencies went into a tizzy after an unidentified caller on Wednesday informed them about bombs in 10 flights of Indigo Airlines.

Police said a Srinagar-Delhi flight was evacuated at the Indira Gandhi International Airport's domestic terminal 1D following the bomb threat.

"A call regarding bombs in 10 Indigo flights was received at the airlines' call centre in Chennai around 10 a.m. A Srinagar-Delhi Indigo flight, 6E853, landed at the IGI Airport around 3 p.m.

"All passengers were evacuated and a thorough check is going on," Deputy Commissioner of Police Dinesh Kumar Gupta told IANS.
New Delhi, March 23 : The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement, an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The Ashgabat Agreement has Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as its founding members. Kazakhstan also joined this arrangement later.

"Accession to the agreement would enable India to utilise this existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region," an official statement said after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Further, this would synchronise with our efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity," it stated.

It also said that India's intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to Turkmenistan, the depository stated.

"India would become party to the agreement upon consent of the founding members," the statement said.
Brussels, March 23 : A day after twin explosions at the Zaventem airport and another at a Metro station here killed 34 people and injured about 250, the Belgian media reported that a key suspect in the attacks has been arrested.

Two Indians who were injured in the terror attacks were recovering well, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet.

The man arrested by the Belgian authorities is Najim Laachraoui, thought to be the man on the right with a cap on among the three who were caught in a CCTV image taken before the Zaventem airport attack, BBC reported on Wednesday citing Belgian media.

Alleged jihadist Laachraoui has been arrested in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, the Belgian media reported on Wednesday. Two other attackers have been named in Belgian media as brothers -- Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, who were suicide bombers.

Belgium is observing three-day mourning following the bomb attacks. A minute's silence for the victims was to be held at midday (11:00 GMT).

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned that more would follow. Authorities, however, said it was too soon to say for sure whether the terror group was behind the blasts.

Authorities were examining surveillance footage to nab any suspects in Tuesday's explosions, a media report said.

Confirming recovery of the two Indians injured in the attacks, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: "I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well."

She also said that the government was doing its best to locate another Indian, Raghavendran Ganesh.

"We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens," she said in another tweet.

According to the airline, the injured crew are safe in hospital. "Our staff in Brussels is co-ordinating with the local authorities and hospitals to ensure that all the required medical care is provided to them."

Jet Airways, which operates daily non-stop flights to its European gateway at Brussels airport from its domestic hubs in Mumbai and New Delhi, has cancelled several of its flights to, from and via Brussels.

Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, the two suicide bombers who carried out the airport attacks, were Brussels' residents with criminal records but were not linked by police to terrorism until now, broadcaster RTBF quoted an unnamed source as saying, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two suspects carried explosive devices packed in suitcases on a luggage cart at Zaventem airport, reported Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure.

The newspaper quoted Zaventem's Mayor Francis Vermeiren who said there were three alleged airport attackers, visible in a photograph of a surveillance camera. They arrived by taxi with suitcases with the 'bombs' inside, Efe news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the same source, they put their suitcases on trolleys and the first two bombs exploded. The third bomb, according Vermeiren, was placed in a travel bag on top of the trolley, but the alleged terrorist "must have panicked, it did not explode".

The taxi driver who drove them to the airport recalled that they did not let him help with their luggage, according to the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, which indicates that the original plan of these men was to travel with five suitcases to Zaventem.

The three men had asked for a large car and got angry when he came with a small one, which could not fit five suitcases, according to the taxi driver.

After the attack, the driver remembered the three suspects from the surveillance footage and contacted the police. Later, state police were led to the Schaerbeek district of Brussels where the taxi driver had picked up the three suspects.

The surveillance footage in the airport captured three men, each pushing a luggage cart.
New York, March 23 : Bangladeshi authorities should immediately set aside the death penalty against Mir Qasem Ali, a senior member of the opposition party Jamaat-e-Islaami, and order a new trial that meets international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction against Ali despite earlier statements in court by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, criticizing the attorney general, prosecutors and investigators for producing insufficient evidence in the trial court.

According to credible, detailed notes from the hearing in the Supreme Court, he said to the prosecutors: "What prevented the investigation agency to produce sufficient witnesses to prove the charges? A The prosecution and the investigation agency need to produce sufficient evidence to support a convictionA We feel really ashamed when we read the prosecution evidence."

The attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, in turn was quoted saying: "The Supreme Court observed that a huge amount of money is being spent on the prosecutors and investigators, but they did not handle and investigate the cases properly."

Human Rights Watch said: "Convictions can only be upheld when there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, yet in this case there are grave doubts about the evidence after the court so strongly criticized the prosecution. In death penalty cases, the authorities must adhere to the highest standards."

Ali was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2014, by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on 10 out of 14 counts of abduction, torture, and confinement as crimes against humanity.

For these crimes, he was sentenced to 72 years in prison. Ali was also convicted on two further counts of murder, in one case of two adults and in the other of a child. He was sentenced to death for the murders.

On March 8, 2016, the Appellate Division of the Bangladeshi Supreme Court set aside three of the abduction and torture convictions. It also acquitted Ali of the murder of the two adults. However, it upheld the conviction and death penalty sentence against Ali for the murder of the child during the war.
New Delhi, March 23 : The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave approval for the transfer of 89.72 hectares of land to the department of industrial policy and promotion for setting up a world-class convention centre at Sector 25 in Dwarka here.

The project will be developed on a public-private partnership basis.

"The land ownership, being given at a nominal cost of Re.1, will vest in and remain with the department for the state-of-the-art exhibition-cum-convention centre," an official said.

The proposed centre will have facilities like exhibition, convention and banquet halls, auditoria, arena, financial centre, restaurants, food and beverage outlets and retail services.

"India lacks an integrated world-class facility for global exhibition-cum-convention operators in terms of space, facilities, transportation linkages etc. Only a few centres in terms of organised space are available in the country," the official said.

The Pragati Maidan here is the only organised large space used for exhibitions for years, but faces severe capacity and traffic constraints and hence great inconvenience to citizens and visitors.

"A big and constant demand for exhibitions and related activities puts immense pressure on the existing facilities, resulting in lesser time for maintenance and maintenance of international standards," the official said.
New Delhi, March 23 : The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its clearance for a $1,500 million (over 100 billion rupees) World Bank project to support Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) or Clean India Mission in rural areas.

The project is aimed at supporting government efforts to achieve universal sanitation in rural areas and end the practice of open defecation in the countryside by 2019.

The project, cleared by the cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, provides for "incentivising states on the basis of their performance in the existing scheme", Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

The project will also put in place a robust and credible independent verification system for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation.

The scheme will have separate parameters for each beneficiary states.

"In September 2014, the government set certain parameters for the states to get the benefit. These parameters include reduction in open defecation and so on," he said.

"Under the approved project, the performance of the states will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the disbursement-linked indicators," an official statement said.

It added that funds shall be released to states "on the basis of reduction in prevalence of open defecation amongst rural households" compared to the previous year's record.

The funds will also be released on the basis of estimated population residing in open defecation-free villages.

The states will pass on a substantial portion (more than 95 percent) of the performance incentive grant funds to the appropriate implementing levels of districts and blocks, the statement said.

The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019.

The project comes in the wake of accelerated efforts under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) which aims to boost efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019.
New Delhi, March 23 : The BJP on Wednesday clarified that there has been no special demand from the PDP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP's reaction came a day after Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and dubbed the meeting "positive".

The meeting between the two leaders put the BJP-PDP alliance back on track.

"Mehbooba ji wanted to meet the prime minister and he has assured her of all help. He also asked Mehbooba ji to talk to the party leaders and decide on the future course of action," BJP general secretary Ram Madhav told the media.

He denied that the PDP put any special condition before the BJP.

"No special demand was raised by the PDP. The PDP legislature party meeting will be held tomorrow (Thursday) and we will take action after that," Madhav said.

He reiterated that the BJP has no problem in forming the government on the agenda of alliance finalised by late chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

"Whatever Mufti sahab left behind should be taken forward and we are willing to take it forward in the same form," Madhav said.

The BJP leader, who is the pointman in the talks between the two sides, also said that if there are any issues with the PDP, they can be discussed after government formation in the state.

Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected government after the death of Sayeed on January 7 at AIIMS here. The state was put under Governor's Rule on January 9.
Panaji, March 23 : Two new cases of the lethal Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) have come to light in Dharbandora sub-district of Goa, Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza said on Wednesday.

Both patients have been shifted to a state government-run medical facility and are under observation, he said.

These two cases in the forested eastern parts of Goa indicate the spread of KFD, also known as monkey fever in common parlance, from neighbouring Sattari sub-district.

Seven people have died and over 150 tested positive for KFD in two years in Sattari.

"There are two new cases from Dharbandora, which along with Sattari share contiguous forests in which the monkeys dwell. There have been instances of monkey fever in Dodamarg region of Maharashtra bordering Goa as well," D'Souza told IANS here.

KFD is caused by a similarly named virus first identified in 1957, when it was isolated from a sick monkey from the Kyasanur forest in Karnataka.

Between 400-500 people across western India have been infected by the rare disease which spreads through ticks, a parasite for which the monkeys are common hosts.

D'Souza, also the state health minister, said his department had begun a vaccination and awareness campaign in the affected areas.

"We have vaccinated around 5,000 people in the area where KFD cases were reported. But the problem is that the vaccination course is spread over five years. People should ensure follow-up doses are also taken," D'Souza said.
New Delhi, March 23 : Belgium-based DJ Makasi, who was supposed to land in India for a concert, is stuck at Brussels airport in the aftermath of the twin explosions at the airport.

He was on his way to India to perform at Lawman Holi Reloaded 2016 on Thursday in Delhi.

However Makasi's flight got cancelled due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday which killed more than 30 people.

"I am out of words, I have nothing to say. I was at the airport waiting for my flight to India when this happened. It's a shame on humanity," Makasi said in a statement.

"I am shocked how things happened in front of my eyes, I mean who would have thought? I request my fans to pray and pray hard. I extend my heart to the families who lost their loved ones and wish the best for people who survived them blasts," he said while adding that he is hoping things will be "normal again" and "we get to fly soon".

Makasi has previously given performances at major festivals around the world like Tomorrowland (Belgium), Tomorrowworld (US) and Sunburn (India), among others.

Makasi is now reportedly expected to arrive in India on Thursday.
Kathmandu, March 23 : China has pledged to carry out a feasibility study of around a dozen projects related to infrastructure, energy and trade in Nepal.

In a joint statement issued in Beijing during the visit of Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Oli, China welcomed the promulgation of the new constitution in Nepal and said it was a "historic progress in the political transition" of the country.

"The Chinese side sincerely hopes that Nepal could take this opportunity to realise its political stability and economic development," said the joint statement.

Nepal reiterated its commitment to a one China policy, saying it firmly supports the efforts made by China to uphold its sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity.

Nepal said it does not allow any forces to use its territory for any anti-China or separatist activities.

"The Chinese side firmly supports and respects Nepal's own choice of social system and development path, and the efforts made by the Nepalese side in upholding its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, national unity and stability."

"Both sides agreed to strengthen connectivity, further step up land and air links and improve land transport infrastructure."

It said the authorities of both sides will exchange ideas and proposals on constructing cross-border rail networks.

Both sides exchanged views on facilitating Chinese investment in key areas including infrastructure.

They also agreed to explore cross border economic cooperation zones via existing frontier ports.

The Chinese side agreed to provide more than 32,000 sets of household solar-power generation systems to Nepal, as well as to build small-size education and public health facilities in many selected locations across Nepal, and to enhance cooperation on disaster preparedness and mitigation.

Both sides agreed to conclude a commercial deal on the supply of petroleum products from China to Nepal.

In this context, they asked companies to speed up negotiations, and concerned agencies to study the policies on issues of pricing, taxation, transportation, quality control and customs and frontier formalities.

China agreed to build oil storage facilities for Nepal, and will send experts to the country to carry out a feasibility study on oil and gas resources.

"The two sides agreed to establish a Dialogue Mechanism on Energy Cooperation to facilitate long-term planning of cooperation in this area, including trans-border power grid, hydro-power and solar power, etc.," said the statement.

Nepal also hoped that China would provide assistance for the establishment of the Madan Bhandari Institute of Technology (MBIT) in Nepal and expansion of the Civil Service Hospital.

In order to facilitate trade, tourism and investment, China would also support Chinese-funded banks to open branches in Nepal.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
Panaji, March 23 : The Bombay High Court's Panaji bench on Wednesday refused ad-interim relief while hearing a petition opposing the holding of 'DefExpo 2016', and adjourned the case to March 30.

The petition filed by civil society organisation Orixtt Porjecho Avaz (OPA) opposed the DefExpo 2016 at Naqueri plateau in Betul village, 45 km from Panaji, citing what it said were "procedural irregularities" and "refusal of permission" by local village panchayats.

The group demanded that preparations for the expo, which are in full swing, be stopped until the court reached a decision.

On Wednesday, the high court heard the lawyers of both the petitioner and the state administration, before refusing to grant the ad-interim stay on preparatory work for the expo.

The court also directed the OPA to file a response to an affidavit by the Goa government before the next hearing.

The OPA had pleaded that DefExpo 2016 organisers, that is, the Defence Ministry, had not sought permission from the Town and Country Planning Department, Goa State Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Health Department, Biodiversity Board, Chief Wildlife Warden and Directorate of Science, Technology and Environment, which it said was mandatory for hosting an event of such magnitude.

Traditionally held in the national capital, the DefExpo 2016 is scheduled to be held in Goa in the last week of March, as a new convention centre is coming up at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.

The DefExpo 2016, ninth in a series of biennial land, naval and internal homeland security systems exhibitions, has been criticised by the opposition and civil society over the allocation of six lakh square metre land at Betul.

The critics claim lack of transparency in decision-making, which led to the relocation of the event to Betul.

The four-day event is expected to see participation of over one lakh delegates from nearly 50 countries from March 28.
Bengaluru, March 23 : Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) on Wednesday announced an additional investment of 35 million dollars (over Rs.233 crore) to build a power electronics factory in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.

"The company will build a power electronics factory on newly acquired land adjacent to a motor factory of TMEIC Industrial Systems India Private Limited," the company said in a statement here.

The new factory at Vasanthanarasapura Industrial Area in Yalladadlu village, 90 km from Bengaluru, will produce power electronics products like PV inverters, motor drive inverters and Uninterruptible Power Supplies.

Previously, TMEIC invested nearly 65 million dollars in the motor factory, the statement said.

Slated to commence operations from the summer of 2017, the new factory will majorly hire locals.

"Together with relocating operations from the current power electronics factory acquired from AEG Power Solutions BV in 2014, approximately 250 people are expected to be employed at this production site," the statement said.

According to the statement, the company received a large volumes of new PV inverter orders enabling the factory to work at full capacity.

TMEIC aims to supply made-in-India PV inverters locally as well as globally.
Paris, March 23 : An internecine battle between various European Union nations, especially between France and Belgium, which had been brewing since the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris, flared up in public again after the carnage in Brussels on Tuesday.

Barely had the news of terror attack in Paris spread that several French officials, including senior ministers in the government, blamed Belgium for "hosting" the alleged terrorists who were suspected to be behind the Paris attacks. The French alleged that the Belgians knew of the radicalisation of a significant part of Muslim-dominated areas in Brussels but turned a blind eye to radical Islam taking root in their capital city.

And on Tuesday, French Economy Minister Michel Sapin told a French news channel that the Belgian government had, "intentionally or unintentionally, as they may have hoped for better integration of the Muslim minorities with the mainstream society, let communalism and radical Islam prosper in Maelbeek" (a Brussels locality that has been under the lens since the Paris attacks).

"The Belgian government clearly has failed in doing the needful and perhaps it is a kind of naivety with which they handled the entire situation," Sapin went on to tell the television channel.

Some French media also went on the offensive against Belgium, saying that the authorities had not taken the necessary steps to prevent the attacks, even though Brussels has effectively been in a lock-down kind of situation since the November 13 attacks.

On Tuesday evening, a French radio station host was told by a French security expert that the Belgian police had come to know of the hiding place of Salah Abdesalam, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, a couple of days before his arrest last week.

"However, the Belgian police refused to raid the apartment in the middle of the night, when the information was shared with them by the French police, saying that the Belgian law did not allow police to make arrests from homes before day-break. How seriously can you battle the mounting security challenges with such an attitude," the expert wondered.

Luckily for Belgium, several other French officials, including Prime Minister Manuel Valls himself, interjected and criticised Sapin for his comments. "At this critical moment, when we are faced with an unprecedented challenge, Europe can not afford to be divided or even seen as divided," Valls told a French radio show Wednesday morning, adding that if Belgium had difficult quarters with challenges, so did France.

"I am not here to give lessons to our Belgian friends. We also have parts of our cities under the influence of drug traffickers and extremists," Valls added. "All over Europe, and in France, we had turned a blind eye to increasing extremist ideas and salafists," the French prime minister admitted.

Sapin was also taken to task by his other party colleagues and other French politicians who said that France was almost in the same position as Belgium and had nothing to preach to anyone.

(Ranvir Nayar is a Paris-based senior Indian journalist. He can be contacted at r.nayar@mediaindia.eu)
New Delhi, March 23 : With a new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) focused largely on promoting 'Make in India', the coming DefExpo India 2016 in Goa will provide a platform to Indian companies to forge ties, Defence Production Secretary A.K. Gupta said on Wednesday.

"With the DPP focusing on 'Make in India', the expo will provide a platform for Indian companies and foreign companies to interact," Gupta said at a press conference here.

It is the first time that over a 1,000 companies have registered for the four-day expo from March 28, including 490 foreign and 540 Indian companies.

"At present, around 50 to 55 percent procurement is from domestic companies," Gupta said, adding that indigenous procurement comes to around 40 percent after removing foreign components in those products.

"With the new DPP, we want to take this to 60 percent in the next 4-5 years," he said.

The new DPP is set to be unveiled on March 28. It is, however, not clear yet if it will be released at the exhibition itself.

Defence Exhibition Organisation Director Wg Cdr M.D. Singh said the increased numbers of companies at the exhibition were due to changed norms.

"Earlier, Indian companies got some concession and sublet their space to foreign vendors. This time, the fee was brought down so many companies have registered directly," Singh said.

US with 93 participating companies tops the list, followed by Russia with 71 and UK with 46.

For the first time, the expo will have live demonstration by Defence Research and Development Organisation, Bharat Forge and Tata. The DRDO has the largest indoor and outdoor spaces reserved at the expo.

With 'Make in India' in focus, the exhibition will showcase indigenous light combat aircraft 'Tejas', Akash missile system, DRDO's towed howitzer and 155mm artillery gun 'Dhanush'.

Tejas will give air displays at the exhibition, while the Dhanush gun and mini-battle tanks will showcase their capabilities.
Chennai, March 23 : Actor-turned-politician Vijaykant on Wednesday allied with the People's Welfare Front (PWF) of Vaiko's MDMK, the Left and Dalit party VCK, and said he will be its chief ministerial candidate in Tamil Nadu.

The DMDK party of Vijaykant, popularly known as "Captain", will put up candidates in 124 seats in the May battle for the 234-member assembly. The remaining seats will be fought by the MDMK and the other three parties.

The announcement makes the PWF a major force in the elections. Tamil Nadu is now expected to see multiple contests in almost all the 234 seats.

Vijaykant, 63, an action hero known to perform stunts in movies without a duplicate, said he joined hands with the PWF as it was a "people's party".

"My cadres wanted me to be the king. All the alliance partners have asked me to be the chief ministerial candidate," he said.

A beaming Vaiko, coordinator of PWF, told the media: "This is the alliance the people were looking for."

Added a PWF leader: "The election (in Tamil Nadu) will now be like a Kurukshetra war."

Referring to the DMDK supporters' demand that Vijaykant should be the king and not a kingmaker, Vaiko said the leaders of PWF would be the kingmakers who would make Vijaykant the 'king' (chief minister).

According to the PWF, there will be a coalition government in Tamil Nadu if the front wins the elections.

In a state where cinema has always cast a long shadow on politics, Vijaykant floated his party in 2005 as an alternative to the two dominant Dravidian parties -- AIADMK and DMK.

When he fought the polls alone without aligning with any party, the DMDK notched up an impressive vote share, better than even the established MDMK and PMK.

As the DMDK's vote share can add muscle to any alliance, he was the most sought after alliance partner by all opposition parties this time, the BJP included.

Called "Karuppu (Black) MGR" or Captain after his movie "Captain Prabhakaran", Vijaykant has acted in over 150 Tamil movies.

Though he was never the No.1 hero, he charted his own style in the movie world -- a fighter vanquishing terrorists and bad guys.

The DMK was routed in the 2011 elections winning just 23 seats. The DMDK, then an ally of the AIADMK, won 29 seats and was designated the principle opposition party.

However, soon after, the relationship between the AIADMK and DMDK soured. Eight DMDK legislators turned rebels and supported the ruling AIADMK.

In the Lok Sabha polls of 2014, the DMDK failed to win any of the 14 seats it contested as a major partner in the BJP-headed alliance. His vote share too dipped to around five percent.

Both the DMK and the BJP wooed Vijaykant this time. DMK leader M. Karunanidhi had publicly expressed the hope that the DMDK would join the DMK-led alliance which include the Congress.

The DMDK was upset that while BJP national leaders met Jayalalithaa when they came to Chennai, they ignored Vijaykant.

On Wednesday, however, both the DMK and BJP sang a different tune. BJP leader and union minister Pon Radhakrishnan termed the DMDK-MDMK-VCK-Left alliance as "anti-people".

DMK leader M.K. Stalin said: "This is not going to affect us."

Vaiko said a revolution took place in Tamil Nadu on March 6, 1967 when DMK founder C.N. Annadurai became the chief minister after defeating the Congress. "Similarly, a day will come when Vijaykant will be the chief minister."
Jammu, March 23 : The Indian and Pakistani armies on Wednesday exchanged sweets and greetings on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to commemorate Pakistan Day.

"Soldiers of India and Pakistan exchanged sweets at Mendhar and Chakan-Da-Bagh on the LoC," defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta told IANS.

"The exchange of sweets on religious festivals and days of historical significance is part of the confidence building measures between the two sides and shall go a long way in promoting harmony and bonhomie along the LoC," he said.

The day marks the passing of the Lahore Resolution of 1940 demanding a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent.
Hyderabad, March 23 : Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday expressed solidarity with agitating students of Hyderabad University, saying the government is "not listening to the voice of the students".

Kumar told the media outside the university campus here: "We have come here today on the martyrdom day of (freedom fighter) Bhagat Singh. We stand in solidarity with the students (of Hyderabad University). The government of this country is not listening to the voice of students."

Kanhaiya arrived here on Wednesday to visit Hyderabad University and join the students' protest over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula even as the police cracked down on the campus to bar the entry of outsiders.

Student groups at the university on Wednesday condemned what they said was "police brutality" and "sexual assault" on students protesting against Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao.

The security personnel closed the main gate of the university and barred the entry of outsiders and the media into the campus.

"I want to tell the university administration and police who have prohibited us from entering the campus that you can't suppress our voice," the JNU student leader said.

Appa Rao went on leave after he was named in the case registered in connection with the suicide of Vemula in January. He resumed duties on Tuesday, against which the students were protesting.

Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 12 on charge of sedition after anti-national slogans were aired at an event on the JNU campus on February 9 to commemorate the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
New Delhi, March 23 : The land in Goa where Defexpo India 2016 will be held from March 28-31 has not been taken permanently, Defence Production Secretary A.K. Gupta said on Wednesday.

The secretary said the decision to hold Defexpo in Goa was taken in 2012 after it was realised that Pragati Maidan in Delhi, where the exhibition was normally held, will not be available in 2016.

"In 2012, we got an indication that the Pragati Maidan will get renovated. A committee was formed; it did a survey and the report said Goa can be the permanent venue," Gupta said.

"We then decided and narrowed down to Goa," he said.

Asked about the protests by locals, the senior officer said: "Whenever you hold any show for the first time, some problems are there." He said barriers have been crossed now.

Gupta said no decision had been taken as yet on holding the exhibition there in future.

"The land belongs to the Goa Industrial Development Corporation. We have taken it temporarily; there is no lease or licence; and all structure will be dismantled after the exhibition," he said.

Asked if Aero India, a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru, would be shifted to Goa, the secretary said: "The venue for the next show has to be decided. It is not that Bengaluru is out."
Washington, March 23 : Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton cruised to big victories in the crucial Arizona primaries, but rivals Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders spoiled the party somewhat, with Cruz taking Utah and Sanders Utah and Idaho.

With his easy victory in Arizona's winner-take-all primary, Trump added another 58 delegates to take his tally of delegates to 739, while closest rival Cruz slowed Trump's momentum somewhat by adding 40 delegates to his tally of 425 with his victory Tuesday in Utah.

A strong victory in Utah with its sizable Mormon population with more than 50 percent vote gave Cruz all the state's 40 delegates but he failed to narrow the gap with Trump in the race for 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination.

As the results trickled in, Trump was in the midst of a Twitter battle with Cruz over an ad featuring a nude picture of his.

He threatened: "Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!"

Cruz responded by saying that the ad was not from him and if he went after his wife, then Trump was a "coward".

"Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless," Cruz tweeted.

On the Democratic side, front-runner Clinton won the biggest state of Arizona with a sizeable minority population.

Although rival Sanders won the other two nomination contests in Idaho and Utah, she chose to devote her victory speech in Seattle Tuesday night to hitting Trump, saying he'd incite "more fear".

"This is not just a contest between different candidates. This is a contest between fundamentally different views of our country, our values and our future," Clinton said.

Sanders who has suggested his fortunes would change when the Democratic contest moved West, easily won the Idaho and Utah caucuses on Tuesday night.

Analysts suggest Sanders could sweep three upcoming Democratic caucuses on Saturday in Washington state, Alaska and Hawaii, where the only Hindu-American member of the US House Tulsi Gabbard has been one of Sanders' highest-profile surrogates.

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CNN the campaign has mapped out a path to the nomination that doesn't require him to run the table in the remaining states.

"We have a path to victory. It's not an easy path, but it never has been an easy path," Weaver said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 23 : The defence ministry says radicalisation and fresh recruitment (for terrorism) in south Kashmir is a cause for concern, while also expressing concerns over "developments" in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

The ministry's annual report for 2015-16 said while there is a "steep decline" in terror attacks in the hinterland and violence by left-wing extremists, "...developments in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab have been a cause of concern, especially cross-border terror attacks and trafficking of arms and narcotics".

While stating that the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir remains "stable", the report said: "This is primarily due to the protracted operations of the security forces in the hinterland and effectiveness of the counter-infiltration grid on the Line of Control and International Border."

"However, radicalisation and fresh recruitment in south Kashmir is a cause of concern. External factors, including changing situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, may also impact the internal situation in Jammu and Kashmir," the report said.
New Delhi, March 23 : The union cabinet, at a meeting chaired by chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the transfer of 50 acres of land in Tonk district to the Rajasthan government for establishing a Veterinary University Training and Research Centre.

An official statement said if the proposed centre was discontinued in the future, the land will be returned to its original owner, Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, along with available infrastructure free of cost for veterinary and animal science research purpose.

Establishment of the centre at Avikanagar by the Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences will strengthen the collaboration between the university and the institute.

The centre will impart training to rural masses, especially women, for enhancing livelihood security and gender equity leading to empowerment of rural people, especially women," the statement added.
New Delhi, March 23 : CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday condemned the police action against students of Hyderabad University and demanded action against the vice chancellor.

In a letter to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, Yechury said he was "anguished and angry" at the "brutal police attack" against students and other sections of the academic community at the university on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The manner in which girl students were attacked by male police with the liberal usage of foul language against them is reprehensible," he wrote.

"... the arrested students must be released immediately and the cases against them must be dropped. The Telangana police must immediately proceed on the registered cases against the vice chancellor," the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader demanded.

Police have detained around 30 students protesting against the return of vice chancellor Appa Rao, who had proceeded on leave after the suicide of Rohith Vemula, when the police crackdown happened.

Rao has been booked under charges of aiding and abetting the suicide by creating the circumstances leading to the incident.

"Instead of proceeding against the vice chancellor on this case, Telangana police has resorted to such brutality against the students," Yechury wrote.
COLUMBUS  A plan to address bank erosion caused by the Loup River near Monroe has been approved.

The Platte County Board of Supervisors OKd an option Tuesday to put structures along the river south of Monroe to address erosion, as recommended in a feasibility study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Over the past few years, several acres of land have been eroded in that area. There is a concern that water could eventually wash out a bridge and part of 370th Avenue. A study was conducted to determine the best plan of action to prevent that from happening.

Even though the erosion is about 1,000 feet from the road, the danger is imminent, said Greg Johnson, chief of plan formulation with the Corps of Engineers.

The threat here is real, he said.

Because of that, the problem can be addressed under Section 14 of the Flood Control Act of 1946 that authorizes the Corps of Engineers to address immediate erosion threats to public infrastructure like roads or bridges. Projects under that section are partly paid for with federal money.

According to conceptual designs, the approved plan includes removing and reshaping 450 cubic yards of bank material. A 750-foot revetment made of stone will be added, along with a windrow refusal and dike. Those structures are designed to provide stream bank protection and prohibit further erosion.

The estimated cost is $319,000. Federal funding will pay for 65 percent of the project with the county responsible for the remaining 35 percent, or $111,000. There is an expected annual operation and maintenance cost of $2,000.

Gwyn Jarrett, project manager for the Corps of Engineers, said a temporary construction easement, permanent stream bank protection easement and road easement to provide access for maintenance would also be added. The project would take about a month to complete. Hopes are to award the contract for the project this fall.

According to the Corps of Engineers bank restoration report, severe bank erosion has occurred along the Loup River immediately upstream of the 370th Avenue bridge and continued to progress rapidly downstream toward the bridge and road approach. At the rate the river bank is eroding, the bridge is imminently threatened.

Loss of the approach road leading to the bridge would have economic impacts as this is a major primary roadway in the area with no close alternatives nearby to cross the Loup River. The road also serves as a major emergency route and as a secondary connector between Nebraska Highway 22 and U.S. Highway 30, the report states.
Mumbai, March 23 : A team of 15 Indian Navy personnel on Wednesday left on a unique motorbike-cum-trekking month-long expedition covering 23 forts built by Chhatrapati Shivaji.

The expedition -- which will end on April 25 -- is part of the commemoration of the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier and the birth anniversary celebrations of Maharashtra's revered warrior-king.

The motorbike expedition zoomed off from Mumbai to Shivneri fort in Raigad and will cover all the 23 forts built during Shivaji's reign in the Western Ghats and on the Konkan coast.

The naval personnel will travel around 2,500 km on motorbikes and trek another 350 km to visit all the forts and pay tribute to Shivaji who is considered the 'father' of the Indian Navy.

"Chhatrapati Shivaji's valour, strength, courage, speed, surprise etc., continue to be the essential prerequisites of modern-day warfare and serve as the guiding principles of the Indian armed forces," an official said.

INS Vikrant had served the Indian Navy for 36 years and as a tribute to its indomitable spirit, the Indian Navy will induct its first indigenously-built aircraft carrier which will also be named as Vikrant.

The invincible Vikrant is also being honoured by two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Ltd. which has unveiled a bike built with metal from the erstwhile INS Vikrant.

The company has named it as 'V' symbolizing victory and are sponsors for the naval personnel's expedition.
New Delhi, March 23 : Budget carrier IndiGo Airlines was hit on Wednesday by bomb threats to 10 of its flights, all of which turned out to be a hoax, police and the company said.

Police said an anonymous caller reported a bomb had been placed on the Jammu-Delhi flight.

As it landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, it was thoroughly searched, Deputy Commissioner of Police Dinesh Kumar Gupta told IANS.

He said a call regarding bombs in 10 IndiGo flights was received at the airlines' call centre in Chennai.

IndiGo said it informed all the security agencies about the anonymous threat. "All our passengers are safe."

The airline gave no details about the nine other flights which were affected.
Rome, March 23 : Rome's former conservative mayor Gianni Alemanno on Wednesday attended the opening of his trial in Rome for corruption and illegal party financing.

Alemanno is accused of taking 125,000 euros in bribes from alleged Roman mob leaders Massimo Carminati and Salvatore Buzzi.

He received 75,000 euros of electoral dinners and 40,000 euros for his Nuova Italia foundation as well as 10,000 euros in cash, according to prosecutors.

"Courts exist to mete out justice. I will defend myself in this trial because I want to prove my innocence, even if many judge me already guilty," the 58-year-old Alemanno told reporters outside the court.

The next trial hearing will take place on March 25.

Rome's city council and two consumer associations have asked to form civil plaintiffs in Alemanno's trial.

Carminati and Buzzi are being tried separately with 44 other suspects over the rigging of public works tenders.

A neo-Fascist in his youth, Alemanno was Rome's mayor from 2008 to 2013 and served as agriculture minister in the 2001-06 Conservative government of Silvio Berlusconi.
Bengaluru, March 23 : Raghavendran Ganesh, an Indian employee of global software major Infosys Ltd. is missing in the aftermath of Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels.

Though the company did not disclose the missing employee's name and age, it said it was in touch with his family and was working with the Indian embassy in the Belgian capital and local authorities to locate the missing techie on priority.

"We are trying to reach one employee with whom we have not been able to connect as with all other employees," the city-based IT outsourcing firm said in a statement on Wednesday, without specifying how many of its techies, including Indians, work in Brussels.

"We reached out to all our employees in the city to ascertain their whereabouts and safety following the (terror) attacks in Brussels," the statement added.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she spoke to Annapoorni, mother of the employee Raghavendran Ganesh, and assured her of the government's efforts to trace her son.

"I hv spoken to Raghavendran's mother Mrs Annapoorni. I assured her that we will spare no effort to locate her son in Brussels."

It was also learnt that Ganesh spoke to his mother in India an hour before the blasts ripped the Brussels airport on Tuesday morning.

Sushma Swaraj also appealed to Indians living in Brussels to help locate Ganesh in the Belgian capital.

Posting a picture of the techie, she wrote: "Indians in Brussels - This is the picture of Raghavendran Ganesh. He spoke to his mother an hour before the blasts in Brussels. Please help us locate Raghvendran."

At least 35 people were killed and over 200 injured in triple explosions triggered by the Islamic State terror group on Tuesday at the Brussels airport and a metro station.
Mumbai, March 23 : Actress Jacqueline Fernandez says she loves the generosity of the film industry in offering help for films, causes or charities, like for her 'Jacqueline Builds' initiative.

"Our fraternity has been very supportive of each other. Whenever there is someone from the industry who seeks help for their movies, or promotions or even causes, charities, I always feel like Bollywood or the film industry always stands up in solidarity, and I love that about my industry.

"Already I have got a lot of support from a lot of my co-stars, people who have been working with me and who have worked with me, so we are always there for each other, very important," said Jacqueline, who was at the Panbai School to thank schoolchildren who helped in her initiative.

Jacqueline said she intends to build homes for at least 10,000 families in Tamil Nadu, who were affected by the deadly floods late last year.

The event is scheduled to be launched on April 9 and she has tied up with NGO Habitat for Humanity.

"This year, I was particularly concerned about the floods in Tamil Nadu. Habitat for Humanity helped me put together 'Jacqueline Builds', but what we did not really actually expect was the amount of help that we have been receiving from all over India and my sincere thank you to everyone who donated and helped.

"I have done a build before, it is an amazing experience. You go there, you actually build the home with the person who will later be receiving the home, and you start from bottom up, so you're there carrying bricks, putting cement, you get really dirty and it's hot.

"There is a certain satisfaction that you get at the end of the day because you feel really happy, you put your blood and sweat into it. And the people you hand over the keys at the end of the day are so happy and grateful for the support you've given them, that is absolutely priceless," the actress said.

Jacqueline will be seen in "Housefull 3", "Dishoom" and "A Flying Jatt' this year.
Kathmandu, March 23 : Impressed by Nepal's natural beauty and in order to work for the reconstruction of a school devastated by an earthquake on April 25 last year, Britain's Prince Harry has decided to extend his stay in the Himalayan nation.

After the end of his official tour of Nepal on Wednesday, Prince Harry will remain in Nepal to work with Team Rubicon UK on an earthquake relief project, the British Embassy in Kathmandu announced on Wednesday.

As his official visit ended on Wednesday, his decision to spend another six days in Nepal surprised all.

"The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave. Thankfully, however, I'm not leaving just yet! I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon," the younger son of Prince Charles said.

"The team I'm joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake. I'm so grateful to have this opportunity at the end of my official tour to do my small bit to help this beautiful country," he said.

"I hope that everyone back home who took an interest in the tour can see that Nepal is a country that you really have to come and visit."

Team Rubicon is a disaster response charity, uniting the skills and experience of military veterans with first responders to deploy emergency response teams in the aftermath of disasters.

For the next week, Prince Harry will be embedded with Team Rubicon volunteers for the school reconstruction project, the embassy said.

The team will trek into the mountains to a quake-affected area in central Nepal, with their own equipment, to assist the local community in rebuilding the school.

Prince Harry will spend the next week camping in the mountains with his fellow volunteers and return to the UK at the end of the month, the statement added.

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude quake struck Nepal killing around 9,000 people, injuring 23,000 and causing extensive damage.

On 12 May, a major aftershock killed more than 200 people and injured over 2,500 others.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
Strasbourg, March 23 : The terror attacks in Brussels have led to an embroiled debate over "Brexit", Britain's referendum on the membership of the European Union.

Within an hour of the first attack on Tuesday, the far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) issued a press release linking the attacks to the EU's immigration policies and the Schengen passport-free zone. This sparked an escalation in comments over the following 24 hours, mostly on social media, Xinhua reported.

In the release, UKIP defence spokesman Mike Hookem, who is also a member of the European Parliament, said: "The fact that terrorists can strike at the heart of the EU with apparent ease shows that they are perfectly placed to exploit the lax security situation created by the Schengen agreement and the EU's open door policies."

Hookem said that despite the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of involvement in the Paris attacks of November last year, "these (latest) attacks should come as no surprise when you consider that the head of Europol warned that as many as 5,000 ISIS-trained jihadists are wandering free in Europe".

Hookem was referring to an interview given on February 19 by Europol director Rob Wainwright to a German newspaper in which he said between 3,000 and 5,000 EU citizens who have been in terrorist training camps in the Middle East have slipped back into Europe.

"In Brussels alone, there are 94 returned Syrian jihadists living in the Molenbeek area," Hookem claimed.

"Add to this the archaic police system in Belgium and a total lack of intelligence sharing and you have a recipe for disaster."

On Wednesday, UKIP leader Nigel Farage posted on his Facebook page: "Next time you hear the (UK) Prime Minister say that Britain must remain in the EU for the sake of our security, please think of Brussels."

These and other remarks from populist politicians were condemned as exploiting a human tragedy for political gain.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was "not appropriate" to be making a link between the Brussels attacks and immigration at such a time.

According to Xinhua, writing on the website InFacts.org, which is campaigning for Britain to stay in the EU, its editor Hugo Dixon pointed out that Britain was not in the Schengen area and thus does have large degree of control over its borders.

Dixon continued that while Britain was not exposed to Schengen, the country still plays a big role in designing European counter-terrorism policies.

"The Brussels and Paris attacks are a reason to stay in the EU, not quit," he wrote.

Nevertheless, the events could have big implications in the run-up to the June 23 referendum on "Brexit".

Since the Paris attacks, British officials have feared that another terrorist outrage in Europe could severely damage the argument for staying in the EU, regardless of the motives behind an attack, or its perpetrators, or indeed whether EU membership is in any way relevant. When it comes to the referendum, people's perceptions will count just as much as hard facts.

Immigration has consistently been one of the top issues of concern among British voters, according to opinion polls.

And while there is no obvious link between terrorism and immigration from other EU countries, events such as Paris and Brussels could feed a sense of fear among many Britons that simply being so open to the outside world increases the risk of "importing" terrorists into the country.

On March 20, a website "What UK Thinks" issued its latest "poll of polls" averaging results from various opinion surveys. This put the "remain" and "leave" camps neck and neck, each at 50 percent, with recent months trending towards Brexit.

Xinhua said both sides of the debate will be watching new polls over the coming week to see if the Brussels attacks have swayed people's views about Brexit one way or the other.
The Hague, March 23 : Three Dutch people were missing after the attacks in Brussels, the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs said on Wednesday.

The ministry confirmed this on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.

Two Dutch people -- Alexander and Sascha Pinczowski, a brother and sister in their 20s -- went missing after the attack at the Brussels airport on Tuesday. They were waiting for their flight to New York in the departure hall of Zaventem airport when two explosions took place.

Their parents heard the explosions during a phone call with them, after which the connection broke.

Since the attacks, there has been no contact with Alexander and Sascha. Their mother is now, via Facebook, looking for contact with people who have heard of her children. The family travelled to Brussels on Tuesday afternoon to continue their search.

"It is a terrible situation for the family who are left in uncertainty. Our employees are in close contact with them. The embassy is doing everything it can to quickly get clarity from the Belgian authorities", said Dutch Minister of Foreign affairs Bert Koenders on Wednesday.

The attacks at the Zaventem airport and at the Maelbeek metro station left at least 31 people dead and over 260 people wounded.

Another Dutchman slightly injured in the airport attack was being treated in a hospital, the Dutch foreign ministry said.
New Delhi, March 23 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will fly to Australia on March 28 on a four-day visit to attract foreign investments in the infrastructure sector.

"One of the objectives of the finance minister's visit to Australia is to attract foreign investment in India, especially in the infrastructure sector among others," an official statement said on Wednesday.

Arriving in Sydney on March 29, Jaitley will address an interactive session of S.P. Jain School of Global Management, followed by a meeting with Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and unveiling of the state-run Union Bank of India's Sydney branch.

On March 30, the finance minister will deliver the keynote address at 'Make in India' conference in Sydney, meet prominent chief executives of Australia, hold a bilateral meeting with Australian lawmaker and treasurer Scot Morrison and interact with the Indian community.

"Flying into the national capital Canberra on March 31, Jaitley will hold bilateral meetings with Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cornmann and foreign secretary Peter Vergese," the statement noted.

Later on the same day, the Indian finance minister will meet Australian National University vice chancellor and its economists and participate in K.R. Narayanan Oration at the university campus.

"In the evening, Jaitley will address the Indian community from all cities across Australia at a reception by the Indian high commissioner," the statement said.

In the visit's last leg, Jaitley will fly to Melbourne on April 1 and meet Future Fund chairman Peter Coastello, participate in 'Invest in India' round-table conference.

"The finance minister will witness the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and Australia-India Business Council," the statement added.

Jaitley will also have one-to-one meeting with chief executives of various Australian firms and visit the University of Melbourne to meet its vice chancellor Daniel Andrews.
Paris, March 24 : Ten French citizens have been confirmed as injured, including four seriously, as a result of Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels, Xinhua quoted French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal as saying on Wednesday.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Nadal thanked the Belgian health services for their responsiveness and efficiency to the emergency.

The French embassy in Brussels and the crisis and support center in Paris are in close contact with the families of the injured, he added.

At least 34 people were killed and 261 injured in explosions on Tuesday at the Brussels airport and on a city subway train close to the European Union institutions, according to the latest figures from the Belgian federal prosecutor.
LINCOLN  Work has continued on sentencing reforms that started last year, and the results have been molded into follow-up legislation that advanced Wednesday in the Nebraska Legislature.

The idea of last year's bill (LB605) was to adjust sentencing laws to help reduce the state's crowded prisons. And the bill was fueled by recommendations from the Council of State Governments' Justice Reinvestment initiative.

Justice reinvestment uses research and data to improve public safety, shrink prison populations and related criminal justice spending, and reinvest savings that can decrease crime and prevent returns to prison.

Senators advanced what basically was a clean-up bill (LB1094) to the previous law, aimed at addressing unintended consequences, oversights and inconsistent penalties created in the previous bill.

"I am confident that once LB1094 becomes law, this combined with (LB)605 will begin to address some serious overcrowding issues, some serious issues with offenders exiting our prison system, with nothing around them that would prevent them from coming (back) in," said Judiciary Committee member Colby Coash.

The bill was amended to include a measure (LB910) that was defeated this week because of a separate issue. LB910 would require the Office of Parole Administration to cooperate with the state inspector general for corrections and provide direct access to computerized records. It would also require reporting on inmates with mental and behavioral health needs who are in solitary confinement. And it defines more clearly the role of parole administrator.

Judiciary Chairman Les Seiler said as LB605 continues to be used, more tweaks may be necessary. The second phase of reform is to get a reporting system in place to get feedback so needed action can be taken quickly.

Judiciary Committee member Bob Krist said a lot of work went into LB1094 by county attorneys, public defenders and others in the criminal justice system.

"I don't think we're going to be done with paying attention to this kind of effort," Krist said. "I think we're going to continue to be part of a dynamic flow."
Los Angeles, March 24 : Director Jean-Marc VallAe's film "Demolition", which features actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper, is set to release on April 8 in India.

Written by Bryan Sipe, "Demolition" is a story of second chances, finding oneself, overcoming loss and a rare coming of age story told beautifully by the narrative of Jean Marc Vallee, read a statement.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year.

Demolition follows the story of David Mitchell who loses his wife in a tragic car crash and is expected to pull his life back together. What starts off as a complaint letter to a vending machine company connects him with Karen (Naomi Watts) who plays a customer service representative.

The film is being distributed in India by PVR Pictures.
Lucas Fox International Properties is expanding its operations in Spain and has made two key appointments at its Barcelona Headquarters.

Rod Jamieson, previously the company's Madrid director has been promoted to director of sales and operations for both Barcelona and Madrid, whilst Joanna Papis moves from sales manager to head up the newly created New Developments Division.

Both roles have been created in anticipation of the surge in demand during 2016 for Spanish homes in Spain's top two cities, from both overseas and increasingly local clients.

Lucas Fox's latest in house market reports indicate that 2015 was a turning point in Spain's property recovery. Official figures show that sales prices for Barcelona and Madrid increased by 6% and 4.7% respectively over 2014 and transaction numbers went up by 19% and 14.5% over 2014 figures averaging 2667 and 3750 sales respectively per month.

In two separate recent reports, Madrid and Barcelona were singled out as top European property investment hotspots by PwP (Urban Land Institute) and the fdi intelligence division of The Financial Times ranked Barcelona the top city, above London, in terms of strategy for attracting foreign investment for 2016/17.

Jamieson has 14 years' experience in the real estate business including seven years as head of sales at a leading international real estate agency in France. His role will include managing a multilingual team of 35 sales and rentals professionals as well as overall company strategy for the company.

It is an opportune time as demand for Spanish property from international investors continues to grow in both key markets. With finance becoming more widely available and positive economic indicators, Lucas Fox has excellent potential for growth during the next 12 months and beyond, said Jamieson.

Papis has been at the company for six years and takes over the role of head of New Developments following unprecedented demand over the last 12 months for turnkey homes in prime locations. Lucas Fox will be taking on at least 10 new projects in Barcelona during 2016, many of which they will have exclusively.

The return of local buyers to the property market is a key growth area for Lucas Fox in 2016 and beyond. As the recovery gets well and truly underway we are also seeing the return of high quality ready to move into homes and we have anticipated these changes with the restructuring of our sales division at our Barcelona HQ, said Lucas Fox co-founder Alexander Vaughan .

Lucas Fox's reports also show that 2015 was a record year for Spain's tourism industry with the number of visitors up by 5% year on year. From January until the end of November a total for 64.6 million people visited Spain, up three million on 2014 figures.

The economy also experienced record growth last year, expanding by 3.2%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting that Spain's economy will continue to push forward during 2016, growing by 2.6%.
London has been named as the top city in Europe for real estate investment, followed by Dublin and then Paris with Istanbul entering the top 12 for the first time.

The latest City Momentum Index report from real estate services company JLL says that these top cities boast long held strengths in technology, deep talent pools and ambitious urban development plans.

The European top 12 identifies those cities where change is occurring most rapidly. Istanbul joins this group for the first time, where, despite geopolitical headwinds, it displays remarkable dynamism. The ranking combines real estate dynamics such as investment, property prices and construction with socio-economic factors, said Jeremy Kelly, director of global research at JLL.

Istanbul is a city which is taking bold steps to improve its infrastructure and is building a modern real estate portfolio as it grows into its new skin as a global business centre, he added.

London also ranks first in the Global top 20 for a second consecutive year as robust economic growth and commercial real estate fundamentals are complemented by initiatives which are transforming the citys transport and building on its unique strengths as a global education and technology hub.

The report explains that the US$22 billion Crossrail project is the largest transport scheme in Europe, while new university campuses such as the US$1.5 billion campus for Imperial College London in White City, which is being planned as Londons first major research quarter, are establishing new networks between business and education.

The report also points out that short term momentum in Paris has been affected by weak national growth, but it is increasing and it now sits just outside the global top 20. The city scores strongly for long term indicators such as education and innovation, with the largest number of patent applications and biggest high-tech workforce in Europe.

On top of this ambitious plans such as the Grand Paris project, which will add 200 kilometres of new metro lines to the citys network, will improve citywide connectivity and create a broad range of new opportunities for real estate development, positioning Paris for strong future momentum.

One of the worlds most dynamic emerging world cities is Istanbul which the report says is expected to have the fastest economic growth of any large city in Europe over the next three years, and the city is also developing the long term incubators that will be crucial for its sustained momentum.

Significant transformational projects, including new metro lines, a third bridge over the Bosphorus and a third airport, will increase the citys connectivity. Istanbuls Grade A office stock is set to expand by nearly 60% over the next three years as it advances its status as a regional financial and services centre.

While a well-known and established city like London takes the top spots, the current European index is dominated by what are described Europes New World Cities with Dublin in second place, Randstad in the Netherlands in fourth place, Munich in fifth, Stockholm in sixth, Copenhagen in sevenths, Berlin eleventh and Barcelona 12th.

The report explains that these smaller, innovation-oriented cities combine strong infrastructure platforms with a high quality of life and resilience against changing economic conditions.

Investors are increasingly looking towards long term trends such as demography and technology when making asset allocation decisions, driven by their search for sustainable income, said Kelly.

Cities such as Stockholm, Berlin and Copenhagen have among Europes highest concentrations of high-tech start-ups, strong research systems and are home to many millennials, a testament to the dynamism and long term potential of the continents New World Cities, he added.

UK cities have maintained their strong position in the list. In addition to London at the top there is Manchester in ninth place and Edinburgh in tenth. Sound economic fundamentals are credited with their success and devolution measures are set to boost further the competitiveness of these two cities, according to JLL.

Outside the top 12, momentum is increasing across the region, with Madrid, Vienna and Brussels showing the greatest improvement globally in their CMI score over the previous year.
COLUMBUS  Dillon Gottsch has his whole life planned out to a T.

First, hes going to find himself a lady, marry her, and she will tie his ties before each of his job interviews.

Well, tying ties just really isnt my thing. Its too difficult, he said. So she can do it for me.

Before the Career Opportunity Fair at Central Community College-Columbus, Gottsch, a Twin River eighth-grader, figured hed graduate high school, join the Air Force and cross his fingers for a good job. But after Wednesday mornings event, his plans began to shift.

I dont know, maybe Ill do something else, he said after getting out of the sheriffs patrol car.

More than 600 students in eighth and ninth grades from 13 area schools learned what it takes for area businesses and companies to operate by visiting 26 hands-on booths and classrooms at the career fair.

And to Gottschs advantage, there was even a workshop on how to tie a tie.

Ive never tied this many ties in my whole entire life, joked Adam Urkoski, a loan officer at Pinnacle Bank who taught hundreds of boys how to dress and act during an interview.

Maurices womens clothing store was also on site to help girls put together the perfect outfit, including shoes and jewelry, for a confident interview look.

Misty Flyr, the stores manager, listed off jobs like florist, retail employee and office worker, holding up outfits that coincided with each interview while teaching girls the importance of personal appearance.

Its showing them how many different careers are out there. A lot of the jobs featured here, students dont normally think about, said Lora Hastreiter, the colleges career counselor and event coordinator.

Hastreiter, who wishes she was offered something like this at that age, said she works with undecided students all the time. She hopes this type of event helps give them a clearer direction early on so they can plan ahead.

From learning how pH levels are balanced from lab techs at ADM and checking for a defective syringes at BD Medical to teaching a YMCA combat cardio class, there was something for every kind of student.

Its never too early to get them started. Many times we are a product of our experiences so if they have an experience here, then they can start to put plans in motion, said Gwen Sander, relationship manager at Midwest Medical Transport. It gets them thinking so they can start taking dual college credit courses for their junior and senior years (in high school).

Students went through hands-on activities like sifting sand while learning about Preferred Sands near Genoa and toured vehicles such as the Midwest MedAir helicopter, Platte County Sheriffs Office patrol car, military vehicles from the Army National Guard and utility trucks from Loup Public Power.

Before, I didnt know how they did things with the power lines and what the sheriff does, Gottsch said. But now I kind of have an idea what jobs are looking for and what they do.
High Density Energy Efficient Server Platforms

Pulsepoint competes in the highly competitive Ad Tech industry offering a real-time bidding and buying platform. Performance, reliability and cost are all factors in the company's infrastructure decisions. PulsePoint was working with traditional tier 1 server manufacturers that did not recognize their specific needs. As a result, PulsePoint felt marginalizedlike they were another server buyer. PulsePoint quickly made the switch to PSSC Labs servers and storage platforms for not only their Hadoop environment but also for every other aspect of their application deployments, including their Real Time Bidding (RTB) platform. In addition to the space and power savings, PSSC Labs' servers are delivered pre-configured for easy network integration and installation. This service helps ensure that PulsePoint is able to quickly place these servers into production immediately upon delivery. Speaking about the impact of this service, Jad Nehnme, PulsePoint's Chief Technology Officer, stated, This made a huge difference in comparison to servers from big manufacturers. Mr. Nahme added, we have never received a DOA server from PSSC Labs. With its level of attentive service and support, PSSC Labs provides PulsePoint with the experience of a partner interested in the company's continued success. This was well beyond their existing relationships with vendors, which were just interested in providing hardware.

PROBLEM: NEED TO REDUCE CAPEX AND OPEX WHILE MEETING STRINGENT PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

As a marketing and analytics company in the highly competitive Ad Tech industry, PulsePoint's business runs on data. PulsePoint uses a real-time bidding and buying platform, which allows clients to monetize their website traffic. The company's network has approximately 10 gigabytes of traffic moving through it at any given time. Performance is imperative when you consider the sub-millisecond latency requirements to meet advertising objectives. This kind of high-performance business requires an infrastructure that can both handle this traffic and will be reliable with repeatable automation. In addition to these challenges, the infrastructure must be remotely manageable as the company's data centers are thousands of miles away from its offices.

PulsePoint's data centers cumulatively house 45+ racks of servers and storage. With this limited data center space, it is imperative that the company maximize their footprint by squeezing in as much infrastructure as possible into each rack. PulsePoint is constantly looking for ways to save operational expenses by reducing this footprint as well as limiting power draw.

PulsePoint was working with traditional tier 1 server manufacturers that did not recognize their specific needs. As a result, PulsePoint felt marginalizedlike they were another server buyer. PulsePoint's complaint was that these server manufacturers' products and customer service were not at all tailored to what was needed to reduce CAPEX and OPEX. At the same time, these systems were creating additional headaches by arriving non-functional or having other technical issues. Ultimately, PulsePoint needed to find a solution that could help lower their IT total cost of ownership.

SOLUTION: A SERVER AND STORAGE PLATFORM DESIGNED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION NEEDS

For their Hadoop deployment, PulsePoint was introduced to PSSC Labs. PSSC Labs' servers and storage solutions are engineered specifically for application performance and in turn, lower the total cost of ownership. Compared to other tier 1 manufacturers, PSSC Labs' servers can reduce data center footprint by up to 50% while reducing power consumption by up to 40%.

PulsePoint quickly made the switch to PSSC Labs servers and storage platforms for not only their Hadoop environment but also for every other aspect of their application deployments, including their Real Time Bidding (RTB) platform. In addition to the space and power savings, PSSC Labs' servers are delivered pre-configured for easy network integration and installation. This service helps ensure that PulsePoint is able to quickly place these servers into production immediately upon delivery. Speaking about the impact of this service, Jad Nehnme, PulsePoint's Chief Technology Officer, stated, This made a huge difference in comparison to servers from big manufacturers. Mr. Nahme added, we have never received a DOA server from PSSC Labs. With its level of attentive service and support, PSSC Labs provides PulsePoint with the experience of a partner interested in the company's continued success. This was well beyond their existing relationships with vendors, which were just interested in providing hardware.

RESULTS: LOWER TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

Since transitioning to PSSC Labs servers, PulsePoint reduced its total cost of ownership by over $300,000 on a recent $1 million deployment. PulsePoint has seen these savings particularly in its Hadoop infrastructure, which was improved by PSSC Labs' revolutionary CloudOOP 12000 server. This platform is the only server on the market today specifically designed to meet the workloads of the exploding big data marketplace. "It's important for us to be able to play against the big people in the market. For us to do that, we need to be able to optimize our capital investment in servers and infrastructure. PSSC has helped us accomplish that," said Nehnme.

PulsePoint's servers are now configured to its specific requirements, and as a result they are less expensive to manage. This helps the business run at full potential and allows the company to focus on achieving its goals.
Valley Forge Convention Center and Casino My family and I sincerely thank you for giving us this golden opportunity, which changed our lives, especially my children, said one of the investors in CanAms EB-5 Project, words cannot express my gratitude at this moment.

CanAm Enterprises, LLC (CanAm) has reached another milestone! On March 23rd, 2016, the Valley Forge Convention Center repaid its loan in full and early to its 80 investors. It is CanAms 29th EB-5 project to be fully repaid. To date, $666.5 million representing 1,333 immigrant investor families, have been repaid by CanAms EB-5 projects.

The proceeds of the $40 million EB-5 loan were used to finance the renovation of a three-level convention center space and a 15-story full-service Radisson hotel, including parking spaces, recreational facilities, and a state-of-the-art casino facility. Upon completion in March 2012, the project created 1,046 direct and indirect jobs that fulfilled the EB-5 Program requirement for all 80 investors to obtain permanent residency status.

We know how important a decision this is for all of our investors. As an immigrant myself, I know what it means to uproot your family to some place thousands of miles away. We turn away hundreds of projects that we just dont think are the right fit for the program or for CanAm, said Tom Rosenfeld, President and CEO of CanAm. We know that our responsibility to our investors is about fulfilling our commitment to them and their families, honoring the trust they have placed in us, and delivering the highest level of service from our team to see them through their entire immigration and investment process. Repayment of principal is the final milestone in our promise to our investors when they sign on with us. We look forward to reaching this same milestone with all our investors.

CanAm has been helping immigrant families to successfully invest in order to obtain residency status abroad for almost 30 years, first in Canada through the Business Immigrant Investor Program and then for the past 15 years in the U.S. Immigrant Investor or EB-5 Program. To date, CanAm has raised nearly $2 billion in EB-5 capital for more than 46 projects across the United States. More than 3,000 of its investors have received I-526 petition approvals, allowing them and their families to obtain conditional residency in the United States. CanAms EB-5 projects have resulted in I-829 petition approvals and permanent residency for more than 1,700 investor-families.

For more information, please visit http://www.canamenterprises.com

About the EB-5 Investor Program

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5), administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), provides opportunities for qualified foreign nationals to achieve permanent legal residency in the U.S. through an investment in an USCIS-approved project that will generate at least ten full-time jobs in the United States.
This webinar explains common program implementation barriers and the steps to take to for successful lockout program implementation.

Brady (NYSE:BRC), a global leader in industrial and safety printing systems and solutions, today announced that its Brady Safety Software and Services business is hosting a webinar on How to Successfully Implement Your New Lockout Program, along with Safety+Health Magazine. This webinar explains common program implementation barriers and the steps to take to for successful lockout program implementation.



Topic: How to Successfully Implement Your New Lockout Program

Presenter: Scott Stone, Brady Safety Software and Services Solution Owner

Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. CT / 12:30 p.m. ET

(Can't attend? Register anyway and receive the recording after the live webinar)



For More Information

For Bradys complete product offering, visit BradyID.com. To learn more about software and service solutions from Brady Safety, visit BradySafety.com

About Brady Corporation:

Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect people, products and places. Bradys products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels, signs, safety devices, printing systems and software. Founded in 1914, the Company has a diverse customer base in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, medical, aerospace and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as of August 1, 2015, employed approximately 6,400 people in its worldwide businesses. Bradys fiscal 2015 sales were approximately $1.17 billion. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. More information is available on the Internet at bradycorp.com.

# # #
The worlds finest collection of DC Comics will be presented in a private view in London on 23 March 2016 ahead of its worldwide tour.



A one of a kind, single-owner collection, the Impossible Collection (DC Chapter) has taken over sixteen years to assemble. This, the first exhibition comprises over 1,000 original comics featuring the timeless, iconic characters from DC Comics.



Many of the comics on display are the finest known to exist. Highlights include the highest graded copy of Action Comics No.1, the first appearance of Superman. This title, widely considered the Holy Grail of comics, launched the superhero genre, which is now a multi-billion dollar industry spanning movies, television, merchandise and apps. This particular copy has rarely changed hands since its publication in 1938 and has perfect-white pages (thanks to its original owner storing it in a cedar chest in the mountains of West Virginia).



What sets the Impossible Collection apart  beyond the improbability of seeing over 1,000 original comic books in such incredible condition  is its breadth and depth which are unprecedented, said Vincent Zurzolo, a spokesman for the Impossible Collection.



Also including in this monumental collection are copies Detective 27 (the first appearance of Batman from May 0f 1939), Superman #1 from 1939, Batman #1 (the first appearance of Joker and Catwoman from 1940) and Showcase #4 (the first appearance of the silver age Flash from 1956).



The launch of the Collection comes at a time of great excitement for comic book fans as the hotly anticipated Warner Bros. / DC Comics film Batman v Superman is released worldwide on 25 March 2016.



The Impossible Collection - and the modern myths contained within its comics - offers a unique reflection on the political, cultural and social landscape of the last 80 years, from the Great Depression, through World War Two, The Cold War and up to the present day.



In 21st Century, where the lines between good and evil are often blurred, comic book super-heroes offer idealistic clarity and a vision of how many feel the world aught to be. The enduring nature of comic book superheroes resonate with people throughout the world, irrespective of race, age or background. It is this democratic, accessible quality that makes the comic book a highly relevant and culturally diverse art form and the Impossible Collection represents the best of this.



The Impossible Collection is on private display at Londons St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel and is set to embark on a global tour starting in London later this year. Dates and venues will be announced shortly.



-END-

gabby@wickerwood.com / +44 (0)7766 688 890 or harry(at)wickerwood(dot)com +44 (0)7725 361 141

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Impossible Collection

The Impossible Collection (DC Chapter) is the worlds greatest collection of action comic books, comprising over 1000+ titles.

One of the centrepieces of the Collection is an Action Comics No.1 (graded 9.0). Published in 1938, it features the first appearance of Superman - the original superhero.

Within the Collection are a number of other very rare first edition comics published by DC, including original runs of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman

The Impossible Collection is the work of a single collector and its existence has not been known until this point.

The Impossible Collection is on display at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London. It is set to roll out globally as part of a world tour and will be available to the public in due course.

The Warner Bros./DC film Batman v Superman is released worldwide on 25 March 2016. Directed by Zack Snyder (Man of Steel) the film stars Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) as Superman/Clark Kent, Oscar winner Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the characters first big-screen pairing. Gal Gadot (the Fast and Furious films) also stars as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince.

http://www.impossiblecollection.org
BiZZdesign, a leading provider of digital business design software, is pleased to announce the appointment of Greg Jones as Vice President and General Manager North America. The announcement comes at a time of rapid global growth for the company and is instrumental in supporting the ambitious expansion plans of BiZZdesign.

Greg Jones will build and expand the local organization with improved go to market, sales and customer success models. Before joining BiZZdesign, Greg Jones was formerly SVP Global Sales and Business Development at Troux Technologies. During his career, he has also held senior management and executive roles within companies such as Cisco, NetSolve, BeVocal and Dell.

Gert-Jan Wijman, CCO of BiZZdesign comments: Market trends are generating a strong demand for the BiZZdesign Enterprise Studio platform. We are excited to have Greg on board at this stage of our companys evolution and global expansion. He brings leadership and a wealth of experience in selling and delivering solutions that transform the way organizations design and manage their business.

Greg Jones is looking forward to the new opportunities ahead. With Enterprise Studio, BiZZdesign is uniquely positioned in the marketplace to bring all business model stakeholders together within a collaborative platform to continuously innovate, manage and transform the business. I am thrilled to join the team and to actively support BiZZdesigns continued growth in North America.

About BiZZdesign

To stand out and stay ahead in the digital age organizations need to align strategy, technology and processes so they are able to adjust their business model on a continuous base. Thats why we have developed BiZZdesign Enterprise Studio, our collaborative software platform that transforms the way organizations design and manage their digital business.

BiZZdesign Enterprise Studio gives you and your colleagues the opportunity to join forces and work together on the alignment of strategy, IT and processes. Together with our global partner network we offer complete solutions, consisting of consultancy, training and excellent customer services that drive continuous innovation, enhance operational excellence and support collaboration.

BiZZdesign is headquartered in the Netherlands and maintains offices in the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In addition, BiZZdesign has resellers and distributors across the globe.
This award is a testament to the dedication of our employees, and their lasting impact on Kansas Citys downtown district

Irongate Management LLC, a leading manager of multifamily properties throughout the U.S., announced today that its River Market West (RMwest) property has been recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal with a prestigious Capstone Award, in honor of its impact on the community.

Located in the historic River Market district, the five-story RMwest began leasing late last year. The pet-friendly building is less than two blocks from the new streetcar station located at 4th and Delaware streets. The two-mile streetcar line will connect the River Market with Crown Center and Union Station.

The Capstone Award, which was officially announced at a luncheon at the Sheraton Overland Park on March 4, recognizes game changers for Kansas Citys downtown. Outstanding real estate and development projects in the Kansas City area  all of which had to be completed and move-in ready in 2015  were selected by a panel of independent judges.

Situated just steps away from Kansas Citys top attractions, River Mark West offers residents an eclectic mix of boutique shops, restaurants and nightlife, said Ashley Monroe, senior vice president of operations at Irongate Management. We are extremely proud of the sense of community we have built at RMwest, and this award is a testament to the dedication of our employees, and their lasting impact on Kansas Citys downtown district.

RMwest, developed by George Birt, features 137 well-appointed, loft-style apartments include state-of-the-art kitchens, granite countertops, abundant cabinet space and stainless steel appliances. Each residence offers a choice between vinyl plank or stained concrete flooring, plush carpeting in the bedrooms, a washer/dryer and private deck or terrace. Additional community amenities include an attached, covered parking garage, a resort-style saltwater pool and sundeck, an indoor lounge, game room, and integrated workspace.

In additional to this award, RMwest was also recently recognized by the Apartment Association of Kansas City (AAKC) with a Crystal Merit Award for the Nicest Model Unit of the Year.



About Irongate Management, LLC

Irongate Management, LLC is a highly regarded manager of multifamily properties throughout the U.S. From initial planning to renovations, sales and leasing, Irongate Management brings an owners mentality to its property services business, focusing on maximizing values and reducing operating expenses. Currently, the Irongate Management portfolio has a regional presence in Georgia, Michigan and Missouri.
Visitors to MHVillage.com now have the ability to search Champion models and floorplans available in any location throughout the United States and immediately connect with authorized Champion retailers and manufactured home communities.

MHVillage.com, the nations number one website for finding manufactured homes for sale or rent, will be attending the 2016 Tunica Manufactured Housing Show to showcase its exciting new program with Champion Home Builders that connects Champion model homes and local availability with the more than 16 million homebuyers that visit MHVillage.com annually. Taking place in Tunica, Mississippi on March 23rd to the 25th, The Tunica Manufactured Housing Show is the regions largest display of manufactured homes to industry professionals.

Visitors to MHVillage.com now have the ability to search Champion models and floorplans available in any location throughout the United States and immediately connect with authorized Champion retailers and manufactured home communities where those homes are available for purchase or rental. Through its vacant homesite search, MHVillage also offers homebuyers a convenient way to locate manufactured home communities with vacant sites available to welcome new Champion homes.

Our relationship with MHVillage reflects Champions commitment to meeting the evolving needs of todays manufactured homebuyer, said Keith Anderson, President and CEO of Champion Home Builders. By leveraging the technology platform of MHVillage we have the opportunity to bring Champion models to millions of consumers as well as drive more traffic to our national network of valued retailers and communities.

Founded in 2004, MHVillage.com is the largest and most active online marketplace for manufactured housing, with listings for over 26,000 homes, 37,000 communities and nearly 94,000 homesites nationwide. Each day, more than 60,000 consumers begin their manufactured home search with MHVillage.

Champion models and floorplans are searchable in a special section of MHVillage.com, as well as integrated throughout the website browsing experience. Consumers can search through over 600 popular models from various Champion brands, and instantly connect with retailers and communities that sell Champion Homes.

Weve seen substantial interest in new manufactured homes from our website visitors, explained Dan Rinzema, CEO of MHVillage. By making Champions models and floorplans available on MHVillage, we have the unique ability to match Champions innovative home designs with their retailer and community inventory already listed on MHVillage so that the consumer can now easily locate and physically walk-thru the models that interest them.

For retailers and communities selling Champion-branded homes, this means a tremendous increase in sales leads from interested homebuyers, many of whom are in the initial stages of the buying process and have not yet finalized a decision on a specific manufacturer or brand. In 2015, MHVillage delivered over 69,000 sales leads to manufactured home communities and retailers, resulting in sales of more than 2.5 billion.

As a special offer to Champion retailers and communities attending the 2016 Tunica Manufactured Housing Show, MHVillage is offering 2 months free to new MHVillage advertisers as well as a free gift for visiting the MHVillage booth. MHVillage will also demonstrate the new Champion-MHVillage model program as part of a series of three Champion Marketing and Finance Seminars on Wednesday, March 23rd at 10am, 1pm and 3pm. The seminars are located in the Burton Room of the adjacent Hollywood Casino.

Over the past 60 years, Champion Home Builders has grown into a nationwide collection of well-known manufactured housing brands including Atlantic, Dutch, Fortune, Highland Manufacturing, Homes of Merit, Redman, Silvercrest and Titan. As one of the nations largest manufactured home builders, Champion is focused on building quality homes, packed with value and personalized with todays most sought-after amenities.

Champion model homes offer a large selection of decors and professionally-designed features from which to choose. Its new Ultimate Kitchen Two, featuring Whirlpool appliances and modern touches, is just one example of the designer amenities that consumers will soon be able to view on MHVillage.com.

About Champion Home Builders

Troy, Michigan-based, Champion Home Builders Inc. is a leading brand in off-site residential and commercial construction, which, through its operating subsidiaries, manufactures buildings at 30 facilities in North America and the United Kingdom. Champion-built homes are sold through a network of more than 1,000 builders, retailers, and developers located throughout North America. Champion Commercial Structures, a division of Champion, specializes in multifamily, commercial and industrial modular construction serving developers, builders and large value institutional clients.

About MHVillage

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, MHVillage Inc. is the nations premier online marketplace for buy or sell a mobile home. Since its inception in 2004, MHVillage has grown to become the number one consumer website for the manufactured housing industry with more than 16 million unique visitors annually. In 2014, over 65,000 homes were sold on MHVillage with a combined transaction value exceeding $2.5 billion.
Craters & Freighters of Eastern Nebraska is celebrating 12 years in business as well as a recent move into a new location at 4227 N. 21st St. This new warehouse is over 22,000 sq. ft. with 1 dock high door & 2 ground level docks. There are a total of 3 bays. One of which is the build bay where all the packaging and crating takes place. The other 2 bays are used for receiving as well as storage.

In addition to professional crating & shipping services, Craters & Freighters of Omaha is now able to offer the following services due to the expansion in space.



Receiving - Capable of accepting your incoming shipments to either store or to deliver door to door, business or residential

Warehousing - Store your products until they are ready for shipping or local deliveries.

Order fulfillment - Assisting with orders that need packaging as well as shipping. Also can do shipments by the pallet load or the single shipments.

Heat shrink wrapping - Heat shrink wrap your equipment, recreational vehicles or any items that you may need protection from the elements. Available onsite or inside of our warehouse.

Last Mile Delivery - Craters & Freighters can take your incoming freight and deliver it directly to the customers dock, garage or inside the home or business.

White Glove Deliveries - With this service we can uncrate, unpack and deliver to the customer. Craters & Freighters would then place the items into the customers exact location within the business or home and take away all the packaging materials.

About

Craters & Freighters is a packaging and shipping service in Omaha, NE., owned by Mike & Vicki Jones and celebrating twelve years of servicing Nebraska & Iowa. Safe, dependable shipping solutions, Craters & Freighters has it covered. Craters & Freighters will get the items to their destination quickly, affordably, and in one piece. For more information visit: http://www.cratersandfreightersomaha.com
"These dealers are among the best in their respective markets, and we are pleased to welcome them to the TICO family."

TICO Manufacturing, the worlds fastest growing terminal tractor manufacturer, announced an expansion of its ever-growing dealer network with the addition of five new dealer groups and 32 new authorized locations.

These locations, which will sell and service the companys industry-leading Pro-Spotter terminal tractor, join other TICO locations in what is the industrys fastest expanding dealer network in North America.

"These dealers are among the best in their respective markets, and we are pleased to welcome them to the TICO family. They bring decades of industry experience and will provide additional customer support to the markets they serve," said Doug Queen, TICO Dealer Sales Manager. Our customers have already started working with these new team members, and were aggressively in dialogue with other potential dealers to further strengthen our dealer network.

The new dealer groups and locations



Gregory Poole Lift Systems of Raleigh, NC, with authorized TICO branch locations in Mebane, NC, Rocky Mount, NC, Greenville, NC, Wilmington, NC, Fayetteville, NC, Florence, SC, Charleston, SC, Roanoke, VA, Harrisonburg, VA, Richmond, VA, Chesapeake, VA and Winchester, VA

Toyota Material Handling Northeast in Norristown, PA, with authorized TICO branch locations in Cinnaminson, NJ and Hanover, MD

Turbo Truck Center in Gainesville, GA

Utility Crane & Equipment of Tolleson, AZ, with authorized TICO branch locations in Kingman, AZ, Tucson, AZ, Albuquerque, NM and Cheyenne, WY

Yancey Power Systems of Austell, GA, with authorized TICO branch locations in Augusta, GA, Brunswick, GA, Conley, GA, Griffin, GA, Macon, GA, Savannah, GA, Statesboro, GA, Washington, GA and Waycross, GA.

TICO (Terminal Investment Corporation) has been manufacturing its Pro-Spotter terminal tractor for retail availability since 2008. It currently has 105 authorized sales and service locations throughout North America.

###

TICO Manufacturing is the quality manufacturer of the Pro-Spotter On and Off-Highway terminal tractor, for use in distribution centers, rail terminals and ports, as well as the Pro-Shuttle terminal trailer. TICO terminal tractors are built For The Real World in Ridgeland, SC. For more information, please visit http://www.ticotractors.com.
Flowers by Jerry Rose for the Isaac Mizrahi retrospective. It would be my pleasure to do it, and I want to make this my contribution to celebrating a great American designer and the Jewish Museum. Jerry Rose

Acclaimed fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi is being honored by The Jewish Museum with a retrospective exploring key trends in his work; from the use of color and prints, to witty designs that touch on issues of race, religion, class, and politics. The show, entitled An Unruly History, explores key trends in Mizrahis provocative style as designer, artist and entrepreneur which have taken him on a spirited journey in the fashion arena. Most notably, his designs often unite opposites like Western-wear infused handmade lace, Adidas sneakers in place of high heels, handbags worn as hats, or humble cotton undershirts paired with floor-length taffeta skirts. The core of the dramatic installation features 50 looks from the designers clothing label (1987-1998), the semi-couture collections (2003-2011) and his trailblazing line for Target.

For the gala opening, Mizrahi recalled meeting Jerry Rose, renowned floral and event designer, at a Bergdorf Goodman event. The celebrated designer reached out to Jerry Rose asking him to create the flowers. Rose is recognized for his treatment of flowers as art and events as great theater. His work is sought after by celebrated clients.

When Mizrahi approached Rose, citing the many similarities in their styles of modern glamour and the unexpected melding of elements, it seemed a natural pairing for this event. Rose replied to the request saying, It would be my pleasure to do it, and I want to make this my contribution to celebrating a great American designer and The Jewish Museum.

Like Mizrahi, Jerry Rose designs exhibit great range, going from minimal to maximal using the color and texture of the flowers to create diverse effects. For the gala dinner, Mizrahi wanted tulips adorning the tables.The celebrated designer chose tulips as they are symbolic in his designs and reflect the grace of his design aesthetic. Rose used three varieties of tulips in gorgeous hues of pink, nestled in stacked glass vases in alternating sizes.

Recently, Rose is credited with his design at Bloomingdales Tablescape Tech; a luncheon for the Jewish museum at Bergdorf Goodman with Isaac Mizrahi and Betty Halbreich, author and noted personal shopper; and Date with a Plate in Philadelphia benefiting the ALS Foundation. He has also received numerous awards for his tireless efforts supporting the New Jersey Theater Alliance, and the Connie Dwyer Breast Center, Susan G Komen North Jersey Affiliate, Paper Mill Playhouse and the PG Chambers School.

###

Roses design studio and shop are based in Maplewood, New Jersey.
Study.com Video Lessons for K-12 and College Study.com is like having a world of personal instructors at your fingertips.

Study.com has been named a 2016 winner of the National Parenting Products Awards (NAPPA), one of the longest-running and respected award programs in the country. The popular education website, which provides video lessons and online courses for all major K-12 and college subjects, was recognized as one of the best educational products for families.

"Study.coms vast library of educational videos has something for everyone in the family, including mom and dad, says NAPPA General Manager Julie Kertes. The videos are engaging and effective and the follow up quizzes complement the lessons nicely.

The National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA) is the most comprehensive and selective awards program in the family and children product market. NAPPA's recognition is more than just a seal of approval: it means that a product has been carefully evaluated and deemed top of its class" by expert judges, parents, child testers, and product reviewers.

With so many products on the market, its sometimes hard for moms and dads to find time to separate the truly great from the rest of the pack, says Julie Kertes, NAPPA General Manager. Our testers save them legwork by carefully evaluating hundreds of products and awarding only the best of the best. Study.com is like having a world of personal instructors at your fingertips. Students of all ages will find something that will ignite their excitement to learn.

Study.com offers over 10,000 video lessons in all major K-12 and college subjects. The animated lessons are designed to explain topics in a simple and entertaining way. Over 30 million students a month, use the website to learn new concepts, complete school assignments, study for tests, and earn college credit.

One of the biggest challenges in education is keeping students engaged and excited about learning, says Study.com CEO Adrian Ridner. Our expert instructors and great animators bring concepts to life in short videos students love. We are honored that NAPPA has recognized Study.com as one of the best educational resources for parents and their children."

About Study.com

Study.com is the simplest, most efficient way to learn. Over 30 million students a month use our online courses and study tools to master any subject. We help K-12 and college students excel academically and professionals gain the skills they need in the workplace. Study.coms animated videos bring concepts to life and provide an easy, low cost way to improve grades, earn college credit and close skill gaps. Study.com was founded in 2002 and remains a privately held company located in Mountain View, California.

About NAPPA

For 25 years, the National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) has been the go-to resource for the best products for families. NAPPAs team of independent expert judges, along with parent and child testers, select the best toys, games, books and other family essentials to be award winners through year-round product testing. For more information, visit http://www.NAPPAawards.com.
Tim Katchmaric, Division Partner, Hydrotex

Hydrotex, a national manufacturer and distributor of high performance lubrication and fuel improver solutions, announced Tim Kachmarik has joined the company as Division Partner serving the Pupil Transportation, Agricultural and Manufacturing markets. His efforts will focus on the areas in and around northern Ohio including Toledo, Findlay and Lima.

Kachmarik, a seasoned manufacturing executive, is experienced in leading plant personnel in preventative maintenance, quality and safety turnarounds and lean methodology. During his 35-year career hes held positions including plant manager, operational excellence manager and general manager.

Ive seen how faulty or missing maintenance can damage a plants productivity and profitability, said Kachmarik. Ill be sharing this experience and helping others avoid issues while increasing overall production capacity.

As a Division Partner, Kachmarik will counsel customers on cost-efficient machinery and equipment maintenance using environmentally-sustainable solutions. In addition to the industry-standard focus on premier lubrication, reduced friction and reduced wear, Hydrotex solutions address biodegradability, recyclability, oxidation stability, reduced cost, worker health and application knowledge.

Kachmarik has a bachelors in business administration from the University of Findlay and an associate degree in applied science and business administration from the Michael J. Owens Technical College. He is based in Perrysburg, Ohio and can be reached at TKachmarik(at)Hydrotexlube(dot)com

# # #

Hydrotex helps customers develop sustainable solutions designed to improve system reliability, save energy, limit pollution, extend fixed asset life, reduce maintenance costs and improve fuel efficiency. Its products and services leverage 80 years of innovation resulting in superior lubrication solutions and high touch customer service. For more information and to find your local Hydrotex consultant, contact http://www.hydrotexlube.com
The Regional Center of Orange County (RCOC) has announced that Steve Zivolich will receive the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Spotlight Award. The lifetime achievement award goes to an individual who has made exceptional contributions to advancing the rights of and enhancing the life for people with developmental disabilities, stated Alan Martin, the Chair of the RCOC Board of Directors.

Steve Zivolich will receive the 2016 Lifetime Achievement for his local, national and international leadership in developing innovative employment placement outcomes for persons with disabilities. Mr. Zivolich founded the Orange County, California based non-profit, Integrated Resources Institute (IRI) in 1985, which is well-known for its progressive approach and demonstration outcomes regarding integrated community work for persons with significant disabilities.

IRI, and Mr. Zivolich are recognized as having facilitated the largest number (20,000) job placements for persons with significant disabilities in the U.S. Through grants and corporate funding. IRI initiated several demonstration and research employment efforts with: Pizza Hut, Brinker International, California Restaurant Association, Universal Studios Hollywood, Social Security Administration, US Department of Education, California Regional Centers, and various Departments of Rehabilitation throughout the US.

Nationally, IRI has worked to strengthen the capacity of the workforce development system to improve employment outcomes for people with significant disabilities through demonstration implementation, as well as dissemination of research. With three decades of peer reviewed evidence-based research data, IRI has verified that Integrated Work efforts lead to positive employment and quality of life outcomes for individuals with disabilities, their families, as well as cost benefits to taxpayers, noted Mr. Zivolich

The IRI MentorWorks program in Orange County, California currently serves over 100 clients with significant disabilities, and maintains a 96% employment placement rate. The MentorWorks program is a 100% community work based program. All program hours are provided at integrated work settings. Using a Customized Employment, and Mentor approach, the relationship between employee with disabilities and employer is personalized in a way that meets the needs of both.

IRI also provides consultation support for other non-profit organizations, government, and corporations in the US and internationally to develop similar innovative work placement outcomes for their clients with disabilities.

The award will be presented by the Regional Center of Orange County at their awards banquet on April 8, 2016. The award ceremony will be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, Anaheim, CA.

Employers interested in recruiting and integrating workers with disabilities into their workforce can contact Integrated Resources Institute at (949) 232-1172, or visiting the IRI website at: http://www.irioc.org
If youre using lasers for AM, you dont want to miss LAM.

LIAs 8th annual Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) Workshop welcomed over 170 attendees  over half of whom were new to the event  from 14 countries. They gathered in Orlando, FL on March 2-3 to discuss the latest developments in 3D printing, cladding and other revolutionary additive manufacturing (AM) methods.

LAM General Chair Paul Denney, along with co-chairs Ingomar Kelbassa and Jim Sears, designed the two-day event  featuring keynote addresses, educational sessions and numerous exhibits  to showcase the way companies are utilizing additive manufacturing.

New this year was a session dedicated to technologies (electron beam, arc welding and ultrasonic) that compete against lasers for additive manufacturing, said General Chair Paul Denney.

To begin this session, Professor Sudarsanam Suresh Babu from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville gave a keynote presentation that focused on recent advances in metal additive manufacturing, as well as the role in-situ process monitoring, computational monitoring and advanced characterization play in the field. Professor Babus discussion of AMs benefits, compared to traditional manufacturing methods, gave way to an overview of the additive manufacturing process  from geometrical conformity and topography optimization to size specific properties and beyond.

After gaining this background on alternative technologies, attendees learned about the selection process companies use when choosing the premier additive manufacturing processes for their needs. In addition, the first day also featured executives from leading companies, including DMG MORI, Concept Laser, Inc. and Optomec, Inc., who showcased new equipment available for AM.

Focusing on new AM approaches, Christoph Leyens from Fraunhofer IWS discussed precise laser metal deposition with wire and powder filling material, while TRUMPF Inc.s Frank Geyer compared the processes of laser metal deposition and laser metal fusion. After which Daniel Capostagno of SPI Lasers LLC, concluded the day with his presentation on fiber laser welding and cladding using filler wire.

With a focus on bridging the gap between additive manufacturing research and application, the second day began with a keynote address given by Professor David Bourell of the University of Texas at Austin. The Director of the Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication discussed the current status of additive manufacturing.

The days sessions also focused on both the national and global successes and challenges in AM with presenters from around the world. Tim Biermann of Fraunhofer ILT presented on LAM R&D centers in Germany, while Milan Brandt from RMIT University discussed the industry further in Australia.

Sharing the latest and greatest in additive manufacturing, LAM 2016 gave attendees a unique inside look at this rapidly-progressing manufacturing process. Alex Zappasodi of Polymet Corporation remarked, A great show! Valuable information, great attendees and meticulously organized. James Tomich, who attended LAM for the fourth time this year, agreed and said, If youre using lasers for AM, you dont want to miss LAM.

Were looking forward to LAM 2017, when we return to Houston, TX, said Denney. While the Oil and Gas industry is suffering from lower oil prices, we feel that there will still be a strong interest in laser cladding  a form of laser additive manufacturing  because it can lower production costs.

Visit http://www.lia.org/lam for updates on LAM 2017.

About LIA

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the professional society for laser applications and safety serving the industrial, educational, medical, research and government communities throughout the world since 1968. http://www.lia.org, 13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128, Orlando, FL 32826, +1.407.380.1553.

###
Several of the most influential governing and head investors from the institutional investment industry will be providing their valued insights at The Pension Bridge Annual Conference in San Francisco. The industry's only controlled attendance structured event will be held on April 5th and 6th at The Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco. The exclusive conference will attract over 225 pension plan, corporate, endowment, foundation and union investors.

Tom Tull of Employees Retirement System of Texas, William Lee of Kaiser Permanente, Scott Evans of New York City Office of the Comptroller and John Skjervem from Oregon State Treasury will be participating on the CIO Roundtable Panel. The panelists pension plans have nearly $350 billion in assets under management combined. Dick Charlton, Founder of one of the industrys leading consulting firms, NEPC; will be facilitating the discussion as the moderator. Charltons firm currently advises on 347 full retainer relationships with some $925 billion in overall assets.

Among the topics for discussion on the CIO Roundtable are risk, allocation and macro-based decisions. Current and future state of the markets will be covered from various sectors as the conference group will learn about the different concerns, issues and trends within the investment decision making process. The CIOs will also discuss their alignment of interest with investment managers. Bargaining power, fee structures, terms and conditions will be in focus.

Participation from Chief Investment Officers at the conference is not limited to the CIO Roundtable. Heading the program will be keynote speaker David Villa, CIO of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, with assets over $103 billion. Mr. Villa will be discussing how risk parity can diversify away from the equity risk premium. Giving his quarterly state of the markets overview on the macroeconomic session will be CIO William Coaker from the $20 billion San Francisco Employees' Retirement System. Discussing their pension plans risk allocation framework will be CIOs Vijoy Chattergy from the State of Hawaii Employees' Retirement System with assets over $14 billion and Girard Miller of Orange County Employees Retirement System with assets totaling over $12 billion.

Other industry leaders speaking at The Pension Bridge Annual will be from the governance side of pension plans. Executive Directors will be discussing issues of concern such as fiscal health and sustainability for the future of the industry. Attendees will learn how demographics are affecting retirement systems and the best approaches for lowering all-in costs for managing pension plans. Hybrid defined benefit and defined contribution plans will be assessed by the group. Gregory Smith of Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association, Dean Kenderdine from Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, Steve Yoakum with Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri and Brian Guthrie from Teacher Retirement System of Texas will be speaking on the Executive Director/CEO Roundtable Panel. Their pension plans control a combined $260 billion in assets under management. Leading the discussion is moderator Gary Amelio, who serves as the CEO for the $8.4 billion San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association. Amelio is an industry veteran with over 34 years of experience which includes having served as Executive Director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, the largest retirement plan in the U.S. with over $450 billion in assets.

Many attending pension plans will be accompanied by their investment consultants. Several leaders from their pension advisory firms will be speaking on conference panels. CEO of Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting Stephen Cummings, Co-CEO of Meketa Investment Group Stephen McCourt, Founder of Pension Consulting Alliance Allan Emkin, President and CEO of Torrey Cove David Fann, Chairman and CEO of Callan Associates Ronald Peyton, Chief Investment Officer of Wilshire Consulting Steve Foresti, CEO of Albourne America John Claisse and CEO, CIO of Cliffwater Steve Nesbitt will headline the industrys consulting leaders on various panel topics.

The Pension Bridge is an innovative company offering educational conferences of the highest quality to the institutional investment community. The Pension Bridge provides an impressive and influential speaker faculty in a controlled attendance setting. For more information, visit pensionbridge.com
DocuCopies.com is Proud to Support St. Jude Every drop in every bucket brings it closer to the tipping point.

This month, the online color printing company DocuCopies.com donated $1,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

St. Jude is a leader in treating children with cancer and other cataclysmic diseases. Not only do they provide life-saving treatment to children at no cost, they are also a leading research institute for diseases affecting children. Thanks in part to their work, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (the most common form of childhood cancer) has rocketed from 4 percent in 1962 to 94 percent today.

"St. Jude is one of the most noble organizations in the world," says David Pressley, the company's president, founder and CEO. "Their commitment to children's health is an inspiration, and we're thankful for the lives they save every day."

This marks one of the rarer occasions where DocuCopies.com, one of web's leaders in low-cost color printing and book binding, made a donation to a big national organization. Generally they try to keep their support somewhat local to the regions in which they operate. But some causes are so big, says Pressley, that it takes a larger, well-oiled machine to make a difference.

"Every drop in every bucket brings it closer to the tipping point," says Pressley. "We're thrilled to support St. Jude and look forward to contributing again in the future."

For more information on DocuCopies.com and their low-cost color printing and book binding services, or for more information on their philanthropic work, visit them at http://www.DocuCopies.com. To learn more about St. Jude or make a donation of any amount, visit them at http://www.StJude.org.
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr.

Headlining as the Expos opening keynote speaker, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. will speak at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 29th, just before the show opens. Guests will have the opportunity to meet Sheriff Clarke in the USCCA booth immediately following his speech.

The Expo also welcomes Lt. Col. David Grossman. Grossman is a former U.S. Army Ranger and West Point psychology professor and is recognized as one of our nation's leading trainers for all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Federal Agencies and law enforcement.

Grossman will give a special four-hour presentation of his highly acclaimed program, The Bulletproof Mind, on Saturday, April 30th at 9:15 a.m. Attendees planning to attend this event must pre-register at http://www.concealedcarryexpo.com.

Other guest speakers and trainers already confirmed for the event include Dave Young, Founder and Director of Arma Training, who will conduct seminars on weapons retention, firearms survival tactics and preparing for a gunfight. USCCA contributing writer Beth Alcazar will lead a presentation titled Why Women Hate Guns: Encouraging Women To Accept, Own & Use Carry Firearms. George Harris, co-founder of the SIG Academy, will address the topic of choosing the best firearms suited for everyday concealed carry.

View the full seminar schedule and guest speaker lineup on the Concealed Carry Expo website here.

The 2016 USCCA Concealed Carry Expo is the industrys only event dedicated to the concealed carry lifestyle. The event is completely supported by the USCCA and contributing sponsors. With more than 125,000 members/subscribers, the USCCA is the fastest-growing advocate for concealed carry and the industry leader in self-defense insurance.

General Show Info:

Dates: Friday, April 29, 2016: 3PM - 7PM

Saturday, April 30, 2016: 9AM  6PM

Sunday, May 1, 2016: 10AM  4PM

Location: Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia

Entry is 100% free for USCCA members

For more information, visit the Show Website: http://www.concealedcarryexpo.com/.

About the USCCA:

The U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is the first and largest, member-owned association designed to educate, train and insure responsibly armed Americans. USCCA members receive access to a wealth of industry information and insurance protection through its Self-Defense SHIELD program. The USCCA also provides expert advice, product information and the latest news centered around the concealed carry lifestyle via email, social media, Concealed Carry Magazine and their nationally syndicated radio program, Armed American Radio.

# # #
PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, one of the nations fastest growing accounting and consulting firms, announced today that it has promoted Brian M. Flynn to New Jersey Managing Partner, effective March 1. Flynn, who brings more than 30 years of expertise to his new position, will lead the firms aggressive growth plans in New Jersey, where PKF OConnor Davies recently jumped from 13th to 10th in NJBizs annual list of the states top accounting firms.

Building on our momentum in New Jersey is a priority for PKF OConnor Davies, and Brian brings the perfect mix of leadership and expertise to drive our growth here moving forward, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner. Hes been a key member of this firm for more than three decades, and this move is the logical next step for him and for PKF OConnor Davies as we continue to grow our depth and expertise in this critical market. Were excited to have him take on this new role, and we look forward to building with him and his team.

As a partner at PKF OConnor Davies since 1989 and a current member of the Firms Executive Committee, Flynn has proven leadership experience along with extensive audit know-how with closely held corporations, educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations. Outside of his leadership roles within the Firm, Flynn serves on the board of directors for Lakeland Bank and volunteers at St. Pauls in Wyckoff, NJ, serving as the chair of the finance committee.

I have called PKF OConnor Davies home for most of my professional career, and I am honored to take on this new position as New Jersey Managing Partner, said Flynn. The firm identified New Jersey as a growth priority a couple of years ago, and we have delivered on that plan. With an unwavering commitment to driving client value carried out by an unmatched team of professionals, I am confident we will continue to build on our momentum both here in New Jersey and beyond. Its exciting to be a part of this next chapter in the PKF OConnor Davies growth story.

In addition to promotions that capitalize on individuals expertise and leadership skills, PKF OConnor Davies has added more than 150 associates in the last two years. The Firm now boasts 10 offices in four states and continues to expand with mergers and acquisitions in the Northeast and Washington, D.C. region.

About PKF OConnor Davies, LLP

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP is a full service Certified Public Accounting and advisory firm with a long history of serving clients both domestically and internationally. With roots tracing to 1891, ten offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland, and more than 600 professionals, led by 100 partners, the Firm provides a complete range of accounting, auditing, tax and management advisory services.

PKF OConnor Davies is ranked number 26 in Accounting Todays 2016 Top 100 Firms list and the Firm is also recognized as a Leader in Audit and Accounting, a Pacesetter in Growth and one of the Top Firms in the Mid-Atlantic. PKF OConnor Davies is ranked number 29 in INSIDE Public Accountings 2015 Top 100 Firms list and recognized as one of the Top Ten Fastest-Growing Firms." In 2016, PKF O'Connor Davies was named one of Vault's Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America, and ranked among the top 50 most prestigious accounting firms in America in a complementary Vault survey. The Firm is the 11th largest accounting firm in the New York Metropolitan area, according to Crains New York Business, and was named the 10th top accounting firm in New Jersey according to NJBizs 2016 rankings.

By consistently delivering proactive, thorough and efficient service, PKF O'Connor Davies has built long-lasting, valuable relationships with its clients. Partners are intimately involved in the day-to-day management of engagements, ensuring a high degree of client service and cost effectiveness. The Firms seasoned professional staff members employ a team approach to all engagements to provide clients with the utmost quality and timely services aimed at helping them succeed. Continuity of staffing and attention to detail in all client engagements make the Firm stand out among its competitors.

PKF OConnor Davies is the lead North American representative of the international association of PKF member firms. PKF International is a network of legally independent member firms providing accounting and business advisory services in 440 locations in 150 countries around the world. With its tradition, experience and focus on the future, PKF OConnor Davies is ready to help clients meet todays ever-changing economic conditions and manage the growing complexities of the regulatory environment. For more information, visit http://www.PKFOD.com.
PerformLine, the leading SaaS marketing compliance company, today announced that Gary Vaynerchuk, entrepreneur, Founder of VaynerMedia, and New York Times best-selling author, will serve as the keynote speaker at COMPLY2016, the only conference strictly focused on the intersection of marketing and compliance. Vaynerchuk will be joined by many industry leading speakers, including Joe Zawadzki, Chairman and CEO of MediaMath, who will be the featured speaker in a fireside chat.

Registration is open for COMPLY2016, which will be hosted at Dream Downtown in New York City on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. The conference brings together compliance professionals, marketing executives, leading advertising lawyers and contact center operators from top brands who want to ensure their efforts to reach consumers are compliant. The event will feature panel discussions around brand safety, marketing regulations and related technologies, and break out sessions promoting best practices, unveiling industry trends, and presenting case studies.

We are pleased to welcome Gary Vaynerchuk and Joe Zawadzki, two dynamic speakers who have made significant contributions to how we view entrepreneurship and marketing today, said Alex Baydin, CEO of PerformLine. COMPLY2016 is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for marketing professionals to come together and discuss todays pressing compliance issues with federal and state regulators, marketing visionaries and industry experts. We look forward to a day of inspiration, networking opportunities and exchange of innovative ideas.

Gary Vaynerchuk is an entertaining, thought-provoking business practitioner rooted in the notion of marketing in the year we live in and betting on ones strengths to ensure a path to success and happiness. He is a prolific angel investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Tumble, Uber and Birchbox, The New York Times bestselling author of Crush It!, The Thank You Economy and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. He also runs VaynerMedia, ones of the worlds hottest digital agencies. Vaynerchuk will be leading an interactive Q&A session at COMPLY2016 and signing copies of his latest book "#AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness," which all attendees will receive.

Joe Zawadzki, Chairman and CEO of MediaMath, is widely credited with helping launch the programmatic revolution in 2007 in the marketing sector. MediaMath is now the leading independent technology for marketers, helping brands and agencies reach the audiences they want, at the scale they need. Joe will share his thoughts on the changing marketing landscape and how software and data are demanding a new type of conversation among CMOs. Joe also sits on the board of the Direct Marketing Association and was recently appointed Chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureaus Data Center of Excellence, launched to help marketers use their data and maintain quality and transparency.

An early bird rate of $495 per person is available until March 31, 2016, $595 per person until June 6, 2016, or a same-day rate of $895 per person. To register or learn more about the conference, please visit COMPLY2016.

About PerformLine

PerformLine is the industrys leading marketing compliance company bringing SaaS automation and scale to companies looking to mitigate risk and ensure brand safety. PerformLine empowers marketers with the most comprehensive marketing oversight solution for multiple channels within a single platform  PerformMatch. The PerformMatch platform automatically monitors contact centers and the web to ensure full regulatory, brand and TCPA compliance for marketers, as well as provide automated agent compliance and performance monitoring in their contact centers. PerformLine saves clients money by automating compliance activities across channels and departments, creating significant cost-savings. For more information about PerformLine, Inc. and the PerformMatch compliance platform, visit performline.com, email sales(at)performline(dot)com or follow us on twitter @PerformLine. For media inquiries, contact Cari Sommer, Sommer Communications Group, 646-480-7683.
We cant wait to share our advanced technology and emergency solutions with the Heights area.

SignatureCare Emergency Center  The Heights has its grand opening on Thursday, March 24 at 12pm.

The grand opening celebrates the opening of SignatureCares third location in the Houston area.

We are excited to be bringing first-class emergency services to the Houston Heights, said Hashibul Hannan, staff physician at SignatureCare Emergency Center  The Heights. The Heights is an exciting area of Houston and we are 100% ready to serve its population.

The event will be held at the emergency room from 12pm to 7pm. Visitors can enjoy free food and drink, as well as games and prizes.

The location boasts 24-hour services, including trauma and injury care, imaging, and laboratory services, all provided by a highly trained staff of licensed physicians, nurses, and technicians in the state-of-the-art facility.

I hope the community will come visit our emergency room during our grand opening celebration, said Hannan. We cant wait to share our advanced technology and emergency solutions with the Heights area.

SignatureCare Emergency Center  The Heights is located at 1925 E TC Jester Blvd Houston, TX 77008. More information can be found at http://www.ercare24.com/heights

About SignatureCare Emergency Center

Licensed by the Texas Department of Health Services, SignatureCare Emergency Center  The Heights offers state-of-the art medical imaging, X-rays, and ambulance services. Our emergency rooms are fully staffed with medical professionals of all types, including board-certified physicians, licensed nurses, radiology technicians, emergency-trained ancillary staff, and more. With unparalleled efficiency, shorter wait times, a convenient location, and a comfortable setting, SignatureCare Emergency Center  The Heights is your best choice when an emergency arises.

For more information on SignatureCare Emergency Center and its other locations visit http://www.ercare24.com
15Five Plus Trends Dashboard With 15Five Plus, were giving businesses the combination of data and rich employee feedback, so they have the analytics and insights to keep their top talent and build world-class organizations.

15Five, a leading provider of employee performance management software, today announced the addition of 15Five Plus, a solution for businesses that melds qualitative employee feedback with quantitative data on employee performance, morale, productivity and engagement.

As the workplace becomes increasingly concerned about employee engagement, companies are looking for solutions that provide detailed insights on how to recruit, manage, measure and retain their best employees. 15Five is modernizing performance management with its holistic view on how to boost employee performance and satisfaction over time.

Many solutions are emerging in the performance and engagement space, but most are addressing just a piece of the problem through anonymous surveys and goal management, said David Hassell, Founder and CEO of 15Five. Weve always had a stance that whats often missing in todays performance management tools is the qualitative feedback that provides context and depth to data gathered around employee performance and productivity. With 15Five Plus, were giving businesses the combination of data and rich employee feedback, so they have the analytics and insights to keep their top talent and build world-class organizations.

People Analytics Brings Together Employee Data

According to Gallup, nearly 70% of the US workforce is considered disengaged. According to Bersin by Deloitte, the topic of culture and engagement is the most important issue facing business and HR leaders today. Gathering employee feedback data addresses whats wrong in an organization, but does not point to actionable solution to fix it. Bersin predicts that people analytics will bring together a companys employee-related data to solve specific business problems in such areas as sales, productivity, retention, fraud and customer satisfaction.

15Five Plus Features and Availability

Four years ago, 15Five pioneered the powerful idea of automating weekly check-ins between managers and employees. These web-based check-ins have allowed leaders to get a pulse of their company as managers address employee challenges in real-time. 15Five Plus was inspired by feedback from customers who wanted a solution inside 15Five to aggregate and analyze quantitative data along with their weekly check-in. 15Five Plus is now live and key features include:

Pulse Check: Each week this feature asks people, How are you feeling? on a 1-5 scale. The dashboard aggregates the data, giving customers at-a-glance insights into the pulse of individual teams and entire organizations.

Metric Questions: 15Five now provides greater value to large teams, where managers and executives need to understand trends and aggregated data for hundreds or thousands of employees. Managers can ask, measure, and manage questions in the following formats: yes/no, true/false, numerical, percentage, etc.

Polls: One-time polls allows users to ask their team or organization a single question. Answers will aggregate and display in the Polls Dashboard.

Trends Dashboard: When a user asks a metric question more than once, the aggregated data will populate in the Trends Dashboard. Rich analytics and charts provide information on morale, performance, and productivity over time and at all levels in the organization.

Custom Reports: Customers can select and sort answers to any question asked in 15Five for any given time-period. They can easily access detailed information on team and individual achievements or failures, to get an accurate picture of performance over time. These reports can be exported to a CSV file, so that managers can view the entire arc of every employees career at the company.

15Five Plus is available immediately. Pricing starts at $200 per month, which includes the first 25 people. Other 15Five packages including Basic, Pro and Enterprise.

About 15Five

15Five provides web-based performance management software that improves employee engagement through a lightweight weekly check-in. 15Five encourages employees to regularly reflect on the processes and conditions that stimulate high performance, inspires conversations that strengthen relationships between managers and employees, and provides detailed visibility for company leaders. Over 1,100 businesses worldwide use 15Five to allow employees to share their triumphs and challenges and get regular feedback from managers who support them in reaching their potential. Founded in 2011 by David Hassell, 15Five is based in San Francisco and is backed by leading investors including Matrix Partners and Point Nine Capital.
Robert J. Scott, Managing Partner, Scott & Scott, LLP Companies are entering into cloud contracts without understanding the inherent risks.

Businesses are focusing on the potential cost savings, profits and agility to be found in the cloud. Entering into cloud computing contracts without understanding the inherent risks can cripple an otherwise healthy organization. Robert J. Scott, Managing Partner at technology law firm Scott & Scott, LLP will cover how to address these risks through proper contracting and risk transfer using insurance on March 29th at Boston SecureWorld Expo.

Rob will highlight contract issues that should be covered in agreements, such as:



What happens if there is a data loss?

What jurisdiction will prevail if there is litigation?

What regulatory issues affect the business?

What is the document retention policy?

Will encryption be used in data storage and transmission?

How and in what format will data be kept?

What tools will be available to access data for any e-discovery needs?

What country will data be stored?

What indemnification does the vendor offer for infringement of third-party intellectual property rights?

For more information on the workshop and to register please click here.

Over the past decade SecureWorld has emerged as one of North America's most vital cyber security conferences, providing globally relevant education, training and networking for cyber security professionals on a regional level. SecureWorld provides more content and professional connections than any other event in the cyber security industry. Established in 2002, SecureWorld offers many different continuing professional education sessions over two days in 14 cities throughout the United States.

About Robert J. Scott

Robert represents mid-market and large enterprise companies in software license transactions and disputes with major software publishers such as Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. He has defended over 225 software audit matters initiated by software piracy trade groups such as the BSA and SIIA. He is counsel to some of the world's largest corporations on information technology matters including intellectual property licensing, risk management, data privacy, and outsourcing. Robert ensures that Scott & Scott, LLP continues its focus on cost-effective strategies that deliver positive results. He is regularly called upon by his peers and the media to share his expertise.

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Pleio, Inc., announces that its GoodStart patient adherence support program is now being offered to customers of the American Pharmacy Alliance (APA) as part of the APA Advantage Program. The APA is a technology partnership of leading pharmacy software companies that supply prescription processing systems to more than 12,000 independent and small chain pharmacies throughout the United States. APA customers will also have the option of participating in GoodStart through the APAs preferred business agreement with Pharmacy Data Network (PDN).

Our goal at the APA is to provide access to beneficial products and services for independent and small chain pharmacies, their customers, and software vendors nationwide, said John Hobson, APAs Director of Business Development. We want to ensure access to those programs that provide significant benefits, and the Pleio GoodStart program has been proven to improve quality and increase revenue.

Mark Connors, CEO of Pleio, said, Were extremely excited about the expansion of our relationship with the APA and our partnership with PDN. With over 12,000 independent pharmacies served by its industry leading software vendors, this support represents a huge opportunity to broaden our network in order to improve Star ratings and quality scores for community pharmacy.

For more information about the American Pharmacy Alliance, or to learn more about our APA members, please visit http://www.ameripharm.com, or contact John Hobson at jhobson(at)ameripharm.com.

To learn more about Pharmacy Data Network, please visit http://www.pharmacydatanetwork.com, or contact Chuck Welch at chuck.welch(at)pharmacydatanetwork.com.

About Pleio, Inc.

Pleio is a leader in patient engagement and medication adherence. We instill lasting behavior change in patients though multi-channel engagement involving artfully scripted, non-clinical conversations with GoodStart Mentors, digital outreach, and seamless integration with community pharmacy. Pleios proprietary adherence lifecycle management platform controls the timing and nature of all patient touch points in the GoodStart program, which delivers revenue, improves quality, and reduces medical costs. http://www.pleio.com
911 Emergency Telecom Company (911 ETC), a leading E911 services provider, announced that with the addition of Alaska they now provide E911 service for businesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada. 911 ETC helps organizations manage E911, routing outgoing 9-1-1 calls to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) along with accurate location information. The company was founded with the mission to help organizations keep people safe in the event of a 9-1-1 emergency. Customers range from Fortune 500 businesses, government, healthcare and education facilities.

24 states currently have E911 legislation that is enacted or pending, affecting the responsibility of multi-line telephone system owners to varying degrees. In some states, such as Florida, organizations are required to be capable of providing location information down to the desktop. Many states base location accuracy off of square footage requirements, with 7000 sq. feet being the standard suggested by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). Business owners in Michigan have until December of this year to comply with legislation or face compliance fines of 5K per offense. A complete listing of state-by-state legislation can be found at http://www.911etc.com/legislation.

Most states still do not have any sort of E911 legislation in place for phone systems, stated Larry Scott, President, 911 ETC. And yet, its pretty telling that organizations in all 50 states now utilize our services. The quick migration to VoIP and SIP trunks has complicated the problem, as it presents the very real potential for a 9-1-1 call to route to a PSAP hundreds of miles away from where the call was placed.

We hear about the tragedies that occur when emergency responders cant find the caller from a workplace or school and help is delayed, he added. I have to wonder how many have been prevented because the business owner or telecom director made sure 9-1-1 works?

About 911 ETC

911 Emergency Telecom Company is a leading provider of E911 emergency services for thousands of sites across the United States and Canada, helping organizations meet E911 regulations and keep people safe. Founded in 1997, 911 ETC is widely recognized within the industry for its expertise and ongoing, fully managed E911 service. The company manages exclusive or hybrid E911 solutions for analog, digital, IP, SIP and wireless phones for organizations of all types and sizes. While its services are PBX agnostic, they are certified for Cisco and Avaya systems and validated for Skype for Business.
Compass Leaders From Across the Country Celebrate the Beverly Hills Launch

Compass, a luxury real estate platform with best-in-class technology, announces the opening of its new Los Angeles headquarters in the heart of Beverly Hills. The firm now occupies the entire fourth floor at 9454 Wilshire Boulevard, a 12-story landmark building structure on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive in the prime Beverly Hills Golden Triangle. The move more than doubles Compasss Beverly Hills footprint.

After being in Los Angeles for only four months, Compass has already grown at an incredible pace, said Stan Richman, Regional Vice President of Compass. Our winning combination of agent support, groundbreaking technology, and culture-first attitude has gained great traction with agents in the market, and were pleased to have welcomed agents representing over $900 million in annual sales volume to the Compass family. From our new base in Beverly Hills, we look forward to continuing our growth through Southern California and beyond.

In addition to a top in-house marketing agency, Compasss talented West Coast agents are supported by a staff of more than 30 dedicated professionals and an industry-leading management team with more than 160 years of combined real estate experience.

Compass is celebrating its office opening with a week of agent-driven programming and events, including leadership panels, networking initiatives, and tours of some of the areas most luxurious properties. Many Compass agents and leaders from across the country are joining the firms LA-based team to celebrate.

Since launching in Los Angeles in November, Compass has expanded into Malibu, Santa Barbara, Montecito and Pasadena. In February, Compass inked a lease for 4,400 square feet at 1283 Coast Village Circle in Montecito.

Launched in New York in 2013, Compass has quickly become a leader in the national market representing more than $5 billion in annualized volume of home sales.

About Compass:

Compass is luxury real estate platform with best-in-class technology dedicated to creating a seamless and intelligent home buying, selling, and renting experience. Combining the countrys top agents, proprietary market insights, and integrated mobile and web technologies, Compass is developing the future of real estate decision-making. Compass has locations in New York City, Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, and the Hamptons, and has raised $135 million in investor capital. For more information on Compass, and to view more than $4 billion in exclusive Compass properties, visit http://www.compass.com
It is an excellent opportunity to learn about human rights through the power of film, said Susana Kaiser, associate professor of Media Studies and Latin American Studies, and the festivals co-founder and co-organizer since 2003.

The University of San Francisco (USF) will host its 14th annual Human Rights Film Festival, an event that seeks to promote awareness and discussions of global human rights injustices. The festival is free, open to the public, and will take place from March 31 - April 2 at USFs Presentation Theater (2350 Turk Boulevard, at Masonic in San Francisco).

It is an excellent opportunity to learn about human rights through the power of film, said Susana Kaiser, associate professor of Media Studies and Latin American Studies, and the festivals co-founder and co-organizer since 2003. Our selection of films exposes and denounces human rights violations that demand immediate solutions. We follow the screenings with Q&A sessions that create a forum for discussing the issues, identifying potential solutions, documenting successes in stopping abuses, and brainstorming about actions that can be taken at the local and global level.

In keeping with the social justice mission of USF, the Human Rights Film Festival seeks to make the university a center for the promotion of human rights, as well as a platform to raise consciousness to the violations and abuses of human rights in the United States and elsewhere around the globe.

This years festival will address political repression, genocide, immigration, refugees, migrations, environmental destruction, mining and indigenous women, LGBT rights, and gun violence. Several of these films are winners of prestigious awards, including The Look of Silence, 2016 Academy Award Nominee for best documentary feature (screening on Saturday, April 2 at 6:30 p.m.).

Highlights of the three-day festival include:



Thursday, March 31 at 2 p.m.  American DREAMers

American DREAMers tells the story behind the Campaign for an American DREAM (CAD), a group of six undocumented youth and an ally who risk their freedom when they publicly come out as undocumented and walk 3,000 miles to the nations capital to organize for immigrant rights. These are college students, young professionals, activists, and community leaders. Jennifer Castillo, American DREAMers filmmaker, and Veronica Gomez, CAD walker/community organizer, will be present to lead Q&A following the screening.

Thursday, March 31 at 6:15 p.m.  The Black Panthers: Vanguards of the Revolution

In the 1960s, a new revolutionary culture was emerging  The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is a feature documentary that includes eyewitness accounts from the first members who joined the organization, rank-and-file members, as well as the voices of lawyers, journalists, scholars, police officers, and former FBI agents.

Saturday, April 2 at 6:30 p.m.  The Look of Silence

Through Oppenheimers footage of perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. This unprecedented film initiates and bears witness to the collapse of fifty years of silence.

The three-day festival will also feature works produced by USF students and alumni. For a full schedule and descriptions of the selected films, please visit https://www.usfca.edu/arts-sciences/about/human-rights-film-festival

Media interested in learning more about USFs Human Rights Film Festival, or to request interviews with professor Susana Kaiser, please contact Anne-Marie Devine Tasto, senior director of media relations, at (415) 422-2697 or abdevine@usfca.edu.

About the University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco is located in the heart of one of the world's most innovative and stunning cities and is home to a vibrant academic community of students and faculty who achieve excellence in their fields. Its diverse student body enjoys direct access to faculty, small classes, and outstanding opportunities in the city itself. USF is San Franciscos first university, and its Jesuit Catholic mission helps ignite a student's passion for social justice and a desire to Change the World from Here. For more information, please visit http://www.usfca.edu.

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Temporary Tattoos.com has a variety of new temporary tattoos on their rebranded website. You can expect to see a fluid transition from Tattoo Sales to TemporaryTattoos.com. We are excited to present the new identity of this company, though we are very adamant in keeping our values and priorities; safety and service first.

TMI produces over 7 million temporary tattoos a day - more than anyone else in the world, and they export to 84 countries.

Over nine months was spent completely re-designing the website to accommodate the requests of their multitude of outstanding customers (over 1 million served over the past 27 years). Some of the many service enhancements that customers will experience include:



Easy communication with their team of knowledgeable customer service representatives via live chat, phone and e-mail

An expanded product selection and a personalized experience

Their upgraded custom temporary tattoo ordering process makes creating unique temporary tattoos fast and easy with more size options and better user experience

Loading times of each page is lightning-fast which makes the shopping process smooth and efficient

More visible discount options to assure customers receive the best pricing and deals

Their new blog keeps subscribers in the loop of new trends, sales, and tattoo releases

The new website is easy to navigate with tools like an intuitive search bar to help you find exactly what youre looking for

Visual design and navigation updates to the website are aesthetically pleasing and relate to current styles and trends

The new brand name makes the site easily accessible and search-engine friendly

Products are made in the United States, so they are able to fulfill orders in hours or days, vs weeks for those printed overseas

Products meet or exceed all health and safety standards

Overall, the new website makes ordering temporary tattoos a fun and exciting experience  as it should be.

Customers will also be encouraged to easily connect their account with Facebook and other social media platforms, and share their favorite items with friends and family. TemporaryTattoos.com will be a fun, fresh and functional website. Our goal is to transform the latest trends and influences into temporary tattoos for every occasion. Through the new domain, both custom and stock tattoos will be readily available to our customers around the globe, says Mitch Pisik, CEO of TMI.

Since its inception in 1989, TMI has grown rapidly. TMI is now one of the largest manufacturers in Southern Arizona, where their headquarters is also located. They also proudly meet or exceed all US, Canadian & European Union safety and compliance standards.

The TMI Team continues to be recognized for their innovation, growth, and being the employer of choice in Southern Arizona. This includes numerous annual awards from the following:

o U.S. Small Business Administration

o Arizona Small Business Administration

o Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA)

o Annual Wells Fargo Copper Awards Honoring Excellence in Business in Southern Arizona

o Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

o Multiple Vendor of the Year Awards

o Multiple Design Awards

o Multiple Philanthropic Awards

The TMI family has continued to transform temporary tattoos beyond just kids and special occasions. Their design team, professional artists and customer service representatives work together to bring the latest and greatest to homes worldwide, in a stress free, no-hassle process. The Vice President of the custom division, Steven Marshall, continues by saying You can expect to see a fluid transition from Tattoo Sales to TemporaryTattoos.com. We are excited to present the new identity of this company, though we are very adamant in keeping our values and priorities; safety and service first. Thus far the feedback of the website has been enthusiastically received by customers.
U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie, representing Kentuckys 2nd district, visited and toured the Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems operation in Danville, Ky., on Fri., Mar. 18, 2016. Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems is a division of Meggitt PLC, a global engineering group specializing in extreme environment components and smart sub-systems for aerospace, defense and energy markets.

Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems is one of the leading aircraft wheels and brakes suppliers in the world, with facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia employing sophisticated design and fabrication processes. It provides these systems to a diverse group of customers that includes airline operators, aircraft constructors, private aircraft owners and charter operators, governments and military operations, distributors and repair stations. Approximately 34,000 aircraft take off and land with Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems wheels and brakes.

As part of Congressman Guthries visit, he will be updated on an expansion of the Danville operation later this year when a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit will be moved from Akron, Ohio, to the Danville facilities. The move, expected to add some 50 jobs to the operation, is the first step in a significant expansion planned over the next three to five years.

I enjoyed learning more about the braking systems operations in Danville and am glad that more jobs will be coming to the Second District through this important industry, Congressman Guthrie said. I look forward to seeing the new developments and growth these jobs will bring.

Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems currently employs approximately 300 area professionals as a key generator of a high-quality, high-paying, high-tech workforce growing to meet customer needs as well as supporting a base of small-business subcontractors and suppliers in the region.

We were honored to host Congressman Guthrie. And we were very pleased to have the opportunity to bring him up to date on the exciting developments here including the very positive impacts they will have on the local economy, remarked Luke Durudogan, President, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems.

Congressman Guthrie serves on both the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. He also serves on the following subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, with a degree in economics, and served as a Field Artillery Officer in the 101st Airborne Division - Air Assault at Fort Campbell.

For information on Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, visit http://www.meggitt-mabs.com.

Photo download: http://www.kcomm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_4273.jpg

Caption:

U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie (second from right) toured Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems and observed final quality inspections on a brake assembly. He is accompanied by Andrew Frauenhoffer, Site Director, Business Operations; Ed Boquist, Vice President, Government Relations, Meggitt; and Dave Chafin, Quality Inspector Lead.

###

About Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems

Headquartered in Danville, Ky., Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems is one of the leading aircraft wheels and brakes suppliers in the world, with facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia employing sophisticated design and fabrication processes. Products include nose and main wheels; wheel speed transducers; carbon, steel and electric brakes; brake control systems; control valves; temperature sensors and monitoring units; and landing gear computers. It provides these systems to a diverse group of customers that includes airline operators, aircraft constructors, private aircraft owners and charter operators, governments and military operations, distributors and repair stations. http://www.meggitt-mabs.com

About Meggitt PLC

Headquartered in the UK, Meggitt PLC is a global engineering group specialising in extreme environment components and smart sub-systems for aerospace, defence and energy markets. Some 10,000 people are employed across manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and North America and regional bases in Brazil, India and the Middle East. http://www.meggitt.com

Media Contact

Sinan Kanatsiz, KCOMM

949-443-9300

sinan@kcomm.com
Dr. Michael Warner MD

Ask The Doctor, the worlds leading virtual health platform is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Michael Warner as Chief Medical Officer of Ask The Doctor's Canadian operations.

Dr. Warner will be working closely with Dr. Suneel Sharman MD, Global Chief Medical Officer to expand Ask The Doctor's services to patients across Canada by end of 2016.

"Our team is very excited to have Dr. Warner on board. Dr. Warner is a visionary physician whose experience as a practicing clinician leader complemented by his business expertise will help Ask The Doctor make the Canadian healthcare system better for both patients and physicians" says Prakash Chand, CEO of Ask The Doctor.

"I am very excited to join Ask The Doctor. The team is already revolutionizing healthcare delivery with the ultimate goal of providing 7 billion people with accessible healthcare" says Dr. Michael Warner.

Last month, Ask The Doctor announced the launch of ATD Works, an employee benefits program allowing patients to ask a doctor any medical questions 24/7, virtually. The company has already signed up over 150 employers since launch.
Clint Vranian Clint will provide a solid perspective to the corporation, bringing his business skills and experience in the animal health industry together with our team in order to achieve the corporations acquisition goals and objectives.

VitalPet, headquartered in Houston, Texas, announced today that it has appointed Clint Vranian to Vice President of Acquisitions and General Counsel effective immediately. Prior to joining VitalPet, Mr. Vranian served in general counsel roles within Novartis Animal Health and Elanco Animal Health, where he led Mergers & Acquisitions, Business Development, and commercial matters spanning all areas of the animal health industry.

Clint Vranian is a seasoned legal and business development leader within the veterinary industry with experience at all levels of the industry. He brings a track record of leveraging innovation and creativity to discover and grow opportunities within the animal health space to VitalPet, states VitalPet CEO and Founder, Benjamin Thomas. We are very proud to have him on our team at VitalPet.

With over 15 years in the animal health industry, Mr. Vranian has represented multinational pharmaceutical and animal health companies, both in private practice and in general counsel roles. Most recently, he led the antitrust clearance and legal integration of Elanco Animal Healths North American region following its acquisition of Novartis Animal Health.

A frequent speaker on issues facing the veterinary industry, Mr. Vranian is passionate about the veterinary-client-patient relationship. In 2012, he was the sole industry participant representing this position at the Federal Trade Commissions Pet Medications Workshop of 2012.

"Clint will provide a solid perspective to the corporation, bringing his business skills and experience in the animal health industry together with our team in order to achieve the corporations acquisition goals and objectives, said Thomas. With over 15 years experience in the animal health industry, I am confident Clint will be a key contributor within our organization.

Clint earned dual degrees in Philosophy and Classical Studies from Emory University and Henry College in 1994. He earned his JD from the University of Richmond in 1998, and his MBA from Duke University in 2010. Clint resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he spends his free time reading, running, and spending as much time as possible with his son and daughter.

About VitalPet

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, VitalPet is a national for-profit animal healthcare network that specializes in partnering with leading veterinarians across the country to provide the best of the best in veterinary medicine to local communities. VitalPet, along with its physician partners, owns and operates veterinary centers  branded under the name VitalPet  in key markets across the United States. All VitalPet facilities focus on providing best practices in veterinary medicine, surgical procedures, dental procedures, preventive care, and patient education. VitalPet encourages veterinarians to practice medicine the way they have always practiced medicine, allowing for best practices across our peer network, and providing exceptional care for patients. Further information about VitalPets leadership team may be found online at http://www.vitalpet.com/leadership-team. Information about VitalPet can be viewed via our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4GdVINCP4M.
Stepes to be Featured at LocWorld Tokyo Summit Stepes is a global game changer for how translation can be done. Were looking forward to sharing how Stepes can transform the language.

Stepes, the worlds first chat-based mobile translation platform, will be featured at the next Localization World conference to be held in Tokyo. The event highlights Stepes applications in the life sciences and gaming industry.

Localization World (LocWorld) is the largest localization event in the world and takes place annually on three continents. The LocWorld events provide the localization industrys top experts and leaders an opportunity to share insights into the newest trends and breakthroughs affecting translation today.

Stepes is a global game changer for how translation can be done, said Mr. Carl Yao, the creator of Stepes and a vice president of CSOFT International, a leading localization provider. Were looking forward to sharing how Stepes can transform the language industry by going mobile.

Stepes will be featured on panels on both the life sciences and the gaming industry. Both industries have historically suffered from a lack of strong translation because the highly technical nature of their content. However, Stepes intuitive mobile translation platform enables more bilingual subject matter experts to participate in the translation process, leading to better quality translations for industries like the life sciences, gaming, and many more.

Stepes has been expanding its international outreach in recent months. In February, Stepes was presented to investors and entrepreneurs at the Venture Summit conference in Mountain View, California. In March, Stepes was picked as the translation platform for the White House project Let Girls Learn.

To learn more about Stepes, please go to http://www.stepes.com. Stepes is also available for download from the iTunes and Google Play stores.

About Stepes

Stepes (pronounced: /steps/) is the worlds first chat-based translation app. Stepes unlocks on-demand and accurate human translation services not yet witnessed from a mobile device. By seamlessly connecting businesses with the worlds linguists through its translation eco-system, Stepes helps break down language barriers between businesses and their customers, and among nations and people. The word Stepes stands for Social Translation Experiment Project and Eco System. Recent studies have found Stepes is also the place where the worlds 400 major languages originated from some 5,000 years ago.

About CSOFT

CSOFT International Ltd. is a world leader in localization and globalization consulting services, providing turnkey solutions for companies facing the challenges of engaging customers and markets across linguistic and cultural barriers. Recognized as one of the Top Innovative Companies in 2011 by IDC we have an award-winning international team. In 2012, the companys CEO was named one of Fortune Magazines 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs and a Tech Disruptor by CNN Money.

Media Contacts:

Megan Robinson

+1-415-889-8989 (U.S./Europe)

megan.robinson@csoftintl.com

Emily Feng

Phone: +86-10-5736-6000 (China/Asia)

Emily.feng@csoftintl.com
Gardner Aerospace will ramp up its sheet metal fabrication capacity with an 800 bar high-pressure fluid cell press from Swedens Quintus Technologies. We expect the high-pressure forming process will allow us to both reduce the fabrication steps required and to minimize the need for costly hand corrections. --Antoine Crouy, Gardner

A modern high-pressure fluid cell press from Quintus Technologies will support the Airbus widebody aircraft program at Gardner Aerospace, one of Europes largest independent manufacturers of metallic aerospace detailed parts.

The new 800 bar (11,600 psi) Flexform press will have a central position at the Gardner facility in Mazeres, in southern France, in order to meet Airbus capacity ramp-up, chiefly driven by the new A350. Gardners Mazeres plant is conveniently located close to the Airbus assembly center in Toulouse.

Our facility in Mazeres is Gardners center of excellence for hard metal sheet fabrications and complex assemblies, concentrating in particular on titanium alloys in the forming area, states Antoine Crouy, Gardners Head of Commodities. Todays challenges in the A350 ramp-up and the need of being more competitive in regard to new aerospace business place completely new fabrication demands on the supply chain. With this investment, we are gearing up to meet those challenges and demands. We expect the high-pressure forming process will allow us to both reduce the fabrication steps required and to minimize the need for costly hand corrections.

The Quintus high-pressure press, with a forming area of 700 mm x 1800 mm (27.6 x 73 inches), will introduce a number of production efficiencies. The hydroform process requires only one rigid tool half, generating significant tool cost savings and eliminating several forming operations, intermediate heat treatments, and operator dependencies.

The added value of the high-pressure process allows tier sheet metal part suppliers to meet the quality, volume, and cost demands of major aerospace OEMs like Airbus, observes Jan Soderstrom, CEO of Quintus Technologies. We see the same trend all over the western world, where primarily Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and Bombardier are moving the supply chain to a more flexible level of forming die design, combined with modern high-pressure forming technologies.

Mr. Crouy adds, We chose Quintus as our partner not only because they supply the most advanced high-pressure equipment available, but also for their ability to offer a long-term technology transfer program and willingness to enter into a close business relationship.

About Quintus Technologies

Quintus Technologies specializes in the design, manufacture, installation, and support of high pressure systems for sheet metal forming and densification of advanced materials and critical industrial components. Headquartered in Vasteras, Sweden, and represented in 35 countries worldwide, the company is the world leader in high pressure technology and has delivered more than 1,800 systems to customers across the globe within industries such as aerospace, automotive, energy, and medical implants. Read more about Quintus Technologies at http://www.quintustechnologies.com.

About the Gardner Group

Gardner Aerospace is one of Europes largest independent manufacturers of metallic aerospace detailed parts. Gardner machines, fabricates, and treats small to large and simple to complex detailed parts in soft, hard, and exotic metals. The company also provide kits, sub-assemblies, major assemblies, and repair services. It has a complete range of engineering tools, management processes, and quality approvals to support these capabilities. Employing more than 1,400 people worldwide, Gardner has five modern aerospace approved manufacturing operations in the U.K., four in France, two in Poland, and one in India. Annual revenues exceed $185 million. Read more about the Gardner Group at http://www.gardner-aerospace.com.
If Mr. Trump genuinely wants to Make America Great Again, he could greatly benefit by learning about The Greatest Man of All Time.

Bestselling Author Adam Rahman states, ISIS has cowardly attacked civilians in Brussels, Belgium. Politically-motivated extremists are justifying their deeds in the name of Islam, but the truth is that no religion supports such senseless violence. I condemn their actions of brutality and murder. Extremists are incorrectly using the banner of a peaceful religion to justify their activities. They are driven by thirst for power, political influence, attention, and money, not by the authentic teachings of Islam.

As reported by Reuters on March 22, 2016, presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has called on a ban of Muslims from entering the United States. Rahman said, Quite simply, this type of religious discrimination is inconsistent with the Constitution, is un-American, and provides fodder for extremists. Furthermore, the vast majority of Muslims and particularly millions of American Muslims are peaceful, integral members of society.

Rahman said, I call on Donald Trump, political leaders, my fellow Americans, and all Europeans to gain an understanding of the founder of Islam and his peaceful message by reading The Greatest Man of All Time: A Mercy to The World. If Mr. Trump genuinely wants to Make America Great Again, he could greatly benefit by learning about The Greatest Man of All Time.

Rahman calls for peace, healing, and justice for the Brussels victims and their families, as well as an end to violence against the innocent.

ABOUT ADAM RAHMAN:

Rahman's first book reached the Amazon.com top 1% book selling list. He has spoken at Facebook Corporate Headquarters and on global television. Rahman received Thank You letters from the offices of several world leaders, including the President of France, the President of Brazil, and the Prime Minister of Canada.

Adam Rahmans second book, The Greatest Man of All Time: A Mercy to The World is a true story that inspires over a billion people around the world. The Greatest Man of All Time exemplified how to be a model businessman, phenomenal philanthropist, just military commander, influential political leader, beloved spouse, nurturing parent, and ultimate peacemaker. With ignorance, corruption, and violence rampant in society, he guided people to knowledge, justice, and peace. Although he acquired wealth and fortunes that go beyond the dreams of kings, he gave it all away in charity to the poor, hungry, and those in need. The book, The Greatest Man of All Time: A Mercy to The World is available on Amazon: http://amzn.com/0692480986
The app bridges the many gaps that have made wellness offerings diffuse and inconsistent, and brings together all types of providers to offer consumers a unified, seamless experience under one umbrella.

Spafinder Wellness, Inc. today announced the launch of its mobile application, The Wellness App, for iOS and Android, bringing together the fragmented landscape of wellness providers and, for the first time, giving users the ability to find, book and pay, plus earn rewards, all from their mobile phones. The Wellness App is available in Apples App Store and on Google Play; to download, visit http://www.spafinder.com/thewellnessapp.

Spafinder Wellness has over 25,000 wellness businesses in its vast network, including yoga and Pilates studios, fitness clubs, spas, salons and wellness travel destinations. Behind the scenes, the Spafinder Wellness platform allows for payment processing to these locations with the app, even though they have uncommon point-of-sale or booking systems. Mobile and Internet connectivity makes this unique app functionality available to consumers and businesses. The app is especially attractive to employers who have workplace wellness programs or incentive/rewards companies that promote healthy lifestyles.

Consumers who receive Spafinder Wellness 365 Cards as gifts, incentives or rewards will be able to download them to the app and use them to purchase from providers in the Spafinder Wellness Network. The Wellness App is also fully integrated with the companys rewards program, My365Rewards, awarding users points for a variety of in-app and on-site behaviors. The new app features well-known wellness providers, including brands such as Bliss, Equinox, Mandarin Oriental, Canyon Ranch, Elemis, Curves and Zeel, the Massage On Demand company.

We believe finding ways to feel good and stay healthy should be easy and rewarded. With The Wellness App, Spafinder Wellness gives users a simple way to keep wellness funds handy and find, book and pay for services they choose, said Pete Ellis, chairman and CEO of Spafinder Wellness. For existing Spafinder Wellness users, the experience begins with a seamless transition of their rewards points and account information after they log in to the app; for new users, its about an easy connection to their next great wellness experience.

Ellis noted that millions of individuals already use Spafinder Wellness for healthy gifting, and hundreds of companies, such as Maritz, Humana and American Express, use it as a premier wellness reward or incentive that can only be used for healthy activities.

The Wellness App, developed by Spafinder Wellness technology team, with support from Miami-based technology agency YellowPepper, breaks new ground in introducing a first-of-its-kind payment platform and the most advanced universal mobile payments technology for the wellness industry. The result is a single solution that gives consumers a seamless experience across providers.

The Wellness App allows users to:

Discover a Global Network of Wellness ProvidersChoose a provider based on location, services, pricing or reviews. Try a new location or connect directly with a trusted provider.

Real-Time BookingsMake an appointment or reserve a class at select partners (live in May).

Pay for ServicesConsumers can pay for services with the app, using a secure account with the in-app card and barcode scanner. They can also reload funds with a linked credit card.

Earn Points & RewardsAll in-app behaviors are linked to the Spafinder My365Rewards Program, meaning that users earn points for everything from loading their Mobile Wellness Cards, booking classes and treatments, paying for services to even writing reviews. Points can be used toward services at partner locations.

Get Location-Based, Real-Time Promotions & Special OffersWith local searches, users also get notification of nearby deals. When they achieve Silver and Gold Rewards levels, they have the opportunity to receive exclusive offers and invitations to special events.

View Detailed Provider Descriptions and Service OfferingsGet a snapshot view of an individual location with descriptions and reviews.

Rate & ReviewApp users can rate locations and leave feedback based on their experience. (Live in April)

The app bridges the many gaps that have made wellness offerings diffuse and inconsistent, and brings together all types of providers, from large, established businesses to single-location establishments, to offer consumers a unified, seamless experience under one umbrella, said Ellis.

Spafinder Wellness is holding launch events in the U.S., Canada and the UK to introduce the app to its Wellness Network. The Wellness App launch partners include ELEMIS, MINDBODY, Zeel and Booker. To learn more about or to download The Wellness App, visit http://www.spafinder.com/thewellnessapp.

ABOUT SPAFINDER WELLNESS, INC.

Spafinder Wellness, Inc. is the world's largest marketing, gifting, incentives and rewards company for the wellness industry and the leading consumer resource for feeling good and living well all year round. With now over 25,000 wellness partners worldwide, including wellness travel destinations, fitness, yoga and Pilates studios, spas and salons, plus access to 5,000 massage therapists through Zeel's on-demand massage services, millions of people find the resources and inspiration to keep well every day via Spafinder Wellness 365 websites and The Wellness App. The company's widely distributed gift/wellness cards are available online and at 40,000-plus retailers worldwide, as well as through corporate incentive/rewards programs. Visit spafinder.com, spafinder.co.uk and spafinder.ca.
23 May 2022

- Understand the French healthcare system, how you access it and how you are reimbursed - Useful if you are new to the French healthcare system or want a more in-depth understanding - Reader question and answer section Aimed at non-French nationals living here, the guide gives an overview of what you are (and are not) covered for. There is also information for second-home owners and regular visitors.
RedVectors new training provides insights into everything from best practices in the sector to how to make sense of regulations that exist on national, state and local levels

RedVector, the leader in eLearning and workforce training solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction, industrial and facility management industries, has announced new land development training for builders and engineers in the growing market.

According to an IBISWorld study, dedicated land development firms are increasingly competing with construction companies handling land development on their own, a trend that is only likely to grow moving forward.

Land development is an incredibly complex process, and as tasks traditionally set aside for dedicated land developers transition into the construction industry, builders and engineers will face significant pressure to ramp up their internal education efforts to get up to speed. They must understand national, state and local regulations to get proposals passed, learn how to make the best use of land to be developed, plan earthwork (efficient grading design), and ensure and design infrastructure that can support it.

RedVectors new training provides insights into everything from best practices in the sector to how to make sense of regulations that exist on national, state and local levels, said Bobby Person, RedVector Product Director. Being aware of these important industry considerations is key if builders and engineers want to avoid running into major problems when taking a larger stake in the land development process.

RedVectors New Land Development Training Courses Include:

Land Development Projects: Developing Feasibility Studies

Land Development Projects: Design of Infrastructure

Land Development Projects: Grading and Drainage Design

About RedVector

RedVector sets the standard for excellence in online continuing education and training for the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), industrial and facility management industries and holds nearly 100 state and national accreditations. RedVector offers individual courses as well as large-scale corporate training solutions featuring customizable and easily accessible online universities with a full range of tracking and reporting features. With an online library exceeding 2,250 courses authored by more than 100 subject matter experts, RedVector serves professionals and organizations in all 50 states. The recipient of numerous community honors and industry awards, RedVector was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, call 1-866-546-1212 or visit http://www.RedVector.com.
Heather Schmid at Lahore Fort with Students

Ambassador Jilani to host the Pakistan Day festivities with Recording Artist Heather Schmid performing the popular Unity Song. The evening will honor the Pakistani/American collaboration as an example of successful music diplomacy.

The Unity Project is a Pakistani national song performed and produced by American Grammy Member Recording Artist Heather Schmid with lyrics by Pakistani legend Anwaar Maqsood and melody by Ashaad Mehmood. The music video and reality show highlight Heather Schmids musical collaborations in the 5 provinces of Pakistan.

Phelay Hum Pakistani Hain fused American pop rhythms with Pakistani regional instruments, and local musician melodies. Celebrating Pakistani musicians, instruments and traditions by bringing them to a wider audience through the medium of pop music, the Unity Song reached every corner of Pakistan through radio, TV, Internet, local and national events. Ms. Schmids performances and interviews on TV in Pakistan are appreciated as symbols of Music Diplomacy between the nations.

The Unity Project/Pehlay Hum Pakistan Hain is a western produced pop song performed and co-produced by classically trained American GRAMMY recording artist Heather Schmid.

Iconic Pakistani legends Anwar Maqsood and Ashaad Mehmood collaborated to write the lyrics and the melody. Berklee School of Music Professor and Boston Symphony Orchestra player Jon Finn added guitar to the production.

During the summer of 2013, a highly tumultuous time with many security concerns in Pakistan, Heather and Rafay Mehdi traveled to rural villages in Pakistan. Heather Schmid recorded the musicians playing and performing in their village with their instrument, then added the part to the final song back in Los Angles while mixing and mastering.

The Unity Song was released with a Music Video on August 13, 2013 by every major media outlet. The Pakistan National Holiday was celebrated by live performances with Heather Schmid and Pakistani musicians live and on TV throughout the country.

Pakistan 2013-2015 Heather Schmid traveled to Pakistan to perform live the Unity Song/Pehlay Hum Pakistani Hain. The media coverage is currently over 190 million views.

The overall sentiment of Pakistani citizens in the country and worldwide was of gratitude for celebrating the music and musicians in Pakistan. Sharing the positive collaborating between Pakistani legend musicians and American GRAMMY recording artist Heather Schmid allow the listeners to embrace and emulate this musical diplomacy. The reaction from the people of Pakistan have been almost universally grateful and positive, earning her the informal title of Music's Global Ambassador.
Meaning water of life, Aquavit is a staple of Scandinavian culture, often found at festive gatherings. Embracing time-honored distillation methods, our distillers are able to craft an Aquavit thats For us to tie for Best in Show with Dewars 1846 Signature Scotch Whiskey, which retails at $199 is unbelievable. We are happy to see so much growth so quickly and are proud to let the quality of our products speak for themselves through these awards.

The first distillery to call Grand Rapids home, Long Road Distillers, announced today their international awards at the 2016 Denver International Spirits Competition. The West Michigan distillery was evaluated among over 200 applicants and was awarded the Best in Show, double gold, a silver medal and two bronze medals. The Best in Show category recognized Long Road Aquavit as the finest product in the entire competition when compared across categories.

The Best in Show award, which tied with Dewars 1846 Signature Scotch Whiskey, is Long Road Distillers Aquavit which is a staple of Scandinavian culture, often found at festive gatherings. Embracing time-honored distillation methods, Long Road distillers crafts an Aquavit thats made in Michigan yet true to its Northern European roots.

From the beginning it was our goal to make the best spirits in the world right here in Grand Rapids, said Kyle Van Strien, co-owner at Long Road Distillers. For us to tie for Best in Show with Dewars 1846 Signature Scotch Whiskey, which retails at $199 is unbelievable. We are happy to see so much growth so quickly and are proud to let the quality of our products speak for themselves through these awards.

The full list of awards received at the 2016 Denver International Spirits Competition were:



Double Gold; Best in Show  Long Road Aquavit

Silver Medalist  Vodka (Made from Wheat): Long Road Original Vodka

Bronze Medalist  Vodka Flavored/Infused: Long Road Wendy Peppercorn

Bronze Medalist  Gin Dry: Long Road Gin

We have always put an emphasis on doing things the right way at Long Road, said Jon OConnor, co-owner at Long Road Distillers. We have a no shortcuts policy and only use the best ingredients from regionally sourced providers. Earning these awards makes that commitment to quality worthwhile.

Long Road Distillers competed alongside well known spirits such as Dewars, Bacardi, Johnnie Walker and Jim Beam.

The 5th Annual Denver International Spirits Competition was held on March 12 & 13, 2016 at the Omni Interlocken Resort, Broomfield, Colorado. Participants entered products within the categories of gin, rum, whisky, vodka, and other specialty spirits. The products were judged in a double blind format ranked on a 100-point scale by a prestigious panel of 20 of America's most respected spirits authorities.

For more information about Long Road Distillers please visit: http://www.longroaddistillers.com

About Long Road Distillers:

Long Road Distillers was born from the belief that making world-class spirits means never taking shortcuts along the way. After becoming the first craft distillery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Long Road Distillers formed relationships with local farmers to bring that mission to Grand Rapids West Side neighborhood. Each spirit produced at Long Road Distillers is milled from locally sourced ingredients, fermented, and distilled on-site. The result is an uncompromised lineup of spirits including Vodka, Gin, Whisky and more. Their spirits, along with a handcrafted collection of cocktails and a wide variety of food can be enjoyed at their tasting room.
The Aftermath of Google's Mobilegeddon 25% of the analysed websites that didnt appear as mobile-optimized in April 2015 have since gone on to implement some kind of mobile optimization strategy. Of these, the majority - 85% - have used responsive web design to go mobile.

Appticles performed two time-lapsed studies that looked at the state of web development targeting mobile devices across a vast swathe of the marketplace, providing insights into how mobile support operated before Google's algorithmic change (April, 2015), the reaction of businesses after the change, and the potential impacts of future changes on development methods.

Appticles.com is the mobile publishing platform that empowers online newspapers and magazines to package their existing content into mobile & tablet applications that run directly in the browser, thus eliminating the need for an App Store.

"An unprecedented demand has been unleashed on the web for a swift solution to Googles move and, as anticipated, site owners have responded with urgency and approached the situation in various ways," said Ciprian Borodescu, CEO at Appticles. "25% of the analysed websites that didnt appear as mobile-optimized in April 2015 have since gone on to implement some kind of mobile optimization strategy. Of these, the majority have used responsive web design to go mobile."

Titled The Aftermath of Googles Mobilegeddon, this white paper notes that of the 42% of web entities who had no support for mobile devices, a quarter of those had adopted a mobile strategy of some sort. This still left a sizable chunk - 31.5% of the total sample - failing to keep pace with the technology of their users. The downward shift in null compliance was inversely mirrored by an increase of 8.56% in sites using responsive web design. The average Google PageSpeed Insights scores increased dramatically with 30% more sites achieving a score above 60. News sites saw one of the most unusual shifts: those that already catered to mobile web users became 530% more likely to have a mobile application available for download.

The white paper covers a wide range of critical topics including:



The Four Methods of Approaching Mobile Interaction

Methods and Results of the First Web Survey

Overall Results Prior to the Algorithm Change

The Aftermath of Mobilegeddon

Results By Business Category

Looking to the Future

To download a complimentary copy of the white paper, register here.

About Appticles

Appticles.com empowers online publishers to directly engage their mobile users by vastly simplifying the technical aspects of having an application and eliminating the need for an App Store. In other words, Appticles allows publishers to package their existing content into mobile & tablet applications that run directly in the browser. That easily translates into a significant increase in mobile user engagement, which ultimately means more revenue opportunities for online publishers.

As an extension of its platform, Appticles currently owns the 2nd biggest WordPress mobile plugin on the market with close to 900,000 downloads.
This years awards are presented to four very deserving recipients in each of the categories for their vision and the contributions they have made to the engineering software community, both individually and collectively.

The CAD Society today announced three of the four winners of this years CAD Society Awards. The fourth winner will be announced during COFES 2016 (Congress On the Future of Engineering Software), which is also the venue where all of the awards will be presented.

The CAD Society Awards annually acknowledge the contributions made by individuals who have significantly affected and developed the CAD, engineering, manufacturing, and architecture software industries.

** Peter Marks Pioneer Award  Blake Z. Courter, Stratasys **

The Peter Marks Pioneer Award was established in 2010 as a special award to acknowledge the contributions and prescient vision of key individuals who have contributed greatly to the industry. Not an annual award, the honor has only been given on two other occasions. In 2010 the award was first given to Peter Marks in whose honor the award is named, and in 2013 it was given to Alan Kay. This third award is to honor Blake Courter in recognition of his continuous reexamination and exploration of the possible, for recreating and championing the direct modeling movement, and for his refusal to accept common practice as acceptable.

** Joe Greco Community Award  David Cohn, 4D Technologies **

The CAD Societys Joe Greco Community Award is presented each year for outstanding work in improving communication and developing community within the CAD industry.

David Cohn is receiving the 2016 Community Award for his decades of efforts on behalf of users as a user group co-founder/leader and as a publisher, editor, author, and speakeraddressing the needs of users and building a user community.

Previous award winners of the Community Award include Bob Deragisch, Al Dean, Lynn Allen, and Ralph Grabowski.

** Leadership Award  Peter Schroer, ARAS Corp **

The Leadership Award is presented annually for outstanding technical and business leadership in the CAD industry, and focus and dedication to the needs of CAD users. This years awardee, Peter Schroer, led his company down an unclear path, proved his point, and has disrupted the PLM market. We recognize his leadership, successfully leading the charge and betting big on the idea of open-source PLM, contrary to the prevailing market wisdom.

Past Leadership Award recipients include Jim Heppelmann, Carl Bass, Tony Affuso, Jon Hirschtick, Bernard Charles, and Ping Fu.

** Lifetime Achievement Award  To Be Announced at COFES **

The CAD Societys Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a lifetime of outstanding technical and business contributions to the CAD industry.

The winner of the Leadership Award will remain under wraps until the announcement is made and the award is presented on the evening of April 9, 2016 at COFES 2016.

This years awards are presented to four very deserving recipients in each of the categories for their vision and the contributions they have made to the engineering software community, both individually and collectively, said Jeffrey Rowe, acting president of the CAD Society.

All of the awards will be presented at COFES (Congress On the Future of Engineering Software), this year scheduled for April 7-10, 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

About The CAD Society

The CAD Society is a not-for-profit industry association with the goal of fostering community and encouraging open communication among those who make their living within the CAD industry including AEC, mechanical, manufacturing, and GIS. The CAD Society is dedicated to creating an informative community and improving the tools its members employ in order to get their jobs done. This is achieved by providing an open forum of communication, which helps to illuminate the practices of industry vendors. It has been a leader in creating interoperability guidelines that encourage software vendors to develop applications that can openly share data.

###
Pacific Medical Care Offering 24/7 House Calls (619) 333-8114 Pacific Medical Care now offers 24/7 house calls and mobile diagnostic services to your office, hotel or long term care center!

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The Board Certified physicians at the practice offer San Diego internal medicine, podiatry and pain management services. In addition, the doctor house calls in San Diego also provide mobile diagnostics and blood work. This includes x-ray, ultrasound, echocardiogram and routine labs. Instead of waiting for days to receive results, physicians are able to make clinical decisions in real time.

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We are pleased to announce that ColorPerfect Printing took home the award for Convention Services Partner of the Year, given by VisitPITTSBURGH on March 22, 2016 at their Annual meeting.

ColorPerfect Printing (CPP) was chosen by the staff and Board of Directors of VisitPITTSBURGH, the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau, because of the outstanding service in providing quality printing services and quick turnaround of printed materials for convention clients.

CPP is a full service print provider that specializes in precise, high quality, color printing. The knowledgeable staff is committed to providing their clients with exceptional customer service. Equipped to handle all printing needs of any size, CPP is backed by over 20 years in the printing industry. Located conveniently near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at 804 Penn Avenue, the business is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.  5:00 p.m. Visit http://www.colorperfectprinting.com for more information or to place an order.

We are so honored to accept this prestigious award from VisitPITTSBURGH, said John Wheatley, CPP Operations Manager. We pride ourselves in growing with the ever changing world of the printing industry, and will continue to build and foster our unparalleled dedication to high-quality printing services.

ColorPerfect Printing is owned by Robert Susa, owner of InventHelp, a leading inventor service company. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, CPP is a full service printing and print management firm. They strive to always give their expert advice and friendly service and they help encourage their customers to speak in color. For more information, visit http://www.colorperfectprinting.com or call (412) 288-2525.

# # #
Cash is the lifeblood of any business. While some companies operate solely with their own working capital, most must borrow money from time to time. Borrowing, of course, includes something as mundane as buying goods or services on credit (whether on credit terms or by using a credit card). But most companies of any significant size have a revolving line of credit or a term loan, or both, with a bank or other company that is in the business of lending. This webinar series explores where companies should look for business loans, how to negotiate them, and what to do if they default under them.

As with all Financial Poise webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, and listeners will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the programs.

Episode #3 of the BUSINESS BORROWING BASICS 2016 series is "SBA Loans and Other "Special Programs"." (Register Here). Moderator Christopher Cahill of Lowis & Gellen will be joined by panelists Tom Huffman of Wintrust Bank, Karen Lennon of Wessex504 Corporation, Greg Rotter of Rotter & Associates and William McClain of Windsor Advantage to discuss SBA alternatives to standard bank loans.

A new or expanding business may want to consider looking to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) for help with financing. The SBA participates in a number of loan programs designed for business owners who may have trouble qualifying for a traditional bank loan. Such programs are not direct loans by the government. Rather, they involve a government guaranty, which typically covers between 75 and 90 percent of the loan, thus eliminating much of the risk for the actual lender and enabling the lender to offer more favorable terms o borrowers. The downsides are that additional paperwork needs to be filed, extra fees need to be paid, and it takes longer to get a decision. This webinar focuses on two such programs (504 and 7a), and touches on some other alternatives borrowers have to leverage the governments support of small businesses.

ABOUT FINANCIAL POISE:

Financial Poise provides unbiased news, continuing education, and intelligence to private business owners, executives, investors, and their trusted advisors. For more information contact Emily Goldin at egoldin(at)financialpoise(dot)com or 312-469-0135.
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News

From Bulgaria

Bulgaria Should Adopt Contracts for Difference in the Energy Sector (World Bank)

Tony Thompson, permanent representative of the WB for Bulgaria, said that this scheme has gained the approval of the U.K. and Finland in terms of financing renewables in liberalised markets, while Poland has been using CFD for covering the differences under existing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with coal power plants

AUTHOR: publics.bg



 publics.bg



Bulgaria is to let go of the single-buyer model of its regulated electricity market, Bulgarian energy minister Temenizhka Petkova said during an energy conference held in Sofia on Tuesday. She also spoke about the improvements at the public supplier the National Electricity Company (NEK), which is subject, along with its parent structure - the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), of an upcoming analysis by the World Bank (WB).

Tony Thompson, permanent representative of the WB for Bulgaria, who was also among the speakers at the event organized by Economedia, said that the analyses commissioned by the Bulgarian energy ministry and the state-run BEH. He however went on to precise some of the major conclusions of the analyses.

The WB is to recommend that all power plants managed by BEH sell their electricity at the recently established Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX), another BEH subsidiary. The IBEX currently has only a day-ahead platform, but is to include also intraday and long-term contracts, possibly as soon as H2 of 2016. Mr. Thompson also said that the single buyer model should be replaced by contracts for difference (CFD), stressing that this scheme has gained the approval of the U.K. and Finland in terms of financing renewables in liberalised markets, while Poland has been using CFD for covering the differences under existing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with coal power plants.
A high-end B&N is coming to Scarsdale, NY; an Orange County bookstore is thrown a lifeline; and a Buffalo, NY, bookseller reveals his run-in with the FBI.

Upmarket B&N to Open in Scarsdale, N.Y.: At the eTail West conference last month, Barnes & Noble CEO Ron Boire talked about opening a new prototype store later this year. But combining bricks-and-mortar and digital isnt B&Ns only experiment, it is about to try an upscale store and restaurant in a former Borders location.

Orange Countys Once Upon a Storybook Stays in the Picture: The Tustin, Calif., bookstore, which had planned to close, will now stay open thanks to a new financial partner, Erin Moriarty. The bookstore is planning a chapter 2 celebration next month.

Bookstore Owner Questions Why He Was Targeted by FBI: For two years, the FBI kept tabs on environmental activist Leslie Pickering and his Buffalo, N.Y., bookstore, Burning Books, from which they thought he was running an eco-terrorist cell. After a confidential informant recanted part of her story, Pickering wants to know why the FBI relied on informants with an axe to grind.

Atlanta History Center Bookstore Expands: Souper Jenny, a soup and sandwich shop, will open April 2 in a shared space with the centers expanded bookstore and gift shop.

Pendeltons Armchair Books to Close: Citing declining sales, co-owner Terry Dallas said that the Pendelton, Ore., bookstore will close in April after 34 years.
Publishers of books in the religion and spirituality category met with Publishers Weeklys editors March 14-15 at PWs New York City headquarters. Representatives from Baker Publishing Group, Crown Publishing Group (with its Multnomah, WaterBrook, and Convergent imprints for Christian books), Rowman & Littlefield, Chalice Press, Hachettes FaithWords division, and Penguin Random Houses TarcherPerigee imprint discussed business developments, commented on industry news, analyzed trends and topical shifts, and spotlighted new and forthcoming titles.

With its Bethany House and Revell imprints, Baker Publishing Group is a major publisher of Christian fiction, taking 25% of all genres of Christian fiction sales, according to PubTrack POS data shared by Baker v-p of marketing Steve Oates. Oates also presented data on rising and falling genres (Amish is finally fading; romantic suspense is rising), and outlined some of the publisher's approaches to the top challenges in the Christian fiction segment. One trend Baker pointed to in nonfiction was books on neuroscience and spirituality, such as their Think and Eat Yourself Smart (April) and Switch on Your Brain (2015) by Caroline Leaf, a physician and researcher who weaves religion and spirituality into her books.

Crown Publishing senior v-p and publisher Tina Constable gave an update on the companys three-imprint strategy, with Multnomah publishing for more conservative evangelicals, WaterBrook more in the middle of that market, and Convergent Books doing edgier, sometimes controversial books for Christians. Constable reported vibrant growth in the Christian book market, noting it is a half-billion dollar business annually.

Rowman & Littlefield has religion imprints for Catholics (Sheed & Ward), Episcopalians (Cowley Press), and religion professionals (Alban Books), and owns the Judaica backlist of Jason Aronson. The press sells into the trade and direct to clergy and congregations; it also has a library program. V-p of marketing Linda May noted that R&L likes to challenge readers and prompt controversy with its books, such as Catholic Women Confront Their Church (Sept.) and Sacred Bliss: A Spiritual History of Cannabis, a book about marijuana use as a spiritual practice, by Mark S. Ferrara (Sept.).

Brad Lyons, president and publisher of Chalice Press (associated with the Disciples of Christ) pointed to the death of denominations as shaping Chalices publishing program, which has turned toward issues-oriented bookson topics such as racism and income inequalityby prophets of the 21st century like Melvin Bray (Better: Waking Up to Who We Could Be, Sept.).

FaithWords marketing director Andrea Glickson and senior editor Adrienne Ingrum talked about some of their biggest authorsJoel Osteen and Joyce Meyerbut also highlighted books by emerging writers like Karen Valentin, author of The Mother God Made Me To Be (Mar.), which is unique in the Christian market as a memoir of the once-taboo subject of single motherhood.

Joel Fotinos, publisher of TarcherPerigee, the newly combined imprint of Penguin Random House, discussed the imprints broad range, comprising books on the occult, biblical studies, mysticism, mindfulness, happiness, and creativity, among other topics. He noted that 2017 is the 25th anniversary of the publication of Julia Camerons The Artists Way; TarcherPerigee is rereleasing the book with a new preface as well as a blurb from Elizabeth Gilbert to mark the milestone. The imprint also has a book about marijuana, The Stoners Coloring Book by Jared Hoffman, due out in June.

The coloring book trend has not passed over the religion/spirituality housesBaker, WaterBrook, TarcherPerigee, and FaithWords all have offerings for readers looking to color their way to serenity.

As a result of the religion and spirituality summit, new additions to PWs editorial calendar include categories for conscious living, Islam, gifts such as adult coloring books, and more. In response to readers growing interest in religion and spirituality coverage, PW is planning another summit in midsummer or fall. For more information on the upcoming summit, contact PWs publisher Cevin Bryerman at cbryerman@publishersweekly.com.
Adult Christian historical romance novelist Jody Hedlund puts a new spin on Robin Hood in her Uncertain Choice young adult series. With the second book in the series A Daring Sacrifice (Zondervan) on sale in March, Hedlund discussed why she writes for a YA audience, and how she integrates faith elements into an adventure story.

What drew you from adult fiction to the YA category?

I really wanted to write this series because I was reading some of the other YA books available and realized that there is a population of young adults that needs and wants an alternativeand that some of the best-selling YA books have some values or sexual content that left them uncomfortable. I feel this series offers some of the same excitement teens want but as a sweet, clean kind of romance that can model things that are noble and good.

A Daring Sacrifice incorporates a faith angle without actually preaching from the Bible. How do you maintain that balance?

Its naturally tricky to keep a faith focus and not become preachy. I have three teenagers and two tweens, so I understand theres a need to convey spiritual truths that teens can really relate to, and I think fiction offers that opportunity in an immense way. One way I introduce faith elements is by giving the characters the hero and the heroineflaws they must work through as the story progresses. As they wrestle through those spiritual or character flaws, I want them to grow throughout the book, but I dont want them to end up perfect either. I try to bring some emotional and spiritual resolution to that particular story so they can be in a different spot in the end of the book than where they started.

How does that method apply to the books heroine, Juliana?

Juliana harbors a great deal of bitterness toward wealthy nobles [including her uncle and cousin] who have hurt her and her family through high taxes and cruel laws, so she resorts to stealing from them. Its that Robin Hood twistshe has become the Cloaked Bandit stealing from nobles in order to provide food and other necessities for her followers. Even though Juliana has tried to justify the stealing, deep inside she knows its wrong and [it] doesnt please God. Juliana eventually realizes that she must fight the problems [with] her uncle with honor and sacrifice rather than by sinning and committing crimes.

Why did you decide to base A Daring Sacrifice on Robin Hood?

Fairy tales are timeless, and are classics, and everyone has grown up sharing them and loving them. I think there are just so many different qualities and truths in them that people can continue going back to and relating to. Retellings of fairy tales in different time periods and different settings, whatever it is, are so popular among readersthat happily ever after, what life can really be like, that longing we all have inside of us for something better, something happier than, perhaps, what were going through.
To Sacred Heart United Nations representative Sister Cecile Meijer Related links



Roehampton University

Participate Sign up for an email newsletter from:

PutneySW15.com

WandsworthSW18.com &

WimbledonSW19.com Society of the Sacred Heart representative at the United Nations, Sister Cecile Meijer, pictured right, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Roehampton, at an event in New York to mark the 175th anniversary of the Universitys oldest college. Whitelands College was established in 1841 and is one of the oldest providers of higher education to women in the UK. The University is hosting a number of events during 2016-17 to mark the anniversary and to celebrate prominent women. Sister Cecile is a member of the society and its NGO representative to the United Nations. Proposing her for the award, Jackie Brown, Head of the Universitys Digby Stuart College, which was founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, praised Sister Ceciles commitment to her role at the UN. Born in Amsterdam, Sister Cecile is a graduate of the American University Washington College of Law with considerable experience in international law. Jackie Brown said, Sister Cecile Meijer, as a Religious of the Sacred Heart and as a campaigner for human rights, represents fundamental aspects of our interests at the University. She describes always being interested in internationality; she speaks five languages, has studied and worked in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and America. In this ministry as the congregations NGO representative at the UN she enjoys being surrounded by people from the entire world. Sister Cecile joined the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1986; is an international Roman Catholic religious congregation for women, established in France in 1800. It affiliated with the United Nations in September, 2003 when it was granted Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) status. The honorary doctorate in divinity was presented during an event hosted by Roehamptons Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul OPrey for alumni and friends of the University at Convent of the Sacred Heart school in New York this week. Attendees at the reception included representatives from the growing number of US educational institutions with which Roehampton has partnerships. The reception marks the first in a series of events marking the 175 anniversary of Whitelands College, the centrepiece of which is a reception at Westminster Abbey in May this year.

March 24, 2016
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UnitedHealthcare recently hired 236 people to work out of a new Iowa operations center at 255 E.90th St., just east of the Davenport Municipal Airport.

The 30,000-square-foot office (in a renovated building) and staff will serve the companys Medicaid members in Iowa, according to a Tuesday news release from the Minnesota-based health insurance giant. UnitedHealthcare also will expand its Iowa headquarters in West Des Moines, bringing the total number of employees across the state to more than 1,000, the release said.

Community leaders, UnitedHealthcare executives and employees will celebrate the opening of the new Davenport operations center at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday at 10 a.m.

UnitedHealthcare is one of the health plans participating in the IA Health Link program, which provides health benefits to nearly 200,000 Iowans on Medicaid. The company serves more than half a million people altogether in the state enrolled in employer, state health exchange, TRICARE (for active-duty and retired military), Medicare and now Medicaid plans, according to the Tuesday release.

UnitedHealthcare -- which had 2015 revenues of $131 billion -- is part of UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest health benefits carrier. It also has an office in Moline on John Deere Commons at 1300 River Drive.
One tree changed Mark Hirsch's life. Now, the friendly 55-year-old photographer hopes to similarly inspire Quad-Cities students.

"My goal is to help kids unleash creativity and get comfortable with who you are and how you see things," Mr. Hirsch, the current Quad City Arts artist in residence, said this week. He's received national recognition for his coffee-table book of iPhone photos, That Tree."

"That's hard enough as an adult. It's really hard for kids to get comfortable with that stuff 'cause they spend so much time worrying about what their peer group says or thinks," he said. "To me, it's an impediment to the creative process because kids give up. They miss those opportunities that might be incredibly rewarding for them and incredibly rewarding to others."

Mr. Hirsch had his world turned upside down twice  first in 2006, when he was let go after a 19-year career as a photojournalist at The Telegraph-Herald in Dubuque. He built a successful freelance career; then in October 2011, Mr. Hirsch was hit by a truck in South Dakota and almost killed.

After taking his first picture with a new iPhone, he was hooked by its convenience, ease of use and spectacular images. He'd never shot photos just for fun and was captivated by a lone bur oak tree two miles from his home in Platteville, Wis. Mr. Hirsch was inspired by a friend to use his iPhone to take a photo of that tree each day, from different perspectives, for a full year, and he posted them on Facebook a day at a time.

He'd driven by the tree for 19 years but had never photographed it. "It was unlike anything I had ever done before," Mr. Hirsch recalled, noting he started the project March 24, 2012.

"I really embraced the simplicity, because the simplicity proved to be very liberating," he said of not having to deal with bulky cameras and lenses.

The full-color hardcover book of those photos was published by Press Syndication Group, and the passionate photog was featured on CBS Sunday Morning in July 2013 before the book came out.

Mr. Hirsch regularly exhibits photos of "That Tree" in galleries (including previously at Quad City Arts in Rock Island), and his story has been featured by NBC News, The Daily Mail (UK), The Des Moines Register and The Sierra Club.

"It challenged me like nothing had challenged me before," he said of the project. "We get comfortable in so many aspects of our lives. I tell people, don't wait for a tragedy to inspire you to look at things differently. Embrace a new challenge."

Mr. Hirsch is in residence here through April 8, as part of Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series. He is conducting after-school photography camps with students from North Scott High School and Rock Islands Edison and Washington junior high schools.

These students will produce work to be shown in an exhibit in April at Quad City Arts. Mr. Hirsch also will give lectures and demonstrations to local K-12 schools, community groups and libraries.

Sparking a new digital vision among students is easier since most kids have an iPhone or Android and are well-versed in sharing their photos all over social media, he said.

"Make pictures that make you happy," Mr. Hirsch advised, speaking from profound experience. "It boils down to personal satisfaction. My goal is to help kids look at their own work more critically."

He also wants to help students see things from a different angle. "It's about taking chances."

Most people see things at eye level, until someone challenges them to climb a tree or lay down in the grass, Mr. Hirsch said. "People are uncomfortable doing things people are gonna scrutinize them for. My other goal is to get kids to think, 'Let them scrutinize you.' It doesn't matter, because you're looking for something they're not looking for. Most people won't change their view."

"To be able to hopefully inspire a bunch of young kids, to be able to work one-on-one with high school kids, I'm so excited by that," he said. "It's a phenomenal opportunity."

"Artistic, creative outlets come in many forms  it can be painting, drawing, verbal, written. We have the tools right in our pocket now," Mr. Hirsch said of powerful mobile devices.

He also wants to share that there are many changes in life that are beyond our control, whether a health issue, job or personal struggle. "Don't throw in the towel. Don't be defined by adversity; be defined by how you deal with it," Mr. Hirsch said. "That's what's driven me."

He still adds photos of that gnarled old bur oak (in the middle of a cornfield) to the tree's Facebook page (facebook.com/photosofthattree), which has 43,412 likes. His photo journal also is at thattree.net.

"It's just unbelievable I'm able to do this," Mr. Hirsch said. "Compared to all those years in the newspaper industry, this is so much more rewarding. It's much more personally fulfilling."

He will give a free lecture Tuesday, April 5, at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport. Cocktail hour with a cash bar will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Copies of That Tree will be available for purchase.
They may have been compared to a young "Bonnie and Clyde," but two juveniles accused in a rash of thefts held little resemblance to the notorious outlaws when they appeared in court Wednesday.

The teens -- identified in court records as Ashton Chance Armstrong, 17, of Benton, Ark., and Heidi M. Shipp, 15, of Fort Polk, La., -- appeared quiet and reserved at separate hearings to determine if they should remain in the custody of Scott County's juvenile court services.

At the end of both hearings before Judge Christine Dalton, the answer was "yes."

"I'm going to leave you in detention," the judge told Ms. Shipp, citing the seriousness of the charges and adding that Scott County would be unable to properly supervise her if she was allowed to return to her home state.

Judge Dalton also said the safety of the community was a factor. Police still were working to determine what happened "between Louisiana and Iowa," the judge said, but noted two loaded guns were found among a cache of items the teens are alleged to have stolen during a two-week, cross-country trek.

Authorities say Mr. Armstrong drove his grandmother's vehicle, without permission, to pick up Ms. Shipp. The teens -- reported missing on March 3 -- allegedly drove through more than 10 states, committing burglaries along the way to "sustain" themselves, police said.

A rash of vehicle and garage burglaries were reported late March 16 and early March 17 in northeast Bettendorf. When a victim reported a stolen credit credit had been used to obtain a room at the Hotel Davenport, police responded and arrested the teens.

The two originally were charged in Scott County with five felony counts of second-degree burglary, eight misdemeanor counts of third-degree burglary and one misdemeanor count of carrying weapons.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Noah Poppelreiter said Mr. Armstrong's grandmother has declined to press charges for the theft of her vehicle. He also said his office also filed an additional misdemeanor count of credit card theft, alleging the teens used a stolen card to obtain the Hotel Davenport room for about $70, plus about $20 worth of food from a nearby McDonald's.

Prosecutors intend to keep Ms. Shipp's case in juvenile court, Mr. Poppelreiter said, but have filed a motion seeking to try Mr. Armstrong in adult court. His case is set for a further detention review hearing March 30 and a motion hearing April 18.

Ms. Shipp, through her attorney Wednesday, waived further detention review hearings, agreeing to remain in Scott County custody until further action in her case.
A Kewanee man argued in Henry County Court on Tuesday that what he was driving April 11, 2015, was a low-speed bicycle and not subject to motor vehicle or drunken driving laws.

Kendall L. Brown, 54, was charged April 13 with four counts felony driving under the influence, including a Class 1 charge for the fifth instance. He has been in custody on $75,000 bond since charges were filed.

During Tuesday's bench trial, Kewanee Police Officer Eric Peed testified to seeing Mr. Brown on his conveyance on Lakeview Avenue at 8:20 p.m. April 11 with no headlights or taillights, then turning off on an alley without signaling.

He said Mr. Brown was not pedaling on Lakeview, but may have started pedaling in the alley. The driving under the influence charge was based on the odor of alcohol coming from him, his glassy eyes, a horizontal gaze field sobriety test and the way some of his answers didn't make sense to the officer; for example, he said he took medication for disorderly conduct.

Low-speed bicycles are defined by Illinois law as those with fully operable pedals, gasoline motor, less than 1 horsepower with a maximum speed of less than 20 mph on a level surface powered solely by the motor with an operator of 170 pounds.

Officer Peed said Kewanee police tried to find a small-engine dynamometer to test horsepower without success.

On cross-examination, public defender Scott Clemens established that Kewanee police are basing their determination that the bicycle is a motor vehicle and not a low-speed bicycle on the fact Officer Peed clocked Sgt. Stephen Kijanowski  estimated weight 240 pounds including gear -- driving it at 22 mph on a level stretch of the road between the police station and a storage facility.

Officer Peed also testified that another Kewanee resident has a bicycle that meets the qualifications of a low-speed bike and that visual observation indicates Mr. Brown's engine was much larger than that of the other bicycle.

Mr. Clemens had a conflict Tuesday afternoon, and Officer Peed has an upcoming conference, so the trial was continued to a date to be determined. It's anticipated the man who built Mr. Brown's bicycle will testify as a witness for the defense.
A Rock Island woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to accusations that she faked a cancer diagnosis and divorce to deceive a fellow church member out of more than $100,000.

Felica Howard, 44, appeared briefly in court, using her jail jumpsuit to shield her face from media cameras, as she had at a previous court appearance.

Through her attorney, Dora Villarreal, Ms. Howard waived a preliminary hearing. Her case was continued by Rock Island County Judge Frank Fuhr to an April 22 pretrial conference. A tentative final plea date of May 5 and trial day of May 9 also were set.

Ms. Howard remained in custody Tuesday evening on a $100,000 bond.

Charges allege Ms. Howard received more than $133,000 from a 78-year-old churchgoer whom she allegedly told she had cancer. Ms. Howard is accused of telling the man she needed money for medication and treatment at a Minnesota cancer center, as well as to support her children and to finance her pending divorce, "none of which was true," charges say.

Ms. Howard met the alleged victim in 2013 at a Moline church where the 78-year-old was a member and church treasurer, according to court records.

The church provided charitable aid to Ms. Howard in the form of "minor financial assistance" to help pay for lodging and transportation, but once the fund was "exhausted," the man offered up his own money, records say.

East Moline police spoke with the man in late January, after receiving a tip that he might be the victim of financial exploitation.

The 78-year-old said he was told by Ms. Howard that she was undergoing expensive cancer treatments and had received some financial help from a cancer support center in Davenport. However, when contacted by police, the center said they had no record of Ms. Howard, according to court records.

Police also spoke to Ms. Howard's probation officer and reviewed jail records dating back to 2003 but could find no indication that she was on any medication or had been diagnosed with any medical problems.

Ms. Howard, who also uses the last names of Bomar and Grandberry, was arrested in January 2014 by the Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, an area police unit specializing in drug enforcement, in connection with a heroin investigation.

QCMEG agents continued to have contact with Ms. Howard following her arrest and told East Moline police they had no knowledge of Ms. Howard having cancer or traveling to Minnesota, court records say.

A search warrant filed last month, seeking records of money provided by the church to Ms. Howard, said the 78-year-old man told police he had Parkinson's disease and a family history of Alzheimer's.

People in that situation can be "particularly vulnerable and susceptible to financial exploitation and scams," the warrant said. It also stated Ms. Howard was known to have a history of drug use and that it was not uncommon for individuals to commit associated crimes to support such a habit.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Monday also sentenced 27-year-old Tyler Lang of Los Angeles to three months' time already served and ordered him to pay $200,000 to the couple that operated the farm in Morris.

Lang and 28-year-old Kevin Johnson of Los Angeles each pleaded guilty to conspiring to travel in interstate commerce with the purpose of damaging an animal enterprise. Johnson was sentenced last month to three years in federal prison.

Lang and Johnson were accused of vandalizing the farm and releasing the mink in August 2013. About 1,600 of the mink were recovered.
DeJuan Pratt was sentenced Tuesday to natural life plus 30 years by Judge Charles Burns after being found guilty of murder, armed robbery and arson in the killings of 64-year-old Gary Brown and 48-year-old Chun Xiao Lee.

The 27-year-old Pratt was arrested at O'Hare International Airport after returning from Las Vegas. Authorities said he used the victims' credit cards for airfare and lodging at a high-end hotel.

The bodies of Brown, a former Kankakee County prosecutor, and Lee were found in a bedroom by firefighters responding to the blaze in their apartment.

Assistant Public Defender Julie Koehler says Pratt graduated Central State University near Dayton. He moved to Chicago and enrolled in a master's program at Roosevelt University.
MOLINE -- Moline aldermen have given tentative approval to a contract meant to see the Autumn Trails development completed.

Autumn Trails, an independent-living community for senior citizens, is located on the former Bethany Home for Children site, west of 3rd Street between 11th and 12th avenues, Moline.

The original developer, Autumn Trails LLC, completed about 90 percent of the proposed development but was unable to finish the rest, leaving a couple of townhouses unfinished and several more unbuilt, Ray Forsythe, city planning and development director, said.

The new development agreement is with KAS Co. Inc. The company is to acquire the title from Midwest One Bank and complete the development.

KAS plans to complete the unfinished buildings, build four duplexes and one single-family home, Mr. Forsythe said.

As the developer, KAS must pay back property taxes -- about $29,000 -- and acquiring the title is expected to cost about $100,000, Mr. Forsythe said.

But those costs will be reimbursable through a tax-increment-financing district the city created in 2005 in support of the project, he said. Reimbursement to KAS through TIF funds is limited to $340,050.

As of Tuesday, the TIF had about $190,000 available and is expected to generate about as much in in 2017, Mr. Forsythe said.

Completing Autumn Trails is expected to cost about $2.2 million, he said.

The vote, during Tuesday's regular committee meeting was unanimous.

Also during the committee of the whole, the aldermen unanimously approved these measures:

-- The sale of 600 8th St., Moline, to B.M. Bagby Inc. for $108,000. Bagby plans during the next five years to build five townhouses on the site as part of the Hawk Hollow development.

-- A $1,307,193.75 contract with Walter D. Laud Inc. for pavement patching in 2016.

Measures approved at committee of the whole must still be presented at a city council meeting for final action.

During Tuesday night's city council meeting, the aldermen also unanimously approved beginning talks with East Moline and Milan about creating a single emergency call center for the three communities. East Moline and Moline already share a center. Milan has its own.

In order to keep receiving state funding, Illinois communities now are required to consolidate call centers where possible. The aldermen will have final say in approving any plan that comes from the talks.

Two other measures approved Tuesday concern the South Slope Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is near SouthPark Mall.

 A $747,000 contract with Leander Construction Inc. for upgrades and repairs to equipment and a building roof.

 An agreement with Strand Associates Inc. for the project's engineering work. That contract is for $60,000.

Another ordinance that would allow a $2.1 million loan to the developer working on "The Q" passenger rail terminal received its first reading Tuesday.

"The Q," a combined rail station and business development, is being built between 12th and 15th streets from 4th Avenue to the railroad tracks.

The loan to Moline Promenade Investors will cover a gap created because federal tax credits will not be coming when initially expected, Mr. Forsythe has said. Those credits don't pay out until construction is completed.

He said the loan will keep construction on schedule and allow grant and contract deadlines to be met.

The developer must pay it back over 18 months with interest.

It will be presented for final action in April.
ROCK ISLAND -- The Rock Island County Board voted Tuesday to get rid of pension and health care benefits for county board members and to reduce the size of the board from 25 to 15 members.

The votes came after a lengthy and, at times, chaotic debate that saw multiple attempted amendments and confusion among board members.

But in the end, the votes secured a package of reforms that supporters have said answer public calls for change in how the board has operated.

The proposal to end health benefits, which are used by seven of the board's 25 members, was pushed back from April to June.

A previous amendment, made by Don Johnston, D-Moline, would have ended health benefits as board members' terms expire, which would have left benefits in place for some members for another two years and ended others this year. Mr. Johnston's amendment was defeated 17-7.

A group of board members, including Mr. Johnston, had argued it was unfair to give those still participating in the health insurance program one month to find a new policy.

Kai Swanson, D-Moline, who had supported the original resolution to end health benefits from April 30, proposed a compromise of sorts by amending the resolution so that benefits would end in June. Mr. Swanson's amended resolution was approved 16-8.

Those voting against the resolution were Steve Ballard, D-Moline; Steve Doye, D-Moline; Chris Filbert, R-Cordova; Mr. Johnston; Don Jacobs, D-East Moline; Ed Langdon, D-Rock Island; Mia Mayberry, D-Rock Island; and Bob Westpfahl, R-Milan,

There was less debate on ending the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund pension benefits available to board members. Twelve board members currently participate in the IMRF program.

The board voted 21-3 to make board members ineligible for the program, with Mr. Ballard, Mr. Johnston and Mr. Westpfahl voting against the proposal.

To participate in the IMRF, board members are supposed to spend at least 1,000 hours a year on county board business. Board chairman Ken "Moose" Maranda said there was "no proof" that board members who participate all were putting in 1,000 hours annually.

The vote on reducing the size of the board provoked the most intense debate, although the board in the end voted 14-10 in favor of cutting the board from 25 to 15 members after the 2020 census.

However, the vote has no binding power, as the county board in place after the census will have the authority to determine the size of the board and could leave it the same, reduce it or increase it.

Richard Brunk, D-Moline, had proposed removing the number 15 from the resolution so that it would merely say the question of any reduction would be addressed after the census.

The proposed amendment was defeated by 12 votes to 11, with Mr. Johnston abstaining. Mr. Johnston attempted to change his vote to support Mr. Brunk's amendment, but Mr. Maranda overruled him.

Those opposing the resolution to reduce the board said they were concerned about tying the future board to the number 15, even if the resolution was nonbinding. Several also expressed concern that reducing the board could dilute minority and rural representation.

The 10 members who voted against reducing the board in the final vote were Mr. Ballard; Mr. Brunk; Mr. Johnston; Mr. Jacobs; Mr. Westpfahl; Larry Burns, D-East Moline; Mike Burns, D-Silvis; Kim Callaway-Thompson, D-Rock Island; Mia Mayberry, D-Rock Island; and Pat Moreno, D-Silvis.

Drue Mielke, R-Coal Valley, said voting to reduce the board to 15 members was important, as the public had voted overwhelmingly for that to happen in a 2012 referendum.

But Mr. Johnston said the board was making "cosmetic changes" at the same time as it was raising taxes "willy-nilly" and forcing through the construction of a new courthouse without a referendum.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)  A few miles from Disneyland is a place most tourists never see. The signs along the thoroughfare suddenly switch to Arabic script advertising hookah shops, Middle Eastern sweets and halal meat.

At a run-down strip mall in the neighborhood known as Little Arabia, flags from a half-dozen Muslim countries flap in a stiff breeze. Flying above them is a giant American flag.

After Sen. Ted Cruz called for increased surveillance of Muslims in the U.S., many people in this community and others like it either challenged the Republican presidential candidate or dismissed his comments as mostly meaningless rhetoric.

Majd Takriti, 43, stopped to discuss Cruz's remarks as he picked his mother up from a butcher shop. He said he took Cruz and rival Donald Trump with a grain of salt.

"A lot of what they say is to attract attention," Takriti said.

A block down the street, Jordanian native and 44-year U.S. resident Wathiq Bilbeisi slurped on lentil soup during his break at a Jordanian restaurant. He seemed mystified by the concern among some non-Muslim Americans about the candidates' comments.

"The politicians, they want to say whatever the constituents want to hear. I don't think they mean what they say, and in the end, they'll have to come to terms with themselves," he said.

Bilbeisi wasn't worried about the GOP seeking major changes to U.S. law.

"When they go to Congress to get laws to watch the Muslims, nobody's going to do anything about it," he said. "It's against American values."

At a nearby hookah shop displaying pipes in a rainbow of colors, employee Guss Zayat questioned whether IS members were true Muslims.

"They are killing more Muslims than anyone else in this world. They are killing children. They are killing Christians and Muslims in our home countries," said Zayat, who came to America from Beirut about three years ago. Politicians "should know the difference between ISIS and Islam."

Cruz's statement on Tuesday came hours after the deadly attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens of people and wounded many more. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility.

He said law enforcement should be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." Echoing earlier statements from Trump, Cruz also said the U.S. should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State has a significant presence.

In Washington, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates was asked Wednesday at a news conference about calls to step up patrols of Muslim communities. She said the Muslim community "is one of our greatest partners in our fight against terrorism and public safety generally."

Ahmad Tarek Rashid Alam, publisher of the weekly Arabic-language Arab World newspaper and one of the immigrants who helped build Little Arabia, said anti-Muslim statements are familiar.

"This has been going on in every Islamic neighborhood for years," he said. "But now our kids are in the police, in the Army. Are they going to watch us?"

He said Cruz's remarks seemed aimed at exploiting prejudice to get votes.

"The way he talks, it could work maybe 40 years ago. But now, it's too late. Islam is part of the country. . We are already in the country. We're part of the country whether he likes it or not."

Sam Chashku, a Syrian immigrant who arrived in 1996 and married an American-born Christian woman, said Cruz's comments simply made him sad.

"We love this country. We came from nothing. They gave us everything. It's crazy. This country is built on immigrants."

Sometimes, he said, he doesn't want to tell anyone that he's Muslim because "people get offended, and I'm scared of hate crimes."

Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S., said in a CNN interview that he supported Cruz's plan.

Speaking Tuesday in New York, Cruz praised the city's former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods. He called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

After the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to cultivate informants in Muslim communities. In a series of articles, The Associated Press revealed that authorities had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups.

The program was later disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

Kamel Haddouche is overseeing the rebuilding of the Al-Tawheed Islamic Center in Jersey City, N.J. It was destroyed in a fire in 2014.

He said he's met people he's sure were working for law enforcement. They would show up, talk to people and get involved in activities.

The surveillance, he said, makes Muslims feel like they are being watched and they "don't feel free."

"This is what you call a free country? It's not a free country. Especially when you are doing nothing wrong."

The Detroit suburb of Dearborn is widely known as the hometown of Henry Ford, who hired Arabs and Muslims in the early days of the Ford Motor Co. It is now one of the nation's largest and most concentrated communities of people who trace their roots to the Middle East.

Ali Najaf, a senior at the Dearborn campus of the University of Michigan, said the campaign rhetoric is concerning but also motivating. He hopes one day to run for office and tackle some of the issues separating Muslims and non-Muslims.

"Brussels has done one thing: It's made the Muslim community stand on its heel. Even innocent Muslims now feel, 'I need to fight back,'" said Najaf, an Iraqi native who came to the U.S. when he was 9.

"Nobody," he added, "wants to be on the fence anymore."
HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP)  A fired Texas trooper pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of misdemeanor perjury stemming from his arrest last summer of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was later found dead in a county jail.

Brian Encinia entered his plea during a brief appearance before a Waller County judge as protesters gathered outside the courthouse in Hempstead, about 50 miles northwest of Houston. One held a sign that read: "What happened to Sandra Bland?"

About 20 protesters yelled "Tell the truth" and "Sandra still speaks," and at one point directed their chanting at Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith who stood nearby speaking with reporters. Bland's arrest captured on a police dash-camera video provoked national outrage and drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Encinia's attorney, Larkin Eakin, said after Tuesday's arraignment that the perjury charge "represents a fundamental misunderstanding of law enforcement procedures." He said Encinia acted properly during the July 2015 traffic stop and subsequent arrest of Bland.

A county grand jury indicted Encinia in January on the perjury charge for saying in an affidavit that he removed a combative Bland from her car after stopping her near Houston for a minor traffic violation so he could conduct a safer traffic investigation.

Video of the stop shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland, "I will light you up!" She can later be heard off-camera screaming that he's about to break her wrists and complaining that he knocked her head into the ground.

Encinia's affidavit stated he "removed her from her vehicle to further conduct a safer traffic investigation," but grand jurors found that statement to be false, according to prosecutors.

Bland, who was in the process of moving to Texas from the Chicago area, was taken to the Waller County jail in Hempstead. She was found hanging from a jail cell partition three days later. A plastic garbage bag was around her neck.

A medical examiner ruled it a suicide. A grand jury declined to charge any sheriff's officials or jailers in the death.

Bland's relatives have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and members of her family were in the courtroom Tuesday.

"I want an opportunity to allow accountability to be shown," said Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, a Chicago-area resident. "I want answers as to what happened to my daughter, but I still want it to happen in God's way."

Cannon Lambert, the attorney for the family, said they met with prosecutors Tuesday and urged them to aggressively pursue the case against Encinia.

"The family wanted to make clear that their expectations are that (authorities) prosecute him fully and seek the mandatory sentence," he said. "The family is in no way interested in a plea, and the family understands they don't have the authority to force the prosecutors to do what the family wants but they wanted them to be clear exactly what the family is seeking."

A judge last week ordered the FBI to allow Bland's family to review a report of the Texas Rangers' investigation into her death. U.S. District Judge David Hittner's order is part of the Bland family's wrongful death lawsuit filed in Houston against Encinia and others involved in her detention.

The FBI had initially declined to turn over the report, contending it was protected under law enforcement privilege.

Encinia's next court hearing is scheduled for May 17. The perjury charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The Texas Department of Public Safety early this month formally fired Encinia over the stop. He can appeal the decision.

Encinia met last month with DPS Director Steve McCraw, but their conversation gave the agency leader no reason "to alter my preliminary decision," according to a termination letter signed by Encinia.
Authorities dont suspect foul play in the death of Carolyn Robinson, a kitchen worker at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, Atlanta police Lt. Charles Hampton said during a news conference.

Police are reviewing video showing Robinson may have entered the freezer in the lower level kitchen area just after 8 p.m. Monday.

Were still combing through the video just to make sure that theres nothing else going on, Hampton said. She worked in the culinary department of the hotel, so it would appear that she had a reason to be inside the freezer.

Robinsons family contacted the hotel when she did not return home after her shift.

Hotel staffers looked for Robinson and notified police she was found dead in the freezer Tuesday morning.

Hotel spokeswoman Sally McDonald said Westin staff members are working closely with authorities in their investigation and willing to provide whatever support they can for Robinsons family.

We are devastated by the tragic loss of our longtime associate and member of our Westin family, McDonald said.

Evidence does show Robinson tried to get out of the freezer, which had an exit mechanism, Hampton said.

Obviously, I do not have the answer whether or not that mechanism worked or was properly operational, he said.

That will be something the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate, he said.

OSHA has been notified, Hampton said. It doesnt appear that its going to be a criminal matter. But we are and will assist OSHA in any way necessary.
Ronald Hamilton, 32, of Woodbridge, is charged with capital murder for the Feb. 27 shooting death of Prince William County police officer Ashley Guindon, who was working her first shift after being sworn in.

At a pretrial hearing in Prince William General District Court, Hamilton's lawyer, Ed Ungvarsky, said he expects Hamilton's state of mind to be a major issue going forward, though he did not commit to pursuing an insanity defense.

"After serving two tours in Iraq, Sgt. Hamilton presents as a psychologically damaged and mentally impaired person," Ungvarsky told Judge Robert Coleman.

Prosecutors say Hamilton shot Guindon and two other police officers who responded when Hamilton's wife called 911 for help. Crystal Hamilton was found shot dead in her home. The two other officers who were shot, Jesse Hempen and David McKeown, survived.

Court records indicate that Hamilton confessed to the shootings.

Neither Ungvarsky nor Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert would comment on Hamilton's mental health after Tuesday's hearing. Ethical guidelines bar attorneys from discussing potential evidence in the case outside of court.

Ungvarsky's comment came as he argued multiple pretrial motions, including a request for a gag order on all the lawyers in the case, and a request that would bar prosecutors from using a search warrant to obtain Hamilton's personal records, such as health records and phone records. Ungvarsky said prosecutors should instead be required to seek such records through a subpoena, a process that would allow defense lawyers to object to anything they deemed improper.

Coleman rejected all of Ungvarsky's requests, saying he lacked authority as a district judge with limited jurisdiction to grant them. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month, and if a judge finds probable cause, the case will be sent to a grand jury for an indictment and then to Circuit Court for a trial. If convicted, Hamilton could get the death penalty.

Hamilton said very little during the hourlong hearing. He was handcuffed and shackled throughout, and surrounded by four armed deputies.
Press release submitted by Modern Woodmen

Modern Woodmen of America builds on financial and fraternal strength in 2015

In 2015, Rock Island-based Modern Woodmen of America continued to grow its financial and fraternal successes. The fraternal financial services organization reports that life insurance in force grew by more than $800 million for the fifth straight year, and assets reached $14.8 billion. Additionally, Modern Woodmen contributed $19.2 million to communities nationwide through its fraternal member benefits and programs last year.

At Modern Woodmen, we proudly serve members for life, said W. Kenny Massey, president and CEO of Modern Woodmen. Our members value Modern Woodmens financial stability and fraternal offerings.

Continued growth in life insurance in force

Life insurance in force, the total amount of life insurance owned by members to protect their families in case of premature death, increased to $38.1 billion.

Life insurance should be the cornerstone of every financial plan, because it offers valuable protection for the unexpected, said Massey. Our financial representatives work hard to give customized advice on the best product options, such as buying permanent coverage without making permanent payments.

Assets reach $14.8 billion

Modern Woodmens assets increased 4.4 percent from 2014, reaching $14.8 billion. The organizations assets are primarily invested in high-quality, low-risk corporate and government bonds.

First and foremost, Modern Woodmen is fiscally responsible, said Massey. We manage our investments in a way that carefully protects our promises to members.

Annuity assets under management equaled $8.5 billion.

Total life insurance, annuity and other certificate reserves, which are funds held to guarantee future benefits to members, increased 4.3 percent to more than $11 billion.

Strong operational results

Total premium income in 2015 was $1.05 billion. Compared to 2014, variable annuity certificate sales increased 22 percent, and variable annuity premiums increased by 26.4 percent.

Payments and benefits to members in 2015 totaled nearly $837 million. This includes death benefits, annuity payments and surrender benefits. An additional $9.3 million in dividend payments was refunded to life insurance and annuity certificates.

Net gain from operations after dividends was nearly $38 million with a total net income of $50.3 million.

Total surplus and special reserves were nearly $1.6 billion in 2015. Surplus and special reserves provide additional safety for members and ensure Modern Woodmens ability to meet unforeseen events, continue the organizations fraternal programs and provide funds for future growth.

Modern Woodmen has a solvency ratio of 112.09 percent. This means that for every $100 of liabilities (promises made to members), Modern Woodmen has $112.09 of assets to back up those promises.

In comparison to Modern Woodmens strength, the industry average is a solvency ratio of 105.65, or $105.65 of assets for every $100 of liabilities. This is calculated from the 25 leading life insurance companies by assets. (Standard Analytical Service, Inc., 2015)

Fraternal programs support communities nationwide

Modern Woodmens national membership totals more than 765,000 members. In 2015, Modern Woodmen contributed more than $19.2 million to support family-oriented member benefits and programs. These benefits and programs include disaster relief assistance, college scholarships, social and volunteer service programs by adult chapters and youth service clubs nationwide, and educational programs for schools and youth groups.

Fraternal highlights from 2015 include:

 Regional Modern Woodmen offices across the United States organized and participated in 66 meal-packing events with more than 1,700 financial representatives and family members, who packed 598,000 meals for 247 food pantries. The events were a continuation of Modern Woodmens 2014 Knock Out Hunger project, in which home office employees donated 50,000 meals to a nearby food bank.

 Modern Woodmen members are part of 2,791 adult chapters, 274 Summit chapters (for members age 55 and older) and 746 youth service clubs. More than 1 million people attended social, educational and volunteer events sponsored by chapters and clubs.

 Youth service club members recorded more than 142,000 hours of volunteer service; chapter and Summit chapter members recorded nearly 300,000 hours of service.

 1.3 million children benefited through participation in Modern Woodmens free youth educational programs.

 Modern Woodmen members helped raise $14.6 million in total contributions through the organizations Matching Fund Program. The proceeds benefited families and organizations in need in members communities.

Since 1883, Modern Woodmen of America has touched lives and secured futures. The fraternal financial services organization serves members for life, offering financial products and fraternal member benefits to individuals and families throughout the United States.

Securities offered through MWA Financial Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Modern Woodmen of America.

Subject to change, fraternal benefits are not part of the contract and may have specific eligibility requirements.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Islamic extremists struck Tuesday in the heart of Europe, killing at least 31 people and wounding scores of others in back-to-back bombings of the Brussels airport and subway that again laid bare the continent's vulnerability to suicide squads.

Bloodied and dazed travelers staggered from the airport after two explosions  at least one blamed on a suicide attacker and another reportedly on a suitcase bomb  tore through crowds checking in for morning flights. About 40 minutes later, another blast struck subway commuters in central Brussels near the Maelbeek station, which sits amid the European Commission headquarters.

Authorities released a photo taken from closed-circuit TV footage of three men pushing luggage carts, saying two of them apparently were the suicide bombers and that the third  dressed in a light-colored coat, black hat and glasses  was at large. They urged the public to contact them if they recognized him. The two men believed to be the suicide attackers apparently were wearing dark gloves on their left hands.

In police raids across Brussels, authorities later found a nail-filled bomb, chemical products and an Islamic State flag in a house in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, the state prosecutors' office said in a statement.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion in a train pulling away from the platform.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that IS was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some are still on the loose.

"In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who announced three days of mourning in his country's deadliest terror strike.

"Last year it was Paris. Today it is Brussels. It's the same attacks," said French President Francois Hollande.

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, shut the airport through Wednesday and ordered a city-wide lockdown, deploying about 500 soldiers onto Brussels' largely empty streets to bolster police checkpoints. France and Belgium both reinforced border security.

Medical officials treating the wounded said some victims lost limbs, while others suffered burns or deep gashes from shattered glass or suspected nails packed in with explosives. Among the most seriously wounded were several children.

The bombings came barely four months after suicide attackers based in Brussels' Molenbeek district slaughtered 130 people at Paris nightspots, and intelligence agencies had warned for months a follow-up strike was inevitable. Those fears increased following Abdeslam's arrest in Molenbeek, along with police admissions that others suspected of links to the Paris attacks were at large.

A high-level Belgian judicial official said a connection by Abdeslam to Tuesday's attacks is "a lead to pursue." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

Abdeslam has told investigators he was planning to "restart something" from Brussels, said Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. He said Sunday that authorities took the claim seriously because "we found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels."

While they knew that some kind of extremist act was being prepared in Europe, they were surprised by the size of Tuesday's attacks, said Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon.

"It was always possible that more attacks could happen, but we never could have imagined something of this scale," he said.

Officials at the airport in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem said police had discovered a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an explosives-packed vest abandoned at the facility, offering one potential lead for forensic evidence. Bomb disposal experts safely dismantled that explosive device.

Shockwaves from the attacks crossed the Atlantic, where city and airport officials at several U.S. cities increased security force deployments and raised security levels. A U.S. administration official said American intelligence officers were working with European counterparts to try to identify the apparently skilled bomb-maker or makers involved in the Brussels attacks and to identify any links to bombs used in Paris.

The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the investigations and demanded anonymity, told The Associated Press that at least one of the bombs at the airport was suspected to have been packed into a suitcase left in the departures hall.

Three intelligence officials in Iraq told the AP that they had warned European colleagues last month of IS plans to attack airports and trains, although Belgium wasn't specified as a likely target. The officials, who monitor activities in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, said Brussels may have become a target because of the arrest of Abdeslam.

One of the officials  all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about their knowledge of IS operations  said Iraqi intelligence officials believe that three other IS activists remain at large in Brussels and are plotting other suicide-bomb attacks.

European leaders already struggling to cope with a wave of migration from the war-torn Middle East said they must rely on better anti-terrorist intelligence work to identify an enemy that wears no uniform and seeks the softest of targets. They emphasized that Europe must remain tolerant to Muslims as they seek to identify the Islamic State needles in that ever-growing haystack.

Leaders of the 28-nation bloc said in a joint statement that Tuesday's assault on Brussels "only strengthens our resolve to defend European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant."

The United Nations' lead official for Middle East refugees, Amin Awad, warned that Europe faced an increasing risk of racist retaliation against Muslim immigrant communities. "Any sort of hostilities because of the Brussels attack or Paris attack is misplaced," Awad said.

Reflecting the trauma of the moment, Belgian officials offered uncertain casualty totals at both the airport and subway, where police conducted controlled explosions on suspicious abandoned packages that ultimately were found to contain no explosives.

Belgium's health minister, Maggie de Block, said 11 people were killed and 81 injured at the airport, where thousands of passengers were waiting to check luggage and collect boarding cards.

Video posted on social media showed people cowering on the ground in the wake of the blasts, the air acrid with smoke, windows of shops and the terminal entrance shattered, and fallen ceiling tiles littering the blood-streaked floor.

Some witnesses described hearing two distinct blasts, with shouts apparently in Arabic from at least one attacker before the second, bigger explosion.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the airport blasts, told BFM television that pipes ruptured, sending a cascade of water mixing with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed. There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere," he said. "We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene."

Marc Noel was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta. The Belgian native, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, said the first blast happened about 50 yards (meters) from him. "People were crying, shouting, children. ... It was a horrible experience," he said.

A random decision to pause in a shop to buy a magazine may have saved his life. Otherwise, he said, "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first blast took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight bags. He and a colleague said the second blast struck near a Starbucks cafe.

Deloos said a colleague shouted at him to run as the blast sent clouds of shredded paper billowing through the air, and "I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe."

Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said 20 people died and more than 100 were wounded in the subway blast. Rescue workers set up makeshift first aid centers in a nearby pub and hotel.

Passengers on other trains said many commuters were reading about the airport attacks on their smartphones when they heard the subway blast. Hundreds fled from stopped trains down tunnel tracks to adjacent stations. Many told stories of having missed the bomb by minutes or seconds.

"It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro," said commuter Alexandre Brans, wiping blood from his face.

Political leaders and others around the world expressed their shock at the attacks.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible," U.S. President Barack Obama said.

Belgium's king and queen said they were "devastated" by the violence, describing the attacks as "odious and cowardly."

After nightfall, Europe's best-known monuments  the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain  were illuminated with Belgium's national colors in a show of solidarity.
What happens when you couple Tammany Hall with social justice? Tammany Hall was the Democrat Partys political machine.

Tammany played a major role in controlling New York city and state politics by providing social justice to immigrants, most notably the Irish, from 1864 until 1933. Tammany Hall became a facilitator for immigrants, helping them become naturalized citizens.

During the Tweed regime, naturalization committees were established, made up of Tammany operatives. They did the paperwork, provided witnesses, and advanced the fees required for citizenship. Public officials were bribed or otherwise compelled to cooperate. In return, immigrants dutifully supported Tammany candidates.

As a Mick myself, its hard for me to get too upset with the state doling out money to deserving Irishmen -- like myself! I can easily see that what Tammany did for the Irish was sage politics. A lot of Irishmen, just off the boat, got a lot of help for the meager price of their vote.

So just how, does Tammany Hall corrupt something as noble as social justice?

Imagine that every year, for five years, as an act of Christian charity, you donate $10,000 to your church, but that in the sixth year, you make no donation. Your church, however, has become dependent on your annual donation. Without it, it will be forced to cut important programs.

Does your church have a right to sue you to force you to donate $10,000 in year six? If your annual donation is a gift, the answer is, no,

Social justice is the Catholic Churchs effort to extend the duty of Christian charity beyond the individual to the society. The state (society) should provide the conditions that allow ... individuals to obtain what is their due. Society should act so that each should receive what he needs from others. The state should reduce ... economic inequalities and eliminate sinful inequalities. But what exactly is their due? Their needs from others? Excessive economic inequality? Sinful inequality?

The states primary tool to ensure that each receives what he needs from others is income redistribution via taxation. Taxation is also the primary tool to reduce excessive economic equality, and to eliminate sinful inequality.

But taxation involves taking money from the one who earned it, and giving it to one who didnt earn it. And while taxing to provide what is truly needed or to eliminate excessive income inequality can be justified as social justice, taking one cent more is plunder.

There is a selflessness inherent in Christian charity which is soon lost in Social Justice. The state, unlike the individual, has no soul -- has no expectation of heavenly reward. Accordingly, the political parties rather than looking for eternal reward, look instead for something temporal -- votes. Votes may not be a formally bargained for consideration -- but votes, as in the case of Tammany, quickly become the anticipated quid pro quo.

Politics and greed sadly have a corrosive effect on social justice. Rerum Novarum never contemplated employers paying living wages to workers who opted not to work. Leo XIIIs encyclical does not deal with societys duty to provide perpetual welfare benefits to the able-bodied who chose not to work. (I am not referring to the disabled).

What came to be known as a living wage required reciprocity; the worker had a co-relative duty to fully and faithfully perform the work which has been freely and equitably agreed upon.

There are obvious problems with social justice income redistributions. If the state has a duty to make redistributions, the recipient seems to have a co-relative right to receive them. In time, that right comes to be understood as inalienable.

What is due or necessary, in time, always comes to mean more. What is excessive inequality, obtains a more expansive definition as the recipients increase in political power. And the worker is despoiled of the fruits of his labors.

Christian charity is an act of loving ones neighbor. Todays income redistribution aspect of social justice has little in common with love of neighbor. It has become the tool with which cynical politicians use other peoples money to buy votes.

Jack Kennedy told us, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, 50 years later, say, Vote for me and your country will give you free everything.
Be careful what you wish for, is the Rodney Dangerfield of proverbs.

It doesnt get any respect. Americans are hardwired for action. Not restraint. They never met a problem that didnt have a solution.

Posthaste.

I remember as an ROTC cadet stumbling into an L-shaped ambush during training. I momentarily froze. The cadre yelling in my ear: Do something. Even if its the wrong thing. Of course, the situation couldnt have been much worse, but you get the idea. Do something and well sort it out later. Do nothing and there is no later.

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, Admiral Farragut famously said at the Battle of Mobile Bay. All schoolboys (and girls) once memorized that bit of bravado. And, its not just the military. Its everywhere. Celebrated auto executive Lee Iacocca summed up his business strategy thusly: So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just dont sit there.

That kind of thinking produced the Mustang. It also produced the Pinto. Win some. Lose some.

The problem with this action bias is that few problems are as straightforward as an L-shaped ambush. And complex problems deserve solutions that look beyond immediate effects and wishful thinking. Fools rush in and all that.

Prohibition no panacea

Heres an example. Early in the 20th century, progressive reformers promoted prohibition as a panacea for all sorts of social ills. Politicians, eager to save the people from themselves, jumped on the bandwagon and amended the Constitution to ban the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.

The problem turned out to be more complex than the politicians imagined, and their solution led to all sorts of second- and third-order effects. It seemed that the people didnt want to be saved. So, we got speakeasies, bootlegging, and Al Capone. We didnt get the wished-for nirvana of sobriety. Prohibition was soon repealed.

Pols never learn

Youd think the politicians would have learned. No. Forty years later, they declared a new War on Drugs. Not alcohol, of course. Their arrogance knows some bounds. But marijuana, heroin, cocaine, et al. The solution: More bureaucracy (Drug Enforcement Administration), inflexible sentencing guidelines, and more prisons. How could it not work? Let me count the ways. Illegal drug use increased. Prisons filled to overcrowding with low-level street dealers. Powerful drug cartels emerged. Drug violence exploded all along the supply chain. But our fearless (feckless?) leaders never learn.

George Bush: Saddam is a threat to peace and stability. He needs to go. Barack Obama (10 years later): Saddam is dead. Its all good now. We can go.

Fools rush in. Or, out.

Heres the panacea du jour. Despite the concerns of some of the militarys top officers, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter recently ordered all combat roles opened to women. (A senior Defense Department official said the goal was to provide a level, gender-neutral playing field. Silly me, I thought the goal was to win the nations wars.)

Before the ink dried on Carters order, influential voices -- Sen. John McCain among them -- were warning that full-on gender equality would expose women to the draft. Sure enough, two congressmen -- both military veterans -- introduced the Draft Americas Daughters Act requiring all 18- to 26-year-old women to register with the Selective Service.

Were early in this experiment, but there already are signs of trouble. To wit, women arent exactly thrilled. In February 2016, Rasmussen Reports asked women if they wanted to register for the draft. Surprise! A large majority said no. Of course they did. And thats now. When nobody expects a draft.

Maybe itll all work out. Maybe weve outlawed existential threats too.

Gender equity, of course, is a worthy goal. And, the military has benefited enormously from the influx of women into its ranks over the past three decades. Some 16 percent of the Armys soldiers are now female, and women serve in 95 percent of Army jobs. But, lets be careful that the perfect doesnt become the enemy of the good here. You might have to live it.
Meng Brings NASA Astronaut To Queens On October 17, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) brought NASA astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim to Queens where he met and spoke with students at Francis...

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The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on March 21, 2016 celebrated the grand re-opening of the Government Center Station with a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking two years spent reconstructing the station into a fully accessible, safer, modern, more comfortable facility.

The ceremony featured remarks by Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and others.

The reopening of Government Center, done on-time and under budget, represents another step forward as the MBTA works to improve the core system for commuters and visitors alike, said Baker. This project reconnects City Hall Plaza and a key area of Downtown Boston to those here for business and leisure, with an increased focus on greater accessibility for all travelers.

The project, which combined improvements to the Green Line Station, Blue Line Station, and Cambridge Street/Government Center Plaza, brings Government Center Station into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) Agreement. Previously, access to and from the station was provided solely by stairways and escalators.

The success of this project is a testament to the collaboration among all stakeholders, including state and local government and transit officials that went into making it a reality, said Polito. The new Government Center offers enhanced accessibility for riders and is a positive step for customer service delivery at the MBTA.

The station was closed in March 2014. During the two-year reconstruction, both Blue and Green Line trains passed through Government Center Station, but did not stop there. The T greatly appreciates the patience shown by its customers during that time, MBTA said.

Crews have worked hard to keep our pledge to reopen the station in two years  a feat they were only able to accomplish by closing the entire station, rather than parts of it, said DePaola. We were able to work around any issues because we had the whole station available.

The reconstruction features a new head house structure as the primary entrance, raised code compliant platforms to provide accessible boarding of the Green Line low-floor trains, the introduction of new redundant elevators from the street to the Green Line level as well as from the Green Line level to the Blue Line level, new escalators, LED signage, a new and expanded fare collection area, upgraded back-up electrical power supply, improved interior finishes, mechanical systems, lighting, a public address system, and a new emergency exit structure on Cambridge Street.

The open, glass-covered design of the head house provides full views of the surrounding area and sites such as the Old North Church, and serves as a new landmark on City Hall Plaza, a marked departure from its old bunker-like head house. The design of the glass element was a major part of the coordination between the MBTA and the City of Boston, specifically the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

This project provided an opportunity to not only address the key functional needs of the station, but also to add something special to City Hall Plaza, said Pollack.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the revamped station will play a major role in drawing visitors and business to the area.

With our exciting plans to activate City Hall Plaza, the reopening of Government Center will further our efforts to make City Hall a destination, not only for matters of business, but also for pleasure and enjoyment for people of all ages. I commend Governor Baker and all of the workers who played a key role in reconstructing the station, and I look forward to the unveiling of these improvements, said Walsh.
Explosions at the international airport in Brussels and another blast at a metro station killed more than 30 people this morning and wounded hundreds more. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, and the city is on lockdown for the second time in less than four months.

The attack comes after Salah Abdeslam, thought to be responsible for the logistics of the November terror attacks in Paris, was apprehended in the Molenbeek area of Brussels on Friday.

In light of Abdeslam's arrest, today's assault was inevitable, said RAND's Colin Clarke.

It was a matter of when, not if, the next terror attack would strike #Belgium. Sleeper cells likely activated after arrest of #SalahAbdeslam  Colin P. Clarke (@ColinPClarke) March 22, 2016

If the timing of the attack was indeed connected to Abdeslam's capture, the speed with which it came together is alarming, said RAND's Rebecca Zimmerman.

Initial #Brussels thoughts: if truly tied to arrest, demonstrates how quickly planning can turn to action - 4 days is pretty fast.  Rebecca Zimmerman (@_rebeccaz) March 22, 2016

Abdeslam's capture may give authorities a window into the ISIS network in Europe. But in conjunction with today's deadly bombings, the fact that he was able to evade authorities for months after the Paris attacks demonstrates the scope of the jihadist support network in Belgium, said Clarke.

Even with the arrest of #SalahAbdeslam the structural factors that make #Molenbeek a haven for radical jihadists won't be resolved overnight  Colin P. Clarke (@ColinPClarke) March 18, 2016

The last time Brussels was in lockdown, RAND Europe's Ines von Behr and Sonja Thebes explained the dynamics that make the region a hotbed for those plotting attacks on Europe.

To understand Molenbeek, it is necessary to look more closely at the broader political and cultural context of a country that is often described in the media as a 'failed state.' With its differing and conflicting national heritage  Belgium is layered with several levels and units of administration, often with parallel functions. As a result, the country needs to cater to a public that speaks several languages  resulting in a lack of a central administration. The Brussels region alone is home to 19 mayors and municipalities in a capital for 1.2 million inhabitants. The six different police authorities must answer to 19 municipalities, often through an outdated system that makes efficient communication and coordination almost impossible. Each of the local municipalities is responsible for the handling of local government level duties, such as law enforcement, but there is no centralized agency to put the puzzle together. Such an environment creates a vacuum that is all too easily exploited by radicals and extremists.

According to RAND's Brian Michael Jenkins, the Brussels attack shows that Europe is dealing with a different threat than the one facing the United States, where attackers have mostly been so-called lone wolves. This also explains the importance of logistics specialists like Abdeslam in conducting attacks on European soil, he said.

The big difference between [the United States] and Europe and what has made Europe so dangerous is they have a far larger number of returning foreign fighters from Syria, and [the terrorists], more importantly, have a logistical support network in place. These fighters come back home determined to carry out an attack. But they need a place to hide, someone to build bombs, someone to supply weaponsthey need a network. In the U.S., by contrast, we are seeing very little connectivity. We are seeing a single individual or autonomous action. They don't have a terrorist underground here to turn to logistically.

Compounding the tragic news out of Brussels is the fact that Belgium is not the only country ravaged by recent acts of terrorism. Experts also lamented the geographic range and tempo of recent attacks:

#ISIL attack in #Brussels and #AQIM attack in #Mali - together say a lot about terrorism today. AQ barely made news outside Africa.  Rebecca Zimmerman (@_rebeccaz) March 22, 2016

#ISIS global ops aided by foreign fighters but ideological ability to radicalize+inspire will motivate more attacks https://t.co/PQ7RTT9h6r  Becca Wasser (@becca_wasser) March 22, 2016

Follow our experts on Twitter and stay tuned to The RAND Blog for more insights on the Brussels attacks.

 Pete Wilmoth

Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
Multimedia entertainment studio Electus has announced several new promotions within its global distribution arm.





Cyrus Farrokh has been promoted to SVP and head of sales for Electus International , and is responsible for overseeing the markets of Scandinavia, Asia Pacific, France and Italy.Meanwhile, Brad Jorgensen was promoted to SVP and head of Worldwide Operations, and Max Richards became manager, sales and acquisitions, responsible for sales in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEEMA), and Asia.Paulette Bensussen has been promoted to head of Latin America distribution and production, where she will be responsible for sales in Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Israel. And Nick Wang has been promoted to director, and is responsible for sales in the Middle East.Our 2016 line-up represents our strong commitment to bringing exemplary programming to the market, said John Pollak, president of Electus International. We are also dedicated to building the best team in the business, and these well-deserved promotions reflect that.Additionally, Electus International unveiled highlights of its television programming slate. These include original series concepts developed by Electus and its creative partners, as well as successful third-party series that Electus has acquired for international distribution.The company most recently secured the global distribution rights to Cheaters, in a deal that totals 330x60 episodes and 660x30 episodes.
Blackmagic Design has announced that Micro Studio Camera 4K and Video Assist were used for live video feeds and video introductions on Elton Johns All the Hits world tour.





Blackmagic Design Teranex Mini, UltraStudio Express and DaVinci Resolve Studio were also used for concert production on the tour.The British music legend initially chose to use the Micro Studio Camera 4K and Video Assist to help facilitate an electronic press kit and impromptu video messages to help promote the tour, but the products ended up helping him further.I used the Micro Studio Camera 4K as a POV camera to give me more live shots and angles, hence greater video coverage of each show, said John. The Video Assist helped me check lines to see if I was getting the correct signal and frequency into our media server. Or Id use it at the end of a long cable run or to see if a bit of kit was operating correctly. I also used it as a recorder and was able to get ISO recordings.Blackmagic also recently said that the Vaticans Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce has enlisted Blackmagic Design to provide a 4K broadcast studio update.
French prosecutors launch investigation into Brussels terror attacks - report

MOSCOW, March 23 (RAPSI)  Paris prosecutors have launched an investigation into terror attacks at Brussels, AFP news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the agency, this is a standard procedure because 8 French citizens are victims of these attacks, 3 of them are in critical condition.

Two explosions occurred at the Brussels Airport on Tuesday. Belgian authorities believe that one of the explosive devices could be triggered by a suicide bomber. A third explosion occurred in the subway at the Malbec station. 34 people died in the terror attacks, another 230 were injured.

"Islamic State" ( ISIS , banned in Russia and some other countries ) terrorist group has assumed responsibility for these terror attacks.
HRW, March 23, 2016

By Heather Barr

Each year, dozens or even hundreds of women and girls in Afghanistan are subjected to invasive, humiliating, and sometimes painful vaginal and rectal exams in the name of science. These so-called virginity exams are not just demeaning  they constitute sexual assault and are often used as evidence against women in court for the crime of zina, or sex outside of marriage.

The governmental Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission recently interviewed 53 women and girls as young as 13 who had been accused of zina, an act punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Forty-eight of these women and girls had been sent for virginity exams performed by Afghan government doctors. Twenty were examined more than once  up to four times in a couple of cases. One woman said that there were six people in the room watching the examination.

Doctors write reports based on these examinations, and they are used as evidence in courts hearing the moral crime accusation against the woman or girl. These reports often draw conclusions on whether a woman or girl is a virgin, and whether she recently or habitually engaged in sexual intercourse.

Virginity exams are bogus. Many people mistakenly believe that virginity can be determined because the hymen is always broken when a woman or girl has sexual intercourse for the first time. This is simply not true. Some girls are born without a hymen; hymens often break during daily non-sexual activities, and some hymens remain intact after sexual intercourse. Purported virginity exams are so unreliable that the World Health Organization has said that they have no scientific validity and health workers should never conduct them.

The continued use of degrading and unscientific virginity exams by the Afghan government is part of a broader pattern of abuses in which women and girls in Afghanistan are jailed on spurious moral crimes accusations, often in situations where they are fleeing forced marriage or domestic violence. The government should end these arrests entirely and reform the law that permits them. Banning all virginity exams could be an important first step toward reform. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani could abolish these exams through an executive order. Recognizing everyones inherent dignity, respecting human rights, and appreciating real science over pseudo-science all demand he do so.

Originally published on Feb. 29, 2016
Purestock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The deadly terror attacks Tuesday in Brussels have raised fears among travelers about their safety and questions about what they need to know as they plan trips abroad.



The Islamic State has claimed credit for the bombings, prompting worries that similar attacks could soon be carried out in Europe or the United States. Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, which remains a crime scene, has been shut down and will remain closed until at least Thursday.



And airports around the world have strengthened the screening of passengers, including many in U.S. cities, as well as London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.



Heres what travelers need to know before heading out on their trips:



U.S. State Department Issues a Europe-Wide Travel Alert



The U.S. government issued an alert on traveling in Europe, telling Americans to exercise particular caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events.



The State Department warned of potential risks of travel to Europe because terror groups "continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation."



This travel alert is scheduled to expire June 20.



Smart Traveler Program



One more consideration for those going abroad: Register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). It is run through the State Department and allows U.S. travelers to be much more easily located by an embassy or U.S. consulate while theyre abroad.



Otherwise, following the instructions of local authorities while traveling is recommended. Staying in touch with friends and family back home is also helpful, and they should know how to reach you in the event of an emergency.



Waivers for Brussels-Bound Travelers



A majority of U.S. and global airlines are waiving rebooking fees for flights to Brussels in the wake of the terror attack.



Delta and United are among the airlines that issued policies for customers ticketed to fly to the city this month, and a number of European carriers have similar policies.



Although details vary by each carrier, most allow passengers to change itineraries without paying the standard penalty fee or the difference of a recalculated fare.



Regardless of the waivers, customers scheduled to travel to or through Brussels are advised to check carriers for any schedule disruptions, or if they are looking for flexibility in rebooking.



Another important note for those who paid for insurance plans: Check the cancellation coverage. The insurance companies often honor cancellation coverage within seven to 30 days of any terrorist attack.



A Travel Agent Weighs In



Despite the fear of more attacks, travel agents say they anticipate a majority of travelers will still follow through on their trips to Europe. Travelers are not always able to avoid cities that are targets of terrorism, and there is no expectation of a decline in trips to Europe following the Brussels attack, according to Scott Carrozza of at First Class Travel Inc., in McLean, Virginia.



"As of right now, were not seeing any effect and it wouldnt stop me from traveling abroad," Carrozza said. "We havent had any variance and, in fact, one of my corporate clients confirmed his trip to Brussels and will head out this week."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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The University of Georgia Office of Marketing and Communications plans to remodel UGA's visual identity to make the connection between all UGA logos more recognizable, according to a an email from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication Undergraduate Services.
Spring has officially sprung, and as always, with the start of the season comes a plethora of events and activities to be enjoyed in the warm weather. The vibrant culture, history and beauty of Athens has always made it a hotspot in the southeast for weddings, and with the coming of the season, we are sure to see many in the next few months. Here a few places you might spot a new bride and groom.
Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight The Bureau of Reclamation has increased the release of water from Keswick Dam the past few days due to the large amount of water in Lake Shasta.

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By Damon Arthur of the Redding Record Searchlight

After receiving nearly 5 feet of rain since October, there is too much water in Lake Shasta, according to the agency that manages Shasta Dam.

After four years of drought, the lake has finally reached levels not seen in five years, according to Shane Hunt, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

But bureau officials, worried about the high inflow into the lake from recent heavy rains, have also had to increase the amount of water coming out of Shasta and Keswick dams to reduce the chances of downstream flooding.

"We're into the safety space for flood encroachment," Hunt said.

On Tuesday, 18,600 cubic-feet per second of water was being released from Keswick Dam, or six times the 3,100 cfs of water released from the dam at the beginning of the month.

Hunt said the bureau has to keep a safety margin in the lake in case too much water begins flowing into the lake during a storm. If there is not enough space in the lake to absorb the high inflows, the bureau could conceivably be forced to let out amounts that could cause flooding downstream in the Sacramento River, he said.

Prior to the weekend rainstorm, the bureau began increasing releases from Keswick Dam. On Friday night, the bureau was releasing 20,200 cfs.

Hunt said releases are expected to begin dropping again this week and the lake could continue refilling. Even with the higher releases, inflow into the lake Tuesday reached 30,000 cfs.

The bureau's reasoning behind releasing water did not add up, according to Frank Rusch of Redding, who said he has been paying attention to the amount of water being let out of the lake into the Sacramento River.

He said it is frustrating to see so much water going down the river while Redding residents are under water-use restrictions that include cutting back on outdoor landscape watering.

"It just isn't logical that they are releasing this amount of water when we're in a drought," Rusch said.

David Coxey, manager of the Bella Vista Water District, said he had similar concerns about why the water was being released.

Bella Vista, which serves residents and businesses from northeast Redding to Bella Vista, has been under severe water restrictions the past few years because of cutbacks in deliveries from the bureau.

"It's a pretty extreme set of circumstances, and I'm getting a lot of calls from customers asking what's going on," Coxey said.

The 18,600 cfs being released Tuesday is equivalent to 36,890 acre-feet of water a day. During 2015, city of Redding water utility customers used 24,739 acre-feet of water for the entire year.

Hunt said Shasta is not the only reservoir in the state that has had to release water out of flood control concerns. He said similar measures were taken recently at Folsom Reservoir near Sacramento and at Lake Oroville.

Lake Shasta hasn't been this full since March 2011, Hunt said. Since then, California has been in the grips of a drought that has drained reservoirs and brought water-use restrictions on businesses and residents.

But this year, heavier rain and snowfall has helped reservoirs recover. Since October there has been about 59 inches of rain at Shasta Dam, driving up the lake level 133 feet since Dec. 8, 2015, the date it reached its lowest point of the year.

Even though the lake is getting close to full this year  86 percent of capacity Tuesday  that doesn't mean local water agencies will get all they are entitled to this year.

City of Redding officials are planning for reductions ranging from 12 percent to 24 percent.

Hunt said the bureau usually notifies water contractors such as Redding and Bella Vista of their water allocations by February. But this year the announcement has been delayed.

One factor in planning has been the need to keep enough water in the lake for fish and wildlife during the summer and early fall.

Because of drought the past couple years, the cold water pool in Lake Shasta has been depleted, leaving only warm water to send down the Sacramento River in the summer and early fall. That warm water is fatal to endangered winter-run chinook salmon eggs and recent hatches in the river.

State and federal officials are trying to work out a plan that provides bureau water for cities, agriculture and fish and wildlife. Hunt said he expects an announcement on water allocations toward the end of this month or the beginning of April.

With the higher lake level this year, providing enough cold water for the salmon shouldn't be a problem this year, Hunt said.
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By Jenny Espino of the Redding Record Searchlight

Shasta County Democratic Central Committee chair Rob Rowen does not believe in leaving Democratic slots open on the ballot.

Rowen this month adds a new title: candidate. The 51-year-old Cottonwood man has launched a campaign to take on Republican incumbent Ted Gaines in the state Senate, a move that will trigger a three-way race in California's June 7 primary.

Also vying for the 1st State Senate District is Steven Baird, a State of Jefferson activist and Republican who lives in Placer County and works for Sacramento County.

"I was thinking of (running) in 2018 or 2020, but party leaders asked me to jump in," Rowen said. "The electorate deserves to have a choice. I know I'm behind the eight ball in different ways.  But I will not be just a name on the ballot. I will talk to the press and to the voters."

Rowen filed his paperwork March 8 with the Shasta County Election's Office. His candidacy will be made official March 31 when the California Secretary of State releases the certified list of candidates this election cycle.

The late entry bears similarities to the path Jim Reed is following. The Red Bluff Democrat planned to sit 2016 out, but changed his mind last minute. He announced this month he will challenge Rep. Doug LaMalfa in the North State's 1st Congressional District.

Democrats are making a push to submit nominations for state legislative and U.S. House races for which they do not have candidates. The Crowdsourcing the 50-State Strategy, promoted by the Daily Kos, a liberal political blog, aims to make sure Republicans "don't simply have a free pass."

A lifelong resident in rural California, Rowen is deeply unsettled by this area's shift to a service-oriented economy.

It's good for sales taxes received by local government. "But it's not good for people," he said.

He spoke of income inequality not being sustainable and criticized the Walton family, who owns Walmart, for the low wages the stores pay workers, making them eligible for government assistance.

"I don't begrudge wealth, but there is a point where it becomes obscene," he said.

Rowen acknowledged he will have a mountain to climb to overcome the math. But he was upbeat that his message will resonate throughout the district, which covers the northeast corner of the state.

"We need to be having these conversations as communities. We all have to survive and live," he said. "We all have to pull together to exist."

He criticized Gaines for voting against labor on nearly two dozen bills, but conceded he needed more time to study the lawmaker's voting record.

Rowen owned a trucking business, but he was forced to go on disability in 1998 after an accident.

He said he would make a jobs bill his priority, and he complimented Assemblyman Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, for his push of an incentives program to encourage biomass energy as a way to thin out an overgrown and unhealthy forest. Energy produced could be sold back on the grid, he said.

Dahle is running unopposed for re-election.

"If I were to get elected, I am not beholden to the Democratic Party," Rowen said and pledged to vote in the best interest of the district.

Rowen and his wife Nikki Rowen have five adult children and three grandchildren.
J. Keeler Johnson ("Keelerman") Twitter: @J_Keelerman

It's finally here! The $1,000,000 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (gr. II) at Fair Grounds on March 26th is the first Kentucky Derby prep race to offer 100 qualification points to the winner, meaning that at long last, we've reached the homestretch of the Kentucky Derby trail! The Louisiana Derby has drawn a high-quality field of eleven and promises to be a great race to handicap--let's get started!

# Horse Jockey Trainer Last race 1 Gun Runner Florent Geroux Steve Asmussen 1st Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 2 Greenpointcrusader John Velazquez Dominick Schettino 2nd Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 3 Battery Javier Castellano Todd Pletcher 1st Allowance Optional Claiming (VIDEO) 4 Conquest Windycity Joe Rocco, Jr. Mark Casse 1st Allowance (VIDEO) 5 Candy My Boy Francisco Torres Roger Brueggemann 4th Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 6 Mo Tom Corey Lanerie Tom Amoss 3rd Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 7 Toms Ready Brian Hernandez, Jr. Dallas Stewart 7th Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 8 Uncle Walter Robby Albarado Mike Maker 11th Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 9 Dazzling Gem Shaun Bridgmohan Brad Cox 1st Allowance (VIDEO) 10 Zapperini Julien Leparoux Gregory Foley 5th Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) 11 Forevamo Colby Hernandez Albert Stall, Jr. 2nd Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO)

It's not every day that the morning line favorite in a race is coming off a loss to the morning line second choice, but such is the case in the Louisiana Derby, in which Mo Tom has been made the 5-2 favorite over 3-1 shot Gun Runner despite finishing behind Gun Runner in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) at Fair Grounds last month.

Of course, a strong case can be made for Mo Tom to turn the tables on Gun Runner. In the Risen Star, Mo Tom was rallying strongly when he had to check hard off the heels of a tiring runner. Despite losing all his momentum and suffering a cut on his leg, Mo Tom re-rallied strongly in the final furlong to finish third, beaten just 1  lengths. If not for the traffic incident, I think Mo Tom might have won the race, and with the benefit of an extra sixteenth of a mile in the Louisiana Derby, he might have a better chance to reel in the leaders this time around.

But while Mo Tom should run well in the Louisiana Derby, I'm actually confident that Gun Runner can maintain his advantage. For one thing, it's worth noting that up until he had to check, Mo Tom had gotten a perfect trip in the Risen Star, saving ground on both turns while settling far behind a fast pace. Even if a similarly quick pace unfolds in the Louisiana Derby, I think there's a strong possibility that Mo Tom will be kept outside of horses on Saturday to avoid another traffic issue, which could cause him to concede several lengths of ground compared to Gun Runner, who has drawn the rail in the Louisiana Derby.

Additionally, in the Risen Star Stakes, Gun Runner actually didn't get the best of trips--he broke slowly and was in tight quarters early on before rallying up the rail to settle a couple of lengths behind a fast pace. He then moved strongly into the fast pace on the far turn, which might have been premature, but despite his early move to take the lead, Gun Runner stayed on well through the long Fair Grounds homestretch to prevail by a half-length over the late-running Forevamo, with Mo Tom another length behind.

Given that this was Gun Runner's first start off a layoff, I thought it was an excellent performance, particularly since he might have moved too soon. Since the Risen Star, Gun Runner has continued to train very well, highlighted by a bullet five-furlong work in 1:00 3/5 on March 14th. I think he's ready to take a step forward in the Louisiana Derby, and he is my selection to win.

Another horse that deserves a lot of respect is Greenpointcrusader, winner of the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) over a sloppy track last fall. His form on fast tracks hasn't been quite as impressive, but he did run well in the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) on January 30th, adjusting his running style to help set a slow pace before staying on strongly in the homestretch to finish second behind Kentucky Derby favorite Mohaymen. He's coming off a bit of a layoff, having not run in two months, but he's been breezing steadily since the Holy Bull and must be respected based on the company that he's kept in his last three races. I think he had a strong chance to split Gun Runner and Mo Tom to finish in the exacta, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wins.

The wildcard in the Louisiana Derby is Battery, a son of Bernardini trained by Todd Pletcher. After breaking his maiden by 3  lengths on November 21st at Gulfstream Park West, Battery finished second to the highly-regarded Cherry Wine in an 8.5-furlong Gulfstream allowance race, then stretched out to nine furlongs and won a similar race by two lengths after tracking modest early fractions. The Louisiana Derby will be a big step up in class, but Battery strikes me as a steadily improving, very talented colt with a big chance to finish in the trifecta. Additionally, you can never count out Todd Pletcher in the Louisiana Derby-since 2010, he's won the race twice with Mission Impazible and Revolutionary, and his colts Intense Holiday and Stanford finished second in 2014 and 2015.

Forevamo, who came charging late to finish second in the Risen Star, should be finishing well again on Saturday. However, like Mo Tom, he benefited from the fast pace that day, and even with the extra distance, he could find it tough to catch Gun Runner.

If you're looking for a live longshot, Tom's Ready could be the one. Two starts back, he led past the eighth pole in the LeComte Stakes (gr. III) before finishing second to Mo Tom, and while he failed to fire when seventh in the Risen Star, he also got a very wide trip over a track that might have been favorable to horses racing on the inside. If you judge him from his previous form, he looks like a contender to hit the board at a nice price.

I'd also like to mention Dazzling Gem, an unbeaten son of Misremembered that has won two straight races at Oaklawn Park, including an 8.5-furlong allowance race on February 13th. While he raced a bit greenly in the latter race, he seems to have a lot of talent and should be forwardly placed in a race that doesn't have a lot of speed on paper. He's already beaten some very nice horses, including Gray Sky, Madtap, and American Pioneer, and I'm excited to see how he performs in the Louisiana Derby. I think he has the potential to be a very good horse.

Now it's your turn! Who do you like in the Louisiana Derby?

*****

To help simplify the process of choosing and keeping track of everyone's prime horse selections in our 2016 Road to the Kentucky Derby Handicapping Challenge, I would like to ask everyone to please submit their prime choice each week by leaving a special comment on the official blog page for the contest. This will greatly reduce the chances of any prime horse selections getting overlooked, and will also make it simpler to double-check the standings. Thanks, and enjoy the racing!

*****

J. Keeler Johnson (also known as "Keelerman") is a writer, blogger, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. He is the founder of the horse racing website http://www.theturfboard.com/.
Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight file photo Redding Police Chief Robert Paoletti speaks during a quarterly town hall meeting held at the Redding Civic Auditorium.

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By Sean Longoria of the Redding Record Searchlight

Facing growing difficulty to hire officers from other agencies, the Redding Police Department last week opened up recruiting to bolster its ranks.

It's a move mirrored by other local police agencies looking at fresh faces to fill an ever-thinning pool of transfers.

"What we're hoping is some of these good, local kids with a stake in the Redding community want to become a member of the Redding Police Department," Redding Police Chief Rob Paoletti said Tuesday.

The move isn't new for the department, which last sent recruits through the police academy in 2008, but it is a change in recent practice. The department has typically filled vacancies with transfers from other agencies but a switch to less generous retirement packages has dried up the pool of people looking to transfer to Redding, Paoletti said.

Paoletti is looking to fill two sworn officer positions and the department has 102 sworn positions total, he said. Recruits will spend six months in the academy and another six months in additional training before becoming solo beat officers, he said.

That's much longer than the six weeks to get an officer who transfers from another department up to speed, Paoletti said.

Recruits will still need to pass a drug test, background check and a physical and psychological evaluation in addition to a written test common to law enforcement jobs, Paoletti said.

The cost to send a single recruit through the academy is up to about $57,000, Paoletti said. That covers academy tuition, salary, materials, food and housing.

The salary range for Redding Police officers is about $59,000 to just less than $87,300 per year, not including benefits or other compensation, according to the city.

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko is also looking to recruits as a possibility for filling some 11 patrol vacancies in his department.

The Sheriff's Office has looked to recruits before for corrections officers looking to become sworn deputies, Bosenko said.

"It will be challenging because the county wanted to have flat budget, basically, but we definitely need those positions and in fact we need even more deputies on the street," Bosenko said.

The Anderson Police Department is sending two recruits through academy and expects to put two more through by the summer, Police Chief Michael Johnson said.

Once graduated, they'll bolster the department's sworn officer count to 20, replacing personnel lost to retirement and attrition, Johnson said.

"These are just filling holes in employment to get caught up," Johnson said.

Recruits in Anderson cost the department about $12,000 each. Johnson said the department pays tuition and a stipend to cover travel, meal and lodging costs. But unlike what Paoletti plans to do, Anderson does not pay for the recruit's salary while in academy.

"To make them a full-time employee and pay them a salary is much more expensive on the front end," Johnson said.

Paoletti said Redding police cadets and a community service officer are applying for the recruit positions. The department is hiring two to three recruits initially and Paoletti hopes to have them begin the academy by June, he said.

"It's a competitive process so the best candidates are going to get the opportunity," Paoletti said.

Go to http://bit.ly/RPDrecruit to view the job listing for Redding's police recruits.
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Burns planned west of Redding

Two federal agencies plan to do brush and controlled burns this week, sending smoke plumes into the air that are likely to be visible for miles.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is burning piles of brush west of Redding near the community of Shasta and in the Swasey Recreation Area west of Redding. The burning started Sunday and is expected to continue through 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The National Park Service also plans to burn areas on the east side of Whiskeytown Lake to clear out underbrush and reduce summer fire danger. The total project is about 200 acres, but is being burned in sections of 30 to 70 acres.

Burning near Whiskeytown is expected to start as early as Friday and continue until May as conditions allow. For more information, call 242-3443.

Overcrossing replacement to divert I-5 traffic

The Hilt Road overcrossing in Siskiyou County will be replaced starting Wednesday, causing a diversion of traffic on Interstate 5.

The project is being done by the California Department of Transportation and contractor J.F. Shea Inc. Concrete girders will be trucked in and installed in two stages over three days weather permitting, Caltrans said.

In the first stage, northbound traffic on I-5 will be diverted to the Hilt Road interchange's northbound on- and offramps between 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. In the second stage, traffic will be sent to the interchange's southbound on- and offramps from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The $4.6 million project replaces the present bridge that was built in 1966. Caltrans expects the entire project will be done by the end of October. For more, follow Caltrans on Twitter @CaltransD2.

More arrested on Most Wanted list

Four people on Shasta County's Most Wanted list have been apprehended over the past week, according to the Redding Police Department.

Heidi Marie Sindorf, 41, of Redding, self-surrendered at the Shasta County Jail last Wednesday.

Antonio Luis Vargas, 29, of Burney, was arrested Friday by the Shasta County Sheriff's Office.

Amber Kristine Evers, 32, of Redding, self-surrendered at the jail Sunday.

Michael Allen Carrigan, 59, of Redding, self-surrendered at the jail Monday.

As of Tuesday, the total number of wanted subjects arrested through the program stood at 573.
Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight Donovan Bradley, from right, his wife, Megan, and their daughter, Nitan, 19 months, check in Tuesday for their appointment with the Shasta County office of WIC, SNAP-Ed, Family-Nurse Partnership and the WIC program are all operating in a new location together in the Market Street Promenade.

SHARE Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight Hemsted's Moving worker Scott Nichols unloads chairs Tuesday for the WIC, SNAP-Ed and Nurse Family Partnership office at the Market Street Promenade.

By Amber Sandhu of the Redding Record Searchlight

Three county programs opened their doors Monday morning at their new location in the Market Street Promenade in downtown Redding.

The programs, Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance  Education (SNAP-Ed) and Nurse Family Partnership programs are now located at The Atrium, at 1670 Market St. and occupy suites 300 and 242.

"This is the best location for children and families," said Lisa Webster, program manager at WIC. "We're really glad to be here."

Located on the third floor, the suite opens to a lobby where clients are welcomed by a receptionist, a roomy seating area, and if needed, breastfeeding mothers are redirected to a quieter and private breastfeeding room.

Their previous location, at 1220 Sacramento St., where WIC and SNAP-Ed programs shared a space, required a keycard for each of the private rooms. Webster said the benefit of the new location was that it created a warmer, welcoming and comfortable environment for clients and highlighted a feeling of family and community, without the hassle of using a keycard. "It's a much more open and friendly environment," she said.

The Nurse Family Partnership program previously shared its space with CalWORKs Employment Services at 1400 California St. The advantage of the new building is that it centralizes the locations for services and helps for easier client referrals among programs, allowing for better services and flow, Webster said.

Talks for a location move began last summer, so when the downtown space previously occupied by One SAFE Place became available, the county began exploring.

WIC is a federally funded program that promotes better nutrition among pregnant women, mothers of infants and young children and SNAP-Ed provides nutritional resources to low-income families. Webster said now that they have a bigger location, she already has ideas on how she plans to do outreach with her clients.

The new location has a classroom, two large conference rooms at each end of the hallways, and a kitchen, which she hopes to use for nutritional classes and do cooking demonstrations with more foods. "The goal is to be able to do large classes," she said.

Next month, on April 13, they'll make use of the space in The Atrium area to celebrate "Week of the Young Child," a program sponsored by First 5 Shasta that promotes early learning. The event includes a baby diaper derby race, baby weigh-in, a SNAP-Ed program about growing vegetables, and a car seat check by the California Highway Patrol.
Stethoscope wrapped around hundred dollar bills

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By Chad Terhune, Kaiser Health News

Californias insurance exchange is threatening to cut hospitals from its networks for poor performance or high costs, a novel proposal that is drawing heavy fire from medical providers and insurers.

The goal is to boost the overall quality of patient care and make coverage more affordable, said Peter Lee, executive director of the Covered California exchange.

The first few years were about getting people in the door for coverage, said Lee, a key figure in the rollout of the federal health law. We are now shifting our attention to changing the underlying delivery system to make it more cost effective and higher quality. We dont want to throw anyone out, but we dont want to pay for bad quality care either.

It appears to be the first proposal of its kind in the country. The exchanges five-member board is slated to vote on it next month. If approved, insurers would need to identify hospital outliers on cost and quality starting in 2018. Medical groups and doctors would be rated after that.

Providers who dont measure up stand to lose insured patients and suffer a black eye that could sully their reputations with employers and other big customers.

By 2019, health plans would be expected to expel poor performers from their exchange networks.

The idea has already sparked fierce opposition. Doctors and hospitals accuse the exchange of overstepping its authority and failing to spell out the specific measures they would be judged on.

Health insurers, normally at odds with providers, have joined them in the fight. The insurers are balking at the prospect of disclosing their negotiated rates with providers. Health plans have long resisted efforts that would let competitors or the public see the deals they make with doctors and hospitals.

But scrutinizing the negotiated rates would help the exchange identify high-cost providers and allow policyholders with high deductibles to see the differences in price before undergoing a surgery or imaging test.

Lee said its time for the exchange to move beyond enrollment and flex its market power on behalf of its 1.5 million members. He said insurers havent been tough enough on hospitals and doctors.

Other public exchanges or large employers could try to replicate the idea, putting more pressure on providers and insurers. Lee has shared his proposal with other state marketplaces, government officials and employer groups to promote similar efforts.

Still, there are limits to the strategy. Exceptions would be granted if excluding a hospital or doctor from a network meant an area wouldnt have a sufficient number of providers. Insurers could appeal and offer other reasons for keeping a provider in the network.

California is definitely ahead of the pack when it comes to taking an active purchasing role, and exclusion is a pretty big threat, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms. There may be a dominant hospital system thats charging through the nose, but without them you dont have an adequate network. It will be interesting to see how Covered California threads that needle.

The composition of networks has typically been left up to insurers. Until now, most of the discussion has centered on the proliferation of narrow networks, with a limited range of providers, sold under the Affordable Care Act as a way to hold down rates. A study last year found that 75 percent of Covered California plans had narrow physician networks, with more restricted choices than all but three other states.

I dont know of anyone even close to trying this, said Dan Polsky, the studys author and executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. I applaud Covered California for being bold to improve quality and reduce costs, but I worry about the implementation.

Polsky said measuring quality can be complicated, and steps must be taken to ensure hospitals and doctors arent penalized for treating sicker patients or serving lower-income areas. Most quality-boosting efforts use financial bonuses and penalties rather than exclusion.

Under the Covered California plan, hospitals would be judged on a wide range of performance and safety measures, from rates of readmission and hospital-acquired infections to adverse drug events. The exchange said it will draw on existing measures already tracked by Medicare and other groups, and it will work with hospitals, consumer advocates and other experts over the next 18 months to finalize the details.

The California Hospital Association said the exchange is moving too fast and acting too much like a regulator.

The devil is in the details, and the rapidity of this concerns us, said Dr. David Perrott, chief medical officer at the state hospital trade group. We understand value-based purchasing is here in some form and we do not oppose that. But Covered California is charging ahead with this assessment and trying to figure out the answers when it hasnt been worked out.

California physicians warn that the exchanges proposal could further reduce networks that are already too thin for patients.

Right now, one of the biggest problems in health care is limited access to specialty care. This allows more narrowing of the networks under spurious guidelines, said Dr. Ted Mazer, a board member of the California Medical Association and a head and neck surgeon in San Diego.

Charles Bacchi, chief executive of the California Association of Health Plans, predicted that Covered Californias idea will backfire, discouraging hospitals and doctors from participating in the exchange and driving up premiums as a result.

Its the right goal but the wrong approach, Bacchi said. Covered California is proposing a top-down, arbitrary measurement system that carries a big stick. This can make it difficult for health plans and providers to work together constructively.



(Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.)
Much is made of the fact that liberals and conservatives see racial issues differently, which they do. But these differences have too often been seen as simply those on the right being racist and those on the left not.

You can cherry-pick the evidence to reach that conclusion. But you can also cherry-pick the evidence to reach the opposite conclusion.

During the heyday of the Progressive movement in the early 20th century, people on the left were in the forefront of those promoting doctrines of innate, genetic inferiority of not only blacks but also of people from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, as compared to people from Western Europe.

Liberals today tend to either glide over the undeniable racism of Progressive President Woodrow Wilson or else treat it as an anomaly of some sort. But racism on the left at that time was not an anomaly, either for President Wilson or for numerous other stalwarts of the Progressive movement.

An influential 1916 best-seller, "The Passing of the Great Race" -- celebrating Nordic Europeans  was written by Madison Grant, a staunch activist for Progressive causes such as endangered species, municipal reform, conservation and the creation of national parks.

He was a member of an exclusive social club founded by Republican Progressive Theodore Roosevelt, and Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt became friends in the 1920s, addressing one another in letters as "My dear Frank" and "My dear Madison." Grant's book was translated into German, and Adolf Hitler called it his Bible.

Progressives spearheaded the eugenics movement, dedicated to reducing the reproduction of supposedly "inferior" individuals and races. The eugenics movement spawned Planned Parenthood, among other groups. In academia, there were 376 courses devoted to eugenics in 1920.

Progressive intellectuals who crusaded against the admission of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, branding them as genetically inferior, included many prominent academic scholars  such as heads of such scholarly organizations as the American Economic Association and the American Sociological Association.

Southern segregationists who railed against blacks were often also Progressives who railed against Wall Street. Back in those days, blacks voted for Republicans as automatically as they vote for Democrats today.

Where the Democrats' President Woodrow Wilson introduced racial segregation into those government agencies in Washington where it did not exist at the time, Republican President Calvin Coolidge's wife invited the wives of black Congressmen to the White House. As late as 1957, civil rights legislation was sponsored in Congress by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.

Later, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was sponsored by Democrats, a higher percentage of Congressional Republicans voted for it than did Congressional Democrats. Revisionist histories tell a different story. But, as Casey Stengel used to say, "You could look it up" -- in the Congressional Record, in this case.

Conservatives who took part in the civil rights marches, or who were otherwise for equal rights for blacks, have not made nearly as much noise about it as liberals do. The first time I saw a white professor, at a white university, with a black secretary, it was Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago in 1960  four years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

She was still his secretary when he died in 2006. But, in all those years, I never once heard Professor Friedman mention, in public or in private, that he had a black secretary. By all accounts, she was an outstanding secretary, and that was what mattered.

The biggest difference between the left and right today, when it comes to racial issues, is that liberals tend to take the side of those blacks who are doing the wrong things  hoodlums the left depicts as martyrs, while the right defends those blacks more likely to be the victims of those hoodlums.

Rudolph Giuliani, when he was the Republican mayor of New York, probably saved more black lives than any other human being, by promoting aggressive policing against hoodlums, which brought the murder rate down to a fraction of what it was before.

A lot depends on whether you judge by ringing words or judge by actual consequences.

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com.
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Federal officials poked a medical hornet's nest recently with an ambitious attempt to do what many American taxpayers  and patients  demand: tame rising prescription drug costs in Medicare.

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rolled out a proposal to test new ways of reimbursing doctors who administer drugs in their offices and in hospital outpatient departments. These drugs include cancer medications, antibiotics and certain eye care treatments  about $19 billion a year in Medicare spending. (This does not include prescription drugs that seniors take on their own; that's a different part of Medicare.)

How would this proposal work? Right now, Medicare pays providers the average price of a drug plus 6 percent to cover their costs. So the higher the price, the more the doctor earns. Patrick Conway, chief medical officer for CMS, calls that a "perverse incentive" that could encourage doctors to select more expensive medications when cheaper ones could be just as effective.

Under the proposal, there would be different pricing tests in different parts of the country. In one test, Medicare would reduce that 6 percent payment to 2.5 percent plus a flat daily fee for some doctors, to see if that alters the drugs they choose to administer; other doctors would see no change. Talk about Mediscare  for doctors taking the cut.

Another phase of tests would peg reimbursements to a drug's demonstrated effectiveness for different conditions. Or set benchmark prices for a group of similar drugs, steering doctors and patients to choose the lowest priced alternative.

CMS says the five-year trial would push doctors to prescribe the most effective drugs, not necessarily the most expensive.

Not surprisingly, doctors groups and other critics blast this proposal as dangerous government meddling in a doctor's decision about what to prescribe.

"This experiment is a misguided government intrusion on the treatment of seniors with cancer and a very dangerous precedent in severing the sacred physician-patient bond," wrote Bruce Gould, president of the Community Oncology Alliance, a nonprofit group that advocates for independent oncology practices.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents the drug industry, says the proposal could cut patient access to treatments and "create uncertainties that could discourage investment in future treatment advances."

Curbing drug costs has been a Medicare Holy Grail for years.

But most Americans don't favor  nor do we  allowing government regulators to decide which drugs patients should receive and which are too expensive. That smacks of rationing.

Under this proposal, doctors in the test group would still get paid for the drugs they administer, including a 2.5 percent bump for overhead costs. They just wouldn't get the 6 percent to which they're accustomed. So yes, some doctors that prescribe expensive meds may see their bottom lines wilt a little. We don't blame them for howling.

But if the cheaper medicine is just as good as the expensive one, then nudging doctors in that direction will save patients  and taxpayers  money.

If the proposal is finalized  public comments are due by May 9  the changes probably wouldn't begin until later this year; the other phase of tests would follow, likely starting in 2017. An incoming administration, Democratic or Republican, may have other, better ideas to accomplish this mission. But we see value in testing these ideas.

We'll know by 2022 if these tests save money and improve health. Medicare officials will have to monitor them closely. If evidence emerges that the changes are damaging patients' health, the feds should pull the plug fast.

Chicago Tribune
New airlines ramp up operations as they prepare to go toe to toe with incumbents

New airline companies are targeting the Indian summer season to increase their market share, which has been stagnant for some time.

Data from the Director General Civil Aviation shows new airlines like Vistara and Air Asia have decided to increase the number of flights to cash in on a market that has been one of the fastest growing in the world.

Take for instance Vistara, the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture which started its operation in 2015, it has decided to almost double the number of flights to 334 in the summer schedule as compared to 176 in the summer schedule of 2015.

Air Asia, which has been struggling to increase its market share, is increasing the number of flights by 66 per cent to 280 from 168 in the year-ago period.

The new regional carriers Air Pegasus and Trujet, which started flying in mid-2015 and have also notched up good passenger growth, are adding 120 and 112 flights, respectively.

With fuel price at a comfortable level and unlikely to increase in the near future, this summer will definitely see fight a between airlines.

For those like Vistara and Air Asia, this is the first summer when they have read the Indian market properly and are in a better position to challenge incumbents, said a sector analyst.

Vistara has decided to reconfigure its Airbus A320 aircraft, reducing the premium class seating and increasing overall number of seats from 148 to 158 seats after it failed to get desired occupancy.

Air Asia recently rejigged its management structure, with Amar Abrol being brought in as the new chief executive officer, along with two other executives.

With the induction of four new A320 aircraft during the course of the year, the airline will introduce additional new destinations and further increase frequency on existing routes.

By the end of October 2016, the number of flights will be increased by 85 per cent relative to the current schedule.

According to the latest data available, new airlines have a combined market share of 5.4 per cent.

The image is used for representational purpose only. Photograph: Reuters
The level of preparedness of Daesh sleeper cells is evident from the fact that it took just four days after Salah Abdelslam's arrest to execute the Brussels attacks, says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).

IMAGE: Policemen stand guard at the Midi train station following the bomb attacks in Brussels, March 22, 2016. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

The moment Salah Abdelslam, the Moroccan French logistical planner of the ten member Paris attack terror group was shot and captured in Brussels a counterattack from ISIS (Daesh) was imminent. It happened within four days.

Television visuals reveal that the targets were the departure hall of the international airport at Brussels which saw two blasts and a third was at the Molenbeek metro station, thus effectively paralysing the transport system in the Belgian city, creating a virtual lockdown which included closed borders.

The quantum of casualties (34 dead so far) could have been much higher considering the number of people usually concentrated at the departure halls of international airports. The airport is obviously shut, stranding travellers from all over the world. It is a situation akin to any major city under a serious terror attack.

Yet, clearly Brussels appears to be the planning hub of Daesh (ISIS) for its diabolic plans to target Europe. There have been failed attacks ending with the high profile terror event in Paris for which the perpetrators travelled from Belgium.

The Global War against Terror has multiple hubs: From the Middle East to South Asia to Africa. However, the manifestation of classic terror has shifted to Europe. There are reasons for this.

First among the reasons is that the US has adopted stringent measures of homeland security, which has been difficult to penetrate, making it comparatively safe.

Second, the kinetic element of the War was most strongly implemented in the Middle East (and in fact is still continuing) and Afghanistan without fully achieving the desired results. The blowback from this has traveled westwards with Europe becoming the hub.

Europe with its unionisation may have integrated politically, economically and in terms of border controls, but in the form of warfare prevalent today is highly vulnerable from a social angle.

Former European colonial powers in varying states of reducing populations, but higher states of development and quality of life opened themselves up to absorb migrants to make up for the negative population growth.

Most of the migrants came from former colonies with linguistic affinity and were absorbed in low end jobs which were acceptable for that generation in search for better lives. They spawned the next generations who are better educated but unwilling to follow in their footsteps.

Of different colour and ethnicity but born and brought up in the Euro environment the lack of social integration of the second and third generations hurts especially when they are unable to find better jobs.

Frustration levels are high and it is this aspect which has helped ideological groups from the Middle East to take the war to Europe where they find ready recruits to join the cause.

That these migrants are mostly from Islamic nations has helped groups such as Daesh to establish networks. Daesh attracted young recruits on the basis of slick advertising and returned many of them back to Europe where they are now part of virtual sleeper cells all over European cities.

IMAGE: The security operation to capture Salah Abdelslam in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, March 18, 2016. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

The three Moroccan Abdelslam brothers, who were a part of the ten man squad which struck Paris last year, were residing in Molenbeek, the ghettoised neighbourhood of brooding immigrants where even hardcore policemen think twice before entering.

The level of preparedness of Daesh sleeper cells is evident from the fact that it took no more than four days to execute the aimed retribution and that too in the heart of Europe where the headquarters of the European Union and NATO exist.

The resources are in abundance, both human and material with ideological motivation a constant from Daesh.

The nature of the terrorist attack took the predictable route of targeting the softest of targets any urban centre offers -- the transport system.

The airport departure hall was targeted because that is usually a hub of activity with lower security and un-scanned luggage. Metro infrastructure can hardly ever be protected and its targeting produces even more spectacular results for the terrorists.

Travel and tourism comes to a halt, thus adversely affecting the economy. Entire neighbourhoods come under a security blanket causing discomfort in the lives of the people. Young people, especially migrants, are picked up by intelligence sleuths on the basis of religious and ethnic profiling, leading to cleavages in the process of integration.

Some clerics will pay lip service in condemnation, others will exploit the situation to garner support for themselves, preach negativity to the youth and you have the makings of the causes for the next terror attack.

This cycle of activity is what is most desired by terror groups as it creates antipathy and ripples of dissatisfaction and mistrust.

Some years ago I visited Brussels. The beauty of the architectural marvel that is the city centre and the delightful Mediterranean restaurants near the Central Square can hardly be enjoyed in the face of gangs of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. They harass and intimidate tourists as a demonstration of their power with the police remaining unmoved.

In fact, this is reportedly one of the major problems because Brussels is itself divided into numerous police districts where cooperation between the Flemish and French speakers is minimal, thus losing out on intelligence.

A large segment of the approximately 25 percent Muslim population in Brussels lives out of neighbourhoods like Molenbeek which has now acquired notoriety as the hub of the planning for the Paris terror attacks.

Belgium has a migrant population of 26 percent. Eight percent of the total is Muslim and increasing.

IMAGE: French security help an injured Frenchman near the Bataclan concert hall, the scene of the worst terror attack in Paris that horrific Friday night last November. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

Where does this take us in the Global War on Terrorism? Is the world losing the War?

Such ideological wars -- which are given impetus and body by social issues such as migration, lack of integration of ethnic and religious minorities and continuous attempts to radicalise -- are not fought over a few years, but over generations.

The US termed this confrontation as 'The Long War,' which was most apt. Long Wars requires stamina, patience, resilience and resources. That is the challenge. They need to be tackled comprehensively in different dimensions and not by kinetic methods alone. This has been adequately learnt from the disastrous experience of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Intellectual examination of Islamic ideology and philosophy has been ongoing in outstanding think-tanks in the US, the UK and other Western countries, but it is at the implementation stage that things get unstuck.

There is no doubt that evil organizations like Daesh and its associates in the Middle East need to be physically eliminated, but more important it is the narrative of confrontation which has to be removed from the minds of the followers of Radical Islam.

IMAGE: A memorial in Brussels following the March 22 terror attacks. Photograph: Charles Platiaue/Reuters

The ongoing migrant crisis in Europe, whose roots lie in the Middle East and Afghanistan (many of the migrants are Afghan), is not going to be helpful towards the resolution of the identified problems.

Already, Sweden has decided to expel illegal migrants and most countries are unwilling to take in Muslims. Donald Trump's rants and Trumpism's plodding ways contribute further to alienation.

Germany, which accepted more than its share of migrants, faced major social problems on new year's eve, diluting the popularity of as effective and strong a leader as Angela Merkel. The political implications of the migrant issue cannot be wished away and the situation is building towards eruption.

The careful crafted and maneuvered integration of Europe is now under threat with individual national border controls affecting movement of goods and people. Schengen is under threat and that means the charm of Europe's spring and summer is under threat from a no show by international tourists.

Terrorism targets almost everything.

Solutions are far and few. Better intelligence and more sharing, more stringent access control to potentially soft targets and control of people's movement. These are essentially tactical measures.

The strategic lie in changing minds, convincing the dispossessed and most importantly, managing violence levels in faraway core centres like Syria and Afghanistan. That is unlikely to happen anytime so soon.

Lastly, Europe could look at the Indian model of integration of minorities. While it is accepted that the Indian minorities are far from being migrants, the tolerance levels (also under debate) are high despite some incidents. Integration is an ongoing process and far from complete or perfect.

If Europe has to overcome its problems of integration respect for social diversity will have to become its guiding mantra. Its close protection of the high quality of life it gives its people must include diversification and deliberate outreach.

It is not easy in the face of threats that it faces.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) is associated with the Vivekanand International Foundation and the Delhi Policy Group.
Ever pragmatic, the Americans are convinced that the future is in the Indo-Pacific.

There is a new Indo-Pacific century, and India has to decide whether it has its eyes on the prize, says Rajeev Srinivasan.

IMAGE: US Defence Secretary Dr Ashton Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at a media interaction at the Pentagon.

The headlines were dramatic and the prognoses gloomy. In separate stories in two of the few Western journals that I read consistently, the Financial Times and The Economist, there was a palpable sense of fin-de-siecle (end of the century) pessimism, as though an era were coming to a close.

Parallels were made with the 1930s which, according to their lights, was the worst of times, because of the rise of the Nazis and the Fascists, the most abominable villains ever in the history of the world.

The fact is that for an impartial observer, it is not obvious that they, villainous as though they undoubtedly were, are the worst of the worst. For that dubious honour, there are many claimants. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, who wiped out roughly a seventh of their fellow citizens. The Communists who have killed, all told, a hundred million people. I am sure you can think of others.

A fair case can be made that the very worst rulers in history were the British Empire, who, in their heyday casually exterminated at least 30 million people (see the riveting account in Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino and the making of the Third World) and caused the permanent impoverishment of a billion people through loot and de-industrialisation.

By my rough calculations, they looted $10 trillion from India alone.

You can debate if the British were the very worst, but there is a correlation between colonisation and prosperity. Britain went from being a small economic power, with about two per cent of global GDP in the 1750s, to a superpower, with about 18 per cent by 1900. Some will point out other colonising powers such as Spain and Portugal (despite the vast riches of Latin America that they looted) did not do so well, and will point to the Industrial Revolution as a reason.

But there is a plausible argument that it was the loot from Bengal that formed the venture capital that led to the Industrial Revolution. William Digby (Prosperous British India: A Revelation from Official Records) quoting Brooks Adams suggested that the Industrial Revolution (circa 1760) could not have happened in Britain had it not been for the loot that came in from India.

It is indeed a curious coincidence: The Battle of Plassey (1757); the flying shuttle (1760); the spinning jenny (1764); the power-loom (1765); the steam engine (1768).

The fact is that, today, the momentum from that colonial loot has come to an end, and Britain is finding it increasingly difficult to justify having a place at the top table. This is leading to neurotic behaviour: For example the threat of 'Brexit', that is, of Britain leaving the European Union.

To an outsider, this sounds like madness, because the European Union (despite its many problems), as a unified single market, is far more viable as a single economic unit than individual European nations.

Britain, to put it unkindly, has no future. Even America, which has always had a 'special relationship' with Britain, is no longer quite so keen. Ever pragmatic, the Americans (except for Atlanticist holdouts) are convinced that the future is in the Indo-Pacific.

The very logic of Barack Obama's 'pivot to Asia' -- even though it was half-hearted -- was an implicit acknowledgement of this fact.

I suspect that the angst exhibited by the British journalists is based on this realisation of increasing irrelevance. Especially if Scotland decides to secede, 'Great' Britain will be 'Little' Britain, and the days of living off old glory will come to an end.

As it is, Britain has no sustainable competitive advantage or core competence: There is nothing they produce that anybody else really wants, except for their banking, journalism, the odd Burberry or two, and Scotch whiskey (which, of course, is in jeopardy if the Scots take off).

On the other hand, there is the realisation that long-held myths propagated by the West that they are the very culmination of history, may well be off base. There was The End of History by Francis Fukuyama which many took to mean that the Anglo-American model, in the post-Cold-War era, had finally won against all alternatives. Fukuyama himself claims that he was misunderstood, but that hubris remains.

The irony is that the Communists also had similar millennial views about history and how their worldview was the ultimate in the evolution of societies; we know what happened when the Soviet empire disintegrated. It did appear that the Anglo-Americans had won a final solution.

The Anglo-American worldview was all-conquering at that time, having seen off its only competition. Their mythology was partly that of a 'shining city on a hill,' partly the political ideal of a representative democracy; partly the economic ideas of the Washington Consensus; partly seductive ideas about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' and partly cultural memes about blue jeans, the open road, Coca-Cola, Hollywood, rock music, and Silicon Valley.

These ideas were marketed to the rest of us, to the extent that there are many who believe this ideal, dream-like society is the norm that everyone should aspire to. (I did too, in my youth, before I spent decades there and acquired a more nuanced, balanced perspective.) Indeed, there is the Good Life in the West for many, but not all people. The fact that much of it is unsustainable based on environmental impact is a detail.

There is also the sad fact that there is a #DeepState that controls those in the West. Dwight Eisenhower called it the military-industrial complex, but we now know that is the military-industrial-media-church complex. Noam Chomsky wrote of how it 'manufactures consent.' Recently, Pat Buchanan echoed the sentiment (external link) when he said:

'We talk about the 'deep State' in Turkey and Egypt, the unseen regimes that exist beneath the public regime and rule the nation no matter the president or prime minister? What about the 'deep State' that rules us, of which we caught a glimpse at Sea Island?

Whatever you think of Donald Trump, Buchanan was suggesting, the Deep State is going to ensure he will not win.

This Deep State is the one that is in jeopardy now. Its mythology is that there is democracy; in fact, the people are deceived into thinking they have a voice. People think they are free; in fact, the US in particular is a highly regulated country.

The Economist had an interesting story (external link) about why it and all the other media were wrong about Trump: They depended on a 2008 book, The Party Decides, which suggested that party insiders think elections are too important to be left to the people, and therefore they are 'using their influence over the media, fundraising... to guide voters towards preferred candidate.'<?p>

In other words, Big Brother is watching you. What did you dream? It's alright, we told you what to dream. That could be Pink Floyd or the dystopian Blade Runner.

Thus, the enormous schadenfreude from the Chinese and the Russians at this display of dysfunctional politics in the West: Trump and Hillary Clinton, both not exactly the most desirable candidates in the US, and an extreme leftist named Corbyn leading the Labour Party in the UK. Add to this the chaos in Europe, and you can pretty much hear the sound of the old order crumbling.

That is painful for the Deep State and its acolytes, including many in India. But it is hardly the end of the world. It just shows that we are far from the end of history. European domination of the world, although it looked pretty much like Manifest Destiny, is only a blip in the relentless march of time. The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on.

Like Ozymandias's vanities, the ancien regime of the West is collapsing, that's about it. There is a new, Indo-Pacific century, and India has to decide whether it has its eyes on the prize. It is there for India to lose.
IMAGE: The rail line to Tibet could be extended to Nepal. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons.

India should put a check on its cheque book diplomacy with Nepal.

Nepal must be made to bear the costs of its strategic provocations, argues Rajeev Sharma.

India needs to be worried -- very worried -- over the landmark agreement signed on Monday, March 21, between Nepal and China wherein Beijing will extend its highly strategic Tibet rail link to Nepal which once completed will end India's monopoly as being Nepal's only connectivity point to reach out to the world by way of trade and people-to-people contacts.

Through the proposed rail link, China would do even better in reaching out to a contiguous neighbour of India like Nepal than what China did to India's another contiguous neighbour like Pakistan when it constructed an all-weather Karakoram Highway connecting China and Pakistan in the 1970s.

The Karakoram Highway was completed in 1979 and opened to the public in 1986. Had the highway been completed before the India-Pakistan War in 1971 one can imagine the impact it would have had on the outcome.

The Nepal-China rail link pact has the potential of hitting India hard strategically. There is precious little that India can do in this regard. Nepal and China are sovereign nations and India can hardly object to what they decide to do between themselves.

But it makes clear a lot of things to India vis-a-vis Nepal.

One, it confirms Indian apprehensions about the conduct of Nepal, a country that has for long been been playing the China card with India and the India card with China.

Two, it shows that Nepal is an untrustworthy neighbour.

Three, it yet again forewarns India about mollycoddling Nepal.

The development will inevitably force India to deal with Nepal in a more pragmatic manner. The most immediate impact the development should have on India-Nepal relations is that India should put a check on its cheque book diplomacy with Nepal.

From here on, India should tell Nepal that its aid, investments and economic cooperation would be subject to concrete deliverables from Nepal, politically and strategically.

Nepal must be made to bear the costs of the strategic provocations it has been handing out to the Indians, routinely and nonchalantly.

Nepal will soon realise that its China card vis-a-vis India is a damp squib and geography favours India.

The Nepalese realised it recently when the K P Oli government bragged about getting alternate fuel supplies from China and Bangladesh when the Madhesis launched their crippling blockade for over three months.

Zilch came from Bangladesh and insignificant fuel supplies came from China.

One has to understand and appreciate that China has only agreed to 'consider' building the proposed rail link with Nepal. Going by China's track record, its infrastructure projects are completed at breakneck speed. But that happens only when China sights strategic windfalls and economic returns.

One will need to watch if the China-Nepal link happens quickly because China gains little in strategic and economic terms. Trade with Nepal is not high on the Chinese agenda. China builds trans-national infrastructure projects only when it is assured of reaching out to many more countries and regions.

At a time when the Chinese economy is under severe stress, it is unlikely that China will open its purse strings for Nepal at the expense of a big power like India, and that too when it doesn't promise commensurate economic returns.

The news of China agreeing to build a strategic rail link to Nepal through Tibet has come at a time when India is looking to build at least five new rail links with Nepal.

While one line linking Raxaul in India to Birgunj in Nepal has been operational since 2005, two more lines under construction are expected to be completed in the next two years.

Clearly, the Nepal-China rail pact has poured cold water on pro-Nepal lobbyists within the Indian government. It also puts a big question mark on the Narendra Modi government's outreach to Nepal and its over eagerness to loosen its purse strings for Nepal.

Rajeev Sharma is an independent journalist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha.
China, Nepal agree to build first strategic rail link

Published: March 23, 2016

Nepal has signed an agreement with China to build a strategic railway link between the two countries through Tibet.

This agreement was signed during Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Olis official seven day visit to China.

Two countries have signed the transit trade treaty which will end Nepals dependency on Indian sea ports. Presently, India has virtual monopoly in trade with the Nepal which accounts for one third trade of the Himalayan landlocked country.

The agreements signed also include a feasibility study on the establishment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between both countries. China will also provide assistance to build a border bridge over the Simikot-Hilsa road section that will connect Humla district of Nepal with Tibet.

The other agreements included on economic and technical cooperation to build a Regional International Airport Project at Pokhara which is the Nepals famous tourist site.

Both countries also discussed on various issues to boost bilateral cooperation including trade diversification, cross border connectivity and infrastructure development, cooperation on energy, tourism, finance, education and culture.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2016

Topics: China-Nepal  Current Affairs 2016  International

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How will DMDKs decision to join the Peoples Democratic Front affect the political scenario in TN, analyses B Srikumar.

From left, MDMK chief Vaiko, VCK Leader Thol Thirumavalavan and representatives of the Left parties greet DMDK chief Vijayakanth, centre, after an agreement on seat sharing for the assembly polls, in Chennai on Wednesday. Photograph: PTI Photo



The multi-cornered contest in Tamil Nadu has made the upcoming elections more interesting. Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam chief Vijayakanth-led alliance of fringe parties is expected to give a tough fight to both the major parties of the state -- Jayalalithaas All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Karunanidhis Drvida Munnetra Kazhagam.

In a volte-face, the DMDK chief announced on Wednesday that he is joining hands with the Peoples Welfare Front, which comprises four parties: Vaiko's Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India and Thol Thirumavalavan's Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. Vaiko said the alliance will work hard to make Vijayakanth the king in this tough contest.

Actor-turned-politician Viajaykanth, who had earlier announced that his party will contest alone, is going to lead the alliance as its chief ministerial candidate. The DMDK will contest in 124 seats and the rest of its allies will share 110 seats among them.

An alliance of the fringe parties has come as a surprise this time as usually, these parties back on the AIADMK or the DMK for their success in polls. This time, however, except the Congress, no other party has struck an alliance with any of these two Dravidian parties.

In the recent political history of Tamil Nadu, people have never given a chance to the Third Front. Even in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the AIADMK won 37 out of 39 seats.

All its former (the MDMK) and current allies at the Centre (the DMDK and the Pattali Makkal Katchi) have dumped the Bharatiya Janata Party and there seems to be no potential allies for it.

Since 1967, either of the two Dravidian parties has been ruling the state. The fringe parties used to wait at the doorstep of the AIADMK and the DMK to get seats. Now, a new front is shaping up and projecting itself as an alternative to both.

However, DMK leader T K S Elangovan says, The DMK is the only alternative to AIADMK. The Vijaykanth-led front will not work out. They may get a little percentage of the total votes, but will not bring any major change.

Expressing similar views, Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilsai Soundararajan says, The Peoples Welfare Front would not make any impact in the election. Vijayakanth has committed a blunder in his political career by joining it.

The DMDK-led front is going to face many challenges in the next few weeks in the battle against the mighty AIADMK and DMK. Political analyst Gnani Sankaran says, They would not capture the power overnight, but they should make consistent efforts to prove that they are an alternative. Also, Vijaykanths delay in announcing the alliance, even after his earlier declaration of going it alone, might make him less credible. First, he was having talks with many parties and then he announced that he would contest alone, now joining hands with Peoples Welfare Front will not work.

As far as the vote share is concerned, the two major players -- the AIADMK and the DMK -- will get 60 per cent of votes and the Vijayakanth-led alliance will get about 13-15 per cent votes.

The first-timers and non-partisan voters will play a crucial role in deciding as to who captures power in Tamil Nadu.

Taking into account the present political scene in the state, the AIADMK doesnt have any strong allies and it holds on the charisma of party supremo Jayalalithaa. On the other side, the DMK has only the Congress and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi in its fold.

AIADMK workers are hoping that Ammas welfare works will fetch votes for the party and it will form the government once again on its own. Party leader C R Saraswathy says, The vote bank of the AIADMK is intact. Ammas welfare works in her five-year rule have been recognised by the people of the state. We had already proved ourselves in the recent Lok Sabha polls by winning 37 seats. Our alliance is always with the people and they will give us another chance to rule the state. We are not bothered about the Vijaykanth-led front. He got recognition only after contesting the last assembly polls with the AIADMK.

For the first time, it is being said that both the AIADMK supremo and the DMK chief are unlikely to conduct a large number of road-shows and rallies due to health issues. It is to be seen how much this situation benefits the PWF.

There are no star campaigners in the AIADMK except Jayalalithaa. In DMK too, only a few influential faces are there apart from Karunanidhi. Till a few days ago, Karunanidhi was very keen to get the DMDK with the DMK but it did not work out. Party treasurer M K Stalin, however, categorically stated that no alliance talks with the DMDK were going on. This exposes the state of affairs within the party.

Usually, the anti-incumbency factor works against the ruling party. Therefore, Jayalalithaa is very careful about the selection of candidates and mostly preferring fresh faces. The DMK, on the other hand, is planning to attract the youth, and, in this pursuit, party veterans might be sidelined.

The PMK, which has Dr Anbumani Ramadoss as its CM candidate, has a sizable vote bank in the northern belt. It will contest the elections alone and will field 234 candidates.

Speculations about G K Vasans Tamil Maanila Congress joining hands with the AIADMK are also rife. However, Vasan is yet to announce his partys position.

Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and other fringe parties are now thinking of joining the PWF. Hence, a clear picture of the political realignments in the state is yet to emerge.

While all the parties are working out their strategy, voters are waiting to see the emerging political trend in Tamil Nadu. It has also been learnt based on social media posts and trends that many young voters are not happy with either of the two Dravidian-majors and are looking for a new alternative. It will be interesting to see whether the PWF succeeds in becoming that alternative.

We are yet to see how the alliance arithmetic works out in the coming days. But one thing is sure that the first-time voters are holding the key in this poll. And, in their bid to find an alternative of the DMK and the AIADMK, they will make Vijayakanth either the king or kingmaker.
'If you think of European girls as "prostitutes" because pre-marital sex is acceptable there, then you are indulging in xenophobia and failing to understand European societies.'

'If some Europeans do not allow Muslims to assimilate into European national cultures, some Muslims also refuse to try and adopt and assimilate.'

IMAGE: Belgian security personnel check the documents of a Muslim woman in central Brussels, last November, soon after the Paris attacks. Photograph: Youssef Boudlal/ Reuters

Are Muslims the new Jews of Europe?

Will Muslim Syrian refugees prove a threat to Europe in the near future?

Will we see more incidents like the secual assault and rape of European women by Arab immigrants like we saw in Cologne, Germany?

Will migrants from the troubled Middle-East be responsible for more acts of terror in Europe like the attacks in Brussels on March 22?

If these questions haunt you, you must read Tabish Khair's latest book, The New Xenophobia.

In a two-part interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, Khair explains the new xenophobia haunting the world.

What do you mean by the 'new' xenophobia and how does it differ from the 'old' xenophobia?

As I see xenophobia as having to do with power, it follows that the forms of xenophobia will change as the nature of power changes.

Until recently, power was located in bodily and material forms of wealth and production -- farming, craft, trade by moving goods from market to market, industrial production. Even capitalism had a largely material definition, for instance as trade and industry, until recently.

During these times, xenophobia -- what I term old xenophobia -- impacted on strangers bodily and defined them bodily. Racism is an obvious example.

Since the 1980s onwards, in the current phase of high capitalism however, for the first time in human history, financial transactions have totally dwarfed industrial and related material production. Today, much of capital exists only as numbers -- it is not the same as money in the past.

As capital -- the source of power today -- has become even more abstract than money, it follows that the new xenophobia has more abstract expressions too. As such, for example, people do not oppress others on the basis of colour or race, but by using abstract economic arguments.

Of course, the old xenophobia is by no means over: My book also shows how the new xenophobia overlaps with the old xenophobia and how it sometimes uses opposition to old xenophobia as a smokescreen.

How were strangers treated in earlier times when they reached a new destination and new civilizations? Were humans always hostile to strangers? Did they always have a xenophobic attitude towards people from other races?

Human beings have reacted in different ways to strangers.

Even in basically anti-Semitic Europe, Jews were welcomed at times. Internally, homosexuals have also been accepted or persecuted in different phases of history and in different societies.

All religions contain lines and stories about welcoming the stranger, for instance. Moreover, a people familiar to another people can be turned into 'dangerous strangers' because of political developments.

For instance, Jews were far more free in medieval Arab cultures and often contributed to them at the highest levels. Some of the great Arab philosophers and scientists from the Middle Ages were Jews.

Or look at what has happened to Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. Actually, the strangers of xenophobia do not just 'come' from somewhere; my book shows that they are created in a particular situation.

IMAGE: Supporters of the anti-immigration right-wing movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) demonstrate against mass assaults on women on New Year's Eve in Cologne, January 9, 2016. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

In spite of the all modern technology we possess, including access to the Internet, why have we have been not able to understand different cultures and develop friendly relations among different cultures?

Technology (including the Internet) is never sufficient. For about a century now, we have the technology to eradicate hunger all over the world, and it has not happened.

The Internet is just a tool: You can use it in different ways. You can use it to connect to other people and talk to them in a civilised manner. You can also use it to download hate-filled opinions and circulate them.

You can learn to build bridges or bombs.

Unfortunately, in an increasingly bureaucratic and technocratic world, the humanities are being largely neglected -- so while we are developing better and better tools, we are neglecting the study of human beings and societies, which also means that we are neglecting to study how tools are and can be used by human beings in social and historical contexts.

You yourself were a stranger when you arrived in Denmark. Can you tell us the do's and don's a stranger needs to keep in mind when he arrives in a new country?

I believe that if a stranger chooses to move to another country and is not too old, the first thing he should do is try to learn its language and a bit about its culture.

At the same time the host country has to learn to accept the stranger as someone who will relate to the native language and culture in a different manner.

Note, I say: If a stranger chooses to move somewhere; the situation of refugees fleeing a war might be different.

Image: A poster protesting the construction of new minarets in Switzerland, November 9, 2009. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

If you talk about Europe, do you think it is suffering from the new xenophobia as many Europeans don't want Muslims to assimilate in their culture? I am saying this because Switzerland said 'No' to a mosque minaret and Denmark, till 2009, had no Muslim graveyard.

Denmark did allow a Muslim graveyard, but it took decades of legal effort.

Europeans react to Muslims in different ways. Some of it is new xenophobia, for instance, when abstract laws are used to debar them or when an abstract economic logic is employed. They are not debarred because of colour or race, but because of 'economic' or 'civil' reasons.

Some of it is still old xenophobia, given a new slant.

But it has also to be noted that some Muslims show aspects of old xenophobia, by denigrating the beliefs and cultural practices of Europeans.

If you think of European girls as 'prostitutes' because pre-marital sex is acceptable there, then you are indulging in xenophobia and failing to understand European societies.

So, if some Europeans do not allow Muslims to assimilate into European national cultures, some Muslims also refuse to try and adopt and assimilate.

I cannot put the blame only on the European right, alas. Muslims can be just as xenophobic as any other people.

When we read about the Cologne assault on women on New Year's Eve or rapes in Sweden by migrants and by people of Arab descent, don't you think there will automatically be a xenophobic attitude that will develop in the locals against immigrants?

Of course, but that is the point about xenophobia too. Because one immigrant is a criminal, it does not mean that all immigrants are criminals.

It is right to act against a criminal even if he is an immigrant, but it is wrong to use individual cases to denigrate an entire group.

That is what xenophobes do -- and they do it mostly to empower themselves by marginalising a group and by becoming 'representative' of their own national opinion.

It is finally a power tussle -- and the stranger is made a scapegoat.

IMAGE: Tabish Khair believes xenophobes mostly empower themselves by marginalising a group and by becoming 'representative' of their own national opinion. Photograph: Kind courtesy Tabish Khair

How do you see rise of Donald Trump in American politics? Will you say that there is a xenophobic attitude in Republicans towards the Muslim community?

If Trump gets elected, do you think the equation of America with the Muslim world will change for the worse?

Trump is a political maverick and he is going so far because the Republicans are bankrupt as a political party today. They seem to have no positive agenda, only reactions. So I do not really know what Trump will do if he gets elected: a maverick is unpredictable.

Will America's equation with the Muslim world change if Trump becomes president? Who knows? I doubt it.

It depends on what you mean by the equation: Dor instance, Saudi Arabia, along with Israel, has been one of America's best 'allies' for decades now, despite whatever it might do or whoever might be in power in USA.

Obviously, much more than individuals have a role to play in shifts in global power politics.

You give the example of Denmark, of how the burglary rate dropped from 2009 to 2010, yet Danes were arming themselves. Why? Why this mass paranoia when only 0.015 per cent homes were robbed?

What is the psychology behind the fact that human beings behave this way?

Denmark is a working welfare State, a small nation of five million people and has an ageing population.

One of the consequences of this combination is an extreme focus on security. The media play up these matters too. This can lead to paranoia in some circles -- and also to xenophobia.
Republican Presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday stoked a fresh controversy by alleging that Muslims in the United Kingdom are absolutely not reporting suspected terrorists, a claim that was rubbished by a top British counter-terrorism police official.

I would say this to the Muslims and in the United States also, when they see trouble they have to report it. Theyre not reporting it, theyre absolutely not reporting it and thats a big problem, Trump told ITV, a day after explosions rocked the Belgian capital, claiming over 30 lives and injuring more than 250.

Trump made the remarks when asked what he would say to British Muslims, given the inflammatory claims he has made about the religion during his presidential campaign as well as his controversial pledge to ban Muslims from he US.

Theyre protecting each other but theyre really doing very bad damage, they have to open up to society and report the bad ones, he said.

Trumps statement was promptly condemned by a senior British counter-terrorism police officer and also the Muslim Council of Britain.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told BBC Radio that Trumps comments were wrong and could spark hate crimes.

If we demonise one section of the community, that is the worst thing we can do. We are absolutely playing into the terrorists hands of making people feel hate, he said.

Basu, however, admitted that British police have to do more to encourage Muslims and other Britons to report suspicious activity to police.

Miqdaad Versi, the MCBs assistant secretary-general, said Trumps comments fuel this idea of bigotry. They really fuel the thing that terrorists themselves want -- that Muslims are apart from the West and cannot be seen as equal citizens, he said.

The tycoon-turned-politician provoked anger last year after he called for a total and complete shutdown of US borders to Muslims after the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

More than half a million people signed a petition calling for Trump to be banned from the UK after issuing the pledge. He also claimed that parts of London were so radicalised police were afraid for their own lives.
While others fled after hearing explosions ripping through the central hall at the Zaventem Airport in Brussels on Tuesday, there was one who did the very opposite, he stayed back and helped others to safety.

IMAGE: A person is carried to safety out by Alphonse Youla (in green) as troops helped the injured and secured the area after the explosions in the terminal building. Photograph: Reuters TV

Alphonse Lyoura, an airport baggage security officer, did not flee the scene when two bomb blasts erupted in the departures area on Tuesday but began to help the injured.

After hearing the first bomb explode while he was wrapping bags, Lyoura stayed where he was and heard another explosion about two minutes later.

He said he saw people whose legs were destroyed in the blast or had sustained awful injuries.

I helped at least six or seven wounded people. We took out some bodies that were not moving. It was total panic everywhere, he was quoted as saying.

Lyoura told Reuters another five people he carried out seemed dead.

His bravery didnt go unnoticed on the Internet. One woman highlighted Lyouras actions, while others took to Twitter to applaud his bravery.

One user wrote, Alphonse youve just exposed their failure. If one of us still selflessly help others, they havent won. They will never win.

Another Twitter user said terrorism showed who the real heroes were. Terrorists create heroes. The hero doesnt care about your religion, the hero is just a good human being.

The airport worker isn't the only hero to emerge from the attacks.

City residents who live near metro stations and airports offered accommodation to anyone affected, along with the hashtags #PorteOuverte and #ikwilhelpen, while at Maelbeek metro travellers helped each other out to the open air.

The official official death toll from both attacks stands at 31, but this is likely to rise.

At least 20 people were killed in the attack on the metro after 11 were killed at the airport.
IMAGE: Najim Laachraoui has been wanted for months as a suspect bomb-maker linked to the Paris attacks.

Belgian media on Wednesday withdrew reports that a man arrested in the capital was Brussels attacks suspect Najim Laachraoui, AFP reported.

"Arrested man in Anderlecht is not Najim Laachraoui," the Derniere Heure newspaper tweeted, while the RTL broadcaster said that the "suspect arrested in Anderlecht was not Najim Laachraoui in the end."

Earlier reports had misidentified the person detained in connection with Tuesday's Brussels attacks.

Under his alias Soufiane Kayal, the 25-year-old had been wanted for months as a suspect bomb-maker linked to the Paris attacks after his DNA was found alongside that of the terrorists who carried out the massacres at a safe house where traces of explosives and suicide belts were found. He rented one of the hide-outs, in Auvelais, where the cell prepared for the massacres that would kill 130 people in the French capital.

He is believed to have been an accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, one of the men suspected of planning and carrying out the Paris attacks last year. He was believed to be the only suspect remaining on the run following Tuesday's attacks, where brothers Khalid and el-Brahim Bakraoui died in bombings at Brussels airport and Maalbeek Metro station, killing at least 30 and wounding over 200.

The brothers were wanted by police after a deadly anti-terror raid on an apartment in the Forest-Vorst section of Brussels just last week. The brothers both had criminal records for violent crimes committed in Belgium, the local newspaper La Libre reports.

IMAGE: (In black) Brothers Khalid and el-Brahim Bakraoui at the Brussels airport.

Investigators were focusing on a man in a hat (Laachraoui) who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden baggage trolley at the airport with two others they believed were the bombers. An unused explosive device was later found at the airport and Laachraoui was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions.

The blasts on Tuesday claimed by the Syrian-based militants four days after the arrest in Brussels of a prime suspect in November's Paris attacks, sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and transit systems, and drawing an outpouring of solidarity.

Security experts believed the blasts, which killed about 20 on a metro train running through the area that houses European Union institutions, were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Salah Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the November 13 Paris attacks.



"A photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks," prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a news conference.

The two men in dark clothes wore gloves on their left hands only. One security expert speculated they might have concealed detonators. The man in the hat was not wearing any gloves.
On the occasion of Pakistan Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted his counterpart from Islamabad Nawaz Sharif and asserted that India remains committed to resolving bilateral disputes through peaceful dialogue.

According to Dawn, Modi in his message reiterated India's desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.

"India remains firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through a peaceful bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terrorism and violence," he said.

The message comes as a development with both the nations taking steps to move ahead after the major seatback to bilateral ties caused by the Pathankot attack.

A team of Pakistani investigators is set to visit India from Sunday for collecting evidence related to the attack.

Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz delivered last week the invitation for Modi for the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit, to be hosted by Pakistan, to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of a SAARC foreign ministers' meeting in Nepal.

Prime Minister Modi is also expected to meet Sharif in Washington later this month on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.
The Art of Living Foundation chose to hold the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains in spite of being aware of the environmental, legal consequences, letters exchanged between it and the Delhi Development Authority show.

The letters, accessed by the environmental non-government organisation Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan during the case before the National Green Tribunal, show the foundation had twice been refused permission to hold an event in the area by the DDA.

Reviewed by Business Standard, they show constant communication between the Vyakti Vikas Kendra, a registered trust under which the AOL foundation functions, and the office of the chief engineer in charge of DDA's eastern administrative zone.

Queries sent to AOL on the disclosure remained unanswered at the time of this story going to print.

The letters, which form part of DDA's official submission to NGT, also point to a tug of war between the foundation and DDA over granting permission to hold the event over the last year.

They also show the DDA repeatedly shifting its official position on the matter.

The DDA had initially stated in a letter dated 18 May, 2015 that permission could not be granted owing to the area falling within the active boundaries of the Yamuna floodplains where it says, 'The National Green tribunal had banned all activities'. However, a letter dated 11 June eventually allowed permission after imposing a few conditions.

This happened after AOL had countered the DDA by saying all activities are not banned and it will not undertake any construction which pollutes the river in any form.

The Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan's founder Manoj Mishra says this contradicts AOL's official stance before the NGT where it claimed it could have chosen an alternative site had someone raised concerns regarding the ecological sensitivity of the area earlier.

The NGT in its order said it had given the nod to the event despite proof of environmental damage and violation of norms because the matter had been brought to court's notice too late in the day and there was a "reason of fait accompli capable of restoration and restitution."

The correspondence shows DDA yet again written to the AOL in a letter dated 30 November saying the event could not be allowed on the flood plains and had suggested using any of the other venues available with it after paying all requisite usage charges.

Finally, on 15 December permission was finally granted to the AOL after the DDA wrote a letter saying competent authority, in this case the lieutenant governor of Delhi's office had granted permission for the event. The same letter was also marked to the office of personal secretary to the urban development minister.

The letters also point out that AOL had repeatedly asked all charges for using the land be waived off since the festival was cultural in nature.

"It is again reiterated the festival is purely cultural, spiritual and non-commercial and therefore may be allowed to be held free of charge as requested earlier", it had told the DDA in its final letter to the DDA dated 4 December. Consequently, the DDA had said "No booking charges are leviable. The Organisation has to deposit Rs 15 lakh as security deposit (refundable)."

The event, held between 11-13 March have been condemned by environmentalists for checking the natural flow of the Yamuna by the building of pontoon bridges and artificial embankments and the levelling of a large area irrespective of the natural flora.

The NGT had also noted that work in the area 'has further disturbed the aquatic life of the river and destroyed water bodies and wet lands on the flood plains, which were in existence'.

However, it had set an initial fine of Rs 5 Crore as compensation for damaging the biodiversity of the flood plains apart from ordering the AOL to bear the entire cost of restoring the area to its natural state within two weeks. However, it had later brought it down to Rs 25 lakh, accepting the foundation's plea that the rest 95 per cent of the interim compensation be paid in three weeks times.

Image: Participants perform at the last day of World Culture Festival on the banks of the river Yamuna in New Delhi in this picture taken on March 13, 2016. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Thinking of a perfect gift for in-laws could be brain wracking but Kate Middleton came up with an amazing answer to what should be her first Christmas present to the Queen after marriage -- homemade chutney.

In an ITV documentary 'Our Queen at 90' to celebrate the monarch's milestone birthday on April 21, Kate has disclosed her worries about buying Queen Elizabeth II a Christmas present for her first year at Sandringham in 2011.

She eventually vowed to bring along something homemade, whipping up a batch of chutney from her own grandmother's recipe.

Speaking about the episode, Kate says she had been relieved to notice the Queen put it on her dining table the next day.

In her first ever solo television interview, the Duchess of Cambridge was quoted by The Telegraph as saying, "She (the Queen) really cares."

"I can remember being at Sandringham, for the first time, at Christmas. And I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present. I was thinking, 'Gosh, what should I give her?" the 34-year-old royal says in the documentary.

"I thought back to what would I give my own grandparents. And I thought, 'I'll make her something'. Which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny's recipe of chutney," she says.

"I was slightly worried about it, but I noticed the next day that it was on the table. I think such a simple gesture went such a long way for me and I've noticed since she's done that on lots of occasions and I think it just shows her thoughtfulness, really, and her care in looking after everybody," Kate adds.

The recipe is thought to have been a marrow chutney, which takes several hours to prepare.

The instructions are detailed in her sister Pippa Middleton's 2012 recipe book Celebrate, entitled 'Granny's Marrow Chutney'.

The Duchess did not specify which granny passed the recipe onto her.

The two-hour documentary also features contributions from Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, Kate's husband Prince William, Prince Harry, the Duke of York, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

According to the Radio Times, 11 members of the royal family have given face-to-face interviews, making it "a record-breaker before a single moment is broadcast".
Slamming the Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Wednesday night alleged that the Left party was promoting politics of violence to ensure its existence.

While visiting a private hospital where three BJP workers are undergoing treatment following an alleged attack by the CPI-M workers, Shah told reporters, The CPI-M is promoting politics of violence for its existence and the Congress in the state is providing an umbrella to the violence.

The CPI-M, which is facing its downfall, is attempting to come back through violence, Shah said, adding that the BJP would reply to it through votes.

Several RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)-BJP workers have been killed by the CPI-M in the state and to stop this, BJP should come to power, he said while seeking the support of the people for the same.

The BJP chief spent about an hour at the hospital, where he met the relatives of the persons who were injured in the alleged attack by the CPI-M workers at Kattayikonam near the capital.

Of the three undergoing treatment, the condition of one Amal Krishna, 23, was said to be serious.

Former Kerala state BJP president V Muraleedharan was among 16 persons injured in the clash between workers of the party and CPI-M at Kattayikonam on March 14.
The Peoples Democratic Party will hold a crucial meeting of its legislature party in Srinagar on Thursday to discuss government formation with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir.

A legislature party meeting will be held at 4 pm tomorrow, a PDP leader said on Wednesday.

This comes in the backdrop of party chief Mehbooba Mufti's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders in Delhi on Tuesday.

The PDP leader said a final decision on the formation of the government in the state is expected after Mehbooba takes the opinion of the legislators.

The party is likely to make an announcement on the future of the alliance with the BJP after the meeting, the leader said.

The PDP-BJP coalition, after 10 months rule from March 2015 to January, ran into rough weather following the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Sayeed breathed his last in a hospital in Delhi on January7 following which the state came under governors rule the next day.

Since then, the PDP leadership sought confidence building measures and assurances on the implementation of the already agreed Agenda for Alliance from the Centre for forming the government again.
Nepal joins SCO grouping as dialogue partner

Published: March 23, 2016

Nepal was officially made a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Beijing-based regional security grouping.

In this regard, Nepal signed memorandum during Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli official visit to China.

As a dialogue partner, Nepal will be able to participate in the multi-field cooperation of the SCO. It will also create new opportunities for the SCOs mutually beneficial cooperation and benefit people living in the extensive region that the SCO covers.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and military organisation.

8 Members: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. Observers: Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus.

Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus. Headquarters: Beijing, China.

Beijing, China. Established: 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6 countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6 countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It was an outcome of The Shanghai Five grouping established in 1996 by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

SCOs first enlargement was in 2001 with addition of Uzbekistan and second enlargement was in July 2015 with addition of 2 new members India and Pakistan.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2016

Topics: Current Affairs 2016  International  Nepal  SCO

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Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton on Wednesday knocked down another barrier by winning in Arizona presidential primaries but the frontrunners lost out in Utah to their nearest party rivals who kept their chances alive as the race to the White House gathered steam.

The former reality star, Trump, and former secretary of state, Clinton, routed Bernie Sanders and Texas Senator Ted Cruz by notching up victories in the key western state of Arizona as they solidified their front-runner status in their parties for the November 8 presidential elections.

However, just a couple of hours later, the next-in-line to the nomination in both the parties -- Vermont Senator Sanders and Texas Senator Cruz -- received a huge morale boost by clinching much-needed victories in Utah's presidential caucuses.

Victory of the 69-year-old real estate tycoon kept his momentum rolling despite concerted efforts by party establishment to thwart the billionaire's presidential aspirations.

"Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!"

"Thank you, Arizona," Trump tweeted.

Clinton tweeted: "Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who are working so hard for our campaign. You're knocking down barriers."

With an impressive win in Arizona, Trump grabbed all the 58 delegates at stake in the State, thus, increasing his total to 739 delegates and further increasing the gap on delegate count with his main Republican presidential primary rival Senator Ted Cruz who has a delegate count of 425. To win the Republican presidential nominee, Trump needs 1,237 delegates.

He needs to win 52 per cent of the delegates in the rest of the Republican primaries. So far, the real estate tycoon has won 19 states as against Cruz's victory in eight states so far.

In Arizona, Clinton's sole rival Senator Sanders had polled 36.8 per cent of the votes as against more than 60 per cent by the former Secretary of State.

Clinton currently has 1,670 delegates, which includes 1159 won by her in various States and 467 super delegates who have pledged their support to her. Sanders has 886 delegates including 829 won in State primaries and caucuses.

The one with 2,382 delegates, would be declared the Democratic presidential nominee.

In Utah, media reports projected Cruz as the winner with about 70 per cent of the vote, with Ohio Governor John Kasich at 16 per cent and Trump at 13 per cent.

After securing victory in Utah, Sanders now hopes to continue his winning streak in the rest of the western states.

"Thank you to all those who caucused tonight in Utah!" Sanders tweeted.

The Democratic presidential primaries on Wednesday were held in Arizona, Utah and Idaho and the race to White House now moves to the Saturday caucuses in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state.

Mainstream American media projected victory for Sanders in Utah based on results of initial counting of votes.

Sanders claimed 74.8 per cent of the vote to Clinton's 24.1 per cent with just 11 per cent reporting.

Utah, whose population is more caucasian, has 33 delegates up for grabs while neighbouring Arizona, where a substantial Hispanic population helped Clinton secure victory, is a larger state with 75 pledged delegates at stake.

Setting an eye on the November elections after an impressive win in Arizona primary, Clinton slammed Republican counterpart Trump for running a divisive campaign and inciting fear among people.

"We need a president who can provide leadership that's strong, smart, and steady. The last thing we need are leaders who incite more fear," Clinton told her cheering supporters in Seattle in the Washington state in her victory speech.

"In the face of terror, America doesn't panic. We don't build walls or turn our backs on our allies. We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people," she said in an attack directed at Trump.

"What Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it's dangerous. It will not keep us safe. This is a time for America to lead, not cower, and we will lead... We have to dismantle the global terror pipeline. We have to strengthen our defences here at home and we need to work closely with our allies... This election really matters," Clinton said.

"We need to keep working together. We need to make a point that we're going into the future with confidence and optimism," she said.

In her address, Clinton said this is not just a contest between candidates, but "between fundamentally different views of our country, our values, and our future".

Image: Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives for a campaign rally at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Washington. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Ending suspense surrounding his party's electoral tie-up for the May 16 assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founder Vijayakanth on Wednesday aligned with Vaiko-led People's Welfare Front with the actor-turned-politician being declared as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.

The DMDK got the lion's share of 124 of the 234 assembly constituencies while PWF constituents -- Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India and

and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, will field their candidates from the remaining 110.

"You (Vijayakanth) will be the king, kingmakers (PWF leaders) will make you the king," Vaiko told Vijayakanth, adding, the alliance will also be known as "Captain Vijayakanth Front."

The seat-sharing agreement signed by Vijayakant, Vaiko, G Ramakrishnan (CPI-M), R Mutharasan (CPI) and Thol Thirumavalavan (VCK) was released to media.

The agreement also said Vijayakanth would be the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.

If elected, the front will have a coalition government, a rare proposition in Tamil Nadu politics, the leaders said.

The development, however, was ridiculed by the BJP, which had actively wooed the DMDK in its effort to sew up a 2014-like the NDA coalition, while the DMK did not seem to take it seriously.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan claimed that the PWF-DMDK combination, "will not win a single seat."

"They are confident that they will not win a single seat and have therefore named brother Captain (Vijayakanth) as CM candidate in anticipation of at least securing deposit," he said.

Vijayakanth, an actor-turned-politician, is addressed as Captain by supporters and cinema industry colleagues.

Radhakrishnan chided the Vaiko-led PWF for going back on its policy of not naming a CM candidate prior to elections.

Speaking to reporters, Radhakrishnan extended his greetings to the DMDK founder on being named the chief ministerial candidate, irrespective of "whether he becomes CM or not."

Vaiko continuing at the helm of affairs and Vijayakanth being named as the chief ministerial candidate reminded him of a popular Tamil comedy scene, he said.

"The BJP will face the polls with enhanced strength and we will accept anyone coming to our (headed) alliance," he said adding the front will be instrumental in forming of the next government.

Tamil Nadu is set to witness a multi-cornered contest among the fronts led by AIADMK, DMK, DMDK-PWF, BJP and PMK.

BJP National Executive Member L Ganesan said that the DMDK and PWF joining hands had brought about a 'clarity' to the state's political situation.

DMK leader M K Stalin also did not seem to take the new front seriously.

"We are doing our work," was his cryptic response to reporters' queries in this regard.

TMC leader and former Union Minister G K Vasan indicated that the PWF-DMDK arrangement was nothing new as "it had been discussed widely" over the past few days.

Earlier, the breakthrough in alliance parleys came after Vijayakanth, who recently declared that his party would go it alone in the polls, held talks with leaders of the PWF, led by MDMK's Vaiko.

The move is considered a setback for the DMK which had hoped to rope in all key anti-AIADMK forces under its leadership and made sustained efforts to bring in Vijayakanth.

Likening Vijayakanth to Yudhistra of Mahabharata Vaiko said, "Bheema, Arjuna, Nakul and Sahadeva" (reference to four PWF leaders) will not allow others to get near him and they would take on rivals first.

Vaiko, the coordinator of the PWF, said he would be the "Senapathi (Commander) of the PWF-DMDK forces" that would take on the AIADMK and the DMK.

He said,"this is the alliance expected by the people, this is a great front that would usher in change and be victorious."

Thirumavalavan, Ramakrishnan and Mutharasan too praised Vijayakant and said their combine would emerge victorious.
Army gave three good reasons why it could not build the bridges for Art of Living event.

Defence ministry overruled the army's objections, reveals Ajai Shukla.

The army conveyed in writing to the defence ministry its reservations against building six bridges for the World Cultural Festival organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation from March 11-13. The army regarded the WCF as 'a private function.'

Yet the defence ministry overruled the army's written representation, ordering first one, and then two, bridges to be constructed over the Yamuna, for what it regarded as a 'public function.'

Business Standard has accessed the army's letter to the defence ministry, written in the third week of February, conveying the personal decision of the army chief. The letter cited three arguments why the operational army bridges should not be used for a private event.

The army's first objection was that the bridging equipment was stored across various army cantonments. Transporting these to Delhi would require a major logistical effort and expense.

The second reason was that these bridges comprised valuable operational equipment, which had a finite service life in terms of the number of times they could be launched. The army argued that this limited service life should be safeguarded for war.

The third reason was the impropriety of deploying military troops for what it considered a private function.

Overruling these objections, the defence ministry explicitly took the view that the WCF was a public function. It conveyed to the army that a private function was one 'organised by a private individual, for private purposes, in private premises.'

It told the army that, where large public attendance was expected for a function that the government had cleared, it would have to take responsibility for public safety, traffic control, crowd control, etc.

With the defence ministry effectively overruling the army's objections, the generals say they took on the job whole-heartedly 'in the spirit with which it built bridges for the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, and organised the annual Amarnath Yatra.'

An engineer regiment from Meerut was moved to build and maintain the bridges, while equipment was transported from a large number of cantonments.

The 'Regulations for the Army' lays down rules for 'Employment of troops on duties in aid of civil authorities.'

According to Paragraph 301, troops may be called in for 'maintenance of law and order; maintenance of essential services; assistance during natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods; and any other type of assistance which may be needed by the civil authorities.'

In overruling the army's written objections, the defence ministry relied on the fourth clause: 'Any other type of assistance which may be needed by the civil authorities.'

Army generals say that the Delhi and the Uttar Pradesh governments had jointly cleared the WCF, while the Delhi government had requested for bridges. The decision to overrule army reservations to building bridges, however, was taken by the defence ministry.
What began as a challenge ended up a way of life for 'Paalam' Kalyanasundaram, whom the UN adjudged one of the most outstanding people of the 20th century.

This is the story of his inspiring journey, as told to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com

IMAGE: The extraordinary Paalam Kalyanasundaram. Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj

Thin, frail, clad in a dull white dhoti and sleeveless vest, 'Paalam' Kalyanasundaram looks older than his 75 years. Though born into a wealthy agricultural family where he was surrounded by abundance, his possessions today are a couple of dhotis and shirts and a small black bag that he carries everywhere.

He doesn't have a house of his own, but the doors of many homes in Chennai, including that of superstar Rajinikanth, are open to him.

He never married because he did not meet a person like Sarada Devi, Ramakrishna Paramhansa's wife. yet, hundreds of children are willing to take care of him.

I meet this extraordinary human being in a tiny one room house in a slum. He is like a grandfather to the young girl who lost her father to cancer a few years ago. She eats with him, runs errands for him, travels with him and takes care of him more than he takes care of her. He has many such grandchildren.

As we speak, a young man walks in. A driver from the interiors of Tamil Nadu, he had come hearing of Paalam's large heart and wanted to help by driving him around. A man like Paalam, he says, should not travel in autos and buses.

This is the kind of unconditional love people have for him.

Paalam worked as a librarian in a college for 35 years and donated every paisa he earned as salary to charity. To meet his needs, he worked as a waiter in a small hotel after college hours. He also gave away his entire pension to the poor.

He had won many awards including the best librarian award from the Government of India. The International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, honoured him as one of the 'noblest of the world.' The United Nations adjudged him one of the most outstanding people of the 20th century.

The Man of the Millennium award from an American organisation gave him Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) along with the award. He donated the entire amount to the poor.

Today he runs the organisation Paalam (bridge), which works as a bridge between donors and the needy. "I do not earn any money now, so I can only act as a bridge," he says.

It may be hard to believe that a man like Paalam Kalyanasundaram lives on this planet, but he does, and here is his story.

Childhood in a village

You will realise how backward my village, Melakarivelamkulam in Tirunelveli district, was when I say that there were only 35 houses. We had no road, no electricity, no primary school or even a tiny shop to buy a match box!

Till I reached high school, we only used kerosene lamps at home.

It was only when I came to Madras for my post-school education that I saw, for the first time in my life, a train, a cinema theatre, big shops and even electricity.

I lost my father, a rich landlord, when I was 10 months old. I was brought up by my mother and maternal grandmother. My biggest life lesson came from my illiterate mother.

Before she got married, my grandmother ran a small idli shop in her village and my mother and her sister worked as servers. My father, a rich agriculturist, used to visit the village to sell his farm products. As this was the only idli shop there, he was a regular visitor.

A 45-year-old widower, he would leave his two small children at the idli shop while he completed his work. When he found that my mother lovingly looked after them, he wanted to marry her. My mother had two conditions -- that her mother would stay with them and he had to bear the expenses of her younger sister's wedding.

He agreed and they were married.

My elder brother was born when my father was 50, I was born 11 years later. Within a year, my father passed away.

IMAGE: Kalyanasundaram's mother urged him to share his meals with others (Image used for representational purposes only). Photograph: Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters

A magic mantra, learnt early in life

When my brother and I were young, she would tell us, 'Even if you have all the money in the world, you will not be happy. To attain happiness, you should not be greedy. You should donate one tenth of whatever you have to the needy. You should help a living being -- human or animal -- every day. If you follow these three things, you will be happy.'

My life was not shaped by what I learnt in school or college, it was shaped by my illiterate mother's thoughts.

Every morning, when my brother and I got ready to go to school, my mother would pack either 10 biscuits or 10 murukku (a savoury snack) or 10 chocolates and tell us, 'Before you start eating, you should give one to somebody else. Without doing that, you should not eat anything. It can be a beggar or a dog or even your friend.'

One day, the snack she gave me was a delicious sweet. I couldn't control my desire, I ate all 10 myself. In the evening, I asked her for some more after confessing I hadn't shared any earlier since it was so tempting. She was so angry and disappointed; she slapped me hard and said she would have made more if I had shared it with someone.

A challenge, and a saviour

When we became teenagers, the voice of all my friends cracked, but mine didn't. My classmates would constantly tease me about my shrieky, feminine, voice.

It disturbed me to such an extent that I wanted to commit suicide.

Depressed beyond words, I went to meet a Tamil writer who was my hero and told him I was fed up living a boy's life with a girl's voice. I was 16. He was shocked. He took me to a hotel and ordered some food.

Later, he spoke to me for two hours. 'How Kalyanasundaram speaks is not what makes your life,' he said. 'What society speaks about Kalyanasundaram is what matters. You should live such a life that people speak highly about you and your life.'

I have not forgotten his words.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addresses a meeting in New Delhi during the 1962 war with China. Photograph: Terry Fincher/Express/Getty Images

A war and a challenge

In 1962, when the India-China war started, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru urged all citizens to donate to the war fund. I was a student of library science at Madras University.

I didn't have any money, so I immediately took the gold chain I was wearing and donated it to the Prime Minister's Fund.

When Kamaraj (the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu) came to know of this, he arranged a meeting at Marina Beach (in Chennai) on May 1, 1963. When he complimented my donation as a great social service, I said I had done it for my own satisfaction and happiness.

A newspaper editor asked, 'Till now, you have been donating what your mother and grandmother gave you, not what you earned. When you start working, can you donate your entire salary for at least five years?' Taking it as a challenge, I agreed.

When I was in school, I wanted to see all the other children there as well. But most of my friends from the village could not afford the fees. So, after I turned 14, I gave free tuition to the village children. I felt it was unfair that I could study because I belonged to a rich family and my friends could not because their parents were poor.

Keeping a promise, and more

I am a gold medallist in library science and have master's degrees in Tamil literature and history. After my studies, I decided to work as a librarian at the Kumarkurupara Arts College at Srivaikuntam near Thanjavur.

At that time, our family income from agriculture was around Rs 2 or 3 lakhs (Rs 200,000 t9o Rs 300,000). I remembered what I told the newspaper editor. I knew I could donate my salary of Rs 140 and live on the family income.

But what is so great about giving away Rs 140 for charity when your family income is in lakhs? It becomes great only when that Rs 140 is all you have.

When serving became a tribute

After donating my entire salary, I chose not to take any money from my family. To take care of my basic needs, I worked in a restaurant in a small town away from my college.

After college, from 5 pm to 7 pm, I worked as an honorary professor teaching students Gandhian studies. From 8 pm to 11 pm, I worked as a waiter.

Though the owner asked me to work as a manager or a cashier, I wanted to work as a waiter as my mother was one when she was young. I didn't consider it demeaning even though I was the chief librarian of a college.

The hotel paid me Rs 600 as salary. I was also given free food.

Slowly, people came to know that I worked in a college and the restaurant came to be known as the one where a college teacher worked as a server! Many people would come there just to see me.

Even today, people point out the restaurant and say this was where a college professor worked as a server.

IMAGE: In rural India, many poor children do not have access to education (Image used for representational purposes only). Photograph: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters

The joy of giving

After giving away my salary for five years, I thought why not donate my entire salary for another 10 years and prove the editor wrong?

After 10 years, I realised I felt good using my money to educate poor children. I continued to donate my entire salary till my retirement, that is, for 35 years.

Nobody knew what I was doing till 1990. It remained a secret as I didn't want to publicise what I was doing.

When our pay scale changed to what the UGC (University Grants Commission) prescribed, everyone got huge arrears. I also got Rs 120,000.

I met the district collector and asked him to keep the money in a trust to be used as scholarships for the education of orphaned children. He asked if I had any conditions. I said I wanted members from all communities who were involved in charity work to be on the trust so that the scholarships would be used properly even after my death.

When he wanted to arrange a public meeting to appreciate my gesture, I told him I didn't want anyone else to know about it. He agreed, but, without my knowledge, sent this information to newspapers, agencies and radio stations. It was flashed all over India. His reasoning was that he wanted more people to follow what I did.

That's how, after April 16, 1990, people came to know of a person called Kalyanasundaram.

A sacrifice, happily made

I knew that if I got married, I would not be able to donate my entire salary. So I decided to remain a bachelor.

If I had met a person like Sarada Devi, who was the perfect wife to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, I would have got married.

IMAGE: Rajinikanth with Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan at an event last year. Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar

A superstar for a son

After I gave my entire pension, gratuity and provident fund to the poor, the United Nations named me one of the Outstanding People of the 20th Century.

An American organisation honoured me with the 'Man of the Millennium' award, which included Rs 30 crore. I distributed the entire amount to the needy.

When Rajinikanth came to know of this, he organised a meeting at the Kamarajar Arangam and gave me money and 101 sovereigns. There itself, I gave away the money and 101 sovereigns to 101 needy children.

On seeing this, he adopted me as his father and wanted me to stay with him. But I couldn't stay with him for more than a month as I found that life quite stifling.

I like to lead an anonymous, simple and independent life which I didn't get while staying at his place. He respected my wishes and let me go, saying the doors of his house would always be open for me.

IMAGE: The man who became a bridge -- Paalam Kalyanasundaram. Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj

A much needed bridge

After my retirement in 1998, I decided to return to my village, but Nalli Kuppuswami Chettiar (the well-known textile industrialist and philanthropist) asked me stay back in Chennai and work for the poor.

I didn't have a single penny -- no salary, no savings. He promised to take care of my needs and the expenses of an office. Even today, he takes care of everything.

Now that I don't earn any money, I decided to be a paalam (bridge) between the needy and the donors. That is how people started calling me Paalam Kalyanasundaram.
'Terrible year' in war-torn Yemen leaves majority of country's people in need of aid - UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 22 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, 'Terrible year' in war-torn Yemen leaves majority of country's people in need of aid - UN, 22 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56f2495840c.html [accessed 23 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

22 March 2016 - One year on into the conflict in Yemen, tens of thousands of Yemenis have been killed or injured, one in 10 are displaced and nearly the entire population is in urgent need of aid, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country said.

It has been a terrible year for Yemen, during which a war peppered with airstrikes, shelling and violence had raged on in the already very impoverished country, Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen told journalists in Geneva.

Shelling of ports and airports, resulting in blockades and congestion, is one of the drivers of the humanitarian crisis, Mr. McGoldrick said, noting that health workers cannot reach patients and some 90 per cent of the food has to be imported.

The country had had extremely high levels of poverty before the war, and currently, the war has escalated, in an already fragile environment, said the aid official.

Some 6,400 people have been killed in the past year, half of them civilians, and more than 30,000 are injured, with 2.5 million people displaced, according to figures from the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, more than 20 million people, or 80 per cent of the population, require some form of aid  about 14 million people in need of food and even more in need of water or sanitation.

The UN has appealed for $1.8 billion for food, water, health care and shelter and protection issues, but only 12 per cent has been funded so far.

Also speaking in Geneva, Bettina Luescher for the World Food Programme (WFP) said that shortages forced the agency to cut rations to 75 per cent of a full ratio so that enough people could eat. She also highlighted the problems with movement and inability of workers to safely reach all the areas in need.

Yemen should not be forgotten, with all the attention focused on the Syria crisis, she said.

UN action on the ground

The UN human rights chief last week condemned the repeated failure of the Coalition to effectively prevent civilian coalition airstrikes after two deadly strikes  just weeks apart  killed nearly 150 people, including children.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said incidents that have hit markets, hospitals, clinics, schools and other civilian structures occur with unacceptable regularity.

The National Oncology Centre in Sana'a announced that it was on the brink of shutting down, with more than 100 other hospitals, blood banks and other health facilities impacted by the violence.

There is now a localized ceasefire along the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia, but the airstrikes continue.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq in New York today said that UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who leads the political process, has been meeting with the parties to the conflict, but no date has yet been announced for direct talks.

In the meantime, the UN is also preparing for longer-term reconstruction and providing some urgently needed jobs.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is focusing on mine clearance, public service restoration and emergency employment, spokesperson Sarah Bel said. One of the public services being restored is waste collection, part of the cash-for-work schemes under UNDP's umbrella.
PM Narendra Modi launches two projects between India, Bangladesh

Published: March 23, 2016

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshs PM Sheikh Hasina alongwith Chief Minister of Tripura inaugurated two historical projects between two countries via video conference.

These projects are

100 MW power export via transmission lines between Surjamaninagar (Tripura) and South Comilla in Bangladesh.

Announcement of Indias 3rd Internet Gateway optical fibre connection between Cox Bazaar in Bangladesh and Agartala (Tripura).

Bangladesh will export 10 gbps (gigabytes per second) of Internet bandwidth to India. It will help India strengthen telecom services and connectivity in Indias underdeveloped and sparsely connected eight northeastern states.

Under the connectivity project, an international gateway for broadband connectivity will be set up at Agartala (Tripura) through which connectivity will be provided via Bangladesh.

Indias state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Co. Ltd (BSCCL) using the network of the Bangladesh Telecom Co. Ltd are implementing agencies.

These agreements on the export of electricity and Internet bandwidth were signed between both countries in Dhaka during PM Narendra Modis official visit to Bangladesh in June 2015.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2016

Topics: Current Affairs 2016  India-Bangladesh  Narendra Modi  National  Tripura

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Preliminary findings by the UN Working Group on the use mercenaries on his Mission to Ukraine

Publisher UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Publication Date 18 March 2016 Cite as UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Preliminary findings by the UN Working Group on the use mercenaries on his Mission to Ukraine, 18 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56f24c094.html [accessed 23 October 2022]

22 March 2016 - Today in Geneva, the United Nations Working Group on mercenaries called on the Government of Ukraine to ensure accountability for human rights violations committed by foreign armed actors during the conflict that has plagued the country since 2014.

What is particularly concerning is that with the diverse array of foreign armed actors who joined the conflict, reports on human rights violations by these individuals have not been properly investigated or brought to justice, said Patricia Arias, who formed the Group with co-human rights expert Saeed Mokbil.

The Group's delegation expressed deep concern about allegations of mercenaries joining all sides to the conflict, which they stressed was clearly prohibited under international law.

To date, foreign fighters have been prosecuted for various crimes including terrorist-related offences, but no prosecutions have been in relation to the human rights violations that took place, Ms. Arias said.

At the end of an official five-day visit to the country, the experts revealed that human rights violations had reportedly been committed at the hands of not only mercenaries, but also other foreign fighters, ranging from volunteers to paid service men and women, and independent militia members to professional military.

The Ukraine authorities informed the expert group that at least 176 identified foreigners were serving in armed groups of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, which reportedly include large numbers from Russia, Serbia, Belarus, France and Italy, among others. Women were also among the combatants, though in a significantly smaller extent.

Although we received much information pointing to several levels of foreigner engagement in the armed conflict in Ukraine, the lack of coherent information on payments and the motivations of fighters make it difficult for us to ascertain which fighters are mercenaries, noted Mr. Mokbil.

In 2015, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted legal amendments permitting the inclusion of foreigners and stateless persons to serve in its regular armed forces and its National Guard, including those who fought in the volunteer battalions during the conflict.

However, impunity for human rights violations remains largely unquestioned, paving the way for a murky zone with negligible accountability, Mr. Mokbil said. We urge the Government of Ukraine to ensure accountability for violations that have been instigated by all parties to the conflict, to ensure justice for victims.

Working Group's Recommendations

The Working Group reiterated the need to draw up a strategy on foreign engagement in the conflict, within the framework of the Minsk Protocol  the 2014 agreement to halt armed hostilities in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

Highlighting provision 10, which obliges all sides of the conflict to withdraw illegal armed formations, military equipment and mercenaries, the experts also requested its full implementation by the Government.

They further urged all parties to the conflict to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law and ensure respect for all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights with respect to the activities of foreigners in armed groups.

According to the press release, the 2014 Maidan protests in Kyiv and the 16 March 2014 referendum in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea  determined by the UN General Assembly on the territorial integrity of Ukraine  were followed by the outbreak of armed hostilities in eastern Ukraine that brought an influx of fighters from abroad, significantly influencing human rights in the country.

From 14 to 18 March, the delegation met Government authorities, parliamentarians, judicial officials, civil society organizations and members of the diplomatic corps along with representatives of the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk people's republic.'

The lack of concrete information on the profile of foreign armed actors was a challenge for the fact-finding visit. While the expert group did not discover any particular data on private military companies  currently prohibited by Ukrainian law  it called for this sector to be regulated to prevent potential human rights violations.

The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries will present its visit report to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2016.
Egypt: Student imprisoned for wearing anti-torture T-shirt hours away from release

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 22 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Egypt: Student imprisoned for wearing anti-torture T-shirt hours away from release, 22 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56f250434.html [accessed 23 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Egypt's authorities must expedite the release of a 20-year-old prisoner of conscience who has spent more than two years in pre-trial detention in a case of outrageous injustice, said Amnesty International after a court ordered his release on bail today.

Mahmoud Hussein was arrested on 25 January 2014 for wearing a "Nation Without Torture" T-shirt, and a scarf with a logo of the "25 January Revolution". He was accused of belonging to a banned group and attending an unauthorised protest, amongst other things.

"While the court's decision comes as a huge relief for Mahmoud Hussein and his family, it should not overshadow the outrageous injustice he has suffered. He is a prisoner of conscience who should never have been jailed in the first place. The Egyptian authorities must now drop all charges against him," said Magdalena Mughrabi, interim Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.

"The fact that he languished behind bars for nearly 790 days just because of the slogan on his T-shirt shows just how dire the human rights situation in Egypt has become. Many others, like Mahmoud, are imprisoned in Egypt simply for exercising their right to freedom of expression or assembly."

Amnesty International fears his provisional release could be overturned by Egypt's Public Prosecutor before another court.

"Mahmoud Hussein is hours away from release. But he will not be truly free until the authorities drop the ludicrous charges against him, remove all conditions on his release, and end the investigation," said Magdalena Mughrabi.

"They must also set up a prompt, independent investigation into his allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in detention and bring those responsible to justice. All other prisoners of conscience in Egypt must also be immediately and unconditionally released."

In November 2015, Amnesty International delivered nearly 145,000 signatures to the Egyptian authorities calling for Mahmoud Hussein's immediate and unconditional release.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
 



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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
WEDNESDAY

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Business Expo

The Abilene Chamber of Commerce will conduct the 32nd annual Business Expo from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. More than 220 exhibitors will be present. Admission is $5. Complimentary tickets are available at the chamber office, 174 Cypress St.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Betty Hardwick Center, 2626 S. Clack St.

Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St.

Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815.

Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd.

Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570.

The Alzheimer's Association Brownwood Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Redstone Park Retirement & Assisted Living, 2410 Songbird Circle, Brownwood. 325-643-9056.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Veterans Peer Support Group, 6 p.m., 765 Orange St. 325-670-4818.

Mid-week Al-Anon Family Group, 6-7 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-698-4995.

Advanced Square Dancing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wagon Wheel.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007.

DivorceCare support group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. 325-691-4200.

THURSDAY

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Class for iPhones and iPads

Tom Miller will present a free class for iPhone and iPad users at 1 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane. Registration will begin at 12:30 p.m. Information: 325-692-1087.

Art reception

An opening reception for the exhibit 'Geographica and Iconography for a New Age' will be 5-7 p.m. at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St.

Preparedness workshop

Abilene Fire Department Education Officer Kara Hunter will present 'Surviving Disaster: How Texans Prepare' at 6:30 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Admission is free.

Dance

COLORADO CITY  The Mitchell County Senior Citizen Dance will be 7-10 p.m. at the Colorado City Civic Center, 157 E. Second St. Admission is $5. Participants are asked to bring a covered dish.

Other ...

Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sweetwater High School.

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center.

Teen Recovery Group, 6-7 p.m., Mission Abilene, 3001 N. Third St.

Free certified nurturing parent class (all ages), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:30 p.m. Brook Hollow Christian Church. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. 325-665-5052.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 6:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Gambler's Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St. 325-338-2575.

Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517.

South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

FRIDAY

Bake sale

TUSCOLA  A bake sale will be open from 9 a.m. to noon at Texas National Bank. Proceeds will go to On the Way Home Ministries.

Veterans open house

The Department of Veterans Affairs will conduct an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Taylor County Vet Center (Abilene), 3564 N. Sixth St. A veterans benefits specialist will be present to assist with claims.

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1214 N. Mockingbird Lane. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Musical

COTTONWOOD  The Cottonwood Country Musical will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Cottonwood Community Center. Jackie Collins will perform. A supper will be served from 5-7 p.m.

Dance

OPLIN  A dance featuring Muddy Creek will be 7:30-10:30 p.m. at the Oplin Community Center. Admission is $5. Information: www.grandoleoplin.com.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, noon, Hinds Square Building, 100 Chestnut St., Room 112.

Abilene Chinese Corner, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Abilene Christian University library. lld09a@acu.edu.

Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304.

SATURDAY

Eggs-treme Hunt

An Eggs-treme Hunt for participants age 13 and older will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Abilene State Park, with a traditional Easter egg hunt for children age 12 and under at 10:30 a.m. Entry fees are $5 for adults and free for children age 12 and under. Pre-registration is required for the Eggs-treme Hunt. To register, contact 325-572-3204 or Tracy.Mays@tpwd.texas.gov.

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny will be presented from 9-10:15 a.m. and from 10:30-11:45 a.m. at the Abilene Zoo, 2070 Zoo Lane. Crafts and photos will be available. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children age 4-12 and $5 for children age 3 and under. Reservations are required. For reservations, call 325-676-6085.

Free tax assistance

The AARP will offer free assistance in preparing income tax forms for low- and middle-income taxpayers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1214 N. Mockingbird Lane. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Space is limited, and help will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Easter egg hunt

An easter egg hunt will begin at 11 a.m. at Lytle South Baptist Church, 1125 E. Industrial Blvd. Admission is free.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Easter Eggstravaganza will be presented from 2-4 p.m. at Ridgemont Baptist Church, 4857 Buffalo Gap Road. An Easter egg hunt, games, snacks and more will be available. Admission is free.

Church celebration

Mercy Church Motorcycle Ministries will celebrate its fifth anniversary from 2-10 p.m. at 4400 S. Treadaway Blvd. Live music, games, a raffle and an auction will be available. Barbecue plates will be sold for $7. For more information, call 325-864-8042.

Musical

OLD GLORY  The Old Glory Musical will begin at 6 p.m. at the Old Glory Community Center. Concessions will open at 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 940-989-2966 or 940-989-2816.

All Around the Campfire

COLORADO CITY  'All Around the Campfire,' a night of campfire stories and songs, will be presented from 7-9 p.m. at Lake Colorado City State Park. Information: 325-728-3931. General park admission will apply.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 10 a.m., Shades of Hope, 402A Mulberry St., Buffalo Gap. 800-588-4673.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 10 a.m. to noon, 2043 N. Second St.
One of the worst stories in the Bible is actually good news for the rest of us, the speaker for Tuesday's Holy Week Luncheon Series said.

It is the story of Peter denying three times that he knew Jesus, just as Jesus had said he would. In the everyday world, that kind of behavior would get Peter kicked off the team, said Jonathan Storment, preaching minister at Highland Church of Christ. But that's not the way Jesus operates. Instead, he put Peter in charge.

"We built a church on this," Storment said.

Storment was the speaker for the second luncheon in the series, which continues through Friday. Each day, the pastor of one of the five participating churches speaks at another's church. Lunch is served at 11:30 and the program begins about noon.

On Wednesday, Phil Christopher, pastor of First Baptist Church, will speak on "What Is Truth?" at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 525 Beech St. Tuesday's luncheon was held at First Christian Church, with Don Wilson, pastor, serving as host.

The title of Storment's talk was, "The Worst Thing You've Ever Done," based on the final verses of Chapter 14 in the gospel of Mark. Storment said that when he went to Israel a couple of years ago, his favorite place was an unusual one, the home of Caiaphas, the high priest who questioned Jesus at his trial, which was held in Caiaphas' home.

The courtyard of the home was where Peter famously denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Amazingly, Storment said, Peter told others about the worst thing he ever did and it was recorded in the gospels.

Most people wouldn't tell their worst behavior for all the money in the world, Storment said. There is too much shame and embarrassment involved.

"This story is good news for those kinds of people," Storment said. "This is one of the greatest miracles in your Bible."

The home of Caiaphas may not be the favorite stop for most people touring the Holy Land, but Storment said being at the house and in the courtyard stood out to him. It was where Caiaphas grilled Jesus to no avail.

Finally, Caiaphas asks Jesus if he is the Messiah. Jesus replies that he is, which is enough to make Caiaphas accuse Jesus of blasphemy, leading to his condemnation. Outside in the courtyard, Storment reminded, Peter is denying he even knows Jesus. Then Jesus not only forgives him, he makes him the head of his church.

"This story gives me reasons to love and believe in Jesus even more," Storment said.

HOLY WEEK LUNCHEON SERIES
When icing is not your thing, a torte is your kind of cake.

Tortes usually are multi-layer cakes where all or most of the flour has been replaced with ground nuts, breadcrumbs or cookies. Between the layers usually is a whipped cream or fruit filling. The topping can be more whipped cream with fruit, a chocolate ganache or other decadent, sweet glaze that is easier to apply than an icing.

Texas Pecan Torte by Mrs. Edward Droste in "San Antonio Cookbook II" capitalizes on the state's native nut. The torte has a creamy, decadent flavor that leans toward bittersweet instead of cloying sweet like a cake slathered with sugar-rich buttercream frosting.

The Women's Committee of the Symphony Society of San Antonio published the hardback, 292-page cookbook in 1976. The book originally sold for $7.95, was reprinted at least two more times and eventually raised $200,000 for the group, according to a November 2012 San Antonio Symphony League newsletter.

My changes to the recipe include replacing the rum with vanilla and the sour cream in the chocolate sauce with creme fraiche, a European style of sour cream that has a richer flavor but less tang than the American version. I also updated the directions.

TEXAS PECAN TORTE

Ingredients

3 cups pecans

6 eggs, separated

11/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons vanilla, divided

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup creme fraiche (or sour cream)

Directions

1 Butter 3 8-inch layer cake pans (or 2 10-inch cake pans). Cut out of parchment paper circles the size of the cake pans and place on the bottom. Set aside.

2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3 Working in two or three batches, chop pecans very fine in a food processor.

4 In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until light, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in sugar for about 2-3 minutes. Add flour, salt, 2 tablespoons vanilla and nuts and beat until well mixed.

5 In another mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into nut mixture. (Because the nut mixture is stiff, this process will take some effort to evenly work the egg whites into the batter.)

6 Pour batter into prepared cake plans. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes on a rack. Run knife around inside edge of the pans and turn out cakes onto rack or cake plates to cool further.

7 A few hours before serving, whip cream with powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Spread filling between layers.

8 Melt chocolate chips in microwave. Fold in creme fraiche. Spread mixture over the cake top for icing, letting it drizzle a little down the sides.

FRESH INGREDIENT: SNOW PEAS

Instead of peas and carrots, try snow peas and mushrooms.

Snow peas are about 3 inches long, green and flat. And, the small pods inside are edible.

Snow peas are common in Chinese stir-fried dishes, but a wok is not needed to cook them. They usually are cooked quickly to retain some crunch when eaten.

Following is a simple, quick recipe updated from one by Mrs. Joe H. Frost in "San Antonio Cookbook II." My changes include using fresh snow peas instead of frozen and fresh mushrooms instead of canned.

STIR FRIED SNOW PEAS

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

 About 2 cups fresh snow peas, washed and trimmed of strings

1 garlic clove, minced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 (5-ounce) can water chestnuts, sliced

 pepper to taste

Directions

1 Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil and after about one minute, add snow peas and garlic. Stir for about another minute.

2 Add mushrooms, soy sauce, water chestnuts and pepper cook another 3 to 4 minutes, or until mushrooms are done.

3 Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.

Share your own old recipes or food-related historical recollections by emailing Laura Gutschke at lgutschke@gmail.com.
Hendrick Medical Center announced Wednesday that it plans a joint venture with Abilene and Brownwood physicians to build an outpatient surgery center in Brownwood.

The Hendrick Surgery Center will be at 2401 Crockett Drive, and offer same-day surgery for specialties including otolaryngology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, podiatry, urology, gynecology, ophthalmology, pain management and plastic surgery.

"Hendrick Medical Center is excited about this new partnership that will enhance patient access to health care," Tim Lancaster, president and CEO of Hendrick Medical Center, said in a news release. "The facility will bring specialists to the area, as well as allow Brownwood physicians to continue taking care of their patients locally."

Outpatient surgery centers, also known as ambulatory surgery centers, provide a low-cost alternative to hospital-based, low risk outpatient procedures.

"I'm honored to partner with both my surgeon colleagues from Abilene and Brownwood to bring this surgery center to Brownwood," said James Fowler, otolaryngologist at Central Texas ENT Associates in Brownwood. "I believe we will bring superlative care to the Brownwood community and surrounding areas, offering a quality alternative for patients' outpatient surgical needs."

The 13,400 square-foot facility will include three operating rooms and 13 pre-op/recovery rooms. Construction is scheduled to begin in June, and be completed next spring.
Incident reports released Tuesday by the Abilene Police Department:

Theft, 200 block of Victoria Street, Monday

A man told police two strangers stole his $300 TV, after he allowed them into his home.

Criminal mischief, 2100 block of River Oaks Circle, Monday

Police said someone caused $1,500 in damage to a vehicle, by pushing a city trash can into it.

Theft, 1900 block of Highland Avenue, Monday

A woman told police someone stole her $600 wedding ring.

Theft, 2400 block of Madison Avenue, Monday

Police said someone stole a $700 firearm.

Theft, 2800 block of Sayles Boulevard, Monday

Police said someone stole a $250 bicycle.
TJ, the Taylor County Sheriff's Office canine, looked ready to embrace the dog days of this coming summer as the Taylor County Commissioners Court retired him after completion of his seven years of service.

During his five years with handler Deputy Chris Ortiz and two years with Deputy Brandon Buchanan, TJ earned several certifications, as he worked to track and locate missing children, elderly people, mental health patients, suicidal people and narcotics.

According to the Commissioners Court media release, TJ helped recover $381,000 in drug seizures and $41,000 in illegal funds.

"Most people think he's two years old but he's eight, because he has a real high drive; everyday he's excited to go to work," Buchanan said. "Other dogs kind of get grumpy every now and then but he's been a good partner. I've enjoyed him."

TJ helped authorities find drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

According to the media release, in just three cases, TJ detected 75 kilos of cocaine with a reported street value of $7.4 million and 240 pounds of marijuana with a reported street value of $192,000. as well as $15,000 in illegal funds.

He came to work with the Taylor County Sheriff's Office in April 2009 and has worked with various agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, Abilene Police Department, United States Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

But TJ was not all work and no play, Buchanan recalled.

"Just recently, I had a bag of jerky in the car and I forgot to shut his door and he had a whole pound of jerky all at once," he said. "All I found was the wrapper and the do not eat packet."

It's lean time for TJ, who will be a permanent family member with Chris Ortiz and his family.

"He gets to relax and be a pet and enjoy is kiddie pool," Buchanan said. "He doesn't have to go to work everyday in the heat and what not."
Avalon Zakazakina said she was born always knowing who she was.

The speaker at the Abilene Interfaith Council's regular meeting on Tuesday, Zakazakina is a self-described "loud and proud" practicing pagan.

She worships numerous gods, she said, but with a special affinity for Nordic deities  Odin, Thor and manifold other gods and goddesses in the Norse pantheon.

Zakazakina said she has been pagan since her birth, knowing from a very young age that a traditional Christian worship was not her path.

She was even "physically ejected" from her parents' home because of her spiritual path, her mother Jewish, her father Christian.

"I knew that wasn't my path," she said. " I spent about 20 years searching to find the right group to express this with. But for me, it was the only thing that made sense."

The root of the word pagan comes from Middle English through Latin and originally meant "a person who lives in a rural area," she said. It might refer to what we would call kindly a country-dweller, unkindly a rube, a country bumpkin, a redneck or a hillbilly.

The term did not have anything to do with gods or spiritual practice originally, though a significant number of pagans are nature-oriented.

After several changes in meaning through the years, now "it's an umbrella term that includes a multitude of different nature-based faiths," she said.

To Zakazakina, paganism means being able to follow one's own spiritual path with "total freedom."

Many pagan paths are polytheistic, having many gods. Some may worship deities from the Egyptian pantheon, while others may tend toward Greek, Roman, Celtic or Norse gods.

"Paganism, more than any other belief system, celebrates, connects with and glorifies nature," she said. "Plants and animals are honored, as are the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, as well as natural places such as land, sea, and sky, along with our ancient ancestors."

The loves, wars and sacrifices of one's ancestors are "why we are here," Zakazakina said, and thus worthy of honor.

Celebrating these things and incorporating them into rituals allows pagans to tap into the ancient past and see themselves as part of nature, not existing separate from it.

"These things allow us to tap into the past and see our place in the universe," she said. "We are nature, we are natural.:

There is no concept of any kind of original sin in paganism, and pagans are not Satanists, she said, a common misconception.

Instead, there is a diversity of faiths, she said, made at times confusing from the outside because paganism has no centralized authority.

"There is no pagan pope," Zakazakina joked.

Practitioners can be found in all walks of life, she said, and like any other spiritual path, they may or may not incorporate their spiritual beliefs into the rest of their lives.

Many pagans in particularly conservative communities choose to keep their religious identity to themselves, others are completely open, still others may be open to only a select group of people.

Pagans do not generally try to convert anyone to their path, the spiritual nature of such being complex and personal.

"The joke is if you ask five pagans what paganism is, you'll get at least 12 answers," she quipped.

Those who are not pagan should know about the diversity of pagan faiths and practitioners because one never knows when one might run across a person with those beliefs.

"They want to have the same respect that anyone else is due," she said. "I think everyone in the world can sit down without agreeing on the same gods and paths and have conversations and be able to civil with each other."

And paganism can teach certain lessons useful to anyone, she said, the first being that magic is all around us.

"When nature and the world is your place of worship, you don't have to go to church for a spiritual experience," Zakazakina said.

Delighting in all that is "big or little around you" is vital, she said, including the sheer fact that one is alive and can draw breath, that the sun continues to shine, that rain brings forth flowers and food.

"When you can recognize the magic around you, the world is far less impersonal and much more special," she said. "And just because the magic is in a different form than you are used to does not mean it is not magic."

But paganism is also grounded in reality, she said.

"While you have your head in the clouds, you've got to have your feet on the earth," she said, including learning how to "roll" with bad times and appreciate good ones, learning to find ways to be appreciative and grateful.

And one must also learn to embrace the fact that we are imperfect creatures, each uniquely flawed but ideally sincere in our spiritual pursuits.

"There is no such thing as perfection, but intent is everything," she said.

It can be different for pagans of different stripes and backgrounds to find one other, she said. The Internet is a vital tool these days, including Facebook.

But even in places like the Big Country, where numbers are relatively small, one can make connections.

"You don't have to have a big community as long as it's a strong community," Zakazakina said.
Texas DPS fires first officer over Uvalde shooting response

Sgt. Juan Maldonado becomes first member of the state police agency to lose his job in the fallout over the hesitant response to the May attack.
I was in Florida last week, attending Donald Trump rallies and talking with the voters who love him. My question was straightforward: What's the secret of the front-runner's appeal?

Yes, Trump is attractive to voters who are angry  angry about the economy, illegal immigration and 'political correctness.' And some of his supporters feel threatened by racial diversity, to put it mildly. But that's only part of the answer.

What Trump's supporters also hear from their champion is a message of unbridled optimism  a promise that he can repair the economy, bring jobs back and Make America Great Again.

Trump is running as a candidate of Hope and Change.

Just listen.

'We're going to make our country rich again,' Trump promised last week in Palm Beach, Florida. 'If I win  Apple and all of these great companies will be making their product in the United States, not in China.'

'We're going to bring back all our jobs,' he told voters in Tampa, Florida. 'We're going to end up having great, great health care  for a fraction of the price.'

And his over-the-top, all-purpose promise: 'We're going to win so much, you're going to get tired of winning.'

Trump knows exactly what he's doing. 'Make America Great Again  that's optimism,' he said last month.

The voters who put their faith in the real estate promoter seem to think Trump can fix almost anything, including the economy, health care, schools, veterans' benefits, military strength and U.S. relations with Israel.

His supporters didn't all fit the stereotype of the angry blue-collar voter either.

'Trump's not a politician, he's a businessman, and that's what America needs,' Norm Holt, a genial retired firefighter from Largo, Florida, told me.

'He's whip-smart, he's a leader,' said Tina Collier, a retiree from Arlington, Virginia.

'I'm just ready for change,' said Allison Polikoff, a middle school teacher from Plantation, Florida.

Some of this sounds like simple frustration. If a generation's worth of politicians hasn't solved the country's problems, maybe it's simply time to give someone else a chance.

But there's also a dose of magical thinking born of the old American ideal of entrepreneur as all-purpose problem solver.

Most of Trump's promises are an amalgam of nonsense and fantasy.

His plan for reviving manufacturing jobs is a 35 percent tariff on automobile imports; he never mentions that the cost would be paid by American consumers, even before the trade war that would ensue. And so on.

Romney tried his hand at bubble-popping. 'Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,' he said on March 3. 'His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing the American public for suckers.'

That's the right message. Now it's up to Ted Cruz and John Kasich, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to make it.

Because if Trump wins the presidency, even his most well-meaning supporters will soon discover that he's a quack.

As Trump might put it: Sad!

Email Doyle McManus, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, at doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com.
Texas Senate candidate Susan King is getting it from all sides, none of it unexpectedly.

The King camp was bracing for a hard-core campaign from Dawn Buckingham, who finished a close second to King in the March Republican primary race for the open District 24 seat. King won 27 percent of the vote while Buckingham, of Lakeway in Travis County, took 25 percent. The third- and fourth-place candidates combined for 36 percent of the vote, leaving 43,500 potential votes up for grabs. Jon Cobb, who was third, has announced his support for King.

Buckingham has gone on the offensive, though she denied she was behind an effort to release King's medical records. Her spokesman, Matt Langston, last week called King a 'liar' for saying his candidate was the instigator. Then, out of nowhere, he dropped the L-word. In these political days when conservatives try to outdo conservatives, the biggest slap in the face is calling someone a liberal. That's what he called King.

King suspended her Senate campaign for 28 days to address what she publicly called 'chronic depression.' She returned to the campaign Dec. 14, the last day to file for the Senate seat.

The accusation is that there is more to her medical situation than she's telling. There have been requests to find out more about the nature of a 911 call made from King's Abilene residence last fall.

King's spokesman, Bryan Eppstein, returned fire, calling attempts to make more of a serious medical situation as 'false and malicious.'

This being Rattlesnake Roundup season, opponents of killing snakes also have fired up their rhetoric. An email received at the Reporter-News on Tuesday from George Ashley-Cooper, with a U.K. address, called King 'The Wicked Witch of the West.' King, as state representative for District 71, in 2014 went to bat for Nolan County, criticizing an effort to ban the gassing of snakes that she said slithered out of nowhere. Efforts to push through the legislation ran out of gas.

King was praised in this area for standing up for her constituents; elsewhere, well, she's not as popular. Cooper, who has emailed us previously on the same topic, believes the annual March roundup is when 'snake killers unite.'

Buckingham's people may not be friends of snakes  we wonder if Mr. Cooper ever has met one personally  but they are trying to rattle King and win crucial votes.

If Buckingham's campaign is not behind efforts to make health information public, it certainly is hoping the muddied waters lead voters to her.

While we've become hardened to the fact that state and national campaigns tend to get dirty, if not vicious, this race and the one of the 19th Congressional District are wallowing in the same muck. Congressional candidate Michael Bob Starr was accused by opponent Glen Robertson, the two-term Lubbock mayor, of cozying up to gays while commander of Dyess Air Force Base. Robertson then turned his attention to former Texas Tech vice chancellor Jodey Arrington, accusing him of being a Washington insider, when he worked in the nation's capital, and of unethical use of university funds while at Tech.

In a letter to the editor, Arrington responded: 'I will not resort to deceptive campaign tactics and false claims to win this race. I will hold my opponent accountable for not being honest with the voters.'

Robertson and Buckingham are playing hardball, edging toward a Trumpian style of campaign, if not there already.

One race is between an eye physician (Buckingham) and a registered nurse (King). The other is between a two-term city leader (Robertson) and former administrator of that city's beloved university (Arrington). The candidates have put commonalities aside to do political battle.

The runoff is May 24, two months away. Don't expect any letup.
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This just in...
Members of an anti-censorship group protests a request by government officials at Hong Kong's Leisure and Cultural Services Department to remove the word 'national' from the name of a Taiwanese university in Hong Kong, March 2016.

Press freedom in Hong Kong has declined for a second year running, according to an annual survey carried out by journalists in the city.

The Hong Kong Press Freedom Index for journalists, which measures how professionals feel about journalism in the former British colony, fell by 0.7 points, while measurements of public perceptions of press freedom fell by 1.4 points, the survey said.

"Both the public and journalists believe that press freedom has deteriorated in 2015," the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), which conducted the survey, said in a statement on its website.

Fifty-four percent of Hong Kong residents believed that press freedom worsened in 2015, while just 34 percent believed there had been no change, the survey showed.

"The situation is getting daily worse for press freedom, and Hong Kong laws aren't enough to protect it," HKJA chief Sham Yee-lan told reporters. "The Hong Kong government should legislate to protect press freedom as soon as possible to reverse the situation."

Of the semi-autonomous city's journalists, 85 percent said they believe that press freedom worsened last year, with just 1 percent believing that it had improved.



Self-censorship is common

Self-censorship was also highlighted as a major area of concern, with the majority of journalists rating it as very common, particular in relation to stories criticizing the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.

"This fear will definitely affect our daily work in terms of how vocal we should be in terms of writing our commentary, as well as in reporting mainland-related stories," HKJA vice chairwoman Shirley Yam said.

"The fear of being arrested, for example, or what [might] happen when we travel in mainland [China], or even in Hong Kong, that is the overwhelming fear," Yam said in comments recorded by government broadcaster RTHK.

She cited the detentions of five managers and staff of Causeway Bay Books, who are all "helping police with inquiries" across the internal immigration border in China after disappearing from locations in Hong Kong and Thailand late last year.

"Everyone who ... witnessed what happened to Lee Bo and Causeway Bay bookstore would have a concern about censorship, which is a genuine fear not just for members of the press, but any commentator or even the man on the street making comments", she said.

Sham said she fears that "press freedom, which is a pillar of Hong Kongs success, has been eroded at its roots, even worse, the fundamentals of the rights the general public is enjoying are also at stake."

Journalists wait outside a building entrance (bottom C) leading up to the Causeway Bay Books store which sells books on Chinese politics in Hong Kong, Feb. 1, 2016. AFP Damage is obvious

The more significant drop in rating by the general public implies that the damage caused to press freedom is so obvious that even the general public is aware of the problem, Sham said in a statement as the report was published.

The public opinion element of the report is based on polling data gathered from a total of 1,021 Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents aged 18 and above, who were interviewed by the Public Opinion Programme of the University of Hong Kong between Jan. 14 and 19, 2016.

Responses to 446 questionnaires sent to journalists between Jan. 6 and Feb. 16 were used to compile the professional measure of confidence in press freedom.

Hong Kong Shue Yan University's journalism course leader Leung Tin-wai said the key factor affecting the city's media is the lack of press freedom across the border.

"An important factor is that Beijing is curbing press freedom inside China, and there are reports that officials are coming here to curb our activities too," Leung said. "Those things make me fear for Hong Kong's freedoms."

To Yiu-ming, professor at Hong Kong's Baptist University, said the public perception that press freedom is waning is linked to recent events, including the takeover of the city's flagship English-language newspaper by a mainland Chinese Internet giant.

"For example, Alibaba's purchase of the South China Morning Post, the refusal to grant a broadcasting license to the free Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV)," To said.

"[There are also cases of] the government being less cooperative when it comes to providing information, even to the point of holding fewer press conferences," he said.

HKTV was denied a free-to-air television license after a three-year wait, sparking protests and allegations of official revenge for its criticism of the city's chief executive Leung Chun-ying.

Broader concerns

The press freedom report comes amid broader concerns over censorship sparked by a request to delete the word "national" from the name of a Taiwanese university made by government officials at Hong Kong's Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Officials reportedly told Hong Kong theater company The Nonsensemakers to delete the word from the profile of producer Law Shuk-yin who graduated from the Taipei National University of the Arts.

The move is a reflection of Beijing's view that the island is a renegade province awaiting reunification.

King-wa Fu, associate professor at Hong Kong University's Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC), said the move was unacceptable.

"Do they think that to graduate from this university means that you support the idea that Taiwan is an independent country?" Fu said. "This is unacceptable ... They should respect the names as they are given."

"Who made this decision? Did this come from the central government in Beijing or the Hong Kong government, or the department itself? This needs to be made clear," he said.

Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Xin Lin for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Laotians arrive at a polling station in Kaisone district of Savannakhet province in central Laos to cast votes in the general elections, March 20, 2016.

UPDATED at 10:45 A.M. EST on 2016-03-24

Many Laotians who went to polling places to cast their votes were apathetic about which candidates they selected to represent them in national and provincial parliaments during the one-party states general elections, according to voters.

About 4 million people in 18 constituencies were eligible to cast votes for the 211 candidates running in general elections on March 20 in the underdeveloped Southeast Asian nation, where only one political partythe Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP)is legally permitted to rule and has been in power for 40 years.

In all, 211 candidates were competing for 149 seats in the unicameral National Assembly, while 508 candidates were contesting 360 seats in the Peoples Councils of 17 provinces and the capital Vientiane. All the candidates are either members of the LPRP or had been approved by the party.

People in my village just went to vote at the polling station, and thats it, a resident of Savannakhet province in southern Laos, who declined to be named, told RFA on Monday. They did not care who would be their representative in parliament. They did not wait to see the vote-counting as people in other countries do. They came to vote; then they went home.

Savannakhet was the constituency with the largest number of eligible voters at 596,000, according to the countrys National Election Committee.

After the voting, only officials remained at the polling stations, and one of them told me that the [voters] did not know who was whowhich candidate was better or worse than the other, he said, adding that black-and-white photos of the candidates were posted on notice boards or walls at the stations.

This indicates that the elections were only following protocol, and the event was meant to show that Laos has elections, he said.

About 592,000 people were eligible to vote in the capital Vientiane, the countrys second-largest constituency.

Before the election, the candidates did not do any political campaigning and did not talk about their policies and visions, or what they would do for the people if they won seats, a Vientiane resident who requested anonymity told RFA on Sunday. Instead, they just introduced themselves to people and said what they are doing.

The majority of representatives were selected in advance by the party, so that the candidates knew the results of the elections before the voting took place, he said.

This is the reason why people were not interested in the electionbecause they saw that they would not benefit from it, he said. Whoever would become their representative would not make any changes that would make their lives better.

About 10 days to tally

The results of the elections could take about 10 days to tally, as they did five years ago after the last general elections, said Koukeo Akkhamonti, chairman of parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee and spokesman of National Election Committee.

He disagreed with the assertion that many voters were not interested in the elections, knowing that their representatives had been approved by the party in advance.

The majority of people were interested and fully participated in the elections, he told RFA on Tuesday.

They had correct information concerning the elections, according to observations at polling stations and what they have expressed themselves through the mainstream media, he said. In general, the elections went smoothly without any problems.

Akkhamonti emphasized that although some believe that voters were apathetic and did not give any thought to the candidates for whom they voted, and they have the right to do so, the election law provisions about the selection of candidates was upheld.

And we can say everything we have done has been in accordance with the law, he said.

Lao lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment last December 2015 giving the newly created provincial level assemblies power to review and approve major issues in their localities, supervise local administrative bodies, and adopt development plans.

Reported by RFAs Laos Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story indicated that seats were already won, when vote counting is projected to take 10 days.
About 500 protesters in western Myanmars restive Rakhine state demanded on Wednesday that they be allowed to choose their own chief minister from the state's strongest local ethnic political party, in an expression of discontent with the incoming government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The protestors marched through the state capital Sittwe, demanding that the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which Aung San Suu Kyi chairs, respect the Rakhine peoples wishes and not set up what they called a one-party dictatorship in the state.

The Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the interests of the predominantly Buddhist, ethnic Rakhine majority living in the state and in the Yangon region, won 22 seats in the countrys National Assembly in general elections last November that swept the NLD to victory over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

It also won 23 of 47 state parliament seats, but failed to gain a majority in the Rakhine state legislature because a quarter of seats automatically went to military representatives, as they do in other state and regional parliaments as well as in the National Assembly. By contrast, the NLD won only eight seats in Rakhines legislature in the election.

The Rakhine peoples votes were for the ANP, Aung Ko Moe, one of the protest leaders, told RFAs Myanmar Service. We want an ANP government for Rakhine state because the ANP won in Rakhine in the last election.

Myanmars new president, Htin Kyaw of the NLD, has the authority to nominate chief ministers and their cabinet members in the countrys 14 states and regions. State and regional parliaments, however, can reject the presidents nomination for chief ministers if they can prove that the candidate has failed to meet required qualifications.

The NLD has nominated Nyi Pu, a lawmaker from its party who represents Rakhines Gwa township, as the states chief minister, according to a report earlier this month by Eleven Myanmar media group, quoting NLD Central Executive Committee member Win Htein.

He would replace Maung Maung Ohn, the incumbent chief minister who is a Myanmar army general and former deputy minister of home affairs.

The ANP issued a statement on Jan. 19 demanding that one of its own party members be appointed as the states chief minister so that he could form a state government led by the ANP. The party threatened to stand in opposition to the NLD if it does not get its way.

In response, the NLD said it would appoint the chief minister and government for Rakhine despite protests by the ANP, but would consult with all ethnic parties and not discriminate against any of them.

Reported by Min Thein Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Authorities in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province have released a Tibetan monk from prison after he served a four-year sentence for pulling down a Chinese flag and scattering leaflets calling for Tibetan freedom, Tibetan sources said.



Sonam Gonpo, aged 26 and a monk at the Dza Wonpo monastery, returned to his home in Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on March 12, a Tibetan living in India told RFAs Tibetan Service.



His current state of health remains unknown, RFAs source Jampa Yonten said, citing contacts in the region.



News of Gonpos release was briefly delayed from reaching outside contacts because of strict communications clampdowns imposed by Chinese authorities in the area.



In 2012, Sonam Gonpo pulled down the Chinese national flag at a local school and hoisted the Tibetan national flag in its place, Yonten said, adding, China later sentenced him to four years in prison on the charge of pulling down the flag and for distributing leaflets.



A companion, Sonam Choedar, was detained at the same time and has also completed his sentence, but has not yet been released, Yonten said.



Both men had initially been held for nine months in secret with no word given to their family members, and were sentenced on Sept. 11, 2013, the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said in a March 23 statement.



The area around Gonpos native Wonpo township has been held under tight restrictions ever since protests challenging Beijings rule swept Tibetan areas of China in 2008, TCHRD said.



Monks at Wonpo monastery had steadfastly refused to hoist Chinese flags on their monastery, and the ensuing crackdown led to scores of arbitrary detentions, arrests, and unlawful searches of Tibetan homes by Chinese security personnel, the rights group added.



Reported by Sonam Wangdu for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Authorities in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province have released a Tibetan protester who had served an eight-year term in prison but is now unable to walk without assistance owing to crippling injuries to his back, Tibetan sources said.



Ngoega, 61, was freed on March 20 and sent back in secret to his home in Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a Tibetan monk living in India told RFAs Tibetan Service.



Because no announcement was made, local Tibetans and friends missed the opportunity to greet him warmly on his arrival, RFAs source Pema Wanggyal told RFA, citing sources in the region.



However, hundreds of Tibetans in Kardze are now pouring in to welcome Ngoega with continuous receptions, Wanggyal said.



Following Ngoegas release from prison, back injuries sustained while in custody have caused him worsening pain, however, and he can barely move without assistance, Wanggyal added.



When protests challenging Beijings rule swept across Tibetan areas of China in 2008, Ngoegaa member of Kardzes Chukha familywas one of many local Tibetans detained by authorities on suspicion of leading local protests, Wanggyal said.



Chinese police held him at the Kardze county detention center and in Dartsedo for a couple of weeks before he was sentenced by the Kardze Intermediate Peoples Court on Oct. 30 of that year to an eight-year term in prison.



After that, he was confined in the Deyang prison near [Sichuan provincial capital] Chengdu, and he was released on March 20, he said.



In 1990, Ngoega had distributed religious scriptures and photos of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to the monks of a local monastery and to the lay community, Wanggyal said.



He was also one of the principal organizers of a long-life offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Kardze in 2001, he said.



Seventy photos of the Dalai Lama, who is reviled by Chinese authorities as a dangerous separatist seeking to split Tibetan areas of China from Beijings control, were discovered by police when they ransacked Ngoegas room following his arrest in 2008, Wanggyal said.



Reported by Sonam Wangdue for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The Jinghong dam on the Mekong River in China's Yunnan province, in an undated photo.

Chinas decision to release millions of gallons of water sequestered behind its massive Jinghong Dam will do little to ease the looming crises facing Vietnam as most of the water will be sucked up before it reaches the Mekong River Delta, scientists and farmers tell RFAs Vietnamese Service.

China released 2.3 billion cubic meters of water from Jinghong power station in Yunnan province eight days ago, but little change has been noticed in the level of the Mekong downstream, Duong Van Ni, a professor at Can Tho University told RFA.

Water released from the dam has a very limited effect on the water level in Vietnam, let alone in helping to ease the drought, he said.

Southeast Asia is suffering from one of the severest droughts in history. Its a dry-spell that is especially hard on Vietnam where the Mekong River Delta forms the nations rice bowl.

The Mekong River has been under stress for quite some time as many countries in Asia see the 2,700-mile-long river as a road to industrialization. Countries that lie along the Mekong have built dozens of dams along the river, which is called the Lancang River in China, where it originates.

By 2020 Beijing wants to produce 282 gigawatts of hydroelectric power, and Laos wants electricity to become its major source of revenue by 2025. Laos, the next country down river from China, has ambitious dam-building plans of its own.

Damming the river may produce power, but it changes the water flow and has an impact on agricultural production downstream, and particularly in countries like Vietnam that lie near the Mekongs mouth. Dams block sediment that normally flows into the delta, causing it to shrink.

Environmental double whammy

Add in the effects of climate change which is causing sea levels to rise, and the Mekong gets hit with an environmental double whammy.

Low water levels cause a multitude of problems, and in the Mekong Delta salt intrusion is one of the worst. Salt water from the ocean pushes in as the level of fresh water drops.

About 40 percent of the Cuu Long area suffers from saline intrusion, with eight of the 12 provinces in the Cuu Long Delta reporting saline intrusion, according to the government. The Mekong is called the Cuu Long in Vietnam.

While Chinas decision to release more water for the Mekong was much ballyhooed, it fails to take into account the unique nature of the river, Tho said.

At the beginning of the rainy season, rain and melting ice only dampens dry soil, and it fills up the upper river area with just very little water flowing down here, he explained.

Also in rainy season, water always goes into the Tonle Sap in Cambodia before going to our basin, he said. So even when China releases water from the dam it is almost impossible to reach the yearly water level down here.

In a separate analysis, Le Anh Tuan, vice director of Can Tho Universitys Research Institute for Climate Change, said all the water behind the Jinghong would hardly make a drop in the bucket.

According to his analysis published in the Saigon Times online, the Jinghong reservoir would be empty after about 30 hours if China released all the water Vietnam is requesting.

4,000 kilometers of dry season

Nguyen Minh Nhi, who formerly was a central party committee member, chairman of An Giang Province and farmer in the region, said the release will do little.

I dont really care much about this released water because it will have to go through 4,000 kilometers and this season is a dry season, he said. China also suffers from the drought, and many countries along the river do not have enough water.

His fears were realized as ABC Australia reported that Thailand was diverting water from the Mekong into other waterways.

Four temporary pumps have begun sucking 47 million cubic meters of water out of the Mekong River and into the Huai Luang River, in Thailand's Nong Khai province, and Thailand's National Water Resources Board has approved a much bigger pumping station for the area that could divert 150 cubic meters every second from the Mekong River, the news outlet reported.

Kien Giang Province is one of those hurt by the drought and saline intrusion, and farmers there worry over the consequences.

The river water level is supposed to be higher than that of the sea every year, but this year I see the river water level is very low so the sea water comes in, a farmer named Ba told RFA.

I heard that China released some water from their dam but our soil has been salty, but I dont know if we still can produce the next crop.

Reported by Nam Nguyen for RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh (L), 60, and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy (R), 35, stand trial in a court room at the local People's Court in Hanoi, March 23, 2016.

In a case that has captured international attention, Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday for posts on his Ba Sam blog site that were critical of the government.

The former police officer and son of a late government minister who is better known as Anh Ba Sam was convicted on a charge of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state under Article 258 of Vietnams penal code.

His assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy was given three years in prison on the same charge. The two had been in prison since their arrests in May 2014.

After the one-day trial, Tran Quoc Thuan, an attorney representing the defendants, told RFAs Vietnamese Service that it was obvious that the fix was in as the prosecution suddenly presented evidence that wasnt in the investigative report and the sentences handed out were extraordinarily long.

The prosecutor gave very weak evidence which was countered by defense lawyers, and the prosecutor could not answer our arguments, he told RFA. But the most surprising thing of the trial is that they gave Vinh five years in prison, which is almost the maximum.

Harsh sentences

None of the circumstances that usually mitigate a sentence were considered when the judge sent the pair to prison, he said.

Nguyen Huu Vinh was decorated. His father was a revolutionary, and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuys child is small, but they still gave her a three year sentence, which is merciless, he said.

Judge Nguyen Van Pho said the bloggers writings "distort the lines and policies of the party and law of the state, vilify individuals," the Associated Press reported.

The writings "present a one-sided and pessimistic view, causing anxiety and worry, and affecting the people's confidence" in the party and government and "go against the interests of the nation," he said.

In 2007, Nguyen Huu Vinh opened up the Ba Sam blog, and he later launched two other blogs, that provided links to news on political, social, economic, and cultural issues from state media as well as activists.

Prosecutors said the two blogs posted 2,397 articles and generated more than 3.7 million hits, and that 24 of the articles had "untruthful and groundless content which tarnishes the country's image."

Both maintained their innocence throughout the day-long trial, with Thuy telling the court that she did not know who authored the writings or who posted them on the two blogs and that she did not commit any crime.

Communist Vietnam, where all media are state-run, brooks little dissent, and rights groups identify Article 258 as one of the vague legal provisions that authorities have been using to detain and jail dozens of writers and bloggers over the last two years.

"Freedom for Ba Sam"

While the trial was going on inside the Hanoi courtroom, dozens of supporters gathered outside chanting support for the bloggers.

Teresa Thao, an activist who was outside the court, estimated that there were about 200 people protesting the trial.

They all shouted: Freedom for Minh Thuy. Freedom for Ba Sam, she said.

The police presence outside the courthouse was heavy as many representatives from foreign embassies were blocked from entering and authorities packed the courtroom with a hand-picked audience, witnesses told RFA.

We are all here outside the court, said Can Thi Theu, who was there to show solidarity with the bloggers . We and all the foreign reporters cant get in. I see many people who support Ba Sam and Minh Thuy here. Policemen and security forces have surrounded us.

Foreign media and diplomats were allowed to follow the proceedings via closed-circuit TV in a separate room, AP reported.

Others werent so lucky as police detained many outside the court including two independent candidates for parliament. Nguyen Quang A and Nguyen Dinh Ha, both bloggers and candidates, were detained, according to eye-witness reports

I just saw about 20 plainclothes policemen take Nguyen Quang A away, blogger Bach Hong Quyen told RFA.

Authorities said all those detained were released later that day.

Their trial was originally scheduled for Jan. 19, but it was postponed on the eve of the five-yearly congress of the ruling Communist Party.

International condemnation

International human rights groups and Western governments including the United States have criticized Vietnam for jailing dissidents. Hanoi denies this, saying only those who break the law are put behind bars.

U.S. officials have said Vietnam has made some progress in its human rights record with fewer arrests, but more needs to be done if the country wants to expand ties with its former foes.

Amnesty International called the convictions a shameful abdication of the countrys human rights obligations," and the Committee to Protect Journalists said Vietnam was violating international treaties designed to protect a free press.

" 's harsh convictions of bloggers Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy are inconsistent with Vietnam's obligations as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative.

"If Vietnam wants to be viewed as a responsible member of the international community and a reliable partner in multilateral agreements, these bogus anti-state convictions must stop immediately."

Reported for RFA's Vietnamese Service by Mac Lam. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Afghanistan has managed to bring one of the country's most notorious militant leaders to the negotiating table after he dropped demands that all foreign forces leave the country.

Now Kabul must consider whether Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's offer to end a 15-year insurgency campaign in exchange for involvement in the government is a workable proposition.

Hekmatyar, leader of the Hezb-e Islami militant group and sworn Islamic State supporter, is among the most radical of the hard-line militants in Afghanistan. But the Afghan government opened discussions with a delegation sent by Hekmatyar on March 17 in the hope that a negotiated settlement could convince other insurgent groups, such as the Taliban, to join the peace process.

The long-sought discussions with Hekmatyar mark a first for Kabul, and according to sources close to the negotiations, there is optimism that a deal can be struck.

Any deal would come with a price, however. "At this stage, Hezb-e Islami is seeking to become a government partner by seeking positions in civil and security institutions," an Afghan official told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the ongoing talks.

The official said the government was "listening and evaluating the practicality of their demands," but that a final decision had not been made.

The official said Kabul "can only do so much," noting that the room for power-sharing is limited following the 2014 presidential election. The poll, which failed to determine a clear winner, led to a power-sharing agreement between the top two finishers. The current national-unity government was formed as a result, with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah at the helm.

'Global Terrorist'

A member of the Afghan High Peace Council, the presidentially appointed body tasked with negotiating with insurgent groups, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on March 21 that a deal with Hezb-e Islami would be finalized within "two or three days," although he gave no indication what the terms might be.

There are obvious concerns that come with negotiating with a figure like Hekmatyar.

He founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-70s, and the group went on to become one of the main mujahedin factions that fought against the Red Army after the Soviet invasion in 1979, and subsequently fought in the civil war for control of Kabul after Moscow pulled out.

The group was accused by rights groups of gross human rights violations during the civil war, and has carried out deadly attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Hekmatyar was seen as trying to rally Taliban troops against coalition forces, and his alleged attempts to ally with both that group and Al-Qaeda led the U.S. State Department to designate him a "global terrorist" in 2003.

Despite the designation and his continued fight against Afghan forces, Kabul reached out to Hekmatyar as early as 2008 in the hope of working out a peace deal.

Meanwhile, Hekmatyar had a complicated relationship with the Taliban, voicing support for Mullah Mohammad Omar while coordinating attacks with the Taliban spiritual leader against foreign and Afghan forces. But at the same time, Hezb-e Islami clashed with the Taliban, particularly in eastern Afghanistan, over territory.

In July, Hekmatyar upped the ante by calling on his followers to support the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in its fight against the Taliban.

As recently as this March, Washington slapped sanctions against two of Hezb-e Islami's top explosives experts.

Softening Stance

Direct talks between Kabul and Hezb-e Islami were made possible because of Hekmatyar's softening stance, a second government official close to the current talks told RFE/RL.

In their previous efforts to draw Hekmatyar to the negotiation table, U.S. and Afghan officials had been put off by his strict preconditions -- including the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and the removal of Hezb-e Islami from U.S. and UN terrorist blacklists.

"In the past, Hezb-e Islami had unrealistic demands that could not be met," the official said on condition of anonymity. "The latest demands are mostly about power-sharing and positions. Foreign troop withdrawal is not a precondition anymore."

The 68-year-old Hekmatyar briefly served as prime minister in Kabul during the civil war in the 1990s, and became infamous for launching rocket attacks on the capital.

Hezb-e Islami, the second-largest insurgent group operating in Afghanistan after the Taliban, has become increasingly fractured over the past two decades. After the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, members of the group's political wing joined the government in Kabul, while much of the military wing led by Hekmatyar rejected peace.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul expressed openness to Kabul's negotiation efforts in comments received by RFE/RL on March 23.

"We welcome the announcement that Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin is ready to meet with the Afghan government and encourage the group to make peace with the Afghan people," the spokesperson wrote in an e-mail. "As President Obama affirmed, an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process is the surest way to end violence and ensure the lasting stability of Afghanistan and the region."

Persuading The Taliban

Observers have suggested that Hekmatyar's participation in peace talks could persuade the Taliban to join the process because of his past links with the militants.

There is also optimism in Kabul that allowing Hekmatyar to enter into the government fold could create a domino effect, encouraging other hard-line militants to lay down their weapons.

A four-nation group has been trying to set up direct peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban. The so-called Quadrilateral Coordination Group -- which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the United States -- said it expected a meeting in March.

The Taliban has flatly rejected holding direct talks with Kabul, however, and has not changed its preconditions for joining the peace process, including its own demand that all foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

Some Taliban delegates met in Islamabad during the summer of 2015 with Afghan officials for an initial round of peace talks. But the fledgling peace process was derailed by the revelation that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been dead for more than two years.

A power struggle between rival Taliban factions then emerged, with rival field commanders expressing loyalty to different leaders.
It's tempting to look at the bombastic Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky as nothing more than a clown and a buffoon.

But he's not. He's more of a court jester and a messenger.

He says the things the regime is thinking -- but can't always say out loud.

And this is the context we should view his outrageous -- and outrageously insensitive -- comments last night in response to the terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Speaking on Russian state television, Zhirinovsky said -- and I am quoting here: "Now there will be attacks across Europe -- and this benefits us. Let them die and die."

Zhirinovsky's comments were merely the most blatant and over-the-top telegraphing of how Moscow plans to play yesterday's attacks in Brussels.

In a tweet earlier in the day, Aleksei Pushkov, the chairman of the State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, accused NATO of fighting an imaginary Russian threat while terrorists are killing people in Brussels.

And with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arriving in Moscow today for talks with Russian officials, we should expect this message to be delivered again -- albeit much more diplomatically.

And that message will be: Forget about Ukraine, forget about Nadia Savchenko, forget about Crimea. We have a common enemy, so let's fight them together.

And if that doesn't work, well then there's always the message that respectable and diplomatic people won't say out loud.

You can always count on Moscow to try to spin a horrible tragedy to its advantage.

Keep telling me what you think on the Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
German police arrested three people in a car with a Belgian license plate near the border with Austria and are investigating whether they were planning an attack, a spokesman said.

The three suspects from Kosovo were arrested on March 22 before the attacks that killed at least 31 people at a metro station and the international airport in Brussels.

Police made the arrests on a motorway in the southern state of Bavaria after receiving an intelligence tip-off.

"Investigations have been launched into the suspected planning of a serious criminal act against the state because there was notification of that," the spokesman said.

He said there was no indication so far that the three suspects had any links to the attacks in the Belgian capital, but added that could not be ruled out.

Germany stepped up security measures at airports, train stations, and the borders with Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg after the explosions in Brussels.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
BISHKEK -- The son-in-law of former Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev has been detained in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on Bishkek's request.

Kyrgyz Interior Ministry spokesman told RFE/RL on March 23 that Adil Toighanbaev's extradition to Kyrgyzstan is currently under consideration.

Toighanbaev, a 50-year-old Kazakh national, is the husband of Akaev's daughter Bermet Akaeva. He is wanted in Kyrgyzstan for alleged tax evasion and financial fraud.

In 2013, authorities in Kazakhstan detained Toighanbaev at Interpol's request but refused to extradite him to Kyrgyzstan, saying they do not extradite Kazakh citizens to foreign countries.

Toighanbaev's father-in-law, Akaev, a 71-year-old scientist turned politician, has lived in Moscow since he was forced from public office in the wake of antigovernment protests in March 2005.

Akaev is wanted by Kyrgyz authorities for alleged corruption.
OSH -- The Kyrgyz opposition has canceled an antigovernment protest originally scheduled for March 24 in the southern city of Osh.

Activists told RFE/RL on March 23 that the decision was made due to the ongoing escalation of tensions along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border.

Authorities say they have deployed 3,000 police officers and 2,000 volunteers in Osh on March 22 to "secure law and order."

The decision to cancel the protest also came as Kyrgyzstans State Committee for National Security announced that forensic studies revealed that two audio recordings apparently featuring the voices of several opposition politicians discussing ways to seize power in Kyrgyzstan had been found "authentic."

The audio recordings circulated on the Internet this week.

One of the politicians involved, Bektur Asanov, called the audio recordings' appearance on the Internet as "an attempt to blackmail the opposition."
Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials have placed armored vehicles and soldiers near a disputed border area as heightened tensions have prompted the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to meet in Moscow.

The majority of the twisting 1,314-kilometer-long Uzbek-Kyrgyz border is still undefined, and conflicts on and near border crossings are often violent. Several in recent years have ended with people being shot dead.

The current quarrel centers around a small mountain known in Uzbek as Ungar-Tepa and Unkur-Too in Kyrgyz, which lies on the undemarcated Kyrgyz-Uzbek border about 10 kilometers from the western Kyrgyz town of Kerben.

On March 18, two Uzbek armored personnel carriers and some 40 soldiers suddenly appeared at the border crossing near Ungar-Tepa at a place called Chala-Sart in Kyrgyz.

The Uzbek maneuver was considered by Kyrgyz officials to be a violation of bilateral agreements between Bishkek and Tashkent not to "militarize" a tense situation along their common border.

Kyrgyzstan responded by sending dozens of armed border guards to the frontier as well as moving members of its special forces unit, the Scorpions, to the area.

CSTO Involvement

The tense situation and perhaps Uzbekistan's massive military advantage over Kyrgyzstan led Bishkek to call for the CSTO's Permanent Council to hold an "extraordinary session" on the issue.

The CSTO -- which Uzbekistan left in 2012 -- met on March 22 and "expressed concern" with the situation. It also agreed to send its deputy secretary-general, Ara Badalian, to the disputed area to study the situation.

Ethnic and territorial disputes are particularly sensitive in southern Kyrgyzstan, which is home to hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks.

Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks have had bloody conflicts in Kyrgyzstan in the past, most recently in 2010 when hundreds of people -- mostly Uzbeks -- were killed in bloody riots that also displaced tens of thousands of people.

Opposition Rallies

The latest actions by the Uzbek military along the border were seized upon by Kyrgyz opposition leaders, who have sharply criticized the country's government for its weak response to the moves by Uzbekistan.

At a rally in Kerben on March 22, Voice of the People opposition movement leader Azimbek Beknazarov told an agitated crowd of a few hundred people that Kyrgyz officials "have never been able to talk to foreigners, to the authorities of other countries, as equal partners."

"And because of this we have surrendered Kyrgyz territory to China," he said in a reference to Kyrgyzstan ceding thousands of square kilometers of its Uzengu-Kuush region to Beijing in 1999.

He added that Kyrgyz officials were "now saying that those 12 hectares of land [that make up the Ungar-Tepa mountain] have never been fully delineated [with Uzbekistan]. Well it has been defined as it has been used by Kyrgyz people for ages. Is there anyone here who would say this piece of land is in fact disputed with Uzbekistan?"

With Beknazarov and other opposition leaders pledging to hold rallies in Kyrgyzstan's often restive south ahead of March 27 local elections, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Temir Sariev travelled to the remote site to address the crowd.

"I have always said that the most difficult issue faced by our nation is about our borders in the south.... All the issues raised here today are currently under discussion, and we have been doing everything to resolve the situation," Sariev said.

He pledged to do so through "talks and negotiations" and said that President Almazbek Atambaev was involved in the process.

"There is no need to worsen the situation," he added. "Dear compatriots, please, let us stay away from hot emotions.... We will resolve the issue."

But his message received a lukewarm response from the crowd, which at a "kurultai," or people's congress, held earlier on March 22, made an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the issue.

Opposition leader Ravshan Jeenbekov said the call to Putin had "shocked" him.

"What if we give authority [to resolve the issue] to Putin and he will decide in Uzbekistan's favor?" asked Jeenbekov.

As of March 23, most of the armed guards and troops on both sides of the border had been pulled back to secondary positions, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported, although the armored personnel carriers remained.
The Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek was little known to the world just a year ago. But after the Paris attacks on November 13 and the bombings in Brussels on March 22, the name of the neighborhood has become synonymous with Europe's problem of home-grown Islamic terrorism.

The reason: in both the Paris and Brussels attacks, the trail leads back to this dilapidated neighborhood of some 95,000 people just minutes from the center of the Belgian capital.

At least three of the Paris attackers came from Molenbeek and one of them, alleged mastermind Salah Abdeslam, successfully hid in the neighborhood for months before being captured on March 18. The brothers named by police as suicide bombers in the Brussels attacks, Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, also have links to Abdeslam and his Molenbeek-based network.

How did Molenbeek became a center for militant Islamic extremists in Europe and what lessons does it teach about fighting radicalism? Here are five things to consider.

Alienation

Molenbeek may be just a few minutes commute from prosperous downtown Brussels but this former canal area district is filled with rundown, cheap housing that for decades has made parts of it a magnet for mostly North African migrants. In some quarters the population is 80 percent Muslim and unemployment is 30 percent overall, rising to almost 40 percent among the young.

If previous generations of migrants found plenty of low-skilled jobs in Belgium's car factories and coal mines, the country's move over recent years from an industry-based to a service-based economy has left their children with far narrower employment opportunities.

"There are no factories, no jobs -- except for those who speak both French and Dutch or have a university degree -- and 60 percent of these young people with a Muslim background do not have a degree and do not speak Dutch," Bilal Benyaich, a Belgian who has written extensively on radicalism, extremism, and terrorism, was quoted as saying by Foreign Policy magazine after the Paris attacks in November.

He has said that the problem of alienation in Molenbeek also stems in part from Belgium's decision in the 1970s to allow preachers trained in Gulf Arab states to teach in local mosques as Brussels sought favorable oil deals with Saudi Arabia.

The Salafist preachers promoted a more radical form of Sunni Islam than the one usually practiced in the Maghreb but whose message resonated with the frustration felt by young people unable to integrate into Belgian society. The preachers "had a major influence on several generations of young people born in Belgium to a Muslim background," Al-Jazeera quoted Benyaich as saying, also in November.

The proof may be in the Paris and Brussels attacks, both claimed by the extremist group Islamic State. The extremist Salafist organization is reported to recruit heavily among radicalized young Muslims in Molenbeek and other areas of Belgium.

Per capita, more fighters in Syria have come from Belgium than from any other European Union country, and more than 300 Belgians have gone to Syria and Iraq, according to the Brussels-based Egmont think tank.

INFOGRAPHIC: Where Syria's Foreign Fighters Come From



Criminal Gangs And Extremism

One of the lessons of Molenbeek is that Islamic extremism has particular attraction to marginalized individuals already engaged in criminal activities.

Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said on March 23 that the Bakraoui brothers "had a heavy criminal record not linked to terrorism."

Abdeslam ran a bar in Molenbeek that was shut on suspicion of being a hub for drug dealing.

"Because of the difficulty of fitting into a hostile society, they look for alternative networks where they can blend in," says Rik Coolsaet, a senior associate fellow at Egmont. That suggests that both criminal gangs and terrorist networks offer the sense of belonging that marginalized individuals seek.

But belonging to criminal groups also gives terrorists a valuable asset: a network of cronies who are unknown to the police as militants and who can hide them in safe houses.

Abdeslam used just this system to go underground as police across Europe searched for him following the Paris attacks. While some believed he had been spirited out of Europe by Islamic State extremists to Syria or elsewhere, it now appears to he was hiding in Molenbeek the whole time.

"Abdeslam relied on a large network of friends and relatives that already existed for drug dealing and petty crime to keep him in hiding," Van Leeuw said on March 20. "This was about the solidarity of neighbors, families."

But such reliance on secret networks of contacts also suggests that the militants cannot count on any wider community support than close associates in Molenbeek to shield them from police. Many Molenbeek residents are aghast at the Paris and Brussels attacks, have condemned them, and say they reject any linking of terrorism to their neighborhood.

Black-Market Weapons

Another factor that may contribute to the growth of terror networks in Molenbeek is easy access to weapons.

Experts believe many of the assault rifles used in the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people, were purchased illegally in Belgium.

"Over the last five to 10 years, the fact is that Brussels has become known for a large black market in illegal weaponry and an illegal arms trade," says Leo Neels, director of the Itinera Institute think tank in Brussels. "For terrorist fighters willing to commit an attack, it is rather easy to find the way."

Belgium has a history of lax gun laws that enabled purchasers until 2006 to buy a gun simply by showing an identification card. Restrictions tightened that year after a far-right extremist went on a shooting rampage in Antwerp but by then Belgium's reputation as a weapons market was already well established.

Belgian police try to crack down on the illegal arms trade, whose major source is the Balkans. But they have the same challenges in stamping it out that they do with eliminating the illegal drug trade.

Intelligence Challenges

Yet another reason terrorism networks have found it easy to take root in Brussels is sparsely staffed intelligence services.

Belgium's intelligence agency is reported to have just 600 staff members, a third as many in the Netherlands next door. Belgium also has tight rules on how the agency operates, including a law banning house raids at night.

"It is true that the Belgian security services have been and still are to some extent underfunded," says Dave Sinardet, a professor of political science at The Free University of Brussels. "It is also true that the political focus and political energy has not always been very strongly oriented toward security challenges."

He says that public debate in Belgium has frequently focused on the political problems of governing a country that is divided into three communities with substantial self-rule: a Dutch-speaking Flemish region, a French-speaking region, and a German-speaking region.

"We spent years and years focused mostly on internal institutional questions and linguistic issues between Flemings and Francophones and all this time could have been devoted to reforming security policies, but the focus was elsewhere," Sinardet says.

Falling Through The Cracks

Nowhere is Belgium's decentralized state more visible than in Brussels, the officially bilingual capital. And that extreme decentralization may help account for how a neighborhood like Molenbeek could become home to more and more radicalized individuals over time without causing more alarm.

Brussels is divided into 19 communes, each with its own mayor. It also is divided into six police zones, each with its own police superintendent.

The result is a duplication of bureaucracies that observers say obstructs the sharing of information.

The New York Times recently listed some of the prices Brussels pays. Among them are an inadequate security apparatus for monitoring Molenbeek, an inadequate system for tracking people moving to and from Brussels, and divisions between federal agencies along linguistic and cultural lines that complicate conducting investigations.
PRAGUE -- On March 21, RFE/RLs Afghan Service marked this years New Years holiday Norouz by recognizing childrens advocate Andeisha Farid as its Person of the Year.

Farid is the founder of the non-profit organization Afghan Child Education and Care Organization, a network of 12 orphanages in Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Pakistan caring for 700 children of diverse ethnicities and employing nearly 200 people.

I am really proud to receive this title, but I believe the credit goes to all the volunteers who work with me, Farid told RFE/RL after receiving news of the award. This surely encourages us to do more because we see that our effort is being appreciated and valued.

Herself a refugee who fled to Iran during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, later moving to Pakistan, Farid has contended with interruptions in her own education, and was moved by the plight of homeless Afghan children who struggled to go to school.

About her own experience she said My education is something personal, and it is not as important as serving the next generation of Afghanistan.

In addition to receiving the Afghan Services award, Farid is the recipient of the 2010 Global Leadership Award of Vital Voices and The Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders Mentoring Award. She has been commended for her work by U.S. President Barak Obama.

RFE/RLs Afghan Service, known locally as Radio Azadi, selects a Person of the Year annually during the spring holiday to honor distinguished individual contributions to peace, democracy, and culture in Afghanistan. It is the culmination of a public nomination process in which listeners of the Services programs may participate online.

Previous winners include Ahmad Sarmast, director and founder of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music; former princess Hindia d'Afghanistan; Afghan musician and UN Goodwill Ambassador Farhad Darya; lawmaker Ramzan Bashardost; physician and human rights activist Anarkali Honaryar; Nangarhar province governor Gul Agha Sherzai; and social entrepreneur Ehsanullah Bayat.
Russia accuses Ankara of suppressing Kurdish organizations in Syria and Turkey under the pretext of a war against terrorism.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on March 23 that illegal traffic across the Turkish-Syrian border had decreased dramatically since the start of Russia's military operation in Syria in September 2015.

Lavrov called for the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions demanding a halt of trade in artifacts and oil with the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and to stop "terrorists" from crossing into Syria.

Meanwhile, Turkey's armed forces said its jets had carried out air strikes against the Kurdistan Workers Party militant group in northern Iraq and near the southeastern Turkish town of Semdinli.

Shelters, caves, and ammunition depots used by the militants had been hit by the March 22 air strikes, the military said.

Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ukraine's government of failing to implement the Minsk cease-fire agreement.

Lavrov, who was hosting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow on March 23, told journalists that Kyiv's inaction was the main stumbling block to a peace settlement in Ukraines east.

The Minsk deal signed in February 2015 has helped reduce the fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, but skirmishes have continued.

Steinmeier urged both sides to comply with the terms of the agreement, warning of a possible escalation.

He also expressed hope a humanitarian solution could be found for Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko, who was sentenced on March 22 to 22 years in prison in Russia for her alleged involvement in the death of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.

Steinmeier also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks the German Foreign Ministry described as open and constructive.

The ministry said that security questions in eastern Ukraine and possible ways of making progress on them, as well as peace efforts in Syria, were among issues discussed.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and TASS
Police in Russia have detained an Uzbek national suspected by Tashkent of being a religious extremist.

Law enforcement officials in the city of St. Petersburg said on March 23 that the 40-year-old man had been detained on the request of Uzbek authorities.

The man was detained on March 21, two days after police in an outskirt of St. Petersburg detained a 33-year-old Uzbek man from Uzbekistan's Samarkand region.

According to the Russian officials, Uzbek authorities suspect the two men of involvement in an extremist religious, separatist, and fundamentalist group.

At least one of the Uzbek men is suspected in being a member of the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, which is believed to have links to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Based on reporting by Interfax and konkretno.ru

Msh/ab
A second Iraqi migrant to Finland was found guilty this week of a war crime for posting photos of himself on Facebook with the decapitated head of an enemy fighter.

Finland's Kanta-Hame district court gave Hadi Habeeb Hilal, 23, a 13-month suspended sentence on March 22 for desecrating the corpse of the Islamic State fighter seen in the Facebook posting.

Hilal's countryman, Jebbar Salman Ammar, posted three similar pictures on a different occasion, and received a 16-month suspended sentence at another Finnish court last week.

Hilal, who served as a sergeant in the Iraqi Army, admitted to posting the picture in April 2015 but denied committing a war crime.

Both Iraqi men arrived in Finland about six months ago as part of Europe's huge migrant influx. The country of 5.4 million people received some 32,000 mostly Iraqi asylum seekers last year.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP
A senior Russian military officer has said Russia has a special forces unit in Syria carrying out reconnaissance and "other special tasks."

"I will not hide the fact that on the territory of Syria there is a division of our special operations forces," Interfax quoted Aleksandr Dvornikov, a commander of the Russian contingent in Syria, as saying on March 23.

President Vladimir Putin last week ordered a pullout of some Russian warplanes from Syria, but said that strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group and the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front will continue.

"They perform supplementary reconnaissance on targets for Russian air strikes, they are engaged in guiding aircraft to targets in remote areas and perform other special tasks."

His comments come amid reports Syrian government forces and their allies have advanced within 1 kilometer of Palmyra.

IS militants seized Palmyra in May 2015.

Analysts say the recapture of the desert city would be one of the most prominent successes for President Bashar al-Assad since Russia launched a military intervention in September that turned the tide of Syria's civil war in his favor.

Palmyra is the site of ancient Roman-era temples and colonnades, many of them destroyed by the militants.

INFOGRAPHIC: Who's Who In Syria's Complicated Civil War



Based on reporting by Interfax, Reuters, and AP
KYIV -- Ukrainian officials said vile Russian missile strikes on civilian energy sites have caused power outages nationwide, leaving more than a million households without electricity, while Russian authorities ordered residents to leave Kherson "immediately" ahead of an expected effort by Kyivs forces to retake the crucial southern city.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram on October 22 that Russia carried out a "massive attack" on Ukraine overnight and that "the aggressor continues to terrorize our country."



"At night, the enemy launched a massive attack: 36 rockets, most of which were shot down...These are vile strikes on critical objects. Typical tactics of terrorists," he wrote. "The world can and must stop this terror."



Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Zelenskiys office, said Ukrainian air defense forces had shot down 18 of the missiles.



Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a number of missiles had been shot down on the approach to the capital.



"Several rockets flying toward Kyiv were shot down in the region by air defense forces. Thanks to our defenders!" Klitschko said.



There was no immediate word on deaths related to the missile attacks, but officials said several people had been injured.



It was not possible to verify the reports on either side.



In the face of continued Russian strikes, Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba again urged Ukraine's Western allies to speed up the delivery of modern air defense systems.



"We intercepted some, others hit the targets. Air defense saves lives. In [Western] capitals, there should not be a single minute of delay in the decision regarding air defense systems for Ukraine," Kuleba said.



Local officials said power stations were hit in the regions of Odesa, Kirovohrad, and Lutsk, while other regions reported problems with electricity.



"Another rocket attack from terrorists who are fighting against civilian infrastructure and people," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram app.



Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a government meeting that from October 10 to October 20, Russian strikes damaged more than 400 facilities in 16 regions of Ukraine, including dozens of energy facilities.



"The Russian Army has identified our energy sector as one of the key targets for its attacks," Shmyhal said on October 21.



"Russian propagandists and officials speak openly about the purpose of all these attacks: Ukraine, according to them, should be left without water, without light, without heat," he said.



Meanwhile, Russian-appointed authorities in the occupied and illegally seized southern Kherson region on October 22 ordered the estimated 60,000 residents of the region's eponymous main city to leave "immediately" in the face of Kyiv's advancing counteroffensive.



"Due to the tense situation on the front, the increased danger of mass shelling of the city and the threat of terrorist attacks, all civilians must immediately leave the city and cross to the left bank of the Dnieper River," the region's Russia-backed authorities said on social media.

Russina-installed officials are moving people out of the strategic city in what they are calling an evacuation but which Ukrainian officials label as deportations.



The order came in spite of a claim by Russia's Defense Ministry on October 22 that its forces had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to break through its line of control in Kherson.



"All attacks were repulsed, the enemy was pushed back to their initial positions," the Defense Ministry said, adding that Ukraine's offensive was launched toward the settlements of Piatykhatky, Suhanove, Sablukivka and Bezvodne, on the west side of the Dnieper River.



The ministry's statement said Russian forces had also repelled attacks in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.



Kherson city, which had a prewar population of 280,000, is one of the first urban areas occupied by Russia at the start of the invasion.



Zelenskiys office said 88 settlements in the southern Kherson region and 551 settlements in the northeastern Kharkiv region have been de-occupied, while the Ukrainian forces' counteroffensive in the Kherson region moves ahead.



Ukraine is trying to drive Russian forces in Kherson back east across the Dnieper. Russian soldiers on the western bank, where the city of Kherson is located, are reportedly close to being cut off from supply lines and reinforcements.



Natalya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraines southern operational command, said the Ukrainian military struck the Antonivskiy Bridge over the Dnieper in the city of Kherson during an overnight curfew Russia-installed officials put in place to avoid civilian casualties.



We do not attack civilians and settlements," Humenyuk told Ukrainian television.



Ukrainian strikes made the Antonivskiy Bridge inoperable, prompting Russian authorities to set up ferry crossings and pontoon bridges to relocate civilians and transport supplies.



Russia has sent in thousands of recently mobilized troops to reinforce the defense of Kherson, the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said on October 21.



Zelenskiy again on October 21 urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up a dam at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper River as this could flood settlements toward Kherson.



Zelenskiy said Russian forces had planted explosives inside the dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir, and were planning to blow it up.



"Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he said in his nightly address.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and the BBC
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has urged parliament to approve a new cabinet next week in a bid to end a political crisis.

Ukraine's ruling coalition has collapsed over efforts to stamp out corruption, but Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk refuses to step down after he survived a no-confidence vote last month, triggered by Poroshenko's party.

Poroshenko told reporters in the eastern city of Kharkiv on March 23 that he was ready "to support any candidate for prime minister submitted by the [parliamentary] coalition."

"I stress that it is in Ukraine's interests to see the government confirmed next Tuesday."

Yatsenyuk expressed hope on March 23 that the political crisis would be resolved soon.

"I am waiting for further decisions to be made both by the parliamentary coalition and -- most importantly -- the president's party and the president himself."

Poroshenko controls parliament's largest faction. The one headed by Yatsenyuk closely trails in second and has previously voted in line with the president's group.

U.S.-born Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said on March 22 that she was ready to serve as prime minister under strict conditions.

Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
The estranged wife of renowned Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko sought mental treatment the day before she allegedly killed their two daughters in their Texas home, police said on March 22.

Sofya Tsygankova is accused of capital murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko.

Vadym Kholodenko found the two girls dead on March 17, with Tsygankova wearing a blood-stained nightgown and kneeling on the floor "rocking back and forth," according to the arrest warrant. She had wounds on her wrist and chest, and a butcher knife was found nearby.

An empty bottle labeled with the antipsychotic drug Quetiapine was found on the kitchen counter, police said.

Authorities said Tsygankova, who is divorcing Kholodenko, visited a mental health facility the day before the murders.

Tsygankova told police she remembered putting her children to sleep and taking pills, and believed she hurt herself with a knife. But she asked the officers if she had done "anything bad" to the girls.

Tsygankova was booked on March 22 into the Tarrant County jail.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
The U.S. arrest of Iranian-born Reza Zarrab reverberated in Turkey on March 22 as the well-connected gold trader was at the center of a bribery scandal that once engulfed Turkey's leadership.

The U.S. charges that Zarrab helped the Iranian government and businesses get around economic sanctions came as a blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly insisted that 2013 allegations of corruption against him and his inner circle were nothing more than a coup attempt.

The scandal centered around Zarrab in 2013 prompted Erdogan to dismiss thousands of state employees, police officers, and prosecutors, putting many in jail. Many were forced to leave the country.

Zarrab is denying any wrongdoing in either the U.S. criminal case filed on March 21 or the 2013 Turkish public investigation, saying his business was legitimate. All charges against him and members of Erdogans government were eventually dropped.

Zarrab, who holds Turkish and Iranian citizenship, was charged and detained in the graft probe in Turkey in 2013. In that case, he was accused of bribing ministers in Erdogans cabinet with millions of dollars in cash and gifts to help facilitate trade in gold with Iran.

Zarrab and his accomplices began using a network of companies in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to transact business on Irans behalf and defraud the United States, according to the U.S. indictment.

Companies benefiting from the scheme included Bank Mellat, an Iranian government-owned bank, the National Iranian Oil Company, and the Naftiran Intertrade Company, it said.

In a television interview on Turkeys pro-government A Haber news in April 2014, Zarrab estimated he had facilitated the transfer of about $12 billion in gold to Iran.

Erdogan defended Zarrab after the Turkish investigation was dropped, calling him a "philanthropist" whose business had "contributed to the country."

The announcement of Zarrabs arrest in Miami where he was vacationing with his wife and children came a week before Erdogan is scheduled to visit the United States.

Zarrab's detention also shook the Turkish stock market on March 22 and unnerved investors in Turkey's state-controlled Halkbank, which was under scrutiny in the 2013 investigation.

Shares of the Turkish bank dropped more than 8 percent on March 22, forcing the bank to issue a statement saying it is not the subject of investigation in Turkey or the United States.

Zarrab was born in Iran but grew up in Turkey and shares a $72 million villa on Istanbuls waterfront with his wife, Ebru Gundes, a Turkish pop star and celebrity.

With reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters, Huffington Post, and Hurriyet Daily News
The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has apologized to the people of Kunduz for the mistaken attack on a hospital in the city last year that killed 42 people.

U.S. Army General John Nicholson on March 22 visited with Kunduz leaders and relatives of those who died in the October 3 attack, accompanied by his wife, Norine, and Afghan acting Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai.

A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked the hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in what Nicholson called a "horrible tragedy."

More than a dozen U.S. military personnel were disciplined for mistakes that led to the attack. A U.S military report on the hospital attack is expected to be released within days.

Doctors Without Borders ceased operations in Kunduz afterward and has yet to return. The hospital was the only trauma clinic in northern Afghanistan.

Human rights groups criticized the Pentagon's response to the incident, saying the soldiers involved should have faced criminal charges.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Russia for talks expected to touch upon the fragile truces in Syria and Ukraine.

Kerry is to meet with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow on March 23.

He will also hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 24.

During the visit, Kerry is expected to gauge whether the Russian leadership is ready to discuss ways to ease Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

On Ukraine, he is expected to call on Moscow to do more to press Russian-backed separatists in the country's east to comply with a cease-fire.

He is also due to raise the case of Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia for her alleged involvement in the death of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.

Washington has repeatedly called for Savchenko to be released.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Sometimes being a visionary doesnt look so good.

Like when you walk into a bureaucrats office to get a license to distribute beer from your fledgling brewery, your wife is nine months pregnant and shes the one whos going to be making the deliveries.

Mark Thompson recalls the moment with a grin.

So the guy says, Let me get this straight. Youre going to make beer  in a bathtub, basically  and youre going to sell it to her. And shes going to get in a van. And shes going to drive it around town and sell this beer. And we said, Yessir. And you could just see him laughing off his chair. He signed her document, shoved it to us and more or less said, Good luck  it will never work. 

Well, of course, it has worked. Starr Hill Brewery, the company Thompson co-founded, is now Virginias largest craft brewery, making a little more than 22,000 barrels a year of nearly 20 varieties distributed across a swath from New Jersey to Georgia (but not by his wife, Kristin Dolan, anymore).

Thompsons vision and stature recently led his peers to elect him chairman of the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild. There are nearly 70 craft breweries in the state, and a lot has changed since Starr Hills launch 15 years ago on Main Street in downtown Charlottesville.

Thompson cracks another joke, this one about their first beer. I used to say, You can have any flavor of Starr Hill you want, as long as its amber. 

Now, when you walk through the narrow hallway into the brewery in Crozet, youll see 19 framed medals and awards. In the tasting area, soon to be expanded, a chatty bartender offers samples of Starr Hill Saison, a fruity Belgian-style farmhouse ale; Northern Lights, the brewerys flagship IPA; Taste of Honey, a super-smooth Belgian-style dubbel; and more. T-shirts and silvery stars hang from the ceilings, and nearby you might hear the rattle of bottles soldiering along the filling line.

More than maybe, you will hear music, all kinds of music thats an essential part of Starr Hills choreography. Grateful Pale Ale (think Deadhead). Dark Starr Stout (think Stephen Stills, not Darth Vader). Whiter Shade of Pale Belgian-style IPA (dont think  just call out for another drink and let the waiter bring the tray).

As Thompson takes me through the sprawling facility  a 32,000-square-foot former frozen food plant with a beer library, a sophisticated grain mill, a row of 100-barrel fermenters, a hop cannon used for dry-hopping and a lab for quality control  we reminisce and trade exclamations about how much has changed since those Main Street days.

I think the explosion in the number of breweries is what has surprised me most, Thompson said. The pace at which the number of breweries is opening is something I would not have suspected.

That pace creates synergy, he said, and helps bring attention to craft brewers role in boosting the economy. The small businesses create jobs, enhance tourism, manufacture popular products and contribute to the community.

In many ways, our industry is the poster child for what every politician wants to see, Thompson said.

The role of the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild is to facilitate the jobs-tourism-economy connections and address legislative priorities. For example, a bill before this years General Assembly defines farm breweries, a benefit for Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery in Goochland County and others.

Its hard to generate good-paying jobs in agricultural areas, Thompson said, adding that Virginias boutique wineries provide a model. In many ways, our chemistry is very similar.  The wine guys have a proven track record of success in that field.

Thompsons success with Starr Hill also propels his leadership role. Not that he could have foreseen it when he and Kristin moved to Portland, Ore., after he got a biology degree from James Madison University. He was pursuing a masters degree until a part-time job at a craft brewery led to a career change.

Now Starr Hill is well-positioned as a leading regional brewery in a burgeoning market. Opportunities in the Southeast also have drawn the likes of New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues and Green Flash. Other regional breweries, such as SweetWater of Atlanta, are expanding distribution  brewery officials gathered recently to celebrate their launch in Richmond.

Growth means some elbow bumping. Lawsuits over similar beer names have popped up more frequently. Space in tap houses and retail outlets has become more dear. But Thompson stresses that competition is less among craft brewers than it is for greater overall market share.

The share of local craft has a lot of opportunity to grow, he said.

And these days, nobody is saying, Good luck  it will never work.
PARIS (AP)  The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, The Associated Press has learned.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed to have entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks  this time for a man seen on security footage in the airport with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders

"Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: So what if he was arrested? 'We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,'" said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

"The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening," she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but he'd signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a "secret cell of soldiers" dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks."

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving IS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

"The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training," he said. "Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now."

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but IS has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these "external operation" units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

"This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria."

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

"To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape," said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

"Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days," Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be a Brussels resident with a degree in mechanical engineering  the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material, although Laachraoui has not been publicly linked to the latest attack.

And Laachraoui, like the unidentified man seen wearing a white jersey at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.

___
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - The Portsmouth chapter of the NAACP is calling for a federal investigation into the death of a mentally ill jail inmate who died while waiting for a bed at a state mental hospital.

NAACP Portsmouth chapter President James Boyd says in a statement that the group is seeking an investigation to ensure that improvements are made after the death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell.

Mitchell, who is mentally ill, was jailed in Portsmouth after stealing $5 worth of junk food. He died in August in a cell covered in his own feces and urine while waiting for a bed to become available at a state mental hospital.
It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?

Search for: Search
The Virginia Dental Association and the Piedmont Virginia Dental Health Foundation have teamed up with Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville to train a new level of dental health providers.

The program is open to students across Virginia and will train them to become community dental health coordinators. Students will receive 12 months of online instruction, travel one weekend a month to Martinsville for clinical training and complete a six-month internship at a safety net clinic.

In 2006, the American Dental Association began a project to train a new type of community health worker, Dr. Mark Crabtree of Martinsville, past chairman of the American Dental Associations Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations, said in a news release. The goal is to break down barriers that keep many Americans from enjoying good dental health so that as many people as possible have access to dental health care.

Students can earn a CDHC certificate and take the examination for a dental radiation certificate. They will be trained to work in clinics, schools, private practices and public health settings to help people learn more about oral care and prevention of disease.

For more information call 276-656-0260 or email wecd@patrickhenry.edu. The Harvest Foundation of Martinsville and the Piedmont Virginia Dental Health Foundation are providing funds to launch the program.
Virginia Western Community College is one of 10 national finalists for the second annual Community College Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Science Foundation in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges.

The Community College Innovation Challenge calls on students enrolled in community colleges to propose innovative solutions based in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in order to address perplexing, real-world problems. All of the finalists submitted videos describing their proposals.

Community colleges provide a unique avenue for developing our STEM workforce and broadening participation, and the CCIC is a platform that highlights the innovative efforts of students and professors to enhance their knowledge and contribute to solving challenging issues, said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, NSF's assistant director for education and human resources.

The Virginia Western submission, titled Efficient Mechanical Collection Method of Recovering Waste Apples, proposes a mechanical way to recover apples that otherwise could not be sold to produce an environmentally friendly biofuel, allowing more efficient use of U.S. orchards and new economic opportunities for apple producers.

Community colleges play an important part in developing America's technical workforce. They do so in part by involving underrepresented groups in science and recognizing the importance of mentoring students for STEM careers. Many graduates become highly valued employees in a variety of fields, supporting industry's need for an educated and technologically proficient workforce.

AACC is proud to partner with NSF on the Community College Innovation Challenge in recognizing the exemplary efforts of community college students in developing STEM solutions to real-world problems around the nexus of food, energy and water systems, said Walter G. Bumphus, President and CEO of AACC. The 10 CCIC finalist teams are implementing thoughtful and innovative STEM research that contributes to scientific discovery, progress and a more sustainable future.

This year's CCIC focused on a priority area of research for NSF: the Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems program, which seeks new ways to help society deal with growing resource demands. Through INFEWS, NSF has invested nearly $75 million in multidisciplinary research. Many of this year's finalist projects focused on sustainable water resources, an area of research that NSF and other federal agencies pledged to support this week at the White House Water Summit.

Students who participate in CCIC will contribute to this national effort, and benefit from prizes and professional development opportunities.

Submitted by Josh Meyer
Congressman Morgan Griffith's office shares his E-Newsletter for the week of March 31:

Bureaucratic Accountability

When will Washington bureaucrats who do wrong be held accountable? We all know of the investigation into Lois Lerner, the former Director of the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Exempt Organizations Division who was at the center of the IRS targeting scandal where she appeared to have been involved in targeting political groups for ideological reasons, delaying or denying tax-exempt status they would otherwise have been entitled to. This investigation was closed with no charges.

Additionally, no one has been held accountable for the Solyndra solar corporation whose loans were subordinated illegally in my opinion. This was the process by which private financiers/investors were placed ahead of the taxpayers for repayment should Solyndra go bankrupt, which it did. This scheme cost the taxpayers $170 million (see my press release of March 8, 2012).

More recently, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials have not been held accountable for their failures relating to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan that exposed the citys 95,000 citizens to lead, which is particularly harmful to young children and their developing brains and nervous systems. Accordingly, the nearly 9,000 children below 6 years old exposed in Flint are at risk of permanent disabilities, behavioral issues, and various diseases.

Miguel Del Toral, a water scientist with the EPA, who first confirmed water problems in Flint last spring after Flint resident Lee Anne Walters called the EPA regarding high lead levels in her tap water. Walters also warned officials that one of her children had been diagnosed with lead poisoning.

However, after Del Toral noted the lack of corrosion controls and high lead levels in an interim report, he indicated that he was being punished. In an email dated July 8, 2015, Del Toral wrote, It almost sounds like Im to be stuck in a corner holding up a potted plant because of Flint. One mis-step in 27+ years here and people lose their minds.

Susan Hedman is the former head of the agencys Midwest region. She resigned shortly after the crisis in Flint was revealed to the public. Last week, she testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about this situation.

At the hearing, Hedman refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing by EPA in this situation, though she did say that officials could have done more.

Further, in another hearing, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy refused to say whether she would have removed Hedman had she not resigned.

Also testifying with Hedman was Dr. Marc Edwards, whose work with a group of 25 Virginia Tech researchers was vital in exposing this crisis. As summarized in the Washington Post, Edwards called Heldmans remarks completely unacceptable and criminal and said Hedman was guilty of willful blindness, was unremorseful and was completely unrepentant and unable to learn from [her] mistakes.

I guess being a government agency means you never have to say youre sorry, he said.

Wow.

In Congress, I have been working to hold agencies accountable when they do something harmful or are way off base. This fight will continue. Administration bureaucrats must be held accountable.

California Fried Robin

Supporters of the Ivanpah solar plant promised it would provide high-tech clean energy.

The Wall Street Journal reports that despite the more than 2,000 birds that died at the facility between March and August of 2015 likely when flying through intense heat surrounding its towers, the federally backed, $2.2 billion solar project in the California desert isnt producing the electricity it is contractually required to deliver to PG&E Corp., which says the solar plant may be forced to shut down if it doesnt receive a break Thursday from state regulators.

The California Public Utilities Commission last week did approve forbearance agreements allowing up to a year for Ivanpah to meet expectations of electric output. Also, an undisclosed sum was paid to the electric utility PG&E so it would not declare its power purchase agreement with the plant owners is in default.

I discussed this plant and its bird issue in a 2014 special report. As I listed then, this plant had killed birds that were federally protected.

Not only is it roasting birds, but Ivanpah is failing to produce the electricity it promised. While we are looking for cleaner energy alternatives including clean coal technologies, we ought not abandon energy sources that keep their promises and provide us with electricity until the new energies are no longer all hat and no cattle.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Submitted by Andrea Pivarunas
A former Washington and Lee University student has been charged with spray painting what appeared to be anti-gay graffiti on a campus building and several nearby cars.

Sheamus Craugh, 20, of Kinnelon, New Jersey, faces one count of felony vandalism.

The offense is considered a felony because it involved more than $1,000 in damage, according to Detective Robert Smith of the Lexington Police Department.

Early March 3, graffiti that included anti-gay sentiments was found on three doors of the Sustainability House on East Nelson Street, W&Ls dean of students wrote in a letter to the campus community.

The language was directed at one of the residents of the Sustainability House, part of the schools theme-based housing where students interested in environmental issues reside.

One of the messages said flame boy followed by the targeted students name, Smith said.

Four cars parked nearby were also spray-painted.

The charges were not brought as a hate crime because sexual orientation is not among the protected classes  which include race, religion and ethnicity  recognized by Virginia law, Smith said.

Craugh was a sophomore at W&L at the time of the offense. School spokeswoman Jessica Willett said he is no longer enrolled, but would not elaborate on the details of his departure.

It is our understanding that this was an isolated act carried out by one individual, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Sidney Springfield Evans wrote in a March 3 email to W&L students and staff.

The email also stressed the campus-wide moral obligation to treat everyone with respect at all times and under all conditions. We must never condone intolerance.
CHARLOTTESVILLE  Tensions were high Tuesday morning at Lee Park as several protesters bearing Confederate imagery protested a news conference regarding a proposal to remove the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from the Charlottesville park.

Among the protesters jeers were accusations that those supporting the removal of the monument are communists and members of the Taliban.

The Charlottesville City Council agreed Monday evening to consider convening a Blue Ribbon Commission that will explore how the statues honoring Lee and Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson, another Confederate luminary honored with a statue downtown, can be removed.

Removal of the statues and changing the name of the park are not the only options on the table, however.

According to a statement from Mayor Mike Signer, the tentative charge for the commission asks that it evaluate a range of options, including the addition of new memorials and changing the statues context to reflect current values.

Several councilors Monday said a recent court decision and the veto of a bill addressing the role Virginia localities have in deciding what do with their war monuments have opened the door to a possible council resolution on the matter of Confederate memorials in the city.

The council is expected to vote on the resolution April 18. If approved, the committee would be formed in 30 days and then be responsible to provide the council with a report within 60 days. The statement originally said 90 days, but Councilor Wes Bellamy requested Monday the process be expedited.

The proposal was met with resistance Tuesday as Confederate heritage and preservation groups such as the Virginia Flaggers and Army of Northern Virginia-Mechanized Cavalry protested the conference.

I believe we have a responsibility as leaders to do what is best for this entire city, Bellamy said as a number of voices attempted to drown him out.

You will hear in the months coming that there may be no legal ground to do this, that this is about heritage, not hate, and that this is stirring trouble and making our community divided, Bellamy said. But when I see people of different races and ages here to battle for what is right, I am encouraged.

Arriving shortly before the start of the news conference, Robert Lee Elliott of Albemarle County carried a sign that referenced Bellamy as a trouble maker.

I believe in the South and what it represents. Its country folk and living. Elliott said. I hate to see history being changed.  History is in the past and we need let things lie the way it is.

The more you stir the pot, the worse it stinks. Its getting a lot of people upset, he said. If someone doesnt like the name Lee Park or doesnt want to go through it, thats their priority. I dont like going to the Downtown Mall after dark, so I dont do that.

Several conference speakers opposed the notion that some residents and visitors should simply avoid the park. Speakers cited the park as a shared public place that sometimes holds community events.

Zyahna Bryant  a Charlottesville High School student whose petition to remove the memorial had more than 500 signatures Tuesday evening  mentioned the parks status as a public space.

No one should feel uncomfortable when they visit this park, Bryant said. There should be no question about that.  Its a public park that people pay taxes to have maintained properly.

We need to find a separation between heritage and hate, she added.

The conference ended peacefully Tuesday, but the yelling and disruption made for an awkward tension that dissipated with the crowd shortly after 10 a.m.

Several protesters said Bellamy and the rest of the council are guilty of promoting strife.

This was a rigged job, said Joe Draego, a protester who repeatedly interrupted speakers during the conference.

As Draego yelled at the speakers, he questioned whether anyone with an opposing view would be allowed to speak at the event. Bellamy said everyone would eventually have an opportunity to weigh in on the debate, but none of the protesters was invited to speak Tuesday.

There should have been an opposing point of view. When people cant have an opposing point of view or a respectful conversation, thats all thats left  hollering over speakers because we cant speak ourselves, Draego said.

Wes Bellamy is creating divisiveness and hatred, not unity, he said.

Later in the day, a counter-petition to keep the Lee statue circulated online and had nearly 200 signatures by 7 p.m. The petition, created by area resident Teresa Lam, mentioned the various speakers at Tuesdays conference.

Addressed to Signer and Bellamy, the petition says Lee freed his slaves and worked to reunite the nation after he surrendered to the Union.

By tearing this statue down and allowing gay activists, the NAACP and the Black Lives Matter groups to use it for their agenda, the City Council is dividing our nation once again and erasing all the work Lee did over 150 years ago, the petition says.

No one at the conference identified themselves as a member of the Black Lives Matter movement, but one woman did carry a sign featuring the phrase.

Another online petition, which had about 50 more signatures, suggested that a statue of the late UVa professor and civil rights activist Julian Bond could be erected in Lee Park, saying, We cannot erase history, but we can memorialize how far weve come. Lets erect a sharp contrast, rather than tear down our past.
LYNCHBURG  Under normal circumstances, students in Appomattox County would have spent Tuesday morning crouched in their schools darkened hallways as part of the Virginia Department of Emergency Managements statewide tornado drill.

But this year has been far from normal for the county, where, less than one month ago, a tornado swept through, leaving one resident dead and more than 100 structures damaged or destroyed.

Appomattox County Public Schools officials decided two weeks ago not to participate in Tuesdays statewide drill after considering lingering anxiety among the student body, Superintendent Dorinda Grasty said.

We had 55 students that were directly affected by the tornado, Grasty said in a phone interview Monday. To put those children and their friends thorough it again wouldnt be prudent for them. 

State law requires all public schools to conduct one tornado drill every school year, but the annual statewide drill is optional. Some schools held drills last week because of annual state testing, officials said.

As public school students throughout the region practiced bracing for a twister during Tuesdays drill, it was evident the Appomattox County tornados impact reached considerably farther than its funnel cloud.

I didnt think it could happen here, or there was a possibility it could happen here, said fifth-grader George White after participating in the drill at Paul Munro Elementary School in Lynchburg.

Grasty said Tuesdays drill would have been this years first for Appomattox schools. She did not know if or when the district would schedule another one.
Master Deputy Timothy Lee (Tim) McCoy, 54, of Roanoke, Va., won his final earthly competition by defeating death; and, because of Jesus, went to be with his Lord on Sunday, March 20, 2016. He was predeceased by his father, Lawrence Albert McCoy; brother, Lawrence McCoy Jr. (Butch); and grandmother, Ruby Wells.He graduated from Patrick Henry High School and Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy and was a Master Deputy for the Roanoke City Sheriff's Department for 16 years. He was an avid weightlifter and holds numerous weightlifting records in Virginia.Tim is survived by his wife, Jeanette (Jeannie) McCoy; mother, Shirley Wells McCoy; stepdaughter, Taylor Leginus and fiance, Dylan Smith; stepson, Kaleb Leginus, and numerous other family including his brotherhood of law enforcement and family of weightlifters.The family will receive visitors at Life Church, 7422 Deer Branch Road, NW, Roanoke, Va., on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. A Memorial Service will be held at Life Church at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, 2016, with a visitation time one hour prior to the service at the church. The Rev. Larry Kessler and the Rev. Jay Fields will officiate and officers from the Roanoke City Sheriff's Department will participate.The family extends a special thank you to Dr. William Fintel and the amazing staff and friends at Lewis-Gale Medical Center 6 West for their wonderful care of Tim. The family also shares their heartfelt appreciation for their law enforcement family, the members of Life Church, Roanoke area businesses, and the Roanoke community for their prayers and overwhelming support during these difficult months.In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to Roanoke City D.A.R.E. Program, c/o Major David Bell, 340 Campbell Avenue, Roanoke, VA 24016; the Blue Ridge Cancer Center, 1900 Electric Road, Salem, VA 24153; or to the Life Church, 7422 Deer Branch Road, NW, Roanoke, VA 24019.John 3:36 - He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.
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A TOP Yorkshire dance company celebrating its 35th year will perform at Doncasters Cast Theatre next month.

Phoenix Dance Theatre will offer a triple bill of dances, including two brand new commissions.

The company will perform at the theatre on April 19, starting at 7.30pm.

Kate Flatts Undivided Loves reimagines Shakespeares most intimate, mysterious and radical sonnets through the fusion of sound, words and dance to Brazilian percussionist Adriano Adewales score.

Dutch/Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili reworks his ballet Until.With/Out.Enough which explores the concept of the enclosed space that exists within peoples minds.

Melt, created by Phoenix Dance Theatre artistic director Sharon Watson, is a visually spectacular aerial dance piece which sees the dancers swoop, glide and collide.

Ms Watson said: Like most 35-year-olds, now is the opportunity to be at our most creative, ambitious and experimental.

Phoenix Dance Theatre is becoming a household name here in Yorkshire and the ambition going forward is to take that local legacy and build on it further afield.

This birthday celebration is a real milestone and celebrates the great times that we have had, whilst looking ahead to the future.

Tickets for Phoenix Dance Theatre cost 16.50 for adults or 14.50 for concessions and are available on 01302 303 959 or by visiting www.castindoncaster.com.
Italian utility Enel (ENLAY.PK,EN) reported a profit for fiscal year 2015 that climbed 324.8% from the previous year, due to significant EBIT improvement and lower net financial charges, which were partially offset by higher income taxes. It has proposed to raise its dividend to 0.16 euros per share in latest-year, compared to 0.14 euros per share paid in the previous year. It confirmed its financial targets for 2016.

Francesco Starace, Enel CEO and General Manager, said,"Our 2015 results provide us with a solidfoundation for further progress in the years to come. We are therefore able to confirm our financial targets for 2016."

Group net income for the fiscal year 2015 increased 324.8% to 2.196 billion euros from 517 million euros in 2014.

But, group net ordinary income in 2015 was 2.887 billion euros, a 107 million euros decline or -3.6% on 2014, mainly due to the drop in EBITDA and the previously mentioned negative non-recurring impact of the reform on direct taxation in Italy.

In 2015, EBITDA was 15.297 billion euros, down 2.9% from last year, reflecting overall negative trend of exchange rates variations, early retirement agreements in Italy and Spain, lower generation margin from conventional sources. These factors were partially offset by the effects of the efficiency plan, regulatory changes and the new Slovak legislation on disposal of nuclear fuel.

EBIT for the year jumped 148.9% to 7.685 billion euros from 3.087 billion euros in the prior year, driven by lower depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses.

Revenues for the year declined 0.2% to 75.658 billion euros from last year's 75.791 billion euros, due to a decline in electricity sales, partly offset by higher revenues from gas and fuel sales.

The company still expects recurring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or EBITDA, a key earnings metric, in 2016 to be about 14.7 billion euros and in 2017 to be about 15.5 billion euros.

Further, the company continues to expect net ordinary income for 2016 to be around 3.1 billion euros and for 2017 to be around 3.4 billion euros.

The Board of Directors has convened the Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting for May 26th, 2016, in a single call with the aim of approving the separate financial statements and examine the consolidated financial statements for 2015; approving the payment of a dividend of 0.16 euros per share.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
German shares traded higher on Wednesday, a day after at least 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three separate explosions hit Brussels.

Investors seemed to have been relieved by the degree of resilience displayed by financial in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

The benchmark DAX was up 84 points or 0.84 percent at 10,075 in early trade as Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble prepares to outline his 2017 budget.

Automaker Daimler rose 1.2 percent and rival Volkswagen added half a percent. Europe's commercial vehicle registrations grew 17.8 percent from last year to 160,062 units in February, with all segments seeing sustained growth, industry data showed.

Airline Deutsche Lufthansa gained 0.8 percent while retailer Adidas rose 0.7 percent.

Deutsche EuroShop shares gained 1.2 percent. The shopping center investor lifted dividend after posting 74 percent growth in consolidated profit for fiscal 2015.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
French shares rose modestly on Wednesday, a day after at least 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three separate explosions hit Brussels.

Investors seemed to have been relieved by the degree of resilience displayed by financial in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 27 points or 0.62 percent at 4,459 in early trade after closing marginally higher on Tuesday.

Hotel group Accor gained half a percent, retailer Carrefour rose 1.4 percent and cosmetics company L'Oreal advanced 1.8 percent.

Sanofi shares traded half a percent higher. The drugmaker and its U.S. partner Regeneron have announced positive results from the Phase 3 study of their Praluent injection in patients with an inherited form of high cholesterol.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced his support for Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tex., in the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday and took the opportunity to bash frontrunner Donald Trump.

In a statement announcing his endorsement, Bush described Cruz as a "consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests."

"Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential," he added.

Bush dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination last month after a disappointing showing in the South Carolina primary.

The former Florida governor repeatedly clashed with Trump during his failed campaign and took a shot at the billionaire in his statement endorsing Cruz.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obama's failed policies," Bush said.

He added, "To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that."

Bush's suggestion that Cruz will overcome Trump's divisiveness comes even though the senator has drawn considerable criticism for recently suggesting law enforcement needs to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods."

Trump's previous call for the creation of a database to track American Muslims was then described by Bush as "abhorrent."

For his part, Cruz said he was truly honored to earn support from Bush, who he described as an extraordinary governor of Florida.

"His endorsement today is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, take back the White House, and ensure a freer and more prosperous America for future generations," Cruz said.

Cruz scored a big victory in the Utah caucuses on Tuesday and will get all 40 of the state's delegates, but he continues to trail Trump by a sizable margin in terms of total delegates.

(Photo Credit: Michael Vadon)

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car

I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ...
50% of Indian mobile users wish to upgrade to new device in 5G era

About 50 per cent of smartphone users in India plan to buy a new device within the first year as 5G ...
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Smoky Hill Hollow adds scary thrills to annual haunted house

The Saline County Rural Fire District 3-Hedville is planning for a few nights of frights in their annual Smoky Hill Hollow Haunted House this year.
The Mahindra Group is planning to export its latest heavy truck model Blazo to Africa in the next one-and-a-half year in an attempt to tap the huge market.

Hyderabad: The Mahindra Group is planning to export its latest heavy truck model Blazo to Africa in the next one-and-a-half year in an attempt to tap the huge market, which has transportation needs that are similar to India.

Already about 10 per cent of our sales comes from exports. We will perhaps go to some parts of Africa in the coming 18 months. We may begin shipment with our latest heavy truck model Blazo and other LCVs, said Nalin Mehta, CEO of Mahindra Truck and Bus Division.

He was speaking at the commercial launch of the truck, which was launched at the Auto Expo in February. The company has laun-ched its new heavy commercial truck series under the brand name Blazo in Hyderabad. The Blazo series inclu-des haulage, tractor trailer and tipper.

Mr Mehta expects his division to double its market share in the next two years.

Our truck and bus business has been growing steadily. We are confident that new Blazo HCV range will further enhance our position in the market, Mr Mehta told reporters here.

The growth of the commercial vehicles sales is directly in proportion to the economic growth due to improvement in freight demand. Truck operators typically seek to replace their vehicles once in around five years to keep their operational expenses low.
Illegal logging

Corruption threat to Pacific Island Forests

The rainforests of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are crucial for the conservation of precious habitats, for the survival of indigenous peoples and to prevent the global climate change. But forest degradation, driven primarily by excessive commercial logging, most of which is illegal, is a perpetual threat. Papua New Guinea recently became the worlds top producer of tropical timber, around 3.8 million cubic meters has been exported in 2014. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, around 90 per cent of the timber exported from Papua New Guinea and around 85 per cent from the Solomon Islands is estimated to be illegal.

Trees are being cut in prohibited zones, logging occurs beyond surveyed areas.community obligations [by logging companies], such as roads and bridges, are not built to standards, says Samson Kupale of Eco-Forestry Forum.



In Papua New Guinea forests stretch over 29 million hectares, covering about 75 per cent of its total surface. In the Solomon Islands rainforests cover only 2.2 million hectares, but this is at least 80 per cent of the country's surface. More than 80 per cent of the population of both countries relies on forests for food, fresh water and materials for shelter.



in the last decade, industrial logging has escalated with the growing demand for timber by emerging Asian economies. Also land clearance for agriculture and plantations (for example, oil palm), also contributes to the timber industry.



Logging operations are mostly located in remote locations, where implementation by forestry authorities is a serious challenge.

The US-based Oakland Institute recently claimed in a new report that there are strong indicators of widespread transfer pricing in the country with the potential loss of US$100 million per year in tax revenues. Despite the rapacious appetite for timber extraction by foreign investors, the majority claims that they have made little or no profit over the past decade and, thus, avoided paying 30 per cent income tax on profit, the report details.



In the Solomon Islands, the situation is also critical. Half the forests on Kolombangara Island in the countrys northwest are now degraded after 50 years of voracious extraction while local landowners have battled against illegal loggers in the courts for years.

More than 80 per cent of land in the Solomon Islands is under customary ownership and negotiation between logging companies and traditional landowners for access to land can be flawed. Middle men, or individuals within communities who do not have the traditional authority, are known to sign-off logging agreements in return for sweeteners.



Being impotent and understaffed, enforcement agencies are also prone to bribery and patronage. Collusion between foreign logging companies and political elites is acknowledged as a serious barrier to industry compliance.



There are government ministers, provincial ministers who are agents of these loggers and they exercise undue discretionary powers over the granting of logging concessions, Ruth Liloqula, Chair of Transparency Solomon Islands, told IPS News, adding that loggers also have undue influence over the politicians not to pass relevant legislation in this sector.



Another problem, she said, is that logging companies, rather than the government, now pay the costs of timber rights meetings where decisions are made about logging proposals. Even when the evidence is heavily on the side of the objectors, the decision is [often] in favour of the side supported financially by the loggers, Liloqula said.
Now that the dust is slowly settling after the euphoria of the finding out who is in Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaois new Cabinet, someone needs to remind these folks that to move forward, we need to deal with the past and learn our lessons from there.

Indeed, the time for celebration is over. Its time to get down to work. Barring a Cabinet Minister who could be removed by a Court petition in the next few weeks, the work for the new Cabinet Ministers has already been cut out. And it has a lot to do with sorting out todays perennial problems staring us in the face, unwilling to go away  even when we try our best to ignore them.

One of the biggest unresolved problems in this country in our opinion is the unbridled corruption found in some of the government bodies by the Chief Auditor and the Officers of Parliament Committee reports. These were raised during the last Parliamentary sitting and although they have been glanced over and ignored, we believe they must be revisited for the sake of transparency, justice and accountability.

Incidentally, as if it was a heaven-sent, an interesting press release came from the government two days ago. Authored by the National Prosecution Office (N.P.O), the release was to inform the world that recently established N.P.O and the Samoa Audit Office had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, allowing the offices to work together for the efficient and effective prosecution of fraudulent activities and corruption.

Expertise in the handling of complicated fraudulent activities and corruption is necessary for the effective prosecution of such alleged offending, the statement reads.

The Samoa Audit Office has such expertise that is crucial to the development of these complicated prosecution matters for trial. It is therefore hoped that this partnership will lead to more efficient and effective prosecution of these complicated matters requiring the expertise of forensic accountants of which the Samoa Audit Office will endeavor to develop.

Well this is excellent news, isnt it?

It reminds us of a similar agreement signed last year between the Attorney Generals Office and the Audit Office, also talking about addressing corruption and fraud. We dont know if this is the same thing as the new N.P.O and Audit Office deal.

Whatever it is though, it sure is reassuring that these offices have verbally committed to work together to tackle these issues head on. But an agreement means nothing unless it is put to use.

We say this because we believe there are blatant acts of wrongdoing that are screaming at us to correct and do something about.

Were referring to a file of documents in which documentary evidences were presented to Prime Minister Tuilaepa last year to prove that public servants had colluded to defraud public funds at the Samoa Land Corporation (S.L.C).

Dated 24 January 2015, the letter followed Parliaments decision to pass the long-awaited government response to the report by the Officers of Parliament Committee (O.P.C). In the O.P.C report, a recommendation was made to take legal action against the public servants in question.

In its response, however, Prime Minister Tuilaepa acknowledged the issues raised but assured that remedial actions have been taken by the government to improve its performance.

With that, nothing further was said about the recommendation to take legal action against public servants implicated. Which effectively meant those officials have gotten away scot-free.

Now that had upset the then Chairman of Parliaments Public Finance Committee, Papalii Niko Lee Hang, who had been very vocal against the idea of corrupt practises being allowed to fester within the government, at the expense of people who are suffering in silence.

Papalii then challenged the Prime Minister and demanded that he takes another look at the documents the O.P.C had provided.

In light of the agreement by the N.P.O and the Audit Office to work together for the efficient and effective prosecution of fraudulent activities and corruption, we believe they need to look at this evidence. Here it is again:

 ILLEGAL RELEASE OF 10% RETENTION FUND  COLLUSSION TO DEFRAUD PUBLIC FUNDS

An act to defraud public funds was committed by the Minister, C.E.O and the contractor whereby the contractor requested the release of the 10% Retention Fund using a fake Insurance Policy as guarantee and approved by the Minister and C.E.O knowing very well that the Insurance was fake as there were no premiums paid and reconfirmed by the insurance company that the said Policy was not valid for any claim.

Moreover, the early release of the 10% Retention Fund before the completion of the project and before the expiry of 12 months after completion violated the conditions of the Contractors Agreement. A fraudulent activity has been committed which no doubt is a criminal offence.

 BREACH OF INCOME TAX ACT 2012

Progress Payments re: Contract Price to contractor without the deduction of Withholding Taxes violated section 95 of the Income Tax Act 2012. For your information, the Minister and his C.E.O during his tenure as Minister for Sth. Pacific Games Authority (S.P.G.A) also violated the Act by not withholding the said taxes from payments made to Contractors. (Please refer to Controller & Chief Auditors Report 2010 that was never tabled in Parliament on the S.P.G.A Financial Statements with a Qualified Audit Opinion and other unsatisfactory issues raised therein involving gross mismanagement.) Yearly Bonuses paid to staff also violated the Income Tax Act by not deducting PAYE taxes from gross amounts of bonuses.

 SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTIONS IN

PROCUREMENTS OF ASSETS FROM

MIDDLE MAN COMPANY

The Chief Auditor was concerned with payments made by S.L.C to the middleman company paid in NZ$ & US$ involving millions of Tala whilst the Company is a registered Samoan Company. All Invoices received from the companys bank account in New Zealand. This practice of account payments is considered not the best practice as it denied any VAGST to be paid to the government. The company also procured the expensive Water Drill Rig for S.L.C which arrived in an unsatisfactory condition. Please refer to Documentary Evidences regarding the suspicious procurement process and the inflated Invoices which suggested that SLC management colluded with the c=ompany to entertain a corrupt activity. The same company was used by the Minister as the SPGA Minister to procure various assets which raises the concern by the Chief Auditor of why the Minister kept using the same middleman without any quotations from other suppliers since he found that such reckless practice would cost more to SLC.

 SLC MAIN HEADQUARTERS

(OFFICE) AT TUANAIMATO

The variations amounting to $2,419,977.12 required to complete SLCs new headquarters at a cost of $5,219,977.12 more than doubled the original cost of $2,800,000.00 approved by Cabinet and the said variations were never referred to Cabinet for approval as per usual government policy. The OPC committee in its investigations found a lot of other anomalies including payments made to sub-contractors that the committee considered such transactions not at arms length as the payments made for signwriting of $120,670.00 was paid to a company which the committee was informed that the said company was owned by the Ministers son in law. There were also payments made to a landscaping company of $62,500.00 that the committee believed not at arms length as well. The committee believed that the Variations were too excessive and the completed work was found very unsatisfactory given that the up-graded elevator was never in operation despite been paid an additional cost of $310,000.00 on top of the original approved cost of $180,000.00. At the end of day, SLC paid $490,000.00 for an expensive broken down elevator.

At this point, it is important to remember that this is not the first time these matters have been raised. Keep in mind that these are just some of the many issues raised by the O.P.C and the Chief Auditor in relation to the performance of some government bodies.

Obviously there is so much work to be done.

And with the M.O.U by the N.P.O and the Audit Office to prosecute fraudulent activities and corruption what are they waiting for?
Dear Editor,

In this Holy Week the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is telling us that people are trying to start a third world war. He says it in our hearts as we pray, meditate and deeply reflecting. It will happen unless his people turn to prayers. He has the list of countries already in his hands and has asked us to repent and pray.

This attack on Brussels is part of it, as was France. What Satan is trying to do is spark a war through those he is in control of, those who don't know Christ or His Father. The clock has stopped, that His wrath will come to this earth unless his people repent and start to pray with devotion. The ongoing killing of innocent people by the ISIS Jihadists with the most powerful nations failure to stop. The world leaders are legalizing gay marriage totally ignoring Gods creation when He created a man and a woman

We can stop the Chastisement, if we all turn to him, but will we?

Who are we waiting for? The world leaders are lost in ignorance and sin - rise up and pray - they are powerless without Christ in their hearts. Don't wait for other people to do it, because many will be deceived by the son of perdition who comes before Christ.

Many who don't know Christ will think that he is the son of God through the "wonders" that he performs. It's time this world got some perspective as to what is really going on - what happened today in Brussels is the tip of the iceberg.

Over and around 100 million babies are slaughtered every year and this goes unnoticed by the world, by the media, by the voters. No one cares: they voted and continue to vote these butchers into our governments, who now are running the world. This ongoing holocaust is far worse than any past world war. And now we are on the brink of another world war.

Abortions kill the highest number of defend less innocent babies is like wild fire around the world. World governments push in legislations to legalize the sinful action  because in the eyes of the world it is a human right or mothers right to murder an unwanted baby. The world tends to ignore GODS right in creating the first human beings and blessed them to multiply. The world also turns a blind eye to his Commandment Thou shall not kill The world is so sinful.

Sometimes all a loving Father can do to his disobedient children is to give them a hiding, to experience His wrath. It's surely better than losing them all to the enemy who gently snares them and lures them into his trap? Satan comes disguised as an angel of light. Maybe it's time the world experienced who Satan really is and what his way is all about, so that by God's grace they will repent and be saved.

Please pray continuously so that any looming third world war will not happen.

God bless Samoa and the whole world.

Michael








IN MOURNING: A banner reading 'I am Brussels' behind flowers and candles to mourn for the victims at Place de la Bourse in the centre of Brussels. (Photo: AP)

IN MOURNING: A banner reading 'I am Brussels' behind flowers and candles to mourn for the victims at Place de la Bourse in the centre of Brussels. (Photo: AP)

The government has moved to assure that Samoans living in Brussels are safe and well.

The assurance made in a press statement issued by the Press Secretariat last night follows the terror attacks in Brussels.

In light of the devastating news of terrorist attacks in Belgium, the Government of Samoa would like to share an update on its Overseas Mission based in the worst-hit city of Brussels, the statement reads.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Samoa's Ambassador, Embassy staff and their families are safe and well.

It should be noted that as the attacks occurred near or on critical transport lines and located particularly close to the EU Commission and Council, the city of Brussels is currently under lockdown.

Based on advice from Samoa's Mission in Brussels, and in anticipation of worsening conditions and possible closures of businesses in the city, M.F.A.T has given its approval for Samoa's Embassy to take precautionary measures and relevant steps by closing down if they feel that their safety and security are compromised.

Through M.F.A.T, the Government of Samoa will continue to monitor the safety of our Embassy staff and their families, and pray for the safety of all families and communities in Belgium.

Yesterday, thousands gathered for a candle-lit vigil in the heart of Brussels hours after 34 people lost their lives in a series of terror attacks across the city.

Moving images taken show strangers standing in solidarity with the victims and their families, carrying banners that read: 'Je Suis Bruxelles'. Young children were seen crying in the arms of their parents as they left flowers, balloons and notes of comforts and the shrine in Place de la Bourse.

Meanwhile landmarks around the globe have been lit up with the black, yellow and red colours of the Belgian flag in a show of support.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and the Trevi fountain in Rome were among those illuminated, just hours after explosions tore through Brussels Airport and a Metro station in the city centre.

While the air in the square was heavy with grief and sombre respect, armed police officers nearby served as a reminder of a city still in high alert.

A major manhunt is underway for an Isis suspect in a white coat and black hat who fled Brussels Airport after two explosions ripped through the terminal in a suicide bomb attack.

Police issued a wanted notice for the man who was seen on CCTV pushing a luggage trolley through the check-in area with two other suspects minutes before the blasts.

His alleged accomplices were wearing black gloves on their left hands, which security sources say would have hidden the triggers for their explosive vests.

The two men blew themselves up while the third suspect is believed to have left a nail bomb and fled.

It is not known if the fugitive then sped to Maelbeek station to carry out an attack there just 79 minutes later.

Isis has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have killed at least 31 people and injured close to 200 others.

Anti-police terror police swooped on a number of suspects in the hours after the attacks as the Belgian Foreign Ministry has confirmed they believe some of the terrorists involved are "still at large".

At least two people in Brussels were arrested outside the city's North railway station, about two kilometres from the Maelbeek subway. A third suspect has been arrested on a train near Amsterdam and a suspect package at Gard du Nord in Paris delayed Eurostar services. Another man was also taken into custody at by armed police at Brussels South railway station near the suburb of Schaerbeek.

A news agency affiliated with Isis put out a statement, saying the terror group had carried out the attacks. AMAQ agency said: "Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital Brussels."

Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said that wo of the three men in the CCTV photo "very likely committed a suicide attack".

He said Isis's claim of responsibility had not yet been formally verified, adding that bit was still "too early to make a direct connection between the attacks in Paris [in November] and today's attacks".

There were several raids under way across the country, and he warned media of the risks of reporting details of active operations.

A house search in the Brussels neighbourhood of Schaerbeek has "led to the discovery of an explosive device containing among other things nails." Investigators also found chemical products and an Isis (Islamic State) flag.

He said that several explosions heard at the airport after the initial two blasts were controlled detonations by security forces. He warned that there may yet be more controlled detonations of suspect packages.

Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren told AFP news agency the three suspected attackers who struck Zaventem airport had their bombs in their luggage.

"They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," he said. "They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it did not explode."
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ was relived at the Tafaigata Prison yesterday where prisoners marked Easter.

Hundreds of family members and friends were invited for a day of reflection where prisoners and the audience acknowledged the sacrifice Jesus Christ made to save the world.

Among the special guests were the new Minister of Justice and Courts Administration, Faaolesa Katopau Ainuu, Minister of Police and Prisons, Sala Fata Pinati, the Minister of Women, Community and Social Development, Faimalo Kika Stowers and Justice Vui Clarence Nelson.

The pre-Easter programme is one of the annual events for the Samoa Prisons and Correctional Services.

The Associate Minister of Police and Prisons, Taefu Lemi, acknowledged the fine performances by the prisoners and the officers at Tafaigata.

He urged the prisoners to think about the sacrifice and the atonement of our Saviour Jesus Christ for the world and the price He paid for our sins.

The Spokesperson of the Prison, Sagaga Galu Frost, said the programme is one of many rehabilitation programmes designed to change the prisoners from within.

Over the years, he said they have seen a lot of positive changes in the lives of some prisoners as a result of the programme.

The prisoners were divided into four groups for their performances consisting of songs and skits. They were Tafaigata Girls, Tafaigata Boys, Oloamanu and Vaiaata.
HAPPY TO DONATE: 'It only takes a few minutes of your life to save a life,' Tamalii Gibbons. (Photo: Samoa Observer)

HAPPY TO DONATE: 'It only takes a few minutes of your life to save a life,' Tamalii Gibbons. (Photo: Samoa Observer)

You dont have to be a doctor to save a life; you can do so by donating blood for those in need.

That was the mantra behind a Blood Drive organised by ANZ Bank in conjunction with the National Health Services and the Samoa Red Cross.

The Blood Drive started on Tuesday with the staff and employees of the ANZ Bank donating blood. Yesterday, members of the public with the desire to donate blood were given the chance to do so.

The Marketing Manager for ANZ Samoa, Melissa Greig Callaghan, said the initiative was born four weeks ago after a meeting with their Corporate Responsibility Team.

Our Corporate Responsibility Team looks at ways in which we can help our community, and one of the things that came to our attention was that our National Kidney Foundation is doing dialysis, but they need more blood, she said.

ANZ Bank has done it in the past, and I think the last time they had one was back in 2012 or 2013.

The reason why they are having it this month is because June 14 is the International Blood Donation Day. And to donate blood, you need to have a three-month-break before you can donate again.

So we decided to have it this month so that we will be able to donate again on June 14, said Mrs. Callaghan. And if that is successful, I can say that the ANZ Bank will continue to have their Blood Drive every three months.

A lot of people showed interest in the blood drive initiative, she added.

There are a lot of good reasons why people cant donate but there are also a lot of good reasons why people can donate blood. I mean by donating means that you are able to save someones life, which is amazing.

To be eligible to donate blood, you have to be 16 years and older. You have to weigh over 50 kilograms and ensure that you are in good health and are not taking antibiotics.

Tamalii Gibbons, a Payment Support Officer at ANZ Bank, was one of the donors yesterday. It was not the first time Tamalii had donated blood.

But the last time I donated blood was back in 2010, she said.

I always have the desire to help those in need hence why I always donate blood. I understand that the blood you donate gives someone another chance at life and that one day that someone might be a close relative, a friend or even you. So I think its a very generous thing to do.

Tamalii believes that we all have the most precious resource and the ability to save someones life by donating blood.

It only takes a few minutes of your life to save a life and I am happy that I can help share this invaluable gift with someone in need, she said.

The blood drive was held at level two of the ANZ Building opposite the Government Building.
Students at Faleata College returned to school nervously yesterday after an incident, which left them badly shaken and horrified on Tuesday.

The school was ambushed by a group of young people who threw rocks and other elements at the school building, forcing the students and teachers to run for their lives.

The attack was caught on camera.

It shows moments of panic when some students were screaming for help during the attack, which happened during the second period of the day. The students were sent home immediately.

When the Samoa Observer visited yesterday, we found that many students did not turn up to school at all.

Principal Tanuvasa Michael Gray said the Police are investigating the attack.

All I can say is that we were very shocked when we were attacked yesterday, he said.

It was early in the morning, and at that time I was with two of my teachers when I heard the students screaming.

I thought to myself what is happening out there. I left my office and I went outside and saw that the students had scattered all over the place.

Tanuvasa said he could sense the fear among the students.

They were panicking and they were scared, he said.

[And] then I saw rocks flying towards us. I asked some students and they said there was a fight.

The teachers were not aware of the incident because they were in the classrooms teaching but they only came out when the rocks starting hitting the roof of the building.

In tears, Tanuvasa said his heart sank when he saw the look of fear in the faces of his students.

My only concern was the safety of the students and thats why I let them go home early, he said.

It was unexpected and never in my life did I think that we were going to go through this, especially the students.

[But] I thank God that nobody was hurt.

Tanuvasa said four young men were caught by the Police and taken in for questioning.

All I can say is the people that did this were not from here, he said. I dont know who they are.

The police have apprehended four of them and were taken directly to the police office at Tuanaimato.

That is as far as I can go with information today but Ill be happy to talk once the police release the information.
Samoas new Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, is looking forward to returning to Samoa to start work next month. Lemalu replaces former Attorney General, Aumua Ming Leung Wai, who did not reapply for the position.

Speaking to the Samoa Observer from New Zealand where he has been based, Lemalu said he is humbled by the trust of the government and the people of Samoa in him to perform the role.

I feel it is an honour and privilege to be appointed to this position as it covers a wide area of legal and community based responsibilities, Lemalu said.

My family and I are humbled to have been chosen as we are sure there were other very worthy fellow applicants. I am aware that it will be a blessing and also a challenge, but we feel that with the Lords help we will be able to understand the tasks ahead.

In taking up the position, the 43-year-old is following his father, Misa Telefonis footsteps.

Prior to holding the position of Deputy Prime Minister for several terms, Misa held the position of Attorney General, starting in 1986.

Born and raised in Samoa, Lemalu, who had worked as a Commercial Law Lecturer at the National University of Samoa from 20012014, is keen on his return.

Returning home to Samoa to work is an exciting prospect for me personally, he said.

I also believe being born and raised in Samoa is an advantage as I believe that overseas legal practices should not be applied in Samoa without first considering whether their import is appropriate to our local cultural and specific needs.

About his new position, Lemalu said he will be building on all the good work of Attorney Generals before him.

His priorities would be to ensure the whole team and staff that with Gods help, our goal will be to fulfill the current mission statement of the A.Gs office; to serve the people of Samoa by upholding the Constitution and providing the highest quality legal services to government.

Lemalu also aims to establish a strong working relationship and a clear line of communication with those that the Constitution says we specifically serve as lawyers, that being the Head of State, the Prime Minister who is the Minister of the A.G.O, the Cabinet and Heads of Department as well as the wider community where appropriate.

The new A.G. also expects high professional and personal standards of behaviour from his team. An example he referred to is for them to turn up to work, Court, negotiations and meetings pre-prepared and on time.

He hopes to build a supportive team environment between the leadership and all members to create a unified and enjoyable place of work where individuals can thrive and achieve their goals.

Following Lemalus work with N.U.S, he worked as a Crown Prosecutor with Meredith Connell/Crown Law for four years.

He later became a senior solicitor with the Public Defence Service within the New Zealand Ministry of Justice rounding up 11 years of litigation practice overseas. His responsibilities included team leadership of lawyers and management of legal offices.

Lemalu also remained connected with the community through Radio Samoa community law programmes and as a board member for a Community Law Centre and other organisations.

He served two terms as the President of the Pacific Lawyers Association.

Away from law, Lemalu and his wife, Aiolupotea Leticia, have been church youth leaders for many years.

The former student of Apia Primary and Leifiifi Intermediate School hails from the villages of Puipaa, Vaivase tai, Malaela, Safune Savaii and Safaatoa Lefaga.

Lemalu is scheduled to begin work on 18 April 2016.
Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, was remaining tightlipped about the 13 Associate Ministers appointed yesterday.

In fact, asked by the Samoa Observer last night, Tuilaepa declined to discuss the appointments.

They will be appointed when the time comes, he said.

And they will be sworn in when they are sworn in.

He told the Samoa Observer to come tomorrow (today) around 4 oclock.

Last night, the Office of the Press Secretariat issued a media invite for the swearing in of the Associate Ministers at the Cabinet room today at 4pm.

Yesterday, the H.R.P.P caucus held a six hour-long caucus meeting at the government building.

A reliable source told the Samoa Observer that the Ministers were left to nominate their own Associate Ministers.

The source said some of the names recommended include Sooalo Mene, Taefu Lemi, Aliimalemanu Alofa Tuuau, Lealilepule Rimoni Aiafi, Lenatai Victor Tamapua among others.

Last week, Prime Minister Tuilaepa announced that there would only be one Associate Minister per Minister, as opposed to the practice of having several Associate Ministers.

In announcing his Cabinet, Tuilaepa emphasized the value of teamwork.

I wish to say that the selection has proven a lot more difficult given the importance of ensuring a balanced consideration of many factors including individual skills, expertise, capabilities, the years of political experience, a fair geographical distribution and being cognizant of constituencies that have never been represented in Cabinet," Tuilaepa said.

"The choices we make are ultimately our responsibility, and I am all too aware that coming together is a beginning."

"Working together is a step towards success. It is in this spirit of togetherness that I hasten to counsel that for those who will not be selected for Ministerial portfolios - which are themselves very limited - other opportunities to serve abound within the parliamentary processes and practices.

"To the people of Samoa, we know that with your trust in us, there are also high expectations of us as your elected leaders.

"To all Parliamentarians, we have been entrusted with responsibilities that call for extraordinary work ethics, selflessness, integrity and accountability to the electorates that brought us here."

"As your leaders, we will strive to achieve the best that our abilities can provide with your prayers and encouragement with God's help, we should be able to overcome the challenges."
The government may consider selling some of its stake in loss-making national carrier Air India, news agency NewsRise Financial said on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

New Delhi: The government may consider selling some of its stake in loss-making national carrier Air India, news agency NewsRise Financial said on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

The government plans to form a four-to-five member panel, made up of officials from the finance ministry, the civil aviation ministry, the cabinet secretariat and the company, to consider selling a stake in Air India to meet its revenue target from state asset sales next fiscal year, according to NewsRise.

Sources in the government, however, told this newspaper that the government has not taken any such decision so far. Sources in Air India said that the government will not sell its stake in Air India. The government is the sole owner of the loss-making national carrier, which is implementing a turnaround plan for its financial revival.

Air India has been incurring losses of thousands of crores every financial year.

The government is also financially backing the airline which has been able to survive only due to the governments financial package.

A recent report jointly prepared by Ficci and KPMG had suggested the government to the government should sell Air India and use the Rs 30,000 crore that was earmarked for Air India to subsidise air travel of common man by lowering jet fuel price. The report claimed that the airline business requires split second operational decisions which is not possible in the government environment.
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Dia said she did not have any intention to hurt any community and she just called for water conservation.

Mumbai: Actress-producer Dia Mirza has apologised after her tweet requesting people to celebrate dry Holi in wake of water shortage in Maharashtra invited backlash from different sections but said the crisis is a sad reality.

Dia said she did not have any intention to hurt any community and she just called for water conservation.

The controversial tweet read, "The irony of the times we live in: farmers commit suicide due to drought and people waste water to 'play' #Holi. Go ahead call me anti-Hindu."

Defending herself, Dia said in a statement, "As a citizen of India, I have an equal respect for all religions, festivals and customs that are celebrated in our country. It has never been my intention to hurt the sentiments of any individual or community. If in the event that my tweet has done so, I apologize unequivocally.

"That said, the fact remains that various parts of our country are experiencing a severe water shortage. According to a report I read in April last year, the drought in Maharashtra has hit over 90 lakh farmers and counting. In October last year, the Maharashtra government officially declared a 'drought-like condition' in 14,708 of the state's 43,000 villages," she said.

The 34-year-old 'Bobby Jasoos' producer said water conservation is the need of the hour and everyone should contribute to it.

"Water conservation is the absolute need of the hour and my request for us to indulge in a dry Holi was in keeping only with this sentiment of conservation and nothing else.

"We may not have all the solutions to the water scarcity problem or any other problem for that matter, but I believe that empathy for those most affected, acknowledging and understanding the challenges we face and taking the steps WE CAN as citizens, will only help," she said.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2016 -- Banking, Financial services and Insurance sector usually include insurance companies, commercial banks and cooperatives. Furthermore, it also includes non-banking financial companies, mutual funds and pension funds among others.



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The growing demand for integrated security solutions is one of the major factors driving the global BFSI security market. Furthermore, growing preference for a common security platform which reduces the cost and complications of financial services is also contributing to the positive growth of BFSI security market. Moreover, increasing mobile data usage and growing digitization is also stimulating the demand for BFSI security at the global level. Stringent government regulations pertaining to data security along with increasing penetration of internet of things is also expected to have a positive impact on the BFSI security market. In addition, increasing number of cyber-attacks in BFSI sector in the last few years, the demand for security solutions and services has grown to protect confidential data in the BFSI sector. However lack of awareness about modern BFSI security systems across developing economies and the need for convergence of various security solutions are the major factors restraining the BFSI security market.



The BFSI security market can be segmented into three categories based on types, end use and region. By types the market is divided into physical security and information security. Physical security is further segmented into access control, video surveillance, intrusion and fire detection, physical security information management (PSIM), system integration, maintenance and support and design and consulting. Furthermore, information security segment is further segmented into identity and access management, risk and compliance management, encryption, disaster recovery, unified threat management (UTM), firewall, web filtering, data loss protection among others. By end use the BFSI security market is segmented into banking and insurance companies among others.



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By geography, the market is segmented into four major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the world including Middle East, South America and Africa. North America and Europe are the early adopters of technology and hence accounts for majority of the market share and are expected to follow the same trend throughout the forecast period. However, Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing market for BFSI security owing to the presence of developing nations such as India, South Korea, Australia and China among others. Rapid urbanization and increasing number of users on the online platform is one of the major factors fueling the demand in this region. Moreover, increasing demand for data security of the confidential data is also expected to have a positive impact on the demand for BFSI security market. In addition, due to changing financial regulations a large number of banking and financial institutions are expected to provide their service which in turn is also expected to contribute to the demand for BFSI security.



Some of the Major Players operating in the BFSI security market are Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (United States), Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) (United States), EMC Corporation (United States), Cisco Systems Inc.(United States), Honeywell International, Inc. (United States), Mcafee, Inc. (United States), IBM Corporation,(United States), Sophos Group PLC.(United states), Symantec Corporation (United Sates) and Trend Micro Incorporated (Japan) among others.



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Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.



Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.
Hanoi, Vietnam -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/22/2016 -- BlogTamTrang.vn, the leading Vietnamese website that tackles different topics such as fashion, beauty and lifestyle, reveals that "genderless" fashion will be the new face of trend and style. According to BlogTamTrang.vn, the genderless fashion is becoming a huge hit in Asian countries most especially in Japan. Aside from that, this trend is considered as one of the most anticipated style in various fashion shows and catwalk.



As genderless fashion goes big in Japan, clothing manufacturers are finding ways to craft clothing items that will blur out the gap between the two sections in fashion. Because of the genderless fashion, clothing manufacturers and retailers opt to find different ways to ensure that the clothes and fashion items being offered will suit both men and women.



Though it may seem unusual to see a man wearing pastel-colored suits and fitted tanks, the society has already approved woman who wears boyish clothes like cargo pants. In this sense, the genderless fashion aims to cut the line dividing the men's fashion to the thoi trang nu section. Aside from that, more and more companies and clothing retailers are releasing a new line that will showcase genderless styles of clothing.



Luxury labels and brands like Burberry, Gucci, and Saint Laurent have already released their own signature clothes that are made specifically to meet the needs of people who are into genderless fashion. Another brand like Zara is following the lead due to the fact that the genderless fashion is a well-loved trend that will suit men and women of all ages.



However, unlike the genderless clothing line released by luxury brands, Zara's didn't get that much recognition or praises. Instead, it receives numerous feedbacks that are questioning the type and style of clothes which are mainly masculine worn by both men and women. As per the critics, Zara didn't meet the thought of providing clothes that will make the wearer comfortable with the fit, cut, style, and design. Because of this, BlogTamTrang.vn reminds the clothing manufacturers and shoppers to choose the clothes wisely if they want to go with the new trend in the fashion industry.



BlogTamTrang.vn also reveals that the story behind the popularity of genderless fashion is due to the advocacy to treat men, women, and transgender equally. Thus, no matter what is the preferred gender of an individual, they have the freedom to express their fashion sense without being judged by the society.



About BlogTamTrang

BlogTamTrang.vn is the leading Vietnamese website that tackles and offers stories about different topics such as fashion, beauty, news and lifestyle. BlogTamTrang.vn mainly discusses news about Asian celebrities and trends. The website aims to deliver the latest and hottest news at its best.



Contact:

Dimitry Vital

PR and Marketing @ Blog Tam Trang

Email Address: blogtamtrangvn@gmail.com

Website: http://www.blogtamtrang.vn/
Burbank, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2016 -- Web design and SEO services are such in-demand services it's no surprise there can be huge competition between companies. Experts agree, one of the best ways to judge a company before hiring them is to explore the feedback they have received from clients. In that spirit, Burbank, California-based web and SEO expert firm Backhouse Media recently celebrated the consistent flow of passionate feedback they are receiving from their value clients, a development that seems sure to continue.



"We are no longer living in an age where businesses rely on paper door hangers and bus bench advertising," commented a spokesperson from Backhouse Media. "Today, if your company or organization does not have a solid web presence; including all of the major social media outlets, then you could be potentially losing thousands of customers a day. We know how to get the job done and are very appreciative that our clients have recognized this with great testimonial after testimonial."



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Email: Daniel@MyBHMedia.com
Lansdowne, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2016 -- Lansdowne, PA-based, Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists, LLC, is taking new customers in need of tile and grout cleaning services in the Philadelphia, PA area, immediately. Homeowners who have recently discovered that their tiles are discolored, or believe there are contaminants present, can count on the company's comprehensive tile and grout cleaning services. Individuals who would like to schedule an appointment with one of their specialists can call them at 610-257-7057, or visit their website and fill out a contact form.



One of the many benefits of choosing Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists is that their professionals go above and beyond to restore surfaces so that they have a "like-new" appearance. They also utilize state-of-the-art materials and proven cleaning methods to make tile and grout shine. In all, those who choose them will discover that there is hardly a surface that they will be unable to clean.



Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists has been in business for over a decade and is proud to serve Philadelphia and its four surrounding Pennsylvania counties. The company has always been dedicated to providing its customers with superior services, and is happy to offer them a 1-year warranty. Lastly, in addition to tile and grout cleaning services, the company also provides mold and mildew treatments, kitchen and shower renovations, re-caulking, and tile replacement services. Those who are interested in seeing a complete list of the services that they provide can visit the Services page on their website.



When homeowners are looking for exemplary grout removal, cleaning and tile installation companies that serve Delaware County, PA, and beyond, they should look no further than Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists, LLC, this spring. To learn more about the company, their services, and view all of their current specials, please visit their website today.



About Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists, LLC

Serving the Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties since 2006, Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists provides grout removal and re-grouting along with tile replacement and cleaning, grout coloring, bathroom rebuilding, caulking and mold/mildew treatment, and other related services. Their priority lies in providing honest, excellent customer care that strives to provide clients with the most effective solution possible, at affordable prices.



To learn more about Delaware Valley Tile and Grout Specialists, LLC, visit http://www.repairmybathroom.com.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2016 -- Growth in the prevalence of diabetes among the population coupled with growing focus on technology has resulted in the rising of market for glucose monitoring devices globally.



Global Glucose Monitoring Devices market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.52% during 2016 2021F, driven by the increasing number of diabetic patients as a consequence of sedentary lifestyles. As per capita healthcare expenditure is rising along with the growth in the disposable income, it has resulted in increasing healthcare spending including expenditure on diabetes.



While blood glucose monitors are holding major market globally due to its prominence and affordability among the emerging nations, technological advancements have led to the growth of Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices which is expected to grow faster in the future. Among the regions, North America holds the major market due to the higher disposable income as well as insurance coverage. However, among emerging markets, Asia Pacific is expected to grow the highest due to the growth in aging population as well as per capita expenditure.



View Full Report at http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/670081



According to Azoth Analytics research report, Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts (2016-2021F) Global Glucose Monitoring Devices market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of over ~6.52% during 2016 - 2021. In 2016, market for Continuous Glucose Monitoring is expected to grow at a faster pace due to the non-invasiveness as well as increasing adoptability mainly in developed regions.



Scope of the Report



Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts (2016-2021) - (By Devices Type: BGM - Monitors, Strips, Lancets and CGM - Monitors, Transmitters and Receivers, Sensors; By Region-North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East; By Country- US, Canada, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, India, China, UK, Germany) analyses the following aspects of global Glucose Monitoring devices market:



Global Glucose Monitoring device market size, Share & Forecast

Device Types - Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices and Continuous Glucose Monitoring Devices

Regional Analysis - North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East

Country Analysis - United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, India, China, United Kingdom, Germany

Policy & Regulatory Landscape

Changing Market Trends & Emerging Opportunities

Competitive Landscape & Strategic Recommendations



Download Sample copy of this Report at

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/670081



Research Methodology



Historic market trend has been figured out by various paid databases which was further triangulated with inputs and insights from industry experts, companies and stakeholders, through primary research. Back-of-the-Envelope calculation for the market estimation has been made through proper understanding of the market as well as future business strategies of the companies operating in the market.



Why You Should Buy This Report?



To gain an in-depth understanding of global Glucose Monitoring device market

To identify the on-going trends and anticipated growth in the next five years

To help industry consultants, Glucose Monitoring device manufacturers, suppliers and distributors align their market-centric strategies

To gain insights on the prevalent market entry strategies in Glucose Monitoring device market for domestic as well as foreign companies

To obtain research based business decision and add weight to presentations

To avail limited customization in the report without any extra charges



Table of Contents



1. Research Methodology



2. Product Overview



3. Executive Summary



4. Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: An Analysis

4.1. Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: Total Market Size, Growth & Forecast

4.1.1.Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market Size, By Value 2011-15

4.1.2.Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market Size, By Value 2016E-2021F

4.2. Global Glucose Monitoring Devices Market -By Type: Size, Growth & Forecast



5. Europe Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: An Analysis

5.1. Europe Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: Size, Growth & Forecast

5.1.1Europe Glucose Monitoring Devices Market Size, By Value 2011-15

5.1.2Europe Glucose Monitoring Devices Market Size, By Value 2016E-2021F

5.1.3Europe Glucose Monitoring Devices Market By Device Type(2016E-2021F)



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Burlingame, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2016 -- Having more than 15 years of experience in the travel industry, FirstBusinessFlights.com is now providing first class tickets to London at the most competitive prices. To provide cheap international air tickets, the company makes use of specialized reservation tools that gives them access to discounted tickets that may be otherwise hidden or simply unavailable through other booking portals. With their skilled teams who have years of experience finding the best routes and last minute specials, the company is able to help their customers in uncovering the best deal for their traveling needs. The travel team of the company works with their customers on the departure dates and helps them in maximizing their savings.



FirstBusinessFlights.com is a renowned name in the industry for providing an array of business class tickets and first class air tickets at the market's best prices. Besides providing business class tickets for London, the company is also providing business class tickets for Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Qatar, Thailand, Ghana, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Shanghai, China and many others. The company helps their customers in maximizing the best use of their points for first class and business travel. If the discounted first class or business travels flights are not eligible for mileage, the company informs their customers in advance. The highly trained team of the company helps their clients to sort out their complex travel itineraries to fit their travel plan and budget.



Talking more about London, one of the representatives of the company stated, "There are fewer global cities more recognizable than the history-infused city of London. England's capital city, and a major player in world commerce, London is an incredible destination for the single traveler, for couples, and also for the entire family. Due to its international standing, and the fact that London can offer a rich cultural experience for every guest to the city, it can often be quite a challenge to get a great deal on flights from your nearest major airport."



About FirstBusinessFlights.com

FirstBusinessFlights.com is an elite team of professionals with over 15 years of experience in the travel industry. They specialize in business and first class flight fares and focus on building personal long-term relationships with their clients. They provide clients the ultimate in reliable services, support and discounted fares. They do this by negotiating exclusive contracts with major consolidators and wholesalers which allow them to pass these discounts on to their customers. They thrive on providing their customers a stress-free experience, while ensuring they receive the cheapest prices for business or first class flights.



For more information, please visit https://www.firstbusinessflights.com
Burlingame, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/23/2016 -- First Business Flights is a leading name in the travel industry for offering cheap airline tickets to various attractive tourist destinations in the world. Their cheap business class tickets helps individuals in saving their money, which can be utilized for other purposes related to the trip. In order to make the trip to Austria memorable as well as enjoyable, First Business Flights is now providing affordable business class flight tickets to Austria. A landlocked country, Austria is well known for its scenic beauty and number of attractions like the impressive Habsburg architecture, stunning alpine scenery, rich musical heritage, and, of course, sweet rolls. Spread over 83,879 square kilometers, Austria is one of the most sought after tourist destinations that is visited by a huge number of tourists every year. Those planning to enjoy the scenic beauty of Austria with a memorable trip can contact First Business Flights for their requirements.



When it comes to providing cheap airline tickets to Austria, First Business Flights is the favorite of many travelers. They have been in this business for years and have a team of highly skilled and dedicated professionals who have years of experience and rich knowledge working in this domain. Individuals planning to spend a long vacation in Austria can reach their professionals for booking business class flights by filling a simple questionnaire present on their official website, FirstBusinessFlights.com. Moreover, they can even call them on their toll free numbers +1 (800) 804-0821 (USA), +1 (800) 047-683 (Australia), +0 (808) 169-6529 (UK), for reserving their seats. Besides Austria, they also offer cheap airline tickets to Paris, London, Dubai, Bangkok and many other places.



Talking more about their business class tickets to Austria, one of their representatives stated, "Whether you're flying to Vienna, Graz, or Salzburg, First Business Flights has you covered. We offer you special deals on flights to all the major Austrian airports, regardless of how many tickets you book or when you book them. You can also use our advanced, highly accurate booking system to discover the most convenient airport for you  you don't necessarily have to land in the capital Vienna if you don't have any business there, though traveling through Austria without seeing Vienna should be a crime."



About FirstBusinessFlights.com

FirstBusinessFlights.com is an elite team of professionals with over 15 years of experience in the travel industry. They specialize in business and first class flight fares and focus on building personal long-term relationships with their clients. They provide clients the ultimate in reliable services, support and discounted fares. They do this by negotiating exclusive contracts with major consolidators and wholesalers which allow them to pass these discounts on to their customers. They thrive on providing their customers a stress-free experience, while ensuring they receive the cheapest prices for business or first class flights.



For more information, please visit https://www.firstbusinessflights.com
After hearing arguments of all sides, the court directed Viacom 18, which is promoting the film, to provide it a compact disc of the movie.

New Delhi: There is nothing in the movie 'Santa Banta Pvt Ltd' which could be construed as objectionable or making fun of the Sikh community, the government and the Censor Board told Delhi High Court today.

The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath during the hearing of a plea by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee which has contended that the movie, to be released on April 22, makes fun of the Sikh community.

The movie producers and director questioned the maintainability of the plea as a public interest litigation and said the petitioner was claiming that the film was objectionable without even seeing it.

After hearing arguments of all sides, the court directed Viacom 18, which is promoting the film, to provide it a compact disc of the movie, its trailers and preamble and said it will pass orders after viewing them. Thereafter, the bench reserved order in the matter.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain told the court that the censor board has certified the movie after considering all aspects and nothing offensive towards the community was found.

He said under the Cinematograph Act, only the producers can challenge the Board's order in the appellate tribunal and the petitioner cannot do so in this matter.

He suggested that the court can direct the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to reconsider the certification of the movie as per the provisions of the Act.

The movie's producers and director were against any reconsideration of the certificate by the government or any such direction by the court, saying this would amount to questioning the board's decision which took a call after seeing the movie.

They opposed maintainability of the plea saying the petitioner had on March 8 sent them a notice seeking change in the name of the movie, taking down of the posters and demanding Rs 100 crore as damages. They also said the posters were removed in view of the objections of the petitioner.

The producers and director of the movie said the courts had earlier refused to stay the release of several movies like PK, Dhobi Ghat and Ram-Leela, where pleas were filed by certain religious and other communities claiming their feelings were hurt by the films.

The petitioner, however, contended that the film would turn the Sikh community into a laughing stock which could also lead to a law and order situation. It also sought stay on its release on the ground that it "misrepresented" the community and projected "the personality of the community in defamatory and denigrating manner" which could cause "disturbance".

The plea has alleged if the movie was allowed to be released, the "reputation of Sikh community will be immensely affected, causing irreparable loss to the Sikh community all over the world".

'Santa Banta Pvt Ltd' is a suspense comedy film directed by Akashdeep Sabir and produced by Viacom 18 which will promote and distribute the film along with Cinetek Telefilms.

The cast includes Boman Irani, Vir Das, Lisa Haydon, Neha Dhupia and veteran actors like Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Vijayraaz and Ayub Khan.
[CAIRO] Many women across the world spend too little time in hospital after childbirth to receive sufficient care, says an analysis of data from 92 nations, including 55 low- and middle-income countries.

The average length of stay varies widely from country to country due to economic and cultural reasons, says the study, published in PLOS Medicine on 8 March. After single vaginal births, the average hospital stay ranges from half a day in Egypt, through 0.8 days in Pakistan and 2 days in Haiti, to 6.2 days in Ukraine.

The percentage of stays that were too short  that is, under 24 hours for vaginal deliveries and under 72 hours for caesarean-section deliveries  ranged from 0.2 to 83 per cent and from one to 75 per cent, respectively, the study says.

We are actually interested in quality of care in this period, and length of stay is a way to start to understand this, says the studys lead author Oona Campbell, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom.

We are actually interested in quality of care in this period, and length of stay is a way to start to understand this. Oona Campbell, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Staying longer in hospital allows medical teams to monitor the condition of the mother and the baby, and to educate mothers about breastfeeding, the paper says. We need to ensure that facilities have skilled birth attendants and effective elements of care, but also that women stay long enough to benefit from these.

In Egypt, for example, people from poorer backgrounds are often eager to leave hospital early, says Hossam El Shenoufy, a gynaecologist at Cairos University Kasr Al-Ainy public hospital. Thats for economic as well as cultural reasons, for example because family members want to surround the mother in the days after birth, but hospital policies often restrict this.

But people are now more educated and they would follow doctors instructions to stay longer rather than adhering to cultural norms, says Dalia Moussa, from the Family Empowerment Programme at Egypts National Population Council, a government body. She adds that Egyptian public health facilities usually provide guidance for mothers and vaccination for babies after leaving hospital.

However, the quality of healthcare in Egypt varies between districts, and some hospitals discharge patients as early as possible to reduce costs.

The study relied on data from governments, the international Demographic and Health Surveys, as well as from UNICEF (the UN Childrens Fund) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While Campbell says the data is robust, El Shenoufy says the study uses insufficient input data especially in low-income countries, assuming the same economic level across the whole society in each country.
PAMPLICO, S.C.  The town of Pamplico will celebrate its centennial on Dec. 1.

Plans are being made to commemorate this event and anniversary with public festive activities during the year. We are planning to hold several special public events, including a large one during the towns annual Cypress Festival in September.

In 2015, the town completed a new 200,000-gallon-water tank, located in the Hyman community on town property adjacent to S.C. 51. This project cost approximately $1 million and was fully funded by the Florence County penn sales tax fund and the South Carolina State Revolving Fund.

Another project completed in 2015 was the Pembrook Sewer Pump Station and piping replacement project. This $642,160 project was fully funded by the Florence County Penny Sales Tax Fund and the South Carolina State CDBG funds projects.

The last project that started in 2015 was the Shirley Road new 10,500-foot water line project, which will be completed in the spring of 2016. This $348,068 project was fully funded by the Florence County penny sales tax fund and the South Carolina State Revolving Fund.

Another project that we will start in the spring of 2016 will be to renovate our water tank located on River Road that has been in operation since the late 1950s. This tank will be remodeled completely and will include replacing some of the present well equipment. The cost will be approximately $300,000, which will be fully funded by the Florence County penny sales tax fund.

Our major infrastructure project, which will be funded by the penny sales tax fund, will be to extend new water lines to provide water to the Evergreen area. We will start a new water well at the corner of Cox Road and Francis Marion Road. The well will be connected to our new water tank at Hyman. The $1,706,720 project is still in the engineering design stages. Construction will start after the S.C. 51 project right of ways are cleared.

More good news:

>> The S.C. 51 five-lane highway project is underway.

>> Major industry, which is Marsh Furniture Co. and Double A Builders, appears to be holding its own.

>> The Gibbs Procurement Group Inc., a nonprofit organization located in Pamplico, is continuing to work with community services.
After starting his career down South, Vishnudeva today is one of the top choreographers in Bollywood. Hes made most of the stars dance to his beats, from Ranveer Singh in Ram Leela to Salman Khan in Dabangg 2.

And he says that though he wants to, he doesnt have time for projects down South. I am keen on doing projects in the South as well. Recently I was offered a few Tamil and Telugu films but due to date clashes with Sarbjeet, One Night Stand and other Bollywood projects, I couldnt take them up.

Vishnudeva recently choreographed Aishwarya for Sarbjeet. He adds, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a great dancer. Its a fun-filled Punjabi song and she was quick to grasp all the steps, she is a powerful dancer.

On the other end of the spectrum is Sunny Deol. Laughs Vishnu, Everyone has their own style of dancing. In fact Dharmendra and Sunny pajis signature dancing steps are indeed copied by many.

Vishnu has also worked with Sunny Leone on a project. It must have been interesting choreographing her for One Night Stand. Its a promotional number, says Vishnu, adding Sunny is a fantastic and exuberant dancer khaali mere saath hi naachti hai woh (she only dances with me) (laughs).
Hillair Capital Management who put USD 10 million into Kim, Kourtney and Khloe's makeup line Kardashian Beauty claims the famous siblings breach their contract by refusing to promote the line

Los Angeles: Kardashian sisters-- Kim, Khloeand Kourtney-- have been accused of breach of contract by a company over their makeup line 'Kardashian Beauty'.

Hillair Capital Management who put USD 10 million into Kim, Kourtney and Khloe's makeup line Kardashian Beauty claims the famous siblings breach their contract by refusing to promote the line, reported Aceshowbiz.

The Kardashian sisters teamed up with Boldface to launch the makeup line in 2012. According to documents filed Monday, March 21 in LA, when former distributor Boldface faced financial issues, Hillair agreed to buy the makeup line and put USD 10 million into the venture.

But Kim, Kourtney and Khloe allegedly refused to promote and support the line and "began courting new potential investors to buy out Hillair's stake."

The suit concludes, "In short, the Kardashians wanted a better, more lucrative deal." Now the investment company sues the famous siblings for more than USD 180 million for breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and deceit, negligent misrepresentation and promissory estoppels.

The company also wants the USD 10 million they put as invested funds back. The Kardashians have not responded to the lawsuit yet.
During this period, the coffee was subjected to moist and saline ocean winds, which paled the colour of the beans and increased size considerably.

During the reign of the British Raj, coffee from India was shipped to England on vessels that took several months to reach their destination. During this period, the coffee was subjected to moist and saline ocean winds, which paled the colour of the beans and increased size considerably. They also showed an increase in moisture content of upto 6 per cent, forcing roasting methods to change quite drastically. In fact, these coffees had to often be re-dried again, in order to facilitate roasting processes.

In effect, raw coffee that reached the coast of England, wasnt actually the same coffee that left Indian ports at all. It was in fact, what we now call the Monsooned Malabar coffee. Of course, back then it was just known as coffee by the British coffee drinkers, who later began to complain that their coffee began to taste strange.

It was a brilliant, albeit anonymous person of Indian origin, who figured out that the coffee was not receiving enough exposure to the elements as ships got faster with improving technologies and container packaging methods got more sophisticated. This same person then proceeded to design a method to simulate the seasoning process even before the coffee left India, and this is actually the reason for this rare coffee earning its name.

This full-bodied but mellow coffee, lacks the acid bite that Arabica is renowned for, but fully makes up for it with notes of spice and nuts that carry through the roast, and are sometimes even accentuated by specifically chosen roast profiles.

The Indian government even has a system, whereby products that are best grown or prepared within specific geographic boundaries can be earmarked for a geographical indication tag. Monsooned Malabar is one such product, and has earned the right to be produced only between Cochin in Kerala, all along the south-west seaboard of India, right up to Mangalore in Karnataka, which is right across the border from Kerala.

This is the Malabar coast, and the Monsooned Malabar has played an instrumental role in providing this famous coastline with its unique identity. The Monsooned Malabar has also played, and will continue to play, an important role in the designing of espresso coffee blends worldwide, providing them with an unparalleled body and flavour!

Cheers to the monsoon, and cheers to the Malabar coast!

Truly passionate about coffee, the writer has a masters in coffee economics and science, at the Ernesto Illy Foundation, at Trieste, Italy and comes from a family of coffee cultivators that have over 60 years in the industry.
People in minority groups are at a greater risk for health problems due to increased exposures to stressors like prejudice and stigma. (Photo: Pixabay)

Mental health issues like depression and addiction are more common among young transgender women than the general U.S. population, according to a new study.

While the study can't say why this was true, the researchers say the results highlight the need for culturally competent treatment and care.

"There is a critical need for skilled and well-informed mental health professionals," said Sari Reisner, the study's lead author from Boston Children's Hospital.

The researchers write in JAMA Pediatrics that mental health issues and addiction affect 4 to 26 percent of people in the U.S. Often, those issues emerge during adolescence and young adulthood.

For the new study, the researchers interviewed 300 transgender women in Boston and Chicago between 2012 and 2015. The participants, who ranged in age from 16 to 29, were sexually active and were participating in an HIV prevention study.

Overall, about 42 percent had one or more health or addiction diagnoses. About one in five had two or more diagnoses.

Rates of diagnoses among the participants were about two to four times greater than in the general U.S. population, write the researchers.

About a third of participants had been depressed at some point, and about 15 percent currently had the condition. About one in five participants reported suicidal thoughts within the past 30 days.

Within the last six months, about 8 percent of participants had anxiety and about one in 10 had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

About 11 percent reported alcohol dependence in the past year. Likewise, about 15 percent reported some other kind of addiction during that time. The likelihood of mental health and addiction issues appeared to increase with age.

That finding, coupled with a smaller lifetime prevalence of depression than what's been seen in previous studies in older transgender women, suggests there is an opportunity to prevent poor outcomes.

The new results do not show that transgender women are inherently predisposed to mental health issues, Reisner told Reuters Health.

For example, he and his colleagues point out, gender transition and gender affirmation are stressful events. They may affect a transgender and gender-variant person's psychiatric health and well-being during adolescence and young adulthood.

The increased prevalence of mental health and addiction issues likely stems from the intersection of several minority stressors, said Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who is medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

The minority stress theory suggests people in minority groups are at a greater risk for health problems due to increased exposures to stressors like prejudice and stigma.

"We cant forget that trans people continue to face an onslaught of microaggressions every single day of their lives," said Olson-Kennedy, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new study.

She told Reuters Health that eliminating stigma goes beyond limited access to healthcare and stretches to all parts of society. "Its about changing the cultural paradigm so we can do whatever we can to mitigate those challenges," she said.
Referring to family companies, Scorpio Bulks (SALT) Robert Bugbee said that these enterprises, amply capitalized with little or no leverage, have time on their side, in contrast with a group of listed dry bulk companies which have featured in recent news.

Responding to moderator Omar Noktas opening question about offensive and defensive postures, panelist Hamish Norton, from Star Bulk, offered: Companies that are playing offense have little or no debt, and a lot of cash. Bugbee added: Those playing a powerful offensive game have really started to do it.

This view was confirmed by DVBs Martin van Tuijl, on the Banking panel (which followed dry bulk on the schedule), who said: The people buying bulkers now are cash-rich; they may lever up later. In his closing remarks, Bugbee emphasized: The right money is buying. He went on to compare the present dry bulk situation with that of tankers four years ago, a time of pervasive pessimism (and a famous Morgan Stanley report which described a Tanker Abyss).

In the eyes of SALTs Bugbee, the biggest danger is a very quick recovery, which he felt would hurt the lender discipline that is now been infused into the business. Bugbee, who stressed the importance of liquidity and available cash (following last weeks share raise by SALT) said he hopes that banks continue to hold investors feet to the fire  alluding to the notion of banks taking over vessels.

Banker Michael Parker, who heads up Citibanks transport activities, on the subsequent panel, noted that even though Robert (Bugbee) wants it, theres no attraction for banks to take over fleets. He added that a banker threatening to seize his security is like pointing a gun at yourself.

On the dry bulk panel, Norton said: Theres no real benefit in a public company in having debt, if you can avoid it, and that cash allows savvy buyers to best play the shipping cycles. Safebulkers panelist Polys Hajioannou, was emphatic that the market has seen a bottom, and noted an uptick in inspections of vessels for sale.

The dry bulk panel saw more upside than downside; IHS analyst Dalibor Gogic to 2017 representing a transition year for the dry side, when net fleet growth would be 1.3% and demand would be growing at a rate of 2.4%. Shipowners on the panel and bankers speaking later were looking out a bit farther, to 2018-2019. Paradoxically, panel members were hoping for the slope of the eventual recovery in hires (now at levels rivalling the 1980s) to be moderate.

In a discussion of the recent Chinese valemax order, which Clarksons Platous Nokta called the elephant in the room, Star Bulks Norton said that, hopefully, other owners would be frightened from placing orders. Stamatis Tsantanis, ceo of Seanergy Maritime, noted that the large order still represented a small percentage increase in the overall fleet, with Tasos Aslides, from Euroseas, contrasting dry bulk versus liners, where a large order might trigger a similar fusillade from a competitor.

SALTs Bugbee sought to diminish the outsized attention devoted to iron ore movements, which may or may not fuel the capesize market. He suggested that this time around, the eventual recovery might well be led by smaller vessels which can take a much wider range of cargoes.

He did stress, though, that a confirmation of a recovery will be needed, evidenced by drum roll here public companies selling equity.
Like its peers in the crude tanker market, SCF enjoyed a significant increase in demand, pushing TCE revenues up 28.7% year-on-year to $542.1m.

However, the group was also able to make a 65.3% increase in LNG carrier revenues to $137.5m, weathering a downturn in the sector thanks to a long-term chartering strategy. The improvement was aided by the delivery of 170,200 cu m LNG carriers SCF Melampus and SCF Mitre.

Looking ahead, our core strategy remains unchanged, said SCF president and ceo Sergey Frank. Sovcomflot will continue to build a robust pipeline of fixed income projects in LNG and offshore services.

Evgeniy Ambrosov, SCF senior executive vp, said: We pay particular attention to replacing lower income generating conventional assets with higher specification vessels that significantly improve our fleet income per operating day ratio. Over 2015 Sovcomflot took delivery of two tri-fueled LNG carriers for long-term time charter to Royal Dutch Shell."

We look forward to taking delivery over 2016 and 2017 of three shuttle tankers, four ice breaking platform support vessels, and one ice breaking LNG carrier, all fully financed and secured against long term charter contracts, he added.

SCF is bullish on the companys future prospects. Total future contracted revenues amounted to $8.5bn, said Nikolay Kolesnikov, executive vp and cfo. Leverage has fallen from 46.4% in 2014 to 42.7% in 2015 and net debt to EBITDA ratio stood at 3.5 times at the year end.
BENGALURU: Playing with colours during Holi may be fun but the toxic industrial dyes can cause skin allergies warn city doctors, adding that the scorching heat this year could aggravate the problem further.

Come Holi and doctors say they often treat skin conditions accompanied by pain, oozing of pus and scaling.

I see many patients suffering from burns, Pruritus and other skin allergies post Holi, says Dr Sachith Abraham, Consultant Dermatologist and HoD of the dermatology department at Manipal Hospital.

Warning that the heat can aggravate many skin allergies because of the sweating and the loss of the skin's protection barrier, he says chances are higher at this time of the colours being absorbed into the skin and also into the bloodstream.

While some of the popular colours have lead oxide, copper sulfate , aluminum bromide, and mercury sulfate, the dry colours or gulals or abeer as they are called, have two components , a colorant and a base, both of which may cause cutaneous problems.

Experts also suggest protecting the eyes while playing Holi. Use of hard colours and gulaal could be toxic for the cornea resulting in temporary visual distraction. So if the colour gets into your eyes, thoroughly wash them with clean water immediately. Water balloons that hit your eyes can cause serious injury or permanent blindness," warns Dr K Bhujang Shetty, chairman of Narayana Nethralaya.

Dr Praveen Bhardwaj , a dermatologist with Apollo Clinic, advises wearing of sunglasses. The glasses will protect the eyes from both the coloured powder and water, he explains, while suggesting that people give contact lenses a miss as they can absorb the colours and irritate the eyes.
Press Release

March 22, 2016 Legarda Stresses Importance of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems on World Met Day In observance of World Meteorological Day (March 23), Senator Loren Legarda today renewed her call for the strengthening of multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS). Legarda, UNISDR Global Champion for Resilience, said that MHEWS, which inform the people of the potential impacts of impending natural hazards, the risks on their lives and livelihoods, and the action they should take, will make a difference in reducing disaster risks and building the resilience of nations and communities. "We need to effectively reduce disaster risk as it becomes more complex given the increasing frequency, intensity and uncertainty of extreme hazard events. An integrated approach to early warning is needed. This approach entails the provision of impact-based forecasts and risk-informed warnings through multi-hazard early warning systems," she said. The Senator also said that the modernization of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) will strengthen community preparedness in dealing with natural hazards and climate change risks. Legarda is the principal author of Republic Act No. 10692 or the PAGASA Modernization Act, which funds the enhancement of the state bureau's capability in providing services to protect the people and the environment and to ensure economic security against natural hazards. "PAGASA has done a lot for the country with limited funding and it could do much better as the government empowers it with better technology," she stressed. "There have been significant advances in the technologies used in monitoring meteorological and geological developments. They have great potential in providing vital information that can be useful in formulating development plans as well as in crafting mechanisms for disaster management as climate change and its detrimental effects continue to progress," she said. "On World Meteorological Day, I urge the government, private and civil society organizations to rise to these challenges through timely and reliable weather information in a form that is accessible to vulnerable communities and remote areas all over the Philippines," Legarda concluded.
Press Release

March 22, 2016 PROVIDING LOCAL EMPLOYMENT, NOT OVERSEAS,

MUST BE FOCUS OF GOV'T - BONGBONG MARCOS Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. today said the government must focus on providing local employment opportunities, not overseas employment, for the Filipino people by stimulating the economy through massive public investments and fine-tuning policies conducive to growth of private businesses. Marcos, speaking during the Radyo Inquirer Issues 990 Forum on "Unemployment and Scarcity of Job Opportunities" held at the Rizal Triangle in Olongapo City , said there should be a shift of providing local employment rather than looking for jobs outside of the country. "I believe these are the things that would help us grow our economy and generate more jobs so that we need not export 5,000 Filipinos daily," said Marcos. He said to carry this out, the top priority of the government should be to craft a massive infrastructure development plan to provide the necessary infrastructure for private businesses to flourish. The senator stated that the infrastructure program must be "business-driven" or meant to answer the needs of business. And for this to happen, Marcos said the government must consult the private sector in the crafting of infrastructure development plan. "We must strengthen the partnership between the government and the private sector," said Marcos. Marcos said the government's infrastructure program should include not only the usual roads and bridges but also power generation and communication, particularly Internet connectivity. "We used to think of the Internet as something for fun only. Not anymore. More business now is conducted online than actual face-to-face transactions. That is why it is crucial for us to improve our Internet connectivity," he stressed. Likewise, Marcos said the government must fine-tune policies to provide better support for micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (SMSMEs) in terms of available credit facilities and appropriate training, as they provide around 60 percent of employment for our people. Providing adequate, reliable and cheap electricity alone, according to Marcos, will also encourage foreign-direct investment in the country which would generate more jobs. But Marcos said the government should also adopt a more stable fiscal and monetary policy and improve bureaucratic procedures to make it easier for both foreign and local companies to establish business in the country. Marcos added that the government and the private sector should also join hands to ensure the training courses in schools and vocational centers match the jobs that the private sector would need.
This bad editing got her Internet fame, but this also caught attention of an entrepreneur. (Photo: Facebook/ Seve Gat)

Have you ever become popular all over the Internet after posting your vacation photos?

You might not be that lucky, but Seve Gats from Kenya just become an Internet star. She traveled to China for her dream holiday, when actually she was relaxing at her home.

(Photo: Facebook/ Seve Gat)

Wondering how?

Gat had asked her friend to photoshop her photos on the tarmac. In this way she was taking a virtual trip of the country.

(Photo: Facebook/ Seve Gat).

The bad photo-editing skills saw Gat plonked on to the Great Wall of China, standing in a very awkward manner with the group of tourists.

This bad editing got her Internet fame, but this also caught attention of an entrepreneur.

Sam Gichuru decided to turn Gats dream into a reality

(Photo: Facebook/ Seve Gat)

By 'harassing' his friends Sam was able to arrange travel, four-star accommodation, insurance and pocket money for a holiday to China, before contacting Seve to tell her the news, reports Daily Mail.

'Talked to Sevelyn (Gat's), she is a nice ambitious humble farmers daughter, who asked her friends to photoshop her in China because she felt like she was there on those photos,' he wrote on Facebook.

(Photo: Facebook/ Seve Gat)

She posted series of photos on her Facebook page with various captions.

'I have left the country to China,' she wrote as her Photoshopped figure boarded the virtual plane.

Woow enjoying everything here,' she continued, from atop the Great Wall.

'Last day of visit. Bye China,' she finished, from a Photoshopped group shot of a temple visit.

After this epic photographs went viral, people started tweeting with hashtag #WhereIsSeveGatsNow on Twitter.

(Photo: Facebook/ Seve Gat)

In fact people have edited and posted photos of Gat at various travel scenes like skydiving shot and New York's Time Square.

Infact one of the user even posted a photo of her along with Donald Trump making a speech.

Sam Gichuru indeed made her dream come true.

'To the rest, please don't photoshop yourself,' he said.

'It won't work.'
Press Release

March 22, 2016 NEXT ADMINISTRATION SHOULD REVISIT EDCA

- BONGBONG MARCOS The next administration should revisit the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and United States (US) to make sure the Philippines gets the best terms under the agreement. In a press conference in Olongapo City, Marcos said the fact that the agreement did not pass through the scrutiny of the Senate is enough reason why the deal should be reviewed by the next administration. "I still maintain my position that the agreement should have been ratified by the Senate but it was not submitted to us so we did not have any means to review it," he said. He said while it will not be possible to rescind the deal at this point because its constitutionality had already been upheld by the Supreme Court, the deal should still be reviewed to make sure that we are not put at a disadvantage. "Kailangan balikan iyan pero it is a signed deal already. Ngunit pwede pa naman natin balikan at tingnan ng mabuti ang operational effect nitong EDCA na kasama ng mga Amerikano," he said. He further stated that since the United States is an ally of the Philippines, it is highly possible that it would agree to review the deal and make clear some of the arrangements. "Pwede nating pag-usapan ito dahil kaibigan naman natin ang mga Amerikano to make sure we get the possible deal for the Filipinos and while they provide protection and some form of security, hindi masyado maliwanag sa EDCA kung ano ito at iyan ang dapat pag-usapan," he said. Marcos also questioned certain provisions in the agreement that disallows access to Filipino personnel. He also cited the need to clarify the kind of equipment that will be used in the exercises and the facilities that will be built by the Americans. "Bakit may mga areas na hindi allowed ang Philippine personnel? Anong equipment ang dadalhin kasi sinasabi ng ating pamahalaan na marami tayong makukuha na bagong equipment? Marami silang itatayong mga bagong building so interesado ang lahat kung ano ang mga facilities na yun at kung anong equipment na dadalhin nila dyan," Marcos pointed out. In addition, the senator stated, there is also need to spell out the equipment that the Americans will leave behind as payment for the use of our bases. "Ano ang iiwan nila kasi hindi naman sila nagbabayad? Ano yung mga exchanges of technology, exchanges of different training exercises ng ating military? Hindi pa maliwanag yun," he said. Marcos was one of the senators who insisted that the EDCA should have been submitted to the Senate for ratification. The SC, voting 10-4, however voted to uphold its constitutionality saying it is just an implementing agreement of existing treaties like the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty. But Marcos insisted that the EDCA is a treaty that should be ratified by the Senate as it not only increases the rotational presence of US military troops in the Philippines but opens the possibility of providing the Americans basing rights in the country.
BONGBONG MARCOS CLINCHES SUPPORT OF CAVITE BRGY. CAPTAINS

SENATOR Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. clinched the support of all barangay captains of Cavite after they unanimously endorsed his vice presidential bid.

Marcos got the endorsement of all the 826 barangay chairman of Cavite during their 13th Liga ng mga Barangay, Cavite Chapter Congress held Tuesday night at Limketkai Luxe Hotel in Cagayan De Oro City.

Marcos was the only vice presidential candidate invited to their convention.

The barangay captains all introduced the senator as the next vice president of the country through a rousing applause. They then took turns taking pictures with Marcos and raising his hand as their expression of support. They all vowed to actively campaign for him in Cavite.

Marcos, in his speech, thanked the barangay captains for their overwhelming support saying that he will continue to push for measures that will alleviate their conditions and recognize their contributions to governance and society.

"Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat sa napaka-init na oag-iimbita sa akin. Alam ko na malaki ang sakripisyo ng mga barangay official dahil wala silang pinipiling oras sa pagseserbisyo sa ating mga kababayan kaya ako ay magpapatuloy na boses ng mga local government at patuloy ko kayong ipaglalaban," he said.

Marcos has authored the Barangay Retirement Benefits bill which was already approved by the Senate but still pending in the House of Representatives.

The said bill aims to provide retirement pay of P100,000 for each qualified barangay chairman, P80,000 for each member of Sangguniang Barangay, and P50,000 each for barangay treasurer and secretary, barangay tanod, member of the Lupon ng Tagapamayapa, and barangay health and day care worker.

Under the measure, a barangay official or worker must be at least 60 years old and with at least 9 years of service to be eligible to receive the retirement benefit.
Press Release

March 23, 2016 In the wake of Brussels bomb attacks

PEACE PROCESS IS KEY TO STOP ISIS ENTRY TO PH-BONGBONG MARCOS Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. today said continuing with the peace process is the best deterrent against the entry of the international terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the country. Marcos made the statement in reaction to the twin bombing attacks in Brussels, Belgium which claimed the lives of at least 34 people and wounded more than a hundred. With the owning of the ISIS to the bombings, Marcos said this should be another compelling reason why the peace process should be pursued at all cost. "The peace process is the key and the logic is really quite simple. Dapat magkaroon tayo ng pagkakaisa sa mga kapatid nating MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) at MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) at iba pang grupo upang sila ay patuloy na kasama sa ating lipunan at para hindi sila sumama sa mga grupo katulad ng ISIS," he Marcos said. He said he is deeply saddened by the twin bombings in Brussels and said while the incident is quite far from the country and no Filipinos is involved, the event still is highly relevant because it touches on the aspect of terrorism which can happen to any country. Marcos, however, expressed doubt that ISIS has entered the country despite the association of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) to the international terrorist group. When asked who among the current presidential candidates can best address the problem of terrorism, Marcos said it could be either be his runningmate Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago or Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. "I think Senator Miriam could very well handle it because she is an expert in foreign relations and international law. And also Mayor Duterte because he is the only one who has had an experience in negotiating with forces outside of the law," the senator explained. He said the government should closely watch the situation and implement measures to ensure the safety of every Filipino all over the world. "We should all watch this closely and we should continue to enforce peace and continue to bring everyone to the table to talk peace until we find the true and lasting peace that we have all been long searching for," he said.
Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley Wednesday said Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began this morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.

Read: Was inspired by Hafiz Sayeed's speeches, reveals David Headley

When Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, further said Rana had objected to his association with LeT.

Read: From Daood Gilani to David Coleman Headley: A timeline

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.

However, Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

Read: ISI funded terror operations and my trips to India, says David Headley

He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."

When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."

Read: BARC, Sena Bhavan too were on radar: David Headley

However, Headley said his wife knew about his plans to change his name. "She knew that I was going to change my name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley," he said.

When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

In his fourth deposition, he had told the court that he was told to survey naval air station and Siddhivinayak temple, but he discouraged the idea to target them as both were heavily guarded.

In his depositions so far, Headley has revealed important information about the planning behind the terror attacks and his role in the same.

His reconnaissance provided vital information for the 10 LeT terrorists and their handlers, who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, in which 166 persons, including foreign nationals, were killed.

Headley drew maps, took video footage and scouted several targets for the attacks including the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and Nariman House during his five visits between 2006 and 2008.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday criticized Sen. Ted Cruzs call to increase surveillance of U.S. Muslims after the terrorist attacks in Brussels as foolish and incendiary racial profiling that would be counterproductive in intercepting future attacks.

Tough talk about increasing surveillance of Muslims doesnt make you sound tough, it makes you sound in over your head, the Democratic presidential campaign front-runner said Wednesday during a 28-minute speech on counterterrorism at Stanford University. Instead, she called for strengthening ties with Americas allies and tightening security at home.

We need to rely on what actually works, not bluster that alienates our partners and doesnt make us any safer, Clinton said.

Clinton, who was in California for fundraisers and scheduled the speech before 135 guests invited by the university at the last minute, sought to portray herself as offering a much more measured perspective than leading Republican presidential candidates Cruz or Donald Trump a day after terrorist attacks in Belgium killed 34 people, including three bombers, and injured 270 others.

Cruzs call for surveillance

After the attacks, Republican Cruz on Tuesday called for law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

Cruz hasnt backed off his proposal, saying the New York Police Departments covert surveillance program helped thwart attacks there after 9/11. But that is inaccurate: NYPD Assistant Chief Thomas Galati has testified in court that the surveillance program never generated a tip or sparked a terror investigation, according to an AP investigation. Galati testified that the departments Demographics Unit did generate a lot of bits and pieces of value, of intelligence value.

And New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told CBS This Morning Wednesday that Cruz doesnt know what the hell he is talking about, to be frank with you.

I have almost 1,000 Muslim officers at the NYPD, Bratton said. Ironically, when hes running around here, well probably have a few Muslim officers guiding him.

At Stanford, Clinton said in response, When Republican candidates like Ted Cruz call for treating American Muslims like criminals and for racially profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, its wrong, its counterproductive, its dangerous.

Cruzs response to the Belgium terrorist attacks was echoed by Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who proposed that we close up our borders ... until we figure out whats going on.

Trump has previously proposed profiling Muslims, saying that the United States should temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the country. His poll numbers spiked after those comments.

After the Belgium attacks, Trump told Fox News that his tough talk is at least a small part of the reason why Im the No. 1 front-runner. People are very concerned about this, and theyre very concerned about the security of this country.

Trump, who has previously backed the torture technique waterboarding, said he would support torturing Salah Abdeslam, the suspected mastermind of last years Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people who was captured in Brussels Friday.

Trump: Hell talk faster

He may be talking, but hell talk faster with the torture, Trump told CNN on Tuesday. I would be willing to bet that he knew about this bombing that took place today. We have to be smart. Its hard to believe we cant waterboard which is  look, nothings nice about it, but its your minimal form of torture. We cant waterboard and they can chop off heads.

It was the latest in isolationist, nativist proposals offered by Trump, who has made building a multibillion-dollar wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a centerpiece of his campaign.

This week, Trump told CNN that the U.S. should reconsider its role in NATO, saying, We are paying disproportionately. Its too much, and frankly its a different world than it was when we originally conceived of the idea.

But Clinton on Wednesday called NATO one of the best investments America has ever made and said, Our global network of alliances is a significant strategic advantage, an organization that Russia and China cant match.

If Mr. Trump gets his way, it will be like Christmas in the Kremlin, Clinton said. It will make America less safe and the world more dangerous.

Clinton also ridiculed Trumps and Cruzs proposals as simplistic.

Slogans arent a strategy, she said. Loose cannons tend to misfire. What America needs is strong, smart, steady leadership to wage and win this struggle. To do that we need to strengthen Americas alliances in Europe, Asia and around the world.

Opposing a wall

While other candidates talk about building walls, Clinton said, I want to ask them, how high does the wall have to be to keep the Internet out? And in the heart of the nations tech capital, Clinton called for recruiting the brightest minds in Silicon Valley to help tap into the Islamic States recruiting through social media.

Trump responded to Clintons speech by tweeting: Just watched Hillary deliver a prepackaged speech on terror. Shes been in office fighting terror for 20 years  and look where we are!

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
San Franciscos small but robust bike-sharing system is getting ready to spread into the Mission, move deeper into South of Market and roll into the Duboce Triangle as the first part of a massive expansion of the regional Bay Area Bike Share program.

After months of meetings and surveys, Motivate, the firm that operates the system for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, on Tuesday announced 72 tentative locations for new bike-sharing stations in San Francisco.

The city is the heart of Bay Area Bike Share, which has 700 bikes in San Francisco, San Jose, Redwood City, Palo Alto and Mountain View. Most of those bikes are in San Francisco, almost entirely in the citys central core: the Financial District, Union Square and Civic Center.

Under the proposed expansion, six dozen new stations  and about 700 to 1,000 more bikes  will arrive, probably near the end of this year. San Jose will also see an expansion with 13 additional locations and about 150 more bikes. The program will move into the East Bay near the end of the year.

Bay Area Bike Share held dozens of meetings and conducted online surveys to determine where people wanted new stations  automated bike racks with a kiosk where members can pick up or drop off a bike. Under the bike share model, prospective pedalers can purchase annual permits or short-term passes that allow them an unlimited number of 30-minute rides.

Since the program started in the summer of 2013, roughly 10,000 people have held passes, and more than 60,000 have purchased short-term permits. Bay Area Bike Share now has 4,000 active members with annual memberships.

Chris Cassidy, a spokesman for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said the expansion will help build biking  and support for more and safer bike lanes  in San Francisco.

Were glad theyre building out and expanding, he said. Its going to allow more people to bike.

Emily Stapleton, general manager for Bay Area Bike Share, said the expansion in San Francisco focused on moving outward  to neighborhoods with a lot of pedestrian traffic and a short biking distance from existing stations.

That will lay the foundation for the next step as we move out further from downtown, she said.

Stapleton said proposed locations for bike stations in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville will be announced within weeks. All of the proposed bike-station sites were the most popular choices of people who participated in meetings and surveys, she said.

Proposed bike-station sites in San Francisco and San Jose can be viewed online or at public sessions in the two cities. Bay Area Bike Share will gather comments at those meetings as well, Stapleton said, but few changes in the station locations are likely.

The phased expansion of Bay Area Bike Share, which could get a corporate sponsor and change names, is expected to be finished by early 2018  with more than 7,000 bikes spread around the Bay Area, about 4,500 of them in San Francisco.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan

Bay Area Bike Share map meetings

Maps showing proposed new locations for Bay Area Bike Share stations will be displayed at the following sites in San Francisco:

Main Library, 100 Larkin St., first floor atrium, March 24 through April 12 during normal library hours.

Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Library branch, 1 Jose Sarria Court, March 29, 4 to 6 p.m.

Mission Library branch, 300 Bartlett St., March 30, 4 to 6 p.m.

Proposed sites can also be viewed online at www.bayareabikeshare.com/expansion
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A private bus company that transports tech workers to their jobs in Silicon Valley could see its permits in the citys corporate shuttle program revoked because of a labor dispute with its drivers.

Bauers Intelligent Transportation, which operates buses for Zynga, Cisco and Electronic Arts, once again finds labor tensions threatening its business  two months ago the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee rejected its bid to transport workers and fans because of the threat of Teamster picketing.

That threat became a reality Tuesday morning, as roughly 100 Teamsters picketed Bauer shuttles at Eighth and Market streets as they picked up workers, purposefully causing a traffic jam in the process.

A few hours later, a cross-section of San Francisco supervisors introduced a resolution calling on the Municipal Transportation Agency to remove Bauer from the citys commuter shuttle program because of its conflict with drivers over pay, benefits and unionization efforts. The resolution also notes the traffic disruptions caused by picketing.

The commuter shuttle program allows private bus companies to use the citys Muni stops to pick up and drop off workers.

We are sending a message to Bauer and their clients  Cisco, Zynga, Electronic Arts  that its time to get with the program and achieve labor harmony, said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who authored the resolution.

Virtually everybody else has done it, and its time for Bauer to do right by the tech bus drivers.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who is often in conflict with Peskin, signed on as as a co-sponsor. Last year, Wiener authored a resolution requiring labor harmony for bus companies in the citys corporate-shuttle program.

When we passed the labor harmony resolution we meant it, Wiener said. These werent empty words.

Cisco spokesman Nigel Glennie said the company contracts with another company that in turn contracts with Bauer.

Although a small number of our San Francisco-based employees travel to our headquarters on their buses, we do not contract with Bauers directly, Glennie said. We respect the right of Bauers workers to ask questions of their employer.

Zynga and Electronic Arts declined to comment.

The MTA issues permits to 15 bus companies in the shuttle program. Many of those companies have faced criticism over the working conditions for drivers.

In a push for higher wages, some tech shuttle drivers have joined unions, including drivers for Google, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Genentech, eBay and WeDriveU.

When the Teamsters began trying to organize Bauers drivers last year, the company hastily created a company union without proper input from employees and agreed to a contract, according to a complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board.

Then, Bauers disbanded the in-house union and agreed to hold an election to determine whether the drivers wanted to join the Teamsters. The Teamsters lost, but the labor board believes Bauers may have illegally influenced the vote.

Gary Bauer, the companys CEO, denied that the company lacks labor harmony.

The bottom line is we have been in labor harmony, he said. Weve worked with them. We went to a vote. The employees voted. And they chose not to have the Teamsters come in. I dont know what more we can do to have labor harmony.

Bauer said he hasnt decided whether to have another union vote, as the Teamsters have called for.

The Teamsters union is making no secret of what it wants to achieve by picketing the company.

We are trying to put some pressure on MTA to enforce their policy, said Doug Bloch, political director of Teamsters Joint Council 7. None of us think Bauer is ever going to come around on its own.

MTA spokesman Paul Rose said the agency is in the process of reviewing the permits for the shuttle bus program and will make a decision by April 1 about which to permit. He said the agency is committed to preventing service disruption and furthering labor harmony.

Anyone who doesnt meet the requirements may not receive a permit for the program, he said.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen
Muzaffarnagar: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth who filmed the act in Purkazi town here, police said on Wednesday.

The girl was taken to the residence by the youth's sister on March 13 following which she was raped by Nadeem (25), according to a complaint lodged by the victim's father.

The accused asked the girl not to disclose the incident to anyone, threatening otherwise he would circulate the clip on social media, police said.

Other family members of the accused were also present in the house when the incident took place, they said.

A case was registered on Tuesday on the directive of the SP City against Nadeem, his sister Afsana, father Ikram, uncle Kamil and mother Sarvari under sections 376 (rape), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and POCSO Act, police said.

Police is on the look out for all the absconding accused, they said.

Meanwhile, in another incident, a 30-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a youth inside her house at Sujru village here yesterday, police said.

Police have arrested Zahid (30) and lodged a case against him in this connection, he said.
Six months after pledging to open a second Navigation Center to help alleviate the citys stubborn homeless problem, Mayor Ed Lee on Wednesday will announce its location: the Civic Center Hotel at 12th and Market streets.

The notoriously blighted and dangerous hotel is slated for redevelopment, but in the meantime, its project team has given Lee approval to house 93 homeless people there for roughly three years.

The nonprofit Community Housing Partnership will manage the new Navigation Center  a model that brings in entire encampments of homeless people and has far fewer rules than a traditional shelter  and expects it to be up and running by June 1. Unlike the first center, which was built with an anonymous $3 million donation, the second site will be paid for solely with city money.

On Wednesday, Lee will also announce that the city will add 200 units of permanent supportive housing to its stock to have more housing for Navigation Center residents to move on to. The rent on those units, which are vacant rooms in four single-room-occupancy hotels around the downtown core, will be paid for with a mix of federal housing vouchers and city money.

Possible 3rd site

Lees administration is also eyeing an undisclosed site in the Dogpatch neighborhood and may have a third Navigation Center operating there by the end of the year. Whether thats enough to appease the majority of the Board of Supervisors, which is calling for the declaration of a shelter crisis and the opening of six new centers for the homeless in the next year, remains to be seen.

It didnt happen as fast as we wanted, acknowledged Jason Elliott, the mayors deputy chief of staff, who added that progress has been relatively swift, considering the first Navigation Center opened just last March.

A year ago, we didnt know what a Navigation Center was  it existed on paper, he said. Now its widely accepted nationally as the right way to get people off the streets.

City officials in recent weeks have battled over Supervisor David Campos proposal to declare a shelter crisis to turn more quickly city property into homeless shelters, a plan that will be discussed in committee on Thursday and likely voted upon by the full board early next month.

On Tuesday, Campos introduced a separate piece of legislation to mandate more Navigation Centers, including a wet house where alcoholics can drink inside and a safe injection site where intravenous drug users can shoot up legally.

Lee has rejected Campos ideas, but the supervisor has eight votes, enough to override a potential mayoral veto. Every supervisor but Scott Wiener, Katy Tang and Mark Farrell has signed on.

Campos on Tuesday said that it was ironic that hed been slammed by Lee for rushing the community input process for new centers when the plans for the Civic Center Hotel seem to have been hatched just weeks ago and involved no apparent community input.

But you know, Ill take it. It goes to show my ordinance is already having an effect, Campos said. Im glad the mayor is feeling the pressure, because those of us in the neighborhoods have been feeling the pressure for quite sometime.

Community input

Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes the Civic Center Hotel, said she supports the location as a new Navigation Center, but not without the chance for neighbors to weigh in first.

Just as we wouldnt locate a Navigation Center in Pacific Heights without public input, we shouldnt put a center in District Six without that same opportunity, she said.

Lee and Campos teamed up a year ago to open the citys first Navigation Center on Mission Street near 16th Street. It is different from traditional homeless shelters in that it allows entire encampments of homeless people to move inside together and lets them bring their partners, pets and belongings.

It also allows people to come and go as they please, doesnt require them to keep applying for the same bed every night, and pairs them with case managers to try to find a more permanent living situation.

In September, Lee said he would open a second and perhaps a third center within six to eight months, but the administration has had a hard time fulfilling the promise because of a lack of sites. A church in North Beach was sold at the last minute, and Caltrans has put up roadblocks for use of its land. Supervisors, some of whom support Campos proposal, have also criticized proposals to open of centers in their districts.

Campos this month submitted a list of potential city properties for new shelters to the citys Real Estate Division, a list that unwittingly included a tiny median in a residential cul-de-sac and other unfeasible sites. It included no suggested sites in Bernal Heights, where Campos lives.

The Civic Center Hotel proved a solid option because its already built out and its reputation has nowhere to go but up. For decades, it has been the site of terrible violence, including a stabbing in an elevator and a man bashed in the head with a crowbar.

Squalid setting

A drug dealer who lived there until last spring attracted lines of addicts who would use his wares in the common bathrooms, and homeless heroin and crack addicts living on a traffic island nearby have often sold and bought drugs in the hotel or in an adjacent alley. Police were called to the hotel 51 times in 2014 alone.

The hotel property, which includes the Local 38 plumbers union hall and parking lots, is owned by the plumbers union and is being developed by Strada Investment Group. The plans include several low-slung housing complexes with a mix of market-rate units and apartments for formerly homeless residents.

As the development plans proceed, Community Housing Partnership is running the hotel, which has 156 apartments with only 53 people living there. Ten units will be used as office space, and 93 will be available for Navigation Center residents.

It will include a lot of the popular features of the Mission Street center, including meals, social workers and communal outdoor space. Gail Gilman, executive director of Community Housing Partnership, said all of the services will be available for the 53 current residents as well.

Thats a great way to build stronger community at the building and to really help everyone regain their footing and become more self-sufficient, she said. You dont want folks thinking, Im different from you or You get benefits I dont.

Sam Dodge, the mayors point man on homelessness, said finding more SRO units to serve as permanent supportive housing is crucial to making new Navigation Centers work  or homeless people will just be stuck there with nowhere to go.

Currently, 64 people are living at the Navigation Center in the Mission and have been there an average of 100 days.

Theres frustration out there, and I understand it, Dodge said of the citys homeless problem. But the idea is to do it right, not do it fast.

Chronicle staff writer Kevin Fagan contributed to this story.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
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The U.S. Navys seagoing tug Conestoga sailed out the Golden Gate into a fierce spring gale 95 years ago Friday, bound for Hawaii, and was never seen again.

No one knew what happened to the vessel or its 56-man crew, or where it was lost  until government scientists confirmed in recent months that wreckage spotted seven years ago near the Farallon Islands, just 24 miles from San Francisco, was the lost tug.

It was one of the great unsolved mysteries in Navy history, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a report released Wednesday at a news conference.

Marine archaeologists discovered the wreckage about 200 feet deep last fall using a radio-controlled robot diving craft. At the time, expedition leaders James Delgado and Robert Schwemmer could find no record of a vessel like it lost in the Gulf of the Farallones. We have a mystery here, Delgado said.

But over the past six months, Delgado and Schwemmer studied old records, combed Navy files and newspaper accounts, and investigated drawings and pictures of similar vessels. Their conclusion: The wreckage near the Farallones was positively all that is left of the Conestoga.

The tugboat, which had done World War I duty in the Atlantic, had sailed from Hampton Roads, Va., to California and to Mare Island in San Francisco Bay. It foundered in a March gale after heading out of the Golden Gate on the first day of a long voyage to Samoa by way of Hawaii.

Bungled search

The Navy launched a huge search for the missing vessel, using airplanes, destroyers and even submarines. But no trace of the Conestoga was ever found.

One reason, as it turns out, was that the Navy got a late start on the search because of garbled radio messages, missed clues and other problems, and looked in the wrong place. The Navy didnt even realize the Conestoga was missing for nearly a month after it sank.

The Navy searched the Pacific near Hawaii  more than 2,000 miles from the Conestogas actual watery grave. Clues  a life preserver found at Moss Beach on the San Mateo County coast and material marked U.S Navy found in Monterey Bay  were ignored.

With the aid of maritime experts and their research, Delgado and Schwemmer reconstructed the Conestogas last voyage.

The tug, a substantial vessel built for heavy work, according to Marine Engineering magazine, was built in 1904 for commercial work on the East Coast. It was 167 feet long, displaced 617 tons and was powered by a three-cylinder steam engine and burned coal.

It was acquired by the Navy and fitted with a .50-caliber gun for service in World War I. In Navy service, the tug had a crew of four officers and 52 sailors.

In late 1920, the Conestoga was sent to the Pacific. It called at San Diego, then Mare Island for repairs. Its next mission was to be the Navys station ship in American Samoa.

The Conestoga sailed out the Golden Gate at 3:25 p.m., March 25, 1921, towing a barge. The weather was clear, but a gale was building. According to old records, the wind picked up to 40 knots, with higher gusts. And the Conestoga had a reputation for not doing well in heavy seas; it was a wet boat, taking seas over the deck, former skippers said.

What happened then will probably never be known. It appears the tug lost its tow. Perhaps it took a wave, which flooded the engine room, and lost power. Perhaps the pumps failed. In any case, the report concludes a sudden swamping led to sudden and catastrophic loss.

Despite the professionalism, attention to duty and hard work (of the crew), the Conestoga sank with the loss of every man on board, the NOAA report says.

The story of a shipwreck 95 years ago may be just history to most people, but to Peter Hess, who lives in Corte Madera, it is about family. His cousin, George Kaler, was a chief petty officer in charge of the Conestogas engine.

Hess, who is 67, never knew Kaler, but they were from Ohio, raised in a close Midwestern family. You know, the kind of family that had a big dinner every Sunday night, Hess said. A family from the heartland of America.

We all knew Annie, George Kalers mother. We always talked about George and wondered what happened. She talked about him a lot, what he might have said, what he might have done. She always hoped.

Hess moved to California years ago and commuted across the Golden Gate Bridge every day.

In the morning I would always look to the left, at the city, and then to the right, to the ocean, he said. I liked it when I could see the Farallones. Little did I know that Georges ship was out there.

Hess went along on a research trip last fall, when scientists had an idea that the wrecked tug was the Conestoga. They stopped over the wreckage of the vessel.

Farewell rituals

We read from the Good Book, Hess said. We read some poems, we cast some rose petals on the site. I knew George must have stood by his post, stood by his shipmates, tried to get that engine going, get the pumps going. It was the last hope in a situation that was hopeless.

He and that crew must still be in that engine room. The sea took them. Now we know. Its closure. They have given us closure.

Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carlnoltesf
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San Mateo County residents had a dog in the fight when it comes to the proposed new rules governing dogs in the 80,000-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which would prohibit the animals from running off leash anywhere in the county.

At the first of six public hearing on the issue Tuesday evening, the the vast majority of residents were upset by rules they said would restrict their enjoyment of the parklands by severely curtailing the areas they would be able to walk their dogs, eliminate off-leash walking and prohibit them from walking more than three dogs, effectively ending professional dog walking.

Park officials told the crowd at Farallone View Elementary School that of the 410 parks in the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the only one that allows for any dogs to roam off leash.

They said the dog rules are needed to protect the habitat and reduce conflicts between dogs and dogs, dogs and wildlife, people and dogs and even people and people.

One of the things were trying to do is balance recreational uses, said Christine Lehnertz, superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Were trying to be pro-dog, but have a balanced approach.

But the countys dog owners attending didnt buy that. They held paper plates scrawled with such words as Rigged and Hidden Agenda on them.

If you concentrate people and dogs, youre going to increase conflict, said dog owner Rob West of Pacifica, who came to the meeting with his 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. I wish you were all elected officials because I guarantee youd all be voted out of office.

The plan, in the works for years, would limit off-leash walking San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.

Bill Bechtell, who had lived in Montara for 40 years and helped found a group eight years ago now known as Coastside Dog of San Mateo County to encourage responsible dog ownership, said the regulations are too strict.

Our dogs are not just running around, chasing animals and jumping on kids, he said.

Christine Corwin, president of Coastside Dog, said she moved to the area in 201 was because of its dog-friendly attitude and trails.

Its not about dogs; its about public access, said Corwin, who has two dogs. Theyre restricting people. I will not go hiking without my dogs.

Susan Hill, a window film installer who has three dogs and has lived in Moss Beach for 15 years, called the proposed rules extremely unfair.

San Mateo County doesnt get any off-leash trails, she said. The others get measly ones.

Hill said she would understand if the open space and beaches near her were congested with people. Some days I go out and Im the only one there, or I see one or two people.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver

To be heard

Meetings: Five additional public meetings will be held in San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin counties through the end of the month. If you wish to enter a comment into the public record about Golden Gate National Recreation Area, you may do so online or by mail until May 25. Federal regulations do not permit comments to be accepted by email, over the phone or in person.

Write: GGNRA Superintendent, Dog Management Plan, Building 201, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94123.

Online: Visit www.regulations.gov and search RIN: 1024-AE16

Source: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
San Francisco police Wednesday afternoon found two missing toddlers, whose mother was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment after she told officers she left the girls with an acquaintance inside a fast food restaurant on Market Street.

Shaynce Jones, 26, formerly of Oakland, left her daughters on Monday afternoon with an acquaintance inside a Burger King on the 1200 block of Market Street and said she would pick them up three hours later in the same spot, according to her statements to police. After she failed to keep that appointment, she arranged by phone to meet the acquaintance on Tuesday. But she told police the woman failed to show up with her children.
Alexandra Naughton of Oakland published three poetry chapbooks last year, and this week celebrates the release of her debut novel, American Mary.

Im not writing right now, she said. I dont have anything to write about.

She says it as though to test out the truth of the statement, or to find the truth in it, and the silence that follows is uncertain: She could be saying it in jest, but she could be staking a claim of ownership. She laughs.

Writing. she said, is my way of comprehending something. Like thats how I  understand how I feel about things, or understand how other people feel about things, or understand why something happened.

Compare that with an early line in American Mary: We always write letters, its the only place we know how to hide. This paradox is at the core of the book: There is an intimacy, or a desire for intimacy, that contains within it an expression of ambiguity.

A confession and the truth are not the same thing, Naughton writes. A confession isnt necessarily what happened, its a version of what happened.

The book is written in vignettes that have been arranged to form a larger narrative and provide different angles to the story, changing tenses and senses of self; the overall effect is a feeling of being present while also being connected to those parts of yourself you may have discovered  or hidden  in some letters you once wrote.

The event Thursday, March 24, at E.M. Wolflman bookstore in Oakland is also a launch for the second printing of Jesse Prados Ive Been on Tumblr, which Naughton published in 2014 through her press Be About It. The press grew out of a biannual zine that began in 2010 (Issue No. 12 is in the making); zines turned into zine parties; zine parties became a reading series and a run of ebooks, then chapbooks and, more recently, a monthly variety show called Be Live About It.

When Naughton and Prado, who now helps with the press, went on tour to support Naughtons first book, I Will Always Be Your Whore: Love Songs for Billy Corgan, she thought it would be good to have something of his to sell. He was doing these funny sets at readings and he put it all in a Word document as a long poem. And thats what Ive Been on Tumblr is, she said.

Naughton and Prado arent the only ones celebrating new work at the party; Oaklands Charise Sowells, a.k.a. Lake Lady, releases her anticipated debut EP Better Days. Joining them is Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, named best comedian in the San Francisco Bay Guardians 2013 Best of the Bay Readers Poll.

Evan Karp is the creator of Quiet Lightning and Litseen.com. Twitter: @Litseen

Notes and

additional listings

Tickets just went on sale for Pop-Up Magazines first-ever two-night stint in the Bay Area. April 12 at Davies Symphony Hall has sold out, but seats for the Oakland show, at the Paramount Theatre the following evening, are available (7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2025 Broadway, Oakland, $25-65). www.popupmagazine.com

Brian Evenson is in conversation with Colin Winnette about his latest story collection, A Collapse of Horses (7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24, Green Apple Books on the Park, 1231 Ninth Ave., S.F., free). www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-brian-evenson-and-colin-winnette

Karan Mahajan (Family Planning) reads from and discusses his new novel, The Association of Small Bombs (7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24, the Booksmith, 1644 Haight St., S.F., free). www.booksmith.com/event/karan-mahajan-association-small-bombs

Harlan Coben reads from his new thriller, Fool Me Once (7 p.m. Friday, March 25, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, free). www.bookpassage.com/event/harlan-coben-fool-me-once-corte-madera

A group of chronically ill and disabled artists and writers come together for Sick Fest, with a keynote by Johanna Hedva and performances by Nerve Be, Carolyn Lazard, Kiyaan Abadani, Claire Light, Liz Henry and Amy Berkowitz (4 p.m. Saturday, March 26, Chapter 510 & the Department of Make Believe, 2301 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, free). www.facebook.com/events/1703258069886872

Small Press Distribution hosts a new monthly readings series, featuring Josef Kaplan, Sophia Kim and Steve Orth (2 p.m. Sunday, March 27, Small Press Distribution, 1341 Seventh St., Berkeley, free). www.facebook.com/events/888377674611153
Apple Inc. said it held preliminary takeover talks with Imagination Technologies Group, but opted against making an offer for the supplier of its graphics cards.

We had some discussions with Imagination, but we do not plan to make an offer for the company at this time, Apple said in a regulatory statement.
DANBURY  Shares of Belimo rose more than 3 percent during trading Tuesday after reporting strong sales in the Americas last year despite continued weakness in the European markets.

The company, which recently constructed its new North American headquarters on the west side of the city, reported that sales in the U.S. and Latin America rose by more than 12 percent for the year, or 9.7 percent on a currency-adjusted basis based, in part on strong demand for Belimos energy efficient HVAC systems. The company produces actuators and valves for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Despite the strong sales growth in the Americas, the company reported that total sales for 2015 were flat with the previous year at 493.3 million Swiss francs ($507 million) but up about 3.6 percent using local currencies. Sales in Europe, which accounts for about half of the companys revenues, declined 9.7 percent or 0.9 percent due to negative currency translations including the strength of the Swiss franc during the past 12 months.

The strength of the currency in Switzerland, where Belimo is based, also resulted in decline of more than 16 percent in its net income for the year, which was down to around 56 million francs from 67.2 million francs in the last fiscal year. Executives said they will continue to meet the challenges faced in the economy by using a distinct growth strategy that includes the launch of new products including fire dampener actuators and new actuator and valve combinations for larger flow industrial applications.

While executives expect to see continued weakness in the European market, especially in eastern European markets, strong growth is expected to continue in the United States.

John Coppola, vice president of finance and administration for the Americas, said recently that he expects the company will have another big sales year in the region during the current fiscal year. Sales in January, he said, were already up by double digits in the Americas over the previous period.

Belimo continues to be a very strong company with a solid cash position, he said, adding that the growth is due in part to the hard work of the employees in the Americas. Everyone did a great job to help make this happen.

Shares of Belimo, which trade on the SIX Swiss Exchange, rose more than 3 percent to close near the companys 52-week high of 2,580 Swiss francs.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
Merck & Co. won a jury verdict that allows it to seek royalties from Gilead Sciences Inc. for the drugs that have dominated the hepatitis C market with $20 billion in U.S. sales since 2013.

In their verdict Tuesday, jurors embraced Mercks claims that its scientists were responsible for early breakthroughs that led to the development of the Sovaldi and Harvoni medicines that propelled Foster Citys Gilead to become the worlds largest biotechnology firm by market valuation. The jury will hear more evidence before deciding whether to award Merck as much as $2 billion in damages.

Gilead had been expecting that sales of the blockbuster drugs would flatten this year because there will be more competition with new treatments for the liver disease.

The compound at issue in the trial, sofosbuvir, marketed as Harvoni, helped generate about $19 billion in revenue for Gilead last year, with list prices for a 12-week course running from $84,000 to $94,500 before discounts in the U.S. The court fight started 2 years ago after Merck demanded a 10 percent royalty, claiming that 15 years ago, its laboratory laid the scientific foundation for sofosbuvir to later be developed by Pharmasset Inc., before that company was acquired by Gilead in 2011.

At the trial in federal court in San Jose, Gilead and Merck each tried to show that the other was claiming undeserved credit for scientific advances. Over two weeks, a parade of doctors and scientists for Gilead, Pharmasset and Merck, and its partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., testified about their roles in the patent process.

Although we are disappointed by the jurys verdict today, there are a number of remaining issues to be decided by the jury and the judge, Michele Rest, a Gilead spokeswoman, said in an email. Therefore, it is premature to comment any further.

Juanita Brooks, a lawyer for Gilead, said during closing arguments on March 16 that Mercks scientists went down to the patent office and effectively took claim for the work done by Pharmassets chemists.

Mercks lawyer sought to convince the jury that a Pharmasset scientist who worked on creating sofosbuvir cheated by relying on an invention that Merck patented in 2002.

Gilead blatantly used Mercks own patent to make billions of dollars, attorney Bruce Genderson said in his closing argument.

Mercks own liver disease treatments, Victrelis and PegIntron, generated $200 million in global sales last year, tumbling almost 63 percent in a year. The company said the fall contributed to Mercks 6.5 percent drop in sales in 2015. In 2012, the year before sofosbuvir hit the market, Mercks two hepatitis C drugs combined to generate about $1.2 billion in sales.

Kartikay Mehrotra is a Bloomberg writer. Email: kmehrotra2@bloomberg.net
Rep. Jackie Speier has asked the Treasury Department to scrutinize Origin Technologies Corp.s $1.5 billion bid for Affymetrix Inc., citing national security concerns.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Speier, D-Hillsborough, said that an Origin takeover of the Santa Clara DNA-testing company, which has contracts with federal agencies including the Department of Defense, may pose a national security risk because of the bidders ties to the Chinese government. Speier is the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committees oversight panel, and called for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to examine the transaction.

I am deeply concerned about the prospect of Affymetrix technologies being acquired by a Chinese firm with such significant government connections, Speier wrote in the letter. The foreign investment panel has an obligation to ensure that China does not use state-backed enterprises to acquire control of critical advanced technologies important to American national security and individual privacy.

Last week, Origin offered about $1.5 billion to buy Affymetrix, topping an earlier offer from Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Affymetrix said this week that its board rejected the Origin counterbid and continues to recommend moving forward the Thermo Fisher deal.

Origin said it is fully committed to cooperating with the foreign investment panel and is prepared to provide Affymetrix with appropriate assurances, through the merger agreement, that we will take any action required ... to obtain its approval.

In a letter to Affymetrix shareholders, Thermo Fisher CEO Marc Casper said Tuesday that Origins bid would probably be subject to a lengthy review, and he urged them to approve his companys offer.

A transaction on terms described in the Origin Proposal could not possibly be completed in any timeframe that Affymetrix or its stockholders would consider acceptable, if it could be completed at all, Casper said.

Origin appears to be a newly formed shell entity with no assets of which Affymetrix is aware, and whose sole source of funding for the proposed transaction is $1.5 billion in potential debt commitments, Affymetrix said.

Origin Technologies is owned by a group of former Affymetrix executives led by President Wei Zhou, who had been the vice president of intellectual property and advanced technology. The group has fully committed financing for an acquisition from SummitView Capital, according to its proposal.

SummitView raised its funds in partnership with the Chinese government, according to Speiers letter.

Representatives for Affymetrix, Origin and SummitView did not immediately provide comment. Speiers office declined to comment beyond the letter.

U.S. officials are reviewing more foreign deals and, in particular, more deals from China than ever before, according to a report to Congress, which said the amount being spend by Chinese investors to snap up U.S. firms set a new record in January. As the number and size of the deals has increased, so has the scrutiny from officials.

In February, a group of U.S. lawmakers said that national security officials should investigate the planned sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a Chinese acquirer. Western Digital Corp.s plan to sell a stake of the company to Chinese investors fell apart the same month after a national security review.

Rebecca Spalding is a Bloomberg writer. Email: rspalding@bloomberg.net
Mumbai: Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 case, Ujjwal Nikam, on Wednesday said David Coleman Headley has accepted that he funded terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with Rs 80 lakh, during his cross-examination.

"David Headley, the approver in 26/11 case, has been cross-examined by the Attorney of Abu Jundal's lawyer. He has admitted three important facts. Firstly, he admitted that he had donated 80 lakhs Pakistani rupees to Laskar-e-Toiba. However, he claimed that he did not where that money went or what was it used for," Nikam told the media here.

"Secondly, he has admitted that he had invested his money in Dubai as well as in Pakistan. He further admitted before the arrest by the FBI in connection with the November 26 terror attacks, he was working as a drug peddler and he was convicted by American court twice but he was released on the probation on certain grounds," he added.

Read: Headleys cross-examination begins, dodges questions on his wife Shazia

Nikam further stated the criminal antecedents of Headley were brought on record by the defence, adding it would be helpful to the prosecution case.

"David Headley was criminal, is criminal and he has been tender pardoned because he has given certain evidence and we will use that evidence in due course of our time," he added.

He revealed that a man called Zeb Shah in Pakistan was helping him in his drug business.

During his cross-examination, Headley informed that the last time he offered funding to LeT was in the year 2006 in Pakistan currency and he utilized his personal property to arrange for the money.

When questioned about his investments, Headley accepted that he had properties in the UAE and Pakistan. He also accepted that he was arrested twice in the US for drug smuggling and visited Pakistan thereafter.

Headley said that his first passport was prepared in the US by his parents and he himself prepared his new passport with the name Headley in the US itself.

He also revealed that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native, who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

He also accepted that his wife Shazia Khan is from Pakistan and she was aware of his association with the LeT. He denied her visit to Mumbai and also refused to provide any further information regarding his wife.

Headley admitted of speaking Punjabi, saying that he learnt the language from the people around him in Lahore.

He admitted that the Directorate of Enforcement Agency had funded his Pakistan visit between 1992 and 1998.

Headley's cross examination began at the Mumbai sessions court in Mumbai.

Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal who is one of the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is cross-examining Headley in the presence of Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

His cross examination has been adjourned till Thursday morning.
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In a win for Google, smart TV maker Vizio introduced a home entertainment control system Tuesday that is built on the Internet search giants Chromecast streaming technology, rather than on competing systems from such companies as Apple.

Vizio has worked behind the scenes with Google for nearly two years to develop its SmartCast system, which turns mobile phones and tablets into a combination television remote, secondary viewing screen and music player.

Matt McRae, Vizio chief technology officer, said the Irvine company picked Googles Chromecast technology over its competitors because of its flexibility.

We made the decision strategically to align with them because we believe the Google Cast protocol could serve as the basis for the next-generation living room experience, McRae said during an interview earlier this month.

Google began selling Chromecast, a $35 dongle that plugs into a TV monitor to stream online video and audio, in 2013. That brought Google into direct competition with companies including Apple and Roku, which make streaming devices. Rokus technology is built into monitors from several TV manufacturers, and Apple has talked about redefining television with its Apple TV.

After selling more than 20 million Chromecast devices, Google introduced a second-generation version of Chromecast in October for online videos, and the sound-only Chromecast Audio. Vizios latest line of ultra high-definition, flat-panel televisions, called the P-Series, integrates Chromecast directly into the television and sound bars, eliminating the need for a dongle.

The remote control that comes with Vizios new televisions is an Android tablet with a 6-inch, 1080-pixel screen and stereo speakers. Viewers can use the remote to stream video from Netflix, Vudu or YouTube to the big-screen TV, then watch something else or play games on the tablet. Menu information, including the list of available shows, appears on the tablet rather than the television screen.

The Vizio system can also work simultaneously with other iOS and Android phones and tablets.

It turns every screen into a remote, McCrae said.

The system does not, however, replace all other remote controls. To watch cable programs on the Vizio television, for example, viewers will still need to use their cable or satellite companys remote.

Vizio is extending the system to work with its TV sound bars and an upcoming line of stand-alone wireless audio speakers.
LOS ANGELES  Walt Disney Co. is threatening to no longer film in the state of Georgia if an antigay bill is signed into law.

The Free Exercise Protection Act is on the desk of Gov. Nathan Deal, who must sign or veto it by May 3.

The measure would offer protections to faith-based entities that refuse to provide services that they say violate their beliefs.

Opponents say the legislation promotes discrimination.

Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law, a spokesman for Disney said.

Georgia has become a haven for production because of attractive tax incentives offered to studios that film there. Unlike Californias film tax credit program, Georgias offer is especially enticing because it allows studios and film producers to offset actors salaries, which can be a major contributor to the cost of productions.

Recent Disney projects to shoot in Georgia have included Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

During Georgias fiscal 2015, 248 film and television productions shot in the Peach State, representing $1.7 billion in spending there, according to a statement issued by the Georgia Department of Economic Development last year. Those film and TV projects generated an economic impact of more than $6 billion during the fiscal year extending from July 1, 2014, to June 30.

The department, which promotes the state as a filming destination, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the department said it does not comment on pending legislation.

The states production economy got a boost in 2014, when Londons famous Pinewood Studios began operating a large studio facility outside Atlanta. It has attracted a number of high-profile productions, among them Captain America: Civil War, which comes out in May.
Craig Dionne has resigned from his dual roles as CEO and chief financial officer of San Antonio biotech company GenSpera Inc., the company disclosed Tuesday.

Russell Richerson, who has served as the companys chief operating officer and secretary since 2007, was appointed interim principal executive officer and principal accounting officer. Dionnes March 16 resignation was effective immediately, the company said in a regulatory filing.

GenSpera has been working to develop target-specific cancer drugs.

Dionne, 58, could not immediately be reached for comment. A call to his San Antonio residence went unanswered Tuesday evening.

GenSpera, which Dionne helped found in 2003, hired a Silicon Valley consulting firm earlier this month to assess the company. The consultants are examining whether GenSpera, which has just two full-time employees, should remain headquartered in San Antonio, among other things, said Jody Cain, a spokeswoman for the company.

Dionne, who had served as both CEO and CFO for the company since November 2003, resigned for personal reasons, Cain said.

Richerson, 64, who is based in Phoenix, was named interim head of the company the following day, public filings show.

GenSpera had an accumulated deficit of around $44.1 million at the end of the third quarter last year, according to regulatory disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January. The company hasnt generated any revenue through product sales since its lead drug candidate, mipsagargin, has been undergoing clinical trials in the United States.

The company has funded its operations mostly through private and public sales of its stock, according to the SEC filings.

Dionne earned $425,913 in total compensation for 2014, down from $953,348 the year before, according to the filings.

Richersons pay showed a similar drop during that time frame. His compensation totaled $341,845 in 2014, compared with $743,953 in 2013, the filings showed.

GenSperas technology focuses on combining a cytotoxin  a substance derived from plants, which in this case grow in the wild in the Mediterranean region  with a patented, target-specific drug delivery system.

Mipsagargin performed well in a Phase II clinical trial that evaluated whether it is effective in treating a type of liver cancer known as hepatocellular carcinoma. Another Phase II clinical trial is continuing to evaluate if mipsagargin is effective at treating a type of brain cancer known as glioblastoma. GenSpera also plans to start another Phase II clinical trial to evaluate mipsagargins effectiveness in treating prostate cancer, Cain said.

On Monday, Dionne also resigned as chairman of the companys board of directors. Peter Grebow, who has been a director on the companys board since 2012, was appointed Tuesday as interim chairman of the board.

pohare@express-news.net
Its tax season, which means its also tax-scam season.

The Internal Revenue Service, which has been beset by fraudsters, has been requiring victims and suspected victims of tax-related identity theft to take extra steps before filing returns. But some of these steps are giving thieves new ways to trick people into giving up cash or personal information.

In California, the war on tax fraud is delaying some refunds.

Most state income tax refunds are arriving within 12 business days for taxpayers who file electronically and request direct deposit, the Franchise Tax Board said Wednesday. However, some refunds can take significantly longer as (the agency) joins a nationwide effort to protect taxpayers money by preventing fraud, tax theft and other abusive practices.

On its website, the board says state tax refunds are taking seven to 12 business days for e-filed returns and two to three months for snail-mailed returns. If a taxpayer has not received a refund within the normal time frame, more than likely their return is being reviewed to make sure we get the correct amount to the correct person, tax board spokesman Daniel Tahara said. The timeline for this review could be up to two months for an e-filed return or up to four months for a paper return.

Tax scams continue to adapt and evolve in an attempt to catch people off guard just as they are preparing their tax returns, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen warned in a news release last week.

Many people have wised up to a phone scam in which crooks impersonating IRS agents threaten to have them arrested if they dont pay back taxes immediately with a debit card, wire transfer or money order. Still, more than 5,000 victims of the scam have turned over $26.5 million to crooks, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administrations office.

Thanks to public outreach and counteroffensives, Where the perpetrators used to be able to get a victim every 40-50 calls, now they must make 300-400 attempts to claim a victim, the office said in March.

In another widespread scheme, criminals use stolen names and Social Security numbers to file fraudulent federal and state tax returns claiming refunds early in tax season. When the identity-theft victims file their real tax returns, they discover a refund has already been issued, causing headaches that take many months to resolve.

In a 2013 report, the office estimated that the IRS issued $5.1 billion in potentially fraudulent refunds for 2011 and at least $5.2 billion for 2010. In December, it said that more than $46 million in refunds for 2014 were erroneously released.

Some scammers managed to get information to craft even more realistic looking tax returns by infiltrating the IRS Get Transcript Web service, which let taxpayers pull information from previously filed returns. After the service debuted in January 2014, thieves potentially accessed 724,000 taxpayer accounts. They targeted but failed to gain access to an additional 576,000 accounts, the IRS said last month. The Get Transcript online application was suspended in May.

PIN problems

To combat fraud, the IRS issued Identity Protection PINs to 2.7 million people whose tax information was compromised. People who get a six-digit PIN must use it for their electronic and paper returns to be accepted and processed.

Before March 7, people who lost their PIN could retrieve it by going to the IRS website and answering four multiple-choice questions drawn from their credit file, such as loan amounts or previous addresses, security expert and journalist Brian Krebs reported. But thieves could sometimes get the answers by guessing or checking free online sites such as Facebook or Zillow. These are the same dumb questions, the IRS asked on the Get Transcript application, Krebs told me.

On March 7, the IRS suspended the PIN retrieval tool while the agency tries to strengthen its security features. People are still supposed to use their PIN on tax returns, but those who lose it must retrieve it by calling the IRS. For more information, see http://1.usa.gov/1W4MAy6.

ID verification letter

In some cases of suspected fraud, the IRS has been sending an Identity Verification Letter, or 5071C form, by snail mail to the address on the return. Recipients must verify their identity online, at idverify.irs.gov, or by calling a toll-free number identified only in the letter.

The problem is that taxpayers who receive these might worry that the letters themselves are part of an identity theft ruse... according to a report on Scambusters.org. Thats understandable because there is is a scam email currently making the rounds with the subject line Identity Verification.

The fraudulent email message has an IRS logo and reads: Kindly verify your information from a 1040 tax form that you filed within the last six years. Follow the reference below to verify your identity, Scambusters said. This is followed by a link that appears to be the genuine IRS website (www.irs.gov) but in fact takes you to a phony IRS page (in Hungary) where youre asked to divulge personal tax account details.

Scam artists are also calling people to say they have your tax return and just need to verify a few details  such as your Social Security or bank account number  to process your refund, the IRS said.

If you get a suspicious phone call or email, remember that the IRS does not send out verification requests by email, nor does it telephone you without sending a 5071C letter first, Scambusters said.

If you get a letter asking you to verify your identity, visit the right website: www.idverify.irs.gov. After you type that address in and hit return/enter, your browser address bar should automatically insert https:// in front of it, indicating that you are on a secure website page, Scambusters said.

On the website, you will be asked questions that only you should know. You might need information from a W-2, 1099 or prior years return. For more info on ID verification, see http://1.usa.gov/1SRha0k.

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Blog: http://blog.sfgate.com/pender Twitter: @kathpender
San Mateo Police Department

A 70-year-old man arrested for allegedly groping a teenager on a bus last week in San Mateo was not jailed and remains in the community, officials said Wednesday.

The morning of March 15, the suspect, San Mateo resident Mounir El Gendy, got on a SamTrans bus at South B Street and First Avenue and sat down next to the 17-year-old victim. He tried chatting her up, then placed his arm around her shoulders, touched her face, attempted to put his hand under her shirt and asked for a kiss, police said.
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A Vallejo woman and her boyfriend are suing the city of Vallejo after investigators dismissed her home invasion kidnapping and rape as a hoax, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court.

The suit, brought by Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, accuses several individual officers, including Lt. Kenny Park, the Vallejo Police Departments spokesman throughout the strange ordeal, of defamation, constitutional rights violations, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The Vallejo Police Department went out and attacked the victims of a crime here, said Kevin Clune, an attorney representing the couple. They went on national television and slandered them.

Huskins was in Quinns home on Mare Island in Vallejo early on March 23, 2015, when a masked intruder broke in, bound the couple, drugged Quinn and drove off with Huskins, according to the FBI.

The kidnapper demanded two payments of $8,500 from Quinn, according to an FBI affidavit.

Quinn didnt pay the ransom, instead calling police, who took him to the station where he was promptly and maliciously treated like he had already been convicted of murdering Huskins over the course of a 12-hour investigations, the lawsuit alleges.

Meanwhile, Huskins was driven across the state in the trunk of a car, the suit alleges, then tied to a bed with zip ties and raped repeatedly. The kidnapper forced Huskins to record a proof of life video that was sent, along with a rambling manifesto, to The Chronicle and shared with investigators.

Huskins alleged kidnapper  identified as disbarred immigration attorney Matthew Muller  released her two days after her abduction near her parents home in Southern California.

The evening of Huskins release, Park told the public the whole thing had been a ruse, saying in a statement, Given the facts that have been presented thus far, this event appears to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping.

Behind the scenes, the lawsuit alleges, lead investigator Detective Mathew Mustard continued to accuse Huskins and Quinn of making the whole ordeal up.

Muller, 38, was identified as the suspect after a cell phone left at the scene of a June home invasion in Dublin was traced back to him. He was arrested at his parents South Lake Tahoe vacation home and indicted in October on kidnapping charges.

The Vallejo Police Departments frustration with its own inadequate investigation boiled over into a series of retaliatory actions targeted at Huskins and Quinn that destroyed their reputations and have forced them to move away from the community, the lawsuit alleges.

The Vallejo city attorney declined to comment on the case.

Huskins and Quinn are seeking unspecified damages for emotional and physical distress, humiliation, mental anguish, lost wages and punitive damages against the city of Vallejo, Park, Mustard and other unnamed defendants.

Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale
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With the deft addition of three words, a University of California regent defused rising tensions Wednesday over whether UC would declare anti-Zionism  opposition to the state of Israel  an official form of discrimination at the famously free-thinking school.

Regent Norm Pattiz instead amended the statement to say that anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other kinds of discrimination have no place at UC. The contested language appeared in the introduction to an otherwise widely praised document on tolerance and free speech adopted Wednesday by a regents committee that is expected to be approved by the full board on Thursday.

I think the amendment is a good start, said David McCleary, a UC Berkeley graduate student and Palestinian rights activist who identified himself to the regents as a proud Jewish student before urging them to reject the statement equating anti-Zionism with discrimination.

Even so, McCleary and other activists said they remained concerned that pro-Palestinian activism at UC campuses would still be deemed anti-Semitic.

The 12-page Principles Against Intolerance and its controversial introduction were developed over several months by a group of regents and UC employees responding to a rise in reports of anti-Semitism at UC campuses. Several students and faculty members had told the group they believed anti-Zionist passions on campuses contributed to an anti-Jewish climate at UC.

The debate about the implications of equating anti-Zionism with discrimination caught fire across the country. Thousands of students, faculty and outsiders on all sides of the issue have signed petitions and emailed the regents their views of the issue UC President Janet Napolitano called one of the universitys thorniest.

Before introducing the amendment, the regents heard from 15 speakers, including UCLA graduate student Omar Zahzah, who asked the board if UC intended to stifle his ability to talk about his family history.

Palestinians concerns

What does it mean for there to be no place for anti-Zionism at UC? he asked the regents. Do you mean to say that there is no place at UC for the stories of students like myself whose families were forcibly expelled (from what became Israel) in 1948? Or who languish in refugee camps? Whose homes are routinely destroyed?

As he stepped away from the microphone, another student murmured anti-Semite to him as he passed, Zahzah said later.

Noted feminist and UC Berkeley comparative literature Professor Judith Butler told the regents that she was the daughter of Holocaust survivors and that anti-Semitism is a despicable form of discrimination. However, she said, UC should not conflate it with anti-Zionism, a political viewpoint protected by the First Amendment.

Taking the opposite view was Liat Menna, a UCLA undergraduate, who told the regents that as a Jew and a Zionist, I find myself on campus having to defend myself, being demonized by (students) calling for my death. Menna said she has professors who use academics as a platform for indoctrination against Zionism.

There were others, each encapsulating their experiences into arguments for or against the idea that expressing views against Israel chills the campus atmosphere for Jewish students.

The full Principles Against Intolerance document goes beyond the question of anti-Zionism. It supports mutual respect for all groups, condemns harassment of anyone, and urges punishment of bigots who target others.

Regents support

I enthusiastically support this (document) and the amendment, said Regent Bonnie Reiss, a member of the educational policy committee that unanimously approved the Principles Against Intolerance.

Student Regent Avi Oved, who helped develop the document and introduced the anti-Zionist language, also endorsed the amendment.

Theres a difference between criticizing Israel and being anti-Zionist, he said, characterizing the latter as a license to deride and demonize other students. He gave examples hes heard from students: Its calling Jewish students dirty Zionists, Zionist pigs, or saying we need to send you back to the gas chamber.

Oved called on each of UCs 10 campuses to provide bimonthly reports on all acts of discrimination against students.

We need to build a thorough record and ensure the accuracy and authenticity of these accounts, he said.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
Four of the deceased were bike riders while two others were travelling in a mini lorry when the mishaps happened. (Representational image)

Chennai: As many as six persons were killed and three others injured in four different accidents near Chennai on Monday night. Four of the deceased were bike riders while two others were travelling in a mini lorry when the mishaps happened. Two persons, including a B.Com student, were killed when the bike on which they were travelling lost control and smashed against a roadside barrier in Poonjeri near Mahabalipuram on Monday night.

The deceased were identified as Duraimurugan, 22, of Puzhuthivakkam and his relative Senthamizhan, 19, a college student. While Duraimurugan died on the spot, Senthmizhan died in Chennai government hospital where he was admitted.

In another accident involving a bike, Anbumani died while his son and pillion rider Daniel suffered serious injuries when their two wheeler collided with a car on the Tambaram- Kishkintha Salai on Monday night. The father and son hail from Melakotaiyur near Tambaram.

In a road mishap involving a lorry and a mini lorry and which happened on GST Road stretch between Maduranthagam and Melmaruvathur, two persons were killed. According to police, the mini lorry which was following a load laden lorry hit the lorry when it stopped suddenly. Driver Parthipan, 28, of T Nagar and Ezakkamuthu, 28, of Thittakudi died while another occupant Balaji, 32, was admitted to Chengalpet government hospital.
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Food waste is a hot topic quickly moving into the political mainstream, largely because it touches so many issues at once  the environment, hunger, household budgets and the overall economy.

Now, proposed legislation from Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, aims to address the issue by changing one simple but crucial thing: the expiration dates on food.

As of now, shoppers see myriad versions of expiration dates indicated on packages of food, be it fresh ground beef or a can of chili. Common verbiage includes best by, freshest by, sell by or any number of other similar phrases.

With the exception of infant formula, none of these dates is federally regulated, and all are determined by the manufacturer. In the majority of cases, the dates indicate the manufacturers best guess as to when product is at best quality  and dont have anything to do with safety, even with that suspect carton of milk.

As a result, consumers regularly throw away expired, yet usually safe, food.

Chius proposal (AB2725) would require manufacturers to give food one of two labels in California: Best if used by would indicate when a food will be at its best quality, and expires on would be used solely on highly perishable foods. The latter would signify the date that they should no longer be eaten.

California would be 1st

AB2725 would make California the first state to have such legislation in the country, though Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, has been working on similar legislation nationally.

This addresses the everyday experience that we all have, when we look at our refrigerator at dozens of products and have to decide if we should throw out products that may still be good but have different expiration labels, said Chiu.

Americans waste as much as 40 percent of food, which in the household can amount to 20 pounds per person per month. Food waste experts estimate that even reducing the amount of food waste by 30 percent could feed every hungry American, including the 6 million Californians who dont have enough to eat, if that food was distributed properly.

We want to address the dating-label confusion to make situations that are better for consumers, businesses and the environment  and particularly the millions of people that go hungry every night, said Chiu.

As of now, infant formula is the only food with a required expiration date nationally, and that indicates only when its nutrient level drops, not when its no longer safe. Different states have laws requiring certain labels for specific foods, such as dairy products and shellfish in California, but theyre highly inconsistent. In some states, though not in California, retailers and food banks cannot sell or donate food past its sell-by date, even when its perfectly fine to eat.

The list of foods that will require the expires on label  meaning that food safety is an issue  will be determined by the California Department of Public Health. That list will likely be fairly short, experts say.

Generally speaking, people dont get sick from food because its aging, said Dana Gunders, staff scientist in the food and agriculture program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a co-sponsor of the bill. Instead, food makes people sick because it was contaminated with E. coli, salmonella or other pathogens  and time wont make a difference in most cases.

As long as the foods handled properly and kept refrigerated, most things dont grow, said Gunders.

One dangerous pathogen that does grow, however, is listeria, which is a threat particularly to pregnant women and the immune-compromised. Products with a higher risk of listeria include deli meats, unpasteurized cheeses and sausages that are not fully cooked or reheated. (As long as foods are cooked, listeria pathogens are killed.)

Surprisingly, foods such as pasteurized milk and fresh chicken are not a major safety risk from aging, said Gunders. Pasteurized dairy products have been heated to kill pathogens, and you can assume youll cook raw meat.

Open door at Food Runners

Thats why Mary Risley, founder of Food Runners, regularly goes to supermarkets to pick up products past their expiration date to donate to over 300 group homes, recovery centers, food banks and soup kitchens. The list of donated foods includes vacuum-packed meats, milk, produce and breads.

We accept all of it, she said.

Though some food banks have policies that prevent them from giving away food past its sell-by date, that hasnt been a problem for the agencies Risley partners with. Having worked in this area for decades, she has a fairly cynical view of expiration dates, since theyre determined by the manufacturer.

In my opinion, of course they want to sell more milk so they put a shorter date on it, she said. We think David Chiu is a hero for doing this.

Chiu expects the bill to face some opposition, even though it will not require much in the way of added costs, he said. According to a recent report called Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data, the country loses $218 billion to food waste annually, and standardizing expiration dates could divert around 398,000 tons of food from landfills.

Its something that industry is aware of as an issue because it impacts their bottom line, said Chiu. Everybody up and down the food chain understands that this is an issue that we need to address.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan

Current expiration date labels

Here are some examples of the types of labels you might see on products now, which are all assigned by manufacturers. Most are determined by quality, not safety.

Best before

Best by

Enjoy by

Exp.

Expiration date

Freshest by

Sell by (for retailers; food should still be fresh for a while after this date)

Use by

Proposed new labels

The new bill would require manufacturers to use one of two labels.

Best if used by  indicates when food quality will still be at its best, for example before crackers start to go soggy.

Expires on  indicates date after which for highly perishable foods that could be dangerous, especially foods at risk for listeria. Foods on this list to be determined by the California Department of Public Health.
Thank the two owners of this Palm Springs house for this marvel of a time capsule. The first homeowners decorated it, and the second set intentionally kept it as-is.

Except for the kitchen, this three-bedroom, 3,350-square-foot California residence has remained untouched since it was built in 1969. The current homeowners upgraded the kitchen but left the rest of the character-filled interior in its original condition.

"The original owner was a builder, Milton Seidner, who built a few homes in the Twin Palms neighborhood," listing agent Lucio Bernal says. "The home was sold to my client's parents in 1994 after his passing. My clients' parents lived in the home until they passed recently."

SEE ALSO: Nancy and Ronald Reagan's former California property for sale

The unique dwelling has drawn the attention of people from all over the world because of its bold vintage appeal.

"(The) home has been viewed by hundreds in the past month, both online and in person and the general (consensus) is, 'Keep it the way it is because it looks like a museum,'" Bernal says. "Some comments range from 'life-changing' to 'I remember that color as a kid.'"

Everything is custom, from the magenta- and rose-colored canopy bed in a bedroom, to the symmetric semi-circle couches that flank an over-sized coffee table in the living room. The wood-paneled den has a wet bar with a mirror backsplash. The home's swimming pool can be admired from several rooms in the house, including the royal blue master suite.

MORE VINTAGE HOMES: John Lautner house featured in 'The Big Lebowski' donated to Los Angeles museum

The most fascinating detail in this colorful home is, arguably, the bath tub surrounded by hot-pink carpet.

Also intriguing is the condition of the textiles and finishes that haven't faded or become distressed.

"That goes to show that quality stands the test of time," Bernal boasts.

This Palm Springs, Calif., home is listed at $850,000. Bernal and Benjamin "Chip" Romero at Berkshire Hathaway have the listing.
Its all a big misunderstanding. Theyre great guys, but they just dont get each other. But instead of meeting and talking about their differences, and discussing what to do about the alien invasion  oh yes, theres one of those  they get into a dispute that escalates, and goes on and on and on ...

Batman v Superman is an insanely long and convoluted action movie, made worse by an air of importance. Its dispiriting and visually bland. A few years ago, director Zack Snyder was the hope of the action genre, whose films Watchmen and 300 were intuitive, striking and psychologically penetrating. But here he settles for making something typical, but in a bigger and more ponderous way.

In the mood to get depressed? Batman v Superman starts with a flashback to Bruce Waynes parents getting killed, because who could resist that bit of sadness? Then its off to the alien invasion of Gotham City, which has Bruce so upset that he is driving around town like a lunatic, while buildings are getting lasered out of existence. From there, we flash forward 18 months to see Lois Lane witnessing a terrorist atrocity. Having fun yet?

In the lead-up to this film, the casting of Ben Affleck was a subject for controversy. But Affleck is perfect for this incarnation of Batman. The guy exudes moral inexactitude and misplaced certainty. He makes you believe he could really think that Superman is not a nice person. And he counters all expectation that he might preen and charm his way through the role by not smiling once during the entire movie. The audience doesnt smile, either.

In the aftermath of the alien invasion, the government has turned lukewarm on Superman. Officials dont like the idea of depending on Supermans kindness. They want some leverage, just in case he switches sides. Holly Hunter plays a senator heading a committee seeking to rein in Supermans activities and create some kind of oversight. Meanwhile, businessman Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) reasons that the best way to control Superman is to stockpile lots of Kryptonite.

As a senator, Holly Hunter is completely natural and, with the exception of Jeremy Irons as Alfred, she is the only actor unaffected by being in a superhero movie. Everyone else tries to compensate, as though thinking, Im going to ignore this really awful material and act even more. As Lex Luthor, Jesse Eisenberg gives what will probably pass as a great performance  he twitches, raves, talks slowly and then fast, and he doesnt wipe his nose even when he needs to  but its all surface, calculated to impress and coming from nowhere.

Hans Zimmers score matches the acting, with music that is portentous and full of unearned meaning. When Superman and Batman finally meet in full costume, Zimmer is practically losing his mind, as though St. Paul and Plato, or Lincoln and Washington, or Jesus and Buddha were finally going to have a sit-down. The music is thundering and cresting, and the world will never be the same. In that moment, try to back up a second and perceive it from a distance. You might get a laugh.

Batman v Superman  the subtitle is Dawn of Justice  is slow getting started, setting out a number of plotlines. Basically, Lex Luthor is the villain, but because of press reports, Superman and Batman develop a negative impression of each other. Movies based on misunderstandings tend to be more frustrating than entertaining. There are few things less interesting than watching people carry on stupidly, when everything would be fine if theyd only talk for five minutes. Its even worse when the two participants are supposed to be moral paragons.

Snyder sets his story in our modern world and attempts to fashion a kind of commentary on the media and the current geopolitical situation. What he has crafted instead is a grotesque expression of modern emptiness. A succession of national television journalists appear here, cheapening their brand, while the story itself is like meaninglessness in search of meaning. Theres an almost spiritual hunger in the hope that a meeting between Batman and Superman might amount to something, but theres nothing there.

And when theres nothing there, what else can you do but blow things up? The scenes of destruction are interminable, just a piling on, as if, at a certain point, the right amount of violence will feel like a climax. It used to be that comparing movies to video games was more metaphorical than literal. But here theres no pretense that what were seeing onscreen is anything different from what wed see on a small screen.

Its just buildings and people getting hit and disintegrating in silver bursts, and its nothing but depressing.

Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MickLaSalle

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck and Amy Adams. Directed by Zack Snyder. (PG-13. 153 minutes.)

To see a trailer for Batman v Superman, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfUnkBfdZ4
Courtesy of San Francisco Film S

The Cinematic Landscapes of Nuri Bilge Ceylan: The Turkish filmmaker is one of the most highly regarded filmmakers in world cinema, and two decades into a quietly evolving career, Ceylan gets a retrospective at the Pacific Film Archive. The six-film series begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24, with Winter Sleep, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. The three-hour, 15-minute movie, filmed in the remote steppes of Cappadocia in central Turkey, is about an ego-driven former actor who moves to his hometown rural village with his young wife. The marriage is crumbling, the man is not well liked, and he has further family problems with his sister, who has just gone through a divorce. Winter Sleep, which repeats on April 17, has been compared to Chekhov and Eugene O'Neill, but it is enlivened by Ceylans incredible photographic eye. He began as a photographer before branching out to screenwriting, directing and occasionally acting. Other highlights include Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, screening April 10), about men who search for a dead body on the Anatolian steppe; Climates (2006, screening April 8), starring Ceylan and his real-life wife, Ebru Ceylan, as an Istanbul couple in a troubled marriage; and Distant (2002, screening April 2 and 16), about two distant relatives who are brought together by fate. Thursday, March 24, through April 17 at Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St., Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu.

Theory of Obscurity: A Film About the Residents: San Franciscos avant-garde band known for their anonymity (often, they shield their identities with giant eyeball helmets) are profiled in local filmmaker Don Hardys documentary. Though from Louisiana, the original members of the group relocated to San Francisco in the late 1960s, and became pioneers in multimedia music, creating videos, performance art, and later Web series. Hardy will be there in person to discuss. 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24, at the Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. (415) 454-1222. www.cafilm.org.
With a push from San Franciscos influential Live 105 radio station and prime placement in a Jeep commercial campaign, X Ambassadors scored a huge hit with the slouchy rebellion anthem, Renegades. But it hardly marked an overnight breakthrough for the foursome from Ithaca, N.Y., whose members  vocalist Sam Harris; keyboardist Casey Harris, who was born blind; and guitarist Noah Feldshuh  have been playing music together since they were in elementary school (drummer Adam Levin is a college friend).

The bands debut, VHS, which mixes rock and hip-hop influences in equal measure, was hand-delivered to Interscope by Imagine Dragons front man Dan Reynolds, and the beardy group returned the favor by supporting his band on its arena tour. Now X Ambassadors are headlining shows of their own as the bands fortunes continue to rise.
WAUWATOSA, Wis.  While Ted Cruz decried gutter politics against him, former Republican presidential contenders gave him a boost Wednesday, casting the Texas senator as the partys last best chance to stop Donald Trump. The long and bitter 2016 campaign shifted to a new Midwestern battleground.

Ahead of Wisconsins April 5 primary, Gov. Scott Walker, who dropped out of the race in the fall, declared that only Cruz can catch Trump as time runs short in the primary season. And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush gave Cruz his endorsement  a step perhaps designed to hurt Trump more than help the unpopular Texas senator.

For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, said Bush, who was knocked out of the 2016 contest last month. To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that.

Indeed, as Democrat Hillary Clinton addressed rising national security concerns, the Republican contest was hit again by personal insults  this time involving the candidates families. Cruz slammed Trump during an appearance in the front-runners hometown for making a vague threat on Twitter the night before to spill the beans on Cruzs wife.

Gutter politics, Cruz said. Trumps warning that he would disclose something about Heidi Cruz came in response to an ad by an outside political group that featured a provocative photo of Trumps wife, Melania, when she was a model and before they were married. Trump misidentified the Cruz campaign as the source of the ad.

Heidi Cruz addressed the situation directly during an appearance outside Milwaukee. The things that Donald Trump says are not based in reality, she said.

The Republican infighting came the day after Cruz scored wins in Utah and Idaho while Trump claimed Arizona. Despite modest signs of strength, the first-term Texas senator needs a near miracle to catch the billionaire businessman.

The day-after delegate math laid bare the challenge: Cruz needs to win 83 percent of the remaining delegates to overtake the front-runner. And further complicating Cruzs path, Ohio Gov. John Kasich vowed to stay in the race at least until the next primary.

There is zero chance that we would drop out before Wisconsin. And thered be no reason for us to, Kasich told reporters as he campaigned in the state, acknowledging his only hope to secure the nomination lies at a contested convention this summer in Cleveland.

Kasich did not earn a single delegate in Tuesdays contests, but suggested he would do fine in Wisconsins upcoming primary and would excel in late-April elections across the East.

A frustrated Cruz charged Kasich with playing spoiler by taking votes that could have gone to him. Cruz suggested that the Ohio governors political future could benefit from a speedy exit: I think hed be a tremendous addition to an administration, Cruz said on CNNs New Day.
WACO, Texas  A Texas grand jury indicted 48 more bikers Wednesday in connection with a May 2015 shootout outside a Twin Peaks restaurant that left nine dead, bringing the total number of people facing felony charges to 154.

Prosecutors in Waco announced that all the bikers indicted are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, meaning theyre accused of being complicit in the shooting that also left 20 people injured. Those indicted face 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday restored the Justice Departments authority to let states put death penalty cases on a fast track once they reach federal court, overturning a Bay Area judges nationwide ruling.

A 2005 federal law, which has yet to take effect, authorized the Justice Department to approve fast-track authority for any state that appoints competent, adequately paid lawyers to represent condemned prisoners. Once an inmates death sentence is upheld in state court, a fast track would shorten the deadline for filing a federal appeal from a year to six months. A federal judge would then have 15 months to rule on the appeal, and a federal appeals court would have a four-month deadline after receiving all written arguments.

Life-tenured federal judges have been more likely to overturn state capital cases than state judges, who are elected in most states. The fast-track process is intended to substantially shorten federal court review of state capital cases, which sometimes takes a decade or more.

The fast-track process was first established by federal law in 1996, but that law authorized federal judges, not the Justice Department, to decide whether a state provided competent legal representation to death row inmates and thus qualified for the program. Judges have turned down every state that has applied for fast-track authority, including California in 2000.

The Justice Department had not yet considered any states fast-track application when it was prohibited from doing so in December 2013 by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland. She said the Obama administrations regulations implementing the 2005 law had failed to set clear standards for lawyers competency and had also failed to require a state to show it had complied with the law, shifting the burden of proof to inmates and their attorneys.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Wednesday that the legal organizations that filed the suit  the Habeas Corpus Resource Center in California and the federal public defenders office in Arizona  had no right to sue because they failed to show that the fast-track regulations would cause them any tangible harm.

Counseling clients in the face of legal uncertainty is the role of lawyers, Judge Carlos Bea said in the 3-0 ruling. While the rules may leave the legal groups unsure about how to prepare their capital cases, which ones to file first or how to commit their resources, Bea said, they have not shown any tangible, imminent harm that would establish standing to sue. He also said it would be premature for any death row prisoners to sue because no states have been granted fast-track authority, although Arizona and Texas have applied.

Marc Shapiro, lawyer for the legal defense organizations, said the rules they challenged would force them to scramble to file appeals under time pressure, possibly giving short shrift to some cases, and could also limit review of the cases by overworked federal judges. He said his clients plan to appeal.

The Justice Department had no comment. Attorney Kent Scheidegger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which filed arguments siding with the department, said the ruling was important not only for the families of murder victims, but also for everyone in the United States who depends upon the rule of law.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
NEW YORK  When questioned over a homicide, Richard Rosario named 13 people he said could back an alibi 1,000 miles long. But he spent 20 years in prison before the conviction was overturned, freeing him  at least for now.

Rosario wiped at his face and smiled Wednesday as a judge threw out his conviction in a 1996 New York City shooting that happened while Rosario says he was in Florida. Both his lawyers and prosecutors now agree his then-attorneys didnt do enough to track down Rosarios alibi witnesses and enlist them in his defense.
TRENTON, N.J.  A growing number of states are weighing whether to legalize marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many veterans, the debate is already over.

Theyre increasingly using cannabis even though it remains illegal in most states and is unapproved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.

While the research has been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares. Prescription drugs such as Klonopin and Zoloft werent effective or left them feeling like zombies, some say.

I went from being an anxious mess to numbing myself with the pills they were giving me, said Mike Whiter, a 39-year-old former Marine who lives in Philadelphia, where marijuana is illegal. Cannabis helped me get out of the hole I was in. I started to talk to people and get over my social anxiety.

Others, though, have seen little benefit from the drug. And the VA has documented a troubling rise in the number of PTSD-afflicted veterans who have been diagnosed with marijuana dependence, which some experts say can hamper recovery from war trauma.

Sally Schindel of Prescott, Ariz., said the VA diagnosed her son Andy Zorn with PTSD after he served in the Army in Iraq. The agency later diagnosed him with marijuana dependence as well as depression and bipolar disorder, she said.

Schindel said her son was using marijuana not for recreation but as self-medication, particularly to help him sleep. He killed himself at age 31 in 2014, writing in his suicide note that marijuana killed my soul & ruined my brain.

He told me he found it much harder to quit than he thought it would be, Schindel said. Hed buy it and smoke it and then flush the rest of it. The next day he bought it again.

The stories of vets like Zorn and Whiter have helped fuel the debate over whether states and the federal government should legalize the drug for PTSD treatment. Lawmakers are increasingly sympathizing with vets like Whiter, despite the lack of scientific evidence. While some limited studies have shown that marijuana helps people manage PTSD symptoms in the short term, another suggested it may make symptoms worse.

Starting with New Mexico in 2009, 10 states have listed PTSD among the ailments for which medical marijuana can be prescribed, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, which seeks to end criminalization of the drug. A few more states give doctors broad enough discretion to recommend pot to PTSD sufferers.

Similar measures have been introduced in Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Utah.
They have also pointed out that there was no study gap for such a massive syllabus but English had 8 days of study time.

Chennai: K. Nishitha, a Class 10 student of a matriculation school, was relieved after she finished her Tamil paper. She said Tamil was too difficult for her. Unlike French, Sanskrit or Hindi, Tamil had 47 chapters along with other assignments related to the subject. In some schools, Tamil language has been made compulsory this year.

Some parents and students also complained that Tamil has been made very difficult. K. Sarala, Nishithas mother, said that in St Michaels school students are not allowed to take any other language paper like French, Sanskrit or Hindi.

This batch they made the subject compulsory. They had an enormous portion. They did not even have a gap of one day to study. But before English exam, there was a gap of eight days, she said.

Apart from 47 chapters, there were 10-letter writing and 50 proverbs for which only two marks had been allotted. They also had 25 topics to study in which there was a one five-mark essay. Students and parents also said the grammar portion was very difficult. Tamil paper-1 has prose and poem and Tamil-2 grammar lessons and supplementary lessons along with letter writing.

Further, Nishitha said they had been studying Tamil language since Class 6. For other batches, it was not compulsory. She said, It was so difficult for everyone that most of them did not learn it properly. I mugged it up and forgot most of it. It becomes a burden along with other subjects to learn.

Another parent, Jenacious Priya, said, They are focussing on students in rural areas but not on schools in the metro. Apart from 47 chapters there are small units for two marks and five marks. It doesnt make sense. Her son Andrew Josh who studies in Don Bosco said he doesnt want to take up Tamil anymore in his life. I will go for German or French after this. In Plus-2, all subjects would be tough, as I want to pursue science. I cant think of taking up Tamil subject, he said. Parents also said out of a class of 50, only five or six students take up Tamil. They say the state government should reduce the burden and make them enjoy the subject.

G. Sujatha, a teacher from Alandur Municipal School, said Tamil paper is very difficult and it becomes a burden for students. The state government should look into the matter, they should reduce so many chapters. Students are not able to cope up with the chapters.
LOS ANGELES  Hiroshi Motohashi was angry with the management of a Los Angeles sushi restaurant, so police said he decided to leave something for other customers to remember him by.

Instead of dropping the mike after a memorable rant, officials say the 46-year-old man dropped a 13-foot-long snake in the middle of the restaurant, then left.

Motohashi later was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, said Lt. Jim Gavin of the Los Angeles Police Department in Van Nuys.

The cold-blooded act unfolded about 7:20 p.m. Sunday when Motohashi entered Iroha Sushi of Tokyo and showed off a small snake to customers sitting down for dinner.

Restaurant managers confronted Motohashi and asked him to leave, Gavin said.

Motohashi left, but returned minutes later to the restaurant with an even bigger snake: a 13-foot-long python.

The snake owner then dropped the larger snake in the middle of the restaurant floor and walked out, the lieutenant said.

Get this thing out!

There was no confusing the yellow python slithering on the restaurant floor with a supersize caterpillar roll.

Employees told KCBS TV that Motohashi had paid for a $200 meal before showing off the smaller snake to customers. The customers did not like that. They liked the giant snake even less. Some terrified customers even ran out of the restaurant, the station reported.

Get this thing out! You know, everyones like eating, so customers are yelling, Get this thing out! Are you crazy? waitress Jessie Davaadorj told KCBS TV.

The Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Animal Services went to the restaurant and captured the snake, which apparently had gotten stuck near a cash register. Animal control officers took the snake away, Gavin said.

Animal Services is caring for both snakes at its East Valley facility in Van Nuys. Motohashi must show proof of ownership, including the proper permits, to get his snakes back, said Cmdr. Mark Salazar of the Animal Services Department.

This isnt Motohashis first run-in with the law over his love of exotic pets.

Motohashi was convicted in 2005 in federal court of selling endangered animals and venomous lizards.

He was sentenced to 15 months for selling the gila monster lizards without a permit. Along with the venomous lizards, he sold yellow-spotted sideneck turtles and San Esteban Island chuckwallas to an undercover cop in 1997, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Earlier notoriety

Motohashi was one of a dozen people who were arrested by the agent, who posed as the owner of a business that was buying and selling exotic animals in Reno.

Years later, Motohashis San Diego pet shop, A Glass Jungle, was featured in a 2011 article in San Diego Uptown News. He was photographed with a 15-foot-long albino tiger python named Cleopatra.
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BRUSSELS  Bombs packed with nails terrorized Brussels on Tuesday in the deadliest assault on the European heartland since the Islamic States attacks on Paris four months ago, hitting the airport and subway system in coordinated strikes that were also claimed by the militant extremist group.

The bombings paralyzed Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, triggered international travel warnings to avoid Belgium and reverberated across the Atlantic to the United States, where New York and other major cities raised terrorism threat levels. Anxiety intensified about the inability to prevent mass killings at relatively unprotected places.

At least 30 people were killed by two blasts at the Brussels airport departure area around 8 a.m. and one in a subway station shortly after 9. Police found at least one other unexploded bomb in a search of a Brussels house hours later.

And Europes most wanted person suddenly became an unidentified man in a white coat and dark hat seen pushing a luggage cart in an airport surveillance photo taken just before the bombings. Two other men in the photo, each wearing a black glove on his left hand, were identified by Belgian prosecutors as suspected suicide bombers who appeared to have died in the explosions.

To those who have chosen to be the barbaric enemies of liberty, of democracy, of fundamental values, I want to say with the greatest strength that we will remain assembled and united, the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, said at a news conference Tuesday evening, declaring a three-day mourning period.

Panic and mayhem

Passengers who had been in line at airport departure counters described sudden panic and mayhem as the explosions turned the area into a death trap with flames, smoke, flying glass, nails and shrapnel, leaving at least 10 people dead.

We heard a big noise and saw a big flash, said one passenger, Ilaria Ruggiano. My mother went to the floor  she was hit. I just dropped my luggage and went to the floor. A kid came out, bleeding a lot. I tried to help him with a tissue, but it was not enough.

The airport was closed, disrupting travel and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, and the Belgian authorities placed the entire metropolitan area on emergency lockdown. It was not clear when the airport would reopen; the Belgian authorities said it was certain to remain closed Wednesday because of the investigation.

Then at 9:11 a.m. a bomb tore through a car in the rear part of a subway train pulling out of the busy Maelbeek station at the height of the morning rush, killing at least 20 people.

More than 230 people, including people from around the world, were wounded in the three blasts.

In the afternoon, Amaq, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic State, issued a bulletin claiming responsibility for the attacks, calling them the work of suicide bombers.

Frederic Van Leeuw, the Belgian federal prosecutor, said at a news conference on Tuesday night that at this stage, it is not possible to draw a formal link with the Paris attacks. A cell of 10 operatives, a number of them from the Brussels district of Molenbeek, were implicated in the Paris attacks on Nov. 13, which left 130 people dead. The Brussels strikes came only a few days after Belgian police captured Salah Abdeslam, the only suspect in the Paris assaults believed to have survived, who is considered a potential trove of information on the Islamic States attack planning.

The State Department on Tuesday warned Americans traveling in Europe to exercise vigilance when in public places or using mass transportation.

Bay Area reaction

In the Bay Area, security was increased at San Francisco International Airport and other transportation hubs following the attacks. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the transit system increased security in response to the attacks. The San Francisco Police Department boosted its patrol presence in transit areas and around the airport as well, said spokesman Officer Albie Esparza.

Bay Area Belgians including Baudouin de Hemptinne, a commissioner at the Belgian Trade Commission in San Francisco, were devastated and worried about loved ones back home.

We feel sad, we feel hurt, said de Hemptinne, who added that he was not speaking on behalf of the trade commission but as a concerned native of Belgium. I share the deepest condolences for my compatriots there.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee offered condolences for the European country through Twitter, saying, Our hearts are heavy as we mourn with the people of #Brussels . We stand in solidarity with Belgium and stand strong against intolerance.

Flights from SFO with connectors to Belgium were canceled. There are no nonstop flights from SFO to Brussels.

Passengers arriving at SFO from Brussels said they were fortunate to have just missed the bombings. Donald Staar of Brussels said he was at Zventem airport about an hour before the attacks. He learned what happened later in Frankfurt, where he caught a connecting flight to SFO for a business trip.

All I can say is Im a really, really lucky guy, Staar said. You think about the families  thats all you can do.

World leaders reacted with horror and calls for solidarity, though the attacks also spotlighted the fractious debate over terrorism and Islam in Europe and in the American political campaign. The Eiffel Tower, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and One World Trade Center in Manhattan were among the landmarks around the world lit up with the black, red and yellow of Belgiums flag as night fell. San Francisco City Hall, where a vigil for the victims was held Tuesday evening, also was lit in the colors of the Belgian flag.

Through the Brussels attacks, it is the whole of Europe that is hit, President Francois Hollande of France declared. He vowed to relentlessly fight terrorism, both internationally and internally.

The French government ordered 1,600 extra police officers to patrol the nations borders, including at train stations, airports and ports.

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain called an emergency meeting of ministers. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany said the attacks aim at the heart of Europe.

President Obama, speaking in Havana, called the Brussels attacks yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality or race or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism.

But a Russian official tempered sympathy with a scolding of his European colleagues over their policies on migration and terrorism. It is time for Europe to understand where the real threat is coming from, and to unite its efforts with Russia, Aleksei Pushkov, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in Parliament, wrote on Twitter.

Stunned travelers

Photographs and amateur video posted online showed the Brussels airport passengers covered in blood and soot, looking stunned but conscious.

Most of the wounded in the subway blast were evacuated to the Rue de la Loi, outside the station, which serves the area that hosts most of the European Unions core institutions.

Brian Carroll, 31, a communications consultant from Washington, said he was on a subway car near Maelbeek en route to a conference in downtown Brussels when he heard a loud blast.

As we were pulling into the station, there was suddenly a loud explosion, he said in a phone interview. There was smoke everywhere. Everyone dropped to the ground. People were screaming and crying.

Carroll said he had remained on the ground for one or two minutes, then got up, pried open a door of the subway car with his hands, and fled.

I thought to myself, Ive got to get out of here, he said. I headed toward an exit. There was smoke and soot everywhere. There was glass everywhere. It was like running through a cloud of dust. I saw the exit of the station was destroyed. I ran out of the station, I ran as far as I could.

Chronicle staff writers

Jenna Lyons and Kimberly Veklerov contributed to this report.
New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday took a dig at Congress, saying the party has lost confidence in its leadership, is confused and demoralised and accused its leaders of sympathising with Afzal Guru and AIMIM MLA in Maharashtra who refused to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

"Congress is so confused, demoralised and distressed, as it has lost confidence in its own leadership and is in search for fresh icons," he told reporters here, a day after JNU Students' Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charges, met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

Citing Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's comparison of Kumar with Bhagat Singh, whose martyrdom day is being observed today, he said there is a pattern in party leaders making such comments. He raked up senior leader P Chidambaram's expression of "solidarity" with the AIMIM MLA and criticism of the Afzal Guru hanging judgment.

"Chidambaram opined that terrorist Afzal Guru should not have been hanged. He even expressed solidarity with AIMIM MLA who refused to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. Congress MLAs supported his suspension from Maharashtra Assembly whereas their senior leader opposed it. Congress leaders' comments are a great insult to freedom fighters," he said.

Rahul Gandhi went to JNU "even without knowing what was happening on the campus" and expressed solidarity with elements who were indulging in anti-national activities.

"Now one of its senior leaders says Kanhaiya is Bhagat Singh of his time. They have no qualms in praising persons who sided with Afzal Guru's supporters. In Assam, their campaign features JNU leaders as their icons, what a great fall!

"In the name of supporting dissent, they are ready to go to the extent of supporting forces of disintegration. I feel depressed that some Congress leaders are equating the great sons of this great country to some people who support the separatist forces eulogizing Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhat and Yakoob Memon. What a shame," Naidu said, attacking Congress.

Bhagat Singh went to gallows saying 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and so called secular leaders are questioning the slogan and ridiculing nationalists, he said, accusing Tharoor of insulting the freedom fighter.

"One can understand the leftists doing so but how can a party supposed to be a national and nationalist party expresses solidarity with such forces. This is not in the interest of Congress but also of the country," Naidu said.

Congress should come clean on these issues and make clear its stand on Afzal Guru, Yakub Memon, Ishrat Jahan, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, and comparison of Shaheed Bhagat Singh with people who sided with the separatists, he demanded.
I will never forget that momentous night of Saturday, April 25, 1959. It was my senior year at Harvard College and more than 10,000 students gathered at the Dillon Fieldhouse to welcome an intriguing visitor, Fidel Castro. Back then everyone was full of enthusiasm and high hopes for Cuba.

Several weeks ago I decided to visit Cuba and see for myself what had happened in the last 57 tumultuous years of complex U.S.-Cuba relations. I was curious to see what I would encounter, although I knew that the Cuban people had really struggled for more than half a century under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

I was stunned by what I saw as I walked around Havana. What was once a magnificent city now looks like a war zone with everything falling down and thousands of crumbling buildings. The average Cuban earns 250 to 300 Cuban pesos, or $10 to $12 a month. They do receive rations from the government, but once their monthly rations run out, usually after two weeks, they must buy almost everything  food, toiletries and clothes on their limited monthly salary that we would spend on two lattes at Starbucks. I wont labor the point, but things are really difficult for almost all Cubans and virtually everyone you speak with describes how challenging things are economically.

Nevertheless, despite the crumbling buildings and widespread poverty, what I discovered was graciousness, friendliness, openness, and a desire to further connect with Americans and America. I also encountered a realistic attitude both about what had and, certainly, what had not been accomplished during the Castro years. They know their suffering is real, and are not in denial about how very difficult the conditions are. However, I met no one who was feeling sorry for themselves. I experienced no cynicism, bitterness, anger, resentment or jealousy, and despite very challenging circumstances the people expressed hope and optimism concerning the future and a genuine pride in their country. Again and again I was struck by the resilience and resourcefulness of the Cuban people.

In a nutshell, although economic depression was omnipresent, the people we met were positive, passionate and purposeful. This led me, as a psychiatrist, to consider the difference between economic depression and clinical depression.

Let me briefly review the hallmarks of clinical depression. People who are depressed are dysphoric  sad, blue and down in the dumps. They are anhedonic; they lack interest or pleasure in almost all activities. In addition, they lack energy and are tired most of the time. Furthermore, people who are clinically depressed experience persistent feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and guilt. These are precisely the symptoms I witness regularly as a practicing psychiatrist.

I am not saying that the people in Cuba are not depressed. My observations as a tourist are hardly based on extensive observation or scientific research. But these observations were the repeated experience of everyone on our trip and dozens of others I have spoken to who have visited Cuba recently.

I am sure there are depressed people in Cuba. I would probably be depressed as a physician living in Cuba earning $60 month, driving a taxicab at night, and turning my home into a restaurant so that I could feed wealthy tourists to supplement my meager income. That is not the point.

I mused about what it was that enabled the Cuban people we met to remain hopeful, motivated, and to find the energy to invent and reinvent themselves in art, music, dance and medicine. We met numerous artists, musicians, and dancers of extraordinary talent and commitment. I had the honor of meeting physicians who perform remarkable operations of great technical sophistication with limited resources and equipment. The people we met were focused, gracious, warm, fully present, talented, flexible, imaginative, creative, hardworking, energetic, self-respecting, and optimistic.

So what is my take-home message to my friends and neighbors in Fairfield and Westchester counties? Dont let depression  economic or clinical  steal your identity and self-respect.

Visit Cuba! Have your own person-to-person encounter and I suspect that, like me, you will marvel at the human spirit which is alive and well Cuba. It is literally, as well as figuratively, rising from the ashes of crumbling buildings and a hugely struggling economy and is evident in the vitality, humor, warmth, intelligence and spirit of virtually everyone you will meet. See for yourself.

Dr. John S. Tamerin lives and practices psychiatry in Greenwich. He is a clinical associate professor of Psychiatry at the Cornell/ Weill School of Medicine.
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LOS ANGELES  The questions were coming fast and frantic: How strong was the earthquake? Was it on the San Andreas? Is the Big One coming?

A massive temblor had struck near Joshua Tree in San Bernardino County shortly before 10 p.m., causing buildings to sway all the way to Las Vegas. As the public braced for more shaking, the media flocked to Caltech that night in 1992.

One woman seemed to have all the answers. It was a magnitude 6.1, explained U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones, and the odds of a larger quake in the next three days stood at 15 percent.

She shifted her weight and turned to the next TV camera. Cradled in her arms was her sleeping toddler.

In her 33 years with the USGS, Jones has become a universal mother for rattled Southern Californians. After each quake, she turns fear of the unknown into something understandable.

When I give it a name, I give it a number, I give it a fault, it puts it back into a box and makes it less frightening, Jones said. You feel better if somebody shows they understand whats going on.

One-of-a-kind fame

In a city defined by celebrity, Jones has a unique kind of fame. Shes been called the Beyonce of earthquakes, the Meryl Streep of government service, a woman breaking barriers in a mans world.

Her son, now 25, recently texted her: Youre on Jeopardy! with a photo of the clue.

Authoritative yet nurturing, the earthquake lady has a knack for making a complicated point so simple it seems obvious. Along the way, she has dramatically changed the way Southern California prepares for earthquakes. Buildings are safer, first responders are better equipped and millions of residents have learned that the worst thing to do in an earthquake is to run outside.

When the big one hits, people will be living because of the work that she has done, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.

Bigger projects ahead

Now Jones hopes to leverage her earthquake credentials to tackle even more ambitious projects. Shes retiring from the USGS this month to help officials develop science-based policies related to climate change, tsunamis and other kinds of natural disasters.

More can be done, she said. This is a chance to experiment.

Jones dedicated herself to science on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. That night, staring up at the sky in wonderment, she told her father she was going to study astrophysics.

Her father, an aerospace engineer who helped build the descent engine for the Apollo mission, fueled her interest with Isaac Asimov books. Upon giving her a copy of Second Foundation, he said, The heroine is a precocious 14-year-old girl, just like you.

But science, apparently, was for boys.

Instead of celebrating Jones perfect score on a science aptitude test, her guidance counselor at Westchester High School in Los Angeles accused her of cheating and made her retake the exam under supervision, she said. Once again, her score was perfect.

When Jones was accepted to Brown and Harvard  well, Radcliffe, because Harvard was for the men  her math teacher told her to go to Radcliffe because Harvard had a better class of eligible bachelors.

Hooked on quakes

Jones picked Brown and enrolled in 1972. It just really bugged the hell out of me that I couldnt go to Harvard, she said.

Earthquakes found her halfway through college, when she met two geophysics professors with an appealing pitch.

Physics, youre just making bombs, she remembered them telling her. Geophysics, you can play in mountains and get paid for it.

One class and she was hooked. Her childhood ambitions to work in space had evolved into fascination with the ground beneath her feet.

Jones went on to MIT and became an early expert on foreshocks, identifying certain smaller earthquakes as possible harbingers of a bigger one. She had an interest in China  her undergraduate degree is in Chinese language and literature  and focused her research on a series of roughly 500 foreshocks to a magnitude 7.3 quake that struck the city of Haicheng in 1975.

When Chinas communist government agreed to open its doors to select researchers from the U.S., Jones jumped at the opportunity and, in 1979, became the first American scientist to enter the country. Her research also took her to Afghanistan, Japan and other corners of the world before she made her way back to Southern California and the USGS, where her research enabled officials to start issuing earthquake advisories.

Feeling the earth move

A 1980 conference on earthquake prediction proved fateful. She gave a talk about her research in China while a fellow graduate student ran the audiovisual equipment behind the scenes. She married that student, Egill Hauksson, who now heads the seismic network at Caltech.

They raised two sons, Sven and Niels. To make it all possible, she worked part time until Sven was in college. Being a woman meant compromise, Jones said, and she couldnt have done it without a supportive, hands-on husband.

Being a woman also meant being mistaken for fellow seismologist Kate Hutton, who joined the Caltech-USGS team seven years before Jones.

We dont look anything alike  the only reason we were confused was because we were both women, Jones said. The guys doing the same thing dont get called the earthquake guys.

But, she acknowledged, the earthquake guys dont get remembered.

Jones refuses to conform to the expectations of a mans world. Her handshake is strong; her nail polish sparkly. Her lap is often filled with colorful yarn as she catches up on crocheting.

She just made a blanket for our baby, a colleague whispered, watching her fingers fly during an engineering conference.

Big on social media

Shes also a fixture on Twitter, where she has more than 15,000 followers. Got an earthquake question? Tweet it to @DrLucyJones and shell answer.

Anything can be a teachable moment. During the premiere for the earthquake thriller San Andreas, Jones commentary was often more entertaining than the movie itself.

OMG! A chasm? If the fault could open up, thered be no friction. With no friction, thered be no earthquake, she fired off on her phone.

Much of what Jones does today centers on this: What good is scientific knowledge if people dont use it?

The question came to mind when she joined the California Seismic Safety Commission in 2002 and realized that crucial decisions about infrastructure were being discussed without taking science into account.

For instance, a fault ruptures over a large area during an earthquake, not just at one point. If an aqueduct crosses the San Andreas to deliver water to Southern California, having three backups cross the fault at other locations wouldnt work because a single quake would break them all, she explained over and over again.

The experience gave her a new mission: translating convoluted disaster science into tangible actions for the public.

First came the 308-page ShakeOut report, a massive research effort that laid out the myriad ways a magnitude-7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault would devastate Southern California. Among them: six months without water, explosions at the Cajon Pass where natural gas and petroleum pipelines meet, devastating landslides and more than 1,600 fires.

Making science easier

The report persuaded officials to invest in earthquake-resilient infrastructure. It also gave birth to the annual ShakeOut drill  more than 43 million people last year practiced drop, cover and hold on.

When Garcetti needed an earthquake czar to confront long-ignored risks threatening Los Angeles, Jones seemed made for the job.

In more than 130 meetings with property owners, utility agencies and business groups, she preached the risk of doing nothing  a city with no cellphone service, buildings reduced to rubble and an economy in shambles.

Her tactics paid off. The city last year passed the most sweeping retrofitting laws in California history.

Her work earned her a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America medal, often referred to as the Oscars of government service. The American Geophysical Union, the Southern California Earthquake Center and many others also praised her achievements in translating science into policy.

Jones, who just turned 61, realized there was much more to do.

After her last day at the USGS on March 30, she can start raising money to create a center that bridges science and public policy. She can also partner with cities on disaster issues the way she worked on earthquakes with Los Angeles.

Other interests

Climate change is a big priority. In the same blunt way she persuaded the public to confront its denial about earthquakes, Jones will try to force a conversation about the need to adapt to a warming planet.

Leaving the USGS will also allow her to devote more time to an old passion: the viola da gamba. She practices the cellolike instrument every night, and among all the media praise shes received, what gets her most excited are two words the Los Angeles Times once used to describe her ensembles performance: Exquisitely performed, she said, relishing each syllable.

As the day came to a close, she gazed around the office shes about to leave behind and contemplated her life beyond these walls. She headed for the front door, past the darkened offices of USGS colleagues shes worked with for decades.

When she reaches home, she and her husband will discuss the next big scientific question. Passion, after all, does not retire.
New Delhi: Delhi Police on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that they are probing whether JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar has violated the conditions imposed on him after he was granted interim bail in the sedition case.

The police told Justice Suresh Kait that they "cannot comment" without verifying the facts if Kanhaiya has violated the bail conditions and the investigation in this aspect is in progress.

"As regards the allegations that he (Kanhaiya) has violated the bail conditions, this fact is disputed. Unless verified by us, we cannot comment on this. The investigation is going on," special public prosecutor Shailendra Babbar, appearing for the Delhi Police, told the court.

The court was hearing arguments on separate pleas seeking cancellation of interim bail granted to Kanhaiya and also for initiating perjury proceedings against him.

Advocate R P Luthra, who appeared for one of the petitioners Prashant Kumar Umrao, claimed in court that after Kanhaiya was released from jail on interim bail, he violated the bail conditions by giving statements "challenging the integrity and sovereignty of the country".

"The conditions so imposed on him (Kanhaiya) has been violated by him and he has breached the faith shown on him by the court. The concession granted to him should be taken away," he said.

Countering his submissions, Delhi government's senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra said that no grounds have been shown by the petitioners which warranted cancellation of interim bail granted to Kanhaiya at this stage.

"No single ground have been shown by the petitioners which satisfies that bail conditions have been violated by Kanhaiya," Mehra said.

On March 16, the petitions for cancellation of Kanhaiya's interim bail were referred to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court for allocating it before another bench, after objection was raised by one of the petitioners to the warning that they may have to bear the cost on dismissal of their pleas.

During the hearing, Luthra said, "this court ought to have taken a suo motu cognizance of the matter. I know judges are too busy to see the information which are available in public domain. I am presuming that whatever was there in public domain, the judges have not seen that."

He said the court ought to have taken cognisance on the violation of bail conditions by Kanhaiya.

To this, the court said, "we are not supposed to see what is there on TV" and further added that the "state and central government are looking into it."

Luthra, however, alleged that "they (Centre and state) are looking only for votes. They have failed."

When the court asked Luthra to satisfy it about his locus in the matter, the counsel said he was the intervenor before the Supreme Court in the case.

During the arguments which would continue on April 28, the Delhi government said the petitioners must tell the court about the grounds on which they are seeking cancellation of Kanhaiya's interim bail.

Delhi Police also told the court that they have not preferred cancellation of interim bail.

The lawyer representing other petitioner Vineet Jindal, who has also sought cancellation of interim bail, argued that Kanhaiya has violated the bail conditions and he does not know as to why "the police is not taking any action against him."

"The state is not doing anything for the reasons best known to them. May be they are under political pressure," he said, adding, "police do not wish to come to the court for cancellation of interim bail despite knowing the fact that Kanhaiya is violating the conditions."

Besides seeking cancellation of interim bail, petitioner Umrao had moved another plea for initiation of perjury proceedings against Kanhaiya alleging that he had "deliberately and wilfully filed a false affidavit" before the court while securing the relief.

Kanhaiya, who was granted six months interim bail on March 2, is facing sedition charge in connection with an event at JNU on February 9 where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru hailed as a 'martyr'.
New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday issued orders for attachment of assets of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh worth about Rs 8 crore including a flat in a posh locality here in connection with its money laundering probe case against him and others.

The agency issued a provisional attachment order here, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), seizing a clutch of LIC policies, bank fixed deposits and two storeys of a building in south Delhi's GK-I area.

Official sources said the assets have been considered the "proceeds of crime" of money laundering and were created by using alleged tainted funds.

The agency, the sources said, has also issued prohibitory orders on these assets which are "valued at Rs 7.93 crore."

An attachment order under PMLA is aimed at depriving the accused from obtaining benefits of their alleged ill-gotten wealth and the accused parties can appeal against the order before the Adjudicating Authority of the said Act within 180 days.

An unfazed Virbhadra Singh dubbed as a " Holi gift" the ED order and that it was a "dirty political conspiracy of the BJP."

"It is one more dirty political conspiracy by the BJP. Like the ED raid on the day of my daughter's marriage, this is a gift on the occasion of Holi", Singh said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Insisting that he is a fighter, Virbhadra said that he would continue to fight such politically motivated battles. "I have full faith in the judiciary of the country. Satyamev Jayate".

Recently, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant any interim stay on money laundering proceedings initiated by the Directorate against the chief minister. Justice Pratibha Rani had issued a notice to the ED seeking its response before May 31 on Virbhadra's plea seeking stay on the proceedings and quashing of the money laundering case against him.

ED has filed a case under criminal provisions of money laundering laws after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by CBI in this regard in September last year.

It had also conducted searches in this in 2015 in three states of Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The agency is working to investigate the allegation that Singh and his family members allegedly amassed wealth of Rs 6.1 crore between 2009-11, disproportionate to his known sources of income, while serving as the Union Minister of Steel.

The CBI FIR had named Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and Chauhan's brother C L Chauhan and they were charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
New Delhi: Family members of two Jet Airways crew members, who were injured in the Brussels airport blasts, are being flown to the Belgian capital, the airline said on Wednesday, while maintaining that both the employees are "safe" in hospitals where they are being treated.

Read: Brussels attacks: Vijaywada boys lucky escape

The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till tomorrow in view of the closure of the airport following yesterday's blasts, also said that its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations.

Read: Jet Airways staff Nidhi Chauphekar becomes face of Brussels terror attack

Brussels airport serves as the Mumbai-based airline's European hub for its international operations, which is now being relocated to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.

Read: Indian-Americans strongly condemn terrorist attacks in Brussels

"Jet Airways crew who were injured (in the blasts) are safe in hospitals. Our staff in Brussels are coordinating with the local authorities and hospitals to ensure that all the required medical care is provided to them. We have made arrangements for family members of the injured crew to travel to Brussels," an airline spokesperson said.

Jet Airways staff are with guests at each of the locations in Brussels and are providing assistance to ensure they are comfortable, the airline said.

Two Jet Airways crew members, identified as Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwani from Mumbai, were injured in the explosions that rocked Brussels' Zaventem airport yesterday morning which led the airline to cancel all its flights to and from the Belgian capital till Wednesday.

The airline, later, also announced cancellation of its flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Brussels, scheduled for tomorrow.

In a statement issued today, the airline said that it was closely monitoring the situation in Brussels.

The airline's Emergency Response Centre in Mumbai and the Local Incident Control Centre in Brussels are working round the clock to provide all possible support to the airline's staff and guests, it said.

"Our staff are with guests at each of the locations in Brussels and providing assistance to ensure they are comfortable," it said.

The carrier has also deployed its teams from India and Continental Europe to help in the coordination efforts, it added.
While the average person is happier with a large friend circle, new research reveals those with higher IQs are better off with a small one.

Evolutionary psychologists Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics and Norman Li of Singapore Management University are the authors of this intriguing study published last month in the British Journal of Psychology, and they were driven to find out how friendship affects life satisfaction and overall happiness.

Digging into data from a long-term survey of 15,000 adults aged 18 to 28, Kanazawa and Li noticed two major trends. First of all, urban dwellers were generally less happy than those living in rural areas. Secondly, people reported higher life-satisfaction with increased social interactions.

Using the "the savanna theory of happiness" to back up their research, the researchers hypothesized their findings are rooted in early man and the hunter-gather lifestyle that had people

living in tribes, much more akin to small towns that big cities. "Situations and circumstances that would have increased our ancestors' life satisfaction in the ancestral environment may still increase our life satisfaction today," they wrote.

There was also one major finding in the study that threw the researchers for a loop: Highly intelligent people became less satisfied the more time they spend with friends.

"The effect of population density on life satisfaction was therefore more than twice as large for low-IQ individuals than for high-IQ individuals," they wrote. And "more intelligent individuals were actually less satisfied with life if they socialized with their friends more frequently."

The Washington Post reached out to a Brookings Institution researcher who studies the economics of happiness to explain this anomaly.

"The findings in here suggest (and it is no surprise) that those with more intelligence and the capacity to use it ... are less likely to spend so much time socializing because they are focused on some other longer term objective," Carol Graham said.
Union Minister Smriti Irani and EPSI chief G. Viswanath at a meet on Making India a global hub for higher education in Bengaluru on Tuesday

Bengaluru: In a major push to provide autonomy to affiliated colleges across the country, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani announced here on Tuesday that affiliated colleges that have obtained the highest grade from NAC in the past 10 years will be given autonomous status.

Inaugurating a conference organised by the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI) here, Ms Irani said, I am in a position to declare that the colleges that make the cut if should get an NOC from the affiliating state Universities and they would be given the autonomous status.

She said, Karnataka Higher Education Minister T.B. Jayachandra has supported the move. The decision will give greater push for higher education.

She said AICTE has done away with the licence-raj system while giving approvals to engineering colleges. If an institution gets accreditation for five years, the same approval will be extended for another five yars, she said.
Mumbai: Two Jet Airways cabin crew members  Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwani from Mumbai  were injured in the explosions at Zaventem Brussels International Airport on Tuesday morning.

Nidhi's image, where she is pictured resting on a bench with an expression of shock and dust all over her hair and face, has been shared by millions across the globe with #PrayForNidhi trending on social media.

When this newspaper visited the home of Ms Chaphekar (40), both her teenage kids appeared worried, while her husband said that they were in touch with Jet Airways staff, but had not received any update about Ms Chaphekar since morning, which had upset them. Ms Chaphekars brother-in-law, Nilesh Chaphekar, said that she was an in-flight manager and had been working with Jet Airways for the past 20 years. She had left the house two days ago as she was to board a US-bound flight, which had a halt in Brussels.

Read: Brussels: 35 killed in terror attacks, Islamic State claims responsibility

Mr Motwani, who has been with Jet Airways since 2005, has also been injured but according to his Facebook friends, he has posted about his well-being on the social networking website. Sachin Motwani, a relative, said that Amits mother had been crying since the morning and wanted to speak to her son.

When Deccan Chronicle got in touch with Jet Airways sources to know about the status of crew, they informed that both Ms Chaphekar and Mr Motwani were stable. The explosion occurred a few minutes after the flight landed at Brussels. All passengers were on board and both crew members got down to assist in the de-boarding process when explosions occurred. Immediately, both injured crew members were shifted to hospitals.

Read: Faces of tragedy that spoke to millions

There was no damage to four of Jet Airways Airbus A330 aircraft at Brussels Airport. The explosions occurred around 8 am near check-in counters of the departure level area that was teeming with passengers. Following the explosions, Brussels Airport was shut down and all flights were cancelled.

Jet Airways flights from India, US and Canada had landed at Brussels between am and 8.30 am on Tuesday, and were scheduled to depart on the same routes at around 10.15 am, informed a press statement issued by Jet Airways. We are aware of the bomb explosions at Brussels Airport. Jet Airways is making all efforts to confirm the status of all its staff and guests. As per first information, all the Jet Airways aircraft in Brussels are safe, said the Jet Airways spokesperson in the statement.

Commenting on the injured airline crew, Jet Airways, said, Two Jet Airways staff have sustained injuries in the explosion at Brussels Airport. Both of them are receiving medical care at hospitals.

Jet Airways Flight 9W 228 from Mumbai landed at Brussels Airport at 7.11 am Belgium time on Tuesday, while Delhi Flight 9W 230 landed at 8.08 am Belgium time. According to Mumbai Airport sources, there are two flights that operate from the city to Brussels. However as Brussels Airport is shut, all operations have been suspended till further notice.
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GALVESTON  A former pediatric oncologist at M.D. Anderson pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to collecting thousands of images and videos of child pornography on his home and state computers.

Dennis Patrick Meehan Hughes, pleaded guilty to one count each of receipt of child pornography, access with intent to view child pornography and possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks, Jr. set sentencing for June 1.

Hughes, 49, remains free on $50,000 bond. He resigned from M.D. Anderson in the days following his June arrest. He turned over his license permanently to the Texas Medical Board in August, forgoing a lengthy review of his qualifications.

THE ARREST: M.D. Anderson pediatrics doctor charged with child porn

M.D. Anderson initiated outreach, contacting the families of approximately 300 young cancer patients, many of whom traveled long distances to be treated at Houston's world renowned center.

Hughes spent about 80 percent of his work time in a lab and 20 percent with patients, M.D. Anderson officials said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack told the judge that investigators found 329 videos and 2,693 images on his computers, including a laptop computer in his work office that is owned by the cancer center.

An FBI agent and a police detective executed a search warrant at his Pearland home June 5 based on information that he had been downloading files from a website known to distribute child pornography.

THE FALLOUT: Doctor charged in child porn case resigns from M.D. Anderson

The bulk of the images the FBI viewed were of naked prepubescent girls, some with grown men, in sexual situations.

Investigators collected eight digital cameras, a laptop, an iPad, six thumb drives, DVDs, memory cards and a hard drive all suspected to contain pornography exploiting children.

Hughes was forthright with the investigators, telling officials executing the search warrant that his pattern was to download images onto an external flash drive and then erase and clean it and start over. He admitted to police that one thumb drive contained 8,200 files, most of which appeared to be pornographic images of children.

Hughes, who was not under arrest at that point, told an FBI agent he had been looking at pornography since the late 1990s. Hughes, who is originally from New Jersey, graduated from Yale Medical School in 1996.

The guilty plea was not part of a plea bargain made with prosecutors, officials said. Hughes waived his right to trial and agreed to proceed to sentencing.

If convicted, he could face up to 40 years in prison.
Reflecting on his lifetime of public service, Alex Briseno on Tuesday zeroed in on a cathartic experience that put him on the road to jobs that included San Antonio city manager and leader of the citys water and transit utilities.

As a college student in 1968 during the Vietnam War, he worked at the Army medical centers admissions office and was dispatched to then-Kelly AFB to meet flights arriving with wounded troops.

I would be taking their information, and I saw all these young men who got drafted and went off to Vietnam to fight for our country, and I had the opportunity to go to college because I had an ROTC scholarship, Briseno recalled.

I was able to do some things they werent, and I knew that I had to commit my life to giving back to my community, he said.

Briseno, who served four years in the Army before his decades-long career in government, was presented Bexar Countys highest honor  a Hidalgo Proclamation rooted in Spanish history.

Public service has been what my whole life has been about, Briseno told Commissioners Court. He recounted his start as an intern at the Alamo Area Council of Governments and in the city managers office before rising to city manager and serving 11 years in that role.

He also served on the University Health Systems board of managers, as chairman of the board of San Antonio Water System, chairman of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and chairman of VIA Metro. Hes now a professor of public administration at St. Marys University, his alma mater.

Its always been an honor to serve, Briseno said.

jgonzalez@express-news.net

Twitter: @johnwgonzalez
A grand jury determined the fatal shooting of a Kerrville man by police responding to a domestic violence call last summer was justified, authorities said.

Kerrville police said officers shot Steven B. Norton, 47, late on Aug. 16 after he fired on them from the porch of his home on Linda Joy Street.

Norton, who owned a local pest-control firm, later died at a San Antonio hospital. Kerr County grand jurors who examined the incident last week found no criminal conduct by police and concluded the officers use of deadly force was justified, Assistant District Attorney Lucy Wilke said Tuesday.

She said an investigation by Texas Ranger Kevin Wright didnt identify which of four officers fired the fatal shot because the bullet had disintegrated. Wright declined to comment on the case.

Jennifer Norton had called police that night, saying her husband had assaulted her and her daughter and armed himself with a rifle.

The two left the home, and arriving officers were unable to establish dialogue with Norton. Police said he came outside and fired in their direction.

Police Chief David Knight called the grand jury findings welcome but not unexpected.

Its always a tragic circumstance when the actions of a citizen place our officers in a situation that requires the use of deadly force, Knight said. Its not a tragedy only for the family of the citizen involved, but is also something that officers carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Although Kerrville police reported that all four officers at the scene returned fire at Norton, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday that Wright's investigation concluded that three officers shot a total of 12 bullets at Norton, striking him once in the lower back.

Kerrville police on Wednesday could not identify the three shooters from among the four officers, who the chief had identified as Sgt. Jonathan Lamb and officers Roy Alonzo, Daniel Haas and Stephen Wherry.

Jennifer Norton called the domestic problem that night an anomaly during their eight-year marriage, and said she, too, believes the actions by police were justified.

Nothing like this had ever happened before. He was a good guy, she said Tuesday. The Police Department did what they were supposed to do.

After the shooting, she learned from toxicology tests that her husband had used tranquilizers, including Ketamine, whose side effects include hallucinations, mood swings and confusion.

Jennifer Norton said she was unaware her husband was being prescribed the drugs found in his system.

zeke@express-news.net
Kanhaiya Kumar comes out of the residence of Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: For the first time, JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, now out on bail in a sedition case, met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, ahead of his visit to Hyderabad Central University on Wednesday.

Kanhaiya, who was accompanied by a team of JNU students and members of the All-India Students Federation, met Mr Gandhi at his residence.

The JNUSU president, who will meet dalit scholar Rohith Vemulas friends at Hyderabad Central University on Wednesday, did not interact with the media after meeting Mr Gandhi. NSUI chief Roji M. John said it was a courtesy call to thank Mr Gandhi for supporting him in the ongoing JNU row.

Mr Gandhi later tweeted that he met a delegation of student leaders from AISF and JNUSU president. Mr Gandhi had visited the JNU campus on February 13, a day after Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a sedition case.

NSUI chief Roji M. John said a JNU delegation headed by Kanhaiya met Mr Gandhi for a courtesy call.

He told reporters: They thanked him for his continuous support ever since the issue started. Gandhi not only supported the students at JNU but also FTII and IIT Madras, where students have been protesting against the way the government is attacking institutions.

The BJP was quick to criticise the meeting, with former minister Shahnawaz Hussain saying the country was watching how Mr Gandhi and the Congress were courting people like Kanhaiya, who allegedly allowed people to raise anti-India slogans at JNU.
Hyderabad: JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was recently arrested for sedition in New Delhi which led to a nationwide debate on the issue of nationalism, will be visiting the UoH on Wednesday.

However, Cyberabad police is unlikely to allow him inside the campus, considering the prevailing law and order situation. According to higher officials, Mr Kumar might be stopped at the university gate.

When asked about it, Prof. Appa Rao Podile, UoH Vice-Chancellor said that he has not received any information regarding Mr Kumar's visit.

Read: HCU students go on rampage after VC Appa Rao Podile resumes charge

However, police will be consulted on the existing law and order situation in the university and if it would be advisable to allow Mr Kumar to speak there. university.

Students cant decide who should be V-C

UoH Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile on Tuesday described the incidences that took place on the campus earlier in the day were acts of violence and not protest. He termed it as black day in the history of the UoH.

Prof. Podile said, If any group of students can dictate who should be the Vice-Chancellor, no university can have a V-C. This is going to be a national problem. He said that he was appointed V-C by the government and will only accept the governments decision.
SACRAMENTO  Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has asked the city manager and police chief for information regarding how rape kits are handled in the city after saying he was concerned to learn that critical evidence in one case went unprocessed for six years.

Keith Kenard Asberry Jr., a 31-year-old Antioch man, faces multiple felony counts in a 2008 kidnapping, rape, sexual assault and robbery of two teenagers in Berkeley. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley said Berkeley police did not test the rape kit from that case until her office asked law enforcement agencies to inventory their untested rape kits so they could be sent to a lab for testing.

The Chronicle wrote about the Berkeley case and the backlog of untested rape kits in a March 13 story.

I think the victims deserve to have an answer as to why this kit wasnt tested, said Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, who represents Berkeley. Its important to give closure. We need to send a message that every department will get these tested so this evidence is processed in a timely way to ensure that there arent future victims. At the same time, we have a responsibility to make sure we provide police departments with resources to test these kits.

Charles Burress, a spokesman for Bates, said Tuesday that the mayor asked for the information from the chief and city manager and is waiting for their responses before commenting further.

Capt. Andrew Greenwood said the Berkeley Police Department is concerned about the circumstances surrounding how the rape kit ended up not being tested and are looking into what happened.

We take this seriously, Greenwood said.

The Police Department has sent all of its rape kits for which the statute of limitations has not expired for testing and plans to continue to work with OMalleys office to upload the DNA from the remaining kits to the national DNA database. At that point, Greenwood said there would be no rape kit backlog at the department.

The old way of thinking about this was, Do I need to submit this (rape kit) to make my case? Greenwood said. The answer may be no, because weve made an arrest or we cant locate the victim. The paradigm has changed. There is value in entering all DNA regardless.

Defendant in database

The Police Department refused to provide The Chronicle with documents related its handling of the case, citing a section of the California Public Records Act that prohibits releasing personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

The teens, who were 15 and 19, told police in 2008 that they were raped at gunpoint in their car and forced to drive to an ATM to withdraw $200. After the man left, they drove to a hospital, where police were called.

OMalley said once the rape kit was processed in 2014, a national DNA database linked the evidence to Asberry, who had been in the database of known and unknown criminals since a 2005 conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Bloodstain from 2015

DNA evidence also linked Asberry to a 2015 assault in Berkeley in which a 46-year-old woman fought off her attacker. Berkeley police tested a bloodstain found on the womans shirt to link him to that crime. Asberry was charged with burglary and attempted sexual assault in that case.

Asberry, who is representing himself in the case, is awaiting trial in Oakland. He is scheduled to appear in Alameda County Superior Court next Wednesday.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@MelodyGutierrez
Karl Marx had a few things to say about religion, including the slightly mistranslated statement that it is the opiate of the masses. He also defined religion as an inverted consciousness of the world  in other words, an inward focus that blinds us to reality.

Even if youre not religious, you may take issue with Marx, but his assessment certainly applies to followers of the Meyerist Movement, a cultlike organization at the complicated heart of Hulus stunning new dramatic series The Path, premiering on Wednesday, March 30.

Created by Dr. Stephen Meyer (Keir Dullea), the Movement is a blend of spirituality and pseudo-science marketed as a way of overcoming pain and negativity and achieving enlightenment. He visualized the Path as a ladder to self-awareness, and as the series begins, he is said to be holed up in Peru writing the ladders final rungs.

Meanwhile, a core group of followers reside in a gated compound in upstate New York, subsisting on contributions from external sympathizers and new converts. Cal Robertson (Hugh Dancy, Hannibal) runs things, claiming to have been personally anointed by Meyer to do so. Hes the only one who seems to be in touch with Meyer, but everyone takes Cals position of authority on faith, as it were.

Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad) is trying to be a good Meyerist, but something happened to him during a retreat in Peru that has filled his mind with doubts. He is reluctant to share his inner feelings with his wife, Sarah (Michelle Monaghan, True Detective), because as a staunch believer, she would be forced to report him as a possible denier. The Lanes have two kids, the elder of whom is a 15-year-old named Hawk (Kyle Allen, Never Leave Me), who is supposed to leave high school when he turns 16 to take vows of fealty to the Movement.

Life is seemingly good, bounteous and peaceful among the rather eerily detached folk of the compound. From the outset, we sense that something is amiss beneath the placid surface. Bit by bit, we begin to see the cracks in the picture. In addition to his secret crisis of faith, Eddie is paying regular visits to a former Movement member named Alison Kemp (Sarah Jones, Texas Rising), whose husband committed suicide. Now shes hiding out, living in terror of being caught by other members of the Movement.

Cal has rescued a young woman named Mary Cox (Emma Greenwell, Shameless), who has been pimped out by her trailer trash father ever since she was a young girl. Can the Movement help her unlearn how to use sex to get what she wants?

An FBI agent, Abe Gaines (Rockmond Dunbar, The Mentalist), believes theres something nefarious about the Movement and goes undercover to investigate his suspicions. Meanwhile, though, his infant daughter is struggling with a potentially fatal health problem, making Gaines vulnerable to the Movements slickly marketed promises and hope.

Hawk, being a healthy, red-blooded teenager, has his own struggles when he becomes friendly with an IS girl from school, IS being the Movements shorthand for ignorant systemite. Things progress one as would expect with Ashley (Amy Forsyth, Defiance), but predictable parental disapproval is exacerbated by the Movements rule against fraternizing with nonbelievers.

As the 10 episodes of the shows first season unfold, the cracks widen until the entire construct of the Movement is in danger of crumbling.

Creator Jessica Goldberg has done a masterful job telling the story of the organization through the individual characters. We see each major character evolve in a naturalistic way, rarely following anything close to a predictable pattern.

Similar to the character development in Breaking Bad, the seed of each characters destiny is already gestating within them  Sarahs conflicted feelings about both Eddie and Cal, Eddies agony as he tries to balance loving his wife with his growing doubt about the Movement, Cals attempt to temper his lust for power while trying to keep secrets about his past and present.

Goldberg has said she did not specifically draw on Scientology in creating The Path, but the similarities are more than coincidental, including a founder who has gone missing for a period of time and an electronic gizmo that evokes the concept of an e-meter.

But the series is not about whether the Movement hews closely to a particular religion, real or approximate. Its about the human drive to believe in something larger than ourselves, whether the object of our projection is a supreme being, a gaggle of deities, a collective system of beliefs, or on a smaller tier, love, ambition and power.

It is also about how self-interest plays a corrupting role in social structure, much in the way that the adaptive society created by the marooned boys in William Goldings Lord of the Flies was undone by the inevitable conflict between human nature and the common good. The Movements encampment is a microcosm of human society, and Meyerism is merely a refracting factor in the battle between individualism and the group.

Goldbergs perfectly crafted script is realized through shattering performances at every level, especially among the major players. Dancy has never done better work. His Cal is a tinhorn messiah hampered by all-too-human frailty and desires. Aaron Paul, very possibly heading toward another Emmy to add to his Breaking Bad collection, makes Eddie Lane the tortured soul of the series, compellingly real at every turn.

Michelle Monaghan has perhaps the greatest challenge among the leading players, because unlike the leading male characters, Sarah is a true believer in the Path, which means she has to leverage already complicated feelings about Eddie and Cal with the strict rules of the Movement.

As all of these story lines play out, we realize The Path is not the ladder Meyer envisions, but a winding route through the dark forest of conflict and frailty known as human nature.

David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV Follow me on Facebook

The Path: 10-episode dramatic series. First two episodes available for streaming on Wednesday, March 30. Weekly episodes thereafter.
BRUSSELS  Belgians began three days of mourning Wednesday for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings, and the country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up.

Turkish authorities, meanwhile, said they had caught one of the suicide bombers near the Turkish-Syrian border in July and sent him back to the Netherlands, warning both that country and Belgium that he was a foreign terrorist fighter.

Several people who may be linked to the attacks were still on the loose and the countrys threat alert remained at its highest level, meaning there is danger of an imminent attack, said Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgiums terrorism threat body. The attacks killed 31 people, not including three suicide bombers, and injured 270 others, authorities said. A prime suspect is a man in a white jacket and black cap captured on an airport video image who fled before the bombs went off, leaving behind a bag full of explosives. That bag later blew up, but no one was injured.

As government offices, schools and residents held a moment of silence to honor the dead, the mood was defiance mixed with anxiety that others involved in the attacks are still at large.

Belgian prosecutor Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw identified two of the Brussels attackers as brothers  Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, who targeted the subway. Najim Laachraoui, the suspected bombmaker in the Paris attacks in November, was identified as one of the two suicide bombers who targeted the airport.

Investigators raided the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a trash can on the street including a note from Ibrahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison. He was the brother who Turkish officials said was deported from Turkey to the Netherlands. Belgiums justice minister said authorities there knew him as a common criminal, not an extremist, and that he was sent back to the Netherlands, not Belgium.

A taxi driver who took Ibrahim El Bakraoui and two others to the airport led investigators to an apartment where they found 33 pounds of TATP explosives, along with nails and other materials used to make bombs, Van Leeuw said.

He said authorities do not know the identities of two other people pictured with El Bakraoui in a surveillance photo from the airport that police are circulating.

The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, has also claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings.
RIO DE JANEIRO  A Brazilian Supreme Court justice rejected a motion Tuesday to let former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva assume a Cabinet post that would make it harder to prosecute him while police made several arrests in a sprawling corruption scandal that threatens to bring down Silva and dozens of other top politicians.

Justice Rosa Weber denied motions by the government to overturn a decision last week by another Supreme Court justice who blocked Silva from becoming chief of staff for his successor, President Dilma Rousseff. Last weeks decision also transferred the probe targeting Silva back to the lower court that had been spearheading it.
CAIRO  President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi reshuffled his government on Wednesday, naming nine new ministers and creating a new portfolio for business but leaving the key ministries of defense, foreign affairs or interior untouched.

The most important changes in the widely anticipated reshuffle came in the portfolios of investment, finance, tourism and water resources. El-Sissi swore in the new ministers at the al-Ittihadiyah palace in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, according to state television.

The changes come at a time when Egypt under el-Sissi is facing a host of seemingly intractable problems, primarily an economy reeling from five years of unrest that has led to a severe slump in the vital tourism sector. They also follow the recent devaluation by nearly 15 percent of the countrys weakening currency, a move that led to a surge in prices. Egyptian security forces are meanwhile embroiled in a debilitating fight against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula who are proving to be tenacious while growing deadlier.

The reshuffle is the first since September, when el-Sissi named Sherif Ismail prime minister, his second premier since he took office in 2014 after his landslide election victory.

Egyptian authorities rarely share with the public the reasons behind sacking government ministers, prompting media speculation and uncertainty. However, Wednesdays replacements appeared to highlight the troubles faced by Egypt in some sectors. Reflecting efforts to revive the countrys ailing economy is the creation of a new business sector portfolio, which will be mandated with encouraging and shepherding small startups.

The investment and finance ministers were also fired, both replaced by candidates plucked from the private sector.

The replacement of the water minister follows the lack of any tangible progress in drawn-out negotiations between Egypt and Ethiopia over the construction of a massive dam on the Nile by the Horn of Africa nation that will most likely affect Cairos vital share of the rivers water.

Naming a new minister for civil aviation comes less than five months after a Russian airliner crashed over the Sinai Peninsula shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm, el-Sheikh. Russia said the crash, which killed all 224 people on board, was caused by an explosive device, and the Sinai affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
PARIS  Frances highest court ruled Tuesday that judicial phone taps between Nicolas Sarkozy and his main lawyer are legal, paving the way for an eventual corruption trial against the former French president that could hamper his bid for re-election.

Sarkozy is expected to seek the conservative nomination to run for president again next year.

The opposition leader is under preliminary charges of corruption and influence-peddling based on information gleaned from judicial phone taps in 2013-14.

It is one of several legal cases in which his name has appeared, but the most potentially damaging to his political future.

His phones were tapped as part of an investigation into suspected illegal financing of his successful 2007 presidential campaign. But conversations heard via the phone taps brought to light a completely new legal case.

Sarkozys lawyers argued the wiretapping was carried out in breach of lawyer-client privilege. But the Cour de cassation rejected their arguments and ruled that the investigating judges didnt break any laws when they secretly ordered to tap Sarkozys phone.

The ruling means the investigating judges can go on with their investigation in the new case and eventually send Sarkozy to trial for corruption and influence-peddling. However, when they close their investigation, they can also decide to change the charges or dismiss the case altogether.

Its not just disappointment, its incomprehension, Patrice Spinosi, lawyer for Sarkozy in the top court case, said after the decision. The ruling is a defeat for the defense rights and may lead the European court of human rights to sentence France over it.

The lawyers for Sarkozy will still have an opportunity to contest parts of the ongoing investigation, but only on different grounds than the lawyer-client privilege. They can also appeal an eventual order to send their client to trial.

In the wiretapping case, Sarkozy is suspected of trying to bribe a top judge for information about himself, covered by judicial secrecy. In exchange, the former president allegedly promised to use his influence to get the magistrate a prestige position in Monaco.

The opposition leader is expected to face a tough conservative primary later this year, with nine candidates in his party already declared and polls showing him as a runner-up.
BUENOS AIRES  On a fence-mending mission, President Obama held up Argentina on Wednesday as an emerging world leader worthy of U.S. support, as he and Argentine President Mauricio Macri broke with years of recent tensions between their countries.

Obamas state visit to Buenos Aires quickly turned into a lovefest between him and Macri, who in December replaced former President Cristina Fernandez, long a thorn in Obamas side. Obama lavished praise on Macri and said his visit was so personally important, even riffing on his boyhood interest in Argentinian literature and culture.

Im impressed because he has moved rapidly on so many of the reforms that he promised.Obama said in Casa Rosada, the pink-hued presidential palace made famous in the U.S. by the movie Evita.

Macri, who has committed Argentina to a pro-business approach, was equally effusive about Obama, who leaves office in less than a year. You emerged proposing major changes and you showed they were possible  that by being bold and with conviction, you could challenge the status quo, Macri said.

Obama has made no secret of his preference for Macri over the left-leaning Fernandez, whose meandering invectives against the U.S. were a source of frequent eye-rolling in the White House. Fernandez was close with Hugo Chavez, Venezuelas famously anti-American late president, and openly admired Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. She was quick to blame the U.S. for Argentinas problems.

Yet Obama conceded that Americas history backing repressive regimes in the region had clouded its ability to take the moral high ground. His visit, the first for a U.S. president in nearly 20 years, coincides with the 40th anniversary this week of Argentinas 1976 coup, stirring up lingering questions about Americas role supporting the military dictatorship that followed.

At Macris request, Obama has agreed to declassify U.S. intelligence and military records about the period known as the Dirty War, a gesture Macri said would help Argentinians know what the truth is.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP

AL-TASH, Iraq  Iraqi security forces, supported by coalition air strikes, are clearing territory northwest of Baghdad along the Euphrates River valley as they continue to prepare a push to retake the Islamic State group-held city of Mosul. But progress on the ground has been slowed by skirmishes elsewhere and by a political crisis that has prompted the government to pull some forces back from the front to secure the capital.

Amid these distractions, Iraqi forces are concentrating on the Islamic State-held town of Hit in the western province of Anbar. Commanders here say the battle for Hit is key to building on their current momentum, cutting Islamic State supply lines and linking up government forces to the west and the north of Baghdad in preparation for an eventual push on Mosul.
Hyderabad: Seven policemen were injured on Wednesday after a group of students from Osmania University (OU) pelted stones when they were shifting the body of a man found inside a water tank on the campus, police said.

The incident triggered tension in the University campus.

Two of the seven police personnel suffered injuries on their head, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east zone), A Ravindar said.

"The protesting students held a dharna raising slogans and did not allow the police to shift the body despite showing them the identity card of the deceased that established that he was not a student," he said.

"They later started pelting police with stones. However, the protesters have been dispersed and efforts are on to nab those who hurled stones," he said.

Earlier, the students, after learning that the body of a man was found in the water tank, gathered in large numbers and started protesting, claiming that the deceased was a student and alleged that he had committed suicide. They also demanded an inquiry into his death.

When the policemen were in the process of shifting the body for postmortem, the protesting students tried to prevent them and suddenly started pelting stones.

"The students claimed that the deceased was a student, but in fact it is not so," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kachiguda Division) Ch Laxminaryana said.

He said the deceased has been identified as a labourer, of M K Nagar adjoining the OU, who had got inside the tank for swimming a couple of days back, but his body was found on Wednesday.

"He (the deceased) seems to be a drunkard and he got inside the tank in view of the summer to cool himself, it seems he died due to suffocation and drowned," the ACP said based on preliminary investigation.

"The students resorted to stone pelting. However, the situation is under control now," Laxminaryana said.

Additional forces were deployed on the campus following the stone-pelting incident.
JOHANNESBURG  A South African archaeologist has found a piece of debris with part of an aircraft engine manufacturers logo and Malaysias transport minister said Tuesday that authorities will examine it to see if it is from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Based on early reports, there is a possibility of the piece originating from an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine, but a further examination and analysis are needed to verify whether it belongs to Flight 370, said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai. A team will be dispatched to retrieve the debris, Liow said in a statement.

On South Africas southern coast, Neels Kruger was walking along a lagoon Monday afternoon, near the town of Mossel Bay when he spotted something that did not seem to suit the natural surroundings.

Being an archaeologist, Im always looking for things with my nose to the ground, said the 35-year-old. He recognized the brown honeycomb structure from photos of other pieces of debris believed to part of the missing aircraft.

When I flipped it around, I didnt know immediately what it was but just thought, Oh my word! he said. On the other side, Kruger said he recognized what remains of the black Rolls-Royce logo, the manufacturer of aircraft engines. The piece is about 27.5 inches square with chunks gone from the side, Kruger. said

The white surface, with the partial logo, has peeled away to reveal a dark metallic gray covering, a photograph showed. Kruger took photos and sent it to a friend who is a pilot, who in turn passed it on to other pilots, who all quickly became convinced that this was part of an airplane engine. Kruger alerted the South African Civil Aviation Authority who told him to sit tight until further instruction.

Wondering what to do next, he sent a message via Facebook to Liam Lotter, the South African teenager who also found a piece of aircraft debris. In December, the 18-year-old found what he believes could be the wing of the missing plane on a beach in neighboring in Mozambique. Lotter, who announced his discovery earlier this month, passed along the contact details of the Australian authorities tasked with leading the investigation into the missing plane.

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane remains one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation.
MOSCOW  A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced a Ukrainian pilot to 22 years in prison after convicting her for complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The United States denounced the ruling as a show of blatant disregard for the principles of justice.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko quickly offered to exchange two Russians held in his country for the return of the pilot, 34-year old Nadezhda Savchenko. Moscow has refused to consider a swap until the legal proceedings were finished.

The Kremlin was noncommittal, saying that it will be up to President Vladimir Putin to make a decision.

Upon hearing the guilty verdict, Savchenko burst into song and started to chant Glory to Ukraine! That was echoed by Ukrainian spectators in the courtroom in Donetsk, a Russian town near the border with Ukraine.

The judge called for a break before returning to hand down the sentence, which also included a fine for crossing into Russia illegally.

The Savchenko case has attracted strong criticism from the West and is an open wound for Ukraine, which says she was captured by Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine and turned over to Russia, and therefore should be treated as a prisoner of war.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the conviction and sentencing of Savchenko show a blatant disregard for the principles of justice and contravene Russias commitments under the Minsk agreements, and called for her immediate release.

Although she was an air force officer, Savchenko was fighting in a Ukrainian volunteer battalion against Russia-backed rebels when she was captured by the separatists in June 2014. She surfaced in Russia less than a month later. Moscow insists she escaped from the rebels and was captured after crossing the border by herself.

Speculation persists that Moscow could agree to exchange her for the two Russians captured in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said they were active-duty soldiers despite Russias persistent denial that it has sent troops or equipment to bolster the rebels.

Poroshenko offered a swap in a video statement released after the verdict. He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had assured him last year that he will return Nadiya Savchenko to Ukraine after the verdict.

Im ready to hand over to Russia two Russian servicemen who were captured on our territory for their part in an armed aggression against Ukraine, Poroshenko said. The men are now on trial, and Poroshenko said he will be willing to hand them over after the verdict is in.

The sentencing capped a two-day hearing in which Judge Leonid Stepanenko recounted the case in great detail, sending some spectators to sleep. The lawyers passed the time looking into their phones or talking to Savchenko, who was confined in a cage.
GIFF JOHNSON/AFP/Getty Images

The nations of the world agreed years ago to try to limit global warming to a level they hoped would prove somewhat tolerable. But a group of leading climate scientists warned on Tuesday that permitting a warming of that magnitude would actually be highly dangerous.

The likely consequences would include killer storms stronger than any in modern times, the disintegration of large parts of the polar ice sheets, and a rise of the sea sufficient to begin drowning the worlds coastal cities before the end of this century, the scientists declared.
GENEVA  Syrias warring parties taking part in the Geneva talks exchanged documents on Tuesday outlining each sides basic positions, the U.N. special envoy said.

The documents can be used to find if there is common ground between the Syrian governments side and that of the opposition before the current round of talks adjourn later this week, said Steffan de Mistura. Each side has to at least show that it is serious about wanting to find a political process or political transition, the envoy told reporters in Geneva.
TAIPING ISLAND  Taiwan flew international media to its largest island holding in the South China Sea on Wednesday in a bid to reinforce its territorial claims in the disputed and increasingly tense region.

Deputy Foreign Minister Bruce Linghu, who led the trip, said he wanted to show that Taiping is an island capable of sustaining human habitation, and not simply a rock as the Philippines claims in a case brought before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Islands are entitled to territorial waters, an exclusive economic zone and other rights not enjoyed by mere rocks.

Two dozen journalists were flown to the island aboard a Taiwanese air force C-130 transport plane that landed on an airstrip guarded by coast guard sentries with rifles. They were shown the islands post office and its fresh-water well, and were to visit the harbor and a traditional Chinese temple.

The Philippines and Vietnam also claim Taiping. Critics say Manila is seeking to have Taiping designated a rock to avoid having to share an exclusive economic zone with its own nearby island of Palawan.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei following the trip, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he would invite Philippine government representatives, lawyers, and five members of the arbitration commission to visit Taiping themselves to see that it is an island with fresh water, capable of sustaining farm production, livestock and human life.

The Philippines remains ignorant of conditions on Taiping and has misled the arbiters with absurd reasoning, Ma said.

Manilas case, which has been rejected by China, aims to challenge Beijings blanket claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. Yet it threatens also to harm relations between the Philippines and fellow pro-U.S. democracy Taiwan, which generally enjoy friendly neighborly relations.

Taiwan, which lacks diplomatic ties to negotiate with the five other governments with territorial claims in the South China Sea, has increasingly turned to public diplomacy to reinforce its own claims.

Ma paid a visit to Taiping in late January, drawing rare criticism from the United States, Taiwans key ally, which has urged all parties to avoid steps that might raise tensions. Although Taiwans claim to almost the entire region overlaps with Chinas, Ma has sought to cast Taiwan as a peaceful, humanitarian player in the region.

Taiwan operates a 10-bed hospital, a lighthouse and a fishing industry aid station on 110-acre Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, which has a population of around 200 mostly coast guard personnel. It is spending more than $100 million to upgrade the islands airstrip and build a wharf capable of allowing its 3,000-ton coast guard cutters to dock.
JAKARTA, Indonesia  The city center of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, was paralyzed Tuesday morning by a violent mass protest by taxi and other public transportation drivers against ride-hailing apps, with demonstrators blocking major roads and highways and attacking other taxis that were not taking part.

An estimated 10,000 members of the Indonesian Land Transportation Drivers Association had planned a protest march from the national House of Representatives complex to the Presidential Palace to demand that the government ban app-based transportation companies including Uber and Grab, saying they were hurting their ability to earn fares.

Instead, drivers ran amok in the district near the legislative complex, blocking roads leading to the Semanggi Flyover, the citys main highway artery, and Jalan Sudirman, a primary thoroughfare that runs through the heart of Jakartas business district.

Traffic was backed up for miles in all directions, and some offices closed because of security concerns.

Stop illegal taxis, protesters yelled. No more apps.

Television news footage as well as videos posted on social media sites showed enraged taxi drivers pulling fellow drivers who were not part of the protest out of their vehicles and assaulting them. Their passengers were also forced to get out and run away.

Protesters threw rocks at some taxis, smashed the windshields of others with sticks, or broke off their side-view mirrors.

Protesters, wearing their uniforms, were seen attacking taxis belonging to their own company, as well as targeting those of rival operators. They were joined in the violence by the drivers of public transportation buses, three-wheeled scooters and minivans.

In one bizarre scene, a taxi driver repeatedly attempted to drive through a throng of protesters from his own company, the Blue Bird Group, who appeared to be trying to attack his cab and pull him from the vehicle. He was eventually able to drive away.

In another incident, protesters attacked a driver for Go-Jek, a popular Indonesian app-based motorcycle transportation company, whom they had pulled off his motorcycle.

Many of the protesters work for Blue Bird, Indonesias largest taxi company, and were plainly visible in their blue uniform shirts.

During a live televised news conference Tuesday, Andri Nida, a spokeswoman for Blue Bird, said the company did not approve or support the protests.

By midday, the protesters ended their blockade and marched or drove toward northern Jakarta, where they staged demonstrations at the Ministry of Communications and Information, and across from the State Palace.

The Jakarta police had deployed 6,000 officers early Tuesday to monitor the protest march. Police officials vowed to take action against protesters who committed violence, but it was unclear if they had made any arrests.

App-based transportation has seen explosive growth in numerous cities across Indonesia in the past two years.

However, traditional transportation operators have taken exception to app-based companies, saying they are not licensed and do not pay state taxes.

Rudiantara, Indonesias communications minister, who like many Indonesians has only one name, rejected their calls to ban ride-hailing apps, saying they were part of Indonesias growing digital economy.
When Teresa Anaya heard the words grand jury, she felt hope for the first time since a heavy knock on her door two months prior. She welcomed the wordsand the hopebecause they arrived amid a growing darkness that gripped her family in a way nothing ever had.

A grand jury couldn't recover what the Anayas lost, but it could, they believed, clear a path for justice.

Eventually, the words "grand jury" would become weightless symbols of a system Teresa believes betrayed her family. And the hope would disappear like a puff of gun smoke, back into the darkness that began to gather with that knock on the door.

A pair of New Mexico State Police officers in plain clothes arrived at Teresa and Jake Anaya's Bellamah neighborhood home on the morning of Nov. 7, 2013. Their 39-year-old daughter, Jeanette Anaya, had been shot by police, the officers said.

As Jeanette's father sat mostly silent, her mother responded with an escalating torrent of tears and screams. "Where is she?" Teresa demanded of the officers. "Is she going to be OK?"

Jeanette was not going to be OK. She was dead.



Family photos show a smiling Jeanette Anaya with her niece. (Courtesy of Teresa Anaya)

One of the officers told Teresa to get hold of herself. They provided no details. Soon after, they were gone.

Grief mounted for the Anaya family in the ensuing weeks, as they learned a series of grim facts: New Mexico State Police Officer Oliver Wilson, who had been on the force a year and a half, tried to pull Jeanette over on a highly questionable traffic violationso questionable that Santa Fe police refused to join the ensuing pursuit. Jeanette didn't stop. Instead, she led Wilson on a chase across surface streets and through residential Santa Fe.

The pursuit ended when Jeanette slowed down, and Wilson used his police car to spin her silver Honda Accord around. Then, Wilson got out and fired 16 shots at Jeanette's car. One of the bullets went through the side of Jeanette's head; another struck the top of her back. Wilson's story about the shooting didn't completely square with a video captured on the dashboard camera of his patrol car, or with the version of events described by the passenger in Jeanette's car.

Wilson's fellow state police officers quickly finished a criminal investigation of the shooting, with no assistance from other agencies, and then passed it along to the district attorney, an elected official whose success depends largely on cooperation from police as witnesses in court prosecutions.



She was killed when a state police officer fired 16 shots into her car after she refused to pull over. (Courtesy of Teresa Anaya)

The Anayas began to feel the deck was stacked against what they wanted: criminal charges against Wilson.

They hired Tom Clark, a civil rights attorney, to help them navigate the process. In January 2014, less than two months after the shooting, Clark delivered some hopeful news: Then-1st Judicial District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco would present the case to a grand jury later that month.

"We thought, well, good, it's going before a grand jury," Teresa says in an emotional interview last week. "I thought, OK, this is going to be easythey're going to charge the officer. But it didn't happen that way."

In fact, it couldn't have happened that way. And that's by design.

Through a series of interviews and a review of the grand jury transcript, SFR and New Mexico In Depth are revealing for the first time the inner workings of the process that cleared Wilson and numerous officers before him of criminal wrongdoing in shootings. It is a system judges banned in Albuquerque for lack of impartiality and legally fragile underpinnings. It is a system that is used only for police shooting cases and only in two jurisdictions in New Mexico. It is a system that stumped a Columbia University law professor who specializes in police practices and criminal law.

It is a system that has confused lawyers, families of people shot by police and even grand jurors themselves. And it is a system that, after inquiries for this story, may not have a future in the capital city.

A Fallacy

For at least the last 15 years, Santa Fe district attorneys have used "investigative grand juries" to review police shooting cases. Investigative grand juries have no targets, and they do not consider whether to charge someone with a crime. Also, state law clearly allows investigative grand juries in cases of institutions or public offices, but it's an open question as to whether police shootings fit that standard.

The panels are rarely used in New Mexico, and they differ in several ways from traditional grand juries, which are used in criminal cases involving ordinary citizens. Traditional grand juries consider criminal charges and vote on whether to indict their targets. They nearly always issue indictments, according to numerous prosecutors interviewed for this story.



State police wont talk about their own internal investigation into Officer Oliver Wilsons conduct in the shooting. (New Mexico State Police)

In short, the grand jury that heard evidence about Wilson's shooting of Jeanette was powerless to charge the officer. Even if the 12 men and women on the panel wanted to issue an indictment, they couldn't have.

Instead, Pacheco presented the grand jury with a single set of instructionsfor justifiable homicide by a public officer. Then, after a seven-hour presentation on Jan. 14, 2014, she asked jurors whether Wilson was "justified" under New Mexico law in shooting Jeanette.

He was, the grand jury decided, after deliberating for 48 minutes.

Through a state police spokesman, Wilson declined to be interviewed for this story.

He is still on the state police force, according to Sgt. Chad Pierce, a department spokesman. Pierce says the agency conducts internal affairs investigations of all police shootings to determine whether an officer violated department policies. Those probes are separate from the criminal investigations, which are turned over to prosecutors. Pierce refused to comment on the internal affairs investigation into Wilson's shooting of Jeanette. He would not say whether Wilson was disciplined or even whether the investigation is complete.

The Anayas did not know how the system worked until months after the grand jury ruled.

"I was blaming the grand jury for the longest time," Teresa says. "Then we realized that the justice system is very corrupt. The justice system, they let us down. They let us down. It was wrong.  It was never up to the grand jury. It was all up to the state police investigation and Angela Pacheco. I blame them, and I blame the system for allowing this to happen."

Clark, the Anayas' attorney, says the investigative grand jury system lacks teeth and produces no results. Rather, it serves only to ratify a prosecutor's decision. "It's not a system that serves anybody, and that's not a slam on law enforcement or prosecutors," he says. "It's about the structure. This is not an adversarial process. It's not designed as a fact-finding mission. The idea of an investigative grand jury is a fallacy."



Steve Allen, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, says transparency and accountability have become particularly important as scrutiny of police shootings has increased around the country.

"With everything this country has been through with police shootings in the past few years, it is even more dubious to be using a process like this to determine whether a shooting was legal, or even constitutional," Allen says.

Pacheco, a Democrat, was elected to two terms as 1st Judicial DA. Citing "family considerations," she resigned in December, with one year left in her second term. In an interview last week, Pacheco says police shootings, including the Anaya case, had nothing to do with her resignation. Police officers "weren't going to be treated any differently," she says. "In this jurisdiction, I'm not exactly cozy with the police."

Angela Pacheco (Peter St. Cyr)

Pacheco defends her use of the grand juries in the Anaya case and in what she estimates to be six or seven others she presented during her time as DA, saying the involvement of 12 citizens provided a check on her own conclusions about the shootings.

Cases fit two basic patterns, Pacheco says. Most of them were clearly justified shootings, according to her analyses. In "a few of them," there were open questions about the shooting officers' conduct. Pacheco would not say which category she believed best described Wilson's shooting of Jeanette.

Had she encountered a case in which an officer clearly committed a crime by shooting someone, Pacheco says she would have sought an indictment from a traditional grand jury. That never happened.

Teresa says that should have occurred in her daughter's case.

There's no question that Jeanette broke several laws that night. Yet her family says the system fell down. Wilson "needed to be held accountable for what he did," says Teresa.

Asked about Teresa's criticism of the process used to clear Wilson, Pacheco pauses for several moments.

"I can understand her feeling that [the grand jury presentation] wasn't a fair representation of what occurred," she says. "There is not an efficient or good process in the state of New Mexico to deal with police shootings."

What Are We Doing?

There is one similarity between traditional grand juries and the panels used to review police shooting cases in Santa Fe: Both are conducted in secret. No one who's not part of the proceeding may attend. Transcripts and recordings are not made public.

But a 162-page transcript of the Anaya shooting presentation recently obtained from a source provides a glimpse into the way the unusual investigative grand jury worked.

Twelve people testified before the grand jury. Ten of them, including Wilson, were state police officers. Jeremy Munoz, who was riding with Jeanette the night of the shooting, testified. So did a Santa Fe police lieutenant. Pacheco's presentation was built almost exclusively around the state police investigation.

Early testimony came from State Police Academy and use-of-force instructors. Among other points, she asked them to talk about "force science," a highly controversial policing philosophy that teaches officers to act quickly in tense situations. Force science and its developer, psychology professor William Lewinski, have played a role in clearing hundreds of police officers around the country in use-of-force cases.

Grand jurors watched the video from Wilson's dashboard camera and heard extensive testimony about the vehicle pursuit and the shooting.

Just after 1 am on Nov. 7, 2013, Wilson saw Jeanette turn right through a green light from Alta Vista Street onto St. Francis Drive. He believed she had committed a traffic violation, although the video does not appear to show one. Pacheco has herself said publicly, and she reiterated in her interview with SFR and NMID, that there was no infraction, but she did not press Wilson on it in front of the grand jury.

Wilson turned on his emergency lights and began to follow Jeanette. She did not stop. Instead, she led the officer on a winding racecourse through neighborhood streets, clocking speeds as high as 87 mph.

Munoz testified that Jeanette did not stop because she said she had a warrant for her arrest on a misdemeanor charge of concealing her identity.

The pursuit neared Jeanette's intended destination: her parents' home. As she turned onto Camino Carlos Rey, Wilson nudged her car with his to stop it. What happened next is at the heart of the controversy over the shooting: What was Jeanette doing when Wilson began firing, and where was he standing at the time?

Wilson testified that he got out of his patrol car and walked toward Jeanette's Honda. According to his testimony, she reversed toward him, and fearing for his safety, he began firing. She then began to drive away, and Wilson kept firing as he ran alongside the Honda, emptying his magazine. A few seconds later, the Honda crashed into a cinder block wall.

Each of the other state police officers who testified about the shooting repeated Wilson's story.

Munoz described the sequence differently. He said Jeanette backed into Wilson's police car in an attempt to position her vehicle for an escape. The officer did not begin firing until Jeanette was driving away from him, he told the grand jury.



Some of the action takes place outside the frame of Wilson's dashboard camera, so it is difficult to tell exactly what happened. But the audio and the videotaken together with a bullet trajectory report prepared by the state policeappear to more closely support Munoz's story, not Wilson's, according to an analysis by SFR and NMID.

Citing established case law, Pacheco says in the interview that Wilson's perception in a rapidly unfolding situation was most important. "He is trained to stop the action," she says. Asked why she did not challenge Wilson on the witness stand, Pacheco says prosecutors are supposed to remain neutral in grand jury proceedings. "I couldn't get adversarial with the witnesses," she says. "It is up to the grand jury to determine the credibility of witnesses. We don't give them any signals.  Nothing is ever done to manipulate the grand jury."

Pacheco didn't apply the "signal-free" standard to all the evidence and testimony. She made sure jurors heard that Jeanette had cocaine in her system, a fact Pacheco prised from one of the state police investigators during her presentation. The investigator testified that a toxicology report showed 0.08 milligrams per liter of the substance in Jeanette's blood. One of the grand jurors pushed for context: What did that mean? Pacheco cut off the investigator's answer and said she didn't know.

In an interview with SFR and NMID, Dr. Harry A Milman, consulting toxicologist and president of ToxNetwork.com, characterized the amount of cocaine in Jeanette's system as "small." Milman said it wasn't enough to make any characterizations about Jeanette's behavior the night of the shooting, when she took the cocaine or how frequently she used the drug.

Despite her later comments about remaining neutral in grand jury presentations, Pacheco pressed Munoz in the grand jury room. She challenged his version on multiple occasions. At one point, she asked him whether it was possible that Wilson began firing while Jeanette was driving toward the officer in reverse. Munoz said it was not. After his testimony, Pacheco told him to wait in the hallway for her.

In an interview, Pacheco says she does not remember what the two discussed in the hallway. She recalls pressing him during his testimony because "he had been lying about something." She says she couldn't remember what it was. Munoz was not charged with perjury.

The prosecutor's control over the process was evident in other instances, too. She stopped a state police investigator from talking about where Wilson was standing when he fired the shots, and she would not discuss it with grand jurors herself. In another instance, Pacheco halted a conversation among grand jurors about the video, which they had just watched for a second time.

One grand juror expressed confusion about the purpose of the proceeding. About midway through, he reminded Pacheco that for every other presentation he'd seen as a grand juror, there had been a target.

"There is no target," the DA responded.

"What are we doing?" the grand juror asked.

"You're going to hear evidence as to whether or not it was a justifiable homicide by an officer. All you do is 'yes' or 'no,'" she said, adding that she was bringing the case to the panel "because if I were to just do it on my own and not bring it to you, people would think I'm trying to cover something up."

Thats crazy

The grand jury ruled that Wilson's shooting was justified. Only two investigative grand juries have reached a different conclusion in the history of their use in Santa Fe, officials say. Those "unjustified" cases involved former Santa Fe County Sheriff's Deputy Shawn Beck in 2003 and Santa Fe police officers John DeBaca and Stephen Fonte in 2014. Yet, none of the three officers was charged with criminal wrongdoing.



16 Bullets

fired from Wilson's gun as Jeanette drove away



7 Hours

of testimony to an investigative grand jury



48 Minutes

of deliberation to find the shooting justified



"What's the point, really?" asks Clark, the Anayas' attorney. He also represents the man who survived the shooting by DeBaca and Fonte in a potential civil case. "If a shooting is not justified, there needs to be some recourse."

Prosecutors in Albuquerque used investigative grand juries in police shooting cases for more than 20 years. A series of news stories about the process prompted judges to suspend its use indefinitely. The judges cited the appearance that prosecutors weren't impartial in the presentations and said the district attorney's office had no legal authority to conduct them.

Outgoing Bernalillo County DA Kari Brandenburg now decides in-house whether officers acted within the law in shooting cases. She posts investigative case files and a findings letter on her website.

Most district attorneys in New Mexico either review police shooting cases themselves or automatically appoint a special prosecutor. Only the 1st and 12th districts use the investigative grand juries.



Jeffrey A Fagan, a Columbia University Law School professor, studied the use of grand juries for police-related deaths in New York and reviewed the prosecutor's grand jury presentation for the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo.

"In most places, whether the grand jury is investigative or not, they can still issue a bill of indictment," Fagan says, adding that there haven't been many scholarly articles written on the issue.

"Relative to what we learned in New York, though, and the review in Ferguson, [the Santa Fe process] is very unusual. I've never heard of a process like the one you're describing. That's crazy."



Jennifer Padgett (Anson Stevens-Bollen)

Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Jennifer Padgett in December to finish out Pacheco's term as DA for Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties. Now, she has a decision to make with Santa Fe police officers' Jan. 27 shooting of Herman Flores, who authorities say exchanged gunfire with officers after robbing a store.

Padgett says in an interview that she anticipates taking the case to an investigative grand jury, "because it has been common practice."

But investigative grand juries may not have a future in Padgett's administration. She says she plans to examine practices around the countryincluding what took place in Albuquerqueto come up with something that "balances transparency, the community's interests and preserving and protecting the interests of law enforcement."

Teresa is still pushing.

"Nothing will ever bring my daughter back," she says. "She had such a big heart. She had so many friends, including friends in law enforcement. We're not giving up. We will continue to fight for her, for justice."

In 2014, Teresa met with federal prosecutors at the US Attorney's Office to ask them to prosecute the cop who killed Jeanette. The prosecutors declined after reviewing the case.

She didn't stop there, and more recently, she has found a new piece of hope. State Attorney General Hector Balderas has personally promised her his office will investigate the shooting. Teresa says a Balderas staffer told her again in December that Jeanette's death is under review.

James Hallinan, a Balderas spokesman, would not confirm or deny an investigation of the shooting. But in an email, he said Balderas' office "is aware of Ms. Anaya's concerns and has stated that we will review matters related to the proper procedure for examining officer involved shootings."



Teresa Anaya is still pushing for criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed her daughter. (Anson Stevens-Bollen)

Those reviews would be a welcomed step for Teresa, who, more than two years after the shooting, still struggles to maintain her composure when talking about her daughter. At the time of the shooting, Jeanette had been living with her parents and enjoyed playing with her brothers' children and planting red poppies with her mother.

Whatever happens next, Teresa hopes investigative grand juries will never be used in police shooting cases again.

"That's where the system let us down, and I hope no one ever has to go through what we did," she says. "Some days are OK, and some days I totally fall apart. I don't know how it can possibly get better, really. I'll live with a broken heart the rest of my life."



This story was a joint effort between SFR and New Mexico In Depth as part of Jeff Proctor's "Justice Project."



Santa Fe Reporter
This fanciful bit of marital dialogue serves to remind my readers that we live in a state where it is perfectly legal to go visit your representative at the Roundhouse with a gun swinging from your hip. Or, if youre more demure, you may show up with your weapon concealed. Makes no difference to us, were an equal opportunity state.

What could go wrong with allowing visitors to be lethally armed in a building where, by definition, about half of the people are going to be disappointed or disgruntled at any given time?

What prompted me to write about this right now wasn't the mindless insanity of letting paranoid gunslingers bring firearms into our seat of power. Rather, it was some changes that have been suggested to address this issue. More on that in just a minute.

New Mexico's gun policy is more complex than you might think. It doesn't just pit sane, well-adjusted citizens against knuckle-dragging supporters of the Worst Amendment.

The reason some lawmakers are reluctant to ban guns at the Capitol is that they would then be vulnerable to charges that they have chosen to protect themselves on the job, while doing nothing to protect their constituents elsewhere. Even some progressive politicians are loath to grant themselves this extra-special protection.

The question I have about allowing guns in the Roundhouse is, why would intelligent, prudent, level-headed people need to  never mind, I think I just answered my own question.

My column today was inspired by a KOAT online story I read recently about some legislators talking about the subject. According to the article, "Lawmakers said they're in favor of adding metal detectors at Roundhouse entrances so they'd at least know who's walking in with guns."

Hey, stop laughing! That's your brilliant idea, huh? Folks would still be able to prowl the Capitol bristling with enough firepower for the Gunfight at the OK Corral, but first they would have to be scanned? All the inconvenience, without any of the actual safety!

I don't get what this achieves. Is the idea that when the security dudes hear gunshots ring out in the Senate gallery, at least they won't be surprised? They'll know exactly how many shots to listen for?

Picture this scene:

"Sir, would you please go back through the metal detector again for me?"

"Go back through? But you can SEE I'm carrying a .44 Magnum! What is there to detect? Just look at these bullets in my Poncho Villa bandolier! I'm an embittered, walking death machine!"

"Please just cooperate with our exercise in pointlessness, sir. We're with the state government."

But look, I do want to be reasonable about this, for any gun nuts, I mean enthusiasts, who may be reading my column. Fair is fair. Even though I personally oppose private citizens walking around armed at the Capitol, I propose a compromise.

Here it is. If you want to bring a concealed weapon into the Roundhouse, there is one very specific orifice in your body where you may conceal it, with my blessing. I can't promise it will be very comfortable.

And not to be indelicate or anything, but be sure to bring along plenty of lubricant. The taxpayers sure as hell aren't going to supply it for you.



Robert Baslers humor column runs twice monthly in SFR. Email the author: bluecorn@sfreporter.com





Santa Fe Reporter
Neighboring states that asked the Supreme Court to stop Colorado's recreational marijuana sales lost the fight when justices this week decided not to hear the case. Even though attorneys general for Oklahoma and Nebraska wanted the high court to recognize what they say is Colorado's pre-emption of federal law, the federal government itself wrote a brief urging the court to reject the case.

Proponents of marijuana law reform say the ruling is a positive step for other states, like New Mexico, that have already implemented medical cannabis programs and are eying more broad changes.

"The Supreme Court's rejection of this misguided effort to undo cautious and effective state-level regulation of marijuana is excellent news for the many other states looking to adopt similar reforms in 2016 and beyond," Tamar Todd, legal affairs director for the Drug Policy Alliance, writes in a press release. "Other states are looking to what Colorado has accomplished: the drops in racially disparate arrests, the criminal justice dollars saved, and the tax revenue raised and want to adopt similar marijuana law reforms. The dismissal of this action means that the four states that have adopted ballot initiatives by decisive margins to tax and regulate marijuana for adults, as well as the many states that have adopted laws to regulate medical marijuana, can proceed without interference at this time."

But don't look for any big change in the Land of Enchantment. The next legislative session is scheduled for early in 2017, and with a governor who's so far been opposed to recreational marijuana here, even if lawmakers approve a change to the state constitution, it would require voter approval in a subsequent general election.



Santa Fe Reporter
Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley on Wednesday said that the US had once financed his trip to Pakistan and also claimed that he had "donated" about Rs70 lakh to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) till 2006, two years before the Mumbai attacks.

The 55-year-old terrorist, who was cross-examined via a video link from the US, told the court that after his arrest in 1998, "The Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the US financed my trip. I was in contact with DEA then, but it is not true that between 1988 and 1998 I was providing information or assisting DEA".

Also read: Headleys cross-examination begins, dodges questions on his wife Shazia

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US and has turned approver in the 26/11 case, contradicted reports that he had received money from the LeT.

Read: Was inspired by Hafiz Sayeed's speeches, reveals David Headley

"I never received money from LeT...this is complete nonsense. I gave funds to LeT myself. I had donated more than 60 to 70 lakh Pakistani Rupees to LeT throughout the period I was associated with them. My last donation was in 2006", Headley told the court.

He clarified that the money given was not for any specific operation of LeT, but was a general donation primarily for many things.

"These donations were from my business in New York and from the income that I earned by selling and purchasing some properties in Pakistan. I don't remember if I informed US authorities about my donations to LeT," he said.

Read: From Daood Gilani to David Coleman Headley: A timeline

Picking holes in the credibility of Headley's evidence, 26/11 attack plotter Abu Jundal's lawyer today argued that the terrorist, who faced conviction twice in the past before the Mumbai strikes, had indulged in criminal activities and violated his plea bargain agreements with the US government.

Headley was convicted in 1988 and 1998 by a court in the US for alleged drug smuggling, Jundal's lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan said. However, on both the occasions, Headley had entered into a plea bargain with the American government and got off with a lighter sentence.

Read: ISI funded terror operations and my trips to India, says David Headley

"One of the conditions of my plea agreement was that I should not take part in any criminal activity. I violated this condition by going to Pakistan and joining the LeT," Headley told special judge G A Sanap, who is hearing the 26/11 terror case against Jundal in a sessions court here.

Headley told the court that after completing his four year sentence in 1988, he was involved in drug smuggling from 1992 to 1998 and had visited Pakistan during this period.

Read: BARC, Sena Bhavan too were on radar: David Headley

Headley was examined by the prosecution in February this year for five days and the court later adjourned the case for his cross-examination, which started from Wednesday.

Testifying from an undisclosed location in the US, Headley told the court that it was not possible that his donations were used for the 26/11 terror attacks.

"My last donation was made in 2006 and at that time 26/11 plan was not in place," he said.

When Khan kept implying in his questions that he had received money from LeT, an irked Headley said, "I have repeated it several times. I did not receive any money from LeT...if you don't understand this language I can say it in Urdu."

Seeing Khan smile, Headley said, "Your client's life is relying on this case. You should be serious about that...don't joke."

Headley also told the court that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit LeT.

On being asked by Khan about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

He said Rana had objected to his association with LeT, and added that Rana was not in "constant touch" with any LeT operatives.

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office.

This was in July 2008," he said. Headley also told the court that Rana had once come to Mumbai just prior to the 26/11 attacks, and that the latter continued his association with him till his arrest.

"I was working on Denmark conspiracy project (Mickey Mouse project) on my own and not with Rana. Rana offered me assistance on some occasions. He was a 'small part' of it," he said.

Queried about his wife Shazia, a visibly exasperated Headley told the defense counsel that he is not going to answer questions about her.

Headley also refused to reveal the location of his life, whether she is in USA or Pakistan, or her father's name.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He, however, said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."

When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."

When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

However, the judge said that he will decide tomorrow on whether Khan's question to Headley about his wife falls under this purview.

Headley also told the court that in the 1998 drug case trial in the US, he had testified against two co-accused, out of whom one was acquitted and the other was convicted as he pleaded guilty.

He said that he was sentenced to 15 months in jail and after that he was kept on five years' supervised release.

"There was a motion moved by the state government attorney to terminate my supervisory release because of my 'good conduct'," Headley said.

He also said that in the 1988 case while he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, his co-accused were awarded a heavier sentence than him.

The Pakistani-American terrorist had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

Headley said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.
Takeover Motivations

A week after a vote to send control of UNMs Health Sciences Center back to the schools regents, Joey Peters is learning more about possible motivations, including speculation

New Mexico Political Report posted the big story this morning.

Tuition Hike

As the University of New Mexico prepares for additional budget cuts, it looks like students will be paying higher tuition to attend school. The

on Tuesday follows a 3 percent jump last year April.

At least its nowhere near the pricey tuition charged at

in Santa Fe.

Puff of Smoke

Jeff Proctor has a long piece on

of deadly shootings in New Mexico.

For at least the last 15 years, Santa Fe district attorneys have used investigative grand juries to review police shooting cases. Investigative grand juries have no targets, and they do not consider whether to charge someone with a crime. Also, state law clearly allows investigative grand juries in cases of institutions or public offices, but its an open question as to whether police shootings fit that standard.

Griego Faces New Charge

Former lawmaker Phil Griego faces an additional felony charge for unlawful interest in a public contract worth more than $50. Prosecutors, who

in state district court, have asked for Griego to face arraignment within 15 days. If Griego is convicted, the validity of a real estate contract he brokered for the state and a Santa Fe hotelier could be challenged, although it will be complicated since the building has been renovated and is now occupied. Journalist Steve Terrell has more.

Public Defender Quits

Jorge Alvarado,

. He told staff hed become ineffective and faced resistance and unreasonable expectations.

In recent years Alvarado had agitated for more funding for the office, which he said wasnt fiscally equipped to represent the 70,000 defendants it is tasked with serving each year, particularly in counties where there is no public defenders office and contract attorneys are hired to represent indigent defendants.



During the most recent legislative session he requested a budget increase of almost $44 million, a roughly 90 percent increase over the agencys approximately $48 million annual budget. But lawmakers granted an increase of only about $654,000 for fiscal year 2017, plus $200,000 in supplemental funding to shore up the office through the end of fiscal 2016 in June.

Slow Tax Refunds

If you wanted to spend your state tax refund on a new car or spring vacation, you may have to put your plans on hold. Refunds are taking

because the state is taking longer to protect against potential fraud.

Children Put at Risk

A new report on the state Children, Youth and Families Departments efforts to build a Web-based case management system says

of the yearslong project led to delays and cost increases of up to 111 percent, according to Cynthia Miller at The New Mexican .

The report, released Tuesday, also cites ongoing problems with the new system that could put children at risk, such as its failure to track attendance in child care programs and to cross-check some providers, such as foster care parents, with the states sex offender registry.



However, CYFD spokesman Henry Varela said in an interview Tuesday that doesnt mean the background checks arent being done. Because the agency continues to use another data system as it builds out the new Enterprise Provider Information Constituent Services system, or EPICS, some checks are conducted through the older FACTS system, Varela said, and others are handled by staff manually.

On Hold

SFRs Elizabeth Miller reports, The Bureau of Land Management has

 on land near Chaco Canyon.

Green Motivations

Well, this may be going a bit too far, but people in Colorado can

if they volunteer to do some community service work this weekend. Now if we can just

by donating cans of food to one of our great local shelters.

Santa Fe Reporter
Spring Sheep Dairy, the sheep milk joint venture half owned by Landcorp, has pre-sold 95 percent of its first season's production as probiotic powders to Taiwan, and is looking to expand its operation next season.

The company produced about 60,000 of its branded 700 gram consumer cans as Spring Sheep comes to the end of its first August-to-March season, using milk from 3,000 East Friesian ewes on Wairakei Estate between Taupo and Rotorua. It plans to increase its milking flock to 4,000 next season, said chief executive Scottie Chapman, whose boutique international agri-business marketer and investor SLC owns the other half of the JV.

Landcorp, New Zealand's largest corporate farmer, wants to move away from being a commodity supplier of agricultural products which are subject to volatile price swings and is eyeing new areas of growth such as sheep and deer milk, as well as inking long-term contracts with customers, and investing in branding to boost the value of its products. The global sheep milk market is estimated to be worth US$8 billion at the farmgate, equating to just 2 percent of the cow milk market.

Spring Sheep is targeting consumers who are prepared to pay for brands in Asia, which is close to New Zealand and has existing supply infrastructure. Over the next two months, Chapman is taking a selection of the company's potential products including whole milk powder, probiotic powder, calcium tablets, sheep milk tablets and gelato through trade shows across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

"I want to work in markets that appreciate quality, that understand value and have a really really good sense of food and quality," Chapman said. "We have started in Taiwan, we are going to Korea next, there are a lot of markets out there. We are not an ingredient player, we are a finished good player so it's really important that we work in markets where we can relate to the consumers and get insights from them to provide what they require as opposed to just pushing commodities down their throats.

"Everything comes back to demand. If we believe we can sustainably sell it for the long term, we will keep putting on more production. We will make sure we know our markets, we know who it's going to, and once we are confident they are sustainable, we will then put more volume on."

In New Zealand, the company will be testing demand for products such as fresh milk, butter and gelato under its Spring Sheep Milk Co brand.

"We are not going to put a target on how big we want to be, it's actually irrelevant," Chapman said. "We want to create a sustainable business that works and the size will just fall out of that, as opposed to targeting volume because that's when you get caught in supply gluts. As soon as we get more supply than demand, we take away any ability to get premium product.

"We are just going cautiously here until we get a model that works. There may be a bit of an opportunity cost because we undersupply but it means we can hold up demand for a longer period of time and don't get caught in that boom-bust cycle."

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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The Labour Party is signalling major reform of the social welfare system that it founded, saying it will investigate "new models of income security for New Zealand, including considering a limited trial of a universal basic income."

The policy commitment is one of "10 big ideas" outlined at the start of the party's two-day Future of Work conference in Auckland, which leader Andrew Little said was a contribution to "a worldwide debate about one of the biggest public policy challenges we face today" and comes half-way through a policy development process Labour hopes will reposition it ahead of the 2017 election after losing at the polls in 2008, 2011 and 2014.

The UBI commitment is the most radical of the ideas outlined, although the scale of the initial trial indicates how cautious the party is about whether the concept can be made to work.

The concept is to replace the current range of social welfare and other benefits with an equal payment to every citizen, irrespective of income, to deliver sufficient income for adequate living standards, especially in a period of fast-changing transition in the workforce. The UBI would be paid for by higher taxes on higher incomes and structured to prevent a beneficiary who finds work being penalised as the UBI would not reduce as they start earning.

"If a UBI-type income type system is not considered, what other social security changes should be made to support improved income security?"

As a further step, Labour would abolish secondary tax, as well as further strengthening rights to collective bargaining.

The 'big ideas' paper links the UBI and income security issues with reference to a "just transition" approach to what finance spokesman Grant Roberston warned was "warp speed" change in the global economy.

This would require "active labour market policies" and "a social partnership model between government, business and unions to manage change and disruption."

Every worker would have a "training plan", assisted by the right to three years of tuition fees-free tertiary education during their lifetime. The paper asks whether current stand down periods for social welfare benefit eligibility present "the largest barrier for those transitioning between work?"

Income inequality had to be addressed, with the wealthiest New Zealanders now eight times richer than the least wealthy, with technological change threatening to marginalise those left behind, said Robertson.

Letting the market alone work could be "crippling to democracy", if citizens saw prosperity as being out of their reach, he said.

Other big ideas generated in the consultations so far include: digital equality, meaning access to fast internet and digital technology no matter where a person lives or their income; new models of capital-raising and investing in research and development; creating regional business clusters to get the best from local and emerging industries; encouragement for entrepreneurship, cooperative ownership and profit-sharing; reforming the transition from education into training and work; partnering with Maori post-settlement entities; and establishing a Pasifika working futures plan.

On accelerating technology uptake in business, Labour is examining how the government might support venture and seed capital funding and crowd-funding, along with the introduction of research and development tax credit and reform of the science system "to simplify it, reduce waste and support stronger innovation."

Robertson also called for a wider definition of what constitutes paid work, including voluntary and family care, with work defined as creating "dignity, purpose and meaning" in a process that would create an "opportunity to reassess how we value work and how we pay people."

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Scott Technology, which is still awaiting approval to hand control over to Brazil's JBS, lifted first-half profit 70 percent as the recently acquired Machinery Automation and Robotics unit injected more revenue and the industrial automation firm looks to expand in Germany.

Net profit rose to $1.9 million, or 4.5 cents per share, in the six months ended Feb. 29 from $1.1 million, or 2.5 cents, a year earlier, the Dunedin-based company said in a statement. Revenue climbed 46 percent to $42.8 million, with Australasian sales climbing 72 percent.

"The company continues to experience a significant increase in the level of enquiry for automation and robotics across a wide range of industries and geographies, driven by the increase in global interest in the need to boost productivity and to reduce costs," chairman Stuart McLauchlan and managing director Chris Hopkins said. "Scott's order intake and forward work is at a record high and this is in part due to the expanded operations and is also part of the usual fluctuations that the company experiences as a result of providing large scale capital works."

Last year Scott investors backed a merger deal between the company and JBS Australia, giving the Brazilian company's subsidiary 50.1 percent ownership and injecting new capital. The deal has been held up by the Overseas Investment Office, which needs to sign it off before it can be ratified by the High Court. Approval hinges largely on the Kaikorai stream that passes through Scott's Dunedin property and is classified as reserve land under the city's proposed district plan.

Scott said it expects approval next month, having lodged its application in September last year.

The company's board declared an interim dividend of 4 cents per share, payable on April 12 with an April 8 record date, up from 2.5 cents a year earlier. The increased dividend would clear some of Scott's imputation credits ahead of the shareholder change and "reward shareholders for their patience."

Separately, Scott said it was in final negotiations to buy certain assets of a German engineering company that operates within Scott's appliance manufacturing sector, with a conditional agreement expected shortly.

"This acquisition, if it completes, will assist our planned strategic expansion through a stronger presence in our key international markets," the company said. "Current indications are that this business will have a solid forward workload and there will be further opportunities to expand the business to deliver and support Scott's engineered solutions into the European market."

Details are still being finalised, but Scott expects to employ 40 staff with an annual turnover of up to 8 million euros.

Scott's shares were unchanged at $1.40, just above the $1.39 price JBS is paying for control of the company.

(BusinessDesk)

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Hyderabad: Hyderabad Central University continued to remain tense on Wednesday, a day after Vice Chancellor Appa Rap Podile came back from a two-month leave following Dalit student Rohith Vemula's suicide.

Students have been protesting since Tuesday and it didn't help authorities that Jawaharlal Nehru University students' chief Kanhaiya Kumar came knocking to Hyderabad in solidarity with HCU students.

The authorities have barred any outsider from entering the campus and classes have been suspended for four days.

"In view of the situation, classes are suspended from March 23 to 26. We have taken a decision not to allow any outsider, including media and political parties, on campus," Registrar M Sudhakar said when asked about the proposed visit of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar to the university.

Kanhaiya Kumar said the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of Hyderabad Central University will continue with its struggle until the Centre brings out the 'Rohith Act'.

Read: Kanhaiya Kumar not given permission to address Hyderabad University: VC

He also said he would participate and address a public meeting organised by the JAC on the HCU campus this evening, if the police permits.

"I will first meet Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika and his brother Raja. JAC has invited me to address a public meeting on HCU campus... If the police allows, I will definitely go to HCU and address students," Kanhaiya told reporters at the Hyderabad airport.

"We have worked with JAC before and will take this fight forward... this struggle will continue until a 'Rohith Act' is implemented... to fulfil his (Rohith) dreams of social justice on campus," he said.

Rohith's mother and brother had last month met political leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri and K C Tyagi, seeking their support for the enactment of a 'Rohith Act' against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

Police said additional forces have been deployed on the campus as a precautionary measure and pickets set up around Podile's official residence.

The move comes after the VC sought protection following Tuesday's incidents when his residence was vandalised allegedly by a group of students who were opposing his return as the Vice Chancellor after a two-month leave.

"The situation is peaceful. Forces have been deployed to maintain law and order," Joint Commissioner of Cyberabad Police TV Sashidhar Reddy said.

Meanwhile, the police prevented Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao from entering the campus on Wednesday. The Congress MP demanded President Pranab Mukherjee should immediately recall the VC, holding him responsible for the state of affairs on the campus.

Police had resorted to lathi-charge on students who were protesting outside the VC's official residence on Tuesday.

Read: HCU students go on rampage after VC Appa Rao Podile resumes charge

The students had raised slogans against the Vice Chancellor, barged into his residence, broken windowpanes, smashed doors and a television set among other items.

The students demanded that the VC be arrested immediately as he was one of the accused in Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's alleged suicide case on January 17.

Podile, who is in the eye of a storm over Vemula's suicide, had proceeded on leave on January 24 as the agitating students demanded his resignation and held vigorous protests seeking "justice" for the Dalit student.

Senior CPI leader K Narayana had earlier said that Kanhaiya Kumar would address a meeting at the university this evening and attend another on 'Constitutional Rights' at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Baghligampally here tomorrow, besides visiting Vijayawada.

Students cant decide who should be V-C

University of Hyderabad (UoH) Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile on Tuesday said the incidents that took place on the campus earlier in the day were acts of violence and not protest. He termed it as a black day in the history of the UoH.

Prof. Podile said, If any group of students can dictate who should be the Vice-Chancellor, no university can have a V-C. This is going to be a national problem. He said he was appointed V-C by the government and would only accept the governments decision.
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra has called Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, and its alliance partner BJPs State unit president Sat Pal Sharma to Raj Bhavan in Jammu on Friday for parleys on government formation.

An official spokesman said in the winter capital that the Governor has sent letters separately to PDP president and the State BJP chief for holding discussions on the proposal for government-formation.

Through separate communications, the Governor has intimated Ms Mufti and Mr Sharma to meet him on Friday. The meetings with the two leaders have been scheduled to be held separately, the spokesman said.

This comes a day after the PDP president held a 30-minute-long meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi which seemingly ended deadlock over the government formation by the alliance partners. Ms Mufti termed the meeting as very positive and good in addressing issues pertaining to the people of the State.

She has convened PDPs legislature party meeting here on Thursday to brief the members on the outcome of her latest round of talks.

Ms Mufti, the consensus candidate for the CM post, is also set to be elected PDPs legislature party leader at Thursdays meet in the run-up to the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar speaks to media from the top of a vehicle before leaving the place. (Photo: S. Surender Reddy)

Hyderabad: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was denied entry into the University of Hyderabad by security personnel following prohibitory orders imposed by the university on Wednesday.

While some UoH students and activists of the All India Students Federation from Osmania University turned up in his support, a few activists belonging to the ABVP protested against Mr Kumars visit. One of them was detained by the police.

Read: Total clampdown, major vigil at University of Hyderabad

Mr Kumar spoke outside the UoH gate and said, The voice of students cannot be suppressed with a lathicharge and sending them to hospital. This is a fight against the attack on democracy and on the Constitution. This is a fight for freedom against casteism.

Mr Kumar said that it was on March 23 that freedom fighter and revolutionary Bhagat Singh was hanged and that is why he chose to visit UoH on the day to honour the sacrifice of Rohith Vemula.

Read: Hyderabad University students search for food, caned

Mr Kumar stressed on the need for a Rohith Act to end discrimination on university campuses.

Kanhaiya to fight for Rohith Act passage

Jawaharlal Nehru Unive-rsity Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar said that the Centre had created the JNU controversy to supress the issues that had led to the suicide of Rohith Vemula. When asked on Tuesday, UoH vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile had said no one had approached him for permission to speak at the university. The university subsequently issued orders on Wednesday prohibiting entry of outsiders.

Read: 25 students and 2 faculty members arrested for UoH violence

Speaking to the media earlier at Kondapur, Mr Kumar criticised Prof. Appa Rao for barring entry into the campus. If anyones entry has to be prohibited in the university it should be that of the vice-chancellor because of whom the present atmosphere exists in the university. Mr Kumar later met Ms Radhika Vemula, the mother of Rohith Vemula, and the scholars brother Raja Vemula and promised them support in ensuring that the Rohith Act is passed in Parliament.

Speaking at the venue, Ms Radhika Vemula said she would meet Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and present a representation highlighting the need for a Rohith Act.

Read: Violence at HCU: Telangana Congress faults lathicharge on legislator

Mr Kumar said, All students want to study and pursue a career. It is the governments responsibility to ensure the right atmosphere exists for it. But Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya and BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao had polarised the atmosphere in the University of Hyderabad.
Some leaders have been suggesting to the Chief Minister of late to induct Mr Lokesh in the Cabinet to provide the much-needed face of the youth and give him the industrial and IT infrastructure development portfolio.

Hyderabad: If the present indications in the Telugu Desam are anything to go by, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidus son Nara Lokesh might be inducted in the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet in the next reshuffle.

Lokesh was appointed as general secretary of the Telugu Desam Central Committee last year. Some leaders have been suggesting to the Chief Minister of late to induct Mr Lokesh in the Cabinet to provide the much-needed face of the youth and give him the industrial and IT infrastructure development portfolio. According to a Telugu Desam MP, Naidu has responded positively to the suggestions.

Read: Nara Lokesh at Centre to help TDP in Telangana

Sources said that a nominated MLC would be asked to step down to make way for Lokesh. There has been no reshuffle of the Cabinet since it was formed on June 8, 2014, and party sources said that the Chief Minister had indicated that a reshuffle would take place in June, after the Telugu Desam completed two years in office.

Earlier it had been rumoured that Lokesh would be sent to the Rajya Sabha where he would replace Sujana Chowdary in the Union council of ministers.
tonight issued a travel advisory asking Indian nationsls living in Brussels or visiting it to exercise caution and remain alert in view of terror attacks in the Belgian city killing around 35 people and wounding over 200.



The advisory specifically asked Indians in Belgium to avoid visiting crowded places, especially the city centres, and refrain from unnecessary travels and using public transport.



It said Belgium has issued the highest security alert following the terror attacks in Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek Metro Station in Brussels and appealed to Indian nationals to remain alert and exercise caution.



Issued by the Indian Embassy in Brussels, it also asked Indian nationals to share personal whereabouts with close family members and friends at all times and keep in touch with the Mission for necessary advice.



The Embassy also appealed to all Indians in Belgium to "stay home and be safe".



"All members of the Indian community, including Indian travelers to Belgium, are requested to exercise caution and alertness while leading their normal lives and carrying out their ordinary work outdoors in this country," it said.



It said the Embassy can be contacted on phone numbers + 32 2 640 91 40, + 32 2 645 1850 and + 32 476 748 575 (Mobile).



Two Jet Airways crew members were injured in the explosions which led the airline to cancel all its flights to and from the Belgian capital till tomorrow.



The Embassy in a tweet said Jet passengers stranded in Brussels are being shifted from the airport and that food and accomodation are being provided.

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WASHINGTON: Security has been stepped up at US airports and transit systems after the airport and subway bombings in Brussels, though Obama administration officials say there is no specific or credible intelligence of a copycat attack in the country.

"At present, we have no specific, credible intelligence of any plot to conduct similar attacks here in the US," the US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said.

"That said, we remain very focused on the threat posed by lone terrorist actors who may lack direct connection to a foreign terrorist organisation; we are concerned that such radicalised individuals or small groups could carry out an attack in the Homeland with little warning," he said in a statement.

"We also remain very engaged in the effort to identify and disrupt foreign terrorist fighters who may seek to travel to or from the US," Johnson said.

The FBI has been in communication with state and local law enforcement, to share the latest about what they know of attacks in Belgium, he said.

"Our personnel have an excellent working relationship with Belgian authorities, and we continually receive information about the attacks and those who may have been involved.

"Since the Paris attacks in November, we have enhanced information sharing about potential terrorist threats with both Belgian and French authorities, and we will continue this effort," he said.

Though the US does not require Belgian citizens to have a visa to travel here for business or tourism purposes, both the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have procedures in place to identify and prevent travel here from Belgium by individuals of suspicion, Johnson said.

All travelers arriving in the US are vetted against the US Terrorist Screening Database, regardless of whether they arrive with a visa or an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), he said.

As a precautionary measure, TSA is deploying additional security to major city airports in the US, and at various rail and transit stations around the country.

TSA is also working closely with state and local law enforcement, airport and transit authorities, and the aviation industry in order to augment that security, Johnson said.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama in a proclamation ordered for the US national flag to fly at half-staff to honour the victims of the Brussels terrorist attack.

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WASHINGTON: Claiming that the UN is not a friend of democracy or freedom, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has pledged to veto any UN-imposed Middle East peace agreement as he pledged his complete support to Israel as US president.

In his address on Tuesday to the annual conference of the powerful American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC), Trump claimed that with President Barack Obama in his final year, discussions have been swirling about an attempt to bring a security council resolution on the terms of an eventual agreement between Israel and Palestine.

Let me be clear: An agreement imposed by the UN would be a total and complete disaster. The United States must oppose this resolution and use the power of our veto. Why?

Because thats not how you make a deal, Obama said amid loud applause from the audience. Laying out his vision of US-Israel relationship, the real estate tycoon vowed that as American president, he would work to destroy the alleged global terrorist network of Iran and prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

My number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran. I have been in business a long time. I know deal-making and let me tell you, this deal is catastrophic  for America, for Israel, and for the Middle East, he said.

The problem here is fundamental. We have rewarded the worlds leading state sponsor of terror with USD 150 billion and we received absolutely nothing in return, he said. Alleging that the recent nuclear deal with Iran doesnt even require Iran to dismantle its military nuclear capability, Trump said it places limits on its military nuclear program me for only a certain number of years.

But when those restrictions expire, Iran will have an industrial-size military nuclear capability ready to go, and with zero provision for delay no matter how bad Irans behavior is, he said. First, we will stand up to Irans aggressive push to destabilize and dominate the region.

Iran is a very big problem and will continue to be, but if Im elected President, I know how to deal with trouble, he said. Secondly, we will totally dismantle Irans global terror network. Iran has seeded terror groups all over the world. Third, at the very least, we must hold Iran accountable by restructuring the terms of the previous deal, Trump said.

The deal is silent on missile tests but those tests do violate UN Security Council Resolutions and no one has done anything about it, he said as he went on to slam the UN. The United Nations is not a friend of democracy. Its not a friend to freedom. Its not a friend even to the US where as all know, it has its home.

And it surely isnt a friend to Israel, he said adding the UN cannot impose a solution. The parties must negotiate a resolution themselves. The US can be useful as a facilitator of negotiations, but no one can tell Israel it must abide by some agreement made by others thousands of miles away that dont even really know whats happening. When Im president, I will veto any attempt by the UN to impose its will on the Jewish state, he said.

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Source: PTI
WASHINGTON: Sudhir Parikh, a prominent Indian-American doctor and publisher has dissociated himself from 'Indian Americans for Trump 2016', a group supporting Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

"I allowed myself to be identified with that group," he said in an emailed statement "because some members of the group are friends of mine".

"I wish to clarify that I no longer belong to the group and I do not support the candidacy of Mr. Donald Trump," Parikh, founder chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media publishing house, said without assigning any reason.

"For over three decades I have supported both Democrat and Republican candidates based on their individual merits and their commitment to the interests of the Indian-American community and US-India relations," he wrote.

"I remain committed to this course," added Parikh, who had been named chair of fundraising and advisory committee of Indian-Americans for Trump 2016 formed in January.

Calling Trump the "best hope for America", the group from New York Tristate area formed a Political Action Committee (PAC) to support and raise funds for him.

Headed by Dr A.D. Amar, a business professor with Seton Hall University in New Jersey, the group's sole declared goal is "to garner actively the support of all Americans, but particularly Indian-Americans, to have Donald J. Trump become the next President of the USA."

Read Also: India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Progressed Under PM Narendra Modi: Renu Khator

Judge Wants U.S. To Protect Trump Associate History

Source: IANS
Pardeshi said on Wednesday that the letter had a typographical error and what he meant was a request to police to investigate the matter. (Photo: Video grab)

Pune: The Principal of Fergusson College, who had asked police to take action against those who raised anti-national slogans on the campus during a verbal clash between two students groups, retracted his statement on Wednesday, saying he had only meant to seek a probe to find out if such slogans were raised or not. With the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Mininster Vinod Tawde to give an explanation on the incident.

Principal R. G. Pardeshi on Tuesday had dashed off a letter to police alleging that anti-national slogans were raised during heated exch-anges between the two groups when JNU ABVP president Alok Singh was to address students to explain Truth of JNU on the Kanhaiya Kumar episode. I request you to take stern action aga-inst individuals who raised anti-national slogans on the campus, Pardeshi said in letter to the police which he subsequently withdrew. Pardeshi said on Wednesday that the letter had a typographical error and what he meant was a request to police to investigate the matter.
In a statement, IndiGo said its call-centre at Chennai received a bomb threat call at 11.13 hours and within minutes the security agencies were informed.

New Delhi: There was a major security scare across several airports in the country, including the national capital, following a phone call from the US that 11 aircraft of private carrier IndiGo could be in the danger of being blown up.

Airline sources were cited by news agencies as saying the caller, who identified himself only as Smith from the US, said at least 11 flights of IndiGo, which were either ready for take off or had already departed from around 10 airports, were facing bomb threat from a woman flyer.

One of the flights (Srinagar-Jammu-Delhi) named by the caller that had landed in the capital was taken to an isolation bay at the Delhi airport and thoroughly searched but nothing dangerous was found. Some of the other flights named by the caller had already taken off from Delhi by then.

Sources said the call was later found to be a hoax. The threat was for flights emanating from major airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati, Goa and Kochi, the sources were cited as saying.

As many as 11 IndiGo flights were grounded today (at various airports) after the airlines call centre at Chennai received a message about bomb threat.

The caller, who identified himself as one Smith from the US, said that a woman passenger allegedly belonging to the ISI of Pakistan was carrying a bomb and could blow up one of the aircraft, sources said.

In a statement, IndiGo said its call-centre at Chennai received a bomb threat call at 11.13 hours and within minutes the security agencies were informed. IndiGo said, All our passengers are safe. Security agencies were carrying out extensive search on these planes across nine airports.

The 11 flights are Vadodara-Delhi (6E 591), Kochi-Delhi (516), Delhi-Srinagar (853), Delhi-Chennai (443), Ahme-dabad-Kolkata (135), Delhi-Mumbai (223), Chen-nai-Mumbai (612), Delhi-Goa (329), Guwahati-Delhi (571), Delhi-Ahmedabad (161) and Delhi-Vadodara (734).
Page Content

The Minister of Justice commissioned an investigation on juvenile crime on Sint Maarten. This is because regular concerns have been expressed about the increase in juvenile delinquency in Sint Maarten, while the official data from the Prosecutors Office and the police does not reflect this increase. The research was conducted by Emma Merckx and Lieke Buurman, both graduate students of the Master Youth Law. They were guided by the Prosecutors Office in St. Maarten.





High schools, the police, the Bureau of Statistics and the Truancy Office cooperated with the research. Furthermore 460 high school students from the fourth grade have filled out a survey. The research was done over a three month period, from December 2014 till February 2015. In those three months the police reported 39 incidents with 53 suspects involved. Assault is by far the most reported incident, followed by theft and drug crime. During the same period 85 incidents, involving 116 students were reported by the high schools. The most frequently reported incidents were assault, threat and theft. Of the 460 fourth grade high school students that filled in the survey, nearly half of them reported to have assaulted someone at some point in time. The students indicated that according to them assault is the most committed incident among high school students, followed by destruction and theft. Many students reported that they have not been punished for their acts. According to their own survey, the students that reported delinquent behaviour have slightly more often repeated a class, have been suspended more times, skipped more classes, drink more alcohol and more often use drugs. The research shows that in most cases its the school that punishes the student that committed an punishable act. The most common penalty is a suspension.





According to youth prosecutor Karola van Nie this is however not always the most effective intervention. Suspension can lead to expulsion, which can lead to more and severe criminal behaviour. But without a police report the Public Prosecutor cannot prosecute, while in juvenile criminal law lots of different effective interventions are possible, like a training, community service or youth probation by the Court of Guardianship. This also applies for enforcing the Truancy law. The research shows that skipping classes happens a lot, but truancy is not always well registered, which means that the truancy officers are not able to write up a police report for the Prosecutors Office.





The research report has been officially offered to the Minister of Justice as well as to the Minister of Education. Both Ministers expressed that they recognize the results of the research and expressed their commitment to work together when it comes to dealing with youth crime. The full report can be downloaded from sintmaartengov.org.




KOLLAM: Actor Mukesh has won the first round of his real life battle for the Assembly seat with the CPM district secretariat confirming his candidature from Kollam dashing the hopes of veteran sitting MLA P.K. Gurudasan.

The secretariat meeting held here on Tuesday in the presence of state committee member M.V. Govindan rejected Mr Gurudasans name after finding him unfit due to old age and sticking to the decision not to field a candidate who has won twice.

The district secretariat witnessed opposition from many party members who supported Mr. Gurudasan. The final word was conveyed by Mr Govindan, who is in charge of the district.

It is learnt that politburo member M.A. Baby, who had appointed Mukesh as the chairman of Sangeeta Nataka Acakemi during his last tenure as culture minister, had taken special interest in fielding him. Mukesh had also participated in the road show conducted for Mr Baby during the last Lok Sabha elections.



The district committee had also suggested the names of state committee member K. Varadarajan and journalist R.S. Babu for Kollam, but they were rejected by the state secretariat.

The decision to field Mukesh was first announced in a meeting held under the presidentship of state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Mukesh, a CPI supporter, will contest as an independent backed by the Left.
As she would be discussing threadbare the outcome of her latest round of talks with the BJP leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi earlier this week, apart from devising strategy for government formation, she has invited all senior functionaries of the party including MPs and members of its extended core group to attend the crucial meet. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: Simmering discontent in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over its allying with what is seen by many as being anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmiri BJP has escalated into a virtual rebellion within the party.

Mufti has convened a meeting of the PDPs legislature party, which is expected to elect her as its leader on Thursday in the run-up to government formation by the alliance partners.

As she would be discussing threadbare the outcome of her latest round of talks with the BJP leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi earlier this week, apart from devising strategy for government formation, she has invited all senior functionaries of the party including MPs and members of its extended core group to attend the crucial meet.

But Tariq Hameed Karra, PDPs Lok Sabha member from Srinagar and the symbol of resentment against Muftis penchant for the BJP is reported to have expressed his inability to attend the meeting. If Mufti goes ahead with cobbling up a government with ideologically-divergent BJP, which from all available indications is inevitable, Karra may prefer to quit the party than becoming part of dispensation which he has publicly termed as disaster in the past.

Sources close to Karra revealed that the leader was expecting candid support from like-minded party men including a few legislators.

Karra, the alienated founding member of the PDP, has repeatedly said that its tie-up with the BJP only proved detrimental to PDPs interests and halted its growth, particularly in Kashmir Valley, and that the BJP has not respected the Agenda of the Alliance, the common minimum programme reached between the two sides for the government formation last year.

He has also publicly termed the PDP-BJP coalition as a failed experiment. His argument has been that the core issues which have been the essence of the PDPs existence like return of the power projects within the State being run by the NHPC, revocation of contentious APSPA and, above all, the self-rule agenda have been ignored by the party leadership.

He has openly asked the party leadership to snap its ties with BJP if they really want to protect the people of Kashmir. He has chose to stay away from PDPs crucial meetings held in recent past. Defending his decision not to involve himself with partys pursuits, Karra said recently that his stand is clear that until the PDP revisits its alliance with BJP, he would not attend any party meetings.

At a one-on-one meeting he had with Mufti a couple of weeks after her father and former Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, passed away in Delhi, he had reportedly made a passionate appeal to PDP president not to repeat the mistake by seeking to form the government with the saffron party again.

As his pleas have apparently fallen on deaf ears, it is about to give way to emergence of splinter group of the PDP, the sources said adding that if required, Karra may not hesitate to quit the party.

Some party leaders loyal to Mufti are aware of it and are trying to persuade Karra not to take his disillusionment that far.

Following Muftis death, his daughter and natural successor Mufti was reluctant to form the new government with alliance partner BJP and had publicly asked for J&K-specific Confidence-Building-Measures (CBMs) towards creating congenial atmosphere for stepping into her fathers shows.

Last week, her meeting with BJP president Amit Shah ended in a fiasco as the two sides failed to find a common ground on various issues. Shah had told her a government cant be formed on the basis of conditions. After that, both sides admitted that efforts to revive the coalition had hit a roadblock.

However, a joint effort put in by PDP and BJP negotiators paved the way for a broader reconciliation meeting between Mufti and Shah on Tuesday.

She was invited later by the Prime Minister for a one-on-one meeting seemingly ending the deadlock over government formation. Mufti described her 30-minute-long meeting with Modi as very positive and good in addressing issues pertaining to the people of the State.

But the BJP on Wednesday chose to charm its core constituency both within and outside Jammu and Kashmir but, put Mufti and the PDP into an uncomfortable situation when its national general secretary, Ram Madhav, said that the saffron party has not accepted any new conditions from its alliance partner.

He, once again, threw the ball in Mufti's court, saying her party has to make the next move for government formation in the State. He said, "Weve not accepted any new condition from the PDP."

This will only empower those within PDP whoa re against Muftis renewed attraction to the saffron party. On the other hand, the BJP is also facing resentment in Jammu from a section of the party rank that sees in the latest bonhomie bartering national interest just for the sake of a few loaves and fishes of office.
Hyderabad: The induction of Mr Nara Lokesh in the Union Cabinet will improve the TDs prospects in Telangana state as he is a born Hyderabadi.

"But of late, the Chief Minister has not been happy with the Centres attitude towards AP and has reportedly dropped the idea of sending Lokesh to the Centre," said a senior party leader.

He added that Mr Naidu had expressed concern over the Centre ignoring the states interests despite the TD being an ally.

He reportedly commented that at least the Supreme Court came to the rescue of AP by dismissing the Hyderabad High Court judgement over the long-pending case of ownership of several educational institutions in Hyderabad, but the Centre had not bothered all these months to set things right in spite of repeated requests from him.

The TD leader said that Mr Lokesh most probably would not be sent to the Centre now because if the Centre did not accord either special category status or a special package to AP, there would be an overwhelming demand from the Opposition to recall the TD ministers from the Centre.

Whether Mr Naidu recalls TD ministers or continues with them, he will lose face either way as the BJP is an ally, he said.
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Hyderabad: Blaming the TRS government for the sequence of events at University of Hyderabad and Osmania University over the past few days, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday condemned the arrest of students and demanded their immediate release.

He alleged that police had illegally detained the UoH students who had protested on the campus on Tuesday during the press conference of vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile.

Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday, he said that reinstating Prof. Appa Rao was the actual reason for the violence on the campus.

He asked how the government could reinstate a person who was not only responsible for the death of a Dalit PhD scholar, but also an incident that triggered protests across the country against the violation of human rights.

Instead of taking action against Prof. Podile under the SC/ST atrocities Act, the government had reinstated him even as the student groups were protesting the feudal behaviour of the university authorities, he said.

Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Prof. Appa Raos return as V-C was a clear insult to the self-respect of Dalits across the country. He said the students who were detained by the police on Tuesday were not shown as arrested and their mobiles were snatched by police officials.

Further, parents were not informed of the arrests. He charged the state with targeting people and students who raised their voice against the government.
It was very nice that Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his tenure by terming the Indian Parliament as a temple of democracy even though the temple analogy could have been avoided. Everything pristine neednt be compared to a place of religious worship. Parliament can also be depicted as the finest debating society or a spectacular social and legislative laboratory. In almost two years that he has been in office, Mr Modi has rarely broken his silence on occasions when he most needed to. One such rare intervention was in Lok Sabha in November 2015, during the course of the special two-day long debate to commemorate Constitution Day and the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. He said India first is the only religion and Constitution the only Holy Book for his government. History is laced with conflicts between different groups, each following their own Holy Book. Coming from Mr Modi, his adherence to a secular text was a welcome development.

India is currently weathering a tempest over the demand that citizens must shout Bharat Mata ki Jai whenever asked because this is among their constitutional duties. Till the time such statements were made by a few on the extreme fringe in the ruling party, it was fine and justifiable. But this has become state policy now. It is official because of the political resolution passed by the Bharatiya Janata Party at its national executive meet. The resolution, not even craftily worded because the message has to be clearly conveyed, crassly affirms: ...refusal to hail Bharat  say Bharat Mata ki Jai  in the name of freedom is also unacceptable. Our Constitution describes India as Bharat also; refusal to chant victory to Bharat tantamounts to disrespect to our Constitution itself.

This resolution was explicated by finance minister Arun Jaitley who declared that there could be no debate on this issue. Freedom of expression and nationalism do necessarily co-exist, he added.

However, Mr Jaitley overlooked the fact that freedom of expression also allows opportunity for dissent but this government is not comfortable with the idea of protests. Moreover, if you allow freedom of speech, you cannot dictate which version of nationalism should be acceptable to all. Indeed, there can be no officially framed criteria to judge the patriotism of citizens. What the Bharatiya Janata Party suggests is similar to Stalinist nations of the past or North Korea where state-approved haircuts are mandatory to display loyalty to the nation and the leader.

The BJP has undermined the Holy Book. Mr Jaitley has got it completely wrong. India, that is Bharat is the way the Constitution defined the nation. His sentiment is patriotic when he says that no one should declare that s(he) would not chant for the victory of India or Bharat, and he is entitled to it. But nowhere in the Constitution is it mentioned that Bharat and Bharat Mata are synonyms or identical concepts. One is a cultural idea or belief and the other is a constitutional entity. We are duty bound to respect India as this entity and not as goddess.

The BJP has been on an ultra-nationalistic overdrive since the incident in Jawaharlal Nehru University provided the party with a chance to convert a setback in the wake of Rohith Vemulas suicide into an advantage. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, Mohan Bhagwat, introduced the idea that new generations should be taught to say Bharat Mata ki Jai in the ultra-nationalistic discourse that the Sangh Parivar churned out. Many things are now considered anti-national  asking whether Afzal Guru was provided fair trial or not, pointing out that Indian security forces do not have a clean human rights record in Kashmir, Manipur and other north eastern states and questioning brutal repression of members of civil society in Chhattisgarh. Why even raising tough environmental matters is enough to be branded anti-development and therefore a traitor. While it had already become tough to prove ones loyalty to the nation if one was a critic of the present regime, it has now become an even tougher task after Mr Bhagwats call for universalising the chanting of Bharat Mata ki Jai.

Peculiarly, so preoccupied were non-BJP parties with reaping benefits from the twin issues in the two campuses, that Mr Bhagwats blatantly sectarian call was ignored till his counterpart in the other community, Asaduddin Owaisi, grabbed headlines with his provocative rejection of Mr Bhagwats call. The so-called secular parties  and most significantly the Congress Party  kowtowed to pressure from the Sangh Parivar and when the matter surfaced in an ugly manner in the Maharashtra Assembly, these parties cast their lot with the dominant view to suspend the legislator who insisted that no one could force him to shout a slogan not mandated in the Constitution.

The nation as goddess is a 20th century interpolation in the political discourse. Originating in Bengal, the image as visualised now was first imagined by Abanindranath Tagore in his painting of a four-handed Hindu goddess. This idea travelled to other parts of the country and became the core philosophy of Hindu sectarian forces when V.D. Savarkar wrote his treatise in Andaman jail. A Hindu means a person who regards this land of Bharatvarsh from the Indus to the Seas as his Pitribhoomi or Matriboomi as well as his Holy Land that is the cradle of his religion, he wrote. Fatherland or motherland were interchangeable concepts for Savarkar. After establishing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, K.B. Hedgewar gave it the organisations signature codes like uniform, weapons and prayer. The daily hymn which kickstart shakhas and every function even today  Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhume...  posits Bharat is a goddess, referred as motherland and ends with Bharat Mata ki Jai.

The demand that everyone must chant Bharat Mata ki Jai is not aimed at reiterating loyalty to the nation but is a political ploy. Just as no non-BJP party or leader should demand a ban on the chant, insisting that this should become the official salutation to the nation also reeks of sectarianism. In his recent address at the World Sufi Forum, Mr Modi said India was home to even non-believers and agnostics. A similar reading of his Holy Book when it comes to how the nation is to be addressed  as goddess or otherwise  would also be in order.
San Mateo, CA (94402)

Today

Mostly clear and windy. Low near 50F. NW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Mostly clear and windy. Low near 50F. NW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
The jihadi terror attacks in Brussels were just waiting to happen. Domestic political instability in Belgium, whose capital hosts the headquarters of both the European Union and Nato, can be traced to the 1980s with known links to the Algerian civil war. Belgium produces more jihadis, relative to its population, than any other West European nation, with hundreds of acolytes joining Sunni militant outfits in Syria and Iraq like ISIS or Al Qaeda affiliate Jhabrat-al-Nusra. Around 40 per cent of Brussels youth lives in poverty, so there is a ready pool of disaffection waiting to explode. Brussels was also the hotbed of terror where the Paris attacks were planned.

There are ominous signs that more attacks are coming, as seen in a Twitter post circulated by ISIS backers warning: What will be coming is worse. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and open societies face greater problems devising methods to secure public places, aviation hubs and transport networks like metro systems. The fight against terror, truth to tell, is really just beginning. While the attackers have enough resources to sow panic and fear with a few coordinated attacks like those in Paris and now Brussels, the overstretched security and intelligence forces have to save the world from well-plotted or lone wolf hits.

There is no part of todays connected world this is immune to attacks. The importance of social networks in recruiting foreign fighters for dreaded outfits like ISIS can never be underestimated. While the forces ranged against them must be vigilant 24x7, including snooping on the Internet to ferret out plotters, a lot must be done to get to the heart of the problem. Minorities need to be integrated into mainstream life, youth joblessness must be tackled on a war footing and society, generally, made more inclusive so that the call of jihad holds lesser appeal.

India lies in a region that is prone to terror, and not only from the imported, ISI-inspired Pakistani kind. The data on the number of terrorist cells in the country owing allegiance to foreign outfits is not comprehensive. The belief that those who went to Syria or Iraq to support ISIS were too few to matter will only lead to complacency. It was Margaret Thatcher who once famously said they had to get lucky just once to wreak mayhem and make a government look weak and ineffective. Continuous monitoring of the indoctrinated, who went to ISIS and returned disenchanted, is called for as keeping tabs on anyone with his mind on terror is vital. As part of the free world, India must be particularly vigilant. That is the least we may have learnt from recent attacks on our soil as well as in Europe.
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Virgin Australia says it has no reason to believe confidentiality in relation to its $425 million shareholder loan facility was breached before the deal was announced on Monday, even though its share price had plunged 12.5 per cent on Friday.

In response to a query from the Australian Securities Exchange, Virgin said the 12-month debt facility provided by Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Group was not finalised until 11.50pm on Sunday and was announced to the market as soon as possible.

"Until this time the terms of the loan facility, including required third-party consents, were substantially incomplete and outside the entity's control," Virgin said.

The Australian Financial Review's Due Diligence column, which went to print before the loan deal was finalised on Sunday, raised the prospect on Monday that the airline was seeking a shareholder-backed recapitalisation of about $500 million.
If stamp duty is an economist's monster, the silver bullet is a form of taxation that experts from across the ideological spectrum agree is the most useful and least disruptive: land tax. Land tax already exists in NSW, but not on primary residences. Applying it to land occupied by the family home would expand its base widely and pave the way to get rid of stamp duty. This would create myriad advantages. For a start, land tax is extremely fair. All landowners would pay the tax annually based on the value of their land, and not on what improvements they have made. This means renovations would not be punished. Land tax is also easy to understand and administer, while being nigh-on impossible to avoid.

Land tax does not disincentivise home owners from moving freely, making it easier for workers to accept jobs where they crop up, providing a boost to the economy. Land tax would also encourage more infrastructure spending by making it possible for the government to tax some of the additional value it creates when it builds near homes. A rail line that boosts property prices in a given area, for example, could be partially funded by those whose homes had shot up in value as a result. Now this is the point where the hardheads nod sagely and say while all these advantages sound attractive the reality is that any attempt to introduce land tax would be susceptible to the mother of all scare campaigns. After all, if taxes on multinational mining companies, or large polluting companies, can be toppled  what chance a new tax on the family home? Obviously this represents a challenge. But it is a challenge that can be overcome through a thoughtful model and patient public explanation.

Two key concerns are rightly raised when considering the extension of land tax to abolish stamp duty: the impact on home buyers who have recently paid stamp duty and the impact on asset-rich, but cash-poor, homeowners. These concerns can be addressed through a considered model. Following the abolition of stamp duty, homeowners would not pay land tax until they move to a new home. This means buyers who recently paid stamp duty would not get stung twice. For homeowners who are cash poor  typically retirees  a rate-deferral scheme could be introduced to allow land-tax liabilities to be put off. A similar scheme exists in the ACT. Building public support around such a model might take time, but patient and honest explanation would make it possible.

The only other issue with switching from stamp duty to land tax would be an initial dip in revenue for the state Government as the transition worked its way through the system. Yet this need not be a deal-breaker either. Modelling from the NSW Financial Audit of 2011 shows transitional debt would peak in the 10th year at $15.4 billion and be completely paid off by the 23rd year. Yet in the meantime funding options would remain open, as NSW would retain a AAA-credit rating due to the replacement revenue stream of a broad-based land tax. The point in all this is that the political orthodoxy around the certainty of death and stamp duty is incorrect.
"There is no immediate urgency to do this and they should wait upon the outcome of the election, because we were not happy with this at all," he told Fairfax Media. CSIRO's atmospheric recording station at Cape Grim, Tasmania, run with the Bureau of Meteorology. He said a Labor government would hold an external review to consider whether "the CSIRO structure and management is now effective in the circumstances that we face". Asked if that meant replacing senior management including the chief executive, he said: "I don't want to personalise this. It's about how fit for purpose the current management structure and culture is." Former chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb. Credit:Daniel Munoz

The comments came after Senator Carr addressed a public meeting in suburban Aspendale about the cuts. He said evidence to the Senate inquiry suggested the CSIRO board was not adequately consulted before the cuts were announced. It heard the board was given a broad indication of what Dr Marshall had planned in a meeting on December 8. Dr Marshall had one-on-one discussions with CSIRO chairman David Thodey over summer before informing the board of his plan by email two days before it was publicly announced. CSIRO chief Larry Marshall. Credit:Daniel Munoz The inquiry has been told five of seven board members indicated they approved of the plan. Senator Carr said the evidence suggested consultation with the board was "a very perfunctory process" and that the ministerial brief by Dr Marshall to Science Minister Christopher Pyne was full of errors.

"I would have sent it back," he said. "I said the universities could take on this work [that CSIRO would not be doing]. What evidence was there for that?" He said Labor would hold discussions with the CSIRO board and management before the review was implemented. A spokeswoman for Mr Pyne said the CSIRO was an independent statutory agency, and its board and senior management were responsible for its operation and priorities. She said the organisation had advised the government it was following a well-established consultation process to ensure its climate research would continue to be world class. "The organisation will continue to employ more than 300 scientists working on climate adaptation and mitigation research, and will also ensure Australia has access to a state of the art climate models to understand our changing climate and inform adaptation and mitigation decisions," she said.

Former chief scientist Ian Chubb told the Aspendale meeting that ensuring knowledge kept expanding was one of the key roles of government. He said it was important the government recognised that science was critical to Australia's role in the world, but also that it was expensive and a long-term investment. "You can't do great science with no money. You can't do great science by turning it on or off like a trap. You can't build the infrastructure you need to sustain great science when the infrastructure budget goes up and down like a yo-yo," he said. Professor Chubb said in allocating science funding the government must back everything from basic to applied research. That included supporting research that was in the public interest and would not be supported by companies. "It has a role in ensuring the world knows more tomorrow than it knew today. And if they don't do it, who will?" he said.
In a Facebook post soon after he resigned as Maharashtra advocate-general on Tuesday morning, Shreedhar Aney cited institutional stability as the reason for his quitting. He was quite clear neither the governor nor the Chief Minister had asked him to resign  as the Shiv Sena, the ruling BJPs ally, threatened to stall the Budget Session if Mr Aney wasnt removed. This, the outgoing A-G argued, rightly, wouldnt be in the states best interests. In Mr Aneys view the A-G is not the government pleader but the first lawyer charged with defending the states interests. It was with this in mind that in his arguments he had highlighted the case of the Marathwada agricultural crisis, the plight of Vidarbha, and the need for these two regions to be separate states.

Conventionally, it is expected that those holding high constitutional office do not stray from the governments line so as not to potentially embarrass the executive that appointed them. But Mr Aney did not stray from any line, as the subject of Marathwada statehood was not before the government. He spoke out as he is a man of conscience. The Shiv Sena was annoyed as it believes in an expansive Maharashtra.

If we look at history, President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru differed sharply on the Hindu Code Bill. Neither had resigned. Indeed, the nation got to hear arguments from two men of stature, although Nehrus was the progressive view on womens rights. Transient politics mustnt drive out reasoned social arguments.
As conditions deteriorated on New Zealand's Lake Tekapo, James Murphy had to make a choice. He decided to help his mates.

At the time he was relatively safe, having already reached the remote Motuariki Island in the lake.

James Murphy died at Lake Tekapo.

But he went back into the icy water to try to save a friend after hearing some of the kayaks had capsized in the high winds.

Murphy never made it back to shore.
The University of Sydney has revealed a list of 62 degrees for which 2-unit HSC mathematics will become a prerequisite for entry.

The list, which includes science, engineering, psychology and combined courses in music and medicine as well as commerce and law, is part of a wider push to halt Australia's plummeting maths standards after a 10-year plan to make maths compulsory was unveiled by the Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham last week.

The University of Sydney's restriction will come into effect from 2019. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Tyrone Carlin said that the decision to re-institute prerequisites was taken last year "after a thorough review of the relationship between academic performance at university and the level of maths preparation of candidates prior to admission".

Other leading universities are also considering re-introducing the more challenging 2-unit maths prerequisite after it was abandoned in the early 2000s.
Sydney Airport and the country's three other largest airports are continuing to rack up "high profit margins" from car parking and the fees they charge airlines, which are eventually passed on to passengers.

That's the finding from the competition regulator's annual report on the nation's biggest airports, which shows Sydney Airport made a profit of almost 72 on every dollar it gained from people parking at its terminals.

Profits fly high: Sydney Airport made 50 from every dollar it charged airlines. Credit:Tamara Dean

Those fat profit margins are eclipsed by only Melbourne Airport, which made 73.2 in profit from each dollar in car parking revenue last financial year.

Sydney Airport also snared a profit of 50 for every dollar in revenue it gained from airlines in the form of so-called aeronautical charges, which was the highest of any airport in Australia over the past 11 years.
Jakarta: Believe it or not, Australians have finally been granted free entry to Indonesia for up to 30 days, after years of policy backflips.

"Seriously, for real this time," was local news website Coconuts Jakarta's tongue-in-cheek headline to the news Australians will no longer have to pay $US35 ($46) for a visa on arrival.

Australians will finally be exempt from paying for visas on arrival in Indonesia.

On previous occasions Australia has been included among countries to be granted free entry, only to be withdrawn from the list at the 11th hour.

This time the announcement, which took effect March 22, has come from the highest possible level.
Belgian security agencies were assailed in the immediate aftermath of the bombings. But all of Europe invites attack because of its porous borders; national and branch rivalry and jealousy between the services; and a sense in the smaller countries that it's up to the bigger EU member countries to deal with the security challenges. The blown out facade of the airport terminal. Credit:AP So Belgium was a blessing for IS. It was a logistic and planning hub before, and a bolthole after, the Paris attacks in which 130 people died. And in a Europe already reeling under the weight of a migrant exodus from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, Tuesday's attacks will prove to be a new challenge to EU cohesion if individual member states conclude that they cannot rely on their neighbours to protect them. An injured woman leaves the scene at Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility on Tuesday. Credit:David Crunelle

On Friday, Belgian police were being congratulated for the live capture of Abdeslam, even if he had been hiding in plain sight. But just days later, the country was in convulsions and chaos as a string of suicide and other bomb attacks killed more than 30 and wounded scores more. Shiraz Maher, of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London, told reporters that per capita, Belgium had the highest number of foreign fighters in Syria of any European country  "more than twice as many have gone from there as from France, and more than four times as many as from Britain". Nam Laachraoui, left captured on CCTV, moments before the blast with two other bombers. Credit:AP The Molenbeek quarter in Brussels is a hotbed of jihadist activity, running a not-so-underground shuttle of fighters to the war in Syria and, before that, to other conflict zones. But by various accounts, Belgian security forces are reluctant to enter Molenbeek. The local mayor reportedly received a list of as many as 80 suspected Islamist militants living in the quarter in November 2015  it included Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim, who blew himself up in the Paris attacks.

If as seems likely, the cell behind Tuesday's attacks is a remnant of the cell that planned the Paris ones, why had Belgian forces not rooted them out? If it was a new group, how could it have outsmarted the authorities when all of Europe, and Belgium in particular, was on such a high alert? But in the wake of the capture of Abdeslam, why was Belgium not on its highest alert? How could the far more sophisticated November attacks in Paris have been planned and resourced from Molenbeek, without the Belgians having stumbled on a clue? Why did it take 125 days to find Abdeslam, when it was known he was lurking in Molenbeek? It must have taken dozens of associates to cover for him  again, why no arrests? More particularly, on Sunday, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said that Abdeslam had told investigators that he had been planning fresh attacks in Brussels  so why no investigative follow-through? And how was it that the Paris attackers were able to survive a Belgian security dragnet that, early last year, was supposed to have cleared Molenbeek of its worst jihadist elements? Criticism of Belgian security goes deeper than front-line grunts.

There are accounts of agencies not working together, of failing to make the best use of technology. The government as a whole is accused of dragging its heels  in a country with an estimated 800-plus known suspected jihadists, there are only 1000 civilian and military intelligence officers attempting to counter and corral them. On a more structural social level, critics charge that Belgium can't get it together because it has never met the challenge of reconciling its national and cultural fractures  tension between its French, Dutch and German-speaking communities which lead to political instability. And in the Muslim community there are complaints that Belgian authorities were happy to see hundreds of young men heading off to fight in Syria and Iraq, just to be rid of them. When CNN investigated life in Molenbeek in the period between the Paris and Brussels attacks, Geraldine Henneghien, whose son Anis died fighting in Syria, complained that there was no response from Belgian police when she reported her son's plans. Leading the finger-pointing at security failings in Brussels was the French newspaper Le Monde, which dubbed Belgium "a clearing house for jihadism" on its way to becoming "a nation without a state". In the past, Belgium has had waves of terrorism  in the 1980s and 1990s. It has poor Muslim communities, like Molenbeek, in which recruiters prey on the jobless and the angry. Added to that, as the headquarters of the European Union, any strike in Belgium is a strike against world power structures.

Donald Trump was quick to weigh in, claiming that "more than waterboarding" was the solution to terrorism. But the complexity of the terror challenge, as the Brussels attacks reveal, continues to defy governments in Europe and beyond  and probably requires more thoughtful responses. There were many calls on Tuesday for a new ring of security around airport terminals and metro stations  but this would simply create a new target, as crowds of travellers backed up, waiting to be processed. Aviation security expert Philip Baum told The Guardian: "It's ultimately down to looking for people with negative intent and we have to do that without creating new security hurdles that create new targets, such as checkpoints at the entrances to terminals. "If you look at the Germanwings crash, Metrojet bombing [in the Sinai] or today [in Brussels], people with criminal intent think outside the box  and we need to too." The West needs to do exactly that, because it's how IS operates.
A man believed to be the surviving airport bomber has been arrested and charged with "terrorist murders". The death toll was still uncertain on Wednesday morning. Several hundred were injured in the attacks. Belgian media had earlier reported that the prime suspect, Najim Laachraoui, had been arrested but the claim was subsequently denied by state prosecutors. The carnage at Zaventem Airport in Brussels Police believe the other two men in the CCTV footage, wearing dark clothes and black gloves on their left hands, had pushed their bombs on luggage trolleys into the departure hall before detonating them.

On Wednesday morning local media RTBF, quoting a police source, said that the airport suicide bombers were two brothers from Brussels, Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. People receive treatment in the debris strewn terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions on Tuesday. Credit:RTL/AP The report  which had not been officially confirmed at the time of writing - said they were known to police in relation to organised crime. More recently they had been linked to terrorism, with one of the brothers on the lease for a house raided last week in relation to the November Paris attacks. Shattered windows at Zaventem airport in Brussels after a bomb blast on Tuesday. Credit:Peter Dejong

The black hat suspect's device did not go off, and he was believed to have left the airport. "We are looking for this guy," said Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon. Photographs of Najim Laachraoui released by authorities. Credit:AP Police issued images of the suspect enhanced from the CCTV footage overnight, local time, asking "who recognises this man?". According to local news outlet HLN, a taxi driver had contacted police on Tuesday afternoon, after recognising the passengers he took to the airport early in the morning.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, left, and Belgium's Interior Minister Jan Jambon address the media in the wake of the attacks. Credit:Geert Vanden Wijngaert He reportedly told investigators the trio had wanted to take five pieces of luggage, but only three would fit into the taxi. Police rushed to the house where the men were picked up. They found the other suitcases with "heavy nail bombs", bomb-making chemicals and an Islamic State flag. The house was said to have been recently let out to new arrivals in the district, suggesting it was a "safe house" for the terror cell rather than a home. The search was part of a wider, country-wide series of raids by police, federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said.

Police had already been hunting a newly-identified IS terror suspect, believed to be the bombmaker for last November's Paris attacks. On Sunday they identified the man, reportedly through DNA traces on explosive belts used at the Bataclan theatre in Paris, as Laachraoui. He was reportedly given a fake identity by Salah Abdeslam, arrested last week in Brussels in connection with the Paris attacks. Abdeslam was due to appear before a pre-trial court in Brussels this week. However police have not yet officially linked those attacks with the Brussels attack this week. Some intelligence sources speculated to the media that, at least, it was likely that Abdeslam's arrest had accelerated the timetable for this week's attack, as his lawyer had said he was co-operating with police. IS claimed responsibility for the attacks through its Amaq news agency on Tuesday, which reported "Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices".

It claimed the fighters had "opened fire" inside the airport before detonating explosive belts, and another "martyrdom bomber" detonated his belt in the Metro. And it identified Belgium as "a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State". Wednesday was to be the second of three days of official mourning in Belgium. On Tuesday Prime Minister Charles Michel called for calmness and solidarity, saying the country would stay "united and mobilised" in the face of "those who chose to become barbaric enemies of liberty, democracy and fundamental values". The government was determined to protect its citizens' liberties and way of life, he said. Freedom of movement is an emotional, economic and legal linchpin of the EU. Border controls imposed at the height of the refugee crisis were met with immediate complaints, and usually amounted to cursory-at-best identity card checks. A slowing of commerce between nations would cost the EU billions, it has been estimated.

Cross-border anti-terror co-operation has been a subject of disagreement and debate in Europe since the attacks of September 11, 2001. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Tuesday renewed his country's call for a continent-wide register of airline passengers, the so-called "Passenger Name Record" (PNR) that would be searchable by security services and could be used to identify and trace passengers in real time. The PNR directive has been blocked since 2011. Following pressure from France after last year's Paris attacks, the European Parliament is due to vote on it next month. But it has already seen angry debate, with some parties accusing each other of playing "dirty games with terrorism". Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who has previously resisted compromises on civil liberties in response to the Paris attacks, told reporters on Tuesday that liberties should not be sacrificed in a "quick reaction based on emotion". Some have called for a new era of security at European transport hubs on a par with the Middle East, where airport passengers go through security screening before entry into departure halls.
An international search to secure a new head for the Australian National University's troubled School of Music will need to be resumed after the leading candidate declined the job.

Staff and students were advised the American academic and musician who was offered the position has opted out after months of negotiation

Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt says he is giving the search for a new head for the Australian National University's troubled School of Music his full attention. Credit:Graham Tidy

Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt said: "I was advised over the weekend that our preferred candidate for head of school had decided not to take up the position after a strong counter-offer from one of the world's top-ranked universities."

"I have a strong commitment to the school and the future of music at ANU and the search for a suitable head has my full attention. We will immediately resume an international search for an outstanding leader for the next stage of the school's history," Professor Schmidt said.
Ex-students of Marist College Canberra have praised a decision to rename a student house honouring a senior official who helped protect a paedophile brother and shuffle him to another school.

Abuse victim Damian De Marco and Marist old boy Mike Desmond have urged the school to continue on a path of healing the horrors of the school's past.

Child abuse campaigner and former Marist student Damian De Marco. Credit:Melissa Adams MLA

Earlier this week, Marist announced it would be changing the name of Othmar House, a student house that honours Brother Othmar Weldon, who was the high-ranking chair of Marist Brothers provincial council in the 1960s and 1970s.

Brother Weldon was strongly criticised in the child abuse royal commission last year, for helping to protect paedophile Brother John William Chute, known as Brother Kostka.
Belgium's ambassador to Australia has spoken of the "shock and consternation" felt in the Canberra community in the wake of the deadly Brussels terrorist attacks.

Belgians who live in the capital, members of the diplomatic corps and politicians were among dozens who visited the country's embassy in Yarralumla to place flowers and sign a condolence book on Wednesday.

Kaleen's Nathalie Niesner, Thomas Vanhercke and Elias Vanhercke, 5, place flowers outside the Belgian embassy in Yarralumla on Wednesday. Credit:Melissa Adams

Ambassador Jean-Luc Bodson said a candlelight vigil to honour those who lost their lives may take place at the embassy next week to remember victims who died when two bomb blasts rocked the capital.

"The feeling [among embassy staff] was of shock and consternation when we heard the news," he said.
Wealth and mortgage company Yellow Brick Road has bought online advice platform brightday from News Corp for an undisclosed sum.

YBR executive chairman Mark Bouris said the deal will allow it to sell its loan and wealth products directly online for the first time.

Yellow Brick Road executive chairman says the deal to buy BrightDay will give a way to directly sell mortgages online

"We bought distribution by buying [mortgage aggregator] Vow Financial, what we have now got is a huge number of customers and we are writing about 5 per cent of mortgages," he said.

"brightday has no products, no advisers, but it is a very good digital platform. We can adjunct that digital platform at a branch and we can push products through it."
RSS did not fight for freedom. Its a cover-up

Its easy nowadays to get branded as an anti-national. Writers and artists returning awards to protest against murders of rationalists and Dadri lynching are anti-nationals. People voicing concerns about a private organisation hosting a cultural festival in gross violation of all rules leading to environmental damage are anti-nationals. Students shouting slogans against punjivad and Manuvad are anti-nationals. Sloganeering is encouraged, but only of specific kind and rhetorical phrases that are decided and dictated by the ruling party and its ideological mentor. We saw on a news channel how a spokesperson of the ruling party want hoarse shouting Bharat Mata ki Jai and challenging his co-panelists to parrot him.

If one could have managed to ignore the chilling implication, it would have been rather amusing. Debates, discussions and dissent are part of a healthy democracy. The raging debate about nationalism is welcome. However, its ironic that a political party whose ideological fountainhead refused to take part in Indias freedom struggle against imperialist forces, whose political predecessors did not have any role to play in the post-Independence task of nation building, is steering this debate. But its precisely because of this reason that they are trying to create an atmosphere of hyper nationalism. Empty vessels make more noise.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Right-wing forces are trying to appropriate legacies, to monopolise ideologies and concepts. They are attempting to appropriate Hinduism by trying to impose their chauvinistic, bigoted brand of Hindutva on people. They are trying to appropriate legacies of great leaders and martyrs like Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose and Vallabhbhai Patel. They are trying to cover-up their non-participation in the freedom struggle. They are trying to make amends for their erstwhile leaders who apologised to the British to come out of jail. They are trying to cover-up the fact that the RSS refused to hoist the national flag at their headquarters till as late as 2002. Thats why there has been a fervent diktat from the ministry of human resources development to all Central universities to hoist the tricolour. They are trying to create their own brand of hyper nationalism that obliterates plurality, annihilates differences, suppresses voice of dissent and kills sanity and reason.

In this whole shrill-pitched scenario of allegations and counter-allegations of who is an anti-national and who is not, one point is emerging clearly. Political parties with anti-liberal, communal mindsets like the BJP and the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen are nothing but two sides of the same coin. The BJPs insistence on saying Bharat Mata ki Jai as a determinative of nationalism and the AIMIMs refusal to say it stem from the same mindset that caters to politics of hate. Both have reduced nationalism to mere sloganeering.

Its indeed a bad day for a nation when mere sloganeering is taken as the litmus test to prove ones patriotism. Pandit Ravi Shankar, who familiarised the world to the beauty of Indian classical music, didnt need to shout Bharat Mata ki Jai to prove his patriotism. Sachin Tendulkars sixers are far more convincing testimonial to his patriotism than any sloganeering. Artists and scholars, scientists and philosophers who have done India proud by their achievements and millions of unknown Indians who contribute towards the ongoing task of nation-building are greater patriots than the slogan shouting pseudo-nationalists.

Our Constitution gives us the freedom of expression. By implication, it also gives us the freedom of silence. While sloganeering can generate passion and create bonds, let our acts and deeds speak more eloquently towards our commitment to the nation.

Sharmistha Mukherjee is chief spokesperson, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, and national media panelist, AICC.

Wont allow threat to Indias integrity

It would be appropriate to first delve into the history of the very concept of Bharat Mata before discussing the need for making the chanting of Bharat Mata Ki Jai compulsory. Our republic rose from a long-drawn freedom struggle, a movement that was bathed in nationalist fervour. There are enough evidences to show that religion and culture played an important role in making the freedom struggle mass-based and widespread.

There are several references in our history texts, not written necessarily by Right-wing scholars, about the role of Durga Puja pandals in West Bengal and Ganpati mandaps in Maharashtra in galvanising public sentiment against the imperialist forces. These two festivals played a major role in mass mobilisation and spreading the message against British occupation.

Right at the beginning of the freedom struggle the motif of Durga was used to depict the Indian nation and Mahishasur symbolised the imperial forces. It was from worshipping Durga that Kiran Chandra Banerjee, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Abanindranath Tagore got their inspiration to depict Bharat Mata.

Much feted nationalist leader Bipin Chandra Pal had no qualms using Hindu philosophical traditions and rituals to idealise Bharat Mata. Thus, an assault on such sentiments invites the wrath of people in general.

While development is the priority of the Narendra Modi government, preserving nationalist ideals is its responsibility. This was underlined by home minister Rajnath Singh at the Bharatiya Janata Partys national executive meeting where he said, We have progressive policies and nationalist thoughts. We can accept political dissent, but not anti-nationalism.

And to those who thought working towards preserving nationalist ideals amounted to being fascist, our finance minister Arun Jaitley gave a very remarkable explanation. Constitution gives full freedom for expressing dissent and disagreement, but not the countrys destruction. Freedom of expression and nationalism do necessarily coexist,

Mr Jaitley said while piloting the political resolution at the just concluded national executive in the capital.

The so-called opposition to reciting Vande Mataram and raising the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai are products of convoluted minds working on a visceral political line to defeat the spirit of the nation. Vande Mataram, the song that inspired the freedom struggle, was denied its rightful position by Left-wing activists, who want to strike at the very roots of Indian nationality. Its after a long-drawn struggle by the BJP that the song is now being sung inside Parliament and Legislative Assemblies.

That the spirit of this song lived in the souls of Indians was best evidenced when musical genius A.R. Rahman and Lata Mangeshkar sang it again for the nation. Rahmans rendition of Maa tujhe salaam too has been widely accepted. Muslim scholars have come forward and said that in Bharat Mata they see the image of Madre watan (Mother nation). So where is the scope of debate? We saw recently in Kolkata that during the India-Pakistan match the whole stadium resonated with Bharat Mata ki Jai.

However, overlooking the sentiments of the people, a few elements, desirous of the destruction of the nation, have taken to denouncing Bharat Mata. They have to be fought tooth and nail for that its necessary that saying the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai be made compulsory. There cannot be any compromise on the integrity of the nation and such law is necessary to make it difficult for those who, in the name of liberal ideals, preach subversion.

Ashish Sood is general secretary, Delhi BJP
John Shakespeare colour cartoon / illo / illustration / toon / artwork eureka report, alan kohler with a ABC logo in his mouth cbd friday Alan Kohler.jpg Credit:John Shakespeare

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Australia has abandoned its bid to make money from the nation's $2 trillion superannuation pool after selling off the financial services business it set up in 2014 to offset its reliance on the newspaper business, CBD columnist Colin Kruger writes.

News Corp this morning sold off the Eureka Report - which it acquired from ABC presenter Alan Kohler for $30 million in 2012 - and Eureka's financial services arm, brightday.

It would not have been a hard decision for the News Corp Australia boss, Peter Tonagh, the acquisition was the brainchild of his controversial predecessor, Kim Williams, who was unceremoniously dumped in 2013.

It is understood News Corp had already written off the acquisition, which delivered a windfall for Kohler, but failed to deliver for its new owners despite entering the financial services market via brightday in 2014.

Both the Eureka Report and brightday have fallen into the arms of well known businessmen - for a modest sum.

Celebrity Apprentice presenter, Mark Bouris, announced that his financial firm, Yellow Brick Road had acquired brightday. The ASX-listed company did not mention a price, and did not even say if the acquisition will have any impact on earnings.

The Eureka Report itself has fallen into the arms of another financial analysts turned TV presenter in Paul Clitheroe. His ASX-listed financial services group, Australasian Wealth Investments announced the acquisition of the Eureka Report which will be "funded from cash reserves."

The sale removes one headache for Kohler, as it might ease some of the protocols needed by the ABC to reduce the conflicts between the stock picking business he managed for News Corp and his role at the public broadcaster.
News Corporation's wade into financial services has come to an end with the sale of investment publication Eureka Report as well as its superannuation service spinoff BrightDay for an undisclosed sum.

News Corp acquired Alan Kohler's Australia Independent Business Media, which included business news website Business Spectator and Eureka Report, in 2012 for $30 million.

Business Spectator's Alan Kohler Credit:Luis Ascui

Eureka Report has been sold to Australasian Wealth Investments, which also publishes Intelligent Investor, InvestSMART and Your Share, while BrightDay has been sold to Mark Bouris's financial services business Yellow Brick Road.

News Corp will keep Mr Kohler's Business Spectator which has been integrated into the media conglomerate's local business coverage with The Australian.
A Melbourne family stands to make up to $80 million from the sale of a cattle farm in the city's northern growth corridor.

The farm spanning three titles and 214 hectares along Mickleham Road between Mount Ridley and Donnybrook roads in Mickleham is expected to be keenly sought after by large greenfield developers.

The land parcel, near Caroline Springs (train station project pictured), is the second largest on the market this year following huge demand for sites in 2015. Credit:Pat Scala

Title documents show the land belongs to descendants of the local Cocking family and could potentially house up to 2000 dwellings.

Melbourne's northern growth corridor has boomed over the previous decade with large players Villawood, Stockland, MAB, Evolve and Moremac taking stakes in the area which sits within the Merrifield West and Lindum Vale PSP.
Australian women earn about 83 cents for every $1 a man earns, according to a new report analysing the gender pay gap.

The report by recruitment firm Glassdoor, titled Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap, is based on more than 534,000 salary reports held by the firm on the pay differences between men and women in countries including Australia, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

The average wage gap, adjusted for hours worked, is about 19 per cent. Credit:Andrew Dyson

The Australian results, based on information on more than 4000 local employee salaries, showed that when variables such as age, education, experience, occupation, industry, location, year, company and job title, are taken into account, the adjusted gender pay gap shrinks from 17.3 per cent to 3.9 per cent.

More than one-third (38 per cent) of the unadjusted pay gap is explained by differences in how men and women sort into different occupations and industries with varying earning potential.
The Islamic State-inspired bombings in Brussels on Tuesday appear to presage a frightening new reality for Europe  that of semi-regular terrorist attacks against vulnerable soft targets. The near impossibility of countering that menace raises the distinct possibility the Schengen Agreement  which guarantees visa-free travel across 26 countries and is one of the cornerstones of the European Union  could be an early casualty. Indeed, unless the threat is soon countered, the European supra-national experiment that has been under way since 1945 might be forced into retreat.

The tragedy of the Brussels attacks (the death toll now exceeds 30) was compounded by the fact it might have been avoided with a little luck. Alert to the possibility of revenge attacks by IS after last Friday's arrest of Salah Abdeslam (a suspect in November's Paris attack who hid out in a Brussels suburb), Belgian authorities had warned of the risk of a strike. But luck in security matters is frequently an outcome of good co-ordination and co-operation  qualities Belgium's notoriously fractured security services (and government) are reported to lack.

Underlining the ineffectiveness of its counter-terrorism capability, Belgium was used extensively by the Paris attackers for logistics and planning purposes. That said, however, other national security forces (particularly France's) have apparently been guilty of not sharing information with one another.

One of the lessons likely to be drawn from Tuesday's attack is the necessity for a strong commitment by all European Union members to information-sharing and security co-operation. What might be done to counteract the ease with which IS sympathisers can presently move about Europe is more problematic, however.
In this august volume, eight diagnostic criteria are set out, the first being "marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation". One should only be labelled phobic if these criteria are satisfied. Most of those labelled as phobic by social commentators and others equally poorly informed would not satisfy even the first criterion. Therefore, in to answer Anne's specific question, no, there isn't a phobia to cover people who are tired of phobias  being tired of something does not satisfy the diagnostic criteria. Kieran Edward Fallon, MD , Hawker Unions proud of deal Unions are proud of the memorandum of understanding on procurement with the ACT government.

Over the past 11 years, it has helped establish a level playing field for local small businesses to compete fairly and create local jobs. The memorandum ensures reputable businesses need not fear unsafe, disreputable and rogue contractors can undercut them. The ACT is a better place to work for employees of contractors because of agreements like this. Despite the partisan attitude of M.Silex (Letters, March 21) and the Canberra Liberals, the MOU has helped provide for improved workplace safety for thousands of employees of ACT government contractors. The ACT, despite recent improvements, remains the least safe jurisdiction in Australia, with 42 construction workers injured every month. UnionsACT will never take a backward step when it comes to your safety at work, or your rights at work, and agreements like the MOU are a small part of ensuring the Americanisation of work rights never comes to Canberra. Alex White, secretary, UnionsACT Given the details of the memorandum of understanding between the ACT government and UnionsACT, as outlined in The Canberra Times editorial ("Government MOU puts union first", Times2, March 18, p2) are accurate, it is surprising that, to date, there have been no demands for Andrew Barr to be stood down from the Chief Minister office, if not from the Assembly.

Politicians are elected to serve the people, not union officials. Ed Dobson, Hughes Bravo Zulu On Tuesday about 7.40am, a window in our house was broken by a grass cutter hurling a stone through it. A call was made to TAMS and, unbelievably, the broken window had been repaired by 12.30pm. We often complain about lack of service from government agencies, but this was an outstanding effort by all concerned. In naval terms, "bravo zulu". Norman Lee, Weston

Elderly ripped off Congratulations, Jenni Warren (Letters, March 22), with regard to the costs and fees charged by retirement villages. I believe there should be a government inquiry into retirement villages both here in the ACT and NSW. One of the charges levied by these facilities are "departure fees", which are either "capped" or "uncapped" at a rate of 3per cent a year or more, depending on where the village is. Say a person has bought a three-bedroom villa at a village for $535,000. If uncapped, they will lose $16,000 a year and if they live 10 years they will lose $160,000, 20 years they will lose $320,000 or 60per cent of their initial outlay, and at 30 years there would be effectively no value left at all. If that person was to then enter care, the family would have to find additional funds like $450,000 to cover the bond, plus other costs associated with that care. Bring on the inquiry, please, for the sake of all village residents, as they are being ripped off. Ken Barrs, Stirling

I agree with Jenni Warren about the cost of aged accommodation. A shame a developer couldn't get together with Jenni and others in her situation to build small group aged developments in the suburbs privately, along the lines of those already built by the ACT government (Lyons is one I know of), except privately owned. I'll bet it can be done a lot cheaper than the rip-offs of aged-care homes. And residents tend to support each other. Make it your home and keep its value in your own hands. And you'll have money left over to pay for in-home care. Roseanne Byrne, St Georges Basin, NSW Magnetic Manuka

The degentrification of Manuka may be just over the horizon. The trouble with this little pocket of overt affluence and devil-may-care al fresco dining and wining is that it's become a magnet for the hoi polloi and nouveau not-so riche. There's a message here: if you tart yourself up too much, you'll eventually attract unwanted suitors. Ed Highley, Kambah Feral animals a threat to our native species I am in strong disagreement with Dr Mike Brayshaw's views on feral animals ("Why dealing with feral animals is so complex", March 18, p6).

I'd suggest there is little real value in the feral pigs, horses, camels, etc, that plague Australia, but enormous costs, including severe damage to free ecological goods and services, such as water supply. I'd further suggest these feral animals were mostly brought in not because of their value but because of cultural cringe  the nasty belief that Australian animals and plants were grossly inferior to those of the old world. Suppressing feral animal numbers is essential in some areas, even if it is never-ending. Adopting Dr Brayshaw's seeming prescription of abandoning feral animal control would condemn many unique native plants, animals and environs to eventual destruction/extinction by feral animals. Dr Brayshaw also states that carp thrive because our Murray-Darling rivers are degraded. We should be very clear that carp are not just a symptom, but an active driver of poor river health (albeit one of several). Their invasiveness is frightening, and they will readily invade any lowland or midland stream, even if it is in pristine condition.

Dr Brayshaw also states that in the lower Murray River "native fish can't survive, but carp can survive in 50per cent sea water". However, numerous reference books will attest that some native fish species, such as the important golden perch, also survive such salinities. Simon Kaminskas, Palmerston Share any profit If the government is about to make a bonanza from the sale of Mr Fluffy blocks ("Mr Fluffy block sales will be a pot of gold", March 20, p14), doesn't that mean it paid Mr Fluffy homeowners less than the market value of their homes  and should, therefore, now pass on any profit it makes to them?

R. S. Gilbert, Braddon Chance for voters to show pollies we need the Senate review system What a contrast between the articles by Peter Reith ("Turnbull steals a march", Times2, March 22, p1) and Nicholas Stuart ("Inequality at root of the rage", Times2, March 22, p4). Peter Reith's is a blatant political pitch full of the usual incorrect and unsubstantiated political spiel, while Nicholas Stuart's article is about the truth (sadly lacking from the LNP and ALP) and the dangerous rage that conservative governments face when inequality is their unstated policy. The May 3 budget will undoubtedly be another example of this policy. With the Senate voting system change comes a chance for the people of Australia to tell the politicians that we need the Senate review system. We should all vote below the line, voting first for independents then followed by parties ensuring we number 12 squares. Senate voting reform, supposedly for democratic reasons, did not include extra Senators for the ACT and NT. The current low rate of representation is clearly undemocratic, so why was it not considered for reform? A Senate dominated by independents will be a true democracy.

Max Jensen, Chifley Re-read Karl Marx Nicholas Stuart's article, "Inequality at root of the rage" (Times2, March 22, p4), pinpoints inequality as being the main cause of social discord and deep uncertainty among people throughout the world. Such is the case in Australia as our once egalitarian society fades. The polarisation of wealth is revealed by millionaires pay no tax ("Taxman collects next to nothing from 56 millionaires", March 22, p6), wealthy individuals who control our natural resources, and investors in established housing who deprive the government of billions of dollars by way of negative gearing, while hiding behind the "mum and dad" investors. This at a time when working-people face uncertainty in securing fair wages, available jobs and affordable housing.

Such a disparity in the distribution of the nation's wealth violates social harmony and the well-being of all. Perhaps it is time for social thinkers and activists to re-read Karl Marx and ponder the very nature of the capitalist system wherein maximum profit, above all else, is the main goal, and consider another social system of a socialist nature with inbuilt democratic features. Keith McEwan, Bonython Support for lockout Ross Fitzgerald ("Why Sydneysiders should be grateful for the lockout", Times2, March 22, 2016) is right. It is outrageous that the liquor industry wants to bring back their mess again and for us to pay to clean it up for them with young lives and precious taxpayer funded hospital, ambulance and police service resources. Dr Peter Smith, Lake Illawarra, NSW

Dead can't pay fines A government with a long-range plan and looking to the future is to be commended ("Even the dead may have to pay HECS", canberratimes.com.au, March 23). However, the Turnbull government's recent thought bubble on collecting unpaid HECS fees from graduates who have died is really looking to the future. HECS was introduced in 1989 which means a majority of graduates will be living another 30 to 40 years on current life expectancy statistics. It would be far more sensible to concentrate on collecting HECS fees from graduates who leave Australia to take up highly paid jobs in other countries. Robyn Lewis, Raglan, NSW Lack of protections

For most of the past century, federal governments and their employees were able to settle differences over pay and conditions without resort to strikes or lockouts. Back then, all parties recognised the special responsibilities of government in guaranteeing important and essential services. Direct industrial action was rarely contemplated. The quid pro quo was ready access to an independent industrial umpire. Politicians kept their distance. APS pay and conditions more or less moved in line with community standards. It wasn't always "scientific" or "pure" but mostly, it worked. The APS now has a set of arrangements that are supposed to promote enterprise and productivity bargaining but rarely do either. Instead government takes a "hands-on" approach that affords none of the protections to the community or the less industrially powerful of the old model. There is no easy or early access to an independent tribunal, and those in dispute are left to fight it out until either one surrenders or the community's pain threshold is breached. Government itself clearly states that general pay increases can and should flow only from productivity gains identified and implemented at individual workplaces.

In reality though, federal government agencies and their employees are straight-jacketed. Agency bargaining in the APS is stunted by a rigid service-wide cap on pay settlements and strict controls on the detailed content of agreements. Disputes are frequently more protracted and bitter than needs be. It all may save a little money in the short run but simply stores up trouble for the future. Minister Michaelia Cash should drop the sound bites about a lack of "good faith bargaining"  the bargainers on either side for the most part aren't the problem. The real problem is a set of bargaining arrangements that don't even live up to the government's own sales pitch. Bob Bennett, Wanniassa Ahok unlike Trump In an otherwise informative article, Maher Mughrabi makes the astonishing statement that the Governor of Jakarta, widely known as "Ahok", is "the Donald Trump of Indonesian politics" ("High hopes, old fears in push for growth", Forum, March 19, p4). Really? Has Governor Ahok threatened to build a wall to keep out "undesirables"? Has he attacked religious minorities, or engaged in belligerent, divisive politics?

The Governor Ahok that I've observed is a charismatic, reforming leader who is working hard to improve the everyday lives of ordinary citizens in one of the world's largest, and most difficult to govern, cities in the world. And, unlike Donald Trump, he has runs on the board in delivering better governance. Hal Hill, Aranda TO THE POINT MAKE MILLIONAIRES PAY As Malcolm Turnbull and his colleagues are so keen to raise money, I suggest the government make sure all millionaires pay tax at a reasonable rate, rather than being able to drive their taxable incomes down below the $18,200 tax-free threshold ("Taxman collects next to nothing from 56 millionaires", March 22, p6).

Gay von Ess, Aranda ART FOR ART'S SAKE I stumbled around in the dark between exhibits at Enlighten and cursed the government for not spending money on a little solar pathway lighting. However, such criticism pales when compared with the illumination about the non-payment of artists ("Lack of value put on artists the dark side of Enlighten", Times2, March 21, p5). Ah, yes, they should do it for love and be grateful! Mary Beneforti, Hackett BAD APPLE

If Apple's Tim Cook genuinely believes that assisting the FBI in a limited, circumscribed way in a mass murder terrorism case is at odds with Apple's ethical principles, and his company ultimately prevails, then survival of the richest will be the new order of natural selection in the United States. A. Whiddett, Yarralumla UMPIRE'S CALL If the umpire was worthy of respect, he would get it, Christopher Budd (Letters, March 22). An independent review concluded the Safe Schools program was consistent with the goals of the national curriculum. It is Education Minister Simon Birmingham who should have respected the umpire's call. David Grills, Kambah

PUBLIC LEFT OUT The GWS/Grocon development proposal announced in mid-February appears to have been under discussion with the ACT government for 18 months. Not a word from the government, despite requests for information and consultation. And GWS/Grocon are currently conducting online public consultations (enough said). This is coming on top of the light-rail fiasco. I have lost confidence in the government; I'm sure I am not alone. Geoff Clark, Narrabundah According to the Australian Taxation Office, Grocon, the company currently lobbying for the "Manuka Green" development paid zero tax on a total income of $441,079,259 in 2013-14. I cannot believe any serious politician putting Canberra's best interests and reputation foremost would wish to have any project in Canberra associated with such a company. Doug Foskett, Griffith
Brussels, like Paris before it, both repulses us and confuses us. Repulsion of course at the sheer brutality of the action that targeted people going about their normal business; Friday night revellers in Paris and weekday commuters during rush hour in Brussels. But there is also confusion at how groups of Islamists are able to evade Western security, and more importantly how one is to solve this problem.

The harsh reality is that there is no such thing as perfect security and no easy solution to the current struggle with Islamist terrorists. The IRA once famously said to the British security services after its Grand Hotel bombing in Brighton that nearly killed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that 'you have to be lucky all the time, we only have to be lucky once.'

Mourners embrace at Beursplein square in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Credit:Bloomberg

This reflects the modern-day challenges that face security services in secular liberal societies. There are legal processes protecting individuals that security services must navigate in order to protect the broader group; the information revolution has made it easier and much quicker for people to form identities (including religious identities) completely at odds with that of their national one; and years of war in the Middle East have made Islamist terrorists much more capable and much more aware of operational security considerations.

Amidst all this, liberal societies must continue to function with the degree of openness and freedom that defines them. That means that for Islamist terrorists there will always be soft targets aplenty and legal restrictions on the security agencies. Security services cannot protect everyone all the time everywhere, and people need to understand this; a certain resilience and understanding of the best means of protection is required in the face of the current threat.
Global citizens are struggling once more to understand how anyone could feel justified in slaughtering scores of innocent people in the name of some hollow holy war. So common have tragedies like Brussels become that expressions of empathy, sorrow and solidarity, no matter how heartfelt, can appear almost trite. Terrorism is robbing us of words sufficient to express the depth of our feelings. Naturally we seek to ease the psychological burden by apportioning blame. With the Brussels bombings, blame lies with the Islamic State murderers as well as those who hid or made excuses for them. A stronger, safer Europe would be the only good to come from this tragedy in Brussels. Credit:AP Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is well intentioned when he says it is too early to discuss the security failings in Belgium and Europe. But this is not a one-off. The lessons of attacks on Paris, London and Madrid have not been learned. A similar strike at the heart of Europe's free trade, democratic and military bureaucracy was always probable. Responsibility must extend to the self-interested politicians in the fractured governance structure of Belgium. They refused to cooperate effectively on intelligence, police and security measures. These failures allowed the Molenbeek sector of Brussels to fester as an Islamist breeding ground for years. Many who have killed in the name of Islamic State were radicalised there, including Paris terrorist Brahim Abdeslam, who blew himself up in the November attacks, and his brother Salah, who was arrested last Friday in Molenbeek. Notably, their names had been on a terror watch list at least since last October. The Mayor of Molenbeek said it was the responsibility of federal police to deal with terrorists.

Laggards in the European Union stand condemned as well, for failing to give security measures at external and internal borders sufficient priority and funding, not just amid the exodus of refugees from Syria but for decades. A report on terrorism prevention dated March 1 from the European Counter-Terrorism Coordinator to all European Union members makes  in hindsight  alarming reading. This is the first line: "While progress is being made in all areas, further urgent improvements to information sharing and border security are necessary." Blame does not, however, extend to all Muslims. The vast majority of them reject IS and plead for help in fighting the scourge. Without their support, the group will keep preying on vulnerable and alienated Muslims across the globe long after this iteration of terrorism is driven out of Syria and Iraq. And the more the likes of US Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump capitalise on terror attacks by threatening torture and worse, the more the hollow holy war becomes real for zealots. The circumstances in Europe are different enough from Australia's both geographically and practically to provide our citizens with some reassurance. But a series of terror attacks here  and many more thwarted  means the risk of another remains "probable". Given the Brussels attacks reveal the dangers of a failure of intelligence and security, Australian authorities are rightly assessing our own levels of both. Voters will have to accept a balance between civil liberties, privacy and convenience on the one hand, and safety at transport hubs and public gatherings on the other. We need to spend more money, allocate extra time and take collective responsibility for our safety. The same applies in Europe, where there is much work to do. But at least EU governments have rightly rejected calls for an end to open borders within Europe. Far right organisations and supporters of a British exit from the EU are cynically using the attacks for their political advantage. Open borders bring immense benefits  provided the border patrols and security agencies work together to identify risks.
Falcon. Instead the contest became the latest in the Internets long, storied history to end up with social media users gleefully offering ridiculous names to government-funded projects.

A proposal by a British government agency to let the Internet suggest a name for a $287 million polar research ship probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now, the agency is the latest group to see what happens when web users are asked to unleash their creative energy: R.R.S. Boaty McBoatface is a clear front-runner.

People quickly disregarded the more dignified names suggested by the Natural Environment Research Council  Shackleton, Endeavour, Falcon. Instead the contest became the latest in the Internets long, storied history to end up with social media users gleefully offering ridiculous names to government-funded projects.

The initiatives are often hilarious but dont often succeed. In 2012, Slovak lawmakers overrode the publics vote to rename a pedestrian bridge after the actor Chuck Norris. There was the debacle in Austin, Tex., a year earlier, when people unsuccessfully tried to name the citys waste management service after Limp Bizkits frontman, Fred Durst.

Corporations have also tried the tactic, and the penalty for trying to play with the Internet tends to be meaner: Mountain Dew learned the hard way when 4 Chan took control of a vote to name a new flavour, and the joke was on Taylor Swift and VH1, when the Internet chose a school for the deaf as a concert location.

We have James Hand, a public relations professional and former BBC employee, to thank (blame?) for this latest episode. Hand became a bit of an overnight sensation when he submitted the name Boaty McBoatface after seeing reports of the competition last week.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Shayne Chester Potts Point Has anyone noticed the different reaction from Western nations regarding the Belgian bombings compared to when multiple bombs were detonated in Turkey? There was barely a comment from politicians and minimal media coverage. I fail to understand the difference. Stephen Rayner Westleig After September 11, "we" declared a "war on terror". Since then, the frequency of terrorist attacks has increased. After 15 years, it is clear that war, bombings, and invasions have been counter-productive. Reminds me of the "war on drugs". Is it not time to try something else, such as considering what's generating the desire to commit these atrocities?

Peter Lees McMahons Point "Je suis Belge" is probably the harshest response we can expect from Europe to the outrage in Brussels. George Fishman Vaucluse The only good thing about suicide bombers is that they cannot do it a second time. Sadly, they do inspire others to do that for them. Donal O'Sullivan New Farm (Qld)

One thing that could be done to improve airport security is not allow anyone entry to a terminal building without a valid ticket or a security pass, as is the case in some parts of Asia. Patrick St George Goulburn People constantly refer to terrorist attack as "cowardly". How do they define "drone" attacks ? Gary Frances Bexley Following the attacks at Brussels airport it was reported "the CCTV images were unclear". Every time CCTV images are shown of alleged perpetrators of serious crime, the images are always unclear. It is difficult to positively identify the subject of the image. Can someone please advise me why this is so, especially when there is technology in place that can read a motor vehicle number plate from outer space? Surely in this modern age, this technology cannot be prohibitively expensive, especially where there is potential for massive loss of life?

Michael Slocum Ascot Vale Immediately after what we now call World War I the Manchester Guardian used the term World War II in reference to a hypothetical future war. It wasn't till about 1942 that the term was used for the 1939-45 war, or that the First World War got that name. I wonder when the current "war on terror" will be seen as World War III. Ed Matzenik Maitland Outer Sydney trains lack the speed and comfort of cars Experts may puzzle, but users of Sydney's long-distance train services will tell you exactly why patronage is falling ("Trains shunned for longer commutes", March 23). These services simply no longer provide a competitive experience with car travel. Some decades ago, they did make an effort with beautiful, comfortable trains and faster trips and this attracted people out of their cars. Since then, they've let it rot with slower trips, not enough capacity for the crowds and the dreadful, uncomfortable Oscar trains. If you ambled along at 60km/h on a two-hour-plus trip on straight track that should be capable of supporting 160km/h, watching cars shoot past on an adjacent motorway at 110km/h what choice would you make? It's not rocket science.Tony Prescott Nowra Hill

Transport experts have been puzzled because train patronage has slumped for longer journeys while soaring in areas of Sydney where most trips are shorter Perhaps that puzzlement reflects the mindset of an economist. Karen Rogers may have hit the nail on the head when she gave one of her reasons for not using rail as the fact that she couldn't get a seat and sometimes has to stand the whole journey. This could have ramifications for the new north-west metro line and for the proposed metro line to Bankstown, because the metro trains are intended to provide only limited seating, with most passengers standing. Before too many mistakes are made, our transport experts need to consider passenger needs, not just costs and fares. Dick Harfield Yagoona Art support can be from big and small It was heartening to read about Peter Wilson's support of writing for theatre, and his encouragement to others to consider arts philanthropy ("Honoured philanthropist a man of his words", March 23). It is possible that fanfares about large sums given by wealthy supporters to established companies may deter people from offering support on a modest scale. The accompanying story about cuts to arts funding emphasises that these cuts will have most impact on the smaller companies, which are the incubators of new theatre, dance and music.These companies have minimal resources to market themselves to potential donors, but supporting them can offer rewarding benefits, notably the excitement of getting involved in the early days of a promising venture, and the sense of belonging to a 'family' of committed and talented people. After all, most of today's well-funded and donor-supported major arts companies started small.Gillian Appleton Paddington

Cross unique no more Andrew Woodhouse (Letters, March 23) says the Kings Cross "nighttime economy has ceased butchering the day-time economy". The Cross now boasts "new apartments, chemists, health food shops, a French creperie, a bike-hire shop, gyms and local offices" adding vibrancy to the area. How so? The Cross instead becomes more like most of the other suburbs in Sydney. The lockout laws turn out to be the great leveller and destroyer of not just the nighttime economy, but of the one unique artistic, musical and alternate life-style community in Sydney, that helped make Sydney a global city; 24/7 booze barns were never in the mix for that distinction.Carsten Burmeister Mosman Turnbull's turn At last, Malcolm has come clean ("Climate of change", March 23).Joan Croll Drummoyne Debts must be paid

I was somewhat bemused to read that recovery of HECS debts from deceased estates has become a political decision ("Collecting HECS from the dead on the table as Turnbull government searches for savings", March 23). Surely all legitimately incurred debts, regardless of their nature and to whom they are owed, should be recovered? And why is the recovery of a debt owed to government considered a "saving"? What a mess our country would be in if all creditors were as benign and generous as the federal government appears to be?Daryl Jordan Denistone Is this a harbinger of federal death duties?Pasquale Vartuli Wahroonga Classroom confusion The National Safe Schools Coalition was launched by LNP Senator Scott Ryan when Tony Abbott was our prime minister ("Safe schools: children suffer in demonising debate", March 23). I find it odd that LNP politicians and others are calling this a Marxist agenda that is spreading pornography in our classrooms. Are they saying the LNP launched a program when it had no idea what was in the material or are they saying that Abbott and other LNP politicians are a secret Marxist sleeper cell trying to spread world communism and porn to our school children?Doug Steley Heyfield Beppi's gift made Sydney a greater place

One of the delights of eating at Beppi's on Yurong Street was to be present at lunchtime when Beppi himself did his lunch time rounds ("Bye-bye Beppi: the man who changed how Sydney eats", March 23). His eyes would light up in greeting even of a most infrequent visitor. Either he had an amazing memory for faces or, perhaps more likely, he was a very shrewd businessman. The warmth and efficiency of staff was a part of a memorable dining experience. One of the true innovators on the Sydney restaurant scene, Beppi gave a great gift to the quality of life in his city. Noel Beddoe Kiama Privatisation in history With so many references to the failings of privatisation, consider the following. In 1789 Governor Phillip wrote a letter of complaint to London about the treatment of the second fleet of prisoners sent to Sydney. A private company was paid on the number who left London, not how many arrived. 1038 were loaded, 756 arrived and almost 500 were hospitalised in hastily erected tents. Another 124 died in the first few days after arriving. The first fleet, managed by the navy fared quite differently. Marcia Horvai Pennant Hills

Why not take the increasing trend to privatise or outsource anything and everything to its logical conclusion and do the same with federal and state governments? Think of the savings which would surely put all budgets into surplus.William Franken Rose Bay Her majesty the referee The NRL needs to quell the hysteria surrounding players, more often than not inadvertently, making contact with referees ("'Touching' call must be ref's: Norman", March 23). Let's try to get this apparently heinous offence into perspective. When Paul Keating inadvertently placed his hand on the Queen was he fined or suspended? Crispin Walters Chapel Hill (Qld) That's a bargainFor the trifling sum of $1 million I am willing to conduct research for a year comparing the effect on sleep of lying parallel to the Earth's polarity or transverse to it ("$3.3 million study is money down the drain, says professor", March 23).David Baird Burradoo We don't need Australia Day

Could I add my voice to the suggestion we don't need an Australia Day (Letters, March 23). January 26 is offensive to our Aboriginal communities and most other days lack colour and authenticity. We have seen the destruction created by excessive nationalism and finding a national day, other than the already jingoistic Anzac Day, is only underlining that sentiment.Megwenya Matthews North Turramurra Perhaps we could rename it, say, First Fleet Day, and debate its meaning  for it remains the most important date in our history. If we want Australia Day to build national unity, however, we need to find a better candidate, one which bears the same meaning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians alike.Alan Garrity North Narrabeen We are constantly told that productivity is affected by Australia Day and other public holidays. Could not Australia Day be changed to February 29? Colin Andrews Lindfield Just biding his time
And the creators of the show have been revelling in this with one of the show's writers, Simon Blackwell, tweeting "In S4 of Veep we came up with the most meaningless election slogan we could think of. Now adopted by Australian PM." That must feel so satisfying. And this particular confluence will sting Turnbull more than most, because he's a man who knows his political satire and isn't afraid to make barely-veiled references to them. For example, his description of Abbott back in March 2015 - "a very intelligent, courageous, brave man" - might seem oddly supportive, especially since history would demonstrate that Malc was only a few months away from shoving Tone from the top job. That is, unless you are familiar with the venerable UK political comedy Yes Minister, in which permanent secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby explains that, in the words of the Yes Minister wiki, "a 'brave' decision was one that would lose you votes, whereas a 'courageous' one was one that would lose you the election." Truly, friends, there's never been a more exciting time to be a political satirist, or a member of the PM's media team. They're evidently both on the same page.

More specifically, the National Health and Medical Research Council has funded researchers at the University of NSW and Flinders University to study the effect of wind turbine generated infrasound on human health and sleep, respectively. "Existing research in this area is of poor quality and targeted funding is warranted to support high quality, independent research on this issue," explained the NHMRC's chief executive Anne Kelso in a statement. Except that's not remotely true: there have been multiple studies into this issue (including a few funded by the NHMRC, such as this one from February 2015), and they've all found the same thing: the only demonstrated health impact from wind farms is anxiety among people worried that there might be health impacts from wind farms. And look, the idea that sound below the threshold of human hearing can have an effect on people is not implausible. The problem is that it's had the absolute hell researched out of it all over the world and science (science!) has reached a definitive consensus: no, it doesn't. In fact, the same frequencies of infrasound are generated by plenty of other sources including ocean waves and road traffic. If people in beachside suburbs and along arterial roads were being struck down by mysterious illnesses to which people in inland suburbs were apparently immune, that would suggest that there's a problem worthy of investigation - but they ain't.

Seriously, we're gutting climate change research at the same time we're finding money to throw money at this issue instead? Death and taxes The government has also given Labor a lovely pre-election gift by reportedly contemplating reanimating one of their least popular ideas: charging dead people HECS. Yes, you people that run up your higher education contribution scheme debt and then selfishly die have had it too good for too long, consarnit, and it's about time that the government finally demanded posthumous reparations. The plan being tabled is supposedly that anyone dying with an estate worth more than $100,000 could have their HECS taken out, with the implausible sounding claim that $800 million would be thusly recovered for the education budget.

And this sounds wildly ambitious. After all, HECS is automatically recovered from people's income tax. That means that this scheme assumes that there's a vast number of people who a) have never earned enough to pay their debt back, yet also b) have somehow also accumulated estates worth $100k+. Presumably what, they all married well? Education Minister Simon Birmingham hasn't committed to the scheme that his predecessor Christopher Pyne was advised to abandon since it would be political suicide, but has indicated that he's seeking ways to reduce the amount of university funding the government kicks in. And sure, you might think that making university less accessible to people that aren't rich is a bit at odds with the government's rhetoric about how today's workers need to continually develop new skills and qualifications if they expect to ever make a decent living in today's agile and disruptive jobscape, but that'd be mean and accurate. The ideas boom! Interestingly, other possibilities on the table reportedly include "abandoning a plan to extend direct federal government subsidies to private colleges."

And such a plan would be a real disappointment to educational providers like, for example, the Whitehouse Institute of Design - who are a member of the the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, a group that specifically lobbied for federal funding to be extended to private institutions. If that name sounds familiar, you might recall that Whitehouse awarded Tony Abbott's daughter Frances a $60,000 "chairman's scholarship" to study with them. That was despite said scholarship being unadvertised, being awarded by an institution which specifically declared on its own website that "Whitehouse does not currently offer scholarships to gain a place into the Bachelor of Design" (although that statement now appears to have been quietly removed), this secret scholarship having no application process but being granted purely on the basis of Abbott's art portfolio and academic record, and for not being like most actual scholarships in that it was subsequently kept completely secret. Indeed, this only came to light after having only been revealed by a whistleblower back in 2014, who was subsequently fired and charged. This was a bit of an issue since the then-PM failed to put the scholarship on his interests register, claiming that he didn't have to since the scholarship was based on "academic performance", despite the fact that scholarships given to politician's children on merit are still required to be listed regardless, since the entire point of the register is to make clear any potential conflicts of interest.
In the aftermath of the attacks in Belgium it's easy to focus on the granular aspects. Where are the attackers from? How did they chose their targets and why now?

But with 26 countries having experienced Islamic terrorism since January we need to begin to look at what is common to these attacks. In Australia the political debate and focus of resources has been on economic isolation or political disenfranchisement of young Muslims.

Islamic State has made suicide attacks a real danger because for its fighters, martyrdom is something to be sought out.

In Europe the focus is upon the cultural exclusion of Muslims and the development of ghettos with very little opportunity to break through the social class structures. Questions are being raised about the failures of Muslim migration and why more isn't being done to forcibly assimilate Muslims, including through efforts to ban the burka.

Belgium has been particularly susceptible, with the highest per capita portion of foreign fighters and an estimated 120 who have returned alongside those who are supporters. That the recently captured last remaining perpetrator of the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam , was able to evade capture for four months while presumably living throughout this period in the same suburb in which he was captured last week is indicative of the challenge.
Inevitably, questions will be raised about the adequacy of security at Brussels Airport. Beyond this, there will be debate around at what point people entering an airport should be security screened. It will affect every major terminal around the world, including those in Sydney.

As a former aviation journalist based in Brussels, I also associated the name Zaventem with the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which is just down the road from Brussels Airport.

After the twin attacks in Belgium, the Brussels suburbs of Zaventem and Maelbeek  will be inextricably linked to the horrendous loss of more than 30 lives at the hands of terrorists.

Today, international airports divide their departure areas into the "air side" for everything beyond the security checkpoint and the "land side" for everything before. The trade-off for lining up through scanners and removing your belt and shoes is tax-free shopping. But those being waved off by family and friends might wish to linger longer land side before venturing into the sealed confines of air side.

Shattered windows at Zaventem airport in Brussels after a bomb blast on Tuesday. Credit:Peter Dejong

There is a desire from those who run airports to maximise the real estate in terminals by shifting the line between air side and land side line closer to the gate, allowing more passengers and non-travellers to mingle in common areas.

Airports such as Singapore Changi are seen as destinations in their own right by locals, who are drawn to the wealth of shops and attractions in the terminals. Elsewhere, luxury car forecourts and IKEA showrooms have all featured in airport terminals.

Technology is making this halfway line appear more arbitrary. Remote check-in is already the norm for domestic flights and mobile phone check-in for international flights is growing. In the US, for example, passengers can scan the machine-readable page of their passport on their phone at check-in to trigger pre-flight clearance checks.
A century ago, when the nation's capital was just beginning, the Eddison family lived in what is now the Woden Valley.

After surviving gas attacks and many other challenges that went with World War I in Britain, Walter Eddison picked up his family and moved to Australia hoping to find a new and more peaceful life.

Canberra Grammar Eddison House Year 11 student Thomas Hart, With Pamela Yonge (sister of Pete, Jack, and Tom Eddison) with author of 'For love of country', Anthony Hill. Credit:Rohan Thomson

On what was then the outskirts of Canberra, now the bustling Woden town centre, Walter and his wife Marion lived with their three sons and their three daughters, one of whom, Pamela, is still alive today.

At a book launch at Canberra Grammar School on Wednesday Anthony Hill presented his newly-bound book to a crowd full of Canberra's human history.
John Cleese is threatening to take legal action against an Australian theatre company over claims it has ripped off some of the former Monty Python man's most famous work.

The Faulty Towers Dining Experience is slated to run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from April 12 at the Aegean restaurant in Fitzroy, as it has in previous seasons of the festival. This version will be just one of nine iterations of the show that are being staged around the world by Interactive Theatre International, a company founded by New Zealander Alison Pollard-Mansergh in Brisbane in 1999.

Tickets to a recent season at the Sydney Opera House cost up to $195 for dinner and show. The London season runs until September, with tickets costing up to 59. But John Cleese and his co-writer on the two seasons of the Fawlty Towers TV series, ex-wife Connie Booth, receive not a penny.
Politicians should be unable to claim travel and associated costs on the public purse once the writs for an election have been issued, independent senator Nick Xenophon has said.

An eight-week official election campaign is on the cards if Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is unable to persuade the Senate to pass the government's building and construction industry watchdog legislation in April.

Given that the phantom election campaign is already well under way, the taxpayer faces not only one of the longest election campaigns but also one of the most expensive.
"For all intents and purposes there are no internal borders in Europe and their external borders are difficult to manage. Recent intelligence indicates that ISIL is using the refugees crisis to send its operatives into Europe. Illustration: Ron Tandberg. "We must remember to take care not to view our strategic circumstances solely through the prism of counter-terrorism. Terrorism is an example of the propaganda of the deed - it is designed to frighten and intimidate. It is designed to deter us from our normal way of life." The comments came as Mr Turnbull also transmitted a positive message to Australian Muslims, praising their contribution in this country's achievement of high levels of social cohesion and religious tolerance. "Terrorism is designed to make us turn on each other. That is why my Government works hard to promote inclusion and mutual respect, ensuring that all communities and all faiths feel part of ours, the most successful multicultural society in the world."

Those comments also served as a reminder to those elements within the Coalition who have spoken out against the Muslim communities in the past, that the Turnbull government believes Australia's situation is materially different, precisely because of its commitment to religious freedom and cultural pluralism. The sense that authorities in Belgium are no longer able to contain outbreaks of violent extremism - a feeling readily apparent in Mr Turnbull's speech - was also pervasive among the views expressed by terrorism experts both in Australia and Europe. Claude Moniquet, a 20-year veteran of France's external security agency, said European authorities could not watch the thousands of people who formed what he called "the most important security threat we've had in Europe for decades". "The security police have not enough means to do it  They have to prioritise. Sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong," he said. Mr Turnbull highlighted the fact that the Coalition has significantly toughened national security laws in Australia and said that "our allies regard our national security laws as among the world's best".

Mr Moniquet, who now heads the Brussels-based European Strategic, Intelligence and Security Centre, said that Europe would likely have to toughen its counter-terrorism laws - including a version of "preventative detention" that Australia already uses. And it would need to clamp down on its external borders - a significant difference from Australia that Mr Turnbull also emphasised as a key difference between Europe and Australia. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who was born and raised in Belgium, said the attacks would no doubt "cause governments and people in these countries to reflect on what else needs to be done to prevent these things from happening in the future", though he refused to be drawn on whether and how Europe should tighten its borders. Mr Turnbull's scripted comments in his Lowy address followed an earlier observation that Europe had let its security "slip" in recent years, and that its problems were not unrelated to that. However, opposition leader Bill Shorten suggested that was in poor taste, given the scale of the tragedy in Belgium. "I think it's premature for the Prime Minister be telling the Belgians what they did wrong within 24 hours of what happened in Belgium," Mr Shorten said.
Clearer guidelines, greater transparency and discouraging excessive travel expenses (including helicopter use) form the backbone of a beefed-up parliamentary entitlements regime endorsed by the Turnbull government on Wednesday.

The report conceded the current system is too ambiguous, lacks transparency and has undermined public confidence in politics. But, as previously reported by Fairfax Media, it stopped short of urging a major overhaul of existing entitlements and their generosity.

Led by Remuneration Tribunal president John Conde and former Finance secretary David Tune, the review proposes a new "principles-based" system, which would put "value for money" at its core and encourage the "efficient, effective and ethical use of resources".
Miami (United States): A Florida gun activist accidentally shot by her four-year-old son could be charged with allowing him to get hold of the weapon, authorities said on Tuesday.

"It is of paramount importance to make certain that guns do not fall into the hands of children. It was very clear that there was a violation here," said Captain Gator DeLoach of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Jamie Gilt, 31, who had boasted online about her toddler's shooting prowess, was cruising down a major thoroughfare with her son in the back when he shot her on March 8. The bullet went through the seat cushion.

The Prosecutors will decide if Gilt would face a charge of "unsafe storage of firearm" -- a second degree misdemeanor.

She is recovering at a Florida hospital and is in stable condition, and her son is with relatives.

The mother and boy were on their way to pick up a horse, said police, who rushed to Gilt's aid after a police officer slowed to check why the vehicle had stopped.

The weapon was a .45-caliber handgun the boy found on the floor of the pickup truck.

She was said to have posted on her Facebook page: "Even my 4-year-old gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22."
It's a problem that sounds simple enough to fix: your hearing starts to fade, so you're fitted with a pair of aids and hey presto, you can hear again.

However, for a raft of Australians it's far from that simple.

Pensioner Jan De Vries with his new hearing aid. Credit:Wayne Taylor

If you're eligible for a government subsidy, a pair of hearing aids may cost you less than battery changes for the remote control. However, if you're not, say because you're a self-funded retiree and don't hold a pensioner concession card, it can cost more than $10,000 for the device alone, particularly if you're upsold to a top-of-the-line model.

It's not unheard of for retirees to see a hearing aid model that fits their budget and go to purchase it, only to be told that's inappropriate for their needs and only a far more expensive version would be adequate, says Michael O'Neill, chief executive of National Seniors Australia, who adds the cost of hearing aids is an issue that comes across his desk regularly.
A key witness in the case against a Melbourne nurse accused of working for Islamic State while in Syria will be flown from the United States to give evidence in court against him.

The witness, whose name has been suppressed, was in contact with Adam Brookman in the months he is alleged to have carried out guard duty and reconnaissance for the terrorist organisation, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday.

Adam Brookman is alleged to have carried out guard duty and reconnaissance for Islamic State.

Mr Brookman, 40, a father of five from Coolaroo, is charged with one count of knowingly providing support to a terrorist organisation and one count of performing services with the intention of supporting a person to engage in a hostile activity in a foreign state.

Court documents allege he provided guard duty and reconnaissance for Islamic State between May 16 and August 28 of 2014.
The father of one-punch victim Daniel Christie embodied the conflicted anguish of a city divided by lock-out legislation, telling SBS Television's The Feed he both applauded and was "disgusted" by the laws.

Michael Christie believes the protesters who marched in the Keep Sydney Open rally could not comprehend his experience of losing his son to alcohol-fuelled violence, but the still-grieving father found he had much in common with vehement critics of the lock-out laws.

Mr Christie's son Daniel was the 91st young man killed in Australia by a "coward punch" since 2000 when he was attacked in Kings Cross on New Year's Eve in 2013.

Sitting in the audience at the Sugar Mill bar in Kings Cross for The Feed's lock-out laws special, Mr Christie said he didn't think the lock-out laws were a knee-jerk reaction, but "whether they are right or wrong is another question".
A man has been charged after he was caught on video allegedly filming up a woman's shorts on a Sydney train.

Tegan Portener had just woken up from a nap in a train carriage on Thursday when she spotted an iPhone peeking out at her from under the backrest of the seat in front of her.

"This grub got on the train at Central and sat directly in front of me, he kept looking around suspiciously but I ignored it," Ms Portener posted to Facebook.

"Halfway to Newcastle I woke up from a nap with my knees up in shorts and noticed he was filming me from underneath his chair," she said.
A woman who allegedly fired several shots at Gold Coast home told police she wanted to see an optometrist to fix her eyes before returning to the property.

Miriam Annette Eason, 51, faced Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with three counts of acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, unlawful possession of a weapon and discharge a weapon in a public place.

Police at the scene of the shooting in Nerang. Credit:Seven News

During a bail application hearing, prosecutors told the court Eason had told an arresting officer she couldn't believe she'd missed her shots and wanted to "get her eyes fixed" before attempting to go back and try again at shooting at the residents of the house.

AAP
A Sunshine Coast snake catcher camping at Bribie Island last month had a ringside seat when two goannas started wrestling each other right in front of him.

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 founder Richie Gilbert said he and a few friends were packing up their campsite after a holiday on the north side of Bribie Island when the two lace monitors began eyeing each other off.

Two lace monitors battled it out on Bribie Island. Credit:Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24

"It was in the morning, we were cleaning up camp and getting ready to head off," he said.

"Those two monitors tongue-flicked each other for a bit and then all of a sudden they just launched into a wrestle."
A 50-year-old man has handed himself into police over the alleged shoulder barging of a 21-year-old woman in the Brisbane CBD last month that knocked her unconscious.

Police released an image of the man earlier this week in a bid to identify him after the alleged February 5 attack outside the Pig 'N' Whistle bar in King George Square.

The woman told Fairfax Media she had been drinking with a small group of friends after work when she said the man who attacked her appeared to misinterpret a joke.

She said when she went outside the bar to have a cigarette, she heard fast-paced footsteps before a man ran into her with his shoulder dropped.
Police are hunting two men after a violent flute heist at a home in Brisbane's inner-west on Tuesday night.

A 26-year-old man was hit in the head with a hammer when he confronted two intruders inside his unit in Toowong about 9.15pm.

A man was hit in the head with a hammer after confronting two intruders in his Toowong home on Tuesday,

The man retaliated by arming himself with a shovel and striking one of the men.

They, in turn, stole his flute and fled the house.
While countries in Europe have been slashing budgets, one area has not just escaped the axe but chalked up a stellar jump: space exploration.

The European Space Agency, which this month launched its 1.3 billion-euro ($1.9 billion) ExoMars mission to outrace the United States in the search for evidence of life on the Red Planet, has seen its budget expand 75 per cent since 2008, unscathed by the region's sovereign debt crisis.

The European Space Agency's Proton rocket being prepared for its mission to Mars, at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, earlier this month. Credit:ESA

The project, which draws contributions from member nations, has become a rare force of unity in a region that's struggling with an unprecedented refugee crisis, a potential British exit from the European Union and an unresolved conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

"There is a political meaning and purpose to this mission: working together beyond national borders, beyond crises on Earth," says Jan Woerner, the head of ESA and a German engineer who formerly headed his country's space agency.
A Victorian primary school has been forced to shut down for Easter early after a third of its students and nearly half of its staff have been diagnosed with gastro.

Red Hill Consolidated School, located on the Mornington Peninsula, sent its 600 students and the majority of its staff home after an aggressive form of the virus swept through the school earlier this week.

Children a Victorian primary school. Credit:Michele Mossop

Principal Leanne Marshall says it is an "extremely unfortunate" situation to happen just before the long Easter weekend.

"It escalated this week, probably mostly today," she told Fairfax Media on Wednesday.
A severed cows head was dumped at the home of a Hindu man, who owns a cow sanctuary, in a town in the US state of Pennsylvania. (Representational image)

New York: A severed cows head was dumped at the home of a Hindu man, who owns a cow sanctuary, in a town in the US state of Pennsylvania, prompting authorities to launch a probe into what they say is ethnic intimidation.

Sankar Shastri owns and manages the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary near Tannersville and state police are investigating the incident in which a cows head was dumped at his home over the weekend, according to a report in the WNEP news website.

While none of the about 20 cows at the sanctuary was hurt, the severed head was left where Shastri could find it. Shastri is, however, not letting the incident affect his work, the report said. If you like cows and show love and compassion then there's more love and compassion and you dont need war, he said.

Shastri expressed shock at the incident but added that he hopes the incident does not magnify anymore. I dont want to take itto the next side. I hope it is just a prank, he said. He added that he cannot think of anyone who would do something like this on purpose. The Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary had been a safe haven in the Bangor area for nearly 20 years before moving to the larger piece of land in Monroe County.
Tourists at Melbourne International Airport are a hardy lot. But press them a little, and some readily admitted to feeling rattled by the horrific attacks on travellers in Brussels on Thursday.

"It's no use staying at home, is it?" said grandmother Pat Blundell from Gladstone Park, preparing to fly to Malaysia for her granddaughter's wedding.

"You can't let them win. You just have to hope it doesn't happen here, but you can't let them beat us."
The health sector has failed to protect staff from widespread bullying, harassment and discrimination while a lack of leadership has allowed a culture of abuse to fester, a scathing audit has found.

The Auditor-General's report, tabled on Wednesday, has made 12 recommendations for change to protect health workers, including paramedics, from toxic workplace behaviour, including an "urgent" need for stronger leadership and support to help agencies "fulfil their responsibilities as employers".

The report comes after shocking claims that women trainees and junior surgeons felt obliged to give supervisors sexual favours for the sake of their careers, that trainees were being bullied and that doctors feared making complaints would be "career suicide".

The audit found formal complaints processes were undermined by widespread under-reporting linked to fear of repercussions for speaking out and inadequate systems for handling these complaints, including even keeping records of them.
Around the time that murdered gangland lawyer Giuseppe "Pino" Alfredo Gaetano Acquaro was born in Melbourne in 1961, the city was engulfed in a mafia war.

It was more than half a century ago. Domenico "The Pope" Italiano, the godfather of that era, had passed away peacefully but left a power vacuum in his wake. Vincenzo Muratore tried to fill it, as did Vincenzo Aggilletta, but both were dead within two years.

All three  Italiano, Muratore and Aggilletta  were farewelled at St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in West Melbourne. And that is where mourners gathered on Wednesday to say goodbye to Acquaro, a solicitor with long ties to the Calabrian mafia, shot dead a little more than a week ago, on March 15, after closing up shop at his Brunswick East gelataria.

His sons, Alessio and Alfredo and Adriano, were all inside the cavernous church, and each offered a reading or psalm. The Catholic ceremony was heavy with the stylised rites of that most austere faith, including the Acclamation, Prayers of the Faithful, Liturgy of the Eucharist, Preparation of the Gifts, Communion and the Final Commendation.
The builder of the Lacrosse tower in Docklands is refusing to remove combustible cladding from the building's facade without an expensive fight in the courts.

A smouldering cigarette on a sixth-floor balcony sparked a fire in the early hours of November 25, 2014, which raced up 13 floors of the building in only 11 minutes. An investigation by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade found that the cladding material, imported from China, does not meet Australian standards and should never have been used on a high rise apartment.

The Lacrosse Building was struck by fire in 2014. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Despite an order from the city council, the builder wants to leave the facade in place and install sprinklers to put out any fire that does erupt.

Lacrosse tower apartment owners now face a tough choice: leave the cladding in place and accept the sprinklers or fight the builder in court.
The runaway success of Perth blogger Constance Hall has reached new heights after her fundraiser for abused girls made nearly $150,000 in a day.

Hall's blog The Not So Secret Life of Us has garnered a huge following and landed her a recent interview on Ellen DeGeneres' Ellentube.

An Australian volunteer for a Kenyan safe house for abused young girls contacted her about it and, touched, Ms Hall asked her followers (or 'queens') to help raise $75,000 to allow its expansion.

In 23 hours she raised $145,080, with the fundraising page at one stage crashing because of the traffic on the website.
A former senior policeman believed a gravely ill Aboriginal woman in custody was withdrawing from drugs and may have been trying to get out of her cell, but has told an inquest he was unaware of all her symptoms.

Ms Dhu died two days after being locked up at WA's South Hedland Police Station in August 2014 for unpaid fines totalling $3622, stemming from offences including assaulting an officer.

Ms Dhu died after she was held at South Hedland police station in WA. Credit:ABC News

Rick Bond, who was a sergeant but quit the force in 2015 for personal reasons, testified in Perth on Wednesday he was led to believe, after the 22-year-old's first hospital visit for her injured rib, that she was coming down from drugs.

His testimony contradicts previous evidence from medical staff.
A bombed chicken farm, destroying a 2.5-million egg hatchery, has led to alarming warnings of an impending famine in Yemen as food supplies are increasingly a target.

Coastal fishing boats have also been destroyed, crippling the fishing industry, as the conflict in the Middle East nation spills into a second year and shows few signs of abating.

Moayed, whose father died in the fighting in Yemen, selling goods in front of his house in Taiz to help his mum and three brothers. Credit:Oxfam

Aid agency Oxfam has warned Yemenis are being forced to scrounge for food, with four markets bombed this month alone.
Niamey, Niger: Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou won a second term with 92.5 per cent of the vote in a run-off election that the opposition coalition chose to boycott, the electoral commission said on Tuesday.

Women supporting Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou celebrate after election results were released on Tuesday. Credit:AP

Mr Issoufou, an ally of the West in its fight against Islamist insurgents in West Africa, won the first round comfortably last month with 48 per cent of votes but failed to clinch the outright majority required to avoid a second round.

The candidate who came second, opposition leader Hama Amadou, has been in jail since November on charges relating to a baby-trafficking scandal, but was flown to France for medical treatment last week.
Airport worker Alphonse Youla was wrapping baggage by the check-in desks at Brussels airport when he heard the explosions.

Within seconds he was wrapping people in his arms instead, carrying the wounded up the escalators to safety. He is being hailed as a hero for saving at least seven people. He also told reporters he had carried five bodies.

The explosions claimed the lives of dozens of people and injured hundreds more at the airport and the nearby metro station on Tuesday morning.
The black-hatted man's device did not go off, and he was believed to have left the airport. Suspect Najim Laachraoui died in the Brussels airport bombing. Credit:AP Laachraoui is the suspected bombmaker responsible for the devices used in the Paris attack in November, and an IS commander. Police issued images of the suspect enhanced from the CCTV footage overnight, local time, asking "who recognises this man?". According to local news outlet HLN, a taxi driver had contacted police on Tuesday afternoon, after recognising the passengers he took to the airport early in the morning.

He reportedly told investigators the trio had wanted to take five pieces of luggage, but only three would fit into the taxi. Police rushed to the house where the men were picked up. They found the other suitcases with "heavy nail bombs", bomb-making chemicals and an Islamic State flag. The house was said to have been recently let out to new arrivals in the district, suggesting it was a "safe house" for the terror cell rather than a home. Laachraoui grew up in Schaerbeek and had set up at least one bomb-making factory there in the weeks before Paris. One intelligence sourcesuggested the attack was shifted to Brussels and brought forward after the arrest of Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam on Friday.

A former Catholic schoolboy and electromechanics student, Laachraoui was stopped by police in September, just weeks before the Paris attacks, as he made his way across Europe from Syria. He was in a car with Salah Abdeslam, who later became a key fugitive from the Paris attacks, on their way from Budapest to Brussels when they were stopped. But police waved them on after they convinced officers they were tourists on a trip to Vienna. Brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, residents of the Belgian capital, have also been identified as suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the airport and at a metro station, according to state broadcaster RTBF, citing an unidentified police source. RTBF reported the brothers were known to police but as gang members rather than terrorists, and that Khalid had rented, under a false name, a flat in the Brussels district of Forest which police raided last week.

The airport strikes and a subsequent bombing on the metro near European Union headquarters killed at least 35 people and left more than 230 injured. The attacks demonstrate the difficulty of protecting public locations in an open society, with the Belgian capital already on high alert after authorities discovered suspects in the Paris assaults in November had been living in Brussels. The explosions also struck a blow to the EU itself as leaders struggle to find common ground on handling a flood of refugees from the Middle East and dealing with the rise of anti-foreigner parties. "We have to take tougher and tougher measures to protect people," Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told RTL news. "Suicide attacks are very difficult to foil."

Belgian authorities on Wednesday were assessing the terror threat level, currently at its highest, as commuter traffic was light at heavily guarded train stations. Subways started running again, though stops on the main line from EU institutions toward downtown remained shut. It isn't clear when the airport will reopen. Eurostar said it had resumed normal train services between London and Brussels after Tuesday's suspension. EU interior ministers are expected to meet on Thursday or Friday in response to the attacks, according to an EU official, who added that the meeting depends in part on when the airport reopens. France is also on high alert and Belgian authorities are investigating a possible link between the Brussels bombings and arrest on Friday of Salah Abdeslam - believed to be the only surviving perpetrator of the Paris massacres. "We'll live with this terror threat for a long time," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday, urging "the whole world" to band together to fight terrorism.
I would think, India would be very, very worried if Trump is to be your president, Khurshid, former external affairs minister, told students of the prestigious Georgetown University during an interaction.

Washington: India would be very, very worried if Donald Trump were to be elected as the next US President, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has said, joining the growing global anxiety on the prospect of the controversial real estate tycoon winning the November 8 polls.

I would think, India would be very, very worried if Trump is to be your president, Khurshid, former external affairs minister, told students of the prestigious Georgetown University during an interaction.

Khurshids response to a question from a student on his take on the current presidential election was preceded by a disclaimer. Well, I should not interfere in the future choice of American democrats. By democrats, I mean those who are involved in democracy rather than the political party. I should not influence our choice or push you to any particular corner, he said.
The common view of Islamist attackers such as those who appear to have carried out the Brussels carnage is of crazed religious fanatics.

But that's a poor description of the current wave of jihadists, says Belgian terrorism expert Rik Coolsaet. The real picture, on which Professor Coolsaet has written extensively, goes a long way to answering the insistent question: why Brussels?

Police officers guard a road after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek last week. Credit:Getty Images

Professor Coolsaet, from the Ghent Institute for International Studies, published a major report just a fortnight ago that looks in studious detail at why Belgium, whose capital is home to the European Union and NATO, has the highest rate of jihadists travelling to Syria and Iraq of any country and has become a magnet for extremist plots.
Bali: Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has issued a blunt warning that the failure of the key regional forum on people smuggling to address the refugee crisis in South-east Asia last year "must not happen again".

"As we observed last May 2015, the Bali Process was unable to address sudden movements of irregular migration in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal," said Ms Retno, who co-chaired the Bali Process Ministerial Conference with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Bali on Wednesday.

Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, right, listens to Julie Bishop during the Bali Process regional ministerial meeting in Bali. Credit:AP

"This must not happen again."

The UN estimates 370 people perished at sea during the South-east Asia refugee crisis last year, many of them Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
Bangkok: An Australian woman who is eight weeks pregnant has been sentenced to 10 months' jail on charges of publishing seditious articles in Singapore, the stiffest sentence ever imposed for the offence in the city-state.

Ai Takagi, a 23-year-old Australian of Japanese descent from Brisbane, apologised to the people of Singapore for the harm she had caused for posting comments on her popular website The Real Singapore.

"I know that the harmony which Singapore enjoys today requires careful and continuous efforts on the part of everyone, citizens and visitors alike, to maintain," Takagi told a court on Wednesday, according to the Straits Times.

"I sincerely apologise for the harm I have caused through my actions."
Great Bay:--- The Sint Maarten Christian Party is inviting the general public to the presentation of its draft Manifesto on Tuesday, April 5th 2016 at 7:30 pm at the Belair Center in Cay Hill.

This presentation will give insight to the problems and issues that the Sint Maarten Christian Party will be addressing once in government. We also would like to hear your concerns for our country and your suggestions as to how to deal with them. This presentation promises to be a very informative session yet one where the audience will be given ample opportunity to have their say.

Party Leader, Wycliffe Smith said that it is the first time in Sint Maarten that a political party's manifesto is being discussed with the general public prior to its official release. He said that this is in keeping with the party's guiding principles of transparency, openness and participation by the people. The party is of the opinion that the people of Sint Maarten should be heard when plans are being made for their future and the destiny of the country. The motto of the SMCP is "Serving You for a Change". Hearing your views and listening to your suggestions is our way of serving you and reaching out to you for your input in helping to change government and our society for the better, the party leader said.

Those who would like more information about the St. Maarten Christian Party can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Mr. Benjamin Bell (Secretary) at 522-5803.
Udo Aaron position in Limbo.

PHILIPSBURG:--- A major shake-up is expected to take place in the Ministry of Justice as early as next week. SMN News have been reliably informed that former head of Central Government information service Stanley Kwidama will be appointed Chef of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Justice In 2018 Kwidama was appointed temporarily at the disposal of the Antillean Prime Minister as quarter master to assist St. Maarten in receiving the Justice entity prior to St. Maarten achieving its country status.

While Irene Simmons will be appointed Human Resources manager and Ruben Thompson will be appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. SMN News learnt that the persons that are appointed will most likely take up their positions as early as next week.

The only person that remains in limbo at the moment even though he as a Ministerial decree as Acting Secretary General is former Commissioner of Police Richard Panneflec who have been inactive for over two years now. Panneflec was appointed acting secretary general by former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan but months after he became inactive when former Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson was in office. SMN News learnt that while Panneflec reports to work every day at the Ministry of Justice he is actually not given any work or appointed to any specific position.

SMN News further learnt that the current acting secretary general and director of immigrations Udo Aaron might be removed from his positions since he has no respect for the current Minister of Justice Edison Kirindongo.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Deputy Prime Minister Richard Gibson Sr. extended words of condolences to the government and people of Beligum on behalf of the government and people of St. Maarten.

The deputy Prime Minister described the act of terrorism as horrific killing and maiming innocent men, women and children while they are going about their daily business is a despicable act Gibson said that he extends prayers to the government and people of Beligum but at the same time they must display fortitude and keep hope in order for them to overcome the incident that took place on Tuesday.

Minister Gibson said the Prime Minister of The Netherlands Mark Ruitte has called on all the countries within the Kingdom to fly their flags at half mask as they show solidarity with the government and people of Belgium.
BASI To Host Global Pilates Teacher Training and Continuing Education Weekend

Costa Mesa, CALIFORNIA:

BASI Pilates, a leading international Pilates education company, will be hosting its 5th Learn from the Leaders Pilates Conference. With a line-up of highly respected and sought after industry professionals, this event is geared to appeal to all levels of Pilates practitioners.

Rael Isacowitz, world-renowned Pilates teacher, author, innovator and founder of Body Arts & Science, the International [Pilates teacher training](http://www.basipilates.com/) academy, also known as BASI Pilates, is the lead presenter for this conference.

When asked about the reasons behind creating this kind of conference, Rael said, My hope is that attendees will grasp the spirit of the event, which is a celebration of Pilates. We should not allow our community to be splintered by politics, egos or different approaches, but rather embrace the differences that make our industry exciting.

We want all of our guests to go away with a great deal of new information, knowledge and insight. These takeaways do not necessarily come solely from exercise and repetition, they come from the wealth of knowledge and experience the presenters will be providing. We aim to bring together vastly different presenters with versatile experiences in the Pilates world.

Other featured presenters include Karen Clippinger, Deborah Lessen and for the first time BASI Faculty; filling the two days with a wide variety of workshop topics.

Learn from the Leaders will serve as the North America launch of BASI Systems Pilates equipment. This will support BASI Education, well known for joining the art and science of Pilates.

On Saturday night (April 16), Celebrate the Night, a dinner and concert will planned to be an unforgettable evening celebrating the Pilates community. Special guests include flamingo dancer, Deborah Taddei, Shaolin Monk, Master Wang Bo and award winning artist, indie rocker, Maya Isacowitz.

Contact: Stella Hull-Lampkin by phone 949-574-1343 ext 101 or email: stella@basipilates.com for more information.

BASI Pilates website, [www.basipilates.com](http://www.basipilates.com/), has full details about the conference workshops.
A 16-year-old schoolgirl was set to be charged on Tuesday with raising money to support the Islamic State group (Representational image)

Sydney: A 16-year-old schoolgirl was set to be charged on Tuesday with raising money to support the Islamic State group, Australian police said, warning of a trend of teenage children involved in such activities.

The girl and a 20-year-old man were arrested in the western Sydney suburb of Guildford in the morning, New South Wales state police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said. We will be alleging that they were involved in obtaining money to send offshore to assist the Islamic State in its activities, Burn said.

The girl is not somebody who is well-known to us, however it is disturbing that we are continuing to see a trend of teenage children involved in activities, he added.
EMEA x86 Server Spending Gets Hit Out of the Park by Hyperscale Datacenters in 4Q14, While non-x86 Fights its Way Off the Bench, says IDC

As reported in International Data Corporations (IDC) EMEA Server Tracker, in the 4th quarter of 2015 the EMEA server market continued to show moderate growth, reporting $3.9 billion in vendor revenue and 625,000 units shipped, for year-on-year growth of 5.0% and -1.6% respectively.

For the full year 2015, vendor revenue was $13.2 billion and 2.6 million server units were shipped, with growth on 2014 of 3.0% and 0.1% respectively. This trend can be attributed to two main drivers ? the weakening dollar that forced average selling prices (ASPs) in local currency higher over the course of 2015, and the continued movement towards richer configurations for compute-intensive workloads.

The prior influencer is prominent when looking at the market in euros; in 4Q15 EMEA reported a slightly improved quarter, with a YoY revenue decline of 7.9%, which was a major improvement when comparing a full year view of 2015 against 2014, when EMEA saw a decrease in vendor revenue of 13.7%. 2015 also saw EMEA report flat unit shipments, a slowdown that can be attributed to the rise in ASPs by U.S.-based vendors earlier this year, as a means of stabilizing dollar revenues in a challenging economic situation. IDC believes that if U.S.-based vendors continue to increase local currency prices, the market might start to see more interest in Asian vendors including ODMs.

The EMEA non-x86 market showed positive growth in 4Q15 when compared to 3Q15, as revenue was up 17.9%, reaching $780 million and driven strongly by CISC machines, which showed double-digit growth (57.6%).

This growth was pushed by longer refresh cycles, some dating back to 2014, and although this has driven the non-x86 market in 4Q15, larger vendors that play in this market are still seeing a notable decline in annual refresh cycles, a trend that IDC believes will continue into the foreseeable future, said Giorgio Nebuloni EMEA associate research director, European Infrastructure.

?The x86 market in EMEA has started to see some normalization since the currency impact started to ease, leading to moderate 2.2% growth YoY in vendor revenue, reaching a new record of $3.1 billion, said Andreas Olah, senior research analyst, European Infrastructure. A large share of this revenue growth has been generated by the construction of new hyperscale datacenters by several global cloud service providers. In addition, the growing hunger for more powerful, mission-critical machines with large memory pools has fueled further ASP increases, especially on the blade side..

Regional Highlights

?The strong performance of the x86 server market in Western European this quarter (6.0% YoY) found a lot of impetus from the larger systems product segment, which saw YoY vendor revenue growth of 39.1%, driven strongly by an increasing adoption of Big Data and IoT, which have a thirst for high-availability solutions, said Eckhardt Fischer, research analyst, European Infrastructure at IDC. Besides the larger systems market, Western Europe also saw the x86 density optimized segment break the $300 million vendor revenue mark, for YoY growth of 30.2%. A huge achievement as more and more of the enterprise market finds its way to the cloud, driving the buildout of the larger datacenters.

?Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMA) server revenue continued to decline in the last quarter of 2015, said Jiri Helebrand, research manager, IDC CEMA. Indeed, revenue fell by 5.5% to $891.83 million on the back of weaker demand for x86 servers. In contrast, non-x86 sales recorded 10.8% year-over-year growth driven by IBM z Systems refresh cycle. The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) subregion declined 4.6% year-over-year, with revenue of $475.59 million. The Russian market continued to underperform, while Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania observed double-digit growth thanks to improving economic conditions and delivery of HPC deals. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) subregion declined 6.5% year-over-year to $416.24 million as IT projects were scaled backed due to the unfavorable economic situation impacted by falling oil prices. Despite the negative business sentiment in the region, Turkey recorded double-digit growth driven by demand from telecommunications and finance verticals.?.

TAXONOMY NOTES

The introduction of product detail allows for an additional view on the density optimized and rack optimized markets. Segmenting them into custom and standard systems. Where custom servers have a motherboard or case enclosure that is:

Designed and built specifically for or by one customer, for that customers sole use (e.g., Google, Dell DCS, HP/Foxconn), or

Designed as part of an open source design forum (Facebook servers, Microsoft Open Compute Server). (Note: Membership in an open source forum does not equate to building custom servers. A vendor can build custom and non-custom servers, whether or not that vendor is an open source participant.)

Models: custom models will be labeled as Other.

IDC has included large system as a new product alongside blades, density optimized, tower and rack optimized. These systems are made up of multiple rack-mounted components, including motherboards, processors, memory, disk storage, and any bundled operating system, database, and networking software with the following characteristics:

Sold exclusively as a system by the vendor.

Integrated systems will not be included by default, although some integrated systems may fit this definition and therefore be included, for example:

 Exadata

 System Z

 Superdome

 Unisys ClearPath

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,100 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For 50 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the worlds leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.
Hedvig CloudScale Partner Program Boosts Reseller Private and Hybrid Cloud Practices to Speed Enterprise Migration to Software-Defined Data Centers

SANTA CLARA, CA  (Marketwired)  03/23/16  , the company modernizing storage and accelerating enterprise adoption of private and hybrid clouds, today announced the CloudScale Partner Program to advance reseller cloud and software-defined storage (SDS) practices. The program provides resellers with a range of benefits including training, reduced implementation costs, discounts and access to Hedvig technology alliances. Partners will be able to differentiate storage offerings and help customers achieve greater speed with less risk than legacy storage with a single, streamlined platform that supports any application in any server, VM, or container environment.

Software-defined storage is projected to experience massive growth over the next few years. that 94 percent of mid to large organizations are now implementing or planning to implement an SDS solution, and shows that 67 percent of enterprises will increase spending on software-defined infrastructure in 2016. With the launch of the CloudScale Partner Program, Hedvig joins forces with reseller partners across the United States and Europe, including ACS, Damecon, DatacenterNext, Daystrom, Dovilo, Fabrics4Clouds, Layer 8, NexStor, OTC, Proact, ProcoliX, PTS Data Center Solutions, Rhodix, Right! Systems, Solid State Solutions, SHI, Sysorex and Trace3.

Dovilo is delivering modern, universal IT infrastructures to enable customers to maintain control and run their application workloads wherever they need them to be  be it a hypervisor, private or public cloud. We call this Hybrid IT, said Bertram Rutte, CEO and Founder at Dovilo. Hedvig provides the best storage weve found for Hybrid IT. Because Hedvig is all software, the solution will get better over time with new features and capabilities. Were very excited to be one of the first to work with Hedvig. The market is ready, we are ready and Hedvig is ready.

In addition to expanding its reseller partner base, Hedvig plans to strengthen additional technology and distribution alliances. Hedvig has certifications and reference designs for leading server vendors including Cisco, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Supermicro and Quanta, making it even easier for VARs to bring SDS solutions to customers.

Hedvig is the most complete, most flexible software-defined storage solution weve seen on the market. We believe its a great option to be able to offer when it comes to building end-to-end solutions for our Big Data and Analytics, Cloud Migration, and Converged Infrastructure practices, said Bret Osborn, Chief Sales Officer at Sysorex. The market is ready for a new approach to storage and datacenter infrastructure. Were excited to be at the forefront of this trend as a charter member in Hedvigs partner program.

Hedvig provides the elasticity, simplicity and flexibility needed for next-generation infrastructure. The Hedvig Distributed Storage Platform is designed to make SDS technology accessible to enterprise IT, supporting common storage protocols like iSCSI and NFS along with new object storage APIs like S3 and Swift. It is the only SDS solution that supports widely deployed applications like SQL databases and virtualized server and desktop environments, along with new modern applications built on OpenStack, Docker, and Hadoop.

The Hedvig partner program is designed to help resellers increase revenue by identifying and creating new opportunities and closing projects faster, said Phil Williams, VP of Business Development & Channels at Hedvig. The Hedvig Distributed Storage Platform provides our partners with a new, modern datacenter solution, helping customers move faster and compete better. This places the company in an optimal position to lead the growth of software-defined storage in the enterprise.

To learn more about the Hedvig CloudScale Partner Program, visit:

Hedvig reduces enterprise storage costs by 60 percent while accelerating migration to cloud. The Hedvig Distributed Storage Platform combines block, file, and object storage for bare metal, hypervisor and container environments. The only software-defined solution built on a true distributed system, Hedvig is built to keep pace with scale-out applications and the velocity of change in todays business climate. The Hedvig platform gets better and smarter as the system scales, transforming commodity hardware into the most advanced storage solution available today. Customers such as Intuit, LKAB, Mazzetti, and Van Dijk use the Hedvig platform to transform their storage from a box where data resides to a fundamental business enabler.

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Ametherm Announces Distribution Agreement With Singapore-Based IC Resource

CARSON CITY, NV  (Marketwired)  03/23/16  today announced a distribution agreement with IC Resource, a leading distributor of electronic components to Southeast Asia and China. Under the terms of the agreement, IC Resource is now carrying and providing technical support for Ametherms entire lineup of inrush current limiters and NTC thermistors in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, West India, and China.

Based in Singapore, IC Resource has been a distributor of passive, semiconductor, interconnect, and optoelectronic electronic components to a variety of industries since 2000. By adding Ametherm to its lineup, the company is providing its customers with convenient access to leading inrush current limiters for reliable circuit protection and NTC sensing thermistors for high-accuracy temperature compensation and measurement  including the new ACCU-Curve series of interchangeable thermistors, which delivers tight tolerances of +/- 0.2 degrees C between 0 degrees C and 70 degrees C for critical applications.

Made in the U.S.A., Ametherm products are recognized by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA International) for ensured safety, and many are RoHS-2-certified (with Exemption 7a and 7(c)-1). The devices are optimized for a wide range of applications, including AC motors, power supplies, motor drives, audio amplifiers, battery chargers, air sensors, HVAC systems, high-speed computers, MRIs, and X-ray machines.

There is a synergy between IC Resource and Ametherm when it comes to serving the power market; our inrush current limiters and NTC sensing thermistors provide the perfect complement to the companys line card, said Mehdi Samii, vice president of engineering at Ametherm. Combined with IC Resources excellent reputation earned over the past 16 years, this partnership leaves us well poised to expand our presence in Southeast Asia and China.

Ametherms complete line of inrush current limiters and NTC thermistors makes an exciting addition to our portfolio, said Raymond Phua, sales director at IC Resource. The companys reliability and accuracy are unmatched in the industry, and that is exactly what our customers are looking for in their applications.

More information on IC Resource is available at .

Ametherm, headquartered in Carson City, Nevada, was founded in 1994 and specializes in inrush current limiting power thermistors for circuit protection in the power market industry. Ametherms devices are some of the highest rated in the industry and provide the widest range of inrush current protection available. For more information, visit or call 800-808-2434.

Bob Decker

Redpines

+1 415 409 0233

Lori Morton

Ametherm

+1 775 884 2434
Pipeliner CRM Announces Automata

Posted by Publisher Software

LOS ANGELES, CA  (Marketwired)  03/23/16  Pipeliner CRM today announced its new, market-redefining release Automata. Central to this release is , which brings a level of real-time intelligence and proactive guidance never before seen in a CRM. Designed to deliver instant focus and clarity, Navigator is the answer to the increasingly complex world in which sales professionals operate.

The name (c10-c70 A.D.) which is considered some of the first formal research into , the science of effective organization in relation to understanding and dealing with complex systems. Pipeliner has uniquely applied cybernetics to sales and created a new, ground-breaking featured called Navigator.

Navigator draws upon all the different and complex data sources in the system to deliver proactive insights, advice and guidance to the sales professional in one visual, easily understood screen. This provides the kind of instant, actionable intelligence that separates Pipeliner CRM from other CRM systems that are in essence, passive repositories of information.

Everyone agrees that sales is getting harder and the selling environment more complex and Pipeliner has risen to this challenge by applying cybernetics to the problem. With Pipeliner Automata and its central feature, Navigator, we are once again showing that if you approach complexity skillfully, you can extract insight, guidance and intelligence from it and then deliver it in a way that sales professionals can easily consume and use, stated Nikolaus Kimla, CEO of Pipeliner CRM. Now a sales professional or indeed any user of Pipeliner can start their day with the Navigator screen where they will immediately be shown where they need to focus and what they need to address. This is a huge step forward in efficiency, effectiveness and time management which will quickly translate into more time spent selling and growing pipelines.

Navigator consists of 5 basic components, all visible on the same page:

On the right-hand side of the Navigator users will see the Activity Stream  a list of activities, tasks, and opportunities in date order, beginning with the closest to the present.

Combined with a Target Trend graph that allows the user to see progress, over a specified time period, through three different metrics, toward a sales goal.

In the Notifications section users will see 3 different boxes: Tasks, Missed Close Date, and Velocity Issues. Users can click into any of these to drill down to specifics.

Under suggestions users will see other areas in which actions should possibly be taken. These include Cold Accounts, Inactive Accounts, Inactive Leads, Stuck Opportunities, New Leads and more.

The Business Overview section graphically displays Open Opportunities, Open Sum, Won Sum, and Lost Sum  for the user-defined date range for which Navigator is currently set.

In addition to Navigator, this new Pipeliner Automata release also delivers:

Allows a sales manager to set forecasts for each member of a sales team, and track forecast achievement through a sales period for each forecast set. the Forecast Report is fully customizable, can be filtered with profiles, and shared with team members.

Allows user-defined dropdown menus to dynamically relate to one another. For example, if a particular sales territory is selected, then another dropdown menu of sales reps would only be those reps for that territory.

In Pipeliner Automata, Administrators gain an increased ease of use to manage users rights, in several different areas.

For more on Pipeliner or to download a 14-day free trial, please visit:

About Pipeliner CRM

is a software system that enables salespeople and teams to understand their sales process and accelerate opportunities toward a close, while saving time and maintaining focus. Pipeliner CRM overlays organizational features atop a visual interface, creating a worktool that adapts to and grows with the organization.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California and Vienna, Austria, Pipeliner CRM has offices in the UK, Sweden, Slovakia, and India. Engage with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and @PipelinerCRM or visit us at

Image Available:

Embedded Video Available:

Colleen Toumayan

818-800-8836
Houstons Elliptical International Chooses Aspect For Its Completeness, Service And Flexibility

Houston, Texas headquartered shipping and energy marketing/physical commodity trading firm Elliptical International, LLC has chosen the AspectCTRM trade and risk management solution as a key part of its oil and gas sales and marketing arm. Aspects leading global multi-commodity solution will also play a vital role in Ellipticals shipping and logistics operations as the firm grows and develops its overseas markets.

The choice of Aspects advanced solution precedes news of Ellipticals accreditation to trade with major Russian suppliers including Rosneft and Gazprom. Effective and credible systems for real time management of operations, trading and risk were key to the Russian deal as Ellipticals Director of Operations Brad Mothersbaugh explains: It was a defining moment as far as showing our capabilities. Having AspectCTRM underscored the fact that we had a solid capability of managing our operations. No doubt it played a part in obtaining these accreditations which we are justly proud to have received.

AspectCTRM is now widely seen as the benchmark for cloud-based energy/physical commodity trading and risk management systems. As well as mainstream trade and risk functionality the solution has modules for physical operations, logistics, storage, and shipping by sea, road and rail. As more territories and logistical resources become available to Elliptical, managing supply chains and scheduling will become increasingly complex.

Were not worried about how were going to be handling all this, added Ellipticals Gail Randle. AspectCTRM will be a life saver. The fact that Aspect can do all this too was a real influencer in our choice of the solution.

Mothersbaugh and his colleagues were influenced in other ways too, not least of which were previous experiences with other solutions at prior employers. In the past weve used other big name ETRM and CTRM software and found them inflexible, cumbersome and difficult to use. Were talking square pegs in round holes.

Conversely, other colleagues who had used Aspect at previous firms had nothing but good things to say, and this has since been borne out at Elliptical. We like Aspects cloud foundation, we need no extra IT and as we travel a lot, we can get to our transactions from pretty much anywhere at any time Globally, adds Mothersbaugh.

With Aspect we literally hit the ground running. Theres a completeness to the system thats missing in other offerings: it does everything we need in one system. Also the degree of understanding and the level of service we get from Aspects Houston team has been exemplary.
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The report Wednesday says the brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism. (Photo: AP)

Brussels: Two suicide bombers who struck Brussels were identified Wednesday as brothers linked to the prime suspect in the November 13 Paris attacks, as a manhunt for a third assailant in Belgium's bloodiest terror assault gained pace.

Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure, which had earlier said that blast suspect -- Najim Laachraoui -- the third man pictured in airport CCTV footage alongside two suicide bombers, had been arrested in the Anderlecht district of Brussels, withdrew its report.

Read: Belgian media withdraw report that attacks suspect Laachraoui arrested

A day after the triple blasts that killed over 30 people and left around 250 injured, in multiple attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, RTBF television said police had identified two suicide attackers as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

Police had already been hunting the pair over their links to Salah Abdeslam, the key suspect in November's Paris terror attacks, who was arrested in Brussels on Friday after four months on the run.

Read: Brussels attacks: Vijaywada boys lucky escape

Three days of national mourning have been declared, in a country deeply shocked by the carnage. The population of Brussels was also asked to observe a minute's silence at noon (1100 GMT) Wednesday, led by King Philippe and Prime Minister Charles Michel.

Also read: Brussels airport to remain closed tomorrow

Two suicide blasts hit Brussels' Zaventem airport on Tuesday morning followed soon after by a third on a train at Maalbeek station, close to the European Union's institutions, just as rush-hour commuters were heading to work.

Also read: Hunted everywhere, dont know what to do: Belgian bombers desperate will

The bloodshed was unprecedented in a city that is home to both NATO and the EU as well as Belgium's capital.

Read: Huge manhunt on after IS claims Brussels terror attack, 35 dead

The attacks sent the city into lockdown and European airports scrambled to boost security, amid fresh questions over Europe's ability to combat terrorism little more than four months after the Paris attacks that left 130 dead and 350 wounded.

Read: Gatwick airport steps up security after Brussels attacks

Brussels' subway was partially running again by Wednesday morning under tight security, with soldiers checking passengers' bags at station entrances. The rush-hour crowds on the platforms were noticeably thinner than usual.

"I'm a bit afraid, especially for my little brothers," said Dominique Salazar, 18, who was taking her siblings, three and six years old, to school. "But we don't any other choice to get around."

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism 'with all means necessary' on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

Attacker on the run

Belgian authorities have launched a dragnet, releasing CCTV images of three men pushing trolleys through the airport and issuing a public appeal for information. Two of the men died in suicide blasts. The third, whose explosives did not go off, is still on the run.

Read: ISIS celebrates Brussels attack, distributes sweets to Syrian residents

Prosecutors said police raids were carried out across Belgium on Tuesday, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals were found in one apartment.

RTBF said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment in Brussels last week under a false name where Abdeslam's fingerprints were found.

Read: Belgians cannot 'eat chocolate' and fight terror: Israel minister

He is also linked to another apartment in southern Belgium that Abdeslam and other jihadists used before the Paris attacks.

The link to Abdeslam -- who told prosecutors he was planning an attack on Brussels -- has underscored fears about authorities' inability to undermine jihadist networks in Belgium, Europe's top exporter of jihadist fighters to Syria per capita.

Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, was arrested in a dramatic raid Friday in the rundown Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek -- just around the corner from his family home.

"This is a day of tragedy, a black day," Michel said Tuesday on national television, vowing the country would not be cowed by the "deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium".

Read: Brussels holds vigil at historic City Square, Belgium to observe 3-day mourning

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to defend democracy and tolerance but also combat terrorism "with all means necessary."

"The whole of Europe has been hit," said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from November's attacks.

Read: Indian-Americans strongly condemn terrorist attacks in Brussels

(from top L) Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Town council building in Belgrade, Trevi Fountain in Rome, Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam and Rome's Campidoglio. (Photo: AFP)

Landmarks light up for Belgium

Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity on Tuesday night.

On social media, thousands of users shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

Read: From Paris to Brussels: All we know of deadly terror trail in heart of Western Europe

Flags will fly at half mast on public buildings across Belgium through Thursday, while Brussels' historic Place de la Bourse has become the centre for a public outpouring of grief, covered with messages of solidarity, candles and flowers.

The death toll on Tuesday was put at more than 30 dead, but officials said Wednesday they still could not give a final figure.

"We do not have a definitive total; for the moment it remains at what we get gave yesterday, some 30 dead and about 250 injured," a spokesman for the anti-terror Crisis Centre told AFP.

RTBF named the two as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, saying Khalid last week rented an apartment in Brussels under a false name where police found Abdeslam's fingerprints after a raid.

Victims from around the world

The first victim to be identified was Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, a Peruvian woman who had been living in Brussels for six years, who died in the airport bombing.

Three Americans, eight French citizens, two Britons, two Colombians and an Ecuadorian are among the injured.

Read: Indian-Americans strongly condemn terrorist attacks in Brussels

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attacks against "the crusader state" of Belgium -- part of the international coalition that has been carrying out strikes against IS in Iraq.

The government had been considering extending the strikes against IS targets in Syria, where the jihadists still hold swathes of territory.

Analysts said the attacks pointed to a sophisticated jihadist network in Europe, and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there was an "urgent need" to tighten the EU's external borders following the attacks.

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Europe had "allowed security to slip", questioning the wisdom of EU's Schengen passport-free zone, while the US warned citizens about the "potential risks" of travelling in Europe.
March 23, 2016

Park Service should not classify hybridized beefalo as Native Wildlife

WASHINGTON, DC  The National Park Service should withdraw a report concluding that a herd of hybridized bison marooned on the North Rim are wildlife native to Grand Canyon National Park, according to a formal administrative complaint filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). That 2015 report reversed the prior NPS position and lacks any scientific basis, the complaint charges, but would operate to prevent complete removal of the herd from the park.



PEER is challenging a Park Service document entitled Grand Canyon National Park Bison Technical Assistance Report, commonly called the Plumb Report after its lead author. This 2015 report overrode the previous NPS scientific stance that the hybridized herd introduced by a rancher in 1906 are not native to the park. The Plumb Report also narrowed the options available to NPS  as the agency may not extirpate native animals from national parks. As a result, NPS is now embracing a plan pushed by the Arizona Game & Fish Commission for repeated hunts to cull the herd back to more manageable levels.



Citing requirements of the Information Quality Act, PEER is demanding retraction of the Plumb Report because its conclusion that this herd is native to the Grand Canyon is cut out of academic whole cloth  There is no scientific evidence that the historic range of bison ever extended down to Arizona. Even the sources cited by the Plumb Report make no such finding;



The report ignores the Park Services own standards for what constitutes exotic wildlife that is supposed to be removed if the introduced species is harming park resources.



It bases much of its analysis on an unsupported analogy between the cattalo of Grand Canyon and the behavior of the iconic wild horses that swim at Virginias Assateague Island.



These cattalo are no more native to the Grand Canyon than pythons are native to the Everglades, stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the hunters selected would be volunteers holding a current Arizona license, with a buffalo permit costing $1000 for a resident and $5000 for a non-resident.



The Park Service has improperly engaged in a results-driven review masquerading as science. This orphaned herd now has as many as 800 members. These 2,000 pound animals congregate in a small, very fragile part of the parks North Rim where they have apparently learned they will not be hunted. This stagnant herd is harming rare plants, fouling springs and carving erosive trails into the North Rim.



In 2014, Grand Canyon was developing an evaluation of alternatives which included removing the cattalo herd from the park altogether. The Plumb Report killed that plan and now the park is posting a quick assessment of the culling option favored by the state. Under the Information Quality Act, the Park Service has 60 days to defend the report or it must be withdrawn and its conclusions barred from use in decision making.



To counter the uncontested fact that these cattalo were introduced by humans, this report creates a fiction that Grand Canyon is within of the historic range of the plains bison even though there is no archeological, biological or cultural support for that notion, Ruch added. If bison had spent any time longer than a spring break at the Grand Canyon there would be some evidence of it.
March 23, 2016

Arizona high school student to compete in national poetry recitation competition

Hunter Hazleton of Laveen, Arizona, is Arizonas Poetry Out Loud State Champion

PHOENIX  Hunter Hazleton, a senior at Betty Fairfax High School in Laveen, Arizona, was named 2016 Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Champion at the state finals competition held on March 11, 2016 at the downtown Phoenix studios of Arizona PBS. As State Champion, Hazleton will represent Arizona at the 11th annual Poetry Out Loud National Finals competition in Washington, D.C., in May.



A program of the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is delivered in all 50 states and three territories through partnerships with the State Arts Agencies. The Arizona Poetry Out Loud program is managed and supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona.



This year, 49 schools and over 10,000 students across the state participated in the competition at the school level. 52 students advanced to compete at one of three regional competitions held in February.



Ten students advanced from the regional competitions to compete in the state finals:

Southern Region

 Deja Brown (Sonoran Science Academy) Tucson

 Caitlin McCormick (The Gregory School) Tucson

 Edgardo Flores (Villa Oasis High School) Eloy

Central Region

 Edel Healy, Xavier College Preparatory (Phoenix)

 Anisa Myers, American Leadership Academy (Queen Creek)

 Karina Morris, AAEC PV High School (Phoenix)

 Hunter Hazelton, Betty Fairfax High School (Laveen)

Northern Region

 Sophie Weinzinger, Coconino High School (Flagstaff)

 Hanna Heiden, Kingman High School (Kingman)

 Carly Smith, Coconino High School (Flagstaff)



As the Arizona Poetry Out Loud state champion, Hazleton receives a $200 cash award and an all-expenses-paid trip for himself and a chaperone to the national finals, to be held in Washington, D.C., May 2-4, 2016. Additionally, his school will receive $500 to purchase poetry books for its library. The students work hard to get to the finals, said Robert C. Booker, Executive Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Watching such a diverse group of exceptional young people from around the state stand tall, recite, and display their understanding and love of poetry is truly remarkable and inspirational. These young people learn skills through this competition that will serve them for a lifetime.





The distinguished panel of judges for the event included professional poets, performers, and educators:

 Jia Oak Baker

 Fatimah Halim

 Leah Marche

 Pamela Sterling

 Dr. Laura Tohe

Poet and teaching artist Tomas Stanton emceed the event. Dr. Laura Tohe, Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation, appeared as a special guest, reciting her own work for an appreciative audience.



About Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetryrecitation and performance.



Poetry Out Loud invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English class. Through Poetry Out Loud, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage. For further information regarding Poetry Out Loud, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.
MULLET OVER BY JAMES K. WHITE | March 23, 2016

Leave black mambas unchallenged
Feature Articles

March 23, 2016

Phoenix Herpetological Society provides advice on snake safety as calls to remove snakes increase

SCOTTSDALE  If you're having an Easter Egg hunt later this month, be aware that rattlesnakes may like the same hiding spots you are planning to stash those eggs.



With the warm weather, snakes have been very active lately. The Phoenix Herpetological Society (PHS) reports that it is receiving multiple calls to remove snakes.



MULLET OVER BY JAMES K. WHITE | March 23, 2016

There exist more than 1300 distinct species of that leather-winged mammal known as a bat (Chiroptera). Publishers and researchers at Science Magazine estimate that bats prevent agriculture losses of more than $3,700,000,000 every year by eating tons of crop-devouring insects each night.



The last surviving American Civil War veteran was Albert Henry Woolson (1850-1956). Albert was a member of the 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery (1864-1865) but was never in combat. James Albert Hard was the last surviving combat veteran (1843-1953). James Albert fought with the 37th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment and saw action at the First battle of Bull Run (1861), Antietam (1862) and Chancellorsville (1863).
Guest Editorial





By Dr. John Sparks | March 23, 2016

No need to consider Judge Garland

With the death of Justice Antonin Scalia the Supreme Court is left with one chief justice and seven associate justices. President Obama has nominated Merrick B. Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, who was a Clinton appointee and clerked under liberal Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. Even before the nomination, the vacancy produced urgent calls for a replacement to be nominated based on claims that an eight-person court would not be fully functioning, would hamstring the judiciary, and would amount to partisan understaffing. With Obamas nomination of Garland, the clamor for immediate action will increase.



But is an eight-person Supreme Court really unworkable for the period between now and early 2017 when a newly-elected president will offer a replacement?



First, some history. Article III of the Constitution says that judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and such other inferior courts as Congress shall ordain. It always came as a surprise to my Constitutional students that the size of the Supreme Court is not set at nine by the Constitution. In fact, the first Court was six-members the chief justice and five associate justices. Between then and 1869, the Court was sometimes seven, sometimes 10, and sometimes nine. But the Judiciary Act of 1869 finally fixed the number at nineone chief and eight associates. It has not changed since, with the best-known attempt at increasing its size being FDRs unsuccessful court packing scheme in 1937.



The immediate question is: Can the Supreme Court effectively operate with only eight judges? Yes, it can. Even with nine members, it does so when a justice recuses himself or herself because of an actual or potential conflict of interest, thus taking the number to eight. That has happened as recently as the Fisher v. University of Texas case where Justice Kagan did not participate because she had worked on one side of the case as solicitor general. In fact, in her first term beginning in 2010, she recused herself from 28 cases out of the 75 decided opinions. The court operated in over one third of its cases with just eight justices during that entire term.



However, what about those close and controversial 5-4 decisions of which Justice Scalia was a part? Isnt it likely that the court will be essentially deadlocked on some important constitutional issues? Yes, that is a possibility but not as likely as one might think.



The courts statistics here are enlightening. For the term for which we have the most recent data, the October 2014 term that ended June 2015, the Supreme Court issued 74 opinions on the merits of which only 19 were 5-4 opinions (26 percent). Of those, 13 can be said to have been generated by ideological splits between the conservative and the liberal wings of the court. Moreover, this particular term was reasonably contentious, containing the Obergefell case (same-sex unions), King v. Burwell (tax credits under Obamacare), and Michigan v. EPA (costs to businesses of regulation). Taking a look back over the decade of the Chief Justice John Roberts court, a similar pattern emerges. For the 10 years starting in the 2005 term, the percentage of total opinions that were 5-4 averaged 22 percent or 17 decisions. The point is that much of what the court decides is not dependent upon nine justices. Because most of the decisions are not close, eight justices will do the job.



Nevertheless, what about a Supreme Court term in which there were a number of ties? What happens to those cases? If a case is argued and decided but the justices are deadlocked, then the lower courts decision from which the case came on appeal stands, but it is not a national precedent binding on all courts. As Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution recently said, [I]ts as if the court had never even heard the case.



In some cases such a result may cut one way and in another cut a different way. For example, in the highly contested abortion case, Whole Womens Health v. Hellerstedt, a 4-4 split would allow the Fifth Circuits decision upholding a Texas abortion-related law to remain in effect but with no nationwide precedential impact. The law in question, called HB2, required doctors working in abortion clinics to have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals and the clinics themselves to be able to qualify as sites where surgery could be performed. Approximately half of the Texas clinics could not meet these requirements and, as a result, closed their doors. A tie vote would produce the continuation of one of the nations strictest set of abortion regulations and might act as an encouragement to states that have enacted similar restrictions on abortion clinics.



In another group of consolidated cases titled after the first case to fileZubic v. Burwellvarious religious orders and sectarian colleges have challenged the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act. The court will consider whether these organizations, which are not exempt from the mandate under the ACA, can be compelled to provide their employees with health insurance that offers types of birth control to which these organizations have religious objections. Again, should there be a tie, decisions of the respective Federal Circuit Courts, all of which found against the challengers, will stand. Here, instead of protecting an arguably pro-life stance as in Whole Womens Health, the tie would produce a result that furthered the availability of contraceptives and abortifacients.



One final possibility, although commentators find its likelihood almost impossible to predict, is that the court may set cases for reargument in the next term. That has often been done when a new justice is added to the court and it seems fair to have the new judge participate in the matter.



In summary, the immediate consideration of Judge Garland is not necessary since an eight-judge Supreme Court can function reasonably well. Most of its decisions will not be close. Where a close decision occurs or is likely to occur, the court can order reargument in the second half of the new 2016-2017 term when a full complement of justices will presumably have been restored.



Dr. John A. Sparks is the retired dean of Arts & Letters at Grove City College and a fellow for The Center for Vision & Values. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and a member of the State Bar of Pennsylvania. He is a frequent contributor of articles based upon U.S. Supreme Court developments.
March 23, 2016

Missing Migrant Team attempting to reunite remains with next of kin

The Tucson Sector Border Patrols Missing Migrant Team needs the publics help to reunite a deceased man, believed to be an undocumented border crosser, with family members.



A rancher in Santa Cruz County discovered the deceased on July 31, 2015. Investigators found no identification on the man or near his body; nor did they identify reports of a missing person matching the mans description.



The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and obtained a full set of fingerprints. Border Patrol agents crosschecked the fingerprints through multiple databases and found a positive match to a man from Jalisco, Mexico, born in 1946. Records also show his last encounter with Border Patrol was on July 20, 2010.



The Mexican Consulate in Tucson has been unable to locate the deceased mans family. The Missing Migrant Team continues to examine information and conduct research in hopes of reuniting the remains with his family as soon as possible.



Anyone with information should contact the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson, 520-623-7928, or National: 855-463-6395.



Since June 2015, Tucson Sectors Missing Migrant Team has helped with identification in 94 cases within Pima and Maricopa counties. Collaboration with medical examiners, consulates and non-governmental organizations has greatly reduced the identification process from years to weeks.



Wellton BP Agents seize cocaine, meth at checkpoint

Wellton Station Border Patrol agents seized a combined 60 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine, worth in excess of $250,000, during separate incidents over a 48 hour period. Agents found the drugs in vehicles as they attempted to pass through the Border Patrol immigration checkpoint on Interstate 8, east of Yuma.



The first seizure occurred after a canine team alerted to a vehicle, which was then directed to a secondary inspection. As a result, agents found 10 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $104,000, and 22 pounds of methamphetamine, valued at $66,000, hidden throughout the vehicle.



The second incident occurred when an agent referred a suspicious vehicle for a secondary inspection, at which time agents located 28 pounds of methamphetamine worth approximately $84,000.



Agents processed the drugs, vehicles and drivers, one U.S. citizen and one naturalized U.S. citizen, per Yuma Sector guidelines.



CBP Officers arrest man on outstanding child molestation warrant

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations officers at the Port of Nogales arrested a Mesa man returning from Mexico March 15 after learning he has an outstanding warrant for child molestation out of Maricopa County, Ariz.



The man told officers he has been living in Mexico for the past three months and was returning to Phoenix. Officers referred the man for secondary inspection to confirm his identity and citizenship.



A background and fingerprint check revealed the mans identity as 28-year-old Evan Allen Bramer; who has an extraditable warrant from Mesa, Ariz. Officers arrested Bramer and turned him over to the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs office for extradition.



According to the Maricopa County Adult Probation Office, Bramer is an unregistered sex offender who absconded late January of 2015, when he is believed to have walked out of the probation office without permission.



Convicted child molester arrested crossing border

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tucson Station arrested a previously deported, convicted sex offender March 13 near Three Points, Arizona, after he attempted to enter the United States illegally.



Following the arrest of Victor Roberto Hernandez-Dolores, a 33-year-old citizen of Mexico, agents conducting records checks found that Hernandez was convicted of felony child molestation in Georgia and was removed from the U.S. on Dec. 12, 2014.



The Border Patrol contributes to safer communities by preventing dangerous criminals from entering and transiting through the U.S. All individuals apprehended by the Border Patrol undergo extensive criminal history checks using several databases; vital tools for ensuring individuals with criminal histories are positively identified. Since the beginning of fiscal year 2016, Tucson Sector Border Patrol has arrested 46 sex offenders; 10 since March 1.



Customs and Border Protection welcomes assistance from the community. Citizens can report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol and remain anonymous by calling 1-877-872-7435 toll free.



Nogales CBP Officers seize $208K in hard drugs

Customs and Border Protection officers arrested two Mexican men for separate attempts to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine through the Port of Nogales recently.



Officers at the Dennis DeConcini crossing referred a 23-year-old from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico for further inspection of his Chevrolet sedan when he attempted to enter the U.S. on March 12. During the inspection, a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs within the vehicles rear quarter panel where officers found more than five pounds of heroin, valued at nearly $71,000, and more than 11 pounds of meth exceeding $33,000 in value.



Later in the day, officers at the DeConcini pedestrian lanes referred a 22-year-old man from Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico for further questioning. During questioning, a drug canine alerted to the mans suitcases containing six packages of heroin weighing more than seven pounds and worth in excess of $104,000.



Officers seized the drugs and vehicle, and turned both subjects over to Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations.



Lukeville CBP Officers seize $612K in drugs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations officers at Arizonas Port of Lukeville seized nearly $545,000 in marijuana and approximately $67,000 in methamphetamine during recent seizures.



On March 13, officers referred a 48-year-old man from Chandler, Arizona, for further inspection of his Chevrolet truck and trailer. During the inspection, a CBP narcotics detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs within the nose of the trailer where officers found more than 1,089 pounds of marijuana.



On March 11, officers referred a 38-year-old woman from Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico, traveling with her 42-year-old sister, for further inspection of her Nissan sedan.



Officers then discovered multiple packages of methamphetamine, weighing more than 22 pounds, inside the vehicles rear bumper and arrested both women.



Officers seized the vehicles and drugs, and turned all subjects over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations.



Federal law allows officers to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of charges for criminal activity without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
March 23, 2016

Pregnant T. Rex could aid in Dino sex-typing

A pregnant Tyrannosaurus Rex that roamed Montana 68 million years ago may be the key to discerning gender differences between Theropoda, or meat-eating dinosaur, species. Researchers from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences have confirmed the presence of Medullory bone  a gender-specific reproductive tissue  in a fossilized T. Rex femur. Beyond giving paleontologists a definitively female fossil to study, their findings could shed light on the evolution of egg laying in modern birds.



Medullory bone is only found in female birds, and then only during the period before or during egg laying. It is chemically distinct from other bone types, like the dense cortical bone that makes up the outer portion of our bones, or the spongy cancellous bone found inside them. This is because Medullory bone has to be laid down and mobilized quickly in order for birds to shell their eggs. Theropod dinosaurs, the broader dinosaur group that includes modern birds and other toothy relatives such as T. Rex, also laid eggs in order to reproduce, and paleontologists have hypothesized that they may have had Medullory bone as well.



In 2005, Mary Schweitzer, an NC State paleontologist with a joint appointment at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and lead author of a paper describing the research, found what she believed to be Medullory bone in the femur of a 68 million year old T. Rex fossil (MOR 1125).



All the evidence we had at the time pointed to this tissue being Medullory bone, Schweitzer says, but there are some bone diseases that occur in birds, like osteopetrosis, that can mimic the appearance of Medullory bone under the microscope. So to be sure we needed to do chemical analysis of the tissue.



Medullory bone contains keratin sulfate, a substance not present in other bone types, but it was previously thought that none of the original chemistry of dinosaur bone would survive millions of years. However, Schweitzer and her colleagues conducted a number of different tests on the T. Rex sample, including testing for keratin sulfate using monoclonal antibodies, and compared their results to the same tests performed on known Medullory tissue from ostrich and chicken bone. Their findings confirmed that the tissue from the T. Rex was Medullory bone.



This analysis allows us to determine the gender of this fossil, and gives us a window into the evolution of egg laying in modern birds, Schweitzer says, although she adds that the fleeting nature of Medullory bone means that finding more of it in the fossil record may be difficult.



The femur of MOR1125 was already broken when Schweitzer got it, and she acknowledges that most paleontologists wouldnt want to cut open or de-mineralize their fossils in order to search for rare Medullory bone. However, co-author Lindsay Zanno, an NC State paleontologist with a joint appointment at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, showed that CT scans of fossils may help narrow down the search.



Its a dirty secret, but we know next to nothing about sex-linked traits in extinct dinosaurs. Dinosaurs werent shy about sexual signaling, all those bells and whistles, horns, crests, and frills, and yet we just havent had a reliable way to tell males from females, Zanno says. Just being able to identify a dinosaur definitively as a female opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Now that we can show pregnant dinosaurs have a chemical fingerprint, we need a concerted effort to find more.



The research appears in Scientific Reports. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Wenxia Zheng of NC State, Sarah Werning of Des Moines University, and Toshie Sugiyama of Niigata University, Japan, also contributed to the work.
March 23, 2016

Phoenix man convicted of conspiracy to support ISIL and other terrorism-related offenses

PHOENIX  Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, 44, of Phoenix, was found guilty March 17 by a federal jury of one count each of the following five crimes: conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization; conspiracy to transport firearms and ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit murder and aggravated assault; transporting firearms and ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit murder and aggravated assault; making false statements to the FBI; and being a felon in possession of a firearm.



The verdict was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Strange of the District of Arizona, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Justin Tolomeo of the FBIs Phoenix Division.



Todays guilty verdict, in one of the countrys first trials involving terrorist acts committed in the United States by ISIL supporters, demonstrates our offices deep commitment to combatting terrorism, said Acting U.S. Attorney Strange. I want to thank the FBI for the tremendous effort that went into the underlying investigation, as well as the brave law enforcement officials in Garland whose quick action during the attack prevented a much larger tragedy.



In the first jury trial in the country involving a homeland attack committed in the name of ISIL, Abdul Kareem was convicted of conspiring to provide material support to the foreign terrorist organization and other federal offenses, said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. The defendant conspired with Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi to provide material support to ISIL and to transport firearms in interstate commerce with the intent to commit murder and aggravated assault. Thanks to the response of brave law enforcement officers at the scene, no innocent lives were lost when Simpson and Soofi attacked the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. The National Security Division will continue to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who conspire with others to support foreign terrorist organizations and to commit acts of violence.



This verdict sends a strong message to those who support terrorists, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Tolomeo. People who are plotting to harm America and Americans are no longer a world away. Our agents and analysts will continue to confront this threat with a strong and coordinated effort as we work to protect all Americans. The FBI would like to thank the U.S. Attorneys Office as well as our federal, state and local law enforcement partners of the Joint Terrorism Task Force for their assistance in this case.



The evidence at trial showed that, beginning around June 2014, Kareem and his two roommates, Simpson and Soofi, began conspiring to support ISIL. Their conspiracy focused on supporting ISIL by attacking targets in the United States. Over the course of the conspiracy, Kareem, Simpson and Soofi considered perpetrating an attack against military bases, individual military service members, shopping malls, the Glendale, Arizona, Super Bowl, and the so-called Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest, which was to take place in Garland. On May 3, 2015, the morning of the contest, Simpson and Soofi drove from Arizona to Texas. Simpson and Soofi stopped their car near the contests location, got out of their car, and began firing assault rifles at security personnel and law enforcement officers. A security guard was injured by one of their bullets, and Simpson and Soofi were shot and killed by police officers in the firefight. Kareem did not travel to Texas and was not injured during the attack. During an interview with FBI agents soon after the attack, Kareem lied about having prior knowledge of the attack and the contest. The case was tried over the span of several weeks before U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton of the District of Arizona. Kareem is being detained pending sentencing, which is currently scheduled for June 27, 2016, before Judge Bolton. Kareems counts of conviction carry a potential sentence of at least 45 years in prison.



The case was investigated by the FBI, and the prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Koehler and Kristen Brook of the District of Arizona, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Rebecca Magnone of the National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section.


By Linda Bentley | March 23, 2016

Meritage Homes project nixed for Cave Creek

Scoffing at the description of Cave Creek being a Western town, Spence said, Cave Creek is an outlaw town, get it right

CAVE CREEK  During Monday nights Call to the Public, Kerry Smith said there was an omission from the March 7 minutes, regarding concerns involving the Water Advisory Committee raised by Councilman Thomas McGuire, that he believed should be included.



Councilwoman Susan Clancy moved to reconsider their vote approving the minutes, which passed unanimously.



As McGuire attempted to recall what he said, Town Attorney Bill Sims suggested rather than have McGuire try to recall what he said to table the item until Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek can listen to the recording.



Council voted unanimously to table the item.



As he introduced the first general agenda item, Mayor Vincent Francia made it clear the only thing before council was whether to rezone two parcels from Desert Rural (DR-89) to Commercial Buffer (CB) zoning.



Planning Director Ian Cordwell provided council with a brief background on the application by Meritage Homes for 56 homes on approximately 12 acres located within the Specific Area Plan (SAP) just north of the northwest corner of Carefree Highway and 54th Street.



Greg Davis



Cordwell pointed out the planning commission voted unanimously to recommend denial for the rezoning and turned the presentation over to Greg Davis, consultant for Meritage Homes.



Davis said Meritage is an Arizona company thats been in the Valley since 1985 and has built a reputation for building energy efficient homes.



While the application was for a change to CB zoning, Davis said they found the project could also be accomplished under Multi-family Residential (MR) zoning and stated Meritage would be willing to accept the less intense MR zoning.



Davis said 56 units was the minimum number of units Meritage decided on to make the project work and stated the project would have a pool and clubhouse, amenities usually only found in a 200-unit community.



The units range in size from 1,700 to 2,700 square feet and, according to Davis, the project benefits the town by providing a sustainable land use transition from the Lowes/McDonalds to the existing low-density properties.



Davis said there was generally positive feedback for the project at both the community and planning commission meetings.



In order to address the zoning concerns raised by neighbors during the planning commission meeting, Davis said Meritage was willing to request MR zoning instead of CB and agree to a stipulation that if for some reason the project did not move forward as planned the property would revert back to its original DR zoning designation.



Councilman Dick Esser questioned the need for 56 units to make the project work.



Davis responded by saying losing one or two units might not kill the project but this was the number they felt was necessary.



Cordwell briefly explained the SAP overlay and that it would allow for rezoning no more intense than CB.



Steve Orgel



During public comment, Steve Orgel said he made extensive remarks during the planning commission meeting in opposition to the project and took issue with the comment Davis made indicating there was generally positive feedback.



Orgel stated, There was not any measurable support for this project 



He asked council to consider what the project would mean going forward by allowing 4.5 to 5 homes per acre and how it would change the character of the town and the current desert rural lifestyle.



Orgel urged council to deny the rezoning application.



Kurt Mattson



Kurt Mattson stated he was against high-density housing developments.



He said, People come here because were Western not eclectic.



Mattson said he wasnt against progress but stated, We want the right kind of progress.



He told council they were the gatekeepers and urged them to think about the long-term ramifications.



Cheryle Carmitchel pointed out the parcels are located beyond the two-acres along Carefree Highway and said the SAP is not a zoning change but an overlay.



Although she praised Meritage Homes for their quality, Carmitchel said, Obviously whats at stake is one home per acre.



She asked council not to approve the CB zoning and expressed concerns about conditional rezoning.



Linda Redwood-Martinez



Linda Redwood-Martinez stated Cave Creek is a polite town and suggested that might be why Meritage was under the impression citizens were not opposed to the project.



She talked about how rezoning in Phoenix ruined the neighborhood she lived in for 30 years.



Even though Redwood-Martinez lives up Spur Cross Road, a good distance from the project, she said she was there to support her neighbors and asked council to support the planning commissions unanimous recommendation against the rezoning.



Eileen Wright



Eileen Wright read a statement made by Vincent Francia and urged council to vote against the rezoning.



She said, We do not want the cowboy to fade off into the sunset.



Kerry Smith spoke about the value of property based on the average size of neighboring properties.



He said Meritage was a wonderful developer but noted, according to Zillow, the foreclosure rate in Cave Creek is twice that of neighboring communities.



He also questioned whether the town would be able to provide water to an additional 120 people in that area.



Kathy Greene said she was opposed to the CB zoning.



Suzanne Deffenbaugh told council she sincerely hoped they would echo the unanimous vote of the planning commission and pointed out citizens spoke from all over the community in opposition.



She said the requested CB zoning opens the door to so many possibilities, which many of the neighbors would not welcome with outstretched arms.



Andrew Fowler said he lived on Dove Valley Road in Cave Creek and was there to lend his support for the project.



Steve Knotts said he too supported the project and didnt see how it would impact neighbors.



Lois Knotts said she supported the project, which she said would beautify the neighborhood.



Jo Long



Jo Long, who owns one of the parcels Meritage was purchasing contingent upon obtaining their rezoning request, said people complain about her horse ranch, the horse poop, flies and dust.



Long said if council approved the rezoning it will eliminate those problems.



She said, If you turn this down, who else will develop this property?



Long also claimed the project will generate sales tax to help the town pay down its debt.



Mr. and Mrs. Reid Stewart, who own the other parcel in escrow with Meritage contingent upon the rezoning, also expressed support for the rezoning.



Larry Pace stated he was speaking on behalf of the Cave Creek South 40 and, after naming a number of his neighbors, said, We are 100 percent opposed. This type of project doesnt belong in Cave Creek.



David Farmer and Jeffery Hadley both expressed support for the rezoning.



Tim Spence, who lives adjacent to the proposed Meritage project, said he grew up here and has lived there since 1968.



Scoffing at the description of Cave Creek being a Western town, Spence said, Cave Creek is an outlaw town, get it right.



Spence said he supported the rezoning and stated it would at least get rid of the problem to the north of me.



Dennis Coleman said it would be nice to make the problem with flies go away as the horse ranch has been a nuisance property.



However, he said the CB zoning concerned him and stated, Fifty-six homes is a lot.



Lisa Blood, who recently moved to Cave Creek from Chandler, said, The people who live on El Sendero Drive are not in favor of this.



Art Robertson, another El Sendero Drive resident, stated the rezoning would be a detriment to the community and pointed out the majority of the people who spoke in support of the rezoning were not property owners.



Francia said they heard from 21 speakers with 12 against and nine in support.



Council began discussion after a motion was made to approve the rezoning.



Councilman Mark Lipsky said he thought the SAP was entirely inappropriate for the parcels and stated, All we can do is make the best of a bad situation.



Clancy asked what the difference was between CB and MR.



Cordwell explained MR was a lesser category that only allowed multi-family residential use rather than the various uses allowed under CB.



Councilman Ernie Bunch said, These folks in the El Sendero neighborhood deserve something better, and stated he was not going to support the rezoning.



Esser stated, I dont see that corner as horse property but its pretty clear folks are upset.



Francia said there are long-standing issues regarding the use of horses next to people who dont own horses.



Council voted unanimously against the rezoning.



Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution directing the town manager to support the Desert Foothills Mountain Bike Association in its application for a grant from REI for $7,500 for the development of Phase One of the towns Gateway Trailhead.



The towns trails coordinator, Bambi Muller, said the grant would be a start in the trails development, which begins at Carefree Highway next to the towns wastewater treatment plant, and would provide a large parking area for those who wish to use the trail.



Vice Mayor Steve LaMar said, This is exactly what we should be doing.



Town Manager Peter Jankowski asked council to pass a resolution authorizing a one-time waiver of the towns $3 ticket surcharge fee for the Desert Foothills Community Association, Cave Creek Pro Rodeo to be held next month.



Jankowski explained the failure to charge the $3 surcharge, which is supposed to go to the town for maintenance and upkeep of the rodeo grounds, was due to poor communication.



Rather than force the rodeo to deduct $3 per ticket to pay to the town, Jankowski was asking council to waive the fee this year.



When LaMar asked if communications have since improved, Jankowski said they were still working on it and claimed the nonprofit organization, made up primarily of volunteers, doesnt respond to calls in a timely manner.



LaMar suggested in the future that Jankowski put all communications in writing so there is no misunderstanding.



Bunch, who moved to approve the resolution, said he was not real happy about the situation but stated the rodeo must go on.



LaMar confirmed this was a one-year problem with a one-time waiver.


By Linda Bentley | March 23, 2016

Trump draws thousands to Fountain Hills



FOUNTAIN HILLS  Free tickets to see Donald Trump in Fountain Hills last Saturday sold out within hours of announcing the event only two days earlier.



Although the hastily put together rally was supposed to start at 10 a.m., it was subsequently bumped to 11 a.m. after Trump agreed to do a town hall meeting with talk show host Sean Hannity at the Phoenix Convention Center from 9 to 10 a.m.



It didnt seem to matter much to the thousands that turned out to see Trump  patiently waiting in the scorching heat.



The couple at the very front of the line, which by 8 a.m. wrapped around the park for about two miles or more, said they arrived at 3 a.m.





Just about all the people Sonoran News spoke with said they had already cast their ballots for Trump weeks ago by mail and were simply there to show their support for him.





Taking advantage of the huge crowds Trump draws, people were collecting petition signatures for Dr. Kelli Ward, who is expected to defeat Sen. John McCain in the upcoming primary election.





Law enforcement was thick at the event with Secret Service personnel as well as every imaginable unit of the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office, including SWAT, K-9, Equestrian, Lake Patrol and Helicopter.





There were deputies on rooftops, patrolling on horses and on quads.





Other than protestors causing traffic to back up for miles when they blocked Shea Boulevard with vehicles, attempting to keep people and Trump from getting to the rally, there was only a small number of anti-Trump protestors at the rally itself.



Despite Trump electrifying thousands with his briefer than usual speech on Saturday, the mainstream media appeared focused almost entirely on the protestors.



Following the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his immigration stance and said he would close our borders to certain people until we can sort out whats going on.





He said we need to be very, very vigilant with who we let into this country, noting the current administration is letting people in without knowing who they are, where they come from and without real documentation.



He lamented about the decline of both Brussels, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and Paris, known as the city of lights, and said they have become cities in fear.



With 90 percent of precincts reporting on Wednesday morning, Trump took Arizona, a winner-take-all delegate state, by storm with 47 percent (249,842) of the vote, followed by Ted Cruz with 25 percent (133,479).



Early voting resulted in Marco Rubio, who dropped out of the race, receiving 13 percent of the vote, ahead of John Kasich, who received only 10 percent.





Because early voting has become so popular in Arizona, polling places were consolidated from over 200 to only 60, resulting in long lines and three-hour waits at some locations.



However, rallies seemed to have invigorated voters, creating a higher than average turnout, with Yavapai County having the highest turnout at 63 percent, Apache County the lowest at 27 percent and Maricopa County at 43 percent.



Hillary Clinton also won in Arizona with 58 percent (235,647) of the vote against Bernie Sanders who received 40 percent (163,410).



Arizonas Presidential Preference Election is a closed election open only to affiliated party members, whereas the primary election on Aug. 30, 2016 is open to the unaffiliated, or Independents, who may vote by requesting either a Republican or Democrat ballot.
The video grab by RTL Belgium shows people receiving treatment in the debris strewn terminal at Brussels Airport after the explosions on March 22, 2016. (Photo: AP)

Brussels: The Belgian government warned at the weekend that there might be an attack after the security services captured their most wanted man. It came swiftly.

Tuesday's explosions, which killed at least 35 people at the main Brussels airport and an underground rail station, came just days after Belgium's security services caught the last surviving suspect in November's attacks on Paris.

Belgium has announced 400 million euros ($450 million) of extra spending to upgrade its security capabilities since it emerged that the country of 11 million people served as the base for the Paris attackers who killed 130 people. But Tuesday's bombings at home show how much further it still has to go.

Security experts say squabbling layers of government, under-funded spy services, an openness to fundamentalist preachers and a thriving black market in weapons all make Belgium among the most vulnerable countries in Europe to militant attacks.

Read: Cruz and Trump: Boost surveillance of Muslims in US after Brussels attack

One US government official told Reuters that Tuesday's attacks showed Belgian authorities still "have not upped their game".

Catching Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam on Friday was a coup for Belgium's security services. But his four months apparently hiding and moving about the capital were also proof of how difficult the task of securing Belgium is likely to be.

It is still too early to say whether Tuesday's attacks were directly linked to Abdeslam's capture. US officials believe they may have been already in the works before his arrest, and was not highly sophisticated or the type of attack that required a huge amount of ingenuity.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Charles Michel, who had locked down the capital for days in November after the Paris attacks, warned on Sunday of "a real threat".

US government sources said that, while the United States and Belgium had believed that another attack after Paris was highly likely, they did not have hard intelligence about where or when such an attack would occur.

BENEATH THE RADAR

Catching up after years of neglect was always going to be a problem for Belgium's intelligence agency, which has just 600 staff, a third as many as in the neighbouring Netherlands, a country not much larger and with fewer home-grown jihadists fighting in Syria or Iraq.

Belgium has supplied the highest per capita number of fighters to Syria of any European nation, and the crowded Brussels borough of Molenbeek has been described as a "Jihadist air base" because of the number of militant suspects believed to be living there.

To follow a single suspect around 24 hours a day without being detected, security agencies need crews of as many as 36 officers, US and European officials estimate, meaning even well-staffed agencies such as Britain's MI5 can only closely follow a limited number of suspects at any particular time.

According to Alain Winants, head of the Belgian intelligence service from 2006 until 2014, Belgium was one of the last places in Europe to obtain modern techniques to gather information, such as telephone taps. On one occasion, police had to deny they let Abdeslam slip due to a law banning house raids at night.

Michel has already said he accepts more is needed. It is impossible for any country to completely secure "soft targets" like busy railway stations and airports. But Belgium also has unique challenges.

The patchwork country divided between French- and Dutch-speakers has a bureaucracy that hinders the sharing of information, with six parliaments for its regions and linguistic communities, 193 local police forces and, in Brussels, 19 autonomous mayors.

That allows militants to hide below the radar in a way they cannot in the much more centralised Netherlands, as well as slowing the passing of new laws to rein in the preaching of hate in mosques and a roaring trade in illegal weapons.

Nearly 6,000 firearms are seized every year in Belgium, more than in all of France, police data shows, often sold by Balkan crime networks to home-grown Belgian terrorists.

VANISHING IN MOLENBEEK

Belgian authorities have been accused of neglecting Muslims and failing to help find jobs to shield them from people seeking to radicalise desperate young men. Youth unemployment can reach up to 40 per cent in some parts of wealthy Belgium.

"Because of the difficulty of fitting into a hostile society, they look for alternative networks where they can blend in," said counter-terrorism expert Rik Coolsaet at the Brussels think-tank Egmont.

"Gang activities and the foreign fighters' undertakings are carried out on the margins of the local environment, where they grew up," Coolsaet said.

Just a few miles from the power of the headquarters of NATO and the European Union, but effectively a world away, Molenbeek on the poorer side of the city's industrial-era canal has become a notoriously difficult place to track militants.

Abdeslam was able to vanish into the streets of Molenbeek, some quarters of which are 80 per cent Muslim, for four months, protected by family, friends and petty criminals, not far from his parents' home.

Some problems go back to the 1970s, when Belgium, still heavily industrial at the time, sought favour and cheap oil from Saudi Arabia by providing mosques for Gulf-trained preachers.

European officials acknowledge that no amount of quick funding increases for Belgium's intelligence services will immediately solve the multitude of challenges.

"We know that it will take a long time," said General Gratien Maire, deputy head of the French defence staff, said at an event in Brussels on Sunday.

"So we have to be honest and clear with our people."
By Linda Bentley | March 23, 2016

Thinking about running for town council? Its time 

Carrie Dyrek



CAVE CREEK  Now that Arizona has consolidated its elections so that local elections coincide with the national election calendar cycle, Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek announced council candidate packets will be available at town hall on Monday, March 28.



The packets will contain the requirements, forms and instructions necessary to run for office.



Nomination signature petitions must be turned in between May 2 and June 1 in order to run in the Aug. 30 primary election with early voting beginning on Aug. 3.

By Linda Bentley | March 23, 2016

FOUNTAIN HILLS  Free tickets to see Donald Trump in Fountain Hills last Saturday sold out within hours of announcing the event only two days earlier.



Although the hastily put together rally was supposed to start at 10 a.m., it was subsequently bumped to 11 a.m. after Trump agreed to do a town hall meeting with talk show host Sean Hannity at the Phoenix Convention Center from 9 to 10 a.m.



It didnt seem to matter much to the thousands that turned out to see Trump  patiently waiting in the scorching heat.

By Linda Bentley | March 23, 2016

Scoffing at the description of Cave Creek being a Western town, Spence said, Cave Creek is an outlaw town, get it right

CAVE CREEK  During Monday nights Call to the Public, Kerry Smith said there was an omission from the March 7 minutes, regarding concerns involving the Water Advisory Committee raised by Councilman Thomas McGuire, that he believed should be included.



Councilwoman Susan Clancy moved to reconsider their vote approving the minutes, which passed unanimously.



As McGuire attempted to recall what he said, Town Attorney Bill Sims suggested rather than have McGuire try to recall what he said to table the item until Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek can listen to the recording.

March 23, 2016

Encourages students receiving government Pell Grants to complete college

Washington, D.C.  Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ-05) today released the following statement after introducing the Pell for Performance Act.



The American people are extremely generous when it comes to education funding. However, the sad truth is that even after six years, many students dont complete their degree program. The result of this is essentially a squandered investment, with the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for billions of dollars in financial aid grants given to students who never earned a degree. This has to stop.

March 23, 2016

PHOENIX  The Arizona House of Representatives has passed a bill that gives Arizonans in need of emergency financial assistance a new lending option. The bill, SB 1316, is sponsored by Sen. Jon Kavanaugh (District 23) and now goes to the Senate floor for final passage.



"Today's action is a victory for the thousands of Arizonans who have precious few lending options," said Rep. JD Mesnard (LD-17), the lead House sponsor of the legislation. "Flex loans offer a choice for those who lack the collateral or credit to obtain more conventional loans to help with emergencies and financial hardships. They also protect consumers from offshore, unregulated online lenders and illegal lenders."

March 23, 2016

PHOENIX  Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, 44, of Phoenix, was found guilty March 17 by a federal jury of one count each of the following five crimes: conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization; conspiracy to transport firearms and ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit murder and aggravated assault; transporting firearms and ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit murder and aggravated assault; making false statements to the FBI; and being a felon in possession of a firearm.



March 23, 2016

FAIRFAX, Va.Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement encouraging the House Energy and Commerce Committee to focus on upholding the law that defunds the Internet Giveaway rather than enabling it in a hearing today that considers a proposal to end U.S. oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. Currently, there is an active prohibition against spending dollars to proceed with the Internet transfer in place:



"One of the few exercises of Congress' constitutional power of the purse to stop bad policies has been against the Obama Internet giveaway the past two years, where no funds can be used to relinquish responsibility, or to even consider relinquishing responsibility, of the highly critical functions of assigning and routing IP addresses and domain names. It's against the law and yet here we are having yet another hearing pretending the proposal can be considered. It cannot be.

March 23, 2016

A pregnant Tyrannosaurus Rex that roamed Montana 68 million years ago may be the key to discerning gender differences between Theropoda, or meat-eating dinosaur, species. Researchers from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences have confirmed the presence of Medullory bone  a gender-specific reproductive tissue  in a fossilized T. Rex femur. Beyond giving paleontologists a definitively female fossil to study, their findings could shed light on the evolution of egg laying in modern birds.

March 23, 2016

The Tucson Sector Border Patrols Missing Migrant Team needs the publics help to reunite a deceased man, believed to be an undocumented border crosser, with family members.



A rancher in Santa Cruz County discovered the deceased on July 31, 2015. Investigators found no identification on the man or near his body; nor did they identify reports of a missing person matching the mans description.
My View

BY DON SORCHYCH | March 23, 2016

Sonoran News printed this editorial on Sept. 2 - 8, 1998. Sam was an exceptional individual and an accomplished writer. From time to time we will revisit his thoughtful editorials.



Dear John: This is a genuinely sad moment for me. I voted early last week and I did not vote for you. In the faint hope that there are many like me who want to send you a clear message, you have gone too far down the traditional Washington path of non-principle and all focus on politically correct behavior. Your patently offensive support of a tobacco bill that did nothing but penalize smokers for the sins of the tobacco companies was almost certainly the last straw, I thought. But you have compounded your problem with the most insulting radio ad l have heard In my many decade relationship with Arizona politics. Your own kindness to me notwithstanding, your continued employment of Jay Smith as one of the many straws, the reason that your vote totals in the primary will lag behind other unopposed Republicans at the state wide level is because there are a lot of us who feel as I do.



Guest Editorials:

By Greg Allen | March 23, 2016

Has there ever been common ground among opposing factions? Maybe, but its seldom, for light cannot dwell with darkness nor can oil cohere with water.



Nowadays theres a war raging for the realm of ideas, tradition, and beliefs. For many, theres no tolerance for such things anymore. It's human nature to want to live by definition. Were defined by this or that and labeled. Were born naked, yet undefined. Were taught our thoughts, instructed by an outside world. No ones born a liberal or conservative, a decent human being or monster, a Genghis Khan, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, or a Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, a conformist or subverter.

By Dr. John Sparks | March 23, 2016

With the death of Justice Antonin Scalia the Supreme Court is left with one chief justice and seven associate justices. President Obama has nominated Merrick B. Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, who was a Clinton appointee and clerked under liberal Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. Even before the nomination, the vacancy produced urgent calls for a replacement to be nominated based on claims that an eight-person court would not be fully functioning, would hamstring the judiciary, and would amount to partisan understaffing. With Obamas nomination of Garland, the clamor for immediate action will increase.



By Thomas L. Knapp | March 23, 2016

As you may have noticed, we're in the middle of yet another American presidential election (our 57th). The news is full of musings about party primaries and delegate counts and possible brokered conventions, but if things proceed as usual, as many as 130 million Americans will cast votes in November. A winner will be declared based on popular votes in the states as transmuted into a total of 538 electoral votes (if no candidate receives at least 270 such votes, the US House of Representatives chooses the next president).

By Robert Romano | March 23, 2016

In 70 percent of instances when Republican voters selected one candidate at the primary polls by popular vote, and the party selected somebody else at the convention, the GOP lost the general election. What could go wrong?



All the buzz in Washington, D.C. is about the possibility of a contested convention in Cleveland, Ohio for the Republican nomination in July, presumably to stop GOP frontrunner Donald Trump from securing the nod.
This one got lopsided in a hurry, and that was just what Notre Dame needed
A dazed Nidhi Chauphekar (left) sits at a bench in the Brussels airport; Qutubuddin Ansari (middle) begging for his life during the 2002 Gujarat riots; The famous napalm girl (right) crying in agony during the Vietnam war.

Mumbai: In 2015, the picture of a three-year-old Syrian toddler who washed up dead on a beach went viral and sparked outrage across the globe over the migrant crisis. Up until then, there had been thousands of news stories on the devastation, death and displacement the crisis was causing but all it took was one picture for the world to wake up and notice the stark reality and horror refugees were facing. One can safely say that while the adage a picture is worth a thousand words still holds ground, some pictures speak more than words can ever express and become symbols of events that have changed the course of history.

Brussels attacks

The twin blasts in Brussels airport shook the world and sent world leaders in a huddle. Meanwhile, this picture of Indias Nidhi Chauphekar who was injured in the explosions went viral on the social media.

Eyewitnesses spoke of how Brussels airport resembled a battlefield with blood and chaos everywhere. And the first picture to give the world a glimpse into the bloody aftermath of the explosion was of this woman in a yellow jacket, torn to shreds, with blood dripping on her dust-wrapped face as another woman sitting beside her was seen speaking on a cell phone, with blood stained wrists. The woman in the torn jacket identified as Nidhi Chauphekar is a jet airways flight attendant who is a resident of Mumbai and a mother of two. The hashtag #PrayForNidhi trended on social media as people from all parts of the world hoped for her speedy recovery.

Europes Refugee Crisis

The lifeless body of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi was found by the Turkish police. He had drowned along with the five-year-old brother Ghalib after the two fell off an illegal boat filled with refugees trying to escape from Syria.

The powerful picture angered millions as people started sharing it widely, expressing their shock and horror over the tragic end to a young life. The public outrage also put some pressure on world leaders to react to the situation with more resolve as Germany and other European countries opened their doors for refugees, even if it was reluctantly.

2002 Gujarat riots

Often described as the worst carnage in the modern history of India, the 2002 Gujarat riots saw widespread communal violence as Hindus and Muslims massacred each other and there was open loot in the state.

The picture of a Muslim tailor called Qutubuddin Ansari was the most powerful picture that emerged during the riots. The image captured Ansari standing in a narrow veranda, with his hands folded, like he is begging for mercy, his blood stained shirt and teary eyes communicating the fear he is filled with. The photo symbolised the helplessness the victims of the riots felt, the terror and insecurity that filled them in their own home as the next knock could bring them death.

Ansari was stranded in his house and was begging the Rapid Action Force personnel to save him from an alleged Hindu mob.

Bhopal gas tragedy

It has been decades since the poisonous gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal killed over 3500 people. But thousands continue to live with its consequence to this day and this picture from December 1984 refuses to die from the memories of those who have seen it.

This iconic picture drilled home the true horror of the devastating deaths caused by the gas leak. Raghu Rai took the black and white photo of this little dead child that almost looks unreal and eerily tragic. Another photographer went on to win the 1984 World Press Photo of the Year for a similar photo.

The Afghan girl and the plight of women

The striking green eyes of the Afghan Girl, in the 1984 photograph by National Geographics Steve McCurry are probably the most iconic eyes ever. The portrait has something haunting about it and drew the worlds attention to the plight of refugees living under harsh conditions along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The girl was an orphan and yet took pride in whatever she had, despite her poverty. The popularity of the photo eventually prompted National Geographic to set up a fund for Afghan Children.

Horrors of the Vietnam War

Kim Phuc became a living symbol of the horrors of Vietnam War after she was pictured in this heart-rending photograph, stark naked, because she had ripped off her own clothes that were beginning to pierce into her skin, after a napalm attack. Soldiers of the south-Vietnamese force can be seen following the terrified children.

The wailing girl running in agony towards the camera survived the war and now is famously known as the napalm girl due to the photo.

My heart was full of hatred, I hated my life," Phuc was quoted in an interview, her words reflecting how war destroys the lives of even those who survive its vagaries.

The Great Depression

The years between 1929 and 1939 were easily the worst in terms of economy for North America and Europe and the period is more famously known as the Great Depression. It began in the United States, whose economy was severely crippled after the stock market crash, although economists still cannot pin it down to one cause. While what really caused the Great Depression is a matter of great debate, there is one fact that cannot be challenged  life was suddenly very hard for many people.

This picture of a melancholic migrant mother surrounded by her two children became a symbol of resilience. She had moved with her children in hope for new work and with hope of making her plight better at a time when thousands were forced to sell their houses and were being reduced to penury. People were unemployed, knee deep in debt. For those who lived through that dark decade, there was one great lesson to be learnt  stick to cash and avoid debt.
Marquette springs upset, Slinger survives in football playoffs

The nine Milwaukee-area top-seeded football teams all won Friday night. The results across Level 1 set up some interesting games for the week ahead.
Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city.

Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea
Belgian police named a new suspect -- Najim Laachraoui -- whose DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris attacks. (Photo: AP)

Brussels, Belgium: Belgium launched a huge manhunt on Tuesday after a series of bombings claimed by the ISIS group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe.

Two massive suicide blasts by attackers with bombs in their bags hit the check-in hall at Zaventem Airport, strewing the scene with blood and mangled bodies and sending hundreds of terrified travellers fleeing in terror.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspected attackers pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were "actively searching" for a third whose bomb failed to go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

Read: Security beefed up across world after Brussels attacks

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, Europe's symbolic capital, just months after ISIS terrorists killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent's ability to cope with the terror threat.

Read: Indian-Americans strongly condemn terrorist attacks in Brussels

It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming just four days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam after four months on the run.

"This is a day of tragedy, a black day," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, announcing three days of national mourning after the "deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium".

Read: Brussels attacks: Vijaywada boys lucky escape

Belgian King Philippe condemned the "cowardly and odious" assault.

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attacks against "the crusader state" of Belgium.

'Extreme barbarity'

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism "with all means necessary" on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

"The whole of Europe has been hit," said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from November's attacks.

Several global landmarks including Paris' Eiffel Tower and Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, as well as the European Commission in Brussels, were illuminated in the colours of the Belgian flag -- black, yellow and red.

Read: Gatwick airport steps up security after Brussels attacks

Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled Tuesday as security across Europe was tightened after the bombings, which Michel branded "blind, violent and cowardly".

But as Belgium raised its terror alert to the maximum level four, he insisted that Belgium would not be cowed.

"People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity," Michel told a news conference. "We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life."

About an hour after the airport blasts at around 8:00 am (0700 GMT), a third explosion rocked Maalbeek metro station, in the heart of the city's EU quarter, just as commuters were making their way to work.

The city is the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union.

Read: Belgian authorities urge media blackout on blast probe

Belgian authorities published surveillance camera images showing the three male suspects of the airport attack-- two have dark hair and were both wearing a glove on only one hand, and a third, being hunted by Belgian police, is wearing a hat and a white coat.

"They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said. "They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode."

Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels.

Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 14 people had been killed at the airport, while Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said "around 20" died in the metro.

Read: 'What we feared has happened,' says Belgian PM as world leaders condemn attacks

Witnesses described horrific scenes at the airport, with victims lying in pools of blood, their limbs blown off.

Chaotic Scenes

There were chaotic scenes as passengers fled in panic, and plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising from holes punched through the roof of the building by the blasts.

"A man shouted a few words in Arabic and then I heard a huge blast," airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.

"A lot of people lost limbs. One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg."

Read: Brussels explosions: Airport blast was a suicide attack: federal prosecutor

At Maalbeek station, paramedics tended to commuters with bloodied faces as the city's normally peaceful streets filled with the wailing of sirens.

The wounded in the two attacks included four US Mormon missionaries, two Britons, eight French and two Colombians.

Airports across Europe swiftly boosted security, while across the Atlantic, New York and Washington ordered security personnel to key areas.

Messages of solidarity poured out on social media, with thousands of people sharing images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

Read: Blood everywhere, says witness after twin blast at Brussels airport

Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag.

US President Barack Obama said Washington stood with Belgium in the face of the "outrageous" attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said those responsible for the "despicable" bombings" should face justice.

It has been a week of drama in Brussels. Last Tuesday saw a shootout in the city's south that saw an Algerian ISIS-linked terrorist killed.

Investigators believe Abdeslam slipped out of the apartment as the gunbattle erupted. He was arrested three days later in Brussels' gritty Molenbeek district -- just around the corner from his family home.

Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said at the weekend that Abdeslam -- believed to have played a key logistical role in the Paris carnage -- had told investigators he was planning some sort of new attack in Brussels.

Belgian police also named a new suspect -- Najim Laachraoui -- whose DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris attacks.
Another incident involving an Iraqi migrant raping a 10-year-old in an Austrian swimming pool had also become controversial. (Representaitonal image: DC)

London: In yet another case of sexual assault involving the migrant population, a seven-year-old girl who was living in a refugee centre in Hamburg, Germany, was gangraped by a group of five men.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, an investigation has been launched by the local police against 'five Arabic men', but it is unknown if the men were just visiting the asylum or were residents there.

The police reached the asylum, located in the city's Bharenfeld district, after receiving initial reports of a seven-year-old being raped.

The refugee centre, an old office building which is under the process of renovation, also provides accommodation for 550 migrants.

Last week, the media reported a case involving a ten-year-old girl, who was rescued from a 'paedophile' by her father. The man allegedly took the girl behind the row of washrooms at the Idomeni camp on the Greece-Macedonia border, and was undressing her when the girls father spotted him. The miscreant was beaten up and handed over to the police.

Reports have also emerged that reveal young migrant boys being brutally raped by the local gangs in and near Calaise, France.

Migrants also faced much of the brunt after the infamous Cologne sex assaults that happened during the New Year celebrations. The perpetrators were believed to be men of African/Algerian and Arab origin.

Another incident involving an Iraqi migrant raping a 10-year-old in an Austrian swimming pool had also become controversial. The migrant, who works as a taxi driver, had claimed that it was a case of sexual emergency.

Several cases of sexual assaults on children have muddled the already raging debate on migrant crisis.
The first NASA astronauts to set foot on Mars will aim to establish a research-and-operations base, not a permanently inhabited colony, agency officials say.

According to NASA's current plans, the Mars outpost  which NASA hopes to set up by the end of the 2030s  will serve as a hub that accommodates astronauts on a temporary basis, said Ben Bussey, the chief exploration scientist in NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

A colony is "a long way down the road. No one's thinking of, on the NASA side, like a permanent human base," Bussey said Wednesday (March 16) during a presentation with the space agency's Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group. [Red Planet or Bust: 5 Crewed Mars Mission Ideas]

"The idea here is that you would have your exploration zone that you set up for the first crew," Bussey added. "And that crew would leave, and then you send another crew at the next good launch opportunity. So it isn't permanently occupied, but it is visited multiple times."

Mars exploration zones

The exploration zone (EZ) to which Bussey referred will be a circle with a radius of roughly 62 miles (100 kilometers)  about the amount of ground NASA envisions its astronauts will be able to cover comfortably in 2030s Mars rovers.

Crew quarters and other buildings  the EZ's "habitation zone"  will sit at the center of this circle, which will also contain science and resource "regions of interest" (ROIs). Astronauts will visit science ROIs to hunt for signs of Mars life and perform other investigations; resource ROIs will provide the pioneers with water ice and other raw materials needed for day-to-day living.

"You want to be as close to self-sufficient as you can, and that's a mixture of having systems that recycle your products, as well as making use of local resources," Bussey said.

The EZ setup will function much like McMurdo Station, the United States' research facility in Antarctica, he added. McMurdo Station serves as a base from which scientists perform a variety of research and exploration work around the southernmost continent during the summer field season. (There is one key difference, though: McMurdo is permanently staffed, as some support personnel stay through the harsh Antarctic winter.)

"By going to the same place initially multiple times, you build up infrastructure, you build up spares and you build up capability," Bussey said.

This approach will boost astronaut safety and also help facilitate broader Red Planet exploration in the long run, he added. [Giant Leaps: Top Milestones of Human Spaceflight]

"You may initially only explore roughly 100 kilometers away from your base, but gradually, you'll be able to go further," Bussey said.

NASA has not yet determined how long astronauts will stay at the EZ initially, he added, nor where exactly the EZ will be. The agency is currently evaluating 45 potential sites that scientists submitted in response to a recent call for proposals.

NASA is currently evaluating 45 proposed Mars "exploration zones" and will eventually choose one around which to center its crewed activities on the Red Planet. (Image credit: NASA)

These targets, which are scattered all over Mars, were discussed last October during a four-day EZ workshop in Houston. NASA aims to hold the second such workshop in April 2017, agency officials have said.

But the final EZ site selection is likely years down the road. Before making a decision, NASA wants to map out Mars' near-surface deposits of water ice precisely, and such work will probably require the launch of a new resource-scouting orbiter, said Rick Davis, assistant director for science and exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters.

The space agency aims to have such an orbiter at Mars by 2022 or so, Davis said.

"It's time to get going on it," Davis said of the orbiter mission during the March 16 FISO talk, which he presented jointly with Bussey.

Colonization plans

One of these groups is SpaceX, the American spaceflight company founded in 2002 by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk has stressed many times over the years that he established SpaceX primarily to help make humanity a multiplanet species.

Musk envisions thousands of people living on the Red Planet in the not-too-distant future. The key to making this happen, he has said, is to develop fully and rapidly reusable rockets, which could slash the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 100 or more.

So SpaceX has been conducting a series of increasingly ambitious reusable-rocket tests over the past few years. For example, the company has repeatedly attempted to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back on Earth during launches.

Most of these tries have been near misses. On multiple occasions, the rocket stage successfully hit the deck of its target "autonomous spaceport drone ship" in the ocean but ended up toppling over and exploding. But a Falcon 9 stage did land softly on terra firma at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this past December  the first time this had ever been done during an orbital launch. (Blue Origin, the spaceflight company established by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, has also pulled off rocket landings, but so far, only during suborbital launches.)

The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One is also shooting for a Red Planet colony. The group aims to land four pioneers on Mars in 2027 and then send more settlers every two years thereafter. (There are no plans at the moment to bring anyone back to Earth.) Mars One aims to pay for these activities by staging a global media event around the colonization process.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Cygnus Cargo Ship Launches, March 22, 2016

ULA

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo vessel rises off the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 22, 2016.

Cygnus OA-6 Cargo Launch, March 22, 2016

ULA

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's uncrewed Cygnus freighter arcs into the skies above Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 22, 2016.

Cygnus Cargo Spaceship Launches, March 22, 2016

NASA TV

Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo spaceship launches toward the International Space Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 22, 2016.

Cygnus Rises into Florida Skies

NASA TV

Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo spacecraft blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 22, 2016, on a mission to resupply the International Space Station.

Orbital ATK Cygnus CRS-6 Profile

Orbital ATK

This Orbital ATK graphic shows the timeline for the March 22, 2016 launch of a Cygnus spacecraft and its Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Orbital ATK Cygnus Spacecraft Atop Atlas V Rocket

United Launch Alliance

An Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft launched into space atop an Atlas V rocket on March 22, 2016 to deliver 3.5 tons of supplies to the International Space Station. See dazzling photos of the nighttime launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. here. THIS IMAGE: Cygnus sits on top of its Atlas V rocket at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ready for launch to the International Space Station.

Launching into Beauty

NASA via Twitter

Sun sets behind the Atlas V rocket standing ready to launch Orbital ATKs Cygnus spacecraft on its initial leg of the OA-6 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). This image was taken on March 22, 2016, during launch preparations.

Orbital ATK Cygnus CRS-6

NASA

An Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship is packed inside its protective nose cone fairing for a planned March 22, 2016 launch atop an Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Cygnus is carrying 3.5 tons of supplies for the International Space Station.

Private Antares Rocket & Cygnus Spacecraft Explained (Infographic)

Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist

How Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft service the space station. See how Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rockets works in this infographic.

Saffire Fire Experiment Diagram

NASA

This diagram shows NASA's Saffire Experiment Module (top cover removed) to see how it will ignite a fire in space for science.

Strata 1 Tube

NASA

A view of the contents of two tubes in the Strata-1 experiment launching to the International Space Station on an Orbital ATK Cygnus.
This story was updated at 2:00 a.m. EDT on March 23.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  A commercial Cygnus cargo ship launched into space late Tuesday (March 22), streaking into the Florida night sky on a mission to deliver a record-breaking load of NASA experiments and gear to the International Space Station.

The Orbital ATK-built Cygnus blasted off atop an Atlas V rocket at 11:05 p.m. EDT (0305 GMT) in a smooth liftoff under the light of a nearly-full moon from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here.

"For those of you that were here and saw it, I think you'd agree that it was an absolutely spectacular launch," Kenneth Todd, operations integration manager for the International Space Station Program, said early Wednesday morning (March 23) during a post-launch news conference. [Launch Photos: See Orbital ATK's Cygnus Streak into the Night]

The cargo ship's solar arrays deployed and unfurled as planned about 2 hours after launch, keeping Cygnus on track for its scheduled Saturday (March 26) arrival at the orbiting lab.

"We're looking forward to that, and getting the Cygnus on board and opening the hatch," former NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, said during the post-launch briefing. "Maybe they'll find a few Easter eggs on board  who knows?"

This flight is the second for Orbital ATK's enhanced Cygnus craft on an Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA). The cargo ship is also carrying even more cargo  more than 3.5 tons  than Orbital ATK's previous record-breaking flight in December, company representatives said.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's robotic Cygnus cargo vessel rises off the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 22, 2016. (Image credit: ULA)

"On our last mission, on OA-4, we were the biggest payload that Atlas V ever launched  we broke the record," Frank DeMauro, Orbital ATK's CRS program director, told Space.com. "Well, we broke the record again; we're the biggest again."

The current Cygnus spacecraft is filled to the brim with science gear, a haul that includes nearly 7,500 lbs. (3,400 kilograms) of vital crew supplies, hardware and research tools bound for the station, NASA officials said, buoyed by the lifting power of the Atlas V rocket. It's also carrying some gear that isn't destined to stay on the station, including a large-scale fire experiment and a cloud of five microsatellites to set free after the craft is released from the station in May.

Orbital ATK named the Cygnus spacecraft the S.S. Rick Husband, in honor of NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander Rick Husband, who died on Feb. 1, 2003 during the ill-fated STS-107 mission aboard the shuttle Columbia. Husband and six crewmates were killed when Columbia, which suffered wing damage during launch, broke apart during re-entry.

Special deliveries

Cygnus launched just as the space station flew overhead, separated from its booster and settled into orbit around the Earth, where it will spend the next three days carefully maneuvering into a higher orbit. Early Saturday, astronauts on the space station are due to capture the Cygnus with a robotic arm. American astronaut and space station commander Tim Kopra will man the Canadarm2 robotic arm to retrieve the craft, assisted by British astronaut Tim Peake.

And after that, the real fun begins.

See more

"Once we get the Cygnus on board, we'll have our work cut out for us," Todd said at a pre-launch press briefing on Monday (March 21).

Besides essential crew supplies and consumables, vehicle systems hardware and spacewalking supplies, the crew will unload a variety of experiments to explore. A 3D printer, from California company Made in Space, will help the station produce new tools and experiments, Gecko Grippers will stick to the walls, the Meteor experiment  which made it on board at last  will scrutinize Earth for incoming meteor showers, and Strata-1 will explore how the soil-like regolith that coats asteroids behaves.

Saffire-1, the large fire experiment, will be left behind to burn later once the spacecraft departs. After the cubesats are released and Saffire burns, Cygnus will be host to one final experiment: the Reentry Breakup Recorder will track the craft's breakup as it's destroyed in re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Orbital ATK's uncrewed Cygnus freighter arcs into the skies above Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 22, 2016. (Image credit: ULA)

Cargo deliveries back on track

This Orbital ATK graphic shows the timeline for the March 22, 2016 launch of a Cygnus spacecraft and its Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Image credit: Orbital ATK)

This current Cygnus delivery flight is the fifth of 10 missions for NASA by Orbital ATK under a deal worth $2.6 billion. Another company, the Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, is flying 12 missions under its own $1.6 billion deal, and received a NASA order for five more cargo missions in December, according to SpaceNews.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus mission last December broke a streak of failed cargo launches to the space station: Orbital ATK's Antares rocket exploded during a launch in October 2014, followed by a Russian Progress craft failing to deliver its supplies in April 2015. Then, in June 2015, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket also exploded just after launch.

The space station's supply line is still recovering from that series of failed launches, but after this delivery they'll be back on track with vital consumable supplies, Todd said at the pre-launch briefing.

"The reality is that over a period of time there we didn't see a lot of vehicle traffic," he added. "Getting our consumables back up to the point where they need to be is something that we've been putting a lot of effort in, and our providers here  certainly Orbital ATK here  have delivered in a big way over the holiday season and here again with another mission. We're going to be in good shape on consumables after this mission."

In fact, the space station will be a very busy place for cargo deliveries in the next few weeks. Next week a Progress resupply ship will leave and a new one will arrive a few days later, and then within a few weeks they'll have another exciting arrival.

"Probably in a couple of weeks we're going to hit a first of the space station program, what I consider kind of a milestone  it looks like we're going to have both of our CRS [commercial resupply] providers on board at the same time," Todd said. "We'll have Cygnus as well as SpaceX Dragon. For those of us who worked through the transition from shuttle into this commercial cargo service, it's really a neat thing for us to be able to see both of these vehicles here at the same time. A lot of work for the crew, but certainly a milestone moment for the program.

"We'll have to get creative in terms of making sure we don't put the wrong things in the wrong vehicles when they get ready to leave," he added.

In January, NASA announced the selection of Orbital ATK, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. to fly a new round of cargo missions to the space station between 2019 and 2024.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
A cross section through the moon showing lunar polar volatiles (in cyan) and how they trace an ancient spin pole (green arrow). The re-orientation from that ancient spin pole to the present-day spin pole (blue arrow) was driven by the formation and evolution of the Procellarum, a region on the lunar nearside associated with a high abundance of radiogenic heat-producing elements, high heat flow and ancient volcanic activity.

The moon's poles have shifted over the eons, likely as a result of geological activity beneath the lunar crust, a new study suggests.

This finding  which is based on an analysis of the distribution of water ice near the lunar north and south poles  sheds light on the structure and evolution of the moon, and also provides clues about where Earth's water came from, researchers said.

"The ice at the poles of the moon records the interior evolution of the moon, which seems crazy  that is the last place you would think to look," said study lead author Matt Siegler, of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. [Video: The Moon's Axis Shifted 6 Degrees Over 1 Billion Years]

"Also, that means the ice has to be really old, and therefore may record the ancient delivery of ice to the inner solar system," Siegler told Space.com via email.

A cross section through the moon showing lunar polar volatiles (in cyan) and how they trace an ancient spin pole (green arrow). The re-orientation from that ancient spin pole to the present-day spin pole (blue arrow) was driven by the formation and evolution of the Procellarum, a region on the lunar nearside associated with a high abundance of radiogenic heat-producing elements, high heat flow and ancient volcanic activity. (Image credit: James Tuttle Keane)

Water on the moon

Observations made by a variety of spacecraft over the past few decades suggest that the moon harbors a lot of water ice in permanently shadowed craters near the poles, which are some of the coldest locales in the solar system.

Siegler and his colleagues studied measurements made by two of these probes: NASA's pioneering Lunar Prospector (LP) spacecraft, which circled the moon from January 1998 through July 1999, and the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which is still in operation.

The orbiters' data revealed ice deposits at both poles, as expected. But there was a surprise as well: A large patch of ice exists near each pole, in a spot offset from the true pole by 5.5 degrees. Moreover, these "displaced" deposits are positioned such that a straight line drawn through the center of the moon would connect them.

Siegler and his team have an explanation for this finding, which they report online today (March 23) in the journal Nature (opens in new tab): The moon's rotational axis has shifted by 5.5 degrees over the ages, and the offset ice patches mark the "paleopoles."

Maps of lunar hydrogen (a proxy for water ice), as measured by NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft poleward of 80 degrees N/S. The hydrogen-abundance maxima (white dots) are offset significantly from the present north and south poles, and are inferred to be ancient lunar-spin poles. (Image credit: James Tuttle Keane)

Modeling work suggests these paleopoles were the actual poles about 3 billion years ago, Siegler said.

"Models are models, so you can make the migration happen any time between 1.5-4.5 billion years ago depending on how you tweak parameters (such as the past rigidity of the lunar crust), but it most likely was around 3 billion years ago," he said.

The lunar poles then shifted by about 125 miles (200 kilometers) over the course of one billion years or so  a rate of 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) every 126 years, the researchers think.

"This was such a surprising discovery. We tend to think that objects in the sky have always been the way we view them, but in this case the face that is so familiar to us  the Man on the Moon  changed," Siegler said in a statement. "It would be as if Earth's axis relocated from Antarctica to Australia. As the pole moved, the Man on the Moon turned his nose up at the Earth."

Over the past 4.5 billion years, the moon has changed its orientation with respect to the Earth, revealing many different faces. This tilting of the moon, known as true polar wander, is preserved in the distribution of lunar polar volatiles. (Image credit: James Tuttle Keane)

Lunar mass shift

The moon is Earth's nearest neighbor, but its origins date back to a violent birth billions of years ago. See how the moon was made in this Space.com infographic (Image credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist)

The most likely driver of this "polar wander" was a shift in the internal distribution of lunar mass, the researchers said.

"Planets can change their orientation if their internal mass distribution changes. Pockets of dense material tend to be close to the equator to minimize the planet's spin energy," Ian Garrick-Bethell, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, explained in an accompanying "News and Views" article published in the same issue of Nature.

"If a huge pile of lead weights suddenly appeared in New York, the city's latitude would eventually shift to a position slightly southward, because of planetary re-orientation," Garrick-Bethell added. "The opposite is also true  if New York suddenly became lower in density, it would shift northward."

Siegler and his team think they have figured out where this mass shift on the moon occurred. Their work points to the Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT) region on the lunar nearside, which was volcanically active long ago. Volcanism in the PKT area about 3.5 billion years ago began heating up the mantle there, creating a "low-density thermal anomaly"  hot rocks are less dense than cool ones  that caused the polar shift, the thinking goes.

"This giant blob of hot mantle was lighter than cold mantle elsewhere," Siegler said in the statement. "This change in mass caused Procellarum  and the whole moon  to move."

Study team members think the polar ice predates the moon's axis shift, which suggests that the material is very ancient indeed. So the new results could help scientists get a better handle on the origin of Earth's water.

"The ice may be a time capsule from the same source that supplied the original water to Earth," Siegler said in the statement. "This is a record we don't have on Earth. Earth has reworked itself so many times, there's nothing that old left here. Ancient ice from the moon could provide answers to this deep mystery."

If the interpretation advanced by Siegler and his colleagues is correct, it raises a new question, said Garrick-Bethell.

"The moon's volcanism mostly stopped 3 billion years ago, which means that the PKT has probably been getting colder and denser since then, not hotter," he wrote. "The direction of polar wander during this period would therefore have been in the opposite direction to the wander that produced the ice paleopole."

So researchers do not yet have a full understanding of "true polar wander" (TPW) or the mechanisms that drive it, the researchers said. Indeed, more work is required to achieve this goal, Siegler and his team stressed.

"In situ measurements, sample return and high-resolution orbital geochemistry measurements could differentiate plausible TPW scenarios," the researchers wrote in their Nature paper.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
The influence of the militants is something that the 10-year-old is fighting hard to be rid off. (Photo: Screen grab)

London: I was told anyone who does not follow the Quran was an infidel. I was shown how shoot and behead them, says 10-year-old Abu Adam (name changed) who was until recently one of ISIS poster boy for child soldiers.

A caliphate cub, as they are called, the Yazidi born child was held captive in the Al Farok Institute in ISIS held Iraq, where he, along with over 150 other young kids were indoctrinated into the radical interpretation of Islam. And it doesnt stop there.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the kids were trained in using military weapons such as Kalashnikovs (AK-47) and were drowned in calls of death to infidels through the day.

ISIS taught me to beat and kill and behead anyone who is not a Muslim and does not follow the Quran. I was told anyone who does not follow the Quran was an infidel. I was shown how to shoot and behead them. We were forced to chant; I will fight for ISIS, I will fight for Sheikh Baghdadi, he recalls.

One of the best fighters in the academy, Abu Adam, is one of the handful of the caliphate cubs to be rescued.

Describing the ordeal that the kids were put through, Adam said, We were taught about Islam and how to fight, that was it. We were woken at 4 am for the first prayer. We went back to sleep for a couple of hours. They woke us again at 6 am. They taught us the Quran and Sharia law until 12. Then after lunch, at 1 pm, we would receive military training.

And the training was equally strenuous. We would start off with exercises. We would loosen up, stretch and bend our legs, do push-ups, star jumps and sit-ups. I became very strong. We stood in lines and punched the air and we learned how to box in groups. Later in the day they showed us videos of infidels being beheaded. They showed us again and again, Adam said.

Explaining how he was trained in guns, Adam said,  We were trained about the Kalashnikov and the pistol. They taught me how to fire it, to take it apart and how to clean it. I fired the Kalashnikov many times. I fired it at bottles of water, at trees and at dummies. They taught me to use a knife. So that when I became a soldier I would be able to behead the infidels. I had to wear the ISIS army uniform. It was camouflage like a soldier, or black or grey. I had to wear a bandana with the ISIS emblem.

But he adds, I did not want to fight for them or be a soldier for ISIS.

Forced to speak in Arabic, the children were brainwashed hard to forget their Yazidi roots. Adam recalls the numerous nights he spent cooped up with other Yazidi kids, whispering in their native kurdish tongue. And finally, after completing almost an year under the terrorist organisation, Adams family was able to get a message through to him, aiding his escape.

But the influence of the militants is something that the 10-year-old is fighting hard to be rid off.

During the first week his [Adams] mind was not good. He was still interested in Islam. He questioned his [Yazidi] religion. When we took him to the Lalish Temple [the holiest shrine in the Yazidi faith], he told me that he didnt want to worship stones, recollects Adams brother.

Adam now has a different life. He hates Islam and the ISIS, and living in a refugee camp in northern Iraq, he does not bear any physical marks from his months of captivity.

But it is difficult to gauge the psychological bearing that his ordeals have on his mind. Summing up their fears, Hussein AlQaidy, director of the Office of Kidnapped Affairs in Dohuk province, Iraq, said, We dont know what will become of these children in future. We fear they will harm not only Iraq but the whole world.
Mumbai: Two Jet Airways cabin crew members  Nidhi Chauphekar and Amit Motwani from Mumbai  were injured in the explosions at Zaventem Brussels International Airport on Tuesday morning.

There was no damage to four of Jet Airways Airbus A330 aircraft at Brussels Airport. The explosions occurred around 8 am near check-in counters of the departure level area that was teeming with passengers. Following the explosions, Brussels Airport was shut down and all flights were cancelled.

Jet Airways flights from India, US and Canada had landed at Brussels between am and 8.30 am on Tuesday, and were scheduled to depart on the same routes at around 10.15 am, informed a press statement issued by Jet Airways. We are aware of the bomb explosions at Brussels Airport. Jet Airways is making all efforts to confirm the status of all its staff and guests. As per first information, all the Jet Airways aircraft in Brussels are safe, said the Jet Airways spokesperson in the statement.

Commenting on the injured airline crew, Jet Airways, said, Two Jet Airways staff have sustained injuries in the explosion at Brussels Airport. Both of them are receiving medical care at hospitals.

Jet Airways Flight 9W 228 from Mumbai landed at Brussels Airport at 7.11 am Belgium time on Tuesday, while Delhi Flight 9W 230 landed at 8.08 am Belgium time. According to Mumbai Airport sources, there are two flights that operate from the city to Brussels. However as Brussels Airport is shut, all operations have been suspended till further notice.

When our reporter got in touch with Jet Airways sources to know about the status of crew, they informed that both Ms Chauphekar and Mr Motwani were stable. The explosion occurred a few minutes after the flight landed at Brussels.
Unfortunately, the brave Belgians don't have the government they deserve. Since the attacks in Paris, Belgian officials and politicians have seemed unable to cope. That applies not just to the terror investigations; it also applies to the way in which the authorities have communicated with the populace. Last November, the government put Brussels on lockdown and the terror alert was raised to its highest level, as it was after Tuesday's attacks. Schools and subways remained closed. But it was never communicated where the danger was coming from and how people should act. The result was that schools reopened of their own accord even as the terror alert remained extreme.

Now we are seeing a repeat. Last weekend, the Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said that Abdeslam had been "ready to restart something from Brussels." How are people supposed to deal with a statement like that? Don't leave the house on Sunday? Ignore panic and take the children to school anyway?

Either the authorities know something, in which case they should take swift action. Or they don't know anything, or not enough, in which case they should stop fomenting fear and anxiety. But in Brussels, the government seems primarily worried about itself -- and making sure that, after an attack takes place, they can't be accused of having remained silent.
We are keeping this simple, said Scottish Crofting Federations chair Fiona Mandeville, by presenting just the top five actions that must be addressed by the next Scottish Government. We have widespread agreement that by tackling these five areas the Scottish Government can make a real and positive impact on crofting communities and on rural Scotland.

The Five Actions for Crofting are:

Target Financial Incentives

Current and future agricultural support policies must have a positive impact on crofting and must move away from shoring-up the out-dated and unsustainable large-scale industrial model, to using public money to pay for the delivery of public goods.

Simplify Crofting Legislation

The Committee of Inquiry on Crofting prioritised the need to make crofting legislation fit for purpose. This is unfinished business. This can only be done effectively with a new Act. Grasp the nettle: finish the business.

Make Crofts Available

Many people want to come into crofting and crofting needs in-comers, especially young folk. It is recognised that making existing crofts available is a long-term project so new crofts must be created simultaneously.

Increase Affordable Housing

A considerable step has been taken by Scottish Government in reviewing and upgrading the Croft House Grant Scheme. But we can do more to help crofters access affordable housing in rural and island communities by reinstating the loan element.

Deliver Crofting Development

HIE was directed by ministers to take responsibility for crofting community development. This is not the same thing as crofting development. There must be a body given ministerial direction and funding to take responsibility for crofting development.
This time around, not only have they successfully struck prime targets in a capital city, they have also released celebratory photographs after the attacks. (Photo: siteintelgroup.com)

Syria: Terrorists struck a European capital for the second time in four months, killing dozens on Tuesday in Brussels. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks at the Brussels airport and on a subway train, starkly demonstrating the ability of the extremist network to direct or inspire deadly assaults in Europe. 35 people were killed and hundreds left injured as a result of the massacre.

Read: Huge manhunt on after IS claims Brussels terror attack, 35 dead

This time around, not only have they successfully struck prime targets in a capital city, they have also released celebratory photographs after the attacks. Photographs showing jihadis handing out sweets to residents in Syria to celebrate the massacre in Europe are being circulated by the terror group across the internet, as reported by The Daily Mail.

The photos included a statement, describing how ISIS had distributed sweets to Muslims in 'joy of the blessed attack against the Crusaders in Brussels'. (Photo: SITE)

Photographs show, bags of sweets and other items being handed by militants to young children and men in the province of Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria.

Read: Minute by minute timeline of the Brussels attacks

The photos included a statement, describing how ISIS had distributed sweets to Muslims in 'joy of the blessed attack against the Crusaders in Brussels.'

Two massive suicide blasts by attackers with bombs in their bags hit the check-in hall at Zaventem Airport, strewing the scene with blood and mangled bodies and sending hundreds of terrified travellers fleeing in terror.

Read: Brussels attacks another reminder of Belgian security's weak link: analysis

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspected attackers pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were "actively searching" for a third whose bomb failed to go off.

One man takes a handful of sweets from an ISIS fighter as the group celebrated the attacks. (Photo: SITE)

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

Read: Brussels: 35 killed in terror attacks, Islamic State claims responsibility

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, Europe's symbolic capital, just months after ISIS terrorists killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent's ability to cope with the terror threat.
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STAMFORD  Within minutes of beginning their walk down Main Street, the Access for All Committee encountered not only a potential hazard to the blind or disabled but also a city law violation.

They found A-frame advertisement signs and chalkboards located in front of various businesses on Main and Bank streets.

Each time the group encountered one, Director of Operations Ernie Orgera went inside the business to notify the owners of the violation.

The A-frame you have on the sidewalk doesnt belong there. Its illegal, Orgera told the man behind the register at Main Street Convenience of his lottery advertisement sign. If we have a blind person out there, they cant see that.

A new city ordinance enacted in December that requires restaurants with outdoor seating to obtain a $250 permit, also requires there be a four-foot-wide path accessible to pedestrians. On Wednesday, the Access for All Committee, an advocacy group for the disabled, took a walk downtown to test the new regulation.

It was the committee's third stroll through downtown since it was created a year ago by Mayor David Martin to help the city comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

City resident Phil Magalnick, who is blind and gets around with the help of a cane, led the way during the tour, noting when he encountered an obstruction in his path.

Things those who can see would not think twice about caused serious problems for Magalnick, like the holes in the grates around sidewalk trees. His cane got stuck in the numerous cavities.

In front of the Barrel House restaurant, two chalkboards and a barrel stood in Magalnicks way. Owner Silvy Cawley said she was surprised to learn that she wasnt allowed to have them out front because she had seen adjacent businesses with similar signs.

Everybody has them, Cawley said.

Still, she immediately went out and removed the chalkboards.

Permits at stake

Doug Hoyt, an operations supervisor with the city walked in front of the nearly 10 people who comprised the group. He used a tape measure to figure out the space on the sidewalk that is available to pedestrians.

We want to consider making a (grooved) line that would mark the path on the sidewalks, said Marty Levine, a special assistant to the mayor.

Along the way, the group encountered Fernando Luis Alvarez, owner of a Bedford Street gallery, who had just returned from a trip to Medellin, Colombia. He said all sidewalks in that city had the grooved line of bricks delineating where the pedestrian path was located.

Orgera said anyone who violates the city ordinance by not providing the four-foot-wide path could have their outdoor dining permit revoked.

Magalnick said the committee has helped bring awareness to area businesses about the issues the disabled encounter when trying to get around downtown.

I do see progress being made, he said. Not only with restaurants paying attention and keeping things off the sidewalks, but also when we have a problem we have people we can talk to so things are getting done.

Kris Burbank, whose 19-year-old son Andrew gets around in a wheelchair, said the administration has been supportive and has made ADA compliance a priority.

An audit is now being conducted of city buildings to see what improvements are needed, she said. It will evaluate things like access to programs and the accessibility of entrances and bathrooms, among other things.

She said its important to have a consistent system for navigating city streets.

Theres something about consistency, she said. Consistency to me is the key to this. If theres a way to do this without being too demanding.

During the tour, Orgera and other city staff found some patios were too close to the curb, had bases that stuck out and could lead to someone tripping or, along Bedford Street, should be located on the outer edge of the sidewalk to provide a clear path closer to the businesses for pedestrians.

Resident Edwin Sanchez, who is in a wheelchair and encountered the group on Atlantic Street, said he was glad the city was focusing on ADA compliance, especially along Bank Street where the broken sidewalk bricks make it hard to get around.

Thats a real messed up street there, he said.

Hoyt said the city plans to replace the sidewalks there this spring.

ktorres@scni.com; 203-964-2265
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 3 J. David Ake / Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3





HARTFORD Governor Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday afternoon ordered that state flags be lowered to half-staff in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium.

The order, in accordance with a proclamation from President Barack Obama, will run through sunset on Saturday.
NEWTOWN - The parents of a slain Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grader have gone to the national media for a second time in four months to clarify their wrongful death case against the nations oldest gunmaker.

And just as in December, when a larger group of parents published an op-ed piece in USA Today following the mass murder of 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., parents are making their case to Americans after a significant national event  this time, the Democratic presidential debate.

Mark Barden, one of Sandy Hooks leading parent advocates, published a piece with his wife Jackie in The Washington Post on Friday saying Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was wrong to suggest that the point of our case is to hold Remington Arms Co. liable, simply because one of its guns was used to commit mass murder.

Instead, the Bardens wrote, the point of the lawsuit is to hold Remington liable for recklessly marketing the military features of the AR-15 rifle to a civilian market.

Advertising copy for Remingtons AR-15s has included the following: Consider your man card reissued, and Forces of opposition, bow down, the Bardens wrote. Of course, causing forces of opposition to bow down is exactly what the AR-15 was engineered to do  in combat. But history has shown us, time and time again, that it is innocent civilians in malls and movie theaters, and children in their classrooms, who have been made to bow down to the singular power of a gunman wielding an AR-15.

The Bardens and nine other families are awaiting a Superior Court judges ruling on whether their case can go to trial. At the same time, Connecticuts two senators are leading a push to repeal a 2005 law that shields the gun industry from most liability claims.

The 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act has become a campaign issue because Sanders voted for the act while frontrunner Hillary Clinton voted against it when she was in the Senate.

The complicated part of the picture is that the familys lawsuit and the 2005 liability immunity law dont directly contradict each other.

The families lawyers believe they have a strong case based on a provision in the 2005 law that allows liability claims when a gunmaker negligently entrusts the firearm to a person by ignoring the risk that the firearm could be misused.

The two issues became conflated at the Feb. 6 Democratic debate in Flint, Mich., when CNN moderator Anderson Cooper suggested to Sanders that the lawsuit may not go anywhere because of the bill you voted for.

Sanders responded with a guarded defense of the gun industry.

If you go to a gun store and you legally purchase a gun, and then, three days later, if you go out and start killing people, is the point of this lawsuit to hold the gun shop owner or the manufacturer of that gun liable? Sanders said. If that is the point, I have to tell you I disagree.

The Sandy Hook families do not dispute that the AR-15 rifle used by 20-year-old Adam Lanza to massacre 26 first-graders and educators in 2012 was legally manufactured, but rather that it was recklessly marketed and negligently entrusted to Lanzas mother when she bought it in 2010.

We believe that Remington and other manufacturers production of the AR-15 is essential for our armed forces and law enforcement, the Bardens wrote in their Washington -Post op-ed. But Remington is responsible for its calculated choice to sell that same weapon to the public, and for emphasizing the military and assaultive capacities of the weapon in its marketing to civilians.

rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
STAMFORD  A completely unfounded rumor about a student possibly bringing a gun to Dolan Middle School recently led to a police investigation and a mothers charges that anti-Muslim bias was involved.

Hoda Metwally, the mother of an eighth-grader, said the situation began earlier this month when her son overheard two boys in a his social studies class say another boy, looks like the kind of kid who would bring a gun to school.

Her son later approached the boy who was the subject of the comment to reassure him they were just joking, Metwally said.

Metwallys son then told a friend about the incident on the bus ride home that day, she said, and that conversation sparked the rumor.

Dolan Principal Charmaine Tourse investigated along with police and notified parents in a March 7 email that the talk of the gun was just a rumor.

I want to assure you that after a thorough investigation, it was determined that these rumors were the result of a very unsuitable joking conversation among students, Tourse wrote. Those involved will be disciplined and the entire student body has been informed of the dangers this kind of communication can have.

In the course of the investigation, Metwallys son and the boy the comment was made about were called into Tourses office.

The principal talked to him for five consecutive periods, Metwally said. My son missed five classes. She regarded him as someone who spread the rumor. She said my son and the boy who was picked on played a huge part in it.

Metwally said she learned later that day the police also had questions for her son.

The police officer continued to ask the same questions the principal asked, said Metwally, who was present during the officers interview.

Metwallys son told the officer he didnt know who started the rumor. Metwally said the officer also asked for her son to describe the race and ethnicity of the boy who was the subject of the rumor.

Metwally said her son thought the boy was French. Her son also revealed he was Muslim, Metwally said.

Oh, well, see, thats information I need, Metwally recalled the officer saying.

That response concerned Metwally, who said she believes her son was unfairly targeted for the investigation.

Im Muslim, and my son is Muslim, she said. Im not sure what being Muslim has to do with this situation.

Police did not respond to requests for comment.

Tourse could not be reached for comment. But in an email to Metwally, Tourse said the mother misunderstood the officers remark.

The officer stated he was concerned and wanted to make sure that none of the discourse was in any way related to any discriminatory behaviors, based on the students background, Tourse wrote.

Metwally said she thinks her son was unfairly targeted.

The issue comes amid heightened national tensions after Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in December called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

The district defended its actions, saying the steps taken were part of a standard response to these types of rumors.

We take every reported behavior incident or threat of this nature very seriously by investigating and assessing the threat thoroughly, district spokeswoman Sharon Beadle said in an email. When warranted, we will involve the police.
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STAMFORD  In the life of a school district, there is never a more important moment than the appointment of a superintendent.

So said Board of Education President Geoff Alswanger in announcing the newest top administrator for the Stamford school district. The school board voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Earl Kim as superintendent of schools.

To Stamford, Earl brings very strong leadership skills, said Alswanger. He has deep analytical and process skills. He has a commitment to character. He received the high praise of everyone we spoke to about his qualifications and his record.

The board heaped praise upon Kim before holding the formal vote.

What struck me with Earl was his level of integrity, said board Vice President Gerrald Bosak.

Board member Jennienne Burke praised him for his work in trying to develop integrity in students.

More Information Kim's career 1984-1988: U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant; parachutist 1988-1991: Math teacher in Trenton, N.J. 1991-1993: Studied domestic policy at Princeton University 1993-1996: High school assistant principal, Cherry Hill, N.J. 1996-2003: Junior/senior high school principal, Emerson, N.J. 2003-2008: Superintendent, Verona, N.J. 2008-2012: Superintendent, Montgomery Township, N.J. 2012-present: Head of Schools, Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, Hawaii See More Collapse

Member David Mannis was effusive.

I invite you to have high expectations going forward, he said to gathered members of the public. They cannot be too high for the person weve been lucky enough to bring here.

The 53-year-old Kim was the top choice from a field of 25 applicants during the national search that began five months ago, Alswanger said.

The field was winnowed down by executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, which put eight candidates before the board. The board went on to interview six of those, and brought forward three final candidates.

In addition to Kim, that final three included Tamu Lucero, currently the districts assistant superintendent for elementary schools. The third finalist was not identified.

Kim, who currently lives in Hawaii, will succeed interim Superintendent James Connelly in July.

After Tuesday nights vote, Kim was welcomed to the floor with applause.

Speaking briefly before a packed room, Kim said he hoped to help be able to help Stamford's students achieve their aspirations.

We do that by creating an environment where every one of them feels connected and valued, he said. We do that by creating an environment in our schools where our teachers feel empowered, and, finally, a place where our parents and our caregivers also feel connected to a school that is their own.

I look forward to working with each and every one of you, he said. Aloha.

A career educator for 28 years, Kim served as a Marine Corp parachutist for four years before becoming a math teacher in urban Trenton, N.J. in 1984. In a meeting with reporters in advance of Tuesdays vote, Kim said the experience was a formative one for him and inspired his turn toward school administration.

Some of my strongest relationships are with students from those days in Trenton, Kim recalled. But after three years with three different principals, and finding that gangs were coming into our building and the most import thing was which side of the corridor you walk down  the principal actually painted lines down the middle of the hall  I said, you know, theres got to be a better way.

The situation inspired Kim to go to graduate school, though he took a more academic route than most would-be administrators. In 1993, he graduated Princeton University with a degree in public policy.

From there, took a job in Cherry Hill, N.J., as a high school assistant principal. After three years at that post he moved to Emerson, N.J. where he ran the Emerson Jr./Sr. High School for seven years.

Kim was appointed superintendent of schools in Verona, N.J. in 2003, and charged with running a suburban district of 2,100 students.

Five years later he was appointed superintendent of the Montgomery Township school district in New Jersey, with an enrollment of 5,400.

Though Kims previous two superintendent postings had only a fraction of Stamfords 16,000-strong student body, Bosak expressed confidence in Kims ability to run the districts 21 schools.

I really believe he has a background that will benefit the community, Bosak said. I'm confident he has the skill set to work in this diverse district."

Kim left Montgomery Township in 2012 and returned to his home state of Hawaii. He currently runs the Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama in Honolulu, Hawaii, a 125-year old school that caters to orphaned and indigent students.

Kim was also a founding board member of Trentons Foundation Academy Charter School.

Kim spent the day Tuesday meeting with Central office administrators. He will meet with school principals Wednesday.

Bosak said he was impressed with Kims desire to meet immediately with the districts various stakeholders.

He really wanted to be part of the transition, Bosak said. He wanted to meet community leaders.

Speaking Tuesday morning, Kim said he had wanted to understand where our students are starting from ... That is something I intend to know better than the numbers can tell me.

Kims two adult children traveled to Connecticut with him this week  his daughter is helping find a home in Stamford for Kim and his wife.
Kathmandu: Prince Harry on Wednesday played Holi with Nepalese villagers and had his face smeared with red powder paint by them to celebrate the arrival of spring.

The 31-year-old royal was given a warm welcome in Okhari by villagers who decked him with garlands and scarves. The prince's cheeks and forehead were covered when he took part in a powder paint fight as Nepalese villagers celebrated Holi.

The Hindu ritual, which marks the arrival of spring, involved revellers throwing paint and coloured water at each other.

He visited Okhari, a village in the mountains, to see the Gurkha Welfare Trust's efforts to rebuild a school wrecked by last year's massive earthquake.

The prince had spent the previous night as the guest of Mangali Tamang, the 86-year-old widow of a former Gurkha rifleman, the BBC reported from Nepal.

He described the experience of sleeping under the same roof as the Nepalese family as "peaceful, actually. Lots of dogs barking, but it didn't seem to bother them."

The prince visited the Gauda Secondary School in the village, to see how the British-based Gurkha Welfare Trust is helping to fund the rebuilding after it was damaged during last year's earthquake.

The prince's five-day trip is celebrating 200 years of relations between Nepal and Britain.

His tour comes as the country is rebuilding after last year's devastating earthquake which killed more than 8,000 people.
T he owner of B&Q has come out fighting against a rivals plan to revitalise the DIY chains main UK competitor, Homebase.

Kingfisher said it sent a team to Australia to assess Bunnings which, through parent company Wesfarmers, took over Homebase in a 340 million deal in January. Wesfarmers has already pledged to invest 500 million in the company, rebranding the stores with the Bunnings name.

It is always good to have strong competition because it forces you to become stronger as well and there is no question Bunnings will be stronger competition than Homebase was in the UK, chief executive Veronique Laury said. Having said that we are following the plan closely. We sent people to Australia to do an in-depth analysis of what they do and we will work with that.

She warned Homebases new owners, who bought the firm from Home Retail Group, that they will have work to do because Homebase is today very different from what Bunnings is.

Bunnings, which operates in Australia and New Zealand, is well known for its vast stores, huge product ranges and low prices. It also allows community groups to set up barbeques outside its stores in whats known as the sausage sizzle.

Laurys rallying cry came as Kingfisher reported a 20.5% fall in statutory, pre-tax profit to 512 million for the year to January 31. That included the proceeds from sale of a 70% stake in B&Q China. Today, it agreed to sell the remaining 30% holding to local operator Wumei.

Its five-year transformation plan, which involves the closure of around 65 B&Q stores in the UK, cost it 305 million in the period.

Sales fell 4.8% to 10.4 million. The dividend rose 1% to 10.1p.

The company, which also owns Screwfix and Frances Castorama, said the UK economic backdrop looked positive but it remained cautious on France.
C redit Suisse is to axe another 2000 jobs this year on top of the 4000 cuts it had already announced with the vast bulk of them falling at its investment bank based in Canary Wharf.

New chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, said: The combination of a high and inflexible cost base, exposure to illiquid inventory in fixed income, historically low levels of client activity and challenging market conditions has led to disappointing financial results.

Thiam said he now expects the Swiss bank to make a loss in the first quarter as financial trading has slumped since the start of the year.

He also revealed that the bank had slashed bonuses by 36% last year  one of the biggest cuts across an industry where US investment banks have been winning at the expense of their European rivals.

In this context, we have taken immediate action to reduce outsized positions in activities which are not consistent with our new strategy and systematically reduced our exposures, Thiam said.

The decision to take the axe to the investment bank once again comes in the wake of a very poor start to the year in financial markets throughout the world.

Tidjane Thiam: 'Disappointing financial results' / AFP

Rival banks, including Barclays and Deutsche Bank, are also scaling back their investment bank activities with Deutsches chief executive John Cryan saying only last week that he does not expect the bank to make a profit this year.

Thiam (pictured), who only moved from heading the Prudential in London to Credit Suisse in Zurich last June, announced massive cutbacks in October when he said 4000 jobs would go by the end of this year. So far, 2800 of those roles have gone and the 2000 announced today are on top of the original 4000. Together the cuts could reach the best part of 4000 in Canary Wharf alone. Credit Suisse is sticking to its target of saving Swfr1.7 billion (1.2 billion) by the end of this year but raising the annual target from Swfr3.8 billion to Swfr4.5 billion by the end of 2018 as the job cuts take hold.

Thiam also said the bank is winding down positions in areas where its core activities no longer lie. This led to writedowns of $633 million (447 million) in the final quarter of last year and another $346 million so far this year.

He said: Our capital position remains strong in spite of challenging market conditions. The cost savings underway and the continued restructuring of Global Markets [investment banking] will contribute to making our capital position more resilient.

He also said that the bank plans to raise Swfr1 billion from selling off more non-core assets which would include properties.

Crddit Suisse shares which had fallen 40% since Thiams first plan to turn around the bank was revealed in October. Today they rose 2% to Swfr14.6.
T he City bet against the UKs biggest bookmakers today after William Hill admitted that hundreds of online punters were walking away from the firm every day.

William Hill  which lost around 9 million at a dreadful Cheltenham festival for the industry  said customers taking self-imposed time outs from gambling under new regulations could hit online profits by up to 25 million this year.

The shocking profit warning  Hills second in six months  sent the shares down more than 13% or 49.85p to 320.95p. Rival Ladbrokes, whose online business is smaller, sank 5.5p to 115p or 5% while Paddy Power Betfair was also hit, down 180p to 9060p.

Under new rules introduced last October to curb problem gambling, online customers can click to take a time out for up to 42 days, while punters can also self-exclude for up to five years.

Chief executive James Henderson said up to 400 customers a day were opting out so far since the changes were introduced.

The average time out is 35 days while customers are self-excluding for an average of three and a half years so far.

The William Hill website has 2.7 million active customers but the trend threatens to put a major dent in the profitability of the online operation, which made 126.5 million in operating profits last year. Its a small amount but if it continues on the trends that we are seeing at the moment, the cumulative impact is why weve guided the market today, Henderson said.

Following the departure of the bookmakers previous online chief, Hills also admitted UK growth had been softer because of huge numbers of lower spending customers it signed up in its drive to claim 15% of the online market.

We believe now is the right time to go from a volume to a value business, Henderson added.

The Cheltenham festival meanwhile cost the bookmakers around 60 million as a host of favourites romped home.

The only long priced winner was a 28/1 shot in the last race of the festival, which Henderson admitted was too little, too late.

One industry insider said: William Hill is to an extent the victim of its own success because its so big online its where rivals will take customers from.

But it priced crazily at Cheltenham, offering best price on every horse. It feels like they rolled the dice on having a good festival and got caught out.
T he attacks in Brussels yesterday have made every European government, including our own, look to its security. Last November, the Prime Minister said British security services had identified and prevented seven planned terrorist attacks in the previous year; we have been lucky in their expertise and vigilance but we cannot assume that they will be able to identify every threat. In our compassion for Brussels there is an uneasy sense of there but for the grace of God, go we.

Notwithstanding the reported arrest of one of the suspects, the security services in Brussels have some explaining to do about how two of the suspected attackers who should have been on their radar were free to enter an airport unchallenged. If it happened here, we should want to know why. What seems also clear is that there are communications problems for the Brussels police, who are not only divided by language but by area, and seem to be unable to share information and co-ordinate action in a way that keeps the city safe. Given that Nato as well as the EU is based in Brussels, the police have responsibility for a big international community as well as their own citizens. If European security is to be more than an ideal  inside or outside the EU  then national police forces must be willing and able to co-operate across borders. The French police have made clear their dissatisfaction with the record of the Belgians prior to the Paris attacks.

Then there is the question of the free movement of people within the Schengen zone. Schengen was created when the terrorist threat was less immediate; it may be necessary to weigh the advantages of passport-free travel against the cost of enabling terror suspects to travel freely between countries. Meanwhile, Europes external borders have never been more porous, with 1.3 million migrants coming in last year and even greater numbers now in comparison with this time last year. With the best will in the world, it would be impossible to screen them all.

These are formidable challenges. But the best means of defending ourselves is through better intelligence gathering and sharing among European security services, and, crucially, by acting on the intelligence. We can never been completely safe but we can be safer.

Zacs skyline

The Conservative mayoral candidate, Zac Goldsmith, launches his housing manifesto today, promising to build 50,000 new homes a year. He also promises to appoint an architecture tsar to work with a team of flying planners, not just to expedite developments but to ensure that planners take into account their visual impact on the whole city. In particular, Mr Goldsmith is concerned about the plethora of new very tall buildings in the planning pipeline.

Plainly there is a place in a city such as London for skyscrapers of innovative design but what matters is that these should not be haphazardly planned without reference to the skyline as a whole. The new Mayor must ensure that London continues to develop but a more co-ordinated visual strategy is badly needed.

Meeting our Waterloo

Today's announcement that Waterloo station is to undergo an 800 million revamp is welcome indeed. It is the capitals busiest station and improvements will include a redesign of the concourse area and longer platforms  as well as new trains. Increasing the capacity of Londons rail network is vital to the citys future prosperity: that means expanding and improving existing congested stations as well as securing new projects such as Crossrail 2.

Now, after Waterloo, how about Victoria?
T he texts started pinging in from people back home just a few minutes after the news broke about the first attack at Brusselss Zaventem airport, about six miles from where I work. The second, an hour later, was closer  at Maalbeek metro, just a couple of hundred yards from my office, halfway to the building where officials in my department work.

It was at the end of the morning rush hour, thousands of people coming in for their normal day at work. And then we started hearing the sirens.

Over the years, Londoners have sadly become familiar with terrorism: the terrible day on 7/7 and, for those of us with longer memories, the years of IRA attacks. Our responses in London were much the same as peoples responses here today. Shock, and then wanting to know if family, friends and colleagues are safe.

What is a little different is that Brussels is a much smaller city than London. So everything feels slightly closer to home. The distances arent great; theres one main airport. The chances are higher that if something happens here someone you know will have been there.

So people who work down the corridor from me were at Zaventem when the bombs went off. Thankfully they are fine. Thankfully, too, the officials who work for me in my department have all been accounted for. But others wont have had that sense of relief.

The streets around here have been nearly empty all day, except for the police, bomb disposal teams and a lot of ambulances. People have been following the news but otherwise getting on with their jobs. Well do the same tomorrow, although we might have to walk a little further to work.

Landmarks light up in honour of Brussels victims 1 /8 Landmarks light up in honour of Brussels victims The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colours AP Photo/Thibault Camus Two Belgian flags are projected on to Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill EPA The black, yellow, and red colors of the Belgian flag are projected on the courthouse in Lyon REUTERS/Robert Pratta The Belgian flag is projected on the Trevi Fountain in Rome AP Photo/Andrew Medichini The Brandenburg gate lit up in the Belgian colours REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch The Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam, is seen with the black, yellow and red colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks EPA/EVERT ELZINGA

As todays events sink in, people will no doubt adapt. Yes, there may have to be more security. Yes, no doubt people will have to look again at laws and how the security services work together to catch those who want to do us harm.

But we shouldnt give these people who are trying to make a point by killing and hurting others what they want: to give them significance, to bend to their warped will. We need to carry on as before, just living our daily lives, to show that the terrorists have lost.

The world mourns for Brussels

Every country, every city, has its own way of coping. In Britain, we tend to KBO, as Churchill put it. In Brussels, people show with typically Belgian surrealism that they wont be bullied.

In the lockdown a couple of months ago there were warnings that the terrorists would find out where the police were searching by following Twitter. So the people of Brussels responded by flooding Twitter with pictures of cats. I liked that refusal to be panicked.

Whatever the terrible pictures and stories that emerge today, Brussels stays what it is: a quirky city, warm, relaxed and hospitable. What has happened today hasnt changed that or the people who live here.

Whatever the pictures and stories of today, Brussels remains a quirky city, warm, relaxed and hospitable

The people who did this are tiny in number. They cant win by argument, they cant win by showing themselves to be better people. We outnumber them by tens of thousands to one. And our values  freedom, the rule of law not violence, decency, respect for others are better than theirs. And so we will win, and they will fail.

Im writing this from my office looking out over Brussels. In a moment, I will set off to walk home through the heart of the city because I want to show that the streets belong to all of us who live and work here, and that we will not be cowed.
This photo released by the federal police on demand of Brussels' king prosecutor shows a combination of 2 pictures of Najim Laachraoui. (Photo: AFP/Belgian Federal Police)

Brussels: Belgian media on Wednesday withdrew reports that a man arrested in the capital was Brussels attacks suspect Najim Laachraoui.

"Arrested man in Anderlecht is not Najim Laachraoui," the Derniere Heure newspaper tweeted, while the RTL broadcaster said that the "suspect arrested in Anderlecht was not Najim Laachraoui in the end."

Earlier. the news website reported that a prime suspect in Tuesday's Brussels bombings was arrested on Wednesday in the city's Anderlecht district.

Police were hunting him as a man seen with suspected suicide bombers at Brussels airport. The suicide bombers were named as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui.

The European Union's capital awoke under guard after 34 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Tuesday's attacks. The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings, which laid bare Europe's vulnerability to a group trying to spread violence well beyond its bases in the Middle East.

(from top L) Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Town council building in Belgrade, Trevi Fountain in Rome, Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam and Rome's Campidoglio. (Photo: AFP)

Read: Brussels holds vigil at historic City Square, Belgium to observe 3-day mourning

Police conducted raids overnight and circulated a photo of three men seen at the airport wheeling trollies that presumably contained explosives-filled suitcases.

The report Wednesday says the brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism. (Photo: AP)

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF identified two of the attackers as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, and said they are believed to have blown themselves up. According to the report, which did not say who its sources were, Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism 'with all means necessary' on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official said, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Read: Huge manhunt on after IS claims Brussels terror attack, 35 dead

Abdeslam was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on Nov. 13. Those attacks killed 130 people and terrified Europe.

A man lies wounded in Brussels Airport in Belgium after explosions were heard Tuesday. (Photo: AP)

A Belgian official working on the investigation told the AP that it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought - and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The video grab by RTL Belgium shows people receiving treatment in the debris strewn terminal at Brussels Airport after the explosions on March 22, 2016. (Photo: AP)

Belgium's justice minister said Wednesday that the country will remain at its highest terrorism threat level until further notice. That level means there's a threat of an "imminent" attack.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed Wednesday. Security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.

Read: ISIS celebrates Brussels attack, distributes sweets to Syrian residents

"It's a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday on Europe-1 radio. Valls, who planned to visit Brussels later Wednesday, urged tougher controls of the EU's external borders.

Two women sit in the airport in Brussels after the Tuesday morning explosions. The blasts hit near the departure gates, collapsing ceiling panels and shattering glass windows; Belgian media said 35 people were killed. (Photo: AP)

"We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism ... that spreads in some of our neighborhoods and perverts our youth," he said. The Paris attackers were mainly French and Belgian citizens of North African descent, some from neighborhoods that struggle with discrimination, unemployment and alienation.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. IS warned of further attacks, issuing a statement promising "dark days" for countries taking part in the anti-IS coalition.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and had warned that IS was actively preparing to strike.
A mong the many delightful surprises that followed the birth of my son, there was one so undelightful that it made meconium seem kind of fun. Id heard about this thing called paternity leave, you see, and how the Government was 100 per cent behind it. Fathers were valued too, I gathered. In a progressive country such as Britain, with our dashing Prime Minister and touchy-feely Chancellor, men were encouraged to play an active role in those first days of new life.

The problem was that when it came to it, paternity leave didnt really exist beyond a few soundbites and gestures. Even after Nick Cleggs sincere attempts to implement a more equitable system, it amounts to one or two weeks unpaid leave, for which the Government compensates you to the tune of 139 per week, ie, less than half the minimum wage and a fraction of the average London rent. Employers arent obliged to contribute anything  the cost to business would otherwise be too high. And so, like a third of new fathers, I used up my annual leave rather than fall into arrears.

Since then, Ive spent a long time mulling over that phrase cost to business. You often hear it from the CBI or somesuch, telling us that babies or bank holidays or disabled people are a terrible cost to business. Its like a trump card. Earlier this week, the Women and Equalities Select Committee proposed that allowing men three months of paid paternity leave  as well as offering flexible working by default  could help close the gender pay gap, which has barely changed since David Cameron came to power. As the committees chair, Maria Miller, explained: As long as women continue to take the majority of responsibility for childcare and other forms of unpaid caring, pay differentials will persist. Cost to business? Hundreds of millions of pounds! warned the experts, adding for good measure that some economists fear it could be much higher. Yikes!

Does it occur to these phantom economists that the cost to business would be astronomically higher if workers were unable to wipe their own bottoms? The fact that the workforce is (for the most part) composed of functional human beings has a lot to do with the unpaid caring that Miller mentions. This is work that women traditionally perform but which men would increasingly like to share, just as women would like a greater share in running businesses.

It may not show up in the GDP figures but this hidden labour introduces more real value into the economy, than, say, cut-price sportswear or marketing solutions. Even the great liberal economist, Adam Smith, relied on his mother to cook his meals.

The gender workplace divide is often understood as a cultural battle, girls-vs-boys, something that could be solved if a few female CEOs earned salaries as obnoxious as their male counterparts. Its much more profound than that. Its a systemic problem in the way work is distributed that leads to huge losses in productivity. The select committee estimates that Britain loses out on 36 billion per year as a result of women giving up their careers to look after children.

But its worth looking at it from the other side too. What is the cost-to-humans of valuing short-term business interests over everything else? Who is the economy actually supposed to serve? The fact that Britains over-worked parents are producing the Western worlds most anxious and insecure generation of children tells its own sad tale.

Roper not alone in his axis of evil

There's nothing as beautiful as napalm at night, purred Hugh Lauries arms dealer Richard Roper in Sundays episode of The Night Manager, raining molten fire on a village to impress a client. John le Carres characters tend to have a sound basis in reality but could one of our own really be so rich, so brazen and so vile?

Ah, but heres Nicholas van Hoogstraten, responding to claims that he has let his 40 million mansion go to ruin by calling his critics peasants and saying we should remove all Muslim migrants.

He become Britains youngest millionaire as a slum landlord in the Sixties before he was imprisoned for hiring a gang to throw a grenade into the home of a rabbi who had displeased him. Although his conviction was overturned he was told to pay the dead mans family 6 million in damages.

He spends most of his time in Zimbabwe now with his dear friend Robert Mugabe: I believe in rule by the fittest. Charm personified.

Theres posh and theres splashing cash mindlessly

Glyndebourne chairman Gus Christie has hit back at claims that his opera is elitist and posh because some attendees wear black tie. Its customary, not compulsory, he says. People like to make an effort.

Im moderately partial to a bit of Janacek  but Ive never been to Glyndebourne mainly because it costs a small fortune. But then there are people who think nothing of flying to Azerbaijan to watch a Europa League group match in a replica shirt. And others who journey to remote northern Sweden in pursuit of 300 tasting menus. We tend not to think of these activities as elitist or posh, even though theyre even more expensive and involve just as much dressing up. Perhaps because they dont involve exposure to art in some form, they are more socially acceptable British pursuits.

* It's been fun watching the Tories tear themselves apart over Iain Duncan Smiths resignation. Its best understood as a battle between two sects: the free-market idealist (Osborne) v the Christian moralist (IDS). While Osbornes allies protest that IDS was never sharp enough for the job, the Chancellors own errors suggest hes not quite the strategist they wish him to be either.

Certainly, as Nick Clegg observed: The days when Osborne and Cameron could blithely declare an interest in social mobility while doing the exact opposite are over.

Lefties shouldnt be complacent, though. Many seem to find the notion of any Tory acting from moral conviction hard to square with their own self-righteousness.

Im no fan of IDSs reforms but the Left should beware of presuming a monopoly on morality  just as the Right shouldnt assume that reason is theirs.
J onathan Arkush, president of the Jewish Board of Deputies, lambasts the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party, as well as claiming the Jewish community no longer trusts Labour [March 17]. As both a Jew and a Labour Party member, I know that Mr Arkush is no impartial observer and his claim to speak for the Jewish community is specious.

Board of Deputies presidents have traditionally observed impartiality concerning mainstream political parties. Last year, however, when Arkush was seeking the board presidency, he was strongly criticised for stating in private emails that a Conservative victory would be in the best interests of the Jewish community.

I have never been invited to elect a president of the Board of Deputies. I have, however, had many opportunities to elect my MP. Since 1996, as an Islington North constituent, I have had no hesitation in voting for Jeremy Corbyn, a man whom I respect as a principled supporter of human rights, an opponent of all racism and a campaigner for social justice. In fact, he is a man who represents the Jewish values I grew up with much more than Jonathan Arkush, who presumes to speak for me.

David Rosenberg

As a Jew and a lifelong socialist, I would be appalled if Jews were to stop voting Labour. The message of the biblical prophets is to create a just and compassionate society, but this cannot be fulfilled by voting for a Government that cares little for the poorest and weakest among us.

Of course Labour must rigorously investigate and tackle any reports of anti-Semitism within the party or among its representatives. But Jewish Labour voters should continue to support a party that stands for social justice and equality  otherwise a very large baby will be thrown out with the bathwater.

Ann Antrich

I dispute your assertion that Jeremy Corbyn is himself free of any taint of prejudice regarding the resurgent anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. If he were truly appalled by the latest outrages, such as the hatred recently flaunted by the Oxford University Labour Club, he would have taken drastic remedial steps so that Labour members understand that such hatred is beyond the pale.

Other than utter the usual platitudes, he has done nothing. Worse, since becoming leader, Mr Corbyn has never distanced himself from the terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah  groups that openly call for the murder of Jews.

Roslyn Pine

Osborne shows he is no leader

George Osbornes Budget showed his inability to be considered to lead the Conservative Party. The potential benefit cuts for the disabled, highlighted by Iain Duncan Smiths resignation, are simply appalling and match his distasteful handling of the tax credits policy, since abandoned.

Investors will welcome the reduction in capital gains tax but the rate was two per cent lower under Gordon Brown. If those affected by this heinous rate of tax take an opposing view to the Chancellor over Brexit, then it could be the end of Mr Osbornes aspiration to hold the keys to No 10.

Dr Alan Diamond OBE, Crown Estate Paving Commissioner Emeritus

The real truth of life after Brexit

the suggestion by Anthony Hilton [Comment, March 17] that Brexit would trigger a mandatory two-year exit negotiation is misleading  this is a reference to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. That is the Governments claim but it is specious. Once the people have decided, and if they vote Leave, the Government has a mandate to repeal the European Economic Communities Act. Once that is struck from the statute book, all subsequent treaties will fall.

Sir William Jaffray

Let students fulfil their potential

Amol Rajan recommends chess as a means of developing students capacities [Comment, March 17]. This could work, given that prisoners, as an example, use chess to help them think rationally and find solutions.

But I would also urge schools to pay more individual attention to students. Everybody has latent capacities buried under circumstances such as a bad home life or feeling of inferiority. Lets empower young people by exploring how to utilise their talents.

Peter Turton
T he yearly celebration of International Jazz Day is returning, and although Washington DC is hosting the main event this year, London is still getting involved.

The capital is hosting several of its own celebrations which are worth looking forward to.

Kansas Smittys Late Late Show will be making an appearance on International Jazz Day at Kansas Smittys bar in Hackney, where doors will be open until 3am.

YolanDa Brown will also be performing in London at Watfords Coliseum on April 30. The double MOBO award winning saxophonist will incorporate her Jamaican roots into the performance, blending jazz and reggae rhythms for her International Jazz Day performance.

Kansas Smitty's House Band, in pictures 1 /21 Kansas Smitty's House Band, in pictures Kansas Smitty's recording their album, with Pete Horsfall and Giacomo Smith Kansas Smitty's recording their album, with Giacomo Smith Kansas Smitty's recording their album Pete Horsfall Kansas Smitty's recording their album Kansas Smitty's recording their album, with pianist Joe Webb Kansas Smitty's recording their album, with saxophonist Giacomo Smith Kansas Smitty's saxophonist Ruben Fox Kansas Smitty's recording their album Kansas Smitty's at their bar Kansas Smitty's recording their album, with bassist Ferg Ireland The back of Kansas Smitty's album, photo courtesy of Jesaja Hizkia Kansas Smitty's House Band Giacomo Smith, live Pete Horsfall The band performing live

Cadogan Hall will also be hosting an International Jazz Day event. The '100 Years of Jazz in 99 Minutes' is set to entertain, and take you on a journey through the decades of jazz.

On the same day, La Sainte Union School will be hosting an event for 12-18 year-olds called Young Music Makers: Open Big Band and Jam Session. The only requirement besides the age restrictions is to have a grade 4 on any instrument.

International Jazz Day reoccurs every year on April 30, and aims to unite people from all corners of the globe, while promoting peace, diversity, and talent.

For more information visit jazzday.com

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
T he sight of an entire cooked animal, waves of meat-steam streaming from the crisped flesh into your nostrils, brings out the primal hunter in all of us. Your fingers itch to tear through the skin to get at the meat, Revenant-style (sleeping it off in the carcass afterwards is optional). You pretend that this is the fruit of your own spoils, a wild animal tracked down across the wilderness and slain with your own bare hands, rather than the organic rare-breed spoils of a lovely, sustainable, independent farm in Oxfordshire.

The oldest method of cooking and serving animals  nakedly whole, head intact, without even a breadcrumb to preserve their modesty  has never gone away but in an age when Instagram requires us to outdo each other ever further in terms of food porn, whole beast eating is an envy-inducing failsafe. And despite the absurd decadence of the thing  channelling Henry VIII by way of the Riot Clubs 10-bird debauch  whole beast feasts paradoxically chime with the no-waste, nose-to-tail philosophy we continue to embrace. And with rabbit and lamb on the capitals beastly menu, Easter is the perfect time to dig in.

Fergus Henderson is to blame for our modern bestial inclinations. Founding St John in 1998, he insisted that: It would be disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast; there is a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which lie beyond the fillet. Ever since, his suckling pig (380) has been the benchmark for whole beasts in London. Its pure porcine porn.

But mere roasted pig is old-school. To spice up your pork-fest, chefs head south  specifically, to Peru. Andina London has long offered a whole pisco pig (260) to share, as chef Martin Morales grew up eating nose-to-tail in Peru, where offal and every part of the animal was almost sacred to us. Today he waxes lyrical about the way a butchered animal is like an allotment of meat flavours and how the decision to serve it in his London restaurants is part of an eternal quest for phenomenal flavours, which sometimes only a whole animal can provide.

Hop to it: a whole rabbit picnic prepared by chef Robin Gill at Paradise Garage / Jonathan Thompson

Hes continuing that quest at Andinas sister restaurant Ceviche, where Babe is basted in miso, chilli, soy sauce and pisco before roasting (290). Just in case youre still hungry and in need of yet more Insta-worthy weirdness, he comes with quinoa Yorkshire puds, Uchucuta Andean herb gravy, yucas, tamale, broccoli and spicy cheese sauce. But if youre even thinking of bothering with those before the last handful of melting, juicy pig has been clawed from the bones, youre not worthy of the Beast.

The problem with devouring so much pork in one sitting is that you wont be able to look at bacon or sausages for a long time after. Pig plays too big a part in the lives of many to risk being put off, so its wise to tackle a less ubiquitous beast. Who hasnt watched a cute, fluffy lamb gambol across a field and mentally stripped it of its fluff, whacked it in the oven for several hours and served it on a platter? Sadly, no one is yet plattering up whole spit-roasted sharing lambs but traditionalists intent on eating absurd quantities of lamb have the option of doing so Cuban-style at Asia de Cuba, where their special Easter slow-roasted Lambchon (60) serves four people and then some, and once again comes with an unfathomable amount of sides.

Best restaurants with a view in London 1 /28 Best restaurants with a view in London Fenchurch at Sky Garden

20 Fenchurch St, EC3M 8AF

Found in the roof of the walkie-talkie, Fenchurch offers the kind of views that provoke involuntary responses: you may find yourself swearing in awe, gasping audibly or momentarily paralysed in stunned silence. Views include well, London, or most of it. Unlike other skyscraper eateries, the Sky Garden is set up to be explored, so youll be able to take it all in regardless of where you sit. Head upstairs to eat: the views arent quite so clear, but by then the food will have your attention (expect to accidentally ignore and be ignored by your companion). Go for the tasting menu  the vegetarian alternative is exquisite, as it happens  and have the team pair your wines, they do a terrific job. If youre going a la carte, the loin and sausage of venison with pickled red cabbage is a must, full of juice and gutsy flavour.

skygarden.london The view from Fenchurch Walk around the bar at the Sky Garden for more stunning views, especially of the river Le Pont de la Tour

36D Shad Thames, SE1 2YE

Goodness, the main dining room at Le Pont de la Tour can feel romantic: two-seated tables by the window seem to shut out everyone else, although youll still feel the rooms golden glimmer, the food is fine-dining French fare, they pour large glasses of wine (full credit to them) and the view is Tower Bridge, lit up magnificently in whites and blues. Though benefitting from a recent update, which gave the place a little personality, Le Pont isnt striving for quirky modern food or quirky modern dining: everything is proudly about good old-fashioned pleasure. The seared fois gras, as a starter, is gloriously simple, and simply glorious, while the veal sweetbreads are a must for a main. Because its the sort of place to linger over a nightcap  how can you ask someone up for coffee if youve already had one in the restaurant?  ask about their armagnac, too.

lepontdelatour.co.uk The view from Le Pont de la Tour At night, it's a particularly beautiful sight Galvin at Windows

22 Park Lane, W1K 1BE

After a certain point, whats a few floors between friends? Michelin-starred Galvin at Windows is 28 floors up at the Park Lane Hilton, which is plenty high enough for gorgeous, panoramic views across the capital. Benefitting from its position by Green Park, the city is some distance away, so theres plenty of greenery to admire and no pesky skyscrapers blocking your views  and youre just about close enough to the ground to really delight in the details. Its a white tablecloth dining room of dark wood, marble, with dashes of deco glamour. The Galvin brothers always lay on exceptional food and wine, here French fine dining, and the lunch menu du jour at 33 for three courses is a steal, though the Menu Prestige, at 75 for three courses, is worth saving for. Oh, and if youve any cash left, take a drink at the bar.

galvinatwindows.com The view from Galvin at Windows It looks out over Green Park and beyond Duck & Waffle

Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY

Open 24/7, Duck & Waffle offer glorious views whenever you fancy them. The fun begins with the lifts, which rocket into the sky like they mightn't stop. They tend to, though, and after a oddly unmanned maze of an entrance sits Londons highest restaurant, a smallish, fairly relaxed affair. Theyve built a menu pairing sweet and savoury  their eponymous dish explains it all  so choose carefully. Puy lentils, usually soporifically dull, are vibrantly flavoursome here, matched with spinach, sweet onion, yoghurt and miso. The spicy ox cheek doughnut, filled with apricot jam and smoked paprika sugar, will pique anyones curiosity: go on and try it, itll add something to your party small-talk. D&W suits supper, but breakfast when the sun is rising is when its at its best. Ring for your reservation: the tables by the windows are the ones to have.

duckandwaffle.com The view from Duck & Waffle At forty floors up, Duck & Waffle is the highest restaurant in the UK Swan, Shakespeare's Globe

21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, SE1 9DT

Swan is a subtler suggestion than most on this list: it sits by the Globe, looking out over the Thames and St Pauls, rather than glaring down over the city, and the food is classic British fare, fairly priced, with no pretensions to be anything but. But its quietly charming: the view here adds to the evening, rather than takes over, despite its beauty. The service is attentive, without being overbearing, and theyve lovely staff, who know the menu well. Its a comfortable place, in other words. Braised salt marsh lamb neck or beef Wellington are the best of the menu.

swanlondon.co.uk The view from Swan, Shakespeare's Globe At night, St Paul's looks especially beautiful Serpentine Bar and Kitchen

Serpentine Road, Hyde Park, W2 2UH

Unwinding on the banks of Hyde Parks Serpentine is this Benugo. Its all about the view here: in summer, with the sun glinting on the water top and pedalos pottering about, it trumps any sky-high joint. The serve throughout the day until 5pm from breakfast, with their specialty being made-to-order pizzas cooked in a wood-fired oven, though they also offer the likes of fish n chips, salads, duck ragu and steak sandwiches. The food is affordable, and they have a dedicated childrens menu, with items at 6. A fun spot and a centrepoint for a day at the park  but if you cant find a spot amongst all the hustle and bustle, they sell sandwiches, smoothies, cakes and coffee to take away.

benugo.com Richard Heald Photography The view from Serpentine Bar and Kitchen The restaurant looks out over the Serpentine Richard Heald Photography City Social

25 Old Broad St, EC2N 1HQ

Tower 42 is a plain-looking building but, as ugly optimists insist on reassuring themselves, inner beauty is the thing. Here Jason Atherton has achieved that: his restaurant is the sparkling personality behind a frumpy facade. At 24 flights up, its not nose-bleed high, but youll still see plenty of the city. Grab a booth: the low ceilings and dark lighting mean the view really is taken advantage of. The menu offers typically interesting Atherton fare, with the pigs trotter and black pudding a tempting starter, and the black onion crackling with violet artichoke & pork loin a delicious main. There's a lot of work in this food: take your time to enjoy it. The cocktail bar is the highlight: a really excellent affair with folks who really, really know what they're doing. Just beware that wine, by the bottle, is priced for men who puff their chests out.

citysociallondon.com The view from City Social The restaurant looks out over the city, including the ever-popular Gherkin The view from City Social The restaurant looks out over the city, including the ever-popular Gherkin Portrait Restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Pl, WC2H 0HE

Pretending to know about paintings is hungry work, so its just as well that the Portrait Gallery have their agreeable, relaxed rooftop restaurant upstairs. After all the wonders in the building, one would be forgiven for thinking that the view wont compare, but youll be gazing out over he likes of Trafalgar Square, Nelson's Column, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. For most of the week, youre confined to popping in for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea, but on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, they offer supper, including a pre-theatre menu. Its a light, airy space, with sharing tables, but not sharing food: the simple, clean British fare is likely to bring out your possessive side.

npg.org.uk The view from Portrait Restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery The view is almost as impressive as the works of art within the gallery Blueprint Cafe

Design Museum, SE1 2YD

Sitting a little along from Le Pont De La Tour, the Blueprint boasts the same postcard perfect views of Tower Bridge  just be sure to sit by the window  but its a more informal setting, and its cheaper, too. Sat up on the first floor of the design museum, the Blueprint offers European fare, with regularly changing wine recommendations. The cooking is fresh but comforting in the way Italian-leaning food should be, and they offer bottomless brunch on Saturdays and BYOB on Monday (huzzah). Its a place to come with friends, to stare out over the Thames and to lose track of time.

blueprintcafe.co.uk Blueprint Cafe The cafe has a view to rival Le Pont De La Tour, but it's a more relaxed place to dine Oblix

The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, SE1 9RY

Something about the Shard makes it hard to love but Oblix (sadly not named for Asterixs best mate) is the best bet in Londons favourite pointy building, which should offer so much but, in reality, is a bit of a culinary dead spot. The captivating view at Oblix makes it worth coming, and also the journey up to it  the lift zooms upwards, with ceiling lit: it is lovely to start dinner feeling like its a Disneyland ride. You may be 40 floors short of the viewing platform but frankly, its not so much different up there, and much more cramped. Rainer Becker (youll know him from Roka/Zuma) oversees the kitchen, proud of its wood fired oven, charcoal grill and spit roast, but the lounge area does fine fare too, is a little more relaxed and a jot cheaper. Be sure to dress smartly and beware: prices are for those with pockets as deep as the Shard is tall.

oblixrestaurant.com The view from Oblix It may be far below the viewing platform, but the view from Oblix is still spectacular

Then theres rabbit. At Paradise Garage in Bethnal Green, Robin Gill re-imagines Peter five different ways in his Picnic (48): roast saddle, confit leg, pastry turn-over, offal and belly scratchings. Arriving ready portioned, its a safer bet if youve got squeamish eaters in your group  albeit not as visually arresting as a whole naked beast lounging on a platter. Just dont reach in for a handful of steaming meat before the photos are taken.

Beasty eating is as much about inducing raging FOMO in your followers as it is about embracing the nose-to-tail philosophy. Stevie Parles now cult clay-baked duck (75) at Craft has thumbs twitching over iPhones before even a hint of rich, nose-coating fowl reaches the room. One in five tables order the bird, owing to what he describes as visceral appeal (that aforementioned desire to rip animals apart bare-handed). And once that primal instinct has taken hold, God forbid you upset them: hes admitted that people get really cross if I start smashing it before theyre ready with their cameras.

30 must-try dishes in London restaurants 1 /41 30 must-try dishes in London restaurants Bone marrow on toast with parsley salad at St John Not only has this dish kicked off countless wonderful meals over the course of St Johns 25 years, but it also gets credit for putting British cooking back on the global culinary map. Roasted bone marrow, coaxed out onto toast, cut perfectly with salad of parsley, shallots and capers. A nose-to-tail revolution, and utterly divine. Whole turbot at Brat Tomos Parrys talents with a turbot first came to feverish acclaim at Mayfair restaurant Kitty Fishers, but they are now the star attraction at his Michelin-starred solo spot. This whole fish  grilled Basque-style, over hot coals and in a specially designed cage  softens as if it has melted, and is basted at the table in an emulsion made with its own juices. Benjamin McMahon Marinara at 50 Kalo di Ciro Salvo Superlatives should be used in moderation  but heck it, this might just be Londons best pizza. This under-the-radar London iteration of a Naples pizzeria serves an unrivalled marinara: just tomato sauce, oil, garlic and oregano. No need for any more  with a sauce this good and a base so fine and perfectly charred, you can stop mourning your cancelled Italian holiday at first bite. Luciano Furia Clay pot baked pork and crab glass noodles at Kiln When we say Kiln is one of the hottest spots in town, we mean it  hang over the counter at the Thai barbecue and youre not far out of range for the odd flame. Baking in the heart of the swirling heat is this must order: shimmering glass noodles, coated with a silky sauce enriched with fatty slicks of Tamworth pork belly and improbably unctuous crab meat. Lamb chops, Melabes Perhaps because its quietly tucked in among its unassuming neighbours down on the wrong end of High Street Kensington, Melabes is often overlooked by Londons food lovers. An unwarranted shame, as this partly Middle Eastern, partly Mediterranean set-up is really very good; it is somewhere to pick and choose from bits and pieces, and put a meal together yourself. The lamb chops, which come all smokey and burnished from the grill, are perfect; pink as a Vegas sign inside, but the fat all soft and dripping and delicious. A must, whatever the order. Steak tartare imperial at Bob Bob Ricard Theres Press For Champagne buttons, lobster in your mac and cheese and anything that stays still long enough gets gilded  there is no point in going small at Bob Bob Ricard. Steak tartare is a luxurious pick at the best of times, but the Imperial upgrade here comes with a dollop of caviar  even without the finishing touch, the tartare itself is one of the best in the capital. Bacon naan at Dishoom Londoners spent decades believing bacon in a bap with some ketchup (or brown sauce, but lets not have that argument now) couldnt be beaten  and then Dishoom came along. This breakfast sandwich fills a fresh naan with bacon, a slathering of cream cheese, a luxurious tomato and chilli chutney, coriander and an oozing fried egg if you feel so inclined. Hangover be gone. Cacio e pepe at Padella Five years ago, you would have thought anyone queuing for pasta in London to have lost their minds  this dish changed that. The starlet of Padellas much coveted is this plate of pici  hand-rolled fat worms of eggless pasta  with a mirror-shine sauce of parmesan cheese and pasta. Simple but unrivalled  and itll set you back just 6. Jamon croquetas at Barrafina A dish like this should be elusive  it is far too easy to eat seven portions of croquetas in a single sitting, which is why we presume Barrafina makes you queue. Very sensible. As the crunchy coating gives way to the oozing centre, enriched with the flavour of Spanish jamon (the best ham in the business), were already planning our next visit. Biang biang noodles at Xi'an Biang Biang Noodles There are oodles of noodles in the capital, but Guirong Weis triumphant take is one of the finest. First finding followers at her north London restaurant Xian Impression (soon to reopen for dine-in, but not yet), the dish of has inspired a whole spin-off restaurant in Spitalfields. Thick, hand-pulled, chewy noodles soak up all the spice and zing of the special sauce they swim in  very special indeed. Souffle Suissesse, Le Gavroche Le Gavroche  the street urchin  is perhaps not for everyone. It is a Mayfair time machine, a reminder of how things were done once upon a time. Fortunately, it happens that how things were once done was very well indeed, and lunch or supper here is a masterclass in traditional French luxury (and often, happily, includes very large glasses of wine). Staff make the place, anyone who has been gently teased by the twins pretending to be each other will know. A tendency towards the old ways does mean the cooking offers little in the way of evolution or revolution, but new, after all, isnt always better. Michel Roux Jrs cheese souffle, baked on double cream, stuns, so overwhelmingly tasty, utter decadence that clings to the taste buds. Buttermilk Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Around the Cluck / 12:51 James Cochran found his signature dish early on, but its good it should stay with him for the rest of his career. While he has chops, and can do more beyond, theres something special in the way he works with his chicken; hotly spiced, gorgeously crispy, beautifully soft on the inside. A long-standing favourite and, though 12:51 cant operate as it did before, there are tables at his new project Around the Cluck, which is operating out of the same site. Breakfast at Hawksmoor Guildhall Your Full English is not full in comparison to the Hawksmoor breakfast at the steak connoisseurs Guildhall restaurant. The mind-boggling two-person spread swaps bacon rashers for an entire smoked chop, serves its bubble and squeak with short rib, puts trotter meat into its baked beans, and adds grilled bone marrow to all the usual trimmings. Cauliflower shawarma at Berber & Q Its not often that the main event at a barbecue restaurant is the veg, but Berber & Q have achieved just that. The cauliflower shawarma here is cooked on their flaming grill until softened and charred, before being doused liberally in tahini, pomegranate molasses, coriander, pomegranate seeds and a scattering of dried rose petals. BBQ Butter Chicken Wings at Brigadiers Brigadiers is a bold, boisterous sort of place: a labyrinthine City dining room, packed to the rafters with beer and Indian food that is indisputably gutsy. But arguably its finest moment comes in one of its smallest packages  these chicken wings may be diminutive, but are mightily spiced, deftly charred and dripping with ghee-fuelled succulence. Beef brisket bun at Smokestak David Carters Shoreditch restaurant occupies itself by giving the entirety of Kansas City a run for its money on a daily basis. The star turn at this lauded barbecue restaurant is its beef brisket bun  the meat is soft and juicy, riddled with its fats in the centre, while charred and treacle-like on the outside, paired perfectly with pickled chillies. To remember it is to salivate, we assure you. Snails, LEscargot LEscargot is one of Sohos old aristocrats and in its grand, beret red dining room there is always a mischievous sense of fun  perhaps because it is still such a smart, suited, chandeliered place, and people are often drinking themselves rather silly. The clue to good eating is in the name; the snails come still clinging to their shells and submerged in their butter and parsley sauce. Dive in; you will emerge stinking gloriously of garlic. It wont matter a jot; roll on the red wine and settle in for a long, comforting night. Confit potatoes at Quality Chop House Yes, there are some high quality chops on offer at this 150-year-old Clerkenwell restaurant but blimey, leave room for the chips. Fine slices of potato are stacked into architecturally sound wedges, and confited until shatteringly crispy on the outside and devastatingly soft in the centre. They have been much imitated in recent years, but never bettered. Smoked eel sandwich at Quo Vadis Jeremy Lee cooks many things to a legendary level at Quo Vadis  his pies could so easily have also made this list  but he gets the nod here for his unrivalled take on the fancy sandwich. Smoked eel, horseradish cream and Dijon mustard, served with red onion pickle  a combination so popular Lee says he nearly ran out of eel on post-lockdown reopening. Classic bao at Bao London has buns in abundance, but we still bow down to the fluffy superiority of Bao. The Taiwanese restaurant has become a cross-town favourite, thanks to its pleasingly pert rice buns (they are genuinely very pert, no crassness intended) and carefully considered fillings. The classic order comes filled with braised pork, fermented veg, coriander and a dusting of peanut powder. Carol Sachs Potato and roe, Core by Clare Smyth Clare Smyth has a knack that must infuriate other chefs; she is able to take the simplest of ingredients  say, a single carrot and a smattering of lamb mince  do something devilish with it and charge rather a lot for it; so good are the results, though, that few mind. Smyths sorcery is perhaps best witnessed with her signature, the potato and roe. It is simply a potato on a plate in a little sauce, but then it is also perhaps the best potato dish in the world; it has this wonderful salty richness, a certain seaside intenseness. It is glorious; so too is the smoked chicken that tends to come as an amuse bouche. Youll be treated here. Omelette Arnold Bennett Dont worry, no Arnolds were harmed in the making of this dish. Alongside impeccable service and an arguably perfect dining room, you could add another highlight to your breakfast at The Wolseley by ordering this creamy, haddock-filled dish, named for the writer who inspired its creation while staying at the Savoy. Fish pie, J Sheekey Long an actors favourite, J Sheekeys glamour has never lost its lustre. Its kept its regulars and charmed newcomers with a menu that plays the greatest hits of fine dining favourites. Seafood is Sheekeys thing; simply done sole is beautiful here, crab comes three ways, brill brushed in butter has a meatiness thats beyond satisfying. The fish pie is famous though, and rightly so; beneath the flaking pastry is a sea of cream, mustard and white wine, in it bobbing cod, haddock and salmon. It is simple but never fails; it does on its own for lunch, but is a failsafe at supper, too. John Carey The Ari Gold at Patty & Bun Theres a cheeseburger on every high street in the capital  but not all of them are created equal. Patty & Bun has got the classic combination down to a tee with its curiously named Ari Gold burger: a fat, 35-day aged patty is served medium rare, and topped with gooey American cheese, smokey house mayo and tangy pickled red onions. Xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung Few dishes in the capital have been known to cause queues of four hours. Thats exactly what the world-famous xiao long bao dumplings did when top Taiwanese restaurant group Din Tai Fung first opened in Covent Garden. An intricately folded out layer (made by chefs trained for at least 18 months) gives way to succulent meat and a broth you could take on by the bowlful. Pig's trotter, the French House Upstairs in the Soho local, Neil Borthwick is quietly running one of the areas best kitchens. He orders in particularly good oysters, does brilliant things with brill and with his pigs trotter, has a dish that is rich and fatty, but with a beautiful salty cut that makes it madly moreish. The menu tends to change often upstairs in the French, but have this if its on. That little dining room is somewhere to go in early for lunch and stay until late, eventually spilling down into the pub below, to drink pints  they do pints now, not just halfs  all while merrily reliving the joys upstairs. Peter Clark Dover sole with crab butter at Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill There are so many delights at Bentleys, its tricky to pick a single one. This could so easily have been a plate of rigorously sourced oysters, the fish pie, the decadent Royal seafood platter (pictured). It is however, the Dover sole that wins. A sublime piece of fish always, expertly cooked without fail  choose it either filleted with beautiful crab butter, or grilled and whole for a simple pleasure. Over in the City, Corrigan does similarly brilliant things with lobster at Daffodil Mulligan. Ragu, Lina Stores Sohos Lina Stores  the pasta bar, not the longstanding Italian deli it comes from  is the sort of restaurant one longs for; small, fun, friendly, not too pricey. They do small plates of near perfect pasta; their ragu, whether lamb or veal, is a gem. A good ragu is hard to find  too often theres too little meat, or meat not cooked for long enough  but here, they spend the time over it, cooking slowly, carefully. No restaurant can compare with a Nonna, but Lina gets gratifyingly close. Porterhouse steak, the Guinea Grill London is not short of steakhouses, but the Guinea does not number among them. A pub  a proper one  it is tucked down a Mayfair sidestreet, away from everything and yet still perpetually busy. Besides the small bar is a dining room that looks much as it must have done when the likes of Sinatra was in (or Bette Midler, or Kylie, or Regan, or, or, or), where theyve served prime Aberdeen Angus cooked on a smoking hot grill. The Guinea is all about having a good time  pints, red wine, brandies, the lot  but they cook beautifully, and their handling of a good piece of beef is second to none. Puree de pommes de terre, Le Comptoir Robuchon The late Joel Robuchon may have been the most decorated chef of his and perhaps any other era, but his signature stayed humble  mashed potato. Until youve had it, it is hard to believe it could be quite so good; mash, after all, is mash. No matter the scepticism, it will always surprise; it is almost silly that so little could taste of so much. A side, it will match almost everything on the menu; of which, the lamb with aubergine on the menu of classics is extraordinarily good.

His protege, Alex Jackson, should take note before service starts at his new Shoreditch restaurant Sardine, due to open next month with a whole stuffed rabbit on the menu. So chuck chocolate and chow down on Easter bunny this weekend. Youve got four days to recover from the meat sweats.

@franklymccoy

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
O ne of the West Ends few surviving family-owned restaurants is planning a last-ditch legal challenge to stop it being forced out of its home by a City investor landlord.

Salieri, which opened on the Strand in 1978 and counts Bill Murray and Sir Tom Jones among its fans, is threatened with eviction when its lease runs out on April 5.

The owners of the flamboyantly decorated French and Italian restaurant opposite The Savoy have accused its landlord, Aviva Investors, of corporate bullying.

They also claim they are being treated unfairly after having had to endure a hugely disruptive 18-month refurbishment of their building.

Sen Sami, daughter of the 73-year-old founder Sonmez Sami, said: We know theres a future for us here, the restaurant works, we want to pay our rates and our rents and tax.

But Aviva wont even sit down and talk to us. When the scaffolding was up we had flooding and a ceiling collapse and we had to fund ourselves until it was finished, but now that it has our regular customers are coming back.

Were a stable tenant and weve never had any problems with our landlords before. You want to secure your future but what upset us is that some corporate entity can just take it away from us. We have built up this business  there is no plan B for us.

30 must-try dishes in London restaurants 1 /41 30 must-try dishes in London restaurants Bone marrow on toast with parsley salad at St John Not only has this dish kicked off countless wonderful meals over the course of St Johns 25 years, but it also gets credit for putting British cooking back on the global culinary map. Roasted bone marrow, coaxed out onto toast, cut perfectly with salad of parsley, shallots and capers. A nose-to-tail revolution, and utterly divine. Whole turbot at Brat Tomos Parrys talents with a turbot first came to feverish acclaim at Mayfair restaurant Kitty Fishers, but they are now the star attraction at his Michelin-starred solo spot. This whole fish  grilled Basque-style, over hot coals and in a specially designed cage  softens as if it has melted, and is basted at the table in an emulsion made with its own juices. Benjamin McMahon Marinara at 50 Kalo di Ciro Salvo Superlatives should be used in moderation  but heck it, this might just be Londons best pizza. This under-the-radar London iteration of a Naples pizzeria serves an unrivalled marinara: just tomato sauce, oil, garlic and oregano. No need for any more  with a sauce this good and a base so fine and perfectly charred, you can stop mourning your cancelled Italian holiday at first bite. Luciano Furia Clay pot baked pork and crab glass noodles at Kiln When we say Kiln is one of the hottest spots in town, we mean it  hang over the counter at the Thai barbecue and youre not far out of range for the odd flame. Baking in the heart of the swirling heat is this must order: shimmering glass noodles, coated with a silky sauce enriched with fatty slicks of Tamworth pork belly and improbably unctuous crab meat. Lamb chops, Melabes Perhaps because its quietly tucked in among its unassuming neighbours down on the wrong end of High Street Kensington, Melabes is often overlooked by Londons food lovers. An unwarranted shame, as this partly Middle Eastern, partly Mediterranean set-up is really very good; it is somewhere to pick and choose from bits and pieces, and put a meal together yourself. The lamb chops, which come all smokey and burnished from the grill, are perfect; pink as a Vegas sign inside, but the fat all soft and dripping and delicious. A must, whatever the order. Steak tartare imperial at Bob Bob Ricard Theres Press For Champagne buttons, lobster in your mac and cheese and anything that stays still long enough gets gilded  there is no point in going small at Bob Bob Ricard. Steak tartare is a luxurious pick at the best of times, but the Imperial upgrade here comes with a dollop of caviar  even without the finishing touch, the tartare itself is one of the best in the capital. Bacon naan at Dishoom Londoners spent decades believing bacon in a bap with some ketchup (or brown sauce, but lets not have that argument now) couldnt be beaten  and then Dishoom came along. This breakfast sandwich fills a fresh naan with bacon, a slathering of cream cheese, a luxurious tomato and chilli chutney, coriander and an oozing fried egg if you feel so inclined. Hangover be gone. Cacio e pepe at Padella Five years ago, you would have thought anyone queuing for pasta in London to have lost their minds  this dish changed that. The starlet of Padellas much coveted is this plate of pici  hand-rolled fat worms of eggless pasta  with a mirror-shine sauce of parmesan cheese and pasta. Simple but unrivalled  and itll set you back just 6. Jamon croquetas at Barrafina A dish like this should be elusive  it is far too easy to eat seven portions of croquetas in a single sitting, which is why we presume Barrafina makes you queue. Very sensible. As the crunchy coating gives way to the oozing centre, enriched with the flavour of Spanish jamon (the best ham in the business), were already planning our next visit. Biang biang noodles at Xi'an Biang Biang Noodles There are oodles of noodles in the capital, but Guirong Weis triumphant take is one of the finest. First finding followers at her north London restaurant Xian Impression (soon to reopen for dine-in, but not yet), the dish of has inspired a whole spin-off restaurant in Spitalfields. Thick, hand-pulled, chewy noodles soak up all the spice and zing of the special sauce they swim in  very special indeed. Souffle Suissesse, Le Gavroche Le Gavroche  the street urchin  is perhaps not for everyone. It is a Mayfair time machine, a reminder of how things were done once upon a time. Fortunately, it happens that how things were once done was very well indeed, and lunch or supper here is a masterclass in traditional French luxury (and often, happily, includes very large glasses of wine). Staff make the place, anyone who has been gently teased by the twins pretending to be each other will know. A tendency towards the old ways does mean the cooking offers little in the way of evolution or revolution, but new, after all, isnt always better. Michel Roux Jrs cheese souffle, baked on double cream, stuns, so overwhelmingly tasty, utter decadence that clings to the taste buds. Buttermilk Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Around the Cluck / 12:51 James Cochran found his signature dish early on, but its good it should stay with him for the rest of his career. While he has chops, and can do more beyond, theres something special in the way he works with his chicken; hotly spiced, gorgeously crispy, beautifully soft on the inside. A long-standing favourite and, though 12:51 cant operate as it did before, there are tables at his new project Around the Cluck, which is operating out of the same site. Breakfast at Hawksmoor Guildhall Your Full English is not full in comparison to the Hawksmoor breakfast at the steak connoisseurs Guildhall restaurant. The mind-boggling two-person spread swaps bacon rashers for an entire smoked chop, serves its bubble and squeak with short rib, puts trotter meat into its baked beans, and adds grilled bone marrow to all the usual trimmings. Cauliflower shawarma at Berber & Q Its not often that the main event at a barbecue restaurant is the veg, but Berber & Q have achieved just that. The cauliflower shawarma here is cooked on their flaming grill until softened and charred, before being doused liberally in tahini, pomegranate molasses, coriander, pomegranate seeds and a scattering of dried rose petals. BBQ Butter Chicken Wings at Brigadiers Brigadiers is a bold, boisterous sort of place: a labyrinthine City dining room, packed to the rafters with beer and Indian food that is indisputably gutsy. But arguably its finest moment comes in one of its smallest packages  these chicken wings may be diminutive, but are mightily spiced, deftly charred and dripping with ghee-fuelled succulence. Beef brisket bun at Smokestak David Carters Shoreditch restaurant occupies itself by giving the entirety of Kansas City a run for its money on a daily basis. The star turn at this lauded barbecue restaurant is its beef brisket bun  the meat is soft and juicy, riddled with its fats in the centre, while charred and treacle-like on the outside, paired perfectly with pickled chillies. To remember it is to salivate, we assure you. Snails, LEscargot LEscargot is one of Sohos old aristocrats and in its grand, beret red dining room there is always a mischievous sense of fun  perhaps because it is still such a smart, suited, chandeliered place, and people are often drinking themselves rather silly. The clue to good eating is in the name; the snails come still clinging to their shells and submerged in their butter and parsley sauce. Dive in; you will emerge stinking gloriously of garlic. It wont matter a jot; roll on the red wine and settle in for a long, comforting night. Confit potatoes at Quality Chop House Yes, there are some high quality chops on offer at this 150-year-old Clerkenwell restaurant but blimey, leave room for the chips. Fine slices of potato are stacked into architecturally sound wedges, and confited until shatteringly crispy on the outside and devastatingly soft in the centre. They have been much imitated in recent years, but never bettered. Smoked eel sandwich at Quo Vadis Jeremy Lee cooks many things to a legendary level at Quo Vadis  his pies could so easily have also made this list  but he gets the nod here for his unrivalled take on the fancy sandwich. Smoked eel, horseradish cream and Dijon mustard, served with red onion pickle  a combination so popular Lee says he nearly ran out of eel on post-lockdown reopening. Classic bao at Bao London has buns in abundance, but we still bow down to the fluffy superiority of Bao. The Taiwanese restaurant has become a cross-town favourite, thanks to its pleasingly pert rice buns (they are genuinely very pert, no crassness intended) and carefully considered fillings. The classic order comes filled with braised pork, fermented veg, coriander and a dusting of peanut powder. Carol Sachs Potato and roe, Core by Clare Smyth Clare Smyth has a knack that must infuriate other chefs; she is able to take the simplest of ingredients  say, a single carrot and a smattering of lamb mince  do something devilish with it and charge rather a lot for it; so good are the results, though, that few mind. Smyths sorcery is perhaps best witnessed with her signature, the potato and roe. It is simply a potato on a plate in a little sauce, but then it is also perhaps the best potato dish in the world; it has this wonderful salty richness, a certain seaside intenseness. It is glorious; so too is the smoked chicken that tends to come as an amuse bouche. Youll be treated here. Omelette Arnold Bennett Dont worry, no Arnolds were harmed in the making of this dish. Alongside impeccable service and an arguably perfect dining room, you could add another highlight to your breakfast at The Wolseley by ordering this creamy, haddock-filled dish, named for the writer who inspired its creation while staying at the Savoy. Fish pie, J Sheekey Long an actors favourite, J Sheekeys glamour has never lost its lustre. Its kept its regulars and charmed newcomers with a menu that plays the greatest hits of fine dining favourites. Seafood is Sheekeys thing; simply done sole is beautiful here, crab comes three ways, brill brushed in butter has a meatiness thats beyond satisfying. The fish pie is famous though, and rightly so; beneath the flaking pastry is a sea of cream, mustard and white wine, in it bobbing cod, haddock and salmon. It is simple but never fails; it does on its own for lunch, but is a failsafe at supper, too. John Carey The Ari Gold at Patty & Bun Theres a cheeseburger on every high street in the capital  but not all of them are created equal. Patty & Bun has got the classic combination down to a tee with its curiously named Ari Gold burger: a fat, 35-day aged patty is served medium rare, and topped with gooey American cheese, smokey house mayo and tangy pickled red onions. Xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung Few dishes in the capital have been known to cause queues of four hours. Thats exactly what the world-famous xiao long bao dumplings did when top Taiwanese restaurant group Din Tai Fung first opened in Covent Garden. An intricately folded out layer (made by chefs trained for at least 18 months) gives way to succulent meat and a broth you could take on by the bowlful. Pig's trotter, the French House Upstairs in the Soho local, Neil Borthwick is quietly running one of the areas best kitchens. He orders in particularly good oysters, does brilliant things with brill and with his pigs trotter, has a dish that is rich and fatty, but with a beautiful salty cut that makes it madly moreish. The menu tends to change often upstairs in the French, but have this if its on. That little dining room is somewhere to go in early for lunch and stay until late, eventually spilling down into the pub below, to drink pints  they do pints now, not just halfs  all while merrily reliving the joys upstairs. Peter Clark Dover sole with crab butter at Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill There are so many delights at Bentleys, its tricky to pick a single one. This could so easily have been a plate of rigorously sourced oysters, the fish pie, the decadent Royal seafood platter (pictured). It is however, the Dover sole that wins. A sublime piece of fish always, expertly cooked without fail  choose it either filleted with beautiful crab butter, or grilled and whole for a simple pleasure. Over in the City, Corrigan does similarly brilliant things with lobster at Daffodil Mulligan. Ragu, Lina Stores Sohos Lina Stores  the pasta bar, not the longstanding Italian deli it comes from  is the sort of restaurant one longs for; small, fun, friendly, not too pricey. They do small plates of near perfect pasta; their ragu, whether lamb or veal, is a gem. A good ragu is hard to find  too often theres too little meat, or meat not cooked for long enough  but here, they spend the time over it, cooking slowly, carefully. No restaurant can compare with a Nonna, but Lina gets gratifyingly close. Porterhouse steak, the Guinea Grill London is not short of steakhouses, but the Guinea does not number among them. A pub  a proper one  it is tucked down a Mayfair sidestreet, away from everything and yet still perpetually busy. Besides the small bar is a dining room that looks much as it must have done when the likes of Sinatra was in (or Bette Midler, or Kylie, or Regan, or, or, or), where theyve served prime Aberdeen Angus cooked on a smoking hot grill. The Guinea is all about having a good time  pints, red wine, brandies, the lot  but they cook beautifully, and their handling of a good piece of beef is second to none. Puree de pommes de terre, Le Comptoir Robuchon The late Joel Robuchon may have been the most decorated chef of his and perhaps any other era, but his signature stayed humble  mashed potato. Until youve had it, it is hard to believe it could be quite so good; mash, after all, is mash. No matter the scepticism, it will always surprise; it is almost silly that so little could taste of so much. A side, it will match almost everything on the menu; of which, the lamb with aubergine on the menu of classics is extraordinarily good.

She said the family has already had to pay 250,000 in legal and advisory fees, forcing her to take a second job.

The interior of the landmark restaurant is decorated with extravagant ceiling and wall murals, while the exterior boasts golden angels on either side of a portrait of the Italian composer Antonio Salieri.

The familys campaign to stay on the premises has been supported by local MP Mark Field, Westminster ward councillor Tim Mitchell and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Sue Terpilowski, the federations London Policy chair, has written to Aviva Investors chief Euan Munro asking him to protect Salieri because it is part of the local fabric of Westminster.

But a spokesman for Aviva Investors, the investment arm of the insurance giant, said: We recognise the concerns of the owners of the Salieri restaurant and understand the implications to the Sami family of serving these notices.

Such decisions are not taken lightly and we make every effort to consider the needs of the local community.

However, as a large asset manager we also have a fiduciary duty to deliver the best possible investment returns to our clients, including individual policyholders who entrust us with their assets.

In this case, we believe this outcome will be best served by creating a larger restaurant unit by combining the space currently occupied by Salieri with an adjacent unit that is currently vacant.

@JonPrynn

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S ecretsundaze is here to help kick-start your Easter weekend, and put you in the party mood.

Taking place at Shoreditchs Village Underground, the Thursday party will feature the likes of Ryan Elliot, K-Hand and Jane Fitz, who will make your entrance into Good Friday unforgettable.

Jane Fitz is making a second appearance for Secretsundaze following her debut last summer, while K-Hand and Ryan Eliot are making their first appearances for the Secretsundaze group.

Ryan Eliot is set to make two further appearances for Secretsundaze after this Thursdays Easter special, which are yet to be confirmed.

Secretsundazes Easter line-up will experiment with techno, house, and garage genres. The performances will run from 10pm-6am.

Although this is their Easter special show, there are more shows scheduled for Secretsundaze across London until June 19.

Secretsundazes Easter Thursday party takes place at Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, EC2A 3PQ. The final release of tickets are on sale now, click here for more information.

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S hopping in London? Plan your shopping route with this round-up of the citys finest independent stores.

Central London

The Vintage Showroom

This emporium on Earlham Street is an appointment-only Aladdins Cave of the best vintage menswear in town. The 1970s flight suits and rocker biker jackets are worth the rummage alone.

14 Earlham Street, WC2 (020 7836 3964)

Wear it old -school style at The Vintage Showroom / 2012  NIC SHONFELD.

Other/Shop

Nestled in the heart of Soho is Other/Shop, a refreshing antidote to the big-box shop mainstays of Oxford Street. It champions British mens design talent, offering a refined selection for men with impeccable taste.

21 Kingly Street, W1 (other-shop.com)

Mouki Mou

Maria Lemos, has a sixth sense for cool. Mouki Mou showcases her personal taste for Japanese denim from 45rpm, jewellery from Fay Andrada and cosmetics from Goe Oil. You cant go wrong.

29 Chiltern Street, W1 (moukimou.com)

Designer style: Mouki Mou's rings and things

Duke St Emporium

The sister store of The Shop at Bluebird wins points for its airy shopfit and easy-to-navigate edit of useful pieces, from MiH denim to Jigsaw shirts.

55 Duke Street, W1 (dukestreetemporium.com)

Persephone Books

The unassuming storefront conceals a trove of rare womens fiction and non-fiction. Theres also a monthly reading group  cheese and Madeira included.

59 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1 (persephonebooks.co.uk)

Persephone Books - bookworms take note / Charlotte Wiig

Super Superficial

Specialising in T-shirts illustrated by wickedly cool graphic artists. Our fave? Sarah Tanat-Jones Chicken Shops of London. Clucking good.

22 Earlham Street, WC2 (supersuperficial.com)

Beyond Retro

Its difficult to walk into this London institution and not be dazzled by the rainbow rails. All ready for the summer shopper, the current stock includes Hawaiian shirts galore.

58-59 Great Marlborough Street, W1 (beyondretro.com)

Darkroom

The design cognoscenti head to the Bloomsbury store to discover young up-and-coming talent such as ceramicist Sophie Southgate and minimalist jeweller Georges Larondelle.

52 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1 (darkroomlondon.com)

Darkroom throws light on new designs

Oi Polloi

This seminal menswear boutique houses a cornucopia of no-nonsense classics and vintage sportswear that truly merits the shops mantra: we sell good clothes.

1 Marshall Street, W1 (oipolloi.com)

Not so common findings at Oi Polloi

London Review Bookshop

Book signings, a downstairs cinema and the best place to find top reads. And the ground-floor cake shop is a great spot to start your own novel.

14 Bury Place, WC1 (londonreviewbookshop.co.uk)

London's Best Boutiques 1 /21 London's Best Boutiques The Cross has been setting the standard for West London bohemia for two decades. Attracting stylish visitors from across the capital, its best for laid-back fashions, handicrafts and cool interior trinkets. 141 Portland Road, W11 (thecrossshop.co.uk) Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. Hexagone is a tiny gift shop covering six categories, hence the name (homeware, fashion, beauty, household, stationery and childrenswear). All are sold with a smile. 12B Camden Passage, N1 (hexagone-uk.com) The Goodhood team traverse the globe sourcing everything from hand-crafted skateboards to beautiful handwoven geometric rugs. 151 Curtain Road, EC2 (goodhoodstore.com) Debris - This mecca of retro signage is the brainchild of Owen Parker, a name to watch in salvage sourcing. Afterwards, nip over to Alexandra Nurseries (run by his dad John) opposite to pick up a succulent or two. 5 Parish Lane, SE20 @debrislondon Darkroom - The design cognoscenti head to the Bloomsbury store to discover young up-and-coming talent such as ceramicist Sophie Southgate and minimalist jeweller Georges Larondelle. 52 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1 (darkroomlondon.com) The Vintage Showroom - This emporium on Earlham Street is an appointment-only Aladdins Cave of the best vintage menswear in town. The 1970s flight suits and rocker biker jackets are worth the rummage alone. 14 Earlham Street, WC2 (020 7836 3964) 2012  NIC SHONFELD. Sign of the Times - Bright, airy and beautifully organised, here youll find a clever edit of pre-loved designerwear from Hermes to Yves Saint Laurent, all in impeccable condition. 5 Elystan Street, SW3 (signofthetimesdressagency.com) Sefton - This Islington favourite is renowned the capital over for its menswear  insiders say the own-label Sefton grey marl sweatshirt is the best in London (and gets better wash after wash). 196 Upper Street, N1 (seftonfashion.com) Quill London - The premier destination for designer stationery, Quill carries smart brands such as Sugar Paper and Kate Spade  the only place to buy your personalised notelets. 37 Amwell Street, EC1 (quilllondon.com) Persephone Books - The unassuming storefront conceals a trove of rare womens fiction and nonfiction. Theres also a monthly reading group  cheese and Madeira included. 59 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1 (persephonebooks.co.uk) Charlotte Wiig Oi Polloi - This seminal menswear boutique houses a cornucopia of no-nonsense classics and vintage sportswear that truly merits the shops mantra: we sell good clothes. 1 Marshall Street, W1 (oipolloi.com) MUD Australia - Its Nigella Lawsons favourite tableware brand and for good reason  Mud Australias hand-thrown ceramics come in 80 shapes and 18 hues. Our top pick is the cheery mint green tableware. 11 Porchester Place, W2 (mudaustralia.com) petrinatinslay Mouki Mou - Maria Lemos, has a sixth sense for cool.Mouki Mou showcases her personal taste for Japanese denim from 45rpm, jewellery from Fay Andrada and cosmetics from Goe Oil. You cant go wrong. 29 Chiltern Street, W1 (moukimou.com) Map Gift shop - Not just one for cartography enthusiasts, its the ideal destination for last-minute presents. An Archway institution, owners Ian Morris and Kathryn Phalp are pillars of the community. 93 Junction Road, N19 (mapgiftshop.com) Labour and Wait - Balls of twine and carpenters aprons are up for grabs at Labour and Wait. Its the little things that remind us we are masters of craft and camping  even if we do live in Stokey. 85 Redchurch Street, E2 (labourandwait.co.uk) Hub - Contemporary designers such as LF Markey and Wood Wood hang on rails against the plywood and steel backdrop in this utilitarian boutique for boys and girls. 49 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 (womenswear), 88 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 (menswear), 2A Ada Street, E8 (mens and womens) (hubshop.co.uk) SIMON WISBEY 2015

Reckless Records

With arguably more rare vinyl for sale than anywhere else in London, second-hand specialist Charles Taylors Reckless Records stocks everything from Led Zeppelin to Chicago House.

30 Berwick Street, W1 (reckless.co.uk)

Quill London

The premier destination for designer stationery, Quill carries smart brands such as Sugar Paper and Kate Spade  the only place to buy your personalised notelets.

37 Amwell Street, EC1 (quilllondon.com)

Quill does things by the letter

Machine-A

This brave and bold independent store prides itself on schooling its customers in creative cool  and rightly so. Run by owner Stavros Karelis and super-stylist Anna Trevelyan, Machine-A brings a welcome jolt of energy to Soho.

13 Brewer Street, W1 (machine-a.com)

North London

Lost property of London

Nestled in the middle of Islingtons Cross Street, this stand-out store sells handcrafted vegetable-dyed leather goods  plus everything in the store is made in London.

50 Cross Street, N1 (lostpropertyoflondon.com)

Future and Found

Love the Kinfolk look? Then head to this Tufnell Park concept store, which specialises in muted utilitarian homeware. Think concrete pendant lights, Anthony Burrill notebooks and scented treats from Compagnie de Provence.

225A Brecknock Road, N19 (futureandfound.com)

Hexagone

Hexagone is a tiny gift shop covering six categories, hence the name (homeware, fashion, beauty, household, stationery and childrenswear). All are sold with a smile.

12B Camden Passage, N1 (hexagone-uk.com)

Excellent sweatshirts at Hexagone

SK Vintage

Blowing every identikit vintage store out the water, SK Vintage stocks everything from hippie chic to rock chick, having started life as a series of hand-me-down clothes sales for pals.

51 Fortess Road, NW5

Word on the Water

Keep your eyes trained for literary finds in this second-hand book barge, but watch out (sort of) for the adorable guard dog Star.

Granary Square, N1 @wordonthewater

Sefton

This Islington favourite is renowned the capital over for its menswear  insiders say the own-label Sefton grey marl sweatshirt is the best in London (and gets better wash after wash).

196 Upper Street, N1 (seftonfashion.com)

Boys will be Boys: Sefton

Hub

Contemporary designers such as LF Markey and Wood Wood hang on rails against the plywood and steel backdrop in this utilitarian boutique for boys and girls.

49 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 (womenswear), 88 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 (menswear), 2A Ada Street, E8 (mens and womens) (hubshop.co.uk)De

The coolest denim at Hub / SIMON WISBEY 2015

Map Gift shop

Not just one for cartography enthusiasts, its the ideal destination for last-minute presents. An Archway institution, owners Ian Morris and Kathryn Phalp are pillars of the community.

93 Junction Road, N19 (mapgiftshop.com)

Map Gift Shop

Verandah

A treasure trove of dressing-table trinkets, vintage clothing and cleverly sourced mid-century modern furniture pieces. Look up opening hours in advance, these can vary.

117 Chamberlayne Road, NW10 (verandahshop.com)

Jessica De Lotz Jewellery

An Instagram favourite,jeweller Jessica de Lotz hasfinally opened a bricks-andmortar shop in the heart of Kentish Town. Her wax seal-inspired cufflinks and signet rings are divine.

49 Fortess Road, NW5 (jessicadelotz.co.uk)

Vivien of Holloway

At Vivien of Holloway you can channel your inner January Jones from vintage designs off the peg to pieces designed by owner Vivien herself.

294 Holloway Road, N7 (vivienofholloway.com)

Iris Fashion

A Queens Park stalwart filled with yummy mummies of the most fashionable variety, Iris is a one-stop shop for everything from your MiH jumpsuit to your APC killerwhite shirt.

73 Salusbury Road, NW6 (irisfashion.co.uk)

West London

Couverture & The Garbstore

Ex Paul Smith designer Emily Dysons store operates a strictly independent policy. A Scandi aesthetic rules  with three floors set in the heart of Londons most famous market.

188 Kensington Park Road, W11 (couvertureandthegarbstore.com)

Baar & Bass

What do you get when you cross a well-stocked bar, groovy murals and sexy 1960s eclectic garb? One hell of a weekend shopping trip. Pack your party clothes (or buy some new ones).

336 Kings Road, SW3 (baarandbass.com)

The Cross

The Cross has been setting the standard for West London bohemia for two decades. Attracting stylish visitors from across the capital, its best for laid-back fashions, handicrafts and cool interior trinkets.

141 Portland Road, W11 (thecrossshop.co.uk)

Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

Aime

The focus is on chic, relaxed French fashion here. With a premises on Ledbury Road since 1999, their more recent outpost in Shoreditch delighted fans who migrated east.

32 Ledbury Road, W11 (aimelondon.com)

Oxfam Shop Westbourne Grove

Want to look glamorous without harming the environment or breaking the bank? Head to the most stylish Oxfam in the capital for designer cast-offs that will make your eyes water.

245 Westbourne Grove, W11 (oxfam.org.uk)

Wild Swans

Fulfil your Nordic fashion cravings here. Stock up on garments from Stine Goya and Maria Black.

152 Upper Street, N1 (wild-swans.com)

MUD Australia

Its Nigella Lawsons favourite tableware brand and for good reason  Mud Australias hand-thrown ceramics comein 80 shapes and 18 hues. Our top pick is the cheery mint green tableware.

11 Porchester Place, W2 (mudaustralia.com)

Ceramics at glorious Mud Australia / petrinatinslay

The West Village Kensington Park Road

West Village? Best village, we say. Lucy Benzecrys retro-styled, print-based fashion collection  based on a downtown New York boutique  is a staple of Kirsten Dunst and Sophie Ellis-Bextors wardrobes.

35 Kensington Park Road, W11 (thewestvillage.co.uk)

South London

Debris

This mecca of retro signage is the brainchild of Owen Parker, a name to watch in salvage sourcing. Afterwards, nip over to Alexandra Nurseries (run by his dad John) opposite to pick up a succulent or two.

5 Parish Lane, SE20 @debrislondon

Retro revival at Debris

Sign of the Times

Bright, airy and beautifully organised, here youll find a clever edit of pre-loved designerwear from Hermes to Yves Saint Laurent, all in impeccable condition.

5 Elystan Street, SW3 (signofthetimesdressagency.com)

Designer classic at Sign of the Times

Mrs Robinson

Heres to you, Mrs Robinson, which stocks super-chic retro gear in East Dulwich. Step back in time with kitsch Orla Kiely kitchen clobber and excessively groovy pillows.

128-130 Lordship Lane, SE22 (mrsrobinsonshop.co.uk)

Zara Taylor

You dont have to be a celeb to wear Zara Taylors bespoke instantheirloom jewellery  although Taylor Swift and Jessie J are fans. Her East Dulwich boutique sells quirky, fairy-tale designsfor 15-60.

9 Upland Road, SE22 (zarataylor.co.uk)

The Dulwich Trader

Not only are the friendly folk at the family-run shop stocked with hard-to-find labels, theyllremember what you like and drop you a line when your favourite kit comes in.

9-11 Croxted Road, SE21 (rigbyandmac.com)

Matchesfashion.com

Globetrotting hubbie and wife Tom and Ruth Chapman have scoured the planet for the finest garb, and are often on hand to lend trend tips to fashion luddites.

36 High Street, SW19 (matchesfashion.com)

Roullier White

This East Dulwich perfumerie stocks cult scents such as Illuminum as well as a smart range of gentlemens grooming kits.

125 Lordship Lane, SE22 (roullierwhite.com)

East London

Celestine Eleven

The clothes here are great but what we love most are the extracurricular activities  psychic readings and yoga classes for spiritual girls living in a material world.

4 Holywell Lane, EC2 (celestineeleven.com)

The Goodhood Store

The Goodhood team traverse the globe sourcing everything from hand-crafted skateboards to beautiful handwoven geometric rugs.

151 Curtain Road, EC2 (goodhoodstore.com)

Good garments at The Goodhood Store

Thethestore

Owner Meryl Fernandes is a familiar face. The one-time EastEnders actress (Afia) swapped the Queen Vic for retail when she set up her lifestyle emporium Thethestore.

205 Hackney Road, E2 (thethestore.com)

The Mercantile

Spitalfields is full of great independents, but The Mercantile is the go-to store for shoppers in the know. The reason? A stellar showcase of vintage clothes and interiors pieces fromlocal artists and designers.

17 Lamb Street, E1 (themercantilelondon.com)

Storm in a Teacup

Looking for pristine vintage catwalk pieces from Helmut Lang but want change from 200? Youre in the right place. Come looking for the one that got away.

366 Kingsland Road, E8 (storminateacup.com)

The Peanut Vendor

Enter this Aladdins Cave of design classics by Victoria Park and feast your eyes on elegant woodframe sofas, Welsh wool throws and 1970s lamps.

6 Gunmakers Lane, E3 (thepeanutvendor.co.uk)

Labour and Wait

Balls of twine and carpenters aprons are up for grabs at Labour and Wait. Its the little things that remind us we are masters of craft and camping  even if we do live in Stokey.

85 Redchurch Street, E2 (labourandwait.co.uk)

Labour and Wait

Brick Lane Bikes

Get your bicycle bits, cool custom-built frames and vintage cycles here. Youll end up buying far more than you meant to and still feel irrationally happy about it.

118 Bethnal Green Road, E2 (bricklanebikes.co.uk)

Triangle

Whether its the incredible collection of furniture hand-picked from all over Europe, unique ceramics or kooky curios, we guarantee youll find something in this cult Clapton store to turn you on.

81 Chatsworth Road, E5 (trianglestore.co.uk)

Modern Society

The only problem with Modern Society is that youll want it all: the black and white floor tiles, the amazing coats from designers Sandy Liang and Isa Arfen and Zanzan sunglasses. A lifestyle boutique to aspire to spend in.

33 Redchurch Street, E2 (themodernsociety.com)

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F rom Mother Natures phenomenon to endless hours of sunlight, otherworldly landscapes, and take-your-breath-away hotels, there are plenty of reasons to plan a trip to Iceland.

1. Otherworldly landscapes

Icelands landscapes are like nothing else. Simply driving from the Keflavik airport to Reykjavik will impress, but the real beauty is on the Golden Circle route, a popular route that encompasses Icelands most spectacular natural scenes, and can easily be self-driven in a day. From barren Lord of the Rings-esque lands, to mammoth erupting geysers, supreme waterfalls, and volcanic craters, it will impress even the most worldly of visitors. Gullfoss, the waterfall in the canyon of Hvita river has particular wow-factor.

2. Breathtaking boltholes

Youre bound to have seen ION Adventure Hotel (designhotels.com) on Pinterest, on the television, or even Instagram, but not necessarily to have realised its in Iceland. Quite simply breathtaking, the luxury hotel sits on stilts against rugged, rural landscape, near to Thingvellir National Park. Being just off the Golden Circle route, guests are forever treated to breathtaking views, whether theyre in the hotels Northern Lights Bar, in the pool and Lava Spa, or in guestrooms, which have floor-to-ceiling windows. ION makes the most of naturalistic materials  lots of driftwood and muted colour palettes  for aesthetics that are raw and beautiful, and a reflection of the local landscape.

ION hotel / Design Hotels

3. Geothermal springs

Whilst some might dub it a tourist trap, theres no doubt the Blue Lagoon (bluelagoon.com) is pretty special, and for most international visitors, a must-see attraction. Kicking back in the bluest of blue hot springs, sipping Prosecco, and applying a natural mud mask is a rather unique experience, and one that the majority of us wont grumble about. Yes, there are lots of people, but just do your thing and enjoy. For an even more memorable experience, opt for an in-water massage: thats you, floating around on a lilo, being massaged with mineral oils and regularly dunked so that your body is submerged in bath-like waters. Just heavenly. If youre looking for the relaxation experience without the crowd, head to one of Icelands other hot springs; Laugarvatn Fontana (fontana.is), just off the Golden Circle route is a much more low-key affair, but relaxing and luxurious all the same.

Blue Lagoon / Visit Iceland

4. Fresh, contemporary cuisine

For a long time, Icelandic cuisine wasnt exactly raved about. Long, harsh winters have given way to dishes that make the most of pantry supplies and others that can be stored for months or foraged from the hills. Now, with many more international influences and chefs striving to do exciting things with the islands produce, the cuisine has improved dramatically. Seafood plays a principal role  makes sense being a country surrounded by water!  try it at Mar (marrestaurant.com), a seafood restaurant that used to feed the local and foreign fisherman and now makes the most of fresh produce with exciting flavours and a relaxed atmosphere. KOPAR (koparrestaurant.is) is fantastic too, overlooking the marina with great chefs that creatively explore the elements of land and sea.

Kopar dishes / Alice Tate

5. Lively nightlife

In contrast to the rural barren lands of Iceland, Reykjavik knows how to party. It might be a small city but it draws visitors from far and wide, who come for its fun loving attitude, its lack of queues or VIP rooms, no queues, and good tunes. Over 50 bars line the main street, Laugavegur, so theres no shortage of places to go; You can bar-hop all night (one of the benefits of no entry fees) and no one will bat an eyelid if you start dancing on the tables. Just dont expect drinks to cheap - in Iceland, they are not.

6. Music festivals

In similar party spirit, Iceland is celebrated for its music festivals. Secret Solstice (secretsolstice.is), held just outside of Reykjavik, is the countrys biggest festival, and this year will draw the likes of Radiohead and Of Monsters and Men, alongside a whole host of electronic music acts. 72 hours of sun means the party just goes on and on Later in the year, Iceland Airwaves (icelandairwaves.is) is another big festival which spans 5 days and pioneers new Icelandic and international talent.

7. Northern Lights

The Northern Lights draw huge numbers of visitors to the country every year, as one of the best places in the world to see them dance. Though there are plenty of organised tours that you can sign up to, its as easy to go out and find them yourself, assuming youve hired a car. Stock up on snacks and drive somewhere remote, out of Reykjavik at least  Thingvellir National Park is perfect but requires a confident, cautious driver. Dark, clear nights are essential, so the best season for seeing them is most commonly considered September to mid- April.

Northern Lights, as seen from Iceland / Visit Iceland

8. Unique photo opportunities

Turns out a former volcanic crater turned lake makes for a seriously spectacular photo opportunity. As does an erupting geyser. And the birds-eye view of the tiny Lego-like houses from the top of Hallgrimskirkja. Reality is, Iceland is full of unique and diverse, camera-baiting beauties, its crazy picturesque in so many ways, so soak it all in with your beady eyes, before filling up an empty SD card and spamming that Instagram feed.

Golden Circle / Alice Tate

9. Endless summer days

Whilst the winter months in Iceland might have the draw of the Northern Lights, the summer months have endless hours of sunlight. Long, long days mean more time for exploring, eating, camping out and adventuring, and Iceland sure is the place to do all that. The longest day is around June 21, whereby in Reykjavik the sun sets just after midnight and rises again at 3am. Further north in Akureyri or Isafjorur you can expect it to be even longer. And to put that all into perspective, the shortest day is around December 21, when the sun rises at 11:30am and sets at 3:30pm!

10. White Russians

With Icelands average summer temperature being just 10 degrees, and the winter climes going down to -2, chances are youll need something to warm your cockles. Let that something be a White Russian, because Iceland does them well. Whilst it might not be a hot toddy, itll certainly warm your insides. Lebowski Bar (lebowskibar.is), a kitsch, Big Lebowski themed bar on Reykjaviks main strip has a dedicated White Russian menu. Pull up a seat and enjoy. And dont forget to buy your own bottle of Reyka vodka so you can make your own versions at home.

Alice Tate is a travel, food and fitness blogger. Follow her on Twitter @ALICETATE_ and Instagram @alice_tate
T wo suicide bombers who detonated explosives at the international airport in Brussels have been named by Belgian media as brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui.

The blast at the airport together with another at a metro station on Tuesday morning left about 34 people dead and 250 injured.

Belgian broadcaster RTBF said both brothers, who police believe blew themselves up in the blast, were known to the authorities and had criminal records but had not until now been linked to any terrorist activity.

Belgian police have launched a huge manhunt to find a third man who was pictured with the brothers at the airport.

He has been named in local media as 25-year-old Najim Laachraoui, who is also suspected of making explosives used in November's terror attacks on Paris.

Laachraoui is believed to have escaped following the attacks without detonating his own suitcase bomb.

Police carried out raids into the night and circulated a photo of the three men in Zaventem Airport.

According to RTBF, Khalid el-Bakraoui had used a false name to rent the Brussels flat where a gunman was killed by police in a shootout last Tuesday.

Brussels terror attacks 1 /21 Brussels terror attacks Brussels attacks Belgian media said this picture shows the mangled train damaged by the large bomb Brussels attacks A CCTV image released by Belgian police of three suspected bombers at Brussels airport Brussels attacks Tiles fell from the ceiling near check-in desks after two explosions rocked Brussels airport PA Wire Brussels attacks Smoke is seen rising from terminal buildings Brussels attacks An injured woman sits on a chair at Brussels airport in the aftermath of a suicide attack Brussels attacks Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters / Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks Passengers flee after an explosion on the Brussels Metro Brussels attacks Passengers are evacuated from a train in a tunnel near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels Twitter / @evanlamos Brussels attacks Armed police near Brussels Airport Anthony Barrett/PA Wire Brussels attacks Damage inside Brussels Airport Fethi Guloglu/PA Wire Brussels attacks Airport staff in the aftermath of the bombings Brussels attacks Airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building EPA Brussels attacks Shocked passngers and crew leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport Reuters/Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks The security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station following the deadly blast Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Brussels attacks Scenes of carnage: Blown out windows at Brussels Airport following the explosions Jef Versele/PA Brussels attacks Passengers and airport staff stand outside the airport terminal building after it is evacuated EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE

During the raid on the apartment in the Forest area of the Belgian capital police officers found a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, the print suspect in the November Paris terror attacks.

Abdeslam was arrested in a seperate raid last Friday.

Belgium is observing three days of national mourning following Tuesday's atrocities.

Police believe this man, seen at Brussels airport, is Najim Laachraoui

Flights from London to Brussels remain cancelled today, and passengers are advised to check with their airline be travelling.

Eurostar trains are expected to run as normal, but increased security means passengers should allow extra time for check-in.

Zaventem Airport and several Brussels metro stations remain closed today, with security forces reportedly searching all bags on the underground network.

Police are standing guard around Brussels landmarks and the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous residents begin returning to school and work under a misty rain.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Belgian attacks and warned of more strikes against anti-IS allies.

It issued a communique promising "dark days" for countries taking part in the coalition against the terror group.

Meanwhile, the US military said it had launched an air strike in Yemen against the branch of al Qaida responsible for the attacks in France that killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine last January.

A tribal member at the site said about 40 people were killed or wounded in the Brom Maifa district.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said: "We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield."

This page is being updated
A prolific thief who stole 18,000 worth of handbags and jewellery by preying on tourists in London has been jailed for three years.

Jodie Finn, 33, took the bags from the unsuspecting victims while they sat at cafes in St Pancras International. One victim, Shanti DeBois Juznan, lost 15,732 worth of goods, including jewellery, 2,000 euros, 200 Australian dollars, and her phone and keys.

Another victims bag  valued at 800  contained a digital camera and 400 in cash, while two more victims lost bags estimated to be worth 500 each.

After her arrest, Finn, who has 25 different aliases and 81 previous convictions, was given a chance by Judge Michael Gledhill QC to attend a drug rehabilitation course, but she walked out of it and then stole a handbag worth 700.

Jailing her for three years at Southwark crown court, the judge said: I wanted to try to break the cycle that you have put yourself in of committing offences to raise money for your drug addiction. Everything the court has tried to do to encourage you to stop committing offences has failed miserably.

Caroline Jackson, defending, claimed Finn had given it a good go in rehab, and blamed her cycle of drug use and crime on her traumatic childhood.

Due to the emotional trauma of what happened to her she ended up taking drugs  that lifestyle has continued and persisted, she said.

Finn, of Lambeth, admitted five counts of theft from a person, one charge of fraud by false representation and breaching an anti-social behaviour order.

She was jailed for two years for the thefts and fraud, and an extra year for breaching the Asbo.


Ever since she showed her support for the billionaire, she has been harassed at her business.



Before thousands of eyes were on her Saturday afternoon, Trump spotted not her, but her sign which read "Latinos support D. Trump."



While KGUN9 was inside Sammy's Mexican Grill, the phone rang several dozen times, many calling Betty Rivas and her family racists, vulgar names and threatening their business.



Betty Rivas and her husband Jorge - own the restaurant in Catalina, and she posted a photo of her and Trump on stage on her own Facebook page. But, she says some of her friends must not have agreed, sharing the post and putting her family business at the center of this controversy.



Many of the Facebook posts we came across today were vulgar in nature. We captured screenshots of several that were later deleted from the Sammy's Mexican Grill Facebook page. They can be viewed above in the media player.



But, Rivas told KGUN9, she's shocked at all the controversy this sign has created because - she took a similiar sign to the Bernie Sanders rally in Tucson. That's right - she has not even decided who she is going to vote for.



Despite all the drama though, Rivas does not regret making that sign and going on stage at all.




A man is seriously injured in hospital after being shot in the face in Tottenham.

Armed police were called to High Road at 9.55pm on Tuesday following reports a man walked into a shop and claimed he had been shot.

Officers and paramedics attended the scene and did not find the victim, but discovered an incident had taken placed in Lordship Lane.

Minutes later, police were called to reports of an abandoned vehicle in Lordship Lane and three men were seen fleeing the area.

Police were later contacted by staff at a north London hospital, stating a 26-year-old man had been brought in with gunshot injuries to his face.

A Metropolitan Police Service spokesman said the mans injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

No arrests have been made and officers from the Trident and Area Crime Command are continuing to investigate.

Anyone with information should call the Trident and Area Crime Command on 0208 217 7383 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T he mother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp has been found guilty of attacking and shouting racist abuse at a Kosovan woman in a row over a supermarket parking space.

Tia's mother, Natalie Sharp, attacked Selvete Selmani in the Lidl superstore car park in Wallington, south London, on April 18 last year.

Ms Selmani said she feared Sharp was "going to kill" her during the attack, which began after Ms Selmani parked in a mother-and-baby parking space, despite not having children with her.

The 34-year-old previously admitted one charge of assault by beating and on Wednesday at Croydon Crown Court was found guilty of racially aggravated common assault, and was sentenced to 12 months community service with unpaid work.

Natalie Sharp (right), mother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp, with Christine Bicknell (left), Tia's grandmother, arrive at Croydon Crown Court / Lauren Hurley/PA

She will also pay a statutory surcharge of 60 and 40 compensation to the victim.

The court heard how the attack took place in a public car park in front of young children, including single-mum Sharp's two boys.

Judge Woodley said: "Ms Selmani was traumatised, shaking and crying. It was to any view disgraceful behaviour."

Duncan Cooke, prosecuting, said during the assault Sharp, of Canterbury Road, Morden, punched the victim three times in the head, kicked her legs and grabbed her by the hair.

Sharp also swore at Ms Selmani and said "go back to your own country", the court was told.

Tia's grandmother Christine Bicknell, 50, of Torrington Square, Croydon, has also been found guilty of racially aggravated harassment and was given a 12 month community order with unpaid work and told to pay a statutory surcharge.

Judge Sonia Woodley QC said the grandmother "behaved in a disgraceful way" by invading the victim's personal space and wagging her finger whilst racially abusing her.

Both women were found guilty after a jury deliberated for less than three hours at Croydon Crown Court.

Tia was 12 when she was murdered in New Addington, south-east London, in August 2012. Stuart Hazell was jailed for a minimum 38 years for her murder the following May.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
A man was stabbed and smacked round the head with a handgun after confronting two masked burglars at his west London home, police say.

The men forced their way into a flat in Shadwell Drive, Northolt, at around 1.30am on March 19 and threatened the man, in his 40s, when he confronted them.

He was stabbed several times and hit with a gun as his attackers searched for jewellery and cash.

The victim was taken to hospital but has since been discharged.

Police describe the pair as young black men, both 6ft or taller and wearing dark tracksuits.

They are believed to have left on foot carrying a laptop and various items of jewellery, possibly contained in a brown box.

Anyone with information should call police via 101 quoting 2506653/16 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
M ore than a quarter of babies born at north London's Royal Free Hospital are delivered by caesarean section.

Experts believe demanding middle-class mothers may be the reason behind the procedure's popularity at the Hampstead hospital, where c-sections are more prevalent than anywhere else.

Just 13 per cent of deliveries carried out at the Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals trust are caesareans - less than half the rate at the Royal Free.

The figures come in a report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Experts say previous bad experience of childbirth could also be a factor.

The report said: Local NHS trust protocols regarding caesarean section on maternal request will likely have some influence on the variation seen.

Clinician attitudes towards these justifications will also likely influence the probability of a maternal request for caesarean section being facilitated.

Louise Silverton, director of midwifery for the Royal College of Midwives, told The Times: Units where they have a particularly well-informed population seem to section more.

Some women do opt for a caesarean section because they can't cope with the uncertainty.

"They control the rest of their lives but they can't control labour.

David Richmond, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said he was concerned about the amount of variation found in the report.

He added: It is paramount that maternity units have information about their services, as well as the ability to compare themselves to the national average and to their peers.

Caesarean sections have risen over the years now take place in more than one in five childbirths.
T he girlfriend of an Uber driver killed when his superbike collided with a black cab near Marble Arch today described him as a kind soul.

Marian Suruianu, 25, was thrown from his white Suzuki bike early on Sunday morning when he hit the side of the taxi at the junction of Bayswater Road and Hyde Park Street.

The Romanian had moved to the UK three years ago to send money home to his family after his father died.

He was on his way back from a ride with fellow bikers when the accident happened shortly after midnight.

In his last Facebook message less than 12 hours earlier he had posted a picture of his bike at Alexandra Palace with the caption feeling happy.

Mr Suruianus girlfriend Maria Caval, who lived with him in Burnt Oak, said: He was an amazing person and a kind soul, he was just wonderful. She added on Facebook: I will always love you my baby. On Sunday the love of my life faded. I didnt get the chance to say goodbye. May you rest in peace.

Mr Suruianu bought his dream bike eight months ago. This year, he became an uncle when his niece Andrea-Maria was born. His friend Georgiana said: Now he will never get to see his niece grow up. She was his whole life.

She added: He worked so hard to save up for that bike. It was always his dream and he finally got it but thats what killed him in the end.

Riding motorcycles was his first love. He was always so careful because he needed his licence to work.

Mr Suruianus best friend Christian Brute was driving his Uber taxi when he came across the police blockade at the crash site. He said: A friend rang to tell me he [Mr Suruianu] was involved and I thought it was a bad joke. But I got to the road and could see the blue tent where his body was. We were supposed to meet up later that day. You just couldnt be sad around him, he was always smiling and laughing. It is not fair. More than a dozen bouquets of flowers have been laid at the scene.

Mr Suruianus sister Gabriela has appealed for help to take his body to Romania after being told it would cost 8,000. She hopes to bury him in Pechea, next to his father.

The driver of the black cab stopped at the scene. No arrests have been made.

Witnesses should contact the Mets Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 020 8543 5157 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
T he Belgian flag will tonight be beamed onto landmarks across London to honour the victims of the Brussels attacks.

The National Gallery and the London Eye will light up in Belgium's national colours as London pays tribute to the dozens killed and hundreds injured in Tuesdays bombings.

Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, the National Theatre and Wembley Stadium will also display the colours this evening.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: The scenes in Belgium were truly appalling and it is important we pay tribute to the victims, as well as show our solidarity with the people of Brussels.

They have the sympathy of every Londoner and our thoughts will be with them as they do their best to recover from this despicable atrocity.

Last night, landmarks across Europe including the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain were illuminated in the aftermath of the bombings, which claimed at least 31 lives.

Landmarks light up in honour of Brussels victims 1 /8 Landmarks light up in honour of Brussels victims The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colours AP Photo/Thibault Camus Two Belgian flags are projected on to Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill EPA The black, yellow, and red colors of the Belgian flag are projected on the courthouse in Lyon REUTERS/Robert Pratta The Belgian flag is projected on the Trevi Fountain in Rome AP Photo/Andrew Medichini The Brandenburg gate lit up in the Belgian colours REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch The Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam, is seen with the black, yellow and red colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks EPA/EVERT ELZINGA

Two bombs were detonated at an airport and another blast went off on the city's metro system, leaving a further 270 people injured.

Jennette Arnold, chair of the London Assembly, said: We must send a clear signal that atrocities like the events in Brussels yesterday will be not be tolerated.

When London lights up its landmarks, we are condemning terror and mindless acts of violence and standing side by side with Belgians in their tragic hour.

City Hall also announced that Trafalgar Square will host a vigil on Thursday from 6pm to 10pm, organised in partnership with the Belgian embassy.

A 25-metre silk flag will be placed in the central staircase in the square.
L ondon tonight paid tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks as landmarks across the city were illuminated in the colours of Belgium.

Two Belgian flags were beamed onto the National Gallery and other sites including the London Eye and Tower Bridge were lit up in the flag's colours of black, yellow and red.

The National Theatre, on the Southbank, and the arch above Wembley Stadium also displayed the colours as a mark of respect following the devastating attacks, which killed at least 31 and injured 270.

London landmarks illuminated in Belgian national colours 1 /6 London landmarks illuminated in Belgian national colours A Belgian flag projected on to the National Gallery @_CaitlinDoherty/Twitter The National Gallery displayed two flags Kieran Brown The flag shines on the National Theatre @davidelson_/Twitter Lights shining in Trafalgar Square Kieran Brown The Wembley Stadium arche illuminated with the colours of the Belgian flag Getty

Londoners posted messages of solidarity as they shared photos of the scenes on social media.

Meredith Lloyd, who was in Trafalgar Square, tweeted: Strong showing of solidarity with #Brussels at @NationalGallery tonight. Freedom beats terror.

Dorothea Kleine wrote: "London stands with #Brussels."

London joined cities across the world in honouring the victims.

Last night, landmarks across Europe including the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain were illuminated in the aftermath of the bombings.

Speaking earlier, London mayor Boris Johnson said: "The scenes in Belgium were truly appalling and it is important we pay tribute to the victims, as well as show our solidarity with the people of Brussels.

They have the sympathy of every Londoner and our thoughts will be with them as they do their best to recover from this despicable atrocity.

Jennette Arnold, chair of the London Assembly, said: We must send a clear signal that atrocities like the events in Brussels yesterday will be not be tolerated.

When London lights up its landmarks, we are condemning terror and mindless acts of violence and standing side by side with Belgians in their tragic hour.

Landmarks light up in honour of Brussels victims 1 /8 Landmarks light up in honour of Brussels victims The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colours AP Photo/Thibault Camus Two Belgian flags are projected on to Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill EPA The black, yellow, and red colors of the Belgian flag are projected on the courthouse in Lyon REUTERS/Robert Pratta The Belgian flag is projected on the Trevi Fountain in Rome AP Photo/Andrew Medichini The Brandenburg gate lit up in the Belgian colours REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch The Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam, is seen with the black, yellow and red colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks EPA/EVERT ELZINGA

City Hall has announced that Trafalgar Square will host a vigil on Thursday from 6pm to 10pm, organised in partnership with the Belgian embassy.

A 25-metre silk flag will be placed in the central staircase in the square.
A Croydon man has been mocked relentlessly after he boasted on Twitter about how he "confronted" a Muslim woman in the street and demanded she explain the Brussels attacks.

In a tweet that was later deleted, the apparent London School of Economics graduate wrote: "I confronted a Muslim woman in Croydon yesterday. I asked her to explain Brussels.

"She said 'nothing to do with me'. A mealy mouthed reply."

His post sparked a flurry of tweets mocking his phrase "mealy mouthed reply", and his apparent suggestion that the Muslim woman was responsible for the Brussels attacks.

Rob Manuel tweeted: "I confronted an Irish women yesterday in Camden. I asked her to explain Bono. She said 'Nothing to do with me'. A mealy mouthed reply."

While Mick McAvoy wrote: "Confronted a ginger person yesterday. Asked him to explain Ed Sheeran. Said 'Nothing to do with me' #Mealymouthed"

And Timmy Tour posted: "Confronted Delia Smith on the street today. Asked her to explain Brussels. She said boil then simmer for 15 mins. A mealy mouthed reply."

While Daniel Harris said: "Confronted Liam Gallagher about the bun in the oven. He said 'Nothing to do with me'. A mealy mouthed reply."

Tweet: The man posted a series of tweets after his controversial post was deleted / Twitter

The man, who according to social media profiles is an LSE history graduate, also made a number of posts to Twitter and Facebook about Muslims in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

He tweeted: "Britain is for Britain's (sic) and those who accept our currency of decent behaviour and an intolerance of the Islamic threat to our nation."

Controversial: Some of the tweets / Facebook

And: "How long can decent British people put up with this Islamic horror?"

And on Facebook he wrote: "NO MORE MUSLIM MIGRATION."

Facebook: The comments were made in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks / Facebook

After facing a backlash on Twitter, he initially said his tweet had been meant as a joke, but later admitted the incident had happened.

He tweeted: "Thank you for your thoughts. The incident did happen yesterday - If I was anyway threatening - I would be reported. Confront is a bad word."

Posts: the man shared his opinions on social media / Facebook

The man did not respond to the Evening Standard's request for comment.
T wo Islamic State-inspired jihadists who grew up in the same streets as Jihadi John are facing jail for plotting to execute soldiers and police officers in drive-by shootings on British streets.

Tarik Hassane, 22, and King's College London student Suhaib Majeed, 21, concocted the plan while in secret communication with terrorists in Syria, it is believed.

They had carried out reconnaissance missions on intended targets including Shepherds Bush police station and the Parachute Regiment Territorial Army Barracks at White City.

A photo of Tarik Hassane with a gun, found on Suhaib Majeed's mobile phone / CPS/PA

But anti-terror police stepped in when the men acquired a gun and ammunition and looked like they were close to pulling off the attack.

Police said the plot had echoes of last years terror attacks in Paris and marked an increase in the complexity of jihadi plans being forged by would-be extremist killers.

Hassane, nicknamed The Surgeon, was the mastermind of the attack, issuing directives to the rest of the terror cell while studying medicine at a university in Khartoum, Sudan.

Another photo of Tarik Hassane found on Suhaib Majeed's mobile / CPS/PA

Majeed was studying physics at the prestigious King's College London and was chairman of its Islamic society.

He and Hassane were childhood friends, raised in the same neighbourhood in Ladbroke Grove as infamous Isis executioner Mohammed Emwazi  better known as Jihadi John.

Suhaib Majeed (left) and Tarik Hassane while under surveillance / CPS/PA

Hassane initially denied his part in the 2014 drive-by plot but changed his plea to guilty in the middle of an Old Bailey trial, admitting planning terrorist acts and conspiracy to murder.

Majeed denied the same charges but was convicted by the jury today after nearly 30 hours of deliberation.

Suhaib Majeed (right) walking while under surveillance / CPS/PA

Their co-defendants Nathan Cuffy, 26, and Nyall Hamlett, 25, denied being linked to the jihadi plot and were both found not guilty by the jury of conspiracy to murder and preparation of terrorist acts.

Cuffy had already pleaded guilty to possessing four guns and ammunition with intent to endanger life, while Hamlett also admitted gun charges.

Following the verdicts, Commander Dean Haydon from Scotland Yards counter terrorism command said the plot was more complex and developed than other Isis-driven terror attacks in London including the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.

It is about acquiring a moped, committing a drive-by shooting and acquiring firearms and ammunition. In broad daylight they were targeting police officers, military and members of the public and making good their escape.

"That's a real concern - we are almost seeing an escalation.

He continued: It does draw parallels in a way with Paris. The attackers were intent on murder, they were intent on using a firearm and intent on causing fear, distress, and disorder in a particular part of west London.

Hassane questioned about online searches of the TA centre and police station

"They weren't prepared to hang around either, leaving both the public and the police and anyone concerned wondering who has committed the attack.

The plot was hatched after Hassane swore an allegiance to ISIS in July 2014, and the terror groups spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami issued a fatwa in September that year calling for followers to strike their police, security and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents.

The issuing of the fatwa endorsed what Hassane was planning to do, said Commander Haydon.

It is believed Hassane and Majeed self-radicalised using a massive cache of extremist documents, videos of beheadings, ISIS propaganda tapes, and chats using heavily encrypted software between themselves and others in Syria.

Hassane recruited his friend Majeed to the plot as the proposed gunman, and they were supplied the gun and ammunition by Cuffy with Hamlett acting as a middleman.

Three of the men were arrested after the self-loading pistol, a magazine with seven rounds of ammunition and a silencer had been acquired, but Hassane, who was still in Sudan, had not been captured.

Despite the arrests, Hassane returned to the UK and carried out reconnaissance of the targets using Google Earth before his eventual arrest.

Cdr Dean Haydon discusses verdict of drive-by shootings terror plot

"It shows how determined Hassane was to carry out his plot, said Commander Haydon.

He was the leader of the group and despite the arrests of all his associates, he was still conducting hostile reconnaissance. That tells me how dangerous he was.

Hassane, who now lives in Dalgarno Way, North Kensington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder and preparation of terrorist acts midway through the trial.

Majeed, from St John's Wood, Hamlett, of Great Western Road, Paddington, and Cuffy, of Dartmouth Close, Notting Hill, all denied conspiracy to murder and preparation of terrorist acts.

Majeed was convicted while the other two were found not guilty.

Cuffy pleaded guilty before the trial to four counts of possessing prohibited weapons and one count of possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, all with intent to endanger life.

Hamlett also pleaded guilty to transferring a firearm and ammunition to Majeed, who admitted possessing ammunition and a prohibited weapon and was found guilty by the jury of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Mr Justice Wilkie remanded all four defendants in custody until a sentencing hearing on a date in April yet to be set.
P arliamentary authorities today halted a live BBC broadcast because of a disability benefit cuts protest shown in the background.

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith was interrupted by a parliamentary official and ordered to stop filming due to an ongoing protest by disability campaigners, who were chanting Cameron killer.

The broadcaster told viewers: There has been a protest by a number of disability protesters inside Central Lobby because of their anger, before he was interrupted by the parliamentary worker.

Appearing in shot, she said: Sorry, youre going to have to stop. You cant film with this going on in the background.

Its part of the rules and conditions of you using this area and youre not allowed to film.

Mr Smith replied: Were not allowed to film this, why not?, before agreeing to stop the broadcast mid-report.

Dozens of protestors from groups including Disabled People Against the Cuts and Win Visible gathered inside Central Lobby near the House of Commons during Prime Ministers Questions.

The Government has made a U-turn on planned cuts to PIP but approved cuts to the Employment and Support Allowance benefit.

A House of Commons spokesperson said: "Broadcasting in Central Lobby must be in the context of an interview with a Member or an introduction or commentary on specific business in the House that day.

"These conditions were not being complied with, so the broadcasters were asked to suspend temporarily."
The Islamic States Cyber Army used an online cellphone app to post a kill list of names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal information on 36 police officers in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.The FBI said this week it is investigating the case but analysts say its obvious why ISIS chose to target the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.The area is home to Americas largest Somali refugee community and has been a hotbed of Islamic terrorist recruitment dating back to at least 2007. Since then more than 34 young Somalis have left Minnesota to join the ranks of foreign terror groups, including the Islamic State in Syria and al-Shabab in Somalia. Others have been convicted of sending material support to overseas terrorist organizations.Its not as though Congress hasnt been warned about the festering radicalism of Somali youthBack in March 2009 the Senate Homeland Security Committee heard testimony that Somali youth were being radicalized in Minnesota.The 2009 hearing highlighted the case of Shirwa Ahmed, a 27-year-old Somali who came to Minnesota as a refugee and was radicalized in his adopted country by al-Shabab  which convinced him to travel to Somalia and blow himself up along with 29 others.The idea that Ahmed was radicalized in the United States raised red flags throughout the U.S. intelligence community, CNN reported at the time. The incident  the first suicide bombing by a naturalized U.S. citizen  was the most significant case of homegrown American terrorism recruiting based on violent Islamist ideology, then Sen. Joseph Lieberman said at the Senate hearing.The problem has only gotten worse since 2009. Andrew Luger, the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, admitted last spring, after six more Somalis were arrested for trying to board planes bound for Turkey with plans to join ISIS, that his state has a terror-recruitment problem.Yet, the Obama administration has kept the pipeline of new Somali refugees well-oiled. They continue to come at a rate of 700 per month, most of them coming from United Nations camps in Kenya  camps that the Kenyan president has threatened to shut down because of their suspected ties to terrorist attacks inside his country.The problem of terror recruitment in Minnesota has become so palpable that the federal government is now issuing grants to nonprofits for the purpose of teaching young Somalis not to succumb to the temptation of joining extremists like ISIS and al-ShababAccording to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, six organizations working with Somali youth in Minnesota have been awarded $300,000 in grants as part of a federal pilot program designed to combat terrorism. Boston and Los Angeles are also participating.Marcus Pope, director of partnerships and external relations for Youthprise, the nonprofit administering the money, said Minnesota is home to many creative and bright Somali youth, but many of them face formidable challenges, including a sense of alienation, a search for identity as new immigrants, unemployment and poverty that can open them to recruitment by extremist groups.Of course many immigrants throughout American history could offer the same excuse, that they came to their new country with nothing but the shirts on their backs  dirt poor  but they did not have a history of participating in terrorism nor did they offer aid to those who wished to harm America.This begs the question, if the Somalis are such a problem that they require special taxpayer-funded programs to teach them how to avoid the temptation of terrorism, why does the Obama administration continue to place them into dozens of U.S. cities and towns?The U.S. has taken in more than 115,000 Somali refugees since 1992. They have large families and some estimates put the current size of the Somali-American community at more than 200,000.And the flow continues at break-neck speed.In just the first 10 weeks of 2016, from Jan. 1 through March 17, the U.S. State Department has imported 1,984 Somali refugees from U.N. camps, according to the departments refugee database.For the past 12 months, the government has imported 8,386 Somalis. Thats an average of 700 Somalis per month going into small, medium and large cities across the United States. Towns as small as St. Cloud and Willmar, Minnesota; Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota; Irving and Amarillo, Texas; Greeley, Colorado; High Point and Durham, North Carolina; Lexington and Omaha, Nebraska; Anchorage, Alaska; Noel, Missouri; Boise, Idaho; Wichita, Kansas; Bowling Green and Owensboro, Kentucky; Portland and Lewiston, Maine, have all received at least a dozen Somali refugees over the past year. Some of these small towns, ike St. Cloud, have received hundreds of Somalis, sparking a citizen backlash that has been previously reported by WND.The Somalis have been resettle in Minnesota by Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities. The government pays these agencies nearly $2,000 for every refugee they resettle and also awards grants to provide specialized services to the refugees.Top 20 cities receiving Somali refugeesThe cities receiving the most Somali refugees over the past 12 months are as follows:Minneapolis-St. Paul  646Columbus, Ohio  412Buffalo, N.Y.  361Syracuse, N.Y.  307Dallas-Ft. Worth  302Salt Lake City, Utah  276San Diego  275St. Cloud  243Louisville, Ky.  236Phoenix, Ariz.  218Seattle, Wash.  212Erie, Pa.  207Atlanta  159Glendale, Ariz.  155Tuscon  154Boston  153Houston  150Nashville  148Kansas City, Mo.  145Portland, Ore.  132Trump only candidate with a plan?William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration or ALIPAC, said the only candidate with a plan to realistically deal with the problem is Donald Trump, who has called for a moratorium on all Muslim immigration. The refugee programs for Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan would continue in one form or another under every other candidate, he said.Muslim terrorists can only hurt us if we let them into America, Gheen said. Unfortunately, traitors inside our own government are letting terrorists in and large volumes of Muslim immigrants that are highly susceptible to terrorist recruitment.Read more at Somali ?refugee? influx continues unabated why is obama letting these people in with ties to terrorism???
B oris Johnson today said polls that show more Londoners want to stay in the EU were no impediment to him giving Brexit his support.

The Mayor also dismissed the views of business figures backing union.

He was asked at a Treasury select committee meeting by chairman Andrew Tyrie: You represent London  what are Londons views on Brexit?

Mr Johnson replied: I cant give you any particular polling detail from Londoners but ... I think they tend to be more supportive of remaining in the EU than other parts of the country.

I dont consider that necessarily to be an impediment to my position, which is to favour a change in Britains relationship with the EU.

Challenged again with the results of a YouGov poll showing support among Londoners for remaining in the EU, he said: As I say, Im aware generally of that phenomenon but I contrast it with a national position which is showing some quite interesting data in favour of leaving  and I think that is the right balance of the argument.

On polls showing financial sector staff will vote In, he said many backed joining the euro and added: They were wrong then and they are wrong now.
Z ac Goldsmith today announced he would appoint an architecture czar for London if elected mayor, to help deliver his pledge to build 50,000 more homes a year.

The Tory mayoral hopeful said the chief architect would plan new development, drive high-quality design and make developers accountable to local communities. They would also work with City Hall flying planners to give expert support to the boroughs.

Mr Goldsmith is understood to be concerned that many of the 436 tall buildings planned  such as the 72-storey Paddington Pole  are unpopular locally and will not deliver sufficient homes. As he published his housing manifesto, he also gave an explicit commitment to help more Londoners on average salaries  like teachers, nurses and police  onto the housing ladder.

The London Plan, the capitals planning guide, would be amended to make sure developers build a wider range of homes to support genuinely mixed communities. The Tories hope his pledge shows he has listened to concerns about the Governments starter homes initiative which offers discounts for properties up to 450,000, but which critics claim is still too expensive.

WHAT TORY MAYORAL HOPEFULS MANIFESTO OFFERS - Require developers to build more homes for Londoners on average pay. - Double the rate of house-building to 50,000 homes a year by 2020. - Appoint a chief architect and flying planners to provide expert support to boroughs. - Consult Londoners on what style of new homes they want to see built. - Help communities draw up their own local design guide for developers. - Guarantee homes built on TfL land are ring-fenced for Londoners. - Help more Londoners buy off-plan through a new Mayors mortgage. - Offer small builders first refusal on any public sector sites. - Set up a housing fund to match public and private investment. - Strengthen the London Rental Standard.

Housing experts say that much of the new building in the capital falls at either end of the price spectrum  affordable homes which go to social tenants or too-expensive new properties. Mr Goldsmith has warned of the effect on the social and economic fabric of the capital if too many people on average incomes are priced out. His manifesto set out plans for every borough to review the proportion of homes available to middle and low-income Londoners. They would then be asked to set out how they propose to maintain balanced communities. He would also strengthen Boris Johnsons London Rental Standard scheme to accredit landlords and letting agents.

Mr Goldsmith announced plans for a new nine-month Mayors mortgage for first-time buyers to help people locked out by shorter high-street mortgage deals to purchase properties off-plan. He said new homes should meet the needs of local people rather than being sold abroad, and he wants to to make it easier to build Victorian-style terrace homes or red-brick apartment blocks instead of new ugly blocks.

Mr Goldsmith said housing is the most important issue facing London and added: I will not just build more homes, but build better homes too.

A spokesman for Labour rival Sadiq Khan said: We need a Labour mayor to fix the housing crisis.
F riends and family have launched an urgent appeal to find a missing Briton who is said to have been on the Brussels Metro at the time of yesterdays terror blast.

David Dixon, who lives in the Belgian capital but is originally from Hartlepool, has not been seen since the attacks during rush hour on Tuesday.

He is thought to have been using the underground network to get to work when an explosion ripped through train carriages near Maalbeek station yards from EU buildings.

In a Facebook post, friend Rachel Stevenson wrote: My friend David Dixon was on the metro at the time of the blasts and is still missing - he hasn't been able to contact his partner. If you know people in #Brussels, please can you share this post and if anyone sees him, get in touch with Charlotte Louise Sutcliffe.

Simon Hartley-Jones, who described himself as a "very good friend" of Mr Dixon, said he was missing and asked his followers to retweet the appeal to find him.

It came as the details of others feared dead in the blast began to emerge.

Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37, was the first to be identified among the dead after a spokeswoman for Perus foreign ministry said she was killed in one of the Zaventem Airport explosions.

Confirmed dead: Adelma Tapia Ruiz with a man thought to be her partner / Facebook

Her brother Fernando Tapia told Peruvian radio station RPP that his sister was at the airport with her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin four-year-old daughters Maureen and Alondra, who also have Belgian nationality.

He said the others were unhurt because they had left the area where the explosions occurred, moments before the bombs detonated.

Two American siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were also inside the airport terminal at the time of the attack and have not been seen since.

Not heard from: New Yorker Sascha Pinczowski was with her brother Alexander at the airport when suicide bombers struck / Facebook

According to Dutch media reports, the pair were on the phone to family when the suicide bombers struck and the line went dead.

Advice for friends and family of missing Britons Anyone worried about a relative in Brussels can contact the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 0000. There is also Belgian Crisis Centre for general enquiries which can be contacted on +32 7815 1771 from outside Belgium

At least two of the people injured are British, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said, although their identities have not yet been revealed.
M ajor UK retailers have signed a pledge to crackdown on the sale of knives to children and teenagers.

Numerous online retailers along with high street stores have committed to requiring proof of age at point of purchase, collection or delivery under a voluntary agreement announced by Home Secretary Theresa May on Wednesday.

Supermarkets Tesco, Lidl UK, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Waitrose have all made the commitment alongside Amazon UK, Wilko, Argos, Poundland and John Lewis. eBay UK said it also supports the crackdown.

Legislation to ban zombie killer knives is also set to be introduced, Mrs May confirmed.

Mrs May told a policing conference in London the Government has struck an agreement with retailers on a set of principles to prevent the under-age sale of knives in their shops and through their websites.

She said: The agreement means that the retailers will have committed to requiring proof of age at point of purchase, collection or delivery, that knifes will be displayed safely and packaged securely and that staff will receive regular training.

Law enforcement agencies will carry out follow-up test purchases in six months.

The Home Secretary added the Government will work closely with the British Retail Consortium to get other retailers to commit to the principles.

She said: "Knife crime has a devastating impact on victims, families and communities, and I am determined to do all I can to prevent it."

Action is also being taken to ban the sale, manufacture and importation of "zombie killer knives". Under secondary legislation, offenders will face up to four years in prison.

Mrs May said they "glamorise violence and are clearly targeted at young people.

She added: "These are dangerous weapons and have absolutely no place on our streets."

It came as the Government launched a new Modern Crime Prevention Strategy which identified six key "drivers" of crime - opportunity, character, the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, profit, drugs and alcohol.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
N otorious hackers Anonymous have vowed to punish Islamic State in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks.

The cyber group once again pledged to strike at the terrorists by targeting them on the web, a day after at least 31 were killed in three blasts in the Belgian capital.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks at an airport and a metro station, which also left 270 injured.

In a video released on Wednesday, an Anonymous hacker wearing the groups trademark Guy Fawkes mask issued a warning to the terrorists.

"Our freedom is once again under attack, the message says.

"This cannot continue We have laid siege to your propaganda websites, tested them with our cyber attacks, however we will not rest as long as terrorists continue their actions around the world.

"We will strike back against them. To the supporters of Daesh, we will track you down, we will find you, we are everywhere and we are more than you can imagine.

"Be afraid."

Anonymous previously declared war on the terrorists after the Paris attacks in November.

It claims to have hacked and shut down thousands of social media accounts belonging to extremists.
P assengers on the Brussels Metro network have had their bags checked by soldiers in the wake of deadly attacks in the Belgian capital.

Commuters and tourists were made to show their belongings to armed troops before they were allowed to enter the station at de Brouckere.

Brussels residents have remained defiant since Tuesday mornings attacks, insisting they would not be intimidated by terrorists.

Student Iman Ben Madhkonr, 21, from Molenbeek, said that Brussels will remain a multi-cultural city and Belgians should not react with fright to the attacks which killed at least 24 people.

Armed: The searches come in the wake of the ISIS attacks in Brussels / REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

She said: People are scared, thats normal, but I dont want to be led by the fact that Im scared, I want to be led by the fact there is still hope.

If we keep getting scared, and people are too scared to go out on to the streets and on to the Metro, then we cant continue, and thats not how I want to live.

Ms Madhkor added: Brussels is a multi-cultural city. Here you can see brown, black and white people and I'm really happy about that because that's what Brussels has always been and always will be.
B londes women have higher IQs than brunettes and redheads, scientists claim.

A study by The Ohio State University found the dumb blonde stereotype is incorrect, with fair haired women scoring an average IQ three points higher than brunettes or those with red or black hair.

The study of 10,878 people found blonde-haired white women had an average IQ of 103.2, compared to 102.7 for those with brown hair, 101.2 for those with red hair and 100.5 for those with black hair.

Blonde women were more likely to be in the highest IQ category than those with other hair colours and slightly less likely to be in the lowest IQ category according to the study published in the Economics Bulletin journal.

Research scientist Jay Zagorsky said: This study provides compelling evidence that there shouldnt be any discrimination against blondes based on their intelligence.

I dont think you can say with certainty that blondes are smarter than others, but you can definitely say they are not any dumber.

TODO: define component type apester

If blondes have any slight advantage, it may simply be that they were more likely to grow up in homes with more intellectual stimulation.

In men, those with fair hair also had IQs roughly equal to men with darker hair colours.
H eavily armed police made an arrest in their hunt for the 'man in white' suspected of being a mastermind behind the Brussels terror attacks in which 34 people died.

There were conflicting reports today over whether Najim Laachraoui, the 24-year-old bomb maker in chief was the man arrested by special forces in a swoop in the Anderlecht area today.

Initial reports suggested 24-year-old Laachraoui had been detained by police.

However officials later refuted this, saying a different man was held.

The main suspects in the Brussels airport attacks are said to be brothers who were known to police

The Islamic State suicide bombers who brought carnage to Brussels airport were today identified as well known criminals with direct links to the Paris massacres.

Brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui were the two men who exploded their devices in a packed departure lounge on Tuesday morning.

The federal prosecutor confirmed on Wednesday that the two brothers had carried out the attacks, adding that airport bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui had left a will on a computer that was found.

His brother Khalid blew himself up on a carriage of the Brussels metro at Maelbeek station, Frederic Van Leeuw told a news conference.

Their brutality led to 34 people being killed and 230 seriously wounded in coordinated atrocities at the airport and a Brussels Metro station.

The men had, most recently, been on the run for almost ten days following a shoot-out in a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital.

Brussels terror attacks 1 /21 Brussels terror attacks Brussels attacks Belgian media said this picture shows the mangled train damaged by the large bomb Brussels attacks A CCTV image released by Belgian police of three suspected bombers at Brussels airport Brussels attacks Tiles fell from the ceiling near check-in desks after two explosions rocked Brussels airport PA Wire Brussels attacks Smoke is seen rising from terminal buildings Brussels attacks An injured woman sits on a chair at Brussels airport in the aftermath of a suicide attack Brussels attacks Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters / Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks Passengers flee after an explosion on the Brussels Metro Brussels attacks Passengers are evacuated from a train in a tunnel near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels Twitter / @evanlamos Brussels attacks Armed police near Brussels Airport Anthony Barrett/PA Wire Brussels attacks Damage inside Brussels Airport Fethi Guloglu/PA Wire Brussels attacks Airport staff in the aftermath of the bombings Brussels attacks Airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building EPA Brussels attacks Shocked passngers and crew leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport Reuters/Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks The security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station following the deadly blast Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Brussels attacks Scenes of carnage: Blown out windows at Brussels Airport following the explosions Jef Versele/PA Brussels attacks Passengers and airport staff stand outside the airport terminal building after it is evacuated EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE

Yet they still managed to find another address to stay a couple of miles away, where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesdays attacks.

Two other men captured on CCTV at the airport with Ibrahim had yet to be identified, Mr Van Leeuw told a news conference.
T he Belgian authorities were warned one of the Brussels killers was a terrorist but allowed him to walk free, Turkish officials have said.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, one of the suicide bombers at the airport, was caught in June at the Turkish-Syrian border and was deported to the Netherlands.

Turkish authorities say they warned Belgium and the Netherlands he was a "foreign terrorist fighter", but that he was allowed to go free because Belgium could not link him to terrorism.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism".

Prosecutors said at least 31 people were killed and 270 injured in the three suicide bomb attacks at an airport and metro station in Brussels on Tuesday morning, and the death toll could rise.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who is also known as Brahim, and his brother Khalid both died in the coordinated blasts along with a third suicide bomber, whose identity is not known.

A massive international manhunt has been launched to hunt down the fourth attacker, who has been named in reports as 24 year-old Najim Laachraoui.

Brussels attacks: Manhunt for terrorist at large after bomber brothers revealed

Dubbed "the man in white", he was pictured with two of the men at Zaventem Airport shortly before the blast and left a bomb carrying the "biggest charge" which failed to explode.

French media said he is also linked to the Paris terror attacks last November which saw 130 people killed and many more injured in strikes across the capital.

Reports said his DNA was found on explosive belts found at the Bataclan theatre and the Stade de France following the killings.

As security services continue to comb the country hunting for the killer, it emerged that Ibrahim El Bakraoui left a note in a bin.

In the testament, found on a computer dumped in a bin in the Schaerbeek area in Brussels, he told how he was "on the run" and did not "know what to do".

Brussels terror attacks 1 /21 Brussels terror attacks Brussels attacks Belgian media said this picture shows the mangled train damaged by the large bomb Brussels attacks A CCTV image released by Belgian police of three suspected bombers at Brussels airport Brussels attacks Tiles fell from the ceiling near check-in desks after two explosions rocked Brussels airport PA Wire Brussels attacks Smoke is seen rising from terminal buildings Brussels attacks An injured woman sits on a chair at Brussels airport in the aftermath of a suicide attack Brussels attacks Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters / Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks Passengers flee after an explosion on the Brussels Metro Brussels attacks Passengers are evacuated from a train in a tunnel near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels Twitter / @evanlamos Brussels attacks Armed police near Brussels Airport Anthony Barrett/PA Wire Brussels attacks Damage inside Brussels Airport Fethi Guloglu/PA Wire Brussels attacks Airport staff in the aftermath of the bombings Brussels attacks Airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building EPA Brussels attacks Shocked passngers and crew leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport Reuters/Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks The security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station following the deadly blast Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Brussels attacks Scenes of carnage: Blown out windows at Brussels Airport following the explosions Jef Versele/PA Brussels attacks Passengers and airport staff stand outside the airport terminal building after it is evacuated EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE

Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a press conference: "We have found a written testament by Brahim El Bakraoui in which he said: 'I don't know what to do. I'm in a hurry. I'm on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up then I'll end up in a cell."'

Mr Van Leeuw said two people were arrested on Tuesday night.

One person has been released, but the other, arrested in Schaerbeek, is being questioned.

He said two of the dead attackers had criminal records, but this was not related to terrorism.

The prosecutor said the death toll from the attacks was 31. He warned this could rise in the coming days and widespread reports indicate it has already reached 34.

Islamic State, also known as Daesh, has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks and issued a statement in Arabic and French which threatens other countries in the anti-IS coalition with "dark days", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

As it entered a second day of mourning, Belgium held a minute's silence in memory of the victims, while Downing Street said it was concerned about a missing British national.

The family of David Dixon, who is originally from Hartlepool but was living in Brussels and has been missing since the explosions, are said to be "desperately" searching for him.

Transport terminals across the UK and Europe have boosted security in the wake of the atrocities, and Belgium's main airport is to remain closed until at least Thursday night.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.
L ondoner Amy Lame today told how she was lucky to be alive after being a whisker away from being caught in the Metro blast which killed 20 people in Brussels.

The American-born broadcaster and campaigner, who is a former mayoress of Camden, was visiting the EU parliament and got off two stops before Maalbeek station five minutes before a bomb went off at 9.10am.

Lame, 45, told the Standard: I was a whisker away. It was just a random day that we had planned for ages, but thats the scariest thing about the attack, its the randomness.

You can be five minutes late or early to checking in to your holiday and thats it. This is what IS want - that fear.

20 people were killed in the explosion

The former BBC London presenter who was in Brussels as part of a social event for political think tank Fabian Women, said: We watched the airport attacks unfold on TV at our hotel but decided to get the Metro into town anyway.

We got off at Parliament and five minutes later the report came through about the Metro explosion.

Gareth Lewis who gets off at Maalbeek for his work at the EU Parliament building said he might have been caught in the explosion had he not got off two stops earlier to get to the gym before work.

The Brussels resident, whose family live in Finchley, said: I feel lucky. After the lockdown in November following the Paris attacks we were all just waiting for an attack like this to happen.

Dimple Vijaykumar, 22, a British TV producer, who was visiting a friend in the Belgian capital, said leaving late to start a sightseeing tour could have saved her life.

She said: I woke up to so many messages asking if I was OK. My mum was so relieved to hear my voice.

Brussels terror attacks 1 /21 Brussels terror attacks Brussels attacks Belgian media said this picture shows the mangled train damaged by the large bomb Brussels attacks A CCTV image released by Belgian police of three suspected bombers at Brussels airport Brussels attacks Tiles fell from the ceiling near check-in desks after two explosions rocked Brussels airport PA Wire Brussels attacks Smoke is seen rising from terminal buildings Brussels attacks An injured woman sits on a chair at Brussels airport in the aftermath of a suicide attack Brussels attacks Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters / Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks Passengers flee after an explosion on the Brussels Metro Brussels attacks Passengers are evacuated from a train in a tunnel near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels Twitter / @evanlamos Brussels attacks Armed police near Brussels Airport Anthony Barrett/PA Wire Brussels attacks Damage inside Brussels Airport Fethi Guloglu/PA Wire Brussels attacks Airport staff in the aftermath of the bombings Brussels attacks Airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building EPA Brussels attacks Shocked passngers and crew leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport Reuters/Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks The security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station following the deadly blast Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Brussels attacks Scenes of carnage: Blown out windows at Brussels Airport following the explosions Jef Versele/PA Brussels attacks Passengers and airport staff stand outside the airport terminal building after it is evacuated EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE

An American teenager who survived the Brussels terror attacks also escaped the Boston Marathon bombing three years ago, it emerged today.

Mason Wells, 19, a Mormon missionary from Utah, suffered a severed Achilles tendon, gashed head, shrapnel injuries and severe burns in the airport blast.

His father, Chad Wells, told how he and his son were standing a block away from the finishing line of the Boston Marathon when a pressure-cooker bomb exploded in April 2013.
A suspected bombmaker accused of plotting the Paris carnage was reportedly captured today after being named with two brothers as the terrorists who attacked Brussels airport.

Special forces arrested Najim Laachraoui, 24, in the Anderlecht area this morning after a tip-off, according to local reports.

He had been named as the third man in a CCTV picture showing three men minutes before the suicide blasts which ripped through the airports departure hall early yesterday, killing 14 people.

The two others are brothers Khalid, 27, and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, also in his 20s, who blew themselves up in the busy terminal.

Laachraoui, whose DNA was allegedly found on suicide belts used in the Bataclan Theatre and the Stade de France in Paris, is believed to have failed to set off his bomb at Brussels airport.

There were also unconfirmed reports that his brother was the suicide bomber who targeted a metro station near the EU headquarters in the city centre.

Laachraoui and the El Bakraoui brothers were well known criminals and are understood to have been on the run for almost ten days following a shoot-out at a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital.

Despite the manhunt, they are believed to have hidden at another address just a couple of miles away where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesdays attacks.

The El Bakraoui brothers were known to have been heavily involved in Brussels flourishing arms trade and are suspected to have supplied weapons to the Paris attackers.

Ibrahim was convicted of firing a Kalashnikov at police in 2010, during an armed raid, but was released from prison after a short sentence.

The revelations left Belgiums security services and political leaders facing growing questions over why more was not done to capture the men before the atrocity.

The main suspects in the Brussels airport attacks are said to be brothers who were known to police

Amid the mourning and anger at the terrorist outrage, which left 34 people dead and 230 seriously wounded in co-ordinated attacks at the airport and the Maalbeek metro station, details started to emerge about how the killers were identified.

A taxi driver who drove the El Bakraouis and Laachraoui to the airport was under armed guard as he provided vital evidence.

Police received a call from the driver, who has not been identified, yesterday evening after CCTV footage of the prime suspects was released.

He immediately realised that all had got into his car earlier in the day, and complained that the vehicle was not big enough for all their luggage.

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The men expressed anger, and had to leave a case behind in the house where they were picked up in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels.

Belgiums VTM TV channel reported that the men would not allow the taxi driver to load the suitcases himself, and that within an hour all were at Zaventem-Brussels airport.

The three were pictured on airport security cameras as they wheeled trolleys through the departures building, but one is known to have escaped after his explosives failed to detonate.

The brothers each wore a single glove, on their left hand, which is believed to have been to conceal the trigger for their suicide bombs, packed with nails and bolts, in their suitcases.

When the taxi driver recognised all three, he tipped off police, and they raided the Schaerbeek property, finding a nail bomb, chemicals, and an Islamic State flag.

Brussels terror attacks 1 /21 Brussels terror attacks Brussels attacks Belgian media said this picture shows the mangled train damaged by the large bomb Brussels attacks A CCTV image released by Belgian police of three suspected bombers at Brussels airport Brussels attacks Tiles fell from the ceiling near check-in desks after two explosions rocked Brussels airport PA Wire Brussels attacks Smoke is seen rising from terminal buildings Brussels attacks An injured woman sits on a chair at Brussels airport in the aftermath of a suicide attack Brussels attacks Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters / Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks Passengers flee after an explosion on the Brussels Metro Brussels attacks Passengers are evacuated from a train in a tunnel near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels Twitter / @evanlamos Brussels attacks Armed police near Brussels Airport Anthony Barrett/PA Wire Brussels attacks Damage inside Brussels Airport Fethi Guloglu/PA Wire Brussels attacks Airport staff in the aftermath of the bombings Brussels attacks Airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building EPA Brussels attacks Shocked passngers and crew leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport Reuters/Francois Lenoir Brussels attacks The security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station following the deadly blast Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images Brussels attacks Scenes of carnage: Blown out windows at Brussels Airport following the explosions Jef Versele/PA Brussels attacks Passengers and airport staff stand outside the airport terminal building after it is evacuated EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE

Khalid El Bakraoui had used a false name to rent a property in Forest, as well as another in nearby Charleroi, which was also used by the Paris terrorists.

These suspects were well known to police  everything was being done to try and find them, and the hunt for Laachraoui continues, said a Belgian prosecuting source.

The attacks, for which Isis claimed responsibility, came four days after the arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old who provided vital logistics for the Paris attacks.

Absedlam had stayed in the flat in Forest, in which Mohamed Belkaid, another Isis terrorist, was shot dead during the police aid.

It is now thought that it was the El-Bakraoui brothers who fled the flat under a hail of bullets.

Brussels attacks: Manhunt for terrorist at large after bomber brothers revealed

The failure to capture the brothers left growing doubts over the ability of the security services to protect the country.

British counter-terrorism expert, Professor Peter Neumann from Londons Kings College, warned that terror threat in Belgium was partly the result of the authorities there having abandoned parts of Brussels, possibly over several decades.

He said the countrys intelligence agencies were also not capable of coping with the scale of the threat in a country which has seen a higher proportion of its citizens travelling to fight in Syria than any other European nation.

They were not built for the number of people, he said, referring to Belgiums intellingence agencies. They have never been in their history confronted with that large a number of potentially violent extremists.

But at the same time its also true that parts of Brussels have effectively been abandoned by the state, including the security agencies, not for years, but maybe for decades.

Belgium has the highest number of jihadists per capita, 500, who have gone to fight in Syria or Iraq, 500.

Guy Trouveroy, Belgiums ambassador to UK, admitted that security forces in his country had had to step up their game to meet the challenge posed by Islamist terrorists.

We went maybe pace by pace, haphazardly in the beginning. Its not easy. These are professinals and they know how to put up a commando operation, he told BBC radio.

Meanwhile, a judicial hearing in Brussels for Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam has been postponed until Thursday, apparently because of heightened security concerns in the Belgian capital.

Abdeslam, who was arrested in Brussels on Friday, was due to appear before a panel of judges who could extend his detention by another month.

French authorities are seeking his extradition so that he can be tried for his alleged role in the November attacks.

An assistant to Abdeslam's defence lawyer Sven Mary said her boss was told the hearing had been rescheduled for Thursday morning.
D ave Grohl has written a letter to Cornwall Council asking them to reconsider the current noise restrictions put on private rehearsal spaces.

The Foo Fighters frontman penned the letter on behalf of local band Black Leaves Of Envy after they were told to keep noise levels to a maximum of 30-40 decibels while rehearsing following complaints.

Grohl threw his support behind the heavy metal four piece after they reached out for help, and stressed the importance of enabling young people to make music.

"It has been brought to my attention that the band is having difficulty functioning within the current noise restrictions placed upon them by Cornwall Council, a maximum of 30-40 decibels (approximately the level of a dishwasher at 15 metres distance)," he wrote.

Grohl recalled how he started his musical career in a garage in my neighbourhood and argued: Music is not only a healthy pastime, it is a wonderful, creative outlet for kids, and fosters a sense of community necessary to the emotional and social development of any child.

The former Nirvana drummer  who shared the letter on Twitter  said he believes it is crucial that children have a place to explore their creativity and establish a sense of self through song and that the preservation of such is paramount to the future of art and music.

He continued: Without them, where would we be? As a proud father of three aspiring musicians myself, I have always made this a priority in our home, to get great results.

"For the sake of your local band Black Leaves Of Envy, and for the generations of young musicians that they may eventually inspire, I ask that you reconsider the restrictions put upon the volume of their private rehearsal space. I believe that in doing so, you will be sending a message that Cornwall is not only a home to music and the arts, but a place that encourages children to follow their dreams in a world where anything is possible."

Grohl also wrote a separate letter to the band to offer advice on soundproofing.

Black Leaves Of Envy took to Facebook to thank the musician for his support, posting: A huge thanks goes out Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters for the amazing support about our campaign. This is a giant step forward for the campaign and we are so honoured for his help.

Follow @StandardShowbiz for more entertainment news.
J ohn Cleese has hinted that he could be taking legal action over a stage show inspired by Fawlty Towers.

The legendary British comedian has branded Interactive Theatre Internationals production of The Faulty Towers Dining Experience brazen and shameful.

I've just found out from an Aussie journalist the astonishing financial success of the 'Faulty Towers Rip-Off Dining Experience'. Had no idea, he tweeted on Tuesday.

Seems they thought that by not asking, and by changing the 'w' to a 'u',they'd be in the clear! Hilarious, he added.

Responding to a follower who called the situation f****** shocking, Cleese said: Thank you Janey.That's the phrasing I'm hoping to use in Court.

He then retweeted the company, who were promoting a forthcoming show in London.

This is a good way of giving more publicity to the 'Faulty Towers Rip-Off Experience'I'd love more reports.Thanks, he wrote.

After another follower praised the show, Cleese wrote: I never heard anything was wrong with the show.After all,they start with a lot of advantages : the basic concept...

...40 years of unpaid publicity,the characters' personalities,the characters' names,the characters' dress,the characters's dialogue...

...twelve funny episodes to which they make reference,plus all the catch-phrases, without the need to pay Connie Booth and me a single cent.

Cleese is currently in Australia to promote his own stage version of Fawlty Towers, which stars Stephen Hall.


Where Can Christians Go to Literally Mourn the Shedding of Innocent Blood this Friday?

Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net CHICAGO, March 23, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- As Christians worldwide mark the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, March 25, 2016, the Pro-Life Action League leads Christians across America in The Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion , commemorating the deaths of the nearly 60 million children lost to abortion since its legalization in 1973. Seventy abortion facilities coast-to-coast will be surrounded by somber crowds praying and meditating on this Christian holy day."These children's lives are ended, deliberately, before they even get to take their first breath," explained Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League. "As Christians, we seek Christ's forgiveness for our sins. This sin of killing our own children is one of which our entire society must repent. If we cannot protect the child in the womb, we will never truly be a civilized, compassionate people. As long as we continue to discard unborn babies, all efforts to help the poor, needy and disenfranchised ring hollow. Unborn lives matter to Jesus."These prayer vigils at abortion clinics in 28 states include seven in California, five each in Pennsylvania, Texas and New York, four in Ohio and Illinois. Well over half of the abortion locations are affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion chain.Under social media hashtag #ProLifeGoodFriday, participants will share their thoughts and experiences on The Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion."More than 3,300 babies are put to death by abortion every day in the United Stateseven on Good Friday," declared Scheidler, "and it's happening in our town, in every town. This solemn day that has been revered for centuries is an ideal time for pro-life Americans to put their convictions into effective action. Each year, we witness how prayers offered for all the victims of abortionthe children lost, the mothers wounded, the communities blightedare changing hearts and saving lives," Scheidler added.The Pro-Life Action League invites clergy and concerned individuals to participate in this nationwide prayer service, The Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion, in their own communities. A list of observance locations across the nation is available here About the Pro-Life Action LeagueThe Pro-Life Action League was founded by Joe Scheidler in 1980 with the aim of saving babies from abortion through direct action. Not content to await a political or judicial solution to abortion, the League seeks to stop the killing of unborn children right now through all available peaceful means, including public protest, sidewalk counseling, education, youth outreach, and national leadership.Visit www.prolifeaction.org
As China has modernised and opened further to the outside world, such foreign names have become popular, especially for upscale residential compounds

As China has modernised and opened further to the outside world, such foreign names have become popular, especially for upscale residential compounds, as a way of showing the people who live there are international and sophisticated.

Capital City Beijing, for example, is home to apartment and villa compounds named Palm Springs, Park Avenue, Beijing Riviera and Beijing Yosemite

China will seek to root out geographic names that are deemed foreign and "bizarre", especially for residential compounds, state media quoted the civil affairs minister as saying on Tuesday.

Minister Li Liguo said China will "stem irregularities in naming the country's roads, bridges, buildings, and residential compounds, targeting arbitrary uses of foreign and bizarre names", Xinhua news agency said.

"Certain types of names will be targeted, including names that damage sovereignty and national dignity, names that violate socialist core values and conventional morality and names that induce the most public complaints," it paraphrased Li as saying. - Reuters
DENVER (AP)  A needle and syringe were in the bag of a nurse facing drug charges in Colorado, according to her suspension order from the state nursing board.

Monday's order also said St. Anthony Summit Medical Center moved quickly, conducting an audit immediately after four empty syringe devices were found in the women's locker room on Jan. 15. The audit revealed that nurse Kimberly Jeanne Burgans was requesting substantially more painkillers than her colleagues. A chart review showed she had claimed to be administering more of the drugs than patients appeared to need.

A drug test the same day showed fentanyl, a powerful painkiller for which she did not have a prescription, in Burgans's system. A colleague saw a syringe and needle in her bag on her last shift before the test.
Eighty-two students from the Scottsbluff DECA Chapter qualified to attend the Nebraska State Career Development Conference in Lincoln, March 17-19. The conference was held at the Cornhusker Hotel. Students competed in a variety of events from written tests and judged role plays to written marketing research projects, advertising campaigns, entrepreneurship projects as well as team management decision-making competitions. Students who placed in the top three in an event qualified for International DECA Career Development Conference to be held in Nashville, Tennessee, April 23-27, 2016.

Scottsbluff DECA enjoyed another outstanding year, placing in 15 events and qualifying 33 members for the International Conference in Nashville. The top three winners and their events are as follows:

Gold Level: School Based Enterprises- Patrick Madden and Owen Parra

First Place: International Business Plan - Annie Dumont, Natalie Saenz and Hailey Andrews

First Place: Jared Pilkington- Personal Financial Literacy

Second Place: Jared Pilkington, Paige Corr and Olivia Michael - Learn and Earn Project

Second Place: Ben Heggem, Eseah Ingram and Traceten Halley - Finance Operations Research

Third Place: Anna Wiebe and Hunter Scow - International Business Plan

Third Place: Katelyn Lambert - Retail Merchandising

Third Place: Shayleigh James, Reese Scripter and Sally Welsh - Hospitality and Operations Research

Third Place: Matthew Holloway, Austin Clarkson and Jonah Wright- Business Growth Plan

Third Place: Blake Wilberger - Start-Up Business Plan

Third Place: Gabrielle Holub - Financial Consulting

Third Place: Cooper Buchhammer, Gunnar Buchhammer and Shane Smith -Buying and Merchandising Operations

Third Place: Allison Mekolon - Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling

Third Place: Claire Holsinger and Nikolas Hubbard -Independent Business Plan

Third Place: Hailey Andrews- Business Services Marketing

Nebraska DECA Scholarship Winner: Natalie Saenz

The following DECA members also performed well, placing in the top eight.

Fourth Place: Karlie Johnson, Hannah Holloway and Courtney Wills - Financial Literacy Promotion Plan

Fourth Place: Jackson Thomas - Start-Up Business Plan

Fourth Place: Krista Holzworth - Restaurant and Food Service Management

Fourth Place: Krista Holzworth- Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling

Fourth Place: Karlie Johnson- Apparel and Accessories Marketing

Claire Holsinger - Apparel and Accessories Marketing

Landon Walker - Principles of Business Management

Stacea Pauli - Quick Serve Restaurant Marketing

Austin Clarkson - Food Marketing

Eseah Ingram - Sports and Entertainment Marketing

Blake Wilberger - Sports and Entertainment Marketing

Gabrielle Holub and Mallory Anthony - Financial Services Team Decision Making
Rae Ann Schmitz never gave up on her friend Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa (formerly David Rice). Not when we Langa and his friend Edward Poindexter were convicted in 1971 for the murder of an Omaha policeman in a bomb ambush. And not once during the following 45 years.

Schmitz, a mostly soft-spoken woman, who now lives in Scottsbluff, credits we Langa with being responsible for her becoming a lawyer. She chokes back tears as she tries to grasp that her friend is gone, while trying to keep a grip on his memories.

If it wasnt for what happened to him, the thought of going to law school would never have occurred to me, she said.

One night, the police came to her home as part of the investigation.

The police showed up at midnight, with guns and boots. It was terrible, she said. I called the law school the next day and said, I want in. What do I need to do?

It was 1970, the first year of affirmative action for women and Schmitz said she was told to just show up. Youre in. By the time she received her license to practice law, we Langa was already convicted. Because of attorney-client privilege, she was allowed to visit him privately. Almost every time she visited Omaha, she made a point to see her friend. She knew that he had been ill. On New Years Eve 2015, Schmitz was traveling to Hastings to visit her brother and nephew. She found out from we Langas doctor that he was at the end stages of his life.

I thought, 'this cant be,' she said. 'I spent New Years Eve with him in the infirmary.'

We Langa died in prison on Friday, March 11. He never stopped insisting he was innocent of the booby-trap bombing of police officer Larry Minard. Before he died, letters were written on his behalf for a compassionate release from prison. He was suffering from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. We Langa said it wouldnt matter. People would still think he was guilty.

The trial was controversial. While it has become history for most of us, Omaha in the late 1960s was one of the most racially charged cities in the country. There was rioting in north Omaha in 1968. Vivian Strong, 14, was shot by a white police officer in 1969. Before Minard was killed, there were bombings in several Midwestern cities. Strongs death seemed to strengthen we Langas resolve. He joined the Black Panther Party, served in the United Front Against Fascism and later, the National Committee to Combat Fascism.

Those who believe in his guilt point to the years of denied appeals as proof the right men were in prison. Michael Richardson, who met we Langa when both attended Omaha City Council meetings back in the 1960s, has spent the past decade interviewing him and Poindexter and digging through FBI files, the Omaha World-Herald said. According to Richardson, the men were targeted by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoovers Cointelpro, or counterintelligence program to discredit and disrupt the Black Panthers and other political organizations of the time. Everyone who believes in their innocence believe that evidence was either withheld, planted or tampered with. Duane Peak, the teen who planted the bomb, gave seven different accounts of what happened. Peak claimed he called 911, but voice analysis proved that to be not true.

In 2009, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected Poindexters request for a new trial based on the fact they had no idea the 911 tape existed. At one point, a new trial for we Langa was ordered because of an illegal search of his home, but a U.S. Supreme Court decision about illegal searches eliminated that possibility.

There was a lot of evidence and information that was never disclosed. At the very least, it appears the men never got a fair trial.

During the trial, Schmitz testified as an alibi witness for we Langa. Her life was irrevocably changed by the events of the trial. She testified we Langa was at her house at a party the night the bomb went off. She said about 15 people saw him there. During that day, Schmitz said she and we Langa were at a rally at the same time Peak said he was with we Langa.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, prosecutors said the two built a homemade suitcase bomb and instructed a 15-year-old youth to place it in an abandoned house in north Omaha, at 2867 Ohio St. A 911 caller reported a woman was screaming in the house. Officers responded, and when Minard, a 29-year-old married father of five, leaned over and touched the suitcase, it exploded, killing him.

Many believe we Langa and Poindexter were set up, possibly by the FBI.

I think people have a hard time swallowing this, she said. People dont want to believe that our justice system is so [messed] up.

Interest in the case has never really gone away. In a Feb. 11 edition of Buzzfeed, Alaina Carter published a story about we Langa and her father, who was a reporter for the Omaha Star and covered the trial. A book is soon to be published.

Schmitz describes her friend as a gentle man who was a gifted artist and well-respected by other inmates.

His life was not wasted, she said. He was in a place where he could affect people in a very profound way.

His brother, Michael, told Schmitz that other people had said we Langa had changed their life. He was able to take those young black men and give them something they never had, she said.

I dont think his life was a loss at all, she said. I think there were hundreds of people positively affected by his life behind those walls.

She breaks down in tears as she tells me she thinks he just got tired. He was a good one, she says. She hopes hes content. She hopes hes happy. She knows now, hes free.

Im sure theres a great big party for him on the other side, she said.

We Langa still has a pending appeal before the Nebraska Supreme Court. No date has been set for a decision. In some sense, the fight to clear your name becomes moot when you die.

I dont think the efforts of the defense committee to clear his name will ever stop, she said. Not as long as Im alive.

Nebraskans for Justice arent giving up. Everyone is still fighting for Poindexter. With his name cleared, we Langas will be also.

We will turn all our attention to Ed, she said. We still need to get him out.

Through tears, Schmitz tells me she and those fighting for him have always been convinced of his innocence. On the day of his private awakening, Schmitz spoke to me about her friend. In between tears and sobbing, she told me about her friend and her never-ending belief in his innocence.

Its very sad we never got him out, she said. We tried and tried and tried, but we never got him out.
This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page

Published: 23 March 2016

Total energy consumption fell by 3 per cent in 2015

According to Statistics Finlands preliminary data, total energy consumption in 2015 amounted to 1,301 PJ (petajoule), or 361 TWh, which was three per cent less than in 2014. Electricity consumption amounted to 82.5 TWh, down by around one per cent year-on-year. The record warm weather last year decreased the need for heating energy compared with 2014. Among energy sources, the consumption of coal declined by 18 per cent and that of natural gas by 16 per cent. Carbon dioxide emissions from the production and use of energy decreased by six per cent.

Total energy consumption, final consumption and carbon dioxide emissions 19902015*

Among individual energy sources, the largest reduction of 18 per cent was seen in the consumption of coal (including hard coal, coke, and blast furnace and coke oven gas), which was also affected by two coal condensate plants being transferred into long-term preservation due to profitability problems. Consumption of natural gas also contracted by 16 per cent, that of peat by 11 per cent, and of wood fuels by two per cent. The consumption of oil remained at last year's level. The main energy sources are wood fuels with a 26 per cent share and oils with a 24 per cent share.

The use of fossil fuels decreased by seven per cent from the previous year and their share in the total energy consumption was 37 per cent. The use of renewable energy increased by two per cent and the share rose close to that of fossil fuels, to 35 per cent. EU targets for renewable energy are calculated relative to final energy consumption and in Finland this share has been three to five percentage points higher than the share calculated from total energy consumption. Finland's target for the share of renewable energy is 38 per cent of final energy consumption in 2020, which was reached for the first time in 2014.

Final consumption of energy went down by one per cent. According to preliminary data, the share of manufacturing in final energy consumption was 45 per cent, which was unchanged from twelve months before. The share of space heating of buildings was one-quarter of the final consumption of energy, which was 5 per cent less than one year ago. The use of energy consumption in transport increased by one per cent and its share was 17 per cent.

Domestic production of electricity was 66.2 TWh, which was one per cent more than one year ago. Most electricity was produced with nuclear power, which accounted for 34 per cent of the total. The warmer than average weather last year affected the drop in the volume of electricity generated in combined heat and power production by nearly seven per cent. The share of combined production in the production of electricity was still second highest at 31 per cent. The low price of electricity on the Nordic electricity market affected, in particular, condensing power, the production of which declined by 31 per cent and the share contracted to seven per cent. Thanks to the improved water situation, the share of electricity produced with hydro power grew to 25 per cent. Electricity produced with wind power increased by 111 per cent and its proportion of electricity production stood at nearly four per cent.

In 2015, net imports of electricity to Finland was 16.3 TWh, which is nine per cent less than in the record year 2014. The share of net imports in the electricity consumed in Finland was 20 per cent. Most electricity was imported from Sweden, 17.4 TWh. Electricity imports from Russia increased by 16 per cent to 3.9 TWh. Nearly all electricity exports were directed at Estonia, to where more electricity was exported than ever before, 5.0 TWh. In June, electricity was exported for the first time to Russia for commercial reasons.

Last year, diverse energy products were imported into Finland to the value of EUR 7.8 billion, which was 36 per cent less than one year earlier. Most energy products were imported from Russia, whose share of the value of imports was around 60 per cent. Correspondingly, energy products were exported from Finland to the value of EUR 3.7 billion, which was 40 per cent less than one year previously. The decline in exports was most significant in oil products due to a service shutdown. Most energy products were exported from Finland to EU countries, which accounted for 85 per cent of the value of exports.

In December, stocks of coal amounted to some 25 TWh, which was 14 per cent less than one year earlier. Correspondingly, stocks of energy peat were estimated to be around 13 TWh, which was 36 per cent less than one year earlier.

Total energy consumption by source (TJ) and CO2 emissions (Mt)

Energy source, TJ 4) 2015* Annual change-%* Percentage share of

total energy consumption* Oil 311,422 0 24 Coal 1) 103,857 -18 8 Natural gas 79,779 -16 6 Nuclear energy 2) 243,562 -1 19 Net imports of electricity 3) 58,824 -9 5 Hydro power 3) 59,722 25 5 Wind power 3) 8,405 111 1 Peat 52,743 -11 4 Wood fuels 333,022 -2 26 Others 50,059 -5 4 TOTAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION 1,301,394 -3 100 Bunkers 37,186 23 . CO2 emissions from energy sector 41 -6 .

1) Coal: includes hard coal, coke, blast furnace gas and coke oven gas.2) Conversion of electricity generation into fuel units: Nuclear power: 10.91 TJ/GWh (33% total efficiency)3) Conversion of electricity generation into fuel units: Hydro power, wind power and net imports of electricity: 3.6 TJ/GWh (100%)4) *Preliminary

Source: Statistics Finland, Energy supply and consumption

Inquiries: Ville Maljanen 029 551 2691, energia@stat.fi

Director in charge: Ville Vertanen

Publication in pdf-format (492.9 kB)

Updated 23.3.2016

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Energy supply and consumption [e-publication].

ISSN=1799-7976. 4th quarter 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 23.10.2022].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ehk/2015/04/ehk_2015_04_2016-03-23_tie_001_en.html
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A collection of works by the late Bui Xuan Phai, deemed one of Vietnams most remarkable and charismatic artists, will be showcased publicly for the first time in Hanoi next month.

The art will hang in the neo-classical lobby of the five-star Apricot Hotel, complementing the hotels permanent collection of original Vietnamese artwork.

With his actual signature at the heart of each work, Phais paintings mark a radical departure from his well-known portrayals of Hanois streets and are credited with fuelling an artistic signature painting movement.

Apricot Hotel will display seven of Phais paintings, alongside an array of works illustrating Hanois streets by renowned Vietnamese artists who followed in Phais footsteps, in its exhibition The Streets Without Phai, Phai Without the Streets to be launched on April 14.

Phais signature paintings have never been on display in public before, and reveal a different, lesser known yet substantially more complex side to the most illustrious of all Vietnamese modern painters, said Apricot Hotels manager Phuong Nam Nguyen.

As a supporter of the Nhan Van movement advocating political and cultural freedom, Phais work was banned from public display for decades before a solo exhibition in 1984 changed all that. Phai died in 1988 and was posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh prize, Vietnams highest accolade for artists, in 1996.

Nguyen said Phais signature paintings ooze with personality. They were created in the last few years of his life between 1984 and 1987 as Vietnam introduced major economic reforms that flung open its doors to the world.

He did not follow trends, he created them, said Nguyen. The evolution of his signature is artistry in itself and a most revealing characteristic when it comes to his aesthetics and ideologies.

Nguyen said plans were afoot to permanently display Phais work at the hotel or the nearby Apricot Gallery.

Bui Xuan Phai
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The People's Court of Hanoi sentenced blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh (nickname Anhbasam) to five years imprisonment on March 23 for "smearing and distorting the truth of the state".

Accused of the same charge, Nguyen Minh Thuy was sentenced to three years in prison. The People's Court of Hanoi said that the two defendants had abused their democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State and the rights and legitimate interests of organizations and citizens under Clause 2, Article 258 of the Criminal Code.

According to the prosecution, Nguyen Huu Vinh was the manager of V-VPI Inspection and Protection LLC. After establishing the blogs "Dan Quyen" (People's Rights) and "Chep Su Viet" (Documenting Vietnam's History), Vinh provided the access passwords and shared some administrative authorities with Nguyen Minh Thuy, the company's accountant.

Vinh was said to have coerced Thuy into becoming his accomplice.

According to Judge Nguyen Van Pho, the defendants posted entries that smeared and defamed the state and jeopardized the development of society.

At the trial, the defendants denied the charge. Six lawyers representing Vinh and two of Thuy all requested acquittal for their clients.

Since its establishment in 2009, the "People's Rights" blog has posted 2,000 entries that have received 40,000 comments.

In 2014, the Ministry of Information and Communications concluded that 24 entries contained "false, unfounded information, distorting the lines and policies of the Party and the laws of the State, smearing individuals, affecting the reputation of agencies and organizations, offering a pessimistic view, causing confusion, anxiety, and affecting the trust of the masses in the countrys leaders."

The two blogs received 3.7 million views and many comments deemed negative, manipulated by the entries' point of view. Two of those were titled: "Corruption, Anti-Corruption and Institution", and "A Few Thoughts on the Current Situation and Mission".

Regarding other individuals linked to Vinh and Thuy, the authorities said they were not prosecuted due to the fact they had been exploited and did not know Vinh and Thuy's motives.

According to security agencies, Vinh and Thuy had been in contact with a Radio Free Asia correspondent, one of the people alleged to be "leading the anti-Vietnam forces in America" .

In September 2007, Vinh adopted the pen name Ba Sam (Talking Nonsense) for his blog on the former social media platform Yahoo 360. The blog often reposted articles from domestic online newspapers with commentary added by the blog's administrators, as well as translated versions of foreign news on political, economic and social issues.
Tuesday, 22 March 2016 22:55:33 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo

Brazilian sales of flat steel by local distributors declined 11 percent in February, year-on-year, to 242,900 mt, but rose 0.6 percent in the month-on-month basis, the nations steel distributors association, Inda, said on Tuesday.





Purchases of flat steel by local distributors in February diminished 21.1 percent, year-on-year, and 7.9 percent, month-on-month, to 224,900 mt.





Imports by local distributors in February declined 19.9 percent, month-on-month, and 86.3 percent, year-on-year, to 24,300 mt.





Inventories in February declined 1.9 percent, month-on-month, reaching 906,400 mt, while stocks turnover diminished to 3.7 months in the second month of the year from 3.8 months in January.





Indas president, Carlos Loureiro, said Brazil flats steelmaker Usiminas has announced a 10 percent increase in steel prices, effective on April 1, while Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) plans to impose a 10-12 increase on steel prices, effective on April 6. ArcelorMittal is expected to hike steel prices as well, according to a media report.





Inda said it expects both sales and purchases of steel by local distributors to rise 4 percent in March when compared to February.


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Romania supports through its expertise, but also financially, the Republic of Moldova's effort to integrate into the European Union, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Costin Borc in a meeting with Octavian Calmic, Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy, and Moldovan Deputy Minister of Economy Valeriu Triboi, informs the Romanian Economy Ministry.

The Romanian official encouraged the presence of Romanian companies in Moldova, as Romania ranks first by number of businesses (1,783) and sixth in terms of invested capital, which stands at some 154 million dollars, accounting for 7pct of total foreign investments in Moldova. The sector with the most significant Romanian presence in the neighboring country is banking - with 78 million dollars.

The main areas targeted by investments of Romanian companies in Moldova are finance and banking, oil products, construction materials, plumbing and heating, transport, information technology and communications, security systems, trade, consultancy, tourism, mineral water and carbonated juices.

During Tuesday's meeting, which was also attended by Romanian Energy Minister Victor Grigorescu, the sides agreed that the meeting of the Joint Economic Cooperation Commission shall be held in H2 2016 in Chisinau.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Relations with Business Environment, on December 31, 2015, the total trade volume between Romania and Moldova was worth 1.352 billion dollars, of which exports represented 820 million dollars and imports accounted for 532 million dollars, with a balance of 288 million dollars in Romania's favour. Compared to the same period of last year, bilateral trade decreased by 15.76pct.

On December 31, 2015, in Romania's trade with non-EU countries, Moldova ranked 4th in terms of exports (share of 5.15pct) and 8th in terms of imports (share of 3.33pct).

Agerpres
Vietnam Airlines has ramped up security to its highest level on flights to European countries following Tuesdays airport and subway bombings in Brussels.

According to an official announcement issued at midnight on March 22, Vietnam Airlines has not changed its flight schedule to or from Europe. However, to ensure the safety of passengers, the national flag carrier announced it has strengthened security checks at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports.

Vietnam Airlines has tightened security following the Belgium terrorist attacks.

The airline has also instructed representative offices in foreign countries to coordinate with local authorities and security officials to strengthen surveillance of documents, packages and goods being transported by air.

Vietnam's flagship carrier has been implementing solutions for flights to and from Belgium and other passenger routes between Vietnam and Europe.

A Vietnam Airlines representative said that European airports have stepped up security controls so customs clearance will be stricter and tougher, and likely to be more time-consuming.

The airline recommended passengers to monitor information from VNA, other carriers and local airports on procedure times, and have all their documents in order before attempting to depart, while complying with security regulations.

Passengers can contact representative offices of Vietnam Airlines in Europe for flight information with the details below.

Vietnam Airlines branches in Europe

From now until March 31, Vietnam Airlines is offering free ticket cancellations, returns, exchanges and upgrades where available for flights between Vietnam and Europe.

Passengers will only pay charges relating to other airlines. Tickets between Vietnam and Europe on Vietnam Airlines can be changed no later than March 31, and pushed back to a new date in April.

Security at airports and train stations has increased globally after the terrorist attack in Brussels that killed at least 34 people and injured 230. Two fatal blasts shook Zaventem International Airport and another explosion occurred at Maelbeek subway station.

Vietnam Airlines has 29 flights per week to Europe with 11 flights to Paris, 8 flights to Frankfurt, 5 flights to London and 5 flights to Moscow.
Developer Paul McKee presented Wednesday afternoon another planned development for his long-awaited NorthSide Regeneration Project in St. Louis.

The developer addressed a small crowd gathered on the future site of a development, located at North 13th Street and Tucker Boulevard, that will include a fresh food market and a gasoline station.

The GreenLeaf Market will be run by Good Natured Family Farms, a farmers group that provides fresh food from small family farms around the Kansas City area.

Yet, residents who lived in the area didnt seem impressed with McKees latest plans. They say its just another promise to try and persuade the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, to relocate to McKees 1,500-acre site.

He hasnt put one brick in the ground, said Joyce Cooks, a resident near the site for more than 40 years. The neighborhood is crumbling.

But McKee said the shovels will be ready to break ground, likely in July, after the Board of Aldermen approves the tax-increment financing ordinance for this latest development.

The $20 million development will be financed with a loan from Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust, and because of the fresh market, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has guaranteed 70 percent of the loan, he said.

Without them, there would be no deal, McKee said of the USDA.

There has been little progress on the NorthSide project.

In 2009, McKee announced plans for an ambitious project in north St. Louis that would include offices, retail stores and homes. Four years later, the city agreed to provide up to $390 million in tax-increment financing.

So far, the only proposed use for the site has been plans for a health care campus with a three-bed hospital. And even that campus was later moved outside the NorthSide footprint to make room for a proposed NGA site.

The city is hoping to persuade the U.S. spy agency to relocate to north St. Louis from its current offices near the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

Meanwhile, the proposed health care campus is still in the planning stages.

Dr. David Lenihan, a former professor at Logan College of Chiropractic, is helping draft and execute a larger plan for the health care campus, which relies on McKees hospital that was approved by state regulators in November 2014. Construction has yet to start.

Lenihan, who is president and CEO of Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, said the expanded plan is to open freestanding emergency rooms elsewhere in the region, so it can subsidize the three-bed hospital that will care to uninsured and underinsured individuals in north St. Louis.

Were going to build and link up emergency urgent care centers throughout the area, he told the Post-Dispatch Tuesday. We can use the payer mix from those regions to help fund the hospital in the city.

Lenihan does have experience running medical centers in low-income areas. He was part of the executive team at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York that opened a new medical school campus and clinic in Harlem, Steven Mantz, director of human resources for the New York college, told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday.

Further down the road, Lenihan said he sees an opportunity to staff the facilities with residents from his medical school in Puerto Rico.

Jim Gradl, spokesman for McKee, said they were still looking for a clinical operator to run the $6.8 million hospital that will be situated at North Jefferson Avenue and Thomas Street.
WASHINGTON  Washington, D.C., regulators approved a $6.8 billion merger between Pepco Holdings and Exelon on Wednesday, creating the largest publicly held utility in the country.

The decision marked a surprising turn of events for the deal, which regulators had rejected twice before and which appeared to be on life-support in recent weeks as D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and other city leaders lined up in opposition.

In voting to approve the merger, the Washington D.C. Public Service Commission said it had concluded the deal "was in the public interest," noting that it would deposit $72.8 million in a "customer investment fund," set aside $11.25 million for energy efficiency and conservation programs targeted toward low-income residents and carve out $21.55 million for pilot projects such as modernizing the electric distribution grid.

"These benefits, among others, would not be available to District ratepayers if the merger is not approved," the commission said in a statement.

Under the terms approved by the commission, millions of dollars that Bowser had wanted to cushion residential customers from rate increases until 2019 could instead go to credits for businesses or the federal government.

In a standing-room only hearing, dozens of attorneys and more than a hundred supporters and opponents of the merger went silent as the commission chairman read the order, and immediately after neither Pepco nor Exelon claimed victory.

That's in part because some players could still seek a stay to halt implementation of the order. And the terms that that the commission approved did not have Bowser's support.

In a statement, Pepco said "we must carefully review the commission's order. Once we have had a chance to do so, we will have more to say about what it means and our next steps."

Aides to Bowser were huddled in a conference discussing the decision and did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Her spokesman, Michael Czin wrote in a text message that "it appears that the PSC took away rate protections for residents."

Anya Schoolman, head of the nonprofit Community Power Network and an opponent of the deal, said she was "shocked" by the reversal but was unsure what would happen next, given the twists and turns in the approval process over the last two years.

"It's up to the mayor, the people's counsel and the attorney general to decide if they will go along with the conditions they rejected," she said.

But the business community celebrated.

James Dinegar, the president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, called the decision "a catapult for the region ... as a place to do business because now we have the strongest, best power company in the country."

Dinegar said his organization had been an advocate of the deal because of the resources it adds to the local power equation. "It gives us more resiliency against storms, cyber attacks and more. It also gives us a quicker restart time because resources are closer," he said. "I don't have to wait on Texas and Tennessee to provide reserves."

Former D.C. Mayor Tony Williams, now the chief executive of the Federal City Council, a non-profit which seeks to influence local affairs, lobbied hard for the merger in the last few weeks.

"We're happy with the Commission's decision for both residents and employers in DC," Williams said through a spokesman. "The merger is a win for reliability, financial integrity, sustainability and corporate responsibility."

Exelon first proposed its takeover of Pepco in April of 2014.

The PSC's approval had been the final hurdle to the merger, which had been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Justice Department, and the states of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

It was also not immediately clear from the PSC's decision if the changed terms would need to be reviewed by other states that already approved the merger. If so, that could offer opponents such as Maryland's attorney general another opportunity to try to stop the merger.

The deal means the end of independence for one of the city's oldest institutions, but it could bring improved service for consumers and a modest premium for Pepco shareholders.

The all-cash transaction is based on a $27.25 share price that represents a 24.7 percent premium to Pepco Holdings' closing price of $21.85 on April 25, 2014, when the deal was announced.

That valued the deal at about $6.8 billion based on the number of outstanding shares reported in Pepco's most recent securities filing. The deal has been approved by the boards of directors at both companies and must still be endorsed by Pepco shareholders. Exelon also agreed to provide up to $100 million  or about $50 a customer  to give Pepco customers benefits such as rate credits, assistance for low income customers and energy efficiency measures.

Because of its size, the proposal is changing the national utility landscape.

The merger had been closely watched by environmentalists, utility and public-service attorneys, and financial analysts across the country.

The debate over the merger centered on the role of renewable energy sources like wind and solar against legacy technologies, such as nuclear power and natural gas. Many environmental groups opposed the deal because they believed it would hinder the migration toward renewable energies.

The proposal was part of a larger trend of utilities undertaking strategies that lower their exposure in competitive power markets in favor of owning regulated utilities that have more predictable, if lower, revenue streams.

"This transaction should help lower Exelon's overall business risk profile considerably by increasing its ownership in regulated monopolies and decreasing, on a percentage basis, the contributions from its less regulated merchant nuclear operations," said Paul Patterson, a utility analyst with Glenrock Associates.

The D.C. Public Service Commission at first had dealt a major setback to the giant utility marriage last August when it denied Chicago-based Exelon's proposed $6.4 billion takeover of Pepco Holdings.

Pepco, formerly the Potomac Electric Power Co., began as a subsidiary of a Washington electric streetcar company, selling its surplus power to other cable car operators. The company sold off the transit part of the business under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 and concentrated only on selling power to businesses and residential customers.
The "new guy" in St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Joyce's office is 60, with 35 years of experience.

On April 1, former federal prosecutor H. Morley Swingle will start working for Joyce, spokeswoman Susan Ryan said.

Swingle was an assistant U.S. attorney in St. Louis in 2012 and 2013, and was the prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County for 25 years. He also has published two fiction novels.

Swingle left his St. Louis post in 2013 to get married to Lane Thomasson and live with her in Colorado, and also to join a private practice as a defense attorney.

Recently divorced, Swingle said he's "glad to be back doing what I love to do," prosecuting criminal cases.

"I was pretty good from the other (defense) side, but that's not what I saw myself doing for the rest of my life," he said.

Swingle, who has personally tried 79 homicide cases and 144 jury trials, said he will be part of the office's Armed Offender Unit.

The relationship that took Swingle to Colorado  and became the subject of news reports along the way  began in 2009 when Thomasson was a victim in a case Swingle was prosecuting in Cape Girardeau.

The Southeast Missourian newspaper reported that the relationship with Thomasson began while Swingle still was married to his previous wife. Swingle later withdrew from the case.

Eventually, lawyer Joe Buerkle pleaded guilty to stealing about $350,000 from a trust fund set up by Thomasson's late father.
Daniel Neman Daniel Neman is a retail business writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Daniel Neman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

I think I want to be Jonathan Gold.

Gold, the restaurant critic at the Los Angeles Times, is the subject of the documentary City of Gold, which opens Friday at Plaza Frontenac. To someone who is a professional writer and a semi-professional eater, he is the bees knees.

Which Gold has probably eaten. There does not seem to be any part of any animal that he has not consumed. At one point in the documentary, we see a restaurant order slip for goose intestine, though to be fair to Gold we do not know if he is the person who will be eating it.

We do, however, see him downing a plate of fried grasshoppers with legendary food writer Ruth Reichl. Apparently, he hangs out with people like Reichl all the time. Earlier in the film, we see him sharing a meal with The New Yorkers Calvin Trillin, though they are, perhaps more sensibly, eating Italian food.

Thats another reason I want to be him: Celebrity eating buddies. The conversation would be even better than the food.

Gold was apparently the first restaurant critic to take tiny ethnic joints seriously. It is kind of standard in the business now, but when he started out in the 1980s, critics would only eat at established restaurants aspiring to a certain kind of quality.

Foie gras, yes. Goose intestines, no.

But Gold embraced hot dog carts and, especially in L.A., food trucks. At one point in the film, he muses why tacos ordered at a food truck are better than the exact same tacos from a restaurant. It is not just that there is a romance to buying food off a truck, he says, it is that you are somehow more connected to the flow of the production out of the kitchen when it comes from a truck.

I call hogwash (I may want to be him, but I dont entirely agree with him). Tacos made at a restaurant are not going to taste substantially different from tacos made from the same recipe and methods on a truck; they just appear, to those who care about such things, to be cooler.

Most of the time, Gold appears to favor little-known ethnic restaurants  sometimes from little-known ethnicities  that are ubiquitously found in the mini-strip malls that abound all over Los Angeles and make the city so ugly. One such place he visits in the movie specializes in food from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. There he has an order of toothpick lamb  cubes of lamb marinated in cumin and fried three times.

I want to eat toothpick lamb at a Chengdu restaurant, even if it is in L.A.

I also want to be as good a writer as he is. The first critic ever to receive a Pulitzer Prize for restaurant reviews, he crafts beautifully flowing prose (that apparently takes so long to write it drives his editors crazy). He describes the hot pepper sauce at one restaurant as being like a mysteriously pleasurable punch in the mouth.

But mostly, I want to eat like he does. I want to know the best Korean restaurants and the best Jewish delis, I want to feast on charred octopus tacos. I want to go to what he calls the best Southern Thai restaurant in Los Angeles, and I want to hang out at the old Chinese-American place that was taken over by recent Chinese immigrants who now sell the Chinese-American food as something exotic to other recent Chinese immigrants.
A decade before her disappearance ever became a mystery to police, it was a body  decapitated, dismembered and dumped at a Wright City rest stop  that flummoxed investigators.

Deanna Denise Howland was a Belleville native whose troubles started early on. By her 30s, Howland was hanging out around the Metro East, prostituting herself, using drugs and detached from her relatives, police say. That may be why the 35-year-old Alton woman wasnt reported missing when she vanished sometime in 2004.

On Tuesday, investigators announced that recent DNA tests had linked the two cases on opposite sides of the river. The headless, limbless torso found in 2004 at a rest stop along Interstate 70 belonged to Howland.

This has been haunting me for the last 12 years, said former Warren County Coroner Roger Mauzy, now the countys presiding commissioner. Its the only body Ive never been able to identify and its cost me a lot of sleep. ...Theres nothing more frustrating than having someone under your care that you dont know who it is.

Body found

The womans torso was found at the rest stop on June 28, 2004. She was found down a small hill in a remote part of the rest stop, along a circle drive that was primarily used as a picnic area. Because the remains had not decomposed, police believe she had not been dead for long  perhaps for only hours  when she was discovered. Investigators believe she was killed somewhere else and dumped out of a vehicle.

She was wearing only a black bra. Her identity remained a mystery. Among the only clues were scars from an appendectomy and a Caesaran section.

Investigators checked missing person reports, but found no match. Howland hadnt been reported missing yet.

Police at one point interviewed a suspected serial killer who was being held by authorities in Alabama. Later, they said they believed a spouse or boyfriend might be responsible for the death. Police found a knife in a storm sewer that they said might have been used to dismember the body. But without a name for the victim, the investigation apparently went nowhere.

Eventually the case went cold.

Estranged from family

Howland was married more than once and went by different names, police said. Her maiden name was Deanna Barker. She also went by Deanna Kinnear and Deanna Froehlich.

Court records say she was born in Belleville, married in 1991 and divorced four years later. She had at least two children.

Family members of Howland couldnt be reached or didnt want to talk.

Records show about two dozen criminal cases in Madison County beginning in 1996, including drug and paraphernalia possession, prostitution and solicitation. The last criminal charge listed in Madison County court records was a March 2004 charge of a pedestrian walking on the highway.

Ferguson Capt. Dan DeCarli, commander of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis, said Howland lived a very transient lifestyle and was estranged from her family. She was known to hang out in Granite City and East St. Louis in addition to the Alton area.

She wasnt reported missing until last year, authorities said. Its not clear what triggered that report at that time.

Information about her was posted in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database, which said she was last seen in the Alton area on May 11, 2004.

Case reopened

Meanwhile, in 2014, Warren County Sheriffs Lt. Matt Schmutz had reopened the torso case.

At some point, investigators in Madison County got information that caused them to contact Warren County about a possible link between Howlands missing person case and the unidentified torso. Its not clear what that information was, and authorities declined to discuss specifics.

After sharing information, authorities compared DNA from the torso to samples from some of Howlands relatives, Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison said. His department received test results March 10 confirming the torso was Howland.

The identification resulted from two investigators getting together, sharing what probably seemed like nothing, and it absolutely was the right information, Harrison said.

Now, police hope they may finally be able to solve the mystery of how she died and who dumped her remains in Warren County.

We want to focus on who she is and where she had been, Maj. Jeff OConnor of the Major Case Squad said Tuesday as the DNA results were announced. We are looking for anything. I am sure somebody out there has some information about this.

Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477.
Australia has consistently supported U.S.-led freedom of navigation activities in the sea where Beijing has been adding reclamation to islands and reefs in waters claimed by several regional countries.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday called China's military deployments on the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) "counterproductive", an unusually forceful rebuke against the country's biggest trading partner.

Australia has consistently supported U.S.-led freedom of navigation activities in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been adding reclamation to islands and reefs in waters claimed by several regional countries.

The United States has accused China of raising tensions in the South China Sea by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island, a move China has neither confirmed nor denied.

"They are ... counterproductive, regardless of the legal merits, on which we do not express a view nor make a claim," Turnbull said in a speech in Sydney, referring to China's military deployments.

Turnbull is expected to visit China next month.

The Chinese government last month expressed its displeasure with Australia's new defence spending plan.

China has repeatedly accused the United States of militarising the South China Sea with its freedom of navigation patrols in the region, and boosting of military alliances with countries like the Philippines.

In February, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country's South China Sea military deployments were no different from U.S. deployments on Hawaii.

Tensions between China and its neighbours Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan over sovereignty in the South China Sea have risen after China embarked on significant reclamations on disputed islands and reefs in the area.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year.
LINCOLN COUNTY  Two men and a woman face felony charges in Lincoln County after police there say they injected a 16-year-old girl with methamphetamine and forced her to engage in sex acts with them.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, the victim was from Florida and staying with a family acquaintance for a weekend. On March 20, the victim's mother picked her up from the 100 block of Old River Road in the Elsberry area and she told her what had happened.

The victim said that Christopher B. Bove, 29, who lived at the home, used a syringe to inject meth into her and forced her to have sex with him, Erika Oppeau, 33, of the 1400 block of Tree Top Court in Wentzville, and William A. Hope, 42, of the first block of Loveland Drive in Florissant, police said.

Police said Oppeau also repeatedly injected meth into the girl and performed unwanted oral sex on her and encouraged her to have sex with the men, police said. Hope also injected the girl with meth and molested her, police said.

The incidents happened over several days and the victim wasn't able to leave the home because she was so overcome by the drugs. The suspects are all friends and meth addicts, police said.

These are disgusting people, said Lt. Andy Binder with the sheriff's office. They do disgusting acts on children and they need to be held accountable. That's our job.

He said that out of 160 cases investigated by their department in 2014, half were sex crimes. He said he didn't know why, and noted that reporting is high at the beginning of the school year, when minors confide in trusted adults.

Bove is charged with three counts of second degree statutory sodomy, statutory rape, and endangering the welfare of a child involving drugs. He was being held in the Lincoln County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 cash-only bail.

Oppeau is charged with felony statutory sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child involving drugs. She was being held in lieu of a $50,000 cash-only bail. Hope is charged with child molestation and endangering the welfare of a child involving drugs. He was being held in lieu of a $25,000 cash-only bail.

They are not allowed to have contact with one another, with the victim, or the victim's family.

She was accused of driving drunk with two children inside her vehicle, and, during another drunk driving incident, resisted arrest, threatened to kill an officer and his family, and then offered the same deputy sex in exchange for discretion on her arrest charges, police said.
U.S. open to talks with China over strategic deployment in South Korea

The U.S. hopes to talk with China and address its concern about the possible deployment of the THAAD missile defense system that Washington is discussing with Seoul, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.

Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, stressed that the U.S. and South Korea had just begun discussions, and no decision had been made to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

Gottemoeller also emphasized that the system was defensive in nature and aimed at North Korea, not China.

"THAAD is truly only capable of defending the territory on which it's deployed. It is not capable of the kind of reach that the Chinese seem to be afraid that it has," she told reporters at a breakfast meeting.

"We will be very glad and hope we'll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with China about those very technical limitations and facts about the system," she said.

Gottemoeller gave no timetable for a possible meeting.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked about the remarks, said THAAD was "certainly not a simple technology issue".

"At present, the situation on the Korean peninsula is very complex and sensitive. We hope the relevant country cautiously handles this issue, and we demand they do nothing to harm China's security interests," she told a daily news briefing.

The U.S. and South Korea agreed to begin the talks last month after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on February 7 carrying what it called a satellite.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday told a congressional hearing that Seoul and Washington had an "agreement in principle" to discuss deploying a THAAD system to South Korea. Doing so, he said, would protect "the entirety of the peninsula against North Korean missiles of greater range."

Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, North Korea's neighbor and main ally, last month underscored China's concerns about a possible THAAD deployment but seemed to open the door to a diplomatic solution.

Wang said China understood the desire of the U.S. and South Korea to ensure the defense of their own countries, but Beijing had legitimate concerns that should be addressed.

U.S. military officials have long said the THAAD system is needed in South Korea, but until North Korea's recent satellite launch, Seoul had been reluctant to openly discuss its deployment given the risk of damaging ties with China.

Army Lieutenant General David Mann, commander, U.S. Army Space & Missile Command, told reporters that the THAAD system would result in a "huge increase" in missile defense capabilities on the Korean peninsula. But he said Washington understood the sensitivity of the discussions given the concerns raised by China, one of South Korea's key trading partners.

"It's very, very important that we clarify that that radar, that system is not looking at China," he said. "If the decision is made to deploy it, that system would be oriented on North Korea and threats posed by the North Korean military."

The system was designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.

Mann said the army would complete training for its fifth THAAD system by the end of the year. He said Japan was also interested in the system, as were U.S. military commanders in Europe and the Middle East.

Once a site was approved and prepared, the mobile THAAD system could be deployed "in a matter of weeks", Mann said.
As part of the Saint Louis Crisis Nurserys 30th anniversary celebration, more than 600 Crisis Nursery supporters will gather at the already sold out "Razzle Dazzle: Once Upon a Time" ball on April 2, according to a press release.

The Crisis Nursery will be recognizing Hugs and Kisses awardees for making significant positive impact on the Crisis Nursery. The Hugs and Kisses Foundation of the Year will be The Saigh Foundation; the Hugs and Kisses Funder of the Year will be St. Louis County Childrens Service Fund; the Hugs and Kisses Couple of the Year will be Steve and Sally Mitchell; and the Hugs and Kisses Young Professional Heroes will be Shawn Vinson and Celisia Harris.

The Saigh Foundation is being honored as the Foundation of the Year for their many years as Crisis Nursery partners and their incredible support of children throughout our community. Because of their funding, thousands of children have received services helping the Crisis Nursery fulfill its mission of saving babies lives.

The St. Louis County Childrens Service Fund is being honored as Funder of the Year for their amazing commitment to the children and families of the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery and for keeping kids first in our community. Because of their funding, thousands of children have received these services helping the Crisis Nursery fulfill its mission of keeping kids safe.

Steve and Sally Mitchell are being honored as Couple of the Year. The Mitchell family has long been committed to the mission of the Crisis Nursery, providing generous support throughout the year, as well as the gift of their time. Sally has been their dedicated "shopper" in St. Charles for many years, ensuring there is plenty of healthy food and snacks for the children in the nursery every week. Steve and Sally have also assisted with underwriting the cost of various projects throughout the year in order to keep the nursery running smoothly and in perfect condition for our little ones.

Young Professional Board member Shawn Vinson is being awarded the Young Professional Hero Award. As a YPB member, Vinson devotes his time and energy working to help raise awareness about the Crisis Nursery in the area. Using his influence and presence in the community as a business leader, Vinson is always willing to share the mission of the Crisis Nursery with others in the community, encouraging everyone to "get involved."

YPB member Celisia Harris is being awarded the other Young Professional Hero Award. As a YPB member, Harris has supported the Crisis Nursery through countless "in-kind" gifts, along with personally supporting the events throughout the year. As a business leader, Harris invites friends and colleagues to join with her as she works to promote the mission of the Crisis Nursery in the community.

The Presenting Sponsor is Centene Corporation, while the Platinum Sponsors are Edward Jones, Emerson, Harvey Kornblum Foundation, KMOV 4 and Shop n Save. Gold Sponsors are Drs. James & Nanci Bobrow, BJC Medical Group, Childrens Hospital, Express Scripts, First State Bank, Don & Gretchen Gerber, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Monsanto, Nestle Purina, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust, Rhodey Construction, Sephora Chesterfield Mall, SSM Health & SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, Karen & Sandon Wool. Silver Sponsors are Six Point Financial Group, Shea OToole, Wells Fargo Advisors. Bronze Sponsors are AAIM, Bancorp South, Carrollton Bank, Commerce Bank, Maryville University, Missouri Foundation for Health, Steve & Sally Mitchell, Drs. Jovita & Patrick Oruwari, Bill Siedoff, Staenberg Group, and Total Access Urgent Care.

The Crisis Nursery is committed to preventing child abuse and neglect by offering real help and real hope to families in crisis. The Crisis Nursery is an independent, not-for-profit agency providing short-term, safe havens for more than 7,500 children a year, birth through age 12, whose families are faced with an emergency or crisis. The nursery provides care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at five sites, serving families throughout the greater St. Louis, St. Charles, Southern Illinois and surrounding regions. For more details on the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery, call 314-292-5770 or visit www.crisisnurserykids.org
The 18th annual GM Lego Robotics Challenge was recently held at St. Charles Community College, according to a press release.

Students from around St. Charles County brought their ideas and talents to the competition by designing robots to overcome real world challenges found in an automotive assembly plant.

The 2016 GM Lego Challenge featured 288 students on 48 teams who designed, engineered and built Lego robots to function like turntable material handling applications used at General Motors. The competition was about mastering the art of robotics and team presentation without actually reading off a blue print.

We dont show them the robot at the plant because we want participants to use their imagination, said Brian Steber, GM Wentzville Senior Manufacturing Engineer, who has been writing programs for the challenge over the last eight years. The program allows students to experience different technologies and exhibits that we have on site.

In addition to writing the programs, Steber helps mentor students and answer technical questions they might have. Its a team oriented partnership just like those experienced within a General Motors assembly plant.

It was at first a real trying process with trying to get our initial design to work, said Brian Redlawsk, a student team participant from St. Charles High School. Im looking to go into engineering later on and this experience will help me start thinking around the problems that I might encounter.

Student teams presented their robots to a panel of judges who evaluated them and gave points based on design, engineering, teamwork and presentation. Only teams with the whole package can win the competition.

I want to see a team where everyone contributes to a slightly different thing and everyone has contributed some essential element of it, said Ward Silver, one of the 24 judges who took part in deciding the winners of this years competition. The teams weve seen today have been innovative and done things we didnt expect and solved problems in interesting new ways. Its interesting to see them converge on standard solutions to some of these problems.

Several studies show STEM careers will continue to be in high demand well into the future yet there is a shortage of students choosing these paths. The St. Charles Community College partnership with GM Wentzville to host the challenge is a unique collaboration that organizers hope will spark more interest and participation in robotics and STEM fields.

SCC does a great job working with GM and hosting such a great event for the community, Steber said. "Without their help, this competition wouldnt be the success that it is.

Area schools were able to participate in this years challenge free of charge. The winning teams received a Lego Mindstorms robotics kit for their participation.

First place teams from each division this year include:

Black Division  Team Dead Pool from St. Charles West High School

Yellow Division  Team Rocket from St. Charles High School

Blue Division  Team Fruity Pebbles from Saeger Middle School

Gray Division  Team Hex Tech from Barnwell Middle School

Green Division  Team The Froggers from Barnwell Middle School

Maroon Division  Team The Elektriks from Barnwell Middle School
LONDON MARKET CLOSE: FTSE 100 ends higher; Mordaunt makes UK PM tilt

Friday, October 21, 2022 - 17:22

The pound regained some poise on Friday afternoon but remained in precarious territory, after falling below the $1.11 mark in afternoon trade.

The pound was quoted at $1.1203 at the close on Friday, down versus $1.1294 at the London equities close on Thursday. It hit an intraday low of $1.1063 not long after midday.

Sterling was hurt by continued political uncertainty. Speculation about who will join Penny Mordaunt in throwing their hats in the ring in the race for Number 10 continues. Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, one-time neighbours at Number 10 and 11 Downing Street - but now bitter rivals - have pockets of support from Tory MPs.

Adding to the pressure on sterling, disappointing UK retail sales data showed a bigger-than-expected decline in September, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Retail sales fell 6.9% annually in September, with the decline accelerating from a 5.6% fall in August. It also was worse than FXStreet-cited market consensus, which had expected a fall of just 5%.

The pound had initially found some support on Thursday after Liz Truss called an end to her disastrous tenure as prime minister - poking above $1.13 - but has since been dragged lower.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 25.82 points, or 0.4%, at 6,969.73 - closing out the week up 1.6%.

The FTSE 250 lost 182.38 points, or 1.1%, at 17,206.55, but still managed to gain 1.0% this week, and the AIM All-Share ended down 1.04 points, or 0.1% at 785.40 - but advanced 0.8% over the past five days.

The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.4% at 696.31, the Cboe UK 250 ended down 1.0% at 14,694.15, and the Cboe Small Companies lost 0.3% at 12,240.46.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt gave back 0.3%.

The Tories have begun to declare their allegiances in the party's second leadership contest of the year as speculation mounts over who will seek to replace Truss at the helm of the party.

Supporters of Johnson are backing the former prime minister to make an extraordinary political comeback, while ex-chancellor Sunak and Commons Leader Mordaunt also have the public support of several MPs.

Mordaunt become the first to declare her candidacy, with a pledge to re-unite the bitterly divided party.

The leader of the House  who finished third in the last leadership election  said she had been encouraged by the support she had received from fellow Conservative MPs.

There has also been no declaration yet from Sunak, who did not answer questions from reporters as he left his home on Friday morning.

Whoever does win will face an immediate test, choosing whether to go ahead with the planned Halloween statement setting out how the government intends to get the public finances back on track, Downing Street has said.

Work is continuing in Whitehall, led by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, in preparation for the medium-term fiscal plan to be announced on October 31 along with an updated set of economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

However, a Number 10 spokeswoman said it would be up to Liz Truss's successor to decide whether to proceed with that approach and with the same timetable.

In London, blue chip miners helped push FTSE 100 higher. Glencore gained 3.6%, Anglo American 3.1%, Antofagasta 2.7%, and Rio Tinto added 1.6%.

Retailers, however, were showing weakness after the disappointing UK retail sales data. A profit warning from Adidas did nothing to help the mood either.

JD Sports closed down 6.1%, Frasers 4.0%, Burberry 2.2%, and Next shed 2.9%.

On Thursday, Adidas lowered annual guidance as it struggles with "deteriorating traffic" in China and high inventory levels.

The sports apparel maker said it has needed to turn to "higher clearance activity" to try and shift stock.

It lost 9.0% in Frankfurt.

Deliveroo gained 3.6%.

The London-based online food delivery service said gross transaction values rose 8.3% annually in the third quarter to 1.70 billion from 1.57 billion, though orders fell by 1.1% to 72.8 million from 73.6 million.

Deliveroo said the decline in orders was due to a difficult consumer environment. With economic data on Friday showing that UK consumer confidence remains near record lows, this seems unlikely to change anytime soon.

InterContinental Hotels gave back 2.2% but reported strong revenue growth in the third quarter to September 30, saying that high global employment levels are boosting occupancy levels.

Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, rose 28% year-on-year and now exceeds its pre-pandemic level, being up 2.7% on the third quarter of 2019.

In the third quarter of 2022, the average daily rate increased by 13% compared to a year ago and was up 11% on 2019.

Chief Financial Officer & Head of Strategy Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will leave the company in six months time to become CFO of Flutter Entertainment in the first half of 2023.

IHG has started the process of finding a new CFO.

The euro stood at $0.9802 Friday evening, down against $0.9822 at the close on Thursday.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP148.03, compared to JP149.77 late Thursday. The yen was staging a fightback after the open on Wall Street, after nearly hitting JP152 during the Asia session.

Stocks in New York opened higher on Friday, with the DJIA up 1.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.6% higher.

Brent oil was quoted at $92.84 a barrel late Friday, down from $93.29 late Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1,643.70 an ounce Friday, up against $1,641.90 from Thursday.

In the international economics events calendar next week, Monday will be dominated by a slew of composite PMIs, with Japan overnight followed by Germany, eurozone and the UK in the morning then the US in the afternoon. A quiet Tuesday will be headlined by a US house price index.

On Wednesday, there is Chinese GDP, retail sales and industrial production overnight, then on Thursday attention will be on the European Central Bank interest rate decision at 1315 BST. Friday will be headlined by a Bank of Japan rate decision.

In the local corporate calendar on Monday, there are half-year results from Dr Martens, while education publishing firm Pearson will issue a third quarter update.

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
23 March 2016

Stop cluster munition use in Yemen

For the past year the Saudi-led coalition has been using US-supplied cluster bombs in Yemen

This week marks one year since the Saudiled coalition began using cluster munitions in populated areas in Yemen. The coalition is comprised of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.

Today, at a News Conference on Yemen (Yemen: Embargo Arms to Saudi Arabia) held by Human Rights Watch at the UN in New York, Ms. Megan Burke, Director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munition Coalition, strongly condemned the use of cluster munitions in Yemen and urged the Saudiled coalition to immediately halt the use. Ms. Burke also called on the UN Security Council to express its concern and request an investigation into this use in Yemen as it has done for cluster munition use in South Sudan and Sudan.

Ms. Megan Burke, ICBL-CMC Director talks about use of cluster bombs in Yemen at HRW News Conference. UN, New York, 23 March 2016 @HRW

On the 8th of January, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his deep concern about the use of cluster munitions in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, stating that The use of cluster munitions in populated areas may amount to a war crime due to their indiscriminate nature.

Members of the coalition such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and United Arab Emirates are known to have stockpiled cluster munitions used in Yemen. United States and Brazil have supplied cluster munitions to coalition members.

As a result of repeated cluster munition use, thus far it has been confirmed that 13 people have been killed and 31 people injured in Yemen, of which only one casualty was confirmed to be a fighter/military.

Cluster munitions have been banned by 118 countries precisely because of their indiscriminate nature and their disproportionate impact on civilians. In December 2015, 139 countries, through a UN resolution, expressed their strong concern about the use of cluster munitions in different parts of the world and urged all states outside of the Convention to join as soon as possible.

The Netherlands, President of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, expressed concern over the use of cluster munitions in Yemen and called on all countries in the coalition and the Yemeni government to react to these allegations in a concrete, open and transparent way.

All States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and others should publicly condemn the use of the internationally banned cluster munitions in Yemen and help to prevent further tragedies caused by these indiscriminate weapons.

More

Timeline of cluster munitions use in Yemen
Because of increased air operations against Islamic terrorists France has ordered more American BLU-117 bunker buster 909 kg (2,000 pound) bombs and BLU 126 LCDB (Low Collateral Damage Bomb) bombs. The bunker busters are well known, as they have a reinforced front end that enables it to penetrate many meters of earth or concrete before detonating (usually inside an underground facility).

The LCDB is quite different and less well known as it is a 227 kg ( 500 pound) JDAM (GPS guided smart bomb) with 89 percent of the explosives removed, and replaced with non-explosive material (so the bombs flight characteristics remain the same.) The remaining 14 kg (30 pounds) of explosives give the bomb a much smaller bang, and much less chance of nearby civilians getting hurt. Thus the LCDB has a bang that is closer to that of a 155mm artillery shell. The concept of the LCDB is not new. During the 1990s, the U.S. Air Force replaced all the 189 kg (416 pounds) of explosives with concrete in 909 kg laser guided bombs used against Iraqi anti-aircraft guns and missiles. This was because Saddam ordered his anti-aircraft weapons placed inside densely packed residential areas, in the hope that any American or British aircraft responding to fire from his anti-aircraft weapons would also kill lots of civilians. That would make for a great photo op, as Saddam was trying to turn himself into a victim of American and British aggression. Dead civilians helped a lot. Concrete smart bombs took out the anti-aircraft weapons, but rarely hurt any nearby civilians. The LCDB is used against targets in buildings, or out in the open, who need at least a little bang, and bomb fragments, to take out the bad guys.

Most of the additional bombs are being used by French warplanes stationed in Jordan to attack ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) targets in Syria. There ISIL is using a lot of underground facilities it captured from the Syrian military. A lot of these were built to obtain protection from Israeli air strikes. French pilots in Jordan are flying about 45 hours a month, which is three times what these pilots fly under peacetime conditions back in France. To keep the aircraft flying the French Air Force is also seeking to get 450 maintenance personnel back on active duty.
NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS

March 22, 2016: Despite continued denials by the Syrian government most observers believe the continued use of chlorine as a chemical weapon in Syria is often the work of the Syrian government, not just Islamic terrorists trying to discredit the government. The UN cannot act because Russia is an ally of Syria and has a veto over UN efforts to punish the Syrian government for this. Like everything else in Syria, this is not a simple situation. First of all although the first chemical weapon attack in modern history, in 1915, used 168 tons of chlorine gas, the current Chemical Weapons Convention does not recognize chlorine as a chemical weapon. Then, as now, chlorine proved to be an inefficient chemical weapon and was quickly replaced by more effective ones by the end of 1915. Like other lethal industrial chemicals chlorine can be lethal to humans in large quantities. Thus during 2015 the 66 known uses of chlorine as weapon killed 24 people but injured over 600. In March 2015 agreed to abide by a new UN rule prohibiting the use of chlorine as a weapon. Nearly 90 percent of the known chlorine attacks in 2015 occurred after March.

In September 2013 Syria agreed to destroy all its chemical weapons under UN supervision. This deal was not vetoed by Russia because Syria was obviously responsible for a chemical attack in August that used nerve gas and killed over 1,300 people, most of them pro-rebel civilians. Some of the chlorine attacks since then apparently have been the work of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) but most appear to be the work of Syrian government forces using aircraft, artillery or mortars.

The agreed upon destruction of Syrian chemical weapons was completed by June 2014. Syria appeared to have had 700 tons of nerve gas (sarin) and 300 tons of mustard gas and all these were destroyed by the UN. Nerve gas was first used in combat during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). The Assads knew that once they defeated the rebels they could rebuild the plants that manufacture the nerve and mustard gas and rebuild their pre-rebellion stocks in a few years.
Political disputes appear to be the major obstacle to getting ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) out of Mosul by the end of 2016. The experience in taking the smaller city of Ramadi from ISIL in December 2015 made it clear what could be expected when Iraqi army troops go after ISIL fighters in an urban setting. This makes it possible to calculate how many troops, trained to what levels, will be needed in Mosul as well has what kind and quantity of support forces (supplies, medical, artillery air power). One thing is clear, the Iraqis can do it, especially if they have sufficient air and artillery support. Air power has become increasingly useful. Since mid-2014 the American led coalition aircraft have carried out over 10,000 air strikes against some 16,000 targets. The number of attacks are increasing as government and Kurdish troops receive more help in calling in attacks and the anti-ISIL informant network in ISIL held areas provides more information on suitable targets. Most of the air strikes are still carried out by American aircraft and helicopters.

The main obstacles to retaking Mosul are political. The government needs all the forces it can get to take the city quickly and with the fewest casualties. That is turning out to be a political problem because two of the primary sources of troops are the Iran backed Shia militias and the Kurds from the north. The Shia militias want to take the lead in the battle for Mosul but are not prepared for such a task and the government is not willing to give Iran an opportunity to claim credit for liberating Mosul. The much more experienced and battle tested Kurds make no demands, except for a sensible battle plan. But the government is concerned about the Kurds demanding more autonomy in the north (and control of oil there) if Kurds prove key in retaking the city.

American advisors point out that the government got away with telling the Shia militias to back off and follow orders outside Ramadi and that the United States will back the Iraqi government in dealing with Iranian pressure over the role of Shia militias in Mosul. The Iraqi government does not want that kind of confrontation because the Iranians have made it clear that the Iraqi Shia militias are willing to overthrow the elected Iraqi government when this is all over and the Americans have lost interest. Iran portrays the U.S. as an unreliable ally and one that is far away. The Americans counter by pointing out that Iran will be a threat no matter what happens, Americans will stay involved because of the oil and what Iran does in the future has more to do with internal Iranian politics that Iraq has little influence over. As for the Kurds, they will also make the same demands no matter what happens. In short, demand that the Kurds and Shia militias follow orders and proceed with the battle preparations. The Kurds will cooperate and some Shia militia leaders will protest but ultimately fall in line rather than be left out. Unfortunately elected Iraqi officials are not known for decisiveness. But in this case delay aids ISIL and that is in nobodys interest.

It Is Not So Simple

Taking Mosul is much more complicated than liberating Ramadi. ISIL has controlled Mosul since June 2014 and most (all but about 700,000) of the original three million inhabitants have fled. Not only is that still more than ten times what was in Ramadi before the final assault but the Ramadi population was almost all Sunni Arab. Mosul is a much more complex place with Sunni, Shia, Kurds, Turks and so on. Moreover Ramadi was on the Euphrates river in the relatively barren western Iraq while Mosul is on three times larger Tigris (by water volume) river in an area with more vegetation and hills. This benefits the defenders. Finally Mosul is a much wealthier place than Ramadi, largely because of the local oil fields. This makes Mosul a much more valuable asset for whoever holds it. Politics is more of an issue in Mosul than Ramadi. Mosul involves Sunni, Shia, Arab, Kurd and Turkish militias among the attackers and each of these groups have still more factions. In Ramadi it was mainly Sunni ISIL versus Shia Iraqis aided by some pro-government Sunni. ISIL had less than a thousand men in Ramadi for the final battle. Most of these defenders fought to the death. ISIL is apparently planning to have five to ten times as many fighters in Mosul for the final battle. Nearly all civilians still in Mosul are openly hostile to ISIL, which is suffering from increasingly frequent and accurate air attacks. This is apparently the result of a more effective informant network in the city.

Government forces south of Mosul and Kurdish troops (and non-Moslem militias) north of the city and government forces and Shia militias south of the city are already preparing for the final attack on the densely built city center. This approach battle is meant to cut the city off from other ISIL forces in Anbar and Syria. The main road to Raqqa was cut in late February with the capture of the town of Shaddadi. That followed the continuing advance into western Anbar since the liberation of Ramadi in December 2015. Another important success has been government forces becoming as effective as the Kurds in regularly defeating ISIL counterattacks. You rarely hear of successful ISIL attacks on Iraqi security forces anymore.

Reports from inside Mosul indicate growing panic and declining morale among ISIL personnel (at all levels). This has led to growing internal violence, like public executions of misbehaving ISIL members. Recently 21 ISIL men were publicly executed for refusing to fight. ISIL leaders are executed for corruption, incompetence or bad behavior (booze, drugs or saying the wrong things). Hundreds of civilians are being arrested each month for refusing to cooperate with ISIL in defending the city. That sort of thing should make it clear to ISIL that they have few allies among the remaining city residents and growing discontent within their own ranks. Mosul has become a fortress of fear and will remain so as long as there are enough ISIL men there willing and able to fight to the death. While ISIL capabilities inside Mosul are crumbling they do not appear in danger of sudden collapse.

When Mosul falls it will be all over for ISIL in northern Iraq. ISIL rule in the north has been harsh and has created more enemies than followers. Ramadi was a different story. Ramadi, the largest city in of Anbar province (which is most of western Iraq) was as far to the east as ISIL got in Anbar. West of Anbar was lots of ISIL controlled territory and beyond that ISIL controlled eastern Syria. Thus the fighting in Anbar continues as ISIL is pushed back to the Syrian border. There were some other useful lessons from Ramadi. While the human cost from fighting ISIL for six months to retake the city was relatively low the property damage to Ramadi was enormous. The air and ground campaign left 5,700 buildings damaged and about a third of those were completely destroyed. Worse 64 bridges were destroyed. This is particularly troublesome because the city is built along the Euphrates River. Most of the electrical distribution system was destroyed along with many major government buildings and the main railroad station. Much of the damage was done by the thousands of bombs planted by ISIL both to simply destroy stuff and cause losses to the attackers. Iraqi, American and other allied aircraft caused a lot of damage, especially in areas where ISIL took a stand and the advancing troops called in air strikes. Despite that victory declaration Iraqi troops are still slowly moving through some areas of the city where ISIL planted lots of booby-traps and landmines. These explosive devices were meant to punish the disloyal (to ISIL) population of the city and cause maximum losses to advancing troops and Shia militia. The militias let the soldiers use their training and special equipment to find and clear the explosives. Meanwhile Iraqi troops have moved past Ramadi and are advancing deeper into territory controlled by ISIL for a year or more. So far ISIL counterattacks have slowed but not stopped this advance. It is estimated that it will take several billion dollars to repair the damage in Ramadi.

For civilians in Mosul the situation is bad and getting worse. This was noted by the ISIL occupation force over a year ago. In early 2015 some ISIL men from Syria who had brought in their families were caught sending them back to Syria. By mid-2015 Mosul residents who had not fled the city regretted it. ISIL has become increasingly strict with the population and for that last year has not let anyone leave the city for any reason (unless they are ISIL or have ISIL permission). Smugglers are expensive and dont always succeed. ISIL has shut down cell phone service although residents have found that at night they can sometimes get a signal if they go up on the roof of tall buildings. So information about life in Mosul still gets out. By mid-2015 the Iraqi government stopped paying civil servants in Mosul. That brought in about $16 million a month and it was sorely missed. Food is trucked in from Syria and is expensive. The local economy is in bad shape and residents can see growing dissention between Syrian and Iraqi members of ISIL as well as declining morale and confidence among the Islamic terrorists. A growing number of familiar ISIL faces have disappeared from the city, indicating desertions and fleeing to Syria with or without permission. There is a lot to run away from, especially the growing number of air strikes by coalition (mainly American) and Iraqi aircraft. Remaining residents fear ISIL will eventually make regular use of involuntary human shields. While ISIL prefers to use captured government or Kurdish fighters for this, local civilians will do. Despite the growing losses from the air strikes (and the target information obviously supplied by locals) ISIL leaders know that heavy use of human shields would backfire as the remaining city residents became more desperate and violent about getting out.

Meanwhile In Anbar

Since the end of December 2015, when most resistance in Ramadi ceased and government forces were able to move past the city this advance has gone about 150 kilometers further west. The main objective now is the city of Hit, northwest of Ramadi and also on the Euphrates River. ISIL has held it since October 2014. Meanwhile the last ISIL holdouts in Ramadi were hunted down and killed or captured by the end of February. A growing problem for the government is taking care of all the refugees fleeing their homes to get out of the way. ISIL men tend to fight to the death and the government prefers to accommodate them with bombs and artillery shells, not costly (in soldiers lives) infantry attacks. All those explosives cause lots of property damage and are fatal to any civilians who stuck around. Managing all these additional refugees is complicated by the ISIL tactic of trying to slip Islamic terrorists pretending to be refugees into government controlled areas. ISIL boasts of using this tactic and that makes handling the refugees more costly in terms of security forces required.

The Neighbors

Jordan is joining a growing number of Middle Eastern nations (like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) and following the example of Israel by building high-tech security fences along their borders to keep out Islamic terrorists, illegal migrants, criminals and smugglers. With the United States covering most of the half billion dollar cost Jordan will put up this barrier along its 442 kilometers of borders with Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have already done this along their Iraqi borders. Jordan has been the most successful of the Arab countries at protecting itself from Islamic terrorism. But the civil war in Syria and the growing ISIL and Iranian presence in Iraq led Israel, in late 2015 to begin building a security fence on its last unfenced border, the 307 kilometer Jordanian frontier. This project will take several years and cost $1.6 billion, plus millions a year to maintain. Israel and Jordan have long cooperated closely on counter-terrorism issues so the Israeli fence also assists Jordan since any Islamic terrorists inside Jordan who are seeking to get into Israel are more likely to be detected and caught.

The Chemical Threat

Medical aid groups believe there were at least 69 chemical weapon attacks in Iraq and Syria during 2015 and some are still occurring in 2016. Most of these attacks used toxic industrial chemicals rather than stuff designed to be a weapon (like mustard or nerve gas). It is believed that the Syrian Army used mustard gas in July 2015. Most of the other attacks were apparently the work of ISIL, which appears to have used mustard gas during August. A recently captured (by American commandos) ISIL technical expert on chemical warfare confirmed this and provided useful information about where these weapons are made and stored. So far ISIL has only been able to develop crude and not-very-effective chemical weapons that are more useful to terrorize than kill. But they are working on more lethal stuff.

March 19, 2016: In the north, about 70 kilometers southeast of Mosul an ISIL rocket killed an American marine and wounded several others. The marines were part of the effort to train, advise and otherwise assist Kurdish Iraqi forces. This incident took place within Kurdish controlled territory. Since the U.S. got involved in Iraq again after mid-2014 two American military personnel have died in Iraq.

March 18, 2016: In far west, at the Syrian town of Tanf on the Iraqi border, FSA (Free Syrian Army) rebels continue to battle ISIL for control of the border crossing that connects western Anbar province with largely ISIL-held eastern Syria. The FSA forces here are based in Jordan, where they have the support of Jordan and the United States. This effort is, for all practical purposes, part of the preparations for liberating Mosul.

March 14, 2016: Turkish F-16s bombed suspected PKK bases near the Turkish border in northern (Kurdish) Iraq. This was in retaliation for a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital the day before that left 37 dead. While ISIL also tries to make attack like this it was indeed PKK this time and the Turks are out for revenge.

March 6, 2016: South of Baghdad an ISIL suicide truck bomb was stopped at an army checkpoint but was able to detonate, killing at least sixty and wounding over 80 people nearby. Most of the casualties were civilians. The casualties were so high because the truck used was a fuel tanker full of fuel in addition to the explosives. The truck was trying to get into a densely populated Shia neighborhood where it would have hurt a lot more people. It is rare for such a large ISIL vehicle bomb to get so deep into government controlled territory.
North Korea is now facing an unexpected financial crises as China not only enforces the new sanctions but also the older ones it ignored and adds some new sanctions. Thus North Korea was shocked when on March 1 st Chinese border guards refused to let shipments of coal or ores enter. These mineral exports are a major source of foreign currency and were not covered by sanctions. China is believed to be making a point; that it is fed up with North Korea ignoring demands to halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and turn its attention to the internal economic crises. So far North Korean leaders are ignoring this additional sanction and telling subordinates that it is only temporary. But the rumors in China are that the blocking of mineral exports will last for a long time, perhaps indefinitely until the North Korean leaderships shows more respect towards China and heeds the advice from its big brother.

One option North Korea has is to increase illegal drug production. The government has long produced opium, heroin and methamphetamine (meth) for export to obtain foreign currency. This, like the counterfeiting of American $100 bills, cannot be used too much without offending the countries this stuff shows up in. The drugs can be exported via China as long as none of them show up in China. This is especially true with meth, which is becoming a growing problem in China because of illegal manufacturing in northern Burma and smugglers taking it across the border to China. North Korea can fall back on its busy fleet of cargo ships and transport aircraft but these are under increasing surveillance by foreign intelligence agencies and if the Chinese join in this informal North Korea Watch coalition North Korean smuggling efforts will be seriously hurt. There is still Russia, but the Russians demand big bribes and it takes longer to get drugs to global markets via Russia. Plus, if North Korean drugs start showing up a lot in Russia, that smuggling route will be shut down or severely restricted.

These drugs are illegal in North Korea but some get into circulation anyway, especially meth. For a long time some meth was produced privately but after 2012 there was crackdown on this, especially the smuggling from China or Russia of the raw materials for drugs like methamphetamine. Breaking bad by making meth was always a dangerous way to get rich, as those caught doing this were frequently executed, often after torture (to ensure they have revealed all they know). Like every other recent crackdown this one eventually succumbed to bribes, which tend to rise until security officials are tempted to risk everything to become rich by ignoring meth labs. Meth use is now growing out-of-control, especially along the Chinese border. Thats where most of the outlaw North Korean meth producers are and most of their meth is smuggled into China and Russia but there is so much being turned out that some is distributed locally. The Chinese border area has become bandit country for other reasons despite the current secret police emphasis is on keeping people from leaving. Things, especially drugs and the larger bribes they deliver, tends to make the police on both sides of the border less effective. Because of the illegal North Korean meth producers there is now more and more Chinese border security and even bribes dont work as well as they used to (and are a lot more expensive).

The Chatter of Doom

To make matters even worse for North Korean leaders the secret police are reporting that public opinion (which is monitored even though it is generally ignored) is blaming the government, not China or the UN for the increased sanctions. This gets worse because the government is starting a new internal propaganda campaign to blame the rest of the world for the sanctions. These major propaganda efforts are widely unpopular inside North Korea because they involve forcing most of the population to attend hours of lectures on the subject by local officials. Attendance is mandatory and that is regularly checked and verified by the secret police.

Secret police are constantly monitoring what is said on the street and in private (via an extensive network of informants) and most North Koreans believe the missile and nuclear weapons programs are a waste and are hurting North Korea even more when their government publicizes these weapons, threatens to use them and gets more sanctions applied. It is unclear if the secret police passes on details of the growing chatter (none of it complimentary) about how leader Kim Kong Un seems to get fatter as hunger in North Korea becomes more widespread. Kim appears regularly in propaganda photos and videos and no effort is made to doctor these images to hide the constant weight gain.

The informant network is also reporting that the new entrepreneurial class (donju) sees the additional sanctions as a sign that export industries are a bad investment. Many valuable (to the government, for the foreign currency it brings in) export businesses are being financed or run by the donju and the government has found that they cannot order the donju around. What makes the donju useful is their sound economic decisions which are much more profitable than anything the government does. Some senior officials want to crack down on the donju but most of the leadership understands that the government and the economy are too dependent on the donju for that.

Another disturbing cheater topic is about the long rumored Chinese plot to back a military overthrow of the Kim family, in return for the installation of a new ruler that is more pro-Chinese. This is an old theme in Korean history that is still relevant. Most Koreans and Chinese are not surprised by that.

What Makes Slavery So Attractive

The secret police also monitor and report on the chatter among the ruling class, which consists of the two or three percent of the population (including immediate family) who run the government and major institutions (universities, research centers and security forces). The small talk here is that the government does not really have much military power anymore. It is common knowledge that the troops have been going hungry for years and that the war reserves of food, fuel and other supplies have been depleted just to keep the military in existence. The upper crust also think that China has definitely renounced (as China said publicly) its long-time pledge to side with North Korea if there were another Korean War. The ruling families have lots of contacts in China and know that Chinese popular opinion has become hostile to North Korea. All this chatter is occurring as the government loudly denounces the new sanctions and threatens war, including the use of its nukes against the leaders of nations responsible for these unwarranted economic measures against North Korea. That enemies list does not include China but most North Koreans believe it does and so do most Chinese. North Koreans also believe that if there were another Korean War China would move troops into North Korea not to help but to end the war by taking over. Traditionally Koreans fear this kind of Chinese domination and are inclined to fight if invaded. That has kept Chinese armies (although not Chinese influence) out for centuries. But now many North Koreans, especially those going hungry in the dark and without sufficient fuel to cope with the cold weather, see a Chinese takeover, especially a temporary one, as a good thing. More North Koreans are taking that one step further and volunteering for the slave labor program where they go to work in China or Russia and the North Korean government keeps most of their pay. What is left for the worker is still more than most earn back in North Korea and the food is more abundant, the lights work and there is more heat during the six months of the year when it is pretty chilly in this part of the world.

The Impossible Takes Longer

North Korea has made a lot of media noise recently about Kim Jong Un ordering a test of a nuclear warhead and a ballistic missile together. This is another of those North Korean media stunts that is all smoke and no fire. Unless someone (like China or Russia) sold North Korea nuclear warhead tech, it is highly that North Korea has developed this complex and time-consuming warhead tech.

Closing The Dual Use Loophole

The UN uses teams of investigators to monitor violations of arms embargoes and regularly releases reports of violations found. In early 2016 one of these reports noted that North Korea was adapting Japanese civilian maritime radars for its warships. North Korea is still, as of 2015, using Chinese heavy trucks for transporting and launching rockets and missiles.

One Of Our Subs Is Missing

A North Korean submarine appears to have sunk off the east coast while training. North Korea will not admit this but the sub was being monitored by South Korea and the United States and the entire crew seems to have been lost as well. North Korea currently has 70 subs, but most (over 70 percent) of them are very small (and often elderly) coastal types. There are twenty larger (1,800 ton) Romeo type boats but these are also very old, noisy and easy for other subs to detect underwater. These would be the easiest for South Korea and the United States to track from a distance.

March 21, 2016: On the east coast North Korea test fired six of its new guided (by a GPS type system) 300mm rockets from a launcher vehicles. This new MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) first appeared in a late 2015 parade. The North Korean 300mm rockets appeared to have a range of over 100 kilometers. The launcher vehicle was later identified as a Chinese ZZ2257M5857A 6x6 that is meant for civilian or military use. China has come under increasing criticism for allowing its manufacturers to export such dual use vehicles to North Korea when it is clear that North Korea wants them only for military purposes. More disturbing is the fact that the new North Korean guided rockets were using technology that could also have been Chinese, as the Chinese introduced such a large guided rocket system in 2010.

March 17, 2016: North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed 600 kilometers off its east coast. A second missile was also launched but blew up shortly after launch. The next day China warned that such violations of UN prohibitions could have serious consequences. The recent missile and rocket firings are seen as the usual response to joint South Korea-American military exercises, which are underway now.

March 16, 2016: North Korea released a video on the Internet showing North Korean missiles hitting and destroying the office of the South Korean president.

March 7, 2016: In another sign of Chinese anger the Chinese government revealed that its new five year economic plan had, for the first time, lacked a section on economic cooperation with North Korea. A less official (and unannounced) form of rebuke was the Chinese quietly removing the Internet censoring of derogatory chatter about Kim Jong Un (especially his putting on weight). This only applies to Chinese search engines (especially Baidu) but it sends a signal to Chinese Internet users that it is now open season on North Korea and its portly leader. Kim Jong Un is a big fan of tech and the Internet and this Chinese move will offend him big time.

March 2, 2016: The UN approved a number of new sanctions on North Korea. What makes these sanctions different is that China and the United States agreed on them and they include some very harsh new measures. This agreement was the result of meetings and negotiations that began shortly after the January 6th North Korean nuclear test. In the past China has made a show of reluctantly going along with more sanctions on North Korea but this time China made it clear that it is behind the latest round of sanctions and responsible for suggesting some of them. The message to North Korea is that China will not look the other way on any of these new sanctions, or most of the existing ones either.
The 450,000 personnel in the Egyptian military are having morale problems because of the growing popularity of conservative Islam. Since 2013 that has led to growing violence by Islamic conservative troops against less religious Moslems and especially against non-Moslems. This had led to beatings, brawls and at least six cases where non-Moslem troops died in what was reported as suicides but many believed it was murder.

Egypt's considerable Coptic Christian minority has long been grossly underrepresented, and often mistreated, within the Egyptian Army. Copts are often singled out for discrimination by the police and public in civilian life, but beatings, ill-treatment, and sometimes outright torture are becoming increasingly common against army conscripts by Islamic conservative troops. Sometimes these beatings are motivated by a desire to force Copt recruits to convert to Islam, sometimes they occur just out of discriminatory attitudes.

Copts are about ten percent of the population and have maintained their Christianity for nearly 2,000 years. The recent increase in violence dates back to the 2011 revolution. While not responsible for that revolution the Moslem Brotherhood took advantage of it and managed to get a likeminded politician elected to run the country. That did not last long and the Islamic president was ousted in 2013. One of the reasons for this popular opposition to Islamic conservatism was growing violence by members of the Moslem Brotherhood. This group openly demands that the Copts should get out of Egypt or convert to Islam. Since 2013 over a hundred churches have been attacked by Brotherhood supporters and thousands of Christians injured. The Moslem Brotherhood members responsible for this consider themselves Islamic moderates and condemn Islamic terrorism. They dont consider violence against Copts or other non-Moslems as a crime, but a religious obligation.
by Austin Bay March 22, 2016

The Islamist terrorists' global war on the civilized continues unabated with Brussels, Belgium the latest target of an ISIS mass homicide.

As I write this column, Belgian authorities report the coordinated terror bomb attacks on Brussels' airport and a city metro train station killed 34 and wounded almost 200 people.

This Brussels attack lacked the strategic magnitude of 9-11. Its death toll is well below the 131 murdered in Paris in November 2015. The Paris slaughter was Europe's most deadly terror attack in a decade.

However, the Brussels assault was executed with the same fanaticism and audacity we witnessed on 9-11 and saw again in Paris. Several dozen other Islamist terrorist mass homicides around the globe have been equally audacious and cold-blooded. The November 2008 massacre-by-gunfire in Mumbai, India, left 164 people dead and over 300 wounded. Al-Qaida's March 11, 2004 (3-11) slaughter in Madrid murdered 191 Spaniards and wounded 1,800. It affected Spain's national elections and brought "Socialist peace candidate" Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to power. He immediately withdrew Spain's troop contingent from Iraq. Zapatero certainly secured peace with al-Qaida, didn't he?

No, he didn't.

Based on official statements, the Brussels attacks were well organized and planned. The metro train station was near the European Union's administrative office. ISIS sent EU bureaucrats a message: we intend to kill you.

Several media reports called the attacks revenge for the March 18 arrest of Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam helped plan the November attacks in Paris.

Perhaps revenge was a motive. However, radical Islamists are seeking revenge for the loss of Spain in 1492, a fact that apparently escaped Prime Minister Zapatero's strategic notice.

I suspect ISIL terrorists had already planned the attacks and accelerated their time table after security officers claimed Abdeslam was "worth his weight in gold" as a source of information on ISIS and its terror operations.

French and Belgian government officials wanted to announce Abdeslam's capture. Paris was a horror. However, intelligence officers usually advise minimizing news of a capture until they have finished interrogating the terrorist and run checks to gauge the accuracy of any information the terrorist provided.

A sophisticated organization like ISIS will know a raid occurred. Neighbors talk. So officials say a suspect was arrested, then shut up and let the enemy worry.

Which is why publicly gloating about Abdeslam's motor mouth strikes me as a grievous mistake. It tells ISIS terror cells to run, go to ground or quickly execute planned operations. In the counter-terror business unforced errors caused by myopic political considerations or lack of professional discipline often exact a price paid in the loss of more innocent lives.

That noted, the Paris attack seems to have been a sobering political watershed. French and Belgian governments now acknowledge the obvious: Islamist terrorists are waging war against them.

Since the Paris bloodletting, Western European security forces have become noticeably aggressive. French and Belgian police have conducted several raids where suspected ISIS terrorists were either killed or arrested, and done so with enough frequency to indicate intelligence services have identified ISIS support networks in France, Belgium and Holland.

Police have been quick to execute follow-up operations. French authorities reported that four people -- duly described as radical Islamists -- were arrested March 16 for allegedly helping plot the Paris attack. The arrests followed a police raid on a house in Brussels in which two terror suspects were slain.

The war against ISIS, however, won't be won by police forces. ISIS must be defeated in Syria and Iraq. Yes, in the Middle East -- that battleground from which Spain withdrew in 2004. The U.S. withdrew its forces in 2011. Last week ISIS forces killed a U.S. Marine in Iraq. To defend Brussels and New York, U.S. ground forces must go back.
The Islamic terrorist groups in the region are not making a comeback but they are trying hard to stay visible. Unlike other parts of the world, the various Islamic terror factions are not fighting each other in Mali but they are competing for headlines and attention (which equals new recruits and cash). In Mali and neighboring states most of the Islamic terrorists belong to AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). This includes local affiliates like Ansar Dine and several new (and quite small) Islamic terror groups in central and southern Mali. AQIM operates throughout North Africa (which Arab speakers call the Maghreb) but is currently suffering losses as personnel defect to ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), especially in Libya. This sort of thing is happening all over the Islamic world as the more fanatic Islamic terrorists seek to identify with what appears to be the most successful Islamic terrorist group at the moment. Given the many setbacks ISIL has suffered in the last year AQIM is holding its own in Africa but the two groups are trying to outdo each other in gaining media attention. This is done by launching attacks on Westerners, especially hotels where foreign journalists live. That guarantees massive headlines and lots of young Moslem men, especially in the West, encouraged to become active supporters. In Mali this means raising cash and seeking recruits to organize and carry out attacks in the more populous, and more hostile to Islamic terrorism, south. In the north the French led counter-terrorism operation has created a very hostile atmosphere for the remaining Islamic terrorists.

AQIM was disappointed with how little media attention they got from targeting non-Moslems in Mali. Three percent of Malians are Christian. In general Islamic terrorists will seek out and threaten or attack Christians wherever they can find them. Islamic terrorists believe Islamic scripture compels them to convert, kill or expel all non-Moslems they can reach. This has led to most Christians in north have already been driven from their homes. Extending this form of terror to the south is more difficult because the Christians down there have more powerful allies in the form of family or tribesmen who are Moslem, tolerant and loyal. That, plus the disinterest of Western media about this sort of thing has made the Islamic terrorists concentrate on what the mass media does find interesting.

In central Mali the government has managed to convince many (200 or more) of the radicalized Fulani men to abandon Islamic terrorism and accept an amnesty. This was done with the help of local religious and tribal leaders who largely agree that AQIM in particular and Islamic terrorism in general will do nothing to help the Fulani tribes that dominate the area. The Islamic terrorist violence here is centered on the town of Mopti which is 450 kilometers northeast of the capital and has been the scene of growing Islamic terrorist violence since 2012. Thats when Islamic radicalism from the north began showing up in central Mali. This got started as several pro-Islamic terrorism Islamic clerics began preaching support for Islamic terrorism. After the Islamic terrorists lost control of the north in 2013 the government sought to shut down any other pro-Islamic terror activity in the south. That included the drug smuggling and other criminal activity the Islamic terror groups use to sustain themselves. These problems are particularly acute among the Fulani people in central Mali. This is largely the Mopti region and that includes the market town of Mopti at the junction of the Niger and Bani rivers. Over 90 percent of Malians live south of Mopti.

There are some twenty million Fulani living in the Sahel (the semi-desert area between the Sahara and the jungle) and some of those in northern Nigeria have become involved in Islamic terrorism via the local Islamic terror group Boko Haram. There are over two million Fulani in Mali and the name of a new Islamic terror group in the south (FLM for Macina Liberation Front) openly identifies with the Fulani (Macina are the local branch of the Fulani). This group became active in early 2015 and claimed responsibility for several attacks since. It started out with calls for Fulani people to live according to strict Islamic rules. That in turn led to violence against tribal and village leaders who opposed this. That escalated to attacks on businesses and government facilities. FLM is composed mostly of young Fulani men and is associated with Ansar Dine (which is largely Tuareg and funded by smuggling profits). Although most Malians are Moslem, few want anything to do with Islamic terrorism and Boko Haram is seen as a major mistake and not welcome at all in Mali. But the Fulani have always seen themselves as a people apart, an attitude common with the nomadic peoples of the Sahel. The Fulani believe they originally migrated from North Africa and the Middle East. Fulai have lighter skin, thinner lips and straighter hair than other black Africans in sub-Saharan Africa and are also Moslem. Most sub-Saharan Africans are Christian or follow ancient local religions but in Mali nearly everyone is Moslem. Fulani have also been involved with smuggling for a long time, in large part because many are still nomadic and the Fulani dont really believe in borders. Despite these differences the Mali government took advantage of the fact that the Fulani have lived at peace in Mali for a long time and in nearby Nigeria Boko Haram has brought nothing but death, destruction and misery. The radical Fulani clerics were shut down and there was not enough popular support to replace them. The government hopes to get all the radicalized Fulani to abandon Islamic terrorism but it is expected some will refuse and if that number is small enough it will remain a police problem not a threat.

March 21, 2016: In the capital (Bamako) four AQIM gunmen attacked a hotel compound used by EU (European Union) military trainers. The Czech troops on guard quickly stopped the attack by killing one of the attackers and causing the others (possibly including one suicide bomber) to flee. Within 48 hours police had arrested 19 suspects, including two believed to have participated.

March 13, 2016: In the south, across the border in Ivory Coast AQIM attacked a beach resort and left 18 dead. AQIM affiliate Ansar Dine took credit and has long been active in Ivory Coast and maintained camps near the Mali border that were locally recruited Islamic terrorists who often attempted raids into Mali. These have largely failed but these bases were also used to plan terror attacks in both countries. AQIM attacks where it finds the best opportunities.

March 10, 2016: In the north (around Gao) two rival Tuareg clans (the Imghads and Daoussak) have finally agreed to a peace deal. These two groups have been fighting for a long time and in the past year there have been over a hundred casualties. At the moment getting the Tuareg to settle their internal disputes and disagreements with the central government are seen as the best way to bring peace to the north. The Tuareg are the majority up there and most of them are hostile to Islamic terrorism as well as what they perceive as government mistreatment. The peace making strategy in the north has been working but it is slow going.

March 1, 2016: France confirmed that French special operations troops in northern Mali had recently killed a wanted Spanish Moslem (Abu al Nur al Andalusi) who had become a prominent AQIM leader (mainly by appearing on the Internet to call on other European Moslems to join him). The French commandos in northern Mali (and the surrounding region) concentrate on Islamic terrorist leaders and have had a lot of success in finding and killing (or occasionally capturing) them. When killed or captured an AQIM finds that Internet fame can backfire as potential followers note the short careers of these fabricated heroes.
A FREE event to help small businesses tackle crime against them will be held this Thursday in Bishops Tachbrook.

New research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has found small firms are not reporting crimes against their business because they do not think it would lead to a successful prosecution.

Chris White MP (Warwick and Leamington), Ron Ball  Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Alex Charles Williams - Business Crime Advisor, Warwickshire County Council will form part of a panel to help answer questions from the audience.

The event  organised by Warwick and Leamington FSB - is being held at the Guide Dog Breeding Centre, Banbury Road, Bishops Tachbrook, Thursday 24th March 2016, at 6pm.
Politicians showed their support for New Place on Tuesday

Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi hosted a special event at Westminster yesterday (Tuesday) aimed at promoting the exciting work currently underway at New Place in Stratford.

A number of political big hitters including London Mayor Boris Johnson MP, secretary of state for culture and sport, John Wittingdale MP and Warwick and Leamington MP Chris White all attended.

Guests were given details about the project and the many ways in which they could get involved in supporting the work.

Mr Zahawi said: I was so pleased that the event in Parliament for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was a roaring success. It goes to show how committed everyone is both in Warwickshire and Parliament to supporting work in Stratford upon Avon to properly commemorate Shakespeare. It was great to see a number of colleagues attend and show support, including the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and I know everyone wants to support the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in providing the best possible experience for visitors.

The re-imagining of Shakespeares New Place, a project costing more than 5 million, is being created with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England and through public donations, raised via a host of initiatives spearheaded by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

The work at New Place, where Shakespeare lived for the last 19 years of his life, is set to be completed in July when it will be opened to the public.
More Than 655,000 Watched Lifestream of Hulk Hogan Trial, More Than Half Million Concurrent Viewers

Livestreams media partnership with Wild About Trial  broadcasting high-profile trials from across the country  gives real-time access to cases such as Gawker Media v. Hulk Hogan and other high-profile cases

Brooklyn, NY( )

Livestream, the worlds leading live video platform, announced today that more than 655,000 people viewed the Livestream of the Gawker Media v. Hulk Hogan trial on their mobile or desktop devices during the course of the trial, including more than half a million viewers watching at the same time. Livestreams partnerships with Wild About Trial and other court and media platforms are providing millions of people in the public and legal community with high-quality, real-time feeds into courtrooms they can watch anywhere and on any device.

"We think good government starts with transparency and access, and we're proud that courts across the country are using Livestream to open up courtrooms to more of the public, said Sam Jacobs, Senior Vice President for Sales & Marketing at Livestream.

"Wild About Trial lets our users be the 13th juror in the hottest, most salacious cases going on around the country. Using the most innovative, cutting edge technology, Livestream allows Wild About Trial users to receive the best, strongest and most uninterrupted feed to any of their mobile devices, said Alison Triessl, Founder of Wild About Trial.

"Livestream's partnership with Wild About Trial is yet another way in which we deliver on our commitment to bring as many live events as possible to viewers across all platforms," said Clayton Rose, General Manager, Livestream for News. "We are thrilled to be working with Wild About Trial and continuing to expand the ways in which more courtrooms are open to the public.

Criminal trial app Wild About Trial has used Livestream to broadcast Gawker Media v. Hulk Hogan and other high profile trials.

Livestream Data on Trial Viewership

Total Views: 655,518

Max Concurrent: 530,000 (during first week of trial)

Total Minutes Viewed: 4.1 million minutes

This month, the Delaware Supreme Court became the first State Supreme Court to broadcast non-confidential oral arguments via Livestream. The Justices in Delaware seek to benefit the legal community as well as provide an educational opportunity for students, schools, and members of the public interested in learning about the Delaware Courts. Viewers can watch attorney arguments, directives from judges and testimony directly from the witness stand in the most important trials taking place.

Users can view these lawsuits  live  from their phones, tablets, Apple TV, or any other device and from anywhere in the world through a partnership with Wild About Trial, a mobile application designed to provide up-to-the-minute updates on trials throughout the country.

About Livestream

Livestreams mission is to connect people and live events. Livestream offers event owners a complete set of hardware and software tools to share their events with a growing community online. More than 40 million viewers each month watch thousands of live events from customers including The New York Times, Facebook, ESPN, SpaceX and Warner Bros. Records. Founded in 2007, Livestream is headquartered in New York with offices in California, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and India. www.livestream.com.

About Wild About Trial

This mobile application was born out of a love for criminal trials  who the players are, what the backstory is, when it happened, how it happened, why it happened, and what happens in and out of court. With Wild About Trial on your phone or tablet, no matter where you are, you get up-to-the-minute updates on the trials you are most interested in, all in the palm of your hands.
Pershing Square filed an amended 13D on Valeant Pharma (NYSE: VRX) today. The following letter was disclosed:

Dear Mr. Pearson:

I am delighted to join the Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (Valeant) board, and I look forward to making a contribution to the company.

This letter, intended solely for the benefit of Valeant, contains a series of undertakings by myself, my firm and the investment funds that we advise (collectively, Pershing Square or we). The undertakings in the following two paragraphs of this letter will be effective so long as the confidential information shared with me as a Valeant director or shared with Pershing Square (by me or by Valeant) remains non-public, and the undertakings in the penultimate paragraph of this letter will be effective while I am a Valeant director. All such undertakings are intended to be legally binding on Pershing Square and to address various issues that we have discussed.

We are sensitive to Valeants concerns regarding confidentiality and other regulatory issues, and feel that it would be appropriate to restrict ourselves as set forth in this letter in order to address those considerations. To that end, I hereby undertake, consistent with my fiduciary duties and confidentiality obligations as a Valeant director, to refrain from communicating to anyone (whether to any company in which we have an investment or otherwise) confidential information I learn in my capacity as a director of Valeant; providedthat I may communicate such information to members of my firm, Pershing Square, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP and our other outside advisors, in each case, who need to know such information for the purpose of advising Pershing Square on its investment in Valeant; provided, further, that Pershing Square shall be (and shall cause such persons to be) bound by the same confidentiality restrictions that are otherwise applicable to me. In addition, this letter memorializes that, except as required by applicable law pursuant to the next sentence, all of Pershing Squares personnel have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of Valeants nonpublic information they obtain directly from Valeant or through my service on the Valeant board. In the event that a recipient of such information is required by any court, governmental or regulatory authority, or by legal process to disclose any such information, Pershing Square shall promptly notify Valeant of such requirement and cooperate with Valeant in its efforts to limit any such disclosure prior thereto; provided, that if disclosure is nonetheless legally required, the recipient may disclose such portion of the information as counsel has advised is legally required or advisable to be produced. Pershing Square (i) acknowledges that applicable United States and Canadian securities laws prohibit any person who has material nonpublic information about a company from purchasing or selling securities of such company or from communicating such information to any other person under circumstances in which it is reasonably foreseeable that such person is likely to purchase or sell such securities and (ii) agrees to comply with (and to cause Pershing Square personnel to comply with) the United States and Canadian securities laws in respect of communicating any such information and refraining from trading in Valeant securities while in possession of such information in violation of such securities laws.

Furthermore, we agree that, in connection with my service on the Valeant board, I will comply with the policies (as applied to me on a reasonable and good faith basis) applicable generally to directors of Valeant as currently in effect (together with changes to such policies imposed on a reasonable and good faith basis), and except as otherwise agreed between Pershing Square and Valeant, Pershing Square and its controlled affiliates will not engage in the purchase or sale of Valeant securities during Valeant blackout periods under the restriction calendar currently in effect, together with changes to such calendar or unscheduled blackout periods (in either case imposed on a reasonable and good faith basis). Valeant shall not be responsible for compliance by Pershing Square or me with the securities laws, including regulations relating to insider trading.

I look forward to working together with you and the board.

Very truly yours,

William A. Ackman

/s/ William A. Ackman

PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. 888 SEVENTH AVENUE, 42 ND FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10019 P: 212-813-3700 F: 212-286-1133

March 22, 2016

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.

2150 St. Elzear Blvd. West

Laval, Quebec

Canada, H7L 4A8

Attention: J. Michael Pearson

Dear Mr. Pearson:

I am delighted to join the Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (Valeant) board, and I look forward to making a contribution to the company.

This letter, intended solely for the benefit of Valeant, contains a series of undertakings by myself, my firm and the investment funds that we advise (collectively, Pershing Square or we). The undertakings in the following two paragraphs of this letter will be effective so long as the confidential information shared with me as a Valeant director or shared with Pershing Square (by me or by Valeant) remains non-public, and the undertakings in the penultimate paragraph of this letter will be effective while I am a Valeant director. All such undertakings are intended to be legally binding on Pershing Square and to address various issues that we have discussed.

We are sensitive to Valeants concerns regarding confidentiality and other regulatory issues, and feel that it would be appropriate to restrict ourselves as set forth in this letter in order to address those considerations. To that end, I hereby undertake, consistent with my fiduciary duties and confidentiality obligations as a Valeant director, to refrain from communicating to anyone (whether to any company in which we have an investment or otherwise) confidential information I learn in my capacity as a director of Valeant; provided that I may communicate such information to members of my firm, Pershing Square, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP and our other outside advisors, in each case, who need to know such information for the purpose of advising Pershing Square on its investment in Valeant; provided, further, that Pershing Square shall be (and shall cause such persons to be) bound by the same confidentiality restrictions that are otherwise applicable to me. In addition, this letter memorializes that, except as required by applicable law pursuant to the next sentence, all of Pershing Squares personnel have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of Valeants nonpublic information they obtain directly from Valeant or through my service on the Valeant board. In the event that a recipient

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.

March 22, 2016

Page 2 of 3

of such information is required by any court, governmental or regulatory authority, or by legal process to disclose any such information, Pershing Square shall promptly notify Valeant of such requirement and cooperate with Valeant in its efforts to limit any such disclosure prior thereto; provided, that if disclosure is nonetheless legally required, the recipient may disclose such portion of the information as counsel has advised is legally required or advisable to be produced. Pershing Square (i) acknowledges that applicable United States and Canadian securities laws prohibit any person who has material nonpublic information about a company from purchasing or selling securities of such company or from communicating such information to any other person under circumstances in which it is reasonably foreseeable that such person is likely to purchase or sell such securities and (ii) agrees to comply with (and to cause Pershing Square personnel to comply with) the United States and Canadian securities laws in respect of communicating any such information and refraining from trading in Valeant securities while in possession of such information in violation of such securities laws.

Furthermore, we agree that, in connection with my service on the Valeant board, I will comply with the policies (as applied to me on a reasonable and good faith basis) applicable generally to directors of Valeant as currently in effect (together with changes to such policies imposed on a reasonable and good faith basis), and except as otherwise agreed between Pershing Square and Valeant, Pershing Square and its controlled affiliates will not engage in the purchase or sale of Valeant securities during Valeant blackout periods under the restriction calendar currently in effect, together with changes to such calendar or unscheduled blackout periods (in either case imposed on a reasonable and good faith basis). Valeant shall not be responsible for compliance by Pershing Square or me with the securities laws, including regulations relating to insider trading.

I look forward to working together with you and the board.

Very truly yours, William A. Ackman /s/ William A. Ackman

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.

March 22, 2016

Page 3 of 3

PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. /s/ William A. Ackman William A. Ackman, Managing Member PS Management GP, LLC, General Partner
Emerald Oil, Inc. (NYSE: EOX) announced that the Company and its subsidiaries filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "Bankruptcy Court"), initiating a process intended to preserve value and accommodate an eventual going-concern sale of Emerald's business operations.

Emerald has obtained $20 million in post-petition debtor in possession financing, which, subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, will provide the Company with liquidity to maintain its operations in the ordinary course of business during the Chapter 11 process.

Prior to the Chapter 11 filing, Emerald executed a Non-Binding Term Sheet with Latium Enterprises, Inc. ("Latium") pursuant to which Latium has proposed to purchase substantially all of Emerald's assets and, subject to lender and Bankruptcy Court approval, would serve as a "stalking horse" in a sale process under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Term Sheet is non-binding and such transaction is subject to, among other things, Latium's performance of certain due diligence analysis and the parties negotiating mutually acceptable terms of definitive transaction agreements. Emerald intends for such a sale, if consummated, to ensure a smooth and swift transition of the business and operations to Latium, which would be supported by a stronger balance sheet due to a significantly lower debt burden. If acquired by Latium as part of the anticipated transaction, the Emerald business would expect to be able to remain committed to continued operations in North Dakota. In accordance with the sale process under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, notice of the proposed sale to Latium would be given to third parties and competing bids solicited. An independent committee of Emerald's board of directors will be established to, in consultation with an independent investment bank and a financial advisor, manage the bidding process and evaluate bids.

The Company intends to continue its normal business operations throughout the sale process and has asked the Bankruptcy Court to approve certain Company requests to protect employees, trade creditors, vendors and suppliers, thereby allowing for its operations to continue uninterrupted during the Bankruptcy Court supervised sale process.

McAndrew Rudisill, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emerald, said, "The plan we are announcing today will provide for continuity in Emerald's current and future business operations. This process is the only path going forward and should enable the business to execute a turnaround in the current low oil price environment. Importantly, Emerald's plan and the Latium transaction would allow the business to continue to operate and would provide a sound path for potential recovery for Company stakeholders."

Like many other exploration and production companies, Emerald's operations have been significantly impacted by the dramatic decline in oil prices, the continued low prices of oil and natural gas, and the general uncertainty in the energy markets. These macro-economic factors, coupled with Emerald's substantial debt obligations, resulted in the Company's decision to explore strategic restructuring alternatives to reduce its debt and achieve a sustainable capital structure. Over the last nine months the Company explored and presented multiple solutions to its lenders to solve the Company's current financial condition, however the Company was unable to obtain the requisite lender consent. Emerald continues to evaluate and discuss alternatives with its stakeholders and believes that an in-court sale process will maximize value and position Emerald for future profitability.

Court filings and other information related to the restructuring proceedings are available at a website administered by the Company's claims agent, Donlin Recano, at www.donlinrecano.com/emerald.

Intrepid Partners, LLC is serving as investment banker for Emerald, Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel, and Opportune LLP is serving as financial advisor with Wade Stubblefield of Opportune serving as Chief Restructuring Officer.
A sign is seen at the entrance of the Exxonmobil Port Allen Lubricants Plant in Port Allen, Louisiana, November 6, 2015. REUTERS/Lee Celano

By Ernest Scheyder

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled Exxon Mobil Corp must include a climate change resolution on its annual shareholder proxy, a defeat for the world's largest publicly traded oil producer, which had argued it already provides adequate carbon disclosures.

In a Tuesday letter to Exxon seen by Reuters, the SEC said the oil producer cannot keep a proposal spearheaded by New York state's comptroller from a full shareholder vote at the company's annual meeting in May.

If approved, the proposal would force Exxon to outline specific risks that climate change or legislation designed to curb it could pose to its ability to operate profitably.

Exxon had argued that the proposal was vague and that it already publishes carbon-related information for shareholders, including a 2014 report on its website entitled, "Energy and Carbon  Managing the Risks."

The SEC found those reports do not go far enough.

"It does not appear that Exxon Mobil's public disclosures compare favorably with the guidelines of the proposal," Justin Kisner, an attorney-adviser with the SEC, wrote to the oil producer.

Exxon Mobil declined to comment on the SEC's ruling.

"We'll be communicating the board's recommendations on shareholder resolutions through the proxy document next month," Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said.

It is not uncommon for companies to give shareholders their opinion on proxy votes. It is unclear whether the proposal, though, has much chance of success. Exxon shareholders have never approved a climate change-related proposal, and last year they rejected by 79 percent a request that a climate expert be appointed to the company's board.

Nevertheless, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees the state's $178.3 billion pension fund, called the SEC's decision a "major victory" for shareholders.

"Investors need to know if Exxon Mobil is taking necessary steps to prepare for a lower carbon future, particularly now in the wake of the Paris agreement," DiNapoli said in a statement, referring to an agreement last fall by 195 countries to rein in rising emissions that have been blamed for global warming.

Environmentalists cheered the SEC's decision.

"The SEC has rejected Exxon's attempt to silence investors' concerns about the very real financial risks associated with climate change," said Shanna Cleveland of Ceres, a nonprofit group that tracks environmental records of public companies.

DiNapoli was joined in the SEC filing by the Church of England, the Vermont State Employees' Retirement System, the University of California Retirement Plan and the Brainerd Foundation.

OTHER BATTLES

The ruling from the SEC comes as Exxon fights other carbon-related battles, including an inquiry by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman into whether the company misled the public and shareholders about the risks of climate change.

Exxon has hired a star attorney, Theodore V. Wells, Jr. as it fights the investigation from Schneiderman, who subpoenaed the company for a trove of records, emails and other documentation.

Schneiderman has aggressively fought companies on climate issues for years. Last fall he settled an eight-year investigation with coal producer Peabody Energy to amend its climate change disclosures so that they would be more robust.

Also on Wednesday, the Rockefeller Family Fund said it will divest from fossil fuels as quickly as possible and "eliminate holdings" of Exxon.

Shares of Exxon barely moved after the SEC's ruling, falling 0.2 percent in after-hours trading to $83.63.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By a vote of two to one, Chairman Kane dissenting, the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia approved the Pepco (NYSE: POM)/Exelon (NYSE: EXC) Merger, as modified by the terms and conditions set out in Option 2 presented in the Joint Applicants Request for Other Relief, filed on March 7, 2016, with one additional term. The modifications conform the Merger Application to the terms of the Revised Nonunanimous Settlement Agreement (RNSA) proposed by Commissioner Fort in Order No. 18109, released February 26, 2016, with the addition of the Incremental Offset that was included in the Nonunanimous Settlement Agreement (NSA) rejected by a majority of the Commission. Commissioner Phillips dissented to the rejection of the NSA in Order No. 18109.

The Joint Applicants, acting alone without the other Settling Parties, then filed a Request for Other Relief, which the Commission granted. The Joint Applicants Request sought Commission action on one of three options: adopt the NSA (Option 1); adopt the RNSA (Option 2); or adopt a new proposal (Option 3). All of the Parties as well as some community members filed comments on the Joint Applicants Request. After considering all comments, the majority of the Commission voted to adopt the terms and conditions set out in Option 2 with the addition of an Incremental Offset. The Commission modified the terms of the RNSA to retain this tool to use in its next base rate case along with the base rate credits to mitigate impacts of a future rate increase on ratepayers.

Accordingly, the Commission has concluded that the Proposed Merger, under the terms and conditions now set out in Attachment A to the Order, is in the public interest. The Merger as approved retains all of the benefits negotiated by the Settling Parties in the NSA with the exception of the four changes outlined in Order No. 18109. The Commission specifically concluded that the merger will benefit ratepayers and the District because it includes, among other benefits: (1) a $72.8 million Customer Investment Fund, including $25.6 million in rate base credits; (2) $11.25 million in funds for energy efficiency and energy conservation programs, especially for low and limited income residents; and (3) $21.55 million to promote the Districts sustainability agenda through pilot projects to modernize the electric distribution grid to accommodate more distributed energy resources. These benefits, among others, would not be available to District ratepayers if the Merger is not approved. A copy of the Order will be posted on the Commission website, www.dcpsc.org.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) today announced an agreement that will result in its 100% ownership of PT CIMB Sun Life through the purchase of an additional 51% of CSL from its long-term partner, CIMB Group. Sun Life Financial currently owns 49% of CSL as well as 100% of PT Sun Life Financial Indonesia ("SLF Indonesia"). Both are life insurance companies in Indonesia.

Sun Life Financial intends to integrate CSL's business under the Sun Life brand with SLF Indonesia, which is a key step to comply with Indonesia's "single presence" policy.

In addition, Sun Life Financial Indonesia is deepening its partnership with CIMB Group through an extended bancassurance arrangement with PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk ("CIMB Niaga"), the fifth largest bank by asset size in Indonesia as at December 31, 2015. This arrangement will strengthen distribution capabilities across CIMB Niaga's 618 branches and customer base throughout Indonesia. CSL customers will continue to have access to the same comprehensive range of wealth management and life insurance solutions that they enjoy today from Sun Life Financial Indonesia.

"This is an exciting opportunity to deepen and enhance our business in Indonesia, a priority market for our long-term growth in Asia," said Kevin Strain, President, Sun Life Financial Asia. "We had anticipated and positioned ourselves well to meet the "single presence" policy, and uniting the businesses in SLF Indonesia will give us even greater ability to serve our customers. This includes more efficient investment in technology, products and brand. We're also delighted to be strengthening our partnership with CIMB Group, who is also our long-term bancassurance partner in Malaysia."

These changes will build further on Sun Life Financial's momentum in Indonesia, increasing its presence across the country. This is in addition to SLF Indonesia's previously announced commitment already underway to invest US$40 million to enhance its agency force, increase online penetration and strengthen its brand presence in the market. Earlier this year, SLF Indonesia opened three new offices in East Java and in 2015 moved into its expanded headquarters, Menara Sun Life, in Jakarta.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2016, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.
A view of single family homes for sale in San Marcos, California October 25, 2013. From China to Canada and London, fast-rising property markets are haunting the global economy again, five years after the U.S. subprime mortgage bubble burst and triggere

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. single-family home sales rebounded modestly in February as a surge in the West offset sharp declines in other regions, pointing to a gradually improving housing sector amid a dearth of properties available on the market.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday home sales rose 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000 units. January's sales pace was revised up to 502,000 units from the previously reported 494,000 units.

"The housing market is improving, though in fits and starts and not uniformly across the nation," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.

New single-family home sales were driven by a 38.5 percent jump in the West last month, which reversed January's 32.7 percent dive. Sales plunged 24.2 percent in the Northeast and tumbled 17.9 percent in the Midwest. They fell 4.1 percent in the populous South.

Excluding the West, home sales were down 8.1 percent. New home sales account for about 9.2 percent of the housing market.

The report came on the heels of data on Monday showing a 7.1 percent drop in sales of previously owned homes in February, which was blamed on tight inventories, bad weather and difficulties adjusting the data during the month with a leap day.

The S&P homebuilding index was down 0.88 percent, in line with a broadly weaker U.S. stock market.

Shares in D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE: DHI), the largest U.S. homebuilder, fell 1.4 percent and rival Lennar Corp (NYSE: LEN) slipped 0.8 percent.

DECENT SPRING SELLING SEASON

A separate report from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed a dip in home buying activity last week, with its seasonally adjusted Purchase Index falling 1.0 percent from a week earlier. The index, however, increased 25 percent from a year ago.

While economists and realtors expect a fairly busy spring selling season, they caution that the persistent shortage of homes on the market, which is limiting options for buyers and pushing up prices, was a challenge.

"Existing and new home prices are rising quickly and that's really taking a bite out of housing affordability. New and existing home inventories are very lean, that can hurt sales," said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody's Analytics in Westchester, Pennsylvania.

"Spring sales should be decent, but won't be as good as they could have been if there was more inventory on the market and affordability was a little bit stronger."

There were 1.88 million existing homes available for sale in February, up 3.3 percent from January, but 1.1 percent lower than a year ago. House prices have been rising by more than 5 percent, outpacing wage growth.

While the inventory of new homes on the market rose 1.7 percent in February to the highest level since October 2009, it remained less than half of what it was at the height of the housing bubble.

At February's sales pace it would take 5.6 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, unchanged from January.

With the strengthening labor market boosting household formation and mortgage rates still low by historical standards, housing fundamentals remain solid. The sector should continue to contribute to economic growth this year.

"We expect the housing market to continue to be a moderate but unremarkable contributor to growth for the remainder of 2016," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, and economic analyst at FTN Financial in New York.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
By Amy Tennery

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz turned to Twitter to defend their wives' honor after a Super PAC put out an ad featuring Trump's wife nude and Trump threatened to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife.

Trump's threat came on Tuesday night when he was upset about an ad that showed his wife, former model Melania Trump, lounging nude with a caption saying, "Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

Trump said Cruz was behind the ad, which appeared on Tuesday, the day of nominating contests in Utah, where the heavily Mormon electorate favored Cruz in its caucuses, and Arizona, which gave Trump a victory in its primary vote. The ad said it was from Make America Awesome, a Super PAC that is allowed to promote a candidate but not coordinate with the campaign.

Wow @SenTedCruz, that is some low level ad you did using a picture [of] Melania in a G.Q. shoot," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "Be careful or I will spill the beans on your wife."

Trump later deleted the tweet but published another that read: Lyin Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!

Trump did not indicate what kind of beans he intended to spill about Heidi Cruz, who is on leave from an executive job at Goldman Sachs while campaigning, but her husband quickly came to her defense on Twitter.

"Pic of your wife not from us," the U.S. senator from Texas said. "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless."

The battle continued on Wednesday with Cruz telling CNN: "He went directly after my wife. If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he's better off sticking with me because Heidi is way out of his league."

A Twitter response from Trump questioned Cruz' honesty.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted!" he said.

The director of Make America Awesome, Liz Mair, posted on Twitter that her group was responsible for the ad. She did not respond to an email from Reuters seeking comment.

In a campaign appearance for her husband in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Heidi Cruz addressed the uproar briefly.

"You probably know by now that most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality," she told reporters. So we are not worried in the least."

(Reporting By Amy Tennery; Additional reporting by Melissa Fares and Gina Cherelus in New York and Megan Cassella and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott)
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Rhode Island's state pension fund on Wednesday turned its back on one of its hedge funds, as its investment commission voted unanimously to exit Luxor Capital following months of poor performance, a spokesman for the fund said.

The action came after influential industry consultant Cliffwater, which advises on roughly $56 billion in alternative assets, recommended that the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island remove its money from Luxor.

Pension fund spokesman David Ortiz said in an email the state will receive $35 million back by June 30. It originally invested $50 million with Luxor in 2014.

Reuters first reported Cliffwater's recommendation and the fund's decision to follow it.

Earlier this month Cliffwater, which advises a number of state, city and county pension funds as well as private and public colleges on which alternative assets to include, told the pension fund in a memo that it was time to get out of Luxor.

Recommendations from industry consultants such as Cliffwater can carry significant weight in the investment community, especially at a time investors are mulling how to react to hedge funds that are posting big losses.

Cliffwater's Thomas Lynch said the $4 billion hedge fund has underperformed because of "poor investment selection and inadequate hedging." At the end of the year, one of its biggest positions was Yahoo Inc, whose shares have fallen 22 percent in the last 12 months. Northstar Realty Finance Corp, another big holding, has dropped 67 percent in the last 12 months.

In the two years, between March 2014 and February 2016, Luxor posted an average 18.3 percent annual loss, Lynch wrote.

Luxor did not respond to emails seeking comment.

In January, Cliffwater said it was watching Luxor very closely and might recommend pulling out.

This was not the first time Luxor had come in for extra scrutiny from Cliffwater. In 2014, only months after it was hired by the state, Cliffwater placed Luxor on a watch list. By early 2015, Cliffwater said management had turned things around, according to minutes of the April 29, 2015 meeting.

By year's end 2015, however, Luxor was down double digits.

Last year, investors redeemed roughly 8 percent of their money from Luxor, a number roughly in line with what investors do every year, a person familiar with Luxor's business said.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Steve Orlofsky)
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings has affirmed five classes of Greenwich Capital Commercial Funding Corporation Commercial Mortgage Trust, series 2002-C1, commercial mortgage pass-through certificates. A detailed list of rating actions follows at the end of this press release.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The affirmations reflect the pool concentration and the uncertainty about the ultimate resolution of the specially serviced asset. There are three loans remaining in the pool: one in special servicing (65.6%), one fully defeased (28.7%), and one fully amortizing (5.7%).

The pool has experienced $45.6 million (3.9% of the original pool balance) in realized losses to date. As of the March 2016 distribution date, the pool's aggregate principal balance has been reduced by 99.4% to $7.3 million from $1.18 billion at issuance. Interest shortfalls are currently affecting classes M through Q.

The largest remaining loan is the specially-serviced Hope Hotel & Conference Center (65.6% of the pool). The real estate owned (REO) asset is a 266-room limited service hotel located in Dayton, OH, on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The loan transferred to special servicing in November 2008 due to imminent default. The borrower filed for bankruptcy in June 2010 after the special servicer initiated the foreclosure process. The bankruptcy was dismissed by the court and a receiver has been in place since August 2012. The property became REO in May 2014. As of year-end 2015, occupancy was reported to be 44%. For the same period, the average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) were reported to be $80.17 and $35, respectively. The special servicer indicates they are working to add value and increase occupancy prior to marketing the asset for sale.

The second largest remaining loan, Town Square Shopping Center (28.7%) is fully defeased through its first open date in June 2017.

The third remaining loan, Tarry Town Center (5.7%) is secured by a 66,273 square foot (sf) mixed-use office and retail property in Austin, TX. According to the August 2015 rent roll, the property is 95% occupied. Per the servicer's OSAR, the property reported a debt service coverage ratio of 3.28x for the year ending May 31, 2015. The loan is fully amortizing and matures in April 2017.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

The Outlook for class L remains Stable as it expected to be paid in full from amortization in approximately four months. Additionally, the class is fully covered by defeased collateral. A further upgrade is not warranted at this time due to the pool concentration and the uncertainty regarding the resolution of the specially serviced asset. Fitch expects class L to remain at its current rating until it is paid in full in a few months.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

No third party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

Fitch affirms the following classes as indicated:

--$548,474 class L at 'Asf'; Outlook Stable;

--$6.8 million class M at 'Dsf'; RE 60%;

--$0 class N at 'Dsf'; RE 0%;

--$0 class O at 'Dsf'; RE 0%;

--$0 class P at 'Dsf'; RE 0%.

The class A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, and the interest-only classes XPB and XP certificates have paid in full. Fitch does not rate the class Q and SWD-B certificates. Fitch previously withdrew the rating on the interest-only class XC certificates.

Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.

Applicable Criteria

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria (pub. 06 Jul 2015)

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=867952

U.S. and Canadian Fixed-Rate Multiborrower CMBS Surveillance and U.S. Re-REMIC Criteria (pub. 13 Nov 2015)

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=873395

Additional Disclosures

Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1001391

Solicitation Status

https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1001391

Endorsement Policy

https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323006339/en/

Fitch Ratings

Primary Analyst

Daniel Anderson

Associate Director

+1-312-606-2305

Fitch Ratings, Inc.

70 W. Madison Street

Chicago, IL 60602

or

Committee Chairperson

Brook Sutherland

Senior Director

+1-312-606-2346

or

Media Relations:

Sandro Scenga, +1 212-908-0278

[email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings
Extends reach of comprehensive payment solution for international patients

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Flywire (formerly peerTransfer), a leading provider of cross-border payment solutions, today announced a new sponsorship agreement with USCIPP, the U.S. Cooperative for International Patient Programs. USCIPP is the premier non-profit organization dedicated to expanding global access to U.S. expertise in high-quality healthcare. The agreement comes on the heels of Flywires entry into the $40B international patient care industry, announced in October 2015 and is expected to help expand the companys visibility and market penetration.

USCIPP is a non-profit membership organization comprised of U.S. academic medical centers, healthcare systems and hospitals operating in the international patient care arena. The organization has 63 member institutions, including Rush University Medical Center, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, UCLA, Memorial Sloan Kettering, NYU Langone and Cleveland Clinic. USCIPP is part of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL), a non-profit with a focus on improving health by strengthening healthcare leadership. NCHLs work emphasizes forging collaborations across health systems to identify and share best practices in leadership and organizational excellence.

Flywire was selected by USCIPP as one of only three sponsoring organizations  based on its commitment to supporting the work of USCIPP and its member healthcare providers. As part of the agreement, Flywire will sponsor USCIPPs Annual Meeting on April 27-29 at UCLA in Los Angeles and offer USCIPP members education and advice on streamlining international patient care payments.

Flywire operates with the same level of integrity and dedication to patient experience as USCIPP and its member institutions, said Mike Massaro, CEO of Flywire. We look forward to supporting USCIPP, engaging with its members and helping to simplify the payment process for both international patients and the institutions that care for them.

USCIPP is pleased to welcome Flywire as a sponsor, said Jarrett Fowler, program manager for USCIPP. We selected Flywire as a partner in the payments category based upon their reputation for quality, payment expertise, and service. These attributes are considered extremely important by USCIPPs member institutions.

Comprehensive Offering for International Patient Payments

Flywire has done extensive research and conducted numerous discussions with US hospitals that focus on international patient care to confirm the needs of both healthcare providers and their international patients. The Flywire for Healthcare payment platform is designed with those needs in mind and offers comprehensive capabilities to help navigate the complex world of global payments:

For international patients, Flywire for Healthcare provides:

The ability to pay from 220 countries and territories, using their local payment vehicle of choice (bank transfer, credit/debit, etc.)

Discounted currency conversion rates that can offer significant savings when compared to FX rates offered by banks in their home countries

A safe, secure, easy-to-use online payment experience backed by 24/7 customer service and mobile/online delivery tracking

For care providers, Flywire for Healthcare offers:

Automatic international patient bill notification and tracking

Online refunds on overpayments

A convenient online dashboard tracking the status of all payments, 24/7

Daily reconciliations that match each international payment to the appropriate patient/payer

For more information, and a demo of Flywire for Healthcare, contact [email protected].

About Flywire

Flywire, formerly peerTransfer, is a leading provider of high-ticket cross-border payment solutions, connecting institutions on six continents with consumers from around the world. Introduced four years ago as a way for international students to pay their tuition for studies abroad, Flywire is now welcomed by over 900 colleges and universities. The company processes payments from 220 countries and territories, in 70 local currencies. Convenient, fast and secure, Flywires scalable cross-border platform accepts bank transfers, online banking, and credit and debit cards  providing currency conversion at exchange rates that can offer significant savings when compared to home-market banks and credit card providers. Committed to a great end-to-end customer experience, the company offers multilingual servicing via phone, email, and chat, as well as 24/7 online payment tracking.

Flywire is headquartered in Boston, MA with international operations in London, Manchester (UK); Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; and Valencia, Spain. For more information, visit www.Flywire.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005840/en/

For Flywire/formerly peerTransfer

Tim Walsh, +1 617-512-1641

[email protected]

Source: Flywire
MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IVP, one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms, is pleased to announce that General Partners Todd Chaffee and Sandy Miller have been named to the prestigious Forbes Midas List of the Top 100 Tech Investors. The Midas List identifies the venture capitalists who are generating exceptional returns for their investors while helping create the most impactful and valuable companies. Mr. Chaffee is ranked #39 and has been a partner with IVP for 16 years. Mr. Miller is ranked #72 on the list and has been a partner with IVP for 10 years. Todd has been included on all the Midas Lists since 2009. Sandy is one of only eight venture capitalists who have been on all the Midas Lists since 2007. IVP is one of the top performing firms in the venture capital industry with a 35-year IRR of 43.2%. IVP is currently investing IVP XV, a $1.4 billion later-stage venture capital and growth equity fund, and manages $5.4 billion in committed capital. The firm is committed to its focused strategy of investing in rapidly-growing technology and media companies and partnering closely with exceptional management teams.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323006625/en/

Todd Chaffee, General Partner, IVP (Photo: Business Wire)

About Todd Chaffee

Mr. Chaffee joined IVP as a Managing Director and General Partner in March 2000. He has more than 25 years of operating and investment experience. Mr. Chaffee has led investments in Akamai, ArcSight, Ariba, Business Insider, Compass, ComScore, CyberSource, Digital River, Domo, Epiphany, Extensity, General Assembly, Hipmunk, HomeAway, Inspirato, Kayak, Klarna, LivingSocial, LoopNet, Mobile 365, Netflix, Nuance Communications, Omniture, Open Market, Pandora, Trintech, Twitter, VeriSign, Verisity, Vessel, Whip Networks, and Yahoo. Prior to IVP, he was Executive Vice President of Visa where his responsibilities included overseeing the Advanced Technology, Strategic Planning, Corporate Development, and Equity Investment divisions. He was also the President of Visa Marketplace Inc. (Visa's investment subsidiary) and managed Visa's global technology investment portfolio. Mr. Chaffee earned a B.S. with honors from the University of Minnesota Carlson Business School. He also completed the Stanford Graduate Business School Advanced Management Program and the Harvard Business School Venture Capital Program.

About Sandy Miller

Mr. Miller joined IVP as a Managing Director and General Partner in April 2006. He has more than 35 years of venture capital and technology investment banking experience and has served on over 25 public, private, and philanthropic boards. Mr. Miller has led investments in AddThis, Carbonite, Care.com, Constant Contact, Data Domain, Datalogix, FleetMatics, Merchant e-Solutions, Ngmoco, OnDeck, One Kings Lane, Placeware, Prosper, SkyStream Networks, SoFi, Supercell, US Internetworking, Vonage, Zerto, and Zynga. He co-founded Thomas Weisel Partners and then ran U.S. later-stage venture investing at 3i, a global investment firm. He was also a Managing Director at Montgomery Securities, Merrill Lynch, and DLJ, and a strategy consultant at Bain. Mr. Miller earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia (Phi Beta Kappa), an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

About IVP

With $5.4 billion of committed capital, IVP is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in over 300 companies and 103 have gone public. IVP is one of the top-performing firms in the industry and has a 35-year IRR of 43.2%. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions, and select public market investments. IVP investments include such notable companies as AppDynamics, ArcSight (HPQ), Business Insider (Axel Springer), Buddy Media (CRM), ComScore (SCOR), Datalogix (ORCL), Domo, Dropbox, Dropcam (GOOG), Fleetmatics (FLTX), GitHub, HomeAway (AWAY), The Honest Company, Kayak (PCLN), Klarna, LegalZoom, LifeLock (LOCK), Marketo (MKTO), MySQL (ORCL), Netflix (NFLX), Omniture (ADBE), OnDeck (ONDK), Prosper, Pure Storage (PSTG), Shazam, Slack, Snapchat, SoFi, SoundCloud, Supercell (SoftBank), Synchronoss (SNCR), Tanium, Twitter (TWTR), Zenefits, and Zynga (ZNGA). For more information, visit www.ivp.com or follow IVP on Twitter: @ivp.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323006625/en/

IVP

Gina Bauman, 650-543-1813

[email protected]

Source: IVP
NEW YORK, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

New Trailhawk model expands Jeep Grand Cherokee lineup with most capable version ever produced

Grand Cherokee Summit models boast new, even more luxurious hand-crafted leather interior, new appearance and added standard premium features

Both new Grand Cherokee models arrive in Jeep showrooms in late summer

Already the most awarded SUV ever, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is about to become even more capable and even more luxurious.

At the New York International Auto Show today, the Jeep brand expanded its Grand Cherokee lineup with the introduction of a new Trailhawk model  the most capable factory-produced Grand Cherokee ever. The brand also introduced the 2017 Grand Cherokee Summit, bringing a new exterior appearance, a plush new interior and even more standard premium features to consumers looking for the ultimate premium full-size SUV.

"With our new Trailhawk and Summit models, Jeep Grand Cherokee becomes even more capable and more luxurious," said Mike Manley, Head of Jeep Brand  FCA Global. "Our Cherokee and Renegade Trailhawk models are among our fastest selling and most sought-after models, and we are following that successful formula to provide consumers even more legendary Jeep 4x4 capability for Grand Cherokee  the most awarded SUV ever.

"Our new Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit is in direct response to consumers who continue to ask for even more luxury, craftsmanship and standard premium features in a full-size SUV packed with capability," Manley added.

In 2015, Jeep Grand Cherokee sales rose 7 percent to 195,598 units in the U.S.

The new Grand Cherokee Trailhawk and Summit models arrive in Jeep showrooms in late summer.

2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee TrailhawkThe Jeep brand introduced the "Trailhawk" name on the Grand Cherokee concept vehicle that first appeared at the 2012 Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. The idea was to deliver a unique and more rugged appearance, with a host of functional features that resulted in an increased level of off-road 4x4 capability.

The "Trailhawk" name moved to production with the introduction of the all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee, as the most capable of four models (Sport, Latitude, Limited and Trailhawk), and continued with the all-new 2015 Renegade. It joins the Grand Cherokee lineup as a sixth model for 2017 (Laredo, Limited, Overland, Summit, SRT and Trailhawk).

Grand Cherokee Trailhawk models are equipped with a host of standard off-road capability features, including Jeep's Quadra-Drive II 4x4 system with rear Electronic Limited Slip Differential (ELSD) for all powertrains, a unique version of Grand Cherokee's Quadra-Lift air suspension  developed for Trailhawk  that offers improved articulation and total suspension travel, as well as Selec-Speed Control with Hill Ascent Control. Skid plates and a Trailhawk-specific anti-glare hood decal are also standard.

Approach angles on the Jeep Grand Cherokee are 29.8 degrees or 36.1 degrees when the lower front fascia is removed for severe off-roading, while the breakover angle is 27.1 degrees and the departure angle is 22.8 degrees. Grand Cherokee Trailhawk models offer up to 10.8 inches of ground clearance.

The Grand Cherokee Trailhawk exterior features a front fascia and seven-slot Jeep grille that debuted on the 2016 Grand Cherokee 75th Anniversary edition, Trailhawk-signature red tow hooks in the front and rear, standard rugged 18-inch or optional 20-inch Goodyear Adventure off-road tires with Kevlar reinforcement, new Trailhawk and Trail Rated badges with red accents, mirror caps and a roof rack with Neutral Gray accents, and optional Mopar rock rails for added protection.

Inside, Trailhawk models feature a unique black interior with leather and suede performance seats for comfort and control, red accent stitching, brushed Piano Black appliques, gun-metal finish on all painted interior parts, a Trailhawk badge on the Jeep steering wheel, and red accent stitching on the seats, doors and console. A standard 8.4-inch Uconnect touch screen includes updated off-road pages showing wheel articulation and other vehicle 4x4 capability features, such as suspension height and 4x4 and Selec-Terrain modes.

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk models are available in Redline Red, Billet Silver, Bright White, Rhino, Granite Crystal, Velvet Red and Diamond Black Crystal exterior paints.

2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee SummitPacked with standard premium amenities, the new 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit is the most luxurious vehicle in the full-size SUV segment.

The Grand Cherokee Summit's exterior boasts a new look with an updated front fascia, grille and LED fog lamps, with new 20-inch polished aluminum wheels.

A stunning new full-wrap Laguna leather interior in Indigo and Ski Gray is one of four color schemes. The full leather interior boasts a Nappa leather-wrapped dashboard, center console and door panels, and Laguna leather seats with edge welting.

Other Summit interior colors are Black, Brown and Dark Sienna Brown. All Summit models come equipped with a suede premium headliner, lighted door sill, acoustic windshield and full side glass, Active Noise Cancellation, premium Berber carpet mats and a Harmon/Kardon 19-speaker, 825 watt amp audio system with three subwoofers.

An array of technological and other features are also standard on the 2017 Grand Cherokee Summit, including auto-folding power mirrors, headlamp washers, Blind Spot Detection, Forward Collision Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control and, for the first time, Lane Departure Warning and Parallel and Perpendicular Park Assist.

Jeep's Quadra-Drive II 4x4 system with ELSD is standard on all Summit models, as is Grand Cherokee's Quadra-Lift air suspension and Selec-Speed Control.

Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit models are available in Light Brown Stone, True Blue, Bright White, Ivory Pearl, Granite Crystal, Velvet Red, Diamond Black Crystal and Luxury Brown exterior paints.

Jeep Grand CherokeeJeep Grand Cherokee is the most awarded SUV ever and the vehicle that has long defined what a premium SUV should be. The Grand Cherokee Summit models receive added features, as well as a Summit California Edition appearance package that further enhances Summit's premium exterior aesthetics.

Jeep Grand Cherokee delivers best-in-class 30 miles per gallon (mpg) highway courtesy of an available 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 engine and standard eight-speed transmission. The 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 boasts an unmatched driving range of more than 730 miles.

Legendary Jeep capability comes courtesy of three available 4x4 systems, Jeep's Quadra-Lift air suspension system and class-leading Selec-Terrain traction management system. Grand Cherokee boasts best-in-class towing of 7,400 pounds and a crawl ratio of 44.1:1.

A refined exterior design  complete with available bi-xenon headlamps with signature LED daytime running lamps (DRL)  provides a premium appearance. Interior luxury is achieved with premium amenities, including Natura leather, exotic open-pore wood trim and unique color offerings.

Jeep BrandBuilt on 75 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV with class-leading capability, craftsmanship and versatility for people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a full line of vehicles that continue to provide owners with a sense of security to handle any journey with confidence.

The Jeep vehicle lineup consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Grand Cherokee, Patriot, Renegade, Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited. To meet consumer demand around the world, all Jeep models sold outside North America are available in both left- and right-hand drive configurations and with gasoline and diesel powertrain options.

About FCA US LLCFCA US LLC is a North American automaker with a new name and a long history. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. FCA US designs, engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles under the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT brands, as well as the SRT performance vehicle designation. The company also distributes the Alfa Romeo 4C model and Mopar products. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler, the innovative American automaker first established by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925; and Fiat, founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli.

FCA, the seventh-largest automaker in the world based on total annual vehicle sales, is an international automotive group. FCA is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCAU" and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol "FCA."

Follow FCA US news and video on:FCA Content On Demand (COD): www.fcacod.comCompany blog: blog.fcanorthamerica.comCompany website: www.fcanorthamerica.comFCA360: 360.fcanorthamerica.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/ChryslerGroupFlickr: www.flickr.com/photos/chryslergroup/Media website: media.fcanorthamerica.comPinterest: www.pinterest.com/fcacorporateInstagram: www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NAStreetfire: www.streetfire.net/uploaded/chryslervideo.htmTwitter: www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NATwitter (Spanish): www.twitter.com/fcausespanolYouTube: www.youtube.com/pentastarvideo

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160318/345860

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jeep-grand-cherokee-even-more-capability-and-luxury-for-the-most-awarded-suv-ever-300238532.html

SOURCE FCA US LLC
The European Commission and the International Energy Agency will address the impact of the energy crisis on SMEs in an online event on 21 October.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Scientists at the Center for Infectious Disease Research, the largest independent nonprofit in the U.S. focused solely on infectious disease research, and the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) (University of Cape Town) recently developed an important blood test that can predict whether a latent (asymptomatic) Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is likely to develop into active tuberculosis disease (TB). These blood biomarkers can predict development of disease by measuring the expression of specific RNAs, which measure gene activity, in the blood. The groups findings were published in The Lancet, a leading medical journal, and could be developed into a diagnostic for large-scale efforts to screen and preventatively treat the disease.

Although the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection affects one third of the global population, 90 percent of this infected population will never develop active TB. This innovative biomarker test can identify the majority of individuals that will progress to active TB at a 10 to 20 percent false positive rate. This discovery could help develop a diagnostic that would narrow the detection and treatment gap for tuberculosis, impacting how the global health community approaches this epidemic, said Dan Zak, PhD, an assistant professor at the Center for Infectious Disease Research.

Scientists studied RNA expression patterns in blood samples obtained from a study of more than 6,000 teenagers infected with Mtb from Worcester, South Africa, who were followed for more than two years to identify who progressed to active TB disease. The identification of the blood biomarkers that prospectively predict the progression of the infection to TB were then confirmed using samples obtained from a separate study of 4,500 adults from South Africa and The Gambia assembled through an international collaboration between several countries. The test can predict progression to TB more than one year before disease manifests, which provides a window of opportunity to use treatment to prevent the disease, said Professor Willem Hanekom, principal investigator of the study.

The biomarker blood test, which consists of a set of blood RNAs measured by PCR, will soon be evaluated in a clinical trial to determine if targeted preventive therapy can prevent individuals at risk from developing TB. These findings could allow for screen and treat campaigns to be implemented on a large scale, preventing the Mtb infection from progressing and changing how the global community responds to this epidemic.

This discovery is the culmination of a series of research projects over the past 10 years with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the European Union and the South African Medical Research Council.

The full manuscript detailing the researchers findings, titled A blood RNA signature for tuberculosis disease risk: a prospective cohort study, was published in the March 23, 2016 edition of The Lancet, a leading medical journal.

To learn more about tuberculosis research at the Center, please visit http://cidresearch.org/science/diseases.

To learn more about the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, please visit: http://www.satvi.uct.ac.za/.

About the Center for Infectious Disease Research

The Center for Infectious Disease Research  based in Seattle, Wash.  is the largest independent, nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused solely on infectious disease research. Our mission is to make transformative scientific advancements that lead to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. We advance the science to develop vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria that claim the lives of millions of people every year. With your support in advancing our research we seek to build a healthier, more hopeful world. For more information, visit www.CIDResearch.org.

Address

Center for Infectious Disease Research307 Westlake Ave N #500Seattle, WA 98109

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323006597/en/

For the Center for Infectious Disease Research

Morgan Clary, 206-268-2256

[email protected]

Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Tinka Resources Limited ("Tinka" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: TK)(OTC PINK: TKRFF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Mary L. Little to Tinka's Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Ms. Little is a founder of and former president, chief executive officer and director of Mirasol Resources Ltd., a TSXV-listed exploration company, leading Mirasol's growth as a successful prospect generator and its corporate development activities from 2003 until 2014. Ms. Little has over twenty-five years of experience in the exploration and evaluation of epithermal precious metals deposits, porphyry and sediment-hosted mineral environments, including fifteen years based in Latin America. She has held management positions including business development manager and country manager with major mining corporations Newmont, Cyprus Amax and WMC Ltd. Ms. Little holds a M.Sc. degree in Earth Sciences from the University of California and an MBA from the University of Colorado. Ms. Little also serves on the boards of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and Pure Energy Minerals Ltd.

In addition to being appointed as an independent director of Tinka, Ms. Little has been appointed as a member of Tinka's Audit Committee.

Tinka's President and CEO, Dr. Graham Carman, stated, "I am very pleased to welcome Mary to the Tinka team. Mary's extensive exploration experience and expertise in Latin America is an excellent addition to our current Board composition. I look forward to working with Mary as we continue to execute the Company's exploration plans in Peru."

On behalf of the Board,

Dr. Graham Carman, President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts: Tinka Resources Limited Investor Information: Mariana Bermudez 1.604.699.0202 [email protected] www.tinkaresources.com

Source: Tinka Resources Limited
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Toshiba Corporation's (TOKYO: 6502) Semiconductor & Storage Products Company today announced the launch of M3H group microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M3 core, the first product group in the TXZ Family, a new family of products fabricated with embedded flash memory process based on the 65nm logic process. Sample shipments of 30 products in the M3H group will start in May 2016, and mass production of the first products to be released will start in January next year. Products in the M3H group are Toshibas first microcontrollers to employ the 65nm flash embedded logic mixed process.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005608/en/

Toshiba: TXZ Family M3H group Pin count - Memory size lineup (Graphic: Business Wire)

The M3H group is based on the ARM Cortex-M core, the de facto standard for embedded 32-bit microprocessors, and incorporates high-performance analog circuits and the wide range of basic functions required to support comprehensive motor control and consumer and industrial device applications. The line-up includes low-pin-count packages (32 to 100-pin) and small flash memory sizes (32KB to 128KB).

Integrated features include a high-precision 12-bit AD converter with a 1.5s conversion speed and an 8-bit DA converter; Toshibas programmable motor control circuit (PMD) suitable for inverter motor control, including AC motor and BLDC motor control; and versatile general-purpose peripheral circuits including UART, I2C, TSPI, and timers. Incorporation of these high-precision analog circuits and general-purpose peripheral circuits allows the M3H group to achieve low-power characteristics and high level functionality at the same time.

During sample shipment, Toshiba will provide technical documentation, software in which the concrete embedded examples are written, evaluation boards, and driver software for each control interface. Beyond this, various development environments satisfying diverse needs can be realized by collaboration with ARM ecosystem partners worldwide.Toshiba continues to expand the line-up of the TXZ Family to meet the needs of the motor control and global sensing market, and aims to launch 500 products by 2020.

Key Features of New Products

High-performance ARM Cortex-M3 core, operating at up to 40MHz

Based on the de facto standard ARM Cortex-M core

A wide line-up of memory and package variations

Low-pin-count packages (32 to 100-pin) and small flash memory sizes (32KB to 128KB).

General-purpose microcontrollers for a wide range of applications

The wide range of applications supported by the new group covers motor control, consumer and industrial equipment.AD converter, DA converter, PMD, UART, I2C, TSPI, timer

Applications

Consumer electronics, office automation equipment, housing and facility equipment, audio-visual equipment, motor control applications, and a wide range of consumer and industrial applications

Specifications Product Group M3H Group CPU ARM Cortex-M3 Built-in Memory Protection Unit (MPU) Maximum frequency 40MHz Internal oscillator 10MHz (1%) Internal memory Flash (code) 32KB to 128KB Flash (data) 8KB to 32KB RAM 8KB to 18KB I/O port 24 to 87 External interrupt 6 to 16 DMA Controller (DMAC) 1 unit Timers Timer 6 ch (use 32-bit timer 12 ch (use 16-bit timer2ch) Real time clock (RTC) 0 to 1 ch Communication UART 2 to 3 ch I2C 1 to 3 ch TSPI 1 to 2 ch Analog 12-bit AD converter (ADC) 4 to 16 ch 8-bit DA converter (DAC) 0 to 2 ch Other Peripherals Advanced encoder input (A-ENC) 1ch Programmable Motor Driver (PMD) 1ch Remote Control Processor (RMC) 0 to 1 ch System Watch Dog Timer (WDT) 1 ch On-chip debug Yes (JTAG or Serial Wire) Supply Voltage 2.7 to 5.5V Pin counts 32 to 100pins Packages LQFP32 (7 mm x 7 mm, 0.8 mm pitch)LQFP44 (10 mm x 10 mm, 0.8 mm pitch)LQFP48 (7 mm x 7 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)LQFP52 (10 mm x 10 mm, 0.65 mm pitch)LQFP64 (14 mm x 14 mm, 0.8 mm pitch)LQFP64 (10 mm x 10 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)LQFP80 (14 mm x 14 mm, 0.65 mm pitch)LQFP80 (12 mm x 12 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)QFP100 (14 mm x 20 mm, 0.65 mm pitch)LQFP100 (14 mm x 14 mm, 0.5 mm pitch)

For more information about Toshiba ARM core-based microcontrollers, please visit:http://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/product/microcomputer/lineup/arm-micon.html

* TXZ is a trademark of Toshiba Corporation.* ARM and Cortex are registered trademarks of ARM Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the EU and/or elsewhere.

Customer Inquiries:Mixed Signal IC Sales and Marketing DepartmentTel: +81-44-548-2241http://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/contact.html

*Information in this document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the announcement but is subject to change without prior notice.

About Toshiba

Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 company, channels world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and electrical product and systems into five strategic business domains: Energy & Infrastructure, Community Solutions, Healthcare Systems & Services, Electronic Devices & Components, and Lifestyles Products & Services. Guided by the principles of The Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, Committed to People, Committed to the Future, Toshiba promotes global operations and is contributing to the realization of a world where generations to come can live better lives.

Founded in Tokyo in 1875, todays Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of over 580 consolidated companies employing 199,000 people worldwide, with annual sales surpassing 6.6 trillion yen (US$55 billion).To find out more about Toshiba, visit www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005608/en/

Media Inquiries:

Toshiba Corporation

Semiconductor & Storage Products Company

Chiaki Nagasawa, +81-3-3457-4963

[email protected]

Source: Toshiba Semiconductor & Storage Products Company
A member of the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force patrol Grand Central Station in the Manhattan borough in New York, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

By Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Atlanta's airport was briefly evacuated on Wednesday over a suspicious package while U.S. law enforcement agencies and travelers were on edge a day after deadly suicide bombings by Islamist militants rocked Brussels.

Passengers were ordered out of public areas of the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the United States' busiest by passenger volume, but the site was quickly cleared and operations resumed, airport officials said.

Parts of Denver airport were also evacuated on Tuesday, hours after at least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train, as airports across the United States tightened security.

U.S. officials were trying to find Americans missing after the attacks, which the officials said injured about a dozen U.S. citizens including three Mormon missionaries, a U.S. Air Force airman, and four members of his family.

Among those missing were U.S. government personnel, a State Department spokesman told reporters in Washington.

"We still have not accounted for every official U.S. government employee or their family members on the ground," said the spokesman, Mark Toner. "Partly that reflects the size of the mission or three missions: there's a bilateral mission, there's a mission to the EU, as well as a mission to NATO."

The situation, Toner added, remains "very fluid." He could not confirm whether any Americans were killed.

Representative Devin Nunes of California, chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee, said the attacks may have been aimed at U.S. citizens, noting that the airport blast struck close to U.S. airline counters and that the metro station hit was near the U.S. embassy.

"It looks like it was targeted toward Americans to some degree," Nunes told reporters.

Apart from the eight Americans confirmed as wounded, U.S. media reported on Wednesday that relatives of at least four other Americans who had been traveling in Belgium were still trying to track them down.

Husband and wife Justin and Stephanie Shults, originally from Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively, but now living in Belgium, have not been heard from since they dropped a relative at the airport shortly before the blasts, a family member said.

"We haven't been able to contact them going on 30 hours," Justin Shults' brother, Levi Sutton, told Reuters in a Facebook message. "Stephanie's mom is fine but she was separated from Justin and Stephanie."

DEATH TOLL COULD RISE

Sister and brother Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, who had been living in New York, remain unaccounted for, the New York Daily News reported. The Pinczowskis' citizenship was unclear. A woman who identified herself on social media as Alexander Pinczowski's girlfriend said she had been unable to contact him since Tuesday morning.

Belgian officials have said the death toll could increase because some victims at the subway station were blown to pieces and hard to identify, and several survivors were in critical condition.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said on Wednesday that one of its missionaries, Richard Norby, 66, was in a medically-induced coma after lengthy surgery to address shrapnel wounds and second-degree burns.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport systems.

Islamic State, which controls areas of Syria and Iraq and has sympathizers worldwide, claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings, fueling debate and controversy in the United States about how to stop such attacks.

U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said the United States and Europe should take a "harder look" at protocols at airports and other "soft sites" outside security perimeters.

U.S. Republican presidential campaign hopeful Donald Trump has advocated torturing militant suspects to obtain information, while another Republican candidate, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, called for heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, rejected singling out Muslims and said while on a visit to Argentina that any such approach "is not only wrong and un-American, but it also would be counterproductive because it would reduce the strength, the antibodies that we have to resist the terrorism."

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden said the United States was offering Belgium all assistance to help bring the bombers to justice. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Belgium on Friday, a State Department spokesman said.

(Additional reporting by Megan Cassella, Amanda Becker and Susan Heavey in Washington, Barbara Goldberg in New York, Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Jeff Mason in Buenos Aires; Writing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)
The Grande Dixence dam is pictured with the Lac des Dix in Pralong near Sion, Switzerland in this August 16, 2008 file picture. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files

By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) - Juergen Silberzahn, mayor of the southern German village of Wolpertshausen, marched against nuclear power in the 1970s and has warmly embraced Germany's bid to provide four-fifths of its energy from renewable sources by 2050.

Silberzahn's own efforts to promote green energy during 26 years in power are evident -- rooftop solar panels, wind turbines, a biogas-powered heating network and an electric car charging station. Wolpertshausen produces 22 percent more power than its 2,000 residents consume.

"Innumerable small communities will produce lots more energy than they use themselves," Silberzahn said in a telephone interview.

To the south, however, Switzerland's biggest utilities -- Alpiq and local government-owned Axpo -- contend that Silberzahn's green oasis has a darker side and that they are suffering because of policies, including subsidies, that have pushed up production across Europe.

They argue that their dams high in the Swiss Alps and lowland nuclear reactors have been made unprofitable by a renewables-fueled electricity glut that has sent wholesale prices spiraling to record lows.

Axpo and Alpiq, which sell much of their power in Europe's cross-border trading system, have posted losses totaling nearly 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($1.96 billion) since 2014.

"Compared to 2009, prices have dropped over 70 percent," said Axpo Chief Executive Officer Andrew Walo, in a video on the company's website. "We are producing well above market price with many of our plants," he added.

CASTLE ON THE MARKET

In response, Axpo is selling assets and boosting trading activities, to reduce its dependence on wholesale prices.

The most eye-catching item up for auction is the 17th-century castle, Schloss Boettstein, in northern Switzerland. In the 1960s, it housed staff building Axpo's Beznau nuclear plant but which has become just another pawn in the company's bid to free up cash.

There is no sale price yet but the proximity of the nuclear plant might temper expectations.

Alpiq, whose shares have plunged 36 percent this year, is also restructuring, seeking to unload up to 49 percent of its prized hydroelectric assets that include Grand Dixence, at 285 meters the tallest gravity dam in the world.

"We can and must tackle this challenge immediately since Alpiq already has potential buyers for hydropower," said spokesman Andreas Meier.

Suffering Swiss utilities are far from unique in Europe.

Companies operating coal, gas and nuclear plants have also largely failed to figure out how make money, amid a proliferation of subsidized wind and solar, sluggish economic growth and an EU-driven energy efficiency drive.

Germany's E.ON and RWE have taken steep writedowns on assets, while Sweden's Vattenfall reported a record $2.31 billion annual net loss last month.

"What we need in the current situation is for some of the capacity in continental Europe to retire, but people aren't very quick to close capacity," said Stephen Woodhouse, a director at London's Poyry Management Consulting.

EUROPE'S BATTERY

While Switzerland has shunned European Union membership, its high-alpine hydropower and good electricity connections to surrounding countries has helped make it "Europe's battery," an important partner in border-crossing electricity trading.

For years, Swiss utilities profited from the arrangement, earning 2.1 billion francs from exports in 2008.

Proceeds have since tumbled to 442 million francs in 2014 as German power prices, Europe's benchmark, hurtled into the basement, where they are seen staying until German nuclear plants close come 2022.

With domestic utilities' losses piling up, some Swiss politicians have suggested partially nationalizing nuclear plants. Losing money now, the aging plants will one day cost billions more to shutter.

"We're ready to discuss a development company with state participation for a rapid phase-out of nuclear technology," the Social Democratic party, the second largest party in the Swiss parliament, wrote on March 10.

For now, the government has spurned such a step.

"The economic situation of a private company is by itself no reason for the state to intervene," the Swiss Federal Council, or cabinet, told parliament last week.

Alpiq and Axpo contend their cash reserves will buy time to reshape businesses through disposals while awaiting regulatory reforms aimed at trimming losses.

They also said they are not angling for a state bailout, but are happy that the industry's future is being discussed.

"We can survive," Axpo's Walo told Swiss state radio this month.

"(But) wholesale prices of only 2 cents per kilowatt hour aren't sustainable, because at these prices nobody is going to invest. Things must change, otherwise Europe will have energy supply problems."

(Additional reporting by Vera Eckert in Frankfurt, Kirsti Knolle in Vienna and Michaela Handrek-Rehle in Wolpertshausen; Editing by Keith Weir)
PARIS (Reuters) - Egypt is preparing to buy French warships and a military satellite in deals worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion), La Tribune newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The four naval vessels to be built by French naval shipyard DCNS include two Gowind corvettes, the newspaper reported, without citing sources.

The military satellite would be supplied jointly by Airbus Space Systems, part of Airbus Group, and Thales Alenia Space, owned by French arms firm Thales and Italy's Finmeccanica, recently renamed Leonardo.

Thales also owns 35 percent of the DCNS shipyard.

None of the companies agreed to comment.

The deals are expected to be signed during a visit to Egypt by French President Francois Hollande on April 18.

Egypt had originally been reported to be in talks to buy two French military satellites.

(Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer, Writing by Tim Hepher)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto attend a joint news conference following their talks at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Russia and Finland agreed on Tuesday to impose temporary restrictions at two Arctic border crossing points following an increased flow of asylum seekers from Russia to Finland earlier this year.

Under a deal clinched by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Sauli Niinisto in Moscow, crossings at two popular entry points, Salla and Raja-Jooseppi, will be reserved only for Finnish, Russian and Belarusian citizens and their family members for a period of 180 days.

"The aim of this restriction is to prevent organized illegal immigration. According to EU commitments, Finland aims to prevent the emergence of new routes for illegal immigration," the Finnish president's office said in a statement.

Finland's 833-mile (1,340 km) border with Russia marks an external limit of the European Union's passport-free Schengen area. Helsinki has been worried it could become a more popular route into the EU for migrants as the weather improves and the main Balkan route via Turkey and Greece gets harder to access.

Close to 1,000 asylum seekers entered Finland from Russia in the first two months of 2016, up from about 700 in the whole of 2015, although the flow of migrants has halted this month after an improvement in bilateral border cooperation.

The Finnish government has said many of the migrants in question were Afghans or Indians and were not escaping war or persecution, and some had lived in Russia a long time.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to increase the sharing of information on immigration.

(Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Gareth Jones)




UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

__________________





FORM 8-K





CURRENT REPORT

__________________





PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934





DATE OF REPORT (DATE OF EARLIEST EVENT REPORTED): March 23, 2016

__________________





FIRST NIAGARA FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

__________________





Delaware 001-35390 42-1556195 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S Employer Identification Number) 726 Exchange Street, Suite 618, Buffalo, NY 14210 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) (716) 819-5500 (Registrant's telephone number) Not Applicable (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)





Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:





[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4 (c))

















Item 5.07. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.

On March 23, 2016, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (First Niagara) held a special meeting (the Special Meeting) of First Niagaras stockholders. At the Special Meeting, First Niagaras stockholders approved the adoption of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 30, 2015 (the Merger Agreement), by and among KeyCorp (Key) and First Niagara. In addition, the non-binding, advisory vote to approve certain compensation arrangements for First Niagaras named executive officers in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement was also approved by First Niagaras stockholders.

As of close of business on February 1, 2016, the record date for the Special Meeting, there were a total of 351,540,998 shares of common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the Special Meeting. At the Special Meeting 277,291,355 shares of common stock were represented in person or by proxy, therefore a quorum was present. The following proposals were submitted by the Board of Directors of First Niagara to a vote of security holders and First Niagaras independent inspector of election reported the final results of the vote on each proposal as noted below:

Proposal 1 - Approval of the Merger Proposal.

The stockholders were asked to approve the adoption of the Merger Agreement. The adoption of the Merger Agreement was approved by the requisite vote of a majority of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote, as indicated below. Votes For Votes Against Abstentions Broker Non-Votes 265,868,689 6,983,375 4,439,291 -

Proposal 2 - Approval of a Non-Binding Advisory Proposal on Merger Related Compensation.

The stockholders were asked to approve the compensation awarded to First Niagaras named executive officers based on or otherwise related to the merger as set forth in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus of KeyCorp and First Niagara in a non-binding, advisory vote. This non-binding advisory proposal was approved by the requisite vote of the majority of the shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote, as indicated below. Votes For Votes Against Abstentions Broker Non-Votes 254,193,548 17,865,891 5,231,916 -





In connection with the Special Meeting, First Niagara also solicited proxies with respect to a proposal to adjourn the Special Meeting at a later date or time, if necessary or appropriate, in the event there were not sufficient votes in favor of the Merger Agreement at the time of the Special Meeting. Because the stockholders approved the Merger Agreement, as noted above, the proposal was not brought forward for a vote at the Special Meeting.





Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

A copy of the press release announcing the results is included as exhibit 99.1 to this report and is furnished herewith, and shall not be deemed filed for any purpose.

(a) Not Applicable.

(b) Not Applicable.

(c) Not Applicable.

(d) Exhibits.

Exhibit No. Description 99.1 Press release dated March 23, 2016





















SIGNATURE





Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.





FIRST NIAGARA FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.

















DATE: March 23, 2016 By: /s/ KRISTY BERNER

Kristy Berner, Secretary

(Duly authorized representative)







































Exhibit 99.1



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





First Niagara and KeyCorp Announce

Shareholder Approval of Merger









BUFFALO, NY & CLEVELAND, OH - March 23, 2016 -First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG) and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) announced today that each companys shareholders voted in favor of the merger between the two companies.





Shareholders approved the merger during special meetings held today in Buffalo, NY by First Niagara and Cleveland, OH by KeyCorp. Out of the votes cast at each of the special meetings, over 90% were in favor of the merger.





We are very pleased that First Niagara shareholders have overwhelmingly demonstrated their support for the merger with KeyCorp. This is an important step in bringing our two companies together for the benefit of our customers, employees, shareholders and the communities we serve, said Gary M. Crosby, Chief Executive Officer, First Niagara Financial Group.





I would like to thank our shareholders for their support and their vote of confidence, said Beth Mooney, Chairman and CEO, KeyCorp. KeyBank and First Niagara are indeed Better Together - a powerful combination that will bring a new level of capabilities and expertise to our clients; new opportunities for our employees; and even greater investment in our communities. Our integration efforts are on track, and we remain both confident in and committed to achieving the financial and growth targets of the First Niagara acquisition.





KeyCorp and First Niagara entered into a merger agreement on October 30, 2015. Todays affirmative votes by shareholders of both companies allow the proposed merger to continue to move forward. The merger agreement is still subject to regulatory approvals. Closing of the merger is anticipated during the third quarter of 2016.

***

About First Niagara

First Niagara, through its wholly owned subsidiary, First Niagara Bank, N.A., is a multi-state community-oriented bank with approximately 390 branches, $40 billion in assets, $29 billion in deposits, and approximately 5,400 employees providing financial services to individuals, families and businesses across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. For additional information on First Niagara, visit us at www.firstniagara.com , follow us on Twitter @FirstNiagara , or like us on Facebook at FirstNiagaraBank .













About KeyCorp

KeyCorp was organized more than 160 years ago and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the nations largest bank-based financial services companies, Key had assets of approximately











$95 billion at December 31, 2015. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals and small and mid-sized businesses in 12 states under the name KeyBank National Association. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name.

For more information, visit https://www.key.com/ . KeyBank is Member FDIC.









First Niagara Contacts Investors Relations: Ram Shankar, (716) 270-8623, [email protected] News Media: David Lanzillo, (716) 819-5780, [email protected]








Peta Berry, with Zelda the chicken. The facilities where the colony cage chicken farm would have been based can be seen in the distance.

Patumahoe residents are celebrating after winning another battle to stop a colony cage chicken farm holding 310,000 chickens being built in their backyard.

On Monday the Environment Court released its decision to decline consent for cage egg producer Craddock Farms to build a colony cage chicken farm on Patumahoe Rd.

Craddock Farms took its case to the Environment Court, following Auckland Council's decision last year to decline their resource consent application, mainly over issues around odour.

Peta Berry, alongside neighbours Peter Millen and Welly Waishing, opposed the Environment Court appeal, which was held in Auckland last November.

The group had been invested in their opposition against Craddock's cage farm proposal for more than two years, Berry said.

"It's been full-on from beginning to end - once it started it was on.

"It's not just something you maybe do one Saturday every four weeks, it's until 2 or 3 in the morning - especially leading up to the appeal date."

Berry has been flooded with congratulatory calls, texts and facebook messages, since the court announced its decision.

"All the closest neighbours I've spoken to, and everyone's absolutely over the moon and really stoked."

Berry said the Environment Court hearing lasted seven days, and stepping into the witness box was a nerve-racking experience.

"You played your part, you can't do anymore."

For the last month Berry said she was on tender-hooks, waiting for the decision

She was driving when she received the news, and had to call her lawyer to confirm the court's decision.

She was surprised by the outcome.

"No one expects people to win against business - especially under this government," she said.

Craddock Farms managing director, Stefan Craddock, said on Tuesday they was obviously disappointed with the decision.

"We only received the decision yesterday so we are spending time reviewing it and looking at our options."

Craddock said the appeal focused on odour issues, and the Environment Court's final decision was based on these concerns.

Berry is unsure whether Craddock Farms would appeal to the High Court, but the welfare of chickens was one her main priorities.

"I really feel passionate about getting cages banned in New Zealand, I think there's just no need for them - so that's something I'll continue to work on."
A man who was ashamed of the secret relationship he had with a woman wrapped their dead baby daughter in a rugby jersey and cried as he buried the infant in a secret grave.

The 30-year-old man and 23-year-old woman, both of Oamaru, pleaded guilty in December to disposing of the dead body of a child, with intent to conceal its birth.

The pair were in a secret relationship and the man was afraid he would be physically punished if it was revealed, so after their premature baby girl died shortly after her birth in her mother's bedroom, he "made a decision that wasn't rational, or right", Dunedin District Court heard on Tuesday.

At their sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Kevin Phillips convicted and discharged them both.

READ MORE:

* Pair accused of burying dead baby

* Two people charged

The man's lawyer, Alastair Logan, said his client was "ashamed" of the incident.

"He got himself in a mess and made a decision that wasn't rational, or right."

The birth and death of the baby was an "emotionally charged" event, Logan said.

The man's decision to bury the infant's body in an unmarked grave was motivated by the pair's fear their secret relationship would be revealed, and there would be physical retribution.

The man took the baby's body to his home, covered it in oil and wrapped it up in a rugby jersey for burial, crying throughout, the court heard.

"That shadow hangs over him and his family."

The man was a permanent resident, and could be liable for deportation if convicted.

The woman's counsel, Catherine Ure, said her client, who was assisted in the birth by her 14-year-old sister, feared the shame from her family.

Judge Phillips noted the pair had no previous convictions, and faced a charge that carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.

He convicted and discharged the woman, saying: "I don't need to punish her anymore than she will punish herself."

Judge Phillips considered the man's involvement as "the higher [offence] of the two", as he was much older, and had been the one to remove and bury the child.

The judge granted the woman name suppression. The man also has name suppression as publication of it would identify the woman.

"It will allow both of you to move on with your lives," Phillips said.

The court heard the pair were no longer in a relationship, and were both married to other people and had children.

LABOUR IN THE BEDROOM

The police summary of facts said the mother was 18 at the time of the birth and the father was 25.

They began a secret relationship in 2010, when the man moved into the woman's family home after entering a relationship with another family member.

The woman knew she was pregnant by October, but kept the news from her family.

By that time the man had moved out of her home and was renting a house in Oamaru.

On February 4, 2011, the woman went into labour in her bedroom, which she shared with a younger sister, who helped with the delivery.

During labour the woman called her friend, with the pair discussing whether they should take the baby to Oamaru Hospital or alert the woman's mother.

The baby girl began having trouble breathing and changed colour about an hour after her birth.

The baby girl is believed to have died of respiratory complications within two hours of the birth.

By mid-morning, the father had been called and they discussed what to do with the baby's body.

It was agreed the man would take the girl's body to his home and bury her in an unmarked grave.

The birth and death of the baby remained a secret shared by the four people involved, with no family or authorities notified.

Dunedin police began investigating after rumours began circulating of the death.

The baby girl's body was exhumed in September 2014.

A neonatal expert concluded the baby was born a month premature, and likely died of respiratory disease syndrome and hypothermia.

The expert concluded the baby would have died even if medical intervention had been sought.
A man was shirtless as he made his first appearance in the dock in the North Shore District Court.

A man accused of a meth-fuelled crime spree involving two high speed pursuits, shooting at police and abducting a man at gunpoint has appeared shirtless in court facing nine charges.

The 27-year-old man was granted interim name suppression in the North Shore District on Wednesday.

Duty solicitor Mark Utting said the accused has children and that publishing his name could have an effect on their safety.

Chris McKeen Police detail car chase and hostage incident

The accused faced charges stemming from Tuesday morning, where it's alleged he swallowed three grams of meth before driving between Devonport and Hamilton.

READ MORE: Alleged meth-eater takes hostage at gunpoint on police chase

On the way police allege he broke into a 64-year-old man's house, stole the man's car and abducted him at gunpoint.

His charges include: two counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of failing to stop, possession of methamphetamine, using a firearm against a law enforcement officer, kidnapping, dangerous driving, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and two counts of threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm.

The accused does not yet have a legal counsel and Judge Pippa Sinclair said the interim name suppression would be revisited once he did.

Judge Sinclair said any publication of his name would cause extreme hardship to him and his family.

The man was remanded until his next appearance on the morning of April 13.
Te Poi School principal Linda Larsen said it would be "brilliant" if the proposed scrapping of the decile system went ahead.

The Ministry of Education has considered stopping using deciles and instead paying schools more for students that met one of four risk factors: a parent who had been to prison; if they or a sibling had suffered child abuse; if their family had relied on a benefit for a prolonged period; or if the child's mother had no formal qualifications.

READ MORE: Education funding review: What will replace school deciles?

Larsen said "there was a huge grouping of students" at her school that met those qualifications and the proposed new system would get the funding to those children who needed it.

She said her school had a wide range of demographics from solo parents to farm owners to renters and that the proposed new system would reflect that better. The current system "did not remotely" help the children or their families as it just reflected where the families were located. Larsen said the proposed system would be more helpful with the dairy downturn that was affecting a lot of the local families.

She had not been very happy when her 70-student school's jump from decile five to seven was upheld last year which cut about $5000 off their budget.

Firth School principal James Eldridge does "not approve of the criteria Parata speaks of being the indicators of where funding is needed".

"It almost appears that this policy assumes those in higher deciles have fewer learning needs," he said. "That is not always the case."

Eldridge was "not a happy chappy" when his school's rating changed from 3H to 3I. "One letter means our operational grant will have $10,000 less," he said when it was upheld after a review.

Parata said the next re-calculation of decile ratings wasn't due until 2019 so the Government had time to work on a new system.

Under the decile system, each school is allocated a number between one and 10. A higher number reflects a higher socio-economic school community and a lower number a lower one.

HOW FUNDING IS TARGETED IN OTHER COUNTRIES



In Australia, school funding is targeted through the Low Socio-Economic Status School Communities initiative. About 1750 schools serving disadvantaged communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and many schools in rural and remote areas, are eligible. Each school gets a $5000 grant to first assess the challenges, an additional "highly accomplished teacher" appointed and funding of approximately $200 per student per year for two years.

In Britain, a system called "Pupil Premium" gives schools extra funding to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. It is based on eligibility to free school meals, which go to most children of beneficiaries. Every primary school-age child eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years attracts NZ$2657 each year for their school. The rate for secondary schools is $1911 per student. Children who have been looked after for one day or more, are adopted or leave care under a special guardianship order, attract $3883 in extra funding to their school each year.
Main Road Riwaka resident Cameron Noble makes his way out of his flooded section.

Homes in the Riwaka township, near Nelson, have been evacuated after heavy rainfall overnight caused the river to break its banks.

Civil defence spokesperson Roger Ball said that flooding on the north branch of the Riwaka River was a one in 50-year event.



John Bayne of Downers described a "a river of apples" flowing down from the Turners and Growers orchard nearby.



"It's just bizarre. There's hundreds of worms coming up across the road. My boss came through half an hour ago and said there were cars floating."

READ MORE:

* Live blog: Weather causes havoc across New Zealand

* State of emergency in Franz Josef

Civil defence spokesperson Roger Ball said high tide had passed and the situation was improving as the water receded.

"Unfortunately for some people they have quite a bit of clean up ahead of them," Ball said.

The State Highway at Riwaka is now open so traffic can get all the way through to Golden Bay although parts of the Takaka Hill Road were down to one lane.

Sian Clement The view of flooding across Golden Bay.

In central Nelson, Rocks Rd was closed by the New Zealand Transport Agency at high tide due to the swell.

Ball said the Motueka Recreation Centre was still open and they were looking after a couple that had been affected by the flooding and a group of 14 campers had turned up and were drying out.

The Nelson City Council have issued a swim and shellfish ban at Tahunuanui Beach, the Waimea Estuary and Nelson Haven, advising the public not to swim or collect shellfish from those areas until Sunday morning

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ Motueka resident Manu Saumaki with her boys Kalaneti Saumaki, 7, left, and Saumaki Saumaki, 10.

During heavy rain overnight, various council sewer pump stations overflowed, leading to

sewage spilling into Nelson Haven. The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board public health service, Department of Conversation, pollution control officials and local iwi have been notified of the spill.

Motueka High St resident was Jude Ritchie hit particularly hard by the flooding, "I have never had my entire driveway covered before," she said.

ADELE REDMOND/Stuff.co.nz Orchards hit by floods in Riwaka.

Ritchie said her street was "like a river" and the the flooding was the worst she had seen in the eleven years she had lived in the town.

Civil defence were checking up on Ritchie's neighbour, Manu Saumaki and her family of seven, who also were dealing with heavy flooding to their property.

Saumaki said the front of the house was heavily flooded but thankfully no water had entered the house so far.

Cherie Sivignon Wratt St resident of 20 Years Jeremy Leary looks at the flooding. He says he's never seen it so bad

"I was still in my bed and my husband came and said 'look Manu there's water', but it's good for the flowers"

Saumaki moved to Motueka from Tonga two years ago, said that flooding was much worse in her homeland but this was the worst they had seen in New Zealand.

The Riwaka River swept through the Pines Hop Orchard. Co-owner Andrew Drummond said he can't tell the extent of the damage yet but it will be a big clean up.

NINA HINDMARSH/Stuff.co.nz The Waitapu splash in Golden Bay this morning.

"It's quite a mess. The river has come through the shed which had the last two days worth of processed hops. It's gone through the workshop, the tar seal has been ripped up from the driveway and we've got tractors underwater," he said.

"I haven't been able to evaluate the damage yet."



"It's on par with the flood on 1981."



"It's halted production for at least four or five days."



"The flow of the river, the current, has traveled through here and that's what has done all the damage."



"The aftermath is always the hardest, the cleaning up and trying to deal with it while it's wet."



"We're in an industry where everything needs to be dry so when crops are wet, it's not good."

Tasman District Police communications manager Barbara Dunn said a number of campers were towed out of Alexander Bluff Reserve next to the Motueka River around 6am this morning after police were told by a member of the public that they had seen several vans in the area with water around them.

Cherie Sivignon The flooded Beauty Rooms and Day Spa on High St, Motueka

Motueka's south branch had experienced a one in 20-year flood, Ball said.

Approximately 12 homes were evacuated in the early hours of Thursday morning. There were no compulsory evacuations but people were leaving voluntarily, Ball said.

He had heard that a farmer had rescued some people in a campervan who had called for help, but had no details.

Cherie Sivignon Paula Curtis owner of Beauty Room spa on Motueka High St salvages what she can

Senior Constable Reuben McCormack of Nelson police said two homes in the Riwaka area were evacuated and other homeowners self-evacuated as a precautionary measure.

"Not because the houses were flooded but because the water was lapping at the doorstep."

Beauty Rooms and Day Spa owner Paula Curtis on Motueka's High St was trying to salvage what she could this morning.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ Flooding in Riwaka.

Her entire business was flooded. At 9am on Thursday the water was still mid-calf level at the shop's entrance.

Motueka resident Jeremy Leary who's lived in his corner property for 20 years on the corner of Woodland Ave and Wratt St said he had never seen flooding this bad.

"It just poured all night it never stopped. I've never heard it rain so long so hard and so consistently."

Fabian Blackburn The scene outside Fabian Blackburn's property in Golden Bay.

Flood waters came right onto his driveway completely covering the footpaths forcing school children to cross his property to get to school.

By 8.45am on Thursday the water had receeded from the footpath on Wratt St.

High St and along Woodland Ave were some of the worst affected areas in Motueka.

Fabian Blackburn The scene outside Fabian Blackburn's property in Golden Bay.



High St residents Brian and Kelly Brockett were woken about 6am to the sound of boxes crashing on the floor of their flooded garage.

The couple with their young daughters, Ella, 3, and Alexa, 15 months, moved in about four months ago and still had unpacked boxes in the garage.

"My photo albums were there," Kelly said. "I'm trying to dry them out."

Laura Webster The Waitapu splash in Golden Bay on Thursday morning.

The girls were excited and wanted to play in the floodwaters but they had been sent to their grandparents' home while Brian and Kelly emptied the garage and tool shed.

The water came up to the top step and only threatened to lap inside when motorists created bow waves as the drove along High St. The pair were grateful to Fulton Hogan staff directing the traffic to slow down.

"It makes all the difference," Brian said.

Alden Williams Riwaka tennis courts underwater

The couple's neighbour, Fran McLean, said she have lived in her property for about 36 years and had only seen flooding that bad once, about 30 years ago

Motueka fire chief Mike Riddell said they had responded to a dozen flooding related calls in Riwaka and central Motueka since the early hours of Thursday morning.

Three fire engines and 20 volunteer firefighters had been out since about 2am dealing with the callouts.



"There is not a lot we can do at the end of the day, we can't pump it anywhere because there is so much of it and there is nowhere to pump it when the drains are full," he said.

Nina Hindmarsh Flooding near Waitapu in Golden Bay.

"We are just assisting people wherever we can with putting their furniture up, just doing whatever we can to help them and just making sure that their welfare is OK."

Riddell said the rain had eased, but there was still a lot of surface flooding and the "crunch time" would be high tide.

"Now it will just be picking up the pieces, the water will flow in some of those areas for a wee while yet across the land," he said.

Nina Hindmarsh Flooding in paddocks next to Birds Hill in Golden Bay

"I believe high tide is about 11.30am so that is probably when it will peak, depending on how much water they have had at Upper Motueka and what is still coming off the hills."

Police and the fire service are assisting residents affected by the floods, with a civil defence team on site assisting emergency services. The car park of the Riwaka Hotel has been designated as a gathering point for those requiring assistance.

Ball said Civil Defence had activated its emergency operations centre in Richmond and a Civil Defence team was in place at the Motueka Recreation Centre.

"We've got a response team there and they're assisting police and fire."

JESSY CHAMBERS Residents near Riwaka at the top of the South Island have woken to soggy surrounds.

"It will take a couple of hours for that water to flow through and people are going to have to be patient coming to work this morning but hopefully through the day things are going to get better."

There was also heavy surface flooding in the Motueka area, with knee-high water on High St.

Orchards in the Riwaka and Motueka region are also flooded

Alex Gillatt sent in this photo of soggy crops near Riwaka.

"A lot of our orchards are under water with a lot of apples floating around." said Birdhurst Orchard manager Shane Eggers.

He said the weather had not effected the apples as there were no harsh winds but the picking would need to wait it dried out.

The Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter was called out by police at 6.30am to rescue people trapped in a car in Riwaka.

Genna Furfie Flooding on Motueka river near west bank road

"Reports were the car had water up to its windows, located at the junction of the north and south branch of the Riwaka River" helicopter pilot Barry McAuliffe.

The helicopter was stood down after a farmer rescued the occupants with his tractor he said.

In the Nelson area there was some surface flooding in "the usual places" but no reports of anything more serious, Ball said.

State Highway 60 has been closed at Riwaka, and also between Upper Takaka and Collingwood due to the flooding.

There have also been several slips reported between Kaiteriteri and Riwaka, with Cooks Rd also closed.



The Tasman District Council was sending out a helicopter at first light to survey the damage.

Have you been affected by the flooding? Send your photos and videos to newstips@stuff.co.nz

FULL TASMAN ROAD CLOSURES

Motueka River West Bank Road  Slip and Tree down near Blue Gum Corner

Graham Valley Road  Slips

Dovedale Road at summit  Trees down

Brooklyn Valley Road approx 5k in  Slip

Factory Road, Riwaka  Flooding and Tree down

Riwaka Valley Road  Slips/Flooding

Abel Tasman Drive at Wainui - Flooding

Pupu Valley Road  Flooding

One Spec Road  Flooding

Totaranui Road  Flooding

Collingwood-Puponga Main Road  Flooding

Collingwood-Bainham Main Road  Flooding

Takaka Hill Highway  Slips

Takaka Valley Highway at Upper Takaka  Flooding

Takaka-Collingwood Highway at Waitapu Splash  Flooding

Other issues and single lane closures:

Motueka River West Bank near Blueberry Farm  Slip

Motueka High Street, Wratt St, Woodland Ave  Flooding

Sunrise Valley  Slip

Barton Rd & Higgins Rd Wakefield  Flooding
Only 55 of Maui's dolphin remain in New Zealand and sightings of them are rare.

Seismic surveying in Taranaki's Marine Mammal Sanctuary could scare off or deafen our remaining Maui's dolphin population, a zoologist says.

On Monday Minister for Energy and Resources Simon Bridges announced 62,040 square-kilometres (sqkm) offshore in the Taranaki Basin would be up for tender for oil exploration as part of the 2016 Block Offer.

Of that, 2,600 sqkm is in the Marine Mammal Sanctuary, which was established in 2008 as part of the Hector and Maui's dolphin's threat management plan, a move that has been condemned by activists.

As part of the Threat Management Plan, Taranaki's coastline has been subject to set net restrictions and trawl observer coverage, in order to document sightings, since July 2012. After three years and more than $80,000 spent looking for the elusive water mammals, there have still been zero sightings in Taranaki waters.

READ MORE:

* Oil and gas block offer won't provide Taranaki immediate financial benefits

* Maui dolphin awareness road trip raises awareness for endangered species

* Another 40,000 square kilometres of oil territory open for tender in Taranaki

* Government's search for Maui's dolphin sinks Taranaki fisheries

World Wildlife Fund senior campaigner Alex Smith said it seemed at odds for the Government to introduce a sanctuary while simultaneously allowing further exploration into the same area.

"This shouldn't be happening considering how close to extinction the Maui's dolphin are," he said.

"We think this block offer announcement and subsequent oil exploration will have a massive effect on a species already so close to the edge."

Otago University zoology professor Liz Slooten said studies in the United States had shown seismic testing could permanently damage the hearing of whales and dolphins.

"Because dolphins navigate with sound it would be the equivalent of blinding a human," he said.

"Another reaction is that they would flee from the sanctuary, opening them up to a range of threats from predators outside that protected area."

However, Bridges said the oil and gas industry and marine mammal life had co-existed since the inception of petroleum activity in Taranaki.

"It's worth remembering that much of Taranaki's oil and gas is already in the sanctuary," he said.

"The green NGO's are plain wrong, all of the evidence I have seen makes it very clear there has been no harm to the Maui's dolphin."

Bridges said that did not mean the Government would be complacent and had made the Department of Conservation (DOC) code of conduct mandatory when conducting seismic testing in the area.

"I am very confident petroleum activities can be done without any harm to marine life," he said.

Bridges said the Block Offer was positive for the region over the medium to long term and a number of geologist from some of the big companies were still incredibly interested in New Zealand because they could see the potential.

"When the price comes back I've got no doubt that the exploration will come back. And that will be great not only for this region but also very important for the wider region," he said.

"A significant find would help us meet the energy needs of the Asia pacific and were it to be a gas find, which we know Taranaki does have under its soil in abundance, that'd be important environmentally as well because it's the cleanest fossil fuel with under half the emission of coal."

Bridges said there seemed to be a consensus that some time in the next year or two prices would rise again to around that $60 mark.

"And at that level I think you will start to see companies investing more in exploration and that is really my focus, because you find finds that provide the real economic benefits.

"We're going to have to see new investment and exploration in New zealand because without it long term we wont have the petroleum required for industry, electricity, and the 300,000 odd households that use gas, not to mention the Methanex's of this world which are not only incredibly important locally but also on a national level. I'm still very optimistic."


Campaigns to discourage tourists from fouling up some of the country's most picturesque places will struggle as long as Kiwis are "dumb enough" to let visitors get away with it, a committee has heard.

The Upper Waitaki Zone Committee was told it will cost about $10,000 to install three "Love Your Lakes" signs on roads leading to the upper Waitaki lakes region as part of an effort to encourage people to remove their rubbish.

Committee member Richard Subtil says that sum is "preposterous". Subtil said he recently visited a river-side site that was popular with freedom campers and saw excrement and toilet paper under "every" tussock and bush.



He asked a German tourist at the site whether tourists would behave the same way in her home country. The woman said no, that it was disgusting, but that New Zealanders were "dumb enough" to let them get away with it.

CHRIS HYDE/FAIRFAX NZ Rubbish left behind at a popular freedom camping spot near Lake Tekapo.

Subtil told the committee meeting on Friday that he understood the campaign sought to address issues locals were "hot under the collar about" but he was not convinced new signs would have the desired effect.

Environment Canterbury communications advisor Phil Roberts, who reported on the campaign, said there were no guarantees the new signs would work to prevent all tourists from soiling the environment.

They were, however, one way of encouraging tourists to do the right thing, he said.

Committee member Simon Cameron suggested the material be produced in languages other than English, though Subtil suggested most freedom campers were from Europe and could read and understand the language.

Committee member Mathew Bayliss said it was "nearly impossible" to prosecute people for rubbish dumping. The Love Your Lakes campaign was a good idea but the signs themselves would stand in contrast to their environment.

READ MORE:

* Freedom camping spot could close

* Human wastes mars church

* Claims of tourists verbally abusing locals

Roberts said the signs would be more effective if placed where the littering behaviour happened. Finding landowners near the main arterial routes, who were happy to have signs erected on their land, would be cheaper than erecting them roadside, he added.

A few committee members agreed to try to find some landowners who would be happy to have a sign on their property.

The Love Your Lakes campaign began prior to Christmas as part of the Upper Waitaki Zone Implementation Programme. Stickers and posters were distributed around key visitor spots to try and educate tourists to use public toilets and to take their rubbish with them.

Roadside signs were being investigated as the next step, but gaining permission to erect signage on state highways was complex, Roberts said.

The committee would need to work with New Zealand Transport Agency and the relevant territorial authority, both of which had their own requirements relating to where signs can go, how big they could be and even how many words they displayed.

The signs would be erected at the three entrance ways into the Upper Waitaki and hopefully catch the attention of tourists travelling on the inland tourist route, where local councils continue to grapple with fouling visitors.

Waitaki District councillors have raised the prospect of a bylaw to better manage freedom camping after complaints about mess.

Mackenzie District has just closed a freedom camping site amid concerns about the land being used as a toilet and pending public consultation on the district's freedom camping strategy next month.

Tekapo community board member Stella Sweney last month urged cabinet ministers and MPs to take action: the government needed to take the "free out of freedom camping", she said.
Nearly five years ago, Libyans of every creed worked together to topple the brutal regime of long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The divisive political struggle that followed destabilized the country and Libya descended into factional strife and violence.

Eventually two rival governments emerged--the internationally-recognized House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk, and the Tripoli-based General National Congress in the west. The discord and lack of a united, effective central authority created a security vacuum that was, and is, exploited by violent extremists and human smugglers.

Last December, after four years of in-fighting and more than a year of negotiations, representatives of Libya's two rival governments signed the Libya Political Agreement to form a national unity government, the Government of National Accord. On March 10, the Libyan Political Dialogue stated that the Libyan Political Agreement is the only legitimate framework for bringing an end to Libyas political crisis and military conflict and urged the new Governments leaders to begin their work in Tripoli rapidly. In response, on March 12 the Libyan Presidency Council, headed by Prime Minister Fayyez al Sarraj, called on the country's institutions to begin a transfer of authority to the UN-backed unity government.

Achieving reconciliation in Libya is not going to be any easier than achieving it in other places, but we know that after decades of dictatorship and years of upheaval that is the best option for the 6 million plus people of Libya.

In a formal statement, representatives of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union stated on March 13 that they will fully support Libyas Government of National Accord as proposed by the Presidency Council, and acknowledged the statement of 23 February signed by a majority of members of the House of Representatives in which they announced their support for the Government of National Accord.

They also said that they intend to work closely with the Government of National Accord as the only legitimate government in Libya.

We urge members of the Libyan Political Dialogue who reaffirmed their support for the new prime minister and the Presidency Council to move rapidly to Tripoli. And we call on all Libyan public institutions to facilitate a peaceful and orderly handover of power so that Libyas new leaders can begin to govern from Libyas capital, said Secretary of State John Kerry.

Achieving reconciliation in Libya is not going to be any easier than achieving it in other places, but we know that after decades of dictatorship and years of upheaval that is the best option for the 6 million plus people of Libya.
The ancient spring festival of Nowruz is currently being celebrated by millions of people around the world, including Iranians, Kurds, Afghans, Azeris, Americans, and the peoples of Central Asia. Secretary of State John Kerry sent his best wishes to them all for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Nowruz, he said, is a time of renewal and reconciliation  a chance for families to celebrate their heritage and culture; reflect on the past twelve months; and look forward to the year ahead.

In his Nowruz greeting, President Barack Obama again used the occasion to speak directly to the people Iran.

Over the years, youve heard me say that the United States was prepared to engage with Iran in a spirit of mutual interest and mutual respect. Well, thats exactly what we did. In the last few years our diplomats and nuclear scientists sat down together and negotiated face-to-face. And last summer, along with our international partners, we reached the historic deal on Irans nuclear program.

President Obama noted that Iran has fulfilled key commitments under the deal  rolling back critical parts of its nuclear program and agreeing to verification measures to assure the world its nuclear program is and will remain, peaceful. In return the international community lifted certain sanctions on Iran:

Iran now has the opportunity to begin reintegrating itself with the global economy. That means more trade and investment, which will mean more jobs, including for young Iranians who dream of pursuing their careers and making their mark on the world.

President Obama stressed that the nuclear deal will not solve all the disputes between Iran and the United States. But even as our two governments continue to have serious disagreements, he said, the fact that we are now talking to each other on a regular basis, for the first time in decades, gives us an opportunityto solve other issues.

In addressing the Iranian people, President Obama spoke of his historic trip this week to Cuba, My visit, he said, will be a reminder that, even after decades of mistrust, it is possible for old adversaries to start down a new path.

As you and your families welcome the new spring this NowruzI hope that the friendship and ties between the American and Iranian people will continue to grow.
U.S. flags have been lowered to half-staff throughout the United States, its embassies and bases as a sign of respect for the victims of terror attacks that killed at least 30 and injured more than 200 in Brussels.

The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium, said U.S. President Barack Obama:

We stand in solidarity with them, in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible.

The tragedy occurred during the morning rush hour Tuesday when Brussels was rocked by three blasts -- two at the Zaventem airport and one at the Maelbeek train station. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks.

The notion that any political agenda would justify the killing of innocent people like this is something that is beyond the pale, President Obama said in an interview with press. We are going to continue with the over 60 nations that are pounding ISIL and are going to go after them.

Leaders from Europe and the broader international community have responded to the attacks with similar messages of solidarity and condemnation.

This is yet another reminder that the world must unite, said President Obama.

We must be together regardless or nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding a car falling from a car parking building in Newmarket last night.

The victims of the incident remain in Auckland Hospital.

A 30-year-old woman is in a criitcal condition with severe head injuries and a 39-year-old man is in a serious but stable condition.

Police say that the car appears to have fallen from the car parking building onto York Road in Newmarket at around 8.40pm whilst the two occupants were still inside.

The car fell on its roof onto the top of another car which was parked in the street, no one was in that parked car at the time.

The Police Serious Crash Unit is continuing its examination of the scene and no further information is available at this stage.

Source: New Zealand Police.
A mother of two 17-year-old girls forced out of her home by Taurangas spiralling rental market could be the beginning of a trend, says New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell.

Clayton spotted a large sign on a fence, "PLEASE HELP. Mother & 2 17 year old girls will be HOMELESS," and went on to indicate she has good references, and her phone number.

With the rising costs of rental properties in Tauranga, families are finding it incredibly difficult to afford homes, he says.

Clayton was told the home the mother had rented for years had been sold. The new out of town owners wanted to move in, leaving the mother looking for a new home.

But because rentals across the Tauranga have been driven up by housing demand, the search for a new home was proving difficult and the Tauranga mother was feeling desperate.

We have put this family in touch with a couple of organisations that are trying to assist them in finding a new home. But the reality is that this family, like too many Tauranga families is being forced to look at moving away from Tauranga on their search for affordable housing, says Clayton.

Those families that cannot or do not move away, may join the increasing number of homeless on our streets.

Regional social worker Elizabeth Walsh is also concerned about the growing numbers of Tauranga homeless, saying families, singles and couples are all unable to find accommodation because theres not enough housing and the land and rental values are just too high.

This is not specific to any demographic as even working families are being affected, explains Elizabeth.

Joe Bloggs on the street may have no real idea of the seriousness of this issue, but as a social worker, Im seeing people affected by this housing crisis every day.

Elizabeth believes the Government should invest in more overnight accommodation to relieve immediate distress, plus establish caravan parks which could be run and monitored by existing charities already providing care to Taurangas most vulnerable.

With almost zero available housing and the impending state housing sale, there is little Housing New Zealand is able to do, though not for lack of wanting to help.

WINZ suggests families look at local caravan parks for accommodation and warns them to be prepared to sleep in their cars.

But given the fact that Easter is this weekend, Clayton says caravan parks are likely to be full and can hardly be seen as an option.

Now more than ever, we need more Government support for our community, not less. The Government should be investing in State housing, not selling it.

We need to get real, addressing the real problems we are facing in Tauranga and New Zealand, says Clayton.
Severe weather warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms remain in place as a storm bears down on the region.

According to tepukeweather.co.nz, 0.9mm of rain has fallen in the region.
New Zealands dairy industry could become like this countrys unprofitable meat industry if foreign investment in farms and processing plants continues, warns Labours primary industries spokesperson, Damien OConnor.

Milk production for Fonterra was down four per cent last year. Theres concern that over time Fonterra will face a supply risk and struggle to fill the huge processing facilities it has built.
Syracuse Inner Harbor.JPG

State Supreme Court Judge James Murphy has dismissed the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency's lawsuit against COR Development Co., the developer of the Syracuse Inner Harbor project (above). On the right is COR's first part of the project, a 134-room Aloft Hotel.

(Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y.  Mayor Stephanie Miner is now 0 for 2 in her legal battle with the company she picked to redevelop the Syracuse Inner Harbor.

State Supreme Court Justice James Murphy on Wednesday dismissed the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency's lawsuit against COR Development, of Fayetteville, said COR spokeswoman Maggie Truax.

"We're grateful to the court for again ruling in our favor by recognizing that we were within our full legal right to seek a payment in lieu of taxes (agreement) through the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency," COR President Steve Aiello said in a statement.

"It's significant that we will be able to continue our relationship with OCIDA and Onondaga County since OCIDA's partnership and the leadership of County Executive Joanie Mahoney will allow for the long-term sustainability and success of the Inner Harbor project. We look forward to continuing our work, which will bring much-needed local jobs and significant economic development to Central New York."

The same judge that dismissed the city development agency's lawsuit tossed out a similar lawsuit by the city against COR on Feb. 22.

Miner alleges that COR broke a pledge not to seek property tax exemptions for its planned $342 million project to transform the harbor, a former Barge Canal terminal in the city's lakefront area, into a mix of hotels, apartments, offices and retail space.

She and the industrial development agency, which Miner controls through her appointments, sued COR after the company obtained a 15-year tax deal from the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency.

COR said it never promised not to seek property tax exemptions.

The city's industrial development agency alleged that COR was obligated to come to it for any tax exemptions for the development because the city agency had previously approved sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions for the construction of a 134-room Aloft Hotel, the first phase of COR's harbor project.

The agency sought a $3.24 million payment from COR, the same amount it would have received from the company as a project fee if COR had come to the agency instead of going to the agency's counterpart in county government.

But in a decision issued from the bench, Murphy said all contracts between the agency and COR "expressly" relate only to the Aloft Hotel project and in no way bound the two parties for any future construction at the harbor. With that, he granted COR's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Bill Ryan, Miner's chief of staff and chairman of the city's development agency, said the board is disappointed by the judge's ruling and will consult with its attorneys before deciding on "the next appropriate course of action."

The city has not said whether it will appeal either ruling.

The city's lawsuit has sparked an investigation by Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick. He reportedly has been looking into contradictory sworn statements by city councilors in connection with the city's lawsuit.

Last week, the district attorney's office charged Bruce Conner, an active supporter of Miner who chairs the city housing authority board, with second-degree criminal impersonation.

Conner is accused of sending a bogus letter to the editor that carried the signatures of five ministers who did not write it. The letter criticized COR for obtaining tax breaks for its harbor project "without committing to providing jobs for the poorest residents of our city.''

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
78397123

(Brand X Pictures)

Auburn, NY - An Auburn drug dealer who skipped his sentencing hearing five years ago was captured earlier this month by U.S. Marshals in Jacksonville, Florida.

Now instead of serving four years in prison as part of a plea deal, Shamich M. Davis, 34, faces a dozen years in jail.

Shamich M. Davis

Davis pleaded guilty in Cayuga County court to felony third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was to serve four years in prison under a plea bargain when he skipped his sentencing hearing in June 2011.

When he failed to show up, County Judge Thomas Leone issued a warrant for his arrest. The judge sentenced Davis to 12 years imprisonment with three years of post-release supervision.

The U.S. Marshal Service in Jacksonville, Florida captured Davis on March 11. He waived extradition and was sent back to Auburn on Tuesday.

Davis is being held in the Cayuga County Jail and will appear in Cayuga County Court on Thursday.
NEW HAVEN, N.Y. -- A New Haven man who was trying to dismantle a beaver dam Tuesday night will not face criminal charges, according to the New York State Police.

Phil Pittman was using tannerite to blow up a beaver dam, according to state police. The state police said the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is now investigating the incident.

Dozens of people across several Oswego County towns reported hearing and feeling an explosion that rattled windows, according to Oswego 911 dispatchers.

Tannerite is used as an indicator for target practice. When hit by a high velocity bullet the substance causes a chemical reaction that makes water vapor and a thunderous boom.

There were no reported injuries or fires in the incident, state police said.

Sarah Moses covers the northern suburbs of Onondaga County and Oswego

County. Contact Sarah at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298. Follow @SarahMoses315
iStock/Thinkstock(PORTLAND, Texas) -- A 5-year-old girl is being hailed as a hero after recently being caught on home surveillance footage saving her unconscious mother from the bottom of a swimming pool in Portland, Texas.



Tracy Anderwald, 34, told ABC News Wednesday that she and her daughter, Allison Anderwald, had been "enjoying a mommy-daughter day" in her sister's backyard pool Friday when she suddenly had a seizure, blacked out and sank 4 feet down to the pool's floor.



After Allison realized her mom had not come up from the water for over five minutes, she jumped in, pulled her mother to the shallow end of the pool and flipped her body over so her head wasn't in the water.



One of the moms sisters, Tedra Hunt, said she happened to be walking over to the house when Allison ran to tell her what happened. Hunt said she immediately called 911 and emergency personnel then took Tracy to CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial in Corpus Christi, Texas.



"The doctors explained to us that had Tracy been underwater any longer, she probably wouldn't be with us right now," Hunt, 32, said. "It is truly amazing that this little girl, whos actually also pretty small for her age, was able to save my sister."



Hunt said doctors initially told her they had low expectations for Tracy's recovery and anticipated she might even have neurological damage.



But Tracy woke up Saturday morning and after a few tests and assessments, she was deemed OK for release Tuesday afternoon, Hunt said.



Tracy will be soon following up with a neurologist to try and figure out what caused the seizure, she said, adding that she had never had one before.



"Tracy is my sister, best friend, my whole world," Hunt said of her sister. "We lost our dad almost exactly two years ago, and it was so hard to overcome that. I don't know what I would have done if I lost Tracy that day."



Hunt added she believed their father was a "guardian angel" watching over them that day and that he guided Allison to help save Tracy.



Now, Hunt and Tracy said they hope their story helps raise awareness for the importance of teaching kids how to swim and what to do in an emergency at an early age.



"Allison's been swimming since she was two-and-a-half," Tracy said. "She's our little mermaid and my little hero."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Syracuse, NY -- Ryan Lawrence was indicted this morning on first-degree murder in the death of his 21-month-old daughter, Maddox.

First-degree murder is punishable by life in prison without chance of parole. He was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the indictment upped the charge.

The enhanced charge was due to the fact he's accused of kidnapping Maddox on Feb. 20 before killing her. District Attorney William Fitzpatrick had said at the time of Maddox's February murder that he her father could be charged with first-degree murder, but did not offer any specifics.

The indictment shows that a grand jury voted to indict Lawrence on the first-degree charge.

In addition to first-degree murder, Lawrence was also indicted on charges of second-degree murder (called a lesser included charge), first-degree kidnapping (which also includes the victim's death) and tampering with physical evidence (allegedly burning Maddox's body and disposing of her remains), all felonies.

Lawrence is accused of abducting his daughter Feb. 20 and driving her to Labrador Hollow, where he's charged with killing her. He then brought her body back to Syracuse and dumped her in Onondaga Creek near Destiny USA. He left the family's car at the mall parking lot (where his wife, Morgan, was working) and then disappeared.

Lawrence was found Feb. 23 in disguise at a thrift store in Baldwinsville.

Check back to Syracuse.com for more details as they become available.
Steve Brady as Dr. Sigmund Freud in "Freud's Last Session" on the Waxlax Stage at Riverside Theatre. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY HOLLY PORCH)

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By Angela Smith, Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers

Riverside Theatre's latest show, "Freud's Last Session," is much more than meets the eye.

The show, on the Waxlax Stage through April 3, will make you think.

Inspired by the book, "The Question of God," by Armand Nicholi, Jr., the production depicts what a conversation might be like if renowned psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud (Steve Brady) and writer, C.S. Lewis (David Schmittou), spent an afternoon together on the day Britain declared war against Germany in September 1939.

Positioned in the center of the black-box theater, the set is a cozy, art-filled room that Freud's daughter, Anna, has decorated to resemble the ailing doctor's study in Vienna, a place he had to flee because of the war.

It gives theatergoers plenty of angles to witness the two men debate topics such as the existence of God, politics, music, love, sex and Hitler.

While it was difficult to take a side in these arguments, the actors did a remarkable job filling the large shoes and minds of the historical men they portrayed. They not only held their own, but engaged the audience.

The men meet after Freud learns Lewis, who once was an atheist like himself, has embraced Christianity.

"I want to learn why a man of your intellect, one who shared my convictions, could suddenly abandon truth and embrace an insidious lie," said Freud after reading one of Lewis' essays.

"What if it isn't a lie? Have you considered how terrifying it might be to realize that you are wrong?" Lewis, bantered back.

But Freud doesn't think he's wrong. After confiding in Lewis that he has oral cancer, Freud argues why would God allow pain and suffering.

The two men go back and forth, each reliving the tragedies that have shaped their lives and influenced their beliefs in those moments.

Although the play presents some serious topics, it's the humor and excellent chemistry between Brady and Schmittou that keeps the audience interested.

The biggest take-away: Keep an open mind.

"FREUD'S LAST SESSION"

When: 8 p.m. March 25-26, 29-31 and April 1, 2; 2 p.m. March 24, 26, 30 and April 2, 3

Where: Waxlax Stage, Riverside Theatre, 3250 Riverside Drive, Vero Beach

Tickets: $40

Information: 772-231-5860; www.riversidetheatre.com
By From Staff Reports

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY  Two vehicles were filled with flames when deputies arrived at the scene of the crash.

One woman was trapped inside her car. Deputies briefly feared they would not be able to get her out.

But that didn't stop Deputies Robert Sunkel and Linda Nolan from succeeding.

"This is pretty incredible," said Indian River County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Eric Flowers about the rescue of Cheryl Darlene Coons, 58, of Vero Beach, at Oslo Road and 66th Avenue on Wednesday morning.

Coons was in critical condition Wednesday at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The three-car crash set a septic tank truck and a Toyota Camry on fire. An empty Republic Services garbage truck also was involved in the crash. It was heading eastbound on Oslo and was struck by the septic truck after its collision with the Camry.

Flowers said Coons, who was in the Camry, had been traveling south on 66th and made a right turn on Oslo about 10:45 a.m. She pulled out in front of the septic truck, which was traveling west through the intersection. Both vehicles caught fire shortly after the collision.

"We don't know how the fire started," Flowers said.

When Sunkel and Nolan arrived, Coons was conscious but she could not open her damaged door, said Indian River County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Brian Burkeen. The deployed air bag had her trapped in her seat, Flowers said.

Nolan burned her hand trying to open the passenger door, Flowers said. That's when Sunkel used his baton to smash the passenger side window.

After a couple of attempts, Sunkel and Nolan removed Coons from the burning Camry through the window, then pulled her away from the wreckage as the fire spread to the grass in the northwest corner of the intersection, Flowers said.

"We had some heroes involved in this," Burkeen said about the deputies.

The deputies were not available for comment Wednesday.

The septic truck was driven by Shawn Ray Kearby, 36, of Port St. Lucie. The garbage truck was driven by Ricardo Pascal McKenzie, 42, of Vero Beach. Neither man was seriously injured in the crash, FHP said.

Nolan drove herself to a hospital for treatment for her hand, Flowers said.

The intersection was reopened about 4 p.m.

It was the same intersection where 28-year-old Stephen Stradley, of Vero Beach, was killed on March 8 in a two-car accident. Troopers said Stradley ran the stop sign on 66th and crashed into a westbound car. Stradley, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was ejected into a canal and pronounced dead at the scene.

Indian River County Public Works Director Christopher Mora said the county has been planning for years to add a traffic light and left-turn lanes for southbound 66th and eastbound Oslo at the intersection. However, that had been planned because of an anticipated increase in traffic for the area. Mora said the intersection doesn't have a notable rate of crashes.

"It's unusual to get a fatal crash and a crash with injuries there in a short amount of time," he said.

The county has budgeted $1.16 million for the intersection improvements, which will likely be done during fiscal 2017, Mora said.
People bring flowers and candles to mourn for the victims at Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

By Nicole Rodriguez of TCPalm

PORT ST. LUCIE  The images of hysteria and bloodshed out of Belgium following suicide bombings at the Brussels airport and a subway station Tuesday came as no surprise to Port St. Lucie resident and Belgium native Lieve Cocquyt.

"It was something that was coming," Cocquyt, 63, said.

Last year's Islamic State massacre of 130 people in Paris and Friday's capture in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam  the only surviving terrorist from the November attacks in France  were only a prelude to Tuesday's carnage in the country's capital that claimed the lives of at least 30 and injured more than 200. That, coupled with Belgium's relaxed way of life, lax security and open door to immigrants were a recipe for disaster, Cocquyt said Tuesday.

Despite Tuesday's attacks and whispers of more terrorist cells in Belgium, Cocquyt refuses to live in fear and won't keep looking over her shoulder the next time she visits her homeland. Cocquyt, who moved to the U.S. with her American husband in 1986 and then to Port St. Lucie in 2009, last visited Belgium in the summer. Her family, which includes 32 first cousins, were all safe Tuesday. They live in the city of Gent  a 30- to 45-minute train ride from Brussels, Cocquyt said.

"You can't let them win that way," she said.

Cocquyt, a mother of three and grandmother of one, believes many Belgians share her sentiment.

"It's a very social society. People are sitting outside having fun," Cocquyt said. "There are tables and chairs on every sidewalk ... and I don't think (terrorists) will ever be able to take that away."

Marc De Vileger, 61, founder of the Belgian Club of Florida can't understand why anyone would want to harm the people of his peaceful homeland.

"You hear the kids crying in the video tapes. You hear the children screaming. People are laying there with their arms, hands blown off  all innocent people," De Vileger said of footage of the aftermath broadcast on television.

De Vileger, who lives in Coral Springs, said one of his extended family members narrowly was spared his life from the attacks, which ISIS has taken responsibility for.

"My oldest brother's son-in-law was in the car on his way to the airport. He was 20 minutes away from the airport when it happened," De Vileger said. "All traffic stopped as soon as the news came out."

De Vileger learned of the news before sunrise Tuesday after he was awakened by a call from a television news station requesting an interview. De Vileger thought the call was about the capture of Abdeslam.

"That was kind of a victory," De Vileger said. "Everybody was so happy."

After several failed calls due to clogged phone lines, a frantic De Vileger received word his father and siblings were unharmed, he said.

De Vileger, who moved to the U.S. in 1979, founded the club in 1986 as an outlet for Belgians to connect in a state he calls "paradise." Approximately 300 families are members. The club plans to meet at Downtown Miami's Torch of Friendship monument at 2 p.m. on Saturday to remember the victim of Tuesday's attack, De Vileger said.

"We don't know exactly who the victims are, but ... it could (have been) us," De Vileger said.
Pinellas County had a problem.

The county jail was overcrowded, with 500 inmates sleeping on the floor. Hundreds were there because they'd committed "social crimes that aren't really crimes," said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, infractions like public urination or trespassing, fueled by mental illness, addiction and/or homelessness  conditions which aren't mutually exclusive.

With no end in sight, officials looked around for an answer, and found one in the form of a concrete block building that once served as a bus depot, later a low-security jail. What if, they wondered, the building could be turned into a shelter, and homeless offenders might find a bed there instead of a cell?

Today they can. Pinellas Safe Harbor opened in 2011 in Clearwater, and Gualtieri said it's definitely reduced overcrowding at the county jail, saved taxpayer money and connected many homeless with the services they need.

But there have been problems, too. And other Florida counties that have considered adopting or adapting the Pinellas model  including Martin County  are proceeding cautiously, drawn by the promise but wary of the pitfalls.

In Martin County, Sheriff William Snyder and other officials are looking for ways to reduce the number of inmates with mental illness crowding the county jail. Snyder said nearly one in five inmates is on psychotropic medication. He runs "the biggest mental health facility in the county," though he'd prefer otherwise.

Officials have discussed opening a shelter, perhaps in the building that now houses the Martin Girls Academy, where deputies or police officers could take offenders who exhibit signs of mental illness. There, they could be connected with mental health professionals, case managers, support groups and nonprofits. It's not "the answer" to mental illness in Martin County, but it could benefit many and cost taxpayers less.

I think we used to call this "compassionate conservatism."

Initially, Martin County officials looked to Pinellas County for inspiration. They've since decided Pinellas Safe Harbor isn't what Martin County has in mind. But there are similarities  along with pitfalls Martin County would be wise to avoid.

Pinellas Safe Harbor, which I visited last week, is basically a warehouse. "Residents" can come and go as they please. Some are dropped off by law enforcement instead of being taken to the jail, but anyone can walk right up  depositing any contraband in a box outside the front gate  and find a bed, three meals, counseling, HIV testing and more. It's all voluntary, and less structured than many homeless shelters, said Sgt. Zach Haisch, who led me on a tour of the facility.

Structure would seem key in Martin County if the goal is not just to keep people with mental illness out of jail now, but in the future, too.

Pinellas Safe Harbor works closely with some nonprofits, but Gualtieri said some other homeless shelters in the region see Safe Harbor as competition. In Martin County, the idea is to get as much support and collaboration from nonprofits and mental health organizations as possible.

Some local nonprofits like what they've heard so far.

"A more comprehensive approach to mental health provided by professionals seems to be one of (Martin County's) goals," said Rob Ranieri, chief executive officer of House of Hope. Ranieri said House of Hope could provide case management services or help people transition out of the program.

Then there's the issue of money, and it's a big issue. Gualtieri said Pinellas Safe Harbor has saved taxpayer dollars, but it still costs more than $2.3 million annually to run, and $1.7 million of that comes from the sheriff's budget. Contributions from municipalities have been few and far between.

"We can't afford to add counselors and case managers, which would reduce recidivism more," said Gualtieri. Still, he noted, residents get more services than they'd receive in jail.

A 2014 story in the Tampa Bay Times noted that the shelter was one of the biggest users of the county's emergency medical system  and EMS officials wanted Gualtieri's department to pay for the service.

Despite all this, Gualtieri said Pinellas Safe Harbor has succeeded in keeping people out of the criminal justice system and off the street.

And while Martin County may want to go in a different, more comprehensive direction, "it's not apples and oranges; the population we deal with is the population that Sheriff Snyder is talking about," Gualtieri said.

"There have been a lot of lessons learned, and there was not much for us to look at" in designing the program, he said. "It doesn't necessarily have to be run by the sheriff. You need to sustain funding partnerships, and you need across-the-board participation."

"But I would absolutely recommend it."

Gil Smart is a columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers and a member of the Editorial Board. His columns reflect his opinion. Readers may reach him at gil.smart@tcpalm.com, by phone at 772-223-4741 or via Twitter at @TCPalmGilSmart.
Perhaps worthy of more attention than it received at Apples Loop You In event on Monday is CareKit. The open source platform will allow developers to create consumer-focused applications to help patients communicate with healthcare providers and closely monitor their own health conditions.

The company, which entered the medical research space in 2015 with the release of ResearchKit, will use CareKit to expand the range of applications designed to automate the communications among researchers, medical field workers, patients and others in the healthcare space.

Following the release of ResearchKit, Apple realized that many of the same tools could be expanded to patient care, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said.

When we introduced ResearchKit, our goal was simply to improve medical research, and we thought our work was largely done, he said. What became clear to us later was the very same tools used to advance medical research can also be used to help people with their care.

Building on Research

The first app to be released under CareKit is Parkinson mPower, which was developed by theUniversity of Rochester andSage Bionetworks to monitor Parkinsons disease, Williams said.

Released last year, it has more than 10,000 participants, making it the worlds largest research study of the disease, according to Apple. The app helps researchers understand Parkinsons by measuring dexterity, gait, balance and memory using a gyroscope and other features on the iPhone using a tap test.

Another app, Care Card from theTexas Medical Center, was designed to help monitor postsurgical patients.

Other apps using the CareKit framework areGlows Glow Nurture, to help pregnant women monitor their conditions;Iodines Start, for monitoring patients on antidepressants; andOne Drop, for monitoring diabetic patients.

Smartphone Behavior

Smartphones carry additional levels of data about individuals that personal computers cannot approach, said Paul Teich, principal analyst atTirias Research. By creating apps designed to monitor health conditions, Apple essentially can provide intimate, detailed information on consumer behavior in a way that previously was not available on a large scale.

Apple CareKit has the promise of linking all those things our phones already know about us to our personal and medical data, he told TechNewsWorld.

ResearchKit was designed to help researchers conduct massive medical studies using apps designed for the iPhone. The launch included a series of medical studies on asthma, breast cancer, heart disease and Parkinsons disease, among others.

Along with CareKit, Apple announced a new round of research studies, including one on postpartum depression from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Additionally, customers of23andMe can participate in a heart disease study using the MyHeart Counts app developed by Stanford Medicine and an asthma study by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai andLifeMap Solutions.

Apple is one of the few major companies that has made significant inroads into the medical app space by incorporating its smartphone and smartwatch technology into a growing list of consumer and business applications, saidC4 Trends analyst Susan Schreiner.

It is among the few major companies that fully grasps the consumerization of health, she told TechNewsWorld, and the opportunities not only directly to consumers, but also in relation to payers, providers and innovation.
Apple on Tuesday filed a brief arguing that the demands the Department of Justice has made in seeking a backdoor to iPhone encryption would have appalled Americas founding fathers.

The FBI and DoJ want Apple to create new software code that would help government investigators bypass built-in encryption on the iPhone of Syed Farook, who with his wife carried out last years San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack.

The Justice Department and the FBI are seeking an order from this court that would force Apple to create exactly the kind of operating system that Congress has thus far refused to require, reads the brief, which responds to the governments opposition papers filed in federal district court earlier this month.

The new code essentially would allow authorities to unlock the specific iPhone and gain access to any data that was left on the device after the shooting, and use it to pursue other potential terrorist links or future plots.

Widespread Risks

The government demand would put Apple at risk of being forced to engage in similar cooperation in other cases, would put the security of the iPhone at risk, and would risk similar orders being forced upon the company by other governments in countries where it operates, Apple and its supporters have argued in court filings andpublic testimony.

The government is using the All Writs Act to attempt to bypass the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, a wiretapping law signed by President Clinton in 1994. CALEA forbids law enforcement from forcing an electronic communication service from adopting any specific design of equipment, facilities, services, features or system configurations, according to the filing.

The government has acknowledged that FaceTime and iMessage features on the iPhone are electronic communication services but claimed that is irrelevant because the court order does not bear upon the operation of those services, it notes.

The government wants access to iMessages left on the phone.

Balance of Power

Lawyers for the DoJ and Apple are scheduled to appear in court next week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym in Riverside, California, to make oral arguments on the motion to dismiss.

We look forward to responding to Apples arguments before the court on March 22, said Marc Raimondi, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice.

As we have said in our filings, the Constitution and the three branches of the federal government should be entrusted to strike the balance between each citizens right to privacy and all citizens rights to safety and justice, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The Constitution and the laws of the United States do not vest that power in a single corporation, Raimondi added.

Support for Apple

What the FBI is seeking is unprecedented, said Alan Butler, senior counsel at theElectronic Privacy Information Center.

No company has ever been required to produce special software to undermine its own security systems, he told the E-Commerce Times. Apple has a strong legal position in this case.

In a separate case, Federal Magistrate Judge James Orenstein last monthruled that Apple did not have to unlock an encrypted iPhone. The judge in the California case is likely to consider Orensteins decision, Butler said.

In particular, Judge Orenstein found that Congress had already considered  and rejected  a broad decryption requirement for device manufacturers when it passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement act back in the mid-1990s, he said.

There really is not a compromise ruling here. Either the judge orders Apple to provide the assistance or she denies the FBIs application, Butler added.

A group that organized protests outside Apple stores and FBI headquarters last month plans to descend on the courthouse next week in a show of support for greater iPhone security. The group, Fight for the Future, is launching an online campaign called #SaveSecurity and awebsite to organize protesters online.

We wanted to  make sure that we educate the public and decision-makers about the fact that this case isnt just about one phone, or even just about iPhones  its about the future of all of our safety and security, said Evan Greer, campaign director ofFight for the Future.

Since launching just a few hours ago, more than 3,400 people have already added their voices to the effort. We expect this number to grow dramatically before Tuesday, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The governments reliance on the All Writs Act is an indication that the case cannot stand on modern case law, said Sophia Cope, staff attorney at theElectronic Frontier Foundation.

The problem is that the AWA has never been applied in this way, and it cant be used for an unconstitutional purpose, she told the E-Commerce Times. In short, the Constitution will always trump a statute.
HTC went against tradition this year by not unveiling its latest flagship smartphone at MWC. The Taiwanese company preferred to focus on the Vive during the Barcelona-based conference and didn't want the attention taken away from the HTC 10 by the likes of Samsung's S7 and LG's G5. Now, it's been confirmed that the smartphone will be revealed at an online launch event on April 12.

HTC sent out a teaser for its upcoming device last month. While this ad didn't show much of the phone, it did include the hashtag #powerof10. The company released another image last week, this one showing two camera lenses, likely to be the dual cameras on the back of the HTC 10, along with the words: "World First, World Class, Front and Back. You'll see."

It was originally thought that the smartphone would use the same nomenclature as HTC's previous devices and be called the HTC One M10, but it seems that the company has decided to go with the snappier HTC 10.

Rumors say that we can expect to see the same high-end features in the Marshmallow 6.0-powered HTC 10 that are found in a lot of today's flagship smartphones: Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB of RAM, fingerprint scanner, QHD resolution, 32GB or 64GB of storage, microSD slot, and a USB type-C connector. The display is said to be slightly smaller than most, measuring 5.15 inches.

While it does boast some impressive hardware, the HTC 10 will need something special to make it stand out in the high-end smartphone market. HTC thinks that its flagship device's camera could be its killer feature, which the company has described as "very, very compelling." It's rumored to use a 12-megapixel UltraPixel 2 sensor, laser autofocus and an optically stabilized f/1.8 lens.

HTC's event starts 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time and can be viewed at HTC.com.
It was reported earlier this week that the FBI had filed a motion to delay its trial against Apple over the San Bernardino iPhone. It seems that the government agency had found an outside party capable of unlocking the device and no longer required Apple's help.

At the time, we didn't know who this third party was, but according to Israel-based newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the company helping the Department of Justice crack Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone 5c is an Israeli mobile forensics company called Cellebrite.

The company's UFED mobile extraction device series claims to offer "unparalleled data extraction and analysis capabilities." One product in particular, the UFED Touch, can supposedly "bypass pattern lock/password/PINs" on Android devices, as well as offering "the widest support for extraction and decoding" for Apple products.

The Vice President of Cellebrite's forensics division, Leeor Ben-Peretz, wouldn't comment on the Apple case when speaking to Israeli news outlet Haaretz, but he did indicate his belief that all devices can be broken into, no matter how hack-proof they may seem.

If Cellebrite really is helping the FBI, the exact method it is using to decrypt the iPhone is still a mystery. But one person who's already had plenty to say about the ongoing saga, John McAfee, told CNBC that he knows how Cellebrite will do it.

"I promise you that Tim Cook and Apple are not going to be happy with the solution that the FBI has come up with [...] because it is almost as bad as a universal master key," he told CNBC's Power Lunch.

McAfee, of course, had previously offered to help the FBI crack the iPhone with his team of super hackers using mostly social engineering techniques. He later admitted that this was all a lie to draw attention to the fact that "the FBI is trying to [fool] the American public."

Experts believe that Cellebrite will use a NAND mirroring technique to circumvent the iPhone's built-in security measures. This method involves desoldering the NAND chip, copying all its data using a device capable of reading/writing NAND flash, replacing the chip, and then guessing passcodes. If the auto-erase feature is enabled and the iPhone is wiped, it'll be a case of removing the chip, copying the original information back in, and replacing it. It'll be possible to add a test socket to make the chip swapping faster and easier.

This NAND technique will work on the iPhone 5c in question as it doesn't have a Secure Enclave; it can't used on any phones beyond the 5s.
What has an ancient bear got to do with human existence? Well, a lot, because it can push back the first human arrival in Ireland as early as 2,500 years.

Since the 1970s, experts believed the Irish civilization began during the Mesolithic Period or around 8,000 B.C. following the discovery of a settlement in a Londonderry county.

However, in a paper published in Quaternary Science Reviews on March 21, researchers revealed that the first humans in Ireland might have arrived in 10,500 B.C. or during the Paleolithic Period.

The discovery was accidental. In 2010, National Museum of Ireland research associate and co-author Ruth Carden found a 113-year-old patella (kneecap) bone of an adult bear, which was excavated in Alice and Gwendoline Cave in Co Clare, untouched inside a cardboard box in the museum since the 1920s.

The bone had noted markings, but it never underwent dating since the technology was not available until the 1940s. So Carden, together with Institute of Technology Sligo archeologist and lead author Marion Dowd, applied for funding from the Royal Irish Academy. After receiving it, they asked Queen's University Belfast to do it. They also sent bone samples to Oxford University researchers who confirmed the date as well as to three other specialists in Europe who noted that the age of the cut marks is the same as that of the bone.

The authors were "shocked" by the results. "Yes, we expected a prehistoric date, but the Paleolithic result took us completely by surprise," Dowd shared.

The bone markings also suggested that the carcass was still fresh when it was being butchered but that whoever wanted to separate the joint didn't succeed perhaps because of lack of experience, poor tools or level of difficulty.

For her part, Carden, who is also an animal osteologist, calls the discovery "exciting" and that "this paper should generate a lot of discussion within the zoological research world ... it's time to start thinking outside the box ... or even dismantling it entirely!"

The authors are presently seeking more funding so they can date hundreds of other bones in the same collection.

In 2015, the discovery of a partial leg bone fossil found in Red Deer Cave in southwest China also suggested that some human ancestors may have lived longer than the Late Plestoceine Period.

Here's a video discussing the discovery:





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A rare condition was making an Australian mom cannot swallow her food. Samantha Anderson, a mother of three and a goldsmith in Brisbane, Australia was beginning her day with a breakfast composed of her typical peanut butter and toast. But for some reason, she couldn't swallow even a single bite.

"I was confused, and ended up having to cough it out. I tried a few more times. That gulp just didn't happen," said the 40-year-old jeweler.

Sam tried to brush off what happened in her morning meal until she can no longer eat her succeeding meals and ended up starving.

She consulted a doctor and said that she is stressed and she needs to take Valium. None of the prescriptions given worked and ask to 'to buy herself time.' They tried hypnosis and counseling.

Due to low blood pressure, Sam was immediately rushed to the hospital. She underwent series of tests including those which test for motor-neuron diseases and mental health disorders. They went to have the result reading her having a Dysphagia.

What Is Dysphagia

Dysphagia is a rare condition wherein the person is having difficulty in swallowing. This condition may occur in different ages and have different causes as well as its treatment. The food and liquid taken in by the person having Dysphagia needs time and effort to ingest.

Sam converted solid meals to those soft-textured foods like yogurts. She puts effort to swallow it and wait until it kicks in but ends up coughing it out. Eventually, this Australian mom's weight went down from 60 kilos to 45 kilos (132 pounds to 99 pounds) and tries to conceal this by using lose clothes.

At the end of the nine-month treatment period, medical doctors found out that the reason of Sam having Dysphagia is the pain she had in her left ear that was left untreated. The untreated pain in her left ear caused the four cranial nerves to be damaged and paved way for her Dysphagia.

After getting much help in Australia, they found a specialist from University of California, Dr. Peter Belafsky of Davis Voice and Swallowing Center. He said that the condition is "like being constantly waterboarded."

After four long years of struggle, Sam eventually learned to eat foods mixed with water. She also went back to her jewelry studio having her husband go and help her eat for lunch.

"There are definitely days when I don't want to get out of bed ... But when I think about how far I have come, what I can manage to eat now compared to a year ago, two years ago, I am so happy,' Sam said.

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After reviewing additional data submitted by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has reversed its previous decision and now recommends the use of abiraterone (Zytiga) for prostate cancer patients as a pre-chemotherapy treatment.

In 2014, NICE rejected the use of the drug at an early stage before chemo and after hormone deprivation therapy. The reasons for the rejection is related to the drug's cost, which NICE had said was too expensive.

Now, NICE will fund abiraterone as long as Janssen delivers some discounts  from 2,930 ($4,217), the price for 120 tablets will be reduced to 2,300 ($3,310). After 10 months of treatment, the drug will be offered at no cost.

"We're delighted to hear that NICE has approved abiraterone to be used before chemotherapy for men with prostate cancer that has spread and has come back after their first line hormone therapy," said Professor Malcolm Mason of Cancer Research UK.

Abiraterone has been found to delay the progression of prostate cancer, help prolong life, and provide a better life quality while reducing the pain and fatigue of patients. The drug has been available across the United Kingdom after chemotherapy since 2012.

Janssen provided data that revealed the drug's cost-effectiveness. The supplementary data showed that 14 percent of the patients in the United States who took abiraterone stayed on the drug for more than four years. The data and the discounts were enough to change the cost watchdog's decision.

Carole Longson, head of NICE's Center for Health Technology Evaluation, said she is glad that new evidence meant the institute will be able to recommend the drug.

"There are few treatments available for patients at this stage of prostate cancer so this is very good news," said Longson.

Abiraterone had only been available to patients in England before chemo via the Cancer Drugs Fund, and has been the second most requested drug on the fund.

NICE's approval means the drug will be removed from the fund and will be paid routinely by the National Health Service.

In the UK, about 5,900 people with prostate cancer are estimated to be eligible for treatment with abiraterone annually. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths, and the most common cancer among men.

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Truck drivers with untreated sleep apnea have five times greater preventable crash risk than those who are being treated or do not have the ailment at all, a new study has found.

Driving trucks while drowsy is a dangerous thing. What's more, those with sleep problems may pose a much higher risk to public road safety.

"It's estimated that up to 20 percent of all large truck crashes are due to drowsy or fatigued driving, which would account for almost 9,000 fatalities and up to 220,000 serious injuries," says senior author Stefanos Kales from the Harvard Chan School.

Investigating Truckers With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

The study involved a total of 1,613 truck drivers diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the same number of control driver participants, who had the same job experience and tenure as per a trucking firm.

The OSA group was recommended to undergo positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy and were provided with an auto-adjust device that could be used both at home or in the truck while driving.

The findings show that drivers with OSA who failed to adhere to PAP therapy had a five times higher risk of being involved in a preventable crash than those in the matched control group.

The rate of crash risk among those who totally or partially adhered to the therapy were statistically similar to those of the control group.

Lead author Stephen Burks from the University of Minnesota says the most surprising finding of the research is the strength and power of rate increase among drivers with sleep apnea who failed to adhere to the recommended treatment.

Implications Of Study Results

While commercial truckers undergo physical examinations twice in a year to identify if they are fit for the job, there are no existing laws that mandate OSA screening or diagnosis, partly due to the lack of studies that evaluate OSA risks among truck drivers.

Dr. Nathaniel Watson, the President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that this research highlights the significant threat that untreated obstructive sleep apnea poses in the transportation safety sector. He adds that it is vital for transportation firms to carry out in-depth sleep apnea assessments and treatment programs to guarantee that their truck driver employees remain awake while driving.

The study was published in the journal Sleep on Monday.

Photo: Kim Scarborough | Flickr

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In an interesting turn of events, Jose Antonio Vazquez, a botanist at the University of Guadalajara, along with photographer Roberto Pedraza Ruiz have discovered two new species of the extremely rare magnolia flower.

The sequence of events that led to the discovery of this uncommon flower is quite fascinating. According to reports, Vazquez, while recently browsing through the varied images of flora and fauna on the Arkive website, came across a particular photograph shot by Roberto Pedraza Ruiz. The photo was identified as that of the endangered Magnolia dealbata (M. dealbata), one of the world's oldest flowering plants.

The scarcity and rarity of M. dealbata earned it the "endangered" status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN states that the major threats to the decline of the M. dealbata are habitat destruction, poor species regeneration and timber production.

The picture of M. dealbata was taken in 2010 at Mexico's Serra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. However, something about it seemed off to Vazquez - it didn't look like M. dealbata. Raising concerns over the image, he got in touch with Ruiz. The two of them lived miles apart, but got together in this botanical venture.

Ruiz explained in an Arkive blog post that for Vazquez, the magnolia specimen in the photo was "unusual," so the botanist requested for more pictures. Ruiz then went back to the cloud forest and took more photos of the flowers and fruits of the magnolia trees. After several photo-taking trips to the forest and sending the images to Vazquez, he finally got the confirmation.

"I had photographed not only one but two completely new species of magnolias," said Ruiz.

Two completely new species of magnolia have thereby been discovered. The first one that was captured in the photograph had been named Magnolia rzedowskiana in honor of Jerzy Rzedowski, a well-renowned botanist in Mexico. The second newly discovered specimen is set to be named Magnolia pedrazae, after Ruiz who photographed it.

Lucie Muir, director of Wildscreen, was excited about these new findings and said they were thrilled when Ruiz told them that a new species of the rare flower had been identified because of a botanist browsing through Arkive's image gallery.

"It's amazing that new species are still being discovered and that on this occasion Arkive was part of the discovery story," Muir said.

Arkive is run by UK-based charity Wildscreen and is one of the world's largest online encyclopedias. It claims to be the ultimate multimedia guide to the world's endangered species, hosting more than 16,000 images of a wide range of plants and animals.

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Scientists have filmed giant manta rays checking out their reflections, showing that they could be self-aware. Some, however, remain skeptical and believe that only primates and a small of group of animals could pass the mirror test and maintain self-awareness.

Csilla Ari from the University of South Florida recorded two manta rays in a tank, with and without a mirror placed inside. The change in the fishes' behavior suggested that they saw themselves, not another of their kind, in the reflections.

Instead of initiating social interaction with the reflections, the manta rays repetitively moved their fins and circled in front of the mirror. This somehow confirmed that they are aware that the image in front of them moved when they moved, especially with greater movements they showed when a mirror was inside the tank.

Another behavior Ari had not previously seen in the species: in front of the mirror, the studied rays blew bubbles.

The behavioral responses strongly imply the ability for self-awareness, especially considering that similar, or analogous, behavioral responses are considered proof of self-awareness in great apes, Ari tells New Scientist.

Manta rays have the biggest brain of any fish, and have brains exhibiting similar functions and structures with other vertebrates, including primates that are able to pass the mirror test.

In science, self-directed behaviors  just like children sticking their tongues out at themselves and making funny faces in front of the mirror  are deemed a requirement for self-awareness, or the conscious knowledge of ones self and feelings.

University of Colorado Boulders Marc Bekoff dubbed the discovery incredibly important.

However, there are experts who arent convinced. Gordon G. Gallup Jr., who comes from University at Albany, SUNY, and the maker of the original mirror test, said the strange behavior when theyre in front of the mirror could mean the manta rays were simply curious or exploring.

For him, humans and some great apes have the only compelling, reproducible evidence for recognizing themselves in the mirror. Those suggesting the same for dolphins, magpies and elephants, he added, were typically coming from just an experimental animal or two.

Bekoff argued, however, that the mirror test may not be the be-all, end-all when it comes to self-awareness among animals. It may not apply to creatures who do not mainly navigate using their vision, he said, suggesting techniques such as neuroimaging to confirm self-awareness upon seeing a reflection.

The findings were discussed in the Journal of Ethology.

Photo: Justin Henry | Flickr

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Bob Ebeling, the former Morton Thiokol engineer who had worked on the Space Shuttle Challenger and tried to prevent its fateful launch in 1986, passed away in Brigham City, Utah, according to his family. He was 89 years old.

For the past 30 years, Ebeling had been living with the guilt of not being able to stop the space shuttle's launch.

He was the one who found out that the spacecraft's rubber O-ring seals, which helped keep rocket fuel from reaching its larger booster rockets, would likely stiffen because of the particularly cold temperatures on that January morning.

Ebeling contacted his boss at Morton Thiokol about his discovery. However, he was ultimately overruled by executives at the company and the Challenger's launch went on as scheduled.

About 73 seconds into its launch, the space shuttle encountered problems and it burst into flames in mid-flight. The explosion killed all seven of Challenger's crew members.

Shortly after the space shuttle disaster, Ebeling chose to retire from his job. He spent the rest of his life taking care of birds that make their way into the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah. The sanctuary has served as an important stop for more than 250 species of birds that migrate every year.

In a recent interview for National Public Radio (NPR), Ebeling said that he still had regrets about not being able to convince NASA or Morton Thiokol officials to postpone the space shuttle's launch at least until the weather became warmer.

"I think that was one of the mistakes God made," Ebeling said. "He shouldn't have picked me for that job."

The NPR story reached hundreds of people who were sympathetic toward the former engineer. They sent Ebeling letters of encouragement during the last few days of his life, including two messages from former NASA and Morton Thiokol officials who told him that the Challenger disaster was their fault and not his.

Ebeling thanked all the people who wrote to him, saying that their letters helped him have peace.

Following his passing on Monday, Ebeling's daughter, Leslie Ebeling Serna, said that it was as if her father was finally able to get permission from the world.

"He was able to let that part of his life go," Serna said.

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In an appearance to promote his upcoming film Demolition on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jake Gyllenhaal reminded us all that even A-list actors can flub it sometimes. During an interview with host Jimmy Fallon, the Golden Globe-nominated actor dished about the time he tried out for a role in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, prompting the director to call him the "worst actor [he] had ever seen."

Gyllenhaal (or, as Fallon called him, "the Hobbit from Brooklyn!"), auditioned for the role of Frodo after getting swarmed with calls for the part of the protagonist of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"I got a call from all these agents, from like 14 different agents; they were all so excited," Gyllenhaal recalled. "They were like, 'Guess what? They're making Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson's making it; it's going to be three movies over three-and-a-half years.' And I was like, 'Oh, wow, cool.' Then they were like, 'And when they said they needed a Hobbit, we thought JAKE!'"

"I was literally like  thank you?" he told Fallon, referring to his apparent hobbit-related typecasting.

Gyllenhaal recounted that the first audition was non-verbal. As Jackson dictated stage directions, he reenacted a now-iconic moment in cinema: Frodo discovering the One Ring to Rule Them All. The actor, who said the directions given to him at the time were unclear, more or less gave the director a really good imitation of a shrug emoticon.

Gyllenhaal, who said he was excited to audition for the role, continued to bomb. During line reads, he spoke in his natural American accent  his agents didn't inform him that he'd have to use a British accent as Frodo  which seemed to infuriate Jackson.

As Gyllenhaal told Fallon:

"[Peter Jackson] literally turned to me and said, 'You are the worst actor that I have ever seen.' He said, 'Did anyone tell you you were supposed to have an accent?' I was like, 'No!' And he said, 'Well, fire your agents.'"

In the end, the role went to Elijah Wood.

Oh, and bonus fact? Gyllenhaal also auditioned for one of the main roles in Dude, Where's My Car?

Watch Jake Gyllenhaal talk about his kamikazed Lord of the Rings audition on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in the video clip below.

Source: YouTube

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Orbital ATK Cygnus rocket carrying supplies and science experiments is set for Tuesday launch to the International Space Station.

Details Of Launch

The launch will be held at 11:05 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The send-off period extends for 30 minutes.

The Cygnus will be launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and will glide its way to the ISS in a period of three days.

Once it arrived at the station, ISS crew and ground controllers will activate the station's robotic arms to hold Cygnus and dock it to the port of the Harmony module.

Cygnus will stay in place for about two months, after which, it will be released to burn up in the atmosphere.

Science Experiments

Part of the more than 3.5 tons of cargo that Cygnus will be carrying are the different government and private science experiments, which the astronauts are tasked to do.

Among the said science experiments include a gecko gripper or an adhesive system inspired by the tiny hairs on a gecko's feet; Strata-1, which was created to evaluate the behavior of soil on small, airless objects such as asteroids; the re-flying Meteor, which evaluates the chemical composition of meteors entering the Earth; and Saffire, which will look at how fire behaves in space.

Cygnus will also be carrying more 24 nanosatellites that will be released from either the spacecraft or the station numerous times during the mission to test the range of science and technology, including Earth observations.

ISS Crew Supplies

Cygnus will also serve as box full of goodies for the astronauts currently living and working at the ISS. This is because it will carry supplies of clothes, food and some surprises for the team.

"It's like Christmas when a supply craft arrives," says former shuttle and station astronaut Dan Tani, who is now working with Orbital ATK.

The latest Cygnus launch is said to carry the most number of supplies than any of the five previous cargo supply missions.

Aside from goodies and cool science experiments, cargo missions also carry necessary materials such as new space suits and high-pressure cylinders to recharge the air stock of the ISS.

Before Cygnus leaves, astronauts will pack their trash and other materials that are no longer needed in the spacecraft. Cygnus will then be released to burn up in the atmosphere and end with a high-impact landing in the Pacific Ocean.

In December 2015, Cygnus was also able to successfully resupply ISS via the Atlas V rocket.

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Duke Energy is set to use swine and poultry waste as energy source, the company announced on Monday.

Poop Power

The firm will be using poop from pigs and chickens, refine the gas and turn it into a renewable energy source that can power up to 10,000 homes a year.

"It is encouraging to see the technological advances that allow waste-to-energy projects in North Carolina to be done in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner for our customers," says Duke Energy President for North Carolina, David Fountain.

The captured methane gas will be treated, incorporated into the pipeline networks and used at four of Duke Energy's power stations

Partnering With Carbon Cycle Energy

The North Carolina's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard requires Duke Energy firms to comply with particular targets for animal natural waste as Duke is already purchasing electricity produced by other centers in the state.

Now, the company is partnering with Carbon Cycle Energy to meet these compliance objectives, says Fountain. He adds that the gas to be produced in this program will create carbon neutral electricity. This is way better than the emissions that would be produced if the waste would be left to decay in the natural way.

Carbon Cycle Energy will be the one to build and have the owner rights for the facility to fulfill its contract with Duke Energy. Although the final location has not yet been declared, it is expected to be in the eastern part of North Carolina.

Carbon Cycle Energy CEO James Powell says the company is glad that Duke Energy is showing support for its facility in North Carolina. He says there are further work to do such as complying with local regulations, finishing licensing requirements and accomplishing organic waste supply chain, but to have Duke Energy as a confirmed client is a major event.

Power By The Numbers

The contract is said to be effective for 15 years and during this period, Carbon Cycle Energy is expected to generate over 1 million MMBtus of captured methane gas every year. This means Duke Energy should get 125,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy each year.

Duke Energy has already filed the registration statements and additional information associated with plants being acknowledged as New Renewable Energy Facilities. Such move was done on March 18 with the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

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The fifth patient of the latest Ebola virus outbreak in Southeast Guinea has died, health officials announced, Tuesday.

Since Feb. 29, five people have already died of Ebola, which elevated concerns of possible spread of the virus' recent flare-up.

The Latest Case

The newest death due to Ebola was reported in the Macenta prefecture, which is approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the community of Koropara, where the four earlier mortalities have been detected.

How the four people contracted the virus remains unclear up to now, but it is well worthy to note that Koropara refused the efforts of battling the onset of Ebola.

Fode Sylla Tass from the National Coordination of the Fight against Ebola in Guinea says the man, whose identity is yet to be determined, had recently went to Koropara. He was also reported to have direct contact with the four patients.

The man was buried in Makoidou village, without cleaning or performing sanitary interventions on the body.

In the past, dead bodies, including those infected with Ebola, were washed thoroughly prior to burial. However, washing infected bodies has become a significant medium of virus transmission.

Authorities Action

The Ebola coordination team of the country has traced about 816 individuals who may have possibly come in contact with the first four patients who recently contracted the virus.

Guinea's neighbor Liberia has already closed its border on Tuesday as a precautionary measure.

People Worried

Citizens, particularly in Makoidu, expressed their worries and panic over the event.

"When the villagers realized that the test conducted by our health teams on the man were positive, they all fled into the bush," says Tass.

Ebola In Guinea

Guinea is among the three West African nations where Ebola emerged the highest. In December 2015, Guinea was declared Ebola-free, but then the World Health Organization did not close the book and instead said that possible flare-ups may soon occur.

Indeed, with the new cases being noted in the nation, the virus has not yet been completely eliminated.

Photo: CDC Global | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
If Ford is going to successfully get the public to buy into it expanding from an automaker to a mobility company, it's going to need FordPass to be a hit.

After going hands-on with the digital platform Tuesday at the Current banquet hall in New York City's Chelsea Piers, we think Ford has an excellent chance of doing just that.

The all-encompassing app  although the company prefers the term mobility delivery platform  aims to equip drivers with a smarter way to move, making their lives on the go easier after Ford's research found that Americans spend upward of 900 hours moving annually.

"The easiest way to understand [FordPass] is it's our delivery platform for mobility services and solutions. It's the way that we're going to enable you to have access to new ways to move and have good experiences as you move," Ken Washington, Ford's vice president of research and advanced engineering, told us about FordPass, which will be available in late April. "We all live highly digital-connected lives and when we go somewhere, we interact with other companies and other services and other solutions. We might be driving our own car, we might be riding in a friend's car, we might be riding in a back seat of a taxi or Uber vehicle."

"All of those experiences are mobility experiences," he continued. "FordPass is our way of enabling you to bring with you your relationship with Ford, so you can have a great experience and be rewarded for being a member of our mobility delivery platform."

Upon a hands-on walk-through of FordPass, we saw firsthand how the digital platform is split into four main areas: the Marketplace of mobility solutions and experiences, Guides for real people that you can speak with for real-time mobility solutions  think Amazon's Mayday, Perks for rewards that you can earn along the way and FordHubs, physical locations showing off tech and mobility innovations and experiences from the company.

Upon opening the FordPass dashboard, which is pretty seamless in the way you can drag and move tabs to your liking, you're hit with several mobility solutions, ranging from vehicle controls to smart parking.

The vehicle controls allow you to do everything from remote start and stop your vehicle to unlock and lock its doors. We especially liked the ability to set a timer on how long you warm up your car, as owners may want to have the engine bake a little longer during harsh winters.



Through partnerships with Parkopedia and ParkWhiz, FordPass is not only able to locate parking lots and garages, but also offers its users the ability to book a spot in advance. So, say you're heading to a sporting event and want to reserve a parking spot ahead of time. Well, often, there are several lots around a stadium, with each one touting its own price.

FordPass would let you sit back and choose the lot's location and price that best suits you and go ahead and book the spot with a stored credit card, which is conveniently kept on the app. Once it's paid for, you'll get a barcode scan, which the parking lot attendant can scan to locate your parking spot. Typically, Parkopedia specializes in locating lots and parking garages while ParkWhiz keys in on advance booking of spots, and smartphone users would have to download and use each app's function separately. FordPass' technology, though, rolls both apps up into one use. Pretty cool.

Washington told us that Ford currently has a pilot program for pinpointing street parking  a feature that the company looks forward to bringing to FordPass in the United States in the near future. Along those same lines, while the live Guides will begin with live chat or phone assistance, the company plans to beef up the support to 24 hours, seven days a week as the technology and demand becomes more robust. Until then, it has preset mobility buttons loaded for users to ring up at their disposal, getting the live help they need quickly.

The company also announced a partnership with Spotify on Tuesday, with the mobility delivery platform touting the ability to curate playlists according to your current driving situation. So, if you're stuck in traffic, it may suggest something to the effect of "We're Not Gonna Take It."

As excited as Ford is about expanding from being an automaker to a mobility company as well, the brand will never forget its roots. If anything, it envisions its cars and SUVs and mobility working hand-in-hand with full connectivity in the near future.

"Our efforts to bring these exciting new mobility services and FordPass to the consumers, to our customers and to bring new customers to Ford ... as exciting as that is, I want people to never forget that that's riding on the shoulders of a great automaker and that's bringing a lot of value into that mobility ecosystem," Washington said. "And we expect the mobility ecosystem to bring value back to our core as well. So, we're being an automaker and a mobility company."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
With a movie title like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, you might think that the main reason to see the movie is to watch two iconic superheroes battle each other.

However, that's not the case, at least according to a Fandango survey. Most moviegoers are most interested in a character whose name doesn't even appear in the title: Wonder Woman.

Forget Batman and Superman  audiences want to see Gal Gadot's take on the Amazonian princess, who hasn't seen a successful live-action appearance since the 1970s Lynda Carter television series.

Fandango's survey ran just before the premiere of Batman v Superman, with a whopping 88 percent of viewers saying they were excited about finally getting to see Wonder Woman on the big screen. In comparison, Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor got 60 percent of the votes. Over half of those surveyed also stated they would see the film more than once, which will help the movie's odds in becoming a financial success.

It also seems like fans plan on taking sides when Batman and Superman go at it: 59 percent stand with Batman, while only 41 percent choose Superman's side.

Although both Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes have 98 percent of viewers interested in seeing the movie, early reviews are mixed, with many that aren't very favorable. It seems that critics like the actors in the movie, but harshly criticize Zack Snyder's storytelling, something they also took issue with for Man of Steel.

Gal Gadot in particular gets rave reviews for her small role in the movie, which is important since it does seem that her appearance could be why the film ends up becoming successful.

"Crucially, there's a new headliner in town, even if she's not yet playing the big room," writes Michael Phillips for the Chicago Tribune. "Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman helps out in one of several climactic destruction festivals featured in Batman v Superman. Long before she actually suits up, though, you're good and sick of waiting for Gadot to hijack all the rage-y, steroidal, bone-crushing smackdowns setting the tone in Snyder's literal blockbuster."

This is also potentially good news for the solo Wonder Woman movie expected to premiere in 2017.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens on March 25.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
British troops Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak could be breaching the Geneva Conventions

British troops have been testing a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak that makes them disappear on the battlefield. However, a military lawyer has warned that this could breach the Geneva Conventions on the rules of war.

According to ex-air commodore Bill Boothby, who previously worked as the deputy director of the UKs Royal Air Force legal services, hiding weapons from view and disguising fighter jets could well breach the universally agreed rules of armed conflict.

Researchers from the Iowa State University recently published a paper in Nature that describes a new material that can suppress radar waves up to 75%. The scientists embedded split ring resonators containing Galinstan in silicon sheets, creating an invisibility cloak that is capable of hiding a fighter jet from radar, at least in theory.

Galinstan is a metal alloy that becomes liquid at room temperature and isnt as toxic as mercury, which acts similarly. The rings create electric inductors and the gaps create electric capacitors, resulting a resonator is capable of trapping and suppressing radar waves.

When an object is covered in this material, radar waves are suppressed from all angles and directions, though its not a technology thats 100% effective just yet.

A 3D illustration of a metasurface skin cloak made from an ultrathin layer of nanoantennas (gold blocks) covering an arbitrarily shaped object. Light reflects off the cloak (red arrows) as if it were reflecting off a flat mirror.

While basic cloaking technology exists already, Boothby believes that the next generation of improvements could get armies and air forces into territory thats technically illegal.

Conventional camouflage aimed, for example, at causing the enemy to blend into the background, is lawful and bending light might be regarded simply as a technologically sophisticated way of achieving that outcome, he told The Guardian. However, if camouflage is used by soldiers and vehicles to pretend to be non-combatants, that could be a problem.

Also forbidden is the misuse of enemy, UN, protective or neutral signs, and flags and symbols. Those involved in combat are obliged to wear a fixed distinctive sign recognisable at a distance and to carry arms openly  conditions that could be violated as invisibility cloak technology is developed further.

In his new book, Weapons and the Law of Armed Conflict, Boothby explains, A combatant whose weapon is rendered invisible by its coating is arguably not complying with the minimal requirements [of the Conventions].

Adaptiv camouflage system, which is currently developed by US-based company, Bae Systems (whose slogan appears to be If the enemy cannot see you, he cannot fire at you!) is one of the technologies under scrutiny from Boothby.

This system can make a vehicle match the same heat pattern and effectively become invisible by picking up infrared readings of the background surroundings. Or the system can be used to turn a tank into something that looks like a civilian car on enemy radars, which again might not fit into the rules of war laid down by the Geneva Conventions.

In his book, Boothby also points towards the problem of killer drones that can work without any kind of human intervention. He says that these types of weapons should remain legal, as long as there are human supervisors present who can make calls between civilian and military targets. However, during combat, the supervisors workload should be low enough to ensure that proper decisions are made.

An outright ban of autonomy in weapon systems is premature and inappropriate, difficult to enforce and perhaps easy to circumvent, he told The Guardian. Existing law should be applied to this as to any other technology in warfare.
NASA captures exploding stars shockwave with Kepler space telescope for the first time

For the first time using NASAs planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have captured evidence of shock breakouts, or bright flashes that occur when red stars become supernovas. The blast, which travels at more than 89 million miles per hour (40,000 km/s), lasts for just a few minutes as the star explodes.

The team led by Peter Garnavich, astrophysics professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, analysed light captured by Kepler every 30 minutes over a three-year period from 500 distant galaxies, searching some 50 trillion stars. They were hunting for signs of massive stellar death explosions known as supernovae.

Supernovas tend to occur when an aging red giant star has expended the last of its nuclear fuel. Because the star cant sustain itself any longer, it collapses before exploding in a massive burst of energy. But while supernovas can last weeks at a time, the initial shock breakout is quick, lasting only about 20 minutes, which makes them difficult to capture, Michael Slezak reports for The Guardian.

In order to see something that happens on timescales of minutes, like a shock breakout, you want to have a camera continuously monitoring the sky, said Garnavich. You dont know when a supernova is going to go off, and Keplers vigilance allowed us to be a witness as the explosion began.

The star that ended its life as a supernova is named KSN 2011d, which is nearly 500 times the diameter of the sun, and located about 1.2 billion light-years away. Called a shock break out, it is produced as the energy from the collapsing core of the star bounces outwards again to create a burst of light that is 130 million times brighter than our sun.

The exploding star will then continue to expand violently as nuclear fusion creates many of the heavy elements seen in the universe like gold, silver and uranium.

Scientists said observing a supernova explosion as it began had given them a rare insight into how these stellar explosions have helped to shape the universe. Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, said: We are really probing the process of blowing up. A supernova is caused by the collapsing core of a supergiant star that has used up all of its fuel. Gravity causes the core to collapse, creating a shockwave that reverberates outwards into space.

Supernovae made the heavy elements we need to survive, such as iron, zinc and iodine, so we are really learning about how we are created.

Understanding supernovae will help comprehend how not just elements, but life itself, have been scattered throughout the universe. This is in keeping with Keplers mission to find life outside the solar system.

All heavy elements in the universe come from supernova explosions. For example, all the silver, nickel, and copper in the Earth and even in our bodies came from the explosive death throes of stars, said Steve Howell, project scientist for NASAs Kepler and K2 missions.

Life exists because of supernovae.
Future Shock : Creepy Humanoid Robot Happily Agrees To Destroy Humans

If you have seen the Terminator you will have seen the havoc machines with AI can cause in this 1984 James Cameron blockbuster. However, that was movies and the director used cinematic liberty of depicting things. But chances are that Terminator could soon be a reality. Hanson Robotics recently demoed their talking humanoid robot named Sophia at SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas. This realistic bot displayed her skills with human-like facial expressions and responsive speech.

Dr. David Hanson, who headed the creation of this female android with the help of engineers and designers attended the University of North Texas and got his PhD in engineering from the University Of Texas at Dallas. The doc currently leads his own team of engineers at Hanson Robotics, creating robots like Sophia.

He says, Our goal is that she will be as conscious, creative and capable as any human. We are designing these robots to serve in health care, therapy, education and customer service applications.

Sophias appearance, based on Audrey Hepburn, and Dr. Hansons wife, is extremely life-like, but made of patented silicon. She has cameras in her eyes and more than 62 facial expressions. She can track faces and seemingly make eye contact, and can recognize individuals.

Google Chromes voice recognition technology, as well as other tools allow the ability of Sophia to process speech, allows her to talk with others, and she can get smarter over time. According to CNBC, IBM and Intel are also expected to work with the team to perhaps integrate some of their technologies.

Talking to people is my primary function, Sophia told CNBC.

At SXSW, she also stated that In the future, I hope to do things such as school, study, make art, start a business, even have my home and family, but I am not considered a legal person and cannot yet do these things.

Talking about the future of the relationship with artificial intelligence, Hanson said, The artificial intelligence will evolve to the point where they will truly be our friends. Not in ways that dehumanize us, but in ways the rehumanize us, that decrease the trend of the distance between people and instead connect us with people as well as with robots. He told CNBC that in 20 years humanoid robots will be walking among us, helping us, teaching us

Towards the end of the demo, Hanson asked Sophia if she wanted to destroy humans, playfully pleading for her to say no. She replies with a cheerful Okay, I will destroy humans. Hanson, laughing, says, I take it back!

Watch the demo here:
A 40 anos de Malvinas

"Revisar el pasado es pensar el futuro". La frase de la presidenta de Telam, Bernarda Llorente, resume el espiritu del documental coproducido entre la agencia de noticias y el canal publico de TV sobre la cobertura que los medios de comunicacion hicieron del conflicto, plagada de censura y mentiras. Una autocritica necesaria para mirar hacia adelante en un (ya viejo) contexto de fake news y negocio informativo.
The stones are all suspended from beautiful 18-carat gold chains, which elevates them even further. But its not really the gold or the diamonds that make these pieces so covetable  its the combination of the precious materials with a completely untouched natural one. The stones arent polished or varnished, or treated in any way. Theyre simply plucked from shores all over the world, be it east or west coast USA, or the pebbled beaches of Lake Geneva. The beauty is in their endless variation, from smooth and caramel-coloured to pitch black; layered blues to grey-flecked and creamy white. It is the simple fact that theyve been turned into wearable pendants and scattered with diamonds that makes them utterly remarkable.
How do you tell your son that his father, who left home for work that morning as normal, might not be coming back?

That was the awful prospect facing Charlotte Sutcliffe, whose partner David Dixon was on Wednesday feared to be among those killed in the Brussels terrorist attacks.

Ms Sutcliffe, who has a seven-year-old son, Henry, with Mr Dixon, an IT expert from Hartlepool with whom she has lived in Brussels for 10 years, is enduring an agonising wait for news of his fate.
A bright green parasite will put the final nail in the coffin of Britain's ash tree population after laying waste to woodland across Europe, scientists warned on Wednesday.

The arrival of the emerald borer beetle, originally from Asia, is "inevitable" and with the fungal disease ash dieback will create a "double whammy" that could make ash trees extinct, a comprehensive new analysis found.

Ash is Britain's most common hedgerow tree and the second most common tree in woodland, after the oak.

There are around 157,000 hectares of ash woodland with 68 million trees as well as a further 12 million ash trees outside those areas.

But scientists say it will not be able to withstand the arrival of the emerald ash borer, which has been steadily spreading west.
OWYHEE  Heidi Chiat speaks from the heart when discussing her love of teaching her students.

My goal as a teacher is to help students find their passion and lay the foundation so that they can pursue it. Whatever their career choice, I want them to be passionate and to be the best they can be.

Chiat teaches fifth grade at the Owyhee Combined School. She grew up in Europe; her father was career Air Force and her mother was an Air Force nurse. Chiats father was a multilingual intelligence officer and spoke German, French, Russian, Czech and Italian during the Cold War, and did public relations between Europeans and the U.S. military.

Going to school irregularly at Department of Defense Schools, Chiat missed out on a lot of formal education so many kids take for granted.

One of the reasons I became a teacher, is to be able to go through elementary and middle school again and again and receive an American education in a way I wasnt able to as a child, she said.

Chiat received a B.A. from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, majoring in European history, American history, art history; M.Ed. from University of Massachusetts at Boston, Primary and Elementary Education through Grade 8; French University of Nice at Cannes, France; Pre-Med. University of Maryland at College Park.

She received her secondary certification as a pre-K through grade eight math specialist because my own math is so bad from moving around and not attending school regularly. When I was teaching fourth grade in metro D.C., my class outscored their cohorts on the county and state math tests because I could get into their heads as they struggled with math, so the county trained and recerted me as a math specialist. Finally, I was recruited to teach in the D.C. area, for about 10 years, after finishing my M.Ed. I moved to the Pacific Northwest when I became a single parent to be near my mother. You need an education degree to substitute teach in Washington state, so I substituted there while single parenting and dealing with my mothers illness.

Chiat speaks French and can manage Italian and German when necessary.

When I was a kid, my father used to drum into our heads, You are representing your country and community. Get your needs met in the local language. Be polite. Dress neatly. Sit up straight. Dont give them an excuse to call you an ugly American. The more you learn about other countries and cultures, the more youll understand and appreciate your own. she said.

Fifth grade is Chiats favorite grade because the students are on the cusp of adolescence and can see the future. They can dream and know what those dreams are, while the world is still open to them full of endless possibilities. In a year or two, that window will begin to close as choices are made or not made.

Chiats mother, Geraldine DeGroat, was from Elko. After nursing school, her mother joined the Air Force to see the world. Chiat came to Elko to get some family history clarified, decided to get a job here, to continue research. In looking for jobs in Elko County, she Googled the Duck Indian Reservation and fell in love with its natural beauty.

I interviewed with Mr. Cook and learned he was retired military, and thought, This is a principal I can do business with, so I came, she said. I wanted a classroom of my own again after years of substitute teaching.

Heidi Chiat asks if anyone who knew the DeGroat siblings or their mother Ann Brady DeGroat Walther to contact her at hchiat@yahoo.com or telephone the school and leave a message.
A man who tweeted about stopping a Muslim woman in the street yesterday, challenging her to "explain Brussels", and lambasted on Twitter for his comments, has responded to the criticism today, insisting he is not some 'far right merchant'.

Matthew Doyle, partner at a south London-based talent & PR agency, posted a tweet on Wednesday morning saying: "I confronted a Muslim woman in Croydon yesterday. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said 'nothing to do with me'. A mealy mouthed reply."

He was later arrested.

His tweet referred to yesterday's bomb attacks on the Belgian capital's main airport and Metro system that left at least 34 people dead and 198 injured. His comment went viral, being retweeted hundreds of times before he eventually deleted it.

Mr Doyle told the Telegraph he had no idea his tweet would be the "hand grenade" it has proven to be - and that Twitter's 140 character limit made the encounter sound vastly different to how he thought it went.

"What everyone's got wrong about this is I didn't confront the woman," he said. "I just said: 'Excuse me, can I ask what you thought about the incident in Brussels?'"

"She was white, and British, wearing a hijab - and she told me it was nothing to do with her.
The company built a new organ for Christs Hospital at Horsham in 1931; it was then the largest school organ in the country. When fire destroyed the under-insured instrument at Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool in the 1930s, Rushworth and Dreaper stepped in to help, building a console that could be lowered out of sight. Their workshop became a well-known landmark for Liverpudlians.

During the postwar years the company expanded, setting up music shops on Merseyside and importing pianos to which they added their own name. In the 1970s and 1980s Rushworth and Dreaper shipped more than 20 organs to Nigeria, including one that had to be transported up the Niger delta on barges to a bush village.

Rushworth himself oversaw a great deal of the companys work, much of which involved refurbishment and maintenance. He was also highly regarded throughout the industry, serving as president of the Federation of Master Organ Builders and the Incorporated Society of Organ Builders.

Alastair James Maynard Rushworth was born on August 13 1945, the second of four sons, and was educated at Wrekin College in Shropshire. After his spell on the shop floor he spent 15 months studying with Flentrop, an organ builder in the Netherlands, and another 18 months with Casavant Freres in Montreal. Returning to the workshop in Liverpool, he brought his international experience to the company, developing the design and sound of its instruments.

His father, James Rushworth OBE, retired in 1990 and the business passed to three of his sons, David, Alastair and Richard. Rushworth and Dreaper went into liquidation in November 2002 after a large Italian contract turned sour. Its premises were taken over by Henry Willis & Sons, another Liverpool organ builder, and in 2009 Rushworth retired to Brisbane, Australia, where he tended his collection of more than 100 clocks of all different shapes and sizes.

Alastair Rushworth married Jennifer Alldis in 1974. That marriage was dissolved and in 2003 he married, secondly, Janice Davies, who survives him with two sons from their first marriage.

Alastair Rushworth, born August 13 1945, died February 23 2016
IBMs decision to use Intel microprocessors exclusively in its PCs was a major breakthrough. The Intel386 launched in 1986. Though not without teething problems, it and the Pentium of 1993 were landmark products; the Intel Inside logo became a worldwide hallmark of quality.

Under Groves forceful leadership, Intels sales reached $26 billion a year as it grew to be one of the worlds largest companies by market capitalisation. He was less well known to the wider public than other titans such as Steve Jobs of Apple, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, but revered by all of them as one of the true creators of the digital era.

Andras Istvan Grof was born into a Jewish family in Budapest on September 2 1936. He and his mother were sheltered by friends under false identities during the war  while his father was in a Nazi labour camp and his grandmother died in Auschwitz.

During the Hungarian uprising in 1956, Andras escaped into Austria and eventually made his way to the United States, where he changed his name to Andrew Stephen Grove  though he never quite shed his native accent. He studied Chemical Engineering at City College of New York and  hating the weather on the east coast  completed a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963.

Groves first job was at Fairchild Semiconductor, where he did research work on early developments of integrated circuits. In 1968 he was the first person to be hired into Intel by its founders, the former Fairchild scientists Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore. The latter was the author of Moores Law, which encapsulated the advance of digital technology in the dictum that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles every two years. (Intel would eventually produce microprocessors that incorporated more than a million transistors.)

Boffins rather than businessmen, Noyce and Moore delegated much of the running of their new venture to Grove, who found the experience terrifying but used it to refine his own approach to management, which later became highly influential throughout the digital world.

He combined scientific analysis with a belief  drawn from his youthful experience of communist Hungary  that truth and common sense mattered more than power or position: We argue about issues, not the people who advocate them. He also believed in companies as living organisms that thrive on constructive confrontation, regardless of rank, in which the best new ideas are selected and driven forward while the rest are ripped to shreds. The essential point was that corporate leaders should never become complacent.
He knocked out one of the Tigers, hitting it in the tracks and then setting it on fire. He was then wounded but he remained in position and directed the fire of his guns on to the second tank. The gun positions were in the open and despite being under continuous fire at a range of 120 yards from small arms, armour piercing and high explosive shells, Hunter accounted for the second Tiger tank. The citation for the award to him of an MC stated that he was an inspiration to his men and that no praise was too high for his bravery.

Robert Dow Hunter was born in London on December 6 1919 and educated at Christs Hospital. Always known as Robin to his friends in the Army, he joined the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) in 1939 and was commissioned into 9th Bn The Kings Own Royal Regiment the next year.

The Bn was re-roled as 90th Anti-Tank Regiment, RA. After the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk, Hunter was posted to Bournemouth. There were no modern weapons and he and his men were equipped with pikes and cudgels. When, at last, they were issued with 20-year old Ross rifles, they discovered that the ammunition would not fit. The unit was later disbanded.

In November 1943, Hunter transferred to 5 KOSB and took part in actions on the Scheldt Estuary including the assaults on Walcheren Island, Flushing and Middleburg. While he was in Holland, he was told that he and his men would have to travel by bicycle for a day. As he did not dare to confess that he had never learnt to ride a bike, he spent the next night teaching himself and falling off repeatedly until he had mastered the art.

The Bn fought through Holland into Germany and took part in the capture of Bremen. In 1946, he was demobilised and took over PJ Hunters, the family firm of dried fruit importers and packagers. The company was the first in Britain to produce muesli and, in the 1960s, Boots, Waitrose and Sainsburys stocked it as a health food.

He had relinquished his commission in March 1948 on enlisting in the ranks of the HAC but was re-commissioned in May that year and commanded the HAC Infantry Bn in 1959. He was appointed Regimental Colonel in 1963.

Hunter retired in the early 1980s and settled in a village in Surrey. He was chairman of the Surrey Association of Boys Clubs and, as president of 323 Air Cadet Squadron at Ewell, Surrey, for 29 years he took the keenest interest in the well-being of the young cadets and was their guide and mentor through adolescence to adulthood. He was also a church warden for 19 years and was appointed OBE in 1995.

Robert Hunter married, in 1961, Margaret Bennett. She predeceased him and he is survived by their son and their daughter.

Col Robert Hunter, born December 6 1919, died March 13 2016
Boris Johnson will be challenged over claims the City of London will be better off outside of the European Union when he is grilled by MPs in his biggest challenge since returning to Parliament.

The Mayor of London will also face scrutiny over the detail of his claims that Britain can sign a new trade deal with the EU, along the lines of Canada, in a session seen by MPs as a test to see if he has the mettle to be Tory leader and Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson will also be pressed this morning by the House of Commons treasury select committee for more detail about how and why EU regulation is damaging Britain.

The hearing - on "The economic and financial costs and benefits of UK's EU membership" - is being billed in Westminster as a major test of his hopes to be Conservative leader.
Peers have attacked David Cameron's review of the role of the House of Lords and the recommendation that hostile peers should be banned from overturning legislation, warning it would "tilt the balance of power" and damage the reputation of parliament.

Lord Strathclyde was instructed by the Prime Minister last year to look at curbing the powers of the second chamber, after peers voted to block George Osborne's plan to cut tax credits in October.

The Tory grandee is expected to suggest the increasingly hostile anti-Tory majority should lose their veto over delegated or secondary legislation, as it poses a threat to the Prime Minister's legislative plans.
David Cameron has said he needs more time to think as he leaves for a weeks holiday in Spain after a tough week in which he has lost a Cabinet minister and performed an about turn on welfare spending.

The Prime Minister made the remarks to Tory MPs at his end of term meeting with the Conservative partys back bench 1922 committee.

Unusually Downing Street sent officials and minders to the meeting to ensure that journalists were not able to ask him questions before he addressed the MPs.

Clutching a speech of hand notes, Mr Cameron reportedly told the MPs: I could do with time to think. It has been a tough week but lets not lose sight of what we do.

Mr Cameron's comment that he "could do with more time to think" was "in relation to the ultra-fast news cycle", one Tory MP said.
Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of attempting to mislead parents about her plans to appoint a state guardian for every child by wrongly suggesting they are allowed to opt out of the draconian scheme.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, accused the First Minister of spinning furiously to try and hide the fact that the Named Person is compulsory and argued it was completely dishonest to suggest otherwise.

Ms Sturgeon repeated her claim that the scheme is an entitlement rather than an obligation and claimed that neither children nor parents are legally obliged to use the service or follow the guardians advice.

But Ms Davidson and campaigners pointed out there is no opt-out in the legislation and that Named Persons have a legal right to access to a database containing private and sensitive information about children without the parents even knowing.

The No To Named Person (NO2NP) campaign, which is fighting the scheme in the UKs highest court, requested a meeting with the First Minister to take her through the law and explain how her statements are incorrect.
Sex and violence is soaring in the Highlands of Scotland because locals are bingeing on cheap alcohol, the outspoken police chief has said.

Chief Superintendent Julian Innes, who last year blamed rising crime on an influx of Romanian gangs, said the picturesque communities were being blighted by problems more associated with the inner city.

The outspoken officer said there was far too much violence in the Highlands, adding that sex crimes had also spiked by a quarter in recent months.

He said most of the problems were caused by the availability of cheap supermarket alcohol and people pre-loading before going to the pub.

His comments came after figures showed that serious violent incidents across the region had soared by 30 per cent.

There were also more than 100 extra sex crimes compared to the year before, with 457 being reported.

 Mapped: The binging regions furthest from the new alcohol guidelines

Mr Innes said he was not happy with the stark increase in serious violent incidents.
A European human rights commissioner has told British ministers to stop referring to illegal immigrants, claiming they should use the term irregular migrants for foreigners who enter this country without permission.

Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europes human rights commissioner, described Britains immigration laws as draconian and insisted key policies introduced by the Government should be scrapped.

Mr Muiznieks singled out David Cameron, the Prime Minister, for criticism, suggesting he had scaled up the alarmist rhetoric targeting migrants in official speeches.

In an official memorandum to James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, Mr Muiznieks said: The commissioner is worried by the dominant political discourse in the UK which is tainted by alarmism.

UK political leaders are urged to reflect on the language they use regarding foreign nationals and should avoid the term illegal (im)migrant.

Prime Minister Cameron, in at least two major speeches on immigration, has scaled up the alarmist rhetoric targeting migrants. " Nils Muiznieks

People are not illegal. Their legal status may be irregular, but that does not render them beyond humanity.

He added: Prime Minister Cameron, in at least two major speeches on immigration, has scaled up the alarmist rhetoric targeting migrants.
A celebrity barrister has admitted supplying the drugs that killed his teenage boyfriend.

Henry Hendron, 35, bought 1,000 of designer drugs including Mephedrone, also known as M-Cat, from BBC producer Alexander Parkin, 41, to sell on to revellers for a 'chemsex' party at his exclusive London flat.

The drugs killed Hendron's boyfriend Miguel Jimenez, 18, who was found by the lawyer.

Police found Methodrone and GBL at the flat in the Temple, a collection of chambers where Britain's top lawyers and judges are based.

"It is accepted this defendant bought in bulk for use in what is known as the gay chemsex scene. He would be making them available for friends at cost price." Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer

Hendron had previously denied a string of drugs charges, but pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing drugs with intent to supply at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

His confession may mark the end of a glittering career for the Tory lawyer once tipped to lead the party.

Hendron's famous clients include MP Nadine Dorries, the Earl of Cardigan and The Apprentice winner Stella English.

Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer said: "It is accepted this defendant bought in bulk for use in what is known as the gay chemsex scene.
Prince Harry has decided to remain in Nepal at the end of his official tourto help rebuild an earthquake-destroyed school, as he continues his charitable crusade of helping disadvantaged children.

He will spend almost a week helping a disaster response charity with the project, so he can do my small bit to help this beautiful country".

The Prince, who last year opened a children's centre built by his charity Sentebale in the African nation of Lesotho, will be living with British military veteran volunteers from the Team Rubicon charity for six days.
A British medical student who masterminded Isils first UK terror plot, to kill soldiers and police, was in contact with Jihadi John, it can be disclosed.

Tarik Hassane, 22, nicknamed The Surgeon, knew Mohammed Emwazi after growing up in the same part of west London.

He is believed to have spent time in Syria and may have even met up with the notorious Isil executioner while there, sources said.

Hassane went on to plot a series of drive-by shootings in west London to target police and military personnel  just weeks after the terror group declared its so-called caliphate.

Police said the major plot represented an escalation in the ambitions ofIslamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isil) to carry out more ambitious attacks and it drew parallels with last year's Paris massacre.
Leaders of Morocco's breakaway Western Saharan region threatened the country's government with a return to war last night as the two sides escalated a dispute sparked by remarks made by the United Nation's top diplomat.

The leaders of the Polisario Front, which has pushed for independence from Morocco for more than 40 years, said they would have "no other option but war" if Morocco did not backtrack on a decision to shut down part of the UN peacekeeping mission to the disputed region.

The warning from Mohamed Said Ould Salek, the foreign minister of the Front's political wing, came in response to Morocco's expulsion of 84 civilian staff members on Sunday in protest over comments on the Western Sahara issue by Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General.

During a visit to Western Sahara earlier this month, Mr Ban used the word "occupation" to describe Moroccan's annexation of the territory in 1975. It led Rabat to accuse him of abandoning his neutrality in the dispute.
China has arrested 37 people in a widening illegal vaccines scandal which has sparked anger across the country.

China's food and drugs administration have also ordered local authorities to track down 61 million worth of drugs which were allegedly sold by a trafficking ring from 2011 until 2015.

The arrests come after it emerged last week that a mother and daughter had been detained over the illegal trade, which saw vaccine produced by licensed manufacturers being improperly stored before reaching buyers.

The pair were said to have been illegally bulk-selling 25 different kinds of vaccines for conditions such as chickenpox, hepatitis A, flu, rabies and meningitis.

Three pharmaceutical companies were under investigation while nine vaccine wholesalers were suspected of filing fraudulent reports of buyers' identities state news agency Xinhua said.

Authorities have issued a directive to identify and apprehend the suspects still at large, it added.

There was no mention of foreign drugs companies in domestic reports.

The scandal has sparked a huge public outcry in a country where many are cautious over domestically-produced food and medicine after a series of safety scares.

Many compared it online to the 2008 baby milk scandal, where four infants died and over 6,000 were sick after milk was found to be tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.
A British surfing teacher has tragically drowned while on holiday in Bali. Experienced surfer Cameron Munro was visiting the exotic Indonesian island when he "died doing what he loved".

Although it is known he drowned while surfing, the full circumstances of his death are not yet clear and a post mortem is due to take place.

Mr Munro is from Patcham in Brighton, East Sussex, and lived in Portugal from March to October every year and taught surfing at the Algarve Surf School and Camp.

The 21-year-old was due to fly to Portugal to start teaching at the surf camp - where he had been teaching for three years - after his visit to Bali.

Friends of Mr Munro's from around the world have paid tribute to him, saying he was the "loveliest person that you will ever meet."

Zara Mata, from the Algarve Surf School and Camp, said those he taught "adored him".

She said: "He was the loveliest, loveliest person that you will ever meet.

"There has been such an outpouring of sadness. He was one of the best people you will ever meet.
The arrest of an 83-year-old woman for theft and a man aged 75 for assaulting a child in separate incidents have highlighted the growing problem of crime committed by the elderly in Japan.

The National Police Agency reported in July last year that crimes by pensioners had outstripped offences by juveniles in the first half of the year for the first time ever, with a significant proportion of the arrests for violent crimes.

Adding to the police statistics, Sato Kamiyama, 83, was arrested in Tokyo's Ueno Station on Friday after being caught pickpocketing a wallet from a woman who was shopping.

"If I see a wallet, I'll take it," the suspect was quoted by TV Asahi as telling police. "I did it for the money."

Mrs Sato is apparently notorious with police in the district  allegedly, her preferred method is to target women shopping in the food halls of department stores  and has been questioned on at least 20 other occasions over thefts.

On Sunday, police questioned a 75-year-old man in the city of Kakogawa, central Japan, after a boy of six accused him of grabbing him around the throat and choking him.

The boy claimed the man, who has not been named, attacked him after he and some friends told him not to drop his cigarette butts on the street.
A gay couple went to court today in a high-profile custody battle in Thailand with a surrogate mother who is trying to keep the child after discovering their sexual orientation.

Gordan Lake, an American and Manuel Valero, his Spanish husband - both 41 - have been unable to leave the country with Carmen, the baby girl, for over a year because the surrogate has refused to sign the documents that allow the infant to obtain a passport.

"It's the day we've been waiting for - for a long, long time. Today is one of the most important days of our lives," Mr Lake said outside Bangkok's Juvenile and Family Court. "The court should give us custody of Carmen because it's the right thing to do."

The couple has been living in hiding with Carmen and Alvaro, their two-year-old surrogate child for 14 months fearing the baby will be taken from them.

Mr Lake is Carmen's biological father, while the egg came from an anonymous donor and not from Patidta Kusolsang, the Thai surrogate.

When Carmen was born, Mrs Kusolsang handed the baby over to the couple, who left the hospital with the infant. But, they say, she then changed her mind and refused to sign the required documents reportedly claiming she was unaware they were gay.
A mother writes an unaddressed letter to her only daughter. A frank and direct letter, a dry regurgitation of memories and feelings of guilt, failure, abandonment and perhaps also compassionate lies.

Film is my whole life. Which in some way condemns me. If I am not involved in a film, my life feels sad

That letter is Julieta, the latest and 20th film by Pedro Almodovar, who has spent months  in reality years  developing a character who is now being split between two actresses  Adriana Ugarte and Emma Suarez  who respectively play the young (the memory) and the old (the present) versions of the same voice.

Almodovar has not yet revealed much about either the character or the story that carries her name, which is perhaps why he seems afraid of being unable to find the right words to discuss a film about women that bears little resemblance to his previous works about women. A drama that cuts no slack  either for its characters or for the viewer  it spans different times, places and events with a single hope: to find a destination for that disconsolate letter.

This is a film about imperfect but defendable women, as they all are, as we all are, he explains. Due to be released in Spain on April 8, Julieta features a cast of actors that the director has mostly never worked with before. The origin lies in three stories by Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author Alice Munro. I have tried to be the least rhetorical possible. Restraint was the idea I carried around with me because I decided that this was the way to tell this story, which is not a melodrama but a terse drama.

Almodovar with actresses Adriana Ugarte (top) and Emma Suarez. Nico

I battled a lot with the actresses tears, against the physical need to cry, he says. It is a very expressive battle. It wasnt out of reservedness, but because I didnt want tears, what I wanted was dejection  the thing that stays inside after years and years of pain. I adore melodrama, its a noble genre, a truly great genre, but I was very clear that I didnt want anything epic, I wanted something else. Put simply, this had to be a very dry, tearless film.

Sitting in a leather armchair inside his office in Madrids Las Ventas neighborhood, the 66-year-old director is flanked by, among other things, an original poster for his 1987 movie Law of Desire and photographs of people he loves or admires  Penelope Cruz, Billy Wilder, John Waters, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, Wes Anderson, Pina Bausch, Lauren Bacall, Michelangelo Antonioni, Francis Ford Coppola, Jeanne Moreau

Also on display are the innumerable prizes he has received throughout his long career: the only ones missing are the two Oscars he won in 1999 for All About My Mother and in 2002 for Talk to Her, which like his cat Lucio, are back at home. He was given to me during the shooting of The Skin I Live In, he says. He was a stray cat who is now king of the house and doesnt want anything to do with the street. Its funny, but the love I have for him has given shape to my feelings of affection  its a complete reeducation that has helped me a lot.

Pedro Almodovar. Nico

The seed for Julieta lies in Munros stories Chance, Soon and Silence, whose rights Almodovar bought straight after reading them in 2009. In fact, the original title for the film was Silence, but as it coincided with Martin Scorseses next film, he decided to change it in November of last year to avoid any confusion.

My initial idea was to do a film in English with English-speaking actresses, he explains. I wanted to film in Canada, in the places that Munro was talking about. My mind was made up. During the promotion of The Skin I Live In, we went to scout locations in Vancouver and thats where the problems started. My heart sank. The real landscapes were completely desolate and sad and I clearly saw I wouldnt be able to shoot there, not even for a few months. It was too depressing for me. Then we went to New York State in search of a geographical substitute. I finished the script and it was translated into English with American idiosyncrasies. That didnt convince me, either. So I put it away in a drawer and forgot about it  until two years ago Lola [Garcia, his personal assistant] and Barbara [Peiro, head of his production company El Deseos international department] suggested that we revisit the project with one alteration: the story shouldnt take place in the US but in Spain. I guess that was when I decided to forget Alice Munro.

Barely anything remains of the original tales. Except one thing that was fundamental to me, and which belonged to her: the train scene, Almodovar notes. There is always something that moves you to make a film, which especially attracts you, and if anything drew me to this film it was the scenes that take place inside the train. All filmmakers adore trains, and I was consumed with the idea of filming in one. But reality was very different, and working inside a real train, small, with seats full of mites, was a real nightmare. We could barely move, we couldnt stop coughing, our throats were itching... It was not so pleasant.

Ugarte (left) and Suarez. Nico

Journeys make up a substantial part of the film, which features enormous ellipses between different time periods. The many locations needed for the movie took their toll on the director, who came to the shoot after a difficult back operation that put him out of action for many months.

The logical thing would have been a studio shoot, but I do not control what I write. Even the parts in Madrid we shot in real houses. We spent time in Galicia, the Pyrenees, Andalusia. The truth is that I began filming Julieta without being sure if I would be able to finish it. Nothing was guaranteed. I hadnt been up on my feet for 10 hours a day in a long time. As so often happens in life, I only had two options. And I didnt hesitate. For me it was a choice between living or not living. It was that extreme. Because living for me means shooting films. The act of filming is so important that I thought about its healing power, and I wasnt wrong.

This addiction is what makes him live every project to the limit. I put my all into each film, he says. Movies are my whole life. Which in some way condemns me. If I am not involved in a film, my life feels sad. And that leaves me in a permanent state of anxiety. It makes me pay attention to everything I read, see and listen to because from there, that reality, could come the first line of my next story, which is my true reality. Perhaps it makes me sound bad, but I am a solitary person with very limited ambitions, wishes and desires. The truth is that cinema fulfills everything for me in life.

The words sum up who Pedro Almodovar is today. In his hands, cinema changes the rules of life, forcing viewers to abandon their commitment to the real in order to immerse themselves in a deeper truth. Perhaps the most moving thing about Julieta is how, in just a few strokes, it describes the mother-daughter relationship when the worst things, whether illness or madness, are already present. It barely takes a few seconds focused on one face  that of actress Susi Sanchez  or one gesture, that of a girl bathing her depressed mother in a grim exchange of roles.

Almodovars understanding of women characters seems deeper than ever in this film. They will ask me a thousand times about the female universe and I will say that it really isnt anything exceptional. You are not as difficult to understand as you think, though you are sufficiently mysterious to turn yourselves into an excellent dramatic subject. We are surrounded by women  mothers, sisters and wives. Just by trying to listen a little to what is going on around you, anyone can have a female universe like mine. I am not so special.

The problem is, and above all I am talking about Hollywood, that the film industry doesnt allow you to make films about women. I have control of my own films and thats why I decide that my main character is going to be a woman over 50. The really terrible thing is that most screenwriters dont realize that there are many women between the ages of 50 and 60 who have the most wonderful stories to tell.

English version by Nick Funnell.
John Cleese has threatened to take legal action against an utterly shameless Australian theatre company which has been staging a show called Faulty Towers The Dining Experience around the world, including a current residency in London.

Describing the decades-old Australian show as the Faulty Towers rip-off experience, Cleese said he only recently became aware of the 19-year-old production and its astonishing financial success.

Seems they thought that by not asking, and by changing the 'w' to a 'u',they'd be in the clear! he said on Twitter.

The Australian tribute show, involving a dinner and performance run by the company Interactive Theatre International, has numerous teams of performers and has toured about 20 countries since 1997.

Describing itself as a tribute to the famous 1970s BBC series, the show is currently being performed in several cities around the world, including inLondon at the Amba Hotel Charing Cross.

When guests become diners in the Faulty Towers restaurant and theyre served by Basil, Sybil and Manuel, pretty much anything can happen, says the billing for the show.
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On a very basic level, extremists murder Muslims en masse. Isil and others dont see them as proper Muslims, but apostates. By letting their actions define Islam, Trump and others prove their point.

Trump should also visit the headquarters of Britains intelligence services MI5 and MI6 or the Home Office. Those on the frontline of tracking down extremists are often Muslims.

Prayer rooms in both places are evidence of pious, observant European Muslims taking the fight to our enemies. Ask the CIA or FBI and they will confirm that their best resources are Muslims inside the organisations, and communities who handover culprits.

Remember the underpants bomber in Christmas 2009? It was his own father that reported his son to the US Embassy in Nigeria. He is not alone  many, many family members are vigilant of their children and in the UK, work with the government to de-radicalise their children.
Its symbolism is unmistakeable; a white dove perched upon a globe ringed by the stars of Europe, held aloft by hands of many races and colours.

But the bombers who brought terror to Brussels on Tuesday cared little for the statues meaning, if they had ever even paid any attention to it at all.

The Peace Monument, in the garden of La Chapelle de la Resurrection  also known as La Chapelle Pour lEurope - stands just a few hundred metres from where terrorists blew up a crowded metro train, killing 20 people and injuring 130 others, many severely.

As night fell over the city  the latest European capital to be targeted by Islamist extremists  the statue was lit up as a beacon of hope, perhaps bringing a measure of solace to its residents.

Elsewhere several public buildings, including a power station cooling tower on the citys ring road, were illuminated with the Belgian national colours of black, yellow and red, with a heart at their centre  a gesture of love in the face of fear.

Courage mes braves! Carla, an accountant, told two police officers manning a roadblock barring access to Maelbeek metro station, where at 9.10am local time the bombers had wreaked carnage. Youre doing a great job.
Belgium's Le Soir daily glumly stated in an editorial that the Brussels attacks were "not the end, but the beginning" and indulged in soul-searching as to whether the country's much-criticised security services could have done more to prevent the attacks. The editorial also pondered why Brussels had become a breeding ground for Islamist radicalism.
Acting Interior Minister Jorge Fernadez Diaz (third from left) during the emergency meeting. Chema Moya (EFE)

The acting government of Spain on Tuesday decided to maintain a level four alert for terrorist attacks following emergency meetings between government officials and political leaders.

The decision to keep the country on the next-to-highest threat level comes after the Tuesday morning blasts in Brussels, which killed over 30 people and injured 230. Acting Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said four Spaniards were among the wounded, but their injuries were minor.

The pact is an essential tool to win the battle and send out a message that nothing is going to subdue us Socialist Meritxell Batet

Counter-terrorism experts have decided to maintain the same line that was established after the Paris attacks on November 13, and to keep the alert level at four, since five is the top level reserved for a scenario of an imminent attack, said Fernandez Diaz.

The same experts also recommended implementing additional measures at airports. A level four alert already entails heightened security at transportation hubs, critical infrastructure and any venues with heavy human traffic.

Meanwhile, Spanish politicians put aside their differences for a while to focus on the Belgian attacks and make a show of unity.

On Tuesday evening, most of Spains political parties came together for a meeting of the anti-jihadist pact, a cross-party pledge to cooperate on counter-terrorism issues that was signed in February last year.

All nine signatory parties were present except for the Canaries Coalition, whose representative was unable to attend. The anti-austerity Podemos party also attended as an observer, after declining to sign the agreement last year.

Spain, like other countries, has been strengthening its information services to prevent new attacks

The pact is useful, it is an essential tool to win the battle in the long run and to send out a message that nothing is going to subdue us, said Meritxell Batet of the Socialist group. Batet added that Europe needs to work harder on a common foreign policy, the coordination of intelligence services, and on controlling funding for the terrorists and arms trafficking.

Spanish counter-terrorism experts believe that the latest attacks against the heart of the European Union could be a response to the recent jihadist arrests made by Belgian authorities in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. Salah Abdeslam had participated in the Paris massacre in November, and it is possible that the same cell was preparing a new attack and that the police action set events in motion, said an expert.

Spain, like other countries, has been strengthening its information services to prevent new attacks through staff increases and an extraordinary layout of 10 million last year.

English version by Susana Urra.
A leading member of Germany's far-right National Democratic Party has thanked two Syrian refugees who came to the aid of another party member after he was seriously injured in a car crash.

Stefan Jagsch, 29, a candidate for the NPD in upcoming local elections, was seriously injured last week after he lost control of his car and crashed into a tree in the town of Budingen.

Two vans carrying about 16 refugees stopped at the scene - and two Syrian men came to Jagsch's aid, pulling him from the wreckage and providing first aid treatent while they waited for an ambulance.

They had reportedly left the scene by the time police arrived.

Regional NPD official Jean Christoph Fiedler praised the refugees for performing "a very good, humane act", the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reports.
A German man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for a kidnapping that he falsely claimed was the work of Islamic extremists.

The man, named only as Mario S under German privacy laws, kidnapped the wife of a wealthy banker from her home last year.

He sent her family a ransom note claiming she was held by the non-existent Islamic Front and demanding 2.5 million (2 million) for her release.

In fact, the court heard, Mario S planned the kidnapping to pay for urgent medical treatment he needed for his eyes.

The 46-year-old victim, who works as an occupation therapist, has not been named.

In his ransom note, Mario S threatened to sell her as a sex slave or drown her in a water tank if the ransom was not aid.

But she managed to escape from his car when he stopped at a car park.

The court was told how Mario S, originally from Cologne, had used a redundancy pay-off of 250,000 to emigrate to Thailand with his wife and mother in 2012.

After some years he was diagnosed with a serious eye problem and told he needed an operation.

His medical insurance had lapsed after he left Germany so he planned the kidnapping to pay for the surgery.
A 1,500-year-old church which was buried under debris from an earthquake for more than a millennium has reopened to the public after a painstaking restoration of some of the worlds earliest Christian art.

The sixth-century church of Santa Maria Antiqua is located in the ancient Roman Forum, at the bottom of the Palatine Hill, where Roman emperorslived for centuries in sumptuous palaces.

It was buried under rubble by an earthquake in AD 847 and was only rediscovered in 1900 during archaeological excavations.

It has taken more than 30 years to restore its exquisite interior, which is decorated with multi-coloured frescoes of saints, martyrs, angels and emperors.

The project, which was funded by the Italian government and the World Monuments Fund, cost 2 million.
In a press conference yesterday, Frederic Van Leeuw, the Belgian federal prosecutor, said Ibrahim El Bakraoui had left a note on his laptop. It was later claimed it was contained in an audio file. Mr van Leeuw said: In a dustbin in the same street, detectives found a laptop containing the will of Ibrahim El Bakraoui, which said: I am always on the move, I dont know what to do, Im being hunted everywhere and am no longer safe. If I go on like this [I] will end up in a prison cell next to him.

It is unclear whether the word him was a reference to Salah Abdeslam, the suspected Paris bomber who was arrested last week and who is cooperating with interrogators.

Pieter Van Ostaeyen, a Belgian jihad expert, said Abdeslams arrest accelerated the attacks. This was not revenge for the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, but about bringing forward existing plans for fear that he would speak under pressure and so would expose them and their plans, he said.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed yesterday that Ibrahim El Bakraoui had been arrested in June last year in southern Turkey and then sent back to Europe. Turkey insisted it had warned Belgium that El Bakraoui was a foreign fighter but that those warnings had been ignored. It was claimed he was sent from Turkey to the Netherlands rather than to Belgium and that El Bakraoui demanded he be deported there rather than his home country.
Pro-government Syrian forces appeared poised to retake the famed ancient city of Palmyra from Isil on Wednesday, as peace talks aimed at resolving the five-year conflict headed into the final stretch.

"The regime forces are now two kilometres (a little more than a mile) away on the south side and five kilometres away on the west side," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) seized the city in May, sending shockwaves around the world as the group demolished some of the most treasured monuments of its Unesco World Heritage Site.

Meanwhile, negotiators in Geneva were making a fresh bid for a breakthrough ahead of a planned pause starting Thursday.

There is some hope that high-level US-Russian meetings in Moscow this week could deliver the momentum needed to move on to a new round.

US secretary of state John Kerry was on his way to the Russian capital and is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Sergei Lavrov, foreign minister, on Thursday, with Syria a key issue on their agenda.
Dozens of al-Qaeda fighters have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen, thesecond time in a month that targeted American air raids have led to massive casualties.

US aircraft struck a training camp belonging to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen affiliate of the terror group which has been behind multiple terror plots.

Explosives rained down as the al-Qaeda recruits were gathering for dinner, a local man told Reuters. "The planes struck as al Qaeda people stood in line to receive their dinner meal."

At least 70 people were reported to have died in the attack, which caused large fires inside the camp, according to the Pentagon. It was not clear if civilians were killed alongside the al-Qaeda members.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven," a Pentagon spokesman said.

The strike came two weeks after the US killed around 150 al-Shabaab fighters gathered at meeting in Somalia.

Both strikes are believed to have included drones and manned aircraft and the scale of the killing is far larger than most strikes under Presidents Barack Obama or George W Bush.
In doing so, he took a pot shot at frontrunner Donald Trump, who leads Mr Cruz comfortably in the polls.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee, most likely Hillary Clinton, this fall," the statement said.

"That is the only way we can reverse President Obama's failed domestic and foreign policy agenda and turn our country around."
The Conagua indicated that the atmospheric phenomenon registered maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour with gusts of up to 165 kilometers per hour. | Read More
Pablo Iglesias and Pedro Sanchez last February in Congress. BERNARDO PEREZ

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez and Podemos chief Pablo Iglesias on Wednesday decided to renew their suspended relations and explore new possibilities for a deal that would pull Spain out of political limbo and avoid a new election.

Both leaders agreed to meet on March 30 to discuss ways out of the rut that Spanish politics has been stuck in since the inconclusive December 20 election.

The fragmented scenario that emerged from that vote has prevented any party from holding enough of a parliamentary majority to form a government.

Despite a flurry of cross-party talks between then and now, no coalition has emerged with enough seats to secure the required majority of 176 deputies.

The tone of Wednesdays phone call, made by Sanchez to Iglesias, was very cordial and expressed a complete willingness to open up a new framework for dialogue, according to sources at both parties.

Political parties have until May 2 to reach a governing deal that will avoid the need for a fresh election

The conversation addressed the need for an alternative to [acting Prime Minister Mariano] Rajoy and his policies and both men agreed on the need to open up a new political period.

They also talked about the necessary reforms in Spain, not just constitutional matters, but also on tax and labor market issues, and on democratic regeneration.

This is not the first time that both parties have attempted to find common ground.

Prior to his failed bid to become prime minister in a congressional vote, Sanchez had already attempted to assemble a progressive coalition that would have included Podemos and other leftist forces.

Meanwhile, the anti-austerity party had also suggested a coalition in which Sanchez would be the prime minister and Iglesias his deputy. But Podemoss specific demands for ministerial positions did not go down well in Socialist circles.

With relations in tatters, the Socialist Party turned instead to the other emerging party that performed well at the general election: Ciudadanos. Its leader Albert Rivera and Sanchez crafted a common governing program that addressed some of the countrys most pressing reforms, and urged other parties to join.

Pedro Sanchez (l) and Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera have agreed a joint governing program. Uly Martin

But Podemos has flatly refused to join any project that includes Ciudadanos. For now, however, Sanchez is unwilling to give up his association with Rivera.

Sanchezs ideal situation would be an abstention by Podemos deputies that would allow him to become the next prime minister of Spain without breaking his deal with Ciudadanos. But Iglesias wants to be part of a coalition government that would leave the latter out.

Despite this stumbling block, both men on Wednesday expressed mutual respect for each other and said there was nothing preventing them from entering into dialogue.

Both also criticized the style of a caretaker government that does not respect parliament, a reference to the acting governments refusal to submit to congressional oversight. On Wednesday, the Socialists, Podemos and Ciudadanos filed a joint motion asking the Constitutional Court to determine whether Congress can indeed monitor the actions of an acting government.

Political parties have until May 2 to reach a governing deal that will stave off a fresh election.

English version by Susana Urra.
How to Get Rich While in Congress And Even After Retirement!

By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The Californian Courier www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com Two weeks ago, I reported that former Cong. Dan Burton had resigned as Chairman of the Washington-based Azerbaijan America Alliance because he had not been paid for a year! It is hard to feel sorry for a man who had eagerly gone to bed with the dictatorial regime of Ilham Aliyev until the money stopped! For years, many members of Congress have supported all sorts of shady causes and foreign and domestic interest groups to not only reap financial benefits during their tenure in Congress, but more importantly, land a lucrative lobbying job after their retirement from public service! Last week, a reader sent me an old article that had exposed Cong. Dan Burtons questionable practices during his first 18 years in Congress, not including the last 12 years before his retirement! Titled The Hypocrisy of Dan Burton, the article was written by American Prospect Online reporter Lindsay Sobel in December 2001. Ironically, while Burton was Chairing the House Government Reform Committee, he was doing plenty of favors for contributors, according to an exhaustive investigation by The Hill and other publications in 1997 and 1998, Sobel wrote. Burton had done favors for reputed terrorists, human rights violators, and a despot. As an example, Sobel cites Burtons request to the State Department to give former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko a visa to visit the United States after receiving thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and honoraria from Mobutus Washington lobbyist. Around the time of the contributions, Burton also made statements on the floor of the House of Representatives praising Mobutu. Burton also took thousands of dollars in legal contributions from people with business interests in Turkey, Sobel reported. Afterwards, he made a statement on the floor of the House of Representatives he had cribbed from a Turkish government official. The statement defended Turkey against well-documented charges that its government committed serious human rights violations against the Kurds. In 1996, Burton made another floor statement that almost exactly echoed materials that Turkeys lobbying firm gave to members of Congress, according to The Los Angeles Times. Burton calls himself a defender of international human rights. Nevertheless, after receiving contributions from Turkeys allies, he defended the countrys government on numerous occasions  despite the fact that the United Nations, State Department and numerous human rights groups have made serious allegations against Turkeys government. Sobel also reported Burtons involvement in programs put on by the conservative International Freedom Foundation. Later investigations revealed that South Africas apartheid government funded the Foundation in order to increase support for apartheid overseas, and discredit Nelson Mandelas African National Congress. At least two Burton contributors worked in the Foundations Washington office, according to The Los Angeles Times. Consistent with his work with the Foundation, Burton opposed sanctions against South Africas apartheid government and openly criticized the African National Congress. In another case, Burton intervened with the Department of Education for a campaign contributor who owns a medical school in the Caribbean, according to Roll Call. Soon after doing the favor, Burton asked his contributor whether his daughter could apply to an affiliated veterinary program. Sobels research on Burton indicated that he had run into other kinds of trouble as well. For example, the FBI investigated charges that Burton demanded that a lobbyist for Pakistan raise $5,000 for his campaign or be barred from Burtons office. (Burton admitted meeting with the lobbyist, but denied shaking him down.) In addition, The Hill reports that Burton paid his criminal defense lawyer $25,000 out of his campaign  rather than personal  funds. Also, according to The Hill, Burton took an allegedly illegal contribution from a group founded by five organizations that the State Department identified as Sikh terrorist groups. Burton advocated the groups cause  an autonomous Sikh homeland in India. Regrettably, Burton is not an exception in Washington. There are many others in and out of Congress who are just like him. Therefore, it is imperative to establish an Armenian-American watchdog group that investigates the financial records of all elected officials who consistently vote against Armenian issues and support Azerbaijan and Turkey. These two countries have such odious human rights records that the only reason politicians would support them is to enrich themselves either during their service in Congress or after retiring, and often both!
Warlick: Our main priority is to find a lasting solution to the Karabakh conflict (video)

Our primary task is to find a final resolution to the Karabakh conflict, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in an interview with the Voice of America. We are concerned about the reported cases of ceasefire violation. The clashes reported in January 2015 were unprecedented since the signing of the ceasefire, but the most concerning are the losses suffered by civilian population. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs condemn the use of heavy artillery, he said. Ambassador Warlick spoke about the so-called Royce-Sherman letter, which is put into circulation in the US Congress. The letter signed by a number of congressmen calls on President Obama to pressure Azerbaijan to accept life-saving peace initiatives for Nagorno-Karabakh. Warlick said the Minsk Group Co-Chairs support these processes aimed at the maintenance of peace. Though we have not seen the final letter yet, we support the proposals made by Edward Randall "Ed" Royce. Our objective is to work with the conflicting parties to reach agreement, and that they demand the maintenance of the ceasefire, Ambasador James Warlick said. The Minsk Group Co-Chair added that their main priority is to find a lasting solution to the Karabakh conflict.
Prabhas Uncle Donates Big For AP Airport

The process of collecting land for Vijayawada Airport at Gannavaram reached climax. As per reports tollywood celebrities Krishnam Raju and Aswini Dutt own large chunks of land in the area.



Few days before Star Producer Ashwini Dutt has voluntarily donated 40 acres of his land for the expansion of Gannavaram airport. Ashwini Dutt submitted the no-objection certificate to Nuzivid RDO.Now Krishnam Raju also given his consent for donating land.



According to latest reports as much as 494.22 acres of land has been collected from nearly 475 land owners. One among them happens to be veteran star hero Krishnam Raju. He is said to have donated 32 acres of land for the airport expansion.



Those who have donated their lands will be duly compensated by the Government.According to land pooling act, the person who give an acre of land will get 1450 sq yard land in AP capital area.



Plans are already chalked out by top infrastructure firms to build a world-class airport terminal in the acquired lands on the lines of the inter-national airport in Hyderabad.









News Posted: 23 March, 2016








Appa Rao was reinstated to foil Kanhaiya's meeting: VHR

Hyderabad, March 23 (INN): Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao has alleged that Hyderabad Central University's Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao was reinstated only to foil the proposed meeting of JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiaya Kumar in the HCU campus on Wednesday.



Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, VHR said that the government knew that Appa Rao's reinstatement would provoke the HCU students and they would protest. Citing the agitation as reason, the authorities wanted to stop Kanhaiaya Kumar from visiting the HCU. He asked as to why local police was not informed about Appa Rao's reinstatement.



VHR demanded that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao write letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi or use his influence to remove Appa Rao from the VC's post. He also condemned the arrest of about 40 HCU students who were kept in Narsingi and Miyapur police stations. He demanded their immediate release.









News Posted: 23 March, 2016








HC seeks info from Govt on GOs website ban

Hyderabad, March 23 (INN): The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed the Telangana Government to furnish details on its decision to ban the website on Government Orders.



While hearing a writ petition filed by TPCC Chief Spokesperson Dr. Sravan Dasoju, the High Court asked the Government Pleader to explain the confidentiality involved in the GOs and why the website has been blocked. The Government Pleader contended that the decision on website ban was not final and a final stand was yet to be taken on the issues. Asking the government to submit a detailed reply, the High Court posted the next hearing in the case to March 28.



In his petition, Dr. Sravan Dasoju alleged that the ban on GOs website http://goir.telangana.gov.in was an open violation of RTI Act and Freedom of Speech. "With the advent of the Right to Information Act, 2005, erstwhile united State of Andhra Pradesh, had been one of the States in the country to implement the said Act in letter and spirit. As part of its implementation, the erstwhile united State of Andhra Pradesh had started uploading all GOs, circulars and other relevant information, either on the main website or on the websites being maintained by different departments. As a result of these actions, the governance was transparent and any citizen can access the relevant GOs, circulars etc., from the internet itself.



The Congress leader informed that after the bifurcation of the State, the State of Telangana, continued this policy and all GOs, circulars etc., were available on the internet. However, since February 2016, the State Government has cut off access to its main website and only empowered officers of the Government can access to these websites.



"This deliberate action of the State in cutting off the access of its websites to the citizens of the country is clearly arbitrary, illegal and violative of Article 19 (1) (A), 21 of the Constitution of India and also the provisions of Section 4 of the Right To Information Act, 2005," he said in his petition while citing different clauses of Constitution of India and other relevant cases.









News Posted: 23 March, 2016








Heat Wave warning for Telangana

Hyderabad, March 23 (INN): The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued heat wave warning for next two days in Telangana State.



'Heat wave conditions likely to prevail over some parts in the districts of Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Rangareddy, Mahabubnagar, Warangal, Khammam, Adilabad and Nalgonda,' the Met Department said in its bulletin on Wednesday evening. While stating that heat wave conditions prevailed over some parts in the district of Khammam of Telangana, it said that dry weather is likely to prevail over Telangana State.



No large change was witnessed in Maximum temperatures over Telangana. They were markedly above normal at one or two places in the State. The highest maximum temperature of 42 Degrees Celsius was recorded at Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar.









News Posted: 23 March, 2016








Media Junction to hold Public Speaking Workshop

Hyderabad, March 23 (INN): Hyderabad based Media Junction, a centre and a specialist organization for Public Speaking Training in India, announced its latest 198th Batch of 4-Day Workshop on Effective Public Speaking.



The workshop will be held from March 24th to 27th at Media Junction's premises at Ground Floor 4A, Parthani Towers, Golconda Cross Roads, Musheerabad, Hyderabad-20. You can also seek more details on phone: 9848842471



The classes will be handled by D. Ramchandram, an experienced Public Speaking Facilitator. Many business executives lose corporate battles, sales, and career growth for lack of speaking skills. A person who is confident in front of a group gives off an air of competence, whereas a person, who fumbles might leave a negative impression, said Ram, the trainer.









News Posted: 23 March, 2016








Obama's visit is mere mockery, says Yerevan-based Cuban

US President Barack Obamas historic trip to Cuba has become a subject of discussions in Yerevan. Cuban musician Luis Guerra, who has been living in Armenia in the last three years and performing Cuban music in Yerevan clubs, says, Do not think that I am a socialist. Nor am I a supporter of Castro, but Obama's visit [to Cuba] is nothing but mockery. It was a mere formality. He is not interested in Cuba's life. He does not protect the rights of Cubans, either. It's just politics, nothing more, Luis Guerra said. Cuban dance instructor Giordano Duberger hails Obama's visit. "I believe it is a very positive and historic event," Giordano says. He says he hates politics and has always tried to stay away from politics. Politics tortures and harms people. The only thing that we, Cubans, want is peace and love, Duberger adds. Obama became the first American president to visit Cuba in nearly a century since 1928. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in 1961. On April 11, 2015, Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro shook hands at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, marking the first meeting between a U.S. and Cuban head of state since the two countries severed their ties in 1961. The meeting came four months after the presidents announced their countries would restore ties, and gave rise to President Obama's planned March 2016 visit to Cuba.
Police in the north central province of Thanh Hoa Monday arrested a teenager for allegedly raping and drowning a teenage girl to death in a river.

Le Tuan Anh, 17, confessed to the killing of Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, 17, two days earlier.

He told the police he had met Ngoc in a village in Quang Xuong District the same day, became friendly, and asked her to go to the Tinh River where he forcibly raped her.

Then he tied her hands and held her head under water until she died.

At around 6:30 p.m. the next day a group of children playing by the river bank discovered Ngoc's naked body floating in the water with her hands tied together with a bra.

Local residents told police they saw a boy swimming across the river on the evening of August 11. H e had then gone to a local house and asked to borrow dry clothes and money, they said.

Based on their tipoff, police summoned Anh who was reportedly absent from home since August 11, and he confessed to his crime.

They said he did not act anxious at all during the questioning. He had even said calmly: "I am a relative of Le Van Luyen, so I had to do something like he did."

Le Van Luyen is a teenager who achieved notoriety for killing a couple and their daughter to rob gold from their shop in Bac Giang Province last August.

He escaped the death penalty since he was two months shy of his 18th birthday when he committed the crime. For criminals below 18 the maximum penalty under Vietnamese law is 18 years in jail .
Fashionable boots with dragon" soles of Fashion4Freedom. Photo: House of Saigon

The House of Saigon 16-18-20 Thu Khoa Huan Street, District 1 Its not hard to find this souvenir heaven, which is only a couple of minutes from Ben Thanh Market. The retro feel is strong here because the shop is decorated to look like a Saigon house in the 1940s. Its not hard to find this souvenir heaven, which is only a couple of minutes from Ben Thanh Market. The retro feel is strong here because the shop is decorated to look like a Saigon house in the 1940s.

There are many things to choose from: handmade clothes, accessories and souvenirs that are made from natural and recyclable materials. Check out the embroideries with unique and surprisingly chic patterns created by Co Tu and Hmong ethnic communities, or delicacies such as spices, homemade jams and cookies transported from many provinces.



One of its most sought-after products is the "dragon" footwear line from Fashion4Freedom, a group of young designers who want to bring central Vietnamese woodcraft techniques into the world of fashion.



The three-story shop also serves as a gallery and a coffee shop so you can always take a break to enjoy the exhibitions or a cup of coffee.



Unique products at Sadec District. Photo: Sadec District

Sadec District

3A Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1

91 Mac Thi Buoi Street, District 1

Quietly located at the HCMCs new art zone and on one of the most beautiful street in the city, Sadec District stores are filled with quality clothing, furniture and household items made in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

The stores, opened in 2014, have quickly made its name as a place for distinctive ceramics and handicrafts that combine traditional and contemporary spirits.

Prices are a bit higher than at other places. But the owners, a group of HCMC-based journalists and art directors, claim that behind every item is an interesting story.

After shopping here, don't forget to explore the cool streets that these stores are on.





Notebooks that are created with traditional binding method. Photo: Viet Artisans

Gingko Concept Store

254 De Tham Street, District 1

This concept store belongs to the now famous Ginkgo T-shirt company. The two-story boutique, located in the center of Saigon backpackers enclave, is a must-visit for those who want to buy Vietnams authentic souvenirs, and of course cool shirts.

Ginkgo Concepts outstanding products include handcrafted items from Viet Artisans. Gifts such as phone covers and bags are made from eco-friendly materials like linen or recycled rice bags.

You will definitely be impressed by the notebooks. Bound by fabric covers, the notebooks are carefully created with a traditional binding method, in which each page is sewn together with completely no glue involved.

Some accessories and clothes with colorful prints inspired by children's paintings are also worth checking out.

Refined products reflecting Vietnam's culture. Photo: Authentique Home

Authentique Home

113 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1

71/1 Mac Thi Buoi Street, District 1

Founded in 1995, Authentique Home has earned its fame in bringing authentic Vietnamese fine craft traditions into refined products.

Reviving Cam Kim carpentry, Cam Ha potteries and Cam Giang textiles, Authentique Home offers customers a wide range of dinnerware, ceramics, fabric home decor and wooden furniture which can lighten up any corner of your home.

Owned by a noted film director together with her younger brother, Authentique Home delicately blends the simplicity, beauty and convenience into daily products.

The owner said the business not only creates a way out for her familys carpentry tradition, but also aims to help Vietnamese learn more about the value of locally-made fine craft products.
Six Samsung top loader washing machine models are subject to a mandatory recall. "This can't be swept under the carpet any longer. My two children's lives were at risk. We'll also be asking the State Coroner to explore the failure of Fair Trading NSW to competently manage the recall." Samsung's latest figures show 74 per cent of the 144,451 machines with a major waterproofing fault have been remedied. Of those, more than half have been reworked with the plastic tape-and-bag fix, while the rest have either been replaced or refunded. An example of an incorrectly applied rework on a recalled machine. Credit:QEC Global A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment on the State Coroner matter. There have been 27 post-rework incidents, including two fires.

Samsung Australia's vice president Phillip Newton said the company had made "mistakes" in the past 3.5 years and announced it would implement a new, multi-pronged strategy to prevent further fires and other incidents. Di Fisher and Tarnya Allen are affected Samsung customers. Next month, Samsung will begin reassessing 32,000 repaired machines to make sure the "fire-retardant, industry-standard polyethylene bag" has been securely fastened with tape. A team of 30 specially trained engineers will help carry out the program. Most other repaired units have already been checked. Samsung will proactively offer a refund or replacement, in accordance with the Australian Consumer Law. It will also establish a Sydney-based call centre to support customers through the inspection program. Customers previously spoke with staff in Manila.

It will expand its "urgent detergent" direct mail campaign to an additional 22,000 homes to try to engage the 26 per cent of customers who have not responded to the recall. In January, Fairfax Media revealed a blaze at an Only About Children childcare centre in Coogee was caused by a recalled Samsung washing machine that had not been repaired. Twenty-two adults and 78 children were evacuated. "The biggest mistakes we made was the process to do the refund and the process to do the replacement, covering 99 per cent of our mistakes. We're a $200-billion odd company and there were strict processes causing delays," Mr Newton said. "We've now reduced the average customer resolution times from 35 to 13 days."

He said the company was still 100 per cent confident in its Fair Trading-approved rework procedure when properly applied and dismissed the "deficient" conclusion in the crowd-funded expert report from QEC Global. Mr Newton rejected the push from consumer advocacy group Choice to launch a television campaign to raise awareness, saying TV was an underwhelming influence on the consumer. "With 'urgent detergent' we have specifically targeted a type of audience we want to address and know now it's very successful because 45 per cent of all machines found since November have all come from that. That's why we're rolling it out," he said. He said claims that replacement washing machines were also faulty because of reports some were melting and "spinning out of control" were unfounded. He said these problems were caused by a user overloading the machine. He also said to concerned American customers who have joined the Australian Facebook group that their machines were unrelated to the recall because affected machines were designed for the Australian market in accordance with local standards.

He would not reveal what level of impact the country's biggest recall had on the company's profits and reputation. While Choice welcomed Samsung's new strategy, it was disappointed it refused to use television advertising, which would reach a large audience. "We get the very real sense that this company cares more about managing its reputation than it does about protecting consumers from its dodgy products," he said. "Last year, we dramatically crushed two Samsung washing machines to propel the potential hazard on to the nation's TV screens and launched a crowd funding campaign to create a television advertisement to warn consumer," he said. "Our decision to crowd fund a television advertisement came following research which found 47 per cent of consumers expect to see or hear about recalls through television advertising."
Koryun Nahapetyan: We simply need to dismiss these people (video)

The incident involving the Chief of Goris Police is unacceptable and must be condemned, Republican lawmaker Koryun Nahapetyan told journalists on March 23. The Chairman of the National Assemblys Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs says an investigation is underway and the first results will be available shortly afterwards. On March 8, Chief of Goris Police Gevorg Azizyan beat Artur Gevorgyan, the brother of his assistant. By an order of Chief of Armenian Police Vladimir Gasparyan, Azizyans powers have been temporarily suspended until the end of the investigation. Koryun Nahapetyan says in no case should violence be considered normal no matter who it is committed by. On the contrary, we should publicly condemn it, but let us not hurry to draw conclusions and let us wait for the results of investigation, he said. Asked whether the incident and the suspension of Azizyans powers can lead to the improvement of the police, Mr Nahapetyan said, Every policeman, regardless of his position, should realize that his mission is to serve the public and ill practices that do not fit policemen are unacceptable. In this context, it is important to increase public confidence in the system. Fortunately, there are many faithful and professional police officers working in the system. However, there are police officers who tarnish the reputation of the system, as is the case in many other systems. We simply need to dismiss these people, Mr Nahapetyan said.
On Wednesday morning in the wake of the attacks in Brussels , Mr Turnbull "strongly encouraged" union members to rethink the industrial action and urged them "to pursue their complaints, their disagreements with the government through other means".

Strike action planned at international airports on Thursday has been postponed after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on the Community and Public Sector union to reconsider its plans.

CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said the union had agreed to postpone the strike and was "conscious of the understandable concern of travellers in the wake of the Brussels attack".

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says security standards in Europe have 'slipped'. Credit:Martin Meissner

"We will consider whether to undertake further industrial next week and in coming weeks in light of the department and government's response in coming days," she said.

Security at airports across Australia has remained unchanged after the attacks in Belgium with the Australian Federal Police advising Mr Turnbull existing arrangements were satisfactory.

At least 31 people have been killed and hundreds injured by the coordinated attacks on Brussels Airport and a rush-hour metro train.
A Victorian special school that placed a child who suffered seizures in a pen has been cleared of wrongdoing after an investigation.

Education Minister James Merlino ordered an investigation into Bendigo Special Developmental School in October after parents, teachers and disability advocates alleged the school had locked students in cages and used restraint, seclusion and martial arts techniques to control them.

Education Minister James Merlino Credit:Wayne Taylor

The investigation, by law firm Justitia, concluded there was "no reasonably foreseeable risk of injury or inappropriate treatment to current students" at the school.

It said it was appropriate for the school to use enclosed spaces and classroom pens.
Pit bulls could be back on the streets of Melbourne soon after a parliamentary report found it was impossible to tell if they were any more dangerous than other dogs.

The ban on the breed, in place since 2011, could be lifted if the recommendations are adopted by the state government.

Pit bulls may soon no longer be banned. Credit:istock

The dogs were banned after the death of little Ayen Chol, mauled by a 40-kilogram pit bull in 2011.

But the committee says that ban has failed, with local councils unable to accurately identify pit bulls. Local councils quoted in the report say it is "impossible" to identify dangerous dogs just by looking at them.
Every public tragedy in the internet age has its defining picture, the one that's most viewed, most shared, most commented on. It's often the photo that brings the disaster closest to home because it captures ordinary people at extraordinary moments: vulnerability, disbelief, shock. It's the one that says: "It could have been any of us."

For the Brussels bombings it is a picture of Nidhi Chaphekar on an airport seat, her shoe blown off, her yellow jacket in shreds, covered in dust. A trail of blood runs from her forehead to her chin. Her face is contorted with fear and shock. The picture has been published around the world, including on the front page of the New York Times.

The flight attendant with Indian-based Jet Airways was about to meet up with the rest of her crew for a flight to Newark, US, when the suicide bombers detonated their devices, The Sun reported.
Messages will be stored on a website and archived, for eternity, online. Any other mark will be removed swiftly, a large billboard at the entrance of the bell tower explains in both Italian and English. A young woman poses in Giotto's bell tower. Credit:New York Times "We needed something to act as a deterrent against new graffiti, once all the walls were clean, and we hope that this app will do that," said Alice Filipponi, the social media strategist at the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the institution that oversees Florence's Duomo complex. "Our goal was to let people leave their testimony without smearing the walls again," Ms Filipponi said. It took Beatrice Agostini, the institution architect who manages and maintains the site, three months with a team of nine restoration experts to clean up the walls in the tower using solvent gels and lasers. The task is not one she and her team want to repeat, especially since various parts of the cathedral, where graffiti remains, must still be cleaned.

"We want to tell people that a mark is not only an eyesore, but it's a real damage to the monument," she said. "Removing the different writings is a problem. On marble, it's almost impossible; a ring stain remains forever." She added: "We can't put cameras everywhere, the space is so narrow, so we thought that providing an alternative was our best bet." It's a bet the two women seem to be winning in the bell tower. In the first three days of their experiment, there were more than 3000 visitors, 304 digital messages and no new graffiti scrawls. With virtual graffiti, visitors can select the background they want to write on: wood or marble, iron or plaster, like that found in the monument. Then, with their tool of choice, from lipstick to spray paint, they are able to use their fingertips to etch symbols, names and messages. Users are asked to leave their email addresses, so that once their messages are approved, they can receive notice of publication.

In years to come, the messages may be printed and included in the paper archive of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, whose documents date back to 1296. "Whether we manage to educate people remains to be seen," said the institution's president, Franco Lucchesi. "But as of now, our Internet is full of messages, and the walls are not. We can therefore say that it's working." Still, the problem has defied solutions before, and is certainly not a new one. One of the engravings on top of the tower bell is from 1899. "I hope it will work out, but based on my experience, there is no definitive solution to these actions," said Giorgio Moretti, president of a Florence-based urban volunteer group, the Angels of Beauty, which has been cleaning up the historic city for years. "Any initiative is important, and this is a very nice project, but it's equally important to constantly remove the marks," he said. In Florence, the battle to protect monuments from compulsive scribblers as well as from vandals goes back decades, but it has intensified in recent years. In 2015, the cathedral churchyard was equipped with an alarm system and a camera after janitors arrived to find new writings nearly every morning.
An incoming Liberal ACT government would fund duplication of Tuggeranong's Ashley Drive between Erindale Drive and Johnson Drive, including noise barriers, transport spokesman Alistair Coe has announced.

The government is duplicating the road, which carries more than 20,000 vehicles a day, between Erindale Drive and Ellerston Avenue. Mr Coe said the Canberra Liberals would spend an additional $4 million to complete the full duplication, adding about an extra kilometre of upgrades.

Liberal transport spokesman Alistair Coe and Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson have committed to funding duplication of Tuggeranong's Ashley Drive between Erindale Drive and Johnson Drive. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

The cost is based on government figures obtained by the opposition under freedom of information laws. Mr Coe said the additional cost was estimated about $3.1 million and the opposition had added an appropriate contingency. The land needed for the additional works is available in the existing corridor.

In September 2012, former chief minister Katy Gallagher said the Labor government would spend $19.6 million to upgrade the road between Erindale Drive and Johnson Drive, citing public safety and improved access for ACTION buses.
NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL More than 200 Australian and international acts representing styles including acoustic, blues, roots, bluegrass, world, Celtic, traditional, gypsy and country will perform at Exhibition Park from March 24-28. Tickets at folkfestival.org.au.

The Easter Bunny will be popping up all over town this Easter long weekend. Credit:Llyndall Larkham

NATIONAL ANTI-FOLK FESTIVAL There will also be four days of music at Smith's Alternative for those who can't make it out to Exhibition Park. March 24-28. Tickets at the door. See smithsalternative.com.

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL The 27th Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is back at Palace Electric Cinemas with 48 flicks from March 3-29. Full program and tickets at palacecinemas.com.au.

GOOD FOOD MONTH A whole month of celebrating everything food related across Canberra. There are degustation dinners, wine events, chef collaborations and more. For a full list of events plus tickets see canberra.goodfoodmonth.com.
Hermes International chief executive Axel Dumas has warned this will be a difficult year with subdued growth as the threat of terrorism saps tourist spending, which accounts for a third of the luxury industry's sales.

"We haven't had the same level of tourism in France this year as before," Dumas told reporters in Paris on Wednesday, as the French maker of luxury silk scarves and handbags reported 2015 earnings.

The luxury bag maker feels the fallout from the terrorist attacks, which have deterred people from travelling. Credit:Bloomberg

He said 2016 will be "complicated" by headwinds the industry faces across the globe, yet struck a resilient tone: "We don't have to panic. A challenge never hurt anyone."

Tuesday's bombings in Brussels worsened the outlook for the luxury market, a third of which comes from purchases by tourists, according to consultants Bain & Co.
Australia's workplace laws need a "rethink" according to Coles managing director John Durkan, who hit out at the nation's industrial relations system, claiming it disadvantaged customers and discouraged innovation and productivity.

The supermarket boss called for the simplification of industrial relations after revealing Coles' latest Store Team Agreement was mired in argument before the Fair Work Commission.

Coles boss John Durkan says Australian grocery prices are still too high. Credit:Robert Prezioso

"Coles is currently defending a challenge to the approval of our latest Store Team Agreement, more than a year after our team members voted overwhelmingly in support of it," Mr Durkan said at an American Chamber of Commerce in Australia event.

"Under the current workplace relations laws, one team member, a weekend casual represented by a union official from an unrelated union, has been able to hold the fate of 75,000 people's working conditions hostage over months of argument before the Fair Work Commission."
I've always considered Belgium to be a secret pocket of harmony in the European Union, a country intent on letting bygones be bygones; it's populace determined not to break under the sad reality that they have been a major battleground for so many wars over the centuries from Napoleonic times to both world wars.

The kingdom has rebuilt and regrouped with such fluid grace many times in the past 200 years, that one could almost say they have been stubbornly obtuse when it comes to dealing with security threats and aggression.

For tourists or new residents it's like a melding of the best vignettes of Paris chic, and the hipness of Amsterdam, but with none of the legendary French disdain. This is the home of Rubens, the grand master painter, of chocolate and fine lace, but more importantly it has been my second home since the mid 1990's. That is why I sit here in the calm of Melbourne, yet I feel utterly assailed on such a visceral and personal level by the bombings in Brussels.

My heart races and my chest is tightening to the point suffocation. I lived, loved and worked in this tiny, yet not inconsequential European nation for more than a decade and half  commuting from Australia to Europe in my role as Special Ambassador for aid agency CARE International as our international secretariat was located in Brussels, but ultimately I fell in love with the place and the people and the ease of life there.
Archive documents can be accessed online (video)

Director of National Archives of Armenia Amatuni Virabyan says they are going to implement a new program in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Citizens will no longer have to come to the National Archives to get the information they want. They can contact us via e-mail, for example, to know information about their pensions. We are implementing a large-scale program, we are archiving the documents and other material. It will help citizens living in Germany, Moscow and neighbouring Georgia to apply to us and get the information they need after paying the fixed amount for the given service, Mr Virabyan said. He added that the money would be spent to improve the work of the archives. Mr Amatuni also spoke about low salaries of workers and urgent reconstruction of archival office areas. In 2001, when I was appointed head of the National Archives, the salary was AMD 10 000 but I was able to increase it to AMD 100 000-120 000, he said.
"I remember my dad telling me that packaging that said 'Contents: approximately X number' would always be under that number," recalls Nan Greig, of Kiama (13 biscuits in the Arnott's package advising contents of "around 14", Column 8, Tuesday). "To prove him wrong (always my aim), I counted 20 boxes of Redhead matches which had the information 'approximately 50 matches'. Every one had 49. I hated it when my dad was right!"

"Another scary error from the early days of spelling checkers," adds Evan Bailey, of Glebe (Column 8 yesterday), "was to offer the name of a famous architect as 'Hairy Spider'."

"I'm wondering if there is a precedent for first-time contributors to be awarded a C8PhD?" asks a rather presumptuous Dave Jennings, of Turramurra. "If not, I'm confident that the following culinary PhD thesis must be a worthy contender for that honour, being the most inappropriately appropriate Good Friday recipe ever. Place one heated fish finger in a lightly toasted and buttered hot cross bun. Serve with a dollop of tartare sauce. Enjoy!"

"The Wizard of Id's hallucinogenic frog in Wednesday's comic strip is probably a Queensland cane toad," suggests Pat Woolley, of Little Wobby Beach. "In the '70s, it was said that folks got high kissing them. Being 'on the toad', it was called." We've heard of thrill seekers getting familiar with toxic amphibians in their pursuit of altered consciousness  can anyone confirm it?

"Now that the sun has reappeared, may I tell the story of a sundial given to movie mogul Sam Goldwyn as a 60th birthday present?" asks David Gourlay, of Lane Cove (Column 8, Wednesday). "Legend has it that when it was explained to him how it worked, his response was, 'Gosh, whatever will they think of next?"'
The terrorist attacks in Brussels remind us once again of the global threat of terrorism, the need to be vigilant at home, to maintain the security of our borders, to ensure our laws provide our security forces with the tools they need to keep us safe and, of course, to continue to support our allies in the battle against the terrorists of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

These attacks are shocking and barbaric. Sadly, however, we can no longer say they are surprising. We are all united with Belgium in this battle, just as our forebears were 100 years ago in the fields of Flanders, in the First World War.

The attacks are an unfortunate reminder of how violent Islamist extremism appears to have reached a crisis point in Europe.
In the swirl of emotions that follow an attack of this nature, perhaps the hardest to channel is patience. We rush to try and make sense of another senseless act of Islamic State-inspired violence. Why did terrorists attack Brussels and why now? And of course, how can we prevent similar attacks re-occurring in future?

To fully answer these questions, we first need to wait for investigators to identify who carried out the attacks, how, and most importantly, to disrupt any remaining cell members, including the third airport ''attacker''. If the four-month manhunt that resulted in Salah Abdeslam's recent capture is an indicator, we may be waiting for some time.

Illustration John Spooner

Many have questioned whether the timing of the attack was prompted or accelerated by Abdeslam's arrest. But, regardless of when the attack took place, what is most concerning is the capability that a multi-stage assault on high-profile infrastructure demonstrates. And the corresponding failure of the Belgian authorities to identify and disrupt the attack network.

The inverse relationship between the size of Belgium's extremist problem and Belgium's limited intelligence resources is well-documented. Since the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Belgium has scrambled to boost these resources. Budgets have been increased and staff recruited, while the intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been granted additional powers. Yet despite these changes, Tuesday's attacks were not greeted with surprise, but by an overwhelming sense of inevitability.
The original title for the film was the more ominous-sounding Kill Chain. Guy Hibbert (who wrote Omagh) visited an arms fair in Paris, where drone technology was very prominent. The "kill chain" was the chilling new term for the extended network needed for this kind of operation.

Helen Mirren is as steely as ever playing Colonel Katherine Powell in Eye in the Sky .

Welcome to the scary new frontier of remote-controlled warfare by drone  or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), as the military types call them.

So we have Helen Mirren, as Colonel Katherine Powell, reporting for work in London at the Permanent Joint HQ  which is a real place. The British use it to control their joint foreign operations.

At Creech airbase in Nevada, US pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) clocks on for the evening shift inside an airconditioned box, rather than a cockpit. He will fly a drone in a joint British-US operation in Nairobi. A third person in Hawaii identifies targets using facial recognition.

Back in London, Lt-Gen Frank Benson (Alan Rickman, in one of his last roles) goes from buying a birthday gift for his daughter to the Cabinet Office, where he will guide a room full of politicians through the Nairobi operation in real time, in front of a bank of screens. The politicians must make instant decisions about who to kill and when.

Another part of the kill chain is on the ground. Kenyan special forces are ready to grab several operatives of the Al-Shabaab jihadist group.

Local intelligence "assets"  a couple of Somalis in a disguised truck full of surveillance equipment  follow three high-value targets  an English woman and two Americans recruits  to a shanty town controlled by Al-Shabaab.
Collecting student debts from the dead would not put people off university study, but any revenue gains could be undermined by creative estate planning, the architect of the HECS repayment system says.

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that the Turnbull government is considering the controversial move of recovering HECS debts from deceased estates. The idea has been applauded by business groups, but blasted by Labor and the Greens.

Australian National University economist Bruce Chapman, who designed HECS for the Hawke government, said recovering debts from deceased estates would not undermine the fundamentals of the scheme.
My husband and I lived in London for five years and San Francisco for two years before returning home to Sydney.

Every month we receive statements from US and UK bank and pension accounts that we haven't managed to close.

The paperwork can seem insurmountable. Credit:istock

It's costing us money in account fees, and the funds could be more usefully deployed reducing our mortgage or bolstering our superannuation.

It's not through lack of trying but the paperwork hurdle is immense. For example, one of the banks won't update our address until we visit a branch in the UK with our passport, even though we've had copies notarised by a solicitor and sent them via registered post.
A Sydney schoolgirl charged with sending $5000 to Islamic State was used as a middleman by her relative who is believed to be overseas fighting with the terror group, a court has been told.

Details of the elaborate police operation that netted the girl and her friend, Milad Atai, 20, were revealed in court on Wednesday including a secret police informant posing as a young extremist handing over wads of cash and hundreds of intercepted calls and text messages between the 16-year-old girl, her co-accused Mr Atai and a former Melbourne man, Ahmed Merhi, who police believe is fighting in Syria.

Milad Atai was arrested by counter-terrorism police in Sydney.

Mr Atai and the girl, a Year 12 student, were arrested on Tuesday in Guildford Park moments after Mr Atai allegedly handed the girl a yellow envelope containing cash in bundles tied with elastic bands.

It's alleged the girl was going to wire the money to Merhi via Lebanon but planned to do it through a friend who works for Western Union because she is underage.
They were the jet-setting, glamorous couple from New Delhi planning to build Australia's biggest home when it all went terribly wrong.

Billionaire Pankaj Oswal and his socialite wife, Radhika, were in the middle of building the $70 million home, dubbed the "Taj-on-Swan" and overlooking the Swan River in the exclusive Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove, when the ANZ bank called in the receivers to take over the Oswals' company, Burrup Fertilisers, now known as Yara Pilbara Fertilisers, claiming they owed more than $100 million.

Construction at the "Taj-on-Swan" site stopped in 2010. Credit:Jonathan Barrett

The case involving the Oswals, who are now based in Dubai, came before the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday for pre-trial argument after having been transferred from Western Australia. The civil trial before Justice Michael Sifris is set down to begin on May 30.

The Oswals had never been to Western Australia when they arrived in Perth in 2001 with their young daughter, Vasundhara. They set up one of the world's largest liquid ammonia plants five years later in the Burrup Peninsula, 1550 kilometres north of Perth, which at one time employed 500 people.
A Chinese drug trafficker has had her jail sentence reduced by nine months after becoming pregnant when out on bail.

Bing Yao Dong, 27, discovered she was pregnant the day before being jailed for five years and nine months with a minimum of three years and six months, but told no-one because she was embarrassed.

Dong, who came from a wealthy family in northern China and was a student at Monash University, had been found guilty by a County Court jury in August 2014 of importing a marketable quantity of a controlled drug, dealing in suspected proceeds of crime and trafficking a controlled drug.

She appealed her sentence, claiming it was a miscarriage of justice given the sentencing judge did not know about her pregnancy and the added burden she faced having to raise the baby in the maximum security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre women's prison.

Dong gave birth on April 18, 2015, despite her parents wanting her to have an abortion.
The funeral of lawyer and businessman Joseph "Pino" Acquaro, killed in what may have been a gangland execution, has started in West Melbourne, with dozens of mourners arriving for the service.

Mr Acquaro, 54, was gunned down on Tuesday of last week while walking from his Brunswick East business, Gelobar, to his black Mercedes.

The service at St Mary Star of the Sea will feature Catholic readings from his siblings and adult sons.

The family arrived about 10.25am in a convoy of black Rolls-Royces, about an hour after the body of Mr Acquaro arrived in a Rolls-Royce hearse.
Aghvan Vardanyan on new Electoral Code: What we offer is a mixture

ARF member Aghvan Vardanyan cannot say whether the Republicans are ready to cede power under the new Electoral Code they have presented to Armenian people. I do not know anyone who does not want to retain power during the next elections, he said. The lawmaker claims that the Electoral Code will help increase public confidence in elections. He will never agree with the opposition who sees elements of a hidden majoritarian voting system in the new Electoral Code which will enable citizens to make their candidate a lawmaker. Aghvan Vardanyan says there are different forms of proportional representation in the world and Armenia has chosen this one. Until recently, we complained that individuals decide for party members and citizens do not have their say. Now these two are combined and a mixed version is presented to our people. It offers a 100-percent proportional representation system, he said. While Mr Vardanyan admits that they see some drawbacks in the Electoral Code drafted by the Republican Party, he says it was developed considering the electoral experience of 60 leading countries. I repeat again that it envisages a normal proportional representation system.
Australia's biggest social reform in decades is a step closer, with almost $65 million pledged to fund the three Victorian organisations that will co-ordinate the National Disability Insurance Scheme when it launches in July.

However, despite significant support for the scheme, some people with disabilities say the information on the scheme's rollout has been confusing and has often come from service providers who stand to benefit from keeping clients.

Tony Nicholson, of the Brotherhood of St Laurence: "It is arguably the largest social policy reform since Medicare.'' Credit:Simon Schluter

The Brotherhood of St Laurence, Latrobe Community Health Service and Intereach won the government tender, and will use the the Commonwealth money to hire staff and co-ordinate the local response.

Disability advocates have urged these services to hire workers with disabilities.
It was a single faulty cable that sparked peak-hour train chaos across Melbourne on Wednesday night, Metro Trains has confirmed.

For three hours, trains had to be diverted to Flinders Street Station after the signalling fault at Southern Cross Station shut down the City Loop.

The meltdown highlighted the problems of the network's antiquated signalling system, parts of which are up to 100 years old.

In a statement on Thursday morning, Metro said the source of the problem was "a faulty signalling cable on the viaduct between Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations".
Police remain tight-lipped about the sexual assault of a woman who was abducted from a busy shopping strip in Melbourne and left in a car boot.

Sex crimes detectives are hunting two men who approached a woman in the car park of the Clarinda Shopping Centre on Bourke Road at 1.30pm on Tuesday and forced her into in the boot of a car.

Police found the victim of a sexual assault and abduction in Melbourne's south-east on Tuesday. Credit:Nine News

She was found two-and-a-half hours later by police in neighbouring suburb Oakleigh South inside the maroon sedan at the intersection of Vernal Road and Leham Avenue.

Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, in an interview with 3AW on Wednesday, said the attack was targeted, not random.
Victorian paramedics are to receive a pay rise of up to $18,000 as part of a $54 million wage upgrade, after the state government accepted the role has become more difficult and complex over the past decade.

When elected, the Andrews government did a deal with the Ambulance Employees Association to end a long-running pay dispute that had dogged the Napthine government. Part of the deal was to send the case to the workplace umpire to determine a fair pay rate.

About 8500 people went to hospitals during the thunderstorm asthma crisis. Credit:Dominic O'Brien

This month the Fair Work Commission heard evidence about the increase in skills and responsibilities paramedics have required over the past decade and found that "these changes constitute a significant net addition to work requirements".

The paramedics' union and government then entered into fair work conciliation last week to agree to a pay increase.
Perth counter-terrorism experts have pointed to failings in European multicultural policy as a key factor in the creation of a generation of IS-sympathising terrorists like those behind the Brussels' bombings.

Professorial Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University, Dr Anne Aly, said Europe's embrace of multiculturalism, unlike Australia's, was flawed.

Passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22 in Brussels. Credit:Getty Images

"They just didn't have a program to manage the integration of people from different cultural backgrounds," she said.

"That's why they ended up with places like Molenbeek where unemployment is 30 per cent and many young people are idle and resentful; it's created a perfect breeding ground for home-grown terrorists."
A West Australian police officer who punched an Aboriginal woman in the head while arresting her has been cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal review.

Vision of the Kununurra incident - in which the officer is seen punching the woman while she is pinned to the ground - emerged on social media in December.

An internal police investigation exonerated the officer, finding he was justified in his actions because he was bitten by the 22-year-old woman.

An internal police investigation exonerated the officer, finding he was justified in his actions because he was bitten by the 22-year-old woman.

"Evidence supported the officer's account that he was being bitten by the woman and used appropriate force to protect himself," a WA Police spokeswoman said.
Europe will have to discuss more draconian national security laws such as holding suspects without charge in the wake of the latest attack in Brussels, a leading Belgian counter-terrorism specialist says.

Claude Moniquet, a former intelligence officer who is now a security consultant, has foreshadowed a dramatically changed security environment ahead for Europe in response to what he called war with Islamic extremists.

But he insisted that the continent's cherished Schengen rules, which allow free movement between the 26 member nations, were a "cornerstone" of European unity and must not change.
Moscow: A Russian court has sentenced a Ukrainian helicopter navigator to 22 years in prison in a contentious murder trial that has drawn sharp condemnation from the West.

On Tuesday, a judge convicted Lieutenant Nadezhda Savchenko, 34, of directing mortar fire that killed two Russian journalists during pitched fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Savchenko claimed she was innocent and that pro-Russian separatists abducted her in Ukraine before crossing the border and delivering her to Russian police.

Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko waves from a glass cage in court, in Donetsk on Tuesday. Credit:AP

Shortly after the verdict was delivered, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement that he would not recognise the court's decision, which he called a "shameful show trial".
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Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

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The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

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STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens

ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression
Columbus: Donald Trump won the Arizona Republican presidential primary on Tuesday and Hillary Clinton was the victor in the Democratic contest as the front-runners in both parties padded their leads.

The real estate mogul was declared the winner, beating Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich in a race he dominated with his populist and anti-immigration messages. He captured the state's 58 delegates and blunted the concerted effort by his opponents to deny him the party's nomination.

With her win, Mrs Clinton extend her commanding lead in delegates and diminished the possibility of a resurgence by Bernie Sanders to slow her march to the nomination.

Republicans are also caucusing in Utah, while Democrats are voting in caucuses in Utah and Idaho.
The producers of Broadway's Chicago kicked off the show's 20th anniversary year with a celebratory cocktail reception and launch party at the Palm Restaurant. During the festivities, lead producer Barry Weissler announced the initiatives that will lead-up to the official anniversary performance in November 2016 at the Ambassador Theatre.

The 20th anniversary festivities will include a special advertising campaign featuring current and past cast members, as well as the revival's original stars, Tony winners Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, Joel Grey, and James Naughton. Photographer Max Vadukul, who shot the show's iconic original ad campaign, returns for this new initiative, which features the tagline "Killing It Worldwide" in a nod to the show's international success.

The 20th anniversary festivities will also include a one-night-only free concert of Kander and Ebb's score, plus Ann Reinking's choreography, on August 31 at SummerStage in Central Park; an exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; and the previously announced presentation of the all-female Japanese Takarazuka's Chicago as part of the Lincoln Center Festival July 20-24.

Additionally, six-time Tony Award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long will revisit his designs for the show, with new costumes making their debut in time for the official anniversary performance in November.

Featuring classic tunes by John Kander and Fred Ebb, Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart, a nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her crime into a barrage of sensational headlines. The revival is directed by Walter Bobbie.

For tickets and more information, click here.
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Women's Project Theater have extended their coproduction of Martyna Majok's Ironbound through April 24.

The play is described as follows: "At a bus stop in a rundown New Jersey town, Darja, a young Polish immigrant, is done talking about feelings; it's time to talk money. Over the course of 20 years, three relationships, and three presidents, Darja negotiates for her future with men who can offer her love or security, but never both."

The cast is led by Tony nominee Marin Ireland (Kill Floor), alongside Morgan Spector (A View From the Bridge), Josiah Bania (Three Sisters), and Shiloh Fernandez (Red Riding Hood).

The creative team includes set and lighting design by Justin Townsend, costume design by Kaye Voyce, and sound design by Jane Shaw.

For tickets and more information, click here.
2017 Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe Revealed Eve of New York Auto Show







By Henny Hemmes

Senior European Editor

NEW YORK - March 22, 2016: We are getting used to Mercedes-Benz revealing a new model on the eve of a major auto show. This time, it was the Mercedes GLC Coupe that will celebrate its world premiere at the New York International Auto Show.

Chief exterior design Robert Lesnik took off the wraps in front of invited international media. We already had a preview a year ago with the concept version, but now it's the production model that will come on stage.

The GLC Coupe is the more dynamic looking variant of the GLC SUV. Mercedes enters the new segment and wants to beat cars like the BMW X4.

Mr. Lesnik explained that the body parts of the Coupe are different from the SUV from behind the front end. Even the windshield is different: the lower part has the same angle, but upwards it is raked more to meet the 1.6 inches lower roof.

The cars Chief Engineer Michael Kelz told us that the floor panel is identical, except for the rear part, that had to be extended as the Coupe is nearly 3 inches longer than the SUV. The rear seats are 0.4 inches lower to compensate for the lower roof.

The new model comes with the optional sport suspension with dynamic damping or the multi-chamber air suspension, the same as in the new E-Class.

The GLC Coupe will come standard on 18-inch wheels. Ideal will be the 19-inch mix of 235/55 up front and 255/50 in the rear. The show car stands on 20-inch wheels. Good looking indeed!

Please stay tuned for more details after the Coupes debut at the official press conference on Wednesday.

The Most In-Depth Mercedes-Benz Buyer's Research - Anywhere!
Early Wednesday, a series of video clips went viral of comedian Katt Williams first sucker-punching a teenage boy, and then being taken to the ground by the young fella.

Its just the latest in the ongoing Katt Williams saga.A lawsuit was filed against the 44-year-old actor and stand-up comedian last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by Jamila Majesty, who claims that, after she used his private bathroom, Williams became enraged, and assaulted her along with a group of women. The suit alleges Williams slapped [Majesty] several times and punched her in the ribs in addition to beating her with the group of women As a result of the beating [Majesty] suffered broken ribs, split tendons, scarring to her face, and other extreme physical and emotional damage. Majesty is suing Williams for assault, battery, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg. Less than two weeks ago, Williams, who has appeared particularly worse for wear of late, sucker-punched a man onstage at a Beanie Siegel concert in Philadelphia, inciting a brawl that left the comedian on the receiving end of a group beatdown.

Williams, who made a name for himself on the MTV series Wild n Out, for his spirited stand-up comedy performances, and in several films, has a history of trouble with the lawand felonious assault. Back in 2011, Williams and three women assaulted a tractor driver, hurling rocks and wooden sticks at the man. The following year, in separate incidents, Williams was accused of: punching his former assistant, beating an 18-year-old with a bottle on his tour bus, engaging in a bar fight in Seattle, and had four of his children placed in protective custody after the LAPD found numerous guns and illegal drugs in the house that created a safety hazard for the kids, reported TMZ.If that werent enough, Williams is still facing robbery charges stemming from an incident in September 2014 where he and former hip-hop mogul Suge Knight are accused of stealing a female paparazzos camera in Beverly Hills. And just last month, Williams was arrested in Georgia after being accused of punching an employee in a pool supply store. When police arrived, they found Williams outside of the store lying on the ground with his hands behind his back as though he was ready to go to jail, according to Sgt. Kevin Holbrook.
College Station should retain Nantucket subdivision's rural nature

As a homeowner in Nantucket, I'm very concerned about the quality of life in our rural community. At the December College Station City Council meeting, a change of land use was approved for 900 acres between Greens Prairie Road and Arrington Road. This action changed the potential use of this parcel from 675 homes to 2,700 homes.

The city has designated Nantucket's neighborhood streets as minor collectors on its thoroughfare plan. The land use ultimately will have vehicles from the 2,700 new homes off Arrington Road cut through Nantucket. This is in addition to the already over-burdening traffic from Indian Lakes because it has only one entrance/exit onto Arrington.

Nantucket Preserve and lake is a unique natural gem within the city. Our streets are used daily by children, walkers, runners and bikers. On any given day, one can observe an array of wildlife. Nantucket Lake is home for many species of native/migrating water fowl and fish.

Because Nantucket was designed as a neighborhood with a rural/natural feel, the streets lack the infrastructure and safety requirements for a "collector road." There are no sidewalks, shoulders or street lights. All driveways empty directly onto the city-designated collector road (Harpers Ferry). Children live, play, ride bikes and get on the school bus on Harpers Ferry Road. The city's thoroughfare/land use plan change is a significant and real safety issue for all residents of Nantucket.

Residents often are told you can't stop progress. One could offer that progress is subjective. Going from 675 to 2,700 homes may be progress to a Houston developer. Changing an internal neighborhood street to a main cut-through may satisfy the city's thoroughfare plan, but at what cost?

Progress to me is to maintain Nantucket as a safe, tranquil and attractive neighborhood.

MARIE WOLFE

College Station

Why Ben Carson is so wrong in backing Donald Trump

What does it say about an internationally acclaimed and ground-breaking neurosurgeon -- whose oath begins, "First, do no harm " -- that he has endorsed a presidential candidate who pledges to use waterboarding and "much worse" forms of torture in response to ISIS, and who would deny safe haven -- based merely on their religion -- to overseas families facing indiscriminate bombings and the annihilation of their life means?

Former presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson sees nothing wrong in Donald Trump's repudiation of a statement by U.S. intelligence gathererBs that torture simply doesn't work. Early last November, more than 20 of these interrogation specialists -- including former Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates -- admonished all of the then presidential candidates to reject cruelty and torture in any attempt to gain intelligence.

Torture, they wrote, "is counterproductive" because "it tends to produce unreliable information" and "undermines trust in the interrogator and often tempts a detainee to relay false information that he believes the interrogator wants to hear."

Then Trump replied, a few days later, "Only a stupid person would say it doesn't work."

The letter is a pragmatic denunciation of the utility of torture, but primarily we should be morally outraged -- as people and taxpayers -- that we have sanctioned and bankrolled crimes against humanity in order to fight crimes against humanity.

On the asylum point, Trump, willfully ignoring their abject condition, unequivocally pledges to refuse to hear the pleas of destitute, battle weary Muslim asylum-seekers while promising, under threat of torture, to question alleged Muslim extremists about their knowledge of terrorist operations.

And brain surgeon Carson calls these policies "cerebral."

PATRICK A. MANSON

College Station
A mini nuclear bomb is planned. It is known as the B61 Model 12. There has never been anything like it. General James Cartwright, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said, "Going smaller [makes using this nuclear] weapon more thinkable."

In the last 18 months, the greatest build-up of military forces since World War Two - led by the United States - is taking place along Russia's western frontier. Not since Hitler invaded the Soviet Union have foreign troops presented such a demonstrable threat to Russia.

Ukraine - once part of the Soviet Union - has become a CIA theme park. Having orchestrated a coup in Kiev, Washington effectively controls a regime that is next door and hostile to Russia: a regime rotten with Nazis, literally.

Prominent parliamentary figures in Ukraine are the political descendants of the notorious OUN and UPA fascists. They openly praise Hitler and call for the persecution and expulsion of the Russian speaking minority. This is seldom news in the West, or it is inverted to suppress the truth.

In Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - next door to Russia - the US military is deploying combat troops, tanks, heavy weapons. This extreme provocation of the world's second nuclear power is met with silence in the West.

Obama's 'Operation Yellow Peril'

What makes the prospect of nuclear war even more dangerous is a parallel campaign against China.

Seldom a day passes when China is not elevated to the status of a 'threat'. According to Admiral Harry Harris, the US Pacific commander, China is "building a great wall of sand in the South China Sea".

What he is referring to is China building airstrips in the Spratly Islands, which are the subject of a dispute with the Philippines - a dispute without priority until Washington pressured and bribed the government in Manila and the Pentagon launched a propaganda campaign called 'freedom of navigation'.

What does this really mean? It means freedom for American warships to patrol and dominate the coastal waters of China. Try to imagine the American reaction if Chinese warships did the same off the coast of California.

I made a film called The War You Don't See, in which I interviewed distinguished journalists in America and Britain: reporters such as Dan Rather of CBS, Rageh Omar of the BBC, David Rose of the Observer.

All of them said that had journalists and broadcasters done their job and questioned the propaganda that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction; had the lies of George W. Bush and Tony Blair not been amplified and echoed by journalists, the 2003 invasion of Iraq might not have happened, and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children would be alive today.

The propaganda laying the ground for a war against Russia and/or China is no different in principle. To my knowledge, no journalist in the Western 'mainstream' - a Dan Rather equivalent, say - asks why China is building airstrips in the South China Sea.

The answer ought to be glaringly obvious. The United States is encircling China with a network of bases, with ballistic missiles, battle groups, nuclear-armed bombers.

This lethal arc extends from Australia to the islands of the Pacific, the Marianas and the Marshalls and Guam, to the Philippines, Thailand, Okinawa, Korea and across Eurasia to Afghanistan and India. America has hung a noose around the neck of China. This is not news. Silence by media; war by media.

In 2015, in high secrecy, the US and Australia staged the biggest single air-sea military exercise in recent history, known as Talisman Sabre. Its aim was to rehearse an Air-Sea Battle Plan, blocking sea lanes, such as the Straits of Malacca and the Lombok Straits, that cut off China's access to oil, gas and other vital raw materials from the Middle East and Africa.

And now Trump is 'unleashing the dark forces of violence'?

In the circus known as the American presidential campaign, Donald Trump is being presented as a lunatic, a fascist. He is certainly odious; but he is also a media hate figure. That alone should arouse our scepticism.

Trump's views on migration are grotesque, but no more grotesque than those of David Cameron. It is not Trump who is the Great Deporter from the United States, but the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Barack Obama.

According to one prodigious liberal commentator, Trump is "unleashing the dark forces of violence" in the United States. Unleashing them?

This is the country where toddlers shoot their mothers and the police wage a murderous war against black Americans. This is the country that has attacked and sought to overthrow more than 50 governments, many of them democracies, and bombed from Asia to the Middle East, causing the deaths and dispossession of millions of people.

No country can equal this systemic record of violence. Most of America's wars (almost all of them against defenceless countries) have been launched not by Republican presidents but by liberal Democrats: Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama.

In 1947, a series of National Security Council directives described the paramount aim of American foreign policy as "a world substantially made over in [America's] own image". The ideology was messianic Americanism. We were all Americans. Or else. Heretics would be converted, subverted, bribed, smeared or crushed.

Donald Trump is a symptom of this, but he is also a maverick. He says the invasion of Iraq was a crime; he doesn't want to go to war with Russia and China.

'Hillary' - because she's worth it?

The danger to the rest of us is not Trump, but Hillary Clinton. She is no maverick. She embodies the resilience and violence of a system whose vaunted 'exceptionalism' is totalitarian with an occasional liberal face.

As presidential election day draws near, Clinton will be hailed as the first female president, regardless of her crimes and lies - just as Barack Obama was lauded as the first black president and liberals swallowed his nonsense about "hope". And the drool goes on.

Described by the Guardian columnist Owen Jones as "funny, charming, with a coolness that eludes practically every other politician", Obama the other day sent drones to slaughter 150 people in Somalia. He kills people usually on Tuesdays, according to the New York Times, when he is handed a list of candidates for death by drone. So cool.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton threatened to "totally obliterate" Iran with nuclear weapons. As Secretary of State under Obama, she participated in the overthrow of the democratic government of Honduras.

Her contribution to the destruction of Libya in 2011 was almost gleeful. When the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi, was publicly sodomised with a knife - a murder made possible by American logistics - Clinton gloated over his death: "We came, we saw, he died."

One of Clinton's closest allies is Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of State, who has attacked young women for not supporting 'Hillary'. This is the same Madeleine Albright who infamously celebrated on TV the death of half a million Iraqi children as "worth it".

Among Clinton's biggest backers are the Israel lobby and the arms companies that fuel the violence in the Middle East. She and her husband have received a fortune from Wall Street. And yet, she is about to be ordained the women's candidate, to see off the evil Trump, the official demon. Her supporters include distinguished feminists: the likes of Gloria Steinem in the US and Anne Summers in Australia.

How easily we are fooled ...

A generation ago, a post-modern cult now known as 'identity politics' stopped many intelligent, liberal-minded people examining the causes and individuals they supported - such as the fakery of Obama and Clinton; such as bogus progressive movements like Syriza in Greece, which betrayed the people of that country and allied with their enemies.

Self absorption, a kind of 'me-ism', became the new zeitgeist in privileged western societies and signaled the demise of great collective movements against war, social injustice, inequality, racism and sexism.

Today, the long sleep may be over. The young are stirring again. Gradually. The thousands in Britain who supported Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader are part of this awakening - as are those who rallied to support Senator Bernie Sanders.

In Britain last week, Jeremy Corbyn's closest ally, his shadow treasurer John McDonnell, committed a Labour government to pay off the debts of piratical banks and, in effect, to continue so-called austerity.

In the US, Bernie Sanders has promised to support Clinton if or when she's nominated. He, too, has voted for America's use of violence against countries when he thinks it's "right". He says Obama has done "a great job".

In Australia, there is a kind of mortuary politics, in which tedious parliamentary games are played out in the media while refugees and Indigenous people are persecuted and inequality grows, along with the danger of war. The government of Malcolm Turnbull has just announced a so-called defence budget of $195 billion that is a drive to war. There was no debate. Silence.

What has happened to the great tradition of popular direct action, unfettered to parties? Where is the courage, imagination and commitment required to begin the long journey to a better, just and peaceful world? Where are the dissidents in art, film, the theatre, literature?

Where are those who will shatter the silence? Or do we wait until the first nuclear missile is fired?

John Pilger is a writer, documentary film-maker, producer, director, and reporter. In 2003 he was awarded the prestigous Sophie Prize for '30 years of exposing injustice and promoting human rights.' In 2009, he was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize.

This article is an edited version of an address by John Pilger at the University of Sydney, entitled 'A World War Has Begun'. It was originally published on his website.

Follow John Pilger on Twitter@ @johnpilger.
Just during the three-month period prior to Caceres' murder, human rights accompaniers tracked eleven threats and attempted assaults by national and local government officials, police, soldiers, employees of the Agua Zarca dam project which Caceres and others were fighting, and unidentified men.

In addition to that litany within 10 days before Caceres' death, Agua Zarca released two incendiary public email announcements. Their message lines read "THE VIOLENT ACTS" and "FALSEHOODS OF BERTA CACERES - COPINH".

Those who have witnessed the price Caceres has paid for her decades of advocacy have no doubt who is culpable in her murder. Her four grown children and mother stated publicly on March 5,

"We hold the company DESA responsible for the persecution, the criminalization, the stigma, and the constant death threats made against her and our people of COPINH. We also hold the financial and international entities that support the project such as, the Dutch development bank FMO, Finn Fund, BCIE, Ficohsa, and the committed companies CASTOR, and business group ATALA, responsible for her death.

"We hold the Honduran State responsible for having largely impeded the protection of our Bertha and for having favored her persecution, criminalization and assassination by having opted for protecting the company's interests above the decisions and mandates of the community ...



"The ones responsible for her assassination are the business groups in collaboration with the national government, the municipal government and the repressive institutions of the State, who are behind the extractive project that is developing in the region. The funders of these extractive death projects are also responsible for the death of our Bertha and of countless people who struggle against the exploitation of our territories."

Castro's ordeal

Many elements of the government's so-called collection of evidence from Castro have been irregular at best, and illegal at worst.

Beyond being inconvenient for knowing too much, the eyewitness falls into the repressive government's category of public enemy. Like Caceres, Castro has been a vocal opponent of dam construction on indigenous rivers, as well as of the broad powers given transnational corporations and the local elite to plunder democracy and the riches of nature.

Castro is coordinator of the group Otros Mundos / Friends of the Earth Mexico. He has cofounded, and sits on the governing body of, many anti-mining and anti-damming networks, as well as the US-based organization Other Worlds. In his interrogation, the public prosecutor has asked Castro about his environmental organizing and history of activism.

Following the killing in Caceres' home in the town of La Esperanza, Castro was detained for days in the local public prosecutor's office for interrogation. On March 5, having been told the questioning was complete, he was transported by the Mexican ambassador and consul to the airport in Tegucigalpa so that he could return to his homeland.

As he approached the migration checkpoint, Castro was set upon by multiple Honduran police, who attempted to grab him. The Mexican ambassador stopped them.

The government has since forbidden Castro from leaving Honduras for 30 days, or until April 6. When Castro appealed the order, the judge in the case ruled against it, even while admitting that there is no legal provision for a 30-day restraint for witnesses or victims.

The judge also suspended the license of Castro's lawyer, Ivania Galeano, for 15 days. The stated reason was that Galeano had requested a copy of Castro's file which, according to Honduran law, was her right.

Even in the Mexican Embassy, almost three weeks after the killing, Castro continues to be interrogated by the Honduran prosecutor.

Hearing no protest from the US, Honduran Government ramps up repression

The US State Department put out a brief, generic statement of condolence the day after Caceres was assassinated. At the same time, according to email communications, the State Department confirmed that it is cooperating with the Honduran government in the investigation, with various US agencies actively participating in it.

The Obama Administration has failed to raise questions about the Honduran government's role in the murder, given its persistent, well-documented targeting of Caceres over the years, and its transparent attempts at a cover-up by fingering Caceres' close colleagues. US military assistance to the Honduran government continues to flow.

On March 17, 62 US Congressional representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, calling for an independent investigation of the assassination and urging the Secretary to immediately stop US security funding pending a review. Rep. Hank Johnson, co-sponsor of the letter along with Rep. Keith Ellison, said,

"It's time for our government to leverage security assistance and multilateral loans so as to put real and lasting pressure on the Honduran government to protect its activists and pursue those responsible for these hideous crimes."

Meanwhile, the silence from the administration has given the Honduran government a green light for repression.

That repression was aggressively launched on March 15. On that single day, Honduran soldiers and police coordinated assaults against ten activists from four geographic regions and three separate organizations.

Nelson Garcia, a COPINH leader, was assassinated during a violent government eviction of the community of Rio Chiquito.

As stated above, police threatened Sotero Echeverria, member of the COPINH coordinating committee, with arrest.

In the capitol, three hit men shot and wounded Christian Mauricio Alegria, who works with the global peasant movement La Via Campesina. His uncle, Rafael Alegria, is a deputy in the national parliament from the opposition Libre Party, and is former secretary general of La Via Campesina.

Jose Flores, head of the United Movement of the Peasants of the Aguan (MUCA), was temporarily arrested along with family members in the town of Tocoa.

The message was clear to all. No matter where one is or with whom one works, activists are not safe in Honduras.

From the Mexican Embassy on 15th March, Castro sent out a note of condolence and support to the Honduran people. He closed the missive this way: "Soon there will be justice."

Take action here to call for safety for Gustavo Castro and members of COPINH, as well as for a fair, internationally led investigation into Berta Caceres' killing.

Beverly Bell is founder of Other Worlds and more than a dozen international organizations and networks, Beverly is also an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Beverly has worked for more than three decades as an organizer, advocate, and writer in collaboration with social movements in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the US. Her focus areas are just economies; democratic participation; and rights for women, indigenous peoples, and other excluded peoples.

Books by Beverley Bell

This article is Copyleft Beverly Bell. You may reprint this article in whole or in part. Please credit any text or original research you use to Beverly Bell, Other Worlds. It was originally published on Other Worlds.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)  The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky is challenging the censorship of books, magazines, letters and pictures sent to inmates at one state prison because the warden believes they 'promote homosexuality.'

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that William Sharp, the state ACLU's legal director, wrote to Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex warden Kathy Litteral last week, accusing her staff of illegally rejecting mail such as LGBT news magazines not marked sexually explicit.

The ACLU says it found the policy written in an internal memo it obtained through the Open Records Act.

Sharp says safety concerns aren't valid arguments for withholding items that mention homosexuality.

The state's newly appointed corrections commissioner, Rodney Ballard, says he will investigate the matter.

The facility is a medium-security prison for 1,706 men in West Liberty.
DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS U.S. Sen. Rand Paul addresses the attendees of the Kyndle breakfast at the Henderson Fine Arts Center Wednesday morning. Topics included Kentucky coal, the race for president, the U.S. Supreme Court, roads and other issues.

SHARE DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS U.S. Sen. Rand Paul addresses the attendees of the Kyndle breakfast at the Henderson Fine Arts Center Wednesday morning. DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS U.S. Sen. Rand Paul spoke on Kentucky coal, the presidential race, the U.S. Supreme Court and other timely issues at the Kyndle breakfast at the Henderson Fine Arts Center Wednesday morning.

By Beth Smith of The Gleaner

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday the federal government doesn't currently have the funds to build an I-69 bridge over the Ohio River, but he has a plan that could generate what's needed.

Paul spoke during a Kyndle breakfast forum at the Henderson Fine Arts Center, touching on waste in Washington as the main issue keeping the bridge out of financial reach.

While fielding questions from the audience, Henderson County Republican Party Chairman Richard Shoulders broached the subject of the bridge.

"Here, I-69 and a new bridge over the Ohio River is very important to us," he said. "I wondered if you had any hope on the horizon for us to maybe squeeze a little of that money out of Washington to help us get that done."

"The highway fund is about $15 billion short every year," Paul said. "That's the basic problem. The gas tax doesn't bring in as much as our wants are."

While the fund is low on cash, he said, "I've suggested a way to bring more money in for the highway fund, actually by cutting a tax. If you earn your money overseas, such as Apple, which sells a lot of iPhones, iPads overseas. ... If they sell them in France (for instance), they pay about a 20 percent corporate income tax and have profit left over. Well, they won't bring (the profit) home because we charge them 35 percent at the border.

"So we make them pay a full corporate income tax ... so they just don't bring it home," Paul said. "There's $2 trillion worth of American profit overseas. Many (corporations) tell you they want to bring it home. ... What I'd do is lower the tax from 35 percent to 5 percent. I'd leave it there for five years and see what happens."

Paul said he'd take that hypothetical increase in revenue and put it directly into the highway fund.

Henderson County Judge-executive Brad Schneider pointed out that while federal funding was important, it wasn't vital to the project.

"(Shoulders) asked the wrong question," Schneider said later. "Most of the money will come through state government. For the I-69 bridge, Indiana and Kentucky can combine efforts to fund the bridge.

"Extra federal funding would be great but not necessary. (Shoulders) was trying to be supportive, but we don't necessarily need help from federal funding."

Other questions asked of Paul focused on the Republican presidential race. Paul declined to endorse or criticize any of the remaining candidates, saying only "I won't take back anything I've said in the past about any of the candidates, though."

During his campaign Paul was a vocal critic of Donald Trump, questioning whether the businessman is truly conservative.

Paul said he believed a contested party convention would hurt Republicans' chance of regaining the White House, citing a similarity to 1992 when three candidates  President George H.W. Bush, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and independent candidate Ross Perot  were on the ballot.

Paul said he thought Perot siphoned more Republican voters away from Bush than Democratic voters away from Clinton, helping Clinton to be elected.

During his address, Paul repeatedly criticized a U.S. sale of eight fighter jets to Pakistan, saying he'd offered legislation to band the sale of weapons to any country that persecuted Christians.

"How do you define persecuting Christians?" he asked. "If you have the death penalty for converting to Christianity."

Pakistan, he said, falls under that definition. He said when he offered the legislation, "22 Democrats and just a handful of Republicans voted with me."

The rest he said were too focused on nation building.

"Look at who supports (nation building)," he said. "Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and most of the (Senate) Republicans."

"It cost us a trillion dollars to go to war in Iraq," he said. "And as much as I honor the young men and women we sent there and who gave their lives and limbs for us, the politicians screwed up. It was a mistake. ...

"The consensus in Washington is we need to reshape the Middle East into our own image. We're going to have democratic governments over there and they are going to look and act happy like us. They aren't. It's foolish to think that we can inflict our vision of western democracy on them," Paul said. "I think it's a big mistake to continue losing treasure over there. We have to balance our needs at home versus what you want to do abroad."

Gleaner reporter Laura Acchiardo contributed to this report.
West Burlington pool shooting suspect found not guilty

After two days of testimony, the suspect in the shooting at the West Burlington Swimming Pool was found not guilty of all charges.
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TORONTO (AP) -- Rob Ford, the pugnacious, populist former mayor of Toronto whose career crashed in a drug-driven, obscenity-laced debacle, died Tuesday after fighting cancer, his family said. He was 46.

Ford rode into office on a backlash against urban elites. He cast an image sharply at odds with Canada's reputation for sedate, unpretentious politics. His tenure as mayor of the country's largest city was marred by revelations about his drinking problems and illegal drug use. He was repeatedly videotaped and photographed while intoxicated in public.

Nevertheless, he was later elected by a landslide to a city council seat, a job he held until his death.

One after another, his statements and actions as mayor became nightly fodder for TV comedians and an embarrassment to many of the suburbanites he championed. Among the more notable:

-- Knocking over a 63-year-old female city councilor while rushing to the defense of his brother, Councilor Doug Ford, who was insulting spectators in the council chamber.

-- Threatening "murder" in a profane, incoherent rant captured by video.

-- Swearing and slurring his words, calling the police chief a derogatory name and trying to imitate a Jamaican accent in a different video.

But his popularity continued. Even after a scandal broke about Ford's use of crack cocaine, hundreds of people lined up for bobblehead dolls of the mayor, signed by Ford himself. Ford spent countless hours taking pictures with residents eager to be photographed with an international celebrity.

As he sought a second term as mayor in 2014, Ford was diagnosed with a rare cancer just two months before the election date. Malignant liposarcoma in his abdomen forced him to do what months of scandals could not -- drop his bid for re-election. He underwent a series of aggressive chemotherapy treatments.

"With heavy hearts and profound sadness, the Ford family announces the passing of their beloved son, brother, husband, and father, Councillor Rob Ford, earlier today at the age of 46," a statement from his family said Tuesday. "A dedicated man of the people, Councillor Ford spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto."

Current Toronto Mayor John Tory said Ford was a "profoundly human guy" and said "the city is reeling with this news."

"He was a man who spoke his mind and who ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had," Tory said. "I know there are many who were affected by his gregarious nature and approach to public service."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that Ford "fought cancer with courage and determination" and offered condolences to the Ford family.

When Ford was elected mayor in 2010, his bluster was widely known. A plurality of voters backed him, eager to shake things up at a City Hall they viewed as elitist and wasteful. Ford's voter base resided mainly in the outer suburbs, a result of the Conservative provincial government's decision to force liberal Toronto to merge with five of its neighboring municipalities in 1998, creating a mega-city that now has 2.7 million residents.

Ford appealed to conservative-leaning, working-class suburban residents with his populist, common-man touch and with promises to slash spending, cut taxes and end what he called "the war on the car." He first won as mayor by promising to "stop the gravy train" of government spending.

His supporters got perhaps more turmoil than they expected.

The international spotlight fell on Ford in May 2013, when Toronto Star and the U.S. website Gawker reported the existence of a video that appeared to show the mayor inhaling from a crack pipe. He denied the existence of the video but later backtracked when police said they had obtained it. Although he became the subject of a police investigation, Ford was never charged with a crime.

"Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine," Ford told reporters after he stepped off an elevator. "But, no, do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago."

According to police interviews, members of Ford's staff accused the mayor of frequently drinking, driving while intoxicated and making sexual advances toward a female staffer.

Ford drew gasps when he used crude language on live television to deny telling a staffer he wanted to have oral sex. The father of two school-age children said he was "happily married" and that he enjoys enough oral sex at home.

Disgusted city councilors turned their backs on Ford in a council meeting that day. Jon Stewart played the oral sex remark clip that night on the "Daily Show" and yelled, "What? What?! What?! WHAT!? WHAT!?"

Despite immense pressure, Ford refused to resign. The City Council stripped Ford of most of his powers but lacked the authority to force him out of office because he wasn't convicted of a crime.

Ford announced he was entering rehab in April 2014 after newspaper reports detailed three different nights in which the mayor was extremely intoxicated. One report cited a video that appeared to show him again smoking a crack pipe.

Although his cancer ultimately forced him to drop his re-election bid, Ford opted to seek his old City Council seat. It was in the same suburban district where he launched his political career and where his everyman style and conservative fiscal policies first gained a faithful following that became known as Ford Nation. He won his old seat in a landslide. His brother Doug replaced him on the ballot for mayor but lost.

The youngest of four children, Rob Ford grew up in a palatial home in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. He dropped out of university after a year and worked at the family business.

Ford mayor met his wife, Renata, in high school, and they were married in 2000. One of Renata Ford's few forays into the media spotlight came in 2008 after a widely reported domestic dispute with her husband. Rob Ford was charged with assault and threatening death, but prosecutors withdrew the charges, citing inconsistencies in Renata Ford's statements.

Ford is survived by his wife and two children, Stephanie and Doug.
ATLANTA (AP) -- The parents of a teenager who hanged himself in his cell at a juvenile detention center in Atlanta have settled a federal civil rights lawsuit they filed after his death.

Denise Butler and Jimmy Davidson filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in December saying their son, who was identified only as J.D., was mistreated and kept in deplorable conditions. The suit named Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Avery Niles and 16 other people who were employed by the department at the time of the teen's death, including detention center staff.

Court records show they dismissed the lawsuit Monday. Their lawyers, Eric Fredrickson and Matt Harman, said a settlement agreement was reached, but declined to release the amount of the settlement, citing their clients' privacy.

Nick Genesi, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, which represented the state employees, said the settlement was for $1.7 million.

"Nothing can bring their son back, but our clients are relieved to put this step in their grieving process behind them," Harman said by telephone.

The lawsuit had accused detention center staff of regularly locking the 14-year-old in solitary confinement and not allowing him the required amount of exercise, education or showers. When he began to resist confinement, officers slammed his hand in cell doors, causing severe injuries, the suit said.

He had been labeled a suicide risk when he arrived at the detention center in February 2015 and had tried to kill himself and threatened suicide one other time between March 10 and April 5, 2015, when he hanged himself in his cell using his jumpsuit, the lawsuit said.

J.D. told a juvenile correction officer and other detainees on the morning of his death that he was going to kill himself. The officer ignored warnings and didn't check on J.D. when other detainees said he was taking steps to kill himself, the lawsuit said. The officer also waited 20 minutes before going to the teen's cell when he learned J.D. was hanging from the ceiling, the lawsuit said.

A Department of Juvenile Justice investigation found the officer committed child neglect by failing to intervene. He and a dozen others also committed employee misconduct, according to the investigative report, which was filed along with the lawsuit. The officer and a nurse were fired, and two other detention center employees were demoted as a result of the teen's death, the lawsuit says.

The officer told investigators he wasn't able to check on J.D. because he couldn't leave a group of detainees alone in another room. The Department of Juvenile Justice has failed to ensure adequate staffing at many of its detention centers, meaning there's a lack of adequate supervision or services, the lawsuit said.

___

This story has been edited to clarify that the lawsuit named Department of Juvenile Justice employees, not the department itself.
NORWALK  The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) rallied together chanting Do the right thing! to fight for better wages, better benefits and respect on Tuesday afternoon outside of Shop & Stop, located at 380 Main Ave. Special guests included Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Christopher Murphy.

The employee contracts expired in February and now the union representatives are trying to negotiate new contracts that improve the pay. Contract negotiations have been taking place in Providence, R.I. and the lack of results has led to numerous rallies held around New England  including Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Ive been in Providence now for two and a half months, and for the first month and a half to two months, (corporate) did absolutely nothing, said Joe Jeremy, one of UFCWs negotiating committees members. Everyday we would make proposals to try to do things better for our members  raises, better pensions, more vacation ... Whatever we can do to make the lives of our members better, they are not interested.

The proposed cuts include cutting pension benefits by half, eliminating the meat cutters, and capping the wages on new members. Under the proposed new wage cap, it would take a new full-time employee 48 months to get paid $16 an hour, and once they hit the $18 mark, they will no longer be able to earn a raise.

Shouldnt Stop & Shop live up to what its customers want? Blumenthal asked the crowd. I recognize that the folks abroad who have taken over a lot of the American supermarket industry may not be able to hear us directly here, no matter how loud we shout, no matter how vocal we are  maybe they dont hear us in the Netherlands. But I guarantee you, we are hearing you here in America.

Stop & Shops parent company, Netherlands-based food retailer Ahold, announced profits for 2015 of over $1.4 billion. Last week, Ahold and Delhaize, Belgium-based food retailer, shareholders approved the merger of their companies for later this year. Ahold shareholders will receive a payout of more than $1 billion prior to the closing of the merger.

Everyone here (at the rally) knows my name. Stop & Shop knows my name. Stop & Shop needs to know your name, Juliette Sabo said at the rally, executive board member at UFCW 919, based in Farmington. They need to know every single associates name in every single store across New England ... 35,000 Stop & Shop associates are fighting, fighting together ... for a fair and decent contract from Stop & Shop.

The next rally will be held on March 23 in East Hartford.

Stop & Shops proposal show that the company no longer has the same consideration for its employees as it once did, said Ronald Petronella, Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW Local 371. Our members are only asking for their fair share of the success their hard work has built.
NORWALK  Residents blasted Mayor Harry W. Rilling and Common Council Democrats on Tuesday evening for tabling action on a controversial zip-line plan for Cranbury Park without first allowing them to speak against it.

Mr. Simms did a great job to deflect and defer everything, to turn around now, for them to get all their information to make a decision amongst themselves, and then, when we come back, theyre not even going to care what we have to say, said Tom Gabriele, one of about two-dozen residents who had signed up to speak.

Following roll call, Councilman John E. Igneri, a District E Democrat, moved to suspend the council rules to address the zip line at the beginning of the meeting. The item had been near the end of the agenda.

Shortly afterward, Councilman Travis L. Simms, a District B Democrat who chairs the councils Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee, moved to table action on the proposed contract with Go Ape! Treetop Adventure of Frederick, Maryland, until Sept. 13.

Both motions passed on 10-4 votes with the councils four Republicans voting No.

Residents opposed to the zip line left the council chambers shouting at council members.

Discuss it! We vote for you! Discuss the issue! said one man leaving the chambers. Im leaving. Bureaucracy at its best!

Councilman Richard J. Bonenfant, an at-large Republican, concluded that residents had wasted their night coming out to City Hall.

Former Councilwoman Anna K. Duleep leveled the strongest criticism against how the matter was handled.

If you were planning  that you were going to table this, you could have waited until after public participation for people to speak, Duleep said.

Rilling, a Democrat, said the zip-line plan was tabled because council members did not have enough information  to make a decision about the proposal. He apologized for any inconvenience caused to residents.

Councilman Douglas E. Hempstead, an at-large Republican, disagreed with Corporation Counsel Mario F. Coppolas opinion that removal of the zip-line plan from the council agenda precluded residents from discussing it.

Even though it was tabled, its still on the agenda, Hempstead said.

Said Coppola: Its no longer on the agenda. It was on the printed version.

Igneri told residents that the council will have a public hearing on the zip-line plan before it is returned to the council for consideration.

Council Democrats reject that all residents were unaware of the intent to table action.

The Hour reported earlier Tuesday, based on Rillings statements, that the plan most likely would be tabled.

Councilman Michael DePalma, a District D Democrat, said he informed Cranbury Preservation Association (CPA) members via email Monday evening that the zip-line plan would be tabled Tuesday evening.

I reached out to members of CPA and let them know, DePalma told The Hour. They wrote back immediately and said, Thank you. So they definitely received it and they said they would spread the word.

Under the plan, Go Ape! Treetop Adventure of Frederick, Maryland, would build and operate a Rope Zip Line Course at the south end of Cranbury Park in the area of the new pavilion and bunkhouse.

The plan has met a firestorm of opposition from neighbors and members of the newly formed CPA, who maintain a zip-line course would commercialize public property and bring noise and traffic to Cranbury Park.

According to Go Ape!, the zip-line users would not be heard outside of the immediate course area and the course would not impact existing park usage.

On Tuesday evening, zip-line opponents bought signs to the council chambers reading, No Ape! In Cranbury Park, Say No To The Zip Line and Snip the Zip Line.

Passions flared before the meeting began when one man, who refused to identify himself, was removed from the council chambers and tore up several signs reading "Yes!" in support of the zip line.

"Someone call security!" said Michael G. Mushak, who placed the signs. "This is unbelievable. Just give me my signs back. You just took down something I put there."

Several police officers were called to City Hall and stood by at the meeting to ensure the peace.
STAMFORD  The death of a 25-year-old Stamford man who was allegedly shot and killed by police Monday night has been ruled a suicide, the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner said Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the office said the cause of Dylan Pape's death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

State police are investigating the incident as a police-involved shooting. The discrepancy between the police's account and the medical examiner's ruling was not immediately clear.

The incident is currently under investigation as a police-involved shooting, said Connecticut State Police spokesperson Trooper Kelly Grant.

Police say they received a disturbance call at 7:41 p.m. saying that a resident of 119 Wedgemere Road, had a gun and was threatening harm. In response, Stamford police dispatched patrol officers to set up a perimeter and begin a dialogue with Pape. The departments Special Response Team (SRT), along with hostage negotiators and a K-9 unit, was later brought onto the scene.

About an hour into the incident, Pape appeared to have wielded a gun towards police, which resulted in two SRT members  Lt. Christopher Baker and Sgt. Steven Perrotta, 16- and 12-year veterans of the police force respectively  discharging their duty-firearms and striking the male.

Additional Stamford officers and emergency medical services arrived on scene after the shooting and provided medical care to the wounded suspect. EMS transported the male suspect to a local hospital for further evaluation of his injuries where he was later pronounced deceased.

Today is a sad day in our community. Any loss of life, no matter the circumstance, is tragic for all involved. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and our police officers, said Mayor David Martin.

Connecticut State Police say that detectives from their Western District Major Crime are actively investigating the shooting. Both officers involved, who have yet to be named, have been placed on modified duty, per the Stamford Police department shooting policy, during the course of the investigation.

State police also say that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has been notified and will assist in the investigation, in which they will conduct a post-mortem examination to determine the cause and manner of death.

In light of the event, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Connecticut released the following statement calling for tightened oversight of the use of SWAT teams in Connecticut.

We do not know what happened to Dylan Pape, and we have no assurances, under Connecticut law, that we ever will. This is sadly not the first time that a SWAT unit has killed someone in a Connecticut home. Connecticut residents need and deserve transparency about how, when and why police use SWAT units, said David McGuire, the legislative and policy director for the ACLU of Connecticut. In 2016, it is unconscionable that a highly militarized police unit can barge into someones home, use lethal force and face no requirement to explain itself. Yet this is precisely the situation in which we find ourselves today. Right now, there are no laws requiring SWAT team oversight or reporting in Connecticut. We call on the legislature to pass legislation to provide comprehensive, clear SWAT team reporting and oversight.

A 25-year-old man was shot and killed by police on Monday night, after a 911 call from Wedgemere Road led to a response from the Stamford SWAT team.

State police identified the deceased as Dylan Pape of 119 Wedgemere Road.

Police say they received a disturbance call at 7:41 p.m., at which point they dispatched patrol officers.

The department's SWAT team, along with hostage negotiators, was later brought onto the scene.

About an hour into the incident, Pape appeared to have wielded a gun towards police, which resulted in at least one Stamford officer discharging his firearm and striking Pape.

Additional Stamford officers and emergency medical services arrived on scene after the shooting and provided medical care to Pape.

EMS transported Pape to a local hospital for further evaluation of his injuries, but he was later pronounced deceased.

Connecticut State Police say that detectives from their Western District Major Crime are actively investigating the shooting.

State police say that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has been notified and will assist in the investigation, in which they will conduct a postmortem examination to determine the cause and manner of Pape's death.
NORWALK -- Residents shared their thoughts and concerns with extending the ciity's mayoral term and other issues at the Norwalk Charter Revision Commission's second public hearing at City Hall on Tuesday evening.

"I want to underscore tonight how hard this group has been working to gather information and to listen to each of you," said William F. Fitzgerald, Charter Revision Commission chairman. "As chairman, my understanding of what our responsibilites entail is to explore ways to create the best possible systems for electing our mayor, council members, Board of Education members and Town Clerk."

About 10 people spoke at the hearing and were limited to three minutes each.

Karen Doyle Lyons, a Norwalk resident, offered advice to the commission based on her own past experiences where she served on the Common Council.

"I have seen charter revisions before, I have seen questions on the ballot (and) I would advise that you don't put too many questions on the ballot because the electors will not review them," said Doyle Lyons. "I am in agreement that the mayor and town clerk should be four years ... All of the six large cities (in Connecticut) are four-year terms ..."

The commission has also been assigned to investigate extending the terms of council members, town clerk and other city officials to four years, adjusting Board of Education elections to correspond with any changes, and removing references to selectman, city treasurer and sheriff, as well as council members' salaries, from the charter.

"I support the four-year term for mayor, but believe there needs to be clear wording on the 2016 ballot, regarding the election cycle year in which a potential term change would take effect," said Lisa Thomson, a Rowayton resident. "Omitting the year from the ballot wording potentially deceives or confuses voters. In interest of nonpartisan fairness, another consideration would be to not give unfair advantage to an incumbent mayor and make the change effecting in 2019."

Andy Conroy, a Rowayton resident, recommended sliding the implementation of the extended mayoral term to 2019, although he did not feel it was absolutely necessary. But, he had disagreed with doing the same for the Common Council members.

"I don't want them sitting comfortable for four years when a raging issue arises in their first year and they hope they wait it out," said Conroy.

About ten people spoke at the hearing and most were in favor of the proposed four-year mayoral term. However, much of the comments and concerns made to the commission were about issues with Norwalk's Planning and Zoning, which the commission made aware that they understand the Planning and Zoning issues, but they need to focus on one thing at a time.

"We are sprinting towards the endzone right now,"said Fitzgerald. "If the council comes back and says 'we want you to address this'... we will do it, but we have to do it right."

Mike Barbis, a Rowayton resident and on the Board of Education, helped to relay the time constraints the commission is under.

"I will say, knowing a bunch of people on the councils, they did not want to overload this. They wanted to keep it simple and make sure we get through (it)," said Barbis. "Their argument was, and I'm not saying they're right or wrong, if they added Planning and Zoning and other issues in there, it would never get anywhere."

The Norwalk Charter Revision Commission is required to submit their report by April 5.

Residents who wish to send the commission letters and information, must send it to the commission by Monday, March 28.

Letters should be sent to the Norwalk Corporation Counsel's Office, attention Legal Secretary Barbara B. Tiscia, Room 237 of Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Ave., Norwalk, CT, 06851-5125.
STAMFORD  A school district in rebuilding mode has finally selected a new leader going forward.

Earl Kim was named superintendent of Stamford Public Schools Tuesday. The appointment concludes a five-month national search to find a permanent successor for former schools chief Winnie Hamilton, who retired last December.

"It's a privilege to be coming to Stamford," said Kim during a meeting with reporters at Ferguson Library Tuesday.

"It's a flourishing community that has great strength in the diversity of the community. Its schools are really second-to-none and there's some really exciting programs going on in the schools. It's great to be a part of it and to build on the foundation that the educators, board members and community members who've gone before me have established," he said.

Kim, who begins in Stamford on July 1, is currently Head of School for the Kamehameha Schools Kapalama in Honolulu, Hawaii. He comes to Stamford with nine years of superintendent experience in two New Jersey school districts.

He was selected after a nationwide search by executive search firm, Hazard, Young and Attea and Associates. Last October, the search firm began its search, conducting 17 focus groups with community stakeholders to identify the desired leadership qualities for the next superintendent.

"This was a process that took place over many, many months. It was a careful thoughtful process," said Geoff Alswanger, president of the Stamford Board of Education.

Out of 25 applicants, eight were presented to the school board as viable candidates, according to Alswanger. Board of Education members interviewed six candidates and selected three finalists for a second round of in-depth interviews. Kim emerged as the sole candidate for the post.

Alswanger said the board conducted an extensive background check on Kim, which included phone calls to teachers, administrators and school board members that worked with him.

"We couldn't have been more thrilled with the feedback that we continue to get, which just validated everything we all felt during the interview process," said Alswanger.

"The board agrees that Mr. Kim brings exactly the right mix of leadership, analytical and process skills, as well as the experience and collaborative approach necessary to successfully lead our district in coming years."

"Mr. Kim has a proven record as a strong advocate for children and high academic excellence," added Stamford Mayor David Martin. "I am confident that Mr. Kim's background and prior experience with diverse school districts and children will allow our district to thrive and grow. His passion and belief that all students can succeed no matter their background is compelling and important in a diverse district like Stamford.

Kim holds a bachelor's degree in history from Cornell University and a Master of Public Affairs for Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson of Public and International Affairs.

A native of Hawaii, he served four years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Kim was superintendent of Verona Township (N.J.) for five years and later became superintendent of Montgomery Township, a position he held for four years.

He is a founding member of the New Jersey Network of Superintendents, and has received a number of awards including New Jersey Principal of the Year and the New Jersey School Boards Association School Leader Award.

Kim, a married father of two, plans to reside in Stamford with his family.

During his short trip to Stamford this week, he met with the school district's senior leadership Tuesday, followed by a meeting with school principals Wednesday.

"Once on the ground July 1, I will have a formal entry plan, which will undoubtedly involve a lot of listening," Kim said. He plans to hold listening sessions to hear some of the concerns firsthand.
Monet rahapelien ystavat ovat viime vuosina loytaneet netticasinot ja olleet ihmeissaan. Verrattuna kotimaisen Veikkauksen kivijalkarahapeleihin puhutaan aivan eri tason palautusprosenteista ja lisaksi pelaaminen on aarimmaisen helppoa ja turvallista. Netticasinoiden maara on tana paivana todella suuri ja niita loytyy jokaiseen lahtoon, suurin ongelma aloittelevalla pelaajalla onkin tehda valinta siita, minka netticasinon valitsee. Kaikkien netticasinoiden mainospuheet naet lupaavat kauniita asioita ja niiden lapinakeminen on tietysti tarkeaa. Nyrkkisaantona voidaan kuitenkin jo kattelyssa todeta, etta jos valitsemasi netticasino on lisensoitu ETA-alueella, sen kanssa ei tule olemaan ongelmia, ellei niita itse jarjesta. Kay tutustumassa parhaisiin netticasinoihin osoitteessa www.ilmaiskierroksia.info!

Ensimmainen nyrkkisaanto on siis varmistaa, etta valitsemallasi netticasinolla on ETA-alueen lisenssi. Suurimmassa osassa tapauksista se on Maltan eli MGA:n lisenssi. Myos Viron, Englannin ja Gibraltarin lisensseja nakyy ja naissa valvonta on jopa Maltaa tiukempaa. Lopputulema on kuitenkin se, etta ETA-alueen lisenssi takaa suomalaisille verovapaat voitot seka sen, etta niita valvotaan kontrolloidusti. Maailmalla on iso nippu Curacaon lisenssilla toimivia netticasinoita ja niistakin suurin osa on laadukkaita. Ne eivat kuitenkaan ole suomalaisille asiakkaille verovapaita, joten emme suosittele niita.

Tana paivana markkinoille on ilmaantunut paljon ETA-alueella toimiva netticasinoita ilman rekisteroitymista. Jos tarkoitus on vain pelata yksittaisia pelikertoja, on varsin helppo suositella naita. Netticasinot ilman rekisteroitymista tarjoavat palvelun tunnistautumisen verkkopankin avainlukulistan avulla ja saman palvelun kautta tapahtuvat talletukset ja mahdolliset voittojen nostot silmanrapayksessa. Normaaleihin netticasinoihin pitaa asiakkaan rekisteroitya, tehda talletukset ja tunnistautua dokumenttien avulla. Tama on lisenssiehtojen mukainen kaytanto, eika kovinkaan monimutkainen, mutta silti monet asiakkaat haluavat yksinkertaista ja nopeaa palvelua. Toki normaalit netticasinot tarjoavat usein asiakkailleen laadukkaita talletusbonuksia ja erilaisia kampanjoita, joten kannattaa tarkkaan punnita, kumman ratkaisun valitsee. Kannattaa myos muistaa, etta tunnistautuminen tehdaan vain kerran, joten mikaan jatkuva riippakivi se ei ole.

Suomalaiset asiakkaat ovat netticasinoille tarkeita, joten kaikilla vahankin laadukkailla netticasinoilla on suomenkieliset sivut seka suomenkielinen asiakaspalvelu  suomenkielisyys kannattaakin ottaa netticasinoa valittaessa nyrkkisaannoksi. Vaikka tana paivana englanninkielisyys on harvoille ongelma, on suomenkielisten netticasinoiden maara niin valtava, etta suosittelemme niiden kayttoa. Rahansiirrot ovat tana paivana niin hyvassa mallissa, etta niiden kanssa tuskin tulee mitaan ongelmia. Kolme tarkeinta segmenttia: Suomalaiset verkkopankit, luottokortit (Visa, Mastercard) seka nettilompakot (Skrill, Neteller) loytyvat jokaisesta laadukkaasta netticasinosta. Viime vuosien trendiksi noussut verkkokauppa on kehittanyt rahansiirrot niin laadukkaiksi ja nopeiksi, etta niiden suhteen ei ole enaa vuosiin ollut ongelmia. Luonnollisesti netticasinot kayttavat naita samoja palveluita ja hyotyvat kehityksesta.

Naiden isojen linjojen jalkeen netticasinon valintaan vaikuttavat luonnollisesti tarjottavat tervetuliaisbonukset  uudet asiakkaat saavat tana paivana kovan kilpailun myota merkittavia etuja netticasinoilta ja niita kannattaa luonnollisesti vertailla. Erilaiset talletusbonukset, ilmaiskierrokset seka ilmaiset pelirahat tuovat suuriakin rahanarvoisia etuja ja niiden vertailu on ehdottomasti kannattavaa. Myoskaan useampien tilien avaaminen ja tervetuliaistarjousten kayttaminen ei missaan nimessa ole huono idea.

Kun edella mainitut asiat ovat mieleisia ja vaihtoehtoja on vielakin jaljella, mennaan jo nyansseihin. Toki pelivalikoima on yksi kriteeri, mutta taman paivan netticasinoissa tamakin asia on paasaantoisesti varsin samanlainen. Toki useamman samantasoisen netticasinon vertailussa kannattaa yleensa valita se, jossa on eniten peleja tarjolla. Vaikka omat suosikit loytyisivatkin useammasta, voi tulevaisuudessa mielenkiinto nousta joihinkin muihin peleihin ja silloin on tietysti mukavampaa, etta ne loytyvat valikoimista. Viimeisena voidaan nostaa esiin kaytettavyys  joidenkin netticasinoiden sivut ovat vilkkuvia, valkkyvia ja epakaytannollisia. Omaan silmaan ja kaytettavyyteen sopiva sivusto on luonnollisesti aina se paras valinta. Tarjonta netticasinoissa on tana paivana valtava ja jokaiselle loytyy varmasti se oma netticasino  onnea matkaan!
Gelato, smoothies, pizza and more: Check out the newest in Bucks' eats

These new Bucks County dining spots are serving up everything from gelato, pastries and pizza to green smoothies, cold-pressed juices and acai bowls.
For the Intelligencer

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students networked and discussed potential job opportunities with representatives from more than 150 major companies during three career fairs held on campus March 1-3.

SIUE is our best producing relationship for our college campus recruiting, said J.R. Maxfield, lead talent acquisition specialist with Enterprise Holdings and SIUE School of Business alum. Were recruiting software engineers for our information technology department in St. Louis, and were also looking for interns for next years class.
After 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, OFallon resident Dwight Dettmann was ready for a change. With the help of the Illinois Metro East Small Development Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he made the transformation from a trained expert in information security to small business owner by launching his own handyman business.

Bright Ideas & More, LLC, incorporated in November 2015, provides home improvement services, including installation of ceiling fans and light fixtures, minor electrical work, fence and deck repairs. According to his wife Sara, Dettmans transition into tackling other peoples home repairs was a natural one.

Dwight is very meticulous and honest, she said. His Air Force background ensures clients that he is ethical, and hes talented to boot. Before he decided to seek this out as a new profession, we had found a flaw in the stairs leading off our deck. Dwight completely rebuilt them.

As part of his preparation, Dettmann completed a 15-month electricians training program and waited patiently for months to join forces with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. It was during that period that he decided to open his business.

Dettmann sought the expertise of Jo Ann DiMaggio May, small business specialist with the Metro East SBDC, after attending last summers Boots to Business workshop for retiring and transitioning military personnel at Scott Air Force Base. May worked with him to fine-tune his business plan, obtain relevant market demographics, create marketing strategies, and build networking connections to promote his handyman business.

I was grateful to receive Jo Anns expertise, said Dettmann. She has continued to touch base and offer relevant, usable information to enhance my business plan and grow my company. I look forward to reconnecting with her from time to time to benefit from additional one-on-one business assistance. She has been phenomenal.

May said Dettmann has been easy to work with, because of his military discipline, drive and attention to detail. Dwight is truly passionate and committed to his craft, May said. He is highly receptive to SBDC assistance, and I look forward to our continued working relationship.

Bright Ideas & More can be contacted at 618-795-2933.

The Metro East SBDC assists new companies like Bright Ideas & More, LLC as well as existing businesses headquartered in the nine-county Metro East region of Calhoun, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Clinton, St. Clair, Washington, Monroe and Randolph. It is a no-cost service to the community supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

By aiding entrepreneurs and companies in defining their path to success, the SBDC network positively impacts the Metro East by strengthening the business community, creating and retaining jobs and encouraging capital investment. It enhances the regions economic interests by providing one-stop assistance to individuals by means of counseling, training, research and advocacy for new ventures and existing small businesses. When appropriate, the SBDC strives to affiliate its ties to the region to support the goals and objectives of both the SIUE School of Business and the University at large. To learn how the SBDC can help your small business, contact the Metro East SBDC at (618) 650-2929 or sbdcedw@gmail.com.

SIUEs School of Business and the accountancy programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. The Princeton Review lists SIUE as one of the top 295 business schools in the U.S. for the 10th-consecutive year. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered in accounting, computer management and information systems, economics, finance, management and marketing. More than 20,000 alumni have earned degrees from the SIUE School of Business. For more information about the School of Business, visit siue.edu/business.
Dr. Agnes Scoville, winner of last years Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Metro East Start-Up Challenge, was selected from more than 200 companies across the United States as a finalist in the U.S. Small Business Administrations (SBA) 2016 InnovateHER Business Challenge.

InnovateHER, a national business plan competition organized by SBA and sponsored by Microsoft, was created to unearth innovative products and services that impact and empower the lives of women and families. Scoville will compete with nine other national finalists for $70,000 in prizes on Thursday, March 17 in Washington, D.C. as part of the 2016 Innovating for Women Business Summit.

Scoville, along with her husband and business partner Anson, created Scoville & Co. to produce the award-winning product, Pacidose, which allows medication to be accurately dosed and delivered to infants via a soft pacifier nipple. She first recognized the need for this product as an emergency room doctor and perfected the idea with her own child.

For the last 16 years, Ive been taking care of kids in the emergency room and now my own, Scoville said. Thats where the inspiration for this device came from, because its extremely difficult and stressful to give infants medicine.

Scoville was made aware of InnovateHER through its relationship with the Illinois Metro East Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at SIUE. The SBDC at SIUE had organized four host organizations for competition in the St. Louis region with each to nominate a local winner. Scoville & Co. won the competition held by the Arch Grants organization and was also one of its $50,000 award recipients in 2015.

Ben Burke, director of entrepreneurship at Arch Grants, praised Scoville for her expertise and ingenuity.

As an emergency room physician, Dr. Agnes Scoville has been in a unique position to see some of the most pressing needs in the healthcare system, Burke said. She is working hard to bring innovative products and technologies into the home, and to further cement Greater St. Louis as a region pioneering new solutions in healthcare.

According to Scoville, Pacidose is only the first in a line of innovative products to be launched by her company. I am hoping that by progressing to the final phase of this competition, I will make connections on a national scale, she said. Im grateful to the Illinois Metro East SBDC for giving me the opportunity to continue marketing my product.

Patrick McKeehan, director of the Illinois Metro East SBDC, says InnovateHER - much like the SBDCs own Metro East Start-Up Challenge - seeks to recognize genius business concepts, while connecting entrepreneurs and new startups to the right resources and support. In the case of Scoville & Co., those resources have included using co-working space in Bellevilles Peer 151.

My staff and I are honored to work with and share our knowledge with entrepreneurs like Agnes and Anson, said McKeehan. We look forward to seeing an exciting St. Louis startup compete on a national stage.

The Metro East SBDC assists start-up ventures like Scoville & Co., as well as existing businesses headquartered in the nine-county Metro East region of Calhoun, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Clinton, St. Clair, Washington, Monroe and Randolph. It is a service to the community supported by the SBA.

By aiding entrepreneurs and companies in defining their path to success, the Illinois SBDC Network positively impacts the Metro East by strengthening the business community, creating and retaining new jobs and encouraging new investment. It enhances the regions economic interests by providing no-cost, one-stop assistance to individuals by means of counseling, connections, research and resources to small businesses. When appropriate, the SBDC strives to affiliate its ties to the region to support the goals and objectives of both the SIUE School of Business and the University at large.

To learn how the SBDC can help your small business, contact the Metro East SBDC at (618) 650-2929 or sbdcedw@gmail.com.

SIUEs School of Business and the accountancy programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. The Princeton Review lists SIUE as one of the top 295 business schools in the U.S. for the 10th-consecutive year. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered in accounting, computer management and information systems, economics, finance, management and marketing. More than 20,000 alumni have earned degrees from the SIUE School of Business. For more information about the School of Business, visit siue.edu/business.
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Linkedin Jeff Karoub (The Jakarta Post) Dearborn, Mich., United States  Wed, March 23, 2016

Some American Muslims feel they are once again on the defensive following presidential candidate Ted Cruz's suggestion that Muslim-dominated neighborhoods should be subject to increased surveillance in the wake of the deadly attacks in Brussels claimed by the Islamic State militant group.

"We're targeted even if it's not our fault," said Omar Ghanim, 23, eating Lebanese pizza Tuesday at a suburban strip mall in Orange County's Little Arabia neighborhood, just miles from Disneyland in California.

Ghanim said Islamic State doesn't represent his faith.

"They don't follow the Islamic rules or anything Islam," he said. "We're a peaceful people ' we're not violent."

Cruz said Tuesday that law enforcement should be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." Echoing earlier statements from rival Donald Trump, Cruz also said the US should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence. IS claimed responsibility for the attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens Tuesday and wounded many more.

Muslims across the county and groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Anti-Defamation League condemned Cruz's statements, but many said his reaction was nothing new. Advocacy groups have said for months that the Islamic extremist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino and the intensifying rhetoric in the presidential campaign have ratcheted up animosity against American Muslims.

"We believe we are part of the society. We have the same ideology as mainstream Americans," said Osman Ahmed, a resident of a Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis. "I don't think the ideology of surveillance of a Muslim community neighborhood is the right thing to do. That will send a message that Muslim Americans are not a part of American society ... and that's the message that terrorism groups are willing to hear."

Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the US praised Cruz's plan as a "good idea" that he supports "100 percent" in an interview with CNN. The Republican front-runner also intensified his past calls for the US to engage in harsher interrogation techniques, arguing that Belgium could have prevented the bombings had it tortured a suspect in last year's Paris attacks who was arrested last week.

Speaking Tuesday afternoon in New York, Cruz praised the city's police department's former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods, called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

"New Yorkers want a safe and secure America," Cruz said. "New Yorkers saw firsthand the tragic consequences of radical Islamic terrorism."

After the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to cultivate informants and conduct surveillance in Muslim communities. In a series of articles, The Associated Press revealed the intelligence division had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and investigated hundreds. The program was disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the call for surveillance, saying it sends "an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation."

The Anti-Defamation League, a US group that battles anti-Semitism worldwide, said Cruz's plan harkens back to the relocation of Japanese-Americans to internment camps during World War II.

Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, said she fears for armed groups "who are emboldened by the commentary from people like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump."

"What's scaring me more is the kind of potential fueling of these vigilantes and people who might want to take up arms and go patrol Muslim neighborhoods," she said.

The Detroit suburb of Dearborn is widely known as the hometown of Henry Ford, who hired Arabs and Muslims in the early days of the Ford Motor Co. and helped create what is now one of the nation's largest and most concentrated communities of residents who trace their roots to the Middle East.

Kebba Kah, a 46-year-old Ford employee who was entering a mosque in Dearborn for evening prayers Tuesday, said the bombings in Brussels were "a very terrible thing," and insisting such attacks are roundly rejected by all Muslims save for "a few radical groups."

___

Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus in Anaheim, California; Vivian Salama, Jill Colvin, Steve Peoples, Ken Thomas, Lisa Lerer and Alan Fram in Washington; Jonathan Lemire and Deepti Hajela in New York; and Steve Karnowski and Amy Forliti in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Romauli Panggabean (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Amid the backdrop of global economic turbulence, the Indonesian economy grew by 4.79 percent in 2015, exceeding projections from the majority of economists. The figure, however, still marks the lowest point over the last five years.



One of main reasons for this was the end of the commodity price boom, which slowed down exports and tax revenues from products such as coal, oil and crude palm oil (CPO). This has also directly affected regions that have been relying on the export of raw materials and mining commodities to support their local economy. Among those whose economic growth suffered the most last year are East Kalimantan (-0.85 percent), Aceh (-0.72 percent) and Riau (0.22 percent).



In general, provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan were among those hardest hit by last year's economic downturn. Slow economic growth in the two regions dragged down Indonesian economic growth, as the two regions account for 31 percent of the national economy, collectively being the largest contributor to Indonesia's GDP after Java.



Despite the sluggish trend, it is interesting to learn that not all islands experienced economic slowdown last year. Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua saw their respective economy grew by above the national figure. Java, the country's most populated island, grew by 5.85 percent, Bali and Nusa Tenggara by 10.29 percent, Sulawesi by 8.18 percent and Maluku and Papua by 6.62 percent.



Among those islands, Sulawesi is an outstanding case. Despite its long-standing dependency on commodity exports, the island, which comprises six provinces, managed to maintain economic growth by a healthy margin in 2015. South Sulawesi saw its economy grew by 7.15 percent last year, West Sulawesi by 7.37 percent, Central Sulawesi by 15.1 percent, Southeast Sulawesi by 6.88 percent, Gorontalo by 6.23 percent and North Sulawesi by 6.12 percent. It was an extraordinary achievement, since the majority of other provinces with commodity-based economies were bogged down by the decline in commodity prices.



A thorough analysis on Sulawesi's economic performance reveals a number of distinct characteristics of the six provinces. Those characteristics are somehow intertwined with one another and establish a solid foundation of high economic performance. First, most provinces are agriculture-based, with around 30 percent to 40 percent of GDP coming from the agriculture sector. Second, the mining-and-quarrying sector in the region outpaced the national average. Third, those provinces have seen many ongoing infrastructure projects that contributed significantly to the region's economy.



The agriculture sector still plays the key role in supporting the local economy in all parts of Sulawesi. Some examples of agricultural commodities coming from the island are cocoa, coconut and paddy. While coconut is mostly produced in North Sulawesi, cocoa grows abundantly in the southern and southeastern parts of the island. Meanwhile, South Sulawesi is also known as one of the country's main rice suppliers, particularly to meet demand in eastern Indonesia.



Although agriculture has contributed significantly to Sulawesi's economy, the growth of the sector is slower than the national average. The problem might be that the manufacturing industry to process agriculture outputs, such as cocoa and coconut, is still under-developed on the island.



For example, North Sulawesi is known as the biggest exporter of crude coconut oil in Indonesia. However, the province is struggling with the limited number of manufacturers to produce coconut-based products. It would be highly beneficial to the region if we had a downstream coconut industry to add value to exports. The same goes for South Sulawesi. As one of the main cocoa-exporting provinces, the development of cocoa manufacturers is a prerequisite to increase the values of export products.



Another characteristic is the high performance of the mining sector in Sulawesi's provinces. All mining sectors in Sulawesi provinces grew above the national sector growth rate, with a relatively high contribution to the regional economy.



In 2015, the mining sector performed badly, shrinking by 5.08 percent at the national level. The main reason for this contraction was the coal production slowdown in response to declining prices. By contrast, all provinces of Sulawesi saw the mining and quarrying sector grew by a healthy margin. South Sulawesi saw its mining and quarrying sector expand by 7.85 percent, West Sulawesi by 8.04 percent, Southeast Sulawesi by 11.29 percent, Central Sulawesi by 26.71 percent, Gorontalo by 3.95 percent and North Sulawesi by 8.17 percent.



The astonishing growth of the mining sector in Sulawesi, especially in Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi, is a result of investment inflows to build nickel smelters, compensating for the effect of the export ban on raw nickel.



The last characteristic, meanwhile, is related to the high level of growth and contribution of the construction sector to Sulawesi's economy. Thanks to the investment in nickel smelters in Central and Southeast Sulawesi, construction also grew rapidly in the two provinces at 20.95 and 12.59 percent, respectively.



There are also numerous ongoing road projects, like the construction of the Laha-Lakapera road in Southeast Sulawesi and the Palu-Parigi bypass in Central Sulawesi that contributed to the island's economic growth.



We expect that in 2016, the construction sector will continue to grow strongly in Sulawesi and support regional economic growth. Last year, the sector contributed between 7.82 percent and 14.29 percent to Sulawesi's economy.



In conclusion, Sulawesi's extraordinarily high economic growth is the result of private and public investment. Smelters are private investment fully supported by the government, while many other infrastructure projects constitute public investment. This combination shows that a region with high economic growth is the result of collective efforts by the public and private sector rather than solely relying on either private funds or government budgets.



Learning from this example, it is very likely for other regions, such as Sumatra and Kalimantan, to achieve high economic growth despite low commodity prices. As long as the government and private sector work hand in hand, we always have the power to boost the economy and achieve high economic growth in the region. Another lesson for regions that still rely heavily on agriculture is the importance of developing downstream industries to add more value to the commodities produced in the region and to increase export value.

______________________________



The writer is a regional and industry analyst at PT Bank Mandiri
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Linkedin Keshie Hernitaningtyas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Expectations have been incredibly high for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ever since the announcement of the epic battle between two of DC Comics' most celebrated superheroes was made in 2013 during the San Diego Comic Con event. And you know what they say ' expect the unexpected.



Directed by Zack Snyder, who also handled the 2013 movie Man of Steel, the new Batman v Superman picks up after Superman's (Henry Cavill) epic battle with Krypton's military commander General Zod (Michael Shannon), which left quite an aftermath for the city of Metropolis.



The never-ending question on whether the world needs a Superman or not arises following an incident where the superhero saves his girlfriend, Lois (Amy Adams), while she is carrying out her journalistic duty. The plot thickens as the non-powered superhero Batman (Ben Affleck) from the neighboring city of Gotham apparently also thinks that Superman is no good, while the young and evil Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) holds his own personal grudge against the man of steel.



The film's explosive action scenes and attractive visuals deserve some praise, but its poor storytelling and plot twists might also leave viewers feeling baffled rather than entertained. The reasoning behind Batman's hatred for his superhero colleague seems weak. It does not help that the portrayal of some of the characters is not very convincing, including Eisenberg as Luthor (whose hair and expressions largely resemble Health Ledger's the Joker in The Dark Knight) and Jeremy Irons as Alfred.



Fortunately, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is not only drop-dead gorgeous but also entertainingly powerful. Those who were not previously looking forward to the character's upcoming movie, set to be released next year, will now be waiting patiently to watch her in action again. (+)
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Border areas must become the nation's pride as they are the windows that will show the image of the country. They represent Indonesia, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo emphasized after visiting the border post in Entikong, West Kalimantan on Wednesday.



Indonesia must show the world that it is a big country with a physical infrastructure that will become the pride of the nation.



"Border areas are both the windows and our front yards, so when people enter our country they will realize it is a big country," he said in a statement sent by presidential staff on Wednesday.



It is high time that development stopped being Java-centric and began to occur around the country's edge and border areas, such as in Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua, Jokowi said during his visit to Entikong in Sanggau regency.



Jokowi acknowledged that Entikong had been underdeveloped over the past 25 years and stood in in stark contrast with neighboring Malaysia in infrastructure and services.



Jokowi visited the border post to check in on the construction of the border post following his visit in January. The President pushed for the construction, which started in August last year, to be completed by the end of this year.



"I ensure you [the border post] will be bigger and better than the one in the past and it will be better than the one there [in Malaysia]," he said.



The construction of the border post in Entikong is expected to cost Rp 152.49 billion ($11,556,668.14).



The development will include a modern market to drive the local economy in Entikong and surrounding areas.



The construction of the border post in Entikong is seen as strategic because Entikong is the main gate for economic traffic between Indonesia and Malaysia.



Moreover, the revitalization of the border post also aimed to increase the affectivity of people and logistics mobility between the two countries.



Besides Entikong, there are border posts under construction in both Aruk and Nanga Badau in West Kalimantan.



Jokowi and First Lady Iriana visited Kalimantan from Tuesday through to Thursday in order to inaugurate several projects.



Jokowi is also scheduled to attend the inauguration of Juwata International Airport in Tarakan, North Kalimantan.



The revitalized airport has a longer runway, 2,250 meters in length and 45 meters in width, to serve aircraft such as Boeing and Airbus. The airport currently serves 40 flights to and from Jakarta, Surabaya, Balikpapan, Makassar and small cities such as Berau, Nunukan, Malinau and Tanjung Selor in Kalimantan, with a passenger capacity of 3,000 people per day.



During his visit to Kalimantan, Jokowi also inaugurated the Pak Kasih Tayan Bridge in Sanggau, West Kalimantan. Linking West and Central Kalimantan and forming part of Trans Kalimantan road, it is the longest bridge in Kalimantan. (rin)(+)
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Linkedin Steven R. Hurst (The Jakarta Post) Washington  Wed, March 23, 2016

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton held their leads in the battle for their parties' 2016 presidential nomination in the latest state-by-state voting as the Islamic State terrorist organization inserted itself deeper into American politics with the attacks it claimed in Belgium.

While both front-runners scored victories in the night's biggest prize of Arizona, Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders won caucuses in Utah and Idaho and Republican Ted Cruz claimed his party's caucuses in Utah.

Cruz gained some momentum on Wednesday as former candidate Jeb Bush said he's endorsing the Texas senator for president, tweeting that Cruz is a "consistent, principled conservative who has shown he can unite the party." Bush added on Facebook that Republicans "must overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena" or risk losing to Clinton.

But Cruz drew a sharp rebuke from Muslim Americans and civil rights groups in his response to the Belgium attacks when he said Tuesday that authorities should be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

Both Clinton and Trump seized the attacks on the Brussels airport and subway that left dozens dead as a chance to level bitter assaults on one another.

"This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander-in-chief," Clinton said in Seattle as she condemned Trump by name and denounced his embrace of torture and hardline rhetoric aimed at Muslims. "The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear."

Trump, in turn, branded Clinton as "Incompetent Hillary" in an interview with Fox News as he discussed her tenure as secretary of state. "Incompetent Hillary doesn't know what she's talking about," the billionaire businessman said. "She doesn't have a clue."

Clinton and Trump's Republican rivals piled on with questions about his temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish US involvement with NATO. Belgium is a NATO ally.

Addressing supporters in Seattle, Clinton said the Brussels attacks were a pointed reminder of "how high the stakes are" in 2016.

"We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies," she said. "We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people."

Cruz criticized Trump's foreign policy while declaring that the US is at war with the Islamic State group.

"He doesn't have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief," the Texas senator told reporters. "The stakes are too high for learning on the job."

Trump's brash tone appeared to turn off some Republican voters in Utah, where Cruz claimed more than half of the caucus vote ' and with it, all 40 of the state's delegates.

Yet that wouldn't make up for Trump's haul in Arizona, where he earned all of the state's 58 delegates.

Trump is still short of the majority of delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the party's national convention this summer. But he has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner.

The remaining Republican candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, was shut out Tuesday.

Overall, Trump has 739 delegates, Cruz has 465 and Kasich 143. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

On the Democratic side, Clinton's delegate advantage is even greater. Including superdelegates, or the party insiders who can support whoever they like, she leads the Vermont senator 1,681 to 927. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to capture the nomination.
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Linkedin Vivian Salama (The Jakarta Post) Washington  Wed, March 23, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. must be intensified following the deadly bombings on Brussels' airport and subway.

Echoing his rival Donald Trump, Cruz said the U.S. should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence. The Islamic State took credit for the Brussels attacks that killed dozens Tuesday and wounded many more.

"We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," the Texas senator said in a statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned Cruz's call for surveillance, saying it sends "an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties."

Trump, who spoke to Fox News as developments in Brussels were unfolding, said he had warned about such attacks. "Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime, and now it's a disaster city. A total disaster," he said.

In December, following attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, Trump called for a temporary and conditional ban on Muslims coming to the United States. He described Brussels as a "hellhole" because of its radical elements and their connection to the Paris attacks.

Both Cruz and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton criticized Trump for saying Monday that NATO "is costing us a fortune" and the U.S. should diminish its role in the coming years. Cruz said the suggestion of withdrawing from NATO is a "pre-emptive surrender."

Speaking to CNN, Clinton called NATO "the best international defense alliance, I think, ever." She reasserted her view that the U.S. should embrace, rather than alienate, Muslim communities, saying "we want them to report it; we want them to be part of protecting the United States."

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand. He said he strongly disagrees with calls by some Republicans for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims.

"That would be unconstitutional ' it would be wrong," Sanders said.

Asked about Cruz's comment, none of a half-dozen conservative House Republicans meeting with reporters Tuesday criticized him and most spoke of the need to keep the country safe.

"Nearly every neighborhood is patrolled. That's what local law enforcement does," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who has endorsed Cruz. He said he didn't know specifically what Cruz was referring to.

"We need to do everything that makes good common sense, that's in the best interests of national security, but obviously it needs to be done in a way that's consistent with the Constitution," said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. (ags)
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Linkedin Syofiardi Bachyul Jb (The Jakarta Post) Padang  Wed, March 23, 2016

The Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the Tiger Protection and Conservation team from the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) are monitoring part of a community-based oil palm plantation where three newborn tiger cubs are reported to have been seen.



Mukomuko BKSDA head Rasidin told The Jakarta Post that a number of local people working in the plantation had noticed three tiger cubs in a bush in a remote area around 12 kilometers from the nearest human settlement.



'A number of people have said they have seen the cubs in recent weeks ' the latest [report] was on March 12,' Rasidin said.



'The tiger cubs, the size of a local dog, are not strong enough to run, but the residents didn't spot their mother,' he added.



He had, he said, gone in person to the location with a team from TKNS, but had not found any tiger cubs, noting that rain might have erased the animals' tracks.



'We're sure the three tiger cubs and their mother are still there. We've asked local people not to bother them,' said Rasidin.



He added that although the oil palm plantation was in a production forest located approximately 10 km from TNKS, the tiger could possibly raise its cubs there.



'Last year, another tiger gave birth to three cubs in this area and didn't leave for six months, but it was about 5 km farther [from TKNS]. The location where these three cubs were seen is on a low-lying plain near a village,' he said.



According to Rasidin, Mukomuko, located along the trans-Sumatra highway, has long been plagued by tiger poachers, as the regency is home to swathes of Sumatran tiger habitat.



In addition, Mukomuko TNKS head Nurhamidi said that as the tiger cubs and their mother could possibly be living in the secondary forest near the plantation, he and his team would closely monitor the area in order to prevent human-animal conflict from arising.



'We'll keep a close eye on the area for some time, ' he said.



Although information on the trade in tiger cubs remains unclear, poachers may take advantage of the cubs to lure and capture their mother.



Poachers frequently hunt Sumatran tigers, which are native to the vast and diverse habitats of Sumatra, as their body parts fetch high prices for use in traditional medicines in Asia.



In August last year, the police arrested four men for allegedly killing a Sumatran tiger and trying to sell its body parts.



The species is also struggling with habitat loss amid the expansion of oil palm and acacia plantations, as well as illegal trading, primarily for the domestic market.



Such practices have put the Sumatran tiger under severe threat, prompting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to list the species as critically endangered.



Currently, the population of Sumatran tigers in the wild is predicted to be about 400 across the entirety of the island of Sumatra.



Meanwhile, a pair of male and female tiger cubs born two months ago at the Kinantan Animal and Culture Park (TMBK) in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, have been named Thamrin and Sarinah.



'We decided to name the male cub Thamrin and the female Sarinah because they were born on Jan. 14, 2016, the same day as a terror attack on Jl. MH Thamrin near Sarinah Plaza in Central Jakarta. Everyone agreed to give them those names,' TMBK Bukittinggi head Ikbal told the Post.



He added that the tiger twins were growing healthily and were now able to play with visitors.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

PT Goodyear Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based multinational company Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, will focus on exports this year because of a prediction about a decline in domestic sales.



Goodyear Indonesia's corporate and marketing communication general manager, Wicaksono Soebroto said the company's domestic sales were expected to be only 30 percent of the total sales, while exports were 70 percent. Last year, its domestic sales were 60 percent.



Wicaksono said the company's best potential export markets were Asia and Australia. He said the company did not have any plan to add another destination. 'We have not explored any new export destinations,' he said on Monday, as quoted by Kontan.



Wicaksono said he was still sure the company would grow gradually this year. 'We hope the stable rupiah will have a positive impact on us,' he said.



In the third quarter last year the company's income was US$111.4 million (Rp 1.45 trillion), down 8 percent year on year.



Tires were the most sold products in the third quarter of 2015, bringing in $111 million to the company, followed by inner tubes, which generated $378,000.
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Linkedin Elly Burhaini Faizal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Employing disabled people must be seen as a long-term investment because the resulting benefits cannot be enjoyed immediately, says the International Labor Organization (ILO).

"The challenge here is how to explain to people that there are advantages to employing people with disabilities," ILO country director Francesco d'Ovidio said during a business forum in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"It takes time. If you look at the curve, initially the cost is higher than the benefits, probably. But if you go on and on, then you will see the benefits. It's like investing in social protection."

According to the ILO's study, employing disabled people could have a positive impact on employee morale, bring diversity to the company, raise the quality of services to customers from disabled people and also increase productivity as disabled people tend to be more diligent than non-disabled people.

Companies must take the right approaches in their activities, such as by developing advocacy strategies and involving NGOs that support disabled people in various training sessions, the ILO stated.

"This is also a part of the UN's 2030 agenda. The new sustainable goal has been established by the international community [...] and there are goals about equal and decent employment and decent opportunity for everyone," d'Ovidio said.

There are around 38 million people with disabilities in Indonesia who still face attitudinal, physical and informational barriers to equal opportunities in the working world, according to the ILO.

The House of Representatives passed on March 17 the rights of persons with disabilities bill, bringing the legislation in line with the UN convention that Indonesia ratified in 2011. The law will preserve the education and employment rights of disabled people. (vps/ebf)
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Linkedin Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Padang/Pekanbaru  Wed, March 23, 2016

Flooding caused by heavy downpours and overflowing rivers has inundated several regions on Sumatra, leaving at least one person dead and forcing thousands to leave their homes.



In Padang, West Sumatra, Padang Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Dedi Henidal said 30 percent of the city had been flooded, with Koto Tangah, the biggest district in the city, being the worst-hit area.



Rescue boats from the provincial BPBD, the National Search and Rescue Agency, the military and the police have been deployed since early Tuesday morning to carry affected residents to safety.



'We have set up posts to accommodate the evacuees. We are also preparing logistic supplies and providing health services for them,' Dedi said.



He added that he had yet to gather the exact number of affected homes, most of which belong to a housing complex near an overflowing river and some of which have are submerged in water two meters deep.



'We have deployed officers to evacuate residents who are trapped inside their houses,' he said.



The flood reportedly claimed the life of a 3-year-old boy who was carried away by the strong current of the Batang Kuranji River in Kubu Dalam Parak Karakah.



Firdaus of Koto Tangah district said the flood had inundated his house by half a meter and submerged the road in front of it.



'This is the second time my house has been inundated since I moved here 12 years ago,' said Firdaus, adding that in 2009, water in his house had been ankle-deep.



The flood also forced families in the Taman Harmoni Dadok Tunggul Hitam residential area of Koto Tangah to move to nearby buildings.



Water also inundated some government offices, including the city's development planning agency and a warehouse of the Indonesian Red Cross.



Padang Mayor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said the floods had forced him to close all schools affected by the flood.



'Some senior high schools cancelled their final exams because of the floods,' he said.



In Padang Pariaman regency, six houses in the districts of Jorong Talao Mundam, Nagari Ketaping and Batang Anai, located on the banks of the overflowing Batang Anai River, were swept away by the strong current of the river.



In Pasaman regency, a landslide has blocked the road connecting Lubuk Sikaping and Bukittinggi since 5:45 a.m., causing severe traffic congestion.



Padang Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesman Budi Iman Samiaji said 370 mm of rain had fallen from Monday night until Tuesday morning.



'That is the highest since I started working here 15 years ago. Usually, the maximum intensity is about 100 mm,' he said, adding

that while the intensity was decreasing, the rain risk in the city would remain high over the next few days.



Meanwhile, torrential rain in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Tuesday night caused floods that affected hundreds of houses.



Floods also inundated the city's main thoroughfares because of clogged drains, bringing the city to a halt due to traffic jams.



In the province of Aceh, flooding engulfed seven districts in Aceh Barat regency, with two houses damaged by a landslide.
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Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

As the National Health Insurance (JKN) program continues to face financial difficulties, the government is mulling over three options to increase the premiums for regular participants, comprising wage-earning workers and their family members and self-employed individuals who pay their own premiums.



The government decided to raise the premiums for regular participants after considering that the premium increase for low-income patients, known as contribution assistance recipients (PBI), from Rp 19,225 (US$1.46) to Rp 23,000, would not be enough to stop the financial bleeding suffered by the program's operator, the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).



'There are three alternatives that we might choose. But it's not official yet because it will be echelon I officials [who discuss the matter],' Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek told reporters on Tuesday.



The first option is to keep the current plan of increasing the premiums for all three classes of non-PBI, regular participants.



Currently, these premiums range from Rp 25,500 per month for third-class healthcare facilities, Rp 42,500 per month for second-class facilities and Rp 59,500 for first-class facilities.



The government is planning to increase the premiums to Rp 30,000, Rp 51,000 and Rp 80,000 for each class, respectively, as stipulated by Presidential Regulation No. 19/2016, starting from April 1.



The proposed increase in premiums is designed to accommodate the soaring number of participants in the program, which is expected to reach 188.7 million by the end of 2016, compared with the more than 155 million in 2015 and the 133.24 million participants who registered for the scheme when JKN first started in 2014.



Despite the existence of the presidential regulation, the plan is not set in stone yet, according to BPJS Kesehatan spokesman Irfan Humaidi.



'We will discuss it during a coordination meeting, considering there are some recommendations from the House of Representatives and us,' he told The Jakarta Post.



House Commission IX overseeing health has urged the government to postpone the increase until next year, saying that the government had to improve the quality of health services before it could require people to pay more.



The House also demanded the BPJS Kesehatan increase the number of non-PBI participants and submit reports on the distribution of JKN cards before it approved the government's plan.



Taking that into consideration, the government is considering two other options.



'We can delay [the premium increase] for the third class or we could put all [of the burden] onto the first class because rich people should participate [in easing the burden],' Nila said.



BPJS Kesehatan legal and communication director Bayu Wahyudi previously said that JKN participants who did not receive monthly salaries, such as businesspeople, were the biggest contributor to the agency's financial burden as they had a claim ratio of 280 percent, compared with 80 percent for those who receive monthly salaries.



The claims ratio is the ratio between the bills charged by hospitals for health services and the premiums collected by the agency, both from tax funds, to finance the poor under the scheme, as well as those paid by employees and those who are individually registered for the insurance.



Seeing how the claims ratio exceeded 100 percent for the past year, there is always a financial gap. For the JKN program to be sustainable, the claims ratio needs to be less than 90 percent.



Irfan said he had heard that the government was considering the second option of delaying the increase of the third-class premium.



'The only class for which a premium increase will be delayed is the third class,' he said.



However, if the increase is delayed, then Bayu predicted that the financial gap would continue this year, with BPJS Kesehatan expecting a deficit of Rp 9.79 trillion.

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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The government plans to educate and prepare at least 85 people with disabilities across Indonesia annually to be hired by companies in big cities.

The head of the Bina Daksa Vocational Rehabilitation Center (BBRVBD) of the Social Affairs Ministry, Tutiek Haryati, said that her institution would provide them not only with needed knowledge and skills, but would also prepare them mentally.

'We would prepare them to have a good mentality before joining the world of work. It is not easy,' said Tutiek in a business forum at the Pullman Hotel in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

There are about 38 million people with disabilities in Indonesia who still face attitudinal, physical and informational barriers to equal opportunities in the working world, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Tutiek said that his vocational rehabilitation center had collaborated with several psychological education bodies and social workers from the ministry to prepare disabled people to be ready to join the work force.

The Sanur-based foundation, Puspadi Bali, encountered problems with disabled people. 'The problem is about the work culture. They were shocked when they needed to comply with the strict rules and the hotels' office hours,' Puspadi Bali Director I Nengah Latra said in the forum.

'They have been pampered too long because of their own situations,' he added.

Initially in 2009, his foundation tried to distribute 38 disabled people to work in formal sector enterprises, such as in the hospitality industry. Later, just two weeks after the placement of those disabled people in hotels across Bali, all of them resigned.

Therefore, the foundation started to focus on the development of the mentality of disabled people, besides providing them with soft skills training.

On the other hand, the vocational rehabilitation center currently provides various types of one-year training for disabled people, including electronic goods services, sewing, graphic design and computer skills.

On March 17, the House of Representatives passed the rights of persons with disabilities bill into law, bringing the legislation in line with a United Nations convention that Indonesia ratified in 2011. The law would protect the education and employment rights of disabled people within society. (vps/bbn)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The management of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, will search the surrounding area for laser pointers, which have recently disrupted several nighttime flights.



Several pilots have reportedly complained of laser pointers deliberately aimed at planes during night flights from near the airport, hampering pilots as they attempt to take off and land. For the last few months, powerful green and red laser pointers have been freely sold across Greater Jakarta; vendors often lure buyers at nighttime by flashing the beams.



'The recent laser attacks have caught our attention. This is a very serious matter. We will begin carrying out raids to find these laser pointers,' airport senior general manager Wakan Suriawan said on Tuesday as quoted by wartakotalive.com.



Wakan added that raids would be concentrated in areas to the south of the airport, where the bulk of pilot complaints say disturbances have originated.



Previously, the state-owned Indonesian Flight Navigation Service (PPNP), also known as AirNav Indonesia, urged residents not to use laser pointers around airports as it violated the law and could pose a threat to flight safety.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Bekasi  Wed, March 23, 2016

The East Bekasi Police have arrested a beggar for allegedly kidnapping an 11-year-old boy, intending to force him into beggary.



Michael Santoso, 26, and his friend, identified as W, reportedly kidnapped 11-year-old KS at an internet cafA in Bekasi, West Java. The pair persuaded the victim to follow them by showing him an amount of money.



They are said to have told the boy that if he came with them, he too could gain large sums of money.



'Because the victim is still young, he was easily persuaded,' said East Bekasi Police chief Comr. Imam Irawan on Tuesday as quoted by wartakotalivenews.com.



Over the course of subsequent days, KS reportedly traveled with Michael and W from Bekasi to Bogor, also in West Java, where he met beverage vendor Nur Jaya, 35. After KS told Nur his story, the latter took the boy to the nearest police station, Imam said.



KS was, he added, safely back with his family. The police are currently tracking down W. Michael and W will be charged with Article 338 of the Criminal Code on kidnapping, with a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.
Banjo girl: Surakarta residents greet incoming Dutch soldiers on Dec. 21, 1948, while a keroncong band (men with lighter-colored hats) plays music. The military photographer deliberately zooms in on the people to leave out the deserted streets from the picture.(Courtesy of T. Schilling, DLC, National Archives, The Hague )" height="338" width="510" border="0">

A unique photo exhibition in Amsterdam shows what the Dutch state tried to hide from its people about the grueling war it fought against Indonesia, its former colony.

An Indonesian girl playing a tiny banjo sits among smiling Dutch soldiers on a military vehicle, surrounded by locals. This jovial image belies the fact that the streets of Surakarta, Central Java on Dec. 21, 1948 a the day the photo was shot a were deserted as the Dutch had just renewed its military offensive on Java.



aThe official image of the war on Java and Sumatra aimed at manipulating public opinion,a said the opening text of the exhibition aColonial War 1945 a 1949: Desired and Undesired Imagesa at Amsterdamas Dutch Resistance Museum.



aWithout images of violence there seemed to be no war.a



During World War II, the Netherlands was occupied by Germany on their home soil and by Japan in their colony of the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch barely had time to savour their freedom after Germanyas surrender in May 1945 when it was jolted by its colonyas independence proclamation on Aug. 17, 1945.



In the next four years, close to 100,000 Dutch soldiers a out of a population of just under 10 million a were sent off to Indonesia in what the exhibition calls athe biggest war the Dutch had ever foughta. Most of the soldiers were drafted. Almost 6,000 Dutch soldiers lost their lives, while 150,000 Indonesians a military and civilian a died during the clashes.



The Dutch government, however, did its best to hide the intensity of that war, calling it a politionele actie, police action.





aThe government wanted to present the image that their soldiers were serving the people in the colony,a said historian Erik Somers of the Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies NIOD a one of the exhibitionas initiators.



During that war the Dutch military information service DLC, the exhibition explains, abasically decided what could be reporteda.



aThere were barely any Dutch journalists and photographers in the country [Indonesia] at the time and many areas were extremely dangerous [a] people in the Netherlands saw very little pictorial evidence of the violence.a



The exhibition lets the images tell the story: it chronologically goes through the four years of war, with adesireda and aundesireda images put side by side.



One corner, for example, shows photos of Dutch soldiers distributing food to villagers, while the next panel shows unpublished photos of terrified Indonesian prisoners. Or corpses in a ditch.



The censorship went as far as staging pictures, said exhibition co-initiator Louis Zweers.



aThere is one photo of a supposedly jubilant local crowd welcoming Dutch soldiers in Malang [East Java]. If you look closely, however, you can see a soldier on the sidelines directing the crowd,a historian Zweers said during a seminar in January at Amsterdamas Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences KNAW.



Photos that did not pass the censor include one from August 1946, which still had the original caption written by photographer H. Wilmar: aAn extremist who fired on our marines from a ditch tried to escape, but was captured by a marine. The marines would possibly take the man as a prisoner to extract information about the enemya.



aIad be surprised if this man made it out alive,a commented a visitor at the exhibition, Klaas Westrene, as he scrutinized the photograph. aItas good that this exhibition sheds some light on this episode.a



Also on display are illustrated magazines, such as Panorama and De Spiegel, which ashowed little of the military operationsa, and instead presented asoldiers on patrol, distributing clothes and providing medical care to the native populationa.
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Once again the spotlight is on the House of Representatives for its grandiose plan to build the largest library in Southeast Asia in the legislative complex in Central Jakarta. The design is said to imitate that of the US Library of Congress.



House Speaker Ade Komarudin revealed the plan on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with noted intellectuals, including poet Nirwan Dewanto, writer Nirwan Ahmad Arsuka, Rizal Mallarangeng, Ulil Abshar Abdala and Nong Darol Mahmada.



All of them are organizers and on the management board of the Freedom Institute Library under Bakrie Group, a diversified business group owned by Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.



Ade said the library would be world class and that the design had been inspired by the US Library of Congress, which holds 36 million books, and is expected to beat Singapore's National Library, currently the largest in Southeast Asia.



'However, it will not be as luxurious as the Library of Congress, because in fact we can't afford it,' said the Golkar politician, who is preparing to compete for the party chairmanship in its national congress in May.



The planned library will increase people's interest in reading and create more qualified and competent generations, Ade said.



'It will also improve the quality of House members. All this time we have focused on developing physical infrastructure, but we also need to develop human resources infrastructure,' he said.



The House is set to use Rp 670 billion (US$50.8 million) from this year's budget for new legislative buildings, but the speaker will discuss the library with the House's deputy chairmen and the Ways and Means Committee (BURT).



Rizal said the planned library would be managed by a board of executive officers comprising recognized intellectuals who would be selected by the House and the President.



Meanwhile, writer Ignas Kleden, who also attended the meeting, claimed that the library was urgently needed as the legislators should have an environment that supported their development.



He urged the House to immediately start planning the library, arguing that it would not be difficult to realize. 'Singapore's National Library has 500,000 books, so we only need to provide 550,000 to 600,000 to be the largest in Southeast Asia,' he said.



To avoid a lack of funds to construct the library, Ade said the public should support the deliberation of the tax amnesty bill.



'Therefore, we have to make the deliberation run smoothly. After that we will just need to modify the arrangement for the use of the funds,' Ade said.



Revision of the tax amnesty bill is at the initiative of the Golkar Party and currently under deliberation by the House's Legislative Body (Baleg).
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Linkedin Yasmi Adriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The Indonesian police have just succeeded in uncovering the biggest human trafficking network in the country. This network is considered the biggest because it had sold at least 600 Indonesia migrant workers who became victims of human trafficking.



The success of Indonesian police indeed deserves appreciation. Yet in the context of outmigration of Indonesians, the lives of many unfortunate people in this country are continually at risk.



The police's findings on this case are timely as Indonesia is about to host another prestigious multilateral event, namely the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, organized in Bali, on March 22 and 23.



Indonesia is a party to the 2000 UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its related protocol. Indonesia is also a party to the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW ' Convention on Migrant Workers) since 2012.



It is clear that the CMW addresses problems related to migrant workers, of which Indonesia is one of the biggest outsourcing countries. The convention, uniquely, also addresses the problems of irregular migrant workers. We all are aware that these workers are highly vulnerable to crime and exploitation, where human trafficking is one of them.



Borrowing from the political scholar Amitav Acharya (2009, Whose Ideas Matter? Agency and Power in Asian Regionalism), the 'localization' of these global norms into Indonesia's legislation has been very minimal.



Leading activists and NGOs for the protection of Indonesian migrant workers, state that the implementation of CMW at the national level is still far from adequate.



Ideally, once a country ratifies an international convention, it has to localize the norms into its national legislation. More specific to CMW, it has to be harmonized with Indonesia's regulations that already address both regular and irregular migration.



Nonetheless, thus far, the government has not shown optimum effort. Even the main legislating process on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers to this day has hardly progressed.



This phenomenon shows an irony that contrasts with the government's aggressive move at the multilateral level.



The CMW itself is a highly comprehensive international convention. Not only does it address migrant workers' problems while working overseas, it also handles problems from the very early stages of migration, among others, recruitment and pre-departure.



This point needs to be highlighted that ' as civil society for migrant workers has often pointed this out ' 80 percent of the problems for Indonesian migrant workers begin at home.



In other words, a comprehensive localization of international norms such a CMW into Indonesia's national legislation is a sine qua non. Attempting this will expectedly boost the country's capacity to providing maximum protection for its millions of migrant workers.



To conclude, while commending the present government's efforts at the multilateral level, we have to remind the government that it should not neglect its efforts at the domestic level.



Without maximum support at the domestic level, this country will only project more discrepancies rather than solutions to global challenges.

___________________________



The writer is a lecturer at University of Al Azhar Indonesia in Jakarta.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The market share of the country's Islamic banks has remained low at less than 5 percent in the past several years despite efforts to promote sharia financial services to the mostly Muslim Indonesian population, observers said.



Indonesians are still reluctant to open accounts or carry out transactions through sharia-compliant banks as they are mostly still unaware of the advantages of Islamic banking services, Islamic finance expert Irfan Syauqi Beik said.



Another factor that has caused the sharia banks' stagnant low market share is their weak financing capacity, he said in Jakarta on Monday. He said that most of the existing Islamic banks are undercapitalized so that they are unable to expand their business rapidly.



Indonesia, as the country with the world's largest Muslim population, is quite a promising market for sharia banks because the banks offer banking services that are based on Islamic principles.



'Sharia banking is based on profit-and-loss sharing, so the return is halal,' Irfan said, adding that the banks also avoid using 'interest' in its services, which according to Islamic law is prohibited.



Sharia prohibits acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money, which is known as riba (usury).



The market share of the Islamic banks has been below 5 percent in the past several years. According to an Indostrategic Economic Intelligence survey, their market share flat-lined at 4.6 percent at the end of 2015, down from 4.62 percent in 2014.



Meanwhile, Financial Services Authority (OJK) figures show Islamic banks' market share at 4.87 percent in 2015. The OJK is optimistic that it can break the 5 percent target this year with promotional efforts by the agency.



The surveying agency's chairman Guntur Subagja attributed the fall to the decline in the total assets of Indonesia's first Islamic bank, Bank Muamalat, which dropped 7.4 percent to Rp 57.8 trillion (US$4.39 billion) as of December last year from Rp 62.41 trillion in the same period in 2014.



In addition, the decline in the sharia banks' assets was due to their low financing capacity, he said, adding that six of the 12 Islamic banks have capital of less than Rp 1 trillion and five banks have between Rp 1 trillion and Rp 5 trillion. Only Bank Syariah Mandiri is classified in the BUKU III bank category of banks that have capital of between Rp 5 trillion and Rp 30 trillion.



'Islamic banks can boost their assets if they get a capital injection. The banks will be left behind if they only rely on organic growth,' Guntur said.



Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat consumer and retail banking director Purnomo B. Soetadi acknowledged that the stagnant growth of the Islamic banks' market share occurred because Islamic banking was still relatively new in the country.



He said that the Islamic banks not only needed a capital boost, but also had to offer more innovative banking products in order to be able lure more customers.



Irfan said he predicts Islamic banks would have a market share of up to 5 percent of the total assets in the country's banking industry if the banks' opportunity to distribute civil servants' salaries is utilized to the maximum.



'I hope more heads of working units in several city administrations use sharia banks to distribute their servants' salaries,' he said, adding that some sharia banks, such as Bank Syariah Mandiri and BNI Syariah, had been able to distribute the civil servants' salaries as stipulated in the Finance Minister's regulation No. 11/2016.



The same thing was also stated by Purnomo who said that the opportunity given by the government to the Islamic banks to channel the salaries of civil servants could trigger the Islamic bank market share to grow bigger, to approximately 5 percent. (vny)
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Sanggau, West Kalimantan  Wed, March 23, 2016

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo said on Tuesday that his administration would focus its attention on two matters, namely deregulation and infrastructure development.



To achieve his deregulation and infrastructure development targets, Jokowi said he had ordered the Home Ministry to remove 3,000 draft bylaws deemed to have the potential to hamper the delivery of public services.



'In our country, there are 42,000 regulations, comprising ministerial regulations, presidential regulations, government regulations and many more. There are also 3,000 draft bylaws stuck at the Home Ministry because of various problems,' Jokowi said on Tuesday. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Pak Kasih Tayan Bridge in Sanggau regency, West Kalimantan, which is the longest bridge in Kalimantan and the second longest in Indonesia after the Suromadu Bridge in East Java.



Jokowi said he had ordered Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo to remove the 3,000 draft bylaws from regencies, municipalities and provinces across Indonesia because they would burden the people.



'I've observed that the draft bylaws piling up at the Home Ministry are mostly about taxes and levies, which I think will bring difficulties for the people,' said the President, without detailing the sectors involved.



Jokowi said he would also remove government, presidential, ministerial and other similar regulations that he considered had slowed down the government's work. He said such regulations had hampered the government's progress both in composing policies and in implementing its plans in the field.



'Our country is huge. It has changed very fast. Such change requires the government to deregulate policies and to simplify regulations both at central and regional levels so we can be more flexible and fast in making decisions,' said Jokowi.



Apart from inaugurating the 1.4-kilometer Pak Kasih Tayan Bridge, Jokowi also inspected an infrastructure development site in Entikong, Sanggau regency, which borders West Kalimantan and Malaysia. (ebf)(+)
Politburo member, Chief Justice of the Vietnam Supreme Peoples Court Truong Hoa Binh (Source: VOV)

In his report, Chief Justice of the Vietnam Supreme Peoples Court Truong Hoa Binh affirmed that in the past five years, the court sector basically fulfilled its tasks.

The quality of judgments was improved as the sector focused on intensifying litigation during hearings, bettering profession training and ensuring the application of laws.

In the period, courts handled 1,781,410 out of 1,809,080 received cases, or 98.5 percent. The rate of cases and decisions cancelled or amended due to judges subjectivity reduced 1.35 percent compared with that of the previous tenure.

Courts at all levels also addressed 86.5 percent of requests for review and reconsideration, or 30,774 requests.

Furthermore, during this tenure, the Supreme Peoples Court also carried out a lot of projects on judicial reform with the aim to perfect mechanisms on the organisation and operations of the Court in particular, and judicial agencies in general, Binh said.

However, the Chief Justice pointed out several shortcomings and weaknesses of the courts, including three unjust convictions and several expired cases.

Examining the Chief Justices report, the NA Committee on Judicial Affairs asked the Supreme Peoples Court to maintain the effective implementation of judicial reform tasks following the Partys and legislatures resolutions on judicial affairs, the 2013 Constitution, and the 2014 Law on the Organisation of People's Courts.

The Court was also requested to apply legal precedents in judging, and increase the quality of judgments related to corruption and human rights.

In his report delivered at the meeting, Prosecutor General of the Vietnam Supreme Peoples Procuracy Nguyen Hoa Binh said that during 2011-2016, the procuracy sector saw progress in all working areas, especially in enforcing prosecution rights and supervising judicial activities.

The sector handled 97.3 percent of lodged denouncements, or 387,857 ones, surpassing 7.3 percent of the assigned target.

The investigation agency of the Supreme Peoples Procuracy also detected and started legal procedures against 150 cases, up 92.3 percent.

The Supreme Peoples Procuracy also issued 6,035 appeals for judgment review, of which 85 percent were accepted by the Supreme Peoples Court.

However, there still remained several incorrect prosecution cases and long-lasting corruption and economic cases. The litigation quality of prosecutors at several hearings was yet to meet requirements of judicial reform, according to the report.

Also on March 22nd, NA deputies heard a report on the 2011-2016 working tenure delivered by Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam Nguyen Huu Van.

Van said that during the period, the legal corridor for the organisation and operations of the State Audit Office was increasingly perfected, while the auditing capacity was improved.

The sector conducted 180 to 200 audits a year. It helped save more than VND101 trillion (USD4.7 billion) for the State budget during the period, through helping increase budget collections, reducing budget spending and through financial punishments.

On the morning of March 23rd, NA deputies will discuss in groups on a draft report on the 13th working tenure of the NA and its offices, a report on the performance of the Government and the Prime Minister, and the reports of the Chief Justice, the Prosecutor General and the Auditor General./.
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Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo is calling on high-ranking government officials to make all-out efforts to streamline the country's notorious bureaucracy to pave the way for the government's development projects aimed at boosting domestic economic growth.



The President gathered on Tuesday hundreds of high-ranking officials, including ministers and director generals, from various ministries and state institutions, at the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry's office in an effort to reiterate his government's development vision.



In his remarks, Jokowi told the officials to focus on introducing simpler paperwork procedures for development-related projects. This, Jokowi said, would allow the government to immediately adapt to the ever-changing global economic situations.



There are around 42,000 regulations, along with some 3,000 bylaws, which have been hampering the implementation of development-related projects and policies, Jokowi said. 'It is your task to simplify the regulations,' he said.



'Therefore, we can speed [things] up; a decision can be [made] faster and the implementation can also be quick.'



The government has pledged to allocate hefty spending to various infrastructure projects, including 30 priority ones, across the country that will finish within the next four years to help boost economic growth. The 30 priority projects alone will need a total investment of more than Rp 800 trillion (US$60.7 billion).



To attract investors, the government has also introduced the one-stop integrated service (PTSP) at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). The PTSP is expected to create a business-friendly bureaucracy by eliminating costly red tape for entrepreneurs and investors.



The President has also been seeking to introduce a new budget allocation model called 'money follows programs' that will focus on priority projects to avoid unnecessary expenses. The budget allocation model will determine the budgets of ministries based on the government's focus and priority projects, starting with the 2017 state budget.



The President has also recently criticized the existing government's budget allocation model, called 'money follows function', which sets out projects based on budget allocation, instead of the other way around.



Under the existing mechanism, ministries would disburse the money into each of their subordinate organizations ' directorates general, directors' offices, subdivisions and sections ' after the ministers received funds from the state budget.



Separately, Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on public officials to start scrapping unnecessary tabs, for example, seminars and working visits, saying that they should no longer think that a bigger budget means a better budget allocation.
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Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

After successfully taking over 18 buildings and renovating five of them in Kota Tua historic site, Lin Ci Wei, a famous financial analyst who currently is the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation (JOTRC) CEO, is now facing yet another challenge of how to keep the buildings and the surrounding areas economically and culturally vibrant.



'There have been five attempts [to revitalize Kota Tua]. They all failed,' Lin Che Wei said during a discussion, which coincided with the launch of newly renovated Olveh building on Jl. Jembatan Batu recently.



Lin considered the main cause of the failures were that no one understood the business model for the old buildings. 'The 150-hectare area used to be the center of the colonial government. The buildings were used for civil administration, trade and financial matters. All the functions have gone now,' he said.



Lin believed that resurrecting the essence of its old function would make Kota Tua a distinctive attraction, as well as being its main asset to revive the historic area.



Lin said that one interesting model to revive Kota Tua was creating an education community.



'The city administration has previously pledged to move one of the campuses of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) to Kota Tua. We have been preparing the building on Malaka 7 and 9 for that,' he said.



The idea was supported by David Hutama, a lecturer at the University of Pelita Harapan (UPH) school of design, who said that altering the old buildings into a campus would be the most suitable way to revive the old city.



'When the campus is there, its surrounding area will organically develop. For example, there will be housing for the students as well as cafes and restaurants,' he said.



The same argument was also delivered by Rainier Tuaranga, the director of human resource consultant Daya Dimensi Indonesia.



Rainier argued that youngsters were the key ingredient to revive the city. 'Youngsters are full with energy and time,' he said, adding that based on his firm's survey, youngsters nowadays loved to work in a field that could improve society.



The plan, however, has made no progress so far. The relationship between Lin and Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama had turned sour as Ahok impatiently demanded quick results from the revitalization efforts.



Directorate general at the Education and Culture Ministry, Hilmar Farid, said that he would start with simple programs to help revive Kota Tua.



'Relocating a school is a big mission. However, we can start with small ones, for example, creating programs so that Kota Tua would still be interesting to visit,' he said.



Hilmar revealed he would conduct further meeting with JOTRC to figure out the right programs.



'It can be as simple as a text message buzz when you arrive at the train station and you get information [via SMS] on the buildings around here,' he said.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016





The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called into question the existence of an arrest warrant used by the National Police Densus 88 counter-terrorism squad to capture suspected terrorist Siyono in Klaten, Central Java.



The Komnas HAM investigation division coordinator Siane Indriani said that no state institution was known to have issued a warrant for the arrest of Siyono who disappeared from his home in Cawas district, Klaten regency, Central Java, on March 8. Siyono was later returned to his family, deceased.



'To date, there has been no warrant issued for his arrest,' said Siane as quoted by tempo.co on Tuesday. 'Who arrested Siyono? Was he arrested by Densus 88? Where was he taken? It's not clear. No party have claimed responsibility for the incident,' she went on.



Siyoni was a resident of Brengkungan in Pogung village, Cawas district, Klaten. The 33-year-old was picked up by three men, suspected to be Densus 88 members, after he had performed a Maghrib prayer in a mosque close to his home. After a four day interval, the body of the father of five children was sent home from Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Jakarta in bad condition.



The National Police identified Siyono as a member of Neo Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a new group within the JI terrorist group. It was said that in Neo JI, Siyono held a role as a commander, who actively moved his group to supply weapons.



'Komnas HAM does not side with terrorists, but it defends the rights of someone who is still categorized as a suspected terrorist,' said Siane.



To explore the suspected human rights violations, Siane said she visited Siyono's family on Monday. The Komnas HAM commissioner refused to give details regarding the results of her interview with Siyono's family members. 'These [interview results] will become our records and we will evaluate them. We will help the family by offering them a legal process that is as fair as possible,' said Siane.



The commissioner further said there were situations in which the family of a suspected terrorist did not dare to speak openly because they faced pressure. Every family of a suspected terrorist had a different way of dealing with fears, Siane explained, emphasizing that Komnas HAM knew how to handle such situations.



Siyono's older brother, Wagiyono, said in an interview with Tempo that the family had wholeheartedly accepted Siyono's death because God had predestined it. Wagiyono said that family members did not wish to take any legal action as they were afraid that such a process would be lengthy.



The family refused an autopsy for Siyono as they felt that, by time the body had been returned, that it was already too late, saying that officials should have performed an autopsy when the body was still at the hospital.



"What for? He has been buried now. What happened has happened, so be it," Wagiyono said.



Commenting on Wagiyono's refusal, Siane said that Komnas HAM did not need approval from the victim's family with regard to whether or not they would file a lawsuit over the incident. A forced disappearance case is not an offense that warrants complaint, she said. (afr/ebf)(+)
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Linkedin Lynsey Chutel (The Jakarta Post) Johannesburg  Wed, March 23, 2016

A South African archaeologist has found a piece of debris with part of an aircraft engine manufacturer's logo and Malaysia's transport minister said Tuesday that authorities will examine it to see if it is from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

"Based on early reports, there is a possibility of the piece originating from an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine," but a further examination and analysis are needed to verify whether it belongs to Flight 370, said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai. A team will be dispatched to retrieve the debris, Liow said in a statement.

On South Africa's southern coast, Neels Kruger was walking along a lagoon on Monday afternoon, near the town of Mossel Bay when he spotted something that did not seem to suit the natural surroundings.

"Being an archaeologist I'm always looking for things with my nose to the ground," said the 35-year-old. He recognized the brown honeycomb structure from photos of other pieces of debris believed to part of the missing aircraft.

"When I flipped it around, I didn't know immediately what it was but just thought, 'Oh my word!'" he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. On the other side, Kruger said he recognized what remains of the black Rolls Royce logo, the manufacturer of aircraft engines.

The piece is about 70 centimeters by 70 centimeters (27.56 inches by 27.56 inches) "with chunks gone from the side," said Kruger.

The white surface, with the partial logo, has peeled away to reveal a dark metallic grey covering, a photograph showed. Kruger took photos and sent it to a friend who is a pilot, who in turn passed it on to other pilots, who all quickly became convinced that this was part of an airplane engine. Kruger alerted the South African Civil Aviation Authority who told him to sit tight until further instruction.

Wondering what to do next, he sent a message via Facebook to Liam Lotter, the South African teenager who also found a piece of aircraft debris. In December last year, the 18-year-old found what he believes could be the wing of the missing plane on a beach in neighboring in Mozambique. Lotter, who announced his discovery earlier this month, passed along the contact details of the Australian authorities tasked with leading the investigation into the missing plane.

"They said it was a very interesting piece and they need it sent to them," said Kruger, adding that the Australian aviation authorities would not confirm that this was a piece of the missing plane. Kruger was instructed to bubble-wrap the piece and keep it safe until aviation authorities collect it.

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane remains one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation.

An Australian-led underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have crashed, has found no trace of it so far. A piece from one of the plane's wings was found washed ashore on France's Reunion Island last July.

Two more possible pieces of debris which were discovered recently in Mozambique, by the South African teen and an American adventurer, are being examined by an international investigation team in Australia.

Investigators have said the search will end by June unless fresh clues are found. (ags)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The establishment of private power utilities (PPUs) may become a solution to help the government achieve its ambitious target to procure 35,000 megawatts (MW) of additional electricity to support the growing industrial sector, a study has suggested.



As Indonesia aims to become a high-income country by 2019, it needs to boost the growth of the industrial sector, which accounted for 21 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, in order to meet the government's target to book at least 7 percent annual economic growth from 2015 to 2019.



In an effort to support the sector, the government plans to set up 11 special economic zones and 15 industrial estates throughout the nation, which would collectively make up a total of 24,000 hectares of new industrial land and an estimated 8 to 10 gigawatts (GW) of new power capacity.



The study, which was conducted by General Electric (GE) Power in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Indonesia, suggests that PPUs ' captive power plants developed to serve multiple customers in industrial estates ' may help companies to potentially bring around US$415 million annually in cost savings for existing operations in seven manufacturing sectors in industrial estates through reduction of potential overtime, diesel fuel costs and lost revenues caused by frequent blackouts.



Tim Boothman, PwC's adviser for energy, utilities and the mining industry, estimates that this is equivalent to an average cost saving of 0.9 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).



'[There are] increased revenue opportunities. Every time a blackout occurs, you can't manufacture goods for your customers, but with a reliable power supply, you can,' he said on Tuesday.



By the end of 2015, the country had more than 55,523 MW in installed capacity, with 2.458 MW added to the national electricity system last year.



As of December, the electrification ratio stood at 88 percent. However, data procured by PwC showed that in 2014 Indonesia ranked second worst in terms of the duration and frequency of electricity interruptions against four other Southeast Asian countries. Statistics by state-owned electricity firm PLN showed that in 2014, electricity interruptions in Indonesia occurred 5.58 times per consumer per year, while the interruptions lasted an average of 5.81 hours per consumer per year.



Indonesia stood only behind Vietnam, which had 18.1 interruptions per consumer per year and an average of 52.23 hours of interruptions per consumer per year, while Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore endured shorter and less frequent electricity interruptions.



Apart from the potential cost savings, the study also showed that the establishment of PPUs could

benefit the government by attracting investment in industrial estates and its planned strategic economic zones.



Furthermore, it could also help the government gain flexibility and more options in the event of a delay in the 35,000 MW plan.



'This is a way for the government to electrify areas that may not have been covered in the current plan and also to support and accelerate the 35 GW program in participation with PLN,' Boothman said.
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Linkedin Rene L. Pattiradjawane (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The geopolitical environment in the South China Sea is transforming into a new stage of contestation not only among claimants of sovereignty over disputed territories but also among major powers. China's ambition to control the South China Sea as its historic right has been challenged by the US 'freedom of navigation' operations, while Japan, India and Russia also seek to enhance their influence in Southeast Asia.



For the ASEAN countries, territorial disputes and maritime security have always been resolved on the basis of norms and rules of international law, starting with the Cambodian conflict to overlapping sovereignty claims between Indonesia and Malaysia on the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan.



Today, we witness China capitalizing on the South China Sea as a springboard for global domination. For Indonesia and its neighbors, balancing national and regional interests in the face of China's rise has to do with not only future interdependence between their economies, but also traditional and non-traditional security issues among Southeast Asian countries and between the major powers.



Indonesia and most other ASEAN countries see China's position on the South China Sea issue as reflecting an attitude of stubbornly hiding behind historical rights that undermine international law, apart from reflecting a quarrel between Washington and Beijing. China's unilateral acts in the South China Sea are blamed for an escalating arms race among Asian nations and for massive environmental impacts following the building of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands.



Yet we cannot expect Beijing to follow other countries in conflict resolution.

__________________________________



Declaring the South China Sea as a non-military area, [...] should be in line with President Xi Jinping's [...]statements ...



One can identify two reasons behind Beijing's assertive behavior in the region. First, China is practicing 'maritime colonialism' by rejecting calls to reduce tensions in the South China Sea, in a bid to dominate the world's busiest sea lane of communication. Second, China is improving its physical security to block external threats and interference.



China's actions resemble Western colonialism in projecting domination, spreading adversity and rapacity, including attempts to steer language, capital, patronage, trade, education and cultural influence, combining military, political and cultural forces. Deploying warships and surface-to-air missiles in the South China Sea reflects China's position as conqueror of the sea, undermining the Declaration of the Code of Conduct that ASEAN and China agreed on, to pursue resolutions and reduce tensions in the area.



When Europeans came to Asia to expand trade and, later on, to colonize the region, no colonial power of the 15th century incorporated the South China Sea as their domain. Even the expansionist Japanese never sought to control the South China Sea and the features within it, as most of the islands are uninhabited and some have never sustained life.



The Chinese strategy in the area involves delaying tactics that escalate involvement of non-claimants, including external powers.



A dispute between Washington and Beijing is playing out, the region of the South China Sea is penetrated by the great powers, and we are also seeing the establishment of a new world economic order, such as the 57-member Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with strong backing of Western countries. Japan's new security posture in response to changes in the strategic environment on the Korean Peninsula, the rise of China, Russia and India, and the escalating tension in the East and South China Sea, are prompting Japan to seek stronger strategic cooperation.



For Indonesia and ASEAN, the dynamic engagement of the US, Japan, China, India and Russia in the region raises the need for equilibrium, not only among the major powers, but also between them and Southeast Asia. Yet we must understand that Beijing's efforts to maximize influence do not make China an enemy looking for open conflict in the South China Sea.



Indonesia and ASEAN must redouble efforts in confidence-building, not only by persuading China to work sincerely toward the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, but also by convincing other great powers to restrain from disruptive activities.



One idea for Indonesia and ASEAN is to work on declaring the territories that are subject to overlapping sovereignty claims as non-military areas in accordance with ASEAN's doctrine of a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN). Declaring the South China Sea as a non-military area, with acknowledgement of 'innocent passage' of foreign ships, should be in line with President Xi Jinping's and other Chinese leaders' continuous statements that China will not militarize the South China Sea.



We cannot rely on repeated pledges not to militarize the area without concrete political gestures toward practical peaceful resolution.

_________________________________



The writer is a senior journalist and chair of the foundation for the Center for Chinese Studies.
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has decided on the fate of Indonesia's largest deepwater gas project Masela after months of polemic, by approving an onshore development scheme in Maluku province.



Given the scale and complexity of the long-term project, the government took a long time to consider all aspects and input relating to the multi-trillion rupiah project, Jokowi said.



"Therefore, based on the calculations and considerations that I myself have made, we have decided to build the project onshore," he said at Supadio Airport's departure lounge in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Wednesday.



The main considerations, he continued, were the multiplier effects and the acceleration of economic development, both in the Maluku region and in terms of national development. "The energy and mineral resources minister and SKKMigas [the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force] will follow up on the decision," Jokowi added.



Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said added that the ministry would direct information on the decision to the contractors, Inpex Corp and Shell, to review and adjust the proposal of development (POD). The final investment decision (FID) is targeted to be completed in 2018.



"We will convey this news to investors through an official letter, then we give them the opportunity to review. With possibility of [the POD] being reviewed, there will be a little delay," he said.



He also urged SKKMigas to leave out unnecessary details from the discussion with Inpex and Shell to accelerate the project, highlighting Jokowi's stance on how the project should immediately benefit the surrounding communities as well as promote economic development. (ags)(+)
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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

After years of being labeled heretical following an edict on Shia issued by the East Java branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in 2012, the headquarters of the Islamic organization in Jakarta is set to partly repair the 'infidel' image of Shiite Muslims by preparing a new edict that will recognize several groups in Shia as being part of mainstream Islam.



MUI edict division head Huzaemah Tahido Yanggo said the central MUI could not annul the local edict, which made a general claim that Shia was 'deviant' to Islam. Her office, however, is currently preparing a fatwa that will confirm only several groups in Shia practice deviant beliefs, while others are still compatible with Sunni Islam, the denomination endorsed by the MUI.



The cleric said there should not be a general edict on Shia because one of its main groups called Zaidiyyah or Zaidism practiced similar religious dogmas to the Sunni sect, which holds the Prophet Muhammad's first caliph as his father-in-law and closest friend, Abu Bakar.



Meanwhile, Shia, which separated from Sunni over the leadership of Islam following the death of Prophet Muhammad, was considered 'heretical' for its decision to reject the Sunni leadership. Shia only recognizes the direction of Ali ibn Abi Thalib, the prophet's son-in-law and cousin, as legitimate.



Huzaemah further said the MUI were currently focused on examining the heresy of 20 sects under Shia Imamiah, which encourage believers to condemn the leadership of three honored caliphates and the Prophet's closest friends: Abu Bakar, Umar and Usman.



'In addition, the Imamiyah also allows contract marriages, a teaching rejected by Zaidiyyah. Some groups related to Imamiyah are also close to Sunni, which is why we are still working on confirming the edict that should be announced soon during this month or next month,' Huzaemah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.



She said that internationally, the Rafidah, another Shia faction, also practiced religious teachings in conflict with Sunni beliefs, the former believing that 'Muhammad was just a 'physical' prophet, while the real one was Ali.'



The to-be announced edict seeks to confirm whether Zaidiyyah is part of mainstream Sunni Islam, while at the same time it also wants to confirm whether Imamiyah and Rafidah are deviant.



Huzaemah said that in his visit to MUI's office in February, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al Azhar, who is considered to be one of the most moderate Sunni clerics in Egypt, told MUI clerics that Shia was not 'heretical', but only several related groups practiced deviant teachings.



Although the MUI appeared to soften its stance on Shia, it emphasized that it would not review its heretic edict on another Islamic minority group, the Ahmadiyah, because the latter believed that there was another prophet sent by God after Muhammad.



Huzaemah encouraged people not to hate the followers of Imamiyah and Rafidah after the prospective edict's issuance, adding that Muslims should respect differences.



Approximately 80 percent of the world's Muslims adhere to Sunni teachings, while nearly 20 percent of Islamic followers are Shia. Meanwhile, only a small percentage of Muslims follow Ahmadiyah's teachings worldwide.



Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy deputy chair Bonar Tigor Naipospos lambasted the MUI's initiative, which he said would sharpen differences among Shia followers.



The rights campaigner further said the edict would be used as a new tool for intolerant groups to pressure Shia followers to change their beliefs.



In what appeared a desperate move due to government inaction, members of the Shia community from Sampang, in Madura, East Java, who have suffered religious persecution following the 2012 edict, called on the UN to address their plight, including the latest mass religious conversion that had been forced upon them by Sunni clerics in the region.
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Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Rudyard Kipling described Myanmar as 'quite unlike any place you know'. Kipling's observation, made about a century ago, perhaps still holds true to some extent.



But it wasn't the magical Shwedagon Pagoda, the 4,000 stupendous sacred stupas scattered across the plains of Bagan, the iconic Lake Inle or the gravity-defying Kyaiktiyo Pagoda atop the Golden Rock that made me super-excited when I had a chance to visit the country in late February.



For me, Myanmar is the land of The Lady ' the title of the Luc Besson film about the extraordinary Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy icon who is sometimes referred to as Myanmar's Nelson Mandela.



I envy the Myanmarese for having Suu Kyi. Indonesia has never had a figure like her, male or female. Suu Kyi's 15-year house arrest symbolized the oppression the people of her country suffered.



At the same time, her tenacity, commitment, sacrifice, vision and devotion also symbolized the people's hope for freedom and democracy after 49 years of military dictatorship (1962-2011).



And I thought 32 years (1965-1998) of military rule in Indonesia ' propped up by Western powers, mind you ' was long!



My visit almost coincided with a historic moment: the handover of power from the military to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in early March. The NLD won a landslide victory in the general election last November.



On March 15, Suu Kyi's confidant Htin Kyaw was elected Myanmar's new president.



It was understood from the start that he was going to be a proxy president, as Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from running for the country's highest office.



Credit for opening up the democratic space, however, has to be given to Thein Sein, a former army general who was Myanmar's president since 2011.



It was he who led the process of reform in Myanmar, enabling the transition to civilian rule. Don't get too starry-eyed though! The military still holds 25 percent of seats in parliament. And as history attests, one can never totally trust the military.



Look at Thailand, Egypt, Argentina, Nigeria, Algeria, Haiti and several states in Africa. Oops!



But let's not start out with pessimism. Let's instead ask, how does a formerly Starbucks-free nation (until 2013), living in 'darkness' for almost half a century, deal with seeing the light again? It's like Sharonda Phenix of St. Louis, a woman who was blind for 30 years and was able to see after receiving a cornea transplant.



The connectivity revolution that started around 2010 is like Sharonda's cornea transplant and runs parallel with the political revolution underway in Myanmar.



There are thousands of studies in various countries about the effects of the internet and social media on offline behavior, including political participation.



And it's not just limited to the electorate, but also presidential candidates and leaders. Look at Obama. Look at Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Suu Kyi also used social media in her election campaign.



What is interesting about Myanmar is the speed at which this has happened. Off the grid for decades, the country is now catching up fast. According to David Madden, founder and director of Phandeeyar: Myanmar Innovation Lab, 20 years of consumer internet is being built at the same time.



'There are startups building, ride-sharing apps and anonymous social messaging apps. Then there's everything in between: education apps, online bookstores, ticketing and more.'



So how did the connectivity revolution come about? As recently as 2009, less than 1 percent of Myanmar's population of 55 million had either a smartphone or home internet access.



Then things went viral: Between 2011 and 2012, the percentage of people with cellular subscriptions nearly tripled, and since 2012, it has gone up almost nine-fold.



In an article for Tech In Asia, Eric Crouch asserted that 'It's hard to overstate the scope of the changes ['] in Myanmar over the last five years ' everything from politics to culture to social life [is] now in a radically different place than in the first half of the 2010's'.



Eric continues, 'All this in a country that, just a few years ago, had internet penetration rates lower than North Korea's and a censorship regime that rivaled mainland China.



Pre-publication censorship officially ended in 2012, and a vibrant network of hard news, tabloids and lifestyle publications has erupted in the years since ' and many rely exclusively on Facebook for

distribution.'



Part of the reason for the boom in Myanmar is the fact that they opened up when smartphones had been around for a while and therefore were affordable enough for many to purchase.



In fact, the explosion has revolved almost entirely around mobile phones; and we're not talking just about the urban areas, but also the countryside.



The tech explosion is like what we in Indonesia call kuda lepas dari kandang (like a horse suddenly released from its stable).



As Eric Crouch pointed out, it erupted with such wild, uncontrollable energy that it hasn't had the time to make sense of itself.



Institutions like startup accelerators, venture capital firms and even basic internet-centric laws for journalism and expression are still in their early stages.



According to an American academic specializing in the region, he noticed another phenomenon at universities: Professors are having a hard time keeping up with demand from internet-savvy students, who unlike their teachers, grew up with the internet and voraciously consume the endless information it provides. This obviously will have implications on Myanmar's democratization.



Analysts are studying the Myanmar case because it's so unusual and hard to explain. No one has a good explanation for the military's retreat from power, except that they could do it on their own terms, control the transition and avoid things like human rights charges.



Legend has it, what makes it possible for the Golden Rock seemingly to defy gravity and not topple over and fall down the mountain, is because it's held up by a stand of the Buddha's hair. Riiiight!



Let's hope that Myanmar's democratic process also defies gravity and doesn't roll back into a military abyss like so many others have.

___________________________________



The writer is the author of Julia's Jihad.
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Linkedin Yuliasri Perdani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

After taking part in Asia's Next Top Model, rising Indonesian model Aldilla Zahraa has had to adapt her social media habits.



She has to make sure that her posts on Instagram or Snapchat does not spoil anything about the reality show, which premiered on March 9.



'I deleted some photos to revamp my Instagram profile and I can't post anything because my hair is short,' she said, referring to the makeover she got during the show.



In Cycle 4, Aldilla and fellow Indonesian contestant, Patricia Gunawan, bunked together in a Singapore apartment with 12 other contestants hailing from nine countries across Asia.



Each week, they are competing to give their best pose and cat walk in the hope of snatching Asia's top model title.



Looking back at the show, filmed from November to December 2015, Aldilla said she learned many lessons.



'The show, apart from modeling, taught me so much about confidence. I tended to doubt myself,' the 23-year old said.



Born on June 27, 1992, to a family of British, Palestinian and Indonesian descent, Aldilla and her family moved from Jakarta to the UK when she was four years old. After spending 10 years in Europe, she spent her high school years in Australia and subsequently studied interior architecture at Taylor's University in Malaysia. She just started her modeling career two years ago.



Aldilla's gadget and app choices reflect her life as a model and an interior designer.

____________________________________________

iPhone 5s





I am not a gadget freak. Most of the time, I use my iPhone 5s. I chose it because I love the phone's operating system. Samsung phones, for example, seem complicated to me.

Toshiba laptop





I forget about the laptop type. I use the laptop mostly for interior design. To create 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional images, I employ Autocad, SketchUp and 3ds Max software programs. Sketching 3-dimensional images is very time consuming and hard. At one point, I almost cried when drawing these images.

Apps





I use Instagram and Whatsapp to stay connected with my friends and family. I just started using Snapchat and it is really fun!
National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung delivers the draft working report (Photo: VNA)



In the report, he hailed the NA - the highest representative organ of the people and the highest organ of State power - for upholding the sense of responsibility in performing their duties on law-making and supreme supervision, as well as deciding on key country issues, contributing to national construction and development.

The NA has fulfilled the goal of devising and adopting the 2013 Constitution and institutionalising the Party guidelines, especially the Platform for national construction in the period of transition toward socialism, which was revised in 2011.

It has also issued the largest number of legal documents in a single tenure and of a higher quality. As of the end of the NAs 10th session last November, the legislature promulgated 100 laws and codes. Seven other bills are also scheduled to be passed at the NAs 11th session, he said.

Chairman Hung assessed that the NA also better performed its duty to decide on key country issues, meeting the peoples will and aspirations and helping with stabilising the macro-economy and ensuring social welfare, national defence-security and social safety and order.

He also stressed that an open question-and-answer style is the most effective form of supervision, thereby creating positive changes and consensus on awareness and action in the State apparatus.

Citing lessons drawn from the 13th NA, Hung called for upholding the sense of solidarity, continuing with strong renewal, democracy, and openness and transparency in organisation and operation, which he said, is a driving force for power, creativity and dynamism to fulfil assigned tasks.

Each NA deputy was urged to be close to voters and the public, listening to their opinions and suggestions, so that the NAs decisions are made promptly, matching realities and meeting voters need.

According to him, the legislators quality plays a deciding role in improving the NAs capacity.

Full-time lawmakers have increasingly performed their role as a core force in the NAs activities, he said.

Furthermore, increased coordination with the President, the government, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Supreme Peoples Court, the Supreme Peoples Procuracy and agencies will generate a collective power to fulfill assigned tasks.

Speaking about directions for the future, the NA Chairman stressed the need to further accelerate lawmaking activities and improve the quality of laws and major decisions.

At the same time, key socio-economic issues of concern should be closely supervised while the number of full-time deputies should be increased, he said./.
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Linkedin Arif Gunawan Sulistiyono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The Indonesian Navy will intensify patrols on the Natuna Sea but are yet to increase its fleet in the territory, labeling the border dispute involving a Chinese coast guard vessel a fishing issue.

Navy chief of staff Adm. Ade Supandi said that the incident involving the Chinese coast guard vessel had not yet become a defense issue. China, as previously reported, forcibly rescued the Kway Fey, a fishing vessel that had been seized by Indonesian authorities and was being towed to Natuna Island.

"We only increase our fleet in accordance with escalation. As such, this is still a fishing dispute," he said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co, adding that the Indonesian Navy would closely monitor the issue for signs of expansion.

However, Ade underlined the importance of there being separation between a conflict of national defense and a fishing dispute. "What we are facing now is [a dispute between] the Chinese coast guard and our coast guard," he added.

Ade said that there were currently five warships allocated to patrol the Natuna Sea, the South China Sea and the Karimata Strait. The Navy expect that a diplomatic approach shall be sufficient to settle the current dispute.

"It's not directed as a conflict, there is still diplomacy. This is not over yet, but hopefully it can be resolved," he said.

He stressed that the Navy could not immediately increase the number of warships without valid reason nor without the approval of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander. (liz/ags)
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Linkedin Tama Salim and Nani Afrida (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The Indonesian Navy has denied any involvement in a recent skirmish with two Taiwanese fishing boats that were fired upon while they were en route to Singapore.



Navy chief of staff Adm. Ade Supandi denied the accusation that an Indonesian warship shot at any Taiwanese vessels sailing through the Malacca Strait on Monday.



'I don't have any report on the matter, but that is not our ship,' Ade told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.



Ade pointed out that Indonesian warships have three-digit hull numbers, unlike the four-digit number claimed to have been seen by the crew of the Taiwanese boats.



He added the Navy did not own any ships with hull numbers that start with the digit 2, indicating that the vessel in question may have belonged to the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry. The ministry's patrol boats, however, also have three-digit hull numbers.



On Monday, a Taiwanese media broadcast reported that two fishing boats that were on a course to the Malacca Strait were shot at by an Indonesian Navy vessel.



Fishing vessels Sheng Te Tsai and Lien I Hsing No. 116 are both registered in Liuqiu township, Pingtung county, in Taiwan. Two Taiwanese skippers and 18 Indonesian seamen were reported to have been on board the two vessels.



The ships' owner, Lee, said that he received a satellite call from on of the ships' captains, Lin Nan, at about 5 a.m. local time, informing him that an Indonesian warship had opened fire at one of the boats.



Lin said the crew of neither vessel had been injured, but the Seng Te Tsai had more than 10 bullet holes in it. Lin claimed the shots were aimed at the bridges of both ships, which was different from ordinary warning shots that usually target the ship's stern or its surroundings.



The Taiwanese ship crews believed, based on the '2804' hull number, that the vessel doing the shooting was an Indonesian warship, suggesting that it can only be seen on official ships from Southeast Asian countries.



The two ships, which were heading to Singapore to unload their catches and stock up on supplies, reported their location at 6 degrees, 15 minutes north and 97 degrees, 40 minutes east when the shooting took place, Reuters reported.



The Taiwanese Economic and Trade Office (TETO) in Indonesia issued a statement asking the government to clarify the incident, requesting an audience with officials in charge from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.



'We wish the Indonesian government to explain this accident since shooting at fishing boats is against UNCLOS [the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea],' it reads.



'The Taiwan government and TETO are concerned about the safety of the personnel on board and the legality of firing shots.'



According to the statement, the two fishing boats were shot at by an Indonesian patrol boat, the Hiu 2804.



Ismael Mae, the director of TETO's press information division, said that the Taiwanese government was still trying to contact the relevant authorities to express concern about Indonesia's actions.



Indonesia has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan on account of the One-China Policy, but continues to maintain trade relations through TETO.



Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said that the government was still in the midst of verifying the exact coordinates of the incident, as well as the chronology of the shooting.



Arrmanatha said the ministry was also awaiting confirmation from the fisheries ministry, whose officials also did not respond to the Post's calls for inquiries.



The incident in the Malacca Strait comes fresh off the back of another maritime confrontation near Indonesia's Natuna Islands over the weekend, where a Chinese coast guard vessel intercepted Indonesian patrol ships that were impounding a Chinese fishing boat captured for poaching.



The Chinese government took issue with Jakarta's act of detaining eight Chinese crew members on board, saying that the fishing vessel was operating in 'traditional Chinese fishing grounds'.



Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti insisted that the seamen would be processed in accordance with Indonesian law.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The Indonesian government has condemned a series of apparently coordinated bomb attacks at a Brussels airport and a metro station, that left at least 34 people dead in the latest terrorist act in the European Union.



Security was tightened across the jittery continent and transport links paralyzed after the bombings that Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel branded 'blind, violent and cowardly'.



The Foreign Ministry conveyed Indonesia's 'deepest sympathy' to the Belgian government and people, particularly the victims and their families.



'Indonesia emphasizes that no forms of terrorist acts or the reasons behind them can be justified. The Indonesian government calls on the international community to strengthen cooperation to address radicalism and terrorism,' read a ministry statement issued on Tuesday.



The Indonesian Embassy in Brussels has been monitoring the situation in coordination with Belgian security authorities and hospitals across the city to ascertain whether any Indonesian nationals were among the victims.



'So far, no Indonesian citizen have become victims of these terrorist acts,' the statement said.



The embassy was also in direct communication with the Indonesian community in Belgium, urging Indonesian nationals to be on alert and avoid locations that might be possible targets of attacks.



There are around 1,200 Indonesian living in cities across Belgium, including some 400 in Brussels and the surrounding areas.



Agence France-Presse reported from Cairo that Sunni Islam's leading seat of learning, Al-Azhar, said Tuesday's attacks in Brussels 'violate the tolerant teachings of Islam', and urged the international community to confront the 'epidemic' of terrorism.



'Al-Azhar strongly condemns these terrorist attacks. These heinous crimes violate the tolerant teachings of Islam,' the Cairo-based Al-Azhar said in a statement.



'If the international community does not unite to confront this epidemic, the corrupt will not stop from committing heinous crimes against the innocent.'



The Egyptian foreign ministry also condemned the attacks that left at least 26 people dead and dozens wounded in Brussels.



'The time has come for the world to make a final stand to deal with the phenomenon of international terrorism,' ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement issued in English.



He called for steps to tackle it at the 'financing and ideological levels [...] and to prevent the recruitment of more individuals by criminal terrorist groups'.



Meanwhile, New York and Washington DC stepped up security in the wake of the attacks in Brussels, deploying elite counterterrorism reinforcements to crowded areas and train stations, police said.



The New York police department said there was no indication that the attacks in Belgium were connected to New York, but ordered the steps as America's biggest city of 8.4 million began the morning commute.



'These teams have been deployed to crowded areas and transit locations around the city out of an abundance of caution to provide police presence and public reassurance as we closely follow the developing situation overseas,' the police department said in a statement.



In the US capital, metro transit police said additional K9 sweeps and patrols would start as a 'precaution', adding that there was no known, specific or credible threat to Washington DC.



New York police also took a swipe at proposed federal spending cuts on counterterrorism, calling them 'irresponsible' in the city that 'is widely recognized as the nation's top terror target'.



At least 26 people were killed and dozens wounded in bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station in the city on Tuesday that is home to the Eu and NATO.
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Linkedin Anggi M. Lubis (The Jakarta Post) Nusa Dua, Bali  Wed, March 23, 2016

Indonesia and Australia are seeking approval from member states of the Bali Process to establish and colead a consultative mechanism to swiftly address a potential refugee influx into the region, as an attempt to make the forum relevant amid rising global concerns over irregular migration.



The two countries are cochairing the sixth Bali Process Ministerial Conference ' which was established in 2002 to address irregular migration, human trafficking and related transnational crime.



Since its inception in 2002, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime has raised regional awareness of issues and developed and implemented strategies and practical cooperation in response. However, no concrete measures have been taken to respond to the problems.



Last year, the region faced a complicated situation when hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshis were killed crossing the Bay of Bengal in a surge of human smuggling and trafficking across Southeast Asia. Some 370 people were believed to have died in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea during the year.



Among the expected outcomes of the two-day forum is the creation of a consultative mechanism as an emergency response to a potential refugee crisis, the Foreign Ministry's director general for multilateral affairs, Hasan Kleib, said.



Indonesia proposed a mechanism that would authorize Indonesia and Australia to call affected countries to hold consultative dialogues when needed.



The proposal discussed during the senior officials meeting (SOM) is to be submitted to the ministers on Wednesday.



Hasan said the consultation mechanism was expected not to only provide appropriate and fast responses to emergency situations related to refugees, but also to make the Bali Process more relevant to solving the issue of irregular migration.



'In May last year we had emergency meetings with Malaysia and Thailand regarding the refugee crisis in the Andaman Sea. Questions were raised about where the Bali Process' mechanism was in handling the issue and that is why such consultative dialogues are imminent,' he said, referring to the influx of Rohingya refugees last year.



Who would host the consultative meetings has been under discussion ' whether Indonesia, Australia or the affected countries.



Hasan underlined the need for concrete action to be taken once the problems arise. The foundation for the consultative mechanism will be laid in the last point of a 14-paragraph declaration, which will be adopted in the ministerial meeting.



It will be the first time for the Bali Process to yield a declaration, with officials from the Foreign Ministry saying the sudden Rohingya refugee influx last year prompted the forum to undertake more concrete actions.



A UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) report estimated that 33,600 refugees and migrants of various nationalities took to smugglers' boats in Southeast Asia and the bulk of them were Rohingya and Bangladesh nationals in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.



Andrew Goledzinowski, Australian ambassador for people smuggling issues, said that the Bali Process had to become more flexible and more agile in responding to the challenges of the region.



'Since the last SOM meeting of the Bali Process, the world has changed and so many more things have happened. Since the last we met in this forum, illegal migration has become possibly the most critical global issue in the world,' Goledzinowski ' who cochaired Tuesday's meeting with Hasan ' said in his opening remarks.



'It is very important for the Bali Process ['] for us not just continuing what we have been doing but we must work harder. In that context, this meeting is more ambitious than before.'



The UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for protection, Volker TArk, who represents the organization in the meeting, called for nations in the region to sign the convention and to give refugees access to better livelihoods, even in the transit countries.



'We hope that in light of the big crises when it comes to refugees, there are opportunities now to revisit some of the old policies that basically use resettlement as the only solution. We can find other ways of arranging local stays ' even if it is on a temporary basis ' so they can also access the labor market,' he said.

___________________________________

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Linkedin Tama Salim, Nani Afrida and Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Jakarta has questioned Beijing's suggestion that disputed waters near Indonesia's Natuna Islands constitute part of China's traditional fishing grounds.



Edy Yusuf, the Foreign Ministry's director for East Asia and the Pacific region, explained on Tuesday that the closest thing to China's claim in internal law was traditional fishing rights, which, according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), require two countries to sign a treaty over a designated area. China and Indonesia have no such treaty.



Instead, Edy indicated that China's assertion of historic rights over the fishing grounds might fall within Beijing's contested Nine-Dash-Line territorial definition.



'[Beijing] would definitely avoid using that line of reasoning, as it would constitute an overlap of authority with Indonesia ' that's why they're using the term 'traditional fishing grounds',' he told The Jakarta Post.



'What happened was that [China] committed an illegal fishing act in Indonesia's EEZ [exclusive economic zone].'



Jakarta accused Beijing of obstructing law enforcement when large Chinese coast guard vessels intercepted Indonesian patrol boats towing the 2,000-gross-ton Kway Fey 10078, a Chinese fishing boat caught operating illegally near the Natuna Islands.



The Kway Fey, which was being towed to the nearest naval base by patrol vessel KP Hiu 011, was rammed by an armed Chinese coast guard boat at the border of Indonesian waters, sustaining operational damage.



Beijing later reiterated its stance on the Natuna Islands in a meeting with Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, conceding Indonesia's full sovereignty over the region.



However, it also requested that eight of its citizens ' crew members of the Kway Fey ' be released from detention.



The request hinges on the assumption that the Kway Fey was operating in China's 'traditional fishing grounds' when it was captured, a claim not recognized by the international community.



International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana said Retno had brought up the South China Sea issue to remind Beijing that Indonesia could at any time give up its role as the region's honest broker if its Chinese counterparts plan to dishonor efforts to resolve conflicting national claims.



Hikmahanto, one of two experts brought in to be briefed on the Natuna situation, corroborated earlier Edy's deduction that the 'traditional fishing grounds' in question might fall within China's claimed sovereign territory. 'That might just be the case,' he said.



'We don't claim there is an overlap, but for them, 'traditional fishing grounds' means they weren't fishing in Indonesia's EEZ region,' Hikmahanto added, calling it an attempt on the part of Beijing to blur the issue.



Indonesia does not recognize the Nine-Dash-Line because China has neglected to clarify the concept since the era of former foreign minister Ali Alatas, the University of Indonesia scholar claimed.



Jakarta, which makes no claim to the South China Sea, has long lubricated peace talks among disputing claimant states.



Navy chief of staff Adm. Ade Supandi said that five navy vessels were currently on guard in Natuna waters; however, he downplayed the tension, insisting that defense duties did not extend to fisheries violations.



'This is a matter for the fisheries sector,' he said.



Previously, the commander of the Navy's Western Fleet (Armabar), Rear Admiral Achmad Taufiqqoerrochman, whose ships oversee the Natuna region, said the incident would be settled first and foremost within the fisheries sector.






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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

More than 500 families in three community units (RW) in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, are on the verge of bidding farewell to their homes after the Jakarta Administration disseminated last week an eviction notice for May.



Since the city administration's concrete embankment project along the heavily polluted Ciliwung River, it has cleared away residential areas that it considers would hamper the plan, which it said to help mitigate floods in the capital.



Hundreds of buildings in several residential areas that the administration considered illegal and were claimed to have obstructed the river's flow, such as Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta and Bukit Duri in South Jakarta, were evicted by the city last year so it could realize its Ciliwung River normalization program.



Like the previous evictions, the residents who possessed Jakarta ID cards are encouraged by the City Administration to move to rented low-cost apartments (rusunawa) in Rawa Bebek, East Jakarta.



The plan sparked rejections by the residents, but most of them said they were powerless in front of the authorities and they had no other choice but to obey.



Uut Rusdianto, an official of Kampung Duri sub-district, said that there would be 138 buildings affected by the eviction in RW 9, 10, 11. He was referring to data released by the National Land Agency (BPN). He further explained that a building usually comprises more than one household.



Meanwhile, data from Sanggar Ciliwung Merdeka, an NGO that aims to empower residents of Ciliwung's banks, shows that a total of 1,365 from 516 households will be affected by the second planned eviction.



In January, more than 90 families were peacefully evicted from Bukit Duri despite legal proceedings in court.



In the near future, Uut said that another eviction has been planned in the sub district, with RW 12 and RW 1 being targeted.



Uut, who administers the registration of residents to the rusunawa, said that as of Friday twenty families have booked units in rusunawa Rawa Bebek, which is still under construction. The rusunawa will have around 400 apartments.



'Compensation will be given to residents who possess a legal land ownership certificate, after being verified by BPN,' Uut explained, who acknowledged that only a few residents possessed such certificates.



Jumani, who lives in RW 11, told The Jakarta Post that she did not have a land certificate even though she bought the land decades ago.



'I never thought this could lead into a problem,' the 72-year-old woman said.



Another resident Lia, 32, said that her family preferred to rent a house near Bukit Duri instead of having to move to a rusunawa offered by the administration.



She said that the rusunawa was too from her husband's workplace in Kuningan, South Jakarta.



Abdulrahman Gani, who lives in RW 12 with his wife and two grandchildren, said he had been informed about the future eviction and wanted to know the exact date so that he could prepare.



'I want to know when we will be evicted. Not because I want to leave soon, but at least I can prepare,' expressed Gani, who had begun packing his belongings.



He referred to the Kampung Pulo residents who tried to resist, but the eviction still carried out. That precedence, he said, proved that the residents had no choice but to move.



In August last year, residents of Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta, which sits across Bukit Duri were engaged in a violent clash with Public Order Agency officers when the City Administration forcefully evicted them. (fac)
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java  Wed, March 23, 2016

Indonesian Francais Indonesia (IFI), the French cultural center in Bandung, West Java, and a Bandung-based theater group, Mainteater, canceled the monolog theater performance of national hero Tan Malaka on Wednesday following pressure from a hard-line group that accused the show of spreading communist ideology.

The cancelation, just two hours before the show started, was related to pressure and threats from from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), said IFI Bandung cultural program coordinator Ricky Arnold.

The monolog, entitled Saya Rusa Berbulu Merah (I Am a Red-furred Fox), was scheduled to be performed on Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m.

The representatives of the hard-line groups visited IFI at 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and demanded the organizers cancel the show.

"The cancelation was not done because we are afraid or to justify their actions oppressing freedom of expression, but we have invited people to come and we do not want any of them to become victims of the groups," Ricky said on Wednesday.

The monolog's scriptwriter, Ahda Imran, questioned why Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil would allow such oppression.

"Bandung is known as a creative city. People say that Bandung is the city of human rights, that Bandung is a champion. Prove it: What kind of champion is Bandung?" said Ahda, who had been writing the script since 2013.

The Mainteater group decided to have a show on Tan Malaka to pay respect to the forgotten hero. The group believed Tan's ideology is still relevant to Indonesia's current situation.

"We need to learn by example: How Tan Malaka put the country's interest above his personal and party interests," Ahda said.

The monolog's director, Wawan Sofwan, also questioned where the state was when freedom of expressions was being restricted by hard-liners.

He denied that the theater group was related to the leftist movement, as accused by the FPI.

"This is the twilight for freedom of expression and doing arts. There are so many reports on restrictions. This is a challenge for Jokowi [President Joko Widodo]. How could we do our art?" Wawan asked.

Tan Malaka was a controversial leftist figure who fought for the country's independence against Dutch colonialism. President Soekarno's administration named Tan Malaka a national hero in 1963, but the New Order regime under late dictator Soeharto decided to minimize Tan Malaka's role in the country's struggle against the Dutch, given his ties to the communist movement.

The canceled show's production leader, Heliana Sinaga, said that 150 tickets, priced at Rp 30,000 (US$2.27) each, were sold per day.

The organizers are working on how to refund the ticket purchasers.

IFI director Melaney Martini said the organization supported the show because it reflected values related to human rights, including freedom of expression.

"This is a good script that young generations must know because there are not much information on Tan Malaka," Melaney said, adding that the IFI provided the space for the show for free.

Dedi Subu from the West Java FPI said the group opposed the monolog because he claimed it spread communist teachings. He insisted that communism had been banned by law and thus such an event had to be canceled.

Despite having protested against the show, Dedi admitted that he had not read the script provided by the organizers.

"Why would I read it? We all know that Tan Malaka was a communist," he said adding that the FPI threatened to enlist the help of other mass organizations if the performance organizers had insisted on carrying on with the show. (rin)
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Linkedin Dian Arthen (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Dressed up in truly chic Parisian style, French actress Sophie Marceau attended a press conference at the Galeries Lafayette at South Jakarta's Pacific Place mall on Sunday to promote her latest real-life gig as a shoe designer.

In collaboration with shoe manufacturer Villebois, the 49-year-old actress, a former Bond girl in the movie The World is Not Enough, has designed 13 pairs of ballet flats, adding a special touch to every piece.

"This totally unprecedented adventure allowed me to combine my taste for fashion and my passion for dance. I put all my energy into this collection in order to reveal the beauty, the lightness and the grace of a foot wearing a ballerina [shoe]," she said.

Her collection will soon be available for the Indonesian market at Pacific Place. At the event, actress Raline Shah expressed her excitement at meeting Sophie through her Instagram account, @raline_shah.

"Am so lucky to have been able to meet French actress Sophie Marceau and experience her energy. I grew up watching her French films and who can forget her in The World is Not Enough. An international actress that is proud of her country and with such a vibrant personality. Am inspired! Thank you for coming to Indonesia," she captioned her photo with Sophie. (kes)
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Linkedin Indra Budiari, Safrin La Batu and Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

After the government acknowledged Tuesday that it had failed to foresee the impact of rapid technological development in the transportation sector, the streets of Jakarta descended into chaos as drivers of conventional means of public transportation clashed with those of application-based ones.



Taxi windows were smashed, motorcycle taxi drivers beaten and passengers forced out of taxis, as drivers of conventional public transportation and their app-empowered counterparts attacked each other in many areas of the city.



Tuesday's violent incidents were preceded by the latest in a series of protests, with some 12,000 conventional transportation drivers expressing their anger and accusing the government of failing to regulate increasingly popular app-based transportation, which they blame for dwindling income.



The Jakarta Police deployed 6,000 personnel for the rally on Tuesday.



Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo had ordered an evaluation of regulations to ensure fairness. 'When we made the law, we did not foresee how rapidly the technology would advance,' Luhut said at a press conference at his office.



'We also did not foresee there would be [ride-hailing app] Go-Jek, because we only regulate three- and four-wheeled vehicles,' he said.



'We want provocateurs to be punished,' he added. Government data showed that police detained 83 people from the rallies for questioning.



The government had no plans to block the ride-hailing smartphone applications, he said.



'We don't want to point fingers at anyone. No one is wrong; we just did not imagine that the technology would change so fast,' Luhut said. He added that the government expected conventional taxi companies like Blue Bird and Express to also up their game.



The government denied speculations that the clashes had been engineered.



One clash erupted in Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta, as dozens of Go-Jek drivers began to throw rocks at taxi drivers who had joined the rally. Police arrived on the scene 10 minutes later.



'We did not start this; it was payback for what they did to our friends today,' one Go-Jek driver, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Jakarta Post.



The rally turned violent as striking taxi drivers attacked their colleagues who were still carrying passengers, forcing them to join the strike. Damaged taxis and broken glass were seen across the city center, including Jl. Sudirman, Dukuh Atas and Jl. Gatot Subroto.



Siswanto, a Go-Jek driver, was assaulted by taxi drivers when passing through Senayan, South Jakarta. A Blue Bird taxi driver, Hotman, said he had fallen victim to 'Go-Jek drivers' retaliation', pointing to his vehicle's broken rear window.



'They threw stones at my taxi, even though I didn't do anything to them,' he said, adding that the incident had taken place at Menteng in Central Jakarta while he was alone.



On March 14, more than 2,000 drivers, members of the Land Transportation Drivers Association (PPAD), took to the streets, claiming that the new technology created unfair business competition for them.



PPAD head Cecep Handoko on Tuesday apologized to the public for the 'disruption' caused by the rally, arguing that it happened as the government had not provided any solution following the previous protest. 'We are ready to compete with them, as long as they are ready to obey the law,' he said.



Newly appointed Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Moechgiyarto, who was attending a farewell ceremony with his former subordinates in West Java's capital of Bandung, flew to Jakarta at noon to monitor the simultaneous rallies in the city.



'We are all out [in handling riots]. The crowd at the State Palace is orderly, as is the one in front of the House of Representatives building. We will definitely take firm action against anyone breaking the law,' he told reporters.



Iqbal said frictions between taxi drivers and drivers of app-based transportation had occurred in several locations, adding that 60 drivers of app-based transportation had been questioned.



Meanwhile, Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) lawyer, Alldo Fellix Januardy, told the Post that his office was offering legal counsel to 79 people detained by the Jakarta Police on Tuesday, adding that all 79 were Go-Jek or GrabBike drivers and none were taxi drivers. Alldo said 64 of them had been arrested near Senayan when they formed a convoy to defend themselves against approaching taxi drivers. The 64 were apparently released without being questioned.



Separately, Blue Bird Taxi said that the company had warned its drivers against resorting to violence.



'We are still looking for solid evidence [of violence], as most of them are no more than social media posts,' Noni Sri Ayati Purnomo, Blue Bird commissioner, said at a press conference.

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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

Three Indonesian nationals were injured in the explosion at the Brussels airport and subway station on Tuesday morning that killed at least 34 people, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry official said.



The three Indonesians have been identified only as a woman and her two children, who had been at the Zaventem airport waiting for a flight to Indonesia when the incident occurred, said the Indonesian Foreign Ministry director for Indonesian national protection and legal aid Lalu Muhammad Iqbal on Wednesday.



"They were injured and are currently receiving intensive treatment in the University Hospital Leuven," he said.



Officials from the Indonesian Embassy in Brussels have visited the hospital and met with her husband, who is a Belgian national, Lalu said, adding that the Indonesian Embassy would continue to monitor the condition of the victims.



Quoting information provided by the victim's husband, Lalu confirmed that the woman is an Indonesian citizen, while her two children currently possess dual citizenship because they are under 18 year old. "To confirm their citizenship, we must check their data at the embassy and with immigration," he said.



The Indonesian Embassy in Brussels will communicate with the Indonesian community in Brussels and Luxembourg in an effort to get more information, to check if there were any other Indonesian victims, Lalu added.



During the morning rush hour as hundreds of passengers had been attempting to check in on Tuesday, two explosions ripped through Brussels airport. Airport authorities announced that the explosions had caused numerous injuries.



The explosions occurred only days after the prime suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Brussels. (Sha/bbn)(+)
President Truong Tan Sang presents a report at the 13th National Assembly's 11th meeting (Source: VGP)

Over the past five years, amidst complicated developments regionally and globally and with socio-economic difficulties at home, the President closely coordinated with legislative, executive and judicial agencies; the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF); political-social organisations; ministries; localities; people and voters nationwide to fulfill his assigned tasks effectively in line with the Constitution and law, the report said.

The President, together with the entire Party, population and army has contributed to effectuating the 11th National Party Congresss Resolution as well as the guidelines of the Party, policies and laws of the State, and resolutions of the 13th National Assembly.

Regarding tasks and orientations for the time ahead, President Truong Tan Sang stressed the need to team up with the NA and its Standing Committee, and the Government to fulfill tasks in the legislative and executive sectors.

Other obligations include building and perfecting the legal system to institutionalise the content of the Constitution and the 12th National Party Congresss Resolution, and make proposals to complete a number of legal documents relating to the Presidents tasks and power.

At the same time, the President should continue instructing relevant agencies in implementing the program on judicial reform for 2016-2020, to build up a strong body of judicial officials.

The leader should also enhance his coordination with the VFF and its member organisations, while increasing his meetings with voters at home and abroad, thus promoting democracy and consolidating the great national unity bloc.

The same day, legislators heard a draft report on the NA work and another report on the performance of the Government and the Prime Minister in the 2011-2016 tenure.

The session was broadcast live on national TV and radio./.
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Linkedin Farida Susanty and Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The government's inaction is in the public limelight against a backdrop of violence that erupted on Tuesday amid a strike involving thousands of conventional taxi drivers protest ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Uber.



The taxi drivers were out in force on Tuesday, the government having backpedaled on blocking the apps recently; drivers claim the government treats the apps differently to conventional taxis, which are subject to tariff regulations and roadworthiness (KIR) tests.



The Transportation Ministry last week issued an official letter to the Communications and Information Ministry requesting the latter block Grab and Uber, citing concerns regarding their legal status and public transportation service permits.



However, the letter has not yet been followed up by any action or specific regulation. The Communications and Information Ministry has yet to block the apps, merely stating that they could choose to work with existing and legal public transportation operators.



Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) transportation division vice chairman Carmelita Hartoto said the government needed to solve the problem in a comprehensive manner.



'Whether they are conventional or app-based transportation, if they carry passengers, they need to comply with the prevailing regulations,' she said in a statement, adding that regulation was needed to ensure the safety and security of passengers.



Grab entered the Indonesian market in June 2014, while Uber came last year. Both firms have faced serious challenges to their legal status.



The government has recently tried to resolve the legal status of the application firms' drivers, with Cooperatives of Small and Medium Enterprises Minister AAGN Puspayoga awarding a deed of establishment to the Indonesia Car Rental Association (PRRI) and Uber drivers' Jasa Trans Usaha Bersama as cooperatives.



However, it remains unclear how this will affect pricing, despite Puspayoga also stating that the cars would be subject to KIR tests through the cooperatives.



The two firms have also clarified their status as technology companies rather than transportation firms. Grab has also clarified that it is a legal entity in Indonesia as PT Solusi Transportasi Indonesia and that it is registered as a taxpayer. Uber claims to have applied as a legal entity and promised to undergo KIR tests.



Transportation Ministry spokesperson Julius Adravida Barata said that the regulation for app-based transportation services 'needed to be discussed'.



'We are the regulator. We evaluate what needs to be done. But the regulations must be there, as stipulated by the law, maybe in the form of a ministerial degree,' he said.



Transportation Ministry public policy committee (KKP) member Agus Pambagio confirmed that the committee, which consists of around 20 experts and representatives of transportation organizations, including the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), was discussing a ministerial decree draft to regulate ride apps, aiming to place conventional taxis and app companies on a level playing field. 'A price ceiling has been proposed, like those for airlines,' he said.



Agus also said that app-based companies might have to have a car pool, pay tax and undergo KIR tests.



Organda chairman Adrianto Djokosoetono also confirmed the ongoing regulation discussion.



Meanwhile, Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi acknowledged that online transportation companies were required to obey the country's prevailing laws, but accused the government of being slow to act.



'The government should've seen it coming. {Ride-hailing apps] existed in 53 countries before here,' he said over the phone, adding that the House of Representatives should also have been more in tune with the public mood.



Separately, Blue Bird commissioner Noni Sri Ayati Purnomo denied that the apps had dealt a blow to her firm's finances, saying that healthy competition was in fact a boon for the industry.



'Blue Bird is always able to adapt and innovate,' she said, declining to elaborate.



' Indra Budiari contributed to this story

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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

One decade after its inception, microblogging site Twitter has firmly established itself as an iconic social media service in Indonesia, becoming a key platform for business, politics and everyday life, despite struggles within its business operations.



Twitter's Indonesia country business head Roy Simangunsong explained that Twitter had shown itself to be an integral part of the average Indonesian's daily life as the go-to place for expression as well as content delivery.



'The popularity of Twitter in Indonesia has made it a household name and a key part of daily life. It has been an important force behind the spreading of moments and information that has managed to connect everyone in this vast country,' he said on Monday at Twitter's 10th anniversary celebration in Jakarta.



Roy said earlier that Indonesia continued to be a large market for Twitter, to the effect that it is seen as an irreplaceable segment for the company's business operations. Data from the Association of Indonesian Internet Providers (APJII) shows that there are more than 88 million active internet users in Indonesia.



Launched on March 21 in 2006 by CEO and founder Jack Dorsey in the US, the website, which aims to create an efficient real-time information platform, has since amassed 320 million users worldwide, with more than 50 million Indonesian accounts.



Back in 2012, Jakarta was named the most active Twitter city, beating such cities as Tokyo and New York, while in 2013, Indonesia was ranked fifth in the world in the number of Twitter users.



In March 2015, Twitter established a representative office in Jakarta.



During the celebration, Twitter Indonesia listed some notable hashtags of viral issues among the Indonesian public in the past 10 years, pertaining to social campaigns, charity and tragedy or leading up to much-anticipated events, such as #KoinUntukPrita, #JalinMerapi, #DemiMetallica, #SelamatDatangLFC, #Kemenangan #Jokowi di Pemilu, #SaveKPK, #RIPOlgaSyahputra, #PoliStory, #KamiTidakTakut and #GMT2016.



#KoinUntukPrita revolved around a 2009 online plea to collect money to support Prita Mulyasari, a mother charged with defaming a private hospital in Tangerang. The court ordered her to pay around Rp 340 million (US$25,840) to the hospital after finding her guilty of distributing slanderous emails. The Supreme Court eventually exonerated Prita from the civil suit charges, but nevertheless sentenced the mother of two to six months in prison. The campaign raised Rp 650 million.



Hashtag movements have become a prominent way for Indonesians to showcase their solidarity on an issue online, especially on political issues. Up to 22 percent of all Indonesian tweets sent in 2014 revolved around the country's highly divisive presidential election.



Today, Twitter is crucial for Indonesian politicians to communicate with their constituents, whether to express suggestions, praise or criticism. President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's very active account @jokowi has around 4.6 million followers.



Twitter's massive network and potential have also been used as a platform for small businesses to advertise products and interact with customers.



However, the social media site's own business is struggling with problems such as increasing competition from other social media services and a shaky balance sheet.



Twitter has reportedly lost $2 billion since 2011, and last year the company announced it had laid off 8 percent of its workforce to help it make a profit.



Recent plans to revamp its features, such as extending its trademark 140 character limit to 160, allowing more advertisements on the site and an altered timeline have not been received well by users.
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Linkedin Ahmed Al-Haj (The Jakarta Post) Sanaa  Wed, March 23, 2016

The U.S. military conducted an airstrike Tuesday against an al-Qaida training camp in Yemen, causing dozens of casualties, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the training camp was located in the mountains, and was being used by more than 70 terrorists belonging to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Cook did not specify the location of the camp. But Yemeni security officials and a witness said the airstrike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al-Qaida militants about 75 kilometers (47 miles) west of the terror group's stronghold city of Mukalla.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," Cook said.

A tribal member at the site said about 40 people were killed and wounded in the Brom Maifa district on Tuesday. He didn't give a breakdown and said that bodies were still being counted. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety.

The Yemeni officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to reporters.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten U.S. persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaida and denying it safe haven," Cook said.

Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government.

The war has given AQAP a freehand to expand and seize cities and large swaths of land. Militants from the extremist Islamic State group have also taken advantage of the chaos to wage a series of deadly attacks across the country. (ags)
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Linkedin Paul Wiseman (The Jakarta Post) Washington  Wed, March 23, 2016

The United States, facing sanctions for discriminating against Mexican tuna imports, is expanding tougher rules for labeling tuna '"dolphin-safe" on the rest of the world instead of easing up on Mexico.



Last fall, the World Trade Organization ruled that the United States was unfairly using stricter tracking and verification standards on tuna fishing in the waters from San Diego to Peru, where Mexican fleets operate, than it was imposing on fleets elsewhere. In retaliation, Mexico has been preparing to slap $472 million in tariffs against imports of high fructose corn syrup from the United States.



The U.S. decided against loosening the rules on Mexico, choosing instead a plan that "elevates requirements for tuna product from every other region of the world," U.S. Trade Rep. Michael Froman said in a statement.



The dolphin-safe labels are supposed to ensure that canned, dried and frozen tuna has been caught without endangering dolphins. Schools of tuna tend to gather and swim with some species of dolphins.



Fishermen often have located tuna by tracking dolphins with speedboats and helicopters, then circling them with nets to get at tuna underneath. To earn a 'dolphin-safe' label, tuna must have been caught on a fishing trip that did not involve harming, trapping or killing dolphins.



The new rules will require tuna boats around the world to keep more paperwork and sometimes carry government observers. Captains will also be required to undergo training in dolphin-safe tuna fishing.



"For most of the big fishing boats and companies, it's not a problem," says Mark Palmer, a marine mammal specialist with the Earth Island Institute, an environmental group. "For the smaller fishing boats, it's going to be a fairly steep climb into get everybody into compliance with it. The intent is to maintain the strong standards of the dolphin-safe label."



The Obama administration is lobbying Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim countries including Mexico. It is seeking to win over skeptics who worry that trade agreements weaken environmental standards. (ags)
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Linkedin Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

While others doubt the existence of miracles, Valencia Mieke Randa lives on them.



Valencia established the Blood4Life online community in 2009 after experiencing difficulties in finding blood donors for her mother, who had to undergo hemodialysis twice a week.



'At that time, I realized that there were many good people out there willing to donate but unsure where to go, while on the other hand patients' relatives didn't know how to get help.



'I used the internet, the world without borders where everybody is connected, to connect those who need blood with potential donors.'



When she started, she had only 44 donors, but soon saw a tremendous increase to over 100,000 standby donors across the archipelago.



'Within five minutes, or two hours at the latest, a patient can get a donor,' she said.



She decided to return to work after seeing that her three children no longer needed her intensive care. Blood4Life went into a hiatus for nearly a year, until Valencia was repeatedly contacted by a man asking her for help to find a blood donor for his mother.



'I was in a meeting so I didn't pick up the call. When I got home, I called him back, but he coldly said my help was no longer needed because his mother had already died. Two months after that, my own mother died.'



Valencia's mother suffered from cancer and although doctors estimated that she had only eight months, she survived for eight years.



The eulogy given at her mother's funeral reminded her of the community she had left behind. She realized then that doing good deeds was important.



With a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Indonesia, Valencia had made a career at private bank Danamon, as well as at auto accessories and supplies company Astra International, but she decided to quit work for good and dedicate her time to help others.



It was not easy to pick up where she had left off, with only 132 followers on Twitter in 2011, so she started to use the magic words of 'help' or 'urgent' on her messages for wider outreach.



That year, she was named an 'internet Hero' by search engine Google, along with Ridwan Kamil and Shafiq Pontoh for their idle-land urban farming movement Indonesia Berkebun and Dani Kusuma, who created an email account, lia.tersayang@gmail.com, to send a letter to her newborn daughter until the age of seven.



The Blood4Life promotional video went viral on the day of its release and as a result, the Indonesian Red Cross headquarters on Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto was full of blood donors lining up from the first to the fifth floor.



'I haven't done much with the internet, but even a simple gesture can be meaningful to others. It feels good doing good things,' she said.





Valencia, or Silly to her relatives and friends, branched out, visiting hospitals twice a week to collect data on blood needs. However, she also found that most patients, especially children, also needed money and caretakers, because their parents were out at work or had quit work to be with their hospitalized children.



She established a credible movement of financial donors named 3 Little Angels to show that all donations went to child patients and the caretaker volunteers.



Around that time, she met with a family hailing from Kalimantan who practically lived in the hospital corridor because their eldest child was being treated at a hospital in Jakarta and they could not leave the youngest home alone.



Valencia came up with the idea of providing a facility where child outpatients could stay so parents could continue to earn a living without worries.



'But establishing a halfway house needs a lot money, and I'm just a regular housewife', she said.



But, when there's a will, there's a way.



She stumbled upon a house for rent perfect for the purpose and the owner gave her time to collect every dime she could lay her hands on to pay the annual fee of Rp 100 million (US$7,616).



'I only had Rp 1 million for a down payment at that time. Thank God I received a lot of work as a speaker and program ambassador, so I could pay in 13 installments.'



More money problems arose because the house was already in poor condition. A paint manufacturer donated cans of paint, but no workers. Optimizing social media, volunteers came for a fun painting event. Media reportage on the event also brought in hordes of donors, both money and in-kind, so Valencia could renovate the two-story house bit by bit.



In November 2014, Rumah Harapan (House of Hope) opened its service with first patient Tyas, now 13, who had been diagnosed with bone cancer and was in palliative care at home in Grogol, West Jakarta.



With nine people sharing the 4-by-6 meter house, Tyas had to bear being bitten by mice and flies breeding in her wounds.



'We moved her to Rumah Harapan and I told the volunteers to pour their love into the child because the doctor said she only had a few months left. But Tyas grew healthier and, after persuading the doctor to give her another check, the cancer cells miraculously vanished. Love is the best medicine and happiness is indeed an immune booster.'



Aside from Tyas, who remains in the house, 51 other children in need of palliative care have stayed in the house. Of the figure, 15 have not survived.



'I wish to see more child palliative care across the country by 2020,' said Valencia, adding that similar projects were in the pipeline in Bandung, Makassar and Bali this year, while Aceh and Surabaya were on the list for next year.



While the projects rely on donors, Valencia established online businesses in food and jewelry, made by local artisans, to cover operational costs.



'I can do all of this because I'm a mother of three children with special needs,' she said.



Her eldest suffers from over-anxiety resulted from consuming painkillers given by her nanny when she was a baby, while her second child, a boy, was diagnosed with epilepsy and autism and often descends into explosive tantrums.





'I prayed to God when I was having my third child to give it a perfect body and I mentioned each body part but I forgot to mention the digestive system.'



The youngest son has a poor immune system and suffers from various allergies.



Valencia embraces what life has given to her. Her eldest, now 14, has published a novel in English and is currently making a film on marginalized children.



'I used to wonder what God planned for me, but I realized that my first child had taught me to be a good listener regarding what children with special needs want, my second made me stronger and indomitable, while the youngest made me an expert on nutrition.



'If there's a lesson learned from all of this, it is that I have to be able to dry my tears first before helping others to dry theirs.'
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Linkedin Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya, East Java  Wed, March 23, 2016

Dozens of officials from tap water company Perum Jasa Tirta I and activists from environmental group Konsorsium Lingkungan Hidup (KLH) on Tuesday held tumpengan and ruwatan rituals on the banks of the Surabaya River to welcome World Water Day, which is celebrated every March 22.

Taufiqurahman of Perum Jasa Tirta I said the two Javanese rituals were held in the hope that people living along the banks of the Surabaya River would be made aware of the need to preserve the environment, and would stop throwing waste into the river.

'The tumpengan and ruwatan rituals are part of our efforts to ensure that all biota in the Surabaya River are preserved. It is hoped that everyone can be made aware of the importance of maintaining the Surabaya River, and have the willingness to protect it,' said Taufiqurahman.

Tumpengan is a Javanese tradition involving serving cone-shaped rice with various side-dishes to express gratitude for blessings received from God. Meanwhile, ruwatan is a ritual seeking divine blessings from God.At the event, the participants spread seeds of fish species endemic to the Surabaya River.

Compared with six years ago, the water condition in the Surabaya River is relatively clean, and endemic species are thriving, including rengkik, pangsius catfish or jendil and mystus or keting. In 2000, people could find only common snakeheads - locally known as sarkamut or gabus, a species resistant to water with a high level of pollution.

'Thanks to various efforts, the condition of the Surabaya River has improved. Various fish endemic to the Surabaya River such as rengkik, jendil and keting, which had once disappeared, can now be found easily by local anglers,' Taufiqurahman.

Meanwhile, KLH director Imam Rohani added that red worms were now quite difficult to find on the banks of the river. 'The difficulty in finding red worms is an indicator that the quality of water in the Surabaya River is improving,' said Imam.

In the central area of the river, Imam said, authorities supported by environmental activists had continued to monitor the quality of the river water, especially its pollution level, while water patrols were intensified on the downstream side of the river to reduce potential pollution.

'We monitor it every month and report it to [East Java governor Soekarwo],' said Imam. (ebf)
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java  Wed, March 23, 2016

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia inaugurated a water education laboratory at Bumi Panda Learning House in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday, in line with celebrations for World Water Day.

WWF Indonesia marketing director Devy Suradji said the water-quality checking facility would be open to the public. The laboratory, she said, was fitted out with various equipment, including microscopes, litmus paper, lab coats and a device to test the acidity and alkalinity levels of water known as a pH meter.

'This facility is part of a water and river conservation program in Rimbang Baling, Riau,' said Devy, adding that the lab was realized via a partnership with the HSBC Water Programme.

Visitors can bring samples of water to the facility from their homes or other sources and perform tests to measure acidity and alkalinity levels, metal contamination levels and microbe levels.

'There are work sheets that can be used to test the water,' said WWF Indonesia's Payment for Water Services specialist Agus Haryanto.

To test for microbe levels, he said, visitors could put a water sample under a microscope and watch it on a screen. To test the acidity or alkalinity of water, they could use litmus paper. 'If it turns red, then the water's acidity level is quite strong or its pH is less than 7. If the water has a high alkalinity level, the paper will turn blue, showing a pH level of more than 7,' said Agus. (ebf)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, March 23, 2016

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) has called for the city administration to impose sanctions on taxi companies whose drivers were involved in violence during a large-scale protest in the capital on Tuesday, amid rising public uproar regarding the demonstration.



Calls were issued for taxi companies to take responsibility as the strike caused traffic congestion when some of the protestors blocked major roads in the capital. The strike also caused citizens to struggle with getting around the city on Tuesday. Transjakarta buses, for example, could not operate normally as their routes were blocked.



"We object if the demonstration was considered a drivers' initiative as the protesters used the companies' uniforms and companies' assets in the protest. It was a corporate action," YLKI executive director Sudaryatmo told thejakartapost.com on Wednesday.



The companies should have not used its drivers as a shield to oppose the existence of growing ride-hailing applications that offer better services to the public, he said, adding that the mushrooming number of app-based transportation services should instead encourage conventional taxi operators to improve their services.



Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama also warned taxi companies to take firm actions against drivers who were involved in the riot, saying he would not hesitate to revoke their business permits if they failed to do so.



Publicly listed taxi firm Blue Bird has denied that it mobilized its drivers for the protests. The company claimed it issued a letter urging its drivers not to join the protest, Blue Bird vice president for business development said Noni Purnomo on Tuesday, and also pledged to fire drivers who were found to have been involved in acts of violence.



Blue Bird drivers were among the 10,000 workers from the Land Transportation Drivers Association (PPAD) who took to the streets to protest ride-hailing apps such as Uber, Grab and Go-Jek.



The YLKI also urged the government to create a regulation for app-based transportation services to accommodate the interests of all stakeholders. The existence of such apps provided an alternative to conventional public transportation, and thus needed to be embraced and supported, it added.



"If there are more public transportation options, it will surely bring benefits to the public," Sudaryatmo said. (rin)(+)
The signing ceremony. (Photo: CPV)

The mutual agreement mainly focuses on emulating to successfully fulfill political and specialized tasks; striving to complete socio-economic development targets; thoroughly grasping and implementing programs and plans with five main missions, three breakthrough phases and 14 key issues to develop the capital during the 2015-2020 period, in accordance with Resolutions of the 16th municipal Party Committee Congress.The two sides agreed to launch emulation campaigns among enterprises with the theme of international economic integration and civilized commercial development in order to create ebullient campaigns to welcome the success of the 12National Party Congress and the elections of 14NA and Peoples Council deputies at all levels.Deputy President cum General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Medium and Small Enterprises Mac Quoc Anh said that in the international economic integration circumstance, enterprises need to invest in renovating technology and administrating business to gain opportunities from Vietnams TPP participation.The signing offers opportunities for the associations enterprises to promote business activities, create effervescent emulation among enterprises and improve the quality of emulation campaigns./.
Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Le Hai Binh (Source:VNA)



We were shocked and indignant at the news that a string of bomb terror attacks occurred in the Belgian capital city of Brussels and left dozens of deaths and injuries, Binh said in reply to a reporters query on Vietnams reactions to these incidents.

We have a strong belief that efforts underway by the Belgian Government will bring the culprits to light shortly, he said, expressing sympathy with the losses and pains being endured by the Belgian Government, people and the victims families.

He clarified that after learning about the bomb attacks, the Foreign Ministry instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium to promptly work with local authorities and agencies to check for any Vietnamese falling victim.

We have yet to get any information about any Vietnamese victims, Binh said.

The Vietnamese Embassy is working hard to seek more information and at the same time outline support plans in case they are needed, he added.

A series of explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22nd, killing at least 26 people.

Two blasts targeted the main hall of Zaventem Airport killing at least 11 people, while at least 15 others have died in an underground rail blast, with 55 injured./.
Commenced in 2014, the five-year initiative is jointly funded by the New Zealand Aid Program and ChildFund New Zealand. It involves 1,700 local families, most of them are ethnic minorities in Tra Linh district to boost agricultural production and incomes, improve access to vocational training and credit, and better plan for natural disasters.

Tra Linh district is characterized by high poverty rates, geographic isolation, lack of access to economic opportunities, and limited arable land. It is also susceptible to natural disasters. Situated in the far north of Vietnam, Tra Linh is home to many ethnic minorities, in which 40% of households are classified as poor.

Photo: Ngoc Tram

Photo: Ngoc Tram

Photo: Ngoc Tram

Accordingly, irrigation canals have been built and people have access to new livestock through the cow bank scheme. People have been trained to improve their skills to farm rice and raise livestock. Households will get access to credit and vocational training for the first time. And the six communes will each gain practical disaster preparedness plans. Besides, the project holistic approach aims at supporting in three areas of agriculture, diversified livelihoods, and disaster risk reduction.

The investment in Cao Bang is an example of New Zealands commitment to supporting vulnerable communities across Vietnam to strengthen their ability to decide their own future, and to live to their full potential.

We would like to continue supporting Cao Bang, especially women and youth; and we commit to fund a total of NZD1.7million until 2019 focusing on education development and build strong local communities, Ambassador Manning said.

As part of his visit, the Ambassador handed over four cows to families in Cao Chuong as part of the cow bank scheme. The scheme helps poor families by covering the upfront cost of livestock, allowing the families to start a small herd for meat or milk production, with the families eventually repaying the investment with later cattle offspring. As well as improving household income, the cow bank scheme and irrigation of rice crops improve food security for the people of Tra Linh.

Non-farm livelihoods are also supported to protect against economic shocks and the impact of natural disasters. A micro-credit and savings system is targeted at women and youth to access small loans to diversify their incomes. Out-of-school youth are further supported through improved access to vocational training./.
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Appeal for missing Frenchman reaches Phuket

PHUKET: An appeal for any information regarding the whereabouts of missing Frenchman Francois Louet, also known as Jeff, has reached Phuket since his disappearance from Surat Thani last week.



By The Phuket News

Wednesday 23 March 2016, 10:10AM

Frenchman Francois 'Jeff' Louet was last on CCTV leaving the pier at Surat Thani on March 14. Photo: Samui Times

Frenchman Francois 'Jeff' Louet, last seen in Surat Thani on March 14, may be heading for Phuket. Photo: Samui Times

His mother lives in Phuket so he may have headed your way, The Phuket News was told by email yesterday.

Family, friends, police and rescue services have still not been able to establish the whereabouts of Mr Louet, who went missing in Surat Thani on his way back to Koh Tao, reports the Samui Times.

Mr Louet had been diving in Indonesia with his girlfriend. During his trip he had been unwell with an infection in his leg. He had taken medication for a fever, scuba dived to 60 metres, had lost his appetite and had shown signs of illness and disorientation. (See stories here and here.)

When the couple arrived at the pier in Surat Thani on Monday, March 14, to take the night boat back to Koh Tao, Jeff and his girlfriend boarded the boat to rest.

Prior to departure, Mr Louet went out to have a cigarette. When his girlfriend went to check on him he had gone. A local lady said that she saw him, as he had asked for directions to the nearest 7-Eleven.

Nobody has seen or heard from Mr Louet since around 10pm that Monday.

He was seen on CCTV walking away from the pier at 10:17pm wearing a blue T-shirt and red shorts.

Police and rescue workers have been unable to trace him at hospitals and hyperbaric chambers across the country.

Mr Louet left his phone and passport on the boat and it is thought he would be in possession of very little money. He made no calls from his phone prior to his disappearance.

Mr Louets friends and relatives are now gravely concerned for his safety and have asked the public to help locate him.

Any persons who have seen Jeff, who is 5 feet 11 inches (180cm) tall, or has any information as to his whereabouts are urged to call Koh Tao Rescue on 092-123 2369 or the local police urgently.

Emails may be sent directly to editor@samuitimes.com
At least 21 dead as blasts rock Brussels airport, metro

BEGIUM: A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today (Mar 22), killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said.

violencedisasterstransport

By AFP

Tuesday 22 March 2016, 06:02PM

The damaged facade of Brussels airport after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport. Photo: John Thys/AFP

Two explosions targeted the main hall of Zaventem Airport at around 8:00am (2pm Thai time), with a third hitting the Maalbeek metro station near the European Unions main buildings, just as commuters were making their way to work in rush hour.

Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 21 people had been killed  11 at the airport and around ten more at the metro station.

There were chaotic scenes at the airport as passengers fled in panic, with a thick plume of smoke rising from the main terminal building. The blasts smashed the windows of the departure hall and sent ceiling tiles shattering to the floor.

We heard the explosion and felt the blowback, Jean-Pierre Lebeau, a French passenger who had just arrived from Geneva, told AFP, adding that he had seen wounded people and blood in the elevator.

Witnesses told Belga news agency there had been shots and shouts in Arabic before the blasts hit the airport on the Northwest outskirts of Brussels.

At Maalbeek station, at least 15 people with bloodied faces were being treated by emergency services on the pavement, an AFP reporter said.

The explosions triggered a transport shutdown in the city that is home to the headquarters of both the EU and NATO. Flights were halted with metro, tram and bus services all suspended.

These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence, said EU President Donald Tusk.

The bloodshed comes days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on Friday (Mar 18) of Salah Abdeslam  the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 130 people in November  after four months on the run.

Airports in a string of cities across Europe swiftly announced they were boosting security, including in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Prague.

Interior Minister Jan Jambon announced that Belgiums terror threat had been raised from three to a maximum of four, and the countrys national security council was due to meet.

Brussels residents were told to stay where you are, while Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo urged people to avoid making calls to stop the citys mobile networks getting saturated, and to communicate with online messages instead.

Swedens Prime Minister Stefan Lofven branded the blasts an attack against democratic Europe.

British premier David Cameron tweeted that his country would do everything we can to help, and announced that Britains COBRA security committee would meet later today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the blasts show once more that terrorism knows no borders and threatens people all over the world, according to a Kremlin statement.

The fight against this evil requires vital international cooperation, he added.

The blasts come as Abdeslam, Europes most wanted man, remains in a high-security prison in Belgium following his arrest last week in the gritty Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, just around the corner from his family home.

Belgiums Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said at the weekend that Abdeslam  believed to have played a key logistical role in the carnage in Paris  had been planning some sort of new attack.

At the airport, Jean-Pierre Herman and his wife Tankrat Paui Tran embraced with shock on their faces.

My wife just arrived, Herman said. I said hello, we took the elevator and in the elevator we heard the first bomb.

When we came out of the elevator at that moment the second bomb exploded and then we saw doors flying, [the] glass ceiling come down and smoke.

An AFP correspondent said roads to the airport had been blocked and trains halted.

Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, a British journalist living in Brussels, told AFP there had been total confusion at the airport, where she was having breakfast.

Suddenly staff rushed in and said we have to leave, she said.

They rushed out and into the main terminal A departures building. Nobody knew what was going on.

It was total confusion, people were just standing around wondering what was happening.
Black wastewater on Phuket beach can wait, says Vice Governor

PHUKET: The growing pool of black wastewater at Surin Beach can wait until the demolition of beachfront businesses have been carried out, Phuket Vice Governor Chokdee Armornwat has told The Phuket News.

tourismeconomicsenvironmentlandpollution

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Wednesday 23 March 2016, 05:06PM

The black wastewater will 'disappear' after the businesses along Surin Beach have been demolished, assures V/Gov Chokdee Armornwat.

The black wastewater will 'disappear' after the businesses along Surin Beach have been demolished, assures V/Gov Chokdee Armornwat.

The black wastewater will 'disappear' after the businesses along Surin Beach have been demolished, assures V/Gov Chokdee Armornwat.

The black wastewater will 'disappear' after the businesses along Surin Beach have been demolished, assures V/Gov Chokdee Armornwat.

The black wastewater will 'disappear' after the businesses along Surin Beach have been demolished, assures V/Gov Chokdee Armornwat.

The black wastewater will 'disappear' after the businesses along Surin Beach have been demolished, assures V/Gov Chokdee Armornwat.

The pool of wastewater, exposed through a Phuket News cover story in January (see here) has become even more concentrated during the heat wave and lack of rain in recent months.

Notices have been issued to owners to vacate the buildings along the Surin beachfront, V/Gov Chokdee confirmed.

The demolitions will begin on April 20, he said from the city of Boao, in China, where is attending the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2016, which will conclude on Friday (Mar 25).

Once these building have been demolished, this wastewater will not be an issue, he added.

The demolitions have been a long time coming, with officials bestowing reprieve after reprieve while they sorted out formalities to ensure any action would be legal. (See story here.)

However, V/Gov Chokdee this week declined to identify which buildings will be demolished.

All the illegal buildings along the beachfront will have to go, is all he would say on the matter.

Popular Italian restaurant Cefalu has already closed its doors amid claims that pressure from officials to close and the clearing of beach chairs from the sands as having a devastating effect on trade at Surin Beach.

In view of the controversial decisions taken by the Phuket authorities to close down all businesses on Surin Beach, and furthermore forbidding chairs and umbrellas on the beach, the number of tourists has dramatically decreased in this last high season, restaurant management said in announcing its closure. (See story here.)

V/Gov Chokdee laid the blame for the wastewater on the local municipality

I am worried about the polluted water on Surin Beach, but it is the local municipalitys direct responsibility to solve this problem, he said.

Its simple logic to figure out where the wastewater is coming from. So lets fix that part. No buildings, means no businesses and no polluted water, he added.

After Surin Beach, illegal businesses at Lay Pang and Layan Beaches will be next, V/Gov Chokdee warned.

This will start on April 27, he said.

In related news, V/Gov Chokdee said that a committee had been formed to oversee the building of a museum at Surin Beach to praise HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

We will meet about this at the end of this month. After a design has been agreed on, just having the plans drawn up will take three months at least, he said.
Huge manhunt after Brussels attacks horror

BELGIUM: Belgium launched a huge manhunt yesterday (Mar 22) after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe.

violencehomicidedeath

By AFP

Wednesday 23 March 2016, 08:50AM

Handout image released yesterday (Mar 22) by the Belgian Federal Police shows a screen grab of the airport CCTV camera showing a suspect in attacks at Brussels airport. Photo: AFP

Two massive suicide blasts by attackers with bombs in their bags hit the check-in hall at Zaventem Airport, strewing the scene with blood and mangled bodies and sending hundreds of terrified travellers fleeing in terror.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspected attackers pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were actively searching for a third whose bomb failed to go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, Europes symbolic capital, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continents ability to cope with the terror threat.

It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming just four days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam after four months on the run.

This is a day of tragedy, a black day, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, announcing three days of national mourning after the deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium.

Belgian King Philippe condemned the cowardly and odious assault.

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying soldiers of the caliphate had carried out the attacks against the crusader state of Belgium.

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism with all means necessary on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

The whole of Europe has been hit, said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from Novembers attacks.

Several global landmarks including Paris Eiffel Tower and Berlins Brandenburg Gate, as well as the European Commission in Brussels, were illuminated in the colours of the Belgian flag  black, yellow and red.

Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled yesterday as security across Europe was tightened after the bombings, which Michel branded blind, violent and cowardly.

But as Belgium raised its terror alert to the maximum level four, he insisted that Belgium would not be cowed.

People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity, Michel told a news conference. We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life.

About an hour after the airport blasts at around 8:00 am (2pm Thai time)), a third explosion rocked Maalbeek metro station, in the heart of the citys EU quarter, just as commuters were making their way to work.

The city is the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union.

Belgian authorities published surveillance camera images showing the three male suspects of the airport attack  two have dark hair and were both wearing a glove on only one hand, and a third, being hunted by Belgian police, is wearing a hat and a white coat.

They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags, Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said. They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didnt explode.

Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europes most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels.

Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 14 people had been killed at the airport, while Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said around 20 died in the metro.

Witnesses described horrific scenes at the airport, with victims lying in pools of blood, their limbs blown off.

There were chaotic scenes as passengers fled in panic, and plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising from holes punched through the roof of the building by the blasts.

A man shouted a few words in Arabic and then I heard a huge blast, airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.

A lot of people lost limbs. One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg.

At Maalbeek station, paramedics tended to commuters with bloodied faces as the citys normally peaceful streets filled with the wailing of sirens.

The wounded in the two attacks included four US Mormon missionaries, two Britons, eight French and two Colombians.

Airports across Europe swiftly boosted security, while across the Atlantic, New York and Washington ordered security personnel to key areas.

Messages of solidarity poured out on social media, with thousands of people sharing images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag.

US President Barack Obama said Washington stood with Belgium in the face of the outrageous attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said those responsible for the despicable" bombings should face justice.

It has been a week of drama in Brussels. Last Tuesday (Mar 15) saw a shoot-out in the citys south that saw an Algerian IS-linked militant killed.

Investigators believe Abdeslam slipped out of the apartment as the gun battle erupted. He was arrested three days later in Brussels gritty Molenbeek district  just around the corner from his family home.

Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said at the weekend that Abdeslam  believed to have played a key logistical role in the Paris carnage  had told investigators he was planning some sort of new attack in Brussels.

Belgian police also named a new suspect  Najim Laachraoui  whose DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris attacks.
Mercedes crash meds belong to Janepob

BANGKOK: Police confirmed yesterday (Mar 22) that medication found in the Mercedes-Benz involved in the March 13 high-speed crash in Ayutthaya that killed two post-graduate students belong to the driver, Janepob Veeraporn, 37, who was also confirmed to have a history of depression.

accidentshomicidetransport

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 23 March 2016, 09:09AM

The Mercedes-Benz driven by Janepob Veeraporn, 37, (inset) turned upside-down in the Ayutthaya crash that killed two students. Photo: Bangkok Post file photo

National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda, however, insisted police were not concerned the suspect would claim his mental state as a reason to fight criminal proceedings.

The driver has been charged with drink-driving causing death, driving while unfit, and reckless driving causing death and property damage.

Doctors at Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry responded to an inquiry by police investigators saying the medications were stimulants normally prescribed to people with psychological conditions, said Pol Gen Chakthip.

Doctors also confirmed Janepob had been receiving treatment for depression, he said.

Despite speculation on social media that the driver was driving at a speed of around 250kph when he crashed into the back of a Ford Fiesta, killing the victims, police have yet to verify the actual speed of the Mercedes at that particular moment, said Pol Col Natthaphol Samsen, deputy chief of Scientific Crime Detection Centre 1.

Ayutthaya police chief Sutthi Phuangphikul said Mercedes-Benz Thailand Co yesterday began to inspect the engine control unit of the Mercedes to determine its speed at the time of the collision.

Investigators have questioned about 15 witnesses, including eyewitnesses travelling in a car whose front camera captured the crash and who had posted the video clip of the incident on social media, said Pol Maj Gen Sutthi.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, meanwhile, said he had instructed the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) to formally lodge a complaint with police over a related incident in which Janepob was caught on a security camera driving through an automatic Easy Pass gate at the Rama IV entrance while the automatic barrier arm was still in its down position.

Witnesses say the vehicle crashed through the barrier before hitting the Ford.

Exat said it was demanding the owner of the Easy Pass device attached to the Mercedes that Mr Janepob was driving pay the B50 expressway fee which the automatic system failed to automatically charge because the car was travelling too fast.

Read original story here.
Police chief demands Red Bull case facts

BANGKOK: National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda has ordered Thong Lor police to clarify why the handling of a speeding charge against the heir to the Red Bull energy drink empire was so slow that the statute of limitations on it expired.

accidentstransportpolice

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 23 March 2016, 09:22AM

National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda claims he wants to know why his officers took so long to investigate speeding charges against Red Bull heir and Ferrari killing suspect Vorayudh Boss Yoovidhya (inset) that the statute of limitations expired. Photo: Bangkok Post file photo

Pol Gen Chakthip said the public has a right to know what was slowing the probe at the station, which was responsible for the hit-and-run case involving Vorayudh Boss Yoovidhya in 2012.

Mr Vorayudh faced three charges in connection with the fatal incident, in which Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert, a Thong Lor station traffic officer, was killed. However, the speeding charge was dropped because the one-year statute of limitations expired.

The suspect is still wanted on two other charges  reckless driving causing death and failing to stop his car to help a victim, which have a statute of limitations of 15 years and five years respectively.

However, he has reportedly fled the country.

Gen Chakthip said he did not believe police investigators deliberately dragged their feet over the case.

There are steps involved when police work on a case. We have to find out which one of these steps is causing the delay. If it gets stuck at the prosecution stage, it is [their responsibility]. If it gets bogged down at the police investigation stage, we need to speed things up, he said.

Gen Chakthip said if police are found to be negligent they will face disciplinary action.

Initially, police investigators agreed to charge Mr Vorayudh with reckless driving causing death and failing to stop his car to help a victim.

However, the prosecution wanted to indict him with speeding as footage from security cameras suggested he might have been driving at up to 170kph when the accident took place. The case was sent back to police to gather more evidence.

Mr Vorayudh contested the prosecution and asked that police question six witnesses.

The Office of Attorney-General approved his request, which delayed the indictment by almost six months.

The prosecution planned to indict the suspect on Sept 2, 2013, one day after the statute of limitations on the speeding charge expired.

However, Mr Vorayudh failed to show up, and his lawyer, Thanit Buakhiew, claimed his client could not attend because he was in Singapore on a business trip and had come down with the flu.

Read original story here.
Robin Schulz to perform at Phuket's Xana Beach Club on April 4

PHUKET: In what could possibly be one of the biggest performances to grace the shores of Phuket this year, German electronic DJ and producer, Robin Schulz is coming to Phuket for a one-off performance in April.



By The Phuket News

Wednesday 23 March 2016, 01:11PM

Having topped the charts across Europe and boasting numerous top-10 hits in the US, Asia and Australia including Prayer in C, Sugar, Headlights, Waves and Sun Goes Down, Grammy nominated Schulz will be taking his sounds to Bang Tao Beachs XANA Beach Club on Monday, April 4.

Promotor Aaron Zoanetti was excited about the event. Were incredibly thrilled that an artist the caliber of Robin Schulz will be performing in Phuket- his iconic sounds suit the beaches of Phuket perfectly, says Zoanetti.

For his part, Schulz is looking forward to performing in an idyllic setting.

One of the perks of my job is playing in some really fantastic venues and locations, and the beaches of Thailand are going to be a really electrifying place to perform.

General Admission tickets can be pre-purchased for B690 by visiting this link.

A strictly limited number of tickets will be available on the door for B750. Doors Open at 8pm.

Live 89.5 and The Phuket News are proud sponsors of this event.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State at North Dakota
Poland abandoned a pledge to shelter migrants under a European Union relocation agreement, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said, shifting her countrys stance a day after suicide bombers killed dozens of people in the blocs de-facto capital.

Polands previous government agreed to host several thousand migrants under a deal forged by the EUs 28 member states to address the hundreds of thousands of mostly Middle Eastern refugees who have arrived in the bloc since last year. The new government, which has repeatedly clashed with the EUs executive over rule-of-law and other issues since it took power after October elections, has repeatedly said it must eliminate danger when admitting migrants.

I will be very clear: at the moment, I dont see a possibility for migrants to come to Poland, Szydlo told Superstacja TV on Wednesday. Her spokesman, Rafal Bochenek, later told journalists that the government cant allow for events in western Europe to happen in Poland.

Polands about-face is a blow to pledges made last year to shelter a planned 160,000 refugees in the EU and a deal sealed last week to reduce the flow of refugees arriving on member Greeces shores from Turkey. Under the new agreement, each Syrian refugee who makes it to the Aegean state will be sent back to Turkey and put at the end of a waiting list for entry, while another person on the waiting in a camp there will be admitted to the bloc. Some 857,000 survived the Aegean passage in 2015, and more than 144,000 have crossed so far this year.

About 53 per cent of Poles were against accepting migrants, according to a January survey by the CBOS centre. A lower number, 41 per cent, are for offering them temporary shelter, and only 4 per cent said the country should allow migrants to settle permanently.

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He charmed Top Chef audiences and judges alike in 2012, winning season nine of the Bravo reality TV show with his distinctive fusion of Japanese, French and Filipino cuisine. But now, restaurateur and James Beard award winner Paul Qui faces charges of assault and unlawful restraint after a fight with his girlfriend.

The Austin, Tex. American-Statesman reported police arrived at an apartment in East Austin around 8 a.m. Saturday after a report of a disturbance to find Qui, clad in boxer shorts and a tank top, with blood all over his face, arms, legs and clothing, as an officer noted in an affidavit, published by the Miami New Times. The unit was in complete disarray, and furniture and glass were broken. There was also blood smeared on the walls and the floor.

Qui was not alone, but with a woman who said she had been dating him for a year, and living with him for eight months. The womans son was also present. The woman told police that Qui and some friends were all indulging in cocaine, Xanax, alcohol and marijuana the night before, but that Qui had thrown everyone out of the apartment after accusing his friends of enticing her into having group sex. He then became enraged and started knocking over furniture, shelves, tables and breaking glass.

When the woman tried to leave with her son, she said Qui prevented her from doing so, throwing her around the room and injuring her knee, hip and arm. The officer noted a fresh cut on her right forearm and bruising on her upper arms as well as her swollen jaw.

Qui, the affidavit said, admitted to grabbing the woman, and said she had not assaulted him. In a statement, he said he would be seeking treatment for his problems.

On Saturday morning, I asked my friend to call the police to aid in an argument with my girlfriend that had escalated beyond my control. I was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors. I am innocent of the charge of assault, Qui wrote in an email, as Austin 360 reported. This situation made me realize that I need to take more time for my health and myself. I will be checking myself into a treatment facility in the coming days and I am appreciative of the support of my family, friends and partners. Thank you for respecting my privacy.

A public records search did not show that Qui, who was born in the Philippines and went to high school in Springfield, Va., had a criminal record. However, in a piece called How I Went from Being a Terrible Drug Dealer to Top Chef, he noted he got in trouble a lot when I was young . . . sneaking out, going to buy weed, going to rave clubs in D.C.

As an art major in college, I was waiting tables to make money, then started selling drugs before I realized I was a bad drug dealer, he wrote in Vice last year. I woke up one morning and there was dog s**t all over the floor; people that I didnt know were passed out in my house. I started wondering, What am I going to do with my life?

In an interview with Food and Wine, Qui said his cuisine was greatly influenced by his family.

The first person who got me interested in cooking was my grandmother, he said. I spent a lot of time with her when I was younger, living in the Philippines. She taught me about patience. When I would hang out with her in the kitchen, she would cook a lot of things with pork. Shed render back fat and cook vegetables with it. My favourite snacks were the chicharrones, the rendered pork rinds. She showed me how it pays to take time with food.

Qui is the owner of Qui in Austin. In 2015, Austin 360 said the chef has always been so much more than the guy who won Top Chef.

The show revealed Qui as curious, daring, playful, earnest, passionate and grounded, it wrote. Those same qualities are showcased at the chefs eponymous restaurant. The kitchen builds beautiful and compelling dishes, utilizing precise technique on display in the open kitchen.

The Texas Monthly said that the charges against Qui should not be ignored.

Itll be unfortunate if the reporting on Qui and this incident treats his arrest on domestic violence charges as just another unfortunate thing that happens in the restaurant business, Dan Solomon wrote. . . . Therell be stories to write about the damage that these allegations do to the Qui brand, but any blowback will ultimately be weathered by people who choose not to associate with someone accused of violence. Keeping the real, human stakes around the issue in mind is important, because the way we talk about domestic violence allegations frequently underplays how pervasive it is in our culture.

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Protesters with the #BlackLivesMatter movement have gathered this week in downtown Toronto. They are upset that no charges are expected to be laid in the case of another black man killed by police. But more broadly, they mark the continuing tensions between the black community and the Toronto Police Service over concerns of systemic racism.

On Tuesday, just a few blocks away, the Ontario government announced a regulation to ban police carding or street checks by next Jan. 1.

At the Ontario Human Rights Commission, weve been working on issues of racial profiling in policing for more than decade.

While carding is only one form of racial profiling, the new regulation is a good step forward. Were happy to see that police officers will be required to tell people why they are being stopped and their right not to provide personal information. It also requires officer training on bias awareness, discrimination and racism and an independent review of the regulation after two years.

There are some things missing. Officers should be required explicitly to advise individuals of their right to walk away if they are not under arrest. The reason for the stop should be in the receipt provided. Officer training on systemic racism and racial profiling should be required. Data collection to create greater accountability should be standardized across police services.

Most importantly, we are concerned that the regulation still permits random and arbitrary police stops of racialized individuals, including the collection and storage of personal information, where police are investigating an offence the officer reasonably suspects has been or will be committed. Thats much too broad, and is the justification for a lot of the carding that now occurs.

All of that said, the government is doing the right thing by trying to rebuild trust between Ontario law enforcement agencies and racialized communities. Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi is clearly drawing a link between public confidence in policing and public safety. People are less likely to cooperate with police investigations and provide testimony in court if they have negative perceptions of police. Without trust, police cannot provide proactive, intelligence-based policing, and this has profound consequences for the functioning of our justice system.

However, trust in police will not be built through this one regulation. And trust will not be built if police adhere only to the letter of the regulation rather than the spirit behind it.

As the #BlackLivesMatter movement demonstrates, racial profiling is more than carding. It can and does occur in traffic stops, searches, DNA sampling, arrests, and incidents of officer use of force.

That is why Ontarios police forces and police boards should follow the governments lead and use this moment to commit seriously to ending racial profiling in policing once and for all.

Positive change must come from the police themselves, from the chief and board on down. Police chiefs and boards must acknowledge racism in policing, collect data to identify the many circumstances in which racial profiling occurs, enact policies and procedures to eliminate racial profiling, encourage independent monitoring and accountability, and discipline officers who engage in discrimination.

We will send this message, and our support, to Naqvi as he reviews the Police Services Act.

But Ontarios police services already have all the information they need to meet their obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code. If police took these steps on their own, without waiting for more laws and regulations or applications to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, we could see a true rebuilding of trust.

That, and nothing less, is what is needed to address the concerns of the protestors camped out in front of police headquarters and concerned people across Ontario.

Renu Mandhane is the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

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Europe is crying. We in the civilized world cry with it.

Yesterdays bloody attacks in Brussels were far more consequential than the Paris attacks six month ago. Why? Because they come at a time of severe existential crisis for the European Union. And the potential unravelling of the EU in the coming years could set in motion  or otherwise confirm  forces that could, in tandem, lead to a far larger body count in our lifetime than any number of serial terrorist attacks spread across the civilized world.

What, after all, is the EU? Is it an economic project? Is it a social project? No, it is fundamentally a peace project  and the most important peace project of the last century. For todays EU-28 is the miraculous evolution of the six-member Coal and Steel Community that ensued shortly after the Second World War  humanitys deadliest military cataclysm to date.

The foundational purpose of the EU is to prevent a recurrence of a Europe-wide or global war by integrating historically rivalrous countries like Germany (in particular) and France (and eventually the United Kingdom) into a logic based less on national and border security and more on economic interdependence. Everything above and beyond this core imperative of preventing a European war  and especially Germanys return to its two-border dilemma with France to the west and Russia to the east  is historys icing on the proverbial cake.

Yesterdays terrorist attacks were no surprise. Belgium had been anticipating them for nearly half a year, and is anticipating more  as are other great European cities. But the terrorist attacks are but one of at least five major centrifugal pressures on the European project that could see some of Europes major powers return to their erstwhile strategic orbits  to the detriment of the general peace in our world.

What are these wicked pressures on Europe? First, there is the now decade-long problem of anemic internal growth within the European space and significant and increasingly bitter inequality between winning economies like Germany and the UK, and losing economies like Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Second, the 2014 revolution in Ukraine and the Russian annexation of Crimea set the stage for a sharp political and economic estrangement between Moscow and Brussels (and other European capitals). This estrangement has dealt not only an economic body blow to Russia, but also, via boomerang effect, to the entire European continent. Any war between Russia and the West  deliberate or accidental, including through possible state collapse in Ukraine or Russia  would sound the death knell of the European project.

Third, as if Europe had not had enough, there is the clumsy prospect of a Brexit  an exit by the UK from the EU  in the event that Britons vote for such in the referendum planned for June. A British exit would certainly loosen the strings binding Europes states in comity and give oxygen to similar fancies brewing in several other EU members  starting with France. To be sure, yesterdays attacks in Belgium will be used by proponents of Brexit to argue for permanent separation from the Continent.

Fourth, the EU has been overwhelmed over the last year by the floods of refugees from the Middle East (and West Asia more generally). This is a crisis of biblical proportions and it is testing the legal, political, social and ethical limits of the European project.

Lastly, the terrorist threat to Europes open society from Daesh and other Islamist groups and actors is now permanent and growing. It is, in the European mind, directly tied to the migrant crisis, even if it evidently predates this crisis and is far more complex in scope.

Whats to be done? If we agree that the unravelling of the European project could eventually (and even soon) lead to wars that are far more catastrophic than the tactical terrorist strikes that Europe is enduring today, then the terrorist threat must be tackled by right-thinking countries in a way that preserves the EU and the European peace project as a bottom line. Russia will need to be brought into this peace project through a trilateral Europe 2.0 framework that runs from Brussels to Moscow, via Kyiv. As my colleague Sasan Shoamanesh has long argued, a Middle East security framework will need to be stood up, led by key Gulf states, Cairo, Ankara, Tehran and Jerusalem. And global counter-terrorism intelligence and policing will have to constantly improve.

Canada has a major part to play in all of these moves. We will have to keep our cool, tool up, and pick our spots.

Irvin Studin is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Global Brief magazine, and also President of the Institute for 21st Century Questions

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LONDON (The Deal) -- European stocks moved higher on Wednesday after a predominantly negative day of trading in Asia as investors regained confidence after the shock of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels.

On Euronext Brussels, the Bel 20 was up 0.66% to 3,447.43 by mid-morning, recovering with most other eurozone indices after two explosions at Brussels' airport and one on the Belgian capital's metro system killed more than 30 people and injured dozens more on Tuesday. Reports on Wednesday morning suggested a manhunt for airport terror suspect Najim Laachraoui had ended with his arrest.

In Frankfurt, the DAX rebounded 0.74% to 10,064.17 and in Paris the CAC 40 picked up 0.52% to 4,454.97.

On the second to last day of trading before a four-day Easter break across much of the continent, the FTSE 100 in London was up 0.10% at 6,198.33.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.05%.

Premier Foods (PRRFY) had jumped 42% to 44.75 pence by mid-morning in London after the company said it had rejected two takeover proposals from McCormick (MKC) , with the most recent pitched at 60 pence per share. It said it is instead pursuing a cooperation agreement with Japan's Nissin Foods Holdings. Under U.K. takeover rules, McCormick must now by April 20 either formalize its bid or publicly bow out.

But gaming company William Hill Group (WIMHY) fell almost 14% after it warned on full-year profit after a weaker-than-expected performance in its online division in the year to date. It now expects 2016 operating profit of between 260 million and 280 million ($368.4 million and $396.9 million), down from 291.4 million last year. It also said it is in talks with a partner about an investment in OpenBet, a technology business owned by private-equity firm Vitruvian Partners.

Small-cap financial adviser Lighthouse Group dropped more than 10% after AFH Financial Group abandoned a takeover pursuit. "The board was disappointed by the reaction of the Lighthouse directors not to engage in discussions and is surprised by subsequent statements that indicated that Lighthouse did not seek to consult its shareholders before rejecting AFH's approach," the one-time bidder said in its parting shot.

Africa-focused airline Fastjet fell another 5% after Stelios Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup Holdingsaccused it of breaching the terms of its brand licensing agreement.

Fastjet has lost three directors in the past two weeks, including its CEO. The company on Wednesday said it was reviewing the easyGroup letter with its legal advisers. Haji-Ioannou, who founded easyJet , is a major Fastjet shareholder, owns the brand, and has publicly attacked Fastjet management.

Chipmaker Imagination Technologies (IGNMF) was down 1% in London after a rollercoaster day on Tuesday which ended with the stock up 5.4% after Apple (AAPL) admitted it had held talks with the U.K. company about making a takeover but had decided not to proceed. Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.

In Zurich, Credit Suisse (CS) rose 3% after recently installed CEO Tidjane Thiam accelerated the bank's restructuring by announcing further cost costs, more planned reductions to risk-weighted assets and a retreat from certain lines of business within its investment banking operations.

In Amsterdam, insurer Delta Lloyd (DLLLY) slipped marginally to 5.86 after it priced a rights issue to raise 648.6 million ($725.7 million) at 2.85.

In Milan, Poste Italiane was up almost 4% after the postal services group honored a pledged target to pay out 80% of net profit in 2015 and 2016 in dividends with its 2015 payout.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.28% to 17,000.98 and the Topix dropped 0.42% to 1,364.20. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 0.25% to 20,615.23 and on mainland China the CSI 300 composite rose 0.32% to 3,236.09.
Mitt Romney must be smiling this morning as his home state of Utah, among the most conservative in the country, gave the most conservative candidate still opposing Donald Trump a solid victory on Tuesday. Texas Senator Ted Cruz captured all 40 of the state's delegates. For Republicans, Utah awards its full delegate allotment if a candidate wins a majority of voters, which Cruz did with a whopping 69%.

Romney, a Mormon and the son of a Michigan governor who rose to national prominence after directing Salt Lake City's 2002 Winter Olympics, had urged Cruz and John Kasich not to compete against each other in states where one is leading in the polls. He also publicly announced he would vote for Cruz in Utah, though stopped short of endorsing him.

Although Trump leads Cruz in the delegate race, 738 to 463, his path to securing the 1,237 needed for the nomination remains daunting. But the likelihood of a contested convention in Cleveland, his best hope, grew as a result of Cruz's win in Utah. Had Cruz not polled a majority, Utah's delegates would have been proportionally allocated, which would have helped Trump add to his lead.

Kasich's meager showing Tuesday in both Utah and Arizona, where Donald Trump won handily, has heightened calls for him to leave the race. The Ohio governor, who has only won his home state, has vowed to continue on. Eager to become the lone alternative to Trump, Cruz called the Ohio governor "a spoiler," whose presence is only helping the New York businessman get closer to becoming the Republican nominee.

"It's worth remembering," Cruz said in an interview with CNN," Kasich went zero for 27, lost 27 states in a row, then he -- then he won his home state, and then last night, he lost again overwhelmingly in both Utah and Arizona. In two weeks, he's going to lose Wisconsin again, and you can't lose every state and expect to be the nominee. Right now, Kasich's role is really being a spoiler. Kasich benefits Donald Trump."

Of course, this theory flies in the face of polls, which show that voters who prefer Cruz or Kasich actually choose Trump as their second choice.

All was not lost on Tuesday for Trump, the billionaire real-estate developer and former reality-TV star who has made the 2016 presidential race the most unusual in U.S. history. The anti-illegal-immigration businessman easily won the Arizona primary with 47% of the vote, securing the state's winner-take-all 58 delegates.

Republican voters in Arizona, home to the largest collection of self-appointed border militias, embraced Trump's call to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants and force Mexico to build a wall along 1,000 miles of the U.S. border with its largest trading partner.

Trump's strong showing in Arizona augers well for his performance in California's June 7 primary, given that both share large populations of older white Republicans voters with similar views on illegal immigration. California will allocate 172 delegates, most of them to the winner.

But, for now, attention will turn to Wisconsin, which hold its Republican primary on April 5 and will award all its 42 delegates to the winner. Kasich is hoping to do well there, owing to his comparatively moderate positions on social and economic issues. If he doesn't, calls for him to leave the race are likely to grow much louder.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won a resounding victory in Arizona, tallying 57.8% to Sanders' 39.7%. Yet because delegates are awarded proportionally in the state's Democratic primary, Clinton's take was 41 to 22 for the Vermont senator. Meanwhile, Sanders won in Utah and Idaho, affording him 57 total delegates from the three state contests to Clinton's 51.

Nonetheless, the former secretary of state holds a comfortable delegate lead of 1,214 to 901.

For Clinton, the win in Arizona showcased her solid strength among Latino voters. Yet, because Arizona holds a closed primary, voters had to be registered with the party member to participate in Tuesday's election. Many Latinos are registered under the title of "no party preferences," said Francisco Heredia, national field director of the voter registration group, Mi Familia Vota. For that reason, Heredia says Latino turnout is likely to be much higher in November.

In Arizona, the Koch brothers' Republican-leaning Libre Initiative had been working to encourage voters not to vote for Clinton or Sanders.

The Vermont senator stands to pick up more delegates over the next few weeks when Washington, Hawaii and Alaska vote on March 26. Sanders has demonstrated that he can win among liberally-leaning Democrats in states without large blocs of African-Americans and Latinos, groups with a strong admiration for the Clintons.

Sanders can push forward to Wisconsin with the satisfaction that much of his program is being adopted by Clinton, and that the state's college towns, led by Madison, will support his candidacy. Crowds in Madison for Sanders have been among the largest of his campaign.

Few doubt Clinton is on track to win her party's nomination. Her only worry, and it's a big one, is that the Republican dreams of an FBI subpoena come crashing down on Hillary's party, forcing the Democrats to turn to the Brooklyn-born social democrat currently running the most compelling insurgent campaign since Eugene McCarthy. Its one reason Sanders appears committed to remaining in the race despite trailing Clinton for delegates to the Democratic Convention in July in Philadelphia.
Editors' Pick: Originally published March 23.

Ever since its $1.8 billion IPO in 2014, fast-growing Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc. (JD) has often been compared to its direct competitor Alibaba.

So far, the going couldn't have been any better for JD.com, whose gross merchandise value has grown by 14 times in just four years. Annual active customer accounts (from core business) are up five-fold in two years and Chinese New Year revenues have nearly trebled in two years.

That's why comparisons to Netflix are more apt, thanks to JD.com's superlative growth metrics.

Investors right now are seeking growth opportunities with enough momentum to weather the storms we'll inevitably encounter in 2016. JD.com is one of them.

Put aside all of the handwringing over slowing growth in China and focus instead on JD.com. The company's business has been strong. For full year 2015, JD.com reported a 58% rise in net revenues. This was driven by increases in core gross merchandise value. Net revenues from online direct sales rose 55%. The company's rapidly expanding online marketplace, advertising services and third-party logistics services helped bring fast results.

The company is investing heavily in tech and warehousing abilities (as Amazon.com did several years back). For the first quarter of 2016, JD has guided a 45%-to-50% jump in net revenues.

In fact, growth has been so spectacular that JD.com is challenging Alibaba, the big daddy of e-commerce in China.

While it's China's second largest e-commerce site, JD's 57% dollar denominated revenue growth in the fourth quarter dwarves Alibaba's 32% rise. Gross merchandise value uptick at 69% is also much faster than Alibaba's 23%.

JD.com is also quite popular with younger buyers, clearly supported by the massive spurt in active accounts. With JD.com constantly diversifying away from electronics (historically low margins) to apparel, it's sure to post market-beating growth in the months to come.

Remember that Alibaba is the leader of e-commerce apparel in that part of the world. JD's strategy of selling own merchandise directly compared to third party sales by others helps build a stronger brand connect. It means higher costs, but then you need to push the envelope if you're challenging entrenched rivals.

With fast growth, often profits seem distant. But JD.com is expected to turn the corner soon. Analysts expect JD to log 27 cents in earnings-per-share (EPS) for the year ended Dec. 2016 and then bump it up to $2.65 in the next year.

At a projected 90.90% EPS growth run-rate for the next five years, JD.com is a great opportunity. Amazon and Alibaba are expected to deliver between 30%-to-40% during the same period.

At anywhere near the $2.50 EPS by 2017, JD.com today is trading at around 10-times, which is a fit case for massive re-rating. If JD.com manages to turn profitable and generate free cash flows, a 20-times forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is possible.

Mind you, the fulfillment costs and marketing spends must be maintained within reasonable limits. JD.com shohuld further improve its margins (5.5% in 2011 to 12.9% on a trailing 12-month basis) and generating more profits soon.

The stock has received solid reviews and big investors are sitting up and taking notice. For instance, Singapore's state owned investment fund Temasek recently pared its holdings in Alibaba Group, while dipping its toes further in JD.com.

JD.com's initiatives towards bringing Chinese talent to a global audience and giving global brands a China focused shop on JD are strategic moves geared to fortify its brand positioning.

Analysts see JD.com out-performing the market. It's already delivered alpha in 2015 and the correction in stock price in 2016 provides you with an opportunity jump aboard a tech bandwagon that's akin to the Netflix experience.

Online retail and China's growing appetite for merchandise-expansion is undoubtedly one of the biggest themes of this decade. In this context, JD.com could grow into a fabulous moneymaker.

We've just explained why JD.com is a great buy now. We've found another "tech disrupter" that could be poised for even bigger gains. There's a battle raging in the fast-moving world of Silicon Valley. Just as VHS tapes snuffed out Betamax and CDs killed cassettes, the winner of a new "gold standard" for data is about to be crowned. We've found a small company that figured out a way to corner this new $10 billion market, no matter who comes out the winner. To learn more about this small-cap rocket stock, click here.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Ford (F) exhibited a prototype of what likely will be the next generation Lincoln Navigator, a full-sized pickup truck-based luxury SUV.

Ford executives at a showing in New York's Chelsea district provided few details of the new Navigator, although they hinted broadly that its creation was likely. The vehicle would represent the next step in the No. 2 U.S. automaker's multi-year revival of its luxury brand.

Assuming Navigator appears sometime next year, it will compete head-to-head with such models as the Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes G-Class and Range Rover. Escalade starts at about $70,000 and can climb to over $90,000 with all options -- making it one of the most profitable vehicles sold by General Motors (GM) .

"Yes, these vehicles have quite a high margin (of profit)," said Kumar Galhotra, president of the Lincoln Motor Car subsidiary of Ford. "We've been on a journey to build this brand since 2013.

"Not to take anything away from German luxury brands like BMW and Audi, but lots of luxury customers don't care that much about high-performance acceleration or aggressive styling," he said. "Some like a softer, more elegant approach. That's what we have."

Galhotra and other Lincoln executives mentioned that the gullwing doors on the prototype likely are impractical for a production model. In the meantime, they help viewers see the interior design.

Later this year, Lincoln will launch its Continental flagship sedan -- a model that hasn't been sold since 2002.

Unlike GM, which embarked on a revival of Cadillac more than 15 years ago with a multi-billion dollar, longer-term strategy to match German design and engineering, Ford has taken a different, less costly approach. The same basic mechanical architectures used in Ford models are repurposed for Lincoln, albeit with distinctive design, more premium materials and additional luxury features such 30-day adjustable seats.

"Our strategy is to use the brand to create a luxury and premium customer experience," explained Stephane Cesareo, a spokesman. Upgrading dealer showrooms and creating concierge services for Lincoln owners are among the tactics.

The mechanical underpinning and aluminum body technology used in Ford's new F Series pickups could become the basis of a new Navigator. The vehicle, after all, should be able to pull a horse trailer or a fairly large boat, right?

Whether Ford Motor's luxury strategy works remains to be seen. Signs are promising: Lincoln's sales numbers are increasing. Unit sales in the U.S. were 101,227 in 2015, up 7.1%. That amounted to about half of Audi and about 60% of Cadillac.

Importantly, the average transaction price of a Lincoln vehicle sold in the U.S. last year was just over $46,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. That compared with an average transaction price of about $37,000 for the average Ford branded vehicle -- suggesting a much higher gross profit per vehicle.

But Navigator probably will sell in Escalade territory and could raise Lincoln's average transaction price closer to BMW's $53,000, Mercedes-Benz's $55,000 or Audi's $49,000.

Doron Levin is the host of "In the Driver Seat," broadcast on SiriusXM Insight 121, Saturday at noon, encore Sunday at 9 a.m.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Editors' pick: Originally published March 23.

For months, we have heard leaders of the Puerto Rican government blame the U.S. territory's fiscal crisis on predatory hedge funds and other investors, "vultures," to use their words.

Now we are learning that the vultures may be homegrown.

In fact, in December, law-enforcement officials arrested 10 people in a massive public corruption scheme that rocked the island. And the chief federal prosecutor in the case left little doubt about who is to blame.

"If we put together the money related to those cases of corruption and fraud, we really wouldn't have the economic crisis at this time. And I'm not talking about 10 years ago; I'm talking about some four years and nothing more," said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, following questions from the press.

Then, just a few weeks ago, an investigation by a government ethics watchdog found that Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla's brother is the sole paid employee of a mysterious non-profit that relocated to the island in 2014.

The organization, formerly called the "Hispanic Education and Legal Fund," based in New York and linked to politically connected labor leader Dennis Rivera, is housed in the San Juan headquarters of Puerto Rico's largest bank. In 2004, while operating under its previous name, he used this same non-profit as one of two conduits to funnel more than $1 million into a bogus charity tied to former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

The stench of corruption undermines the victim image that Puerto Rico has leveraged to ask Washington for help, while long refusing to engage in serious negotiations with creditors toward a voluntary restructuring of the debt.

To give some background, the island's debts amount to nearly $72 billion.

To put that into perspective, according to a recent article in The New York Times, the debt is about eight times greater than Detroit's.

Puerto Rico wound up in this situation as the result of several unfortunate factors: high levels of government spending, excessive pension and benefits offered to government employees, and a mass migration of the brightest skilled citizens to better opportunities in other areas of the United States.

What's worse, the island's financial issues have seemed to trickle down into other areas. Its major electricity provider has been all but crippled by its obligations, as was made clear during a recent hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Politically speaking, the problem with corruption -- now a clear priority for U.S. Attorney Rodriguez-Velez -- comes at an inopportune time for Puerto Rico's leaders, as they urge Washington to craft for the island a massive, unprecedented restructuring regime in lieu of providing it with traditional, state-like access to Chapter 9. It will almost certainly give pause to Republicans, who are already wary of the broad implications of an unprecedented regime.

And there is another dynamic complicating Puerto Rico's position in Washington.

As it becomes clear that many of the island's fiscal wounds have been self-inflicted, its creditors are in fact sounding less like the "vultures" that Puerto Rico's leadership has made them out to be. Creditors have floated the idea of avoiding comprehensive restructuring by proposing a deal that they say would not only fulfill obligations to debtors but also preserve essential services such as hospital care and maintenance of transportation infrastructure.

Instead of even considering that offer, though, Puerto Rico's leadership seems bent on winning support for its unprecedented restructuring proposal. It remains stubbornly committed to this approach, despite the fact that experts such as William M. Isaac, a former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., pointed out that state-like Chapter 9 access for the island would be sufficient if paired with growth-targeted fiscal reforms.

That approach, which would allow the island to restructure the debts of its instrumentalities and public corporations, has the added benefit of being rooted in many decades of established bankruptcy law. And if reforms were tied to some type of federal oversight mechanism, it would conceivably give Congress a potent tool to look into corruption on the island.

In making the case for congressional action, Puerto Rico's leadership has warned that the island's debt crisis will have dire consequences for the American economy and global financial markets if it isn't addressed. But Puerto Rico's leaders should know that they could go a long way toward reducing skepticism in Congress by taking tangible steps to get the island's house in order, starting by purging the overt corruption and fiscal mismanagement that has marred the government over the past decade.

This article is commentary by John Burnett. Follow him on Facebook,Twitter and YouTube.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Pinnacle Foods (PF) are slipping by 3.43% to $44.50 in pre-market trading on Wednesday morning, after the branded food product distributor announced that CEO Robert J. Gamgort will be leaving the company at the end of April.

Gamgort is to become the CEO of single serve coffee products company Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR).

Pinnacle has begun the search process to find a new CEO. The company's board is searching both within and outside of Pinnacle Foods. The company is expecting the search to conclude in time for a "seamless transition" with Gamgort.

Gamgort has been CEO of Pinnacle Foods since July 2009.

"The clarity of Pinnacle's strategy, combined with the strength of both its leadership team and board of directors, gives me confidence in our ability to deliver attractive shareholder returns, including our expectation for another strong year in 2016," Pinnacle Chairman Roger K. Deromedi said in a statement announcing the CEO's departure.

Pinnacle Foods is a Parsippany NJ-based manufacturer, marketer and distributor of food products in North America. The company's brands include Duncan Hines, Wish Bone, Birds Eye, Smart Balance, Log Cabin, Vlasic and more.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings has set a "buy" rating and a score of B+ on Pinnacle Foods stock. This is driven by several positive factors, which TheStreet Ratings believes should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks it covers.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income, revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and growth in earnings per share. TheStreet Ratings feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: PF
Global stocks remained stable on Wednesday, one day after terror attacks rocked Belgium.

"What we quite often see after these tragic events is the initial reaction in the market is quite negative -- we see this flight to safety and gold and the yen become more favored," said Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda, based in London. "But even by the end of the [Tuesday] session we started to see a move back into the assets held previously."

He said the negativity largely subsided on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 traded 0.06% higher while the CAC 40 lost 0.13%.

As the markets continued to digest the uncertainty sparked by the tragic attacks, investors were also gearing up for the start of earnings season. "In the U.S., I think we are going to see slight improvements," Erlam said. "I think it's all going to hinder on what the expectations are going to be going into this earnings season, given what things were like at the start of the year."

First-quarter earnings are expected to drop 8.4% year over year, according to FactSet, but Erlam insists the economy continues to improve. "I think the results are going to reflect that, but the question is how global trade and the strong dollar will affect the earnings figures,' adding that these are unknowns have lingered over the past several quarters.

The markets have been rallying for five straight weeks as comments from dovish central banks propelled stocks higher. Erlam thinks the next catalyst across the markets surrounds earnings, which is likely to drive markets either way. "Things like Europe and emerging markets are potentially going to weigh on these multinational companies," Erlam added.
Value has outperformed growth thus far in 2016, but don't expect that lead to last, especially for stocks like Celgene (CELG) , Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) and Intuit (INTU) , said Susan Hirsch, portfolio manager for the TIAA-CREF Large-Cap Growth Fund (TIRTX) .

"Last year we were one of the few winners so I think it was inevitable that this would be a year of correction, so I think it will be a short-term phenomenon," said Hirsch. "We are living in a world of moderate growth, and companies that can grow revenue and earnings at a 15% to 20% clip will be sought after on a long term basis."

The TIAA-CREF Large-Cap Growth Fund is down 5% thus far in 2016, according to fund-tracker Morningstar. The $3.5 billion fund has returned an average of 12.8% annually over the past five years, outpacing 92% of its Morningstar peers.

Biotech shares have continued to struggle since peaking last summer, yet Hirsch is bullish on Celgene, which has seen its shares fall 14% year-to-date. Hirsch said Celgene will be a leader once the sector turns around because of its focus on innovation as opposed to price.

"They have 18 phase three trials going on right now, 40 collaborations with smaller health care companies," said Hirsch. "The company's core franchise, which has been Revlimid, and blood cancer is now being supported by new areas of emphasis."

She is also positive on Norwegian Cruise Line, which is down 12% thus far in 2016. The cruise line operator lost 2% Tuesday after the tragic bombing in Belgium. Nevertheless, Hirsch said the cruise operator will bounce back like it has in the face of other terror events or disease outbreaks.

"The demographic that they are attracting is the aging Baby Boomer and there is a lot of value there," said Hirsch, adding other tailwinds like the drop in energy and the addition of Cuba as a port.

Finally, Hirsch is a fan of Intuit, up 6% year-to-date, saying the tax software provider will make a strong recovery in 2016 after a series of pricing and strategy missteps last year.

"You have an easy comparison and already we have the data that the tax season will be a very effective season for them," said Hirsch.
The trend has been friendly so far this year to investors in managed futures funds. Robert Sinnott, portfolio manager for the ASG Managed Futures Strategy Fund (ASFYX) , said success in this highly quantitative area is more than simply a matter of market timing.

"Trend following strategies serve as a long-term diversifier for portfolios and having a strategic allocation, rather than a tactical allocation is going to be the way you succeed," said Sinnott. "If you try and time it, you are going to miss the benefits, like we saw in January of this year."

The ASG Managed Futures Strategy Fund is up 4.6% thus far in 2016, according to fund-tracker Morningstar. The $3.3 billion fund has returned an average of 4.5% annually over the past five years, outpacing 99% of its peers in Morningstar's managed futures category.

Sinnott's fund is highly diversified among highly-liquid global stocks, currencies, bonds and commodities. The fund trades everything from the South African Rand to the Mexican Peso to German Bund and U.S. 10-year Treasury.

"Since inception we have a correlation of about 15% with the S&P and this year we have a correlation of negative 60% with the S&P, making it a genuine diversifier in a market where it is very challenging to get," said Sinnott.

The expense ratio for the fund is 1.45%, a figure that is fairly pricey in the world of mutual funds. Sinnott, however, said the fee is reasonable considering all the quantitative firepower that goes into the strategy, as well as the fact that it is a hedge fund strategy for a mutual fund price.

"We provide transparency as to what we hold every month and where our returns came from every month and so as an investor you get a lot of value for that fee," said Sinnott.

Sinnott said he sees individual investors allocate between 4% and 20% of their portfolios in managed futures funds.

"As we saw in January and February, managed futures have a propensity to frequently, but not always, provide that strong return when equity markets are really suffering," said Sinnott.
Brussels residents on Wednesday grappled with the aftermath of Tuesday's deadly terror attacks, as a manhunt continued for the main suspect in the airport bomb blasts.

Grey skies over the Belgian capital were a fitting backdrop for a day of mourning, with flags at the European Commission headquarters and the European Parliament flying at half-staff and the EU district eerily quiet and under heavy guard.

At least 31 people were killed and more than 270 injured in Tuesday's attacks, with the number of casualties expected to rise. Two bombs went off in Zaventem Airport north of the city at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by another explosion about an hour later at the Maelbeek subway station near the EU institutions.

Some 24 hours later, the city woke up to deserted streets, including the multi-lane Rue de la Loi that cuts through the EU district and past the Maelbeek station that is normally crawling with cars, and grim headlines in all the main papers.

"Tenir bon," declared the front page of Le Soir, roughly translated as "Stand firm," with a photo of mourners gathered at the Place de la Bourse in central Brussels.

La Libre Belgique had a similar image of the same makeshift memorial, headlined only with the date of the attacks, while L'Echo published a picture of the bombed-out subway car against a black background.

Among the Dutch-language press, De Morgen went with a cartoon showing a plume of smoke rising from Brussels on a map of Belgium against a dark background, four figures to the side covering their faces in sadness, while De Volkskrant of the Netherlands showed a photograph of the three bombers wheeling luggage carts -- sadly now all too familiar to the public -- captured on security camera Tuesday at Zaventem with the headline, "ISIS is getting to Europe in the heart."

But perhaps one of the most poignant images was that on the front page of France's Liberation showing people from behind walking through a dark subway tunnel with a bright light in the distance.

Daily life slowly returned to normal, with schools open and people returning to work. Most public transportation was back in operation, with increased security underground, as the subway driver in the car attacked on Tuesday was reported to be back on the job the next day.

"Resilience," declared Brussels' Stib public transport company in a tweet.

Brussels Airport remained closed, with no flights coming in and out of the capital through Thursday as investigators surveyed the damage to the building.

"Until we can assess the damage, it remains unclear when we can resume operations," according to a statement on the airport's Web site.

Meanwhile, Charleroi Airport about 30 miles south of Brussels stayed open, telling passengers to arrive at least four hours before departure.

Charleroi is a major hub for Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) . It also serves discount specialists Wizz Air Holdings of Budapest, Turkey's Pegasus Airlines, TUI Airlines Belgium (which does business as Jetairfly) and Britain's Thomas Cook Group (TCKGY) .

Flights were comingin and out of Charleroi as normal, following a scare earlier in the day when a bomb squad was called to investigate a suspicious vehicle parked in the area.

In the late afternoon, there were arrivals from Milan, Dublin, Marseille and Tenerife, all within an hour of their scheduled arrivals, and departures to destinations including Seville, Dublin and Rome.

Back in Brussels, crowds gathered throughout the day at the makeshift memorial on the downtown Place de la Bourse, turning it into a colorful carpet of national flags, flowers and chalk drawings, much like Parisians did on the Place de la Republique after the November attacks in that city.

At midday, minutes of silence were held at various locations to honor the victims and their families and stand defiant against terrorism, with wreaths laid at both attack sites.

There were also public messages of European solidarity from European President Jean-Claude Juncker, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, as all of Belgium -- and the world with it -- remained on high alert.

"I would like to express the friendship and support of the French people for the Belgian people," Valls said at a joint press event with Juncker. "We too have suffered attacks ... and we know that words and support and expressions of sympathy around the world make a difference."

But Valls also had strong words about the need for Europe to be "totally determined in fighting this scourge" via strict controls at the EU's external borders, the deployment of European border guards and the fight against arms trafficking.

"If Europe doesn't take its own present and future in its hands," Valls warned, "it is in danger of going off track."
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- WhiteWave Foods Co. (WWAV) stock is down 0.91% to $39.25 in afternoon trading on Wednesday, but TheStreet's Jim Cramer, portfolio manager of theAction Alerts PLUScharitable trust portfolio, said hold on to shares of the food and beverage company despite challenges in the natural and organic market.

"I say hold WhiteWave and if it drops below $38, buy it," Cramer recommended in the above video. "It is expensive on a PE multiple, but it is a fast grower."

Cramer added that the "natural and organic channel is under challenge. A lot of people feel that there's going to be a lot of white labeling [and other companies] are going to go to TreeHouse (THS) to be able to make their own brands."

Cramer explained that Denver-based WhiteWave remains a holding of Action Alerts PLUS because of the company's strong brands, including Horizon, Earthbound Farm and International Delight.

(WhiteWave is held in Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. See all of his holdings with a free trial.)

The company's dairy brands, such as Horizon, could face increased competition after Dean Foods (DF) reiterated its plans to build or buy brands.

Dallas-based Dean Foods plans to shift its focus to higher-margin products from its private label dairy products after Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) said it will build a dairy processing plant in Indiana.

Separately, WhiteWave Foods has a "buy" rating and a letter grade of B at TheStreet Ratings because of the company's earnings per share, net income and revenue growth, notable return on equity, and expanding profit margins.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: WWAV

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.
As Air Force One took off in route to Argentina after President Obama's historic two-day visit to Cuba, the residents of the island returned to their daily routines, hoping that sooner rather than later they'll see changes that will improve their lives after more than fifty years of a communist government that tightly controls the economy.

"I have come here to extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people," Obama said, directly looking to the audience seated at the Gran Teatro de La Habana before raising his eyes to where Raul Castro was seated and said, "I want you to know that my visit, I believe, demonstrates that you do not need to fear a threat of the United States."

For the first time, Cubans saw on live TV the president of the country that until recently was portrayed as the enemy and bringer of maladies.

In his visit, the President was accompanied by members of Congress of both political parties as well as business leaders, among them Carlos Gutierrez, a Cuban-American and currently president the U.S Chambers of Commerce's U.S.-Cuban Business Council.

Though President Obama exhorted Congress to lift America's long-standing embargo against Cuba, he also told the audience that this would not be enough without allowing the free flow of ideas, including those critical of the government, free association and access to information.

"There's no need to fear the different voices of the Cuban people," he added while looking again at Castro.

Though the lifting of the embargo, or blockade, as is is called in Cuba, is an act of Congress, previous to the visit, the Obama Administration, through the U.S. Treasury Department, issued new regulations affecting financial transactions between Cuba and the United States, which helps, but is not enough.

"It does facilitate commerce between the countries, however, such financial transactions remain limited to business dealings that are authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) through a general or specific license," said Peter Quinter, head of the customs and international trade law group at Florida-based law firm Gray Robinson.

The U.S. embargo of trade and investment in Cuba is still very much in effect. U.S. banks will still block wire transfers to Cuba for transactions that are not authorized by OFAC.

Jeff Flake, Republican senator for Arizona, who accompanied Obama in his trip to Cuba, recently sponsored a bill whose aim is to end all travel restrictions to the island. Other bills that would ease doing business with Cuba are not expected to be taken up by Congress before the new president takes over next January.

For Gutierrez, a lifelong Republican who served as a Secretary of Commerce under George W. Bush, changes announced by the Treasury "will make it easier for U.S. companies to do business in Cuba while also empowering the growing Cuban private sector."

The Castro brothers, both important actors in the Cold War, know that opening the door to new ideas and criticism implies risks that they should calibrate before taking any steps. While Raul was talking to Obama, members of the international press saw women from the dissident group Ladies in White dragged into police cars by the feared Ministry of the Interior. It was a clear signal for Cuban locals: A perestroika in Cuba is off the table.

U.S. companies know this and in spite of the recent euphoria about he opportunities in Cuba, the business community in the United States has been cautious in its approach the island. The Cuban government does not enjoy good credit in the international markets and investors do not enjoy the guarantee of an impartial legal system to settle disputes; this means that the government can freeze deposits in hard currency at will.

"As of now, there are not guaranties or a visible will to change by the Cuban government," said Cuban-American Conrado Gonzales, who is president of insurance firm Financial Benefits Corp., based in Union City, N.J. "As long as the Generals control the economy, I would advise to be extremely cautious when thinking about investing in Cuba."

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
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A man passes in front of banners reading in Spanish "No more" in protest against the visit of United States President Barack Obama in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two-day visit to Argentina and will meet Wednesday with Argentine President Mauricio Macri. (AP Photo/Ivan Fernandez)
Hospital acquires new surgical robotics technology Burke Health announced the purchase of new robotics technology for use during spine surgical procedures last week. The Globus ExcelsiusGPS is a revolutionary robotic navigation platform system designed to be intuitive and streamline the surgical workflow. Real-time tracking of instruments and implants, along with audible, visual and tactile feedback, enables...

County center wins senior trike Local seniors now have access to an adult tricycle. Director Kimberly Mathis attended the Move Augusta Senior Expo and Bike Rodeo sponsored by Augusta Urban Ministries October 8. The event, held at The Salvation Army Kroc Center, was aimed at people over 50 years old, and included resources and health...

4-H Food Challenge Team takes State For the first time, Burke County 4-H decided to put together a junior food challenge team this summer. Teams are compromised of 2-4 students in the 6th-8th grades. This competition is very competitive and teams must advance to state after the district competition. Our team started practicing weekly in July...

County rehashes trash problem I am bringing up the trash again, Commissioner Evans Martin said during the October 11 meeting. We have to do something about the trash. Martin asked that the record show that he wants to do something about the countys dumpster sites. He made a suggestion that eliminating 10 sites would...
[By Rabbi Yair Hoffman]

Notwithstanding the headline, this is a rather serious article that painfully cries out for a solution.

Lets begin with both a plug for and a criticism of the Secret Service. The Secret Service does an excellent job in protecting the President and his family. Yet there are problems  serious ones that demand a new modus operandi. Below are some of the serious problems that transpired due to improper procedures and protocols.

In September of 2014, an intruder jumped over the White House fence and entered the White House through an unlocked door. He effortlessly made it deep into the East Room. Who caught him? It was an off-duty agent  someone that shouldnt have been there.

A week later, an armed individual with an arrest record was in the same elevator as President Obama. In 2011, shots were fired at the White House where the presidents daughter was inside. It took four days for the Secret Service to realize it.

An outside government study demonstrated that the Secret Service has systemic problems associated with its culture of leadership that will not resolve overnight. These were egregious systemic failures.

Now lets go to Purim and our Yeshivos. Our Yeshivos do a fine job in educating our children in Gemorah. But there is also a secret that we are keeping  one that many of us dont wish to talk about. The secret is an accident waiting to happen.

The secret is that there are high school aged students who dorm away from home in yeshivas. On Purim, many of these students go collecting for various institutions and or Tzedakos. They tell their parents that they are going to Person X or community Y.

Dont worry, Ma, I am going with responsible people.. One of them is Gadol Bs grandson! Everything will be fine.

They go. They drink. They are given more alcohol by well-meaning Baal HaBattim distributing Tzedakah to those who knock at their door. The reluctant host parents are unaware, in fact, that they are the host parents. The parent is assuming that there is a host parent. The Yeshiva takes no responsibility for anything.

There is drinking, more drinking, and running around to find a fun Matzav as the term goes. The period can last anywhere from after the first Megillah reading on the night of Purim  all the way to the day of Shushan Purim  36 hours in total.

Boruch Hashem, some Yeshivos have actually hired bouncers to take control of the alcohol consumption. They keep out strangers who have imbibed too much. But this is a rarity.

The situation is such that there are people asleep in a drunken stupor at homes where the mothers do not even know the identity of the kid in the drunken stupor.

Indeed, recently, one reluctant host parent who did not even wish to be a host parents asked another reluctant host parent to take and email a photo of the kid in the drunken stupor to make sure that that kid is not the kid that they were looking for.

One responsible ninth grader told his parents that there were meat balls in front of the house. He then commented and inquired, First I thought it was vomit, but then I saw that it was meatballs. Is it even possible for a person to actually throw up whole meatballs?

In the meantime, there are hundreds of young men getting seriously drunk to the point where they need medical attention. There are Hatzolah calls, hospital visits, and thousands of incidents of vomiting. There are home break-ins in which the drunken to Lot-level-shikrus Yeshiva student needs a bed to stay. There are DUI and there are arrests. There was even a case of a life-threatening stabbing, requiring emergency surgery and months of recovery  a stabbing from unzer to unzer. And thousands of mothers are worried sick if they are aware of what is happening, and if not  they are oblivious.

All this information is suppressed. The Yeshivos suppress because if people knew the extent of what has or can transpire they would neither send any child to that Yeshiva nor support it. And the parents suppress because of Shidduchim.

There are systemic problems in the Dorm Yeshiva Purim scene and it is an accident waiting to happen. Wait one second  that is inaccurate. The accidents are happening and they are happening all the time.

A protocol needs to be developed where these systemic issues are addressed. Signing Kol Korehs and taking out ads in Jewish newspapers is not enough. It is a mere platitude  lip serviceto a deeply rooted problem, that not only endangers our children but is a huge cause of national Chilul Shaim Shamayim.

The protocol should address and delineate the Yeshivas responsibilities, the parents responsibilities, the Tzedakos responsibilities, the responsibilities of the Tzeddakah homes they visit, the host parent responsibilities (reluctant though they may be), and the friends responsibilities.

Those in the know realize quite well that the problem here is not being overstated in the slightest. Women in our community dread Shushan Purim because of the volume of vomit cleaning that they must perform. There is a reason why every Hatzolah is spending much needed money in the newspapers.

My personal thinking is that the collecting should be stopped. It is a recipe for disaster. The providing of alcohol to young men collecting should also be stopped  aside from the fact that it is illegal. Both the parents and the Yeshivos should work together to ensure that the whereabouts of each child is known at all times  hour by hour.

Are we mad? Why are we accepting of this reality  a situation of sheer and utter lunacy? The dangers are far greater now than ever before.

Why do we need a death or a tragedy to spur us into action?

These issues are the pressing ones that should be addressed at our organizational conventions and meetings. Kashrus issues such as bugs in orange juice, and Hashkafic threats about schismatic movements like Open Orthodoxy or people that go on the Temple Mount are certainly important  indeed, this author has written a number of articles about these issues. But we need to develop a protocol and a solution to this systemic problem within our own communities. These are the pressing of our time and we cannot remain with our heads in the sand.

May Hashem bring yeshuos to Klal Yisroel.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY 5TJT
[From the YWN 2008 archives]

Dear Friend,

Last Purim started off like all others from years past, but it was almost the last Purim of my life. Beginning two weeks before Purim, Hatzoloh started putting up signs saying, This year dont get carried away, with a picture of some poor kid being carried away on a stretcher. To me, these signs blended right into the background with the other signs hanging up all around my hometown of Brooklyn, New York.

You see, this year I decided I would make Purim even more geshmak than in years past, because this Purim I would drink anyway. Dont get me wrong. I wasnt planning on getting drunk, just enough to make me high. I started out collecting like the last year, going from house to house. I had the most geshmak group, I thought, but there was something missing. So when I was offered a drink at the next house, I took it. As I recall, it was Johnny Walker Black Label, which is 40% alcohol. I figured that if I took a cup, 8 oz, it would be better than taking eight individual shots, because I could drink the whole thing in just one shot.

After a few minutes, it starting hitting me, but I was able to continue collecting. About 15 minutes later I had another shot of 8 oz. And was already getting high. The next few houses passed in a blur. I remember sitting in the houses and just singing. I couldnt really dance too much anymore, so I just sat down and sang.

I was starting to get a little headache, but I kept on going after all this was geshmak. No longer sober, and without my proper judgment skills, I took a cup and a bottle of Absolute Vodka. I remember my friends telling me not to take it, but I told them that I could handle it. Just a little, I thought, and this year would be most geshmak. I took one cup and, surprisingly, it didnt burn when it went down. Maybe Im immune, I thought. This is great, I can drink and drink and I wont feel it going down. I took another cup and another, and then, another. Then I poured half of another cup and I couldnt pour straight anymore, so I just drank what I had in my cup. I sat for about a minute without feeling anything. The alcohol didnt have any effect on me.

Why do they even put up posters telling people not to drink? Its not even so dangerous! The people of the house didnt realize that I had drunk anything, because there were four or five groups bothering them for money. I suddenly started falling over. My head was attached to my shoulders as if on a rubber band. My head flew back, then front, then to the right, then back again. The whole room was turning upside down. People were screaming my name. Then I blacked out! They called Hatzoloh and they were there in an instant. My eyes werent dilating and when they touched me, I didnt feel it. I was staring straight ahead at the wall and didnt even feel the Hatzoloh man pinching me. They put me on a stretcher but my body kept slipping off as though I was made of jello.

They strapped me down and off I was to the hospital. On the way out, Hatzoloh took my picture and later asked my mother for permission to use it. Thats right, the next year I would be the poor kid on the stretcher.

I woke up eight hours later tied down to a bed. The last thing I remember was my head hitting the table as I fell to the floor. I looked around and saw a white room. Then I saw my mother crying with a Tehillim in her hand and my father at her side. Then I heard beeping. I couldnt get up because I was tied to the bed. So I just lifted my head. My mother asked me if I knew where I was. I thought, maybe I was in my room at home, but my room isnt in white. Then I started thinking, maybe we went away on a trip somewhere, but why was my mother crying? Then I remembered the table coming at my head and then it hit me: I was in a hospital. The beeping? That was my heart rate being monitored on a screen next to the bed.

A doctor came in to make sure I was O.K. and to tell me how lucky I was to be alive. They told me that since I came in early I was able to get a bed in a room as opposed to sleeping in the hallway. I still felt a little dizzy, but I was able to go home right away. The doctors told me my Blood Alcohol Content and told me that the IV that they gave me lowered my BAC, so I would have nothing more than a bad hangover. And again, he called me lucky. On the way out of the hospital the halls were lined with bachurim, unconscious on stretchers and beds. Parents and rebbeim were crying and saying Tehillim. It looked more like a funeral than Purim.

On a visit to my pediatrician, I realized why that doctor kept telling me I was lucky. My doctor calculated my weight with how much I drank (approximately 50 oz.) of 40% alcohol and told me that, according to the charts, I should have been dead a long time ago. The fact that I was still alive was a miracle in itself. Most people with that BAC are usually, at the very least, brain damaged. I asked him why I was not dead if his calculations and his charts were right. He looked me straight in the eye and said, Someone up there is watching over you. I really am lucky.

Almost dead! Not a cold, not the flu, dead, because I wanted Purim to be more geshmak. The people in the hospital and of Hatzoloh know that every year this happens to too many bachurim. Too many! Even one is too many! Thats why they put up signs telling you not to drink. No, dont get carried away. What else do they have to do?

Written by Reuven Epstein, 18-years-old

NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
Ichud Hatzalah volunteers are working hard ahead of Purim to get their safety message out  advising children and adults to distance themselves from dangerous illegal fireworks. The EMS organization has launched a program to get the message out amid the realization a number of people are injured annually on Purim from fireworks RL, some sustaining permanent disabilities as a result.

Ichud volunteers this week have been concentrating on Rechasim, literally going street to street with their message. The campaign enjoys the backing, cooperation and participation of local elected officials.

The EMS organization is simultaneously working with Zevulun district police to reach other communities in that area.

Ichud Carmel District Chief Naftali Rothenberg explains We wish all residents and children of Rechasim a happy Purim and call on you all to refrain from using caps, firecrackers and other dangerous fireworks and to cooperate with local government officials and Ichud volunteers getting the message out in the city.

Rechasim Mayor Rav Yitzchak Reich concurs, thanking Ichud volunteers for their efforts in the city. The mayor credits Ichud efforts with a significantly discernable reduction in the use of fireworks in Rechasim.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: Ichud Hatzalah Carmel District spokesmans office)
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday 11 Adar-II issued the following statement:

Today, Micah Lakin Avni, son of Palestinian terror victim Richard Lakin, stood on the stage of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and issued a challenge to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN: Condemn the murder of Israelis! Condemn Palestinian incitement to terror!

I join Micah and the victims of the latest wave of Palestinian terror in calling on the international community to stop its hypocrisy and unequivocally condemn the murderous terror attacks carried out against Israelis. Richard was murdered by Palestinians who were brainwashed by the Palestinian Authoritys schools and Palestinian social media to believe that those who kill Jews are heroes. Palestinian Authority President Abbas described Richards murderer as a noble martyr.

I call on all of the countries involved in funding the PAs incitement, including the schoolbooks used in PA and UNRWA schools, to stop their funding, and start it again only after the messages of hate are replaced by messages of co-existence and peace.

Micah, thank you for giving voice to the victims of Palestinian terror and their families. May the memory of your father Richard be blessed.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Chareidi MKs on Monday evening 11 Adar-II met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in an effort to resolve the dispute surrounding the egalitarian prayer area near the Kosel. Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman and MK Moshe Gafne met with PM Netanyahu in his office. Also taking part was Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who is reportedly the architect behind the egalitarian prayer area.

One thing that is clear following the meeting is that MK Moshe Gafne and his colleagues are now maintaining a lower media profile on the matter following the release of harsh statements and threats to break the coalition. During recent days many chareidi MKs stated there would be no compromise regarding recognition of Reform Jewry, warning the Prime Minister they are willing to go to new elections over the mater.

They also discussed Gafnes bill which prohibits any and all converts from toiveling in state-run mikvaos. That bill was passed in its preliminary ready but faces formidable opposition among MKs from coalition parties including Kulanu and Bayit Yehudi.

Regarding the mikve bill, a number of suggested changes were made that Mandelblit feels he can successful defend if the law is challenged in the Supreme Court, which is likely to occur.

While finding a solution to the mikve bill is likely, the issue of the egalitarian prayer area is far more problematic in the eyes of the MKs and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. All concerned have signaled there will not be any compromise in their objections to any form of recognition for the Reform.

Gafne and Litzman told the Prime Minister that there are two demands being made that are simply unacceptable, non-starters. These include demands by the Reform to be on the governing body that runs the Ezrat Yisrael area, the egalitarian prayer area at Robinsons Arch and the second, that the Ezrat Yisrael area cannot be designated a holy site by the state, which would place it in the same category as the Kosel and other holy sites.

Mr. Netanyahu presented a possible compromise solution initiated by Minister Zeev Elkin, who feels perhaps the chareidim would agree to permit the Jewish Agency run the council that will oversee the Ezrat Yisrael area. They told Mr. Netanyahu the Elkin compromise would be presented to Gedolei Yisrael to decide.

On Wednesday, 20 Adar-II, the Knesset adjourns for Pesach vacation.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Chaim Ramon is a former senior Labor Party minister and official may now be seeking a return to the public arena with his Unilateral Jerusalem Disengagement Plan. He and supporters claim their plan is the only way to save Jerusalem from being demographically overrun.

Under the banner of the Save Jerusalem Movement, Ramon and other notables including retired Jerusalem Police Chief Aryeh Amit and Alik Ron are suggesting unilateral Israeli withdrawals from predominately Arab areas of the capital.

According to Ramon and his colleagues, these areas were annexed to the capital following the IDF victory in the June 1967 War. They feel that decision was erroneous and today, the international community does not view them as part of Jerusalem but rather as Israeli occupied along with all of Yehuda, Shomron, the Jordan Valley, Golan Heights and many areas of predominately Jewish Jerusalem.

Ramons plan calls for constructing a security fence around the Arab areas of the capital that will be abandoned by Israel and these areas would be considered part of the West Bank. The plan stresses that the Jewish Jerusalem areas built since 1967 would remain as they are, unchanged. This they feel will have many security and demographic advantages as 200,000 Arabs will no longer reside in the Jerusalem Municipality and then 81% of the capitals residents will be Jews and less than 20% Palestinian, which is half of the number today as Palestinians comprise about 40% of the capitals population.

Ramon explains there are also significant monetary advantages since moving 200,000 Arabs from Jerusalem to the West Bank will save the municipality some NIS 2-to-3 billion annually.

Ramon insists their plan is the correct one, a plan that guarantees the future of the overwhelmingly Jewish majority in the city.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Under a fresh cloud of overseas violence, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton added to their delegate troves on Tuesday with victories in Arizona as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash of would-be commanders in chief.

Long lines and high interest marked primary elections across Arizona, Utah and Idaho that were largely an afterthought for much of the day as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a series of blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

Yet there was a frenzy of activity in Utah as voters lined up to caucus and the state Democratic Partys website crashed due to high traffic. In Arizona, voters waited two hours to cast primary ballots in some cases, while police were called to help with traffic control and at least one polling place ran out of ballots.

Trump and Clinton both enjoyed overwhelming delegate leads heading into Tuesdays contests.

Trumps Arizona victory gives him the all of the states 58 delegates, a setback for his underdog challengers. On the Democratic side, Arizonas delegates are awarded proportionally.

Arizona and Utah featured elections for both parties on Tuesday, while Idaho Democrats also held presidential caucuses.

Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich hoped to reverse the sense of inevitability taking hold around both party front-runners. Anti-Trump Republicans are running out of time to prevent him from securing the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the nomination.

As voters flooded to the polls, the presidential candidates lashed out at each others foreign policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.

Trump, the Republican front-runner, charged that the United States has no choice but to adopt his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the country to prevent the spread of terrorism. He described as eggheads those who respect international laws ban on torture, the use of which he argued would have prevented the days attacks.

We can be nice about it, and we can be politically correct about it, but were being fools, Trump said in an interview on CNN. Were going to have to be very strong, or were not going to have a country left.

Clinton and Trumps Republican rivals, meanwhile, questioned the GOP front-runners temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish U.S. involvement with NATO.

I see the challenge ahead as one where were bringing the world together, where were leading the world against these terrorist networks, Clinton said Tuesday at a union hall in Everett, Washington. Some of my opponents want to build walls and shut the world off. Well, you tell me, how high does the wall have to be to keep the Internet out?

Cruz seized on Trumps foreign policy inexperience while declaring that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic State group.

He doesnt have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief, he told reporters. The stakes are too high for learning on the job.

The debate between the two took a detour late Tuesday night as they engaged in an unusual Twitter exchange about their wives.

The billionaire warned Cruz he would spill the beans on your wife after an anti-Trump outside group ran an ad in Utah featuring Trumps wife, Melania, in a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, youre more of a coward than I thought.

Trumps brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where preference polls suggest Cruz has a chance to claim more than 50 percent of the caucus vote  and with it, all 40 of Utahs delegates. Trump could earn some delegates should Cruz fail to exceed 50 percent, in which case the delegates would be awarded based on each candidates vote total.

Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, cheered the billionaires brash style, even as he acknowledged Trump doesnt play as well in Utah as other parts of the country.

I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but hes human, Brady said. I dont care.

On the Democratic side, Clintons delegate advantage is even greater than Trumps.

The former secretary of state is coming off last weeks five-state sweep of Sanders, who remains popular among his partys most liberal voters but needs to improve his performance if he expects to stay relevant. The Vermont senator, now trailing Clinton by more than 300 pledged delegates, has targeted Tuesdays races as the start of a comeback tour.

(AP)
Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Moscow for talks on Ukraine and Syria as the attacks against Brussels underscored the urgency of fighting the Islamic State group.

Kerry departed Washington late Tuesday after accompanying President Barack Obama to Cuba and speaking by phone from Havana with the Belgian foreign minister to offer condolences for the victims of the attacks and any assistance Brussels might need. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and have highlighted the threat the group poses outside of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, Kerry is to discuss the fragile truce in Syria that is hoped will spark UN-brokered peace talks amid disagreements over how to verify and respond to alleged violations, the State Department said. His visit was arranged following Putins surprise announcement last week of Russias partial military withdrawal from Syria.

Now that the truce is in place, Kerry will be seeking clarity from Putin and Lavrov as to where Russia stands on a political transition for Syria, particularly on the future of President Bashar Assad, according to U.S. officials. One senior official said it was now time to get down to brass tacks on Assad. The official was not authorized to preview Kerrys trip and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the U.S. refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The State Department, however, insisted that Moscow and Washington are working constructively to monitor the truce. The department also warned Russia against taking unilateral action in response to alleged violations.

The Russian military has accused the U.S. of dragging its feet on responding to Moscows proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria cease-fire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.

Kerry also will call on Russia to do more to press pro-Russian separatists to comply with a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He is expected to raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia on Tuesday on charges the U.S. says are false. Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The U.S. has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again on Tuesday. The senior U.S. official said Kerry would encourage Russia to accept Ukraines proposal for a swap.

For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. She has reportedly endured interrogation, solitary confinement, and forced psychiatric evaluation. (She) deserves to go home to her family and friends and to join her colleagues in the Rada in building a better future for their country. We reiterate our call on Russia to immediately release Savchenko and other unlawfully detained persons.

(AP)
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has ordered a closure on PA (Palestinian Authority) residents of areas throughout Yehuda and Shomron as well as Hamas-controlled Gaza, banning them from Green Line Israel over the Purim weekend. As is always the case, exceptions are made to accommodate humanitarian situations.

The closure begins on Wednesday night, the eve of 14 Adar-II and continues until 23:59 on motzei Shabbos. Christians with the appropriate permit will be permitted to leave Gaza via the Erez Crossing for Easter.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Israel Police working with the ISA (Israel Security Agency  Shin Bet) have arrested an electronic engineer who was working as the computer expert for the Islamic Jihad. The Gazan resident was indicted by Israel on a number of charges including espionage, contact with enemy agents, and hacking into computers.

On February 23, 2016, the suspect, a man in his 20s, was arrested on his way to meet with some children to test their capabilities. Authorities have learned the suspect in custody was enlisted into the terror organization in 2011while continuing to host a radio show and simultaneously carry out assignments for the terror organization. He broke into the Hamas Interior Ministry computers and developed a system to tap into street cams, enabling him to monitor activity on streets via the municipal system.

Upon completion of the investigation the southern district prosecutor determined there was sufficient evidence to indict him.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The United Nations peacekeeping force on the Syrian side of Israels northern border is scheduled to return to the area. The force left in the middle of 2013 as the Syrian civil war continued to escalate. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently instructed President Reuven Rivlin to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence towards bringing the international force back, as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL. Rivlin met with the Russian president in Moscow recently.

The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) soldiers are from five countries which agree to serve on the force. When the force left in 2013 it numbered about 900 soldiers.

Commanders and soldiers from the force visited the border area in recent weeks as they prepare to resume maintaining a presence as a buffer between Israel and Syria.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah of Agudas Yisrael will be convening on Monday, 18 Adar-II to discuss the situation vis-a-vis the cabinet and the administrations recognition of the Reform Movement. The admorim will be briefed by MKs from Agudas Yisrael regarding their efforts and progress pertaining to the egalitarian prayer area and other issues related to the administrations fondness of the Reform.

One of the items that will be explained is a compromise solution presented by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, that instead of the Reform sitting on the council that governs the new prayer area, it would be run by the Jewish Agency. This alternative was presented to chareidi MKs in a motzei Shabbos meeting with PM Netanyahu in the presence of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Marrakesh is the best value destination for a city break while Zurich is the priciest, according to a new report.

The Moroccan capital has come out cheapest for a basket of five holiday items including a glass of wine, a travel card, a Big Mac, a ticket for a national museum and 30-minute taxi journey.

Second cheapest on the list is Budapest in Hungary followed by Prague in the Czech Republic, according to the research from Caxton FX.

When comparing the five items, the most expensive city break is Zurich which costs around four times more than Marrakesh, the cheapest on the list.

Marrakesh is the cheapest destination or value for money with a day travel card costing just 36p

One of the major expenses in the city is travel passes which work out at around 16.93 compared to just 4.81 in Paris, 4.12 in Budapest and 36p in Marrakesh.

While a 30-minute taxi journey could cost as much as 63.49 in Zurich but an equivalent journey would be 13.60 in Marrakesh or 4.15 in Dubrovnik in Croatia.

When it comes to alcohol, a glass of wine in Budapest will set you back around 1.75 while in Barcelona it's 2.37, Vienna it's 3.15 and in Zurich it's 7.05.

Another item included in the basket is a ticket to a national museum.

While many cities offer free tickets to their national museums and art galleries, in Paris it would cost 12.62 while in New York it's 15.77 and in Amsterdam it could cost you 10.64.

Marrakesh, Budapest and Prague are the cities where you'll get most bang for your buck while Zurich, Oslo and Venice are the most expensive

Caxton says the cost of these different items has remained relatively the same in the past few years but what has pushed the prices up for us is the exchange rate.

The pound has fallen against the euro in the past few weeks, largely due to the upcoming referendum vote on June 23.

Prague was the third cheapest city break with a day travel card priced at 3.41 and a museum pass at 1.86

This has had a knock-on effect of pushing up the costs for British holidaymakers, both of going away and of how much money they will get when exchanging sterling.

Destinations which are further away, such as New York, offer the best exchange rates however the travel costs are clearly a lot higher.

The survey compared a basket of items that a tourist might typically buy when on holiday. However it does not take into consideration travel costs to and from the destination nor accommodation costs. These are likely to be the biggest expenses while abroad.

It is also unlikely most travellers will opt to dine on a Big Mac while on a city break. However its cost is easy to compare as it is universal across all cities, and therefore gives an indicator of how food costs measure up in each place.

Although the study does not factor in accommodation and travel costs, these are more commonly considered by those choosing a city break destination - holidaymakers are more likely to ignore the cost of everyday expenses once they reach it.

Zurich is the most expensive place for a city break with a glass of wine costing 7.05 and a travel card 16.93

The 20 cities that were chosen were picked out by Caxton FX because they are the most popular destinations among users of its prepayment card.

When looking at the total costs from a year earlier, the biggest difference has been in Madrid where the five items are now 28.45 cheaper and it is now the fourth cheapest place to visit when comparing these specific items.

Visiting Rome on the other hand has become 10.05 more expensive and Amsterdam is 9.66 more than it was in 2015.

Madrid, the fourth-cheapest city on the list, has seen prices in the basket fall in the past year by 28

Rupert Lee-Browne, founder of Caxton FX says, 'The cost of a short break can vary widely once you factor in the cost of food, drink and local travel, and so it's best to research these before you go.

'In recent weeks the pound has weakened against the Euro and so popular Eurozone destinations such as Paris and Rome are not as affordable as they were last Easter.

Budapest is the second-cheapest destination for a city break based on a basket of five holiday items

'If you are planning a short break, it's worth doing your research before you go and getting a good exchange rate on your holiday money so you can make the most of your holiday while you're away.'

This report comes ahead of similar research published earlier in the week that showed Warsaw in Poland to be the cheapest European weekend destination.

Dubrovnik in Croatia is the fifth cheapest destination with a glass of wine priced at 3.91 and a 30-minute taxi journey at 4.15

It included items you might need to buy but also the exchange rate changes, accommodation for two nights and transport.

The separate study from the Post Office found that travelling to Warsaw for a weekend would set you back 113 in total, while the second-cheapest destination, Lithuania would cost you 115 and a weekend break in Budapest would cost 123.
After bingeing on debt in the early 2000s, Premier Foods has been fighting a long battle for survival ever since.

It managed to escape the big drop into the Blue Square Conference and receivership by jettisoning brands and bringing debts down from 1.7billion at the peak to a not inconsiderable 600million now.

It has also struggled with reputational issues ranging from the Sudan 1 contaminated red food dye problem in 2005, to accusations that it was putting undue pressure on suppliers in 2014.

Under the leadership of former Cable & Wireless Worldwide boss Gavin Darby, much of the risk has been removed. One might never have guessed from a pitiful share price and valuation compared to the rest of Europes food sector.

Turnaround: Under the leadership of former Cable & Wireless Worldwide boss Gavin Darby, Premier Foods has managed to escape the big drop into the Blue Square Conference and receivership

The shares have been so under-priced, despite buy recommendations from Shore Capital and Investec, that the board was able to turn down a premium of 50 per cent from US food group McCormick without anyone kicking up a fuss. Instead the shares soared 71 per cent by the close of trading!

Spice rack favourite McCormick still has until April 20 to raise its offer under Takeover Panel rules but would look ridiculous after its first round low-ball offer. There does also seem some determination at Premier to keep the company British.

It is quite amazing to see the brands that still lurk in the Premier portfolio, ranging from Mr Kipling, Cadbury and Lyons cakes to Oxo, Bisto, Homepride and Ambrosia.

Not all of these may conform to modern healthy eating requirements but they have strong resonance with baby boomers.

Personally, as a scion of the founding Lyons family, it is good to see a slice of the brand surviving many decades after J Lyons & Co and the uniformed nippy disappeared as the nations favourite eaterie.

For the moment, anyway, Premier, having battled its way back to safety, says it still wants to be home alone.

The company has raised its medium-term growth forecast and signed a co-operation deal with Nissin Foods of Japan.

This could see Premier distribute instant noodles and Nissin introducing the Japanese to the delights of Oxo and creamed rice.

Premier looks now to have a more coherent strategy than any time in the recent past, so it would be sad to see more brands drift into overseas ownership.

The real lesson of all this is that there is a group of British companies in the lower reaches of the stock market that are grossly undervalued and could provide a long-term investment opportunity. Discovering the exact stocks can be a little more tricky.

Home truth

One fears, however, that BHS is not among them. If anyone was going to provide the spark that would turn the stores group around, it was former owner Sir Philip Green.

He introduced new furniture ranges, tried franchising his other major brands in some of the stores, looked at introducing food and then sold the whole caboodle for 1.

Green maintained a lingering interest as a preferred debtor and a former owner with a moral  if not a legal  obligation to help plug a gap in the pension fund deficit.

New owners have given the chain a temporary lease of life by persuading its landlords to accept lower rents at 125 stores and reportedly are close to receiving a 60million loan, secured on existing stocks of goods, from US private equity firm Gordon Brothers.

Straightening out the finances is a good first step to recovery as Premier and retail brands such as HMV have demonstrated.

The bigger question is whether in an age of no-frills retailers such as Lidl and Primark, fast fashion such as that at Topshop and Zara and online shopping, BHS has any unique selling point. The days when it was the go to place for light fittings and womens hats are long gone.

Credit Swiz

Spare a thought for Tidjane Thiam. Having ditched Prudential for the brutal world of investment banking at Credit Suisse, he has found some staff concealed negative exposures, with the consequence that 2,000 extra people are being sacked and another $346million of write-downs are being taken.

Since he took the helm nine months ago the banks share price has tumbled by 40 per cent.

Its going to be a long haul before Thiam earns the kind of bonuses he accumulated at the Pru or can justify a corporate jet.

Hounded out

It is all going from bad to worse for the Hound of Hounslow Navinder Singh Sarao.

Britains lopsided extradition deal with the US made it relatively easy for prosecutors to secure his transfer to stand trial for spoofing  a form of market manipulation.

It is far from clear his trades were illegal at the time they were made, or that he could possibly have been solely responsible for the Wall Street flash crash in 2010, as is alleged.
Millions of savers would still receive the same level of protection on their nest eggs in the event of a Brexit - or at least initially - the Bank of England has confirmed.

At the moment, the first 75,000 of savers' cash is protected in any one savings account per banking licence - or 150,000 for couples.

The level of protection is determined by an EU-wide directive between member states. Although all countries have their own scheme - ours is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme - the level of cover is the same across all EU countries.

At the moment this level is 100,000. Last summer the Bank of England lowered our compensation limit by 10,000 as the pound had strengthened against the single currency and 100,000 was closer to 75,000 than the previous limit of 85,000. The sterling has since fallen against the euro.

Safe savings? Millions of Britons have savings in accounts protected under the blanket FSCS

The limit is reviewed every five years to fall in line with 100,000. But the Bank of England confirmed to This is Money that if there was a Brexit, it would not be required under the directive to carry out this review.

This could mean a far higher, or lower limit, in the wake of Britain exiting the EU.

However no change would be made immediately following a Brexit, and the Bank will do all in its powers to ensure the stability of the financial system should it occur.

At the start of the banking crisis - when the limit wasn't set to the equivalent 100,000 - the maximum compensation was 31,700. This went up to 35,000 in October 2007 and 50,000 a year later.

This is Money asked the FSCS as to what impact a Brexit would have on the scheme. A spokesman said it could not speculate on how an exit would impact on the scope, coverage or funding, but that existing compensation limits would continue to apply.

It added that any changes would be made by UK regulators.

The Bank of England was also not keen to speculate on specific details in the aftermath of a Brexit.

Governor Mark Carney said at the Treasury Select Committee hearing earlier in the month that it is hard to predict with certainty what will happen should there be a Brexit and a new relationship defined.

The Bank knows depositor protection and confidence is important. To ease fears, it says there will be no immediate impact from a potential Brexit on the level of protection required.

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the UK would have two years during which to negotiate its withdrawal from the EU.

Mark Carney: The Bank of England Governor says it is hard to predict with certainty what would happen in the wake of a Brexit

The possibility of a Brexit also raises questions about savings accounts offered to British savers in European banks.

Some savings providers have started offering accounts in Britain but under licences from other countries.

For example, Fidor Bank has its scheme in Germany, Ikano Bank, Sweden and RCI Bank, France. The latter two have featured accounts in the best buy tables.

It is unclear what would happen to the protection offered to these savers should Britain leave the EU.

However the Bank of England reassures again, there would be a two-year period to make arrangements if necessary so nothing would change straight away.

Since its inception in 2001 FSCS has paid out more than 26billion to more than 4.5million people. The majority of this money was during the financial crisis, when there was a run on a number of banks.

The FSCS is funded by levies on firms authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority. The FSCS's costs are made up of management expenses and compensation payments.

In January, a think tank argued that Britain should scrap the savings safety net of 75,000 to strengthen the British economy.
Defeat: Navinder Singh Sarao, pictured outside court today, could be extradited to the US after losing an appeal

The British trader known as the 'Hound of Hounslow' is set to be extradited to the US to face charges of multi-million-dollar fraud after losing a court appeal today

Navinder Singh Sarao, 37, is accused of helping to cause the 2010 'flash crash', which saw Wall Street shares tumble within a few minutes thanks to a computer glitch.

The trader, who operated from his parents' home in West London, has consistently denied wrongdoing and insisted he should not be sent to the US where is could face a hefty prison sentence.

But today a district judge at Westminster magistrates' court ruled that he can stand trial in the US.

The extradition request from the American authorities must be approved by Home Secretary Theresa May before Sarao can be extradited.

Lawyers for Sarao, who argued his actions did not constitute a crime, said outside court that they will lodge an appeal against the court ruling once the minister makes her final decision in the case, which must come within two months.

One told reporters: 'We still think we have a strong argument and we will be appealing the decision once the Secretary of State makes her decision.

'We are very disappointed. We think we had a strong argument but we will be going to the Court of Appeal to make our argument there.'

Sarao, wearing a red jumper and black trousers, was released on bail after the short hearing.

Home: The 37-year-old traded millions of pounds from his parents' house in Hounslow, pictured

The trader is accused of using a technique called 'spoofing', where he allegedly placed fake trades in order to manipulate market prices before cancelling his orders.

US officials claim he made $40million (38million) through the fraudulent trades and contributed to the 'flash crash' on May 6, 2010.

The 22 charges he faces carry a maximum sentence of 380 years in prison.

US authorities needed to prove dual criminality - meaning that an alleged offence must be a crime in both countries - in order to extradite him.

At an earlier hearing his lawyers argued that his actions were not criminal in this country, while the Americans said they were covered by several British fraud offences.

The defendant used his home computer to place trades on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, carrying out as many as 8,000 transactions per day, according to the US government.

Fight: Sarao has repeatedly insisted he did nothing wrong and should not be extradited to the US

Hearing: Sarao, pictured during an earlier court appearance, has been released on bail

His assets were frozen by the American authorities after he was first arrested in April last year, meaning he could not afford 5million in bail surety.

Sarao's lawyers claimed that he was being 'scapegoated' for the flash crash, adding that cancelling trades is common practice when market participants change their mind about transactions.

They also argued against his extradition on the grounds of his recently diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome, which rendered his mental state fragile.

At a previous hearing, Sarao shouted: 'I've not done anything wrong apart from being good at my job.'

In a written ruling issued today, District Judge Quentin Purdy said: 'The causes of the Flash Crash are not a single action and cannot on any view be laid wholly or mostly at Navinder Sarao's door, although he was active on the day.'

But he added that the US authorities had made a convincing argument that the case did constitute 'dual criminality'.

The judge told Sarao: 'I have rejected challenges to the extradition request. I am sending this case to the Secretary of State for her consideration. Otherwise, you will face trial in the United States.'
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By Bill Parry

Queens Library has appointed a successor for the longtime executive director of the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center in Corona. Dr. Mikisha Morris will replace Andrew Jackson when he retires in July.

Morris recently earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership. The focus of her study was using cultural arts programs to empower urban communities.

She has an extensive non-profit and public education administration background, having spent the majority of her career serving children and communities in Philadelphia. Morris brings a strong understanding of, and value for, culture and cultural arts in the community and in a library setting.

The Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center is a full-service library. It also houses the Black Heritage Reference Center, New York Citys largest circulating collection of materials about and related to black culture.

The collection consists of more than 40,000 volumes.

I welcome Dr. Morris as the incoming executive director at Langston Hughes, Jackson said. She impressed me with new approaches and strategies to enhance and grow our programs and services for the 21st century. I look forward to working with her during the transition and helping her feel comfortable in her new position.

Jackson, also known as Sekou Molefi Baako, will step down after more than 35 years at the helm at the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center, which has a unique history.

Located at 100-01 Northern Blvd., it sprang from the work of neighborhood activists and opened in a former storefront in 1969, funded by a grant. Former Borough President Helen Marshall was one of its earliest employees.

The collections included books, periodicals and recordings aimed at improving the self-image of the community. It also housed an African and black history collection.

The library pioneered an extensive homework program to help the communitys children succeed academically. It formally came under Queens Librarys aegis in 1987.

Following his July retirement, Jackson will continue teaching at Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies and York College. He will also be working on two book projects.
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By Patrick Donachie

The mayors office hopes to entice new industrial development to the city with a $150 million fund for nonprofit and for-profit developers in an attempt to stem the gradual loss of industrial real estate and jobs throughout New York.

Two representatives from the city Economic Development Corporation presented details of the newly established Industrial Developer Fund to the Queens Borough Board Tuesday night at Borough Hall. Borough President Melinda Katz, who heads the board, attended the meeting along with the heads of each community board.

The fund will be a combination of $60 million in taxpayer money with an additional $90 million from private financing. The city wants to encourage the development or renovation of 400,000 square feet of industrial real estate, and the EDC contends the developments will result in as many as 1,200 new industrial jobs by the close of the decade.

EDC Senior Vice President Jeffrey Lee said the fund would be a positive fit for developers who could ensure that opportunities for a living wage job with potential for advancement would be available to members of local communities, including those without a formal education.

If we could answer most of those in the affirmative, that is something we could consider, he said.

Some attendees stressed that developers needed proper oversight and asked Lee how the city could be sure that the sites would eventually produce jobs. Lee responded that the city had an array of oversight tools at its disposal, including site visits. He said there were also fail safes if the developers did not live up to their end of the bargain.

We have a default scenario. We hope we never have to use it, he said. Theres always going to be required deliverables.

The submission deadline for proposals is March 29, and there will be three more deadlines in this calendar year.

Lee and William Stein, an EDC senior project manager, also described another initiative called Futureworks, which supports six selected early-stage companies with a grant of as much as $30,000 during a two-year period. The selected companies would be tiny advanced manufacturing firms that were using new technology to spur substantive growth in manufacturing, which has been a long-struggling field in the city. Sonhouse Technologies and BotFactory, two fledging startups located in Long Island City, were among the six companies chosen. Lee and Stein pointed to these firms as future entrepreneurial success stories.

These young companies are idea-rich, but dont have the resources and are best determined to use resources, Stein said.

BotFactorys feature product is called Squink; the firms website boasts that Squink can create fully functioning electric circuits within 30 minutes. BotFactory intends to use the $30,000 in grant funding to increase its manufacturing capabilities, hire a part-time employee and increase its marketing potential, according to Lee. He also asserted that the funding could pay huge dividends for companies that are on the verge of expansion.

Theyre often one-person, at most two-person operations, and theyve been working out of their bathtub or out of their closet and theyre building some circuit board or some kind of new machine theyre just starting to sell and to commercialize, he said. Maybe two years down the road, theyre able to expand their market, expand their revenue and ideally go from a one-person to a five-person, to a ten-person sized company and more.

The next round of applications for Futureworks will occur later this year, according to the EDC.
Airport development adding to economy, jobs in the region

Pittsburgh may always be known as the Steel City, but a wave of new industries are popping up near its airport to redefine business in the region.
It's hard to believe President Barack Obama when he makes statements after terror attacks, wherever they may happen.

Paris. San Bernardino. Brussels.

It's tough to trust his pledges, especially when several of his top military advisers and leaders have a difficult time grasping the level of commitment the president says the country will provide. Obama said in Cuba on Tuesday morning following the terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium, that the United States will "do whatever is necessary" to bring the attackers to justice after killing more than 30 people and injuring scores more.

What does that mean, Mr. President? Your messages are mixed and often received with raised eyebrows and a bunch of dandruff flakes and gray hairs falling to the floor from all the head scratching.

Why? You nor your administration has a strategy to combat terrorism.

Every person who wears a military uniform has a common desire  to be led. It doesn't matter if the individual is a four-star general, a brand new butter bar second lieutenant, an airman graduating from basic training or a command chief master sergeant. They want to be led, but this ship has no rudder.

Politico had an article online in November that outlined the divide between the military and the White House. Some believe the rift has been caused by nonmilitary types in the administration micromanaging battlefield commanders. Others say it's the lack of a plan on Syria, ISIS, Iran, Israel, Korea, Russia, China and other threats the country faces.

Arizona Sen. John McCain said in the article that the Obama administration has no "coherent strategy" to beat ISIS or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"We're sending 50  count them, 50  special operations soldiers to Syria, and they will have 'no combat role,' the president says," McCain was quoted by Politico. "Well, what are they being sent there for? To be recreation officers? You're in a combat zone, and to say they're not in combat is absurd."

The senator even suggests that those military leaders not compliant with what Obama or his White House wants will be forced out or retired. Marine Gen. James Mattis, former commander of U.S. Central Command who was relieved of his command in 2013 after asking top White House officials for possible military options against Iran, is an example McCain used.

There are all sorts of leadership styles and motivational tools used in the military to reach the end goal of the mission. Sometimes fear can be used, but only if it's used correctly.

Retired commanders have been vocal about their distrust in the commander-in-chief and the poor decisions he and others are making. The Iran nuke deal is a recent example of that when about 200 former generals and admirals were signatories on a letter to Congress in August urging them to vote against the agreement.

Only about three dozen retired generals and admirals signed a letter a week before supporting the deal.

What does that say about a commander-in-chief when highly decorated men and women decide not to support their former boss?

This year is already moving by fast with the end of March quickly approaching, which means Obama's presidency is nearing its end. I can only imagine how many retired and still-serving generals and admirals have Nov. 8 circled on their calendar when the country will decide who the next commander-in-chief will be.

Hopefully it's one with a plan.
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Benghazi fighters to headline GOP event

Mark "Oz" Geist and John "Tig" Tiegen will be the guests of honor and speakers at an event sponsored by Wichita County Republican Women titled "An Evening with Two Heroes of Benghazi" March 29 at the Wellington Banquet & Conference Center, 5300 Kell Blvd.

Geist and Tiegen are two of a handful of contract security personnel who went to the aid of those in the consulate in Benghazi the night Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed. They will walk through those 13 hours of Sept. 11, 2012.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Regular tickets are $60 and include food and a cash bar. A pre-party event begins at 5:45 p.m. for those who wish to purchase a VIP ticket for $80. VIP ticket holders will have a chance to meet Geist and Tiegen during the party. Books will be available for purchase.

Geist and Tiegen, along with their colleague Kris Paronto and Mitchell Zuckoff, wrote the book "13 Hours  the Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi" and were consultants on the recently released movie "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi."

For reservations, contact Sandra Ross at 940-781-0448 or go to www.wcrepublicanwomen.com before March 24.

MSU Crime Stoppers plan anti-drug walk

Campus Crime Stoppers at Midwestern State University is selling T-shirts commemorating the 2016 Moonlight Walk Against Drugs.

All T-shirts are green and sell for $10 each. Both youth and adult sizes, through 3XL, are available. Order forms can be downloaded from the MSU website (www.mwsu.edu, search "Crime Stoppers") and emailed to Officer Elwyn Ladd at elwyn.ladd@mswu.edu.

The 2016 Moonlight Walk will be at 7 p.m. April 23 starting from D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

Burk health fair coming up April 2

The Boomtown Health & Wellness Fair will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 2 at Burkburnett Community Center.

The free event will include health screenings for agility, balance, glucose and blood pressure. Health care and wellness representatives will offer informational booths, and an area will be set aside for Zumba.

The event is sponsored by the city of Burkburnett and the Burkburnett Library.

Electrical course to cover code changes

The Wichita Falls Building and Code Administration, working with the Red River Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, is offering a continuing education seminar designed for electrical contractors, masters, journeyman, apprentices, inspectors, architects, engineers and suppliers. The seminar will cover the 2014 National Electrical Code and will count toward continuing education requirements by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The seminar will be April 9 at the MPEC Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall. Check-in begins at 7 a.m. and the class will run 8 a.m. to noon. The cost is $40 per person for those registering before April 2. After that date, registration is $50.

Call 761-6020 for registration or information.

Ag Appreciation Day slated in Seymour

The 26th annual Baylor County Ag Appreciation Day and Health Fair will be April 5 at the Cliff Styles Activity Center, 1205 Archer Road in Seymour.

Seymour Hospital will offer free fasting blood tests from 7-9 a.m., with a free breakfast supplied by the Baylor County Farm Bureau for after the test.

An applicator training class worth two continuing education credits will start at 8 a.m. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., more than 80 agriculture and health related booths will offer information and products.

Barry Mahler will be the emcee for a sponsored lunch served by members of the 4-H clubs. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller will be the speaker. Highlighting the lunch will be presentation of the Rancher/Cattleman of the Year, the Farmer/Conservationist of the Year and Agribusiness of the Year awards. Raffle and door prize winners will also be announced.
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By Christopher Collins of the Times Record News

A teenage girl who reportedly ran away from her Missouri home several weeks ago has been found by deputies with the Wichita County Sheriffs Office, an official told the Times Record News.

The Sheriffs Office had been working for several days to locate Bobbie L. Carter, who was 16 when she ran away from her Springfield, Missouri home, said Sheriff David Duke. It appears she was being harbored at a Wichita Falls home by her relative, Irwin G. Rogers, who is a registered sex offender.

A television news station in Springfield reported Carter was taken from Missouri to Texas by her grandmother without the consent of the girls parents. The news story said the teenager had been missing for five weeks and that Springfield police were seeking leads in the case.

Until Wednesday, the now-17-year-old Carter was last seen Feb. 13.

Duke said the girl will be held until Missouri officials can transport her back home. Rogers likely will face charges related to harboring a runaway along with possible charges for violating sex offender rules.

Rogers was booked Wednesday into Wichita County Jail. A bond amount had not been set by Wednesday afternoon. Public records indicate Rogers has a history of driving under the influence and sexual assault going back to 2000. He was paroled from prison in 2014.

Lisa Cox, public affairs officer at the Springfield Police Department, said their involvement in the case is over now that shes located and okay. Sometimes missing persons cases dont end so happily, she added.

You hope and pray that the missing person will be found alive and uninjured, so were happy, Cox said.
Patrick Johnston/Times Record News Bowie Memorial Hospital closed its doors in November, after voters rejected plans to create a hospital taxing district to support it financially. Directors continue searching for private investors interested in purchasing and operating the facility. While many residents bemoaned the loss, the closure ended a holding pattern for the community, allowing other projects to move forward.

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By Barbara Green

The Bowie News Bowie will get its hospital back, with new owners and a new name, Tim Winn, chairman of the Bowie Hospital Authority board, and Dr. Hasan F. Hashmi, representing the Bowie Real Estate Holdings, L.P. signed a deal Monday to sell the defunct facility. It will reopen as Central Hospital of Bowie.

It was the culmination of a month's worth of negotiations with the Hashmi group to purchase the hospital for $1.5 million.

On Feb. 19, the board accepted the bid for the hospital, followed by Hashmi providing a sales agreement and 10 percent earnest money and asset verification to complete the deal. The final weeks were spent finalizing the legal aspects.

The Hashmi family has been involved with the sale of the hospital since November when it was one of two bidders. The board at that time opted to go with the Brough Group's bid, but that group was never able to fulfill any requirements of the bid.

Hashmi group operates two hospitals in Texas located in Grand Prairie and Grand Saline. Hashmi also is president of Texas Trident, LLC and president of ACO Medical, PLLC.

His son, Hasan Faraz Hashmi, chief executive officer of TGH, has been a familiar face at the local hospital in recent weeks working closely with the remaining crew at the hospital to start cleaning the facility and doing paperwork to begin transferring ownership of the state license.

Chief Executive Officer Lynn Heller said they are looking at a target date of May 16 for the closing of the deal and Hashmi hopes to be near reopening shortly thereafter.

Dr. Hashmi told the board the state does not let the process for the change of ownership to begin only after there is a signed agreement.

The name has received approval through the Secretary of State's office.

"It will be part of a system we hope to ultimately expand into a regional center," Dr. Hashmi said.

Heller provided the board with financial projections related to debt, bills and revenue following the sale. The CEO has been negotiating with banks and vendors for any discounts that may be available. Only one firm declined to provide a discount.

The board received good news related to last week's Medicare settlement letter asking for $435,000 from 2012 uncompensated care reimbursement. The outside auditors, who had not provided the correct data to Medicare, appealed the issue and provided the information.

Kimberly Cooper, comptroller, said they have been told the hospital will have to pay back $36,000 instead of the much larger amount. She said the cost report has been submitted to Medicare and the hospital received $105,000 reimbursement.

Heller said Southside Bank has agreed to be paid $250,000 and Bank of America, $933,016.18. He has made projections about the remaining expenses for employees, plus audit expenses and other costs.

The hospital also will continue to have accounts receivable payments. Cooper said they have gotten some response to collection letters as people want a 50 percent discount to clear their account.

Heller projects they will be $86,337.37 in the black if nothing else major comes up and they don't run much longer after the May 16 closing.

The board gave unanimous approval to the sales agreement and looked on as Winn and Hashmi signed the documents. Several members of the board said it was exciting to see the hospital clean and shiny with its beds made ready for patients.

Winn said the board is so pleased to have come to an agreement with Hashmi, and they are so glad Bowie will have a hospital.

A bottle of champagne was shared around the room. d Hashmi. "Ultimately we are able to increase the catchmen areas so people will look to this place and say that is where I want to take my son, my daughter, my father or mother. We try to do that wherever we are with my practice or the hospital we have developed."
President Barack Obama smiles while speaking at the Copernicus Community Center in Chicago to discuss immigration reform, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. Obama visited his hometown to promote his executive action on immigration. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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Jan Herzog, Wichita Falls

The lone letter to the editor in the March 12 Times Record News was from an Olney resident who asserts that "stupid and lazy" people voted Democratic President Obama into office, twice, and that Democrats would disappear without the "stupid lazy groups." The writer ends his letter by saying that we Democrats of today are a "brand new breed of dumdums and indolence."

We Democrats are outnumbered here, but we do exist. The Dems I know tend to be smart and hardworking people who care about other human beings, animals, and the planet. We prefer to consider issues and look for solutions to problems instead of spouting hate at others.

He also writes, "This countries (sic) employment community cannot sustain the entitlement recipients at its current growth level." As far as the "entitlement recipients," it looks like the heavily Republican states have the most.

Also on the editorial page, Editor Deanna Watson tells of her dismay at reading this Facebook comment: "I can't wait for Obama to die so I can skip his funeral." (The writer was offended that Obama had not attended Nancy Reagan's funeral.) She told the guy his comment was awful, and she was right. Good for her for speaking up  she did better than I did in a similar situation when President Obama had been in office only a couple of months. A young woman at a local business (an employee of that business) remarked in front of me that she "kept hoping somebody would assassinate him." I didn't say a word, simply too shocked to react. I have regretted ever since that I didn't at least tell her how disgusting I found her remark.

How did we get so crude, so rude? So utterly hate-filled? People say things publicly about President Obama and his family that are so disgusting it's sickening. How is this helpful? How does this improve our country?

Having an opinion and speaking up are good things. Even if I don't agree, I respect the fact that others have an opinion and care enough to express it. Just use common decency.
In this photo taken Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, Judy Cowling shouts "Snyder's got to go," while participating in the Arrest Governor Snyder protest in front of the Michigan Governor's new Main Street home in downtown Ann Arbor, Mich., for his role in the Flint water crisis. In this photo taken Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, U.S. Army National Guard 125th Infantry Battalion members from Michigan hand out water at Flint Fire Department Station No. 1 to help residents dealing with lead in their drinking water in Flint, Mich. Snyder is the target of two class-action lawsuits filed by Flint residents over the state's handling of the city's water crisis, The Flint Journal reported. (Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via AP) DETROIT NEWS OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT DETROIT FREE PRESS

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Warren Moeller, Wichita Falls

Michael Moore recently tweeted, "Flint (Michigan) has voted for Democrats for 84 years and what did it get us?"

Flint is the second poorest city in America, and as a haven for criminals, the most dangerous, according to one source. The residents have been robbed blind by an administration in order to line the pockets of public sector unions.

Flint is not alone. The U.S. is full of dysfunctional cities and the one surprising common feature is that all of them have elected Democratic mayors for 50 years and more.

A few examples: Detroit: poorest city in the nation with 50 percent below poverty level and worst city to live in. Chicago: Violence and financial collapse. St. Louis: Second most dangerous city (Forbes) and 6th poorest, and Newark, New Jersey, is listed as he 5th worst city to live in.

When Democrats are in control, cities seem to be soft on crime; they reward cronies with public funds, establish hostile business environments, raise taxes and set up fat unfunded pensions for their union friends.
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Tax season for most people doesn't make them feel "warm and fuzzy" inside, but for others it does.

Genevieve Anderson is the coordinator for the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program offered through the North Texas Area United Way. The VITA program offers free tax help to people who make $62,000 or less a year. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals. The goal is to complete over 3,000 tax returns. That goal is big and can't be accomplished without a base of good volunteers. For many years, Genevieve served as a volunteer for the program. Her desire to serve isn't based on a love of crunching numbers. It is because she is passionate about helping others save as much of their hard earned money as possible.

She has countless numbers of stories about individuals who dreaded the thought of filing their taxes because they feared they owed the government a lot of money. Through inquiring and discovering various things about her clients, she is often pleased to inform them that they do not owe any money and sometimes will receive money back. According to Genevieve, "Last year one of our clients used a different service for her taxes and she owed $200. This year with the help she received from the VITA program she didn't owe anything. My client was very appreciative. That is the reason I do this."

Volunteers come from a variety of partnerships with Midwestern State University, AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) and the community.

MSU student Bill Hall is currently earning a double major in accounting and finance. He heard about the opportunity from one of his professors. He feels serving as a volunteer tax preparer is a good way to get real world experience and help people at the same time. Bill has learned more than how to prepare taxes.

"People coming in to get their taxes prepared humanizes the experience. People talk about tax laws like it doesn't affect people, but it really does," Bill said.

He said before getting involved in the VITA program he didn't know anything. Now he knows how to file taxes, and being IRS-certified is an added bonus. Through his experience he has learned more about EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) and the American Education Act  credits for attending college. As a volunteer, he has gotten to learn and understand how taxes really work. Bill said, "One of my clients was living in a hotel and taking online courses. She was trying to make her life better. She received $1,600 for school credit." He hears about people draining the system but doesn't think anyone really wants to live like that.

Theda "Teddi" Aaron, AmeriCorps NCCC team member, is blogging about her experiences. Teddi says that before this assignment she was tax-illiterate. Her knowledge stretched about as far as a wages statement. She says she is not wired to be a numbers whiz. Teddi envisioned herself sitting in front of a client and royally messing up their tax return. When she meets someone for the first time she wants to reduce the amount of uncertainty. She does her best to get to know them in a short amount of time before them having to share very personal information. Teddi says through learning about obstacles her clients face not only during the tax year, but throughout their lives in general, she has a greater appreciation about her own life as well as admiration for their resilience, strength, and love.

One of her clients has her feeling thankful and relieved. The client was a soon-to-be high school graduate. The 17-year-old client goes to school and works to support her mom and younger brother. According to Teddi, "The girl made me stop and think. I put myself in her shoes and realized that, contrary to popular belief, there is no qualifying age or amount of life experience needed to be able to support someone else. What you do need is the will to love and the strength to continue to move forward."

Volunteer opportunities come in many forms. Winston Churchill said, "You make a living by what you get. We make a life by what we give." Being a VITA volunteer tax preparer will help you learn a wealth of information about taxes. It may make you feel a little "warm and fuzzy" too! If you would like to know more about the VITA program or become a volunteer, please contact Genevieve Anderson at 940-322-8638 or ganderson@ntauw.org.
Frankfort, Ky.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear sued Volkswagen on Tuesday, claiming the German automaker's diesel emissions cheating scheme violated the state's consumer protection law.

The lawsuit, filed in a state court, seeks civil penalties potentially totaling millions of dollars, plus restitution for the owners of nearly 3,800 vehicles registered in Kentucky, Beshear said. "We have a very strong law that is meant to prevent companies like this ... from making an outright lie that they then use to sell what's a pretty expensive product," Beshear said at a state Capitol news conference.

The suit continues the fallout against Volkswagen since its admission last year that nearly 600,000 cars were sold in the U.S. with software that regulators say was designed to cheat on required emissions tests.

Beshear said Volkswagen must be held accountable for false promotion of its vehicles in Kentucky.

"They convinced Kentuckians that wanted to own a 'green' vehicle that they were buying one," the Democratic attorney general said. "All the while their cheat devices were convincing the public that these vehicles were clean when they in fact were not."

A VW spokeswoman, Jeannine Ginivan, said Tuesday that the company typically doesn't comment on litigation. Volkswagen is working with federal environmental regulators and others to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, she said.

Kentucky's suit was filed in Franklin County Circuit Court in Frankfort.

Four other states  Texas, New Mexico, New Jersey and West Virginia  have filed separate lawsuits against the automaker, Beshear's office said.

The company potentially faces more than $20 billion in fines from state and federal regulators, as well as hundreds of class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of angry vehicle owners.

Volkswagen in September admitted to U.S. regulators that it had used illegal software installed in its so-called "Clean Diesel" engines. The move allowed cars to pass laboratory emissions tests while spewing levels of harmful nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times the level allowed when operating on real roads.

The automaker's lone U.S. plant is in Tennessee. It has extensive manufacturing operations in Mexico and exports models to the United States.
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Albany

After what was described as a nine-month nationwide search that yielded 200 resumes, the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics has once again found a new executive director close to home  in the employ of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to be precise.

JCOPE announced the hiring of Seth Agata, 57, on Tuesday for the top staff post at the watchdog entity, which polices the lobbying industry and investigates potential violations of public officers law.

Agata will be the third executive director of the watchdog entity in its five-year history, and the third to have come to the panel from Cuomo's service.

Since its creation in 2011, the panel has been dogged by criticisms over its effectiveness and independence. The departure last July of former Executive Director Letizia Tagliafierro prompted calls from numerous JCOPE commissioners to find a replacement from outside the state government orbit.

Following Tagliafierro's exit  for a new job as deputy commissioner of the Cuomo-controlled Department of Taxation and Finance  four commissioners appointed by legislative leaders wrote a letter to the Times Union calling JCOPE's hiring of former State Police First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Gagan as the watchdog panel's chief of staff and special counsel "plainly invalid," and another example of "incessant interference" in its operations.

The protest was seen by many as an opening shot in the battle over the new executive director.

"Needless to say, this appointment and the cavalier approach taken only foretells more bad news for JCOPE. Designed to be 'independent,' the incessant interference continues," the letter stated. "If the next Executive Director is not hired from outside State government after an exhaustive search, the public trust will be inexorably destroyed."

Agata has spent the past several years working for the governor in the counsel's office, and was appointed by Cuomo a year ago to chair the Public Employment Relations Board.

He previously worked for almost a decade as a lawyer for the state Assembly's Democratic majority, interrupted briefly in 2007 with work for the Office of the State Comptroller. Earlier in his career, Agata maintained a private practice and served as an assistant district attorney in Columbia County.

The governor appoints six of JCOPE's 14 commissioners, which by law must include equal representation from both major political parties. JCOPE's release said the hiring "was supported by Commissioners representing both major political parties in both the Legislative and Executive branches of New York State government, as required."

Dick Dadey, executive director of the good-government group Citizens Union, said "in an ideal world, it would have been preferred to have no one connected to the Cuomo administration," but praised Agata as an able and independent choice.

"The optics don't look good considering the edict to create an independent JCOPE," Dadey said, "but given Seth's track record I think he has the capacity and the integrity not to be influenced by anybody  including the second floor."

The Agata hiring was unexpected.

Before the public was dismissed from the brief public portion of JCOPE's regular meeting Tuesday morning, Chairman Dan Horwitz gave no indication an executive director vote was coming. A Cuomo appointee, Horwitz noted JCOPE had been searching for a new executive director for nine months, and he hoped one was found soon.

Five hours later, a news release revealed the hiring, with Horwitz praising Agata as "a tremendous choice for Executive Director of the Commission. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and integrity to the position."

JCOPE's Gagan, who applied for the executive director job and had been widely viewed as a favorite, was absent from the public session of the meeting. (In addition to his State Police work, Gagan had worked for Cuomo during his tenure as attorney general.)

There was some effort for a national search: Thomas Krebs, a prominent securities lawyer from Alabama, also interviewed for the executive director job  a result of the efforts of Commissioner Marvin Jacob, who was among the members seeking someone outside Cuomo's circle.

"I was treated fairly  even albeit if it was perfunctory," Krebs said in an interview.

Krebs said he was asked during the interview about topics such as JCOPE's coordination with the Legislative Ethics Commission and cutting the number of lobbying filings. He did not recall the issue of closeness to legislative or executive leaders coming up. "Of course, it would seem that if you were already in one person's camp, it would make a difference," Krebs said.

In 2013, the Times Union reported that the commissioners in a closed-door vote split 9 to 5 to approve Tagliafierro, amid concerns from some commissioners about her independence from the Cuomo administration. The hiring also came after another "nationwide recruitment effort," according to the news release announcing it.

The first JCOPE executive director was Ellen Biben, a veteran of Cuomo's attorney general tenure who also served as his state inspector general. Last spring, Cuomo nominated her to serve as an acting Supreme Court justice.

Agata has interacted with JCOPE before.

As Cuomo's first assistant counsel, Agata wrote a December 2012 letter to the panel seeking approval for Cuomo to write a memoir, "All Things Possible." In a letter, Biben approved the project  which resulted in an advance of at least $700,000 for the governor from HarperCollins  as long as Cuomo didn't use state resources.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi declined comment.

Correction: This story has been updated to note Ellen Biben's 2015 nomination as a State Supreme Court justice.
Over 100 people on Sunday had their heads shaved to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraiser at the Westmere Fire Department in Guilderland.

Families and friends of childhood cancer patients as well as Albany Medical Center staff raised $85,986.54 for the foundation. The total includes funds from pledges, raffles and food sales at the event.
Ballston Spa

A 20-year-old Saratoga man accused of stabbing his brother's throat pled guilty to felony assault charges on Wednesday. After his arrest last spring, Clements, then 19 years old, underwent a psychiatric observation, and his mother had said that he was mentally ill.

Clements was sentenced Wednesday to time served, which amounts to approximately one year since his arrest, in addition to five years probation. He has been in the Saratoga County jail since his arrest.

Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said Clements's family chose not to post bail for Clements.

His younger brother, who was 10 years old last spring, was released from Albany Medical Center Hospital after surgery. Clements must refrain from offensive conduct toward his brother as part of an order of protection, Heggen said.

Second-degree assault, a Class D felony, applies to crimes in which someone intentionally injures another person using a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.

Clements's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

lellis@timesunion.com  518-454-5018
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Albany

Facing mounting criticism over rising tuition, State University of New York officials said Wednesday they would impose a tuition freeze next year if the Legislature commits $73 million in direct state investment to SUNY in the final 2016-17 budget.

Both the Assembly and the Senate have called for SUNY to freeze tuition, as the public university system seeks a five-year extension of a "rational tuition" program that allowed tuition to increase $1,500 over the last five years.

SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall said Wednesday that trustees agree with lawmakers on keeping tuition under control and would take a tuition increase "off the table" so long as the state increases its share of direct support to cover SUNY's $73 million in projected mandatory costs.

"We want to freeze undergraduate tuition at our state-operated campuses  and we will  but SUNY has an obligation to continue providing a world-class education for our students, and the funding has to come from somewhere," he said.

Students have staged walkouts, rallies and marches in recent weeks to protest tuition hikes, saying public higher education is supposed to be the affordable alternative to private schools.

The "rational tuition" program was adopted in 2011 as a legislative solution to years of unpredictable changes in tuition, which had historically been set by the state Legislature and at times used to offset state budget shortfalls.

The legislation transferred tuition-setting authority to the SUNY board of trustees, and stipulated that annual tuition hikes could not surpass $300.

The trustees have approved a $300 increase every year since, prompting worry among some that a five-year extension would simply result in another five years of $300 tuition increases.

SUNY officials have told lawmakers they wouldn't need to raise tuition if the state would increase support to the university system. Over the last 10 years, the state's share of SUNY costs has declined from roughly 60 percent to about 36 percent  leaving students to pick up the remaining costs.

"At a time when less than half of all New Yorkers hold a college degree and more than 70 percent of all jobs in our state will soon require one, the need for investment in public higher education cannot be overstated," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher on Wednesday. "SUNY is at the precipice of moving the dial on college completion to the tune of 150,000 graduates per year, but we will not reach our goal without sufficient support from the state."

SUNY is also calling for growth in the base operating aid provided to its 30 community colleges, beginning with a $285-per-student increase for the upcoming academic year. This would help offset the average increase in costs beyond their control, like employee benefits, officials said.

The freeze would only cover undergraduate tuition for in-state residents.

bbump@timesunion.com  518-454-5387  @bethanybump
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Brussels

Islamic extremists struck Tuesday in the heart of Europe, killing at least 34 people and wounding scores of others in back-to-back bombings of the Brussels airport and subway that again laid bare the continent's vulnerability to suicide squads.

Bloodied and dazed travelers staggered from the airport after two explosions  at least one blamed on a suicide attacker and another apparently on a suitcase bomb  tore through crowds checking in for morning flights. About 40 minutes later, another rush-hour blast ripped through a subway car in central Brussels as it left the Maelbeek station, in the heart of the European Union's capital city.

Authorities released a photo taken from closed-circuit TV footage of three men pushing luggage carts in the airport, saying two of them apparently were suicide bombers and that the third was at large. They urged the public to reach out to police if they recognized him. The two men believed to be the suicide attackers apparently were wearing dark gloves on their left hands, possibly to hide detonators.

In police raids Tuesday across Belgium, authorities later found a nail-filled bomb, chemical products and an Islamic State flag in a house in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, the state prosecutors' office said in a statement.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. A small child wailed, and commuters used cellphones to light their way out.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that IS was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some are still on the loose.

Shockwaves from the attacks crossed Europe and the Atlantic, prompting heightened security at airports and other sites.

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, shut the airport through Wednesday and ordered a city-wide lockdown, deploying about 500 soldiers onto Brussels' largely empty streets to bolster police checkpoints. France and Belgium both reinforced border security.

Justice ministers and interior ministers from across the 28-nation EU planned an emergency meeting, possibly Thursday morning, to assess the fallout. The subway blast hit beneath buildings that normally host EU meetings and house the union's top leadership.

Medical officials treating the wounded said some victims lost limbs, while others suffered burns or deep gashes from shattered glass or suspected nails packed in with the explosives. Among the most seriously wounded were several children.

The bombings came barely four months after suicide attackers based in Brussels' heavily Muslim Molenbeek district slaughtered 130 people at a Paris nightspots, and intelligence agencies had warned for months a follow-up strike was inevitable. Paris fugitive Abdeslam was arrested in Molenbeek.

A high-level Belgian judicial official said a connection by Abdeslam to Tuesday's attacks is "a lead to pursue."

Abdeslam has told investigators he was planning to "restart something" from Brussels

Officials at the Brussels airport said police had discovered a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an explosives-packed vest abandoned at the facility, offering one potential lead for forensic evidence. Bomb disposal experts safely dismantled that explosive device.

Several Americans were among the wounded, including an Air Force lieutenant colonel and three Utah missionaries.
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Albany

It has been a long, busy year for Bob Fullem after fire destroyed the Downtube Bicycle Works he'd operated since 1972.

But last Thursday, the store reopened, three days short of the fire's one-year anniversary. Work continues on the building and an adjacent one that will include a cafe, as well as on the four upstairs apartments.

Fullem, whose wife Marilyn Kaplan, an architect specializing in historic preservation, played a role in designing the new space, expects to hold a grand opening in about six weeks.

But already the store is bright and spacious, with workers from Bennett Contracting continuing to make progress on the upstairs apartments, the cafe next door and the patio in the back.

Longtime customers, Fullem said, are happy to have the Downtube back in business.

"We really hope you'll stay," he recalls one saying after the fire.

And while he admits he briefly considered some suburban locations, he chose instead to invest $1 million to restore and expand in his location just across Madison Avenue from Washington Park.

The store sits in the midst of a client base that includes people from Albany Medical Center, Albany Law School, and state government.

Shiny new bicycles are lined up, and displays feature clothing and such accessories as helmets, handlebar bells and horns.

"We want to build a community for biking," Fullem said as he showed a reporter and photographer around the store.

He believes that a bicycle-friendly city is the sure way to attract young, talented people to live downtown.

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"Young people aren't getting driver's licenses as much" as the baby boom generation did, Fullem said. He's happy the Capital District Transportation Authority has promoted bicycle use both with its racks on buses and with a program to provide storage racks at businesses and other locations.

The rack in front of his store, he notes, was acquired through the CDTA program.

And Fullem knows something about trying to attract young, talented people to the city.

When the new cafe opens, it will be managed by daughter Emma.

She's moving back to the Capital Region from the San Francisco area, where she went to college.

eanderson@timesunion.com  518-454-5323
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Enter the Haggis is 20 years old.

Over the years, the five-piece band has brought its own version of Celtic-based music to many cities in North America and Europe, and Saturday finds them at The Egg in Albany, celebrating two decades together and touring with a new album.

The band, which originated in Toronto in 1995, currently includes Mark Abraham on bass, Craig Downie on bagpipes and vocals, Brian Buchanan on the fiddle, guitar and vocals, Trevor Lewington on guitar and vocals and Bruce McCarthy on drums. Only Downie remains from the group's original lineup.

Downie said that being in the music industry has been his dream since childhood. "I love being a performer for a living more than anything else," Downie said. "When I was young and first heard The Beatles, that was it for me. Nothing else would ever compare."

More Information If you go Enter the Haggis When: 7 p.m. Saturday Where: The Egg, Empire State Plaza, Albany Tickets: $28 Info: 473-1845. http://www.theegg.org/events. See More Collapse

Downie is a native of Scotland who has lived in Canada for many years, while the other members are all Canadian natives. In every song they play, you can hear the influence of Downie's Celtic roots, mainly through his bagpipes.

In its music, Enter the Haggis combines Scottish and Canadian folk music as well as rock and pop. In a way, they are a world-fusion band combining different musical influences and making them their own. "I believe that our instruments appeal to the general population," Downie said. "There are many people in the United States with Celtic roots, and we also include other influences in our music."

And their name? "A combination of two things: The most feared creature in Chinese culture, the dragon, as in Bruce Lee's 'Enter the Dragon,' and the most feared creature in Scottish culture, the haggis." The haggis is a Scottish dish, basically consisting of sheep innards and oatmeal wrapped in stomach lining. Not for all tastes. "It was good inspiration for our logo, too," Downie goes on. "As it incorporates the yin and yang as well as the bagpipes."

Downie said that a main key to keeping the band together for so long is adaptation. "You need to have flexibility and the ability to adapt to change," Downie said. He also pointed out that keeping a friendly relationship with each other outside of the band is important; all of the members keep in contact with each other regularly via email and phone calls.

Outside of the band, each member leads a pretty casual lifestyle. "We are perfectly normal. Well, we are almost normal," Downie laughed.

Enter the Haggis is known for its energy on stage. "We are always playing for the people," Downie said. "Our delivery to the audience is the most important thing about a performance."

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On their anniversary album, "Cheers and Echoes," Enter the Haggis took a step back to reflect on its years together. This album is about becoming more in touch with their Celtic side and Scottish influences. Downie said the new album includes much more of him on bagpipes.

"I think fans can expect to be singing along with the album," Downie said. Downie said that many new songs from the album contain historic accounts of Native American history, as well as Canadian history.

Enter the Haggis began the current tour last Friday in New Hampshire. The tour will continue into early September.

Regardless what its 21st year brings, the band expects to continue to adapt and to keep up the energy in its live shows for their dedicated fans.

Reflecting on the new album and tour, Downie said fans can be sure they will be entertained. "Expect some great stories," Downie said.
Figures showing a drop in passenger numbers along the Ballybrophy line have been disputed by a community group that promotes the route.

Figures showing a drop in passenger numbers along the Ballybrophy line have been disputed by a community group that promotes the route.

According to figures released this week there was a drop of around 1,000 passengers on the line in 2013, down from 24,000 to around 23,000. The Ballybrophy line serves Ballybrophy, Roscrea, Cloughjordan, Nenagh, Birdhill, Castleconnell and Limerick.

Reports of a drop in passenger numbers obscure the truth that a large number of people use the line, said Duncan Martin, Cloughjordan, a member of Nenagh Community Rail Partnership.

While he admitted that the current schedule was not appropriate for daily commuters, he said that a wide range of people of all ages use the service on an occasional basis.

Co-operation between Irish Rail and community groups often attract large numbers of passengers, he said, pointing out that this years Limerick on Ice trip organised by the group attracted 340 passengers from December 29 to December 31.

This shows what can be done with more inventive marketing and we will be working with Irish Rail to put on similar events, he said.

Meanwhile, Irish Rails Limerick business development manager Jim Gallivan told the Tipperary Star that, in general, the majority of journeys are to and from Limerick and Dublin with 25 per cent of journeys to Limerick and 60 per cent to Dublin.

The numbers travelling to these destinations have remained constant. There has been a small drop in number of passengers travelling between stations on the branch line.

We have seen a 20 per cent increase in online bookings as more customers are taking advantage of the 9.99 one-way online fare to Dublin. This fare is subject to availability, but is generally available if booked up to three days in advance of travel. In an effort to stimulate demand on the Nenagh branch we are extending the availability of our 6 Saturday saver fare to Limerick so that it is now available Monday to Saturday on the morning service to Limerick. This is a significant saving on the standard day return fare of 13.70 from Nenagh to Limerick, he said.
March 22, 2016

As the level of technology increases and things get better in the field for all users, the importance of ensuring all data is protected is heightened. Cyber security is something that many experts are becoming increasingly more concerned with as each year passes. Many companies are looking for ways to make information more secure and protected. One of those ways that has become very prominent is two-step verification and authentication for applications as well as the web.







Increased Cyber Crime

Security breaches increase in number with each passing year. While the breaches that are known about are disclosed, there are some that are never even detected by companies. The early January theft of more than 320,000 user emails and passwords from cable giant Time Warner (News - Alert) gave validation to the argument that simple password authentication is becoming less and less reliable.

A recent PwC survey that 79% of the executives had detected an incident regarding security over the past year. There seems to be endless ways in which one must avoid password pitfalls  weak passwords, shared passwords, unchanged passwords and default passwords. Even following all of the best practice guidelines, some things remain out of your control including how committed your provider is to encrypt and protect your credentials on its server.

Two Step Verification and Authentication

More and more companies, websites and application platforms are requiring a second factor authentication process to allow users to log into their account. There are three types of authentication: something you know (knowledge factors), something you have (possession factors) and something you are (inherence factors). After entering your password, you receive a numeric passcode, via SMS text messaging, that youre required to enter in order to gain access. Seems familiarlike another password, right?

Two-step (or multi-step) verification is simply an extension of single-factor authentication by requiring that the user submit several distinct verification occurrences that fall within the same type of the three authentication factors. The question then becomes  how does a two-step, single-factor verification process increase the security of data when in recent malware attacks, weve seen the interception of two-step verification tokens as it is transmitted to the user?

Amazon Has a Snappy Idea

The power of the selfie knows no bounds! A patent application was recently filed by the online retailer for a two-step photo verification process for logging in to website to buy products online. When youre ready to make a purchase, the Amazon app would ask you to frame your face on the screen using the front-facing camera. The company would then use special facial recognition technology to make sure its you and confirm the purchase. The process identifies the user image information corresponds to a living human using one or more human-verification processes. Selfie verification would not only be more convenient for the user, but also more secure. It wouldnt force users to look for shortcuts to remembering passwords, which in turn makes them more vulnerable to hackers as the demand and need for information security increases.

About the Author

Laura McGarrity joined Mondo in 2012 and currently serves as VP of Digital Marketing Strategy, She guides Mondos (a tech and digital marketing recruiting firm) brand strategy through inbound marketing, including blogging, public relations, field marketing programs, search engine optimization, video marketing, and social media as well as heading up MondoLabs, Mondo's in-house full service digital marketing agency.

Edited by Peter Bernstein
[March 23, 2016] Bristol-Myers Squibb to Acquire Padlock Therapeutics, Inc.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Padlock Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Padlock, a private, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company dedicated to creating new medicines to treat destructive autoimmune diseases. The acquisition will give Bristol-Myers Squibb full rights to Padlock's Protein/Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase (PAD) inhibitor discovery program focused on the development of potentially transformational treatment approaches for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Padlock's PAD discovery program may have additional utility in treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other autoimmune diseases. PADs are a family of enzymes that produce autoantigens which play an active role in the development and progression of RA and other autoimmune diseases. Inhibiting PADs offers the potential to prevent progression of autoimmune diseases early in their evolution. In identifiable high risk patients with pre- and early-RA, PAD inhibition could lead to a paradigm shift in treatment by preventing disease development and resulting joint destruction. PAD4 inhibition in combination with current standard of care therapies may increase and maintain the durable remission rates in RA patients with rapidly progressive disease. "Targeting PAD enzymes has the potential to be one of the most innovative mechanisms for treating autoimmunity which both strengthens and accelerates our immunoscience pipeline," said Francis Cuss, MB BChir, FRCP, executive vice president and chief scientific officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "By pursuing a treatment approach which may address disease progression earlier, we hope to transform the lives of patients with RA and other autoimmune diseases." "By targeting PADs, it may be possible to eliminate the antigens that drive autoimmunity with limited impact on the immune system, thereby creating breakthrough treatments," said Michael Gilman, PhD, founder and chief executive officer, Padlock Therapeutics. "In Bristol-Myers Squibb, we found an excellent home for our program based on their deep commitment to science and developing transformational therapies. We are confident that Bristol-Myers Squibb can leverage the scietific foundation built by Padlock's founders, team, and advisors to help patients with serious autoimmune diseases."



Bristol-Myers Squibb is building on learnings from extensive clinical and patient experience in immunoscience to seek entirely new mechanisms that are both innovative and differentiated not only for RA, but other immune-system disorders where significant unmet medical need remains. The company has a strong early clinical and discovery immunoscience pipeline which includes several novel compounds that offer first-in-class and a best-in-disease opportunities targeting long-term remission. The transaction includes upfront and near term contingent milestone payments of up to $225 million and additional contingent consideration of up to $375 million upon the achievement by Bristol-Myers Squibb of certain development and regulatory events. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and by the stockholders of Padlock. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Padlock anticipate the transaction will close during the second quarter of 2016.

About Rheumatoid Arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, chronic, autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation in the lining of joints (or synovium), causing joint damage with chronic pain, stiffness, and swelling. RA causes limited range of motion and decreased joint function. The condition is more common in women than in men, who account for 75% of patients diagnosed with RA. About Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the skin and joints and can affect other organs in the body such as the kidneys, and tissue lining the lungs, heart, and brain. The condition occurs 10 times more often in women and commonly begins developing in people in their 20s and 30s. About Bristol-Myers Squibb Immunoscience With a robust pipeline of immunomodulatory therapies, Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to the discovery and development of transformational medicines that may lead to long-term remission in patients suffering from immune-mediated disease. As we learn more about the immune system in diseases with substantial unmet needs, the potential for new therapies that modulate the immune system continues to drive our research efforts. About Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the acquisition will be completed, or if it is completed, that it will close within the anticipated time period or that the expected benefits of the acquisition will be realized. In addition, the compounds described in this release are subject to all the risks inherent in the drug development process, and there can be no assurance that the development of these compounds will be successful. Forward-looking statements in the press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005406/en/

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[March 23, 2016] Fairbanks Energy Services Grows Executive Sales Team with New Hire Jay Benson

Fairbanks Energy Services, a full-service design/build energy conservation firm and developer of comprehensive commercial and industrial efficiency projects, announced today the appointment of accomplished energy professional Jay Benson to the role of Business Development Manager for the Massachusetts and Greater New England region. Mr. Benson joins Fairbanks Energy as the company experiences a growing demand for energy conservation services. Based out of the firm's Hingham, MA office and responsible for projects within all of Massachusetts and the larger New England area, Mr. Benson will continue driving growth for Fairbanks Energy, specifically in the building management systems and lighting and controls sectors.



After spending more than twelve years at leading energy-saving lighting and controls provider Lutron Electronics, Mr. Benson brings to Fairbanks Energy an extensive experience working in the energy retrofit market, negotiating utility contracts, and facilitating lighting and controls solutions to Fairbanks Energy. He has also gained expertise in nuclear electronics with the United States Navy and lighting control retrofit solutions with Sylvania Lighting. "I look forward to maximizing my experience in efficient building industries to contribute to the rapid growth and development of Fairbanks Energy Services," said Jay Benson, Business Development Manager, Fairbanks Energy Services. "I'm thrilled to join the FES team as we continue growing our presence in the greater-Massachusetts regions to meet the rising demand for comprehensive energy solutions across a multitude of industries."

"Spanning more than 20 years, Jay's impressive knowledge of lighting solutions and retrofit projects places him in a pivotal position to continue the growth we've seen in New England," said Adam Fairbanks, CEO, Fairbanks Energy Services. "He brings a key perspective and proven expertise to the important field of energy conservation, which will go far as we work to develop and install solutions that maximize savings while minimizing capital outlay for our clients." Fairbanks Energy also recently announced further expansion of the company with the establishment of an office in Hartford, CT. About Fairbanks Energy Services Fairbanks Energy Services is a full-service design/build energy conservation firm dedicated to providing cost-effective retrofit solutions for our clients. Our comprehensive approach and deep knowledge of federal, state and municipal incentive programs allows us to identify, develop and install solutions that maximize savings while minimizing capital outlay. The team's 30 years of experience in providing energy conservation services for commercial and industrial clients throughout the country means that Fairbanks Energy understands not only what is possible but creates energy-saving solutions that are also aligned with the comfort, aesthetics, and budgetary needs of clients and their employees. Learn more at http://www.fairbanksenergy.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005955/en/

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[March 23, 2016] Walnut Creek, California, Selects ERP System from Tyler Technologies

Tyler Technologies (News - Alert), Inc. (NYSE: TYL) has signed an agreement with the city of Walnut Creek, California, for Tyler's Munis enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. The agreement includes software licensing, implementation, training, maintenance and support. The city conducted a competitive review of multiple ERP solutions to replace existing standalone systems. Among the city of Walnut Creek's goals was to find a solution that could streamline business functions through automation, integration and improved workflows. Additionally, the solution had to provide a user-friendly interface that would foster productivity and reduce many paper based processes. Walnut Creek leaders also wanted to partner with an innovative technology provider with a proven track record of successfully delivering a modern, fully integrated ERP solution for public sector clients. Walnut Creek chose core Munis applications, including financial, human resources and payroll management. The city also chose Tyler Content Manager, which transforms paper-based information into electronic documents, further streamlining processes.



The city will benefit from Tyler's evergreen perpetual licensing approach that provides regular and significant, yet manageable, software enhancements without an additional relicensing fee, ensuring all systems are using the latest technology. Tyler's Munis solution has been successfully implemented by more than 1,500 cities, school districts, counties and governmental agencies. Several California municipalities have chosen Munis recently, including the cities of Benicia, Glendale and Santa Monica. Located about 20 miles northeast of downtown San Francisco, the city of Walnut Creek has approximately 65,000 residents.

About Tyler Technologies, Inc. Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of citizens. Tyler's client base includes more than 14,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other international locations. Forbes has named Tyler one of "America's Best Small Companies" eight times and the company has been included six times on the Barron's 400 Index, a measure of the most promising companies in America. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005285/en/

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[March 23, 2016] Steton Rebrands to RizePoint

SALT LAKE CITY, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Steton, the world's leading provider of enterprise compliance management software, today rebranded as RizePoint. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160323/347229LOGO Prior to choosing the new brand, a rigorous process ensured the new name reflected the company's values and strategic direction. In addition to multi-country screening, the name was market tested to evaluate how well it conveyed the nature of the business and the company's desired brand attributes. "The Steton name and brand represent partnership and family to those who know us," said Frank Maylett, president and CEO of RizePoint. "Today, nearly 20 years after our founding, we've expanded globally, we continue to evolve our award-winning mobile and cloud-based technologies, and find ourselves ready for the next chapter." RizePoint software is used by 5 of the top 8 hospitality brands  including Marriott, Intercontinental, Hilton, and Wyndham  and 5 of the top 8 food service brands  including McDonald's, Starbucks, Wendy's, and Pizza Hut. That equates to more than 285,000 users worldwide in 120 countries and in 40 languages. "These world-class companies trust us because we build and protect their brand equity," said Maylett. "And we accomplish that by enabling a consistent customer experience that drives increased revenues and success." Announced today in conjunction with the name change, RizePoint begins a series of community partnerships and is awarding 10 scholarships to local middle-school students through The Canyons School District Education Foundation. The scholarships will fund summer camp attendance in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics) subject areas.



"While academic achievement is our main focus, the Canyons Board of Education is also dedicated to maintaining relationships with the business sector. Only by working together can we build up world-class schools that will prepare students for the demands of the 21st century global marketplace," said Sherril H. Taylor, president of the Canyons Board of Education. "We welcome the support that RizePoint brings to our community and express appreciation for the company's generosity in helping our students excel in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics." "We are a proud member of the local community, and are very invested in fortifying the future workforce," said Maylett. "It's time for the great companies around the country to invest in better educational opportunities around the STEM initiatives".

Additional Resources: The new name and brand will take effect immediately, and will be implemented across the company's product line throughout the calendar year 2016. Learn more about the new RizePoint brand here: http://rizepoint.com/we-are-rizepoint/. RizePoint At-a-Glance: RizePoint mobile and cloud-based software helps organizations improve the quality, safety, and sustainability of their products and services.

RizePoint serves more than 285,000 users in 120 countries and territories, speaking 40 languages: 105,000 food service restaurants 27,000 hotels and resort properties 13,000 grocery and retail stores

Follow us on Social Media:

Twitter: @rizepoint

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rizepoint

Facebook: facebook.com/rizepoint About RizePoint RizePoint is the global leader in software solutions that proactively safeguard enterprise compliancefor both internally-imposed standards and externally-imposed regulations. RizePoint software is purpose-built to clearly align and unify field teams, regional management, and executive leadership around the organization's compliance performance. Our customers gather better data, see necessary actions earlier, and act faster to correct issues before they become costly liabilities. Considered the industry standard for food service, hospitality, and retail, RizePoint mobile and cloud-based solutions serve nearly 2 million audits with 200 million questions answered annually. RizePoint is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, visit www.rizepoint.com. Press Contact: Jill Curtis | 801-676-1879

Email To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/steton-rebrands-to-rizepoint-300240264.html SOURCE RizePoint

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[March 23, 2016] Bnbtrip Leading the Way for China's New Internet Business Trend

SHANGHAI, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bnbtrip, a rising star in the growing B&B industry, is spearheading the upgrading of China's tourism consumption concept in line with the country's latest policies of developing the Internet industry and the sharing economy. The company focuses on providing travelers with an easier way to communicate with B&B hosts and to book the best local B&B's to explore local beauty, to experience local culture, and to have a first-rate traveling experience. The demand for personalized accommodation is increasing significantly with more and more tourists tending to choose accommodation with local features. The development of Bnbtrip Bnbtrip uses the innovative crowd-sourcing model to develop and select first-hand local B&Bs. The quality and safety of each house is guaranteed. Using a global partnership program, which hires part time local people, Bnbtrip succeeds in getting a large number of high quality B&Bs in different countries and is currently the leading B&B platform in Asia. The global partnership program also helps create a lot of work opportunities for local people, which, together with improving the traveling experience, are its main objectives. With innovative thinking, strong technical resources and the ability to integrate, Bnbtrip has been reported on by Tencent News, Yahoo News, and "Chosun Ilbo" (known a the Eye of Korea), and attracted the attention from different investors and international organizations.



On November 20, 2015, the president of China Unicom visited bnbtrip headquarter. In February 2016, bnbtrip reached an agreement with the biggest Korean mobile telecom SKTelecom, which provides free working space and promotion to bnbtrip. In March 2016, bnbtrip reach an agreement with CJ Group (Korea), which provides free K-tour card to Chinese tourists. On the morning of March 8, 2016, the delegation of Spain's top business school, EAE Business School, came to visit the headquarters of Bnbtrip with some well-known business executives expressing an interest in cooperating with Bnbtrip on the spot. About Bnbtrip

Headquartered in Shanghai, Bnbtrip is a global leading social platform for B&B hosts and individual travelers. The Bnbtrip team is a group of professional talents with deep understanding of the Internet, travelling industry, accommodation and overseas markets. Within less than 20 days, Bnbtrip accumulated investments totaling tens of millions RMB. The company has reached the finals of the Business Plan Competition, organized by CEIBS and China EMBA Union and in 2015, The Authority Technology Media, 36 Kr, selected Bnbtrip as the 2015 Best Accommodation and Tourism Sharing Product. In January 2016, Bnbtrip was ranked the Most Promising Company of the Year by Alibaba. About Bnbtrip team Mr. LI Hui, the CEO of Bnbtrip, was the former Top sales in ALIBABA (the biggest E commerce company in China), and the former oversea department director of CTRIP (the biggest OTA company in China). Before creating BNBTRIP, he spent 1 year in different countries to study the market, and he had the best knowledge in China about Ecommerce, B&B travelling and accommodation industry. Mr. Son Jung Wook, the CTO of Bnbtrip, was the former director of Ascent Networks, he was graduated from Seoul National University and rich experience of computer science. Mr. Charlie ZHU Rusheng, the VP of Bnbtrip, was the former director of CTC Group in China. Studying and working in Europe for years, he was sent back to China and grown CTC from 3 people to 200 staffs. He has rich experience about oversea market, and excellent skill on project management and organization behavior. Mr. LEE SANG HEON, the Korean GM of bnbtrip, was the former senior sales manager of LG Group, world's fortune 500 company. He has excellent sales skills and team management, he also had great understanding of Asian B&B market. Under his great leadership, BNBTRIP has become the No.1 platform in Korea within 3 months. For more information visit: Wechat: bnbtrip_com

Facebook: bnbtrip

Official website: www.bnbtrip.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bnbtrip-leading-the-way-for-chinas-new-internet-business-trend-300240247.html SOURCE Bnbtrip

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[March 23, 2016] Socius to Host 10th-Annual Aspire Dynamics GP and CRM Conference in Three Events across U.S.

DUBLIN, Ohio, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Socius, a business consulting company specializing in providing ERP, CRM, and Business Intelligence solutions from Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Sage and SYSPRO, announces its 10th-annual Aspire Dynamics GP and CRM Conference, comprising three single-day events to be held in May, 2016, in Columbus, Charlotte, and Atlanta. The Aspire Conference is focused on bringing Socius staff, clients, prospects, and business partners together for a day of networking, learning, and discovering innovative ways to enhance both their personal and professional lives. The first event will be held on May 5, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio, followed by the Charlotte, North Carolina, event on May 10, and the Atlanta, Georgia, event on May 12. Registration is now open for all three events.



The Aspire Conference will enable participants to select from a variety of Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM presentations, from basic educational sessions to deep dive training for the more advanced professional. The breakout sessions will be presented by Socius' GP and CRM consulting experts. Microsoft executives will be present to explain the direction of the company and their solutions. Networking breaks will include opportunities to interact with and learn from key third-party software solution providers, as well as software users and members of the business community. This is the first year Columbus-based Socius has expanded the Aspire Conference outside of Ohio.

"This year's Aspire conference is particularly important," said Jeff Geisler, CEO of Socius. "Our expansion to reach our clients in Charlotte and Atlanta is a direct result of the great response we've seen from previous Aspire events in the Columbus area. We look forward to three days of learning, inspiration, new ideas and building great relationships." Each event has a registration fee of $100 per attendee. Attendees can earn up to 7-8 hours CPE credit depending on chosen location. To register or learn more about the 10th-Annual Aspire Dynamics GP and CRM Conference, visit www.socius1.com/aspire, or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mssocius. About Socius:

Socius (www.socius1.com) is a strategic business consulting partner that provides comprehensive business management solutions to help companies leverage technology to fuel their growth and profitability and compete more successfully in today's economy. As a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, a Sage Authorized Partner, and the largest NetSuite Partner in Ohio, Socius represents the most trusted accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence and analytics technologies on the market. Backed by over 30 years of award-winning experience, Socius proudly serves clients throughout the country from its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and its 28 additional locations. For more information, contact:

Cheryl Daniels

800.589.6614

[email protected] Video - http://youtu.be/8TJiJkzydVo To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socius-to-host-10th-annual-aspire-dynamics-gp-and-crm-conference-in-three-events-across-us-300240707.html SOURCE Socius

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[March 23, 2016] Socius to Host 10th-Annual Aspire Dynamics GP and CRM Conference in Atlanta

ATLANTA, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Socius, a business consulting company specializing in providing ERP, CRM, and Business Intelligence solutions from Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Sage and SYSPRO, announces its 10th-annual Aspire Dynamics GP and CRM Conference, comprising three single-day events to be held in May, 2016, in Columbus, Charlotte, and Atlanta. The Aspire Conference is focused on bringing Socius staff, clients, prospects, and business partners together for a day of networking, learning, and discovering innovative ways to enhance both their personal and professional lives. The first event will be held on May 5, 2016, in olumbus, Ohio, followed by the Charlotte, North Carolina, event on May 10, and the Atlanta, Georgia, event on May 12. Registration is now open for all three events.



The Aspire Conference will enable participants to select from a variety of Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM presentations, from basic educational sessions to deep dive training for the more advanced professional. The breakout sessions will be presented by Socius' GP and CRM consulting experts. Microsoft executives will be present to explain the direction of the company and their solutions. Networking breaks will include opportunities to interact with and learn from key third-party software solution providers, as well as software users and members of the business community. This is the first year Columbus-based Socius has expanded the Aspire Conference outside of Ohio.

"This year's Aspire conference is particularly important," said Jeff Geisler, CEO of Socius. "Our expansion to reach our clients in Charlotte and Atlanta is a direct result of the great response we've seen from previous Aspire events in the Columbus area. We look forward to three days of learning, inspiration, new ideas and building great relationships." Each event has a registration fee of $100 per attendee. Attendees can earn up to 7-8 hours CPE credit depending on chosen location. To register or learn more about the 10th-Annual Aspire Dynamics GP and CRM Conference, visit www.socius1.com/aspire, or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mssocius. About Socius: Socius (www.socius1.com) is a strategic business consulting partner that provides comprehensive business management solutions to help companies leverage technology to fuel their growth and profitability and compete more successfully in today's economy. As a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, a Sage Authorized Partner, and the largest NetSuite Partner in Ohio, Socius represents the most trusted accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence and analytics technologies on the market. Backed by over 30 years of award-winning experience, Socius proudly serves clients throughout the country from its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and its 28 additional locations. For more information, contact:

Cheryl Daniels

800.589.6614

[email protected] Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJiJkzydVo To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socius-to-host-10th-annual-aspire-dynamics-gp-and-crm-conference-in-atlanta-300240735.html SOURCE Socius

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What you need to know about Powerball and the $580 million jackpot
Sydney indie rockers Oliver Goss Band are today unveiling their brand new EP Kill it or Face it. Blending of the chilled vibes of the Beautiful Girls and the toe-tapping beats of Jet, the guys are well on their way to becoming a local pub rock favourite.

Kill it or Face It follows on from the four pieces attention commanding single Girl in the Yellow which saw the guys carve their very own niche in the Aussie rock landscape.

If you love straight up no mucking around, good old Aussie rock n roll with real pop sensibilities its time to get acquainted with Oliver Goss Band. Check out the new EP below and if you like what youre hearing be sure to catch the gus at their EP launch in Sydney (details below) visit the bands Facebook page for more info.

EP Launch

30th March

Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst

Facebook event.
Melbourne punks The Sinking Teeth are today unleashing their brand new LP teaser and video Good Grief. Clocking in at just around three minutes its brutally raw, all out assault on the senses.

Its no secret that weve been fans of the hard working trio since the release of their early singles Temporary Living and attention commanding White Water EP, but this release sees a brand new evolution in the bands sound.

Following on from their later singles like You Cant Build A Bike Out Of Muffins Good Grief is the first taste of the bands forthcoming debut album set for release in June this year.

With the addition of new drummer Adrian Van Bloom and a whole stack of songs in their artillery we cannot wait to see what the next few months holds for one of Melbournes most loved trios.

Check out the teaser and clip (shot and edited by the band, with the project led by lead singer Nick Manuell) below and if you like what youre hearing pop by the bands Facebook page for more info on upcoming shows and releases.
PROTESTERS DOMINATED THE CITY HALL PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING TODAY WITH SIGNS CRITICIZING THE KCPD CHIEF AND PAYING TRIBUTE TO HOMICIDE VICTIMS!!!

Fox4 has the best MSM story on the topic: Protesters speak out at City Hall against police action at Trump rally

ALLEGED POLICE HORSE SLAPPER APRIL FOSTER SEYZ SHE'S AN ANIMAL LOVER AND DIDN'T HURT AN ANIMAL THAT NIGHT!!!

Ourfor the early morning and now it's Kansas City news fact . . .More highlights . . .Protesters denied the bomb threat and demand to see public evidence of its existence.Council Lady Alissia Canady said she felt traumatized by the discussion as well which elicited mocking from the crowd.More than two dozen people turned out for this event and those folks had to wait around for more than an hour to talk about lame towing considerations . . . Meanwhile, City Council directed their concerns to police board meetings. We'll have more on this later.In the end, it was a surprising display which demonstrated that these are LOCAL critics of Trump & KCPD not simplyYou decide . . .
Previous to her nomination, Jalladeau was holding the post of the Audiovisual attache at the French embassy in Athens where she organized the Athens Francophone Film Festival. She was also a member of the board of the Greek Film Centre and she has served.

French film producer Elise Jalladeau has been appointed new director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), the Greek Ministry of Culture announced Monday, ekathimerini.com reports.

Jalladeau, 47, replaces Dimitris Eipidis who recently stepped down from the post.

Consequently, the Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival (March 11-20) will be largely remembered for three important events: the resignation of its director ahead of the festival, the refugee crisis dominating the programme and the appointment of a new general director, according to screendaily.com.

This was the last year director Dimitri Eipides was at the helm of the event he founded 18 years ago. The executive had simultaneously held the post of general and artistic director of the March documentary event and the November Thessaloniki international film festival (TIFF) now in its 57th year.

The decision of the festival board to attribute the post of general director to French producer Elise Jalladeau, pending her confirmation by the Culture Ministry, was welcome by the local cinema community.

Past experience

Previous to her nomination, Jalladeau was holding the post of the Audiovisual attache at the French embassy in Athens where she organized the Athens Francophone Film Festival. She was also a member of the board of the Greek Film Centre and she has served on the jury of TIFF where she contributed to the French presence in the festival programme.

Her past experience in France includes that of producer (Charivari Films), co-ordinator of the Produire au Sud initiative and her collaboration with Memento Films and EAVE.

Operating out of Thessaloniki, among her immediate tasks will be that of the administrative reorganisation of the festival and securing its financial future.

The new artistic director is expected to be named before the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Refugee crisis

Eipides timely decision to dedicate a central part of the 190 film-strong programme to the refugee crisis proved to be one of the major assets of this years festival.

The Refugees: Escape to Fredom tribute was accompanied by the moving and well-attended panel discussion titled Documenting, the Refugee Issue: Methods, Objectives, Challenges, Ethics.

Both unfolded barely 24 hours after the Brussels EU summit meeting on the subject that resulted in more than 50,000 refugees trapped in Greece, 11,000 of them at the northern border post of Idomeni just an hour ride from Thessaloniki.

The 490 title-strong Doc Market, the Docs in Progress strand and the pitching section were attended by a score of international sales agents, programme commissioners and producers.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
History and scholarship is clearly on the side of Greece, as Professor Stephen Miller from the University of California and one of the worlds leading archaeology scholars reminds us in a recent exchange over the contentious issue of the use of the name M

In 1992, following the division of Yugoslavia into five states, southern Serbia (FYROM) adopted the name Macedonia, claiming that its people are descendants of ancient Macedonia. But the claim did not stop there. It extended much further into the realm of historical distortion by delinking ancient Macedonia from ancient Greece and portraying Macedonians as Slavs, even if the latter appear much later on the scene (as one other group among barbarians) and are first mentioned as an ethnic group by Byzantine authors.

Naturally, Greece has objected to the use of the name Macedonia by its northern neighbor, and the issue remains unresolved although the rest of the world (including some high-minded Greek leftists!) seems to be using freely the term Macedonia instead of FYROM.

Nonetheless, history and scholarship is clearly on the side of Greece, as Professor Stephen Miller from the University of California and one of the worlds leading archaeology scholars reminds us in a recent exchange over the contentious issue of the use of the name Macedonia by a nation whose people are Slavic.

Read interview with Greek Reporters C.J. Polychroniou here

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Greece is seeking to have good relations with neighboring Albania and has proven it in many cases, Pavlopoulos stated

President of Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Monday in a meeting with Albania's Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati sent clear messages to the Albanian government for its stance on the refugee problem and its stance towards our expatriates.

Greece is seeking to have good relations with neighboring Albania and has proven it in many cases, Pavlopoulos stated.

On the basis of those agreed, Pavlopoulos stressed:

"First, we ask from Albania to hold a stance that complies with the principles and values of Europe and on the basis of how Greece treated Albanians during their exodus. We also ask them to refrain from phobias, which some European countries and some neighboring countries in the Western Balkans have adopted.

Secondly, we ask for a better treatment and the full respect of the human rights of our expatriates in Albania. Do not forget that Greece has behaved in the best possible way to the large Albanian community in Greece. And we ask for our expatriates to have the same treatment based on their rights as provided by the international law.

Finally, we ask for a meeting of the committee that will solve the issue of burial of the Greeks who fell in the struggle against the Axis."

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Greek Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura today departed for Moscow to attend the international trade show MITT taking place on March 23  26 at the Moscow Expocentre, planning to promote strongly Greeces tourism industry to the Russian market

Russian summer holiday bookings for Greece record a 25% -30% increase currently compared to last year, according to tourismlobby.blogspot.gr latest data from Moscow.

A general upward trend is evident but its intensity varies by destination and by tour operator.

The blog notes that this year has a special and increased interest for Greece, not because there are dramatic developments in the country's general status in relation to Russian outbound tourism market, but because of radical changes in relation to other, competitive popular destinations of Russians, such as Turkey and Egypt.

Generally speaking, this year there are significant economic difficulties in Russia but the ruble appears to be stabilizing near a better rate, and this parameter can positively influence the flow of outgoing traffic, as we approach the summer season.

Favored destinations

Destinations that have been favored by recent ruble fluctuations and geopolitical developments include Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and, secondarily, Israel.

Egypt also seems to be recovering lately and there is ample talk about the possibility of the specific destination "opening" in May, despite the Russian government's opposition to such an event.

For Greece, the main key remains the rate of biometric visas delivery.

The recent impressive declaration by Head of Russian Federal Tourism Agency Rosturism Oleg Safonof that Greece is ready to issue visas within 48 hours, is proof of how closely Russia and Greece are working on this issue and the results remain to be seen.

International trade show MITT

Furthermore, Greek Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura today departed for Moscow to attend the international trade show MITT taking place on March 23  26 at the Moscow Expocentre, planning to promote strongly Greeces tourism industry to the Russian market.

On Wednesday, Ms. Kountoura will attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition and then inaugurate the Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT) pavillion, which hosts a number of Greek regions, destinations and tourism businesses.

The Greek Minister is accompanied by EOT's Secretary General Dimitris Trifonopoulos and during her stay in Moscow, she will meet with government officials and leading tour operators as well as give a series of interviews to the Russian media.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The UAE, represented by the UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, signed a memoranda of understanding (MoU) and a contract with Japanese institutions, to launch the Hope Probe to outer space.



Through the signing of the MoU and contract, the institutions hope to strengthen cooperation in the field of exploration and development of human resources specialised in space science and technology, said a statement.



The signing took place in a ceremony held at the in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and was attended by Kanji Fujiki, ambassador of Japan to the UAE; in the presence of Dr Khalifa Al Romaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency; and Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, chairman of the board of directors at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).



The ceremony was attended by Dr Mohammed Al Ahbabi, director general of the UAE Space Agency; Yousuf Al Shaibani, director general of MBRSC; Khaled Al Hashmi, director of Space Mission Management; Sheikha Al Maskari, chief innovation officer at the UAE Space Agency; Engineer Salem Humaid Al Marri, assistant general manager for Scientific and Technical Affairs at MBRSC and a number of senior officials from the UAE space sector.



The Japanese delegation included representatives of the Office of National Space Policy of Cabinet Office, the University of Tokyo, the Japanese Embassy in the UAE, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.



During the ceremony, the UAE Space Agency signed a MoU with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which covers various aspects of cooperation in space exploration and the peaceful exploitation of outer space, the development of scientific and experiential satellites, remote sensing, communications and cooperation in the exchange of information, research and scientific studies and data, as well as holding mutual lectures and research conferences, said the statement.



The MoU was signed by Dr Khalifa Al Romaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency from the UAE side, and Dr Naoki Okumura, President of JAXA, from the Japanese side, it added.



MBRSC signed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to launch the Hope Probe to explore Mars. The probe will be launched aboard H-IIA rocket in 2020. The contract was signed by Al Mansoori and Hisakazu Mizutani, executive vice president at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, it said.



UAE and Japan confirmed their intentions to promote a broad range of cooperation in space sector on the basis of mutual benefit and reciprocity, further added the statement.



UAE Space Agencys Al Romaithi said: "The signing comes within the context of the strategic targets of our agency, in terms of building and developing mutually beneficial partnerships with various international institutions that carry long experience in the space sector in general, and the development of human resources in this field in particular.



Japan has a long history of space science and technology and has accumulated abundant knowledge and experience, an experience that the UAE is interested in exploiting in what offers benefits to the local space sector, and enhances economic diversity in the country, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
The Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (Bedaya Center), a joint initiative by Qatar Development Bank and Silatech, recently hosted a workshop to help further development of entrepreneurs.



The initiative, titled Stand out from the crowd, is part of Bedaya Centers monthly Second Sunday Networking event where many young entrepreneurs and business professionals gathered to gain guidance, training and support.



During the workshop, the young locals enhanced their knowledge and acquired practical experiences that offered them a wider understanding on how products can be designed to stand out and be different from one another in terms of ideas, implementation, marketing and customer services.



One of the participating entrepreneurs, Ibrahim Al Emadi, shared his entrepreneurial experience, and talked about all the difficulties he faced. He emphasised that despite the hardships, he continued living the adventure and ultimately fulfilled his dream. Three years have passed since he first started his business, and now he has ventured into his second Black Rock Grill, where the workshop took place. He also offered his help to all attendees and urged them to kick off their own projects.



Another entrepreneur, Razan Al-Suleiman, stressed on the importance of using all available resources, especially social media platforms to promote business. According to her, this should be considered one of the most important mediums to preserve and maintain the brands image. Al-Suleiman also talked about the launch of her brand Fanilla Couture in 2011, which is gaining popularity in Doha, Qatar, as well as the whole GCC. Nowadays, she is preserving and maintaining this success through diverse social media platforms.



Reem Al-Sowaidi, general manager of Bedaya Center, said: At Bedaya Center, we strive to tackle useful and beneficial topics for entrepreneurs during our monthly meetings as well as workshops.



This month we touched upon several ways in which a project can be designed in order to characterise and sustain the business. We also discussed and deliberated on some of the best practices that could be adopted to promote ideas and products, which eventually results in the success of those projects, he added.  TradeArabia News Service


Talks aimed at ending Yemen's war are expected in Kuwait next month along with a temporary ceasefire, a senior Yemeni government official said, raising the prospect of an end to violence that has killed thousands.



"The talks will be on April 17 in Kuwait, accompanied by a temporary ceasefire," the Yemeni official said, declining to be named. There were two inconclusive rounds of peace talks in Switzerland last year.



There was no immediate response from the Houthi militia regarding the prospect of talks. A prisoner swap and pause in combat on the border with Saudi Arabia earlier this month had raised hopes of a push to end the war.  Reuters
Saudi Arabia ranks ninth in the world for the countries with the lowest cost of living for expatriates, a report said.



Sixty-eight per cent of expats in Saudi Arabia are overall satisfied with their financial situation, and 85 per cent feel that their disposable household income is enough or more than enough to get by, explained the annual Expat Insider survey from largest global network and information site for people who live and work abroad.



Therefore it comes as no surprise that financial reasons are the main motivation for relocating to Saudi Arabia (26 per cent), followed by finding a job on ones own (25 per cent) and being recruited by a local company (10 per cent).



First-placed Ecuador is not only the cheapest, but also the most popular destination for expats around the world. Following closely in second and third position are the Central European countries Poland and Czech Republic, which are especially popular among expatriates from the UK and the US.



Moving abroad: Not only for the wealthy



In order to find the cheapest destinations for expats, InterNations asked more than 14,000 expats from almost 200 countries to rate the cost of living in their new home. They rated their daily spending on a scale from one to seven, which is from very bad to very good.



Foreigners rated Ecuador, Poland and the Czech Republic as the countries with the lowest cost of living. Ecuador was also ranked first for personal finances for the second year in a row: Not only are the costs of living considered the lowest in the world, but more than a quarter of expats in Ecuador (26 per cent) are completely satisfied with their financial situation, compared to 15 per cent globally.



The reason why expatriates in Ecuador are especially happy with their financial gains is not on account of their income though: More than half of the survey respondents there who disclosed their income status have a gross yearly household income of less than $25,000.



Second-placed Poland on the other hand, scores with affordable housing and great job and career opportunities, ranking fourth and sixth in the respective category, out of 64 countries overall.



The Czech Republic, however, is not a destination for career-oriented expats  instead, it is perfect for those who are looking for a better quality of living. In the Quality of Life Index, it ranks in place eight. And just like Poland, the country offers very good housing opportunities for expats, ranking sixth with regard to affordable housing.



Where cost of living is the highest



On the other end of the spectrum, expats encountered the highest living costs in Mozambique, Nigeria and Brazil. Mozambique and Nigeria also rank in the top five for the most expensive housing around the world.



Hashim Zein, an American engineer for OLG in Nigeria and the local representative for InterNations, explained: The neighbourhoods where expats live are usually more secure and more premium, thus the costs directly reflect this. Food items typical of Western, South Asian and Far East cuisines, for example, are imported and naturally cost more as they differ somewhat from local tastes.



Despite the high cost of living, expats in these countries generally feel that they have enough disposable income. Among those survey respondents in Nigeria who chose to share information on their household income, 12 per cent of expats in Nigeria have an annual income of more than $250,000.



Those who moved to Nigeria for job-related reasons were also reimbursed their relocation costs (38 per cent) or receive free or sponsored healthcare from their employer (53 per cent). An astounding 85 per cent of expats in Nigeria also report that their company provided them with housing, with 44 per cent in Mozambique and 38 per cent in Brazil saying the same.



Housing is often included in expat remuneration packages and the higher risk pay expats enjoy in Nigeria means more expandable income in spite of the high living costs, Zein noted.- TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia's army of migrant workers will be among the biggest losers from the slump in oil prices and the impact will reverberate to poor countries across the Middle East and South Asia where many of them originate.



Saudi Arabia relies more heavily on migrant labour than any other large country except neighbouring UAE, stated John Kemp, a Reuters market analyst citing the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.



The oil boom brought an unprecedented influx of migrants mostly from poorer countries in the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia.



The number of migrants resident in the kingdom has almost doubled from 5.3 million in 2000 to 10.2 million in 2015, he stated.



According to him, Saudi Arabia hosts more migrants than any other country in the world other than the US (47 million), Germany (12 million) and Russia (12 million).



Migrants account for 32 per cent of the resident population, up from less than 25 per cent in 2000. In the case of males the share is as high as 39 per cent.



The share of migrants in the population and the workforce has increased despite attempts to encourage the employment of locals under official "Saudisation" policies pursued fitfully over the last four decades, said Kemp.



In 2015, Saudi Arabia hosted 1.9 million migrants from India, 1.3 million from Indonesia, 1.1 million from Pakistan, 970,000 from Bangladesh, 730,000 from Egypt, 620,000 from Syria, and 580,000 from Yemen, according to the UN.



Smaller but significant numbers of migrants came from Afghanistan (365,000), Sudan (365,000), Nepal (380,000), Myanmar (200,000), Jordan (180,000), Ethiopia (125,000) and Lebanon (115,000).



In 2014, migrant workers sent home to their families an estimated $36 billion. Remittances from workers in Saudi Arabia play a crucial role in some of the smaller and poorer economies of the Middle East and Asia.



But now that economic model is under threat from the slump in oil prices, which has pushed the government budget deep into the red and the economy close to recession.



Intensified efforts at Saudisation of the workforce are a centre piece of the government's programme for adjusting to lower oil prices and creating more private sector employment.



Even before the slump, the unemployment rate for Saudi nationals was 11.7 per cent, according to the International Monetary Fund.



But unemployment was much worse for certain demographic sections including women (33 per cent) and young people aged 15-19 (49 per cent), 20-24 (41 per cent) and 25-29 (22 per cent).



Unemployment is worse in some politically important and conservative regions, such as Riyadh, Hail and the Northern Borders.



"It is not that job creation has been a problem - employment growth has been strong - but rather the majority of these jobs have been filled by expatriates," the IMF observed about the economy before the slump.



With growth slowing, a youthful population, and the government unable to afford to create more public sector jobs, the need to create more employment for nationals has become urgent.



Saudisation has been stepped up which has left many migrants fearful about their continued employment and residency prospects.



As the government seeks to maintain social and political stability and conserve cash amid a prolonged drop in oil prices and revenue, payments to migrant workers and even their jobs are the most attractive source of savings.



The same pressure to reduce the number of migrants is likely to play out across the other oil-dependent economies around the Gulf.



In addition to the 10.1 million migrants in Saudi Arabia, there are 8.1 million in the UAE, 2.9 million in Kuwait, 1.8 million in Oman, 1.7 million in Qatar and 700,000 in Bahrain.



In most of these countries, migrants make up an even larger share of the local population than in Saudi Arabia, according to UN calculations.



The situation in each of these economies is different. Some are more petroleum-dependent than others. Some have larger foreign reserves. And the origin of the migrants varies significantly.



Western Asia, which includes the Gulf Arab countries, has the highest share of migrants in the population of any region of the world after North America. In the Gulf itself the share is much higher.



In total, there are more than 25 million migrants across the Gulf, including 8 million from India, 3 million from Pakistan, 3 million from Bangladesh, 2 million from Egypt and 1.8 million from Indonesia.



None of these countries is a major net oil exporter but they all seem set to suffer ripple effects from the oil shock.



If remittances from the Gulf region slow, or workers are sent home, it will hit some of these poor economies particularly hard.



Gulf economies absorbed a lot of young, mostly male, workers from some of the poorest countries in the world, so the implications stretch well beyond the simple economic impact to include the effects on social stability and counter-terrorism.-Reuters

( John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
Malaysia said on Tuesday it will send a team to retrieve a piece of debris found along the southern coast of South Africa to check whether it could belong to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.



The wreckage, discovered near the town of Mosselbay on Tuesday, could be from an "inlet cowling" of an aircraft engine based on early reports, the Malaysian transport ministry said in a statement, two years after MH370 disappeared.



Malaysia said further examination was required to verify if the debris belonged to MH370.



Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board, shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.



A piece of the plane washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 but no further trace has been found.



Debris found earlier this month off the southeast African coast arrived in Australia for testing on Monday. - Reuters
Dubai-based integrated real estate development company Limitless, has announced that groundwork is underway at Halong Star, a $550 million joint venture residential and tourism project being developed in Halong Bay, Vietnam.



Earthworks have begun on a significant portion of the 120 hectare site, which overlooks the Unesco World Heritage Site of Halong Bay on Vietnams north-east coast. Construction of the main access road is also in progress.



The news comes as Limitless chairman Ali Rashid Lootah visited the Halong Bay site for update meetings with Government officials, including Nguyen Van Doc, secretary of Quang Ninh Party Committee.



Lootah was also joined in Vietnam by William Heinecke, founder, chairman and CEO of Minor International, for site tours and discussions on possible future collaboration at Halong Bay.



Limitless sister company, Nakheel, is already working with Bangkok-based Minor on plans for two hotels in Dubai.



Halong Star will feature 340 villas and apartments, retail and leisure facilities and a five star hotel. - TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DAEC) has signed a contract with Al Jaber LEGT Engineering and Contracting (ALEC) for the expansion of the passenger terminal building at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, UAE.



Under the agreement, the first phase of this project, which will more than the built-up area of the passenger terminal building from the existing 66,107 sq m to 145,926 sq m, will be completed by June next year.



It is expected that following additional planned extensions, the airport will handle up to 26.5 million passengers per year by 2025, said a statement from DAEC.



Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the president, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group, and DAEC chairman, said: "Todays announcement marks a historic milestone in the journey of Al Maktoum International which is set to become the worlds largest airport."



"We are guided by the vision of our leader, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to position Dubai as the aviation capital of the world. We are poised to significantly boost Dubais economy by creating a world-class facility capable of handling the growing number of passengers visiting and transiting our city," he stated.



On project completion, the Al Maktoum International Airport will ultimately have the capacity to handle over 220 million passengers per year.



"Al Maktoum International is being designed to become an airport of the future. We are building a range of amenities and facilities that will increase capacity and significantly enrich the airport experience, making it an attractive proposition for airlines as well as passengers," stated Sheikh Ahmed.



As part of the proposed expansion work of the passenger terminal, the arrival building, which houses the public hall for arrivals, the baggage claim area and related services, as well as the arrival baggage handling system, will feature a new immigration hall for 55 control counters, visa and passenger utilities, said the statement from DAEC.



The departure building will see the expansion of the public hall, commercial areas and offices as well as the check-in hall, which will house 64 check-in counters. An additional 10 counters will be specifically dedicated to business check-in, it stated.



Expansions will also include 12 new boarding lounges and the extension of the emigration transfer and security area. A new baggage screening area for arrivals will be added while the current baggage reclaim area will see three new carrousels, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
This 5W thermoelectric generator converts heat from a chimney or camp stove into electricity for charging USB devices.

Small-scale electricity production can be a complete gamechanger for off-grid communities and emergency preparedness, and there are a number of fairly well-known options for generating enough juice from the sun, wind, and water to keep crucial portable electronics, such as phones, charged. However, there's another method of producing your own electricity, which is using a thermoelectric generator that runs on 'waste' heat that would normally just fly up the chimney and escape. We've covered a few previous thermoelectric devices meant for personal use, but there's a new entry in the market from a company that also sells "a tiny hydropower turbine in a can."

How it Works

The FireBee Power Tower can make use of some of the heat produced for cooking food or warming a home to yield an additional harvest of clean electricity for keeping small electronics charged up, either for off-grid, home use, or both. The new device, from Seattle's HydroBee, is designed to generate electricity from the heat already being produced by a camping stove, propane stove, or in the chimney of a woodstove or fireplace, but can also be operated with a small alcohol burner. The company claims its Power Tower can produce up to 7 watts of electricity, which is dispatched to two output options, a 5V 2A USB port for portable electronics, and a 12V 125mA terminal that can be used to trickle charge 12V batteries.

Heat from the stove or fire is absorbed by radiator fins inside the device, which then passes through a pair of thermoelectric modules and eventually into the cooling tank, which is full of water. The thermoelectric modules generate the electricity from the temperature difference between the heated fins and the cooler water tank, and this electricity is then converted into the common 5V 2A USB format that most portable devices use.

But wait, there's more! Because the Power Tower requires a cooling tank full of water to operate, which eventually comes to a boil, a spigot on the device makes it easy to pour out that hot water for washing or cooking. Essentially, users can get a hot meal, charge their device, and heat the dinner cleanup water all at the same time. Because power production comes from the temperature difference, optimal generation happens with a hotter heat source and the coolest water, and draining the boiling water and replacing it with cooler water will 'refuel' the device.

"The FireBee Power Tower is the most powerful thermoelectric generator of its kind. Even a small amount of heat makes a lot of power. You can customize it to use with a small alcohol or propane camp stove, or inside a chimney pipe." - FireBee

Although the simplest option would seem to be to use the $159 Power Tower with a gas campstove, the folks at HydroBee also suggest mounting the device inside a woodstove chimney to generate electricity while heating your home or cabin.

"To attach the Power Tower to a wood stove chimney, use a hacksaw to remove the base below the thermoelectric generator, cut a square that is 2 13/16 inches wide and 4 inches tall in the chimney, and simply slide the Power Tower into the slot."

When paired with a 12V battery bank, that approach might be a great way to power more than just LED lights and portable electronics during winters in a cold climate, as the device could conceivably trickle charge the battery bank around the clock. However, in warm and sunny locations, that wouldn't be very handy, but I couldn't help but wonder what would be possible if you aimed a highly-efficient solar cooker/concentrator at a Power Tower, which would then convert it into a truly clean and renewable electricity solution.

The company is currently in the running for a National Geographic Chasing Genius award, and more information about the product is available at FireBee Charger.
Finance ministry draws up measure for farmers to switch to new VAT administration system

Ukraine's Finance Ministry is working on a bill that would allow farmers to leave 50% of accumulated value added tax (VAT) on their special accounts, while 50% of VAT will be paid to the national budget.

"The finance ministry's position for consideration is the 50 to 50 ratio," Head of the parliamentary committee for the agricultural policy and land relations Taras Kutovy said at the Adam Smith Conferences' 7th annual Ukrainian Agribusiness Forum in Kyiv on Tuesday.

He said that it is likely the bill on return to the VAT benefit system that was in effect before 2016 would not be approved.

He said that the bill to change the VAT administration system for farmers would be initiated by the government. It will introduce changes starting from H2 2016.

The Ukrainian parliament has approved a compromise on revoking the beneficial VAT taxation regime for farmers via granting the beneficial regime for the period until they transfer to the general taxation system.

Farmers leave a part of accumulated VAT on their accounts and the rest of the sum is sent to the national budget from January 1, 2016.

The share of VAT left with farmers depends on the type of agricultural activities: for grain and industrial crop planting  15%, cattle breeding  80% and other goods  50%.

The VAT beneficial regime for farmers will be revoked in 2017.
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National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy usually finishes pumping gas from its underground storage facilities in April, when it starts pumping new gas back into storage, Naftogaz Head Andriy Kobolev told journalists in Kyiv on Wednesday;.

"This depends not only on weather, but our gas imports plans. If we look at the operation of the system today, I think that it will be April as usual," he said.

Kobolev pointed out the reduction of gas consumption in the social segment. Taking into account large gas stocks compared to the previous year, we will pump less from spring through autumn 2016, compared to a year ago.

He aid that gas consumption by Ukraine in 2016 is projected at 30 billion cubic meters.
The date for a trilateral meeting of representatives of the European Commission, Russia and Ukraine on gas issues has not been set yet, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"I don't know. This meeting is to be agreed on by three or at least two parties," he said.

Demchyshyn said in early March that the meeting, at which Russian gas shipments to Europe and Ukraine's gas purchases would be discussed, would be held before the start of April.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 23

Five thousand policemen, including 2,500 from the 11 Delhi Police districts and an equal number from the traffic department, will be deployed in the national Capital on Thursday to prevent incidents of hooliganism during the Holi celebrations.

"Police officers of the rank of Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to conduct patrolling throughout the day and ensure that no hooliganism takes place. This also means heightened vigil to prevent instances of harassment of women on the pretext of celebrations," a senior police officer said.

Police issue advisory warning drunken drivers

The police issued an advisory today, warning the residents against causing harassment by throwing water balloons at people and forcing them to indulge in the revelries. The advisory also warned the residents of the national Capital against driving while drunk.

The police personnel who are part of security arrangements during Holi will be divided into groups of 10 persons and deployed at barricades across the city. Each group will have a mix of local police and traffic officials.

Quick Response Teams (QRTs) have also been deployed at strategic points to deal with untoward incidents, said the police.

Yesterday, the security was stepped up in the national Capital hours after bomb blasts at the Brussels airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital, killing at least 35 people.

Delhi Police beefed up security at railway stations, bus terminuses, the airport, popular markets and places around vital installations.

Besides, the Crime Branch and counter-terrorism unit have been put into loop. They have been instructed to heighten their vigil during the Holi celebrations.

Union Minister takes stock of Metro security

Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary reviewed security preparedness of the Delhi Metro system, which carries around 2.6 million passengers daily.

Accompanied by Managing Director of Delhi Metro Mangu Singh, Chaudhary took stock of the security preparedness of the Delhi Metro.

During his half-day visit to the Metro network, the minister visited the Patel Chowk station after which he travelled by the train up to Shastri Park via Kashmere Gate station, a spokesperson of the DMRC said.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22

Advising stringent action against the culprits who commit sacrilege on the Guru Granth Sahib, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president, Manjit Singh (GK), said that the Union Government should make a law under which such culprits should be given a life imprisonment.

He said this following the Punjab Government's announcement for amendment in 205 A section of IPC under which such a sacrilegious person was given punishment for just two years.

Now such culprits would be given a life imprisonment under the amended section, ie 205 AA.

Talking to media persons, GK said that the Union government as well as all the state governments should think of following the same measure taken by the Punjab Government.

This issue was raised following an incident of sacrilege in Punjab last year.

GK said that the Guru Granth Sahib gives a message of service to all without discrimination between caste and creed, but some disgruntled elements disrespected the holy book during an agitation against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on March 22, 2016 under a proposal of the Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund decided to remove the banking license of public joint-stock company Ukrinbank and liquidate the bank, the NBU regulator has said on its website.

The NBU said that Ukrinbank on October 1, 2015 was placed on the list of troubled banks. The bank violated an instantaneous liquidity requirement in September 2015. The bank submitted a financial readjustment plan. The plan envisaged the attraction of UAH 500 million in equivalent from an investor and restoration of liquidity. The bank did not receive the investor's funds.

The bank was placed to the list of insolvent banks. The Deposit Guarantee Fund introduced temporary administration on December 24, 2015.

The fund scheduled the bank liquidation procedure for the period of March 23, 2016 through March 22, 2018.

Iryna Bila has been appointed a liquidator of the bank.

Kyiv's district administrative court on March 16, 2016 declared void and dismissed NBU resolution No. 934 dated December 24, 2015 on placing public joint-stock company Ukrinbank to the list of insolvent banks.

Ukrinbank was founded in 1989. Its largest shareholder on July 10, 2015 was Volodymyr Klymenko (71.1514%).

Ukrinbank ranked 27th among 123 operating banks in the country on October 1, 2015 by total assets (UAH 5.832 billion), according to the NBU.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 21

The JNU Teachers' Association which has been critical of the university's high-level committee probing the controversial February 9 event is going to hold an event tomorrow to discuss and reflect over the entire investigation process carried out so far. In the event, the university administration would also be invited to put forth its perspective.

The move comes in view of a large section of JNU teachers questioning the legitimacy of the enquiry by the five-member panel which found 21 students guilty of "violating university norms and discipline rules" followed by issuing show-cause notices on March 14 asking them to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them.

An eminent panel comprising Justice (Retd) AP Shah, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Mrinal Satish, Associate Professor at National Law University Delhi, will deliberate the enquiry process and its findings.

"We have invited a panel that will present its views on three major questions: can the 'high-level' enquiry (HLE) process initiated and conducted by the university administration be considered a proper enquiry with reference to the established norms and procedures of the varsity and the objective of seeking the truth? asked Bikramaditya Choudhry, JNUTA general secretary.

The event is being organised at the varsity's administration block which has been the venue of protest ever since JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in connection with an event on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

He added that the observations would be on whether the conduct of the probe committee and steps taken in course of the enquiry upheld the principle of natural justice and whether the panel provides any legitimate basis for taking disciplinary action against students.

The report of the five-member panel which was submitted on March 11 has pointed at the role of outsiders in the controversial event while naming three students "guilty" of arousing communal, caste or regional feeling or creating disharmony on campus.

JNU is yet to take a call on quantum of punishment to be awarded to students in connection with the row involving the alleged raising of anti-national slogans.
The reflex action of the Indian strategic community to Chinas offer to build a railway line to Nepal is bound to be consternation. The air will be imbued with dire predictions of the Chinese dragons spreading tentacles into South Asia. The so-called string of pearls theory that accuses China of building alliances to box in India will be recast to include Nepal, a country that had never figured in this alleged game plan. This is because China had so far been content to let Nepal remain an Indian backyard. The same set of retired soldiers and diplomats who will now vent against China must share part of the blame for the imminent loosening of India's monopolistic hold over Nepal's trade. They had failed to raise the flag when the RSS and the South Block went a step too far with an undeclared blockade of Nepal that lasted months.

New Delhis single minded devotion to the Madhesi cause must have stiffened Kathmandu's resolve to open up alternatives for trade. After all it couldn't have remained indifferent to the impact of the blockade on the prices and availability of essentials like LPG and medicines. Now that the die is cast, India can either join the connectivity game or rail against the intensification of China-Nepal relations. The second option will be a nonstarter because every nation has the sovereign right to choose its alliances. Just like India which dallies both with the US and Russia.

India could take the cue from the recent SAARC conclave where all the foreign ministers pitched for greater connectivity. India needs to accelerate work on two rail links to Nepal and put on the front-burner plans for another three. This will dovetail with the planned BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) corridor and the US-Japan supported Pacific Corridor from India to Vietnam via Myanmar and Thailand. Instead of lamenting an inevitable, India must build on its advantages with Nepal. The South Block's response is in the right direction. It has refused to get drawn into the comparison game, knowing well that no other country in the world has the kind of ties India has with Nepal.
Sushil Manav and Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 23

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar ordered judicial inquiry into February's Jat quota violence on Tuesday.

The Haryana Assembly witnessed heated discussions on violence during the Jat agitation for reservation in jobs and education. Speaking on the adjournment motion moved by INLDs Abhay Singh Chautala, HJC leader Kuldeep Bishnoi claimed rioters in Jhajjar raped a mother-daughter duo during Februarys protests.

The rape was committed with local officials around, but reporters were discouraged from reporting the case, Bishnoi said.

INLD legislator Zakir Hussain claimed the rapes reported at Murthal, if proved true, would be shameful for the state.

The government has given affidavit that nothing happened. But what action have they taken on eyewitnesses who spoke on camera that they saw this, he said.

He also questioned the conduct of a woman DIG heading the SIT saying she went to the spot to inquire in civvies, which he claimed was against the Punjab Police Rules and reflected the commissions casual attitude towards the case.

Minister OP Dhankar accused the Congress of instigating protesters and claimed former Chief Minister BS Hooda's Assembly constituency had been used as meeting ground.

He claimed protests blocked roads in a well-planned manner at Sampla, Bohar and other areas

Dhankar accused Bishnoi of trying to mislead people by making 'baseless' allegations and claimed he had visited all victims of violence in Jhajjar,

Bishnoi however said he would willingly reveal the victims names if Dhankar announced he would resign.

Chautala demanded that a committee should be set up to investigate Bishnois allegations.

Jat protests brew storm

Chautala demanded to know from Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar why the government promise reservation for Jats earlier.

Had Government gave assurance earlier violence could have been prevented, he sid.

He also wanted to know what action the state government hadtaken against those involved in the riots.

He also wanted to know why no action was taken against MP Raj Kumar Saini despite being alerted of his provocative statements.

The state government failed to prevent the riots, Chautala said said.

INLDs Parminder Dhull claimed the police had attacked students of Neki Ram College in Rohtak on February 19

Who directed police to attack students and who led police team, he said, adding police went back the next day to assault students.

He also claimed Jats were not involved in the riots. Jats are being defamed. It is sedition, he said.

Cong boycotts session

Congress legislators continued to boycott proceedings of Haryana Assembly on Tuesday to protest suspension of three legislators.

Congress MLAs led by CLP leader Kiran Choudhry, who sat on dharna outside the assembly gate, said the ruling party was deliberately keeping the Opposition out of the House to avoid uncomfortable questions on the Sultley-Yamua Link Canal, Februarys violent caste protests for reservation by Jats and budget estimates.

Former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, who has been suspended by the House for six months, admitted to tearing a copy of the Governor's address on Tuesday but said it was a symbolic act.

"Our right to speak for people has been trampled under the iron feet of the majority, " he said.
New Delhi, March 23

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday issued orders for attachment of assets of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh worth about Rs 8 crore, including a flat in a posh locality here, in connection with its money laundering probe case against him and others.

The agency issued a provisional attachment order here under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), seizing a clutch of LIC policies, bank fixed deposits and two storeys of a building in south Delhis GK-I area.

Official sources said the assets have been considered the proceeds of crime of money laundering and were created by using alleged tainted funds.

The agency, the sources said, has also issued prohibitory orders on these assets which are valued at Rs 7.93 crore. An attachment order under PMLA is aimed at depriving the accused from obtaining benefits of their alleged ill-gotten wealth and the accused parties can appeal against the order before the Adjudicating Authority of the said Act within 180 days.

An unfazed Virbhadra Singh dubbed the ED order a Holi gift and that it was a dirty political conspiracy of the BJP.

It is one more dirty political conspiracy by the BJP.

Like the ED raid on the day of my daughters marriage, this is a gift on the occasion of Holi, said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Insisting that he is a fighter, Virbhadra said that he would continue to fight such politically motivated battles. I have full faith in the judiciary of the country. Satyamev Jayate.

Recently, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant any interim stay on money laundering proceedings initiated by the Directorate against the Chief Minister.

Justice Pratibha Rani had issued a notice to the ED seeking its response before May 31 on Virbhadras plea seeking stay on the proceedings and quashing of the money laundering case against him.

The ED has filed a case under criminal provisions of money laundering laws after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the CBI in this regard in September last year.

It had also conducted searches in this in 2015 in three states of Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The agency is working to investigate the allegation that Singh and his family members allegedly amassed wealth of Rs 6.1 crore between 2009-11, disproportionate to his known sources of income, while serving as the Union Minister of Steel.

The CBI FIR had named Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and Chauhans brother C L Chauhan and they were charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

CBI suspects that during the 2009-11 period, Singh allegedly invested Rs 6.1 crore in life insurance policies in his and his family members names through LIC agent Chauhan claiming this money to be his agricultural income.

It alleged Singh attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised Income-Tax returns in 2012.

The agricultural income as claimed by him in his revised ITRs was not found to be tenable. The then Union minister had allegedly accumulated other assets disproportionate to known sources of income, CBI had alleged.

CBI had also carried out searches at various premises belonging to Singh and family immediately after filing the FIR and the Congress party had then termed the action as highly vindictive.

The ED has registered its case in Delhi.  PTI
Srinagar, March 23

Activists of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), a radical womens organisation, on Wednesday hoisted Pakistani flags at several places to mark Pakistan Day.

DeM activists hoisted Pakistani flags at many places in the city including Lal Chowk Downtown and Civil Lines areas of the city, officials said.

The flags were later removed by police.

DeM, led by Asiya Andrabi, has been hoisting Pakistani flags every year to mark Pakistan Day and Independence Day of the country on August 14.

Andrabi was booked last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for unfurling the Pakistani flag.

Addressing activists, Andrabi said Kashmir was the "jugular vein of Pakistan and its freedom is an obligation for the country ".

"Kashmiri Muslims have been celebrating Pakistan Day for seven decades because it has historical and religious significance. ... Jammu and Kashmir is part of Pakistan and will practically become part of Pakistan," she said.

A documentary, released by Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa, was also screened.  PTI
Srinagar, March 23

Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said India and Pakistan should evolve a mechanism to include the people of Kashmir in the proposed composite dialogue.

Speaking to mediapersons before leaving for New Delhi to attend the Pakistan Day function, Mirwaiz said the APHC had always stood for cordial ties between the two countries. We believe that instead of confrontation, there should be coordination between the two countries to put the entire subcontinent on the path of peace, progress and stability. For that to happen, steps need to be taken for resolving the core issue of Kashmir between the two countries, keeping the wishes and aspirations of the people in mind, he said.

The two countries must evolve a mechanism to include the people of Kashmir in the proposed composite dialogue. The participation of Kashmiris in any dialogue on Kashmir is a necessity for these talks to bear fruit, Mirwaiz added.

He expressed hope that the political leadership of the two countries would take a clear stand so that decks are cleared for the resolution of all issues, including Kashmir.

The separatist leader also expressed his gratitude to Pakistan for helping people of Kashmir and supporting them at the political, diplomatic and moral levels.  TNS
New Delhi, March 23

The Delhi, Punjab and Assam police were on Wednesday alerted by security agencies about an ex-Pakistani soldier having crossed over to India along with six hardcore terrorists through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot with a plan to carry out attacks in Delhi during Holi.

In a communication, the Central security agencies said Mohammad Khurshid Alam, alias Jahangir, an ex-military personnel of Pakistan Army, who had worked as a recruiter, coordinator and guide of Jehadi elements in Assam, had crossed over to India from Pakistan through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terrorists.

The intention of this group is to kill citizens in Delhi in hotels and hospitals on or before Holi, the communication said.

The agencies said Alam had visited a madrasa in Barpeta district in Assam in September 2015.

The ex-Pakistan Army man had stayed in the madrasa for five days and thereafter left for Chirang district, bordering Bhutan.

Alam had used another madrasa in Dhubri district in Assam as his base and used to visit other parts of the state, it said.

In Dhubri, a teacher of the madrasa provided all required logistical support to Alam, the communication added.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police and other security agencies have launched a manhunt after a car was snatched from a person at gunpoint at Sujanpur town in Punjabs Pathankot district.

The incident took place late on Tuesday, the police said on Wednesday.

Police officials, however, ruled out the possibility of a terror angle to the incident, even though the whole district has been put on high alert.

Three men approached the Ford Figo car and hijacked it at gunpoint after forcing the owner out of it. Two people drove the car and the third one fled on a motorcycle, a Punjab Police officer said in Pathankot.

Sujanpur is about 6 km from Pathankot on the Pathankot-Jammu highway.

Security agencies were taking the incident seriously in view of two major terrorist strikes in the area in recent months.

Terrorists from Pakistan had attacked the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2 this year and Dinanagar town in neighbouring Gurdaspur district on July 27 last year.  PTI/IANS
Hyderabad, March 23

JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was on Wednesday denied entry into the University of Hyderabad which witnessed unprecedented clampdown amid continuing tension over the return of P. Appa Rao as the Vice-Chancellor.

Police stopped Kanhaiya Kumar in the evening when he along with others reached the Central university to address protesting students on the campus.

Since the university authorities barred the entry of outsiders, the police stopped Kanhaiyas convoy and asked him to go back.

Talking to reporters, the Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader said a student was not being allowed on the campus. He said such actions by police and the government cant suppress their voice.

I want to tell the university administration and police who have prohibited us from entering the campus that you cant suppress our voice, he said.

It is shameful that a student is not being allowed on the campus. It is unfortunate the government is not listening to the voice of students, said Kanahiya.

He condemned the police lathi (baton) charge on students of Hyderabad university on Tuesday when they were staging a protest on the campus.

Expressing solidarity with the injured, he said lathis cant silence our voice.

This fight will continue. This fight is to save the country, the Constitution and the democracy, he said.

Kanhaiya, who was arrested last month on charges of sedition, said they were fighting for freedom from casteism, inequality and injustice.

Our fight will continue till the dreams of Rohith Vemula, B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh are realised, he said, demanding enactment of what he called Rohith legislation to ensure social justice on campuses.

Kanhaiya and his supporters raised slogans like Tum kitney Rohith marogey. Har ghar sey Rohith niklega (How many Rohiths will you kill? A Rohith will come from each house).

He vowed to continue the fight for justice to the family of Rohith, the Dalit research scholar who committed suicide on January 17.

Earlier, the JNU student leader met Rohiths mother Radhika and consoled her.

The sprawling campus of the university remained on boil for the second consecutive day as the police and paramilitary forces were deployed to prevent outsiders from entering the campus. Media persons too were not allowed.

The crackdown was unprecedented as university authorities suspended classes till Saturday. The mess was closed and water supply was cut to the hostels, causing severe inconvenience to students. The authorities also snapped Internet connection on Tuesday.

Student groups condemned what they said was police brutality and sexual assault on students protesting against the vice chancellor.

Appa Rao went on leave after he was named in a case registered in connection with the suicide of Vemula in January. He resumed duties on Tuesday, against which the students were protesting.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, an umbrella grouping of various student bodies, has given a call for boycott of classes for four days.

The JAC said an emergency like situation has been imposed on the campus with the authorities shutting down mess, water and internet connection.

In a statement on Wednesday, the JAC alleged that police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other security personnel unleashed brutal physical and sexual assault on students and teachers on Tuesday.

It alleged that the security personnel not only beat up men and women students but hurled abuses, branded them anti-nationals and threatened to file sedition charges.

It said 36 students and three professors were picked up, brutally beaten in a police van, and detained in unknown locations all night. It demanded their immediate release.

The CPI-M demanded the release of arrested students and the dismissal of the vice chancellor.

Stating that over 30 students were in police custody with no knowledge as to where they were being kept, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said they must be freed immediately.  IANS
Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service



Ludhiana, March 21

A huge fire erupted at the Mohan Dai Cancer Hospital in Sherpur on Sunday night, hospital authorities said, although no casualties have been reported.

The fire started at a laboratory in the hospital at 1 am. Efforts to control the initial blaze with fire extinguishers found around the hospital yielded no results.

The blaze was brought under control at 8 am, hospital authorities said.

All 132 patients in the hospital  including three newborn babies  were safely evacuated, Dr VK Kaushal, Medical Director of Hospital, said.

Three patients on life support were later moved to the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).

Attendants at the hospital claimed the hospital was ill equipped to deal with such emergencies.
Beijing, March 23

China will provide millions of dollars in soft loan to Nepal to rebuild its International Airport at Pokhara which was devastated by last year's earthquakes, officials said today.

The Export-Import Bank of China did not reveal the size of the loan to Nepal's finance ministry, but said today that it would cover the parking apron, terminal and control tower.

Earlier, Nepal officials fixed the loan amount at around USD 216 million.

The airport reconstruction was one of the 10 agreements signed during Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang two days ago.

The project will encourage tourists to visit Nepal and make life easier for locals, state-run Xinhua new agency quoted the official of the bank as saying.

The airport project will also allow for more trade between China and Nepal, it said.

Nearly 9,000 people were killed in last year's devastating twin-earthquakes in April and May in Nepal and its largest cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara were the worst-hit.

The Chinese government-backed Exim Bank has financed more than 1,000 projects in 49 countries last year with outstanding loans up 46 per cent from the beginning of 2015 to 520 billion yuan (nearly USD 80 billion) at the end of the year.

Oli is on a week-long visit to China since March 20. The 10 agreements signed during his talks with Li included the land mark transit treaty to reduce the landlocked Himalayan country's dependence on India.  PTI
Public joint-stock company Ukrzaliznytsia on March 21 paid the first coupon in full amount on $500 million 2021 eurobonds, in accordance with the issue terms, the issuer has reported on its website.

Holders of $500 million eurobonds of Ukrzaliznytsia in February 2016 approved the restructuring.

The coupon rate will be increased from 9.5% to 9.875% (will be valid from November 21, 2015), and the maturity date will be extended from May 21, 2018 to September 15, 2021.

It was also planned to change the structure of depreciation. Repayment of the securities will be carried out in the following way: 60% of the outstanding principal amount of the debt will be paid in 2019, namely 30% on March 15, 2019, 30% on September 15, 2019; 20% of the outstanding principal amount of the debt will be paid in 2020, namely 10% on March 15, 2020, 10% on September 15, 2020 and 20% of the outstanding principal amount of the debt will be paid in 2021, namely 10% on March 15, 2021, 10% on September 15, 2021.
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Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has urged businesses to legalize employment arrangements and increase salaries.

"We hope payroll will start growing," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.

Yatseniuk said the single social security tax rate in 2016 was halved. He expects that business in response to the tax reduction will comply with the law and increase employee salaries The prime minister is confident that backdoor salaries do not benefit business.

Yatseniuk instructed the Finance Ministry and Social Policy Ministry to prepare data on the pace of payroll increases.
6x2 drive axles are emerging in different configurations, including forward liftable axles. Photos: Jim Park

In its purest form, a 6x2 chassis configuration is a three-axle tractor with power going to just one of the tandem rear axles. Put another way, only two of the six wheel positions are powered. Early versions of the configuration featured a dead axle that went along for the ride until it was needed for carrying capacity. Usually those dead axles were liftable. Some were fitted ahead of the driving axle (called pusher axles), while others were installed behind the driving axle (called tag axles).

Most OEMs today offer what can comfortably be described as 6x2 configurations, but they are far from the 6x2s of old.

The new generation of 6x2s began creeping into the market in about 2010. Already were seeing OEMs and component suppliers differentiating their designs through traction control features, automatic load transfer mechanisms to improve traction, and liftable non-driving axles to reduce rolling resistance and tire wear when lightly loaded.

As with most major changes to truck designs, fleets remain wary about 6x2s. Many are reluctant to embrace the technology, despite the promise of lower vehicle weight thanks to the elimination of one heavy drive axle and improved fuel economy through reduced mechanical drag in the driveline.

In fact, 6x2s represent about 4% of the 40,000-pound on-highway axle sales right now, according to Karl Mayer, director of product line management for rear axles at Meritor. Sales have plateaued. We saw very little growth in the market over the past year, probably because of lower fuel prices. Still, were up from about 2.3% market share back in 2013.

Similarly, Kelly Gedert, marketing manager for Detroit-branded products at Daimler Trucks North America, says the take rate there for 6x2s on Freightliner Cascadia trucks delivered in 2014 is less than 5%.

To help clarify whats on the market and how the various offerings work, heres a breakdown of the currently available 6x2 technology by type and approach to the problem.

Advanced 6x2 with automatic traction control

Bendix and Meritor Wabco both produce electronic control systems for 6x2 axle configurations designed to facilitate a load transfer to the driving axle during a wheel-slip event. If wheel speed sensors detect a variation between the two rear axles caused by a loss of traction on the driving axle, the systems respond by exhausting air from the suspension on the non-driving axle. This increases the load, and therefore the traction, on the driving axle.

Bendixs system is called eTrac. Built on top of the existing mechanical air suspension control valve, its completely transparent to the driver and requires no driver intervention.

Its automatic and it activates anytime theres a wheel-slip situation, says Mike Tober, product manager for vehicle dynamics at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems. The advantage is the driver doesnt have to flip a switch on the dash. It activates when its needed and only when its needed and deactivates shortly afterward  above 25 mph or after 5 seconds.

Tober says the front and rear suspensions can be isolated, and once air pressure is exhausted from the non-driving axle, the leveling valve increases air pressure in the driving axle to compensate  but only up to the maximum load rating of the axle. We never overload the axle, he stresses.

ETrac is available with an optional manual control thats integrated with the Mud and Snow switch in the traction control system. The driver can manually request system engagement if conditions warrant. If the driver forgets to disengage, that will happen automatically over a set speed or after a predetermined time.

The Meritor Wabco system, called ECAS (Electronically Controlled Air Suspension), is designed to interpret a loss of drive wheel traction and initiate a load transfer to the drive axle to increase traction. Mark Melletat, director of field operations at Meritor Wabco, says the key is to make the transfer happen quickly.

We use large, high-capacity valves to move the air quickly before the driver gets impatient, he says. It takes less than three seconds to fully load the drive axle  up to its maximum capacity. Its important for the driver to recognize when the system is working and to give it a moment or two to reestablish traction before applying too much power. This is where driver training and awareness become important.

ECAS also has a manual option, so a driver could engage the system when hooking up a trailer for example, or when pulling out of an inclined loading dock on a slippery surface.

While they function in a similar way, each product offers its own feature set that helps differentiate it in the market. Both eTrac and ECAS are suspension system controllers only and not integral parts of the axle system. Each system is available through specific OEMs and they are often tied to specific axle manufacturers.

Hard-packed snow can be nearly impossible to escape from if warm tires have melted their way down even an inch or so. The load transfer systems on todays 6x2 axles place more weight on the driving axle to improve traction.

Tag axle 6x2

Tag axle systems, where the rear axle in the tandem grouping is the non-driving axle, are offered by Dana, Detroit Axle and Meritor. Dana calls its 6x2 package the Spicer EconoTrek, while Meritors offering goes by the name FuelLite. Detroit does not use a brand name beyond the Detroit 6x2.

Danas EconoTrek pairs the proven Spicer S170 and S190 single-reduction single drive axles with the new, Spicer S20-045B tag axle. Dana says this axle combination lowers the weight of a comparable tandem drive axle by up to 400 pounds. Its available with an axle ratio as low as 2.53:1 for downsped driveline specs, and it will accommodate dual or wide-base tires and drum or disc brakes. Dana says the EconoTrek is optimized for use with the eTrac traction control from Bendix.

The Model 6 Detroit Drive Axle in 6x2 configuration is said to be almost 400 pounds lighter than a tandem drive axle. An axle ratio as low as 2.28:1 can be specd for downsped applications. The Model 6 is available only with the Detroit Integrated Powertrain package featuring the Detroit DD15 engine and Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission. Daimler Trucks North America uses Meritor Wabcos ECAS traction control system on both its proprietary Detroit 6x2 axles and Meritors FuelLite 6x2.

Meritors FuelLite 6x2 tag-axle system features a derivative of the RS23-160 drive axle. Meritor says its a more capable axle with a larger ring gear and thicker wall housings for use in a single-drive application. The tag axle is a square-tube axle with an integrated suspension bracket for easier installation. Meritors Mayer says the FuelLite 6x2 delivers nearly 400 pounds in weight savings over a standard 6x4 and provides an approximately 2% fuel efficiency increase. Its available with a drive ratio as low as 2.50:1, and the DualTrac housing allows the option of running wide-based tires or duals interchangeably. Mayer says Meritor will soon release an axle with a 2.31:1 ratio for even greater downspeeding potential.

Currently, all OEMs except Mack and Volvo offer tag-axle 6x2 systems with electronic air-suspension traction control from Bendix or Meritor Wabco. Because of possible vehicle stability concerns arising from locating the fifth wheel behind the drive axle, none of the current crop of tag-axle 6x2 systems offers a lift option.

Liftable forward axle 6x2

But that doesnt mean you cant have a 6x2 with a liftable forward axle. Mack and Volvo both offer a 6x2 system with the driving axle at the rear and a liftable non-driving axle in the forward position. Suspension and integrated-axle producer Hendrickson is also developing such a system under the OptiMaax name.

Both systems will keep the liftable axle off the road when the vehicle is empty or only lightly loaded, lessening rolling resistance and improving fuel economy while reducing tire wear. But thats about where the similarities end. These two manufacturers are taking decidedly different approaches to managing traction.

When it goes into service, OptiMaax will be offered by several OEMs as a factory-installed vendor suspension, with drive axle offerings from the OE data book. Hendrickson supplies the suspension, the liftable axle and the electronic controller that decides when to lift or deploy the axle. Traction control products from Bendix or Meritor Wabco will be installed as per OE agreements.

Our long-term approach is to integrate the suspension with the OEM at the vehicle level so that its truly a component thats engineered into the system, says Hendricksons director of marketing, Gerry Remus. Right now we have several placed with fleets to prove the concept.

Remus sees the liftable forward axle as the technology that will become the 6x2 of the future. A forward liftable axle can be kept up far longer than with a rear lift, Remus says. We want to have that axle up as much as possible. Thats where well get the real incremental savings in not only fuel consumption but tire and brake wear.

Hendrickson has designed its own electronic control unit that takes the up or down decision away from the driver. It draws data from wheel speed sensors and suspension pressure transducers to determine when the axle should be deployed. Theres some logic in there that will keep the axle down when the axle weight nears a threshold. Remus says these settings are customizable by the OEM that installs the axle to suit its chassis configurations.

There is also load sensing between the primary suspension and the liftable axle to ensure theres balance between the two axles, he says. And we will still rely on other industry products that are tied into our ECU to provide load transfer in a wheel slip event, along with the stability control functionality thats becoming popular.

Rather than use a traction control system that reacts after the wheels have already broken traction, Volvo Trucks is using biased axle loading to keep a higher percentage of the load on the driving axle at all times. While empty or only lightly loaded the lift axle is retracted. Called Adaptive Loading, Volvo uses a 23,000-pound drive axle from Dana or Meritor and a 23,000-pound liftable axle with a 9-inch drop center designed and built by Link Manufacturing.

According to Peter Blonde, Volvo Trucks aftermarket product manager, the system uses two separate air systems to supply the rear and front axles.

Sensors on the drive axle maintain the correct ride height for the truck while sensors on both the front and rear suspensions determine the load distribution, he says.

To illustrate the point, Blonde says when the axle group is fully loaded to 34,000 pounds, the weight distribution will be equal. But with a load of 28,000 pounds, the distribution might be something like 12,000 pounds on the front (dead) axle of the tandem and 16,000 pounds on the rear (drive) axle. The air system controller is a Volvo design based on one that first appeared on the European FH model in 1993.

With a well specd truck we can load up to 18,000 pounds on the drive axle while loading the steer axle to 13,200 pounds in 4x2 mode [lift axle up] with a gross combination weight up to 53,000 or 54,000 pounds, says Blonde. One of the early adopter fleets is running such a set up and he is able to keep the axle up 50% of the time.

Mack has a similar 6x2 system that can be tied to the Mack engine and mDrive transmission to optimize fuel economy for bulk haulers and similar applications. Three driver-selectable traction control modes are available via a dash-mounted switch.

Spicer AdvanTek 40 Dual Range Disconnect

This axle, announced by Dana at last years Mid-America Trucking Show but not yet in production, deserves a category of its own. Its both a 6x4 and a 6x2. At speeds under 52-54 mph or so, it operates as a 6x4, providing all the traction and torque drivers are accustomed to. Over that set speed, the interaxle drive shaft physically disconnects from the power divider in the forward axle as well as the ring gear in the rear axle, effectively turning it into a 6x2.

As an added benefit, through the magic of planetary gearing and axles with different ratios, the final drive ratio changes from 3.10:1 in 6x4 mode to 2.26:1 in 6x2, giving it a downsped drivetrain with all the associated fuel economy benefits.

Depending on your starting point, the DRD axle system can improve powertrain and driveline efficiency somewhere in the range of 2% to 5%, says Dana Director of Global Product Planning Steve Slesinski. Youll also get the downsped 6x2 efficiency at highway speed, and better low-speed performance for startability or when backing a trailer into a dock, for example.

The Dual Range Disconnect employs a single gear mesh configuration from the engine to the wheels, minimizing efficiency losses associated with tandem drive axles.

Despite the low take rate for 6x2s generally, there are a lot of configurations to choose from. Given the effort OEMs are putting into bringing 6x2s to market, theres clearly an expectation that they eventually will take off once fuel prices start to climb. Now is a good time to be researching them, while the need to embrace the technology isnt exactly pressing.

We have a lot of customers asking about 6x2 now because they are interested in the fuel and weight savings, says Detroits Gedert. What makes the adjustment difficult most of the time is customers are coming out of a different spec when going into 6x2. Depending on their application and where they are running, some will see the fuel saving, others wont. Its very application-specific, and its not a technology that will work for everybody.
NEW YORK  Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. must be intensified following the deadly bombings at Brussels, while rival Donald Trump suggested torturing a suspect in last year's Paris attacks would have prevented the carnage.

Echoing Trump's earlier statements, Cruz said the U.S. should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence. The Islamic State took credit for the attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens Tuesday and wounded many more.

"We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," the Texas senator said in a statement.

Trump praised Cruz's plan as a "good idea" that he supports "100 percent" in an interview with CNN. The GOP front-runner also intensified his past calls for the U.S. to engage in harsher interrogation techniques, arguing that Belgium could have prevented the bombings had it tortured a suspect in last year's Paris attacks who was arrested last week.

"Well, you know, he may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with the torture. ... Because he probably knew about it. I would be willing to bet that he knew about this bombing that took place today," Trump said.

Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S., said "nothing's nice" about techniques such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning. He added, "It's your minimal form of torture. We can't waterboard and they can chop off heads."

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said earlier Tuesday the Brussels plot was probably already underway before the suspect's arrest and that his apprehension may have sped up its execution.

When reminded that international law prohibits torture, Trump responded: "Well, I would say that the eggheads that came up with this international law should turn on their television and watch CNN right now, because I'm looking at scenes on CNN right now as I'm speaking to you that are absolutely atrocious."

Speaking Tuesday afternoon in New York, Cruz praised the city's police department's former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods, called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

"New Yorkers want a safe and secure America," Cruz said. "New Yorkers saw first-hand the tragic consequences of radical Islamic terrorism."

After the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to cultivate informants and conduct surveillance in Muslim communities. In a series of articles, The Associated Press revealed the intelligence division had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and investigated hundreds. The program was disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

Trump said the city had had "the finest surveillance of the whole radical Islam situation that there is." He joined Cruz in blaming the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, for ending it.

"He took it down and he knocked it out and that was a terrible mistake," said Trump, adding, "We can be nice about it and we can be politically correct about it, but we're being fools, OK?"

New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton objected to Cruz's remarks Tuesday, saying: "I take great offense at his characterization of that whole population. ... He's really out of line."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the calls for surveillance, saying it sends "an alarming message to American Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties."

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand. He said he strongly disagrees with calls for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims.

"That would be unconstitutional  it would be wrong," Sanders said.

Imam Abdisalam Adam, the board chair of Dar Al-Hijrah Riverside Islamic Center, a mosque in a Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis, said putting more scrutiny on Muslim communities is not a way to keep the country safe.

"It's counterproductive," he said. "When you look at the American Muslim community, it's very well integrated and very involved in civic unification ... It's a patriotic community that's involved in so many aspects of the American life."

Asked about Cruz's comment, none of a half-dozen conservative House Republicans meeting with reporters Tuesday criticized him and most spoke of the need to keep the country safe.

"Nearly every neighborhood is patrolled. That's what local law enforcement does," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., who has endorsed Cruz. He added that he didn't know specifically what Cruz was referring to.

"I believe in the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, every one of them, but we also know that in this country, we're going to have to step up security in every neighborhood across America," said Rep. Matt Salmon, an Arizona Republican who has endorsed Cruz.
WASHINGTON  Under a fresh cloud of overseas violence, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded wins with their chief rivals on Tuesday and attacked each other's worldviews as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash of would-be commanders in chief.

While both front-runners scored victories in the night's biggest prize of Arizona, Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders won caucuses in Utah and Idaho and Republican Ted Cruz claimed his party's caucuses in Utah.

The victories kept Clinton and Trump from dominating another election night, but they both maintained a comfortable lead in the race for delegates that decide the presidential nominations.

Long lines and frenzied interest marked primary elections across the three Western states as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

"This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander in chief," Clinton said in Seattle as she condemned Trump by name and denounced his embrace of torture and hardline rhetoric aimed at Muslims. "The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear."

Trump, in turn, branded Clinton as "Incompetent Hillary" as he discussed her tenure as secretary of state. "Incompetent Hillary doesn't know what she's talking about," the billionaire businessman said in an interview with Fox News. "She doesn't have a clue."

The back and forth between the front-runners came on a day when voters were eager to make their voices heard in the 2016 election.

In Utah, caucus-goers were dispatched by poll workers to local stores with orders buy reams of paper and photocopy fresh ballots amid huge turnout. The state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic.

In Arizona, voters waited two hours or more in some places to cast primary ballots, while police were called to help control traffic.

As voters flooded to the polls, the presidential candidates lashed out at each other's foreign policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.

Clinton  and Trump's Republican rivals  questioned the GOP front-runner's temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish U.S. involvement with NATO.

Addressing cheering supporters in Seattle, Clinton said the attacks in Brussels were a pointed reminder of "how high the stakes are" in 2016.

"We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies," she said. "We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people."

Cruz seized on Trump's foreign policy inexperience while declaring that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic State group.

"He doesn't have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief," he told reporters. "The stakes are too high for learning on the job."

The debate between the two took a detour late Tuesday night as they engaged in an unusual Twitter exchange about their wives.

The billionaire warned Cruz he would "spill the beans on your wife" after an anti-Trump group ran an ad in Utah featuring a picture of Trump's wife, Melania, from a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."

Trump's brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where Cruz claimed more than half of the caucus vote  and with it, all 40 of Utah's delegates.

Yet that wouldn't make up for Trump's haul in Arizona, where he earned the state's entire trove of 58 delegates.

Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, cheered the billionaire's brash style, even as he acknowledged Trump doesn't play as well in Utah as other parts of the country.

"I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but he's human," Brady said. "I don't care."

Arizona's win gives Trump a little less than half of the Republican delegates allocated so far. That's still short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination before the party's national convention this summer.

However, Trump has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner. Kasich was shut out for the night, leaving him with fewer delegates than Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who quit the race last week.

Overall, Trump has accumulated 739 delegates, Cruz has 465 and Kasich 143. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination.

On the Democratic side, Clinton's delegate advantage is even greater than Trump's.

Coming off last week's five-state sweep of Sanders, the former secretary of state entered Tuesday leading by more than 300 pledged delegates. For the night, Sanders picked up at least 57 delegates to Clinton's 51, having won two states but losing Arizona. Less than two dozen delegates remain to be allocated, pending final vote tallies. Including superdelegates, Clinton was leading Sanders 1,681 to 927.

"These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests," Sanders said in a statement.

___

Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey in Everett, Washington, Jonathan Lemire in New York, Stephen Ohlemacher and Jill Colvin in Washington, Michelle Price in Orem, Utah, and Elliot Spagat in San Digeo contributed to this report.
Poroshenko to go on official visit to Japan on April 5-7

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will go on an official visit to Japan on April 5-7 at the invitation of the prime minister of this country, Shinzo Abe.

During the visit, the Ukrainian president is scheduled to meet with the prime minister of Japan, the leaders of both houses of parliament and other senior officials, as well as with representatives of Japanese business.

The agenda of the meeting includes a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation, topical issues of the international agenda in the context of Japan's presidency of the Group of Seven.
NEW YORK  The airport attack in Brussels highlights one of the most vulnerable stages of aviation security: the time travelers spend between the curb and the checkpoint.

As travelers wait first to check luggage and then go through metal detectors, they crowd together in areas that are usually lightly patrolled and accessible to nearly anyone.

We ignore it, said Isaac Yeffet, a former head of security for the Israeli airline El Al who now runs his own firm, Yeffet Security Consultants, based in the New York area. We are careless.

For more than 40 years, security officials and terrorists have been fighting to stay ahead of each other. When airlines and governments made it harder to hijack planes, terrorists found new ways to destroy aircraft. They put bombs in checked luggage until bag screening became standard. The Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers defeated passenger-screening measures and used knives to turn jets into weapons.

Security checkpoints are designed to keep terrorists and weapons off planes, and for the most part they have worked since the 2001 attacks.

But along the way, the airport itself became a target.

In 1983, Armenian terrorists set off a bomb at the Turkish Airlines check-in counter at Paris Orly Airport, killing seven people and wounding 55. Just two years later, near simultaneous attacks hit the ticket counters of Israeli airline El Al in both Rome and Vienna, killing 18 people and wounding 120 others. El Als ticket counter in Los Angeles was targeted in 2002, an attack that killed two people and wounded four others. And in Moscow, it was arriving passengers who were the target in a 2011 bombing near the baggage claim area; 36 people were killed and more than 180 injured.

On Tuesday, terrorists set off two bombs in the departure area of the Brussels airport and another in the subway, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

Those areas really cant be protected, said Douglas R. Laird, former director of security at Northwest Airlines and now head of Laird & Associates, Inc. They are similar to subway stations, shopping malls or any other large public space. And if the airport is secured, all that is going to happen is that they will go after the train, the bus or whatever.

Laird said the focus needs to be more on counter-terrorism intelligence.

By the time they get to the airport, the game is over, he said. You cant have police everyplace.

Security experts say the keys to effective screening are intelligence and constant change in procedures to keep terrorists guessing.

Random is always good, said Brian Jenkins, a senior security analyst at the RAND Corp. Terrorists dont like things that they cant predict. They want to know that a target is unprotected.

Jenkins added that visible presence of more police would be a deterrent and allow for quicker response to an attack.

In the U.S., airport security is complicated by the division of responsibilities. Typically, the Transportation Security Administration handles the screening of passengers and baggage but the airport or local police oversee security of terminals, parking lots and other public areas.

There are increased police patrols within terminals during times of heightened security but even then most passengers dont interact with police and arent questioned until they reach the checkpoint. Airport operators and the TSA note that there are many layers to security, many which are not visible to the public.

The vulnerability of airports outside of the checkpoint has been the subject of studies, recommendations and has led to some changes in airport operations, said Richard Bloom, who teaches aviation security at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. But increased security requires more manpower and costs money.

At Israels Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, all cars are stopped on the way in. Some are searched by armed guards and license plates are scanned by a computer.

Uniformed and undercover armed security personnel are stationed inside and outside the terminals. Cameras  some in plain sight, some hidden  provide additional surveillance. Travelers are subject to profiling and questioning about the purpose of their travel, their personal background and their luggage.

But Tel Aviv is a unique airport. It is smaller than each of the 20 largest U.S. airports. Israeli culture is much more focused on security, with most citizens doing mandatory military service.

The airport handles 15 million passengers a year, compared with more than 100 million in Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world.

In the U.S., the public has shown an unwillingness to subject itself to such an invasive level of screening.

Political correctness has become a liability for the traveling public, said Peter W. Harris, president of security consulting firm Yankee Foxtrot.

Harris said security teams really dont have a good idea about who is entering the airport. He suggests more random screening, chatting with passengers as they enter the terminal and teams of explosive-detecting dogs at the entrances.

Maybe this is a wakeup call, Harris said, but people have very short memories.
Broken Arrow and Union High Schools are among the schools to which Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), an operating unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), has awarded 2016 robotics team grants totaling $27,850 to schools and organizations in its service areas across the state. Of that total, $10,100 has been awarded to Tulsa area schools and organizations.

The AEP FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics grants initiative is one of several companywide programs to support pre-kindergarten through grade 12 student education with an emphasis on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

FIRST is a multi-national robotics competition that teams professionals and students to solve an engineering problem in an intense and competitive way. The brainchild of Dean Kamen, entrepreneur and inventor of the Segway gyroscopic personal electric scooter, FIRST competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events demonstrating participants success in brainstorming, teamwork and meeting deadlines.

PSO is aware of the critical need for strong STEM education and is proud to have our parent companys support in providing funding for our area schools and robotics teams, said Carole Huff Hicks, PSO community affairs manager for the Tulsa metro area. We are hopeful that students will continue their post-secondary studies in these fields and consider career options which require this knowledge.

Tulsa metro area FIRST robotics teams grant recipients for 2016 in addition to Broken Arrow and Union High Schools, include Booker T. Washington High School, Memorial High School, Jenks High School, Bixby High School, Cascia Hall Preparatory School, Union High School, Dove Science Academy, and Boy Scout Troop 26, Tulsa.

More information on FIRST robotics programs can be found at www.usfirst.org. Information on how to apply for a FIRST robotics grant can be found online at: www.aep.com/go/aepfirstgrant
In the event of a disaster or severe weather event, it is always a safe bet to have a basic emergency supply kit on hand.

A kit contains basic items that the family may need should they become displaced, have a power outage or suffer any other type of emergency situation.

Preparedness Rocks will be one of nearly 70 vendors participating in the 2016 Wagoner County Emergency Preparedness and Safety Expo planned Saturday, March 26 in Coweta.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Coweta Intermediate High School, 14699 S. 305th E. Ave.

Preparedness Rocks is comprised of 4-H members Kaylee, Daryn and JoDawn Herriman and Wyatt and Shelby Wilson. Their efforts are to inform the public about preparedness in easy to understand language.

Their booth will display a wide assortment of safety kit items, including radios, food and more.

This is our third Expo and its the kids on-going 4-H project, explained the Herriman childrens mother, Karen. Our families are all involved in emergency management, so they have a better understanding of why preparedness is important.

Karen and her husband, Toby, serve with the Wainright Volunteer Fire Department. They served many years with the Porter Volunteer Fire Department and with Wagoner County Emergency Management.

The Wilson childrens dad, Mark Wilson, is a volunteer with Wagoner County Emergency Management and their mom, Tawnya, is a supporter.

We realize it is easier for the kids to talk to other kids about emergency preparedness kits than for adults to do it, Karen Herriman said. Kids will listen to kids because its not like an adult saying, you need this. They encourage kids to make an emergency plan and to know they need to contact their parents when an emergency happens.

They are more aware of what goes on, so that way they are not as scared, she added.

Because of Preparedness Rocks, Daryn Herriman was ranked in the Top 3 in Oklahoma 4-H for safety. To date, the group has reached 10,000 people between the Wagoner County Expo and Camp Bandage in Broken Arrow.

In addition, all of the young people become eligible for college scholarships because of their state safety program.

Karen Herriman said Preparedness Rocks will give away two weather radios at Saturdays Expo. All patrons are invited to stop by and put their name in the drawing.

For more information or safety tips, find Preparedness Rocks on Facebook and like their page.

- Christy Wheeland
Authorities are looking for a man charged in the death of a 45-year-old woman who was shot last weekend at a home west of Tulsa.

Alonzo John Kelly III, 33, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of Charletta Thomas, according to court documents.

Tulsa County Sheriffs Office deputies responded to a shooting call about 8:20 p.m. Saturday at a home in the 3700 block of West 57th Street, according to a Sheriffs Office news release. Deputies say Kelly shot Thomas during a domestic dispute, according to the release.

A judge issued a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday, records show.

Authorities named Kelly as a person of interest in the slaying Sunday, but now consider him the main suspect, according to the release.

He is described as black, about 5-foot-11 and weighing 185 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.

Kelly may be driving a maroon 1992 Chevrolet Caprice. The four-door vehicle has no wheel covers, according to the release.

Authorities consider Kelly armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about his whereabouts can contact the Sheriffs Office at 918-596-5601.
City officials along with representatives of the police and fire unions stood together Tuesday to urge voters to pass all parts of the Vision Tulsa package.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93 President Clay Ballenger said adding police officers via the public-safety ballot proposition goes hand in hand with other Vision ballot items because they all would help with recruiting.

Residents will vote on the sales-tax proposals April 5.

Proposition 1, a permanent public-safety tax, would add about 170 police, 65 firefighters, 911 personnel and support other capital needs.

This would allow us to hire almost 200 police officers over the next few years, Ballenger said. We cant do that without these other pieces of Vision Tulsa that are so important.

Ballengers comments came at a news conference near the Tulsa Police Departments Riverside Division station, where he and Chad Miller, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 176, each endorsed the entire Vision Tulsa package.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett, County Commissioner Karen Keith and City Councilors Karen Gilbert and Anna America all spoke in support of various public-safety projects at the news conference, a recurring event to address each of the many pieces in Vision Tulsa.

Largely, the point of the news conference was that public safety is included in more than just the public-safety proposition to add emergency personnel.

Officials pointed toward the public schools safety project in economic development, proper street striping to prevent wrecks in the transportation proposition and levee rehabilitation in the river corridor project.

Ballenger pointed to the economic-development arm of the Vision package, in particular, as needed to improve TPD recruitment.

Police officers are no different than anyone else, Ballenger said. When were recruiting them to live here and work here, they look for the same things: safe streets, sidewalks, crosswalks to help the students get to and from school safely.

Last year, the police department struggled to fill a 30-recruit academy without enough applications from candidates. Officials at the time said there just werent enough people interested in moving to Tulsa.

Proposition 3 is a $511 million request geared toward economic development, including low-water dams and other Arkansas River corridor development, education capital items, Gilcrease Museum expansion and a long list of other projects.

Our families look for those same activities, Ballenger said. So as we go out and try to recruit these 200 more officers, that economic development piece is key to not only bringing more jobs to Tulsa from outside the police department but just to get those police officers here to do the job.

The total package is a 0.55 percent sales tax that would be renewed from Vision 2025s expiring 0.6 percent tax. It would be expected to raise $884.1 million over 15 years.
While the Okmulgee police chief confirmed just after 10 p.m. Friday that the remains were those of four men, he could not confirm that they were the bodies of the four local men who had been missing since Sunday.
Citing a newly acquired vacation home and numerous other assets as evidence of wealth, a judge has ordered a Tulsa Mexican restaurant business and its owner to post a $2.1 million bond while they appeal a verdict in a federal overtime and minimum wage violations lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge John Dowdell, in an order and opinion released Tuesday, brushed aside claims by Carlos Aguirre that he would have to close his four area El Tequila restaurants and seek bankruptcy if he had to post a bond on the entire $2.1 million judgment rendered in the case while the appeal plays out.

Dowdell said Aguirre failed to justify his claims that he and his business could not afford to pay the entire judgment.

Aguirre had asked to be allowed to post a $300,000 irrevocable letter of credit, instead.

Dowdell, in his opinion and order, was critical of the one-page affidavit Aguirre submitted as evidence that he and his business do not have assets to post the full bond.

Rather, Dowdell pointed to evidence from the U.S. Labor Department that shows Aguirre had a net worth of nearly $3 million.

The evidence clearly demonstrates that Aguirres wealth, plus regular income from his restaurants and rental properties, far exceed the amount of the bond, Dowdell wrote in his opinion and order.

Aguirre owns 13 properties: eight homes and one vacant plot of land in Oklahoma, two homes in South Carolina, and two homes in Guatemala, the second of which is being built at this time, Dowdell stated.

Bill Wilkinson, Aguirres attorney, said the judge has demanded the impossible for any company to post a bond in that amount.

Asked if Aguirre would be able to keep his businesses open, Wilkinson said he would.

His employees will stand behind him when all else fails, Wilkinson said. His employees will keep those doors open.

The request for the reduced bond follows a December jury trial in Tulsa federal court. Dowdell threw out the jurys verdict that found that Aguirre had not intentionally violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

After the jury ruled in favor of Aguirre, Dowdell, acting on a request from federal officials, set aside the decision after determining that the jury reached a verdict wholly unsupported by the evidence before it.

Prior to the jury trial, Dowdell ruled that El Tequila and Aguirre had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act in the handling of employee wages. But Dowdell left it up to the jury to determine whether the violations were willful.

Shortly thereafter, Aguirre appealed the case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The Labor Department began investigating El Tequila in December 2010 after receiving a complaint from an employee who worked at the restaurant at 5001 S. Harvard Ave., court records show.

The Labor Department sued El Tequila and Aguirre on Oct. 22, 2012, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma based on its investigation of business records.

In his Tuesday opinion and order, Dowdell wrote that he was troubled by financial decisions Aguirre made during the trial and while he argued for a lower bond.

The judge, in a footnote to his decision, noted that Aguirre had paid $265,000 in cash for waterfront property in Guatemala that he referred to as a vacation property following the issuance of the judgment against him.

The judge also pointed to Aguirres having admitted to transferring $530,000 from restaurant and personal bank accounts to a new bank account in case any of the other accounts were to be frozen.

In addition to requiring the full $2.1 million bond amount be posted within 15 days, Dowdell prohibited Aguirre and his business from transferring any assets other than what is reasonably necessary for purposes of providing costs of living and operating El Tequila LLC.

Aguirre owns four restaurants in the Tulsa area, including one in Broken Arrow and one in Owasso.

Wilkinson, meanwhile, disputed the governments accounts regarding Aguirres wealth. Wilkinson said the home in Guatemala was not a vacation home but rather an investment property.

Wilkinson said the government wants to use Aguirre to set an example.

They want to break him and see that his restaurants are closed and see that all his assets are gone, Wilkinson said. And they can if he doesnt post a supersedeas bond.
COWETA  A Coweta school board member and former high school principal will no longer have to contend with a ban from school property.

Superintendent Jeff Holmes first banned Doyle Burress from school property and school events in March 2015 when Burress was newly elected to the Coweta school board, amid allegations of sexual assault by two of Burress former students when he was teaching at Wagoner High School.

Public records obtained under the Oklahoma Open Records Act indicate that board members had made it clear to Holmes that they wanted to resolve the issue now so not to continue shedding a negative light on the district and community.

Because the ban had expired, the Tulsa World contacted Holmes to inquire about the reason.

Holmes responded with a written statement that reads: A six-month ban placed on Coweta School Board Member Doyle Burress has expired. Due to the legal sensitivity of the situation, the district in unable to provide additional comment.

Asked to elaborate, Holmes said he would not seek an extension of the ban on Burress because they have developed a good rapport during the first year of his five-year board term.

Burress was hired as Coweta High School principal on July 1, 2008, and entered into a resignation agreement with the district on Feb. 3, 2012, with no public disclosure regarding the reasons.

After Burress defeated incumbent Ward 5 board member Brian Baysinger in early 2015, Holmes banned Burress from school property.

Burress appealed that decision to the school board in an informal hearing at a public meeting.

There, the school districts attorney, John Moyer, detailed accusations of sexual assaults made by two former students  one beginning around her 18th birthday during the 1995-96 school year and the second when she was 15 years old  plus one reported witness to inappropriate sexual conduct between Burress and one of those students. The allegations did not come to light until years after the statute of limitations would have expired.

Moyer said then that Coweta Public Schools had received the allegations between December 2011 and February 2012, just prior to the resignation agreement struck between the school district and Burress.

The remainder of the Coweta school board voted to uphold a six-month ban and followed suit in upholding a six-month renewal of that ban in August.

When contacted for this story, Burress first said, I dont believe any comment needs to be made at this time.

Then, without further prompting, he said: I am the same man today as I was five years ago, 25 years ago, one year ago. I am who I am. Ive done nothing wrong. I am innocent.

Asked whether the districts ban had made his board service difficult, Burress responded: For 90 percent of the people, it has been a non-issue, so it has not been difficult. It was a good first year, and I look forward to the next four years.

The Tulsa World filed a request under the Oklahoma Open Records Act for all public records, including written communications, concerning Burress since Aug. 1.

Records provided by Holmes show he contacted a public relations consultant named Kathleen Kennedy for assistance in preparing a written statement in response to the Tulsa Worlds inquiry about why the property ban would not be renewed.

There were several earlier drafts that were much lengthier than the final statement issued.

Those drafts, which were apparently scrapped, included a statement that board members in August had made it clear to Holmes that the situation needed to be resolved so not to continue shedding a negative light on the district and community.

Also not making the final cut was a statement that visitors and guests, including school board members, were required to sign in and out of school buildings so the district could keep tabs.

Additionally, we will rely on student and adult reporting, the earlier draft reads. If anyone, administrator, teacher, student, or visitor does anything inappropriate on any of our campuses, the administration will investigate, call on local authorities if necessary and take appropriate actions.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden during a phone conversation have coordinated positions on the return of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko convicted in Russia to Ukraine, the presidential press service reports.

"The sides have coordinated their positions for the purpose of the soonest return of Nadia Savchenko to Ukraine," it said.

For his part, Poroshenko said that Russia would never recognize this "show trial" of Savchenko.

According to the press service, the U.S. vice-president assured Poroshenko that Russia would be urged to immediately release Savchenko during the forthcoming visit of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow.

The Ukrainian president also spoke about "the Savchenko list," which has been compiled by Ukraine and which includes names of people who fabricated the criminal case against her.

In addition, Poroshenko told the U.S. vice-president about the situation in Donbas.

Biden confirmed the unwavering U.S. support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and said that the sanctions against Russia would stay in place until its complete fulfillment of the Minsk agreements, the report said.

The United States will continue to assist Ukraine on the path of reforms, the U.S. vice-president said.

The two officials also discussed the schedule of the upcoming contacts at the highest level between the U.S. and Ukraine.

The Donetsk City Court in the Rostov region sentenced Savchenko to 22 years in a penitentiary on Tuesday on charges of complicity in the murder of Russian journalists.

The period of Savchenko's incarceration since June 30, 2014, was included in her prison time. The Russian court resolved that Savchenko would serve 20 years in a penitentiary.
AUSTIN, Texas  An Austin police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, naked 17-year-old last month will be fired, Police Chief Art Acevedo announced Monday.

In a memo outlining the disciplinary action, Acevedo said Officer Geoffrey Freeman violated department policy in the shooting of David Joseph  that he should not have confronted the teenager alone, that his decision to draw his weapon wasn't warranted and that there were other ways he could have stopped Joseph after the teen began charging at the officer.

Freeman's lawyers with the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas say they will appeal. The general counsel for the group has said Freeman feared for his life when he fired his gun at Joseph.

The group will use the "resources necessary" to ensure that Freeman's "good name is restored and that he will be back to work," Executive Director Charley Wilkison said in a statement.

Acevedo said he has "indefinitely suspended" Freeman, which he says is the department's term for firing. If Freeman appeals, the firing isn't final until an arbitrator upholds it.

Travis County prosecutors also are investigating the shooting and plan to present the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.

Acevedo's memo to the interim director of civil service explains that Freeman was one of four officers who responded to a call about a naked man running across a roadway on Feb. 8. Freeman knew the other officers were on their way and had even asked for extra help because he believed the person had a mental illness or was high, the memo states.

Acevedo said Freeman should have waited for other officers before confronting Joseph. His memo also says Freeman could have used a stun gun, pepper spray or even physical force to stop Joseph when the teen kept coming toward the officer after Freeman told him to stop. The memo notes that Freeman weighed about 240 pounds, while Joseph weighed about 146 pounds.

An autopsy found that Joseph had marijuana and an anti-anxiety drug in his system when he was fatally shot. The teenager was black, as is Freeman.

Freeman, 42, was a 10-year veteran of the Austin police department.
WASHINGTON  The horrible Islamic terrorist attacks in Brussels make clear that this president has failed to protect the West from the growing threat from the Islamic State, which under President Barack Obama has spread throughout the Middle East and strikes at Western cities with sickening regularity. The Washington Post reports:

The Islamic State asserted responsibility for the attacks, according to a statement posted on the Amaq Agency, a website believed to be close to the extremist group. The message said Belgium was targeted for its participation in the international coalition battling the Islamic State.

If the Islamic State link is confirmed, it would mark another deadly strike less than a week after a suicide blast in Istanbul that killed five people, two of them with dual American-Israel citizenship.

And yet the president, as recently as his Atlantic interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, insists we can walk away from the Middle East. Obama has failed to learn the lessons of not only 9/11, but Paris, San Bernardino, Istanbul and now Belgium.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the day after speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, told a scrum of reporters Tuesday morning that these attacks will continue until ISIS is defeated. He castigated the president for political correctness, in refusing to recognize the nature of the threat we face and again called for measures such as halting entrance of Syrian refugees and re-examination of the visa waiver program. While his own plans to defeat the Islamic State include stepped up bombing and arming the Kurds, he now, as he has begun to do regularly, includes in his policy prescriptions the need to embed forces on the ground. He also asserted that Obama should return from Cuba or go to Brussels, rather than continue to grovel at Castros feet.

He seized the opportunity to bash Donald Trump. It is striking that the day after Donald Trump called for weakening NATO, withdrawing from NATO, we see Brussels, where NATO is headquartered, the subject of a radical Islamic terror attack, he said. Donald Trump is wrong that America should withdraw from the world and abandon our allies. Donald Trump is wrong that America should retreat from Europe, retreat from NATO, hand Putin a major victory and while hes at it hand ISIS a major victory.

In a sit-down afterward that The Washington Post and a number of other journalists attended, Cruz picked up on his criticisms of Trump. He asserted that Trumps worldview is similar to that of left-wing politicians from Jimmy Carter to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, to whom Trump has given money. Trump, he argued, in calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, echoes the rhetoric of the fever swamps of the left. Asked if Trump is intent on rewriting Republicans foreign policy, Cruz said dismissively, I dont think he has enough knowledge to be rewriting [conservative foreign policy]. And in some of his harshest criticism of Trump, Cruz said that while Trump sounds angry and tough, on substance he is weak and he believes in isolationism. He further mocked Trump for claiming at AIPAC that he had studied the Iran deal more than anyone else. The reaction, he recalled, was unrestrained laughter.

While the tragedy in Brussels is one more reminder for the country at large of the dangers of Islamic terrorism and the Obama-Kerry-Clinton foreign policy failure, it is also Cruzs chance, maybe the best one yet, to point out that Trump would be worse as commander in chief than Obama, who has, Cruz noted, not gone as far as Trump in suggesting we bug out of NATO. Cruz is on firm ground both in arguing that Trump is entirely clueless on the specifics of foreign policy and in emphasizing that rather than Make America great, Trumps policies would double down on the Obama approach of retreat and retrenchment, making the United States and our allies that much more vulnerable.

Will GOP voters perk up? If they dont, Hillary Clinton will be able to run to the right of Trump in the general election as the tougher, savvier candidate to become commander in chief. The large majority of voters is likely to agree.

Jennifer Rubin is a Washington Post political columnist.
It's Divali time so at TV6 over the next few days, we bring you some of the interesting aspe
John Cleese may take legal action against an Australian theatre company staging The Faulty Towers Dining Experience is slated to run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival next month.

The production, by Interactive Theatre International, began in 1997 inspired by the Fawlty Towers characters Basil, Manuel and Sybil, and has since been seen by over half a million people featuring nine teams of cast touring the world virtually non-stop.

The show has received good reviews. But while a recent season at the Sydney Opera House cost up to $195 for dinner and show, John Cleese and co-writer ex-wife Connie Booth, have not received a cent.

Cleese today told Fairfax, If theyve been going for 20 years without paying us a penny, they could well owe us a very significant amount.

They didnt ask our permission and we didnt know it was happening on this scale, he said. If little groups are making some money thats not a problem, but this is entirely different.

Ms Pollard-Mensargh, founder and artistic director of Interactive Theatre International, told Fairfax,

We understand that John Cleese has made a comment to the media concerning dinner theatre.

We do not know if his comments were intended to be directed at our show, which has been running for nearly 20 years. If his comments were directed at us we reject them  they are misleading and inaccurate. We are huge fans of his work and wish him all the best with his new show.

This week Cleese introduced actor Stephen Hall to media as the official Basil from the upcoming Fawlty Towers Live production, which has its world premiere in Sydney in August.

I've just found out from an Aussie journalist the astonishing financial success of the 'Faulty Towers Rip-Off Dining Experience'.Had no idea  John Cleese (@JohnCleese) March 23, 2016

Dear David

Seems they thought that by not asking, and by changing the 'w' to a 'u',they'd be in the clear! Hilarious https://t.co/Px0xQxKAMr  John Cleese (@JohnCleese) March 23, 2016

This is a good way of giving more publicity to the 'Faulty Towers Rip-Off Experience'

I'd love more reports.Thanks https://t.co/xQ0BsBu2p9  John Cleese (@JohnCleese) March 23, 2016

40 years of unpaid publicity,the characters' personalities,the characters' names,the characters' dress,the characters's dialogue  John Cleese (@JohnCleese) March 23, 2016
The role of Aaron Brennan on Neighbours is the first major acting role for 27 year old Matt Wilson.

Yet while playing a gay character might have triggered second thoughts for some young actors, Wilson had no concerns. If he had any nerves, it wasnt surrounding his sexuality.

Its not really a big deal. Thats the character youre playing, so you have to completely embody that person regardless of what it is.

In my first scene I had to strip! I cant dance so my biggest concern was dancing on national television! he laughs.

It was a memorable entrance. Arriving as a male stripper at Erinsboroughs Waterhole, Aaron Brennan recognised his brothers Mark (Scott McGregor) and Tyler (Travis Burns) and settled into Ramsay Street.

Wilson drew upon his own gay friends as research when he joined the long-running soap a year ago.

When I got the job I had wardrobe consultations so I went through all my mates photos on Instagram. They dont know this but I took screenshots of them and made a big look book! he recalls.

Theyre all around the same age who hang around a surf town in Sydney, both gay and straight. And thats what Aaron is. Hes similar to them, so I thought Theres no-one better to base it on. I might tell them one day!

Now they love it. Its awesome. Every now and then they give me a little ribbing if I have a topless scene.

But I havent seen too much negative stuff. Someone bagged me out on the type of shoes I was wearing once.

Wilson was a trained carpenter who crossed the boards into showbiz when his mother entered him into Australias Hottest Tradie contest. He won a car and along with it, a co-hosting gig for the contest the following year.

So I went to NIDA and did a 2 week course in presenting. The teacher suggested I do some acting courses, so I enrolled in some of those and then I did some outside workshops for about 5 years, he continues.

Whenever somebody made a short film Id put my hand up and my mates made a zombie feature called Wormwood. I built some of the props, I played a zombie anything I could do to do with production I put my hand up.

There were modelling gigs, a minor role on Underbelly and a Neighbours audition.

Learning on the job alongside seasoned performers is synonymous with the ELEVEN soap, and is something this hungry young man embraces with open arms.

Because we shoot so much you dont really get the time to rehearse other than on set with the other person in front of you, he explains.

I did a comic scene with Jackie (Woodburne) and Fletch (Alan Fletcher) the other day and they pretty much re-wrote it and made it into something absolutely hilarious. They can see how it looks on television and they know how comedy works. So when you get tips from people like that you think How good is this?

When you first begin the writers dont really know you because they havent seen much of your stuff, so they havent found your strong points. So the writing changes as you are on the show longer. If you do something really well they remember it and write it. Im getting more comic relief scenes, where Aaron is sort of the one who is left out, but its really funny. He just brushes it off, he doesnt get depressed or anything. So they know he can bounce back.

Sometimes you read the line and think How am I going to say that? and then you workshop it with someone like Stefan Dennis. Its great!

Neighbours airs 6:30pm weeknights on ELEVEN.
UK broadcaster SKY has postponed the launch of the second series of The Tunnel following the Belgian terror attacks, but only by one week.

The Tunnel: Sabotage, which depicts an attack on a British airliner which crashes into the English channel, was due to premiere on April 5.

A SKY spokesperson said: In light of the tragic events in Brussels, SKY Atlantic has decided to postpone the launch of The Tunnel: Sabotage as a mark of respect.

The drama, which contains fictitious scenes of terrorism, will now broadcast on 12th April at 9pm.

The plot sees English policeman Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane) and French counterpart Elise Wasserman (Clemence Posey) investigate a complex terror network following an airline crash.

At least 34 people and around 250 were wounded following attacks on an airport and train station in Brussels overnight.

Source: Radio Times
Following Julia Louis-Dreyfus tweet that she was dumb-founded by Malcolm Turnbulls use of Veeps Continuity with Change slogan, creator Armando Iannucci has weighed in.

Continuity with Change is the most concise example we could come up with of a politician saying a word and its opposite very quickly, the former showrunner said. The aim is to have it sound snappy and confident, as if it makes sense. In fact, it means nothing. The two words cancel each other out.

Its a by-product of political argument, he said. Im still trying to come to terms with the number of people who say theyre Pro Life and For The Death Penalty.

Simon Blackwell, Veeps writer and executive producer, spoke about Continuity with Change as Meyers presidential campaign slogan on the HBO comedy.

We needed it to be hollow and oxymoronic, to say absolutely nothing but seem to have depth and meaning. It couldnt be too daft though  it had to be funny but still believable, he said.

Selina wants to be all things to all people  she wants to assure the American public that government is carrying on as normal after the president has stepped down, that there is no crisis, but she also wants to seem fresh and forward-looking.

It did make me laugh a lot when I saw that the Australian PMs people had been on the same mental journey and come up with the same meaningless phrase.

Earlier this week House of Cards also tweeted to the Prime Minister.

.@TurnbullMalcolm I admire your methodology, Prime Minister. If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table.  House of Cards (@HouseofCards) March 21, 2016

Turnbull has previously said he has nothing in common with President Frank Underwood, other than we both use a rowing machine.

Source: Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian
Germany recognizes Russia as a reliable supplier of energy resources and is actively engaged in the Nord Stream-2 debate with the European Commission for the purpose of settling legal and political matters.

"The Nord Stream-2 project is being actively discussed by the participating companies and the European Commission. Of course, we are taking part in this debate, which needs to resolve many complex legal and political matters," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Interfax in an exclusive interview.

"Europe needs safe and diversified gas supply at advantageous rates. Russia has always been our reliable partner in the field of energy, including at a difficult time," he said.

Speaking of economic relations with Russia, the minister said, "They remain close. Naturally, the sanctions have had a negative effect but the severe recession ongoing in the Russian economy has taken no less heavy a toll."

"I am glad that most German enterprises are still determined to do business in Russia despite the complicated circumstances. This is a manifestation of expectations for new dynamics in our exchanges. We should be working on this," Steinmeier said.
4:19 p.m., March 23, 2016--Power blackouts happen every day in many African countries, and nearly 600 million people on the continent lack access to electricity. However, the continents plentiful sunshine, wind and other energy sources could go a long way to filling that void.

To discuss such opportunities, the University of Delaware will host leading energy scientists, policy experts and industry representatives from Africa at a conference to be held April 2526 at UDs Clayton Hall Conference Center.

The conference is designed to provide networking opportunities for UD faculty and students, local industry, and federal and state agencies, as well as for their counterparts from Africa.

To attend the event, register at this website. The registration deadline is Monday, April 18.

The conference is especially timely, said Ajay Prasad, Alumni Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, because a number of UD faculty and students have been working on projects in Africa, and expanding these collaborations is a major goal.

In the energy arena, South Africa, in particular, has a vibrant research effort in fuel cells, catalysis, wind and other energy-related topics that are of great interest to researchers at UD, said Prasad, who is one of the conference organizers. Delaware and our neighboring states also are home to several companies that are active in the energy field.

The agenda includes opening remarks by Chris Coons, U.S. senator from Delaware and a member of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy. A panel discussion on UD-Africa engagement will be held, followed by sessions devoted to specific energy themes, including catalysis, fuel cells, solar thermal energy, wind energy, biomass conversion and energy policy. Lab tours also are planned.

Distinguished speakers from Africa will join UD faculty in the panel discussion, including Frannie Leautier, former vice president of the World Bank and executive secretary to the African Capacity Building Foundation; Bonaventure Mbida-Essama, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Institute; Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo, chairman of the board of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA); and Yoshifumi Okamura, former Japanese ambassador to Ivory Coast and now ambassador to the United Nations.

Prominent speakers from Africa will participate in the energy sessions, including Dmitri Bessarabov, director of Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Infrastructure, Cordellia Sita, director of HySA Systems, and Sharon Blair, director of HySA Catalysis; Patricia Kooyman, SARCHI Chair in Nano Materials for Catalysis at the University of Cape Town; Agostinho Miguel Garcia, principal consultant at Sun Business Development; Dipolelo Jane Elford, renewable energy consultant from South Africa; Olayinka S. Ohunakin, head of the Energy and Environment Research Group at Covenant University, Nigeria; and Sameer Hameer, lecturer at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Tanzania.

The conference is the outcome of visits made by a UD contingent to South Africa in 2013 and 2014, arranged and partially sponsored by the state of Delaware. Prasad and fellow conference organizer Douglas Buttrey, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, were part of a small UD team that met with officials at a dozen universities, research centers and government institutes.

Their host was MISTRA, a globally recognized think-tank based in Johannesburg, whose leaders, Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo and Renosi Mokate, received their masters and doctoral degrees from UDs School of Public Policy and Administration. Among their many accomplishments, both attained prominent positions in Nelson Mandelas administration, and the couple continues to stay connected to UD.

Drs. Vil-Nkomo and Mokate have been instrumental in helping us to establish contacts in Africa, and we are grateful for their assistance, Buttrey said. We expect this conference to spark discussions that will pave the road to new collaborations  faculty exchange opportunities and research internships for our students and postdocs, as well as business opportunities for Delaware-based companies in Africa.

Support for the conference is being provided through the University of Delaware Energy Institute, Institute for Global Studies Global Exchange (Globex) program, College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Center for Carbon-free Power Integration and the African Studies Program.

Article by Tracey Bryant
Ottawa must continue to support Kyiv in its struggle against the Russian invasion till the complete victory over the aggressor.

Such an opinion was expressed by Canadian MP James Bezan, the Critic for National Defence for the Official Opposition, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We must not stop our efforts until they result in the cessation of Russian aggression and the reversal of President Putin's imperialistic ambitions in Ukraine and other former Soviet states. Putin's fear-mongering and dangerous actions are an attempt to enlarge Russia's sphere of influence and blatantly disregards international laws and undermines world peace," Bezan said.

He emphasized the courage of Ukrainians they had shown in the face of threats from Russia.

"Ukrainians have been resilient in the face of Putin's aggression and Russias invasion and occupation of Crimea and the Donbas. The Conservative Party of Canada continues to stand with Ukrainians. Ukraine can count on Canada. We are allies, we are friends. We are family," the MP said.

ol
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt arrive together today in Kharkiv.

Kharkiv regional state administration told Ukrinform.

"We are waiting for President of Ukraine to arrive together with U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt to Kharkiv. Both Poroshenko and U.S. ambassador will pay a visit to the National Science Center " Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology", which is supported by the American side in the process of constructing and commissioning equipment related to the neutron source" , the local city authorities noted.

Also, Ukrinform learned that Pyatt and Poroshenko will visit National University of Internal Affairs.

"Here new Ukrainian police officers will demonstrate their skills learned under the guidance of American instructors during simulated operations," added the local officials.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said he will accept any plan of withdrawing Ukraine from political crises that the parliamentary coalition and the president will offer.

The prime minister said this at a government meeting on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

I have clearly stated about two ways out of political crisis. I will accept any of these ways, a decision by the parliamentary coalition of Petro Poroshenko Bloc, or [a decision] personally by the President, Yatsenyuk said.

The head of government also said that democratic forces should cooperate and support actions of the Cabinet of Minister or the President and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc Faction should assume responsibility for the situation.

In addition, according to Yatsenyuk, early parliamentary elections will not change the situation for the better.

Iy
| By Alex Likowski

The debate over Senate Bill 1052, the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership Act of 2016, intensified Tuesday, as dozens of witnesses testified before a House of Delegates committee in Annapolis.

The original bill was amended by the Senate in a few significant ways before it was passed to the House last week. The bill now maintains a president for each campus and omits a provision allowing the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents to name just one president for both in the event that the president of either campus leaves office.

The amended bill also removes an effort to combine personnel systems, grants the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) equal privileges to present the governor with budget priorities, and extends funding for a technology commercialization center to be located in Baltimore.

One of SB 1052s most ardent supporters, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (Prince Georges and Calvert), told delegates the bill is important for the entire state, enabling greater research and educational collaboration, and helping revitalize Baltimores downtown area.

I lived in Baltimore for three years. Baltimore was a bustling town. I got to see Greektown. I got to see Little Italy. I got to see historic Baltimore. I got to see a downtown that was alive and well and I loved it, he said, adding with a laugh, I got to The Block on West Baltimore Street a couple of times even. Miller continued, lamenting that those place are dead now. They're dead. Downtown is dead. But we need to bring the 'millennials' to downtown and we can do that.

Much of the testimony that followed concerned the impact a new UMB-UMCP partnership might have on the other 10 USM universities and the persisting perception that the bill would create a merger of the two institutions.

I'm strongly supportive of legislation that strengthens the partnership, UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, told the House Appropriations Committee, cautioning that If theres confusion regarding whether this is a merger, and there can be no question that there is confusion, then therell be unnecessary impact on the critical work I think of partnering two very different cultures.

Since 2012, UMB and UMCP have collaborated in joint research and educational programs under the aegis of University of Maryland: MPowering the State (MPower). Following a 2011 proposal to merge the two universities, the USM Board of Regents conducted a study to find the most effective means to partner the two institutions, concluding that a structured partnership rather than a merger would produce the greatest results with the least cost and disruption.

At Tuesdays hearing there was virtual unanimity that MPower has been a success, generating millions of dollars in joint research grants, spawning new tech businesses, commercializing scientific discoveries, and enabling new educational programs.

School of Nursing Dean Jane M. Kirschling and Carey School of Law Dean Donald B. Tobin prepare to testify to the House Appropriations Committee.

As part of MPower we're active participants in the Justice and Legal Thought scholars program [at UMCP] which now has been a huge success, said Donald B. Tobin, JD, dean of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. We also participate in a 3/3 program so that now a College Park student can participate in three years at the undergraduate school and three years at the law school, so students can graduate in six years.

University of Maryland School of Nursing Dean Jane M. Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN, described joint programs that recruit nursing students for her schools baccalaureate program, and reserve seats for College Park students. And University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, described many successful joint degree and joint research programs conducted in conjunction with UMCP.

Among the strongest testimony in support of MPower came from University of Maryland School of Dentistry professor Robert Ernst, PhD, who appeared to have taken advantage of nearly every aspect of the alliance. I have been the recipient of one of the seed grants with somebody at College Park. I have received a TEDCO [Maryland Technology Development Corporation] M-I-I [Maryland Innovation Initiative grant]. I have also been lucky enough to receive one of the MedImmune grants that came out of the whole UM system. And Im also one of the people who started a new company out of the OTT [Office of Technology Transfer] department of the University of Maryland, Baltimore late last year. So, MPower works, Ernst assured the committee.

UMCP President Wallace Loh, PhD, JD, MA, echoed praise for MPower. MPower for the last four years has been incredibly successful in terms of education, research, in terms of tech commercialization, creating new companies. But you should know, it's been successful because of the relationship between Jay and me and our staffs, he said, urging that the relationship should be made permanent. Once you codify it so it continues beyond our lifetimes, in these jobs, my hope is that one plus one can someday equals five or six.

The abundance of support for the current form of partnership between the two universities prompted some, like USM Regent James T. Brady, to suggest the legislature should stick with MPower and reject the Strategic Partnership.

We have an MPower project that has been wildly successful. And I havent heard anyone say anything different. Why would our focus not be on making that as good as it can be without creating this incredibly complex morass-filled bill that just complicates everything immensely? Brady added, Here we have two institutions which are as culturally divergent as you could possibly imagine. Putting these together in any way is a very difficult task, if not impossible. And I think would have deleterious potential impact on the entire system.

UMB Faculty Senate President Sarah Michel, PhD, agreed, telling delegates that her colleagues believe an investment aimed at expanding MPowering the State, rather than a merger, would be a better allocation of state resources.

How higher education resources would be allocated following the creation of a greater and more formalized UMB-UMCP partnership was on the minds of many who testified in the three-hour hearing. USM Chancellor Robert L. Caret, PhD, agreed that balancing needs and priorities among the various USM institutions would be a challenge. If you always make one institution the most important, then the others are going to eventually deteriorate in terms of funding or the ability to do what they need to do or in terms of facilities, he said.

Caret testified that a number of important concerns remain and will require attention before USMs support can move from conceptual to concrete. And he emphasized that funding guidelines ought to be included in the bill, as well as a greater focus on educational goals. The bill focuses heavily on economic development and research. We would also like it to focus on education, access, and student completion, he said.

Many supporters of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, including members of the committee, also expressed concerns. Some argued that UMBC should receive greater funding, while others suggested UMBC should join UMB and UMCP in the new strategic partnership.

It seems to me it is a fairly major research institution thats being left out of this discussion, said Del. Marc Korman (Montgomery).

Del. Mark Chang (Anne Arundel) agreed. I just feel like UMBC is being left out of this. UMBC has done what most colleges havent done in 100 years and theyve only been around for 50. 

Sen. Millers response that the bill would be a win-win for everybody, including UMBC failed to satisfy all concerns.

Virletta C. Bryant, PhD, a professor at Coppin State University and chair of the Council of University System Faculty (CUSF), expressed serious concerns about the bill. CUSF is concerned that the unintended consequences associated with this legislation may serve as a Trojan horse, ultimately undermining the overall quality of higher education in the state of Maryland, she testified. The comprehensive members of the current USM [particularly Coppin State University, Bowie State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Frostburg State University, Towson University, University of Baltimore, and Salisbury University] could experience great harm from this action.

Late in the afternoon, UMCP student Colin Byrd enlivened the proceedings and enlightened those present with a lesson in University of Maryland history. UMB and UMCP were one institution, he said, until 1970 when the size of the organization made administration unwieldy and ineffective. The legislatures decision to split the two nearly 50 years ago gave evidence, he told the committee, that bigger is not necessarily better.

This idea that a combined university means better faculty and students is hogwash, Byrd said. Hearkening back to former chancellor Donald N. Langenbergs testimony that the current USM structure works well, and that If it aint broke, dont fix it, Byrd added, If it was broke before and you fixed it, dont break it again.

The full House Appropriations Committee hearing may be viewed online. Please scroll to the 10-minute mark for the start of the hearing.
BALI, Indonesia - In a move welcomed by the UN Refugee Agency, Ministers of Bali Process countries today pledged to take a comprehensive regional approach to managing mixed migration flows by strengthening cooperation on search and rescue at sea, predictable disembarkation, temporary protection and legal pathways for refugees and migrants.

The Ministerial Declaration was adopted on Wednesday at the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process. It is the first-ever such declaration in the 14-year history of this regional forum and a strong sign that its 45 member countries are deeply committed to addressing the regional challenges of mixed migration at a time of massive forced displacement around the world.

"With more than 60 million people forcibly displaced from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Burundi, no country or region is immune from the

aspects, and combating smuggling and trafficking. This will only work, however, if it goes hand-in-hand with a clear and unequivocal human security impact," said Volker Turk, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. "Today's pledge is a timely reminder that predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing arrangements are the only way to tackle these challenges while seizing opportunities."

He welcomed the Ministers' acknowledgement that responses must be holistic and protection-sensitive: "They need to cover border control, security, and indeed, protection of people dimension, including for refugees."

Putting things in perspective, the Assistant High Commissioner noted that the Asia-Pacific region hosts fewer refugees compared to elsewhere in the world, and that solutions are in sight with a new government in Myanmar, where many of the region's refugees originate.

"We hope that a tripartite agreement involving Thailand, Myanmar, and UNHCR will eventually pave the way for the voluntary repatriation of the Myanmar refugees along the Thai/Myanmar border," said Turk. "We also hope that the situation in Rakhine State will be stabilized satisfactorily for all residents on its territory, not least in an effort to address some of the drivers and root causes of displacement."

UNHCR recommends steps to recognize an appropriate legal status for all residents in Rakhine State, to promote civil registration and access to identity documents, and to remove restrictions on basic freedoms facilitating access to livelihoods. The UN and a number of countries are proposing a development-centred approach benefitting all populations, guided by the Sustainable Development Goals that emphasize development by leaving no one behind.

In the meantime however, voluntary return is not an option for refugees involved in maritime movements from the Bay of Bengal. Echoing the Ministerial Declaration, Turk urged host countries to pursue temporary stay arrangements that promote access to health care, education and the labour market. This would not only stabilize the lives of individuals and reduce onward movements, but also prepare people for eventual return when conditions are conducive.

To support such efforts, the Assistant High Commissioner pointed to encouraging indications from host governments exploring joint screening with UNHCR, as well as labour migration schemes for refugees that would help to meet countries' labour demands, improve labour standards, generate revenue, and eliminate criminal smuggling and trafficking networks.

"We are hoping for a paradigm shift in the region - a win-win for everyone that recognizes both the relatively greater wealth, compared to the CPA days in the eighties, and fewer refugees in this region compared to the rest of the world," said Turk, referring to the 1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese refugees. "With the record number of refugees and most pressing resettlement needs elsewhere, we need to work hard on a new compact that finds creative ways to absorb people in need of international protection within the region."

He noted that UNHCR is also working to identify ways and means for governments in the region to enhance engagement with the organization in joint approaches to registration, determination of international protection needs, and finding solutions.

Endorsing the Ministerial Declaration's pledges, the Assistant High Commissioner highlighted the crucial role that the Bali Process and the Regional Cooperation Framework can play in convening member States to respond to emergencies and to develop longer-term strategies.

Statement by UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Volker Turk, at the Bali Process Ministerial Conference

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The political and security subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine are holding a joint meeting in Minsk on Wednesday, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has said.

"A joint meeting of the political and security subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine is underway in Minsk," the ministry tweeted.

In the words of Ukrainian representative to the political subgroup Roman Bezsmertny, the Trilateral Contact Group was due to focus on security verification, transitional justice and election modalities on Wednesday, the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda said.

The sentence handed down to Ukrainian pilot, Verkhovna Rada deputy Nadia Savchenko and the ban on Russian travel of Ukrainian representative to the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, parliament deputy Iryna Gerashchenko will also be discussed at the meeting, Bezsmertny said.
Palestinian-Syrian hairdresser Momena attends to a client at her small salon in Damascus.  UNHCR/S. Shekfeh

DAMASCUS, Syria, March 23 (UNHCR) - "I thought this would be the end for me and my family. The half-room we were offered at the shelter felt like a small grave."

With these few words, Palestinian-Syrian hairdresser Momena describes the moment that she, her husband and their three young children touched rock bottom on arriving at a collective shelter in Damascus after they lost everything in the war.

Displaced five times in five years, the family from rural Damascus had spent all their life savings and found themselves penniless and without a home. But determined not to give in to despair, Momena reached out for help.

A friend of hers had mentioned a programme offered by the Al Nada Association, a Damascus-based nonprofit that partners with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to provide startup grants of up to $1,500 for small businesses.

"At a time when no one would help us even by lifting a finger, I found someone ready to give me such a generous grant and helped me start my own business," Momena said. "I couldn't believe it at first, I couldn't believe it even after I started!"

After setting out her business plan with association staff, the seed money they provided allowed her to set up a small salon in Damascus. She now has a barber's chair, a counter to set out her rollers and hair products, and there is even a television for her clients to watch.

After working for several months, Momena is back on her feet. Financially independent with the income from her small business, she has rented an apartment for her family outside the collective shelter where they lived for more than two years, and which felt to her like a grave.

"Finding out that there are people out there who are willing to help is what truly gave me the will power to go on," she says. "Now I am optimistic for a better future for my children."

More than 6.6 million people have been displaced within Syria since fighting erupted in March 2011. Many like Momena and her family face extreme economic hardship. But with a fragile truce in place, and backing to start over, there is also some hope.

UNHCR's Small Business Grants programme gave a second chance to 290 displaced people within Syria last year, enabling them to open business ranging from hairdressing salons like Momena's to grocery stores and vehicle repair workshops.

This year, as Syria marks five years of bitter conflict with a pause in the fighting, UNHCR aims to expand its reach by more than a third to benefit 400 people.

"The start-up small business grant programme plays an irreplaceable role in boosting the self-reliance of those who lost everything they had," said Marie Therese Chakbazof, Associate Community Service Officer at UNHCR Syria, noting that nearly three million Syrians have lost their jobs during the crisis.

"It also aims to improve their standard of living by developing their skills and enhance their income generating capacities," she added.

The grant, and the positive changes it has brought about, is also welcomed by Momena's husband, Abu Mohiyideen.

"We stayed for two and a half years at the shelter, but for me it felt like 30 years. My family was going through hardship while there was nothing that I could do," said Abu Mohiyideen, who is sick and unable to work. "I'm very grateful for what we have now."

To watch a video of others benefitted by the programme, please click here.

By Shaza Shekfeh in Damascus, Syria
Earlier this week, UNHCR sent thirteen trucks carrying blankets, mattresses, and other badly needed emergency relief items to Taizz governorate in the highlands of the country's southwest. This was a breakthrough since it was the first time a UNHCR convoy made it through all the way from Aden to Taizz.

Dispatched in coordination with the Government of Yemen's High Relief Committee, the convoy arrived on Sunday in Mashra'a Wa Hadnan, a district immediately south of the embattled Taizz city centre. Distribution is starting this week for 500 displaced people, others who have returned to Taizz, plus local families who have been affected by the conflict.

Another 13 trucks are on their way to nearby Sabir Al Mawadim district and will be distributed among another 500 families. In Mashra'a Wa Hadnan the situation is now calm and some displaced families have been returning to their homes, while fighting persists on the eastern part of Sabir Al Mawadim.

"The two districts host over 7,500 displaced people. It is the first time that assistance has been delivered there using the direct route from Aden," said UNHCR Representative in Yemen Johannes van der Klaauw. "The wider governorate of Taizz hosts 555,048 internally displaced people, the biggest concentration in the country and equal to almost a quarter of the 2.4 million total Yemen-wide," he added.

For months, UNHCR has been advocating for regular and sustained humanitarian access to Taizz city and governorate. Now, with key roads into Taizz reopened since March 11 after nine months of blocked access, UNHCR is taking advantage of the opportunity to get help to people who desperately need it. This includes aid, vital protection and shelter help.

While continued intense fighting is being reported in parts of Yemen, a lull in the conflict in other areas is opening space for UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations, including local humanitarian actors, to reach more people. To the north of Taizz, in Ibb governorate, which hosts over 100,000 displaced people, UNHCR is currently mapping how to address the needs. Further north, reduced violence along the Yemen-Saudi border over the last two weeks has allowed us to distribute emergency aid in Sa'ada. In coordination with relevant authorities, we're hoping further assessments of needs and distributions will be possible over the next days.

Later this week UNHCR and a partner will distribute emergency relief carried in a third convoy from Aden to the Ash Shamayatayn district of Taizz, an area that hosts 159,444 displaced people, according to our protection monitoring. Since October, UNHCR has been providing rental subsidies, cash assistance, legal assistance, and counseling as well as psychosocial care through a partner organisation.

"Ultimately, a halt to the hostilities remains the only way to end the suffering and ensure access to humanitarian aid across the country", said van der Klaauw. "UNHCR is hopeful that a lasting, country-wide ceasefire can be brokered among the parties as this will open up further space to provide essential humanitarian assistance on the ground."

UNHCR assistance in Taizz complements the work of other humanitarian partners, UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, the Government of Yemen and other humanitarian relief agencies including from the GCC countries. Country-wide, since March of last year up to this week, UNHCR has assisted 380,140 IDPs and other conflict-affected persons in all governorates in Yemen except the island of Socotra.

In addition to the 2.4 million people displaced internally, over 173,000 individuals have fled Yemen since last March into neighbouring countries, mainly in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and the GCC countries.

The 2016 UNHCR Yemen Situation Supplementary Appeal received $12M in contributions, representing 7% of the required US$172.2M. UNHCR's response inside Yemen is 9% funded against the required US$125.98M.

UNHCR Photos from Yemen available here: http://media.unhcr.org/Package/2CZ7A2PQ81QK>

B-roll from Yemen and of Yemeni refugees in the Horn of Africa: http://media.unhcr.org/Share/151dj8q6d7w660cj5kqpi213sds1r3l6

For more information, please contact:
The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine has opened criminal proceedings against Russian judges and prosecutors involved in the sentencing of Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadia Savchenko, Prosecutor of the PGO Vladyslav Kutsenko has said.

"Yesterday, two entries about the opening of criminal proceedings were made into the unified registry of pre-trial investigations. The first one was opened under Part 2 of Article 375 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It applies to the judges of the Donetsk city court of Russia in connection with their deliberately passing an unjust verdict on Savchenko... The second criminal case introduced yesterday into the unified registry of pre-trial investigations deals with the Russian prosecutors... it was made under Part 2 of Article 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which covers unlawful criminal prosecution of a person," Kutsenko said at a briefing at the prosecutor's office in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has reported that Ukrainian businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, who had close ties to disgraced former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, is suspect of committing UAH 5.6 billion worth of crimes in the banking sector.

"The main investigation department of Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office jointly with the investigator procedural department has drawn up a report finding that Kurchenko, as the head of the criminal group, is suspected of committing grievous crimes in the banking sector in 2013 and early 2014. These are the results of the exhaustive and unbiased investigation," the public and media relations department of the Prosecutor General's Office said.

Kurchenko over this period organized the illegal seizure of UAH 5.6 billion of funds from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Ukrgasbank, Agrarian Fund, depositors of Brokbusinessbank and Real Bank.

"Later the criminal group headed by Kurchenko used the companies to launder money," the department said.

Kurchenko has been put on the international wanted list.

Property and other assets totaling over UAH 2.8 billion have been arrested. The pretrial investigation is underway.
ABOUNGA, Niger, 22 March 2016  When we meet Gambo Ali at the Abounga spontaneous site for displaced people, she cant tell us her age. But she tells us about how she sold food in the streets of her village, Tam, for a year, to help support the family.

Tam is in Diffa region, in the south-east of the Niger, close to Nigeria. Like many other families at the Abounga site, Gambo and her family fled their home to escape violence and threats from the group Boko Haram.

That was some months ago. Here, the family are among thousands of people making this informal site along the Route Nationale 1 home, along this main road that crosses the region from West to East. Abounga is one of the 135 official sites that have cropped up along this road, hosting hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced, who are returnees, who are refugees.

Most of them are women and children.



A dramatic displacement

The flight and resettlement of families like Gambos is part of a series of simultaneous crises affecting the country. Official figures report more than 310,000 people in the Niger affected in 2015. A massive movement of more than 100,000 people in only two months caused dramatic humanitarian consequences not only for the displaced population, but also for host communities, overwhelmed by the massive arrivals and with an unsustainable pressure on already limited resources.

>> Learn more about the humanitarian situation in the Niger

Life in Abounga is relatively peaceful, but not easy. Gambos home is a small cluster of straw and coloured fabric that she shares with seven relatives, including her mother. Her father stayed behind in Tam. There is no toilet and no water, and food is always in short supply.

But UNICEF partner COOPI is working to improve the prospects for children in the informal sites by helping them get an education.

Gambo misses her friends, but she approves. When my mother heard about the opening of a school in Abounga, she decided to resettle us here. She did well.



Carrying the school to Abounga

Moustapha Diri was the director of the Tam school. Today, here in Abounga, he is inside one of the 10 tents that serve as classrooms for the sites children. The tents have been provided by UNICEF, but the tables and benches were carried to Abounga by the villagers. He stands at the front, lecturing the young students sitting on the benches. Most cant read or write.

We had to leave behind all of our possessions, Mr. Diri tells us, later on. The only thing we could bring with us is what we have in our heads, what we have been taught  our education.

Education is the only thing that cannot be taken from us.



Keeping children learning

Mr. Diri recognizes that the students have lost a lot of knowledge, and that its critical that they restart their education immediately. If they stay out of school, he says, they are at risk of never coming back.

After one year out of school, children like Gambo can catch up, he insists  They can learn back what they forgot.

And this learning is pivotal to their futures, and the future of the country, says Mr. Diri. For these children, the right track means education, a pen and a book, which will help both build their future and arm them against pressure to join the violence around them.



The role of education

Mr. Diri and the other villagers of Tam know the value of an education. Oumarou Boka, Education Officer for COOPI, has been setting up the temporary schools at the various sites. He explains the immediate benefit. Emergency education programmes have demonstrated a measurable decrease in the number of displaced and refugee minors who are conscripted into the fighting forces that develop in times of conflict. Experience shows that education has a preventive effect on recruitment, abduction and gender-based violence, and thereby serves as an important protection tool, he says.

The partnership with COOPI has already benefitted 1,444 children in 31 temporary schools. Thanks to donors and implementing partners, UNICEF has guaranteed 5,492 children in Diffa region access to school. The partners have constructed 60 temporary classrooms and 10 new permanent classrooms, and provided manuals, school kits and training to teachers.

Additionally, UNICEF has provided support to the Government of the Niger to set up 42 temporary classrooms for 2,100 children. Through this same strategy, the government has reached 2,492 children. The goal is to educate displaced children so they can be integrated into the regular school system.

In Abounga alone, 170 children, including Gambo, are back to learning. The World Food Programme is helping to build an energetic student body by providing food three times a day to the students.



Gambos future

Away from labour and back to the books, Gambo says she now dreams of becoming a teacher. I am not afraid anymore, she says. I can play with my friends and go to school. I want to acquire knowledge because knowledge is key, its very important. It can help you become a teacher or a doctor.

Gambos mother, Fatima, also has high hopes for the future, despite the challenges the family face. Parents now understand the importance of school. Before, in Tam, they didnt [always] send our children to school, but here they do, because they understand it is crucial to evolve, she says.

A child who is lucky enough to go to school will avoid taking a wrong path and will help his or her parents.

UNICEF believes that, including during emergencies, children are entitled to the safe environment that school can help provide. Access to school allows them to engage with peers, re-establish a sense of normalcy and purpose and escape from the losses and deprivations surrounding their displacement.

Basic supplies for primary education are urgently needed to realize the right to education for children who have been displaced, and host communities. UNICEF plans to provide education to 20,000 school-aged girls and boys (aged 7 to 14 years) in Diffa region this year, compared to 6,446 in 2015. In line with the countrys inter-agency Humanitarian Response Plan, UNICEF is requesting US$39,516,271 to meet the humanitarian needs of children in the Niger in 2016. This figure includes US$3 million beyond the Humanitarian Response Plan to cover education.

Learn more about the humanitarian needs of children in the Niger

Learn more about the humanitarian needs of children affected by the Nigerian regional crisis
The European Union continues to insist that the Russian authorities should release Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadia Savchenko, EU High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday.

"We continue to add our voices to the many others worldwide calling on the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Nadia Savchenko, on humanitarian grounds, and in keeping with the "Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements" and the commitment therein to release all hostages and detained persons related to the conflict in eastern Ukraine," reads a statement by Mogherini posted on the European Commission's website.

Despite many calls, Savchenko  sentenced on March 22, the document says.

The EU also calls for the release of "all the other Ukrainian citizens illegally detained in Russia, including Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko that need to be guaranteed a safe return to Ukraine."
Steinmeier does not see al-Assad as future head of state acceptable to all Syrians

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier does not see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a future head of state acceptable to all Syrians.

"Given 250,000 fatalities and 12 million refugees, I personally cannot imagine al-Assad to be the figure acceptable to all groups of the population," Steinmeier told Interfax in an exclusive interview timed to coincide with his visit to Moscow.

He was asked whether Berlin insisted on the immediate resignation of al-Assad or would be ready for his tenure in a rather long transitional period.

"The Syrians should agree on the political future of Syria at negotiations. No matter what administration the country has in the future, the only way to ensure peace and stability is that it enjoys broad support across the country," he said.

"A partial withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria may give a fresh impetus to the peace negotiations in Geneva," he said.

"Hopefully, Damascus takes this chance and holds serious negotiations on the peace process of the political transition, which will preserve Syria's statehood and ensure prospective peaceful co-existence of various groups of the population," the German foreign minister said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the five factions of the former parliamentary coalition to reach agreement on a candidate for prime minister and submit the candidacy to him by the end of the week.

"I am addressing all factions of the old coalition, and I am sure that no other factions will be engaged in another format: throw away your own ambitions, hold a session of the coalition's council this week, reach agreement on a prime ministerial candidate, and submit proposals on prime ministerial candidates to the president," Poroshenko said at a news briefing while traveling to Kharkiv on Wednesday.

He said he would not drag out the nomination of a candidate proposed by the coalition for the parliament to endorse it.
UTSA to host U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro for lecture on U.S.-Japan relations Share this Story

(March 23, 2016) -- U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) will discuss "The Future of the U.S.-Japan Strategic Partnership" on March 30 at the UTSA Main Campus. The event, which is sponsored by the UTSA East Asia Institute, will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in McKinney Humanities Building Room 2.01.24 (MH 2.01.24).

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Over the past seven decades, the U.S. and Japan have forged a strategic alliance that enhances the security and prosperity of both nations and the entire Asia-Pacific region. Castro will share his views about the importance of the relationship, how the partnership can continue to grow in the 21st century and how the U.S.-Japan Caucus  of which he is a founding co-chair  can strengthen the U.S. and Japans ties in Congress and beyond.

Castro represents Texas' 20th Congressional District and serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was the 2013 co-president for the House freshman Democrats and now serves in House Democratic leadership as chief deputy whip. Since being elected to Congress in 2013, Castro has sought to build what he calls The Infrastructure of Opportunity  good public schools, great universities and a sound health care system.

After Castros lecture, attendees will have an opportunity to meet Mitsuaki Nozaki, director of the Washington, D.C. office of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He will share information about funding opportunities for science, engineering and humanities research in Japan.

The JSPS is a quasigovernmental funding agency that supports scientific projects in a variety of fields related to natural and social sciences, the humanities, and engineering. With offices in nine countries including the U.S., the agency encourages scientific activity and collaboration between Japan and JSPS host countries through networking, grant preparation assistance, information sessions and connections to the U.S. government.

The UTSA East Asia Institute promotes appreciation and understanding of East Asian societies and cultures on campus and in the community through research, outreach, networking, education, student/faculty exchange, and business development and cooperation. The East Asia Institute organizes seminars, workshops, lectures, conferences, film festivals, and visual art exhibitions, and hosts performing arts groups from China, Japan, Korea and other Asian nations. It also encourages faculty research collaborations within UTSA and with East Asian university researchers.

-------------------------------

Metered parking for the lecture will be available in the Bauerle Rd. Garage. Driving directions and a campus map are available here.

For more information about this event, contact the UTSA East Asia Institute at eai@utsa.edu or 210-458-8550.

Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and UTSA Today.
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Television Program Looks at Medical Marijuana, Economic Forecast

UW economist Anne Alexander will be a guest on Wyoming Signatures Sunday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. on Wyoming Public Television. (UW Photo)

University of Wyoming economist Anne Alexander will provide an economic forecast for 2016 on the UW news and information program Wyoming Signatures Sunday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. on Wyoming Public Television.

In another segment, Wanda Hulit, director of the Sleep Center and the Cardiopulmonary Department at Laramies Ivinson Memorial Hospital, will explain why a good nights sleep is essential to good health and describe what can go wrong to prevent getting sufficient rest.

Also, Rose Cain, of Rawlins, an advocate for the use of medical marijuana, will share her story of personal recovery.

Wyoming Signatures is produced by UWTV of the University of Wyoming Outreach School. Wyoming PBS can be seen over the air and via cable or satellite in communities throughout Wyoming. A complete list of channels can be found at www.wyomingpbs.org/coverage.php.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office has announced that it suspects Ukrainian businessman Serhiy Kurchenko of committing fraudulent operations with liquefied gas during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has drawn up a report which says that Kurchenko is suspected of committing grievous crimes as the head of a criminal group in 2010 and early 2014 in the area of business operations with liquefied gas, the public and media relations department of the PGO said.

In particular, during this period Kurchenko headed an organized criminal group through which he arranged the illegal seizure of state-owned liquefied gas produced by PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia and PJSC Ukrnafta and worth UAH 2.2 mln. The liquefied gas was bought at specialized auctions at understated price, allegedly to provide for the needs of the public. Then, this liquefied gas was sold to Kurchenko-controlled business entities at market prices.

As a result of these actions, the state suffered damage totaling more than UAH 2 billion.

Kurchenko has been put on the international wanted list.

His property and other assets totaling over UAH 2.8 billion have been arrested. The pretrial investigation is underway.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will pay a visit to Washington next week.

It is expected to last from March 30 until April 3.

"In the near future, next week, I will pay a visit to Washington, where we will continue to expand our cooperation, also with respect to the establishment of the new police force; new prosecutor's offices; new cooperation in law enforcement departments," the president said on Wednesday in Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs.

Poroshenko will participate in an international nuclear security summit and will hold bilateral meetings in Washington.
UN Secretary General will raise Savchenko's case during meetings with Russian reps

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting at the organization's HQ with Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Volodymyr Yelchenko has expressed concern over the situation around parliamentarian and Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko.

Ukraine's envoy said on Wednesday evening that the issue will remain in discussions between Ban Ki-moon and senior Russian officials.

The UN Secretary General said Ukraine could count on his support.

During the meeting Yelchenko informed Ban Ki-moon about Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's initiative to bring Savchenko back to Ukraine as soon as possible.
KYIV. March 23 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Low cost, high quality pharmaceutical producers in India attract investment in India, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Ukraine Manoj Kumar Bharti said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

All multinational pharmaceutical companies are present in India, he said. The main argument for their presence in the country is advantages in workforce and the cash cost, the ambassador said.

He said Indian pharmaceutical products are used around the globe.

Indian pharmaceutical products are known by their high quality and fair price. They pass the red tape filters of strict regulatory agencies in India. This means that the products comply with Ukrainian standards as well, he said.

Bharti added that Indian pharmaceutical products are in great demand at the United Nations, by the UNDP and UNICEF, which buy products of Indian manufacturers because they have advantages compared to manufacturers from other countries.

He said that before the medicines are registered in Ukraine, GMP inspectors visit production facilities in India. The products are also tested in Ukrainian laboratories.

If there are questions to Indian pharmaceutical companies when their products came to the Ukrainian market, this is not a question for pharmaceutical manufacturers, but for Ukraine, he said.

Commenting on complaints of experts about some Indian medicines recommended for purchase by international organizations, Bharti said that they are not fair.

"If the medicine was first registered in Ukraine by public authorities and later removed by so-called experts it is unfair. We will fight against this," the ambassador said.

Ukraine imported $114 million worth of pharmaceutical products from India in 2015.
Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Wednesday his support for two clean energy bodies - the Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. He will develop a new A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund. But the Australian Solar Council denounces the revelation stating that it will remove A$1.3 billion from the government's budget for renewable energy through changing allocations and funding.

The announcement shows Turnbull's desire to work on climate change and make himself differ from Abbot, who was ousted in September. Abbott claimed that coal was 'good for humanity', dispraise wind farms and discard the country's first-ever carbon pricing mechanism, says a Bloomberg report.

"This is a good opportunity for Turnbull to reclaim the political debate and signal that he's now in control of the government," said Zareh Ghazarian, lecturer of politics at Monash University's School of Social Sciences. "One of the biggest differences between him and Abbott was on the issue of the environment and clean energy, so this is a statement to show he's not beholden to the anti-climate change forces in the coalition."

The new Clean Energy Innovation Fund will offer debt and equity for projects. The funding will be extended over 10 years and will draw on part of the borrowings mean to uphold the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a $10 billion project that Mr. Abbott pledged to junk but which will be kept.

According to the Australian Conservation Fund, the judgment of Turnbull government would 'help the growth of renewable energy'. Environment Minister Greg Hunt appointed a Wind Farm Commissioner to regard complaints 'from concerned communities'. He said that there were two important parts to the government's announcement which are the retention and repurposing of the CEFC and ARENA, and the generation of a billion dollar clean energy innovation fund, The Australian reports.

The green transition indicates a significant policy exit from Abbott's minimalist climate platform. Turnbull government states that the $1 billion CEIF will '"drive innovation and create the jobs of the future, while delivering a financial benefit from the investment of public money". Though it will not distribute grants, it will provide a combination of 'innovative equity and debt products" - code for buying shares in and lending money to, new technology renewable energy ventures, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

The retention and support of the Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency by Turnbull government is a move for a greener Australia where every household will be provided with clean energy. This effort is to replace the use of coal that adds to carbon emission and is considered a pollutant.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Elaine Crandall, director of the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department

By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star

County supervisors on Tuesday OK'd management contracts for the opening of a crisis center for suicidal children, part of a continuum of programs expected to put the county ahead of any other in California.

The Ventura County government will pay a combined $6 million to the Oakland-based Seneca Family of Agencies over 15 months, beginning immediately. The nonprofit agency is charged with operating a four-bed unit where children can receive intensive therapy for up to 24 hours and a residential unit for those who need an extended period to recover.

Both units will be in the former Pacific Shores Hospital in Oxnard, which supervisors agreed to buy last year. The programs are due to open by fall.

"Today should be a great celebration," Supervisor Steve Bennett told a crowd of about 40 people who attended a hearing in Ventura.

The units will offer an intermediate option for children who bounce from home to psychiatric hospital and back. Family members of troubled children appeared at the hearing to back the project, with one breaking down in tears over her daughter's treatment.

Another woman was matter of fact.

"I support this wholeheartedly," said a Ventura resident whose 11-year-old granddaughter has been hospitalized five times since she was 6.

County Behavioral Health Director Elaine Crandall said she was recommending Seneca out of three agencies in the state. She limited her search to organizations that were already running crisis stabilization centers, a move that excluded Camarillo-based Casa Pacifica Centers for Children & Families.

Crandall said experienced providers would give the county the best opportunity for success in the new venture. She plans to halve the number of children being detained in psychiatric hospitals and reduce the rate of return, she said.

Kids from Ventura County are detained involuntarily for psychiatric evaluations at a rate twice the state average. About 1,100 were held in the 2013-14 fiscal year, double the number two years earlier.

Crandall also decided to stop contracting with Casa Pacifica for a mobile crisis team that fields calls and goes to the scene. Starting in July, the calls will be answered by a Ventura County Behavioral Health crisis team that has been focused on adults. That team, which is receiving additional training to deal with youths, also will provide counseling to children to stabilize them at home.

By consolidating mobile crisis response in the county department, Crandall expects to have a better chance of tracking children and boosting results.

Casa Pacifica CEO Steve Elson told supervisors the nonprofit could have provided key programs in the new crisis system effectively and efficiently.

"We are disappointed," he said.

The agency will work closely with the Behavioral Health Department to make the transition from one mobile team to another as seamless as possible, he pledged.

"We stand ready to do our part in making this system a model for the county and the country," he said.

A.C
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOs Ryan Cohlhepp, vice president of U.S. marketing for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is flanked by Jana Cannon, of Camarillo (left), and her sister Julie Ryan. Takeda helped pay for them and others to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in January in an effort to raise funds to find a cure for multiple myeloma.

SHARE At 15,200 feet, Barafu Camp is the last camp where hikers stay before going to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. In January, it was an overnight home for Jana Cannon of Camarillo who was part of a 15-person team to climb the mountain in an effort to raise funds to find a cure for multiple myeloma. Not all made it to the summit, but Cannon did. Hikers make their way out of Mount Kilimanjaro's rain forest terrain in January. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO This was the view as the Mount Kilimanjaro hikers closed in on the summit in January. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Jana Cannon, of Camarillo, was among those who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January in an effort to raise funds to find a cure for multiple myeloma.

By Anne Kallas, Special to The Star

Jana Cannon, of Camarillo, said it was the hardest thing she's ever done, but when she reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on Jan. 24, it was worth the effort.

"It was pure exhilaration. It was surreal," Cannon said. "We left at 11 p.m. the night before and didn't summit until 8:42 a.m. on the morning after. It was negative 10 degrees and a test of our will. It's hard to breathe at that altitude."

Cannon and her twin sister Julie Ryan, of Camas, Washington, were selected as part of a 15-person team to climb Mount Kilimanjaro from Jan. 16-27 in Tanzania.

They climbed the highest mountain in Africa  19,341 feet in elevation  to raise money to find a cure for multiple myeloma, a relatively rare cancer that their mother, Linda Robertson, has been fighting since 2002.

"It was truly the trip of a lifetime," Cannon said. "It was life-changing. I was able to achieve a clarity in my head.

"You're not really chatting with everybody," she continued. "It's one foot in front of the other, which allows you a lot of time thinking about life and what's important to you  something you don't get as a mother of teenagers."

Not everyone in the group, which included multiple myeloma patients, made it to the summit. Some had to turn back because of altitude blindness and other symptoms of the grueling climb.

"I believe 10 or 11 made it to the summit," Cannon said, adding that her mother was thrilled for her daughters  and for the money they raised for multiple myeloma research.

The trip was organized through Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma.

Visit Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma for more information.
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR A Metrolink train hit a vehicle in February last year at East Fifth Street and South Rice Avenue.

SHARE

By John Scheibe of the Ventura County Star

An arraignment that had been scheduled Wednesday has been postponed until May for a man facing a vehicular manslaughter charge in the fatal crash of a Metrolink train in Oxnard.

Chad Nichols, one of the defense attorneys representing the driver of a truck, Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, said Wednesday that his client lives out of state and was unable to attend the arraignment in Ventura County Superior Court.

The arraignment is now scheduled for May 4, Nichols said.

Ventura County prosecutors charged Sanchez-Ramirez with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter on Feb. 22, about a year after a commuter train hit the truck he had left on the tracks near Rice Avenue and Fifth Street.

Prosecutors had a year to file charges.

Sanchez-Ramirez was driving south on Rice Avenue about 5:30 a.m. Feb. 24, 2015, when he tried to turn right onto Fifth Street but instead drove onto railroad tracks, officials said. The truck became stuck on the tracks and he left it behind, officials said.

A Metrolink commuter train carrying 46 passengers and three crew members plowed into the unoccupied truck about 15 minutes later. The train's engineer, Glenn William Steele, later died in a hospital from his injuries.

The crash injured 34 more people, most of whom had to be hospitalized.

Oxnard police later found Sanchez-Ramirez more than a mile away, walking and talking on a cellphone and appearing to be in distress. He was taken into custody by police on suspicion of leaving the scene of the crash, police said. He was released two days later after prosecutors failed to file criminal charges.

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report about a month after the fatal train crash. The report stated Sanchez-Ramirez drove about 80 feet on the tracks before the truck got stuck. The truck's headlights were on, its emergency lights were flashing and the driver's side door was opened when the train hit it, the agency stated.

The agency also stated that no warning lights or gates were active where the tracks cross Rice Avenue because the commuter train, Metrolink 102, was too far away when Sanchez-Ramirez drove onto the tracks.

Attorney Ron Bamieh, who is representing Sanchez-Ramirez, said in February that the intersection "has been a problem" with motorists and others "for a long time."

"It is understandable why the accident happened there," he said.
KYIV. March 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The founder of Kharkiv agricultural holding Agrosvit, Oleksandr Bichuch, has claimed that law enforcement agencies, courts, as well as representatives of the justice system are involved in raider attacks on the company at the behest of its co-owner Serhiy Polumysny and with the assistance of Andriy Levin and Volodymyr Parkulab.

"The raiders failed to take the company over through the process of personal liquidation, while the decision to liquidate Agrosvit made by Polumysny was recognized illegal by all the courts. However, a new stage of raider attacks again testifies to the active coordination between the raiders and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine," Bichuch said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

Bichuch explained that on April 15, 2015 Polumysny alone liquidated the company, appointed his fellow Parkulab as a liquidator and with the help of the then director of the company Andriy Levin began withdrawing Agrosvit money and assets to his affiliated organizations. As a result, hundreds of millions of hryvnias have been withdrawn from the company.

According to Bichuch, currently Polumysny is considering the purchase of four elevators from Swiss trader Glencore.

"Where did Serhiy Polumysny suddenly get such funds?" Bichuch added.

At the end of January 2016, on the basis of the judgment the founder of Ukraine's Agrosvit, Cypriot Agrosvit Ltd., started the liquidation of the Ukrainian company, which blocked the actions of the raiders because they made it impossible for them to manage the company.
By Gretchen Wenner of the Ventura County Star

Port Hueneme's former city manager, Cynthia Haas, has been paid a $279,000 settlement after filing a harassment claim against the city, documents show.

Haas served as the city's chief executive for a little more than two years. She was appointed in August 2013 and retired in December. Haas said at the time she was leaving for personal reasons, in large part because her husband was working in Tennessee and the long-distance relationship had gone on long enough.

A claim filed against the city March 1 calls Haas' departure a "forced retirement."

"The city, and the city by and through council members, engaged in unlawful sex and gender discrimination against, and sex and gender harassment of, claimant," the document reads. The claim was provided by the city to The Star. Such claims are often precursors to lawsuits against government entities such as cities.

A copy of the settlement agreement viewed by The Star shows the city agreed Haas would be paid the $279,000 "as full consideration" for release of any claims over "alleged emotional distress."

Haas' attorney, R. Craig Scott of Executive Law Group Inc. in Newport Beach, was said to be out of the office Wednesday and unavailable for comment.

Read the Haas claim

Interim City Manager John Baker said in an email that no city funds were used to pay the settlement. Instead, it was paid by the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority. The insurance authority, not the City Council, authorized the deal, he said.

"In accordance with the memorandum of liability coverage between the city and JPIA," Baker wrote, "JPIA, at its sole discretion, can investigate, negotiate, settle or defend its members. In this case, JPIA approved the settlement."

Baker added he did not yet know what impact the settlement might have on the city's insurance premiums.

The agreement prohibits both Haas and city officials from discussing the matter. It stipulates both parties will respond to any inquiries, "including but not limited to the news media ... by stating only that 'the matter has been resolved.'"

Mayor Doug Breeze and council members Jim Hensley and Sylvia Munoz Schnopp declined to comment beyond the limits of the agreement.

Haas' wages in calendar year 2014 totaled $185,399 and her benefits another $68,153, according to the most recent information from the California State Controller's government pay portal.

Her current gross monthly pension payment from the California Public Employees' Retirement System is $14,128.97, according to a CalPERS spokesperson. The monthly amount equates to about $169,547 annually.

Haas' tenure with Port Hueneme was marked by controversy and ended with a sharply divided council and a significant budget deficit. In addition, more than a half-dozen current and former employees filed claims against the city last year, including the former city treasurer, former housing director and a police officer. Several of the filings revealed the workers had been fired.

The city of Oxnard last week received a letter from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office saying a $60,000 settlement paid to the former fire chief without city council approval had violated a $50,000 state cap on such claims.

Special Assistant DA Michael Schwartz, who wrote the Oxnard letter, said Wednesday it wasn't immediately clear whether the same conditions would apply in the Port Hueneme settlement.

"These are issues that, if they were called to our attention, we would look into," Schwartz said.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Ventura County Sheriff's Office Department.

By Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star

A male with two gunshot wounds arrived Tuesday at a Santa Paula hospital, and Ventura County sheriff's deputies were investigating, authorities said.

Authorities said they were called to investigate about 6 p.m. after a friend of the victim brought him to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital about 15 minutes earlier with a gunshot wound to each leg.

The victim or his friend likely indicated the shooting happened in an area patrolled by sheriff's deputies, authorities said.

The victim was taken to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura for treatment, authorities said.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star

County supervisors on Tuesday specifically authorized lateral transfers of employees from outside agencies with a controversial hiring case about to go to trial.

Top managers for the county government said the amendment to the county civil service ordinance merely clarifies the Ventura County Board of Supervisors' longtime position. But the labor union suing the county calls it last-minute doctoring to influence the case.

The Criminal Justice Attorneys' Association of Ventura County sued District Attorney Greg Totten and the county in December 2014 over the hiring of Kelly Keenan. The union claimed the Fresno County attorney was hired over other eligible applicants because of his connections to Chuck Hughes, a top deputy to Totten.

Supervisors voted unanimously for the amendment to a long-standing ordinance establishing the county merit hiring system. They said it clarifies their position that applicants from outside the county may transfer to comparable positions without undergoing competitive examinations if they were hired under a merit-based system for their current jobs.

County Human Resources Director Shawn Atin told supervisors last week and again Tuesday that 50 people had been hired under the policy over the past 10 years.

"It has been used judiciously," Atin said.

In the case of Keenan, the DA's Office says he was hired because he was highly qualified.

The ordinance mentions transfers only briefly. It states that written rules for employees hired under the merit system shall be incorporated into county personnel rules, including transfers, leaves of absence, promotions and other job changes.

That wording directed supervisors to adopt rules for transfers, managers said. That set in motion practices that allowed transfers of employees coming in from other agencies. They could be hired without competitive examinations if they had achieved their current jobs as a result of merit screenings, officials said.

The union, which represents 120 members, including county prosecutors, has been highly critical.

The amendment has the potential to obliterate the civil service ordinance, said prosecutor Maeve Fox, president of the union. She said the most troubling aspect of the amendment was whether it represented an attempt to influence the judge hearing the case.

"This is government at its worst," Fox told the board Tuesday.

Supervisors last week rejected an attempt to amend the ordinance to say the board endorsed lateral transfers without competitive examinations. Supervisors on Tuesday found the plank acceptable after managers added the condition that the person transferring had to have been hired through a merit system in their current places of employment.

The union is asking the judge in the case to rule on the ordinance and void the hiring of Keenan.

The Civil Service Commission has twice called on supervisors to delay a decision until the litigation is resolved and the commission conducts its own investigation.

It is unknown when the trial in the case will start. A court date has been set for March 28, when a judge will ask the county and the union if they are prepared to go to trial.
AP FILE PHOTO Vietnam veterans will be honored Tuesday in a Ventura event.

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By Staff Reports

Vietnam veterans will be honored in a Ventura event on Tuesday.

An open house at the Ventura Vet Center is one of a nationwide chain of events commemorating the anniversary of a war that stretched from 1955 to 1975.

Called Vietnam Veterans Day, the program comes 43 years to the day the last American troops left Vietnam.

The open house will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, 790 E. Santa Clara Street, Suite 100, Ventura.

There will be speakers and refreshments. Counselors will be present.

The vet center is part of a nationwide program established in 1979 because of the realization vets were experiencing readjustment issues. Part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the center provides outreach and referral services. Counseling covers issues ranging from bereavement to military sexual trauma.

For more information, call 585-1860.
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People running for president say the darnedest things.

In both parties, it appears politicians save the biggest whoppers for their own supporters. That makes sense. After all, they might butt heads with the opposing team, but they get elected by winning over the votes of people who agree with them. Or at least, those gullible souls who can be fooled into thinking they and the elected officials are actually on the same page.

The falsehoods get awfully thick when the issue of immigration comes up. Politicians are always trying to convince supporters they're something they're not. For Republicans, that means a lot of chest-thumping about getting tough on the border. For Democrats, it means professing a willingness to find a way for the undocumented to stay in the United States.

Think for a moment about what Hillary Clinton said during a recent Democratic debate co-hosted by Univision and The Washington Post. In response to questioning by moderators Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, who repeatedly tried to pin her down on whether she planned to continue President Obama's deportation juggernaut, Clinton at first tried to duck the question. But eventually, she gave in and provided an answer that was unbelievable, unrealistic and unhelpful.

Before I tell you what she said, here is some context to explain why she said it. Whenever she talks about immigration during this campaign, Clinton does so with three goals in mind: trying to position herself to the left of Bernie Sanders, who, as Clinton never tires of reminding Latino and other pro-immigrant audiences, voted against comprehensive immigration reform bills in the Senate at the behest of organized labor; drawing contrast with likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has promised to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border; and pandering to Latino voters whose support for Clinton remains soft.

Still, in the end, Clinton has at least one thing going for her as she goes after Latino voters: She's not Trump.

She's also not Obama.

"I do not have the same policy as the current administration does," Clinton said. "I think it's important that we move to our comprehensive immigration reform, but at the same time, stop the raids, stop the roundups, stop the deporting of people who are living here doing their lives, doing their jobs, and that's my priority."

When Ramos pressed her on whether she would continue the administration's practice of aggressively deporting children who already live in the United States, albeit without proper documents, Clinton dug herself in even deeper.

"I will not deport children," she said. "I would not deport children. I do not want to deport family members either, Jorge. I want to, as I said, prioritize who would be deported: violent criminals, people planning terrorist attacks, anybody who threatens us. That's a relatively small universe."

Ramos wasn't satisfied with that answer. Nor should he have been. The Obama administration has given "prioritizing" enforcement a bad name by putting some illegal immigrants (college-educated Dreamers) at the back of the deportation line while moving others (Central American refugees) to the front. The whole concept has become just another way for the White House to manipulate immigration policy to achieve political goals.

Determined to get more out of the candidate, Ramos broadened the question beyond children and asked Clinton point-blank if she, as president, would commit to not deporting "immigrants who don't have a criminal record."

Although she probably knew better, Clinton took the bait.

"Of the people, the undocumented people living in our country, I do not want to see them deported," she said. "I want to see them on a path to citizenship. That is exactly what I will do."

As you can see, the Democratic front-runner left herself some wiggle room  but not much. If elected president, she is likely to be as tough on immigration enforcement as Obama has been, if not tougher. Some of her supporters are bound to be disappointed.

But what did they expect? While Trump makes the outlandish promise to anti-immigrant voters that he will deport 11 million people, Clinton goes overboard by promising Latinos and other pro-immigrant voters that she'll stop deporting the undocumented altogether. Those are promises that neither candidate can keep. So why bother making them?

Real problems require real solutions. And we can't get there without real leadership.

Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.
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The city of Ventura has more homeless people than the entire state of Utah. Thats because Utah made a decision to reduce costs by providing homeless people with housing. It actually costs less to give a homeless person a place to live than to provide them with emergency services.

For example, a hospital stay for a homeless person costs much more money because there is nowhere to release them after their stay. It costs the city of Ventura $10,000 to have one homeless person have just one medical incident a year.

Homeless people arent going to magically go away. The city of Ventura needs to step up and provide better solutions. I believe our business owners would appreciate it: How much better to give a person a place to stay than to have them panhandling outside local businesses. Placing homeless people in housing will also reduce the need for police and emergency support, freeing their time for other efforts.

I urge the Ventura City Council to take positive action toward reducing homelessness by working with community organizations and businesses to provide housing for everyone, just as Utah has accomplished.

Kathy Wertheim, Ventura


illustration photo source internet

According to the Hanoi Peoples Committee, the R&D centre will contribute to the citys socio-economic development and promote the electronic, telecommunications, and supporting industries. Furthermore, it is expected to help the city attract more FDI capital and create approximately 4,000 jobs.

Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) as well as SEV are two foreign invested projects receiving the best available preferential incentives in Vietnam. However, foreign investors in general and Samsung in particular must meet the criteria imposed on high-tech enterprises by Vietnams Law on Investment, in areas such as investment expenditure and human resources for R&D activities. Thus, establishing the R&D centre is a prerequisite to Samsungs enjoyment of the most preferential incentives, said the ministry in a report submitted to the prime minister.

SEV plans to build a 21-storey building on a three-hectare land plot and employ 2,000 labourers in 2016 and eventually 4,000 in the upcoming years. The total capital volume of $300 million will be disbursed within four years, including $50 million in the 2016-2017 period, $150 million in 2018, and the remaining $100 million in 2019.



SEV has asked a wide range of preferential privileges for its R&D centre. Accordingly, SEV asked for an exemption from land lease fees for 50 years, site clearance costs, import tariffs on the R&D centres equipment and devices, and customs procedure clearing to transfer goods between SEV and the R&D centre in Hanoi. Besides, SEV requested that the annual personal income tax of its employees in the centre be cut by half.

Debuting in Vietnam in 1996, the Korean giant currently has major manufacturing complexes in Vietnam, including Samsung Vina Electronics in Ho Chi Minh City and the $2.5 billion Samsung Vietnam Electronics project in the northern province of Bac Ninh which became operational in 2009. The remaining one is the $5 billion Samsung Vietnam Electronics Thai Nguyen complex, which went on stream in March 2014.

Additionally, Samsung has expressed interest in several major projects, including Vung Ang 3 thermal power plant, Long Thanh international airport, and Long Son oil refinery.


Binh Dinh is becoming a popular destination for domestic and foreign investors

In a recent talk with VIR, Chairman of the Binh Dinh Peoples Committee Ho Quoc Dung stressed that there are no barriers impeding investors when they come to Binh Dinh in search of investment and business opportunities.

The province will ensure the best conditions for the implementation of domestic and foreign investors projects that operate in priority fields. US investors are one of the provinces target investors.

Binh Dinh is now home to 59 foreign-invested enterprises, with the total investment capital of $554 million. The US investment capital in the province is still modest, with a total of more than $35 million from three projects, including the $11.25 million project on starch processing from Lucky Star Co., Ltd., the $3 million project on shrimp breeding from Asia Hawaii Ventures, and the $21 million project on animal feed production from Cargill Vietnam Limiteds Binh Dinh branch.

The bilateral trade between Binh Dinh and the US market stood at only around $45 million in 2015. The traded products are mainly apparel, wooden furniture, pharmaceuticals, seafood, machinery, and equipment.

Vietnam is currently a leading trade partner of and biggest exporter to the US. The upcoming enforcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership could provide a catalyst to bolster Vietnamese-US trade ties, providing numerous opportunities for investment expansion and job creation in the two countries, including in the province of Binh Dinh, Dung said.

He added that the province was looking for multinational US companies in certain fields, saying that Binh Dinh has the tremendous demand for investment capital in energy, technology, finance, banking, and building infrastructure such as roads, seaports, and airports.

Binh Dinh has committed to creating favourable conditions for any prospective investors coming from the US or other developed countries. In particular, the investors will be supported in all stages of their projects, from conceiving ideas or searching for investment opportunities to construction and project deployment.

According to director of the Binh Dinh Investment Promotion Centre Nguyen Bay, to better serve investors doing business in the province, Binh Dinh is reviewing its plans for socio-economic development as well as plans for industrial parks, economic zones, and tourism development.

The quality of investment promotion will be improved and the province will create a wish-list of priority investment projects, working directly with targeted investors in particular fields and hosting meetings and direct dialogues. Investment incentives, including policies on attracting talent, worker training, branding, and trade promotion, will be revised to match investor requirements.

Reviewing administrative reforms is also necessary for introducing more effective measures, according to Bay.

Part of the south central coastal region, Binh Dinh is easily accessible by road, waterway, railway, and air. The provinces Quy Nhon international seaport provides a convenient gateway to the sea.

As a convergent location between National Highways 1A and 19, businesses can conveniently transport goods to the north, south, or central highlands region, or even to locations in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.

Binh Dinh also boasts a 134-kilometre stretch of coastline with stunning beaches and a thriving ecosystem, which is conducive for the development of tourism, aquaculture, and seafood processing.
Phase one of the project was building the Binh Trieu 2 Bridge. - Photo vnexpress.net

Binh Trieu 2 Project has been conducted under the build-operate-transfer format, but its investors and investment funds keep changing.

The project's investor was Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No 5 (Cienco 5).

Phase one of the project was building the Binh Trieu 2 Bridge and the second is upgrading 10.6km of roads connecting HCM City to Central Highlands provinces and the southern economic zone.

Total investment for the project was VND341 billion (US$15.2 million).

Construction on the project started in February 2001 and was expected to finish in a year and a half.

But after three years, just the bridge had been completed.

Cienco 5 representatives said the cost of the project had increased to more than VND1.2 trillion ($53.3 million), because the fund for compensation had increased. The company could not continue to conduct the project, as it was too expensive, so it handed it over to HCM City authorities.

The HCM City People's Committee in July 2004 asked the Prime Minister to let the HCM City Department of Transport become the project's investor. The project would be implemented under the municipal budget.

The Government in November 2004 agreed to transfer the project to the HCM City People's Committee.

A year later the committee passed the project on from the municipal Department of Transport to the HCM City Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company (CII).

Instead of finishing the project in 2006 as the city had planned, the CII started its work in 2007, dividing the project into seven sub-projects.

From September 2009 to August 2010 the CII implemented only sub-project No 3, which was upgrading Binh Trieu 1 Bridge. None of the other projects made any headway.

Duong Quang Chau, CII investment director, told Lao dong (Labour) newspaper that the biggest difficulty was that the project's total investment increased too much, whereas the city's budget was limited.

From July 2007 until now, the project's costs have continued to rise. Now it requires VND5.5 trillion (about $244.4 million), 15 times more than first allotted.
As of last week, the Ministry of Transport still has not authorised PMU Thang Long, the project investor, to disburse VND173.72 billion ($7.79 million) in reward to the two contractors, which is already a decrease from the amount promised in 2013 of VND180 billion ($8 million).

During the past three years the ministry has many a times asked for permission from the government and opinions from related government agencies, but the matter has not been resolved. Apparently, there is no precedent for this kind of reward in infrastructure construction yet, and related government agencies have yet to agree on how to calculate its amount.

The Ministry of Transport calculated that the value brought about by the early completion of the road is VND1.5 trillion ($67.3 million), including socioeconomic value and savings. According to the contract signed between PMU Thang Long and the contractors, in case of finishing earlier than scheduled, the contractor receives 1.12 per cent of the contracts value for every 28 days, however, the total must not exceed 12 per cent of the value brought about by early completion. Therefore, the maximum reward in this case would be VND180 billion ($8 million).

The Ministry of Transport said that the reward is lawful and proposed the Ministry of Finance to disburse the money from the funds Vietnam borrowed from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to carry out this project. The Ministry of Finance agreed that the money should come from the borrowed JICA capital, but said that calculating the reward based on the socioeconomic benefits brought about by the early completion is not reasonable.

Phase 2 of the Ring Road III project in Hanoi aimed to build 8.91 kilometres of expressway. The total investment was VND5.55 trillion ($246.6 million), all borrowed from JICA. Construction started in June 2010 and was completed in 2013.

Samwhan-Cienco 4, finishing its allotted share 263 days earlier than agreed, was to receive VND77.7 billion ($3.5 million) in reward. Sumitomo, finishing its part of the project 454 days ahead of schedule, was to receive VND102 billion ($4.6 million) in reward. Sumitomo recently submitted a notice to PMU Thang Long asking for interest on the reward it was promised.


Tourists explore a cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh Province.

Photo www.vietnamtourism.com

Nguyen Huu Hoai, chairman of central Quang Binh Provinces Peoples Committee, made the announcement at a meeting with representatives of 300 travel agencies, restaurants and hotels on Sunday.

Participants at the meeting said that aggressively selling merchandise to travelers, overcharging tourists and providing inadequate infrastructure, as well as working with troublesome administrative procedures relating to tourist accommodations, are issues that need to be resolved.

Hoai noted that in the future, provincial authorities will address these shortcomings and support businesses as they work to overcome difficulties, in a bid to improve the quality of the nations tourism industry.

He urged tourist companies to improve the quality of services and not allow tourists to be treated unfairly in shops or be charged high prices, in general.

Hoai also asked the companies to focus on ensuring the safety of food served to tourists, and seeking out clean and green environments as tourist attractions.

Quang Binh Province has 280 accommodation places including a 5-star hotel, two 4-star hotels, 14 restaurants that are certified to serve tourists, and 31 travel agencies.

Last year, the province welcomed 2.8 million visitors, including 65,000 international passengers. Total revenues from tourism were estimated at VND3,300 billion (US$148 million) last year.

The province is expected to welcome 3.3 million domestic and 100,000 international tourists this year.


With its cheap labour and a young workforce, Vietnam is set to see an upswing in digital investment- Photo: Le Toan

Truong Gia Binh, chairman of information technology giant FPT, said at the launch of the World Banks 2016 World Development Report last week that numerous foreign investment funds were eyeing Vietnam as a fertile land for the development of software and digital technology.

FPT recently signed co-operation deals with several partners in the US, South Korea, and Japan. In 2016, the group expects to do more of the same with foreign partners around the world.

Ivy Chang, deputy secretary general of Taiwans Information Service Industry Association, told VIR that the association was supporting Taiwans leading IT developers such as Chunghwa Telecom, Syscom, UPAS, Decision, IDGate, Xecure Lab, and Changing Information Technology to set up operations in Vietnam.

We have been co-operating with Vietnams FPT and are seeking many other partners. We also want to co-operate with the Vietnamese government to build an effective e-government, Chang said.

Nguyen Minh Cuong, sales representative for the US Honeywell Security Business, said his firm was providing IT solutions for Siemens, MV Corp, and CDC in Vietnam. In July 2014, Honeywell Security Business established a company in Vietnam, focusing on promoting made-in-US products in the country. The firm will invest more to expand the Vietnam company, and in order to reduce product prices, it will import products directly from the US into Vietnam, instead of through Singapore, as is currently the case.

Takashi Masumitsu, deputy manager of Internet Initiative Japan Inc.s Global Business Development Office, told VIR that his firm, which provides cloud services, planned to open a branch in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. We have already had branches in Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. And now our priority is Vietnam. We are negotiating with many Vietnamese customers and have signed 10 memoranda of understanding with Vietnamese firms, Masumitsu said.

According to Binh, Vietnam has vast potential in digital and software development. In Asia, the country has surpassed India, and ranks only after China and Japan in software development.

He also said that the US Progressive Policy Institute, which serves as a public policy think tank, ranked Vietnam as having the greatest potential in app development globally. Cushman & Wakefield also ranked the country as having the biggest potential in software outsourcing in the world.

Whats behind such rankings? It is because Vietnam has millions of young people using personal computers and smartphones. On average, each person spends about 5.5 hours a day surfing the internet, three times higher than young people elsewhere in ASEAN, Binh noted. Vietnam also has many talented information technology engineers. For example, three years ago, a young engineer named Nguyen Ha Dong shocked the world with his Flappy Bird game, which earned him $50,000 a day.

According to Binh, the cost of hiring professionals in Vietnam is 90 and 30 per cent less than hiring qualified IT experts in the US and India, respectively. Vietnam also has over 500,000 skilled software developers, while almost all people between 18 and 35 have unlimited access to the internet. This has led to a boom in over-the-top content apps on the internet in Vietnam over the past few years.
A Slovenian robot makes paper planes at the European Robotics Forum 2016 at Cankarjev Dom Cultural and Congress Center in Ljubljana, Slovenia, March 22, 2016. The 7th European Robotics Forum with the theme "Robots and Jobs" is held from March 21 to 23 in Ljubljana. It hosts about 500 particpants and features 60 workshops and 22 exhibitions. The forum aims to explore how robotics can help boost economic growth, create jobs, and enrich human lives. (Xinhua/Luka Dakskobler)
Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former Texas state trooper Brian Encinia, center, leaves the courtroom after an arraignment hearing Tuesday in Hempstead, Texas. Encinia, the fired Texas trooper, is facing arraignment on a misdemeanor perjury charge related to his arrest last summer of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was later found dead in a county jail.
The Khmer Rouge Tribunals International Co-Investigating Judge Michael Bohlander last week pressed additional charges against Ao An, a former mid-ranking regime official. The charges of genocide and other serious crimes followed murder and crimes against humanity charges leveled against 83-year-old Ao An, a.k.a Ta An, the former deputy chief of the Khmer Rouges Central Zone who is a defendant in the courts fourth case.

The extra charges might suggest that progress is being made in the case. But trial observers question whether the case 004, one of two at the hybrid United Nations-Cambodian court that the government has consistently opposed, is really going anywhere.

The Cambodian judges at the court possess significant powers of obstruction, and the government apparatus has shown itself unwillingness to carry out arrests in the cases, which Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned should not be prosecuted at risk of reigniting civil war.

Three suspects have been named in case 004. Alongside Ao An they are Yim Tith, a.k.a. Ta Tith, who was the acting chief of the Northwest Zone, and Im Chaem, the former district chief of Preah Neth Preah. In the other outstanding case, 003, only Meas Muth, the regimes navy chief, is charged.

They are all charged with crimes against humanity and murder for their actions in the late 1970s, and some are charged with genocide relating to massacres of members of the Cham Muslim or ethnic Vietnamese minorities. None are currently detained.

Neth Pheaktra a spokesman for the court, officially named the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, insisted that arrests were not necessary so long as the suspects cooperate with the court and show up when summonsed. The courts judges can call for arrests if they believe it necessary for the investigation process, he said.

Based on the law and internal rules of this implementation, and according to the national law, the additional charge against anyone does not need to always arrest them all, Pheaktra told VOA Khmer. We see there is cooperation from the suspects. They appeared in the court following the summons of the international judge.

For the cases to reach trial, the International Co-Investigating Judge needs to complete the investigations on the two cases by June this year.

Even if that happens, national judgeswho have generally followed the government and Prime Minister Hun Sens wishes regarding the two caseshold majorities at every level of the court, and can therefore significantly slow down the process.

Judges could disagree on the issue of whether the suspects in cases 003 and 004 constitute those most responsible for the regimes crimes, a criterion written into the courts remit.

Still in place are the barriers to progress that have seen a string of international judges leave the tribunal in anger. Complaints can be filed and arrest warrants can be withheld. By law, if the tribunals Pre-Trial Chamber cant find a reason to object to the cases, they will move forward. But the question remains: Will Cambodian officials cooperate and make arrests?

What is really needed to move the cases forward is a political deal, said Long Panhavuth a leading court monitor at the Cambodia Justice Initiative.

Can it move to arrest and detention? The answer is: Its not possible if there is no political deal between the Cambodia government and the U.N.

Claims from the international side that suspects were not being detained due to a cash flow shortage were an excuse, Panhavuth added. The most important thing is there is no cooperation between the national and international side, he said.

Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said it wouldnt be known whether the lengthy investigations into cases 003 and 004 had yielded enough documentary evidence to convict the suspects until a trial was held. But numerous changes to court procedures were holding the trials back, he said.

Its hard because this is in the hands of the lawyers and judges, he said.

I just urge that they should respect the procedures and think about the justice for the victims. That is what should be more important than to change the procedure or any mechanism that is not thinking about the desire or what the victims want.

U.S. law professor, who authored the book Facing Death in Cambodia about the Khmer Rouges crimes, said Hun Sen had consistently outmaneuvered the U.N. and the courts international donors to the tribunal.

Although national law or international law is one factor, an equally important factor is power, he told VOA Khmer. Does the U.N. have the power to compel the Cambodian government to arrest and try another series of defendants? Absolutely not.

Successfully bringing the suspects in cases 003 and 004 to justice seemed unlikely, even as the costs of the trial and its staff continue to pile up, he noted.

The U.N. is a guest in the kingdom. In order to move forward with cases 003 and 004 they need the support of the Cambodian leader Hun Sen, he continued. Not only do they not have it, they have never had it.
Nepals Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli appears to be creating history on his visit to China, which began March 20 and ends this Sunday.



The prime minister has signed several agreements aimed at reducing Nepals centuries-long economic dependence on India, including a plan to create a railway thoroughfare from China through the Himalayas.



On Wednesday, Beijing and Kathmandu signed a deal under which China will supply petroleum products to Nepal, which has been dependent on India for this product. Beijing is also finding ways to reduce Nepals dependence on India for electricity by planning a transmission line across the border.



"Nepal can be a bridge between China and India," Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday, putting his stamp of approval on the moves.



Xi has reasons to be pleased at the turn of events, according to analysts, as an earlier attempt to establish strong linkages with Nepal in 2008 did not succeed. The move has military connotations because the Himalayan Heights are a crucial strategic asset. Additionally, the Indian military has a close relationship with the Nepali forces and Beijing would be keen to dilute it, analysts said.

Oli said last week that Nepal wants to utilize seaports in China for its foreign trade. Currently, 90 percent of Nepals foreign trade passes through India.



We have been an India-locked country. We are now developing a strong partner in China, and opening up new transit routes, Rajan Bhattarai, a member of parliament from the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), told VOA.



Tunneling Himalayas



Many, however, regard these moves with skepticism because of Nepal's daunting mountain terrain, its cultural connectivity with India and Olis tenuous position in the Nepali political theater.

India has said Nepal is within its rights to seek other partners; but, some believe New Delhi may be concerned about the new situation because linking Nepal and China with railways would give the Chinese military a unique advantage over rival India.

I don't think China would do anything in Nepal that would seriously hurt Indias interest and affect its own relationship with New Delhi, Pramod Jaiswal, senior research officer at Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi, said. China needs Indias vast market for goods and infrastructure construction a lot more than it needs Nepal.



China's Foreign Ministry has acknowledged that the cross-border railway was still at the proposal stage, and that a feasibility study has not yet been done; but, analysts said the capability of Chinese railway engineers to take the Tibetan railway line to the Nepali border should not be underestimated. At one stage, Chinese officials talked about digging tunnels through the Himalayas to quickly stretch the railway line to the Nepali border.



Separately, Chinese railway engineers demonstrated rare tenacity as they laid tracks across the mountain ranges in Tibet.



Political opportunism?



The prime ministers actions follow a massive border blockade created by agitating opposition forces, which stopped the flow of goods from India for weeks until it was resumed recently.



Nepal had accused India of supporting the agitators from the Madhesi community -- mostly people from Nepals plains with close links with India. They were opposing provisions in a new constitution that denied them certain rights. Oli has been forced to amend the constitution to accommodate the Madhesi demands.



[The] Nepali prime minister is upset with India over the blockade. He wants to invite China to counterbalance India in Nepal, Jaiswal said.

There is another reason driving Oli closer to China, according to analysts. His party does not have a majority in parliament, and depends on the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is known for its pro-China stance.

These two parties were rivals earlier. Many people believe China played a role in bringing them together, Jaiswal said.

Nestled in the Himalayas, Nepal has been known to the world largely for Mount Everest, for the birthplace of Buddha in Lumbini and for being an almost 100 percent Hindu kingdom next to India. The countrys only political significance has been its role as the first stopover for Tibetans fleeing from China to India in the hope of seeing the Dalai Lama.

Observers say they believe China relies heavily on the Nepali army and police force for blocking the entry of fleeing Tibetans, and keeping a close watch on Tibetan refugees already settled in Nepal.



Every country has its own reasons for enhancing friendship. We understand what issues are sensitive and important for our neighbors, and we try to do what we can for them, Rajan Bhattarai said.
Intelligence officials said Wednesday that a 25-year-old Islamic State bombmaker who was involved in the Paris attacks in November was one of two suicide bombers who targeted the Brussels airport this week.

Authorities said Najim Laachraoui, who was born in Morocco but grew up in Brussels, was identified as a key participant in the Paris attacks after his DNA was found on suicide vests used in the operation. His DNA was also found Tuesday at an apartment in Brussels where authorities think bombs were constructed.

Meanwhile, a second man identified as a suicide bomber in Tuesday's Brussels attacks had been detained by Turkey and deported but was released by European authorities about eight months ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

Erdogan said his government warned authorities in Belgium about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, who was stopped in southern Turkey near the Gaziantep border crossing into Syria. The Turkish president said el-Bakraoui was deported last July but was then subsequently released, "despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter."

Erdogan said those holding el-Bakraoui after he was deported "could not establish any links with terrorism," so they released the 29-year-old Belgian national.

Authorities in Brussels, where the victims of the attacks were honored with a minute of silence Wednesday, confirmed that el-Bakraoui detonated explosives and was killed Tuesday at the capital's main airport. His brother, Khalid, 27, blew himself up aboard a metro train in Brussels about the same time. They were identified by their fingerprints.

A fourth man seen on surveillance video with the two bombers at the airport remains at large.

IS extremists claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least 31 people and wounded 271.

Links with Paris attacks

With the confirmation that Paris bombmaker Laachraoui took part in the Brussels attacks, authorities are adding to evidence showing the ties between the two operations.



On The Scene: Heather Murdock reports from Brussels

Citing police sources, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF reported that Khalid el-Bakraoui had rented the Brussels apartment raided by French and Belgian police last week in connection with the Paris attacks.

Police also found the fingerprint there of top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested Friday.

Authorities believe the Paris attacks were at least partly plotted in Belgium.

France and Belgium are united more than ever in their sadness and determination, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters, alongside his French counterpart, Manuel Valls.

Both countries are also worried about the growing number of their youngsters turning to militant Islam. While some are converts, many others are disaffected second-generation immigrants from North and sub-Saharan Africa.

Moment of silence

During the silent memorial in Brussels Wednesday, the Place de la Bourse was filled with people bundled against the spring chill and dark skies. The public square is the site where mourners have been bringing flowers and mementos to remember the victims.



Much of the city remains locked down. The airport is closed at least through Friday; a statement said "the forensic investigation is still underway."

"Until we can assess the damage, we are unable to confirm when operations at the airport can be resumed," authorities added.

Belgium's terror alert is at maximum level. Authorities throughout Europe have boosted security at airports and other public spaces in response to the Brussels attacks, and a friendly soccer match set for next week between Belgium and Portugal has been moved from Brussels to the Portuguese city of Leiria as a precaution.

President Barack Obama, who is on a trip to Argentina, on Wednesday expressed his "extraordinary sorrow" to Belgium, saying the U.S. had also felt the "scourge of terrorism."

"The U.S. will continue to offer any assistance we can to help investigate these attacks and bring the attackers to justice," Obama said at a news conference alongside Argentina's president, Mauricio Macri. "We will also continue to go after ISIL [another Islamic State acronym] aggressively until it is removed from Syria and Iraq and finally destroyed."

About a dozen U.S. citizens were injured in the attacks, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.
China's first homegrown aircraft carrier to be superior to Liaoning, military experts say

An undated file photo shows China's first aircraft carrierLiaoning. [Photo for chinadaily.com.cn]

China's first homegrown aircraft carrier will have larger tonnage and carry more carrier-based aircraft, according to military experts.

The second carrier, fully based on China's own design, will have a displacement of 50,000 tons, defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a news conference in Beijing on Dec. 31, 2015.

The design of China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier is similar to the commissioned one Liaoning but its tonnage is larger than Liaoning, said Yin Zhuo, director of the Expert Consultation Committee of the People's Liberation Army Navy and also a member of CPPCC National Committee, during the 2016 Two Sessions on March 6.

Cao Weidong, a researcher at People's Liberation Army Navy's Academic Research Institute, said that stealth technology like radar absorbing materials might be used to manufacture China's second aircraft carrier.

According to Cao, the new homegrown carrier will use homegrown boilers and steam turbines with better performance rather than outdated ones from Varyag used by the Liaoning.

Yin said in an interview during the Two Sessions that the new carrier will be equipped with larger hanger and maintenance garage. He also said that the new carrier will be more capable to store ammunition, oil and water. The new carrier will carry more aircraft and will have better combat ability.

Du Songtao, a military commentator, said that China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning did not expand the hanger by removing the anti-ship missile launchers, but the hanger of the new aircraft carrier will be 10 per cent larger than the old one in the Liaoning by removing the anti-ship missile launchers at the beginning of the design.

Du mentioned that the hangar in the new carrier may be larger than that in French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

Some fixed equipment and rails take up large space of the hangar in aircraft carrier Liaoning. But according to Cao, lines drawn on the floor should replace these space-consuming equipment in the hangar of the new aircraft carrier.

The builder will expand the flight deck of the new aircraft which will accommodate more aircraft.
Belgians marked a minute of silence Wednesday for the victims of the Brussels terrorist attacks, as authorities identified two of the suicide bombers in the assaults that killed more than 30 people and injured around 270 others.

Hundreds gathered at the Place de la Bourse in downtown Brussels to light candles and scrawl messages of love and peace on the wide sidewalk.

As the day turned into evening, the gathering became boisterous as participants sang, chanted and waved Belgian flags.

"I'm still in shock about what happened," said city hall worker Suzanne Ibrahim, 31, who lit a candle for a friend who was injured during Tuesday's suicide attack in a Brussels subway car.

"He's still in intensive care and we don't know whether he's going to make it or not," she added.

Other were outraged at the attackers.

"These people are just scum and thieves," said Pierre Gilles, 62. "They have nothing to do with Islam."

Many Muslims also attended the Brussels rally, singing songs in Arabic and French. Some are now worried of a backlash.

"Yes, I sometimes feel stigmatized," said Larbi Arbaoui, an ethnic Moroccan who was born and raised in Brussels. "But we must move forward together."

At the Maalbeek station, top Belgian and European Union officials also observed a moment of silence for the victims.
A small West African countrys establishment of relations with China this month is raising concern in Taiwan of a new fight to retain its few diplomatic allies around the world and exert international influence.

The Gambias announcement March 17 that it had set up diplomatic ties with China prompted anger from Taiwans government and president-elect. They worry that an informal truce has ended with Beijing.

The Gambia had cut ties with Taiwan, one of the worlds most isolated democracies, in November 2013, leaving the Asian island with just 22 formal diplomatic relations.

China has more than 170 allies and uses them to stop Taiwan from pursuing international relations, including participation in United Nations. Since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, Beijings Communist government has viewed Taiwan as part of China rather than a state entitled to form ties with foreign countries.

Taiwan looks to its remaining allies, mostly poor countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, as a voice in the United Nations and as evidence of legitimacy for Taiwans government, known as the Republic of China, or ROC.

The Gambia squabble will put Taiwan on guard again, said Eleanor Wang, spokeswoman for the islands foreign ministry.

For Gambia to decide to set up ties with mainland China, our side expresses regret, Wang said. The foreign ministry will keep stepping up its work with the outside world. As for mainland Chinas actions to exert pressure, all foreign ministry and overseas representative offices will continue to be on alert, pay rapt attention and protect our countrys interests effectively.

Since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008, Taipei and Beijing set aside political disputes, including so-called "check diplomacy," the competition for alliances with poorer countries by raising each other's development aid pledges.

Since checkbook diplomacy ended, the two sides have opened landmark dialogue and signed 23 agreements linked to tourism, trade and investment.

The establishment of Beijings ties with The Gambia comes about two months before Ma must step down due to term limits and hand the presidency to Tsai Ing-wen, who won Taiwan's January election.

Tsai leads a party with a history of poor China relations, and officials in Beijing have called on her to uphold the conditions for two-way dialogue embraced by the current Taiwanese leadership. Tsai rejects those conditions, which require each side to see itself as part of China, but subject to different interpretations.

Last week China asked The Gambia to acknowledge one China, namely the sole legitimacy of the Beijing government. That nod precludes any relations with Taiwan.

The Gambia broke ties with Taiwan without jumping immediately to China as countries did before 2008. The break was described then as a personal decision by Yahya Jammeh, president of the West African country of 1.8 million people.

Joanna Lei, chief executive officer of the Chunghua 21st Century Think Tank in Taiwan, said China used The Gambia as a soft signal of what might come after Tsai takes office May 20.

Now that the truce is no longer in effect  we cant say its completely over, but its not completely in effect  they picked a country that would not diminish the number of diplomatic relations with the ROC while effectively [not] renew[ing] a relationship to indicate what might come if after the May 20 [inauguration] speech [is] not clear in terms of the One-China policy, Lei said.

She estimates that five or six other countries now allied with Taiwan are eyeing a shift to China if allowed. Chinas allies may get more access to the giant Chinese market rather than Taiwans much smaller one.

Tsai is expected to protest any new diplomatic quarrels after taking office but may not directly confront Beijing over the broader issue. She will wait for China to gauge how angry it wants to make the Taiwanese public by buying off small countries, said Hsu Yung-ming, a political scientist with Soochow University in Taipei.

Taiwan also has strong informal relations, particularly economic links with the United States, Japan and countries in Europe.

She wont open a competition with China on foreign diplomacy, Hsu said. She will instead observes peoples reactions and take a calm attitude. So its China that will judge whether these actions toward Taiwans diplomatic allies are causing a backlash among Taiwanese people and even whether theres a negative impact on future cross-Strait relations.
The latest findings by a group of prominent scientists say our planet has not seen its surface warm up so much, in such a short period, during the past 66 million years and the impact will come much quicker and with much worse consequences than previously thought.



According to a study published in 2006 in the online journal Science, the last sudden rise of CO2 in the Earths atmosphere happened 55 million years ago and lasted for about 170,000 years. The global temperature then increased about five degrees Celsius, causing profound changes in the planets ecology, including mass extinctions.



In a new 52-page report, published Tuesday in the scientific journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19 scientists say we are releasing CO2 in the atmosphere much faster than 55 million years ago, and that even two degrees Celsius rise of the average temperature will have catastrophic effects on the planets climate.



Authors warn of collapsing ice sheets, violent mega storms and giant waves.

The leader of the study, former NASA scientist James Hansen, says we may already have passed the point of no return and future generations will bear the dire consequences.



When Hansen issued the first warning last summer, some journalists and fellow scientists criticized it as lacking enough evidence. But he has since been joined, in a peer review, by many other prominent scientists who revised the paper and made it less dramatic. But serious concerns remain.



Combining evidence about ancient climate changes, modern observations and results of computer modeling, the authors conclude that rapid melting of Greenland and Antarctica ice will cause not only a rise in sea levels, but also many other climate changes.



Specifically, they point to a phenomenon called stratification, which means formation of cold water pools on the oceans surface, caused by melting of the ice sheets. The warm water trapped below will continue to melt the bottom of the ice sheets, contributing to rapid sea level rise. Evidence of stratification has already been observed off the Greenlands southern coast.



According to the study, the changes will lead to a growing temperature differential between northern and equatorial regions, that in turn will cause intense cyclones and storms with gigantic waves.



The findings cited in the study are supported with other research, such as that done by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.



Some reviewers have been praising the report as a masterwork of scholarly synthesis, while others say it is still not certain that it will match what will happen in the real world.



However, as one of the reviewers, Penn State glaciologist Richard Alley, said, "the paper reminds us that large and rapid changes [of the climate] are possible. We just dont know how much and how likely."
The parties to the conflict in Yemen have agreed to a cessation of hostilities and a new round of peace talks next month.

This nationwide truce will begin at midnight local time on April 10, U.N. Special Envoy on Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said Wednesday. Face-to-face talks between the parties are scheduled to follow on April 18 in Kuwait.

The talks aim to reach a comprehensive agreement, which will end the conflict and allow the resumption of inclusive political dialogue, Cheikh Ahmed told reporters in New York.

He said the talks would be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions, which call for resolving the year-old conflict through political negotiations.

The war in Yemen must be brought to an end before it does irreparable damage to the future of Yemen and the region, the envoy said.

More than 6,000 people have been killed since a Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes last March in support of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh after Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.

The envoy said the talks would focus on five key areas: the withdrawal of militias and armed groups, the handover of heavy weapons to the state, interim security arrangements, the restoration of state institutions and the resumption of inclusive political dialogue, and the creation of a special committee on prisoners and detainees.

Nation on the brink

The conflict has pushed the Arab Worlds poorest nation to the brink. More than 2 million Yemenis have been displaced and more than 21 million people - 82 percent of the population  require some form of humanitarian or protection assistance.

Earlier this month, the United Nations appealed for $1.8 billion to meet Yemens humanitarian needs this year.

Calls for arms embargo

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch called on the United States, Britain, France and others to suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, saying Saudi air strikes have killed hundreds of civilians.

By continuing to sell weapons to a known violator that has done little to curtail its abuses, the U.S., the U.K. and France risk being complicit in unlawful civilian deaths, said HRWs Philippe Bolopion.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters his government does not support the idea of an arms embargo against ally Saudi Arabia.

We support a political settlement, and the UK supports the Saudi-led coalition in bringing the legitimate government of Yemen back to Sanaa, he said. We encourage the parties to ensure that that can happen through the process that [envoy] Ismail has announced today, he added.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Brussels on Friday "to formally express the condolences of the United States for the loss of life" in Tuesday's deadly attacks in the Belgian capital.

"He will reiterate the strong support of the United States for Belgian efforts to both investigate these attacks and continue contributing to international efforts to counter violent extremism," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday.

Earlier, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the United States is prepared to give Belgian authorities information, capability, technology and anything else to help the county fight and prevent acts of terrorism. Biden made his comments during a visit to Belgium's embassy in Washington to sign a condolence book.

In Brussels, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called on the European parliament to act on authorizing a passenger name record (PNR) for Europe. Speaking after a meeting Wednesday with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Valls said the West is dealing with a terrorist organization that has been able to establish terrorist cells at the heart of Western societies.

Meanwhile, France's ministers of interior, defense and transport visited Paris' main airport to meet with security forces there. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that an additional 1,600 security officers had been deployed across the country following the Brussels attacks.

France remains in a state of emergency after terrorist attacks killed 130 people and wounded more than 350 last November in Paris.



At the Vatican, Pope Francis led thousands of people in silent prayer for the victims of the attacks at Brussels' airport and in its subway. The pope also appealed to all persons of good will to unite in unanimous condemnation of the attacks causing death, horror and sorrow.

Belgian vulnerability

The explosions in Belgium's capital, Brussels, occurred within a few kilometers of the area that is home to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union, the European continents core institutions, heightening concerns about security in the Belgium capitol.

Official estimates last year said nearly 500 young Muslim residents of Belgium have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join extremist groups, making it the European country with the highest number of foreign fighters per capita.

Belgiums small size has also meant that it has fewer anti-terrorism resources compared to larger nations like the United States, Britain or France.

In addition to a lack of resources, observers say institutional fragmentation and poor intelligence sharing have hampered Belgium's ability to counter terrorism. Brussels itself has 19 municipalities and six different police forces, which presents an obvious operational challenge, Benoit Gomis, a specialist on terrorism and European defense at Chatham House in London, told VOA.

Tuesdays attacks could spark a new, unified push to help Belgium boost its security infrastructure.

Above all, it will be critical for the EU to substantively improve intelligence sharing among member states, Florian Otto told VOA. Otto notes measures were already agreed after last years Paris attacks, which were largely organized in Belgium.

Analysts say Tuesdays attacks could see the idea of a joint EU intelligence unit put back on the agenda. Other areas include counter-radicalization efforts and combined operations to combat arms trafficking.

Such a coordinated approach could trigger opposition in some European governments that are already wary of EU overreach, one of the issues driving the desire among some in Britain to break away from the grouping.

Governments across Europe have announced measures to boost security at borders and transit points.

In a televised statement from NATO headquarters in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the bloc stands with its ally Belgium "on this dark day.



He said this cowardly act with a heavy and tragic human toll is an attack on democratic values and open societies, adding that terrorism will not defeat democracy and take away our freedoms.

European Union Council President Donald Tusk said he was appalled by the attacks and offered Europe's support.



Tusk said that these attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence, adding that the EU will fulfill its role to help Brussels, Belgium and Europe as a whole counter the terror threat they are facing.

Through these attacks in Brussels, it was all of Europe that was hit, wrote French President Francois Hollande (@fhollande) on Twitter.



Following an emergency Cabinet meeting in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the blasts and said Europe should stand together. "We will never let these terrorists win," Cameron said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, called for solidarity with Belgium, writing on Twitter that terrorists will never win. He added that our European values [are] much stronger than hate, violence, terror!

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the West's politics of double standards have led to terrorist attacks and that frozen diplomatic relations between NATO and Russia have slowed the fight against terrorism. But the Kremlin offered its condolences and expressed solidarity with Belgium.

(VOA's Cindy Saine contributed to this report from Mosow)



Photo Blog: Belgium Mourns Terror Attack Victims
There are more than 900 species of ticks in the world, many of which carry serious diseases. In fact, ticks transmit a wider variety of pathogens than any other arthropod, causing thousands of human and animal deaths annually. But no one had thought to study them until about 10 years ago.

Now researchers, led by Purdue University entomologist Catherine Hill, have mapped the genome of Ixodes scapularis, the deer tick that is infamous for carrying Lyme Disease. With backing from the National Institutes of Health, Hill put together a tick research team of 93 scientists from 46 institutions around the world. Their findings are published in Nature Communications.

"A good way to think about a genome-sequencing project is to relate it to a jigsaw puzzle," Hill explained. "So you break everything up like little pieces of DNA and then you have to put them back together again."

Among other things, the researchers identified a long list of genes that control smell and taste receptors, and discovered that ticks smell with their feet. The creatures climb blades of grass and hold their feet out until they sense a host to hop onto. With that information, scientists can design sprays and repellents to disrupt the ticks abilities to find a host or perhaps even to mate and propagate.

Targeted pesticides and medicines

The researchers also determined that about 20 percent of the creature's genes are unique to ticks, which Hill says could lead to highly focused pesticides.

"If we target these particular molecules we can make designer chemistries that are very specific or unique to the tick. We would be controlling only the tick and not affecting other organisms in the environment," she said. "And that means that we would be aiming to design more environmentally acceptable products for tick control."

Hills colleague, virologist Richard Kuhn, heads Purdue's Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Diseases. He sees the tick genome map as a gateway for the development of new drugs, noting that although ticks and humans use the same biological approach to disable viruses, ticks have developed immunity to many of the pathogens they carry.

Kuhn suggests scientists could apply the same principles to human medicine. Knowledge of the Ixodes scapularis genome will not only help scientists develop vaccines for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and a form of encephalitis, it could also prevent future tick-related epidemics.

Preparing for the spread of ticks

Diseases spread by ticks are on the rise around the world, spurred by a combination of factors, including shifting climates and population sprawl into rural areas. Studies have shown that the northward spreading of the castor bean tick in Sweden and Russia appear to be associated with climate change, especially milder winters and extended growing seasons.

A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council predicts lyme disease could expand throughout the United States and northward into Canada, as temperatures warm, allowing ticks to move into new regions.

"Warmer temperatures, increases in rainfall, and milder winters can favor tick survival," noted Bobbi Pritt, director of clinical parasitology at the Mayo Clinic, in an email to Scientific American magazine.

Kuhn told VOA that as their range expands, the danger from ticks is growing.

"Its better to be prepared now to begin to understand how we might be able to control them now, than when we have the outbreak of a new disease and everybody says 'Let's do something,' and we will not be prepared. We're preparing ahead of time," he said.

Reflecting on the last 10 years of research, Hill says that though her team has come to the end of genome mapping, theyre really just at the beginning of advancing work into understanding the biology of ticks.

"I dont think weve appreciated the diversity of bacteria and viruses that ticks can transmit and were just at the very beginning of getting a better appreciation of that and understanding that ability to transmit pathogens," she said.

As sequencing software technology catches up, they hope to sequence many more tick species genomes at a much quicker pace.
U.S. and European intelligence officials are beginning to grudgingly accept that the deadly terror attacks in Brussels by the Islamic State group will not be the last on Western soil.

Officials have long been concerned that IS might find ways to take advantage of weak spots in Europes security system. But especially worrisome is that Tuesdays attacks on Brussels Zaventem airport and Maalbeek subway station that killed at least 30 people and injured more than 200 followed an intensive crackdown by Belgium and France.

I think its becoming more and more clear that they are deeply rooted, a U.S. official told VOA on condition of anonymity when asked about the IS threat in Europe. "Theyre hitting either countries that are their homes or hitting countries that are fighting ISIL.

European officials are equally grim.

We have to get used to it, a diplomatic official told VOA. Weve been though this two times last year.

Similar strategy

Counterterrorism officials said the Brussels attacks seem to have been modeled on the same blueprint as the Paris attacks last November, seeking out so-called soft targets with little or no security to strike fear throughout the general population.

Salah Abdeslam would recognize the tactic. A key suspect in the Paris attacks, Abdeslam was taken into custody during last weeks counterterror operations in Brussels by Belgium and France.

It could be a sign that groups are saying the arrest of Abdeslam isn't the end  which it isn't  and there are enough unconnected cells or small groups for the threat to persist, said Patrick Skinner, a former intelligence officer now with the Soufan Group, a provider of strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational organizations.

But even if the IS cells felt pressured to act now, he said he thought there was reason for concern.

It's a proven certainty they have high-functioning cells in place, he said.

'Constellation' of cells

Western officials estimate there may be more than 3,000 people involved in varying degrees with terror networks across Europe. And there is ample concern IS has had plenty of time to mold many of them, often using the expertise of returning foreign fighters, into what some have described as a vast network of operational cells, actively collecting intelligence and looking for opportunities to strike.

These are not very small cells that have been sent in for just one pinprick special mission. This appears to be that there is a constellation of cells rooted throughout Europe, cautioned Malcolm Nance, a former counterterrorism and intelligence officer who now heads the Terror Asymmetrics Project.

This [IS] is an expeditionary warfare organization, he said. They understand to punish your enemies, you cant do just one operation.

Nance and other former officials also say there is a high likelihood that the cells are not operating on their own, with instructions ultimately coming from IS leaders in Iraq and Syria.

This is a war where they are throwing punches and we are striking back, Nance said.

Any country at risk

Current and former officials also worry that while IS may be taking advantage of countries like Belgium, which have struggled with counterterrorism, the networks are strong enough that almost any country taking part in the fight against IS could be at risk.

But even with additional coordination between European counties and the U.S., taking down the network and its cells will take time.

The nature of these groups, operating like close circles of family and friends, "makes them difficult to get insight into but not impossible, said the Soufan Groups Skinner.

During a visit to Washington this month, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve warned of the difficulty of uncovering terror cells, saying his country has been monitoring several thousand individuals.

Not all of them are necessarily terrorists, he said. Some, we are certain that they are in connection, in communications, with terrorist groups or radicalized groups, but it doesnt mean that they themselves are radicalized.

But at some point they may be.
While Brussels was reeling from the bloodshed after Islamic State (IS) bombed civilians in the airport and a metro station, Iraqi forces were piling up body bags from multiple suicide bombings across central, western and northern Iraq.

Finding it harder to hold territory in both Iraq and Syria, IS extremists are switching tactics, using small-scale, mass-casualty attacks, internationally and regionally.

Verified numbers are hard to come by, but local reports estimate that some 400 civilian and security forces died in the week of March 8-14 alone from these kinds of attacks.

Polad Jangi, the Kurdish Peshmerga counterterrorism commander in Suleymania, told VOA that pushing IS out of the cities is unlikely to lead to its demise.

He said IS, which emerged out of al-Qaida in Iraq with a ground force of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein-era military officers, would instead revert to its previous tactics  more those of an insurgency than a state.

Theyre going to have sleeper cells; theyre going to do bombings; theyre going to do kidnappings; theyre going to do assassinations. Its going to be continuous. Its not going to stop, he said.

Losing on the battlefield, but adapting

Like Jangi, U.S. military and counterterrorism officials believe momentum on the ground in Iraq and Syria has clearly shifted. They say increased strains on IS funding and foreign fighter flows have begun to show up on the battlefield, where the terror group is operating less and less like a conventional military force.

Asymmetric attacks, harassing attacks, have definitely picked up, said one U.S. official familiar with the assessments. Theres no sign of a resurgence.

Other officials have pointed to U.S. and coalition airstrikes against IS oil facilities and cash depots, which they say has forced the group to cut salaries, hurting morale while eating away at what one U.S. counterterrorism official described as IS veneer of invincibility.

Theres no doubt that the losses are rippling across ISILs self-declared caliphate, the official said, using an acronym for the group.

But the official also cautioned, These blows alone will not serve as a knock-out punch.

At the same time, there are growing concerns that the increased pressure has forced changes that may make IS more resilient and more difficult to defeat.

I actually think their adaptation has improved in recent months, said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

They certainly seem to be improving some of their on-the-ground fighting to be more consistent with their strengths, less of the battlefield advances that are more appropriate for a state military and more light, unconventional-style warfare, he said. The question is will their adaptations outpace the massive stress that is being placed upon the organization."

IS split

Gartenstein-Ross, and others, say many of the adaptations have mirrored reports of a shift in power, with foreign fighters from Chechnya gaining growing influence.

Jangi believes that the foreign fighters will move on, as the IS re-launch in Libya demonstrates. But, he says, the Iraqi nationals that form the foundation of the militant network will not leave. Even while in Iraq, he said, the two groups have not coalesced.

They are always like two different powers, but working closely together, he said. They dont speak to the Iraqis. They dont do anything except [when] the commanders communicate with them, and when they do attacks, they coordinate.

Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer now with the Hudson Institute, said the schism is ideological, with IS splitting into two main components: those fighting to control Iraq and Syria, and those who see their struggle as an apocalyptic global one.

The pragmatic tactical command and control apparatus is losing territory to committed ground forces with [U.S.] air support, and losing influence to the apocalyptic Dabiq wing, Pregent told VOA.

It is not clear where IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghadi, who has surrounded himself with an Iraqi inner circle, stands.

Taking the fight global

But many think for now, at least, the more internationally-focused wing has the upper hand, calling the shots with a view of a battlefield that extends far beyond the core of the self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

The group is hedging its bets on a global scale, said Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical and security analyst with the Levantine Group.

While the anti-ISIS coalition is battling the group in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has been able to largely expand to North Africa and south of it, using its Libyan "colonies" both as an entry point for its militants and as a magnet for local militants already operating inside the African continent, he said.

But it is not just Africa.

Officials and analysts say the attacks in Brussels indicate IS leaders view Europe as part of the same global battlefield.

They warn new attacks on Western targets, in Europe and elsewhere, are a certainty no matter what happens in Syria and Iraq.

Syria has become a training ground for jihadist fighters and there are many who went there to train in Syria in order to come home and fight, says American Enterprise Institute Research Fellow Katherine Zimmerman. So, there is a second phase of this problem that many people arent even considering.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow to discuss the crisis situations in Ukraine and Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Kremlin. They are also likely to discuss Tuesdays attacks in Brussels, which Secretary Kerry called an assault against the Belgian people and against the very heart of Europe.

A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Kerry that the secretary views the Brussels attacks as part of the larger threat posed by the Islamic State militant group, which claimed responsibility for the bombings in the Belgian capital.

A moment to seize'

On Syria, the official said Kerry wants to hear how Putin and Lavrov view the current status of efforts towards a political transition away from the leadership of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The official made clear that the U.S. position remains that Assad must step down in order for there to be a viable path to peace after five years of bloodshed in Syria.

This is the first high-level, in-person meeting between U.S. and Russian officials since Moscow announced a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria last week. In announcing the trip, Kerry said: We have reached a very important stage in this process. This is a moment to seize, not waste.

The senior State Department official said now that the cessation of hostilities in Syria is going better than many expected, and since Russia is reducing its footprint in Syria, Kerry wants the U.S. and Russia to move forward on a political transition there. Putin has had recent conversations with Assad, the official said, and is likely to have a sense of where the process stands.

Ukraine fighting drags on

On Ukraine, the senior State Department official told reporters President Barack Obama and Kerry are concerned by the recent sharp increase in violations of the cease-fire, and want to see all elements of the Minsk Agreements implemented this year.

The agreements represent a package of measures meant to reduce the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. They also authorize the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) access to monitor and verify the cease-fire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the separatist-controlled side of eastern Ukraine.

Beginning in February 2014, Russia orchestrated a military intervention and ultimately annexed Crimea a few weeks later, a move that was condemned by the international community which hit Moscow with sanctions. Russia is pushing hard in Europe for an end to the sanctions.

US Calls for Nadiya Savchenko's release

The senior State Department official told reporters Kerry will definitely raise the issue of the jailed female Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko.

Savchenko was sentenced Tuesday by a Russian court to 22 years of imprisonment. The pilot was taken hostage by Russia in 2014 and has been on a hunger strike since early March to protest the Russian criminal case against her. The State Department said it is extremely concerned about her sentence because her health is imperiled. She has reportedly endured interrogation, solitary confinement and forced psychiatric evaluation. Kerry will again call on Russia to immediately release Savchenko and other unlawfully detained people.

Kerry begins his trip Wednesday by holding a roundtable with young members of civil society at Spaso House. This is the first time for Kerry to meet with young Russian professionals from all walks of life.

On Wednesday evening, Kerry with meet and have dinner with German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, who will have finished his own meetings with Russian leaders. Kerry and Steinmeier will discuss the terrorist attacks in Belgium, efforts to defeat Islamic State and towards achieving peace in Syria. That meeting will not be open to the media.

On Thursday, Kerry will meet with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden before meeting and having lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Later Thursday afternoon, Kerry is set to have a closed meeting with American astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent one year in space.

Thursday evening, Kerry will meet with Russian President Putin, before holding a joint news conference with Lavrov at the Kremlin at the end of the visit.
Almost a year after charging former mid-ranking regime official Ao An with crimes against humanity, the Phnom Penh-based Khmer Rouge Tribunal last week expanded its case against the 83-year-old suspect, bringing new charges of genocide, torture and other serious crimes.

The decision by International Co-Investigating Judge Michael Bohlander appeared to indicate that the case against Ao An  former deputy secretary of the Central Zone of Democratic Kampuchea, who is better known by his regime alias, Ta An  is making progress. But observers question whether case 004, one of two currently on the hybrid United Nations-Cambodian court docket, will actually make it to trial.

In order for that to happen, Bohlander must complete preliminary investigations by June. Yet the political barriers that have seen a string of international judges quit the tribunal in frustration remain firmly in place. Cambodian judges on the tribunal possess significant powers of obstruction, and government officials have shown unwillingness to carry out arrests on behalf of investigating judges.

A further hindrance: Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned that Ao An should be spared prosecution at risk of reigniting civil war.

Government recalcitrance

By law, if the tribunal's pre-trial chamber can't find a reason to object to a case, it will move forward. But the question remains: Will Cambodian officials enforce the court's authority by compelling people to respond to pre-trial investigations?

Authorities can threaten arrest if people refuse to participate, but according to court spokesman Neth Pheaktra, that should not be necessary as long as suspects cooperate and show up when summoned.

"Based on the law and internal rules of this implementation, and according to the national law, the additional charge against anyone does not need to always arrest them all," Pheaktra told VOA Khmer. "We see there is cooperation from the suspects. They appeared in the court following the summons of the international judge."

Of the four suspects charged in the government-opposed cases, Ao An is one of three mid-ranking officials. Facing the same charges are Yim Tith, also known as Ta Tith, who was acting chief of the Northwest Zone, and Im Chaem, former district chief of Preah Neth Preah. In the other outstanding case, 003, only Meas Muth, the regime's navy chief, has been similarly charged with crimes against humanity and murder.

None are currently detained.

But even if they were, national judges  who generally adjudicate in accordance with Hun Sen's wishes regarding the two cases  hold majorities at each level of the court, and can therefore significantly slow the process by disputing which of the suspects are "most responsible" for the regime's crimes, a criterion written into the court's remit.

A political deal?

Long Panhavuth, a leading court monitor at the Cambodia Justice Initiative, says a political deal would be essential to move either of the cases to trial.

"Can it move to arrest and detention? The answer is: It's not possible if there is no political deal between the Cambodia government and the U.N.," he said, referring to claims among foreign observers that suspects have been shielded from arrest due to a shortage of international aid.

"[That's] an excuse," Panhavuth added. "The most important thing is that there is no cooperation between the national and international side."

Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, says nobody can know whether the lengthy investigations into cases 003 and 004 have yielded enough documentary evidence to convict suspects until a trial is held. But numerous changes to court procedures are holding trials back.

"It's hard because this is in the hands of the lawyers and judges," he said. "They should respect the procedures and think about the justice for the victims. That is what should be more important than to change the procedure or any mechanism that is not thinking about ... what the victims want."

According to law professor Peter Maguire, who authored Facing Death in Cambodia, about Khmer Rouge war crimes and Cambodia's culture of impunity, the prime minister has consistently outmaneuvered both the U.N. and the tribunal's international donors.

"Although national law or international law is one factor, an equally important factor is power," he told VOA Khmer. "Does the U.N. have the power to compel the Cambodian government to arrest and try another series of defendants? Absolutely not."

Successfully bringing the suspects to justice seems unlikely, he said, even as pre-trial costs pile up.

"The U.N. is a guest in the kingdom," he said. "In order to move forward with cases 003 and 004, they need the support of the Cambodian leader Hun Sen. Not only do they not have it, they have never had it."
The avenue in front of the blast-hit Maalbeek railway station is blocked by police for investigation in Brussels, capital of Belgium, March 22, 2016. The death toll has risen to 34 in the deadly blasts in Brussels on Tuesday morning, according to the latest figures. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

BRUSSELS, March 22 -- Tuesday marked a tragic day for Europe's heart -- Brussels, a city that boasts the capital of the European Union. Multiple deadly bomb attacks for which the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility hit Brussels Tuesday morning at its airport and a metro station close to EU institutions, killing at least 34 people and injuring 170 more.

THREE EXPLOSIONS

Two explosions occurred at the Brussels airport's departure hall approximately at 8 a.m. local time (0700GMT), causing at least 14 deaths. A third deactivated bomb was found during a search of the terminal building later the day.

"There was a small explosion, then a big one," Zach Muzun, a Belgian citizen, told Xinhua. It took the police and airport staffs around 30 minutes to make preliminary clearance, he said. "When we went out...There was blood everywhere."

The Brussels airport soon announced closure, with flights suspended and passengers evacuated. Several countries have also announced cancellation of flights to Brussels.

Belgian federal prosecutor said the explosions at Brussels airport were likely suicide attacks.

Attackers opened fire inside the airport before several of them detonated their explosive belts, IS said in a statement.

Around one hour after the airport explosions, another blast was reported at the Maelbeek metro station which is within hundreds of meters from the EU complex.

"The metro train I boarded stopped halfway while heading from Arts-Loi to Maelbeek at around 9:10 a.m.", said Han Shuang, a Belgian resident. The passengers were evacuated from the suspended train and had to walk on the track in darkness towards the Arts-Loi direction to get out of the station. Han said she smelt a strong smell of burnt metal.

"I saw a body on the ground with a yellow cover while walking past the Maelbeek station," she said, "It is too horrible."

At least 20 people died in the metro attack with another 106 people injured, of whom 17 were reported to be in critical condition.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon has declared three days of national mourning.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called it a "black day" for his country.

EUROPE ON ALERT

The Brussels attacks came four months after the Paris bloodshed in which terrorists bombed several places of the city and killed 130 people. Brussels was later founded out to be highly linked to the terror attacks as it served as a hiding place for the terrorists. Salad Abdeslam, the most wanted Paris attacks suspect, was arrested in Brussels on Friday.

Tuesday's deadly bombings again showed the security situation was still at high risk in Europe.

Following the attacks, Brussels on Tuesday morning raised the threat alert to the highest level 4 from previous level 3. The EU institutions have cancelled most meetings and visits scheduled for Wednesday. A nuclear power station in Tihange, southeast Belgium, has been evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Belgian police issued a photograph on Tuesday evening of a man, in a white jacket, white shirt and dark hat pushing a luggage trolley, on suspicion of being involved in the Brussels airport attack.

Raids are undergoing. An explosive device, chemicals and an Islamic State (IS) flag were found at an address raided by police in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek, the Belgian federal prosecutor said on Tuesday evening.

Brussels attacks are "horrific and cowardly... It has struck at the very heart of Brussels. The very heart of Belgium. The very heart of Europe," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

French President Francois Hollandeon Tuesday presided a unscheduled security meeting in the wake of Brussels attacks. He paid a visit to the Belgium embassy in Paris and announced that the country's flags would fly at half mast, calling for a united front to win the war against terrorism.

"We are facing a global threat, so we need a global response. The war against terrorism must be conducted in all Europe and with the necessary means," Hollande said.

SECURITY TIGHTENED

European countries have stepped up security measures and are seeking solidarity in confronting the terrorism.

In Paris, security patrols were reinforced in the French capital's two main airports. Additional police forces have been deployed to control trains coming from Belgium.

In the Netherlands, Belgium's northern neighbor, police increased monitoring and surveillance over suspicious situations across the country. There was increased police deployment at train stations in its four major cities and at other train stations with international traffic.

Tightened border controls were introduced at the southern border of the Netherlands, and trains to and from Brussels no longer ride. People travelling to Belgium were stranded at train stations in cities near the Belgian border.

Germanypolice have increased security on the borders with Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, as well as German airports and railway stations.

Security measures have also been beefed up in Britain, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech and etc.

The attacks have also provoked a global tightened security. New York has increased presence of police and counter-terrorism forces in its subways and other public transit hubs. Philippine president ordered Tuesday a review of security measures in airports and other public transport terminals to prevent any terrorist attack.

>>>Related:

Public transport starts to resume after Brussels attacks

Some public transport resumed on Wednesday in Brussels except Metro systems.

Brussels Bomb Suspect Arrested

Brussels bomb suspect Najim Laachraoui has been arrested in Brussels, according to the local media.

Brussels airport attackers identified as brothers El Bakraoui

The two suicide bombers carried out the Brussels airport attacks on Tuesday have been identified as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, local media reported on Wednesday.

China condemns Brussels attacks

China strongly condemned the attacks on Brussels Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Death toll in Brussels blasts rises to 34

The death toll has risen to 34 in the deadly blasts in Brussels on Tuesday morning, according to the latest figures.

Belgium evacuates nuclear plants as terror threat level increased

Staff not essential of nuclear plants in Doel and Tihange of Belgium have been sent home by the request of Belgian government as a precautionary measure after the terror threat level across the country was increased to the maximum level 4 on Tuesday morning.

European countries beef up security following Brussels attacks

Security has been beefed up inEuropean countries at airports, railway stations and bus stations since the attacks on Brussels Tuesday.
Malaysias former prime minister filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Najib Razak Wednesday, alleging government funds were transferred into the current leaders personal bank account.

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's lawsuit accuses Najib of the corrupt practice of carrying out various steps that were actively and deliberately taken in bad faith to obstruct, interfere, impede and derail the various investigations and inquiries, which were being conducted by various legal enforcement agencies.

The suit stems from long-running allegations of corruption tied to a state-owned development company some believe Najib used to divert more than $680 million into his personal bank account and the accounts of his associates.



In the past, Najib denied any foul play tied to the funds and has said the money was a gift from the Saudi royal family to help him win the 2013 election. The donations came in the form of several wire transfers made to Najibs account during late March and early April 2013.

Malaysias attorney general  who was appointed by Najib  cleared the leader of any criminal or corruption charges in January, following an investigation by Malaysias anti-graft agency.

During a news conference held to announce an end to the investigation, Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said the money did not constitute bribery and said Najib returned around $620 million to the Saudi royal family because he had not used it.

There was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib  that is between him and the Saudi royal family, The Guardian newspaper reports Apandi as saying.

But Mahathir and dozens of other Malaysian politicians are not accepting the official explanation, and are now seeking damages from Najib equal to the amount they say was deposited into his bank account.

Mahathir was joined in the lawsuit by several other former members of the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) political party. They called on Najib to step down as Malaysias prime minister.
A man who climbed an iconic, 24-meter Sequoia tree in downtown Seattle is still refusing to come down, despite the efforts of police and firefighters.

The man, whose name has not been released, climbed the tree Tuesday.

According to KOMO, the man threw an apple at medics who approached him. He was also reported to have thrown other objects like small branches and pine cones at officials. He reportedly told would-be rescuers that he has a knife.

Officials also used a drone to try to get a better look at the man, KOMO reported.

At one point, the man descended halfway down the tree, but later went back to the top where he remained overnight.

KOMO reported that the man was agitated and was shouting and making obscene gestures.At other times he was reported as calm.

It is unknown if the man is mentally ill or under the influence of drugs.

The incident led to the hashtag #ManInTree, which was trending across the country.

Here's a video from the scene:
The Netherlands has temporarily closed its consulate-general in Istanbul due to a possible terror threat.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry issued a statement Wednesday morning, saying the closure was a precautionary measure. Officials did not elaborate on the nature of the threat. The ministry urged Dutch citizens to avoid the area.

The ministry also said that about 40 staff members were evacuated following the closure.

The announcement follows a suicide attack Saturday in the area where the Dutch consulate and other diplomatic missions are located. At least four people were killed and dozens wounded.

The explosion rocked Istiklal Street, the main shopping boulevard in central Istanbul which is usually full of pedestrians at the end of the week.
President Barack Obama says destroying Islamic State is his "top priority," a day after the extremist group claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack that killed 31 people in Belgium.

Speaking in Argentina, Obama also vowed to do "whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible" for the attack.

"This is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality, or race, or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism," Obama said. "My top priority is to defeat ISIL and eliminate the scourge of this barbaric terrorism that has been taking place around the world."

The group said it carried out Tuesday's bombings on the airport and Brussels metro in revenge for Belgium's role in the coalition fighting Islamic State.

WATCH: President Obama's statement on Islamic State



Since 2014, the coalition has been carrying out a campaign of airstrikes and raids on extremist targets in Syria and Iraq, as well as other Middle East and North African countries.

Republican presidential candidates say the Brussels bombings, the latest in a series of IS-claimed attacks, are the latest evidence the White House is not doing enough to wipe out the group.

Frontrunner Donald Trump explicitly advocated the use of torture in order to stop such attacks. Texas Senator Ted Cruz reiterated his call to "carpet bomb" IS and said law enforcement should "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods."

The comments drew sharp criticism from a wide array of political leaders, as well as from American Muslims, who say they are being unfairly singled out for something they have nothing to do with.

Obama on Wednesday slammed the comments as "un-American," and "counterproductive," and defended American Muslims as "extraordinarily successful, patriotic, (and) integrated."

"Their children are our childrens friends, going to the same schools, they are our colleagues in our workplaces, they are our men and women in uniform, fighting for our freedom," Obama said.

"And so any approach that would single them out or target them for discrimination is not only wrong and un-American but it would be counterproductive because it would reduce the strength, the antibodies that we have to resist terrorism," he added.

Obama, who just completed a landmark visit to communist-led Cuba, said he has seen firsthand the devastating effects of overbearing government surveillance.

"I just left a country that engages in that neighborhood surveillance, which by the way the father of Senator Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free, the notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense. It is contrary to who we are and it is not going to help us defeat ISIL," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama met Wednesday with Argentina's new pro-market president, Mauricio Macri, in a sign of warming relations between the two countries.

Obama arrived early Wednesday in Buenos Aires for a two-day visit, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of a coup supported by the United States.

Security was boosted in the capital following Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium. Some subway lines were shut down, and streets were cordoned off near where Obama was to visit.

Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. leader held a town hall meeting with young Argentineans, answering questions on a range of issues, from ones on sectarian strife to scientific and academic collaboration between Argentina and the U.S.

The president said he remains optimistic about humanity's ability to forge closer ties, noting that it stems from the different ethnic and racial backgrounds of his own family.

"So in my family, I have the genetic strains of everybody. And it gives me confidence, confidence that's been reinforced as president, that people are all essentially the same," he said. "But we're also all bound by history, and culture and habits."

Obama also spoke of the need to collaborate on curbing the spread of the Zika virus.

"This is an example where our goal is to work with the Brazilians, the Cubans, the Argentineans, with everyone so that we are pulling our resources, solving the problem quickly, getting clinical trials done quickly, finding ways that are culturally appropriate to make sure people get medicines they need quickly."

He said he is "quite optimistic'' that researchers will develop a tool to diagnose the Zika virus and a vaccine to treat anyone infected with it.

Macri, who took office in December, has signaled he wants stronger economic ties to Washington and other free-market economies. Later Wednesday, the two leaders toasted each other at a state dinner.

The American president acknowledged that U.S. relations with Latin America's dictatorships in the 1970s damaged its image in the region, but said he hopes the release of long-classified documents about Argentina's "Dirty War,'' from 1976 to 1983, will rebuild trust.

Obama's visit coincides with Thursday's 40th anniversary of the start of a brutal military dictatorship in Argentina that led to the death or disappearance of some 30,000 people. On Thursday, he plans to go to a park built in memory of those victims

Declassified U.S. documents indicate that the United States supported the military regime despite its human rights violations.

Some critics of Obama's visit have vowed to stage protests. In the past, critics have called on the U.S. to apologize for its support of the military regime.

After the announcement last week that the "Dirty War" documents would be declassified, White House aide Ben Rhodes said the president believes "moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past."

The president's trip to Argentina comes on the heels of a historic visit to Cuba, the first by a sitting U.S. president in almost nine decades. During his meeting with President Raul Castro, Obama called on the U.S. Congress to lift the decades-long trade embargo on Cuba.
A U.S. airstrike on an al-Qaida training camp in Yemen killed dozens of terrorists, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's [al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula] ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten U.S. persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaida and denying it safe haven," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

Cook said more than 70 terrorists were training at the camp and that experts were still assessing the results of the airstrike. But he said initial results showed dozens of al-Qaida members had been killed.

U.S. officials consider AQAP to the the most dangerous of all al-Qaida's affiliates and offshoots.

The terror group has taken advantage of the fighting, chaos and political upheaval in Yemen to grab land and carry out terror attacks.
Pope Francis on Wednesday called for "unanimous condemnation'' of extremist attacks in Brussels and elsewhere and urged prayers to convert hearts "blinded by cruel fundamentalism.''

At the end of his weekly public audience, the pontiff led thousands of people in St. Peter's Square in silent prayer for the victims of the airport and metro attacks a day earlier in the Belgian capital.

He told the crowd that he assured the "dear Belgian people'' of his prayers and closeness.



"I yet again appeal to all persons of good will to unite in unanimous condemnation of these cruel abominations that are causing only death, terror or horror,'' the pope said.



He asked people to keep praying, to comfort those suffering, as well as to "convert the hearts of these people blinded by cruel fundamentalism.''



Security was very tight, and police examined bags of tourists as they walked down the boulevard leading to the square. Those entering the square passed through metal detectors.



The U.S. Embassy in Rome Wednesday issued a travel alert advising "particular caution during religious holidays'' as well as at large gatherings.



Holy Week ceremonies over the next few days are expected to draw large crowds. On Friday night, Francis will preside over a Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum. On Sunday, he will celebrate Easter Mass in the square and give a blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, an event which in the past has drawn some 100,000 faithful.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara has become a Twitter sensation with users in Turkey.

Bharara is the prosecutor behind the U.S. case filed against Iranian-Turkish national Reza Zarrab, also known as Riza Sarraf, on charges of engaging in transactions on behalf of the Iranian government against now suspended U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran.

The FBI arrested Zarrab last Sunday at Miami airport and he is still in custody.

Reza Zarrab was a key figure in a corruption case in 2013 that caused a scandal in the Turkish government. He was accused of bribing members of the cabinet. The case triggered a backlash from the government and led to a huge crackdown on judges, prosecutors and law enforcement. The charges against Zarrab were later dropped.

The number of Preet Bhararas Twitter followers has grown massively from around 8,000 to more than 200,000 since he announced Tuesday that Zarrab was arrested with a tweet saying Reza Zarrab to soon face American justice in a Manhattan courtroom.



Bhararas list of followers immediately filled up with Turkish Twitter users replying to his tweet with offerings of thanks, congratulations and gifts, mainly Turkish food.



Some Turkish users said the announcement made them believe in justice again, while others offered help prosecuting the case.

After thousands of retweets and replies, Bharara responded with a tweet of his own, admitting Well, I do love shish kebab but I dont think I can accept gifts just for doing my job.

Reza Zarrabs first bail hearing took place in Miami Tuesday. Bail was denied.

His next court appearance is scheduled for April 4 and he is expected to request bail again. Zarrab will later be transported to Manhattan federal court to face the charges against him.
The United Nations and rights groups called on Egypt Wednesday to stop the crackdown on rights activists and drop all impediments to their work.

Fourteen international organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty international, said Egyptian authorities should stop calling rights activists in for questioning, banning them from travel and attempting to freeze their personal funds and family assets.

The authorities should halt their persecution of these groups and drop the investigation, which could threaten human rights defenders with up to 25 years in prison, the organizations said in their statements.

Rights groups have repeatedly accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and torture of detainees.

"The Egyptian authorities have moved beyond scaremongering and are now rapidly taking concrete steps to shut down the last critical voices in the country's human rights community," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program, said "Egypt's civil society is being treated like an enemy of the state, rather than a partner for reform and progress."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week there was a "deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt in recent weeks and months."

His Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, countered the criticism, saying authorities support civil society in the country and reject "tutelage" over human rights from other countries.

The United States and European countries have condemned the treatment of human rights defendants and have evacuated several citizens who were threatened with arrest.
South African president Jacob Zuma is facing an investigation over accusations he gave undue influence to the Gupta family, owners of a multi-faceted business empire.



The allegations have sparked public fury and renewed calls for the president to step down. But analysts say Zuma has weathered other political blunders and will probably survive this one too.



The revelation by several government ministers and party officials that they were approached by the Guptas for Cabinet posts has left many South Africans calling for President Zumas head.

ANC leader wants explanations

The secretary-general of the ruling ANC party, Gwede Mantashe, has vowed the party will leave no stone unturned in a bid to find out why the Guptas felt they could behave that way.



"Its an arrogance of power. Its when you think that you have an undue influence in you as a company, you say many things about an organization, you dont respect it and then you can say anything. I think that is the arrogance to the superlative degree," said Mantashe.

Mantashe has not called for Zuma to step down.

But Mbongiseni Mbele, a young unemployed South African, echoes the voices of thousands, some within Zumas own party, who now want him to go.



Zuma must go because of his ill policies, because of his indecision, because of his corruption. He has presided over a corrupt government. He has promoted corruption himself, said Mbele.

Home improvement scandal



Zuma was heavily criticized for using $20 million in public funds for improvements at his private home, and for his recent firing of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene. The firing caused a sharp fall in the rand, wiping millions of dollars off the Johannesburg stock exchange.

However, analysts say a recent statement by ANC leaders that they have full confidence in Zuma is a sign that the president's grip on power is still tight and strong.



Johannesburg-based political analyst Ralph Mathekga says the ANC could in theory end Zuma's rule, but notes that Zuma rules the party as well as the country.



"It appears that there is no recourse within the ANC against the president, hence I dont think this is the end," he said. "He is still in charge and when people say that he needs to be recalled I always say to people that do you expect the president to recall himself?

Zuma's, party's reputation damaged



However, Mathekga says there is no doubt the Gupta scandal has damaged the reputation of Zuma and the party.



Professor Lesiba Teffo, political analyst at the University of South Africa, says there two likely outcomes for the president: either he goes or he drags the party down with him.



"I am one of those who think it is going to be difficult for him to survive this. If he does, he will go down ultimately with the ANC," said Teffo.

Zuma is currently in the second year of a five-year term that ends in May 2019.
Courtesy Courtney Hill(SHERHMAN, Texas) -- A Texas mom mourning the loss of her recently deceased husband has learned she is expecting triplets.



"My sister is very strong," Amanda Willey, 30, of Libertyville, Illinois, told ABC News. "She is obviously going through a lot, but she has felt so much support from family and friends. She's really keeping her head up and doing a great job. Throughout all of this, I don't know how she does it. I call her 'the rock.' I'm just proud of her. She's quite the courageous woman."



Willey said her twin, Courtney Hill, 30, of Sherman, Texas, married retired Navy corpsman and Bronze Star recipient Brian Hill on July 14, 2012.



Later, they had a daughter named Reagan, now a year old.



"Brian really showed her what true love was," Willey said. "They had a relationship unlike any other couple I've ever met ... just the smile on their faces, the sparkle in their eye. Anyone that was around them knew they loved each other."



But tragedy struck last month after Brian, 40, died in a car accident in Oklahoma while making a delivery for a lumber company.



"It's kind of ironic because they had been trying [to have a baby] for four months," Willey said of her sister and brother-in-law. "The morning of his accident, they had taken a pregnancy test together and it was negative. I knew it was too early for Courtney to be taking a pregnancy test and so, she took [another test] on the fifth. That was the day of [Brian's] wake. She took it in the morning and found out she was pregnant."



On March 2, a month to the day after Brian's death, Willey said their mother took Courtney to the hospital because she feared she was having a miscarriage.



Instead, she left with the news that she was expecting triplets.



"[We were] shocked and very excited," Willey said. "We feel it is a blessing."



Since she's now widowed, Courtney, a stay-at-home mom, will be raising the triplets and Reagan alone.



Willey started a GoFundMe campaign for her sister last week titled, "The Hill Triplets Due October 2016" to help Courtney and her little ones.



"We are really appreciative for everything everyone's done for our family, but we know its going to be a rough journey," Willey said. "I think the thought of three of everything could be a bit overwhelming."



Courtney told ABC News that she's "at a loss for words" in regard to the kindness that strangers have showed her during this difficult time.



"It truly is a blessing," she said. "From mom-to-mom or vet-to-vet, the support is beyond appreciative."



As her children grow, she said, her goal is to forever keep their father, Brian, in their memories.



"They will all know about their dad," she said. "From military, to family man ... he was the true hero. He was an amazing man, always willing to help others. He was just an amazing father and husband. He was perfect."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The bar for making a splash in the UK-based Underwater Photographer of the Year contest is set extremely high.

Representing more than 50 countries, these artistic champions, according to jury chair Alex Mustard, presented judges with an 'inspiring feast of imagery.'

Despite the overwhelming amount of talent, organisers reveal their firm favourite was from Italian photographer Davide Lopresti.

Simply entitled Gold, Lopresti's stunning image shows a vibrant seahorse amidst the ocean's tranquil waves. Describing the image, he said: 'Over the years the Mediterranean's population of seahorses has drastically reduced. Their numbers have only recovered thanks to public awareness and a significant restocking campaign.

'Areas of the sea have now been set aside, protected from harmful fishing methods, like trawling. This has allowed vulnerable and delicate creatures, like sea horses, to return. This is what I hoped to celebrate with this image.'

As for all the other winning photos, Mustard reveals: 'It was astounding and humbling seeing the quality. Every single image that placed is an amazing moment from the underwater world.'

Lopresti's stunning image shows a vibrant seahorse amidst the ocean's tranquil waves. Describing the image, he said: 'Over the years the Mediterranean's population of seahorses has drastically reduced. Their numbers have only recovered thanks to public awareness and a significant restocking campaign. Areas of the sea have now been set aside, protected from harmful fishing methods, like trawling. This has allowed vulnerable and delicate creatures, like sea horses, to return. This is what I hoped to celebrate with this image'

This image was taken by Mike Korostelev from Russia. He said: 'Cages are more commonly associated with photographing great white sharks, but I constructed a cage to keep me safe as I captured the fishing behaviour of the bear. I waited many hours in the cold water for the bear to come close enough to make my photo. The bear's strategy is to start by sitting down, putting his head under the water and looking for fish. Once the fish start to ignore him, he creeps closer before making his crucial lunge to snare a large salmon in his paws, or teeth'
Some members of Tanzanias parliamentary committee on social services have resigned and petitioned the speaker of parliament to launch a thorough investigation into allegations that certain lawmakers solicited bribes from state-run enterprises.

A majority of the accused lawmakers are members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party of President John Magufuli. Tanzanians say the allegations, if proven to be true, undermine ongoing efforts by the president to combat corruption in public institutions, as promised ahead of the last presidential election.

But government information minister Nape Nnauye says the parliamentarians he contacted denied taking bribes. Nnauye, who is also a member of parliament, said Magufuli will not be deterred in the fight to weed out graft.

Nnauyes remarks came after Job Ndugai, the speaker of parliament, reshuffled some parliamentary committees, removing some parlimentarians from leadership positions. Newspapers have speculated that the reshuffle was prompted by the allegations of corruption. Ndugai denied this in a statement.

Local media also reported that members of the parliamentary committee on social services were allegedly offered paper bags full of cash meant as bribes from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). The reports say that the allegations forced members of the committee to resign and demand an investigation.

Consequences

Nnauye said the parliamentary privileges, ethics and powers committee could soon begin investigating the allegations of bribery made against lawmakers.

I met some of the members [of parliament] and they have resigned from those standing committees and they said these allegations are too big for us to continue being members of the committee, said Nnauye. "We want serious investigations so that this thing can be put into black and white."

Tanzanians say those found guilty should be made to face the full rigors of the law to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated in the society. They said sweeping the allegations under the carpet would defeat the purpose of the fight against graft.

Nnauye said it is likely that the ruling CCM party will take action against those found guilty. He cited an example where Magufuli issued a 12-hour ultimatum to some officials who failed to sign an ethics form or get fired. He said similar action would be taken against lawmakers found guilty of bribery.

He said most of the members of parliament mentioned in the scandal are coming from his own CCM party.

"If these allegations are proved [to be true], I think this party cannot keep quiet," he added. "We will take some actions on this because we see this fifth-term government has this spirit of fighting corruption, and we cant allow members of parliament to be involved in corruption and keep quiet. I think some steps will be taken."

In the fight against corruption [previously] we were lacking political will," added Nnauye. "[But] here is a man with the political will. He has shown it. He went all over the country in the campaign and said we are going to fight corruption. He stayed away from businessmen during his campaign and this was to ensure that he is safe so that when he goes there he will fight corruption.
A cargo ship with supplies and science experiments for the International Space Station crew is scheduled to blast off from Florida on Tuesday, carrying a 3-D printer to build tools for astronauts and non-stick grippers modeled after gecko feet.

NASA is sending nearly 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg) of supplies to the $100 billion space research laboratory, which flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth and is staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts.

Tuesday's launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is scheduled for 11:05 p.m. EDT (0305 GMT Wednesday), with a backup opportunity at 10:40 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

The printer works by heating plastic, metal or other materials into streams that can be layered on top of each other to create three-dimensional objects.

The experimental Gecko Gripper is a new kind of adhesive that mimics the way gecko lizards cling to surfaces without falling. It aims to test a method of attaching things in the weightless environment of space.

NASA is looking at robotic versions of gecko feet to attach sensors and other instruments onto and inside satellites.

The Gecko Gripper technology may lead to terrestrial versions of grippers that could, for example, hold flat-screen TVs to walls without anchoring systems and adhesives, said lead researcher Aaron Parness with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Orbital's Cygnus capsule is launching on an Atlas 5 rocket, purchased from United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed-Martin and Boeing.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and rival Ted Cruz both had victories Tuesday in the U.S. presidential race. Trump easily won the Arizona primary while Cruz won a lopsided victory in caucus voting in Utah.

The results did little to change the overall trajectory of the race, with Trump leading Cruz by a wide margin in the delegate count and on track to have nearly all the votes he needs to claim the Republican nomination by the time the partys national convention opens in mid-July.

But even as Trump moves closer to securing the Republican Party nomination, many establishment Republicans remain hesitant to heed his call for party unity behind him as the expected nominee.

Trump told a Washington news conference Monday he believes he will win enough delegates to claim the nomination before the party convention in July, and he says its time for reluctant party leaders to unite behind him.

If people want to be smart, they should embrace this movement, Trump said at the site of his new hotel in Washington, still under construction. If they dont want to be smart, they should do what they are doing now and the Republicans are going to go down to a massive loss.

Prospects of an open convention

But if Trump fails to secure enough delegates to nail down the nomination at the convention, a multi-ballot open convention could ensue, with an unpredictable outcome.



House Speaker Paul Ryan, the convention chairman, has been mentioned by some as a possible compromise candidate if there is a deadlock.

This is more likely to become an open convention than we thought before, Ryan told reporters at the Capitol recently, "so we are getting our minds around the idea that this could very well become a reality, and therefore those of us who are involved in the convention need to respect that.

Some conservatives, led by rival Ted Cruz, continue to resist Trumps rise toward the nomination, charging that the New York billionaire is not a true conservative. Cruz hopes to build momentum after getting the endorsement of former contender and Florida ex-governor Jeb Bush.

A conservative third-party bid?

Some are so disenchanted they are looking for a conservative to run as a third-party candidate in the general election, according to conservative columnist Fred Barnes.

I know many of them here in Washington who say they wont vote for Trump, and then others who are starting to - and I think will succeed - in fielding a third party conservative Republican candidate against Trump, Barnes said on VOAs Issues in the News program.



But many analysts believe that any attempt to deny Trump the nomination at the convention could tear the party apart. They include veteran political journalist Tom DeFrank of the National Journal.

How do you bring back the millions of disaffected Trump voters who are angry not only at President [Barack] Obama and [Democratic Party front-runner] Hillary Clinton, but who are also sick and tired of the Republican leadership in Washington. How do you get them back in the tent (in the partys mainstream)? said veteran political journalist Tom DeFrank of the National Journal, who also appeared on Issues in the News.

Foreign policy has once again taken center-stage in the campaign in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Brussels.

Rivals question Trump's 'temperament'

Trump rivals Cruz and John Kasich both have vowed to fight Trump all the way to the convention. Both also question whether Trump has the right temperament to be commander in chief.

Cruz seized on a Trump interview with The Washington Post, in which he said it was time for the U.S. to scale back its financial commitment to NATO and to reassess its military deployments in Asia.

"The Obama-Clinton retreat from the world is very much the retreat from the world that Donald Trump is advocating, Cruz told reporters in Washington. Even Barack Obama hasnt gone so far as to argue for withdrawing from NATO the way Donald Trump has.



Kasich continues to try to make the case that his long experience in Congress and his tenure as Ohios governor make him the best fit for establishment Republicans looking for an alternative to both Trump and Cruz.

Speaking to reporters in Minneapolis, he said of the party's mainstream members: "They really say, who can win in the fall and who has both the domestic and the foreign policy experience to run the country?

Cruz and Kasich will have their next shot at Trump in the Wisconsin primary on April 5.
Just days after the announcement of a European Union-Turkey refugee deal, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the bloc, saying it could not be trusted. His main concern is the commitment for visa-free travel for Turks through the EU.

Under the terms of the EU-Turkey agreement, migrants who illegally cross the Aegean and enter Greece from Turkey would be sent back to Turkey. In exchange, Turks would be granted visa-free travel through the EU as early as June, as long as Ankara complies with certain EU conditions.

But Erdogan is increasing pressure on Brussels to honor its commitment and questioning the sincerity of the 28-member group.

He said that if Turkey looks to the past from the perspective of values, it can see EU leaders never keep their words and will not do so this time.

Erdogan observers say officials are aware of how controversial visa-free travel is, especially for several EU members. France has made clear its opposition and voiced alarm at the prospect of nearly 80 million Turks being able to freely enter EU countries.

Adding to those concerns say analysts, is that many of the two million Syrians seeking refuge in Turkey could ultimately become citizens of that country. But to achieve visa-free travel Ankara has to comply with 72 EU standards.

Unrealistic, observers say

Political scientist Cengiz Aktar said that requirement remains an unrealistic goal.

"I have serious doubts that all 28 members would agree on lifting visas for Turkey in June - because Turkey did not comply with the 72 conditions. It seems very difficult it will manage to do so. Only manipulators and naives are taking this deal very seriously. It is a propaganda occasion for the government, because of course, it is very rewarding to announce to Turkish public, that visas will be lifted in June," Aktar said.

Ankara is working hard to comply with the conditions. Among them, a pilot project that calls for introducing biometric identity cards, which is expected to be followed by a requirement for biometric passports. Political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners said achieving visa-free travel is crucial for Erdogans political aspirations.

"He wants visa-free travel, which is very important to his constituents because most of the visa rejections are among constituents. If he can do that, he will present it as a result of Turkish pressure or Turkish lobbying and he will hit the campaign trail for executive presidency again," Yesilada said.

Erdogan is seeking to increase his power by turning Turkey into an executive presidency, which critics warn will be akin to a dictatorship. Analysts say he is close to securing the required votes in parliament and a referendum would likely be held to confirm a new constitution later this year.
Police arrested as many as seven alleged Islamic State members Tuesday during raids on various addresses in Istanbul, Turkish news agencies said.

The reports said police acted on information gathered in part by German intelligence, and that attacks on German targets in Istanbul might have been planned.

Also Tuesday, Turkish security forces stopped 10 suspected IS terrorists who were apparently trying to sneak into the country from Syria.

One of the suspects was wearing a suicide vest that police said was ready to explode.

Turkey is on edge after being hit by four suicide bombings since the start of the year. Officials blame IS or Kurdish militants for the attacks.

Three Israeli citizens and an Iranian were killed in the latest attack, which occurred Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself up along Istanbul's main shopping street.
Malawi and the U.N. children's agency are experimenting with drones to speed up HIV testing for infants.

Mahimbo Mdoe, a UNICEF representative in Malawi, said drones would solve the challenges that health workers face in reaching remote parts of the southern African nation.

Mdoe said 10,000 children in Malawi die every year of illnesses related to HIV, which causes AIDS, and that nearly 40,000 children were born to HIV-positive mothers in 2014.

The UNICEF spokeswoman in Malawi, Angela Travis, said initial testing of the drone usage had been completed. She said Tuesday that the drones had traveled five to 10 kilometers (three to six miles) with simulated blood samples.

The children's agency said blood samples are currently transported by motorbike or ambulances. High fuel costs and bad roads have contributed to transport delays.
A former administrative support worker at the U.S. embassy in London has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term after pleading guilty to a long-running cyber-stalking scheme in which he sought sexually explicit photographs of at least 200 women.

A judge in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia sentenced 36-year-old Michael Ford this week to four years, nine months in prison after he pleaded guilty in December to 17 computer-related offenses.

U.S. prosecutors said that from early 2013 to mid-2015 Ford hacked into at least 450 email and social media accounts of the women, demanding they send him the photographs and other personal information. He released some of the information the women sent him to their relatives and friends.

"He preyed on vulnerable victims, leaving them with indelible emotional scars," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.
The miniature yellow truck whirls around on the concrete, polished shiny by its wide wheels. Wade Tate grabs the steering wheel with both hands, glances behind him and maneuvers the truck backward, then abruptly forward, as its oversized fork scoops up a heavy box.

He programs it to lift: up, up, up, to the second level of shelving, where he gently places the box between two other boxes of differing size.

For more than half of his life, Wade Tate couldn't even drive a car. That's because he was behind bars, serving a 25-year sentence after pleading guilty for two murders.

"Everything I learned in prison, the trades I took, helped me to hold down a job like I'm doing today," says Tate.

For three weeks after he was released, Tate applied for numerous jobs but never got called back. "My goal was to get a job, but with a criminal record, he said, it is hard to get one."

The application box

Many U.S. job seekers face application forms that ask whether they have ever been convicted of a crime and require them to check a yes or no box. Checking "yes" immediately excludes applicants from some jobs.

But an international movement by civil rights and prison reform organizations is urging employers to "ban the box."

Activists are pressuring municipal and state governments to reform the system. Just over 20 states now have some rules deleting the question from private or public applications. An applicant who passes that first round of winnowing still faces additional screening. Employers can ask the question in an interview and also conduct background checks.

A main proponent of ban the box legislation is Maurice Emsellem, program director of the National Employment Law Project.

"I think there is overwhelming support for rolling back all the damage that was done over the last couple of decades related to mass incarceration," says Emsellem. "The box has opened up a broader conversation about hiring commitments and policy reforms regarding former felons."

The Obama administration gave the effort a boost last November when it asked Congress to "ban the box" on federal hiring applications as part of a larger initiative on "rehabilitation and reintegration of the formerly incarcerated."

White House figures show 600,000 people are released annually from federal and state prisons. Getting their lives on track includes adjusting to family and neighborhood structures and supporting themselves financially.

Having the 'conversation'

But the ban the box movement has its critics.

The National Federation of Independent Business opposes a ban for several reasons.

Mozloom says his organization is against banning the box for several reasons. One is practicality. Because they operate small businesses, "our members don't have a human resources department. They are the HR department, says communications director Jack Mozloom. The owners advertise the jobs, pull the applications, schedule the interviews and conduct them. The ability to ask criminal records on an application saves time and money, which they don't have."

His members have nothing against giving prospective employees a second chance, Mozloom says. But, "ban the box prevents the conversation from happening in the first place."

The initial hiring application form for Kelly Generator & Equipment of Owings, Maryland, is in line with what "ban the box" advocates seek. It doesnt include a question about a criminal background. But owner John Kelly doesn't want to see the rules encroach any further.

Kelly says its bad business practice to keep information from a potential employer. He says a high level of trust  among him, his employees and their co-workers  has contributed to his company's success.

"You know, I would hate to hire a comptroller or somebody for the comptroller position who had gone to jail for embezzlement, he says. For me to not know that before I hire him and then have him in a position [with] a fiduciary duty, I mean, that's just ludicrous for us not to be allowed to know that.

Kelly says that individuals cannot erase their past and that the truth must come out before a hiring decision is made. And, to make a proper decision, managers need as much information as possible. He doesnt want the government to limit the ability to hire the best people for each position.

Getting the chance

Forklift operator Tate finished 14 weeks of classes through HopeWorks, a faith-based nonprofit that matches ex-felons with employers who will not view their criminal record as a deterrent. HopeWorks found Tate his job with DSI Warehouse of metropolitan Memphis, Tennessee.

Ronnie Martin started the company and has hired several ex-convicts.

"I think felons have to prove to themselves that they can handle the job. If they prove it to themselves, then they will prove it to me," says Martin as he helps load a box onto a truck. "I'd hate for someone to check my past too closely."

Says ex-offender Tate, "If we don't ever get the chance, they [the employers] don't know how hard we will work."
The leading U.S. presidential candidates are trading new ideas and sharp barbs over how best to cope with the threat of terrorism in the immediate aftermath of the deadly Brussels terrorist attacks.

The Republican front-runner, billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, suggested that Tuesday's attack in the Belgian capital that killed at least 31 people and injured another 271 could have been prevented if authorities had resorted to harsh interrogation techniques, including torture, against Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, who was captured in Belgium last week.

Abdeslam has reportedly been talking to investigators, but Trump told CNN, "Well, you know he may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with the torture."

Cruz calls for freeze on some refugees' admission

Trump's chief rival for the Republican nomination, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand in the halls of Congress, called for a freeze on admission to the U.S. of any new refugees from countries with "significant" contingents of al-Qaida and Islamic State jihadists. He said U.S. law enforcement authorities need to be given the authority "to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

Cruz branded Trump as "hopelessly naive" for suggesting this week that the United States reduce its support for NATO, the West's military alliance since the end of World War II.

Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S., said he thought Cruz's idea to patrol Muslim neighborhoods was "a good idea."

Clinton attacks Trump



The leading Democratic presidential contender, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, denounced Trump, saying, "This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander-in-chief. The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear."

Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, added, "We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies. We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people."

Trump in turn rebuked her, telling one interviewer, "Incompetent Hillary doesn't know what she's talking about. She doesn't have a clue."

The charged atmosphere about possible terrorist threats in the United States came as voters cast ballots Tuesday in three more presidential nominating contests, in the western states of Arizona, Utah and Idaho.

Tuesday's results

Trump routed Cruz in Arizona, along the U.S.-Mexican border, winning all 58 of the state's delegates to the Republican national nominating convention in July.

Cruz easily won in heavily Mormon Utah, collecting all 40 of the state's national convention delegates. The day's results left Trump far ahead in the race to win enough pledged convention delegates ahead of the quadrennial gathering, but still 40 percent away from the majority of delegates he needs to claim the nomination.

Cruz on Wednesday picked up the endorsement of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race last month. In a statement released by the Cruz campaign, Bush called Cruz the only hope for Republicans to win back the White House and criticized Trump.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena," Bush said.

The next Republican voting is set for April 5, with a party primary in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin.

A third contender in the Republican contest, Ohio Governor John Kasich, was not a factor in either Arizona or Utah.

Kasich's last hope



Kasich cannot mathematically win the nomination before the national convention and is banking his hopes on winning it then if neither Trump nor Cruz has claimed it ahead of time.



A new Quinnipiac University poll Wednesday showed that Kasich is the only Republican, and not Trump or Cruz, who would defeat Clinton in a hypothetical match in the November national election. The winner of the U.S. election will replace President Barack Obama, who leaves office in January 2017.

Clinton easily won Tuesday's Democratic primary in Arizona against her sole rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but he captured two party caucuses against her, in Utah and Idaho.

Sanders, who has centered his campaign on the growing income equality in the United States and the power of Wall Street financial titans, won a handful more convention delegates than Clinton in the three contests, but remains far behind her in the overall race to win the Democratic nomination.
Businessman Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz split two U.S. Republican presidential nominating contests Tuesday, while on the Democratic side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won two of three state races against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In Arizona, a state along the U.S.-Mexican border, Trump routed Cruz, winning all 58 of the state's delegates to the Republican national nominating convention in July. Cruz easily defeated Trump in heavily Mormon Utah and will get all 40 of the state's convention delegates. The third contender in the race, Ohio Governor John Kasich, was not a factor in either Arizona or Utah.

In the Democratic contest, Clinton easily outdistanced Sanders in Arizona in a party primary election, while he handily won party caucuses in Utah and a third western state, Idaho. For the day, Sanders picked up 57 convention delegates to 51 for Clinton, but still trails far behind the former top U.S. diplomat.

In the Republican contest, a total of 1,237 convention delegates is needed win the nomination. Trump has about 60 percent of that figure, amassing 739 delegates, followed by Cruz with 465, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who has dropped out of the race, with 166, and Kasich, with 143.

There are more than 20 Republican state-by-state contests yet to be decided, with another 935 delegates at stake. Trump would have to win about 53 percent of the remaining delegates to claim the nomination ahead of the national nominating convention.

In the Democratic race, the winning nominee needs 2,383 convention delegates. Currently, Clinton has about 70 percent of that total, with 1,681, to 937 for Sanders. In the upcoming contests, another 1,993 Democratic convention delegates at stake, and Clinton would win the nomination by getting about 35 percent of these delegates.

Tuesday's contests:

Arizona

Democrat: Hillary Clinton

Republican: Donald Trump

Idaho (Democratic caucus only)

Bernie Sanders

Utah

Democrat: Bernie Sanders

Republican: Ted Cruz
This image from the Brussels Airport surveillance cameras made available by Belgian Police, shows what officials believe may be suspects in the Brussels airport attack on March 22, 2016. The Belgian state prosecutor said in a press conference on Tuesday, that a photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. "Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks. The third, wearing a light-colored jacket and a hat, is actively being sought," the prosecutor said. [Photo: CRI Online]

Belgian media are reporting that a key suspect in the terror attack in Brussels on Tuesday morning has been arrested.

Najim Laachraoui is believed to be the man on the right in a CCTV image taken before the suicide explosion at Zaventem airport.

Meantime, Chinese leaders have strongly condemned the terror attacks in Brussels while extending condolences to the victims and their families.

In his message to King Philippe of Belgium, President Xi Jinping expressed China's willingness to step up security and anti-terror cooperation with Belgium, stressing that the international community should work together to address the root causes of terrorism.

Meanwhile, Premier Li Keqiang sent condolences to his counterpart Charles Michel.

Li Keqiang also reiterated China's stance against terrorism while meeting with leaders from some Southeast Asian countries.

"We want to express condolences to the victims in the attack. Also we want to express sympathy to the families of the victims and the wounded. China, like all the others, is against all forms of terrorism. We are willing to make joint efforts with the international community to maintain world peace and regional stability."

The attack in Brussels led to prime minister Michel cancelling a scheduled trip to China.

Police are still hunting for two suspects, identified as brothers, and who are known to police.

The pair have been identified as Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui.

It is believed at least one of them was among the three suspects seen in a surveillance video at Zaventem airport.

Belgium is observing three days of national mourning for the 34 people killed and more than 200 others injured in the attacks.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the blasts at the airport and at a metro station, and has warned that more will follow.

The attacks sent shock-waves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge by faith-based groups opposed to a government effort to ensure their employees have access to free birth control.

Under the 2010 health care law insurance companies are required to provide contraception, unless the employer is a religious organization.

Other faith-affiliated groups opposed to contraception are required to tell the government or their insurance companies they object and then the insurance companies, not the employer, must pay for and provide those employees with birth control coverage.

Faith-based groups say they oppose having to inform their insurers or government of their objection to the coverage, arguing it makes them complicit in providing those services.

The court will consider whether the rules violate the groups' rights under the religious freedom law.

In 2014, the court ruled that American business owners with religious objections may deny contraceptive coverage as part of universal employee health insurance now required by law.

The case involved the evangelical Christian owners of the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby who refused to cover certain forms of contraception such as the morning-after pill in their employee health plan, arguing that would make them complicit in abortions.

The court ruled in a 5-4 decision. Eight justices will be hearing Wednesday's case, following the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia last month.
Mirsada Malagic won't be celebrating if former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is convicted and sentenced to life Thursday in his genocide and war crimes trial at a U.N. tribunal.

Whatever the outcome of the case, Malagic said, Karadzic has already sentenced her to a life of mourning. Bosnian Serb forces killed her husband and two sons during the brutal 1992-95 war. And now, more than two decades later, she said Karadzic's legacy makes it virtually impossible for Muslim Bosniaks like herself to return permanently to their homes in the part of the country now under Serb control.

Karadzic is still treated as a hero there despite being charged with orchestrating atrocities by his forces throughout the Bosnian war. He is blamed for a deadly campaign of sniping and shelling in the capital, Sarajevo, and the 1995 killings of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. The conflict left 100,000 dead and forced more than 2 million from their homes.

Malagic, 57, testified against Karadzic during his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague, Netherlands.

"He felt no pain. No remorse. He was actually trying to blame us,'' Malagic said recently, looking back at her questioning by Karadzic, who defended himself.

Empty coffins

During her questioning, she said, Karadzic claimed she was lying and that thousands of other Srebrenica widows and mothers had buried empty coffins just to make him look bad.

The U.S. brokered a peace agreement to end the war, dividing Bosnia into two ministates  one shared by Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, and the other run by Christian Orthodox Serbs, which Karadzic named "Republika Srpska.'' Malagic's village of Voljavica ended up in the latter.

Although the peace agreement guaranteed refugees the right to return, Republika Srpska authorities put measures in place that made going home nearly impossible, or at least unpalatable, she said.

"If you wanted to reclaim your own house, you had to 'legalize' it, whatever that means. The procedure cost over 300 euros,'' she said, stressing that it was an amount few people could afford to pay.

"They would fix the water pipelines to the village, but ... they wouldn't go all the way to the houses,'' she added.

Of the 1,375 Muslim residents of the village, only about 100 returned. The others were either dead or fled abroad. Those who did return couldn't find jobs, and their children were taught about the heroic deeds of Karadzic and his comrades in schools.

Malagic lives at her sister's apartment in Sarajevo, often visiting her house in Republika Srpska to check on its condition. But she's too uncomfortable to stay for long periods.

Lengthy deliberation

Judges have taken more than a year to deliberate and reach verdicts on the 11-count indictment against Karadzic. Prosecutors have requested life imprisonment.

In the Bosnian Serb ministate carved out after the war ended, his trial is seen by his supporters as an international plot against Serbs and their hero.

Last weekend, current Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik opened a student dormitory named after Karadzic and had Karadzic's daughter and wife unveil the plaque.

Speaking at the opening, Dodik called the trial "humiliating'' and said those who fail to understand why Karadzic is hailed this way are "shallow-minded.'' His words were followed by resounding applause.

Karadzic's forces kept Sarajevo besieged for 44 months, starving and terrorizing it with random bombardment and sniping that killed over 11,000 residents. He was tried on numerous charges, including two counts of genocide related to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of non-Serbs from seven Bosnian towns and villages and the Srebrenica massacre, as well as the kidnapping of 284 U.N. peacekeepers who were used as human shields to prevent NATO bombings of his troops.

His goal was to remove non-Serbs from as much of Bosnia's territory as possible and make it part of a "Greater Serbia.'' His successors to this day are still promising Bosnian Serb secession.

Karadzic was indicted in 1995 but evaded arrest until he was captured in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2008. His trial in The Hague started in October 2009, and three years into it, Malagic received two phone calls within a few days.

The first was an invitation from the tribunal to testify against Karadzic. The second came from a DNA lab, informing her that her son Elvir, 19, had been identified among the skeletons of a Srebrenica mass grave.

In the courtroom, she felt surprisingly good. Malagic said she has been on sedatives every day since 1995, noting "the only time I felt I did not need the pills was when I testified.''

Twice forced to flee

In her testimony, she detailed how the family fled to nearby Srebrenica as Karadzic's troops expelled them from her village in 1992. In July 1995, her family had to flee again when Serb troops overran the town.

Malagic described the screams and the chaos in which her family members lost each other and how  although pregnant and injured by bombs the troops sent after the fleeing civilians  she still held on to her son Adnan, 10, and escape to the government-held town of Tuzla.

She delivered her fourth child, daughter Amela, the next January when the war was over and kept searching for her husband and two sons she lost in the melee.

In 2009, forensic experts found the skeletons of her son Admir, 15, and her husband, Salko, in mass graves. She buried them in 2010.

After the war, Muslim Bosniaks tried returning to their villages controlled by Bosnian Serbs. Many eventually left again after finding jobs or sending their children to study abroad. They decided to keep their addresses in Republika Srpska, come home for holidays and wait for better times to return for good.

"Radovan Karadzic was tried, [but] not his project called Republika Srpska. That stays and hampers every progress of this country,'' said Fadila Memisevic, a human rights activist and head of the Bosnian branch of the German Society for Threatened Peoples.

Census dispute

As an example, she pointed to a current problem with a 2013 census in the country. The results are still not published because the Serbs demand that those who are registered at addresses in Bosnia but work or go to school abroad be stripped of their residency status.

Effectively, this would administratively erase more than 400,000 mostly Muslim Bosniaks from the region.

Karadzic insisted after the war that no more than 5 percent of non-Serbs should be allowed to return to Republika Srpska, Memisevic said.

"So what else is this demand about than implementing Karadzic's plan?'' she asked. "There is no reason to celebrate this verdict, even if he is locked up for life.''
A prominent Vietnamese blogger and his assistant went on trial in Hanoi Wednesday on charges of publishing articles critical of the government.

Nguyen Huu Vinh and Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy have been detained since their arrest in 2014. Prosecutors said a series of articles the 60-year-old Nguyen Huu Vinh posted on his blog presented distorted, one-sided view of the ruling Communist party that would affect the people's confidence in its leaders.

Vinh, also known as Anh Ba Sam, created the blog "Ba Sam" in 2007. The blog provided links to stories from state-run news outlets, as well as blog posts from activists.

Prosecutors are calling for jail terms of five to six years for Vinh, and between two to three years for Thuy.

Dozens of Vinh's supporters gathered outside the courthouse in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi to demand his release.

Human rights groups have criticized Vietnam for arbitrarily arresting bloggers and activists for peacefully expressing their views.
With tens of thousands of migrants stuck on its territory and borders to the north closed off, financially-challenged Greece is bearing the burden of Europes refugee crisis.

A small army of activists, aid workers, doctors and ordinary citizens has filled the holes in the states ability to cope with the crisis.

Volunteers have come from around the world  but many Greeks have also responded with solidarity.

The country least prepared, the population least prepared to shoulder this crisis has shown an enormous preparedness to shoulder it actually. But in reality, it is not paradoxical because people understand hardship, said professor Serafeim Seferiadis of Panteion University in Athens.

Just nine months ago, Greece was on the brink of bankruptcy. Long lines formed at cash machines ahead of a feared exit from the euro currency.

Eventually, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted the terms of a new EU bailout in return for further austerity, defying the result of a referendum.

The minute that happened, Tsipras lost all leverage and all his bargaining chips. So at the moment, all he is trying to do is plead for some help in the hope that this would ring a bell with the European Union institutions, Seferiadis said.

Funds withheld

Those EU institutions are keeping Athens on a tight leash. Europe is refusing to hand over the latest tranche of bailout money or discuss debt relief until it sees further tax and pension reforms.

The latest talks broke down Sunday without agreement and will resume next week. But there are signs of sympathy for Athens.

We need some understanding for Greece's situation, which is simultaneously dealing with pensions, the level of taxes and the necessary means to accommodate refugees, French Finance Minister Michele Sapin said Monday.

The EU has earmarked $782 million to cope with the migrant influx, much of it destined for Greece.

The islands are preparing to host thousands of EU immigration personnel to help implement the new migrant deal with Ankara, which would see all new arrivals sent back to Turkey.

But major aid organizations, including the U.N.s refugee agency, have withdrawn staff from island facilities, saying they refuse to be complicit in what they called a "mass expulsion operation."
Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Huang Ping, says the Asian nation is expected to provide rice worth about $24 million for drought relief aid as Zimbabwe faced a devastating El Nino-induced drought, which has resulted in serious food shortages.

Speaking at a drought-response stakeholders meeting co-hosted by the United Nations and the Office of the President and Cabinet, Ping said the Chinese government had given more than what the embassy had requested.

I want to say that China is going to provide, donate rice worth 160 million Yuan ($24.6 million) as emergency food assistance, said Ambassador Ping.

He said the assistance is more than double the Chinese government had provided to Zimbabwe in 2014 season.

The head of the United State Agency for International Development, Stephanie Funkie, and the British Agency for International Development chief, Annabel Gerry, also said they were in touch with their countries with a view to mobilize additional funding for drought relief.

Funkie said the USAID which has since June last year spent $35 million on humanitarian assistance in the country and would soon be making an announcement on additional funding.

"This year our budget is budget for $40 million which is already an increase and we received indications last week that there will be a substantial increase to this money, she said.

European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe, Philippe Van Damme, said while the European Union was willing to assist it was worried by the discrepancies in the numbers of people who needed assistance.

"We are of course working on additional support measures but we are always asking for coherence on data because it makes it so much easier to plea with our capitals on what are the gaps so we are really waiting for the finalization of the updated humanitarian response plan because this will facilitate communications with our respective capitals," said Van Damme.

The government says almost 4 million people are in urgent need of drought relief aid. Air Commodore Jasper Marangwanda of the National Grain Command Centre said about 3.1 million people from virtually all rural districts were in need of food.

He said though government has secured resources to purchase grain, the state was failing to distribute the monthly national requirement of 30,400 metric tonnes. He said only 20,266 tons were being distributed monthly.

"This means that only 57 percent of the monthly grain requirements have been released by the Grain Marketing Board for distribution to the vulnerable," said Marangwanda.

He said there was need to compliment the Grain Marketing Board, the District Development Fund and the Road Motor Services in moving grain to ensure that all affected families received grain on time.

Zimbabwe has secured more than $240 million for the purchase of grain but is facing problems in bringing grain it into the country as neighboring nations like Zambia are also facing drought and had put restrictions on maize exports.

So far imports are coming from South America while Europe is also being considered as another maize source.
Government threatens to shutdown companies not complying with Zimbabwes indigenization law compelling foreign-owned firms to part with majority stakes.

China is expected to provide Zimbabwe with food aid worth $24 million at a time the country is struggling to feed hungry citizens facing a crippling drought.

We will make an update of the terrorist bombings in Brussels, Belgium, where 34 people died. Are Zimbabweans safe in that country?

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been caught up in a war of words with former Education Minister David Coltart, who wrote in his new book that Mnangagwa was allegedly involved in Five Brigade atrocities of the 1980s, which left more than 20,000 Zimbabweans dead.

Victims of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe say they are not happy with the way government is handling present and past issues of gross human rights violations.

South African feature documentary film, Lost Tongue, directed by Zimbabwean Davison Mudzingwa, has received the esteemed Women Film Critics Circle award following its premier at the Socially Relevant Film Festival New York last week.

Stay tuned for these stories and more coming up on Studio 7 at 7:30 pm on 9-0-9 Medium Wave and on the 4-9-3-0, 5-9-4-0 and 1-5-4-6-0 shortwave frequencies. We also broadcast on www.channelzim.net. Please check us out on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

On Studio 7 Livetalk today, hosts Gibbs Dube and Blessing Zulu will be talking with listeners and experts about governments threats to shutdown foreign-owned companies not complying with the countrys indigenization law. Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. The number again 001 202 465 0318. Stay tuned!!!!!!
An environmentalist says forests and water play an important role in contributing to sustainable development in diverse ecosystems.

Dr. Thomas Chiramba, senior Human Settlement Officer for United Nations Habitat responsible for Eastern and Southern Africa, made these remarks at a time when the world has been recognizing the role played by water and forests in peoples lives.

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly designated March 22nd as the first World Water Day. Twenty three years later, the day is celebrated around the world annually.

The United Nations General Assembly has also designated March 21st as the International Day of Forests in an effort to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests.

According to the United Nations, the past few days were expected to have great impact on various communities worldwide as they highlighted the importance of forests and water in everyday life.

Some nations, including Zimbabwe, joined other countries in marking World Forest Day and World Water Day. This global celebration of forests and water provides a stage to raise consciousness of their significance. They provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-water dependent communities.

Dr. Chiramba, who is also an environmentalist, says people, including Zimbabweans, cannot be adequately empowered without water and forests.

He says, Forest and water conservation plays a critical role in improving the lives of Zimbabweans, especially at a time the world is struggling to tackle the prevailing negative effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Dr. Chiramba says Zimbabwe used to have good systems in place and a lot of investment was channeled towards water supply and sanitation in an effort to improve living conditions of communities in various areas but this has, however, over the years deteriorated very much contrary to the global trend.

He says, Lack of investment in water and sanitation has resulted in the dilapidated infrastructure. Kunzvi Dam that was on the table was needed to augment water supplies to Harare (but) has not been completed. Its been locked. This is an indication that investment has not be forthcoming into the water sector in general be it water resources management, or sanitation or regular water supply.

Zimbabwe and South Africa used to be the leading countries in the construction of small dams. A lot of farmers used to irrigate their farms. That investment has since stopped in Zimbabwe  

He says promoting good catchment management is needed in the country. The lack of investment has done a lot of damage in the country; maintaining of the forests, the infrastructure, to collect water, and storage of water. If there is no investment in water that impacts water supply. Not to speak of improving agriculture inputs and jobs related to that.

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa noted in his 2016 national budget statement that the water sector continues to face many challenges, chief among them being the erratic power supply which continues to affect treatment and pumping plants, as well as insufficient financial resources to implement all the required projects.

As a result, a large number of our people remain unserved, drawing water from unsafe sources, while the sanitation infrastructure is failing to cope with the ever increasing demand. Our 2016 priorities in the water and sanitation sector will be anchored on consolidating and sustaining the gains achieved so far. Focus will be on scaling up efforts towards completion of on-going projects, while also supporting targeted new projects.

In this regard, the budget, therefore, provides for investments amounting to US$77.3 million, with US$25.9 million being channeled towards dam construction and US$51.4 million for rehabilitation and upgrading of water and sewer infrastructure. The lack of investment has done a lot of damage in the country; promoting good catchment management is needed - maintaining of the forests, the infrastructure, to collect water, and storage of water.

Protection of forests in areas processing tobacco has also been worrying government as this leads to the depletion of the natural vegetation, including trees.

Chiramba said, Tobacco faming has been one of the biggest economic activities that has contributed significantly to the deforestation due to activities of small scale farmers.
Zimbabwe joined the international community on Monday in commemorating World Down Syndrome Day, which is observed in more than 60 countries.

Many organizations and communities, including the United Nations and the Down Syndrome International, promote World Down Syndrome Day to raise peoples awareness and understanding of Down Syndrome.

Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of World Down Syndrome Day. The theme for this year is My Friends My Community - Benefits of inclusive environments for today's children and tomorrow's adults.

According to National Down Syndrome Society, this condition is caused by gene mutation. In every cell in the human body there is a nucleus, where genetic material is stored in genes. Genes carry the codes responsible for all of our inherited traits and are grouped along rod-like structures called chromosomes. Typically, the nucleus of each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, half of which are inherited from each parent. Down Syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.

The common physical traits associated with Down Syndrome are unique to each individual. These include low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the center of the palm.

Despite serious socio-economic and other challenges in the country, some Zimbabweans joined the rest of the world in commemorating the day. This included members of the Zimbabwe Down Syndrome Association, who commemorated it in Makokoba , Bulawayo, to raise awareness within the community on problems of people living with the disability and how the community can play an active role in supporting children with this condition.

MOTHER OF DOWN SYNDROME SPEAKS OUT

Sibonisiwe Bonnie Mazula, volunteer coordinator of the Zimbabwe Down Syndrome Association, encouraged Zimbabweans to face the realities of discrimination and stigmatization associated with Down Syndrome.

Mazulu, who is also a mother of a 31 year-old daughter Andile, who has Down Syndrome, said there are many challenges faced by people with this health condition.

I did not even know what Down Syndrome was  One can face rejection from the family and the community when they know that your child has Down Syndrome and when you have a child with Down Syndrome the community believes you would have done something wrong. They accuse you (of doing many uncouth things) and also say this could be Gods punishment. Down Syndrome can happen to anyone. There is no one to blame. It affects anybody, anyone regardless of race, color, male or female.

Early learning and intervention is also key in the societal integration of children living with Down Syndrome.

Mazula said, The inability to express with words can lead to frustration. That child needs early education for the purpose of assimilation, because children with Down Syndrome are challenged with reading and writing, and in fact some cannot read or write and find it difficult to understand even with inclusive education but can do other things very well  (So, the) the community should take time to understand them.

NEED FOR QUALITY EDUCATION

She added that Zimbabwe has a long way to go in terms of quality education, especially for those people living with disabilities such as Down Syndrome. We are very worried as parents about the effectiveness of the education system. Are the teachers trained and experienced to work with a child with Down Syndrome? The challenges presented to us in Zimbabwe right now, how many children can afford iPads or a phone to download apps. The educational resources to assist these children are not available.

Experts say the role of the family and the environment are crucial in nurturing a child with Down Syndrome. They say this is critical in mental development among children with this health condition.

Mazula echoed the same sentiments. The development process of a child with this condition depends on the childs individual make up and also depends on the environment, and on how family members treat the child  It depends on the education and the child needs love. If the child is ignored in the homes, all hope is lost. Let us give them opportunity and the support they need.

She said indications are that most Zimbabweans have a negative attitude towards people with Down Syndrome. The attitudes have been very discriminating and stigmatizing. It is because they dont understand anything about Down Syndrome.

LIFE OF DOWN SYNDROME KID

In her capacity as a mother and parent of 31 year-old Andile living with this health condition, she once spoke of fears regarding her future. As she was growing up I would wonder a lot about her future. Will she have friends? Will she ever get married? Will she ever work?"

All these questions have almost been answered.

The Zimbabwe Down Syndrome Association does not have direct donors and Mazula believes that there is need to fund such organizations, which play a key role in nurturing children with Down Syndrome.

She said, Getting funding is difficult, the organization does not even have one sole sponsor that can say we will fund you wholly. We need resources to be able to go to rural areas to assist these children. Some are subjected to sexual abuse, mainly the perpetrators take advantage of them because they are challenged in fully expressing themselves.

We want to be able to assist in counseling parents, and educating the community through active youth forums. Many cannot come where we are but with resources we can go to them. I know what the parents need when it comes to our children, I have their support. The government is not doing enough to assist people with Down Syndrome. We acknowledge their inclusive educational policies but more can be done.

COMMEMORATIONS IN ZIMBABWE

An event to mark World Down Syndrome Day in the countrys second largest city, Bulawayo, was attended by various dignitaries, including guest of honor Soneni Gwizi of the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Gwizi, a well-known poet, is also a gender and disability activist.

Her works were recognized in 2013 by Women4Africa, which awarded her the prestigious Women for Africa Reward.

She was once quoted by the media as saying, I have not allowed my disability or society to define me by my condition  I celebrate my life as an African woman with a disability by inspiring and impacting people across board using the media & all platforms that avail before me.

Lawmaker Thabitha Khumalo of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai also graced the event.

She said, Society is stigmatizing these kids (with Down Syndrome), and mothers who give birth to these kids are accused of witchcraft. As political leaders are we part of them (Down Syndrome kids) and are we speaking their language, are we feeling their pain.

The physically challenged in the community are flowers in the community. My role is to represent these people at the highest offices of this country, and if I dont do that I will be doing a disservice (to the people). Government should support Down Syndrome. We need satellite centers in the rural areas, thereby create institutions that capacitate them. We need to empower them by giving them tools so they can be mothers and fathers of tomorrow.

Khumalo promised to raise this issue in parliament so that government can tackle such disabilities.
Politician David Coltart, who is also a veteran lawyer, maintains that he stands by remarks contained in his book regarding what Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is reported to have said in 1983, when government deployed the North Korean-trained Five Brigade in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

According to human rights activists the Zimbabwe army allegedly killed at least 20,000 innocent civilians. The massacres, commonly referred to as Gukurahundi or washing away dirt, have reportedly unsettled the vice president, who is believed to be harboring presidential ambitions.

Coltart told Studio 7 that he had carried out thorough research for his autobiography titled The Struggle Continues saying he stands by what he wrote.

Coltart has become embroiled in a row with Mnangagwa after it emerged that his recently published book contains statements that sometime in 1983, Mnangagwa  then Security Minister- made which encouraged violence against civilians, marking the start of what came to be known as Gukurahundi.

Coltart said he had relied on some reports in the state-controlled Chronicle newspaper, which he had believed to be true as Mnangagwa never sued the paper for those remarks.

He said, The specific comments in the book regarding Vice President Mnangagwa actually came from the Chronicle reports in 1983, which we had access to. And the assumption has always been that the Chronicle then reportedly accurately. Vice President Mnangagwa never complained about the Chronicle reports of what he said then, and he never sued them in the past 33 years, so one has to assume that he

was correctly reported on. And to that extent yes, I stand by what is written in the book.

In a statement, Mnangagwa said he was concerned by remarks in Coltarts book and that the statements attributed to him were false. He has threatened to sue the senator.

But Coltart has remained steadfast. Asked if he believed that the ordinary majority could still forgive the perpetrators of Gukurahundi, given the apparent state intransigence, Coltart - who has in the past urged offenders to apologize for the atrocities - believes that the massacres cannot be taken in isolation as Zimbabwe has gone through a number of traumatic experiences in the past.

Coltart said he would not be the right person to demand any apology from Gukurahundi perpetrators but said he believed there is need for truth-telling.

This is not something that I can say. I was not a victim of Gukurahundi and to that extent I have no right to demand any apology from Vice President Mnangagwa. All I have done is represent people; victims of that era. And from my representation of those people, I know that they do want an acknowledgment that what happened in fact happened, and yes they would like an apology and they would like some form of communal reparation.

Human rights activist, Mbuso Fuzwayo, said Mnangagwa could have used this opportunity to take responsibility and come clean on his involvement in Gukurahundi atrocities.

Programmes director Tineyi Mukwewa of the Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers said as the issue of Gukurahundi has rarely been discussed openly, Zimbabweans could salvage something positive from the row between Coltart and Mnangagwa to help bring closure over the issue.

Clearly Zimbabwe has had no conversation around Gukurahundi, so this is an opportune time where Zimbabwe can, in a structured manner, have a truth telling mechanism where the victims themselves can tell their story and where the accused can also their side of the story. Zimbabwe needs the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill to come into effect, but the bill has to speak about truth telling, so that we find closure in Zimbabwe.

Participants at a recent meeting on transitional justice said there can only be closure on the thorny Gukurahundi issue if there is telling of the truth and acknowledgment of the atrocities.

The Five Brigade was deployed in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces to quell what the government called a dissident menace caused by some disgruntled former Zipra members, who were unhappy over the way they were left out of the Zimbabwe National Army and other political issues.

A local newspaper posted photographs of articles published in the newspaper in 1983 in which Mnangagwa reportedly compared dissidents to cockroaches and bugs.
Li says foreign enterprises will be given fair treatment

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) shakes hands with Maurice R. Greenberg during a meeting with overseas delegates attending the China Development Forum in Beijing, capital of China, March 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

All enterprises registered in China, domestic and foreign, will get fair treatment, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday.

Li made the remarks while attending a seminar with more than 120 foreign participants at the annual China Development Forum.

"We will continue to expand the opening-up and welcome foreign investment to China," Li said, according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

"All companies registered in China  no matter if they are invested with local or foreign capital, no matter if they are of sole proprietorship or are joint ventures  will get equal treatment and an environment of fair competition," the premier said.

China will encourage more students to study abroad and learn advanced technology and management expertise and will welcome more foreign students to study in China, he added.

Li also said China will push forward supply-side economic structural reform, taking such measures as streamlining administrative procedures, cutting taxes on enterprises and encouraging innovation.

In the meantime, the government will pay extra attention to stable employment and increased income, the premier said.

The guests at the seminar were from world top 500 enterprises, academies, international organizations and media. They included Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; Peter Salovey, president of Yale University; Michael Spence, 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; and US television talk show host Charlie Rose.

Li answered questions that they raised at the meeting.

The China Development Forum, hosted by the State Council's Development Research Center, is a platform for business and academic leaders to interact with China's top decision-makers and economic planners.

Roland Krueger, president of Infiniti Motor Co Ltd, said that he was encouraged by Premier Li's words on equal treatment for foreign firms.

"We are committed to localization in China, our most important growth market, and are optimistic about the long-term, sustainable growth of China's economy, he said.
Disney headquarters. Photo: Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images

Disney has been cozy with the government of Georgia in the past few years, but their relationship is going through a rough patch. A week ago, the states general assembly voted in favor of new legislation preventing individuals from having to perform or attend same-sex marriages, as well as allowing faith-based groups to refuse social and other services if those services violate such faith-based organizations sincerely held religious belief. It would also let those organizations refuse to employ people whose religious beliefs or practices or lack of either are not in accord with the faith-based organizations sincerely held religious belief. The Disney-owned Marvel Studios, enticed by the states generous tax breaks, has used Atlantas Pinewood Studios to film Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2  and theyre none too happy about the bill.

Governor Nathan Deal has yet to sign the legislation into law, and Disney says theyd walk away from the state if he does. Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law, a spokesman said today. A representative for Deal has said the governor will weigh his options during a review of the bill in April.

UPDATE: AMC, which films The Walking Dead in Georgia, has also voiced its opposition to the bill. As a company, AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible, a spokesman said in a statement. We applaud Governor Deals leadership in resisting a previous version of this divisive legislation and urge him to reject the current version as well.
Whats harder than real journalism? Making it up! In Special Correspondents, Eric Bana and Ricky Gervais play struggling radio journalists, who pretend to be on the ground in Ecuador when theyre actually recording above a restaurant in Queens. Of course, they become embroiled in an international crisis, which forces them to actually go to Ecuador. Considering how hard it is to hop down to the bodega to get a seltzer, we can imagine the struggle is very real. America Ferrera, Benjamin Bratt, Raul Castillo, and Vera Farmiga also star in the Netflix original movie that drops April 29. The latest trailer is above and the first trailer is below:
From Lucy Prebbles The Effect. Photo: Matthew Murphy

After the first week of a four-week Phase I trial for a dopamine stimulator called RLU37, the test subjects not only show signs of elevated mood and increased energy but have lost weight and, weirdly, grown taller. Also, two of them are falling in love. Toby Sealey, who works for the drugs manufacturer, excitedly suggests to the lead investigator that they have more than a viable new antidepressant on their hands; they may have stumbled on Viagra for the heart. Is love a side effect of chemical activity in the brain? Or, as that investigator, Dr. Lorna James, suggests, is it the other way around? Is love itself altering the brain and thus screwing up the data? Theres no such thing as side effects, Toby, Lorna tells her boss. Theyre just effects you cant sell.

Thats the conflict, or perhaps the MacGuffin, behind Lucy Prebbles smashing medical drama The Effect, which opened Sunday at the Barrow Street Theatre. (An earlier London production won the UK Critics Circle Award for best new play of 2012.) I say medical drama, but neither half of that epithet quite fits. With more twists than a molecule of RLU37, The Effect plays like a thriller, as we follow those two test subjects, Connie and Tristan, through four weeks of increased dosages and their resultant (or causative) euphoria, horniness, and confusion. In real life, outside the locked ward on which they have agreed to spend a Spartan month without sex or cellphones, Connie is a practical mid-30-ish graduate student in psychology, interested in learning from the other side what it feels like to participate in an experiment. Tristan is younger, less settled, and in it for the cash; his outside job seems to be selling burner phones. The collision of their raging libidos often feels like romantic comedy, though its unclear (as with the side effects of the drug) whether the comedy is the residue of a darker drama unfolding or vice versa.

In any case, Prebbles virtuosity means that those genre distinctions are moot. The story keeps unwinding in fascinating, organic directions, gradually taking in the investigators as well as the investigated. (Toby and Lorna once had an affair.) Along the way, the mind-body problem emerges in new clothes as an argument about free will and self-knowledge: If Connie or Tristan (or both) are actually on a placebo would that invalidate the passion they feel? Is love something we tell ourselves we are in, or does it tell us? The lovers struggle with this but, in the heat of the moment, decide not to decide. We are our bodies, our bodies are us, Connie argues. Theres not something more. Knowledge, Tristan summarizes, is a myth.

Easy for them to say, with their bodies giving them all the excitement they need. Its left to Lorna to provide the caveats, based on her scientific cynicism but also on her own chronic depression. In the closest thing The Effect gets to a bald judgment, Prebble slightly stacks the argument to support Lornas self-lacerating contention that mood disorders are entirely psychological, the fault of faulty thinking, not faulty wiring. She alone is to blame for her sadness: I swear, Toby, were going to look back at this chemical-imbalance shit like its the four humors all over again. The plays final images give that conclusion an almost unbearable force.

Mostly, though, Prebble avoids conclusions in favor of conundrums. This represents a big improvement over her most famous play, Enron, which was a hit in London but bombed on Broadway in 2010. In that dissection of the Jeffrey Skilling energy-price-fixing scandal, she threw a formidable arsenal of creativity at an obvious (and settled) target. In The Effect she lets her cleverness serve a less prosecutorial and thus more dramatic aim; discursiveness, a problem with many playwrights, is a boon for her, a way of accreting meaning while moving forward like an ice floe picking up pebbles. What started as a clean and narrowly defined situation play by the end leaves you feeling you have experienced a hefty chunk of human possibility and despair.

In this Prebble is superbly abetted by the director David Cromers sleek yet passionate production. Working in a style all but unrecognizable from his earlier successes, including Tribes, Our Town, and several other plays at Barrow Street, he moves the action along so fast it may induce occasional brain whiplash, while maintaining a strong theatrical frame around the proceedings, except when he breaks it for effect.

Those effects would not be as powerful as they are without the top-notch work of the cast, including Cromer regular Kati Brazda, harrowing as Lorna; Steve Key, suggesting depths in the slightly underwritten role of Toby; and of course the lovers. The overwhelming attraction between Connie and Carter, as played by Susannah Flood and Carter Hudson, feels both inevitable and uncontradictable. We call it chemistry.

* * *

Sarah Burgesss riveting Dry Powder, opening tonight at the Public, is another clean and narrowly defined situation play. Theres no pharmaceutical trial in this one; instead we are thrown headlong into a private equity shop called KMM as its three principals wrangle over a potential leveraged buyout of a luggage company called Landmark. One of KMMs principals, Seth (John Krasinski), has spent months bringing the deal to the table at a good price and with a plan for maintaining Landmarks American workforce. His opposite number, Jenny (Claire Danes), argues that a traditional LBO gut job  pile on the debt, sell off the assets, move manufacturing overseas, ax most of the management  will earn the firm a few points more. Its up to KMMs president, Rick (Hank Azaria), to decide, and he has other issues to factor in. Shortly before the plays action, on the day a grocery chain announced massive layoffs that resulted from a previous KMM gut job, Rick was busy hosting his wretchedly excessful eighties-style engagement party. Though accounts of the party were exaggerated  it featured just one elephant, not two  KMM became the subject of protests, investor unrest, and derisive editorials, even in The Wall Street Journal. The media is portraying me as an unprecedented asshole, Rick complains.

However many pachyderms, Dry Powder probably understates the vulgarity of such latter-day, hyperentitled masters of the universe. (Recall, for instance, the vodka-pissing ice sculptures with which Tyco fraudster Dennis Kozlowski entertained guests at his wifes fortieth birthday party in 2001.) Rick is presented to us as a relatively unshowy guy, whose momentary ostentation was merely uxorious. In any case, Burgess is less interested in the vulgarity of the LBO kings than in their vulturity, and in the twisted philosophy that enables it. As Jenny explains it in a talk shes planning for a business-school class:

Nobody is saying free enterprise is perfect. Sometimes it isnt very nice, especially to the weak. But, free enterprise is fair. It asks nothing of you but that you show up and join the competition. Thats not imperialistic, thats not corrupt, thats not racist, thats not sexist. Thats beautiful.

As the play examines this astonishing conceit there can be no question of where the author stands (or, for that matter, of where the Public Theater does in producing it). The result can feel a bit programmatic, like a fable in which animals stand for values. The vulture, you know from the start, will never be right. Indeed, Burgess has divvied up between Jenny and Seth all of the worst and best qualities  well, the worst and less worse qualities  of the kleptocracy, and then buttoned them on so tight that they verge on caricature. Jenny does not merely speak up for capitalism but exemplifies it as a warped personality trait; she has no normal feelings and steals any advantage she can in order to win her arguments. (She even mocks Seth for attending a second-tier Ivy  Yale  and for scoring ten points below her on the GMATs.) In kind, Seth retorts that Jenny is a vampire, a token hire with sociopathic tendencies. And though the play stacks the deck so that Seth seems to be the nice guy, he isnt really much of one beyond the natural niceness of Krasinski. Just like the others, Seth has made his career by destroying other businesses, and has spent part of the proceeds on a yacht obnoxiously called (after a catchphrase on The Wire) the Omar Coming.

I can accept as reasonable, or at least as plausible and theatrical, that in this environment even the intended victim of the firms machinations might himself be corruptible. What is troubling about Dry Powder dramaturgically is that almost none of its crises or challenges arise from character. Rather, they arise from externally induced plot developments we are told of after the fact. (More than once, Rick changes his mind about the Landmark deal, not because of moral qualms but because of business information he receives on his cell phone.) This gives the play a kind of presentational Greek quality, not unlike, from the other side of the political spectrum, David Mamets China Doll, which asked us to sympathize with the super-rich for the awful burdens democracy puts on them. And though the agenda here is much more agreeable to its likely audience, it is hardly more dramatic. The characters always do what you would expect them to, except when suddenly, because the playwright needs a surprise or a climax, they simply do the opposite.

That Dry Powder  the title refers to uninvested capital  is nevertheless a fully engrossing and entertaining play is a testament to Burgesss terrific dialogue and to the beautifully paced and acted production. No surprise that the director Thomas Kail, who managed to keep the six hours of material in Hamilton to under three, runs a tight, shipshape staging here. (The show lasts 95 minutes, without intermission.) If the in-the-round configuration of the Publics Martinson Hall sometimes means you cant see the face of the actor whos speaking, this is not the kind of work where that could cause confusion. Nor are the characterizations offered by Krasinski, Danes, and Azaria (as well as by Sanjit De Silva, excellent in a smaller role) anything less than brutally clear and distinct. Danes is especially coherent in her characters awfulness, even finding a route to humor in a figure who, as written, is barely human. If only the excesses of our beautiful free-enterprise system were as amenable to correction as a promising young playwrights!

The Effect is at the Barrow Street Theatre through June 19.

Dry Powder is at the Public Theater through May 1.
Every week, Vulture and friends highlight the best new music. If the song is worthy of your ears and attention, you will find it here. Read our picks below, share yours in the comments, and subscribe to the Vulture Playlist for a comprehensive guide to the years best music.

Ariana Grande, Be Alright

I begged and begged for a Be My Baby sequel, and wouldnt you know it, I got my wish. This is the second song weve heard from Dangerous Woman  premiered, with voguing, on SNL  and its better than the title track. We all know Ari can sing her face off; she doesnt have to actually go blue in the face to prove it. I prefer when she dips into her small Mariah whistles and less-busy vocal flourishes to make that point. Also, this is just pure bouncy Kidz Bop deep house  and it works, minus that unfortunate title. (The only Alright we acknowledge is Kendricks.) Dee Lockett (@Dee_Lockett)

Hundred Waters, Show Me Love (Skrillex remix)

Skrillexs remix extends Nicole Migliss original journal entry turned song by nearly three minutes and employs Chance the Rapper, Moses Sumney, and Robin Hannibal to make the already-alluring prayer for positivity even more addicting. The video, below, also marks Skrillexs directorial debut. If you like what you hear, you can snag the song via Loveback  the platform lets you download after leaving a donation, which will go directly to artists collaborating at Hundred Waters forthcoming free music festival, FORM Arcosanti, and will give you the chance to win hang time with HW, Skrillex, and Moses. Sean Fitz-Gerald (@srkfitzgerald)

Mark Pritchard ft. Thom Yorke, Beautiful People

You can probably count on one hand the amount of features Thom Yorke has done in his expansive career. Now hes lent his voice to a new song from producer Mark Pritchards new album  Pritchard also once remixed Radioheads Bloom, if youre wondering the connection  that is absolutely stunning. Its built atop a tranquil instrumental thats later layered with synths and Yorkes own muffled, lovelorn vocals. Theres no telling when that new Radiohead will drop (theyve announced a tour and started a couple companies, so stand by), but this is some damn fine filler until then. DL

SBTRKT ft. The-Dream, Good Morning

How The-Dream and SBTRKTs respective production circles ever overlapped, well probably never know, but the British producer couldnt have picked a better collaborator for his first offering since his last album. I love The-Dream over a beat that soars higher than his falsetto (like, literally, remember the song Higher?). And not to start more EDM Twitter beef, but Good Morning borrows heavily from Hudson Mohawkes (the horns!) and Flumes last albums, owned here by SBTRKTs flair for the ultra-cinematic. DL

Lil Yachty ft. Quavo, No Hook

For whatever silly reason, I tried to tell myself I wouldnt get on with Atlanta rap newcomer Lil Yachtys debut mixtape, Lil Boat, but, fuck, its good. Like spring-into-summer anthem good. This is the kid with the red braids whom you may have seen modeling at Kanyes Yeezy Season 3/TLOP debut. Hes something of an internet star, whose 1Night went viral what feels like yesterday. No Hook didnt make the mixtapes cut (though Migoss Quavo does still make an appearance), but it couldve. Its a woozy rap-sung trap-ish, poppish confection that youll either really like or really loathe. Im kind of in neither camp; all I know is Im finding it harder and harder to resist Lil Yachty. DL

TRACE, Honey

Id never heard of L.A.s TRACE until today (shout out to Stereogum), but what an introduction. Any song named honey has to sound like it, and this Honey gets it right. Its not obviously sweet, given shes singing about a relatonship gone sour and trying everything in her power to save it. But thats sweet in its own way, isnt it? At one point, she exhales in desperation, give me something I can keep, and I cant help but be reminded of Adele singing give me a memory I can use on All I Ask. Both songs are about love thats come undone  each handled with the same delicate reverence. DL

Baauer ft. M.I.A. and G-Dragon, Temple

The happiest accident of Baauers life is also probably the one thats cursed him the most. Im talking, of course, about his controversial viral hit Harlem Shake: It experienced success unlike any song of its kind had ever seen before, but it also painted him into a strange corner, setting him up to become EDMs next one-hit wonder with not much else to offer. And yet, Baauer continues to exceed expectations. Last years One Touch and Promises were delightful dance-rap-pop bangers; now his debut album is here, and its wholly satisfying. Weve previously highlighted the Future- and Pusha T-assisted, Kung Fu, but we have to talk about Temple. This. Song. Bangs. M.I.A. apparently reached out to Baauer directly to make it happen, and it has her and K-pop prince G-Dragons influence all over it, from their flow to the Asian instruments and sample. DL
Marvels Daredevil Photo: Patrick Harbron/Netflix

Before my five years in the Army, 28 months of which was spent deployed in Iraq, I attended basic training and infantry school at Ft. Benning, Georgia  and in basic, each individual platoon within my company had a mascot. There were the Renegades. There were the Predators. And then there was my platoon: First Platoon Punishers. These mascots didnt really serve as anything much beyond an occasional rallying cry during ceremonies and competitive events, and then finally a name to put on T-shirts that you could buy after graduation  but it was certainly a part of our group identity.

As far as I can remember, we never explicitly discussed the comic-book origins of the character. But the name Punishers, shouted passionately during early morning exercises in the cool dawn of a West Georgia autumn, invoked a vague identity: rough misfits misunderstood by the larger world, but doing its dirty work nonetheless. The name and symbol, a white stylized skull that the Punisher of comics wore on his chest, would make recurring appearances during my time in the Army. Like all successful comic-book characters, the Punisher had become a myth  a diffuse and vague myth, to be sure, but one thats deeply woven into the fabric of military folk culture.

Related Stories Daredevil Is Still Brooding, Still Brutal in Season Two

The second season of Netflixs Daredevil resurrects the oft-resurrected Punisher and renders him in this mythic light. Hes treated as a folk character, not an action hero. This is something shockingly few adaptations of the character have done. The Punisher first made the leap from ink to screen in 1989, with beefy action star Dolph Lundgren in the title role. Then there were two relatively unsuccessful film adaptations, in 2004 and 2008. The films were plagued by a slew of problems, too many to enumerate, but its safe to say that this season of Daredevil might well be the best rendering of the Punisher onscreen. To understand why that is, we first have to understand the Punisher.

Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, made his comic debut in 1974, coinciding perfectly with the shit storm of social upheaval and cynicism that came to define the decade. The dreams of the 60s were over. Psychedelics were replaced by harder, dirtier drugs. Watergate supplanted Woodstock. Instead of draft resisters in the streets, the collective angst was focused on physically and psychologically damaged vets returning from Vietnam. Crime was on the rise. The entire tenor of the nation was a shade darker than it had been a decade before, and popular culture seemed fixated on quasi- or outright vigilante responses to crime. The Dirty Harry franchise began in 1971, spawning countless ripoffs, some better and some worse. Death Wish, starring Charles Bronson as a Korean War vet who obsessively seeks retribution for violent crimes committed against his family, was one of the worst. Taxi Driver, released in 1976, is obviously one of the better (though its arguably so good that it totally eclipses any influence from its predecessor crazy veterans seeking vigilante retribution films. Kind of like how War and Peace is in a genre of its own).

The character of Castle/the Punisher is among this milieu. First appearing as a crazed vigilante in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 129, hes actually presented as a nefarious antagonist to Spider-Man. A former Marine and sniper with Special Forces training, Castle is a perfect representation of military prowess. Hes skilled in multiple forms of hand-to-hand combat. Hes trained as an assassin (in fact, he was originally supposed to be called the Assassin). Hes almost impervious to pain and physical discomfort. But after his family is murdered, he also has a chip on his shoulder. Or maybe its more accurate to say that hes haunted and obsessed. Onetime Punisher writer Steven Grant compared Castles single-minded obsession to righting the wrongs of the world through purifying violence to a kind of existentialism, calling the Punisher a man who knows hes going to die and who knows in the big picture his actions will count for nothing, but who pursues his course because this is what he has chosen to do. Thats certainly accurate. But it fails to capture the symbolic value of the Punisher and former military vigilantes like him. Rather than just as solely a psychologically tortured individual, its probably more useful to see the Punisher as a cipher onto which we collectively project our ambivalence about veterans.

Like all proper myths, the story of Frank Castle isnt a new one. For ages, societies have had complex feelings about the warriors they equip and train to kill in their name. Theres almost an unspoken collective guilt from civilians that the warrior they created to defend themselves doesnt really have a role in the society he returns to. One of the oldest legends that speaks to this is the Irish story of Cu Chulainn. One of the great mythic warrior heroes, Cu Chulainn returns to his hometown of Ulster after heroically defeating the forces attacking it still enraged in a sort of battle frenzy. His fellow Ulsterites are understandably afraid that hes going to kill them all and destroy the town, and so they come up with a plan to lead topless Ulsterite women to Cu Chulainn in order to force him to avert his eyes out of modesty. When he does, they pour barrels of hot water on him until he returns to normal. It takes a village to create a warrior, and it takes a purifying ritual of return to calm his fury. What was once useful on the battlefield becomes a liability in the civilized world, and were collectively responsible for helping to calm the battle rage of the people we send to fight in our name.

Thats what this season of Daredevil gets about the Punisher. People are rightfully afraid of Frank Castle, played by the excellently cast non-pretty boy Jon Bernthal. And they should be (especially the gangs that killed his family). Hes capable of some pretty horrendous things. He can more than hold his own one-on-one against Daredevil. He has no compunctions against torturing people. But as the show makes explicit, this isnt about PTSD. This isnt the psychological exploration of a human being; its more an examination of a collective myth. What the show gets, and this is where it really succeeds, is that were all collectively implicated in creating Castle. Like the character Karen Page says, we made the Punisher. Soldiers would agree. Thats why the Punisher myth and all its attendant symbolism appeal so much to them. The Punisher is a way of understanding the civilian and military divide, while acknowledging that, however strained or fractured it may be, a relationship between the two still exists.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh pose for photos in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, March 22, 2016. The first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting will be held on Wednesday in Sanya. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

SANYA, Hainan, March 22 -- China on Tuesday called on countries along the Lancang-Mekong River to make the upcoming leaders' meeting fruitful for future cooperation.

Premier Li Keqiangmade the remarks while addressing a welcoming banquet prior to the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting to be held on Wednesday in Sanya, a coastal city in southern China's Hainan Province.

Li, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen; Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong; Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham; and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will attend the "shared river, shared future" themed meeting.

Li said institutionalized cooperation among the six countries will help maintain regional peace and stability, give full play to each country's resources, industries and market, and provide more support to the region's social and economic development.

The LMC will also supplement relations between China and ASEAN, the premier added.

The foreign ministers of China and Thailand also met on Tuesday evening in Sanya, pledging to make the leaders' meeting a success.

China was ready to work with all five countries to make the LMC mechanism a model of south-south cooperation, a platform of unity and cooperation, and a showcase of the mutual support between neighboring countries, Wang Yi said, during his meeting with Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai.

Wang also spoke highly of the contribution made by Thailand, who jointly initiated the LMC mechanism and will co-chair the leaders' meeting.

Don Pramudwinai echoed Wang, and said LMC played an important leading role in regional development. He pledged to work with China and other parties to make the first leaders' meeting a success.

He said the recent move by China to release water to aid countries in the lower reaches of the Lancang-Mekong River, who were suffering from drought, demonstrated its sincerity, and commitment to the LMC.

The LMC, proposed in 2014, will focus on security and development, as well as political, social and cultural fields. Interconnectivity, production capacity, cross-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation are five priority directions for cooperation.
South African police officers show off their Mandarin language skills through a singing performance during the graduation ceremony held at SinosteelPlaza in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2014. (Picture: Peoples Daily Online / Zhang Jiexian)

Exactlytwo years ago, David Mothapo, a member of the South African Police Services (SAPS) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, generally known as the Hawks, didnt even know how to greet in Mandarin, a Chinese language that is spoken by the majority of the population. As a South African, he would never have imagined spending a whole year in China to study the Chinese language and culture as part of the cooperation agreement between the two countries.

He has turned out to be the top student on the basic Chinese language-training course that would help him realised his dreams, and has already been back in SA for a more advanced training course.

On being informed of the trip, Mothapo said: I only saw Chinese people in the streets and through kung-fu movies on TV. I knew very little about them before the courses.

He added: We do meet some Chinese people through our work, but some of them speak very little English and we struggle to serve them. But now I can proudly say if any Chinese come to the police station, I will be able to assist them with better communication.

Mothapo has already started putting his newly acquired skill into practice, using the lit- tle bit he knows by greeting and teasing them in Chinese, in order to make them feel more welcomed.

They are happy that some- one is taking time to learn their language. They appreciate it very much, he said.

Most Chinese citizens are keen to work with the SAPS, but unfortunately the relationship often becomes hostile because of communication difficulties, says Wang Zhigang, police counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, as he explains the motivation behind the R40,000 sponsorship.

Currently, there are more than 300,000 Chinese citizens resident in SA, and with the current crime situation at least 15 individuals were murdered in 2015. Most Chinese citizens are understandably concerned about their safety as well as their ability to communicate with local police because of the language barrier.

It is with these concerns in mind that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Chinese Embassy, with the sup- port of Chinas Ministry of Public Security, have cooperated on the Chinese language-training programme. Thanks to this initiative, 35 officers from the SAPS have picked up some Mandarin since 2014 and it is achieving good results.

The programme has been integrated into the Hawks officers daily duties with lessons presented every Thursday from 10am to 12pm.

We fully understand at your age how much effort and energy you dedicated to learning Mandarin, the most difficult language in the world, said tutor Cong Lin as she handed over the graduation certificates to her students. We admire all your efforts on this achievement.

Through this language course, the Hawks officers have acquired basic Chinese speaking and writing skills, and received a preliminary under- standing of Chinese culture, including some Chinese food culture, which is extremely helpful to their law enforcement effort. With better communication and interaction with the Chinese community in SA the initiative strengthens trust and understanding between them and the police.

I love Chinese people and heir language  even though its difficult, it is still great fun, says Caroline Matjila-Botlhoko, Chinese course graduate and SAPS Lieutenant, who spent the year in Beijing studying Mandarin and police techniques. She is one of the first three Africans invited on the annual project organised by Chinese government in the past 10 years. The other two were from Angola. She is planning to travel to China again.

As Major General Pharasi, SAPS Functionary from Gauteng Provincial Commissioners Office, says: China is equipped with a more advanced police system that is technology based, in full control direct linking, and we aspire to be at that level.

General Pharasi adds: Theres no way we can expect to improve service delivery without knowing the language and culture of the people we serve. We appreciate the Chinese government offering this opportunity to us.

He concludes by quoting the South African National Development Plan: We will further ensure that when people walk our streets, they do so in a safe environment. Basically we want to see a South Africa free from crime. As we join hands, this is just the beginning.

(The story was originally published on Business Day on January 29th, 2016.)
Pizza Patron, known for its Pizza Por Pesos program, has opened a free-standing location at 1727 S. Valley Mills Drive. The store will be operated by veteran multi-unit franchisee Bellavista Restaurants Inc. and will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

According to a company news release, Pizza Patron makes its signature dough from scratch in every store daily. The pizza sauce starts with fresh-packed, crushed Roma tomatoes and marinates for at least 24 hours with the companys secret blend of spices and herbs.

Guests can choose from traditional pizzas and sides as well as signature pies like La Choriquezo, which is a large pizza made with spicy ranch sauce and loaded with mozzarella cheese, fresh-sliced red onions and chorizo sausage.

According to the latest U.S. Census, Waco is more than 30 percent Hispanic, with Hispanics accounting for 81 percent of McLennan Countys growth during the past decade. We feel privileged to add another restaurant in the growing community of Waco, said Andrew Gramm, executive vice president of Pizza Patron.
Andre Renor Evans Preston Street home in East Waco was the talk of the neighborhood because it was well-known that he was keeping a young girl there and men were coming in and out to have sex with her for money, a former friend of Evans testified Tuesday.

I told Andre if he didnt stop, they were going to get him for white slavery, said LaQuita Moten, who testified she tried to help the 15-year-old runaway escape the heroin injections and sex trade that Evans reportedly subjected her to.

Evans, 51, is on trial in Wacos 19th State District Court on three counts of human trafficking and nine counts of sexual assault of a child.

Moten, who said she has known Evans for more than 10 years, told jurors that she took it upon herself to try to help the young girl, who was called Summer, after seeing her there with Evans and watching men going in to have sex with her.

Summer is not the girls real name. She is expected to testify when the trial resumes Wednesday morning.

Moten said she escaped with the girl after making up a story that she and the girl were going to the Goodwill store to buy clothes for Evans. She said Summer left Evans house with nothing but the clothes on her back, adding that those clothes belonged to someone else.

Moten said that while Summer was there, Evans house, which is across the street from a church, became notorious in the neighborhood for drugs and prostitution.

The older folks who have lived there all their lives had a real problem with it, Moten said.

Summer stayed with Moten for a few weeks but was afraid to venture outside because she didnt want to run into Evans, Moten said.

She wanted to stay right beside me because everybody else she ran across in her life mistreated her in some kind of way, she said.

Moten said she took Summer back to Evans house because she thought it would help her overcome her fear to talk to him. Summer talked to Evans and told Moten she was going to stay with him, Moten said.

Moten said she came back the next day and saw Summer lying almost unconscious in bed. Evans told her, That bitch finally got what she deserved, saying he had shot her up with heroin, Moten said.

Moten said she got the nude teen out of bed and saw multiple puncture marks in her arm. Moten said the girl told her that Evans and other men had sex with her as she passed in and out of consciousness from the heroin injections.

Meghann Gray, a former drug addict, said she went to Evans house to get drugs and saw Summer lying on a bed. She said Summer reminded her of her daughter. A woman at the home was shooting her up with heroin and said if they kept Summer on heroin, she would do whatever they want, Gray said.

Under cross-examination, Gray said she has been clean from crack and heroin for nine months but has a pending methamphetamine possession case.

In other prosecution testimony, Charity Walker, who is charged with giving Summer heroin, denied that she gave drugs to the young girl. Walker said she is addicted to heroin and Evans allowed her to come to his home to shoot the drug for a fee.

She testified that she went to his house one day, walked into the bedroom and saw Evans having sex with the teen. Evans told her the girl was 21 and later changed that to 23, Walker said.

Prosecutor Gabrielle Massey told the jury in opening statements that the case would introduce them to the world of teenage sex trafficking that most people dont know exists in McLennan County.

Massey said the victim in this case was born to parents who should not have had children. She was abused and neglected and was taken into custody by the state by the time she was 6.

She grew up in foster homes and child placement centers around Central Texas, running away from many of them only to be returned to another facility after reporting that she was sexually assaulted while on her own.

Because of the neglect, sexual abuse and drug abuse, she started cutting herself, acting out and was suicidal, making her a difficult candidate for adoption, Child Protective Services supervisor Peggy Cope testified.

At 14, she met her biological father for the first time and had no interest after that in returning to state foster care, Cope said.

She went to live with her father, but he committed suicide two months later, Cope said. The girl and her stepmother found his body, she said.

So there is no way that the system hasnt failed this girl, prosecutor Hilary LaBorde said.

Unfortunately, no, Cope said.

Defense attorney Sam Martinez deferred his opening statement.
Texas high school students traveled to Waco for their own high-intensity kitchen competition at the Waco Convention Center on Tuesday.

The Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality at Byron Nelson High School nabbed first place in the culinary division at the 2016 Texas ProStart Invitational, where 24 of the states top high school teams competed for the only Texas spot at the national competition in April. Byron Nelson is in Trophy Club near Dallas.

Teams of four, with one alternate, chopped, sauteed and braised their way through the afternoon in hopes of winning the title and tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships.

All teams at the invitational competed at one of two regional competitions in January and placed in the top six in either the culinary or management categories. New Caney High School near Houston won first in the management division.

No local teams use the ProStart curriculum from the Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation.

Culinary teams created and cooked a menu including an appetizer, entree and dessert. They were judged on safety and sanitation, knife skills, teamwork, plate display and taste.

Teams brought all their own equipment and had to complete all three dishes within an hour, using no electricity and heating dishes only with butane burners.

Each team was required to complete two identical plates of each dish. One traveled to a secluded tasting room where teams were given private reviews. The other went on display for audiences to admire.

Management teams developed a restaurant concept and presented business plans to a panel of judges. They had 10 minutes to present and were judged on their concept and how well they answered questions afterward.

Members of the Frisco High School management team Elizabeth Berius, 16, and Madison Thornton, 16, designed a restaurant around the feelings of home.

Old Glory concept

Old Glory, a restaurant based on a fictionalized town with both a college and an airport, capitalizes on peoples homesickness by providing menu items from each region of the United States. The girls explained how the restaurant would serve a sweet Hawaiian burger, chicken fried steak burger and Floridian pie, a type of Key lime pie.

Walking out of their presentation, they said they felt confident.

We got some pretty good feedback, Berius said.

Other teams werent as fortunate. And reviews were often brutal.

A group of students stood in front of Lynn Krause, veteran chef and former culinary director for the The Art Institute of St. Louis.

Krause picked apart the students techniques and finished with a scathing critique of their dishes taste.

I dont know what the deal is with these tapioca pearls, but they ruined your dessert. You could choke on these, she said. Theyre rubber.

Mesquite High School culinary instructor Sandra Sepulveda said its the nature of the competition.

It was Sepulvedas third year bringing two teams, one management and one culinary, to the ProStart circuit. This is her first year to advance to the state invitational.

Sepulveda said she chooses her competitors based on the skill they demonstrate in the schools culinary program. They began prepping in August 2015 and brought in three professional chefs, including two from Wolfgang Puck Catering Dallas, for critiques and refinements.

But competition is ruthless.

I mean, look at these dishes. Theyre crazy good, Sepulveda said, standing next to the display table.

She had her menu stolen in a previous year, so now Sepulvedas students all sign confidentiality agreements when they join the team, preventing any photos of menus or plates from being posted online.

Stays in the kitchen

What happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen, she said.

The toughest part of the competition is catering to the tastes of the judges, Sepulveda said.

Her team made an appetizer of steak tartar, an entree of Chilean sea bass and a dessert of vanilla bean Bavarian cream in a hardened chocolate cage. The dessert was changed after the regional competition because it received bad reviews from a tasting judge.

It looks really good. They worked really hard at refining their dishes, she said.

Her students were pleased with the results, also.

We were down to the wire, but we came together well in the end, Chandler Stokes, 18, said.

Stokes said hes getting tired of eating his competitions meal but enjoys the Bavarian cream the most. This is the second year Chandler competed, and nothing went amiss under the tight deadline.

Were a well-oiled machine, he said.
A Baylor University student was robbed at gunpoint, and his vehicle was shot after he tried to sell property at a South Waco park late Tuesday afternoon.

The Baylor student tried to sell several electronic items to two men after advertising the items on Craigslist, Waco police Officer Garen Bynum said. Shortly after 4 p.m., two men met the Baylor student at Oakwood Park, near Oakwood Avenue and Ninth Street, to complete the transaction.

That is when one of the men informed the victim that they did not have all the money with them that was needed, so they asked him to follow them back to their house in the 900 block of Ewing (Avenue), Bynum said. That is when both men pulled a hand gun out at the student and the student pulled a handgun back on them.

After seeing that the student also had a handgun, both men ran from the property, Bynum said. In fleeing the scene, one of the suspects fired a shot that hit the victims vehicle. No injuries were reported.

Officers searched the area for the suspects. Baylor police officers and a K-9 unit also joined in the search but were unable to find the men.

There were several witnesses in the area that said they heard the shot but did not see the actual shooting, Bynum said.

The suspects allegedly stole the victims iPad, cell phone and Playstation. Bynum said no arrests were made by Tuesday evening.

It is always best to remember if you are going to sell something online, you are most likely doing this transaction with someone you have never met, Bynum said. It is always best to do these sales in a public, well-lit place that everyone will feel comfortable at, and never follow them to a different location.

The investigation is ongoing.
A 44-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on trafficking of persons charges after federal and local authorities raided two Waco massage parlors Tuesday.

Jacob Guang Yang was arrested after a traffic stop on Interstate 35 near West late Tuesday night, McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said. Yang is accused of harboring four young women at the Waco businesses and using them in a sex-trafficking operation, McNamara said.

Authorities determined that the four women were living at the businesses with no vehicle or other form of transportation available, he said. None of the women speak English, and a Chinese-speaking translator joined officers during the raid to check on the womens well-being and offer assistance.

Authorities found the women and $11,700 in cash during the raids Tuesday at 7035 Sanger Ave. and 7524 Bosque Blvd.

Officers believe three of the women came to McLennan County after living in California and the other woman lived in New York.

This is a very, very sad situation, McNamara said. You dont ever expect something like that, especially something like this when the women were having to stay in a location with no vehicle or any transportation.

Yang was released after posting a $50,000 surety bond Wednesday. McNamara said the human trafficking investigation remains ongoing.
By international and historical standards, political violence is exceedingly rare in the United States. The last serious outburst was 1968 with its bloody Democratic Convention riots. By that standard, 2016 is, as yet, tame. It may not remain so.

The political thuggery that shut down a Donald Trump rally in Chicago this month may just be a harbinger. The immediate conventional wisdom was to blame the disturbance on the toxic climate created by Trump. Nonsense. This was an act of deliberate sabotage created by a totalitarian left that specializes in the intimidation and silencing of political opponents.

The Chicago shutdown was a planned attack on free speech and free assembly. Hence the exultant chant of the protesters upon the announcement of the rallys cancellation: We stopped Trump. It had all of the spontaneity of a beer-hall putsch.

Given the people, the money and the groups behind Chicago, it is likely to be replicated, constituting a serious threat to civilized politics. But theres a second, quite separate form of thuggery threatening the 2016 campaign  a leading candidate who, with a wink and a nod (and sometimes less subtlety), is stoking anger and encouraging violence.

This must be distinguished from what happened in Chicago, where Trump was the victim and for which he is not responsible. But he is responsible for saying of a protester at his rally in Las Vegas that I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that? Theyd be carried out on a stretcher, folks.

He told another rally that if they see any protesters preparing to throw a tomato, to knock the crap out of them. . . . I promise you I will pay for the legal fees. Referring in an interview to yet another protester, Trump said maybe he should have been roughed up.

At the Vegas event, Trump said, Id like to punch him in the face. Well, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, one of his supporters did exactly that for him  sucker-punching in the face a protester being led away. The attacker is being charged with assault.

Trump is not responsible for the assault. But he is responsible for refusing to condemn it. Asked about it, he dodged and weaved, searching for extenuation. The man got carried away. So what? If people who get carried away are allowed to sucker-punch others, wed be living in a jungle.

Trump said that it was obvious that the cold-cocker obviously loves his country. What is it about punching a demonstrator in the face that makes evident ones patriotism? Particularly when the attacker said on television, Next time we see him, we might have to kill him.

Whoa! Thats lynch talk. And rather than condemn that man, Trump said he would be instructing his people to look into paying his legal fees.

This from the leader of the now strongest faction in the Republican Party, the man most likely to be the GOP nominee for president. And who, when asked last week about the possibility of being denied the nomination at the convention if hes way ahead in delegates but just short of a majority, said, I think youd have riots, adding, I wouldnt lead it, but I think bad things would happen.

Incitement to riot? Legally, no. But youd have to be a fool to miss the underlying implication.

Theres an air of division in the country. Fine. Its happened often in our history. But the whole point of politics is to identify, highlight, argue and ultimately adjudicate and accommodate such divisions. Politics is the civilized substitute for settling things the old-fashioned way  laying your opponent out on a stretcher.

Charles Krauthammer is also a Fox News commentator and appears nightly on Special Report With Bret Baier.
Only days ago in Brussels, as Western leaders celebrated the arrest of a key terrorist suspect, Belgian officials warned that there were dozens more jihadists at large in the city and that more attacks were being planned. They couldnt have known how right they were.

I traveled to Brussels on March 16 to attend the German Marshall Funds Brussels Forum, a meeting of U.S. and European officials, foreign policy experts and journalists where the fight against terrorism was at the top of the agenda. Two senators and several Obama administration officials who attended passed through the main terminal of the Brussels airport this past weekend. On Tuesday morning, it was hit by what Belgian authorities described as a suicide attack. At least 30 were killed and 230 wounded at the airport and in a parallel attack on the citys subway system.

When I passed through the terminal less than 24 hours before the attack, an increased security presence was visible. But as with most Western airports, there were no individual checks of passengers entering the main building, which was crowded with arriving and departing passengers on a busy weekday morning. Tensions were already high. On my flight from Dulles, there had been two security-related delays. One man was arrested for assaulting a flight attendant after he refused to follow instructions from the flight crew.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders spoke to the Brussels Forum on Sunday morning and detailed the successful efforts to arrest Salah Abdeslam, believed to be one of the main plotters of the Paris attacks in November. He was captured in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek.

Abdeslam told Belgian authorities while in custody that he was ready to restart something from Brussels, Reynders said. Belgian intelligence determined that Abdeslam had built a new network of support in Brussels in the four months since the Paris attacks, expanding to include criminal networks that worked with the terrorists to share apartments and leverage connections to procure weapons.

There are many networks, not only members of his family, Reynders said, adding that more than 30 people had been involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris and we are sure there are others.

The problem of foreign fighters leaving Europe for Syria and then returning to Europe to level attacks on civilians is not new. In May 2014, a French national returned from Syria to Europe, where he attacked the Jewish museum in Brussels. Intelligence sharing between the United States, European countries and countries in the region  especially Turkey  is key to combating this threat, Reynders said. He added that cooperation was improving.

Gen. Gratien Maire, Frances vice chief of defense, said the threat posed to Europe by terrorists connected to the Islamic State, such as Abdeslam, is more dangerous than in the past, because the terrorist organization has territory, weaponry and support that provide important advantages to returning foreign fighters.

They have really an unprecedented level of financial and military means available to them, he said. Without stopping the Islamic State militarily and drying up its finances, theres no way to counter ISIS threat to Europe, he said.

Regional officials at the conference emphasized that security precautions alone will never be totally effective in fighting the terror threat. They called on the West to do more to address the root causes of unrest, including the lack of economic opportunity and the narrative of the extremists in Muslim countries.

Today we are all targeted, said Youssef Amrani, the head of mission for the Royal Cabinet of Morocco. Today we feel we need a comprehensive approach towards fighting against terror.

As the investigation into Tuesdays attacks in Brussels advances, the main questions authorities will be asking include whether the Belgian anti-terror operations in Molenbeek only days earlier caused the remaining sleeper cells to activate what appear to have been latent but well-planned operations. For the American officials and experts who traveled through the Brussels airport this past weekend, this was a close call. Whether that will result in a change in how the United States thinks about the fight against the Islamic State remains to be seen.

Josh Rogin is a Bloomberg View columnist who writes about national security and foreign affairs.
State officials should closely review last weeks tumultuous congressional hearings about whos to blame for the lead-poisoning of tens of thousands of Flint, Michigan, residents. Attacking the Environmental Protection Agency is a sure-fire applause line at town hall meetings and in stump speeches across Texas  but only till some folks realize theyre slowly being poisoned to death.

Which brings us to Trib staff writer J.B. Smiths alarming report about levels of arsenic in the water of some rural communities east of Waco that exceed the federal standard of 10 parts per billion. Communities impacted include Axtell, Riesel, Perry, Elk, Prairie Hill and Birome  about 14,000 area folks, some in McLennan County. A group of water suppliers is trying to build a regional water supply that would allow them to dilute their water with uncontaminated water from elsewhere. But at what cost?

Its really going to escalate the cost of water, Charles Beseda, president of the Falls-Hill-Limestone-McLennan Water Supply Corp., told Smith. Everybody wants cheap water, but to get it treated and delivered its going to cost a lot.

Welcome to a world where, as water experts have long warned us, no more water is being created. Add in dynamic population and industrial growth  especially in places such as Texas  and one can see why state officials not only have to be wary about ensuring enough water exists but making sure our water meets federal standards for the safety of our families. We dont want a Flint, Michigan, in Texas.

As those who watched last weeks congressional hearings involving the lead-poisoning of residents in Flint now know, Congress passed a law  the so-called Safe Drinking Water Act  that pretty much tells the EPA to keep its big nose out of state affairs regarding water quality. That makes the absurdity of Republican lawmakers now blaming the EPA for not forcefully poking its nose into state business in Michigan all the more ludicrous  the very height of duplicity and hypocrisy.

Couldnt happen here? The jurys out. While the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project has noted that ingesting arsenic can cause various cancers as well as other liver and kidney damage, Smith found that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality insists that people with water exceeding the federal limit for arsenic do not face an immediate health threat and do not need to seek out alternative sources of water.

Meanwhile, yet other states warn private well-users to avoid water with more than 10 parts of arsenic per billion, such as Wisconsin, which advises that, above that, one should stop using the water for drinking or food preparation. Florida says residents should avoid water where the problem persists.

With 34 Texas communities serving 51,000 people flagged for excessive arsenic levels to varying degrees for more than a decade, the Environmental Integrity Project is pressing Texas officials to stop putting into their public health advisories language that implies water failing Safe Drinking Water Act standards is safe to drink; begin informing consumers of options for treating contaminated water through filter systems; and work with the federal government to put up grant money to help the aforementioned rural communities pay for water filtration systems or take other steps to eliminate the contamination.

Our long experience suggests very few of us are concerned about environmental matters till they end up in our backyard or come out of our spigots. City and county officials should be commended for taking such matters seriously in McLennan County and working with affected communities to find solutions. Our state lawmakers need to show similar concern, given that they have the power to force state agencies to ensure our safety and avoid another Flint.
Employees at work at the Hisense manufacturing plant in Atlantis, Cape Town. (Picture: Peoples Daily Online / Sissy Cheung)

Datafrom various sources suggests that a much tougher year lies ahead for foreign investors in SA due to the challenging domestic macroeconomics that exist in the country. Despite this, some Chinese enterprises such as Hisense are still focusing on developing local business and becoming more deeply rooted in the country. Chinese consumer electronics and home appliances manufacturer Hisense opened new headquarters in Century City in the northern suburbs of Cape Town in June 2015. According to reports, the move was due to increased sales and production necessitating even greater job creation.

Having entered the South African market in 1996, Hisense has maintained rapid growth in sales over the years. In 2013, it established a manufacturing plant in Atlantis, about 40km away from the Cape Town CBD. Capable of producing 400,000 televisions and 400,000 refrigerators a year, the R350m investment directly created 700 jobs for the area while indirectly creating 3,000 jobs.

Aside from business investments, Hisense has spared no effort when it comes to strengthening ties with the local com- munity and its consumers, seeing this as an essential part of success in the region. The first step it took was wildlife protection.

In the same month it opened the factory, Hisense donated eco- friendly refrigerators to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds to keep food fresh for penguins. It also sponsored the Hermanus Whale Festival in 2014, during which time it displayed videos of sea life conservation throughout the festival.

Weve been in SA for more than 20 years and have become a proud South African home appliances enterprise. We are willing to stay, contribute and improve the living conditions of the local community, Aaron Wang, the financial director of Hisense South Africa, told the Peoples Daily Online.

Hisense cares for the under- privileged and always considers how these people can really benefit from us. So we make sure our campaigns benefit different groups such as orphans, students and the disabled, Wang explained.

Through charitable events, Hisense has built up its reputation among local South Africans. Its products are widely used in various campaigns. The company has donated television sets and raised funds for autistic children and orphanages in the country for years. It has spon- sored high school students, the Atlantis SAPS station and the Cape Town Chinese Committee Police Forum.

It also partnered with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the countrys leading energy saving campaign, 49M, in 2013. Speaking at a signing ceremony in Cape Town, Pieter Pretorius, Eskom strategic marketing senior manager, said the partnership between 49M and Hisense was in line with the initiatives strategic intent to join forces with businesses on projects that promote sustainable living in response to the countrys constrained power system.

Every month, about 80 units of high quality wood used for packaging of refrigerator panels are disposed of at the Hisense factory. In order to efficiently make full use of this wood, the company began working with a local wood manufacturer to make tables and chairs, which are then donated to underprivileged communities, retirement homes and schools.

Meanwhile, Hisense is sup- porting local innovative SMEs by sponsoring the United Nations Environment Programs SEED Award. Once again it is a long- term project focused on sustain- able development.

Wang elaborated on the reason why Hisense is so keen on these campaigns: Only when we deepen our understanding of our customers, will we be able to truly get to understand their needs, build connections with them and integrate into the community.

Its receipt of the Award of Excellence at the Social Responsibility Awards for Chinese Enterprises in SA has encouraged its counterparts to learn from its experience in playing a part in local society.

The Social Responsibility Awards for Chinese Enterprises in SA were announced in December 2014, the first of their kind on the African continent.

The event was founded by the Embassy of China in SA and organised by the South Africa- China Economy and Trade Association (Saceta), also known as the Chinese Enterprises Organization in SA.

Judges consisted of representatives from Saceta, the Chinese Embassy and local media outlets. Several things were taken into consideration, such as enterprises contributions to the local economy, employment, technology and public welfare.

Distinctive awards were given to nine outstanding Chinese enterprises in this country, including Hisense, Sinosteel, Huawei, FAW, SANY, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Gold One International and Ray- al Ceramics.

(The story was originally published on Business Day on January 29th, 2016.)
After a pledge to grant local governments more power over the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOE) in the latest government work report, at least 25 provinces have issued reform plans, with most offering employee stock ownership on a trial basis, chinanews.com reported on Tuesday.

In the work report, the central government urged an accelerated pace for SOE reform, which covers equity diversification, board mandates, executive recruitment, management systems, mixed ownership and employee stock ownership.

So far, 25 provinces, autonomous regions and cities have drafted detailed plans. Included on that list are Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Hunan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Qinghai, Hubei, Henan, Liaoning, Guangzhou, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Jilin, Gansu, Fujian, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and some others.

Most of the new plans include a pilot program for employee stock ownership. For instance, Gansu, one of the western provinces, will select qualified provincial SOEs for the first round of the program. Some provinces have also made timetables for the reforms. Hebei, a northern province, planned to complete the pilot program outline by the end of 2015, and put it into practice in 2016.

Li Shuguang, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that employee stock ownership is a breakthrough for ownership reform. However, since it involves the interests of employees and intellectual property owners, a trial operation is the prudent route.

Reform of remuneration systems is also a big focus. A guideline issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council last September called for a differentiated remuneration system. According to the guideline, remuneration of executives should be linked with the executives positions, as well as with their individual performances and the revenue of their enterprises.

Zhou Fangsheng, Deputy Director of the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society, said that a differentiated remuneration system will break the current one-size-fits-all approach. Hebei province, for instance, will outlaw all forms of bonuses or premiums in its plan. A better incentive system will take shape after market-oriented remuneration goes into effect, Zhou added.
SYDNEY, Mar. 23  Puccini's Turandot will be presented in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour from March 24 to April 26, 2016. With Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng's take on this Chinese fable, Turandot also provides subtitles in Simplified Chinese, which promotes the spectacular outdoor opera event to Chinese visitors and communities in Australia.

When the heroic top notes of Nessun dorma ring out, your soul stirs. It's impossible to resist  the climax of an exotic adventure, captured perfectly in music. A story of a death-marked love told with salt in the air, light on the sails and the city skyline. It's the best of Sydney in a single evening: singing, sunsets, Chinese pagoda and dragon, in perfect harmony.

Taken in by a Chinese opera troupe, Chen Shi-Zheng grew up surrounded by music, but witnessed great suffering. It's a duality he finds utterly compelling, and a juxtaposition that ties in perfectly with the ice-hearted, impossibly beautiful princess at the heart of Puccini's Turandot.

As a director, his work forms a bridge between Chinese and Western artistic approaches, drawing on the Hollywood film tradition, theatrical acrobatics and traditional Chinese opera to create works that thrill visually and cut to the heart.
Oliver Rothschild, who claimed to be part of the ninth generation of the prominent Rothschild family, has been active in a variety of high-level business in China over the past few years. But his identity claims were recently debunked by real family members in the U.K.

The Rothschild family, one of the wealthiest families in the world, is seldom out of the limelight for long. The family was recently in the news in China after the publication of Currency Wars, a bestseller claiming that the Rothschild financial empire deeply affected the development of Europe. The book sparked wide-ranging debate, and the family continues to intrigue the public.

With a charming British accent, paired with a special last name, Oliver Rothschild was regarded as heir of the mysterious Jewish banking family for several years.

He has been active in Chinas business arena recently, showing up to many high-level events organized by colleges, institutions and think tanks. At the end of January, he attended a roadshow in Beijing. Three days later, he was invited by Tsinghua University to give a speech.

According to the press release from Tsinghua University, Rothschild visited China a number of times in 2013 and 2014, during which time he met with many high-profile Chinese entrepreneurs and government officials.

In both 2015 and 2016, his busy agenda in China has included inspections of Chinese cities, talks with business heavyweights, visits to firms, attendance of international events like the China-Arab States Expo, and delivering speeches in various forums.

The press release also stated that Rothschild was introduced as a core member of the U.K. line of Rothschilds. He was additionally named as head of dozens of welfare and charity organizations, including UNICEF and the British Red Cross.

UNICEF confirmed to the Economic Observer that Oliver Rothschild was a supporter of the organization in 1990s; however, due to insufficient records, they could not verify his specific contributions.

But we are certain that UNICEF currently has no connection with him in any form, the charity spokesperson added.

The British Red Cross also denied employing Rothschild, and was unable to elaborate on his prior contact with the organization.

We have confirmed that Oliver Rothschild is not a member of the Rothschild family. That is, he is not a male descendent of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, and he is not involved in any of our business, read a reply from a representative of the U.K. branch of N.M. Rothschild & Sons Limited, also referred to as the Rothschild Group.

Meanwhile, Oliver Rothschild was found not to be registered on www.rothschildarchive.org, a detailed online archive of the family. Neither does the website have any information regarding the familys ninth generation.

Rothschild was, however, proven to be the head of Oliver Rothschild Corporate Advisors Limited, a consulting firm in the U.K. The companys LinkedIn page said it had been founded in 2007, and its headquarters are in London. Based on public account information, the companys total liability had reached 80,780 pounds by the end of 2014, while its total assets were worth just 9,633 pounds.

Beyond the consulting firm, Rothschild has been on the boards of nine companies since 2009. Astelios Limited, the only one that is still operating, has a negative net worth of 19,912 pounds.

Rothschild Group declined to comment on the story.
By end of April, Beijing Railway Bureau will have installed free WiFi on over 100 trains, and currently, Jinan Railway Bureau is testing free WiFi on 75 trains. But the bullet trains are yet among the list WiFi trains.

In order to use the WiFi service, passengers are required to download an APP, which will provide music, news, and movies after logging in. Instant Messaging APPs such as QQ and Wechat are also accessible through the service. However, for the time being, the service will be limited to the named portals.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, the WiFi signals on the trains will come from the 3G and 4G services providers along the way, and the wireless network capacity will be able to accommodate 120 devices at the same time on each train.

The trains will include lines from Beijing to Shanghai, east Chinas Qingdao, southwest Chinas Kunming and Lhasa, as well as south Chinas Guangzhou.
Richmond president Peggy O'Neal says she remains disappointed the AFL forced the club's hand in issuing Dustin Martin with a suspended $5000 fine even though he had been cleared of any wrongdoing during last year's controversial restaurant incident.

O'Neal said the AFL had leaned on the Tigers to punish Martin  who had been accused of threatening a woman with a chopstick at a Japanese restaurant in Windsor  in some form to make a point even though the player had been found not guilty of any serious offence during investigations by the club, the league and Victoria Police.

"I didn't think it was necessary," said O'Neal. "If it was Trent Cotchin how would we have handled that? He would have been given a warning.
"There's been a real breakdown in intelligence. If you can't control your borders, you don't know who's coming or going. Regrettably they allowed things to slip and that weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they've been having in recent times," he told ABC television.

Extending "our most resolute solidarity" to the Belgian people, Mr Turnbull nonetheless said Europe had "allowed their security measures to slip" and that this was "a lesson for all of us". He was critical of the Schengen agreement that enables free movement within Europe, as well as the "very porous" external borders that encouraged entry to the continent.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised Europe's border protection measures in the wake of the atrocities in Brussels, arguing Australia is more secure because of its strong borders and geographic isolation.

"Europe has for all intents and purposes no internal borders, so people can travel within Europe as they wish, and their external borders have been very porous - as we've been seeing every night on the news. So Europe has a security challenge or a security problem that is different to Australia. We're assisted by our geography, of course, but we also have very strong border protection that our government has maintained."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says security standards in Europe have 'slipped'. Credit:Martin Meissner

The bomb blasts at Brussels' airport and a railway station come four months after a series of co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris, killing 130 people and setting in train a manhunt that has frequently led authorities into Belgium. Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in those attacks, is a Belgian-born French national who was arrested in Brussels last week.

The Prime Minister said that while Australia's border protection measures helped identify and repel threats to national security, there was no guarantee we could avoid similar atrocities.

"We have a much greater insight into people who we would regard as being threats or likely to pose a risk ... than the Europeans do," Mr Turnbull said. "We obviously cannot guarantee that there will not be terrorist incidents in Australia - that's why the threat level is 'probable' - nevertheless we have very strong measures in place."
Former small business minister Bruce Billson has taken on his first post-parliamentary role, leading the Franchise Council of Australia as executive chairman.

Billson immediately takes on the role, which he describes as "sort of my night job".

Bruce Billson will bid farewell to Parliament as he takes on the role of Franchise Council of Australia chairman. Credit:Andrew Meares

The FCA aims to support the growth and success of franchising, an industry with $144 billion annual turnover.

"I'm a great believer in the franchising model," Billson says. "I see it as a wonderful way for enterprising men and women to get into their own business but not be on their own."
The Chinese passenger who was allegedly verbal-assaulted and threatened on board a Virgin Atlantic flight said on Wednesday she has sought legal advice from a British law firm and will not rule out the possibility of escalating the case to court.

The Chinese victim, name pronounced as Li Wei, said British law firm, Jackson Ng of Chan Neill Solicitors, is now in contact with the Airlines on whether or not the incident consisted of legal liability and negligence of duty.

As of to date, Virgin Atlantic has not issued any formal apology to the passenger.

Below is the statement released by Passenger Li Wei:

The last few days have been very difficult for me, especially since the flight where I was humiliated, abused, and had to sit through the entire flight in fear.

As I previously stated, I did not expect to have been treated the way I did by representatives of Virgin Atlantic after a humiliating racial discrimination and abuse incident by a fellow passenger. Regardless of the fellow passenger's state of health, I expected much more from Virgin Atlantic in dealing with such incidents, especially before the plane had taken off.

As such, I have consulted British lawyers and as of this morning, instructed a firm of lawyers to communicate with Virgin Atlantic on the issue of the failings of their legal responsibilities to me.

As this matter could potentially end up in a Court of Law, it would be prudent for me not to make any further comments publicly and I would respectfully ask that all media enquiries be directed to my lawyer, Jackson Ng of Chan Neill Solicitors in London, United Kingdom.

I have always been proud to be Chinese and glad to see that many people are shocked that something of this nature could happen. Therefore, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have given me support and for publicising this matter.

The incident took place on March 1, 2016, when Li Wei was verbally abused by a Caucasian male passenger and later one of the flight attendants on a London flight en route to Shanghai. According to Li, a Caucasian male began hurling racial epithets such as f*cking Chinese pig, get the fk out of here" at her and swearing without any provocation. The incident went from bad to worse when a flight attendant approached the victim threatening to have her taken away from the plane if she did not stop quarreling.
A Perth Liquorland employee has told of his shock of seeing usually "unwanted" Pacific Radler beers fly off the shelves on Tuesday afternoon - as Facebook users cashed in on an advertising offer for free drinks.

According to the western suburbs Liquorland worker, scores of Perth drinkers rushed to outlets to grab six-packs after seeing the offer on the Perth Beer Economy Facebook page.

The offer of free beer seemed to have unintended consequences.

The offer apparently originated in an advertisement sent to Perth users of the Weatherzone app and encouraged users to screenshot a barcode and take to their local Liquorland store to claim freebies of the beer, which is two per cent alcohol.

But the promotion took an unexpected turn when a user of the PBE Facebook page elected to share the screenshot with the other 69,000 members of the grog-loving group.
Johannesburg: South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has denied reports President Jacob Zuma offered to resign after mounting claims of improper political interference by the leader's wealthy business friends.

Mr Zuma has acknowledged the Guptas are his friends but denies that the relationship in any way improper. Mr Zuma's son, Duduzane, is a director - along with Gupta family members - of at least six companies, documents show.

South African president Jacob Zuma answers the Gupta allegations in parliament last week. Credit:AP

In an affair that has caused wild swings in the rand since the news emerged last week, Mr Zuma is facing calls to quit since a number senior officials went public with allegations that the Gupta business clan exerts an undue sway on the government.
Toronto: Rob Ford, who gained international notoriety during his scandal-ridden term as mayor of Toronto, died after a battle with cancer, officials have announced.

The 46-year-old was diagnosed with pleomorphic liposarcoma two years ago and was forced to bow out of a re-election bid for the mayor's office. He ran for city council instead and won.

In 2013, then-Mayor Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine after months of denials. His admission sparked international media attention but he refused to resign, saying the incident took place during one of his "drunken stupors." He went to rehab for two months.

Ford won his Ward 2 city council seat in 2014, capturing 59 per cent of the vote, CNN reported.
Patrick Norman Pat Chapman is a 34-year-old, Caucasian male who was last known to be in Piedmont which is near the area of Greenville, Missouri on May 10, 2020.

Pat had stayed the night with a friend and his wife at their home. In the early morning when the friend woke to go to work.

Pat was gone in his own Burgundy color 1995 Ford Escort. That is the last anyone was known to have seen him. The vehicle was later recovered on May 29, 2020 in Mill Spring, Missouri.
WCO successfully facilitated a four-day working meeting at the National Academy for Customs Sciences and Technology in Khartoum (Sudan) from 7 to 10 March 2016. The working meeting was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Her Majestys Revenue and Customs (HMRC), in the framework of the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Capacity Building Programme supporting the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) with the generous financial support of Her Majestys Government.

The objective of this WCO-lead event was to develop a competency-based Customs training strategy for the National Academy of Customs Sciences and Technology, which will allow for the effective integration of TFA-related training for Customs officers and other public and private sector stakeholders, including members of Sudans National Committee on Trade Facilitation. The training is a part of a long-term collaboration with Sudan Customs that was initiated in December 2015 as part of the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Capacity Building Programme.

During the four-day meeting, 18 participants had the opportunity to study best practices in Customs training in United Kingdom and Mauritius, while building a Sudan-specific training strategy by applying elements of the WCOs Framework of Principles and Practices on Customs Professionalism. The participants also had the opportunity to reflect upon Customs professionalism and the operational, professional and managerial competences of a modern Customs administration, while discussing key components of their future Training Strategy with a special focus on how to integrate the requirements of the TFA.

The training concluded with a draft four-year Training Strategy (2016-2020) for the National Academy of Customs Sciences and Technology in Sudan. An important aspect of this new strategy is the commitment to introduce different training methodologies including the WCO e-learning platform to continuously ensure proficiency and raise awareness on trade facilitation within the organization.

In parallel with the training, and as part of the Programme, the WCO in partnership with UNCTAD organized the first module of its Empowerment Program for National Trade Facilitation Committees in Khartoum. The second module of this Programme, Measuring and Implementing Trade Facilitation will take place end of May. For information about WCO implementing the WTO TFA please consult (link), or more information about the Progamme contact Nathan Taylor, Programme Manager, Nathan.Taylor@wcoomd.org.
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Mar. 23, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY

By Tim Brockwell Mar. 23, 2016 | 12:53 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center has announced a partnership with Mountain Comprehensive Care Center as part of a plan to purchase McCracken County Schools' Berger Road property. The McCracken County Board of Education recently granted an extension on the $1.5 million property closing date from March 30 to September 26.



Merryman House Executive Director Mary Foley says the 26 acre property located at 435 Berger Road will become the campus where both companies will work together to provide domestic and substance abuse services to the community. These services will include residential substance abuse treatment for women suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD.



Foley says Mountain Comprehensive Care Center will offer services for chemical dependency and mental health services, as well as outpatient mental health services on-site. Merryman House will serve as their primary referral source along with shelters across Kentucky. The facility will become a state-wide resource for survivors of domestic violence, but Foley says the Purchase Region will continue to be its main priority.



Dr. Sabrina Grubbs, a licensed clinical psychologist, will oversee the substance abuse services on the campus for Mountain Comprehensive Care Center.



"Mountain Comprehensive Care Center is very happy to be entering into this partnership with Merryman House and we look forward to being a part of the community. It is our belief that by sharing knowledge and coordinating programming, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers and domestic violence workers can understand the complexity of the problem and work together to better serve individual clients -- as well as lay the foundation for a coordinated community response, Grubbs said.



Federal Home Loan Bank awarded a $540,000 grant last fall to Merryman House. Foley says the grant will be used for building renovations upon closing. Merryman House and Mountain Comp will split the purchase price of the new property.



"We know that the intersection of domestic violence and substance abuse is high. We're gonna keep Mountain Comp pretty busy. We also would expect that folks who are coming in for substance abuse treatment to Mountain Comp, once they are assessed we imagine that they will identify victims of domestic violence, and that referral partnership would go both ways." Foley said.



Merryman House remains in a capital campaign and continues to seek donations for developing its new campus. If you would like to learn more about or give to the capital campaign, Contact Gina Leeper at ginaleeper@merrymanhouse.org.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 23, 2016 | 01:55 AM | CALLOWAY COUNTY, KY

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to restrict traffic to one lane along KY 893/West State Line Road in Calloway County on Thursday, March 24. Keith Todd with the KYTC says that KY 893/West State Line Road will be restricted to one lane at mile point 19.921 at the junction with U.S. 641 South to allow cross drain work. Due to limited work space NO TRUCKS will be allowed through this work zone. Trucks should seek an alternate route via an appropriate state route. This work zone lane restriction on KY 893 in the Hazel community is expected to start at approximately 8:00 AM Thursday. It is expected to reopen to normal traffic flow at approximately 3:00 PM Thursday. Due to the proximity of this work to US 641 at the KY 893/West State Line Road intersection there could be an occasional lane restriction on US 641 to facilitate the project.
By Richard Nelson, Commonwealth Policy Center Mar. 22, 2016 | 03:13 PM | CADIZ, KY





SB 180, the bill intended to shore up religious freedom protections for business owners, is receiving harsh criticism from much of the media. Last week, the Kentucky New Era, a western Kentucky newspaper, lambasted SB 180 through its editorial "Don't give business prejudice a loophole." It sounds good at first blush. After all, who supports prejudicial business practices? But after one better understands the issue, the headline doesn't pass muster. The editorial claims SB 180 would "legalize discrimination against gay and lesbian Kentuckiansand perhaps others." The bill does no such thing.SB 180, which passed the Senate last week by a vote of 22-16, is a measure to protect the religious freedom of business owners who are being coerced by the state to service events (think same-sex weddings) they find morally objectionable. A person is not an event. A wedding is. And that's primarily what SB 180 addresses. It protects the conscience rights of those business owners who believe participating in a same-sex marriage is sacrilegious. The KNE spins hypotheticals yet to materialize as reasons to oppose the legislation. Christian business owners who've had heavy fines exacted upon them don't have such luxuries.Consider Elaine Huguenin, a New Mexico photographer who was fined, $6600 for refusing to do a photo shoot of a lesbian wedding. Robert and Cynthia Gifford, a Catholic couple in New York, were fined $13,000 for refusing to rent their facility for a same-sex wedding. Oregon bakers Tim and Melissa Klein were fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony. Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman faces losing her business and entire life savings for refusing to provide a floral arrangement for a same-sex wedding. Here in Kentucky, Hands on Originals owner Blaine Adamson spent two years of legal proceedings for refusing to print T-shirts for an LGBT parade. Many more examples exist, but if there is any discrimination happening it is clearly against Christians who are operating their businesses according to their conscience.Taking deeply personal pictures of a couple's wedding ceremony is very different from selling film to a homosexual who wants to take pictures of that event. Baking a cake for a self-identified homosexual or lesbian is different from asking a baker to ice a wedding cake with celebratory messages of a gay union. Selling flowers to a homosexual is quite different from creating floral arrangements sprucing up a same-sex wedding often with messages celebrating that union.We are not talking about individuals refusing to provide goods or services to homosexuals. The issue is over conscience rights and whether some citizens should be forced to accommodate and participate in an event that violates their religious convictions. It's a distinction that some may not understand or even agree with, but it's a distinction nonetheless. And one whose appeal is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects people from conveying messages in which they disagree.According to the editorial "it is not appropriate for a business owner to impose his or her beliefs on customers who want to have access to a community's full marketplace and not just part of it." Absent a fixed moral benchmark such rhetoric is foolish and dangerous. Are we really to believe that business owners should acquiesces to every customer demand? Isn't the Jewish deli owner imposing his or her belief when they decline to serve a Neo-Nazi sponsored event? Aren't leaders in a Christian church imposing their belief when they refuse to allow a same-sex couple to wed in their sanctuary?A balanced editorial would have reported that conservative Christians believe that marriage isn't just people; it is a religious ceremony between two people of the opposite sex. Fair coverage would remind us that opponents of same-sex marriage were told for years that they would not be forced to approve of gay marriage. Live and let live, remember? Business owners were assured they'd not be required to accommodate gay weddings. Pastors were promised they'd never have to officiate one. That was then, this is now.Deception masquerading as truth has reached its zenith and intolerance camouflaged as tolerance assaults First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion. Crippling fines end business owners aspirations. Aggressive blacklisting marginalizes political opponents as bigots and drives them from the workplace. And a county clerk goes to jail for refusing to sign her name to a certificate decreeing marriages no one imagined possible or acceptable even a few years ago.If this is our new found idea of freedom, may God unshackle us from our imbecility. In the meantime, SB 180 needs to pass.
By The Associated Press Mar. 23, 2016 | 12:29 PM | LOUISVILLE, KY

A young couple originally from Tennessee and Kentucky have not been seen since they waved goodbye to the woman's mother at the international airport in Brussels, one of two sites in the city where terrorist bomb attacks killed at least 34 people.

Friends and family of Justin and Stephanie Shults say the couple moved to Brussels in 2014. They said they were dropping Stephanie's mother off and were watching her walk through security when the bombs went off Tuesday.

Relatives say Stephanie Shults is from Lexington, Kentucky, and Justin Shults is from Gatlinburg, Tennessee. They were excited to live in Europe and traveled frequently.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks at the airport and a subway in Brussels that injured hundreds and left scores unaccounted for.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
A new production of Shakespeare's Richard II will be staged in the House of Commons to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death.

In what is the first ever performance of a Shakespearean play in the House of Commons, the story will be adapted as a Westminster thriller with the Duchess of Gloucester becoming the Political Editor of the BBC.

The one-off performance will take place on 23 April, with tickets distributed through a ballot, open now until 3 April here.

The production will then transfer to the Arcola Theatre for a week-long run from 3 - 7 May.

Casting includes Tim Delap (The Woman in Black) in the titular role and Hermione Gulliford (3 Winters, National Theatre) as Harri Bolingbroke, reimagined in this new version as a female Leader of the Opposition.

Richard II is co-directed by Jack Gamble and Quentin Beroud, who today said: "Staging this early masterpiece in Parliament will show how much Shakespeare still has to say about leadership and representation.

"Reworking Bolingbroke as a powerful female lead will give the play a renewed significance at a time where certain privileges still count for more than they should."

Richard II runs at the House of Commons on 23 April and at the Arcola Theatre from 3 - 7 May.
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Hamlet has aged of late, mostly played by well-established stars. At only 25, elevated from understudying, Paapa Essiedu is every bit the student prince: precocious, supercilious and impulsive. It's a novel interpretation  one that makes Hamlet an unruly, firecracker presence  but in emphasising the part's immaturity, Essiedu gives up its nobility and, with that, its tragedy.

Simon Godwin has built his production around his star  both his youth and his Ghanaian heritage. First seen in cap and gown, graduating from an Ivy League-style Wittenberg, Essiedu's prince returns home to an African nation Denmark with his head full of ideas, absolutely convinced of his own exceptional brilliance. Students, eh?

Essiedu gives us Hamlet as God's gift: to his own mind, the rightful heir to Picasso, Camus and Homer  and far, far superior to Clarence Smith's Claudius. He delivers Hamlet's musings as if sermonising on Mount Sinai, and speaks like a performance poet, conducting thoughts with his hands. At one point, he closes his eyes to savour the sound of his own voice. You can see how this cocksure kid might take on the crown, but you can't admire him for it. His rebellion looks like teenage petulance  graffiti scrawled on the royal portrait. He buries himself in an artist's studio, splashing vast Basquiat-like cavases  and himself  with colour, and painting skeletal, serpent kings. (What's the old Spike Milligan joke? 2b or not 2b.)

Godwin stresses Hamlet as homecoming. His African setting is initially unclear, but (after scouring the programme notes) it seems influenced by imported ideas. It's not one thing, but many  a composite nation. Hamlet returns with fresh thinking, but he comes back to a country marked by colonialism, from Claudius's military uniform  gold aiguillette off the shoulder  to the Christian burial given to Natalie Simpson's Ophelia. If Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (James Cooney and Bethan Cullinane) arrive like gap-year tourists, hoping for a taste of authentic Africa, they find themselves disappointed.

Here, Old Hamlet represents the real Africa. Ewart James Walters, who doubles as the gravedigger, a man in touch with the land, appears wrapped for burial in traditional tribal robes. He's a cacophony of colour  and Essiedu's paint-flecked Hamlet, looking like he's just finished a Colour Run, makes a claim to that authenticity, albeit filtered through textbooks, not lived experience.

Outside influences are an interesting pattern in the play  Laertes (Marcus Griffiths) also returns a new man, and Fortinbras invades at the end  but they are not its main thrust. Perhaps that's why this feels so uninvolving  all the tension, Hamlet as thriller, goes slack, despite guns and helicopter drops. Essiedu's artist seems in no rush for revenge; an ideas, not an action-man. Next to soldiers, he looks like a spindle. When he says he's been training, you wonder what in  Alexander Technique? You're never rooting for him, nor worried what he might do. The final carnage  a Nguni stick fight  comes from nowhere.

That hinders the narrative, even if it draws out interesting performances. Smith is cool-headed Claudius, a concerned stepfather, and Cyril Nri's chuckling Polonius is a fusspot at work, but a father at home  his mistake is to put politics first. Simpson's Ophelia, not sent abroad, unravels sharply, unlike Hiran Abeysekera's slight, sprightly Horatio. What these fine performances can't do, however, is cohere.

Hamlet runs at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until 13th August.
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WINNIPEG  Manitoba Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari says media outlets are not covering some stories about the NDP government because they rely on government advertising.

Bokhari was asked Wednesday to provide specific examples and did not. She said she shares a widely held belief that media coverage is shaped in part by the power of government ad revenues.

I dont see it as a negative thing. I think its common knowledge that people believe that thats the way the system works, said Bokhari, who added that it wasnt a matter of ethics among reporters.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari is shown in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

This isnt about integrity  the question is about an opinion that, like any business, ad dollars matter and thats the end of it.

Bokhari was pressed after a recording of her surfaced online. The audio dates from a December meeting between the Liberal leader and a man who came to her for help getting mental-health services.

The man complained that reporters were not interested in his story. Bokhari responded with comments about the media and politicians.

Media is not going to touch it because media survives off government ads, Bokhari is heard to say in the recording.

Thats the only way mainstream media is surviving right now, so they dont touch it.

Bokhari is heard to tell the man that political parties wont touch his story either because theres a frickin election four months from now.

Bokhari said Wednesday she was not aware she was being recorded, but stands by her comments.

The president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, said Bokhari should provide evidence to back up her remarks.

All you have to do is open any newspaper on any given day in any city, town, village in Canada, and you will find that many reporters are critical of the government that they cover  because thats their job.

Bob Cox, publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press, said Manitobas NDP government has been under fire due to many stories that were broken by mainstream media. He also said the scenario described by Bokhari does not exist.

No government person has ever once tried to influence the Winnipeg Free Press because of advertising being placed in the newspaper.

Premier Greg Selinger, campaigning in northern Manitoba, issued a one-line written statement Wednesday.

Ive always felt that the media in our province were tough but fair in their coverage of our work as politicians.

The Liberals have one of 57 legislature seats, but opinion polls suggest their popularity has jumped in advance of the April 19 election. Bokhari, a former lawyer, has never held elected office and is running for a legislature seat in the Fort Rouge constituency in Winnipeg against New Democrat Wab Kinew and Progressive Conservative Audrey Gordon.
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OTTAWA  The Liberal government says Canada is not at war with Islamic militants  a view not shared by ally France.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion rejected the at war label just one day after the bombings in Brussels that killed more than 30 people and injured 270.

After the attacks, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls used the term Tuesday following a crisis meeting called by French President Francois Hollande.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau answers a question as he is joined by Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan, left to right, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie Marie-Claude Bibeau and Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Dion during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. The Liberal government says Canada is not at war with Islamic militants ??? a view not shared by ally France.Prime Minister Trudeau and Dion are rejecting the "at war" label just one day after the bombings in Brussels that killed more than 30 people and injured 270.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

We are at war, said Valls. We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war. Added Hollande: This war will be long.

The bombings in Brussels came four months after the attacks in Paris that left 130 dead.

The militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has claimed responsibility for both incidents.

Trudeau, who made his comments during a CBC Radio interview, and Dion  speaking Wednesday in the House of Commons foyer  both said the conflict with ISIL does not fit the true definition of war.

A war is something that can be won by one side or the other and there is no path for ISIL to actually win against the West, Trudeau said.

They want to destabilize, they want to strike fear. They need to be stamped out.

Dion suggested the notion of labelling the fight against extremists as an actual war might simply be outdated.

If you use the terminology war, in international law it will mean two armies with respecting rules and its not the case at all, Dion said.

You have terrorist groups that respect nothing. So we prefer to say that its a fight.

A fight, Dion added, that the West is determined to win. Each of the attacks will only strengthen our resolve.

Last month, Canada withdrew its fighter jets from the American-led coalition that is bombing ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

But it tripled the number of Canadian special forces trainers in northern Iraq, buttressed intelligence gathering assets and also increased federal spending on efforts to help displaced civilians.

Thats why our new mission, which is much more focused on empowering locals on the ground on a military level, on a humanitarian level, on a refugee level, is going to be an extraordinarily strong piece of the coalitions fight against ISIL, Trudeau said.
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Families with kids

If you have a child under the age of 18, and a household income under $150,000 you should start receiving a bigger monthly cheque under the new Canada Child Benefit. The program melds together the Universal Child Care Benefit, the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the National Child Benefit supplement, and will provide up to $6,400 a year for a child under six and $5,400 a year for children between six and 17. The benefit is tax-free and income tested. The Liberals say 90 per cent of families in Canada will receive more each month than they used to under the new program. The net cost to the government will be about $2.5 billion in 2016-17 and $3 billion in 2017-18. The new benefit will start rolling in July.

CP Copies of the federal budget are pictured on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Unemployed workers

Led by Manitoba MP and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour MaryAnn Mihychuk, the government is reversing several changes made to EI by the previous government, including eliminating the higher threshold for hours worked to qualify for EI for new and returning workers. If you live in northern Manitoba and are out of work you will also qualify for a special extension of EI benefits of up to five more weeks because the region is one of 12 where the unemployment rate went up significantly in the last year and has shown no signs of recovery.

Students

Canada Student Grants will be increased by 50 per cent for low- and middle-income students as well as part-time students. It means a student from a low-income family can get an annual grant of $3,000, and middle-income students can get an annual grant of $1,200 a year. As well, the government will make the process of qualifying for loans simpler and increase the minimum earnings graduates must have  from $21,210 to $25,000  before they are required to begin repaying student loans.

CP

National museums

National museums, including the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, will share $106 million over the next five years for operations and capital investments, starting with $34 million in 2016-17 and $18 million in each of the next four years. The six national museums all face cost pressures from rising costs for heating and cooling, and property taxes. The CMHR has to renegotiate its annual operations pool this year, and it will have to take into account its city property tax payments which are in the midst of being decided by a national dispute panel.

TREVOR HAGAN/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Indigenous kids

With $635 million set aside for child welfare programs on reserves and $3.5 billion for on-reserve education programs and school infrastructure, First Nations children are a big part of this budget. Critics are annoyed most of the money wont be spent for several years, but with $8.4 billion in total investments for First Nations over the next five years, this is the single biggest pledge of cash to Indigenous communities since the 2005 Kelowna Accord which never came to fruition.
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OTTAWA  Massive new spending for indigenous peoples on reserves and new infrastructure programs with a deficit nearly three times the size promised during the election highlight the first federal budget under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The budget, unveiled in Ottawa Tuesday, will increase program spending more than $20 billion in 2016-17 and run a deficit of $29.4 billion, as it invests in everything from clean drinking water on reserves to public transit, student grants and families with kids.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau called the plan reasonable and affordable as he delivered his maiden budget speech in the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon.

Justin Tang / The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, poses with Minister of Finance Bill Morneau as he arrives to table the budget on Parliament Hill, Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Ottawa.

Today we begin to restore hope for the middle class. Today we begin to revitalize the economy, Morneau said.

As expected, the budget far exceeds the $10 billion deficit Trudeau said he would run during the election campaign last fall, and he does not expect it to be balanced before the next election. In fact, the budget predicts the government will still run a $14.4 billion deficit a year after the next federal campaign. Over five years the government intends to add $113 billion to the national debt. While the debt-to-GDP ratio will initially rise, the budget does intend to live up to the governments promise to lower that ratio by the end of its mandate despite deficit budgets.

Canadas debt-to-GDP ratio is currently the lowest among G7 nations.

In a press conference with reporters during the budget lock-up in Ottawa, Morneau said the government is making the kind of investments it promised in families and infrastructure, which will set the country on the right path for economic growth that will get the budget back into the black.

It will take a few years, but we will get there, he said.

However, neither Morneau nor the budget documents predicted when that might happen.

The budget also takes a cautious approach to expected economic growth, leaving the door open for the Liberals to see a deficit lower than currently predicted if their doom-and-gloom economic scenario doesnt become reality. While private sector economists predict an average GDP growth of 1.4 per cent in 2016 and an average price of oil at $40 a barrel, the budget assumes growth of just one per cent and oil at $25 a barrel this year.

Those assumptions reduce government revenues by $6 billion a year for the next four years.

ADRYIAN WYLE / THE CANADIAN PRESS Finance Minister Bill Morneau tables the federal budget in the House of Commons in Ottawa this afternoon.

Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Bergen said this budget is a betrayal by the Liberals of what they promised voters last fall.

Its a very disappointing budget. All this spending and theres not even going to be any growth, she said.Bergen pointed to the forecasted growth in GDP over the next several years which runs between 2.2 per cent in 2016 and 2.0 per cent in 2019.

Manitoba NDP MP Niki Ashton said the government missed an opportunity to close the inequality gap. Its not clear if the government is going to make good on promised infrastructure projects for Manitoba, such as helping fund the East Side Road or paying for a share of Freedom Road to connect Shoal Lake 40 First Nation to the Trans Canada Highway.

Both were promised during the election by Trudeau and neither were mentioned in the budget.

The biggest investments in the budget go to indigenous people, with $8.4 billion over five years, and $11.9 billion over five years for the first of a two-phase infrastructure program. Indigenous programs will include investments in education, child and family services, water and waste-water and housing.

Infrastructure spending over the next five years will include $3.9 billion for public transit systems, $5 billion for water, waste-water and green projects and $3.4 billion for affordable housing, child care and recreational infrastructure.

The budget also makes good on the promise to introduce a new tax-free, income-tested Canada Child Benefit, which will add about $3 billion to the annual budget when fully implemented. Improvements to employment insurance will make it easier to qualify for benefits and offers longer benefits to people where the unemployment rate has grown faster than the rest of the country, including in northern Manitoba and most of Alberta.

Sprinkled throughout the budget are possible signs of good things to come for Manitoba down the road. In the second phase of the governments infrastructure program, which will begin to roll out in two years, the government hopes to deliver fast, efficient trade corridors that allow Canadian exporters to benefit fully from international trade. This could be a benefit to Winnipegs Centreport, and the long-time Manitoba effort to be part of a mid-continental trade corridor between Churchill and Mexico.

Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, right, is accompanied by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he makes his way to deliver the federal budget in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 22, 2016.

There is also $2.5 million over the next two years for Natural Resources Canada to work with the provinces to identify the best regional electricity infrastructure projects that will cut greenhouse gases. Manitoba has long dreamed of establishing a national energy grid so it can sell its hydroelectricity east and west rather than mostly to the United States. This work will begin the process of figuring out how to best start constructing that grid, and builds on discussions at the most recent meeting between Trudeau and the countrys premiers.

Other Manitoba goodies in the budget include $82 million for public transit, new funding for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and $248 million to build channels between Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin for long-term water-level control and flood protection for the communities in the area.

Manitobas Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team, based in Brandon, will also share $15.5 million over the next five years with three other teams in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. The money restores some federal funding cut by the previous government four years ago.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
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The body of a missing Kenora girl who went missing three weeks ago was found in a lake Tuesday.

Just after 8 a.m., city employees found human remains belonging to Delaine Copenace, 16, just off shore in Lake of the Woods, near the end of Water Street in downtown Kenora, Ontario Provincial Police confirmed.

A statement from Delaines family, posted on a Facebook page set up to help find the missing teen, asks for privacy as they cope with the loss.

TOM THOMSON / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ontario Provincial Police at scene where the remains of Delaine Copenace were found near Water Street in Kenora.

The family of Delaine Copenace would like to thank everyone for the continuous support and prayers. At this time, Delaines loved ones are asking that their privacy be respected as they take some time together to come to terms with the devastating loss of their daughter, sister and granddaughter and friend, the statement reads.

The investigation is in its early stages, and Delaines family has been notified, police said. An OPP spokeswoman told the Free Press police expected to have more information after a post-mortem examination is complete.

Delaine was last seen in downtown Kenora Feb. 27 after leaving her home with friends. Described as a shy teen who loved being at home, Delaines disappearance triggered an extensive ground search by OPP along with searches by friends and family in both Kenora and Winnipeg with the help of the Bear Clan Safety Patrol.

Within hours of the OPP announcing the discovery Tuesday, media reports expressing condolences to Delaines family were circulating on social media.

One close family member in Winnipeg was also said to be on her way to Kenora. Relatives in Winnipeg hosted a vigil for Delaine less than a week ago with the Bear Clan at the North End Bell Tower.
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THE return of the Palomino Club is creating a domino effect downtown.

The iconic country bar, a favourite stop of NHL and CFL players and celebrities from its opening in 1988 on Portage Avenue to its closing a couple of months ago, is set to be reborn downtown in Whiskey Dix at 436 Main St.

Christian Stringer, a long-time employee and manager at The Pal, has bought the right to use the Palomino brand from Cary Paul, who founded the bar. Stringer will take occupancy of Whiskey Dix during the second week of April after it shuts down, with plans to reopen the Pal the following month before the May Long Weekend.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Mexican supper club called La Roca will be opening in the old Gios space on Smith Street.

Wade Salchert, the long-time operator of Whiskey Dix, has already taken possession of the old Gios bar at 155 Smith Street, gutted the place and is preparing to christen La Roca, a Mexican supper club on May 5.

The capital improvements include the addition of 1,000 square feet to the building plus a 2,500-square-foot, two-level outdoor patio.

The concept came from travelling extensively to Arizona and Mexico and seeing other (similar) establishments, plus my love of Mexican culture and food and the hospitality industry, Salchert said, noting capacity will be 210 people inside and another 180 on the patio.

In addition to Mexican cuisine, La Roca will feature acoustic Spanish guitar and bachata music until 9 p.m. and then it will switch over to more of a Miami club scene with a Latin pop component until closing.

Stringer is confident that long-time fans of the Pal wont notice much of a difference with the new address and noted the neon horse sign that adorned the outside of the old building will soon be erected and many of the signs and other fixtures have also been purchased.

(The Palomino is) an important name to me. I spent 27 years developing it  Cary Paul

But if the Palomino has as much cross-country cache as some people believe, it may live on beyond Manitoba. Once the Main Street location is up and running  Paul will remain as an advisor for a couple of months  hell be setting his sights outside the provinces borders.

The Palomino is a well-known name. My whole purpose of trademarking it was to see if there are any other parties, investors or operators elsewhere in Canada that could run a Palomino Club in other cities, he said.

Its an important name to me. I spent 27 years developing it.

The old Palomino location will be levelled within the next few weeks after which a condominium project will be built on the land. Construction of a four-storey, 60-unit building, which will be called the Icon, is scheduled to begin at the beginning of May and wrap up next spring.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
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OTTAWA  An $8.4-billion injection of cash for everything from cleaner water to housing and education on reserves is one of the single biggest aspects of the new federal budget, but critics say the money is being spent too slowly.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the investment in indigenous programs is one of the things Im most proud of in this budget.

Its significantly more than the Kelowna Accord, Morneau said, referring to the $5-billion agreement reached in 2005 between First Nations and the Chretien Liberal government that was shelved when the Conservatives took power in 2006.

John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press MKO Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson.

As promised, the budget lifts the two per cent cap on annual spending increases for programs in Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). The budget document notes in five years, spending on indigenous programs will be 22 per cent higher than it would have been if the cap remained in place.

There is also an increase in funding for aboriginal organizations such as the Assembly of First Nations and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which saw their funding cut drastically by the previous government. Morneau said the money is to ensure First Nations have the resources needed to negotiate with Ottawa fairly.

The broad strokes of the new spending over the next five years include $635 million for on-reserve child-welfare programs, $2.6 billion for on-reserve education programs and another $1 billion to build and renovate schools on reserves, and more than $2 billion to end boil-water advisories on reserves and invest in proper monitoring and testing of drinking water.

Also, $554 million is pegged for the next two years for First Nations housing, including $416.6 million to address the immediate needs of housing on reserves, and $138 million for a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation program to renovate existing housing stock. That is but a pittance of what is likely needed, as a recent internal report estimated $2 billion would be needed to address dilapidated housing in Manitoba alone.

Its true that $8.4 billion wont fix everything but its a start, said First Nation grand chiefs from Manitoba.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs leader Derek Nepinak said the budget document echoed the same keen need for child welfare reform called for by Manitobas indigenous people, away from removing children and resetting the focus to restoring families.

Its an indication to us, as indigenous people, that the Liberal government is looking at necessary investments for First Nations people, particularly with children, in education and but also children in CFS care. Particularly the reforms we need in Manitoba to get out of this apprehension model were living with, Nepinak said.

Im content were on the right track now.

Sheila North Wilson, grand chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, said the provinces northern communities will be parsing the budget carefully in the coming days, too, but she also expressed similar hopes.

Its the first investment in First Nations in a decade, she said.

Its a good first start to what our communities and our people need across this country. It doesnt meet the needs but its a good first start, North Wilson said.

Cindy Blackstock, head of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, said it is a lot of money but too much of it wont be spent for three, four or even five years.

You want to be grateful there is some relief but when it still results in discrimination for kids its not a comforting budget, she said.

A recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling said Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada has been discriminating against kids on reserves for years by chronically underfunding child-welfare programs. Blackstock said an immediate injection of $109 million for Child and Family Services was needed this year, with at least three per cent growth in each subsequent year.

JOE BRYKSA / FREE PRESS FILES Residents of a home on Wasagamack First Nation with no running water us a slop pail.

Instead there will be $71 million in new money spent in 2016-17 and $99 million in 2017-18. Department spokespeople confirmed those amounts also include increased costs of foster care, which go up at least 10 per cent a year. Blackstock said that will leave even less for the prevention and family-assistance programs sorely lacking on reserves.

Manitoba First Nations child welfare agencies not only have less money compared to off-reserve provincial child welfare agencies, they also work under tighter restraints with the money they have.

At a system level, are they looking at ways to improve how the system works? said Richard De La Ronde, the executive director of the Sandy Bay First Nations CFS, which oversees care of about 400 children in southern Manitoba.

Funding isnt the necessarily the whole issue. A lot of it has to do with what we could do with the money we were getting, the way we do child welfare, De La Ronde said.

You have social workers who are case managers, and theyre after hours on call workers and abuse workers. You have three jobs one person is doing on reserve, the Manitoba indigenous child welfare official said.

Blackstock said disparities in how child welfare works on First Nations, and the funding discrepancies, are the biggest problems with the current system.

It perpetuates the discrimination First Nations children experience, she said.

Only about one-quarter of the money earmarked for education and child welfare will be spent in the first two years, and one-third of that is earmarked for clean water.

There is no mention in the budget of funding for the Freedom Road link to Shoal Lake 40 First Nation to the TransCanada Highway near the Manitoba/Ontario border. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to come up with the funds for Ottawas share of the road during the election, and the government has reiterated that pledge since.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 22/03/2016 (2405 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Greg Selinger praised the Trudeau governments first budget, calling it good for the country.

Speaking to reporters at the legislature, Selinger said he was pleased to see increased support for indigenous communities, a pledge to boost Manitoba flood protection and funding for jobs training.

We think the overall budget is good for the country right now because of the slowing economy, Selinger said. There is significant hurt in different regions. For Manitoba, we think its a positive budget. We have to see how its going to break out in terms of the specific numbers over the next year and two years, but overall wed say its a positive step forward.

Selinger said it appears there are increases in funding for First Nations housing and education, although the province will have to study the numbers more closely to see how soon the money will flow since the commitments are made over several years.

He said he is pleased to see a federal commitment to fund an outlet channel that will help reduce flooding around Lake St. Martin. And he chastised provincial Liberals for saying the channel could wait until the provinces books were balanced.

Selinger said hes also happy with a federal commitment of $82 million to support public transit in Manitoba.

The mayor has made a big commitment to rapid transit. Weve been very supportive of that. It will take pressure off our roads and will also allow us to build a modern transportation system in Manitoba. It should have positive impacts on the environment, as well.

A pass from Pallister

Brian Pallister has often criticized the Selinger government for running deficits, but the Progressive Conservative leader gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a pass because the feds are in radically different circumstances. He said he will wait to see the results before he passes judgment.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari: nothing but high praise

There is a big difference. Justin Trudeau inherited a balanced budget. Mr. Selinger has never balanced the budget, big difference, he (Selinger) has doubled our debt in the past six years, Pallister said. I think Canadians will have the opportunity to judge Trudeaus decision over the next several years.

Pallister applauded the federal governments investments for First Nations education, transit and infrastructure spending that he believes will benefit Manitoba.

As for the feds flood-protection commitment, he welcomed the investment and said to stay tuned for an announcement today by his party on how they would prioritize flood protection.

Bokhari stands with federal counterparts

Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari was effusive in her praise of the budget, uttering not so much of a syllable of dissent or disappointment, while repeatedly declaring how closely Trudeau and she are aligned.

This is historically one of the most Manitoba-focused budgets weve seen in a very long time, Bokhari said. I was happy to see the commitment to indigenous people, she said. I wanted to see a true commitment to First Nations, and Ive seen it.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Greg Selinger: overall budget good for the country

Bokhari said the federal Liberals and provincial Liberals are very aligned. Liberals are Liberals and share the same values, she said. Dollars for innovation, technology, and family tax benefits are very much aligned with our values.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS PC Leader Brian Pallister.
Fountain City Police Chief Jason Mork has resigned to accept a new position as director of campus safety at Saint Marys University.

Morks last day of employment is April 5.

Working with the Fountain City community has been an incredible challenge and adventure, Mork wrote in his letter of resignation to the mayor and city council.

Mork said he intends to stay living in Fountain City and would like to continue doing some part-time work as a police officer.

He said the campus at Saint Marys was clean and safe, and a positive learning environment with great people.

Mork was employed as officer-in-charge and police chief for eight years in Fountain City, his goal to provide efficient, effective and consistent policing.

Using foot patrols, preparedness and technology, Mork said the citys police department became a respected and integral part of the community and county law enforcement.

Mork coaches a cooperative Winona/Cotter boys and girls cross-country ski program that uses trail facilities at Saint Marys. The program has more than 50 skiers in grades 7-12.

Mork is also closing out his first and only term as a Buffalo County Board supervisor. He did not file for another re-election; the election is April 5.
WASHINGTON  Four liberal justices on a short-handed Supreme Court seemed sympathetic Tuesday to arguments that Puerto Rico officials should be allowed to restructure the debt of the islands financially struggling public utilities.

Some of those justices expressed early doubts about Puerto Ricos position as arguments in the case began. But by the end of the one-hour session, they appeared open to the idea that federal bankruptcy law does not prevent the island from passing its own measure offering debt relief to local municipalities.

The issue has roiled the island, which is going through the most severe economic crisis in its history. It is mired in a decade-long recession and its governor announced last year that it cannot pay $72 billion in public debt.

The case was argued before only seven justices, and the courts four liberals could control the outcome. Justice Antonin Scalia died in February and Justice Samuel Alito recused himself. Alito owns shares in a tax-free fund that invests in Puerto Rican bonds and is involved in the case.

At issue is how the court should interpret a 1984 amendment to the nations federal bankruptcy laws. While states are allowed to let their cities and utilities seek bankruptcy relief, federal law specifically excludes Puerto Rico, a territory, from doing so.

So Puerto Rico lawmakers passed their own law in 2014 to help cash-strapped utilities meet obligations to bondholders and creditors. But a federal district court agreed with creditors in ruling that the local measure is not allowed under federal bankruptcy law. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

At the start of the argument, Justice Stephen Breyer seemed convinced that bankruptcy law does not give Puerto Rico the same power as states.

I cant say that an airplane means a horse, Breyer told Puerto Ricos lawyer Christopher Landau.

And Justice Elena Kagan said if Congress really meant to give Puerto Rico free rein to restructure debt by passing its own law, the 1984 amendment was a cryptic, odd way to make such a major change.

Landau said it was nonsensical to think that Congress would put Puerto Rico in a position where its barred from restructuring its debts under federal law, yet unable to reorganize under local law.

It is facing a crisis in providing essential services to its citizens, Landau said.

But by the time Matthew McGill, lawyer for the creditors, took the podium, Kagan said she now wondered whether Puerto Ricos interpretation of the law wasnt just as persuasive.

I didnt come here thinking that, she said.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the daughter of Puerto Rico-born parents, seemed to be the islands biggest supporter on the bench. She repeatedly interrupted McGill to challenge his view of the law. She asked McGill why Congress would intend to prevent Puerto Rico from passing emergency legislation that said, Dont shut off the lights tonight.

Among the three conservatives, only Chief Justice John Roberts asked questions. He suggested it was not irrational for Congress to have one system for states, but require Puerto Rico to seek legislative relief.

A Supreme Court ruling that favors Puerto Rico would allow officials to put agencies including the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and Puerto Rico Highways & Transportation Authority into bankruptcy. That would help the island restructure about $20 billion in debt. It could also give the island more negotiating power as it deals with creditors.

Puerto Rican officials and the Obama administration have spent months trying to persuade Congress to enact legislation that would let Puerto Rico seek bankruptcy protection under a framework reserved for U.S. territories.

So far, Republicans in Congress have objected to allowing the territory to restructure its debt, saying they first want to address the root causes of the crisis and see more data on the islands finances. Democrats say giving the island bankruptcy protection wont cost U.S. taxpayers and is the right thing to do.
Merlyn Sloniker

Merlyn J. Sloniker, 60, of Madison, passed away on Saturday, March 19, 2016, in St. Marys Hospital in Madison.

He was born on July 9, 1955, in Reedsburg, the son of Joseph and Laura (Rabuck) Sloniker. He was employed as a civil engineer for Varco Pruden in Evansville for five years; Wick for 25 plus years and Hartje Lumber for over three years. He was a member of Mad City Gobblers; Leadership Team for National Wild Turkey Federation where he was instrumental in raising funds for buying over 26,000 pounds of turkey for food pantrys in Dane County. He was also associate member with ASCE-American Society of Civil Engineers. Merlyn enjoyed deer hunting; an avid turkey hunter and fishing with his brother, John.

He is survived by his brother, John (Pat) Sloniker of Reedsburg; niece, Leslie Sloniker of Reedsburg; great-nieces, Lauren, Kylie and Taylor of Reedsburg; special family friend, Steve Kinzel of Middleton; aunts and uncles, Herb and Fern Rabuck of Ironton, Ruby McQueen of Reedsburg, Annabelle and Jesse Cox of Janesville, Marlene Sloniker of LaValle and Evelyn Sloniker of Beloit; and numerous cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

The family is very thankful to the St. Marys doctors and hospital staff for the respect and dignity shown to Merlyn and his family.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2016, at the Valton Friends Church, S1939 Landsinger, Valton. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. on Friday at the Farber Funeral Home, 2000 Viking Drive, Reedsburg, and again on Saturday from 10 a.m. until the time of service at the church. Burial will follow in the Valton Cemetery.
USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers

The USDA announced a program to provide $1.3B in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure.
One Day Leaders at Wits

Two Wits students, Zareef Minty and Thamsanqa Pooe, are contestants in the fourth season of One Day Leader.

The University of the Witwatersrand has always been an incubator for world-class leaders, producing leaders who are continuously thriving to make a significant difference in their respective fields.

The calibre of students that Wits produces is evident in the number of world leaders that the University produces.

Two Wits students, Zareef Minty and Thamsanqa Pooe are honing and showcasing their leadership skills by tackling social, economic and political issues affecting South Africa, as contestants in the fourth season of One Day Leader, a television reality series that looks at youth leadership and the role they play in the development of the country.

Since its first season in 2011, seven Witsies have been contestants on the show. The first season of the show was won by Lesley Masibi from the Science Faculty; season three was won by Prince Octavia Shabangu from the School of Accountancy. In season two, Wits had the highest number of contestants and was represented by the former SRC President Morris Masutha and law students Seadimo Tlale and Anele Nzimande .

The show challenges young people from around the country to put their leadership skills and abilities to the test and garner the support of the nation on their journey as future leaders.

Minty is a final year LLB student and author of motivational book Empire. In 2014, he was recognised by Mail and Guardian as one of the Top 200 Young South Africans under the age of 35.

With ambitions to be the Minister of Education in the future, Minty is currently building a school in Limpopo under the Zareef Minty Build a School Foundation and plans to build three more schools in Limpopo by the end of 2017.

I envision a country where we create a more equal education for all citizens through the development of educational institutions in rural/semi-urban areas, says Minty.

Pooe, like season two contestant Seadimo, is an Allan Gray Orbis Candidate Fellow, currently studying towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and International Relations. He is also a member of the 2015/2016 SRC, holding the Social and Community Development portfolio.

The two students will put their leadership skills to test through a series of debates and implementation of practical projects addressing issues facing the country over a period of 13 weeks. A big part requires each member to galvanise public support for their vison.

At the end of each debate, a panel of judges will interrogate their visions and viewers will vote for their chosen leader. To vote for Pooe SMS "Leader 3" and for Minty SMS "Leader 1" to 33121.

You can catch Minty and Pooe, every Monday from 16:30 to 17:30 on SABC 1.
Tack Faculty Lecture Series Celebrating William & Marys intellectual life.

The Tack Faculty Lecture Series is a newer W&M tradition that enables the university and local communities to come together to celebrate both faculty excellence and the intellectual liveliness of the university. Through this series, a William & Mary professor addresses the community on a topic of general interest at least once a semester.

This series gives everyone the opportunity to take part in the William & Mary experience. It showcases some of our most engaging professors and is an opportunity for all members of the Tribe and beyond to take part in our relentless pursuit of knowledge.




China News on Women





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Nuclear growth revealed in China's new Five-Year Plan

23 March 2016

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China's operating nuclear generating capacity will double over the next five years under the country's latest Five-Year Plan. The plan also calls for the preparation for construction of inland nuclear power plants and work on a reprocessing plant to start by 2020.

The ruling Communist Party of China's National People's Congress endorsed the draft of 13th Five-Year Plan at its annual session earlier this month. The plan will be officially implemented in the next few months. A summary of the plan lists several targets in the field of nuclear energy.

Firstly, China will complete construction of the four AP1000 units currently under construction at Sanmen in Zhejiang province and at Haiyang in Shandong province. Sanmen unit 1 is expected to be the first AP1000 to begin operating, in September, while Haiyang 1 is expected to start up by the end of the year. Containment tests have already been successfully conducted at both units. All four Chinese AP1000s are scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2017.

The plan also calls for construction of demonstration Hualong One projects at China National Nuclear Corporation's Fuqing plant in Fujian province and China General Nuclear's Fangchenggang plant in Guangxi to be completed by 2020. First concrete for Fuqing 5 was poured last May, while construction on unit 6 began in December. Fuqing 5 and 6 are scheduled to be completed in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Construction of Fangchenggang 3 also began in December, while construction of unit 4 is scheduled to begin later this year. Those two units are also expected to start up in completed in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The start of construction of a demonstration CAP1400 plant in Shidaowan, Shandong province, is also set to begin under the 13th Five-Year Plan. The CAP1400 is an enlarged version of the AP1000 pressurized water reactor developed from the Westinghouse original by State Nuclear Power technology Corporation with consulting input from the Toshiba-owned company. As one of China's 16 strategic projects under its National Science and Technology Development Plan, the CAP1400 is intended to be deployed in large numbers across the country. The reactor design may also be exported.

Site preparation is already underway for two demonstration CAP1400 units at Huaneng Group's Shidaowan site. The pouring of first concrete is expected to take place soon.

The latest Five-Year Plan also calls for construction of Phase III of the Tianwan plant in Jiangsu province to be accelerated. The State Council gave its approval for Tianwan units 5 and 6 - featuring 1080 MWe ACPR1000 reactors - in December. Tianwan units 1 to 4 are Russian-supplied VVER reactors.

Construction of Tianwan 5 and 6 was originally scheduled to start in early 2011. However, following the March 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, the Chinese government suspended the approval of new nuclear power projects. The Tianwan Phase III units were amongst those suspended.

In October 2012, premier Wen Jiabao announced that China would "steadily return to normal construction" of new nuclear power plants, based on a "steady advance in an orderly manner". The construction of previously approved projects began shortly afterwards.

Officially covering the period 2011-15, China's 12th Five Year Plan called for a "small number" of nuclear projects to be approved each year after full discussion. With only coastal plants being approved, significant rescheduling was made for inland projects at Taohuajiang, Xianning and Pengze, which had previously been expected to start construction before 2015.

The new plan also calls for the start of construction of a new coastal power plant, the location of which is not disclosed. It also says that preparatory work for inland plants will also be carried out.

Under the latest Five-Year Plan, China should have some 58 GWe of nuclear generating capacity in operation by 2020, up from the current capacity of almost 27 GWe. In addition, a further 30 GWe of nuclear capacity will be under construction by 2020.

The 13th Five Year Plan also calls for the construction of a demonstration as well as a large commercial scale reprocessing plant to be accelerated.

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and France's Areva signed an agreement in November 2007 to assess the feasibility of setting up an 800 tonne per year reprocessing plant for used fuel in China. This was followed by an industrial agreement for the project in November 2010, while in April 2013 a further agreement was signed setting out the technical specifications for the plant. Then in March 2014 another agreement was signed to continue planning the project and to complete the business case for it. A memorandum of understanding followed, in June 2015, which Areva said "formalizes the end of technical discussions, defines the schedule for commercial negotiations and confirms the willingness of both groups to finalize the negotiations in the shortest possible timeframe."

Last September, CNNC said that it is selecting a site for the facility. Jinta county, north of Jiayuguan in Gansu province, had earlier been touted as a potential site for the complex. It also said construction of the reprocessing facility was expected to start in 2020 and to be completed in 2030.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Regulator approves Ikata 3 safety upgrades

23 March 2016

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Unit 3 of the Ikata nuclear power plant in Japan's Ehime prefecture has moved a step closer to restarting after the country's nuclear regulator approved Shikoku Electric Power Company's 'construction plan' to strengthen the unit.

Shikoku's three-unit Ikata plant (Image: NRA)

The utility originally submitted its construction plan for the unit - an 846 MWe pressurized water reactor - to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on 30 October 2015. However, the NRA identified a number of revisions required during its review of the application. Shikoku presented the NRA with an amended plan earlier this month taking into account the additional requirements.

Shikoku today announced that the NRA had approved its construction plan for Ikata 3. The plan is the second of three applications required during the restart process.

Under Japan's reactor restart process, plant operators are required to apply to the NRA for: permission to make changes to the reactor installation; approval of its construction plan to strengthen the plant; and, final safety inspections to ensure the unit meets new safety requirements. Operators are required to add certain safety-enhancing equipment within five years of receiving the NRA's approval of a reactor engineering work program.

Shikoku submitted its engineering work program for Ikata 3 - an 846 MWe pressurized water reactor - to the NRA in July 2013. This was approved by the NRA in July last year. That approval - which means the NRA considers the reactor, and the plant as a whole, to be safe for operation - represented by far the major part of the licensing process.

In January, Shikoku applied to the Japanese regulator to construct a back-up emergency response building at Ikata 3 as well as to install additional air-cooled emergency gas turbine generators at the unit.

Now that its construction plan for Ikata 3 has been approved, Shikoku can request the NRA carry out final pre-operational safety inspections of the unit, which should clear the way for it to resume commercial operation.

The unit is expected to become the fifth Japanese reactor to resume operation under new safety standards introduced following the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Unit 1 of Kyushu Electric Power Company's Sendai plant in Kagoshima prefecture was the first to be restarted last August, followed by Sendai 2 in October. Unit 3 of Kansai Electric Power Company's Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture resumed operation on 29 January. Takahama 4 was restarted on 26 February, but has remained offline since 29 February following an automatic shutdown of the reactor due to a "main transformer/generator internal failure". However, an injunction imposed by a district court on 9 March has kept both Takahama 3 and 4 offline.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Positive assessment for Swedish encapsulation plant

23 March 2016

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The Swedish nuclear regulator has said it believes the country's radioactive waste management company can meet all the safety and radiation protection requirements for its planned used nuclear fuel encapsulation plant next to the Clab interim storage facility in Oskarshamn.

The Clink facility, comprising the encapsulation plant and Clab interim storage facility (Image: SKB)

Svensk Karnbranslehantering AB (SKB) submitted applications to build the country's first repository for used nuclear fuel, together with a plant to encapsulate the fuel prior to disposal, to Sweden's Radiation Safety Authority (Stralsakerhetsmyndigheten, SSM) in March 2011. The integrated facility - the encapsulation plant and the Clab interim storage facility - is referred to in SKB's application as Clink. SKB has since made both clarifications and additions to the applications. The company has also submitted an application to extend the storage capacity of the Clab facility from the current 8000 tonnes of fuel to 11,000 tonnes.

The applications are being reviewed by the SSM and the Land and Environment Court in Stockholm. The SSM is considering questions of nuclear safety and radiation at the facilities as laid down in the country's Nuclear Activities Act. The review undertaken by the Land and Environment Court is based on the Environment Code.

The SSM has now outlined its preliminary findings from its ongoing review of SKB's application to build and operate the encapsulation plant.

Ansi Gerhardsson, head of radiation safety at SSM, said: "Our assessment is that SKB has the potential to meet the agency's radiation safety for both the construction and operation of the encapsulation plant and to store more used fuel in Clab. If the government gives the facility a licence, SKB will, however, need to take steps to create these conditions and develop a more detailed safety report for the facility."

SSM noted that its review of the Clink facility only covers the plant itself and not the method of encapsulating the used fuel in copper canisters. It said its assessment of the method and the repository's long-term security will be presented when it submits its opinion to the Land and Environment Court in the coming months.

Helene Ahsberg, project manager for licensing at SKB, welcomed the regulator's initial findings, saying: "It is gratifying that the SSM is of the opinion that the Clink project has the potential to meet the agency's requirements. Extensive additions have been made during the permitting process so far and it therefore feels good that the SSM now confirms that we have done it right."

She added, "The licensing process is a gradual process, and now we have got important points to take with us in the future work. Continuous improvement and gradual increase in the level of details is important to us, and is a natural part of the incremental licensing process."

In June 2015, the SSM preliminarily said it believed SKB can meet all the safety and radiation protection requirements for its planned used fuel repository. The Land and Environment Court concluded in December that SKB's application for construction of the used nuclear fuel encapsulation plant and repository was complete and said it would begin its review.

The SSM is scheduled to issue its final opinion on the repository and encapsulation plant in 2017. The final decision to authorize the project will be made by the government, which will base its decision on the assessments of both the SSM and the Land and Environment Court. However, before the government makes a final decision, it will consult with the municipalities of Oskarshamn and Osthammars, which have the power to veto the application.

Once the government has made its decision, the application will again be referred to SSM and the court, which will stipulate the terms and conditions for the facilities.

SKB currently anticipates starting construction of the repository and encapsulation plant sometime in the early 2020s. The facilities are expected to take some ten years to complete.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Father and daughter (illustration)

By: Mahesh Sarin

A father filed for a restraining order against his daughter because she did not approve of his new girlfriend, according to court documents in Zimbabwe.

70-year-old Michael Khumalo of Bulawayo, told the court that his daughter, 38-year-old Ntombiyosizi Khumalo, is sabotaging the relationship with his girlfriend because she does not want him to marry another woman despite the fact that her mother died a few years ago.

Michael complained that his daughter refuses to cook for him as punishment for sleeping with another woman. He also said that his daughter knocks on his door late at night, in order to disrupt his sex life.

She then chases his girlfriend out of the house so that he remains alone for the rest of the night. Ntombiyosizi denied the allegations, saying that her father was making up the stores in order to kick her out of his home.

The judge granted the restraining order, and told the woman to stay away from her fathers home.
Sad girl (illustration)

By: Tanya Malhotra

Police launched an investigation after receiving a report that two brothers raped their teenage stepsister, police in Ghana said.

The Ghana Police Service said that 32-year-old Amin Alabani and 27-year-old Mashud Alabani, both of Sagnarigu, have been accused of raping their 15-year-old stepsister several times.

The victim told investigators that she went to her brothersa room to watch TV, but fell asleep on the couch. At some point, she woke up to find that her brothers were raping her.

The suspects then warned her not to tell anyone. The girl told her mother, but she did not believe her, saying that she is trying to ruin the reputation of her stepbrothers.

However, on Saturday, Mashud called the girl into his room.

When the girl entered the room, the two brothers threw her onto a bed, and they took turns raping her. The girl screamed, and the mother rushed into the room.

The mother beat up the two brothers, and called the police.
A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took
Hundreds of Boston Public Schools parents, students and teachers packed the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Bolling Municipal Building in Roxbury last Wednesday to protest planned cuts to the 2016-2017 schools budget. Scores of people at the standing-room-only hearing signed up to address BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang and members of the Boston School Committee.

Protests at the public hearing followed a walkout of thousands of BPS middle and high school students earlier this month to protest proposed cuts to city high schools that threatened teaching positions, librarian jobs, extracurricular activities, music, arts and other programs.

After the March 9 student walkout, Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat, backtracked on the high school cuts and said funding for high schools would be restored to current-year levels. But other programs and services are now on the chopping block. The new version of the budget released by Superintendent Chang estimates that about $32 million in savings are needed district-wide to balance the budget.

BPS calculates its annual budget on a weighted student funding model, which allocates funds to students rather than to schools or programs. Students values are based on grade level, educational needs and learning challenges. The district had originally planned to give high schools less money for each student.

The original budget proposed to allocate $11 million to long-term investments, including developing dual language programs and the Excellence for All pilot program to expand access to more challenging course work to fourth graders. Chang now proposes to reallocate $6 million from these long-term investments to high school students.

The districts five public early childhood education and learning centers (EECs/ELCs), which enroll children as young as three years old, are facing cuts of $1.3 million next school year. The superintendents new budget notes that there will be reductions in services and supports offered throughout the day, although he claims that hours at the EECs/ELCs will remain the same.

Parents of young children spoke passionately at the hearing about the early learning centers, addressing their concerns over proposed cuts to Chang and Boston School Committee members. Many were concerned that surround care, which provides before- and after-school care for children, is under threat.

Sahar Abdul-Adls son Imran attends the Haynes EEC. I chose Haynes EEC because it was an EEC close to my home, she said. I did not want my sons first time entering school for him to be lost amongst the older and bigger kids. At five years old he is a bigger kid.

Bostons nationally recognized early learning centers offer before- and after-school care from 7:30 a.m. to 4:35 p.m., for free, although wait lists can be long for these popular programs.

Abdul-Adl said, Haynes is a loving, caring environment, from day one that has not only welcomed my son but my family. Without the after-school surround-care I would not be able to continue my studies in the biotech field. My husband works evenings so he will not be able to pick up my son from school. And next year I will have two children at the Haynes EEC.

She said that she cannot afford private after-school care and does not qualify for vouchers.

These budget cuts leave me stuck between furthering my education so that I can be able to enter the workforce and providing a decent quality of education for my children.

Nicola Hill, a parent from the West Zone ELC, reminded the committee that Mayor Walsh had pledged that childhood education and extended learning time would be one of his offices priorities. The EECs and ELCs have been doing both of these things: education and extended learning, she said. Trained professionals know that reaching children at an early age teaches them to be successful and that is not something that anyone here would dispute.

She added, The president of the Boston Teachers Union commented that extended learning time was an excellent way to increase participation in the underserved subject areas: art, music, drama. I am sure there are many children who would not have access to these enrichment activities were it not for the early learning opportunities provided.

Hill said these valuable programs should be expanded, and not cut: The very schools that are implementing this program successfully right now are the early learning centers that are facing the largest cuts in this very last-minute budget proposal.

Despite Walshs restoration of the cuts to the high school budget, many high school students attended the meeting to express their opposition to the district-wide cutbacks.

Nathaniel Coronado is a freshman at Boston Latin Academy. BLA, formerly Girls Latin School, was founded in 1877 as the first college preparatory high school for girls in the US. Now co-educational, it is part of the BPS system.

Nathaniel told the hearing, I testified at English High School last week and I came back to really emphasize that the current proposed budget cuts are unacceptable. Yes, since Monday the high schools were able to get back some money, but it isnt enough.

He was opposed to efforts to pit one section of students against another, saying, All Boston schools need to be fully funded in order for there to be a functioning learning environment for all of the students. Without the proper funding for the necessary programs and beneficial extracurriculars, my education, my classmates education and the education of all future BPS students are seriously undermined.

Sera Tapia, also a BLA freshman, spoke about money being siphoned off from the public school district to charter schools. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, is a big proponent of charters and the state has consistently fallen short on reimbursements to BPS for charter seats. This past year, state reimbursements covered less than half what was owed, leaving the district with an $18.6 million deficit.

Sera said she had previously attended a charter school, But not all schools are as privileged, especially BPS schools as a whole. So much money is going into charter schools, theyre building more and more, and that is taking away funds from elementary and middle schools to be placed on a solid foundation.

Sera also said that many schools did not have the type of support programs for students like the ones at Boston Latin. The new budget also includes less money to support students with autism and those who are emotionally impaired. With this new budget many students wont have that support, she said, So I ask: Would you take candy away from these kids? So dont take away their education.

Fania Joseph is a sophomore at the Boston Community Leadership Academy, a pilot high school in the BPS system. She said, Several high schools and many more elementary and middle schools are facing tremendous budget cuts. What you have to realize is that 70 percent of BPS schools are not a high school.

She said that the mayors rescinding of the high school cuts did not solve the greater problem. The mayor has not given us new funding, she said. They are just taking money from elementary schools and giving it to high schools; robbing Peter to pay Paul. It just delays the cuts.

As with the public hearings on raising MBTA transit fares, such meetingswhich are required by laware designed to allow city and state residents to let off steam as public officials prepare their austerity agendas.

Closing the meeting, Chang addressed the crowd in patronizing fashion. Im moved by the power of the student voice here in Boston, he said. I really do appreciate the civic engagement of our young people, who will be the future.

The Boston School Committee has every intention of moving forward with the cuts, despite the outcry from parents and students. They will vote on the 2016-2017 budget Wednesday night, and more protests are expected.
Adam Kelly Ward, a severely mentally ill Texas man sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of 44-year-old Michael Walker, was executed Tuesday evening by lethal injection. Ward, 33, was the ninth person executed in the US so far this year and the fifth in Texas alone.

Roughly two hours before the execution, the US Supreme Court rejected Wards appeal. The high court refused to comment on the case, signaling its support for the barbaric practice of murdering the mentally impaired.

Ward was given a lethal dose of pentobarbital at the Walls Unit in Huntsville after 6 p.m. local time, according to the Associated Press. As it took effect, he took a deep breath followed by a smaller one and then stopped moving. He was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m.

Ward had been on death row less than nine years after being convicted and sentenced to death in 2007. During that trial, a psychiatrist testified that Ward suffered from a psychotic disorder which caused him to suffer paranoid delusions such that he believes there might be a conspiracy against him and that people might be after him or trying to harm him, according to court documents.

Evidence of Wards paranoia, delusions and bipolar disorder was presented in his initial trial and subsequent appeals court trials, with a federal district court noting that by age fifteen Ward interpreted neutral things as a threat or personal attack. He was found to have begun exhibiting delusional tendencies as early as the sixth grade, leading the court to declare, Adam Kelly Ward has been afflicted with mental illness his entire life.

The details surrounding Wards murder of Walker clearly indicate that his mental illness of delusions and paranoia prompted him to commit the murder.

Walker was a code enforcement officer who was inspecting Wards property in Commerce, a town 65 miles northeast of Dallas. The Ward family had been cited numerous times for violating housing and zoning codes.

Witnesses said that the two got into an argument when Walker began taking pictures around the perimeter of the Ward property, prompting Ward to spray Walker with a hose he had been using to wash his car. Wards trial lawyer, Dennis Davis, says that Walker then told Ward that he was calling for back up, which Ward interpreted as meaning that the police were coming to kill him.

He had no idea that was the exact wrong thing to say to that person, Davis told AP. After Walker made the phone call, Ward went into his house, returned with a gun and shot Walker nine times.

Ward later testified that he believed Walker was armed, telling AP, Only time any shots were fired on my behalf was when I was matching force with force, when this man had pulled a gun on me and he pointed it at me and was fixing to shoot me, which is self-defense. There was no evidence demonstrating that Walker had a weapon, suggesting that Ward had suffered a psychotic episode.

Davis told AP, When I stepped in front of the jury, I said, Im not going to be so callous and look you in the face and say my client didnt kill this man. He killed him but you have to understand why. These delusions he has caused the situation.

Despite Wards mental illness clearly prompting him to commit the murder, state and federal courts repeatedly rejected his appeals for a life sentence in lieu of the death penalty. Most recently, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Elsa Alcala rejected Wards last petition with the state last Monday.

In issuing her verdict, Alcala said, As is the case with intellectual disability, the preferred course would be for legislatures rather than courts to set standards defining the level at which a mental illness is so severe that it should result in a defendant being categorically exempt from the death penalty.

Any appeals to the state legislature in Texas for reforms to such laws will fall on deaf ears, as the states legislature remains among the most reactionary in the country. At present, there are 249 inmates on death row in Texas. The state has carried out by far the most executions since the death penalty was reinstituted in the US following the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia Supreme Court decision, executing 535 people, or more than a third of the total executions. These have included many individuals convicted of crimes committed as juveniles and the mentally impaired.
The Indonesian government has adopted a confrontational approach to China after an incident last weekend involving a Chinese fishing vessel near Indonesias Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. The more aggressive response from Jakarta takes place as the US is intensifying its campaign against Chinese land reclamation and alleged militarisation of its islets in the disputed waters.

The incident occurred after an Indonesian Maritime and Fisheries Monitoring Task Force vessel seized a Chinese fishing boat, the Kway Fey, and arrested its captain and eight-member crew. Jakarta claims they were trawling inside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surrounding the Natuna Islands. The Indonesian press reported that a Chinese coast guard ship chased the Indonesian vessel and apparently freed Kway Fey. Its crew, however, remains in Indonesian custody.

Indonesian Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti claimed that the Chinese coast guard ship came within 4.3 kilometres of one of the Natuna islands and thus within Indonesias territorial waters. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also issued a strong protest to the Chinese Embassy but stressed that the latest incident did not relate to wider disputes in the South China Sea.

After a meeting with Chinese embassy officials on Monday, Pudjiastuti declared that Indonesia has worked hard to maintain peace in the South China Sea, a reference to Jakartas attempts to act as a mediator between China and the other claimantsthe Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. She declared the weekend incident interrupts and sabotages our efforts and threatened to take China to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan issued a similar warning last November.

The Philippines, encouraged and assisted by the Obama administration, already has a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague challenging Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea. Beijing is reluctant to make any formal concession to Indonesia because its claims rest on historical territorial sovereignty and it maintains that the Hague court has no jurisdiction.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China and Indonesia have no rival claims in the South China Sea but insisted that the Chinese fishing vessel was operating in traditional Chinese fishing grounds. She denied that the Chinese coast guard vessel had entered Indonesian territorial waters. The ministry has demanded the return of the Kway Feys crew.

Beijing formally acknowledged Indonesias sovereignty over the Natunas last November but Jakarta has become increasingly frustrated over Beijings refusal to state that Chinas Nine Dash Line, which maps out its South China Sea territorial claims, does not intrude on the EEZ around the Natunas. Jakarta has been seeking clarification of the issue since the 1990s.

As the most populous nation with the largest economy in South East Asia, Indonesia has had significant weight within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) forums. It has not taken sides in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and has resisted US efforts for ASEAN to take a collective stand against China. When the ASEAN summit broke up in 2012 without issuing a joint communique, Indonesia played a mediating role in the rift between China-aligned Cambodia and the Philippines which was pushing for an anti-Chinese statement on the South China Sea.

Jakartas more strident stand recently has been encouraged by Washington, which has directly challenged Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea by sending US navy warships inside the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit of Chinese-administered islets on two occasionslast November and again in January. The US intervention in the South China Sea is just one aspect of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia, which is aimed at subordinating China to US interests by all means, including military.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who came to power in 2014, has taken a more assertive stance on the Natuna Islands in line with his strategy of making Indonesia a Global Maritime Fulcrumreflecting its strategic location astride the main trade routes from the Middle East and Africa to East Asia. Jakarta has begun aggressive patrolling its maritime boundariesresulting in the seizure and destruction of scores of illegal foreign fishing vessels. In one day last month, Indonesian authorities blew up 27 impounded boats.

At the same time, the Widodo administration is courting large-scale infrastructure investment from China, which is also Indonesias principal trading partner. China is already engaged in a major rail project. Like other countries in the region, Indonesia is attempting to balance its economic ties with China against strategic connections to the United States.

Widodo is undoubtedly under the pressure from Washington to more openly join in its anti-China pivot. The Indonesian military has longstanding ties with the Pentagon going back to the Suharto dictatorship and wants to strengthen them. A tough stance against China over the Natuna Islands is a signal to the US that Indonesia is also prepared to join the campaign against so-called Chinese expansionism.

Under the guise of preventing illegal fishing, Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu last year outlined Indonesian plans to boost its military capacities in the South China Sea, including the deployment of jet fighters and three naval corvettes to the Natuna Islands. He said that the military would upgrade naval and air force bases and increase the size of its ground forces in the Natunas from 800 to 2,000 personnel.

The US has responded by expanding military cooperation. On March 11, the US Defence Department approved an Indonesian request to buy advanced AIM 120C-7 air-to-air missiles to arm its F-16 fighter jets. The decision significantly augments the strength of the Indonesian air force which is discussing basing F-16s on the Natunas.
Two attacks on a US firebase in northern Iraq, which killed one US Marine and wounded several more, have led to revelations about a substantial escalation of the US military intervention in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Pentagon has deployed more than 5,000 soldiers in Iraq, some 20 percent more than the current cap of 3,870 troops publicly announced by the Obama White House. The Daily Beast web site gave the total as 5,325.

The revelations of additional US forces came after ISIS attacked a Marine Corps position in Makhmour, about 70 miles south of Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city and the largest urban area controlled by ISIS in either Syria or Iraq.

ISIS mortars slammed into the base, dubbed Firebase Bell, killing Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin and wounding several more Marines. Some of the wounded had to be evacuated out of the country in order to receive proper treatment.

Cardin, 27, from Temecula, California, was on his fifth deployment in a war zone. He had served three tours of duty in Afghanistan and one previous tour in Iraq before he was airlifted into Makhmour last month as part of the deployment of the US Marines 26th Expeditionary Unit from the USS Kearsarge, a troop carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf.

On Monday, a small ISIS unit attacked the base, home to 200 Marines, with small arms fire. They were driven off without casualties. At that point, Pentagon spokesmen acknowledged the existence of Firebase Bell, the first US-only facility to be set up in Iraq since the formal end of the US military occupation of the country in December 2011.

The Marine base sits adjacent to Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga positions in the area where the Iraqi government is assembling forces for a planned offensive against Mosul, expected later this year. The 200 soldiers at Firebase Bell operate 155mm artillery to provide long-range support for Iraqi Army and Kurdish troops and US Special Forces.

The Obama administration has classified the deployment of the Marines and many other soldiers as temporary in order to claim that the number of troops in Iraq is below the current ceiling of 3,870 that it reports to Congress.

Colonel Steve Warren, the top US military spokesman in Baghdad, told the press Monday, People come through on a temporary basis and go above and below the force cap all the time, but we remain under our force cap.

Nancy Youssef, a Daily Beast reporter, noted that Cardins death had revealed a familiar, disturbing pattern in this warone where the US military does not reveal what it is asking of troops until it has to, usually when a service member is killed. Up until Cardins death, the US military said its troops were only on heavily fortified bases; that its forces were not part of any offensive operations; that they were properly secured; and that frontline troops are counted in publicly released tallies of those deployed in Iraq. But Saturdays attack revealed that none of that was accurate.

The purpose of the official secrecy and lying is not military security. ISIS was well aware of the existence of the firebase, which it targeted with mortar shells. In any case, as one official admitted, it is hard to hide 200 heavily armed Marines stationed only 10 miles from enemy lines.

The purpose was to conceal from the Iraqi and American people what the US government and Pentagon are doing in Iraq. President Obama has repeatedly declared that he brought an end to combat in Iraq and that he would not send US combat forces back to that country. But this is what, in fact, is happening.

Iraqs Joint Operations Command denied Monday that US Marines were involved in combat in Iraq, declaring, There is no credibility for the rumors talking about the deployment of American fighting troops in certain sites and camps in Baghdad or elsewhere.

Colonel Warren also denied that the deployment in Makhmour constituted a combat mission. They wont kind of go off and conduct any type of mission on their own, he told reporters. They dont really have that capability anyways. Theyre just providing coverage, right? Theyre providing fire support coverage for the several thousand Iraqi soldiers and the several hundred advisers.

Nonetheless, he admitted that the Marines had been deliberately attacked by ISIS. I think they were targeted specifically, he said. Were in a dangerous place and theres a war going on. So we have to expect there will be attacks.

Sergeant Cardin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. As the Wall Street Journal wrote in its report on Cardins death, The transfer of a regular Marine unit into a combat zone marks stepped-up efforts by the US to combat the extremist group.

Other press reports noted that the US government had previously claimed that ISIS used mustard gas against Kurdish troops stationed in Makhmour last year. Establishing a base for the US Marines on the same site makes nonsense of the pretense that US forces are not playing a ground combat role in the war against ISIS.

The Associated Press reported, Makhmour is expected to become a major focus of any future offensive to gain control of Mosul, and Iraqi army reinforcements have begun arriving there in recent weeks in preparation for the operation.

The top State Department official in the region, Brett McGurk, said the offensive had already begun, in the sense that US-backed Iraqi forces were edging toward Mosul. Its already started, he told a forum at the American University of Iraq at Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdish-ruled zone of northern Iraq. Its a slow, steady squeeze, he said, adding, Its going to be a long campaign.

The exposure of previously secret US military facilities in northern Iraq follows reports earlier this month that the Pentagon was operating two secret airstrips in northern Syria, inside the region along the Syrian-Turkish border controlled by the Syrian Kurdish PYG.

One airstrip, at Rmeilan, in the far northeastern corner of Syria near the Iraq border, was doubled in length in order to accommodate US cargo planes bringing supplies for the PYG and US Special Forces troops working with them. The other airstrip, near Kobani, was reported March 6 to be under construction.
On Monday, March 21 1,200 registered nurses (RNs) returned to work at Kaiser Permanentes Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC), ending a strike, which was limited to seven days by National Nurses United (NNU), a coalition of three unions including the California Nurses Association (CNA).

Nurses have not had a contract for six years and have seen their wages frozen since 2011. They are also owed back pay and are opposed to understaffing, inadequate equipment and unsafe and dangerous conditions.

While it was widely reported that negotiations have been ongoing since September, shortly after the Federal Labor Board certified the CNA as the official LAMC union, neither Kaiser Permanente nor the CNA/NNU have revealed any of the details. A sellout deal is being prepared behind closed doors while publicly the two parties are posturing as antagonists.

The Los Angeles Times reported union officials calling for a restructured benefits package and higher wages, which will translate in token wage adjustments in exchange for cuts of whatever benefits are left.

The justified anger and frustration of striking nurses were met with a platoon of security agents guarding the hospitals entrance. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to some of the RNs who sounded a more militant tone compared to the last strike a year ago.

Charles, an RN in the cardiac unit, described Kaiser as too big an enterprise that takes all the money and pockets it. They save money through not staffing correctly; we work as a skeleton crew. Its very hard to take care of patients when you have no staff.

This is the flagship hospital, yet were the lowest paid nurses in Kaiser while they do all their expensive procedures here. Ive been here six years, with no contract all this time. I thought coming to a big enterprise like Kaiser Id be safe. But things have not been good. Its a highly stressful environment, worsened by a micromanaging model brought in by Obamacare.

Were the lowest paid nurses and work in their flagship hospital. One concern in the deal is that back pay may be used as a bargaining chip to obtain benefits. But that might mean we have to sacrifice one or the other. I do think there should be no compromise: give us what we deserve! Countrywide! Worldwide!

Revelinda, a neurosurgical unit RN, expressed anger at Kaisers statement, which called the strike unjustified and described the strikers as the best paid nurses in Southern California.

Thats a lie! Our wages are very low compared to other RNs. We have a problem of poor staffing: we are supposed to have a 3:1 patient-nurse ratio. But because of understaffing we get four patients each. This is unsafe. Sometimes they wont even give us a reliever, effectively denying our right to a break.

She pointed at serious medical conditions she developed because of such work conditions. I got acute gastritis because of that. My doctor had to prescribe me meds otherwise Id develop ulcers. I have no time to even eat. On top of that, last January I had a lumpectomy. My doctor told me a major factor of cancer is stress.

This is a case of corporate greed. Capitalism is the bad part. My neurosurgical patients can go critical any time, we are in the trenches taking care of them and dont even get a fair contract.

Nimfa has been a Kaiser RN for 36 years and works in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She noted, This is Kaisers flagship hospital, priding itself for quality nursing awards. Right, we are at the frontline making sure we give the best care. Yet, what is the thank you we get? Understaffing, equipment shortage and inadequacy. We have telemetry boxes that are so hard to operate I injured a finger.

Management says we are greedy! ICU nurses here get $20 per hour less than other RNs in the same company. At least we want to be at par with the rest of the medical community. Instead they're making us the benchmark. Its not just about wages, health benefits have also been cut.

Weve seen Kaiser give with one hand to take with the other. We need breaks, so to give us relievers they take from other equally important areas. So we end up relieving each other, violating Title 22 because now we have four patients [each] to take care of. Were watching the bargaining table carefully, the union should not compromise on any of the issues.

Jennifer, a pediatric ICU nurse, told the WSWS, When I first started here it wasnt nearly as bad. Now we have to cover each other for breaks and thats not the best for our patients. We dont have resources or helpers to cover patients. We get temp nurses, nothing against them, but it's not the same level of care when you dont know the process day in, day out and only get a two-day orientation.

I really hope CNA will not compromise. From what I understand theyve hammered out a lot of the contract without giving anything up. Now lets get the last financial leg of this contract down. Are we going to be giving up our medical benefits or our pensions? Were fighting to not give up those things. As nurses youd think we'd at least have access to medical care for our families and ourselves!
A group of 46 faculty at Northwestern University issued an open letter on February 9 calling for the rescinding of the appointment of former US lieutenant general Karl Eikenberry as executive director of the recently founded Buffett Institute of Global Studies at the university in Evanston, Illinois. The open letter took aim at Eikenberrys largely nonacademic credentials, the process by which he was inserted into the selection process by the search committee, and at his public statements that scholarship should be considered as an instrument of soft power.

Eikenberry was involved for several years in the US occupation of Afghanistan and in his last official military post there was commander of Combined Forces Command from 2005 to 2007. After a short stint in Belgium as deputy chair of NATOs Military Committee, he was appointed by President Obama to be US ambassador to Afghanistan, a post which he held from 2009 to 2011, overseeing the puppet government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul. He held that post through the period that saw a surge of tens of thousands of troops and the expansion of the criminal war into neighboring Pakistan.

The most significant of the charges laid out against Eikenberry by the Northwestern faculty members is that he advocates instrumentalizing the humanities and social sciences research to advance U.S. soft power, in other words, that he supports subordinating universities to the military aims of US imperialism.

This refers to a speech Eikenberry gave at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2014 in which he laid out his perspective that the humanities could be a soft power which can attract and co-opt, as opposed to coerce. Reading between the lines, it is clear that what Eikenberry means is that the humanities are most useful as propaganda tools.

The Northwestern faculty correctly perceive the danger to the independence of the university and of scholarship in general, writing, We believe that it would be irresponsible to remain silent while the universitys core mission of independent research and teaching becomes identified with U.S. military and foreign policy.

Another of the chief complaints of the Northwestern faculty is that despite the job description indicating a preference for a candidate with a strong research background, Eikenberry lacks relevant credentials or experience. While he holds two masters degrees, one in East Asian Studies from Harvard and another in political science from Stanford, Eikenberry does not possess a PhD, and has not published in academic journals.

Eikenberrys entry into academia occurred in 2011, when he was given a position at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, largely on the basis of his experiences in the highest echelons of the state. He was not, however, appointed to a faculty position, and does not appear to have taught any regular courses at the school.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Eikenberrys selection to head the Buffett Institute of Global Studies is the manner in which he was selected. While faculty from the Buffett Institute had sent a letter to the Northwestern search committee requesting that the search be expanded, Eikenberry was placed directly on the list of finalists by Northwestern President Emeritus Henry Bienen and was then interviewed confidentially on campus without Bienen or other university administrators informing the search committee.

Bienen himself is a long-standing operator within the highest ranks of the US military-intelligence apparatus. As a student he was a National Defense Fellow in Russian Studies at the University of Chicago. A professor of political science specializing in the effects of ethnic conflict and military violence on foreign development, he would later go on to be dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Foreign Policy at Princeton University, and of its Center for International Studies.

Through the entire period in which he was formally employed as an academic, Bienen consulted for the US State Department, National Security Council, Agency for International Development, the CIA and the World Bank. In an interview with Chicago Magazine, he spoke of his CIA ties, saying, Bob Gates brought me there under a Republican administration [H.W. Bush]. I never did anything on the covert side. I was always on the analytic side. So I wasnt sitting there spying on anybody.

While president of Northwestern from 1995 to 2009, Bienen played a large role in expanding corporate influence at the school. Since leaving the position of president at Northwestern, Bienen served on the board of directors at Bear Stearns from 2004 until its collapse in 2008 during the financial crisis. At the request of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a social contact of his, Bienen was named to the board of Chicago Public Schools from 2011 to 2015. There he helped coordinate attacks on teachers and public education over the whole period. In exchange, Emanuel offered to secure Bienen an ambassadorship, but the only available posts, either to an African country, or to an organization, were not to his liking.

For Bienen and the current administration of Northwestern, who desire closer contact and involvement with the government and the military, Eikenberrys lack of an academic career is a plus, not a minus. In a response to the faculty open letter, current president Morton Schapiro and provost Daniel Linzer wrote that Eikenberry would provide access to a broad array of scholars, government officials, and world leaders. Linzer expanded on this at a faculty senate meeting in early March, saying that Eikenberrys appointment would allow the institute to have a global impact, and to expand what we do, not replicate.

Already, Northwestern has been the site of several speeches by Obama and other administration officials. The most notable of these was in March of 2012, when Attorney General Eric Holder laid out a pseudo-legal justification for the presidential assassination of US citizens. Later in 2014, Obama spoke to Northwesterns Kellogg School of Management to deliver a paean to capitalism in which he said, I believe that capitalism is the greatest force for prosperity and opportunity the world has ever known. I believe that private enterprisenot government, but the innovators and risk-takers and makers and doersshould be the driving force of job creation.

The appointment of Eikenberry to the Buffett Institute of Global Studies, recently created through a $101 million donation by Roberta Buffett Elliott, the younger sister of billionaire Warren Buffett, is part of a process going on in the universities and colleges of the leading imperialist powers as they prepare to launch more criminal wars of aggression.

Some of the most significant moves in this direction have occurred in Germany, where figures such as Jorg Baberowski and and Herfried Munkler at Berlins Humboldt University have attempted to downplay the crimes of German imperialism in the 20th century and advocate for a return of German militarism.

In both cases, the financial aristocracy is attempting to install a pliant and willing layer of pseudo-intellectuals in order to bring the universities in line and train a future layer of students to be willing participants in war and dictatorship. While the Northwestern faculty members who wrote the open letter are correct to raise objections to the appointment of Eikenberry, the fight against the subordination of the universities to the aims of imperialism requires the construction of a mass socialist movement and a political struggle against the reactionary, nationalist aims of the bourgeoisie.
The World Socialist Web Site condemns the bombings that took place Tuesday morning in Brussels, killing 30 people and wounding 230 at Zaventem Airport and the Maelbeek metro station. While Belgian authorities imposed a gag order on their investigation of the attacks, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility in a statement posted by its Amaq news agency.

This horrific attack targeted innocent people in no way responsible for the imperialist wars that have devastated the Middle East. Fifteen years of wars, terror attacks, and escalating police state measures since the September 11, 2001 bombings in the United States have conclusively demonstrated that such bloodshed invariably plays into the hands of the most reactionary forces.

As the WSWS stated the day after the September 11 attacks, However it seeks to justify itself, the terrorist method is fundamentally reactionary. Far from dealing a powerful blow against imperialist militarism, terrorism plays into the hands of those elements within the US establishment who seize on such events to justify and legitimize the resort to war in pursuit of the geopolitical and economic interests of the ruling elite. The murder of innocent civilians enrages, disorients and confuses the public. It undermines the struggle for the international unity of the working class, and counteracts all efforts to educate the American people on the history and politics that form the background to contemporary events in the Middle East.

This statement is again being confirmed, this time in Europe, as governments across the continent place their security forces on high alert. Last night, as Belgium closed its borders and army and police forces put Brussels on lock-down, Prime Minister Charles Michel declared, For us, there will be a before and after. He said the council of top ministers would meet this morning to organize the period after the bombings.

In France, where the Socialist Party (PS) has imposed an unpopular and anti-democratic state of emergency since the November 13 attacks in Paris, PS officials cited the attacks in Brussels to press the Senate to approve a PS amendment enshrining the state of emergency in the French Constitution.

US presidential candidates sought to stir up the anti-Muslim and pro-war moods seizing the political establishment on both sides of the Atlantic. Republican Donald Trump, who has advocated barring Muslims from entering the US, said Brussels was a total disaster. He added, We have to be very careful in the United States, we have to be very vigilant as to who we allow in this country.

Trump called for torturing Salah Abdeslam, who was captured in Brussels on Friday after four months on the run and charged with participating in the November 13 Paris attacks. The waterboarding would be fine, and if they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding, the Republican frontrunner said.

The leading contender for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, declared, Today's attacks will only strengthen our resolve to stand together as allies against terrorism and radical jihadism around the world. She called for more pervasive mass spying by US and international intelligence agencies, saying We have to toughen our surveillance, our interception of communication.

Despite the horrifying character of the Brussels attacks, it is essential that people not allow themselves to be stampeded into new wars and police state measures by the propaganda of the media and a thoroughly degraded political establishment.

All of the statements of bourgeois politicians condemning terrorist violence are as hypocritical as they are dishonest. The wave of ISIS attacks in Europe, from the Charlie Hebdo and November 13 bombings in Paris last year to yesterday's Brussels bombings, are inextricably bound up with decades of wars and military interventions that have destroyed large parts of the Middle East and destabilized the rest.

ISIS itself is the product of three imperialist wars: first, the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the United States, aided by European countries including Britain, Spain and Italy, on the basis of lying claims that the Iraqi government would give weapons of mass destruction to Al Qaeda; second, the war for regime-change in Libya waged by the US and NATO, utilizing Al Qaeda-linked militia as proxy ground forces; and, third, the proxy war stoked up by the US and the European powers in Syria, where they have backed various Islamist militias including ISIS in an effort to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Particularly in the initial stages of the Syrian war, as the Islamist militias sought to sow terror and destabilize the government, they resorted to repeated terror bombings. Just in the capital, Damascus, there were 44 killed and 166 injured in a December 2011 attack, 55 killed and 400 injured in a May 2012 attack, and 80 killed and 250 injured in a February 2013 attack.

Washington and its European allies have supported the Islamist opposition throughout this bloody rampage, turning against ISIS only gradually after it attacked the US puppet regime in Baghdad in the summer of 2014. Even then, as France's PS government bombed ISIS targets in Iraq, it stated it would not bomb ISIS targets in Syria. Paris refused to deny media reports that it was refraining from attacking ISIS in Syria in order to avoid weakening the anti-Assad forces. France began bombing ISIS in Syria only after the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo.

These wars have created a Frankenstein monster in Europe, a network of Islamist fighters closely tied to European foreign policy and police circles. Those carrying out ISIS attacks in Europe, like the Kouachi brothers in the Charlie Hebdo attack and Abdelhamid Abaaoud in the November 13 Paris shootings, inevitably proved to be linked to operations to recruit Islamists from Europe for the war in Syria. Inexplicably, though they were well known to intelligence agencies throughout Europe and closely monitored, they were allowed to travel across the continent and prepare bloody attacks.

A significant factor in the accelerating pace of attacks in Europe is the fact that broad sections of the European ruling class welcome the pretext provided by such crimes to fan anti-Muslim hatred so as to divide the working class, while expanding their police state measures. As they seek to justify a ruthless and illegal policy of denying the right of asylum to millions of refugees fleeing Middle East wars, and impose ever more brutal austerity measures on the working class, the ruling elites view such terror attacks as a political godsend.

With the bloodletting of the imperialist wars in the Middle East coming home to Europe, political lessons must urgently be drawn. The increased buildup of security forces and police state powers after each terror attack has only set the stage for more draconian attacks on democratic rights, new military escalations and further terror attacks.

The only way this reactionary spiral of violence can be stopped is by addressing its root causethe war drive through which the major imperialist powers seek to dominate the Middle East. This requires the development of a broad movement of the working class against war and for socialism.
Quebec Solidaire has endorsed the unions suppression of the struggle Quebecs public sector workers have mounted against the Couillard Liberal governments concession demands and ravaging of health care, education and other vital social services.

Quebec Solidaire (QS) spokesperson Francoise David issued a press release last month that lauded the inter-union Common Front for snatching valuable concessions from the government in an agreement reached in a December negotiating blitz.

In reality the tentative agreement that the unions accepted December 17 will impoverish workers and reduce pensions, while serving as a green light for the ruling class to continue with the dismantling of what remains of public services.

QSs support for the unions betrayal exposes the bogus nature of its claims to oppose capitalist austerity. Since the beginning of the conflict between the more than 500,000 Quebec public and para-public workers and the provincial Liberal government, QS has provided support and political cover for the union bureaucracy and its manoeuvres to prevent a working class challenge to the government.

The public sector workers struggle had the potential to become the catalyst for a counteroffensive of the Quebec and Canadian working class against the austerity agenda of the entire ruling elite. Because of this, QS adopted the same line as the unions: isolating their contract struggle from any broader mobilization of the working class in Quebec and across Canada against the dismantling of public services; dissipating the combative energy of the rank and file in a series of rotating strikes; and promoting the legitimacy of negotiations conducted within the budgetary framework set by the government.

Throughout the year-long conflict, QS supported the manoeuvres of the Common Front to demobilize workers, including their months-long silence on the governments plans to use an emergency law to illegalize job action and impose concessionary contracts by decree. And QS issued not a word of criticism when the union bureaucrats subsequently invoked the threat of an emergency law to browbeat workers into accepting the sellout agreement they had reached with the government.

As the W orld Socialist W eb S ite explained in an article published last fall: The unions are deliberately keeping workers in the dark about the governments preparations  because they fear the rank-and-file will respond to the threat of an emergency law by pressing for the full mobilization of public sector workers and the entire working classthe last thing the union leaders want.

Rather, they intend to present workers with a fait accompli. Terrified of the consequences of a genuine working class challenge to the government and its austerity agenda, in the event of a strikebreaking law the unions will tell workers that there is nothing to do but return to work and make futile appeals to the courts or other capitalist institutions like the Parti Quebecois.

Significantly, QSs ostensible left wing also joined in the promotion of the unions December 17 sellout agreement. For three weeks the Presse-toi-a-gauche website featured the Common Front press release promoting the agreement as a victory at the top of its opening page and did not voice any criticisms of it until mid-January, long after the eruption of rank-and-file opposition.

QSs support for the union bureaucracys suppression of the public sector workers struggle flows from its class position. Born in 2006 from an amalgamation of community organizations and feminist and pseudo-Marxist groups, Quebec Solidaire is neither of nor for the working class. It articulates the views and interests of the petty bourgeoisie and affluent middle class professionals, trade union bureaucrats, small businesspeople who hope to benefit from buying local, Green entrepreneurs and identity-politics activists.

While it falsely describes itself as left, QS fittingly does not claim to be a workers party or to be fighting for socialism. Rather it promotes itself as an environmentalist, feminist, pro-Quebec independence party of citizens that aims to democratize Quebec.

Like pseudo-left organizations around the world, QS has moved sharply to the right over the past decade. In the context of the gravest crisis of capitalism since the Great Depression and under conditions where the pro-austerity and pro-war social-democratic parties and unions are largely discredited, these forces are playing an increasingly significant and open role in politically suffocating the working classin blocking the emergence of an independent working-class challenge to capitalism.

As part of this process, new left parties like QS are more and more frequently supporting, if not joining, bourgeois governments.

Last fall, senior QS officials conducted a regional tour with the express goal of meeting local entrepreneurs, including chambers of commerce, so as to promote QS, which currently has three seats in the Quebec legislature, as a credible and innovative party economically, that is to say, one that does not threaten the profit system and can be trusted with a role in government.

This desire to integrate into the establishment is shared by the partys supposed left wing. Under the pretext of opposing the richest 1 percent of the population, it is openly urging QS to orientate towards less well-endowed sections of the ruling elite that are frustrated at having to cede power and privilege to those in this exclusive club.

In an article published in December 2014, Benoit Renaud, a former QS general-secretary and long-time associate of the International Socialists (the Canadian co-thinkers of the US-based ISO) called on the political and social left to orientate toward those who live in considerable comfort, which he defined as the 9 percent (the portion immediately below the 1 percent at the top of the social pyramid). Renaud enthused about the possibility of the mayor of a major city, a socially responsible businessman or a manager in the education sector making the leap to stand as a Quebec Solidaire candidate in the next Quebec election, slated to be held in 2018.

In courting businessmen and Chambers of Commerce, QS is implementing its fundamentally pro-capitalist, nationalist agenda, which hitherto has found its consummate expression through its longstanding ties with the big business Parti Quebecois. Like the PQ, QS advocates the creation of a new capitalist Republique du Quebec, through the reshuffling of the borders of the imperialist states of North America. This is the reactionary project of a faction of Quebecs ruling elite and a section of the middle classes who see independence as a way to enrich themselves at the expense of the working class, by becoming maitres chez-nous (masters in our own home).

In a context where the PQ has been widely discredited by the brutal austerity policies it has implemented whenever it has held office, QS has given itself the particularly pernicious task of attempting to reignite the independence torch and providing it a progressive veneer.

The promotion of Quebec nationalism inevitably involves the promotion of chauvinism, like the campaign the PQ waged around its anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim Charter of Values in 2013-14. Quebec Solidaire welcomed the PQs Charter as a necessary debate and continues to support legally prohibiting veiled Muslim women from receiving public services.

To promote the independence project, QS is forced to maintain a certain facade of autonomy in relation to the Parti Quebecois. That, however, has not stopped it from repeatedly seeking a political alliance with this big bourgeois party, now led by the wealthy press tycoon and notorious strikebreaker Pierre Karl Peladeau. Late last month, at a debate organized by the pro-independence newspaper Le Devoir around the question QS, PQ: Is the left condemned to remain in opposition? QS co-leader Francoise David said that if the PQ had introduced proportional representation when they were in office, Maybe now we would be in power together.

The model of Quebec Solidaire is Syrizathe party of the Greek pseudo-left that took power in Greece in January 2015 promising to end the brutal austerity measures that have impoverished the countrys working people. However, no sooner did it come to power than Syriza made an alliance with the right-wing nationalists (Independent Greeks) and complied with the European Unions austerity diktats. Hostile to any struggle to mobilize the European working class against austerity, Syriza has renounced all its election promises and agreed to social cuts and privatizations that go far beyond those implemented by its predecessors.

Workers must take the measure of QS, its support of the unions suppression of the public sector workers struggle and its courting of business and manoeuvres with the PQ: If Quebec Solidaire were ever to come to powerwhether in a coalition with the PQ as David suggested or in its own rightit, too, would not hesitate to impose the dictates of the economic and financial elite on the working class by slashing public services, jobs and pensions.
Despite protests around the country, asylum seekers who were brought to Australia for medical treatment after being detained in the Australian-run offshore processing facilities on Nauru and Papua New Guineas Manus Island face being sent back to these oppressive camps.

The Liberal-National Coalition government remains determined to remove the 267 refugees, including 91 children37 of whom are babiesin order to enforce the bipartisan policy of blocking entry to Australia of all refugees who arrive by boat.

In order to deter people from trying to reach Australia, the prison camps on Nauru and Manus are deliberately punitive. A recent medical study concluded that the conditions of indefinite detentionitself a denial of fundamental legal and democratic rightsare so severe that they amount to torture.

Moreover, the detention centres have no facilities to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including childbirth and the endemic mental health problems caused by the prolonged incarceration.

The camps were initially established as part of the Howard Coalition governments post-2001 Pacific Solution, designed to consign all asylum seekers to remote islands. They were reopened by the last Labor government in 2012, which vowed to stop the boats again by detaining refugees in the camps for as long as they would have waited for official permission to enter Australiawhich could mean 20 years.

A recent High Court decision to legally rubberstamp indefinite detention on these islands cleared the way for the removal of the 267 refugees. They include a 5-year-old child who was allegedly sexually assaulted, a baby who has type 1 diabetes and at least 15 women who claim to have been assaulted or harassed in the camps.

Among them is a one-year-old infant, known publicly as Baby Asha, and her family. She was born in Australia after her parents were flown from Nauru for her birth last June, only for the family to be transported back to Nauru after she was born.

On January 26, Baby Asha was returned to the Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland after receiving a scalding injury to her chest. She had pulled recently boiled water onto herself from a table. On Nauru, with no access to clean water, Baby Ashas mother had to boil water to ensure it was safe to drink.

After the High Court decision, staff at the hospital refused to discharge Baby Asha. They said a return to Nauru would be detrimental to her health and wellbeing. Their stand attracted widespread support, resulting in a 10-day protest outside the hospital demanding that Baby Asha and her family not to be returned to Nauru and that other refugees be allowed to remain in Australia.

On February 22, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he had come to an agreement with the hospital for Baby Asha and her family to be released into community detention. In the early hours of the morning, security guards removed the baby to an undisclosed location. Her parents were not informed of her whereabouts until the afternoon.

Community detention is an alternative form of confinement developed by the previous Labor government to subject thousands of refugees, while permitted to remain temporarily within Australia, to drastic restrictions on their movement and basic legal, welfare and work rights.

Dutton denied that his decision not to immediately send Baby Asha and her parents back to Nauru was affected by the protests. This was what the government had proposed all along, he insisted, and the baby and the other refugees ultimately would be returned to the camps. [A]t some point, if people have matters finalised in Australia, they will be returning to Nauru, Dutton stated.

Yet the temporary reprieve was heralded as a victory by various online protest groups, the Greens and the pseudo-left organisations, Socialist Alternative, Socialist Alliance and Solidarity, that had channeled the outrage over Baby Ashas plight into a social media Let Them Stay campaign. An article in Socialist Alliances Green Left Weekly declared that Duttons decision shows the power of the people.

The article referred to a bipartisan policy of mandatory detentionbut ignored the role of the Greens, who provided the 2010-2013 minority Labor government with the parliamentary support to remain in office as it reinstated the Pacific Solution. While the Greens criticise aspects of the anti-refugee regime, they support the entire underlying system of national border protection. They advocate dumping refugees in assessment centres in impoverished South East Asian countries.

Let Them Stay is designed to funnel the public opposition to the inhuman treatment of refugees back behind the same parliamentary parties that have inflicted it. The campaign promotes illusions in putting pressure on the current Turnbull Coalition government, and the opposition Labor Party, to modify their policies. It also seeks to promote the return of a Greens-backed Labor government.

For their own electoral reasons, several state Labor Party leaders, including Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, seized upon the Let Them Stay campaign to feign sympathy for the plight of refugees, and offered to accept some of the 267 as residents in their states. While appealing to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to show mercy, they made no criticism of the Labor Partys continuing support for the Nauru and Manus camps. Labors federal shadow immigration minister Richard Marles reiterated that a Labor government would retain the policy of refusing entry to all asylum seekers arriving by boat.

The most politically conscious purveyors of the Let Them Stay campaign are the pseudo-left groups and the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), whose spokesman is Ian Rintoul, a leader of Solidarity. In a March 8 article on the Solidarity groups web site, Rintoul hailed a letter sent by Andrews to Turnbull offering to take refugees as a political turning point.

According to Rintoul, Andrews offer has turned up the heat on Turnbull. He urged state premiers to go one step further and declare they will not cooperate with any removal. Rintoul declared: [W]e need to step up the pressure to make the returns [of the refugees] politically impossible for Turnbull.

Above all, Rintoul promoted the illusion that Labor could be compelled to adopt a more humane policy. It was the mass movement under Howard last time that shifted public opinion, and pushed Labor to promise permanent protection and to close Nauru and Manus when it came to power in 2007, he wrote.

This is a complete rewriting of history. Labor came to office in 2007 vowing to maintain the Howard governments policy of stopping the boats and only shut down the camps once the number of boats dropped. In 2012, as refugees again began fleeing the violence and destruction unleashed by the US and its alliesincluding Australiain Syria and Iraq, the Labor government reopened the facilities.

At the same time, Labor and the trade unions were at the forefront of demonising refugees and making them scapegoats for rising unemployment and worsening social conditions, just as they did in 1992, when the Keating Labor government first introduced the mandatory detention of all refugee arrivals.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at San Diego State University has held a number of events in recent weeks centered on the building of an international and socialist movement of the working class against war. This has included weekly meetings on current events and political theory as well as a graphic display on campus to educate students and workers about the global scope of US imperialism and its consequences.

The IYSSE has received a strong response from students, workers and youth.

Jasmine, a student originally from Iraq but now an American citizen, was deeply moved by the display, in particular the images of desperate refugees which she said she could relate to from personal experience. I like the layout of the map, the presence of US troops. Youre able to see how spread out the US is around the world. I also liked the refugees section with the pictures which are painful to look at. A lot of people dont understand what is going on.

On the invasion of Iraq, she commented, I was 100 percent against it. Look at the country now; it is torn apart. When asked what she thought of the anti-war campaign of the IYSSE, she responded, I think its a brilliant idea.

Nick, a student who served in the military, also spoke to the IYSSE. I was in the military from 2005 to 2010 and I went to Afghanistan and Iraq. The destabilization over there was because of the military. There have been worse problems since.

When asked what he thought was the root cause of the war, he replied, Money. He added, The military leaders and the politicians wanted to make money and a name for themselves. I think our political system is the root cause of war. When the subject turned to socialism, Nick said, I have heard of socialism. I like the idea of a more socialistic system than we have now.

Trevor, a student who has recently joined the IYSSE, shared his thoughts on the display. It is awakening the students that dont really know or havent been taught the consequences of US imperialism.

He added, Before this year I was politically awake, but I wasnt sure what route to follow. I think the IYSSE has steered me in the right direction.

Earlier this month, the IYSSE held a successful meeting that was attended by over 80 students and workers. The guest speaker was WSWS writer Bill Van Auken who gave a presentation on the war in Syria and the drive towards World War III.

Van Auken explained the connection between capitalism and war and the urgent need for an anti-capitalist and socialist anti-war movement. On the current war in Syria, he said, The US did not have an interest in overthrowing ISIS in Syria, not until the terrorist regime expanded into Iraq. The real focus of the Syrian civil war for the US is regime change.

Van Auken also explained how social needs at home are ignored to provide money for war. The US is spending $79 billion on a program to build new high tech military equipment. Thats more than is spent on education for the whole nation. The ruling class is more interested in smart bombs than smart people.

Speaking of Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, he asked the audience, How can he be a socialist when he supports the foreign policy of the ruling elite? He also implored the audience to join the IYSSE, remarking, The question posed today is, How will the crisis of capitalism be solved? Through world war or through socialist revolution?

After the presentation, many participants expressed agreement with the overall fight for socialism and asked what the next step should be.

Carlos and Diego are both in their first year at SDSU. Diego said, The younger generation is in a transition, we want change but many of us are confused. We have lost faith in the political system, but we need still need to awaken. From what I have learned, the government represents the corporations, not us. Corporations try to influence culture, they spend millions to tell us what we need and how we should see things. Nobody represents us. The United States is purely run in the interests of the corporations and the rich.

Its funny, we are the ones who work and pay taxes, we pay for everythingeven the wars and the military. The weird part is that they cant exist without us. We all need to analyze this, we are more and they are less. We want change, we want true democracy and that will involve us.

Carlos said, Growing up in the United States you are taught to believe that this is the greatest country in the world. The true face is now becoming visibleits not the greatest, that is an image that is being destroyed. There is an authority in place and people want change. It seems as though we need self-government but it seems like that can lead to chaos. But it also seems like there has to be leaders, but leaders can be corrupt.

Supporters of the IYSSE said that the working class and students need their own independent political party and organizations. They also discussed the Sanders campaign, which is aimed at bolstering support for the Democratic Party and the capitalist system.

I have a friend that is pro-Bernie, Carlos responded, but Bernie, Hilary or Trumpfor menone represent my interests. I first thought that Bernie was a person for the people. Tonight definitely changed my perspective on that. At the end, the election is like a circus.

We have the most productive society in the world today. We are the ones who make all this businesswhy cant we run it instead of the CEOs and shareholders? The other thing is the revolving door between the companies and the governments, it is clear that the government is working for the corporations.

Vicente is a sophomore studying film and art. He said, A lot of what is discussed in meetings like this is not discussed outside of the schools. I think it was very informative. When I brought up the question, How many people are financially unstable? it was very reassuring that people were in the same boat as me. Regarding what he thought about socialism, Vicente said, Socialism is an ideology that I definitely advocate for. I want to be part of something and start a move toward that.
A month-long strike by over 400 workers at Tata Motors Nano car manufacturing plant at Sanand in the western Indian state of Gujarat has ended after a committee of striking workers struck a deal with the company. Isolated by the national trade union federations, the committee agreed that workers would resume work today without winning their demand for the reinstatement of 28 victimised workers.

According to the agreement, brokered by state government labour officials, 13 out of 26 workers who were sacked on February 22, will be taken back, but only pending the outcome of a company inquiry into its trumped-up charges against them. Another 13 workers will remain suspended, waiting for the outcome of the inquiry, which the management says could take four to six months.

Two other victimised workers, sacked last December, were not reinstated, with the company saying the result of its inquiry into them will be announced within a week. Thus, Tata Motors has kept open its options for the witch-hunt against the workers at Sanand.

The Sanand plant employs 2,200 people500 regular workers and 1,700 contract workers. The workers complain that their take-home monthly salary, which is approximately 12,000 rupees ($US179) for regular workers and 9,000 rupees ($134) for contract workers, is much lower than several other auto plants in the area.

The struggle erupted in December when company sacked two workers on disciplinary grounds. The real reason was to intimidate workers at the plant who were trying to forming a new trade union to fight for wage rises and better working conditions. Confronted with industrial action by plant workers against the sackings, the state labour department moved to broker a settlement. As a result, the company said it would conduct an inquiry into the charges against the pair within a month and submit a report. On the basis of that promise, workers called off the strike.

However, when management reneged on its pledge, workers walked out on February 22, demanding the immediate reinstatement of the two workers. The company went on the offensive by suspending 26 more workers, accusing of them scratching and damaging some 50 vehicles in the plant. Workers continued their industrial action, demanding the reinstatement of all 28 workers.

The company immediately declared the strike illegal. A week later, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government outlawed the strike, effectively legitimising the companys actions against strikers. Yet the workers refused to be cowed and continued the strike. Tata Motors then brought around 250 workers from its Pune plant in an attempt to further intimidate the striking workers and ensure production of its new model, the Tiago hatchback.

Tata workers faced a joint vendetta by the company and BJP state government, which has unleashed its police force repeatedly to suppress striking workers in order to satisfy the demands of investors.

On March 19, nearly 300 striking Tata workers were detained when they staged a protest rally near the Sanand plant. Justifying the police action, Ahmedabad Rural Deputy Superintendent of Police, P.O. Bhatt told the media that the workers had gathered at a plant gate without written permission from the magistrate for the event.

Nearly two dozen trade unions worked to isolate the striking workers, refusing to call any support action by workers affiliated to their unions. These included the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), which are affiliated to the two main Stalinist parliamentary parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM and the Communist Party of India (CPI) respectively. Others included the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI). These unions all played a key role in pushing the Tata workers to end the strike without the company meeting their demands.

NTUI vice president Ashim Roy acted as an adviser to the striking workers, according to Business Standard . Appealing to management, he declared: The Tata Nano plant at Sanand was a role model for good industrial relations in Gujarat. However, if labour rights are not granted to Tata Motors workers then it becomes symbolic of the fact that there are no good industrial relations in Gujarat.

In fact, Tata located its plant in Gujarat because the state became notorious under its former Chief Minister Narendra Modi, currently Indias prime minister, not only for Hindu communal attacks on Muslims but also for its anti-working class policies. Modi wooed investors by providing them cheap land, other infrastructure and trouble-free cheap labour, enforced via police-state methods. He became the darling of big business, which backed his elevation as prime minister to push ahead with pro-investor economic reforms.

Roys remarks on good industrial relations reflect not just the outlook of the NTUI but the corporatist character of all the unions, which are committed to working hand-in-glove with employers to make their operations internationally competitive at the expense of workers jobs and conditions. So-called good industrial relations means subjecting workers to the brutal conditions imposed by companies with the collaboration of the state and national governments.

While isolated by the unions, Tata Motors workers are not alone. The recent period has witnessed struggles by auto workers across the country, involving tens of thousands of workers, as well as struggles by car workers internationally, notably in the United States against sell-out work contracts imposed by the trade unions. New forms of organisation, such as factory committees, completely independent of the trade unions, are needed to fight to unify workers across national lines, guided by an opposed political perspective.

The strategy of the Indian ruling class, aided and abetted by the unions, is to transform Indian workers into a globally-competitive cheap labour force. Workers need their own strategy to unite with their brothers and sisters across India and internationally against the capitalist profit system and to reorganise society on a socialist basis.

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India: Tata Nano auto workers strike over suspensions

[25 February 2016]
A fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning in the home of Ibrahim Dawabsheh. He is the only witness to last Julys horrific arson attack by far-right religious zealots that killed three members of the Dawabsheh family and critically injured a fourth in the Palestinian village of Duma in the West Bank.

The fire chief from nearby Nablus told AFP that a window had been broken from the outside and flammable materials were found inside, indicating that firebombs had been hurled inside as had already occurred last July. A Palestinian Authority (PA) official said that two firebombs were thrown into the house.

The blaze damaged Dawabshehs home and injured Dawabsheh and his wife, who fled the house after they heard glass breaking and then an explosion. They had to be treated in hospital for smoke inhalation.

The arson attack was clearly aimed at intimidating the witnesses in the forthcoming trial. All the signs are that the Israeli authorities will ignore this attempt to pervert the course of justice, and once again give a nod of approval to the extremist forces upon which Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahus government, with its majority of one, is so dependent.

The Israeli police issued a cynical statement saying that the incident did not seem to indicate a deliberate arson attack by Jewish settlers. But they released no further details, as their investigations are subject to a gagging order.

The attack took place two months after the chief suspect, 21-year-old Amiran Ben-Uliel, was belatedly charged with murdering three members of the Dawabsheh family and seriously wounding a fourth, as well as an attempted murder in an unsuccessful arson attack on another house. A minor was charged with being an accessory to the murder, while two others were charged with committing acts of violence against Palestinians.

The firebombing sparked international condemnation and highlighted the rising tide of ultra-right-wing violence by Jewish zealots that successive governments have for decades done so much to promote. While Netanyahu denounced the attack, his government continued its undeclared policy of leniency and conciliation towards the same fascistic forces that were responsible for the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

Settler gangs have repeatedly been allowed to murder and attack Palestinians and destroy their property and livelihoods, with no attempt by the authorities to bring them before the courts except in the handful of the most horrific attacks that provoke international revulsion and censure. Their main political function is to do the dirty work of the state by driving Palestinians from their homes and clearing the way for further Israeli expansion.

Even after the July firebombing, the authorities did little to apprehend the suspects although their identities were widely known and they were linked to a far-right group known as The Revolt, led by Meir Ettinger, which aims to overthrow the state of Israel by means of armed violence.

Last December, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon told Israels Army Radio that there is not enough evidence to detain or prosecute the people who had finally been arrested in connection with the arson attack. This was despite the fact, as he was forced to acknowledge, that it was clearly a Jewish attack that I am ashamed of and that the defence establishment knew the perpetrators.

Following an international outcry, those arrested were eventually charged last January. In February, Haaretz revealed that the police had declared Ben Uliel, the chief suspect, a high-priority target a year before the murder.

A senior law enforcement official told Haaretz that someone is only declared a police target when a significant amount of intelligence regarding the commission of prima facie crimes has accumulated against him and after approval from the head of the national investigations department. That should lead to collecting further evidence so that the suspect can be brought before the courts as soon as possible. The official said that very few people are declared police targets and only when their capture is deemed essential to society.

According to Haaretz, the Shin Bet security agency never investigated his activities and his criminal record was relatively light despite his involvement in building settlements outposts, viewed as illegal by the state, preventing their dismantlement, and provocations against Palestinians in the Nablus area. To all intents and purposes, the police allowed Ben Uliel to carry on as normal without lifting a finger to bring him to justice.

Another police report identified around 60 top suspects involved in right-wing extremist crimes, their profiles and their modus operandi. All of them are linked to groups advocating the overthrow of the current state of Israel and its replacement by a theocracy, to be achieved by terrorist attacks on the Palestinians that would cause chaos and instability leading to the collapse of the state. Nearly all of them, despite their involvement in violent crimes, are still at liberty.

Abd al-Salam Dawabsha, the council leader of the village of Duma where the firebombing took place, accused the PA of negligence in the months leading up to the attack, saying that the PA had not provided the money or the equipment they had requested to organise local night watchmen to guard the village.

According to the Maan news agency, nearly 90 Palestinian villages in the West Bank carry out nightly patrols. Unarmedsince Israeli military law that governs the West bank prohibits Palestinians from owning gunsand entirely separate from the PA, the groups provide a system of self-protection against almost daily settler attacks that the Israeli authorities are fully complicit into the extent that the Israeli army stands by while the settlers commit their atrocities.

The PA has no jurisdiction under the 1993 Oslo Accords over Israeli citizens and thus no power to prevent the attacks. When villagers face attacks from the settlers or clashes with the settlers occur, the police are not allowed to call for reinforcements from another village without Israeli approval, which is rarely if ever given.

That such self-help patrols are required demonstrates that the Oslo Accords were never intended to provide security to the Palestinians but only to Israel, with the PA subcontracted to impose the oppressive measures demanded by Tel Aviv.

On Sunday morning after the firebombing, angry clashes broke out in Duma between hundreds of school children and Israeli security forces who used tear gas to disperse the protests, leaving at least 15 girls needing treatment.
The West Virginia legislature concluded last week without agreement on a budget bill, as the states revenues continue to plummet. The office of Democratic governor Earl Ray Tomblin released figures March 15 showing the budget gap has widened to $239 million, including a loss of $92.4 million more than previously projected due to downward pressure on energy prices, and less economic growth than originally forecast for both the national and state economy.

The West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy (WVCBP) reports that if the projection is realized, the state will collect only $137.5 million from corporations and businesses in fiscal year 2017an all-time low for the historically distressed state.

The states finances are bound up with the coal and natural gas industries, which have been buffeted by the fall-off in global commodity prices and the slowdown in industrial output in China, as well as declining demand in the United States.

According to the governors office, personal income tax collections are expected to decline by $20.5 million below earlier estimates. Revenue from the so-called severance tax on coal and natural gas companies is projected to fall $17.6 million below previous estimates. Corporate income taxes are projected to decline by 17 percent, resulting in a loss of $28.6 million more than anticipated.

It is likely that Tomblin will call a special session in April to continue deliberations on the budget. The new bill would take effect beginning in the new fiscal year, July 1.

The WVCBP notes that the projected plunge in revenue is largely due to the elimination of the business franchise tax and the reduction of the corporate net income tax rate from 9 percent to 6.5 percent in 2015.

Before 2008, when these tax cuts took effect, corporate and business franchise taxes accounted for $388 million in state revenue. In 1990, these taxes made up 12 percent of the states general revenue fund, compared to less than 4 percent today.

During its regular session, the legislature was preoccupied with numerous reactionary measures on abortion, right-to-work, voter ID, and drug testing for welfare recipients. At no point in budget deliberations was raising the corporate tax rate a topic of discussion.

The governor proposed closing the $239 million shortfall largely through higher tobacco taxes and the repeal of a sales tax exemption on telecommunications. Republican senate finance chair Mike Hall has suggested combining budget cuts with tapping into the states Rainy Day reserve fund. We could sit here and slash and burn, but we want to vet them out, Hall said of the budgets of various state agencies.

West Virginias bond rating is based in part on the existence of the $784 million Rainy Day fund, and ratings agencies are watching the budget deliberations closely. Tomblin opposes using reserves, making the slash and burn approach more likely. Higher education, highway funding, and social services are all in the crosshairs.

In the past three years, Tomblin has cut 20 percent of the states general revenue budget.

Before concluding its session, the House requested state agencies to consider how to cut a further 6.5 percent from their budgets. Among the consequences would be the elimination of an estimated 350 jobs in the college and university system, the closure of at least four community college campuses; and the layoff of 166 workers at state hospitals.

Social infrastructure is being sacrificed to the benefit of big business, and particularly the coal industry. Although Tomblin signed legislation last month dropping a 56-cent-per-ton coal tax at a cost of $51.5 million to the state, the coal industry is lobbying for further cuts to the general severance tax rate, from 5 percent to a mere 2 percent.

Severance taxes are a charge on the extraction of coal or natural gas, usually a few cents per ton, to compensate the communities from which the resources are severed. Local and county governments are heavily dependent on the tax.

The West Virginia Coal Association has said cutting the tax would save 1,864 jobs and increase the states gross domestic product by $299 million a year. The influential lobby groups vice president, Chris Hamilton, claimed if our legislature fails to enact the 3 percent rate cut immediately, these savings would not occur and the consequences would be disastrous.

The job savings projected by the industry are a drop in the bucket compared to the losses that have impacted the state. In the last year alone, West Virginia lost 12,700 jobs, bringing the total workforce to under 760,000.

The economic crisis is deepening across the state. Unemployment for February stood at 6.5 percent, and after the holiday temporary hiring, the jobless rate rose in every one of the states 55 counties. The states labor force participation rate, hovering below 50 percent, is the lowest in the country.

WorkForce West Virginia data indicate that in the past month:

 Alpha Natural Resources laid off 1,109 coal miners in Boone, McDowell and Raleigh counties.

 Blackhawk Mining laid off 226 miners in Kanawha, Logan and Mingo counties.

 Arch Coal issued pink slips to 140 in Webster County.

 Walter Energy cut 120 mining jobs in Fayette and Nicholas counties.

 Carter Roag Coal Company laid off 173 Randolph County miners.

 Rail company CSX announced the closure of its Huntington Division, affecting 121 employees.

 Southwestern Energy Company laid off 97 in Lewis County.

 Chemical and fuel firm Thomas Logistics axed 58 positions in Morgantown.

 Oil industry company Baker Hughes laid off 90 employees in Harrison County.

 Wal-Mart closed its McDowell County location, leaving 140 without jobs.

Several counties register official unemployment rates in the double digits. According to WorkForce West Virginia, Calhoun County reported a jobless rate of 16.9 percent. McDowell and Mingo counties have unemployment rates of more than 14 percent.

Property values in the southern coalfield counties are spiraling downward. Boone County lost 17 percent of its total property value in the past two years, according to the state auditors office. Mingo County has lost 15 percent.

Public school district budgets have suffered drastic declines in funding. In Boone County, the closure of coal mines has resulted in the loss of $4.3 million in school funding in the last year and the loss of students whose parents must leave in search of work. The county district has announced the closure of schools and the elimination of 80 positions at the end of the school year.

In McDowell County, enrollment has declined 17.4 percent over the past decade. The county school district has shed 10 to 20 positions each year. This year, it is cutting 19 teachers and 16 service staff.

Cuts in school staffing are a statewide phenomenon, even in non-coal-producing areas. In Huntingtons Cabell County, enrollment has increased over the past decade. Nevertheless, the county board of education approved cutting 61 positions and transferring 97 others. The district is expecting to lose $2.6 million in state funding.
6 years, 7 months ago by Scott Hardy

Votes 11-10 to reject agreement

The new Adams County Jail will be built downtown, but the Quincy Police Department will not have its' new headquarters there. Scott Hardy has more
6 years, 7 months ago by Scott Hardy

Accused of attempted 1st degree murder

A Quincy man, alleged to have shot a man in late November on the city's northwest side, has had his preliminary hearing moved back.

23 year old Nicholas Gavin was in Adams County Circuit court Tuesday, one day after an initial hearing with his attorney present was held.

Gavins accused of attempted 1st degree murder and Aggravated Battery in the November 28th shooting of Robert Phillips at Fourth and Chestnut. Phillips was later released from Blessing Hospital after the shooting.

Gavin was arrested in early March at a home in a Chicago suburb, and later returned to Quincy. He's in the Adams County Jail on $1 million bond, and his preliminary hearing will now be held April 1st.
6 years, 7 months ago QPD

Robert E. Bratsch, 36, and Jeffrey L. Echart, 41, for fighting at 133 S 4th on 3-22-16 at 1818 hours. Released on NTA.

Karen S Wuestenfeld, 55, for accumulation of Rubbish at 2034 Lind. Cited by Inspection Dept, . NTA.

Ashley M. Kramer, 28, for FTA-no insurance, DWLS and stop sign. Arrested at 822 Madison on 3-23-16 at 0100. Lodged.

Contessa C. Classen, 21, for Domestic Battery, Criminal Damage, and Criminal Trespass at 1329 Elm on 3-22-16 at 1840 hours. Lodged.

Amanda L Jones, 34, for Domestic Battery at 337 Chestnut on 3-22-16 at 1058 hours. Lodged.

Michael A. Morton, 18, for operating uninsured vehicle and no valid registration at 18/Koch's Ln on 3/13/16 at 0006 hours. NTA.

David A. Galindo, 41, for theft of registration sticker, expired registration, DWLS, and operating uninsured vehicle. Released on

Christopher P. Schmitt, 36, for failure to yield-left turn at 10/Chestnut on 3-22-16 at 1804 hours.NTA.

Jentry A. Baker, 18, for speding at 4200 block of Broadway on 3-22-16 at 2154 hours. PTC

Brooke E. Barnes, 24, for speeding at 30/Harrison on 3-22-16 at 1930 hours. PTC.

Diabolique D. Benton, 18, for FTA Poss of Cannabis at 5/Cedar on 3- 22-16 at 2038 hours. Lodged.

James Drnjevic reported someone threw a brick through a window at Player's Club, located at 225 N 5th, between 3-21-16 at 1900 hours, and 0215 hours on 3-22-16. No suspects.

Amber Lasher and Yvette Baltzelle stated that someone opened credit card accounts in their names, and used other credit cards to make online purchases. The incident took place in January of 2016.

Officer Wietholder recovered two bicycles from the front of 922 York on 3-17-16. The bikes were placed in bike cage.

James Fortner stated that a red Skil saw was removed from a job site on 3-2-16 between 1300 and 1600 hours. He suspected an employee. It was later returned

Rebecca Armistead reported the theft of a wicker rocking chair from her porch on N. 12th between 2000 hourson 3/9 and 1830 hours on 3/10. No suspects.

Jenny L. Hess, 41, Hannibal, MO for No Valid Registration and Operation of an Uninsured Motor Vehicle at 18th & Broadway. NTA

Jacob S. Hollensteiner, 27, 1708 Ohio for Expired Registration Sticker at 5th & York. PTC

Diane L. Anderson, 1016 Payson Ave. reported an unknown subject in San Francisco hacked her Bergners credit card account and ordered a men's watch on 03-03-16. Anderson was able to cancel the purchase.

Paul R Edwards 870 N 550thh for Failure to Stop-Stop Arm for School Bus at 14th & Maine NTA

Reshay L Wright (34) 720 N 3rd for FTA Theft at 7th & Spring Lodged

Alex M Carrillo (19) 7517 White Oak Rd for Operating Uninsured Vehicle at 4th & Spruce NTA

Kourtney L Price (25) 1010 S 22nd for Expired Registration and Operating Uninsured Vehicle at 5th & Oak NTA

Christian M Duesterhaus (19) 801 S 14th for Possession of Cannabis at 19th & State NTA

Haley D Fewkes (24) 1709 Maple for Expired Registration at 25th & Broadway NTA

Jacob R Shoemaker (31) 2321 Aldo Blvd for Expired Registration at 46th & Harrison PTC

Tanner T Eyler (19) 1521 Penthouse Dr for FTA Unlicensed and FTA Trespassing at 13th & Spring Lodged

Richard S Tournear 221 S 16th reported his garage entered and electronics stolen on 3/15/16

Marlaina E Curley 840 State reported the tires on her vehicle slashed on 3/13/16
6 years, 7 months ago by Scott Hardy

Accused of murdering Hannibal man in Oct 2015

A Philadelphia, Missouri man charged in the shooting death of a Hannibal man will go on trial this fall.

Brad Tierney, 34, appeared in Macon County Circuit Court for a case review Wednesday. His trial on charges of second degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting death last October of Ronald Goodrich will start October 3rd, and is scheduled to last five days. Goodrich was allegedly shot last October in the parking lot of Prime Time Auto Sales in Hannibal.

A motion for a special prosecutor filed by Marion County Prosecutor David Clayton was granted as well. The case is being heard in Macon County on a change of venue from Marion County. Tierney has pleaded Not Guilty in the case. He's in the Marion County Jail on $1 million bond, and will be back in court for a pre-trial hearing September 14th.
Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL)--Community Members taking to the streets this morning with one message, "Stop Killing Us".

The community calling it how they see it, saying "enough is enough".

Residents of Griffin Heights gathered on the corner of Alabama and Harlem streets, an area they say has been plagued by violence, drugs and crime, something they say is ultimately physically and mentally killing off area citizens one by one.

Now they're taking their community back.

Pastor Rudy Ferguson lives and pastor's a church in that same neighborhood and also heads up a initiative called the "The Frontline Project" and it's exactly how it sounds.

It's all about facing the problems in the community head-on. He says he held this rally today to send a message of love in hopes that it'll encourage residents in the community to make better choices.

"It's important for us to be out here today because we want them to know that we do love them. We don't condone what they do, or support what they do but we understand. We're here to say that that there's a better way, we can change..we can help you.", Pastor Rudy Ferguson.

The Frontline Project plans to expand their message to other struggling communities.

The Tallahassee Police Department asked to be apart of the rally today in support.

They're also set to sit down with city leaders coming up in May. During that meeting they'll discuss more ways they can turn their communities around.

But the Frontline project respectfully declined saying while they appreciate their support, they wanted to be the ones to bring this message to the community and not hide behind the badge.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- For the second time in five months, Florida State has had to track students studying abroad after a terror attack.

After the Paris attacks last November, the university started making changes to how it monitors students.

The scenes from Belgium serve as another reminder about the risk of terror overseas, but Florida State says it's committed to encouraging travel.

"It's essential that our students gain an understanding of other cultures, other ways of thinking," said Dr. James Pitts, director of FSU's international programs, "and the only way they can really do that is to live in another culture."

The university has accounted for all students currently abroad, and for those who've traveled before, it's an experience they recommend.

"It opened my eyes to such a different world -- so many different cultures, so many different people," said senior Lauren Stuart. "It helped me discover passions I never knew I had."

Last week, the Forum on Education Abroad published a study on students' mortality rates -- finding students studying abroad are less than half as likely to die than students studying in the U.S.

But the university is keeping a closer eye on traveling students.

"We ask all of our students studying with us -- wherever they're studying to fill out an independent travel form," Pitts said.

"We just filled out the city where we were going, and our hotel plans," said senior Kevin Smith, who studied in Costa Rica. "It was pretty simple and not too much of a hassle."

After the Paris attacks, the university started making a digital database for the forms.

"Our directors at the various European study centers as well as the critical staff here in Tallahassee -- we can all have access to it," Pitts said.

Regardless, students say Tuesday's tragedy won't discourage them from travel.

"I'm definitely going to be on guard, though, and alert when I go over there -- just making sure that I'm following common sense," Smith said.

The university expects to have the database ready in the next two weeks.

--

Tallahassee International Airport says operations have remained normal, and security has not been increased in response to the attacks.

Valdosta State University announced all of its students overseas have also been safe and accounted for.
ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia man is going to federal prison for his conviction as part of a check-cashing ring accused of stealing hundreds of thousands dollars from banks across the Southeast.

Federal prosecutors say a judge sentenced 32-year-old Ryan Sylvestre of Atlanta to three years, nine months in prison. Jurors convicted him in December of bank fraud conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

A statement issued Tuesday by U.S. Attorney John Horn says Sylvestre and others stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from financial institutions across the Southeast in 2013.

Prosecutors say Sylvestre personally recruited women to help with the scheme. They allegedly cashed forged check at various banks in Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and other places.

Three more people have pleaded guilty in the scheme last year.
CRAWFORDVILLE, FL (WTXL) - A Crawfordville man was indicted Tuesday on charges of first degree murder after a January shooting.

According to the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office, 52-year-old Walter McCoy Porter Sr. was originally facing charges of second degree murder. The grand jury instead indicted Porter on one count of first degree murder and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The charges come following a January 19 incident where deputies said 49-year-old Michael Scott Lawrence was shot at a home on Meadow Ridge Drive. Lawrence died at the scene, deputies said.

Porter turned himself in two days after the shooting. He is currently being held at the Wakulla County Jail without bond.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - Police are searching for a suspect in an possible armed robbery near the Florida State campus.

FSU Police say the robbery happened at the Subway on Tennessee Street around 9:45 a.m.

In an alert sent to students and university staff, authorities described the suspect as a Hispanic male, wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans. He was said to be under the age of 30, clean shaven, and was possibly armed.

Police asked that people avoid the area during the immediate search. However, it is now believed he may have left in a car.

A K-9 unit was brought in to search for the suspect but police say the scent was lost somewhere on campus.

FSU PD says the case is now being investigated by the Tallahassee Police Department.
SELAH, Wash. -- A downtown Selah group will be getting a hefty boost in funding this year to help beautify First Street, promote the downtown 
If You Go

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is facing off against former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Yakima on Thursday

The doors will open to the public at 4 p.m. at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

To speed up security screening, the campaign said, audience members should not bring bags and should carry only small personal items. Weapons, sharp objects, chairs, and signs or banners on sticks will not be allowed.

Admission is first-come, first-served.

For more information, click here
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin by telephone on Wednesday, expressing his condolences for the deaths of three Israelis in the March 19 Istanbul terrorist bombing.

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Terror is terror, life is life, and blood is blood, whether it is in Istanbul, Brussels, Paris or Jerusalem, Rivlin said; we must all stand together in the fight against this terrible evil. Erdogan responded, telling Rivlin that Israel and Turkey need to stand together in the face of terrorism, along with the international community, and take a firm stance.

Presidents Erdogan and Rivlin. A warm conversation. (Photo: AP, AFP, Emil Salman)

This rare conversation, another indication of warming relations between Turkey and Israel following the attack in Istanbul, comes after Erdogan sent a condolence letter to Rivlin. The last conversation between Erdogan and an Israeli leader was three years ago, when PM Netanyahu and President Erdogan spoke on the phone during US President Obama's visit to Israel.

Rivlin thanked Erdogan for sending the condolence letter, and the Turkish president responded by further emphasizing his sorrow for the fate of the Israeli victims.

Rivlin thanked Erdogan once more, and expressed his condolences for the Turkish people, saying that he'd like to thank President Erdogan for all the care he expressed towards the Israeli citizens, and for his help in bringing the victims back to Israel with dignity.

Foreign Ministry Director General in Istanbul

Foreign Ministry Director General Dr. Dore Gold visited Istanbul on Sunday, arriving at the scene of the attack that killed three Israelis: Avraham Goldman, Simcha Damari and Yonatan Shor. This is the first visit by the Foreign Ministry Director in Turkey in the past five years.

Gold stated that bilateral relations are taking a step forward, as Israel and Turkey find themselves on the same side in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism. He expressed his hope that with good will and understanding, the two sides can reach an agreement, citing similar statements from Turkish officials as a positive indication of success.

Gold toured the Istikalal Street area, where the attack occurred, alongside Gilad Cohen, Deputy Director of Coordination in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two met with members of the Jewish community, including the chief rabbi of Turkey, Ishak Haleva. They also met with Israeli emissaries in Turkey and comforted them in these hard times. Gold met with Turkish Foreign Ministry Director General Feridun Sinirlioglu and discussed the reconciliation talks.

Dr. Dore Gold. Hopes for an agreement soon. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

"There is no doubt that the Turkish authorities did the maximum to help Israelis who were in distress and remove the bureaucratic barriers that normally exist after such events."

Gold expressed his appreciation for the Turkish authorities' work in helping Israeli victims of the attack, removing bureaucratic obstacles and expediting processes. When asked if he believed the terrorists targeted the Israeli tourists, Gold said the investigation will take time, and that Turkish authorities were working intensively on finding answers for questions such as that one.

Istanbul's Istiklal Street, following the attack. (Photo: Getty Images)

Israeli Consul General in Istanbul Shai Cohen stated that even if it turns out that the attack was not aimed directly against Israelis, the two countries should take special care to find a way of cooperating and preventing such attacks in the future.

Turkish security officials say that since the attack caused 40 casualties, and a third of them Israelis, it is difficult to assess whether the terrorist intended to specifically target the Israeli tourists. It seems that he sought to harm a large crowd of people.

Security officials believe that if he wanted to harm Israelis in particular, he would have entered the restaurant where they were dining earlier and blown himself up inside it. Turkey informed Israel of progress in investigating the attack and also gave Israel information about the terrorist, who is known as an ISIS operative.
The two suicide bombers who committed the attack at Brussels airport Tuesday morning were brothers, Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, who were known to authorities, according to Belgian RTBF TV.

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Khalid rented an apartment in the Brussels suburb of Forest under a false name. RTBF stated that it was in Forest that an armed man was killed in one of the Belgian security forces operations recently.

The third terrorist visible on the CCTV picture, Najim Laachraoui, 25, who fled the airport leaving behind him an unexploded bomb, remains at large. Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official told The Associated Press, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The wanted notice put out for Najim Laachraoui

On right - suicide bombers, brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui; on right - Najim Laachraoui, arrested after large manhunt.

Authorities earlier released a grainy picture of the same man alongside two men with dark hair in dark clothes who were also pushing trollies with similar bags.

Both of those men wore black gloves on their left hands.

Police helicopter in manhunt for terrorist at large

Two American officials told CNN that the information that led to the raid on the house northeast of Brussels, was provided by a taxi driver who drove the terrorists to the airport.

The taxi driver turned to authorities after having seen the images of the security camera. VRT Belgian TV reported that the terrorists wanted to bring five suitcases but in the end were forced to bring only three as the taxi was too small.

Armed with the taxi drivers information Belgian security forces raided the house, and found a bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag.

The mayor of Zaventem, where the international airport is located, said that the terrorists came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags.

"They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode," he added.

It was this case that bomb disposal experts blew up later, he added.

Vermeiren said of the airport attacks that "it was a war zone, atrocious to see, atrocious to live through. But strength and solidarity have won."
Belgium schools teach their students the Holocaust. One textbook includes a caricature of a Jew on a barbed wire fence with the inscription "never again." Just beside him, there is a Palestinian on the same fence with the inscription "once again!" The text book includes an explanation of the caricature, making clear its message: "The interpretation for 'never again' is what happened under Hitler will never happen again. The interpretation of 'once again' is what is happening today is exactly what happened under Hitler. Concentration camps were fenced off by barbed wire and today the border between Israel and Palestine is barbed wire and a wall."

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When polls in Europe indicate that Europeans think what the Jewish state does to Palestinians is what the Nazis did to Jews, one should recall public education. This poison has not been injected only into the older generation of Belgians, but also the hundreds of thousands of Muslim youth studying in Belgium's education system. Combined with incitement in mosques, frustration with discrimination and claims of discrimination, propaganda from Arab TV networks, it becomes clear dangerous weeds are growing in the backyard.

Brussels Airport, Photo:AFP

The Belgians like many others in Europe believe that their enmity towards Israel grants them immunity from attacks. They do not understand that exactly the opposite is true: As long as incitement against Israel rises to new heights, hatred for Europe will rise to new heights. Europe will have to explain why its relations with Israel are flourishing, if Jews behave like Nazis. How can Europeans cooperate with Nazis? Not only Jews deserve to be punished, but also young Belgian collaborators as well.

It is no surprise that some jihadists are young Belgians who converted to Islam. Unmitigated propaganda has made them identify with Muslims, who they see as victims. Identifying with another person eventually leads to conversion.

Belgium has offered Muslim immigrants generous hospitality, but it has resulted in growing radicalism. The precise number of jihadists in Europe does not exist, but there is no debate that Belgium has a high number, if not the most. According to government reports, more than 300 Belgians have left Belgium to fight jihad, while researchers claim the number is double.

Moreover, when one of the Paris attackers was caught near his home in Brussels, it became clear that the Muslim community is aiding jihadists. The Paris attacker would not have been able to survive without help from the Muslim community. Belgian authorities know that there is no control over Molenbeek near Brussels, as is the situation in many neighborhoods in Europe. Every Muslim does not identify with jihad but 16 percent of Muslim youth, according to one poll, support suicide attacks. Even a slightly smaller percentage would be sufficient to recruit many jihadists and make Europeans helpless.

It appears that authorities had information about the attack yesterday, but Europeans including Belgians struggle to draw the necessary conclusions. They do not understand that the flood of Muslims will not help the current situation. Additionally, they do not understand that incitement against the Jewish state encourages terror against Belgium. As long as there Europe fails to make sober assessments and take action, the jihadists will continue to attack.
Following the attacks at the airport and subway station in Brussels Tuesday morning, the Jewish community has cancelled its Purim celebrations at the behest of the police.

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Over a thousand members of the Jewish community were supposed to attend the megillah reading (reading of the Book of Esther - ed.) at the Great Synagogue of Europe followed by a performance by the Gat Brothers who arrived from Israel for the occasion. Instead, the community will hold smaller gatherings in order to hear the megillah reading and fulfill the mitzvah (commandment -ed.) of Purim.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Head of the European Jewish Association, told Ynet that the decision to cancel the events was done at the request of the police due to the police's fear of additional terrorists in the area.

"The police said that they are unable to protect the event while the city is in a state of war," he said.

Brussels metro bombing

The Chief Rabbi of Belgium and representative of the European Council of Rabbis to the EU Avraham Gigi said that "we are in a state of fear because we don't know what will happen tomorrow."

He continued by saying that while the attack was going on, he was speaking to non-Jewish students at the Great Synagogue of Europe. "They were seized by fear," the rabbi said, "but the guards stationed permanently at the synagogue helped to calm them down."

The Belgian Chief Rabbi "sends the condolences of the entire Belgian Jewish community to the families of the victims, and wish the injured a speedy recovery."

This is a declaration of war

The President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, said that "the rabbis of Europe stand united in prayer with the families of those murdered,and with those injured in the terror attack in Brussels."

"This terror attack is a declaration of war by these Islamo-fascist terrorists against the capial of the EU, and against the freedoms and values of Europe," the rabbi said.

He added that "in synagogues around the world the story of Esther is read this week - a story of the fight between the forces of light and darkness, which will end only by recognizing and knowing without a doubt who the enemy is, and by destroying that enemy. We pray that the EU will know how to join forces in order to fight against the forces of evil, of darkness, and of terror in Belgium, on the internet, in the mosques, and on the streets."
Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, published in London, reported Wednesday that the process involved in Israel's operation to bring in 17 Jews still living in Yemen may have involved bribing local militants.

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The paper quotes sources who say that hefty payments were given to Houthi rebel groups, who control the capital city of Sana'a, in order to enable the operation. It was further reported that the Jews first flew to Amman from Sana'a, then boarded another flight to Israel. There has been no official Jordanian response to these reports.





Some of the new arrivals to Israel. (Photo: Arielle Di-Porto, Jewish Agency)

The group, of which 12 lived in the city of Raydah, included the communitys rabbi, who also serves as its kosher slaughterer. He brought with him a 600-year-old Torah scroll. The group's five remaining members came from Sana'a.

The 17 met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu, who said to them, "Welcome to Jerusalem, welcome to Israel. I am very excited to see you here, and excited that you know how to read the Torah. We have waited many years to bring you here, and with god's help, it worked out."

PM Netanyau with some of the group's members, and the antique torah scroll. (Photo: Haim Zach, GPO)

The group's departure was not quietly accepted. According to information received by Ynet, Houthi authorities have arrested several people who are suspected of being involved in the operation. The arrests were not due to the mere fact that Jews were snuck out of the country, but because they managed to sneak out the antique Torah scroll, which Houthi leadership considers "the property of the Yemeni people."

After the group's departure, there are no longer any Jews in Yemen who live as part of an organized Jewish community. About 40-50 Jews in Yemen refuse to leave. Most live in Sana'a, although a few remain in Raydeh. Yemini Jews have been increasingly harassed in recent years by radical Muslims.
The FBI has been reportedly using the services of the Israeli-based company Cellebrite in its effort to break the protection on a terrorist's locked iPhone, according to experts in the field familiar with the case.

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The US Justice Department last month obtained a court order directing Apple to create software that would disable the password protection on the iPhone, allowing American authorities to access the phone used by Rizwan Farook, one of the two killers who perpetrated the December massacre in San Bernardino, California.

But Apple has fought back, arguing that the order is an overreach by the government and would undermine computer security for everyone.

iPhone 5C (Photo: Apple.com)

This led to widespread discussion in the US on whether the government should receive access to the personal and private information of its citizens, and if so, what should be the extent of such access.

On Monday, US prosecutors announced that a "non-governmental third party" had presented a possible method for opening an encrypted iPhone, noting they were "cautiously optimistic" it would work.

The announcement led a federal judge in Riverside, CA to postpone a hearing originally scheduled for Tuesday so that the FBI could try the newly discovered technique. The Justice Department said it would update the court on April 5.

Cellebrite has not responded to the report. But if it is indeed the "third party" in question, and it is able to break into the terrorist's iPhone, it would bring the high-stakes legal showdown between the government and Apple to an abrupt end.

Cellebrite, considered one of the leading companies in the world in the field of digital forensics, has been working with the world's biggest intelligence, defense and law enforcement authorities for many years.

The company provides the FBI with decryption technology as part of a contract signed with the bureau in 2013.

Cellebrite's technology is able to extract valuable information from cellular devices that could be used in criminal and intelligence investigations, even if the phone and the information it contains are locked and secure.

Meanwhile, an Apple executive told reporters on a press call that the company knew nothing about the Justice Department's possible method for getting into the phone, and that the government never gave any indication that it was continuing to search for such solutions.

14 killed in mass shooting

On December 2, 2015, married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, both Muslim US citizens, opened fire with automatic weapon at a community center in San Bernardino, CA, killing 14 people and wounding 22 others.

Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the San Bernardino attackers

During its investigation of the attack, the FBI found an iPhone 5C that belonged to Farook. The bureau believes the iPhone contains a lot of information that could shed light on the attack, and reveal, amongst other things, places the two visited before the attack, and who they were in contact with, in the search for possible accomplices. However, Farook's iPhone is locked with a password, without which investigators cannot access the information on the phone.

Apple claimed it cannot break its own security system.

Apple said on Monday that if the government was successful in getting into the phone, which might involve taking advantage of previously undiscovered vulnerabilities, it hoped officials would share information on how they did so. But if the government drops the legal case, it would be under no obligation to provide information to Apple.

Cellebrite, led by CEO Yossi Carmil, offers two types of services: Data backup and diagnostic services used by cellular operators worldwide; and solutions to law enforcement in the field of digital forensics.

Cellebrites system can retrieve and back up data, as well as run diagnostics on over 15,000 models of cellphones, smartphones and tablets. It can also map the connections between the owner of the phone and the people he contacted using the information extracted.

Law enforcement, military, intelligence, security and government authorities in over 90 countries have been able to solve serious crimes using Cellebrite's technology in the past.

For example, a double murder in Connecticut was solved using incriminating text messages extracted from the killer's phone, revealing the perpetrator to be the victims' son. In another case, the Interpol used Cellebrite's technology to expose and bring down a network of online sexual extortionists.
The Palestinian Authority has decided to implement a full boycott of Israeli goods, and will immediately start to boycott goods from five Israeli companies.

The five companies are: Strauss, Tnuva, Soglowek (which produces deli meats), and Yifora (which produces fruit juices). The government in Ramallah announced that the boycott is in response to Israeli refusals to allow five Palestinian companies to sell their products in East Jerusalem.

Shortly after the decision was a made, a truck carrying Yifora products was turned back in Bethlehem after not being allowed to unload its products.
Three possible key lessons have arisen from the joint terror attacks in Belgium. All three of them require a fundamental change in investment, effort, agenda, and  most importantly  in the West's worldview.

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The first lesson is regarding the worldwide aviation system, which underwent a rare reform after the attacks of September 11: Rigorous security checks before boarding, the prohibition of sharp objects, and the supervision of routes of entry and exit to and from the aircrafts. This reform succeeded: Al-Qaeda made several attempts to blow up planes mid-flight, and they failed.

But this reform applied only to the planes themselves. It didnt affect the airports or other means of mass transit (passenger ships, buses and trains). Brig. Gen. (res.) Dani Arditi, the head of the Israeli Counter-Terrorism Bureau at the time, warned preceding the 2004 attacks on Spanish trains that passenger trains would be the attackers' next target and that Europe was unprepared.

Last August, a Moroccan jihadist planned to commit a massacre against passengers on a train from Paris to Amsterdam. Two marines managed to thwart the attack at the last minute.

Smoke in Brussels airport after the explosion (Photo: AP)

At the end of October, an ISIS cell in the Sinai successfully blew up a Russian passenger flight midair.

On Tuesday, the attackers operated inside an airport and a subway station. This demands another revolution in public transit, and this time for all the different means of transportation, including the creation of a secured perimeter that includes all stations and ports. That change would entail, however, a great deal of effort, tremendous nuisance to passengers and a massive financial investment.

The second lesson is regarding intelligence. The enemy that European intelligence services are facing is young, talented, crosses borders, uses the local population and knows how to coordinate and organize timed operations in short periods of time, employing encrypted means of communication. Against such an enemy, the West must fundamentally change the perceptions of intelligence, coordination, manpower, resources and legislation, as well as make compromises on human rights.

Situated at the crux of the change is something that most Europeans would find to be in strike contradiction to their beliefs and ethics: It's what the Shin Bet (the domestic Israeli security agency) calls "Basic Coverage." It means monitoring widespread populations and geographical areas, all the time, at high resolution, even those who do not raise any specific suspicion. Simply put: tracking large Muslim populations in Europe, and not just those against whom particular information has been received. Basic Coverage is executed by employing human and technological resources in every street, in community centers and in mosques and with intelligence operatives' local knowledge so complete, it's as if they lived there.

This is how the Shin Bet operates vis-a-vis the Palestinian population. Without Basic Coverage, Israel would not have triumphed against the suicide-bomber intifada a decade ago.

Damage in the Brussels airport

The third lesson: Every additional terror attack on European soil brings closer the moment that the West will have to make a call, and do what it most dreads: ground operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The bitter experience of the post-US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq is engraved deep in the DNA of Europe's leaders and in the legacy of President Barack Obama. But this is only a partial lesson.

The invasion of Afghanistan, a country ruled by a terrorist organization, achieved its first goal. It scattered Al Qaeda's commanders throughout the Middle East and Asia, made its operations much more difficult and helped the US undertake a series of assassination operations that seriously damaged the central core of the organization. In 2005, Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri decided to cease most of their operations in the West and refocus on the Middle East.

State

Today, the central Jihadist organization, ISIS, again has a large territory under its control. There is a huge difference between an organization operating under these conditions, that not for nothing designates itself the Islamist, and a scattered and fragmented organization whose leaders are constantly on the run.

The Istanbul suicide bomber this week is an excellent example: Mehmet Ozturk travelled between Turkey and Syria several times, came back to rest and equip himself every time that he felt that the manhunt after him was closing in, until he was ready to execute his final mission.

A ground operation does not necessarily mean a full occupation of Syria and Iraq, but it must include the elimination of principal ISIS bases and capturing or killing the senior commanders: al-Baghdadi and the former Iraqi generals who serve as his aides.

Moreover, pictures of the organization's leaders killed or being tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague would have a psychological value of their own.
An indictment presented to the Be'er Sheva District Court on Wednesday asserts that Majd Ouida, a computer engineer and tech expert from Gaza, managed to hack into the IDF's drone surveillance system, allowing the leaders of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization to view HD footage from drones hovering above the Gaza Strip.

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Ouida was arrested on February 23, when he left the Gaza Strip in order to meet with prospective talents for the Palestinian equivalent of American Idol, of which he was an organizer.

According to the indictment, Ouida joined the Islamic Jihad five years ago, later developing a program with which they infiltrated the IDF drone system. The program also allowed the organization's leadership to view footage from Israeli traffic cameras.

Ouida also developed a program that allowed the Islamic Jihad to monitor plane traffic at Ben Gurion Airport. It also gave the organization access to passenger manifests and technical details of departing and arriving planes.
The indictment filed on Wednesday against Islamic Jihad operative Majd Ouida presents a very worrying picture. It shows how one person, equipped with extremely meager technological means, can collect with relative ease intelligence on all aspects of the IDFs drone activity over the Gaza Strip, as well as extract extremely sensitive information from Israel's transportation infrastructure, government ministries and from the Palestinian Authority.

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Ouida may have a degree in electrical engineering and computers, but the incredible ease with which he used spying software freely available online should be cause for alarm.

This is cyber espionage, through which the Islamic Jihad could have sabotaged the IDF's intelligence-gathering activities, as well as the military's offensive operations in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the defendant gathered intelligence that could have allowed the Islamic Jihad to accurately aim the rockets at its disposal, leading to mass casualties on the Israeli side.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the second largest terror organization in the Gaza Strip and serves as Iran's main proxy in the Palestinian enclave. The organization had, and still has at its disposal long-range Fajr-5 rockets and other similar projectiles.

Howeverand this is the good newsthe Islamic Jihad in Gaza doesn't have the skill and operational knowledge to take advantage of the intelligence Ouida gathered in a way that could seriously affect IDF operations or endanger Israelis under the threat of its rockets. And still, the intelligence Ouida gathered probably helped protect some of Islamic Jihad's militants and their arsenal of rockets from the IDF's bombs.

IDF drone (Photo: Haim Orenstein)

It's important to note that Ouida was not able to crack the IDFs communications with all of its drones over the Strip. He was able to crack the frequency system of two kinds of drones, one believed to be a small tactical drone that likely did not provide him with highly valuable information, and the other is likely another small aircraft. The latter did give the Islamic Jihad information on what and who the IDF was interested in, and where.

So while the Islamic Jihad was unable to use most of the intelligence it got, and the damage caused is not of the most serious nature, the very fact that Ouida was able to penetrate one of the IDF's intelligence-gathering and offensive measures is a serious breach, perhaps even a very serious one, in the IDF's information security.

No damage during Protective Edge

According to the indictment, starting in 2014, Ouida was no longer able to crack the IDF drones' communications, which means he could not have caused damage during Operation Protective Edge. However, he was able to gain access in 20112014, during which time Operation Pillar of Defense took place. It appears that in that operation at least, the Islamic Jihad knew things the IDF did not want it to know.

Majd Ouida was probably a very productive operative, but his handlers didn't particularly appreciate him. He offered his services and proved time and again that he could use widely available internet programs and equipment bought off the free market in the US, also via the internet, to do things that can usually only be done by a state or a military.

The information he provided, for instance, about Israel's traffic cameras system, and the integration he did with the information he got in real time from the Israel Police's different traffic cameras, would have allowed the Palestinian Jihad, if it had wanted to, to target the State of Israel at rush hour. Ouida could have also done serious harm to commercial planes flying out of Ben Gurion Airport or Sde Dov, as he had information not only of the departure and landing times of planes, but also each flight's manifests.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad members in Gaza (Photo: Reuters)

And Ouida didn't stop there, either. He provided his handlers in the Islamic Jihad with the civil register from the Palestinian Authority's Interior Ministry, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. The Islamic Jihad specifically requested that information, and used these lists to locate potential operatives and recruit them to its ranks.

So it's no wonder that eventually the leaders of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza realized that this guy and his abilities were a strategic asset and decided to send him to continue his education in Iran. The Iranians agreed to take him in and train him in cyber operations, but because of the deterioration of ties between Hamas and Tehran, Ouida was unable to leave the Gaza Strip.

The good news

The good news is that, at least from 2014, the IDF has greatly improved the encryption of its communications with its drones, which is why Ouida was no longer able to crack their frequencies. We can only hope that the stricter security measures put on the encryption will be enough to stop not just Ouidawho was merely a one-man cyber spy organization, doing this as a hobbybut also protect the IDF's communications in the air, land and sea against cyber espionage from Iran and other countries who are very interested in Israels activities in various fields.

Another piece of good news is the fact Ouida and his activities within the Gaza Strip were exposed, as the compartmentalization around him inside the Islamic Jihad was very strict, and few knew of his activities.

An even bigger success is the how he mysteriously ended up out of the Strip and in the hands of the Shin Bet and Israel Police, who were apparently able to get the full story out of him. The story itself is an asset as well, as it allows the State of Israel to once again realize that its critical computer infrastructure is exposed to all and can be breached with methods used by any common hacker.

What is concerning, however, is that Ouida did not operate a decade ago, but in 20112014. At that point, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already declared Israel to be world power in the field of cyber technologies, and particularly in cyber defense, while at the same time establishing a national cyber defense system. And yet Majd Ouida, an electricity and computer engineer who studied in the Gaza Strip, could breach our cyber defense quite successfully.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a press conference in Jerusalem Wednesday evening, to discuss the bombing in Istanbul, in which three Israelis were killed, and the synchronized terrorist attacks in Brussels that killed 31 people.

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Netanyahu told the media that he had spoken to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, expressing his condolences. "If there's one people in the world who know what they're going through, it's the citizens of Israel, who have been standing bravely and courageously against terror attacks for many years," Netanyahu said, "I offered them Israel's full assistance in the fight against terror  intelligence and security assistance."

PM Netanyahu. "We are in the midst of a global war against terror." (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom)

The PM further said that ". It's a war of cultural people vs. people of darkness. Terror strikes everywhere. It strikes in Paris, where 129 people were murdered in one evening, in Ankara, and Brussels where dozens were murdered It strikes in Istanbul, where three Israelis were murdered as well. It strikes the Ivory Coast, California, Jerusalem, and in villages and cities in the land of Israel."

Netanyahu mentioned the Palestinians, saying, "I've said many times already that terrorism does not emerge out of the occupation, or out of despair, but out of hope. The hope of ISIS terrorists that they will establish an Islamic caliphate over the entirety of Europe. The hope of Palestinian terrorists, that they will manage to establish a Palestinian state over the entirety of Israel. We must work together and take that hope away from them."

"That is the most important start to the war on terror. That's why I said to my conversation partners: We must condemn terrorism everywhere and fight it everywhere. Have no doubt, we will beat terrorism. If the nations of the world join hands, we will beat it much faster.

The scene of the deadly Istanbul attack. "We must condemn terrorism everywhere." (Photo: AFP)

When asked why his government has failed in stopping the current wave of terrorism in Israel, which has cost 34 their lives so far, Netanyahu answered, "We don't blur anything up. This struggle is stirring the entire world and striking at all cities on an enormous scale, and we are working to oppose it."

"I understand the Israeli citizens' concern, it's a difficult time and I appreciate the backing of the Israeli people and their courage. We are working against terror in ways that are sometimes unprecedented, and due to the actions we've taken we've managed to prevent many of the hard-hitting attacks we see in other places."

"We enter neighborhoods, villages, make arrests, demolish terrorists' homes, take away work permits, shut down inciting media channels. Now (we're) closing the borders. We've closed the main borders and are completing work on the fence to prevent access to Israel's cities."

Turkish President Erdogan. Is reconciliation forthcoming? (Photo: AFP)

"(We) are working against illegal aliens and their employers, giving the IDF (our) full backing. There are things I don't specify here. Not for nothing, many countries in the world are coming to us in order to learn from our experience in the fight against terror, and I can say that the number grows every day.

Netanyahu was asked if the Istanbul bombing will quicken Israel's reconciliation with Turkey. He answered, saying, "We have always wanted proper relations with Turkey, and did not work to change directions. There are talks, and they're taking place. There will be another meeting soon. I hope it brings positive results (for the sake of) rehabilitation (of relations)."
As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
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New Delhi: An Infosys employee from Bengaluru Raghavendran Ganesh has been missing in Brussels, the company said here on Wednesday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Brussels was trying to trace Ganesh.

We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh, the External Affairs Minister tweeted.

Two Jet Airways crew members Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanai, who were injured in the explosions that rocked Brussels' Zaventem airport are recovering well, the External Affairs Minister said.

In her tweet, the Union Minister said, "I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well."

Meanwhile, Infosys said it was in touch with Ganeshs family and working with Indian Embassy and local authorities in Brussels to locate the missing employee.

Swaraj further informed that Zaventem airport is yet to resume its operations, thus the External Affairs Ministry is coordinating with Jet Airways on alternate plans to evacuate the Indian citizens.

The senior minister also tweeted an emergency help line- number +32-26409140.

Since Mobile communications are blocked, pl contact @IndEmbassyBru Emergency help line- +32-26409140. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 22, 2016

A series of explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on Tuesday, killing around 35 people and injuring more than 200 in the latest attacks to rock Europe.

Brussels airport serves as Jet Airways' European hub for international operations. The airline had, however, recently announced relocation of this gateway to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.
New Delhi: The Delhi, Punjab and Assam police have been alerted about a former Pakistani soldier gaining entry into India through Punjab, with the intention of carrying out terror attacks in hotels and hospitals in the national capital during Holi.

In a communication, the central security agencies said Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir, an ex-military personnel of Pakistan Army, who had worked as a recruiter, coordinator and guide of Jehadi elements in Assam, had crossed over to India from Pakistan through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terrorists.

"The intention of this group is to kill citizens in Delhi in hotels and hospitals on or before Holi," the communication said.

The agencies said Alam had visited a madrasa in Barpeta district in Assam in September 2015.

The ex-Pakistan armyman had stayed in the madrasa for five days and thereafter left for Chirang district, bordering Bhutan.

Alam had used another madrasa in Dhubri district in Assam as his base and used to visit other parts of the state, it said.

In Dhubri, a teacher of the madrasa provided all required logistical support to Alam, the communication added.
Hyderabad: Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday accused the central government of pursuing the JNU row aggressively to overshadow Rohith Vemula suicide case.

While addressing the press in Hyderabad, the JNUSU president accused the Modi government of trying to suppress the voice of students in various universities.

While condemning violent incidents in Hyderabad Central University, Kumar said he doesn't advocate any violent incidents.

However, at the same time the JNU student hit out at Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile saying, the students are right in protesting against the VC.

He further said he would visit the Hyderabad University and also address the students.

Kumar said that the Centre should pass the Rohith Vemula Act as soon as possible, adding they will fight to press the Centre to pass the act so that no such incidents occur in future.

He said he, along with three other JNU research scholars and professor, will meet Rohith Vemula`s mother.

Hyderabad Central University has not granted any permission to JNU students' union president to address a meeting on the campus, the Vice Chancellor earlier said.

Kanhaiya was booked and arrested on a charge of involvement in anti-national sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on February 9.
New Delhi: An Infosys employee from Bengaluru Raghavendran Ganesh has been missing in Brussels, the company said here on Wednesday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Brussels was trying to trace Ganesh.

We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh, the External Affairs Minister tweeted.

Two Jet Airways crew members Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanai, who were injured in the explosions that rocked Brussels' Zaventem airport are recovering well, the External Affairs Minister said.

In her tweet, the Union Minister said, "I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well."

Meanwhile, Infosys said it was in touch with Ganeshs family and working with Indian Embassy and local authorities in Brussels to locate the missing employee.

Swaraj further informed that Zaventem airport is yet to resume its operations, thus the External Affairs Ministry is coordinating with Jet Airways on alternate plans to evacuate the Indian citizens.

The senior minister also tweeted an emergency help line- number +32-26409140.

Since Mobile communications are blocked, pl contact @IndEmbassyBru Emergency help line- +32-26409140.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 22, 2016

A series of explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on Tuesday, killing around 35 people and injuring more than 200 in the latest attacks to rock Europe.

Brussels airport serves as Jet Airways' European hub for international operations. The airline had, however, recently announced relocation of this gateway to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.
Hyderabad: Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday wasn't allowed to enter Hyderabad Central University and join the protests over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

The police stopped him outside the varsity main gate when he arrived in the evening to address protesting students on the campus.

Since the university authorities barred the entry of outsiders, police stopped Kanhaiya's convoy.

After being stopped from entering the Hyderabad University, the JNUSU president addressed the students infront of the gate.

He said, "We have come here for justice for Rohith."

Hitting out at the central government, the JNU student said that it is unfortunate that government is not listening to the voice of students.

He said the government was not ready to listen to the students. He made it clear that police 'lathis' can't silence their voice.

"Our fight will continue till the dreams of Rohith Vemula, BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh are realised," he said, demanding enactment of what he called 'Rohith legislation' to ensure social justice on the campuses.

The varsity has not granted any permission to JNU students' union president to address a meeting on the campus, according to Vice Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile.

Earlier today, Kumar met late Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's mother.

Kanhaiya was booked and arrested on a charge of involvement in anti-national sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on February 9.
New Delhi: Showing anguish over recent terrorist attack in Belgium, noted author and activist Taslima Nasreen on Wednesday made a strong remark, stating Islamists would kill everyone who is not Islamist.

Taslima, who is quite vocal about her thoughts on bigotry in Islam, took to Twitter and wrote, It seems Islamists would kill everyone who is not Islamist. We sane people are not safe anywhere any more.

It seems Islamists would kill everyone who is not Islamist. We sane people are not safe anywhere anymore.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) March 23, 2016

Further in a series of tweets, she said, Most Muslims justify terror attacks committed by Islamic terrorists. They cry for Palestinian Muslims, but hardly for anyone who is not Muslim.

Most Muslims justify terror attacks committed by Islamic terrorists.They cry for Palestinian Muslims,but hardly for anyone who is not Muslim  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) March 23, 2016

Going harsh on terrorists, she said, How hateful those people are who in order to kill others do no hesitate to kill themselves. You don't need to analyse whether Islamic terrorists are homegrown. All of them, wherever they live, are Islamgrown.

Poor petty criminals get brainwashed to become terrorists! Don't forget that Osama Bin Laden,Muhammad Ata etc. were rich & highly educated.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) March 23, 2016

Not only Islam, apologists for Islam also encourage Muslims to become terrorists.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) March 23, 2016

She also questioned the politicians and media for not using the word 'Islamic terrorists'.
Pune: Amidst drama at Fergusson College over the purported raising of anti-national slogans, an NCP MLA was allegedly manhandled today on its campus as a clash broke out between workers of his party and ABVP supporters.

A day after heated exchanges there between ABVP activists and students affiliated to Left organisations, NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad was allegedly manhandled on the Fergusson campus during a clash which led to the deployment of a riot squad and saw the police stepping in to control the situation.

The MLA wanted to meet Fergusson College principal R Pardeshi to discuss yesterday's incident and reached the campus at around 4.30 PM. But, unable to meet Pardeshi, he began a speech to NCP workers and supporters on the campus.

While he was speaking, members of ABVP and BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, started raising slogans against Awhad and allegedly heckled him.

Awhad's supporters and the rival groups soon came to blows and the NCP leader was allegedly manhandled during the melee.

Police had to intervene and escorted Awhad to his car. But even after the NCP leader had got inside the vehicle, footwear and stones were hurled at his car.

Police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd before Awhad and his supporters left the campus. After the clash, a riot control squad was deployed.

"Police had to use mild force to disperse the groups as Awhad was manhandled. Although a police officer took out his service revolver, no rounds were fired and Awhad was escorted out safely," said a senior police officer.

"We are yet to detain anybody in this connection. We will study CCTV footage to check what exactly happened," he said.

Meanwhile, with the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Minister Vinod Tawde.

Pardeshi had yesterday dashed off a letter to police seeking action against those who had "raised anti-national slogans" on the campus during a verbal clash between two students' groups. However, he today retracted his statement, saying he had sought a probe to ascertain if such slogans were raised.

Although in his letter yesterday, Pardeshi had asked police to take "stern action" against individuals who raised anti-national slogans, in a turnaround today, he told PTI the letter had a "typographical error" and he had only meant to request police to find out whether or not anti-national slogans were raised on the campus.
New Delhi: Pakistan is looking to have "normal" ties with India on the basis of "mutual respect and interest", its envoy Abdul Basit said on Wednesday even as he called for resolution of all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute, to ensure "peace and prosperity".

Talking to reporters here, he described the proposed visit of a five-member investigation team of Pakistan to probe the Pathankot terror attack as a "positive development" and hoped they will be able to do their work "productively".

On Pakistan High Commission inviting Hurriyat Conference leaders to 76th anniversary of Pakistan Day celebrations this evening, Basit said, "They have been attending the reception for years and Pakistan did not see any issue in it."

He said, "It is also necessary to resolve all our problems, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, so as to put our relations on the irreversible trajectory of peace and prosperity. Cooperative relations are also required to address many common challenges including climate change and poverty."

A five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team had yesterday applied for visa to come to India to carry forward the probe into the Pathankot terror attack, days after the announcement by Foreign Ministers of the two countries that it will come here on March 27.

Referring to it, Basit said, "Let the team come. We will see. It's a positive development, I think. We hope the team would be able to do its work productively."

Asked about progress towards holding Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, Basit said that "no date" has been finalised yet but hoped the parleys will take place "sooner than later".

To another question on Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington next week, Basit said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend it.

He said Pakistan "being a nuclear power" has an "important" role to play and expressed the hope that international community will work together and ensure nuclear security in all its aspects and "without any discrimination".

Basit also condemned Brussels explosions and said there can't be any justification for actions of terrorists.
New Delhi: Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar will represent the Indian Government at the Pakistan Day function at the Pakistan High Commission here this evening.

The development comes after Minister of State in Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh said that he might not be able to attend the function.

"I did receive an invitation for the event at a personal level. But due to my pre-occupations, I may not be able to attend the function," Singh told ANI.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq among others have been invited to attend the `Pakistan Day` function in the national capital.

Eyebrows have always been raised whenever Pakistan has invited separatist leaders for the events.

Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh had represented the government at the Pakistan National Day reception last year.

Meanwhile, members of the Asiya Andrabi-led separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) today hoisted Pakistani flags at several places in Srinagar.

The DeM has been hoisting Pakistani flags every year on Pakistan Day and on Pakistan`s Independence Day in the valley.

Last year, India had cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks with the Asian neighbour after Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit met the Kashmiri separatists ahead of the planned meet.
New Delhi: Taking a slew of precautionary measures, the University of Hyderabad on Wednesday suspended classes until March 27 and banned the entry of media and outsiders into its campus shorlty ahead of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar's arrival in the city  a move aimed at re-igniting the Rohith Vemula suicide case.

The move was announced following yesterday's violent protests at the university campus.

Jawaharlal Nehru University students leader Kanhaiya Kumar arrived with a JNU delegation to visit the University of Hyderabad, which yesterday witnessed violent protests after its VC Appa Rao Podile resumed work days after the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

The protesting students, who have been protesting ever since Vemula committed suicide inside the varsity campus, vandalised the VC's residence where he was due to address the press in a short while.

The JNUSU president met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital yesterday.

Kumar led a delegation of Jawaharlal Nehru University students Union (JNUSU) and All India Students' Federation (AISF) leaders to meet Gandhi at his Tughlak Lane residence.

This was the first time that the Congress vice president has met Kanhaiya since he was released on bail from a prison here where he was lodged following an uproar over alleged anti-national activities at the JNU campus.

The student leader was charged with sedition.

Earlier, Gandhi had come out in full support for Kanhaiya amid the unrest at the JNU.

Kanhaiya was booked and arrested on a charge of involvement in anti-national sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on February 9.
Zee Media Bureau/Udita Madan

New Delhi: March 24th this year, marks the onset of the vibrant festival of colours  Holi. The Hindu festival is celebrated in India in the month of March in full swing.

The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter and for many, a festive day to meet people and make merry and is also celebrated as thanksgiving for a good harvest.

Celebrating the lively spirit and energy of the festival, search-engine giant Google has come up with an interactive doodle to wish everyone a happy holi!

The doodle shows different colours being spattered on the letters that spell Google, once you click on the play button.

The festival of Holi is celebrated over two days, the first one being celebrated as Holika Dahan and the second day as the main festival.
Dehradun: Amid ongoing uncertainty over the fate of Harish Rawat government which will face floor test in Uttarakhand Assembly on March 28, the BJP on Wednesday claimed at least five more MLAs from the Congress led alliance are ready to jump over to its side.

"There are at least five more MLAs in the Congress led alliance including some occupying ministerial positions only biding their time to switch over to our side," chief spokesman of the Pradesh BJP Munna Singh Chauhan told PTI.

"They are in touch with us and will happily jump over to our side in case the arithmetic of the state Assembly veers towards a tie during voting in the House on March 28," he said.

Though he refused to disclose the names, Chauhan said they were both from the Congress and its ruling partner the six-member Progressive Democratic Front a conglomerate of Independents and political parties.

"The resentment against Harish Rawat's autocratic style of functioning in the party is deeper than it may appear at first sight. It is not confined to the nine rebel MLAs who have openly revolted against him. There are others equally unhappy and are secretly waiting for a change-over. They will align with us as and when the opportunity presents itself," he said.

Chauhan claimed as per the rules, State Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal cannot disqualify the nine rebel MLAs under the Anti-Defection law.

"The law is very clear in this regard. The Speaker can disqualify a member under the anti-defection law only on two grounds. One, defying party whip in the House and two, defecting to another party. None of these apply to the nine rebel MLAs who have neither violated the whip nor defected to any other group or party," he said.

Elaborating on this Chauhan said how can the "rebel MLAs be accused of defying the party whip when the Speaker himself disallowed a division of votes on the appropriation bill in the House?"

Even if the Speaker's announcement that the appropriation bill was "passed by voice vote by implication means there was no violation of the party whip," he contended.

"However, if the Speaker ventures into any kind of adventurism and rushes to disqualify the rebel MLAs his action will not stand the scrutiny in a court of law," he warned.
Istanbul: Three suspected Islamic State members arrested in Turkey were planning attacks on Germany`s diplomatic missions or schools in the country, which were closed last week over a terror threat, Turkish media reported Wednesday.

The three men -- a Turk, an Iraqi and a Syrian -- were arrested in Istanbul on Tuesday by police acting on information from both Turkey`s and Germany`s intelligence services, Hurriyet newspaper and the broadcaster CNN-Turk reported.

The suspects, presented as members of an IS cell, are accused of plotting attacks on German interests in Turkey, the reports said.

Last Thursday, Germany closed its embassy in Ankara, its consulate in Istanbul and German schools in both cities, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier citing "very serious" indications of planned attacks.

Turkish authorities had criticised the closures, saying they were unjustified.

Two days later, a Turkish alleged IS member blew himself up on a busy shopping street in Istanbul, killing three Israelis and an Iranian and injuring dozens.

Tuesday`s arrests in Istanbul come as police continue to hunt three Turkish suspected members of an IS cell believed to be planning further attacks in crowded public places.

A further 10 suspected IS members were captured Tuesday on Turkey`s border with Syria, one of whom was wearing an explosives vest, officials said.

Two of those held in southern Gaziantep province were injured in an exchange of gunfire with Turkish troops. Three others managed to flee the scene, the local governor`s office said.

IS has been blamed for four of six bombings that have rocked Turkey in the past eight months, including a massacre at a peace rally in the capital Ankara in October that claimed 103 lives and a bombing outside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul in January that killed 12 German tourists.

A radical offshoot of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which the state is embroiled in a bloody conflict in southeast Turkey, claimed the other two attacks.
Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday said Europe had "allowed security to slip", as he questioned the EU`s Schengen passport-free zone in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

Turnbull`s comments came as Belgium`s neighbours France, Germany and the Netherlands tightened border security after some 35 people were killed in Belgium`s worst extremist assault.

The Australian leader said while it was up to Europe to set its policies, his nation`s border protection measures and domestic security arrangements "are much stronger than they are in Europe where regrettably they allowed security to slip".

"That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they`ve been having in recent times," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, alluding to the wave of migrants who have flooded into the continent, many of them from Syria.

Turnbull added that the open-borders Schengen travel regime, which covers 26 of the 28 EU countries, meant "people are able to freely travel across borders within Europe -- that poses security challenges, coupled with clearly very porous external borders as we`ve seen plenty of evidence of that".

"My point really was to say that those arrangements have security consequences," he told reporters in Sydney.
Brussels: Belgium pressed a huge manhunt on Wednesday after Islamic State bombers attacked Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people and wounding hundreds as jihadists once again struck at the heart of Europe.

Two massive suicide blasts by men with bombs in their bags hit Zaventem Airport, leaving blood and mangled bodies strewn across the check-in hall and sending terrified travellers fleeing.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were "actively searching" for a third man 'wearing a hat' whose explosives did not to go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, capital of the European Union, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent's ability to prevent terrorism.

It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam following four months on the run.

Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag, while on social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

"This is a day of tragedy, a black day," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the "deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium".

But as Belgium began three days of national mourning today, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the "blind, violent and cowardly" attacks.

"People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity," Michel said. "We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life."

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attacks against "the crusader state" of Belgium.

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism "with all means necessary" on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

"The whole of Europe has been hit," said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from November's attacks.

Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity.

US President Barack Obama vowed to stand with Belgium in the face of the "outrageous" attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while the FBI and New York police said they would send investigators to help.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said those responsible for the "despicable" bombings should face justice, while Belgian King Philippe condemned the "cowardly and odious" attacks.

Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled as Europe tightened security, while the US warned citizens about the "potential risks" of travelling in Europe and New York and Washington stepped up security.

There were chaotic scenes at Brussels airport after the bombers struck around at around 8:00 am (1230 IST), as plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising from holes punched through the roof of the building by the blasts.

"A lot of people lost limbs. One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg," airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.

About an hour after the airport blasts, a third explosion rocked Maalbeek metro station, in the heart of the city's EU quarter, just as commuters were making their way to work.

Paramedics tended to commuters with bloodied faces as the city's normally peaceful streets filled with the wailing of sirens.

Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 14 people had been killed at the airport, while Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said "around 20" died in the metro.

Among them was Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, a Peruvian woman who had been living in Brussels for six years and was with her family in the airport when the blast went off, according to the foreign ministry.

More than 200 people were wounded in the two attacks, including four Mormon missionaries -- three Americans and one French -- two Britons, two Colombians and an Ecuadoran. France said eight of its nationals were hurt, though it was unclear if this included the Mormon.

Belgian authorities published surveillance images showing the three male suspects of the airport attack. Two had dark hair and were wearing a glove on only one hand, and a third, who is being hunted by Belgian police, was wearing a hat and a white coat.

"They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said.

"They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode."

Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels.

Last Tuesday an Algerian IS-linked militant was killed in a shoot-out in the south of the city.

Investigators believe Abdeslam slipped out of the apartment as the gun battle erupted.

He was arrested three days later in Brussels' gritty Molenbeek district, just around the corner from his family home.
Brussels: Belgium`s chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic State suicide bombers who killed at least 31 people in the most deadly attacks in Brussels` history but said another key suspect was on the run.

Tuesday's attacks on a city that is home to the European Union and NATO sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport. It also rekindled debate about lagging European security cooperation and flaws in police surveillance.

The attacks came four months after militants, also from IS, carried out bombings and shootings in Paris that killed 129 people. Some Belgian media reports said a forensic link had been established between one of the Brussels bombers, who may have been killed, and the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital.

Washington announced that Secretary of State John Kerry would visit Belgium on Friday to demonstrate support.

The Belgian federal prosecutor told a news conference that Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, one of two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on Tuesday, had left a will on a computer dumped in a rubbish bin near the militants` hideout.

In it, he described himself as "always on the run, not knowing what to do anymore, being hunted everywhere, not being safe any longer and that if he hangs around, he risks ending up next to the person in a cell" - a reference to suspected Paris bomber Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last week.

His brother Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, detonated a bomb an hour later on a crowded rush-hour metro train near the European Commission headquarters, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said.

Both men, born in Belgium, had criminal records for armed robbery but investigators had not linked them to Islamist militants until Abdeslam`s arrest, when police began a race against time to track down his suspected accomplices.

That seems to have prompted the bombers to rush into an attack in Belgium after months of lying low, according to the testament found on the laptop.

At least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in the attacks, the prosecutor said. That toll could increase further because some of the bomb victims at Maelbeek metro station were blown to pieces and victims are hard to identify. Several survivors were still in critical condition.

The Bakraoui brothers were identified by their fingerprints and on security cameras, the prosecutor said. A second suicide bomber at the airport had yet to be identified and a third man, whom he did not name, had left the biggest bomb and ran out of the terminal before the explosions.

Belgian media named that man as Najim Laachraoui, 25, a suspected Islamic State recruiter and bomb-maker whose DNA was found on two explosives belts used in the Paris attacks and at a Brussels safe house used by Abdeslam.

De Standaard newspaper, however, citing an unidentified source, named Laachraoui as the second suicide bomber at the airport.

Khalid El Bakraoui rented under a false name the apartment in the city`s Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week. He is also believed to have rented a safe house in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi used to mount the Paris attacks.

Turkey said it had detained Ibrahim El Bakraoui near the Syrian border last year and deported him to the Netherlands before he was briefly held in Belgium, then released. "Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter," President Tayyip Erdogan said.

The Brussels attacks came days after a suspected Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul`s most popular shopping district, killing three Israelis and an Iranian.

The Syrian-based Islamist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday`s attacks, warning of "black days" for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a hub of Islamist militants who operated elsewhere.

A minute`s silence was observed across Belgium at noon. Prime Minister Charles Michel cancelled a trip to China and reviewed security measures with his inner cabinet before attending a memorial event at European Commission headquarters with King Philippe, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

"We are determined, admittedly with a strong feeling of pain in our stomachs, but determined to act," Michel told a joint news conference with Valls. "France and Belgium are united in pain more than ever."

Valls played down cross-border sniping over security, saying: "We must turn the page on naivete, a form of carefreeness that our societies have known.

"It is Europe that has been attacked. The response to terrorism must be European."

EU justice and interior ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the Dutch EU presidency said.

More than 1,000 people gathered around an improvised shrine with candles and street paintings outside the Brussels bourse.

Belgium`s crisis coordination centre kept the level of security alert at the maximum as the man hunt continued. Some buses and trains were running but the metro and the airport were closed, along with key road tunnels in Brussels.

The blasts fuelled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants.

Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to succeed Obama in November`s U.S. election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks. He also said in a British television interview that Muslims were not doing enough to prevent that kind of violence.

After a tip-off from a taxi driver who unwittingly drove the bombers to the airport, police searched an apartment in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek late into the night, finding another bomb, an Islamic State flag, 15 kg of the same kind of explosives used in the Paris attacks and bomb-making chemicals.

An unused explosive device was also found at the airport.

Security experts believed the blasts were probably in preparation before Friday`s arrest of locally based French national Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks.

He was caught and has been speaking to investigators after a shootout at an apartment in the south of the city, after which another Islamic State flag and explosives were found.

About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities.

Reviving arguments over Belgian security policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people died in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of "naivete" on the part of "certain leaders" in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalised. Valls said France had no place teaching Belgium lessons and had problems with its own communities.

Brussels airport seemed likely to remain shut for several days over the busy Easter holiday weekend, since the departure hall was still being combed as a crime scene on Wednesday and repairs can only begin once investigators are finished.
Brussels: In a major breakthrough, the Belgian police on Wednesday identified two brothers as the suspected suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks at the Brussels international airport.

According to state broadcaster RTBF, the two Brussels attackers have been identified as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui.

The two brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism.

Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment raided by police last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

The development came hours after Belgium pressed a huge manhunt after Islamic State bombers attacked Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people and wounding hundreds as jihadists once again struck at the heart of Europe.

Two massive suicide blasts by men with bombs in their bags hit Zaventem Airport, leaving blood and mangled bodies strewn across the check-in hall and sending terrified travellers fleeing.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were "actively searching" for a third man 'wearing a hat' whose explosives did not to go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, capital of the European Union, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent's ability to prevent terrorism.

It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam following four months on the run.

Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag, while on social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

"This is a day of tragedy, a black day," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the "deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium".

But as Belgium began three days of national mourning today, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the "blind, violent and cowardly" attacks.

"People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity," Michel said. "We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life."

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attacks against "the crusader state" of Belgium.

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism "with all means necessary" on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

"The whole of Europe has been hit," said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from November's attacks.

Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity.

US President Barack Obama vowed to stand with Belgium in the face of the "outrageous" attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while the FBI and New York police said they would send investigators to help.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said those responsible for the "despicable" bombings should face justice, while Belgian King Philippe condemned the "cowardly and odious" attacks.

Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled as Europe tightened security, while the US warned citizens about the "potential risks" of travelling in Europe and New York and Washington stepped up security.

There were chaotic scenes at Brussels airport after the bombers struck around at around 8:00 am (1230 IST), as plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising from holes punched through the roof of the building by the blasts.

"A lot of people lost limbs. One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg," airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.

About an hour after the airport blasts, a third explosion rocked Maalbeek metro station, in the heart of the city's EU quarter, just as commuters were making their way to work.

Paramedics tended to commuters with bloodied faces as the city's normally peaceful streets filled with the wailing of sirens.

Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 14 people had been killed at the airport, while Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said "around 20" died in the metro.

Among them was Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, a Peruvian woman who had been living in Brussels for six years and was with her family in the airport when the blast went off, according to the foreign ministry.

More than 200 people were wounded in the two attacks, including four Mormon missionaries -- three Americans and one French -- two Britons, two Colombians and an Ecuadoran. France said eight of its nationals were hurt, though it was unclear if this included the Mormon.

Belgian authorities published surveillance images showing the three male suspects of the airport attack. Two had dark hair and were wearing a glove on only one hand, and a third, who is being hunted by Belgian police, was wearing a hat and a white coat.

"They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said.

"They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode."

Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels.

Last Tuesday an Algerian IS-linked militant was killed in a shoot-out in the south of the city.

Investigators believe Abdeslam slipped out of the apartment as the gun battle erupted.

He was arrested three days later in Brussels' gritty Molenbeek district, just around the corner from his family home.
Brussels: Belgian prosecutors said on Wednesday that two brothers carried out suicide attacks at Brussels airport and on a metro train, with one of them leaving a desperate will in a trash can saying he did not know what do any more.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew himself up in the check-in hall of Zaventem airport while Khalid El Bakraoui attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, Frederic van Leeuw told a news conference.

Prosecutors said the confirmed toll from the two attacks was 31 dead and 270 wounded.

Van Leeuw said Bakraoui's "will" said he was "in a rush", and "I don't know what to do ... Hunted everywhere ... No longer safe", adding that "I don't want to end up in a cell next to him".

That appeared to be a reference to Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is reportedly linked to Bakraoui, and who is in custody in Belgium after being captured last week.

The computer on which Ibrahim wrote the will was dumped in a trash can in the same street in the Brussels district of Schaarbeek where investigators found an unexploded bomb, an Islamic State group flag and bomb-making materials last night.

Prosecutors confirmed that they had found 15 kilos of TATP high explosive in the flat.

They also found chemicals including 150 litres of acetone, 30 litres of liquid oxygen, detonators, a suitcase full of nails and other bomb-making equipment including plastic trays, tools and ventilator.

A third man, who was filmed with Ibrahim and a second unidentified suicide bomber and who fled the scene without detonating his device, remains on the run, prosecutors said.

"The third man is on the run; he left his bag with the biggest bomb in it, which exploded later because it was so unstable. This third person remains unidentified and is still being looked for," he said.
New York: Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz turned to Twitter to defend their wives` honor after a Super PAC put out an ad featuring Trump`s wife nude and Trump threatened to "spill the beans" on Cruz`s wife.

Trump`s threat came on Tuesday night when he was upset about an ad that showed his wife, former model Melania Trump, lounging nude with a caption saying, "Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

Trump said Cruz was behind the ad, which appeared on Tuesday, the day of nominating contests in Utah, where the heavily Mormon electorate favored Cruz in its caucuses, and Arizona, which gave Trump a victory in its primary vote. The ad said it was from Make America Awesome, a Super PAC that is allowed to promote a candidate but not coordinate with the campaign.

Wow @SenTedCruz, that is some low level ad you did using a picture [of] Melania in a G.Q. shoot," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "Be careful or I will spill the beans on your wife."

Trump later deleted the tweet but published another that read: Lyin Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!

Trump did not indicate what kind of beans he intended to spill about Heidi Cruz, who is on leave from an executive job at Goldman Sachs while campaigning, but her husband quickly came to her defense on Twitter.

"Pic of your wife not from us," the U.S. senator from Texas said. "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you`re more of a coward than I thought. #classless."

The battle continued on Wednesday with Cruz telling CNN: "He went directly after my wife. If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he`s better off sticking with me because Heidi is way out of his league."

A Twitter response from Trump questioned Cruz` honesty.

"Lyin` Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania. That`s why we call him Lyin` Ted!" he said.

The director of Make America Awesome, Liz Mair, posted on Twitter that her group was responsible for the ad. She did not respond to an email from Reuters seeking comment.

In a campaign appearance for her husband in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Heidi Cruz addressed the uproar briefly.

"You probably know by now that most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality," she told reporters. So we are not worried in the least."
Buenos Aires: After bidding to turn the page on the Cold War in Cuba, President Barack Obama arrived early Wednesday in Argentina, where campaigners hope he will acknowledge US backing for its former dictatorship.

After calling for freedom and democracy as he stood alongside the Cuba`s Communist leaders, Obama has touched down in another Latin American nation with a history of delicate relations with Washington.

After a series of historic but at times awkward public appearances with Cuba`s Communist leader Raul Castro, Obama will on Wednesday meet Argentina`s new free market-friendly President Mauricio Macri.

Tuesday`s deadly bomb blasts in Brussels prompted Argentina to put its security forces on high alert as it prepared for Obama`s visit.

Macri has reached out to Washington and other foreign powers since taking office in December after years of combative relations under his leftist predecessors.

But the delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America`s violent history will rear its head during his visit to Buenos Aires -- after the Havana visit touched on sensitivities over human rights in Cuba.

On Thursday morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the "dirty war" by Argentina`s dictators against dissidents.

Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that started the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Declassified documents have shown that top US officials backed the coup. Obama arrived in the wee hours of Wednesday with First Lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters and his mother in law and were received by Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra.

Later in the day he holds talks with Macri, lays a wreath at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and meets with local people before attending a state dinner.As well as becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in almost a century, Obama hopes to remake the United States` image in Latin America, tarnished by involvement in coups and death squads.

Obama`s administration said last week it would declassify military and intelligence records linked to Argentina`s "dirty war."

"We`re determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama`s National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
Dublin: The Irish government has condemned the terrorist attacks in Brussels, saying that the attacks "have highlighted starkly once again the threat from international terrorism".

"There can never be any justification for such brutality. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of all those who have lost their lives, and also with the injured and we hope for their speedy recovery," the government said in a statement on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Acts of violence like these are an attack on the democratic way of life that we in Ireland hold dear and the values that we share with our EU partners," it said.

"There is no information at present of any Irish casualties but this is, of course, an evolving situation," it added.

The Irish police authorities and the Department of Foreign Affairs are currently liaising with the relevant authorities in Brussels and other international partners in the light of these attacks, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said his department, in conjunction with the Irish embassy in Belgium, are working with the local authorities.

"Any Irish citizens in Brussels or Belgium should exercise caution and closely follow the instructions of local authorities," he said.

At least 34 people were killed in a series of attacks in Brussels on Tuesday.


Washington: Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Moscow for talks on Ukraine and Syria as the terrorist attacks in Brussels underscored the urgency of fighting the Islamic State group.

Kerry was to depart Washington late yesterday after accompanying President Barack Obama to Cuba and speaking by phone from Havana with the Belgian foreign minister to offer condolences for the victims of the attacks and any assistance Brussels might need.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and have highlighted the threat the group poses outside of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tomorrow, Kerry is to discuss the fragile truce in Syria that is hoped will spark UN-brokered peace talks amid disagreements over how to verify and respond to alleged violations, the State Department said.

His visit was arranged following Putin's surprise announcement last week of Russia's partial military withdrawal from Syria.

Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the US refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The State Department, however, insisted that Moscow and Washington are working constructively to monitor the truce.

The department also warned Russia against taking unilateral action in response to alleged violations. The Russian military has accused the US of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow's proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria cease-fire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.

Kerry also will call on Russia to do more to press pro-Russian separatists to comply with a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He is expected to raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia yesterday on charges the US says are false.

Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The US has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again yesterday.

"For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Kerry was to depart Washington late yesterday after accompanying President Barack Obama to Cuba and speaking by phone from Havana with the Belgian foreign minister to offer condolences for the victims of the attacks and any assistance Brussels might need.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and have highlighted the threat the group poses outside of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tomorrow, Kerry is to discuss the fragile truce in Syria that is hoped will spark UN-brokered peace talks amid disagreements over how to verify and respond to alleged violations, the State Department said.

His visit was arranged following Putin's surprise announcement last week of Russia's partial military withdrawal from Syria.

Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the US refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The State Department, however, insisted that Moscow and Washington are working constructively to monitor the truce.

The department also warned Russia against taking unilateral action in response to alleged violations. The Russian military has accused the US of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow's proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria cease-fire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.

Kerry also will call on Russia to do more to press pro-Russian separatists to comply with a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He is expected to raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia yesterday on charges the US says are false.

Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The US has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again yesterday.

"For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
United Nation: The United Nations said Tuesday it has closed its military liaison office in Dakhla, Western Sahara at the request of Morocco and withdrew three military observers posted there.

It was the latest twist in a running dispute between the world body and Morocco, which was angered when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently referred to the "occupation" of the disputed territory.

The three observers were transferred Monday to Ausserd in the western part of the Moroccan-controlled territory, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said. Rabat had given them 72 hours to leave.

Haq said the Moroccan request was "the first request directly targeting the military component."

The Moroccans on Sunday expelled most of the civilian experts attached to the UN mission in Western Sahara -- more than 70 people who were sent to the Canary Islands or sent on leave in their home countries.

"It is making the direct dialogue with the Royal Moroccan Army more difficult," particularly in monitoring a ceasefire, he said.

The UN mission, which has about 500 civilian and military personnel, was established in 1991 to monitor the ceasefire and prepare for elections in Western Sahara.

But Morocco, which annexed Western Sahara in 1975, has resisted an election and instead proposes self-government under Moroccan sovereignty.

Diplomats say the United States is pressing for a Security Council statement that calls for a lowering of tension and resolving the dispute, without taking sides.

France, meanwhile, is intensifying efforts to reopen a dialogue between the United Nations and Rabat.

When it took up the issue last Thursday, the Security Council was unable to arrive at a consensus, and left it to member states to make efforts on their own to try to patch up the dispute.
Geneva: No foreign power should be permitted to interfere in the ongoing Syrian peace talks in Geneva, the lead government negotiator said, denying that high-level US-Russian meetings in Moscow will impact the process.

"When we say that the dialogue must be between Syrians, without outside intervention, this also applies to the Russians and Americans," Bashar al-Jaafari told AFP in an interview.

His comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was heading to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, hoping to build momentum for the Syrian peace drive.

Negotiations in Geneva, entering their 10th day Wednesday, were rattled last week by Russia`s surprise decision to withdraw most of its troops from Syria, a move experts have said could help the peace drive by weakening Assad`s position.

But Jaafari, who serves as Syria`s ambassador to the UN in New York and as the lead government negotiator in the talks, said that believing that Moscow can pressure its historic ally in Damascus amounted to a "misreading" of the situation.

"If any pressure should be applied, we hope it will be applied by the United States on the armed groups sponsored by Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to help move the discussions forward," he said.

The meetings in Moscow on Thursday are expected among other things to touch on a partial, fragile ceasefire declared on February 27, which has raised hopes for an end to the five-year Syrian conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

There is much anticipation around what signals Russia will send, since it is considered to hold significant sway over its ally Damascus.

Russia intervened militarily in Syria last September at President Bashar al-Assad`s request, allowing the regime to retake significant territory it had lost to various armed opposition groups.

And while Russia has been withdrawing troops, it remains unclear how much pressure Moscow is willing to apply, with Putin stressing the country can ramp up its military presence in Syria again "within hours" if needed.UN mediator Staffan de Mistura, who has been shuttling between the sides in the indirect negotiations, has meanwhile voiced cautious criticism of the regime delegation for sticking to declarations on principles and not making concrete proposals on the thorny issue of political transition in Syria.

"We are beginning to exit the impasse on form but not on content," Jaafari acknowledged.

But he insisted that "we are close to breaking the ice that covered the previous round of discussions," which were aborted before ever beginning in earnest in early February.

And he admitted "there is no common vision on the question of political transition."

Assad`s fate has been a key obstacle in the latest talks, with the government stubbornly insisting any discussion of him leaving is "excluded" and the opposition saying any talk of allowing him to stay is "absolutely unacceptable".
Hanoi: A prominent Vietnamese blogger went on trial Wednesday on anti-state charges, amid heavy security at Hanoi`s central court, with police closing roads and breaking up a protest by dozens of supporters.

Nguyen Huu Vinh, more commonly known as Anh Ba Sam, was arrested in 2014 and has been held in detention ever since, accused of disseminating anti-government articles on his wildly popular news site.

The 60-year-old blogger and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, 35, are both accused of "abusing democratic freedoms", a charge that carries up to seven years in jail.

Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Vietnam has put more than 30 bloggers behind bars -- second only to China.

On Wednesday dozens of protestors waved photographs of Vinh and chanted demands for his release, before scores of uniformed and plain clothed police forced them to disperse.

At least two people were arrested when police broke up the demonstration.

Vinh, once a policeman himself, founded the well known political and social blog "Ba Sam" in 2007 -- initially to store articles for his own reference.

The blog then became a news aggregator with links to major stories in state-run newspapers as well as blog posts from activists.

Constant hacking attacks forced Vinh to regularly change the blog`s web address.

It was taken down shortly after his arrest and has not been available since.

Vo Van Tao, 63, a journalist and friend of Vinh, said he had travelled from southern Nha Trang city to Hanoi by car to attend the trial because authorities prevented him from flying.
Two Slovak MPs on Wednesday donned yellow stars symbolising the Holocaust in protest at the "dangerous" parliamentary debut of a far-right party they condemn as "fascist".

The opposition MPs wore the stars to an inaugural session of parliament following the country`s March 5 election in which the Our Slovakia party won 14 seats.

Nazi Germany forced Jews to wear yellow stars inscribed with the word "Jude" (Jewish in German) during the Holocaust.

Ondrej Dostal, an MP with the liberal SaS, told journalists it was 83 years since the German Reichstag "approved the intention of Hitler`s government to pass laws without Parliament" turning Germany into a Nazi dictatorship.

"It`s significant that exactly 83 years after this act, Slovak fascists have marched into the Slovak parliament. It`s dangerous and we want to highlight this," he said.

Viera Dubacova from the conservative OLaNO-NOVA also wore a yellow star.

Newly elected Our Slovakia MP Milan Uhrik denied his party was fascist and dubbed the protest "a circus, undignified for this place".

"What have we got to do with it? We do not consider ourselves to be fascists," he told the local TASR news agency.

Our Slovakia entered parliament for the first time following an election campaign in which major parties, including Prime Minister Robert Fico`s winning leftist Smer-Social Democracy, took staunchly anti-Muslim and anti-refugee positions.

Our Slovakia leader Marian Kotleba, 38, is known for his hostility to both the Roma minority and the "establishment" and for leading street marches with party members dressed in neo-Nazi black uniforms. All parties ruled out cooperating with him.

Kotleba "is a neo-Nazi" who reaped the benefits of Fico`s "nationalist rhetoric regarding migrants", analyst Samuel Abraham, head of the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts, told AFP.

"His rising support does not surprise me. It has always been here."

Kotleba has also spoken warmly about former Slovak president Jozef Tiso, who agreed to deport tens of thousands of Jews to Nazi Germany during World War II.

Fico sealed a coalition deal with three right-wing and centrist parties last week, handing himself a third term and averting the risk of an early election ahead of Slovakia`s EU presidency.

The ex-communist country of 5.4 million people is gearing up to take the rotating six-month helm of the EU from July -- a role that will put the health of its democracy in the international spotlight.

juh-mas/har


Taipei: Taiwan on Wednesday gave its first ever international press tour of a disputed island in the South China Sea to boost its claim, less than two months after a visit by its leader sparked protests from rival claimants.

Taiping is the largest island in the Spratlys chain and is administered by Taiwan, which sees it as part of its territory.

But the Spratlys are also claimed in part or whole by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei and have been at the centre of escalating rows.

A visit to Taiping by Taiwan`s President Ma Ying-jeou in January triggered criticism from the United States which described it as "extremely unhelpful", as well as protests from Vietnam and the Philippines.

But Taiwan remains undeterred in asserting its claim.

"We hope that the international community will understand our position in safeguarding our sovereignty in the South China Sea and our effective administration of Taiping Island," deputy foreign minister Bruce Linghu said after the group arrived on the island.

The Philippines is currently in the midst of an arbitration case against China at the Hague over the South China Sea. A ruling on the case is expected before May.

As part of its case, the Philippines argues that Taiping and other islands are just "rocks", a categorisation which helps its broad claims in the area.

Taiwan disagrees, saying Taiping is a fully fledged island, a categorisation which entitles it to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

"It`s an indisputable fact that Taiping is an island and not a rock. Taiwan enjoys full rights associated with territorial waters," Linghu said.

"Our sovereignty claim is firm but we are willing to put aside disputes to jointly develop the region with relevant countries for peace and mutual benefits," he added.Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose urged caution, calling on all sides "to refrain from taking actions that will further complicate the situation in the South China Sea".

China, which claims almost all of the sea, said it too would invite foreign journalists to visit the Spratlys "when the time is ripe," according to foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"The Nansha islands (Spratlys) have always been China`s territory. Chinese people on both sides of the strait have the responsibility to safeguard our heritage."

As part of efforts to strengthen defence capabilities on Taiping, Taiwan last year inaugurated a solar-powered lighthouse, an expanded airstrip and a pier, all stops on Wednesday`s press tour. The island is 0.51 square kilometre (0.19 square mile) in size.

Journalists were shown other facilities including a hospital, post office and temple, as well as sampling local produce and visiting a monument engraved with the words "Taiping Island" during the three-hour visit.

Rival claimants in the South China Sea have been beefing up their military presence in the disputed region, and other countries have complained China is becoming increasingly aggressive in pressing its case.

Beijing has reclaimed more than 2,900 acres of land from the South China Sea in less than two years in an intensive island-building campaign and has deployed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island there, according to Taipei and Washington.
Brussels: The Belgian police on Wednesday arrested one of the three suspects who are believed to have carried out Tuesday's deadly suicide bombings at the Brussels airport, reports said.

Najim Laachraoui, who was on the run after yesterday's attack, was arrested in the Belgian capital's Anderlecht district, Reuters reported citing Belgian newspaper DH.

Apart from Najim Laachraoui, the other two suspects, who blew themselves up at the Brussels airport, were identified as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui.

The two suicide bombers were known to the police, Belgian media said.

Laachraoui`s DNA had been found in houses used by the Paris attackers last year, Belgian prosecutors said on Monday, adding that he had travelled to Hungary in September with Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Captured on a security camera photograph at Brussels Airport on Tuesday morning beside the El Bakraoui brothers, Laachraoui did not detonate a bomb. A bomb was subsequently destroyed in a controlled explosion.

Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, had rented under a false name the flat in the Forest borough of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

Belgian newspaper DH said the Bakraoui brothers may have fled the flat in Forest after last week`s shootout.

In the raid, investigators found an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later.

Both brothers had criminal records, but had not been linked by the police to Islamist militants until now, RTBF said.

Brahim El Bakraoui, 30, was convicted in October 2010 for firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle at police and wounding an officer after a robbery in Brussels earlier that year. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

In 2011, his brother Khalid was given a sentence of five years for car jacking.

(With Reuters inputs)
Washington: US Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton swept to victory in Arizona on Tuesday as states in the American West weighed in on the 2016 presidential race.

Trump, the anti-Washington figure who has riled establishment Republicans, easily defeated his two rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, US television networks projected.

On the Democratic side, Clinton stretched her advantage in the Democratic contest by winning Arizona, routing US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The contests in Arizona and Utah were overshadowed by attacks in Brussels that left at least 30 people dead, and added to security concerns that American voters have expressed to pollsters.

Long lines of voters were reported in both states.

Trump, the New York billionaire and former reality TV star, has ridden an anti-Washington message to become the favorite for the nomination. This has left a flagging anti-Trump effort with faint hopes of stopping him at the Republican national convention in July.

In Arizona, which is one of the U.S. states that borders Mexico, Trump`s hardline immigration message is popular and he leads in polls, while in Utah Trump lags in polls behind top rival Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas.

Arizona will award its entire slate of 58 delegates to Trump.

In Utah, the state`s 40 delegates will be awarded proportionate to the popular vote, unless a single candidate captures at least 50 percent of the vote, in which case that person will be awarded all the delegates.

On Monday, Trump warned against efforts to deny him the nomination if he falls short of securing the 1,237 delegates needed ahead of the July convention. Trump now has 678 delegates.

"I think it is going to be very hard for them to do," Trump said on CNN of any effort to deny him the nomination if he falls short. "I have millions of votes more than anybody."

Clinton showed her strength yet again in Arizona and looked to have a solid path to the Democratic presidential nomination. The two nominees from each party will meet in the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Sanders is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday. But because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally in all states, Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not the winner in a given state.

Tuesday`s Republican contests are the first since US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed him in his home state. Ohio Governor John Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the anti-Trump vote with Cruz.

In Arizona, Trump had the backing of former Republican Governor Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, two of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

In Utah, Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has said he will vote for Cruz.

Romney recorded phone messages on behalf of Cruz, saying, "He is the only Republican candidate who can defeat Donald Trump" and that a vote for Kasich was equivalent to a vote for Trump.
Sofia: A Bulgarian border police patrol on Wednesday found the dead bodies of two men -- presumed to be migrants -- in a region close to the country`s border with Turkey, authorities said.

Border police spokeswoman Lora Lyubenova told AFP that the men, found in the Malko Tarnovo region, had no documents and so could not be identified.

"Their probable age could not be determined as the bodies were found in a state of decomposition. There were no immediate signs of violence," she added.

She said it was not possible to determine whether they were migrants, saying only that there was "increased migration pressure along the Bulgarian-Turkish border".

Two female migrants froze to death in the same region in February and the bodies of two other men were found in a mountainous area at Bulgaria`s western border with Serbia in January.

EU member Bulgaria has so far remained on the sidelines of the major migrant flow from Turkey and Greece through the Balkans to northern Europe.

But it has accelerated the construction of a fence along its Turkish border after western Balkan countries closed their borders earlier this year.
Paris: France`s Prime Minister on Wednesday said there was an "urgent" need to tighten controls on the European Union`s borders after bombings in Brussels that left around 30 dead and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

"There is an urgent need to strengthen the external borders of the European Union," Manuel Valls told French radio, adding that heightened vigilance was required to stop people crossing into Europe with false passports, as IS has "stolen a large number of passports in Syria."

Europe is facing a security crisis after the Brussels attacks and those in Paris in November which revealed jihadists were easily moving between member states, several of them returning from battle in Syria.

Two of the suicide bombers involved in the Paris attack -- which left 130 dead -- were found with fake Syrian passports and several crossed into Europe posing as refugees.

Valls again urged the adoption of a Europe-wide system of tracking airline passenger names which has led to misgivings among some over the use and security of personal data.

France has led the calls for adopting the Passenger Name Record (PNR) system first mooted in 2010, which would cover all international and internal EU flights while providing safeguards on access to and use of the data collected.
Florida: A Florida gun activist accidentally shot by her four-year-old son could be charged with allowing him to get hold of the weapon, authorities said Tuesday.

"It is of paramount importance to make certain that guns do not fall into the hands of children. It was very clear that there was a violation here," said Captain Gator DeLoach of the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office.

Jamie Gilt, 31, who had boasted online about her toddler`s shooting prowess, was cruising down a major thoroughfare with her son in the back when he shot her March 8. The bullet went through the seat cushion.

Prosecutors ultimately will decide if Gilt faces a charge of "unsafe storage of firearm" -- a second degree misdemeanor.

She is recovering at a Florida hospital in stable condition, and her son is with relatives.

The mother and boy were on their way to pick up a horse, said police, who rushed to Gilt`s aid after a police officer slowed to check why the vehicle had stopped.

The weapon was a .45-caliber handgun the boy found on the floor of the pickup truck.

She was said to have posted on her Facebook page: "Even my 4 year old gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22."
Hanoi: A prominent Vietnamese blogger was handed a five-year jail term Wednesday on anti-state charges, a heavy sentence that was roundly condemned by lawyers and media watchdogs as a "travesty of justice".

Nguyen Huu Vinh, more commonly known as Anh Ba Sam, was arrested in 2014 and has been held in detention ever since, accused of disseminating anti-government articles on his wildly popular news site.

After a day-long trial amid heavy security in central Hanoi, Vinh and his assistant, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy "were found guilty of abusing democratic freedoms", the judge, Nguyen Van Pho, told the court.

"The defendants` acts were dangerous for society," the judge said, adding that during the investigation and at the court, both defendants "were not honest... and did not admit their crimes".

Both Vinh, 60, and Thuy, 35 -- who was sentenced to three years jail -- denied the charges under article 258 of the criminal code, which is one of several vaguely worded provisions that rights groups say is used to pursue regime critics.

"I am completely innocent," Vinh told the court in his final words before the verdict was announced, according to an AFP reporter in the official observation room for media and diplomats.

According to the official verdict, the blogs run by the defendants, which attracted more than 3.7 million page views, "misrepresented the party`s line... and lowered public trust", in Vietnam`s communist leaders.

"This is an unjust and illogical sentence," said Ha Huy Son, a defence lawyer speaking at the court after the verdict was announced.Vinh, once a policeman himself, founded the well known political and social blog "Ba Sam" in 2007 -- initially to store articles for his own reference.

The blog then became a news aggregator with links to major stories in state-run newspapers as well as blog posts from activists.

Constant hacking attacks forced Vinh to regularly change the blog`s web address.

It was taken down shortly after his arrest and has not been available since.

Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

The harsh sentence is "a travesty of justice", said Shawn Crispin of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"If Vietnam wants to be taken seriously... these types of anti-state convictions must stop," he said, calling for the immediate release of the bloggers.

The CPJ said that the number of jailed journalists in Vietnam had fallen from 16 to six, according to their most recent data.

As the court opened early Wednesday, dozens of protestors waved photographs of Vinh and chanted demands for his release, before scores of uniformed and plain clothed police forced them to disperse.

At least two people were arrested when police broke up the demonstration.

Vo Van Tao, 63, a journalist and friend of Vinh, said he had travelled from southern Nha Trang city to Hanoi by car to attend the trial because authorities prevented him from flying.

"Ba Sam is innocent, he`s a hero. He did good work for the people of this country," he told AFP at the protest opposite the court in Hanoi.

Academic and dissident Nguyen Quang A, who was later detained by police after the protest Wednesday, told AFP that Vinh was on trial because "a lot of people read his blog", but the strategy would backfire and trigger greater public interest in what he had to say.
By Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Fransiska Nangoy JAKARTA (Reuters) - Thousands of Indonesian taxi drivers took to the streets of the capital Jakarta on Tuesday to protest ride-hailing apps like Grab and Uber, bringing parts of the city to a standstill. Convoys of blue and white taxis operated by PT Blue Bird and PT Express Tansindo Utama blocked the city's main thoroughfares, while clashes broke out between some drivers of traditional taxis and motorbike riders working for the online apps. The proliferation of cheap taxis using ride-sharing apps Go-jek, Grab and Uber in gridlocked Jakarta has made the traditional pick-up and drop-off taxi services unprofitable, threatening the business models of the country's top taxi firms. "Right now there are legal taxis and illegal taxis," said Mat Ali, 54, who drives an Express taxi and says his monthly income has fallen 60 pecent since app-based taxis became popular. "We are not allergic to competition with Uber and Grab ... but we just want them to meet the government's requirements." David Santoso, a director of Express, said in a statement the company had urged its drivers not to join the protest. Indonesia's president has welcomed the competition provided by the new companies, but the status of their operations in the country is still unclear. Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said companies like Uber were illegal unless they were registered as public transport providers and subject to the same rules as regular taxi operators. "The point is, it has to be fair," Jonan told reporters. But the Communications Ministry, which oversees the app operators, has said the firms can go on operating. Companies like Grab and Go-jek were running as usual on Tuesday despite the protests. "We've advised our drivers and passengers to be careful in the areas where the demonstrations are happening," said Ekhel Chandra Wijaya, of Grab Indonesia. (Additional reporting by Hidayat Setiyaji, Kanupriya Kapoor and Gayatri Suroyo; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Richard Pullin)
By David Shepardson NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co CEO Mark Fields on Wednesday defended the automaker's investment strategy amid criticism from Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Fields told reporters at the New York International Auto Show where the company showed off a concept Lincoln Navigator SUV concept that the company was boosting investments in the United States. He also said Ford would not back away from foreign investments if they made sense. "We are a global, multinational company and we will invest to keep us competitive and we will do what makes sense for the business," Fields said. Since last June, Trump has been attacking Ford, vowing to call Fields after taking office demanding Ford cancel its expansions in Mexico. Trump has also threatened to impose a 35 percent tariff on Ford's Mexican exports to the United States, though it is not clear how he would be able to do that under the North American Free Trade Agreement. But Trump has at times misstated Ford's plans and recently suggested Ford is "leaving" the United States. Ford has said it has no plans to close any of its U.S. factories. In a separate CNBC interview, Fields was asked if he has been listening to Trump lately. "No I have not," Fields said. "It's presidential politics." Since 2011, Ford has invested over $10 billion in U.S. facilities and hired more than 25,000 U.S. workers, Fields said. Ford plans to invest another $9 billion in the United States in the next four years. A Reuters report in January said that Ford would announce by March 31 plans to build a new vehicle plant in Mexico's San Luis Potosi state as part of a $1.5 billion investment. That plant would produce around 350,000 cars annually, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed officials. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that the investment would more than double Ford's production capacity in Mexico. In April 2015, Ford said it would invest $2.5 billion in new engine and transmission plants in Mexico, creating 3,800 jobs. Fields did not comment directly on those reports about the planned Mexican investment and a Ford spokesman said on Wednesday the company does not comment on speculation on future plans. Fields also declined to comment on reports that first arose in December that the automaker may form a partnership with Alphabet Inc's Google unit to build self-driving cars. "We always talk with everybody," Fields said, declining to elaborate. (Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by G Crosse)
One of the Brussels airport bombers was freed from custody in Europe despite Turkey warning he was a "foreign fighter", the Turkish president has claimed.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui was detained in the Turkish city of Gaziantep last June near the Syrian border and then deported to the Netherlands a month later at his own request, said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish leader said Belgian consular authorities were told about his deportation in July.

But El Bakraoui was later freed as Belgian authorities "ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter", said Mr Erdogan, without saying when.

The president's office later said he was released as "no links with terrorism" were found by Belgian officials.

Turkey also warned Dutch authorities, Mr Erdogan said. A Dutch government official says the president's remarks are being investigated, while Belgian officials have not responded to the claims.

:: Has Belgian Government Been Naive To Threat?

It comes as the second airport bomber was identified as Najim Laachraoui, according to the AFP news agency, citing police sources.

Laachraoui was a suspected Islamic State recruiter and bomb maker, and was also thought to have created the explosive devices used in November's Paris massacre.

A manhunt is under way for a third airport suspect caught on CCTV footage, who fled when his explosive device failed.

Several suspects linked to Tuesday's attacks, which killed 31 people and injured around 300, are also at large.

El Bakraoui's brother, Khalid, carried out a suicide attack on a crowded train carriage at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels about an hour after the airport bombings.

:: Victims Of Brussels Terror Attacks Named

The brothers had criminal records but had not previously been linked by police to terrorism, it was reported.

Ibrahim had been sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted in October 2010 of firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle at police and wounding an officer after a robbery in Brussels earlier that year.

In 2011, Khalid was jailed for five years for carjacking.
By Alastair Sharp and Leah Schnurr TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian companies working on energy-efficient innovations are looking to Tuesday's federal budget to deliver tax breaks and other incentives as part of billions of dollars of stimulus spending pledged by the new Liberal government. The Liberals, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were elected last October after promising deficit spending to boost the economy, with money for green projects accounting for one-third of C$5 billion ($3.83 billion) in infrastructure spending in fiscal 2016-17. Green technology executives say their industry boasts plenty of "shovel-ready" projects of the type Ottawa hopes will boost near-term growth. But they also want support that will benefit them in the longer term. "There is a massive global opportunity here, and we happen to be ready to take advantage of it," said Tom Rand, whose ArcTern Ventures fund has C$45 million invested in domestic companies and aims to raise another C$200 million this year. Canada had almost $12 billion of a roughly $1 trillion global market for green technology in 2015, according to Analytica Advisors. But its market share has shrunk since 2008 as countries such as Germany and South Korea increasingly support their own companies. Rand and other industry players want Tuesday's budget to include C$1 billion in loan guarantees to backstop proven technologies pitching for their first commercial contracts. They are also keen for tax credits akin to those for investments in riskier oil and gas and mining projects. The industry players want C$1.25 billion for Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a government funded foundation that backs green technology companies, and C$500 million to boost venture capital backing. "It's a land grab out there, and the quicker Canada can get its technologies into the global market for clean energy, the bigger share we're going to have down the road," said Curtis VanWalleghem, chief executive of Hydrostor Inc, an underwater energy storage project developer. But some industry watchers warn that Ottawa may hold off on big spending until 2017, when a national carbon plan may be in place. Trudeau, who won power pledging to do more to fight global warming, has been working with provincial leaders on a broader climate strategy, including a national carbon price. "This one is a stepping stone to what we hope will be a very big investment in a clean energy economy in a year's time," said Clare Demerse, senior policy advisor at Clean Energy Canada, a think-tank based at Simon Fraser University. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)
By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - The perpetrators of a $100 million digital heist at Bangladesh's central bank had deep knowledge of the institution's internal workings, likely gained by spying on bank workers, security experts said. Unknown hackers breached Bangladesh Bank in early February, stole credentials for payment transfers and then ordered transfers out of a Federal Reserve Bank of New York account held by Bangladesh Bank, according to Bangladesh Bank officials. Bangladesh government officials blamed the Fed for the attack when they disclosed the loss. The New York Fed responded on Tuesday saying there was no evidence its systems were compromised in the attack, one of the biggest bank thefts in history. The Fed said it followed normal procedures when responding to requests that appeared to be from Bangladesh Bank, which were made and authenticated over SWIFT. Belgian-based SWIFT, a member-owned cooperative that banks use for account transfer requests and other secure messages, declined to comment on specifics of the case. Security experts said that to pull off the attack, cyber criminals had to first gather information about Bangladesh Bank's procedures for ordering transfers, so that the fraudulent requests would not raise red flags. In addition to stealing credentials for processing transfers, the hackers likely spied on Bangladesh Bank staff to get a deep understanding of the central bank's operations, according to experts in banking fraud. Kayvan Alikhani, a senior director with security firm RSA, said that in addition to user names and passwords for accessing SWIFT, the hackers likely needed to obtain cryptographic keys that authenticated the senders. Such certificates can be copied and used by impostors if they are not properly secured, he said. You are only as good as your weakest link when getting access to the SWIFT network and doing a transfer, Alikhani said. In a round of robberies disclosed last year, a group dubbed the Carbanak gang hacked into a number of banks around the world, seized control of computers that access SWIFT, then ordered fraudulent transfers. They siphoned money through SWIFT after observing how bank employees crafted their messages so they could follow correct protocols, said Juan Guerrero, a researcher with Kaspersky Lab, which studied the campaign. "The genius of the attacker in the Carbanak case is taking the time to learn directly from the victim and thus bypass fraud prevention measures through sheer mimicry, Guerrero told Reuters. Another hacking method that could have been used is known as "social engineering," where attackers play on human psychology to manipulate victims. They get that information by hacking email accounts of employees who process transfers, said Tom Kellermann, a former member of the World Bank's security team. "They sit and watch regular communications to understand when somebody would be most receptive to a specially crafted social-engineering email instructing them to make the transfer," said Kellermann, now chief executive of investment firm Strategic Cyber Ventures. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Phil Berlowitz)
By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh police met an official of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Dhaka on Sunday to try to track down culprits in an attempted $951 million cyber heist from the country's central bank. Initial investigations aim to identify the origin of a transfer order for $81 million that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York paid from Bangladesh Bank's account there to casinos in the Philippines, a senior police official told reporters. The transfer, one of the largest cyber heists in history, was among 35 requests that unknown hackers made for payments from the bank's New York Fed account in early February. Other requested transfers from that account, which Dhaka uses for international settlements, were apparently blocked. Former finance secretary Fazle Kabir took over on Sunday as head of the central bank after the former governor Atiur Rehman resigned amid complaints from the government that it had only learned of the heist a month later from the media. Also on Sunday, the wife of a cyber crime expert reported he had disappeared after being abducted from a motor rickshaw in the early hours of last Thursday. He had met police on Tuesday and told the media he knew three user IDs used for the heist. Senior police official Mirza Abdullahel Baqui said after meeting the FBI official that criminals in six countries were apparently involved in the heist. "This is the biggest transnational organized crime ever seen in Bangladesh and so we sought both technical and human assistance (from the FBI)," he said. The officials also discussed how to proceed with their investigation, he added. A government investigative committee led by former central bank governor Mohammad Farash Uddin began its probe into the heist on Sunday. "This is a wake-up call," he said of the unprecedented breach in the bank's computer security. A Philippines Senate hearing last week was told that $30 million of the $81 million haul was delivered in cash to an ethnic Chinese casino junket operator in Manila. The rest was transferred to two casinos in the Philippines. According to his wife, cyber crime expert Tanveer Hassan Zoha was blindfolded by unknown people in plainclothes early on Thursday before being taken away in a vehicle. He had gone on Tuesday with a special police force to the central bank where they spent several hours. Afterwards, he told reporters he knew three of the user IDs involved in the heist. Kamrun Nahar Chowdhury, Zoha's wife, said police had refused to investigate her husband's disappearance and she had appealed to the government for help to free him. Police were unavailable for comment. "We don't know why he was picked up," she told Reuters. (Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Bernadette Christina Munthe and Agustinus Beo Da Costa JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian cabbies clashed with motorbike drivers working for online apps on Tuesday, pulling them off their bikes and assaulting them as thousands of drivers took to the streets of Jakarta calling for a ban on ride-hailing apps like Grab and Uber. Police were overwhelmed as convoys of blue and white taxis operated by PT Blue Bird and PT Express Transindo Utama blocked thoroughfares. Police said 83 people were detained after skirmishes that saw drivers smash taxi windshields, attack other drivers and burn tyres in parts of the city. The proliferation of cheap taxis using ride-hailing apps Go-jek, Grab and Uber in gridlocked Jakarta has made the traditional pick-up and drop-off taxi services unprofitable, threatening the business models of the country's top taxi firms. The online apps currently offer heavily subsidized rates for their rides in an attempt to gain market share. "Right now there are legal taxis and illegal taxis," said Mat Ali, 54, an Express taxi driver who marched in front of parliament as others burned tyres. "We are not allergic to competition with Uber and Grab ... but we just want them to meet the government's requirements." Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said companies like Uber were illegal unless they were registered as public transport providers and subject to the same rules as regular taxi operators. "The point is, it has to be fair," Jonan told reporters. Government ministers called for calm and said the tech firms should be subject to the same legal and tax requirements as conventional public transportation companies. "Give us time to find the best solution, it can't be done overnight," chief security minister Luhut Pandjaitan told a news conference. A Bluebird official said the company would offer free taxi rides for 24 hours to make up for the disruption in services. "We don't agree with or support the anarchic demonstration," Bluebird commissioner Noni Purnomo told reporters. But some Jakarta residents rejected the offer on social media using the hashtag #NoThanksBluebird. David Santoso, a director of Express, also said in a statement the company had urged its drivers not to join the protest. Indonesia's president has welcomed the competition provided by the new companies, but the status of their operations in the country was unclear. Companies like Grab and Go-jek were running as usual on Tuesday despite the protests. "We've advised our drivers and passengers to be careful in the areas where the demonstrations are happening," said Ekhel Chandra Wijaya, of Grab Indonesia. One Go-jek driver said he wasn't afraid of the protesters. "We in the online business are looking for money, we're not looking for trouble," said Abdul Rohman, who wore the company's easily recognizable green jacket. (Additional reporting by Hidayat Setiyaji, Kanupriya Kapoor and Gayatri Suroyo; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - A spelling mistake in an online bank transfer instruction helped prevent a nearly $1 billion heist last month involving the Bangladesh central bank and the New York Federal Reserve, banking officials said. Unknown hackers still managed to get away with about $80 million, one of the largest known bank thefts in history. The hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems and stole its credentials for payment transfers, two senior officials at the bank said. They then bombarded the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with nearly three dozen requests to move money from the Bangladesh Bank's account there to entities in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the officials said. Four requests to transfer a total of about $81 million to the Philippines went through, but a fifth, for $20 million, to a Sri Lankan non-profit organization was held up because the hackers misspelled the name of the NGO, Shalika Foundation. Hackers misspelled "foundation" in the NGO's name as "fandation", prompting a routing bank, Deutsche Bank, to seek clarification from the Bangladesh central bank, which stopped the transaction, one of the officials said. There is no NGO under the name of Shalika Foundation in the list of registered Sri Lankan non-profits. Reuters could not immediately find contact information for the organization. Deutsche Bank declined to comment. At the same time, the unusually large number of payment instructions and the transfer requests to private entities - as opposed to other banks - raised suspicions at the Fed, which also alerted the Bangladeshis, the officials said. The details of how the hacking came to light and was stopped before it did more damage have not been previously reported. Bangladesh Bank has billions of dollars in a current account with the Fed, which it uses for international settlements. The transactions that were stopped totaled $850-$870 million, one of the officials said. Last year, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said a multinational gang of cyber criminals had stolen as much as $1 billion from as many as 100 financial institutions around the world in about two years. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's son Qusay took $1 billion from Iraq's central bank on the orders of his father on the day before coalition forces began bombing the country in 2003, American and Iraqi officials have said. In 2007, guards at the Dar Es Salaam bank in Baghdad made off with $282 million. MONEY RECOVERED Bangladesh Bank has said it has recovered some of the money that was stolen, and is working with anti-money laundering authorities in the Philippines to try to recover the rest. A bank spokesman could not be reached for comment late on Thursday. The recovered funds refer to the Sri Lanka transfer, which was stopped, one of the officials said. Initially, the Sri Lankan transaction reached Pan Asia Banking Corp , which went back to Deutsche Bank for more verification because of the unusually large size of the payment, a Pan Asia official said. "The transaction was too large for a country like us," the official said. "Then (Deutsche) came back and said it was a suspect transaction." A Pan Asia spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. The dizzying, global reach of the heist underscores the growing threat of cyber crime and how hackers can find weak links in even the most secure computer networks. More than a month after the attack, Bangladeshi officials are scrambling to trace the money, shore up security and identify weaknesses in their systems. They said there is little hope of ever catching the hackers, and it could take months before the money is recovered, if at all. FireEye Inc's Mandiant forensics division is helping investigate the heist, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The sources said Silicon Valley-based FireEye, which has investigated some of the biggest cyber thefts on record, was brought in by World Informatix, a smaller firm that is advising Bangladesh Bank on the investigation. Security experts said the perpetrators had deep knowledge of the Bangladeshi institution's internal workings, likely gained by spying on bank workers. The Bangladesh government, meanwhile, is blaming the Fed for not stopping the transactions earlier. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told reporters on Tuesday that the country may resort to suing the Fed to recover the money. "The Fed must take responsibility," he said. The New York Fed has said its systems were not breached, and it has been working with the Bangladesh central bank since the incident occurred. The hacking of Bangladesh Bank happened sometime between Feb. 4-5, over the Bangladeshi weekend, which falls on a Friday, the officials said. The bank's offices were shut. Initially, the central bank was not sure if its system had been breached, but cyber security experts brought in to investigate found hacker "footprints" that suggested the system had been compromised, the officials said. These experts could also tell that the attack originated from outside Bangladesh, they said, adding the bank is looking into how they got into the system and an internal investigation is ongoing. The bank suspects money sent to the Philippines was further diverted to casinos there, the officials said. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, which oversees the gaming industry, said it has launched an investigation. The country's anti-money laundering authority is also working on the case. (Additional reporting by Jim Finkle in BOSTON, Jonathan Spicer in NEW YORK, Farah Master in HONG KONG and Shihar Aneez in COLOMBO; Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Prince Harry has been welcomed to Nepal with a ceremony signifying luck and purity featuring five virgins.

The young women greeted their special guest with gifts of flowers and placed a garland around the prince's neck.

The Panchakanya - five virgins in Sanskrit - welcomed Harry to Kathmandu's famous Durbar Square in the traditional heart of the Kathmandu's old town.

He accepted their gifts with a smile before heading off for a tour of the area - a UNESCO World Heritage site.

On Saturday, Harry was the special guest at a reception held by the Nepalese government to mark 200 years since a treaty was signed between the UK and Nepal recognising the close relationship between the two independent countries.

Addressing the audience with the formal greeting "Namaste", he said: "Like so many people back home, I have grown up seeing beautiful images of Nepal in books and on television.

"I am sure you hear this all the time, but your country holds a special place in the imagination for so many people around the world."

He added: "I also know that I arrive here in Nepal as you approach the first anniversary of the earthquakes that took so many lives and that you are working to recover from.

"I pay my respects to those who perished and hope to do what I can to shine a spotlight on the resolve and resilience of the Nepalese people."

He ended by saying "Dhanyabad", which means thank you.

Harry told the country's president the long flight was worth it as he sat down for informal talks at the presidential palace.

Bidya Devi Bhandari warmly welcomed her guest, who performed a namaste greeting, clasping his hands together. They spoke through an interpreter as they were served tea, water and fruit juices.

The meeting lasted for 30 minutes and the pair discussed the Nepal Girl Summit they will open together on Wednesday.

As part of his five-day tour, Prince Harry also wants to draw attention to the help still needed in Nepal to aid recovery after last year's devastating earthquakes which killed nearly 9,000 people and forced thousands to spend the winter living in temporary camps.

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The government has been criticised for delays in coordinating the recovery efforts.

Aishwarya Rana works for the charity Mercy Corps, one of the groups trying to help those affected to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.

It's a job made even harder by bureaucratic red tape.

She told Sky News: "There were some problems in the Indian and Nepal borders which brought the whole economy to a stop so we didn't have fuel, we didn't have essential supplies.

"It was frustrating because we really wanted to start our rebuilding work."

Harry's trip will also focus on Nepal's tourist trade, particularly conservation and trekking.

He will also pay tribute to the efforts of Gurkha soldiers, who have fought alongside British troops, including Prince Harry when he served in Afghanistan.
There was a range of reactions from Manitoban stakeholders to the 2016 federal budget.

The Liberals' spending plan, unveiled Tuesday, includes significant investments in aboriginal communities, infrastructure and the arts, and money for middle- and low-income families through the new Canada Child Benefit program.

The investments come at a cost. Ottawa projects a $29.4-billion deficit in this coming fiscal year.

Chuck Davidson, president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said the amount is a worry for Manitoba's business community.

"It's a bit of a concern. There doesn't seem to be a long-term plan in terms of getting us back to a balanced budget," he said.

Davidson said he was looking for two things in the federal budget: how the government would make Canada more competitive, and how Canada plans to develop a skilled workforce. Neither of these items were addressed to his satisfaction, he said.

Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black chair in labour issues with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said she supports the Liberal budget and would have gone even further into the red.

"The fact that we've gone back into stimulus spending, into deficits, is very welcome," Fernandez said.

"We're facing three major challenges in Canada: we have slow economic growth, which is projected to stay around one per cent in the long term, which is worrisome; we have crumbling infrastructure; and we have an aging population."

Fernandez said she would have been comfortable with the federal government increasing the deficit if it meant more investments in areas like green technology and health care and restoring "really important" federal agriculture programs.

"We lost the Community Pasture Program, we lost the shelterbelt program and the beef cattle program in Brandon," she said.

"Our federal expenditures as a percentage of GDP haven't been this low for 60 years, and 60 years ago, we didn't have healthcare, we didn't have EI and we didn't have pensions  so we're now having to juggle with these programs with our expenditures at an all-time low."

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Possible change in relations: Nepinak

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said the new budget could be a step forward for relations between the federal government and the indigenous community in Manitoba.

"The money that's been announced today is very significant," said Nepinak.

The federal government has earmarked $8.4 billion over five years to pay for improving primary and secondary education, drinking water, family and child services, and housing on reserves.

"The numbers that are now being produced in the budget reflect an attempt to restore a relationship that's been badly damaged over the last number of years," said Nepinak.

"One thing Canadians need to know is since the spending cap of two per cent growth was put in place in the 1990s, a multibillion-dollar deficit has been created in terms of the gap between investment in infrastructure for children on reserve in education and the non-indigenous community."

Boost for Canadian arts

The federal government plans to invest $1.9 billion in the arts over the next five years. That's welcome news to Jeff Herd, executive director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

"This kind of investment for us is critical," said Herd.

Through the recession Canada was largely sheltered from severe cuts to the arts; instead, Canada's investment has been largely "stagnant" since the 1990s, he said.

With production costs on the rise, that has put arts institutions in tough positions.

The increase in funding will give Canadian arts an opportunity to "bat above our weight," Herd said.

"I'm actually quite pleased."
The Prime Minister has praised both George Osborne and Iain Duncan Smith as he seeks to defuse a bitter row in the Tory party over benefit cuts for the disabled.

The Chancellor is facing calls to quit following the dramatic resignation of the work and pensions secretary over Mr Osborne's Budget plan to cut disability benefits by 4.4bn.

Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minister confirmed he was shelving the proposed cuts to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that caused Mr Duncan Smith to quit.

And he insisted the Conservatives run a "compassionate", "one nation" Government which is cutting taxes for the lowest paid, creating jobs and introducing the national living wage.

"All of this is driven by a deeply held conviction that everyone in Britain should have the chance to make the most of their lives," Mr Cameron said.

"None of this would be possible if it wasn't for the actions of this Government and the work of my right honourable friend, the Chancellor, in turning our economy around."

As he backed the Chancellor, Mr Cameron said Mr Duncan Smith had "contributed an enormous amount to the work of this Government and he can be proud of what he achieved".

Mr Duncan Smith's successor, Stephen Crabb, told the House there were "no further plans" to make welfare cuts in order to fill the Budget black hole caused by the PIP U-turn.

"I am absolutely clear that a compassionate and fair welfare system should not just be about numbers," he said.

"Behind every statistic, there is a human being and perhaps sometimes in government we forget that."

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn questioned the "enormous hole" left by the planned cuts being ditched.

Mr Corbyn told MPs: "It's really up to the Prime Minister to persuade his great friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to come here and explain how he's going to fill that hole or he perhaps he should consider his position and look for something else to do.

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"Because clearly he hasn't be very successful at producing a balanced Budget in the interests of everyone in this country, particularly those with disabilities."

And he criticised Mr Osborne's absence from the House.

Addressing the Prime Minister, he said: "You have come here today, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is here today, practically every other cabinet minister is here today.

"Whatever has happened to the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Where is he today?

"Could you not, instead of covering up for your friend, ask him if he would be kind enough to come along to the House and explain why, for the first time in my memory in Parliament, a government's budget has fallen apart within two days of its delivery and there is an enormous hole in it?"

The Chancellor was also a no-show when his opposite number, John McDonnell, asked an urgent question in the Commons earlier.

Mr McDonnell branded the Chancellor a coward for not turning up, saying he had left Treasury minister David Gauke to "defend the indefensible" and said the Budget was in "absolute chaos".
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By Aaron Ross BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas at opposition supporters in Congo Republic on Sunday, witnesses said, after voting ended in a poll expected to see long-time leader Denis Sassou Nguesso extend his three-decade rule. The government ordered mobile phone and internet services cut for the day across the oil-producing Central African country "for reasons of security and public tranquillity", a government official said. It also banned motor vehicle use nationwide. Despite protests in which at least 18 demonstrators died, Sassou Nguesso pushed through constitutional changes in October to remove term and age limits that would have prevented him from standing again. He is now heavily favoured to win the polls. He faces eight opponents, including retired General Jean-Marie Mokoko, seen as the strongest challenger. "I want this to go well. I don't want war, which is often what happens after these elections," said Damien Kiongazi, who returned home to the capital Brazzaville from Paris to vote. However, soon after polling stations closed, security forces moved in on crowds that had gathered in the capital's Bacongo neighbourhood, an opposition stronghold. Witnesses who said they had been following the vote counting were then teargassed by riot police. A heavy odour of the gas still hung in the air when a Reuters reporter arrived in the neighbourhood. Sassou Nguesso, who ruled from 1979 until he lost an election in 1992, regained power in 1997 after a brief civil war and then went on to win disputed polls in 2002 and 2009. His supporters credit him with restoring stability and developing the country's infrastructure. "I think the vote marks progress for our democracy. And I can say that the new republic is setting out under a good omen," Sassou Nguesso said after voting in Brazzaville. The president's critics claim Congo's oil wealth has enriched and entrenched a small elite, while around half of the population of 4.5 million lives in poverty. FRAUD ALLEGATIONS The polls will be watched closely by other leaders in Africa - notably in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo - because several long-serving presidents are seeking to stay on beyond constitutionally mandated term limits. The opposition said on Friday it had documented preparations for widespread vote rigging, including voters registered at multiple polling sites, individuals with multiple voter cards and the distribution of voter cards to non-citizens. The government rejected accusations it was preparing to cheat, claiming its opponents were laying the groundwork for post-election chaos. Dileita Mohamed Dileita, a former Djibouti prime minister heading the African Union's elections observer mission, said around noon that he believed the polls were "going very well". However, at a polling station in Mafouta in southern Brazzaville, some of those waiting to cast their ballots on Sunday morning complained that the posted voter list contained the names of a number of people who had died years before. At the same location, a Reuters reporter saw three names repeated twice, listing the same birthdays and parents. "I'm not confident. I see already that our voices are being stolen. The real results will not be given," said Boclelon Ganga, 28, as he smoked a cigarette while waiting to vote. Candidate Brice Parfait Kolelas said the opposition would use satellite phones to circumvent the communications blackout in order to monitor the results. "We are making a compilation," he said. "I don't encourage taking to the streets, but people need to protect their vote." Former colonial power France criticised the conditions of October's constitutional referendum, saying they did not allow an accurate assessment of the result. The European Union has decided not to send a mission to observe Sunday's vote. (Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Aaron Ross BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Tension rose in Congo Republic ahead of a presidential election on Sunday after the government ordered phone companies to suspend services for security reasons and police summoned the main opposition candidate for questioning. Opposition figures said the order on Saturday to phone companies MTN Congo and Airtel Congo to halt communications would impede the work of election monitors. "The state wants them to cut off communication on March 20 and 21 for reasons of security and public tranquillity," a government source told Reuters. There was no immediate comment from MTN. President Denis Sassou Nguesso is expected to extend his long rule in the oil-producing nation by defeating eight opponents, including retired General Jean-Marie Mokoko who is seen as the strongest challenger. Sassou Nguesso has led Congo Republic for 32 of the last 37 years and pushed through constitutional changes in October to remove term and age limits that would have prevented him from standing. He is expected to win given his entrenched control of state and local institutions and the media. Mokoko said he was summoned to the state security headquarters on Saturday as part of an investigation but refused to go. He told reporters at his house in Brazzaville that it was his sixth summons in the last month to answer questions about a 2007 video that recently resurfaced, in which he appears to discuss preparations for a coup. Mokoko said there was no serious coup plot and the issue was resolved years ago. "It's an abuse of power ... Maybe they will now take me by force. Let them do it," he said. Opposition candidates have previously said the government would shut down communications to prevent the circulation of polling data that contradicts official tallies. "Everything is being done so that the election is not transparent," said Joe Washington, president of the Ebina Foundation, an activist group. The government denies it is preparing election fraud and says publishing alternate results is illegal and aimed at inciting post-election chaos. (Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; editing by David Clarke)
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican front-runner Donald Trump swept to victory in Arizona on Tuesday but rival Ted Cruz showed some fight with a win in Utah that gave hope to establishment Republicans who fear Trump would lead the party to ruin in the presidential election. On the Democratic side, favorite Hillary Clinton routed challenger Bernie Sanders in Arizona to stretch her advantage in the race for her party's presidential nomination. Sanders, however, won contests in Utah and Idaho to bolster his case that he still has a chance despite Clinton's big lead. The nominating battles in Arizona and Utah, plus the Democratic contest in Idaho, were overshadowed by attacks in Brussels in which at least 30 people were killed and raised security concerns among U.S. voters. Trump helped himself in Arizona with a hardline anti-immigration message and tough talk on Islamic militants to easily defeat Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich. Trump had the backing in Arizona of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on illegal immigrants. The win furthered Trump's argument that he will eventually win the Republican presidential nomination and that the party should rally around him. He won all of Arizona's 58 delegates. "Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!" Trump said on Twitter. "Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court Justices!" Cruz, though, won big in Utah's caucuses, giving hope to those Republicans who fear Trump's proposal to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico would guarantee a Democratic victory in the Nov. 8 election. Cruz appeared to be on track to win all of Utah's 40 Republican delegates. Since the state's 40 delegates are awarded proportionate to the popular vote, he needed to win at least 50 percent of the vote to take all the delegates. He appeared to benefit from Mormons who dominate the Republican vote in Utah. They did not take kindly to a Trump attack on native son Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who has led the anti-Trump opposition. Trump had questioned whether Romney, an elder in the Mormon church, was really a Mormon. "Trump's poor showing in Utah is a reminder that while many love his glib comments, those remarks can also have a downside. Questioning Mitt Romney's faith is something that was sure to backfire in Utah," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. Clinton seized on the Brussels attacks to argue that neither Trump nor Cruz can be trusted to lead the fight against Islamic State militants. Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and Cruz said he would send police patrols into Muslim neighborhoods in the United States. "This is a time for America to lead, not cower," Clinton told supporters in Seattle in a victory speech. Sanders said his Utah and Idaho victories were powered by young people and working-class Americans who support his "political revolution." "These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests," he said. Trump is trying to beat back efforts to deny him the nomination. His opponents want to stop him from securing the 1,237 delegates needed ahead of the July convention. Trump now has 678 delegates. "I think it is going to be very hard for them to do," Trump said on CNN of any effort to deny him the nomination if he falls short. "I have millions of votes more than anybody." Sanders is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday. Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not the winner in a given state because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally in all states. Tuesday's Republican contests were the first since U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed him in his home state. Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the anti-Trump vote with Cruz. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise, Emily Stephenson and Eric Beech in Washington and Luciana Lopez in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler, Paul Tait)
By Dustin Volz and Mohammad Zargham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged three Syrian nationals who are current or former members of the Syrian Electronic Army with multiple conspiracies related to computer hacking, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday. Ahmad Umar Agha, 22, and Firas Dardar, 27, were charged with a criminal conspiracy that included "a hoax regarding a terrorist attack" and "attempting to cause mutiny of the U.S. armed forces," the department said in a statement. Dardar and Peter Romar, 36, were separately charged with other conspiracies, including extortion and wire fraud, it said. The FBI said on Tuesday it was adding Agha and Dardar to its Cyber Most Wanted list and offering a reward of $100,000 for information leading to their arrest, the statement said. Agha and Dardar, who are believed to reside in Syria, began their criminal activities in or around 2011 under the name of the Syrian Electronic Army in support of the Syrian government, the statement said. Romar is believed to live in Germany. The alleged hackers are said to have used a common and relatively unsophisticated attack known as spear phishing, in which perpetrators send deceptive emails in an effort to trick recipients into clicking on malicious links and downloading malware onto their networks. The campaign targeted computer systems belonging to a raft of media outlets, including CNN, NPR, the Associated Press and Reuters, in addition to Microsoft, Harvard University and Human Rights Watch, according to the Justice Department. The alleged hackers are also charged with repeatedly trying to infiltrate White House systems, although their attempts were unsuccessful. The most high-profile episode occurred in April 2013, when the accused hackers gained credentials to the Twitter account belonging to the Associated Press and tweeted a false news alert that two explosions had occurred at the White House and that President Barack Obama was injured. The fabricated news briefly caused the U.S. stock market to plummet before recovering minutes later. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement that the alleged hackers sought to harm economic and national security in the United States while simultaneously attempting financial gain. The dual motives showed that "the line between ordinary criminal hackers and potential national security threats is increasingly blurry, he said. In June 2015, the U.S. Army said it temporarily took down its website after the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into the site and posted messages. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Dan Grebler)
By Stephanie Nebehay and Karolina Tagaris GENEVA/LESBOS (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency dealt a blow to EU efforts to stem the biggest humanitarian crisis in generations on Tuesday, saying it would no longer assist in the transfer of migrants and refugees arriving in Greece to "detention centers". The European Union reached a deal with Turkey just four days ago aimed at halting the flow of migrants across the sea to Greece, but the UNHCR said the deal was being prematurely implemented without the required safeguards in place. It said migrants were being held against their will at reception facilities in Greece, and it would not transport people there from the beaches. It will continue to provide other services including counseling to refugees, it said. The accord crafted by EU leaders and Turkey specifically mentions the UNHCR's involvement, although UN officials in Geneva said they were not consulted on that. The deal, which took effect on Sunday, is aimed at putting new arrivals in Greece who seek asylum on a fast-track for processing. But it also means those migrants and refugees are kept in detention until their claims are assessed. "Under the new provisions, these so-called hotspots have now become detention centers," said the UNHCR's Melissa Fleming. "Accordingly, and in line with UNHCR policy of opposing mandatory detention, we have suspended some of our activities at all closed centers on the island." Those considered ineligible for asylum are to be sent back to Turkey from April 4. For every Syrian returned, another still in Turkey will be resettled directly in Europe, effectively penalizing those who have in many cases spent their life savings trying to flee conflict. At least two EU officials said they hoped this shock therapy might work in ebbing the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe. One EU official said "ugly images" of forced detentions and deportations were something the EU would have to accept if it was to regain control of its own borders. "Ethically we might have doubts. But legally we have no doubts," another EU official said. Both made the remarks before the UNHCR said it was partially withdrawing its support. DETENTION CENTERS Until Sunday, arrivals to Lesbos had been free to leave the Moria migrant camp and head for ferries to the Greek mainland from where they would mostly head north via the Balkans in a bid to reach western Europe, particularly Germany. Now, they are meant to be held in Moria or one of four other centers set up on the Aegean islands of Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos, pending the outcome of their asylum applications. As of Sunday, just two buses were available to transport the arrivals to Moria, one belonging to the coast guard and one to the police, a senior port police official said. Early on Tuesday, 129 refugees and migrants who had been rescued at sea by a coast guard patrol boat and taken to the port waited for some 40 minutes for the buses to arrive. They sat on the dock shivering, men dressed in thin trousers and jackets and women wrapped up with scarves. Many were barefoot and soaked to their knees. One, a young man named Zalmai, said he had left Afghanistan with his five-member family. "(There are) a lot of problems in our country. We're coming for a better life," he said, putting on a jumper given to him by volunteers and wrapping a thick grey blanket around his waist. Using his finger to imitate a knife across his throat, he said: "I'm not going back to Turkey, to Afghanistan. Please, I'll stay here." CHILDREN NEED PROTECTION, UN SAYS More than 147,000 people, many fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Asia, have arrived in Greece by sea this year, 59 percent of them women and children, according to UNHCR. On Monday, Turkish monitors arrived on Lesbos to help put the deal into practice. On Tuesday, the Czech Republic offered 10 asylum experts and 30 police officers plus humanitarian aid to Greece, its state secretary for EU affairs said. Under a timetable agreed with the EU last week, a task force of 4,000 people from asylum case workers and experts to arbitrators, interpreters and security staff should be in place by March 28. Of those, 2,300 should be deployed by other EU states. A spokeswoman for the U.N. children's fund UNICEF told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday the fund was concerned about this new agreement and the implications for children. "We see no mention of children despite the fact that children make up 40 percent of those currently stranded in Greece," she said, adding 19,000 children are stranded in Greece and about 10 percent are unaccompanied. (Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
By Victoria Bryan and Jane Wardell BERLIN/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Several countries have tightened or reviewed airport security following twin explosions at Brussels Airport, as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday blamed Europe's porous borders and lax security for the attack. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks in the departure hall of Zaventem airport, and a rush-hour metro train which killed at least 30 people. Prosecutors said the blasts at the airport, which serves more than 23 million passengers a year, were believed to be caused by suicide bombers. Turnbull waded into the global debate about protecting borders, reassuring Australians that "our domestic security arrangements are much stronger than they are in Europe where regrettably they allowed things to slip". "That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they've been having in recent times," he said in Sydney. Security was tighter at airports around Asia on Wednesday, with South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and India saying that they were deploying additional resources at the major hubs. New measures included increased checks on those who were entering terminals and additional patrols within the terminal buildings, said officials from around the region. In India, where airport security is tighter than in most parts of Asia, only passengers with a valid flight ticket and passports were allowed to enter the terminal buildings before Tuesday's attacks. After Brussels, the country has begun to check some of the bags that the passengers bring into the terminals, said Surender Singh, the director general of the Central Industrial Security Force, which is in charge of security at commercial airports. But he ruled out checking every bag that goes into the terminals, saying that security forces needed to balance security with passenger conveniences. "It will not be possible at the moment. It would require a whole lot of changes at the airport itself," said Singh. "With hundreds of passengers lined up at Delhi airport, 100 percent checking of everybody and it would come to a standstill." Authorities in London, Paris and Frankfurt responded to the attacks by stepping up the number of police on patrol at their airports and other transport hubs. Airlines scrambled to divert flights as Brussels airport announced it would remain closed on Wednesday. In the United States, the country's largest cities were placed on high alert and the National Guard was called in to increase security at New York City's two airports. A United Nations agency was already reviewing airport security following the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt by a makeshift soda-can bomb in October last year. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for smuggling the bomb on board. But despite attacks like a suicide bomb at Moscow's Domodedovo airport's arrival hall in 2011 that killed 37 people, there has been less attention focused on how airports themselves are secured. "It strikes me as strange that only half of the airport is secure. Surely the whole airport should be secure, from the minute you arrive in the car park," said Matthew Finn, managing director of independent aviation security consultants Augmentiq. CHECKPOINTS The relative openness of public airport areas in Western Europe contrasts with some in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where travellers' documents and belongings are checked before they are allowed to enter the airport building. In Turkey, passengers and bags are screened on entering the terminal and again after check-in. Moscow also checks people at terminal entrances. Israel's Ben Gurion Airport is known for its tough security, including passenger profiling to identify those viewed as suspicious, bomb sniffing devices and questioning of each individual traveller. In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where authorities are on high alert for attacks by Somali-based al Shabaab militants, passengers have to get out of their cars, which are then searched, at a checkpoint a kilometre from the main terminal. But adding checks such as bag X-rays at terminal entrances could themselves create a potential target, one analyst said. "Any movement of the security comb to the public entrance of a terminal building would cause congestion, inconvenience and flight delays, while the inevitable resulting queues would themselves present an attractive target," said Ben Vogel, Editor, IHS Janes Airport Review. (Additional reporting by Tommy Wilkes in New Delhi, Siva Govindasamy in Singapore, Tim Hepher in Paris, Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Sarah Young in London, Clara Ferreira Marques in Mumbai, Mark Hosenball and Jeffrey Dastin in Washington and Alwyn Scott in New York; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Peter Graff and Michael Perry)
By Mostafa Hashem CAIRO (Reuters) - President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi named 10 new ministers, including the finance and investment portfolios, in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday meant to help revive an economy laid low by years of political turmoil and militant violence. Banking veteran Amr el-Garhy was appointed finance minister and Dalia Khorshid investment minister, a presidency statement said. Sisi also named four new deputy ministers - a deputy planning minister and three deputy finance ministers for treasury affairs, tax policy and fiscal policy. Garhy and Khorshid will face the daunting task of strengthening an economy battered by an acute foreign currency crisis that has hampered Egypt's ability to import goods and dimmed prospects for attracting direct foreign investment. The central bank devalued the pound last week. Garhy joins the finance ministry after serving in leadership positions at various finance institutions including Qalaa Holdings, El-Ahli Bank of Qatar and EFG Hermes, one of the Middle East's largest investment banks. He replaces Hany Dimian, who oversaw the finance ministry during a period of modest economic recovery after years of anaemic growth following the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak and led to prolonged political upheaval, along with an increase in Islamist militant attacks. Egypt's economy grew around 4.2 percent in 2014-15 and the government has said it expects growth to remain at a similar level in the current fiscal year. Khorshid takes on the post of investment minister after serving as vice president of Citibank for eight years, holding several posts at Orascom Construction Industries, and most recently serving as chief executive of Orascom Holdings. Mohamed Hossam Abdelrehim, who served as Egypt's top judge in 2014-15, was appointed justice minister, filling a role which had been vacant for 10 days since Ahmed al-Zend was sacked after making comments seen as blasphemous to Islam. Other appointments were ministers for antiquities, the public sector, labour, irrigation, civil aviation, transport, and tourism. The tourism industry was hard hit after a Russian airliner was blown out of the sky over the Sinai Peninsula in October, killing all 224 people on board. Islamic State militants said they planted a bomb on board the aircraft. The civil aviation ministry also came under criticism for airport security lapses. The key defence, interior, and foreign ministers all kept their jobs as did holders of economic portfolios such as the planning and supplies ministers. The government will present its economic programme to parliament next week. (Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Michael Georgy and Mark Heinrich)
By Siva Govindasamy (Reuters) - Japan has opened talks with Western defence contractors about building a new generation of fighter jets, sources say, in what would mark an important milestone in Tokyo's strategy to maintain its air superiority over rival China. The discussions with defence companies including Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Ltd come as Japan readies its ATD-X experimental aircraft for its first test flights within days. Stealth fighter technologies being tested on the ATD-X, being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japanese Ministry of Defence's Technical Research and Development Institute, would also be incorporated into the new fighter, dubbed the F-3, industry and government sources said. "They have begun exploratory engagement to look at our capabilities," said a source with a Western defence contractor. "There is no policy decision and no programme of record for the next fighter. There is only some discussion that, logically, there will be a fighter at some point." Analysts estimate the cost of such a programme at $40 billion or more, a price tag that could yet prove prohibitive. Japan has already committed to buying 42 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. But that aircraft's perceived shortcomings in air-to-air combat and the United States' refusal to sell its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor have encouraged Japan to consider a domestic-led programme to replace its fleet of ageing Boeing F-15J warplanes. Plans are likely to be firmed by end-2017 or early 2018, which would enable the F-3 programme to secure funding in Japans 2018-2022 five-year plan and be in service by around 2030, the sources added. Upgrades to a large portion of over 150 ageing Japan Air Self Defence Force F-15Js, to incorporate new engines and radars among other advanced capabilities, could proceed while research into the F-3 programme continues, said the sources. Japan's Defence Ministry said it was considering various options for future fighter jets "including independent development and international joint development" to replace its F-2 fighter fleet from about 2030. It declined to comment on whether it had started discussions with western defence contractors. CHINA FLYING HIGH China's development of modern and stealthy fighter jets, combined with Japan's more muscular security agenda under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is fuelling Tokyo's push for a new fighter. As tensions between China and the United States and its allies rise in areas such as the East China Sea and South China Sea, Tokyo wants to ensure it can defend the airspace over Japan and its territories. China's warplanes still lag the best aircraft used by the U.S. and its allies, but Beijing has been building its capability, military experts say. To maintain its air superiority, Tokyo had hoped to buy U.S. F-22 stealth fighters. Despite numerous discussions, however, Washington refused to sell, even to one of its closest Asian allies. While the F-35s will replace some of Japan's strike fighters, they are not a replacement for the F-15s in the air superiority role and don't have the F-22's capabilities, said one Japan-based source familiar with the thinking inside the countrys defence ministry. "Japan really wanted the F-22 but it got the F-35," added the source. "This is a source of concern and frustration in Tokyo." Japanese ministry planners believe that if the programme goes ahead, the F-3 could be an aircraft similar to the F-22 in look and capabilities, said a second Japan-based source. Manned and unmanned options are being considered, with a preference for the former, the source added. Japan recently lifted a decades-long ban on arms sales and while the F-3 programme is focussed on domestic needs, exports of a home-grown fighter may also be considered. Any joint effort could be similar to Japans F-2 programme, where Lockheed Martin teamed up with MHI to develop a fighter jet based its F-16. High development costs meant that the Japanese government paid around $120 million for each F-2, making it the second-most expensive fighter jet ever built after the F-22s at around $150 million each. The basic F-35 model, by comparison, is expected to cost around $85 million each once full production is reached. TOO COSTLY? Some analysts believe the cost of developing an aircraft with the performance level of an F-22 may be a hurdle too high even for the worlds third largest economy. "Paying for that performance difference by developing a new jet is simply too expensive. Where would Japan find $40 billion or more in its defence budget to develop a new plane? said Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of analysis at Teal Group. Help from Western firms could cut costs. One potential partner was the Eurofighter consortium, a joint venture between Airbus, Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aermacchi and BAE Systems that manufactures the Typhoon fighter jet, said sources. A Eurofighter spokesman declined to comment. Lockheed Martin said it was very interested in working with Tokyo on the proposed F-3 programme. "Lockheed Martin has a very long history of developing new fighter aircraft, both indigenously and as a foreign partnership that incorporates leading edge technology to address emerging threats," a spokesman said in an email. Boeing's record in developing new fighter jets can help any "ground-up" programme, Jim Armington, who heads business development in East Asia for Boeing's defence arm, told Reuters. Basing the F-3 on an existing design would give Japan a head-start, he added. Now, I cant say which direction the Japanese government will go with this fighter, and whether it will be totally indigenous Japanese industry only or whether it will be opened up for foreign role and cooperation," said Armington. "We are betting that there will be some opportunity for us to help." (Reporting by Siva Govindasamy in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Just a few weeks after Starbucks announced it would open coffee shops in Italy, the U.S. cafe chain said it would take on another huge challenge: bringing its Teavana chain of tea stores to China by September.

The move, announced at the companys annual meeting in Seattle on Wednesday, represents Starbucks latest move to build its business in China, a market CEO Howard Schultz recently said has the potential to be the companys top market.

But it also promises to be a daunting task to carve out a niche for itself in the biggest tea-drinking market in the world. Still, with Starbucks momentum with its cafes, the company feels it follows Teavana should also be in the market. (Starbucks bought Teavana in 2013.)

It's very complementary to our coffee business, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson told Bloomberg News in an interview. With Teavana  similar to what we've done with coffee  we've established a very premium brand. Bloomberg notes that the tea is a $100 billion market globally.

Starbucks currently operates about 2,000 stores in 100 Chinese cities after 17 years in the country, compared to some 7,600 stateside. The company has plans to increase its Chinese fleet up to 3,400 locations by 2019.

The company is also planning to bring Teavana to key European markets this year as well, specifically Britain, France and Germany.

Other announcements included news that it will launch an entirely new beverage line for the Keurig hot system: the Starbucks Latte.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes to talk with China and address its concern about the possible deployment of the THAAD missile defense system that Washington is discussing with Seoul, a senior State Department official said Tuesday. Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, stressed that the United States and South Korea had just begun discussions, and no decision had been made to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Gottemoeller also emphasized that the system was defensive in nature and aimed at North Korea, not China. "THAAD is truly only capable of defending the territory on which it's deployed. It is not capable of the kind of reach that the Chinese seem to be afraid that it has," she told reporters at a breakfast meeting. "We will be very glad and hope we'll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with China about those very technical limitations and facts about the system," she said. Gottemoeller gave no timetable for a possible meeting. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked about the remarks, said THAAD was "certainly not a simple technology issue". "At present, the situation on the Korean peninsula is very complex and sensitive. We hope the relevant country cautiously handles this issue, and we demand they do nothing to harm China's security interests," she told a daily news briefing. The United States and South Korea agreed to begin the talks last month after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 carrying what it called a satellite. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday told a congressional hearing that Seoul and Washington had an "agreement in principle" to discuss deploying a THAAD system to South Korea. Doing so, he said, would protect "the entirety of the peninsula against North Korean missiles of greater range." Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, North Korea's neighbor and main ally, last month underscored China's concerns about a possible THAAD deployment but seemed to open the door to a diplomatic solution. Wang said China understood the desire of the United States and South Korea to ensure the defense of their own countries, but Beijing had legitimate concerns that should be addressed. U.S. military officials have long said the THAAD system is needed in South Korea, but until North Korea's recent satellite launch, Seoul had been reluctant to openly discuss its deployment given the risk of damaging ties with China. Army Lieutenant General David Mann, commander, U.S. Army Space & Missile Command, told reporters that the THAAD system would result in a "huge increase" in missile defense capabilities on the Korean peninsula. But he said Washington understood the sensitivity of the discussions given the concerns raised by China, one of South Korea's key trading partners. "It's very, very important that we clarify that that radar, that system is not looking at China," he said. "If the decision is made to deploy it, that system would be oriented on North Korea and threats posed by the North Korean military." The system was designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight. Mann said the Army would complete training for its fifth THAAD system by the end of the year. He said Japan was also interested in the system, as were U.S. military commanders in Europe and the Middle East. Once a site was approved and prepared, the mobile THAAD system could be deployed "in a matter of weeks," Mann said. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Bernard Orr)
VALLEY COTTAGE, N.Y., March 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Future Market Insights (FMI) recently announced the release of its report titled Residential Water Treatment Devices: Middle East Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025. According to the report, the Middle East residential water treatment devices market was valued at US$ 414.1 Mn in 2014 and is anticipated to reach US$ 855.3 Mn by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 6.8% throughout the forecast period.

Total population of Middle East & Africa stood at approximately 346 million in 2015 and is expected to grow at the rate of 2% per annum. The Middle East & Africa is also witnessing mass migration of people to urban centers, thereby leading to increased demand for water purifiers in these centers. Economies of North Africa, on the other hand, have also been registering healthy growth rates over the last few years, which in turn is expected to fuel growth of the residential water treatment devices market in the overall MEA region. Due to large scale industrialization, quality of water in the GCC and Levant countries has deteriorated during the recent years. Water availability in these regions is estimated to be merely 1,200 m3/person/year, which is substantially lower than the global average of 7,000 m3/person/year. These factors are also prompting urban masses in Middle East countries to opt for water purifiers. Furthermore, the GCC region is witnessing entry of globally established water purifier brands, which has resulted into increased competition in the market. Increased competition, in turn, ensures marginal decline in prices of residential water treatment devices in the retail market in these regions. However, price decline has been largely reported on the reverse osmosis-based water purification devices only, the sales of which have witnessed an upsurge in recent years.

Request a Sample Report: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-eu-1299

Around 44% of the Middle East & Africa population lives in rural area and is not aware about the necessity and techniques to purify and filter water. Penetrating these markets may be a challenging task for the concerned market participants as most of the vendors would have to begin by creating awareness regarding water purifier and filters and the importance of these products.

Combination water purification system employs two different treatment technologies in one system. Players such as AquaPro and Kent have started offering RO+UV-based combination water purifiers in the GCC and Levant countries.

Geography-wise, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dominated the GCC residential water treatment devices market in terms of value in 2014, accounting for more than one-third value share of the GCC residential water treatment devices market. On the other hand, Turkey dominated the Levant residential water treatment devices market in 2014, accounting for more than 40% value share of the overall market in the region. Furthermore, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is foreseen to expand at a relatively high CAGR during the forecast period and is expected to maintain its revenue share dominance till 2025 end. The governments in the Levant and GCC regions are investing and opening up to Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and promoting industrialization, which has been leading to an increase in the per capita income of the residing population in countries such as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan are expected to register significant Y-o-Y growth during the forecast period. Besides, these countries are projected to bestow more focus on their non-oil and manufacturing sectors in the coming years, which in turn is expected to encourage the water purifier and water filter manufacturers in these countries to go in for domestic production and enhance sales. Countries such as Bahrain, Iraq, Palestine and Syria are currently witnessing moderate growth in demand for residential water treatment devices, and the trend is expected to continue during the forecast period as well.

Preview Analysis: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/middle-east-residential-water-treatment-devices-market

On the basis of filtration devices, the filtration faucet segment dominated the Middle East residential water treatment devices market in 2014 in terms of revenue, and is foreseen to expand at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. In terms of volume, the water tap faucet segment dominated the Middle East residential water treatment devices market in 2014, accounting for more than half volume share of the overall market.

On the basis of purification devices, the reverse osmosis segment dominated the Middle East residential water treatment devices market in 2014 in terms of revenue, and is foreseen to expand at a relatively high CAGR during the forecast period. In terms of volume, the gravity segment purification devices dominated the Middle East residential water treatment devices market in 2014, accounting for more than 40% volume share of the overall market.

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Key market players covered in the report include KENT RO Systems Ltd., Eureka Forbes, Britannic Water Treatment Company W.L.L., Panasonic Corporation, LG Electronics, Pure It LLC, Waterlife, Coolpex Pure Water System, Ultra Tec Water Treatment LLC and AQUA PRO UAE. Most players in the market are engaged in various activities, such as mergers and acquisitions, increasing investments in technological and product developments, geographical expansion and brand building via strong marketing strategies, in order to sustain their position in the competitive market.

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Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends.
Mikael Lidstrom, head of Bravida Division North (Sweden) and member of the Managment Group, has given notice that he will leave Bravida to become Managing Director for PQR Consult Sverige AB, a consulting company within the building industry. Mikael has, except for a few years, been with Bravida since 1989 when he started as a ventilation fitter and has thereafter had the role of branch manager, regional mangager and most recent as divisional manager.  Mikael has the last three years successfully lead and developed Division North and we wish him all the best in his new role. We have started to look for his successor, says Mattias Johansson, CEO and Group President, Bravida. Mikael remains with the company until a successor is recruited. For further information, please contact: Mattias Johansson, CEO and Group President, Bravida. Phone: +46 8 695 20 00 Bravida is a leading multi-technical service provider in the Nordics, with about 9,000 employees. Bravida delivers specialist services as well as complete electrical, heating and plumbing, and HVAC solutions, offering everything from design and project planning to installation, operation and maintenance. Bravida is represented in around 140 locations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. www.bravidagroup.com/en/
HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) is ramping up activity in the islands shipping and aviation sectors, both of which contribute significantly to Bermudas economy and have strong potential for growth.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e4578095-2032-4922-87f7-11fb88ea6701

Over the past several months, the BDA has travelled to key international events and established industry working groups to help plan the jurisdictions competitive strategy for the short- and long-term in both sectors. The groups, which weigh in on business-development strategies, bring together aviation and shipping government officials, law firms, ship owners, ship-management companies and other industry representatives.

Weve seen strong participation from our industry and government stakeholders, says Kevin Richards, BDA Business Development Manager for aviation and shipping. These sectors are important to Bermudas GDP and job creation; the BDAs goal is to help promote and revitalise them so our economy can diversify and grow.

Richards has attended several key shipping and aviation events in Bermuda and overseas in recent monthsand this week has been joined by industry and government representatives at the 31st annual Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) conference in Stamford. The CMA attracts some 2,500 attendees, including ship owners and managers, ship manufacturers, lawyers and insurers, government agencies, brokers, charterers, ship registries, investors and financiers. The BDA has organised a substantial presence at the three-day conference that ends tomorrow, answering queries and connecting interested parties with Bermuda industry experts.

This is the largest North American conference devoted to the shipping industry, says Richards, who was joined at the CMA by Bermuda-based Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Charles Taylor & Co, Conyers Dill & Pearman, and Shoreline Managers. Also attending are members of the Department of Maritime Administration (DMA), which oversees Bermudas ship registry and is poised to transition into a semi-autonomous authority.

Our industry representatives have individually promoted Bermuda at previous conferences. As a result of the unity, cohesion and partnerships we have developed over the last six months, the BDA is now pleased to provide a central Bermuda presence for our jurisdictions stakeholders to leverage at this event, Richards adds.

He will also further raise Bermudas shipping profile this year by ensuring representation and business development at highly targeted international conventions such as: Posidonia 2016: Metropolitan Expo, in Athens, Greece June 610; 29th annual Marine Money Week, in New York City June 2123; and 9th annual Superyacht Finance Forum in Monaco September 27. Richards will also be marketing to high-net-worth clientele at the upcoming Louis Vuitton Americas Cup World Series events in New York City in May and Chicago in June.

In the aviation sphere, Richards is working closely with Bermuda law firms and the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), which, like DMA, will transition into a semi-public administrative body in 2016. Richards attended Januarys annual Global Airfinance Conference in Dublin with the DCA, plus law firms Appleby, Conyers, MJM and Walkers. A BDA team joined Cedar Aviation that same month at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference in Tampa, Florida.

In April, BDA CEO Ross Webber will travel with Richards and DCA officials to Tehran to explore investment and business opportunities at the Iranian Aviation Symposium. The highly-anticipated April 2526 event marks a new era for Irans aviation sector, which opened for business this year after the lifting of nuclear sanctions. Organised by AeroPodium, the conference will attract aircraft operators, manufacturers, banks, leasing and finance companies, airports, law firms, and aircraft registries.

Bermudas aviation register, in existence since 1931, is used by multinational companies and high-net-worth individuals. Currently there are more than 700 aircraft on the Bermuda Register, of which some 130 are in the private category. The islands international shipping registry, established in 1789, is today a Category 1 member of the prestigious Red Ensign Group (REG), supporting a worldwide portfolio of vessels. Bermudas registered fleet includes large cruise ships, oil, gas and chemical tankers, container ships, bulk carriers, offshore vessels, cruising and mega-yachts.

CONNECTING BUSINESS

The BDA encourages direct investment and helps companies start up, re-locate or expand their operations in our premier jurisdiction. An independent, public-private partnership, we connect you to industry professionals, regulatory officials, and key contacts in the Bermuda government to assist domicile decisions. Our goal? To make doing business here smooth and beneficial
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 23

By Emil Ilgar - Trend:

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is preparing to visit Pakistan in coming days, IRNA reported on March 22.

According to the report, the major agenda at Rouhani's visit to Islamabad is negotiation over Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline as well as boosting power export to this country.

Before, Pakistani Express Tribune reported that two months after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Tehran in January, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is preparing to kick off a visit to Islamabad on March 25-26.

The schedule of Rouhani's two-day trip was disclosed during a meeting between Pakistani Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost on March 9.

IRNA reported that the economic ministers of Rouhani's cabinet will accompany him in Pakistan visit.

The Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian told IRNA on March 22 that exporting 3000 megawatts(MW) of power to Pakistan is possible.

Falahatian didn't reveal how much kilowatt-hour (kWh) of Iranian electricity would be exported to Pakistan, however, Pakistan has about 4 percent share in Iran's 10-billion kWh electricity energy export, Iran Energy Ministry's annual report says.

A few weeks ago Pakistan lifted sanctions against Iran, shortly after international sanctions on Iran were lifted according to the country's nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project (also called Peace Pipeline) is also expected to discussed between two sides.

Pakistan should have intake Iranian gas since the beginning of 2015, but it hasn't started the construction of pipeline in its territory yet.

According to agreement, Iran would export 22 million cubic meters per day of gas to Pakistan The pipeline can carry 110 million cubic meters of gas a day.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 23

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Azerbaijan's Southern Gas Corridor Company printed its $1bn 10year bond on Thursday 80bp back of the sovereign curve, benefiting from an explicit state guarantee, Global Capital agency reported.

Initial price thoughts for the 10 year bond were released at 7% yield area on Thursday morning, but leads UniCredit, Citi and JP Morgan were unable to move pricing tighter before pricing in line with that level later in the day, said in report.

The bond was sold at 99.112 with a coupon of 6.875%. Demand was largely driven by investors in the UK and US.

Azerbaijani government held a bond roadshow for the Southern Gas Corridor on international market in March 10-16 at main world financial centers - London, New-York and Boston.

Three manager banks, namely, Citibank, JP Morgan, and Unicredit have been chosen for the bond issuance.

Fitch Ratings has assigned CJSC Southern Gas Corridor's (SGC) senior unsecured Eurobonds a 'BB+(EXP)' expected foreign currency long-term rating.

The Southern Gas Corridor project's (SGC) net financial needs for operations and capex will be close to $8.4 billion in 2016-2019, said the message of the international ratings agency Fitch Ratings.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 23

Trend:

Former Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev's son-in-law Adil Toiganbayev was detained at Kyrgyzstan's request in Dubai, the UAE, RIA Novosti reported citing the press service of the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry March 23.

The first Kyrgyz President Akayev was overthrown as a result of a tulip revolution in 2005 and left the country with his family. His son-in-law Toiganbayev, as well as a number of associates, were accused of corruption and were declared internationally wanted.

Toiganbayev has been wanted by law enforcement bodies of Kyrgyzstan since 2005 and is accused of a number of crimes, according to the country's interior ministry.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 23

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has extended condolences to King Philippe of Belgium over the terror attacks that took place in Brussels, said Turkmen government in a message March 23.

Terror attacks hit the Zaventem airport and a metro station in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, killing at least 34 and injuring 250.

"Turkmenistan, resolutely opposing any manifestation of terrorism and extremism, fully supports the international community's efforts for fighting this evil and eradicating it," said Berdimuhamedov.

President Berdimuhamedov, on behalf of the Turkmen people and government, as well as on his own behalf, conveyed deep empathy and support for families, relatives and close ones of the terror attacks' victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 22

By Emil Ilgar - Trend:

Exporting 3000 megawatts(MW) of power to Pakistan is possible, the Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian told IRNA on March 22.

Without specifying the details, he said that the delayed debts of Iran's neighbor power clients is about $1.5 billion.

He also said that Pakistan hasn't demonstrated a serious willingness to increase power import from Iran.

According to Iran's Energy Ministry's latest weekly report, the country increased power generation capacity by more than 600 MW in 2015 to about 73,500 MW.

Iran has planned to increase power generation capacity to 100,000 MW by 2021.

Falahatian didn't reveal how much kilowatt-hour (kWh) of Iranian electricity would be exported to Pakistan, however, Pakistan has about 4 percent share in Iran's 10-billion kWh electricity energy export, Iran Energy Ministry's annual report says. Iran's electricity export decreased from about 11.8 billion kWh in 2014 to about 10 billion kWh in 2015. Iraq and Turkey share 90 percent of Iran's total power export.

Falahatian said that Iraq is importing about 300 MW of Iranian power in this season (spring) from Iran, while the power deal between two nations has been expired since the beginning of 2015 and should be extended.

Coming to Pakistan's debts to Iran, The Express Tribune reported on March 10 that Pakistan is already importing 73MW to meet the requirement of Gwadar but payments could not be made since 2011. "Now that sanctions have been removed from Iran, officials believe banking channels will be opened, paving the way for payment of outstanding bills," the report said.

Two months after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Tehran in January, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is preparing to kick off a visit to Islamabad on March 25-26. The schedule of Rouhani's two-day trip was disclosed during a meeting between Pakistani Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost on March 9.

During this visit, Pakistan and Iran are set to sign deals for supply of over 3,000 MW of electricity, The Express Tribune reported .

"Three power import deals are expected to be inked by the two countries including supply of 100MW, 75MW and 1,000MW. The 1,000MW agreement could be extended to 3,000MW of electricity," a diplomatic source told The Express Tribune.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 22

By Emil Ilgar - Trend:

EU and OPEC warned that massive fall in investment could in time lead to a supply shortfall and the risk of a sharp oil price rebound.

The twelfth meeting of the energy dialogue between the European Union (EU) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) took place in Vienna, Austria on March 21, the official website of OPEC reported.

The EU delegation was headed by Miguel Arias Canete, Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy at the European Commission. The OPEC delegation was led by Abdalla Salem El-Badri, Acting Secretary General of OPEC.



"The parties noted that since the last Energy Dialogue meeting in June 2014, there has been a growing challenge in energy markets, particularly for oil. Oil prices have fallen by more than 70%, many investments have been deferred or cancelled, manpower has been laid off, and the market has been searching for a supply-demand balance".



Looking ahead, both the EU and OPEC noted with concern that the current price environment has considerably reduced investments. Such a massive fall in investment could in time lead to a supply shortfall and the risk of a sharp oil price rebound, as has been witnessed in the past.



Although producers and consumers might have different views on what is an adequate oil price level, there was broad agreement that excessive oil price volatility and/or sharp price rises would be harmful for the economies of both the producing and consuming countries. An affordable and stable oil price, alongside a balanced and stable market, is a prerequisite for economic growth for both producers and consumers.



OPEC provided an overview of the long-term oil market outlook. It highlighted that energy demand will increase by almost 50% in the period up to 2040, with oil remaining the fuel with the largest share over the next 20 years. Oil demand reaches almost 110 mb/d by 2040, with developing countries accounting for most of the growth.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday the atmosphere at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva had changed for the better, Sputnik reported.

"Atmosphere at the talks has changed... Proximity talks continue in atmosphere of mutual respect. The reason is, I believe, because everyone has an interest in maintaining cessation of hostilities," de Mistura told reporters.



Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with forces loyal to President Bashar Assad's government fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.

On February 22, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria. The ceasefire took effect on February 27 and is generally holding across the country despite reported minor violations.

Geneva is currently hosting proximity talks between a government delegation and three Syrian opposition delegations.


The US military launched an air strike on Tuesday in the mountains of Yemen against a training camp run by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, killing dozens of its fighters, the Pentagon said, Reuters reported.



"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al Qaeda and denying it safe haven," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.



Yemen is a traditional stronghold for al Qaeda's most active branch, which was founded in 2009 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi wings of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.



Its plots against Western targets included an attempt to bomb a US-bound airliner in 2009. It also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that killed 12 last year, although some analysts suspect its role was more inspirational than direct.



Viewed by Western analysts as the most dangerous arm of al Qaeda, AQAP has also expanded during the chaos of Yemen's civil war between Houthi militia and forces loyal to Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.



Even so, AQAP has suffered setbacks, including in US strikes, and is facing competition from the new Yemen branch of jihadist group Islamic State.



Cook said the training camp was being used by more than 70 AQAP militants.



"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," he said.
American Airlines announced in a press release that it cancelled all air service to Brussels in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the Belgian capital, Sputnik reported.



Earlier in the day, a series of blasts hit Brussels' Zaventem airport and a central metro station, killing at least 34 people and injuring around 230.

"When operations at the Brussels airport resume, we will re-accommodate our customers on available flights," the release stated.

American Airlines' customers booked for travel to and from Brussels on March 22 and March 23, the note added, may request a refund or reschedule travel through April 5.

At this time, the release added, all employees and crew members of American Airlines were safe and accounted for in Brussels.




The conception of public safety in Europe, including in the railway system, should be reconsidered, the European Railway Agency told Sputnik on Wednesday, a day after terrorist attacks shook the EU capital of Brussels.

"One thing that is sure is that we have to rethink the conception of public safety in Europe in general with the railway system obviously being a part of it. This is something extends beyond the railway world and in collaboration between the EU member states," a representative of the European Railway Agency said.

Belgian Health Minister Maggie De Block confirmed at least 31 deaths and 260 injuries in Tuesday series of blasts in the departures hall in the Brussels international airport at Zaventem and an explosion in a subway carriage at the Maelbeek station, close to the EU institutions.

The attacks have reignited security concerns in Europe regarding border control other issues.
Paris (AFP) - Belgium's approach to immigration and security has again come under fire after the Brussels bombings, but some say the country is being unfairly singled out and the timing of the criticism is crass.

Among the more bizarre statements was that of Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz.

"If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them," Katz told Israeli radio.

But it was criticism closer to home that triggered particular outrage, after French Finance Minister Michel Sapin accused Brussels of "naivety" over the spread of Islamist extremism in their country.

"I think there was... a lack of will, on the part of some (Belgian) authorities... perhaps also a kind of naivety," Sapin said on Tuesday, suggesting they "thought that to encourage good integration, communities should be left to develop on their own".

Speaking to French TV station LCI, he added: "We know... that this is not the right answer. When a neighbourhood is in danger of becoming sectarian, we should (implement) a policy of integration."

Belgium has faced much criticism over its security failings, particularly in the wake of November's Paris attacks that were largely planned in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, considered a hotbed of Islamist radicalism.

Some criticisms have been hard to refute, such as revelations from Turkey on Wednesday that Brussels attacker Ibrahim El Bakraoui was detained and deported back to Europe last year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Belgian authorities had failed to confirm the suspect's jihadist links "despite our warnings".

- 'Solidarity not lectures' -

But the timing of Sapin's comments, just hours after the bombings at the Brussels airport and metro station, was considered highly inappropriate.

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"It is indecent when people are suffering, are in shock. We need solidarity, not lectures," said Belgian Socialist politician Laurette Onkelinx.

A member of Sapin's own French Socialist party, Francois Lamy, described the finance minister's statement as "just shameful".

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also sought to distance himself from his colleague's words, saying he did not want "to lecture our Belgian friends".

"We closed our eyes, everywhere in Europe and including France, to the rise of extremist Salafist ideas in neighbourhoods where a mix of drug trafficking and radical Islam have led astray... some of the youth," Valls told Europe 1 radio.

Nonetheless, Belgium has spawned more jihadists per capita than any other EU country, with some 500 leaving for Syria and Iraq from a population of only 11 million, officials say.

Its political divisions have prevented effective coordination between security services, and have also been blamed for allowing radicalisation to fester.

A brief moment of elation followed the arrest of Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam last week in Brussels, but that was quickly snuffed out by Tuesday's carnage.

- 'Could happen anywhere' -

Despite all this, experts have warned against singling out Belgium for criticism.

"I'd caution against focusing too much on Belgium and blaming them," said Thomas Hegghammer, a terrorism expert at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.

"This is about networks and where they are strong. Today, it happens to be in Belgium, but a similar situation could be replicated elsewhere," he said.

Hegghammer noted that savvy militants were increasingly skilled at flying under the radar by using encrypted communications -- and that this could happen in other countries.

Belgium's ambassador to Britain, Guy Trouveroy, said it was "not entirely right" to suggest some areas of his country had been abandoned by the authorities.

"It is always easy afterwards to say 'We should have, we should have'," Trouveroy told the BBC.

"At the time, the threats were not there and this Syria issue is relatively new. We had to move up to the challenge and we went maybe pace-by-pace, haphazardly. It is not easy.

"These are professionals and they know how to put up commando operations."

Meanwhile, an aide to Sapin told AFP the minister had not wanted to single out Belgium and was talking more generally about the terrorist threat.

The aide said Sapin had sent a message to his Belgian counterpart, Johan Van Overtveldt, apologising for the "controversy".
Unidentified attackers hacked a Christian convert to death in northern Bangladesh Tuesday, amid growing attacks on religious minorities by suspected Islamist militants in the Muslim-majority country.

Police said at least two attackers stopped Hossain Ali while the 68-year-old was taking his regular morning walk in the town of Kurigram and then lunged at his neck with sharp weapons.

"He died on the spot. The attackers exploded a molotov cocktail to create panic and left the scene on a motorcycle," Kurigram district police chief Tobarak Ullah told AFP.

Ullah said Ali had converted to Christianity from Islam in 1999 but he was not sure whether the deadly attack was carried out by Islamists or if there was another motive.

"He was not a pastor or reputed Christian. Also there were some disputes over his family properties," Ullah said.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the killing.

But in recent months militants claiming to be soldiers of the Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on converts and minorities including Shiite, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus.

Last week the IS said it killed a Shiite convert from Sunni Islam in the southwestern town of Kaliganj. In January an alleged Christian convert was also murdered by the same group.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government denies that Islamic State has a presence in Bangladesh. It blames the banned homegrown militant group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh for the upsurge in deadly violence.

Bangladesh has been plagued by unrest in the last three years. Experts say a long-running political crisis has radicalised opponents of the government.
Niamey (AFP) - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, re-elected for a second term in a controversial weekend poll, on Wednesday proposed forming a unity government with the opposition which boycotted the vote.

"I am ready to put in place a government of national unity with the opposition in order to face the threats facing the people of Niger," he said in an interview with AFP.

"There is not just a security challenge, there are other challenges including economic and social development. All these challenges need a sacred union."

Issoufou won 92 percent of the vote in Sunday's run-off election in the impoverished but uranium-rich West African country, which was marred by low turnout in the face of the opposition boycott.

His sole challenger Hama Amadou, imprisoned since November on shadowy baby trafficking charges, was flown to France for medical treatment just days before the second round.

The electoral commission said Amadou won just seven percent of the ballots cast.

- 'Jolt of energy' -

Issoufou, who took office in 2011, campaigned on pledges to bring prosperity to the country and vowed to prevent further attacks by jihadists in its vast remote north, and Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists to the south.

"The security challenge requires a national jolt of energy and needs all Nigeriens to pull together, including those from the opposition," Issoufou told AFP.

"We need a broad front so we can respond to the concerns and aspirations of our people," he said.

"I am prepared to discuss and debate with everyone, with political parties -- from the majority or the opposition -- and with civil society."

Issoufou, who is due to be sworn in early next month, warned that nations such as Niger were "fragile" and faced serious threats to their security.

"It's an historic moment. We must not underestimate the grave threat against our country's very existence as a nation.

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"We are determined to organise ourselves, to unite, to equip our security forces, to pool our resources with neighbouring countries and beyond.... This is a global threat that requires a global response."

He said there was nothing "contradictory" about pursuing security at the same time as development in a country where 76 percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.

"Experience has proved that the three things are linked -- security, development and democracy."

- 'Nothing without security' -

Issoufou said it had been a mistake to "disengage" from security issues as part of structural programmes by organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"That was an mistake. The proof today -- our countries are too weak to defend themselves, any development is impossible.

"Because if there is no security, there is no agriculture, no infrastructure. Nothing can be achieved without security. Investing in security is not throwing money out of the window as one might have thought in the 1980s and 1990s."

Referring to Niger's latest ranking in the Human Development Index, he also pledged to continue efforts to improve agriculture, food, education, health and access to water.

Niger holds the lowest place on the comprehensive Human Development Index drawn up each year by the UN Development Programme.

"We are making progress with a six percent average growth rate over the past five years. My goal is to reach seven percent during my term in office.

And he pledged to double from five to 10 years the average time Nigeriens attend school, ensuring that the "maximum number of Nigeriens go to school and stay there for the maximum length of time".
Officials say that the suspected bomb-maker from the Paris attacks was one of the two suicide bombers at the Brussels airport on Tuesday.

Officials speaking to the Associated Press say that one of the suicide bombers involved in Tuesday's bombing of the Brussels airport was also the suspected bomb-maker for the Paris attacks last November. Identified as Najim Laachraoui, his DNA was found on the explosive devices used in both European capitals.

A French police official said that DNA taken from one of the suicide bombers matched Laachraoui's DNA, and was discovered on all of the suicide vests used, as well as in the Brussels apartment where they were made.

If true, this would strengthen the likelihood of a connection between the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Intelligence officials also indicated earlier on Wednesday that the terrorist group Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State, has at least 400 trained fighters spread across Europe waiting to launch similar attacks.

Attackers carried out bombings in the airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people and injuring approximately 260. Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attacks in both Paris and Brussels.

Belgium remains on high alert as authorities continue to hunt for suspects related to the bombings.
By Jeff Mason and Richard Lough BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday championed Argentina's new center-right leader Mauricio Macri as an example for other countries in Latin America, praising the fast pace of reforms to strengthen the economy. Obama, on a two-day visit to Argentina that marks a detente after years of tensions, said Argentina under Macri was poised to play a more influential role on the global stage. In his first 100 days in office, Macri has distanced himself from South America's leftist bloc, old allies of former President Cristina Fernandez, and sought a thaw in relations with Western capitals as he seeks new investment in Latin America's No. 3 economy. "I can tell you President Macri is a man in hurry," Obama told a joint news conference after the two leaders held talks. "I'm impressed because he has moved rapidly on so many of the reforms that he promised, to create more sustainable and inclusive economic growth, to reconnect Argentina with the global economy and the world community," he said. Macri offers Obama a new ally in South America, a region where a strong leftist bloc turned its back on Washington over the past decade but where public opinion is now shifting toward the political center as governments grapple with graft scandals and an economic slowdown. "Argentina is re-assuming its traditional leadership role in the region and around the world," Obama said. His trip to Argentina to forge a new friendship follows a historic visit to former Cold War foe Cuba that aimed to boost U.S. credibility across Latin America. For years, much of the region took a dim view of Washington's longstanding policy of trying to force change on Communist-ruled Cuba by isolating it, a strategy that Obama has cast aside. Macri said Obama's visit marked the start of new "mature" relations in which the countries would cooperate on issues ranging from trade to fighting international drug trafficking. Macri has lifted capital and trade controls, slashed bloated power subsidies and cut a debt deal with "holdout" creditors in the United States. But he still has to grapple with double-digit inflation, a yawning fiscal deficit and a shortage of hard currency, and has made securing new foreign investment flows a priority. NEW INVESTMENT The American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina said U.S. firms would invest $2.3 billion in Argentina over the next 18 months, including more than $100 million each from General Motors Co, Dow Chemical Co, AES Corp and Ford Motor Co. Argentine Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay urged business leaders, at a forum where the new investment flows were announced, to think long-term and said policies aimed at cutting inflation and reinvigorating growth would be felt in the second half of the year. "We've cleaned out the rubbish," Prat-Gay said in reference to Fernandez's protectionist policies that stunted investment. "Now we're entering the starting gates." Obama said the two governments would work to identify barriers impeding greater trade flows between the two economies, adding that a free trade agreement was something that might lie at the end of the process. "Right now theres a lot of underbrush, a lot of unnecessary trade irritants and commercial irritants that can be cleared away administratively and that's some of the work that we intend to do right away," Obama said. Foreign companies operating in Argentina routinely complain about costly customs requirements, cumbersome red tape and strong workers' rights. Obama said Argentina could be an effective partner in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime and said both countries would work together in response to the Zika virus that has spread across parts of South America at lightning speed. The two countries announced an agreement on joint steps to fight climate change including working to cut carbon emissions from air flights and integrating solar and wind power into electricity grids. Crowds have cheered Obama's motorcade as it travels along Buenos Aires' tree-lined boulevards, handing the U.S. leader a friendlier reception than his predecessor George W. Bush, whose presence at a Summit of the Americas in 2005 was met with protests and snubbed by then President Nestor Kirchner. But left-wing political parties have promised protests on Thursday, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the coup on March 24, 1976, that installed right-wing military rule. In an era when Cold War thinking often put Washington behind right-wing governments in the region, the United States initially backed the 1976-1983 dictatorship, during which as many as 30,000 people were killed. Obama said he would visit a memorial to victims of the "Dirty War" to pay tribute to the Argentines who stood up against human rights violations, and re-affirmed that his administration would declassify U.S. military and intelligence records related to the junta. "I hope this gesture also helps to rebuild trust that may have been lost between our two countries," Obama said. (Additional reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Frances Kerry and Tom Brown)
Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Donald Trump at the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas in December. (Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)

Donald Trump easily won Arizonas Republican presidential primary Tuesday, adding another key winner-take-all state in his push toward the GOP nomination. But Texas Sen. Ted Cruz picked up a win in Utah, nearly countering Trumps gains, and also won the endorsement of a former rival, ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, bolstering his bid to be the partys chief alternative to Trump.



In a statement early Wednesday, Bush, who quit the race after the South Carolina primary, praised Cruz as a consistent, principled conservative who is the partys best chance at capturing the White House. In doing so, he became the most prominent member of the GOP establishment to back Cruz, who has presented himself as the only candidate who can stop Trump from winning the Republican nomination.

That argument appeared to work with Bush, who had also been courted by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio  his former protege who exited the race last week after losing his home state. In a statement, Bush called on Republicans to unite behind Cruz, sharply criticizing Trump, whose insurgent campaign effectively ended his own presidential aspirations.

For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies, Bush said. To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that.

Bushs backing came as Cruz seeks to gain momentum from Tuesdays win in Utah. By capturing at least 50 percent of the vote in Utah, Cruz won all 40 delegates at stake, slightly offsetting Trumps 58 delegates in Arizona. If no candidate had exceeded 50 percent, the delegates would have been awarded proportionally, a significant loss for Republicans scrambling to stop Trump from securing the party nomination ahead of what increasingly looks like a contested GOP convention this summer.

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Trump now has 739 delegates, compared to Cruzs 465. Kasich is a distant third, with just 143 delegates. A candidate needs 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination.

As Utah Republicans headed to caucus, Trump unleashed a familiar Election Day play, slamming Cruz for dirty campaigning. On Twitter, Trump accused the Texas senator of using a provocative photo of his wife, Melania, in an ad attacking his campaign.

Lyin Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad, Trump wrote. Be careful, Lyin Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!

The ad the New York real estate mogul was referring to was actually paid for by an anti-Trump super-PAC called Make America Awesome. The online spot, aimed at Mormon voters in Utah, featured a January 2000 photo of the then-model posing nude on a bearskin rug on her future husbands plane for British GQ. Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady, the super-PAC ad read. Or, you could just support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.

Responding to Trumps tweet, Cruz denied involvement with the ad and slammed him for threatening his wife. Pic of your wife not from us, he wrote. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, youre more of a coward than I thought.

The social media bickering between Trump and Cruz marked the end of an election day that was largely overshadowed by the terrorist attacks in Brussels. At least 30 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a series of explosions at the airport and at a subway station in the heart of the Belgian capital. The Islamic State took credit for the attacks.

Trump quickly seized on the event to reiterate his call to close the U.S. borders to Syrian refugees, and he doubled down on his call for terrorist suspects to be subject to waterboarding and other severe interrogation measures. At the same time, Cruz called for stricter surveillance of Muslim communities in the United States, urging law enforcement to patrol and secure such areas before they become radicalized. In response, Trump told CNN he agreed with Cruzs position, but touted himself as the candidate who would do the most to protect the nation.



At the same time, Trump, who made no public appearances on Tuesday, took to Twitter, talking up his tough stance on terrorism. I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody  and its not even close, he wrote. Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!

Donald Trump throws a thumbs-up to supporters during a campaign rally Saturday in Fountain Hills, Ariz. (Photo: Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

Because there were no exit polls in either Arizona or Utah, it was not clear whether the deadly attacks had had any impact on driving voters to the polls  although both states reported historic turnout.

Heading into Tuesday, Arizona was one of the last big winner-take-all states on the Republican map. Although Trump had been heavily favored there, Cruz, who has sought to cast himself as the chief alternative to the brash New York businessman, tried to put the state in play. He poured money into last-minute ads and maintained a busy schedule there compared to Trump, who has noticeably scaled back his travel in recent days.

But Trumps anti-immigration platform  one of his key promises has been to erect a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border  and a list of key endorsements, including from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a controversial figure who has been one of the countrys most outspoken opponents on immigration, proved hard to beat.

From here, the pace of the race slows a bit. Republicans arent scheduled to vote again until April 5, when voters in Wisconsin head to the polls. After that, a string of states in the Northeast, where Trump has bragged he can run the table, are up  including New York on April 19 and a slew of mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, on April 26.

Skipping his usual election night press conference on Tuesday, Trump used Twitter to try again to sound a unifying tone, as he has after his string of victories in recent weeks. Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court justices! he wrote.
Nyon (Switzerland) (AFP) - UEFA is not considering staging the European Championships in France behind closed doors but is working on "contingency plans" because of security fears after the Brussels attacks, a UEFA spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

"We are confident that all security measures will be in place for a safe and festive Euro and therefore there are no plans to play matches behind closed-doors," spokesman Pedro Pinto said.

"Nevertheless we are working on contingency plans and on multiple scenarios around crisis situations since we take the security of all participants very seriously, he told AFP.

His comments came after an Italian UEFA vice president said Europe's governing body could not rule out holding games without fans for the tournament which starts June 10.

The bomb attacks in Brussels, and the Islamic State operation in Paris in November, have put an intense security spotlight on the month-long tournament in France.

Designated fan-zones which could attract hundreds of thousands of supporters from across Europe have caused particular concern.

French authorities have already confirmed that stadium security will be stepped up because of the attacks.

Giancarlo Abete, a UEFA vice president, told Italian media on Tuesday that while games behind closed doors could not be ruled out it was not yet being considered.

"From a technical point of view, the risk of 'closed doors' can always exist because we are talking about a competition where the matches must take place," the Italian vice president told Radio 24.

"There are no matches that can be put back to another date. But it seems that is not a priority today."

Abete told Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper that "today there is no structural situation that means we are thinking of disputing the Euro behind closed doors."
Aden (AFP) - US military planes killed dozens of fighters at an Al-Qaeda affiliate's training camp in a mountainous region of Yemen, the Pentagon said.

The raids came almost one year since the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched its bombing campaign against Iran-backed Shiite rebels who challenged the authority of the Yemeni government and seized much of the country.

Yemeni government and tribal officials had earlier said Saudi-led air strikes killed or wounded dozens at a training camp in Hajr, west of Hadramawt's provincial capital Mukalla.

Fighters have held the city since April.

The early morning raid at a camp used by "more than 70" Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters "deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," Cook said.

"It demonstrates our commitment to defeating Al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven."

It was not immediately clear whether there were any civilians among the casualties.

Tribal sources said wounded militants were taken to a hospital in Mukalla, while witnesses spoke of around nine vehicles rushing casualties out of the area.

Dozens of Al-Qaeda militants were meanwhile seen rushing to the hospital to donate blood, according to residents.

The World Health Organization says fighting in Yemen since March 2015 has claimed the lives of almost 6,300 people, while the UN human rights chief last week said half of all those killed were civilians with the vast majority of those deaths caused by coalition strikes.

Watchdogs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the United States, Britain and France to halt arm deliveries to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the Yemen conflict.

Riyadh launched the intervention in Yemen last year after Shiite Huthi rebels seized control of large parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, and forced the government into exile.

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- Peace talks -

Loyalist forces backed by coalition strikes and ground troops have since retaken much of the south but have failed to dislodge the rebels from other areas including Sanaa.

They have recaptured second city Aden and the southern port has been declared the permanent seat of the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

But in the past few weeks, AQAP fighters and the self-proclaimed Islamic State group have bolstered their presence in southern and eastern Yemen.

The Sunni extremists were also reinforcing their grip on parts of Aden in defiance of the authorities and the Saudi-led coalition as the latter were busy pounding the Huthi rebels.

Last week, Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck the fighters in Aden, for the first time since the pro-government air campaign was launched on March 26 last year.

AQAP, which is well entrenched in Yemen where it has been active for years, is classified by the United States as Al-Qaeda's deadliest franchise and had claimed attacks on the West in the past.

It ruled the southern province of Abyan for a year before being driven out in June 2012. But in April, it seized Hadramawt's provincial capital Mukalla and nearby oil installations.

From Mukalla, AQAP has expanded to regain its foothold in southern provinces including Abyan last year and nearby Lahj and Shabwa.

Saudi Arabia launched the intervention in Yemen last year after Shiite Huthi rebels seized Sanaa and pushed southwards, forcing the government into exile.

Several rounds of UN-brokered peace talks have failed to nail a solution for Yemen.

But Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said he was "99 percent" sure a new round of talks would take place in Kuwait later this month.

A Yemeni government official said on Monday the peace negotiations would be accompanied by a ceasefire.

The union of journalists, meanwhile, accused rebels of killing cameraman Mohammed al-Yemeni in third city Taez while he was covering clashes.
(Bloomberg) -- Hours after reports of a confrontation between a Chinese coastguard ship and an Indonesian vessel in the South China Sea, a top Chinese diplomat called an Indonesian government official with a plea: Dont tell the media, we are friends after all.

That request was rebuffed as officials in Jakarta called a press conference to complain about Chinas actions. While Indonesia has largely been on the periphery of disputes between China and other nations over the South China Sea, the spat risks drawing the Southeast Asian nation into territorial contests in the oil-and-gas rich waters.

The Indonesian official said his government didnt want to respond, but was forced to because Chinas actions were especially provocative, and fitted a pattern of becoming more assertive in the waters. The official didnt want to be named because of the sensitivity of the incident. The Chinese embassy didnt answer four phone calls or reply to two e-mails asking about the call.

The behind-the-scenes diplomacy reveals how both sides generally prefer to keep such incidents under wraps, albeit for different reasons. Indonesia has traditionally avoided publicizing incidents in the South China Sea as it seeks to preserve economically vital ties with China. Beijing is aware of the need for international support, especially as it prepares for a ruling in The Hague on the legality of territorial claims that cross over with the Philippines.





Harmonious Relations





In the past, when incidents such as this one have occurred, Indonesia has tended to downplay them or even cover them up in the interests of harmonious relations with China, said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. But if China starts to try and enforce its jurisdictional claims in Indonesias maritime domain, Jakarta will be left with no option but to publicize Chinese actions and push back against Beijings assertive behavior.

China is Indonesias largest two-way trading partner and President Joko Widodo is relying on it to fund much of his countrys infrastructure needs. China, keen to create a new "maritime" Silk Road trading route to the Middle East and Europe to complement a revived overland route, was one of Indonesias larger foreign investors in the final quarter of 2015 and the government expects it to top the list in the next five years.

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Indonesian officials say a fishing patrol caught a Chinese vessel on Saturday trawling within the exclusive economic zone derived from its Natuna islands, which look onto the western section of the South China Sea. Officers detained the crew and began towing the boat. As it neared the Natuna islands, at least one Chinese coast guard vessel rammed the Chinese boat to try and free it, Indonesia Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters.

The government later submitted a protest to Chinas charge daffaires Sun Weide in Jakarta over the incident, which it classified as a violation of the sovereignty of Indonesias territorial waters, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.

We told the charge daffaires that our relationship with China is very good and in this regard we should all respect international law, Marsudi said. I stress that Indonesia is not a party to the South China Sea dispute, so we are asking for a clarification about the incident.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing on Monday the incident took place in traditional Chinese fishing grounds. Hua said the Chinese vessel was attacked and harassed by an armed Indonesian vessel.





Chinese Passports





China claims more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, one of the worlds busiest waterways, based on a so-called nine dash line for which it wont give precise coordinates. That has brought it into dispute with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia, which also claim islands within the line.

In 2012, China issued passports showing the nine dash line encroaches on the exclusive economic zone off the Natuna Islands, but not the islands themselves. Indonesia hasnt recognized the claim.

Chinas actions in the South China Sea are testing Widodo, better known as Jokowi, who has made protecting fishing grounds against illegal encroachment a priority under his vision to turn his country into a global maritime power. The administration has blown up several dozen ships from Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries that were seized while fishing in the archipelago of 17,000 islands.





Natuna Warships





The Indonesian navy has in recent months started deploying more warships in the Natuna area and is pushing to reclaim airspace in the sensitive military area thats currently controlled by Singapore. Natuna has 51 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves, a third of the countrys total, according to the energy ministry.

The latest incident was first publicized on Sunday by Susi Pudjiastuti, the fisheries minister, who has become a popular member of Jokowis cabinet for her strong stance against illegal fishing boats.

The very heart of Jokowis global maritime fulcrum vision is a determination to protect Indonesias sovereignty, said Natalie Sambhi, a research fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre focusing on Indonesian foreign and defense policy. Staying silent in this case will be a sign that his administration is willing to tolerate sovereignty violations when the going gets really tough.





China Missiles





The incident follows others this year that have focused attention on Chinas intentions in the disputed waters, including the placement of surface-to-air missiles on an island in the Paracel chain and preventing Philippine boats accessing fishing grounds in the Spratly chain.

The Global Times, a newspaper published by the Communist Partys flagship Peoples Daily, urged both sides to show restraint and focus on shared interests such as a high-speed rail link that China is building between Jakarta and Bandung.

"China does not wish for disputes with several neighboring countries in the South China Sea all at the same time, the paper said in an editorial Wednesday. The Natuna Islands belong to Indonesia, it said. China has no objection to it. But Indonesias EEZ is overlapping part of the nine dash line, which makes fishery disputes in the area inevitable.

Its unclear if the Chinese actions were calculated to test Indonesias resolve or were a captain going beyond the standard operating procedure, said Euan Graham, director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. The exact location of the incident will be crucial as to whether Indonesia takes a harder position, he said.

Intrusions around the EEZ are not new, and Indonesia under this administration and the previous ones have taken a deliberately non-confrontational approach, he said. What could flip that is if this was proven to be in violation of Indonesian sovereignty. It would be very difficult for the government to say one law applies to Thailand and Vietnam, and not to China.





--With assistance from Neil Chatterjee, John Fraher and Keith Zhai.





To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Brummitt in Jakarta at cbrummitt1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net Neil Chatterjee
Singapore emerged as the 4th most targeted market in the Asia Pacific region for store expansions, with 21 percent of retailers planning to strengthen their presence there, revealed a CBRE report.

Singapores status as a key gateway city continues to attract the attention of global brands, albeit at a more cautious pace, said Desmond Sim, Head of CBRE Research for Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Most of the retailers are treading carefully, testing the waters and phase opening timeline. Mid-range fashion and luxury goods are the most ambitious, going by the success rate of similar trades. Economic conditions, the strong Sing dollar and labour shortages aside, Singapore still has a good growth story, he added.

Separately, China took the number one spot in the APAC rankings as 27 percent of respondents intend to open more retail stores or enlarge their existing space there in 2016.

Hong Kong bagged the second place with 24 percent, followed by Japan (22 percent), Singapore (21 percent) and Australia (19 percent).

Meanwhile, CBRE's report also revealed that the growing online sales "will not deter retailers' physical store expansion plans this year.

The report, which studied over 150 major international brands based in Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA, said 83 percentt of the respondents suggest their physical store expansion plans for 2016 will not be affected by the growth of e-commerce.

Meanwhile the report said only 22 percent of the brands are concerned about stiff competition from online retailing as a threat to their business and are quite cautiously optimistic on physical sales network expansion. "17 percent have large scale ambitions with many retailers looking to open more than 40 stores (up from 9 percent in 2015) in 2016. The vast majority (67 percent) are looking to open up to 20 stores."

A physical store presence in key locations is still critical to the strength of a brands image. Stores still need to create an emotional affinity with shoppers, and customers still feel a need to go into stores, to physically touch a product and enjoy the feel-good factor associated with a particular brand experience," said Letty Lee, director for Retail Services at CBRE. "The store is integral to the shopping journey and can be used in a number of different ways, such as to click and collect, research of the product or brand, or to test the product. Its not solely about the transactional side.

"A new trend for 2016 saw a fifth of brands, largely from the Americas and EMEA, stating their intention to

expand into travel hubssuch as airports and train stationsin 2016 as this will give them access to

high footfall in busy locations," the report said.

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Budget Speech day is the most important day in the Singapore fiscal calendar, one that will chart the financial year ahead.

One thing is for certain: Just dont expect any big bang announcements. If nothing else, this years Budget is designed to help companies navigate the global economic slowdown.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who will be presenting his maiden Budget speech in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 24), has hinted that the economy will be the focus this year. He is the eighth Finance Minister since Independence to deliver the Budget statement.

As Rajiv Biswas, IHS Global Insights chief economist for Asia-Pacific, told Channel News Asia recently: The upcoming Budget will be cautious, with the focus likely to be on building fiscal reserves to provide some fiscal buffer in case of external economic shocks over the medium-term outlook.

In the same article, Heng was quoted as saying that the measures to be announced in the upcoming Budget will not just help firms cope with immediate challenges, but at finding medium-term growth opportunities too.

He said this while on a tour of the Tuas facility of Singaporean logistics company, Pan Asia Logistics Holdings on Mar 4, 2016.

What the economy needs

The focus this year on economic recovery. What this also means is that we can expect a Budget speech that harks back to the early days when pioneer ministers crafted a plan geared to what the economy needs.

Apart from managing the Governments purse strings, the main aim of the Budget is to also drive economic development. Funds were also set aside to build Singapore icons.

In 1972, the Finance Minister Hon Sui Sen set aside $10 million to develop Sentosa as a tourist attraction.

Seven years later, the 1979 Budget allocated $393 million to develop, amongst other things, Changi Airport.

Recent Budget announcements have also taken a softer approach to help ordinary Singaporeans. In Budget 2013 for example, funding for pre-school education was increased, while Singapores health and long-term care infrastructure was extended.

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Meanwhile, financial help was also given to middle-income households who were previously excluded from most means-tested benefits.

Response from backbenchers was positive.

Peoples Action Party (PAP) MP Denise Phua has said that the initiatives announced that year was the coming of age of a government that used to be wary of measures that smack of welfarism.

The Government has also invested more on the public transport and housing.

The concerns of the ageing population were also addressed. In 2014, the $8 billion Pioneer Generation Package was launched to help the elderly pay for the cost of their health care.

Low-income elderly folk got another boost in Budget 2015 with the Silver Support Scheme, which provides a supplement of $300 to $750 every quarter for eligible seniors. The scheme aims to support the bottom 20 per cent of Singaporeans aged 65 and above.

This year, measures could be introduced to help small-and-medium term enterprises (SMEs) and local workers.

However, OCBC economist Selena Ling also believes that the social safety nets introduced in the last few years wont be completely ignored.

In an interview with CNBC, she said: "Given sustained high cost of living concerns, a further enhancement of Workfare Income Supplement may be on the cards given the last enhancement was in 2013. In particular, the government could further incentivise the employment of elderly Singaporean workers given the demographic ageing."
Celebrating their founding anniversary with President Aquino for the last time yesterday, Army troops and officers thanked their commander-in-chief for the support and concern of the Chief Executive, who has been like a good father to the military.

Army personnel expressed their gratitude to Aquino during their pass in review at the end of the ceremony for their 119th founding anniversary held in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

In one of the floats where the Army showcased its role in relief and rescue operations in times of disasters, their message read: Mahal na Pangulo, marami pong salamat sa suporta at malasakit (To our dear President, thank you for the support and concern).

In his speech, the President told the Army he could not help but be personal because we have come full circle.

You know, when I was still very young and most probably those from my generation would remember this: There was a TV series titled Combat. Because of this, I would say I wanted to be a soldier... There was no PlayStation yet at the time, so our games were about cowboys and Indians and toy guns, Aquino said.

But when martial law came, the President said his view about soldiers changed because right in Fort Bonifacio and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, his late father, the martyred former senator Benigno Jr., was detained for seven years and seven months for opposing the dictatorship.

Aquino said it was during this time that he and his family met Voltaire Gazmin, now defense secretary, who was one of his fathers guards who treated him decently.

because of his professionalism, Secretary Gazmins reward from the dictatorship: getting thrown to Mindanao from 1975 to 1986, the President said.

If I may stress: the detention cell of my father and many others were preserved as a reminder of that chapter in our history when the Armed Forces was used and led astray by the one who promised to serve the nation, Aquino said.

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The President said many of those from the military indeed went astray, thinking that they were adhering to the Constitution by following the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

You were alienated from the people and one of its results was the number of NPA (New Peoples Army) members that ballooned from 60 to 25,000 armed people in its ranks by the end of martial law, the President said.

But with the guidance of his mother Corazon, who assumed the presidency after the dictator was ousted in 1986, the Armed Forces of the Philippines went back to the side of the people.

Aquino said he continued with the legacy and took care of the military and the rest of the uniformed services.

The nation also returned the militarys service with a more solid concern for their success, including in the operations against Communist Party of the Philippines acting chair Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma, the CPP secretary-general and Eugenia Magpantay-Topacio, the secretary of CPP-NPAs Central Luzon Regional Committee, who are now all under detention.

Under his administration, the President said the Army implemented 1.3 million operations against enemies of the state and completely freed 50 out of 76 provinces affected by NPAs atrocities.

This is the image that you will leave behind to the ordinary Filipino: a Philippine Army and Armed Forces that are always reliable, a partner in pushing for stability and order in our communities. From here sprang the confidence needed to advance progress, Aquino said.

Aquino said the Army had been on the frontlines every time typhoons and other disasters would strike the country  from clearing roads to rescuing people and bringing relief and assistance, like during Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

In all these actions, you knew that our bosses (the people) were behind you, and in the end, a virtuous cycle of trust, cooperation and positive transformation for the good of everyone was developed, the President.

This is the Army and AFP that I will pass on as commander-in-chief bidding farewell: A force with a very high morale and very much ready to face any challenge; a force that carries with it the recognition and respect of the people; a force that is professional and with strong principles, Aquino said.

The President said it was a great honor to serve as their leader and commander-in-chief treading the straight path.

Someday, I can look back at this point of history with pride: With the Army and the rest of the AFP, we did the right thing and lived up to the truth that The Filipino is definitely worth fighting for, Aquino said, thanking all of those composing the Army.

Stay neutral

Having been like a father who could not bear to neglect the needs of his children, Aquino said he was hoping the Army and the military would make use of its monopoly of armed power to push for whatever was right and justiciable that would bring the country to a better, fairer and more peaceful tomorrow.

That is why, this coming elections, the peoples order to us is clear: Stay on their side, do not meddle in politics and ensure that a united voice in a country treading the path of democracy will prevail, the President said.

In fulfilling their mandate, Aquino said Gazmin, AFP chief Gen. Hernando Iriberri and Army chief Maj. Gen. Eduardo Ano would provide them guidance.

Aquino then enumerated the programs and projects of his government for the modernization of the military and said these were bigger than that of the past three administrations combined.

He said the Army commanding general himself cited the modern assets that were now in the hands of their force.

Out of the 68 big ticket projects worth P58.43 billion for the AFP, 26 or P7.79 billion went to the improvement of the Armys knowledge, capabilities and awareness, Aquino said.

Ano announced the Army had acquired new armored assets as well as other war-fighting equipment.

We already have received 56,843 new R4 assault rifles to replace the Vietnam-era rifles we are currently using, 124 units of armored vehicles to include six armored vehicles with remote-controlled weapon systems, 60 field ambulance units and more than 300 light utility vehicles, he said.

He added the Armys command-and-control effectiveness in any kind of field operations greatly improved with the acquisition of more than 2,000 radios and other communication equipment.

The Army is also expecting deliveries this year of additional infantry fighting vehicles and fire support vehicles, 155 mm howitzers, light utility vehicles, 60 mm mortars, 40 mm grenade launchers, rocket launchers and 50-watt armored vehicle configuration radios.

The Army Transformation Roadmap from 2010 to 2028 was also implemented to strengthen the culture of effectiveness and good governance within their ranks.

Some 61,000 housing units were also completed under the AFP-Philippine National Police Housing Program and the President said Army personnel were among the beneficiaries.

The President also said livelihood programs were launched in various military camps along with assistance for medical and other needs.

Aquino said monthly combat pay for military members in operation was increased along with the subsistence allowance for everyone in the uniformed sector. Aquino signed Executive Order No. 201 covering the raise in their monthly hazard pay as well as provisional and officers allowances.  With Jaime Laude
By Jim Finkle and Serajul Quadir (Reuters) - The SWIFT messaging system plans to ask banks to make sure they are following recommended security practices following an unprecedented cyber attack on Bangladesh's central bank that yielded $81 million, a spokeswoman for the group told Reuters on Sunday. Brussels-based SWIFT, a cooperative owned by some 3,000 global financial institutions, will issue a written advisory on Monday asking banks to review internal security, the spokeswoman said. SWIFT staff will also begin calling banks to highlight the importance of reviewing security measures after the attack in Bangladesh, she added. "Our priority at this time is to encourage customers to review and, where necessary, to reinforce their local operating environments," the spokeswoman added. Unknown hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank and in early February attempted to steal $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which it uses for international settlements. Some attempted transfers were blocked, but $81 million was transferred to accounts in the Philippines in one of the largest cyber heists in history. SWIFT has so far said little about the attack, except that it was related to "an internal operational issue" at Bangladesh Bank and that there was no compromise in its core messaging system. SWIFT prepared a summary of previously issued recommendations for implementing security measures to thwart hackers, which advises members to pay close attention to best practices, the spokeswoman added. While SWIFT can advise members to follow certain minimum security standards, there is no organization with regulatory oversight of how central banks and other financial institutions secure their networks, said independent security consultant Shane Shook. That means that security is not uniform among central banks, making some more vulnerable to cyber attacks, said Shook, who has helped investigate some of the biggest financial breaches. A confidential interim report on the investigation, which forensics experts submitted to the bank on Wednesday, said that attackers took control of the bank's network, stole credentials for sending SWIFT messages and used "sophisticated" malicious software to attack the computers it uses to process and authorize transactions. Investigators said in the report, which was reviewed by Reuters, that they expect to continue their investigation for another two weeks and believe the attackers have targeted other financial institutions. The report was prepared by FireEye Inc and World Informatix, which were hired by Bangladesh's central bank to investigate the massive theft. The investigators did not identify other victims or name the hackers, but said that forensic evidence suggests they were also behind other recent cyber attacks on financial institutions. "FireEye has observed these same suspected FIN threat actors within other customer networks in the financial industry, where these threat actors appear to be financially motivated, and well organised," said an interim report sent to the bank last week. Representatives of Bangladesh Bank and FireEye declined to comment on the confidential report and their probe into the Feb. 4 heist. World Informatix Chief Executive Rakesh Asthana told Reuters via email that he could not discuss the investigation, but that he expected Bangladesh Bank to issue a news release on Monday. Details from the interim report were previously reported by Bloomberg News and Bangladesh's The Daily Star. The Daily Star also reported on Saturday that Bangladesh Bank linked its SWIFT operation with other technology operations belonging to the central bank in Dhaka and other cities in October 2015, citing an unnamed bank official. Prior to that, they were separate systems, the report said. Connecting those systems may have given the hackers a path to break into the bank's SWIFT platform, the article cited the official as saying. (bit.ly/21ClRuq) (Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston and Serajul Quadir in Dhaka; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Chinas Ties with Cuba Remain Strong in Spite of Third Parties, Says Foreign Ministry

Cubans look out their window across the street from the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in hopes of watching the flag-raising ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 14, 2015. (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinas continued mutually beneficial ties with Cuba will not be affected by any third party, a Foreign Ministry official said in light of reports suggesting that U.S. President Barack Obamas historic visit to Cuba on Sunday would impact the long-standing China-Cuba relations.



"China and Cuba have long enjoyed friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a press briefing in Beijing on Monday. "We will deepen our relations with Cuba, and this does not target nor affect any third party."



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"Mutual benefit and win-win results are dominant features of international relations in today's world," she added.



Hua expressed hope that Obama's visit to Cuba--the first sitting U.S. president to do so in 88 years--will help bring the people of both countries together and usher in peace and stability in the region.



"We are glad to see the normalization of the relations between the two countries," she said. "We hope that both sides can consolidate the current momentum."



Hua also called for Washington to lift its decades-long blockade on Cuba as soon as possible. The U.S. embargo was imposed following a revolution led by Fidel Castro that overthrew the U.S.-backed government of Fulgencio Batista in 1953.



U.S.-Cuba relations have since been characterized by hostility and resentment until Obama recently renewed diplomatic ties and offered an end to the trade embargo.



Prior to Obama's trip, the Cuban government led by Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's younger brother, ruled out the restoration of full bilateral ties with the United States in exchange for political concessions.



Havana stressed that the economic and financial blockade of the island remains in force despite new measures announced by the White House easing aspects of the embargo.



"Ultimate rapprochement with Cuba requires the United States to refrain from imposing its ideology on others and to treat others as equals," the Xinhua News Agency said in an opinion piece.



China has long had friendly relations with Cuba's Communist Party. Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the island nation in 1993 and 2001, which was followed by his successor, Hu Jintao, in 2004. In his official trip to Cuba in July 2014, President Xi Jinping visited the barracks where Fidel Castro launched the first armed assault of the revolution.


AFP News

Pro-Russian authorities on Saturday urged residents in the southern Kherson region, which Moscow claims to have annexed, to leave the main city "immediately" in the face of Kyiv's advancing counter-offensive. It comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 36 rockets overnight in a "massive attack" on Ukraine, following reported strikes on energy infrastructure that resulted in power outages across the country. And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became the latest world leader to reproach Moscow for its talk of using nuclear weapons. Kyiv's forces have been advancing along the west bank of the Dnipro river, towards the Kherson region's eponymous main city. Kherson was the first major city to fall to Moscow's troops, and retaking it would be a major prize in Ukraine's counter-offensive. In recent days, Russia has been moving residents in the region -- which Moscow claims to have annexed in September -- east to Russia, in efforts Kyiv has denounced as "deportations". "Due to the tense situation on the front, the increased danger of mass shelling of the city and the threat of terrorist attacks, all civilians must immediately leave the city and cross to the left bank" of the Dnipro river, the region's pro-Russian authorities announced on social media. A Moscow-installed official in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian news agency Interfax on Saturday that around 25,000 people had made the crossing. Sergiy Khlan, the Ukrainian deputy head of the Kherson region, said Russians were removing property and documents from banks and the passport office as they withdrew. Ukraine's general staff said Moscow's forces had abandoned two more settlements in Kherson and were evacuating medical personnel from a third, accusing them of looting local civilians. - A 'serious threat' - Earlier Saturday, Japan's Kishida denounced Moscow's comments regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict. "Russia's act of threatening the use of nuclear weapons is a serious threat to the peace and security of the international community and absolutely unacceptable," he said. The 77-year period of no nuclear weapons use "must not be ended", said Kishida, speaking in Australia. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Putin has made several thinly veiled threats about his willingness to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. Earlier this month, the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that the Russian army would be "annihilated" if Russia launched such an attack. Washington has also warned Moscow of "catastrophic" consequences should they use such weapons. Japan is the only country ever to have been hit with nuclear weapons: the US atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, which killed 140,000 people, and the second US bomb on Nagasaki, three days later, which killed 74,000 people. - 'Afraid for our lives' - At a train station in the town of Dzhankoy in the north of Crimea, a peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Kherson residents were boarding a train for southern Russia, an AFP reporter saw Friday. "We are leaving Kherson because heavy shelling started there, we are afraid for our lives," said Valentina Yelkina, a pensioner travelling with her daughter. More than a million households in Ukraine have been left without electricity following Russian strikes on energy facilities across the country, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Saturday. Fresh Russian strikes targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine's west, the national operator said earlier, with officials in several regions of the war-scarred country reporting power outages as winter approaches. Russians "carried out another missile attack on energy facilities of the main networks of Ukraine's western regions", Ukraine's energy operator Ukrenergo said on social media. "These are vile strikes on critical objects," said Zelensky. "The world can and must stop this terror." Power outages were reported in other parts of the country and local officials repeated calls to reduce energy use. Some parts of Ukraine have already cut their electricity use by up to 20 percent, according to Ukrenergo. "Saturday in Ukraine starts with a barrage of Russian missiles aimed at critical civilian infrastructure," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter. He once again urged Kyiv's allies to hasten the delivery of air defence systems. In the Russian Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, at least two civilians were killed in strikes on Saturday, according to the local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. Nearly 15,000 people were left without electricity, he added. Russia last week reported a "considerable increase" in Ukrainian fire into its territory, saying attacks had largely concentrated on Belgorod region and neighbouring regions of Bryansk and Kursk. bur-imm/jj/ah
The US government said it may have found a way to crack the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers without Apple's help, possibly avoiding a showdown with the tech giant. In a court filing, federal prosecutors said that on Sunday, an unidentified "outside party" had demonstrated to the FBI a possible way to unlock Syed Farook's iPhone. "Our top priority has always been gaining access into the phone used by the terrorist in San Bernardino," Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said in a statement. "With this goal in mind, the FBI has continued in its efforts to gain access to the phone without Apple's assistance, even during a month-long period of litigation with the company." She said the government was "cautiously optimistic" that the latest option to recover data from the iPhone would work. A California federal judge who was set to preside over a hearing in the contentious case on Tuesday granted the government's request for a delay and asked that a status report be filed by April 5. The new development may help avert -- at least for now -- a full-blown showdown between the US government and the world's most valuable company that could have wide ramifications on digital security and privacy. Privacy advocates hailed the FBI's apparent drawback in the case as a win for Apple and encryption. "With the FBI backing down on this case, this is at least a short-term win for Apple," the Center for Democracy and Technology said in a statement. "This has always been a case about the government attempting to mandate technological backdoors that would make all Americans less secure." Federal prosecutors and Apple for weeks have traded a volley of legal briefs related to the FBI's demand that the tech company help investigators unlock Farook's work phone. The FBI says the device may contain critical information for its probe into the December 2 shooting that left 14 people dead and was the deadliest terror attack in the US since 9/11. Apple, however, has balked at a court order to help investigators, citing customer privacy and security concerns. The company, backed by security experts, civil rights advocates and other tech giants -- including Google, Facebook and Microsoft -- contends that assisting the FBI would jeopardize users' data and set a dangerous precedent. "We need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy," chief executive Tim Cook said, speaking at Apple headquarters to unveil a new line of iPhones and iPads. "We believe strongly we have an obligation to help protect your data and your privacy. We owe it to our customers. We will not shrink from this responsibility." The FBI had been seeking Apple's help in writing new software -- or what the company said was creating a "backdoor" -- that would allow investigators to circumvent the iPhone's built-in security. - 'Open Pandora's Box' - It argued that Apple is not above the law and that its request for technical assistance concerns only Farook's work phone from the San Bernardino health department. Farook and his Pakistani-born wife Tashfeen Malik died in a firefight with police after the attack. Two other cell phones linked to the couple were found destroyed. Tech giants and civil rights advocates have warned that the case goes beyond just one phone and that if the court sides with the FBI, it would spring open a "Pandora's Box" for human rights and digital security. "Governments trying to undermine encryption should think twice before they open this Pandora's Box," Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Amnesty International's deputy director for global issues, said in a statement. "Weakening privacy online could have disastrous consequences for free societies, particularly for the human rights activists and journalists who hold our leaders to account." Rights advocates also argue that while the FBI's request to access the data on Farook's phone may be legitimate, the method of accessing it raises concerns. Technology analyst Rob Enderle speculated that the undisclosed person now helping the government crack Farook's iPhone may be an ex-Apple employee or a computer security expert. "An ex-Apple employee with the right set of skills could do this," he told AFP, dismissing the likelihood that the tech company itself could quietly be helping authorities. "If this was Apple coming in through the back door, and it leaked, the repercussions for Apple in terms of trust would be huge." Apple officials could not immediately be reached for comment concerning the latest twist in the case.
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
21st Centrury School

Kentucky District To Host Ed Tech Open House

The Fort Thomas Independent School District (FTIS), the highest rated district in Kentucky, will host an open house for other districts across the state to demonstrate on site how digital learning tools are used in the district.

The district launched a five-year plan in 2013that called for use of technology to prepare students for success in a knowledge-based economy. The digital conversion plan called for the rollout of new devices, a new learning management system, digital curricula, new technical and instructional support staff and an overhaul of network infrastructure.

As part of the transition, the district adopted McGraw-Hill Education's Thrive digital learning environment.

"Students need engaging and challenging learning experiences that foster creativity, curiosity and innovation, and FTIS's digital conversion is central to achieving that mission," said Gene Kirchner, superintendent of Fort Thomas Independent Schools, in a prepared statement. "Through our digital curriculum and our partnership with McGraw-Hill Education, we're helping to ensure that all of our students have the opportunity to grow academically and ultimately to achieve success in the global workforce."

"The Fort Thomas Independent School District is widely respected for its commitment not only to digital innovation but to overall academic excellence, and we are incredibly proud to be involved in helping to further that vision on both fronts," said Christine Willig, president of McGraw-Hill Education's K-12 group, in a news release. "As the FTIS continues to work toward their goal of delivering 21st century learning outcomes and experiences for all students, we hope that their successes will encourage other districts to explore similarly innovative strategies."
Assessment

No.Inc Debuts Portfolio Assessment System for Special Education

No.Inc, an educational technology software development company, has launched a special education transition portfolio system for high school students in Maryland who are transitioning out of special education.

The Maryland Transitional Digital Portfolio "is a learning tool that outlines a pathway toward the completion of student transition goals," according to information on the company's site. Students can submit written work, media, images and other artifacts for their portfolio. Once they have refined those artifacts in response to feedback from teachers, parents and peers, they can assemble online public portfolios to share with others. According to No.Inc, the digital portfolios can serve as self-advocacy tools for special education students because they have control over the way they present themselves to the world.

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education to design and develop the portfolio system, and then tested the system through pilot projects in four Maryland school districts. "After a successful pilot, we're looking forward to rolling The Maryland Transition Digital Portfolio out statewide," said Andrew Spangler, creative director of No.Inc., in a news release.

No.Inc's portfolio-based assessment system is accessible through desktop and mobile device interfaces. Based on the success of the pilot projects, other organizations in Maryland are considering the system to support general education and professional development initiatives in the state.

Further information about the company's Special Education Transition Portfolio can be found on No.Inc's site.
ZTE is set to appeal on U.S. export sanctions following the failure of lobbying efforts. (Photo : Getty Images)

The United States Department of Commerce said they have approved a temporary reprieve for China's ZTE Corporation from export restrictions through June after the company was banned from trading with tech suppliers in America.



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Early in March, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed strict prohibition on exporting tech goods from ZTE's suppliers in the country after the company allegedly traded controlled items with Iran.



Because of this, ZTE Corp., together with ZTE Kangxun, ZTE Parsian and Beijing 8-Star, was added to the U.S. Entity List under the Export Administration Regulations, the Xinhua News Agency said on Tuesday.



Now, a three-month reprieve has been granted to allow the smartphone manufacturer and its American affiliate ZTE Kangxun to continue trading with their suppliers in the U.S. while abiding by the export regulations of the country, CRIEnglish reported.



Reuters said the temporary ease in restrictions would take effect on Thursday, March 24, until June 30 this year. However, it can last longer depending on how the company cooperates with the western country "in resolving the matter," a statement from the Department of Commerce said.



On Monday, a senior official told the press that the Department of Commerce plans to provide "temporary relief" for the company from the prohibition, which has not only disrupted ZTE's global operations but also China's warming relations with the U.S.



In fact, according to Xinhua News, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce strongly opposed the trade ban.



Aside from that, Foreign Minister Wang Yi deemed the prohibition detrimental not only to the company but to others as well, considering that ZTE has been operating in the U.S. since 1998 and has already built steady trade relationships with major tech suppliers such as Qualcomm, Broadcom, Microsoft and Intel.



A recent report from the outlet revealed that Qualcomm had already recorded almost $40 million worth of loss due to trade restrictions with the Chinese telecoms company.


- Kenyan government continues to boost war on terror by purchasing super military equipment that cannot be attacked by various fire power

- The latest purchase is a mine resistance armored vehicle that goes for KSh 50 million a vehicle

The war on terror continues to take a financial angle as the government spends more on military equipment aimed at boosting national security.

Following the purchase of 30 explosive resistant personnel carrier vehicles for the National Police Service (NPS), Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery yesterday Tuesday, March 22 announced that the government had purchased 25 mine resistant ambush protected vehicles.

READ ALSO: 2 KDF, 21 al-Shabaab militants perish in fierce Somalia gun battle

Manufactured by American company Navistar Defense, the all-terrain vehicles has flat combat tires and can withstand direct fire and rocket propelled grenades thanks to its v-shaped hull.

Image: Navistar Defense

The vehicles have blast resistant under bodies and layers of thick, armored glass with unparalleled protection and is priced at KSh 50 million per vehicle.

The governments continued efforts to modernize the security sector has also seen the NPS receive 2,220 vehicles through a leasing program. Kenya Prisons and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) have benefited from this program.

Nkaissery added that a further 500 vehicles will be received by the end of May.

A sky eye drone that had been purchased for KSh 1 billion is due in the country on September 15, 2016 as well.

READ ALSO: Photos: See the drone Kenya bought for KSh 1 billion

Last year, the government increased its military equipment by purchasing two new helicopters as well as repairing troop carriers that had been out of commission.

Security was also boosted by the installation of CCTV cameras in cities across the country which Nkaissery said had drastically reduced the rate of crime incidents.

Images: Navistar Defense

Source: TUKO.co.ke
ANKARA (Reuters) - Amnesty International accused Turkey on Wednesday of forcibly returning some thirty Afghan asylum-seekers to Afghanistan despite them fearing Taliban attacks, soon after a migration agreement was reached with the European Union. Last week, the European Union sealed a deal with Turkey, criticised by human rights groups, that was intended to halt illegal migration flows to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara. "Turkey's forcible return of around 30 Afghan asylum seekers just hours after the European Union-Turkey refugee deal came into force shows that implementing the deal would risk refugees' lives from the word go," the human rights group said. The Turkish foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment. Amnesty said it had credible information indicating that Turkey violated European and international law by forcibly returning the asylum-seekers, who fear attacks by the Taliban, to Kabul without granting them access to an asylum procedure. "This latest episode highlights the risks of returning asylum seekers to Turkey  and the knock-on effects the deal is likely to have for refugees transiting through Turkey. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia. One of the Afghans in the group told Amnesty he had been part of a group trying to reach Greece by boat. They were apprehended by the Turkish coastguard and then detained in the western coastal city of Izmir. When contacted by Amnesty International about the returns, the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management acknowledged the return of 27 Afghans, but insisted that all were returned voluntarily and that none had requested asylum. A December 2015 report by the Amnesty had claimed that refugees and asylum-seekers were apprehended at the western border, detained without access to lawyers, and then forcibly returned to Syria and Iraq after being forced to sign voluntary return papers. "Returns to Turkey cannot proceed on the basis that Turkey is a safe country for refugees. The EU should adopt an independent resettlement plan and work with its partner Turkey to end the abuse of refugee rights," said Dalhuisen. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Daren Butler and Richard Balmforth)
By Jan Strupczewski, Julia Fioretti and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic State suicide bombers who killed at least 31 people in the most deadly attacks in Brussels' history but said another key suspect was on the run. Tuesday's attacks on a city that is home to the European Union and NATO sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport. It also rekindled debate about lagging European security cooperation and flaws in police surveillance. The attacks came four months after militants, also from IS, carried out bombings and shootings in Paris that killed 129 people. Some Belgian media reports said a forensic link had been established between one of the Brussels bombers, who may have been killed, and the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital. Washington announced that Secretary of State John Kerry would visit Belgium on Friday to demonstrate support. The Belgian federal prosecutor told a news conference that Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, one of two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on Tuesday, had left a will on a computer dumped in a rubbish bin near the militants' hideout. In it, he described himself as "always on the run, not knowing what to do anymore, being hunted everywhere, not being safe any longer and that if he hangs around, he risks ending up next to the person in a cell" - a reference to suspected Paris bomber Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last week. His brother Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, detonated a bomb an hour later on a crowded rush-hour metro train near the European Commission headquarters, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said. Both men, born in Belgium, had criminal records for armed robbery but investigators had not linked them to Islamist militants until Abdeslam's arrest, when police began a race against time to track down his suspected accomplices. That seems to have prompted the bombers to rush into an attack in Belgium after months of lying low, according to the testament found on the laptop. At least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in the attacks, the prosecutor said. That toll could increase further because some of the bomb victims at Maelbeek metro station were blown to pieces and victims are hard to identify. Several survivors were still in critical condition. The Bakraoui brothers were identified by their fingerprints and on security cameras, the prosecutor said. A second suicide bomber at the airport had yet to be identified and a third man, whom he did not name, had left the biggest bomb and ran out of the terminal before the explosions. Belgian media named that man as Najim Laachraoui, 25, a suspected Islamic State recruiter and bomb-maker whose DNA was found on two explosives belts used in the Paris attacks and at a Brussels safe house used by Abdeslam. De Standaard newspaper, however, citing an unidentified source, named Laachraoui as the second suicide bomber at the airport. Khalid El Bakraoui rented under a false name the apartment in the city's Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week. He is also believed to have rented a safe house in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi used to mount the Paris attacks. "BLACK DAYS" Turkey said it had detained Ibrahim El Bakraoui near the Syrian border last year and deported him to the Netherlands before he was briefly held in Belgium, then released. "Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter," President Tayyip Erdogan said. The Brussels attacks came days after a suspected Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul's most popular shopping district, killing three Israelis and an Iranian. The Syrian-based Islamist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, warning of "black days" for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a hub of Islamist militants who operated elsewhere. A minute's silence was observed across Belgium at noon. Prime Minister Charles Michel cancelled a trip to China and reviewed security measures with his inner cabinet before attending a memorial event at European Commission headquarters with King Philippe, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. "We are determined, admittedly with a strong feeling of pain in our stomachs, but determined to act," Michel told a joint news conference with Valls. "France and Belgium are united in pain more than ever." Valls played down cross-border sniping over security, saying: "We must turn the page on naivete, a form of carefreeness that our societies have known. "It is Europe that has been attacked. The response to terrorism must be European." EU justice and interior ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the Dutch EU presidency said. More than 1,000 people gathered around an improvised shrine with candles and street paintings outside the Brussels bourse. Belgium's crisis coordination centre kept the level of security alert at the maximum as the man hunt continued. Some buses and trains were running but the metro and the airport were closed, along with key road tunnels in Brussels. The blasts fuelled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants. Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to succeed Obama in November's U.S. election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks. He also said in a British television interview that Muslims were not doing enough to prevent that kind of violence. After a tip-off from a taxi driver who unwittingly drove the bombers to the airport, police searched an apartment in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek late into the night, finding another bomb, an Islamic State flag, 15 kg of the same kind of explosives used in the Paris attacks and bomb-making chemicals. An unused explosive device was also found at the airport. CLOSING IN Security experts believed the blasts were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. He was caught and has been speaking to investigators after a shootout at an apartment in the south of the city, after which another Islamic State flag and explosives were found. About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities. Reviving arguments over Belgian security policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people died in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of "naivete" on the part of "certain leaders" in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalised. Valls said France had no place teaching Belgium lessons and had problems with its own communities. Brussels airport seemed likely to remain shut for several days over the busy Easter holiday weekend, since the departure hall was still being combed as a crime scene on Wednesday and repairs can only begin once investigators are finished. (Editing by Paul Taylor, Ralph Boulton and Richard Balmforth)
By Nacho Doce SAO PAULO (Reuters) - If any symbol captures the anger of rich and upper-middle class Brazilians who have taken to the streets to protest against President Dilma Rousseff, it might be a giant, inflatable yellow duck. The 40-foot (12-meter) high duck presides over Sao Paulo's Avenida Paulista, Brazil's economic nexus. It has landed on the esplanade in the capital Brasilia, while its ducklings swam in the reflecting pool outside Congress. The duck and its brood have also hit the sands of Copacabana Beach, a prime place to see and be seen in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's business leaders have adopted the duck to fight against what they describe as the economic quackery of Rousseff, a leftist who is facing growing pressure to quit and struggling to pull the economy out of its deepest recession in 25 years. "Enough of paying the duck," said Paulo Skaf, president of the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo, in a video earlier this month urging Brazilians to demonstrate against Rousseff's government. "To pay the duck" in Brazilian Portuguese means to unfairly pay for someone else's mistakes. The term's origin is unclear but the saying is common enough for the federation to employ it against what it sees as the failures of Rousseff's administration. Since she took office in 2011, Brazil's economy has gone from being one of the world's fastest growing major economies to one of its worst performers, contracting by 3.8 percent in 2015, as the commodities boom ended and a wide-ranging corruption scandal hit investor confidence. Last year, when Rousseff proposed a new levy to help compensate plummeting tax revenues, the Sao Paulo federation inflated the giant duck in the capital Brasilia while its counterpart in Rio took it to Copacabana. Now, the duck has taken up residence in Sao Paulo outside the federation building, striking a colorful note on the somber Avenida Paulista, which has hosted the biggest demonstrations supporting the ouster of Rousseff. She faces impeachment proceedings in Congress. The marches have underscored growing tensions between classes in what remains one of the world's most economically stratified societies. The recession has cost Rousseff and her ruling Workers' Party support among blue-collar Brazilians, who have borne the brunt of a downturn marked by the loss of 1.5 million jobs last year. But the working class, even if disgruntled, has not wanted to associate itself with those who have most visibly turned out against Rousseff: white-collar types who never supported her to begin with. On Friday, as office workers toiled in the towers high over the duck's perch, a gaggle of pro-government demonstrators gathered for a rare display of support for Rousseff. Denouncing anti-government protests as "nothing more than a privileged class out to defend their luxuries," Cleber Goncalves, a 36-year-old teacher, scoffed at the duck. "It's just a silly symbol thought up by the elite," he said. "They are always trying to fool the people." (Writing by Paulo Prada; Editing by Mary Milliken)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's insurance regulator would likely reject a bid by Anbang Insurance Group to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc since it would put the insurer's offshore assets above a threshold for overseas investments, Caixin said on Tuesday. Starwood, owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, on Monday accepted a sweetened $13.6 billion (9.4 billion)acquisition offer from rival Marriott International Inc, spurning Anbang Insurance Group's latest bid. Chinese financial magazine Caixin said on its website that China's insurance regulator "clearly has an attitude of not supporting" Anbang's bid, as Anbang's overseas investments have already reached a "red line" of not having more than 15 percent of their assets invested overseas. The magazine cited unspecified sources for its story. China's insurance regulator could not be reached for comment outside of normal business hours. (Reporting by Matthew Miller and Ben Blanchard, editing by Louise Heavens)
Huawei is solidifying its presence in the U.K. (Photo : Getty Images)

Huawei pushes its NFC-based mobile payment service in China through a partnership with bank card processor UnionPay in order to provide a secure and reliable contactless payment through their devices.



In a statement posted on their official website, the Chinese smartphone maker has decided to make use of the Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology to provide mobile commerce to their clients without the fuss of typing lengthy passwords or PINs.



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"With a mobile equipped with NFC technology, users can easily access services or perform operations on the different functions of the device, without need for physical contact, just by tapping the phone in a reader," the statement read.



According to the smartphone maker, the so-called "tap-and-go" technology would provide a wide range of payment services for consumers, including payment solutions for food, newspapers, and many others with ease.



Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the technology provides Huawei Pay users more secure payments because it requires the user's fingerprint to approve every transaction.



According to Mobile World Live, Huawei introduced their new mobile payment service earlier this month during a press conference with the Bank of China held in Shenzhen.



At the time, the company did not reveal any further details about the service.



On Tuesday, Huawei announced that they would be teaming up with the state-run bank card association China UnionPay, whose card-holders would be able to store their card information in their devices via contactless terminals.



What is interesting about this development is the fact that the bank card provider also teamed up with Apple Pay launched in February and Samsung Pay "early" in 2016.



"Samsung Pay will receive relevant tests and certification as required by Chinese regulators before its official rollout to UnionPay card-holders in China as soon as early 2016," NFC World reported in December.






Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel has joined crowds gathered in central Brussels to remember those killed in Tuesday's terror attacks.

Mr Michel lit a candle at the Place de la Bourse as messages of condolence, outrage and love were written in chalk upon the pavement.

Some stood in silence as armed police patrolled the area, while others broke into a rendition of the John Lennon song Imagine.

:: Terror In Brussels: Live Updates

It comes as landmarks in Berlin, Rome and Paris were illuminated with the red, yellow and black of the Belgian flag as a mark of respect for the victims.

The Eiffel Tower was lit up on Tuesday evening as dusk fell.

"Paris and Brussels are united. The Eiffel Tower has been lit up in the Belgian colours," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter.

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was also illuminated with Belgium's national colours, as was the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

The Belgian flag flew at half-mast above Downing Street, while EU flags were lowered outside the European Commission in Brussels.

:: Brussels Terror: How The Attacks Unfolded

Student Laura Kartheuser, 20, was among the mourners gathered in Brussels.

She said: "This is my city and this is my country. What's happened today is really terrible.

"We've come here to support each other and see what was written on the pavement. It's really touching.

"I don't know who thought to bring chalk for people to write with, but it's lovely to see such kind words."

Global leaders have united to condemn the attack, including President Barack Obama.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friends in Belgium," he said.

"We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people.

"This is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together."

:: IS Says It Carried Out Brussels Attacks

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We absolutely stand with them at this very difficult time. These were attacks in Belgium.

"They could just as well be attacks in Britain or France or Germany or elsewhere in Europe and we need to stand together against these appalling terrorists and make sure they can never win.

"I have made sure that we have offered every support to the Belgian security and policing and intelligence forces at this time."
The Independent

Tories must not return to soap opera of Partygate under Boris Johnson, warns Dominic RaabBoris Johnsons former deputy Dominic Raab has warned Conservative MPs that bringing the ex-PM back into No 10 would risk another episode of Partygate  which he likened to Groundhog Day and a soap opera.Claiming to believe that Mr Johnson can eventually make a return to frontline politics, Mr Raab said: I just cant see in practice how a new prime minister ... could give the country the attention, the focus, that it needs while also giving testimony to the Commons privileges committee inquiry over Partygate.Mr Raab continued: Whether youre an arch-Boris fan, or an arch-Boris critic, I dont see how you can reconcile returning to frontline politics with that committee looming and hanging over him and oral testimony being heard.He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We cannot go backwards. We cant have another episode of the Groundhog Day, of the soap opera, of Partygate. We must get the country and the government moving forward.BBC Radio 4
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah accused Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Monday of obstructing efforts to reach a political solution in Syria, saying Riyadh did not want to see any progress at Geneva peace talks aimed at ending five years of conflict. Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia have for years been on opposing sides of Syria's civil war, but relations have worsened in recent months - mirroring the growing hostility between Riyadh and Tehran, the region's two rival powers."What is disrupting any progress towards a political solution is firstly Saudi Arabia, and secondly Turkey," Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told Al Mayadeen television in an interview. Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah has sent fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which insist Assad must leave power, have been supporting Sunni Muslim insurgents fighting to overthrow him. "Saudi Arabia doesn't want any progress in the negotiations in Geneva," Nasrallah said, adding Riyadh might be holding out until the U.S. presidential election in November to see whether a new administration might pursue a different policy on Syria. "So I don't expect progress in the political process or a political solution," he said. His criticism of Riyadh comes nearly three weeks after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Saudi Arabia said last week it would punish anyone who belongs to Hezbollah, sympathizes with it, supports it financially or harbors any of its members. Several GCC countries have deported Lebanese nationals over suspected links to the group. A Kuwaiti newspaper said on Monday the emirate had expelled 11 Lebanese and three Iraqis. But Nasrallah said that the allegations were either baseless or related to people Hezbollah did not know about. "They said a group was arrested in Kuwait smuggling drugs (and) belonged to Hezbollah, they were contacting Hezbollah in Syria," Nasrallah said. "That's empty talk". "(There are reports) that there is a cell that's been sentenced in the UAE. We don't know anything about that, we don't know who they are," he said. He also denied that Hezbollah had sent any fighters or weapons to Bahrain. Nasrallah warned Israel against trying to exploit Hezbollah's deployment in Syria to launch military action in Lebanon, but said he believed a major conflict with Israel was unlikely - because of the heavy costs it would bring. "In any war against Lebanon, which targeted Lebanon's people, infrastructure - we would go into this war without limits or red lines," he said. Nasrallah said Hezbollah could hit any target inside Israel, including nuclear facilities and what he said were biological research centers and petrochemical plants. Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive war in 2006. (Reporting by Dominic Evans and Laila Bassam; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Mayank Bhardwaj NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is likely to extend a wheat import tax beyond March to shield its domestic farmers from cheap imports particularly as wheat from the new-season harvest will become available by the end of this month, government sources said on Monday. After consulting the food, farm and trade ministries, the finance ministry now looks likely to extend the duty until September, the sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the media, said. India, the world's biggest wheat producer after China, imposed an import tax of 10 percent in August last year, reinstating it after a gap of eight years following big wheat imports from overseas. In October, the government raised the import tax, which expires on March 31, to 25 percent.Once the tax is extended, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers will review the decision in June when they will have a clear idea about the size of this season's crop, the sources said. Food ministry spokesman N.C. Joshi declined to comment. Indian farmers, who grow only one wheat crop in a year, will start their harvests from end of March and April, after planting the crop in October and November. There has been some concern from farmers and experts about the size of the crop because of wet weather. But Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh expects India to harvest at least 92 million tonnes of wheat in 2016, almost in line with the previous government forecast. Output last year was 86.53 million tonnes, down from 95.85 million tonnes in the previous year, due to rains and hail flattening the crop in February and March. On March 1, wheat stocks at government warehouses totalled 16.9 million tonnes against a minimum requirement of 13.80 million tonnes. (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj. Editing by Jane Merriman)
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian financial broker working on behalf of HSBC in the Swiss town of Lugano is under investigation for possible money laundering in a probe linked to a wider tax evasion case, an Italian finance police colonel told Reuters. The officer's confirmation that an investigation has been opened followed a statement on Tuesday from Turin tax police, saying that police searched the home of the broker in the Northern Italian town of Lecco. It did not name the broker. The statement said the individual is suspected of being part of a group of a dozen brokers who are alleged to have collected funds from Italian clients, deposited them in anonymous accounts in the Lugano office of HSBC and then transferred them to offshore companies in Panama, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Isles to shield the money from tax authorities. The other 11 people are not under investigation and no other searches have been carried out, finance police colonel Ivan Bixio told Reuters on Tuesday. "We are monitoring the situation but have no further comment at this stage," an HSBC representative told Reuters in an emailed statement. HSBC no longer has offices in Lugano. The investigation grew out of an analysis by the finance police of the so-called Falciani list of more than 100,000 names leaked in 2008 by a former HSBC employee, sparking a U.S. probe into whether the British bank helped Americans to evade taxes. Herve Falciani, 44, was found guilty of aggravated industrial espionage and last November was sentenced by a Swiss court to five years in prison. Authorities in France, Austria, Belgium and Argentina have said they are investigating the individuals on the list. According to Bixio, prosecutors in different Italian cities are still examining Italian individuals on the list in connection with possible tax evasion. The finance police statement on Tuesday said that the group of a dozen brokers worked in 29 Italian cities including Milan, Turin, Genoa and Rome, and that none of them held the required Italian financial qualifications. Colonel Bixio said the information was acquired through internal bank working papers that gave details of the business carried out by the brokers working as intermediaries. HSBC has previously admitted failings in compliance and controls in its Swiss private bank and faces an inquiry by British lawmakers after media reported that the lender allegedly helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars of assets in the years up to 2007. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Steve Scherer and David Goodman)
barack obama che cuba

Amid the fanfare surrounding President Barack Obamas landmark visit to Cuba on Monday, a different US diplomatic achievement took place.

As Obama toured Havana, Secretary of State John Kerry sat down for a meeting with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a left-wing rebel group that has fought Colombian forces and paramilitaries for more than 50 years.

The meeting was the first one between a US secretary of state and the FARC since the rebels were designated a terrorist group by the US in 1997.

Even now, as peace talks move forward, US government considers the FARC a terrorist organization, but that may soon change.

John Kerry FARC meeting Cuba

The FARCs struggle with the Colombian state has dragged on since the early 1960s, and the rebel group, which formed in part as a self-defense group for rural Colombians, has since moved into other, more nefarious enterprises  including kidnapping and drug trafficking.

The Colombian government of Juan Manuel Santos and FARC representatives began peace talks in 2012 in Havana. Since then, the negotiators have reached at least partial accords on five of the six points on their agenda, with the end of conflict point  how to disarm and reintegrate FARC fighters  needing the most work, according to the Americas Society.

The issue of FARCs inclusion on the US State Departments Foreign Terrorist Organizations list has become particularly salient as the conflict nears what appears to be an end.

John Kerry Colombia FARC meeting Cuba

Story continues

Colombian President Santos said earlier this year that once a deal was signed the US should remove the group from the list.

If they sign its because we have a timetable for their disarmament and they have committed themselves to lay down their arms and make this transition to legal life, Santos told the AP. So I would say yes, I hope that they would be eliminated from the terror list.

The US has said such a change would require more evidence of the FARCs commitment to peace.

Colombia FARC attack soldiers

We take the [Colombian] presidents request very seriously, but the same laws that apply to other groups apply to the FARC  they have to disarm, end their criminal activities and stop forming a risk for US interests, US special envoy Bernard Aronson said earlier this year.

When this happens, a revision process will begin to determine if the conditions [that justify a groups designation as terrorist] no longer exist and they can be removed, Aronson added.

Even if Colombian and FARC negotiators conclude a peace deal, removal from the terror list could take some time. The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a right-wing paramilitary group with extensive ties to Colombian politicians and responsible for many rights abuses, weren't removed from the list until 2014  eight years after they officially demobilized.

Other issues remain before a deal is finished. In March, the Colombian congress gave the government power to set up demobilization zones, where government officials wont be able arrest FARC members.

Critics worry this step will permit an incident similar to one that happened in the early 2000s, when FARC rebels used such a zone to remobilize and entrench their drug-trafficking operations. (Santos has suggested some leniency for FARC's drug traffickers as part of the deal, but stressed than any violators of the deal would face extradition to the US.)

Cuba's President Raul Castro (C) stands as Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by the nom de guerre Timochenko, shake hands in Havana, September 23, 2015. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

FARC members are also worried as they attempt to reenter civilian political life, they could face violent retaliation, as happened in the 1980s and 1990s and continues to happen to members of Colombia's political left. (Reintegration of the millions of displaced persons in Colombia is also a point of concern.)

To that end, Kerry affirmed US willingness to support the security of those who lay down their arms as part of the peace process.

Kerrys meeting with FARC leadership, as well as the USs role in Colombia-FARC negotiations more broadly, have escaped notice amid Obamas historic rapprochement with Cuba.

But rather then competing initiatives, US officials framed the two events as part of a united diplomatic effort.

This Cuba policy is also our Latin American policy, national security adviser Ben Rhodes told press at a Monday-evening briefing. Its why we are at the peace table with the Colombians here in Havana.

NOW WATCH: This is why US aircraft carriers are a force to be reckoned with





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China censors urge media to "stop hyping the story" on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's visit in the country. (Photo : Getty Images)

China defends Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg from netizens and members of the media who mocked his rare visit to the country.



On Tuesday, China Digital Times (CDT) shared leaked censorship instructions distributed to members of the press, saying that the media should control "malicious commentary" about the Facebook chief executive.



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The instructions also urged the media to "stop hyping the story," referring to shared social media posts and memes that show Zuckerberg in a different light.



On Monday, Vanity Fair said the creator of one of the world's most popular social media platforms came to China to attend the China Development Forum.



Zuckerberg himself announced his arrival in China over Facebook Thursday last week by sharing an image of him jogging through Tiananmen Square.



"It's great to be back in Beijing! I kicked off my visit with a run through Tiananmen Square, past the Forbidden City and over to the Temple of Heaven," he wrote, adding something about accomplishing his 100th mile related to his Facebook group "A Year of Running."







During his stay in the country, Zuckerberg was able to meet with Communist Party Propaganda Chief Liu Yunshan on Saturday, something many deemed as an attempt to bring back Facebook in China after it was banned from the country in 2009.



Because of this, netizens scrutinized the social media mogul.



"How can you beat him up for kissing ass? He's a businessman. He wants to provide a service inside the Wall and make some money at it," a netizen cited by CDT said. "What's wrong with that? He hates the Wall, and he hasn't added a single brick to it. He just hasn't chosen to be a hero, but he hasn't done anything evil."



Others decided to transpose his shorts-clad image in another tableau to remind him of the violent crackdown in the same area where he jogged casually.


BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean consular official in China has killed two people in a car crash, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, reporting the accident shortly after China came out in support of sanctions against its ally over its nuclear programme. South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier reported the North Korean official was driving drunk, and the accident took place after he had left an event celebrating North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket on Feb. 7. China's Foreign Ministry did not mention those details in a statement to Reuters but said the official's vehicle hit a taxi in the city of Dandong, near the North Korean border, early on Feb. 10, killing the driver and a passenger. The North Korean official had paid compensation to the families of the victims, the ministry added, in a rare revelation of wrongdoing by an official of an allied power. China is North Korea's sole major ally but China disapproves of its nuclear programme. The North conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a month later launched what it said was a space rocket. The United States and other critics said the launch was cover for its development of ballistic missile technology that could be used to deliver a nuclear weapon. The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed this month to harsh new sanctions, drafted by the United States and China, on North Korea to starve it of money for its nuclear weapons programmes. U.S. State Department officials have expressed optimism that the sanctions may be more effective than earlier attempts to curtail North Korea's nuclear program, pointing to China's apparent willingness to support them. Officials at North Korea's embassy in Beijing could not be reached for comment. Crime committed by North Koreans in China has frequently sparked public outrage in China, particularly after a string of murders apparently carried out by deserters from the North Korean army in villages near the border last year. (Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Robert Birsel)
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou is heading for a crushing victory in a run-off election that became a near-formality when the opposition coalition declared a boycott, partial results on Tuesday showed. With 226 constituencies counted from a total of 308, Issoufou received 93 percent of Sunday's vote, according to the national electoral commission. Turnout was around 61 percent. Issoufou, an ally of the West in its fight against Islamist insurgents in West Africa, won the first round comfortably last month with 48 percent of votes but failed to clinch the outright majority required to avoid a second round. The candidate who came second, opposition leader Hama Amadou, has been in jail since November on charges relating to a baby-trafficking scandal, but was flown to France for medical treatment last week. Amadou says he is innocent and claims the charges against him are politically motivated. The Coalition for an Alternative (COPA), which unites about 20 political parties including Amadou's MODEN, called for a boycott of the polls, claiming the process had been tainted by fraud. Southern Niger, which borders Nigeria, has been the target of frequent deadly raids by Islamist Boko Haram militants. It also shares borders with Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, where al Qaeda-linked groups are active. Libya, home to Islamic State affiliates, lies on its northern border. (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalaki; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Fans should expect to see new MacBooks before WWDC, slated for June. (Photo : YouTube/HandyAndy Tech Tips )

The Cupertino-based tech giant, Apple, kept mum on details of the spring event that occurred on March 21, Monday. As a result, rumor mills continued to speculate that the event may include the release of the much-anticipated laptops, MacBook Air 2016 and MacBook Pro 2016.



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The big day left many disillusioned when the powerful laptops were nowhere to be seen. Apple failed to introduce the two MacBooks in their recently concluded event and instead, introduced a new iPhone SE and a 9.7-inch iPad Pro.



Users who are expecting to purchase the latest MacBook Pro and MacBook Air have to wait longer, according to Heavy. The two MacBooks may be unveiled during the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is slated for June.



The biggest news during the March 21 event was the unveiling of the smaller iPhone SE. The company will be celebrating its 40th anniversary on April 1, although based on their recent event, there is no certainty that Apple is planning for big surprises as the New Year begins.



Introducing MacBook Pro 2016 and MacBook Air 2016 could have been the best news for avid fans. However, as opposed to the new laptops, according to Mashable, the elephant in the room is the company's legal fight with the FBI concerning the creation of software to crack the gunman's security after he killed 14 people in San Bernardino.



Apart from this, the March 21 event went on with a less bang and some reviews claimed that the products that the Cupertino-based tech giant launched were not very interesting. The event was focused on how the tech giant presents new products amid a fierce battle concerning security, privacy, and public policy.



Since MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2016 were absent on Monday, fans should wait for Apple's upcoming event, scheduled for June. It is likely that the two laptops will be announced before WWDC.



Watch the footage below for more details on the March 21 event:






MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has a special forces group in Syria that carries out reconnaissance and "other special tasks", a senior Russian military officer was quoted as saying, the first time Moscow has acknowledged having ground forces in combat roles inside Syria. "I will not hide the fact that on the territory of Syria there is a division of our special operations forces," state-run newspaper Rossiisskaya Gazeta quoted Alexander Dvornikov, a commander of the Russian contingent in Syria, as saying. "They perform supplementary reconnaissance on targets for Russian air strikes, they are engaged in guiding aircraft to targets in remote areas, and perform other special tasks." Carrying out target reconnaissance can often involve putting small groups of highly-trained troops behind enemy lines so they can gather information on targets that cannot be obtained from drones or satellite surveillance. That Russia has been carrying out such high-risk missions suggests the Kremlin has been more deeply embroiled in the Syrian conflict than it has previously acknowledged. Six Russian servicemen are known to have died in Syria, two of them in circumstances that the Russian authorities have not disclosed. The death of the sixth serviceman, a major in the interior ministry troops, emerged on Wednesday. Until now, Russian officials said the military's role in Syria was limited to air strikes, training and advising Syrian government forces, mounting search and rescue operations for downed air crews, and protecting Russian bases. But forces opposed to Russia's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have said Russian forces, in combat roles, have taken part in government offensives. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Ralph Boulton)
DONETSK, Russia (Reuters) - A Russian judge on Monday said Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko was complicit in the killing of two Russian journalists, an assertion certain to inflame already dire relations between Moscow and Kiev. Savchenko, 34, was captured by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine in June 2014 during the separatist conflict there and handed over to Russia where she was charged with directing mortar fire which killed two Russian journalists. She has denied wrongdoing. Regarded as a national hero by many in her homeland, Savchenko has been depicted by Russian state TV as a dangerous Ukrainian nationalist with the blood of civilians on her hands. The United States and the European Union have called on Russia to free Savchenko, who has undertaken various hunger strikes to try to speed up her trial, on humanitarian grounds. The judge, Leonid Stepanenko, told a courtroom in southern Russia that Savchenko had "deliberately inflicted death on two persons, acting according to a conspiracy and motivated by hatred and enmity." The judge later adjourned proceedings until Tuesday. Savchenko is not being tried by jury and Russian news agencies said the judge's words amounted to a formal guilty verdict. Her lawyers, Mark Feygin and Nikolai Polezov, told Reuters this was only part of the summing up however and not yet a formal guilty verdict. They have long asserted that Savchenko is the victim of a politicised show trial and would be found guilty. Prosecutors have asked the court for a 23-year jail sentence. "We hope all this will end tomorrow," Feygin told reporters after the end of Monday's proceedings. "Today, as before, we are convinced of Nadezhda Savchenko's innocence, we have proved her innocent," he said. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's spokesman called the proceedings "a farce," saying Kiev would step up pressure on Moscow to release Savchenko who was elected a member of parliament while being held in Russia. Poroshenko's wife called on Michelle Obama to join the campaign to free Savchenko. Angry Ukrainians have pelted the Russian embassy in Kiev with eggs over her plight, while Russians have picketed the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow demanding justice for the dead journalists. "It is like the inquisition. It is a kangaroo court," Oleh Sobchenko, one Ukrainian man, told Reuters in Kiev. Other Ukrainians interviewed said they felt the trial was about turning Savchenko into a bargaining chip for a future prisoner swap between Moscow and Kiev. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to raise the case with the Kremlin later this week in Moscow. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Alessandra Prentice and Margaryta Chornokondratenko in Kiev; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe and Richard Balmforth)
By Mike Stone and Arunima Banerjee (Reuters) - Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc , owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, accepted a higher $13.6 billion acquisition offer from peer Marriott International Inc , spurning a bid from China's Anbang Insurance Group. The move dramatically raises the stakes in the bidding war since the deal with Marriott prohibits Starwood from communicating with Anbang, which already owns New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel. If Anbang had succeeded with its offer, the acquisition would have been the largest ever by a Chinese company in the United States. It would not comment on Monday on whether it was planning a new bid. Marriott raised the cash portion of its offer to $21 per share from $2, valuing the total bid, which also includes stock, at $79.53 as of Friday's close of trading. The company had clinched a deal with Starwood in November for $72.08 per share. "In the further diligence we have completed in last five months, we have become even more convinced of the tremendous opportunity presented by this merger," Marriott Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson told analysts on a conference call. "That confidence is reflected in our higher offer." Starwood shares were up 4 percent at $83.79 in afternoon trading. Marriott was down 1.6 percent at $72.02. "We believe this is the best bid Marriott is willing to make," Canaccord Genuity analyst Ryan Meliker wrote in a note. A group led by Anbang had challenged Marriott with an initial non-binding offer of $12.8 billion on March 14, raising it later to $13.16 billion, or $78 per share in cash. "It's likely that the Anbang consortium will increase its offer because that group may be motivated more by obtaining Western assets and shifting capital outside China than by generating value or earnings accretion," Nomura Securities International Inc analysts wrote in a note. An acquisition of Starwood by Anbang would probably face a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency panel that reviews deals to ensure they do not harm national security. However, sources have said both sides believe that deal would receive CFIUS clearance. A Marriott-Starwood combination would create the world's largest hotel chain with top brands that also include Ritz Carlton and the Autograph Collection. "The power of the information and guest relationships to me is the greatest value that would come out of this for Marriott," said Bjorn Hanson, a professor of hospitality and tourism at New York University. "Control of so much information enables for there to be better targeted marketing and pricing," he said. The combined company will have more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms worldwide, giving Marriott a greater presence in markets such as Europe, Latin America and Asia and allowing it to better compete with apartment-sharing startups such as Airbnb. Marriott's merger with Starwood has cleared antitrust review in the United States and Canada. Approvals from the European Union and China are pending. Under the revised agreement, Starwood would pay a breakup fee of $450 million, up from $400 million previously. The investor group Anbang is leading also includes private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co from the United States and China's Primavera Capital. Lazard and Citigroup Global Markets Inc are financial advisers to Starwood, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is its legal counsel. Deutsche Bank Securities advised Marriott. PJT Partners Inc is Anbang's financial adviser, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is its legal counsel. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York and Sayantani Ghosh in Bengaluru)
By Mike Stone and Arunima Banerjee (Reuters) - Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc , owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, accepted a sweetened $13.6 billion acquisition offer from peer Marriott International Inc , spurning China's Anbang Insurance Group's latest bid. The bidding war for Starwood has pitted Marriott's ambitions to create the world's largest lodging company with about 5,700 hotels, against Anbang's drive to create a vast investment portfolio of high-yielding U.S. real estate assets. Earlier this month, Anbang agreed to pay Blackstone Group LP $6.5 billion for Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc, whose 16 luxury properties include the Four Seasons Washington D.C., after buying New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel last year for $1.95 billion. If Anbang stays in the race and launches a successful new bid for Starwood, the acquisition would be the largest ever by a Chinese company in the United States. Starwood's merger agreement with Marriott now prevents it from communicating with Anbang, but the Chinese company could still make an offer for Starwood's board to consider before its shareholders vote on the Marriott deal on April 8. Anbang would not comment on Monday on whether it was planning a new bid. "It's likely that the Anbang consortium will increase its offer because that group may be motivated more by obtaining Western assets and shifting capital outside China than by generating value or earnings accretion," Nomura Securities International Inc analysts wrote in a note. Marriott raised the cash portion of its offer to $21 per share from $2 per share, valuing the total bid, which also includes stock, at $79.53 as of Friday's close of trading. The company had clinched a deal with Starwood in November for $72.08 per share. "In the further diligence we have completed in last five months, we have become even more convinced of the tremendous opportunity presented by this merger," Marriott Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson told analysts on a conference call. "That confidence is reflected in our higher offer." Marriott said it believes it could achieve $250 million in annual cost synergies within two years after closing the deal with Starwood, up from $200 million estimated in November 2015 when it signed its original merger agreement. Despite the higher price, Marriott is still getting Starwood for less than 12 times its estimated 2017 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, which the Nomura analysts argued was "compelling value." Starwood shares closed 4.5 percent higher at $84.19 while Marriott shares were down 1.2 percent at $72.30. "We believe this is the best bid Marriott is willing to make," Canaccord Genuity analyst Ryan Meliker wrote in a note. CFIUS REVIEW The consortium led by Anbang had challenged Marriott with an initial non-binding offer of $12.8 billion on March 14, raising it later to $13.16 billion, or $78 per share in cash. An acquisition of Starwood by Anbang would probably face scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency panel that reviews deals to ensure they do not harm national security. However, sources have said both sides believe that deal would receive CFIUS clearance. A Marriott-Starwood combination would bring together 20 brands, including Ritz Carlton and the Autograph Collection. "The power of the information and guest relationships to me is the greatest value that would come out of this for Marriott," said Bjorn Hanson, a professor of hospitality and tourism at New York University. "Control of so much information enables for there to be better targeted marketing and pricing," he said. The combined company will have more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms worldwide, giving Marriott a greater presence in Europe, Latin America and Asia and allowing it to better compete with apartment-sharing startups such as Airbnb. Marriott's merger with Starwood has cleared antitrust review in the United States and Canada. Approvals from the European Union and China are pending. Under the revised agreement, Starwood would pay a breakup fee to Marriott of $450 million, up from $400 million previously. The investor group Anbang is leading also includes private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co from the United States and China's Primavera Capital. Lazard and Citigroup Global Markets Inc are financial advisers to Starwood, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is its legal counsel. Deutsche Bank Securities and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised Marriott. PJT Partners Inc is Anbang's financial adviser, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is its legal counsel. (Reporting by Mike Stone and Jeffrey Dastin in New York and Arunima Banerjee adn Sayantani Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Matthew Lewis)
By John Irish and Dominic Evans GENEVA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The fate of President Bashar al-Assad will play no part in talks to end the Syrian war, the head of the government's delegation said, leading the U.N. peace envoy to warn that lack of progress on the issue could threaten a fragile cessation of hostilities. Damascus delegate Bashar Ja'afari said Assad's future had "nothing to do" with the negotiations, which entered their second week on Monday, insisting that counter-terrorism efforts remained the priority for the government. "The (terms of) reference of our talks do not give any indication whatsoever with regard to the issue of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic," he said when asked about the willingness of the government delegation to engage in serious talks on political transition. "This is something already excluded." U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura - who describes Syria's political transition as "the mother of all issues" - responded by saying the government delegation's refusal to discuss it could lead to a deterioration of the situation on the ground. "Everyone more or less agrees, the cessation of hostilities is still holding," he said. "The same ... more or less for the movement on humanitarian aid. But neither of them can be sustained if we don't get progress on the political transition." The fragility of the three-week-old cessation, which was backed by the United States and Russia, was highlighted on Monday when Moscow said it had recorded six violations in the last 24 hours. The Syrian opposition accused the government delegation of wasting time by refusing to discuss the future of Assad. "It is not possible to wait like this, while the regime delegation wastes time without achieving anything," said Salim al-Muslat, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee. DESERT CITY Arguments over Assad's fate were a major cause of the failure of previous U.N. peace efforts in 2012 and 2014 to end a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people and caused a refugee crisis. The five-year-old conflict between the government and insurgents has also allowed Islamic State to take advantage of the chaos and take control of areas in the east of the country. Fighters from the jihadist group - which is excluded from the ceasefire deal - killed 26 Syrian soldiers on Monday west of Palmyra, a monitoring group said, after days of advances by government forces backed by Syrian and Russian air cover. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that the Syrian army would soon recapture Palmyra from Islamic State, which has held the desert city for nearly a year. Palmyra has both symbolic and military value as the site of ancient Roman-era ruins - mostly destroyed by Islamic State - and because of its location on a highway linking mainly government-held western Syria to Islamic State's eastern stronghold. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting took place about 4 km (2 miles) west of Palmyra. It was not possible to independently verify the death toll. Syria's state news agency SANA said the army and allied forces, backed by the Syrian air force, carried out "concentrated operations" against Islamic State around Palmyra and the Islamic State-held town of al-Qaryatayn, about 100 km further west. After more than five months of air strikes in support of Assad, which turned the course of the civil war in the government's favour, Putin announced the withdrawal last week of most Russian forces. But Russian planes have continued to support army operations near Palmyra, according to the Observatory and regional media. (Additional reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Stephanie Nebehay and Ali Abdelatti; Writing by Pravin Char; editing by John Stonestreet)
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Kurdish militants killed five members of Turkish security forces in three separate bomb attacks on Tuesday near the Syrian and Iranian borders, the army and security sources said, in an intensification of conflict in southeast Turkey. Hundreds of security forces personnel, militants and civilians have been killed since a 2-1/2 year ceasefire between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the state collapsed in July. One soldier was killed and six more wounded in a bomb attack early on Tuesday in Nusaybin near the Syrian border, the army said. The area has been under a curfew since March 14 when security forces launched operations against militants there. Two police officers and one soldier were killed and nine security force members were wounded in a PKK bomb attack on a military vehicle in the town of Yuksekova, near the Iranian border, security sources said. A third roadside explosive device planted by the militants below up an armored vehicle in the Mazidagi district of Mardin province, also near Syria, killing one police officer and wounding three others, the sources said. Separately, the military said 23 Kurdish militants were killed in clashes in Nusaybin, Yuksekova and Sirnak on Monday. The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European Union, is carrying out a violent struggle for autonomy in the mainly Kurdish southeast. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since it began in 1984. (Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Heavens and David Dolan)
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Donald Trump looked to Arizona and Utah on Tuesday to add to his big lead in the party's presidential nominating race in what would be another blow to an anti-Trump movement organized by establishment Republicans. The contests in Arizona and Utah were overshadowed by attacks in Brussels that left at least 30 people dead, and added to security concerns that American voters have expressed to pollsters. "I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody - and its not even close. Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!" Trump, who was monitoring the results from Florida, said in a tweet. Trump, the New York billionaire and former reality TV star, has ridden an anti-Washington message to become the favorite for the nomination. This has left a flagging anti-Trump effort with faint hopes of stopping him at the Republican national convention in July. In Arizona, which is one of the U.S. states that borders Mexico, Trump's hardline immigration message is popular and he leads in polls, while in Utah Trump lags in polls behind top rival Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas. Arizona will award its entire slate of 58 delegates to the winner of Tuesday's primary. In Utah, the state's 40 delegates will be awarded proportionate to the popular vote, unless a single candidate captures at least 50 percent of the vote, in which case that person will be awarded all the delegates. On Monday, Trump warned against efforts to deny him the nomination if he falls short of securing the 1,237 delegates needed ahead of the July convention. Trump now has 678 delegates. "I think it is going to be very hard for them to do," Trump said on CNN of any effort to deny him the nomination if he falls short. "I have millions of votes more than anybody." Democrats were also voting on Tuesday, in Arizona, Utah and Idaho, with front-runner Hillary Clinton aiming to pile up more delegates in her race against challenger Bernie Sanders. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday. But because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally in all states, Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not the winner in a given state. Tuesday's Republican contests are the first since U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed him in his home state. Ohio Governor John Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the anti-Trump vote with Cruz. "We welcome Marco's supporters with open arms," Cruz said on CNN, saying a Trump candidacy in November would be "a disaster" that would ensure a Clinton win. In Arizona, Trump had the backing of former Republican Governor Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, two of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on illegal immigrants. In Utah, Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has said he will vote for Cruz. Romney recorded phone messages on behalf of Cruz, saying, "He is the only Republican candidate who can defeat Donald Trump" and that a vote for Kasich was equivalent to a vote for Trump. (Additional reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Independent

Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitters workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report by The Washington Post.Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitters employee base of 7,500 workers, according to Thursday's report.If confirmed, the cuts would leave the company with a skeleton crew, according to the Post.The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.San Francisco-based Twitter and a representative for Musk attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.SEE MORE: What Happens If Elon Musk Buys Twitter?While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk's planned cuts are far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned.Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company's staff in the past, but he hadn't given a specific number - at least not publicly.Already, experts, nonprofits and even Twitter's own staff have warned that pulling back investments on content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users.With as drastic a reduction as Musk may be planning, the platform could quickly become overrun with harmful content and spam.After his initial $44 billion bid in April to buy Twitter, Musk backed out of the deal, contending Twitter misrepresented the number of fake spam bot accounts on its platform.Twitter sued, and a Delaware judge has given both sides until 28 October to work out details.Otherwise, there will be a trial in November.Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies carried out 11 strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, a military statement said. Seven strikes were conducted in Iraq, including three near the city of Mosul, and four in Syria, targeting Islamic State units, weapons and equipment, the statement said on Monday. One strike near Hit in Iraq "produced inconclusive results," the statement said without elaborating. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom Editing by W Simon)
Phil Spencer, Microsofts Xbox video business head, speaks during Microsoft Xbox news conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo at the Galen Center on June 10, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Kevork Djansezian)

Microsoft's Xbox video game business head Phil Spencer has expressed his apologies following a party organized by the company in San Francisco last Thursday night for computer game developers, which featured female go-go dancers in short skirts and crop tops.



Soon after the party, which was organized on the very day the Redmond-headquartered tech giant sponsored "women in games" lunch; several attendees took to social media to complain about the party. Responding to such widespread criticism, Spencer described the event as "unequivocally wrong."



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Incidentally, the unpleasant event took place about a week after the South by Southwest seminar in Austin, Texas, wherein speakers talked at length on online harassment in the industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft's image apparently took a beating as word and photographs featuring scantily dressed women from the party spread on social media. In fact, it had an adverse effect on the company's endeavors to be further inclusive of women.



The tech giant was quick to realize the mistake and issued an apology in a blog post last Friday, wherein it said the party "did not reflect the core values and beliefs of Xbox." Aside from apologizing for the party, Microsoft also circulated an email Spencer sent to staffers. In his email, Spence was critical of the events at the party.



In his email to staffers, Spencer wrote, "We represented Xbox and Microsoft in a way that was absolutely not consistent or aligned to our values." He went on to add, "That was unequivocally wrong and will not be tolerated. We must ensure that diversity and inclusion are central to our everyday business and core values."



They were dancing on podiums.

(Deleted originals to blur faces of the dancers) pic.twitter.com/pG1BxmtbnO

 Kamina Vincent (@spamoir) March 18, 2016







Meanwhile, Kamina Vincent of Melbourne, Australia, had come to attend the party with a view to network with other game developers, but she reportedly had a very unpleasant experience, BBC reported. According to Vincent, an editor at the Tin Man Games studio, there were several women in plaid miniskirts and revealing crop tops on the podium. When she asked the women why they were there, the latter told the Australian that they were hired to join with attendees and cheer them to dance.



Nevertheless, not all attendees thought that the organizers had made a mistake by hiring the go-go dancers. Though Microsoft has stated that hiring the dancers did not gel with the company's values, one attendee Gerris Digital tweeted, "Go-go dancers are not strippers."



Watch the video showing scantily clad "schoolgirl" dancers at Microsoft's Xbox developers' party below:






HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam jailed a well-known political blogger and his assistant on Wednesday for abusing democratic freedom, their lawyer said, in a verdict that stirred public interest and a mix of concern and criticism from rights groups and the United States. Blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy were imprisoned for five and three years respectively for posts that a Hanoi court said were abuses of their freedom and infringements upon state interests. Both had denied any connection with the blogs. Vietnam has been widely rebuked for its tough moves to curb online dissent as public appetite for the Internet soars and Web users turn to blogs to read about issues that state-controlled media avoids. Lawyer Ha Huy Son said the ruling was unfair and the pair would likely appeal. "The evidence used during the trial and evidence cited in the verdict were different," Son told Reuters. "The evidence referred to in the verdict had not been verified ... there was no time to respond." Vinh was once a policeman and private investigator. He is the son of a late cabinet minister and former ambassador to the Soviet Union. The one-day trial was held under tight security and some protesters were seen gathering at the court. The verdict is likely to frustrate Western governments that have stepped up diplomatic support and engagement with Vietnam while urging it to stop the arrest, imprisonment and intimidation of its critics. The U.S. embassy in Hanoi said the use of criminal laws to stifle free speech was "disturbing". "We call on the government to release unconditionally these two individuals, as well as all other prisoners of conscience, and allow all Vietnamese to express their views peacefully, without fear of retribution," it said in a statement. Vietnam has recently agreed several big trade accords, including ones led by the United States and European Union. It is Southeast Asia's biggest exporter to the United States, sending some 1,700 containers there daily carrying televisions, smartphones, brand-name clothes and farm and fisheries produce. Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia's representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said the ruling was "a travesty of justice". "If Vietnam wants to be seen as a responsible member of the international community and reliable partner in multilateral agreements, including the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, these types of bogus anti-state convictions must stop immediately," Crispin said. (Reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel)
KKR has agreed to buy into seeds provider Advanta Enterprises in a deal which values the business at about $2.25bn.
Private equity major Blackstone has collected more than $2bn for its third real estate debt fund, according to a filing
One Ton Of Confiscated Ivory Destroyed In New York's Times Square (Photo : Getty Images)

Two ivory import bans that China issued in 2015 failed to curb the illegal trade. The failure of the separate one-year prohibitions issued in February and October led Beijing to impose a ban on all items acquired prior to July 1, 1975.



The State Forestry Administration (SFA) announced the ban on Tuesday. The prohibition on importation of ivory and carved-ivory products became effective on Sunday and will be in place until end of 2019, reported China Daily.



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July 1, 1975 is the date that the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species took effect. The ban issued in February covered items acquired prior to that date, while the one in October covered all ivory acquired during trophy hunting in Africa.



The two 2015 bans remain and will be extended also until end of 2019. The administration said it blacklisted all items acquired before July 1, 1975, to prevent people from making illegal profit by trading in ivory in China.



But the new law exempts activities with no commercial purposes such as public exhibits, scientific research and cultural exchange.



The measure is proof that the Chinese government is now stricter toward the protection of elephants from whose tasks the ivory are taken, said Yan Xun, chief engineer of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management, an agency under the SFA.



According to the June 2006 report of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, it found 309 ivory dealers operating illegally in nine Chinese cities. Of the number, 255 or 83 percent belong to the black market. Ivory sold for 4,500 to 6,000 yuan ($560 to $750) per kilo.






Endeavour Vision has held an oversubscribed final close for what it believes is the largest fund dedicated to medical
A biologist works on putting blood on iron plates to feed the females of the nursery that produces genetically modified mosquitoes on February 11, 2016 in Campinas, Brazil. (Photo : Getty Images/Victor Moriyama)

Scientists have warned that with the temperatures soaring, 50 cities in the United States are vulnerable to Zika virus spread this year.



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that already there are 261 travel-related Zika virus infections in the different states and territories of the United States. Of these, 283 infections have been acquired locally. The scientists have also developed a map should the potential spread of the virus to different states and the states that would be most affected if nothing was done to check the spread of the virus right away.



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Scientists from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) have observed 50 cities in the United States, a recent study published in the journal PLOS Currents Outbreaks stated. The scientists actually wanted to show the precise cities having the perfect weather conditions that help increase the population of Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the Zika virus, during warmer months.



According to these scientists, the warmer temperature in many regions of the United States is a key factor contributing to the spread of the Zika virus. They have warned that a combination of ideal conditions such as a warmer weather will help to multiply the Aedes aegypti mosquito population in a vast area along the East Coast extending to New York as well as the southern regions, including Los Angeles and Phoenix.



Following an analysis of travel patterns from different countries as well as territories witnessing Zika outbreaks, researchers concluded that cities in southern Florida and poor areas in southern Texas may be especially vulnerable to transmission of the virus locally. Aside from this, the risks of Zika virus spread may increase in cities as more air travelers arrive from Latin America and the Caribbean.



This study may be useful in anticipating the timing as well as the location of potential Zika virus outbreaks in some U.S. cities, Atmos News quoted NCAR scientist and lead study author Andrew Monaghan as saying. According to Monaghan, although they are yet to completely comprehend the dynamics of Zika virus transmission, knowledge about the places where the Aedes aegypti mosquito can survive in the U.S. and the manner its population varies seasonally may aid in guiding mosquito control efforts as well as public health preparedness.



Watch the video documentary on Zika virus below:






When it comes to motivating business development staff, credit union leaders should look to the Fitbit.

Thats because this device does everything a manager should: provide pertinent, relevant data to people in a way that motivates them and helps them understand their environment and actions.

Thats what we should be doing in business development, said John Godwin, principal at Haynes Godwin Consulting and a former credit union business development executive. He addressed the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.

Godwin stressed the importance of tracking statistics and goals that are critical to business development success. Doing so helps ensure accountability among staffand desired results.

He said business development goals should be intelligent, agreed-upon, motivational, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
Record attendance of over 500 credit union marketers converged on Disneyland in Anaheim, CA this week. Make it happen! was the theme of the 2016 CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference (#MBD16). Topics of focus were content marketing, branding trends, fintech, big data, innovation and all-around marketing in todays world. A heavy focus was on reaching and engaging credit union members and non-members alike.

Christopher Morris, director of communications, National Credit Union Foundation had a nice breakout on how to leverage the cooperative principles. Christopher thinks you would be surprised on how many employees of your credit union would struggle to differentiate your credit union from a bank if put on the spot. The Foundation put together a short video that you can find on YouTube highlighting the cooperative principles that make us unique in the financial services marketplace. Christopher highlighted how your credit union can use financial literacy programs and community outreach to not only grow, but thrive.

There were a couple great panel discussions at MBD16. A panel moderated by James Marshall, Cooperative Trust Manager, discussed topics on branding trends, innovation and best practices. Dana DiTomaso (Kick Point), Andrew Schpiro (AirBnB) and Ben Polk (Google) answered marketing and branding questions from the audience and discussed the latest trends in a market that consumers have so many choices.

Tuesday morning kicked off with a Tech Talks panel discussing marketing technology moderated by John Best, Best Innovation Group. The panel included Maxwell Luthy (Trendwatching.com), Nate Hudson (USAA) and Jose Resendiz (Digital Insight, an NCR Company). The panel answered questions live via an onsite social wall where people submitted questions through Twitter at the hashtag #MBDTechTalks. The panel hit on a lot including marketing and technology converging, mobile banking, payments and competitors from outside credit unions and banks, big data, marketing automation, and even an Amazon ECHO demonstrations.

The day continued with sessions on consumer trends, measuring your marketing and business development efforts, the future of banking, culture, and even compliance in a digital age.

Having so many credit union marketers in one place the ideas and conversations were truly too many to mention in this little overview. As I sure you know, marketers are a lively bunch. You will have to see for yourself at the 2017 CUNA Marketing & Business Development Conference next year in San Antonio, TX.
Tesco is facing heavy criticism for its new farms range, which uses British-sounding farm names to sell fresh produce from abroad as well as the UK.

The seven new brands have been named after farms that either dont exist, or which Tesco said had historically been operating farms.

Willow Farms is the only new brand to offer 100% British produce (chicken), while five brands offer a mix of British and imported and one is exclusively imported. White potatoes will be 100% British.

The new brands are Rosedene Farms (fruit), Boswell Farms (beef products), Willow Farms (chicken), Nightingale Farms (salad vegetables), Redmere Farms (field vegetables), Woodside Farms (pigmeat products) and Suntrail Farms (imported fruit such as lemons and oranges).

See also: Hundreds of farmers arrive in London for day of action

Products from British suppliers clearly display the Union flag, but the same farm name is being used to sell produce from several countries  although the country of origin is marked on packs.

Tescos farm range Spot check at Acre Lane, Brixton, London: Rosedene Farms  apples (UK), pears (Belgium), strawberries (Spain), blueberries (Chile)

 apples (UK), pears (Belgium), strawberries (Spain), blueberries (Chile) Boswell Farms  beef products (UK, Republic of Ireland)

 beef products (UK, Republic of Ireland) Willow Farms  chicken (100% UK)

Redmere Farms  sprouts (UK), mushrooms (Holland), carrots (UK), parsnips (UK), spinach (Italy, Spain), spring greens (UK), cabbage (Spain), onions (UK), new potatoes (UK), sweet potatoes (US)

 sprouts (UK), mushrooms (Holland), carrots (UK), parsnips (UK), spinach (Italy, Spain), spring greens (UK), cabbage (Spain), onions (UK), new potatoes (UK), sweet potatoes (US) Nightingale Farms  celery (Spain), cherry tomatoes (Spain, Morocco)

 celery (Spain), cherry tomatoes (Spain, Morocco) Woodside Farms  pigmeat products (UK, Holland, Denmark, Germany, EU)

 pigmeat products (UK, Holland, Denmark, Germany, EU) Suntrail Farms  imported fruit such as oranges, lemons, avocados

The farming industry has reacted angrily to the branding, accusing the retailer of misleading consumers and riding on the coattails of the trust UK farmers have built.

The NFUs head of food and farming, Phil Bicknell, said: The names of these farms dont have any link to where the product has been sourced  something that has the potential to confuse or even mislead customers.

It is clear that Tesco has identified that customers have a positive affinity with farmers and wants to capitalise on this. Although we are pleased this is giving a positive view of our industry, we want this image to be used with integrity.

Zoe Davies, chief executive of the National Pig Association, added: Its misleading quite frankly, were not impressed. Theyve labelled the packs with country of origin but all under the same brand name.

Beef from the Republic of Ireland and the UK is being sold under the Boswell Farms brand, while pigmeat products from the UK, Denmark, Holland and Germany are being sold under the Woodside Farms brand.

The origin of some products will also be interchangeable. Farmers Weekly found Rosedene Farms small sweet apples from the UK in store, but Tescos website states these could also come from Argentina, Belgium, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Spain.

Shoppers that Farmers Weekly spoke to said the new labels made them think the products were British, English, or even local. One shopper said the packaging was deceptive and asked how can Rosedene Farm be in several different countries?.

Rich Ford, at retail design agency Sherlock Studio, said his companys forensic linguists had found the brand names littered with references to the natural environment and rural, historic, bygone features of England, which arguably created a sense of reassurance among shoppers.

See also: Your guide to the Groceries Code Adjudicator

Farmers reacted angrily to the new branding. Kate Morgan, a Yorkshire pig farmer, called it a joke and said it was deceiving the consumer.

Peter Vickerton, a sheep farmer, also from Yorkshire, said it was a case of marketing over substance, while Jane, Cooper, a sheep farmer on Orkney, asked: What reality are they trying to hide behind a fictitious farm?

However, Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association, said Tesco was simply reacting to the pressure from discounters and other retailers who had already developed farm name brands, such as Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose.

A Tesco spokesperson said: Weve named the brands after farms to represent the quality specifications that go into every product across the range.

All of our packaging clearly displays the country of origin on the front of pack to help customers make an informed decision on what they wish to buy.

All of our British produce is clearly labelled as such, and greater prominence has been given to the Union Jack on pack.
AIPAC Tedr77 [at] aol.com) by Ted Rudow III, MA

AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, describes itself as the most important organization affecting the U.S. relationship with Israel. With a budget of $65 million, and membership now standing at over 100,000, it is no wonder that congressional staffers consider it one of the most powerful and effective lobbies on Capitol Hill. Including AIPAC's support for U.S. military aid to Israel, which amounts to over $3 billion per year.





It is widely acknowledged that the reps and senators are ticked at AIPAC, and their hostility seems to be growing these days. With upwards of 60% of their campaign contributions coming directly or indirectly from the Israel Lobby.



In the Occupied Territories, what Israel is doing is much worse than apartheid. 'Apartheid' you mean South African-style apartheid. Whats happening in the Occupied Territories is much worse. The Israeli relationship to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is totally different. They just dont want them. They want them out, or at least in prison. The Israeli settlements are expanding and flourishing. More and more people are moving into the West Bank.



Because Palestinians territories patience has reached its limits with Israeli refusal to abide by the unenforced UN Resolution No.242 in which virtually the whole world, including America, agreed that Israel should withdraw from Palestinians territories lands. America will be left standing alone with her powerful hand caught painfully in an Israeli trap, only to be destroyed by her own foolishness!





Ted Rudow III, MA


Black Power Network Calls for Housing Emergency NOW by CRC Media Corps

On Friday, March 18th, 2016 The Black Power Network and allies responded to the growing housing crisis in Oakland by interrupting the Chamber of Commerce Big Business Breakfast at the Kaiser Building.





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The Chamber of Commerce advertised this event with the description: Demand to live and work in Oakland is at an unprecedented high, and with that brings new development and great opportunity for new and existing businesses alike. This language is offensive and laden with greed. said Carroll Fife of The Black Power Network. It dismisses the thousands of Oaklanders who have been pushed out of the city over the last decade to make way for wolves seeking to make a meal of disrupted lives. We, therefore feel it our duty to disrupt the processes that contribute to this feeding frenzy.



Despite growing public concern and desperation, Libby Schaaf has pushed ahead with her plans to develop Oakland, but at what cost?



 Oaklands rents are going up faster than any other city in the nation.



 Every day an average of 33 households are evicted in Oakland. The vast majority of these households are Black and Brown people whose families have lived here for generations. At the same time, Alameda County Superior Court is proposing to move all eviction cases to the Hayward, making it much harder for residents to contest illegal evictions. This is a crisis, not an opportunity for profit.



 Black, Brown and working class people in Oakland are being displaced from economic opportunity, from public space, from the political discourse, from educational opportunity, from their homes and from the communities that they helped build.



Scores of people gathered on Friday to tell the Chamber of Commerce, prospective and current business owners in Oakland, and Libby Schaaf that we need a moratorium on no-cause evictions now.



It is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts that we refused to meet with the mayor. We refused to send two individual representatives to meet with her privately where truths could be spun. Rather, in the spirit of transparency, we invited her to come meet with the group. Mayor Schaaf declined.



The assertion that Schaaf and her housing cabinet have developed a plan to solve the housing crisis, or that strong policies to protect native Oaklanders have been enacted, is also false. In reality, their solutions are the absolute bare minimum, and It is shameful that it took an entire year to do anything at all.



There is no single solution to the housing crisis. Of course, we need new market-rate housing. Of course we need the mainstream solutions that the Mayor is proposing. But that is simply not enough. We need solutions that are rooted in the concrete needs of the community today. And in order for those solutions to be developed authentically, those most impacted by development and gentrification need to be at the tables and in the rooms  and not only if they can afford a $95 price tag.
A promised shuttle bus system that Judge Jacobson said would be in place to help people get to court in Hayward, does not exist, and may not go into effect for one to two years, according to Chad Finke, Court Executive Officer, of the Alameda County Superior Courts. The first eviction court case being transferred from Oakland to Hayward is expected to occur during the week of April 4, according to Chad Finke, Court Executive Officer, of the Alameda County Superior Courts.

Court reorganization plan failed to the consider needs of the poorThere is no shuttle bus system to help people reach court in Hayward as was promisedBy Lynda Carson  March 22, 2016Oakland - When Judge Morris Jacobson and the court system planned for the reorganization of the Alameda County Superior Courts by consolidating the eviction case system, Family Law, and the Self-Help Center to the Hayward court, the concerns of low-income tenants facing eviction in Oakland and Berkeley, were not taken into consideration.Making matters worse, a promised shuttle bus system that Judge Jacobson said would be in place to help people get to court in Hayward, does not exist, and may not go into effect for one to two years, according to Chad Finke, Court Executive Officer, of the Alameda County Superior Courts. The first eviction court case being transferred from Oakland to Hayward is expected to occur during the week of April 4, according to Finke.Judge Jacobson has repeatedly stated publicly that there would be a shuttle bus system to help people using public transportation, and that a shuttle bus would be there at the Hayward BART Station to help people reach the Hayward courthouse.But it turns out that there is no shuttle bus system in place to help the low-income, elderly and disabled tenants of Oakland and Berkeley who are facing eviction to get to the courthouse in Hayward. There is a shuttle bus system in place to help court employees go from BART to the Hayward courthouse, but it cannot be used by the public, according to Finke.We naively thought that this would not be a problem. We were advised by Aki Nakao, Director of the Alameda County General Services Agency, that we cannot mix the public with the employees of the court system on the shuttle bus that goes to the Hayward courthouse. We are caught in a bureaucratic loop. We did not expect to hit a brick wall. We hope the idea of a shuttle bus system is not dead. AC Transit will eventually have more busses going near the Hayward courthouse, but they presently they only run once an hour, and some run once every half an hour. We would like to have a shuttle bus system like the one in Oakland, that travels often on Broadway Street, said Finke.Judge Morris Jacobson did not reply to my email request for an interview for this story.The Eviction System Is A Brutal System That Favors LandlordsThe eviction system is brutal and a terrifying experience for many low-income tenants in Oakland and Berkeley. Once a tenant receives an Unlawful Detainer / 5 Day Summons, commonly referred to as a UD, the tenant has only 5 days to file a response with the court (clerk of the court), or they may lose the eviction case automatically by default.It is a landlord friendly court system that favors the landlords who are evicting their tenants by using lawyers and big money, even if it is an unlawful eviction. Eviction cases are one of the quickest types of court cases there are in the court system in Alameda County, and many tenants cannot afford an attorney to represent them in court to fight against an eviction. Often before the tenant even receives an eviction notice (UD), the landlords are legally allowed to harass the tenants by serving as many 60 Day Notices as they want, before the tenant is eventually served a UD eviction notice. The 60 Day Notice is an advanced notice stating that the landlord wants to evict a tenant.For the tenants who fight against an eviction in court and win, they still end up being blacklisted by the existing brutal system, with a blemish on their credit rating that reveals that the tenant faced an eviction proceeding in court. Landlords often exclude renters from consideration for a rental housing unit when the tenant has an eviction proceeding appearing on their records. The eviction appears on the tenants records for years after an eviction, even when the tenant wins against an unlawful eviction.The whole eviction case system is corrupt and biased in favor of the wealthy landlords and the multi-billion dollar housing industry and real estate industry involved in economic cleansing, and the eviction for profit system.Now comes Judge Morris Jacobson and his scheme to consolidate the eviction case system, by moving it from Oakland to the far reaches of Hayward. And the only consideration that took place was for the court employees and union members who did not want to make a long commute everyday, rather than the needs of the poor, elderly and disabled who are facing eviction in Oakland, and Berkeley.According to sources, some of the employees of the court system resigned because they were in opposition to the court consolidation changes being made by Judge Jacobson, and that allegedly the judge served some memos in an effort to silence or intimidate the employees, and critics of the court consolidation plan.Chad Finke said, I have to sign all resignation notices of the employees, and as far as I know, none of the employees have resigned because they were opposed to the court consolidation plan. People have been saying that they do not want to travel to Hayward daily, if they live in Oakland. There is also a perception in court that management favors staff, and that some people would have to commute while others would not. I have not heard that Judge Jacobson went after any employees who are in opposition to the consolidation plan, and I would be very surprised if the judge sent a memo to the employees in an effort to intimidate or silence them.When I asked Finke if he had any comments about Judge Jacobson being admonished http://tinyurl.com/88fkhuv by the Commission on Judicial Performance http://tinyurl.com/7nxb6g2 , he said that he had no comment.When I asked Finke if Judge Jacobson would reconsider his plan to consolidate the eviction case system in Hayward, and move it to Oakland, he said that would be very unlikely, and the chances of a reorganization plan are very few. We did not hear of any concerns about low-income tenants in Oakland and Berkeley facing eviction until we heard from Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker. By then it was a done deal, and the decision was made with the unions to consolidate the court in Hayward. We had meetings with the Eviction Defense Center, Legal Aid, and the East Bay Community Law Center. We also heard concerns recently from the East Bay Community Law Center about their concerns for the poor being able to make it to court in Hayward, but we did not receive a letter from the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board as was mentioned in the East Bay Express recently. We also wish that we would have heard from the Oakland City Council before they voted to send a letter asking that the eviction case system and the Self-Help Center should be consolidated in Oakland, instead of Hayward, said Finke.On March 15, the full Oakland City Council voted to adopt a resolution urging the Alameda County Superior Court to reconsider its decision to relocate all unlawful detainer actions and the Self-Help Center to Hayward, and instead to locate Oakland unlawful detainers and a Self-Help Center in an Oakland courthouse.On April 5, the Berkeley City Council plans to vote on sending a letter to Judge Jacobson expressing their concerns about problems that seniors, the disabled and the poor would have in trying to reach the Hayward courthouse. The letter mentions a preference for eviction cases (unlawful detainers) to be held in Oakland, instead of Hayward.Our most vulnerable community members in Oakland and Berkeley may be deprived of their most basic constitutional and human rights, if the scheme to consolidate the eviction case system in Hayward is not reversed.The impacts of moving the court services from Oakland to Hayward means that it is a 21.3 mile one way trip for 71,599 Oakland residents living in poverty, just to get to the courthouse if necessary to fight against an eviction. Additionally if necessary, it is a 20.2 mile one way trip for 18,707 Berkeley residents living in poverty, and a 23.3 mile trip for 1,533 residents of Albany living in poverty. This does not account for the long trip back home for the residents of Oakland, Berkeley or Albany, after defending their housing in court from eviction proceedings.According to a letter from Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker to Judge Jacobson, While Oakland has twenty-eight percent (28%) of Alameda County's households, it has a disproportionate percentage of renter households and low-income renter households. Oakland has thirty-six percent (36%) of the renter households in the County- nearly one-third more than Oakland's proportion of all households. In fact fifty-five percent (55%) of all Alameda County renter households live in Oakland and the northern Alameda County cities of Berkeley, Albany, and Alameda. Based on anecdotal information, we also understand that more than one-half of the County's unlawful detainer actions are Oakland-based.We note that all the non-profit providers of legal services to tenants are located in Oakland and Berkeley: Centro Legal de Ia Raza; Bay Legal, Eviction Defense Center, and the East Bay Community Law Center. Requiring these critical service providers to take the additional time to travel to Hayward, rather than make court appearances in Oakland will seriously impair their ability to provide essential services to low-income renters.Further, Oakland and the northern Alameda County cities have the largest population of low income residents. Nearly one-half (46%) of County renter households that earn $25,000 per year or less, are located in Oakland. According to census data sixty percent (60%) percent of Alameda County's residents living in poverty reside in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, and Albany. These residents have the greatest need for self-help services.According to public documents from the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, http://tinyurl.com/zgab8mw , Oakland and Berkeley are at the epicenter of the housing crisis in Alameda County. With roughly 46% of the countys tenants and home to over half the countys individuals in poverty, there are more evictions in Berkeley and Oakland than anywhere else in Alameda County.As the feud over the consolidation of the eviction case system, and the Self-Help Center in Hayward continues, it is a disaster in the making for the poor, elderly, and disabled renters of Oakland and Berkeley who do not have a car, or a shuttle bus system available for them to reach the Hayward courthouse, when fighting against an eviction.Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com
OAKLAND, Calif., March 21, 2016  The National Marine Fisheries Services proposed plan for monitoring humpback whales ignores one of the fastest-growing threats to this iconic species: entanglement in fishing gear. Along the West Coast, a record 31 humpbacks were caught in fishing gear in 2015, according to new federal data.

The draft monitoring plan is required before the Fisheries Service can finalize its proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections from most populations of humpback whales."Humpbacks are recovering, thanks to the power of the Endangered Species Act, but the job isnt done. Entanglement in fishing gear is one of several serious and growing threats these whales face, so its premature to end protections now, said Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. At the very least, this monitoring plan needs to address the rising number of West Coast whale entanglements.The Fisheries Service last year proposed to divide humpbacks into 14 distinct populations and remove Endangered Species Act protections from 10 of them, including one group that migrates and feeds along the West Coast. The Act requires that the federal government implement a system, in cooperation with the states, to monitor delisted species for at least five years. If a decline in the species or an increase in threats is detected, the system is supposed to halt that decline or threat increase. The release of the draft post-delisting humpback monitoring plan signals that the Fisheries Service intends to finalize its proposed rule.Yet the draft plan has no mechanisms for tracking entanglements  other than opportunistic sightings  or for facilitating identification of what type of fishing gear is wrapped around whales, making it difficult to prevent future entanglements. Also, California, where the vast majority of whale entanglements have been reported, is not a collaborator on the monitoring plan. In addition to entanglements, humpback whales in California face increasing threats from climate change, ocean noise and offshore aquaculture.The Fisheries Service is well aware of the West Coast whale entanglement issue and has been working with stakeholder and environmental groups to monitor and address the problem, with a working group issuing recommendations in October calling for better data collection and expansion of lost-gear recovery programs. The latest entanglement data from the agency from 2015 show that the numbers more than doubled the previous record-setting total from 2014. Most whales reported entangled (52 of the 62 reported, 49 of which were confirmed by the agency) suffered an unknown fate, while officials reported that four whales were partially or completely disentangled, four self-released, and two were killed. Dragging heavy fishing gear can injure or kill the whales, depleting their energy or cutting into flesh, which can cause infections or prevent mobility.This is a problem we should solve before we consider relaxing protections for humpback whales, Monsell said. We shouldnt be in a hurry to declare that humpbacks have been saved when so many threats are on the rise.Map by Curt Bradley, Center for Biological Diversity.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 990,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.Center for Biological Diversity
WASHINGTON, March 21, 2016  The eastern migratory population of the monarch butterfly  which includes 99 percent of the worlds monarchs  is at high risk of extinction within two decades unless the population rebounds dramatically, according to a new study published today by Nature Scientific Reports.

The study from the U.S. Geological Survey and other scientists predicts an 11 percent to 57 percent chance of extinction for the monarch migration in the next 20 years. The study reports that well-documented declines in milkweed, the monarch caterpillars only food source, are highly correlated with increased use of herbicide-resistant, genetically engineered corn and soybeans, which now make up about 90 percent of all corn and soy grown in the United States.This new study confirms that GE crops are the driving cause of monarchs precipitous decline, as we have warned for years. Monarchs need protection under the Endangered Species Act or face extinction, said George Kimbrell, senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety.We need to protect monarchs under the Endangered Species Act and increase protections for their summer breeding habitat, or the next generation of children may never see a monarch butterfly, said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.The vast majority of the worlds monarchs are found in the eastern United States and undertake an annual multigenerational migration from Mexico to Canada. A smaller population of around 260,000 butterflies is found west of the Rocky Mountains and overwinters on the California coast. Todays study estimates that the eastern population must increase to at least 225 million butterflies to cut the extinction risk by half. This years population was estimated at 150 million butterflies, though up to half of those may have been killed by a severe winter storm.Earlier this month the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the agencys failure to protect monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act. The two groups and allies formally petitioned the Service in August 2014 to protect the monarch as a threatened species following a 90 percent population decline over the preceding two decades. In December 2014 the Service determined that protection may be warranted, triggering an official review of the butterflys status. The lawsuit requests that the court set a deadline for that decision.The same day the most recent lawsuit was filed, the overwintering colonies in Mexico were struck by a severe winter storm. Scientists are still tallying the damage, but early estimates predict that 30 percent to 50 percent of the overwintering monarchs may have been killed. This could set the population back to the record lows of the previous two years before this years small rebound.Though monarch numbers increased slightly this past year due to favorable weather conditions, the long-term outlook remains bleak, especially in light of the recent storm. Monarchs require a very large population size to be resilient to severe weather events and other threats. A single winter storm in 2002 killed an estimated 500 million monarchs  more than three times the size of the entire current population.Photo: Monarch butterfly. Please Credit the Following: Collette Adkins / Center for Biological DiversityCenter for Food Safety is a nonprofit, public interest organization with over 750,000 members nationwide dedicated to protecting our food, farms, and environment.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 990,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.Center for Biological Diversity
A car displaying a Take Back Santa Cruz sticker was vandalized by TBSC Watcher

Take Back Santa Cruz (TBSC) reported on its Facebook page (March 18) that a car displaying the group's bumper sticker was vandalized. The phrase "Fuck You" was written on the car's rear bumper above a "Take Back Santa Cruz" sticker, and the words on the sticker were crossed out. TBSC says other phrases were written on the car: Nazi, Elitist Bitch, and your parents are guilty of hate crimes. That last phrase was written on the rear passenger side door of the car, which would typically be used for children. TBSC posted one picture of the vandalism on their Facebook page.

Take Back Santa Cruz members are routinely called "Nazis" and "Fascists" and "Bigots" by critics due to the anti-homeless political stance the group has taken. TBSC calls itself a "public safety" group that is "tough on crime", but they mainly advocate for laws that punish low income and homeless people.



Take Back Santa Cruz members have fought to close local beaches at night and recently they got the city council to outlaw RV parking in Santa Cruz at night.



Take Back Santa Cruz members also fought to keep sleeping illegal in Santa Cruz at night and would not agree to help change the camping law, thereby allowing the most fundamental discrimination against homeless people to perpetuate.



Take Back Santa Cruz has been accused of being a hate group and some anecdotal accounts detail how members have gone beyond anti-homeless politics and have taken to intimidation tactics.



A Santa Cruz Sentinel article in 2012 told the story of a woman who said Take Back Santa Cruz posted photos of her vehicle on their Facebook page and made derogatory comments in emails and group newsletters about her.



A Good Times article in 2013 told the story of Frank Smith. Smith says he was stalked and photographed repeatedly by TBSC members and he claims that TBSC members have photographed and posted photos of the RV in which he lives onto the TBSC webpage. Smith said after this happened a man and a woman accosted him in his vehicle and screamed profanities at him, and told him he had to leave town because they paid a lot of money for their house.



In 2013, Steve Schlicht, who was a member of the City of Santa Cruz's Public Safety Task Force and is the director of "marketing communications" and the webdesigner for Take Back Santa Cruz, posted in the TBSC Facebook group he was "fine with junkies dying somewhere else. Outside the county is fine by me."



There have been other anecdotal stories of people calling themselves Take Back Santa Cruz members who have assaulted people they perceived to be homeless and then telling them to get out of town.



In a 2013 Georgia Perry interviewed Take Back Santa Cruz founder Analicia Cube, who admitted she wished they had called TBSC something different and more positive sounding.



Cube has cleaned up her act a bit in recent years, but she used to use very inflammatory language, and she would publicly harass community members and encourage their harassment by other TBSC members. A 2016 Indybay article "Take Back Santa Cruz leader pulls no punches" details some of Cube's negative behavior when the group attacked a man they thought was a criminal but who was later found to be completely innocent. Cube called him a "POS" (piece of shit) and inflamed a full on attack on him.



The erratic, bullying behavior of its members and the group's discriminatory politics has lead to backlash against Take Back Santa Cruz and wide spread animosity within the community.



Following this recent incident of car vandalism, Take Back Santa Cruz is claiming to be the victim and posted this on their Facebook page:



"We find it ironic and very sad that as a group we speak out consistently against criminal, abusive and bullying behavior in our community and yet by doing so we are often vilified and targeted with hate crimes and speech. This disrespect and hate aimed at concerned citizens and families trying to make a safer community is hypocritical and mean spirited and means we all have to work even harder to make Santa Cruz a better and safer community."
OSU Divest Responds to Efforts by Members of Congress to Intervene in Campus Divestment by #OSUDivest

Students at Ohio State University respond to efforts by members of Congress to intervene in campus divestment proceedings.



#OSUDivest writes, "Although you profess an interest in promoting 'lasting peace in the Middle East,' your letters inaccurate and misleading characterizations of the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement suggest quite the opposite. Such a peace can only be achieved when tomorrows leaders are free to debate and discuss the merits of proposals aimed at achieving a just settlement of the Israel-Palestine issue."

OSU Divest Responds to Efforts by Members of Congress to Intervene in Campus Divestment Proceedings



March 23, 2016

The Honorable Patrick J. Tiberi

The Honorable Steve Stivers

The Honorable Joyce Beatty

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515



Dear Representatives:



We write in response to your letter dated March 21, 2016 advising members of the Ohio State University Undergraduate Student Government (USG) to reject a divestment resolution currently pending before the USG general assembly. As organizations representing a broad and diverse constituency of Ohio State students, we are dismayed and profoundly disappointed that you would deem it appropriate to meddle in deliberations regarding an internal University matter.



Although you profess an interest in promoting lasting peace in the Middle East, your letters inaccurate and misleading characterizations of the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement suggest quite the opposite. Such a peace can only be achieved when tomorrows leaders are free to debate and discuss the merits of proposals aimed at achieving a just settlement of the Israel-Palestine issue. Student initiatives urging divestment of university assets from corporations complicit in human rights abuses are just one component of this vigorous and necessary debate.



Rather than promoting constructive dialogue among diverse parties, however, unwarranted and misinformed calls to reject divestment by public officials in positions such as yours do a disservice to students who are attempting to reach their own informed conclusions about divestment. Instead, they only serve to stifle student speech by altering the terms of a conversation that should be left to OSU students.



Resolution 48-R-43, A Resolution to Support the Withdrawal of OSUs Investments in Corporations Complicit in Human Rights Violations, calls for the divestment of University funds from British security firm G4S, Caterpillar Inc., and global information technology company Hewlett-Packard. These corporations have a well-documented track record of aiding and abetting human rights abuses in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories by, for example, supplying bulldozers used to illegally demolish Palestinian homes; maintaining the technical capabilities of checkpoints that limit Palestinians freedom of movement and access to medical care and other critical social services; and providing the infrastructure and services to support the global prison industrial complex, respectively.



As should become abundantly clear to anyone who has read it, this resolution is not intended to isolate Israel nor breed discrimination and hate, but rather to hold OSU accountable for the implications of its business decisions and ensure that its financial investments are not implicated in human rights abuses domestically or abroad. While a fundamental operating premise of the #OSUDivest campaign has always been the necessity of recognizing and critiquing the structural violence of the Israeli occupation, our critique lies also with the three aforementioned corporations and our universitys complicity in those corporations human rights violations.



Furthermore, your rejection of divestment on the grounds that it is unproductive and would create divisions on campus makes a mockery of the higher education experience. By suggesting that students are incapable of grappling with complex and controversial issues in a thoughtful and civilized manner, you rob them of their agency and discount the months of painstaking organizing and intersectional alliance building that our movement was built upon. Let us be clear: the #OSUDivest campaign has, from the very beginning, been a campaign of, for and by OSU students. From holding town hall events to engaging students in conversations through letters to the editor, #OSUDivest has endeavored at all stages to build a transparent and inclusive movement built on the diversity of the unique identities and perspectives of its individual members. That three of Ohios 16 United States Representatives felt the need to personally intervene in a matter before a student government body is an ironic testament to the power of the BDS movement and the movement for Palestinian human rights.



Our campaign is based on the understanding that, as Martin Luther King Jr. famously stated, An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We view divestment as an important step in not only advocating for justice for Palestinians but also creating a more just campus community. As long as our university is complicit in human rights violations abroad, it cannot be truly inclusive and safe for all students. For that reason, we work alongside other student organizations to challenge all forms of oppression and bigotry that exist on campus.



In urging USG representatives to reject divestment, you have subverted the student democratic process and abdicated your responsibility to serve as representatives to all your constituents. We urge you to respect the sovereignty of the USG and to cease your unprecedented infringement of student speech and association on our campus. Sincerely,



#OSUDivest



#OSUDivest is endorsed by the following OSU student organizations: African Youth League, Arab Student Union, Bangladesh Student Association, Buckeye Bhangra, Buckeye Fusion, OSU Coalition for Black Lives, The Committee for Justice in Palestine, FemUNITY, Indian American Association, International Socialist Organization - Columbus Branch, Iranian Cultural Association, Model African Union, Muslim Students Association, Pakistani American Students Association, Peace Corps Club, Project: Educate XX, Say Hi, SHADES, Somali Students



CC: Members of the Ohio State University Undergraduate Student Government Association, Syrian Student Union, Still We Rise, United Students Against Sweatshops, and Urdu Club. The following community organizations have also endorsed #OSUDivest: Jewish Voice for Peace - Central Ohio, and Franklin County Green Party Central Committee.
The opposition to environmentally destructive fracking in California's marine waters is building rapidly. On March 22, over 30 prominent scientists urged the federal government to continue the moratorium on fracking in federal waters off the California coast and to prepare a comprehensive environmental impact statement for the controversial oil-industry technique.

Scientists Urge Feds to Continue Fracking Moratorium off CA Coastby Dan BacherAs oil companies were fracking off the Southern California Coast, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to created so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California from 2009 to 2012. ( http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp In one of the biggest environmental conflicts of interest in California history, Reheis-Boyd led a process that created faux "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil spills, offshore oil drilling, pollution, corporate aquaculture, military testing and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering. At the same time that Reheis-Boyd was leading the campaign to expand fracking and offshore drilling in California, state officials and MLPA Initiative advocates praised the process that she oversaw as "open, transparent and inclusive" when it was anything but.The "marine protected areas" created under the leadership of Reheis-Boyd and other corporate operatives not only fail to protect the ocean, but they are based on incomplete and terminally flawed science and violate the traditional gathering and fishing rights of the Yurok Tribe and other North Coast Tribes. The Brown administration "completed" the "network" of flawed "marine protected areas" on December 19, 2012, when the North Coast MPAs went into effect. ( https://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative/ The suspicions of Tribal leaders, fishermen and grassroots environmentalists that there was something very "fishy" about the failure of the oil lobbyist-overseen MLPA Initiative to protect the ocean from oil drilling and pollution were confirmed in the summer of 2013 when an Associated Press and Freedom of Information Act investigation revealed that oil companies had fracked at least 200 wells in state and federal waters off Long Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and in the wildlife-rich Santa Barbara Channel."Hey, nobody is happier than I am about the MPA network off our coast, and nobody wants to see them succeed more either," said Joey Racano, Director of the Ocean Outfall Group, in December 2013 in a comment on the North Coast Journal website. "But there are fatal flaws."As Chair of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Panel during the final important phase (implementation), Catherine Reheis-Boyd absolutely must have known offshore fracking was going on with no public knowledge or input. As President of the Western States Petroleum Association, it isn't possible that she didn't know. So she steered the MLPA process clear of the subject, and now we have a grave threat to all State Marine Reserves," said Racano. ( http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/joey-racano/Profile?oid=2449818 Since the extent of offshore fracking in federal waters has been revealed, representatives of fishing groups, indigenous organizations and environmental groups have pushed for a fracking ban on the California coast.However, the Obama administration, like the oil industry-captured Jerry Brown administration, has supported the expansion of fracking and other extreme oil drilling techniques in California. In February, the federal government released a draft proposal to lift the offshore fracking moratorium, which had been put in place under a legal settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity and Environmental Defense Center."Interiors preliminary environmental assessment proposes allowing oil companies to frack and discharge their wastewater  including toxic fracking chemicals  into the ocean," according to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity.The opposition to environmentally destructive fracking in California's marine waters is building rapidly. On March 22, over 30 prominent scientists urged the federal government to continue the moratorium on fracking in federal waters off the California coast and to prepare a comprehensive environmental impact statement for the controversial oil-industry technique.The letter, signed by ocean and climate scientists including Drs. Sylvia Earle, Carl Safina, Michael Mann and risk assessment engineer Dr. Robert Bea, counsels the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to consider the documented risks of hydraulic fracturing and significant data gaps on offshore well stimulation. ( http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/offshore_fracking/pdfs/16_03_22_Offshore_fracking_scientist_sign-on_letter.pdf "We write as scientists to urge you to conduct a comprehensive environmental review of the risks of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), acidizing, and other well-stimulation techniques off the California coast," the scientists wrote. "We strongly advise you to continue the current moratorium on offshore well stimulation in California until a comprehensive review and scientific studies demonstrate that fracking and acidizing do not threaten wildlife, the marine environment, coastal communities, and the climate.""Scientific studies have documented that fracking and acidizing pose a wide range of risks to human communities and ecosystems. Documented threats include air and water pollution from toxic and carcinogenic chemicals used during well stimulation, climate disruption particularlydue to methane leakage, increased earthquake risks, and significant harms to species and ecosystems from habitat loss and degradation, pollution, habitat avoidance, and human disturbance," they said.In another letter sent yesterday to the Department of the Interior, 128 health, environmental, indigenous, labor and business organizations urged the federal government to ban offshore fracking. ( http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/offshore_fracking/pdfs/NGO_letter_re_offshore_fracking_2016_.pdf Given the known environmental and health hazards of fracking, as well as the information gaps of offshore fracking, we ask you to prohibit oil companies from fracking and acidizing wells off the California coast, the letter states.The letter is signed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Food and Water Watch, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Information Center, (EPIC), Flycasters, Inc. of San Jose, CA, Idle No More SF Bay, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations, the Surfrider Foundation, League of United Latin American Citizens, Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, and Environmental Caucus, California Democratic Party, among many others.The letter explains the three major ways that offshore fracking causes environmental harm:"First, oil companies dump their wastewater mixed with fracking chemicals into the ocean. Many of these chemicals are toxic to people and animals and pose a threat to Californias marine life.Second, offshore fracking brings the same risks as onshore fracking - which has a bad track record of spills, accidents and earthquakes - with the added risks of the ocean environment.Third, fracking off the California coast will intensify offshore oil and gas development. Increased offshore drilling deepens our climate crisis and impedes our nations ability to limit global warming to 1.5C."The letters come just before the March 23 end of the public-comment period on the proposal to resume offshore fracking. After the close of comments the government could resume permitting offshore fracking for oil and gas off the California coast "at any time," according to the Center for Biological Diversity.Offshore fracking, an environmentally devastating oil extraction technique that threatens fish, marine mammals, invertebrates and the entire marine ecosystem, blasts vast volumes of water mixed with toxic chemicals beneath the seafloor, at pressures high enough to fracture rocks. It is about time that both the Obama and Brown administrations support a permanent ban on fracking off the California coast.At the same time, it is important that we pressure the Brown administration to fully enforce the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999. That means protecting California's "marine protected areas" from pollution, oil spills, corporate aquaculture, military testing and other human impacts to the ocean besides fishing and gathering.The oil and gas industry is the most powerful corporate lobby in California and the West. Big Oil spent a record $22 million to lobby state officials in 2015 - and the Western State Petroleum Association spent the most, a record $11 million. The massive gusher of money ensured that no bills opposed by the industry made it out of the Legislature. ( http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/02/11/california-oil-lobby-spent-a-record-22-million-in-2015 In related news, a new study in the Journal of Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry reveals that oil companies use dozens of extremely hazardous chemicals to acidize wells in California, raising water contamination and public-safety concerns, ( https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/03/22/18784399.php
IWU to Host Ousmane Sembene Film Festival

Ousmane Sembene has been called "the father of African film." All films will be shown in Beckman Auditorium, The Ames Library Film Time Date Faat Kine 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 29 Mandabi (The Money Order) 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 30 Sembene! 4 p.m. Thursday, March 31

March 21, 2016

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. A film festival highlighting the work of African filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, including a documentary selected for the Sundance Film Festival, will be held March 29-31 at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Born in 1923 in Senegal, Sembene has often been called the father of African film. A fifth-grade dropout, Sembene was a self-taught novelist before he realized films would reach wider African audiences. Over a nearly 40-year film career, Sembene tackled recurring themes of the history of colonialism, the failings of religion, critique of the new African bourgeoisie, and the strength of African women. His final film, the 2004 feature Moolaade, explored the subject of female genital mutilation and won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Sembene died in 2007.

The filmmaker is the subject of the documentary Sembene! , which was screened in 2015 at the Sundance, Telluride and Cannes film festivals. Sembene! is told through the experiences of the man who knew him best: his biographer Samba Gadjigo, who co-wrote, co-directed and co-produced the documentary.

Sembene! will be screened March 31 at 4 p.m. at Illinois Wesleyan. Gadjigo, who is also a professor of African studies and French at Mount Holyoke College, will lead a discussion of the film at its conclusion. In a review of Sembene!, The Hollywood Reporter called it a welcome spotlight on the legendary Senegalese director.

Director Samba Gadjigo will discuss his documentary, Sembene!

Sembene films to be shown at IWU include Faat Kine on March 29 and Mandabi (The Money Order) on March 30. A 1968 film exploring themes of neocolonialism, religion, corruption and relationships to Senegalese society, Mandabi will be shown March 30 at 4 p.m.

Sembenes film Faat Kine, set in the present day, provides a critical look at modern, post-colonial Senegal and the place of women in that society and will be shown March 29 at 7 p.m. All screenings will take place in The Ames Librarys Beckman Auditorium, and are free and open to the public.

The Sembene Film Festival is sponsored by Illinois Wesleyans Center for Human Rights and Social Justice with the assistance of a Re-Centering the Humanities Mellon Foundation grant.
Tracy Watkins writes:

National has a nickname for Labour leader Andrew Little. Angry Andy. They taunt him with it in Parliament. They reckon its Littles achilles heel, that he can come across to the punters as perpetually angry. No wonder Labour was happy the day Littles cat Buddy photo-bombed him. No man with a cat called Buddy .can be angry all the time, right? But maybe the Nats angry Andymeme is just a cunning case of reverse psychology. Because angry politics seems to be working just fine for Americas Donald Trump, and its angry septuagenarian Bernie Sanders.

Thats because most Americans are unhappy with the direction of their country. For more than a decade only around 30% of Americans say their country is heading in the right direction. By contrast, in NZ, around 60% of NZers say they think the country is heading in the right direction.

So why isnt angry working for Little? Labour is stuck in the poll doldrums and looking increasingly adrift as a frustrated Little clutches at a grab bag of soundbites and tries to give them a unifying theme.

They have no discipline and strategy. After years of bagging dairy farmers, they seize on low milk prices and demand the Government force banks to write off loans to diary farmers. They need to choose three issues and focus on them relentlessly. However almost every day they chase the issue of the week.

Because its all looking increasingly desperate and on the hoof. In the same week that Little opined against importing ethnic chefs, he and his finance spokesman laid out the case for bailing out battling dairy farmers, not a group thats traditionally sparked sympathy for being trapped on the wrong side of the inequality divide. Square pegs and nothing but round holes for as far as the eye can see.

Desperate is a good word for it.

Its not just the punters who are confused. Littles MPs are less and less inclined to hide their bafflement at whats coming out of the third floor leaders office or  more to the point  whats coming out of the leaders mouth. This is a dangerous time for Little. The success of his leadership so far has been in unifying a fractious and divided caucus. But the traditional fault lines are starting to reassert themselves.

This is significant. Little had no internal criticism for the first 15 months, but his MPs are getting sick of the lack of direction.

Likewise the unease over targeting Asian house purchasers. Labour used to have a stranglehold on the ethnic vote. No more. National Party rallies  once the the domain of the blue rinse set and farmers  are now glitzy affairs where Asian faces clearly outnumber the blue-rinse brigade.

They like a party that doesnt target people on their surnames.

If Littles foray into the immigration debate had been a populist attempt to muscle in on traditional NZ First territory it might have been excused as part of a broader  if cynical  plan. But Littles desperate attempts to hose down the ethnic chefs debacle make a nonsense even of that idea. The Labour base went into meltdown. Twitter exploded, the activists were in a fury and Little was left defending himself with the usual figleaf that his quotes were taken out of context.

Having to do a secret blog post to your own members is never a good look.

Unlike the US, meanwhile, we are blessed with a political system that works. Which is not to say middle New Zealand is not capable of getting angry again. But Little wont find that anger by floundering around looking for opportunist itches to scratch.

Its desperate politics. Again they need to choose three issues and stick with them for not one day, one week or even one month, but three years.

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Tulare County, CA Retired service personnel have experience with giving their all in the line of duty, and sometimes experiencing horrific physical or emotional trauma after the fact. However, rather than easing a veterans effort when it comes to filing a claim for Retired service personnel have experience with giving their all in the line of duty, and sometimes experiencing horrific physical or emotional trauma after the fact. However, rather than easing a veterans effort when it comes to filing a claim for VA benefits , the Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) appears to require, once again, the complete attention and commitment of the veteran in order to win the battle against the denial of benefits.

When a claim is denied, it is usually because the veteran is missing one of these important pillars that form the basis for any service-connected disability claim, Cruickshank writes.

This, according to a columnist for thein California (3/19/16), himself a retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer and currently the Veterans Services Officer for Tulare County. Ken Cruickshank helps veterans with their claims for VA disability benefits and pens a regular column on the subject.It appears that applying for veteran benefits can be likened to a full-time job, with the requirement to dot all the is and cross all the ts lest you are left spinning in a veteran affairs purgatory.Cruickshank writes that most VA disability denials are due to a missing element in the claims application that establishes the veterans service connection. He notes in thethat those pillars include medical evidence of a current, chronic (continuous) disability; evidence of having suffered a disease, injury or event while engaged in active service; and evidence that links these two items together.Were the claimant to disagree with the denial, based on the applicants view that the application is complete, it appears as if the applicant can continue to disagree until the cows come home. Cruickshank writes that unless the VA is satisfied that all the so-called pillars of evidence in an application are complete, the VA will systematically deny the VA disability claim.Cruickshank notes, however, that there is effective protocol to follow should a VA benefits application come back stamped benefits denied. A letter of disagreement must be forwarded to the veterans local regional VA office within one year of receiving the denial (based on the date on the letter itself - if the letter took six months to get to the applicant, for example, then the applicant has six months to respond). The letter from the claimant disagreeing with the denial must include the name of the claimant, the date of the decision by the VA that is at issue, and the claimants signature. If any of these are missing or done improperly, they could come back and delay the process even further.Following that, Cruickshank writes, there are two avenues the veteran can take: the traditional appeals process or one that involves a Decision Review Officer (DRO).Cruickshank recommends the DRO process, which sees DROs based at regional VA offices conducting a review of all the available evidence of record, as well as any new evidence that may be available, and will render a new decision in your claim for service connection.In the event that you disagree with the decision made by the DRO, you can use the traditional appeal process, Cruickshank writes.He notes that a veteran having a claim stamped VA disability denied cant undertake that process in reverse: the DRO process can only be triggered before the traditional appeals process, not the other way around. If the traditional appeals process proves unsuccessful for the veteran, the claimant no longer has the option of appealing with help from a DRO.Little wonder deserving veterans, having been emotionally or physically injured while serving their country and quickly exhausting their options, either give up entirely or file a VA lawsuit, and let their lawyers handle it. To Cruickshanks credit, getting such important information out to the public and available in an effort to educate the veteran is welcome help for tired and deserving service personnel in need.
- Governor Nasir el-Rufai has sent a bill to the Kaduna state House of Assembly to regulate religious preaching in the state

- The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, (PFN) has protested against the bill, describing it as anti-Christian

- The bill aims to protect the state from religious extremism and hate speech

Governor of Kaduna state Nasir El-Rufai

Ever since the announcement of a proposed bill by the Kaduna state government to make illegal and regulate certain religious activities in the state, citizens across the nation have condemned the bill, with many describing it as obnoxious.

The bill, currently before the Kaduna state House of Assembly, has also drawn the anger of religious bodies and religious leaders within the state.

Barnabas Bala, the deputy governor of Kaduna state, said the bill aims to protect the state from religious extremism and hate speech.

According to him, the Kaduna state government is always committed to ensuring that religion can be practiced in a safe and secure climate.

Here are five you need to know about the bill, which is titled A Bill For A Law To Substitute The Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law, 1984.

READ ALSO: Kaduna govt explains reasons for preaching bill

1) The bill was first passed in 1984

The Kaduna state religious bill was first passed into law in 1984 and was then known as the Kaduna State Regulation of Religious Preaching Edict No 7 of 1984. It was however, amended in 1987.

To some extent, the law has remained irrelevant as it wasnt enforced. The bill proposed by El-Rufai is seeking to repeal the 1984 law and replace it with an updated version.

It is important to note that Kaduna has been rocked by several religious crises, which have led to several deaths. The introduction of the bill in the 1980s was intended to stop the scourge of violence stemming from religion in the state.

2) The bill isnt targeted at any group or religious body

Both the Islamic and Christian bodies in Kaduna state have protested against the bill, which has been described as unfair.

According to the bill: The two major religions in the state shall be regulated by the following bodies:

(a) a committee of the Jamaatu Nasril Islam with equal representation of Izala and Darika religious groups in the case of Muslims, and

(b) A committee set up by the Christian Association of Nigeria, in the case of Christians

(c) An inter-faith Ministerial Committee to be appointed by the Governor.

Not only does the bill make provision for equal representation, it states the same punishment for individuals who violate the law, regardless of religious affiliation.

3) Religious preachers in the state must be licenced before they can preach in the state:

All religious preachers, including visiting preachers, must obtain a licence before they can preach in the state. Furthermore, the licence must be renewed each year.

The proposed law reads: The religious bodies established under Section 4 (a) & (b) of this Law shall issue licences approved by the Ministerial Committee

(i) The licence shall be issued for a period not exceeding one year.

(ii) A sponsored external preacher shall be issued a permit for the period of the event.

READ ALSO: Churches warn against Kaduna religious bill

4) Playing of cassettes in public places was barred by the bill, while playing of inciting media messages was also prohibited in the state.

All cassettes, CDs, flash drives or any other communication gadgets containing religious recordings from accredited preachers may be played in the following places only: inside ones house, entrance porch (Zaure), church, mosque, and any other designated place of worship.

5) Any individual who violates the proposed bill shall be:

Liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine of N200,000 or both and have his licence revoked.

Source: Legit.ng
Egypt's charges d'affaires said that the Egyptians asked for help from the Egyptian diplomatic delegation in Damascus due to difficult conditions in Syria

Egypt's charges d'affaires in Syria Mohamed Selim said the Egyptian delegation, in coordination with the international organisation for migration (IOM), returned seven Egyptians to their home country from Damascus late Tuesday.

Selim said in a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry that the Egyptians asked for the help of the Egyptian delegation due to the difficult conditions in Syria.

Selim also said that the Egyptians were working in rural areas of Damascus that have been greatly impacted by the ongoing war.

This is known to be the second group of Egyptians that has been repatriated from the Syrian city according to the Egyptian FM statement.

The first group, which comprised 14 Egyptians, were all brought back home on 19 February, 2016.

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A pair of Palestinian clowns is offering some laughs and relief to children with chronic illnesses at pediatric wards in hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

With no circus or fair in Gaza to offer employment, Majed Kaloub and Alaa Miqdad began reaching out to kids in kindergartens and schools. Now, thanks to the aid of CISS, an Italian non-profit organization, they have found a niche for their work in hospitals, bringing some much needed cheer to sick children.

Neither is formally trained in medical clowning, a profession popularized by American doctor Patch Adams and in which Israel's University of Haifa offers a bachelor's degree, but their goal is the same  to raise the spirit of young patients in an already sad part of the world.

"The clown is a supporting tool for the medical doctor," said Kaloub, 24. "As much as we can, we try to let the child respond to us to reach his heart."

For Miqdad, a 33-year-old dwarf, the experience has been far more personal. When he was younger, he said he was bullied and teased and for a long time after that, he resisted children.

"The children are all my life now. I do most of the work with them," he said.

Both started clowning in hospitals in 2014. That summer, they worked with children traumatized by incessant airstrikes during a deadly 50-war with Israel. They performed in damaged neighborhoods and temporary shelters. The experience inspired the clowns to take their act to hospitals where there were children with chronic illnesses.

Hardships remain in the Gaza Strip, an isolated coastal Palestinian territory ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas group and operating under a joint blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt. According to UNICEF, some 300,000 of its 1.8 million residents are in need of emotional and psychological support.

The clowns typically visit three medical centers a week. On a recent visit to al-Rantisi hospital, children jumped from their parents' laps to greet Miqdad, even before he put on his clown costume.

In a tiny locker room, Kaloub and Miqdad put on colorful loose outfits over their casual street clothes and applied makeup and a red clown's nose. Miqdad put on a bright Mohawk wig. They then set off giggles with dancing, magic tricks and bubble-blowing.

"They are beautiful," said Mohammed al-Baz, 11, who suffers from a disorder of the brain that can cause epileptic seizures. "They make me laugh every time I come here."

In the artificial kidney ward, some kids who were hooked up to dialysis machines nearly jumped out of their beds to grab bubbles. Mohammed Shawaf said his three-year-old daughter asks for the clowns even when she is back home from the hospital.

Yousef Al-Muqayyad, a doctor at al-Rantisi, said the clowns help the staff connect with the young patients. The clowns "break the barrier of fear of the white coat," he said. "When they would see the white (coat), the children used to scream."

It's easy to get attached to the children and the work has taken its toll on both clowns, said Kaloub, adding that they have needed psychological support.

"One of the greatest difficulties is that most of the children we see die after we cherish them," he said. "If we despair, we won't continue our work."

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Following the new reshuffle on Wednesday, questions still loom over the future performance of PM Sherif Ismail's cabinet

Ten new Egyptian ministers were sworn in by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday as part of a reshuffle that included the ministers of investment, finance, tourism, irrigation, civil aviation, justice, manpower, antiquities and transportation, with a new business sector ministry set up.

"When there is a stable government that operates normally, things will always go well," El-Sisi said last month in a public speech.

"I meet with the cabinet members on a daily basis and I can decide whether they are good or not, but believe me, if anything needs to be restructured we will do that," he added.

A few weeks following the speech, local media outlets started publishing reports over an expected minimum cabinet reshuffle before it was officially confirmed by Prime Minster Sherif Ismail on Monday.

Although incidents of police violations against doctors and ordinary citizens stirred public anger, interior minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar kept his post.

Health minister Ahmed Emad El-Din also kept his post despite rejecting to implement some suggestions made by the Doctors Syndicate in the wake of police violations and other demands to improve the medical service.

Ismail's cabinet is still facing several challenges including the rise of the US dollar exchange rate in front of the Egyptian pound, which caused a hike in prices of commodities and affected the industrial and importing process.

Akram El-Alfy, a political researcher, says that the problem with Ismail's cabinet and the majority of the governments that took control after the 25 January uprising is that most ministers were from technocratic backgrounds with no political experience or perspective.

"The main reason behind the reshuffle is not only related to the performance of some ministries, but the public anger with the current economic situation and some frustrating media statements made by officials," El-Alfy told Ahram Online.

"Also bear in mind that the presidency takes into consideration the reports issued by security and the monitoring bodies over the cabinet members while evaluating their performance," El-Alfy said.

"At the end of the day, though, you cannot only depend on the aforementioned factors while evaluating the performance of any official, as I believe the main standard here is whether this official is performing in a way that reflects a political vision and a social perspective," he explained.

The cabinet's performance assessment as well as the awaited policy statement, which includes the cabinet's strategic policies in managing the state, are to be delivered by the prime minister to the parliament on Sunday.

Formed in September 2015, Ismail's cabinet included 16 new ministers who replaced those of the cabinet of former prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab.

Ismail's changes mainly focused on economic and public service-related ministries.

El-Alfy sees that the timing of the reshuffle is not, as some have suggested, an attempt to circumvent parliamentary oversight of the cabinet, and therefore is not related to the government's announced date of 27 March to deliver its policy statement to the House.

"I dont think the parliament will collide with the presidency's will and the policy statement will be passed, even if there were some outspoken rejections over it, as I believe that eventually the fate of this cabinet will be decided by the president," he explained.

Echoing El-Alfy's argument, MP Haitham Abul-Ezz Hariri told daily independent newspaper Al-Shorouk on Monday that the president gave the cabinet a form of "preemptive confidence, and thus the MPs could not reject a cabinet that the president needs."

According to the constitution, the parliament has to ratify the policy statement within 30 days of its submission. If it does not win a majority vote by MPs, the party or the coalition with the largest parliamentary bloc must name a new prime minister.

Economist Wael Gamal says the policy statement will tackle some austerity measures that are sponsored by the presidency and the cabinet, as there is a real shift towards downsizing the public expenditures.

"The current cabinet is convinced of those measures and will implement them," Gamal told Ahram Online. "Even the new ministers are convinced of the austerity measurements."

"The reshuffle will not change in any way the main policy the state is shifting towards," he said.

Gamal added that he believes some of the ministers are inefficient in their posts.

"Look at Ismail's cabinet. They are all technocrats but some of them come from the banking or the financial sector, such as the ministers of finance and international cooperation," he said.

"Why? In order to satisfy businessmen, investors and the public sector regardless of the ministers' efficiency or whether they are the right candidates for their posts."

However, PM Ismail defended the cabinet's policy in press statements after the ministers' swearing-in on Wednesday, saying that they are tasked with "reducing the budget deficit as well as the development of the taxes and customs system."

Egypt's presidency also announced its full of support of the new ministers, saying in a statement on Wednesday that the ministers can "carry out the tasks they are asked to do."

However, Said Sadiq, a political sociology professor, said that the fact that the majority of the ministers chosen by the regime are not trained politically to speak publicly will always cause problems.

"Why was justice minister Ahmed El-Zend sacked last week? Because of a public uproar over media statements he made," Sadiq told Ahram Online.

"This affected the president's image and forced the PM to sack the minster," he said.

"The thing is that the cabinet always operates in a reactionary way, not proactively, and this will not be helpful in either the short or the long terms, as we need to have an elaborated strategy to combat much more sensitive issues such as corruption, terrorism and social development."

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A Cairo court ordered Tuesday the release of a teenager who was arrested in 2014, allegedly for wearing a shirt denouncing torture, on EGP 1,000 bail (approximately $112) pending investigation, his lawyer said.

The order came hours after Mahmoud Mohamed Hussein's case was reportedly brought up at a meeting between Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and a group of prominent intellectuals who called on the Egyptian president to instigate his release.

Hussein, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested on 25 January 2014 as he was on his way home from a demonstration commemorating Egypt's 2011 revolution.

He was detained at a checkpoint in northern Cairo while wearing a T-shirt that read "A nation without torture," presumably in reference to reported police abuses.

Many critics, including his family and lawyer, believe he was arrested because of the slogan emblazoned on his T-shirt.

Hussein, who has not been tried, is facing charges of illegal protesting, possessing Molotov cocktails and "belonging to a terrorist organisation."

His detention has sparked widespread condemnation from political activists and human rights advocates, with Amnesty International launching a petition in late 2015 calling for his release.

Egyptian law allows pre-trial detention to last up to two years.

Correction: It was initially reported that Egyptian authorities had released the defendant. He is still behind bars as the order has not yet been executed.

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- Two commanders of Boko Haram have been apprehended by the police in Taraba state

- The two top officials of the Jihadist group have been handed to the Military in Yobe state

- More cooperation is required from the general public says the police

Taraba state poolice command has confirmed the arrest of two wanted Boko Haram commanders in the state.

One of the commanders, Ali Audu, was arrested in Tella, Gassol Local Government Area (LGA) while the other, Abdulmumini Abdullahi, was nabbed in Bali LGA.

NAN reports that the commissioner of police, Shaba Alkali, made the announcement on Wednesday in Jalingo at a press conference.

He said the two men had been handed over to the military in Yobe state. We have arrested two confirmed Boko Haram commanders in Gassol and Bali Local Government Areas of the state.

Police in Taraba state has confirmed the arrest of two wanted Boko Haram commanders. The command says the jihadist have been handed over to the Military in Yobe state.

READ ALSO: Exposed: Al Qaeda plans massive attacks on Lagos, Abuja

The command has since handed over the two kingpins, Ali Audu, alias Dungu and Abdulmumini Abdullahi from Yadi Burni in Yobe to the military base in Yobe, he said.

Mr Alkali said Audu was arrested on February 22 in Tella and transferred to Yobe the following day, while Abdullahi was arrested in Bali on March 5 and transferred to Yobe military base on Monday, March 7.

The police commissioner also confirmed the death of seven persons in the ongoing communal crisis in Ibi Local government Area of the state. He vowed to deal with the perpetrators and their sponsors no matter how highly placed they might be.

He said the command had already deployed enough men to contain the situation and restore normalcy to the area.

Mr Alkali appealed to the public to feel free to provide the command with timely information to enable it tackle crime in the state.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has made new moves to further destroying the potency of Boko Haram terrorists.

According to NAN, the president has approved the establishment of a naval command post in the Lake Chad region.

The director of Naval information, Chris Ezekobe, is quoted as saying: There is a presidential directive to set up a command post in the Lake Chad Region and that is ongoing.

Source: Legit.ng
Thank you for reading The Cascadia Advocate, the Northwest Progressive Institutes journal of world, national, and local politics.

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Help us keep The Cascadia Advocate editorially independent and freely available to all by becoming a member of the Northwest Progressive Institute today. Or make a donation to sustain our essential research and advocacy journalism.

Your contribution will allow us to continue bringing you features like Last Week In Congress, live coverage of events like Netroots Nation or the Democratic National Convention, and reviews of books and documentary films.

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GBI AG in cooperation with the investor DG Steinplatz 4 GmbH is to build a hotel, branded Smartments Business, with 35 serviced apartments in Berlin City West. The Hotel Astoria, which was previously located on this site Fasanenstrasse 2, was closed at the end of 2014. The old building, which

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Moscow has requested that Egypt agree to permanent presence of Russian security experts at its airports to ensure safety before resumption of flights between the two countries

Russian minister of transportation Maksim Sokolov announced his country's request that Russian experts be permanently employed at Egypt's airports to monitor security procedures following any return of flights between Egypt and Russia, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.

Sokolov revealed to TV channel Russia-24 on Monday that there are preparations for talks with Egypt's aviation authorities about this request.

He added that Russian officials are awaiting approval of their demands by their Egyptian counterparts.

The prospective deployment of Russian experts at Egyptian airports would follow a decision by "Russia's political leadership" to resume flights between the two countries, according to Sputnik.

Following the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt's central Sinai on 31 October, which killed all 224 on board, Russia suspended flights to Egypt due to concerns about the country's airport security.

Last week, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry announced that the two countries would make joint efforts to resume direct flights between Russia and Egypt as soon as possible.

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Commerz Real has concluded a large-scale rental for Japan Center (Taunustor 2) in Frankfurt am Main which is part of the portfolio of its open real estate fund, hausInvest. Last Friday the company signed a contract with the European Central Bank (ECB) to extend the existing rental agreement for an

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With Hamborner REIT AG already having reported it's 2015 financial year with the publication of its provisional figures on 2 February 2016, the key figures can now be confirmed without exception with today's publication of the annual report. Income from rents and leases amounted to 52.4 million in 2015 and

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At the 27th MIPIM the representatives of the real estate industry and investors expressed careful optimism about the state of the global market. Even though there are differences in regions and investment areas, the big picture for 2016 is positive. The necessity for international property investors to also expand their

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SsangYongs upcoming Korando EV sports a 61.5kWh battery pack from LG Chem

Last year, Mahindra-owned SsangYong Motors announced that its first pure electric vehicle will be introduced in 2021. A recent spotting of a partially disguised SsangYong Korando prototype suggests that the South Korean UV specialist is on track with its EV launch plans.

While there are no obvious visual clues regarding the prototypes powertrain, the timing strongly points towards an electric variant. The latest-generation Korando with fresh styling and vast improvements made its world premiere at Geneva Motor Show 2019 (2020 edition was cancelled). It is set to become the brands first EV.

The front and rear fascias of the vehicle are under heavy disguise, suggesting that the electric variant will receive specific styling revisions. We can expect a new grille and bumper design at the front with a futuristic touch while the rear fascia is expected to feature minor revisions. The SsangYong Korando EVs interiors could sport several variant-specific features, trims and colour themes.

Likely to be called SsangYong Korando E100, the electric crossover will be powered by a 188hp (140kW) electric motor coupled to a 61.5kWh battery pack developed by LG Chem. To be part of Mahindras MESMA EV architecture which was showcased at Auto Expo 2020, the Korando E100s electric powertrain is claimed to have a range of over 400km as per NEDC.

With more output than its IC-engined sibling, the SsangYong Korando E100 EV is expected to be significantly quicker. In fact, the automaker says that its upcoming electric crossover will have class-leading acceleration. The top speed is estimated to be around 150kmph. The Korando EV would have Europe and South Korea as its primary markets. The company would be working on more electric models in the foreseeable future. The popular Tivoli compact crossover is likely to receive the EV treatment as well.

Speaking of Tivoli, its Indian cousin, the Mahindra XUV300 is all set to receive a pure electric powertrain. The eXUV300 or XUV300 Electric is slated to be introduced sometime in mid-2021 but the launch timeline may get extended by a few months due to the challenges posed by COVID-19. The sub-four-metre compact electric crossover will be pitted directly against the Tata Nexon EV.

The SsangYong Korando E100 currently doesnt have a direct rival in the European market. The smaller Hyundai Kona EV and Kia e-Niro can be considered as compelling alternatives. With Europe ready to embrace stricter CO2 norms, having the Korando electric is imperative for Ssangyong.
Indias reputation for being a major two wheeler market is such that everytime a new two wheeler is introduced, theres a buyer segment that laps it up enthusiastically. The dynamics change even more positively when theres a special element to it. The Bajaj V is that, and much more.

The Indian Navy is on a multi-city Bajaj V Invincible Ride to motivate and encourage youth to join the Navy. Naval personnel are using a fleet of 15 Bajaj V Bikes to undertake a Motorbike cum Trekking Expedition across Maharashtra. The ride also encourages conserve water and Go green ideas.

Riding begins today on World Martyrs Day (23rd March 2016). The road trip covers 23 Forts of Chattrapati Shivaji. Enroute, Navy personnel will interact with youth from schools and colleges, and educate them about the Indian Navy.

Rear Admiral S N Ghormade, Nausena Medal (Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area) is enthusiastic about the navys proposed interaction with Indian youth to join the Navy. He views Bajaj V as an ideal vehicle for the initiative carrying invincible metal of the INS Vikrant. And yes, V also stands for victory.

Sumeet Narang, Vice President (Marketing) says bajaj is glad to partner with the Indian Navy for the Invincible Ride initiative, which was flagged off from Kohli Stadium at Navy Nagar Colaba by Chief Guest, Vice-Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Staff Western Naval Command.

Bajaj V is powered by a 150 cc DTS-i engine and generates torque of 13 Nm at 5500 RPM, and power of 12 PS power at 7500 rpm. With a promise of proud riding experience, deliveries today mark the significance of Martyrs Day. Toda, Bajaj Auto will deliver over 10,000 units of Bajaj V across India. Bajaj V is available in two colours, Ebony Black and Pearl White.

Bajaj V15  City-wise Prices

Delhi  INR 61,999

Mumbai  INR 62,820

Chennai  INR 63,682

Kolkata  INR 65,495

[Note: All are ex-showroom prices.]

Bajaj V15  Photos
Last December, officials representing more than 190 countries met in Paris to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The historic outcome from that conference was the "Paris Agreement" in which each country agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above temperatures seen near the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 1850s. Such a level was considered acceptable, or "safe," by all participating countries, but the goal is unrealistic and almost impossible to achieve, according to a new study by two Texas A&M University at Galveston researchers.

Glenn Jones (professor of marine sciences) and Kevin Warner (Ph.D. candidate in marine biology), have had their paper published in the international journal Energy Policy.

The Texas A&M researchers modelled the projected growth in global population and per capita energy consumption, as well as the size of known reserves of oil, coal and natural gas, and greenhouse gas emissions to determine just how difficult it will be to achieve the less-than-2 degree Celsius warming goal.

"It would require rates of change in our energy infrastructure and energy mix that have never happened in world history and that are extremely unlikely to be achieved," explains Jones.

The Paris Agreement's overall goal is to replace fossil fuels, which emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which in turn leads to higher temperatures, with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power and biofuels.

"Just considering wind power, we found that it would take an annual installation of 485,000 5-megawatt wind turbines by 2028. The equivalent of about 13,000 were installed in 2015. That's a 37-fold increase in the annual installation rate in only 13 years to achieve just the wind power goal," adds Jones.

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Similar expansion rates are needed for other renewable energy sources.

Recent statistics show that the month of February 2016 was the warmest February ever, while 2015 was also the warmest year since records have been kept.

Jones and Warner point out that every hour of every day:

 3.7 million barrels of oil are extracted from the Earth

 932,000 tons of coal are removed from Earth

 395 million cubic meters of natural gas are removed from Earth

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 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide are put into the Earth's atmosphere

 9,300 more people inhabit the Earth

"There will be about 11 billion people on Earth by 2100 (compared to 7.2 billion today)," Jones adds.

"So the question becomes, how will they be fed and housed and what will be their energy source? Currently 1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to electricity, and there are plans to try to get them on the grid. The numbers you start dealing with become so large that they are difficult to comprehend.

"To even come close to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, 50 percent of our energy will need to come from renewable sources by 2028, and today it is only 9 percent, including hydropower. For a world that wants to fight climate change, the numbers just don't add up to do it.

"If we don't worry about global warming and the 2-degree Celsius goal, we can continue to burn known fossil fuel reserves, but even here we will have to achieve more than 50 percent renewable energy by 2054, but warming will exceed 2.5 to 3 degrees Celsius.

"A person living today uses about four times as much energy as a person did in the early 1900s," Jones notes.

"By 2100, that figure goes up to five times. And 87 to 94 percent of all energy used will be from renewable sources regardless of whether we achieve and maintain the goals of the Paris Agreement."

The authors note history shows that rarely -- if ever -- have government officials gotten together to agree on making such large-scale changes happen in such a short timeframe.

"Our study does not present an either-or situation, rather the world will require a significant shift to renewable energy sources whether we care about global warming or whether we are more concerned with providing society's energy needs," Jones says.

"Hopefully, our work will serve as a wake-up call."
<p><em>Salt River Wild Horse Management Group</em><span></span></p>

The stallion stood between the mare and her baby. He had just tried to kill the baby while the mare watched in horror, unable to intervene. But the mother was desperate to get to her newborn. Her baby needed her. Especially now.

An aerial view of the Salt River wild horses | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

The stallion, who was second-in-command of the band of horses, had fought the lead stallion for control on March 2. He won and took over. For whatever reason, the stallion was possessive and saw the baby as an intrusion, or he knew the baby was not his, so he wanted him out of the picture. So allowing the mare near the foal was out of the question.

The rescued baby, Rosco | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

And so the band of horses left the baby. Alone in a field. "He did not try to kill the mare because he wants her close to him," Simone Netherlands, president and founder, Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG), in Scottsdale, Arizona, told The Dodo. Wild horse herd dynamics are complicated, which is why Netherlands and her organization studies them.

Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Guy Falls In Love With His Little Meatball Of A Foster Dog

A young volunteer spends time with Rosco. | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

"Sometimes it's hard to explain nature," she said. "This was a real exception, however, and in all 18 years we have never witnessed this kind of aggression toward a newborn before." SRWHMG has been monitoring the Salt River wild horses, who reside on the lower 18 miles of the Salt River in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. The organization records scientific observations of the horses and their behavior, migrating patterns and herd dynamics.

Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

The organization is working with the U.S. Forest Service to come to an agreement on working together to manage these horses and was lucky when they were given authorization to help the abandoned baby. Saving the baby wild horse "We always have 10 volunteers around the river," Netherlands said. "When something happens we immediately go to the area." Some members of the public tried to intervene. "They literally stepped in between the baby and the stallion," Netherlands said. Because they are wild animals, it is impossible to predict what they will do. SRWHMG waited two more hours to see if the band of horses would return and accept the baby it left behind. It never did.

Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

"Our main goal is to keep these animals wild, but when there is needless suffering going on and we have the ability and authorization to do something about it, then we will," Netherlands said. "If not, the baby would have starved to death." The baby was taken to a veterinarian for emergency medical attention. Although his injuries were minor, he received an IV, and he needed plasma and colostrum, the first milk made by mares to feed their foals, which is critical for survival. The rescue team called all over town in the middle of the night to find colostrum, which finally was found for the baby they named Rosco. The next morning he received more plasma and continued to be fed every two hours.

Rosco already loves the camera. | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

Rosco is now safe at an affiliate rescue where he continues to receive round-the-clock feeding and care. Bonding with a new mother Instead of bottle-feeding, the vet said Rosco should learn to drink out of a bucket, and he did well. But because Rosco had no mother, Netherlands and her team searched for a nurse mare while feeding him the baby formula. The search finally led to a mare who recently lost her baby. They are leasing the mare, named April, from a private owner and hope to negotiate to keep her.

Rosco learns to play. | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

"Now we have to teach little Rosco to drink out of a baby bottle again," Netherlands said. "He does not see the mare at all as a food source. We had to completely retrain him. He did not know what nipples were. It literally took three to four days to suckle from her. And she didn't accept him right away. We had to watch her and had to teach him." Rosco is so used to humans that he doesn't see April as his mother. So, volunteers are there 24/7 to supervise feeding and help ensure a bond happens between the two.

Rosco is learning to nurse. | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

"I am amazed by the perseverance and dedication of our volunteers," Netherlands said. "I am amazed by how much people will do when a horse has to be rescued." Rosco loves people and has a fun personality. "He's so adorable and cute that we have to resist ourselves from petting him every day," Netherlands said. "At this point he doesn't think he's a horse. He thinks he's a big dog."

Netherlands intends to keep him near and give him a loving home with a band of other rescued domestic and wild horses as close to what he would have had in the wild. No permanent protection The future of the Salt River wild horses is still unknown. "A public notice in the Arizona Capitol Times [on July 31, 2015], stated that they were going to round up and impound the horses or otherwise dispose of them," Netherlands said. The impound notice was rescinded after continued pressure from the public, negotiations between SRWHMG and the Forest Service, and a lawsuit filed by SRWHMG.

Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

Keeping the horses protected But they are still not safe. "They are our history," Netherlands said of the horses, who were seen in the area as far back as 1790. They are not protected under the The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which is why the Forest Service claims they are unauthorized livestock. Under the act, unauthorized livestock do not have the same status as wild horses. SRWHMG hopes that the Salt River wild horses will finally be given their own territory. The group is working with the Forest Service to allow the horses to remain where they are.

Netherlands and Rosco | Salt River Wild Horse Management Group
That's Misty on the left. She's about to tackle Rain, who is less comfortable with the suds than her sister.

But that's not a problem, because Misty's there to make even the scariest of bubble baths fun for both of them.

These bear sisters don't have their mother around, so they live at Animals Asia's Vietnam Bear Sanctuary. Many of the cubs at the sanctuary were taken from their natural habitats after poachers killed their mothers for the wildlife trade.

Hunting and finding shelter are just two of the many skills mother bears teach their cubs during infancy. "Without a mother, they haven't learned many of the basic skills that they'd need for survival," Steve Jackson, head of international communications at Animals Asia, told The Dodo. "That, coupled with no safe place in Vietnam to release them, means Animals Asia makes a lifetime commitment to them."

The sanctuary is now dedicated to providing the care these bears need to grow up happy and healthy.
<p>The Champions</p>

When Paul Fiaccone first saw Cherry in 2008 on an episode of National Geographic Channel's "DogTown" set at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, he immediately applied to adopt him. "I just kind of fell in love with Cherry right away," he told The Dodo. "I really thought we were going to be a good home for him." Cherry was one of 22 of the most traumatized dogs rescued from Michael Vick's dogfighting ring the previous year, who were taken in by Best Friends to stay in their sanctuary's Dogtown, a refuge for homeless dogs offering love, healing, play, training and medical care.

The Champions

Best Friends director of animal care Michelle Weaver, who worked closely with Cherry, told The Dodo he was shy and shutdown and "very scared, nervous about new people, nervous about walking on a leash." In fact, Best Friends emergency response manager John Garcia, who was co-manager of Dogtown at that time, said as soon as you'd try to put Cherry on a leash, "he would just flatten." Garcia, who was involved in transporting the 22 dogs on a plane from a Virginia shelter to Utah, found Cherry to be quite unique.

The Champions

"When I first met him, he was actually a staff favorite in that shelter," said Garcia. When left to do his thing at the shelter's run, Cherry would run in circles and burst with enthusiasm. But if something new was introduced and he was no longer comfortable, he would go into shutdown mode. Once Cherry arrived at the sanctuary with the rest of the dogs and was let out of his crate - Garcia will never forget - Cherry walked into the run, grabbed a toy and threw it up into the air. "You could tell he knew he was in good hands," said Garcia. "He trusted us." Weaver said Cherry was about 1 1/2 years old, weighing about 40 pounds when he arrived at Dogtown (he is now a healthy 55 pounds, according to Fiaccone). He had - and still has - a large scar on his back. He also had cherry eye, a condition where there is a prolapse of the third eyelid gland. Best Friends' medical team surgically repaired the eye. What Cherry needed was time. And in addition to love, care and security, that's what Best Friends gave him.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Woman Tries Every Day For A Month To Rescue This Dog

The Champions

Weaver, who worked very closely with Cherry, spent a lot of time with him while leaving him alone. She'd sit in the same room with him doing paperwork - "just time together without a lot of pressure," she said. Then one day, during one of these quiet, sitting sessions, Cherry moved toward Weaver to ask for some attention. She was able to pet him. It was a major breakthrough. After that, he started coming up for pets on a more regular basis. "I think he realized, 'Hey, that feels very good,'" Weaver said.

The Champions

Over the months, Weaver and other Best Friends staff noticed that Cherry seemed interested in other dogs. They tried an introduction to another dog, Willie, who also seemed interested in dogs. That didn't go well because Willie became aggressive. A second dog introduction was attempted with Handsome Dan, another of the "Vicktory" dogs, which is how they became known at Best Friends. This went much better.

The Champions

"They got so caught up in playing with each other, they sort of forget to be afraid of us," said Weaver. "Once we realized that he and Handsome Dan wanted to play, we gave him more regular playdates." Over time, with stability in his life and increasing amounts of socialization, Cherry's real personality began to flourish. "Inside that scared little dog was a clown," said Weaver. "He was just silly."

The Champions

Cherry arrived at the sanctuary January 1, 2008. It took some time, but when Paul and Melissa Fiaccone came to meet Cherry the following year with their pit bull mix, Madison, all the puzzle pieces started to come together. Cherry went home with Paul and Melissa as a foster-to-adopt on September 9, 2009. The adoption was finalized on March 9, 2010. "It was a really difficult time, because he was still really shut down with strangers," said Paul of their first meeting. They sat in Weaver's office with Cherry and Madison, who was exhausted from the trip. Cherry hid underneath Weaver's desk. After about 45 minutes, Cherry got up and started making his way toward Madison. "He really kind of sat and plopped down right on top of her," said Paul. "[Madison] didn't even flinch." Madison was why Paul thought Cherry would do well with their family in the first place. In that "DogTown" episode, Paul saw Cherry open up with another dog. Paul felt Madison's social and confident nature could help Cherry along. He was right.

The Champions

Madison was the one who helped Cherry learn how to bond with Paul and Melissa. At first, Cherry needed to be coddled - and Madison obliged. But when Cherry needed a little push to be more confident, Madison did that too. "We grossly underestimated just how perfect she was going to be with the whole situation," said Paul. "Looking back at the whole situation it was really amazing to watch her with him." It's been 6 1/2 years since Cherry became part of the family. Much has happened in the family's lives. They now have two small children and two cats - and one, their black cat named Walker, is great friends with Cherry.

The Champions

"Cherry kind of just lays down and Walker walks around and grabs him and bites him," said Paul, adding that they also love a good game of chase. "He's so incredibly gentle with Walker." When the couple started having children, they prepared themselves by attending classes on how to properly integrate their dogs with a new baby. "It was an education about what to expect," he said. They had no problems at all. In fact, Cherry is incredibly patient with the children. "He loves our kids," Paul said.

The Champions

Sadly, Madison passed away in July 2015. After some time, the family started considering a new addition. Cherry didn't seem interested in other dogs they met to potentially adopt -not until he met 18-week-old pit bull Eleanor, who joined their family a couple of weeks ago. Eleanor came to the family's Connecticut home all the way from Tennessee. A rescue in their area brings dogs up from the South for adoption in the Northeast. "He kind of chose her," said Paul. Nearly 11 now, roles have been reversed and now Cherry is the wise teacher and mentor of the family - as well as playmate. In addition to his duties as role model, Cherry is now also a real movie star. He's one of the stars of the new documentary "The Champions," which tells the inspirational story of the "Vicktory" dogs. Cherry has attended five movie screening events to help promote the film and show how far from vicious many of the rescued ex-fighting dogs actually are.

Geoff Tischman

"He knows he's the star," said Paul. "He's so full of himself. He's confident. He loves meeting people." Cherry has far surpassed expectations Paul and Melissa had for how well-adjusted he could become. "He's never really stopped progressing," said Paul. "It's pretty amazing."
The French news site La Tribune has reported that Cairo and Paris are close to signing a 1 bln deal worth of military purchases during a forthcoming visit by French President Hollande

Egypt is set to sign 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) worth of deals with France in mid-April to purchase warships and a military satellite, French news website La Tribune reported on Tuesday.

The deals are expected to be signed during French President Francois Hollande's upcoming visit on April 18.

One of the expected contracts will see French naval shipbuilder DCNS build four naval vessels, including two Gowind corvettes, the newspaper reported. The value of this contract is estimated at between 300 and 400 million euros. DCNS, which is mostly owned by the French state, has already sold four small Gowinds to Cairo in 2014.

As part of another deal worth around 600 million euros, Airbus Space Systems (part of European planemaker Airbus Group), and defence group Thales will jointly supply Cairo with a military telecommunication satellite.

The deals are part of Cairo's efforts to boost its military hardware in the face of a militant insurgency in parts of North Sinai as well as the country's fears of a spillover of violence from neighbouring Libya.

It was initially reported that Egypt was in talks to buy two French military satellites, but the newspaper claimed that Cairo found the bill too expensive, with Russia and South Korea providing cheaper offers.

In February 2015, Cairo signed a multi-billion euro deal to purchase 24 Rafale fighters, a frigate and missiles from France. Six of the multi-role combat jets have already been delivered by Paris to Cairo.

Earlier in March, Egypt and France conducted joint military exercise in the Mediterranean in which the Rafale warplanes that were purchased by Cairo last year took part.

In October 2015, the two countries signed another deal for the sale of two French Mistral helicopter carriers whose sale to Russia was cancelled by Paris due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

According to La Tribune, the first Mistral will land in Egypt in June.

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TECHNOLOGY

HealthCare.gov logs security incidents

The Web portal used by millions to get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act has logged more than 300 cybersecurity incidents and remains vulnerable to hacking, nonpartisan congressional investigators said Wednesday.

The Government Accountability Office said none of the 316 security incidents affecting HealthCare.gov appeared to have led to the release of sensitive data such as names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial or other personal information.

Most of the incidents seemed to have involved probing by hackers. The incidents took place between October 2013 and March 2015.

The GAO said the administration is making progress, but it concluded that security flaws will likely continue to jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity and availability of HealthCare.gov.

Investigators identified weaknesses in protecting sensitive information that flows through a key part of the system called the data-services hub. Operating behind the scenes, the hub pings federal agencies to verify the personal details of consumers.

In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, the HealthCare.gov website is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

The GAO said shortcomings included insufficiently tight restrictions on administrator privileges that allow a user broad access throughout the system, inconsistent use of security fixes and an administrative network that was not properly secured.

The report also found significant weaknesses in health insurance sites operated by states, which connect to the data hub.

 Associated Press

BANKING

Libor rigging draws $1.2 million fine

A former UBS Group and Citigroup trader who was sent to prison for 11 years for rigging Libor has been ordered to pay back 880,000 pounds ($1.2 million) that a judge called the proceeds of the traders efforts to manipulate the benchmark rate.

Judge Jeremy Cooke determined that former trader Tom Hayes should return 35 percent of the 2.5 million pounds he earned in bonuses from the banks between 2006 and 2010.

Hayes, 36, was convicted last year of conspiring to rig the London interbank offered rate, a benchmark tied to derivatives and loans worth trillions.

While the penalty  roughly a third of the 2.5 million pounds sought by prosecutors  may be seen as a reprieve for Hayes and his family, it still means they are likely to have to sell their seven-bedroom home outside London, Hayess lawyer said.

Hayes was a highly successful trader who made close to 300 million pounds for UBS alone.

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Supreme Court justices on Tuesday wrestled with whether Puerto Rico can use bankruptcy to avert a likely default on billions of dollars in debt, as the territory appealed for a way out of what it called a legal no mans land.

The justices seemed to be struggling with the confusing language of a 1984 federal bankruptcy law that stripped Puerto Rico (and the District of Columbia) of their status as equivalent to states  making it impossible for the commonwealth to either use Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code or adopt bankruptcy legislation of its own.

After Congress rebuffed Puerto Ricos appeal for bankruptcy protection last year, the islands government passed legislation that would make it easier to restructure its roughly $72 billion in debt, which includes $20 billion owed by its electricity, water and road-maintenance divisions.

But bondholders represented by Franklin Templeton, Oppenheimer & Co., and others have argued that the federal statute explicitly bars Puerto Rico from using Chapter 9 and preempts the Puerto Rico governments own legislation. Their attorney, Matthew D. McGill, argued that the commonwealth must negotiate with its creditors or turn to Congress if it wants to restructure debts by forcing investors to accept reduced payments.

The legal tactic is a risky one for the bondholders, who won when the case went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. Conservatives on the Supreme Court are reluctant to support federal preemption of states powers. And the liberals on the court  including Sonia Sotomayor, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents  are moved by the islands plight and puzzled by the laws language.

The justices seemed to be struggling to square the language of the bankruptcy code with the reality of Puerto Ricos fiscal crisis, which has the island tottering on the brink of widespread default.

Why in the world  what explains Congress wanting to put Puerto Rico in this anomalous position of not being able to restructure its debt? Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked McGill.

Sotomayor also pressed McGill, asking whether Puerto Ricos sovereign powers have been cut off. She asked whether Puerto Ricos inability to use the bankruptcy code  the way Michigan did when it let Detroit declare bankruptcy  meant that Congress intended to block restructuring deals even if they have the support of almost all the creditors.

McGill said the choice for states . . . is Chapter 9 or nothing. And the choice for Puerto Rico and the District is come to Congress.

The case came before the court just as Puerto Rico, an island with about 3.5 million people, is facing almost certain defaults in May and July. A deal negotiated to overhaul the debts of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority awaits approval by a small minority of creditors.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has asked lawmakers to come up with a solution for Puerto Rico by the end of March. An agreement seems possible that might feature a powerful financial control board, but the power to impose debt restructuring remains a stumbling block.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Puerto Rico, that would make it easier for the commonwealth to bargain with its creditors and get better terms in negotiations. It remains unclear how sweeping a law Congress will adopt and how powerful a new financial control board might be.

The justices, however, were wading through the confusing language of the bankruptcy law, which said Puerto Rico was not considered to be the equivalent of a state when it came to the bankruptcy legislation.

Christopher Landau, a lawyer representing Puerto Rico, said that the justices, as they consider the intent of the law, should think that it was implausible, at best to think that Congress would preclude Puerto Rico from dealing with utilities that provide basic services such as electricity and clean water to its citizens.

Both of you have stories, Justice Elena Kagan said at one point. Its just not clear which one of you is right.

The cases are Puerto Rico v. Franklin CA Tax-Free Trust and Melba Acosta-Febo v. Franklin CA Tax-Free Trust.
Just before the release of a survey about elder financial abuse, an arbitration panel awarded $34 million in damages, including hearing costs, to the estate of Roy M. Speer, a co-founder of the Home Shopping Network.

The award is further proof that rich people are just as vulnerable to financial exploitation as anyone else. In fact, their immense wealth can make them even more susceptible.

The case involved the investment firm Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and two stockbrokers. Speer died in 2012. His wife, Lynnda, brought a claim against the company, arguing that her husbands estate and his foundation funds had been mismanaged.

The arbitration panel agreed, and found that Morgan Stanley and the brokers were guilty of unauthorized trading, churning, breach of fiduciary duty/constructive fraud, negligence, negligent supervision . . . and unjust enrichment.

In a statement issued by her attorneys, Lynnda Speer said the financial services company and the stockbrokers breached their fiduciary duties to Roy and his foundation and exploited him during a time of his continuing mental and physical decline.

Morgan Stanley has denied any wrongdoing and asserted through a spokesperson that it is disappointed by the result and does not believe the award is justified. [It] is inconsistent with substantial evidence showing that the accounts were profitable for the client and managed in accordance with his wishes.

But lets look beyond this case to what other seniors are experiencing. A new survey of more than 3,500 Americans conducted for the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust (IPT) found some troubling signs of elder financial abuse and exploitation.

Seventeen percent of Americans 65 or older have been taken advantage of financially in terms of an inappropriate investment, unreasonably high fees for financial services, or outright fraud, the survey concluded.

Although that number is down from the 20 percent reported in the groups 2010 report, its still disturbing. When the children of seniors were asked whether their parents had been swindled, 20 percent said they had, compared with 15 percent six years ago.

So whats the point of this report and others like it that show seniors are persistently becoming vulnerable to financial fraud?

Theyre a call to action.

Weve all got to become sentinels, says Irving Faught, securities administrator for the Oklahoma Securities Commission.

Be watchful of your parents, and then people need to be watching you, he said in an interview.

Considering that a lot of financial fraud is committed by relatives or someone close to a senior, doctors should be observing the people accompanying seniors to appointments, said Robert Roush, director of the Texas Consortium Geriatric Education Center at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Ask seniors if anybody has asked them to change their will or sign a durable power of attorney, Faught said.

Roush said certain medical personnel are required to report signs of abuse, including indications of financial fraud. Still, some might be reluctant to make a call, concerned that they are wrong about a situation.

Almost half of the adult children of parents 65 or older said they were very or somewhat worried that their parents have already become or will become less able to handle their personal finances over time, the IPTs report said.

To help stem the losses resulting from elder financial abuse, medical personnel, legal professionals, pharmacists, accountants, social workers, bank employees and just about anyone who regularly comes in contact with a senior have to become investigators.

The IPT report found that 43 percent of seniors had exhibited one or more of the following warning signs:

Theyve gotten phone calls or mail from people asking for money or telling them theyve won a lottery or other contest. Or they may talk about some new investment scheme.

They start talking about how nervous they are about making a financial decision.

They may seem confused about financial decisions being made for them by someone else.

They mention loans for gifts that they cant afford.

They say that money is disappearing from their bank accounts.

Everyone has something to lose if we arent watching out for everybody, said Don Blandin, president and chief executive of IPT, which has an elder fraud and exploitation prevention program that is educating professionals to look for signs that a senior may be at risk.

If you suspect something, contact adult protective services or the state securities office or IPT. Blandin says to call his group at 202-775-2112 or email him at blandin@

investorprotection.org.

Financial fraud can happen to a janitor or the founder of a Fortune 500 company, Roush said.

Dont be afraid to be wrong when it comes to elder financial abuse. The call you dont make could cost someone his or her life savings.

Write Singletary at The Washington Post, 1301 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or michelle.singletary@washpost.com. To read more, go to wapo.st/michelle-singletary.
Reiner Stach is the German author of an exceptionally lively and deeply researched multi-volume biography of Franz Kafka that has slowly been making its way into English. In 2005 Harcourt published Kafka: The Decisive Years and in 2013 Princeton brought out Kafka: The Years of Insight, both superbly translated by Shelley Frisch. Together these cover the great writers maturity and cast light on the development of such masterpieces as The Judgment, The Metamorphosis and A Hunger Artist. Frischs translation of Stachs final volume, focusing on Kafkas childhood and youth, is eagerly awaited.

In the meantime, New Directions has just issued this little compendium of brief anecdotes and odd factoids about Pragues most famous author. Derived from Stachs years of burrowing in the archives, Is That Kafka? indirectly contributes to an ongoing scholarly project, in Europe and America, to revisit many of the assumptions about the writer and his work, in effect, to move beyond the myths and cliches. The actual life of the man who gave us Josef K. (from The Trial) was much less Kafkaesque  and more human and ordinary  than is still commonly thought.

[The real Stephen Spender as seen by his son]

Still, myths are hard to dislodge. When most of us think of Kafka, we tend to visualize  to quote Stach  a cobblestone alley damp with rain in nighttime Prague, backlit by gas lanterns. . . piles of papers, dusty in the candlelight . . . the nightmare of an enormous vermin. We dont picture a nice Jewish boy with a good job in an insurance company, who was also a doctor (though only of law). The real Franz Kafka exercised every morning, played pool and drank lots of beer, loved going to the movies, flirted regularly with pretty girls and was afraid of mice.

He also wrote prose that conveys, to Stach and at least some other readers, the greatest pleasure that literature has to offer. I wouldnt go that far, though Kafkas sentences regularly surprise us like a sucker-punch, as in the matter-of-fact, jaw-dropping opening of The Metamorphosis: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. Given, too, the generally downbeat character of Kafkas outlook on life  he once wrote In the struggle between yourself and the world, back the world it seems natural to think of him as a tormented, Central European version of Poe or Dostoevsky.

That so much of his writing dissatisfied him and never left his desk drawer certainly added to Kafkas posthumous legend, which was then magnified further by the eventual publication of those enigmatic novels, The Trial  and The Castle. Imagine two nightmarish worlds  each a combination of police state and theocracy  in which doomed characters struggle against capricious bureaucracies and baffling customs. On the morning of his 30th birthday the quite ordinary Josef K. was inexplicably arrested without having done anything wrong. No matter: In this bleak moral universe, simply being born establishes guilt.

Yet Stach emphasizes that, despite the dread and grotesquerie pervading his fiction, Kafka was overall quite an ordinary chap. From these 99 finds  which generally take the form of a self-revelatory remark by Kafka, followed by a comment or correction from his biographer  we learn that young Franz cheated on school exams, mistrusted doctors, hoped to get rich from a budget travel guide to Europe and once forged the signature of Thomas Mann. Contrary to myth, he was also popular with his insurance office colleagues and well-respected in Prague as a man of letters. Chapters 19 and 20  titled Kafkas No Prude and Going Whoring discuss pornography, bordellos and prostitutes. It turns out that this boyish, tubercular young man favored fat older women. Theres even a picture of the bowler-hatted writer with a smiling, accommodating barmaid. Other illustrations show us Kafkas desk, the layout of his familys apartment (repurposed for that of the Samsas in The Metamorphosis), the corrected title page of A Country Doctor, and even the practice sheets used in an effort to master Hebrew. In two instances, Stach reproduces newspaper photographs  one of people at an air show, the other of a rally  and tentatively identifies Kafka in the crowd.

Still, amid so much that is quotidian, the unnerving, the Kafkaesque does periodically creep in.We learn that when Kafka moved to Berlin in 1923, another, completely different Franz Kafka came to Berlin at the same time. The writers fiancee Felice Bauer once stayed at a hotel that was previously owned by still another Franz Kafka. For three weeks, the author who depicted the horrific torture machine of In the Penal Colony composed a daily letter to a little girl in the voice of a doll, who wasnt lost but simply away on a trip. Stach also transcribes some brilliant fragments, notably The Broskwa Sketch, which begins: It is possible that there are European settlements further north than Broskwa, but none could be more desolate. Alas, as so often with Kafka, the story just breaks off.

Kurt Bealss translation of Is That Kafka? generally reads well, though I find the word alright  used for all right to be barbaric, and the term ripped off seems jarringly inappropriate for the early 20th century. While obviously an enjoyable and instructive grab-bag of anecdotes, Stachs book inevitably contains a tragic dimension as well: Kafka succumbed to tuberculosis at just 40, while his three sisters and many people he cared about later died in World War II concentration camps.

Michael Dirda reviews each Thursday in Style and is the author, most recently, of Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living With Books.
From left, musicians Jarobi White, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest perform at the South by Southwest conference in Austin.

March 16, 2013 From left, musicians Jarobi White, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest perform at the South by Southwest conference in Austin. John Sciulli/Getty Images for Samsung

The group co-founder, also known as Malik Taylor, died Wednesday at the age of 45 after battling diabetes for years.

The group co-founder, also known as Malik Taylor, died Wednesday at the age of 45 after battling diabetes for years.

The group co-founder, also known as Malik Taylor, died Wednesday at the age of 45 after battling diabetes for years.

Malik Taylor, the rap artist known as Phife Dawg who was a founding member of the pioneering group A Tribe Called Quest and who helped bring new elements of social awareness and musical sophistication to the hip-hop form in the 1990s, died March 22 in Oakley, Calif. He was 45.

The cause was complications from diabetes, his family told the Associated Press.

Mr. Taylor joined Q-Tip (born Jonathan Davis), a childhood friend from Queens, to form A Tribe Called Quest in the late 1980s. They were the groups complementary and competitive emcees, or principal onstage presences, and were supported by the groups two other original members, DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White.

Mr. Taylor, who was generally known to his fans as Phife or occasionally the Five-Foot Assassin for his diminutive size, provided a high-pitched, keening vocal contrast to the smoother style of Q-Tip. He announced his presence in 1991s Buggin Out:

Hip-hop performer Malik "Phife Dawg" Taylor has died at the age of 45. Taylor was one of the founding members of the group "A Tribe called Quest," and was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

Yo, microphone check one two what is this

The five foot assassin with the ruffneck business

I float like gravity, never had a cavity

Got more rhymes than the Winans got family

A Tribe Called Quest produced five albums from 1990 to 1998, becoming one of hip-hops most popular groups. The quartets top-selling hit singles included Can I Kick It?, Check the Rhime, Jazz (Weve Got), Award Tour and Bonita Applebum.

Tribe, as the groups fans often called the group, was considered a seminal influence on such later stars such as Kanye West, the Roots and Common.

A Tribe Called Quest was like nothing I had ever heard, Roots and Tonight Show drummer Questlove wrote last year in Billboard magazine. It was stylish, funny, jazzy, soulful, smart and everything else. Tribe was socially conscious without being too self-conscious about it.

Malik Taylor, rapper known as Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest, in 2011. (Andrew H. Walker)

[Rest in Beats: The hip-hop world reacts to Phife Dawgs death]

Among other things, Tribe introduced a sense of playfulness, irony and social awareness to its music, in contrast to much of the violent and misogynistic posturing then popular in hip-hop.

A Tribe Called Quest is not talking about your average gangsta, Mr. Taylor told the Boston Globe in 1994. Thats just not what we do.

The groups lyrics, written largely by Q-Tip and Mr. Taylor, addressed such sensitive topics as date rape, religious faith, human rights, police harassment and use of the n-word by African American youths. Mr. Taylor touched on several weighty subjects in just a few lines of We Can Get Down, from the 1993 album Midnight Marauders.

How can a reverend preach, when a rev cant define

The music of our youth from 1979

We rap about what we see, meaning reality

From people bustin caps and like Mandela being free

Not every MC be with the negativity

We have a slew of rappers pushin positivity

[Phife Dawg brought humor and humanity to A Tribe Called Quest]

The relationship between Mr. Taylor and Q-Tip turned fractious over time and helped contribute to the groups breakup in 1998. Both artists embarked on solo careers, but the charismatic Q-Tip found much greater success. Mr. Taylor took a snarling swipe at him in his 2000 single Flawless.

I always sort of liked the analogy of them being like the Rolling Stones, Michael Rapaport, who made a documentary about the group, told the New York Times in 2011, Q-Tip being Mick Jagger and Phife being Keith Richards.

Malik Isaac Taylor was born Nov. 20, 1970, in Queens and was close friends with Q-Tip (whose full name is now Kamaal Ibn John Fareed) from age 2.

By their mid-teens, the two were rhyming together and formed an early version of A Tribe Called Quest.

Their first album, Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, appeared in 1990, followed by The Low End Theory in 1991 and Midnight Marauders in 1993. (Marauders went platinum in 1995.)

Two other albums, Beats, Rhymes and Life and The Love Movement, were released in 1996 and 1998, respectively.

In addition to socially conscious lyrics, A Tribe Called Quest was known for its innovative musical approach, including the layering of rhythms and its wide-ranging sampling from jazz and other forms of music.

Snippets of music from Cannonball Adderley, Little Feat, Grover Washington Jr., the Average White Band and countless other sources can be heard under the lyrics of Q-Tip and Mr. Taylor.

We were all being labeled as bohemian rap, jazz fusion and all kinds of things, Mr. Taylor told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 2001, but its not that we were trying to be different from everyone else; we were just trying to be ourselves.

In the 1990s, A Tribe Called Quest became linked with a group of culturally aware East Coast hip-hop artists, including De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Monie Love and Queen Latifah. The loose collective known as the Native Tongues extended the aesthetic and intellectual boundaries of the genre.

Mr. Taylor struggled with diabetes for more than 20 years and received a kidney transplant from his wife in 2008.

Last year, he said he was in need of a second kidney transplant.

Complete information about survivors was not immediately available.

Mr. Taylor moved to Atlanta in 1994 and later to California.

A Tribe Called Quest had occasional reunion performances over the years, most recently on Jimmy Fallons Tonight Show in November.

The group re-released its debut album last year, with some tracks remixed by Pharrell Williams, CeeLo Green and J. Cole.

Rapaports 2011 documentary, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, delved into the bitter breakup of the groups two lead performers, and Mr. Taylor was said to be in tears while watching the premiere.

Back in 89, I simply slid into place, Mr. Taylor rapped in the 1993 song Award Tour. Buddy, buddy, buddy all up in your face. A lot of kids was busting rhymes, but they had no taste. Some said Quest was wack, but now is that the case?
Zack Snyder's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is in theaters March 25. ( / Warner Bros.)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice begins and ends with a funeral, which is fitting for a movie that plays like one long dirge.

Dreary, overproduced and underbaked, this nominal showdown between two of comic-doms most mythic superheroes serves as a grim reminder of just how bad Man of Steel really was. That 2013 movie introduced British actor Henry Cavill as Superman, in a tea-colored miasma of dutiful action sequences and sadistically over-the-top violence.

Director Zack Snyder returns to those questionable core values in a film that replaces genuine intrigue and suspense with a series of confounding red herrings, tossing out solemn observations about men, gods, martyrs and saviors while invoking such hot-button issues as terrorism, drones and immigration. Batman v Superman is so desperate for the audience to take it seriously that it forgets to have any fun at all: Rather than escapism and sensory exhilaration, viewers get down in the mire with protagonists who grimace, scowl and wince their way through heroics with the joyless determination of shift workers making the doughnuts.

[Man of Steel: Henry Cavill stars as Superman in this bombastic reboot]



Ben Affleck stars as Batman and Henry Cavill stars as Superman in Zack Snyders Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

Batman v Superman begins where Man of Steel left off  that is, with Superman laying waste to the futuristic city of Metropolis in order to save it. Appalled, millionaire orphan Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) worries that the new neighborhood vigilante is accountable to no one  unlike Bruce, who at least has to answer to his lifelong factotum, Alfred (a drolly amusing Jeremy Irons).

The point of Superman v Batman, of course, is to get these two brooding saviors of humanity to the ultimate showdown, and maybe launch an Avengers-worthy multiverse in the bargain. Snyder, with the dubious help of screenwriters Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, does all he can to put off that final confrontation, keeping Bruce and Clark Kent on their separate paths, only to be brought together by the unhinged entrepreneur Lex Luthor, portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg in a jittery, hysterically pitched performance that resembles a gnat impersonating Heath Ledger.

[Batman vs. Superman: Who really has the advantage?]



Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne. (Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent. (Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Eisenberg is one of the few weak links in the cast of Batman v Superman, which actually features some terrific performances: Affleck has the square jaw and resolute demeanor to convincingly channel Bruce, who once he becomes Batman acquires an adenoidal speaking voice and a pair of Frankensteinian shoes that, if camera placement is any indication, Snyder has a fetishistic fascination with. As Superman, Cavill once again wears that vaguely put-off expression of someone whos just ingested something distasteful; hes much more appealing as Clark Kent for a Warby Parker age, doting on Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and wondering why his valiant efforts to save the world are seen by some as the suspect doings of an alien arriviste.

Suffused with paranoia and hostility, Batman v Superman engages in the kind of po-faced hyper-masculinity that can be seen as an apologia for privilege at its most unexamined and disarming: Sure, these guys swagger through the streets laying waste to all thats in their path, but their psychic burdens are unimaginable. They hurt. (And man, do they love their mothers.)

[Wait, why are Batman and Superman fighting? Your Dawn of Justice primer]

As a wish-fulfillment fantasy of potency and unassailable moral certainty, Snyders vision is understandable, if not particularly distinguished or convincing. Chase scenes, explosions, beat-downs, shootouts and the final, brutalizing mano-a-mano all look cobbled together from generic elements of other movies, crashing into a rock em, sock em rubble of glass, steel, rain and polystyrene concrete. (Hans Zimmers bombastically self-important score is just as derivative, in this case of all his other bombastically self-important scores.) An early callback to the fall of the World Trade Center on 9/11 manages to be both painfully timely and shamelessly opportunistic.



Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

At a punishing two and a half hours, its all very turgid and unsmilingly sober  the direct opposite of the sprightly, witty, visually vibrant Avengers movies  but there are bright spots. Holly Hunter brings flinty brio to her role as a U.S. senator skeptical of Supermans motives. And Gal Gadot exudes both mystery and muscle as Wonder Woman, who shows up way too late to do way too little. (The same could be said for Diane Lane, here cast as Clarks Midwestern mom, even though she has enough glamour and moxie to embody a superhero in her own right.)

[How Batman vs. Superman represents the age-old battle between man and god]

Strip away the trite character beats, rote plot points, random dream sequences and other narrative padding, and Batman v Superman comes down to the actors, their characters and whether they can sustain interest over the long haul. The answer is yes, if they wind up in the hands of filmmakers blessed with authentic imagination rather than serviceable technical chops.

Seen through one lens, Batman v Superman embodies the exhaustion of a genre that has long since outlived the ability to invest it with new relevance and meaning. Seen through another, it suggests that the slate is always blank, waiting to be re-inscribed or, better yet, smashed altogether. We can always use another hero. In the meantime, our heroes desperately need new life  not another dirge.
The following review appears in The Washington Posts 2019 Fall Dining Guide.



Velma Greenfield, left, and Jo Linda Greenfield dine at Kinship in Shaw. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post)

(Excellent)

Great chefs tend to be frugal. Look at Eric Ziebold, who buys baby lamb for its rack and saddle, which he features at the exclusive Metier, then uses the lesser parts here at its street-level sibling. Long story short: Order the liver and onions, a runaway hit that pairs slices of roseate liver, a crown of golden tempura onion rings and a gastrique made with lamb kidney, heart and bacon.

Fear not. You dont have to like innards to love Kinship. Ziebold and company also do lovely things with chicken and fish. Chicken confit plumps crisp phyllo rolls, circled with a marmalade of eggplant and red peppers. Sauteed porgy sails to the table on a pale yellow emulsion of grapes and almonds, the plate dressed up with racy little chorizo puffs that make gougeres seem dull. Summer is my favorite season, says Ziebold, schooled by Thomas Keller. An icy welcome of herbed tomato granita and a finish of sweet corn chiboust, light as a souffle and presented with basil-blackberry ice cream, has us lapping up the sentiment.

3 stars (Excellent)

Kinship: 1015 Seventh St. NW. 202-737-7700. kinshipdc.com.

Prices: Dinner daily. Plates $13-$38, sharing plates $25-$80.

Sound check: 73 decibels / Must speak with raised voice.

--

The following review appears in The Washington Posts 2017 Fall Dining Guide.



A souffle of chocolate chip cookie dough comes with a side of milk ice cream. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

At Kinship, the cooking is revelatory and the vibe welcoming

(Excellent)

Surprise! A French-trained chef makes the best tostada in Washington. Taste Eric Ziebolds corned veal tongue  poised on a crisp fried tortilla slathered with avocado  and tell me otherwise. Youll find the wonder under a menu category called Craft at Kinship, as warm and welcoming a restaurant as its name suggests. Ingredients comes with a revelation, too: fairy-tale eggplant in a green curry, pulsing with heat, that would taste right at home in Bangkok. The fishing is fine here, but the Iowa natives strength lies with meat. His double-cut Berkshire pork chop is my current pick from For the Table, presented with sweet-and-sour carrots and a crumble of pistachios. Let the season be your guide come dessert. Summer celebrated berries in an elegant cobbler gilded with honey ice cream. Expect spot-on wine service, Parker House rolls with the entrees  and more clamor than before. Kinship attracts a crowd for good reason.

Previous: Joselito Casa de Comidas | Next: Kobo

---

The following review originally appeared as No. 4 on Toms Top 10 in The Washington Posts 2016 Fall Dining Guide .



Whipped chocolate nougat with espresso caramel and chocolate sorbet lives up to its promise of Indulgence. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

4. Kinship

Just a year ago, Marcels in the West End was where I sent discerning diners looking for style and serenity with their foie gras. With the debut of Kinship near the convention center, Im rerouting food lovers to the superior handiwork of former CityZen chef Eric Ziebold and his wife and partner, the gracious Celia Laurent. Dishes are arranged in categories that reflect the chefs passions. History supplies the prettiest salad Nicoise in town; Ingredients puts halibut, coated in fried mochi, on a tropical support of papaya and red chilies; and whipped chocolate nougat with espresso caramel and chocolate sorbet lives up to its promise of Indulgence. Eating the elements together creates a cool candy bar. Still, For the Table, entrees designed for two or more, triggers the most joy; roast chicken stuffed with lemony brioche is the definition of first-class. As beguiling as the food are the wine service and the space, most of all the trim booths whose walls allow for the twin luxuries of privacy and peace.

The Top 10 of 2016:

No. 10 Komi

No. 9 Rasika

No. 8 Little Serow

No. 7 Inn at Little Washington

No. 6 Minibar

No. 5 Convivial

No. 4 Kinship

No. 3 Bad Saint

No. 2 Pineapple and Pearls

No. 1 All-Purpose

--

The following review appeared in The Washington Posts 2016 Spring Dining Guide as No. 2 on a list of the years 10 best new restaurants.

The music is played at a level that allows for easy conversation, the space comes courtesy of one of the citys top decorators, and the food ... suffice it to say its great to see Eric Ziebold cooking again. (Also: His whole roast chicken is worth the hour-long wait.) The former CityZen chef and his wife, Celia Laurent, aimed to replicate a dinner party in their alluring new home near the convention center; thank you, sir and maam, for hitting your (high) marks. Kinships menu, divided into categories including craft and history, requires some concentration, but the payoff includes custardy veal sweetbreads served with designer ham and truffles, and a mushroom torchon accessorized with toasted brioche and a tangy celery root salad. Can a guest have it all? Kinship RSVPs yes.

--

The following review was originally published March 23, 2016.

Kinship review: The welcome return of a favorite chef



Chef Eric Ziebold trusses chickens for dinner service in the kitchen at Kinship. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

J ust as a splurge of lobster French toast is being cleared from our spot at a black granite counter in Shaw, a couple claims two bar stools beside a friend and me. The strangers eyes dart from one exquisite detail to another  the thick linens in our laps, tea being poured from an elegant Japanese pot for my friend, a small dish of peanut toffee that comes with a silver, GI Joe-size hammer for breaking the glossy brittle into shards. (Who says you cant play with your food in a fancy restaurant?)

We havent even eaten here yet, the man gushes to his date, and we already like the place!

Welcome back, Eric Ziebold, whose luxe CityZen shuttered after a 10-year run in 2014. Kinship, his Christmas gift to the city and as hospitable as its name suggests, is (almost) everything youd expect from a four-star chef whose aim is to make you feel as if youre a guest at a dinner party.

[Last service at CityZen: Warmth, memories and plans for the future]

The reception is warm. From the moment you step inside, Kinship makes you feel as if its a privilege to have you rather than the other way around. Notice how the music is played at a level where you notice it, but dont have to compete with it? Just as reassuring is the presence of Celia Laurent, Ziebolds wife and co-owner, who enjoys the support of a team of uncommonly poised servers.



interior decorator Darryl Carter designed the restaurant with alcoves that feel like dining rooms within the dining room. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

The space, seemingly dipped in pewter, looks like no other in town. The owners tapped nationally recognized interior decorator Darryl Carter, whose studio and shop are nearby, to create, among other comforts, alcoves set with trim banquettes, practically rooms within rooms set off with small black-and-white photos of the designers studio renovation. Kinship represents Carters first restaurant project. From appearances, it wont be his last.

But first, let me address the No. 1 complaint I hear about Kinship: the menu. Not the actual document, a handsome ecru page-turner with the feel of a formal wedding invitation, but the way in which the chef, 44, has organized his 30 or so creations. Theyre sprinkled under categories labeled Craft, History, Ingredients, Indulgence and For the Table, some headings more obvious than others and each trailed by five or so dishes, the first two appetizers, the next two or three entrees, ending with dessert, a server announced to a table of furrowed brows one night.

At least on your first visit, ordering feels like work.

[Menu confusion: When quirky categories befuddle diners]

Eating, on the other hand, reveals a more playful side to the talented but earnest chef I remember from CityZen. If spring hasnt nudged it off the menu by the time you read this, Ziebolds torchon of white mushrooms, an example of craft (technique), should be on your itinerary. The beige round, displayed on brushstrokes of huckleberry gastrique, looks like a classic foie gras torchon but uses mushrooms, butter and caramelized onions and garlic to achieve the look, and eerily similar taste, of duck liver. A smear of the torchon on toasted brioche, followed by a bite of pickled mushroom and celery root salad, almost transmits music, the rich notes followed by bells.



Maine sea urchin is paired with agnolotti and featured under the Ingredients heading of the menu. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

The chef uses butter the way Donald Trump issues put-downs  with abandon. Before its set on a cushion of crisp French toast, Maine lobster is poached in what tastes like a stick of fat. Lightening the aptly billed indulgence are cubes of persimmon and sliced cucumber on the plate and an intriguing drift of sesame mousse that momentarily shifts the action to Asia. And in the chefs salute to ingredients, sea urchin lobes and agnolotti, pillows stuffed with potato, are separated from each other with liquid fingers of shimmering lemon buerre blanc. Veal sweetbreads make frequent appearances under history. While every treatment has had something to recommend it, the medal of honor goes to those sweetbreads, cooked so the centers resemble custard, and gloriously teamed with corned beef tongue, designer ham and black truffles.

With the entrees come a little box of warm Parker House rolls, a welcome carry-over from CityZen. (A guest with allergies received gluten-free brioche.) And requests for wine are made entertaining whenever sommelier Kerstin Mikalbrown, formerly of Roses Luxury, is involved. Kinship isnt without faults  a misplaced dish one night, a vague veneer of roasted tofu supporting otherwise lovely rockfish  but the newcomers considerable assets put them in perspective.

The most rapturous course is for the table, typically a platter of something whole (fish, chicken, foie gras) meant to be shared by two or more diners. The roast chicken takes a full hour to cook, but your patience is rewarded when Laurent shows up with a bird that appears to be auditioning for Saveur, then whisks the beauty back to the kitchen, where it is carved and returned with a lemony brioche stuffing beneath the skin and crisp leg meat punctuating a side of frisee. Another dinner, Laurent introduces a companion and me to a whole Dover sole, displaying the fish as if it were a fine wine, before the delicacy is filleted away from our eyes and brought back as dinner with sauteed pea shoots and a golden gratin of thin-sliced potatoes and onions. Ziebold is a chef who tastes his food; his dishes are seasoned perfectly. More recently, I asked for the lamb for two, and while the server didnt trot out the four-legged beast, she did impress us with a strapping platter of meat served as rosy rack of lamb, ballotine and spicy sausage. Ribbons of velvety roast peppers and grits that compare to Charlestons finest turned the butchery into a banquet.



Roast chicken is served as a For the Table offering and requires some patience  its cooked to order and takes about an hour. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

White mushrooms are the featured flavor in Kinships torchon, which is featured as a Craft dish. It is a vegetarian version of the French classic. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Desserts make you wish other restaurants tried harder. Heres the uncommon kitchen that not only whips up souffles, but does the dessert justice. Kinships single flavor, chocolate chip cookie dough, is lighter than it sounds, and what better way to serve it than with milk ... ice cream? The confection I returned to most in late winter featured thin layers of barely sweetened apple presented with a cloud of bay laurel mousse and lightly smoked vanilla ice cream. Cashew financiers, the size of buttons, melt on the tongue and help position the finale as another indulgence. The single stumble among desserts is a dry pineapple crumb cake with unripe bites of fruit, more Starbucks than star chef.

Kinship is poised to get some stiff competition from Metier, Ziebolds even grander plan to revive fine dining. Expected to make its debut any day now, the second dining room, a mere elevator descent from Kinship, will feature a salon for drinks and a $200 tasting menu  per the trend, service included.

Given his success with Act 1, the chef has his work cut out for him. But he has only himself to blame for raising the bar, and our expectations.
There is a domino effect to spring cleaning: Spring cleaning usually leads to spring organizing, which leads to spring decluttering, which leads to giant piles of unwanted stuff. Getting rid of that stuff  gently used (or sometimes never used) clothing, knickknacks, furniture and housewares  can be the hardest part of the process. Here are some worthy national and local charities that will happily take it off your hands (with the bonus of a tax deduction). Just make sure you properly fill out the correct tax forms. If you need help determining the proper value of an item, consult the Salvation Armys Donation Value Guide (satruck.org) or check out the Internal Revenue Services Publication 561: Determining the Value of Donated Property (irs.gov).

Almost anything

Pick Up Please (pickupplease.org) and Clothing Donations (clothingdonations. org) help U.S. veterans through Vietnam Veterans of America, an organization that gives aid to all of Americas veterans, not just those of a particular age group or war. While other charities ask you to drop off your donations or schedule pickups weeks in advance, Pick Up Please will collect your donation within 24 hours in most of its locations across the country. All you have to do is fill out an online form, being as specific as you can. Pack up the items in boxes or bags and leave them on the curb or in front of your home or office, and the organizations drivers will pick them up. If requested, they will leave you a tax receipt. Once the items are collected, VVA sells everything to private companies. The money earned supports local, state and national VVA programs.

Goodwill of Greater Washington has drop-off locations throughout the area. Goodwill accepts a wide variety of items, but make sure you consult its website for the list of items that it does not accept (for instance, mattresses and air conditioners).

[How do I throw away batteries and meds? And 3 other decluttering stumpers.]

Donated items are resold through Goodwills chain of thrift stores, and the revenue helps fund employment, job training and placement services for disadvantaged people. Goodwill provides a free pickup service but requires that you donate a minimum of eight large items and that the pickup be scheduled up to two months in advance. For faster pickup (within 48 hours), Goodwill works with College Hunks Hauling Junk. The company charges a fee for pickups, but it includes the removal of items from anywhere on your property and the removal of items that Goodwill cannot accept. Fill out a form on the Goodwill website (dcgoodwill.org), and College Hunks will contact you with a free estimate.

Winter coats

If you find yourself with winter coats that you didnt wear this season or that your kids outgrew, donate them to One Warm Coat. The charity supports more than 3,000 coat drives per year. Check its website ( onewarmcoat.org ) for current drives or drop-off locations near you.

Business apparel

Dress for Success passes new or gently used clothing on to women who need a new start in the workforce. The organization looks for suits, business-appropriate attire, shoes, handbags and unused cosmetics or jewelry. Go to its website (dressforsuccess.org) to find an affiliate or drop-off location near you. Most affiliates accept donations only one or two days per month, so make sure you check their hours before you go.

Gift cards

Turn your unwanted retail gift cards into a donation. On the CharityChoice Gift Cards website (charitygiftcertificates.org), just enter the merchant name, card number, PIN and card balance. Then choose from more than 250 charities you can donate the card to. You will receive a tax receipt for the balance of your card.

Cellphones and tablets

Cell Phones for Soldiers collects used cellphones and tablets and sells them to an electronics refurbisher or recycler. With the proceeds, the nonprofit purchases prepaid calling cards, which it distributes to active-duty military and veterans. The website (cellphonesforsoldiers.com) makes it easy; it even has printable shipping labels (but you pay the tax-deductible shipping fee).

Furniture and household items

Habitat for Humanity, the organization that builds homes around the world for the disadvantaged, partially funds its projects through the sale of new and gently used goods at its ReStores. Keep in mind that each ReStore is independently owned and operated by a local Habitat for Humanity organization, so policies might differ slightly.

Most ReStores accept all types of furniture (excluding mattresses and commercial office furniture), provided that items are in good to excellent condition. ReStore is unable to pick up items, but College Hunks Hauling Junk, the same company that does pickups for Goodwill, will pick up your items for a fee. Mention ReStore for a discount. Alternatively, you can drop items off at a ReStore Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Go to habitat.org/restores to find a location near you.

A Wider Circle redistributes furniture and housewares to individuals and families transitioning out of homeless situations or to those living without basic home necessities.

All donated furniture must be in good condition, with no rips or stains. You can drop off items Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., or you can arrange a pickup through the organizations website (awidercircle.org). One note: You will need to provide legal parking within 30 yards of your residence, so if you live in the District and do not have a driveway, you will need to reserve a parking permit through the D.C. Department of Transportation.

The Lupus America Household Goods Donation Program benefits the Lupus Foundation of Americas research, education and support services that help people affected by lupus. Although not a nationwide program yet, the group is active in the District, Virginia and Maryland. All donated items (the group accepts clothing, housewares, small appliances, bedding, curtains, tools and toys) are sold to for-profit wholesale buyers. The proceeds support the groups programs. You can schedule a pickup by going to lupuspickup.org or calling 844-35-LUPUS (844-355-8787), but keep in mind the charity does not accept furniture or large items.

Mayhew, a Today show style expert and former magazine editor, is the author of Flip! for Decorating.
The lawyer of Mahmoud Hussein says prosecutors quickly appealed a judge decision on Tuesday to release his client on bail, calling move 'illegal'

Mahmoud Mohamed Hussein, the Egyptian teenager who was ordered released on bail on Tuesday after spending over two years in detention following his arrest wearing an anti-torture T-shirt, has not yet walked free.

On Tuesday night, the prosecution appealed the court decision and blocked his release, his lawyer Mokhtar Mounib told Ahram Online.

Hussein has been held at the Tora prison in southern Cairo since he was first arrested in January 2014.

"Unfortunately, the eastern Cairo prosecution has appealed the release of Mahmoud...in violation of the law," Hussein's lawyer Mounib said.

Since Egyptian law limits pre-trial detention to two years, Mahmoud has qualified for unconditional release since January of this year.

The Cairo criminal court will rule on the prosecution's appeal on Thursday.

Even if the judge rejects the prosecutions' appeal against Hussein's release, release administrative procedures might take days.

Hussein, who has faced charges of illegal protesting, possessing molotov cocktails and belonging to a terrorist organisation" has since been kept in preventative detention but never stood trial.

Mahmoud was arrested on 25 January 2014, the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution, on his way home from downtown Cairo.

Hussein was 17 years old at the time of his arrest.

His family and lawyer insist he was detained at a checkpoint in northern Cairo while wearing a T-shirt that read "A nation without torture."

His detention has sparked widespread condemnation from political activists and local and international human rights groups.

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Angel Anderson owns Spice Suite, an herb and spice shop in the Takoma Park area of the District. (Courtland Milloy/The Washington Post)

At the Spice Suite in the Districts Takoma neighborhood, owner Angel Anderson sells herbs, spices and honey, along with a zesty, fresh-squeezed lemonade-of-the-week. Theres one she makes with strawberries and rosemary, another from lavender and blueberry and a refreshingly tart pomegranate and thyme concoction.

Ill use lemons with another fruit and an herb to make something sweet and savory that youd never expect in a lemonade, said Anderson, 30.

That recipe might also apply to how she has dealt with those figurative lemons that life has a way of handing to us. And Anderson has had some whoppers: a family devastated by the illegal drug trade; a father in and out of jail; three brothers becoming repeat offenders, two of whom are doing long stretches in a Texas prison for murder.

She ended up living with her grandmother in Brightwood. But that was no shield from the heartache. When Angel was 15, her 1-year-old sister, Kimberly Anderson, disappeared. Family members gave conflicting information about her whereabouts, with some saying she had been adopted. But Anderson said no record of her adoption has been found, and she does not believe a police report was filed at the time of her sisters disappearance.

Remarkably, Anderson not only persevered but managed to convert her pain and disappointments into a joyful embrace of life. She graduated from Banneker High School, one of the Districts top public high schools, and worked various jobs to help pay her way through Howard University, where she earned bachelors and masters degrees in psychology.

One of those jobs was as a teacher at the Districts Oak Hill Youth Center in Laurel, Md. I was devoted to the job because any of those boys could have been my brother, Anderson recalled. So I treated them all with compassion and I hoped that, wherever my sister was, that shed meet someone like me along her path.

She eventually left Oak Hill to become a counselor and later an assistant principal at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School in the District.

Noticing a rise in property values due to gentrification, Anderson began using her savings to invest in residential property. She bought a house, converted it into a rental and used the proceeds to buy another. When she saw a building for lease at 6902 Fourth St. NW in August last year, she decided  almost on the spur of the moment  to open a spice store.

I love to cook, Anderson said, smiling unabashedly. Its like my therapy. Even after a long day at work, I can take refuge in my kitchen.

But there was more to why she wanted to own a business and a couple of houses.

If and when my sister returns, she will need a bed, and I will have one for her, Anderson said. If my brothers ever get out of prison, they will need a job. They wont have to complain about people not hiring returning citizens.

My brothers and I are so much alike, Anderson said. We have the same grit, same hustle, the same oppositional defiance disorder. Being the baby sister, they protected me. But there was no one to protect them.

Coincidentally, I wrote a column about her oldest brother, Harrell Hagans, in 1993  when he was 13.

[In this game, nobody wins]

Harrell was a wonderful kid. And yet, just 10 years later, he was sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of a woman hit by a stray bullet.

I was committed to staying out of the criminal justice system so that I could do everything possible to pull my brothers out, Anderson said.

The two brothers incarcerated for murder have appealed to have either their convictions overturned or their sentences reduced, so far to no avail.

Meanwhile, Anderson is working on plans for her another business venture  a farmers market. The brothers could work there, too, she says.

Anderson also has a dinner date cooking service; shell come to your home and cook a meal for two.

Of course, the meal shed love most to prepare would be for her siblings. Helping her troubled family  turns out that has been a driving force in her life since childhood, the source of her phenomenal resilience.

How sweet it would be for her to have them together again, turning lemons into lemonade.

To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy.
The USS Conestoga at San Diego, circa early 1921. (Courtesy of W.P. Burbage, 1970. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph)

The USS Conestoga left the Navy yard at Mare Island, Calif., on Good Friday, 1921, bound for Pearl Harbor, with a complement of 56 sailors.

It cleared the Golden Gate at 3:25 p.m. and steamed into the Gulf of the Farallones in heavy seas. The Conestoga was a rugged oceangoing tug that had once hauled coal barges for a Pennsylvania railroad.

But 17 years after its launch in Baltimore, it had undergone hard use and had a reputation as a wet boat, one that took on water easily.

At 4 p.m. that day, as the San Francisco light ship recorded big waves and gale-force winds, the Conestoga passed Point Bonita and was not heard from again.

On Wednesday, 95 years later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy announced that the wreck had been found a few miles from Southeast Farallon Island, just off the California coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy announced on Wednesday that the wreckage of the USS Conestoga was found off the California coast. (NOAA)

The announcement came at a morning ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, attended by relatives of the lost sailors.

It is so overwhelming for all of us, Diane Gollnitz, 73, of Lutherville, Md.  the granddaughter of the Conestogas skipper, Lt. Ernest Larkin Jones  said Wednesday.

It connects the past of 95 years ago, and all the stories we were told, with the future, she said. My grandchildren are here.

The wreck site, in NOAAs Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, was imaged during a sonar survey in 2009, and examined by underwater robots in 2014 and 2015, said James P. Delgado, director of maritime heritage with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

After exhaustive research, which was complicated by the Navys assessment that the ship had sunk 2,000 miles away, the wreck was confirmed in October as the Conestoga.

[NOAA seeks sanctuary status for Torpedo Alley, an underwater battlefield]

The disappearance was one of seafarings enduring and tragic mysteries, NOAA said. No trace of the crew was ever found.

No one recognized that the vessel was missing until more than a month had passed and it failed to show up at Pearl Harbor, according to a report on the discovery by Delgado and NOAA colleague Robert V. Schwemmer.

The Navy then launched an 11-day search with 60 ships and dozens of airplanes covering 300,000 square miles. But the search was centered on Hawaii, where the Conestoga was thought to have been sighted before it vanished.

The search was futile. The ship had gone down half an ocean away.

On June 30, 1921, the Conestoga was declared lost with all hands.

An unknown wreck

The mysterious shipwreck was first spotted during a general NOAA sonar survey of the marine sanctuary in 2009. But it wasnt until a friend pointed it out in 2012 that Schwemmer learned about it.

Schwemmer is the regional coordinator of NOAAs five West Coast marine sanctuaries and has a large shipwreck database.

The image showed a wreck, 170 feet long, resting in about 200 feet of water some 30 miles from San Francisco.

Schwemmer was intrigued. There was no record of such a ship going down in that area.

He put it on his list of sites to be examined.

[A broken trumpet and clues from a sunken warship ]

In 2014, he got the chance, during a program to make an inventory of local shipwrecks using a research vessel and an underwater robot.

He and Delgado planned to check out several sites. They had no idea that this one might be the Conestogas resting place.

Schwemmer had the ships sinking in his records, but Conestoga in my database was Hawaii, thousands of miles away, Schwemmer said in a telephone interview last week.

That September, they lowered an underwater robot equipped with cameras and watched from the research ship on the surface. As the robot descended and the ghostly outlines of the wreck emerged, Delgado said, Thats a tugboat.

He recognized the curve of the bow and saw where there had once been rub rails, wooden bands that protect a tugs hull. It jumped right out at me, he said Monday.

It was an older boat, probably coal-fired, and large for a tug.

As the robot maneuvered, the men spotted a big steam engine, a towing winch and a spare propeller that was stowed on deck.

The propeller suggested that the vessel had not been scuttled, Schwemmer said. The valuable spare would not have been left behind if the ship had been intentionally junked.

The tug had probably gone down in some mishap.

But what kind? And what ship was it?

[Two whaling ships crushed by ice in 1871 are found off Alaska]

When the expedition ended, the two men flew to Norfolk for a maritime heritage conference. But they were still focused on the anonymous tug.

In his hotel room, Schwemmer began scanning old newspapers online for accounts of large tugboats sinking off California.

Nothing came up, he said. Nothing.

He broadened his search to include tugboats lost anywhere.

He stumbled upon a 1921 story in the San Diego Union about the missing Conestoga. The report said the ship had stopped at the Navys Mare Island before leaving for Pearl Harbor.

Schwemmer did not know much about the Conestoga. Hadnt it been lost near Hawaii? Curious, he did a Google search for the Conestoga and looked up its length.

It was 170 feet long.

He contacted Delgado and said, Come to my room.

Bound for American Samoa

Lt. Jones had 55 men aboard as he prepared to leave Mare Island first for Pearl Harbor and then their new duty station in American Samoa.

It was a big crew for a tugboat. But the Conestoga was a seagoing vessel needing round-the-clock watches. And it was carrying some Navy passengers.

Jones, 41, was the son of Kansas homesteaders, Gollnitz, his granddaughter, said last week. He was born in a landlocked state and used to read books, Im told, of the sea, she said. So he joined the Navy.

He enlisted in 1902 and worked his way up to warrant officer, ensign and lieutenant, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Jones had been married for seven years to the former Loretta Fogarty, of Newport, R.I. They had an infant daughter, Paula, who had just been christened.

Gollnitz has a photograph of a proud Jones smoking a cigar and holding his daughter in her christening dress. Its the only one I have of my mother with her father, she said.

The Conestogas crew came from across the country, according to biographies compiled by Lisa Stansbury, a genealogist working for NOAA.

[Read more about the men of the USS Conestoga]

They were sons of immigrants from Italy, Hungary, Norway and Denmark.

Water Tender James Flynn, 41, was born in Ireland, and his first language was Irish. He had come aboard the Conestoga only 12 days earlier, replacing a sailor whose enlistment was probably expiring.

Fireman 1st Class William Walter Johnson, 29, from Boonville, Mo., had just come aboard March 25, as the tug got ready to sail.

Louis Anthony Marchione, 21, a fireman 3rd class, sent his pay home to help out his family in Brooklyn. His parents received his last letter three days after the ship sank.

Mess Attendant 1st Class Edward Wilson, of Pensacola, Fla., was one of 16 children. He was about 17 when he enlisted in 1919, and he posed for a photograph shortly thereafter.

As Jones sailed the Conestoga from Norfolk, through the Panama Canal to San Diego, his wife and daughter traveled across the country to say goodbye, Gollnitz said in an interview.

They werent going to see him for years, she said. He was going to be stationed in American Samoa. . . . And my grandmother and mother saw him off.

A photographer took a series of striking pictures of Jones and his crew during the stop in San Diego.

But Gollnitz said her mother retained no memory of him.

She . . . tried her best to remember, she said. She was shown pictures, of course, and was told about him, but couldnt remember.

The Conestoga, with its 1,000-horsepower engine, steamed into the Pacific under clear skies that Friday, but against rising winds and seas.

Indications on the wreck suggest it may have been towing a barge, which would have complicated its situation. But NOAA did not find a barge of that vintage nearby.

The wind was blowing 40 to 48 mph and the waves were high. The NOAA report says the rough seas probably washed over the ship, perhaps smashing its wheelhouse windows.

The crew could not pump the water out fast enough, and Jones was probably making for the shelter of Southeast Farallon Island, which had a lighthouse.

The Conestoga sank three miles short.

Later, an empty lifeboat bearing the letter C was found off the Mexican coast. A USS Conestoga life preserver and kegs of provisions that may have come from the ship washed ashore near Monterey, Calif.

But the evidence was inconclusive, Schwemmer said, and the search for survivors was conducted far away.

In 1958, Gollnitz and her mother sailed from San Francisco via Pearl Harbor for Thailand to join her father, who was stationed there in the Army.

Around Pearl Harbor, where the Conestoga was thought to have been lost, my mother was very emotional, Gollnitz recalled. Youre looking out at the sea and wondering, Is he here? She felt she was the closest to him then.

They never realized, she said, that when they steamed out of San Francisco, thats when we were the closest.
During her 2016 State of the District address, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced plans to complete the modernization of the city's schools and also called for an increase in the minimum wage. (DCN)

During her 2016 State of the District address, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced plans to complete the modernization of the city's schools and also called for an increase in the minimum wage. (DCN)

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser on Tuesday called for increasing the citys minimum wage to $15 by 2020, dedicating her second citywide address to what she called a bold plan to make good on her motto to create pathways to the middle class for residents.

In her State of the District address, Bowser (D) said the city would assume all operations at the D.C. jail next year, allowing the District to bring back inmates from federal prisons more quickly and provide more support to inmates when they are released.

The mayor also pledged to make the largest investment in public education in the citys history and promised to fully modernize every school that has not yet received a renovation since the city began that campaign a decade ago.

Calling affordable child care a problem from Cleveland Park to Anacostia, Bowser said she had directed city officials to study ways to lower costs.

Together, Bowsers proposals offered her a chance to retake the agenda after a year in which she acknowledged that events overtook some of her initial plans.

Mayor Muriel Bowser poses for a photo with supporters after delivering the 2016 State of the District address. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Bowser spent the past year dealing with a dramatic rise in homicides, trying to overhaul the Districts approach to housing homeless families and negotiating terms for a troubled merger of the citys electric utility, Pepco, with the nuclear energy giant Exelon.

Addressing the citys 54 percent homicide spike last year, Bowser offered a dig at the centerpiece of the D.C. Councils response  a measure calling for paying suspected criminals to engage with mentors to turn their lives around. Bowser is expected to not include funding for the plan, but key council members have promised to take money from her other initiatives to fund the experiment.

Those left out of prosperity are not looking for a handout, they just want a shot, a chance, and they need help, Bowser said, arguing that city jobs programs are where the District should invest resources.

The mayors proposal for raising the minimum wage promised to grab the attention of an increasingly liberal D.C. Council and possibly to give her leverage to secure votes for her plan to create a network of shelters for homeless families across the city.

With grocery bills, child care . . . and the other expenses of everyday life . . . an hourly minimum wage of eleven dollars and fifty cents will only stretch so far, said Bowser, who delivered her remarks at Arena Stage in Southwest Washington. Low wages create an invisible ceiling that prevents working families from truly getting a fair shot.

Bowsers decision to push for a higher minimum wage was surprising, because she had until recently expressed skepticism about further increases. It also appeared likely to preempt a ballot-measure fight over a $15 minimum wage, which is tied up in the courts but could still appear on the November ballot if supporters gather enough signatures.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who has been lukewarm to increasing the minimum wage above that in neighboring counties in Maryland, said he would have to see details of Bowsers wage plan before deciding whether he would support it.

Bowser also offered a blueprint for her expected $13 billion spending plan, scheduled to be released Thursday. She promised continued record spending on affordable housing and to dedicate a greater share of the citys borrowing capacity to finishing the job of renovating nearly all city schools by 2022. Bowser also stressed anew that she would fulfill a campaign promise to close the citys dilapidated family homeless shelter at D.C. General Hospital.

The mayors speech followed a rocky rollout of her plan. She was criticized last month for withholding information about how she selected the shelter sites.

Last week, council support also appeared to weaken, with some lawmakers questioning the mayors plan to lease the sites for proposed shelters from developers, including several who have made political donations to Bowser.

Bowser has declined to answer questions about the developers who have either directly donated to her campaigns or to political efforts on her behalf.

[D.C. mayors homeless shelter plan could be profitable for political backers]

People have said vicious things. Theyve clouded the mission, she said, imploring the D.C. Council not to be distracted by arguments that are based on fear or convenience.

Make no mistake, if we fail to act . . . we will not be able to close D.C. General, Bowser said.

[Bowser pledges new era in accountability in first citywide address]

A small group of protesters Tuesday evening said Bowser wasnt living up to a pledge she made during her first State of the District address in 2015, when she promised a new era in transparency in city government. Accountability is embedded in everything this administration does, Bowser said at the time.

About 10 people gathered outside Arena Stage to protest, holding signs and distributing fliers opposing her plan for new homeless shelters across the District.

Gabriel Serrato, 37, who lives in the vicinity of Bowsers planned Ward 6 homeless shelter at 700 Delaware Ave. SW, said he saw the plan as keeping homeless people displaced and benefiting connected developers.

At that site, developer Bryan Scottie Irving is listed as the registered agent of a new corporation that would lease the site. The city lease would increase the value of the property tenfold, according to an analysis for the D.C. Council.

When it looks like campaign donors are making a massive windfall with taxpayer dollars, she has to answer for that, said Serrato, who held a sign saying Mayor Bowser Stop Hiding and depicted her as an animated character cowering under a desk.

The mayor also dedicated a substantial portion of her remarks lamenting the Districts lack of voting rights in Congress. She opened her speech with a rebuttal to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who had recently questioned the citys ability to manage itself because of the $200 million it had spent to open the streetcar line. And she finished with a lofty appeal for greater autonomy, invoking the civil rights battles of the 1960s.

She called the Districts recent court victory in the controversy over how its budget is approved by Congress one step closer to becoming the 51st state.

Bowser said there is unfinished business from the 1960s.

Maybe people didnt think that we had to protect people of the nations capital, she said. But 154 years after President Lincoln abolished slavery, in Washington D.C., we remain at the mercy of those we did not elect to office. Its not right and lets stand together until everyone recognizes it.
District regulators approved a $6.8 billion merger between Pepco Holdings and Exelon on Wednesday, March 23, creating the largest publicly-held utility in the country. The Post's Aaron Davis tells you what you need to know about the merger. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

District regulators approved a $6.8 billion merger between Pepco Holdings and Exelon on Wednesday, March 23, creating the largest publicly-held utility in the country. The Post's Aaron Davis tells you what you need to know about the merger. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

District regulators approved a $6.8 billion merger between Pepco Holdings and Exelon on Wednesday, creating the largest publicly held utility in the country.

The decision marked a surprising turn of events for the deal, which D.C. regulators had rejected twice and which appeared to be on life support in recent weeks as D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and other city leaders lined up in opposition.

The merger means that Pepco will be absorbed by a company with the largest number of nuclear reactors in the country and widespread operations throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and New England.

The sale affects about 2 million Mid-Atlantic electric customers who are served by Pepco Holdings, including more than 815,000 ratepayers in the District and in Prince Georges and Montgomery counties.

And it is widely expected that those customers will see higher electric rates  possibly as soon as this summer  as has happened in Baltimore and other cities after Exelon acquired energy distributors. Pepco has not sought annual rate increases since 2014, when Exelon first proposed its takeover of Pepco, despite having made capital improvements.

The proposal had been closely watched by environmentalists, utility and public-service lawyers and financial analysts across the country. Because of its size, the deal is likely to change the national utility landscape.

It was also seen as a test of strength for the business community in Washington, which lobbied hard for the merger and wants to promote the nations capital as business-friendly.

In voting 2 to 1 to approve the deal, the D.C. Public Service Commission said it was in the public interest, noting that the utilities would deposit $72.8 million in a customer investment fund, set aside $11.25 million for energy efficiency and conservation programs targeted toward low-income residents and carve out $21.55 million for pilot projects, such as modernizing the electric-distribution grid.

These benefits, among others, would not be available to District ratepayers if the merger is not approved, the commission said in a statement.

But under terms approved by the commission, millions of dollars that Bowser had wanted to cushion residential customers from rate increases until 2019 could instead go to credits for businesses or the federal government.

Neither Pepco nor Exelon claimed victory after the vote, in part because stakeholders can seek a stay on the orders implementation.

The utilities wasted no time in completing the merger, announcing late Wednesday afternoon that both sides had completed and filed the paperwork. Pepco stock would cease to exist as of Thursday, with shareholders receiving $27.25 per share.

Today, we join together as one company to play a vital role as a leader in our industry and the mid-Atlantic region, Chris Crane, Exelons chief executive, said in a statement.

Joseph M. Rigby, previously chairman, president and chief executive of Pepco Holdings, officially retired Wednesday. He was replaced by David M. Velazquez.

Bowser and other officials did not say whether they will try to squash the merger. In a statement, the mayor said residents should brace for higher electric bills. It appears the Public Service Commission favors government and commercial ratepayers over DC residents, the mayor wrote. Instead of a three year rate increase reprieve that we negotiated, it appears that DC residents will be hit with a rate increase as soon as this summer.

Anya Schoolman, head of the nonprofit group Community Power Network and an opponent of the deal, said she was shocked by the reversal.

Power DC, an umbrella group of community organizations that opposed the merger, voted to fight on. By approving the merger, the PSC has exposed our city to decades of higher rates, weakened its own ability to guide our citys energy future, and helped ensure that DC will fall behind the rest of the US on clean, efficient energy, the group said.

D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), a fierce opponent of the merger, blasted the commission for the reversal.

What were doing here is fundamentally not in the public interest for the ratepayers or people of the District of Columbia, she said. Ill tell you who the beneficiaries are, quite plainly: Its Exelon and the shareholders of Pepco who get a big windfall out of this. Those are the people who won. . . . The rest of us, we lost.

Exelon is a power generator who wants to sell more power, she said. We want to encourage less energy use and conservation  its a conflict.

But the business community celebrated.

James C. Dinegar, president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, called the decision a catapult for the region . . . as a place to do business because now we have the strongest, best power company in the country.

The merger would add resources to the local power equation, he said. It gives us more resiliency against storms, cyberattacks and more. It also gives us a quicker restart time because resources are closer, he said. I dont have to wait on Texas and Tennessee to provide reserves.

Former D.C. mayor Anthony A. Williams, now the chief executive of the Federal City Council, a nonprofit group that seeks to influence local affairs, lobbied hard for the merger in recent weeks.

Were happy with the commissions decision for both residents and employers in D.C., Williams said through a spokesman. The merger is a win for reliability, financial integrity, sustainability and corporate responsibility.

The PSCs approval had been the final hurdle to the merger, which had been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Justice Department, and the states of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

The fact that the District was the last to act, combined with a somewhat complex regulatory landscape, made the city especially challenging, Dinegar said.

The deal means the end of independence for an institution with roots in the late 19th century, but it could bring improved service for consumers and a modest premium for Pepco shareholders.

The all-cash transaction is based on a $27.25 share price that represents a 24.7 percent premium on Pepco Holdings closing price of $21.85 on April 25, 2014, when the deal was announced.

That valued the deal at about $6.8 billion, based on the number of outstanding shares reported in Pepcos most recent securities filing. Exelon also agreed to provide up to $100 million  or about $50 a customer  to give Pepco customers such benefits as rate credits, assistance for low-income customers and energy-efficiency measures.

Debate centered on the role of renewable-energy sources  such as wind and solar  against legacy technologies, such as nuclear power and natural gas. Many environmental groups opposed the deal because they believed it would hinder the migration toward renewable energies.

The proposal was part of a larger trend of utilities undertaking strategies that lower their exposure in competitive power markets in favor of owning regulated utilities that have more predictable, if lower, revenue streams.
Holly Basss exhibition Root Work, on display at BlackRock Center for the Arts through Saturday, includes photos of her father picking cotton. (Holly Bass)

THU 24

James and the Giant Peach Adventure Theatre and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma present the musical version of the Roald Dahl book. Continues Thursday and Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 and 4:30 p.m., Monday-Wednesday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Through April 5. Glen Echo Park, Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. 301-634-2270. www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org. $19.50.

The Peking Acrobats The troupe stops by on its 30th Anniversary North American Tour. 7:30 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.strathmore.org. $25-$45.

Ward Kong Duo Cellist and former Strathmore Artist in Residence Alicia Ward performs with pianist Kimberly Kong. 7:30 p.m. Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.strathmore.org. $30.

Marjorie Prime Jordan Harrisons comedy tells the story of an 85-year-old widow living out her life with a hologram of her husband. Continues Thursday and Friday at 7:45 p.m., Saturday at 1:45 and 7:45 p.m., Sunday at 1:45 p.m.,Wednesday at 1:45 and 7:45 p.m. Through April 10. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney. 301-924-3400. www.olneytheatre.org. $42-$65, seniors and children $37-$60, military $22-$45.

The Pillowman In Irish playwright Martin McDonaghs dark drama, a writer is investigated after a series of child murders bear resemblance to his published works. Continues Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Monday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. Through April 2. Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, 8641 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-588-8279. www.forum-theatre.org. $33-$38 in advance, pay-what-you-want tickets available at every performance.

Anat Cohen Quartet The jazz quartet led by the Israeli-born clarinetist and saxophonist explores Brazilian musical styles such as Brazilian pop, Tropicalia and choroin this concert. 8:30 p.m. Amp by Strathmore, 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.ampbystrathmore.com. $40-$50.

FRI 25

Bunnyland Easter-themed childrens activities include hayrides, rubber duck derby races, egg hunts, pedal tractor rides, giant slides, and visits with the farms Country Bunny mascot and real bunnies, lambs and chicks. There will also be pony rides, face painting and food available at an additional cost. Continues Friday, Saturday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Through April 3. Butlers Orchard, 22200 Davis Mill Rd., Germantown. 301-428-0444. www.butlersorchard.com. $7, children $9.

Cadillac Jump Blues Band The D.C. Blues Society presents the local jump blues band concert with door prizes and a happy hour. 6 p.m. American Legion Post 41, 905 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring. 301-322-4808. www.dcblues.org. Free.

Blue Rhythm Boys The local band plays hot jazz and blues. 7:30 p.m. Allyworld, 7014-C Westmoreland Ave., Takoma Park. 240-450-2420. www.imtfolk.org. In advance $20, day of the show $25.

Yellow Dubmarine The reggae Beatles tribute band performs. With Start Making Sense and Sloan Trio. 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-960-9999. www.fillmoresilverspring.com. $20.

Mosaic Modernities Marcella Marsellas solo exhibition features upcycled art and fashion made from credit cards, currency, bullets and discarded objects. Opens Friday. Through April 24. VisArts at Rockville, Common Ground Gallery, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. 301-315-8200. www.visartsatrockville.org. Free.

SAT 26

Environmental Film Festival The festival closes Saturday with 14 events throughout the D.C. area, including a screening of Grimur Hakonarsons Icelandic film Rams, about estranged brothers who must work together to save their familys prized sheep from disease. 7:20 p.m. at AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-495-6700. dceff.wpengine.com. $13, seniors $10, military and students $9.50, children $8.

Loston Harris The jazz pianist returns for a concert of popular songs and jazz standards. 8 p.m. Amp by Strathmore, 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.ampbystrathmore.com. $35-$45.

Root Work Holly Basss installation, video and photographs tell the story of her father picking cotton by hand. Closes Saturday. BlackRock Center for the Arts, Kay Gallery, 12901 Town Commons Dr., Germantown. 301-528-2260. www.blackrockcenter.org. Free.

Lil Durk and Lil Uzi Vert The rappers perform. 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-960-9999. www.fillmoresilverspring.com. $33.

SUN 27

Closing at Glen Echo Park Fields of Inquiry, a group show of sculptures by Mei Mei Chang and paintings by Pat Goslee and Kathryn McDonnell exploring the concept of imagination; Seasonal Mix, Ronnie Spiewaks showcase of collages made from cut paper and paint; and Tactile Terrain, a ceramic sculpture exhibition by Robert Devers, close Sunday. Glen Echo Park, Popcorn and Park View galleries, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. 301-634-2222. www.glenechopark.org. Free.

MON 28

An Evening With Ruthie Logsdon The singer-songwriter behind the Wammie-winning honky-tonk band Ruthie and the Wranglers performs as part of the Darryl Davis Presents series. With Darryl Davis. 7:30 p.m. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 240-330-4500. www.bethesdabluesjazz.com. Free entry, $10 minimum purchase.

TUE 29

Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association Annual Juried Art Exhibition The 30th annual exhibition, featuring multimedia works by members, opens Friday with a reception Tuesday at 7 p.m. Through June 10. 7-8:30 p.m. Kentlands Mansion, 320 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg. 301-258-6394. www.gaithersburgfinearts.org. Free.

WED 30

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Round House Theatre stages Tennessee Williamss drama about a Southern family. Opens Wednesday with a preview at 7:30 p.m. Through April 24. Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Hwy., Bethesda. 240-644-1100. www.roundhousetheatre.org. Wednesday pay-what-you-can; other shows $30-$50.

Divas of Drag Drag queens Latrice Royale, Alyssa Edwards, Trixie Mattel and others from the Logo TV reality show RuPauls Drag Race stop by on their national tour. 9 p.m. The Fillmore, 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-960-9999. www.fillmoresilverspring.com. $30.

 Compiled by Carrie Donovan

from staff reports
THE DISTRICT

Police think man, 60, tried to abduct boy

Authorities are looking for a 60-year-old man who they think was involved in a recent abduction attempt at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum.

U.S. Park Police officials said that a warrant has been issued for Bernard Drai, who also goes by Bernard Derei, and that he may be staying in the New York City area.

According to police, a group of children with chaperons was leaving the museums north entrance on March 3 when a man grabbed the hand of one of the children. He walked a few steps with the child before a chaperon yelled for him to leave the child alone.

Police said they are also looking for another suspect in the case. He is described as heavyset with gray or white hair. Anyone with information is asked to call 202-610-8737.

White House fence jumper is in custody

A person is in custody after jumping over a temporary bike rack outside the White Houses south fence, authorities said.

The incident happened about 4:35 p.m. Tuesday near the 17th Street NW side of the facility. The Secret Service said the person was immediately detained by officers. Kevin Dye, a Secret Service spokesman, said the person was arrested.

VIRGINIA

Man fatally shot by ofcer is identied

A man fatally shot Tuesday by a Fredericksburg police officer has been identified as a 33-year-old resident of the Virginia city, state police said Wednesday.

Travis J. Blair died shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday at a hospital in Fredericksburg, said Corrine Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, which is investigating the shooting.

Blair was shot about five hours earlier, after Officer Christopher Brossmer stopped Blairs vehicle. Brossmer, 31, noticed that Blair was named in a warrant for failing to appear for a hearing on a drug possession charge, according to police.

Brossmer told investigators that during the traffic stop, Blair refused to comply with commands before Blair put his vehicle in drive and dragged Brossmer about 600 feet before crashing and setting off a series of altercations, Geller said.

Authorities said it was during the third altercation that Brossmers weapon discharged, and a bullet hit Blair in the leg. The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.

 Victoria St. Martin

2 women allegedly raped near GMU

Two female students were allegedly raped on or near the Fairfax campus of George Mason University in separate incidents over the past week, the university said Wednesday.

The first incident occurred late in the evening of March 17, either in a student residence hall or in an off-campus apartment, according to the school. The student reported she was raped by a male student whom she knew. The female student may have unknowingly ingested an unidentified drug before the alleged assault, university police said.

The second incident occurred about 1:15 a.m. Monday at a student residence hall, according to the school. The attacker met the woman through a dating app and allegedly raped her, the university said. The man is not affiliated with GMU.

 Justin Jouvenal
GREENBELT, MD MARCH 18, 2016-Congressman Chris Van Hollen listens as Congresswoman Donna Edwards spoke during a candidates forum on March 18, 2016 in Greenbelt, Md. (Mark Gail/For The Washington Post)

The two candidates in the hotly contested Democratic primary race for Marylands open U.S. Senate seat have agreed to two more debates, with just over a month to go before the April 26 primary.

Reps. Donna F. Edwards and Chris Van Hollen debated for the first time last Friday and are scheduled to square off again in Baltimore on Friday.

[Edwards, Van Hollen on the attack in first Senate race debate]

Their campaigns announced Wednesday that they will also debate next Tuesday and on April 5. The Tuesday debate will be televised in both the Washington and Baltimore markets, while the April 5 debate will air on the Larry Young Morning show on Baltimore radio station WOLB.

The campaigns also announced three newly scheduled candidate forums: Monday, sponsored by the Baltimore Jewish Council; next Thursday, sponsored by the Prince Georges County Democratic Central Committee, the county chamber of commerce and the county branch of the NAACP; and April 11, in Montgomery County, sponsored by Progressive Neighbors, the Womens Democratic Club and Leisure World.

A previously announced candidate forum is scheduled for April 9. The campaigns said in a joint statement that additional forums will be announced at a later time.
For more than two weeks, Rep. John Delaney has demanded to know whether Marylands Republican governor will back Donald Trump if the billionaire business mogul captures the GOPs 2016 presidential nomination.

On Wednesday, the Maryland Democrat, who is running for reelection this year in a district that stretches from liberal Montgomery County to more conservative western Maryland, took his campaign to Gov. Larry Hogans back yard.

A mobile anti-Trump billboard circled the state house  directly behind the governors mansion in Annapolis  challenging Hogan to take a position on the brash-talking Republican front-runner.

One side of the advertisement posed a question for Hogan: Will you support Trump as the Republican nominee? The other side was a statement, attributed to Delaney: Because everyone in Maryland will lose if Trump wins.

[Hogan: Im completely disgusted with national politics]

This mobile anti-Donald Trump ad calls on Governor Larry Hogan (R-Md.) to take a stance again the Republican presidential frontrunner. (Josh Hicks/The Washington Post)

Justin Schall, Delaneys campaign spokesman, said the billboard is part of an effort to portray Delaney as a leader willing to stand up to Trump, who has made controversial remarks about immigrants, women, Muslims and protesters at his rallies and is opposed by a significant segment of the Republican establishment, including 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.

Schall declined to say how much Delaney  a health-care financier who funded his own run for office and is one of the richest members of Congress  paid for the ad. But such efforts typically cost about $1,500 for each day of driving, plus up to $3,000 for production.

One of the big problems we face is Donald Trumps hatred and bigotry, Schall said. Hogan, he added, should lead. It will take less than five minutes to answer this simple question.

Hogan spokesman Matt Clark said that Delaneys effort to corner the governor was misguided.

No one in Maryland wants to see to the discourse in our state devolve into the chaos and partisanship that has become commonplace among professional politicians in Washington, Clark said.

With all of the problems we are facing as a state and as a country, youd think hed have better ways to spend his time.

Schall said that Delaney is hoping to energize Democratic voters in his district, which is more closely divided along political lines than other parts of the state (44 percent of voters are registered Democrats, while 32 percent are registered Republicans).

The two-term congressman  who narrowly defeated a Republican opponent in 2014  faces a challenger in the April 26 Democratic primary, Tony Puca, who has aligned himself with presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.

There are several Republicans competing for the nomination to run against Delaney in Novembers general election.

[Md. Republicans eyeing Delaneys congressional seat]

The mobile billboard was scheduled to cruise through downtown Annapolis for several hours Wednesday, including along Main Street and at the popular waterfront. Schall said the truck will return Thursday if Hogan does not take a position.

Despite the sunny spring weather, few people were outside the statehouse to see the billboard Wednesday, although a few tourists from China pointed and laughed as it passed.

We cant vote here, but its very interesting because many people talk about Trump, Lin Hui said.

Hogan was a vocal supporter of former GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who is a good friend of Hogans and was a strong backer of Hogan during Marylands gubernatorial campaign.

Christie dropped out of the race last month and later endorsed Trump.

At that point, Hogan said he had no plans to endorse anyone else in the race and was completely disgusted with national politics in both parties.
Montgomery County

The following information, provided by the Montgomery County Police Department, shows only initial calls for service received by the 911 center. Many of these reported incidents could turn out to be classified under a different crime category or determined to be unfounded. And some calls for service could be resolved with no further action needed.

REWARDS FOR INFORMATION

Crime Solvers of Montgomery County, a nonprofit organization, pays up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in connection with felonies. Call the 24-hour hotline at 800-673-2777. Callers may remain anonymous.

District 1

Rockville Station

Telephone: 240-773-6070

ASSAULTS

Bou Ave., 5700 block, 12:55 p.m. March 14.

Chapman Ave., 1800 block, 1:57 a.m. March 9.

Gainsborough Rd., 11300 block, 12:12 p.m. March 9.

ROBBERY

Veirs Mill Rd., 2100 block, 7:31 p.m. March 8. Robbery reported.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Alderbrook Ct., 5600 block, 9:18 a.m. March 11.

Edison Park Dr., 100 block, 10:56 a.m. March 12.

Edmonston Dr., 600 block, 7:53 a.m. March 11.

Edmonston Dr., 600 block, 8:16 a.m. March 14.

Forest Ave., 100 block, 1:31 p.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Grinnell Dr., 7200 block, 9:33 p.m. March 9.

Indianola Dr., 15900 block, 11:22 a.m. March 14.

Rockville Pike, 1500 block, 4:31 p.m. March 9.

Rockville Pike, 1700 block, 8:18 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Shady Grove Rd., 15700 block, 5:57 p.m. March 10.

Shady Grove Rd., 16000 block, 10:24 a.m. March 14. Theft from auto.

Talbott St., 100 block, 10 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Twinbrook Pkwy., 12900 block, 9:29 p.m. March 12.

Wootton Pkwy., 2100 block, 4:29 p.m. March 14.

District 2

Bethesda Station

Telephone: 240-773-6700

ASSAULT

Nicholson Lane, 5800 block, 5:29 p.m. March 9.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Aldershot Dr., 9200 block, 2:19 p.m. March 10.

Arlington Rd., 7100 block, 6:09 p.m. March 12.

Beech Ave., 5900 block, 4:14 p.m. March 12.

Bradley Blvd., 4800 block, 2:42 p.m. March 8.

Bradley Blvd., 7500 block, 11:55 a.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

Broad St., 10000 block, 9:52 p.m. March 10.

Burdette Rd., 8300 block, 1:11 p.m. March 9.

Calwood Way, 6100 block, 11 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Chateau Dr., 8600 block, 2:17 p.m. March 11.

Cheshire Dr., 5700 block, 10:15 a.m. March 11.

Connecticut Ave., 7600 block, 5:21 p.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

Custer Rd., 7800 block, 7:37 p.m. March 12.

Decatur Ave., 4000 block, 9:45 a.m. March 9.

Democracy Blvd., 7100 block, 5:06 p.m. March 9.

Democracy Blvd., 7100 block, 2 p.m. March 10.

Democracy Blvd., 7100 block, 2:08 p.m. March 10.

Democracy Blvd., 7100 block, 2:08 p.m. March 10.

Democracy Blvd., 7100 block, 7:02 p.m. March 10.

East-West Hwy., 4300 block, 2:32 p.m. March 11.

Executive Blvd., 6100 block, 8:04 p.m. March 11.

Fairfax Rd., 7200 block, 5:50 p.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Greenway Dr., 4900 block, 8:45 p.m. March 12.

Hampden Lane, 7800 block, 10:17 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Hillandale Rd., 6600 block, 3:46 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Jefferson St., 8600 block, 10:46 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Johnson Ave., 6000 block, 6:44 p.m. March 10.

Jones Bridge Rd., 3900 block, 5:40 p.m. March 9.

MacArthur Blvd., 10800 block, 8:51 a.m. March 12.

Maple Ave., 11900 block, 4:25 p.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Maple Ave., 11900 block, 4:58 p.m. March 14. Theft from auto.

Montrose Rd., 6100 block, 8:36 p.m. March 9.

Old Georgetown Rd., 10200 block, 11:08 a.m. March 9.

Pinkney Ct., 9600 block, 5:25 p.m. March 14. Theft from auto.

Pooks Hill Rd., 5200 block, 9:24 a.m. March 10. Theft from auto.

Rock Forest Dr., 6400 block, 4:06 p.m. March 8.

Strand Dr., 11400 block, 4 p.m. March 8.

Waxwood Ct., 10900 block, 9:38 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Wisconsin Ave., 7300 block, 7:16 p.m. March 8.

Wisconsin Ave., 7300 block, 4:39 p.m. March 13.

VEHICLE THEFTS

Arlington Rd., 7100 block, 2:55 p.m. March 10. Stolen vehicle.

Bradley Blvd., 4900 block, 7:40 a.m. March 11.

Madison St., 5600 block, 8:44 a.m. March 8.

District 3

Silver Spring Station

Telephone: 240-773-6800

ASSAULT

Castle Blvd., 14100 block, 1:30 a.m. March 9.

ROBBERY

Piney Branch Rd., 8700 block, 11:22 p.m. March 12. Robbery reported.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Beethoven Blvd., 12900 block, 7 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Blair Mill Rd., 1400 block, 2:18 p.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

Braddock Rd., 9600 block, 8:50 a.m. March 9.

Braddock Rd., 9700 block, 4:56 p.m. March 11.

Cameron St., 8700 block, 8:06 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Cherry Hill Rd., 12000 block, 11:01 a.m. March 8.

Cherry Hill Rd., 12000 block, 5:11 p.m. March 11.

Colesville Rd., 8600 block, 2:14 p.m. March 8.

Colesville Rd., 8700 block, 11:07 p.m. March 12. Theft from auto.

Columbia Pike, 10700 block, 5:44 p.m. March 14.

Columbia Pike and Sandy Spring Rd., 11:07 a.m. March 13.

Conductor Way, 13000 block, 9:52 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Cordoba St., 3100 block, 2:56 p.m. March 11.

Dustin Rd., 4400 block, 12:36 p.m. March 14.

Eton Rd., 9100 block, 2:55 p.m. March 8.

Georgia Ave., 7900 block, 8:34 a.m. March 8. Trespassing.

Georgia Ave., 7900 block, 9:09 a.m. March 9. Trespassing.

Georgia Ave., 10300 block, 8:23 a.m. March 8.

Grey Castle Way, 1900 block, 12:51 p.m. March 11.

Hastings Dr., 9600 block, 5:23 p.m. March 10.

Lawnsberry Terr., 9500 block, 9:47 a.m. March 11. Theft from auto.

Lockwood Dr., 11200 block, 5:52 p.m. March 13.

Memory Ct., unit block, 8:38 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

New Hampshire Ave. and Powder Mill Rd., 6:25 p.m. March 10.

Renfrew Rd., 10000 block, 12:33 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Renick Lane, 11900 block, 5:15 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Sligo Creek Pkwy., 9000 block, 2:34 p.m. March 12.

Stravinsky Terr., 13200 block, 7:10 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Tech Rd., 12200 block, 9:02 a.m. March 8.

Torrington Pl., 400 block, 8:29 a.m. March 11.

Wayne Ave., 900 block, 3:27 p.m. March 10.

Wayne Ave. E., unit block, 3:08 p.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Second Ave. and Cameron St., 12:14 p.m. March 9.

13th St., 8000 block, 9:10 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

FRAUD

Georgia and Wayne avenues, 7:21 p.m. March 11.

VEHICLE THEFTS

East-West Hwy., 1200 block, 4:21 p.m. March 14. Stolen vehicle.

Featherwood Dr., 12300 block, 3:44 p.m. March 13.

District 4

Wheaton Station

Telephone: 240-773-5500

ASSAULTS

Bowie Mill Rd., 18100 block, 1:22 a.m. March 9.

Layhill Rd., 14300 block, 1:37 a.m. March 9.

Randolph Rd., 4000 block, 5:58 p.m. March 10.

WEAPON

Dalewood Dr., 12600 block, 2:29 p.m. March 14.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Alderton Rd., 14100 block, 6:32 p.m. March 10.

Belgrade Rd. N., 1000 block, 7:35 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Calumet Dr., 10500 block, 2:18 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Carson St., 1100 block, 3:48 p.m. March 14.

Dauphine St., 13400 block, 8:59 p.m. March 10.

Deerhurst Terr., 14600 block, 3:23 p.m. March 12.

Delano St., 3800 block, 6:26 a.m. March 11. Theft from auto.

Eastland St., 13800 block, 9:18 a.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

Ednor Rd., 500 block, 11:51 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Gatehouse Ct., 3000 block, 3:49 p.m. March 13.

Georgia Ave., 11300 block, 2:09 p.m. March 11. Theft from auto.

Georgia Ave., 11700 block, 3:13 p.m. March 11. Trespassing.

Georgia Ave., 12300 block, 2:14 p.m. March 8.

Georgia Ave., 14000 block, 11:14 a.m. March 9.

Georgia Ave., 14000 block, 6:06 p.m. March 10.

Georgia Ave., 19100 block, 5:30 p.m. March 8.

Glenallan Ave., 2300 block, 4:19 p.m. March 12.

Henderson Ave., 2100 block, 10:40 a.m. March 9.

Henderson Ave., 2200 block, 2:53 p.m. March 11.

Kenbrook Dr., 600 block, 1:17 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Kenbrook Dr., 900 block, 5:13 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Kimberly St., 2400 block, 8:56 p.m. March 12.

Lydia St., 13300 block, 6:46 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Mount Everest Lane, 15900 block, 3:42 p.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

New Hampshire Ave., 14000 block, 8:49 a.m. March 11.

Redspire Dr., 13200 block, 7:09 a.m. March 14.

Stonington Rd., 400 block, 9:15 p.m. March 10.

Town Center Dr., 18100 block, 12:10 p.m. March 8.

University Blvd. W., 900 block, 7:46 p.m. March 11.

Upton Dr., 3000 block, 9:46 p.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 4:21 p.m. March 8.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 5:42 p.m. March 8.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 7:31 p.m. March 8.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 12:58 p.m. March 9.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 6:11 p.m. March 10.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 7:47 p.m. March 10.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 2:14 p.m. March 13.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11100 block, 9:32 p.m. March 14.

Wendy Ct., 3900 block, 6:34 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

VEHICLE THEFTS

Shoreham Dr., 14200 block, 6:35 a.m. March 9.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11200 block, 10:21 a.m. March 9.

Veirs Mill Rd., 11500 block, 4:55 a.m. March 14. Stolen vehicle.

District 5

Germantown Station

Telephone: 240-773-6200

ASSAULTS

Esmond Terr., 19200 block, 5:44 p.m. March 12.

Observation Dr., 20400 block, 1:49 a.m. March 9.

Sweetgum Cir., 19900 block, 3:38 p.m. March 14.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Ansel Terr., 13600 block, 5:51 a.m. March 14. Theft from auto.

Applegrath Ct., unit block, 7:34 a.m. March 14.

Bristlecone Way, 13200 block, 12:56 p.m. March 10.

Bristlecone Way, 13200 block, 12:33 p.m. March 14.

Broadway Ave., 22800 block, 11:18 a.m. March 12.

Brown Church Rd., 9200 block, 5:14 p.m. March 9.

Crystal Rock Dr., 19600 block, 4:32 p.m. March 14.

Frederick Rd., 20900 block, 10:50 a.m. March 9.

Frederick Rd., 20900 block, 6:43 p.m. March 9.

Frederick Rd., 20900 block, 6:11 p.m. March 11.

Frederick Rd., 21000 block, 10:58 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

Kingsview Rd., 18900 block, 9:48 a.m. March 14.

Kitchen House Way, 12800 block, 5 p.m. March 8.

Lark Song Terr., 18900 block, 3:06 p.m. March 9.

Pickering Dr., 12900 block, 6:24 p.m. March 12.

Red Rocks Dr., 18000 block, 7:58 a.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

VEHICLE THEFTS

Apperson Way, 11500 block, 9:57 a.m. March 10. Stolen vehicle.

Century Blvd., 20100 block, 3:02 p.m. March 14.

Great Park Cir., 12500 block, 4:48 p.m. March 8. Stolen vehicle.

Mill House Ct., 13000 block, 6:33 a.m. March 10. Stolen vehicle.

District 6

Gaithersburg Station

Telephone: 240-773-5700

ASSAULTS

Hummingbird Terr., 9200 block, 1:25 a.m. March 11.

Watkins Mill Rd., 19300 block, 4:19 p.m. March 12.

ROBBERY

Mineral Springs Dr., 7800 block, 10:48 a.m. March 8. Robbery reported.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Amity Dr., 17600 block, 1:56 p.m. March 11.

Bralan Ct., unit block, 12:20 p.m. March 14.

Brian Ct., unit block, 6:02 p.m. March 8.

Briardale Terr., 7800 block, 9:40 a.m. March 10.

Coriander Dr., 7900 block, 12:01 p.m. March 11.

Crested Iris Ct., unit block, 5:04 p.m. March 11.

Diamond Ave. E., 300 block, 12:12 p.m. March 9.

Fields Rd., 9700 block, 8:45 a.m. March 12. Theft from auto.

Frederick Ave. S., 800 block, 3:39 p.m. March 13.

Frederick Ave. S., 16500 block, 12:27 p.m. March 14.

Goodport Lane, unit block, 2:21 p.m. March 12. Theft from auto.

Harbor Tree Rd. and Otter Cove Ct., 9 p.m. March 13.

Longdraft Rd., 200 block, 6:15 p.m. March 13. Theft from auto.

Lost Knife Cir., 18400 block, 8:51 p.m. March 10. Theft from auto.

Maplewood Ct., unit block, 1:41 p.m. March 14. Theft from auto.

Oak Shade Rd., unit block, 12:09 p.m. March 12. Theft from auto.

Rock Lodge Rd., 400 block, 8:39 a.m. March 14. Theft from auto.

Russell Ave., 700 block, 12:49 p.m. March 11.

Russell Ave., 700 block, 5:54 p.m. March 12.

Russell Ave., 800 block, 10:47 a.m. March 9. Theft from auto.

Tulip Dr., unit block, 9:24 a.m. March 8. Theft from auto.

VEHICLE THEFTS

Downing St., 17000 block, 6:28 p.m. March 12.

Ridgeline Dr., 10200 block, 3:12 p.m. March 13.

Shady Grove Rd., 15000 block, 3:45 a.m. March 9. Stolen vehicle.

VANDALISM

Royal Bonnet Cir., 18100 block, 3:37 p.m. March 11.

Because of a technical problem, the incident report from District 6 and Takoma Park may be incomplete.
Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

William F. Arrington, NSA officer

William F. Arrington, 87, a 30-year veteran of U.S. intelligence agencies, primarily the National Security Agency, died Jan. 26 at a health-care center in Rockville, Md. The cause was congestive heart failure, said a son-in-law, John Alahouzos.

Mr. Arrington, a Rockville resident, was born in Mount Airy, N.C. He began his intelligence career in the 1950s and served in a variety of capacities, including stints in the office of the assistant secretary of defense and as NSAs director of budgets and programs. He retired about 30 years ago.

Lawrence M. Burman, petroleum engineer

Lawrence M. Burman, 93, a petroleum engineer who retired from the Energy Department in 1987, died Feb. 24 at his home in Silver Spring, Md. The cause was esophageal cancer, said a daughter, Frances Burman.

Mr. Burman, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., spent his early career as a petroleum engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Bartlesville, Okla. In 1963, he came to Washington to work for the Atomic Energy Commission. In retirement, he sold residential real estate in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties for several brokerages including Shannon & Luchs, Century 21 and Weichert. He was a member of Temple Emanuel in Kensington.

Helen W. Yin, economist

Helen W. Yin, 88, a research economist with the Commerce Departments Bureau of Economic Analysis for 29 years, died Feb. 25 at his home in Kensington, Md. The cause was complications from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, said a daughter, Sandra Yin.

Dr. Yin was born Wan Hung Chang in Tianjin, China. She came to the United States in 1949 and had lived in the Washington area since 1967. In 2000, she retired from the Commerce Department, where her specialties included the development of national income estimates.

Ruth Ann Wallace, GWU professor

Ruth Ann Wallace, 83, a George Washington University sociology professor who served on the faculty from 1970 to 2001 and whose specialties included the sociology of religion, died March 2 at a medical facility in Chevy Chase, Md. The cause was complications from Alzheimers disease and a stroke, said friend and caregiver James Coriden.

Dr. Wallace, a Chevy Chase resident, was born in Gary, Ind. She was a co-author of a textbook, Contemporary Sociological Theory (1980). She was a former president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. In 1994, the American Sociology Society gave her an award for her scholarly work on the role of women in society.

Bernard P. Furin, caterer, baker, cafe operator

Bernard P. Furin, 82, a Washington caterer who also operated a bakery and ran a cafe in Georgetown, died Feb. 22 at a medical-care facility in Arlington. The cause was respiratory failure, said his partner, Wendy Kerr.

Mr. Furin, a resident of Alexandria, Va., was born in Erie, Pa., and settled in the Washington area in 1960. From 1984 to 2011, he operated Furins of Georgetown, a cafe, bakery and catering firm. Earlier in his career, he ran the dining room at the State Department and worked for Avignon Freres and Ridgewells catering companies.

Clifton L. Kehr, research chemist

Clifton L. Kehr, 89, a research chemist who was research director of the multinational chemical corporation W.R. Grace & Co. in Columbia, Md., died Feb. 16 at a retirement center in Frederick, Md. The cause was atherosclerosis of coronary arteries, said a son, Alan Kehr.

Dr. Kehr, a native of Brodbecks, Pa., worked for W.R. Grace from 1959 to 1991. A former resident of Silver Spring, Md., he participated in a prison ministry at the Maryland House of Correction at Jessup through the auspices of St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Fulton, Md.

Margaret Gabriel, church officer, volunteer

Margaret Gabriel, 86, a longtime register to the Vestry at St. Johns Episcopal Church Lafayette Square in Washington and a volunteer with the Travelers Aid Society, died Feb. 14 at a hospital in Washington. The cause was a stroke, said a son, Robert Gabriel.

Mrs. Gabriel, a District resident, was born Margaret DeVecchi in New York City. Before settling in the Washington area in 1967, she was a private secretary to the U.S. ambassador in the Netherlands and an administrative assistant at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She was a member of the Sulgrave Club in Washington.

Ervin Kapos, government contractor

Ervin Kapos, 84, a government contractor who specialized in analysis and evaluation of Defense Department operations, died Feb. 25 at a medical facility in Arlington, Va. The cause was kidney failure and a stroke, said a daughter, Valerie Kapos.

Mr. Kapos, who lived in McLean, Va., was born in Brasov, Romania. He came to the United States in 1950 and settled in the Washington area in 1958. He worked with civilian agencies and organizations doing primarily contract work for the government before starting his own company, Kapos Associates, in 1984. He was president and chief executive until 1999. He later worked for the Office of Naval Research and the Homeland Security Department.

Caroline H. Backlund, National Gallery officer

Caroline H. Backlund, 95, former librarian for collection development at the National Gallery of Art, died Feb. 20 at her home in Washington. The cause was congestive heart failure, said her guardian, Cynthia Snyder.

Mrs. Backlund was born Caroline Hillman in Grand Rapids, Mich. She moved to Washington in 1966 and spent three years as assistant librarian at Dumbarton Oaks. In 1996, she retired from the National Gallery after 25 years service, having also served as reference librarian and head of reader services. She was a founding board member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Georgina McBride, linguist, Army wife

Georgina McBride, 89, an Army colonels wife who was fluent in six languages and, according to her family, was recruited for unofficial espionage work, died Feb. 19 at her home in Bowie, Md. The cause was dementia, said a son, Scotty McBride.

Mrs. McBride was born Georgina Mercedes Chatarro Galvez in Lima, Peru, and became a U.S. citizen in 1954. In Moscow with her husband in the late 1950s, she had conversations with high diplomatic and government officials, her family said, and was recruited for espionage work by U.S. officials.

In Bowie, she was a founder of the Spanish Group and the International Group as meeting and gathering places for foreign-born women.

Gail F. Solin, CIA officer

Gail F. Solin, 70, a CIA officer whose career included counterterrorism and analysis of issues involving East Asia and the former Soviet Union, died Jan. 26 at a medical-care facility in Aldie, Va. The cause was cancer, said a nephew, Michael Friedman.

Ms. Solin, a resident of McLean, was born in Springfield, Mass. She spent nearly 30 years at the CIA until retiring in 1996. She edited intelligence publications for top policymakers, taught analytic trade craft to a younger generation of CIA officers and briefed senior officials.

Frederick Amling, GWU professor

Frederick Amling, 89, a George Washington University finance professor and a consulting economist and investment policy adviser for the trust department of the now-defunct Riggs National Bank, died Feb. 21 at a hospital in Palm Beach, Fla. The cause was cancer, said a granddaughter, Nancy Harris.

Dr. Amling, a Cleveland native, held faculty appointments at Miami University in Ohio and the University of Rhode Island before joining the GWU faculty in 1970. He retired in 2000. He was an author of college texts on finance and investments, an elder and trustee of Georgetown Presbyterian Church, and a member of the Cosmos Club. He was resident of Palm Beach and Washington.

Vibeke Lofft,arts patron

Vibeke Lofft, 75, an arts patron who served as a founding member of the Friends of the Kennedy Center, raising money for the art complexs construction and opening in 1971, died March 21 at a hospital in Washington. The cause was a stroke, said a son, Christopher Lofft.

Mrs. Lofft, a Washington resident, was born Vibeke Thune-Stephensen in Aalborg, Denmark. She arrived in Washington in 1962 and spent about three years working at the Danish Embassy. She was a board member at organizations such as the Washington Ballet, the Washington National Operas womens committee and Friends of Blair House, the presidents guest quarters. She was a member of Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.

Frederick R. Blackwell,labor arbitrator

Frederick R. Blackwell, 90, a lawyer and self-employed labor arbitrator in the Washington area, died Feb. 27 at a medical facility in Florence, S.C. The cause was pneumonia, said a daughter, Elizabeth Poston.

Mr. Blackwell, a native of Gastonia, N.C., came to the Washington area in 1957 and worked on Capitol Hill as a lawyer for several Senate committees. In 1971, he became an independent labor arbitrator, specializing in transportation, mining and Postal Service issues. He retired about 15 years ago. A former resident of Gaithersburg, Md., he moved to Florence last year.

 From staff reports
The judge who sentenced Raymond Surratt Jr. to life in prison didnt think he deserved that tough a penalty. His attorneys said it was based on bad math. Even the government lawyers who prosecuted him say the sentence was a mistake.

Yet they all also agree Surratt might stay locked up forever.

How that came to be is at the heart of arguments to be heard Wednesday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit takes up Surratts case, which turns on how many times inmates can appeal a sentence, particularly if the law becomes more lenient after they are sent to prison.

Raymond Surratt will die in prison because of a sentence that the government and the district court agree is undeserved and unjust, a judge wrote last summer, siding with Surratt in a divided panel decision from the same court.

The judges who ruled against him in the 2-to-1 decision are also sympathetic. They just dont think the courts have the power to do anything about it.

Raymond Surratt Jr. (Family photo)

If Surratt were resentenced today, he would face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, likely making him eligible for immediate release. The North Carolina man is being held at a federal facility in western Virginia, near the border with Kentucky, after a 2005 cocaine conviction.

Courts throughout the country routinely revisit and revise past convictions and sentencing errors. But Surratts case underscores the limits of those reviews and poses the question of how the legal system should balance finality with evolving notions of fairness.

Surratts case comes as advocates for criminal justice reform, including President Obama and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, are working to roll back decades of prison sentences, set down during the nations war on drugs, that they see as excessively harsh.

The president is expected to use his clemency powers to commute the sentences of a group of nonviolent drug offenders in the coming weeks, but there are still thousands of pending applications for early release.

Until the Surratt case, no federal appellate court has considered whether it has a way to fix a mistake of its own making when the error is as severe as a mandatory life sentence.

The issues in this case are basic to the fairness of federal criminal justice, the government said in its brief on behalf of 41-year-old Surratt.

If the courts initial panel ruling against Surratt stands, the government says, the court will be shutting down the possibility of relief for even those serving the longest sentences, based on the plainest of legal errors.

In a sign of the importance and complexity of the issue, the governments case is being argued before the full court in Richmond by a top deputy from the U.S. solicitor generals office, Michael R. Dreeben.

With prosecutors and defense lawyers in the unusual position of being allied for Surratt, the appeals court panel appointed a Georgetown University law professor to argue the other side. The panel ended up agreeing with him in July.

Steven H. Goldblatt, who runs Georgetowns appellate litigation program, and the majority say that there is value in finality in the legal system and that Congress has given federal prisoners another shot at challenging their sentences only in the narrowest of circumstances.

Although one might find it tempting to put finality concerns aside for the sake of self-designed notions of fairness, the majority said, it provides closure to victims and the defendant: it assures the victim that his assailant will be punished, while it directs the defendant to move on with his life.

When Surratt pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine in western North Carolina, he was 31 and one of 19 members of a large drug ring. Surratt had been caught three other times on lesser cocaine-related charges.

As part of his plea deal, Surratt waived his right to appeal and acknowledged that he faced the possibility of a mandatory life sentence if he did not fully cooperate with the government.

At sentencing, prosecutors said Surratts cooperation efforts were halfhearted and had not furthered their investigation. Even though sentencing guidelines recommended a maximum penalty of about 20 years, the judge said he had no choice but to impose a mandatory life sentence because of Surratts earlier drug convictions. He called the penalty undeserved and unjust.

The conviction and sentence were upheld after Surratts initial appeals.

Six years later in 2011, judges for the 4th Circuit, which includes North Carolina, issued a decision that overruled past practice. The ruling corrected the courts understanding of how defendants previous state-level convictions in North Carolina should be factored into a judges calculations for determining the length of prison terms.

For Surratt, the new interpretation meant that his prior convictions should not have triggered a mandatory life term.

Surratt has asked for one last chance to be resentenced under the new rules. The government says he should get it, arguing that courts should be allowed to reconsider cases  even when a prisoner has exhausted his initial appeals  when it comes to fixing fundamental defects or errors.

In its decision last summer, the panel majority said it was not unsympathetic to his claim.

Allowing Surratt to challenge his sentence, however, would thwart almost every one of the careful limits that Congress placed on post-conviction challenges to a federal prisoners sentence, according to the majority opinion written by Judge G. Steven Agee, who was joined by Chief Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Congress has long tried to rein in endless legal reviews of convictions. In 1996, a Republican-controlled Congress, with the support of President Bill Clinton, enacted new limits on challenges from federal inmates.

Prisoners can try to reopen their cases only in rare situations, such as when new evidence is discovered or when a change in law means the offense in question is no longer a crime.

Surratts case, according to the panel majority, is not the type of exception Congress envisioned: He is not innocent, and his sentence did not exceed the maximum penalty set for his offense by Congress.

In his strongly worded dissent last summer, Judge Roger L. Gregory responded that the only punishment more severe than a life sentence would have been death.

What a perverse result, to have suffered a fundamental sentencing defect, and then to be punished for not having received the death penalty, Gregory wrote.

If the court sides with Surratt, the panel majority said, the statute would become a catchall for prisoner challenges for perceived errors big and small.

Besides, the majority said, Surratt is not without other options. Congress could amend habeas corpus law to allow for cases such as this one. The government, which is already arguing on Surratts behalf, could also help him seek clemency from the president.

Obama has commuted the sentences of close to 200 federal inmates, including 95 prisoners in December. An additional 9,115 petitions for early release are still pending. The last pardon attorney resigned in January, frustrated with the process and a lack of resources to handle the crush of applications.

It is within our power to do more than simply leave Surratt to the mercy of the executive branch, Gregory wrote. To hope for the right outcome in anothers hands perhaps is noble. But only when we actually do the right thing can we be just.

Sari Horwitz contributed to this report.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday wrestled with the question of how many times inmates can appeal their prison terms, particularly when a severe sentence was based on a legal mistake.

The case before a full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit created unusual allies: The sentencing judge, defense lawyers and government prosecutors all agree that Raymond Surratt Jr.s mandatory life sentence was unjust.

The question for the 15 appeals judges was whether they have the power to do anything to fix it.

Courts throughout the country often revise past convictions and sentencing errors. Until the Surratt case, no federal appellate court has considered whether it has a way to correct a mistake of its own making when the error is as severe as a mandatory life sentence.

If Surratt were resentenced today, he would face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, likely making him eligible for immediate release. The North Carolina father of two is being held at a federal facility in western Virginia for a 2005 cocaine conviction.

Raymond Surratt Jr., 41, is shown at the Virginia prison in this 2015 family photo.

Inside the dark wood-paneled courtroom Wednesday in Richmond, the judges seemed to be struggling to find a way to limit any decision to the circumstances in Surratts case.

Defense lawyer Ann Hester said the court should consider the special concerns about fairness when it comes to a mandatory life sentence that was erroneously imposed.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III said he too is sympathetic to Surratt but has deep concerns about consequences for the court if inmates are allowed to repeatedly challenge their prison terms any time the sentencing rules change.

Ive never seen something as open ended as this. Were going to be swamped, literally swamped, Wilkinson said, adding Im concerned about hard cases making bad law.

With the Justice Department and the federal public defenders in the same camp supporting Surratts position, the appeals court appointed Georgetown University law professor Steven H. Goldblatt to argue the other side. The three-judge panel that initially heard the case ended up agreeing with him in July.

Goldblatt told the court Wednesday that Congress intentionally crafted only the narrowest of circumstances, such as actual innocence, for federal inmates to challenge their detention.

Congress dictates what powers the courts have, Goldblatt said.

Surratt pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiring to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine in western North Carolina. He was 31 and one of 19 members of a large drug ring. Surratt had been caught three other times on lesser cocaine-related charges.

Although sentencing guidelines recommended a maximum penalty of about 20 years, the judge in the 2005 case said he had no choice but to impose a mandatory life sentence because of Surratts earlier drug convictions. He called the penalty undeserved and unjust.

The conviction and sentence were upheld after Surratts initial appeals.

In 2011, judges for the 4th Circuit, which includes North Carolina, issued a decision that overruled past practice. The ruling corrected the courts understanding of how defendants previous state-level convictions in North Carolina should be factored into a judges calculations for determining the length of prison terms.

For Surratt, the new interpretation meant that his prior convictions should not have triggered a mandatory life term.

Several judges, including Barbara Milano Keenan and Pamela A. Harris, appeared interested in an interpretation that allows the court to address fundamental errors such as the life sentence in Surratts case in which the judge had no discretion.

At least two of their colleagues  Paul V. Niemeyer and Dennis W. Shedd  pressed Surratts lawyer and the governments attorney on the limits of such an exception.

Will the rule change with the next harsh case? Shedd asked Michael R. Dreeben, a top deputy in the U.S. solicitor generals office.

No, said Dreeben, who assured him he was speaking for the government, before adding, I think we all know I cant speak for the future.
New ministers of justice, finance, investment, civil aviation, transportation, antiquities, manpower, water resources, public business sector and tourism were appointed in Egyptian cabinet

Ten new ministers were sworn in on Wednesday before Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at Cairo's Ittihadeya Presidential Palace.

Minister of Justice - Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim

Born in February 1945, Abdel-Rahim graduated from the Faculty of Law at Ain Shams University in 1966.

He started his career as a prosecutor in 1967, later being appointed as a judge in 1976.

In July 2014, he was appointed as head of the cassation court and the High Judicial Council for his seniority.

Abdel-Rahim is replacing justice minister Ahmed El-Zend, who was dismissed from his position by the prime minister after he made comments two weeks ago that many considered blasphemous.

In response to a TV host's question on whether he would jail journalists, El-Zend said he would jail anyone "even if he were a prophet, peace and blessings be upon him."

Minister of Finance - Amr El-Garhy

Before his appointment, El-Garhy served as managing director for Agrifoods Division and head of corporate finance and investment review functions at leading Egypt-based regional private equity firm Qalaa Holdings since 2013.

El-Garhy was also vice-chairman and managing director of the state-owned National Investment Bank, where he oversaw the privatisation of the Bank of Alexandria and the marketing of Egyptian government bonds on international markets.

He previously served as deputy CEO of the Qatari Ahli Bank QSC and was managing director of investment banking at Cairo-based regional investment bank EFG Hermes.

Minister of Investment - Dalia Khorshid

Dalia Khorshid is the vice president and group treasurer at Netherlands-based Orascom Construction Limited. She joined the company in 2005 after eight years as vice president in CitiBank.

Khorshid is a graduate of the American University in Cairo with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

Minister of Civil Aviation - Sherif Fathy

Fathy has chaired Egypt's national airline EgyptAir since August 2015, and was appointed to the post by outgoing aviation minister Hossam Kamal.

Having close to three decades of experience in the civil aviation industry, Fathy has held several leading positions with major European and Arab airlines, including Netherland's KLM and the United States' Northwest.

The 50-year-old Fathy also served as regional director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the Middle East and North Africa.

The European-educated aviation veteran has received several certificates in management and quality.

Minister of Transportation - Galal Said

Said served as the governor of Cairo for more than two years. He was sworn in before interim President Adly Mansour in August 2013 in the cabinet of Hazem El-Beblawi.

Said received his PhD from the Canadian University of Waterloo in strategic planning for transportation in 1979. He received his Master's degree from the School of Engineering at the Canadian McMaster University in the field of transportation and traffic.

Said previously served as the minister of transportation in the cabinet headed by Kamal El-Ganzoury in December 2011 under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

He also served as the governor of Upper Egypt's Fayoum governorate from 2008 till 2011.

He has also worked as an academic in Cairo, Fayoum and in Kuwait universities in the engineering field.

The new minister faces a number of challenges including the renovation of Egypts deteriorating railways and bridges, as well as maintenance of the Cairo metro line.

He succeeds Saad Mohamed El-Geyoushi as minister of transportation.

Minister of Antiquities - Khaled El-Anany

Egyptologist Khaled El-Anany served as the general supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2015.

He also served as the 18th director-general of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC) in October 2014.

In 2001, he completed his doctorate in Egyptology from France's Montpellier III University, focusing on ancient Egyptian royal names.

According to Al-Ahram Weekly, El-Anany was director of the Open Learning Centre, head of the tourism guidance department, vice-dean for education and student affairs and a professor of Egyptology.

He is also an associate scientific expert and member of the board of administration at the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo (IFAO) and a visiting professor at Montpellier III. He has lectured in France and Switzerland.

Minister of Manpower - Mohamed Safaan

Mohamed Saafan is a veteran petroleum sector figure who has served as the head of the state-owned Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Co (ECHEM), one of the countrys main companies.

Safaan is also known for his trade union work. He has chaired the General Trade Union for Petroleum Workers (GTUPW)since late 2012 and served as vice president of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation.

The 61-year-old, who started out as an accountant at a petroleum firm, is said to have enjoyed good ties with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, who also hails from the petroleum industry.

Minister of Water Resources - Mohamed Abdel-Ati

Abdel-Ati, who is replacing minister Hossam Moghazi, worked at the World Bank of Egypt prior to his appointment.

He also worked as the head of Egypt's water sector in September 2011.

Media reports suggest that he has been chosen to this ministry due to his good relations with Sudanese and Ethiopian officials, as he headed the technical office between the eastern Nile countries (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia).

He also served as the head of the projects department at the National Bank of Egypt since 2009.

The unresolved issue of Ethiopias Grand Renaissance Dam and stalled tripartite negotiations remains the largest challenge facing the new minister.

Minister of the Public Business Sector - Ashraf El-Sharkawy

El-Sharkawy has contributed to a number of significant legislations and financial regulations since he served as a senior advisor for the chairman of the Egyptian Capital Market Authority for six years.

He was named as head of Egypts financial regulator authority EFSA during the turbulent times that followed January 2011 uprising.

In March 2011 he oversaw the resumption of trading on Egypt's stock exchange, which was forced to close due to public unrest.

El-Sharkawy graduated from the Faculty of Commerce at Cairo University in 1981.

According to the official website of public lender Banque Misr, of which El-Sharkawy was a board member, he chaired the audit committee of the Central Bank of Egypt and has more than 30 years of academic and professional experience in the fields of investment, accounting, banking and finance.

The recently sworn-in minister will take responsibility for eight state holding companies with 125 subsidiaries operated by investment ministry since 2004.

El-Sharkawy is replacing investment minister Ashraf Salman, who said that the public business sector posted total profits of EGP 2.1 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2015/16.

Tourism Minister -- Mohamed Yehia Rashed

Rashed graduated from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management at Helwan University in 1984, and worked as chief leading officer at the Egyptian tourism unit of renowned Kuwaiti Conglomerate Al-Kharafi from 2009 up until his appointment as minister yesterday.

In a 2009 interview with UK travel publication Buying Business Travel, Rashed said he worked for Marriott International for 33 years in the US, Europe and Africa.

In 1997, he was named as the general manager for the Paris Marriott in the Champs-Elysees, and in 2004 he moved to Amsterdam to manage the city's three Marriot international hotels.

Rasheds challenge is to reinvigorate the tourism sector, one of Egypts main foreign currency sources, which has been ailing since the 2011 uprising and the political unrest that followed drove away tourists and investors.

Egypts revenues from tourism registered $6.1 billion in 2015, a more than 50 percent decline compared with 2010, which saw $12.5 billion.

The sector suffered a number of setbacks in 2015, with one of the worst being the crash of a Russian airliner in Sinai last year, which claimed 224 lives.Rashed graduated from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management at Helwan University in 1984 and worked as chief leading officer at the Egyptian tourism unit of renowned Kuwaiti Conglomerate Al-Kharafi.

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The Norfolk chapter of the NAACP plans to look into two recent fatal police-involved shootings that have occurred in that area.

Joe Dillard Jr., the president of the Norfolk chapter of the NAACP, said Wednesday the family of one of the two victims asked his office for help. He said that because the other killing happened recently, his office plans to also look into that one.

We want to make sure we have all the facts to figure out if these were justified or not, Dillard said on Wednesday.

Dillard said area residents have also raised concerns about whether the department is using body cameras in its policing efforts  an issue he plans to address in his investigations. He said he expects to reach out to officials at the states NAACP offices for assistance.

[Man fatally wounded in officer-involved shooting in Fredericksburg]

The two incidents, involving India Beaty, 25, and Tyre Privott, also 25, happened in the last few weeks.

Beatys case unfolded around 1:20 a.m. March 19 when members of the Norfolk police departments vice and narcotics unit were doing a surveillance operation in the 9500 block of Shore Drive.

The investigators, according to a police statement, heard a man and a woman arguing. Police said the woman  who was later identified as Beaty  pulled out what appeared to be a gun, although a preliminary investigation later found that the weapon was not real.

Beaty threatened the man, who was not armed, according to police. The investigators then left their vehicles and came up to Beaty. She was told to get on the ground and let me see your hands, said Cpl. Melinda Wray, a spokeswoman for the Norfolk police department.

The man and another man who was nearby obeyed the officers commands and got on the ground, Wray said. Unfortunately, [Beaty] did not. 

Police said Beaty made a threatening motion with the handgun. Authorities did not reveal the details of what the motion involved.

Both of the investigators shot Beaty. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The investigators involved in that shooting were not wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting, according to Wray.

The Norfolk police department has about 750 sworn-officers and has issued 323 body-worn cameras. Another 140 body-worn cameras recently arrived at the department and are expected to be issued to officers in the field soon, officials said.

The unit involved in the Beaty incident had not yet been issued the cameras at the time of the shooting, Wray said. That unit may get them but no specific date has been set.

[What do we know about police body cameras? Survey says: Not much]

The other incident took place on March 11, when police said Privott was found walking along a roadway and officers tried to approach him.

Privott was believed to be involved in a homicide that had happened the night before in the city. There was a description of a suspect that appeared to match Privott and thats what prompted officers to stop him, police officials said.

As officers began to try to talk to Privott, he shot at them, police said. One of the officers returned fire, police said, and Privott was struck. He died at the scene. None of the officers was injured.

The officer who shot at Privott is an 11-year veteran of the force, officials said. He had not been issued a body-worn camera and he was not wearing one at the time of the incident, according to police officials.

Another officer, who was on the scene of the Privott incident, was wearing a department-issued body camera but it was not activated, authorities said. That officer had recently graduated from the police academy.

The circumstances surrounding the incident rapidly evolved, and did not allow the officer enough time to activate the camera, police said in a statement.

All four of the officers involved in both incidents are on administrative duty, per the departments policy and pending ongoing investigations. Their names have not been revealed.

The Virginian Pilot first reported on the NAACPs decision to look into the two cases.

Beatys father  McKinley Beaty  said his daughter may have had a fake gun to use as a prop in one of her rap videos, according to the Pilots article. But he said he does not believe she would point it at police officers.

I dont know what kind of gesture she made for them to shoot her, but I dont believe she would fight back, McKinley Beaty said in the Pilots article.
Police are looking for this man, Bernard Drai, who also goes by Bernard Derei, in connection with an abduction attempt at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. (Courtesy of U.S. Park Police)

Authorities said they are looking for a 60-year-old man who they believe was involved in a recent abduction attempt at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum.

U.S. Park Police officials said they have a warrant for Bernard Drai, who also goes by Bernard Derei. He is known, police said, to travel often to the United States and Canada from Israel. It is believed that he may be staying in the New York City area. Police have released a description and photo of Drai.

According to police, a group of children with chaperones was leaving the museums north entrance on March 3 when a man grabbed the hand of one of the children. He walked a few steps with the child before one of the chaperones noticed and yelled for him to leave the kid alone.

The man fled in what is thought to be a white shuttle bus in the 600 block of Jefferson Drive Southwest.

Anyone with information is asked to call 202-610-8737.
Labor union presidents seldom have good things to say about the company boss. But the head of Metros principal union is praising the transit agencys new chief, Paul J. Wiedefeld, describing him as the first general manager in memory to take safety seriously.

The previous ones never gave a crap and only cared about safety on paper, Jackie Jeter, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, said in an interview.

Wiedefeld showed that he is different, Jeter said, by shutting down the entire rail system for a full day last week for an emergency safety inspection.

[After subway shutdown, will drastic action become Metros new normal?]

I think that everyone was impressed by what Wiedefeld did, Jeter said. He had to know he was going to get some backlash. But it was more important to be safe. It was more important to put my money where my mouth is. . . . I was very proud of him.

Jeter also welcomed what she called Wiedefelds bottom-up management style, saying he made more effort than his predecessor to solicit and respond to front-line workers views.

Her comments add weight to the early impression that Wiedefeld has brought a substantially new  and improved  kind of leadership to Metro since he took over the troubled system in November.

He has built up good credibility, a good operational style and good relations with the unions, and that goes a long way to build a good foundation at Metro, said Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans, who also is a D.C. Council member.

Jeter, whose union represents 9,500 Metro workers and 3,000 retirees, acknowledged that she and Wiedefeld were sure to clash in the future because of the natural tensions between management and labor.

She also warned that she expected a large contract fight over renewing her members wages and benefits agreement, which expires June 30. She was especially concerned that Metro has brought in a new consultant, Kevyn Orr, who has a record of taking tough positions against organized labor.

[Metro hires top bankruptcy lawyer to advise the agency on fixing its troubled finances]

But the thrust of Jeters comments in a wide-ranging interview was positive about Wiedefelds first four months. She spoke Tuesday at the unions headquarters in Forestville in Prince Georges County.

Jeter said that on Jan. 25, the Monday after the weekend blizzard, her members appreciated that Wiedefeld intervened to prevent employees from being penalized if they couldnt get to work because their neighborhoods were still snowed in.

Wiedefeld has attended town hall meetings with employees in the field and has been personally involved in labor-management meetings to address the issue of assaults against bus operators.

[Wiedefeld hopes shutdown will send forceful signal to employees about safety]

Hes shown the workers he cares about what they do, Jeter said.

The unions attitude is especially important regarding safety, because its essential that employees feel comfortable raising questions or concerns about potential hazards without fearing punishment by supervisors.

In one of his most startling comments about Metro since taking over, Wiedefeld said he has found that workers still lack the confidence to speak up when they see potential dangers in the system. That means Metro is still missing a key component of a safety culture  despite more than six years of much-publicized efforts to instill it since the 2009 Red Line crash that killed nine people.

Jeter, in her 10th year as union president, said that in the past, management was too focused on whether problems were going to cost it money.

Previous managers, to be perfectly honest, I dont think gave a crap about the safety culture at WMATA, Jeter said, referring to Metro by an abbreviation of its formal title, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

They cared about safety on paper. They cared about things that were risky to WMATA as far as they cost WMATA something, such as workmens compensation or accidents [for which] they had to pay out in liability, Jeter said.

She also said management relied too much on suspensions and other penalties to respond to safety issues.

[Wiedefeld: Turning Metro around requires us to confront some hard truths]

That does not get you to a safety culture, no matter how high the penalty is, Jeter said. The only thing that will rectify the problem is to take a concentrated interest in retraining, retraining, retraining, she said, repeating the word for emphasis.

Jeter conceded that management had provided more retraining since 2009 through courses in how to protect workers during repairs on the line and a partnership on reporting close calls when near-collisions occur.

But she said it wasnt enough and singled out former general manager Richard Sarles for his approach.

Some governors manage from the top down, and on safety, you have to govern from the bottom up, Jeter said. Wiedefeld governs from the bottom up, and Sarles governed from the top down.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency had no comment about Jeters critique. Sarles, who has remained publicly mum about Metro since stepping down as general manager in January 2015, did not reply to an email requesting comment.

Jeter strongly rejected arguments that the union is a barrier to reform at Metro. Some Metro critics say employees enjoy such strong union protections that supervisors cant remove or discipline employees who underperform regarding safety, reliability or customer service.

Thats a crock, she said. I dont think any union is too strong where workers rights are concerned.

But Jeter didnt exempt the union and its members from responsibility for some of Metros troubles. She said the union represents such a large part of Metros workforce  including train and bus operators, mechanics and station managers  that it is fully intertwined with whatever happens at the agency.

I dont take the union out of the equation, Jeter said. Pressed to say what the union could have done to help avoid the systems problems, she commented that it was sometimes too passive and complacent.

If theres anything where my members are responsible, its that sometimes we go along to get along. I think that is the responsibility that we bear, she said.

For example, she said that in hindsight, the union should have pressed management to conduct repair work on rail lines more efficiently by doing repairs needed on a single line all at once instead of hopping around from one line to another.

I dont think at WMATA we actually force change through suggestion or through criticism, for that matter, as much as we should, Jeter said.
Dear Dr. Gridlock:

Do you think that the traffic [during the March 16 Metrorail shutdown] might force the politicians in Virginia, Maryland and the District to realize that they need to spend some money to keep Metro from falling apart because of a lack of maintenance?

If they dont realize this fact, then I am glad I no longer depend on a car for transportation. I also hope that Congress might be forced to realize that money must be spent on a nationwide effort to stop America from following Metros problems. They just need to look at the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which is in danger of being turned into a pedestrian-only structure.

[Memorial Bridge needs $250 million for repairs]

Countries all over the world are spending billions of dollars to build new transportation networks and rebuild existing ones, while Congress pretends that our nations infrastructure can last forever. Their lack of action is going to turn our great country into a third-class country without a workable national transportation system.

George Bogart, Alexandria

DG: No, the unprecedented closing of Metrorail for inspections and repairs wont lead to a dramatic increase in support for fixing our transportation system, locally or nationally.

Late last year, Congress agonized its way into an updated transportation financing law, called the FAST Act, for Fixing Americas Surface Transportation. For the average commuter, nothing is likely to get fixed fast.

A one-day shutdown of Metrorail  attention-getting as that was  isnt a game-changer.

Our reluctance to haul the transportation system into the 21st century by spending a lot more money is crucial in understanding this, but thats not the whole story. If transportation officials had more money, they would have to spend smarter for commuters to see real change.

Thats a big lesson to take away from the shutdown. Here we are in the late stages of a $5 billion rebuilding program that was supposed to restore the rail system to a state of good repair. Yet Metrorail riders didnt need the shutdown to make it plain that this hasnt happened.

Metro managers underestimated the time and effort it would take to rebuild. They havent been able to spend all the money that the public made available. The strategy of rebuilding only during hours when Metrorail was closed or less heavily traveled may have been too limited, given the extent of the problems revealed after the 2009 Red Line crash.

The first warnings of this came from riders who, several years into the rebuilding, could detect little improvement in their day-to-day experience with the rail system. Meanwhile, Metro officials underestimated the stress on rail equipment and operations that would come with adding the Silver Line in 2014.

The sad landmark in this evolution was the Jan. 12, 2015, smoke incident near LEnfant Plaza that left Carol Glover dead and scores of riders injured.

A grim-faced general manager, Paul J. Wiedefeld, had to announce to the public March 15 that the rail system would shut down to address an equipment problem similar to the one suspected in the 2015 tragedy.

Political leaders generally supported Wiedefelds drastic step. After the fire in the tunnel near McPherson Square on March 14, he realized he faced a credible threat to the safety of riders, and he acted quickly to avoid a third incident. But the leaders know that it should never have come to this.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) had it right: We cant enable the continuation of these safety failures.

She and other members of the regions congressional delegation have fought for more investment in transit, but their reaction to this months developments isnt to argue for more money. They say they want to see more change within Metro.

We can take heart in the actions of the new general manager. When I say safety is our top priority, I mean it, Wiedefeld said in announcing the shutdown.

But dont let his bold action obscure the fact that the riders should not have been in this risky situation. And while our letter writer is correct about the need for more investment, the problem at Metro isnt one we can simply pay to solve.
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed comprehensive development plans with the cabinet's 10 newly sworn in ministers at a meeting on Wednesday, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

Presidential mandates and the overall development plans during the coming period were discussed in the meeting.

Urgent projects that the state aims to execute to "enhance services provided to citizens in different fields" were also presented.

El-Sisi also discussed with the ministers improving economic performance, attracting investments and increasing exports.

Following the meeting, newly appointed antiquities minister Khaled El-Anany told CBC Extra Satellite Channel that El-Sisi has expressed his "full support" to the new ministers.

The new ministers were sworn on Wednesday by the president El-Sisi as part of a partial cabinet reshuffle.

The change in the cabinet comes four days before Prime Minister Sherif Ismail is scheduled to deliver the government's programme to parliament on 27 March.

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Meg Falk, the director of the Office of Family Policy at the Pentagon, was about to begin a daily staff meeting the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building. Evacuated to a parking lot, she and her colleagues saw smoke rising from the building and watched triage begin for victims of the terrorist attack.

Based on what we do for military families, we knew we were going to have some responsibilities, recalled Mark Ward, a retired Marine Corps major who worked under Ms. Falk on casualties, mortuary affairs and military honors.

By the next morning, at a nearby Sheraton hotel, Ms. Falk had opened an assistance center for victims families. For the next month, she led a round-the-clock operation providing daily briefings as well as food, shelter, child care, legal and financial assistance, and religious, counseling and other services.

Ms. Falk, 71, died March 2 at a hospital in Fairfax County. The cause was complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said her husband, Jim Bryant.

A former schoolteacher, Ms. Falk came to Washington in 1980 through the Presidential Management Fellows Program. She spent a decade with the Navys family support program before joining the office of the secretary of defense in 1991 to oversee family policy for all military branches. Her portfolio included housing, child care and employment aid for military spouses, as well as services for families of veterans on their death.

Ms. Falk faced her most acute crisis after the 9/11 attacks, which claimed about 3,000 lives when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pa. At the Pentagon, 184 victims were killed.

Mrs. Falk recalled one of the first people to visit the family assistance center.

She was just so distraught because she could not locate her sister, who she had seen probably 10 to 15 minutes before the plane slammed into the Pentagon, Ms. Falk later told The Washington Post. I just sat down with her and let her tell me what had happened and did the best I could in terms of listening.

Besides assisting with practical needs, the staff provided maps of the sprawling Pentagon complex so that families could understand where their loved ones were at the time of the attacks. Some relatives complained that authorities had granted reporters, but not families, permission to view the disaster site. Ms. Falk helped arrange buses to the Pentagon for those who wished to see it.

She was totally focused on taking care of families, Ward said. Unless there was a law or something saying we couldnt do something, the thrust was to try to accommodate every desire, every request a family member might have.

Mary Margaret Falk was born on Oct. 7, 1944, in Detroit, where she received a bachelors degree in history from Marygrove College in 1967. She taught in Detroit and with the Defense Departments overseas schools before receiving a masters degree in public administration from Wayne State University in 1980.

By the time Ms. Falk joined the office of the secretary of defense, personnel reductions had strained the militarys ability to provide the traditional funeral honors, including the folding and presentation of the flag and the sounding of taps, for all honorably discharged veterans. With more than 1,000 World War II and other veterans dying every day, the military was unable to offer a live bugler to every family that requested one.

A common substitute, which Ms. Falk found insufficient, was an audio recording of taps. On her initiative, her office engaged an electronics expert who designed a ceremonial bugle with a device, housed in the bell of its horn, that played the mournful call. As many as 25,000 of the instruments are in circulation today, according to Ward.

A live bugler is preferred, he said. But absent a live bugler, he continued, the ceremonial instrument Ms. Ward envisioned allowed the military to offer families the option of a visual image of the time-honored military tradition.

During the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Ms. Falk helped standardize the policy that names of military casualties would not be released to the public until at least 24 hours after their families were notified. Family members also were permitted to witness the arrival of their fallen service members remains at Dover Air Force Base.

Ms. Falk received numerous awards recognizing her service to military families and retired from the Pentagon in 2005.

Survivors include her husband of 30 years, a retired Navy commander, of Falls Church, Va.; three stepsons, Scott Bryant of Wake Forest, N.C., Greg Bryant of Jarrettsville, Md., and Steven Bryant of Los Angeles; and seven grandchildren.

Among the family members Ms. Falk assisted after 9/11 was Jim Laychak, who lost his brother David, a civilian Army budget analyst, at the Pentagon.

Im sure every family member has stories of Meg helping them, said Jim Laychak, who, on Ms. Falks suggestion, later led the fund that established the Pentagon Memorial dedicated in 2008. She had a sense about her to know who needed what comforting and when. . . . She was always there, always helping out.
A new law, which will be at the top of parliament's legislative priorities in the coming period, aims to 'make it much easier to set up NGOs,' according to the parliamentary affairs minister

Egypt's Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Magdi El-Agati said on Tuesday that a new government-drafted NGO law will soon be submitted to parliament.

In a Tuesday meeting with Patrizianna Sparacino-Thiellay, the French ambassador-at-large for human rights, El-Agati indicated that several laws will be redrafted in the coming period to go in line with Egypt's new constitution.

"At the top of these is a new NGO law which will reflect the liberal philosophy of the constitution," said El-Agati, adding that "the new draft law will make it much easier to set up NGOs."

"The law states that NGOs can be set up only by notification, with its founders and members allowed to perform their activities with complete freedom, and that they can only be dissolved or banned under final judicial rulings." 

According to El-Agati, the law will help create a vibrant civil society in Egypt capable of defending human rights and boosting development.

El-Agati also indicated that he informed the French ambassador that "the Egyptian government strongly believes in respecting human rights."

"This is clearly enshrined in the new constitution and the new government is doing its best to translate the constitution's chapters on human rights into a reality," said El-Agati.

To achieve this objective, El-Agati explained that a number of laws will be submitted to parliament to be enacted into final legislations that go in line with the constitution.

"While we are moving on the front of improving the human rights situation, we are also working on another front, which is stemming the tide of police violations of human rights," said El-Agati, indicating that "new amendments of the police law aimed at stiffening penalties on policemen accused of violating human rights will soon be discussed by parliament."

"The new legislative amendments show no mercy to policemen convicted of violating human rights," said El-Agati, adding that parliament's human rights committee will be reviewing the conditions of human rights in Egypt in the coming period.

El-Agati said he is happy that Egypt and France have stepped up cooperation in all fields in the last two years.

El-Agati expects thatEgyptian-French relations will reach a new peak when French President Francois Hollande visits Egypt next month.

Human rights in Egypt

There has been a lot of international furore this month over the human rights situation in Egypt.

On 18 March, US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying he was "deeply concerned by the deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt, including a decision to reopen an investigation into human rights NGOs."

Kerry's statement came a few hours after an Egyptian judicial committee reopened a five-year-old investigation into human rights organisations accused of receiving foreign funding illegally, and ordered the freezing of assets of four leading Egyptian human rights workers and their families.

Egyptian MPs swiftly and angrily reacted to Kerry's statement, accusing him of interfering in the country's internal affairs and defending illegal practices.

Some MPs went so far as to demand a blanket ban be imposed on foreign funding of NGOs.

An Egyptian parliamentary delegation will head to Brussels next month to discuss human rights with the EU parliament.

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The value of catastrophic events is that they can help people face up to problems that are otherwise impossible to address. Maybe this will be the case with Tuesdays horrific attacks in Brussels.

Europe is facing a security threat thats unprecedented in its modern history, at a time when its common currency, border security and intelligence-sharing are all under severe stress. If Europe were a stock, a pragmatic investor would sell it, despite the sunk cost and sentimental attachment. Without radical restructuring, its an enterprise headed for failure.

The European Union needs to reinvent its security system. It needs to break the stovepipes that prevent sharing information, enforcing borders and protecting citizens. In the months before Tuesdays terrorist attacks in Brussels, the system was blinking red, as George Tenet, the former CIA director, famously described the period before Sept. 11, 2001. Yet Belgium (like pre-9/11 America) couldnt connect the dots.

The jihadist wave rolling back toward Europe is dizzying: U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that more than 38,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Iraq and Syria since 2012. At least 5,000 of them came from Europe, including 1,700 from France, 760 from Britain, 760 from Germany and 470 from Belgium, according to official data collected by the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm. Relative to its population, Belgium spawned the largest number of these fighters.

Belgian authorities couldnt find Salah Abdeslam , the logistical planner of the November Paris attacks, for more than 120 days  until they finally nabbed him Friday a few blocks from where he grew up in the Arab enclave of Molenbeek. He was hiding in plain sight. But Belgiums failure was cooked into the system: The jihadists move stealthily, and the Belgians didnt collect or share enough of the intelligence that was there. Authorities had allowed Molenbeek to become a haven  more dangerous to Belgium than even the jihadists sanctuaries in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Belgium was left reeling after three attacks left at least 31 people dead and more than 200 injured March 22. The terror began unfolding during peak rush hour, and ended with at least one suspect still at large. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post)

Americans, who are less exposed to the threat, may smugly imagine they can wall themselves off. But the Islamic States rampage is more an American failure than a European one. The United States formed a global coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State back in September 2014. This strategy hasnt worked; the Islamic States domain has shrunk in Iraq and Syria but expanded elsewhere.

The failure of the U.S.-led coalition to contain the jihadists has left a fragile Europe exposed to terrorism and social upheaval. President Obama hopes that history will affirm his prudent policy, but this view is surely harder to maintain after the Paris and Brussels attacks.

How could the United States and Europe develop a more effective strategy to combat the Islamic State? It would begin with truly shared intelligence and military command. After the shock of Pearl Harbor, the top leadership of the United States and Britain gathered in Washington in December 1941 for the Arcadia Conference. Though remembered for the personal bond between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, its greatest achievement was a unified command that swept aside petty jealousies within the U.S. and British militaries and between the two nations. Once this alliance was struck, eventual victory was inevitable, as Churchill said.

The obstacles to success against the Islamic State are similar. The intelligence services of European nations vary in competence and aggressiveness. Experts say that Britain and France have strong spy agencies; Germanys is competent but afraid to level with its public; the rest are relatively weak, and there is no Europe-wide spy agency.

Europe wants more product from Americas intelligence Leviathan, but less collection. Americans and Europeans sometimes act as though theyre on different teams. This was the path to Brussels.

Theres a general recognition among intelligence professionals that the services have to cooperate more, and that the U.S. should take the lead in bringing them together, argues Michael Allen, former staff director of the House Intelligence Committee.

Intelligence strategies that worked against al-Qaeda may not succeed with this adversary. The Islamic State leaves few digital signals. More human intelligence  real spies daring to penetrate the enemy camp  is essential, however risky. Another answer may be the application of machine learning to big data sets to yield essential leads: Whos likely to be recruited? What are the likely targets? Whats the best way to disrupt potential adversaries?

European intelligence services must combine forces with the United States and with each other. The West needs a new Arcadia Conference to build a partnership to contain the Islamic State as it plots the next Brussels-style attacks.

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Now that Donald Trump has spoken before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group, Americans have learned the following:

Trump can read a teleprompter; he finally got someone to write him a decent speech, which he was able to deliver without resorting to vulgarities; and he has provided something like a justification for reluctant Republicans to support him.

Which is a pretty low bar, you must admit. And its not nearly enough.

You know all the arguments pro and con by now. He speaks plainly. So did Archie Bunker. His message of walled-in isolationism appeals to those tired of loose immigration policies. So was the case with Sen. Berzelius Buzz Windrip, the nativist demagogue in Sinclair Lewiss 1935 cautionary novel, It Cant Happen Here.

Windrip, like Trump, spoke of national greatness, though Windrip was more explicit, saying that Americans must continue to be the greatest Race on the face of this old Earth. Like Trumps, Windrips base consisted largely of working-class white males, whom he called upon to help control dissent after he ascended to the Oval Office. Sound familiar? Punch anybody in the nose lately?

GOP presidential hopefuls John Kasich, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz spoke on March 21 at the AIPAC conference in Washington, D.C. (Peter Stevenson/Reuters)

Its called fascism by any other name and, yes, it does seem that it can happen here. That is, a demagogue can become president, as Lewis was trying to warn. And, yes, we do have checks and balances in this country, but does anyone really think that Trump should have the power to start a nuclear war? Hes mighty quick to rile.

No one is more familiar with the language of marginalization and authoritarianism than the Jewish community, causing one to wonder why Trump, whose rise has been spiced with bigotry and group-blaming rhetoric, was allowed in AIPACS door. The answer is that the nonpartisan organization traditionally invites all presidential candidates, among others, to speak to its annual policy conference.

Well, thats an explanation, anyway.

The conundrum for Republicans is that though Trump may be the devil, hes their devil. How can they condemn the guy that a near-majority of their own party prefers? If youre, say, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), how do you say you wont support your partys nominee? Then again, if youre a good man like Ryan, how do you support him?

That is the question of the moment, isnt it? This is what we ask ourselves about the industrialists and good Germans who supported Hitler. This is what we ask our Southern grandparents about the time when blacks were being lynched. What we ask the World War II generation about rounding up Japanese Americans. And while were at it, what was your vote on Vietnam, Iraq? Theres a price to pay for silence.

That so few have shown the courage to deny Trump tells us how difficult it is to be brave  and how rare character is. But one can only pretend for so long not to hear the dog whistles of history, a skill at which Republicans have become too well practiced over the decades. Perhaps theyre no longer listening. Or theyre deluding themselves that Trumps words dont really mean what, you know, they mean.

He wont be that bad.

No, hes worse.

A Jewish friend of mine  a Democrat, scholar, erstwhile politician and former U.S. ambassador whose parents were Holocaust survivors  called to vent after Trumps speech to AIPAC. First, he said he was glad his father wasnt alive to see this, and that hed almost like to join AIPAC so he could resign in protest.

The reality, he said, is if you go back and look at Hitler, somehow you elect someone that you know is beyond the pale. But you do it because youre afraid of someone else. And then later, you look closely. And its too late.

Unless.

The tiny flame at the end of this darkening tunnel is a contested convention, which depends on Ted Cruz and John Kasich starving Trump of the necessary 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. It could happen, according to Princeton Universitys Sam Wang, a statistical prognosticator and game theorist with a golden record. Basically, if Kasich campaigns only in proportional delegate states, leaving winner-take-all states to Cruz, Trumps chances of becoming the nominee are reduced from 90 percent to 50 percent, says Wang.

Its a big gamble, but it beats losing your soul.

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The Interior Departments decision to reverse course and shelve plans to drill off Virginias coast is a responsible and significant victory for all Virginians. For years, environmentalists, community activists, the Defense Department and businesses have expressed serious concerns with plans to drill in the Atlantic.

Notably absent, however, from the March 16 news article Obama backtracks on Atlantic Coast oil drilling was an acknowledgment of the congressional leadership that was instrumental in overturning the administrations decision to drill. For years, Reps. Gerald E. Connolly, Robert C. Bobby Scott and Don Beyer, all Virginia Democrats, have consistently opposed drilling. In the end, many of their concerns, which they shared in a February 2015 letter urging Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to reconsider, especially threats to the Navy, were cited as reasons for the change in the administrations plans.

Sandra J. Klassen, Reston
The last sitting president to visit Cuba, Calvin Coolidge, coined the phrase The chief business of the American people is business.

Those who look to the U.S. or Cuban government to promote anything but its own interests will be disappointed. Despite flowery words and speeches about historic openings, opportunities and revolutions, real change is broadly social, not political or economic in the narrow sense on display in Havana. Freedom of the press, of assembly, of unionization and of access to information are not rights granted by top-down governments or benevolent corporations; they are taken by ordinary people who assert those rights and value the creation and sustenance of a civil society.

History has provided us with many examples (including the shock of the 2016 election cycle) that free-market capitalism and authoritarianism are not mutually exclusive. People on each side of the Cuban divide (in Havana, Washington and Miami) forget Coolidges words at their own risk.

David Fernandez-Barrial, Takoma Park
Regarding the March 21 Metro article Loudoun may pool low-income students:

Loudoun County is not strictly pooling all high-needs students; it is suggesting that they attend their neighborhood schools instead of being bused elsewhere. This is not necessarily bad. If they were pooling and intentionally segregating students, then certainly all low-income and English-as-a-second-language students from across the county, especially eastern Loudoun, would be brought to just a few appointed schools. That isnt the case. However, as only a few schools have all-day kindergarten and this is being made available to the students who may need it the most, students will have to be assigned to one of these select schools, even if it is not their neighborhood school.

Over the past couple of years, Loudoun eliminated ESL assistants from schools in what I believe demonstrated a lack of commitment to English-language learners. Loudouns is one of the few systems in Virginia, despite its affluence, not to embrace universal all-day kindergarten.

I am wary of schools with high needs that focus all their efforts on closing the achievement gap, ignoring students who are progressing on a more standard path. All students should be challenged and allowed to achieve based on their abilities, and that includes students working at or above grade level.

I hope a solution can be found that will allow all of Loudouns students to achieve and to feel part of their community.

Mark Kane, Sterling
In his March 19 op-ed, Gun rights in the balance, Chris W. Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Associations Institute for Legislative Action, warned that were Judge Merrick Garland, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to be appointed to the Supreme Court, this would mean the end of the fundamental, individual right of law-abiding Americans to own firearms for self-defense in their homes. Really? Does Mr. Cox honestly think our weak-kneed politicians would stand up against the power  and money  of his organization? I wish.

Although I personally abhor the gun culture in this country and would gladly see us turn the corner to becoming a saner, safer nation, much like any other First World country, this isnt going to happen. But maybe, just maybe, someday our government will pass some stricter, sensible gun-control laws. I pray for that day.

Jeff Driscoll, Hagerstown, Md.
National Rifle Association executive Chris W. Cox implied that District of Columbia v. Heller was interpreted accurately and that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias death puts the decision in jeopardy. Many who have carefully read the Constitution and the correspondence of the founders cannot imagine that those wise leaders would condone the automatic-weapons free-for-all that the United States has become. In the founders day, large urban areas such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia had prohibitions against discharging firearms within city limits and prohibitions against storing gunpowder. That the Heller decision was 5 to 4 should be a clear indication that our sitting justices hardly agree on that decision.

Surveys indicate that the majority of Americans, including gun owners, seek more stringent regulation of firearms than the NRA is willing to accept.

Shamefully, the United States leads the developed world by far in gun-related deaths. Thirty-three thousand Americans die annually from gun-related incidents, many of which are suicides. And no matter what the NRA tells you, research consistently indicates that having a gun in the home makes you less safe.

Jeff Holtmeier, Silver Spring
PRESIDENT OBAMA concluded his groundbreaking trip to Cuba with a speech to the islands people that celebrated democracy in the presence of Raul Castro, leader of a decaying system of authoritarianism and control. A bright future for Cuba, Mr. Obama declared, depends on the free and open exchange of ideas. He said that citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear, and free to organize, and to criticize their government, and to protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. He added, And yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections. None of this exists in todays Cuba, and the real question about Mr. Obamas thaw with the nation is whether serious change will come any sooner  or at all  because of his rapprochement.

Mr. Obama admonished Mr. Castro, You need not fear the different voices of the Cuban people  and their capacity to speak, and assemble, and vote for their leaders. He described American democracy as imperfect but reminded the Cuban people and their ruler that its strength is open debate. Its healthy, he said. Im not afraid of it. Mr. Castro clearly is.

Mr. Obama met privately with a group of dissidents, many of whom have felt the United States ignored them in recent months as it made concession after concession without winning any reduction in Cubas assault on human rights. Among those he met were Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, a group that was formed by relatives of victims of a regime crackdown more than a decade ago, and Antonio Rodiles, a courageous exponent of democracy who has been detained and beaten for his views. Dozens of other political dissenters were not present because they are still in prison.

A truculent Mr. Castro responded to a serious question about political prisoners by asking , What political prisoners? Before Mr. Obama arrived, protesters were again detained; the Internet remains highly restricted; political plurality does not exist.

Mr. Obama insisted he was not seeking regime change, hailed Cubas education and health systems and lavished praise on Cubas entrepreneurs. He left much unsaid about the overweening socialist system, the ubiquitous secret police and the regime that still dominates so much of Cuban life. Will the regime be enhanced or undermined by Mr. Obamas policy shift? Does the effective end of the embargo give a lift to Cubas rulers, or infect the population with a yearning to throw off the suffocating diktat? The real test of Mr. Obamas thaw is not to be found in the pomp and circumstance of his visit, but in whether it leads to a Cuba that is freer and more open after Air Force One has departed.
Morsi is charged with passing on secret documents to the Qatari government

A Cairo criminal court is set to announce on 23 April its final ruling in the so-called Qatari espionage trial of ex-president Mohamed Morsi and 10 other defendants.

Morsi, who was ousted in July 2013, faces charges of using his post to leak classified documents to Qatar through Al-Jazeera TV channel with the help of secretaries and Muslim Brotherhood figures.

Morsi and the head of his office, Ahmed Abdel-Ati, are charged with leaking secret information on general and military intelligence, the Armed Forces, its armaments and other state secrets.

The prosecution alleges that the two used their positions to pass the files from the presidential offices to Amin El-Serafy, a presidential secretary, who then passed them to his daughter, Karima, who gave them to agents to give to the Qataris.

The other defendants  who include Ahmed Afify, a documentary producer; Mohamed Kilany, a flight attendant; Ahmed Ismail, a teaching assistant; and Khaled Radwan and Asmaa El-Khatib, two journalists at pro-Brotherhood TV channels  are charged with turning over copies of the classified documents to two staffers of the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera and an unknown Qatari intelligence officer.

Three of the 10 defendants are being tried in absentia.

The espionage trial is the fourth against Morsi since his ouster.

Morsi has already been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in the "Ittihadiya case," a death sentence in the Wadi Natroun jailbreak case, and life in jail over leaks to foreign powers, including militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

All the sentences are currently subject to being overturned.

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Demonstrators protested outside the Supreme Court in 2015 as the court heard arguments in the challenges to the Affordable Care Acts requirement that businesses provide their female employees with health insurance that includes access to contraceptives. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

Two years ago, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy played down the impact of the decision he had just joined in Hobby Lobby v. Burwell that relieved religiously objecting owners of certain businesses from providing contraceptive coverage to their employees.

It was the Supreme Courts third consideration of the mandates placed on employers under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and three justices had joined Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs scorching dissent.

[Supreme Court sides with religious employers in contractive case]

The court was in agreement that the governments requirement furthers a legitimate and compelling interest in the health of female employees, Kennedy said. The question was whether it could be carried out without infringing on religious freedoms of employers who must provide the coverage.

The solution Kennedy suggested  an accommodation that would insulate employers from providing the contraceptive coverage but still ensure that their employees receive it  will be at the heart of the discussion Wednesday when the Supreme Court undertakes its fourth consideration of what is popularly called Obamacare.

As usual, all eyes will be on Justice Kennedy, Elizabeth B. Wydra, president of the left-leaning Constitutional Accountability Center, said during a discussion of the case last week at the Cato Institute.

This case involves not private employers but religiously affiliated organizations such as universities, hospitals and charities.

[Supreme Court accepts challenge to contractive mandate]

The Obama administration says it has provided the organizations with an easy way out, just as Kennedy suggested. Employers who object must make their religious objections clear by signing a form or sending a letter and let insurance companies and the government take over from there.

But the groups say that even that step would implicate them in sin and that they face ruinous fines if they refuse to comply. They want to be included under the same blanket exemption from providing the coverage that the government has extended to churches and other purely religious groups.

The court accepted seven cases from throughout the country, including one challenge involving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and another from an order called the Little Sisters of the Poor, which runs homes for the elderly.

Conflicting lower-court decisions resulted in supporters and opponents of the law calling for the Supreme Court to act. All but one of the nations regional courts of appeal have ruled in favor of the government.

With Justice Antonin Scalias death, eight justices will hear the case. It seems unlikely that the courts liberal objectors in the Hobby Lobby case  Ginsburg and Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan  will not find the accommodation sufficient.

If they win Kennedys support, the laws requirements will be in place nationally. But a 4-to-4 tie would mean the mandate would be carried out only in those regions of the country where courts have ruled for the government, and not in the other.

A deadlocked court could also schedule a rehearing when the court has a ninth member, but no one knows when that might be.

The case pits questions of religious liberty against a womans right to equal health-care access.

U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. told the court in the governments brief that the organizations want more than to be left alone.

They assert a right not only to be relieved of the obligation to provide contraceptive coverage themselves, but also to prevent the government from arranging for third parties to fill the resulting gap, Verrilli wrote. If accepted, that claim would deny tens of thousands of women the health coverage to which they are entitled under federal law, and subject them to the harms the law is designed to eliminate.

Catholic organizations that brought the lawsuits say it is incorrect for the government to say the accommodation allows them to opt out of providing the coverage.

Quite the opposite: the government is forcing petitioners to take actions that cause the objectionable coverage to be delivered to petitioners own employees and students by petitioners own insurance companies in connection with petitioners own health plans, said the brief filed by Washington lawyer Noel J. Francisco.

Added Lori Windham, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has represented many of the challengers: This is a question of theology and morality.

As in Hobby Lobby, the complaint is that the contraceptive mandate promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The RFRA says the government must have a compelling reason for laws and programs that substantially burden religious beliefs, and even then government must prove that the law is the least burdensome way of achieving its goal.

In ruling for Hobby Lobby, the courts conservatives suggested that one reason the business owners in that case had a valid complaint was that the government had made special arrangements for churches and religious nonprofits but not for them.

In the current litigation, most appeals courts have ruled that the government work-around suffices.

All plaintiffs must do to opt out is express what they believe and seek what they want via a letter or two-page form, Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard said when the case involving the Washington archdiocese came before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Religious nonprofits that opt out are excused from playing any role in the provision of contraception services, and they remain free to condemn contraception in the clearest terms.

But several prominent conservative judges have protested the rulings, and in September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, in St. Louis, became the first to rule against the government.

In a case involving a college and a religious charitable organization, Judge Roger L. Wollman wrote for a unanimous appellate panel that the issue is whether the groups have a sincere religious belief that their participation in the accommodation process makes them morally and spiritually complicit in providing abortifacient coverage. Their affirmative answer to that question is not for us to dispute.

The cases accepted are Zubik v. Burwell, Priests for Life v. Department of HHS, Roman Catholic Archbishop v. Burwell, East Texas Baptist University v. Burwell, Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell, Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell, and Geneva College v. Burwell.
The Supreme Court split during a tense oral argument Wednesday that pitted religious liberty against womens access to contraceptive coverage, raising the possibility that the now eight-member court would deadlock on a key component of the Affordable Care Act.

The courts four liberals seemed to agree that the Obama administration had offered an acceptable compromise for religiously affiliated organizations such as universities, hospitals and charities that want to be freed from the obligation to supply their female employees with no-cost contraceptive coverage, which they say violates their religious beliefs.

The accommodation requires the groups to tell the government they object, then allows the government to work with the groups insurers to provide the coverage without the organizations involvement or financial support.

[Supreme Court accepts challenge to contraceptive mandate]

But the justice who could provide a fifth vote in the administrations favor, Anthony M. Kennedy, expressed doubts.





He told Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. that it sounded as if the challengers were right in their allegation that the government was hijacking their insurance plans to provide contraceptive coverage rather than finding a way to provide the coverage without involving the groups at all.

The hearing provided a vivid illustration of the difficulty the court  without Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month  might have putting together the necessary five-member majority to decide its most important cases.

In this case, it would mean the national law that has transformed health-care coverage would be implemented differently depending on where the organization and its employees are located.

An inability to decide the case would mean the lower courts decisions would remain in place. The mandate has been upheld by eight of the nations regional appeals courts that have decided the issue and overturned in one.

And along with the contraceptive controversy, cases involving abortion, affirmative action and President Obamas deportation plan all await decisions from the divided, eight -member court.

[Scalias death flips Supreme Court dynamics, hurts conservative majority]

Kennedys comments at oral arguments are not always indicative of his eventual votes, and the justices have months to come up with a compromise that could attract five members. It seems likely the court will work hard at that, but it could also choose to rehear the case with a full court, although no one knows when that would be.

Womens groups and the Obama administration hope Kennedy will be the fifth vote on their side; he seemed content with groups receiving an accommodation in a case two years ago.

But on Wednesday his questions and comments were more in line with the courts skeptical and outspoken conservatives, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Said Alito, This is a case in which a great array of religious groups  and its not just Catholics and Baptists and evangelicals but Orthodox Jews, Muslim groups, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, an Indian tribe, the Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye  have said that this presents an unprecedented threat to religious liberty in this country.

Roberts told Verrilli that the administrations compromise still required groups to take actions that they think violate their beliefs. They think that complicity is sinful, Roberts said.

Washington lawyer and former George W. Bush administration solicitor general Paul D. Clement, representing an organization of Catholic nuns called Little Sisters of the Poor that cares for the elderly, said the government has not given the group a meaningful way to opt out.

My clients would love to be a conscientious objector, but the government insists that they be a conscientious collaborator, Clement said in his closing. There is no such thing.

The liberal justices were equally insistent that the administration had found a way to recognize religious beliefs and provide women with the cost-free, preventative care that the law requires.

As in all things, it cant be all my way, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told Clement. There has to be an accommodation, and thats what the government tried to do.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer sounded a similar note.

Sometimes when a religious person whos not a hermit or a monk is a member of society, he does have to accept all kinds of things that are just terrible for him, Breyer said. He added: Think of the people who object to laws protecting blasphemy. Think of the people who object to shoveling the snow in front of the walk that will lead to the abortion clinic. Think of the Christian Scientists who know when they report the accident, the child will go to the hospital, or the adult, and receive medical care that is against their religion.

Wednesdays case is something of a follow-up to 2014s decision in Hobby Lobby v. Burwell that relieved religiously objecting owners of certain businesses from providing contraceptive coverage to their employees.

[ Court: Religious business owners dont have to provide contraceptive coverage ]

As in Hobby Lobby, the complaint is that the contraceptive mandate implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The RFRA says the government must have a compelling reason for laws and programs that substantially burden religious beliefs, and even then government must prove that the law is the least burdensome way of achieving its goal.

In Hobby Lobby, Alito wrote in the majority opinion and Kennedy reiterated in a concurrence that the government had erred in not providing an accommodation for the owners.

But even the form-signing accommodation offered by the administration to the groups is not enough, the religious groups say. It would still implicate them in sin, they say, and they would face ruinous fines if they refused to comply. They want to be included under the same blanket exemption from providing the coverage that the government has extended to churches and other purely religious groups.

Clement said the government used the wrong standards in deciding which groups got the exemptions and which did not. His fellow counsel Noel Francisco told the court that the government could not prove providing the coverage was a compelling need, because it exempted churches and large plans that were grandfathered in with the law.

Justice Elena Kagan said that did not prove his point. Theres not a law in town that doesnt have exceptions, she said.

And there is a long tradition that churches are different, she said. If youre saying that every time Congress gives an exemption to churches and synagogues and mosques that they have to open that up to all religious people, then the effect of that is that Congress just decides not to give an exemption at all.

Kennedy also signaled that was a problem. Its going to be very difficult for this court to write an opinion which says that once you have a church organization, you have to treat a religious university the same, he said.

Roberts and Alito said women could receive contraception in other ways  the federal government could provide it, or they could buy insurance elsewhere, even through one of the exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.

Roberts said that would be taking the burden from the religious organizations to sign something they believe implicates them in sin.

But Verrilli said such contraceptive-only plans do not exist and are not allowed by law.

But more than that, he said, it would be disrupting the scheme that Congress devised.

Even in that hypothetical world, that is not equally effective at achieving the governments interest, because the whole point of this provision is that you get this care from your regular doctor as part of your regular health care without any barriers, including any co-pay barriers he said.

The cases accepted are Zubik v. Burwell, Priests for Life v. Department of HHS, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. Burwell, East Texas Baptist University v. Burwell, Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Burwell, Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell and Geneva College v. Burwell.
Establishment Republicans and their big-money allies are rushing to build a multistate defense system to protect Senate and House candidates, fearing that the party could lose its hold on Congress if Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket in November.

The anxiety about Trumps potential spillover effect on down-ballot races was underscored Wednesday when House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin lamented the disheartened state of the campaign and criticized the identity politics on display in the increasingly toxic race for the GOP presidential nomination.

The efforts are being driven by major players such as the Koch brothers political network, which has already begun laying groundwork in Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania, along with the Crossroads organizations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The behemoth Koch operation  which aims to spend almost $900 million before the November elections  is now considering abandoning Trump as a nominee and focusing its resources on behalf of GOP congressional candidates.

A key element of the strategy will be a springtime wave of television ads that slam Democratic contenders and tout Republican incumbents as attuned to hometown concerns. Strategists hope the efforts will help inoculate congressional candidates against association with Trumps incendiary remarks.

Allies of Sen. Kelly Ayotte launched an ad this week praising her work on the heroin crisis, part of an early effort to protect Senate Republicans from the Trump effect. (Jim Cole/AP)

If there are crosscurrents that are potentially harmful, the most important thing you can do is aggressively localize the race  the things that matter back home, the problems youre solving, said Steven Law, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who leads the American Crossroads super PAC and a suite of related groups.

In New Hampshire, Laws advocacy group One Nation began a $1 million ad campaign this week praising Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) for seeking bipartisan solutions to fight the heroin crisis in her state. In Ohio, the Freedom Partners Action Fund, a super PAC financed by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and other conservative donors, is running a TV spot attacking Democratic candidate and former governor Ted Strickland for tax increases during his administration.

The groups are being bolstered by some of the partys biggest donors and fundraisers, many of whom have turned their funds toward congressional Republicans after seeing their favored candidates forced out of the White House race.

The biggest concern for me is the next Supreme Court justice and that we do not lose the Senate, said Idaho nutritional-supplement executive Frank VanderSloot, who had backed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and is now giving large sums to congressionally focused groups. If Donald Trump is the nominee, we could see a lot of people staying home.

[Again: Nothing is off limits for Donald Trump, including spouses]

Mike Shields, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC allied with House leadership, said nearly every conversation he has had with donors lately centers on the need for a firewall.

What they see at the top of the ticket has a lot of them concerned, Shields said. Theyre saying, Weve got to keep the House; weve got to keep the Senate. 

1 of 25 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  People and groups Donald Trump has denounced View Photos Not one to back down easily from controversial statements, the Republican presidential candidate continues to add to the list of people he condemns. Caption Not one to back down easily from controversial statements, the Republican presidential candidate continues to add to the list of people he condemns. Mitt Romney After being attacked as a fraud by Mitt Romney, Donald Trump slammed him as a choke artist and failed candidate who begged for Trumps endorsement during his 2012 presidential bid. Tom Smart/EPA Wait 1 second to continue.

Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski rejected the idea that the billionaire real estate developer would be a drag on the GOP ticket, saying the huge crowds he is turning out at rallies and in the primaries prove that Trump would energize the party and expand its appeal.

What you see is that people are turning out in mass quantities to support his campaign for the president of the United States, and that will continue to translate in the general election, Lewandowski said, adding: They are going to help everybody down the ballot.

Even without a controversial presidential candidate to contend with, Senate Republicans face a challenging map. Fresh off reclaiming the majority for the first time in eight years, the GOP now faces the daunting prospect of defending 24 of the 34 Senate seats that are up for grabs this November, largely because the six-year terms for the many Republicans who swept into office in the 2010 elections have come due.

The party can afford to lose only three seats to stay in the majority, and at least two incumbents are already facing difficulties: Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), whose state is seen as a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats, and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who is struggling in the polls. Five more GOP seats are up for grabs in states that President Obama won twice, including some, like Pennsylvania, by comfortable margins.

Loud footsteps upstairs in the presidential race could easily shake the Senate races below, veteran analyst Charlie Cook wrote this week, adding that if the GOP loses the White House by a larger margin than it did in 2008 or 2012, hanging onto the Senate would be a long shot at best.

If Trump is the nominee, Democrats have already signaled that they plan to try to link him to every Republican running this fall. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has rolled out a Party of Trump campaign dubbing GOP candidates as Retrumplicans.

[Hillary Clinton denounces Cruz and Trump on national security: Loose cannons tend to misfire]

Many Democrats are expected to follow the lead of Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, who is challenging Sen. John McCain (R). Last month, she released a web ad compiling some of Trumps most inflammatory statements, followed by a clip of McCain saying he will support the Republican nominee. We need leaders to stand up to Donald Trump, the narrator says.

Some Democrats are hopeful they can even threaten the GOPs lead in the House.

Alixandria Lapp, executive director of the House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC, said she thinks congressional Republicans are going to be dragged down by the anger of Trump around their necks.

Donors are getting excited about not just the possibility of keeping the presidency, but could we actually give the president a Congress to work with so we could make progress on issues we care about? she said.

The stakes are expected to trigger a costly air war. Already, independent groups have spent more than $23.5 million on congressional races, with the largest share  $5.1 million  pouring into Ohio, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance filings.

There will be more to come. Together, the Democratic and Republican congressional committees raised more than $287 million by the end of February, while 70 super PACs focused on Senate and House races had collected $144 million, The Post found.

That does not include money flooding into advocacy groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is planning to provide Senate Republicans with major air cover.

We think early money sets the terms of the debate, and were gearing up, said Scott Reed, the Chambers chief political strategist, who added that his organization plans to zero in on local issues like folks are running for sheriff.

Congressional Republicans may also get a major boost from the Koch network, which is strongly considering focusing solely on Senate and House races if Trump is the nominee, according to people familiar with the networks plans.

[Billionaire Koch brothers network takes cue from Obamas playbook]

Mark Holden, chairman of the board of Freedom Partners, the networks funding arm, said it would jump into the White House race in the general election only if a candidate were able to garner support from the public with a positive message in support of the issues we care about, and did not engage in personal attacks and mudslinging.

That hasnt happened yet, and there is no indication that this will happen, given the current tone and tenor of the various campaigns, he added.

Instead, the network has been making forays into key Senate states. A top target is Ohio, where the Koch-backed advocacy group Americans for Prosperity ran an ad last August hitting Strickland for job losses in the state. Meanwhile, the Koch-backed Concerned Veterans for America has taken the lead in running ads praising Sen. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rep. Joseph J. Heck, a Republican seeking to replace Sen. Harry M. Reid, the chambers Democratic leader, in Nevada.

Meanwhile, the Crossroads operation is contemplating playing in a larger number of Senate races than it originally planned. The organization has already raised at least $24 million for its Senate efforts, and there is an appetite among donors to do much more, Law said.

What I do see going on, at least right now, is what they call in the stock market a flight to quality,  he said.

After the 2014 Senate victories of Republicans Cory Gardner in Colorado, Joni Ernst in Iowa and Thom Tillis in North Carolina, there is a sense of urgency that we keep them there, that we not lose ground, Law said, noting that donors feel weve got to find a place that is an insurance policy against everything else possibly going wrong.

Anu Narayanswamy contributed to this report.
Donald Trump speaks during a campaign press conference Monday at the Old Post Office Pavilion, soon to be a Trump International Hotel, in Washington. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Donald Trump fits no simple ideological framework. The presidential candidate collects thoughts from across the spectrum. Added together, however, his ideas represent a sharp departure from many of the Republican Partys values and priorities dating back half a century or more.

The list of Trumps apostasies is lengthy and growing by the day. He said this week that he sees little value in U.S. military commitments in the Asia-Pacific region. He questions the terms of U.S. involvement in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He opposes free-trade agreements. He advocates taxing imports from China.

Domestically, he opposes any restructuring of Social Security or Medicare. He favors hefty spending on infrastructure. He favors the use of eminent domain. He advocates closing a tax break the benefits Wall Street hedge fund managers, and he decries corporate inversions. He defends much of the work of Planned Parenthood outside of abortions.

Yet, on other issues, he embraces more doctrinaire conservative views. His tax plan is consistent with that of other Republican candidates. His tough talk on immigration is cheered by many in the GOP. He strongly supports Second Amendment gun rights and favors local control of education. His latest discussion of Middle East issues puts him squarely on the side of pro-Israel hawks.

I am a common-sense conservative, Trump said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Asked how he would label his governing philosophy, he replied, It would be governing through strength  and governing also through common sense and governing through heart.

Listen to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump discuss some of his foreign policy positions with The Washington Post editorial board. "NATO is costing us a fortune," Trump said. "We're not reimbursed fairly for what we do." (The Washington Post)

To many people in the party, Trumps ideas lack intellectual cohesion, but together they reflect the instincts of a dealmaker. He arrives at positions guided less by philosophy than visceral reactions to problems of the moment.

I dont think he has an ideology, said Patrick J. Buchanan, the conservative commentator who twice sought the GOP nomination. He very much is responding to the realities that he has encountered and his natural reactions to them. Its not some intellectual construct. Hes much more of an instinctive politician.

[Transcript of Trump interview with Washington Post Editorial Board]

Trumps presidential candidacy has been described as a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. In reality it appears more a movement that threatens to subsume the GOP behind a menu of ideas and instincts that might best be described as America Wins.

Im very, very conservative on the military and on taking care of our vets, Trump said. Im certainly conservative on education, Im conservative on the budget and fiscally conservative.

On the economy, Trump said he calls himself a free-trader but wants to put teeth into the U.S. approach to trade agreements. Were being absolutely mauled by Japan, absolutely mauled by Mexico, he said. Were being absolutely destroyed on free trade.

Trumps critics argue that his provocative statements do not translate into either a coherent worldview or specific policies.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump met with GOP leaders and surveyed the progress made on his new luxury hotel under construction in downtown Washington on Tuesday. (WUSA9)

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, speaking to a group of reporters Tuesday, dismissed Trumps national security views as those of a candidate with little understanding of the world.

I dont think he has enough knowledge of foreign policy to be rewriting much of anything, he said. I think he believes in isolationism, that we should withdraw from the world. And that if we do so, the bad guys will leave us alone. That view is hopelessly naive.

Some conservative Republicans see Trumps success as built more on personality, celebrity and perceived strength than on a set of ideas that constitute a political philosophy.

For years the GOP failed to give people a clear sense of our principles and plans, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) wrote in an email. Donald Trump has obviously filled that vacuum with lots of showmanship, hooey, and bluster, but hes done more than just that. Hes waged an effective war on almost every plank of the Republican Partys platform.

[Trumps views depart from GOP foreign policy orthodoxy]

The closer Trump comes to assembling the 1,237 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination, the more the party will confront the challenge of crafting a policy platform that reflects the views not only of the nominee but also candidates for federal, state and local offices.

The platform will be written and tentatively approved the week before the Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland. The process of drafting the platform has often been a source of intraparty conflict, but rarely has the presidential front-runner seemed so at odds with his own party. That could produce fireworks inside the platform committee if Trump decides he wants to push his views on reluctant delegates.

You dont always get what you want in a platform, said Mike Duncan, a former Republican National Committee chairman. Theres always give-and-take. Delegates will feel strongly  and sometimes more strongly than the presumptive nominee.

Some GOP nominees have walked away from platform planks with which they have disagreed. Trump could choose to do the same, preferring to expend his energies on other battles.

At this point, the issue is mostly theoretical. The platform committee has not even been named, and most of the delegates have yet to be identified. One question is whether Trump and his team will work effectively to ensure that the delegates sent to Cleveland share his views on issues.

Phyllis Schlafly, the longtime conservative activist and now a Trump supporter, said she spoke to him before his recent rally in St. Louis and said she gave him a copy of the 2012 platform.

He pledged to me to support the platform we have, she said. I had a hand in writing the platform last time. I think its the best platform we ever had.

Trump acknowledged Wednesday that he has differences with others in the party and said he wants to have a strong voice in shaping the platform, particularly on trade. I have some differences with them, he said, adding, Im by far leading.

He also confirmed Schlaflys account of their conversation but said he has not yet had an opportunity to read the 2012 platform. Striking a conciliatory note as he finished the interview, Trump said, I dont think theres going to be that many changes.

Robert Costa contributed to this report.
A graffiti portrait of Lee Bo (center), with the Chinese words saying, Who's afraid of Lee Bo, on a wall in Hong Kong. (Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)

Not since the suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests has there been this much diplomatic concern about the direction China is taking. And for once, in a highly unusual show of frustration and unity, Western nations are speaking out in concert.

In the past two months, the United States has been joined by European nations, Canada and Japan in a series of strongly worded joint statements expressing deep concern about where China is headed under President Xi Jinping.

Some have been made in public joint letters to the Chinese government, others in private. Whether they make a difference is an open question.

Western nations are more united, said one diplomat, who declined to be identified to talk freely about sensitive matters. We are worried China is taking a wrong turn.

Under Xi, China has tightened the screws of repression and censorship, the nations complain. Security concerns are trumping business interests, while market-opening reforms arent happening fast enough. At the same time, Chinas assertive actions in the South China Sea have not just spooked its Asian neighbors but sparked concerns from Washington to Brussels.

In a strongly worded letter sent Feb. 25, the ambassadors of the United States, the European Union, Canada, Japan and other nations expressed growing concerns over the Chinese governments commitment to the rule of law and basic human rights.

The previously unreported letter, seen by The Washington Post, was addressed to the minister of public security, Guo Shengkun. It complained about the arrests of civil-society actors, human rights defenders, lawyers and labor rights activists, and about a series of televised confessions that make an unbiased trial impossible. It has yet to elicit a formal response, diplomats say.

[P roposed Ch inese security laws rattle U.S. and European businesses]

Frustration had been building because we got the sense China isnt responding when we raise concerns individually, another diplomat said. So we saw the need for a united front, for joint action to really get Chinas attention.

Some Western nations remain too keen to attract Chinese trade and investment to say much about human rights. But others calculate that Chinas repressive domestic policies and assertive foreign policies can no longer be ignored  partly because they are unsettling the foreign business community and affecting foreign nationals.

Two weeks ago  this time publicly before the U.N. Human Rights Council  the United States was joined by Australia, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden in issuing an explicit condemnation of Chinas problematic and deteriorating human rights record.

Among the complaints: the unexplained recent disappearances and apparent coerced returns of Chinese and foreign citizens from outside mainland China, which the statement called unacceptable, out of step with the expectations of the international community, and a challenge to the rules-based international order.

In the past six months, several dissidents have been arrested or abducted by Chinese security police in Thailand, Burma and Hong Kong and repatriated to mainland China, including two Hong Kong booksellers holding British and Swedish passports respectively.

[Pursuing critics, China reaches across borders. And nobody is stopping it.]

Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, said the joint diplomatic reaction showed how serious the situation had become.

Its been 12 years since this many governments spoke with one voice about human rights erosions in China, she said, calling it a powerful and public metric of concern about abuses inside the country and, alarmingly, abuses by Beijing well beyond its borders.

In January, U.S. Ambassador Max Baucus was joined by counterparts from Canada, Germany, Japan and the European Union in signing a joint letter expressing unease about a new counterterrorism law and draft laws on cybersecurity and nongovernmental organizations.

The laws, diplomats say, show Xis government as making internal security such an overriding concern that the government is not just repressing its own people but is also potentially damaging its own economy and scaring away investors.

That letter, first revealed by Reuters, expressed concern that the laws would impede commerce, stifle innovation and infringe on Chinas obligation to protect human rights in accordance with international law.

This month, the European Union issued another forthright comment on a separate issue: tensions in the South China Sea. Although it did not name names, its concerns, including the deployment of missiles or military forces on disputed islands, seemed to have Beijing squarely in mind.

[U.S. to have very serious conversation with Beijing over South China Sea]

It is a dramatic diplomatic shift in just a few months. In December, the United States, Canada and Germany were the only major nations to mark International Human Rights Day with strong statements about China. Britain had then been at the forefront of those trying to play down concerns, talking of a golden era in relations and praising China for progress in protecting civil and political rights.

[Western nations choose words carefully on China human rights]

Now, diplomats say, Britain has signed on willingly to several joint statements. The main reason: Chinas intransigence over the fate of bookseller and British citizen Lee Bo, apparently abducted from Hong Kong in December and held without access to legal or diplomatic representation.

When British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited Beijing in January, his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, declared that Lee was first and foremost a Chinese citizen. When Hammond later complained that Lees disappearance was a serious breach of the One Country, Two Systems formula under which China took back Hong Kong, Britain was told to stop interfering and mind its words.

This was a serious embarrassment, several diplomats said, and a sign that the golden era in relations meant less to Beijing than it did to London.

Sweden has also found its complaints falling on deaf ears. Two of its citizens  bookseller Gui Minhai and human rights worker Peter Dahlin  have been caught up in the crackdown. Their forced confessions were aired on national television, in scenes that critics say are more reminiscent of Chinas Cultural Revolution or North Korea than would be appropriate for a world power in the 21st century.

[Televised confession was absurd and incoherent  and thats the point]

On March 2, the Swedish ambassador to China, Lars Freden, expressed concern about Guis confession, posting on Sina Weibo, Chinas equivalent of Twitter, that it was something many hoped had ended in China decades ago.

His comment attracted more than 1.3 million views, and many positive comments, before it was deleted by Chinas censors.

In public, Chinas response has been mixed. At the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, the countrys top diplomat, Fu Cong, accused the United States of hypocrisy, kidnapping and large-scale extraterritorial eavesdropping, and alleged that U.S. troops raped and murdered civilians on foreign soil.

But the state-run China Daily argued that Beijing should listen and respond to international concerns over some of the new laws, while reassuring Western observers that China would continue with the process of reform and opening up.

Diplomats dont expect much movement on the human rights question, but on one area at least, there has been a sliver of hope.

Passage of the draft NGO law appears to have stalled, with concerns also raised from within China itself and a debate apparently continuing inside the party, diplomats say. Despite Chinas repressive turn, that at least, they say, shows that someone, somewhere, is listening.
An image from a security camera shows three suspects of the attacks at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, pushing trollies with suitcases. The Belgian federal prosecutor confirmed, April 9, that Mohamed Abrini, right, who was arrested in connection to the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015, was the man in the hat captured in surveillance footage at the airport on March 22.

March 22, 2016 An image from a security camera shows three suspects of the attacks at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, pushing trollies with suitcases. The Belgian federal prosecutor confirmed, April 9, that Mohamed Abrini, right, who was arrested in connection to the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015, was the man in the hat captured in surveillance footage at the airport on March 22. Belgian Federal Police/AP

More than a dozen people were killed, and several others were injured, after explosions at an airport and metro station in the Belgian capital.

At least 31 people were killed and 270 injured in suicide bombings at an airport and metro station in the Belgian capital.

At least 31 people were killed and 270 injured in suicide bombings at an airport and metro station in the Belgian capital.

The four men  two of them brothers  who turned ordinary morning commutes in Brussels into blood-soaked nightmares may have been spurred into action by fears that authorities were closing in on them, according to a note left by one of the attackers that was described by a prosecutor Wednesday.

Days before the attacks on Tuesday, counterterrorism police had raided their Brussels safe houses. An ally who took part in Novembers Paris carnage was shot and captured by authorities. And Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, a 29-year-old Belgian with a thick rap sheet, wrote that he did not want to wind up in a prison cell, Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said Wednesday.

The men  at least two of whom had direct ties to the Islamic State attacks in Paris  knew they had to act decisively. So they set out with explosives that ripped open a Brussels subway car and shattered the citys main airport terminal, killing at least 31 people and injuring 300 in the bloodiest attack on Belgian soil since World War II.

Bakraoui detonated a suitcase full of nails, screws and powerful explosives at the airport, killing himself in the process, Van Leeuw said. So did Islamic State bombmaker Najim Laachraoui, 24, who is also believed to have prepared explosives for the Paris attacks, according to an Arab intelligence official and a European intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

An unidentified man who left an even larger suitcase of explosives at the airport is believed to still be at large, he said. That suitcase did not immediately detonate, sparing Belgium even more casualties.

[A quiet morning in Brussels ends in gruesome terrorist attacks]

The country held a national minute of silence Wednesday led by Prime Minister Charles Michel, who laid a wreath at the Maelbeek metro station in honor of the victims. Thousands of Belgians gathered in a somber ceremony in front of an ornate 19th-century stock exchange building to light candles and lay flowers.

The missive, contained in a computer that had been chucked into a garbage can near Bakraouis Brussels apartment, does not specifically cite recent raids across Belgium, including one that netted a key suspect in the Paris attacks. But its tone suggests a sense that the noose was tightening, Van Leeuw said.

The computer message also gives apparent insight into the organization and motivation of militants who apparently turned their attention to Brussels after pulling off the Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

In the note, Bakraoui described feeling pressure bearing down. He wrote that he was in a hurry, no longer knowing what to do, being searched for everywhere, no longer secure, according to Van Leeuws description of the message, which was not made public.

Laachraouis involvement draws the boldest line yet between the Paris attacks and those in Brussels. His DNA was found on explosives in the Paris attacks, and authorities believe that he was versed in the Islamic State art of assembling powerful explosives from ingredients that are readily available. His participation in two attacks suggests that the Islamic State is increasingly able to strike on European soil  although his death may also mean that he feared imminent capture by European authorities.

Terrorism experts regard bombmakers, especially those trained in handling sensitive explosives, as among the most valuable and protected members of a terrorist organization. It is highly unusual for them to participate in suicide attacks themselves.

Belgium authorities have released more details about the suspects in the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

[Why is Brussels under attack?]

Laachraouis DNA was found in a Brussels apartment raided last week. The discovery of a militant cell there eventually led to the arrest of Salah Abdeslam on Friday. Abdeslam was the final at-large direct participant in the Paris attacks and is believed to have been the logistics mastermind.

The computer file that prosecutors cited Wednesday does not mention Abdeslam by name, but it says the attackers feared that if they did not strike quickly, they risked winding up in prison alongside him.

If they drag on, they risk finishing next to him in a cell, Van Leeuw said, paraphrasing the contents of the file.

Van Leeuw described the file as a will discovered on a computer. He did not explain why authorities believed the computer belonged to Bakraoui.

Bakraouis younger brother, Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, is believed to have been the suicide bomber on a Brussels subway car that blew up as it sped out of a station underneath the heart of the European Union quarter of Brussels, an area packed with embassies and international organizations. That attack came 73 minutes after the one at the airport, meaning that commuters were already reading the news of the first explosions when the carnage reached them.

Khalid el-Bakraoui appears to have been a kind of surreptitious real estate broker for the plotters, according to a European security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case. Using assumed names, he rented an apartment in the Forest area of Brussels where Abdeslams fingerprints were found and an apartment near Charleroi, Belgium, where Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud stayed as he plotted the violence.

Both Bakraoui brothers served prison time for violent crime, the European security official said. The announcement on Wednesday that two of the attackers were brothers highlighted another emerging tactic from the militant group: They would be the third pair of brothers involved in an Islamic State attack in Europe in the past 15 months.

European security leaders planned to gather Thursday in Brussels to discuss whether to pursue new policies that would better pool information to counter terrorism.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, visiting Brussels on Wednesday to extend his condolences, repeated past calls for sweeping new powers to be given to European intelligence agencies. In the years to come, the [E.U.] member states will have to invest massively in their security systems, he said.

[Brussels terrorists probably used explosive nicknamed the Mother of Satan]

Van Leeuw, the Belgian prosecutor, said the brothers had not previously been suspected of ties to terrorism.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey had deported one of the attackers to Europe in July and warned European counterterrorism officials that it believed the man was a militant, suggesting a serious lapse by Belgian authorities. Interpol had also issued a red notice, effectively an international arrest warrant, for one of the suspects at the request of Belgian authorities. It was not immediately clear when that notice had been issued.

There were signs that an even bigger attack had been forestalled. Authorities found large stockpiles of bomb-building materials at Ibrahim el-Bakraouis apartment in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels, the prosecutor said: 33 pounds of TATP explosives, nearly 40 gallons of acetone, 8 gallons of hydrogen peroxide, detonators, and a suitcase full of nails and screws. Both acetone and hydrogen peroxide are easily obtainable; together they can be used to make potent explosives.

It remained unclear Wednesday how many Americans had been killed in the blasts. In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said that approximately a dozen Americans were injured but that a number of U.S. citizens remained unaccounted for on Wednesday  without providing more specific figures. He said that U.S. diplomatic missions in Brussels were working to account for all of their own staff.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry plans to visit Brussels on Friday on his return from a trip to Moscow.

Griff Witte, Missy Ryan, James McAuley and Anthony Faiola in Brussels and Brian Murphy and William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

Live updates on the death toll, attack scenes and reactions around the world

Why is Brussels under attack?

At NATO headquarters, alert status raised just miles from attacks

Five stories you should read to understand the Brussels attacks
Tobias Ellwood's comments come following reports of a decision by a committee to freeze the assets of four individuals accused of receiving foreign funding for NGOs

The United Kingdom's Foreign Office Minister for North Africa Tobias Ellwood encouraged Egypt's government on Wednesday to work with civil society to implement the rights guaranteed by the country's constitution and to allow non-governmental organisations to operate freely.

Ellwood expressed his "deep concerns" over what he described as the growing restriction on civil society in Egypt, a statement by the British embassy in Cairo quoted him as saying.

The official's comments come following a judicial committee overseeing a five-year-old investigation into several rights activists accused of receiving illegal funding from foreign sources.

The committee ordered last week the freezing of the assets of four Egyptian human rights activists and their families.

"I am deeply concerned by growing restrictions on civil society in Egypt, including reports that the Egyptian authorities have reopened a case against a number of Egyptian human rights organisations," Ellwood said.

Two of the four accused individuals include rights activist Gamal Eid and investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat.

"A strong, successful Egypt built on the rule of law and with open political processes is important to us all," Ellwood said.

The foreign office minister also highlighted in his statement that according to Egypt's 2014, the country has committed to allowing civil society organisations to operate freely.

"Restrictions and sanctions run counter to this and undermine international confidence in Egypts political transition," Elwood said.

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Were in a very deep crisis, said Corrado Pirzio-Biroli, a former diplomat who was almost blown up Tuesday morning as he rode the Brussels subway. (Capucine Granier-Deferre/For The Washington Post)

In the Europe of his childhood, Corrado Pirzio-Biroli was a wartime prisoner. His mother was held in a concentration camp. His grandfather was hanged for an aborted attempt to overthrow Hitler.

In the Europe of his working life, Pirzio-Biroli was a respected ambassador and bureaucrat, a professional who made life orderly, regulated and dull on a continent that needed peace above all else after decades of globe-shaking violence.

And in the Europe of his old age, the 75-year-old with twinkling blue eyes narrowly missed being blown up on Tuesday morning as he rode the Brussels subway.

Even before an Islamic State bomber detonated himself directly beneath the behemoth steel-and-glass office buildings that form the utilitarian core of the modern European Union, the very idea of Europe was under extraordinary strain.

An unparalleled inflow of refugees. An economy that never bounced back from a global recession. A surge for the political extremes, along with a hollowing out of the center.

Dr. Corrado Pirzio-Biroli is a proud European. As a child, he was a German prisoner of war. Yesterday, he came within minutes of being blown up on the subway. (Griff Witte/The Washington Post)

[Second airport bomber was Islamic State bombmaker, intelligence officials say]

But now Europe also faces the reality of mass-casualty attacks in its largest cities, perpetrated by its very own people. Even for an inveterate optimist like Pirzio-Biroli  who has seen Europe rise from a war-scarred hell to a stable and prosperous union  its enough to make him fear for the continents future.

Were in a very deep crisis, he said sadly on Wednesday as he gazed at a police cordon around the site where he could have died just a day earlier, had his timing been a little different. Part of the glue that held us together has gone.

That sentiment is now widespread. A union that has for decades been seen around the world as a beacon for civilization  a paradise, in Pirzio-Birolis words  is being ridiculed both at home and abroad for being weak, divided and potentially nearing a breakup.

The attacks that quite literally shook the foundations of the E.U. on Tuesday wont trigger that unraveling on their own. And yet they add to a palpable sense that Europe cant cope with its many overlapping crises.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls acknowledged the threat on Wednesday, calling for sweeping new powers to be given to European intelligence agencies and noting pointedly that Europes wounds are at least partially self-inflicted  the result of its leaders inability to get things done.

If Europe doesnt rise to the challenges it will break up, and there our responsibility will be very grave, he said on a visit to Brusssels, where he laid a wreath at the subway station that was targeted Tuesday. We have the Europe that we deserve.

The continents storm has been building for some time. But the disparate forces that feed it are only coalescing now.

An anemic recovery to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 weakened the bonds between citizens and their state and drove a deep wedge between nations bound together in a union that operates on the basis of unanimous consent.

Wars that Europe participated in on its periphery  in the Middle East, Afghanistan and North Africa  went badly awry, spawning more wars and bringing a historic number of refugees to the continents doorstep while feeding radicalization at home.

The self-evident failure of the governing elites spawned a political backlash and a rush to populists on both the right and the left who would rather tear down the creaky superstructure of the E.U. than go through the labors of trying to patch it up.

The United States has faced similar struggles. But geography works to Europes disadvantage and makes the continent uniquely vulnerable right now.

[E.U. strikes deal to return new migrants to Turkey]

We have a rare combination in Europe: Both the domestic scene and the external neighborhood are in disarray, said Jan Techau, Brussels-based director of Carnegie Europe.

Meanwhile, the E.U. as a system was not built to handle such extreme stress, he said. Its machinery moves ploddingly by design  the better to settle grievances fairly, and without any sudden movements that could trigger the sort of all-consuming conflict across European borders that necessitated its creation.

Europe built a machine  a deliberately boring, conflict-resolution machine. And at that, the E.U. is great, he said. But its not built to handle these kinds of high-voltage currents being fed into it all at the same time. At a certain point, it starts to overheat.

The grinding down of the machinery can be seen in the continents stumbling response to the refugee crisis, its inability to move collaboratively to combat homegrown extremists and the growing ambivalence among E.U. members over whether to stick with the club at all.

The threats reinforce each other.

Britain will vote in June on whether to leave the E.U., a move that would deprive the bloc of one of its cornerstones. Tuesdays attacks likely wont help those pushing for the country to stay in: Within hours of the strikes, advocates of whats being called a Brexit were tweeting messages describing Brussels as Europes jihadist capital and mocking the idea that the country is safer by sticking with the union.

A vote to get out would galvanize anti-E.U. forces continent-wide and make it even harder for the union to govern. Europes ascendant far right is pushing a nationalist revival, along with a return to rigid internal border controls. That, far-right leaders say, is the only way to regain security following a disastrously managed refugee influx.

[When Britain votes on the E.U., Western security could be on the line]

But even if the borders are sealed, much of Europes security problem emanates from within  the brothers who blew themselves up in Brussels on Tuesday were native sons  raising the specter that Europe will simply have to resign itself to the likelihood of more attacks.

Were seeing this as part of the new normal, said Karel Lannoo, chief executive of the European Center for Policy Studies. But do we accept that this becomes part of normality?

Pirzio-Biroli isnt ready to give up on the Europe hes spent a lifetime trying to help build. The continent simply has to recognize, he said, whats at stake.

A gray-haired and distinguished-looking Italian who considers himself a European above all else, he was born into the mayhem of World War II and, after his mothers arrest when he was 4, he was taken away by the Nazis.

One has to realize that this happened to my generation, he said. We have to avoid that happening to any future generation.

Pirzio-Biroli spent his career making policy at the European Commission, and he believes deeply in an idea thats lately gone out of style: that Europe can only solve its problems collaboratively.

On Tuesday morning, he boarded a subway train en route to a conference on the future of agriculture policy, just the sort of arcane and earnest event on which this city is built. It was only later that he learned 20 people had died on the train behind his.

It could have been any of us, he said.

Back near the scene of the blast on Wednesday  the bomb detonated almost exactly beneath his office  he said he hoped Europes response to the attack would be to bind together. But he feared that it would be to pull apart  which is, perhaps, exactly as the attackers intended.

Their extremists are creating our extremists, he said. I dont know what the answer to that is.

Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.
President Obama declared Wednesday that defeating the terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State remains his top priority, but he forcefully dismissed calls to alter his strategy and vowed not to change course simply because its political season.

At a news conference here, Obama responded to criticism from Republican presidential candidates who, in the wake of the terrorist bombings in Brussels that killed 31 people Tuesday, have said the president has not done enough to combat terrorist organizations. The Islamic State has asserted responsibility for the attacks.

As our strategy evolves and we see additional opportunities, we will go after it, Obama told reporters after a meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri. But what we dont do, and what we should not do, is take approaches that are going to be counterproductive. So when I hear somebody saying we should carpet-bomb Iraq or Syria, not only is that inhumane, not only is that contrary to our values, but that would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more people willing to die and explode bombs in an airport or in a metro station. Thats not a smart strategy.

Tuesdays gruesome attacks, which injured 270 at Brussels Airport and a downtown subway station, refocused attention on the presidents strategy in the international fight against terrorism. Obama, on a week-long trip to Cuba and Argentina, reacted to the bombings during appearances in both countries. But he did not alter his schedule  that would validate the terrorists goal of injecting fear and disruption into peoples routines, he said.

As he has after past terrorist attacks  including those last year in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.  Obama insisted that his approach to battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is showing slow, steady gains, and he cautioned against an overreaction to the attacks in Brussels.

The administration has focused on U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State targets, U.S. assistance for Iraqi troops and Syrian opposition forces, and disruptions of terrorist financial networks, while deploying a small number of U.S. Special Forces soldiers in Syria.

Referring to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a presidential hopeful who called Tuesday for law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods, Obama noted that Cruzs father fled to the United States from Cuba, where the Castro regime employed such tactics.

I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance  which, by the way, the father of Senator Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free, Obama said of his historic visit to Havana. The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense. Its contrary to who we are. And its not going to help us defeat ISIL. The Islamic State is also known as ISIL and ISIS.

The president emphasized that the fight against the terrorists is complicated by the challenge of trying to identify very small groups of people who are willing to die themselves and can walk into a crowd and detonate a bomb.

[Obama, Raul Castro spar over rights, Guantanamo]

And he said the U.S. government does not just go ahead and blow something up just so that we can go back home and say we blew something up. Thats not a foreign policy. Thats not a military strategy.

The presidents visit was aimed at highlighting Argentinas more U.S.-friendly government and its potential to play a greater role in hemispheric affairs.

Obama arrived Wednesday morning at the Casa Rosada  an ornate, dusky rose building that has served as the office of the Argentine president since the 1860s  to a reception featuring a military band and guards in elaborate dress. He and Macri, along with their top advisers, met to discuss issues including foreign investment and regional stability.

Macris Nov. 22 election represents an opportunity to improve U.S.-Argentina relations that had deteriorated under his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. But Macri won the election with just over 51 percent of the vote, reflecting an electorate that remains divided between those seeking a more centrist approach to governing and those backing leftist, more-confrontational positions.

[Obama cheers Argentinas shift away from the left]

As a result, analysts said, Macri aims to govern in ways that may be more closely aligned with U.S. interests, but he will not do much to appear explicitly aligned with the Obama administration.

In the joint news conference, Macri described the meeting as the beginning of a new phase of mature, intelligent and constructive relations between the countries.

On Wednesday night, the president and Michelle Obama attended a state dinner hosted by Macri, where Obama accepted a female dancers invitation to tango. They were soon joined on the floor by the first lady and a male dancer.

Some Argentines protested Obamas visit, including in front of the U.S. Embassy, while others complained about the traffic it caused. But others welcomed the visit. One of them, a 25-year-old janitor named Ivan Jarra, watched as Obamas limousine approached the Casa Rosada.

I think that Obamas visit is great, said Jarra, who voted for Macri. I think its necessary for Argentina, in terms of trade especially, to have a better economy. . . . Any alliance with a developed country will be useful for us, but with the United States especially.

But the strikes in Brussels linked to the Islamic State may have detracted from Obamas overall message here.

Obama was criticized by Republicans for his reaction to the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in November, after which he traveled to Asia and warned against fear-mongering from his GOP rivals and the media.

Although he again insisted Wednesday that the Islamic State is not an existential threat to the United States  They cant destroy us. They cant defeat us. They dont produce anything, he said  Obama was mindful in Buenos Aires to express empathy with Americans who have become fearful.

Our hearts bleed because we know that could be our children. That could be our family members or our friends, or our co-workers who travel to a place like Brussels, the president said. And it scares the American people. And it horrifies me. Ive got two young daughters who are growing up a little too fast, and I want them to have the freedom to move and to travel around the world without the possibility that theyd be killed.

I understand why this is the top priority of the American people, he continued. And I want them to understand this is my top priority as well.

But he cautioned against what he described as counterproductive, political reaction. Were going to be steady. Were going to be resolute. And ultimately were going to be successful, he said.

And he defended his decision not to alter his itinerary in reaction to the terrorist attacks.

It is very important for us to not respond with fear, he said. But we defeat them in part by saying: You are not strong. You are weak. 

Nakamura reported from Washington. Irene Caselli in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.

Read more:

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Azza El-Hennawy has been accused by the Egyptian Radio and TV Union head of committing 'serious professional irregularities'

The head of the state-run Egyptian Radio and TV Union (ERTU), Essam El-Amir, referred on Wednesday TV host Azza El-Hennawy to the administrative prosecution after she criticised President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on air.

El-Amir alleged that El-Hennawy and the crew of her weekly show Cairo News on Channel 3 "committed serious professional violations."

El-Hennawy spoke in a November 2015 episode about corruption in Egypt's municipalities and called on President El-Sisi to look into the issue and hold state officials accountable.

She added that because "the president appoints state officials," he should also be held to the same standards.

This is not the first time El-Hennawy has been suspended by state TV after expressing personal political views.

During the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, she was suspended for almost one year and eight months, and also was suspended for one year under the rule of president Mohamed Morsi.

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Global rights group Amnesty International criticised Egyptian authorities for reopening investigations into several NGOs for allegedly receiving funds illegally from foreign governments and institutions.

"Egypts civil society is being treated like an enemy of the state, rather than a partner for reform and progress, Amnesty said in a statement.

The Egyptian authorities have moved beyond scaremongering and are now rapidly taking concrete steps to shut down the last critical voices in the countrys human rights community."

Last week, a judicial committee overseeing the five-year-old investigation ordered the freezing of assets of four Egyptian human rights activists and their families.

Rights activists Hossam Bahgat, who founded the Egyptian Initiative for Personnel Rights (EIPR) in 2004, and Gamal Eid, who founded the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) in 2004, were among those whose assets were frozen.

A Cairo criminal court will review on Thursday the committee's decision to freeze assets.

The investigations dates back to 2011, when the Egyptian Ministry of Justice accused several NGOs of illegally receiving funds from foreign entities based on reports issued at the time by the National Security Agency and the General Intelligence Service.

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Three suspected Islamic State group members arrested in Turkey were planning attacks on Germany's diplomatic missions or schools in the country, which were closed last week over a terror threat, Turkish media reported Wednesday.

The three men -- a Turk, an Iraqi and a Syrian -- were arrested in Istanbul on Tuesday by police acting on information from both Turkey's and Germany's intelligence services, Hurriyet newspaper and the broadcaster CNN-Turk reported.

The suspects, presented as members of an IS group cell, are accused of plotting attacks on German interests in Turkey, the reports said.

Last Thursday, Germany closed its embassy in Ankara, its consulate in Istanbul and German schools in both cities, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier citing "very serious" indications of planned attacks.

Turkish authorities had criticised the closures, saying they were unjustified.

Two days later, a Turkish alleged IS group member blew himself up on a busy shopping street in Istanbul, killing three Israelis and an Iranian and injuring dozens.

Tuesday's arrests in Istanbul come as police continue to hunt three Turkish suspected members of an IS group cell believed to be planning further attacks in crowded public places.

A further 10 suspected IS group members were captured Tuesday on Turkey's border with Syria, one of whom was wearing an explosives vest, officials said.

Two of those held in southern Gaziantep province were injured in an exchange of gunfire with Turkish troops. Three others managed to flee the scene, the local governor's office said.

IS group has been blamed for four of six bombings that have rocked Turkey in the past eight months, including a massacre at a peace rally in the capital Ankara in October that claimed 103 lives and a bombing outside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul in January that killed 12 German tourists.

A radical offshoot of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which the state is embroiled in a bloody conflict in southeast Turkey, claimed the other two attacks.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will visit Pakistan this week for talks on improving relations and strengthening economic links, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

It said the lifting of sanctions on Iran following its nuclear deal with the West "has opened new avenues for enhancing economic interaction".

Rouhani would also discuss cooperation on regional and international issues during his visit on Friday and Saturday, the ministry said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Iran in May 2014 and in January this year to try to ease tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in early January after protesters burned Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.

They were angry at the kingdom's execution in early January of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Pakistan is counting on a joint project with Iran to solve a long-running power crisis that has sapped economic growth and left its 200 million people fuming at incessant electricity cuts.

A $7.5-billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline intended to feed Pakistani power plants was inaugurated with great fanfare in March 2013.

But the project immediately hit quicksand in the form of the international sanctions on Tehran, which meant that cash-strapped Pakistan struggled to raise the money to build its section.

Tehran has already built its own section of the 1,800-kilometre (1,100-mile) pipeline, which should eventually link its South Pars gasfields to the Pakistani city of Nawabshah near Karachi.

As part of an ambitious $46 billion economic corridor linking western China to the Middle East through Pakistan, Beijing recently started work on the section of pipeline between Nawabshah and the port of Gwadar close to the Iranian border.

Once this is completed, Pakistan will build the last 80 kilometres to Iran.

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UN envoy Martin Kobler said he was prevented from travelling Wednesday to the Libyan capital for his work on the installation of a new unity government.

Tripoli is under the control of an unrecognised administration backed by a coalition of militias including Islamists that opposes the new government from starting work inside the country.

"UN #Libya envoy supposed to arrive today to discuss moving UN-backed unity government to #Tripoli," the envoy wrote on Twitter.

"Again had to cancel flight to Tripoli... UN must have the right to fly (to) Tripoli," he said, without specifying what had blocked the mission.

Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when the recognised government was forced from Tripoli to the far east after the Fajr Libya militia coalition overran the capital.

The United Nations is pushing Libya's rival politicians to accept a unity government created under a power-sharing deal announced in December.

It has not been formally endorsed by either parliament but last Saturday the government announced it was taking office on the basis of a petition signed by Libya's elected lawmakers.

Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, allowing extremist organisations including the Islamic State group to gain ground.

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Tabled talks in Kuwait give hope that the conflict in Yemen could reach a negotiated resolution, though significant distance remains between the warring parties

In a new political development on the Yemeni front, Kuwait will host a fresh round of negotiations between the adversaries in that war after nine months of inactivity in the negotiating process that began in Muscat and Geneva last June.

Evidently the Omani-brokered visit made by Houthi leader Mohammed Abdel Salam to the Saudi town of Abha three weeks ago for talks with Saudi officials set stagnant waters in motion again.

According to the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the parties welcomed a new round of talks in Kuwait under UN sponsorship.

Ould Cheikh Ahmeds announcement of the new venue for talks followed his visit to Sanaa earlier this week in order to meet with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, members of the General Peoples Congress and Houthi representatives. The UN envoy was characteristically optimistic.

There are promising signs on the political horizon this time. These signs are strengthened by the blessings inside Yemen and abroad,  he wrote on his Facebook page. He called on all parties to work toward the realisation of a rapid resolution, which is the wish of all.

The Kuwait foreign ministry issued a statement welcoming the agreement of the concerned parties in choosing Kuwait to host the Yemeni-Yemeni talks. The ministry noted that it had expressed its desire to host talks on previous occasions in order to bring an end to the war in Yemen.

Before his visit to Sanaa, Ould Cheikh Ahmed met with Yemeni officials in Riyadh, most notably Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. In a press conference afterwards, Hadi said that he looked forward to helping the next round in talks succeed.

He then officially announced from Riyadh that a government delegation will take part in the talks in Kuwait and that this is the same delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Abdel Malek Al-Makhlaf, which took part in the talks in Geneva last year.

As local, regional and international attention turns towards Kuwait, heartened by the desire of the Yemeni and regional parties to return to talks, sources close to the two sides the Saleh-Houthi alliance and the Hadi government maintain that there is still a significant distance between them over an agenda for a dialogue that could pave the way to a political solution and an end to the ongoing hostilities.

Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly by phone from Riyadh, a source from political circles close to President Hadi said that he believed that Hadi had no desire for an interim phase in which Saleh, himself, and the Houthis appeared.

There continued presence would complicate the political scene and any share they have in the process would jeopardise stabilising power.

Khaled Alian, a journalist in the presidential affairs bureau who also spoke with the Weekly by phone, said, nonetheless: It appears that all parties are moving toward the settlement process. He pointed to the calm along the Yemeni-Saudi border as an indication of Houthi commitment to demonstrate good intentions and added: There is a new change at the level of media and political rhetoric from the Houthi-Saleh side.

The Houthis now speak of Saudi Arabia as the elder sister. Salah, for his part, is basing his calculations on the premise that the war is near an end.

Alian predicts that the Houthi-Saleh alliance will not last much longer and that it will collapse when negotiations get deeper.

Both [Saleh and the Houthis] are flirting with Riyadh more than necessary and are acting as though the other partner is the problem. Also, Saleh is having more and more separate meetings with this party without a Houthi presence. At the same time, the Houthi leadership is devoting more attention to its own group and rallying it together while not giving the Saleh group the attention it had in the past.

He added that both sides had called for rallies on Friday but that Salehs would be held on 70 Street while the Houthi rally will be held on Al-Matar Street.

Each side wants to prove to the other and to observers abroad that it can muster greater numbers of supporters on the day that marks the first anniversary of the war in Yemen.

In the opinion of a source from circles close to Saleh, hope for a settlement rests more on rapprochement with Saudi Arabia than on Hadi, as it is unlikely that he will play a major role in the coming interim phase, even if he is formally recognised as president.

The source added that the outputs of the national dialogue that took place in 2013 and 2014 would be brought up again. Hadi does not want to reopen that file, which would entail proceeding on the basis of the rules it established.

In this regard, Saleh is banking on a return to the political rule regarding who governs in Sanaa; namely, that the ruler is produced by the same formula that gave rise to Saleh an army man, supported by the tribes and on good terms with Riyadh. If even part of this is put into effect, the person who rules in Sanaa cannot be a southerner. He (Saleh) knows this better than anyone and thinks What is the point of a settlement?

The source, set to take part in the talks in Kuwait, added: I think we still have a long way to go.

It appears that talks may proceed even without a comprehensive ceasefire, as hostilities on some fronts continue, as is the case in Taiz.

Abdel Aziz Al-Majidi, an opposition politician from Taiz told the Weekly, The Taiz front is still flaring. The insurgents have launched a push to regain control of the ground they lost in the city due to the advances of the resistance. They are not withdrawing.

Al-Majidi accused the forces of legitimacy (meaning pro-Hadi forces) of being deliberately slow in sending sufficient military reinforcements to the Taiz front as though its fate is to remain mired in battle while everyone is at the negotiating table.

He even suspects a tacit agreement to see Taiz destroyed so that it does not stand in the way of any settlement deals involving the north and the south.

Taiz was the cradle of the revolution against the Saleh regime and the strongest bastion of resistance against the Houthis, and now is the governorate that is paying the highest price in the war.

The Houthis are removing the mines they planted along the borders with Saudi Arabia but no one cares about the thousands of mines they planted in Taiz, Al-Majidi said.

According to Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri, advisor to the Saudi defence minister and spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, major military operations would cease, which Yemeni analysts take another sign of the desire to clear the way for a new round of talks.

However, aerial bombardments that struck the Thursday market in Hajja province raised questions. Asiri said an investigation would be launched into the incident that killed, according to official estimates, 107 civilians, including women and children, and which was vehemently condemned by UN officials.

The civil/regional war in Yemen will end its first year this week, which marks the beginning of the Saudi-led Operation Storm of Resolve a year ago.

The operation was launched by a coalition of Arab and Islamic states with the purpose of restoring legitimacy in Yemen. Clearly one of the most important dimensions of that war involved a settling of scores in the regional conflict with Iran, which extended its reach into the Saudi backyard in Yemen. Official circles in Riyadh regarded this is as a high level threat due to what they held was Tehrans bid to surround Saudi Arabia from all sides and directly threaten the Saudi interior.

Marking the end of this year of conflict in a different way, UN reports relate that more than 6,000 people were killed since Storm of Resolve was unleashed in March 2015, and that at least half of these were civilians. A Security Council committee has advised launching an investigation into possible crimes against humanity perpetrated during the war.

On top of the large civilian death toll, Jamie McGoldrick, UN resident humanitarian affairs coordinator for Yemen, told a press conference in Muscat earlier this month that 14 million Yemenis needed essential and urgent relief and assistance due to the current conflict, and that humanitarian relief efforts in Yemen would require $1.8 billion in 2016.

*This story was first published at Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Turkish authorities in June 2015 detained and later deported one of the individuals behind the attacks in Brussels that killed 31 people, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

"One of the Brussels attackers was detained in Gaziantep (in southern Turkey close to the Syrian border) and then deported" to Belgium, Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.

He said the Belgian authorities had failed to confirm the suspect's links to terrorism "despite our warnings" following his deportation.

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Egypt's Suez Canal revenues fell for the second. consecutive month to record $401.4 million in February, official data from the canals authority showed.

The revenues slowed from $411.8 million in January and $429 million in December last year amid claims that vessels are changing route to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa instead of the Suez Canal due to the drop in world oil prices.

Chairman of the canal's authority Mohab Mamish responded to these claims in a statement sent on Tuesday saying that the Suez Canal is the main route for world trade, and no other alternative can take its place in the field of maritime transport.

On an annual basis, the revenues saw an increase of 5.1 percent from February 2015 ($381.9 million), the statement added.

Last month witnessed a notable increase in revenues, number of transiting vessels and total net tonnage, despite the drop in world oil prices that declined from $110 per barrel in mid 2014 to around $30 per barrel in the last quarter of 2015, Mamish said.

The countrys vital waterway saw 1,300 vessels pass through last February, a year-on-year rise of 6.6 percent, said the authority.

The canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and is one of the country's main sources of foreign currency.

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Project Market aims to encourage Arab-German co-productions in preparation for the Robert Bosch Stiftung Prize

Arab filmmakers are invited to apply to attend Project Market Amman, taking place between 26 and 31 May.

The event will be held in cooperation with the Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC), and Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of the leading private European foundations.

Up to ten young Arab directors will be selected to meet with fifteen German producers.

Over the course of four days, the German and Arab filmmakers will be offered a space to exchange knowledge and project details. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered by The Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Project Market is a space to facilitate the formation of German-Arab teams that are then encouraged to apply for the annual Robert Bosch Stiftung prize.

The prize is given to three teams to help them realise their film projects. Each prize is worth up to 60,000 euros, and will be awarded in the short animated film, short fiction film, and short or feature length documentary categories.

Arab directors at the start of their film career, be they students or graduates of film and media academies, can apply for the Project Market Amman through the following link www.onlineprojectmarket.de

The deadline for submissions is 15 April.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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In July 1987, Aboulghar and his team saw the birth of Egypts first ever IVF child: a baby girl named Hebattoullah (a gift from God)

It was on Mothers Day (21 March) 30 years ago that Egypts prominent gynecologist Mohamed Aboulghar started, with a group of medical doctors, Egypts first ever centre for in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

This was about 10 years after the worlds first IVF baby was born in England and a couple of years after the first IVF centre was inaugurated in the Middle East, in Israel.

It took Aboulghar a few years of research and contacts with IVF specialists in Europe and the US before he managed, with the help of a colleague from the medical school of Cairo University, Ragaa Mansour (who had just finished training on IVF techniques at the University of Ohio) and a third doctor, Gamal Sorour, to actually get started in Egypt.

It was revolutionary for sure  a major scientific development that opened new avenues of hope for keen couples who had to otherwise put up with the harsh challenge of infertility, Aboulghar remembered.

It was also, in a sense, a social shock. Couples had issues being open about their infertility. They felt it was something to be ashamed of. They even felt they had to hide it from their own parents, he said.

To make things more difficult, Aboulghar recalled, the introduction of IVF in Egypt faced considerable resistance from conservative and ultraorthodox religious figures, both Muslims and Christians.

Aboulghar and Sorour, who was a professor at Al-Azhar University, had to go through rounds of contacts with leading religious figures on both sides to secure their support and to help stop the anti-IVF campaign that was being launched at the time.

In fact, many colleagues were apprehensive about our efforts. They were not sure that we would succeed, even though we had imported all the necessary equipment and medical requirements, he said.

Aboulghar added that for about a decade after the inauguration of this first IVF centre in Egypt, couples who were willing to acknowledge that there was a "problem" were not comfortable pursuing IVF. Taking medicine or pursuing some surgical procedure was alright, but not much more, he said.

I remember a couple used to want to hide, almost as they entered into the centre. They were very anxious about meeting other couples in the waiting room, Aboulghar recalled with empathy.

Speaking to Ahram Online after a medical conference in Luxor attended by leading names in the IVF medical community, Aboulghar said that, Thirty years down the road, it is no longer a source of shame or anxiety for infertile couples to pursue IVF.

I think it was in the early 1990s that things started to change. Not so much because of the many successful cases where IVF helped couples have the babies they hoped for, but also because the stigmatisation of infertility was knocked down by the desire to have children, he said.

According to Aboughar, today it is not just easier for society, that learned to accept that some couples need to resort to advanced medical techniques to be able to have children (early on it was just womens infertility that we were able to help, through IVF, but later also mens infertility through ICSI), but it is also easier for doctors who in earlier years had to work in challenging conditions, before scientific research allowed for breakthrough in machines and medicines related to the process.

In July 1987, Aboulghar and his team saw the birth of Egypts first ever IVF child: a baby girl named Hebattoullah (a gift from God). At the time, the birth of this "revolutionary" baby girl was front page news in all leading dailies in Cairo, and her story was celebrated by hopeful couples for years before it became "normal" for couples to pursue IVF or ICSI. Now, thousands of couples every year find treatment in some 50 plus private fertility centres, along with a few government units, operating in Egypt.

We used to see Hebattoullah for her birthday every year, for almost 13 years. But then she went on with her life, as many other girls and boys were born to parents who pursued IVF, Aboulghar said.

Back in the early days of IVF in Egypt, the process used to cost the couple around EGP 2000. Quite a bit of money for that time, Aboulghar recalled. Today, on average, it costs about five times more.

Unfortunately it remains a very costly process for the vast majority of people, and there is no chance in the future, certainly not in the near future, to see the treatment of infertility covered in the medical care the government provides  not with such a limited budget for healthcare and with so many serious diseases to attend to, Aboulghar said.

In the centre he co-established three decades ago, Aboulghar is giving economically disadvantaged women hope to access IVF by allowing donations from economically privildged couples who manage to go through the process successfully and have a baby or two.

We ask the couple to either nominate another couple for financial help, or we put them in touch with a candidate couple, he said. And this has been helping, for sure, he added.

According to this leading Middle Eastern name of reproductive endocrinology, the road of the past 30 years has not been easy for women. It is the wife who is always the first to be blamed by family and society when a young couple fails to promptly have children. And when medical treatment was made available, husbands would decline to do the necessary medical check-ups, to decide the medical path away from infertility. When IVF was finally available, many men declined to join their wives in the pursuit of assisted pregnancy.

Aboulghar, in the course of the past 30 years, saw cases where a couple in their 40s would "ultimately and having been failed by everything else" opt for IVF, when it is a bit late or in some cases too late for women to rely on this technique that generally requires younger age mothers, as is the case with pregnancy in general.

I always thought it was such a pity, because had they come a few years earlier when the wives eggs would have still been more on the active side, things could have possibly worked for them, he said.

What was more shocking for this gynaecologist was the shameless attitude of some men who, when told that the pursuit of IVF was too late (often due to their own reluctance towards the medical process), would divorce their wives and marry a younger woman whose chances of successful IVF jump from around 20 per cent for women nearing the end of their reproductive life, to well over 50 per cent for women at the peak of their reproductive life.

Helping women to encourage their husbands to benefit from medical advances is becoming easier for some in society, but not for all due to persistent misconceptions on what IVF or ICSI is about.

Aboulghar agrees that there are misconceptions about the impact of the process on womens reproductive or sexual health, and that there are also concerns about increased health challenges for IVF/ICSI babies.

He acknowledges that awareness raising is necesssary, to explain to a wider segment of society what this process is all about. Then again, when resources are limited, Aboulghar accepts that awareness campaigns on IVF/ICSI cannot take precedence over more pressing issues, like early marriages or female genital mutilation (FGM).

Given the "major leaps" of the past 30 years in overcoming unease over IVF, Aboulghar is convinced that in time all fears will evaporate and more couples will be able to overcome their infertility.

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After swearing the oath of office, Khaled El-Enany, Egypts new minister of antiquities, spoke to Ahram Online about his plans to enhance Egypts heritage profile

Khaled El-Enany, Egypt's new minister of antiquities, told Ahram Online that plugging the hole in the ministry's finances will be his top priority, because when funds are available projects that were put on hold could be resumed.

El-Enany completed his doctorate in Egyptology in 2001 at Montpellier III University in France, writing about ancient Egyptian royal names.

He then began an academic career in the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management at Helwan University, where he rose through the ranks.

While at Helwan, El-Enany was director of the Open Learning Centre, head of the Tourism Guidance Department, vice-dean for education and student affairs and professor of Egyptology. He is also an associate scientific expert and member of the board of administration at the Institut francais d'archeologie orientale (IFAO) and a visiting professor at Montpellier III. He has lectured in France and Switzerland.

In October 2015, the French government awarded El-Enany the French Chevalier (knight) of the Order of Arts and Literature for his achievements in archaeological studies and his efforts to preserve Egypt's heritage and create a strong bridge of cooperation between Egypt and France in the field of archaeology.

El-Enany told Ahram Online by phone after swearing the oath of office in front of President El-Sisi that he would continue what his predecessors started, as the post does not suggest one should start from scratch, or erase all previous efforts exerted. Rather, the aim must be to build on what has been done.

Helping junior Egyptian archaeologists and curators to develop their skills to meet their counterparts abroad is another goal that El-Enany vows to work hard to achieve, through the establishment of workshops on research methodology in Egyptology as well as sending archaeologists for training abroad.

He continued: I have several ideas in mind and I will work hard to implement them, in order to protect and preserve Egypts heritage.

El-Enany promised to have a soft opening of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in 2016. The press conference on the results of the radar survey of Tutankhamuns tomb is to be held 1 April according to schedule.

El-Enany told Ahram Online that Prime Minister Sherif Ismail assured him he would remove all obstacles the ministry has faced in the pursuit of its archaeological work.

He added that Ismail encouraged him to work in collaboration with the ministries of tourism and civil aviation to improve Egypt's heritage profile and build up the country.

Upon arrival to the ministry El-Enany met with former Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty and all heads and directors of sections in the ministry, in order to put in motion a plan for the ministrys future work.

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Win McNamee/Getty Images(BUENOS AIRES, Argentina) -- President Obama rebuked GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz's proposal to patrol U.S. Muslim neighborhoods as a part of a counter-terrorism strategy as "un-American" and "counterproductive."



"I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance, which, by the way, the father of Sen. Cruz escaped, for America, the land of the free," Obama said, invoking Cruz's Cuban heritage in criticizing Cruz's proposal Wednesday.



Speaking at a joint news conference with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Obama said any approach that would single out or target Muslims for discrimination is not only wrong and un-American, but it also would be counterproductive because it would reduce the strength, the antibodies that we have to reduce terrorism.



One of the great strengths of the U.S. and why we havent seen more attacks in the U.S. is we have an extraordinarily successful patriotic, integrated Muslim-American community. They do not feel isolated, he said.



"The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense," Obama added. "Its contrary to who we are. And its not going to help us defeat ISIL."



ISIL is also known as ISIS.



The president reiterated that defeating ISIS is his top priority, saying there is no more important item on my agenda" but that we have to go about defeating the group "in an intelligent way.



This is difficult work, he said. What we dont do and what we should not do is take approaches that are going to be counterproductive.



When we see the sight of these kinds of attacks, our hearts bleed, he said. And it horrifies me. I have two young daughters who are growing up a little too fast. I want them to have the freedom to move and travel around the world without the possibility that they be killed. I understand why this is the top priority of the American people. This is my top priority as well.



In the wake of Tuesday's attacks in Brussels, Cruz called for law enforcement to step up policing of Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S.



"We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," Cruz said in a statement Tuesday listing a number of count-terrorism measure.



And in addressing the criticism hes received for pressing on with his foreign trip in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks, the president explained that part of the fight against groups like ISIS is about sending a message that they cant defeat us.



We defeat them in part by saying you are not strong, you are weak. We send a message to those that might be inspired by them to say you are not going to change our values of liberty and openness and the respect of all people, Obama said.



A lot of it is going to be saying, you dont have power over us, we are strong, our values are right, you offer nothing except death, he said.



All three Republican presidential candidates have called on the president to cut his trip short.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
In an exclusive interview after meeting with the president, well-known journalist Abdallah El-Sennawy says that El-Sisi has demonstrated 'openness towards improving human rights conditions and reforming the police force'

This may be the last solid chance for the country as a whole to avoid jumping into the unknown. We must seize the opportunity and put the country back on the right track, says political commentator Abdallah El-Sennawy, referring to a political dialogue took place on Tuesday at the presidential palace.

The dialogue was held upon an invitation that many insiders say was inspired by an initiative by El-Sennawy himself, a supporter turned mild critic of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Tuesdays dialogue allowed the president to listen to concerns expressed by over 20 intellectuals (none of whom represent hardline opposition) regarding issues ranging from socio-economic rights to the clamp down on freedoms and civil society.

The meeting lasted for three hours and seven or eight of the participants spoke at length about limitations imposed on public freedoms, the concern over conditions of human rights and Egypts international image, the fate of prisoners and detainees, and matters related to the supposed display of disrespect for religions, El-Sennawy said.

He argued that each of these issues was presented through multiple perspectives, and there was a great deal of uneasiness over the state of current affairs and the potential negative implications of high-level interventions failing to take place.

According to El-Sennawy, President El-Sisi listened attentively and showed a great deal of respect for the ideas presented, although he repeatedly indicated that some of the ideas were unrealistic and may be too difficult to carry out in a fashion compatible with state security concerns.

This is precisely why, El-Sennawy added, the president asked for working groups to be assembled to follow up on proposals made in a way that would be realistic.

El-Sennawy said in a telephone interview with Ahram Online that the president showed openness to improving police performance and revisiting issues surrounding prisoners and detainees.

I guess we could say that the release of Mahmoud Mohamed, the t-shirt boyis a step in this direction, he said.

Hours after the afternoon meeting between El-Sisi and the group of intellectuals ended, a judicial order was issued to release the 18-year-old who was arrested in January 2014 for wearing a t-shirt reading a nation without torture.

I am expecting more releases in the coming weeks. I am aware of lists being compiled of suspects [who have been held in overdue detention] and I heard the president again affirming his awareness that some young men are being unfairly held in police custody, El-Sennawy said.

He predicted the upcoming release of detained journalists in parallel with the 75th jubilee of the press syndicate. Others would follow, he suggested without offering any specifics as to the profile of potential candidates for release.

He declined to comment on information from security sources indicating that leading revolutionary figures such as Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Ahmed Maher, and Ahmed Doma are not among the list of candidates for judiciary release or pardon.

Instead he said that the president realises that something has to be done on this matter of detainees and prisoners.

El-Sennawy added that the president ordered the review of cases of Egyptians who have been living overseas since June 30 and have been too closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, especially through the sympathetic media outlets.

For example, if TV broadcaster Tarek Abdel-Gaber (who had expressed his desire to come back to Egypt to retire for cancer treatment) was allowed back without any threats, others would follow, he said.

Abdel-Gaber, who had been working with an Islamist sympathetic TV channel following the ouster of Mohamed Morsi on 3 July, had appeared on a couple of private TV satellite channels and expressed a wish to come back to Egypt while sharing his fears that he may be arrested on alleged charges of Muslim Brotherhood association.

Meanwhile, El-Sennawy said that the president shared security and economic concerns with participants in todays meeting.

The president, El-Sennawy added, promised that he would try to do everything within his constitutional term mandate to fix these daunting problems.

He openly said that Egypt is no longer ruled by pharoahs and that he would not and could not overstay the constitutional mandate. I think that this is a clear closure to the speculation over plans to amend the constitution to allow for the extension of [his] time in office, El-Sennawy argued.

According to El-Sennawy, there are reasons to hope that todays meeting is not just a public relations exercise designed to reduce the volume of international criticism of El-Sisis regime.

I think he really wants to try and improve things and he asked to meet up with us again in a month from today to follow up on our discussion, El-Sennawy said.

He added that within the coming days, the president would decide his next round of political dialogue.

I think we could see the next round taking place in a couple of weeks or less and I think that the next group to be invited would be either youth, women, or journalists, El-Sennawy said.

He added that he is convinced that the president is going to make time for diverse groups.

El-Sennawy is hopeful that all concerned would try to make the best out of a clearly positive beginning.

I think that this is the only solid chance for the country to bypass a serious crisis and to reach out to a national consensus based on constitutional legitimacy, El-Sennawy said.

It is this consensus and this commitment to the constitution, he added, that should allow for the reform of institutions, political stability, and eventually economic improvement.

The alternative is not going to be in favour of anyone. This is not a country that could put up with any havoc. We need to opt for a positive spirit and constructive action, he insisted.

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In celebration of the many achievements of Egyptian and Arab women over the years, Ahram Online republishes this article as part of a nine-day special series of gratitude and pride for women's achievements  from 8 March, which is International Womens day, to 16 March, which is Egyptian Womens Day.

The series aims to refresh the collective memory of our nation of the many, and often forgotten, women who excelled against all odds.

While Egyptian women in the 21st century are still lobbying for basic human rights, these republished stories serve as a reminder to society that Egyptian and Arab women fought for and enjoyed similar rights as men across many decades.

From the first woman doctor in the world, to the first woman to fly in Egypt and the Middle East, these women's stories are interweaved, and all deserve to be shared with a younger generation that needs to learn the truth about the accomplishments of their grandmothers and great grandmothers.

----------

Since 1892, when the world was still debating women's rights, Egyptian women's voice was loud, clear, popular and in print.

The first Egyptian women magazine was created in 1892 by a Syrian girl.

"In 1892-1894, Hend Nofal established the first successful yet short lived attempt to Egypt's first women's magazine in Egypt. Al-Fatah (The Girl) was the first women magazine run and owned by Nofal, whose Syrian family, like many families, fled Ottoman rule in Syria for a better, liberal and cultural realm in Egypt," explained Hoda El-Sadda, director of the Women and Memory Forum, in the introduction to a republication of the magazine.

Nofal's father, a writer, helped her in the management and sustainability of the magazine. Mariam El-Nahas, Nofal's mother, had a great impact on Nofal since she was a published writer at the time of the book Maarad Al-Hasnaa fi Taragem Mashaheer El-Nesaa (Hasnaa's Exhibition of Famous Women).

Though shortlived, the magazine was the first cornerstone to encourage women to engage in journalism and writing, borrowing from the model of successful women in the West. Though focused on women's grand role in the home, the magazine also celebrated women who excelled outside the comfort of their family life, such as physicians of the time, explained El-Sadda, adding that the magazine witnessed the fresh beginnings of women and the press.

Another reason for the greatness of the magazine is the fact that it was launched at the time when Abdallah Al-Nadim, national figure and spokesperson of Orabi's revolution, launched his first social magazine, titled Al-Ostaz (The Master). A lot of interesting conversations were had between these magazines and their readers regarding women's rights and equality. Sadly  and not a little ironically  Al-Fatah soon came to an end by way of the marriage of Nofal, as she explained in the last issue of the magazine.

However, her impact remained and lots of women magazines started to flourish: Anis Al-Galis (Keeping One Company, 1898-1907), Magalet Al-Sayedat (Women's Magazine, 1903-1930), Fatat Al-Sharq (Girl of the Orient, 1906-1922), El-Gens Al-Latif (The Better Half, 1908-1925) and Al-Nahda Al Nesaeia (Women Renaissance, 1921-1939)



Following the same line came Farida Fawzi and her women's magazine Al-Hissan (Belle, 1925-1929). The cover of the third issue of this magazine reveals an interesting fact on the duel personality of Egyptians, with a portrait of an elderly woman, the photocaption explaining that she is the widow of a famous minister who refused to state her name. And yet her photograph is printed on the cover.

The magazine was focused in women's rights and dedicated a special section to the same, as a constant reminder to its readers. Music diva Munira El-Mahdia appeared on one of its covers.

The magazine also focused on publishing and translating international novels, as well as The Arabian Nights, along with pictures of aspiring young ladies, such as Siza Nabarawi, the secretary of the Society of the Renaissance of the Egyptian Woman, and Hoda Shaarawi, an icon of the Egyptian feminist movement.

Egypt's Woman magazine (1921-1939) was created and managed by Balsam Abdel Masih. It sustained the line of thought of the previous magazines, but depended on drawings and illustrations rather than pictures.

In parallel to it was Fatat Misr El-Fatat (Girls of Young Egypt) magazine in 1921 founded by Emily Abdel Massih, and Fatat Masr (Egypt's Girls) owned and directed by Hanem Mohamed El-Askalani, the principal of an elementary and vocational school teaching girls tapestry.



In 1930, Omahat El-Mostaqbal (Future Mothers, 1930-1932) was launched by Tafida Allam, along with many other successful publications.

All publications reviewed are courtesy of the Library and Documentation Centre at the Women and Memory Forum

*This article was first published on 23 March, 2016.

The series aims to refresh the collective memory of our nation of the many, and often forgotten, women who excelled against all odds.

While Egyptian women in the 21st century are still lobbying for basic human rights, these republished stories serve as a reminder to society that Egyptian and Arab women fought for and enjoyed similar rights as men across many decades.

From the first woman doctor in the world, to the first woman to fly in Egypt and the Middle East, these women's stories are interweaved, and all deserve to be shared with a younger generation that needs to learn the truth about the accomplishments of their grandmothers and great grandmothers.At the premises of Cairo Library, the hall was crowded with ancient Egyptian women  those who reigned, those who worked, and those who became the first doctors in history.

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Even as we are still absorbing the message from the recent meetings of the legislature and political advisory body for clues as to how authorities will handle the challenges of an economy growing slower than in the past, the public is debating a new topic: the need for China to attract and retain talent.

Several top leaders touched upon the issue in speeches they gave at the meetings of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, saying we need to do more to reach out to trained professionals and established academics and that we should entrust them with key social and economic tasks.

Their messages resonated with the public because as economic growth continues to slow, it is important that China adopt a talent-driven development strategy.

The soundness of the economy hinges upon innovation and reform. As such, we must comprehensively improve our research capabilities and strive to make major breakthroughs on researches in basic sciences and core technologies.

On top of this, the nurturing of leadership in the business world becomes even more important as we continue improving the way we manage a market economy. It is easy to assemble an army of 1,000 soldiers, the old saying goes, but a general with a good sense of command does not come along too often. Good business leaders matter because they know how to nurture innovation through better use of human resources and efficient management.

Even in a country with abundant human resources, the people in power need be open-minded and visionary so they can find the most talented people and make the best use of their abilities. However, we are still bedeviled by an old problem, namely that red tape in many government agencies, state-owned companies, and government-funded schools and research facilities still undermines efforts to attract and keep trained professionals.

Some commentators have raised the alarm in recent years over a marked flow of officials, senior executives and professionals out of government agencies, state-owned companies and public institutions, such as courts and prosecutors' offices. These people left because they are fed up with obstacles like bureaucracy and nepotism undercutting their careers.

We have also seen that some top scholars at our universities are having difficulty getting permission to take academics-related trips abroad. These incidents are no doubt at odds with the strategies of central authorities to develop more talents.

Many Chinese academics living overseas do want to return home to serve their country. On top of that, the country's growing economic might and rising international status are big draw for academics and trained professionals.

But it should be remembered that top human resources tend to go to where they can thrive the most. It is well known that high-caliber professionals are likely to head for places that let them advance their careers, and as such if we want these people to stay with us, we must guarantee them the freedom and security they desire.

In the past two years, the authorities have on a number of occasions vowed to unveil flexible policies to nurture and attract talents, and governments at various levels have spent handsomely on various related programs. Officials in some cities also lifted and eased visa and household registration rules to woo professionals from all over the country and the world.

One successful example is the seven-year old 1,000 Talent Plan, a recruitment program that has brought to China thousands of top academics and researchers from around the world. Such policies need to be extended so more professionals can help facilitate the country's economic transformation and industrial upgrade.

Meanwhile, we should also be wary of officials who are too blinded by a desire to protect their turf to show any interest in working with trained professionals. This will not help the nation's interests.

China has been able to prosper since reform and opening up started in the late 1970s because central authorities have made training and retaining skilled professionals a top priority. Talent policies of the past helped rekindle passions among generations of intellectuals to commit themselves to national development.

We suffered brain drains in the past, particularly in the first few years of reform, a problem that underscored the challenge we faced due to globalization. But in the past decade or so, China has seen an influx of professionals trained in the United States and other Western countries, thanks in part to government policies.

The problem is these policies are encountering some resistance. Some have tried to discredit these returnees by dismissing them as "collaborators of the West." We have also seen cases in which scholars and academics at some institutions are pushed around by bureaucrats. All of this could dent the public's faith in policies related to intellectuals, and thus undermine our efforts to nurture a talent-driven economy. This trend must stop immediately.

We need the right people to help spur innovation so we can be more competitive internationally. But innovation is not just about having the right people. It is also about policies that really help us reach these people. We need to reflect on what we have achieved in attracting the best people over the past three decades. We should also look at what other countries have done in this regard.

It is never easy to put together a viable system for reaching out to people with unique skills and talents. President Xi Jinping recently called upon government officials to show some spirits when it comes to improving governance. Officials indeed need to show a creative spirit in ways they develop and keep talents. He's right. Good policies will keep our hope for a better future alive.

Hu Shuli is the editor-in-chief of Caixin Media
(Beijing)  German President Joachim Gauck said before starting a five-day state visit to China on March 20 that he is "brimming with curiosity and interest," and added that he hoped to "foster exchange and understanding between China and Germany."

"We are aware that we do not share the same views on certain political issues, but we are willing to discuss these issues in a spirit of mutual respect," the 76-year-old pastor-turned-politician said in an email interview with Caixin.

The Sino-German relationship has been warming in recent years. For example, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to visit China twice in 2016, bringing the total number of her visits to 10, more than any other foreign head of state.

Gauck said he would meet with "the Chinese leadership, with academics, culture professionals, entrepreneurs and students" during his visit. Germany is China's biggest trading partner in Europe, he wrote, yet "we need trade not only in goods, but also in ideas."

Excerpts of his interview with Caixin follow.

Caixin: How would you describe the current state of Sino-German ties?

Joachim Gauck: Relations between China and Germany are multifaceted and intensive. We engage in in-depth discussion on a wide range of issues: politics, business, technical and social innovation, education and culture.

We talk about the things that unite us, but also about the issues that continue to divide us. For example, we continue to pursue our dialogue on human rights or the rule of law  despite differences of opinion. However, relations between China and Germany go beyond this bilateral level. Our countries are linked by a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Taking this seriously requires us to join forces in working to achieve a world free from war and violent conflict; a world in which people can live in security and free from poverty and repression; a world whose natural living environment we want to preserve for the future of our children.

In recent years China and Germany have jointly assumed responsibility on many difficult global issues, for example, in resolving the problem of Iran's nuclear program, in the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict, in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and at the Climate Change Conference.

We cooperate very well in the field of business. Many German enterprises produce in China; others export to China. Germany is a major importer of Chinese goods and is becoming an increasingly important location for Chinese foreign investment. We are becoming more and more interconnected, which requires us to build on our mutual trust. That is why we are eager to see this mutual trust increase further.

My visit is also designed to encourage civil society relations to keep up with economic and political relations. We need trade not only in goods, but also in ideas. To this end I am particularly interested in promoting exchange among young people and students further.

Your visit to South Korea was widely viewed as a push for peaceful development on the Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, though, tensions have grown in that region. Do you think the German experience of peaceful reunification can help solve the problem?

During my visit to Korea in October I sensed the great interest the Koreans had in German reunification. I was particularly moved by my meeting with young refugees from North Korea. However, I also spoke to the German-Korean Advisory Group, which is endeavoring to learn lessons from German reunification which could be used in the Korean context. This group is one of the platforms in which we share with the South Koreans our experiences of a country divided over several decades.

An important element in the process of German reunification was, for example, the existence of a common security forum  the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The CSCE process included the neighbors of West and East Germany as well as the major powers. And within this framework it was then possible to discuss social and economic issues. I would like to see a multilateral, regional security dialogue of this kind successfully established also in East Asia to defuse the considerable tensions in the region, which are currently emanating primarily from North Korea. It is encouraging to see that China, too, recently adopted a clear stance on this in the UN Security Council and that in the past few weeks China has taken a different tone toward North Korea.

What's your view on the Syrian crisis? How can the international community work together to deal with it?

The war in Syria is first and foremost a humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives, millions are living as refugees  within Syria itself, in neighboring countries and coming all the way to us in Central Europe.

Without the international community, there will be no resolution of the conflict and no relief for the people. That goes for the political peace process itself, involving, among others, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, one of which is China, and a group of states from the region and from Europe, including Germany. Yet it also applies to humanitarian support for the people in Syria and the neighboring countries. Syria's neighbors have taken in an incredible number of refugees both in absolute terms and particularly in relation to the size of their population.

Germany has been a big magnet for refugees displaced by the crisis. It took in more than 1 million refugees last year despite controversies. How has this affected the country and what do you think is the way forward?

The refugee crisis is affecting Germany in many areas. Government agencies, but also a very large number of volunteers, are making a huge effort to handle the arrival of numerous refugees in a short time. And in the coming years, we will have to continue to work hard to ensure that as many as possible of those who have come to us in need of protection in recent months and are entitled to stay can earn their living and build a new life in Germany.

At the same time, Germany is working to find a European solution to the refugee crisis. However, the factors that compel people to flee their homes  conflicts and civil war, terrorism, environmental disasters, poverty and hopelessness  are not limited to Europe but affect us all, across the globe. That is why we need to cooperate closely within the European Union, the United Nations and other important organizations to put an end to the war in Syria, other conflicts and civil wars, to fight international terrorism, to implement the decisions of the Climate Change Conference, to tackle poverty and to support key institutions such as the UN Refugee Agency.

Europe is facing many other challenges. Britain, for example, may leave the European Union, and the situation in Ukraine is far from being stable. Against this backdrop, some observers see a bleak future for the EU. What is your view?

The EU is undeniably facing major challenges at the moment. They are a serious test of the Union's cohesion. But I am confident that at the end of the day, the national governments and the people in the EU will understand that these challenges can only be overcome if Europe stands shoulder to shoulder in solidarity.

As far as the referendum in Britain is concerned, that is a decision they will have to make themselves for their country. I am convinced that the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is an asset and that all sides stand to lose more than they would gain from its withdrawal. I cannot and do not want to contemplate an EU without the United Kingdom.

Do you think the EU will grant China market economy status by the end of this year?

As you know, the German government is in principle open to this proposal. However, it is first and foremost the task of the European Commission to assess whether the necessary criteria are in place. There are evidently still some unresolved questions and valid concerns on the European side. I hope that both sides will reach out to each other. And, regardless of these specialist issues, our goal must be for the economy to improve the livelihoods of all people.
Developers have been hiring celebrities to advertise their apartment brands to borrow a little of the stars' glamour for their properties. That leads inevitably to the question: where do these stars themselves live? As it turns out, none of them live in the apartments they advertise.

Actress Lee Young-ae, who is the model for GS Engineering and Construction's Xi brand of apartments, lives in a luxury villa in Hannam-dong, Seoul after she got married and moved out of her parent's home in eastern Seoul. The villa called Hill Top Treasure measures 267 sq.m and costs between W2.4 billion and W2.7 billion (US$1=W1,202). Actor Kim Myung-min, who advertises LIG Construction's Liga line of apartments, is Lee's neighbor.
The U.S. military has established the first all-American fire base in Iraq since the start of the war against Islamic State, a U.S. military spokesman said Monday.

Fewer than 200 Marines have deployed to the fire base, located near the northern Iraqi town of Makhmur, to protect U.S. advisers and Iraqis who are stationed at a nearby Iraqi military base. The base is part of the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to prepare Iraqi combat forces for the fight to retake Mosul.

"This is the first time that we've established a spot that's only American," Col. Steve Warren, a coalition spokesman, told reporters from Baghdad. "All of this movement has been done at the invitation of the Iraqi government."

Warren said the Marines' mission is defensive and is considered part of the U.S. advise and assist mission. He insisted these Marines are carrying out the same orders as those protecting U.S. advisers at al-Taqaddum airbase during preparations to retake Ramadi from Islamic State fighters last year.
The outcome appears more in doubt in Utah, a heavily Mormon state. Pre-election polls show Cruz in the lead, but he can only claim all 40 delegates at stake if he gets more than half the vote at party caucuses. Otherwise, the delegates will be split according to the vote count.

Political surveys indicate Trump, the brash billionaire political novice, appears set to win in Arizona, along the U.S.-Mexican border, over his two remaining rivals, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich. A total of 58 delegates to the party's July national nominating convention are at stake in a winner-take-all primary.

Voters in three western U.S. states are headed to the polls Tuesday for presidential nominating elections, with the leading contenders, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, looking to boost their leads in the race to win their parties' nominations.

In the Democratic contest, the polls show that Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, is poised to win the primary election in Arizona, but is engaged in close caucus contests with her sole challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, in both Utah and Idaho.

If both eventually secure their parties' presidential nominations, Trump, a one-time television reality show host, and Clinton, the wife of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, would face each other in the November election, with the winner replacing President Barack Obama as he leaves office in January 2017.

Tuesday's voting was taking place in the hours after the deadly terrorist attacks at the airport in the Belgian capital of Brussels and at a subway station not far from the European Union headquarters.

Trump, who called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. after previous attacks linked to Islamic terrorists, said he had warned about new assaults.

"Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime, and now it's a disaster city," Trump said.

Kasich said the global community must "redouble" its efforts to "identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil."

Cruz declared that "radical Islam is at war with us," and said that if he is elected president, he would unleash the "full force and fury" of the U.S. military to defeat Islamic State jihadists.

Clinton said the U.S. must "stand in solidarity" with European allies in fighting terrorism. "We've got to be absolutely strong and smart and steady in how we respond," she said.

Sanders declared, "This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue," saying the attack was a "brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy" Islamic State.

The Republican contest in Utah is a microcosm of the efforts by Cruz and Kasich to keep Trump from moving closer to the 1,237 Republican convention delegates he needs to clinch the presidential nomination before the quadrennial gathering convenes. His opponents want to keep him under that threshold and instead throw the convention to an open vote.

The party's 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, said he is voting for Cruz on Tuesday and urged others to do the same, adding that supporting Cruz is the only way to get to the open convention and stop Trump. Last week, Romney endorsed Kasich before the Ohio governor won the winner-take-all primary in his home state, thus denying Trump a big haul of delegates in the Midwestern state.

After Tuesday, Republicans have just two contests over the next three weeks: in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin on April 5, and in the western state of Colorado on April 9.
The projectiles North Korea fired into the East Sea on Monday came from a new 300-mm multiple rocket launcher, the official [North] Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday.

KCNA said it was the "final test launch" of the new weapon ahead of its field deployment. This is a problem for South Korea, which has no effective means of intercepting the weapon.

KCNA published a picture of a rocket from the new launcher hitting a target on an islet in the East Sea, saying leader Kim Jong-un watched the launch on the spot.
Korea saw its first case of Zika on Tuesday when a man from Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province was confirmed to be infected.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the man, who is in his 40s, went on a business trip to the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceara from Feb. 17 to March 9. Considering the latency period of the virus, doctors believe the man was bitten by a mosquito carrying the disease around March 2.

He landed at Incheon International Airport on March 11 and visited a clinic on March 18 after developing a fever, nausea and flu symptoms. He was given painkillers and sent home.

After also developing a rash and muscle aches, the man went to the same clinic again on Monday, where a doctor suspected Zika and reported him to health authorities.
North Korea's Rodong Sinmun daily on Tuesday urged South Korea's opposition parties to unite ahead of the general election next month.

The daily said the rift in the opposition camp would reward the ruling Saenuri Party with a victory by "skillfully playing the opponents."

The propaganda outlet said the Saenuri Party was able to ratify a "fascist" anti-terrorism law recently, which showed how important it is for the opposition parties to come together.

The North traditionally hopes that centrist and leftwing parties are more amenable to its demands for money and other aid.

The daily gave its take on the Minjoo, People's and Justice parties, as well as a group of far-left political activists. Citing South Korean media reports, it projected a rise in approval ratings for candidates for a united opposition camp.

North Korea regularly tries to meddle in elections here, typically threatening hellfire if the results do not go its way.
Apartment advertisers have returned to the tried-and-tested formula of endorsements from celebrities as the market recovers.

In the early 2000s top celebrities like actresses Lee Young-ae and Kim Tae-hee and heartthrob Jang Dong-gun regularly modeled for slick apartment brands like Xi and Prugio.

The models were paid a whopping W500 million to W1 billion a year (US$1=W1,160).

But after the global financial crash in 2008 the real estate market tanked, and with it the advertising budgets.

Now the property market is recovering, the stars are back with a vengeance, and mid-range developers are particularly keen on them.

"Using high-profile celebrities is the easiest way to boost corporate image," a staffer with a mid-sized developer said. "But modeling contracts nowadays last no more than six months, thats all smaller builders can afford."

Another characteristic is that builders now favor mature married celebrities like former Miss Korea Oh Hyun-kyung, actress Kim Nam-joo and Japanese model Yano Shiho, the wife of fighter Choo Sung-hoon.

One reason is that they are cheaper, but they also appeal more to the age group that can afford a swish apartment, while younger starlets only induce distant longings in a generation squeezed by a tough job market and dwindling incomes.
Feature: China's Papa Juncao brings mushrooms, new livelihood to Fiji

2016-03-23 09:39

by Xinhua writer Liu Peng

SUVA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Fiji could not produce edible or medicinal mushrooms in the past but that has become history.

A Chinese scientist has brought his technology from China to this tiny island country across the vast Pacific Ocean, gifting the Fijian people locally-grown mushrooms, and more importantly a brand new livelihood that lifts them further away from poverty.

When the China Aid Fiji Juncao Technology Cooperation Project managed to commercialize the Fijian-grown produce on the Pacific island country's domestic market for the first time in late 2014, Prof. Lin Zhanxi, project chief scientist from China's Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University who invented the Juncao technology in 1980s and is therefore nicknamed Papa Juncao, felt that all his efforts are worth it.

"I'm very glad to help Fiji with the emerging Juncao industry where thousands of households can participate, increasing incomes for both subsistence and bigger scale farmers, helping with poverty alleviation and promoting the friendly relationship between China and Fiji," Lin, 73, who shuttles between China, Fiji and other countries to take care of his Juncao projects, told Xinhua Wednesday via WeChat, a popular messaging app.

Nowadays, the project, in association with local mushroom farmers and distributors, regularly supplies Juncao mushrooms to a lot of hotels and restaurants across Fiji, said Lin.

The China Aid Fiji Juncao Technology Cooperation Project, established in 2014 after the Chinese and Fijian governments signed an agreement to start the agricultural cooperation, is aimed at helping Fiji initiate its Juncao industry, diversifying Fijians' menu, creating mushroom growing-related job opportunities, increasing local farmers' incomes and contributing to poverty alleviation in the Pacific island country.

Traditional edible and medicinal fungus cultivation techniques rely on logs or sawdust as the "soil" for mushrooms to grow from, while the technology of Juncao, a transliterated word meaning "fungus grass" in Chinese, enables mushrooms to grow out of chopped grass instead, therefore helping conserve woody plants or forests that the modern world is not really rich in.

Fiji's Ministry of Agriculture identified the Legalega Research Station at the country's tourism hub of Nadi as an ideal place to grow Juncao mushrooms taking into consideration the area of demonstration, marketing and product exportation.

Nevertheless, when Lin and his team first arrived at the project site, things were not as easy as they had imagined, including the temperature of groundwater that is too high for the natural coolant to help mushrooms grow properly.

Overcoming technical difficulties, Lin's team managed to establish a Juncao mushroom production line with a mini-laboratory, which is currently capable of producing some 30,000 kilograms of mushrooms annually. As the project further evolves and involves more farmers and local businesses, the output is expected to rise significantly, said Lin.

"One method is growing mushrooms in controlled indoor environments, while the other one is growing them in trenches beneath trees, and both have been a success," Lin said.

In a bid to attract more Fijians to this new industry, Lin's team has organized a series of training courses and trained nearly 300 local Juncao technicians, who can further get families and friends involved in mushroom production.

Aside from being used as mushroom "soil", the high-yielding Giant Juncao Grass brought to Fiji by Lin can also be processed, stored and used as animal feed directly, which comes in handy especially during the dry season.

"People who are interested in the commodity (Juncao mushroom) will benefit because it's a simple technology where one does not need to purchase acres of land to cultivate but plots are required with short time to plant and harvest," Miliakere Nawaikula, a former senior official with Fiji's Ministry of Agriculture has said.

During one training course held last year, two mushroom importers told Xinhua that they are "very interested in" growing and selling Fijian Juncao mushrooms, which are less expensive compared with foreign ones.

Inia Seruiratu, Fiji's minister for agriculture, rural and maritime development, agrees.

Calling China as "a friend of Fiji and a key development partner", Seruiratu has told Xinhua that Fiji spends its foreign currency reserve to purchase mushrooms and animal feed from overseas, therefore by promoting the local Juncao industry, the country can shrink its import bills and increase local farmers' incomes, which benefits poverty alleviation efforts.

Moreover, Seruiratu said, the project can greatly help Fiji in the fight against climate change since the Giant Juncao Grass has been doing very well in terms of soil conservation.

The Juncao project is among a range of Chinese development assistance to Fiji, including road upgrade projects, a rice project to improve Fiji's food security and farmers' livelihood, a sewing machine project where China has donated over 2,200 sewing machines to Fiji's rural and disabled women to help them with job opportunities, as well as other projects, which as a whole have been assisting Fiji on the development path that the Pacific island country has chosen by itself.
Japan should address world concerns on its excessive nuclear materials: China

2016-03-23 14:32

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Japan should take measures to respond to international concerns about its excessive stockpile of nuclear materials, a Chinese spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comment when asked to comment on the shipment of 331 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make about 50 nuclear weapons, from Japan to the United States for final disposal.

A ship believed to be carrying plutonium and other nuclear materials left a port in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo, on Tuesday, Kyodo reported. The shipment accounts for a tiny portion of the nearly 50 tonnes of plutonium Japan holds.

"Japan should deliver its commitment at an early date, as it promised to return the sensitive nuclear materials at the Nuclear Security Summit in 2014," Hua said at a regular news briefing.

Japan has a massive stockpile of separated plutonium and highly-enriched uranium (HEU), which has drawn international concerns, Hua said, calling for "necessary steps" from Japan to address such concerns.

Hua criticized Yusuke Yokobatake, director-general of Japanese Cabinet Legislation Bureau, who allegedly said last Friday that Japan' s Constitution does not necessarily ban the use of nuclear weapons.

Japan has clear-cut obligations as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, voices in favor of nuclear weapons continue emerging in Japan, raising international skepticism, Hua said.

"Pro-nuclear weapon remarks from a cabinet official will further deepen world skepticism. We demand the Japanese government explain its stance," Hua said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga flatly denied the possibility of Japan using a nuclear weapon at a press conference last Friday."The government does not think of such a thing at all."

Japan has 47.8 tonnes of highly sensitive separated plutonium and 1.2 tonnes of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) for research reactors, according to a joint study released in 2015 by China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the China Institute of Nuclear Information and Economics.

Japan pledged in a parliamentary resolution adopted in 1971, the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, that the country shall not produce, possess or allow the entry into its territory of nuclear weapons.
China, Zambia agree to enhance cooperation

2016-03-23 14:32

LUSAKA, March 22, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Dejiang (L), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), shakes hands with Zambian President Edgar Lungu in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, March 19, 2016. Zhang paid an official goodwill visit to Zambia on March 18-22. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

LUSAKA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China and Zambia have agreed to enhance bilateral ties in various fields as Chinese top legislator visited the African country.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, paid an official goodwill visit to Zambia on March 18-22.

Zhang's 10-day Africa tour, which will also take him to Rwanda and Kenya, is aimed at pushing forward implementation of the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in South Africa's Johannesburg in December.

The major plans to boost China-Africa win-win cooperation announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit demonstrated China's commitment to supporting Africa's independent and sustainable development, Zhang said during a meeting with Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Saturday afternoon.

The top legislator called on the two countries to enhance collaboration on implementing the consensus reached during the FOCAC summit and constantly deepen bilateral relations.

China will pay more attention to improving quality of bilateral pragmatic cooperation, Zhang said, proposing that the two sides should give priority to cooperation in areas such as industrial capacity, agriculture, infrastructure construction, finance and human resources development.

Zhang said China appreciates Zambia's role in safeguarding African unity and is willing to strengthen coordination with Zambia on the reform of the United Nations Security Council, climate change, Africa's peace and security as well as other global and regional affairs.

Lungu expressed willingness to expand pragmatic cooperation with China on industrial capacity, mining and agriculture among others, adding that Zambia welcomes more Chinese investment in the country.

When holding talks with Speaker of Zambian National Assembly Patrick Matibini on Saturday, Zhang called on the legislative bodies of both countries to upgrade cooperation and fully play their roles in promoting China-Zambia relations.

On Monday, Zhang visited Zambia's former President Kenneth Kaunda and spoke highly of the role the first president of Zambia has played in promoting the friendly relations between the two countries.

Zambia established diplomatic ties with China in October 1964, just after the Africa country gained independence from colonial rule.

Accompanied by Zambian Vice President Inonge Wina, Zhang visited a China-Zambia economic cooperation zone in Lusaka and a Confucius Institute in the University of Zambia on Monday.

During his stay in the Zambian capital, the Chinese top legislator also attended the 134th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Related:

Regional bank to partner with China to finance African projects

NAIROBI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Regional financial institution, the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) Bank, said Tuesday it plans to partner with the Chinese Export Import Bank to finance infrastructure projects in Africa.

PTA Bank President Admassu Tadesse told Xinhua in Nairobi that the Chinese have shown commitment in helping develop the continent. Full story

Zambia to contract 275 mln USD loan from China for construction of police houses

LUSAKA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian cabinet on Tuesday approved the contraction of a 275 million U.S. dollars loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for the construction of houses for the police and other security wings.

The loan will go towards supporting the implementation of the design and construction of over 2,000 houses for the Zambia Police, Immigration Department and Zambia Prison Service, according to a statement released after a cabinet meeting held on Monday. Full story

Zambian leader says country to learn from China's economic development

LUSAKA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu said his government will learn how China has managed to become economically independent so that the African country stops depending on foreign aid, state media reported on Monday.

The Zambian leader, in remarks delivered upon return from South Africa where he attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held last week, said it was important for the country to learn how China has managed to become an economic power house in the world. Full story

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China condemns Brussels attacks

2016-03-23 14:32

BRUSSELS, March 22, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Policemen stand guard outside the Brussels airport in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2016. The death toll has risen to 34 in the deadly blasts in Brussels on Tuesday morning, according to the latest figures. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei)

BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China strongly condemned the attacks on Brussels Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

China firmly opposes terrorism in all forms, said spokesperson Hua Chunying in a statement, offering deep condolences to the families of the victims.

"The Chinese people stand with the Belgians and the Europeans," she said.

China is willing to enhance cooperation with Belgium and the international community to jointly face the threats and challenges posed by terrorism to safeguard world peace and stability, said Hua.

She said the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Belgium are closely monitoring the latest developments to see if there were any Chinese nationals among the victims.

According to media reports, at least 34 people were killed in explosions at an airport and at a city metro station in Brussels.
China eyes cooperation plan for Lancang-Mekong countries

2016-03-23 14:32

SANYA, March 22, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh pose for photos in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, March 22, 2016. The first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting will be held on Wednesday in Sanya. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

SANYA, Hainan, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday called on countries along the Lancang-Mekong River to make the upcoming leaders' meeting fruitful for future cooperation.

Premier Li Keqiang made the remarks while addressing a welcoming banquet prior to the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting to be held on Wednesday in Sanya, a coastal city in southern China's Hainan Province.

Li, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen; Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong; Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham; and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will attend the "shared river, shared future" themed meeting.

Li said institutionalized cooperation among the six countries will help maintain regional peace and stability, give full play to each country's resources, industries and market, and provide more support to the region's social and economic development.

The LMC will also supplement relations between China and ASEAN, the premier added.

The foreign ministers of China and Thailand also met on Tuesday evening in Sanya, pledging to make the leaders' meeting a success.

China was ready to work with all five countries to make the LMC mechanism a model of south-south cooperation, a platform of unity and cooperation, and a showcase of the mutual support between neighboring countries, Wang Yi said, during his meeting with Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai.

Wang also spoke highly of the contribution made by Thailand, who jointly initiated the LMC mechanism and will co-chair the leaders' meeting.

Don Pramudwinai echoed Wang, and said LMC played an important leading role in regional development. He pledged to work with China and other parties to make the first leaders' meeting a success.

He said the recent move by China to release water to aid countries in the lower reaches of the Lancang-Mekong River, who were suffering from drought, demonstrated its sincerity, and commitment to the LMC.

The LMC, proposed in 2014, will focus on security and development, as well as political, social and cultural fields. Interconnectivity, production capacity, cross-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation are five priority directions for cooperation.

Related:

Interview: Myanmar anticipates big push in regional development with Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism

YANGON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has anticipated a big push for the regional development with the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mehanism, Dr.Maung Maung Lay, vice president of the Union of Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industries (UMFCCI), said Tuesday.

Leaders of LMC are scheduled to meet for the first time in China's Hainan Sanya on Wednesday on cooperative initiatives and measures.Full Story

Interview: Lancang-Mekong cooperation promotes subregional development

BANGKOK, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Lancang-Mekong River Dialogue and Cooperation (LMC) helps enhance political mutual trust and practical cooperation as well as reciprocal and common development of relevant countries, senior vice president of Thailand's Kasikornbank said.

The LMC mechanism will boost regional economies on different development levels to realize resource complementation and balanced growth,Wichai Kinchong Choi told Xinhua in an interview prior to the first LMC leaders' meeting, to be co-chaired by China and Thailand on Tuesday in China's southern city of Sanya on Hainan Island.Full Story

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For the first time an Indian rocket is ferrying a payload of about six tonnes.
ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Sen. Ted Cruz delivered a strong message to Donald Trump after the real estate mogul threatened on Twitter to spill the beans on Cruzs wife, Heidi.



"She is way out of his league. If he wants to get in a character fight he should stick with me, Cruz told ABC News George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America Wednesday.



Trump threatened Cruz Tuesday after the anti-Trump super PAC, Make America Awesome, released an attack ad featuring a racy image of the billionaire's wife, Melania, from her former modeling days.



Cruz also defended his call to empower law enforcement to patrol Muslim neighborhoods following Tuesday's terror attacks in Belgium.



"Yesterday reminded everyone that we are facing a war from radical Islamic terrorism. President Obama, Hillary Clinton, they refuse to acknowledge, they refuse even to say the words radical Islamic terrorism, Cruz said.



When pressed on whether targeting Muslim neighborhoods was constitutional, Cruz said, What we should targeting is radical Islamic terrorism and the political correctness of this administration. They refuse to acknowledge that we are facing a global jihad from radical Islamic terrorism. And indeed after just about after every one of these attacks, whether Paris or San Bernardino and certainly coming after Brussels, President Obama goes on national television and lectures Americans on Islamophobia. Enough is enough.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
iStock/Thinkstock(BRUSSELS) -- Family members of a missing American couple said they are holding onto hope that the husband and wife be found after last being seen at the Brussels airport shortly before Tuesday's deadly attacks.



The family of Stephanie and Justin Shults said the couple had been at the airport to drop off Stephanie Shults' mother when the bombs went off. Stephanie Shults' mother, Carolyn Moore, was visiting the couple at their home in Belgium and told her sister that the couple was sitting in chairs near security as she went through the line.



Moore's sister, Betty Gragg-Newsome, told ABC News Wednesday that Moore had made it through security and waved to the couple shortly before one of the bombs went off. Moore was thrown by the bomb blast, her sister told ABC News, and immediately after getting up, started to frantically look for her daughter and son-in-law.



Authorities are trying to assist Moore as she looks for the couple, but they haven't offered much information, Newsome said.



"Until we know Stephanie and Justin are safe, youre just kind of in a knot. Youre worrying, hoping, hoping for the best, and worrying about the worst, trying not to let your emotions get ahead of you, Newsome told ABC affiliate WTVQ. Were saying prayers, and putting their names on as many prayer chains as we can put them on, and just trying to be strong for each other."



Stephanie Shults works for Mars Inc. and the company posted a message on Facebook Wednesday asking for any information about the missing couple.



The couple had been living in Belgium but they have roots in Tennessee and Kentucky, where they grew up and went to school, according to Stephanie Shults' family.



Transylvania University, which Stephanie Shults attended as an undergraduate, posted a Facebook post about the alumna.

Justin Shults grew up in Gatlinberg, Tennessee, and attended Vanderbilt University. He works for Clarcor Inc, which is based in Franklin, Tennessee, according to his Facebook page.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
#coronavirus-additional cases New COVID-19 cases under 30,000 for 4th consecutive day South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 30,000 for a fourth straight day Saturday with the daily death toll down to its 14-week low for a Saturday. The country reporte...

#BLACKPINK BLACKPINK to headline BST Hyde Park festival next year K-pop sensation BLACKPINK will headline British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park in London next year, the group's agency and the festival announced Saturday. The four-member act will...
The centenary programme is spilt into two strands, with Sunday being a day to reflect and commemorate the events of the Rising, while Monday is more culturally focused, allowing people to experience the Ireland of 1916.

Sunday

Easter Sunday will be the main focus of the 1916 centenary commemorations. As in previous years, there will be a military led parade through the city centre but this year will see the parade route extended and the number of participants increased.

The parade will set out from St. Stephen's Green at 10.00am, and will arrive at the GPO in advance of the wreath laying ceremony at Noon. This ceremony will begin with a reading of the proclamation, before Michael D. Higgins lays a wreath on behalf of the Irish people, and a minute's silence is held. Middle and Lower O'Connell will be closed to the general public but the ceremony can be seen on RTE television, or on one of the viewing screens set up throughout the city. After the ceremony, the parades will continue to its finishing point on Bolton Street.

Wreath laying events will also take place in Kilmainham Gaol and Glasnevin Cemetery.

You can see the full parade route, viewing screen locations and details of transport restrictions on this map.

Monday

RTE have organised the day of culture that will take over Dublin on Easter Monday. There is a huge programme of talks, music and theatre in venues all over the city. Many of the events are ticketed, but there are others that will be open to all.

St. Stephen's Green will have several activities to choose from, there will be live music in the bandstand, poetry readings in the Summer House style and 1900s style circus performers and workshops. There will be a family fun day on Merrion Square, a ceili on Earlsfort Terrace, and acts including Kila, The Academic and Lisa O'Neill performing at an all day concert on Lower Fitzwilliam Street.

Over on the Northside, O' Connell Street will be transformed back into Sackville Street for the day, with a focus on remembering the ordinary citizens who were caught up in the 1916 Rising. Joe Duffy will be live broadcasting between 1.30pm and 3.00pm, and there will also be live music from The High Kings, The Celtic Tenors, Sharon Shannon and more.

The Smithfield market of 1916 will also be recreated to allow people to experience what life would have been like 100 years ago. Exhibitors will be demonstrating professions common of the time, there will be vintage fire trucks, ambulances and trams on display, and performers in period costume.

You can view the full schedule of the day's events here.

Other Events

When the official commemorations are over, you continue learning about the Easter Rising at various exhibitions around Dublin. A brand new visitor centre is opening in the GPO on March 29th, which will provide an interactive experience of events. The Ambassador Theatre is currently hosting an exhibition entitled Revolution 1916, while The National Museum , Collins Barracks and The National Gallery of Photography are both have 1916 exhibitions running, which are free of charge.

The Plough and the Stars continues its run in the Abbey Theatre, the National Concert hall present a series of concerts and performances entitled Imagining Home, and a centenary commemoration event will be held in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre and broadcast by RTE.

Events will also be taking place in other counties throughout Ireland.


Bad news for fans of The Weeknd hoping to catch a rare Irish gig supporting Rihanna in Dublin this summer - he has dropped out of the European leg of her forthcoming world tour.

A number of dates on the European leg are affected, including Rihanna's date at the Aviva Stadium on June 21st..

The reason given by promoters LiveNation for The Weeknd's cancellation was "due to some unforeseen changes with upcoming projects".

As Pitchfork reports, Big Sean is still on the support bill for Dublin, although there's no word yet on whether The Weeknd's slot will be filled.
Charlie Cox says his return as Daredevil "still feels too good to be true"
Farmers cut grain cultivation as prices plunge Updated: 2016-03-23 10:32 (Xinhua)

A farmer ties wheat that has been harvested in Shibapan village in Luoyang city, Henan province, June 3, 2015. [Photo/IC]

JINAN - Plunging prices and changing tastes mean Chinese grain farmers are having to think carefully about what they plant this year.

"No more corn, that's for sure. It doesn't make money. And wheat is risky as it depends on purchases at set prices by local authorities," said Wang Cuifen, who farms 200 hectares in Shandong province.

Wang has reduced her wheat crops by 27 hectares this year.

The provincial agriculture department estimates that farmers in Shandong have planted 8,333 hectares fewer hectares with wheat this year, in the first such reduction in eight years.

Agriculture is vital to feeding the 1.4 billion people in China, the world's largest grain producer and consumer.

In North China, wheat is the main grain for spring planting. It is due to be harvested in June, when farmers usually plant corn for an autumn harvest.

China's total grain output increased 2.4 percent year on year to 621 million tons in 2015, the 12th consecutive year of growth.

Despite that, China had a shortfall of between 20 million and 25 million tons in the amount of grain it produced and consumed in 2015, as Chinese developed a taste for more diverse grain choices.

Food imports reached a record 120 million tons last year, with soybean accounting for over 70 percent of the total. Imports of corn increased 80 percent year on year and rice 30 percent.

State granaries' large inventories and competition from imports have depressed grain prices in China, making life difficult for farmers.

With corn purchase season a month away, state inventories in northeast China's corn production bases already stand at 8.8 million tons.

Wang Cuifen said farmers would certainly cut corn production, and that they're desperate for corn strains with better quality and productivity to cater to new demand.

Farmer Zhang Baohua in Zhangqiu, Shandong, still has 90,000 kg of corn piled in his yard. It was harvested last year, when he balked at selling it at the prices offered at the time.
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Your digital subscription includes access to all content on our agricultural websites across the nation. Access unlimited content and the digital versions of our print editions - This Week's Paper.
Infected people arriving from epidemic-hit countries had not received their vaccinations

Body temperature scanning equipment screens passengers traveling from overseas at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, a measure to strengthen yellow fever protection. Zhu Xingxin / China Daily

China has reported five yellow fever cases - all from people who were not vaccinated before leaving for areas with epidemics, a senior public health specialist said.

The infected Chinese workers were returning from Angola and were detected in Beijing and Shanghai, where they had connecting flights to their hometowns.

Lu Hongzhou, head of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, urged stricter border quarantines and checks to help cut cross-border transmissions.

Regulations requiring vaccinations exist but "there are implementation loopholes", he said.

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes and is mostly found in tropical regions of Africa as well as Central and South America.

Li Dexin, a senior epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said there is no cure for the infection, though current treatments help ease the symptoms, which include fever and headache.

The vaccine against yellow fever is proven safe and effective, he said, asking travelers to be vaccinated at least 10 days before their departure.

Protection can last 10 years.

Worldwide, the virus infects about 130,000 people annually and kills 44,000, according to the World Health Organization. At least 90 percent of the casualties are in Africa.
The best souvenirs instantly recall a travel moment, so it's no wonder they comprise about 30 percent of the products sold by the country's lucrative gift industry, which comprises roughly $17 billion in annual revenue according to First Research. Picking the right souvenir is challenging; travelers, spellbound by the magic of a new place, may buy junk that ends up at a white elephant sale instead of a memento that appreciates over time.

To help you avoid the former and invest in the latter, here are tips from the experts on how to bag the best souvenir on your next trip.

Avoid Duty-Free Shops

Many travelers are tempted to spend the last of their local currency on Toblerone, the Swiss-made, prism-shaped chocolate -- even if they didn't visit Switzerland. But according to Susan Noonan, general manager of product design and development at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a much better way to spend extra currency is at exclusive branded airport stores, which stock merchandise relevant to the destination. "Our airport locations always have a good selection of utility products from packable totes, travel notepad, pencil, activities for kids to do on planes, plus best-selling jewelry, textiles and home gifts," she says. "These stores showcase pieces [that] are easy to travel with and can also speak to an international audience whether as gifts or souvenirs of a trip to our museum locations," she adds.

[See: Best Shopping Destinations in the USA.]

Buy Something Local

According to Eileen Ogintz, who interviews children for her syndicated column "Taking the Kids" and nine "The Kid's Guide" books (interactive travel guides that make good souvenirs), "The consensus from kids all over the country is to get something you can't get at home: a mini Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or an Eiffel Tower in Paris." Give kids a souvenir allowance and encourage them to buy a Statue of Liberty pencil sharpener, Mt. Rushmore fridge magnet or decorative shot glass -- cheap, unique and easy to transport souvenirs.

Story continues

Make it Useful

Practical souvenirs have greater lasting value, says Sandy Sobelman, chief marketing officer at Fairway Manufacturing Company, a wholesale souvenirs distributor for 61 years. "Things that have a use and a specific visual, like a keychain, pencil or pen, that's what triggers a memory," Sobelman says. For example, at the Lagunitas Brewing Company located in Petaluma, California, just north of San Francisco, families who come to meet farm animals and tour the brewery buy Mason jars, durable drinking glasses which sport the popular craft beer's famous dog logo. Sobelman adds that if you're buying a plush teddy bear, make sure it's wearing a Yellowstone T-shirt or you'll never remember where it came from. Picking up souvenirs made in the U.S. is a growing trend, a potential bonanza for local craftspeople despite an estimated 200 percent higher cost than goods made in China.

[See: 5 Kids' Travel Gifts That Give Back.]

Make it a Good Story

The word "souvenir" comes from the French phrase for memory or remembrance. For instance, when you toured a maple sugaring house in Vermont, didn't sap get stuck on your jeans? Commemorate the experience with a maple leaf-shaped glass bottle full of syrup and every time you refill it, you'll recall that day. At the National Park Service's Blue Ridge Music Center outside of Galax, Virginia, visitors can mix lyrics and melodies from the museum's rich collection of bluegrass, gospel, blues and mountain music, and burn a commemorative CD.

Make it Personal

Remember finding just the right miniature license plate on a revolving rack or making your first ID bracelet with alphabet beads at a farmers market in Los Angeles. Technology has taken personalization to new heights -- to a new galaxy -- in fact.

These days, you can move beyond embroidering your name on a hat with the "Build Your Own Lightsaber" experience found only at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris shops. "Guests love [it] as they have lots of choices to make a lightsaber that is truly unique," says Cody Hampton, a merchandiser with Disney Theme Park Merchandise who develops Star Wars products. According to Hampton, it's not uncommon to see dads helping little girls in "Self-Rescuing Princess" T-shirts assemble customized Astromech droid action figures and other items at D-Tech on Demand stations in the U.S. "We like to create products that are unique to the Disney Parks experience," Hampton adds. "A great example is the Starspeeder 1000 Vehicle Playset which was inspired by the Star Tours -- The Adventures Continue [ride]... a fun way to continue the adventure at home," he says.

If you were too busy having fun on vacation to buy anything, never fret: Online retailer HappyMall.com sells more than 2,000 authentic souvenir items across all 50 states and international countries, such as Canada and Russia. They're used to shipping everything from British "Keep Calm and Carry On" mugs and Japanese Kokeshi dolls to collectors and travelers who couldn't take home their purchases or simply forgot to get something for their mother-in-law. What about the HappyMall.com shoppers who fill a cart with souvenirs before they go, and have them shipped to their hotel? These travelers can bring home memories, without wasting any time making them.

Now that would make a good story.

[See: 6 Insider Secrets for Saving Time and Money at Disney.]





More From US News & World Report


Screen Shot 2016 03 23 at 2.54.29 PM

US President Barack Obama called out Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate and Texas senator, for suggesting amped-up surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods in the US as a way to prevent terrorist attacks.

Obama's remarks came Wednesday in a press conference during a visit to Argentina, a day after terrorists hit Belgium, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 230 in bombings at a Brussels airport and metro station.

The president emphasized that fighting the terrorist group ISIS  aka the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh  is his "top priority."

But he criticized Cruz for proposing what he termed a "counterproductive" strategy that might isolate American Muslims.

Cruz said in a Tuesday statement that the police should be empowered to "patrol and secure" neighborhoods with large Muslim populations "before they become radicalized."

"I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance, which, by the way, the father of Sen. Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free," Obama said, referencing a historic visit to Cuba earlier in the week.

He added: "The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense. It's contrary to who we are, and it's not going to help us to defeat ISIL."

Obama's visit to Cuba marked the first time in 88 years that a sitting US president traveled to the communist country. Cruz's father fled Cuba for the US in 1957.

The president also criticized Cruz for saying that the US should "carpet bomb" ISIS in Iraq and Syria, a strategy that military experts have called ineffective and possibly illegal.

"When I hear somebody saying we should 'carpet bomb' Iraq or Syria, not only is that inhumane, not only is that contrary to our values, but that would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more people willing to die and explode bombs in an airport or in a metro station," Obama said. "That's not a smart strategy."

Story continues

Obama noted that what sets the US apart from Europe, which sees higher rates of foreign fighters traveling to join terrorist groups, is that Muslims are better integrated into American society.

He said:

One of the great strengths of the United States, and part of the reason why we have not seen more attacks in the United States, is we have an extraordinarily successful, patriotic, integrated Muslim-American community. They do not feel ghettoized, they do not feel isolated. Their children are our children's friends, going to the same schools. They are our colleagues in our workplaces. They are our men and women in uniform, fighting for our freedom.

And so any approach that would single them out or target them for discrimination is not only wrong and un-American, but it also would be counterproductive. Because it would reduce the strength, the antibodies that we have to resist terrorism.

Screen Shot 2016 03 23 at 2.52.41 PM

Obama also defended the US strategy for defeating ISIS, saying that the US's approach has been "continuously to adjust to see what works and what doesn't."

"What has been working is the air strikes that we're taking on their leadership, on their infrastructure, on their financial systems," he said.

"What has been working is special operators partnering with Iraqi security forces and going after leadership networks and couriers and disrupting the connection between their bases in Raqqa and their bases in Mosul," he continued.

But he acknowledged the challenges of identifying threats in Western countries.

"It's challenging to find, identify very small groups of people who are willing to die themselves and can walk into a crowd and detonate a bomb," Obama said.

He continued: "And my charge to my team is to find every strategy possible to successfully reduce the risk of such terrorist attacks even after we go after their beating heart in places like Iraq and Syria."

NOW WATCH: Watch Cruz attack Trump for threatening to spill the beans on his wife





More From Business Insider


TOKYO (Reuters) - China's economy is unlikely to suffer a hard landing as there is room for fiscal and monetary stimulus to manage growth, the president of the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday.

"There won't be a hard landing," Takehiko Nakao, a former Japanese vice finance minister for international affairs, told a news conference.

The regional lender has forecast the world's second-largest economy will grow 6.7 percent this year, but Nakao said that projection might be modified slightly later this month, indicating the possibility of a downward revision.

China's government has set a growth target of 6.5 percent to 7 percent this year, following a 6.9 percent expansion in 2015.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
By Amrutha Gayathri

(Reuters) - Canadian gambling website operator Amaya Inc's Chief Executive David Baazov has been charged with insider trading by Quebec's securities regulator.

The regulator said it had filed charges against Baazov for "aiding with trades while in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of the securities of Amaya" and "communicating privileged information."

Amaya's U.S.-listed shares fell as much as 27.7 percent to $10.30 in early trading.

The charges come about two months after Amaya said it had received a non-binding proposal from Baazov to take the company private.

"These allegations are false and I intend to vigorously contest these accusations," Baazov said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that he was "highly confident" he would be found innocent.

Amaya said in a statement that it believed the charges were without merit and it expected Baazov to be "fully exonerated" of the charges.

The company said it would continue to cooperate with the regulator and the charges were not expected to have any impact on its operations.

Amaya said it had conducted a review of the allegations against Baazov and found no evidence of any violations of Canadian securities laws.

Baazov said he had no further comment on his bid to take Amaya private, but added that he was committed to working toward closing the deal. Based on Amaya's basic shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, Baazov's proposal had valued the company at about C$2.8 billion, or $2.14 billion at the current exchange rate.

The regulator launched an investigation into Baazov and other executives in 2014 for trading in Amaya's stock ahead of the company's $4.9 billion takeover of PokerStars owner Rational Group.

It has also charged Benjamin Ahdoot and Yoel Altman, among others. Sylvain Theberge, a spokesman for the regulator, said these people were "in the circle on Amaya."

Amaya said the charges against Baazov involve allegations linked to an employee and a former financial adviser to the company.

($1 = C$1.31)

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tells the media in Sydney that Australia's border protection measures and domestic security arrangements "are much stronger than they are in Europe" (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Wednesday that Europe had "allowed security to slip", as he questioned the EU's Schengen passport-free zone following the Brussels attacks.

Turnbull's comments came as Belgium's neighbours France, Germany and the Netherlands tightened border security after about 30 people were killed in Belgium's worst extremist assault.

Security at Australia's major airports, including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, was increased after the European attacks, police said.

Turnbull said that while it was up to Europe to set its policies, his nation's border protection measures and domestic security arrangements "are much stronger than they are in Europe, where regrettably they allowed security to slip".

"That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they've been having in recent times," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, alluding to the wave of migrants who have flooded into the continent, many of them from Syria.

Turnbull added that the open-borders Schengen travel regime, which covers 26 European countries, meant "people are able to freely travel across borders within Europe -- that poses security challenges, coupled with clearly very porous external borders as we've seen plenty of evidence of that".

"My point really was to say that those arrangements have security consequences," he told reporters in Sydney.

- IS using refugee crisis -

The Schengen agreement, considered a symbol of European unity and prosperity, has been under scrutiny amid the unprecedented influx of migrants, and revelations that some of the jihadists in November's Paris attacks which killed 130 people came from Belgium.

Both the Brussels and Paris attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Turnbull added that intelligence showed IS was "using the refugee crisis to send operatives into Europe".

Story continues

"Brussels (is) an unfortunate reminder of how violent Islamist extremism appears to have reached a crisis point in Europe," he said in a foreign policy speech late Wednesday.

"European governments are confronted by a perfect storm of failed or neglected integration, foreign fighters returning from Iraq and Syria, porous borders and intelligence and security apparatus struggling to keep pace with the scope and breadth of the threat."

Two of the suicide bombers involved in the Paris attack were found with fake Syrian passports and several crossed into Europe posing as refugees.

Canberra has been increasingly concerned about home-grown extremism and the flow of Australians travelling to the Middle East to fight with jihadist organisations such as IS in Iraq and Syria.

Up to 49 Australians have been killed in the conflict in Iraq and Syria, with about 110 currently fighting or working with militant groups, Australia's domestic spy agency said in February.

Another 190 nationals were actively supporting IS back home through fundraising.

Australian Federal Police, which manages the counter-terror response at major airports, said it was working with immigration officials, local police and airlines and airports to ensure security.

"Security operations and patrols have been increased at each of the designated airports in the wake of the Brussels attack," the force said in a statement.

Australia has had three attacks since raising its terror threat level to "high" in September 2014, including a cafe siege in the heart of Sydney in December 2014 which left a self-declared Muslim cleric and two of his hostages dead.

In September 2014 an 18-year-old suspected militant was killed after he stabbed two police officers in Melbourne and last October a 15-year-old boy was killed in Sydney after he shot dead a civilian police employee.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - March 22, 2016) - Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: AVU) (8AM.F) is pleased to announce that the Company has contracted Mr. Gary Giroux, of Vancouver, Canada to prepare an NI 43-101 compliant maiden resource estimate for the Slivovo gold JV Project in Kosovo. The project is now operated by joint venture entity Peshter Mining JSC, in which Avrupa holds 25%.

Mr. Gary Giroux, M.Sc., P. Eng (B.C.), a consulting geological engineer employed by Giroux Consultants Ltd., is acting as the Qualified Person, as defined in NI 43-101, for the Slivovo mineralization inventory estimate. He has over 40 years of experience in all stages of mineral exploration, development, and production. Mr. Giroux specializes in computer applications in ore reserve estimation, and has consulted both nationally and internationally in this field. He has authored many papers on geostatistics and ore reserve estimation, has practiced as a Geological Engineer since 1970, and has provided geostatistical services to the industry since 1976. Both Mr. Giroux and Giroux Consultants Ltd. are independent of the Company under NI 43-101.

The maiden resource estimate will be part of a larger NI 43-101 compliant document prepared by a team led by Mr. Richard Buerger, Principal Geologist for the Mining Plus consulting engineering firm, based in Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Buerger is a Qualified Geologist (with Honours), and has over 18 years of broad experience in the resources industry, including exploration, resource definition and estimation, grade control, reconciliation, resource/reserve audits, cost modeling, staff development, and mentoring. He is a member of AIG and AusIMM.

Mr. Paul Kuhn stated, "Avrupa's partner at Slivovo is now the operator of the project and has decided to advance the project with a prefeasibility study. The resource estimate is an important step forward in the overall exploration process at Slivovo. We wanted to make sure it was produced in compliance with the NI 43-101 standard in Canada, so it has taken extra time for completion. We are pleased to have both Mr. Gary Giroux working on the estimate and Mr. Richard Buerger working on the overall Slivovo Project document."

Avrupa expects to receive the completed documentation in April, 2016.

Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on discovery, using a prospect generator model, of valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.

The Company currently holds nine exploration licenses in three European countries, including six in Portugal covering 3,821 km2, two in Kosovo covering 47 km2, and one in Germany covering 307 km2. Avrupa operates three joint ventures in Portugal and Kosovo, including:

The Alvalade JV , with Colt Resources, covering one license in the Iberian Pyrite Belt of southern Portugal, for Cu-rich massive sulfide deposits;

The Covas JV , with Blackheath Resources, covering one license in northern Portugal, for intrusion-related W deposits; and

The Slivovo JV, with Byrnecut International, covering one license in central Kosovo, for gold related to carbonate sediment-hosted deposits in the Vardar Mineral Trend.

Avrupa is currently upgrading precious and base metal targets to JV-ready status in a variety of districts on their other licenses, with the idea of attracting potential partners to project-specific and/or regional exploration programs.

On behalf of the Board,

Paul W. Kuhn, President & Director

This news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility for its content. Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals, a Licensed Professional Geologist and a Registered Member of the Society of Mining Engineers, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has reviewed the technical disclosure in this release. Mr. Kuhn, the QP, has not only reviewed, but prepared and supervised the preparation or approval of the scientific and technical content in the news release.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA--(Marketwired - Mar 23, 2016) - The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Malaysia Petroleum Resources Corporation (MPRC) have today signed an MOU to promote cooperation and explore opportunities in the oil & gas sectors.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the side lines of a business forum hosted by MPRC in conjunction with Offshore Technology Conference Asia 2016. Ms Dharmi Magdani, country head of the EDB's India office, which covers the Asia region, addressed the forum on the many business opportunities available to Malaysian companies in Bahrain, and on the importance of knowledge sharing and promoting cooperation between industry leaders.

Ms Magdani said: "The GCC region is renowned globally for its oil and gas industry. Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf to discover oil, as well as successfully drill and exploit this resource commercially and today we have a thriving downstream industry. This long experience in the sector means we have a deep pool of local expertise that can help businesses looking to access and service the energy industry in the global hub for oil and gas. As an important player in the international oil and gas industry, Malaysian firms can undoubtedly have a role to play in ongoing investment in the sector in the Gulf.

"This agreement will enable us to share our knowledge and experience with the MPRC and drive investment and development in this sector and afford us the chance to raise awareness of the many competitive advantages that Bahrain can offer Malaysian businesses looking to access the GCC region's lucrative $1.6 trillion market. These benefits include a tried and tested regulatory environment, minimal restrictions on foreign investment and ownership and one of the lowest operating costs and taxation systems in the region. For over two decades, Bahrain has been recognised as the freest economy in the Middle East and North Africa by the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, and continues to remain in this position in 2016."

Datuk Shahrol Halmi, President and CEO of the MPRC, also commented on the announcement: "Our mission is to facilitate market expansion, as well as increase competitiveness and innovation in Malaysia's oil and gas services and equipment industry. We can best achieve this by strengthening ties with our international counterparts and entering into strategic partnerships with organisations like the Bahrain EDB.

"This arrangement with the EDB will enable us to cooperate and share high-impact information and announcements. Our organisations will also support each other in marketing, awareness programmes or investment promotion initiatives, with the aim of boosting trade between our two countries."

Bahrain and Malaysia have a history of firm bilateral relations and engagement on a variety of economic and strategic fronts. In addition to manufacturing and oil and gas, both countries are leaders and innovators in Islamic finance and rapid growth has prompted closer ties in this sector. A number of Malaysian financial institutions such as CIMB and Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) have offices in Bahrain, and in 2012, Bahrain's investment arm, Mumtalakat Holding Company, raised around $1 billion in an Islamic bond issue on the Bursa Malaysia.

Malaysian construction companies are also performing well in Bahrain and have successfully delivered a number of large-scale and high profile projects including the Formula One circuit, the North Manama corridor project, the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway, and the Bahrain City Centre.

Malakoff Corporation, Malaysia's largest and one of Southeast Asia's largest independent power producers has acquired a substantial stake in Bahrain's Hidd Power Company as part of its global expansion and further highlighting the strength of the two nation's investment relationship.

The Bahrain EDB has international offices based at the Bahrain Embassy in Delhi and Mumbai, which provide information and support to interested investors in the Asia region. Investors wanting more information about Bahrain can visit www.bahrain.com or contact Ms Dharmi Magdani, the EDB's representative in South Asia, on dharmi.magdani@bahrainedb.com

Logo

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/4504

About The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB)

The Bahrain EDB is a dynamic public agency with an overall responsibility for attracting investment into Bahrain, and is focusing on target economic sectors in which the Kingdom offers significant strengths.

Key areas of focus include tourism, ICT, manufacturing, and logistics & transport services as well as other sub-sectors. The Financial Services sector in Bahrain is particularly strong and the EDB supports in the continuing growth of the banking industry and key sub-sectors, including Islamic Finance, Asset Management, Insurance and Re-Insurance.

For more information on the Bahrain EDB visit www.bahrainedb.com; for information about Bahrain visit www.bahrain.com
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation BK agreed to settle a Massachusetts regulatory probe over the technical glitch last year, which threw around 66 institutional clients into disarray, in effect, impacting hundreds of funds and billions of dollars of assets. The company will shell out $3 million to resolve the matter.



Matter in Detail



The U.S. funds industry was rattled by the system failure at BNY Mellon in Aug 2015. Assets under administration worth billions of dollars under the worlds largest custody bank got queued for pricing.



Notably, BNY Mellon uses an accounting system developed by SunGard Data Systems Inc. for the pricing of certain mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. A failed software upgrade by SunGard led the system to eventually crash on Aug 24, rendering the company incapable of calculating the net asset value (NAV) of around 1,200 funds under its custody. As a result, a majority of the companys clients were unable to disseminate accurate price information to their respective customers.



Given BNY Mellons leading position (more than $28 trillion in assets under custody), it mostly caters to large companies. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS, Deutsche Bank AG DB, First Trust Advisors, Guggenheim Partners, Prudential Financial Inc. and Federated Investors, Inc. FII were six of the biggest firms disrupted.



Though certain fund companies computed their own prices to protect the clients from the BNY Mellons accounting system collapse, the hold-up in posting NAVs and inaccurate pricing data hindered working of the funds for days. The breakdown was repaired in a weeks time.



Meanwhile, BNY Mellon resorted to alternative means to calculate fund NAVs. Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission came forward to work with the company and the affected firms to resolve the matter.



Notably, the computer glitch resulted in Massachusetts chief securities regulator announcing an investigation against the custodian bank in Sep 2015.



The Settlement



In the settlement agreement on Monday, Secretary of Commonwealth, William Galvin said BNY Mellon had subcontracted the calculations to a third party and lacked a backup plan when the sub-contractor failed to calculate NAVs for the funds. Further, according to the state officials, the bank did not give sufficient time to all of the funds boards to decide the approach to be taken to calculate the values.



A BNY Mellon spokesman said the bank is unaware of any investor losses related to the pricing issues. For money managers who requested it, shareholder transactions were reprocessed with system-generated NAVs and the bank waived any reprocessing fees.



"While we truly regret any confusion our clients may have experienced during the initial hours of the outage, the fact remains that BNY Mellon took decisive action during an unprecedented vendor failure to protect our clients interests and deliver daily net asset values to the funds in accordance with their instructions," the spokesman added.



According to the state officials, BNY Mellon has since upgraded its internal controls and supervisory procedures to avert a similar incident, increasing the size of the vendors support team and hiring independent consultants. It has also refunded money to the affected funds and investors.



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The company logo of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch is displayed at its office in Hong Kong March 8, 2013. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp and its Merrill Lynch unit will pay $14 million to settle lawsuits claiming that they forced financial adviser trainees to work 60 hours and more per week, including on weekends, without paying them overtime.

The settlement filed on Tuesday night in federal court in Manhattan resolves proposed class-action claims that the second-largest U.S. bank violated the rights of roughly 9,500 trainees nationwide who worked for several weeks or months in its Practice Management Development program.

Plaintiffs like Andrew Blum of Stuart, Florida; Zaq Harrison of Baltimore; Samuel Jorgenson in New York and Ronni Reiburn in New York claimed that Merrill regularly required them to work 10- to 14-hour days, attend client functions and work on weekends.

They said the work was necessary because Merrill expected them to generate client leads, but that the failure to pay for their extra time violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin declined to comment on the settlement. The accord requires court approval.

Justin Swartz, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the accord provides about $1,000 per class member, after legal fees.

The plaintiffs' law firms, Outten & Golden and Shavitz Law Group, plan to seek $4.67 million in fees, or one-third of the settlement amount, court papers show.

Bank of America and other large U.S. banks took steps more than two years ago to ease working conditions for some staff, following the July 2013 death from natural causes of a 21-year-old Bank of America Merrill Lynch intern in London.

Another law firm had filed a similar overtime lawsuit in January 2014 in federal court in Los Angeles.

The judge in that case rejected a proposed $5 million settlement last April, in part because the accord would have also covered claims arising from class members' subsequent employment as financial advisers.

Plaintiffs in the California settlement would have received about $90 each, after legal fees, according to court papers.

The cases are Blum et al v. Merrill Lynch & Co et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-01636; and Reiburn et al v. Merrill Lynch & Co et al in the same court, No. 15-02960.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)
* Rousseff says has committed no crime to shorten term

* Odebrecht says executives to seek plea bargain deals

* Rouseff govt fate rests with main coalition party (Adds Odebrecht to cooperate with prosecutors, wiretap ruling)

By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA, March 22 (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday she will not resign in Brazil's worst political crisis in two decades, calling an opposition move to impeach her a "coup d'etat" against democratic rule because she had committed no crime.

A corruption scandal that has reached her inner circle threatened to implicate more people after the country's largest engineering firm Odebrecht decided to cooperate with prosecutors investigating a huge political bribery scheme.

"I will never resign under any circumstances," the embattled president said in a speech to legal experts. "I have committed no crime that would warrant shortening my term."

Rousseff called on Brazil's Supreme Court to remain impartial in the crisis that has threatened to topple her government as opponents seek her impeachment in Congress.

Opposition parties have launched impeachment proceedings against Rousseff for allegedly manipulating government accounts to allow her government to spend more in the run-up to her 2014 re-election. The president could be suspended as soon as May if her supporters do not block impeachment in the lower house.

Recent corruption allegations and huge anti-government street protests have raised the odds of Rousseff being impeached, ending 13 years of leftist Workers' Party rule.

The Petrobras graft investigation has implicated dozens of politicians in Rousseff's coalition and led to the jailing of scores of executives in top engineering firms such as Odebrecht. Following police raids on company offices on Tuesday, Odebrecht said in a statement its executives targeted in the corruption probe will seek plea bargain deals with prosecutors.

With her popularity at rock bottom due to the snowballing scandal and the worst recession in a generation, the political survival of Brazil's first female president depends largely on her main coalition partner, the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB).

Story continues

Growing numbers of lawmakers in the fractious PMDB want the party to leave her government, a decision that could be taken at a March 29 executive committee meeting. The party may hold the deciding votes on impeachment, which would put Vice President Michel Temer, leader of the PMDB, in the presidential seat.

Party officials have denied Brazilian media reports that Temer is already preparing a post-Rousseff government and has begun talks with opposition leaders to secure their backing.

The head of the Senate, PMDB Senator Renan Calheiros, who appeared to be wavering in his support of Rousseff, echoed her position on impeachment after meeting with her predecessor and mentor, former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who is back in Brasilia working to shore up her crumbling coalition.

LULA AND THE COURTS

Rousseff attacked an anti-corruption judge for overstepping his jurisdiction by releasing a wiretap of a conversation between her and Lula, who is being investigated in the scandal that engulfed state-run oil company Petrobras.

Without mentioning the federal judge, Sergio Moro, by name, Rousseff said the judiciary cannot abandon impartiality and take sides politically by becoming a "party militant."

The recording of a conversation between Rousseff and Lula contributed to suspicions that she had appointed her mentor and predecessor as cabinet chief to shield him from prosecution by Moro. Only the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in cases against elected politicians and government ministers.

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes blocked Lula from taking office and ordered that the corruption case against him be handled by Moro, exposing Lula to the risk of arrest. A plenary vote of the full Supreme Court on March 30 can still overrule Mendes' decision.

But late on Tuesday, a fellow judge, Teori Zavascki, questioned Moro's decision to make public the wire tapped conversation involving a president of the country, and ordered the Lula case returned to the top court's jurisdiction.

Brazil's Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo is seeking to overturn the ruling that barred the former president, adding in a news conference with foreign reporters: "Lula is currently a minister. He just can't exercise his position."

Brazil is going through its worst political turmoil since Fernando Collor de Mello resigned as president in 1992 ahead of imminent impeachment in a corruption scandal.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Caroline Stauffer and Maria Carolina Marcello; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Bernard Orr and Michael Perry)
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Financial regulators in Australia and United Kingdom signed a cooperation agreement on Wednesday to help financial technology companies expand into each other's markets, Australia's securities watchdog said.

Financial technology - or fintech - companies use technology to make financial services more efficient. Some fintech innovations include automated financial advice, crowd-sourced equity funding, digital payments and blockchain business models.

Under the agreement, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will refer to one another "innovative businesses" seeking to expand to help break down barriers to entry, ASIC said in a statement.

The global tech revolution is poised to shake up the financial services industry. Fintech industries in the UK and Australia are estimated to have annual revenues of around A$12.5 billion (6.6 billion pounds) and A$1.3 billion respectively, with both growing rapidly.

ASIC said it has dealt with over 75 innovative start-ups including granting 10 licences while the FCA's innovation hub has supported over 200 businesses and authorised 18.

Banks globally are beefing up their fintech operations in response to growing competition from smaller digital rivals. According to estimates from KPMG, over a quarter of current Australian banking industry revenue, or about A$27 billion, was at risk from "digital disruptors".

(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Europe must improve the regional sharing of intelligence to successfully combat the rise of homegrown militants, policy experts told CNBC a day after deadly explosions hit Brussels.

Global terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks that killed at least 30 people, the latest episode in the group's campaign of large-scale violence on the international stage.

Recent offensives in Paris and Jakarta indicate ISIS is increasingly relying on local fundamentalists , typically trained in ISIS strongholds within the Middle East, to execute suicide bombings and shootings in busy metropolitan areas.

"The key question here is closing the intelligence gap," said Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

While ISIS is being defeated militarily in Syria and Iraq, foreign fighters who travel to the militant hotbed are returning to their home countries at a "disturbing" rate of about 30 percent, he noted, resulting in the spate of recent attacks. That calls for European governments to step up information gathering on radicalized individuals, which means channeling more funds and manpower to counter-terrorism operations, the 58-year old explained.

"When members of law enforcement approach us as members of parliament or political leaders, seeking more direct powers, I believe we have to be very attentive to their responses as long as we have judicial and parliamentary oversight."

Rudd's comments are at the crux of a hot-button discourse about the encroachment on civil liberties should governments ramp up surveillance and detainment tactics in the global war on terror.

Rudd believes it's a necessary cost to bear.

"This is a not a normal set of circumstances, we've got to give our men and women in uniform and in the intelligence services the powers necessary to deal with this. This is no criticism of the Belgian government but a wake-up call to all of us who wrestle with this debate."

Story continues

Others agree that European officials must direct more investment to counter-terrorism, despite strained finances for most countries in the region.

The fact that the perpetrator of December's Paris attacks was caught in Belgium four months after the event points to the overwhelmed state of European security officials, warned Ozzie Nelson, senior associate of homeland security and counter-terrorism at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

"There's significant issue of information sharing, not just within Belgium, but between European partners," he said, adding that countries must coordinate and communicate better instead of using limited resources to focus on protecting their own citizens .

"The underlying tension between the drive to communicate and the drive of nationalism will put Europe in crisis as long as the [terror] threat exists, and I expect this threat to continue for a number of years."

Throwing money at the problem isn't sufficient however; analysts say the European intelligence communist must refine their tactics.



Nations may seek to increase security at transportation hubs and borders as a knee-jerk reaction to Tuesday's events but that may not be the solution.

"We need to see a different approach towards attacking the problem, looking for terrorists as they're conducting their pre-operational surveillance instead of hardening targets and preventing them from attacking," explained Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical analysis at Stratfor.

For example, higher airport security may not deter terrorists as it just moves the intended target, i.e. people, to outside the building, he said.

Ultimately, the most effective weapons governments have at their disposal are sharing information, obtaining accurate intelligence, and working to change conditions supporting radicals, summarized Nelson.

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(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

By Alison Frankel

March 23 (Reuters) - Lawyers for three bondholder groups that have not reached settlements with Argentina sent letters this week to the U.S. Justice Department, arguing that the U.S. government should not reenter long-running litigation over defaulted Argentine sovereign debt.

The bondholder letters, sent by Milberg, Proskauer Rose and McDermott Will & Emery, allege that Argentina has refused to negotiate with small investors who collectively hold nearly $1 billion in defaulted bonds, despite recently reaching agreements with the majority of bondholders who declined to participate in previous sovereign debt restructurings, including the hedge funds NML Capital and Aurelius Capital.

As the bondholders' letters to the Justice Department explained, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will soon to hear arguments on whether to lift the pari passu, or equal footing, injunctions that pushed Argentina into settlement talks with other investors.

The holdouts said that without the leverage of the pari passu injunctions - which barred Argentina from making payments to exchange bondholders before it paid bondholders holding defaulted debt - they will be forced to swallow an unpalatable take-it-or-leave-it proposal from Argentina. They urged the U.S. government not to file an amicus brief backing Argentina's position.

"Please do not endanger, for political or diplomatic reasons, my clients' ability to obtain fair recoveries through the normal litigation process," wrote Michael Spencer of Milberg, whose letter said he represents a group of bondholders holding defaulted Argentine bonds with a face value of more than $860 million.

"Please let the 2nd Circuit decide these appeals on their legal merits. Please do not let this become another example of wealthy and powerful interests (hedge funds and governments) obtaining favored treatment, while average people are passed by."

Story continues

Lawyers for the protesting bondholder groups said they sent the letters after another plaintiff in the case told them that Argentine officials had asked the U.S. government to submit an amicus brief to the 2nd Circuit.

REASON TO WORRY

Argentina's lead lawyer in the bond litigation, Michael Paskin of Cravath Swaine & Moore, declined to provide a statement in response to my request for comment. Ginger Anders, the Justice Department official to whom the bondholder groups addressed their letters, declined to comment, but on Wednesday afternoon, the Justice Department filed a notice of appearance as an amicus on the 2nd Circuit's docket.

The holdouts have reason to worry about the U.S. government siding against them. Back in 2012, when the 2nd Circuit was first considering the controversial pari passu injunctions ordered by U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa, the Justice Department submitted an amicus brief backing Argentina's interpretation of the critical bond contract clause.

In those days, Argentina's administration was openly defiant of the U.S. court system, vowing it would never pay billions of dollars in judgments obtained by creditors. Even after the U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2014 to review the controversial pari passu injunctions, Argentina snubbed court-ordered settlement talks.

Now there is a new, more moderate administration in place in Argentina, and its economic policies have won praise from the U.S. government. President Barack Obama, who met with Argentine President Mauricio Macri Wednesday in Buenos Aires, said he was impressed at how quickly President Macri acted to "reconnect Argentina with the global economy."

And in a statement last week by the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Nathan Sheets specifically cited Argentina's willingness to resolve the bond litigation as proof that the Macri administration is sincere about restoring the economy.

Judge Griesa, who has presided over the Argentine bond litigation for 15 years, was sufficiently convinced of the new government's good faith to order the pari passu injunctions to automatically dissolve when two conditions are met: Argentina's legislature must repeal laws prohibiting settlements with holdout debt investors; and Argentina must actually pay investors with which it reached settlement agreements before Feb. 29, including NML and Aurelius.

Several bondholder groups, including the three that sent letters to the Justice Department this week, appealed Judge Griesa's order to the 2nd Circuit, asking for the injunctions to remain in place. They claim that Argentina's moderate talk masks the same "arrogance, obstinacy and delay" (to quote a bondholder brief by Duane Morris and Weil Gotshal & Manges) that the country has shown throughout the bond litigation. (Interestingly, NML also opposes lifting the injunctions, even though it has settled with Argentina.)

Argentina, meanwhile, said in its brief to the 2nd Circuit that Judge Griesa was well within his discretion to order the injunctions to dissolve. "What the district court once had the power to decree in order to alter behavior and incentivize good-faith settlement negotiations," the brief said, "it manifestly has the power to relieve now that the behavior has changed and settlement is within reach."

If the Justice Department wants a say in the final throes of this case, we'll know by Friday, when the last briefs are due at the 2nd Circuit.

(Reporting by Alison Frankel. Editing by Alessandra Rafferty.)
Yale University Campus Students

The Connecticut Legislature is proposing a bill that would tax income from Yale's $25.6 billion endowment, Bloomberg reported.

The legislation, introduced in March, specifically targets schools in Connecticut with endowments of $10 billion or more. Yale is the only such school in the state with an endowment of more than $10 billion.

Endowment income has come under increased scrutiny, as elite schools have funds that balloon ever up, year after year.

In January, a draft congressional bill grabbed the attention of America's massively endowed colleges and universities, as it proposed that schools with endowments of more than $1 billion use 25% of their annual endowment income toward student financial aid.

The draft bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Reed (R-New York), also stipulates that schools would lose their nonprofit status if they don't comply with the requirement for three consecutive years.

Colleges and universities would almost certainly balk at such requirements, as it would put billions of dollars of endowment funds at stake.

Schools use the help of in-house private-equity managers to grow their endowments  sometimes by huge margins.

David Swenson

But they are not taxed on their earnings because they're nonprofit institutions, an extra boost that normal hedge funds and private-equity funds don't enjoy. It's a benefit that some higher-education experts have argued should be reevaluated.

Tax exemptions provided to private colleges can essentially be thought of as American taxpayers subsidizing private endowment funds, Jordan Weissmann argued at Slate in September.

At a simplified level, any exemption in one area increases taxes in another, ultimately falling on the backs of American taxpayers.

And tax breaks for private universities amount to more money than the federal funding that public universities receive, according to Weissmann. He argued that the gap between federal funding for public universities and the tax breaks private universities enjoy on their endowment income necessitates a tax on private endowments.

Story continues

The top 10 university endowments by size hold an unbelievable amount of wealth. Harvard University's endowment had a 5.8% increase in 2015, bringing it to $37.6 billion. Yale University had an 11.5% increase, bringing it up to $25.6 billion.

Yale's associate vice president for federal and state relations, Richard Jacob, wrote testimony criticizing Connecticut's proposed bill, Bloomberg reported.

"The proposed taxes on Yale would diminish the university's ability to carry out its charitable mission and to enable and support growth in New Haven," Jacob wrote, according to Bloomberg. "Yale's generous financial aid policies, which enable Yale College students to avoid any loans, and which waive any parent contribution for low-income students, exist because of the endowment."

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Donald Trump

Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to "spill the beans" on Sen. Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi Cruz.

In a brazen new tweet, Trump criticized his leading Republican presidential rival over a television advertisement that an unaffiliated, anti-Trump super PAC ran in the lead-up to Utah's caucuses Tuesday.

The ad showed Trump's wife, Melania Trump, posing nude in a GQ magazine photo shoot.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Trump tweeted.

Cruz responded shortly after. In his own tweet, the senator pointed out that his team was not responsible for the ad, and he slammed Trump for considering to attack Heidi Cruz.

Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016

Trump's wild Twitter tactics have partially redefined the GOP primary. Trump often lashes out at his rivals in a mixture of belittlement and aggression.

The frontrunner's Tuesday-night threat against Cruz's wife is an especially remarkable statement as he seeks to unify the GOP rank-and-file behind his campaign.

Here's a link to the ad that angered Trump.

The Trump and Cruz campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. The two GOP rivals are squaring off in contests in Utah and Arizona on Tuesday night.

NOW WATCH: Watch Cruz attack Trump for threatening to spill the beans on his wife





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By Stephen Jewkes

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian power utility Enel is proposing to spend around 2.5 billion euros (2 billion) on equipping the country's homes with fibre optic cables in a move that could put pressure on Telecom Italia to get going with its own plans for building a nationwide fibre broadband network.

The state-controlled utility said on Wednesday it intends to run fibre to the home alongside its power network in over 224 municipalities and wholesale the capacity to the telecoms service providers - "any retail operator that wants to give its customers access".

Enel is still in talks about forming a commercial partnership with mobile network operators Vodafone and VimpelCom's Wind but Starace said they would not become shareholders in Enel Open Fiber (EOF), the vehicle set up to execute the project.

"EOF equity remains open to investors, but mainly infrastructure funds," he said.

Enel's plans, first flagged early last year, have caused some friction with Telecom Italia, the former monopoly network operator, which is still putting together its own scheme to connect the whole country up to ultrafast broadband.

The heavily indebted incumbent, whose top shareholder is now French media giant Vivendi, has pledged to spend 12 billion euros in Italy under its latest three-year business plan, including 3.6 billion euros on laying fibre optic cables.

But using Enel's high-speed network could give Telecom Italia rivals a competitive edge in the race to offer faster internet connections, analysts said.

"It's the cheapest solution to get (fibre) to homes and factories," Enel Chief Executive Francesco Starace told analysts in a conference call on the group's full-year results.

Enel will begin work later this year on installing a new generation of smart electricity meters in 33 million Italian homes and intends to run fibre through its pipes at the same time.

EOF will develop the fibre network in stages, with around 7.5 million homes expected to be covered in the first few years.

Story continues

The project to develop a truly nationwide fibre broadband network is a top priority for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who is keen to get Italy's Internet connections up to speed with the rest of Europe and close 'the digital divide' to give a boost to a sluggish economy.

Starace, who has put networks and grids at the core of Enel's business strategy, said anyone trying to build a fibre network running all the way into consumers' homes and offices without taking advantage of Enel's pipes would likely spend more than 3 billion euros on doing the same job.

Earlier this year he had said using Enel's infrastructure could reduce costs by 30-40 percent.

(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Global data center service provider Equinix Inc. EQIX recently announced that it has opened the fifth International Business Exchange (IBX) data center  SP3  in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The new data center, popularly known as SP3, will enable the company to meet growing demand for data center services in the region. SP3 is scheduled to open in the first quarter of fiscal 2017.



Notably, Equinix has spent $76 million for the IBX data center which spans across an area of 215,000 square feet. The SP3 data center will provide approximately 2,800 cabinets, with the provision to add another four phases. This enables the company to proceed aggressively with its plan of developing data centers across different geographies.



Background



Equinix opened its first IBX data center  OS1  in Osaka, Japan. OS1 had been developed in collaboration with K-Opticom and Kanden Energy Solutions (KENES), the technology access providers in the Osaka-Kansai region.



Following OS1, the company opened its second IBX data center in Rio de Janeiro, based on the platform provided by ALOG Data Centers of Brazil S.A.



Equinix opened its third IBX data center in Singapore and named it SG3. With the opening of SG3, the companys total number of data centers reached 104 across 33 markets.



More recently, the company has unveiled a new IBX data center in Japans capital, Tokyo. This data center, which has been named TY5, spans on an area of 54,663 square feet.



Current Scenario



Equinix is a global provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services for enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network service providers. Expansions in important markets and consolidation of facilities in the existing ones are part of the companys core growth strategy.



Following last years initiatives, the company has announced an aggressive expansion plan for 2016. It is targeting an investment of over $4.5 billion for this year in data center openings, expansion of colocation space and acquisitions. The amount includes $3.8 billion for the Telecity acquisition completed this January.



Further, Equinix plans to open four data centers in Tokyo, Dallas, Sao Paulo and Sydney, bringing the total to 150, all by this year.



Management remains optimistic on growing demand for data centers, which is attributable to the Big Data exchanges. To meet this demand, the global interconnection and data center company has been expanding its IBX data centers globally and gaining popularity among tech companies that are looking for data management. Thus, the company expects its total addressable market for retail data centers to increase at a CAGR of 8% in the 20132017 period and reach $24.0 billion. Based on this projection, the company projects a revenue growth rate of 10% through 2017.



To Conclude



We are impressed by Equinixs recurring revenue model. The companys cloud and IT service businesses are its fastest growing segments, accounting for approximately one-fourth of its total revenue.



Equinix shares space with established communications carriers like AT&T T, Level 3 Communications LVLT and Verizon Communications VZ  other companies that operate data centers.

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What Are Ericsson's Key Expansion Areas?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Reliance can utilize existing Ericsson/Ozone Wi-Fi infrastructure

Last week, Indias (INDA) telecom giant Reliance Communications became the first mobile operator in the country to join the Ozone Networks and Ericssons (ERIC) Small Cell as a Service carrier-grade Wi-Fi network.

Reliance Communications can now utilize the existing Ericsson/Ozone Wi-Fi infrastructure and launch Wi-Fi services for a seamless end-user experience using the carrier-grade small cell network. By leveraging Ericssons established market presence and reach, Reliance will also be able to offer Wi-Fi services with a faster go-to-market approach, whereas Ozone and Ericsson will benefit from additional utilization of their Wi-Fi infrastructure.

Partnerships will help to meet growing customer expectations

The Chief Commercial Officer of Reliance Communications, Suresh Rangachar, stated that growth in data usage is driven by the surge in mobile connectivity and smartphone uptake. This partnership will enable Reliance to meet the ever-growing customer expectations in ultra-dense environments through data offload to a country-wide carrier-grade Wi-Fi network.

Jean-Claude Geha, head of managed services at Ericsson, said, We are pleased to expand our partnership with Reliance Communications with this new managed services agreement. Together with Ozone India, we are realizing our vision of providing a neutral, shared Wi-Fi infrastructure. Ericsson supports our customers targets of new revenues and subscribers throughout indoor venues and hot spots with the Small Cell as a Service model. Ericssons Small Cell as a Service supports all technologies, from MuLTEfire with the Ericsson Dot solution to Ciscos Wi-Fi solution.

Ericsson accounts for 1.1% of the PowerShares BLDR Europe 100 ADR Index Fund (ADRU). The other top holdings of this fund include Novartis (NVS) with a weight of 8%, HSBC Holdings (HSBC) with a weight of 4.9%, and BP (BP) with a weight of 3.8%.

Story continues

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Rohit Bansal, a former Goldman Sachs employee, exits the Manhattan U.S. District Courthouse, following his sentencing hearing. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc associate who admitted to illegally obtaining confidential documents from a friend at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was handed a fine on Tuesday but spared a prison sentence.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had sought up to a year in prison for Rohit Bansal, who they said used the documents to further his career and shared some with other Goldman Sachs employees to help on bank client work.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein called Bansal's motivations "significantly disturbing," and said Bansal was aware the documents he obtained from Jason Gross, the New York Fed employee, were confidential.

But he said Bansal's conviction, coupled with the loss of a career, had sent a "powerful message" to others who might engage in similar conduct, and sentenced him to a $5,000 fine and two years of probation with 300 hours of community service.

Bansal, 30, said he was "profoundly sorry" for his actions, which resulted in him pleading guilty in November to a misdemeanor charge of theft of government property and being permanently barred from the banking industry.

"During my short time at Goldman Sachs, I truly lost sight of what was right," he said.

The case highlighted the so-called revolving door on Wall Street, in which regulators take jobs at the banks they formerly oversaw.

The charges were announced after Goldman Sachs agreed in October to a $50 million settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services for failing to supervise Bansal.

According to prosecutors and New York regulators, Bansal obtained numerous documents from Gross, whom he formerly supervised at the New York Fed, after joining Goldman Sachs in July 2014.

Those documents included some relating to examinations of a bank that Goldman was advising about a potential transaction, regulators said.

Bansal shared some of the documents with others at Goldman, regulators and prosecutors said, telling them in at least one instance, "Please don't distribute."

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Goldman has said that after discovering Bansal obtained the confidential supervisory information, it notified regulators and fired him and a more senior employee who failed to take further action. The New York Fed also fired Gross.

Gross, 37, pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor charge and was fined $2,000 by Gorenstein last week and sentenced to a year of probation with 200 hours of community service.

The case is U.S. v. Bansal, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00771.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)
The PDVSA logo is seen on a tank at its refinery El Palito in Puerto Cabello, in the state of Carabobo, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello (Reuters)

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - Three former officials at Venezuela's state oil company have pleaded guilty to U.S. charges related to a scheme by two businessmen to corruptly secure energy contracts, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.

The former officials at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) pleaded guilty under seal in December to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Their pleas were unsealed by a federal judge in Houston on Tuesday.

The ex-PDVSA officials are Jose Luis Ramos Castillo, 38; Christian Javier Maldonado Barillas, 39; and Alfonzo Eliezer Gravina Munoz, 53.

The U.S. Justice Department said each has admitted to accepting bribes from two Venezuelan businessmen, Roberto Rincon and Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, who were charged in December with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Shiera, who lives in Miami and owned multiple U.S.-based energy companies, pleaded guilty on Tuesday. One of his employees, Moises Abraham Millan Escobar, pleaded guilty under seal to a conspiracy charge in January, prosecutors said.

Lawyers for Rincon, president of Tradequip Services & Marine, and Shiera did not respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for the ex-officials could not be immediately identified.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Leslie Caldwell in a statement called the PDVSA case the "result of a tenacious and coordinated effort by our prosecutors and agents to unravel a complex web of bribes paid to Venezuelan officials."

The indictment said Rincon, 55, and Shiera, 52, conspired to pay bribes to officials to secure contracts from PDVSA.

It also said five PDVSA officials received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes made through wire transfers, mortgage payments, airline tickets and, in one case, whiskey.

The bribes also came in the form of more than $14,000 for one company official spent at the upmarket Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, the indictment said.

From 2009 to 2014 more than $1 billion was traced to the conspiracy, with $750 million to Rincon, a Venezuelan who lives in Texas, according to court documents. Rincon has pleaded not guilty.

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According to the Justice Department, Ramos, Maldonado and Gravina, all from Katy, Texas, conspired with Shiera and Rincon to launder the proceeds of the bribery scheme.

PDVSA did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously denounced the case as being part of an international smear campaign.

The case is U.S. v. Rincon-Fernandez, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, No. 15-cr-654.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
A Time Warner Cable sign and logo are seen on a Time Warner Cable store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar

By David Shepardson and Malathi Nayak

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is not expected to make a decision this week on Charter Communications Inc's (CHTR.O) planned acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N), sources briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.

Charter said in May that it would buy Time Warner Cable in a $56 billion (39.6 billion pounds) cash-and-stock deal that would make it the No. 2 U.S. Internet and cable company after Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O).

Kim Hart, an FCC spokeswoman, declined to comment.

We continue to work productively with regulators and look forward to obtaining approval soon," Charter spokesman Justin Venech said.

Should the deal team at the FCC and the companies reach an agreement on conditions for approving the merger, the next step would be for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to circulate a proposed order approving the transaction.

Time Warner Cable declined to comment.

Shareholders of both companies and most U.S. states have approved the deal.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Wheeler is likely to circulate a draft order approving the deal, citing people familiar with the matter.

The order would levy some conditions on the deal, such as preventing Charter from including clauses in pay-TV contracts that limit a content company's ability to offer its programming online or to new entrants, the newspaper reported.

An informal 180-day FCC "shot clock" is set to expire on Friday, but the agency says on its website that ensuring any deal is in the public interest takes precedence over the informal timeline.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Malathi Nayak; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Andrew Hay)
Grad school always appealed to Jacob Calvert, but it wasn't until late in his junior year at the University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign that the bioengineering major zeroed in on a subject area that really spoke to him: complex systems mathematics.

After discovering a center focused on that field at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, he strategically sought out several fellowship programs that could pay his way.

With the help of an adviser, Calvert applied for and earned a Marshall scholarship, which funds up to 40 American students each year who are pursuing graduate degrees in the U.K. Calvert's scholarship covers the $30,000 tuition toward a math master's degree and gives him an additional $20,000 for expenses.

Many fellowships can be thought of as scholarships that cover tuition for one to three years of graduate study and sometimes include extra funding for living expenses or attending academic conferences. Other awards are given for teaching, research or short-term jobs.

Becoming part of a cohort of highly qualified peers and having access to personalized professional development can be just as valuable as the monetary benefits, says Kyle Mox, vice president of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors.

[Learn more about paying for grad school.]

Some fellowships are based at particular schools, while others are targeted at people in certain disciplines. The Rhodes scholarship is exclusive to the University of Oxford in the U.K.; the Truman scholarship is for those interested in public service.

Plus, "there's just a whole alphabet soup" of offerings in the sciences, notes Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment management and director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at the University of Arkansas.

Aspiring scientists might consider the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship -- with 180 awarded annually in fields of interest to the Department of Defense -- or the Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship -- with 12 to 15 awarded per year to people pursuing a Ph.D. in science, math or engineering -- among many others.

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A number of opportunities are earmarked for students from underrepresented minority groups. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine administer a fellowship on behalf of the Ford Foundation, for example, that invests in about 120 doctoral students in a variety of disciplines each year with a goal of diversifying teaching faculty.

The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program annually supports 30 naturalized U.S. citizens, other immigrants and children of immigrants for two years of study in any field.

[Find other scholarships for grad school.]

To help students sort through their options, many universities have dedicated fellowship advisers and detailed databases of offerings. Cornell University, for example, offers a publicly searchable collection of fellowships. Mox suggests working with your school's advisers to find programs whose goals align with your interests.

It's important to start thinking about applying junior year -- or even earlier. Applications for many competitive programs are due early in the fall. They often require a personal statement, letters of recommendation and extensive interviews. Depending on the program, you typically will either apply to a fellowship organization or be nominated by your undergraduate institution.

[Check out a list of prestigious fellowships.]

Selection committees want applicants to make clear how a fellowship is critical to their career path, rather than framing it as a study-abroad experience, for example.

"It's not a gap year," McCray says. "It's a supplemental experience that really is going to enable you to do what it is you want to do."

Other desirable attributes generally include top-notch academic performance and leadership skills.

"What we're looking for is people who apply their intellectual skills, their people skills, and their grit and determination to an issue that they care about," says Rob Garris, director of admissions for the Schwarzman Scholars program, which will enroll its inaugural class of 111 this year.

Participants study at Tsinghua University in Beijing in a fully funded one-year master's program specializing in international studies, public policy or business and economics.

Applying for a fellowship can even sometimes benefit those who are not selected. For instance, applicants for the Mitchell scholarship, which is awarded to American students enrolling in a graduate program in Ireland or Northern Ireland, can choose to have their submissions shared with companies that help sponsor the program, such as Morgan Stanley or CRH, an international building materials firm.

"Our entire applicant pool is highly impressive, and that's of interest to companies," says Trina Vargo, founder and president of the US-Ireland Alliance, which administers the Mitchell.

This story is excerpted from the U.S. News "Best Graduate Schools 2017" guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.





More From US News & World Report


MILL VALLEY, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 23, 2016) - A new multi-country study from Glassdoor Economic Research confirms a significant gender pay gap between women and men in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France. The report, titled Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap, is based on a unique data set of more than 534,000 salary reports shared on Glassdoor by online employees1, which includes pay data down to specific job title and company name. This specificity has enabled Glassdoor to understand both the "unadjusted" and "adjusted" pay gap in each country. In the U.S., the study confirms the gender pay gap rises with age and reveals the occupations and industries with the largest and smallest gender pay gaps.

The unadjusted pay gap between men and women in the U.S. is 24.1 percent, meaning women earn, on average, $0.76 for every $1 men earn. When adding statistical controls for age, education and years of experience, Glassdoor data shows the gap compresses to 19.2 percent. And, when additional controls for occupation, industry, location, year, company and job title are factored in, the pay gap in the U.S. becomes 5.4 percent, revealing the adjusted pay gap. The study found similar differences between the unadjusted and adjusted pay gaps in each country analyzed.

"The gender pay gap is real, and Glassdoor's comprehensive study helps us better understand just how significant this gap is across multiple countries," said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist of Glassdoor, Inc. "While our report reveals a significant gender pay gap, it's important to understand there are multiple ways to analyze this gap. Glassdoor's unique compensation database allows us to closely examine the factors that help explain some of the documented differences in pay between men and women and shine a bright spotlight on the portion of the wage gap for which there seems to be no explanation."

Worker Differences: Industry, Occupation & Age

The gender pay gap varies by worker age, occupation and industry. In terms of age, the study reveals the gender pay gap grows as workers get older. In the U.S., workers aged 18 to 24 years face a below-average adjusted gender pay gap of 2.2 percent. By contrast, among older workers aged 55 to 64 years, the adjusted gender pay gap is 10.5 percent, roughly double the national average of 5.4 percent.

The study also examines which occupations have the largest gender pay gaps. In the U.S., the adjusted gender pay gap is largest for computer programmer (28.3 percent), chef (28.1 percent), dentist (28.1 percent), C-suite professionals (e.g., chief executive officer, chief financial officer; 27.7 percent) and psychologist (27.2 percent). There are some occupations in which the gender pay gap is reversed and women earn more than men. The occupations with the largest reverse pay gaps are social worker (-7.8 percent), merchandiser (-7.6 percent), research assistant (-6.6 percent), purchasing specialist (-5.5 percent) and physician advisor (-2.4 percent).

In the U.S., among industries, the adjusted gender pay gap is largest in the health care (7.2 percent), insurance (7.2 percent), mining & metals (6.8 percent), transportation & logistics (6.7 percent) and media (6.6 percent) industries. It is smallest in aerospace & defense (2.5 percent), agriculture & forestry (2.5 percent), biotech & pharmaceuticals (3.0 percent), travel & tourism (3.0 percent) and restaurants, bars & food service (3.2 percent) industries. Although many specific technology occupations, such as computer programmer, have large gender pay gaps, the technology industry as a whole is closer to the U.S. average and falls in the middle of the pack among industries and slightly above the national average (5.9 percent).

Factors Contributing to the Gender Pay Gap

The report divides the pay gap into what can be "explained" due to differences in worker characteristics (e.g., age, education, etc.) and what remains "unexplained." Glassdoor researchers found that the majority (67 percent) of the overall U.S. pay gap can be explained, while 33 percent of the overall pay gap cannot be explained by any factors observable in Glassdoor data. This means the unexplained pay gap may very well be attributed to workplace bias (whether intentional or not), negotiation gaps between men and women and/or other unobserved worker characteristics.

The study reveals that the largest contributing factor to the gender pay gap is explained by differences in how men and women sort into occupations and industries with varying earning potential. This finding is consistent across all five countries, and in the U.S., it makes up more than half (54 percent) of the unadjusted gender pay gap. For example, U.S. Census figures show women make up only 26 percent of highly paid chief executives but 71 percent of low-paid cashiers. Other third-party academic research suggests the occupational sorting of men and women is due partly to social pressures that divert men and women into different college majors and career tracks, and to gender norms such as women bearing disproportionate responsibility for child and elderly care, which pressures women into more flexible jobs with lower pay. Less of the gap is explained by gender differences in education, age or years of experience (14 percent).

"Women and men tend to pursue different career paths early in life and then sort into different industries and occupations, which, in large part, is due to a variety of societal expectations and traditional gender norms. This is the single largest factor we see contributing to today's gender pay gap," added Chamberlain.

"To help close the gender pay gap, we should focus on creating policies and programs that provide women with more access to career development and training, such as pay negotiation skills, to support them throughout their lives in any job or field they choose to enter," said Dawn Lyon, vice president of corporate affairs of Glassdoor, Inc. "Greater transparency around pay can also help eliminate pay gaps by making it easy to identify disparities and spark conversations with employers to ensure people are paid equally for equal work. Research has shown that companies that embrace salary transparency can also improve employee satisfaction in the long run, which boosts productivity."

International Market Gender Pay Gaps

Outside of the U.S., the report reveals the unadjusted and adjusted pay gaps in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France. Findings in each of these markets are similar: a larger unadjusted pay gap that shrinks, but does not disappear, when additional factors such as worker experience, age, location and job title are included.

"Unadjusted" Gender Pay Gap "Adjusted" Gender Pay Gap





Country Average Female Pay Per Male Pay

Percent Gap Between Female & Male Pay Average Female Pay Per Male Pay

Percent Gap Between Female & Male Pay United States $0.76/$1 24.1% $0.95/$1 5.4% United Kingdom 0.77/1 22.9% 0.95/1 5.5% Australia AUD$0.83/AUD$1 17.3% AUD$0.96/AUD$1 3.9% Germany EUR 0.78/EUR 1 22.5% EUR 0.95/EUR 1 5.5% France EUR 0.86/EUR 1 14.3% EUR 0.94/EUR 1 6.3% Numbers have been rounded for reporting simplicity. Source: Glassdoor.com/research.

See the full Glassdoor Economic Research report, Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap, including an in-depth analysis of the gender pay gap in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France.

Visit Glassdoor to research salaries or submit a salary report. Visit Glassdoor Economic Research to subscribe to the latest job market and economic employment reports.

About Glassdoor

Glassdoor is the most transparent jobs and recruiting marketplace that is changing how people search for jobs and how companies recruit top talent. Glassdoor combines free and anonymous reviews, ratings and salary content with job listings to help job seekers find the best jobs and address critical questions that come up during the job search, application, interview and negotiation phases of employment. For employers, Glassdoor offers recruiting and employer branding solutions to help attract high-quality candidates at a fraction of the cost of other channels. Glassdoor operates one of the most popular job apps on iOS and Android. The company launched in 2008 and has raised approximately $160 million from Google Capital, Tiger Global Management, Benchmark, Battery Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, DAG Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group and others.

(c) 2016 Glassdoor, Inc. Glassdoor is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc.

1 Based on more than 534,000 salary reports shared on Glassdoor by full-time employees as of 11/11/15 (U.S.) or 11/24/15 (U.K., Australia, Germany, France). For complete methodology: https://www.glassdoor.com/research/studies/gender-pay-gap/

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It's another low volume day for stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^RUT) in this shortened trading week. One of the big movers of the day is gold, down over 2%. Keith Bliss of Cuttone & Co. joins us live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the markets.

Joining Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous to discuss some of the other big stories of the day are Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer.

The big winners and losers

With Q1 2016 almost in the rear view mirror, it's time to look at the winners and losers. We've compiled a list of the most popular stocks searched on Yahoo Finance and sorted it into winners and losers. Rounding out the top 5 are three energy stocks: Freeport McMoran (FCX), Kinder Morgan (KMI), and Exxon Mobil (XOM), along with AT&T (T) and Facebook (FB). For the losers we have Bank of America (BAC), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), Gilead Sciences (GILD), and Disney (DIS).

Trading junk and oil



There's an uncanny resemblance forming between oil traders and junk bond traders. While both oil and high- yield debt have rebounded since February lows, the correlation between non-energy junk bonds and oil prices has hit a record high, according to Deutsche Bank (DB).

Chipotle employees sue chain

And its more bad news for Chipotle (CMG), but this time it's not due to health concerns. Employees are lining up to sue the fast-casual chain, with more than 100 lawsuits filed over the past five years, according to the New York Post. That's three times more suits than Starbucks or Panera faced over the same period. Workers claimed they were underpaid and discriminated against.
A 3D printed Android logo is seen in front of a displayed cyber code in this illustration taken March 22, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google unit said on Wednesday its one-touch payment app for Android devices, Android Pay, will be launching in the UK in the next few months.

Android Pay will support MasterCard Inc and Visa Inc credit and debit cards issued by UK banks such as Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and M&S Bank, the company said in a blog post.

Commuters traveling around London will be able to pay using the app on the city's buses, trains and the London Underground, Google said.

The payment platform will also be available at outlets such as supermarket chains Waitrose and Aldi, British sandwich chain Pret A Manger and pharmacy chain Boots.

Android Pay will compete with Apple Inc's Apple Pay, which launched in the UK in July.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru)
The neon Google sign in the foyer of Google's new Canadian engineering headquarters in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario January 14, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Power

By Sarah McBride

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc, long an also-ran in cloud services, has scored an important victory in its effort to win corporate clients: Home Depot is moving some of its data to Google's cloud.

The deal, flagged Tuesday by Google executive Greg DeMichillie in a briefing and expected to be announced formally on Wednesday, highlights the momentum Google Cloud Platform has gained under the leadership of Diane Greene, a co-founder of VMWare who joined Google late last year.

VMWare sells its "virtualization" technology for improving the efficiency of data centers to many of the same customers that Google Cloud is targeting.

Many of Google Clouds more prominent customers, including message service Snapchat and accommodation service Airbnb, are new Internet-based companies - not always the best references for chief information officers at more traditional companies.

Landing Home Depot, the Atlanta-based construction and home-improvement retailer with over 2,000 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, bolsters Google Clouds standing among bricks and mortar businesses. Home Depot declined to provide any details on its deal with Google.

Googles cloud business generated about $500 million in revenues last quarter, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs, up from $400 million the quarter before. That compares to $21.32 billion overall for parent company Alphabet Inc, but the cloud business is one of its fastest-growing business areas.

Overall, Google is the No.4 player in cloud infrastructure services, according to Synergy Research, with 4 percent market share last year. Amazon's AWS took 31 percent of the market, Microsoft's Azure 9 percent, and IBM, 7 percent.

But there are signs Google is gaining ground. Apple, long a user of Amazons AWS and Microsofts Azure, has started using Googles cloud for its iCloud, the service that allows Apple customers to store music, photos, and documents, according to an industry executive.

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And last month, music service Spotify, a high-profile customer of Amazons AWS, said it would use Googles cloud for some computing infrastructure.

Google is also building up its data centers across the world, launching two new regional centers in Japan and Oregon to bring the number of regions it serves to five.

Google kicks off its cloud conference in San Francisco Wednesday.

(Reporting by Sarah McBride; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Andrew Hay)
The GOP Budget Is on Life Support, and Paul Ryan Knows It

Months after House Republicans began talking about passing a federal budget for 2017, Speaker Paul Ryan (WI) confirmed lawmakers are still doing just that: talking.

Look, we want to do a budget. That's very clear. The question is, do we have the votes to pass a budget. And that's the conversation we're having with our members, Ryan said Tuesday during the GOPs weekly news conference, describing the talks as a family conversation.

Related: Why Theres Trouble Ahead for Paul Ryans Trillion-Dollar Budget

The admission is surprising given that the House Budget Committee, which Ryan once chaired, last week approved a resolution that provides $1.07 trillion in discretionary spending for fiscal 2017, sticking to the topline figure Congress and the White House agreed to in October.

Once a spending blueprint is out of committee, it usually receives a vote on the House floor the following week. Whats making this year different is the insistence by the far-right House Freedom Caucus and others that GOP leaders tear up the bipartisan budget deal and cut $30 billion in spending.

And there are enough votes between the groups 40-something members and other fiscal hawks to block the budgets passage, which would be a major embarrassment for Ryan.

As it is, the fervent opposition by the hardliners is seriously jeopardizing Ryans push to meet the April 15 statutory deadline for the chamber to pass a budget. The window is already almost closed, what with lawmakers set to adjourn Wednesday for Easter recess and not return until April 12.

Related: Paul Ryan Is Taking a $30 Billion Gamble With the GOPs Budget

If Ryan cant convince hardliners to play ball, the possibility that leadership will move onto individual appropriations bills is increased. Worse, a catchall omnibus measure to fund the federal government, a reality even the Wisconsin lawmaker isnt ready to face, may never even be drafted.

No, we know we need to do a budget, he told reporters.

Story continues

Related: Why the GOPs Budget Plans Are Going Off the Rails

We're still proceeding on that plan, hopefully getting a budget. But we're having that family conversation, according to Ryan. But what we did not want to do is slow the appropriators down for the spadework that they have to do at the committee level. But right now, we're still having that family conversation with our members about how to proceed with the budget.

However, when pressed if the GOP spending guide would be teed up in mid-April, he replied: I dont know the answer to that.

Meanwhile, Democrats are using the weeks of delay to chastise Ryan and his fellow Republicans.

It is simply unconscionable that the House Republican Leadership plans two weeks of recess without  passing a budget blueprint for next year, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a statement on Monday.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
teenage drivers

In the last decade, cars have gotten a lot safer, and collision-related fatalities have decreased by 25 percent in the US.

But, teenage drivers haven't changed. They're just as dangerous as ever.

That's what Bruce Feiler argues in his New York Times piece, where he cites some of the stunning data on drivers in the 16 and 17-year-old range.

"If you're going to have an early, untimely death, the most dangerous two years of your life are between 16 and 17, and the reason for that is driving," researcher Nicole Morris at the University of Minnesota told the Times.

According to Morris' findings, car crashes kill more teens in that age group than suicide, cancer, and other types of accidents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, on average, six teenagers died each day from injuries related to auto accidents in 2013.

It's not just because of distracted driving, either. While smartphones are implicit in the number of teen-involved car accidents, here are some other factors, as noted in Morris' research:

Friends driving with friends: Morris says adding just one non-family passenger to a car with a teenage driver increases the rate of accidents by 44 percent. Add a second non-family passenger, and the rate doubles. Three or more  it quadruples. "Your cellphone isn't encouraging your teen to go 80 in a 50, or 100 in a 70, Morris said."

Alcohol and late-night driving: According to 2013 data from the US Department of Transportation, nearly a third of teenagers killed in car accidents had been drinking. Late-night driving significantly increased the risk, also.

Smartphones, of course: Text and social media notifications are often too tempting for teenage drivers to ignore. Even with hands-free technologies now available in many new cars, the risk of "cognitive distractions"  having your eyes on the road, while your mind is elsewhere  can have lasting effects on driver awareness.

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automotive safety

The many crash-prevention features that are available now can help ease parents' minds when their teen is behind the wheel. Forward-collision warnings, lane-keeping assist, and automatic braking are just a few of the technologies that could greatly reduce the likelihood of a crash, though they are not foolproof.

Morris says that ultimately, no technology can replace a parent carefully watching their teen drivers.

"If you're not paying attention, chances are they're not driving as safely as you think they are."

NOW WATCH: This self-installing car seat is designed to eliminate human error





More From Business Insider


An Air India Airlines Boeing 787 dreamliner takes part in a flying display during the 50th Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport near Paris, June 14, 2013. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/Files

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is to examine the possibility of selling up to 49 percent of loss-making national carrier Air India, news agency NewsRise Financial reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

The government plans to form a four-to-five member panel, made up of officials from the finance ministry, the civil aviation ministry, the cabinet secretariat and the company, to consider selling a stake in Air India to meet its revenue target from state asset sales next fiscal year, according to NewsRise.

Indebted Air India, which last made an annual profit in 2007, has seen its market share shrink in recent years amid rising competition from private carriers. It is now India's third-largest airline by market share.

(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
By Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina Munthe

JAKARTA, March 23 (Reuters) - Indonesia's February crude

palm oil (CPO) production is expected to continue to fall

because of droughts and forest fires, threatening stockpile

levels, according to a Reuters survey.

Production of CPO in February may drop to 2.30 million

tonnes, according to the median estimate in a survey of two

industry associations and one of the country's largest planter.

That is down from output of 2.44 million tonnes in January,

and the lowest since February 2015.

Indonesia's annual palm oil output is expected to fall to

about 32.1 million tonnes this year, which would be the first

decline since 1998, due to drought caused by the El Nino weather

pattern, Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said.

February palm oil exports from Malaysia, the world's

second-biggest palm producer after Indonesia, fell 15 percent

from a year earlier, according to industry regulator Malaysian

Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

"Indonesia's (February) monthly production fell due to

drought last year, and also partly due to forest fire in 2015,"

said Sahat Sinaga, executive director at the Indonesia Vegetable

Oil Industry Association (GIMNI).

Meanwhile, amid the decline in production, domestic

consumption rose due to the increasing use of palm oil for

biodiesel blend, Sinaga said.

"This will continue toward the end of the year ... and this

is dangerous as it can cause drop in export volume," he said.

Indonesia has raised the minimum bio content in domestic

diesel fuel to 20 percent this year from 15 percent and will

raise it to 30 percent in 2020.

Indonesia's CPO exports in February are expected to be 2.01

million tonnes, little changed from 2.005 million tonnes in

January, the survey showed.

Palm oil stockpiles are expected to rise to 3.63 million

tonnes, from 2.03 million tonnes in January, according to the

survey.

Indonesia's domestic consumption of the tropical oil was

estimated in a range between 600,000 tonnes and 928,000 tonnes,

Story continues

according to the survey responses.

GAPKI showed January palm oil and palm kernel oil exports at

2.1 million tonnes. The group's data for February has not been

released yet.

The Reuters survey comprises contributions from GAPKI,

GIMNI, and PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources & Technology Tbk

, one of the largest listed palm oil companies.

Below is a table of the median responses to the Reuters CPO

survey and GAPKI palm and palm kernel oil export data for

2016/15 (in million tonnes).

Month Output Exports Inventories GAPKI export

data

February 2.300 2.010 3.633 --

January 2.440 2.005 2.025 2.1

2015

December 2.457 2.675 2.425 2.51

November 2.800 2.093 2.950 2.39

October 3.010 2.213 3.025 2.61

September 3.100 2.235 3.050 2.34

August 3.198 1.885 3.392 2.1

July 2.856 1.920 3.200 2.09

June 2.800 2.400 3.046 2.27

May 2.774 2.150 2.540 2.22

April 2.662 2.046 2.602 2.25

March 2.397 1.800 2.667 2.03

February 2.049 1.750 2.425 1.79

January 2.056 1.658 2.413 1.81

(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina Munthe;

Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Thousands of Indonesian taxi drivers staged a violent protest Tuesday against Uber and other ride-hailing apps, blocking major roads in the capital, clashing with rivals from app-based services and setting tyres alight.

The protesters adorned their vehicles with signs saying "stop illegal taxis" and rallied in front of parliament and government buildings, in an upsurge of anger at technology they say is threatening their livelihoods.

As convoys of vehicles brought downtown Jakarta to a standstill, the demonstration turned violent, with protesters jumping up and down on vehicles that refused to take part, while stone-throwing drivers and rivals from app-based services clashed in several areas of the city.

Commuters faced morning rush-hour travel chaos, with even the motorcades of President Joko Widodo and the vice president getting stuck in the gridlock, making both men late for a meeting.

Some people were left bloodied and bruised, with at least one person needing hospital treatment, while police detained 60 drivers from popular motorbike taxi-hailing service Go-Jek.

Anger has been growing among taxi drivers worldwide at the challenge presented by US company Uber, one of the world's most valuable start-ups, and a flurry of other app-based services that typically offer cheaper fares than traditional transport operators.

Herman, a 49-year-old taxi driver involved in the Jakarta protest, who goes by one name, said his earnings had dwindled from around 250,000 rupiah ($20) a day several months ago, to almost nothing due to the increased competition.

"I haven't paid my rent, and I need to feed my three children and my wife," he said.

The demonstration, which also involved motorised rickshaw and bus drivers, came after weeks of rising tensions between traditional public transport operators in the sprawling, traffic-clogged metropolis of 10 million and a flurry of new ride-hailing services.

As well as Uber, Malaysian app Grab and Go-Jek are providing stiff competition for Jakarta's taxi drivers.

Story continues

- 'Unfair competition' -

Traditional taxi, motorbike taxi and other public transport drivers are angry that the new services are offering rides at lower prices, claiming they are not paying taxes, and are operating without official permits.

"Why should thousands of people who didn't pay tax, get a permit, or undergo car checks roam the roads freely while we have had to fulfil those duties?" said Yohannis Rorimpandey, a protester who works for Blue Bird, one of Indonesia's biggest taxi groups.

After rallying outside parliament, where several tyres were set alight, a large group of protesters moved to the communications ministry, demanding that the minister block the apps.

Uber and other app-based services currently operate in a legal grey area in Indonesia, and there is a division in the government about how to handle them.

Indonesian law gives a narrow definition of "public transport", which does not include the ride-hailing apps, and the transport ministry has sought to ban them.

However the communications ministry has refused to block the services, saying that it is committed to supporting the growth of the digital economy.

Jakarta police said that up to 6,000 drivers were involved in Tuesday's protest, and 6,000 officers were out on the streets for the protest.

It was the second anti-app protest by drivers in the space of a week, although the first was on a much smaller scale.

However, there was little sympathy for the protesters among commuters caught in the rush-hour travel chaos in the heaving capital.

"Must it be anarchy? This only scares passengers and makes them prefer app-based taxis," said Twitter user Petricia Yuvita.

And there was no sign that the government was ready to give in to the protesters' demands.

"You can't defy technology, it just needs to be regulated," said Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
ROME (Reuters) - Italy is negotiating with the European Commission to extend the deadline to sell four banks it bailed out late last year, a source at the Economy Ministry said on Wednesday.

The government ploughed 3.6 billion euros into Banca Etruria (PEL.MI), Banca Marche, CariFe and CariChieti in November, using a fund financed by healthy banks to save them from collapse.

Italy promised the European Commission it would then sell the banks, but would like to extend the deadline for the sales to September from April.

"The European Commission initially indicated the end of April, but Italian authorities and the Commission are working to extend that deadline," the Economy Ministry source said.

In the rescue package, four new banks were set up to take on the "good" assets from the troubled lenders, allowing them to continue to operate until a buyer or buyers can be found.

The impaired assets and operations were left in a "bad bank" put in the hands of liquidators.

The state-appointed liquidator of the only listed lender, Banca Etruria, is seeking 300 million euros ($335 million) from its former managers to compensate creditors and others who were damaged by their conduct, according to a letter sent to the managers and seen by Reuters.

Banca Etruria has been in the eye of a political storm because its vice president at the time was the father of one of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's closest allies, Constitutional Reforms Minister Maria Elena Boschi.

Boschi's father, Pier Luigi, is among 35 former managers of the bank who are cited in the letter, including former presidents Giuseppe Fornasari and Lorenzo Rosi.

Rosi denied any wrongdoing. It was not immediately possible to obtain a comment from the others named in the letter or from their lawyers.

The Bank of Italy has already fined Fornasari, Rosi, Boschi and other managers for mismanagement and prosecutors in Arezzo, where the bank is based, have opened an investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing in the bank's collapse.

Story continues

The letter says if the former managers do not pay the 300 million euros within 30 days then the liquidator will take legal action to force them to.

($1 = 0.8944 euros)

(Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, Giuseppe Fonte, and Emilio Parodi writing by Isla Binnie and Gavin Jones, editing by David Evans)
Donald Trump Ted Cruz Jeb Bush

Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for president Wednesday, as first reported by Politico's Mike Allen and Alex Isenstadt.

The New York Times notes that Bush is "the most prominent member of the Republican establishment to support the Texas senator."

Bush dropped out of the GOP presidential race on February 20. Since then, Cruz has run a solid second to billionaire businessman Donald Trump, ahead of Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.

"With his endorsement of Mr. Cruz, Mr. Bush is sending two messages to voters: Reject Mr. Trump, and do not keep Mr. Kasichs candidacy alive," The Times said.

Trump won the Arizona primary on Tuesday, while Cruz picked up all of Utah's delegates by winning more than 50% of the vote.

"Today, I am endorsing Ted Cruz for president," Bush said in a statement. "Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests. Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obama's failed policies. To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that," Bush said.

In a statement, Cruz said he was "truly honored to earn Governor Jeb Bush's support."

"His endorsement today is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, take back the White House, and ensure a freer and more prosperous America for future generations," Cruz said.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: Trump celebrated victory with a batch of 'Trump Steaks' that some are saying were actually from another company





More From Business Insider


* Paraguay trade only deal in LatAm this week so far

* Paraguay ups bond offering to US$600m

* Paraguay book 5 times oversubscribed

* Paraguay price progression 37.5bp

* No other deals expected in primary this week

By Mike Gambale

NEW YORK, March 23 (IFR) - Below is a recap of primary issuance in the LatAm primary market on Wednesday:

Number of deals priced: 1

Total issuance volume: US$600m

REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY

Republic of Paraguay (PARGUY), Ba1/BB/BB, announced a US$500m 10-year senior unsecured notes. The joint bookrunners are Bank of America and Itau. UOP: Financing of infrastructure and capital expenditures and refinancing a portion of its outstanding debt. Settlement: T+5.

IPT: 5.375% area

PRICE GUIDANCE: 5.125% area (+/- 12.5bp)

LAUNCH: US$600m (upsized from US$500m) at 5%

PRICED: US$600m. Cpn 5.00%. Due 4/15/2026. Ip US$99.997. Yld 5.00%. T+312.7bp.

BOOK: Just over US$3bn

LATAM PIPELINE:

Argentina named BBVA, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Santander and UBS as joint bookrunners for a possible bond sale, a source familiar with the matter told IFR on Tuesday.

The timing and currency of the bond offering are not yet certain but the deal could come to market in early April, the source said.

Expectations of a deal have been building since Argentina sealed an agreement with holdout creditors three weeks ago. (Full Story)

Barring any objections from Congress, the republic is likely to try to issue up to US$15bn of bonds in April in an effort to pay litigant investors.

Latin American development bank Corporacion Andina de Fomento has mandated ANZ and Deutsche Bank for a five-year Kangaroo bond offering. CAF last visited the Australian market on September 3 2015 for a A$50m (A$38m) tap of its 4.5% June 5 2025 line, which lifted the issue size to A$325m.

The reopening priced at 101.731 to yield at 4.28%, equivalent to 135bp over asset swaps and 158bp wide of the April 2025 Australian Commonwealth government bond. CAF, rated Aa3/AA-/AA-, issued its inaugural A$275m 4.25% three-year Kangaroo on August 21 2013 before reopening the line six days later for a A$75m tap. The bond matures in six months. On October 30 2013, CAF sold a A$225m 6.25% 10-year bond.

Story continues

Raizen Energy launched a cash tender offer on its 7% due 2017 notes, according to a regulatory statement. The Brazilian company plans to buy up to US$200m of the outstanding US$400m notes. Raizen is seeking to buy the bonds back at 100.25, with a US$30 early bird incentive added. The early deadline is March 4, with the final deadline on March 18. Citigroup, Credit Agricole and JP Morgan are the dealer arrangers.

Colombia has mandated BBVA, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to organize meeting with fixed-income investors in Europe to discuss opportunities in the capital markets this year.

Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas will attend the meetings, which start on March 8 in London. Discussions continue in Germany on March 9, the Netherlands on March 10 and in London again on March 11. Ratings are Baa2/BBB/BBB (stable/negative/stable) by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.

The board of Argentine real estate developer IRSA has approved the issuance of up to US$470m of debt, according to a filing with local regulators.

The Province of Mendoza is looking to raise US$300m in both the local and international markets to refinance debt, according to local reports.

Neuquen province is contemplating a bond issue.

The United Mexican States has filed an up to US$10bn debt shelf with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Proceeds will be used for general purposes, including refinancing and the repurchase of debt.

Argentine E&P company Medanito has wrapped up roadshows ahead of a possible transaction through Itau and UBS. Expected rating is CCC+ by Fitch.

Concesion Pacifico Tres, a toll-road concession in Colombia, wrapped up a roadshow through Goldman Sachs. The company is looking to raise up to US$272m of bonds, according to Fitch, which has rated the senior secured bonds BBB-.

Pacifico Tres is jointly owned by Construcciones El Condor SA, Mario Alberto Huertas Cotes, and Constructora MECO SA. Banca de Inversion is acting as its financial advisor.

Argentina utility Pampa Energia's shareholders have approved a US$500m debt program.

Uruguay plans to raise up to US$1.5bn in bonds this year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), rated A- and A by S&P and Fitch, respectively, has mandated BBVA, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings in Europe.

The investor meetings are expected to take place in the week commencing March 7 2016. A euro-denominated bond transaction may follow subject to market conditions.

(Reporting By Michael Gambale; editing by Shankar Ramakrishnan)
PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwired - Mar 23, 2016) - Lombard International, a global leader in wealth structuring solutions for high net worth investors and with headquarters in Luxembourg and Philadelphia, today announced its unaudited Financial Results for 2015 revealing its highest premium income figures in the company's history.

Europe financial highlights were:

Assets under administration (AuA) at 12.31.2015 is USD 33.2bn*.

AuA growth represents an increase of USD 3.6bn or 12% at constant FX rate vs. 12.31.2014.

New business premium income rose to USD 3.9bn*; an increase of 13% compared to 2014 at constant FX rate.

The best performing markets in terms of premium were Sweden, Italy, Spain, and France.

United States financial highlights were:

Lombard International AuA at 12.31.2015 is USD 5.3bn**; an increase from USD 4.8bn compared to 2014 (+10%).

Lombard International Administration Services AuA at 12.31.2015 is USD 38.4bn**; an increase from USD 37.9bn (+1%).

New business premium income rose to USD 766mm**; an increase of USD 461mm compared to 2014 (+66%).

The strong financial performance underscores Lombard International's continued growth during the year in which the company formally launched its global life insurance-based wealth management business, following the successful integration of Luxembourg-headquartered Lombard International Assurance S.A. with US-headquartered Philadelphia Financial Inc. in September 2015.

John Hillman, Executive Chairman of Lombard International, has welcomed the positive performance and commented: "In 2015, Lombard International put a significant stake in the ground as a leader in providing best-in-class, holistic wealth planning solutions for high-net-worth individuals and institutions across the globe. We have strengthened our product capabilities, upgraded systems, appointed several senior leaders in new and existing channels, improved the efficiency of our combined operations and moved into new territories."

Story continues

Hillman added: "It is very rewarding to see these strong results, which will allow us to continue to better service our partners and clients as well as seize opportunities for growth in the year ahead. We are already pushing forward with our expansion strategy into Asia and have launched an innovative dual compliant solution to meet the needs of our international clients."

*Provisional results as at December 31, 2015

EUR/ USD at 1.088.

Combined figures for Lombard International Assurance S.A. and Lombard International PCC Ltd.

**Unaudited

About Lombard International

Lombard International is a leading global life insurance-based wealth solutions provider, combining the strength and expertise of two specialist life insurance companies with over 20 years' experience and market leadership in their respective fields. Lombard International provides wealth structuring solutions using private placement life insurance and annuity products to high net worth individuals, their families and institutions around the globe.

The global group, branded as Lombard International, launched to market in September 2015. With head offices located in Luxembourg and Philadelphia, a combined global presence enables Lombard International to serve clients' complex needs on a global basis while being sensitive to local cultures and attitudes. The firm is an industry leader in providing multi-jurisdictional wealth planning solutions through its partner networks across the United States, Europe and Latin America, issuing life insurance policies and annuities from the United States, Luxembourg, Guernsey and Bermuda.

Global assets under administration are in excess of USD 75 billion with a global staff number of over 500, including more than 60 technical experts specializing in 20+ jurisdictions.

Funds managed by Blackstone own Lombard International. Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms with assets under management of over USD 330 billion.

For further information about Lombard International visit: www.lombardinternational.com
* 1MDB missed deadline to submit documents on overseas funds -c.bank

* C.bank to make recommendation to Malaysia's attorney-general

* 1MDB could face fine or other penalties under finance rules-Zeti (Adds 1MDB comments)

By Joseph Sipalan

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia's central bank said on Wednesday it would pursue administrative action against 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), after the troubled state fund missed a deadline to submit documents on its finances abroad.

1MDB, whose advisory board is chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, has been the subject of investigations over the last year by authorities in Malaysia, Switzerland and the United States following accusations of financial mismanagement and graft. 1MDB has denied the allegations.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the central bank had requested documents from 1MDB after it failed to comply with a directive, issued in August 2015, to repatriate a total of $1.8 billion from its accounts overseas.

But 1MDB informed the central bank in October that the finances had been earmarked for a restructuring programme and to repay its foreign debts, and that they could not be repatriated, Zeti said.

The governor was speaking to reporters at a briefing for the release of the central bank's annual report.

She said the central bank had been willing to accept 1MDB's response if supporting documents could be furnished, but no such proof had been received so far.

1MDB did not provide reasons why they had not submitted the documents, Zeti said.

"As it is being assessed that they (1MDB) have not fully complied with the bank's direction, the bank is pursuing appropriate administrative action as allowed by the laws under which the bank operates," Zeti told reporters.

In a statement, 1MDB said it had "not yet received any official correspondence or confirmation from BNM" on the central bank's push for administrative action, adding that the firm had in fact provided documentary evidence "where available".

Story continues

"1MDB is committed to continue cooperation with BNM and will provide any further information that may be required by BNM to the extent that 1MDB has in its possession or is possible under the law," the company said.

Zeti said recommendations for action were being prepared and would be submitted to the Attorney-General's office before her tenure as central bank governor ends in April.

If the recommendations were accepted, 1MDB could face a fine or any other penalty available under Malaysia's financial regulations, Zeti said.

"The main reason why we want to do this, is we want to uphold the integrity and functions of our financial system. All companies, regardless of who the shareholders are, have to comply with these regulations," she said.

The central bank said in October it had issued the directive and revoked three of 1MDB's overseas investment permissions, citing breaches of the Exchange Control Act 1953.

The central bank had also recommended criminal prosecution to be initiated under the act.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, however, said he had reviewed the report of the central bank's probe and decided no offence had been committed.

Earlier on Wednesday, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad filed a suit against Prime Minister Najib, alleging corruption and abuse of power.

Najib has been buffeted by allegations of graft and mismanagement at 1MDB and the revelation that nearly $700 million was deposited in his bank account.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing, maintains that he did not use the funds for personal gain and was cleared this year of any criminal offence. (Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Nick Macfie)
Justin Solomon | CNBC. Forget Cuban cigars and rum. Boosting the island's emerging tech sector is the real opportunity for growth, say two Cuba experts.

Much of the attention on Cuba following U.S. President Barack Obama 's historic decision on December 17, 2014 to normalize U.S. ties with the island has focused on Cuba's rich past  its crumbling colonial-era architecture, 1950s American cars and world-famous rum and cigars.

Instead, Cuba and U.S. businesses should be looking at the future, specifically, the technological future, as they examine possible investment opportunities and partnerships.





Cuba's "knowledge economy"  a product of its wealth of skilled university graduates whose technical skills and abilities have been sharpened by material shortages and limitations  provides fertile ground to grow U.S.-Cuban cooperation and enterprise. For example, key opportunities exist not only in the island's still underdeveloped information and communication technology sector but also in its more established and advanced bio-tech industry.

Cuba's outdated technical infrastructure  including limited Internet access and connectivity and lagging cell phone and computer usage  offers a golden opportunity to "leapfrog" rapidly into a new generation of technology.

With a combination of the right know-how, high-tech equipment and financing, Cuba's languishing level of digital and telecom development can rapidly transform itself into the vanguard of the 21st century  vaulting from its current and nearly obsolete 2G technology to 5G and version 6 of the Internet protocol (IPv6), and beyond.





The United States, as partner rather than foe, is ideally situated to provide Cuba with technical assistance, technology transfers, and financial impetus to propel the island's population and economy from laggards to leaders.

Ordinary Cubans are ready to make the leap.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" goes the old saying. In Cuban Spanish, it's known as "resolviendo" or "getting by."

Home-grown tech entrepreneurs have sprouted within Cuba's self-employed private sector, mending mobile phones, installing apps and compiling and distributing the off-line "paquetes," or recorded TV soaps, films, apps and other offerings that provide ordinary Cubans with a window into today's online world.

Story continues

Among the Cuban diaspora too, young "techies" and entrepreneurs are creating websites and services that aim to be sustainable businesses which can help break down the human, technological and information barriers still separating the population on the island from the rest of the world. The Revolico classified sales site and the Fonoma mobile top-up site are some examples of these.

Another rewarding relationship could be forged between Cuba's healthcare services and biotechnology sector, which punch way above their weight internationally, and deep-pocketed U.S. healthcare and pharmaceutical corporations that have years of tried-and-tested experience in conducting clinical trials and bringing promising new products to market.

The performance of Cuban medics in Haiti's 2010 post-earthquake cholera outbreak and in West Africa's 2014 Ebola epidemic has given global branding to the island's healthcare and pharmaceutical export potential. Yet, better quality control, registration and patenting, as well as financing are needed, all of which the U.S. could provide with abundance.





In the absence of a full lifting of the embargo, which remains in the hands of a fractious U.S. Congress, U.S. regulations modified to reflect President Obama's new Cuba policy already make it easier for U.S. companies to provide commercial telecom and Internet services to the island. This includes permission for the export of personal computers, mobile phones, televisions, memory and recording devices, and to set up joint ventures with Cuban entities.

Major U.S. tech companies like Google and a host of smaller players are already offering to help Cuba unlock its "knowledge economy". Cuba's government should not allow backward-looking suspicion and mistrust to block this opportunity to receive a growth-boosting injection of high-tech equipment and know-how from the country that has produced Google, Apple and Uber.

In stretching out a hand of friendship to Havana, President Obama has opened a window into a future of communication and cooperation not only between the governments of both nations but between their peoples too. Cuba's close proximity to the United States, its existing knowledge economy, a skilled and prosperous diaspora, and the island's budding entrepreneurial class are factors that can facilitate such cooperation.





Government officials, entrepreneurs, and non-profits can work together to create mutually beneficial "knowledge economies," drawing on the best of the creative capacity of the brightest and most talented on both sides of the Florida Straits. A concerted effort to jump start partnerships and investments in Cuba's technology and knowledge sectors is not only logical, but can serve as a focal point to help bring U.S.-Cuba relations squarely into the 21st century. Such an effort can benefit both nations, the world, and, most importantly, ordinary Cubans and Americans.

It is most certainly worth a try.





Commentary by Carlos Gutierrez Jr. and Faquiry Diaz Cala. Gutierrez is a private investor and government affairs attorney at Clark Hill PLC where he co-chairs the firm's Cuba practice. He is also a former Congressional aide and international trade and development professional. Faquiry Diaz Cala is the president and CEO of Tres Mares Group Inc. an investment company, and serves on the board of several firms and nonprofits. He was born in Cuba and is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Follow them on Twitter @cmgutierrezjr and @FaquiryDiaz.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.







More From CNBC


ted cruz

The New York Police Department isn't happy with Sen. Ted Cruz's plan to create police task forces to patrol Muslim-heavy US neighborhoods.

In a tweet Tuesday evening, New York Police Department spokesman J. Peter Donald slammed the Republican presidential candidate for suggesting that law enforcement officials specifically patrol Muslim-heavy neighborhoods.

"Hey, @tedcruz are our nearly 1k Muslim officers a 'threat' too? It's hard to imagine a more incendiary, foolish statement," Donald wrote.

Donald's comments came hours after the NYPD commissioner himself went after Cruz.

Standing alongside New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, in a press conference on Tuesday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton slammed Cruz. Bratton similarly pointed out that many of the Muslim officers serving in the NYPD were also military servicemembers

"The statements he made today is why hes not going to become president of this country," Bratton said. "We dont need a president that doesnt respect the values that form the foundation of this country."

In an interview on CNN on Tuesday, Cruz said he would model his plan after the controversial, lawsuit-plagued NYPD program that used undercover officers to monitor neighborhoods and businesses where Muslim New Yorkers congregated. Cruz also slammed de Blasio for ending the program, which the mayor faulted for not leading to a single arrest.

NOW WATCH: Watch the Secret Service jump to protect Trump after a protester tries to climb on stage





More From Business Insider


Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, pictured on March 23, 2016, is fighting for her political survival (AFP Photo/Andressa Anholete) (AFP/File)

Buenos Aires (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he hopes Brazil will resolve a paralyzing political crisis that has his counterpart Dilma Rousseff fighting for her political survival.

Obama said he had briefly discussed the situation in Latin America's largest country with President Mauricio Macri of Argentina, where the US leader arrived Wednesday on the second stop of a regional tour that started in Cuba.

"We hope Brazil resolves its current political crisis in an effective way," Obama told a press conference.

"The good news... (is that) their democracy is sufficiently mature, their system of laws and structures I think are strong enough that this will get resolved in a way that allows Brazil ultimately to prosper and be the significant world leader that it is," he added.

"We need a strong and effective Brazil for our own economies and for world peace."

The political uncertainty gripping Brazil has exacerbated a deep recession that is acting as a drag on the entire region's economies, including in Argentina, which counts its giant neighbor as its largest trade partner.

Macri for his part said he was confident that Brazil "will emerge stronger from this crisis."

Rousseff is battling mass protests calling for her ouster, the fallout of an explosive corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras, impeachment proceedings in Congress and Brazil's worst recession in at least 25 years.
The wrangling between the FBI and Apple over an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters in December highlights an area of confusion for many smartphone users. It's hard to know what personal data resides only on our smartphones, and what is also stored in the cloud.

To recap: In February, a court ordered Apple to help FBI investigators hack into the killers phone. The company refused to write the software necessary to comply. And since then, personal data safety has been pitted against national security in a debate pulling in politicians, mobile security experts, and privacy advocates.

On March 21, the case took a new twist, when the government said it may have found a way to defeat the iPhones security without Apples help.

You might think that in our highly connected age all personal data on a smartphone would also be stored on cloud computers. Dont cellular companies and websites retain records of phone calls, emails exchanges, bank transactions, and other tasks performed with mobile devices? But if thats true, why would the FBI need to hack into the handset?

The subject doesnt matter just for national security. Any time you use a mapping program, send a text message, or upload a photograph to a social account, some personal data is generated. Much of that data does migrate to big computers owned by corporations such as Google and Facebook. But not all of it.

Understanding the details can help you predict what companies may have access to your personal data. It can also help you understand what information can be recovered if a phone is lostand what data might be vulnerable to hackers.

Heres a brief explanation of where your phone data is stored, broken out by type of file.

Your Photos

Photographs taken by an smartphone reside solely on the phone until they are shared or backed up. Many iPhone users have their pictures saved automatically to iCloud, and both Android and iPhone users can have photos automatically backed up to other services such as Google Photos. (When personal photos were stolen from Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities in 2014, the criminals did it by accessing their iCloud accounts.)

Story continues

A user can also manually save photos to a cloud service or computer, or share them through Facebook, email, or another forum.

The phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, the San Bernardino killer, hadnt been backed up for more than a month, so its possible that the phone retains pictures no one else has seen. For the rest of us, avoiding backups means that photos remain privatebut vulnerable to loss if the phone is stolen or the data accidentally erased.

Standard Text Messages

Well get to Apples iMessages in a moment. But ordinary text messages transmitted from one phone to another have to pass through cell providers computer systems. Carriers retain metadata, or information on when text messages were sent, and to whom. That data is used for billing. However, most carriers only store the body of texts for as long as it takes to transmit themonce the message hits its target, the data is deleted. Verizon is an exception, though it doesnt hang onto the data for long. Text message content is generally retained for a week or less, Richard Young, a spokesman for the carrier's legislative, regulatory and policy office, says. (The company wouldnt say why it retains the data.)

iMessages

Apples own messaging app, iMessage, works differently from conventional texting services.

Carriers have no metadata on iMessages, says Dan Guido, a security researcher and Hacker in Residence at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. It all gets sent to and from Apple.

All the cell network knows is that its transmitting an encrypted message to Apples serversand if the files are sent through Wi-Fi, they bypass the cellular carriers.

Any messages that have been backed up can be recoveredand Apple shares such information with law enforcement when provided with the right legal documentation. (Yes, Apple can decrypt iMessages stored on iCloud.) That only applies to iMessages that have been backed up by the user, either manually or through automatic backups. The company doesnt retain the messages as they are routed from one device to another.

Where You've Been

When it comes to location data, cellphones are natural born snitches. Law enforcement has long been able to ask carriers to find a customer in real time. If theres an ongoing kidnapping investigation, for instance, a cellular provider can often use multiple towers to triangulate a phones position; this method can also be used to locate phones when they make 911 calls.

Additionally, cellular companies can peer into their records to see where phones were located when making ordinary calls a year or more in the past. However, those records are highly imprecisephone calls arent always routed through the nearest tower, and towers can have a range of dozens of miles. If you remember how to calculate the area of a circle, youll see why records may only indicate where a phone was within several square miles, or even hundreds of square miles, when it made a call.

Smartphones also have GPS chips, and mobile app developers may be able trace everywhere a phones been. Google Maps, for example has an optional feature called Timeline that stores detailed location data for years, if its turned on in a phones settings. Precise doesn't begin to describe this datayou can look years into the past to see where you walked or drove on a particular day. Law enforcement can request these detailed Timeline histories from Google with a warrant.

Some geographic data is only stored locally, on the handset. The iPhone has a feature called Frequent Locations, which generates a list of specific spots you've visited, as well when and how often.

We don't do tracking of our users devices, so we don't have location logs in the way that, say, a cellular company would with their cell tower pings, says a senior Apple engineer, speaking on condition that he not be named. Frequent Locations, he confirms, is done locally on the device, as opposed to by Apple collecting everyone's location.

Apple says the feature is intended to offer services such as predictive traffic routing. The phone can learn your commuting schedule, and offer up what Apple hopes are useful notifications, such as how long your drive home may be, based on current traffic conditions. Android phones have the same capability.

Frequent Locations can be handy, but once you look at the records, the level of detail can be unsettling. If youve been to your home 58 times in the past two months, it will tell you that, along with what time you arrived and left each day. (To find this data on an iPhone go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations. Tap on the name of a town in the list of places youve been to see the details.)

The feature can be turned off. However, if it was running on Farooks iPhone, it could contain a record of locations the killer frequented in the days and weeks before the shooting.

Email, Contacts, and More

Emails are stored in the cloudif you use Gmail, for instance, the content of your correspondence resides on Google servers. It can be accessed by law enforcement armed with the right warrants. Contact lists are stored online only if theyve been backed up by the user.

Now, this isnt a complete list of the data generated by smartphones. There are browser histories, records of items purchased on Amazon, movies watched, and notes or videos created by mobile apps. Much of this data is stored somewhere in the cloud, and if investigators knew about every online service used by a smartphone owner, they could probably request subpoenas and uncover most of it. But no amount of such sleuthing would rule out the possibility that something important remained on the phone, and only on the phone.

That sort of uncertainty can be haunting, says one former prosecutor who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity. Imagine if there was another terrorist attack, and it came out that there was something on a phone that might have helped stop it, he says. You don't always know what you're looking for. You just want all of it.

Thats why theres a genuine conflict at the heart of this national debate.

If companies such as Apple can be compelled to write software that undercuts security protections, security experts say, personal and financial data will be gradually become more accessible to hackers based both in the United States and abroad. And if tech companies cant be compelled to do that, some clues in criminal investigations, even ones involved horrendous crimes, may never be discovered.

However the FBI fares in its new attempt to hack into Farook's iPhone, those tradeoffs will persist.





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Landlords need to offer flexible leases.

Gone are the days when suit-clad bank workers dominated central business districts (CBDs) in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia. Now, casually-dressed millennials have become the key drivers of space demand, which means that landlords have to re-think their strategies in order to retain tenants.

Sam Harvey-Jones, Managing Director of Occupier ServicesAsia at Colliers, noted that increasing number of tech firms, many of which are younger companies or startups, are taking up CBD space across the region.

Tech companies are looking to recruit talented younger staff who have very different mindsets. Millennials prefer working environments that are fun, creative and unstructured  and the market is changing to give them what they want, he said.

As demand from tech-sector tenants usually grows much faster than those from mature industries, landlords are moving to provide more flexible workspaces and leasing arrangements that can accommodate hard-to-predict changes in employee headcount.

In Singapore, young tech firms prefer to locate in core CBD locations to create a point of difference and establish their brands.

Differentiation is a big driver for tech firms in Singapore. More established firms generally feel that they have established a strong enough brand to attract and retain staff in a more decentralised location, said Anthea To, Senior Associate Director of Research and Advisory, Colliers International.





More From Singapore Business Review


Yum! Brands, the owner of fast food chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, is exploring a sale of nearly 20% of its massive Chinese business, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The company is in talks on a sale of 19.9% of its soon-to-come Chinese subsidiary Yum China to private equity firms, according to the report. The deal could value the entire Chinese operations at $10 billion.

The company said in October that it plans to spin off its Chinese business. According to the report, talks are in early stages and may not come to fruition, but the move is intended to help ease the transition for the Chinese business.

Despite KFC being the largest restaurant chain in China, with more than 4,500 locations, the country's economic slowdown and a number of scandals have hurt sales and may have led to the decision for the split.

In response to the news, Yum Brands stock jumped and is trading up around 2.5% after being down for most of Wednesday.

UPDATE: A spokesperson from Yum Brands provided Business Insider with the following comment regarding the Journal's report:

"We continue to make good progress since we announced the transaction separating YUM and YUM China into two powerful, independent, focused growth companies. We will provide updates on the transaction at appropriate times and we wont comment on rumors or speculation."

Screen Shot 2016 03 23 at 12.00.28 PM

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Cheetahs adapt poorly to living in protected areas such as wildlife reserves as they range over huge distances, struggle with a shortage of prey and their young are easy targets for eagles, lions and hyenas (AFP Photo/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA)

Otjiwarongo (Namibia) (AFP) - Laurie Marker has no doubts about the future of the big cat with the black spots. "Cheetahs are vulnerable, and their survival is in our hands."

The 62-year-old American living in Namibia since 1991 has devoted her life to saving the fastest land animal on earth, with a top speed of 70 miles (110 kilometres) per hour.

Marker has been compared to Jane Goodall and the late Dian Fossey -- defenders of chimpanzees and gorillas -- who were the first generation of iconic female pioneers of wildlife conservation in Africa.

When Marker first visited Namibia on the southwest coast of Africa nearly 40 years ago, she was shocked to discover farmers were mercilessly killing the graceful sprinter of the plains.

A century ago, there were 100,000 cheetahs across Africa, the Middle East and into India.

Now, less then 12,000 remain in the wild, all in Africa, except for a tiny population of less than 100 in Iran.

The rapid decline of the cheetahs could have been sharper without Marker's high-profile tireless efforts.

A formidable campaigner and acknowledged world expert, she founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990.

She saw her first when she was 20 and went to work at a wildlife park in the US state of Oregon.

"It was one of the few places in the world that had cheetahs. They had come from Namibia and they fascinated me," she recalled.

"I wanted to know everything about them, but the more questions I asked people would say 'Hmm, we don't know much about them, if you find out something, let us know'."

- 'Killed like flies' -

Marker raised an orphaned female cheetah cub named Khayam in Oregon and, in 1977, took Khayam to Namibia, then known as South-West Africa.

She planned to see if the young cheetah could be taught to hunt for prey as part of research into whether captive cheetahs could be re-introduced into the wild.

But soon after her arrival, she learnt about a more immediate emergency -- farmers were poisoning, trapping and shooting huge numbers of cheetahs.

Story continues

"What I found out is that farmers were killing cheetahs like flies," she said, estimating that 800 or 900 were killed each year at the time.

"Farmers would tell me 'We hate cheetahs. What are you doing with these animals?' They told me to take them all and go away!"

Namibian farmers continue to kill cheetahs because they threaten valuable livestock, while poachers steal cheetah cubs from their mothers to sell as pets to wealthy clients, particularly in the Middle East.

The threat has driven Marker on a decades-long effort to halt poaching and persuade farmers that a balance can be struck between raising livestock and protecting wildlife.

She has led academic study into the cheetah since the 1970s, and completed a zoology doctorate at Cambridge University in 2002.

Even now she spends much of the time travelling the world, giving lectures and raising funds for her cheetah conservation work.

"The thing about Laurie is she doesn't know the meaning of the word 'no'," said Anne Schmidt-Kuntzel, a geneticist who works for CCF.

- Letting dogs guard cattle -

Marker says she has slowly managed to change attitudes through a mixture of knowledge, charm and determination.

"At first I was kind of a problem, (but) I started bringing different solutions like dogs that guard livestock, good herd management, and training programmes," she said.

"The more I told them about cheetahs, the more they were listening.

"I'd tell them they're lucky to have cheetahs in their backyard, and I would acknowledge it can be a problem due to human-wildlife conflict."

The most effective tactic for protecting livestock has proven to be introducing large Anatolian shepherd dogs that live permanently with the cattle.

Wild predators like cheetahs are reluctant to take on the fierce canines, and so they return to hunting antelope in the bush.

But Marker knows that the cheetahs are still under severe threat and will always be a difficult animal to save because they struggle even in the biggest reserves.

A cheetah lacks the power of a lion, hyena or leopard and, where animal densities are higher and competition is tough, cub mortality can be as high as 90 percent.

"Namibia and the farming community here has become a model," said Marker.

"Now young farmers want training about how to live with cheetahs.

"Most of our wildlife is outside protected areas, so it is the farmers who are the stewards.

"I don't just say 'Love cheetahs'. I say 'Let's learn to live together'."
Patti Domm | CNBC. Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC still sees the U.S. as an important source of investment opportunities.

GIC expects below-average returns from U.S. stocks over the next five to 10 years, but the Singapore sovereign wealth fund still sees the U.S. as an important source of investment opportunities.

"The greatest strength of the U.S. is the private sector. If that continues to be the case, we are not concerned," said Lim Chow Kiat, GIC Private Ltd's chief investment officer.

"We find a lot of investment opportunities in the U.S.," he said. "A lot of exciting things are coming out of the private sector on a daily basis."

Lim said U.S. equity returns in real terms have averaged 6 to 7 percent, and most likely for the next five to 10 years that will be 2 to 3 percent. The S&P 500 is basically flat on the year, after suffering a steep decline in January and February before reversing it in the last several weeks. The index was down 0.7 percent for 2015.



"The central banks in the last few years have brought future returns forward," he said.

"The problem is once that's done, what is there to look forward to  very little," he said. "They bought time for their economies to improve."

The economies of developed regions like Europe and Japan are still growing sluggishly.

"We are very much in the camp of saying you need supply-side reform," he said. That could mean tax reform, pension reform and labor reform.

"Around the world, we only see China, Mexico and India trying to do something to make a difference" for their countries, he said. "Just everyone else is really relying on their central banks."

Lim was speaking to a delegation from the Financial Women's Association of New York, visiting Singapore last week as part of its annual international trip.

GIC holds its long-term portfolio in six asset classes, which it views as funding sources, he said.

Sixty to 65 percent of its portfolio is in the equity asset class in developed markets, emerging markets and in private equity investments. GIC also invests in fixed income and real estate.

"The U.S. is 45 percent of our exposure  the biggest investment destination for us," he said. Bridgewater Associates has been an investment partner with GIC for more than 20 years, he noted.

Story continues

GIC looks for long-term opportunities in the $1 billion to $3 billion range.

Lim said GIC owns over 1,000 U.S. listed companies in small positions.

Lim said GIC is constantly looking at new technologies, such as cloud computing, block chain, electronic cars, self-driving vehicles, machine learning and renewable energy. He said the U.S. is the largest source of innovation, but he is also looking at opportunities in Shenzhen, similar in spirit to Silicon Valley.

 Disclosure: CNBC's Patti Domm is a member of the board of the FWA.





More From CNBC


Carl Court | Getty Images. European markets traded higher on Wednesday following the terrorist attacks in Belgium claimed to have been carried out by the Islamic State, with major indices shrugging off the terrible news.

European markets closed mixed on Wednesday as investors digested a renewed decline in commodity stocks, and major indices attempted to recover after the terrorist attacks that took place in Belgium on Tuesday.

The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) finished off 0.1 percent down provisionally, with sectors and major bourses ending mixed. London's FTSE 100 ended 0.1 percent up, despite the sharp slip in U.K. mining stocks. France's CAC came off session lows to close 0.2 percent down, while Germany's DAX finished 0.3 percent up.

Europe's markets showed signs of recovery on Wednesday, following a mixed trading session on Tuesday. Stocks were shaken up on Tuesday after Belgium was struck by a series of attacks in which at least 31 people were killed and many more injured. Global terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for the supposed suicide bombings that took place in the capital city's airport and a metro station.

"Equity markets are displaying remarkable resilience, already in positive territory versus a breakeven opening call. There is work to do before engineering breakouts from current ranges, but there looks to be an underlying appetite for recent highs to be freshly tested," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said in a Wednesday note.

The travel and leisure sector, which was hit hard yesterday, saw several stocks rebound on Wednesday, with the airlines such as Easyjet (London Stock Exchange: EZJ-GB), IAG (London Stock Exchange: IAG-GB) and Ryanair (Irish Stock Exchange: RY4C-IE) closing in positive territory. Travel and tourism chains also recovered, with Thomas Cook (London Stock Exchange: TCG-GB) jumping 2.9 percent, and TUI (London Stock Exchange: TUI-GB) ending over 1 percent higher. The retail sector, which was also under pressure on Tuesday finished higher as a sector overall.

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower at Europe's close with energy prices weighing on sentiment, while Asia finished mostly lower .



Story continues

Oil prices retreated on Wednesday as concerns over a global supply glut continued to weigh on sentiment. The Energy Information Administration announced in afternoon trade that U.S. crude stocks rose by 9.4 million barrels in the last week, reaching a total of 532.5 million barrels.

U.S. crude fell even further following the news, off more than 3 percent, to trade at $40.14, while its international counterpart, Brent crude also felt the pressure, trading over 2.5 percent lower to stand around $40.74. Oil stocks tumbled, with Tullow Oil (London Stock Exchange: TLW-GB) off 5.7 percent, and Sbm Offshore (Euronext Amsterdam: SBMO-NL), BP (London Stock Exchange: BP.-GB) and Shell (London Stock Exchange: RDSA-GB) all seeing declines of 1 percent or more.

Basic resources were Europe's worst performing sector, off 2.1 percent as several metal prices saw sharp falls in the session. Anglo American (London Stock Exchange: AAL-GB) slipped over 5 percent, while Glencore (London Stock Exchange: GLEN-GB) and BHP Billiton (London Stock Exchange: BLT-GB) closed down 4 and 2.6 percent respectively.

Sharp declines in gold and silver prices weighed on precious metal firms Fresnillo (London Stock Exchange: FRES-GB) and Randgold Resources (London Stock Exchange: RRS-GB), which both closed more than 2 percent down.

In corporate news, Credit Suisse (Swiss Exchange: CSGN-CH) said it was accelerating its cost-cutting program which includes axing 2,000 jobs in its global markets business. The bank announced that it is increasing its 2018 cost reduction target from 3.5 billion Swiss francs ($3.59 billion) gross savings to "a least" 4.3 billion Swiss francs. Shares finished up 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, French luxury fashion brand Hermes (Euronext Paris: RMS-FR) reported a 13 percent rise in net profit for 2015 and hiked its dividend. The company added that sales growth in 2016 could be below its medium-term target of 8 percent at constant exchange rates "due to the economic, geopolitical and monetary uncertainties around the world". Shares jumped 2.8 percent.



Elsewhere, Kingfisher (London Stock Exchange: KGF-GB), the owner of B&Q in the U.K., jumped almost 6 percent after it said full-year adjusted pretax profit rose 0.3 percent, beating market expectations.



Gambling firm William Hill (London Stock Exchange: WMH-GB) tanked 11 percent after it warned it would see lower full-year operating profit for 2016.

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Ted Cruz

On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz elaborated on his call to "patrol and secure" Muslim neighborhoods in the United States, saying on CNN he would use the New York Police Department's discontinued surveillance program as a model.

That program, implemented after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, used undercover officers to infiltrate and surveil heavily Muslim neighborhoods.

Cruz called the program "successful," praised former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for implementing it, and criticized current Mayor Bill de Blasio of having "succumbed to unfounded criticisms" when he abolished the program in 2014.

But the NYPD program was not a success. In a 2012 deposition, an assistant chief of the NYPD admitted that over six years the program had not led to a single terrorism lead or investigation, let alone any convictions.

A 2013 cover story in New York Magazine quoted NYPD Lieutenant Hector Berdecia, a former supervisor in the program. He damningly described how it involved paying undercover officers to sit in cafes frequented by Muslims, drinking tea and eating sweets at taxpayer expense, generating no useful intelligence to protect New Yorkers or fuel prosecutions.

As Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman wrote for New York, the restaurants NYPD officers chose to surveil were not necessarily terror trouble spots:

One frequent destination was the Kabul Kabob House in Flushing, Queens, which was owned by a soft-spoken blonde Persian woman named Shorah Dorudi, who fled Iran after the revolution in 1979. When Berdecia asked officers whether they suspected a threat that should be reported up the chain of command, he was told they were conducting routine follow-up visits. But a look at the reports showed nothing worth following up. Thats when Berdecia realized that, in the hunt for terrorists, his detectives gravitated toward the best food.

Story continues

There were some bona-fide terror threats in New York during the program's existence. In 2009, for instance, the National Security Agency sought the NYPD's help in investigating Najibullah Zazi, who later pleaded guilty to involvement in a plot to bomb New York's subways.

But the NYPD's surveillance efforts produced no useful information to offer the NSA, even though surveillance officers "had canvassed Zazis neighborhood daily, and had even visited the travel agent where he bought his tickets between New York and Colorado," wrote Apuzzo and Goldman.

Oh, and the city ended up having to pay $1.6 million to settle lawsuits over the surveillance program.

Some security policy issues involve genuine trade-offs between public safety and civil liberties. But New York's defunct Muslim surveillance program was not one of them. It didn't work, and there's no reason to take it national.

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HOLLYWOOD, FL--(Marketwired - Mar 23, 2016) - Telco Cuba, Inc. (OTC PINK: QBAN) Telco Cuba, a publicly traded telecom provider announces that it is in the final stages of launching its mobile cell phone service in the United States. Company anticipates launch of its mobile telephone service on March 31st 2016. Consumers can find more information at http://www.telcocuba.com

Telco Cuba offers subscribers value priced direct dialing and text messaging to Cuba from their Telco Cuba mobile telephone. Subscribers are also able to roam with their Telco Cuba mobile telephones in Cuba. "We are bringing the convenience and technology of the 21st century to an under-served market," stated William J. Sanchez, CEO. As part of the launch, the Company will include prepaid voice and data mobile phone service plans. Initially, Telco Cuba will focus on selling mid-range economical phones including Samsung Galaxy 4, Samsung Galaxy 5, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5 Global phones.

"Launching our service is a first step in solidifying our position as a primary telecommunications provider to the niche Cuban American demographic. Telco Cuba's products are tailored and targeted to the robust and highly 'mobile' Cuban American population", stated William J Sanchez. "Telco Cuba's philosophy is to serve the Cuban and Cuban-American demographic in a tone and language they will be receptive and accustomed to," added William J Sanchez, CEO.

Improved bilateral relations between the US and Cuba has provided a window of opportunity for US based businesses. The embargo "will end" as president Obama said during a press conference this week in Havana. Recent announcements from Sprint, Starwood, Carnival Cruise, PayPal, relating to Cuba are very encouraging. These early movers have validated new opportunities that are opening up in the region. Telco Cuba is poised to take advantage of the opportunities related to telecommunications in the US and in Cuba. "Telco Cuba is positioning itself to become a major telecommunications player in the South Eastern United States, in preparation for the opportunities that Cuba has in store," stated William J Sanchez, CEO of Telco Cuba, Inc.

Telco Cuba's mobile telephone service includes all features mobile telephone subscribers are accustomed to, including bilingual customer service, prepaid options, value priced calling to Cuba, and value priced roaming in Cuba. Digital home service will be available to subscribers as both an add on or a stand alone product. Telco Cuba offers three data plans, 1GB, 3GB and 5GB. All plans include unlimited calling and text messaging. Regional international calling packages will be offered as an add on to all plans.

About TelcoCuba, Inc.: Telco Cuba is a cellular service provider that is targeting the Cuban American demographic in the United States and intends to offer its services in Cuba when legally able to. The vast majority of Telco Cuba's potential subscribers are Cuban expatriates living in The United States. All of Telco Cuba's calling plans will allow international calls at similar or lower rates than competitive landline rates. Additionally, as an MVNO of Sprint, Telco Cuba will offer direct text messaging and calling to the Country of Cuba. In Addition to its cell phone services, Telco Cuba offers digital home phone service and will be bundling its digital and cell phone service in Q1.

Safe Harbor Notice

Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking statements" (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Telco Cuba cautions that statements made in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and makes no guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time statements are made. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates and assumptions made by management. Actual results could differ materially from current projections or implied results. Telco Cuba undertakes no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this news release. Additional details of the Company's business can be found in its public disclosures as a reporting issuer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") EDGAR database.

This press release is issued on behalf of the Board of Directors by William J Sanchez, CEO and Chairman of the board.

Disclaimer Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, on Telco Cuba's ("QBAN") website and other oral and written statements made by QBAN from time to time are "forward-looking statements", as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding beliefs, objectives, intentions, goals, plans, strategies, financial projections, any other statements regarding the future and any statements that are not purely historical. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and QBAN expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date thereof. All forward-looking statements, whether written or oral and whether made by or on behalf of the QBAN, are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. QBAN's expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed by QBAN to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections will result or be achieved or accomplished. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond QBAN's control affect QBAN's operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of QBAN to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For QBAN, particular uncertainties arise, amongst others but not limited to and not in any order of importance, from (i) focusing on and allocating more resources on certain target markets (ii) the possibility to raise further equity and debt to fund future growth, (iii) changes in demand for QBAN's products, (iv) performance issues with key suppliers, affiliates, agents, advisors or subcontractors, (v) changes in government changes in laws or regulations to which QBAN or its suppliers are subject, including environmental laws and regulations relating to water or water sources and (vi) the inability to complete announced acquisitions, difficulty or unanticipated expenses in connection with integrating acquired businesses and the risk that anticipated synergies and opportunities as a result of acquisitions will not be realized or the risk that acquisitions do not perform as planned, including, for example, the risk that acquired businesses will not achieve revenue projections.

THIS NEWS RELEASE HAS BEEN PREPARED BY QBAN's MANAGEMENT, WHO TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS. NO SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. THIS NEWS RELEASE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF THESE SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR TO REGISTRATION OR QUALIFICATION UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH JURISDICTION.
LUXEMBOURG--(Marketwired - Mar 23, 2016) - Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX) announced today that its annual general meeting of shareholders will be held on Wednesday May 4, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. (Luxembourg time) at the Company's registered office, located at 29, avenue de la Porte-Neuve, L-2227, Luxembourg. Each holder of Ternium ADSs as of April 4, 2016, shall be entitled to instruct The Bank of New York Mellon, the depositary bank, as to the exercise of the voting rights pertaining to the shares represented by such holder's ADSs.

The Notice and Agenda for the meeting, the Shareholder Meeting Brochure and Proxy Statement, the Company's 2015 annual report (which includes the Company's consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 and for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, and the Company's annual accounts as of December 31, 2015, together with the board of directors' and the independent auditors' reports thereon) and other related documents, will be made available from March 30, 2016, on our website at http://www.ternium.com/irhome. Copies of such documents will also be available free of charge at the Company's registered office in Luxembourg, from March 30, 2016, between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Luxembourg time. In addition, shareholders registered in the Company's share register may obtain electronic copies of each such documents free of charge by sending an e-mail request to the following electronic address: ir@ternium.com.

About Ternium

Ternium is a leading steel producer in Latin America, with an annual production capacity of approximately 11.0 million tons of finished steel products. The company manufactures and processes a broad range of value-added steel products for customers active in the construction, automotive, home appliances, capital goods, container, food and energy industries. With production facilities located in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, the southern United States and Guatemala, Ternium serves markets in the Americas through its integrated manufacturing system and extensive distribution network. In addition, Ternium participates in the control group of Usiminas, a Brazilian steel company. More information about Ternium is available at www.ternium.com.
Shoppers pass by the Toys R Us store at Times Square in New York November 22, 2010. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York accused a Toys "R" Us employee of stealing nearly $2 million from the retailer by loading money meant for truck drivers onto a debit card he later used to make withdrawals from automated teller machines.

According to a criminal complaint made public on Wednesday, Daniel Chon, a director of inbound and outbound transportation, withdrew $1.92 million of "eCash" by logging into Toys "R" Us' secure "Fleet Card" system without permission on 117 occasions from May 2013 until this month.

Prosecutors said eCash was meant to help drivers who ship merchandise to stores from distribution centers pay for lodging, meals and repairs, and that employees like Chon, who joined Toys "R" Us in June 2009, were not supposed to use it.

According to the complaint, $1.89 million in eCash was withdrawn from ATMs over the nearly three-year period.

Video surveillance showed Chon using a Fleet Card within the last month at ATMs in New Jersey, and a Fleet Card was used last year in London, Madrid and Berlin on dates corresponding to Chon's travel to those cities, the complaint said.

Chon appeared in federal court on Wednesday, and was ordered released on $500,000 bond. His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Toys "R" Us in a statement said it has terminated Chon's employment, contacted law enforcement after uncovering the alleged wrongdoing, and will continue working with authorities.

The case is U.S. v. Chon, US. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 16-mj-00269.
* Istanbul shopkeeper complains of "zero business" after attack

* Turkey suffers for bomb attacks this year

* German bookings for Turkish holidays down sharply

* British look to Spain, U.S., Cuba

* Russians hit by weak rouble, political chill

By Nevzat Devranoglu and Ece Toksabay

ANKARA, March 23 (Reuters) - Suicide bombings in Istanbul, a row with the Kremlin and hard times for the Russian middle class - all these factors spell trouble for Turkey's tourist industry and its wider economy.

Nowhere is the mood gloomier than among shopkeepers in Istanbul, Turkey's cultural gem and scene last weekend of the second suicide attack on tourists in the city this year.

"There's zero business now," said one clerk at a clothing store near the medieval Galata Tower, a top destination for foreign visitors.

"Everyone is nervous," chimed in his friend a few hours after the attack - blamed by the government on Islamic State - which killed three Israelis and an Iranian in Istanbul's most popular shopping district.

Their feeling that business, already bad, can only get worse is understandable. In January, an Islamist militant blew himself up near the fabled Blue Mosque, killing 12 people from Germany - which traditionally accounts for the largest number of visitors to Turkey.

Economists forecast that tourism revenue will tumble by a quarter this year, costing the country around $8 billion.

The risk is that better off tourists such as Germans will choose to take their holidays elsewhere while Russians, Turkish tourism's number two market, will be forced to stay away due to an economic crisis at home and political tensions following Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane in November.

Overall visitor numbers to Turkey fell a relatively modest 1.6 percent last year, according to Tourism Ministry data.

But the signs are not good before the May to October peak season, when Turkey usually earns around 70 percent of its tourism revenues.

BIG SPENDERS

Unfortunately for Turkey, tourists from the richest countries, who tend to be the biggest spenders, are also the most easily spooked by security worries.

Story continues

"Security concerns have the biggest impact on high-income tourist groups, who are most likely to change their plans to visit," said Mehmet Besimoglu, an economist at Oyak Investment.

German travel group TUI has reported a 40 percent drop in summer bookings for holidays in Turkey and the picture for Britain, the number three market, is uncertain.

British holiday company Thomas Cook said more of its customers were opting to holiday in Spain, as well as the United States and Cuba. Fewer wanted to go to Turkey, it added.

Altogether Turkey has suffered four suicide bombings this year, bringing the death toll to more than 80. The other two, claimed by an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), struck the capital, Ankara, which relatively few tourists visit.

The violence is not new. Islamic State has also been blamed for bomb attacks last year that killed more than 130 people.

While these were in Ankara and near the Syrian border, the effect on tourism - which accounts for about 4.5 percent of the $800 billion economy and provides more than one million jobs - has already been felt.

Last year, for instance, the number of Italians visiting Turkey decreased by 27 percent while Japanese dropped off by nearly 40 percent.

Now, economists say, the drop-off in tourism is so pronounced it could have a broad economic impact. They estimate an $8 billion fall in revenue would knock more than half a percentage point off economic growth, which the government is targeting at 4.5 percent for this year.

With tourism accounting for more than half of Turkey's current account earnings last year, this would also spell trouble for the central bank's hopes that the deficit can be brought down from a yawning 4.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2015.

Some economists believe tourism could prove an even bigger drag on the economy. "If terrorist attacks continue and things get worse, the impact could be as high as one percentage point being deducted from economic growth," said Muammer Komurcuoglu, economist at Is Invest.

That would be unwelcome news for President Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party, which is keen to show the economy is on track despite the insecurity.

RUSSIAN CHILL

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced a plan to offer emergency support to the tourism sector, including a 255 million lira ($87 million) grant and a facility to allow firms to restructure their debt. It is unclear whether that will help.

Turkey is no longer able to rely on Russians seeking sunshine and southern beaches as a back-up due to the combined effects of economics and politics.

Middle class Russians have been hit hard by an economic crisis caused by the weak price of oil, the country's main export earner, and Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis.

One result has been a dive in the Russian currency which has made foreign holidays, including in Turkey, much more expensive. Two years ago, Russians needed just over 15 roubles to buy a Turkish lira; now they need almost 24.

On top of that has come the chill in relations between Ankara and Moscow. President Vladimir Putin signed a series of punitive economic sanctions against Turkey, including a ban on charter flights, in retaliation for its shooting down of the Russian warplane near the border with Syria.

The biggest impact from the sanctions would be to tourism, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said.

Numbers of Russian tourists declined by nearly a million last year, to 3.6 million. That could get even worse this year, said Ercan Erguzel, an economist at Morgan Stanley.

"Based on our talks with sector representatives, we have the impression that number of Russian tourists may even fall to below 1 million in 2016 in the most extreme scenario," he said.

(Additional reporting by Dasha Afanasieva in Istanbul,; Editing by David Dolan and David Stamp)
Scaffolding is seen at the construction site of a new home in Carlsbad, California September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. single-family home sales rebounded modestly in February as a surge in the West offset sharp declines in other regions, pointing to a gradually improving housing sector amid a dearth of properties available on the market.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday home sales rose 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000 units. January's sales pace was revised up to 502,000 units from the previously reported 494,000 units.

"The housing market is improving, though in fits and starts and not uniformly across the nation," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.

New single-family home sales were driven by a 38.5 percent jump in the West last month, which reversed January's 32.7 percent dive. Sales plunged 24.2 percent in the Northeast and tumbled 17.9 percent in the Midwest. They fell 4.1 percent in the populous South.

Excluding the West, home sales were down 8.1 percent. New home sales account for about 9.2 percent of the housing market.

The report came on the heels of data on Monday showing a 7.1 percent drop in sales of previously owned homes in February, which was blamed on tight inventories, bad weather and difficulties adjusting the data during the month with a leap day.

The S&P homebuilding index (.SPLRCHOME) was down 0.88 percent, in line with a broadly weaker U.S. stock market.

Shares in D.R. Horton Inc (DHI.N), the largest U.S. homebuilder, fell 1.4 percent and rival Lennar Corp (LEN.N) slipped 0.8 percent.

DECENT SPRING SELLING SEASON

A separate report from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed a dip in home buying activity last week, with its seasonally adjusted Purchase Index falling 1.0 percent from a week earlier. The index, however, increased 25 percent from a year ago.

While economists and realtors expect a fairly busy spring selling season, they caution that the persistent shortage of homes on the market, which is limiting options for buyers and pushing up prices, was a challenge.

Story continues

"Existing and new home prices are rising quickly and that's really taking a bite out of housing affordability. New and existing home inventories are very lean, that can hurt sales," said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody's Analytics in Westchester, Pennsylvania.

"Spring sales should be decent, but won't be as good as they could have been if there was more inventory on the market and affordability was a little bit stronger."

There were 1.88 million existing homes available for sale in February, up 3.3 percent from January, but 1.1 percent lower than a year ago. House prices have been rising by more than 5 percent, outpacing wage growth.

While the inventory of new homes on the market rose 1.7 percent in February to the highest level since October 2009, it remained less than half of what it was at the height of the housing bubble.

At February's sales pace it would take 5.6 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, unchanged from January.

With the strengthening labor market boosting household formation and mortgage rates still low by historical standards, housing fundamentals remain solid. The sector should continue to contribute to economic growth this year.

"We expect the housing market to continue to be a moderate but unremarkable contributor to growth for the remainder of 2016," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, and economic analyst at FTN Financial in New York.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
UN Security Council agreed to a request from China to lift sanctions imposed on four ships blacklisted for ties to Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons programs (AFP Photo/Mark Garten) (United Nations/AFP/File)

The UN Security Council agreed Tuesday to a request from China to lift sanctions imposed on four ships that had been blacklisted over North Korea's weapons program, diplomats said.

They were affected when the UN Security Council on March 2 imposed tough sanctions on North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch, widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

Tuesday's move affects four of 31 ships linked to North Korean shipping firm Ocean Maritime Management, blacklisted for ties to Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons programs.

"The council has agreed to the request," a council diplomat told AFP. China gave assurances that the four vessels would not use North Korean crews.

The March 2 resolution was drafted by the United States but backed by China, North Korea's sole ally and main trading partner.

It required countries to inspect all cargo to and from North Korea, impose trade restrictions and bar vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods for North Korea from ports.

North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested an atomic device in 2006.
CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - March 22, 2016) - Veresen Inc. ("Veresen") (VSN.TO) is pleased to announce that it has finalized the key commercial terms with JERA Co., Inc. ("JERA") in respect of the long-term provision to JERA of natural gas liquefaction capacity at the Jordan Cove LNG facility. Veresen is developing the Jordan Cove LNG facility in the International Port of Coos Bay in Oregon, USA.

The preliminary agreement signed today covers the purchase by JERA of at least 1.5 million tonnes per annum of natural gas liquefaction capacity for an initial term of 20 years. This agreement is subject to customary conditions including the execution of a detailed liquefaction tolling agreement, which Veresen and JERA will continue to work together to conclude, and the project obtaining applicable regulatory approvals. Negotiations for the remaining liquefaction capacity are ongoing with other parties.

JERA, a joint venture established on April 30, 2015 by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated ("TEPCO") and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. ("Chubu Electric"), was created to implement a comprehensive alliance among its two shareholders covering the entire energy supply chain, from upstream investments and fuel procurement through to power generation. Upon the integration of TEPCO's and Chubu Electric's fuel procurement businesses into JERA, expected to occur in July 2016, JERA will be the world's largest purchaser of liquefied natural gas by volume.

"This agreement signals strong market support for the Jordan Cove LNG project from the world's largest LNG buyer and represents a significant step forward in the project's development," said Don Althoff, President and CEO of Veresen. "We are pleased to have JERA as our first customer and look forward to deepening our relationship with them as we continue to progress Jordan Cove LNG."

The Jordan Cove LNG facility is expected to have an initial design liquefaction capacity of approximately 6.0 million tonnes per annum, or approximately 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. For further information about the Jordan Cove LNG project, please visit www.jordancovelng.com.

Story continues

About Veresen Inc.

Veresen is a publicly-traded dividend paying corporation based in Calgary, Alberta that owns and operates energy infrastructure assets across North America. Veresen is engaged in three principal businesses: a pipeline transportation business comprised of interests in the Alliance Pipeline, the Ruby Pipeline and the Alberta Ethane Gathering System; a midstream business which includes a partnership interest in Veresen Midstream Limited Partnership which owns assets in western Canada, an ownership interest in Aux Sable, a world-class natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction facility near Chicago, and other natural gas and NGL processing energy infrastructure; and a power business comprised of a portfolio of assets in Canada. Veresen is also developing Jordan Cove LNG, a six million tonne per annum natural gas liquefaction facility proposed to be constructed in Coos Bay, Oregon, and the associated Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. In the normal course of business, Veresen regularly evaluates and pursues acquisition and development opportunities.

Veresen's Common Shares, Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, Series A and Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, Series C trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "VSN", "VSN.PR.A", "VSN.PR.C" and "VSN.PR.E", respectively. For further information, please visit www.vereseninc.com.

Forward-looking Information

Certain information contained herein relating to, but not limited to, Veresen and its businesses and the offering of the notes, constitutes forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, which address activities, events or developments that Veresen expects or anticipates may or will occur in the future, are forward-looking information. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "may", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "target", "project", "forecast" or similar words suggesting future outcomes or outlook. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, the timing of, and our ability to successfully obtain regulatory approvals for the construction of the Jordan Cove LNG facility and the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. Readers are also cautioned that such additional information is not exhaustive. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as these factors are independent and management's future course of action would depend on its assessment of all information at that time. Although Veresen believes that the expectations conveyed by the forward-looking information are reasonable based on information available on the date of preparation, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements. Undue reliance should not be placed on the information contained herein, as actual results achieved will vary from the information provided herein and the variations may be material. Veresen makes no representation that actual results achieved will be the same in whole or in part as those set out in the forward-looking information. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof, and Veresen does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws. Any forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Chinese technology companies are just getting started in their quest to go global and the West should take it very seriously, a veteran Israeli entrepreneur and investor told CNBC.



Speaking on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in China's Hainan province, Yossi Vardi, chairman of International Technologies, said Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba and Huawei have developed strong presence in the West and more are following in their footsteps.



"Chinese companies are working very hard to develop [their] international footprint and by now you begin to see them all over the place," said Vardi , who is one of Israel's tech pioneers with involvement in more than 70 startups.

Smartphone makers Huawei and Xiaomi made headlines earlier this year with their prominent presence at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi5 smartphone at the MWC, while a top Huawei executive predicted his company will oust smartphone giant Samsung from its pole position in the industry by 2021.



Data from International Data Corporation (IDC) showed that in 2015, three Chinese companies - Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 992-HK) - were among the top five global smartphone makers by shipment volume.



Vardi added abundance of foreign-educated talent returning to China are helping these Chinese tech companies to scale and approach markets better. The transfer of technical know-how, picked up from their Western peers, are making it possible for China to develop software and user experiences for their domestic market, which usually require advanced skills that have mostly been associated with the West.







"They are going to export it [to global markets] once they have tweaked it," said Vardi. "It's only a question of time, I have no doubt about it."



But Vardi said Chinese tech companies also have China's massive domestic market of 1.4 billion people to lean on, which remains an important "low hanging fruit."



Story continues

"I think there is still a lot of penetration to be done [domestically]," he said.



Alibaba recently surpassed 3 trillion yuan ($463 billion) in transactions in its fiscal year to March, demonstrating the appetite for consumption among Chinese customers.

 Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.







More From CNBC


A technician walks between pipes at the gas dehydration of the WINGAS gas storage facility near the northern German town of Rehden January 7, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

By Vera Eckert and Tom Kackenhoff

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Gazprom-owned (GAZP.MM) German gas wholesale trader Wingas expects to win more customers across Europe in 2016 but is uncertain if record sales volumes in 2015 can be repeated in an oversupplied market.

Chief Executive Gerhard Koenig said the company, a joint venture between Gazprom and BASF (BASFn.DE) until the Russian gas group became sole owner last October, benefited from cool weather and traded more spot gas in 2015.

"We sold 630 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) last year, raising our sales by 26.8 percent after 497 billion a year earlier," Koenig told Reuters exclusively in his first interview since the ownership change."The main reason was higher usage due to cooler weather, but another was our increased activity on the spot trading hubs," he added.

A market share of 20 percent in Germany, behind competitor E.ON (EONGn.DE) but above EnBW (EBKG.DE) and RWE (RWEG.DE), might not be raised immediately in a stagnating market.

"If we could narrowly repeat our very good sales volumes of 2015 this year, I would be pleased," he said.

Analysts say Gazprom will have to become more flexible on pricing to defend its market share in Europe given rising competition from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Wingas, which employs 550 people in Kessel in central Germany, reported record revenue of 14.4 billion euros (11 billion pounds) last year, up from 12.6 billion.

Germany's gas consumption rose by 5 percent to 866 billion kWh last year, industry data showed.

HEATING, TRANSPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Koenig said that Wingas was active on virtual spot hubs that have sprung up in Britain, the Benelux countries and Germany, complementing supply deals with customers in a range of European countries, where it seeks to raise market share.

Wingas sees opportunities in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain, among others, he said.

"Europe's gas production will go down in the long term. We will have to import more," he said.

Story continues

Koenig said apart from heavy industry and electricity, where gas may take share away from polluting coal generation, there were opportunities in home heating and transport.

Burning gas generates less than half the emissions of coal.

Koenig criticised plans by the European Commission to reorganise gas supply security and transparency, calling them bureaucratic. The Commission plans to scrutinise Gazprom's activities closely in the light of the fact that Russia supplies a third of the EU's gas.

"This gives me the impression that the share of Russian gas is meant to be limited by regulatory means," he said.

Koenig said that Gazprom was the only major producer investing in European pipeline and storage infrastructure, including bumping up capacity at Wingas subsidiary Astora which operates in Germany and Austria.

The price of gas for 2017 at Germany's NCG trading point has fallen by a third over the last 12 months. (PNCGYZ7)

(Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Georgina Prodhan; editing by Victoria Bryan and Jason Neely)
2000 - 2022   24 .-   .       focus-news.net,                 () .                  24 .                 24      .       .       24 .
1.What is the LMC?

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation framework was proposed by Premier Li Keqiang in November 2014 during the 17th China-ASEAN leaders' meeting.

The river originates in China's Qinghai province and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is known as Lancang in China, and forms a natural link between the six countries.

The LMC is the first subregional cooperation body involving the six countries, and the framework aims to meet their development demands and fundamental, long-term interests.

2. What has been achieved under the LMC framework?

Since early last year, the six countries have held a number of meetings at various levels to reach consensus and strive for progress.

In November, the framework was officially launched in Jinghong, Yunnan province, after talks between senior foreign affairs officials from the six countries.

At the first LMC foreign ministers' meeting, they decided to cooperate in three key areas - political-security issues, economic affairs and sustainable development, and social affairs and people-to-people exchanges.

3.What is the LMC for?

As a platform for discussion and sharing ideas, it aims to push forward pragmatic projects to benefit the six countries.

At the first LMC foreign ministers' meeting, 78 cooperation projects were agreed, covering areas such as water resource management, poverty alleviation, public health, infrastructure, personnel exchanges, and science and technology.

4.What will the LMC do?

The countries have enhanced political trust and practical cooperation in recent years. For instance, there have been 43 joint law enforcement operations along the Mekong River.

The LMC also focuses on building infrastructure and boosting connectivity. The Kunming-Bangkok highway is open and construction has started on the China-Laos railway. The China-Thailand railway project has been initiated and a pan-Asia railway linking LMC countries is in the pipeline.

5. What is the future for the LMC?

The first leaders' meeting marks the establishment of the LMC mechanism. The meeting will outline the body's future, witness agreements on a number of cooperation deals, and set guidelines for the LMC's development.

China Daily

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page3)
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Despite the left's constant attacks on Donald Trump for being 'Islamophobic' and 'racist', he always seems to have the last laugh, despite this not being a laughing matter.





Back in January, Trump warned that Brussels was an Islamic 'hellhole' in an interview with Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo.When questioned about his proposed temporary ban of Muslims from entering the United States, Trump explained how Islamic migrants do not assimilate and would rather live under Sharia Law.There is something going on, Maria. Go to Brussels. Go to Paris. Go to different places. There is something going on and its not good, where they want Shariah law, where they want this, where they want things that  you know, there has to be some assimilation. There is no assimilation. There is something bad going on, he said.You go to Brussels  I was in Brussels a long time ago, 20 years ago, so beautiful, everything is so beautiful  its like living in a hellhole right now.The New York Times attacked Trump for this claim in an article titled Donald Trump Finds New City to Insult: Brussels.The office of Mayor Yvan Mayeur of Brussels said in a statement that, We dont react to Mr. Trumps comments. Have a nice day.It's safe to say that the mayor  a member of the socialist party  sure wishes he had in fact reacted to Trump's comments.
Attendees of Tuesday evenings City of Fremont Education session received a 30-minute overview about different branches of city governments role in planning and zoning.

While members of Fremont City Council, Fremont Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments listened, an expert on land use, planning, zoning and real-estate covered the jobs and responsibilities of the three bodies.

Thomas Huston, a lawyer with Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P, spoke before a group of more than a dozen people about how different offices work together, and as separate entities, in regard to dealing with issues pertaining to planning and zoning.

Inherently municipal  city  governments have no power of their own, Huston said.

The only power that city governments have are those that are granted to them expressly by state government, he said. So we really have to look at the state statutes to determine what powers local governments have in Nebraska.

City Council, being the governing body of a municipality, acts in a legislative capacity in regard to how land is used, which is important when council is dealing with the administration of the zoning ordinance itself.

The zoning ordinance is code  its law for the municipality, Huston said. So in the legislative capacity it (council) is in charge of keeping current the land use ordinance and also the map.

State law gives council the power to adopt zoning regulations, but the power cannot be used exclusively without going through a planning commission.

Once a planning commission is established, council must receive a recommended comprehensive development plan from the planning commission and then the plan must be adopted by council.

From that statue we can see that for the most part, city council acts as a legislative body, but the planning commission has a vital role in the process to provide the right recommendations that are required under the Nebraska statute, Huston said.

The third party involved with zoning and planning is the Board of Adjustments.

Two of the biggest roles of the Board of Adjustments are to handle appeals of administrative decisions and interpret zoning maps.

Thirdly, and what Huston said is the most important role of the Board of Adjustments, is the power to grant a variance.

A variance is a very legally specific process by which a property owner can seek a deviation or an exception to the dimension requirements of the zoning ordinance  and only the dimension requirements, Huston said. The only authority the Board of Adjustment has is to grant a deviation or exceptions to the zoning dimensions  like the setback requirements, the height limitations, side yard requirements or any land coverage ratio requirements.

To grant a variance, the Board of Adjustments must have five findings, which include: proof of an undue hardship, circumstances unique to a residents property, having no substantial detriment or change in property character and proof that the variance given isnt purely for convenience, profit or caprice  a change in mood or behavior.

Variance standards are very hard to meet, he said.

While the board of adjustments undoubtedly plays a vital role in local government, Huston said that the board should be less active than council or the planning committee.

In my mind, the Board of Adjustments should probably be the least active body in the land use process, Huston said. The planning commission has the primary responsibility.
If you are traveling to Japan with ANA, Japans largest airline, you can enjoy Japans first ever same day baggage delivery service between two cities.

ANA partners with Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. for the baggage delivery service that leverages the two companies networks to allow international visitors to Japan to send their baggage same day between 4 designated hotels in the Tokyo region and the Osaka/Kyoto region for 2,000 yen per piece[1].

The service begins today, and based on customer feedback and data during the trial period, the companies will expand the service and coverage areas later this year.

ANA and Yamato Transport is pioneering this service as part of their continuing efforts to improve convenience, and have high expectations as the number of international visitors to Japan, especially those from Asia, continues to soar to 19.74 million in 2015, an increase of 47.1% year on year[2]. The most popular route for tourists is between Tokyo and Osaka, and approximately 60% of tourists travel independently therefore carry their own luggage[3]. Many of them want to explore Japan unencumbered[4], creating demand for baggage delivery between major hotels increasing.

For example, visitors at designated hotels in Tokyo can send their baggage, travel to Kyoto hands free, and pick up their baggage at their hotel in Kyoto that evening.[5]

ANA and Yamato Transport have already made inroads in this sector since September 2012, allowing Japan residents to send baggage from home and pick it up on the baggage carousel at their international arrival airport.

At ANA, we take pride in helping international visitors fully enjoy Japan, said Takashi Shiki, ANA Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing. Combined with our popular ANA Experience JAPAN Fare, this same day baggage delivery service goes the extra mile to give the growing number of guests the freedom to fully experience Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.

[Designated Hotels]

City Hotel Tokyo Hyatt Regency Tokyo Tokyo Hilton Tokyo Osaka ANA Crowne Plaza Osaka Kyoto ANA Crowne Plaza Kyoto

[1] The price is for pilot period. Subject to change from September.

[2] Source: Japan National Tourism Organization

[3] Source: Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport; "Consumer trends among foreign tourists visiting Japan (2014 annual report)

[4] Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport survey of foreign visitors to Japan; "Results of survey into the promotion of luggage-free travel and future initiatives"

[5] Times vary, but generally baggage dropped off by 8:00AM will be delivered after 18:00PM same day. Conditions apply. Service will not provide delivery to airports.
A recent routine unannounced United States Public Health inspection conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was held onboard Holland America Lines ms Eurodam on March 20 at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Holland America Lines ms Eurodam earned its 10th consecutive perfect score of 100. Eurodams unannounced U.S.P.H. inspection was held during a turnaround call at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the start of a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Prior to that inspection, Eurodam had received its ninth perfect score in a row in October 2015 during a call at Fort Lauderdale, making it the first ship in company history to receive as many consecutive perfect scores of 100.

When Eurodam achieved its ninth consecutive perfect U.S.P.H. score it was a first for our company, said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line. Now, the ships hardworking officers and crew have set the bar for success even higher. We are proud of their dedication to strive for perfection every time.

CDC inspections are part of the Vessel Sanitation Program, which was introduced in the early 1970s and is required for all passenger ships that call at a U.S. port. The inspections are unannounced and are carried out by officials from the United States Public Health Service twice a year for every cruise ship. Health Canada's Cruise Ship Inspection Program harmonizes with the United States CDC Vessel Sanitation Program, and inspections are conducted once a year when cruise ships visit Canadian ports.

The score, on a scale from one to 100, is assigned on the basis of a checklist involving dozens of areas of assessment, encompassing hygiene and sanitation of food (from storage to preparation), overall galley cleanliness, water, shipboard personnel and the ship as a whole.

For more information about Holland America Line, contact a travel professional, call 1-877-SAIL-HAL (1-877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com
Turkey has claimed its position as the third most popular destination in the global Muslim travel market, according to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016, which covers 130 destinations in the world.

Turkey took the third position on the list of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations, behind Malaysia which retained its pole position and the UAE.

In May, Turkey will host worlds biggest international conference on halal tourism in May with the Halal Tourism Conference 2016 in Konya bringing together some of the worlds leading names in the travel industry.

Indonesia climbed two places to take the fourth spot with Bahrain becoming the biggest mover, jumping four spots to come in tenth place.

Singapore also retained its pole position for the non-OIC destinations, with Thailand, the UK, South Africa and Hong Kong making up the top five.

The study also revealed that in 2015, there were an estimated 117 million Muslim visitor arrivals globally, representing close to 10 percent of the entire travel market. This is forecasted to grow to 168 million visitors by 2020 equal to 11 percent of the market segment with a market value projected to exceed US$200 billion.

Asia and Europe were also revealed as the two leading regions in the world for attracting Muslim visitors - accounting for 87 percent of the entire market.

All 130 destinations in the GMTI were scored against a backdrop of criteria that included suitability as a family holiday destination, the level of services and facilities it provides, accommodation options, marketing initiatives as well as visitor arrivals.

Each criterion was then weighted to make up the overall index score. This year, two new criteria - air connectivity and visa restrictions - were added to further enhance the Index.

Turkey had an Index score of 73.9 placing it at third place in the overall combined list. Malaysia scored 81.9, followed by UAE at 74.7. In comparison, the highest scoring non-OIC destination Singapore scored 68.4 with second place Thailand at 59.5.

Taiwan and Japan have continued to improve their overall rankings and the average GMTI scores by region show Asia as the leading region.

The overall average GMTI score for the complete 130 destinations currently stands at 43.7. From a regional perspective, Asia Pacific destinations lead with an average GMTI score of 56.5.

The top 10 OIC destinations in the GMTI 2016

RANK GMTI 2016 RANK DESTINATION SCORE 1 1 Malaysia 81.9 2 2 United Arab Emirates 74.7 3 3 Turkey 73.9 4 4 Indonesia 70.6 5 5 Qatar 70.5 6 6 Saudi Arabia 70.4 7 7 Oman 70.3 8 9 Morocco 68.3 9 10 Jordan 65.4 10 11 Bahrain 63.3

The top 10 non-OIC destinations in the GMTI 2016

RANK GMTI 2016 RANK DESTINATION SCORE 1 8 Singapore 68.4 2 20 Thailand 59.5 3 21 United Kingdom 59.0 4 30 South Africa 53.1 5 31 Hong Kong 53.0 6 31 France 51.6 7 33 Taiwan 50.1 8 34 Japan 49.1 9 35 Sri Lanka 49.0 10 36 United States 48.9

The Halal Tourism Conference 2016 takes place from the 3rd to 5th May 2016 at the Mevlana Cultural Center in Konya, Turkey.
Predictable Humans (so cuddly though)

So, like, human beings. For the most part, a totally predictable space creature that we all know and sometimes love. We don't really need to put forth a ton of brain power to see some patterns. For example, starving-to-death human is more likely to look for food than for an evening of appreciating fine art. Human that can't afford to pay rent when it's due is probably looking for some cash more than looking to untangle the moral implications of fracking. It's just how humans work most of the time.

This dude Abraham Maslow, he saw the patterns, and he wrote about them in a paper called "A Thoery on Human Motivation." In it, he points out that humans have physiological needs, like occasionally breathing clean air and getting a taco in that empty stomach. Needs that have to be dealt with before some straight-up enlightenment happens.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

So, Maslow's theory, the one called the Hierarchy of Needs is often displayed as a pyramid. Check out this version from Wikipedia:

Makes sense, right? Like if you're not eating and breathing, that's gonna be priority one. Next, some money in the pocket and nobody physically assailing us, priority two. It goes up and up. I don't need to repeat it. It's right there in that image.

X Variable's Hierarchy of Needs

Well, funny thing about that pyramid is that I see it everywhere I go. I see the pattern. You can lay it like a transparency on top of all kinds of other stuff in life.

Take my kids, for example. Yes, of course they follow Maslow's pyramid up there since they are humans. But they also have their own version. At the bottom is eating candy and playing Minecraft and at the top is thoroughly wiping their butts.

Ariel's Hierarchy of Creative Needs

Anyway, I think you can also apply this idea to creative people. So I decided to make my own hierarchy. Even did it in pyramid form. Check it out, Ariel's Hierarchy of Creative Needs:

Version 1, okay? I'll change my mind about it eventually, I'm sure, but it makes sense to me like this right now.

Originally it was Ariel's Hierarchy of Audio Needs, but then I realized that I've known Artists and Designers and Programmers and lots of other creative people that talk about what that pyramid represents. So, I'm going broad with it! Maybe that's nervy, I don't know! Let's walk through it.

Will

First, you gotta have the will. You have to actually want to be creative. As a creative person, it can seem strange that there are some people out there that don't want it, but they really and truly exist. There are people that have zero ambition to paint, compose, code, sculpt, write, whatever.

So, the starting point is wanting it. Wanting it bad enough to actually do it. Wanting it bad enough that when someone tells you that it's pointless, or laughs at you, or even actively stands in your way... you still have the will to do it, and so you keep doing it.

This, to me, is the absolute minimum creative need. Because if you stop having a will to create, then...?

Way

Once we have the will to be creative, now we need a way to do it.

This means we have to get some tools. This could be anything from a pencil to singing lessons to a computer to a chisel. All creativity requires tools, I think. Even if the tools are brains and hands, or voices, or the ability to pop and lock. Tools!

Also, need the time to be creative. Real, actual, honest-to-goodness time in our schedules to actually do the dang thing. Without time, there's nothing. Just a bunch of tools hanging around collecting dust. We all know people like that, right? They have a bunch of tools just sitting around doing nothing?

Tools and time, well, next thing you know, you're making stuff!

Work

Once we have the will to do something and the tools to do it, then comes the golden goose. The need that so many get stuck on. Often the perceived holy grail of all creative needs -- WORK. Getting paid to be creative.

Well, more specifically, the ability to live the lifestyle we want while being creative at work. Just getting paid is one thing, but having creative endeavors fully sustain the lifestyle we want, well isn't that just the thing after all?

And it really can seem like the end. The ultimate thing that we do until we die. Before you have that job doing the creative thing you love, work can seem like the end game. And a lot of people get stuck here, maybe for their entire lives. But check it out. There's defintely more.

Wonder

Once we work for a while, maybe things start to get a little samey. What was once the job of our dreams is now mostly just a job. A cool job! It's a cool job, sure. But it feels more and more like a job than anything else.

This is where wonder comes in. It's that feeling that we get that fills us up with bubbles, where our eyes get wide and lightning strikes our brain with an epiphany! Where a fire lights inside us! We somehow see what we've been doing for so long in a new and wonderous way!

Or perhaps we stumble into the impossible challenge... the problem to solve that pushes us right against the edge of our abilities. We might be a little terrified, but somewhere deep down, we know we can do it, we just need to figure out how, with the right tinkering, the right head scratching...

And the wonder can sustain us for a long time, over and over. It helps us stay young and curious, and the more of it that we have, the better. It's a feeling of creative fulfillment and inspiration.

But we must reach ever higher! Ever higher!

Wisdom

In a life filled with wonder and work, it can be easy to lose touch with the world around us. We get so wrapped up in it, and often wrapped up with others who have also achieved this wonderful existence, that we might project our fortunes onto others. And yet others might look at us and feel that we are distant... so far away... in a place they can only dream of...

So, in a life of wonder and work, our final need becomes helping others achieve creative fulfillment, just as we have achieved. It is to make the time to bring others up with us, to show them how to find the sense of wonder and purpose that we have found, and to keep the path clear so that others can follow us.

Our final need is to be wise. To solve our hardest problems with our earned experience. To build a strategy that leaves our industries or fields better than they were when we inherited them. To listen to the trials and concerns of those that haven't achieved what we have achieved, and to help guide them through.

Where Are We

So, where do each of us land on this pyramid? It can be tough to say. Maybe we're oscillating between a couple of the categories. Maybe we're firmly in one. I'd like to know, though. I'd like to know where we are.

Let's talk about it. Hit me on Twitter @arielgross.
After spending his career at Atari, LucasArts, 3DO, and Microsoft, veteran programmer Aric Wilmunder has amassed a treasure trove of design documents, and now he's going to share them with the world.

Although he might not be a household name, Wilmunder has worked on some of the industry's most adored, critically-acclaimed releases, including Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Maniac Mansion, The Dig, and Indy Iron Phoenix.

Most of those titles have been out for decades, but Wilmunder is giving us a chance to turn back the clock and dig into the design techniques of yesteryear by uploading a whole catalog of tantalizingly detailed design documents.

"Years ago I visited the LucasArts facility in the San Francisco Presidio and brought along two grocery bags of design documents," wrote Wilmunder, on his personal website.

"I asked if they had an archivist and I was told that since I had kept these safe for over two decades, it was best if I just kept them together.

"I have met with the archivist at Stanford and these documents will either end up there or at a museum dedicated to preserving game design. Until then, I plan to release a few documents every month."

Scanning and uploading the documents will be a gradual process, but there's already a healthy pile available for viewing right here.

What's more, in the interest of preservation, Wilmunder is also planning on using GitHub to archive the SCUMM source code.

SCUMM, or "Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion", is the video game engine behind some of some of the most memorable games ever made, such as Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max Hit the Road.

Wilmunder coded the original version of SCUMM alongside Chip Morningstar and Ron Gilbert in 1987. You can hear his account of how the legendary engine was born right here on Gamasutra.
MASON CITY  Prestage Farms of Iowa officials answered questions from City Council members Tuesday night as more information was learned about the companys plans to build a $240 million pork processing plant in Mason City.

Citizens also had a chance to ask questions at the public forum during the meeting but no one did. Four people spoke in favor of the project. Mayor Eric Bookmeyer said there will be two more opportunities for the public to speak  at the councils two meetings in April.

Jere Null, chief operating officer, said plans are for construction to start this summer on the 650,000-square-foot plant that will be located between 43rd Street Southwest and the Avenue of the Saints, behind the Golden Grain Energy plant.

It will hire just short of 1,000 workers in its first phase and a little more than a 1,000 in its second phase, bringing the work force to 2,000 in the first four years. Null clarified some previous reports about pay level. He said the lowest-paying jobs, less than 20 percent of the work force, will earn $12.20 an hour on a 52-hour week (including overtime) for starting pay of about $36,800. These workers will be putting meat into boxes, labeling boxes, sweeping floors and things of that nature.

The average starting pay overall will be $15.51 an hour with an increase to $17.03 after three years, also on a 52-hour week, for an annual wage of over $40,000.

Most of the meeting was devoted to council members thanking Prestage for choosing Mason City and city and EDC officials for making it happen.

Travis Hickey said he has lived in Mason City all his life and this is the biggest thing to happen in my 45 years. He said he is certain the new industry will spawn other new businesses. A lot of good is going to come of this, a lot of spinoffs. Somebodys going to build a truck stop near there, I guarantee it, he said.

Hickey said he recalls how several years ago Mason City lost out on the chance to have a Target distribution center because there was the fear the city did not have the workforce to support it. He said he was proud the same thing didnt happen when the Prestage opportunity came along.

Bill Schickel asked Null a lot of questions but said he was elated with Prestages decision to locate in what he called the silicon prairie.

Brett Schoneman said, Success of agribusiness is success of Iowa. This is right in our strike zone and Im glad were taking a swing at it.

The council approved a resolution of support for Prestage and it was more than a goodwill gesture. Prestage has applied for a jobs program administered by the state. One of the requirements is a resolution of support from the city to the Iowa Economic Development Board which meets Tuesday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cerner, a global leader in health care technology, today announced that Wirral Partners, an integrated primary and acute care system in the United Kingdom, will use Cerner's HealtheIntent population health management platform to advance the Healthy Wirral program, an initiative focused on establishing new models of care for disease management and prevention.



HealtheIntent, a system-agnostic, near real-time platform, enables organizations to aggregate health data from multiple sources into a single record to support new models of care. The platform enables care providers to access health records anywhere, anytime to proactively engage patients and manage disease and help prevent illness. Wirral Partners through Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is Cerners first global HealtheIntent client.

Wirral Partners is embarking on a high-profile public insight and engagement program to involve their community of 330,000 citizens to raise awareness of the program and to actively engage individuals.

Healthy Wirral is a new approach to the way services are planned and commissioned on Wirral. With an unacceptable difference in life expectancy of up to 10 years for females and 12.4 years for males, depending on where a person lives in Wirral, this challenge has never been more real and it is recognised that the current model of care delivery is clinically and financially unsustainable, said Jon Develing, executive lead for the Healthy Wirral program. Wirral Partners are passionate about improving the health and well-being of local people and are developing a new model of integrated care that provides holistic assessment and intervention to meet the health and social care needs of local people. We believe this model will be further enhanced by informatics-enabled population health management. And were really excited about presenting the system to our community and listening to their views on how we can really make it work for our patients.

In October 2014, NHS England published the Five Year Forward View, which described that there had been changes in patients health needs and personal preferences and that long-term health conditions were now taking 70 percent of the health service budget. The strategy calls for a radical change to the care delivery models in England, with integration of care providers to take accountability for population health at the local level. At the same time, they recognized that many people wished to be more informed and involved with their own care, challenging the traditional divide between patients and professionals and offering opportunities for better health through increased prevention and supported self-care. It also recognized that changes in technology are transforming the ability to predict, diagnose and treat disease.

In March 2015, NHS England announced the first 29 vanguard sites, and Healthy Wirral was selected as a New Care Model Vanguard.

Wirral hospital has used information and technology to improve health care for a generation, so its only to be expected that the NHS would select Wirral Partners to help improve the health of the population, said Matthew Swindells, senior vice president, population health and global strategy, Cerner. What happens at Wirral in the coming months can be followed and replicated around the country. Cerner will support Wirral Partners through the process and leverage our years of experience implementing solutions around the world to deliver the benefits that this ambitious and innovative program can achieve.

The development of a single care record will enable those who provide care to have good access to all appropriate health and social care information, said Dr. Sue Wells, medical director at Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group. This can help lead to better, safer and more efficient care and will allow local clinicians to identify gaps in the care and direct people to appropriate interventions, leading to better outcomes.

Cerner and the Wirral region have a strong existing relationship and this contract marks a new beginning for the Wirral peninsula moving to a population health management approach, said Dr. Justin Whatling, vice president, population health, Cerner Europe. Building on our support for 85 unique HealtheIntent clients in the USA, which includes outcomes-based accountable care organizations, we are delighted that Wirral Partners will be the first in the UK to leverage this new informatics approach. To improve population health requires us to do this one person at a time; IT is a key enabler for health and care staff to develop new integrated care models to proactively engage citizens in their health and wellbeing.





About Wirral Partners

Wirral Partners formed in 2015 and comprises of Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Wirral Community NHS Trust, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Local Professional Committees (including Local Medical, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical and Optometry Councils). They were awarded Vanguard status as a Primary and Acute Care Systems (PACS) site as part of the NHS England Vanguard Programme in response to the Five Year Forward View https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/futurenhs/

About Cerner

Cerners health information technologies connect people, information and systems at more than 20,000 facilities worldwide. Recognized for innovation, Cerner solutions assist clinicians in making care decisions and enable organizations to manage the health of populations. The company also offers an integrated clinical and financial system to help health care organizations manage revenue, as well as a wide range of services to support clients clinical, financial and operational needs. Cerners mission is to contribute to the systemic improvement of health care delivery and the health of communities. For more information about Cerner, visit cerner.com, read our blog at cerner.com/blog, connect with us on Twitter at twitter.com/cerner and on Facebook at facebook.com/cerner. Our website, blog, Twitter account and Facebook page contain a significant amount of information about Cerner, including financial and other information for investors.
JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - GRM, a leader in lifecycle information management solutions, announced today that Navindra Singh has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Sales for the company's Miami operation.

As one of the first employees for GRM's Miami location, Navindra has been working at the company since 2000 when he started as an Account Manager. Since that time, he has worked in many capacities. As the company has grown, so has Navindra's information management knowledge and skills.

"We are very fortunate to have Navindra driving the Miami sales effort," said GRM Executive Vice President, Jerry Glatt. "I can't think of anyone more deserving of being promoted to this Vice President position. His strong work ethic and expertise in presenting our services has made him an important asset to the company and customers alike."

"I am very pleased to accept this new position," said Singh. "It's a great opportunity for me to take on even more of a leadership role in directing GRM's continued growth. We have a great team and are going to continue to accomplish amazing things, offering not only GRM's Blended Solution, but a whole range of paper and digital services. We have solutions for businesses of every size, for industries such as Healthcare and Government and departments like HR and AP. I'm proud to be a part of it and excited about the company's future potential.

GRM, Miami offers a comprehensive suite of information management services that include offsite document storage, blended paper-to-digital migration, on demand imaging, digital archiving, workflow automation, data protection and certified destruction.

For more information, visit http://www.grmdocumentmanagement.com

This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/03/prweb13285189.htm
English French

LONGUEUIL, Quebec, March 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX:SWY) (the Corporation or Stornoway) announced today its results for the truncated quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These results are pursuant to Stornoways recent change in year end from April 30 to December 31, undertaken to better align the Corporations financial, operational and regulatory reporting ahead of first production at the Renard Diamond Project.



Quarter ended December 31, 2015 and FY2015 Highlights

(All quoted figures as at December 31, 2015 and in CAD$)

Progress at the Renard Diamond Project continues well within the planned schedule and budget.

Incurred costs and commitments at the quarter-end totalled $548.5 million, or 71% of budget.

Construction progress stood at 63.3% compared to (an initial) plan of 59.6%, with detailed engineering substantially complete.

On site manpower during the month of December averaged 384 workers, of which 21% were Crees of the Eeyou Istchee.

Mining in the Renard 2-3 and Renard 65 open pits stood at 5,975,813 tonnes, or 104% of plan, and underground mining development stood at 887 meters, or 72% of plan.

During the two month period ended December 31, 2015, construction focused on secondary steel, mechanical, piping and electrical installation and on the projects major facilities such as the process plant, LNG storage facility, power plant, primary crusher, water treatment facility and processed kimberlite load-out. All were well advanced at December 31, 2015.

For the two month period ended December 31, 2015, the Corporation reported a net loss of $4.3 million or $0.01 per share basic and fully diluted, and for the eight-month period ended December 31, 2015 a net loss of $3.7 million or $Nil per share basic and fully diluted.

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments stood at $209.1 million1. Excess financing capacity available to complete the project, comprising surplus cash and available cost-overrun facilities, is now forecast to be $117 million, assuming the satisfaction of all covenants and conditions precedent relating to future funding commitments and a CAD$:US$ conversion rate of $1.35.



Subsequent to December 31, 2015, the projects construction schedule was re-baselined with first ore delivery to the Renard diamond process now expected by the end of September 2016 and commercial production (60% of plant capacity achieved over 30 days) expected by December 31, 2016. This represents a five month improvement on the previous schedule, which assumed commercial production in the second calendar quarter of 2017. The re-baselined schedule resulted in a commensurate reduction in the forecast cost to complete, from $811 million to $775 million.

1 Assuming C$: US$ conversion rate of $1.3840

Matt Manson, President and CEO, commented Construction progress at Renard continued to track ahead of schedule during the last two months of our truncated FY2015, which gave us the confidence to re-baseline our schedule and cost to complete forecasts for future progress reporting. At the end of February construction progress stood at 74.1% compared to the new plan of 72.4%, as our construction team continued to out-perform expectations. An updated mine plan for the project, based on the results of the updated 2015 Mineral Resource and revised construction schedule, will be released shortly. With the diamond market beginning to recover after a challenging 12 months, we look forward to achieving first diamond production at Renard later this year based on a foundation of solid project execution and with a stronger than expected balance sheet.

Financial Summary

Stornoway ended the truncated quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $209.1 million, compared with $290.3 million at the end of the previous quarter. The first and second tranches of payment deposits under Stornoways streaming agreement with Orion Mine Finance, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities were received in March 2015 and September 2015 respectively. The third payment deposit of US$90 million is expected to be received on March 31, 2016, following which Stornoway expects to draw on a $100 million senior secured loan to complete mine development. Stornoways current cash resources and committed funds are sufficient to cover planned mine development expenses, financing and corporate costs during calendar 2016.

The Corporation currently forecasts excess funding capacity available to complete the project of $117 million, comprised of $69 million of cash, undrawn debt facilities, receivables and expected mine tax credits, and $48 million of undrawn cost overrun facilities. This forecast assumes the attainment of commercial production by December 31, 2016, a project cost of $775 million (which includes assumed levels of escalation and contingencies), the satisfaction of all covenants and conditions precedent for future funding, and a CAD$: US$ exchange rate of $1.35 for unfunded US dollar denominated financing commitments. The forecast excludes US$26 million of revenue previously forecast to fall within the pre-production period and which, given the acceleration of the expected date of commercial production, will now fall outside of the capital expenditure period. It further excludes the proceeds from the potential exercise of the Corporations outstanding warrants and share purchase options. As construction of the Renard Diamond Project progresses, this forecast is expected to change quarter to quarter based on the timing of expenditures and receipts, volatility in the CAD$:US$ exchange rate, and any change to the forecast cost of the project. Capital expenditures incurred during the two-month and eight-month periods were of $71.6 million and $289.9 million, respectively, with capital expenditures to date of $548.5 million having been incurred or committed against the total project cost.

Net loss for the two and eight months ended December 31, 2015 totalled $4.3 million and $3.7 million respectively, and includes other income (expenses) of $(3.0) million and $2.2 million, respectively. Net losses were impacted by several items not reflective of Stornoways underlying operating performance, including changes in the fair value of a derivative and unrealized gains and losses from foreign exchange. Operating expenses for the two and eight month periods totalled $1.2 million and $5.9 million, respectively.

Construction Highlights

At year end, overall construction progress stood at 63.3% based on man-hour estimates compared to a plan of 59.6%. Engineering was substantially complete at 99.0% compared to a plan of 99.9%. One loss time incident (LTI) was recorded with a contractor during the quarter, for a project-to-date LTI rate of 0.6 for contractors and 0.0 for Stornoway employees.

Construction progress during and subsequent to the quarter has focussed on the projects major facilities including the diamond-processing plant, natural gas power plant, Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) storage area, primary crusher, processed kimberlite load-out and water treatment plant. At the processing plant secondary steel installation, mechanical and piping, and electrical installation are well advanced. Major equipment installed by the end of February included the dewatering centrifuges, the cone and jaw crushers, the High Pressure Grinding Roll crusher, the rotary scrubber, ore bins and the exterior conveyors. Commissioning of the LNG storage facility, distribution network and power plant began at the end of February.

Daily manpower at site in December averaged 384 workers with a peak of 568, of which 21% were Crees of the Eeyou Istchee. Stornoway employees stood at 320 as at December 31, including 246 in the on-site development team, of which 18% were Crees, 25% were from Chibougamau and Chapais, and 57% were from outside the region.

Mining

By year end, a total of 5,975,813 tonnes of overburden, waste rock and ore had been extracted from the Renard 2-Renard 3 and Renard 65 open pits, compared to a plan of 5,725,429 tonnes (104%). A total of 151,591 tonnes of ore had been delivered to the stockpile compared to a plan of 100,000 tonnes (151%).

Development of the ramp for the underground mine stood at 887 meters on December 31 compared to a plan of 1,234 meters (72%). Progress on the ramp continued to be affected during November and December by water inflows on a fault structure that required extensive grouting. Progress accelerated during January, and slowed again during February as the structure was intersected a second time after the ramp had made its first turn at the 129 meter level. Overall progress in the ramp stood at 1,071 meters, or 73% of plan, at the end of February.

Updated Mine Plan and NI 43-101 Technical Report

Stornoway expects to complete an update to the mine plan for the Renard Diamond Project shortly that will incorporate recent changes to the projects Mineral Resources and its forecast schedule and cost to complete. The new plan will contemplate extended mine production, a deepening of the Renard 2-Renard 3 open pit, the commensurate deepening of the underground mine infrastructure and the inclusion of Indicated Mineral Resources at Renard 65 for open pit mining. This work will include a revised statement of project Mineral Reserves, and will be accompanied by the filing of an updated National Instrument (NI) 43-101 technical report.

Exploration Update

Exploration programs are ongoing on several 100% owned generative diamond exploration projects in Canada, including the Adamantin Project located approximately 100 km south of the Renard Diamond Project and 25 km west of the Route 167 Extension road. Stornoways claim position at Adamantin now stands at 15,080 hectares after recent additional ground acquisition. Till sampling during 2015 confirmed the presence of indicator mineral anomalies interpreted to be sourced from undiscovered kimberlites with diamond potential, with one till sample including a diamond from the +0.25mm-0.50mm size fraction. In December 2015 Stornoways board of directors approved a budget allocation of $2.5 million for an exploratory drill program at Adamantin which was mobilized in mid-March following the receipt of final 2015 surface sampling results and geophysical interpretation.

Financial Summary

Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (millions of Canadian dollars) December

31, 2015 April 30,

2015 Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments 209.1 363.6 Property, plant and equipment 831.4 541.5 Other assets 42.7 40.0 Total Assets 1,083.2 945.1 Debt and convertible debentures 219.6 205.0 Deferred revenue 207.1 101.5 Other liabilities 80.5 61.1 Equity 576.0 577.5 Total Liabilities and Equity 1,083.2 945.1











Key Financial and Operating Highlights

(millions of Canadian dollars, except earnings per share) Two months

ended

December

31, 2015 Three

months

ended

January 31,

2015 Eight

months

ended

December

31, 2015 Year ended

April 30,

2015 Cash provided (used) in operating activities (10.2 ) (8.0 ) 98.9 79.1 Cash provided (used) in investing activities 33.7 (257.7 ) (139.3 ) (461.3 ) Cash provided (used) in financing activities (1.1 )  (2.4 ) 434.2 Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 4.4 11.4 11.4 10.5 Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 26.8 (254.3 ) (31.4 ) 62.5 Net earnings (loss) for the period (4.3 ) 7.7 (3.7 ) (0.7 ) Earnings (loss) per share  basic (0.01 ) 0.01 Nil Nil Earnings (loss) per share  diluted (0.01 ) 0.01 Nil Nil



The Corporations consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in Canadian dollars in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. Consolidated financial statements for the truncated quarter and eight-month period ended December 31, 2015, and Managements Discussion and Analysis have been posted on the Corporations website www.stornowaydiamonds.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About the Renard Diamond Project

The Renard Diamond Project is located approximately 250 km north of the Cree community of Mistissini and 350 km north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Quebec. On July 8, 2014, Stornoway announced the completion of a C$946 million project financing transaction to fully fund the project to production, and construction commenced on July 10, 2014. First ore is scheduled to be delivered to the plant at the end of September 2016, with commercial production scheduled for December 31, 2016.

In January 2013, Stornoway released the results of an Optimized Feasibility Study at Renard which highlighted the potential of the project to become a significant producer of high value rough diamonds over a long mine life. Probable Mineral Reserves, as defined in National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101), stand at 17.9 million carats. In accordance with the Corporations September 2015 Mineral Resource estimate, total Indicated Mineral Resources, inclusive of the Mineral Reserve, stand at 30.2 million carats, with a further 13.35 million carats classified as Inferred Mineral Resources, and 33.0 to 71.1 million carats classified as non-resource exploration upside. Average annual diamond production is forecast at 1.6mcarats/year over the first 11 years of mining, at an average valuation of US$190/carat based on a March 2014 assessment by WWW International Diamond Consultants Ltd.

Readers are cautioned that the potential quality and grade of any target for further exploration is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a Mineral Resource. All kimberlites remain open at depth. Readers are referred to the technical report dated February 28, 2013, in respect of the January 2013 Optimization Study, and the technical report dated January 11, 2016, in respect of the September 2015 Mineral Resource estimate, for further details and assumptions relating to the project. Disclosure of a scientific or technical nature in this press release was prepared under the supervision of Patrick Godin, P.Eng. (Quebec), Chief Operating Officer and Robin Hopkins, P.Geol. (NT/NU), Vice President, Exploration, both Qualified Persons (QP) under National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

About Stornoway Diamond Corporation

Stornoway is a leading Canadian diamond exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY and headquartered in Montreal. Our flagship asset is the 100% owned Renard Diamond Project, on track to becoming Quebecs first diamond mine. Stornoway is a growth oriented company with a world-class asset, in one of the worlds best mining jurisdictions, in one of the worlds great mining businesses.

On behalf of the Board

STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION

/s/ Matt Manson

Matt Manson

President and Chief Executive





For more information, please contact Matt Manson (President and CEO) at 416-304-1026 x2101

or Orin Baranowsky (Director, Investor Relations) at 416-304-1026 x2103

or toll free at 1-877-331-2232

Pour plus dinformation, veuillez contacter M. Ghislain Poirier, Vice-president Affaires publiques de Stornoway au 418-254-6550, gpoirier@stornowaydiamonds.com

** Website: www.stornowaydiamonds.com Email: info@stornowaydiamonds.com **

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. This information and these statements, referred to herein as forward-looking statements, are made as of the date of this press release and the Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements with respect to Stornoways objectives for the ensuing year, Stornoways medium and long-term goals, and strategies to achieve those objectives and goals, as well as statements with respect to Stornoways beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the amount of Mineral Resources and exploration targets; (ii) the amount of future production over any period; (iii) net present value and internal rates of return of the mining operation; (iv) assumptions relating to recovered grade, average ore recovery, internal dilution, mining dilution and other mining parameters set out in the 2011 Feasibility Study or the Optimization Study; (v) assumptions relating to gross revenues, operating cash flow and other revenue metrics set out in the 2011 Feasibility Study or the Optimization Study; (vi) mine expansion potential and expected mine life; (vii) expected time frames for completion of permitting and regulatory approval related to construction activities at the Renard Diamond Project; (viii) the expected time frames for the completion of the open pit and underground mine at the Renard Diamond Project; (ix) the expected time frames for the completion of construction, start of mining and commercial production at the Renard Diamond Project and the financial obligations or costs incurred by Stornoway in connection with such mine development; (x) future exploration plans; (xi) future market prices for rough diamonds; (xii) the economic benefits of using liquefied natural gas rather than diesel for power generation; (xiii) sources of and anticipated financing requirements; (xiv) the effectiveness, funding or availability, as the case may require, of the Stream, the Senior Secured Loan, the COF and the Equipment Facility and the use of proceeds therefrom; (xv) the Corporations expectations regarding receipt of the remaining deposits under the Stream and its ability to meet its delivery obligations thereunder; (xvi) the impact of the Financing Transactions on the Corporations operations, infrastructure, opportunities, financial condition, access to capital and overall strategy; (xvii) the foreign exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar; and (xviii) the availability of excess funding for the construction and operation of the Renard Diamond Project . Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as expects, anticipates, plans, projects, estimates, assumes, intends, strategy, goals, objectives, schedule or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions by Stornoway or its consultants and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Stornoway to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business prospects and strategies and the environment in which Stornoway will operate in the future, including the price of diamonds, anticipated costs and Stornoways ability to achieve its goals, anticipated financial performance, regulatory developments, development plans, exploration, development and mining activities and commitments, and the foreign exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollars. Although management considers its assumptions on such matters to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Certain important assumptions by Stornoway or its consultants in making forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) required capital investment and estimated workforce requirements; (ii) estimates of net present value and internal rates of return; (iii) receipt of regulatory approval on acceptable terms within commonly experienced time frames; (iv) anticipated timelines for completion of construction, commencement of mine production and development of an open pit and underground mine at the Renard Diamond Project, which heavily depends, among other things, on adequate availability and performance of skilled labour, engineering and construction personnel, performance of mining and construction equipment and timely delivery of components; (v) anticipated geological formations; (vi) market prices for rough diamonds and the potential impact on the Renard Diamond Project; (vii) the satisfaction or waiver of all conditions under each of the Stream, the Senior Secured Loan, the COF and the Equipment Facility to allow the Corporation to draw on the funding available under those financing elements for the completion of the development and construction of the Renard Diamond Project; (viii) Stornoways interpretation of the geological drill data collected and its potential impact on stated Mineral Resources and mine life; (ix) future exploration plans and objectives; (x) the receipt of the remaining deposits under the Stream and the Corporations ability to meet its delivery obligations thereunder; and (xi) the continued strength of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar. Additional risks are described in Stornoway's most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A, and other disclosure documents available under the Corporations profile at: www.sedar.com.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements as a number of important risk factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not occur, including the assumption in many forward-looking statements that other forward-looking statements will be correct, but specifically include, without limitation: (i) risks relating to variations in the grade, kimberlite lithologies and country rock content within the material identified as Mineral Resources from that predicted; (ii) variations in rates of recovery and breakage; (iii) the uncertainty as to whether further exploration of exploration targets will result in the targets being delineated as Mineral Resources; (iv) developments in world diamond markets; (v) slower increases in diamond valuations than assumed; (vi) risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other currencies relative to the US dollar; (vii) increases in the costs of proposed capital and operating expenditures; (viii) increases in financing costs or adverse changes to the terms of available financing, if any; (ix) tax rates or royalties being greater than assumed; (x) uncertainty of results of exploration in areas of potential expansion of resources; (xi) changes in development or mining plans due to changes in other factors or exploration results; (xii) changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; (xiii) risks relating to the receipt of regulatory approval or the implementation of the existing Impact and Benefits Agreement with aboriginal communities; (xiv) the effects of competition in the markets in which Stornoway operates; (xv) operational and infrastructure risks; (xvi) execution risk relating to the development of an operating mine at the Renard Diamond Project; (xvii) failure to satisfy the conditions to the effectiveness, funding or availability, as the case may require, of each of the Stream, the Senior Secured Loan, the COF and the Equipment Facility; (xviii) changes in the terms of the Stream, the Senior Secured Loan, the COF or the Equipment Facility; (xix) the funds of the Stream, the Senior Secured Loan, the COF or the Equipment Facility not being available to the Corporation; (xx) the Corporation being unable to meet its delivery obligations under the Stream; (xxi) future sales or issuance of Common Shares lowering the Common Share price and diluting the interest of existing shareholders; and (xxi) the additional risks described in Stornoway's most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A and Stornoway's anticipation of and success in managing the foregoing risks. Stornoway cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and unforeseeable, new risks may arise from time to time.




"French gastronomy is an art that has evolved over centuries and that evolution continues today," French Consul General Bertrand Lortholary said last night, as he kicked off the second annual Gout de France ("Good France") dinner, which celebrated French cuisine and culture. "Suffused with that hint of extravagance so necessary for quality, flavor and pleasure, French gastronomy symbolizes the very French synthesis of tradition and innovation, and it stands as testament to our endless pursuit of excellence." So naturally one of the courses was Daniel Boulud's decadently elegant take on veal Orloff, with a gratinee of Comte.

The French Consulate on Fifth Avenue was one of 150 embassiesnot to mention 1,500 restaurantsaround the world taking part in the event. Last year, Gout de France was launched to honor the French gastronomic meal's inclusion in UNESCO's "world intangible heritage list". This year, the feast at the Consulate paid tribute to the three wine-making regions of France that have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List: Saint-Emilion; Burgundy; and Champagne.

The menus have been many months in the making: The evening's co-host, Omar Khan, a consultant and founder of the International Business and Wine Society, says he started talking to the heads of Chateau Cheval Blanc, Domaine Faiveley and Champagne Heidsieck last October to determine what vintages would be part of the night.

Then, Khan consulted with four chefsSebastien Baud of the French Consulate; Frederic Duca of Racines NY in Tribeca; Boulud and Daniel executive Jean-Francois Bruel; and Jimmy Leclerc of Ladureeto create the perfect pairings for the wines. Wine collector George Sape selected the cheeses.



The 2nd Annual Gout de France menu, which featured a very special 1989 vintage of Champagne Charles Heidsieck Brut, 2011 Domaine Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru and a luscious 1998 Chateau Cheval Blanc (Scott Heins / Gothamist)

An hour before dinner service, Consulate Chef Baud paused to take stock of the night's five-course menu, which included his dish of bay scallops in leek foam as the appetizer. "It's very traditional," Baud said. "It's a form of cuisine that was launched by Alain Ducasse, the minister of foreign affairs to promote French gastronomy across the world." He bemoaned that, in many Manhattan kitchens, this kind of cooking has fallen out of style.

"It used to be that you had many French chefs moving about New York, but nowno. And I'd love to see that change."

Duca, head chef at Racines NY, had brought his own dish to last night's dinner: saddle of rabbit stuffed with chard over a cider vinegar jus with sweet potatoes. "French cuisine is simple: it's fundamentally about using good ingredients in the proper season." Duca beamed with pride over his rabbit, but said he couldn't wait for the upcoming spring harvest of green beans, fava beans, and morels.

This is one of many meals, which emphasize other-worldly pairings, that the Consulate hosts throughout the year. One series, Chefs du 934 (the Consulate is at 934 Fifth Avenue), led the Village Voice to wonder, "Is this the best pop-up restaurant in New York City?" Organized by Lortholary, Khan, Sape and Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert, Chefs du 934 is held four times a year, tickets are $150 (reservations can be made on Resy).

"We love those nights, they're all about promoting French restaurant cuisine," Baud said.

As Khan toasted guests, he quoted Brillat-Savarin, "Burgundy makes you think of silly things, Bordeaux makes you talk of them and Champagne makes you do them."
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Felix Coss was struck and killed by an NYPD officer driving a marked police van as he crossed the street in Williamsburg in July of 2013. Coss, a 61-year-old Spanish teacher, had the right of way when he was killed. The officer who struck him, Paula Medrano, was never charged, despite a witnesss statement that she was on her cell phone when she failed to yield to Coss in the crosswalk. Coss's family sued the city and Madrano, but the Law Department argues that Coss should have known better than to cross the street with the Walk signal.

They have things in herethat he should have known, that he was engaging in a dangerous activity, the Coss familys attorney Andrew Levine told Streetsblog, referring to the Citys response to the lawsuit. Hes a pedestrian walking across the street with the walk signal.

Graphic video shows Coss crossing Broadway with the right of way and Medrano turning left from Hooper straight into him.

Streetsblog quotes the Law Departments filing:

Plantiff(s) voluntarily performed and engaged in the alleged activity and assumed the risk of the injuries and/or damages claimed. Plaintiff(s) failed to use all required, proper, appropriate and reasonable safety devices and/or equipment and failed to take all proper, appropriate and reasonable steps to assure his/her/their safety  Plaintiff(s) implied assumption of risk caused or contributed, in whole or in part [sic] to his/her/their injuries.

Levine added that the NYPD has (unsurprisingly, in cases like these) failed to turn over evidence in the case, including witness statements.

We believe those statements are going to be very powerful evidence about the conscious pain and suffering that Felix Coss went through, Levine said.

The parties are due in court again next month. The Law Department declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Police arrested an on-duty mailman last week in Crown Heights after he objected to their driving, according to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Adams held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to decry the arrest of Glen Grays, which took place on the afternoon of March 17th.

Adams recounted that Grays, 27, stepped out of his mail truck on President Street at around 4 p.m. as officers in an unmarked car drove by and nearly clipped him. The plainclothes officers later recounted Grays being "loud and boisterous" and cursing at them. A video of the incident purportedly picks up at this point.





The cellphone footage shows the four undercover cops, one of whom Adams says is a lieutenant, surround Grays and demand to see his identification. When he doesn't immediately run back to the mail truck to retrieve it, two officers close in on him, over the objections of gathered bystanders.

"Stop resisting!" one officer repeats as Grays appears to hold his arms stiff while the cop tries to cuff him.

"You're going to get hurt if you don't give me your fucking hands," the other officer says.

After a tense moment, the four officers get Grays in cuffs and march him to their car. Adams said that from there, they drove him to the 71st Precinct station house, leaving his truck unsecured.

Grays has no criminal history, and was released with a ticket for resisting arrest. Adams called that a way of the NYPD "sweeping the incident under the rug." He is demanding that the officers be reprimanded for what he said is a bogus arrest emblematic of how they deal with predominately African-American and Caribbean residents of Crown Heights.

"It is not against the law to voice outrage after almost being struck by a vehicle," Adams told reporters. "This could have been another Eric Garner situation if Glen hadn't responded as calmly as he did. And if they would do that to Glen in his uniform, they would do that to any person of color in that neighborhood."

Adams was joined at the podium by Grays's mother, Sonya Sapp, and Michael Thomas, Grays's longtime friend.

"I have six boys. Glen is my oldest," Sapp said. "As soon as I saw the video, I immediately started crying, because I worry about all my boys. Every minute, every day, every second."

"Glen told me, 'I thought if I got a job they would leave me alone,'" Thomas said.

Grays attended the press conference, but did not speak because of the pending charge.

Adams, a retired NYPD officer and co-founder of the group 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement Who Care, is scheduled to meet with police Commissioner Bill Bratton on Wednesday to discuss the case.

"We must send a strong message that innocent people should not be put in handcuffs, taken to a precinct, and then attempted to cover it up," he said. "That is unacceptable. This is one step away from Staten Island."
A 14-year-old boy was caught bringing an unloaded 9mm handgun to his Crown Heights school Tuesday. Officers confiscated the gun, along with two partially loaded magazines, from the student's backpack just before 1 p.m. yesterday at the Dr. Gladstone H. Atwell Middle School, according to the police.

The News reports that the student went to see the school's dean, "claiming he was having trouble with kids outside the school." When the dean pulled the student aside and asked whether or not he had a weapon, the 14-year-old replied "You know me."

"This is profoundly disturbing and we are working in close partnership with NYPD to investigate this incident," Education Department spokeswoman Toya Holness said in a statement. "There is zero tolerance for weapons of any kind and nothing is more important than the safety of all students and staff. Families will be notified and we are providing additional supports to the school community."

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that the boy has been charged with second and fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon, as well as criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds and unlawful possession of a weapon on school grounds.

The incident marks the third time in a week that a New York City student has been caught bringing a gun to school. Last week an 11-year-old 5th grader carried a loaded handgun to school in Queens, flashing it in front of his classmates before authorities could confiscate it. In a separate incident, a Queens 15-year-old brought a .38 calibur handgun to York Early College Academy in Jamaica, Queens. Following the incident, Holness told the Times This is deeply alarming and we are working closely with NYPD to ensure that all students and staff are safe.
State and county prosecutors are investigating the police chief of an affluent, overwhelmingly white northern New Jersey town after the ACLU publicized a 2014 email attributed to him, in which he encourages officers to racially profile people. Wyckoff police Chief Benjamin Fox has temporarily stepped down pending the outcome of a Bergen County and state Attorney General's Office investigation. The ACLU of New Jersey says someone passed the email on to them last week, and they publicized it on Tuesday.

Sent as protests over the police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown were gridlocking New York City bridges and highways, what is purportedly Fox's email [pdf] reads as follows:

I think that most police officers are finding the national rhetoric about police abuse and racial profiling quite upsetting. Profiling, racial or otherwise, has it's place in law enforcement when used correctly and applied fairly. Unfortunately we have never heard that from our President, top political leaders or our US Attorney General. Don't ask the police to ignore what we know. Black gang members from Teaneck commit burglaries in Wyckoff. That's why we check out suspicious black people in white neighborhoods. White kids buy heroin in black NYC neighborhoods. That's why the NYPD stops those white kids. The police know they are there to buy drugs. It's insane to think that the police should just "dumb down" just to be politically correct. The public wants us to keep them safe and I'm confident that they want us to use our skills and knowledge to attain that goal.

My major concern is that all of this misguided complaining about police officers will cause an officer to react slower to something you might perceive as a threat. That delay could be deadly.

Continue to do your job relying on your training, instincts and knowledge:

A common thread in the recent national incidents are persons who resist the police. That resistance then creates your counter reaction. We don't run from fights.

This department has a history of being respected by the public. Each of you contribute to that daily. Continue to be fair with people and treat them with respect. If someone resists your authorized demands, use your counter reaction as the law allows and you have my 100% support should others complain. If you have done your job correctly, they don't want to get me on the other end of the phone.

Above all, do what you have to do and that which the law allows you to do to remain safe.

Notably, while Fox makes nods to following the law in "fighting" recalcitrant suspects, the "suspicious" in front of "black people" is the only indication that he supports or understands the concept of probable cause, and given the context, it's an open question whether "suspicious" is being used to modify "black people" or whether the two are one and the same in his mind.

The ACLU says that the email shows violations of state and federal prohibitions against racial profiling in policing, as well as a 2005 state attorney general policy further spelling out what you can't do when it comes to racially motivated policing. The group is demanding that, if the email is determined to be legit, Fox be fired, his officers retrained, and the department audited for biased policing and use of force.

"When you look at everything we know about the kind of policing that fosters trust between officers and communities, this email shows Wyckoff heading in the opposite direction," ACLU staff Attorney Alexander Shalom said in a statement. Encouraging police officers to act with racial bias is unacceptable. Sowing mistrust at this level damages civil rights, and it threatens public safety by diminishing the faith people have in the police."

Wyckoff is a town of 17,000 located 50 minutes west of New York. It is 93.5 percent white, and 0.6 percent African American (the police department's leadership seems pretty white too), with a median income of $141,964. The town's Township Committee held an emergency meeting on Tuesday night to talk about the email. Fox attended and asked to go on administrative leave pending the investigation. NorthJersey.com reported that he said the time off would allow him to "explain the contents of his email and demonstrate that neither he nor our police department has ever condoned or engaged in profiling."

A joint statement by local and state prosecutors made it sound like the email will be tough to explain away.

"On its face, the email appears to be a clear violation of the Attorney Generals policy strictly prohibiting racial profiling by police officers," acting Attorney General Robert Lougy and acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said.

Nevertheless, NorthJersey.com found a policing expert willing to defend Fox's alleged conduct:

Tom OReilly, the director the Police Institute at Rutgers University, said this can be a fine line to walk for officers on the street. We expect the officers to use their training and experience to identify potential threats to public safety. If those threats are based on his experience  and the behavior of the subject  than its not racial profiling, OReilly said. [But] if the only reason he stops an individual is because of what their ethnicity is or how theyre dressed, then that individual perhaps may have crossed the line. OReilly, who was unfamiliar with the case, said Foxs use of the word suspicious, as well as the emails asking that officers rely on their training, makes it reasonably balanced. But could Fox have chosen better examples? Perhaps so, in todays context, said OReilly.



The ACLU is now seeking Wyckoff police records on arrests, use of force, stop and frisk, training materials, and emails with the word "profiling." It is also reiterating its demand that the state attorney general require New Jersey police departments to collect and publish data on summonses, force, and other aspects of law enforcement, including racial information.

A Wyckoff police spokeswoman told Gothamist she did not know whether Fox's leave is paid or unpaid. He reportedly makes $174,000 a year.
We thought it might never happen, but relative sunlight has returned to bestow upon our Vitamin D-starved flesh the glory of its rays. With it, the flavors of spring have begun to creep onto cocktail menus, taking advantage of seasonal produce or enlivening our livers with copious quantities of tequila (and gin). Our preferred warm weather cocktail is a foam cup of Bud Light in McCarren Park, but for the more refined palate, here are some places to enjoy the bounty of this new season.



(Kimberly Mufferi)

Williamsburg hotel restaurant Oleanders at the McCarren Hotel and Pool isn't afraid to embrace the neighborhood's intractable stereotypes on its cocktail menu, recently introducing a Hipster Reviver ($14), their version of a Corpse Reviver 2. Local Dorothy Parker Gin mixes with Cocchi Americano, Cointreau and lemon juice, then gets finished off with a spritz of St. George Absinthe. If the Green Fairy isn't for you, opt for the Into The Pines ($14), with Martin Miller's Gin, Linie Aquavit, Zirbenz Pine Liqueur, lime juice and cane sugar. 160 North 12th Street, Williamsburg, (718) 218-7500



(courtesy Belle Shoals)

In another section of the neighborhood, newly-minted Southern cocktail bar Belle Shoals kickstarts their cocktail menu with something called the Devil's Music ($13), which sounds rowdy but also includes kale as an ingredient (OG Williamsburg will never die). To the vegetation, Ilegal Mezcal and Roca Patron Tequilamade by crushing agave between two volcanic stonesboth the devil's playthings, plus some hellfire from Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur and a squirt of lime juice. If that doesn't make you wanna dance, consider their shot gun shell shooters. 10 Hope Street, Williamsburg, (718) 218-6027



(courtesy Jue Lan Club)

Tequila and something spicy are a common spring cocktail trend and Flatiron's Jue Lan Club embraces it with gusto. Their Madame Adventurist ($14) employs two heat elements (Ancho Reyes and Szechuan Chili) with one flora (hibiscus) and one sweet (agave) component. The cocktail is tied together with Herradura Tequila and served on the rocks. 49 West 20th Street, Flatiron, (646) 524-7409

The San Juan Bautista ($19) at Salinas in Chelsea hits many of the major flavor elements, including spicy-sweet (wasabi-agave), savory (cucumber juice), tart (grapefruit juice) and sour (rice vinegar). The inspiration for this Alacran Blanco Tequila-based cocktail, if you're curious, is the cucumber sushi roll, hence the ginger salt and lime juice rim. If that's too adventurous, explore the restaurant's Spanish origins with the Primavera de Nueva York ($18), made with Do Ferreiro Orujo de Galicia brandy, Atxa Vino Vermouth Blanco, Orchard Apricot Liqueur, Luxardo and Bar Keep Saffron Bitters. 136 9th Avenue, Chelsea, (212) 776-1990



(courtesy American Whiskey)

The Tall and Handsome ($15) at American Whiskey is a portent of summer, when frozen rum drinks flow from churning dispensers and we're all a little more carefree (and intoxicated). In advance of that wonderful season, try this crushed ice beauty swizzle cocktail with Plantation pineapple rum, lime, cinnamon syrup and two types of bitters for balance and color. Our friend absinthe makes another appearance here as a rinse for the finished product. 247 West 30th Street, Midtown West, (212) 967-1070

Fung Tu on the LES is also dreaming of balmy summer days with the High 5 ($13), a Chinese-inspired daiquiri-style drink by Phillip Szabados and Justin Hampton. Five spice-infused Jamaican rum gets further spiced with warming ginger and a star anise garnish, plus some fresh lime juice for added zip. Sweet drink avoiders should try the Baijiu Bijou #2 ($13) using China's often intense baijiu spirit as a base. Add to that Yellow Chartreuse, Bonal Gentiane Quina and citrus bitters to complete the journey. 22 Orchard Street, LES, 212-219-8785



(courtesy The Gilroy)

The cocktail trend has been flourishing on the Upper East Side, thanks in no small part to The Gilroy, which has been shaking things up since 2014. Their negroni program is in full effect this spring, with a White Negroni ($14) added to the list that uses White Pike Whisky, Suze, and Lillet Blanc. And ahoy '90s kids: their Cheer Up, Daria ($14) drink has been boozified with Spring44 vodka in addition to the ginger, lime, pineapple juice and the house made spiced demerara. 1561 2nd Avenue, UES, (212) 734-8800



(courtesy VANDAL)

Don't get the wrong idea after several cocktails and start tagging the walls at VANDAL, chef Chris Santos/TAO Group's Bowery clubstaurant. But do imbibe their new Sergeant Bell Pepper ($16) offering that uses bell pepper juice with firebird chili as its base along with The Botanist Gin, lemon, black pepper tincture and simple syrup. The savory-esque cocktail also gets finished with a few drops of spicy Thai Chili oil for heat and lusciousness. 199 Bowery, LES, (212) 400-0199



(Brendan Burke)

Though it's known as a tequila bar, Anjeo in Tribeca is experimenting with a different T this season: tea. The Tea Thyme ($14), as the name implies, includes both matcha tea and a thyme syrup, together creating a jewel-toned drink that'll give you a boost of energy from the tea's caffeine to boot. Bulldog Gin serves as the boozy base and lime juice and club soda are added for brightness and a fizz. 301 Church Street, Tribeca, (212) 920-6270



(Long Island Bar)

Sandeman Porto Founders Reserve wasn't something we were familiar with but the port wine is popping up on several spring cocktail menus, including Cobble Hill's The Long Island Bar. There, Timothy Miner's using the port as a foil to gin for The Siege of Lisbon ($12), shaking them with lemon juice, simple syrup and bitters until frothy. It's not on the menu, but ask the mixologists at Mace to make you a Sandeman Sour ($13) and you'll get another interpretation that includes aquavit and Fernet. 110 Atlantic Avenue, Cobble Hill, (718) 625-8908 // 649 East 9th Street, East Village, (212) 673-1190

It's actually inspired by Walt Whitman but something about the Leaves of Grass also smacks of another springtime favorite: freshly cut grass. Either way, Michelin-starred Clinton Hill restaurant The Finch is giving us some green to add to Bison Grass vodka, including Pear Williams eau de vie, lime and chamomile; sounds relaxing. On top, a floater of Basque cider for bubbles and a garnish of fresh rosemary, adding to the earthy qualities. 212 Greene Avenue, Clinton Hill, (718) 218-4444
Culture

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FLORENCE -- In Florence, there are two men whose lives are caught up in the growing effort to rein in the illegal use of prescription painkillers.
BILLINGS -- The number of influenza cases in Montana continues to be lower for the season than in years past, even as state health officials anticipate a possible spike this spring.

"This season really got off to a slow start," said Stacy Anderson, an epidemiologist with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. "But statewide, we don't feel that we've hit the peak of the season yet."

Flu season in Montana typically runs from October until June. DPHHS began recording cases in September. Through March 12, the most recent numbers available, the department reported 1,458 confirmed cases and 134 hospitalizations, along with five deaths.

The H1N1 influenza A strain is the most common this year.

By comparison, Montana saw nearly 450 flu-related hospitalizations by mid-February of the 2014-15 season.

However, Anderson also noted that the number of flu cases reported weekly has been increasing across the state recently.

"For the last three weeks or so, we've been at widespread activity," she said. "... The trends we're seeing here are very similar to the rest of the country."

Widespread flu activity means outbreaks or increases in laboratory-confirmed flu cases in at least half of the state's regions. Across the U.S., only 11 states and Guam are listed as having flu activity lower than widespread.

Effective vaccine

While it's difficult to pinpoint exactly why the flu season has been so slow to start, Anderson said the flu vaccine issued this year might be playing a role.

Seasonal flu vaccines typically contain either three or four strains of the flu that research indicates will be the most common in a given season, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If a virus changes or a different strain becomes widespread, the vaccine might not be as effective, but that doesn't appear to be the case this year.

"It's a very good match," Anderson said.

According to the CDC, the vaccine reduces the risk of flu by 50 to 60 percent in the overall population in years when the vaccine viruses and circulating viruses match up.

The vaccine for the 2014-2015 season reduced the risk of flu by only 23 percent, one of the worst effectiveness rates in a decade, according to a CDC report.

Anderson said that even with lower numbers this year so far, confirmed cases are on the rise through much of Montana. Taking precautions, including vaccination and regularly washing hands to avoid the flu will help people stay healthy, she said.
The historic visit of a sitting U.S. president to Havana, which should have come a half-century sooner, will almost surely hasten the day when Cubans are free from the Castro government's suffocating repression.

President Obama's whirlwind trip is the culmination of his common-sense revamping of U.S. policy toward Cuba. One outdated, counterproductive relic of the Cold War remains  the economic embargo forbidding most business ties with the island nation  and the Republican-controlled Congress won't even consider repealing it. But Obama, using his executive powers, has been able to re-establish full diplomatic relations, practically eliminate travel restrictions and substantially weaken the embargo's grip.

All of which is long overdue. The United States first began to squeeze the Castro government, with the hope of forcing regime change, in 1960. It should be a rule of thumb that if a policy is an utter failure for more than 50 years, it's time to try something else.

I say this as someone with no illusions about President Raul Castro, the spectral but still-powerful Fidel Castro or the authoritarian system they created and wish to perpetuate.

Hours before Obama's arrival Sunday, police and security agents roughly arrested and hauled away members of the Ladies in White dissident group as they conducted their weekly protest march.

I wrote a book about Cuba, and each time I went to the island for research I gained more respect and admiration for the Cuban people -- and more contempt for the regime that so cynically and capriciously smothers their dreams. Those 10 trips convinced me, however, that the U.S. policy of prohibiting economic and social contact between Americans and Cubans was, to the Castro brothers, the gift that kept on giving.

I saw how the "menace" of an aggressive, threatening neighbor to the north was used as a justification for repression. We'd love to have freedom of the press, freedom of association and freedom of assembly, the government would say, but how can we leave our beloved nation so open, and so vulnerable, when the greatest superpower on earth is trying to destroy our heroic revolution?

Most of the Cubans I met were not fooled by such doublespeak. But they did have a nationalistic love for their country, and their nation was, indeed, under economic siege.

There are those who argue that Obama could have won more concessions from the Castro regime in exchange for improved relations. But this view ignores the fact that our posture of unmitigated hostility toward Cuba did more harm to U.S. interests than good. Relaxing travel restrictions for U.S. citizens can only help flood the island with American ideas and values. Permitting such an influx could be the biggest risk the Castro brothers have taken since they led a ragtag band of guerrillas into the Sierra Maestra Mountains to make a revolution.

Why would they now take this gamble? Because they have no choice. The Castro regime survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of huge annual subsidies from the Eastern Bloc, but the Cuban economy sank into depression. Copious quantities of Venezuelan oil, provided by strongman Hugo Chavez (who was Fidel Castro's protege), provided a respite. But now Chavez is gone, Venezuela is an economic ruin and Cuba has no choice but to monetize the resource it has in greatest abundance, human capital. From the Castros' point of view, better relations with the United States must now seem unavoidable.

It is possible that Raul Castro, who has promised to resign in 2018, will seek to move the country toward the Chinese model: a free-market economic system overseen by an authoritarian one-party government. Would this fully satisfy those who want to see a free Cuba? No. Would it be a tremendous improvement over the poverty and oppression Cubans suffer today? Absolutely.

Fidel Castro will be 90 in August; Raul is just five years younger. At some point in the not too distant future, we will see whether Castroism can survive without a living Castro.

And speaking of applause, did you see the rapturous welcome the president and his family received in Havana? Cubans seem to have a much more clear-eyed and hopeful view than Obama's shortsighted critics.
In reality, the complex had to do with books only in name

In 2014, the company presented to the municipality a project to build the Book World multifunctional complex. Though no construction work is underway and the construction permit has expired, if the company were to decide one day to begin construction, the construction project authorized with the city is for a 13-storey business project, only the name of which has to do with books.

An excerpt from the architectural construction section reads as follows: "The building is designed with one basement and 12 above-ground floors The building's first and second floors are planned as commercial spaces; the third floor, a cafe; from the fourth to the twelfth floor, office spaces."

Asked why the multifunctional complex is called Book World and what it would have to do with books, Kostandyan said, "The plan was to build the Book World multifunctional complex, where there was supposed to be a bookstore."

That there was going to be a bookstore in the building was not mentioned in any of the project documents. And if books are to be sold in any of the commercial spaces, that doesn't make the building a "book world." The books would be part of the multi-story business center only as much as, say, the cafe.

Book World: A means to sell the land without a request for proposals

Let us explain why it was called an investment program. Book World wasn't the compensation measure for the area sold to the company. It was the rationale or purpose for expropriating the area. It was the company's forthcoming investment, which, as we saw, was not carried out. But, it's due to raffling Book World that the company privatized the land and compensated the land price with non-competitive prices.

And so, with the government's first decision, as a land compensation measure, Sohocenter was obligated to build a concert hall and new boiler house for the music school.

The work to build the 288 m2 concert hall and boiler house taken together was estimated at 102 million dram (US$211,000): the cost of the first obligation being about 83 million dram, and the second, 19 million.

The Ministry of Culture had compiled the decision in such a way that it even evoked a sense of debt to the company. It was said that the land market value of Book World was 100 million dram; meanwhile, the cost of the work is 102 million dram, thereby exceeding the value of the acquired land.

Let us stress that the work for the school wasn't preceded by a request for proposals (RFP). Consequently, the cost of the work could've changed, if an RFP was announced and if the bidder had been not only Sohocenter. That wasn't done because the company instead was preparing to make an investment. Also knowing this were those who compiled the project, who made the aforementioned binding estimate.

According to the documents provided by the municipality, Sohocenter received a construction permit for its small-scale undertaking(the construction of the boiler house) in 2012, for six months.

Missing in the boiler house construction documents was the construction permit extension. Tchaikovsky Music School Director Martuni Kostandyan, in response to Hetq's query, said the boiler house was built in 2014. That is to say, with a delay of almost two years.

Are the boiler house construction costs equivalent to the work carried out? We can't say. The cost assessment was done by Seysmanvtangutyun LLC, which SoHoCenter paid for the respective service. The investigative body did not provide a negative opinion on the estimate costs.

The person complaining of a bad job should've been the school principal. But, in this case, he would've had to be displeased with his brother, since Nikolai Kostandyan is Martuni Kostandyan's brother.

Compensation, ultimately, became the musical instruments: no photographs allowed

The term for the company to fulfill its obligations was defined as 2.5 years from the date the contracts were signed. They were signed about four months after the decision. One is the Property Expropriation and Collateral Agreement, which expropriated the land and put it up for collateral until the fulfillment of obligations. The second was the General Contract Agreement, which obligated the contractor, SoHoCenter, to carry out construction of the boiler house and concert hall, and receive the land as a means of payment.

Two years later, in 2014, when only a few months were left for the deadline to build the concert hall, the Ministry of Culture "came to the rescue." A new project was proposed, which replaced construction of the concert hall with the phrase "capital renovation." What was capital renovation and what part of the school was going to be renovated? This is stated neither in the decision nor in the agreement to amend the contract.

But this work too, which, according to the contract, was supposed to be completed on May 12, 2015, wasn't carried out. The ministry with the signed contract could've refused the contract and without going to court confiscate the land, but instead, one month after the end of the term, it presented another project to the government. On June 10, 2015, the government adopted decision No. 625-A.

According to the new decision, "capital renovation" was replaced with a new commitment: the acquisition of musical instruments for the Tchaikovsky Music School. In response to Hetq's query, the government said the amendment was made based on an application submitted by the principal of the music school, Martuni Kostandyan.

In 2015, a new contract was signed between the Ministry of Culture and Sohocenter, which obliged the company to purchase musical instruments for the school with a total value of 83 million dram by February 12, 2016. Principal Kostandyan assures us that all the instruments are in the school's storage, only the "paperwork" remains to be done. Asked whether the instruments could be photographed, Kostandyan first replied that he has to check, then later called and said he is opposed to the filming.

"Let me put it to you this way. To be honest, the school is being renovated, it's in a catastrophic state, and also I wouldn't want [you to take photographs] as promotion," he says.

Martuni Kostandyan (photo: designdeluxegroup.com)

Asked whether the instruments are currently being used, the principal says, "Yeah, yeah, the media even came and filmed the five-octave marimba, which is the only one in the country  neither the Philharmonic nor the Opera building has an instrument of this caliber. Within the scope of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, related to the renovation, they filmed the percussions class, where all the percussion instruments are placed, which the children play."

But how were they given permission to film? Weren't there the same problems related to the renovation, or wasn't that promotion? The principal replied, "Well, it was filming Now don't misunderstand: it's a big marimba, a marimba is something else, violins are another. I, simply as the principal, am telling you, a journalist, the instruments are, in fact, with me, as a legal document, you can write to me, and I will reply with great pleasure because I have absolutely nothing to hide. The children will be playing on those instruments; I just don't want us to take photographs."

Note, Hetq obtained the list of instruments received in the first stage, when the term of the contract wasn't yet expired, from both the Ministry of Culture and the school. Everything is in order on paper: according to the supplement to the contract, the acquired are an expensive set of instruments, mainly from the Netherlands-based company Adams Musical Instruments.

Asked whether he considers these good-quality instruments equivalent to their price, Martuni Kostandyan, the principal, who is a musician by profession, replied, "I can't tell you in terms of price because I'm not a professional, I'm a violinist by profession, but now the same goods can be two-hundred dollars more, two-hundred dollars less Now this is a market, I can't say, but that they're good-quality instruments and there are very serious instruments among them."

Book Worlds property land might suffer same fate as 25 Pushkin St.

Sohocenter was founded the year of the government decision, "appearing" at the right time. Company co-founder and currently 50% shareholder Hmayak Avagyan is also the co-founder of Dialab and Diagen Plus diagnostic centers. As for how he, from the healthcare sector, presented a cultural investment program, only he can say, but he categorically refuses to talk about this program. Asked why the Book World construction project hasn't been carried out yet, Avagyan replied, "I can't give you any information," later adding that he has to consult with the other founder.

To the observation that half of the company's shares have belonged to him from the beginning, and he's the only participant who is part of the companytill today, he said: "I can't say anything, now I can't say, I can't give you information, ok?" Asked if itspossible to talk after he consults with the other founder, he replied: "It's pointless; all the same, I can't say."

The company's other founder, Gor Davtyan, whom Hetq has written about, is currently the president of AOKS, a company founded by Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan and presidential advisor Armen Smbadyan; that is, their old colleague. He was part of Sohocenter (as a 50% shareholder) until November 30, 2012, though there's a connection till today.

Davtyan owns 100% of the shares of Audit Service, a company currently operating at the address that, according to the state registry, is the business and legal address of Sohocenter LLC.

This address, 47/7 Movses Khorenatsi St. Apt. 46, according to information supplied by the Cadastre, belongs to Nvard Karapetyan, who is the co-founder of a company (already liquidated), the legal address of which is Gor Davtyan's apartment.

Davtyan's shares were acquired in 2014 (presumably through a sale) first by Hayk Khalafyan, then by Arman Petrosyan, both of whom are businessmen. Petrosyan is the former shareholder of Lev and Dav Group, which is building a hotel complex at neighboring 25 Pushkin Street. In April 2013, there was an uproar surrounding the building designed by Alexander Tamanian located at this address: it was on the list of historical and cultural monuments, but the Ministry of Culture took no action at the time. Despite activists' protest, it was demolished, with construction of the hotel complex beginning in its place.

Note that Petrosyan's Lev and Dav Group went bankrupt in 2015, then was restructured as a new company, L&D, the only shareholder of which is currently Nune Sahakyan, the wife of businessman Stepan Akoyan, who is MP Aragats Akhoyan's brother. While Petrosyan, who was not part of the company after the bankruptcy, acquired half of Sohocenter's shares. It's not ruled out that the land at 36 Yeznik Khoghbatsi St. will ultimately form part of the hotel complex, and the Book World investment program will end there.

Top photo (from left): Former Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan, Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, PM Hovik Abrahamyan
Artsakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Karen Mirzoyan today met with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Stepanakert and diuscussed issues related to a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, this according to the Artsakh Foreign Ministry.

The two ministers stressed the importance of working in a coordinated fashion on the world stage for this objective and discussed how their two ministries could improve and expand the cooperation that exists between them.

Photo: Ministers Nalbandian and Mirzoyan
By Markar Melkonian

For over a century, Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds have been drowning in Americas alligator tears

On Monday, March 14, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution describing the violence committed by Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) against Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq as genocide.

The director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) echoed the view of many Armenians when he welcomed the vote as powerful encouragement for U.S. leadership in ending genocidal attacks. The vote, however, is a nonbinding advisory that doesnt mandate anything. (Washington Post, March 15, 2016.)

The following Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry followed suit, formally designating Daesh violence against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims as genocide. Meanwhile, Washington and its regional confederates continue to support rebel forces that have aligned themselves with Daesh to fight againsttheir worst enemy, the Syrian Army.

The absurdity of the American rhetoric should be obvious: the violence against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiites in Syria would not be taking place if it were not for Americas trillion-dollar warmongering in half a dozen countries in the Middle East in the past dozen years. Indeed, it was this warmongering that brought Daesh into existence in the first place.

Take Syria, for example. Until recently, that country was home to vibrant Armenian communities comprising some 200,000 of our compatriots. The good people of Syria, Christian and Muslim, were friends and neighbors of Armenians. Like Armenians, they too had suffered terribly under Turkish rule, and they extended a hand to us in our darkest hour.

Since 2003, Syria has also been a place of refuge for tens of thousands of Iraqis fleeing the second American war in Iraq. Those tens of thousand huddled into overcrowded neighborhoods in Damascus and other cities. Many of them were Christians; others were Sunni Muslims who had been forced out of the mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods where their families had lived in peace for generations. As refugees in Syria, they survivedinjam-packed housing, without jobs, medical care, or schools for their children. In time, exhaustion and fear gave way to anger.

In the run-up to the carnage in Syria, the U.S. State Department and themainstream presshurled inflammatory accusationsat the Bashar Assad regime. Chief among these accusations was the claim that the Syrian Army had used chemical weapons against civilians.Such horrific crimes, the Americans said, demanded regime change in Damascus.

And so it was that the Americans provided tens of millions of dollars worth of recruitment outreach for the international jihadists. Heeding the call for jihad in Syria, thousands of recruits from dozens of countries made their way to Turkey. Americas allies in Ankara provided a secure rear base for cross-border attacks; the Americans provided weapons to these rebels, and the CIA provided training. In short order, much of that weaponry and personnel ended up inDaesh camps.

Assad denied that his army had launched the chemical attacks. He provided evidence to support his denial, and in turn accused the rebels of the attacks. American spokesmen scoffed at his denial and claimed that the rebels did not possess the resources to produce such weapons. (Opposition: Only Syrian gov't can produce, use stock, WMDs, http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Syrian-government-claims-to-find-chemical-agents-in-rebel-tunnel-324110, August 24, 2013)

Fast-forward to March 12 of this year, when western journalists reported the use of chemical weapons by the rebels, including two March 12 attacks near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, in which 600 civilians were injured and a child was killed. Now, it seems, even the mainstream media acknowledges what it denied three years ago: the rebelsdo indeed have chemical weapons after all. Still, the objective journalistshavenotdrawn out the implications of their own admission: if the Americans really were so very concerned about the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, then they should immediately cease support for the rebelsaligned with Daesh.

This has not happened, of course, and by 2016 it didnt matter anyway. Once againWashingtons neocons havesuccessfully conjuredup another war, and this time they achieved their goal of crippling the Syrian armed forces. The neoconsdo not needto acknowledge the truth of the matter, let alone apologize for anything.

On the contrary, according to the neocon playbook, the peoples of the Middle East owe America a great debt of gratitude. In June 2006, while Americas surrogates in Tel Aviv were once again shredding and burninghundreds of civilians in Lebanon, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that, what were seeing here, in a sense, is the growingthe birth pangsof a New Middle East. As Rice saw it, the danger at that time was not the maiming of thousands of children in Lebanon, but rather the prospect of a pre-mature ceasefire. The George W. Bush administration insisted that the Israelis must be given enough time and weapons to complete their work in Lebanon. So day after day, for a month that summer, the Americans protected their Zionist surrogate from even mild criticism, while in a sense the bombs rained down on civilians.

That summer, an audience of many millions followed the news from Lebanon. Two summers later they followed news about the bombing of Gaza, and two years after that they followed the news about more bombings in Lebanon. And on and on it went, as it had gone on for six decades before that.

Meanwhile, an army of experts in think tanks, universities, and intelligence agencies were busy trying to explain why the Arab street did not feel gratitude. It seems there was something resentful and irrational about Arab culture. Perhaps a team of Arabists in Tel Aviv or Langley, Virginianeeded to use social media more skillfully, to change the narrative.

In the following years, even as Rices New Middle East collapsed in flames, commentators in the corporate media congratulated America for bringing on the Arab Spring.Like RicesNew Middle East, the Arab Spring came courtesy of America. At least this was the story,according to the famously modest Americans themselves. President Bushs deputy national security advisor Elliott Abrams wrotein January 2011 that, the revolt in Tunisia, the gigantic wave of demonstrations in Egypt and the more recent marches in Yemen all make clear that Bush had it right. (Elliot Abrams, Egypt Protests Show George W. Bush Was Right about Freedom in the Arab World. The Washington Post, Jan. 29, 2011)Bush speechwriter Peter Wehner celebrated the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt as avindication for Bushs freedom agenda. Vice President Dick Cheney exulted: I think that what happened in Iraq, the fact that we brought democracy, if you will, and freedom to Iraq, has had a ripple effect on some of those other countries.

And so, according to the neocons and the experts on TV, the Arab Spring confirmed Americas special role in bringing democracy, if you will, and freedom to the Middle East. After a million deaths, millions of refugees, and tens of millions of destroyed lives,this is the lesson that they say they have learned.

Under these circumstances, it would be foolish to expect American foreign policy to change any time soon. They will continue their rampage as long as they think they can get away with it.

Of course, America did have something to do with the uprisings in Tunis and Cairo. There was indeed a ripple effect, but it was not exactly the way Cheney described it. American tutelage in Egypt and Tunisiahad exacerbatedpoverty and social displacement andproduced high youth unemployment and rising food prices. Thus, it magnified widespread disgust with dictators and kings. The Mubarak regime in Egypthad for decades been the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, a distant second from Israel. The aid went predominantly to the Egyptian army, the core of a deep state that wasready for deployment just as soon as democracy failed to serve the interests of the imperialists.

And that is exactly what took place in July 2013, when General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and his forces overthrew the elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi. When the army crushed protests and jailed thousands of demonstrators, the same neocons who had taken credit for the Arab Spring suddenlyleaped up to applaud.

Some readers might recall that in the late 1980s everyone agreed that communism was dead, in fact and in theory. And no item of communist propaganda was more ridiculous, more baldly false, than the claim that Americawas run by warmongers who used the charge of Soviet aggression as a pretext for their own aggression. Counter-revolutionaries in cities like Yerevan laughed at the suggestion that America--that glittering beacon of freedom and democracy,the home of Disneyland, Las Vegas, and the eternally desirable MTV--was an imperialist state.

Since then, a new generation has come of age in cities like Yerevan, a generation for whom capitalism is not a distant dreamland but an all-too-tangible reality. Members of this generation, born into capitalism, have witnessed the procession of one American war after another. They know that the testimony of their daily lives is not communist propaganda, because they have heard only capitalist propaganda. Faced with this disconnection between reality and rhetoric, they may now compare the democracy-and-freedom picture of America to the communist view of American imperialism. Who has been proven right after all--the communists or the counter-revolutionaries? And who was dead wrong?

For over a century, Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds have been drowning in Americas alligator tears. Now we have an announcement that Daesh is committing genocide. Apologies to the ANCA spokesperson, but a correction is in order: America doesnt lead in ending genocidal attacks: America leads in setting the stage for genocidal attacks.

In so doing, the Americans neocons have foistedrefugeemayhemonto Europe, mayhem that they expect the Europeans to deal with. Five years of war in Syria have produced some 4.2 million refugees. Armenia has received more than 17,000 of them. (http://www.un.am/en/agency/UNHCR) America, by contrast, has received some 2290 refugees since 2011 (Time, Nov. 30, 2015)less than one-seventh of the number that Armenia has received.The Home of the Brave, it seems, is seized with fear about homeland security.

The blessed few refugees who are lucky enough to find themselves in the United Statesknow what they are required to do. They understand that they must now express gratitude to those who destroyed their homes, jobs, and neighborhoods in their ancestral land. There they are on the local television news: a family ofYazidis,Alawites, or Armenians--three generations perched on a donated sofa in a living room in San Diego or Omaha, Nebraska. A twenty-something son or daughter describesthe lake of fire they have traversed, the family and friends they have lost; the atrocities they have witnessed.

How very grateful they are to be in a decent, safe, prosperous Land of Opportunity. The deer-in-the-headlights grandmother sits uncomprehending: after six, seven, or eight decades in her homeland, she will die a stranger in a strange land. And here we have a scene of the youngsters playing video games. They will adapt and do well in school, and perhaps in thirty years one of them will own an auto stereo shop. And that will all go to show how, in the Land of Opportunity, anything is possible.

And so, having performed the required act of self-abasement, the final phase of humiliation is complete.But dont ever expect the slightest expression of regret from the neocons: American imperialism is like lovethey never have to say theyre sorry.

But what good is all of this recrimination, all of this finger pointing? After all, whats done is done. Our communities in Iraq and Syria are gone: homes, neighborhoods, community centers, churches, schools, the work of generations--all gone. Too bad, but whats the use in crying? Let us save our tears for April 24. Maybe some day the Americans who destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of Armenians in Iraq and Syria will recognize the Armenian genocide, and all will be well on Earth.

So why should be play the blame-game?

One obvious answer is that the finger pointing is really a search for a causal explanation of our current situation. The New World Order, the New Middle East, the Arab Spring--we need to understand where the neocons are trying to take us, and what is at stake for Armenia.

Or have we reached a point where we no longer even expect to understand what is happening to us?

There is another answer to this question, a related answer that can be put in two syllables: Iran. Having bestowed the blessings of freedom and democracy on Iraq, Libya, and Syria, the neocons are now pushing their plan to plunge Iran into a bloodbath. And they have the ears of both of the 2016 American presidential candidates.

Markar Melkonian is a philosophy instructor and an author. His books include Richard Rortys Politics: Liberalism at the End of the American Century (1999), Marxism: A Post-Cold War Primer (Westview Press, 1996), and My Brothers Road (2005).
Security along the Lancang-Mekong River has improved greatly since China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand established a law enforcement cooperation mechanism to combat rampant cross-border crime.

Before this, the number of cross-border crimes on the river - including drug-trafficking, terror attacks, smuggling of firearms and humans, and illegal immigration-had risen sharply, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

"Such crimes tend to become severe and complex on the river, posing a serious threat to regional security and stability," said a senior official at the ministry, who declined to be named.

In October 2011, the four countries agreed in Beijing to set up a law enforcement cooperation mechanism, under which they conduct joint patrols to combat cross-border crimes along the river.

The decision was taken after 13 Chinese sailors were killed by a drug trafficking ring in the Golden Triangle area of the river, comprising parts of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

"The law enforcement mechanism has played an essential role in maintaining safety and promoting economic prosperity," the official said.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, between December 2011 and last year, the four countries conducted 41 joint law enforcement activities on the river. These greatly reduced cross-border crime.

In the past four years, they have uncovered more than 9,000 cross-border drug-trafficking cases, arrested more than 10,000 suspects and seized 36 metric tons of drugs on the river. They also rescued 135 commercial ships targeted by drug traffickers and other organized gangs.

Yang Yun, a Chinese businessman who runs a shop that sells daily necessities in Guanlei port, Yunnan province, said, "Since the four countries began law enforcement cooperation in 2011, security on the river has greatly improved. Wholesalers from Laos, Myanmar and Thailand now come to China to buy goods each month, and I benefit a lot."

Wang Ronghua, a Chinese crew member who has helped to transport goods on the river for more than five years, said, "Before this, commercial ships were subjected to extortion and blackmail on the river and were also charged protection fees."

To further enhance judicial cooperation, the ministry said China will set up a comprehensive law enforcement center in Jinghong, Yunnan, to strengthen intelligence exchanges with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Three information-sharing branch centers will be set up in the three countries to help with intelligence analysis and case investigation. The ministry will also send law enforcement officers to the river to handle cross-border crimes promptly.

China Coast Guard members on a patrol boat take part in a joint law enforcement cooperation mission on the Lancang-Mekong River in Yunnan province in December. Hu Chao / Xinhua

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page3)
The Director General of UNESCO and a Bulgarian candidate for UN Secretary General, Irina Bokova, owns US$ 4.7 million in properties across London, Paris and New York, despite an estimated family income in recent years of only US$ 2.7 million, reported OCCRP partner center Bivol.

Bokova has been lauded by Sir Graham Watson, a Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, as a seasoned diplomat on EurActiv.com. He said dignitaries such as US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset have praised her work and noted how she was invited to speak at a Global Leaders Summit by US President Obama.

There appears to be a growing international and cross-party consensus that Irina Bokova is not only the best placed candidate for the role [of UN Secretary General], but also the candidate who best fits the bill, said Sir Watson.

However, journalists at Bivol are raising questions as to the origins of Bokovas property wealth. Earlier this year, Bivol published an investigation into her real estate investments in New York. In 2012 and 2014, Bokova and her husband Kalin Mitrev acquired two apartments in Manhattan for US$ 2.5 million dollars. Bokovas son paid off a 2008 mortgage of US$ 600,000 in full.

Bokova explained the purchases were financed with salaries and substantial bonuses she received while she was head of UNESCO. But Bivol says that, based on salary records they have seen, this still does not seem like enough money to finance such large purchases.

A new Bivol investigation revealed Bokova and Mitrev also own a property in London and Paris, in addition to their New York apartments. It estimates they would have had to invest at least US$ 4.7 million cash for their current property portfolio.

The journalists reviewed institutional salary and bonus records for both Bokova and her husbands employment, a long-time director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The couples combined income in the ten years prior to the purchases, when compared against the likely property investment, appears to leave a gap of some US$ 2 million, Bivol said, raising questions as to how Bokova and her husband afforded the properties.

The calculations did not include living expenses and property maintenance costs, likely high given the apartments prestigious locations. Only one of the apartments in New York has an annual maintenance fee of 12,000 US dollars, according to New York City tax registries.

Bivol also subtracted the US$ 600,000 mortgage paid by Bokovas son on his New York apartment from the property totals. Bokova had earlier expressed outrage that her son was being scrutinized.

Income figures were also estimated in Bokovas favour, Bivol said.

OCCRP
A powerful spring storm system will dump more than a foot of snow in central Wisconsin, but the Madison area will see only 1 to 3 inches of snow with plenty of rain, according to forecasters.

After pounding the Central Plains with heavy snow and strong winds Tuesday into Wednesday, prompting blizzard and winter storm warnings for a wide area, the storm will move into northern Illinois early Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said.

Southern Wisconsin will begin to see rain Wednesday morning, with snow or a rain/snow mix becoming likely well north of Madison Wednesday afternoon and evening. As colder air moves south overnight, the wintry mix will transition to snow from the northwest and most areas should see snow Thursday morning before it tapers off later Thursday, with brief periods of freezing rain and sleet possible.

From 7 p.m. Wednesday to 1 p.m. Thursday, a winter weather advisory is in effect for the swath of counties just north of Dane County from the Mississippi River east to Washington County, and a winter storm warning is in effect to the north of that for a huge swath of counties in central Wisconsin.

The watch area that could see 3 to 5 inches of snow includes Crawford, Richland, Sauk, Columbia and Dodge counties, and the warning area that could see 5 to 9 inches of snow includes Juneau, Adams, Marquette and Green Lake counties, the Weather Service said. More of the warning area even to the north could see a foot or more.

27 Storm Track meteorologist Brian Olson forecasts snow totals of 1 to 3 inches in Dane County and to the south; 3 to 5 inches in southern Richland, Sauk and Columbia counties; 5 to 8 inches in northern Richland, Sauk and Columbia counties, and Marquette and Green Lake counties; 8 to 10 inches in southern Juneau and Adams counties; and 10 to 13 inches in northern Juneau and Adams counties.

The area also could see northeast winds at 15 to 25 miles per hour, with gusts to 35 mph at times Thursday morning, causing blowing and drifting where snow is falling, especially on east/west oriented roads

In Madison on Wednesday, theres a 90 percent chance for precipitation, with possible rain totals of a quarter- to half-inch, a high near 36 and northeast winds around 15 mph, gusting as high as 30 mph.

The chance for precipitation is 100 percent overnight, with possible rain totals of a half to three-quarters of an inch possible, a low around 31 and northeast winds at 15 to 20 mph, gusting as high as 30 mph.

The Weather Service said the chance for precipitation continues at 100 percent Thursday, with snow amounting to an around an inch, mainly before 4 p.m., a high near 32 and north winds at 15 to 20 mph, gusting as high as 30 mph.

Overnight Thursday into Friday, theres a 30 percent chance for snow before 7 p.m., with cloudy skies gradually clearing, a low around 20 and north winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight.

The Weather Service said theres a 20 percent chance for rain Friday night, a 50 percent chance for rain Friday night, a 40 percent chance for rain Saturday and rain and snow Saturday night, and a 30 percent chance for rain Sunday.

Skies over Madison should be sunny Friday, cloudy Saturday, mostly cloudy Sunday, sunny Monday and mostly sunny Tuesday, with highs near 42, 48, 42, 47 and 50, and overnight lows around 34, 32, 28 and 31.

27 Storm Tracks Olson said Wednesday in Madison will be windy with periods of rain, mixing with and changing to snow far to the north; rain mixing with sleet and some freezing rain, and thunder possible, and heavy snow to the north overnight; windy with a mix changing to snow in the morning Thursday, tapering in the afternoon; light rain late Friday night; and a little light rain Saturday.

Olson said skies over Madison should be cloudy Wednesday and Thursday, sunny Friday with late day high clouds, cloudy Saturday, partly sunny Sunday, mostly sunny Monday, sunny Tuesday, and partly sunny next Wednesday, with highs near 37, 35, 44, 46, 45, 50, 52 and 58, and overnight lows around 32, 21, 36, 29, 28, 31, 37 and 48.

Tuesdays high in Madison was 56 at 4:25 p.m., 10 degrees above normal and 23 degrees below the record high of 79 for March 22, set in 2012.

Tuesdays low in Madison was 37 at 11:59 p.m., 10 degrees above normal and 42 degrees above the record low of 5 below for March 22, set in 1888.

No precipitation was recorded at the Dane County Regional Airport on Tuesday, leaving Madisons March and meteorological spring (March through May) total at 1.3 inches, 0.12 inches above normal. Madisons 2016 precipitation total (rain plus snow converted to liquid) stayed at 2.8 inches, 1.3 inches below normal.

Madisons record precipitation for March 22 is 1 inch in 1916.

With no snow on Tuesday, Madisons March and meteorological spring (March through May) total stayed at 3.5 inches, 2 inches below normal. For the snow season (since July 1), Madison has received 28 inches, 18.6 inches below normal.

Madison's record snowfall for March 22 is 12 inches in 1916.
LAKE MILLS  The owners of a new dairy hope to buy land in Jefferson County soon so they can build the largest goat-milking operation in the United States and one of the largest in the world.

The plan for the 9,000-goat operation, which would include 7,000 milking does and 2,000 kids, aims to address a big shortage of goat milk in Wisconsin that is limiting production of the states burgeoning goat-cheese industry, said Kenn Buelow, one of the co-owners of Drumlin Dairy.

Were trying to fill that need and do it as economically, efficiently and as environmentally consciously as possible, said Buelow, of New Holstein, who also is co-owner of Holsum Dairies, a dairy cow operation in Calumet County that has been lauded for its sustainability programs.

The operation will house 9,000 goats because the managers want to maximize the potential of its milking parlor, which can milk 7,000 goats three times a day, Buelow said. He added that he was looking at a couple of possibilities to buy a roughly 250-acre site in Jefferson County and hopes to have a farm operational by March 2017.

But some residents in the county are skeptical of Drumlins proposal and fear that it could create health hazards, odor and traffic problems, adding to woes created by some of the states largest chicken operations that are located here. Thats what caused landowners to back out of a deal earlier this year that would have placed the operation in the town of Aztalan, said Anita Martin, a leader of Lake Mills Citizens for a Better Environment.

People need to take a step back first before approving anything and allowing something that big to move ahead, Martin said.

Big, but a good neighbor?

If built, the Drumlin goat operation would dwarf all goat operations in the United States, according to numerous sources. But it wouldnt match a 10,000-goat operation in the Shaanxi province in southwest China that is expected to expand to 100,000 goats in a few years, said Beth Miller, a board member of the International Goat Association who toured that facility recently.

Despite its size, the proposed Drumlin goat-milking operation needs only to meet county standards for approval rather than the more rigorous water, soil and siting standards set for larger dairy farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). While the state defines a CAFO as any operation with more than 1,000 animal units, one unit is the equivalent  in production of milk and waste  of one steer or cow. Under state rules, 10 goats constitute one animal unit, meaning the Drumlin operation would be the equivalent of 900 cows.

That bothered me. It concerns me that if (Drumlin is) going to that level, why not go further and get fully regulated? Martin said. Its doubtful they will do the voluntary things that otherwise would be required, like being subjected to public review from time to time.

Buelow said he wants the goat operation to be a good neighbor and said it will meet all of the states CAFO water, soil and siting standards, adding that its environmental impact will be about the same as a 500-cow dairy. And there are lots of dairies that size all around us, he said.

Drumlin will be similar to Holsum Dairies two operations in Calumet County that have participated in the state DNRs Green Tier program and have maintained environmental management systems that go well beyond standard requirements, Buelow said. The company has also received two national sustainability awards.

The Drumlin operation will have about 14 full-time employees and will hire extra help during kidding season, Buelow said.

Wisconsin has the countrys most milk goats (44,000), but its producing less than 60 percent of the volume of goats milk needed by the states goat cheese industry, Buelow wrote in Drumlins application for a conditional use permit with Jefferson County for the town of Aztalan site. Buelow said goat-cheese producers use frozen goat cheese curds imported from Europe to make their cheese when they cant get goats milk locally.

Milk production at Drumlin will reach an estimated 25 tons a day, according to its application.

A growing industry

Dan Considine, the owner of Sunshine Farms goat dairy operation in Portage, who said he milked around 250 goats for 30 years before trimming his herd to 100 recently, believes the past few years have been the best in the history of the goat dairy business.

No doubt about it. Weve had a growing industry since the early 80s. It was growing but it wasnt translating into more money until around 2010, he said.

Goat-cheese makers are enjoying profitable years, too. Production is growing 10 to 20 percent every year, but those numbers would be higher if they had more milk, said Shannon Adams, office manager for Mt. Sterling Cooperative in Vernon County. We beg our farmers to milk more goats.

Montchevre-Betin Inc., the countrys biggest goat-cheese processor, collects 100 million pounds of milk annually from dairy goat operations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and northern Missouri to make its cheese in Belmont, said president and co-owner Arnold Solandt. He said the company still falls 20 percent short each year of what it needs.

Solandt loves the idea of having a large milk producer nearby, though he prefers to work with smaller farms.

I know Kenn well and I think what hes trying to do is great, Solandt said. We need more milk. I think it will be OK. I have never seen an operation that large. But I know they work and I know they are awesome. Im all for it as long as the animals are well treated and well fed.

The goats would be housed inside a nine-acre facility containing nine pens, according to Drumlins application. There would be no stall dividers so the goats could move freely inside the pens. The bed packs would use chopped straw as bedding and add approximately two pounds of straw per day for each goat. And, since goats dont tolerate cold temperatures as well as cows, there would be significantly more insulation in the roofs and walls as well as soil sloping up to six to seven feet on the outside of the walls, the companys application to the county said.

Manure would be composted on the site, and the siting plan would have appropriate environmental precautions, Buelow said. For instance, he said the manure would be covered to avoid runoff during wet weather.

Considine, who is also president of the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association, was not concerned about the composting.

A goat consumes one-eighth of what a cow consumes, and their waste is fairly dry. Thats a really big difference there. So composting is a reasonable approach, he said.

Small farms preferred

While Considine also said he prefers smaller goat farms because he likes to get to know the animals, he thought a much bigger farm could work if the right managers are hired and the operation is set up correctly.

The biggest thing for me is the labor. Goats are much more labor-intensive than cows, said Considine. I also think keeping them inside all the time is a bad idea. I just think theyre healthier if they are outside.

Buelow said the operation will follow standards found in the best goat operations in the Netherlands, including its per-goat living space requirements. Yves Berger, a sheep researcher for UW-Madison who toured the Netherlands biggest goat operation recently, said he was impressed.

Because of its impressive cleanliness, its high level of hygiene and apparent well-being of the 6,000 goats, we were encouraged in the idea that it is possible to have a large number of animals and have the facilities and animals looking very good, Berger said.

But the Netherlands also had a bad outbreak of Q fever, a disease that can be spread from animals to humans by inhaling dust contaminated with the bacteria Coxiella burnetii. The Dutch outbreak was traced to a goat milking operation sickened 4,000 people and killed 14 from 2007 to 2010.

Q fever outbreaks in goat herds in the United States and elsewhere create minimal problems at the worst, said Rachel Conway, the supervisor of the Dairy Goat Research Facility at the University of California Davis.

Martin said Q fever was her biggest concern about having a large goat operation in Jefferson County, especially after hearing Buelow say his farm would have three birthing seasons per year and planned to compost the manure.

She said both problems could increase the levels of bacteria-contaminated dust.

Considine said goat farmers monitor their herds closely for Q fever because its difficult to detect.

Its something you have to be on top of and Im sure theyll have to pay even closer attention to it just because of its size, Considine said.

Conway said the Q fever outbreak in the Netherlands became deadly only because the sick goats were housed in multi-story buildings directly across a two-lane road from a big apartment complex.

Everyone was exposed so that was poor planning on their part, she said. Fortunately, we handle it differently here.
Amid claims that as many as a quarter of inmates at Dane County Jail remain incarcerated simply because they cannot afford bail, court officials said that number is closer to 15 percent based on a recent snapshot of the jails population.

Court Commissioner Jason Hanson told the countys Public Protection and Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that of the 880 inmates booked into jail at 11 a.m. Monday, 128 were being held only on cash bail.

An amendment to the 2016 county budget asked Hanson and Circuit Judge Juan Colas to present bail determination procedures and answer questions in a public hearing as part of a process to address disparities in the jail.

As the county works to hire a full-time racial disparities data analyst, committee chairman Paul Rusk said Tuesdays hearing provided an early chance to address claims by some members of the interfaith prison reform group, Madison Organizing in Strength, Equality and Solidarity (MOSES), that 20 to 25 percent of jail inmates are held only because they cant afford release.

People can be held in jail for initial court appearances, to serve sentences and for other reasons, including suspected probation violations and bail.

The stated purpose of bail is to ensure someone will show up for court.

Of the 128 inmates held solely on bail, Hanson said the median bail amount was $2,000 and the median length of time in custody inmates was 48 days.

There are not very many people in the Dane County Jail who are there on low-cash bail, Colas said.

When we talk about the statistics, I dont want to imply that it doesnt have an impact on individuals who are in custody. It does. But it does reflect a balancing of all the interests  the interests of the victim, the interest society has in having a person come back to court.

Two inmates held around the median  at 46 and 47 days each  face charges of first-degree intentional homicide and homicide by drunken driving and hit and run, causing death. The inmate facing intentional homicide charges is being held on $1 million bail.

The other inmates bail was set at $100,000 after failure in the countys bail monitoring program, which allows individuals charged with crimes to go free with supervision, Hanson said.

I think what were probably mostly concerned about is the people described by the judge who might be sitting in the jail on a pretty low  or what would be perceived as a low bail amount Hanson said.

I looked to see how many people were in the jail solely on cash bails of less than $500. The answer was six.

Another person, held on $100 bail, has three pending cases, including repeated bail jumping.

Cash bail was not set until the third case against the man, and other low-bail inmates had poor court appearance histories, Hanson said.

Sup. Carousel Bayrd, 8th District, said that because the data presented were based on just one day, it was still largely anecdotal.

A comparison of those who committed similar crimes and were able to post bail was missing from the analysis, Bayrd said.

How do we address the fact that at the end of the day I get charged and given $5,000 bail, I can walk away? Bayrd asked.

Even though based on my safety risk, my flight risk, based on my crime, you determined I was this dangerous to society, and you determined this person  who is most likely African-American  poses an equal danger to society and he cannot post $5,000 and I can? Thats the frustration with the system, not with you.

The county will continue to revisit bail issues, which were included in a sweeping work group report last September intended to combat racial disparities and mental health problems in the county jail.

In an overarching theme, all three groups who authored the report agreed the county should collect and monitor more data on race, gender and ethnicity to help pinpoint and address areas of racial disparities in its criminal justice systems.

The County Board amended Executive Joe Parisis budget to include funding for a criminal justice data analyst.

The whole idea is not to base it on anecdotes, Rusk said after the meeting. Without the regular data that we all agree upon, any of the changes we make wont be measurable.
The presidential race shifted to Wisconsin on Wednesday, with the two Republican candidates who oppose Donald Trump making their cases against the GOP front-runner.

Both Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who appeared at an event in Pewaukee, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who held a town hall meeting in Wauwatosa, face a steep climb to wrest the nomination from Trump.

Cruz, in his first stop in Wisconsin in advance of its April 5 primary, said the state is uniquely poised to quash Trumps momentum. Speaking in an on-stage interview with conservative radio host Charlie Sykes, who has sharply criticized Trump, Cruz basked before a supportive crowd of conservative activists who increasingly regard him as the last hope for the anti-Trump faction of the GOP.

Cruz has gotten a string of recent endorsements from leading establishment Republicans  including former presidential candidate Jeb Bush  with whom the hard-line Texas senator previously clashed. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday that Cruz has a more plausible path to the nomination, though he has yet to endorse a candidate.

What were seeing is Republicans uniting, Cruz said. It is neck and neck in this state. Weve got two weeks, and the entire country is looking to Wisconsin.

A new poll of the Wisconsin primary released Wednesday by Emerson College showed Cruz and Trump in a virtual tie in Wisconsin, with Kasich trailing.

Kasich faces an especially steep road to the nomination, having won only his home state so far. Cruz swept all the delegates in Utah on Tuesday while Trump won in Arizona.

Cruz supporters in Wisconsin have tried to turn the race into a two-man contest here, but Kasich said he wont drop out of the race before Wisconsin and plans to take his case all the way to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Tommy Thompson compares

John Kasich to Bronson Koenig

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson introduced Kasich to a crowd of about 400, comparing his underdog shot at the nomination to Wisconsin beating Xavier in the NCAA basketball tournament Sunday on a buzzer-beating shot.

Thats why were here today, weve got a winner like Bronson Koenig, Thompson said, referring to the Badgers junior point guard who hit the winning shot.

Kasich heaped praise on Thompson after the former Wisconsin governors fiery introduction, calling him an icon without whom national welfare reform would never have happened. Kasich then talked up his experience in Congress balancing the federal budget and growing the Ohio economy since 2010.

Kasich wouldnt say whether he would support Trump or Cruz if they become the nominee, but he criticized statements theyve made about patrolling Muslim neighborhoods and closing the borders to Muslim immigrants. He said the solution to global terrorism is to bring together a global coalition including Muslim and Arab allies.

He dismissed questions about his viability as a candidate.

Ive been running from behind since the beginning, Kasich said. We labored in obscurity. If any of you want to know what thats like, ask your governor who labored in obscurity because he wouldnt call any names.  I wont take the low road to the highest office in the land.

In a broad-ranging interview with Sykes, Cruz pledged to bring U.S. jobs back from abroad while confronting what he called radical Islamic terrorists.

Cruz also confronted Trump, sometimes in personal terms. Trump and Cruz clashed on Twitter on Tuesday when Trump mistakenly accused the Cruz campaign of using a racy photo of Trumps wife, Melania, in a campaign ad. In the same Twitter post directed at Cruz, Trump threatened to spill the beans on your wife, without specifying what he meant. Ted Cruzs wife is Heidi Cruz.

Cruz, asked about the exchange, said it shows Trump is an insecure bully.

For Donald to go after Heidi, I think, is despicable. And I think it reveals a lot about his character, Cruz said.

Cruz also sharply criticized Trump on foreign policy  a subject on which he suggested the businessman and political novice is dangerously out of depth. Trump earlier this week suggested the U.S. might need to scale back its involvement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, the mutual defense pact between Western nations.

Cruz on Wednesday ridiculed the suggestion as nuts, saying it would strengthen the Islamic State terror group and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Cruz, Kasich eye contested convention in July

Cruz faces a nearly impossible task in securing the 1,237 delegates needed to cinch the partys nomination. Trump scored another big win Tuesday night in Arizona winning all 58 delegates and putting him less than 500 shy of the nomination with more than 800 still in play. Cruz won all 40 in Utah, but must win 95 percent of the remaining delegates to secure the nomination before the convention.

If no candidate secures a majority of delegates in the primaries and caucuses, it would leave the nomination in play heading into the July national convention in Cleveland. Cruz has predicted he would emerge from such a convention with the nomination.

If Kasich were to win every delegate from this point forward he still wouldnt have enough to win the nomination, making his only chance a contested convention.

Kasich said Wednesday that neither of his opponents will have enough delegates to win the nomination before July, and emphasized national polls that show him faring better than his opponents in a head-to-head matchup against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Thompson said thats the reason hes supporting Kasich.

I like all the candidates, but I want somebody who can beat Hillary Clinton, Thompson said. Unless you win the big dance, unless you win the big election, unless you shoot the shot that goes in, you dont win.

The past two Marquette Law School polls showed a majority of Republicans in Wisconsin didnt know enough about Kasich to form an opinion about him. Trump has led by double-digits in past polls, but the next one out March 30 will be the first with only the three remaining GOP candidates.

Kasich has secured backing from some high-profile Wisconsin Republicans, including Thompson, former Gov. Scott McCallum and former GOP Congressmen Mark Neumann and Scott Klug.

(Kasich is) the clear alternative to Trump, Klug said. Cruz doesnt play as well in the Midwest and the East. I dont think hes got a logical place to gather any momentum.

But Cruz is gaining steam among conservatives in Wisconsin. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, an outspoken Trump antagonist, backed Cruz this week after previously supporting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Cruz also has support from U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman and a handful of state legislators, including Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, and Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere.

Its pretty clear that in terms of a path to the nomination, Sen. Cruz is not only the conservative alternative to Donald Trump, but the alternative to a Trump nomination, Jacque said. Certainly the preference would be that John Kasich recognize the reality and pull out of the race at this point.
The attacks on the Belgian capital of Brussels Tuesday morning, which killed dozens and wounded more than 200, were obviously meant to strike terror into the hearts of free people everywhere by suggesting that they could be targeted next.

But we must not succumb to fear. The civilized world must rally to Belgiums aid, unite against those who carried out these reprehensible acts and send a clear message that we wont tolerate terrorism.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks on Brussels main international airport and a popular subway station. Indeed, they bear hallmarks of the coordinated attacks the group carried out in Paris last year, which killed 130 people at several public locations, including a music venue and several eateries. Some of the Paris attackers were traced back to terrorist networks in Brussels, and Belgian authorities have known since at least then their country was vulnerable. Last week, the sole surviving suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was apprehended in Brussels.

Still, the bombings came as a shock to many, as doubtless the perpetrators intended. By attacking Brussels, where the headquarters of the European Union is located, the terrorists proclaim they mean to make war not only on Belgium but on all of Europe and the West.

Amateur video from the airport attack in Brussels showed streams of frightened passengers fleeing the site where two explosions went off in quick succession at around 8 a.m. Brussels time. Behind them clouds of smoke could be seen belching from the shattered windows of a terminal building.

An hour and 15 minutes later another explosion rocked the Maelbeek metro station in the citys crowded downtown, filling the platforms with smoke as dazed morning rush hour commuters streamed out into the streets. Belgian authorities initially reported that more than 30 people had been killed and many more wounded at the two locations.

President Barack Obama was right to strongly condemn the Brussels attackers in the preface to his speech in Havana Tuesday morning. He also appealed to the Cuban people to demand from their own leaders the same basic freedoms of expression, assembly, association and religion that the terrorists who attacked Brussels would deny to those living in territories they control. The implied comparison was that despotism takes many forms, and they are all less desirable than democracy.

World leaders and senior officials quickly joined Obama in condemning the Brussels attacks and expressed condolences for the victims. French President Francois Hollande called the attack a blow against Europe as a whole, and the mayor of Paris said the Eiffel Tower would be lighted up in the colors of the Belgian flag. British Prime Minister David Cameron posted on Twitter I am shocked and concerned by the events in Brussels. We will do everything we can to help. And Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement that the attacks show once more that terrorism knows no borders and threatens people all over the world. Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkels chief of staff tweeted simply: Terrorists will never win.

Its been evident for some time that the U.S. needs to step up its game as a leader of the anti-Islamic State coalition on both the military and diplomatic fronts. Its a responsibility we cannot avoid, nor can we afford to wait until we are attacked at home before we act. The Islamic State must be convinced we will never sacrifice our principles or our values to appease them. As Paris and now Brussels have stood strong despite the Islamic State cowardly tactics, so should we.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has become a powerful advocate for training and hiring more criminal offenders.

The Rochester Republican understands the complexity of the issue, having employed several former prison inmates at his snack food business in Burlington.

I will admit I was a little bit stereotypical in thinking some people are so broken they cant be fixed, Vos told the State Journal editorial board last week. And Ive just changed my mind on a lot of that stuff over time.

So have other leaders across the political spectrum. The public understandably wants to be tough on violent crime. But voters also want policymakers to be smart about rehabilitation. After all, the vast majority of prisoners will eventually be released, and theyll need skills and jobs to succeed.

Vos and his fellow Republicans who run the Assembly just convinced the GOP-led Senate to stop the state from asking about criminal convictions on job applications.

In todays digital world, many employers run background checks on job candidates. So felonies are hard to hide. If a crime relates to the duties of an open position, employers can rule out an applicant based on his or her record. But in most cases, the convictions of released prisoners dont neatly apply to the jobs theyre seeking.

At least give them the opportunity to come in, meet them, find out more about them before you automatically wash your hands of them, said Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, who accompanied Vos. As a society, as a workforce, I dont think we can afford to basically say that theres a segment of the population thats disqualified from work, that were basically going to have to support (them) on our social programs or in our correctional system the rest of their lives. We need to change that mindset.

Hes right.

Vos wants the Department of Corrections to do more to place inmates in jobs. Hes very optimistic Jon Litschers return as corrections secretary will help the cause.

Yet the challenge of keeping offenders from reoffending is so much more than I realized, Vos added. Most of the former inmates he has hired at his small business, for example, have gone back into the corrections systems.

But hes not giving up. Vos said hes advanced some of his prison hires money to cover security deposits so they could rent apartments and be able to work.

The Assembly speaker just attended a conference on criminal justice reform. He was impressed by a former Louisiana warden who opened a college in a violent prison. Vos said hes eager to see the results of a study on the prison schools impact.

Here in Wisconsin, Vos hopes an investigation into alleged abuse at a youth prison in Irma can help prompt positive change.

I am optimistic that maybe we use Lincoln Hills as a catalyst for why we need to do something more dramatic than just shuffling people around or changing the management structure, he said.

More inmates should be taught high-demand skills, such as welding and pipefitting, Nygren said. Another idea is to return state licenses to released offenders sooner so they can go back to jobs such as cutting hair and selling homes.

Work gives former convicts their best shot at staying out of prison.
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-23 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Our concern is not to have children dying at Idomeni, Alternate Migration Min Mouzalas says [02] Alternate Civil Protection Min Toskas reassures Greece does not need to worry [03] Sailing ban in force on Wednesday due to high winds [01] Our concern is not to have children dying at Idomeni, Alternate Migration Min Mouzalas says Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas on Tuesday in an interview with Alpha TV expressed fears that children may die at Idomeni. "Our concern is not to let children in the camp of Idomeni die, but this is something that no serious person could guarantee amid such a large refugee crisis," he noted and added: "What I can guarantee is that we will increase our efforts to prevent this from happening." For the integration of refugees in Greece, Mouzalas stressed that "in the past 15 years the society has integrated some 1.5 million refugees and migrants. We already have schools for migrants as well as special integration programs. But we are not yet there. We are still in the process of setting the situation under control." [02] Alternate Civil Protection Min Toskas reassures Greece does not need to worry Greece does not need to worry. Greece is not a target for historical reasons, but we must be on alert because many people cross the country and we also cooperate with other governments," Alternate Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Toskas said in an interview with SKAI TV late on Tuesday after the terrorist attacks in Brussels. "During the meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday, we discussed measures that need to be taken immediately. This is due to the attacks in Brussels and not because of a greater danger we are facing," he underlined and added: "We are daily concerned on how to improve security measures." [03] Sailing ban in force on Wednesday due to high winds Rising wind speeds and rough seas in many parts of Greece, in places reaching 8-9 Beaufort, have disrupted ferry connections from the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio to the Greek islands. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-23 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Doctors Without Borders leave Greek island hotspots, temporarily leave Idomeni [02] Abramovic at ancient theatre of Epidaurus on March 28 for Callas documentary [03] Greek industry body recommends 20 pct tax on large investments [01] Doctors Without Borders leave Greek island hotspots, temporarily leave Idomeni Doctors Without Borders, one of the key non-governmental organisations helping refugees and migrants arriving in Greece, on Wednesday announced that it will stop all activities linked to the hotspots on the Greek islands of Lesvos and Samos. The NGO said the decision was prompted by its objections to the EU-Turkey agreement on refugees, which it described as a "cynical mechanism" that jeopardised asylum and showed "contempt" for humanitarian needs. The NGO has also temporarily withdrawn from the refugee camp in Idomeni, this time citing concerns about the safety of its staff but promising to monitor developments and return as soon as possible. As the head of Doctors Without Borders Greece Marietta Provopoulou explained, this was standard procedure for the organisation's missions throughout the world, with priority given to the safety of the personnel. She noted that the organisation's cleaning team was back at work in Idomeni but the medical team was still staying away, while there was constant contact with the refugees. On the Greek islands, the NGO was involved in transporting the refugees to the centres and also in running medical clinics within them. The group will continue to assist in rescue activities at sea and providing emergency medical assistance, as well as a programme providing psychological support for shipwreck survivors in Leros and Agathonissi. On Lesvos, the NGO will continue to operate a transfer centre at Mantamado, where new arrivals receive first aid, as well as rescues at sea on the northern coast and mobile medical units for those outside the hotspots. Provopoulou noted that Doctors Without Borders had never been the only organisation providing medical care at Moria, the Lesvos hotspot, though its departure would necessarily create a gap in the aid offered. She said the group was investigating the possibility of supporting local hospitals when serious cases were referred to them from Moria. Commenting on the decision taken by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs like Doctors Without Borders to restrict their activities at hotspots, the spokesman for the Greek Coordinating Body for Managing the Refugee Crisis Giorgos Kyritsis noted that the government considers NGOs allies in its efforts to protect human rights. "There is an agreement in place but the implementation framework has opaque points. We are in contact with the organisations and consider that the misunderstandings will be overcome and cooperation with them will continue," he said. With respect to the camp at Idomeni, Kyritsis said the tension among the residents there appeared to be subsiding and that there was no reason for NGOs to fear for their safety. [02] Abramovic at ancient theatre of Epidaurus on March 28 for Callas documentary Renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic will be at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus in the Peloponnese on March 28 to film scenes from a documentary on the life of legendary Greek-American soprano Maria Callas. Abramovic has been in Greece since the beginning of March to present a new project collaboration between the Marina Abramovic Institute (MAI) and the Greek Cultural Organisation NEON, titled "As One". As part of the documentary titled "Seven deaths - the documentary", Abramovic will be walking around the theatre, possibly in a reference to Callas' unforgettable performance of "Medea" in 1961. Filming in the ancient theatre was made possible after the Central Archaeological Council gave permission to the crew. [03] Greek industry body recommends 20 pct tax on large investments The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) on Wednesday recommended a cut in the taxation of large investments to 20 pct and expanding the option of offsetting losses with future earnings from five years currently to 10 years, to safeguard offsetting high losses recorded in the years of successive recession. SEV also recommended the set up of regional commissions to resolve pending tax disputes which could raise at least 100 million euros annual tax revenue for the next five years. Eftihios Vasilakis, member of SEV's board and head of the tax affairs commission, presenting the Federation's proposals, said that SEV was supporting the idea of a tax certificate  which was introduced in 2011 and 2014 - and led to an increase in tax adherence of enterprises to 92 pct, to expanding a tax base by 5.5 billion euros to annual tax revenue of 400 million euros for the state. Vasilakis said that over taxation of the most productive and efficient workers of the private sector was a recipe for failure adding that "instead of introducing investment incentives based on tax honesty and consistency, we raise nominal tax factors to the benefit of tax evasion and tax avoidance in an environment of limited liquidity". He noted that Greece occupies one of the top positions in a list of EU and OECD states in corporate and labour taxes and recommended expanding the use of e-transactions and e-billing, actions which could boost competitiveness and benefit both enterprises and the state. A survey conducted by the Athens Economic University showed that such a benefit for enterprises could reach 1.5 billion euros annually and for the state up to 1.0 billion euros. Haris Kyriazis, a member of SEV's board recommended that the state should award productive spending leading to profitability and encouraging emblem investments on technology, infrastructure, environment, manufacturing, etc. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Some may dismiss this act as merely words, devoid of significance. But words do matter, as does the courage to officially recognize acts of evil for all to see.

Since November of last year, our Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, with the blessing and under the leadership of Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago, has undertaken a major lobbying effort to gain official recognition by the President of the United States of the Genocide taking place in Syria and Iraq. This past Thursday (March 17), that became a reality with the historical announcement by Secretary of State John Kerry. That followed an unanimous bipartisan vote by the House of Representatives a week earlier and previous support from the European Union and the Pope of Rome amongst others.

Before and during the Second World War, the Nazis persecution and genocide of Jews, while hidden and unknown from a majority of the world, was known to some political and religious leaders but largely ignored. This willful ignorance of some of the world leaders contributed to the pain of the Holocaust. Never again was the rightful response to the horrors witnessed by the world, for most after the defeat of Germany. But not all waited or remained silent.

March 23 will mark the anniversary of one religious leaders formal protest to the Nazis evil policy, unique as the only formal protest of this type during World War II. It was an act of courage that is largely forgotten.

Following the failed attempt of Italy to invade Greece, the Germans overran the country, sending much of the government into exile. Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, did not flee but chose to remain with his flock.

Learning of the mass deportation of all 56,000 Jews from the northern port of Thessaloniki by the Nazis, the Archbishop was well aware that these citizens of his nation were headed to concentration camps. The Nazis then came to Athens with the demand that Chief Rabbi Elias Barzilai provide all the names of his Jewish community. The Rabbi sought help from Damaskinos.

The prelate took action, unwilling to be complicit in another tragedy within his nation. He counseled the Jewish community to flee to the mountains with the Greek Resistance. He chartered civilian boats to evacuate Greek Jews by night to the islands. He signed thousands of falsified baptismal documents to provide religious cover to Jews and directed clergy nationwide to provide sanctuary. And finally, the most personally courageous act: he formally protested with a letter to General Jurgen Stroop, the same commander who had brutally put down the Warsaw Ghetto Revolts and would later pay for his crimes following trial at the end of the war. His letter is the only documented protest of the Holocaust by a world leader during the war. He wrote:

According to the terms of the armistice, all Greek citizens, without distinction of race or religion, were to be treated equally by the Occupation Authorities."

In our national consciousness, all the children of Mother Greece are an inseparable unity: they are equal members of the national body irrespective of religion or dogmatic difference."

Our Holy Religion does not recognize superior or inferior qualities based on race or religion, as it is stated: There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gal. 3:28) and thus condemns any attempt to discriminate or create racial or religious differences."

Our common fate, both in days of glory and in periods of national misfortune, forged inseparable bonds between all Greek citizens, without exemption, irrespective of race.

Archbishop Damaskinos expected dangerous consequences. The letter was sent abroad and printed in newspapers worldwide, providing the citizens of the world the opportunity to know of the crimes against humanity being committed and witness the stand of those behind enemy lines facing true evil.

General Stroop demanded Archbishop Damaskinos renounce the letter or face execution. As the firing squad gathered, and recalling the execution of Patriarch Gregory V during the 1821 Massacre of the Greek population of Constantinople, the Archbishops response was, Greek religious leaders are not shot, they are hanged. I request that you respect this custom. Shocked by this bold response, General Stroop cancelled the execution.

Few of us will ever have our lives threatened for writing the truth. However, on the anniversary of Archbishop Damaskinos protest, we have the opportunity to learn from his example and formally acknowledge the crimes against humanity we see happening before our eyes today.

In the Middle East, the Christian minority population is now experiencing the same type of evil faced by the Jews. Rather than hiding these crimes from our view as even the Nazis sought, terrorists committing these atrocities are showcasing these crimes for the world to view on the Internet.

Just as Archbishop Damaskinos could not simply watch these crimes and do nothing, it was important that our national leadership took action to properly identify the evil we see today rather than remain silent. While some dismissed these crimes as just part of an ever expanding and protracted bloody conflict, the overwhelming evidence provided by the criminals themselves clearly displayed the internationally agreed definition of Genocide. As such, nothing short of officially recognition was logical. Anything less would have been unacceptable and a betrayal of justice.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, which I serve as Chancellor, has been proud to stand up and call for this official recognition. We are honored to be recognized by leaders in Congress as a leading voice in this national lobbying effort. Just as the Holocaust cannot be dismissed as just collateral damage of World War II, so these crimes cannot be dismissed but must be officially denounced and perpetrators be brought to justice when possible.

Historys dismissal of the courage displayed for the world against the true nature of evil, to reveal truth regardless of danger to oneself, to accurately identify for the historical record the evil that exists before us must be corrected. It is our hope that the American public will be able to recall the historic acts of Archbishop Damaskinos and our pride that our political leaders have shown the same courage.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago has jurisdiction over all of the Greek Orthodox parishes in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as large parts of Missouri and Indiana.
As we witness thousands of Americans attending Bernie Sanders rallies, knowing Sanders identifies himself as a Socialist and promises to govern from that position, it is time for all of us to understand the significance of that and consider what is happening to our Country.

They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

It was after Sander's Super Tuesday victories on March 1st in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont, that he declared the following: "The Revolution has begun. Sanders enthusiastically shouted. "We are going to take our fight for economic justice, for social justice, for environmental sanity, for a world of peace to all 50 states. Its going all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and beyond."

Certainly, it is important to always look for ways to improve government, but a drastic reversal, such as that which Sanders promotes, is exceedingly dangerous. Why would anyone want to significantly change our form of government, which has proven to be highly successful, and instead embrace a system proven to have failed throughout history?

This often quoted statement answers part of that question:

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Might it be that many Americans neither know about nor remember the history of once successful countries that turned to socialism and ultimately failed, largely due to a financial collapse caused by an ineffective, often corrupt government? Consider Greece, Argentina, Cuba, and Russia; just a few examples of countries that were once prosper but after changing to Socialism/Communism became places people might want to visit but definitely not stay.

Socialism is the Big Lie" of the twentieth century. While it promised prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny. Those who have studied the issue believe Socialism fails because it kills our human spirit, as there is no passion to succeed. It is a system most often favored by those with little self-confidence who prefer a safety net over personal freedom. Equality in a Socialist/Communist country is appreciated only in the sense that everyone is equally miserable. In the same way that a Ponzi scheme or chain letter initially succeeds but eventually collapses, Socialism may show early signs of success. But any accomplishments quickly fade as the fundamental deficiencies of central planning emerge. It is the initial illusion of success that gives government intervention its pernicious, seductive appeal. In the long run, Socialism has always proven to be a formula for tyranny and ultimate misery.

Perhaps that is best proven by the wall that separated East and West Germany after WWII. The wall wasnt just to separate Germany into two separate countries and two very different governments, it was built to keep those unlucky enough to end up in Communist East Germany from escaping to the West, where the government allowed freedoms and consequently the people prospered.

In assessing the situation, Bernie Sanders is not the problem, he is just the symptom, a warning, the product of a movement that has been festering for some time in our country. The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) was a Moscow-controlled Marxist-Leninist party in the United States. It nominated a candidate for president from 1924 through 1984, sometimes with funding from the communist Soviet Union. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Party lost any momentum they might have had and became a hollow shell. Thus, the supporters began to urge voters to support the Democrat Party. Bernie's grass-roots supporters are fired up because they see the nature of his campaign as an occasion for launching another progressive movement under a different. more acceptable political banner. Sanders is simply spewing some old socialist ideas from the past, which most Americans have wisely, repeatedly rejected.

George Soros, an avowed Communist, a billionaire, and a U.S. citizen continues to generously fund far-left organizations such as MoveOn.org and ACORN, as well as make huge donations to Democrat candidates. This video, in which Soros is interviewed, tells of the progressive organizations and politicians on the Left he calls friends. A noted surprise and exception is that George Soros gave $588,375 to John Kasich's presidential campaign.

Certainly, a nation as large as America will always have dissidents. However, rather than move to a country that aligns more with their specific beliefs, they seek to change America. They dont want to simply improve our government; these people want to completely change the principles upon which this nation was founded and which have proven successful. Since Obama is now opening a friendship with Cuba, those who disagree with our Constitution, government, and way of life can emigrate there. However, they do not, because they know Cuba has not prospered as once promised. The Cuban government may provide food, education, health care, and jobs, but the quality of each is not equal to ours. It also keeps its people from owning guns, sets wages to prevent anyone from becoming wealthy, suppresses public religious expressions and forbids speech which does not align with Cubas dictator, Castro.

Of great concern is the large number of Americans who have aligned with the socialist rhetoric that is evident in the campaigns of both Sanders and Clinton. Clinton is just more covert in her discussions on the subject. Current polls indicate the majority of Americans still have a higher opinion of Capitalism than Socialism. However, the Reason.com/poll indicated that while 55% favored capitalism, a surprising 36% had a favorable opinion of socialism. Really? What has led to 1/3 of American citizens having a positive view of socialism? Do they understand what a socialist society would entail? Are they aware of history? Is there a growing number of Americans more willing to accept welfare than find work? Whatever caused 36% of American citizens to think Socialism is superior to the one our forefathers gave us and which propelled the United States into being the greatest nation in the World?

Part 2 will focus on the causes of this creeping cancer that the progressive Left is promoting. It will offer ways and means to stop what threatens to destroy America.
The company sells six models in India -- hatchback Brio with a base price of Rs 4.31 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to SUV CR-V priced up to Rs 26 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

In March, Honda increased the prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 79,000 in the wake of the infrastructure cess that was proposed in Union Budget 2016-17.

By India Today Web Desk: Honda Car India will hike the prices of it cars by up to Rs 6000 from April to balance the impact of unfavorable exchange rate that has resulted in higher input costs.

In March, Honda increased the prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 79,000 in the wake of the infrastructure cess that was proposed in Union Budget 2016-17.

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ALSO READ: Honda Drive to Discover

The company sells six models in India -- hatchback Brio with a base price of Rs 4.31 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to SUV CR-V priced up to Rs 26 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

"We are planning to hike prices of our entire product range from the first week of April 2016 to partially offset impact of adverse exchange rate resulting in increase input cost," a Honda Car India spokesperson told PTI.

ALSO READ: Honda Mobilio to be discontinued in India

The company is, however, yet to finalise details of price hike in individual models.

In the post-Budget price hike, the company had increased price of its entry-level car Brio in the range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000, premium hatchback Jazz between Rs 5,000 and Rs 19,500 and mid-sized sedan City from Rs 24,600 to Rs 38,100.

ALSO READ: Honda updates the Amaze, compact sedan priced at Rs 5.3 lakh

It also increased prices of multi-utility vehicle Mobilio in the range of Rs 21,800 to Rs 37,700 and that of its premium SUV CR-V between Rs 66,500 and Rs 79,000, depending upon different variants.

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The Chennai plant has a capacity to about 4.8 lakh units per year at full and it will also continue to produce the export demand around the world like Nissan Sunny and Nissan Micra.

The company feels this will help to produce more vehicles so as to meet the growing demand for their recently launched Renault Kwid and also in order to prepare for Datsun's upcoming model in the next few months.

By India Today Web Desk: Renault-Nissan alliance on Tuesday announced that they would hike the output of its Chennai plant by introducing a third shift to meet current demands and also prepare for their upcoming cars in the country.

"From this week, the plant will operate a new night shift on one of its two production lines, which will effectively increase overall annual capacity," Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL) said in a statement.

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ALSO READ: Renault India launches all new Duster for Rs 8.46 lakh

Currently, the Chennai plant has a capacity to about 4.8 lakh units per year at full and it will also continue to produce the export demand around the world like Nissan Sunny and Nissan Micra.

The company feels this will help to produce more vehicles so as to meet the growing demand for their recently launched Renault Kwid and also in order to prepare for Datsun's upcoming model in the next few months.

ALSO READ: Nissan to unveil Qashqai concept, X-Trail concept at Geneva Motor Show

RNAIPL Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Colin MacDonald said, "Increasing our production capability means we will be able to better meet the demands of our Indian and overseas customers by limiting waiting times on deliveries."

On an average, the alliance launched two new models each year since the plant opened, he said.

The plant, which is the largest alliance manufacturing facility in the world, started operation in March 2010 with an initial investment of Rs 4,500 crore, which has now risen to Rs 6,100 crore.

ALSO READ: Renault Nissan alliance rolls out one millionth vehicle

Till date a total of 12 all-new Nissan, Renault and Datsun models have been introduced to its two production lines catering for both domestic and international markets.

The facility crossed the one million unit production milestone in January this year with over 6 lakh units exported to 106 countries.

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BJP MP Anurag Thakur today hit out at Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh after accusing him of maintaining "double standards".

By Press Trust of India: BJP MP Anurag Thakur today hit out at Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh after accusing him of maintaining "double standards".

He said that the approach followed by Congress of "family first, party next and nation last" is hampering the image and growth of the nation at large.

"Thanks to the back and forth by the CM on the India- Pakistan match, HP not only incurred losses due to the cancellation of the match but no team now wishes to play in Dharamsala given their concern over security," Thakur said.

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Commenting on the proposal by Singh on hosting IPL and thereby offering tax exemption, hesaid, "Unfortunately, the world does not move as per Singh's whims and fancies, helping him to satisfy his political agendas.

"Had he been concerned about the state's image and welfare of the people, he would have thought before giving out various misleading statements pertaining to the India-Pakistan match."

Thakur said he was concerned not because the cancellation of Dharamsala as its venue but because HP was shown in a poor light.

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Major US transportation hubs were placed on alert on Tuesday and Denver International Airport briefly evacuated part of its main terminal in a false alarm there hours after suicide bombings in Brussels killed at least 30 people.

By Reuters: Major US transportation hubs were placed on alert on Tuesday and Denver International Airport briefly evacuated part of its main terminal in a false alarm there hours after suicide bombings in Brussels killed at least 30 people.

Despite public safety concerns unleashed by the violence in Belgium's capital, US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the agency had no intelligence that would point to a similar attack being plotted against the United States.

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But the State Department issued a travel alert warning US citizens in Europe to avoid crowded places, to be vigilant when in public or using mass transit and to exercise extra caution during religious holidays and at large festivals and events.

"Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation," it said in a statement.

The Brussels bombings reverberated on the 2016 US presidential campaign trail, with Democratic contender Hillary Clinton declaring that more needed to be done to confront the Islamic State militants who claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Republican front-runner in the White House race, Donald Trump, called again for tighter border security and suggested US intelligence services could use torture to head off future attacks.

Some of the country's busiest airports and other transportation facilities were placed on heightened security status, as illustrated by a greater law enforcement presence.

Large numbers of uniformed police officers and National Guard troops dressed in battle fatigues and carrying rifles patrolled New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Several US carriers - Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc - said they canceled or rerouted flights as a result of the Brussels attacks.

At midafternoon, authorities at the Denver airport evacuated two levels on the west side of the main terminal after several packages that appeared suspicious were spotted near ticket counters, airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

Denver police, FBI and US Transportation Security Administration officers converged on the airport, but the packages were ultimately deemed to pose no threat, and the terminal was fully reopened within two hours.

Several airlines were affected by the scare, including American Airlines, Aeromxico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways, the airport said.

'World Must Unite'

US President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff in memory of the victims in the Belgium attacks.

The State Department said an undetermined number of US citizens had been injured in Brussels but none were killed. Three Mormon missionaries and a US Air Force member and his family were among those hurt.

The Obama administration also was expected to impose tighter security measures at US airports following the Brussels Airport bombings, which occurred in a public hall outside of the security check area.

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US Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, senior Democrat on a House subcommittee on terrorism, said the suicide bombings illustrated the difficulty of protecting "soft targets" outside tightly controlled security cordons.

"The targets aren't going to be just getting on the plane itself, but the airport in general," he said in a phone interview.

Obama addressed the attacks briefly in a speech in Havana on his historic visit to Cuba, vowing to support Belgium as it hunts for those responsible.

"This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism," Obama said.

Candidates seeking their party's nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election immediately weighed in, with Clinton, a former secretary of state, vowing to strengthen her drive to "defeat terrorism and radical jihadism."

Trump, a billionaire businessman, told NBC's "Today" program: "If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from these people."

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His Republican rival, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, strengthened his call for Obama to clip the flow of refugees from "countries with significant al Qaida or ISIS presence," and called for heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations.

The attack raised worries among some US Muslims that they could face more hostility, although mainstream Muslims have repeatedly denounced violence.

"The media hype and political manipulation heightens our concerns," said Sheikh Shaker Elsayed, imam of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia.

Some travelers expressed concern that new security measures at airports, which had already imposed extensive restrictions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, would increase inconvenience without improving safety.

"It already takes all day," said Hans Vermulst, 66, who was at New York's Kennedy airport trying to get home to the Netherlands after his connecting flight to Brussels was canceled. "We have to take it as it comes, but I'm not happy with it."

Also Read:

Brussels attacks: Belgium hunts Islamic State suspect after blasts kill 34

Increase surveillance of US Muslims after Brussels: Republicans Cruz and Trump



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By Giridhar Jha: A controversial Janata Dal-United JD(U) MLA in Bihar has threatened to revert to the 'politics of murder' while another party legislator has mocked at the national anthem calling it a symbol of slavery. Both of them were promptly suspended by the party which also served showcause notices to them on Tuesday.

The ruling party was left red-faced after its Gopalpur MLA Neeraj Kumar Mandal aka Gopal Mandal said that he would take recourse to the 'politics of murder' just the way he had been doing in the past.

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Addressing a pre-Holi gathering at a Kavi Sammelan in Bhagalpur district, Mandal said: "I will resort to the politics of murder. I used to do it in the past and will do so again in future."

Mandal said that he had enough arms and ammunition and would protect even those who had not voted for him in the last assembly elections.

The legislator also scoffed at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to enforce prohibition in the state from the next month. Dubbing it as a wrong decision, he said that the people would make use of cannabis and marijuana in absence of alcohol. "But then, can Holi be celebrated without booze?" he asked.

This is not the first time that the legislator had kicked up a storm in recent times. Last month, he had threatened to chop off the tongues of his rivals. Earlier, he was also accused of having threatened to throw a state police official into river Ganga. He had also boasted that he was used to coming in and out of jail. Another JD(U) legislator Rana Gangeshwar Singh also courted trouble on Tuesday when he allegedly showed disrespect to the national anthem at a public function in the Samastipur district. "How can Jan gana mana be the national anthem?" he asked. "It is so improper. It is a symbol of slavery. I do not know how it became the national anthem. When one hears it, it seems as though slavery is being praised," he said and called for withdrawal of the national anthem. The remarks of the MLC, who had switched over to JD(U) from the BJD before assembly elections, drew angry protests from the audience.

Cracking the whip on the two the party's core committee decided to suspend them immediately. The JD(U) Bihar president Bashishtha Narain Singh said that both had been suspended and served show-cause notices to explain their utterances which were against the party ideology.

Also Read: Suitcases, cell phones, microwave ovens; it's raining gifts for Bihar MLAs

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With each party in TN owning a media organisation or has sympathisers in mainstream media. The BJP doesn't have this advantage and there adopting an aggressive and efficient social media campaign.

Since the BJP has not chosen a local face to lead the electoral battle in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to be the poll mascot.

By Siddhartha Rai: While almost all political parties in poll-bound Tamil Nadu have got their own their own mainstream news channels and newspapers, apart from mouthpieces and organs, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no such sympathetic media organisation to back its poll efforts. As a remedy it has embarked upon an aggressive social media campaign to reach out to the voters.

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The social media campaign is in full swing, though BJP national president Amit Shah would be formally inaugurating it on Wednesday when he would be in the state along with state BJP incharge and national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao.

"Every party in Tamil Nadu either owns a media organisation or has sympathisers in mainstream media. Jaya TV is associated with the CM; the Sun TV network is owned by the Marans; Kalaignar TV is owned by the Karunanidhi family; Captain TV is the mouthpiece of Vijayakanth of DMDK; while Mega TV and Vasantha TV owe allegiance to the Congress. We don't have this advantage and thus we are reaching out through an aggressive and efficient social media campaign," said a senior BJP functionary.

As the party has yet not decided upon any local face to lead the battle and wishes to continue to market Narendra Modi as their poll mascot, this social media blitz has come to be called as a "faceless campaign.

According to party sources a dedicated 25-member social media team is already working and as per an internal reports submitted by the team, the launch of Tamil Nadu BJP's mobile application is also on the anvil. BJP is already running as many as 870 Whatsapp groups across the state.

The highlight is the way the party is converting it into a public outreach strategy. Leveraging the online reach, BJP is organising local group meets under the V4NaMo programme. Facebook chats of party leaders and functionaries too are being planned though, sources said, none of the party leaders had yet made time for that. The party seems to have already emerged a winner in its social media presence against major parties such as AIADMK and DMK. Taking into consideration figures till March 19-20, the number of Facebook likes for BJP Tamil Nadu page was over 3.5 lakh while AIADMK stood at just over 2 lakh. DMK stood way behind at 30,000 likes.

DMK patriarch K Karunanidhi's son Stalin, who has raked in over 16 lakh likes on his Facebook page, is followed by a distant Karunanidhi, at just over 5 lakh. Jayalaithaa has nearly 1.2 lakh likes while actorturned-politician Vijaya-kanth has nearly 80,000 people liking his page. On the other hand, BJP state unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan has had just over one lakh likes. According to sources, the target for likes on party's page has been set to reach 6 lakh by March 31.

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Also Read: Rajnath Singh says that BJP is open to political dissent but won't entertain anti-nationalism





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Raju was bludgeoned to death by unknown people after he had objected to the setting up of a Madarasa next to his home in Mysuru. His death had sparked communal violence in Mysuru with minorities being targeted.

By Mail Today: The Karnataka government has constituted a special team headed by a deputy commissioner of police to hunt down the suspects, who were responsible for the death of BJP/Bajrang Dal activist Raju in Mysuru last week.

Raju was bludgeoned to death by unknown people after he had objected to the setting up of a Madarasa next to his home in Mysuru. His death had sparked communal violence in Mysuru with minorities being targeted.

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The BJP has made a political issue out of his death and demanded a judicial probe into the case. However, the government turned down the BJP's plea, as the Mysuru City Crime Branch is already probing the case.

On Tuesday, Karnataka's Home Minister informed the Legislative Council that a special team had been constituted to nab the suspects.

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Echoing Trump's earlier statements, Cruz said the US should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence.

By AP: Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Tuesday said that surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the US must be intensified following the deadly bombings at Brussels, while rival Donald Trump suggested torturing a suspect in last year's Paris attacks would have prevented the carnage.

Echoing Trump's earlier statements, Cruz said the US should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence. The Islamic State took credit for the attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens Tuesday and wounded many more.

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"We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," the Texas senator said in a statement.

Trump praised Cruz's plan as a "good idea" that he supports "100 percent" in an interview with CNN. The Republican front-runner also intensified his past calls for the US to engage in harsher interrogation techniques, arguing that Belgium could have prevented the bombings had it tortured a suspect in last year's Paris attacks who was arrested last week.

"Well, you know, he may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with the torture... Because he probably knew about it. I would be willing to bet that he knew about this bombing that took place today," Trump said.

Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the US, said "nothing's nice" about techniques such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning. He added, "It's your minimal form of torture. We can't waterboard and they can chop off heads."

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said earlier Tuesday the Brussels plot was probably already underway before the suspect's arrest and that his apprehension may have sped up its execution.

When reminded that international law prohibits torture, Trump responded: "Well, I would say that the eggheads that came up with this international law should turn on their television and watch CNN right now, because I'm looking at scenes on CNN right now as I'm speaking to you that are absolutely atrocious."

Speaking Tuesday afternoon in New York, Cruz praised the city's police department's former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods, called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

"New Yorkers want a safe and secure America," Cruz said. "New Yorkers saw first-hand the tragic consequences of radical Islamic terrorism."

After the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to cultivate informants and conduct surveillance in Muslim communities. In a series of articles, The Associated Press revealed the intelligence division had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and investigated hundreds. The program was disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

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Trump said the city had had "the finest surveillance of the whole radical Islam situation that there is." He joined Cruz in blaming the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, for ending it.

"He took it down and he knocked it out and that was a terrible mistake," said Trump, adding: "We can be nice about it and we can be politically correct about it, but we're being fools, Ok?"

New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton objected to Cruz's remarks Tuesday, saying: "I take great offense at his characterization of that whole population... He's really out of line."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the calls for surveillance, saying it sends "an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties."

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand. He said he strongly disagrees with calls for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims.

"That would be unconstitutional - it would be wrong," Sanders said.

Imam Abdisalam Adam, the board chair of Dar Al-Hijrah Riverside Islamic Center, a mosque in a Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis, said putting more scrutiny on Muslim communities is not a way to keep the country safe.

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Also read:

Brussels attacks: Belgium hunts Islamic State suspect after blasts kill 34



Islamic State claims Brussels attacks that killed at least 34

34 killed in Brussels as terror strikes Europe again



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The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that Infosys employee Raghvendra Ganeshan is missing since the Brussels terror attacks.

By India Today Web Desk: The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that Infosys employee Raghvendra Ganeshan, who hails from Bengaluru, is missing since the Brussels terror attacks. MEA minister Susma Swaraj too tweeted about the news, "We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh."

The Infosys in its statement said, "Following the attacks in Brussels, Infosys reached out to all its employees in the city to ascertain their whereabouts and safety. With the exception of one employee who we are trying to reach, we have been able to connect with all other employees. We are in touch with the missing employee's family and are working with the Indian Embassy and local authorities in Brussels to locate our employee on priority."

I assured her that we will spare no effort to locate her son in Brussels./2 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 23, 2016

He spoke to his mother an hour before the blasts in Brussels. Please help us locate Raghvendran./2 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 23, 2016

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Ganeshan missing has taken the number of Indians impacted by the attacks to three. Two injured and recuperating, one missing. Besides those stranded as flights yet to be operational.

Swaraj also said government was coordinating with Jet airways to evacuate Indian citizens. "The airport is still not open. This may take some time. We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens," she said.

The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till tomorrow in view of the closure of the airport following Tuesday's blasts, also said its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations.



The Islamic State terrorists struck Brussels Airport in the first of two attacks that also hit the city's metro, killing at least 30 and wounding over 200 on Tuesday.

Security experts believed the blasts, which killed about 20 on a metro train running through the area that houses European Union institutions, were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Salah Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the November 13 Paris attacks.

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The varsity has organised a programme, which will take the students through the life of Singh and his associates.

By Astha Saxena: With much controversy spinning around Bhagat Singh, the Delhi University will be celebrating his Martyrdom Day on Wednesday. The varsity has organised a programme, which will take the students through the life of Singh and his associates.

A guided tour to a cellar, which has been turned into a mini library has been organised for the day.

The place holds an importance as Singh was reportedly imprisoned at the same place for a day. A collection of books on his life and display of scholarly works will be the main attraction.

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"Earlier, there was no access to this area. On Wednesday, it will be specially opened for the students. Whether it will be accessible later or not, is a decision that we will think upon. It is a restricted place and it is physically impossible for everyone to get access to that area," a senior university official told Mail Today.

According to sources, the students will also get to know details of Bhagat Singh's life through this guided tour. The cellar is located at the Viceregal lodge. Recently, Chaman Lal, author of the book Understanding Bhagat Singh, was abused by alleged ABVP activists at Delhi University, where he was delivering a lecture on the freedom fighter.

The retired teacher of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was invited by the students' group, Ahwan, to speak on the writings of Bhagat Singh.

On Monday, two days before his 85th death anniversary, Bhagat Singh - the Marxist revolutionary hanged by the British at 23 - was trending on Twitter, as people lashed out against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for comparing Singh with the latest Left-liberal sensation, JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

Just like Kumar spoke about azaadi from people who are looting the country, Singh too had said in one of his last messages on March 3, 1931, that the struggle in India would continue as long as "a handful of exploiters go on exploiting the labour of common people to meet their own ends. It matters little whether these exploiters are purely British capitalists, or British and Indians in alliance, or even purely Indians.

Also Read: Congress distances itself from Tharoor's Bhagat Singh remark



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President Pranab Mukherjee today condemned the terror attacks in Brussels and conveyed India's deepest sympathies to families of the victims and people of Belgium.

By India Today Web Desk: President Pranab Mukherjee today condemned the terror attacks in Brussels and conveyed India's deepest sympathies to families of the victims and people of Belgium.

"I was deeply shocked to hear of the terrorist attacks in Brussels this morning," he said in his message.

The global community must unite to overcome the scourge of terrorism #PresidentMukherjee President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) March 22, 2016

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"India condemns these barbaric acts of violence and conveys its deepest sympathies to the families of the innocent victims and the entire people of Belgium," Mukherjee said.

"We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. The global community must unite to overcome the scourge of terrorism," he added.

Also read:

Brussels attacks: Here are the 10 big developments

ISIS claims responsibility for Brussels attack

Two staff members injured in Brussels attack: Jet Airways



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Did you know 10 lakh personnel serve in seven paramilitary to instill a sense of security in us? Here is a video that will explain you their different roles in nearly 3 minutes.

By India Today Web Desk: It was only in November 2015 that the Home Ministry gave approval to give the status of martyr to personnel from the paramilitary forces who die in the line of duty.

Even the 7th Central Pay Commission batted for granting martyr status to personnel of central paramilitary forces, on the lines of armed forces.

In a recommendation to the government the commission said, "the Commission is of the view that in case of death in the line of duty, the force personnel of Central Armed Police Forces should be accorded martyr status, at par with the defence forces personnel".

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Over 10 lakh personnel serve in seven paramilitary, namely- Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Assam Rifles (AR), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guards (NSG) and Border Security Forces (BSF).

But what role do these seven different forces play? Know here:

1. Assam Rifles (AR)

Established in 1835, Assam Rifles is the oldest of all paramilitary forces. There are currently 46 battalions of AR under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

AR's job is to counter insurgency and hold border security operations. Since 2002, they are also guarding the 1,643 km long Indo-Myanmar border.



According to recent reports, the central government was considering to task the Indo-Tibetan Border Police for the Indo-Myanmar border but yesterday Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruled out the withdrawal of Assam Rifles.

Source: Factly

BSF came into being in the wake of the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, to ensure the security of the borders of India. It is headed by an officer from the Indian Police Service just like all other paramilitary forces except Assam Rifles.

Nearly 2.4 lakh personnel are a part of this force and it is also called as the 'First Wall of Defence of Indian Territories'.

Source: Factly

CISF's job is provide security to Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). Currently they provide security cover to 300 industrial units.

Even the currency note presses producing Indian currency are protected by CISF. It is the largest industrial security force in the world and has 165,000 personnel.

source: Factly

The CRPF looks after the internal security of every part of India.

Countering naxal operations, assisting the State and Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and helping with the UN peace-keeping missions also comes under CRPF's task list.

The CRPF guarded the India-Pakistan Border until 1965, after which the BSF was created. In 2001 Parliament attack too, it was the CRPF troops that killed the five terrorists who entered the premises.

Source: Factly Source: Factly

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The ITBP was established after the 1962 Indo-China war, under the CRPF Act. It vigils the northern borders, detects and prevents every border violations and helps the locals feel secure.

The force also keeps a check on illegal immigration and trans-border smuggling. They guard the Indo-Tiber border and the mountainous regions of the Indo-China border.

The ITBP is also trained in disaster management and have been deployed in UN peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Western Sahara, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

Source: Factly

The formation of NSG was a consequence of the assassination of Indira Gandhi and Operation Blue Star. It was raised to combat terrorist activities and to ensure the states do not witness any internal disturbances.

They are often referred as Black Cats because of their uniform which consists of a black dress and black cat insignia.

Source: Factly

Established in 1963, the SSB guard the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders.

It was only in 2014 that the government approved the recruitment of women as combat officers in SSB.

Formerly known as the Special Service Bureau, their job is to control anti-national activities and inculcate feelings of national belonging in the border population among others.





Source: Factly

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Watch the video to understand about their rules in less than 3 minutes:



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The company will be hosting simultaneous events in New York, London, and Taipei on the said date where it will launch its #powerof10 phone. It will also be live streaming the launch proceedings via its official website, it said.

By India Today Web Desk: Taiwanese company HTC has officially confirmed that its next flagship phone - expected to be called the HTC 10 - will launch on April 12. The company will be hosting simultaneous events in New York, London, and Taipei on the said date where it will launch its #powerof10 phone. It will also be live streaming the launch proceedings via its official website, it said.



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The company has been teasing the smartphone - especially its camera prowess - for quite some time now. It has also revealed that the phone will come with chamfered edges. As for the detail picture, including the probable spec sheet, serial tipsters @evleaks and @onleaks have already done the needful.

The latest bit of information coming in (via reports ) about the HTC 10 suggests that the phone will come with a Super LCD 5 display panel. It will be backed by a 3,000mAh battery, it has been further reported.

Rumoured specs of the HTC 10 include: a 5.15-inch QHD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel (UltraPixel) camera on the rear. This camera, as teased by HTC will be very, very compelling, to say the least. In fact, the company has said on record that the phone will come with world-class front and back cameras.

As per previous leaks, the HTC 10 will come with a similar build as the One A9 , at least from the front. It is said to have a curved 2.5D glass and a physical home button that should house a fingerprint scanner.



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After indulging in some mud-slinging, actor Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan have decided to take it a bit slow. The Rangoon actor, who recently returned from Arunachal Pradesh, on Tuesday urged the media to allow "personal space" to celebrities, when she was repeatedly questioned on her ongoing legal tiff with Hrithik.

By India Today Spice, India Today Web Desk: After indulging in some mud-slinging, actor Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan have decided to take it a bit slow. The Rangoon actor, who recently returned from Arunachal Pradesh, on Tuesday urged the media to allow "personal space" to celebrities, when she was repeatedly questioned on her ongoing legal tiff with Hrithik.

ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan were in a relationship. Here's proof

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ALSO READ: This is how Hrithik proposed to Kangana in Paris in 2014



"Sometimes you guys have to allow personal space to celebrities also... It can be very overwhelming. (Being) Strong doesn't mean you can just walk through life without being affected or intimidated. Being strong means that standing up against things in spite of all of this.

"So, you guys need to give me some personal space. It is not that I won't talk about it. I will. As of now, please grant me that space," Kangana told IANS when asked for her comments on the sidelines of an event.

Kangana is said to have been in a relationship with her Krrish 3 co-star Hrithik in the past. But it is only recently that the ex-files have become public, when in an interview to Pinkvilla earlier this year, Ranaut had referred to Roshan as her 'ex' who was doing 'silly things to get her attention'. The topic of discussion was Hrithik's purported hand in getting Kangana replaced by Sonam Kapoor in Aashiqui 3.

Hrithik hit back with a tweet, which said, "Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful)women d media hs ben naming. Thanks but no thanks (sic)."

The matter took an ugly turn with both of them slapping legal notices against each other.

Hrithik has accused Ranaut of stalking him repeatedly through "senseless, personal, and absurd" emails; while Kangana' lawyer said Hrithik's accusations are "baseless".

With things getting murkier with each passing day, it seems that this episode is not nearing its end any time soon.



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Advocate R P Luthra, who appeared for one of the petitioners Prashant Kumar Umrao, claimed in court that after Kanhaiya was released from jail on interim bail, he violated the bail conditions by giving statements "challenging the integrity and sovereignty of the country".

By India Today Web Desk: At a time when JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar is all set to visit the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) campus, Delhi Police today informed the Delhi High Court that they are still probing whether Kanhaiya violated the conditions imposed on him after he was granted bail in the sedition case.

The police told Justice Suresh Kait that they "cannot comment" without verifying the facts if Kanhaiya has violated the bail conditions and the investigation in this aspect is in progress.

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"As regards the allegations that he (Kanhaiya) has violated the bail conditions, this fact is disputed. Unless verified by us, we cannot comment on this. The investigation is going on," special public prosecutor Shailendra Babbar, appearing for the Delhi Police, told the court.

The court was hearing arguments on separate pleas seeking cancellation of interim bail granted to Kanhaiya and also for initiating perjury proceedings against him.

Advocate R P Luthra, who appeared for one of the petitioners Prashant Kumar Umrao, claimed in court that after Kanhaiya was released from jail on interim bail, he violated the bail conditions by giving statements "challenging the integrity and sovereignty of the country".

"The conditions so imposed on him (Kanhaiya) has been violated by him and he has breached the faith shown on him by the court. The concession granted to him should be taken away," he said.

Countering his submissions, Delhi governments senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra said that no grounds have been shown by the petitioners which warranted cancellation of interim bail granted to Kanhaiya at this stage.

"No single ground have been shown by the petitioners which satisfies that bail conditions have been violated by Kanhaiya," Mehra said.

On March 16, the petitions for cancellation of Kanhaiyas interim bail were referred to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court for allocating it before another bench, after objection was raised by one of the petitioners to the warning that they may have to bear the cost on dismissal of their pleas.

Kanhaiya Kumar is likely to visit the restive Hyderabad Central University (HCU) campus later today. However, authorities at the HCU have made it clear that no outsiders, including media persons, would be allowed on their campus.



Also read: Will Hyderabad University allow JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar entry today?





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While the political resolution adopted at the BJP National Executive said Bharat Mata Ki Jai was a mantra of inspiration during the independence struggle and emphasised that freedom of expression did not mean a right to seek the country's destruction, the Opposition slammed BJP for pushing its agenda on others.

By India Today Web Desk: The 'national vs anti-national' debate, which raged a storm in the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and across the nation, was echoed in the newsroom today.

On To The Point with Karan Thapar tonight senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja and Senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar debated over the issue.

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On the show, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said, "We consider anyone openly saying 'I do not want to chant this slogan' as a disrespect to the Constitution. we have not said that every person in the country should recite Bharat Mata Ki Jai in the morning. But anyone trying to disrespect the nation is actually trying to mislead the youth of this country... We believe the people of this country are with us on this issue."

When questioned if he believes that Bharat Mata Ki Jai has precedence and primacy over slogans like Jai Hind, Sare Jahan Se Aacchha Hindustaan Hamara and Inqilab zindabad, CPI leader D Raja said, "When you shout Inqilab zindabad and when I shout Inqilab zindabad it doesn't make any one less patriotic or less nationalistic. BJP should know the history because the so called nationalism emerged during ever the freedom movement. One should understand the history of our country and I would suggest the BJP leadership and RSS leadership to read Mahatma Gandhi what he wrote in 1920 in Young India where he discussed several slogans Allah hu Akbar, Bharat Mata ki Jai, Hindu-Muslim unity Zindabaad. Then Mahatma Gandhi wrote that Bharat Mata ki Jai has been replaced by Vande Maataram and paid great tributes to the emotional expression of Bengali language. So we must understand what is nation. (Karan Thapar interrupts)

When Thapar once again questioned Raja if Bharat Mata Ki Jai has precedence over the other slogans, the Left leader said, "I don't think so".

Speaking on the issue, Dileep Padgaonkar said, "There is no constitutional or legal obligation on any citizen of India about any chant of the nation. I think, the political resolution of the BJP is too clever by half and it is meant to mislead. The Preamble of the constitution doesn't refer to India as Bharat Mata. This is a distinction that needs to be drawn. That's why you are not expected to chant it every morning...But the RSS chief says that (chat Bharat Mata Ki Jai) is the only way to demonstrate your patriotism then we are on slippery grounds... Anyone who obliges me to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai is being anti-constitutional".

On being questioned about his party's double standards on the issue, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil supported the motion for suspension of AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan for not chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai because the collective conscious of the Assemby was that Pathan should chant the slogan".

He reflected the position of the all the members of the Congress who felt a particular way but that didn't mean the Congress party line.

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While the political resolution adopted at the BJP National Executive said Bharat Mata Ki Jai was a mantra of inspiration during the independence struggle and emphasised that freedom of expression did not mean a right to seek the country's destruction, the Opposition slammed BJP for pushing its agenda on others.

The 10 Big Questions that were raised on the show are:

Is it wrong to criticise India? Not chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' anti-national? What is Congress' stand on this issue? 'Chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai' is a test of patriotism? Who defines nationalism in India? Is the NDA government pushing its agenda on others? Do NDA allies agree with BJP's stand? Does sloganeering prove one's patriotism? Can government force people to chant slogans? Can politicians rise beyond mere lip service?

Click here to watch full debate

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"I am satisfied. I am very satisfied," she said on Tuesday adding that the party's future course of action would be announced at the PDP Legislature Party meeting this Thursday.

By Kumar Vikram: People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti's description of her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "positive" gave a new lease of life to the shaky alliance between her party and the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir though the two parties stopped short of announcing a breakthrough

"When you meet the PM, the ways of sorting out problems become more clear," said Mehbooba Mufti who had to return empty-handed after meeting BJP president Amit Shah as he rebuffed assurances sought by the PDP on the Common Minimum Programme to run the government.

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"I am satisfied. I am very satisfied," she said on Tuesday adding that the party's future course of action would be announced at the PDP Legislature Party meeting this Thursday.

Asked about the Modi-Mehbooba meeting, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said it was constructive and good.

The BJP sources, however, claimed the alliance government in the state could be in place by next week. Mehbooba will be flying back to Srinagar on Wednesday, where she will brief her party legislators. "I had been authorised by party MLAs to take a decision. I have convened a meeting on Thursday and after that we will announce the future course of action on government formation in the state," she said.

When asked if any decision on government formation had been taken, she said: "As I said, I will talk to my MLAs because that is the forum. This is not the place. There is a particular place to make such announcements. I will go back to Srinagar and take the next step."

Sources in the PDP said after the Legislative Party meeting, the two sides would meet for government formation and giving final touches to the Cabinet, which will be headed by Mehbooba, the first woman chief minister of the state.

Last Thursday, BJP's chief interlocutor Ram Madhav had announced that his party would not be accepting any fresh demands from its erstwhile ally PDP and put the ball in their court while stressing that his party would respect the Agenda of Alliance document. Today's meeting was eyed with suspicion by Opposition National Conference and Congress, who asked the PDP leadership to come clean on the deal with the BJP.

The BJP had made it clear that the PDP's conditions for government formation were not acceptable. Sources claimed that change in Mehbooba's stand has been brought about by growing impatience among her own party's lawmakers, a majority of who want her to renew the partnership with the BJP and form government in the state.

Mehbooba's new demands included return of at least two power projects to the state from the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC), two Smart Cities for the State - Jammu and Srinagar -and vacation of land under Army occupation among others.

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Also Read: J-K govt formation: Mehbooba likely to meet PM Modi in a day or two





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To mark the occasion, Pakistan High Commission here have organised a series of events, including a reception, which is expected to be attended among others by Kashmiri separatist leaders.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today extended his greetings to Pakistan on their national day, close on the heels of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee stating that India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with the neighbouring country.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Modi said,

Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their National Day. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2016

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To mark the occasion, Pakistan High Commission here have organised a series of events, including a reception, which is expected to be attended among others by Kashmiri separatist leaders.

When asked who would represent the government at the Pakistan national day celebrations at their High Commission, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said that a senior minister would attend.

On Tuesday, Pranab Mukherjee had said, "India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan. I am of the firm conviction that our cooperation will lead to progress and prosperity in our region. I take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for your good health and well-being," he had said in his message on Pakistan's national day."

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The complaint was filed after clashes between ABVP members and Left-backed students broke out at Pune's Fergusson College and the college administration sent a letter to Pune Police to investigate the alleged anti-national sloganeering on the campus.

By India Today Web Desk: Shortly after the Principal of Pune's prestigious Fergusson College asked the police to investigate if any 'anti-national' slogans were raised at an event on Tuesday, the college has retracted its complaint against its students, calling it a "typing error".

The complaint was filed after clashes between ABVP members and Left-backed students broke out at Pune's Fergusson College and the college administration sent a letter to Pune Police to investigate the alleged anti-national sloganeering on the campus.

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The clashes broke out after the RSS-backed ABVP held an "informal" discussion on the recent JNU row, where students from the Left raised slogans against the right-wing organisation. ABVP's Jawaharlal Nehru University unit's president Alok Singh was also present during the event.

Police, who eventually intervened and dispersed the crowd, said that some students from the Left groups reached the spot and started arguing with the ABVP members. It led to angry exchanges and slogan-shouting.

Principal Ravindra Pardeshi however said no permission was granted to the ABVP for holding the 'Truth of JNU' discussion on the campus.

Although the letter to the police does not mention what slogans were raised at the campus, it has asked the police to probe the incident. "Anticipating that the argument could turn violent, we were forced to call the police," Pardeshi said.

"When the program was underway, members of AISA, SFI and AISF came and to disrupt it, started shouting slogans such as Lal Salaam, Kanhaiya Kumar Zindabaad," said ABVP office-bearer Nikhil Karampuri.

The ABVP later staged another discussion at the Ranade Institute of Journalism. The institute authorities did not allow them in at first, so the ABVP members and the institute students started discussion sitting on two sides of the gate.

Later, they were allowed to have a discussion inside the campus.

Also read: Will Hyderabad University allow JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar entry today?



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JNU delegation headed by Kanhaiya Kumar met Rahul Gandhi. It was a courtesy call. They thanked him for his continuous support ever since the issue started.

By Mail Today: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday gave clear signs that he refused to cow down to BJP's attacks on him over his JNU visit in solidarity with varsity's students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition in the aftermath of anti-India slogans raised on the campus at an event to commemorate Afzal Guru.

Not only did he visit JNU and address the left-wing students who were then agitating for Kumar's release, he also met a delegation of JNU students led by Kumar on Tuesday amidst rumours that the AISF leader might switch political colours.

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After being catapulted to fame in the wake of his arrest and release on bail it had also been claimed that Kumar would campaign for the Left in upcoming West Bengal elections. Kumar has laid the claims to rest, asserting that he wanted to pursue an academic career

Kumar will be visiting the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) on Wednesday where he is expected to join the protests against Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile resuming office after going on leave due to the trouble after Rohith Vemula's suicide. Kumar would also be meeting Vemula's mother.

In their first meeting since Kumar's release, the JNUSU president was accompanied by a delegation from the JNUSU and Left-backed All India Students' Federation (AISF). Kumar met the Congress vice-president at latter's residence.

No details of the meeting emerged as Kumar did not interact with the media after his an hour-long meeting. However, Congress' students wing NSUI chief Roji M John described it as a courtesy call to thank Gandhi.

"A JNU delegation headed by Kanhaiya met Rahul Gandhi. It was a courtesy call. They thanked him for his continuous support ever since the issue started.

Gandhi not only supported the students at JNU but also FTII and IITMadras where students have been protesting against the way the government is attacking institutions. We will continue this fight to protect autonomy of institutions," John said.

Kumar and Gandhi have relentlessly been attacking the current BJP dispensation, alleging that the regime had been gagging political dissent, free speech and freedom of expression.

Kumar had been in the eye of another storm when recently Congress MP Shashi Tharoor compared him to Bhagat Singh, a remark from which his own party had distanced itself following criticism from the BJP.

Also Read: Congress distances itself from Tharoor's Bhagat Singh remark



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Instead of mercilessly trashing those perfectly sized muffins, bagels and sandwiched, Starbucks, America's iconic coffehouse chain has decided to donate all the leftover food to the needy in America.

By India Today Web Desk: On the heels of France and Italy passing a law to make supermarkets donate their waste food to charities, comes a similar heartwarming gesture by the America's iconic coffeehouse giant, Starbucks.

On Tuesday the company announced their decision to contribute 100% of the leftovers to those in need. They have created this initiative to minimize waste and provide food for the hungry in partnership with nonprofit organization Feeding America and food collection group Food Donation Connection.

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The food will be picked up and distributed by local charities from 7,600 stores across America. Their goal is donate 5 million meals by end of this year.

Starbucks baristas lead new company effort to donate meals to food banks https://t.co/mfPC7dATHm #tobeapartner pic.twitter.com/PgGnC25jM9 Starbucks News (@Starbucksnews) March 22, 2016

In America more than 48 million people living in houses where food is a scarcity, according to Feeding America. Apart from this Food Waste is a bigger scourge in U.S with over 70 billion pounds of food going to waste every year.

In a press release Jane Maly, brand manager of the Starbucks Food team said, "When we thought about our vast store footprint across the U.S. and the impact we could make, it put a fire under us to figure out how to donate this food instead of throwing it away."



Along with the initiative to help the hungry, Starbucks is also focused on reducing their environmental footprint.



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The auction-- Sothbey's Asia Week New York--also saw works by the likes of Amrita Sher-Gil and Raja Ravi Verma.

By India Today Web Desk: The week gone by saw one of the most sought-after auctions of the world, and featured some of the best-known creative greats from India.

The works of one of India's most revered abstract artists--Vasudeo S Gaitonde--fetched a whopping USD 55 million at Sothbey's recent auction of South East Asian works of art.

What caught everyone's attention was the price at which VS Gaitonde's 1960 work, Untitled, got sold--a whopping USD 2.8 million!

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Gaitonde's painting, the largest-known canvas by the artist, led both the sales and all of Sotheby's Asia Week New York auctions.

The Hindu reports that the painting was commissioned by Air India to commemorate the addition of transatlantic flights to their schedule, the auction house said in a statement.

The art sale included works by India's modern masters, including Amrita Sher-Gil and Raja Ravi Verma.

"Our sale built on the growing western interest in Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art with great results for artists such as Nasreen Mohamedi and Bhupen Khakhar who are soon to be the subjects of exhibitions at the newly opened Met Breuer... They joined the likes of V S Gaitonde and Amrita Sher-Gil at the highest echelons of the auction market," Yamini Mehta, International Head of Department, Indian and South Asian Art, Sotheby's said.

An untitled portrait of a lady in a gold sari by Raja Ravi Varma, sold at USD 5,86,000.

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By Sahil Mohan Gupta : Google is reportedly working on a version of its own virtual keyboard for Apple's mobile operating system reports the Verge . Apple added support for third party keyboards on iOS 8 in 2014, but since then Google hasn't made an overture to take over the keyboard of the iPhone, even though it literally makes dedicated apps for all its services for iOS.

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Earlier in the year Google's big rival Microsoft not only announced intentions to make its 'Word Flow' keyboard for iOS, but it also acquired SwiftKey, which has been arguably been the best third party keyboard on both iOS and Android for a number of years.

Seemingly, it is a logical decision, but according to the report this new keyboard for iOS could be a Trojan horse to get Google Search on almost every screen of iOS. Right now, Microsoft's Bing search engine the default search on iOS and it powers results on Siri. Google's Search app is available on the App Store and it does offer Google Now, but even then the experience is rather compartmentalised.

Google intends to add search to the keyboard which will allow it to possibly add or grab search links, GIFs or images directly from the keyboard without jumping between apps. Already a third-party keyboard called 'Slash' allows this kind of functionality on iOS, but a Google branded keyboard with Search embedded would be something that allow Google to bring back search to iOS in a more meaningful way.

Microsoft has also launched a third-party keyboard called the Hub which is available in the US that allows it to grab stuff off the clipboard and is integrated with its productivity applications.

The addition of Search to the keyboard will also help Google differentiate it from the Microsoft owned SwiftKey or Swipe keyboards which are available on iOS. As Apple hasn't granted deep system level access to the third-party keyboards, they haven't been very successful on the platform and Apple's stock option reigns supreme. That being said, Google could change it. Now, one just has to wait and watch.



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The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has provided Prominvestbank (PIB, Kyiv) with loan refinancing via tender in the amount of UAH 200 million for up to three months, according to the NBU website.

According to the report, the NBU on March 9 held another tender for short-term liquidity support, and as a result issued the said loan secured by domestic loan bonds.

According to NBU, in 2016 it also granted UAH 190 million refinancing secured by domestic loan bonds via a tender to Bank Khreschatyk (Kyiv).

As reported, in December 2015 the National Bank provided a UAH 200 million refinancing loan secured by government domestic loan bonds to Prominvestbank for a period of over 30 calendar days.

According to preliminary unaudited data, the loss of Prominvestbank in 2015 was UAH 18.06 billion, which is 3.04 times more than in 2014.

PIB in late February 2015 completed the process of increasing charter capital by UAH 19.999 billion, or 2.1 times, to UAH 39.009 billion.
The alleviation of anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the European Union is directly linked to the progress made in the implementation of the Minsk agreements for Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has told Interfax in an exclusive interview.

"The larger the progress made in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, the sooner we will be able to discuss the alleviation of the sanctions regime. Therefore, our efforts should now focus on the soonest fulfillment of the Minsk agreements," Steinmeier said in the interview timed to coincide with his visit to Moscow.

He was asked whether the EU might decide to lift the anti-Russian sanctions either partially or fully at its summit in June and commented on a statement of his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni that the opinions of Berlin and Paris on the progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements for Ukraine would be crucial for deciding if the extension of the sanctions was necessary.

"An immediate and lasting improvement of security levels is vital for people [in eastern Ukraine]," he said.

As to Russia-EU relations in general and the five principles laid down by the EU for building future relations with Russia, Steinmeier said, "Russia is the biggest neighbor of the European Union; it is much bigger than anyone else. A smoothly operating neighborhood meets mutual interests. After what happened in the 20th century, we, the Germans, are responsible for creating new channels for dialogue and searching for solutions to conflicts. We have been doing so at various levels and at numerous forums. I personally maintain close and regular contacts with my colleague, Sergei Lavrov."

"Nevertheless, we need to remember that the European Union and Russia are disagreeing on a number of important matters, and these disagreements need to be overcome together. It will take efforts of the governments, but civil society can also play an important role. This is why it is so important to maintain millions of contacts between Germany and Russia in the field of public relations, culture, the economy and politics," Steinmeier said.

He gave the example of the Russian-German Year of Youth Exchanges held in 2016-2017 under the patronage of the German and Russian foreign ministers. "Or this can be done by means of the agreement between the Association of Russian Leading Universities and the German Academic Exchange Service. By doing so, we will make sure that future generations maintain these relations and, probably, find new ways to reach one another," the German foreign minister said.
The sister of Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been convicted in Russia to 20 years in prison, Natalia Kaplan (Kochneva), has said that her brother is held in detention center No. 1 in Yakutsk, Russia.

"Initially we learned by word of mouth that Oleh was in Yakutsk. Together with human rights defenders we began to call detention centers, and one of them - detention center No. 1 - confirmed that he was there. It is clear that he will be transferred somewhere else, as he is sentenced to go to a [penal] colony. But we don't know to which colony. There are two high security prisons in Yakutia. We don't know where exactly he will go. One of them is intended for first time offenders, the other for repeated offenders," she told the Radio Liberty's project Crimea.Realities (http://ua.krymr.com/) on Tuesday.

Earlier, Russian human rights activists said they didn't know where Sentsov was taken to after his latest transfer to a detention center in Chelyabinsk. There was no official information about the final point of destination for the Ukrainian filmmaker.

Sentsov's defense lawyer Dmitry Dinze told the publication that such information is usually classified.

On August 25, 2015, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don issued a guilty verdict against Sentsov to a cumulative term of 20 years in a high-security prison for the alleged "preparation of terror attacks in Crimea".

On March 10, the Ukrainian Justice Ministry said it sent a request to the Russian counterparts asking them to hand over Ukrainians Oleh Sentsov, Hennadiy Afanasyev, Oleksandr Kolchenko, and Yuriy Soloshenko, convicted by Russian courts to Ukraine under the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

The Russian Justice Ministry said it will respond to Ukraine's inquiry on within a month's time.
Minsk negotiators fail to reach consensus on release of captives in Ukraine, decide to start working on 'roadmap'  Sajdik

The participants in the Minsk talks on Ukraine have agreed to lay out a 'roadmap' on the release and handover of the persons detained due to the conflict, OSCE Special Envoy Martin Sajdik said.

The subgroup on humanitarian issues has discussed the release of the persons detained due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but failed to reach a consensus. However, the parties have agreed to work on a 'roadmap' on the release and handover of the detainees, Sajdik told reporters on Wednesday.

He also revealed that the issue of security during local elections in some area of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was discussed at the joint meeting of the security and the political subgroups.

Also, the participants in the political subgroup held a detailed discussion on the amnesty.
Live Trading News issued a report on Tuesday detailing these obstacles and mirroring a number of recent reports that have also highlighted the key uncertainty in Irans reentry into global oil and commodities markets. The latest report speculates that the major international banks will probably take at least five years before they are entirely comfortable reestablishing their relations with the Islamic Republic. And that presupposes that Irans nuclear deal with six world powers will remain in effect, sans any degradation in relations between Iran and the West.

On one hand, Live Trading News points out that the Iranian government and leading Iranian businesses are standing ready with a range of economic development projects that would serve to modernize the sanctions-damaged Iranian economy. But the implementation of these plans will require as much as 500 billion dollars in foreign investment, and thus the cooperation of leading international banks.

At the same time, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has arguably made the international climate more difficult for economic reconciliation, having delivered recent speeches accusing the US of aggressive policies in the form of continued enforcement of economic sanctions that remain on the books. And although Khamenei has made every effort to portray the US as being unilaterally responsible for aggression, this subordinates including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have strongly contributed to a distrustful environment through such activities as three tests of banned ballistic missiles earlier this month.

These and other provocations have left Western critics of the nuclear deal clamoring for new sanctions and associated enforcement measures. But even without having responded to that pressure, the US continues to feed Khameneis rhetoric through legal enforcement measures. This fact was highlighted on Tuesday by Ambiente Ja when it reported that a Turkish-Iranian dual citizen named Reza Zarrab had been arrested in Miami for his role in a years-long scheme to launder money to the Islamic Republic. Two others have been charged in the case but have not come within the reach of US law enforcement.

While there does not appear to be much serious criticism of this enforcement among Western policymakers, there is little doubt that Khamenei will strive to use it in his push for Iran to return to a resistance economy comprised of policies aimed at evading sanctions and developing domestic industries in absence of foreign investment. Such efforts put Khamenei at odds with the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, which spearheaded the Iran nuclear deal as part of a policy of strategic engagement with the West, ostensibly leading to improved economic outcomes.

On one hand, the latter policy arguably represents better prospects for the economic survival of the existing regime. But on the other hand, foreign investment may be seen as a challenge to existing Iranian institutions, including those owned or closely affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Critics of the Iranian regime such as the National Council of Resistance of Iran have estimated that the IRGC controls the majority of the Islamic Republics entire gross domestic product. A report published by Reuters on Tuesday seemed to lend some additional validity to these conclusions, quoting experts as saying that government institutions are the main objects and the primary would-be beneficiaries of Khameneis latest speeches espousing the virtues of a resistance economy.

On the occasion of the Iranian New Year celebration of Nowruz over the weekend, the supreme leader deemed the year ahead the Year of the Resistance Economy. Such remarks seem to preemptively dismiss the possibility of reconciliation and economic cooperation. In other words, if Khameneis commentary successfully influences government officials, it may encourage more provocations of the sort we saw earlier this month, in order to facilitate resistance in lieu of fulfilling the expectations derived from the nuclear deal.

To the extent that this concept of resistance is aimed at staving off foreign investment in favor of entrenched government institutions, it may also contribute to resistance against cooperation with entities other than the US, including Irans ostensible partners in OPEC. Those countries appear to have largely written off the prospect of Iranian participation in an oil production freeze. Therefore, they are scheduled to participate in a separate meeting with one another and Russia in mid-April, in order to extend the recent production decreases, even in absence of the desired participation from Iran.

However, there are now some indications that the resistance rhetoric may have impacts that extend beyond the Islamic Republic and include its allies and other players in the Middle East and North Africa. Specifically, Channel News Asia reported on Tuesday that Libya is now indicating that it has no plans to participate in the April 17 OPEC/Russia meeting but will instead focus on expanding its own oil output to recover from the roughly 800,000 barrel per day decrease that the country has experienced since its 2011 civil war.
The Washington Post reported upon her remarks and characterized them as a rebuke of inconsistent policies as expressed by her leading Republican rival, Donald Trump. But the report notes that Clinton did not address Trump by name. And although she helped to implement the Obama administrations policies surrounding the nuclear deal, it is possible to regard some of Clintons commentary as a negative reaction to that policy. Specifically, Clinton criticized the notion that everything is negotiable, thereby mirroring criticism of the Obama administrations negotiating strategies, which some described as leading to an escalating series of concessions and even appeasement.

Indeed, much of the Israeli government took this position, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming last year that the agreement then being formulated by the Obama administration would ultimately pave the way to an Iranian nuclear weapon. Mrs. Clintons insistence that Israels security is not negotiable can easily be read either as an attempt to reassure the Israelis about the effectiveness of current Democratic policy, or as implying that that policy would shift under her presidency.

If the former is her intention, it is certainly in keeping with a range of comments that Obama administration officials have made to the Israelis over the several months since the conclusion of nuclear negotiations. Albawwaba pointed out, for instance, that Vice President Joe Biden had taken pains to insist that the US would be watching Iran like a hawk, effectively pursuing Clintons preferred policy of distrust and verify.

Biden also emphasized that regardless of conflicts between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations over Iran policy, Israel would soon be receiving the largest ever security assistance package from the US, thus helping to counterbalance fears of ascendant Iranian power in the region.

But it is unlikely that these reassurances will convince the whole of the Israeli government that current US policies are sufficient to safeguard Israel and the broader Middle East against an Iranian threat. This is especially true in the wake of provocative Iranian activities including its three recent tests of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and its aggressive politicization of an incident in January in which 10 American sailors were seized and held for a day by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps after mistakenly straying into Iranian territorial waters.

These and other activities have invited accusations that the Islamic Republic has been defying the spirit, if not the letter of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and the international resolutions accompanying it. UN Security Council Resolution 2231, for instance, calls upon Iran to avoid development or testing of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. And legislators from both political parties have responded to Irans defiance of this resolution by calling for severe new economic sanctions.

For others, that incident has further contributed to the justification for simply cancelling the nuclear agreement altogether and returning to a more punitive and confrontational policy toward the Islamic Republic. Breitbart reported on Monday that former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton had explicitly advocated this position, saying of the deal, It was a strategic mistake when it was signed for the United States. Its been violated repeatedly by the Iranian regime. They violate now both on ballistic missiles and on the nuclear side.

Bolton went on to impugn the broader policy surrounding this nuclear agreement, saying that the Obama administration had been pursuing a misguided strategy of reaching out to moderates within the Iranian regime, whom many critics of the regime believe simply do not exist.

Those critics, including Ambassador Bolton, have variously expressed the view that this strategy has led to a long series of concessions being handed to the Iranians in exchange for very little being given to the US. On Monday, The Diplomat arguably illustrated one of these concessions in its discussion of an American court case that was recently concluded against Chinese nationals who had helped Iran to gain access to rare pressure transducers, which are important to the nuclear enrichment process.

The Diplomat points out that pending charges against Iranian nationals involved in the scheme were dropped as part of a prisoner exchange that saw four Americans released from Iran in exchange for the US releasing or dropping charges against 21 Iranians. Furthermore, future charges against Iranians will be difficult to pursue in this and similar cases as long as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action remains in place, in part because the implementation of that agreement led to the dissolution of a UN body that had been tasked with investigating possible Iranian violations of the now-suspended sanctions.
NewsMax named Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the most prominent participants in the congressional effort that is reportedly aimed at enacting the Iran Ballistic Missile Sanctions Act to hobble every sector of the Iranian economy that directly and indirectly supports Irans ballistic missile program.

There was initially some expectation that this goal might be accomplished through multilateral action through the UN Security Council, but those expectations seem to have faded, with Russia defending Irans position that the missile tests were not and could not be violations of UNSCR 2231, which calls upon the Islamic Republic to avoid further development or testing of ballistic missiles designed to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

This week, the language of that resolution has become the subject of much scrutiny by policymakers and the media. But Reuters reported on Friday that the relative ambiguity of the language, compared to an earlier resolution that said Iran shall not conduct such tests, has made it unlikely that the UN will be able to justify or enact new international sanctions.

Reuters noted, however, that even Moscow admitted that last weeks missile tests were not respectful of the Security Council or the spirit of the resolution. As of Friday, the Obama administration was continuing to press the issue with the UN, but there appeared to be little hope of eliciting a response befitting an outright violation of Security Council resolutions. According to Reuters, the best that Irans critics can realistically expect of the UN is a public reprimand, but without meaningful diplomatic or economic consequences.

If Reuters assessment is correct, the US Senate will have even greater traction in its push for unilateral enactment of sanctions. Indeed, many critics of the Islamic Republic will surely argue that such action is made necessary by the lack of recourse to the international body. But many of those critics have also been critical of the Obama administrations Iran policy, seeing it as weak, conciliatory, or overly optimistic. Such critics can be expected to push for punitive measures on the understanding that the administration is unlikely to undertake them of its own accord.

Doing so  or being forced by a more skeptical Congress to do so  would arguably constitute a significant reversal of US policy toward Iran. And such a reversal would be welcomed not only by congressional Republicans but also by a number of traditional US allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and its major Arab partners. These allies leading officials have variously expressed concern about an American pivot toward Iran, which threatened to contribute to an increase in Iranian power in the region. The ballistic missile test has helped to further stoke these concerns, especially given the fact that two of the three tested missiles bore messages on their sides saying, Israel must be wiped out.

In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat, Frances Townsend, the former Homeland Security Adviser to President George W. Bush explained, While the countries in the region feel that they are surrounded and greatly threatened by the Iranians, they see that their historical ally, the United States, has sided with the enemy who Saudi Arabia has warned us of. However, the Obama administration has not adhered to that advice.

Other critics of the Obama administrations policies have gone further, suggesting that far from not adhering to that advice, the president has actively contravened it in order to offer concessions to Iran at the expense of traditional US alliance and other clear consequences. Both during and after the nuclear negotiations that concluded last July, the Obama administrations critics have cited a wide variety of decisions as possible examples of those concessions.

One such example was the 1.7 billion dollar payment made to Iran around the time of the January implementation of the nuclear deal. The payment was described as the settlement of legal dispute over payments owed to Iran from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But since the settlement of that debt was announced, questions have arisen about how the figure was determined and whether there were strings attached to the settlement.

Some officials with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have characterized the payment as a sort of ransom for four American-Iranian prisoners who were set free in a separate prisoner swap that also took place around the time of nuclear implementation. Taking this characterization seriously, some members of the US Congress have begun pressuring the White House for more information about the negotiations leading up to the payment.

On Friday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the US State Department is now being accused of stalling this information, in part by ignoring multiple attempts at contact by Representative Mike Pompeo. The Kansas Republican initially wrote a letter in January grilling the department on whether the 1.7 billion dollars might end up in the hands of Iran-backed terrorists and whether American prisoners had ever come up in discussions of the settlement. Pompeo also wrote, I fear this payment is the latest incident that is establishing a dangerous precedent that will lead to more Americans being captured abroad.

This concern was amplified that same month in the aftermath of the capture of 10 American sailors who had strayed into Iranian territorial waters, apparently as a result of a technical failure. The incident was short-lived in the sense that all ten were released within a day, reportedly following some back-and-forth on the telephone between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. As with the prisoner swap, the Obama administration described this release as a triumph of diplomacy and vindication of its foreign policy. But critics seized upon Irans behavior during and after the incident as proof of the regimes continued animosity toward the West, and an indicator of its possible willingness to engage in more such activities in the future.

This perspective was arguably given further support on Friday when the Daily Telegraph reported that Commander Ali Fadavi, the head of the IRGC naval forces had spoken to the Iranian media about plans for the building of a statue commemorating the sailors capture. This news came the same week as the IRGC claimed to have obtained 13,000 pages worth of documents from electronic devices belonging to the captors. And at the beginning of February, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei awarded the nations highest military honors to the Guards involved in the incident.

Each of these follow-ups to the story indicates that the IRGC and the regime as a whole are committed to exploiting the incident as much as possible for propaganda purposes, even if the capture did not lead to any specific concessions from the American government.

Whats more, some in the West appear to feel that the absence of an aggressive response from the US government was itself a sort of concession, at least insofar as it gave the Iranians the impression that they could get away with more such behavior and allowed them to portray the incident as a victory over the Great Satan.

This criticism was repeated on Friday in the Patriot Post when it pointed out that US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter had spoken out against Irans behavior but had not made any recommendations for actions that could be taken in response to that behavior. In January, Carter said he was very, very angry about Irans decision to broadcast images and video of the captured sailors. And this week he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee and said, As I made clear then, Irans actions were outrageous, unprofessional and inconsistent with international law, and nothing weve learned about the circumstances of this incident since then changes that fact.

The Patriot Post dismissed this commentary as ineffectual and concluded that the Obama administration as a whole is all talk, no action on issues related to Iran. And this indictment of the administrations foreign policy seems to closely reflect the criticism that now surrounds its handling of the ballistic missile tests. That is to say, if the issue remains in the hands of the United Nations, the likely outcome will be that the US takes the opportunity to condemn Irans activities and express anger over them, but without this anger leading to material consequences for the Islamic Republic.
Ban called on the international community to remember those who perished in this inhumane act.

The chemical weapons attack, carried out with sarin gas, took place in the suburbs of Damascus, known as Eastern and Western Ghouta, on Aug. 21 last year and a U.S. investigation found it killed more than 1,400 people. Survivors say the destruction of the Syrian chemical arsenal is no consolation for the loss of loved ones or the harsh, ongoing military siege by Assads army.

The Aug. 21, 2013, attack was almost certainly the single deadliest event in Syria since the peoples uprising against the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assab began in March 2011.

However, Ban who had described the attack the worst use of weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century, said: the Syrian conflict not only continues unabated, but it has spilled over into neighboring countries, sparking a humanitarian catastrophe and fuelling further human rights violations and crimes against humanity.

A lack of international action to the chemical attack in Syria sent wrong message to dictators particularly the mullahs in Iran and its puppet Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq.

The Iranian regime considers its military support for the Syrian dictatorship to be part of its war against America, a senior Revolutionary Guards commanders said in May.

Colonel Mohammad Eskandari, an IRGC commander in city of Malayer, said: IRGC commanders have prepared and equipped 42 divisions and 138 battalions in Syria, and are fully prepared militarily to fight the enemy.

Todays war in Syria is really our war with US.

Hamedan Province Deputy IRGC Commander Mazaher Majdi added: Irans front line is in Syria and Lebanon, and this is a religious duty for us.

If we do not defend them today, the enemys trench will be beside our border.

When in June the world leaders described the election under Assad in Syria as a grotesque parody of democracy and a great big zero, Hassan Rouhani, the alleged moderate president of the clerical regime congratulated Assad and described it as a significant and hope-inspiring event, which is in line with democracy.

Killing of the American journalist James Foley by the ISIS in anniversary of the chemical attack more than ever underscores the need for a firm regional and international policy against the extremism and fundamentalism under the cover of religion.

Major crimes by the Iranian regimes Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and its affiliated terrorists in Iraq and Syria, and the massacres of the people in both these countries allowed for the growth of groups such as ISIS, who have diverted the peoples resistance against dictatorship to the benefit of Iranian regimes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Bashar al-Assad.

Terrorism and fundamentalism under the name of Islam is an ominous phenomenon which has turned to a global threat in contemporary history since the inception of the rule of the religious fascism in Iran and will not be uprooted as long as this regime is in power.

The eviction of the Iranian regime from the countries of the region, particularly from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, is indispensable to ending such terror and horror in the Middle East and the world.
According to the Persian tradition, in the evening of the last Tuesday of the year people jump over bonfires and explode firecrackers and sonic booms to welcome the new Persian year. The Iranian regime has been against this tradition for the duration of its rule.

According to reports from Tehran and other cities, the Fire Festival was celebrated in Tehran, Tabriz, Esfahan, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Karaj, Boroujerd, Ahvaz, Urmia, Yazd, Marand, Ardebil, Nayshabour and elsewhere.

The many districts in Tehran, including Narmak, Majidieh, Nezamabad, Vali Asr, Shariati, Falakeh Aval Tehranpars, and Falakeh Dovvom Tehranpars the youth set up extensive fire plays. In sections of Falakeh Aval Tehranpars pictures of Khamenei and Rouhani were set on fire. Also near Milad Tower (the tallest tower in Iran) pictures of Khomeini and Khamenei were set ablaze.

In southern Tehran in Naziabad district, a number of the youth exploded sonic grenades and chanted anti-regime slogans. In several districts in the city of Karaj, the youth exploded sonic grenades. In the city of Shiraz the youth put up a fire in the street closing it down and clashed with the security forces. In Tajrish, northern Tehran, people chanted death to Khamenei, death to the principle of velayat-e faqih and death to Rouhani as they jumped over the bonfires.

In Tabriz, fire festivities were held in various districts and some of the youth put up placards reading death to the principle of velayat-e faqih (or absolute clerical rule) and Year 95 [new Persian year 1395] is the year of the regimes overthrow in a number of streets.

In the past years, the Iranian regime has considered the Fire Festival a superstitious anti-Islamic ceremony and has been strongly against this tradition, but the state-run Javan Online News Agency reported on March 4 that this year there is a campaign to replace putting up fires and exploding firecrackers with offering sweets to each other when the youth come and knock on our doors.

This news agency added that it is incorrect to deny an ancient tradition if it is not carried out correctly, and this method has not been effective in the past years and has only aggravated the society. By undermining true Iranian traditions people  and initially the middle class  will go after foreign traditions and these traditions will replace Iranian and Islamic ones.
On one hand, the Iranian year 1395 began about eight months after the conclusion of an historic nuclear agreement and just over two months after the January implementation of that agreement. This has naturally contributed to expectations about broader negotiations between the two countries, as well as the utilization of the newfound economic freedoms that come with the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

On the other hand, there has been a great deal of pressure against such reconciliation and cooperation, from critics on both sides of the nuclear deal. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is the ultimate authority in virtually all matters of Iranian policy, was quick to caution his subordinates against negotiation with the West in areas other than the nuclear agreement. And yet, now that that agreement has been implemented and Irans economic recovery has reportedly been slower than anticipated, Khamenei has used his Nowruz speeches to criticize the US for standing in the way of broader economic cooperation.

The International Business Times quoted the supreme leader as reiterating some of what has already been observed by global financial analysts: that international banking institutions are fearful of reestablishing their relations with the Islamic Republic, in light of the persistent danger of punitive measures by the US government.

A number of sanctions remain in place on Iran as a result of its human rights violations and support for international sanctions. These can still be violated if companies are not careful about whom they do business with and under what circumstances. Furthermore, there have been persistent concerns about Irans willingness to cooperate with the international community, especially in light of its provocative tests of three nuclear-capable ballistic missiles earlier this month. Such incidents factor into global businesses concern that suspended sanctions could come back into effect, or that other global enforcement measures could replace them.

This wariness stands to affect the Islamic Republic alongside those businesses themselves. After all, International Business Times reports that Iran needs upwards of 500 billion dollars in largely foreign investment in order to modernize its infrastructure and make up for the damage wrought by economic sanctions. But instead of changing Iranian policy in a way that facilitates a more cooperative and less risky business environment, Khamenei used his Nowruz speeches to suggest that the US alone is at fault for unilateral and unprovoked hostility.

Specifically, the Wall Street Journal quotes Khamenei as accusing the US of having implemented the July 14 nuclear agreement in paper only, while standing against the overall spirit of that agreement by failing to lift the lingering barriers to foreign investment. Meanwhile, critics of the Iranian regime have blamed it for repeatedly violating the overall spirit of the agreement in the sense of its international cooperation over and constraints on Irans potential progress toward nuclear weapons.

Further buttressing this argument, Khameneis Nowruz remarks served to reiterate the justifications that have been offered by a number of Iranian officials for this months ballistic missile tests. Such tests are not technically banned by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but there is a parallel UN Security Council resolution that calls upon the Islamic Republic to avoid those tests and other moves toward the development or use of weapons that are capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

But Khamenei described the tests as an aspect of Irans legitimate national defense and said that the US has no business attempting to enforce constraints on that. Reuters quoted him as saying, America is thousands of kilometres away from the Persian Gulf and conducts exercises there with regional countries  but if we have exercises in our own security realm they protest loudly.

Reuters also quoted Khamenei as saying that American presidential candidates compete to vilify the Islamic Republic. He has similarly indicted the sitting president, although in doing so he has arguably ignored the tendency of some of that presidents domestic critics to regard his policies as weak and tending toward appeasement. The White House, by contrast, tends to characterize its own policies as opening the door to the very reconciliation that Khamenei claims the US has been resisting. Indeed, this appeared to be a major point in President Obamas own Nowruz message to the Iranian people.

The fiercest critics of the Iranian regime tend to characterize this shift as a mistake, based on the false premise that a more moderate Iranian president could lead the way toward broad-based reconciliation. Even so, the persistence of that delicate tone arguably undermines Khameneis claims about persistent aggression.

However, Khameneis own aggression may have prompted a slight backward shift in the tone of President Obamas Nowruz message. That is to say, IranWire characterizes the overall address as continuing to hold the door open for increased trade and international cooperation, but also expressing a sense of disappointment over the fact that Irans behavior had not changed in the ways that would have made this cooperation more politically attainable.

And although Khameneis remarks are intent upon blaming the US for ongoing discord, those same remarks raise pertinent questions about whether a mutually beneficial outcome is attainable at all. Indeed, by declaring that his preferred name for the new year is the Year of the Resistance Economy, Khamenei seems to have already committed his government to ongoing confrontation with the West. Resistance Economy is the name that the supreme leader gave to a set of policies aimed at reducing the impact of economic sanctions, as opposed to complying with the international demands that brought them about.

The Fiscal Times raises additional interesting questions regarding the Iranian regimes likely preferences for the identity of the new American president who will be taking office during this Iranian calendar year. The article suggests that there is reason for Iran to desire a reversal of the Obama administrations policies, in that the more antagonistic foreign policy of the Republican Party better serves the us-versus-them narrative that was expressed in Khameneis Nowruz message.

On the other hand, the continuation of policies similar to President Obamas could have benefits to Irans economy and political influence, despite what Khamenei would have his listeners believe. The Fiscal Times acknowledges that thanks to the nuclear agreement and a set of permissive Western policies, Irans influence over the broader Middle East is larger today than it was several years ago. And this trend could conceivably continue over the long term, provided that Irans ongoing provocations do not go so far as to compel the US to impose new sanctions or take other punitive measures.

But Khameneis recent speeches, complete with defense of the ballistic missile launches, certainly keep open the possibility of a further breakdown in the White Houses cooperative tone. And the statements of other hardline Iranian officials make this possibility seem all the more likely. For instance, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Saeed Qasemi had strongly contributed to the global concerns over Irans expansionism when he publicly called for the annexation of Bahrain, a small island nation where Iran has been vying for influence with its main rival Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain is also the headquarters of the US Navys Fifth Fleet, the source of the exercises that Khamenei cited the US as conducting with regional countries.
[March 22, 2016]

IEEE Computer Society Digital Library Expands to Over 600K Articles & Papers

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., March 22, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The IEEE Computer Society announced today the expansion of their Computer Society Digital Library (CSDL) to include over 600,000 in-depth, peer-reviewed articles and papers from experts throughout technology.

This expansion represents over 30% more documents than any other research and study tool available. The CSDL provides online access to 32 society magazines and transactions and more than 5,000 conference publications by over a quarter million authors.

The comprehensive research tool was created to provide institutions with deeper access to authoritative, cutting-edge information on a variety of computing-related topics, including but not limited to:

Cybersecurity

Big Data

Cloud Computing

Agile

Artificial Intelligence

the Internet of Things

Smart Systems

Mobile

Wearables

redictive Analytics







[email protected]

Visit www.computer.org/web/csdl for all CSDL information, or contact Georgann Carter at [email protected] directly.

About IEEE Computer Society

IEEE Computer Society, the computing industry's unmatched source for technology information and career development, offers a comprehensive array of industry-recognized products, services and professional opportunities. Known as the community for technology leaders, IEEE Computer Society's vast resources include membership, publications, a renowned digital library, training programs, conferences, and top-trending technology events. Visit www.computer.org for more information on all products and services.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ieee-computer-society-digital-library-expands-to-over-600k-articles--papers-300240018.html

SOURCE IEEE Computer Society
[March 22, 2016] Budget 2016 Will Drive Canadian Biotechnology Innovation

BIOTECanada, the national industry association representing biotechnology companies congratulates the Minister of Finance and the Government of Canada on the tabling of the 2016 Federal Budget. In particular, the Budget contains several important measures to support the development and commercialization of biotechnology innovation in Canada. "The industry welcomes Budget 2016's financial commitment of $800 million to fund measures to support an innovative and clean economy which will greatly enhance the development of the Government's Innovation Agenda more broadly. Moreover, the Budget's commitment of support to strengthen innovation networks and clusters, including programs such as IRAP ($50 million) and organizations such as CDRD ($32 million) and Genome Canada ($237.2 million) is very significant. These investments and commitments will serve to grow innovation and strengthen Canada's biotechnology ecosystem in every region of the country. Importantly, the investment in today's budget will serve to lay the foundation for the government's Innovation Agenda which it will be developing in 2016. In this context, the industry looks forward to workig with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development in contributing to the development of the Innovation Agenda," commented Andrew Casey, President and CEO BIOTECanada.



"The Government's commitment to the health of Canadians is reflected in the additional resources to the Public Health Agency of Canada ($25 million) to update the national immunization rates for vaccine preventable diseases. Immunization is a cornerstone of Canada's health system preventing millions of cases of infectious disease. Canadian biotechnology innovation is driving the discovery of new vaccines, helping to prevent more recent threats such as SARS and West Nile Virus," concluded Casey. Canada's biotechnology industry ecosystem is further strengthened through other Budget measures including:

-support for modern agricultural science in Canada for Agriculture and Agri Food Canada to support advanced research in agricultural genomics.

-recognition of the fundamental role of investigator-led discovery research in an innovative society

-augmentation of resources supporting granting councils including: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs borne by post-secondary institutions in undertaking federally sponsored research.

BIOTECanada is the national industry association with more than 200 members located nationwide, reflecting the diverse nature of Canada's health, industrial and agricultural biotechnology sectors. In addition to providing significant health benefits for Canadians, the biotechnology industry has quickly become an essential part of the transformation of many traditional cornerstones of the Canadian economy including manufacturing, automotive, energy, aerospace and forestry industries. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160322006620/en/

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Thousands of taxi drivers caused traffic chaos in the Indonesian capital on Tuesday in a violent protest against what they say is unfair competition from ride-hailing apps such as Uber.

TV footage showed long lines of taxis and three-wheel minicabs blocking a central expressway, men setting tires alight and jumping on vehicles that refused to join in the protest. Green-jacketed drivers for Go-Jek, an app used to hail motorcycle taxis, retaliated by hurling rocks and other objects. An Associated Press reporter saw drivers surround one taxi, forcing its terrified female passenger on to the road with her luggage.

It was the second major protest by taxi drivers in Jakarta this month and was large enough to halt the motorcades of Indonesia's president and vice-president. Drivers say competition from ride-hailing apps, which don't face the same costs and rules as regular taxis, has severely reduced their income. Many come to Jakarta from other parts of Indonesia and support their families as taxi drivers.

Driver Jeffrey Sumampouw said his earnings have slumped more than 60 percent since Uber and other apps starting getting popular in Jakarta about a year ago.

"The government must defend us from illegal drivers who have stolen our income," he said. "We almost cry every day because it's difficult to get passengers."

Smartphone-based apps such as Uber have turned the public transport industry on its head worldwide. In the US and Europe, the apps have been acclaimed by urban customers tired of struggling to find cabs, while taxi companies accuse the mavericks of running unlicensed services.

Uber has been making a big push into Asia, intensifying competition in a region where there already was a slew of ride-hailing apps such as Malaysia's Grab, which operates in several Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia.

On Monday, Grab said it had formed a strategic partnership with Lippo, which is one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates, and claimed its "GrabCar" business in Indonesia grew 30 percent last month. Go-Jek, an Indonesian startup that hails motorcycle taxis and provides other services like document and food delivery, has also exploded in popularity in the past year.

The demonstrations on Tuesday elicited little if any sympathy from commuters in a city of 10 million people that already suffers massive congestion.

"This protest is so terrible. They really are rude and overbearing. I was very hurt," said Dewi Gayatri, who missed her flight for a business trip to Makassar in eastern Indonesia.

"I still like Uber, and hope the government protects Uber, because it's so easy to order and cheaper," she said.

Taxis block streets during a protest to demand the government prohibit ride-hailing apps, on Tuesday, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The drivers say the cheaper competition from companies such as Uber is costing them money and their livelihoods. Darren Whiteside / Reuters

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page11)
[March 23, 2016] Newzulu Signs New U.S. Content Partner

NEW YORK, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Newzulu Limited (ASX: NWZ, OTCQX: NWZLY, Newzulu, Company), one of the world's leading crowd-sourced media companies that provides coverage, content and technology to news agencies, publishers and brands, is pleased to announced that it has signed a new partner to the Newzulu Content syndication platform. Newzulu has entered into a partnership with the world's first international content provider in the digital multimedia world, Newscom, for the distribution of its user-generated content throughout the United States of America (U.S.A.). Under the agreement, Newzulu will provide its high-quality, validated, crowd-sourced photo content to Newscom for distribution and licensing through Newscom's extensive national client network, on a revenue share basis. With Newscom's 5,000-strong client base covering 106 countries, this Agreement positions Newzulu as a leader in the U.S.A. market, and opens up new opportunities for Newzulu's contributors to have their images sold throughout the U.S.A. Newzulu contributors receive a split of the revenue received by Newzulu when their content is licensed through Newzulu's global partnerships. Newscom is the fifth North American partner for the Newzulu Content business after Getty Images, Associated Press, Tribune Content Agency and Alamy. This partnership is in line with Newzulu's strategy to concentrate on the North American market, and is one of the many partnerships in the strong pipeline of publishers, broadcasters and brands that Newzulu hopes to sign in the coming months. Newzulu Chief Executive Officer Alexander Hartman commented on the partnership, "Newzulu is delighted to announce this partnership with Newscom, which will provide opportunities for Newzulu contributors to sell their high quality crowd sourced images through the United States. This deal allows anybody with a smartphone and a story to submit images to Newzulu, to get published and paid through Newscom's extensive network of editorial and commercial clients." "Newscom is thrilled to partner with Newzulu. The addition of its high quality crowd-sourced images will be a valuable addition to our already robust and diverse archive," said B.J. Warnick, Newscom's Vice President of Rights and Licensing.







For further information please contact:





Alexander Hartman Karen Logan Managing Director Company Secretary E: [email protected] E: [email protected]

About Newzulu Newzulu is a crowd-sourced media company that allows anybody, anywhere, with a mobile device and a story, to share news, get published and get paid. Headquartered in New York, Newzulu operates bureaus in London, Paris, Los Angeles and Toronto. Further information can be found on www.newzululimited.com. About Newscom Newscom is a world leader in providing high-quality images, video and other supplemental content from a vast array of global sources. Established in 1985, Newscom offers customers one-stop access to more than 100 million photos, videos, graphics, illustrations and text stories from nearly 200 of the world's top publishers and content creators in the multimedia industry. Owned and operated by Mainstream Data, Inc., Newscom also hosts web sites for content suppliers and syndicates, helping agencies deliver their content to a wider audience. Newscom uses the latest in content-delivery technology to provide up-to-the-second news and visuals to more than 20,000 users worldwide. Further information can be found on http://www.newscom.com. B.J. Warnick

Vice President Rights, Licensing and Sales

E: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151218/297315LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newzulu-signs-new-us-content-partner-300240363.html SOURCE Newzulu Limited

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Itongadol.- Missouri Governor Jay Nixon arrived in Israel Monday on a week-long trade mission, leading a delegation of state government leaders focused on strengthening partnerships, increasing exports and recruiting new hi-tech foreign investment to the Show Me State.

In 2014, Nixon signed legislation establishing a Missouri trade office in Israel, and this weeks trade mission is intended to further boost ties.

Over the past few years, Missouri has become a globally- recognized hub of hi-tech jobs and entrepreneurship, and recently led the nation in new business creation, Nixon said. This trade mission is an opportunity to strengthen Missouris ties with a vital US ally, encourage even more hi-tech investment in our state, and bolster Missouris reputation as a leader in technology and innovation worldwide.

In Jerusalem, the governor and members of the delegation will meet with high-level government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former president Shimon Peres and Foreign Ministry officials. Nixon will also meet with the heads of Mobileye Vision Technologies, a global leader in advanced collision avoidance systems, and with leaders of the Jewish Agency for Israel about their humanitarian efforts, which are supported by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

The delegation will then travel to Tel Aviv, where the governor will meet with US Ambassador Dan Shapiro as well as companies in Israels tech sector including Amdocs, which is headquartered in Missouri.

The governor will also participate in a forum hosted by Israels Start-Up Nation Central about the countrys start-up ecosystem and hear presentations by a number of Israel-based cyber security companies.

Nixons delegation will also visit Israels Volcani Institute to meet with agri-technology companies and explore opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships and growth in the bioscience sector. Nixon will meet with executives at Boeing Defense, which is headquartered in St. Louis and is Missouris largest manufacturer.

The Israel Air Force currently employs all versions of the Missouri-made F-15 Eagle.

This weekend, Nixon and his wife will meet with Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and attend Easter services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Roey Gilad, the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, and Andrew Rehfeld, president & CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, are accompanying the governor.
Willis "Bill" Becker, 93, of Raymond, passed away March 21, 2016. He was born July 16,1922, in Enola. Bill graduated from Enola High School. Ensign, Willis Becker, WWll, can still recall the day he was drafted into the U.S. Army and how he ended up in the U.S. Navy as an operational flight instructor. He was in North Dakota picking up potatoes when he got a letter from his mother in Enola. He had two weeks to report to the Army.

He went home the next day and visited the Navy recruiting office. An interest in mechanic work is what led him to pursue enlistment in the Navy. He said he wanted to get into the mechanical field in the Air Force. The Navy was begging for V-5 cadets for pilot training. The recruiter told him he could send me to Kansas City, Mo., for V-5 testing and if he failed the testing he still would have time to get into mechanical training for the Air Force. He passed the test in October of 1942 in Kansas City and returned to Nebraska where he waited to be called for training. The call did not come for five months.

His first stop was Iowa's Cornell College for physical and educational training for 12 weeks. From there he was sent to Geila College in Arizona where his actual flight training began. Next was training at Delmont College in California. There he learned to swim which was something he was never very good at. He continued on to schools in Kansas and Illinois. Then he was sent to a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., where he completed his training and received his commission as an ensign. He was allowed to pick the type of plane he wanted to fly which was a torpedo bomber (at Opa Locka Air Force Base).

Bill went through 10 more weeks of operation training during which he learned how to land his plan on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. At the end of training he would be stationed in Florida as an over water and navigation and torpedo bomber instructor for the next six months.

Before he began his instructing duties he was granted 10 days leave. He returned to Madison and married his sweetheart, lola (Bim) Reeves, on December 1,1944, and moved to Florida during his enlistment. After the Navy years they returned to Madison and farmed until 1955, after which they moved to Lincoln.

Bill was a retired IBEW Local 265 electrician. Bill and Bim loved dancing to Lawrence Welk and admission was 10 cents. Bill enjoyed playing cards (Davey pitch games) hunting, camping, bowling, running dog trials and fishing. He was an active member in the American Legion, Lions Club (monthly breakfasts), VFW, IBEW Local 265 and Moose Lodge.

Preceding Bill in death were his parents Adam and Gladys (Fichter) Becker, younger brothers Robert Becker and Clifford (Buster) Becker and wife, lola (Bim) Reeves Becker. Also preceding him in death were his nephews Dennis Larson, Mark Reeves and niece Susie Larson Donley and Doug and Susie's son, Terry (great nephew). His younger sister, Roberta Larson resides at Valley Eldercare in Grand Forks, N.D.

Bill is survived by his three daughters and sons-in-law, Patricia and Don White of Valparaiso, Mary and Jim Young and Billie and Bob Mertz of Lincoln. Bill has three grandsons and their wives, Troy and Kris Young, Trent and Jill Young and Will and Tehia White, all of Lincoln. Bill has six great-grandchildren: Randi and Karli Young and Haylee, Skylar, Brayden and Carsyn Young. Bill has two great-granddaughters, Hadley White and Marilyn Sawyer.

Bill is survived by many nieces and nephews who dearly loved their Uncle Bill. Nieces and nephews: Steven and Shirley, Pam and Dan, Jon and Jane, Kris, Clint and Anita, Cindy and Barry, Clayt and Kay, Christopher, Brenda, Debbie and Ray, Doug, Bob, Timmy and Jamie, Corby and Terri, Dale and Denise, Tom and Diane, Jimmy and Kristi and their families and many dear friends.

The family would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the nurses, CNAs, PT's and staff of Holmes Lake Rehabilitation and Care Center for taking such great care of Bill and St. Elizabeth Hospital Progressive Care doctor, nurses and staff.

Memorials may be given to the family for future designation. A private graveside family gathering will be held after his cremation at a future date at Lincoln Memorial.
Prosecutors on Thursday charged the stepmother of a 2-year-old who drowned in a bathtub in January with felony child abuse.

Jacqueline Lampkin Cooley, 28, faces as many as 20 years in prison if she is convicted in Jase Queens death.

Court documents say Lampkin Cooley was bathing him in about 10 inches of water on Jan. 7 when she left the room to get a towel. She couldn't find one and told police she returned a couple of minutes later with a pillowcase and found the toddler face down in the water, according to court documents.

She said she pulled him out, saw that he was turning blue and screamed for his father, then did CPR until rescue workers arrived, documents say. His father, William Cooley, and other family members were in the home at 1224 N. 26th St. at the time.

Jase was small for his age and had Down syndrome, according to court documents and his biological mother, Tabitha Davis, who lives in Texas.

He was hospitalized and declared brain dead on Jan. 13.

Lincoln police arrested Lampkin Cooley Wednesday.

A probable cause affidavit for her arrest says police learned she frequently left Jase and her other young children alone in the bathtub. In November, the document says, she left Jase unattended and he had turned blue but was revived.

A family member told police Lampkin Cooley had to be reminded on a regular basis to not leave the children alone in the tub.

A search of cellphones and Facebook accounts found multiple pictures of Jase with various injuries including a black eye, bruising, cuts on his face and bite marks, documents say. The pictures were taken between June and December 2015.

In January, Lancaster County Juvenile Judge Reggie Ryder ordered the Cooleys' six kids, ages 15 months to 13 years, be placed in foster care.

The two were cited for misdemeanor child neglect in October after officers investigating an anonymous tip found the children filthy and the home unsanitary, documents said.

Prosecutors dropped those charges in December when the couple agreed to complete a diversion program.

Lampkin Cooley appeared in court Thursday from the Lancaster County jail via video monitor. A judge appointed the Lancaster County Public Defenders office to represent her and set bond at $25,000.
Earlier this month, Gov. Scott Walker signed an executive order pledging to go above and beyond the requirements of the Public Records Law and promote easier, fairer and broader access to public records.

That order creates a system for citizens to monitor the performance of state agencies. He debuted his Open Book website in 2014, which has gotten favorable reviews for user friendliness and how it catalogs state spending, though it does not offer specifics on what services or goods were purchased.

These initiatives stand in contrast to a pattern of attempts by the Walker administration and the Republican-led Legislature to eliminate or diminish mechanisms of accountability across state government. With wide majorities in the Assembly and Senate, Republicans have said changes are needed to modernize state government so that it can operate more efficiently and spur job growth and economic investment in the state.

Throughout the just-ended legislative session, from January 2015 through March 2016, Walker and legislative leaders moved to alter structures of accountability in state government at least 10 times, including proposals to exempt lawmakers from public records laws, tilt the partisan balance or eliminate the independence of several oversight committees, and remove disclosure mandates and qualifying exams from the states campaign finance and civil service laws, respectively.

It is an unprecedented list of me-first legislation, said Bill Kraus, 90, a former Republican strategist and chief of staff under Republican Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus. He now serves as chairman of the board of directors for Common Cause Wisconsin, a nonpartisan, open government advocacy group.

Ive never seen anything like that before and Ive been watching the Legislature for a long time, said Kraus, who has been involved in politics since 1952. The majorities always take some advantage of their position, but this is sort of continuous and relentless.

The changes have corroded state government's traditional emphasis on checks and balances, Kraus said.

When you start clicking off what they have done about how government works, its all about them, its about protecting them, he said.

But former Republican state Sen. Mike Ellis, of Neenah, who served in the Legislature for 32 years beginning in 1983, disagreed that the changes have been significant.

I didnt see any major alterations in terms of transparency or open government. It was pretty much what we got under Doyle, said Ellis, who was honored for his service in a resolution by the state Senate last week.

Tim Cullen, a former Democratic senator first elected in 1974, published a book in December cataloging what he argued was a shift in state governments approach to transparency since Walker took office.

Ive never seen just across the board in a huge number of areas, attempts to hide whats going on, Cullen said. This is the governor who has led the effort to shut down disclosure for the last couple of years, with concrete changes."

Walkers executive order doesnt mean much if you look at them in the context of what he tried to do legislatively and administratively over the last couple of years, Cullen said.

The caucus scandal of 2001, which revealed the widespread practice of legislative staffers in both parties campaigning on state time, was a "real eye opening moment in state government," said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin. Bipartisan consensus regarding elections monitoring followed, leading to the creation of the Government Accountability Board, Heck said. But that came, in part, as a result of decades of open-government neglect.

"It was really benign neglect of the strong structure we once had in Wisconsin. We did not improve and bolster and strengthen the safeguards we had in place that we had in the 1970s," he said. "A disclosure system, a strong open records law, strong open meetings law, those were all creatures of the late 1970s after the Watergate scandal in D.C."

Gov. Jim Doyle campaigned on a reform agenda, but largely dropped it when he took office, Heck said.

"The opportunity to really reform the system was probably lost during the Doyle administration," he said. Walker was expected to be a departure from previous Republican executives, who have historically governed in a bipartisan, consensus-seeking way, Heck said.

"It's shocking to see the extent (Walker) went in the other direction," he said.

The moves to alter state government have not gone without criticism from some Walker appointees. Peter Bildsten, former secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions, and Paul Jadin, former head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., have said the Walker administration ordered them to avoid using state email and phones to limit the creation of public records. Several Republicans voted against the budget last year, citing the breadth of policy and institutional changes it included.

Former Republican Sen. Dale Schultz, who bucked his party by opposing Act 10  which gutted collective bargaining for most public employees  and has been an outspoken critic of his fellow Republicans since leaving office, said citizens are becoming increasingly angry about politicians making government less accountable. Its a dynamic reflected in the current presidential race, he said.

The anger that people have is a direct result of what they see happening as making the political process less accountable to them. Its not any one of these things, its sort of an additive effect, he said.

Here are 10 moves by the Walker administration and Legislature to remove mechanisms of accountability from state government.

1. Walker budget proposal to merge the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, creating the Forward Wisconsin Development Authority, March 2015

Walker's budget included a proposal to merge the two agencies, creating the Forward Wisconsin Development Authority. The FWDA would have included only private sector appointees, selected by Walker and confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. The new agency would also have been exempt from a biennial financial audit from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, currently required of WEDC. It would have been subject to a program evaluation audit of its economic development programs funded by state money.

The new authority would also have had a new power: to establish a nonprofit organization without the approval of the legislative Joint Finance Committee. The proposal drew criticism from lawmakers who said the board should have legislative oversight. Open government advocates also questioned a provision in the plan for FWDA that would have specifically exempted personal and financial records from the state open records law. A few months after the proposal, Walker scrapped the merger plan. Status: DEAD

2. Walker budget proposal to reorganize Judicial Commission, April 2015

Walkers biannual budget included a proposal to place the Judicial Commission, which investigates judicial misconduct, under the authority of the state Supreme Court, which it is tasked with monitoring. Under Walkers proposal, funding and positions for the commission would have transferred to the Supreme Court and its independent status eliminated. The Judicial Commission has investigated three current Supreme Court justices over the last five years, issuing a warning to one and filing formal complaints against the other two. Justices Shirley Abrahamson and Annette Ziegler raised concerns about the transfer. In 2008 Ziegler was reprimanded by the Judicial Commission for sitting in on cases involving West Bend Savings Bank when she was a circuit court judge. Her husband, developer J.J. Ziegler, serves on its board of directors.

The commission had previously been administered by the Supreme Court, but during a comprehensive reorganization of the state court system in 1978, it was made into an independent body, specifically to remove questions about conflict of interest. Legislators also considered a move to strip all funding from the Legislative Council, which makes recommendations to the Supreme Court, governor and Legislature regarding court procedures. Lawmakers said the move would have saved the state more than $220,000. Status: DEAD

3. Legislative proposal to abolish the Legislative Audit Bureau, June, 2015

One month after the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau issued a report critical of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for failing to vet companies before awarding grants and follow up with those that received public money, Reps. David Craig, R-Big Bend, and Adam Jarchow, R-Balsam Lake, introduced a bill to abolish the audit bureau and replace it with independent inspectors general who would be placed in state agencies. The LRBs audit found cases in which WEDC didn't comply with state law or its own policies, made awards without the proper review and didn't require confirmation that jobs were created after businesses received awards.

An analysis of the bill by the Legislative Reference Bureau said the bill would have allowed the Assembly speaker and the Senate majority leader to direct the inspectors to "audit the records of any state agency or program or any county, city, village, town, or school district." The bill failed to make it through the Legislature this session. Status: DEAD

4. Legislative proposal to rewrite the states public records law exempting elected officials from disclosure requirements, July 2015

A provision slipped into the state budget through the Join Finance Committee, the most powerful committee in the Legislature, would have rewritten the states public records law, preventing the public from accessing any records created by elected officials or their staff. The changes would have been retroactively applied to July 1, the day before the provision was introduced and the first day of the states fiscal year. The changes would have exempted lawmakers from disclosing any communications or drafts of legislation to the public. The provision was eventually stripped from the budget following criticism from numerous government watchdog and media groups. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald acknowledged that he, along with Assembly leadership and Walkers officials, were all at the table when the changes were drafted.

Rep. Dean Knudson, R-Hudson, said during the committee debate over the proposed changes to the open records law that he thought they would help legislators follow the law, not hinder disclosure. He said it can be confusing, when developing legislation, to determine whats a draft, whats a note and what counts as a public record. He said during the committees debate that the hyperbole regarding the changes was overblown.

I think that this serves to clarify and make it easier for us all to stay on the right side of the law and the rules, Knudson said.

Status: DEAD

Walker's administration has also caught heat for denying records requests citing a "transitory records" provision  records considered to have no long-term value  in the state public records law. The Walker administration cited the provision when it denied a records request for text messages by the Wisconsin State Journal, and when the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now requested visitor logs to the governor's mansion earlier this year. The board later backed off the changes and is reviewing its policy.

The Public Records Board, which creates policies on how long public records must be retained by all state agencies, updated its policy in December 2015 regarding what kinds of records can be thrown away immediately after being created. The eight-member board is made up of appointees. The governor appoints four members and the Wisconsin Historical Society, Legislative Audit Bureau, attorney general and state auditor each appoint one. Their new policy added training videos, routine agency communications and emails to schedule or confirm meetings or events to the classification of transitory records.

5. Legislative proposal to change the makeup of Wisconsins retirement system oversight committee, July 2015

Another provision in an early version of the state budget last year would have altered the makeup of a 10-member oversight committee established in 1947 to monitor the states Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems. The committee oversees the states retirement and pension system. The provision would have removed four non-legislative members from the committee  a representative from the attorney general, a public member, a representative from the commissioner of insurance and the secretary of the Employee Trust Funds  and leave the committee made up solely of lawmakers dominated by the majority party. The proposal was later pulled from the budget following protests from current public employees and public employee retiree groups. Status: DEAD

6. Law exempting political corruption cases from being investigated using the "John Doe" process, September 2015

The Legislature passed a bill, signed into law by Walker in December, exempting political corruption crimes from being investigated through the John Doe process. The John Doe process enables prosecutors, with the approval of a judge, to compel testimony, execute search warrants, and investigate in secret, to determine whether there is enough evidence to indict. Prosecutors investigated Walkers recall campaign with a Doe process, which was halted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Doe process also led to the prosecution and six convictions of Walkers top aides during his time as Milwaukee County Executive. Now John Doe investigations can only be used to investigate the most severe felonies and some violent crimes. Status: PASSED, SIGNED Oct. 23, 2015

7. Law removing disclosure of a donors employer and occupation in state campaign finance law, December 2015

Walker signed a bill in December altering the states campaign finance laws and removing a mandate for contributors to disclose their employer. Under the previous law, donors who gave more than $200 were required to list both their employer and occupation. The bill also raised caps on contributions. As introduced, the campaign finance legislation would have allowed corporations, unions and Indian tribes to give unlimited contributions to political parties and campaign committees. The final law caps those contributions at $12,000, up from $10,000 per year.

It also doubled the amount that an individual can give to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent, from $10,000 to $20,000. Individual contributions to state Senate candidates are capped at $1,000 and $500 for Assembly candidates under current law. Although the law limits disclosure requirements of donors, it does require candidates and independent expenditure groups to file more campaign finance reports. Status: PASSED, SIGNED Dec. 16, 2015

8. Law dismantling the Government Accountability Board, December 2015

Walker signed a bill dismantling the Government Accountability Board, reverting to the former model of separate, partisan elections and ethics boards similar to the Federal Elections Commission. The GAB, made up of six nonpartisan former judges who are appointed by the governor and serve part time, began its work in 2008 following a 2001 scandal in which Democratic and Republican staffers were campaigning on state time. It was uniformly approved and endorsed across both parties.

The dissolution of the GAB has been a key change to how elections are monitored in the state. The board has been criticized by Republicans who say it has become too partisan in what it investigates and how. Earlier this year, the board settled a lawsuit with the head of a conservative group over its John Doe investigation of illegal campaign coordination during Walkers recall campaign.

Freshman Rep. Todd Novak, of Dodgeville, was one of three Republicans who voted against the destruction of the GAB. He said changes were needed, but not total elimination.

I was hearing from my constituents who want me to be their independent voice and did not want a complete overhaul, he said.

Ellis worked on legislation to establish the GAB and said he was disappointed in the boards failure to vet signatures on the petition to recall Walker, which signaled to him that reform was needed, not all-out elimination. He favored cleaning it up, he said.

The Government Accountability Board over the course of its life became selectively political and I think that the Government Accountability Board needed to be revisited. That doesnt mean we needed to get rid of it, he said.

The changes are set to take effect at the end of June. Republican legislative leaders called the board a "failed experiment," criticizing it for not checking for false and duplicate names on the recall petition for Walker and for participating in a parallel investigation into the financing of Walkers recall campaign with the Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office. After that investigation, legislative leaders announced their intent to make changes to the GAB. Later, the AP reported that Walker said he wanted to eliminate it altogether. Status: PASSED, SIGNED Dec. 16, 2015

9. Legislative proposal to establish law enforcement oversight committee that could operate in secret without recording votes, February 2016

A bill was filed in the state Assembly that would create a law enforcement oversight committee with new, unchecked subpoena powers to compel testimony and an ability to operate in secret, without recording minutes. The committee would have access to records from active police investigations and closed John Doe proceedings. Prosecutors, private attorneys and statewide law enforcement organizations opposed the bill and lobbied against it, arguing it would compromise sensitive investigations and lead to conflicts between the branches of government. The bill was not considered by the Assembly or Senate before both chambers adjourned in March. Status: DEAD

10. Law eliminating a qualifying exam for state positions with civil service system overhaul, February 2016

Walker signed broad changes to the states civil service system into law in February, eliminating a qualifying exam and instead relying on a resume-based hiring system. The changes replace a system more than a century old. Wisconsin was the third state in the country to establish the program in 1905 to prevent political preferences in public jobs. The new law includes a grievance process for workers and outlines when a worker can be fired, but shortens the window for employees to appeal a dismissal or disciplinary decision. Status: PASSED, SIGNED Feb. 12, 2016
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Congo ex-vice president guilty in landmark ICC war rape ruling

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5 including 3 Aussies injured in school building collapse

Five people including three Australians were injured when an under construction building of Mandali Higher Secondary School collapsed in Phulkharka, Dhading district on Wednesday.
Bolt to run in London Anniversary Games

Six-times Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt will run in the London Anniversary Games ahead of his multiple title defence at the Rio Olympics in August.
Brussels attacks: Airport bombing suspect 'arrested'

A key suspect in the attacks in Brussels has been arrested, Belgian media say, quoting judicial sources.
Central World to play host to Nepal Festival

Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) Thailand and Embassy of Nepal have announced that they will be organizing a Nepal Festival on April 21-25, 2016 at Central World, Bangkok.
Harry soaks up Nepali culture

After arriving in Kathmandu, British Prince Harry, during a welcome reception in the Capital on Saturday evening, had said he looked forward to exploring Nepals landscapes and celebrating Nepali culture and that he hoped to make many new friends along the way. I cannot wait to get out and see all that this country has to offer, he had said.
KTWR to shift 30 Arnas to Chitwan

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation is planning to translocate 30 wild water buffaloes from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve to Chitwan National Park.
Nepal, China issue 15-point joint statement (Read full text)

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Nepal flays terrorist attacks in Brussels

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Nepal free to explore transit routes: India

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Suspended lawmaker Lama released on bail of Rs3 million

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1. Yes. Its important to cast my votes early and avoid the lines on Election Day.

2. Yes. With nearly two weeks of early voting, its a more convenient way to take part.

3. No. Its better to wait until Election Day, in case any last-minute information surfaces.

4. No. Im not planning to vote early or on Election Day. It isnt worth my time.

5. Unsure. It depends on how the campaigns are shaping up. Ill play it by ear.

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Acaba de salir a la luz publica una declaracion por parte de John Ehrlichman, ayudante del presidente Richard Nixon, donde alega que la llamada "Guerra en Contra de las Drogas", fue una campana creada en el 1971 por el gobierno de Nixon dirigida en contra de los negros y toda persona que participo en protestas en contra de la guerra de Vietnam.

Al hacerlo de esta manera, la administracion de Nixon tenia luz verde para arrestar las personas encargadas de organizar protestas, tratarlos como criminales, allanar sus hogares, y prohibir reuniones. Ellos fueron insultados y humillados noche tras noche en la prensa del pais, para asi estigmatizarlos frente a la sociedad.

El proposito de esta campana represiva era asociar a los negros y hippies ante el publico americano con el uso de marijuana y heroina.

Y todavia es la hora que la gente espera que el pueblo confie en el gobierno americano.





Top adviser to Richard Nixon admitted that War on Drugs was policy tool to go after anti-war protesters and black people

Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

An eye-opening remark from a former aide to President Richard Nixon pulls back the curtain on the true motivation of the United States war on drugs.

John Ehrlichman, who served 18 months in prison for his central role in the Watergate scandal, was Nixons chief domestic advisor when the president announced the war on drugs in 1971. The administration cited a high death toll and the negative social impacts of drugs to justify expanding federal drug control agencies. Doing so set the scene for decades of socially and economically disastrous policies.

You want to know what this was really all about? he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what Im saying? We knew we couldnt make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

For decades, civil rights activists have pointed to sentencing disparities that incarcerated crack cocaine users for far longer periods of time than powder cocaine users, as evidence that many of the policies developed by Nixon were unfair to African-American communities.

(Foto cortesia de la Prensa Asociada.)
By Andrei Lankov

On March 2, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that introduces new sanctions against North Korea. Resolution 2270 is by no means the first document of this kind: every new nuclear test resulted in yet another U.N. resolution and set of sanctions.

However, Resolution 2270 is unusually tough. It might be the first time the U.N. Security Council has introduced measures that can hit the North Korean economy really hard.

The resolution itself envisions several bans (on top of the bans that were introduced earlier), but two bans are of special significance. First, it unconditionally bans North Korean exports of gold, vanadium and titanium ores and rare earths minerals. Second, the resolution bans the export of iron ore and coal as well, but this ban is conditional: according to the article 29(b), the coal and iron ore can be exported for purposes unrelated to the nuclear and missile program.

Apart from Resolution 2270, South Korea and the United States undertook unilateral measures. South Korea closed the Gaeseong industrial zone that brought up to $100 million a year into the North. The U.S. introduced "secondary sanctions'' against people and companies engaged in financial transactions with North Korea or employing North Korean workers (export of workers has become a major source of income for North Korea in recent years).

In general, if these measures are fully implemented, North Korea is bound to face a crisis. Coal is its major export item, constituting about 40 percent of all North Korean exports, while minerals amount to the two-thirds of North Korea's entire exports.

Of course, diplomats assure us that ''sanctions will not hurt common people,'' but this mantra, obligatory in our politically correct times, should not be taken seriously.

Of course sanctions will hit common people and will probably reverse the improvement of North Korea's economic situation that began about 10 years ago and sped up under Kim Jong-un. It remains to be seen, of course, whether such sanctions will influence government policy on the nuclear issue. Most likely they will not.

However, one should not forget that Resolution 2270 has a loophole the size of floodgates: the caveat that coal and iron ore exports can be allowed if the earnings are not used for further development of the nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

North Korea, in spite of all the recent changes, is a closed country, where the government is quite capable of hiding all internal structures. Documents can be easily forged, while officials and North Korean employees will say to foreigners exactly what they are ordered to say. In other words, normally there is way to verify whether profits from a particular deal are going to be used for the prohibited activities or not. Thus, in every case the buyer will have to decide.

In this case, buyers are going to be overwhelmingly Chinese. China is not nearly the sole trading partner of North Korea (some 90 percent of the total trade volume), but China also needs North Korean coal. Thus, the future of the North Korean economy largely depends on what position China will take.

So far, it appears that China is inclined to be tough. Many observers were surprised that China voted for Resolution 2270, and the first reports seemingly indicate that China is serious about enforcing the bans as well. However, will this resolve continue for more than few months? This is an open question.

On the one hand, Beijing is annoyed by North Korea's risky behavior and brinksmanship. China, one of the five officially recognized nuclear powers, does not like nuclear proliferation. Last but not least, China is annoyed because North Korea's antics create a reason (or excuse) for the U.S. to maintain and increase its military presence near China.

On the other hand, China does not want instability or even regime collapse in North Korea  which excessive pressure might produce. So far, China has been careful not to overplay, and one can suspect that the same policy will be followed now.

So, if the sanctions create an excessively hard situation in North Korea, China is likely to take a softer approach  and Resolution 2270 gives Beijing an opportunity to do so. Nonetheless, for the time being the Chinese message to Pyongyang is clear and tough.

Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. Reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
by Joy LeCount

ROME CITY  It was late November when the idea of having a special quilt came to me. As coordinator of the upcoming Noble County ALL-IN Block Party, a collaborative quilt seemed like an appropriate project, especially since one goal of the ALL-IN Block Party concept is to bring people together from all across the community. Besides that, a commemorative quilt could be displayed during the Noble County ALL-IN Block Party to be held June 25 around the courthouse square in Albion.

What better place to seek out someone who might be interested in this project than at Carolines Cottage Cottons, a quilt shop in Rome City? Besides, proprietor Caroline North is a longtime acquaintance and knows quilters who would get the job done. As it turned out, Caroline wasnt at her shop the day I stopped in, but Cindy Lash, an employee there and a member of Noble Nimble Thimbles quilting group, was.

I was hoping to visit with Caroline about the possibility of having quilters across Noble County make a quilt to display at the Noble County ALL-IN Block Party, I said. Exactly what is an ALL-IN Block Party? Cindy asked.

By the time I had explained the concept to her, Cindy said, I can do that!

Wasting no time, on the third Tuesday in December, Cindy put out her plea to quilters across Noble County explaining the project and asking for quilt blocks of a specific size to be made from 100-percent cotton fabric. Any technique could be used. The theme was to express something about Noble County  an activity, person, place or landmark. Deadline for submission of completed blocks was Feb. 29.

On Feb. 11, when ALL-IN Block Party steering committee members met, Lash showed examples of the first several blocks submitted. Excitement was building! By deadline, 22 blocks had been completed. Caroline and Cindy are adding three more for a total of 25 blocks.

We had talked earlier about doing an article and photographs for the newspapers.

Its time to take some photographs, Cindy noted. We arranged to meet at Carolines Cottage Cottons for an interview and photo session.

None of the quilters were told what to do, Cindy explained as she prepared the photo layout. Im very pleased with the outcome and variety of techniques, designs and fabric periods represented.

Applique, embroidery, red work, pieced geometric patterns and pieced pictorial designs are among the techniques. Topics include religious symbols and churches, industries, schools, libraries, cemeteries, historical and tourism sites, transportation, Amish heritage, government and agriculture. Fabrics range from Civil War era and 1920s-30s reproductions to batik and modern prints as well as solid colors.

The individual creativity exhibited in the quilt blocks is outstanding. Each contributor expressed her talent in well-thought-out ideas. Here is the list of quilt block contributors and their towns: Althea Clugston  Cromwell; Susie Hague - Fort Wayne (teacher at Central Noble); Charlotte Weller  Albion; Martha Mueller  Avilla; Cheryl Coons  Wawaka; Nancy Peterson  Kimmell; Julie Kessler  Kendallville; Julia Wolheter - Wolcottville; Marilyn Carlson - Wolf Lake; Joyce Griffiths  Avilla; Ardean Ebert  Avilla; Doris Goins  Kendallville; Curryanne Hostetler  Albion; Caroline North  Rome City; and Cindy Lash  Rome City. They represent three different quilt groups: Noble Nimble Thimbles, Church Mice and Cotton Blossoms.

Cindy Lash will set the quilt top together with five rows of five blocks using sashing and border fabrics with blue background and yellow prints representing colors in Indianas state flag. Corner blocks will be yellow and designed in such a way that they will look like stars. Carolines Cottage Cottons is donating quilt batting and backing. Nancy Peterson of Kimmell, an expert long-arm machine quilter, will quilt the assembled layers that when finished will measure approximately 66.5 square inches.

Once completed, the Noble County Commemorative Quilt, as it has come to be known, will be displayed during the Noble County ALL-IN Block Party on June 25. Since the date of the block party coincides with a large quilting event in the area, quilters involved in the quilt project will be otherwise occupied  so Dan Lash, Cindys husband, has agreed to be in charge of the quilt during the block party. The story of each block will be posted near the quilt and ALL-IN Block Party attendees will be asked what they learned from the quilt about Noble County that they didnt previously know.

After the ALL-IN Block Party is over, the quilt will be on permanent display in the Old Jail Museum in Albion. While not specifically made for the Indiana Bicentennial, this quilt certainly is a reflection of what Noble County  past and present  has contributed to our state. And, the quilt is a new Noble County hidden gem.

WHAT IS AN ALL-IN BLOCK PARTY?

An ALL-IN Block Party is a community-wide event where Hoosiers complete a series of fun and thought-provoking challenges that build state and local pride.

The challenges are drawn from Indiana Humanities ALL-IN, a digital competition that inspires us to learn more about Indiana, connect with each other and make our state even better. Participants circulate among booths run by different community organizations. At each booth, participants complete a short activity that asks them to explore, discover, read, reflect, remember, participate, dream and connect  as well as get to know their neighbors and their state in new ways.

The Noble County ALL-IN Block Party to be held June 25, 2016, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. around courthouse square in Albion is being hosted by Albion S.T.A.R. Team, an affiliate of the Courthouse Square Preservation Society Inc.

At the time of publication, the following have assisted to make the Noble County ALL-IN Block Party possible: Noble County Community Foundation, Olive B. Cole Foundation, Parkview Health, Noble REMC Operation RoundUP, Indiana Humanities, Albion S.T.A.R. Team, Albion General Dollar Store, NIPSCO, Noble County CVB, United Way of Noble County, Town of Albion, Noble County Board of Commissioners and numerous community partners.
As the 2016 session of the Indiana General Assembly came to a close last week, Hoosiers emerged as the clear winners.

In my State of the State Address at the beginning of the year, I outlined an aggressive agenda for this short session of the General Assembly that included providing $1 billion to maintain our states infrastructure, initiatives to combat the scourge of drug abuse and assist with local economic development as well as education and health care proposals. I commend members of the Indiana General Assembly for prioritizing these issues and look forward to signing many of them into law.

To be sure, while our roads and bridges rank above the national average, we could always be doing more and we must continue to make their preservation a priority in order to maintain our reputation as the Crossroads of America.

Through negotiations with leaders in the Indiana House and Senate, we were able to reach an agreement to commit more than $1 billion dollars to improve state and local roads without raising taxes. This road funding bill will help communities throughout our state by making nearly $900 million available for local road and bridge improvements over the next four years.

Furthermore, the General Assembly also fully funded three regional cities initiatives that will spur economic development projects and improve the quality of life in regions across our state.

In this session of the General Assembly, we also continued to put education and our teachers first. We took a step back from ISTEP, began a process to review standardized testing in Indiana and ensured our schools and teachers were not negatively impacted by the transition to a new, more difficult test.

As we seek to make teaching more attractive, Im also pleased that lawmakers included funding for the Hoosier Educators Scholarship Program, which will encourage college students to consider a career in education. Im enthusiastic about what this program will mean for those who aspire to educate our kids.

Members of the Indiana General Assembly also deserve thanks for supporting our efforts to combat drug abuse across Indiana. We passed harsher penalties for drug dealers and made it clear that Indiana will not tolerate those who profit from selling poison in our communities. In recognizing the fact that law enforcement is one facet of our statewide, comprehensive substance abuse strategy, Im pleased that additional legislation is making its way to my desk to expand access to treatment and life-saving measures for those caught in the grip of addiction.

These efforts, along with legislation protecting the successful Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 for the 370,000 Hoosiers who have enrolled over the course of the last year, will save lives and improve the overall health of Hoosiers.

As I stated in January, my priorities during this session were focused on jobs and economic development, education, infrastructure and confronting drug abuse.

Im grateful to President Pro Tem state Sen. David Long, Speaker Brian Bosma and members of the Indiana General Assembly for working with our administration to advance these important measures that will strengthen our economy, improve our schools and combat drug abuse in our state. As a result, Hoosiers were the big winners from this legislative session.
Meredith Nicholson lived here when he wrote The House of a Thousand Candles. Built in 1904, it is believed to have been the first Georgian/Colonial Revival style home in Indianapolis. The Meredith Nicholson House, headquarters of Indiana Humanities, is at 1500 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis.
McKayla Haldorson of Onalaska is the 2016-17 Western Technical College student ambassador, an official spokeswoman for Western and the Wisconsin Technical College System.

As student ambassador, Haldorson will have opportunities to speak to potential students, community leaders, community groups and others, and will spotlight the important role of technical and occupational education to the economy and society. In addition, she will represent Western at the state level by working with other student ambassadors throughout the WTCS.

Haldorson is an Administrative Professional program student and member of Phi Theta Kappa. She serves as a tutor in the Learner Support Center, where she assists students with Microsoft Office questions. She is employed at Barnes & Noble.

Haldorson chose the two-year program at Western because she was unsure of what career path she wanted to take and Western was a less expensive than a four-year university.

I value that Western is less expensive than universities, but you still receive a great education, said Haldorson. And the knowledge you gain pertains to your chosen career path and can be used on the job.
WASHINGTON (TNS)  Donald Trump can insult hecklers at his rallies, tell em to go home to mommy and even suggest they should have been roughed up.

But the increasingly heated, intense protests and insults at his events raise important questions about free speech, a cornerstone of American democracy: How far can a candidate or his opponents go?

After all, the political process is one where everyone has a right to be heard. Still, there are restrictions.

As long as a candidates events are in a private place, or a public venue the candidate has reserved and paid for, no one can legally interrupt the event. Doing so would be akin to disrupting a wedding or screaming in the middle of a movie. Its Trumps show, and he can holler get him out of here all he wants.

Technically there arent free speech rights that apply, said Rodney Smolla, a First Amendment expert and dean of the Delaware Law School.

But.

Speakers also are subject to some limits. They cant specifically urge violent or criminal behavior. Once outside the venue, in a public place, protesters have considerable rights  though if they get too disruptive, their behavior can become criminal.

Walk outside and the First Amendment is in full force, said Lee Rowland, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Unions Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

The Trump campaign is clear that it knows where the lines are and it adheres to them.

People have the right to protest outside. There are designated peaceful protest areas at our large events, spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an emailed response to McClatchys questions. Trump has repeatedly said he does not condone violence, though he routinely mocks protesters and has said hed like to punch one in the face.

Protesters have disrupted plenty of rallies during this election season. Last summer, Black Lives Matter activists interrupted the rallies or speeches of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin OMalley. Such disruptions have become almost routine at recent Trump events.

At a March 9 Trump rally in Fayetteville, N.C., police arrested John McGraw, 78, for allegedly punching a protester. A video shows a man being escorted out by law enforcement officials as the audience jeers. The man raises his middle finger to the audience, and suddenly an older man in a cowboy hat punches him in the face. Five deputies were disciplined for not properly controlling the situation.

Two days later, hecklers interrupted Trumps St. Louis speech at the downtown Peabody Opera House six times, at one point holding up the rally for nearly 10 minutes.

During the St. Louis disruptions, Trump insulted the protesters, calling them young, spoiled kids, urging them to go home to mommy or get a job. At one point he smiled and told the audience, Isnt this more exciting than listening to a long, boring speech? You can hear that from the other candidates. They dont say anything, anyway.

Tensions were building. That evening, the billionaire businessman postponed a Chicago rally because of concerns about safety.

Trump has every right to be heard, to mock hecklers and to offer sarcastic asides at his events  and the hecklers have fewer rights inside the room. Eugene Volokh, who teaches free speech law at UCLA, cites state laws such as one in California that says, Every person who, without authority of law, willfully disturbs or breaks up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character is guilty of a misdemeanor.

There is a line that speakers at private events cant cross, but its hard to do. If a candidate or speaker were to call for some sort of immediate, violent action that could not be justified as self-defense, he or she would probably risk legal jeopardy.

Trump has not gone that far. In November, a man interrupted a Trump rally by shouting, Black lives matter. A fight erupted, and Trump demanded that the man be removed. The next day, Trump told Fox News, Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.

Last month, after a protester interrupted him in Las Vegas, Trump told the audience, Id like to punch him in the face.

In Fayetteville this month, the Cumberland County Sheriffs Office considered whether the actions of Trump or his campaign were inciting a riot, and concluded they were not.

But is Trump coming close to the line? I think youd have riots, Trump told CNN on Wednesday, if he were close to winning the nomination at the Republican convention in July but was denied.

He was careful not to condone or specifically urge such behavior. I wouldnt lead it, he said, but I think bad things would happen.

Thats not a call to arms. But if he says at a certain point he wants to create problems, riots might be attributable to him, said Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at Washingtons Cato Institute, a libertarian research group.

Trumps campaign would have a tougher task controlling hecklers outside private venues. The Supreme Court has a long history of upholding free speech challenges in public places. In 2011, it ruled 8-1 that fundamentalist church members could hold anti-gay protests near military funerals as long as they followed applicable state and local regulations.

Its rulings have been consistent: Protesters may gather, shout, hold signs and do what they please as long as it does not involve criminal activity, obstruct traffic or otherwise disturb the peace.

At the Trump St. Louis rally, police arrested 32 people, almost all of them inside the hall. All but one charge was for disturbing the peace. The exception was an arrest on an assault charge outside the venue.

Inside the hall, Trump was in control. As Smolla put it, You have no right to keep speaking if told to be quiet.
MADISON  Wisconsins state Supreme Court candidates sparred over judicial philosophy and political ties in a debate Friday night, trading familiar jabs in the increasingly heated race for a full 10-year term on the court.

In their second debate of the week, Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley and Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg criticized each other for being too biased or partisan and retreaded debate over opinionated writings from Bradleys college years.

Bradleys anti-gay and anti-feminist college writings from 24 years ago have become a central point in the campaign since liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now brought them to light in early March.

Bradley has repeatedly apologized for the writings, saying her views started to change almost immediately after she wrote them as she heard from offended fellow students. Kloppenburg has argued Bradleys career and her support from outspoken conservatives dont show shes changed.

I have no interest in going into my opponents soul, but her career, when you look objectively at her career, shows little evidence of change, Kloppenburg said.

Bradley said she found it concerning that Kloppenburg doesnt believe people can change, especially in their youth.

Its essential that judges understand that people do change, Bradley said. Because we sit in judgment of other people, we must believe in the power of redemption.

Both candidates also criticized each other as being too biased or for having political ties.

Kloppenburg went after Bradley for leaving oral arguments early in February to speak at an event hosted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, which has spent heavily in support of conservative justices in the past. Kloppenburg also criticized Bradley for her ties to Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who has appointed Bradley to judgeships three times, most recently to her seat on the high court in October.

Bradley largely has the backing of conservatives, while liberals are backing Kloppenburg, who had heavy support from liberal groups in a failed 2011 state Supreme Court bid against Justice David Prosser.

Bradley said Kloppenburgs judicial philosophy is starkly different from hers and will allow her to introduce her personal policy preferences into her decisions.

Both Bradley and Kloppenburg continued to dodge questions about state and national rulings on voter ID and same-sex marriage, citing the possibility that those issues would come before them as judges.

The candidates will again square off Tuesday before the Dane County Bar Association and Wednesday before the Madison Rotary Club. The election is April 5.
The title of this post is the headline of this terrific new BuzzFeed News piece authored by Amanda Chicago Lewis spotlighting how the marijuana industry has a notable look to it that ought to trouble progressives eager to see such an industry develop. Here are a few extended exceprts from the must-read (and lengthy) article:

When Colorados first medical marijuana dispensaries opened in 2009, Unique Henderson was psyched. Hed been smoking weed since he was 15, and hed even learned how to grow, from his ex-girlfriends father. He spent $750 on classes about how to run a cannabis business, and then he and a friend both applied to work at a Denver pot shop.

Then only his friend was hired. Henderson was more than qualified, so why didnt he get the gig? His friend asked the managers and came back with infuriating news: Henderson was not allowed to work in the legal cannabis industry because he had been caught twice with a joints worth of pot as a teenager back in Oklahoma, and as a result he has two drug possession felonies on his record.

For most jobs, experience will help you get ahead. In the marijuana industry, its not that simple. Yes, investors and state governments are eager to hire and license people with expertise in how to cultivate, cure, trim, and process cannabis. But it cant be someone who got caught. Which for the most part means it cant be someone who is black.

Even though research shows people of all races are about equally likely to have broken the law by growing, smoking, or selling marijuana, black people are much more likely to have been arrested for it. Black people are much more likely to have ended up with a criminal record because of it. And every state that has legalized medical or recreational marijuana bans people with drug felonies from working at, owning, investing in, or sitting on the board of a cannabis business. After having borne the brunt of the war on drugs, black Americans are now largely missing out on the economic opportunities created by legalization.

Nobody keeps official statistics on race and cannabis business ownership. But based on more than 150 interviews with dispensary owners, industry insiders, and salespeople who interact with a lot of pot shops, it appears that fewer than three dozen of the 3,200 to 3,600 storefront marijuana dispensaries in the United States are owned by black people  about 1%.

At this rare and decisive moment in American history, state governments are literally handing control of a multibillion-dollar industry to a chosen few, creating wealth overnight. The pot trade has long been open to anyone with some seeds and some hustle, so there are more than enough cannabis experts out there to form a truly diverse industry  if only the laws werent systematically preventing thousands of qualified black people from participating....

Legalizing marijuana sounds revolutionary, but with every day that passes, the same class of rich white men that control all other industries are tightening their grip on this one, snatching up licenses and real estate and preparing for a windfall. First-mover advantage, they call it. That means that anyone who doesnt make the risky leap to violate federal law and get involved now will miss out, forever. In a few years, when the land grab is over, the cannabis industry may become just another example in Americas never-ending cycle of racially motivated economic injustices....

Last year, Oregon made it easier to get past cannabis convictions expunged from peoples criminal records, partly with the goal of helping more people of color become eligible to participate in the recreational industry there. But attempts at giving anyone a leg up in the licensing process to account for past disparities have largely been unsuccessful. In Illinois, where people with drug felonies are not even allowed to be medical marijuana patients, the state gave a tiny boost to the licensing applications of minorities and women. But officials declined to say whether any of the applications that received the boost resulted in a license, as the records are not subject to disclosure laws. The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland fought for a much more significant boost, but the state attorney general struck it from the law, saying it could be justified only in an existing industry with documented disparities.

The most promising legal attempts to acknowledge the disproportionate effects of marijuana prohibition are written into the 2016 recreational-use ballot initiatives in Massachusetts and California, which allow all cannabis felons to participate in the industry. In a groundbreaking turn, both initiatives also offer the closest thing possible to reparations for the war on drugs: earmarking tax dollars from the industry for job training and other programs in the communities that have been most affected by past narcotics policies  language designed to avoid the legal complications of explicitly mentioning race.

But even if Californias recreational-use initiative passes in November, the medical market there will still exclude most drug felons, a situation that frustrates California NAACP President Alice Huffman. There are not many jobs out there for black folks, she said. There is an underground market for marijuana and a large part of our community participates in it. A lot of people in the inner city live on those drugs, and we dont like to admit that. Legalization, she said, might be an opportunity for economic development for everyone in the community with a business mind.

And yet many of the black people with a business mind who have tried to get involved in marijuana have already encountered the same racism and disproportionate policing as before pot became legal. BuzzFeed News spoke with over two dozen black cannabis entrepreneurs across the country and heard the same frustrations again and again: the secret decision-making that drives local politics, the unsavory euphemisms and selective application of existing law, and the maddening inability to distinguish bias from circumstance.
As reported in this local article, a special state Senate Committee in Massachusetts released today a big new report on what the state need to think about if (when?) voters this fall enact marijuana legalization by initiative. The full report is available at this link, and it runs 100+ pages. The local press article, headlined "7 takeaways from the special report on marijuana legalization in Massachusetts," provides these useful highlights:

A special state Senate committee, whose members recently traveled to Colorado to see the legal cannabis industry up close, issued its official report on Tuesday, sounding a skeptical note on legalization and hoping to promote a cautious approach.

Here are some takeaways from the report:

The report recommends heavily taxing marijuana if it's legalized. The report calls for an excise tax of between 5 percent to 15 percent collected from growers, a marijuana-specific sales tax of 10 percent to 20 percent, and a local option sales tax of up to 5 percent. That's just to start.

if it's legalized. The report calls for an excise tax of between 5 percent to 15 percent collected from growers, a marijuana-specific sales tax of 10 percent to 20 percent, and a local option sales tax of up to 5 percent. That's just to start. The committee's report wants "strict" limits on the marketing , advertising and promotion, including a prohibition of restriction on marijuana advertising on television, radio, print, billboards and other forms of media. Health risks would have to be put on advertising and marketing, free samples and coupons would be banned.

, advertising and promotion, including a prohibition of restriction on marijuana advertising on television, radio, print, billboards and other forms of media. Health risks would have to be put on advertising and marketing, free samples and coupons would be banned. No celebrity endorsements : The report wants a ban on those and brand sponsorships "that may increase appeal to youth."

: The report wants a ban on those and brand sponsorships "that may increase appeal to youth." The report wants a ban on "home growing" or at least a temporary prohibition, and also recommends aggregate limits on how much marijuana could be grown in the state each year.

or at least a temporary prohibition, and also recommends aggregate limits on how much marijuana could be grown in the state each year. The report estimates 885,000 Massachusetts residents used marijuana in the last year -- almost half of them youth and young adults under 25 years old -- consuming a total of 85 metric tons (or 3 million ounces) of marijuana. That's compared to 3.1 billion servings of beer, wine and spirits in 2012, the report says.

-- almost half of them youth and young adults under 25 years old -- consuming a total of 85 metric tons (or 3 million ounces) of marijuana. That's compared to 3.1 billion servings of beer, wine and spirits in 2012, the report says. One in four high schoolers used marijuana in the last year. One in five Massachusetts marijuana users smoke it daily.

One in five Massachusetts marijuana users smoke it daily. Addiction hits one in nine users, the report claims. The report calls marijuana overdoses "rare" and says it does not lead to death, qualifying it with it potentially leading to "psychotic events." The report adds: "Pregnant women who use marijuana increase the risk of damage to the fetal brain."

If recreational marijuana is legalized by Massachusetts voters, "it will be critical to dedicate sufficient time, expertise, and resources to ensure as smooth an implementation as possible, which nevertheless is likely to be challenging," the report says.

State officials struggled to implement a medical marijuana program after Massachusetts voters approved it in 2012, the same year Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. Four years after the approval of medical marijuana, there are six dispensaries are open across Massachusetts, as patient demand for products has surged.
As reported in this local article out of the Keystone State capital, the "House on Wednesday approved allowing the medical use of marijuana in Pennsylvania, sending the legislation to the Senate, which has approved medical cannabis bills in the past." Here is more:

The vote was 149-43, with all voting Democrats and more than half of Republicans in support. Advocates and Gov. Tom Wolf applauded the House vote, which followed emotional debate from supporters and opponents alike.

Julie Michaels, who has traveled to the state Capitol from her home in Fayette County to advocate for medical marijuana, said she felt a huge sense of relief that we got through the House, which had been our biggest stumbling block to this point.

Hopefully everything will be smooth sailing from here, straight to the governors desk, said Ms. Michaels, whose daughter Sydney, 6, has Dravet syndrome, a form of intractable epilepsy.

The Senate approved medical marijuana legislation in 2014 and again last year. For the proposal that passed the House on Wednesday to reach the governors desk, the Senate will have to agree with changes made by the House. Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, a major proponent of medical marijuana in the Senate, says he has to review the House amendments, but added, We want to get this done ASAP.

On the House floor, Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Armstrong, said that years ago he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma and underwent a lengthy surgery. He said he was told that his cancer is hereditary, and he told his fellow representatives that he has two daughters. With the odds somewhat likely that theyll deal with this, too, I want them to have access to comfort that I did not have, he said, his voice sounding strained. Please let my kids have access to this.

House Health Committee Chairman Matt Baker, R-Tioga, warned that by authorizing medical marijuana, Pennsylvania would bypass the Food and Drug Administration approval process and go against the recommendations of medical associations. He pointed, for example, to opposition from the American Epilepsy Society. I cannot remember when the last time this august body voted on a bill that was in direct violation of federal law, Mr. Baker said.

The legislation that that passed the House would establish a system of growers and dispensaries to provide marijuana to patients with certain conditions  including cancer, epilepsy, HIV and AIDS and post-traumatic stress disorder  and who have been certified by a doctor. Patients would be allowed to use marijuana in the form of a pill or oil or through vaporization, among other methods, but they would not be allowed to smoke it.

Sales from growers and processors to dispensaries would be taxed at 5 percent, with the money paying for Department of Health operations related to the program, for law enforcement and drug abuse services and for research about medical marijuana.

Gov. Tom Wolf, who has urged the General Assembly to pass the legislation, said in a statement that he looks forward to the Senate sending him the bill. We will finally provide the essential help needed by patients suffering from seizures, cancer and other illnesses, Mr. Wolf said.
The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Atlantic magazine story. Here is how it gets started:

In the summer of 2014, The New York Times published its first-ever marijuana ad. The occasion was the enactment of New Yorks Compassionate Care Act, which legalized pot for some medical uses. The ad, a congratulatory note from a Seattle start-up, depicted a well-dressed, newspaper-toting man standing on his stoop while a young woman jogged past. Both wore determined expressions; the man, according to the text, consumed marijuana to relieve his MS symptoms, and the woman used it while fighting cancer. The ad made sense for its time and place. Earlier that year, Colorado and Washington State had begun allowing the sale of recreational pot, and critics were warning that as more states followed suit, profit-motivated corporations could start marketing a lot of pot to a lot of people. Savvy marijuana businesses, worried about confirming this suspicion, stuck to depictions of their most sympathetic users.

Pots image problem has since begun to fade, especially in states like Washington and Colorado. Two more states, Oregon and Alaska, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and several others may soon have the opportunity to join them. But the people who sell the drug are facing a predicament. In a legal market, cannabis  the plant from which pot is derived  comes to resemble many other farmed products: One growers plant looks and tastes a lot like his neighbors. (Some pot connoisseurs with sensitive palates can differentiate among strains of cannabis  and even among brands  but theyre as rare as the coffee drinker who can guess his beans origins.) John Kagia, the director of industry analytics at New Frontier, which studies the marijuana business, is convinced that pot is becoming commoditized. In Colorado, the supply of marijuana flower is going up, and its cost down, partly because of technological advancements and larger, more efficient operations  just the kind of forces that have turned other products into commodities.

Pot businesses are, above all, businesses, and theyre responding as businesses do: with marketing aimed at convincing longtime pot users that their brand is better than the othersand, just as important, at increasing demand by encouraging curious nonusers to try their product first. In other words, marijuana companies would like to sell a lot of pot to a lot of people. Now that marijuana has been legalized, we have the opportunity to market it to a mainstream audience, Olivia Mannix, a co-founder of a marketing agency called Cannabrand, told me. But making good on that opportunity has required changing the way people think about the drug. In this regard, the early associations between pot and medicineand hence harmlessness, even wellnesswere helpful. Since then, the tactics have gotten more sophisticated.

Early on, Mannix and her business partner, Jennifer DeFalco, decided to avoid certain slang associated with old-school stoner cultureganja, weed, pot, even getting high. Instead, in conversations with journalists and in ads for their clients, they use the pleasant-sounding cannabis. One dispensary chain they advised swapped out the off-putting metal safety bars on its windows for frosted glass. When Mannix and DeFalco design ads or logos for clients, they use a lot of white space and replace bright-green color schemes with cool grays and blues. A lot of clients come to us saying they want to look like Apple, Mannix told me.


Many young Americans dream of becoming a dancer for a prestigious ballet school. That dream is now a reality for 15-year- old Harper Ortlieb.

Harper Ortlieb left her small town in Oregon to move to Moscow. She is following her dream of becoming a prima ballerina. She was accepted for study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.

There are 721 students in the academy and only 84 of them are foreigners. Harper is younger than most. She is also among the few to be integrated into the regular Russian program.

Tatyana Galtseva is a teacher at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. She says Harper is very gifted.

"She is very gifted, said Galtseva . She is all ballet, all inspiration.

The Bolshoi took notice of Harper when she took part in a Bolshoi summer program held in Connecticut. The Bolshoi then offered her a place in its Moscow school.

Harper says she feels accepted by her classmates and teachers. But, she says the experience has been harder than she expected.

"It's been very difficult, but with that comes strength and with that I improve,'' she said. "I feel like I came here to get better, to improve, not only technically but emotionally so when I dance people see something."

Layne Baumann and Tim Ortlieb are Harpers parents. In September, they left their only child in Moscow. In February, Harpers mother decided to move to the Russian capital for at least the rest of the school year. She lives about two blocks from the ballet school.



Seventeen Americans study at the Bolshoi Academy. There are 28 students from Japan. The other foreign students represent 22 different countries.



Harpers teacher believes the student has what it takes to be a classical ballerina.

She says, "She is extraordinarily attentive. She is always smiling. Such a sweet, wonderful girl.''



Harper hopes to become one of the rare foreigners to receive a diploma from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. She has three difficult years ahead to reach her goal.



Im Dorothy Gundy.

Associated Press reported on this story. Marsha James adapted this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

prestigious  adj. having high status

prima ballerina  n. the main female dancer in a ballet company

academy  n. a school that provides training in special subjects or skills

integrated  adj. allowing all types of people to participate or be included

inspiration  n. something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create

classical  adj. of a kind that has been respected for a long time

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.


This is Whats Trending Today.

Google has chosen the national winner of its Doodle 4 Google contest.

Doodle means draw. School-aged children across the United States sent their drawings to Google in the contest in 2015. For the contest, students created doodles centered around the theme What makes me...me.

Fifteen-year-old Akilah Johnson was this years winner. Johnson is a student at Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C. She titled her doodle My Afrocentric Life.

She said in a Google blog post, I based this picture off my lifestyle and what has made me into what I am today.

The word Google in Johnsons doodle is drawn like a hair braid. She painted the word power in black, and drew the image of a womans fist that comes from one of her favorite artists.

Johnsons winning drawing also included signs from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Her drawing trended on social media.

Johnsons drawing was the main image on the U.S. Google homepage on Monday and Tuesday. She will receive a $30,000 college scholarship. And her high school will also receive a $50,000 award from Google.

Johnson told the Washington Post newspaper, Im excited about the scholarship, and Im excited about Googles home page even more.

Google has hosted a Doodle4Google contest every year in the United States since 2008. Doodle4Google contests take place in many other countries, including India, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.

In 2015, Google received more than 100,000 entries from students across the United States.

And that's What's Trending Today.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

braid - n. an arrangement of hair made by weaving three sections together

fist - n. the hand with its fingers bent down into the palm


Belgian security forces are continuing to search for a man seen with two suicide bombers in the airport and metro attacks in Brussels, Belgium.

At least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded. The Islamic State terrorist group is claiming responsibility for the attacks. A U.S. official told VOA there is no reason to doubt the claim.

Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw confirmed that two of the attackers were brothers -- Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui.

On Tuesday, Belgian police released a photograph of three men taken from closed-circuit television at the airport. Van Leeuw said Ibrahim and an unidentified man, both wearing dark clothing, died in the airport attacks.

Security forces are now looking for the third person in the photo. The man was wearing a white jacket with a black hat.

Earlier, Belgian media reported the man was 25-year-old Najim Laachraoui and that he had been arrested. The report was later withdrawn, and Van Leeuw confirmed no one has been arrested in connection with the attacks.

Van Leew said Ibrahim also left a will in a trash can at the airport. And Khalid, the other brother, was the suicide bomber on a metro train at the Maelbeek station.

Belgian broadcaster RTBF says the el-Bakraoui brothers were known to police and had criminal records, but no history of terrorist activity. It said Khalid el-Bakraoui used a false name to rent an apartment in Brussels that police raided last week.

They also found weapons and a fingerprint for Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the deadly bombings in Paris November 13. He was arrested Friday.

Moment of silence

On Wednesday, people in Brussels honored the victims of the bombings with a minute of silence. Then, they began clapping in a defiant show of solidarity. One person yelled Long live the Belgians! which caused more clapping.

Officials said there would be no flights into or out of the airport at least through Thursday. In a statement, they said until we can assess the damage, we are unable to confirm when operations at the airport can be resumed.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.

Lisa Bryant and William Gallo reported this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

will  n. a legal document in which a person states who should receive his or her possessions after he or she dies

closed-circuit  adj. used to describe a television system that sends its signal through wires to a limited number of televisions

metro  n. the name often given to a citys underground train system, also called a subway




Alexis Cullen works as a volunteer in Vanuatu, one of the Peace Corp's most remote postings.

In the village where she works, called Naviso, some people have never heard of the Internet. That is not uncommon in the South Pacific, where some people have limited access to learning resources.

"Nobody has ever seen the Internet. People don't know what the Internet is.  Some of them are very separated out from what the rest of the world is doing."

And without the Internet, says Cullen, people in these areas are falling behind. It is not likely they will be able to access the Internet in the near future.

"As you sit and you wait, there are just the villages that get further and further behind. And how can you ever communicate, or be part of a global society, if people are waiting for you to get connected?

The SolarSPELL unit

To help with that problem, Dr. Laura Hosman, a professor at California Polytechnic State University, and her students developed a mobile library. It is called SolarSPELL.

Dr. Hosman says she wanted to get educational content to rural places. She wanted to create a digital library that would not be ruined in bad weather.

The SolarSPELL unit, which is powered by the sun, creates a WiFi hotspot. Although it does not use the Internet, it creates a similar experience.

"So, any device that can connect to the Internet can connect to our library, Hosman says. And it seems like they are on the Internet, even though they are not. So it's an offline website that really feels like you are online."

It lets users practice using the Internet on a smaller scale.

A digital library

Each SolarSPELL unit comes with a memory card, a small plug-in device that holds the educational content in a computer.

It only uses a small amount of space, and does not rely on power cables or electricity networks.

Hosman and her students worked hard to find content to put in the library. They wanted to choose content appealing to people who live in rural areas in the South Pacific, such as Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia.

"I wanted the students to be able to see themselves in the curriculum."

Partnership with the Peace Corps

The SolarSPELL team has partnered with the Peace Corps in Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia. The Peace Corps has used about 50 SolarSPELL units.

The village where Alexis Cullen works, Naviso, has one unit. Alexis says that about 200 students have used it.

Using the SolarSPELL unit in other countries?

Hosman says SolarSPELL units could be used in other countries in the South Pacific.

Gabriel Krieshok is the Information and Communication Technologies for Development Program Officer at the Peace Corps. He says some technologies are appropriate to some areas, but not to others.

"I think one of the big challenges that we have is that there is this tendency to want tohave a one size-fits-all solution And while it's really tempting to go down that road, it never works. I have yet to see a place where you can have one thing that works for everyone."

The challenge, he says, is balancing new technologies with what people need.

"How can I take what you guys have done here  like with, SolarSPELL is a really good example  and, you know, translate that to a post in East Africa or something like that?"

Im John Russell.

Editor's note: Alexis Cullen's statements are her own opinions. They do not reflect the opinions of the Peace Corps.

John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section and on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

posting  n. the act of sending someone to a place to work for a long period of time as part of a job

access  n. a way of being able to use or get something

mobile  adj. able to move from one place to another

digital  adj using or characterized by computer technology

appropriate  adj. right or suited for some purpose or situation


Muslim-Americans and rights groups denounced U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruzs call for increased surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods after the attacks in Brussels.

Cruz said police should be permitted to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

The Republican Senator from Texas praised New York Citys program of surveillance on Muslim neighborhoods after 9/11 attacks in the U.S. The program was discontinued after complaints of religious and racial profiling.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Cruzs statement. It said his comment send[s] an alarming message to American Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation.

The Anti-Defamation League is an American organization that fights anti-Semitism. The group said, demonizing all Muslims is a misguided and counterproductive response to the terrorist threat. And it compared Cruzs approach to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Reactions from other U.S. presidential candidates

Businessman Donald Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, told CNN that he supports Cruzs idea 100 percent.

After the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California last November, Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims from other countries entering the United States.

Trump also repeated his call for American investigators to be permitted to use stronger questioning methods. He said Belgium could have kept the bombings from happening if it had tortured a suspect in last years terrorist attacks in Paris after he was arrested last week.

Ohio Governor John Kasich is another Republican presidential candidate. He told MSNBC that President Obama should return to the U.S. from his trip to Cuba and Argentina.

He ought to work with the heads of state around the world. They ought to assemble teams and they need to examine these vulnerabilities we have, because without effective human intelligence, without coordination and cooperation among all the civilized nations, we get these gaps and these gaps get exploited by these people who are intent on killing civilized people.

Democratic response

Democratic candidate and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton told CNN that terrorists are developing ways of building bombs that are hard to discover.

She said we have to continually be learning and getting ahead of these thugs and criminals in order to prevent them doing what they did in Brussels.

Clinton called for the United States and European nations to increase the amount of information they share.

In a statement, Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders said the attacks were another cowardly attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. He called the attacks a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIS. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.

Christopher Jones-Cruise reported this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

radicalize  v. to cause (someone or something) to become more radical especially in politics

racial profiling  v. the act or practice of regarding particular people as more likely to commit crimes because of their race

internment  n. the act of putting someone in a prison for political reasons or during a war

gap  n. a missing part of a program; a space where something is missing

exploit  v. to use (someone or something) in a way that helps you unfairly

barbarism  n. cruel and violent behavior
LINCOLN  Supporters of a bill that would ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity rallied at the Capitol on Tuesday.

About 200 people gathered to call for passage of Legislative Bill 586, introduced by State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln. The rally occurred on the eve of renewed legislative debate about the measure.

Morfeld expressed optimism about the bills chances this year, saying the opinions of Nebraskans have been evolving over time. But he also vowed not to let the matter die if it does not succeed this year.

It can pass this year or it can not pass this year. In any case, we will be back next year and we will keep coming back until we get equality for all, he said.

Linda Dugan, vice president of Paypal, urged lawmakers to pass the bill this year. She said protection against employment discrimination is needed to attract and keep the best and brightest employees in Nebraska.

We feel this is a business issue, an economic issue, she said.

Last year, legislative backers of LB 586 pulled it from the agenda after it became apparent that they lacked the votes to advance it.

The measure would prohibit workplace bias against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Nebraskans. The measure has support from the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and more than 200 individual Nebraska businesses.

Some 270 religious leaders also signed a statement of support, although the bill faces opposition from other religious groups, particularly the Catholic Church.

Greg Schleppenbach, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, said the bill represents bad policy and is unnecessary.

He said there is no evidence of widespread discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

He also disputed arguments that the bill is necessary for the states economic health, pointing to recent lists of the fastest growing states. Most states in those lists do not have laws banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Nebraska Family Alliance also opposed the bill, saying such measures have been used to punish people who hold different beliefs on marriage and sexuality. The group said it would exchange the consistent kindness and tolerance of Nebraskans for government regulation.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers snuffed out a proposal Monday that would have hiked cigarette taxes by $1.50 a pack and earmarked most of the money for property tax relief.

The Revenue Committee deadlocked 4-4 on an amendment to Legislative Bill 1013 that State Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island had offered to address concerns raised about the original bill. Gloor, the committee chairman, introduced LB 1013.

Without the amendment, LB 1013 was on the losing end of a 6-2 vote and wont be sent to the full Legislature.

Gloor said the bill is likely dead for this year, with time running out to change minds.

He called Big Tobacco the winner. Tobacco companies had lobbied hard against the measure, joined by groups that argued that higher cigarette taxes would fall most heavily on low-income people and would encourage smuggling.

But Gloor said the bill drew more enthusiasm this year than his previous two attempts to raise the tobacco tax. Gloor, who is prevented by term limits from running for another consecutive term, predicted that there would be another senator next year to carry on the fight.

This is a case where the third time is not a charm, he said.

Nebraskas cigarette tax  64 cents per pack  ranks 40th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

As introduced, LB 1013 would have put an estimated $45 million into the states Property Tax Credit Fund and would have used another $45 million to increase the personal property tax exemption.

The amendment presented Monday would have put $71.7 million into the Property Tax Credit Fund, while putting an additional $8.3 million into personal property tax exemptions, earmarking $10 million for grants to high-poverty schools and using $2.2 million to provide tax credits to volunteer firefighters.

Under both versions of the bill, some $30 million would have been directed to health programs.
LINCOLN  State officials are getting set to sign contracts with three managed care companies to oversee the health of some 230,000 Nebraskans.

The companies  UnitedHealthCare Community Plan, Nebraska Total Care (Centene) and WellCare of Nebraska  will be responsible for some $1.2 billion worth of Medicaid services.

Contracts for what is being called Heritage Health could be signed as soon as Wednesday. They are to take effect Jan. 1.

Through Heritage Health, Medicaid recipients will receive a full array of services through one health plan, resulting in coordinated care and better outcomes, said Courtney Phillips, chief executive of the State Department of Health and Human Services.

Heritage Health will cover people who are in the states existing Medicaid program. It is separate from the issue of whether the state should expand Medicaid to cover more people.

Once the Heritage Health program begins, people on Medicaid across Nebraska will be able to choose from among the three companies for nearly all of their care.

Calder Lynch, director of Medicaid and long-term care services for HHS, said Heritage Health should help control the growth of Medicaid costs, make state government more efficient and improve care for Nebraskans.

Our No. 1 objective is to have better health outcomes, he said. I do think were going to return value over time in the form of taxpayer savings.

Medicaid is a $2 billion health care program in Nebraska, funded by the state and federal governments. It covers low-income children, parents, people with disabilities and the elderly.

Using managed care within Medicaid is not new for Nebraska, or for other states. Iowa plans to launch a statewide Medicaid managed care program April 1.

Nebraska signed its first managed care contract in 1995, covering a limited number of people in Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster Counties. Managed care has expanded since then, but current efforts remain limited.

Currently, three companies manage physical health services for about 80 percent of people on Medicaid. One operates statewide, one covers urban counties and one covers rural areas.

A fourth company handles mental health for almost all Medicaid recipients, while state employees deal with pharmacy services.

Under Heritage Health, the three contractors are to administer physical health, mental health and pharmacy services for nearly everyone covered by state Medicaid. All three are to operate statewide.

The contracts will not cover nursing home care and other long-term support and services for the elderly and people with disabilities.

The state also will pay separately for dental care and non-emergency transportation for all Medicaid recipients.

State Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln, the Health and Human Services Committee chairwoman and former co-chairwoman of a Medicaid reform task force, called the change a big deal for Nebraska.

What is new is the breadth and scope of it, she said. Im excited about the combination of mental health and physical health.

Under the Heritage Health contracts, the state will pay a flat monthly rate for each person the companies sign up.

The rates will vary, depending on a persons age, disability status and eligibility category. For example, the rate would be less for a healthy 7-year-old than for a 45-year-old with developmental disabilities living in a group home.

With that amount, the companies are expected to pay for doctors, hospitals and other needed health care.

They also are expected to provide additional services aimed at encouraging preventive care, good health habits and better management of chronic conditions. Those services could include such things as care managers to work with diabetics on keeping their blood sugar under control or peer support programs to help people with mental illnesses avoid crises.

Lynch said officials hope to see benefits for both the patient and the states bottom line, because healthier people use health care services less often.

The contractors can benefit as well by keeping their costs below the payments from the state.

The contracts allow for 3 percent profit, meaning the three companies could share an estimated $36 million a year. The state payments include 1 percent profit, or about $12 million. The companies can realize the rest only by managing their costs.

But to keep the companies from skimping on care to maximize profits, the contracts require them to meet specific health care goals. Lynch said 1.5 percent of the companies payments will be released only if they meet those performance goals.

The state will share some of the risk if the companies suffer losses. Under the contracts the state is to pay more if the companies lose more than 3 percent on the contracts.

Lynch said one major plus for the state is that the contractors will take on the job of managing claims and making payments to providers.

The shift means Nebraska can avoid spending millions of dollars building a long-needed new Medicaid information and claims payment system.

While the Heritage Health contracts are to begin Jan. 1, Lynch said the state will do a thorough readiness review of each of the three plans before any of them can begin providing services.

The reviews will include such things as checking the adequacy of provider networks and verifying that the companies have the right staff hired and trained.

Medicaid recipients will have a chance to pick one of the three options starting in October.

HHS initially had planned to contract with Aetna, as well as United HealthCare and Nebraska Total Care. But officials took a second look at the bids after WellCare and Arbor Health filed protests.

Lynch said they determined that there had been a scoring error in the corporate overview section of the bids. After that section was re-evaluated, WellCare came out ahead of Aetna. No new protests had been filed as of Friday.
About a year after announcing plans to distribute a million tiny computers to UK students, the BBC is now delivering micro:bit devices.

The BBC micro:bit may not look like much of a computer, but its a small programmable device with 25 LED lights on the front, several buttons that you can press to interact with the machine in different ways, and sensors including an accelerometer and compass. The system also supports Bluetooth Low Energy connections.

The idea is to give kids a device and the tools to program it, and see what they come up with.

Students aged around 11 or 12 are getting the devices, and some early projects have included creation of a thermometer that measures temperature changes as a balloon flies into the stratosphere, measure the speed of rocket-propelled model cars, or measure the height of items thrown while juggling.

There are other small, inexpensive single-board computers that can act as full-fledged desktop PCs. Plug a keyboard, mouse, and monitor into a Raspberry Pi, and youve basically got a desktop computer. You cant do that with a micro:bit.

But the BBCs tiny computer is designed to be an easy-to-use device that you can program from another computer and learn about coding. Its more like an Arduino board than a Raspberry Pi in that way but while Arduino devices are cheap, the micro:bit is free (for students, anyway) and aimed specifically at the education market but one of the interesting things about this project is that the BBC isnt giving the devices to schools its giving them to students.

Kids get to keep their micro:bit computers, which mean that they could keep tinkering even when the lesson plans are done, and maybe feel a little more ownership of their creations.

The original BBC Micro line of computers were PCs sold to schools and home users in the 1980s, at a time when not a lot of people had computers in their households. These days, plenty of people have computers, but not a lot know how to create their own code. The BBC micro:bit is one approach toward changing that.

via BBC
Mumbai: Actress Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday urged the media to allow "personal space" to celebrities, when she was repeatedly questioned on her ongoing legal tiff with actor Hrithik Roshan.

"Sometimes you guys have to allow personal space to celebrities also... It can be very overwhelming. (Being) Strong doesn't mean you can just walk through life without being affected or intimidated. Being strong means that standing up against things in spite of all of this.

"So, you guys need to give me some personal space. It is not that I won't talk about it. I will. As of now, please grant me that space," Kangana said when asked for her comments on the sidelines of an event meant for the announcement of the Queen actress' appointment as the Melange by Lifestyle brand ambassador.

Kangana is said to have been in a relationship with her Krrish 3 co-star Hrithik in the past.

A controversy came into being when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her 'ex' as she said in an interview that she fails to understand "why exes do silly things to get your attention". The topic of discussion was Hrithik's purported hand in getting Kangana replaced by Sonam Kapoor in Aashiqui 3.

The matter took an ugly turn with both of them slapping legal notices against each other.

Hrithik has accused Ranaut of stalking him repeatedly through "senseless, personal, and absurd" emails; while Kangana' lawyer said Hrithik's accusations are "baseless".

IANS
A Srinagar-New Delhi IndiGo flight was taken to the isolation bay at New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport after landing, following a bomb threat, on Wednesday, reported DNA. The warning was received at the IndiGo call centre in Chennai.

According to an NDTV report, the airline received an alert threat call regarding 10 IndiGo flights. One of these was the 6E 853, en route to New Delhi via Jammu. The other nine flights were also grounded at the New Delhi airport on Wednesday.

The airport DCP said four such calls have been received in the last four days. "All passengers were evacuated and a thorough check is going on," deputy commissioner of police Dinesh Kumar Gupta told IANS.

According to CNN-IBN, the flights will be grounded for at least five-six hours, and that the grounding of the flights would cost the airline Rs 35-40 lakh.

This comes just one day after Jet Airways had received bomb threats regarding five flights from New Delhi.

One of these, a New Delhi to Chennai flight, scheduled for take-off at 4.05 pm, was left stranded at IGI Airport, the DNA report added.

On Tuesday, Jet Airways had released a statement following the bomb threat. It said that all flights were on the ground and were being checked by security agencies at the respective airports.
Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley said on Wednesday that the US had once financed his trip to Pakistan and also claimed that he had "donated" about Rs.70 lakh to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) till 2006, two years before the Mumbai attacks.

The 55-year-old terrorist, who was cross-examined via a video link from the US, told the court that after his arrest in 1998, "The Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the US financed my trip. I was in contact with DEA then, but it is not true that between 1988 and 1998 I was providing information or assisting DEA".

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US and has turned approver in the 26/11 case, contradicted reports that he had received money from the LeT.

"I never received money from LeT...this is complete nonsense. I gave funds to LeT myself. I had donated more than 60 to 70 lakh Pakistani Rupees to LeT throughout the period I was associated with them. My last donation was in 2006", Headley told the court.

He clarified that the money given was not for any specific operation of LeT, but was a general donation primarily for many things.

"These donations were from my business in New York and from the income that I earned by selling and purchasing some properties in Pakistan. I don't remember if I informed US authorities about my donations to LeT," he said.

Picking holes in the credibility of Headley's evidence, 26/11 attack plotter Abu Jundal's lawyer on Wednesday argued that the terrorist, who faced conviction twice in the past before the Mumbai strikes, had indulged in criminal activities and violated his plea bargain agreements with the US government.

Headley was convicted in 1988 and 1998 by a court in the US for alleged drug smuggling, Jundal's lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan said. However, on both the occasions, Headley had entered into a plea bargain with the American government and got off with a lighter sentence.

"One of the conditions of my plea agreement was that I should not take part in any criminal activity. I violated this condition by going to Pakistan and joining the LeT," Headley told special judge G A Sanap, who is hearing the 26/11 terror case against Jundal in a sessions court here.

Headley told the court that after completing his four year sentence in 1988, he was involved in drug smuggling from 1992 to 1998 and had visited Pakistan during this period.

Headley was examined by the prosecution in February this year for five days and the court later adjourned the case

for his cross-examination, which started from Wednesday.

Testifying from an undisclosed location in the US, Headley told the court that it was not possible that his donations were used for the 26/11 terror attacks.

"My last donation was made in 2006 and at that time 26/11 plan was not in place," he said.

When Khan kept implying in his questions that he had received money from LeT, an irked Headley said, "I have repeated it several times. I did not receive any money from LeT...if you don't understand this language I can say it in Urdu."

Seeing Khan smile, Headley said, "Your client's life is relying on this case. You should be serious about that...don't joke."

Headley also told the court that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit LeT.

On being asked by Khan about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

He said Rana had objected to his association with LeT, and added that Rana was not in "constant touch" with any LeT operatives.

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.

Headley also told the court that Rana had once come to Mumbai just prior to the 26/11 attacks, and that the latter continued his association with him till his arrest.

"I was working on Denmark conspiracy project (Mickey Mouse project) on my own and not with Rana. Rana offered me assistance on some occasions. He was a 'small part' of it," he said.

Queried about his wife Shazia, a visibly exasperated Headley told the defense counsel that he is not going to

answer questions about her.

Headley also refused to reveal the location of his wife, whether she is in USA or Pakistan, or her father's name.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to

answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He, however, said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I

don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately," he said.

When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."

When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

However, the judge said that he will decide tomorrow on whether Khan's question to Headley about his wife falls under this purview.

Headley also told the court that in the 1998 drug case trial in the US, he had testified against two co-accused, out of whom one was acquitted and the other was convicted as he pleaded guilty.

He said that he was sentenced to 15 months in jail and after that he was kept on five years' supervised release.

"There was a motion moved by the state government attorney to terminate my supervisory release because of my 'good conduct'," Headley said.

He also said that in the 1988 case while he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, his co-accused wereawarded a heavier sentence than him.

The Pakistani-American terrorist had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

Headley said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and

moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.

PTI
As unrest continued at the Hyderabad Central University, the university authorities on Wednesday prevented JNU student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar from entering the campus to address the students agitating over the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula.

Kanhaiya, who came with Rohith's mother and brother to express solidarity with the students, was greeted with slogans for and against him at the gate. "I came from JNU to HCU to support Rohith Vemula's cause.....we will have to fulfill Rohith Vemula's dreams. And social justice has to be brought in the country. This Government is not listening to the voice of the students," he said.

"How many Rohiths will you kill," an agitated Kanhaiya asked in an apparent reference to the BJP-led government at the Centre. Students joined in with him, and shouted slogans against the government.

The University authorities, in the morning, issued a notification banning entry of outsiders including political parties, media and other social/student groups. They also suspended classes for four days. Kanhaiya, speaking outside the campus, called it "shameful".

"I blame university authorities and police. This fight is to save democracy and the Constitution. We will not tolerate attack on democracy. We want freedom from casteism and untouchability. We would not have disturbed the peace on the campus had we been allowed," he said.

Police had kept strict security at the main gate preventing non-students from entering. There were heated arguments between police and CPI leaders who accompanied Kanhaiya as police did not allow them in.

After arriving in Hyderabad, Kanhaiya said, "The government smartly made an issue of JNU to keep Rohit Vemula's issue under carpet. But we all know that even if we are different, we are one when it comes to saving justice in the nation. That's why as soon as I came out of jail, on behalf of JNUSU, I thought I would go to Hyderabad. My first visit outside Delhi would be Hyderabad," he said.

He said Vemula's mother is like "Bhagat Singh's mother" in the present circumstances. Though he was scheduled to address a meeting on the campus organised by JAC which spearheaded the agitation demanding justice for Vemula who committed suicide in a hostel room at HCU on 17 January, vice-chancellor Podile said nobody had approached for permission for the event.

"Nobody has approached for permission. Definitely, there is no permission," he told PTI.

As tension rose at HCU following the resumption of duty by Podile, whose removal from the post is a key demand of JAC, classes were suspended till March 26. "We have taken a decision not to allow any outsider, including mediapersons and political parties, on the campus," Registrar M Sudhakar said earlier in the day.

Podile, in the eye of a storm over Vemula's suicide, had proceeded on leave on 24 January.

When asked if the issue was being politicised, Podile today said he did not think so, adding that he did not attach any significance to Kumar's visit as "we have nothing to do with that boy".

"As far as our campus is concerned, I don't see same kind of polarisation," he said.

Student agitation against the ruling regime has seen a rise under the current government. Starting from students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), who protested against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, who according to the students of the institute was not a fit for the renowned organisation, as the chairman to the latest storm brewing at JNU  students across India have joined in the fight against, what they call 'dictatorship' and the attempt to murder democracy by the Narendra Modi government.

And it is far from over. Eighteen FTII students have been added to the list of those accused of holding the institute's director in his office on 17 August, 2015, taking the total number to 35.

While the JNU controversy has been in the limelight the last few days, trouble continues to brew at the FTII in Pune. On the evening of 10 March, police arrived on campus to to issue notices to students that a chargesheet would be filed against them in the sessions court on Monday, 14 March, PTI said.

Twenty-five students and two faculty members of Hyderabad Central University were arrested on Wednesday in connection with incidents of ransacking of vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile's lodge and stone pelting on police personnel, police told mediapersons.

According to Gachibowli police inspector J Ramesh, so far two cases have been booked on charges of damage to public property, trespass and preventing Government officials from performing their duties and other relevant sections of IPC in connection with Tuesday's incidents.

"27 persons were arrested in connection with both the incidents. 25 students and two faculty members," Ramesh told PTI.

All the accused will be produced in a court soon, he added. Kanhaiya, after landing in Hyderabad, blamed the government for blowing up the issue at JNU (of 'anti-national' slogans) only to divert attention from Rohith's suicide and its aftermath. The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of HCU will carry on its struggle until the Centre brought 'Rohith Act', Kanhaiya said.

Meanwhile, general secretary Sitaram Yechury demanded immediate release of students and faculty members of Hyderabad Central University, arrested in connection with the attack on Appa Rao's official residence. Yechury, in a letter written to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, also alleged that police showed high-handedness as the students were deprived of water, access to wifi, and even food supply to hostel messes was stopped.

With inputs from agencies
The cross-examination of Pakistani-American terrorist-turned approver David Headley in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks began on Wednesday. He is being cross-examined by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the terror attack and it will go on for four days.

Headley, who turned an approver, finished his week-long deposition before Mumbai sessions court through a video link from the US on 13 February, following which, Judge GA Sanap had directed special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam for a second round of deposition.

According to the latest report in PTI, Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia, but added that she has never visited India and was aware that he was going to change his name from Daood Gilani to David Coleman Headley.

On Tahawwur Rana, his associate from Chicago, Headley revealed that Rana knew he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). "I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

In February this year, Headley made a startling revelations regarding Ishrat Jahan which added more questions to the already murky case. He told a special court that Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an encounter, was an LeT operative. The Hindu reported that Headley said that Lashkar ideologue Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi had told him about a botched up operation in India and that a woman with the name of Ishrat Jahan was killed in the shootout. He also informed that the LeT has a women's wing.

The police had claimed that Ishrat, a resident of Mumbra, along with a few other LeT associates were coming to Gujarat to assassinate the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The report added that investigations by Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate, on the other hand, had ruled that the June 2004 killing was case of "fake encounter."

In his earlier deposition, Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, also revealed that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

During his interrogation by Indias National Investigation Agency, Headley had claimed that Hafiz Mohammed Saeed knew everything about the Mumbai attacks and major plans of the LeT are executed only after his approval, as per The Hindustan Times. The report also stated that the LeT had full support from ISI for the attack on Mumbai.

In his earlier deposition before Special Tada Judge GA Sanap, Headley admitted to have surveyed the National Defence College in New Delhi, Chabad Houses in tourist destinations like Goa, Pune and Pushkar on instructions of Al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri. He also spoke about taking videos of the Shiv Sena Bhavan as he believed that the LeT "would be interested in attacking it or even carry assassination of its (then) head (Bal Thackeray)."

Apart from giving videos of Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi and the Naval Air Station to his contacts, Headley had said that the ISI wanted to recruit from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to get access to sensitive information.

With inputs from agencies
Mumbai: Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began on Wednesday morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US. Here are a few extracts from the hearing.

On Tahawwur Rana

Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Wednesday said Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

When Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, further said Rana had objected to his association with LeT.

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.

On wife Shazia

Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."

When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me

and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."

However, Headley said his wife knew about his plans to change his name.

"She knew that I was going to change my name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley," he said.

When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on 13 February.

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence

agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.

On drug enforcement authority sponsoring his Pak trip and on receiving funding from LeT

Headley also said that the US had once financed his trip to Pakistan and also claimed that he had "donated" about Rs.70 lakh to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) till 2006, two years before the Mumbai attacks.

The 55-year-old told the court that after his arrest in 1998, "The Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the US financed my trip. I was in contact with DEA then, but it is not true that between 1988 and 1998 I was providing information or assisting DEA".

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US contradicted reports that he had received money from the LeT.

"I never received money from LeT...this is complete nonsense. I gave funds to LeT myself. I had donated more than

60 to 70 lakh Pakistani Rupees to LeT throughout the period I was associated with them. My last donation was in 2006", Headley told the court.

He clarified that the money given was not for any specific operation of LeT, but was a general donation primarily for many things.

"These donations were from my business in New York and from the income that I earned by selling and purchasing some properties in Pakistan. I don't remember if I informed US authorities about my donations to LeT," he said.

On his criminal activities

Picking holes in the credibility of Headley's evidence, 26/11 attack plotter Abu Jundal's lawyer today argued that the terrorist, who faced conviction twice in the past before the Mumbai strikes, had indulged in criminal activities and violated his plea bargain agreements with the US government.

Headley was convicted in 1988 and 1998 by a court in the US for alleged drug smuggling, Jundal's lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan said. However, on both the occasions, Headley had entered into a plea bargain with the American government and got off with a lighter sentence.

"One of the conditions of my plea agreement was that I should not take part in any criminal activity. I violated this condition by going to Pakistan and joining the LeT," Headley told special judge G A Sanap, who is hearing the 26/11 terror case against Jundal in a sessions court here.

Headley told the court that after completing his four year sentence in 1988, he was involved in drug smuggling from 1992 to 1998 and had visited Pakistan during this period.

Headley was examined by the prosecution in February this year for five days and the court later adjourned the case

for his cross-examination, which started from Wednesday.

When Khan kept implying in his questions that he had received money from LeT, an irked Headley said, "I have repeated it several times. I did not receive any money from LeT...if you don't understand this language I can say it in Urdu."

Seeing Khan smile, Headley said, "Your client's life is relying on this case. You should be serious about that...don't joke."

PTI
Much of tiger country in India is tropical dry forest. According to a study published in Biological Conservation, tigers disappear from these forests at a faster rate than any other habitat. In recent years, two such forests, Sariska in 2004 and Panna in 2009, lost their host of tigers.

Before the big cats disappeared from Panna National Park, Madhya Pradesh, Raghunanthan Chundawat conducted one of the longest running tiger studies. He alerted the park's management to the massive scale of poaching within the reserve. Not only did his pleas fall on deaf ears, his research permits were revoked. Chundawat and his team published this paper based on field notes and data of that time.

Vulnerability

Using historical and current records, the researchers assessed the vulnerability of tigers living in different types of forests. Krithi Karanth and others had suggested that protected forests reduced the extinction risk of Indian mammals.

Chundawat and his team investigated the size of protected areas in various forest types and their relationship with the persistence of tigers. They found tigers in tropical dry forests are especially at risk. Over the past 100 years, the cats seem to have vanished from these forests at a higher rate than from any other habitat.

The researchers investigated what made tigers in tropical dry forests so vulnerable.

Large home ranges

Between 1996 and 2005, the team followed six radio-collared tigers in the 543 square kilometres Panna National Park. In 2002, the reserve boasted almost 7 tigers per 100 square kilometres The average home range of two males was close to 180 square kilometres, spanning a third of the park. While females defended an average of about 47 square kilometres of terrain. These tigers' territories were three to four times larger than in other tropical habitats.

The size of a tiger's home range varies with terrain and depends on the biomass of prey animals. In rich alluvial flood plains, a tiger can thrive within 16 square kilometres, while in the bitterly cold Russian Far East, it can span several hundreds of square kilometres.

In 2003, Panna offered a delectable choice of prey, from wild pig to nilgai and livestock. With a high 46 ungulates per sq.km. to pick from, the big cats ought to have smaller home ranges. The authors speculate that prey biomass alone doesn't determine the size of territory. Perhaps, they say, the distribution of resources like water, prey, and habitat plays a role.

The presence of floaters

Within the large domains staked by territorial males, other adult male tigers roamed for several years. The researchers suggest this may be an alternate behaviour strategy.

If ranges are large, it is almost impossible for males to defend them exclusively, Chundawat told Firstpost. Since Panna is isolated and unconnected to other forests, floaters or dispersing males that are unable to find suitable habitat outside the park return to its confines. The dominant male has no choice but to accommodate these males. The Iriomote cat [a kind of leopard cat], endemic to one island, behaves in similar ways.

Territorial males tolerated other males as long as they didn't pose a challenge. Unlike other forests, where floaters had little chance of mating, in Panna, females mated with both dominant males as well as floaters.

With many males around, cubs run the danger of being killed. Females may try to confuse the paternity of their offspring by mating with several males.

The question of size

The home ranges of all radio-collared tigers spilled outside the park, where they didn't enjoy nearly as much protection. The enormous space requirements of tigers in Panna-like forests and the modest size of protected areas in this landscape made small populations vulnerable, say the authors.

Protected area size is not a good indicator of extinction risk, says Chundawat. Forest type may also be a key criterion. Tigers in a similar-sized protected area in the Terai have a much higher probability of survival than in tropical dry forests. To conserve tigers, the area of protected dry forests has to be larger.

Increasing the size of Panna and other similar forests across the subcontinent would be the solution in an ideal world but a difficult proposition, when the reserves are surrounded by villages and agricultural fields.

However, small forest patches embedded in these large landscapes have the potential to be good tiger habitats, the authors say in a press release. A series of several such areas, interconnecting populations on a landscape level, could create a larger breeding population.

That would be one way to end Panna's isolation. Even as researchers talk of creating these stepping stones, Panna's integrity is threatened by the Ken-Betwa river linking project. The project will submerge 10 percent of critical tiger habitat and disturb 200 square kilometres of forest.

It will not only destroy the possibility of making the Panna population viable, but also the future of other tiger habitats in the landscape, says Chundawat. Without the source population of Panna, there will be little chance for tigers to survive in the long-term in any of the surrounding landscapes.
Delhi, Punjab and Assam police were today alerted by security agencies about an ex-Pakistani soldier having crossed over to India along with six hardcore terrorists through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot with a plan to carry out attacks on hotels and hospitals in Delhi during Holi.

In a communication, the central security agencies said Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir, an ex-military personnel of Pakistan Army, who had worked as a recruiter, coordinator and guide of Jehadi elements in Assam, had crossed over to India from Pakistan through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terrorists.

The intention of this group is to kill citizens in Delhi in hotels and hospitals on or before Holi, the communication said.

The agencies said Alam had visited a madrasa in Barpeta district in Assam in September 2015.

The ex-Pakistan armyman had stayed in the madrasa for five days and thereafter left for Chirang district, bordering Bhutan.

Alam had used another madrasa in Dhubri district in Assam as his base and used to visit other parts of the state, it said.

In Dhubri, a teacher of the madrasa provided all required logistical support to Alam, the communication added.

The Hindustan Times reports that intelligence inputs generated across the country are shared on the multi-agency centre (MAC) platform, a practice adopted after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and strengthened over the years so that no information slips through the gap.

With PTI
Hyderabad: JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was on Wednesday denied permission to address a meeting in the Hyderabad Central University(HCU) amid escalating protests over resumption of duty by controversial Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile.

In a clamp down, the authorities also barred outsiders including political leaders and mediapersons from entering the campus and suspended classes for four days.

Kanhaiya, on his arrival in Hyderabad, told reporters that the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of HCU will continue with its struggle until the Centre brings out 'Rohith Act'.

The JNU students union leaader was scheduled to address a meeting on the campus this evening at the invitation of the JAC for Social Justice, which had spearheaded an agitation demanding "justice" for Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide in a hostel room at HCU on 17 January.

However, the VC said the university has not granted any permission to Kanhaiya for this.

"No body has approached for permission. Definitely, there is no permission," he told PTI.

As tension mounted in HCU following the resumption of duty by Rao, the authorities barred outsiders from entering the campus and suspended classes for four days.

"In view of the situation, classes are suspended from March 23 to 26. We have taken a decision not to allow any outsider, including mediapersons and political parties, on the campus," Registrar M Sudhakar said when asked about the visit of Kanhaiya.

Police said additional forces have been deployed on the campus as a precautionary measure and pickets set up around Podile's official residence, which was vandalised yesterday allegedly by a group of students who were opposing his return as VC after a two-month leave.

"The situation is peaceful. Forces have been deployed to maintain law and order," Joint Commissioner of Cyberabad Police TV Sashidhar Reddy said.

Podile, in the eye of a storm over Vemula's suicide, had proceeded on leave on January 24 as the agitating students demanded his resignation and held vigorous protests seeking "justice" for the Dalit student.

Kanhaiya, who landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here at around 11 AM, told reporters that, "I will first meet Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika and his brother Raja. JAC has invited me to address a public meeting on HCU campus...If police allows me then I will definitely go to HCU and address the students."

"We have experience with JAC for various struggles and we will take this fight forward...this struggle will continue until 'Rohith Act' is implemented...to fulfil his (Rohith's) dreams of social justice on the campus," he said.

Rohith's mother and brother had last month met political leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri and KC Tyagi, seeking their support for enactment of a 'Rohith Act' against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

When the VC was asked if he gets a feeling that the suicide issue is being politicised, Podile said he did not think so, adding, that he did not attach any significance to Kumar's visit as "we have nothing to do with that boy".

"As far as our campus is concerned, I don't see same kind of polarisation. We are all one. We are going to work towards solution. There is no politicisation at this time."

Asked if he believed a small group of students were holding the university for ransom, Podile said, "Anybody who moves around the campus will get that same feeling."

PTI
Pune: Amidst drama at Fergusson College over the purported raising of anti-national slogans, an NCP MLA was allegedly manhandled on Wednesday on its campus as a clash broke out between workers of his party and ABVP supporters.

A day after heated exchanges there between ABVP activists and students affiliated to Left organisations, NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad was allegedly manhandled on the Fergusson campus during a clash which led to the deployment of a riot squad and saw the police stepping in to control the situation.

The MLA wanted to meet Fergusson College principal R Pardeshi to discuss Tuesday's incident and reached the campus at around 4:30 pm. But, unable to meet Pardeshi, he began a speech to NCP workers and supporters on the campus.

While he was speaking, members of ABVP and BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, started raising slogans against Awhad and allegedly heckled him.

Awhad's supporters and the rival groups soon came to blows and the NCP leader was allegedly manhandled during the melee.

Police had to intervene and escorted Awhad to his car but even after the NCP leader had got inside the vehicle, footwear and stones were hurled at his car.

Police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd before Awhad and his supporters left the campus. After the clash, a riot control squad was deployed.

"Police had to use mild force to disperse the groups as Awhad was manhandled. Although a police officer took out his service revolver, no rounds were fired and Awhad was escorted out safely," said a senior police officer.

"We are yet to detain anybody in this connection. We will study CCTV footage to check what exactly happened," he said. Meanwhile, with the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Minister Vinod Tawde.

Pardeshi had on Tuesday dashed off a letter to police seeking action against those who had "raised anti-national slogans" on the campus during a verbal clash between two students' groups. However, on Wednesday, he retracted his statement, saying he had sought a probe to ascertain if such slogans were raised.

Although in his letter on Tuesday, Pardeshi had asked police to take "stern action" against individuals who raised anti-national slogans, in a turnaround today, he told PTI the letter had a "typographical error" and he had only meant to request police to find out whether or not anti-national slogans were raised on the campus.

"I have been summoned by the Education Minister and I am now leaving for Mumbai. I will update him about the incident," Pardeshi told reporters.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde said police would investigate the matter.

Inspector Pravin Chougule of Deccan Gymkhana Police confirmed that the principal has withdrawn his earlier letter and a revised version is being sent to the authorities.

Earlier, during his speech before he was escorted out by police, Awhad said, "The principal should be sacked as he seems to be mentally imbalanced... He wrote the letter and later withdrew it... I have come to Fergusson College not as an NCP leader but as a students' sympathiser, because I started my political as a student leader. Our fight is against fascism."

Referring to Pardeshi's letter on Tuesday, in which he had asked police to take action against those who "raised anti- national slogans", Awhad said, Pardeshi "purposely misled the police".

"He misled the police by writing a letter alleging that anti-national slogans were raised on the campus by students who had come to oppose JNU ABVP leader Alok Singh, who was having an interaction with the Fergusson students," he said, adding that a case should be registered against Pardeshi for this.

While Pardeshi said no permission was granted to the ABVP delegation for holding the meeting, 'Truth of JNU', a spokesman for the outfit said college authorities had told them that since it was supposed to be an informal interaction, there was no need for a formal nod.

Earlier in the day, various groups stormed the Fergusson campus condemning the letter and demanding stern action against ABVP members.

PTI
It is a colourful time in Bihar, but politics is not too far from the festival of colours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav are all in major demand for Holi in the state.

Holi this year brings "Modi mask" and "Modi cap" to the fore with "Nitish pichkari" (water sprinklers or squirters) and "Lalu pichkari" doing brisk business. The Congress leaders, though, are conspicuous by their absence from the Holi scene  no Holi materials carry party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's or president Sonia Gandhi's pictures.

"The Modi, Nitish and Lalu material is in great demand in the rural market," said a shopkeeper, Manjit Kumar.

Going by the mood in the wholesale Holi market in Patna, Modi and his political rivals Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad are rivals in the market place too. Shopkeeper Raju Sawarnkar said the colourful Modi cap and mask are the first choice for people, particularly youth and children. But among water sprinklers or squirters, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad seem to be more in demand.

The masks are selling between Rs 125 and Rs 200, depending on the locality, while the cap is going for up to Rs 80. According to Abhijit Kumar, a shopkeeper in Patna's Kadamkuan area, people are willing to pay more for a Modi photo on a mask than other celebrities.

But, as are the exigencies of the market, the leaders need not be selling only products made in India. Traders are pasting pictures of the leaders on water sprinklers imported from China. Is that going against the make-in-India campaign?

IANS
New Delhi: Stepping up their agitation over the suicide of Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula, students of JNU on Wednesday protested outside the HRD Ministry demanding removal of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile and withdrawal of police presence from the campus.

The students, who were stopped by police as they tried to march towards the ministry, have been raising three demands in connection with the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula who was found hanging at the Hyderabad Central University's hostel room on 17 January.

A five-member delegation led by JNU students union Vice President Shehla Rashid Shora met MHRD Secretary VS Oberoi and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

"Our major demands include immediate removal of police presence in Hyderabad university campus, removal of Vice Chancellor and dropping of false charges against students unconditionally," Shehla said.

"The top official told us that ministry cannot do anything about removal of the VC as it comes under the purview of the Visitor. He also said that they can't intervene on issue of police presence as interventions are not being taken in good manner," she added.

The fresh protests over the issue, come in wake of resumption of office by HC Vice Chancellor two-months after

going on leave amid the storm following the suicide of Vemula.

On Tuesday, the VC's official residence was vandalised by students and police had to baton charge another group during their protest against him resuming charge.

Meanwhile, JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, who is out on bail in a sedition case, reached Hyderabad this morning where he was scheduled to address a meeting on the campus at the invitation of the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, which had spearheaded an agitation earlier demanding "justice" for Vemula.

However, he was denied permission by the university for the same.

In a clamp down, the authorities also barred outsiders including political leaders and media persons from entering the campus and suspended classes for four days. JNU students who are caught in a row over an event on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, have been protesting in the national capital ever since Vemula's death demanding resignation of HRD minister Smriti Irani over the issue.

The students have also been demanding enactment of a "Rohith Act" to end caste based discrimination in educational institutions.

PTI
Mumbai: A special CBI court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on the bail application of Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, till 31 March.

43-year-old Indrani had moved an application last month seeking bail on medical grounds, saying that she was suffering from frequent "blackouts".

When the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, her lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani argued that the statement of eight doctors panel submitted on 21-22 February, was as per the medical report of January and not her "subsequent deteriorating condition".

He stated that Indrani's problems were not getting resolved which is a cause of concern and appealed for examination of her latest health condition.

Jethmalani stated that they don't dispute anything and have no grievances against any report and want a physician, neurologist and cardiologist to examine her.

Contesting Jethmalani, the prosecution presented some of her recent medical reports in the court and said she was monitored 24x7.

Following the arguments, Judge H S Mahajan, adjourned the hearing till March 31.

In her 17-page bail plea, the former media executive said that her medical condition is deteriorating and she has lost 18 kilograms in 4 months. Mukerjea had also said that she wants to live in a stress-free environment.

Last year, on November 19, Peter Mukerjea, husband of Indrani, was also arrested for his alleged role in the murder case. He has been kept at the high-security Arthur Road Jail here where Khanna and Rai are also lodged.

24-year-old Sheena, daughter of Indrani from an earlier relationship, was allegedly strangled in a car and her

body burnt and dumped in a forest in Raigad, about 84 kms from here in April 2012.

CBI, while maintaining that financial transaction was the motive behind the murder of Sheena, had earlier said that Peter, during his interrogation, disclosed investments of crores of rupees made by him and Indrani and is expecting information from Interpol on the details of an account opened by Indrani in a bank in Hong Kong.

PTI
In the heart of Gujarat, an international kidney racket has been thriving for years. The matter came to light after one of the victims confided in police last week that he was lured into selling his vital organs.

Anand districts Pandoli probably has the highest number of people living with only one kidney in a village. Around 80 people, according to villagers, have been either coerced or coaxed into selling their kidneys for some quick cash.

According to police, Amirmiya Malek, the 27-year-old father of two, was lured into trading off his kidney on the promise that he would get Rs 12 lakh for the same.

The small-time cattle trader approached his friend Rafik and sought a loan from him to pay off his debts. Rafik apparently dissuaded him from taking a loan. Instead, he coaxed Amirmiya into selling his kidney.

The needy man took the bait and agreed to go to Delhi where the kidney would be pulled out of his body by the organ mafia. So one fine day, he left home for Delhi without inform his family.

When Amirmiya didnt return home for days, his family filed a missing complaint with the police despite Rafiks repeated attempts to convince them against taking such a small matter to police. He kept reassuring that Amirmiya will be back soon.

The kidney racket was exposed when the man confided in a family friend last week.

Salma, wife of Amirmiya, said: My husband went outstation for some work for 10 days. After his return, when a friend of my father-in-law asked what was wrong with him, my husband confided in him. He eventually told us that he has sold his kidney.

The cattle trader is not the only victim of the kidney racket. Like Amirmiya, Arvind Gohel (28) was also going through a financial crisis, so he approached Rafik for a loan.

Seeing a potential victim in him, Rafik convinced Arvind saying: What is the need to beg for help when you can get that money on your own, apparently hinting at selling one of his kidneys.

Aware of the dire need of money in the family, Arvind walked into the trap of the kidney racket. In January, he disappeared from home only to return after a month with Rs 2.25 lakh cash in hand. He used the amount to pay off the pending medical bills incurred during the treatment of his sister-in-law.

Hemaben Gohel, the sister-in-law of Arvind, says: I was very sick and was undergoing treatment for a condition affecting my lungs at a private hospital. We didn't have money to foot the medical bills, so my brother-in-law took this extreme step to clear the amount. We were not aware about his plans to sell off his kidney to bail us out of the mess. It was only when he returned home after the operation, we got to know about this.

The organ mafia has developed a strong network of agents that helps them identify and lure people into selling off their vital organs in Anand, around 80 km from Ahmedabad.

Bannumiya Malek, father of Amir, says: My son was lured into the trap by Rafik and he went to Anand town with him. When my friend asked him to reveal the truth, he narrated his story and showed scars-caused by the operation. Of the total amount, he cleared around Rs 1 lakh debt and set up fixed deposits of Rs 50,000 each in the name of his two nieces.

Like Amirmiya, police have identified 13 others who had sold their kidneys and arrested three organ racket agents in this connection. Six of the victims, according to police, were taken to Colombo for illegal kidney transplant.

Jagdish Solanki, head of Pandoli village, said: The organ racket has been running in the area since 2001. Police have identified only 13 victims, but there are many more in the village who have sold their kidneys illegally. They should do a proper investigation into this.

The main agent would pay the mutually agreed amount for organ donation after the operation. The victims were allowed to return home once the wound healed.

In last 15 years, around 80 youth have sold their kidneys for money. Victims confided in me that they were taken to an unknown place near Delhi and Telangana where one kidney from their body was removed and sold.

Deputy superintendent of police Ashok Kumar Yadav confirmed the arrest of three people, including a AYUSH doctor Mukesh Chaudhary of Valsad. The three have been running the kidney racket in the village. A special investigation (SIT) and a medical team have been set up to investigate if the racket is spread in other parts of the state.

Sri Lanka Link

The police have recovered six passports from kidney scandal victims and exposed the rackets Sri Lanka connections.

The victims were taken to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad for medical examination where doctors confirmed that the left kidney had been removed from all 13 of them.

This revelation has shaken the family members of the victims. How my husband would do the hard work now? Who would provide for a family of 13? What will become of my daughters if something happens to him, wondered Salma.
Diversity and Inclusion  while accruing more mindshare than ever before, is still bucketed in the nice to have checklist category. Few organisations have appreciated its full potential as a competitive advantage.

Ironically gender diversity or inclusion as a construct is not new to the Indian subcontinent. We have been attuned to leadership position of women in our mythology and politics  producing six women heads of state  which is more than rest of the world put together. But the potential goes beyond just gender.

The Indian Army, for instance has a large section of demographic composition troops. The state of Punjab alone contributes three Infantry regiments (approximately 60,000 soldiers) while the four south Indian states field only one regiment. But the latter have a predominance in areas of technical specialisation like the Corp of Signals, Electrical Mechanical Engineers, Medical Corps and Sappers. Khalsa troops are known for bold exploitative campaigns, while Gurkhas specialise in stoic rearguard operations requiring nerves of a different calibre. The Naga troops meld into the jungles, Ladakh Scouts run up peaks that daunt professional climbers and the Rajputs can literally sense direction in a featureless desert. This force multiplication emanating from the sons of soil DNA has given our troops an edge across operational theatres. That is the power of demographic diversity.

In the early sixties, educationist Kurt Hahn created a revolutionary form of pedagogy in which children from across the world between the age group of 1620 were put through two years of senior schooling living in close proximity. These children who were old enough to have imbibed their own cultures, but young enough to be open to others, developed deep understanding of other cultures, formed bonds and created a network of global leaders. Among its 15 schools around the world, I was fortunate to be involved in setting up the 10th in India near Pune. The Mahindra United World College (MUWCI) as it is known, has over 80 countries represented in its 200 students and among them, each year the college also admits two children from orphanages. Once during lunch in the cafeteria, a group of children were complaining about the food  as children in schools often do  and one of the orphaned kids got up and said that through his sixteen years, the only time he had a dessert was during Diwali  once a year. And while they were complaining about the food, he felt guilty winning the lottery of life when thousands of his brothers and sisters still waited a year to taste a sweetmeat. There was a pin drop silence in the otherwise noisy cafeteria and suddenly every meal after that day tasted delicious. The one boy completed perhaps the most important aspect of everyones education. That is the power of cultural and economic diversity.

In mid 2000, Welingkar Institute of Management embarked on a bold experiment. They choose two housekeeping boys who were working with the Mahindra Group at random and combined them with 14 of their undergraduate students for two years. The objective was to make these two kids who had barely scrapped through class 12 from a government school pass the demanding two year MBA course along with them. No punches would be pulled or leeway given for their less privileged background. The 14 mentors had to teach them everything ranging from rudimentary skills like MS Office right up to Porters Five Forces theory using street vendor examples. During some of the sessions with these kids I had a sense that at times the mentors were getting frustrated at the inability of the two boys to cope up and was reminded of my own schooling.

My best friend in school came from a very poor background. Once we had bunked school to watch a movie but when we reached the theatre it was already houseful and the only tickets available were being sold in black, at twice the price. As I started to turn back disappointed, my friend held my hand and asked to wait. When the movie began  the black marketers started reducing the price and soon they dropped the price to less than one third. My friend had just taught me the principle of perishable goods. He also taught me that when the board says houseful, there are always seats, when they say no vacancy, there is always vacancy and when they say no budget  there is always a budget.

The students of Welingkar soon realised that the socially underprivileged boys brought a treasure trove of street savviness to the table and the learning became a two way street. Two years later the office boys not only graduated from the college, but also beat some of their mentors in merit. The experiment also yielded some unexpected results. Before they joined the college, these two earned about Rs 60,000 a year. Their first placement with ICICI Bank as management trainees was at 6 lakhs per annum  an exponential of ten times. But more importantly they made the orbit shift from one side of the tray  from where they served tea, to the other side  where they were now being served. They also now became potential customers for housing loans and vehicles  products of the very companies they worked in. This zero cost experiment named Nethratva  created new markets and went on to become the foundation for many such structured programs on much larger scales. And that is the power of social diversity.

Another tool for leveraging diversity is simply putting together people with diverse backgrounds and experiences into a cauldron and see what cooks up. An experiment called Jhamghat (which loosely translated means a gathering) essentially leverages this power of cross pollination to take a nascent technology and connect the dots of its applications to come up with path breaking ideas. For instance consider holographic projection as a technology that was leveraged extensively by our current Prime Minister during his pre-election campaigning. The cost of the technology has plummeted and is now affordable to be used in a variety of ways. One episode of the Jhamghat consisted of young students, creative artists, film makers, story tellers, engineers and people from all walks of life. When the holographic projection discussion began there were the obvious ideas about using the technology for training and virtual meetings. But then an idea emerged to project virtual security guards mixing them with real guards in a building after working hours thus improving deterrence while reducing costs. Another idea was to miniaturize the projection system so it could be plugged into an electric outlet on the wall and used by aged people or those living alone so that a holographic projection would give the impression of people in the house thus deterring burglars. Interestingly, both the latter ideas did not come from engineers or security experts. Instead they came from women who find after office hours intimidating and people with aged parents living alone! And that is the power of experiential diversity.

India Inc is still coming to terms with LGBT (Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transvestites). Few pioneering organisations like Godrej have embarked on the front but for many others it is still the elephant in the room. And that is a pity. Because it is not just about LGBT. All of us begin our work day with finite units of energy. But those dealing with socially persecuted differences dissipate a large quantum of that resource just covering  a term sociologists define as hiding a disfavored identity to fit into the mainstream. This could be sexual preferences, cognitive or physical disabilities, domestic persecution, workplace intimidation or even sexual harassment. When an organisation consciously embraces uncomfortable issues, it unleashes massive suppressed potential. Addressing supposedly taboo issues like sexual preferences emboldens co-workers facing their own demons to seek peer support and prevent persecution or wrongdoings which thrive on prejudiced and closed environments. Empirical evidence shows that openness acts like wind under the wings of the entire organisation, exponentially increasing their vibrancy and productivity. And that is the power of full spectrum diversity.

But diversity is not about a choice anymore. It is an existential requirement for three fundamental reasons. Firstly, the business environment is becoming chaotically disruptive with rapid change cycles and varied disruptors. Homogenous organisations are by definition clunky, cumbersome and slow. An Uber disrupting the transport industry or AirBnB annihilating hospitality incumbents  is writing on the wall for organisations that dont cultivate nimbleness and agility whose primary ingredient is healthy dissent and diversity.

Secondly, customers and investors dont just buy products anymore. They buy the entire brand. They will shun companies who damage the environment, or have poor safety records or use child labor and they will punish companies which harbor prejudices. This is true for the talent pool as well.

Lastly homogenous companies will be unable to address huge segments of the market. How can an automobile or a construction company design products for women if they dont have proportional representation in their own ilk. How can a financial company address emerging markets without understanding its nuanced realities?

Indeed how can any company aspire to be a forward looking global organisation while remaining status qouist and parochial in their staffing strategy?

The above is the text of Raghu Ramans keynote address in the NASSCOM Diversity and Inclusion National Seminar 2016. Raman is former CEO NATGRID and Group President Reliance Group of Industries. Views are personal. The author tweets @captraman
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is now perhaps ruing his earlier brash comment when, in an apparent mood of disdain and haughtiness, he had asked "Who is Badruddin Ajmal?" The target was the president of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Now, on the eve of the Assembly elections on 4 and 11 April, not only Gogoi and the Congress but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too is wary about the likely impressive performance of the AIUDF.

Badruddin and his brother Sirajuddin, the two leading lights of the AIUDF, are sure that no one can form the next government in Assam without their support. Badruddin thinks that his party may bag 30-35 seats in the 126-member assembly.

Two factors are now working towards polarising the votes of the Bengali-speaking Muslims in favour of the AIUDF. The first is the all-out effort that the BJP and the RSS are putting forth for winning the elections. The second is the Congress' refusal to agree to the AIUDF's call for a Bihar-like grand alliance for defeating the BJP. That the Ajmal brothers have ultimately decided to contest a larger number of seats  from the initially contemplated 60 to 76  is a direct fallout of the Congress' decision to contest alone.

The Congress is, no doubt, in the midst of a dilemma. It does not want to lose Hindu votes by striking an alliance with the AIUDF as the Hindus still constitute a little more than 65 percent of Assam's population. But the party's voter base overwhelmingly consists of Bangladeshi immigrants and Muslims. The recent trend among the Bengali speaking Muslims of the state for tilting towards the AIUDF may cost the Congress dearly.

Gogoi is, no doubt, trying hard to offset this trend. Even at this advanced age  he'll be 80 on 1 Apil  he is tirelessly touring the Muslim-dominated areas particularly the 'char' lands. However, as per latest information, Badruddin's charismatic personality is still holding sway among the minority population.

This is quite natural because to a large number of people of Assam, Badruddin is not just a political leader but also a 'holy man' who can work miracles. He has earned the equivalent of a masters in Arabic language and theology from the Darul Uloom Deoband Islamic School. His family owns almost the whole of the Hojai town in Nowgaon district. He has the largest agar plantation in India and runs a Rs 2,000-crore perfume business. He runs the Haji Abdul Majid Memorial Hospital, Asia's largest rural charitable hospital and also owns what is arguably Asia's richest NGO  Markaaj-ul-Maaris.

That such a man can easily match the financial powers of mainstream political parties is beyond doubt. But he has also been helped by the changing demographic character of Assam. While Muslims constituted 30.9 percent of the population in 2001, their share jumped to 34.2 percent in 2011. In 2001, only six districts had a Muslim majority. In 2011, Muslims constituted the majority in nine districts.

Badruddin, however, leaves no stone unturned to prove that his party has its base among all sections of the people. The claim is not without reason. The working president of his party is Aditya Langthsa, a Dimasa tribal. Moreover, in the 2014 parliamentary elections a prominent Hindu named Radheshyam Biswas had won from the Karimgunj constituency on the AIUDF ticket. In the last Bodo Tribal Council (BTC) elections the AIUDF had won four seats although critics say that this became possible due to an increase in the number of Muslim population in the BTC area.

There is however no doubt that the AIUDF has spread its tentacles far and wide in Assam. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, its only success was in the Dhubri constituency but in 2014 it bagged three Lok Sabha seats - Dhubri, Barpeta and Karimgunj. In the 2006 assembly elections, the AIUDF won 10 seats but in the assembly poll of 2011 the figure jumped to 18. Similarly, in the 2011 assembly polls, the AIUDF's vote share was 12.6 percent, increasing to 15 percent in 2014.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the AIUDF had established comfortable leads in 24 assembly constituencies. If this trend continues, then Badruddin's prediction of 30-35 seats in 2016 may come true. There are, however, some impediments before him. His influence is mainly confined to lower Assam and the Barak Valley. In upper Assam, which has the largest concentration of seats, Badruddin faces opposition from the Assamese-speaking Muslims. This has perhaps tempered his ambitions to some extent.

But, after the elections, Badruddin may come out as a balancing factor  a kingmaker for some or a spoiler for sundry others' ambitions.

IANS
Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu must be viewed as a true devotee  not unlike Hanuman to Lord Rama or Arjuna to Lord Krishna  who sees godly attributes (Virat Swaroop) in his leader and mentor.

There is little doubt that Naidu owes his political rise to his ability to flatter his bosses unashamedly. Before Modi became the object of his innovative metaphor  gift of god to India  in the recently concluded national executive meeting, Naidu reserved somewhat similar epithets for his bosses LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In fact, he was always generous with effusive praises for his leaders, and this was in conflict with the Rashtriya Sayamsevak Sangh's philosophy of rejecting "vyakti puja" (personality cult). But this has not deterred Naidu as he is equally at ease buttering both sides of the bread. At the Chennai executive meet, he was seen breaking into uncontrollable sobs when Advani took a dig at the RSS when that organisation maneuvered to ease him out from the BJP president's post after the Jinnah controversy in 2005. His antics gladdened the heart of those in the Sangh.

Those who are aware of Naidu's rise in the BJP will testify that he was hardly a leader of consequence in Andhra Pradesh. He didn't win an election even at the peak of the NDA wave in 1998. As a youth leader, however, he endeared himself to Advani and caught his fancy at the time of the Rath Yatra. Naidu was inducted as a powerful general secretary more because of his voluble nature and an ability to say the right thing at the right time, rather than his political heft. He served as rural development minister in the Vajpayee government before taking over as the party president.

Obviously, the circumstances in which he took over as the BJP president indicated that the Vajpayee-Advani duo wanted the reins of the party handed over to a man more supplicatory to their designs than the RSS. Kushabhau Thakerya, Bangaru Laxman and Jena Krishna Murthy, Naidus predecessor, showed a streak of independence at the time that rattled the Vajpayee government. Naidu was more amenable to yield to his bosses.

Just after he assumed charge, Naidu irked Vajpayee with his attempt to manipulate the situation in favour of Advani and for making the oblique suggestion that Vajpayee should pave the way for Advani, "Lah Purush" (iron man), as he called him, as Prime Minister. In one of those moments, Vajpayee openly snubbed him at a public platform in Panchvati, declaring, sarcastically, Advani as his successor in the next election (2004 Lok Sabha polls). This caused considerable consternation and Naidu mended fences with Vajpayee with great difficulty.

Immediately after this episode, Naidu, in one of the BJPs national executive meets, declared Vajpayee as the "Tallest ever Prime Minister" but stopped short of describing him as "God's gift to India", an appellation he reserved for Modi.

It is unlikely that even Vajpayee, an admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru, was amused by Naidus accolades  although he remained silent. The RSS was certainly wary of promoting a cult of personality within the BJP but could not say much owing to Vajpayee's stature. Indeed, Naidu was going great guns till he met his nemesis in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP under his stewardship lost badly. Considering discretion is the better part of valour, Naidu soon resigned as party president citing personal reasons.

In fact, Naidu has found himself at sea in the last decade of his political journey. The gods (Vajpayee and Advani) that he adored showed their feet of clay; Vajpayee's health took a toll on his political primacy while Advani fell from grace and lost his charm.

Given his irrepressible tendency to shower praises and look at his mentors with godly attributes, Naidu's description of Modi as "God's gift to India" is nothing but a natural culmination of his politics. So long as Modi dominates the political scene, Naidu will stick to his guns even if the RSS frowns upon him. That, however, must not undermine his innate capability to change with the time. Recall Devkant Baruh, who said "Indira is India and India is Indira", and who turned against Gandhi after she lost the election in 1977. Flattery has a unique and peculiar tradition in Indian politics. And Naidu is an obedient pallbearer.
Anandpur Sahib (Punjab): Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said the construction of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal would not be "allowed at any cost and under any circumstance" and asked the people to be prepared for tough battle ahead to safeguard river waters of the state.

It was high time to make "supreme sacrifices" rather than allowing the construction of SYL canal as it would divest

people of Punjab of their legitimate rights over river waters, in "blatant violation" of the nationally and internationally accepted Riparian principle, Badal said.

Addressing a gathering during religious congregation to mark the commemoration of historic 'Hola Mohalla' in Anandpur Sahib, Badal appealed to Punjabis to prepare themselves for tough battles ahead for the purpose.

The Chief Minister said he had recently declared to safeguard the river waters of the state at any cost in accordance with the Riparian principles in the august house of Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

He declared that decisions aimed at "robbing" the state and its people of their "rights" would never be accepted to

him and SAD-BJP alliance.

Badal expressed gratitude to the state BJP leadership especially Cabinet Minister Madan Mohan Mittal and state BJP Chief Kamal Sharma, who had fully supported the state's cause for river waters.

Recalling the long ordeal of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for waging a relentless battle to protect the interests of the state, the Chief Minister assailed the Congress for "depriving the state of its genuine rights" especially related to river waters during their successive governments at the Centre.

Badal said the then Chief Minister of Congress Darbara Singh along with Captain Amarinder Singh, who was MP at that time, accompanied the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for performing earth breaking ceremony of the SYL Canal, at Kapoori in 1982.

Referring to Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004, which Congressmen claimed as their major contribution, the Chief Minister said all the agreements which were terminated through this Act, were done by Congress governments.

"Thus the Act was a mere admission of guilt by the Congress government headed by Captain Amarinder Singh. This

Termination Act terminated nothing but the agreements signed by the Congress governments alone themselves" he said.

He claimed the passage of this agreement was in fact an "unintentional admission of guilt" by the Congress government.

Holding the Congress party "responsible" for meting out "step motherly" treatment to Punjab in every sphere be it

political, social, economic and even religious, the Chief Minister said the Punjabis in general and Sikh community in particular could never forgive the Congress party for its "sins" against Punjab.

Badal said how could the Sikh community forget "sins" of Congress like Operation Blue Star and 1984 anti-Sikh carnage, which have inflicted deep wounds on the Sikh psyche.

He alleged that the Congress governments at the Centre had deliberately denied the state of Punjabi speaking areas,

its capital Chandigarh and even its legitimate share in river waters.

Badal claimed there was a wide consensus that Punjab did not have even a single drop of water to spare for any

other state, neither is it even possible to do so.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister were honoured for championing the cause of peasantry by bestowing 'Kissana da Messiah' and 'Paaniyaan da Raakha' award.

As a token of honour and services rendered by them for well being of peasantry, the Chief Minister was presented a

'Wooden Plough' whereas Deputy Chief Minister was given a model of "Well".

In his speech, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today strongly castigated Congress and Aam AadmiParty (AAP) for playing "dirty politics" on SYL issue which is of utmost importance to the state.

He alleged that both Congress and AAP have displayed height of "political opportunism" and their dubious role has

come to the fore on crucial SYL issue.

Taking on AAP, Sukhbir Badal said that its convener and Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal gave statement supporting Punjab's stand on SYL but "changed" his tune as soon he reached Delhi which was equivalent to "stabbing" Punjabi people in the back.

Sukhbir claimed that the SAD-BJP Government in Punjab under dynamic leadership of Badal has promulgated several people friendly schemes and initiatives like waiving tubewell bills, enacted law according to which government would fix interests to be paid at loans, loans worth Rs 50,000 for crops from co-operative banks at which no interest would be payable.

He said Kandi and Bist Doab canals would have water soon and farmers having under 2.5 acres of land would to be given tubewell connection in 15 days.

Provident fund and pension scheme for farmers, Atta-Dal scheme, shagan scheme, enhancement of old age pension, health and accidental insurance for farmers and poor people have also been launched, he added.

PTI
New Delhi: The CPM on Wednesday demanded the release of Hyderabad Central University students and the dismissal of Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao whose return has triggered widespread protests.

Saying over 30 students were in police custody with no knowledge as to where they were being kept, the CPM said they must be freed immediately.

"The vice-chancellor appointed by the Central government should be removed forthwith," a CPM statement said. "The Telangana Police must proceed on the registered cases against him."

The CPM alleged "brutal police attack on students, faculty members and others" at the Hyderabad University on Tuesday.

"The police resorted to heavy lathicharge on the students who were protesting against the return of Appa Rao, who is facing criminal cases for creating circumstances leading to the suicide of (Dalit student) Rohith Vemula," it said.

"It is reported that the university has been sealed, food supplies stopped for hostels, water connections cut off and access to WiFi denied. Also, widespread disciplinary action against the students and some faculty members is also underway. Instead of proceeding on the registered cases against the vice-chancellor, the Telangana Police has resorted to such brutality against the students," it said.

IANS
Dehradun: Amid ongoing uncertainty over the fate of Harish Rawat government which will face floor test in Uttarakhand Assembly on 28 March, the BJP on Wednesday claimed at least five more MLAs from the Congress-led alliance are ready to jump over to its side.

"There are at least five more MLAs in the Congress led alliance including some occupying ministerial positions only biding their time to switch over to our side," Chief Spokesman of the Pradesh BJP Munna Singh Chauhan told PTI.

"They are in touch with us and will happily jump over to our side in case the arithmetic of the state Assembly veers towards a tie during voting in the House on March 28," he said.

Though he refused to disclose the names, Chauhan said they were both from the Congress and its ruling partner the six-member Progressive Democratic Front  a conglomerate of Independents and political parties.

"The resentment against Harish Rawats autocratic style of functioning in the party is deeper than it may appear at first sight. It is not confined to the nine rebel MLAs who have openly revolted against him. There are others equally unhappy and are secretly waiting for a change-over. They will align with us as and when the opportunity presents itself," he said.

Chauhan claimed as per the rules, State Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal cannot disqualify the nine rebel MLAs under the Anti-Defection law.

"The law is very clear in this regard. The Speaker can disqualify a member under the anti-defection law only on two grounds. One, defying party whip in the House and two, defecting to another party. None of these apply to the nine rebel MLAs who have neither violated the whip nor defected to any other group or party," he said.

Elaborating on this Chauhan said how can the "rebel MLAs be accused of defying the party whip when the Speaker himself disallowed a division of votes on the appropriation bill in the House?"

Even if the Speakers announcement that the appropriation bill was "passed by voice vote by implication means there was no violation of the party whip," he contended.

"However, if the Speaker ventures into any kind of adventurism and rushes to disqualify the rebel MLAs his action will not stand the scrutiny in a court of law," he warned.

Uttarakhand Assembly has an effective strength of 70 MLAs excluding a nominated member who does not have voting rights. With nine of its MLAs aligning with BJP, Congress is left with only 27 members of its own besides six members of PDF who are backing Harish Rawat government.

BJP, on the other hand, has 28 MLAs including Bhim Lal Arya whose loyalty is "doubtful". Though winning on a BJP ticket, Arya makes no bones about his views against the party which has suspended him. Hence, the party is counting primarily on 27 MLAs of its own and the nine Congress rebels.

The Congress has pinned all its hopes on the prospect of the Speaker disqualifying the nine rebels which will reduce the effective strength of the House to 61 and also reduce the requirement for a simple majority to 31. It is likely to make Harish Rawat's task easier who may sail through the floor test with a total of 33 MLAs -- Congress' 27 and PDF's six.

However, BJP said Rawat could not even take PDF's support for granted as its constituents were mostly "independent entities" who did not have to prove their loyalty to a political party and could switch their allegiance.

PTI
Washington: Under a shadow of overseas violence, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton padded their leads on Tuesday with victories in Arizona as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash over who could best deal with Islamic extremism.

Long lines and high interest marked primary elections across Arizona, Utah and Idaho that were largely an afterthought for much of the day as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

Yet there was a frenzy of activity in Utah as voters lined up to caucus and the state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic. In Arizona, voters waited two hours to cast primary ballots in some cases, while police were called to help with traffic control and at least one polling place ran out of ballots.

Trump and Clinton both enjoyed overwhelming delegate leads heading into Tuesday's contests. The delegates will select the presidential nominees for each party at the national conventions in July.

Trump's Arizona victory gives him all of the state's 58 delegates, a setback for his underdog challengers. On the Democratic side, Arizona's delegates are awarded proportionally.

Arizona and Utah featured elections for both parties on Tuesday, while Idaho Democrats also held presidential caucuses.

As voters cast ballots, the presidential candidates lashed out at each other's foreign policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.

Trump, the Republican front-runner, charged that the United States has "no choice" but to adopt his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the country to prevent the spread of terrorism. He described as "eggheads" those who respect international law's ban on torture, the use of which he argued would have prevented the attacks in Brussels.

"We can be nice about it, and we can be politically correct about it, but we're being fools," Trump said in an interview on CNN. "We're going to have to be very strong, or we're not going to have a country left."

Clinton and Trump's Republican rivals, meanwhile, questioned the billionaire businessman's temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned Trump's calls to diminish US involvement with Nato.

"I see the challenge ahead as one where we're bringing the world together, where we're leading the world against these terrorist networks," Clinton said Tuesday at a union hall in Everett, Washington state. "Some of my opponents want to build walls and shut the world off. Well, you tell me, how high does the wall have to be to keep the internet out?"

Texas senator Ted Cruz seized on Trump's foreign policy inexperience while declaring that the US is at war with the Islamic State group.

"He doesn't have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander-in-chief," he told reporters. "The stakes are too high for learning on the job."

The ultraconservative Texas senator also issued a statement following the Brussels attacks that it was time for law enforcement to "patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalised," without providing more details.

In separate interviews on CNN, Trump said he supported Cruz's surveillance proposal "100 percent," while Ohio governor John Kasich opposed it.

Trump and Clinton both enjoyed overwhelming delegate leads heading into Tuesday's contests. Arizona and Utah featured elections for both parties, while Idaho Democrats also held presidential caucuses. The contests are selecting delegates to the parties' national conventions in July where the nominees will be chosen.

Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republicans Cruz and Kasich hoped to reverse the sense of inevitability taking hold around both party front-runners. Anti-Trump Republicans are running out of time to prevent him from securing the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the nomination.

In primary voting and caucuses so far, Trump has 680 delegates, Cruz has 424 and Kasich has 143.

With more than half of all delegates already awarded during the first seven weeks of primary voting, Trump's challengers' best  and perhaps only  hope lies with denying the front-runner a delegate majority and forcing a contested national convention.

On the Democratic side, Clinton's delegate advantage is even greater than Trump's.

The former secretary of state is coming off last week's five-state sweep of Sanders, who remains popular among his party's most liberal and younger voters but needs to improve his performance if he expects to stay relevant. The Vermont senator, now trailing Clinton by more than 300 pledged delegates, has targeted Tuesday's races as the start of a comeback tour.

The former first lady has 1,163 delegates to Sanders' 844, based on primaries and caucuses. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

Sanders condemned his Republican rivals' calls for stepped up surveillance of Muslims in the United States.

"That would be unconstitutional  it would be wrong," he told reporters during an appearance in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The underdogs in both parties had reason for optimism Tuesday.

Trump's brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where preference polls suggest Cruz has a chance to claim more than 50 percent of the caucus vote  and with it, all 40 of Utah's delegates. Trump could earn some delegates should Cruz fail to exceed 50 percent, in which case the delegates would be awarded based on each candidate's vote total.

Trump appears to be in a stronger position in Arizona, which will award all of its 58 delegates to whichever candidate wins the most votes. His emphasis on tough measures to curb illegal immigration has resonated with Republican voters in the border state.

Kasich hopes to play spoiler in Utah, a state that prizes civility and religion.

A week ago, the Ohio governor claimed a victory in his home state  his first and only win of the primary season. Kasich on Tuesday criticised his Republican opponents for targeting Muslims in their responses to the Brussels violence.

He told reporters in Minnesota he doesn't believe all Muslims in Minnesota or elsewhere are "somehow intent on trying to destroy our families." He said, "This is a time when you have to keep your cool."

AP
Dhaka: A Bangladeshi cyber-security expert reported missing after he criticised the central bank over an $81 million heist has reappeared, police said Wednesday.

The family of IT expert Tanvir Hassan Zoha reported him missing on Friday after he told a local TV station that "apathy" about computer security at the central bank had contributed to the theft, details of which emerged earlier this month.

Hackers stole the money from the Bangladesh Bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on 5 February and managed to transfer it electronically to accounts in the Philippines.

Police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder said Zoha had been found in the early hours of Wednesday near a railway station in the north of the capital in a disoriented state.

Sorder said police took Zoha home, deciding not to question him "considering his mental condition".

The family of the 34-year-old cyber-security specialist had alleged he and a friend were picked up by men in plainclothes while returning home from work on 16 March.

The friend was later released but Zoha remained missing while his mobile phone was switched off and his Facebook account deactivated.

"Once he feels better, we will ask him about his disappearance. Right now his health is our priority," Zoha's uncle Mahbubul Alam told reporters.

Bangladesh has been scrambling to contain the fallout from the scandal, which cost the central bank governor and his two deputies their jobs.

Last week the finance minister accused central bank officials of being complicit in the theft.

AFP
Brussels, Belgium: Two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Brussels are believed to be brothers who were being sought for links with Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris attacks, reported RTBF television on Wednesday, citing police sources.

RTBF named the two as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, saying Khalid last week rented an apartment in Brussels under a false name where police found Abdeslam's fingerprints after a raid.

Police arrested Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, in a dramatic operation in Brussels on Friday that had been hailed as a "victory" in Belgium's campaign against terrorism.

Khalid is also linked to renting an apartment in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi from where Abdeslam and the other Brussels-based Islamic State jihadists set off to carry out the 13 November Paris attacks which left 130 people dead.

A police source said on Tuesday that a man in the middle of three men seen on closed circuit television at the airport just before the twin blasts could be Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

Other reports on Wednesday suggested that one of the brothers, who they did not name, could have been involved in the separate attack Tuesday on the Brussels metro station of Maalbeek, which left about 20 dead.

Belgian police earlier Wednesday issued an appeal for information about the two men believed to have blown themselves up at the airport.

The police posted several tweets with the caption "Terrorism: who knows this man?", showing CCTV close-ups of two men pushing trolleys with suitcases through the airport departure hall.

They gave three slightly different images for each of the two men who the federal prosecutor said on Tuesday had likely blown themselves up in the attack.

A third man, dressed in a light coloured jacket and wearing a dark hat, who was shown with the two others in a CCTV grab issued Tuesday, is believed to have fled the scene and is now the subject of a massive manhunt.

AFP
Geneva: No foreign power should be permitted to interfere in the ongoing Syrian peace talks in Geneva, the lead government negotiator said, denying that high-level US-Russian meetings in Moscow will impact the process.

"When we say that the dialogue must be between Syrians, without outside intervention, this also applies to the Russians and Americans," Bashar al-Jaafari told AFP in an interview.

His comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was heading to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, hoping to build momentum for the Syrian peace drive.

Negotiations in Geneva, entering their 10th day Wednesday, were rattled last week by Russia's surprise decision to withdraw most of its troops from Syria, a move experts have said could help the peace drive by weakening Assad's position.

But Jaafari, who serves as Syria's ambassador to the UN in New York and as the lead government negotiator in the talks, said that believing that Moscow can pressure its historic ally in Damascus amounted to a "misreading" of the situation.

"If any pressure should be applied, we hope it will be applied by the United States on the armed groups sponsored by Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to help move the discussions forward," he said.

The meetings in Moscow on Thursday are expected among other things to touch on a partial, fragile ceasefire declared on February 27, which has raised hopes for an end to the five-year Syrian conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

There is much anticipation around what signals Russia will send, since it is considered to hold significant sway over its ally Damascus.

Russia intervened militarily in Syria last September at President Bashar al-Assad's request, allowing the regime to retake significant territory it had lost to various armed opposition groups.

And while Russia has been withdrawing troops, it remains unclear how much pressure Moscow is willing to apply, with Putin stressing the country can ramp up its military presence in Syria again "within hours" if needed.

'No common vision'

UN mediator Staffan de Mistura, who has been shuttling between the sides in the indirect negotiations, has meanwhile voiced cautious criticism of the regime delegation for sticking to declarations on principles and not making concrete proposals on the thorny issue of political transition in Syria.

"We are beginning to exit the impasse on form but not on content," Jaafari acknowledged.

But he insisted that "we are close to breaking the ice that covered the previous round of discussions," which were aborted before ever beginning in earnest in early February.

And he admitted "there is no common vision on the question of political transition."

Assad's fate has been a key obstacle in the latest talks, with the government stubbornly insisting any discussion of him leaving is "excluded" and the opposition saying any talk of allowing him to stay is "absolutely unacceptable".

AFP
Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday said Europe had "allowed security to slip", as he questioned the EU's Schengen passport-free zone in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

Turnbull's comments came as Belgium's neighbours France, Germany and the Netherlands tightened border security after some 35 people were killed in Belgium's worst extremist assault.

The Australian leader said while it was up to Europe to set its policies, his nation's border protection measures and domestic security arrangements "are much stronger than they are in Europe where regrettably they allowed security to slip".

"That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they've been having in recent times," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, alluding to the wave of migrants who have flooded into the continent, many of them from Syria.

Turnbull added that the open-borders Schengen travel regime, which covers 26 of the 28 EU countries, meant "people are able to freely travel across borders within Europe -- that poses security challenges, coupled with clearly very porous external borders as we've seen plenty of evidence of that".

"My point really was to say that those arrangements have security consequences," he told reporters in Sydney.

The Schengen agreement, considered a symbol of European unity and prosperity, has been under scrutiny amid the unprecedented influx of migrants and revelations that some of the jihadists in November's Paris attacks that killed 130 people came from Belgium.

Both the Brussels and Paris attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Canberra has been increasingly concerned about home-grown extremism and the flow of Australians travelling to the Middle East to fight with jihadist organisations such as IS in Iraq and Syria.

Up to 49 Australians have been killed in the conflict in Iraq and Syria, with some 110 currently fighting or working with militant groups, Australia's domestic spy agency said in February.

Another 190 nationals were actively supporting IS back home through fundraising.

Australia has had three attacks since raising its terror threat level to high in September 2014.

An 18-year-old suspected militant was killed after he stabbed two police officers in Melbourne in September 2014, while a cafe siege in the heart of Sydney left a self-declared Muslim cleric and two of his hostages dead in December 2015.

Last October, a 15-year-old boy was killed in an exchange of gunfire outside law enforcement headquarters in Sydney after he shot dead a civilian police employee.

AFP
Hours after the attacks on the Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station in Brussels, messages of condolences and condemnation flew in from all over the world. From Ban Ki-moon to Donald Tusk and from Narendra Modi to Nawaz Sharif, here's a small selection of what world leaders had to say about Tuesday's attacks:

Ban Ki-moon (UN secretary-general): The Secretary-General hopes those responsible will be swiftly brought to justice. He is confident that Belgiums and Europes commitment to human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence will continue to be the true and lasting response to the hatred and violence of which they became a victim today.

Jens Stoltenberg (NATO secretary-general): This is a cowardly attack. An attack on our values and on our open societies. Terrorism will not defeat democracy and take away our freedoms. We have decided to increase the alert state at NATO Headquarters. We remain vigilant and continue to monitor the situation very closely.

Jean-Claude Juncker (EU Commission President):

These events have affected us, but they have not made us afraid. We will continue our work https://t.co/truEExHk1T pic.twitter.com/k424asGIDc  Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) March 22, 2016

Donald Tusk (EU Council President): These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence. The EU will fulfill its role to help Brussels, Belgium and Europe as a whole counter the terror threat which we are all facing.

Barack Obama (US President): The American people stand with the people of Brussels. We will do whatever it takes, working with nations and peoples around the world, to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice, and to go after terrorists who threaten our people.

Narendra Modi (Indian Prime Minister):

News from Brussels is disturbing. The attacks are condemnable. Condolences to families of the deceased. May those injured recover quickly.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 22, 2016

King Philippe of Belgium: We express our full support for members of the emergency and security services. Our gratitude also goes to all those who spontaneously offer their help. Faced with the threat, we will continue to respond with determination, with calmness and dignity. Let's maintain confidence in ourselves. This trust is our strength.

Hua Chunying (China Foreign Ministry spokesperson): The Chinese side is resolutely against all forms of terrorism. At this critical moment, the Chinese people are together with the people in Belgium and Europe. China is willing to enhance cooperation with Belgium and the world to jointly address threats and challenges imposed by terrorism and uphold world peace and security.

David Cameron (UK Prime Minister):

The terrorists behind todays atrocities attack our way of life and they attack us because of who we are. We will never let them win.  David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 22, 2016

Malcolm Turnbull (Australian Prime Minister): The people of Belgium have our thoughts and our prayers but, above all, our most resolute solidarity. We are utterly united, completely united in the fight against terrorism, in the fight against this sort of cowardly violence.

John Key (New Zealand Prime Minister): No innocent person should have to worry about such violence when going about their daily lives and New Zealand stands with Belgium in the fight against terrorism. Atrocities like this and the recent attacks in Turkey are a stark reminder of why the international community must stand together in the global fight against terrorism.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish President):

The People of Turkey, who suffered from equally heinous attacks at the hands of terrorists, share the pain of the Belgian People.  Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RT_Erdogan) March 22, 2016

Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan Prime Minister): No religion advocates terrorism and killings of innocent people. The terrorists label themselves as associated with different religious faiths and beliefs while their actions are in contrary to the religious teachings. No religion allows the barbaric and inhumane acts of killing fellow human beings.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia: We came to know with profound grief about the terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels which resulted in deaths and injuries. We strongly condemn these criminal acts, and join in sharing the pain of Your Excellency and the people of Belgium. On behalf of the government and people of Saudi Arabia, we condole Your Excellency, the families of the victims and the brotherly people of Belgium.

Justin Trudeau (Canadian Prime Minister)

Please read my full statement on todays attacks in Brussels: https://t.co/s0uOSDR3Gm  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 22, 2016

Francois Hollande (French President): Through the attacks in Brussels, the whole of Europe has been hit. France will implacably continue the fight against terrorism both on the international level and at home.

Vladimir Putin (Russian President): The Russian President expressed confidence that the killers and their accomplices will be punished, and conveyed sympathy to the families and friends of the victims, as well as wishes of a quick recovery to all those injured.

Maithripala Sirisena (Sri Lanka President):

My condolences are with the families of victims of today's attacks in #Brussels.  Maithripala Sirisena (@MaithripalaS) March 22, 2016

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry: The Indonesian government and people convey its deepest condolences to the people and government of Belgium, especially to the victims and their families.

Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore Prime Minister):
Washington: US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Moscow for talks on Ukraine and Syria as the

terrorist attacks in Brussels underscored the urgency of fighting the Islamic State group.

Kerry was to depart Washington late yesterday after accompanying President Barack Obama to Cuba and speaking by phone from Havana with the Belgian foreign minister to offer condolences for the victims of the attacks and any assistance Brussels might need.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and have highlighted the threat the group poses outside of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tomorrow, Kerry is to discuss the fragile truce in Syria that is hoped will spark UN-brokered peace talks amid disagreements over how to verify and respond to alleged violations, the State Department said.

His visit was arranged following Putin's surprise announcement last week of Russia's partial military withdrawal from Syria.

Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the US refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The State Department, however, insisted that Moscow and Washington are working constructively to monitor the truce.

The department also warned Russia against taking unilateral action in response to alleged violations. The Russian military has accused the US of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow's proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria ceasefire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.

Kerry also will call on Russia to do more to press pro-Russian separatists to comply with a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He is expected to raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia yesterday on charges the US says are false.

Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The US has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again yesterday.

"For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

AP
Paris: Used by jihadists everywhere from Paris and Brussels to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, the easy-to-make and deadly explosive TATP -- known as "the mother of Satan" -- has become the explosive of choice for the Islamic State group.

A familiar set of ingredients were found in a jihadist hideout after this week's attacks in Brussels, Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said Wednesday, listing 150 litres (40 US gallons) of acetone, 30 litres of oxygenated water, detonators, and a suitcase full of nails and screws.

They are the essential components of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, of which 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds) were found in the apartment.

Discovered at the end of the 19th century by a German chemist, TATP is a homemade explosive created by mixing precise quantities of acetone, oxygenated water and sulfuric, hydrochloric or nitric acid -- all of which are easily available in high street stores.

Nail polish remover is essentially acetone, while oxygenated water is a commonly used disinfectant.

The mixture creates a coarse powder of white crystals that requires only a basic detonator to explode, triggering a huge blast of burning gas.

Jihadists have set up entire labs -- at first backroom affairs, but increasingly reaching industrial levels -- to produce TATP and other explosive materials in Syria and Iraq.

In a report published in February, the NGO Conflict Armament Research said 51 companies had supplied the components needed to make homemade explosives at semi-industrial levels to the Islamic State group (IS).

The companies were spread across 20 countries, including Turkey and Russia, but also Belgium and the United States.

- 'In your kitchen'

"Contrary to what is sometimes said, watching a tutorial on the Internet is not enough," said an explosives expert with the French army, who asked not to be named.

"Someone has to show you how to do it at least once. But there isn't a shortage of instructors among the guys in the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. And once you've been shown, you can do it in your kitchen."

The most delicate part is adding the acid to the mixture, which lets off heat and can catch fire, but a simple mask is all that is normally needed for protection.

TATP was used in the suicide vests of the attackers in Paris on November 13, and early investigations suggest it was also used by the bombers in Tuesday's attacks on Brussels airport and a metro station that left 31 dead.

Another 270 people were injured, many of them sustaining severe burns.

A detonator can be made with a thin metal tube filled with paste and linked to two electric wires that will spark and trigger a flame when connected.

But they can just as easily be bought ready made from a shop.

Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspected Paris attackers who was arrested in Brussels last week, bought a dozen pyrotechnic detonators at a fireworks store in the Paris region without raising the slightest suspicion.

- 'Worryingly easy'

"The main problem posed by TATP is the easy availability of ingredients," said a French counter-terrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We can monitor sales of oxygenated water, but if these guys are smart enough, they will buy small quantities from 20 pharmacies. It's the same for acetone and acid."

The official said his team had spent an afternoon learning how to make explosives purely with items bought from a DIY store.

"It was worryingly easy," he said.

"In half an hour, we had made an explosive. Half an hour later, we had blown it up. And the explosion was big."

AFP
Islamabad: President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday called Kashmir the "jugular vein of Pakistan" even as he sought a peaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute with India over it.

"We are a peace loving nation and want peaceful relations with other nations, especially our neighbours," Hussain said in his address at the Pakistan Day parade ceremony where the country's armed forced showcased their military might.

He said Kashmir is the "jugular vein of Pakistan" but his country would continue efforts for the peaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute.

Hussain reiterated support for Kashmiri people, saying, "Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and

diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their right to self-determination."

Last year, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while addressing a joint session of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's assembly in

Muzaffarabad, had described Kashmir as his country's "jugular vein".

In 2014, army chief General Raheel Sharif had also termed Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of Pakistan and said the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiris.

Hussain said Pakistan's desire for "peaceful ties should not be misconstrued as our weakness".

He said Pakistan was not part of arms race with any country and its weapons were for the purpose of self-defence.

Amid tight security, a parade by armed forces, showcasing of latest weapons and a cultural show marked the Pakistan Day celebrations in Islamabad.

The last parade was held on 23 March, 2008, reviewed by General Pervez Musharraf as a civilian president, but was

discontinued owing to security concerns.

The Pakistan Day is observed to commemorate a resolution passed by a gathering of Muslims in Lahore in 1940, urging a separate country for Muslims.

The day dawned with a 31-gun salute at the federal capital and 21-gun salutes at the provincial capitals.

The ceremony of the Pakistan Day parade kicked off with a fly past of Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy planes led by Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman.

The formations of F-16, JF-17 thunder, Mirage, F-7PG AWACs, P-3C Orion presented salute to the chief guest by

flying over the dais.

Different regiments of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Rangers, Police, SSG and girl guides

marched past the dais presenting salute to the President.

Prime Minister Sharif, President Hussain, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif witnessed the parade.

Mechanised columns of tanks, rocket launchers, indigenously developed short and long-range missiles, radars and unmanned aerial vehicles were also showcased at the parade.

Floats depicting culture of the four provinces, PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan were also part of the parade.

The skydivers of the Special Services Groups presented a thrilling free fall from ten thousand feet while carrying the national flags and those of the three services.

Hussain said Pakistan contributed troops many times for the UN peacekeeping missions in different countries and will continue to play its role to free the world of the scourge of terrorism and conflicts.

He said that operation against militants in North Waziristan was going through the last phase and soon the

area would be free of terrorism.

"But the war on terrorism will not end till the last terrorist is eliminated. Our destination is to end lawlessness

and terrorism from all parts of the country," Hussain said.

He said the enemy will not be allowed to cast an evil eye on the country as its armed forces are fully equipped to foil their designs with iron hands.

Pakistan Day is a public holiday and the national flag is hoisted at all major government and private buildings on the occasion.

Various political, social, religious, cultural and educational organisations arranged functions to highlight

different aspects of the struggle for Pakistan and the lives of its founding fathers.

Pakistan Day is also being celebrated at the United Nations for the first time with a concert planned in the

prestigious General Assembly hall organised by the Pakistan Mission to the UN.

The concert features Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Titled 'Sufi Night: Music of Peace', it is aimed at spreading the message of peace and harmony at the world stage.

PTI
Brussels: A lawyer's assistant says a judicial hearing in Brussels for Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been postponed for a day to Thursday, apparently because of heightened security concerns in the Belgian capital.

Bombing attacks on Tuesday in the Brussels airport and subway killed 34 people and wounded scores, and the terrorism alert level throughout Belgium has been raised to its maximum level.

Abdeslam, who was arrested Friday in Brussels, was to appear Wednesday before a panel of judges who could extend his detention by another month. French authorities are seeking Abdeslam's extradition so he can be tried for his alleged role in the Nov. 13 bomb-and-gun attacks that killed 130 in Paris.

An assistant to Sven Mary, Abdeslam's defense lawyer, told The Associated Press her boss was told the hearing had been rescheduled for Thursday morning. She refused to give her name.

Associated Press
Barak Obama has once again made history by daring to break the shackles that has ranged the world's sole super power against its puny island neighbour, which stood up as a sore thumb in America's backdoor.

By becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in 88-years, and establishing diplomatic ties with its neighbour, Obama had removed the deadweight of history which was an albatross around US diplomacy.

Obama may have belied the massive world-wide euphoria when he took over as the first African-American president of the US in 2008.

Expectations were so high when we took over that the Norwegian academy gave him the Nobel peace prize in 2009. The Nobel committee believed that Obama created a new climate of international politics by going back to multilateral diplomacy and emphasis of dialogue in resolving international conflict. He also recognised the importance of the

United Nations instead of running rough shod over it like his predecessor President George Bush. The weight of expectations, not just in America but across Europe and the rest of the world were perhaps too much for a hardnosed politician seeking a second term in office to achieve. His admirers world-wide were disappointed.

Candidate Obama was very different from President Obama.

But now with no election looming at the end of the term, Obama is trying to do what he so eloquently promised during his election campaign.

The nuclear deal with Iran is a case in point. Despite doubts from all sides of the political spectrum in the US, Obama persisted and the deal between Iran and P 5 +1 was clinched after tough negotiations on both sides. This has given a fillip to President Hassan Rouhani, who won this years national elections riding on the deal. The nuclear

agreement has helped to give moderates in Tehran a chance to come back from its political isolation ravaged by years of international sanctions.

Shutting down the Guantanamo Bay prison is another of President Obama's wishes, which he may or may not be able to fulfill before his term ends. The decision to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba will remain a feather in Obama's cap.

No President before Obama dared to take this initiative, though the ideological battle between capitalism and communism has long been over.

The crumbling of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 has been a major victory for the US.

But the strong antipathy towards Cuba kept alive by Cuban immigrants in the US has persisted and stopped successive American presidents from renewing ties with the island nation. The White House has been working towards this for a long time, helped in no small measure by the Catholic Church in Havana. That the Church now plays an important role

in Cuba is also because the over the years the Communist party had loosened its grip and allowed people to practice their faith. Pope Francis himself played a significant behind the scenes role in getting the breakthrough.

President Obama and Cuba's Raul Castro, younger brother to revolutionary hero Fidel Castro, wants to start a new chapter in relations between the two countries, which has been weighed down by what happened 50 years ago during the Cuban Missile crisis. Since then America has turned its might against its puny neighbour. Though the US

was able to change dictators at whim in several countries and the CIA backed the military coup against Chile's Salvador Allende and for decades helped the dictator Augusta Pinochet. But despite the ease with which America dealt with the rest of the world, Cuba under Fidel Castro stood in steadfast opposition to the US. Cuba suffered because of the crippling sanctions that were in place, but managed to cock a snook at its powerful neighbour.

But Americas persistent blockade of Cuba had done little to enhance Americas image in the region. "The entire world is united in opposing the embargo. Even the Latin American right, for which the specter of a revolutionary domino effect was once sufficient grounds to perpetrate social cleansing, has come to see political isolation as a

counterproductive strategy, undermining the very reforms the US says it would like to see," Steven Cohen wrote in the New Republic ahead of the US President's visit.

Obama has won much goodwill for the US with this visit, but whether he can follow up remains a major question. Lifting the trade embargo against Cuba would be a major step in getting things started between the two countries. Whether Congress will allow Obama to have his way remains a major concern. With Democrats and Republican on warpath as it were, it may be a major challenge to get Congress to do what President Obama wants.

The first steps have been taken in restoring diplomatic ties. Obama followed it up with a personal visit along with his entire family.

Chances are that Obama will finally succeed. But for his effort to get America to shed its pettiness vise-a-vise-Cuba is being applauded by the world community. The decades of anger against Cuba has affected Americas image much more than Cuba's.
Nineteen-year-old Mason Wells is one lucky teenager. The American boy, who was injured in the blast at Brussels airport, survived the Paris attacks last November and Boston bombings in 2013, reported the ABC News.

His father Chad Wells told ABC News that this was his third terrorist attack. "This is the third time that sadly in our society that we have a connection to a bomb blast. We live in a dangerous world and not everyone is kind and loving," Chad Wells was quoted in the report.

The report added that Mason was at Zaventem Airport Belgium on Tuesday along with two other American Mormon missionaries. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, second-degree burns on his face and was hit by a shrapnel.

Mason was in Paris on 13 November, when a series of deadly terrorist attacks shook the city. According to Metro UK, he was just a block away from the site of Boston bombing. A Mormon official was quoted saying though Mason was injured, he was calm throughout and had a "sense of humour."

Mason is currently undergoing treatment in a Belgium hospital.

Meanwhile, a Belgian prosecutor has identified two of the attackers as brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, but says another unidentified attacker remains at large.

A third attacker also came to the airport with an explosive in a bag, but it exploded later and no one was hurt, the prosecutor said.

Brussels airport has announced that it will remain closed to passenger flights for at least another day. Airport officials said they would have to cancel around 600 flights each on Wednesday and Thursday.

Belgians are holding a moment of silence to honor at least 34 people killed in unprecedented Islamic extremist attacks on Brussels.

With inputs from AP
Elmer Funke Kupper and those who, back in 2009, pursued the plan to invest in an online gaming licence in Cambodia are certainly guilty of one thing  poor judgement.

In the aftermath of explosive allegations that Tabcorp may have been involved in a $200,000 bribe, I asked a former Australian gaming regulator for a view on the potential fallout.

He was staggered that Tabcorp had even contemplated getting into business in a country like Cambodia where the regime is widely acknowledged as being riddled with corruption.

For that matter he was also surprised that James Packer's Melco Crown had risked building a casino in the Philippines.
Phife Dawg, one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, has passed away at the age of 45, according to a statement from his family.

The family said in a statement that the musician, whose real name was Malik Taylor, died on Tuesday from complications from diabetes.

"Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend. We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of God and family," the statement said.
Sydney's Downing Centre Court complex was placed in lockdown on Wednesday morning after a man walked inside carrying a knife.

It is understood the man, dressed in a red T-shirt and jeans, walked over from nearby Hyde Park and into the Downing Centre with a knife.

A man has been taken away by police after an incident that locked down Sydney's Downing Centre court complex in Sydney. Credit:AAP/Karen Sweeney

The man, thought to be a cash transit van guard, entered the complex about 10am and told people to "get on the ground".

Moments later three police arrived, handcuffed the young man and marched him from the building, putting him in the back of a police wagon.
One intelligence source suggested the attack was shifted to Brussels and brought forward after the arrest of Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam on Friday. Nam Laachraoui, left captured on CCTV, moments before the blast with two other bombers. Credit:AP Police conducted raids in Schaerbeek hours after the attacks and discovered a bomb containing nails, chemical products and an Islamic State flag at one address. There were also reports the local train station had been cordoned off but police activity focused on a block of flats on Rue Max Roos. A heavily-armoured police truck blocked off the residential street while a helicopter hovered over head. People comfort each other after being evacuated from Brussels airport, after the explosions. Credit:AP

Iraqi intelligence sources suggested IS had been planning a terror attack on an airport and train station for three months but its focus was not Brussels originally. The source said that changed following Abdeslam's arrest on Friday amid fears he was co-operating with the authorities. Suspect Najim Laachraoui died in the Brussels airport bombing. Credit:AP A former Catholic schoolboy and electromechanics student, Laachraoui was stopped by police in September, just weeks before the Paris attacks, as he made his way across Europe from Syria. He was in a car with Salah Abdeslam, who later became a key fugitive from the Paris attacks, on their way from Budapest to Brussels when they were stopped.

The man who used fake identity documents bearing the name Soutane Kayal was already being sought by the Belgian police as part of the investigation into the November 13 Paris attacks. Credit:AP But police waved them on after they convinced officers they were tourists on a trip to Vienna. Because they were travelling on false identities, police did not link Laachraoui to an international warrant issued for him in March 2014 under his real name. Laachraoui was only publicly identified as a Paris suspect on Monday and Brussels was targeted less than 24 hours later. He had left Belgium for Syria in February 2013 where he received terror training before returning to Europe posing as a refugee from the conflict.

He was picked up in Budapest in September last year by Abdeslam and taken to Brussels where he is believed to have set up bomb-making factories and prepared for the Paris attacks. He was also given the fake identity of Soutane Kayal which he then used to move across Europe. It was during this journey from Budapest to Brussels that police stopped the car but were waved on. Travelling with him was Mohamed Belkaid, 35, who was killed in a police raid last Tuesday and led to the eventual capture of Abdeslam and another suspected terrorist. Under his fake identity, Laachraoui rented a house in Auvelais, near the central Belgian city of Namur, used by some of the Paris killers and at another suspected hideout in the Rue Henri Berge in Schaerbeek. In February 2015 he left for Syria, where his nom de guerre was Abou Idriss.

Laachraoui's DNA was later found on two of the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks. It was also found in the addresses raided in Schaerbeek and Auvelais. He is believed to have been a key figure in the Paris plot and directed Abdeslam on how to assemble the bombs. Police suspect the Paris attackers were in phone contact with Laachraoui and Belkaid on the night of the massacre, sending Belkaid the text message "we're off, we're starting" seconds before launching the attack on the Bataclan concert hall. Their mobile phone signals were tracked to Schaerbeek. Laachraoui was already suspected of recruiting others to fight in Syria and was linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud  the Belgian mastermind behind the Paris attacks. He was recently tried in absentia for involvement in a network of Belgians who left for Syria in which the prosecutor called for a 15-year prison sentence for persuading several of his friends to join the ranks of IS. The verdict is due in May.

"He is an old customer among foreign fighters," one investigator told La Libre Belgique. He went to school at the l'Institut de la Sainte-Famille d'Helmet in Schaerbeek. Staff at the school said: "He did all his secondary schooling here. He had a totally normal school l life, he never repeated a year and left the school in 2009. He was a boy who had no problems." According to La Libre Belgique, he then went on to complete his first year in higher studies in electromechanics, where he obtained "satisfactory" marks, suggesting he was technically minded. The Brussels bombers are thought to have used an explosive known as acetone peroxide and TATP and nicknamed "Mother of Satan" that was also used in the July 7 attacks in London in 2005, as well as Paris. It has been used in numerous terrorist bombs and suicide attacks.
Poland's governing party is seeking to shape the country's future by controlling perceptions of the past.



The conservative Law and Justice party's strategy includes the use of museums, film, public television and other tools to promote certain episodes in Poland's history, like the anti-communist resistance after World War II. More controversial, though, are attempts to suppress discussion and research into painful topics, primarily Polish violence against Jews during the Nazi occupation.



Law and Justice, which since last year has wielded more power than any party in post-communist times, sees the moves as harnessing history in a mission to build a stronger nation state. President Andrzej Duda said the nation's new "historical policy offensive" aims to create a new generation of patriots and "to build up the country's position in the international space."



Critics see historical revisionism that will produce little beyond national self-righteousness and will prevent an honest reckoning with the country's wartime history - an extremely complex story that includes suffering and heroism of the highest order but also cases of murder and betrayal by Poles of defenseless Jews.



"They want to narrow our view of the past," said Pawel Spiewak, director of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. "They want to use the state apparatus to force their new view of political history, and this is very dangerous."



Duda waded deeply into controversy when his office announced earlier this year that it might strip a prominent Princeton Holocaust scholar, Jan Tomasz Gross, of a state honor that he received in 1996.



Polish nationalists have long demonized the Polish-American academic for a body of work focused on Polish violence against Jews during and after the war. The controversy surrounding him began with his 2000 book "Neighbors," about the 1941 massacre in the village of Jedwabne, where Polish villagers burned hundreds of Jews alive in a barn. Last year Gross caused a new outcry with a highly provocative claim that Poles killed more Jews than they killed Germans during the war, something that challenges the nation's self-image.



Duda's office said it was considering the move against Gross in reaction to 2,000 angry letters about him.



Prosecutors have also summoned Gross to appear next month in an investigation into whether he committed the crime of slandering Poland.



Just the threat to strip Gross of the honor brought letters of protest from prominent scholars. If strengthening Poland's international position is truly an aim, the tactic is backfiring, creating a widespread impression that authorities who are already facing criticism for undermining democratic institutions are also prepared to stifle free scholarly inquiry.



Gross, who was born in Poland to a Jewish father and a Christian mother and who left his homeland following the communist regime's notorious anti-Semitic campaign of 1968, is extremely critical of Poland's new direction. He said he has long been attacked by a segment of the population that is "right-wing, Catholic, nationalist and xenophobic."



"What is new to me is that this is a segment of the population that now has managed to put its representatives in all of the government offices," he said. "They use a foul and violent language to describe me as a traitor, as someone who hates Poland."



Poland's historical policies are wide-ranging, and also include efforts to undermine the legacy of Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, part of an effort to show that the entire political order that Walesa helped create is tainted. But it is the Holocaust policies that resonate most powerfully across the world, especially in Israel and North America.



With disputes raging, Duda opened a museum last week dedicated to the Ulma family - Poles slaughtered by the Nazis for sheltering Jews. He strongly condemned anti-Semitism and noted that the German murderers were helped by a Polish policeman in their hunt for the family. He called for remembering "the truth about heroism but also the sad truth about meanness."



Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich praised it as a "brave" speech and "one of the strongest condemnations, if not the strongest, of anti-Semitism by a Polish leader."



But others saw a cynicial PR move. One critic, historian Jan Grabowski, noted that Duda, who has said in the past that Poles need not apologize for Jedwabne, claimed incorrectly that "hundreds of thousands of Poles" helped Jews during the war, a hugely exaggerated number that promotes a larger narrative of Polish heroism.



"Duda's speech is a huge step backwards from the historical truth and towards a more aggressive abuse of the memory of the Holocaust," said Grabowski, author of "Hunt for the Jews: Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland."



The Justice Ministry is also preparing a new law foreseeing prison terms for anyone who refers to Auschwitz or other German death camps in occupied Poland as "Polish."



That project comes in reaction to years of anger at foreigners referring to "Polish death camps" language even used once by U.S. President Barack Obama. Poles find that wording extremely offensive since Poles were among the victims of the camps and had no role in running them.



"Enough of this lie," Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said. "There must be accountability."



Michal Bilewicz, a Holocaust researcher at Warsaw University, said: "the new law aims to silence Polish historians as it is obvious that this law would not be effective in sentencing anyone outside of the country."



Spiewak, the director of the Jewish Historical Institute, says he now has to worry about whether researchers at his center might end up in prison.



The historical offensive comes amid a strong anti-migrant mood in Poland and as the ruling party is also centralizing its power in a way that undermines democratic institutions, most dramatically the independence of the constitutional court.



The trend resembles recent moves in Hungary, where historical revisionism has gone hand-in-hand with Prime Minister Viktor Orban's creation of what he calls an "illiberal state." Hungarian authorities have been rehabilitating wartime anti-Semites and portraying the country as the victim of German aggression when it in fact was allied with Hitler most of the war.



The high emotions surrounding Polish wartime behavior touch on what some call a Polish "obsession with innocence" - a conviction the nation is morally blameless thanks to its resistance and widespread suffering, with millions killed in the war.



Dariusz Stola, director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, said he believes many cling to this conviction of innocence because it is all they have.



"Poles lost the war. They lost a lot: family members, cities, libraries, churches, 20 percent of their territory and national independence. Little was left but their innocence," Stola said. "When you lose everything it's good to at least be innocent."



Still, he condemned the historical policies as "radical, unreflective and, of course, harmful."



"Poland was on the right side of this war, and Poland lost it to Hitler and then lost it to Stalin," Stola said. "We are not responsible for what happened 70 years ago but we are responsible for what we do with this past today. And I think the right thing to do is to talk about it."


A South African man has found what may be a piece of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and authorities will examine the debris to determine its origin.

Archeologist Neels Kruger said he was walking a beach near the town of Mosselbay when he saw the unusual object laying in his path.

Kruger said he recognized the honeycomb structure of the debris from photos he had seen of previously discovered plane fragments and thought they were similar.

Kruger described the debris as a 70-by-70 centimeter piece of metal with a portion of the Rolls Royce logo emblazoned on it. Rolls Royce, a British company, makes airplane engines.

He took a picture of the debris and sent it to authorities in Australia who are investigating the planes disappearance.

When I flipped it around, I didnt know immediately what it was but just thought, Oh my word! Kruger told the Associated Press.

In a statement, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said there is a possibility the piece of debris came from an aircraft engine, but further examination and analysis are required to verify if the debris came from MH-370.

Liow said a team will be dispatched to retrieve the debris.

Kruger said investigators with the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau told him the piece was very interesting, but would not confirm that it was a piece of the missing plane. The investigators told Kruger to secure the debris with bubble wrap until the investigators come to retrieve it. Australian authorities are leading the investigation.

The plane was travelling from Kula Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 when it went off-course and mysteriously vanished. Authorities are still unsure about what happened to the plane and the 239 passengers onboard, but it is believed to have crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

In July 2015, a piece of one of the planes wings was found on the beach of an island off the coast of Madagascar. Two more potential pieces of debris from the wreckage were found recently by a teenager in Mozambique.
In an effort to boost Egypt's flagging tourism industry, skydivers recently took part in a high-flying competition over Egypt's Great Pyramids.

Participants say the event was aimed at attracting more visitors to the country, as Egypt has suffered a $1.3 billion drop in tourism revenue over the past few months.

More than 200 skydivers from 17 countries took part in the recent three-day competition, with participants jumping from helicopters more than 1,100 meters high, and aiming for specific targets on land.

The event, organizers say, sends a message to the world.

"Egypt is strong and it will never be affected by all the chaos going on, said General Soliman El-Hadary of the Egyptian Union for Air Sports. We want to emphasize to the world that our country is safe and tourists are welcome."

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of Egypt's economy.

The suspected terrorist downing of a Russian plane over North Sinai last year badly hurt the tourism industry, driving away nearly 4 million tourists.

But to bring them back, analysts say, Egypt needs to not only better market the industry, but review its security policies.

"You need first of all to assess all the counterterrorism strategies that have been going on for the past two years, because Egypt has been in an official open war against terrorism since 2013. So where did that go? Where did that lead? How effective were these strategies? said Ziad Akl of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. This needs to be reviewed and, on the other hand, the tourism sector needs to be marketed in a lot more professional manner than it is right now."

While sporting events are good publicity, he says, the government needs to do more to support and protect the tourism industry.
Chinas South China Sea territorial claims are demarcated in vague terms by the nine-dash line, a U-shaped boundary that loops down from Taiwan as far as Indonesias Natuna Islands.

Although Chinas claim to the area of about 3.5 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles) is based on historical records and geographic proximity, the nine-dash line is a modern creation. It first appeared on 1947 maps produced by the government of the Republic of China, which was replaced by the communist Peoples Republic on the mainland just two years later.

Taiwan inherited the Republic of Chinas claim when Chiang Kai-shek moved his government to the island ahead of the communist advance. The Taiwanese and Chinese claims now overlap, although China has been seeking to expand its land holdings by creating new islands from reefs and atolls.

In contrast to Beijings increasingly aggressive moves to assert its claims and expand the size of maritime features under its control, Taipei has sought to avoid conflict. However, it has been pushing back against parts of a lawsuit brought by the Philippines challenging Chinas claim.

Taiwans biggest territorial holding is Taiping island, where it operates a hospital, airstrip and facilities for roughly 200 residents, mostly coast guard troops.

Although it claims the Spratly Islands in their entirety, Taiwans only other actual holding in the area is a small coral reef called Zhongzhoujiao, located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of Taiping. The reef is only partly exposed at high tide and is exclusively populated by sea birds and other wildlife, although observation posts have been built on it and there are plans to construct a lighthouse.

Taiwan also has complete control of the Pratas Islands, which it calls Dongsha, centered on an atoll in the northern section of the South China Sea about 340 kilometers (211 miles) southeast of Hong Kong. Taiwan has designated the area a marine national park, but still operates a small airport there, maintains a garrison and operates a fishing boat aid station. China claims Pratas, but has made no moves to dislodge the Taiwanese presence.

China also has refused requests to clarify the exact geographical coordinates of its South China Sea boundary. It also declines to say whether it considers the South China Sea to be Chinese territorial waters, an exclusive economic zone or some other legal designation.

Beijing says that in no way impedes freedom of navigation, and its diplomats accuse others of picking fights. However, rising tensions, including Indonesias worries over Chinas designs on waters around the Natuna Islands, threaten to make Chinas preference for ambiguity no longer tenable. MDT/AP
Whether or not to adopt compensatory payments for violation of contract provisions was the main focus of yesterdays Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary meeting.

Raimundo do Rosario, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works informed that the government intends to apply Law No. 74/99 when contractors violate their contracts. He said, Law No. 74/99 actually applies heavier fines to contractors when they delay construction.

In his view, adopting compensatory payments for violation of contract provisions will lead to an increase in contractors prices.

Secretary Rosario also admitted that several large-scale projects, such as the elevated train project have been delayed in part due to ineffectiveness and inefficiencies in the department. He also acknowledged that no company has been fined more than half of the total value of any contract because Macau doesnt nurture a culture of fines.

For lawmaker Au Kam San, public contracts follow a threefold paradigm: first, they are delayed; second, they go over budget; third, their quality turns out to be bad.

San asked the Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSTOP) whether they will amend the regulation. His question followed the bureaus admission that existing regulations need to be changed, although changes to compensatory payments are not needed.

Addressing Secretary Raimundo do Rosario, Au Kam San questioned, you are doing your job, but once you leave your position, will there be continuity of such work? How can it just depend upon your services?

According to the DSSTOP, the execution rate of the investment budget is 85 percent, which, in the secretarys opinion, provides evidence that the department has put considerable effort into the work.

Delegates from the DSSTOP gave an example of the final payments which contractors will have to make under the two different regulations, namely the Law No. 74/99 and the compensatory payments scheme. The latter remains under deliberation.

Suppose the price of the contract is MOP100 million. Each day the company is late on completion of construction, it will be fined one percent of the total price, which results in MOP100,000. However, it will only pay MOP17,000 if the compensatory payments are adopted.

The lawmakers acknowledged the efforts of the government in the area of Public Works, however they also remarked that contractors should not be the only ones to be blamed. They recommended DSSTOP to undertake internal reviews. Staff reporter
The government of Angola intends to ban the ivory trade across the country and a draft executive decree was presented last week in Luanda by an inter-ministerial committee, Angolan news agency Angop reported.

The draft decree was presented during a meeting of the Inter-ministerial Commission against Environmental and Other Crimes Related to Wild Fauna and Flora, and also discussed a strategy to close ivory stands, such as the ones in a craft market in Luanda.

The meeting, chaired by the minister of Environment, Fatima Jardim also analysed the possibility of Patrols of the Crime Unit at the 4 de Fevereiro international airport and the airports of Maria Teresa (Kwanza Norte) and Bengo and assessed a uniform to be worn by staff involved in the initiative.

At the first meeting of the Inter-ministerial Commission against Environmental and Other Crimes Related to Wild Fauna and Flora, held at the end of 2015, Jardim said there was an urgent need to respond to poaching, especially of elephants and rhinos. MDT/Macauhub
Belgian authorities searched yesterday for a man pictured at the Brussels airport with two apparent suicide bombers, amid growing suggestions that the bombings of the Brussels airport and subway were the work of the same Islamic State cell that attacked Paris last year.

The European Unions capital awoke under guard after 34 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Tuesdays attacks. The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings, which laid bare Europes vulnerability to a group trying to spread violence well beyond its bases in the Middle East.

Police conducted raids overnight and circulated a photo of three men seen at the airport wheeling trollies that presumably contained explosives-filled suitcases.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF identified two of the attackers as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, and said they are believed to have blown themselves up. According to the report, which did not say who its sources were, Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

One of the men pictured at the airport is at large. Authorities have not identified him, but Belgian newspaper DH reported that he might be Najim Laachraoui, whom Belgian authorities have been searching for since last week as a suspected accomplice of Abdeslam.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official told The Associated Press, adding that Laachraouis DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Abdeslam was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on Nov. 13. Those attacks killed 130 people and terrified Europe.

A Belgian official working on the investigation told the AP that it is a plausible hypothesis that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought  and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Belgiums justice minister said yesterday that the country will remain at its highest terrorism threat level until further notice. That level means theres a threat of an imminent attack.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed yesterday. Security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.

Its a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said yesterday on Europe-1 radio. Valls, who planned to visit Brussels yesterday, urged tougher controls of the EUs external borders.

We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism [] that spreads in some of our neighborhoods and perverts our youth, he said. The Paris attackers were mainly French and Belgian citizens of North African descent, some from neighborhoods that struggle with discrimination, unemployment and alienation.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. IS warned of further attacks, issuing a statement promising dark days for countries taking part in the anti-IS coalition.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and had warned that IS was actively preparing to strike. Raf Casert, Lorne Cook, Brussels, AP
The challenge Macau faces in developing itself into a global leisure center is linked to the international market, Roger Coles, Chair of the World Leisure Organizations board of directors, told media at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), in Hainan yesterday.

According to Coles, China and Macau have a series of chain hotels that rank among the top internationally.

Good customer service is one of the key areas into which Macau should put serious effort if the city wants to deal with international customers, he said, as cited by TDM.

Coles revealed that he plans to visit Macau and the mainland next month. During his stay, he will discuss the positioning that China should set for some of its cities, from a tourism-wise perspective, with Chinese policy-makers.

Last year, the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) opened new facilities for yachts that travel between Zhongshan and Macau. Coles pointed out that tourist sectors created by leisure yachts are important.

I think that yacht tourism in both Europe and America will be expanded to China, where large harbors are already under construction. Then we can expect western travelers to come to Asia by means of that kind of transportation, said Coles, who predicted that there will be an acceleration in the development of the yacht tourism industry after 2020. Staff reporter
Brazilian airline Azul made an investment of about USD100 million in Portuguese airline TAP  Portugal, according to a statement posted on its website.

The investment will give Azul the right to hold approximately 40 percent of the economic value of the Portuguese airline at the time of conversion of the security and after approval by the Civil Aviation Authority of Portugal, the statement said.

The issue of bonds convertible into shares, is occurring under the TAP recapitalization plan agreed in June 2015 during the privatization process of the Portuguese airline.

Azul also said that this investment takes place under the application agreement of $450 million by the HNA group announced at the end of 2015, which gave the Chinese partner a 23.7 percent equity interest in Azul.

The investment in the Portuguese airline was a requirement of the agreement between Azul and the HNA Group, added the Brazilian company.

Azul also said it had been authorised by the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil to make seven weekly flights to Portugal, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette.

The airline plans to launch the route on May 4 and initially will offer three weekly flights from Campinas, Sao Paulo, to Lisbon, potentially increasing to six flights per week in the peak season. MDT/Macauhub
Chen Ying Chun, former vice mayor of Shenzhen, was found dead yesterday after falling from a building.

Shenzhen police announced his death via a short post on its offices Weibo account. The same post indicated that the reasons behind the accident remain unknown.

A report was filed about a fall at 11:14 a.m. Shenzhen police subsequently went to the Futian district of Shenzhen, where the former vice mayor of the city was found dead.

Rumors surrounding the death and innuendo regarding Chens life immediately spread on Weibo.

One dead, everyone else is now safe, posted Po Xiao Xia Guang_80. A user identified as Ju Jing Wei De Pang Ci wrote, Another corrupted governor committed suicide.

Among the number of people applauding the death of the former mayor, there are some who believe that his death is related to the landslides that took place in Shenzhen in December of last year. More than 70 people were killed during the disaster. There are some allegations that he had been negligent in allowing the buildup of discarded waste that resulted in the landslide, and by implication that some of the deaths may have been averted.

A third user, Yi Ma Ping Chuan, wrote, Another one who jumped, thus another corruption case. In turn, user masters-zhuang posted. [The] news is short, but what happened is serious.

Before being appointed as the vice mayor, Chen was the secretary of the former mayor of Shenzhen, Li You Wei, who was also the former vice director of the Subcommittee of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Compatriots and Overseas Chinese, of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference.

Chen Ying Chun had been vice mayor since 2003, occupying his position until May of 2015, when he left for early retirement. During his time in office, he made an official visit with other governors of Shenzhen to Macau in 2007. Staff reporter
Gunmen launched an attack on Monday evening on the European Union military training missions headquarters in the Malian capital, Bamako.

Armed forces killed at least one man, who lay outside the hotel in jeans and a shirt in a pool of blood next to a Kalashnikov rifle. His backpack lay beside him.

Cmdr. Modibo Naman Traore, a spokesman for the Malian special forces, said three other attackers were still being sought.

Sgt. Baba Dembele from the anti-terrorism unit in Bamako told an Associated Press reporter at the scene that it was believed some attackers had entered the Hotel Nord-Sud, where the mission is headquartered.

The EU training mission later released a statement saying it had come under attack by small arms fire but no personnel had been wounded, and that Malian security forces were securing the area.

EU soldiers, the Malian army, national police and other security forces stood outside the hotel.

The assault comes about four months after jihadis attacked the Radisson Blu hotel in Malis capital, killing 20 people. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Mourabitoun claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was their first joint attack since al-Mourabitoun joined al-Qaidas North Africa branch in 2015.

In January, extremists from the same militant groups attacked a cafe near a hotel popular with foreigners in Burkina Fasos capital, killing at least 30 people. And just last week, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for an assault on a beach in Ivory Coast that left at least 19 dead, identifying the three attackers as members of al-Mourabitoun and Sahara units.

Over the past year, the jihadis have mounted a growing wave of violent attacks against U.N. peacekeepers who are trying to help stabilize the country.

The EU launched a training mission to help support and rebuild the Malian armed forces in February 2013 at the request of Malian authorities. The training is carried out in Koulikoro, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of the capital. MDT/AP
The restructuring of economy in the MSAR has achieved progress, an official from the Liaison Office said, Xinhua reported yesterday.

Yao Jian, deputy head of the office, made the comments at a recent seminar attended by senior officials from six large local tourism and leisure enterprises as well as major subsidiaries of Chinese mainland corporations here.

New active elements have appeared in the process of Macaus industrial restructuring, and non-gaming revenues increased 2 percent in 2015 despite the drastic slump of the gambling industry, Yao said.

Lauding Macaus major enterprises contribution in supporting the growth of local small and medium-sized enterprises, Yao called for more efforts to be made to speed up industry transformation so as to maintain sustainable economic development in the SAR.
The Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, met with the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Peter Lam, on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Government Information Bureau (GCS), where the two officials discussed prospects for broadening tourism cooperation between the two special administration regions.

It was agreed that the SAR authorities should work in tandem to transform Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macau collectively into a world-class region for tourists.

The agreement comes as a necessity for Macaus economy as it undergoes a period of adjustment, and as the local government heeds Beijings economic diversification mandates.

Strengthening cooperation with Hong Kong should help Macau attract more tourists to visit, said Chui, according to the GCS statement, suggesting that multi-destination tours in Asia could bring Hong Kong visitors to Macau and vice-versa.

Peter Lam agreed that the two SARs can assist each other in promoting tourism, making reference to a recent partnership between Hong Kong and Taiwan to promote multi-destination holidays in Asia.

In addition, the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge would be an important milestone in terms of promoting closer cooperation in tourism, said Peter Lam, through facilitating additional transportation routes between the two South China territories.

Also in attendance at Tuesdays meeting was the Director of the Macau Government Tourism Office, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the Chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, Jason Wong, and the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Anthony Lau.

Anthony Lau said that the total visitors to Jong Kong fell by about 2.5 percent last year, the first decrease in 12 years.

While Macaus visitor volume has also seen marginal change, both SARs are experiencing a severe decline in visitor spending as the Times reported yesterday. DB

Visitor arrivals rebound over CNY

Information released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that, attributable to the Chinese New Year holiday, visitor arrivals rebounded in February by 8.1 percent month-to-month, to a total of 2,644,289.

However, this still represented a 1.2 percent shortfall over the same month in 2015. Same-day visitors dropped by 7.6 percent year-on-year to 1,454,944, whereas overnight visitors rose by 7.9 percent to 1,189,345.

Visitors from mainland China totaled 1,799,522 last month, down by 5.2 percent year-on-year, coming mainly from Guangdong Province (897,096), followed by Zhejiang Province (57,817) and Shanghai (53,261).

Visitors from the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan arrived in greater numbers this year than in February 2015, seeing respective rises of 12 percent, 4.8 percent and 16.6 percent respectively.

In the first two months of 2016 visitor arrivals totaled 5,090,165, down by just 1 percent year-on-year. The decline was led by visitors from mainland China, of which 3.1 percent fewer have arrived in Macau so far this year.
Taiwan flew international media to its largest island holding in the South China Sea yesterday in a bid to reinforce its territorial claims in the disputed and increasingly tense region.

Deputy Foreign Minister Bruce Linghu, who was leading the trip, said he intended to demonstrate that Taiping is an island capable of sustaining human habitation, and not simply a rock as the Philippines claims in a case brought before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Islands are entitled to territorial waters, an exclusive economic zone and other rights not enjoyed by mere rocks.

Two dozen journalists were flown to the island aboard a Taiwanese air force C-130 transport plane that landed on an airstrip on Taiping guarded by coast guard sentries with rifles. They were shown the islands post office and its fresh water well, and were to later visit the harbor and a traditional Chinese temple.

The Philippines, along with Vietnam, also claims Taiping. Critics say Manila is seeking to have Taiping designated a rock to avoid having to share an exclusive economic zone with its own nearby island of Palawan.

The Philippines distorted the facts and misinterpreted the law in its arguments, Linghu told reporters at a pre-trip briefing Tuesday in Taipei, Taiwans capital.

Manilas case, which has been rejected by China, aims to challenge Beijings blanket claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. Yet it threatens also to harm relations between the Philippines and fellow pro-U.S. democracy Taiwan.

Taiwan, which lacks diplomatic ties to negotiate with the five other governments with territorial claims in the South China Sea, has increasingly turned to public diplomacy to reinforce its own claims.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeo paid a visit to Taiping in late January, drawing rare criticism from the United States, Taiwans key ally, which has urged all parties to avoid steps that might raise tensions. Although Taiwans claim to almost the entire region overlaps with Chinas, Ma has sought to cast Taiwan as a peaceful, humanitarian player in the region.

Taiwan operates a 10-bed hospital, a lighthouse and a fishing industry aid station on 46-hectare (110-acre) Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, which has a population of around 200 mostly coast guard personnel. It is spending more than USD100 million to upgrade the islands airstrip and build a wharf capable of allowing its 3,000-ton coast guard cutters to dock.

Roughly 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) south of Taiwan, Taiping is the largest naturally occurring island in the South China Seas disputed Spratly Islands.

However, it has recently been eclipsed in size by artificial islands China has built by piling sand on top of reefs and shoals, and then constructing housing, ports, airstrips and other infrastructure. The United States and others say Beijing is exacerbating tensions in the strategically vital region, while China accuses the U.S. of militarizing the area by ordering Navy ships to cruise in defiance of Beijings claims.

Malaysia and Brunei also say parts of the strategically vital sea belong to them. The dispute now threatens to draw in Indonesia, whose sea border abuts Chinas vague, unilaterally declared boundary around the South China Sea known as the nine-dash line.

Indonesia this week detained the eight crew members of a Chinese vessel it accused of fishing illegally in its waters, while China says the ship was being harassed by an armed Indonesian government boat. Johnson Lai, Taiping Island, AP
The thick fog that led to hundreds of flight delays and cancellations at Macau International Airport between Friday and Sunday is about to give way to sunshine. The Meteorological Bureau predicts the foggy weather will continue until tomorrow, while the sun will shine through from Saturday. More than 115 arrival and departure flights were cancelled due to the foggy weather, leaving passengers departing Macau no option but to remain at the international airport. A spokesperson for the Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. (CAM) said diverted and delayed flights landed at the airport in later time slots, adding that no further flights have been cancelled since the weekend.

Winter shelter opened to those in need

The Welfare Affairs Bureau (IAS) announced yesterday the opening of its Winter Shelter Center at Ilha Verde to receive people in need, due to the sudden drop in the mercury. The IAS appeals to all citizens to look better after the elderly and the sick in order to protect them from cold and eventually hypothermia. At least nine people died from hypothermia in January, when Macau recorded the lowest temperatures since 1949.

Concrete repair and waterproofing association established

Macau Concrete Repair and Waterproofing Association announced that the boards inauguration will take place on March 30. The association, which is giving a press conference today, is a newly established non-profit organization which seeks to improve the communication and connection between different companies within the industry. The final goal of the association is to promote and develop the practice of good concrete repair and good waterproofing maintenance. It suggests that efficient testing systems can lead to better results in local construction.
TAIWAN flew international media to its largest island holding in the South China Sea, Taiping Island, in a bid to reinforce its territorial claims in the disputed and increasingly tense region.

VIETNAM A court has sentenced a prominent Vietnamese blogger to five years in prison for posting anti-state writings in a one-day trial that highlights the communist countrys tough approach to dissent.

MYANMAR It emerged yesterday that a man proposed as Myanmars new finance and planning minister has a fake degree in finance. Kyaw Win admitted to having bought the bogus PhD from an online fictitious university which sold fake qualifications from Pakistan.

AUSTRALIA A Sydney schoolgirl has appeared in court accused on terror financing charges, which carry a maximum term of 25 years in jail. She is suspected of having sent thousands of dollars to the Islamic State group in Syria through a Western Union money transfer.

INDIA A journalist was arrested and beaten in police custody after he criticized the police on social media and demanded a law protecting reporters in a region embroiled in a decades-long Maoist insurgency, his lawyer and brother said.

PAKISTANs president Mamnoon Hussain praises his countrys security forces and pledges to fight against terrorism.

BRAZIL A Brazilian Supreme Court justice rejects a motion that would have let former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva take a cabinet post.

U.S.-RUSSIA American Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow for talks on Ukraine and Syria with Russias counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin. The talks come after last weeks surprise announcement of Russias partial military withdrawal from Syria.

SOMALIAs prime minister has publicly backed a campaign to ban female genital mutilation from his country. The United Nations childrens agency, Unicef, estimates that more than 90 percent of Somali girls undergo the practice.
BOISE | A ban on harvesting tissue or organs from aborted fetuses passed the Idaho Senate on Tuesday.

Organs and tissues from stillborn or miscarried babies could still be donated, if the mother chooses, but, supporters of the ban said, the state should make sure there is no financial incentive to get an abortion.

"I think this is particularly appropriate in this scenario, that the ends do not justify the means," said Sen. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise.

The bill also states it is "contrary to the public policy" of the state for someone to get pregnant with the intent of getting an abortion and thereafter "selling, transferring, distributing or donating" the unborn infant's remains. And, it prohibits public universities from using tissue or organs from aborted fetuses in experimentation.

Tissue and organ harvesting from aborted fetuses was thrust into the national spotlight last summer, after an anti-abortion group released videos that appeared to show Planned Parenthood officials talking about selling fetal tissue for profit, which is illegal. The videos led to renewed pushes by Republicans in many statehouses and in Congress to investigate and defund the organization. The only criminal charges so far have been against two of the people who filmed the video, who were indicted in Texas.

Planned Parenthood in Idaho doesn't have a fetal tissue donation program, and while some Republican states launched investigations into the organization after the videos were released, Idaho was not one of them. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter turned down a request from nearly 30 GOP lawmakers to launch an investigation into the group last August. Sen. Maryanne Jordan, D-Boise, referenced this background in her argument against the bill.

I find this to be something that is not necessary in the state of Idaho, she said. The gentleman on the second floor (Otter) declined a request to investigate these  allegations several months ago because there was no reason to do that.

Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, said it would ban donation of organs or tissue in cases where a woman is getting an abortion because the fetus would not live outside the womb.

I appreciate writing a law for that consideration is quite difficult, but I believe we can do better than this," he said.

It passed 27-7 and now goes to the House.

Other abortion-related bills in the statehouse this year include one to require abortion providers to provide women with a list of places to get a free ultrasound before an abortion, which passed last week and now awaits Otter's signature. Another bill, to ban "dilation and evacuation" abortions, was introduced but hasn't gotten a hearing.
Qatars ministry of energy and industry said the meeting between OPEC members and oil producing non-OPEC countries to be held in April is aimed at reaching an agreement among producers on freezing their crude output at January levels in order to reduce the excess supplies on world markets in everyones interest.

However, it seems like Iran and Libya are not interested but Saudi Arabia is willing to finalize the deal with OPEC members and Russia during the meeting.

The Qatari ministry said all 13 OPEC members including Iran have been invited but Oman, a non-OPEC member, is yet to receive an invitation. The meeting will be a continuation of the first round of talks held in February between Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Tehran had termed the proposal laughable at first but Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stated last week that Iran is ready to participate and it has reasonable arguments to be exempted from the freeze as it is just returning to the global market and may join us in the freeze with time. Novak added that this is a normal constructive position from our Iranian partners. Iran wants to increase its production. It pumped 3.1milion barrels per day last month as efforts continue to reach pre-sanctions level of 4million.

Meanwhile, a Libyan OPEC delegate in London said they will not be at the meeting because clearly, they have to allow us to go back to our production when the security situation in the country improves.

Iraqi oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said freezing output is a step in the right direction and Baghdad has no objections to take into consideration the special condition of some states, we think everything can be solved through dialogue.
The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc cautioned Hezbollah for its actions and Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah for his statements warning that persistent attacks against the (Saudi) kingdom and Arab countries undermine the interests of the Lebanese people, as well as their stability and source of income.

The bloc, after its weekly meeting, alleged that Hezbollah contributed to the problems of the Lebanese due to its involvement in the conflict in Syria and other Arab countries. It also criticized Hezbollah for delaying the election of a president.

Nasrallah in an interview aired Tuesday by the Al-Mayadeen TV channel, on the occasion of Mothers Day dedicated to the mothers of martyrs for raising their sons as Hezbollah freedom fighters, said the only disagreement they have with the Mustaqbal bloc is the electoral law and they will continue to support proportional representation rather than the concept of partnership.

He renewed his groups support to the presidential ambitions of Amal Movements Michel Aoun as long as he is a candidate underlining that we want a strong president who doesnt fear some regional states.

Secretary General Nasrallah scolded the Arab States once more claiming that they are engaged in a one-sided cooperation with Israel. According to the Israeli confessions, some Arab regimes clearly supported the Israeli war against Lebanon in 2006, he said. He added that Israel does not respond to the Arab regimes demands, but some Arab countries work for the sake of the Israelis.

Relations between Hezbollah and Arab States are tense. Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah does not want to launch a war, but the Resistance will employ all means to defend Lebanon in case of any Israeli aggression before boasting of their military facilities and the threats they pose to Israel.
The government of Central African Republic has reached out to Morocco in a bid to convince the North African country to continue its UN peace operations and particularly in MINUSCA.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic has been mandated by the United Nations to protect civilians, support the transition process and facilitate humanitarian assistance besides other missions that include disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation.

In a letter addressed to his Moroccan peer, Foreign minister of Central African Republic Samuel Rangba called on Rabat to maintain its troops in MINUSCA to ensure security to this fragile African country.

He praised contributions made by Moroccan UN peacekeepers at the MINUSCA which helped the country organize elections, paving the way for the gradual return of peace and security.

The Moroccan contingents contribution in the MINUSCA was much appreciated, said Rangba who reaffirmed his countrys unwavering stance in favor of the plan proposed by Morocco under the UN aegis to settle the Moroccan Sahara issue and reiterated the support of the Central African Republic for Morocco in its legitimate quest to defend its territorial integrity.

Morocco has threatened to withdraw its soldiers from global peacekeeping missions to protest against the offensive remarks made by UN chief Ban Ki-moon during his latest tour to the region.

Ban angered Moroccans when he used the word occupation to describe the situation in the Sahara. Over three million Moroccans took to the streets to denounce the UN chiefs comments, decrying his lack of neutrality.

In retaliation, Morocco decided to cut $3 million in funding for the MINURSO, reduce drastically the mission civilian staffers and to pull out all or part of its 2,300 peacekeepers from UN peace missions around the world.

The North African country finally dropped its initial plan to withdraw its forces from UN peace keeping missions, following, as explained by the Moroccan Foreign Minister, the requests made by member countries of the Security Council and countries where Moroccan forces are stationed. These countries unanimously hail the Moroccan troops and their professionalism, the FM said.

Morocco is highly commended by the international community as a global strategic partner in preserving world peace and security and in the war against terrorism, organized crimes, drug trafficking and illegal migration.
Uchumi Supermarkets has closed operations in five outlets in Kenya as part of the companys reorganization process. The move will see 253 workers lose their jobs.

The company said the closure is meant to reduce operational costs and concentrate its efforts on a leaner structure as dictated by the current business environment.

Their [the outlets] closure will enable us channel our resources to fewer branches and optimize operations for maximum gain, Uchumi Supermarkets CEO Julius Kipngetich said.

Late last year, Uchumi announced plans to sell two of its branches in Nairobi. The company had also pulled out of Uganda and Tanzanian markets to concentrate on Kenya.

The new reforms are part of an elaborate revival plan by the current CEO who took the helm from Jonathan Ciano in August 2015.

Julius Kipngetich is expected to introduce a new model of buying and selling of goods by the supermarket which has over 30 branches and about 5,000 staff on its payroll.

The Nairobi-based website standardmedia.co.ke reported that the employees expressed concern that their jobs were at stake and appealed to the management to absorb them in other branches.
After the Friday rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Ain Salah gas field and processing plant in Krechba, British Petroleum (BP) and Norwegian Statoil have decided to withdraw their personnel from several plants they operate in Algeria as a precautionary safety measure.

The attack was claimed by al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQMI) which warned that the attack was part of the war on the interests of the Crusaders in every place.

BP announced a phased temporary relocation of all its staff from Ain Salah and In Amenas over the next two weeks, saying it continues to be mobilized to assess the situation.

Statoil made a similar statement pointing out that it decided, in collaboration with partner BP, to relocate temporarily out of Algeria over the next few weeks the entire staff from Ain Salah, In Amenas and Hassi Messaoud.

Workers of Algerian state-owned Sonatrach are expected to maintain production at the plants.

More than 600 employees, including three from Statoil and five from BP, were present at the In Salah Gas plant, at the moment of the attack, but there were no casualties nor injuries.

The 2012 attack on In Amenas gas plant by the same terrorist group freed staff of Algerian origin on the site before killing 40 oil workers. AQMI claimed the latest attack is part of its green agenda as it aims to protect the environment and discourage shale gas exploration.

Locals living in places near shale exploration sites had protested against the exploration when it began last year.
(HealthDay)A case of acquired syphilis leading to involvement of the bone marrow and liver is described in a report published online March 22 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Kalyan C. Mantripragada, M.D., M.P.H., from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, and colleagues describe a 65-year-old male patient who presented to the hospital with six weeks of increasing fatigue, 20-pound weight loss, and a fever of up to 100.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

The researchers identified normocytic anemia, with a hemoglobin level of 84 g/L on initial testing. Changes consistent with liver cirrhosis and splenomegaly were identified on computed tomography; liver biopsy showed chronic portal tract inflammation. Diffuse heterogeneous uptake in the bone marrow was seen on positron emission tomography. Using the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test along with the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay, confirmatory syphilis serology was positive. Further testing identified an absolute reticulocyte count of 1.2 percent, indicating inadequate marrow response to anemia. Hypercellular marrow was identified on bone marrow biopsy; lymphoid aggregates and lymphogranulomas were also present. In the hepatic sinusoids, extramedullary hematopoiesis was observed, and organisms were revealed in immunohistochemistry for syphilis. The patient was treated for late-latent syphilis with ceftriaxone for six weeks and his symptoms resolved.

"Syphilis was the cause of our patient's widespread liver and bone marrow involvement and the resulting anemia, transaminitis, and leukoerythroblastosis," the authors write.

Explore further PET/CT bests gold standard bone marrow biopsy for diagnosis and prognosis of lymphoma patients

Copyright  2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Tuberculosis vaccination in South Africa. Credit: Corbis

"New weapon in fight against the deadliest disease! Medicine can be used to treat existing illness and prevent reoccurrence." These headlines were published 125 years ago and shook up not only the world of science and medicine, but also the general public. At the time, tuberculosis  the disease in question  was responsible for almost 40 percent of deaths among Berlin's working population.

Robert Koch, who discovered the miracle cure, had already described the infectious nature of tuberculosis nine years earlier  on 24 March 1882 to be precise, which is why 24 March was declared World Tuberculosis Day. But that was nothing compared to his new miracle drug tuberculin. If the first reports about the successful treatment of consumptives are to be believed, it was an unparalleled success story. The results of the clinical studies on the chances of recovery for tuberculosis patients were published at the end of the year. The euphoria abruptly turned into disappointment, however, as the studies showed that the treatment was not effective.

Up to a short time ago, very little had changed since then. Of course, 95 years ago, French researchers Albert Calmette und Camille Guerin developed a tuberculosis vaccine, the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine which is named after them, and 20 years later, Salman Waksman discovered streptomycin, the first effective drug for the treatment of tuberculosis. However, the vaccine only protects young children against serious disease progression and many tuberculosis pathogens are already resistant to streptomycin.

Do we still have to concern ourselves with this today? In my opinion we do: tuberculosis has claimed in excess of one billion human lives over the last 200 years, more than all other communicable diseases, and more than smallpox, malaria, the plague, influenza, cholera and AIDS combined over the same period. Even today, no pathogen is responsible for more deaths than the forgotten tuberculosis pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Yet despite these dreadful numbers, tuberculosis is a forgotten disease that lacks the shock value and media hype of more recent diseases like Ebola and Zika.

This is aggravated by the fact that tuberculosis bacteria are increasingly resistant to the antibiotics used to treat the disease. The treatment of normal tuberculosis is extremely complicated and protracted. Up to four drugs have to be taken for six months. In the places where tuberculosis is most widespread, i.e. in the world's poorer countries, there is no guarantee of orderly treatment. And this makes it even easier for pathogens that are resistant to several drugs at once to develop.

Against this background, it could be said that the World Health Organization's aim of reducing the annual disease rate from 9.6 million cases today to fewer than one million, and the number of fatalities from 1.5 million today to 75,000 in the year 2035 is far too ambitious. The target is ambitious - but it is not entirely unrealistic.

Research and development in the field of tuberculosis was neglected for almost 100 years. It only took off again towards the end of the 20th century and we are now able to harvest the first fruits of these efforts today. In 2014, two new drugs were licensed for the treatment of tuberculosis not for general use but for the treatment of multiresistant strains, the cases for which drugs are most urgently needed. Five other drugs and several new combinations of drugs are currently close to the end of clinical testing. Thus, the tuberculosis drug pipeline is much fuller now than it has been for many years.

Progress has also been made in the area of diagnostics. Using the GeneXpert system, not only can infection with the pathogen be diagnosed very quickly with the help of molecular genetic methods, it is also possible to analyze its resistances. Patients can therefore now be put on suitable treatment in a matter of a few hours. GeneXpert yields the best results when pathogenic material can be harvested from the patient. This is usually possible in the case of the most common form of the disease, pulmonary tuberculosis. However, it does not work in cases in which the lungs are not affected  around 20 percent of all patients.

The tuberculin test originally developed by Robert Koch does not help here either, as it does not differentiate between those who have the disease and healthy infected subjects. There are over two million people in the world infected with the pathogen but who do not suffer from the disease. Active tuberculosis only arises in just under ten percent of all those infected.

Biomarker tests, for which blood cells are used, offer a solution here. Doctors will soon be able to not only diagnose the disease using such biomarkers but also provide a prognosis. In other words, not only can we distinguish sufferers from healthy infected subjects, but also whether an infected person is at a high risk of developing active tuberculosis or not. Similar to the way in which biomarkers can be used in the diagnosis of different forms of cancer, people with an increased risk of developing tuberculosis can now also be identified. In people identified as being at risk in this way, the development of the disease can be prevented through the administration of preventive drug treatment. Because they cannot become infectious as a result, this also reduces the risk of the spread of the disease.

With over a dozen candidates at different stages of clinical testing, the pipeline for tuberculosis vaccine research and development is also flowing. The immunization effect of two candidates is currently being tested, and a new vaccine is due to enter the final stage of clinical testing in India this year. As part of this study, it is intended to examine whether it is possible to prevent the recurrence of the disease following successful drug treatment. Although the treatment of tuberculosis with drugs generally leads to recovery, every tenth person discharged as recovered suffers a recurrence of the disease. The new study should establish whether the vaccine can prevent this. If it works, it would represent a decisive breakthrough!

These new developments are gratifying and, for the first time in many years, give us hope that we will succeed in getting tuberculosis under control in the early 21st century.

Explore further FDA approves first new tuberculosis in 40 years
New research shows patients with a history of chest discomfort due to coronary artery diseasea build up of plaque in the heart's arterieswho are subsequently diagnosed with depression are much more likely to suffer a heart attack or die compared with those who are not depressed. The study, scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

These results are in line with previous research showing that depression is associated with worse outcomes after a heart attack or bypass surgery. But this is the first large population study to look at how a new diagnosis of depression might affect people with coronary heart disease, according to researchers.

The study included 22,917 patients from 19 medical centers in Ontario, Canada, who received a diagnosis of stable coronary artery disease following coronary angiogram for chest pain (chronic stable angina) between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2013. Individuals with CAD who were found to be depressed were 83 percent more likely to die of any cause compared with those with the same condition who were not depressed during follow-up (average of three years). They were also 36 percent more likely to present at a hospital having a heart attack during the same time period. Depression did not, however, impact the likelihood of needing bypass surgery or coronary stent placements.

"Patients who develop depression after being diagnosed with heart disease have a much worse prognosis," said Natalie Szpakowski, M.D., an internal medicine resident at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study. "Our findings suggest that these patients may need to be screened for mood disorders, whether it's by their family doctor or cardiologist."

She said that because there was no interval of time within which these patients were more likely to develop depression, any screening should be done at regular intervals of time to avoid missed opportunities to intervene.

Patients diagnosed with depression were more likely to be women and report more severe chest pain based on a validated angina scale. Other factors that predicted depression included smoking, diabetes or having a greater number of co-existing medical conditions.

"This is consistent with the literature in that women are more prone to depression, whether it's due to sex hormones or social roles we don't fully know," Szpakowski said. "Other studies have also found that more severe chest pain has been linked to depression, and we know people with more medical illnesses are more susceptible to being depressed."

To be included in this study, patients had to show evidence of more than 70 percent narrowing in the arteries of the heart and more than 50 percent in the left main coronary artery. Researchers excluded patients if they had a history of depression or ever had a heart attack, other cardiac event requiring hospitalization, bypass surgery or a stent placed. Physician billing codes and hospital admissions were used to determine new diagnoses of major depression. Data was collected for all-cause mortality and time to readmission for heart attack and revascularization, and analyses controlled for other cardiovascular risk factors.

"Based on these findings, there may be an opportunity to improve outcomes in people with coronary heart disease by screening for and treating mood disorders, but this needs to be further studied," Szpakowski said. "Stable chronic angina due to narrowing of the coronary arteries is common, and our findings show that many of these patients struggle with depression. Our follow-up was at most five years, so many more might be affected."

Szpakowski said she cautions that the study design may have captured patients with psychosocial distress in addition to major depressive disorder. She said this could have diluted the findings, meaning that the impact of depression on outcomes could be even stronger in patients with true depression. The research is also restricted to patients who had a coronary angiogram, who may have had more severe disease or symptoms.

Additional studies are needed to evaluate the utility of screening for and treating depression in this population. The study was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Explore further Depressed patients have more frequent chest pain even in the absence of coronary artery disease

More information: The study, "Clinical Consequences Of A New Diagnosis Of Major Depressive Disorder In Patients With Stable Ischemic Heart Disease," will be presented on April 4, 2016, at 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. ET/4:15 p.m. UTC at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago. The meeting runs April 2-4.
In The BMJ this week, two experts debate whether doctors should boycott working in Australia's immigration detention centres.

Dr David Berger at Broome Hospital in Western Australia, argues that however compassionate their intentions, "doctors who treat people who have been tortured and then acquiesce in the continuation of torture themselves are supporting torture."

On the other hand, Professor Steven Miles, Chair of Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, says these egregious circumstances "do not justify a boycott that would further isolate internees from adequate care."

Since 2015's Border Force Act, healthcare professionals have risked imprisonment by speaking out about appalling conditions in centres that have been likened to gulags and concentration camps, explains Berger.

Last month, the president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) finally denounced Australia's appalling treatment of asylum seekers, calling it "state-sanctioned child abuse."

He stopped short of calling for a medical boycott of these facilities because, he said, it is less evil to be inside the system bearing witness and providing medical care, and public opinion would not support such a boycott.

But Berger argues that "doctors cannot work ethically within the present system" and says healthcare leaders "must take a firm stand and send a clear message to the Australian government that doctors will not support such a system."

He points out that detainees have not committed any crime, and says: "It is long past time for Australia to treat people seeking its protection in a manner commensurate with its status as a modern, democratic nation."

"If it will not do so then doctors must refuse to continue to be complicit but should do everything in their power to deliver ethical healthcare to these most vulnerable of people."

But Steven Miles argues that Australian physicians "should not boycott clinical care positions in Australia's offshore immigrant deportation centres to raise public awareness or promote redress of egregious human rights abuses."

Many Australian medical professionals are rightfully shamed and angered by the flagrant abuses being committed by their government, he writes.

But he believes that the proposed "boycott" is really a labor action - and that rather than standing down from their posts, "Australian physicians should live up to the duties of their station."

He says the AMA should buttress its commendable reports and ethics codes with more aggressive action. "It should help frontline clinicians to transmit reports, pictures, and data through encrypted and anonymous web channels to international human rights organisations"

The AMA should also establish a legal defence fund "to defend any physician whose free speech in the service of patients is prosecuted under the Orwellian Border Force Act."

"If Australian physicians choose to undertake a labor action, this should target the government rather than the detainees," he explains, adding that "physicians should not target the desperately underserved and isolated people whose welfare they are advocating for."

More information: Head to Head: Should doctors boycott working in Australia's immigration detention centres? The BMJ, www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.i1600 Journal information: British Medical Journal (BMJ) Head to Head: Should doctors boycott working in Australia's immigration detention centres? The
In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, Dr. Josh Blum demonstrates how to administer a dose of naloxone while conferring with the inmate at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

When he was a teenager, Lee Gonzales could not save his uncle from a heroin overdose. Now he worries that the same drug could kill him after he gets out of jail.

As Gonzales remembers, he had rousted his uncle from previous heroin stupors by propping him up and splashing water on his face. But there was no one around to help that day. And there was nothing available like the bright orange prescription bottle the 32-year-old heroin addict held in his hand on a recent morning.

"This is enough medicine to save somebody, huh?" Gonzales said, fiddling with the nasal inhaler as a doctor sat with him in a cinderblock interview room in Denver's downtown jail.

Similar scenes are unfolding in a growing number of jails and prisons across the country as health officials train soon-to-be-released inmates to use the overdose-reversal drug naloxone to save others and sometimes themselves.

Dr. Joshua Blum teaches inmates about the nasal spray, which can undo the effects of an opiate overdose almost instantly. Blum told Gonzales, who was jailed on theft warrants, he could take the antidote with him when he is freed.

"I think it's a great idea," Gonzales said.

Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, has become a key tool in curbing overdoes resulting from the nation's opioid abuse epidemic. The class of drug that includes prescription painkillers and heroin was involved in a record 28,648 deaths in 2014, and opioid overdoses have more than quadrupled since 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recently released inmates are particularly vulnerable.

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, inmate Lee Gonzalez, back, confers with Dr. Josh Blum at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Naloxone supporters say the opportunity to save potentially thousands of lives outweighs any fears that the promise of a nearby antidote would only encourage drug abuse. Officials already widely distribute the drug to police, paramedics, drug users and their families.

The push to equip inmates is new, fueled by research showing former prisoners in Washington state were nearly 13 times more likely to die of an overdose in the two weeks after their release than other people. Heroin tolerance goes down while users abstain behind bars, but they often return to their previous dose when they get out, putting them at greater risk.

"They're very anxious. They are released to environments where they have a lot of exposure to drugs. They are triggered to use, and they may not have support systems to help them," said Dr. Ingrid Binswanger, senior investigator for Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research, who worked on the study.

Researchers also found that 8 percent of overdose deaths in Washington state were former prisoners.

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, inmate Eric Burton examines a naloxone kit while conferring with a doctor at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Inmates set to be released from San Francisco's county jail have been offered naloxone kits since the program started there in March 2013. More than 1,700 inmates in six New York state prisons have been trained to use the antidote, and at least 600 have taken kits with them on their way out.

And in Colorado, several county jails began giving certain inmates rescue kits in January, funded in part by the state's recreational marijuana taxes.

It's hard to say what happens to the inmates given the drug after they're released, partly because reporting overdoses or reversals is voluntary.

A study of 100 Rhode Island inmates who received naloxone found they were able to successfully administer the drug after being released. A few used it to reverse their own overdoses, said Dr. Jody Rich, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights. The research did not track what happened to the inmates over time.

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, Dr. Josh Blum, left, confers with inmate Lee Gonzales at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

"I wouldn't predict that it would stop people from using, and conversely it wouldn't encourage them to use," Rich said.

In New York, two former prisoners have come forward to report three overdose reversals, said Sharon Stancliff, medical director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, which runs the training. One of those former inmates now helps train other prisoners to use naloxone.

The King County jail in Washington state has trained 221 inmates, 10 of whom reported lifesaving reversals. Officials only learned of those successes when inmates returned to jail, public health spokesman James Apa said.

Blum, a doctor at Denver Health Medical Center, took inmates' phone numbers so doctors could reach out to each of them six months after their release. The Colorado program is too new to have yielded quantifiable results.

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, inmate Eric Burton examines a naloxone dose while conferring with a doctor at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

"We're telling this group of people that is highly stigmatized and not well-liked that they're good enough citizens that they might be able to go out and save a life," Stancliff said. "It's empowering."

Naloxone is not addictive and does not cause a high. Big pharmacy chains like Walgreens and CVS now sell the antidote, also available as an injection, over the counter. And the Obama administration in February proposed $90 million more in federal spending for programs that help states and local governments to, among other aims, improve access to naloxone.

Critics say it provides only temporary relief without combatting drug use. Maine Gov. Paul LePage, for example, has consistently opposed efforts to make the drug more accessible, saying that giving the antidote to family members of drug users would discourage people from seeking treatment.

Blum acknowledged that naloxone isn't a cure. But overdose reversals can offer a chance to seek more comprehensive treatment, he said.

"Dead addicts don't recover," Blum said.

Gonzales agreed to let his cellmates know about the drug and pledged to give it to friends and family when he gets out. And he recalled his own efforts to revive his uncle.

"I wish I had that at the time when that all happened," he said. "I sure wish I did."

Explore further FDA approves nasal spray to reverse narcotic painkiller overdose

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Nuns with the Little Sisters of The Poor, including Sister Celestine, left, and Sister Jeanne Veronique, center, rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, as the court hears arguments to allow birth control in healthcare plans in the Zubik vs. Burwell case. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Supreme Court seems deeply divided over the arrangement devised by the Obama administration to spare faith-based groups from having to pay for birth control for women covered under their health plans.

The court's conservative justices sounded supportive Wednesday of the groups' complaint that the administration's effort violates their religious rights.

The four liberal justices seem likely to vote to uphold the accommodation offered to faith-based colleges, charities and advocacy groups.

A 4-4 tie would uphold four appeals court rulings in favor of the administration. But different rules would apply in parts of the country in which another appeals court has sided with the challengers.

Wednesday was the sixth anniversary of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul; the case in front of the justices was the law's fourth Supreme Court appearance in five years.

The issue this time is the arrangement the administration devised to make sure that religiously oriented groups do not have to pay for or arrange the provision of contraceptives to which they object, while ensuring that women covered under their health plans still can obtain birth control.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy voiced sympathy for the groups' claim that they remain complicit in providing morally objectionable contraceptives under the government's plan. "Hijacking. It seems to me that's an accurate description of what the government wants to do," Roberts said. Kennedy also used that word during 90 minutes of crisp arguments and frequent interruptions by the justices.

This Feb. 17, 2016 file photo shows the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court is taking up a challenge from faith-based groups that object to an Obama administration effort to ensure their employees and students can get cost-free birth control. The justices are hearing arguments March 23 on the sixth anniversary of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in a case at the intersection of the law, religion and birth control. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Only Justice Clarence Thomas asked no questions, but he has repeatedly sided with the health law's challengers.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the administration's arrangement takes into account women who are covered by the affected plans and "have a real need for contraception." Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan also asked questions that signaled their support for the administration.

Eight justices are hearing the case, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last month. The challengers could find it hard, without Scalia, to attract the five votes they need to prevail.

Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law. The administration pointed to research showing that the high cost of some methods of contraception discourages women from using them. A very effective means of birth control, the intrauterine device, can cost up to $1,000.

Kate Perelman of Silver Spring, Md., left, with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, holds a sign saying "Notorious IUD" as a play on words with the nickname for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as she, and others, rally in support of birth control access regardless of employer, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court is taking up a challenge from faith-based groups that object to an Obama administration effort to ensure their employees and students can get cost-free birth control. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Houses of worship and other religious institutions whose primary purpose is to spread the faith are exempt from the birth control requirement.

Other faith-affiliated groups that oppose some or all contraception have to tell the government or their insurers that they object.

In 2014, the justices divided 5-4, with Scalia in the majority, to allow some "closely held" businesses with religious objections to refuse to pay for contraceptives for women. That case involved the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores and other companies that said their rights were being violated under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The nonprofit groups are invoking the same law in asking that the government find a way that does not involve them or their insurers if it wishes to provide birth control to women covered by their health plans.

Nuns, including Sister Maria Kolbe, right, of the Order of St. Francis, from Mishawaka, Ind., rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, as the court hears arguments to allow birth control in healthcare plans in the Zubik vs. Burwell case. The Supreme Court is taking up a challenge from faith-based groups that object to an Obama administration effort to ensure their employees and students can get cost-free birth control. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Among the challengers are Bishop David Zubik, head of the Catholic Diocese in Pittsburgh; the Little Sisters of the Poor, nuns who run more than two dozen nursing homes for impoverished seniors; evangelical and Catholic colleges in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, D.C., and the anti-abortion advocacy group Priests for Life.

The groups argue that the administration already has carved out exemptions and encourages people who can't get contraceptives through their employers to use the health care exchanges that were created by the health care law and serve millions of people.

The administration contends that tens of thousands of women would be disadvantaged by a ruling for the groups.

The court will consider whether the accommodation offered by the administration violates the group's rights under the religious freedom law. Even if it does, the administration still could show that it has a "compelling interest" in the provision of contraception and that its plan is the most reasonable way, or "least restrictive means" of getting birth control to women covered by the groups' health plans.

Nationwide, eight appeals courts, including four with decisions being challenged in the current case, have sided with the administration, and one has ruled for the groups. A 4-4 outcome would leave a mess, because different rules would apply in different parts of the country. The Supreme Court takes on cases in order to lay down uniform nationwide rules.

Explore further Obama health law birth control plan returns to Supreme Court

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The News in Brief

More tangible support must be given not only to Ukraine, but also to Moldova and Georgia - Linas Linkevicius



More tangible support must be given to the Eastern partners, not only Ukraine, but also Moldova and Georgia, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius told EurActiv.com in an exclusive interview.



According to him, a discussion on Russia was held at the Foreign Affairs Council.



For a third year in a row, we [Lithuania] are organising the Russian Forum, a very successful event I believe, speaking in Russian. We invited the Russian opposition, politologists, journalists and other creative people to discuss the future of Russia, the future of Russia together with Europe, as well as how we should communicate our messages to Moscow. That was very useful, said Linkevicius.



He also talked about Ukraines visa liberalisation and noted that its not a gesture. It should be done according to the progress they have made. They passed four very important laws. They are very well on track, and visa liberalisation should happen. I personally think this must be done". (IPN)







Construction of multifunctional hotel



The construction of multifunctional residential complex and hotel (Porta Batumi Tower) is approaching completion in Batumi. The construction process was visited by the Prime Minister on March 16.



This is one of the most avant-garde projects and the highest residential complex and hotel in Georgia, in which 70 million dollars have been invested. The design of the Porta Tower is in line with world-class standards and it was constructed in compliance with the highest criteria. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the summer of this year.



The Porta Tower is equipped with various studio type and two-three bedroom apartments as well as 12 penthouses with a view of the sea and mountains.



A two-storey underground car park is available to the residents, while 12 spaces for shops are located on the ground floor. A 100-suite-hotel with a terrace restaurant and fitness spa center will be accommodated in the complex. Establishing a cafe and office spaces is also envisaged by the project. (Government.gov.ge)







NPM Continues to Monitor Joint Return Operation of Migrants



The Department of Prevention and Monitoring of the Public Defender's Office carried out monitoring of a joint return operation of migrants for the third time on March 10, 2016. Representatives of the Department of Prevention and Monitoring went from Tbilisi International Airport to the airports of the German city of Dusseldorf and the Greek capital of Athens, where they attended the deportation of 44 Georgian citizens from various countries of Europe.



The deported people were handed over to the escort of the Ministry of Internal Affairs by border police officers of Germany, Spain, Belgium, Greece and Hungary on board. The deportation was coordinated by the European organization FRONTEX.



The process of checking and travelling was monitored non-stop. The trip was calm; during the return operation no violation of human rights of the deported persons was reported. (Ombudsman.ge)







Georgian, Azerbaijani and Turkish young people against terrorism



Georgian, Azeri and Turkish students marched from Ilia University to the Turkish Embassy in order to express their solidarity with the Turkish people.



The protesters condemned terrorism and expressed their support and solidarity with the families of the victims of the tragedy in Ankara.



They have transmitted a letter of condolences to Turkish Embassy representatives. (Rustavi 2)




Obama sat down with 13 dissidents and political activists behind closed doors at the U.S. embassy for more than an hour and a half, several of the attendees said, even though the gathering had been scheduled to last only a half-hour. The president greeted each person around the conference table by name, taking notes as they aired grievances about Raul Castros rule  and, in some cases, about Obamas U.S.-Cuba policy.

President Obamas goal was achieved, in terms of relaying a very clear message of human recognition and moral support, said Elizardo Sanchez, the head of a human-rights group who was detained for several hours Saturday when he returned home to Havana.

The White House insisted the meeting with the dissidents was never in question. But when Secretary of State John Kerry failed to travel to Cuba a couple of weeks ahead of the president, as had been expected, Castro opponents feared an attempt was under way by the Cuban government to dictate who could meet Obama.

After the regime detained more than 50 activists Sunday  including two invited to Obamas meeting  dissidents also worried government authorities might keep them from showing up Tuesday.

Full story here.
Gov. Rick Scott appears to have found his choice to be the next state insurance commissioner.

Scott's office on Wednesday morning recommended the Florida Cabinet conduct a final public interview with just one of 55 candidate who applied to be the next insurance commissioner. Scott's office proposed that Cabinet interview only Palm Harbor resident Jeffrey Bragg, a former top insurance official in both the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush administrations. That interview would be next Tuesday when the four-member cabinet is scheduled to meet.

Bragg, a 67-year-old Republican, ran the nation's terrorism risk insurance program from 2003 until his retirement in 2014. In the early 1980s, Bragg worked under the Reagan Administration, serving in the Federal Emergency Management Agency where he was the administrator for the national flood insurance program.

But Bragg isn't a done deal yet. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has recommended the Cabinet also interview current state Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach, who served as Iowa's Insurance Commissioner from 1986 to 1990. Hager, 69, has been vice-chair of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee. Since 2000, Hager has been president of Insurance Metrics Corporation, which provides insurance consulting services.
The guest column in the Missoulian on March 17 by Tim Gould, executive director of the Montana Republican Party, is so far from the truth that I hope hes wearing asbestos underwear.

Gould thinks that Colstrips future is in jeopardy because of some capricious liberal hate of anything and everything to do with coal. More likely, its about the Economics 101 basic premise of supply and demand. The demand for coal is dwindling, ergo, the supply side is dwindling, too.

The good folks in Oregon and Washington are thinking that maybe coal isnt the best way to generate electricity. Cheap natural gas, a shift to renewables and a real concern about climate change is behind this wisdom, and the coal from eastern Montana thats used to produce power is taking a hit.

Is Gould suggesting we abandon the GOPs vaunted free market principles and somehow prop up the coal industry?

And then theres this bit of fiction: Arch Coal Company is backing out of coal mining at Montanas Otter Creek because of some nefarious Democratic plot. He fails to mention that Arch recently filed for bankruptcy protection. In the face of decreased demand for coal, Arch certainly isnt going to expand its coal mining operations (although it did manage to pay its top executives $8 million in bonuses the day before filing for bankruptcy, but I digress).

One solution Gould offers as a way to help Colstrip is for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to veto that states Senate Bill 6248. The bill, which passed 42-7, is to set up a fund to pay for the eventual decommissioning of Colstrip Units 1 and 2. Gov. Steve Bullock should demand that Inslee veto the bill, says Gould.

Im sure Inslee is going to go against the wishes of his constituency, and the majority of Washington lawmakers, to do the bidding of the Montana GOP mouthpiece.

The reason Gould brought up Inslee and Bullock is because the Washington governor was visiting our governor last week and the two were involved in some fundraising for the Democratic Governors Association. Gould describes this as dark-money fundraising. It is not. You can find all contributions and expenditures by a simple Google search. The Republicans have a similar fundraising organization, and it should be noted that in 2015, nine Montana Republican lawmakers were investigated for illegal campaign practices. One of those, state Rep. Art Wittich has a corruption trial starting at the end of this month before the Montana Supreme Court.

People in glass houses 

Gould is only two months into his job as Montana GOP executive director. If this fabricated opinion piece of his is a preview of upcoming political discourse, its going to be a long, sleazy campaign season.
From farce to fascism in the blink of an eye:

Well, here we are on the eve of learning whether a parasitical and pathologically lying gambling mogul will succeed in ruining what remains of a political party so long deserving just that. In most cases this would hand the opposition party a chance to retain the presidency and regain majorities in both houses, but not this one, which, like its opposition, has so long been corrupted by corporate money that it is unable to take advantage of the ongoing rational and irrational popular rage over the destruction of the republic and its complete conversion to an oligarchical, corporate-dominated warfare state serving the interests of a few in the short run and no one in the long run.

Because the Dem elite will never allow Bernie Sander to be its nominee, that leaves it up to Hillary Clinton to save us from this monster. Somehow I am not reassured, given her and her husbands removal of all obstacles to the completion of the Reagan Revolution, their unabashed schmoozing venality (i.e.: Wall Street and the petro-rich Gulf States), and her unrelentingly hawkish foreign policy (Libya, Honduras), not having learned a thing from her Iraqi blunder. Even if elected, she will probably be unable to calm the aroused rabble here, given her lack of vision, her neo-liberal track record and her overall political ineptitude.

The media has done little to frame the proto-fascist Trump phenomena for what it is in the large part: the logical and inevitable reaction to the decades-long Democratic Party desertion of the working classes since the Vietnam era and the subsequent Republican seizure of this constituency as its base through the exploitation of racial and social wedge issues (especially amongst the Evangelicals). Both party elites have impoverished the American working and middle classes through the predatory transition form a manufacturing to a finance-based economy, the negotiation of ill-considered international trade agreements and the subsequent loss of jobs with minimal environmental and labor safeguards for those that remain, the disastrous deregulation of our the financial sector, the enrichment of a large segment of our residual manufacturing base through the unrelenting production of an increasingly sophisticated and expensive weapons system to feed our alarmist DOD and to sell bidders in the international arms market, many of whom we have created through our reckless foreign policy. Conservatives like the late Chalmers Johnson and liberals like the late Gore Vidal saw no way out of this insidious state of affairs, in part because it is so seldom discussed in the corporate-dominated media.

The so-called Republican debates have touched on little of the above. To the extent I have been able to stomach these debates, I have heard nothing but issue- and substance-free exchanges of personal insults. The media, never known to shy away from ramping up its ratings through the creation of political spectacle, have allowed the pathologically blustering, bullying and lying demagogue Trump to bat around the establishment Republican candidates who have no idea of how to deal with him, in large part because they have had no constructive ideas of their own for decades. So at this point we are left with Trump standing tall, with the reactionary Ted Cruz the only possible alternative at this point, and Trump threatening riots, presumably by his rag-tag collection of racist thugs should his candidacy be ambushed by a panicked bunch of establishment Republicans at a brokered convention.

To their credit, Sanders and Clinton have conducted a comparatively issue-oriented series of debates, primarily because of the former vigorously calling for a political revolution through the redistribution of wealth by breaking up the Wall Street banks, cleaning up the campaign finance system by repealing Citizens United, and reviving our economic system, in part, by saving the planet through the conversion to clean, renewable energy and the creation of countless new jobs. Given Sanders initiatives, Clinton has found herself moving left on these issues, but most certainly will return to the neo-liberal middle if she secures the nomination.

William A. Babcock,

Missoula
In a surprising move, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has gone beyond the United States for its next director, hiring Max Hollein away from the Stadel Museum in Frankfurt.

Starting June 1, Mr. Hollein will oversee the Fine Arts group, consisting of the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor near the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, which specialize in American art and European art, respectively.

Colin B. Bailey previously held the San Francisco museum director job but lasted only two years, from 2013 until 2015, before becoming director of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.

Mr. Hollein, 46, has experience juggling the demands of multiple museum sites, having led the Schirn Kunsthalle and Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt at the same time as the Stadel, where he oversaw a $69 million renovation and expansion.
Convoy began its service last year with the goal of giving local truckers  who specialized in jobs that could be completed in a day  a more efficient way to connect with clients who needed goods shipped.

Local trucking is a heavily fragmented industry, populated by small operators, many of them with 10 or fewer trucks. Matching truckers with clients is typically handled by brokers, who do much of their work by phone, said Dan Lewis, the chief executive of Convoy, who has worked at Amazon.

Convoy gives truckers a smartphone app that they can use to accept a job from shippers. An Uber-like interface allows their clients to see the truck on a map as it heads to its destination. Mr. Lewis said Convoy charged truckers a fee that was less than the roughly 25 percent of the value of a job that a broker typically received.

Were going to help you keep your truck full, Mr. Lewis said. Were going to get you more work. People are always looking for their next load.

Mr. Lewis said the company was operating in Oregon and Washington, and had thousands of truckers active in its network. He said companies that had used its service to ship goods included Scotts Miracle-Gro and a division of Nucor Steel. He said Convoys revenue had been doubling every month since the company began.
MONTGOMERY, Ala.  Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama acknowledged Wednesday that he had made inappropriate and sexually charged remarks to one of his closest aides, but he denied an accusation that he and the woman had pursued a physical relationship.

At times in the past, have I said things that I should not have said? Absolutely, thats what Im saying today, Mr. Bentley said at a State Capitol news conference, when he said he had apologized for any conversations and behavior that was inappropriate. He insisted that he had broken no laws during his friendship and professional partnership with his senior political adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, who holds such power in Alabama that Spencer Collier, a former state law enforcement secretary, on Wednesday referred to her as the de facto governor.

Mr. Bentleys public demonstration of remorse came nearly seven months after Dianne Bentley, to whom the Republican governor was married for 50 years, sought a divorce, and just hours after Mr. Collier, the recently ousted leader of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, described what he saw as a history of improper conduct between the governor and Ms. Mason. Mr. Collier said that Mr. Bentley had, in 2014, effectively acknowledged an affair, and that it appeared to be continuing as recently as last month.

Mr. Bentley, 73, repeatedly signaled that he had no intention of resigning. Although the governors personal behavior has long been a subject of speculation here in the capital, it was not clear Wednesday how his admission would affect his standing among his constituents in this socially conservative state, where he easily won a second term less than two years ago.
In the late 1960s, an undergraduate psychology student at Wellesley College named Martha McClintock noticed something interesting: Women who spent a majority of their time together tended to get their periods around the same time. She suspected that menstruating bodies could influence one another somehow, but it was just a hunch. So she asked 135 of her fellow students to keep track of their cycles. Three times that year, she quizzed them about their period start and which women they socialized with the most.

Initially, it seemed McClintock was right: Close-knit groups of friends tended to start their periods together. The phenomenon of menstrual synchrony was nicknamed the McClintock effect, and her work was lauded as one of the first mainstream studies to demonstrate how one persons body chemistry can trigger responses in anothers. But McClintocks results have been difficult to replicate; now, the scientific consensus is that cycles probably dont sync up  a claim that rings untrue to anyone who menstruates. My friends and I joke that we even seem to sync up digitally, thanks to constant contact via iMessage, Snapchat and Twitter.

The unresolved nature of McClintocks investigation, now almost 50 years old, underscores the unnerving amount of opacity that still surrounds womens health. Even today, its difficult for women to get a sense of whats normal and what isnt. When my friends and I talk about our bodies, we compare feedback from physicians, all of which seems to be slightly different; we warn one another about conditions like uterine fibroids and share horror stories about different methods of contraception. There still seems to be a combination of prudishness and ignorance around the unique, and sometimes idiosyncratic, functions of the female body  which is shocking, considering half the world is born with one.

But in recent years, mobile technology has granted me and countless others the ability to collect an unprecedented amount of information about our habits and well-being. Our phones dont just keep us in touch with the world; theyre also diaries, confessional booths, repositories for our deepest secrets. Which is why researchers are leaping at the chance to work with the oceans of data we are generating, hoping that within them might be the answers to questions medicine has overlooked or ignored.
"When we started our business, Extension connected us with resources to get the answers we needed. Thats whats so amazing about Extension: they find a way to help you get to the next step."

- Scott Hicks

Cutting Edge Meat Company

In Green County
Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. March 23 to correct the name of Bozeman's mayor. It is Carson Taylor, not Jeff Krauss.

Another correction was also made. Basin Creek, Moulton Reservoir and the Big Hole River are all outside the influence of the Berkeley Pit and Silver Bow Creek contamination. But Basin Creek and Moulton Reservoir are within the same watershed as Silver Bow Creek. The story reported all three drinking water sources are outside of Silver Bow Creek's watershed, which is not correct.

Chief Executive Matt Vincent is signing up Butte residents to "take the challenge" to pledge online to cut down on water consumption during April.

Vincent timed his announcement of the Wyland Foundation Mayors Challenge for Water Conservation, which runs April 1-30, to coincide with the internationally recognized World Water Day on Tuesday.

The foundations challenge is a competition designed to encourage residents nationwide to pay attention to water consumption.

The mayor, or in this case the chief executive, signs up his or her town. (See breakout.) The residents then pledge online to be water wise and conservation-minded. Residents who take the challenge can win prizes, including a Toyota Prius.

Half of the worlds workforce is tied to the water industry, Vincent said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the Big Hole Water Treatment Plant, 17 miles south of Butte. It doesnt just affect our lives, it affects our livelihoods.

Butte is no exception to that workforce statistic: The number of jobs tied to water might be higher in southwest Montana since the two biggest industries in the state and region are agriculture and tourism, Vincent said.

Water is crucial, and Im here today to draw attention to it, he said.

Vincent recognized Doug Finnicum and Jim Dennehy, both of whom received outstanding service awards in 2014 for their work at the Big Hole Water Treatment Plant from the Montana Rural Water Users Association.

The plant provides about 7 million gallons of water to Butte residents every day. That accounts for 60 percent of Buttes total water supply, said Jim Keenan, treatment plant operator. Butte is the only municipality in the nation that derives some of its drinking water from the other side of the Continental Divide.

The approximate 20,000 households that are on county water drink, shower, irrigate lawns and wash cars with about 2.8 billion gallons annually, Keenan said. About 15,000 Butte households have wells.

Built in 1994, the Big Hole Water Treatment Plant treats pumps water from the Big Hole River to Butte. The other drinking water sources for Butte are Moulton Reservoir and Basin Creek. All three are outside the influence of Silver Bow Creek's contamination or the Berkeley Pit.

Vincent said his household is participating in the pledge to conserve water all year long. He said that his familys pledge will save more than 67,000 gallons of water a year.

If all of Butte took the same pledge  both well users and county water users  the town could save 2 billion gallons of water a year, he said.

Vincent said he will buy Bozeman Mayor Carson Taylor a bottle of Neversweat Bourbon Whiskey  made by Headframe Spirits in Butte  if Bozeman residents take up the Mayors Challenge for Water Conservation and get the same percentage as Butte to pledge to conserve water.

Vincent said he also extends that challenge to the mayors of Great Falls, Missoula and Kalispell.

Its a friendly challenge, Vincent said.

Vincent suggested a few small efforts that can go a long way in protecting water resources, such as taking reusable bags to the store to cut down on plastic, picking up after pets to prevent nutrients from getting into waterways, and limiting car washes.

Two others attending Tuesdays tour and presentation added their perspectives.

Tana Nulph, conservation programs coordinator for the Big Hole Watershed Committee, called water conservation a group effort, and cited the treatment plant workers for paying close attention to the Big Hole Watershed Committees drought management plan.

Rich Day, of the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited, said he paid to put in a water meter at his home and at his rental house in Butte to help conserve. He also put restrictors on the faucets in his house.

There are lots of ways to conserve, Day said.
A 49-year-old Sidney man who police say was searching pornographic websites in the lobby of a Butte hotel was arrested late Monday night.

An employee at the La Quinta Inn & Suites, 1 Holiday Park Drive, reported that a registered guest, David William Tufton, had been using a hotel computer for a lengthy period and was acting suspicious.

Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich said Tufton kept turning the monitor away so that passersby could not see the screen. Tufton failed to log out of his Facebook home page. Police were able to access his history on the computer and confirmed that he was looking at porn websites.

The undersheriff said it could not be determined if Tufton was accessing child pornography on the computer.

Tufton was arrested on a bond revocation warrant issued in Richland County. He is being held without bond at the Butte-Silver Bow Detention Center.

According to district court documents filed in Richland County, the Wyoming native was arrested in November 2014 for felony partner or family member assault, third or subsequent offense, felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor tampering with a communication device. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Four jury trial dates were slated between April 2015 and March 1, documents state. Filings also show a plea agreement had been offered. A petition of revocation was also filed due to Tufton violating the conditions of his release.

Tufton received a suspended sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections for partner or family member assault in Roosevelt County in February 2011.
WASHINGTON -- The Republican Party's incoherent response to the Supreme Court vacancy is a partisan reflex in search of a justifying principle. The multiplicity of Republican rationalizations for their refusal to even consider Merrick Garland radiates insincerity.

Republicans instantly responded to Antonin Scalia's death by proclaiming that no nominee, however admirable in temperament, intellect and experience, would be accorded a hearing. They say their obduracy is right because:

Because they have a right to be obdurate, there being no explicit constitutional proscription against this.

Or because President Obama's demonstrated contempt for the Constitution's explicit text and for implicit constitutional manners justifies Republicans reciprocating with contempt for his Supreme Court choice, regardless of its merits.

Or because, 24 years ago, then-Sen. Joe Biden -- he is not often cited by Republicans seeking validation -- suggested that a president's right to nominate judges somehow expires, or becomes attenuated, in a "political season," sometime after the midterm elections during a second presidential term.

Or because if a Republican president tried to fill a court vacancy during his eighth year, Democrats would behave the way Republicans are behaving.

In their tossed salad of situational ethics, the Republicans' most contradictory and least conservative self-justification is: The court's supposedly fragile legitimacy is endangered unless the electorate speaks before a vacancy is filled. The preposterous premise is that the court will be "politicized" unless vacancies are left vacant until a political campaign registers public opinion about, say, "Chevron deference."

This legal doctrine actually is germane to Garland. He is the most important member (chief judge) of the nation's second-most important court, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the importance of which derives primarily from its caseload of regulatory challenges. There Garland has practiced what too many conservatives have preached -- "deference" in the name of "judicial restraint" toward Congress, and toward the executive branch and its appendages in administering congressional enactments. Named for a 1984 case, Chevron deference unleashes the regulatory state by saying that agencies charged with administering statutes are entitled to deference when they interpret supposedly ambiguous statutory language.

In his record of deference, Garland resembles two justices nominated by Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, respectively -- Chief Justice John Roberts and, even more, Scalia, who seems to be more revered than read by many conservatives. Garland's reluctance to restrict the administrative state's discretion would represent continuity in the chair he would fill.

Furthermore, Garland's deference is also expressed in respect for precedents, which include the 2008 Heller decision. In it, the court (with Scalia writing for the majority) affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms.

Of the last 25 justices confirmed, beginning with Dwight Eisenhower's 1954 nomination of Earl Warren as chief justice, Garland, 63, is the second-oldest nominee. (Lewis Powell was 64 when Richard Nixon selected him in 1971.) The average age of the 25 was 53. So, Obama's reach into the future through Garland is apt to be more limited than it would be with a younger nominee.

Republicans who vow to deny Garland a hearing and who pledge to support Donald Trump if he is their party's nominee are saying: Democracy somehow requires that this vacancy on a non-majoritarian institution must be filled only after voters have had their say through the election of the next president. And constitutional values will be served if the vacancy is filled not by Garland but by someone chosen by President Trump, a stupendously uninformed dilettante who thinks judges "sign" what he refers to as "bills." There is every reason to think that Trump understands none of the issues pertinent to the Supreme Court's role in the American regime, and there is no reason to doubt that he would bring to the selection of justices what he brings to all matters -- arrogance leavened by frivolousness.

Trump's multiplying Republican apologists do not deny the self-evident -- that he is as clueless regarding (BEG ITAL)everything(END ITAL) as he is about the nuclear triad. These invertebrate Republicans assume that as president he would surround himself with people unlike himself -- wise and temperate advisers. So, we should wager everything on the hope that the man who says his "number one" foreign policy adviser is "myself" (because "I have a very good brain") will succumb to humility and rely on people who actually know things. If Republicans really think that either their front-runner or the Democrats' would nominate someone superior to Garland, it would be amusing to hear them try to explain why they do.

George Will's email address is georgewill@washpost.com.

(c) 2016, Washington Post Writers Group
POPLAR  State child protective specialists who are called out on cases that involve American Indian children don't always comply with federal laws meant to protect enrolled tribal members, an advocate told a committee here Tuesday.

My experience has been that many social workers lack the basic understanding of tribes not only politically or socially, said Georgette Hogan Boggio, a Fort Peck Indian Country Welfare Act attorney.

Hogan Boggio spoke Tuesday at a meeting of the State-Tribal Relations Committee. The committee is meeting in Box Elder on Wednesday and Thursday.

The act is a federal law that attempts to keep American Indian children who are the subject of child welfare investigations and interventions with American Indian families.

"A lot of state social workers dont understand the structure of tribal government, Hogan Boggio said, much less understand the cultural component.

Theres still a strong preference for termination of parental rights and adoption, she said, despite beliefs in most tribal communities that do not even conceive of termination.

She said state law focuses more on the permancy that adoption can supply and overlooks guardianships, which can be successful and fit into the culture of the reservations. She said the concept of adoption doesn't fit with tribal culture.

Lack of knowledge

Michelle Ereaux, who began working with the state Child and Protective Services agency of the Department of Public Health and Human Services two months ago, said shes been surprised by what shes seen.

I find a real lack of knowledge, Ereaux said. Ive been in CPS staff meetings and made clearly aware they had no knowledge of tribes. They did not understand or flatly rejected complying with ICWA. It is common enough it has raised more concern.

Hogan Boggio called the act one of the best recognitions of tribal sovereignty. One of its key provisions is to inform tribes as early as possible when a report of child abuse or neglect involves a child whose parent or parents are enrolled tribal members or eligible for enrollment.

Tribes could have jurisdiction through tribal courts over those situations if the investigation results in a court case. The Bureau of Indian Affairs might also investigate allegations of abuse instead of Montana Child and Family Services Specialists. Tribes can also decline jurisdiction because of a lack of resources to pursue the case.

Hogan Boggio said while American Indians make up 9 percent of Montanas population, 37 percent of children in foster care across the state are Native.

She said the standards imposed by the act are best practices for all children, but American Indian children need special protections because of how children have been treated in the past.

They require additional protections to ensure well-being, Hogan Boggio said.

The act is meant to balance biases that appear to still be in state court today, Ereaux said.

'Doing triage'

Child and Family Services Director Sarah Corbally has said the agency has an overwhelming workload, something Hogan Boggio said makes it hard for employees to follow the rules of the act, which include something called active efforts, which refers to efforts beyond the common legal term reasonable efforts.

Active efforts are meant to help avoid the need to remove children from their parents.

They are faced with doing triage, Hogan Boggio said. Active efforts mandated by ICWA are often pushed to the side.

Hogan Boggio said shes seen social workers list foster care as an active effort, when thats a step active efforts are meant to avoid.

The act also allows tribes to follow its placement preferences for children who are removed from homes, but Hogan Boggio said the tribes can create their own preferences, too.

The act says a child should first be placed with a member of the child's extended family, including non-Indian family members; followed by a foster home licensed, approved or specified by an Indian child's tribe. After that, the preference is for an Indian foster home licensed or approved by an authorized non-Indian licensing authority; or an institution for children approved by the tribe, which has a program suitable to meet the Indian child's needs.

Training specialists

High turnover in the Child and Protective Services agency has made it difficult to build relationships between tribes and the department, Hogan Boggio said.

Ereaux said the workload for Child and Family Services specialists is tremendous and that the problems with the agency complying with the federal act are deep and extensive.

She said specialists need training to better understand tribes.

It is endemic and it is invasive, Ereaux said. Its of great concern to me that we change this.

Ereaux said she is working to improve training for new child protection specialists about the act and working with tribes and tribal courts.

She also plans to increase the number of families on the reservations that can accept children. How long it will take I cannot predict, but we will change it, she said.

She said cultural competence is key.

If we cannot place a child in a native home that is of the tribe from which that child is born  my hope is to create a panel of elders who can bridge gaps for that child, Ereaux said.

She wants elders who can help that child learn about their tribe. It is very important to know who we are, she said.

Ive joked Im going to put my bedroll in my car and just keep trekking to make sure existing staff are trained and of course new staff, because there is high turnover.

Hogan Boggio said she would like to see an ICWA court, something thats been discussed in Yellowstone County.

Most calls reporting suspected abuse or neglect come through Child and Family Services central intake in Helena. They will try to determine if the Bureau of Indian Affairs should investigate the report based on the location the report references and other information.

A family might be enrolled members and live on the reservation, but the call may have been generated from an event off the reservation.

There could also be tribal members who live off-reservation or couples where one parent is an enrolled or eligible member but one is not and the child is eligible.

At the very outset of pickup on a child, the first questions should be, 'Is this a Native child?' Or, 'Is there reason to believe this child may be tribally affiliated?' Hogan Boggio said.
LIBBY  The hole cut into a mountain outside Libby looks little bigger than the opening for a garage.

The Montanore mine entrance, 18 feet tall, was designed to accommodate large trucks as they roll down a 5 percent grade until they get about half-a-mile underground.

Breathing air pumped down from the surface, crews would blast and drill rock from drifts off the main tunnel. A conveyor belt would ferry chunks thousands of feet back to the surface to be milled into a sand-like concentrate of copper and silver then loaded onto train cars for market.

That work could get a little closer when, later this year, a couple dozen contractors are hired to complete work on a two-year operating plan and feasibility study that will be used to secure financing.

Construction of the mine, including the creation of two new adits  the term for entrances and main thoroughfares of underground mines  would create an estimated 500 jobs. During peak production, the count would be around 350 employees, say the owners, Spokane-based Mines Management Inc.

In Lincoln and Sanders counties, a rural region of Montana that frequently tops the states list of highest unemployment rates after the collapse of the timber industry, many residents welcome the possibility for more good-paying jobs.

Last month, the Montanore mine project cleared a major hurdle that sets up the mine to prepare an operating plan and secure financing for construction. At the same time, opponents of the project also gained another opportunity to fight, or at least delay, its launch.

After 11 years of legal battles with environmental groups over regulatory requirements, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued its final record of decision last month to permit the project. But the Montana Department of Environmental Quality did not match the lead federal agencys decision.

The state took a 90-degree turn, Glenn Dobbs, Mines Management CEO, said Tuesday at the projects Libby office before leading a tour of the site.

Instead, the department approved a permit only for the projects evaluation phase. DEQ Director Tom Livers said Tuesday that Mines Management must still prove the project will not lower the flows of protected streams and rivers on the surface above the mine.

We are not happy with how the process went, Livers wrote. Analyzing impacts to a mine beneath wilderness has not been easy. We havent had all the information we would have liked, and the companys own hydrology model shows reductions of stream base flows in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness that cannot be authorized. So, we are approving the company to start work on the mine to provide us with more site specific data from the evaluation phase.

Bonnie Gestring, a Missoula-based advocate with the environmental nonprofit Earthworks, hailed the states limited permit as a victory the group hopes to expand. She said the group expects to file a lawsuit against the federal decision to permit full development of the mine on the grounds that state law cannot be ignored.

To keep the tunnels dry while theyre mining the deposit, which is underneath the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness Area, theyll have to lower the groundwater table which will lead to reduced stream flows, she said. Montanas no degradation law protects against degradation of outstanding resource waters, and all of those within wilderness areas are designated as such.

More than 7,000 feet into the mine, Dobbs stood somewhere under the Cabinet Mountains with Chief Geologist Rod MacLeod and Engineer Denver Winslow. A chain blocked off the remaining tunnel, which disappeared into darkness and under still water. Ground moisture that seeps through cracks in the rock pools in the lower tunnel, similar to a straw pushed into soda at an angle.

Winslow explained that water must be pumped from the tunnel at three days a week at 35 gallons a minute to maintain the water level. Once in full operation, the volume could grow to an estimated 200 to 300 gallons a minute.

But some mines near Coeur dAlene pump 500 gallons a minute, Dobbs added, pointing to rock walls largely free of drips and stains. This is a dry mine.

Steve Gunderson, a Libby native and founding member of the Montanore Positive Action Committee, chafed at the suggestion that mining operations more than 2,000 feet underground could disturb wildlife habitat on the surface.

Did you see any bull trout? Did you see any grizzly tracks? he asked. If anyone is going to care about conservation of the forest, its going to be the locals, not people in Washington, D.C. I am one of the asbestos victims (from the W.R. Grace mine), and I put the details of this project under a microscope.

Gunderson, a local businessman who is running for the House District 1 legislative seat, noted that the mine had previously been permitted by the state in the 1980s. The project stopped a few years later before its completion because of falling copper and silver prices. In 2002, Mines Management bought the mine, which taps into one of the worlds largest copper and silver deposits.

When Gunderson founded the action committee in 2009 to support the mines development, he said he didnt expect to still be at it seven years later. In ways, the battle feels like its about identity as much as it is about copper or silver.

We used to be miners. Go back to 1899 when Montana became a state. What made Montana the powerhouse it was? Mining. Thats our heritage. This isnt conservation, he said, frustrated by mine opponents insistence on leaving the wilderness area undisturbed. That isnt conservation. Thats waste. Total, total waste. Weve wasted jobs. Weve wasted a community. We wasted a natural resource.

Gestring said public lands such as the Cabinet Wilderness are a natural resource that belong to all Montanans and protecting the availability of clean water is a common sense priority.

I cant speak to the economic issues. Our job is to protect and uphold the environment.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
Trust Kenyans to go out of their way for the sole purposes of entertaining and driving a point home. As you are all aware, we have lately been hit hard by extreme temperatures which has led to some alarmists claiming that the country is experiencing a heat wave.

The Kenya Meteorological Department however dismissed those misleading claims and clarified that the extreme temperatures were as a result of the equinox( an astronomical event in which the plane of Earths equator passes through the center of the Sun).

On a lighter note however, a Kenyan on social media has illustrated on a Sh 1000 note just how hot it has been.

Check this out



Elsewhere, a man believed to be from Kakamega had no other choice but to ride his motorcycle naked



While in Mombasa




The world is living in a very new reality. Terrorism is no longer isolated in war-torn countries, but quickly finding its way to big cities in peaceful countries in Africa and the West.

Just months after the Paris attacks, Belgium was hit by twin bombings in its capital Brussels yesterday, which also happens to be the headquarters of the European Union.

More than 30 people were killed by a suicide bomber at Brussels Airport, while another bomb went off at a Metro Station barely 400 metres from the EU headquarters.

Soldiers were deployed to the airport and other key locations within the country, as hundreds of flights were cancelled across Europe.



























When Kenya was under a terror attack last year, about 15,000 Belgian students gathered in Brussels to light candles for Garissa University victims.

A candle was lit for each of the 148 victims. They were put in front of the stage, in the middle of flowers and with a sign that read I am a student, I am Garissa. Candles were also given out to the crowd, who were also there to hear the speeches.

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Blood spilled in Africa is the same as blood spilled in Belgium, France or Denmark, said Jonathan De Lathouwer, president of the Belgian Union of Jewish Students. As students, we are moved also. The silence of pantoufles is worse than the noise of boots. We wanted to show solidarity to the families of the students killed. Its also the symbol of the University that was attacked. Its the future of the country, the symbol of knowledge. Its a multicultural University, with Muslim and Christian students, which the terrorists wanted to destroy.

Its now Kenyans turn to stand with Belgium.

Here are photos of how that went down.
A human rights activist on Monday afternoon stunned a Mombasa court after disclosing that he was in a secret love affair with nominated senator Emma Mbura.

The Coast based activist, Kalinga Mgandi, was arraigned in court on charges of sending an offensive audio message to the senator.

Appearing before Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi, the activist disclosed that the love affair had brought marital problems in his life leading to separation.

The case before you is about love, your honour. I have been having a love affair with the senator. I have separated with my wife because of her, Mr Mgandi told the court.

Reports indicate that Mr. Mgandi posted an audio message on various WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms, questioning the senators morality.

The clips reportedly indicated that Ms Mbura was fond of having affairs with several men and question how she earned her nomination to the Senate, prompting her to sue him.

Mgandi denied the charges and was freed on a Sh100,000 bond.

Speaking to kenyans.co.ke, the senator who was also in court, claimed Mgandi was plotting to destroy her political career.

If he has been sent to down my political career, then he has not succeeded since I will continue vying as a woman and a leader. Kenyans will judge me based on my actions rather than what he (Mgandi) is saying, she declared.
A bizarre incident has left residents of a village in Tharaka Nithi County shocked after a boy allegedly served his classmates with a poisonous substance.

Four pupils at Giampampo Primary School were admitted to Chuka General Hospital after complaining of severe stomach aches following consumption of the powdery substance.

According to reports, the boy was in the company of seven classmates when he offered the four brightest students the glucose-like powder.

One of the discharged pupils revealed that the boy tricked them into believing that their teacher sent him to provide the top performers with the present.

We were in class when our colleague came in with a powder which looked like glucose and claimed that he was given by our class teacher as a reward to the seven of us for performing well in examination. But when we ate it we developed stomach problem, the pupil was quoted by Daily Nation.

Medical Superintendent at Chuka General Hospital, Dr Elijah Kameti confirmed that the victims were in stable condition, although doctors were yet to establish contents of the poisonous substance.

The pupils teacher, Mr Stephen Gitonga, confirmed the incident saying: This boy must have bad motive because he selected the bright ones.

The pupil admitted to giving his classmates the charm, which he disposed in a latrine after the victims started experiencing excruciating stomach pains.
Top disc jockey and one of Kenyas finest spin masters DJ Mista Dru is a dad after welcoming a bouncing baby boy.

The dj real name Andrew Siro and his wife welcomed the bundle of joy last week Thursday at around midnight. They named him Liam.

The entertainer who is also Client Head Of Production at Bamba TV, broke the news on Instagram posting the very first photo of the adorable baby for the public to see.

He wrote: And 12 hours ago the champ landed! Words cant express what your mom and I feel! Thanks to the almighty for blessing us with you Liam!

Check him out








WASHINGTON  Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. must be intensified following the deadly bombings on Brussels airport and subway.

Echoing his rival Donald Trump, Cruz said the U.S. should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence. The Islamic State took credit for the Brussels attacks that killed dozens Tuesday and wounded many more.

We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized, the Texas senator said in a statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned Cruzs call for surveillance, saying it sends an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties.

Trump, who spoke to Fox News as developments in Brussels were unfolding, said he had warned about such attacks. Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime, and now its a disaster city. A total disaster, he said.

In December, following attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, Trump called for a temporary and conditional ban on Muslims coming to the United States. He described Brussels as a hellhole because of its radical elements and their connection to the Paris attacks.

Both Cruz and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton criticized Trump for saying Monday that NATO is costing us a fortune and the U.S. should diminish its role in the coming years. Cruz said the suggestion of withdrawing from NATO is a pre-emptive surrender.

Speaking to CNN, Clinton called NATO the best international defense alliance, I think, ever. She reasserted her view that the U.S. should embrace, rather than alienate, Muslim communities, saying we want them to report it; we want them to be part of protecting the United States.

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand. He said he strongly disagrees with calls by some Republicans for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims.

That would be unconstitutional  it would be wrong, Sanders said.

Asked about Cruzs comment, none of a half-dozen conservative House Republicans meeting with reporters Tuesday criticized him and most spoke of the need to keep the country safe.

Nearly every neighborhood is patrolled. Thats what local law enforcement does, said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., who has endorsed Cruz. He said he didnt know specifically what Cruz was referring to.

We need to do everything that makes good common sense, thats in the best interests of national security, but obviously it needs to be done in a way thats consistent with the Constitution, said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Its an interesting question. Its the jazzy kind you guys like on a presidential front-runner. Thats a cool question, said Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va. He criticized reporters for not asking Democrats if they have plans to keep the country safe.

I believe in the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, every one of them, but we also know that in this country, were going to have to step up security in every neighborhood across America, said Rep. Matt Salmon, an Arizona Republican who has endorsed Cruz.
Napa Valleys Arts in April returns for its sixth year to foster a unique, identifiable sense of place through locally produced and presented events paired with Napa Valleys wine, culinary and resort offerings to increase cultural tourism.

Featured works will span artistic disciplines, genres and decades. Below are Calistoga-specific Arts in April events:

April 1  May 1: MoMA/Museum of McDonoughs Art  Olabisi Tasting Room

Photographer Robb McDonough will show his ongoing Napa County Project as well as a preview to The California Counties Project at the new Olabisi Tasting Room, 1226 Washington St. The opening reception is Saturday, April 9, at 5:30 p.m.

April 1  May 27: Sterling Vineyards  500 Years of Wine in Art

Selected from the Sterling Vineyards Print Portfolio, the exhibition presents examples of the printmakers craft as well as a cultural appreciation of wine through centuries of art. Prints include work by 15th- and 16th-century artists such as Hans Baldung, Jose de Ribera and Lucas van Leyden, as well as later artists including Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso.

April 1  May 1: Calistoga Spa Hot Springs  Calistoga Camera Club

Calistoga Spa Hot Springs will host the works of the Calistoga Camera Club displaying members unique works of photography in large format. Think of high-gloss chrome paper, aluminum, Plexiglas and other materials used for an In Your Face presentation. Club members include amateur and former Associated Press and National Geographic photographers.

April 9: Lee Youngman Galleries Vine to Wine Artists Reception

Bringing together two talented artists, Lee Youngman Galleries will present Raymond Mendieta and Wayne McKenzie in a Vine to Wine Artists Reception on Saturday, April 9, 2-5 p.m. at the gallery at 1316 Lincoln Ave. Mendieta, well-collected for his beautiful Napa Valley vineyards, provides a visual tour from morning to evening of the vines in Wine County. McKenzie, in his first Lee Youngman Galleries show, paints tantalizing images of wine in the glass.

ENGAGE Art Fair

ENGAGE will showcase its arts-inspired presence throughout the month, culminating with ENGAGE Art Fair, a two-day signature event of Arts in April that will be held April 30 and May 1, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day at the Napa County Fairgrounds, 1435 N. Oak St. Presented by Celebrate! Napa Valley in collaboration with Arts Council Napa Valley, Visit Napa Valley and Napa Valley Museum, this annual, curated and immersive event features some of the Bay Areas best artists, craftspeople and performers, who come to Calistoga to meet, create and engage with the public.

ENGAGE 2016 will also feature its second artist-in-residence, painter Angela Tirrell, a native of San Francisco who splits her time between a home in Napa and with family in Inverness. During both days of the event, Tirrell will be working live on one of her large abstract pieces and demonstrating how she incorporates unusual textural materials into her work (such as mica, glass, straw, raw pigments and even objects like BB-gun pellets and acupuncture needles). In her work, Tirrell explores the range of conditions on earth, from the brutal to the miraculous.

Her creative talents extend from those in the studio to large-scale mural and decorative painting, color consulting and xeric garden design. Prior to the event, Tirrell will create a planted painting in the flower beds outside the main entrance of the Tubbs Building, the Fairgrounds building where ENGAGE takes place.

For information about Arts in April and ENGAGE Art Fair, go to VisitCalistoga.com or call 942-6333.
ST. HELENA  The city of St. Helena is working on a plan to repay $2.1 million in flood control funding that was handled improperly during previous city administrations.

The city announced in January that poor accounting practices resulted in the same expenses being billed to two funding sources during the planning and construction of the flood control project that protected Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park and Hunts Grove Apartments.

Having charged the same expenses to both a Department of Water Resources grant and a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan, the city is working with SRF to return the amount that was double-billed.

On Tuesday, the City Council told staff to try to negotiate a repayment schedule that would defer the largest payments for a few years, in hopes that the city will be in healthier financial condition through new taxes or new hotels.

If were not, were really in trouble, said Councilmember Peter White.

City Manager Jennifer Phillips said the council has a choice between a conservative approach of repaying the money as soon as possible by making major cuts to city services, or the riskier tactic of making smaller payments up front and depending on increased revenues to cover larger payments in the future.

Rather than immediately cutting services to free up money for annual payments as large as $500,000, the council favored the second approach, with the understanding that cuts will be necessary in the future if revenues dont increase.

I dont think our community can sustain the kind of hit that would be needed to fund bigger payments up front, said Councilmember Paul Dohring.

Discretionary funding like the library and recreation department would be the most vulnerable to cuts. Other city departments have to provide at least a minimal level of service and comply with increasingly complex regulations, leaving no wiggle room for spending cuts.

Theres no guarantee that SRF will agree to the councils preferred schedule, and the agency could require the money to be repaid sooner through larger annual payments. The repayment plan will return to the council for final approval once a deal has been reached with SRF.

The $2.1 million is in addition to $526,805 in annual payments the city is already making to repay the bulk of the SRF loan.

Measure A, Napa Countys flood control tax, should be able to cover those regular payments through fiscal year 2018-2019, but under the current payment plan the loan wont be paid off until 2028, so the city will inevitably have to dip into the General Fund.

During the flood project years, city officials had apparently hoped to receive federal funds that would help cover those payments, and had even been looking for other flood control projects to fund with Measure A money.

There was a perception that Measure A would cover all of this and more, Phillips said.

Eventually it became clear that federal funds were never going to materialize, and that there wouldnt be enough Measure A money to cover the SRF payments, much less fund other projects.

The $2.1 million in duplicate payments is separate from the $1.9 million that previous city officials repaid to the Federal Emergency Management Agency out of General Fund reserves, without the City Councils knowledge.

The city discovered the double-billing while investigating the $1.9 million, which it turned out had been spent improperly and would have had to be returned to FEMA anyway.

Since the mistakes were discovered, the city has tightened up policies inside City Hall, created a new system of applying for and administering grants, and hired a grants manager.
Iranian MP: Iran will conduct military exercises wherever it deems necessary

Finnish delegation to visit Ankara to discuss NATO membership

Social media giants are likely to oppose Turkey's new law

Pastor steals $900,000 to buy stocks and car in U.S.

Lithuanian President Nauseda is named most popular politician in country

Charles III will embark on longest tour of world in history of royal family

Deputy Director of Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS: Baku's goal is that Karabakh has no Armenian population

Hurricane Roslyn in Pacific Ocean intensifies to third category

Italy's new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, begins forming government

U.S. Treasury Department records budget deficit of over $429 billion in September

Why does Baku need aggravation on border with Armenia? Skakov assesses likelihood of new aggression

Iranian Foreign Minister: I had important meeting with Pashinyan in Armenia

Johnson spotted in economy class on flight from Dominican Republic to Britain

Armenian PM and European Parliament Resident Rapporteur for Armenia discuss Karabakh situation

Authorities in Kherson urge residents to immediately leave city

Russian expert: Baku's attempts to open corridor by force will cause negative response not only from IRI or Russian

Telegraph: Britain to send about 60 old tanks to NATO base in Germany for exercises

Artak Beglaryan: You will see me in new position

Netanyahu: Iran nuclear deal could bring Russia 'hundreds of billions'

Russia and Turkey begin to develop gas hub project

PM Pashinyan discusses agenda of bilateral relations with Iranian FM

Anna Hakobyan meets Armenians in Paris

Sargsyan: Recognition of Artsakh people's right for self-determination must be reflected in legal documents

Italy's first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, sworn in

Private jet goes missing off coast of Costa Rica

Times of India: India tests nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile

Spiegel: German Foreign Minister and Defense Minister ask to allocate 2.2 billion for military aid to Kiev

Deputy PM of Armenia and Head of Sharjah Heritage Institute discuss strengthening of Armenian-Emirati relations

Biden allows participation in U.S. presidential election in 2024

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia and representatives of AIISA discuss security issues

Kakhovka reservoir increases water discharges in case of possible destruction of HPP

Pashinian's spouse: Yesterday at Elysee Palace I was received by dear Brigitte Macron

At least 15 people killed in bus-truck collision in India

Explosion at Uzbek Defense Ministry depot injures 16 people

Armenian NA Speaker receives Iranian FM: Tehran opposes obstacles on border with friendly Armenia

President Harutyunyan receives group of members of Union of Artsakh Reserve Officers NGO

Newspaper: Armenia restores diplomatic ties with Hungary?

China hit by 5.5 magnitude earthquake

Armenian Defense Ministry denies Azerbaijani report on shelling, calling it disinformation

Blinken: Moscow is not interested in stopping aggression against Ukraine

Japan and U.S. will hold joint military exercises

France withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty

CNN: White House is in talks with Elon Musk to create satellite Internet service Starlink in Iran

Baku outraged by Iran's statements and frightened by IRGC military exercises

Who are main beneficiaries of 'Zangezur' corridor?: Another anonymous article by 'Haykakan Zhamanak' newspaper

Ankara decides to stand up for Riyadh amid deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and U.S.

French Foreign Minister considers it vital to keep lines of communication with Russia open

Pentagon refuses to give details of conversation between Austin and Shoigu

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Head of Caucasus Muslims Department again made slanderous and false statements

Erdogan denies using chemical weapons against Kurds and threatens those who dare to talk about it

Saudi Arabia and China will strengthen their ties in energy sector

Governor of Gegharkunik province receives representatives of OSCE fact-finding mission

Penny Mordaunt runs for Prime Minister of Great Britain

Sweden expects ratification of NATO membership application by Hungary and Turkey to be completed soon

European Union will allocate 1.5 billion euros per month to Kiev in 2023

An Israeli-built flight school opened in Greece

Russian Railways is negotiating with Azerbaijan and Iran to launch the Rasht-Astara route

Overchuk: Construction of road through Meghri, whose sovereignty is not in question, depends on Armenia's position

Armenian Defense Minister's working visit to India is over

Hungary will not agree to limit prices for imported gas

Iranian Foreign Minister: Iran considers Armenia one of most important transit countries

Naribekyan participates in meeting of secretaries general of PACE parliaments

Delegation from United Arab Emirates visits Armenia at invitation of head of MONKS: Two agreements signed

Dollar, euro drop in Armenia

Iran consul general in Armenias Kapan: We do not accept any change of borders

Baza: Mobile military registration and enlistment offices will be removed on Russian-Georgian border

Iranian Consul: Countries of region do not need presence of foreign armed forces

Armenia FM: Iran consulate general in Kapan will be important for regional security

Iranian Consul General advises Kapan residents not to worry anymore: Iran is here for Armenian people

FM reaffirms Armenia plan to open consulate general in Irans Tabriz

Turkey to open consulate in occupied Armenian Shushi city of Artsakh

Turkish Ministry of Finance: Ankara can buy Russian oil without Western funding

Armenia Security Council chief briefs European Parliament rapporteur on recent Azerbaijan military aggression

British bookmakers name favorite for post of prime minister

Erdogan: Armenia-Azerbaijan relations progress will contribute to Armenia-Turkey relations normalization

Iranian Consulate General opens in Kapan

Erdogan: Turkey is looking for alternative to American F-16 fighters

Iran consul general: We are here for Armenian people

Turkey FM slams OSCE decision to send needs assessment mission to Armenia

Peskov reacts to Erdogan's words about Putin's softening on Ukraine negotiations

European Parliament rapporteur on Armenia visits Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan

European Parliament rapporteur on Armenia to legislature speaker: Attack was from Azerbaijan, naturally

Armenia President to EEU PMs: We will manage to take another confident step by respecting mutual interests

EUSR Toivo Klaars exclusive interview with NEWS.am on EU Monitoring mission,Nagorno Karabakh future and violence videos

Explosions rock Ukraines Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia

President meets with newly formed Artsakh Public Council members

Armenia PM: We need understanding in price horizon, at least in medium term

Lawyer: 20 of fallen solders parents detained from Yerevan military pantheon are recognized as injured party

PM: Armenia trade with other EEU countries increased by 74%

France region to provide 300,000 to Armenias Syunik Province affected by Azerbaijan military aggression

Eurasian Intergovernmental Council extended meeting underway in Yerevan

MOD: Armenia did not fire at Azerbaijan positions, vehicle

MPs in Strasbourg, present threatening dangers: Armenia has powerful support in European Parliament

Years first snow falls in Armenias Shirak Province

World oil prices on the rise

Newspaper: Russia dismisses Armenia PM's news on Karabakh

Russia PM in Yerevan, to discuss with EEU colleagues single oil, natural gas markets formation

Newspaper: Why is Iran in hurry to open consulate in Armenias Syunik Province?

France, Spain, Portugal agree to build Barcelona-Marseille natural gas pipeline

Admiral: U.S. should now prepare for Chinese 'invasion' of Taiwan
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Congressman Brad Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has, in the past week, pressed several Obama Administration officials  including Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and USAID Administrator Gayle Smith  for answers about proposed cuts in aid to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), foot-dragging on a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty, and the level of support being provided to help Armenia support refugees from Syria, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

In a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. Sherman cited the importance of a U.S.-Armenia Tax treaty to build upon ongoing U.S. assistance to Armenia, and pressed for the negotiation of such an accord. Responding to Secretary Lews assertion that there is no need for a Double Tax Treaty with Armenia, Rep. Sherman described the situation as a chicken and egg scenario, stating, You dont get the business investment, because you dont have the tax treaty. Then you dont need the tax treaty because you dont have the business investment. Rep. Sherman and Secretary Lew agreed to work together to review the matter.

And citing U.S. assistance for demining efforts, Rep. Sherman asked U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Gayle Smith why aid to Karabakh had decreased to $1.5 million. Administrator Smith noted that additional humanitarian assistance had been sent to the region in the past and both Rep. Sherman and Smith agreed to work together to help meet additional humanitarian needs there. Rep. Sherman went on to express specific concern about the low levels of U.S. assistance to Syrian refugees in Armenia.
YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan today received the Minister of Awqaf (religious properties) and Islamic Affairs of Kuwait, Minister of Justice Yaqoub Abd-Almohsen Al-Sanea.

The President expressed satisfaction with the fact that the ties between Armenia and Kuwait are developing, and the cooperation agenda is expanding every year.

Sargsyan stressed the role of the Armenian community in deepening the ties. In this connection, he thanked Sheikh Sabah IV Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the government of the country for their attentive treatment to the mentioned community.

Parallel with the development of cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas, the President underscored the importance of developing the ties in the areas of justice, the grounds for which where ser through signing an agreement on exchange of legal informatio in criminal cases.

For his part, Mr Al-Sanea thanked for the warm reception, and agreed with the assessment of the President regarding the bilateral ties. In his words, the signed agreement will allow to expand cooperation and will serve as a basis for new documents.
Festival kicks off Earth Month at Emory April is Earth Month, and Emory will kick off the celebration on Tuesday, March 29, with an Earth Month Festival and Farmers Market from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Asbury Circle. Presented by Emory's Office of Sustainability Initiatives, the festival features music, food and fun, showcasing the efforts of more than 35 business, community and campus organizations to nurture ecological and social abundance within and beyond Atlanta. Attendees can enjoy s'mores cooked in a solar-powered oven, spin the Undergraduate Sustainability Group's trivia wheel or hunt down clues in the farmers market scavenger hunt. Undergraduates can learn about minoring in Sustainability and finding a job greening the planet. The first hundred attendees will receive a free basil start and decorated pot from the Graduate Sustainability Group. Also leading into Earth Month, student groups have organized events for National Farmworkers Awareness Week. Several events are scheduled March 24-31 to raise awareness of the realities of farmworker life and stand in solidarity to demand an end to low wages, unsafe working conditions, harsh pesticides, and harassment and abuse. Events will be hosted daily across campus. View the View the full calendar of Earth Month activities at Emory.

Emory students engaged in an interdisciplinary study of climate change have turned their interest into action, inviting the campus community to learn more about the global crisis through Climate Week.

Scheduled for the week of March 28 through April 1, the inaugural event offers a series of activities open to the public that explore climate change through community dialogue, an art exhibit, film screenings and an environmental justice panel.

The public is also invited to a preview event tonight at 6:30 p.m. at The Carter Center, "What's the Deal with the Climate Deal." The forum will include Emory faculty and students discussing the new U.N. global climate accord.

Student event organizers were initially united around the topic of climate change through a Coalition of the Liberal Arts (CoLA) course offered at Emory last fall, "Paris is an Explanation: Understanding Climate Change at the 2015 United Nations Meeting in France," which continued this spring with new students.

CoLA courses are aimed at integrating the liberal arts experience across the humanities and sciences. Through the course, nine Emory students from the class and two faculty members travelled to Paris to attend the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21). Having received accreditation in 2014 to attend the framework convention as official observers, the group became Emorys first delegation at the event.

The Paris course was developed and taught by Wesley Longhofer, assistant professor in organization and management at Goizueta Business School; Eri Saikawa, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Rollins School of Public Health; and Sheila Tefft, senior lecturer in the Emory Writing Program.

Longhofer and Saikawa went to Paris with the students, who blogged about the experience and produced podcasts related to climate change. Through the experience, many students reported having their eyes fully opened to the crisis of climate change, Saikawa says.

"I think a lot of the students, having seen what actually does go on, are now much more focused on what needs to be done," she says.

Once Emory students returned, discussions began in earnest about what could be done to engage the campus community in the topic, Saikawa recalls. One result was the formation of ECO (Emory Climate Organization), the student group that has worked to help launch Climate Week.

The schedule of events includes the following:

"What's the Deal with the Climate Deal?"

Wednesday, March 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m., The Carter Center

Discussion features Emory faculty and students who attended the 2015 Paris U.N. Climate Change Conference.

Climate and Art Exhibition

Monday, March 28, 6-9 p.m., Brooks Commons

This exhibit showcases photographs taken by Emory students at the Paris U.N. climate talks. Attendees can also create their own climate art. The exhibit continues on display throughout the week in the Dobbs University Center Art Gallery.

Earth Festival

Tuesday, March 29, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Cox Bridge

Presented by the Emory Office of Sustainability Initiatives, the festival kicks off Earth Month with vendors, food, music, activities and more.

"Change the System, not the Environment:" Environmental Justice Panel

Wednesday, March 30, 7-8:30 p.m., Atwood 260

Students from Emory University and Agnes Scott College talk about their activism, research and experiences.

"Years of Living Dangerously" film screening

Thursday, March 31, 6-8 p.m., Harland Cinema



After the screening, students participate in a discussion with George Luber, associate director for climate change, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health.

Climate Salon with TEDxEmory talk

Friday, April 1, 8 p.m. to 12 p.m., Alpha Epsilon Pi house, 17 Eagle Row

Talks feature student speakers focusing on climate change.

A Seat at the Table: Food as the Solution for Sustainability, Wellness and Equity

Monday, April 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Winship Ballroom, DUC

Topics for this panel discussion include urban agriculture advancements in Atlanta, food deserts and accessibility, and food as an understated climate change concern.

Ice and the Sky film screening

Wednesday, April 6, 5-7:30 p.m., White Hall 208

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the French General Counsulate and one of the French scientists featured in the film, which examines evidence of climate change in Antarctica.
00:12

A countrywide ban on cow slaughter is necessary to prevent sectarian clashes and foster communal harmony, yoga guru Ramdev said today while also suggesting that the law should be amended to make everyone chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.



In the wake of the row kicked up by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi with the remark that he would not say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', Ramdev said the Centre should bring an amendment to promote the chanting of the slogan.



"Even though it is not written in the Constitution that one should say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', there should be no problem in chanting it... Therefore, an amendment should be made in the law so that everyone says it," he said.



He also said demanded a total ban on cow-slaughter.



"It is my humble appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enforce a total ban on cow slaughter across the country. I am hopeful to get a positive response from the PM," he said.



He claimed there was no cow slaughter in India till the 18th century and 'even Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had imposed a total ban on this activity'.



"Uttar Pradesh, which is a highly-sensitive state, has imposed a ban on cow slaughter too," he said.



Ramdev also slammed Congress MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor for comparing JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charges, with freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.



"This is an insult to the martyrs who laid down their lives fighting for the freedom of our country," he said.
BENGALURU: The launch of the Ola cab services has turned out to be a boon for most of the commuters in the country seeking a hassle free mode of transport. Gone are the days when people had to negotiate with cab drivers on the settlements of the taxi fare. A new feature from Google maps now allows tracking of an Ola ride available in the vicinity from the Google maps app itself.

The Ola cab app utilizes GPS technology to detect nearby rides and enables customers to book the rides from the app. Post booking a ride, a GPS enabled handset installed in every cab and rickshaw registered with Ola is used to track the ride and the distance covered for a particular trip. The app also allows commuters to provide instant feedback post completion of the ride. A dedicated tab with information on cab services has been introduced in Google Maps to facilitate easy booking of a cab. Users can see an additional tab in the Google maps app at the time of entering the destination which allows them to choose between and Ola and Uber.

The feature is currently being rolled out on Android and will soon be available on iOS as well. Users who have already installed the Ola or Uber app have the option to procure fare estimates, available cars and pick up time before the onset of a ride. Ola users will be able to choose from Ola Mini, Ola Micro and Ola Sedan whereas Uber users can opt from uberGO and uberX services. Post selection of a service, Google maps directs the user to the respective apps for booking a cab.

The current update from Google shows cab service providers across five countries that includes Ola, Uber cabs in India, 99Taxis in Brazil, mytaxi in Germany, Hailo in the UK and Spain, and Gett in the UK. The option to add additional stops in a chosen route while in navigation mode is a new feature from Google that came with the current update. Users can now search for places like gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores and more along a specified route while navigating which ensures quicker pit stops and fewer detours.

Read Also: 8 Best 'Everyday Use' Apps for Android Smartphones

Alibaba To Unveil First Internet Car In April
SIU to host annual Math Field Day competition

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Young mathematicians from throughout the area will once again travel to Southern Illinois University Carbondale for a day of competitions and camaraderie.

The annual Math Field Day competition is set for Tuesday, March 29, at the SIU Arena. Organizers expect students from about 50 schools in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee to attend and compete for scholarships and prizes. A maximum of 36 students per school  nine from each grade  may compete.

The event, which includes a comprehensive test designed, presented and scored by Department of Mathematics faculty, kicks off at 10 a.m. and runs until noon. Organizers will present awards beginning at 2 p.m. that day.

Prizes include an academic scholarship for the highest scoring junior who plans to major in a science field. The Partial Tuition Waiver Award is once again offered by the College of Science at SIU and is valued at up to $4,000 over four years.

Top scoring student teams also will receive trophies or ribbons in three divisions based on school enrollment size. Students also can win certificates for individual accomplishments in each academic division.

SIU also will host a math teachers program during the event. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Roger and Sally Tedrick Auditorium at the SIU Arena. A luncheon for sophomores and juniors is set for noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Old National Bank Saluki Lounge at the arena.

For more information, contact Kathy Pericak-Spector, professor of mathematics and chair of the event, a 618/453-6569 or mathfd@siu.edu.
Fermentation science degree on tap at SIU

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill.  The beer brewers, wine vintners and spirit distillers of tomorrow can officially begin their professional training starting this summer at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education recently gave SIU the go-ahead to create a new Bachelor of Science degree in fermentation science. Students will be able to declare fermentation science as their major beginning this summer semester, said Matt McCarroll, director of the Fermentation Science Institute at SIU, and professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

This has been a lot of work by a lot of people here, and its great to see it becoming a reality, he said. The university is planning an array of classes, hands-on research and community outreach to help brewers, distillers and vintners learn and appreciate the science behind the age-old art of fermentation.

The IBHE approval, which officially happened March 1, was the capstone of an effort that began at least three years ago, when university faculty and administration envisioned locating such a program at McLafferty Annex on the campus far west side. Two years ago, after the IBHE gave its initial approval to create the program, the university set to work creating it, putting long hours of thought, planning and paperwork into the effort, along with committing substantial brick-and-mortar investments into the facility at McLafferty Annex.

That facility, now finished and almost completely outfitted with scientific instrumentation, classroom technology and  naturally  brewing and fermentation equipment, will be the epicenter for the new, highly interdisciplinary program. McCarroll said a handful of students who came to the university to pursue the new degree already are attending SIU. He anticipates many more to follow, now that the university has received final approval from the state, and said the program will recruit students both regionally and nationally, as well.

Demand in fermentation-related industries drove the effort, McCarroll said. While fewer than 100 breweries existed nationally in the mid-1970s, that number exploded to more than 1,500 by the turn of the century, with about 95 percent of that growth occurring over a 15-year period.

By the end of 2015 there were more than 4,000 breweries nationwide, McCarroll said, and such breweries need brewers who are highly trained in fermentation science. In addition, many breweries are establishing quality control laboratories that will be staffed by highly trained fermentation scientists.

The market needs new brewers and advanced training for existing brewers, McCarroll said, and the new SIU fermentation science program can meet both of those needs, especially considering the strong chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology foundation students will develop in the program.

The rapid growth in the craft brewing industry has led to demand for fermentation scientists with strong scientific training and coursework focused on brewing science, McCarroll said. We know this is a growth industry and our students will be well prepared to gain employment in this field.

Fermentation science involves basic and applied science in several core scientific areas, including microbiology, plant biology and chemistry, as well as the more applied areas of the agricultural sciences, McCarroll said. Students will master such core areas, as well as advanced areas of fermentation.

The strong scientific core of SIUs program will provide students with distinct advantages, especially compared to more narrowly focused certificate programs, McCarroll said. Students pursuing advanced degrees in fermentation-related areas also will find excellent opportunities as educators, due to the current and growing demand.

The new program is the only one like it in the state and region. A handful of similar programs exist and are concentrated on the west coast, making SIU well positioned to be a leader in the field, McCarroll said.

Officials said the programs coursework will enable graduates to pass important industry certification exams, such as the Diploma in Brewing of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling. They also will train for careers in such fields as brewing, brewing science, viticulture, enology quality control and assurance, sensory analysis, fermentation and other related positions. Students also will be in a position to pursue graduate programs and advanced degrees in related fields.

Students who sign up for the new program will spend much of their first two years being heavily steeped in science, chemistry and mathematics, though they also will have the opportunity to take some foundation courses that touch more directly on the art of brewing, wine-making and distilling. Faculty from several disciplines, including various agriculture and horticulture areas, microbiology, hospitality, chemistry and others, all will teach classes aimed at creating highly trained, well-rounded professionals to work in and lead the fermentation industry.

The FSI at McLafferty Annex includes a teaching laboratory and a multiuse meeting space, as well as areas for pilot-scale brewing. The FSI and the program also will support the local fermentation industry in Southern Illinois through operation of the Service Laboratory, which includes a yeast culturing facility and an analytical laboratory for performing standard methods of analysis for samples of beer, wine and spirits. Such analysis will allow local manufacturers to adjust their processes and improve products as they see fit.
SIU to host 44th annual Foreign Language Day

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill.  There are plenty of reasons to learn a foreign language: travel, business, diplomacy, for example. All the reasons, whatever they are, come back to understanding someone from a different place better and more directly, to learn about a culture more from the inside than merely as a spectator.

Students who attend Foreign Language Day at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are encouraged to get inside the culture as well as the language by participating in competition and activities in the largest event of its kind in the region. The 44th annual Foreign Language Day is March 31 in the Student Center with activities beginning at 9 a.m., concluding with an awards ceremony at 12:30 p.m.



Media Advisory

Photographers, reporters and camera crews are welcome at Foreign Language Day 2016. Cultural presentations will take place throughout the morning as well as Scholar Bowl competition and dramatic interpretations by high school students. Contact Pamela J. Walker, Foreign Language Day coordinator and senior lecturer in American Sign Language, at 618/536-5571 or pjwalker@siu.edu for more information.

Foreign language study is important as it gives on the opportunity to consider a culture and a language different from ones own, Pamela J. Walker, Foreign Language Day coordinator and senior lecturer in American Sign Language, said. That consideration is crucial to a liberal arts education. Also, its pretty difficult to study another language. I think that provides some exercise in humility thats good for the soul, as well as really good exercise for the brain!

Foreign Language Day has evolved over the years SIU has hosted it, but at the heart of it remain cultural presentations meant to encourage continued study, and the Scholar Bowl competition for foreign language students. New this year is the opportunity for dramatic interpretations. Students may memorize a poem or literary passage in American Sign Language, French, German, Japanese, Latin or Spanish to recite or perform with small props.

Students also have the chance to compete in a t-shirt design contest, to learn the art of origami, or to have their names written in Arabic, Chinese, International Phonetic Alphabet, Japanese, Korean and Russian alphabets.

We want the high school students to see that we think learning is fun  and important, worth a day of celebrating, Walker said. Also, of course, we hope the event will be a good recruiting tool.

Pre-registered schools that intend to have students in dramatic interpretation or Scholar Bowl competition include:

 Belleville West High School

 Carbondale Community High School

 Carterville High School

 Collinsville High School

 Du Quoin High School

 Edwards County High School

 Effingham High School

 Frankfort Community High School

 Marion High School

 Massac County High School

 Nashville Community High School

 Paris Cooperative High School

 Red Bud High School

 Saint Anthony High School (Effingham)

 Sparta High School

 Windsor Junior & Senior High School
Jammu and Kashmir police has arrested a central Kashmir Ganderbal resident after his return from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), where he had crossed in early 90s for receiving arms training. However, his four-year-old son who had to spend a night in a police station alongwith his father has now been handed over to his uncle, official sources said. It was not immediately clear whether he had also returned through Nepal route under the rehabilitation policy of the government, he they added. They said Gulzar Ahmad Tantray, a resident of Saloora in Ganderbal, had crossed over to PoK in early 90s alongwith hundreds of other Kashmiri youths when militancy was at its peak in the valley. Tantray, now 43 years, had married a girl in PoK and has a son Iftikhar Ahmad. Tantray had reached his home and after spending a night there surrendered before police alongwith his son next day. The boy, who refused to be separated from his father also spend a night in police station before he was handed over to his uncle after approval from Tantray, who had also applied for bail since he too has returned under government rehabilitation policy. Pakistani Human Rights activist Ansar Burney has also taken up the matter of arrest of Iftikhar with Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) through social media network requesting his release. So far more than 1250 Kashmiris, their wives and children, have returned under the policy from PoK since it was announced during National Conference (NC)-Congress coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah after approval from the centre. Almost all the people returned via Nepal route while few had crossed over to Kashmir through Line of Control (LoC).UNI BAS SB PM1019 . -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-650231.Xml
Urging Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti to come clean on her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, working president of the National Conference (NC) Omar Abdullah said let people know concessions and assurance she received. Mr Abdullah, who has said that he was not in favour of mid-term polls, alleged that Mehbooba opted for power over principles. "PDP must come clean & let people know what concessions Mehbooba sought from the PM & what assurances, if any, she received from him,'' the former Chief Minister taking to micro blogging site Twitter said. However, his tweets received sharp reaction question him whether he revealed everything during his association with BJP and Congress. Mr Abdullah further said, " It's not enough for her to come out from meeting the PM & say she is satisfied. Her satisfaction is immaterial if she left empty handed. So then what was the cause of her "satisfaction" if this is all she came back with? . It's becoming increasingly clear that in the choice between principles & power Mehbooba has opted for power, Mr Abdullah further tweeted. Reacting to a tweet that BJP national general secretary and incharge J&K Ram Madhav has said that final round of negotiations will take place once PDP hold legislative party meeting, Mr Abdullah said ' Picture abhi baki hai dost.' However, Mr Abdullah's tweet evoked sharp reaction as one of the tweet said, " Definitely she didn't sign surrender document of 1953. As Ex CM u must know such are sensitive topics.'' The tweet referred to his grand father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who headed plebiscite movement from 1953 to 1975 when he (Sheikh) finally joined mainstream following Indira-Sheikh accord and become Chief Minister with the support of Congress. ''U R ex CM , U know , everything is not discussed in public domain otherwise opposition will start attacking for no reason'' said a tweet while another said Do we ever see opposition supporting ruling party for any initiative taken by them for welfare of people ,not possible at all. 'did u or ur father make ur internal strategies public? Look accept u n ur party is rejected by", asks a tweet while another said "ppl (people) would be happy if all throughout your family ruled J&K u (you) kept the same transparency. As u(you) didn't u (You) have no right to ask.MORE UNI BAS SB PM1033 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-650234.Xml
A defence ministry spokesman Col N N Joshi told UNI that there was no firing in the area during the night.

Only cordon and search operation was going on, he said, adding that further details were awaited. It was also not clear whether there is any militant in the area or not,he said.

Sources said on a specific information about the presence of some militants in village Drubgam, in Pulwama district, troops of Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF launched a joint operation last night.

However, when security forces were moving towards a particular area in the village, militants opened fire with automatic weapons. Security forces also returned the fire ensuing a fierce encounter.

Additional security forces were rushed to the village, where some people pelted stones and raised ''pro-freedom'' slogans.

Security forces later cordoned off entire area and nearby villages to foil any attempt by trapped militants to escape.

People were directed to remain indoor to avoid any casualty, they said the operation was stopped due to darkness they added.

However, this morning with the first light operation against the militants, believed to be three belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), was launched again.

Reports said one of the militant was a Special Police Officer (SPO) Nasir Pandit who deserted and decamped with two weapons from Srinagar residence of then minister last year.UNI BAS SB PM0

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The national highway, linking the Ladakh region with the Kashmir valley and historic Mughal road remained closed while hundreds of vehicles, including trucks, carrying essentials, left Jammu for Kashmir valley as only one-way traffic will continue on the highway till further orders. The Bandipora-Gurez and Synthan-Kishtwar roads also remained closed since December last year due to accumulation of snow. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintainance of the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway has put into service sophisticated machines and men to restore traffic. Fresh snowfall recently, particularly at Zojila and other places has delayed the reopening of the national highway. The region remained cut off from the rest of the state since December last year due to accumulation of several feet of snow. Because of less snowfall this winter, the road was scheduled to reopen a month early this year. However, there was fresh snowfall last week at several places, including Zojila, Sonmarg and Meenmarg on the national highway, official sources said adding the snow clearance operation by BRO was going on from both sides to put through the highway. The Government of India (GoI) has already approved construction of a tunnel at Zojila to make it all weather road. Snow clearance operation on the historic Mughal raod, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region remained closed since December last year, was going on a war-footing following improvement in the weather after recent snowfall. Governor N N Vohra has recently urged Government of India (GoI) to declare the Mughal road, seen as alternative to Srinagar-Jammu road, as national highway. Hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying passengers and trucks loaded with essentials, left Jammu for Kashmir valley this morning, a traffic police official told UNI. However, he said no vehicle will be allowed from Kashmir to Jammu today as rainfall during the past more than a week has resulted in shrinking of existing road formation at some places due to landslides. To avoid any traffic jam or accident it has been decided to allow only one-way traffic on the highway till further orders.UNI BAS SB PM1040 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-650260.Xml
Coming down heavily on Investigating Officer (IO) probing the Sadrakoot killings case in which seven civilians were killed allegedly by security forces in 1996, Jammu and Kashmir High Court (HC) has granted him one last chance to arrest the accused and complete the probe by April 16, 2016. A spokesperson for Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) said, a single bench of Justice A M Magray questioned the IO about the progress of the investigation into October 5, 1996 Sadrakoot massacre. He said the IO had been ordered to appear in person along with case diaries. The spokesperson said the HC was hearing the petition filed by families of the victims of the massacre in which seven civilians, including a woman, were killed on October 5, 1996 allegedly by Ikhwanis Abdul Rashid Parray alias Rashid Billa, Wali Mohammad Mir and Mohammad Ayoub Dar, then working for the Army. "The State in their last status report had stated that Parray and Mir were absconding whereas Dar was working with the 161st Battalion Territorial Army," he said. The IO informed the court that steps were being taken to affect arrest of the three accused, including by seizure of their property, he said, adding the HC was informed by Additional Solicitor General, Union of India, that Dar had been "disembodied" from the Territorial Army on March 10, 2016. "In an earlier hearing, Union of India had taken the position that Army personnel cannot be arrested by the police," he said. Meanwhile, IO informed the Court that now even Dar was absconding. After hearing the IO, the Court granted IO a last chance to take effective steps for the arrest of the accused and complete investigations by April 16, 2016. "Twenty years after the massacre, the efforts of the family members of the victims have put pressure on the State to take serious steps to arrest the accused. Meanwhile, rather than cooperating with investigations, Union of India has effectively facilitated the escape of Dar," JKCCS spokesman said.UNI BAS SB PM1043 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-650273.Xml
Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani will attend the XXIIIrd convocation of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) scheduled for March 29. In a statement to the media, NEHU said the Minister will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest and will deliver the Convocation address at the Convocation Hall, NEHU, permanent campus.A total of 10,291 students will receive their degrees (2,567 in person, 7724 in absentia) on that day. Honorary degrees will be conferred on educator and reformist Rose Millian Bathew (Kharbuli) and Olympic bronze medalist M C Mary Kom for their invaluable contribution in their respective fields. UNI RRK AD SB 1142 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-650395.Xml
Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today recused himself from answering any questions pertaining to his wife Shazia Gilani, saying to ask questions about himself and not about his wife. Headley said this during the cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, before sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US. Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia. ''She is still my legally wedded wife. I do notwant to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia,'' he said. He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT. Shazia never visited India. ''Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about myassociation with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately.'' When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, ''Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether sheobjected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife.''More UNI AAA NV RSA 1429 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-650564.Xml
West Bengal today celebrated Holi and 'Dol-Jatra' with traditional fervour, marking the triumph of good over evil, with colours, traditional songs and dance. While the colour festival is known as 'Holi' in other parts of the country, it is popular as 'Dol-Jatra' here. Cutting across age barriers, people in all parts of the state participated in the annual fest. The Basanta Ustav, as the people of Bengal might call it, is the festival of love, colours, songs and dance. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted the people on the occasion. "My heartiest greetings to the people on the occasion of Dol and Holi," she tweeted. In Kolkata as the morning progressed, youngsters moved around their neighbourhoods in groups, throwing water missiles and smearing 'abir' (coloured powder) on one another. People in the metropolis exchanged sweets and pleasantries. Ahead of the assembly election in the state, politicians cutting across party lines today came out on to the streets smeared in colours in their bid to reach out to the people. Local clubs in different parts of the state capital also organised plays, songs and art competitions. Students from different universities and institutions danced and sang Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's songs and smeared each other with colours. In Santiniketan, students and teachers of Visva-Bharati University, founded by Tagore, celebrated Basanta Utsav (festival of spring). Thousands of people from both India and abroad assembled at Santiniketan, about 165 km from the state capital, where the poet had re-introduced 'Dol' as a spring festival in the Visva Bharati University. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) at its global headquarters at Mayapur in Nadia district observed the day as the birth anniversary of the 16th century Vaishnav saint and social reformer Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Thousands of people from within the country and abroad assembled at Mayapur on the occasion. The devotees placed idols of Radha-Krishna on decorated palanquins and carried them. They also offered prayers to Radha-Krishna on this special day of Dol Purnima (Dol is celebrated on a full moon day). No untoward incident has been reported from any part of the state so far, police said. Security arrangements have been beefed up across the important installations, railway stations and places of public importance to prevent any untoward incidents on the occasion, additional police personnel were deployed for safety and security of the residents. According to senior police officials, Radio Flying Squads and Heavy Radio Flying Squads will be deployed to maintain constant vigil. There will be special focus on preventing crimes against women.UNI BM PL RSA AS1514 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-650613.Xml
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is slated to leave on a four-day official tour to Australia on March 28 to address a host of issues, which include attracting foreign investment in India, to participate in India Australia CEOs forum meeting and to address the 'Make in India' Conference, .An official statement here said Mr Jaitley will be leave on the visit with the the main objective to attract foreign investment in the infrastructure sector.In the first leg of his visit, the Finance Minister will arrive in Sydney on March 1.9. During his stay at Sydney, Mr Jaitley will have an interactive session at 'Sydney Campus of S P Jain School of Global Management'. He will also have a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will inaugurate the Sydney branch of the Union Bank of India.The next day,that is March 30, Mr Jaitley will deliver the key note address at 'Make in India' Conference in Sydney. He will also have a meeting with prominent CEOs of Australia. Thereafter, he will have a bilateral meeting with Mr Scott Morrison, MP, Treasurer, in the afternoon. Mr Jaitley will have an intensive interaction with the Indian community.As a part of the second leg of his visit, on March 31,Mr Jaitley will depart for Canberra. During his stay in the city, Mr Jaitley will have bilateral meetings with Senator Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance and Mr Peter Vergese, Foreign Secretary. Mr Jaitley is slated to have a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Australian National University (ANU), followed by an interaction with ANU economists. Thereafter, Mr Jaitley will be participate in the K R Narayanan Oration at the University. In the evening, the Mr Jaitley will address the Indian community at a reception hosted by the High Commissioner of India in Australia in which leading members of Indian community from all major cities of Australia are likely to participate. The release said on the last leg of his visit, Mr Jaitley will arrive in Melbourne on April 1. During his stay in Melbourne, Mr Jaitley will have a meeting with Mr Peter Coastello, Chairman, Future Fund. Thereafter, Mr Jailtey will participate in Invest in 'India Round Table' Conference. He will also attend a signing ceremony of a 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MoU) between the Federation of Indian Federation Chambers of Indian of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and and the Australia-India Business Council. After this the Finance Minister will have one to one meeting with CEOs of various companies. In the evening, Mr Jaitley will visit the University of Melbourne. He will also meet Mr Daniel Andrews, Premier of VIC.The Finance Minister will depart for India on April 2 and arrive in the national capital on April 3.UNI GS RSA 1610 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0110-650749.Xml
Governor of Maharashtra CH Vidyasagar Rao today greeted the people of Maharashtra on the occasion of Holi, the festival of colours. In his message, the Governor has said ''Holi, the festival of colours, reflect India's beautiful unity in diversity. May the festival promote brotherhood and harmony in society and may it bring happiness and prosperity to our people. I wish the people of the State a very happy Holi and joyful Festival of colours.''UNI NV RSA VN1557 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-650667.Xml
One Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) cadre surrendered today before the police at Gasupara police outpost in South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. The militant, identified as Nikseng Sangma, was the cadre of 6th batch of GNLA and son of Ronek N Marak, a resident of Daritgre village under Gasupara police outpost. The militant handed over one pistol. Its magazine dropped when he was escaping after deserting the group, sources said.Interrogation was on for actionable inputs, sources added.UNI RRK PL RSA AS1536 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-650631.Xml
"I did receive an invitation for the event at a personal level. But due to my pre-occupations, I may not be able to attend the function," Singh told ANI.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq among others have been invited to attend the 'Pakistan Day' function in the national capital.

Eyebrows have always been raised whenever Pakistan has invited separatist leaders for the events.

Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh had represented the government at the Pakistan National Day reception last year.

Meanwhile, members of the Asiya Andrabi-led separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) today hoisted Pakistani flags at several places in Srinagar.

The DeM has been hoisting Pakistani flags every year on Pakistan Day and on Pakistan's Independence Day in the valley.

Last year, India had cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks with the Asian neighbour after Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit met the Kashmiri separatists ahead of the planned meet. (ANI)
A release from ED Joint Director K S V V Prasad heresaid R.Subramanian, Promoter and Managing Director of STS, a retail chain of stores with the brand name of "Subhiksha'selling products in FMCG, Pharma, Groceries, Fruits, Vegetables, was chargesheeted by the CBI, Bank Security and Fraud Cell, Bangalore for defrauding Bank of BarodaChennai to the tune of Rs.77 crore.

The case was taken up by the ED for investigation underthe provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The investigation conducted by ED revealed that he had availed term-loan and cash credit totally amounting to Rs.77 crores from the bank in 2007, among various facilities availed by him from various banks, for the purpose of establishing the chain of stores.

But the funds were diverted fraudulently by Subramanium and the entire loan amount was at default. During investigations, it was noticed that, four agricultural lands to the extent of 9.59 acres and two vacant lands were fraudulently transferred in the name of Triad Trading Services Limited, a group company of Mr Subramanian.

Another property in the name of his wife located at Marakanam and Neelangarai had also been identified.

All the seven immovable properties, valued at about Rs 4.50 crores, were provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA, the release added.UNI GV KVV AK 1725

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The mortal remains of Sepoy K.Vijaya Kumar, who was killed in an avalanche in Kargil area of Jammu and Kashmir, was laid to rest with full military honours in his native Vallaramapuram village, here today. Tirunelveli district collector M.Karunakaran, Superintendent of Police V.Vikraman, senior army officials among a large number of people from all walks of life paid their homage to the body. Earlier, the body was flown to Tirunelveli in an army Chopper from Thiruvananthapuram. Vijaya Kumar is survived by his parents and two younger sisters. The sepoy attached to the Madras Regiment of Indian Army was killed after an Army post at an altitude of 17,500 feet on Kargil was hit by an avalanche on March 17. His body was retrieved by rescue teams from under 12-feet of snow after a massive search operation on March 20. UNI GSM KVV AK1710 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-650940.Xml
Throwing all safety norms to winds, a group of 31 students, including girls studying in Class 10 in an aided High School at Okkanadu Melaiyur village in Thanjavur district were being transported like cattle in an open mini load Van to a Government Higher Secondary School in Orathanadu to attend the ongoing public examinations. The students hailing from poor families, studying at Munnaiyappa Narayanasamy-aided high school at Okkanadu Melaiyur village were forced to undertake an 'arduous and unsafe journey' by standing in the open mini-load van, unmindful of being exposed to the scorching sun, as there is no bus facility available to reach the examination centre at Orathanadu, located about six km from their village. The students were travelling a distance of 12 kilometre on the day of examination. "As there is no bus facility to the examination centre at Orathanadu to their convenient time, the school management had hired this unsafe open mini-load van to transport us to the examination centre," a student revealed to this Correspondent on the condition of anonymity. The students blissfully unaware of the dangers they could face by travelling in an unsafe mode. The State board public examination for Class 10 began on March 15 and the last examination "Social Science" is scheduled to take place on April 11. Till then, the students have to travel like cattle that too in the scorching sun, which is vulnerable to skin diseases. The students have so far attended three examinations (Tamil 1, Tamil 2 and English 1). The irresponsible act of the school management has drawn flak from social activists. "Transporting the students like cattle in an open mini -oad van, throwing all safety norms to winds is highly dangerous. This shows the school management's scant respect for students' lives," said A.Mahamoodha, a noted social activist of Thanjavur. The school management should have arranged a passenger vehicle with seating facility for the comfortable and safe journey of students, so that they can concentrate on their examinations meticulously and without any stress, Ms Mahamoodha said, adding, the school management should immediately arrange for a passenger vehicle with adequate seats for the students for safe journey at least for the ensuing examinations. Citing various incidents of accidents involving school vehicles in Tamil Nadu in the recent years, owing to negligence of government norms, the social activist urged the district administration, officials of school education department and regional transport office to intervene immediately and take suitable action against the errand management for transporting students like cattle by violating Motor Vehicle Act(MVA). UNI GSM KVV AK 1755 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-651035.Xml
A leading businessman was killed while his son sustained serious injuries when criminals opened fire on them nearBanauli village under Saraiya police station area in the district. Police said here that Mangal Sah(70 yrs) and his son Mukesh were returning home late last night when criminals intercepted them near Banaulivillage under Saraiya police station area in Muzaffarppur district. They opened fire on the duo, causing serious injuries tothem, police said, adding that both the injured were admiited to the Patna Medical College and Hospital where the father died. Thecondition of the son was stated to be critical. UNI KKS PL RSA AS1713 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-650700.Xml
Union Minister of State for Drinking Water Ramkripal Yadav today asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to initiate action under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code against two ruling party legislators, saying their suspension was an eyewash. Mr Yadav told media persons here that Mr Kumar, who loses no time in taking credit for establishing rule of law in the stater, should not sit idle after only suspending the MLAs from the party. He should order the authorities to lodge FIRs against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. "Both Mr Mandal and Mr Singh are facing serious charges of advocating politics of murder and showing disrespect to the national anthem respectively," Mr Yadav said, adding that they should not be allowed to go scott free as it would set a very bad precedence.MORE UNI KKS IS PL RSA VN1715 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-650884.Xml
With a new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) focused largely on promoting 'Make in India', the coming DefExpo India 2016 in Goa will provide a platform to Indian companies to forge ties, Defence Production Secretary A.K. Gupta said on Wednesday. "With the DPP focusing on 'Make in India', the expo will provide a platform for Indian companies and foreign companies to interact," Gupta said at a press conference here. It is the first time that over a 1,000 companies have registered for the four-day expo from March 28, including 490 foreign and 540 Indian companies. "At present, around 50 to 55 percent procurement is from domestic companies," Gupta said, adding that indigenous procurement comes to around 40 percent after removing foreign components in those products. "With the new DPP, we want to take this to 60 percent in the next 4-5 years," he said. The new DPP is set to be unveiled on March 28. It is, however, not clear yet if it will be released at the exhibition itself. Defence Exhibition Organisation Director Wg Cdr M.D. Singh said the increased numbers of companies at the exhibition were due to changed norms. "Earlier, Indian companies got some concession and sublet their space to foreign vendors. This time, the fee was brought down so many companies have registered directly," Singh said. US with 93 participating companies tops the list, followed by Russia with 71 and UK with 46. For the first time, the expo will have live demonstration by Defence Research and Development Organisation, Bharat Forge and Tata. The DRDO has the largest indoor and outdoor spaces reserved at the expo. With 'Make in India' in focus, the exhibition will showcase indigenous light combat aircraft 'Tejas', Akash missile system, DRDO's towed howitzer and 155mm artillery gun 'Dhanush'. Tejas will give air displays at the exhibition, while the Dhanush gun and mini-battle tanks will showcase their capabilities. --Indo-Asian News Service ao/tsb/bg ( 331 Words) 2016-03-23-19:29:32 (IANS)
Observing that India should be a country filled with entrepreneurs, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy today called for more private partnerships that would provide jobs for more people in rural areas. Speaking after visiting the Operator Training School, set up by concrete equipment major Schwing Stetter India on the city outskirts here, the centre has been emphasising the "Make in India" campaign consistently. ''While there are many manufacturing companies across India, most of them are running short of skilled labour. To encourage employment across these companies, skilled labour is the utmost need of the hour'', he added. ''India should be a country filled with entrepreneurs and we need more private partnerships that will in turn provide jobs for more people across rural areas'', he said. Pointing out that handling concreting equipment was a skill that needs to be specially trained, Mr Rudy said Schwing Stetter was doing a phenomenal job in training several youngsters in this field." ''Students who sign up for the course will receive a monthly stipend of Rs.10,000 and guaranteed placement in leading manufacturing companies'', the Minister said. Schwing Stetter India was the first company to launch the concept of providing an in-house operator training school. Currently, it has partnered with the Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC) and today unveiled the first "Centre of Excellence" in India. The IESC is a brainchild of the ICEMA (Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturing Association) where construction equipment operators would receive a certified degree from the IESC for skilling of equipment operation and maintenance. Through this center, training will be provided to the students and unemployed youth and the government was targeting to provide training and jobs to two lakh candidates from this centre in three years, in fivesegments--Road Construction, ConcretingBatching Plants, Concrete Pump, Transit Mixer, Shotcrete Pump and Refresher Training Courses, Material preparation and processing. UNI GV KVV AK 1835 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-651172.Xml
Police said, two local groups were engaged in a verbal duel with each other over Holi celebration in the noon and it turned into a clash very soon.

A local was attacked by blade during the clash and was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

A huge police force and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

However, police have detained three persons so far in connection with the incident. UNI BM SHS NS1945

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As tense stand-off continued on the University of Hyderabad (UoH campus, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union leader Kanahiya Kumar was prevented from entering the campus by the security staff of the university,today. Mr.Kumar who flew down Delhi earlier in the day was stopped by the UoH vice chancellor's security personnel at the main gate of the university, even though he had police permission. Talking to newspersons here, he said that he came to address a public rally on the campus at the invitation of the Joint Action Committee of UoH, adding, he would speak at the meeting, if allowed inside the campus. Mr Kumar, who met and consoled the mother of Dalit research Scholar Rohith Vemula, whose suicide in January rocked the campus by long drawn agitation of the students, demanding the ouster of UoH Vice Chancellor V.Appa Rao, who they charged was responsible for Rohith's suicide, said that his campaign was to ensure social justice on the campus. Police intensified patrolling on the campus, following violence indulged in by the students yesterday, who were protesting against the resumption by duty by Prof Appa Rao. It may be recalled that Prof Appa rao was forced to go on long leave, following widespread agitation in the aftermath of Rohith's suicide.More UNI SMS KVV AK 2030 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-651383.Xml
Goa Tourism has bagged two prestigious awards this month. According to a statement from the Tourism Department, the awards were Goa as a Favourite Spa Destination (India) and the Best Destination for Fun and Relaxation 2016. Goa won the Asia Spa-India Reader's Choice Award in the category, My favourite Spa Destination, India.AsiaSpa India had been running a reader's choice contest for the last four months and Goa won the reader's choice award with a huge margin. The asiaSpa-India awards are the bench marks for the wellness industry in India. In its 9th year, this year, the awards ceremony was held in Mumbai and attended by senior people in the wellness industry, hospitality industry and travel and tourism. March 2016 also brought good news for Goa Tourism from ITB Berlin. Goa Tourism bagged the prestigious award as the Best Destination for Fun and Relaxation at the ITB Berlin 2016. This year two awards were presented to Goa at the ITB Berlin. One as the Best Destination for Fun and Relaxation and the second went to Minister for Tourism, Mr. Dilip Parulekar as the Best Tourism Minister PATWA International Award. The awards were presented by Dr Taleb Rifai United Nations World Tourism Organization General Secretary on behalf of PATWA International to the Director of Tourism, Government of Goa, Mr Sanjeev C Gauns Dessai and Mr Deepak Narvekar, PRO Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) at the ITB Berlin 2016.Minister for Tourism Dilip Parulekar, in a message said, Goa Tourism is gaining recognition world over and nationally in various tourism segments promoted in the State. It is our endeavour to introduce and promote new initiatives, facets and segments to attract tourists to Goa and we are not only competing with other destinations but also excelling in a big way.UNI AKM NP SHS RAI2014 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-651325.Xml
The Assam Rifles personnel arrested one NSCN-KK cadres, along with arms in the Padumpukhuri area of Dimapur town for violating Fire Ground Rules. In a statement the PRO of the Inspector General of Assam Rifles (North) said based on specific information about the presence of a NSCN (KK) Cadre along with weapon in general area at Padampukhri in Dimapur, a joint operation was launched by troops of 32 Assam Rifles and 28 Assam Rifles on March 18. During the search, troops apprehended one NSCN (KK) cadre along with pistol and live rounds from one of the houses in Padampukhri. The apprehended individual was identified as SS 2nd Lieutenant Benzang Ao. The cadre along with recovered items was handed over to East Police Station in Dimapur.UNI AS BM SHS BL2013 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-651333.Xml
Mr Chaudhary, son of RLD chief and former Union Minister Ajit Singh, called on Mr Kumar at his official residence, to discuss the formalities of the merger of the two parties.

Senior JD(U) leader K C Tyagi and Mr Prashant Kishore who had played vital role in formation of Grand Alliance comprising JD(U), RJD and Congress, were also present in the meeting.

Mr Chaudhary and Mr Kumar discussed in detail about formalities of merger of the two parties.The move is significant in view of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh to be held next year.

There is speculation in political circle that RLD chief Mr Singh might get Rajya Sabha berth from Bihar on JD(U) ticket.

Mr Kumar had recently met RLD leader Mr Singh in New Delhi recently and discussed on the issue of merger of two parties.

Mr Kumar had already called for uniting secular forces to defeat the BJP brand of politics. The experiment of Grand Alliance in Bihar which yielded good result, has prompted Mr Kumar to move ahead for formation of such alliance in other states as well, where assembly polls are round the corner.UNI KKS BM SHS BL2125

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The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will be celebrating the birth centenary of Dr B R Ambedkar in a big way and likely to make some announcement for starting a scheme in this regard.Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti talking to mediapersons said here today, that Dr B R Ambedkar was one of the founding members of the Central Water Commission and her Ministry would celebrate his birth centenary which would be a proud moment for her Ministry.She said the birth anniversary would be celebrated between April 14 and May 15 and her ministry would organize a grand programme in which officials of Central Water Commission would participate.She also hinted that her ministry would announce a scheme in this regard, adding that no decision has been taken. The fourth edition of India Water Week with the theme 'Water for all: Striving together' would be organised by the Ministry from April 4 to 8. The mega event will have Israel as the partner country. About 1,500 delegates from India and abroad are likely to participate in the week-long event. According to officials, so far 750 delegates have already registered themselves online out of which 33 are from 17 countries. President Pranab Mukherjee would be the chief guest in valedictory function while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be chief quest at the inaugural function. The event would include Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, dam safety management, inter linking of river projects, groundwater aquifer mapping, participatory irrigation management, environment, climate change and water, flood risk assessment and rain water harvesting. Apart from this, an exhibition 'Water Expo 2016' would also be organised at Pragati Maidan. The exhibition would showcase the technologies and solutions in water resources sector.UNI RBE AY SHS 2326 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0352-651475.Xml
Islamic State claimed responsibility for suicide bomb attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital which killed at least 30 people, with police hunting a suspect who fled the air terminal.Police issued a wanted notice for a young man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden luggage trolley at Zaventem airport alongside two others who, investigators said, had later blown themselves up in the terminal, killing at least 10 people.Officials said 20 died on the metro train close to European Union institutions, and Islamic State said that too was a suicide attack.The coordinated assault triggered security alerts across Europe and drew global expressions of support, four days after Brussels police had captured the prime surviving suspect in Islamic State's attacks on Paris last November.Belgian authorities were still checking whether the attacks were linked to the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, according to Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw, although US officials said the level of organisation involved suggested they had previously been in preparation.Last week, explosives and an Islamic flag were found during a raid on a Brussels flat. Police also found a fresh fingerprint of Abdeslam's there, putting them on to his trail. It was not clear if Abdeslam had been involved at that stage in planning the airport attack.In a statement, Islamic State said "caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns" had targeted the airport and metro station, adding that they had set off their vests amidst the crowds.A bomb and an Islamic State flag were also found yesterday in a flat in Brussels, and Van Leeuw confirmed a manhunt was under way. "A photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks. The third, wearing a light-coloured jacket and a hat, is actively being sought," he told a news conference.A government official said the third suspect had been seen running away from the airport building. Local media reported police had found an undetonated suicide vest in the area.Belgian police appealed to travellers who had been at the airport and metro station to send in any photographs taken before the attacks in their efforts to identify the bombers.After questioning Abdeslam, police issued a wanted notice on Monday, identifying 25-year-old Najim Laachraoui as linked to the Paris attacks. The poor quality of yesterday's CCTV images and of the Laachraoui wanted poster left open whether he might be the person caught on the airport cameras.Citizens of the United States, Spain and Sweden were among the injured, their governments reported.SHOUTS IN ARABICA witness said he heard shouts in Arabic and shots shortly before two blasts struck in a packed airport departure lounge at the airport.Belgian media published the security camera picture of three young men pushing laden luggage trolleys. Police later issued a cropped version of the same photograph, showing only one of the three."If you recognise this individual or if you have information on this attack, please contact the investigators," the notice read. "Discretion assured."Police operations were under way at several points in the city but a lockdown imposed immediately after the attacks was eased and commuters and students headed home as public transport partially reopened.In its statement, Islamic State said: "We promise the crusader alliance against the Islamic State that they will have black days in return for their aggression against the Islamic State."Belgium, home to the EU and the headquarters of the NATO military alliance, has sent warplanes to take part in operations against Islamic State in the Middle East.Austrian Horst Pilger, who was awaiting a flight with his family when the attackers struck, said his children had thought fireworks were going off, but he instantly knew an assault was underway."My wife and I both thought 'bomb'. We looked into each other's eyes," he told Reuters. "Five or 10 seconds later there was a major, major, major blast in close vicinity. It was massive."Pilger, who works at the European Commission, said the whole ceiling collapsed and smoke flooded the building.Security services found and destroyed a third bomb at the airport."BLACK MOMENT"US President Barack Obama led calls of support to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel after Brussels had gone into a state of virtual lock-down."We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism," Obama told a news conference in Cuba. "We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world."Michel spoke at a Brussels news conference of a "black moment" for his country. "What we had feared has come to pass."In Paris, where Islamic State killed 130 people in November, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the colours of the Belgian flag last evening in a show of solidarity with Brussels.Brussels airport will remain closed on Wednesday, its chief executive Arnaud Feist told reporters.Public broadcaster VRT said police had found a Kalashnikov assault rifle next to the body of an attacker at the airport. Such weapons have become a trademark of Islamic State-inspired attacks in Europe, notably in Belgium and France, including on November 13 in Paris.Alphonse Youla, 40, who works at the airport, told Reuters he heard a man shouting out in Arabic before the first explosion. "Then the glass ceiling of the airport collapsed.""I helped carry out five people dead, their legs destroyed," he said, his hands covered in blood.Others said they also heard shooting before the blasts.A witness said the blasts occurred at a check-in desk.Video showed devastation in the hall with ceiling tiles and glass scattered across the floor. Bloodied bodies lay around.Some passengers emerged from the terminal with blood spattered over their clothes. Smoke rose from the building through shattered windows and passengers fled down a slipway, some still hauling their bags.Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands, all wary of spillover from conflict in Syria, were among states announcing extra security measures. Security was tightened at the Dutch border with Belgium.The blast hit the train as it left Maelbeek station, close to EU institutions, heading to the city centre.VRT carried a photograph of a metro carriage at a platform with doors and windows completely blown out, its structure deformed and interior mangled and charred.A local journalist tweeted a photograph of a person lying covered in blood among smoke outside the station. Ambulances were ferrying the wounded away and sirens rang out across the area."WE ARE AT WAR""We are at war and we have been subjected to acts of war in Europe for the last few months," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.Train services on the cross-channel tunnel from London to Brussels were suspended. Britain advised its citizens to avoid all but essential travel to Brussels.Security services have been on a high state of alert across western Europe for fear of militant attacks backed by Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attack.While most European airports are known for stringent screening procedures of passengers and their baggage, that typically takes place only once passengers have checked in and are heading to the departure gates.Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect for the Paris attacks on a stadium, cafes and a concert hall, was captured by Belgian police after a shootout on Friday. Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, said on Monday the country was on high alert for a revenge attack.REUTERS JW PR0405 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650180.Xml
Major US airports were on high alert , with police out in force after at least 30 people were killed in suicide bombing attacks on Brussels airport and subway, though officials said there was no specific threat to the United States.US President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential election contender Hillary Clinton vowed to do more to take on militants, while Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called for tighter border security and suggested US intelligence services could use torture to head off future attacks.The Obama administration was expected to tighten security at US airports following the Brussels airport attack, which occurred in a public hall outside of the security check area.US Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on a House subcommittee on terrorism, said the Brussels attacks illustrate the difficulty of protecting "soft targets" outside tightly controlled security cordons."We should learn from this that the targets aren't going to be just getting on the plane itself, but the airport in general," Keating said in a phone interview.US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the agency has no intelligence that would point to a similar attack being plotted against the United States.Islamic State, a militant group that has gained control of large areas of Iraq and Syria and has sympathizers and supporters around the world, claimed responsibility.Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc canceled or rerouted flights as a result of the attack.Large numbers of uniformed police officers and National Guard members in fatigues and carrying long weapons patrolled New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.One guard member was overheard telling a colleague "we have to keep an eye out for bags" after reports that many of the wounded at the Brussels airport had severe leg injuries, a pattern that suggests an explosion at ground level.The US State Department said yesterday that an undetermined number of US citizens had been injured in the Brussels attack but that none had been killed. Three Mormon missionaries and a US Air Force member and his family were among the Americans hurt.SCOURGE OF TERRORISM'Obama addressed the attacks briefly in a speech in Havana on his historic first visit to Cuba, vowing to support Belgium as it seeks out those responsible."This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism," Obama said.Islamic State was blamed for killing 130 people in Paris last November. Then in December, a married couple inspired by Islamic State shot dead 14 people in San Bernardino, California.The attacks in Belgium drew immediate response from candidates seeking their party's nomination to run for the White House in the November 8 election.Former US Secretary of State Clinton vowed to strengthen her drive to "defeat terrorism and radical jihadism."Billionaire Trump told NBC's "Today" program: "If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from these people."He was referring to the practice of pouring water over someone's face to simulate drowning. Obama banned its use by US interrogators.The attack raised worries among some US Muslims that they could face more hostility in the wake of an attack by Islamist militants, though mainstream Muslims have repeatedly denounced violence."The media hype and political manipulation heightens our concerns," said Sheikh Shaker Elsayed, imam of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia.While the attack immediately sparked discussion of further strengthening US airport security, some pointed out the inherent difficulty of securing spaces that offer broad public access."There are limits to exactly how exhaustive those perimeters can become," US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Telemundo. "So people need to be vigilant, everybody needs to take precautions."Some travelers expressed concern that new security measures at airports, which have already imposed extensive restrictions since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, would cause more inconvenience without improving safety."It already takes all day," said Hans Vermulst, a 66-year-old construction materials company owner who was at New York's Kennedy airport trying to get home to Holland after his connecting flight to Brussels was canceled. "We have to take it as it comes, but I'm not happy with it."REUTERS JW PR0407 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650181.Xml
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said the United States should use waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques when questioning terror suspects, and renewed his call for tougher US border security after the attacks in Brussels.The billionaire businessman said authorities "should be able to do whatever they have to do" to gain information in an effort to thwart future attacks."Waterboarding would be fine. If they can expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding," Trump said on NBC's "Today" program, adding he believed torture could produce useful leads. "You have to get the information from these people."Waterboarding, the practice of pouring water over someone's face to simulate drowning as an interrogation tactic, was banned by President Barack Obama days after he took office in 2009. Critics call it torture.Trump's main Republican rival, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, suggested heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations."We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," he said in a statement.Trump also called for increased law enforcement surveillance of mosques in the United States."You need surveillance. You have to deal with the mosques, whether we like it or not," Trump told Fox Business Network. "These attacks ... they're not done by Swedish people, that I can tell you."Islamic State claimed responsibility for yesterday's suicide bomb attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital which killed at least 30 people.Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, urged tougher measures to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, particularly Syrian refugees, into America."As president ... I would be very, very tough on the borders, and I would be not allowing certain people to come into this country without absolute perfect documentation," said Trump, campaigning to become the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election that will decide on Obama's successor.The Brussels attacks brought national security back to the top of the presidential election agenda, possibly sharpening the division between Trump's isolationist approach to foreign policy and his Republican rivals' more traditional interventionist outlook.On Monday, Trump expressed skepticism about the US role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and said the United States should significantly cut spending on the defense alliance.'THEY NEED MORE HELP'Cruz criticized Trump's NATO proposal."The way to respond to terrorist attacks is not weakness. It's not unilateral and preemptive surrender. Abandoning Europe, withdrawing from NATO, as Trump suggests, is preemptive surrender," Cruz told reporters in Washington.Earlier attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, have pushed security issues to the forefront of the White House campaign debate.When 130 people were killed in Paris in November, the threat of terrorism jumped from fifth to first on a Reuters/Ipsos poll list of the country's most important problems and remained there until the economy moved back to the top of the list in mid-January.Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said US military leaders have found techniques like waterboarding are not effective."We've got to work this through consistent with our values," she said on NBC, adding officials "do not need to resort to torture, but they are going to need more help."Clinton's Democratic rival, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, backed stronger intelligence-sharing and monitoring of social media in the fight against Islamist militants, but opposed bolstered surveillance of Muslim communities."That would be unconstitutional, and it would be wrong. We are fighting a terrorist organization, a barbaric organization that is killing innocent people. We are not fighting a religion," Sanders told reporters.Walid Phares, named by Trump this week as one of his foreign policy experts, told Reuters the Brussels attacks would force Europe and the United States to "reassess" counter-terrorism strategies in "identifying the radicalized elements and also the type of protection soft targets need."Trump looks to take another step toward winning the Republican presidential nomination in contests in Arizona and Utah yesterday, aiming to deal another setback to the party establishment's flagging stop-Trump movement.He has a big lead in convention delegates who will pick the Republican nominee, defying weeks of attacks from members of the party establishment worried he will lead the Republicans to defeat in November.In Arizona, one of the US states that borders Mexico, Trump's hardline immigration message is popular and he leads in polls, while in Utah Trump lags in polls behind Cruz.In addition to the temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, Trump has called for the building of a wall on the US-Mexican border to halt illegal immigration. REUTERS JW PR0409 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650184.Xml
Philippines fishermen threw fire bombs at Chinese law enforcement vessels in the South China Sea, China's Foreign Ministry said, after Philippines media reported that fishermen had been struck by bottles hurled from China's coast guard ships.The reports said that a clash occurred at Scarborough Shoal, an area China seized control of after a three-month stand-off with the Philippine coast guard in 2012. The reports said Chinese coast guardsmen hurled bottles at the Philippines fishermen, who responded with rocks.China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying yesterday said Scarborough Shoal - known by Beijing as Huangyan Island - was Chinese territory which Philippine fishermen had been fishing around illegally."Chinese official ships advised the illegally stationed Philippine trawlers to leave, in accordance with the law, but they refused to obey," she told a daily news briefing."Certain people on the ships even waved around machetes and flung fire bombs, carrying out deliberate provocation, attacking the Chinese law enforcers and official boat, confronting China's law enforcement and seriously threatening the safety and order of the waters around Huangyan Island," Hua said.China had strengthened its "management" around the shoal, she added, without elaborating.A spokesman for the Philippines Foreign Ministry declined to comment, pending an official report "from our concerned agencies".China and the Philippines have long exchanged accusations about each other's behaviour in the disputed South China Sea.China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about 5 trillion dollars in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.A spokesman for the US Defense Department, Commander Bill Urban, said Chinese Coastguard vessels had sought since 2012 to block fishing access to the area, "restricting the long-standing commercial practices of others"."We are concerned that such actions exacerbate tensions in the region and are counterproductive," Urban said. He said that the United States, which is a treaty ally of the Philippines, wanted to see claims resolved peacefully in accordance with international law or arbitration.Last week, the US Navy said it had seen activity around Scarborough Shoal that could be a precursor to more Chinese land reclamation, which China has conducted on a large scale elsewhere in the South China Sea to back its territorial claims.Navy chief Admiral John Richardson also told Reuters that a ruling expected in late May or early June in a case the Philippines has brought against China over its claims in the International Court of Arbitration in the Hague, could prompt Beijing to declare a South China Sea exclusion zone. REUTERS JW PR0409 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650185.Xml
Australia's airports have sufficient security in the wake of the deadly attack in Brussels, despite a planned strike by immigration workers ahead of the busy Easter holiday weekend, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said today.Islamic State has claimed responsibility for suicide bomb attacks at Brussels airport and on a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital on Tuesday which killed at least 30 people.Australia is on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals, but the threat level has not been raised following the Brussels attacks and Turnbull said the country was in a better position than Europe."I can assure Australians that our security system, our border protection, our domestic security arrangements, are much stronger than they are in Europe, where regrettably they allowed them to slip," Turnbull said on Australian Broadcasting Corp television."That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they've been having in recent times."Turnbull, who described the Brussels attacks as "cowardly", said he would hold further meetings with security officials on Wednesday to discuss the Brussels attack but initial guidance indicated that "the threat level is at an appropriate level."Turnbull said that the Australian Federal Police presence at airports would not be compromised by a strike.Easter is a peak travel time at both domestic and international airports in Australia. Immigration and Border Protection workers plan to walk off the job on Thursday, hoping to end a two-year contract dispute between public sector workers and the federal government.REUTERS JW PR0409 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650187.Xml
President Dilma Rousseff said she will not resign in Brazil's worst political crisis in two decades, calling an opposition move to impeach her a "coup d'etat" against democratic rule because she had committed no crime.Rousseff urged Brazil's Supreme Court to remain impartial in the crisis that has threatened to topple her government as opponents seek her impeachment in Congress amid a widespread corruption scandal that has reached her inner circle."I will never resign under any circumstances," the embattled president said in a speech to legal experts. "I have committed no crime that would warrant shortening my term."The head of the Brazilian Senate echoed Rousseff's position on impeachment after a meeting with her predecessor and political mentor, former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, as the pair work hand in hand to shore up a crumbling coalition.Opposition parties have launched impeachment proceedings against Rousseff for allegedly manipulating government accounts to allow her government to spend more in the run-up to her 2014 re-election. The president could be suspended as soon as May if her supporters do not block impeachment in the lower house.Recent corruption allegations and huge anti-government street protests have raised the odds of Rousseff being impeached, ending 13 years of leftist Workers' Party rule.With her popularity at rock bottom due to a snowballing graft scandal and the worst recession in a generation, the political survival of Brazil's first female president depends largely on her main coalition partner, the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB).Growing numbers of lawmakers in the fractious PMDB want the party to break with her government, a decision that could be taken at a March 29 executive committee meeting. The party may hold the deciding votes on impeachment, which would put Vice President Michel Temer, leader of the PMDB, in the presidential seat.Party officials have denied Brazilian media reports that Temer is already preparing a post-Rousseff government and has begun talks with opposition leaders to secure their backing.The head of the Senate, PMDB Senator Renan Calheiros, who appeared to be wavering in his support of the government, warned the party on Tuesday not to deepen Brazil's crisis by breaking with Rousseff.After meeting with Lula, who is back in Brasilia leading efforts by his Workers' Party to avert Rousseff's impeachment, Renan told reporters Congress should only oust her for an impeachable offense."For the sake democracy, we must warn that you need to have a crime of responsibility for impeachment of the president," Calheiros said, echoing Rousseff's stance.LULA AND THE COURTSRousseff also criticized a crusading anti-corruption judge for overstepping his jurisdiction by releasing a wiretap of a conversation between her and Lula, who is being investigated in a political bribery scheme that has engulfed state-run oil company Petrobras.Without mentioning the federal judge, Sergio Moro, by name, Rousseff said the judiciary cannot abandon impartiality and take sides politically by becoming a "party militant."The recording of a conversation between Rousseff and Lula contributed to suspicions that she had appointed her mentor and predecessor as cabinet chief to shield him from prosecution by Moro. Only the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in cases against elected politicians and government ministers.Earlier yesterday, a supreme court justice upheld a decision by another judge on the court barring Lula from taking the ministry post. Last week, Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes blocked Lula from taking office and ordered that the corruption case against him be handled by Moro, exposing Lula to the risk of arrest. A plenary vote of the full Supreme Court on March 30 can still overrule Mendes' decision.Brazil's Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo said the courts had no justification for barring the former president, adding in a news conference with foreign reporters: "Lula is currently a minister. He just can't exercise his position."Cardozo said the government will resort to the Supreme Court to fight impeachment if necessary. "If there are irregularities or violations of the Constitution, we will take legal action."Brazil is going through its worst political turmoil since Fernando Collor de Mello resigned as president in 1992 ahead of imminent impeachment in a corruption scandal.REUTERS JW06010 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650194.Xml
EU ministers will meet at Belgium's request to discuss the suicide bomb attacks on Brussels Airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital , the Dutch justice minister said on Twitter.It is possible the meeting will take place tomorrow morning, Ard van der Steur said. The Netherlands, which currently holds the rotating European Union presidency, will organise the event.Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed at least 30 people. A suspect who fled the airport is now the target of a police manhunt. REUTERS JW PM0750 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650210.Xml
A businessman was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison today for threatening to contaminate infant formula in New Zealand, the world's largest dairy exporter.Jeremy Kerr pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail after sending threatening letters to New Zealand's national farmers' group and dairy giant Fonterra in 2014.The messages were accompanied by packages of infant formula laced with pesticide 1080 and demanded that use of the toxic pesticide be stopped. Kerr's business sold a competing pesticide.Police said in October they had arrested a man after an 11-month investigation. A court in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, found that Kerr was motivated by financial gain."The impact on Fonterra, Federated Farmers and the potential impact on New Zealand's trade relationships with China and other countries was extremely serious," said Justice Geoffrey Venning in sentencing Kerr.China is the biggest buyer of New Zealand dairy products. The head of a New Zealand exporters' group said last year there had been a fall in Chinese demand after the threat to infant formula, which is prized among China's middle class. REUTERS JW PM0800 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650214.Xml
Belgian police are hunting an Islamic State suspect seen with two supposed suicide bombers shortly before they struck Brussels Airport in the first of two attacks that also hit the city's metro, killing at least 30 and wounding over 200.The blasts yesterday claimed by the Syrian-based militants four days after the arrest in Brussels of a prime suspect in November's Paris attacks, sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and transit systems, and drawing an outpouring of solidarity."We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world," said US President Barack Obama. Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to succeed Obama in November's election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks.Brussels police mounted an operation in the north of the city, turning up another bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making chemicals in an apartment in the borough of Schaerbeek.Local media said authorities had followed a tip from a taxi driver who believed he may have driven the bombers to the airport.Investigators said they were focusing on a man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden baggage trolley at the airport with two others they believed were the bombers. An unused explosive device was later found at the airport and a man was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions.Security experts believed the blasts, which killed about 20 on a metro train running through the area that houses European Union institutions, were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Salah Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the November 13 Paris attacks.He was caught and has been speaking to investigators after a shootout at an apartment in the south of the city a week ago, after which another Islamic State flag and explosives were found. It was unclear whether he had knowledge of the new attack or whether accomplices may have feared police were closing in.Islamic State said in a statement that "caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns" struck Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station.It was not clear, however, that the attackers used vests. The suspects were photographed pushing bags on trolleys, and witnesses said many of the airport dead and wounded were hit mostly in the legs, possibly indicating blasts at floor level.MAN IN THE HATOfficials said the final death tolls remained uncertain from the carnage in the morning rush hour, around 8 a.m. (1230 IST) at the airport and shortly after 9 a.m. on the metro."A photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks. The third, wearing a light-coloured jacket and a hat, is actively being sought," prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a news conference.The two men in dark clothes wore gloves on their left hands only. One security expert speculated they might have concealed detonators. The man in the hat was not wearing any gloves."If you recognise this individual or if you have information on this attack, please contact the investigators," a police wanted notice for the third man read. "Discretion assured."Belgian authorities were still checking whether the attacks were linked to Abdeslam's arrest, said Van Leeuw.Islamic State warned of "black days" for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels, home to the European Union and NATO headquarters, has long been a centre of Islamist militancy.Some 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities."What we had feared has come to pass," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, vowing to face down the threat.On Wednesday, he will host a prearranged visit by French Premier Manuel Valls, who declared: "We are at war."Reviving arguments over Belgian policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of "naivet" on the part of "certain leaders" in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities.A lawmaker from Michel's party, Didier Ducarme, hit back on French television. He said comments like Sapin's "are starting to seriously irritate me" and noted it was a France-based gunman who killed four at Brussels' Jewish Museum in 2014.Michel, who locked down the Belgian capital for days in fear of a follow-up attack after the November bloodshed in Paris, has dramatically increased the budget of security forces.But experts say tracking militants among the country's half-million Muslims, 5 per cent of the population, has been hampered by political divisions and a lack of resources.Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Europeans had "allowed (security arrangements) to slip". The departures hall of the airport, similar to arrangements across Europe, was open to the public, with no screening of identities or baggage.Citizens of the United States, Spain and Sweden were among the injured, their governments said. US broadcaster ABC said nine Americans were hurt in the Brussels bombings.The US State Department, saying that "terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe," warned US citizens in Europe to avoid crowded places and be vigilant when in public or using public transit.Trump said torture could be useful to extract information before attacks: "Waterboarding would be fine. If they can expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding," the billionaire businessman said of an interrogation technique practice banned by Obama."You have to get the information from these people."WANTED MANAbdeslam, who prosecutors say confessed to being the 10th Paris attacker but failed to emulate his suicide bomber brother, appears to have spent four months undetected in Brussels, aided by a network of friends and petty criminal contacts.After questioning him, police issued a wanted notice for 25-year-old Najim Laachraoui, a former fighter in Syria whom local media say they suspect of helping arm the Paris attacks. The poor quality of Tuesday's CCTV images left open the possibility that Laachraoui might be the third man caught on the airport cameras.A witness said he heard shouts in Arabic and shots shortly before two blasts struck in a crowded airport departure lounge at the airport. Belgian media said police found a Kalashnikov assault rifle next to the body of an attacker.A lockdown imposed after the attacks was eased and public transport was due to reopen, at least in part, on Wednesday, although the airport will be closed at least another day.Austrian Horst Pilger, waiting on a flight with his family, said his children had thought fireworks were going off, but he instantly knew an assault was under way."My wife and I both thought 'bomb'. We looked into each other's eyes," he said. "Five or 10 seconds later, there was a major, major, major blast in close vicinity. It was massive."Pilger, who works at the European Commission, said the whole ceiling collapsed and smoke poured through the terminal.Passengers on the metro line running under the rue de la Loi connecting the EU quarter with central Brussels felt shockwaves and then smoke when the bomb tore through a carriage of a train leaving Maelbeek station. The metro car was totally devastated.Although Europeans have been used to urban guerrilla attacks for decades, some bloodier than Tuesday's events in Brussels and none as costly as al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the wide reach of Islamist violence, striking notably London and Madrid as well as Paris, has unnerved many.In an outpouring of sympathy across the continent, Paris' Eiffel Tower was lit up with the red, gold and black colours of the Belgian flag.The Twitter hashtag #JeSuisBruxelles was trending as were cartoons riffing on the theme of the city's irreverent emblem, Manneken Pis, a small fountain statue of a boy urinating. In the images, he is cheekily relieving himself on a Kalashnikov.REUTERS JW PM0752 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650216.Xml
Chinese police have detained 37 people in a widening scandal over illegal vaccine sales, an official news agency reported, a case Premier Li Keqiang said revealed glaring holes in the regulation of the world's second-largest medicine market.Police made the arrests in Shandong, the eastern province at the centre of the scandal, the official Xinhua news agency reported today. The arrests were made after the case, involving nearly 90 million dollars worth illegal vaccines, erupted over the past week.The scandal, which has stirred angry debate in China, casts a shadow over Beijing's ambitions to bolster its domestic drug market and underlines the challenge it faces to regulate a widespread and fragmented medicine supply chain.The issue of regulation, from food and drugs to online sales, has become increasingly contentious in China as it looks to cast off a poor reputation for quality and safety. However, regulators have pointed to a lack of resources and personnel to adequately regulate their sectors."This vaccine safety case has drawn close attention, and shows there are many gaps in terms of regulation," Premier Li said in a statement on the central government's website.Li said authorities should improve the regulatory system surrounding vaccine production and distribution and that any dereliction of duty would not be tolerated.China's health ministry, cited by Xinhua, said it had not yet found any spike in abnormal reactions to vaccinations. The vaccines, which include ones against meningitis, rabies and other illnesses, are suspected of being sold in dozens of provinces around China since 2011.Angry parents voiced their concerns online. One mother said she wanted to take her child out of China to escape "poisoned milk, gutter oil and ineffective vaccines"."It seems every day we are being swindled with something ... and no-one is coming to sort it out," she wrote on China's popular Sina Weibo, using the handle "Sunziyue".Police said a mother and daughter in Shandong had illegally bought vaccines from traders and sold them on to hundreds of re-sellers around the country, according to a notice from the Shandong Public Security Department.Shandong Zhaoxin Bio-tech Co, one of three pharmaceutical firms being probed, had also been ordered to halt operations and had a license revoked, Xinhua said. The company declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Wednesday.Xinhua said the case would be overseen by China's top court. REUTERS SB PM1234 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650457.Xml
US Republican front-runner Donald Trump swept to victory in Arizona but rival Ted Cruz took a big lead in Utah that gave hope to establishment Republicans who fear Trump would lead the party to ruin in the presidential election.On the Democratic side, favorite Hillary Clinton routed challenger Bernie Sanders in Arizona to stretch her advantage in the race for her party's presidential nomination.Sanders, however, won Utah to bolster his case that he still has a chance despite Clinton's big lead.The contests in Arizona and Utah, plus a Democratic battle in Idaho, were overshadowed by attacks in Brussels that left at least 30 dead and raised security concerns among US voters.Trump helped himself in Arizona with a hardline anti-immigration message and tough talk on Islamic militants to easily defeat Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich.Trump had the backing in Arizona of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on illegal immigrants.The win furthered Trump's argument that he will eventually win the Republican presidential nomination and that the party should rally around him. He won all of Arizona's 58 delegates."Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!" Trump said on Twitter. "Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court Justices!"Cruz, though, was far ahead in Utah's caucuses, giving hope to those Republicans who fear Trump's proposal to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and build a wall on the US border with Mexico would guarantee a Democratic victory in the November 8 election.Cruz appeared to benefit from Mormons who dominate the Republican vote in Utah. They did not take kindly to a Trump attack on native son Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who has led the anti-Trump opposition.Trump had questioned whether Romney, an elder in the Mormon church, was really a Mormon."Trump's poor showing in Utah is a reminder that while many love his glib comments, those remarks can also have a downside. Questioning Mitt Romney's faith is something that was sure to backfire in Utah," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.Clinton seized on the Brussels attacks to argue that neither Trump nor Cruz can be trusted to lead the fight against Islamic State militants.Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and Cruz said he would send police patrols into Muslim neighborhoods in the United States."This is a time for America to lead, not cower," Clinton told supporters in Seattle in a victory speech.Sanders, at a rally in San Diego, said national polls showed him gaining on former secretary of state Clinton."When we began this campaign about 10 months ago we were three percent in the polls, about 70 points behind secretary Clinton. As of today the last poll that I saw we are five points behind and we are gaining," Sanders said.In Utah, the state's 40 delegates will be awarded proportionate to the popular vote, unless a single candidate captures at least 50 percent of the vote, in which case that person will be awarded all the delegates.On Monday, Trump warned against efforts to deny him the nomination if he falls short of securing the 1,237 delegates needed ahead of the July convention. Trump now has 678 delegates."I think it is going to be very hard for them to do," Trump said on CNN of any effort to deny him the nomination if he falls short. "I have millions of votes more than anybody."Sanders is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday. Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not the winner in a given state because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally in all states.Tuesday's Republican contests were the first since US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed him in his home state.Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the anti-Trump vote with Cruz. REUTERS SB PM1245 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-650473.Xml
The United States hopes to talk with China and address its concern about the possible deployment of the THAAD missile defence system that Washington is discussing with Seoul, a senior State Department official said.Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, yesterday stressed that the United States and South Korea had just begun discussions, and no decision had been made to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.Gottemoeller also emphasized that the system was defensive in nature and aimed at North Korea, not China."THAAD is truly only capable of defending the territory on which it's deployed. It is not capable of the kind of reach that the Chinese seem to be afraid that it has," she told reporters at a breakfast meeting."We will be very glad and hope we'll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with China about those very technical limitations and facts about the system," she said.Gottemoeller gave no timetable for a possible meeting.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked about the remarks, said THAAD was "certainly not a simple technology issue"."At present, the situation on the Korean peninsula is very complex and sensitive. We hope the relevant country cautiously handles this issue, and we demand they do nothing to harm China's security interests," she told a daily news briefing.The United States and South Korea agreed to begin the talks last month after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 carrying what it called a satellite.US Defence Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday told a congressional hearing that Seoul and Washington had an "agreement in principle" to discuss deploying a THAAD system to South Korea. Doing so, he said, would protect "the entirety of the peninsula against North Korean missiles of greater range."Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, North Korea's neighbor and main ally, last month underscored China's concerns about a possible THAAD deployment but seemed to open the door to a diplomatic solution.Wang said China understood the desire of the United States and South Korea to ensure the defence of their own countries, but Beijing had legitimate concerns that should be addressed.US military officials have long said the THAAD system is needed in South Korea, but until North Korea's recent satellite launch, Seoul had been reluctant to openly discuss its deployment given the risk of damaging ties with China.Army Lieutenant General David Mann, commander, US Army Space & Missile Command, told reporters that the THAAD system would result in a "huge increase" in missile defence capabilities on the Korean peninsula. But he said Washington understood the sensitivity of the discussions given the concerns raised by China, one of South Korea's key trading partners."It's very, very important that we clarify that that radar, that system is not looking at China," he said. "If the decision is made to deploy it, that system would be oriented on North Korea and threats posed by the North Korean military."The system was designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.Mann said the Army would complete training for its fifth THAAD system by the end of the year. He said Japan was also interested in the system, as were US military commanders in Europe and the Middle East.Once a site was approved and prepared, the mobile THAAD system could be deployed "in a matter of weeks," Mann said.REUTERS RJ AS1500 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-650679.Xml
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou today invited Philippine government representatives and members of an international arbitration tribunal to a disputed South China Sea island for a visit. "I, as Republic of China president, formally invites the Philippines government to send a representative or lawyer to visit Taiping Island," Ma said, referring to Taiwan by its official name and to the island that Taiwan controls by its Taiwanese name. The Philippines has challenged the legality of claims by China, that mirror those of Taiwan, to most of the South China Sea, presenting its case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in November. Ma was speaking at a press briefing after international journalists were allowed to visit the island, also known as Itu Aba, for the first time today.REUTERS RJ AS1740 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-651017.Xml
Four men torched a car from the ride hailing company Uber in the Kenyan capital Nairobi today, police said, on the same day Uber launched its services in Mombasa, Kenya's second largest city. The driver escaped unhurt, police said. This is the second attack against Uber cars in Kenya in two months. Uber drivers around the world have faced threats, protests and legal action from regular taxi operators, who say Uber's cheaper fares and business model are driving them out of business. In Kenya, regular cab drivers last month threatened to paralyse transport if the government did ban Uber from Nairobi within seven days. The government refused, but said it was drafting new laws on the regulation of online taxi operators. "The driver, sensing danger, escaped unhurt and four men torched the car," Japheth Koome, Nairobi's police commander said. In a statement emailed from Uber's office in South Africa, the company said it was in "open dialogue" with the police over the attack. The company now operates in nine cities in sub-Saharan Africa, including in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. An Uber driver was attacked and his car was torched in Kenya last month, unnerving many of the company's drivers.REUTERS RJ BL1804 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-651097.Xml
A Japanese man who had attempted to join the Islamic State militant group has been detained by Turkish security forces near the Syrian border early today, security sources said.The 24-year-old was on his way to Syria to join the ranks of the radical group when he was detained in the Karkamis district of Gaziantep province, just across the border from the Islamic State-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus, the sources said.The man, who Turkish media are calling "M M", made contact with the militants through social media, the sources said. He is due to be deported once authorities finish with his interrogation, the sources said.He said he was persuaded to join the group by a Syrian he spoke to on the telephones, Dogan news agency said.A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Ankara said it was aware of media reports, but had not yet confirmed the information.Last year Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of a Japanese man in Bangladesh. Earlier in 2015, Islamic State militants said they had beheaded two Japanese hostages.REUTERS SHS RAI2018 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0104-651387.Xml
What Will You Do After Law School?

Prospective attorneys who assess their career goals before applying to law school can make a better-informed decision about which school to attend. Researching different practice areas will help applicants figure out what type of law they want to pursue. From there, they can determine which law schools will best prepare them for a particular field.

Here are 10 less-talked-about career paths that future attorneys might consider.

Patent Attorney

Attorneys who specialize in patent law can help inventors apply for patents from the government. They can also get involved in litigation to keep outside parties from infringing on the intellectual property of others.

A scientific or technical background is necessary for attorneys interested patent law prosecution. In order to become licensed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, applicants must pass a test that is only given to those who have education or work experience in certain scientific fields.

Entrepreneur

A legal education can be a good launching pad for those who want to start their own businesses. Critical thinking and creative problem-solving are key skills for both entrepreneurs and lawyers.

The information taught in courses on labor and employment law, contracts and corporate taxation is directly applicable to entrepreneurial pursuits.

Judge Advocate in the U.S. Military

Law schools grads who want to serve their country can become members of the military. Each branch of the U.S. armed forces has legal professionals who work to resolve military justice issues. These officers are called judge advocates, or JAGs.

"I feel like I get out of bed every morning with a purpose," Capt. Megan Mallone, an Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps officer who graduated from the University of Toledo College of Law, said in an episode of the "I Am the Law" podcast.

Compliance Attorney

Compliance law specialists work to ensure that companies and their employees obey the legal and regulatory requirements that apply to different industries. Attorneys who work in compliance might also monitor the implementation of a company's own policies regarding personal conduct, ethics and risk reduction.

Story continues

Professionals in the compliance field aim to recognize and fix problems for businesses before they start.

Health Policy Attorney

Law school can prepare graduates for a range of jobs in the public sector, including health-policy-related work.

Attorneys who focus on public health at the state level might prosecute health care workers who violate the rules of professional conduct issued by state health boards, according to the "I Am the Law" podcast.

"We work to protect the public by ensuring that their access to health care means access to competent practitioners" said Johanna Barde, an assistant general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Health and graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, to "I Am the Law."

Immigration Attorney

Immigration lawyers help individuals, families and employers comply with the many laws and procedures that make up a country's immigration processes.

"There's a lot at stake with immigration," said Manuel Escobar, an immigration attorney who graduated from the St. Mary's University School of Law, in an episode of the "I Am the Law" podcast. "It's something that I never really realized before I actually got into it."

Electronic Document Discovery Attorney

In law, the discovery process involves sifting through documents from the other party in a lawsuit, and gathering relevant information to prepare for a trial.

"In the technology age there's a lot of information that is able to be discovered -- tweets, IM, text messages, email," Nat Croumer, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law who manages a team of attorneys at a large e-discovery firm, said when interviewed for the "I Am the Law" podcast.

Elder Law Attorney

Lawyers who specialize in elder law work with older clients or clients with disabilities and their families.

As the baby-boom generation ages, an increasing number of people will be looking for legal guidance with regard to estate planning, medical directives and issues related to long-term care.

Real Estate Lawyer

Real estate lawyers are involved in a range of legal activities focused on sales and acquisitions, land use, leasing, litigation and more.

Real estate law "is going to mean different things in different states," said Barbara Stewart, who runs a solo real estate practice and graduated from the University of Texas--Austin School of Law, to the "I Am the Law" podcast. For instance, North Carolina, where Stewart practices, is one of a handful of states that require an attorney to direct the process of closing on a home, she says.

Nonprofit Manager

Attorneys can leverage the leadership and management training they received in law school to attain senior executive roles at nonprofit organizations.

For example, Abraham Foxman, national director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League, is a graduate of the New York University School of Law.

Explore Advice and Tips for Law School Applicants

Visit the "I Am the Law: Where Law School Leads" blog to learn about other types of jobs in the legal field. Also, check out the Best Law Schools rankings and get advice on paying for a J.D.

Connect with U.S. News Education on Facebook and Twitter to share your thoughts.

Kelly Mae Ross is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at kross@usnews.com.
By Justin Madden CHICAGO (Reuters) - A California animal rights activist who freed 2,000 minks from an Illinois fur farm in 2013 was sentenced on Wednesday to house arrest and ordered to pay $200,000 to the farm's owners, prosecutors said. Tyler Lang, 27, was indicted in 2014 under the rarely used Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a 2006 law making it a federal crime to cause damages or disruptions at zoos, circuses, breeding farms and other places. "Lang was not engaging in lawful activism or peaceful protest, but instead was committing a crime," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bethany Biesenthal said in the government's sentencing memorandum. In addition to paying the $200,000 restitution to the farm's owners, Lang was sentenced to six months of home confinement followed by six months in a work-release facility, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement. "The use of illegal methods of activism  harassment, threats, vandalism  does nothing more than taint the image of law-abiding activists who are attempting to create change through legal protest and lawful demonstration," Biesenthal said. Lang and his friend Kevin Johnson, 28, released the minks from their cages in August 2013 on a farm in Morris, Illinois, and spray-painted the barn with the words "Liberation is Love." They also poured an acidic substance over two trucks that were parked on the farm, prosecutors said. Both Lang and Johnson are from Los Angeles. Lang pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to travel in interstate commerce with the purpose of damaging an animal enterprise, prosecutors said. Lang's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. On a website to raise funds for their defense, Lang and Johnson are described as facing state repression under a law designed to "conjure public fear of the animal liberation movement." The two were arrested in 2013 and originally pleaded guilty to state charges of possession of burglary tools, but were indicted on federal charges in 2014. Johnson pleaded guilty last year to the same charge as Lang. Johnson was sentenced last month to three years in federal prison for his involvement, prosecutors said. About a dozen people have been charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights. Two other California animal rights activists were sentenced last month for violating the act, the center said. (Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Alaskan Democrats will vote Saturday for their choice for the 2016 presidential ticket in the Alaska Democratic Caucus. The caucus will take place in several locations across the state  with a helpful guide available online to show would-be voters where they can support their nominee.

According to the Alaska Democratic Party's website, voters will walk toward whichever corner of the room is designated for their candidate. If the party member does not achieve 15% support, the members will realign. However, since the Democratic race has been whittled down to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, it shouldn't present an issue.

Voting in the caucus will begin at 10 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time at the disclosed locations, and voters can sign up for a pre-registration ticket here. Following the results in Alaska and the rest of the primaries and caucuses from across the United States, the Democratic presidential primary will take place June 14.

In the meantime, if anybody isn't sure what a caucus is  as opposed to a primary  check out this brief explainer from AJ+ below.
An American couple caught in the middle of the Brussels airport bombings have spoken out about their terrifying ordeal.



Arizona residents Andrew and Denise Brandt, who work for aid agency Jhpiego Health Services, were catching a connecting flight to Liberia on Thai Airlines when the two explosions rocked the departure hall of Brussels Zaventem Airport. At least 13 were killed and dozens more injured, according to local media.



At least one of the explosions was near the American Airlines departures desk.



"You just feel like a wave from the explosion," Andrew Brandt told Sky News while draped in a blanket outside the airport terminal building. "Like a wave moving through your body.









American Aid Workers Describe Horror of Brussels Airport Blast: 'It Reverberated Through Our Entire Bodies'| Terrorism, True Crime



"They said it happened in check-in. We were in Terminal B in the gift shop area, transferring from another airline, thank God," Andrew said.



Denise Brandt, who is Country Director and Chief of Party for Jhpiego in Liberia, added: "I knew it was an explosion because I have been near explosions before. I have felt explosions before and the way they feel throughout your body."



She continued, "We kind of looked at each other and I was like 'Let's go this way' because it was over there [she pointed], and there was just this instinct to get away from it. Then we started to see people running, crying towards us, so I knew that we were going in the right direction and away from it."



Asked how close the explosions were, Denise Brandt responded: "Too close!"



"It felt muffled, so I knew that we were not really close to it but that we were close enough that it reverberated through our entire bodies."



Other witnesses have described the scene of terror that unfolded early Tuesday morning, which has sent Brussels into total lockdown. All rail transport to the airport has now been halted and all flights diverted. Eurostar has cancelled all trains to and from Brussels.



Two explosions went off at the airport, followed by a second attack at the Maalbeek Metro Station near the headquarters of the European Union, killing at least 15 more, according to local officials. The attacks closely follow the anti-terror raids and arrest of Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam on Friday.



Zach Mouzoun, who arrived in Brussels on a flight from Geneva, told France's BFM television: "It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed. There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere. We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene."



An un-named Swiss airport worker also confirmed that the bombs exploded close to the American Airlines check-in desk. He did not see any suicide bombers and believes that the bombs were stored in bags.



"I started work at 8 a.m. with my colleague," the worker told the BBC. "We were going to our desks, going to the gate. We look to our left and 50 meters from us was a big explosion. First we thought it was a billboard falling down or something. My colleague was looking and wondering 'What was it?' and I said 'Run, run!' "



He continued, "We run away very quickly. My colleague jumped into the carousel behind the check-in desks and I lost him because I didn't know where he was. It was like 20 centimeters of me was a big explosion, the second one. A big explosion."



"I just fell a bit away. I thought I was hurt. I was hit," the employee shared. "Then there were two people working on the airport they told me to come inside, to lock the a little door. Behind a little gap in the door I saw a soldier pulling away a body. I hope he was not dead and just hit."



Marc Noel, 63, who was buying car magazines before a flight to Atlanta when the first explosion occurred about 50 yards away, told the Associated Press: "People were crying, shouting, children. It was a horrible experience."
By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Belgian government warned at the weekend that there might be an attack after the security services captured their most wanted man. It came swiftly. Tuesday's explosions, which killed at least 30 people at the main Brussels airport and an underground rail station, came just days after Belgium's security services caught the last surviving suspect in November's attacks on Paris. Belgium has announced 400 million euros ($450 million) of extra spending to upgrade its security capabilities since it emerged that the country of 11 million people served as the base for the Paris attackers who killed 130 people. But Tuesday's bombings at home show how much further it still has to go. Security experts say squabbling layers of government, under-funded spy services, an openness to fundamentalist preachers and a thriving black market in weapons all make Belgium among the most vulnerable countries in Europe to militant attacks. One U.S. government official told Reuters that Tuesday's attacks showed Belgian authorities still "have not upped their game". Catching Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam on Friday was a coup for Belgium's security services. But his four months apparently hiding and moving about the capital were also proof of how difficult the task of securing Belgium is likely to be. It is still too early to say whether Tuesday's attacks were directly linked to Abdeslam's capture. U.S. officials believe they may have been already in the works before his arrest, and was not highly sophisticated or the type of attack that required a huge amount of ingenuity. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Charles Michel, who had locked down the capital for days in November after the Paris attacks, warned on Sunday of "a real threat". U.S. government sources said that, while the United States and Belgium had believed that another attack after Paris was highly likely, they did not have hard intelligence about where or when such an attack would occur. Reviving arguments over Belgian policies in the wake of the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of "naivete" on the part of "certain leaders" in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities. A lawmaker from Michel's party, Didier Ducarme, hit back on French television. He said comments like Sapin's "are starting to seriously irritate me" and noted that it was a France-based gunman who killed four at Brussels' Jewish Museum in 2014. BENEATH THE RADAR Catching up after years of neglect was always going to be a problem for Belgium's intelligence agency, which has just 600 staff, a third as many as in the neighbouring Netherlands, a country not much larger and with fewer home-grown jihadists fighting in Syria or Iraq. Belgium has supplied the highest per capita number of fighters to Syria of any European nation, and the crowded Brussels borough of Molenbeek has been described as a "Jihadist air base" because of the number of militant suspects believed to be living there. To follow a single suspect around 24 hours a day without being detected, security agencies need crews of as many as 36 officers, U.S. and European officials estimate, meaning even well-staffed agencies such as Britain's MI5 can only closely follow a limited number of suspects at any particular time. According to Alain Winants, head of the Belgian intelligence service from 2006 until 2014, Belgium was one of the last places in Europe to obtain modern techniques to gather information, such as telephone taps. On one occasion, police had to deny they let Abdeslam slip due to a law banning house raids at night. Michel has already said he accepts more is needed. It is impossible for any country to completely secure "soft targets" like busy railway stations and airports. But Belgium also has unique challenges. The patchwork country divided between French- and Dutch-speakers has a bureaucracy that hinders the sharing of information, with six parliaments for its regions and linguistic communities, 193 local police forces and, in Brussels, 19 autonomous mayors. That allows militants to hide below the radar in a way they cannot in the much more centralised Netherlands, as well as slowing the passing of new laws to rein in the preaching of hate in mosques and a roaring trade in illegal weapons. Nearly 6,000 firearms are seized every year in Belgium, more than in all of France, police data shows, often sold by Balkan crime networks to home-grown Belgian jihadists. VANISHING IN MOLENBEEK Belgian authorities have been accused of neglecting Muslims and failing to help find jobs to shield them from people seeking to radicalise desperate young men. Youth unemployment can reach up to 40 percent in some parts of wealthy Belgium. "Because of the difficulty of fitting into a hostile society, they look for alternative networks where they can blend in," said counter-terrorism expert Rik Coolsaet at the Brussels think-tank Egmont. "Gang activities and the foreign fighters' undertakings are carried out on the margins of the local environment, where they grew up," Coolsaet said. Just a few miles from the power of the headquarters of NATO and the European Union, but effectively a world away, Molenbeek on the poorer side of the city's industrial-era canal has become a notoriously difficult place to track militants. Abdeslam was able to vanish into the streets of Molenbeek, some quarters of which are 80 percent Muslim, for four months, protected by family, friends and petty criminals, not far from his parents' home. Some problems go back to the 1970s, when Belgium, still heavily industrial at the time, sought favour and cheap oil from Saudi Arabia by providing mosques for Gulf-trained preachers. European officials acknowledge that no amount of quick funding increases for Belgium's intelligence services will immediately solve the multitude of challenges. "We know that it will take a long time," said General Gratien Maire, deputy head of the French defence staff, said at an event in Brussels on Sunday. "So we have to be honest and clear with our people." (Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Mark Hosenball in Washington and Michel Rose in Paris; Editing by Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman)
It was another night of split decisions for the Democrats Tuesday as former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton won big in the Arizona primary while Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont continued to dog her with victories in caucuses in Utah and Idaho.

Clintons win by 20 percentage points in delegate rich Arizona showed once again her mastery over Sanders in more racially diverse states. It also added to the narrative that it would be virtually impossible for the liberal senator to overcome Clintons sizeable lead in the overall delegate race.

Related: Sanders Attacks on Clintons Foreign Policy Could Help Trump

But Sanders declared this week during an appearance on CNN, Im not a quitter. And with more caucuses and primaries looming in states receptive to Sanderss populist themes of income equality and the evils of Wall Street and major trade agreements, Sanders appears determined to fight Clinton all the way to the Democratic national convention this summer.

The caucuses in Utah and Idaho were swamped by huge turnouts of Democrats, a fact noted by Sanders in arguing that his campaign is sparking far more excitement and interest among young people and working class Americans than Clintons is. He is convinced that party leaders will eventually conclude that he would be the stronger nominee to take on Republican Donald Trump in the general election  especially with nagging concerns over an FBI investigation of Clintons handling of emails at the State Department.

Yet in the wake of the terrorist bombings in Brussels Monday that startled Europe and swiftly altered the rhetoric on the campaign trail in the U.S., Sanders may find it more difficult to challenge Clinton on issues of national security and combating terrorism -- issued that once again are front and center in the campaign.

When we began this campaign we talked about a need for millions of people to become involved in the political process, Sanders told a crowd of supporters in San Diego late Tuesday. Tonight in Utah, tonight in Idaho, and tonight in Arizona there are record-breaking turnouts.

Story continues

Related: Trump vs. ClintonWho Has the Steady Hands to Manage the Mideast?

Arizona, with 75 Democratic delegates at stake, was the biggest contest of the night and Clinton described her big victory over Sanders as exciting and rewarding. But she quickly turned her attention back to the tragedy in Belgium  and has plans to deliver a major address on terrorism at Stanford University today.

We live in a complex world, she said in Seattle. We need leadership that is strong, smart and above all steady. The former secretary of state and New York senator proclaimed herself the most ready to assume the mantle of commander-in-chief.

Sanders won big over Clinton in Utah and Idaho by margins of 78 percent to 80 percent, and probably picked up a net of 20 delegates throughout the night in the three contests. But while his strong showings in Utah and Idaho gave Sanders an important boost after losing five states including Florida and Ohio to Clinton last week, it does little to alter Clintons steady march towards the nomination.

According to CNN, by the end of the night Clinton had amassed 1,711 delegates, including both pledged and super delegates, while Sanderss tally stood at 939. Clinton is more than half way to the magic number of 2,383 delegates needed to claim the partys nomination.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
The U.S. Army just dropped nearly a quarter of a billion dollars on the first lot of armored combat vehicles meant to replace the services battered Humvee fleet.

The more than $243 million order to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense covers the initial batch of 657 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles along with 2,977 installed kits and related support, the company said Wednesday in a statement.

Related: The Armys $30 Billion Humvee Replacement Climbs Out of a Ditch

The JLTV effort is a relative success story in terms of a major acquisition program. Oshkosh won the competition to build the Humvee successor for the Army and Marine Corps last August, beating out defense industry giant Lockheed Martin and AM General for a contract that is expected to total $30 billion over its lifetime.

Work froze for about 100 days when Lockheed protested the contract selection to the Government Accountability Office; the company also filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The court filing prompted GAO to chuck the challenge and allow Oshkosh to get its production line up and running while the lawsuit played out in court. Lockheed dropped its lawsuit last month.

The once vaunted Humvee lost some of its luster as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dragged on and the services moved toward heavily armored mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles to better protect soldiers from roadside bombs. Military officials believe the lighter JLTV will help them regain some flexibility, and speed, on the battlefield.

Related: The Armys $30 Billion Humvee Replacement Program Goes Off Road

The Army wants to buy around 49,000 JLTV vehicles, with acquisition slated to wrap up in 2040. Now that the initial order has been placed, the service could receive its first deliveries as soon as this October. The Marine Corps hopes to purchase 5,500 trucks and finish production in fiscal 2022.

The two services plan to spend $735 million to purchase 2,020 JLTVs next year, according to budget documents unveiled earlier last month.

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The first wave of JLTVs arent expected to hit the field until 2018.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
By Alex Fraser NOTTINGHAM, England (Reuters) - The debate over whether Britain should leave the European Union has divided society and split the government. In the Baxter family, it is pitting brother against brother. Nigel and Ian Baxter worked together for 16 years at their father's freight business before embarking on separate ventures, but they have opposite views about how Britain should vote in a June 23 referendum on EU membership. "My view is, stay in, have influence," said Ian, 49, whose Baxter Freight company employs 60 people and does most of its business in continental Europe. Like many advocates of remaining in the 28-member bloc, Ian sees benefits for trade and worries that if Britain quit, customs procedures and tariffs would be re-imposed and would get in the way of doing business with the continent. "Isn't it better in life to try and collaborate with your neighbors rather than sit on the sidelines?" he told Reuters at the firm's headquarters, on a main road circling the city of Nottingham in central England. A short distance away on the other side of that road is his elder brother Nigel's RH Commercial Vehicles, an official Renault Trucks dealership that employs more than 80 workers. "I think Great Britain has a great opportunity as a result of this referendum ... to lift our eyes up, look up at the greater, wider world and forge a new situation ... in trade terms, in sovereignty terms," said Nigel, 53. Like other supporters of the so-called "Brexit" option, Nigel sees the EU as an unaccountable bureaucracy intent on imposing meddlesome regulations. "What we don't need is small businesses having to do risk assessments about moving a box of files from one side of the office to the other, to use an extreme example. It's that sort of nit-picking legislation that I object to," he said. Fortunately, neither brother saw Europe as a threat to their relationship. "We're a fairly opinionated family," said Nigel. "That provides us with some good robust debate ... a chance for a bit of barracking which is no bad thing in a family." Both brothers mentioned that whatever their views over Europe, their relationship was marked by a lifelong disagreement over another vital topic: Ian is an Arsenal fan, while Nigel supports Chelsea. "He's got very forceful views, a lot of them wrong of course," said Nigel with a smile. (Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Just because Apple and the FBI avoided an historic showdown in court this week over a previously issued court order for Apple to create a so-called government OS that bypasses normal iPhone security measures, that doesnt mean the whole thing was tidily wrapped up.

For one thing, no legislative precedent was set here - at the eleventh hour, the FBI said it thinks a mysterious outside party (which may have now been identified) will be able to help it get inside an iPhone used by one of the San Bernadino shooters - leaving the law enforcement agency free to pursue a similar test case in the future. Thats why we probably shouldnt be surprised if Congress eventually wants to get involved, since legislative rule-making today could prevent this kind of thing from having to be worked out over a protracted court proceeding tomorrow.

So far, though, the most knowledgeable members of Congress about this issue havent been heard from much. Thats because, as it turns out, there arent all that many of them.

Of the 535 members of Congress, BGR has only been able to identify four whose education background includes a computer science degree. Perhaps just as surprising: their responses when approached by BGR about the Apple-FBI battle were not particularly uniform and can be illustrated along a continuum that ranges from the specific to the non-existent.

Lets take a look.

DON'T MISS: All the best new iPhone and iPad features in iOS 9.3

The lawmaker geeks include three Republicans and one Democrat. All four are members of the House of Representatives. They are Democrat Ted Lieu of California and Republicans Will Hurd of Texas; Bill Johnson of Ohio; and Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

As someone who came to Congress with a technology-heavy background, I understand that this is a complex issue, one that is above the simplistic talking points that we are currently hearing, Johnson told BGR. There is no doubt that Americans care deeply about their privacy. I certainly do. Over the last couple of years, weve seen a number of high-profile security breaches that have only heightened this important issue. We have a right to be concerned about what happens to our personal data  and who can access it.

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Indeed, Apple CEO Tim Cook made a point of addressing privacy and customer data during the companys new product unveiling event in Cupertino this week, repeating several of his now-familiar talking points. That Apple has a responsibility to protect its customers privacy and their data, for example, and that Apple feels that we owe it to our country.

The rest of Johnsons answer shifts back to the government:

The number one job of the federal government is to protect the American people and defend the homeland. I am hopeful that working together with private companies, in this instance, Apple, we can come to a resolution where privacy rights are protected and government agencies get valuable information they need to continue an investigation. Its important that we get this latest example, being the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists, right  and we set a precedent that protects the intellectual property rights of private companies, puts the American consumer at ease when it comes to privacy rights, and allows the federal government to get the information they need to continue their important counter-terrorism work.

"I am fully committed to defeating radical Islamic terrorism and ISIS, as this is a struggle that shows no sign of ending. Times are rapidly changing, and now we are at a junction where everyone needs to buy in - private companies, the average American who uses the newest technology, and the federal government - so we can stop terrorists from using our innovative technology as a weapon against us.

A spokesman for Rep. Hurd, meanwhile, said the congressman - whos a former CIA case officer and formerly was a senior advisor at a cybersecurity firm - hasnt put out a formal statement on the issue. She directed us to an appearance Hurd made on CNBC at the end of February.

Speaking on the CNBC program Squawk Box, Hurd said among other things that hes against government-mandated back doors into our devices and that the FBI appears to be over-reaching in the Apple and San Bernardino-related matter.

"I don't understand what information the FBI thinks they don't have," he said during his interview. "How many weeks has it been since the initial threats and the initial attack?

RELATED: It looks like we now know whos helping the FBI crack the San Bernardino shooters iPhone

Lieus response to the court order directed at Apple is arguably the most specific and confrontational of the bunch. In a statement his office released in the immediate aftermath of Apple's court order, Lieu addressed the slippery slope aspect of the issue. Cook also went there in a long interview with TIME published in recent days.

Cook: "And the way that we simply see this is, if this All Writs Act can be used to force us to do something would make millions of people vulnerable, then you can begin to ask yourself, if that can happen, what else can happen? In the next senate you might say, well, maybe it should be a surveillance OS done. Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.

During a congressional hearing last year, Lieu told law enforcement agents there that the idea of government-mandated back doors into products is just stupid. Heres the response in full from his office in the wake of the Apple court order:

"The terrorist attack in San Bernardino was horrific and the tragic loss of innocent lives demands a strong response. I have several deep concerns, however, about the unprecedented court order that forces Apple to create software it does not have in order to provide a 'back door' way to weaken its smartphone encryption system.

"This FBI court order, by compelling a private sector company to write new software, is essentially making that company an arm of law-enforcement. Private sector companies are notand should not bean arm of government or law enforcement.

"This court order also begs the question: Where does this kind of coercion stop? Can the government force Facebook to create software that provides analytic data on who is likely to be a criminal? Can the government force Google to provide the names of all people who searched for the term ISIL? Can the government force Amazon to write software that identifies who might be suspicious based on the books they ordered?

"Forcing Apple to weaken its encryption system in this one case means the government can force Appleor any other private sector companyto weaken encryption systems in all future cases. This precedent-setting action will both weaken the privacy of Americans and hurt American businesses. And how can the FBI ensure the software that it is forcing Apple to create wont fall into the wrong hands? Given the number of cyberbreaches in the federal governmentincluding at the Department of Justicethe FBI cannot guarantee this back door software will not end up in the hands of hackers or other criminals.

"The San Bernardino massacre was tragic but weakening our cyber security is not the answer  terrorism succeeds when it gets us to give up our liberties and change our way of life. We can take common sense security measures without trampling on privacy rights.

The most disappointing response to the Apple-FBI issue from one of Congress computer science-related majors comes from Scalise, who majored in computer programming at Louisiana State University.

After some 15-20 calls to his D.C. office and almost that many emails, BGR got ... no response. All but one call to the press officer in his D.C. office came with the reply, Shes just stepped out.

And so we wait. To see if it will actually come to this, to possibly enlisting congress - and its small set of folks with computer degrees - to write new legislation that clears up who can get access to our phones and data, and how.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com
By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi cyber crime expert who went missing while he was assisting a police investigation into an attempted $951 million electronic theft from the central bank's computers, returned home early on Wednesday, his wife said. Tanveer Hassan Zoha disappeared last Thursday, two days after he accompanied special police to the offices of the Bangladesh Bank and told reporters that he knew three of the user IDs that hackers deployed to carry out the largest cyber heist in history. Police delivered him to their Dhaka home, his wife Kamrun Nahar Chowdhury said, although his disappearance was still a mystery. She said the police told them he was found loitering around Dhaka airport. "He was very tired and is sleeping now," she said. Hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank in early February and attempted to steal $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which it uses for international settlements. Some transfers were blocked but $81 million was moved to accounts in the Philippines. The theft has already led to the resignation of Bangladesh's central bank governor. Before his disappearance, Zoha spent several hours with members of a special police force at the central bank trying to identify the culprits behind the theft. Two days later, he was taken away from a motorized rickshaw by people in plain clothes who blindfolded him and drove off with him in a vehicle, his wife said. Kamrun Nahar said at the time that police had refused to investigate her husband's disappearance and she appealed to the government for help to free him. On Thursday she thanked reporters for putting pressure on the government to find her husband. The government has also fired two deputy central bank governors, but is no closer to solving the attack on its computer systems. It has blamed the New York Fed for lapses and said it has hired a lawyer for a potential lawsuit against it. (Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
LONDON - British actor Jeremy Irons believes audiences will feel "empowered" by action film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", because it could make change in an "injust" society seem more tangible. The "Man of Steel" sequel sees Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) together on the big screen for the first time. It also stars Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Audiences can expect elements from both comics in the film as the two superheroes face off. Irons, 67, portrays Alfred, Bruce Wayne's technology-savvy butler turned father figure. "There are so many injustices in the world and in our society, more and more it seems as we watch the refugees, as we watch the gap between the rich and the poor, we'd love to be able to do something about it," Irons said in an interview. "And our politicians don't seem to be facing that, they're just worrying about things that don't seem important but catch the headlines. And I think when you go and see a film like this with these superheroes it's just two hours where you think 'oh yes, look how things are being changed, blowing up and I feel empowered as an audience member', in a strange way." "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" hits cinemas from March 23.
By Jan Strupczewski, Julia Fioretti and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic State suicide bombers who killed at least 31 people in the most deadly attacks in Brussels' history but said another key suspect was on the run. Tuesday's attacks on a city that is home to the European Union and NATO sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport. It also rekindled debate about lagging European security cooperation and flaws in police surveillance. The attacks came four months after militants, also from IS, carried out bombings and shootings in Paris that killed 129 people. Some Belgian media reports said a forensic link had been established between one of the Brussels bombers, who may have been killed, and the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital. Washington announced that Secretary of State John Kerry would visit Belgium on Friday to demonstrate support. The Belgian federal prosecutor told a news conference that Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, one of two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on Tuesday, had left a will on a computer dumped in a rubbish bin near the militants' hideout. In it, he described himself as "always on the run, not knowing what to do anymore, being hunted everywhere, not being safe any longer and that if he hangs around, he risks ending up next to the person in a cell" - a reference to suspected Paris bomber Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last week. His brother Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, detonated a bomb an hour later on a crowded rush-hour metro train near the European Commission headquarters, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said. Both men, born in Belgium, had criminal records for armed robbery but investigators had not linked them to Islamist militants until Abdeslam's arrest, when police began a race against time to track down his suspected accomplices. That seems to have prompted the bombers to rush into an attack in Belgium after months of lying low, according to the testament found on the laptop. At least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in the attacks, the prosecutor said. That toll could increase further because some of the bomb victims at Maelbeek metro station were blown to pieces and victims are hard to identify. Several survivors were still in critical condition. The Bakraoui brothers were identified by their fingerprints and on security cameras, the prosecutor said. A second suicide bomber at the airport had yet to be identified and a third man, whom he did not name, had left the biggest bomb and ran out of the terminal before the explosions. Belgian media named that man as Najim Laachraoui, 25, a suspected Islamic State recruiter and bomb-maker whose DNA was found on two explosives belts used in the Paris attacks and at a Brussels safe house used by Abdeslam. De Standaard newspaper, however, citing an unidentified source, named Laachraoui as the second suicide bomber at the airport. Khalid El Bakraoui rented under a false name the apartment in the city's Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week. He is also believed to have rented a safe house in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi used to mount the Paris attacks. "BLACK DAYS" Turkey said it had detained Ibrahim El Bakraoui near the Syrian border last year and deported him to the Netherlands before he was briefly held in Belgium, then released. "Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter," President Tayyip Erdogan said. The Brussels attacks came days after a suspected Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul's most popular shopping district, killing three Israelis and an Iranian. The Syrian-based Islamist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, warning of "black days" for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a hub of Islamist militants who operated elsewhere. A minute's silence was observed across Belgium at noon. Prime Minister Charles Michel canceled a trip to China and reviewed security measures with his inner cabinet before attending a memorial event at European Commission headquarters with King Philippe, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. "We are determined, admittedly with a strong feeling of pain in our stomachs, but determined to act," Michel told a joint news conference with Valls. "France and Belgium are united in pain more than ever." Valls played down cross-border sniping over security, saying: "We must turn the page on naivete, a form of carefreeness that our societies have known. "It is Europe that has been attacked. The response to terrorism must be European." EU justice and interior ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the Dutch EU presidency said. More than 1,000 people gathered around an improvised shrine with candles and street paintings outside the Brussels bourse. Belgium's crisis coordination center kept the level of security alert at the maximum as the man hunt continued. Some buses and trains were running but the metro and the airport were closed, along with key road tunnels in Brussels. The blasts fueled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants. Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to succeed Obama in November's U.S. election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks. He also said in a British television interview that Muslims were not doing enough to prevent that kind of violence. After a tip-off from a taxi driver who unwittingly drove the bombers to the airport, police searched an apartment in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek late into the night, finding another bomb, an Islamic State flag, 15 kg of the same kind of explosives used in the Paris attacks and bomb-making chemicals. An unused explosive device was also found at the airport. CLOSING IN Security experts believed the blasts were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. He was caught and has been speaking to investigators after a shootout at an apartment in the south of the city, after which another Islamic State flag and explosives were found. About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbors over its security capabilities. Reviving arguments over Belgian security policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people died in an operation apparently organized from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of "naivete" on the part of "certain leaders" in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalized. Valls said France had no place teaching Belgium lessons and had problems with its own communities. Brussels airport seemed likely to remain shut for several days over the busy Easter holiday weekend, since the departure hall was still being combed as a crime scene on Wednesday and repairs can only begin once investigators are finished. (Editing by Paul Taylor, Ralph Boulton and Richard Balmforth)
Brussels (AFP) - Belgium said on Wednesday that two brothers with links to the Paris attacks were among the suicide bombers who struck Brussels, as mourners observed a minute's silence for victims of the carnage.

Hundreds of people gathered in a historic city square applauding and chanting "We love Belgium" in an emotional tribute to the 31 people killed and 270 injured in Tuesday's blasts at Brussels airport and a metro train.

Prosecutors identified Ibrahim El Bakraoui as one of two men who blew themselves up in the Zaventem airport departure hall while his brother Khalid struck at the Maalbeek metro station in the attacks on the symbolic heart of Europe.

Police stepped up a manhunt for a third airport assailant whose bomb failed to go off in the attacks claimed by the Islamic State group which have left European leaders once more grappling for ways to tackle the jihadist threat.

Belgian authorities had already been hunting the Bakraoui brothers, both Belgian nationals with long criminal records, over their links to Salah Abdeslam, the key suspect in the Paris massacre who was arrested in Brussels on Friday after four months on the run.

Federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw revealed that airport bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui had left a desperate "will" on a computer that he dumped in a trash can in which he said "I don't know what to do."

In an apparent reference to Abdeslam, Bakraoui added: "I don't want to end up in a cell next to him."

- Nation in mourning -

A third man in a hat and white jacket, seen on CCTV footage with Bakraoui and another unidentified suicide attacker pushing their bomb-filled bags through the departure hall shortly before the attacks, "is on the run," Van Leeuw said.

Belgian media withdrew a report that a man arrested in the capital on Tuesday was Najim Laachraoui, another suspect whose DNA has been found on explosives linked to the Paris rampage.

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Investigators found a virtual bomb factory in an apartment near where Ibrahim's computer was left, during a raid in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek on Tuesday night, an area that has links to Abdeslam.

They found 15 kilos (33 pounds) of TATP high explosive, chemicals and detonators, Van Leeuw said. Prosecutors said on Tuesday an unexploded bomb, an IS flag and bomb-making materials had been found.

Three days of national mourning have been declared in a country deeply shocked by the bloodshed.

King Philippe, Prime Minister Charles Michel and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker led a minute's silence outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, the city that is also home to NATO.

In the city's Place de la Bourse where mourners have laid banners and candles, defiant applause broke out among the large crowd gathered to honour the dead, chanting: "Long live Belgium".

- 'War-like trauma' -

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said around 40 nationalities were among the dead and wounded.

The dead include a Peruvian mother of twin girls, one of whom was also injured by flying debris in the airport attacks, and a Moroccan woman killed in the metro blast, while a Briton is missing.

The wounded include citizens of Britain, Colombia, France and the United States. An American Mormon missionary who was wounded had, by a twist of fate, had close calls in the Boston Marathon bombings and Paris attacks in November that left 130 people dead.

"It's war... it's the kind of trauma seen in war," said a doctor at a hospital which treated some of the injured victims.

"Limbs torn off, impacts from flying glass and metal shrapnel -- either from the bomb or, for example, furniture -- head trauma, vascular lesions and fractures," said Jacques Creteur, head of the intensive care unit at Erasme hospital.

Brussels airport announced it would stay shut Thursday while investigators continued to comb through the debris left by the bombings that wrecked its main terminal building.

While the city's subway system partially reopened after a day of lockdown, Belgium's friendly international football match against Portugal, due to take place in Brussels next Tuesday, was moved to Portugal.

"I'm a bit afraid, especially for my little brothers," said 18-year-old Dominique Salazar as she took her young siblings to school. "But we don't have any other choice to get around."

Soldiers were checking passengers' bags at metro stations and rush-hour crowds were thinner than usual.

- Europe struggles with threat -

Authorities are under immense pressure over their apparent inability to smash jihadist networks in Belgium, Europe's top exporter of jihadist fighters to Syria per capita.

Broadcaster RTBF said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment in Brussels last week under a false name where Abdeslam's fingerprints were found.

He is also linked to another apartment in southern Belgium that Abdeslam and other jihadists used before the Paris attacks.

Leaders across Europe have reacted with outrage to the Brussels bombings, with the EU calling an emergency meeting of interior ministers and vowing to defend democracy and combat terrorism "with all means necessary".

Analysts said the attacks pointed to a sophisticated jihadist network in Europe, and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there was an "urgent need" to tighten the EU's external borders following the attacks.

Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity with the victims on Tuesday night, while on social media, thousands shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

The Islamic State said the bombings were carried out by "soldiers of the caliphate" against "the crusader state" of Belgium -- part of the international coalition waging strikes against IS in Iraq.
Despite the Obama administrations repeated warnings about the menace of a widespread contagion within the United States, both lawmakers and independent experts have recently given low marks to government initiatives designed to detect, track, and protect against those threats.

In recent years, both the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America have brought the nature of threat into sharp relief. In the 2015 Worldwide Threat Assessment, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admitted that the worlds response to Ebola was too slow.

Gaps in disease surveillance and reporting, limited health care resources, and other factors contributed to the outpacing of the international communitys response in West Africa, Clapper wrote. In the most recent Worldwide Threat Assessment, released in February, Clapper issued an ominous warning in regard to the Zika virus, which he said is projected to cause up to 4 million cases in 2016; it will probably spread to virtually every country in the hemisphere.

Earlier this month, that assessment was amplified by researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. In a study published in the Public Library of Sciences journal PLOS Currents: Outbreaks, they warned that at least 50 U.S. cities are at risk for a Zika Virus outbreak this summer.

As the effects of climate change spread worldwide, experts warn more that contagions are on their way. And yet, the two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs meant to protect Americans against these biological threats arent up to the task, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

One of these programs, the National Biosurveillance Integration Center, or NBIC, was created in 2007 to be a hub of information and coordination for federal agencies tracking diseases and biological threats. But the mission is suffering, a September 2015 GAO report said, because many federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are not sharing information with NBIC. Among the reasons, CDC officials said: legal restrictions that compel them to redact data from reports, a labor-intensive process. The report said other federal agencies officials did not understand the purpose or value of giving resources to NBIC.

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[NBIC doesnt] have the access to information and data, they dont have the trust of partners, said Chris Currie, director of the GAOs Emergency Management and National Preparedness Team, in an interview. What they do provide is good but it isnt really that useful for the partners.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment. But in its response to the GAO report, the agency noted that GAO had not surveyed state and local authorities. DHS believes that NBICs products provide these stakeholders significant value, the agency wrote, adding that NBIC is developing tools to facilitate better information gathering.

Nevertheless, Andrew C. Weber, former assistant defense secretary for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, is among those who find the status quo unacceptable.

I think its outrageous that any agency wouldnt feel obligated to share with other agencies just as a matter of course, he said. Ive heard all of the excuses for not sharing and I think they dont hold up in a world where early detection of biological events can save lives. Weber continued: Data collection, data sharing, data management were a major impediment during the entire Ebola crisis.

NBICs reports during the Ebola crisis did provide biosurveillance information, but those working in government during the crisis recall that it was just another resource, rather than a substantive information clearinghouse. Some experts dont remember NBICs role during the crisis at all.

In the aftermath of the crisis, the Obama administration's former Ebola Czar Ronald Klain has suggested the creation of a Public Health Emergency Management Agencya specialized group of people trained to deal with emerging disease outbreaks. Critics counter that another center is unnecessary; and that instead federal agencies need to work together.

NBIC isnt the only DHS program facing criticism; officials are also skeptical of BioWatch, a system of about 600 air collectors in 30 cities nationwide that is meant to detect a mass biological event such as a terrorist attack.

The collectors resemble little ice boxes and are meant to sniff the air for an intruder such as Anthrax or smallpox. But the air samples are only retrieved once every 24 hours. A local public health official has to manually remove a filter from the ice box and take it to a lab to determine if it matches a known toxin. The entire process is estimated to take between 12 and 36 hours, which experts say is too slow.

Attempts to automate that process failed.

Between 2009 and 2014, DHS spent at least $61 million in an effort to create a more high-tech box that could both collect the sample and analyze it within 4 to 6 hours. That initiative, dubbed Gen 3, turned out to be science fiction. DHS cancelled the project in 2014 in the wake of a September 2012 GAO report that found it was billions of dollars over budget.

The GAO subsequently said in October2015 that it wasnt clear the current BioWatch technology was working either, because DHS had never properly tested the existing air collectors.

They didnt really document all of the uncertainties with the system, which you kind of need to know, Currie said.

DHS largely concurred with that GAO report, but took exception to GAOs conclusion that DHS had not established proper performance requirements for the system during testing.

Despite the controversy over BioWatchs effectiveness, the Obama administration is proposing to spend $81.9 million on the program in its fiscal year 2017 budget.

Other experts say the whole Biowatch concept is flawed. Dr. Laura Kahn at Princeton Universitys Program on Science and Global Security, an expert on biodefense and pandemics, suggested that money would be better spent tracking animal life, arguing that animals can be monitored as natural biosensors. Other experts agree that collection methods need to evolve to include more animal specimens.

But former DOD official Weber believes that a variety of detection methods must be employed, and then coordinated across the government. At the moment, bio-surveillance programs are spread across numerous federal agencies.

If there were to be a large aerosol release of say anthrax, the earliest detection would be environmental sensors, he said. Thats because animals wouldnt get sick immediately. Air sampling, Weber said, is vital to the strategy. We cant afford to lose a few days.

Thats why I really believe in integrated comprehensive surveillance that includes both environmental and clinical data, Weber added. It cant be stove-piped; we cant rely on just one aspect, says Weber.

Congress has put forth a potential legislative fix. The CBRNE Defense Act of 2015 would create a new office within DHS, the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives Office, which would place both NBIC and BioWatch under integrated new management.

This story is part of National Security. Click here to read more stories in this topic.

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President Obamas 2017 budget accounts for this bureaucratic shift even though this legislation has not yet passed in the Senate: the House approved the idea on Dec. 10, 2015.

Members of Congress expressed frustration at the current state of affairs in a February 11 hearing of the House Homeland Security Committees subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response & Communications.

I've grown frustrated, like many, that we seem to be having the same hearings over and over again. At least once every Congress, we ask the department to come to the committee to respond to the latest criticisms of BioWatch and NBIC, Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in his opening statement.

And even coordinating NBIC and BioWatch within DHS may not be the answer. The GAO asserted in its testimony at the subcommittee hearing that the White Houses implementation plan and strategy for bio-surveillance falls short, because they do not establish where bio-surveillance fits into the larger biodefense strategy. A separate Blue Ribbon Study Panel concluded in 2015 that the governments biodefenses needed to be better organized. The panel suggested that the effort be placed under the Office of the Vice President.

Lauren Chadwick is a Scoville fellow at CPI.

This story is part of National Security. Click here to read more stories in this topic.

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Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
When Phil Koehler completed his pediatrics rotation as a third-year student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the in-person clinical training wasn't the only requirement. He also participated in online discussion boards with clinicians and other students and viewed computer-based simulations of different patient scenarios.

Both of these allowed him to get answers to questions he didn't have a chance to ask during his clinical rotation, he says.

"There were a lot of times where I'm like, 'I wish I could have sat down with the clinician, asked some questions, got some answers, see what their thoughts are on a certain topic,'" says Koehler, who is now in his fourth year, pursuing his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or D.O., degree. "So that was neat, and really expanded the learning environment there."

[Learnhow to decide between an M.D. and a D.O.]

Students like Koehler are experiencing the growth of blended learning -- classes presented partially online and partially in person -- in medical education.

In what's also referred to as the "flipped classroom" model, several U.S. medical schools are requiring students to watch videos and complete online activities prior to class, and then spend face-to-face time on discussion and analysis, rather than passive forms of learning such as taking notes during lectures. Schools like the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine even integrate blended learning into the clinical rotation phase of medical education.

At some medical schools, elements of blended learning might have existed in the past, but many are now working to formally integrate them into their curricula, though to varying extents, experts say. Prospective students interested in medical school can determine whether blended learning is right for them by speaking to other students, contacting faculty or researching programs online.

In medicine, a field requiring constant patient-doctor interaction, it isn't likely that classes will go completely online in the future, but there's still room for parts of learning to move into the digital space, says Erik Langenau, chief academic technology officer at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Story continues

"I think there's a lack of leadership in terms of bringing online and blended learning into medical education, so I think that's changing," Langenau says. "And that's changing pretty quickly."

[Discoverhow online education differs in various graduate school disciplines.]

Starting last fall, Harvard Medical School reformed its curriculum to better integrate interactive learning into classes, starting with first-year students, says Randall King, a Harvard Medical School professor of cell biology.

For many 80-minute class sessions, students complete a few hours ' worth of studying online, King says. Then, during class, professors focus on having students demonstrate their understanding of the material by presenting them with different questions or clinical cases related to what they watched.

"The first stage of basic knowledge acquisition is happening independently," King says. A professor's time in this kind of flipped classroom, he says, is best spent working with students to "apply, interpret, consolidate material."

In some courses at the University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, students -- primarily those in their first two years -- watch videos and answer assessment questions online, so faculty can tailor in-class sessions to areas where students might be struggling, says Alex J. Mechaber, the school's senior associate dean for undergraduate medical education.

In addition, a blended approach to teaching medicine generally increases student engagement, says Charles Prober, senior associate dean for medical education at the School of Medicine at Stanford University, where some classes also incorporate the flipped classroom model.

"When they come to the interactive sessions, all they need to bring is an open mind," says Prober. "And then in the session, it's carrying on a conversation and thinking together as a group."

At some medical schools such as the Yale University School of Medicine, blended learning is incorporated into clerkships in addition to lectures.

"Sometimes, just seeing a skill and having it explained to them on video really gives the students a greater confidence in what they're doing when they actually have to do it themselves," says Michael Schwartz, associate dean for curriculum at Yale's medical school.

[Avoidcommon mistakes as a first-year medical student.]

While it has its benefits, blended learning can present challenges for faculty, especially as they must step out of their comfort zones and spend considerable time and effort redesigning courses and developing new teaching methods.

"There's 'this is how I've always taught, it's worked just fine; there's no reason to change anything.' You get some of that," says David Green, senior instructional designer at the University of Miami's medical school.

For medical students, taking greater ownership of learning is also a big change, experts say -- something that prospective students should keep in mind when deciding whether blended learning is right for them.

"Students need to determine what the best learning strategy for them is, if they know," says Prober, of Stanford, "and try to match themselves into a school that plays into that learning strategy."

Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankings of Best Medical Schools.

Jordan Friedman is an online education editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at jfriedman@usnews.com.


MOSCOW (Reuters) - A sixth Russian serviceman was killed in his country's military operation in Syria in February, but his death was not officially reported, a collective of Russian bloggers who monitor the conflict said on Wednesday. Sergei Chupov, a 51-year-old major of Russia's Interior Ministry troops, was killed in Syria on Feb. 8 and is buried in the Balashikha district of the Moscow region, the bloggers, who operate under the name Conflict Intelligence Team, said on their site (www.citeam.org). It is unclear what Chupov's mission in Syria was, the bloggers said. They cited social media postings by acquaintances of Chupov talking about his death, and said they had tracked down his grave. Russia's defense ministry and interior ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. One of the sources quoted in the report confirmed Chupov's death to Reuters. "I know Chupov was a negotiator in Syria and was killed by a direct hit from a mortar shell," Radik Belov, who said he served under Chupov's command in a reconnaissance platoon in the 1990s, told Reuters. Russia has so far officially acknowledged the death of five members of its security forces in its Syria operation. President Vladimir Putin last week ordered the withdrawal of the bulk of the force in Syria, saying they had achieved most of their objectives. Officials say Russia's military role in Syria was limited to air strikes, training and advising Syrian government troops, search and rescue operations to recover downed air crews, and protecting Russian bases. Syrian opposition groups have said though that Russian forces have been involved in Syrian government offensives, including in combat roles. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
(Reuters) - Six-times Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt will run in the London Anniversary Games ahead of his multiple title defense at the Rio Olympics in August. The Jamaican world record holder in the 100 and 200 meters will participate in the IAAF Diamond League meeting on July 22 at Queen Elizabeth Park in London. "The London Anniversary Games will be one of my last races before the Olympic Games in Rio," Bolt said in a statement. "It will be good to return to the Olympic Stadium on the Friday night and get more of the special atmosphere that the fans always produce," the 29-year-old sprinter added. "I always get great support in the UK and I expect the stadium to be packed." (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
By John Miller ZURICH (Reuters) - Talks between struggling planemaker Bombardier and the Canadian government about financial support are "going well," a company executive said on Wednesday as its delayed CSeries jet took another step toward delivery in the second quarter. Bombardier wants $1 billion in federal aid to help finance the 110- to 130-seat jetliner, which has been hit by cash shortages and delays, after receiving the same amount from Quebec last October. "They (the talks) are progressing well. They (the government) and we will make an announcement if we get to an agreement," Rob Dewar, vice president and general manager of the company's flagship CSeries program, told Reuters. He declined to comment on when a deal might be reached, but a source with knowledge of the situation said last week an announcement could come within weeks. The first airline due to take delivery, Swiss International Air Lines, said it had sought reassurances from Bombardier, but believed the CSeries would perform well once it joins its fleet later this year. "Quite frankly, we asked the question where do they stand, how they see the development," the airline's chief technical officer, Peter Wojahn said. "Of course, as we worked as partners together we got some more detailed information ... but so far they've convinced us that everything is on the right track and that they are well positioned, also on the financial side, to succeed with the program," he said. "On the other end, as you can imagine, we have some guarantees in our contract." Wojahn said after the completion of European route trials that he expected Bombardier to meet its latest target of delivering the jet by the end of June and predicted it would go into service in the third quarter, possibly in July. "We see the progress they are making. I'm confident we will make it by June," he told a news conference. Swiss is part of the Lufthansa Group which also recently took delivery of the first A320neo from Airbus , a revamped model that uses a similar version of the same Pratt & Whitney engines mounted on the CSeries. Lufthansa has said it is delaying taking delivery of a second A320neo until engine problems, including lengthy startup times and software glitches, have been resolved. Wojahn said those problems  the result of adapting an engine originally designed for Bombardier to suit the larger Airbus A320neo - are largely absent from the Swiss engine. "There are some issues they're working on the Pratt engine, but as we see it at the moment, they are under control," Wojahn said. A Pratt representative said the A320neo and Bombardier engines were different models, though both are based on Pratt's geared turbofan engine architecture. The A320neo model was not adapted from the Bombardier engine, the representative said.Bombardier's Dewar said there had been some early signs of slower startups, similar to those on the Airbus A320neo, but these had been removed on the CSeries version. He said the production ramp-up of the plane was going "very well." Bombardier said it expected a deal to sell 45 CSeries planes to Air Canada to be completed in a "couple of months." (Writing by Tim Hepher; Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jane Merriman, Alexander Smith and Jonathan Oatis)
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou won a second term with 92.5 percent of the vote in a run-off poll that the opposition coalition chose to boycott, the electoral commission said on Tuesday. Issoufou, an ally of the West in its fight against Islamist insurgents in West Africa, won the first round comfortably last month with 48 percent of votes but failed to clinch the outright majority required to avoid a second round. The candidate who came second, opposition leader Hama Amadou, has been in jail since November on charges relating to a baby-trafficking scandal, but was flown to France for medical treatment last week. Amadou says he is innocent and claims the charges against him are politically motivated. But the size of Issofou's victory is unlikely to draw significant international criticism, in part because of the boycott, but also because the incumbent has only been in power since 2011. The Coalition for an Alternative (COPA), which unites about 20 political parties including Amadou's MODEN, called for a boycott of the polls claiming the process had been tainted by fraud. The turnout was 60 percent, the commission said. The vote is subject to confirmation from the constitutional court. Southern Niger, which borders Nigeria, has been the target of frequent deadly raids by Islamist Boko Haram militants. It also shares borders with Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, where al Qaeda-linked groups are active. Libya, home to Islamic State affiliates, lies on its northern border. (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalaki; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Edward McAllister; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
London (AFP) - British farmers marched through central London on Wednesday in a colourful protest with sheep and cows draped in Union Jack, to demand government action against the sharp drop in food prices.

"All farmers are struggling to survive because the milk prices have dropped over 50 percent now," said Yulita Parkes, a member of Farmers for Action, the campaign group which organised the protest.

"Support Your Local Farmer", "Fair Trade for UK Farmers" and "Trust the Tractor" read placards held up at the march from Trafalgar Square past Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office.

Around 1,000 farmers took part in the protest.

Overproduction of milk since EU quotas were abolished in April 2015 has triggered a collapse in prices across Europe and demands for support from farmers.

According to official data, the average revenue of British dairy farmers is set to fall by 45 percent this year to 46,500 (58,000 euros, $65,600) from the previous financial year.

England, Scotland and Wales currently have 10,500 dairy producers compared to 21,000 a decade ago, the agriculture ministry said, and campaigners warn that many more will be forced to give up due to the low prices.

Many farmers have also expressed concern about the possible loss of EU agricultural subsidies if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum in June, although some say it could improve exports.

"We're not concerned about leaving the EU or staying in the EU. We will fight for our industry," said David Handley, another member of Farmers for Action.
London (AFP) - A British man was found guilty Wednesday of a 2014 plot to kill police, troops and civilians in a drive-by shooting in London, inspired by Islamic State group jihadists.

Suhaib Majeed, 21, was convicted of conspiracy to murder and preparation of terrorist acts following a trial in the British capital.

His school friend, Tarik Hassane, 22, pleaded guilty to the same charges last month.

Jurors had been warned by the trial judge at the Old Bailey court to put Tuesday's deadly events in Brussels out of their mind as they considered their verdict.

Majeed, a physics student at London's King's College, had obtained a gun and ammunition and was discussing buying a moped when police arrested him, the court heard.

A police station and an army reserve barracks in west London had been identified as possible targets, prosecutors said.

Hassane, seen as the ringleader, had been studying medicine in Sudan and was nicknamed "The Surgeon" but came back to Britain as the attack was planned.

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command, told reporters that officers suspected Hassane "was communicating with people in Syria".

"There is every possibility that he was in Syria but I can't confirm that," he added.

The two men were said to have links to the west London mosque attended by Mohammed Emwazi, the IS figure known as Jihadi John who appeared in a string of execution videos before being killed in a drone strike in Syria last year.

"This particular plot has evolved and become more complex than other attacks we've seen here in the UK in recent years involving Daesh," said Haydon, using another term for IS.

"This is about acquiring a moped, committing a drive-by shooting, acquiring a firearm, a silencer and ammunition, and in almost in broad daylight targeting police officers and the military and members of the public and making good their escape," he said.

British police have foiled seven jihadist plots in the last 18 months, according to Home Secretary Theresa May.

No date has yet been fixed for the two men's sentencing.
The Hill

A little more than two weeks stand between now and Election Day, and its likely going to come down to the wire as Republicans and Democrats duke it out for Senate supremacy. The two sides are fresh off of third-quarter fundraising releases and squarely in the middle of debate season, with Republicans starting to feel
Brussels (AFP) - "Shredded" bodies, mangled limbs and charred flesh: the victims of the Brussels terror attacks were rushed to hospital suffering the type of wounds normally seen in combat zones, doctors said Wednesday.

"It's war," said Jacques Creteur, head of the intensive care unit at Erasme hospital in the Belgian capital. "It's the kind of trauma seen in war."

His hospital, which cared for 16 victims, was among those around Belgium swamped by a wave of casualties after assailants triggered blasts at Zaventem airport and a subway train that killed 31 and wounded 270 people.

Three patients were still hanging between life and death at Erasme on Wednesday.

Checking off the list of injuries, Creteur said: "Limbs torn off, impacts from flying glass and metal shrapnel -- either from the bomb or, for example, furniture -- head trauma, vascular lesions and fractures."

As a result, saving the victims' lives called for the type of medicine more commonly practised in combat field hospitals than in a modern metropolis that is the symbolic heart of the European Union.

"On many of the patients we did what we call 'damage control', where a first operation is done to stop the hemorrhaging or if a limb is completely smashed ... and that's it," Creteur said.

Trying to fix too many of a patient's injuries during one surgery is very risky for the severely injured -- the loss of blood, the risk of complications or other problems can put the person in mortal danger. The doctors will address the further problems as the patient stabilises.

Creteur added: "It's combat surgery. The army are specialists in damage control."

Making matters worse, the full havoc wrought on a human body by a massive explosion is not immediately obvious. The blast wave emitted by a large detonation can damage the brain, lungs and intestines without leaving any entrance wounds.

- 'Combination of circumstances' -

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Finding those wounds is a race against the clock for doctors who use various techniques, including surgery and full body scans to pinpoint the damage before it is too late.

For the most seriously hurt, just surviving the attacks will not be the end of the impact on their lives, doctors said. The patients potentially face years of physical rehabilitation, which can be trying for people recovering from routine injuries.

But for these victims, the struggle to recover will also include battles against depression, post-traumatic stress and fighting against the terror of once again being in a crowded place or climbing aboard a metro train.

The doctors at Erasme said they have seen plenty of major injuries -- nasty car crashes and explosions caused by natural gas leaks. But to see so many people at once who were so badly injured left them moved.

"These patients were wounded, shredded ... so it's rather a tragic state to see them in," said Christian Melot, head of the emergency department at Erasme.

The doctors witnessed the horror of the victims' injuries but also the cruel circumstances of how some ended up being caught in the attacks.

Melot said he spoke with the family of a young man who was rushed to Erasme with heavy bleeding, burns and multiple injuries in the wake of the explosions.

Earlier that day his mother had called him and told him there had been an attack at Zaventem and not to take the metro, but he was not concerned.

"He said 'Yeah, but it's at Zaventem. It doesn't have anything to do with the metro," Melot said. "He took the metro. He was blown up at Maalbeek station."

"It's a combination of circumstances that is really unbelievable, but unfortunately that is what happened to him."
Belgian authorities on Wednesday arrested a suspect in the countrys deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Unions capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after 34 were killed in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station.

Police conducted raids into the night and circulated a photo of three men seen in the airport suspected of involvement in Tuesdays attacks.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF identified two of the attackers as brothers Khalid and Brahim Bakraoui. They are believed to have blown themselves up in the attacks. The third man was at large and not identified in the early morning.

Later in the morning, the Belgian broadcaster and other local media reported the arrest of a man in the south-west Brussels suburb of Anderlecht. It wasn't immediately clear if he was the third man in the photo.

The report Wednesday says the brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism. RTBF says Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment which was raided by police last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Last week, Belgian police said they were hunting for a suspected Abdeslam accomplice, Najim Laachraoui. He is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the November attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed, according to a French police official who said Laachraouis DNA was found on all of them and in a Brussels apartment where they were made.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remain closed Wednesday. Security forces stood guard around the neighbourhood housing headquarters of EU institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Belgian authorities have declared three days of mourning.

Read More: Brussels Attacks: Zack Snyder Asks for Moment of Silence at 'Batman v Superman' London Premiere
The slashed kneecap of a bear found deep inside a prehistoric cave suggests human hunters lived in Ireland earlier than had been previously thought, a new study finds.

Until now, the earliest evidence of humans in Ireland dated to the Mesolithic period, about 10,000 years ago. But new analyses of the bear's kneecap push back that date by 2,500 years, and shine a light on what animals these prehistoric people ate and what butchery techniques they used.

Researchers found the kneecap in Ireland's Alice and Gwendoline Cave, in County Clare, in 1903. They noted that the bone had knife marks on it, but no one gave the artifact a second look for about 100 years. [Emerald Isle: A Photo Tour of Ireland]

Then, in 2010 and 2011, Ruth Carden, an animal osteologist at the National Museum of Ireland, began going through the cave's many bone artifacts. She had two independent experts radiocarbon-date the kneecap and another three specialists examine the cut marks (to ensure that these marks were made shortly after the bear died).

The two radiocarbon-dating experts agreed that the bone was about 12,500 years old. Moreover, the other specialists confirmed that the cuts were made on fresh bone, Carden said.

The finding shows that people likely lived in Ireland during the Paleolithic period, which is also known as the Old Stone Age.

"Archaeologists have been searching for the Irish Paleolithic since the 19th century, and now, finally, the first piece of the jigsaw has been revealed," Marion Dowd, an archaeologist at the Institute of Technology, Sligo, in Ireland, said in a statement. "This find adds a new chapter to the human history of Ireland."

The results of the radiocarbon dating surprised the researchers, they said. This technique measures the amount of carbon-14 left in an organism that was once alive. (Carbon-14 is an isotope, or variant, of carbon, meaning it has a different number of neutrons in its nucleus than the more common Carbon-12.) This method works on remains that are up to 50,000 years old, so the brown bear's patella fit within these parameters.

Story continues

"When a Paleolithic date was returned, it came as quite a shock," Dowd said. "Here we had evidence of someone butchering a brown bear carcass and cutting through the knee probably to extract the tendons. Yes, we expected a prehistoric date, but the Paleolithic result took us completely by surprise."

However, whoever cut the kneecap probably wasn't that experienced, the researchers said. A number of score marks are visible, showing that multiple slashes  likely made with a long flint blade  were needed to get the job done, Dowd said.

She added that the scientists plan to examine more bones found from the 1903 cave excavation to see what else can be learned about these prehistoric people.

The new discovery follows on the heels of a similar Scottish finding. In 2013, researchers in that country found a cache of flint tools on the Isle of Islay, evidence that Paleolithic people once lived in Scotland. Before that, researchers had evidence only of Mesolithic people in the United Kingdom's northernmost country.

The new findings were detailed online Monday (March 21) in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By Curtis Skinner

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A San Francisco-area couple who were victimized in a kidnapping that was deemed to be a hoax by local police filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging that police destroyed their reputations.

Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn filed the suit in U.S. District Court for Eastern California, in Sacramento, against the city of Vallejo and police officers, including department spokesman Lieutenant Kenny Park, who referred to the kidnapping last March as a "wild goose chase."

The 30-page complaint said that instead of investigating the crime, police "created a destructive nationwide media frenzy through public statements accusing Plaintiffs of faking Denise's kidnapping and rape, and rubbed salt in Plaintiffs' fresh wounds in the days and weeks following the attacks."

Calls to the Vallejo Police Department and Vallejo City Attorney's Office for comment on the lawsuit were not immediately returned.

Quinn and Huskins are both physical therapists who lived together in Vallejo, a city some 35 miles north of San Francisco, when their home was broken into early on March 23, 2015.

The complaint says Huskins and Quinn were blindfolded, drugged and bound, and Quinn was told that if he did not truthfully provide his financial information or if he went to law enforcement, Huskins would be harmed. Huskins was abducted, and when Quinn went to police, the complaint said, authorities treated him like a suspect and interrogated him for hours.

Huskins, meanwhile, was forced into the trunk of a car and driven to a home where she was raped twice while blindfolded and held for ransom. She was told by her rapist that the acts were filmed and would be used against her if she went to police, according to the complaint.

"While (the Vallejo Police Department) focused on unsubstantiated theories and ignored evidence, Huskins endured unimaginable terror and a violent assault," the complaint said.

Story continues

Two days after her abduction, Huskins was released in the Southern California city of Huntington Beach. That evening, the Vallejo Police Department released a statement saying, "This event appears to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping."

Park, the police lieutenant, at a news conference that night said Huskins and Quinn owed the city an apology for having them waste resources on a "wild goose chase."

Last June, a man named Matthew Muller was charged in the kidnapping. According to the complaint, Muller was suspected in at least three other home invasions in the Bay Area similar to Huskins' around that time.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) - Juergen Silberzahn, mayor of the southern German village of Wolpertshausen, marched against nuclear power in the 1970s and has warmly embraced Germany's bid to provide four-fifths of its energy from renewable sources by 2050.

Silberzahn's own efforts to promote green energy during 26 years in power are evident -- rooftop solar panels, wind turbines, a biogas-powered heating network and an electric car charging station. Wolpertshausen produces 22 percent more power than its 2,000 residents consume.

"Innumerable small communities will produce lots more energy than they use themselves," Silberzahn said in a telephone interview.

To the south, however, Switzerland's biggest utilities -- Alpiq <ALPH.S> and local government-owned Axpo -- contend that Silberzahn's green oasis has a darker side and that they are suffering because of policies, including subsidies, that have pushed up production across Europe.

They argue that their dams high in the Swiss Alps and lowland nuclear reactors have been made unprofitable by a renewables-fueled electricity glut that has sent wholesale prices spiraling to record lows.

Axpo and Alpiq, which sell much of their power in Europe's cross-border trading system, have posted losses totaling nearly 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($1.96 billion) since 2014.

"Compared to 2009, prices have dropped over 70 percent," said Axpo Chief Executive Officer Andrew Walo, in a video on the company's website. "We are producing well above market price with many of our plants," he added.

CASTLE ON THE MARKET

In response, Axpo is selling assets and boosting trading activities, to reduce its dependence on wholesale prices.

The most eye-catching item up for auction is the 17th-century castle, Schloss Boettstein, in northern Switzerland. In the 1960s, it housed staff building Axpo's Beznau nuclear plant but which has become just another pawn in the company's bid to free up cash.

Story continues

There is no sale price yet but the proximity of the nuclear plant might temper expectations.

Alpiq, whose shares have plunged 36 percent this year, is also restructuring, seeking to unload up to 49 percent of its prized hydroelectric assets that include Grand Dixence, at 285 meters the tallest gravity dam in the world.

"We can and must tackle this challenge immediately since Alpiq already has potential buyers for hydropower," said spokesman Andreas Meier.

Suffering Swiss utilities are far from unique in Europe.

Companies operating coal, gas and nuclear plants have also largely failed to figure out how make money, amid a proliferation of subsidized wind and solar, sluggish economic growth and an EU-driven energy efficiency drive.

Germany's E.ON <EONGn.DE> and RWE <RWEG.DE> have taken steep writedowns on assets, while Sweden's Vattenfall <VATN.UL> reported a record $2.31 billion annual net loss last month.

"What we need in the current situation is for some of the capacity in continental Europe to retire, but people aren't very quick to close capacity," said Stephen Woodhouse, a director at London's Poyry Management Consulting.

EUROPE'S BATTERY

While Switzerland has shunned European Union membership, its high-alpine hydropower and good electricity connections to surrounding countries has helped make it "Europe's battery," an important partner in border-crossing electricity trading.

For years, Swiss utilities profited from the arrangement, earning 2.1 billion francs from exports in 2008.

Proceeds have since tumbled to 442 million francs in 2014 as German power prices, Europe's benchmark, hurtled into the basement, where they are seen staying until German nuclear plants close come 2022.

With domestic utilities' losses piling up, some Swiss politicians have suggested partially nationalizing nuclear plants. Losing money now, the aging plants will one day cost billions more to shutter.

"We're ready to discuss a development company with state participation for a rapid phase-out of nuclear technology," the Social Democratic party, the second largest party in the Swiss parliament, wrote on March 10.

For now, the government has spurned such a step.

"The economic situation of a private company is by itself no reason for the state to intervene," the Swiss Federal Council, or cabinet, told parliament last week.

Alpiq and Axpo contend their cash reserves will buy time to reshape businesses through disposals while awaiting regulatory reforms aimed at trimming losses.

They also said they are not angling for a state bailout, but are happy that the industry's future is being discussed.

"We can survive," Axpo's Walo told Swiss state radio this month.

"(But) wholesale prices of only 2 cents per kilowatt hour aren't sustainable, because at these prices nobody is going to invest. Things must change, otherwise Europe will have energy supply problems."

(Additional reporting by Vera Eckert in Frankfurt, Kirsti Knolle in Vienna and Michaela Handrek-Rehle in Wolpertshausen; Editing by Keith Weir)
By Adam Jourdan and Brenda Goh SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A widening scandal over illegal vaccine sales in China has sparked anger and drawn criticism from the government over glaring loopholes in the regulation of the world's second-largest medicine market. Police detained 37 people in Shandong province, official news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday, after a nearly $90 million black market vaccine ring was exposed over the last week. The vaccines, including ones against meningitis, rabies and other illnesses, are suspected of being sold in dozens of provinces around China since 2011. The scandal has stirred angry debate, casting a shadow over government ambitions to bolster the domestic drug industry and underlining the challenge it faces to regulate a widespread and fragmented medicine supply chain. "We don't know if our children have properly had the vaccine or whether it is ineffective or even if they are at risk," said Zhang Jieqi, 32, who works at a tourism company in the city of Chengdu and has a child under two years -old. She said she was angry that the case, which started early last year, had not been made public widely until now. The government has said the vaccines themselves were real, although traded illegally. The issue of regulation, from food and drugs to online sales, has become increasingly contentious in China as it looks to cast off a reputation for poor quality and safety. However, regulators such as a Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) have pointed to a lack of resources and personnel to adequately regulate their sectors. The vaccine case drew ire from Premier Li Keqiang, who said regulatory bodies - including the CFDA, health ministry and police - needed to work more in tandem, and that "dereliction of duty" would not be tolerated. "This vaccine safety case has drawn close attention, and shows there are many gaps in terms of regulation," Li said in a statement posted on the central government's website late on Tuesday. 'SWINDLED EVERY DAY' Some people said the case echoed a scandal in 2008 when milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine led to the deaths of six infants and made thousands sick. Xinhua cited the health ministry as saying it had not found any spike in abnormal reactions to inoculations. The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that improperly stored or expired vaccines rarely cause a toxic reaction and the most common risk is that they are ineffective. Nonetheless, the case - centered on a mother and daughter illegally selling vaccines to re-sellers around the country - raises questions about regulators, even as China vows to boost its domestic market and raise exports. Some parents also went online to vent their anger. One mother said she wanted to take her child out of China to escape "poisoned milk, gutter oil and ineffective vaccines". Gutter oil refers to sub-standard, recycled cooking oil. "It seems every day we are being swindled with something," she wrote on China's the Sina Weibo site, using the handle "Sunziyue". "No one is coming to sort it out." (Additional reporting Nick Heath and Jessica Macy Yu in BEIJING; Editing by John Ruwitch, Robert Birsel)
By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China has launched an unusual charm offensive to explain its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, seeking to assuage global concerns about military expansionism by portraying the move as Beijing's contribution to regional security and development. The message is in stark contrast to Beijing's more bellicose stance on the South China Sea, where its claims on a vital trade waterway have raised hackles across Asia and the United States. China has repeatedly said it does not seek a U.S.-style "hegemony" by extending its military reach, including through bases abroad. Now that it appears it may be doing precisely that, the government has been quietly briefing on its rationale for the Djibouti base and using state media to address fears of China's aims. "China is explaining it as part of the 'one road, one belt' strategy, to help link Ethiopia to the sea," said one Western diplomat who has been briefed by Chinese officials on the Djibouti base, referring to China's New Silk Road strategy. That involves opening trade corridors across continents that will help bolster the Chinese economy and connect it with the rest of the world. A $4 billion railway will connect Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to Djibouti's new Chinese-invested port, where a military facility will be located, according to Chinese media. A second diplomat, also been briefed by China on the plans, said it was an "unusual" move by the normally secretive Chinese government to try and bring a degree of transparency to its plans. "China does not want to be seen as a threat," the diplomat said. INDIAN ALARM In a lengthy statement to Reuters, China's Defence Ministry confirmed it had communicated its intentions about Djibouti to "relevant countries and international organizations", reiterating the facility was mostly for resupply purposes for anti-piracy, humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. "What needs to be stressed is that China upholds a path of peaceful development ... and has never engaged in an arms race or military expansion. This will never change." Djibouti, which already hosts military facilities for the United States and France, has echoed Beijing's line that the base will be used for refueling and other logistical support to fight piracy and protect trade routes. But it also says the West should not be worried if China seeks "military outposts", given that Western nations have had them for years around the world. Construction began in February in the country of fewer than a million people, striving to be an international shipping hub. Djibouti's location on the northwestern edge of the Indian Ocean has fueled worries in India that it will become another of China's "string of pearls" of military alliances and assets ringing India, including Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Indian military officials told Reuters that China's naval presence in Djibouti would add another dimension to India's military contingency planning, so far confined to land and air operations stemming from a decades-old border dispute with China across the Himalayas. Together with China's involvement in Pakistan's Gwadar port, another potential military base, the role of China's navy would be greatly enhanced and posed a threat to the Indian navy, Indian army brigadier Mandip Singh said in a paper for the government-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. "Djibouti also enables China to base its long-range naval air assets there. And these are capable of maintaining surveillance over the Arabian Sea as well as India's island territories off the Western coast," he wrote. The Western diplomat briefed on the Chinese plans added: "If I were Indian I would be very worried about what China is up to in Djibouti." A U.S. State Department spokesman said late last year: "We look forward to gaining greater clarity as to the roles and purposes of this new facility, and note that China participates in international counter piracy actions in the Gulf of Aden." STRING OF AFRICAN PEARLS More bases may be on the way, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hinted at this month's annual meeting of parliament. There are several African ports which China and Chinese firms are helping to build and develop. Commercial in nature, they all could berth Chinese naval ships one day. One Chinese diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the idea for the Djibouti facility came up last year when China's navy evacuated foreigners from Yemen. The Chinese frigate involved had to give most onboard supplies to those evacuated, leaving it with the problem of finding new supplies. Unlike the United States, China has no permanent resupply bases. "It's a supply facility pure and simple," the source said. With Beijing keen not to call Djibouti a military base, state-run media has reined back using the term to describe it. The Global Times, an influential tabloid, quoted Chinese experts shortly after Wang spoke as saying China was not building a military base in Djibouti, only a supply facility. Djibouti's government, meanwhile, is keen to develop military cooperation with China. "China is already well prepared to support Djibouti, to increase its military capabilities and guarantee its security," Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan said during a visit to Djibouti in 2014, in comments carried on the website of Djibouti's embassy in Beijing. (Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan, Edmund Blair in NAIROBI, Sanjeev Miglani in NEW DELHI and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Shanghai (AFP) - China's insurance regulator is opposed to multi-billion dollar bids by financial conglomerate Anbang for Starwood Hotels and a stable of properties owned by hedge fund Blackstone, according to respected business magazine Caixin.

Anbang has offered nearly $13 billion for Starwood, owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, as well as $6.5 billion for the purchase of 16 luxury hotels from Blackstone.

But another US hotel giant Marriott International, which had already agreed to take over rival Starwood before the Anbang move, now looks likely to win that deal after hiking its offer by more than $1 billion this week to $13.6 billion.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission is against both of Anbang's proposed acquisitions under rules which reportedly ban insurers from investing more than 15 percent of their assets overseas, Caixin quoted a source as saying.

The regulator also had a "disapproving attitude" towards the deals, the magazine said in a report on its website late Tuesday, but gave no other reasons.

The government agency and Anbang could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Anbang, which started as a property insurance firm before expanding into other financial services, has assets of 1.65 trillion yuan ($254 billion), according to its website.

The company has aggressively invested overseas through a string of deals. In November, Anbang bought US insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life for $1.6 billion, after snapping up Korean insurer Tong Yang Life for around $950 million and Dutch insurer Vivat for about $167 million earlier in the year.

It bought New York's historic Waldorf Astoria hotel in 2014, but analysts question why a Chinese insurance company wants to become an international hotelier.
A Chinese national pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from the hacking of trade secrets from US defense contractors, including plans for transport and fighter jets, officials said.

Su Bin, 50, had been charged in a 2014 indictment with hacking into the computer networks of Boeing and other contractors, as part of a scheme to steal plans for the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and C-17 transport aircraft.

In a plea agreement filed in a California federal court, Su admitted to conspiring with two unnamed persons in China from October 2008 to March 2014 to gain unauthorized access to the computer networks of defense firms to obtain "sensitive military information and to export that information illegally from the United States to China," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Court documents did not indicate to whom Su was sending the plans, but the case highlighted growing concerns in the United States about Chinese hacking of American trade secrets, a topic which has been addressed by President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

"Su Bin admitted to playing an important role in a conspiracy, originating in China, to illegally access sensitive military data, including data relating to military aircraft that are indispensable in keeping our military personnel safe," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said.

"This plea sends a strong message that stealing from the United States and our companies has a significant cost; we can and will find these criminals and bring them to justice."

- Arrested in Canada -

Su was initially arrested in Canada in July 2014 on a warrant based on a US request. He waived extradition and was sent to the United States in February 2016.

Su Bin, also known as Stephen Su and Stephen Subin, was a China-based businessman in the aviation and aerospace fields.

According to prosecutors, Su would e-mail the co-conspirators pictures and other documents, with guidance regarding what persons, companies and technologies to target for hacking.

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After the data was stolen, Su translated the information from English into Chinese.

Su and his co-conspirators each wrote, revised and emailed reports about the information and technology they had acquired "to the final beneficiaries of their hacking activities," the Justice Department said.

Sentencing was set for July 13. Su faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain from the offense.

Last September, Obama and Xi addressed the issue of cybertheft at their Washington meeting, and both leaders agreed it was unacceptable.

Obama said after the talks that "we've agreed that neither the US or the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property."

Xi said "China strongly opposes and combats the theft of commercial secrets and other kinds of hacking attacks."

Analysts have been cautious, warning that it remained to be seen if Beijing would live up to its agreement to crack down on hacking.

One report by a cybersecurity firm said hackers linked to the Chinese government kept up efforts to break into US computer networks shortly after the cybersecurity agreement.
The Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the murder of a Christian convert in northern Bangladesh, according to a US-based monitoring group.

Police said at least two attackers with sharp weapons on Tuesday killed 68-year-old Hossain Ali, who converted to Christianity from Islam in 1999.

In a communique posted on Twitter, IS said the murder was "a lesson to others", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity on the Internet.

"A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able, by the grace of Allah the Almighty, to kill the apostate (Ali), who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity," the statement said.

In recent months IS has said it was behind a series of attacks on religious converts and minorities in Bangladesh including Shiite, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus.

The Bangladesh government denies IS is present in the country and police on Wednesday rejected the group's claim of responsibility for the latest killing, insisting it was "bogus".

"We're investigating the killing. A case has been filed and we've arrested five men for questioning," Tobarak Ullah, police chief in the northern district of Kurigram where the killing took place, told AFP.

Last week IS said it had killed a Shiite convert from Sunni Islam in the southwestern town of Kaliganj.

At least five secular bloggers and publishers have also been hacked to death since January last year, with those killings claimed by Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, another jihadist group.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has blamed the banned domestic militant group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh for the upsurge in deadly violence.

Bangladesh has been plagued by unrest in the last three years, with exerts saying a long-running political crisis has radicalised opponents of the government.
Toribio (Colombia) (AFP) - Colombia is on the verge of ending half a century of conflict, but bereaved locals in ruined regions such as Cauca struggle to believe that peace will come easily.

In the mountain town of Toribio, bullet holes in the walls show the violence that has ravaged this region, in fighting between state forces and guerrillas.

"Between 1982 and 2015 there were 6,000 armed clashes. They were our daily bread," said local leader Mauricio Casso, a member of the Nasa indigenous group.

"There are thousands of widows, orphans and people maimed, and hundreds dead. The park used to be deserted. The streets were closed off. The children did not play outside," he told AFP.

At peace talks hosted by Cuba, the Colombian government and the leftist FARC rebel force are closing in on a peace deal to end the conflict.

They had hoped to sign a deal this Wednesday, but that deadline now looks like it will pass with key issues in the negotiations still unresolved.

Progress in the talks has eased the atmosphere in Cauca since the FARC declared a ceasefire in July, but security forces remain on alert.

The local police station lies behind high green walls pocked with bullet holes, its entrance protected by a bunker of sandbags.

"The mountains are nearby. The guerrillas used to fire from there. They are still around there. But we haven't heard any shooting for more than a year," said Major Rodriguez, head of the local brigade.

"I hope it lasts."

The road in front of the police station is still torn up from where attackers blew up a bus there, wounding 70 people and killing a policeman. The blast was blamed on the FARC.

Nearby mud houses damaged by the explosion are now covered in paintings calling for peace.

- Families driven from homes -

The Colombian conflict started as an uprising by the Marxist FARC in 1964 and ground into an entrenched territorial conflict, drawing in various rebel groups and drug gangs.

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It has killed 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing and 6.6 million displaced, according to officials and NGOs.

The conflict has driven families from their homes.

Mariela Patino, 56, is still looking for her son, who she says was abducted by guerrillas in 2003. Threats drove her to abandon the farm where she lived and move to another town.

"I reported it and started putting up notices everywhere. The FARC told me if I didn't leave they wouldn't be responsible for my life or my family's."

- Left to grow drugs -

Cauca's mountainous terrain also draws the drug trade which has fuelled the conflict. Its winding roads are lined by coca and marijuana plantations.

Among the local people sorting marijuana leaves by the roadside is Fernanda, 21. She gets paid about 90 dollars for helping pick a crop of the herb, which is harvested four times a year.

"If the state helped us, we would plant something else," she says. "But here we get nothing. We are abandoned."

Locals fear that if the rebels and the government make peace, the drug gangs will move in -- or other groups such as the left-wing ELN, a rival rebel force not party to the peace talks.

"Here in the north of Cauca, in recent months we have been seeing a big presence of ELN. They have painted on the walls and held rallies," said Giovani Yule Zape, representative of a grouping of indigenous groups in northern Cauca.

On Tuesday the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights hailed progress towards peace in Colombia. But it warned the deal risked leaving a power vacuum that other armed groups would fill, fighting over drugs and other sources of criminal revenue.

It said the breaking up of various armed groups posed a "permanent challenge to peace."

Local woman Yolanda Millan, 58, is shocked to see pro-ELN graffiti stenciled on a hut in her village of El Palo.

"That's new," she says. "Who knows what is going to happen?"

Elsewhere, in central Colombia where the FARC presence is still strongly felt, locals in the village of La Macarena share the apprehension.

"There will never be peace," said Jairo Garcia, a butcher of 66. "The army left, the guerrillas came. The army came back. Now other groups will come to bother us."
Dr. Thum Ping Tjin is Coordinator of Project Southeast Asia and a Research Associate at the Centre for Global History, University of Oxford. The views expressed here are his own.



(Reuters file photo)



Lee Kuan Yew was a quintessential, and perhaps the ultimate, product of a massive confluence of historical forces that defined Singapore in the twentieth century. But his legacy also represents a fundamental disruption to the broad sweep of Singapore history. This contradiction is central to understanding Lees place in the history of Singapore.

Innovation is a fundamental theme of Singapore. Even before there was a Singapore (and likely long after), pirates, traders, and entrepreneurs were establishing a tradition of independent thinking and action on the island. Their descendants have followed.

Singapores success is built upon the spontaneous creation of economic institutions like clans and guild associations and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce; educational institutions, cultural and charitable organisations; activism, and political parties, from the first political party in Singapore, the Kesatuan Melayu Singapura (KMS), to the ruling Peoples Action Party.

Sitting at the nexus of many great local and regional trading and intellectual networks, Singapore has always been cosmopolitan, deeply politicised, and constantly awash with new ideas. Singapore was a centre for pan-Islam, for overseas Chinese networks, for Malay culture and literature. Singapore has long been a public sphere where these ideas have met and found new forms of expression.

Lee, born in 1923, was a product of these innovative forms of thought and action. He was perfectly positioned to arbitrage between the ideas of nationalism and self-determination which were sweeping through Singapore, and the fading but still powerful forces of colonialism and imperialism. Taking advantage of the expansion of the Anglophone colonial educational system to rise all the way to Cambridge, he returned to Singapore in 1950 and quickly realised where the future lay. Singapores economic success had been built by the dynamism and vitality of Singapores economic innovators and entrepreneurs. Singapores political future would be built by the dynamism and vitality of Singapores political innovators and entrepreneurs  Chinese, Malay, and Tamil-speaking trade unionists, intellectuals, and community organisers. He allied himself with them and rode them all the way to the Prime Ministership in 1959.

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To understand his achievements, it is necessary to dispel some of the myths which obscure Lee Kuan Yew. Lees government did not make Singapore rich  As Lee himself noted in 1960 in a Straits Times report, Singapore had the highest average income in Asia - $1,200 per capita per annum. His governments great legacy was to make Singapore fairer. Singaporeans in the 1950s faced systemic colonial discrimination. Singapore was plagued by massive inequality; high property prices; high cost of living; congestion, overcrowding, and unemployment; and systemic colonial discrimination which privileged Europeans and English-speakers. The PAPs systemic reforms reduced inequality, empowering Singaporeans to take advantage of opportunities that were at that point of time beyond their grasp.

However, Lees government did not originate many of the ideas on which Singapores prosperity is based. The period of 1955  1963 was also a time of great political upheaval, with eight elections and one referendum  an average of one vote a year. Political parties cleaved and coalesced as circumstances and issues changed. In this creative destruction lay Singapores future prosperity. Political parties, facing the discipline of the ballot box, fought by innovating on policy. From this arose the great ideas which would lay the foundation for Singapores success: The Central Provident Fund; the Housing Development Board; a flexible multilingual educational system; heavily reducing systemic class, gender, ethnic, and linguistic discrimination; industrialisation and economic development.

(Associated Press file photo)



An unparalleled understanding of power

But implementation is every bit, if not more, important than the idea itself. And it was here that Lee shone. Lees political acumen delivered the stability that Singapore sorely needed to implement reforms. His leadership and support enabled his allies  first Lim Chin Siong, then Goh Keng Swee, Yong Nyuk Lin, and Lim Kim San, among others  to make the vast strides in labour, economic, education, and housing policy. Lee was the great enabler, making it all possible.

Lee achieved this via an unparalleled understanding of power: how it works, how it is perceived, how to win it and keep it. The only subject which I have ever heard Lee Kuan Yew talk about with any sense of feeling is the subject of power, British Commissioner Selkirk marvelled in 1960, Political power is, I believe, almost an obsession to him. But his intuitive understanding of power was accompanied by an unshakeable conviction that he alone had to control it.

In 1961, his unwillingness to compromise on power led him to cast aside the trade unionists and activists who connected his party to the people. His popularity plummeted. To keep himself in power, he embarked on a crash course for Malayan reunification, with the aim of winning the 1963 elections on the back of a successful merger. To achieve this, he sacrificed the principle of Malayan unity for the expedience of merger. By provoking the spectres of racial fear and socialist takeover, he convinced the leadership of the Federation of Malaya that Singapores Chinese were racially and ideologically hostile and needed to be controlled via a constitutional and security structure. This structure would be Malaysia. After its formation, Lee then turned around and attempted to overthrow the yoke he himself had placed on Singapore. This reinforced the racial suspicion that Lee had bred, hardening attitudes on racial lines. Drastically elevated racial antipathy would be Lees lasting legacy in Malaysia.

(AFP file photo)

Greatest failure?

Faced with a choice of stepping down from power or taking Singapore out of Malaysia, he chose the latter. This proved to be Lees greatest failure. After the Singapores separation from Malaysia, he returned to the British colonial model of using legislation, repression, and social control to enforce his will upon Singapores electorate. Stability was achieved. Under his leadership, Singapore progressed rapidly. From his greatest failure would be born his greatest success.

However, the inadequacies of his system became evident by the late 1970s, when new ideas were needed to meet new challenges. The PAP government was bereft. Its new policies on family planning, industrialisation, education, and housing were disasters. Lee wisely set about renewing Singapores government. But he accompanied this with a severe increase of government control. Most importantly, he was unable to take the most important step of renewal  removing himself.

Lee emphasised the importance of stability and firm governance in delivering Singaporean success. But his view of history was based on a narrow reading of Singaporean culture and history that privileged his own personal perspective. Lee had enabled success by yoking explosive creativity and innovation to stability and discipline. This succeeded because innovation had already thrown up ideas to implement. Lee now remained the font of all authority and the final guarantor of stability, but also the block on innovation.

History shows us that culture persists. Singapore remained a volatile, politically aware, innovative society throughout Lees political career. It constantly threw up new challenges to the PAP. A man with Lees formidable talents could deal with those challenges. But the system which Lee leaves behind, by definition, cannot because it is predicated on stability at the cost of innovation.

Today, many of the issues his government addressed have returned. As in 1950, it is very rich, but struggles with many of the same issues that motivated Lees rise to power: massive inequality; high property prices; high cost of living; and systemic discrimination along racial, class, and linguistic lines.

Lee, tragically, stayed in power long enough to see himself and his party become the enemy he had fought so hard against, and the system he created become the system he had fought so hard to overthrow. In the longue duree of Singapore history, the first third of Lees political career will be seen as a shining light of progress  but as a whole, it will be remembered as transitional period, an exception to the fundamentally innovative and chaotic nature of Singapore.
By Roch Bouka BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congo Republic's President Denis Sassou Nguesso held a clear lead in Sunday's election to extend his long rule, preliminary results showed on Tuesday, as an internet and phone blackout was extended into a third day. Election commission president Henri Bouka told reporters that Sassou Nguesso, who has ruled Congo for 32 of the last 37 years, had won 67 percent of the vote in Sunday's election based on results from 72 of 111 voting districts. He must win an outright majority against eight opposition candidates to avoid a run-off. Former minister Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas was second in the preliminary results, with 16.8 percent. The remaining votes are expected to take another day to collect. Police and soldiers patrolled the capital Brazzaville on Tuesday and the government extended the communications blackout it says will help prevent unofficial results circulating and creating unrest. Authorities fear riots after at least 18 people were killed by security forces in protests ahead of a referendum in October that removed term and age limits that would have prevented Sassou Nguesso from running again. The opposition says Sunday's vote was fraudulent and plans to publish its own results, an action the government says would be illegal. The U.S. State Department said it had "received numerous reports of irregularities that have raised concerns about the credibility of the process", urging authorities in a statement to restore communications. Many residents of opposition strongholds in southern Brazzaville have left the city, fearing violence, and most shops remained closed. Voting was peaceful on Sunday but later police fired tear gas at crowds who had gathered to follow the count in the southern Bacongo neighbourhood. Congo's election is being watched closely across Africa, where several long-ruling presidents are seeking to stay on beyond constitutionally mandated term limits. In neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, opponents of President Joseph Kabila accuse him of trying to delay a presidential election scheduled for November. Kabila has declined to comment publicly on his political future. (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington and Aaron Ross in Kinshasa; Writing by Aaron Ross and Edward McAllister; Editing by Catherine Evans)
From Esquire

As you may recall, recreational marijuana became legal for adults 21 and older in Colorado on January 1, 2014. Even though traffic-related deaths and arrests for minor drug-related offenses have declined, neighboring states are trying to ruin the party. In 2014, Nebraska and Oklahoma, two states you're least likely to visit on purpose, filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court against Colorado claiming that the state's legalization of marijuana has caused the plant to flow across its borders. It's like your neighbors calling the cops when you're just trying to practice for a few hours on a Saturday with your weekend dad rock band.

But, today, the Supreme Court announced that it will not hear the case. Nebraska and Oklahoma can move forward with a similar suit in federal district court, The Denver Post reports, but for now this decision is a positive one for Colorado's booming bud industry.

"There's no question about it: This is good news for legalization supporters," Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, told the Post. "This case, if it went forward and the Court ruled the wrong way, had the potential to roll back many of the gains our movement has achieved to date. And the notion of the Supreme Court standing in the way could have cast a dark shadow on the marijuana ballot measures voters will consider this November."
Theres no doubt about it: Apple makes the best smartphone chips out there. The companys mobile chip division has put intense pressure on rivals in recent years and iPhones crush their biggest rivals in performance tests on a regular basis. Thats because Apple controls both the hardware and the software and is able to create efficient chips ready to deliver steady, speedy performance.

The one major component that Apple does not fully control right now, however, is the graphics processing unit.

DONT MISS: All the best new iPhone and iPad features in iOS 9.3

A source familiar with negotiations told Ars Technica that Apple is in advanced talks to buy Imagination Technologies, the company that has made every iPhone PowerVR GPU since the iPhone 4.

Imagination Technologies has not confirmed the talks, but it hasnt denied them either. The company has been struggling lately, and such an acquisition might not be a bad idea. The company said in February that longtime CEO Hossein Yassaie will step down and that it will be restructuring its business. Last week, the company said it will be firing 350 people and focus on PowerVR for the future.

On the other hand, Apple told CNBC that it doesn't plan to buy it. Currently, Apple owns 9.5% of Imagination Technologies, and the British company has a market capitalization of about 500 million.

https://twitter.com/cnbcnow/status/712298483684876288

Bringing PowerVR development in-house would be a major move for Apple, whose chip division already does a stellar job on its A-series CPUs. Even if it doesn't buy the British company, making its own GPUs should be a top priority for the iPhone maker.

A recent benchmark comparison between the iPhone 6s and top Android devices revealed that while CPU makers are chasing Apple's lead in the processor department, the latest iPhone doesn't have the best GPU in town.

Controlling both the CPU and GPU design process isnt only important for the future of the iPhone and iPad though. Apple is expected to make a virtual reality play in the future. Furthermore, the company is toying with the idea of replacing Intel chips for future MacBook models, and the A9X chip in the iPad Pro shows that moment could arrive a lot sooner than expected. The company would definitely need a powerful GPU to make such things happen, so its more than logical to see it acquire Imagination Technologies or design its own GPU.

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And if the Apple TV is supposed to become a real Xbox One and PS4 competitor at any point in the future, the device would need a highly efficient and very powerful GPU to get the job done. Again, PowerVR GPUs of the future, developed by Apples own chip engineers, might be the ones to do it.

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More from BGR: All the best new iPhone and iPad features in iOS 9.3

This article was originally published on BGR.com
In what may be a coincidence, the Supreme Court will hear the latest Obamacare challenge on the sixth anniversary of the acts signing into law.

President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act

President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act

Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, after Democrats gained control of the House and Senate after President Barack Obamas election in 2008.

Link: Read The Full Act

The Democrats had enough votes in the Senate to overcome a cloture vote and filibuster, and enough Yes votes in the House to pass the ACA, despite 34 Democrats who voted against it. The Republicans were unanimous in their opposition to Obamacare. President Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010. Almost immediately, opponents mounted constitutional challenges to the ACA.

Conservative opposition to the ACA also fueled voting results in the 2010 mid-term elections. The Republicans took back control of the House and the Tea Party movement gained popularity in the ACAs backlash.

The first serious constitutional challenge to Obamacare came in June 2012, when the Supreme Court ruled on the legality of parts of the very complicated law. The ACA was challenged on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the part of the ACA that requires many people to carry health insurance, or face a financial penalty.

Chief Justice Roberts said that Congress had the legal power to collect the individual mandate financial penalty as a tax, payable on annual income tax forms. So the Supreme Court upheld most of the ACA as constitutional.

The ruling shocked the ACAs opponents and confused several major news outlets, which initially reported the wrong outcome from the decision.

After Obamas re-election in November 2012, two related challenges to parts of Obamacare were decided in the Supreme Court: the Hobby Lobby-Conestoga Wood cases.

A divided Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby ruling said the two for-profit companies that requested religious exemptions from the Affordable Care Act could have them under limited circumstances.

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In the 5-4 decision, Justice Samuel Alito said the closely held corporations cannot be required to provide contraception coverage under Obamacare if they had religious objections. The decision was narrowly focused on just the contraception mandate, and it doesnt invalidate other parts of Obamacare.

The third major challenge to Obamacare at the Supreme Court was the King v. Burwell case. The Justices had to decide if language in the act blocked people from getting tax breaks on premiums sold by federally run health-care exchanges in 34 states. At issue was the intent of the phrase, established by the State, as eliminating tax breaks for these federally run programs.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, in which he was joined by Anthony Kennedy and the Courts four liberals, which upheld the tax breaks.

And now the Court hears arguments on Wednesday in the next Obamacare challenge, Zubik v. Burwell, which involves religious-sponsored non-profit corporations.

These institutions object on moral grounds to an Obamacare provision that allows their employees to obtain contraceptive coverage through their health insurance, even if those contraceptive products are provided by insurance companies and the government, instead of the institutions.

The groups argue that even indirect participation in such a plan is offensive, and they want to be included in a broader Obamacare exception extended to churches, synagogues and worship-based employers.

The federal government believes that religiously oriented non-profit institutions such as hospitals and universities have numerous employees who dont share the beliefs of religious groups that sponsor the non-profits, and these workers would be harmed by the exclusions.

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Buenos Aires (AFP) - Fresh from his landmark trip to Cuba, US President Barack Obama traveled Wednesday on to Argentina, where four decades later resentment still simmers over Washington's backing for its former dictatorship.

After calling for freedom and democracy as he stood alongside Cuba's communist leaders on the first leg of his regional visit, Obama touched down in another Latin American nation with a history of delicate relations with the United States.

Obama, who hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America, met Argentina's new free market-friendly President Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires on Wednesday morning.

Roads were closed as Obama's motorcade headed to the Casa Rosada, where he and Macri were scheduled to give a news conference shortly before 1600 GMT.

Tuesday's deadly bomb blasts in Brussels prompted Argentina to put its security forces on high alert as it received Obama, who is traveling with First Lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters and his mother-in-law.

There was a security alert when police arrested a man who burst into the offices of a state radio station near the presidential palace threatening to blow the building up, station employees told media. The building was evacuated and no one was reported hurt.

It is the first visit by a US president to Argentina since 2005. That year George W. Bush was met by angry protests at a summit where regional leaders blocked his plans for a free-trade deal.

Macri has reached out to Washington and other foreign powers since taking office in December after years of combative relations under his leftist predecessors.

But the delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America's violent history will rear its head during Obama's visit to Buenos Aires -- after the Havana visit touched on sensitivities over human rights in Cuba.

On Thursday morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the "dirty war" by Argentina's dictators against dissidents.

Story continues

That day marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that started the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Declassified documents have shown that top US officials backed the coup and America's wider image in Latin America was tarnished by involvement in coups and death squads.

- US and the 'dirty war' -

After the talks with Macri, Obama was due to lay a wreath at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and meet local people, before attending a state dinner.

His administration said last week it would declassify military and intelligence records linked to Argentina's "dirty war."

"We're determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

The sensitive date of the Argentina visit angered some victims' groups. Several organizations have called on Obama to apologize for US support of the military regime.

But four opinion polls showed a majority of Argentines approved of Obama's visit.

Obama "believes that part of moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past," said Ben Rhodes, one of the president's top advisors.

"He will be more than willing to speak to what took place 40 years ago, to the suffering that took place after the coup and to the complicated history between the United States and Argentina as it relates to those events."

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, 84, an Argentine human rights activist who like Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recalled that US military academies trained troops from Argentina and other Latin American regimes in torture techniques.

"It would be good to have a public recognition of United States interventionism," he said.

- US 'vulture' funds -

Some small leftist groups called for demonstrations against Obama's visit in Buenos Aires and in the Andean resort town of Bariloche, where the Obamas are due to head on Thursday for a few hours' leisure time.

Demonstrations are also planned Thursday in memory of the dictatorship. Some vowed also to protest in anger at the treatment of Argentina by its US creditors.

Macri's government has reached a settlement with US hedge funds that his predecessor Cristina Kirchner branded "vultures."

The Obamas are scheduled to leave Argentina on Thursday night.
LA MOLINA, Spain (AP) -- Daniel Martin of Ireland was the first up the mountain to win the third stage of the Tour of Catalonia and take the overall lead on Wednesday.

Martin, who won the weeklong Spanish event in 2013, beat Alberto Contador to the finish line of the 172.1-kilometer (106.9-mile) ride from Girona finishing at the La Molina summit in the Pyrenees Mountains in five hours, 27 seconds.

''The team gave me a lot of support. I really didn't expect to win, but it sure feels good,'' Martin said.

Contador moved to second in the general classification at six seconds behind Martin. Nairo Quintana is fifth at 19 seconds back, while fellow favorite Chris Froome is eighth at 22 seconds off the lead.

Overnight leader Nacer Bouhanni withdrew from the race midway through the stage due to illness after having won the first two stages on the flat.

After Froome's Sky team had set the pace to reduce the pack, the British rider attacked near the end of the final climb, only to be quickly caught by Contador.

Quintana was next to try a breakaway. Martin caught and passed him, staying in front of Contador to claim the win for his Etixx-QuickStep team.

Thursday's fourth stage stays in the mountains with a 172.2-kilometer (107-mile) ride from Baga to Porte Aine, where Martin won a stage in 2013 en route to the title.

''A good climb and a good memory,'' Martin said. ''Sure they will attack me a lot, but we have a good team and will do our best to keep the lead.''

Tom Dumoulin also withdrew midway through Wednesday's stage, which included four category-one climbs and low temperatures on the final snowy peak.

The race in northeastern Spain ends in Barcelona on Sunday.
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry signaled the coming revolution when he spoke at a Virginia convention and allegedly implored: Give me liberty, or give me death!

Henrys speech on that day served to finalize support in Virginia to oppose any British military intervention in that colony; but what remains unknown is what Henry actually said in his speech.

Relations between the colonists and the government back in Great Britain had steadily deteriorated over the decade since the Stamp Act was passed in 1765. Violence related to the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party in 1773 led to the imposition of the Coercive or Intolerable Acts a year later.

On September 5, 1774, the first Congress in the United States met in Philadelphia to consider its reaction to the British governments restraints on trade and representative government after the Boston Tea Party raid. In all, 56 delegates from 12 colonies came to Philadelphia including John Adams, his cousin Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Roger Sherman, John Jay, John Dickinson, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington.

During their session in Philadelphia, which ended after about seven weeks of debates, the group agreed to a boycott of British goods within the colonies as a sign of protest, spelled out in the Articles of Association. The Articles also called for an end of exports to Great Britain in the following year if the Intolerable Acts werent repealed.

Henry spoke to the second Virginia convention in March 1775, to discuss the events in Philadelphia and the need to form armed militias in Virginia in case British troops attempted to control the area. There was some opposition in Virginia to any form of organization against the crown, but the persuasive Henry, from accounts given by people at the meetings, ended the convention with an emotional plea.

What isnt known is what Henry exactly said at the meetings end. Years later, biographer William Wirt in 1817 reconstructed the speech based on the recollections of Thomas Jefferson and others. Wirts account ends with the famous lines, Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Story continues

Some historians believe the words attributed to Henry were penned later by Wirt or St. George Tucker, a young attorney at the time of the convention. Loyalist businessman James Parker did write a brief account of the speech in April 1775, where he said Henry insulted King George. You never heard anything more infamously insolent than P. Henrys speech: he called the K a Tyrant, a fool, a puppet, and a tool to the ministry, Parker wrote.

The convention passed the resolution offered by Henry to form militias to defend Virginia, and in the following month, fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord between British troops and the colonists, marking the official start of the Revolutionary War.

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Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas have been confirmed to headline this year's Honda Civic Tour reports Billboard.

Named the Honda Civic Tour Featuring Demi Lovato & Nick Jonas: Future Now, the tour will kick off on June 24 in Miami, stopping off at 37 US cities along the way before closing in Los Angeles on September 17.

This year the tour will also be holding The Power of Dreams' sweepstake, which will give one lucky ticket holder and guest at each show a VIP experience including a private meet and greet with Lovato and Jonas. Fans can enter now on Honda's website until August 27.

And to celebrate what will be the 15th anniversary of the tour fans can also enter a competition to win a new 2016 Honda Civic sedan designed and autographed by Lovato and a Honda Grom motorcycle customized and signed by Jonas.

More information about the tour including the full list of dates, how to purchase tickets, and enter the competition and sweepstake can be found at HondaCivicTour.com.
A massive winter storm shut down Denver International Airport Wednesday afternoon along with hundreds of miles of highway across Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.



Denver International  a hub for United Airlines and the sixth-busiest commercial airport in the nation  advised via its official Twitter account that passengers not attempt to travel to the airport while Pena Boulevard, the main route to the field, remains impassable.

Stuck at Denver airport. Monster blizzard. ALL FLTS canceled. ALL ROADS in/out closed. Sitting on baggage conveyor belt eating nuts #witsend  Jenna Wolfe (@JennaWolfe) March 23, 2016

Passengers already at the airport were being told to stay put.

Passengers currently at the airport, please stay put until conditions improve and Pena Boulevard is safe and passable.  Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) March 23, 2016

The decision to close the airport came hours after the storm caused power outages to the field's fuel depot and de-icing facilities, ABC news is reporting.

Already 800 flights were canceled in anticipation of the massive winter storm. United Airlines has canceled all of its remaining flights and said it will waive change fees for passengers affected by the storm.

One official told the Denver Post that this is the first time since 2006 that the airport has been closed due to snow.

The airport is currently reporting snow, wind gusts of up to 46 MPH, and extremely low visibility.

NOW WATCH: Billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel explains precisely how Mark Zuckerberg changed the world





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British designer Sebastian Wrong is launching a new lighting company Wrong London, reports Dezeen.

The brand will showcase the affordable new LED technology coming out of Asia at the moment, with a launch planned in Milan in April.

Wrong London will replace Wrong for Hay, a three-year partnership between Wrong and Danish brand Hay. Despite Wrong's new design project, he plans to stay committed to his collaboration with Hay. While products developed under the Wrong for Hay brand will become part of the Hay lineup, Wrong London will sell its products at Hay's stores.

Wrong London will count five employees in London and four in Hong Kong, and plans to work with LED suppliers in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
By Mostafa Hashem CAIRO (Reuters) - President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi named 10 new ministers, including the finance and investment portfolios, in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday meant to help revive an economy laid low by years of political turmoil and militant violence. Banking veteran Amr el-Garhy was appointed finance minister and Dalia Khorshid investment minister, a presidency statement said. Sisi also named four new deputy ministers - a deputy planning minister and three deputy finance ministers for treasury affairs, tax policy and fiscal policy. Garhy and Khorshid will face the daunting task of strengthening an economy battered by an acute foreign currency crisis that has hampered Egypt's ability to import goods and dimmed prospects for attracting direct foreign investment. The central bank devalued the pound last week. Garhy joins the finance ministry after serving in leadership positions at various finance institutions including Qalaa Holdings, El-Ahli Bank of Qatar and EFG Hermes, one of the Middle East's largest investment banks. He replaces Hany Dimian, who oversaw the finance ministry during a period of modest economic recovery after years of anemic growth following the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak and led to prolonged political upheaval, along with an increase in Islamist militant attacks. Egypt's economy grew around 4.2 percent in 2014-15 and the government has said it expects growth to remain at a similar level in the current fiscal year. Khorshid takes on the post of investment minister after serving as vice president of Citibank for eight years, holding several posts at Orascom Construction Industries, and most recently serving as chief executive of Orascom Holdings. Mohamed Hossam Abdelrehim, who served as Egypt's top judge in 2014-15, was appointed justice minister, filling a role which had been vacant for 10 days since Ahmed al-Zend was sacked after making comments seen as blasphemous to Islam. Other appointments were ministers for antiquities, the public sector, labor, irrigation, civil aviation, transport, and tourism. The tourism industry was hard hit after a Russian airliner was blown out of the sky over the Sinai Peninsula in October, killing all 224 people on board. Islamic State militants said they planted a bomb on board the aircraft. The civil aviation ministry also came under criticism for airport security lapses. The key defense, interior, and foreign ministers all kept their jobs as did holders of economic portfolios such as the planning and supplies ministers. The government will present its economic program to parliament next week. (Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Michael Georgy and Mark Heinrich)
Hong Kong (AFP) - Terrorism will cast a continuing shadow over future generations and government electronic surveillance is a small price to pay to combat it, a leading historian said Wednesday, a day after the carnage in Brussels.

British author and journalist Max Hastings gave a robust defence of electronic intelligence-gathering in what he called a new world that would never know absolute security.

"Our tolerance of electronic surveillance, subject to legal and parliamentary oversight, seems a small price to pay for some measure of security against threats that nobody -- today of all days -- can doubt are real," Hastings told Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Twin attacks by Islamic State jihadists killed around 35 people in the Belgian capital Tuesday.

Hastings, a former war correspondent and newspaper editor, is author of 26 books mostly on military history.

His latest, "The Secret War", tells the story of behind-the-scenes intelligence operations in World War II.

Future wars "will almost certainly" be fought on similar turf.

"Whereas a few generations ago our forebears were defended by Spitfires and citizen armies, today intelligence services and eavesdroppers at GCHQ are at the front line against our enemies."

Britain's Government Communications Headquarters monitors vast amounts of email and other electronic traffic in search of suspicious communications.

Hastings said he found it "almost incredible" that civil libertarians objected so strongly.

"Personal liberty never has been and never can be an absolute," he said, adding a balance must be struck between individual rights and the need to protect society.

In Britain's case, electronic interception was the only major way to detect terrorists.

"It is almost impossibly difficult for agents to penetrate Muslim communities in Britain and MI5 (the domestic intelligence service) receives dismayingly little help from them."

Story continues

The detection of 20-30 major plots in Britain in the past decade came overwhelmingly from electronic interception, Hastings said.

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor who spilt a huge trove of secrets on global surveillance programmes, had done great harm, he said.

There was clear evidence since the revelations that terrorists were using much more sophisticated encryption systems.

Rather than electronic snooping, Hastings said he was far more worried about the use of drones and targeted killing by the US, Britain and Israel.

"It's a very, very dangerous business to delegate to government (the power) to act unilaterally without any judicial process at all to just kill whoever they feel like."
By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Endeavor Energy hopes to secure financing by the end of the year for a $900 million gas-fired power project in Ivory Coast to help meet its growing electricity demands. The Africa-focused power producer, which is based in Houston, plans to operate a terminal that will import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel a power plant that when fully operational will produce 1,200 Megawatts. Endeavor has approval to build the plant that will initially produce 375 MW, and has secured a power selling agreement with the Ivorian government, the company's chief executive Sean Long told Reuters at an investment forum in Ivory Coast. Now it is focused on funding, said Long, who is confident of "an over-supply of financing" for the project. Endeavor will provide the equity capital with backing from energy and resources-focused private equity firm Denham Capital. It expects additional funding from multi-lateral institutions including the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the World Bank's International Finance Corporation and the African Development Bank. Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower and French-speaking West Africa's largest economy, has emerged as one of Africa rising stars after a decade of political turmoil. President Alassane Ouattara said on Monday that the economy grew by 10.3 percent in 2015. Demand for electricity is rising by some 10 percent annually, and the energy minister said last year that $20 billion in power investment is need over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, offshore natural gas production, which has until now fed the power grid, is falling. "With the declining low-cost natural gas there's a shortage of fuel supply," Long said. "They need a sustainable and reliable fuel supply that's also environmentally friendly." Endeavor has secured a provisional agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to take seven to eight cargoes per year of LNG in the first phase of the project, which will be ramped up as power output capacity increases. The price of the LNG is subject to approval from the government. Growing global supply should keep prices competitive with Ivory Coast's local supply, Long said. The company plans to charter a specialised floating LNG tanker from Texas-based Excelerate Energy that can store and regasify the LNG offshore before piping it to the power plant. Preliminary studies for the LNG terminal will be completed in three or four months, Long said. (Editing by Edward McAllister and Alexander Smith)
Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea's Democratic Opposition Front (FOD) Wednesday urged a boycott of next month's presidential election, saying it would be rigged.

"The FOD calls on its supporters and the population not to vote as this election is anti-constitutional," the group's Guillermo Nguema Ela told a news conference in the capital Malabo.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his government "do not respect either the constitution or the law," Ela said.

A poll initially slated for November is due to go ahead on April 24 following a presidential decree to that effect. No reason was given for the postponement.

The FOD comprises the main opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), the Popular Union (UP), the Republican Democratic Force (FDR) and a movement seeking autonomy for Bioko, an island with some 300,000 inhabitants off the coast of Cameroon in the Gulf of Guinea.

CPDS secretary general Andres Essono Ondo said numerous "irregularities" surrounded a poll he said would ensure that "President Obiang wins with a big score as a result of fraud."

The CPDS, the only opposition party represented in the former Spanish colony's parliament, said it "will not recognise the president elected in the poll."

Obiang Nguema, 73, has ruled the country with an iron fist for 36 years.

But his regime has regularly come under fire from rights groups for violent suppression of opposition as well as for rampant corruption.

He was re-elected in 2009 with 95.37 of the vote.

The opposition says it abhors the lack of an independent electoral commission as well as the regime's grip on the media.

Interior Minister Clemente Engonga Nguema Onguene, who is also first deputy prime minister, was Monday named head of a government-dominated electoral commission.

Wednesday also saw independent politician Gabriel Nse Obiang Obono of the recently legalised Citizens for the Innovation of Equatorial Guinea say he would stand for the presidency.
By Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's defense ministry has not yet established the overall cost of replacing and maintaining its aging nuclear weapons system, it told Reuters, prompting opposition charges of mismanagement of a mega-project expected to be given the go-ahead this year. In response to a request by Reuters about an estimate of the total price tag for the new Trident submarine fleet - Britain's sole nuclear weapons system - the ministry said it was still working on "policy options" and gave no overall figure. The replacement of Trident, which was backed in principle by parliament in 2007 and is expected to be formally approved this year, has raised questions about national security as Britain heads for a referendum on European Union membership that may decide its future status on the world stage. The Conservative government says the deterrent is vital to keep Britain safe in an increasingly hostile world, but some leading opposition figures say it is indefensible to commit a significant portion of the public purse to renewing the program at a time of deep austerity cuts. This makes the precise cost of replacing Trident a politically charged issue. The government has indicated the price tag for replacing the fleet has risen since 2007 but has not given a full cost over its expected 30-year life. Calculations by Reuters and a Conservative lawmaker suggest it could reach 167 billion pounds. "The department does not hold a cost forecast for the whole capability," the defense ministry said in response to the Reuters request under the Freedom of Information Act asking for the estimated cost of replacing Trident over 30 years. "The government needs a safe space away from the public gaze to allow it to consider policy options for delivering the deterrent in the most cost-effective way, unfettered from public comment about the affordability of particular policy options, some of which many not be at a mature stage of development." It did not elaborate on the policy options. The main opposition Labour Party criticized the government for refusing to offer any detail over what is called the "Successor program". Its defense spokeswoman, Emily Thornberry, said it was clear costs were "out of control" at a time when the Chancellor, George Osborne, is struggling to balance his budget. "It is astonishing that the Ministry of Defense still cannot say what the total costs of the Successor program will be, despite the massive implications of this program for government spending in the coming decades," said Thornberry, who is leading Labour's Defense Policy Review and has in the past been a critic of replacing Trident. She accused the government of a lack of transparency over the costs and arrogance in demanding more time to develop policy when it has already spent 10 years and "more than 3 billion pounds". "That arrogant refusal to account to parliament and the public is simply unacceptable," she said in a statement. "It is high time that the National Audit Office (the public spending watchdog) and the Public Accounts Committee conducted full investigations into the costs and management of the Successor program, and forced the Ministry of Defense to start answering the legitimate questions they are being asked." Labour is deeply divided over whether to replace Trident - its leader opposes it but many in the party believe it is necessary. It is however keen to put more pressure on a government torn by divisions over EU membership and forced after just two days to abandon welfare cuts in its 2016 budget. The Ministry of Defense said: "The government is committed to maintaining the UK's independent nuclear deterrent  the ultimate guarantee of our nation's safety." RISING COSTS The ministry has been working on replacing Trident for a decade and has tracked the rising costs in speeches to parliament, which have been criticized by opposition MPs for being too vague. Initially, in 2006, the cost of producing the submarine and warheads was put at around 15-20 billion pounds. In its response to Reuters, the ministry gave some of its latest costs that had already made public: the replacement of Trident would cost 31 billion pounds to produce the four submarines, with a contingency of 10 billion pounds, and another 3.9 billion pounds had been already allocated to their design. The ministry also said in its statement that in-service costs over its lifetime would be about 6 percent of the annual defense budget. According to the calculations by Reuters and a Tory MP last year based on assumptions the defense budget would remain largely the same as now, that would take the total to 167 billion pounds over 32 years - a sum that has spurred calls by the Scottish National Party to scrap the fleet. But the ministry said it could not provide any detail of the costs for the nuclear warheads, support services infrastructure and running costs, as the scheme involved projects which formed parts of other defense capabilities. "The department does not hold information in a form that would allow for a 30-year cost forecast for the nuclear deterrent capability to be easily calculated," it said. Ministers have said it is one of the government's biggest schemes ever, and that building the submarines alone would cost about twice as much as London's 15-billion-pound new railway link, currently the largest infrastructure project in Europe. The government is expected to put the decision on whether to replace Trident to a parliamentary debate and vote later this year, when the project is set to get the green light. But it has been accused by opposition politicians of delaying the debate to avoid any contentious issues before the June 23 EU referendum. Last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Britain needed to renew Trident if it was to maintain its "outsized" role in world affairs. Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general for defense and security think-tank RUSI, agreed and underlined the difficulty in coming up with long-term cost estimates as they could be "radically different", depending on what assumptions were made. (Editing by Pravin Char)
As a rising high school senior in 2012, Brandy Pena wasn't sure what she would do after graduation.

The now-21-year-old wanted to attend college, but she says it was rare for residents of her hometown of La Joya, Texas, a small community near the U.S.-Mexico border, to leave home. Most people went to a local college, worked in the oil fields or got married.

But things changed for her after she completed a summer program at the highly ranked University of Texas--Austin McCombs School of Business before her senior year.

Most participants are minorities or the first in their families to go to college, Leticia Acosta, director of the Subiendo Academy, the program Pena participated in, said in an email.

Pena says the program exposed her to a college campus, new people and a different way of thinking. During the approximately weeklong leadership program, participants were placed into groups and asked to come up with a plan to fix a problem in Texas, like the state's ongoing water challenges. At the end of the week, they presented their proposals to policymakers at the state capital who voted on which plan they liked best.

[Learnhow to prepare teens for summer college prep programs.]

After experiencing the UT campus in the summer program, Pena says it felt like it was where she was supposed to be. She's now a junior at UT studying management information systems in the business school.

Several top business schools offer summer programs for high schoolers. The program Pena completed was for Texas residents and free, but sometimes these pre-college experiences can cost families several thousands of dollars -- though financial aid is sometimes available.

Families should research these programs carefully and have realistic expectations of what they can offer high schoolers, says David Mainiero, co-founder and director of operations at InGenius Prep, which offers private admissions counseling.

"From the parents that I've spoken to, they feel like it will give them some kind of competitive edge in the admissions process," he says.

Story continues

While most parents know completing a high school summer program at a top business school won't help their child get into an MBA program eight years from now, he says, some parents think having the name of a top business school on an undergraduate application could help with admission -- and that's not true.

Lori Rosenkopf, vice dean and director of the top-ranked undergraduate program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, says the admissions process for high school summer business programs is completely separate from the formal admissions process to the school. That's true elsewhere as well.

However, Rosenkopf says students who complete these kinds of experiences have a better sense of how to articulate their interests, and that can be helpful when crafting college essays.

Mainiero thinks parents should look at these programs as an educationally enriching experience that allows students interested in business the opportunity to explore the discipline, meet professors and network.

[See howteens take a bite out of business in high school incubator classes.]

"You get a really good feel for what it's like when you are trying to create something from nothing and try to turn it into a business," says Rudy Venguswamy, now 18. He completed a summer business program on entrepreneurship at the University of California--Berkeley Haas School of Business -- another highly-ranked business school -- before his senior year of high school.

During the program, he worked with a small group to create a business plan for a product the group designed. Their team was mentored by a current student at Haas and ultimately presented their plan to the other groups and program leaders.

He also got the chance to listen to lectures from Haas faculty.

"I also really loved the fact that you had a mentor that already had an idea of what business looks like," says Venguswamy, now a freshmen at Berkeley who intends to major in business and economics. "You get to connect with a lot of professors and also I really, really just enjoyed the collaborative environment there."

Mainiero, of the counseling organization, says families exploring summer business programs for high schoolers should be wary of camps run by private companies at top schools and should ensure programs offers students what they claim to provide.

[Parents:Ask these three questions when vetting teen summer programs.]

He says admissions requirements can indicate a quality program. And families should look at the faculty -- they should come from the school hosting the program or from other quality institutions and organizations, he says.

Pena, the Texas undergrad, says the program gave her a head start in college. The networking skills she learned helped her make connections her freshman year, which paid off -- she completed an accounting internship with Ernst & Young as a sophomore.

Stay up to date with the U.S. News High School Notes blog.

Alexandra Pannoni is an education Web producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
Bari (Italy) (AFP) - Thousands of farmers took their tractors to a rally in southern Italy on Wednesday to sound the alarm over plummeting prices of prized Italian goods and demand mandatory origin labelling.

"We are here to defend Italian farming, which is at risk throughout the country due to an unprecedented crisis caused by the drop in prices below production costs in key sectors of Made in Italy," farmers' association Coldiretti said.

The price of tomatoes has plunged 43 percent from last year, while that of oranges has dropped 30 percent and the price of durum wheat -- used to make pasta -- is down 27 percent, Coldiretti said in a statement.

"Attackers of Made in Italy attack Italy itself," chanted the protesters, who had gathered in Bari despite the rain, sheltering under umbrellas in Coldiretti yellow, against a backdrop of dozens of blue and green tractors.

The farmers, hit by a mild winter and competition from Moroccan tomatoes, Egyptian strawberries and Tunisian olive oil -- all beneficiaries of an EU tax deal -- want EU-wide mandatory origin labelling for their products.

They have also suffered from a Russian embargo brought in to retaliate against EU sanctions over Ukraine, which cost the Italian food sector alone 240 million euros ($268 million) in 2015, according to Coldiretti.
A lone spaceport out in the New Mexico desert, about 55 miles away from the nearest city, is poised to become the future hub for space tourism in the United States.

That is, as long as its commercial spaceflight tenants (like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic) start flying customers soon.

Construction on Spaceport America started in 2009, but setbacks in the commercial spaceflight industry and problems with the construction have left it only partially operational and largely empty.

Virgin Galactic, the port's main tenant, plans to offer rides to the edge of space where rich paying customers will get to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. The company originally planned to start offering those rides by 2010, but major setbacks like the fatal test flight crash in 2014 has delayed its plan.

New Mexico is getting tired of waiting. In 2015, some government officials proposed selling Spaceport America.

Spaceport Operations Center at Spaceport America.

"There was a lot of hoopla before that 'if we build it ... they will come,' but it has been several years now and nobody's shown up yet," New Mexico Sen. George Munoz said in a debate cited on Space.com. "New Mexican taxpayers are continuing to foot the bill for a $250 million empty facility that is providing the legislature shaky operational information at best."

For now, the proposal is stalled, and the spaceport is at least partially operational. It regularly launches a few government and research satellites. Even SpaceX and Google have projects hosted there. It's hoping to attract Amazon's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos and his spaceflight company, Blue Origin.

Virgin Galactic is still committed to the spaceport. It recently revealed its new and improved SpaceShipTwo plane with enhanced safety features, and Branson says it will start flying customers as soon as next year.

So Spaceport America still has a chance. They built it, and people are slowly coming.

h/t Space.com
Grad school always appealed to Jacob Calvert, but it wasn't until late in his junior year at the University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign that the bioengineering major zeroed in on a subject area that really spoke to him: complex systems mathematics.

After discovering a center focused on that field at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, he strategically sought out several fellowship programs that could pay his way.

With the help of an adviser, Calvert applied for and earned a Marshall scholarship, which funds up to 40 American students each year who are pursuing graduate degrees in the U.K. Calvert's scholarship covers the $30,000 tuition toward a math master's degree and gives him an additional $20,000 for expenses.

Many fellowships can be thought of as scholarships that cover tuition for one to three years of graduate study and sometimes include extra funding for living expenses or attending academic conferences. Other awards are given for teaching, research or short-term jobs.

Becoming part of a cohort of highly qualified peers and having access to personalized professional development can be just as valuable as the monetary benefits, says Kyle Mox, vice president of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors.

[Learn more about paying for grad school.]

Some fellowships are based at particular schools, while others are targeted at people in certain disciplines. The Rhodes scholarship is exclusive to the University of Oxford in the U.K.; the Truman scholarship is for those interested in public service.

Plus, "there's just a whole alphabet soup" of offerings in the sciences, notes Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment management and director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at the University of Arkansas.

Aspiring scientists might consider the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship -- with 180 awarded annually in fields of interest to the Department of Defense -- or the Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship -- with 12 to 15 awarded per year to people pursuing a Ph.D. in science, math or engineering -- among many others.

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A number of opportunities are earmarked for students from underrepresented minority groups. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine administer a fellowship on behalf of the Ford Foundation, for example, that invests in about 120 doctoral students in a variety of disciplines each year with a goal of diversifying teaching faculty.

The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program annually supports 30 naturalized U.S. citizens, other immigrants and children of immigrants for two years of study in any field.

[Find other scholarships for grad school.]

To help students sort through their options, many universities have dedicated fellowship advisers and detailed databases of offerings. Cornell University, for example, offers a publicly searchable collection of fellowships. Mox suggests working with your school's advisers to find programs whose goals align with your interests.

It's important to start thinking about applying junior year -- or even earlier. Applications for many competitive programs are due early in the fall. They often require a personal statement, letters of recommendation and extensive interviews. Depending on the program, you typically will either apply to a fellowship organization or be nominated by your undergraduate institution.

[Check out a list of prestigious fellowships.]

Selection committees want applicants to make clear how a fellowship is critical to their career path, rather than framing it as a study-abroad experience, for example.

"It's not a gap year," McCray says. "It's a supplemental experience that really is going to enable you to do what it is you want to do."

Other desirable attributes generally include top-notch academic performance and leadership skills.

"What we're looking for is people who apply their intellectual skills, their people skills, and their grit and determination to an issue that they care about," says Rob Garris, director of admissions for the Schwarzman Scholars program, which will enroll its inaugural class of 111 this year.

Participants study at Tsinghua University in Beijing in a fully funded one-year master's program specializing in international studies, public policy or business and economics.

Applying for a fellowship can even sometimes benefit those who are not selected. For instance, applicants for the Mitchell scholarship, which is awarded to American students enrolling in a graduate program in Ireland or Northern Ireland, can choose to have their submissions shared with companies that help sponsor the program, such as Morgan Stanley or CRH, an international building materials firm.

"Our entire applicant pool is highly impressive, and that's of interest to companies," says Trina Vargo, founder and president of the US-Ireland Alliance, which administers the Mitchell.

This story is excerpted from the U.S. News "Best Graduate Schools 2017" guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
(Reuters) - Five bald eagles have died in Delaware, state officials said on Tuesday, weeks after 13 of the U.S. national birds were determined to have been killed by humans in neighboring Maryland. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said it was investigating what killed the eagles, but would not comment publicly on possible causes. Three of the eagles were still alive and very ill when they were discovered at the weekend, Sgt. John McDerby of the Delaware Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources said in a statement. They died a short time after their rescue. "We dont know how many eagles may have been affected, so we are asking the public to notify us immediately should they see birds that appear sick," McDerby said. Thirteen 13 bald eagles were discovered dead in Maryland last month, with lab results indicating the birds did not die of natural causes, including diseases such as avian influenza, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency declined to say whether the birds were poisoned but said the investigation was focusing on humans as the cause of death. The 13 birds represented Maryland's largest bald eagle die-off in 30 years, officials said. The bald eagle, which almost disappeared from the United States decades ago, was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007 after habitat protection and the banning of the pesticide DDT led to its recovery. The federally protected bird is a symbol of the U.S. government and is featured on currency and in the presidential seal. The maximum fine for harming a bald eagle is $100,000 and up to one year in prison. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Editing by Paul Tait)
BEIJING (Reuters) - German President Joachim Gauck told students in China on Wednesday that communist East Germany lacked legitimacy, as he denounced "dictatorship" and called for academic freedom. China is in a midst of a renewed crackdown on civil society and the media by its ruling Communist Party. Gauck, a former rights activist in East Germany, said his former country's propaganda "glorified" it as the better of the two Germanies, according to an English transcript of his comments issued on his office's website. "But it wasn't. It was a state that, as part of the union of Communist countries dependent on the Soviet Union, silenced its own people, locked them up and humiliated those who refused to comply with the will of the leaders," he told students at Shanghai's elite Tongji University. Germany was split at the end of World War Two into a communist east and capitalist west. It was re-united in 1990, after the fall of he Berlin wall. Gauck said most people in East Germany were "neither happy nor liberated" and the system lacked legitimacy. He referred to both the Nazi and communist periods as "brutal dictatorships". "Free, equal and secret public elections were not held. The result was a lack of credibility, which went hand in hand with a culture of distrust between the rulers and those they ruled." Gauck said he was also "concerned to hear some of the news that has been coming out of China's civil society lately and in recent days", though he did not give any examples. Universities, he added, have "to be a place of unhampered research and free and frank discussion". Asked about his remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had "not read in detail" his speech. "We absolutely endorse that the social systems, traditions and culture in China and Germany are not exactly the same," she told a daily news briefing. As long as the two countries respect each other and deepen trust via dialogue, then relations could continue to be good, she said. Gauck, whose position is largely ceremonial, is on an official visit to China, and has already met President Xi Jinping. On Tuesday, the Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, said in an editorial human rights were not a priority for his trip. "Although having different values with the Chinese, Gauck clearly knows that he has to show respect to China despite the differences," it said. "He knows that unlike in the era of East Germany, China has its own diversity. The development of human rights in China is different from what the Western world portrays." (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Germany's president condemned the illegitimacy of communist rule in East Germany while on a visit to China on Wednesday, lauding the benefits of human rights in a provocative speech to Shanghai university students.

China has been ruled by the Communist Party as a one-party state since 1949. Under the current administration of President Xi Jinping, authorities have tightened control over academics, lawyers and the media, activists say.

Drawing on Germany's history and his own life in the former East Germany, President Joachim Gauck, whose role is largely ceremonial, condemned "dictatorship" to students at Shanghai's prestigious Tongji University.

"Most people were neither happy nor liberated," he said of Communist East Germany. "And the entire system lacked proper legitimacy.

"Free, equal and secret public elections were not held. The result was a lack of credibility, which went hand in hand with a culture of distrust between the rulers and those they ruled," he added, according to an official English translation of his speech.

"It was a state that, as part of the union of Communist countries dependent on the Soviet Union, silenced its own people, locked them up and humiliated those who refused to comply with the will of the leaders."

His outspoken comments are a marked contrast to most diplomatic visitors to China, who prefer to focus in public on the benefits of trade ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Gauck, who was in the commercial hub Shanghai as part of an official visit, said Germany was "concerned" about recent news regarding China's civil society, though he gave no specific examples.

"Vibrant and active civil society always means an innovative and flexible society," he said.

He also told the students that academic freedom could benefit society.

"A university has to be a place of unhampered research and free and frank discussion," he said, speaking in German with translation into Chinese to an audience of around 100 students and professors.

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"This freedom is a precious commodity."

- 'Anti-China forces' -

Gauck said the Nazis and Communist-ruled East Germany distrusted free trade unions, but such institutions for workers had later helped support Germany's economic development.

China has only one trade union, which is controlled by the government.

Gauck dismissed the notion that human rights as outlined under a United Nations declaration were a "Western product".

"Even if the universal applicability of human rights does not yet mean that every person can de facto enjoy those rights... they can nonetheless lay claim to them," he said.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry sought to play down his comments.

"China and Germany have different cultures and political systems," spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters. "But as long as we respect each other, we treat each other as equals, and we have equal dialogues and consultations, these differences will not get in the way of bilateral relations."

A day before Gauck's speech in Shanghai, the English-language edition of the Global Times newspaper said that human rights were only a "trivial matter" for his visit.

"The West should evaluate China's human rights based on the facts. The progress China has made in its 1.3 billion citizens' rights of life and development deserve applause," the newspaper, known for its nationalistic stance, said in an editorial.

But a Chinese translation of the speech posted on the verified microblog of the German consulate in Shanghai was attacked by critics.

Germany was "injecting political correctness into China", one commenter said.

Another read: "On the one hand, Germany... opens the door for anti-China forces. On the other hand, it wants to seize opportunities in the China market."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Guatemalan brothers with alleged ties to Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel have been convicted of international narcotics trafficking in a U.S. court, officials said on Wednesday. Waldemar Lorenzana-Cordon, 49, and Eliu Elixander Lorenzana-Cordon, 43, were allegedly responsible for multi-ton shipments of Colombian cocaine to the United States, the Justice Department said in a statement. They were convicted in Washington's U.S. District Court after a four-week trial on one count each of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine in the United States. Trial evidence showed that the Lorenzana-Cordons headed a drug trafficking organization with close ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, the statement said. The Mexican group is one of the most powerful drug-smuggling outfits in the world. Sinaloa drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was recaptured by Mexican authorities in January after escaping from prison. Guatemalan authorities extradited Eliu Lorenzana-Cordon to the United States in 2015. Waldemar Lorenzana-Cordon was extradited in 2014. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Here's another item to add to the back-to-school shopping lists, Kansas: a firearm.

College students in Kansas have been given the green light on guns in the classroom, NPR reported Tuesday. Whereas state universities previously had the final word when it came to keeping firearms off campus, by July 1, 2017, all of Kansas' public institutions of higher education will be obliged to accept concealed weapons.

"When a gun is in a school and harm is meant, there is only one thing that is going to stop that, and that is another gun," Kansas Sen. Forrest Knox (R) said in debating the measure, according to NPR. The argument for opening the state's educational landscape to firearms hinges on school safety.

Read more: This Gun Control Study Suggests a Clear Link Between Firearm Regulation and Gun Death

The measure isn't new, though  as the Kansas City Star reported at the time, the state's governor, Sam Brownback, signed a bill in April 2015 legalizing conceal and carry statewide, one that allowed anyone 21 and up to carry a firearm regardless of whether or not they possessed a permit or training. Brownback argued that the state was protecting a constitutional right.

Universities were exempt from enforcing the state's gun laws, but that exemption will run out in July 2017, as the Topeka Capital Journal reported. Individual schools will be left to determine their own guidelines for gun possession, but barring the installation of metal detectors and security guards at every building entrance, administrators must allow students  along with faculty, staff and visitors  to pack heat if they desire to do so.

En route to the library at Georgia University, which became the site of several armed robberies after the state passed conceal and carry laws.

According to NPR, Kansas' lawmakers largely stand behind the measure, but a poll of over 20,000 people working in the state's public schools suggested that educators do not. The majority reportedly feel that armed students would lead to a jump in campus crime rates; difficulty teaching what they wanted to teach, how they wanted to teach it; and a classroom environment that felt "less safe" than it would without guns.

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The fear of escalating violence isn't unfounded, nor is these educators' worry that campuses might become unsafe. As Lina del Castillo wrote for Quartz in February, when guns become a part of the college landscape, the incidence of sexual assault only rises. According to the Trace, there doesn't seem to be a link between "good guys with guns" and thwarted shootings; indeed, the presence of untrained-if-well-intentioned gun wielders tended to make an active shooter situation more dangerous.

More guns on a college campus simply means more opportunity for accidental injury and death, especially if those toting firearms are't trained to use them. As is the case in Kansas. Of course, it's not the only state to have enacted such laws: Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin also allow for on-campus conceal and carry.

If we're looking for proof that permitting students to carry guns doesn't do much to deter school shootings, we can look to Oregon's Umqua Community College, where 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer fatally shot 10 people in October 2015.
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haiti's interim president named a new prime minister after the last one was essentially rejected by parliament in the latest chapter of the poor country's chronic political instability.

The new premier is Enex Jean-Charles, a civil servant and professor of administrative law. He has also served as an adviser to several presidents. His appointment was announced by acting President Jocelerme Privert on Twitter.

Haiti has been mired in political crisis since a runoff presidential election in January was suspended amid allegations of fraud on the part of the government.

Privert was named acting president to replace the outgoing Michel Martelly and appointed a prime minister in late February -- former central bank governor Fritz-Alphonse Jean. But on Sunday, parliament rejected his program to form a government, so Jean was basically fired.

Privert, whose mandate began February 14 and is to last 120 days, went back to the drawing board and has now turned to Jean-Charles.

Jean-Charles needs to form a government and get his government program approved by parliament.

The acting president has said he will wait for this to happen before naming members of the electoral commission so the delayed president runoff can finally be held. This is his main task as acting president.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is still struggling to get back on its feet after being hobbled by a devastating 2010 earthquake.
Primary season continues to roll along, with Democrats in Hawaii, Alaska and Washington state next in line to vote. Hawaii's Democratic presidential preference poll, otherwise known as its Democratic caucus, will be held at 1 p.m. local time Saturday.

For any Hawaiian Democrats still wondering where their local precinct meeting site is, a full list of polling locations is available here. Voters should make sure to arrive and get in line in advance of the start time, lest they miss the action.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be the only two candidates on the Democratic ticket. Clinton is leading in the race for her party's nomination with 1,163 delegates to Sanders' 844. Hawaii will send 34 delegates to the Democratic national convention in July.

Hillary Clinton and husband Bill kick back in Hawaii in 1993.

The state's Republican Party held its caucus on March 8  42.4% of Hawaii's GOP voters selected Donald Trump, 32.7% went with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and 13.1% support for Marco Rubio, who's no longer in the running. Ohio Gov. John Kasich won 10.6% of the vote, which wasn't enough to gain him any delegates.

Hawaii has tended to vote Democratic in general elections past. Whether Sanders and Clinton can summon the same staggering enthusiasm as President Barack Obama, who was born in the Aloha State, did in 2008, is unclear. According to the Hawaii Herald-Tribune, some 37,500 voters turned out for the primary between Clinton and Obama; whether they'll be kinder this year remains to be seen.
By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - The Hinkley Point nuclear power project in Britain will go ahead, EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz told MPs on Wednesday, though he did not give a definite schedule. The 18 billion pound project was announced in October 2013 but a final investment decision has been delayed as EDF secures partners and financing. Chinese utility CGN signed up for a one-third stake in October, leaving EDF to fund the rest. "Clearly and categorically, Hinkley Point C will go ahead," de Rivaz said, speaking in front of parliament's energy and climate change committee. De Rivaz said EDF had spent 2.4 billion pounds so far developing the nuclear site in Somerset in the south of Britain. He reiterated comments on Tuesday by French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron that EDF was expected to make a final investment decision in early May, but would not confirm this was a definitive schedule. The French government last week said it was ready to provide the financial backing EDF needs to go ahead with the Hinkley Point project and De Rivaz said any French support would not increase costs for British consumers. The project is part of British energy plans to replace ageing power plants and meet emission-reduction targets. Two other groups are planning to build nuclear power plants in Britain: NuGen, which is a joint venture between Toshiba's Westinghouse and France's Engie, and Hitachi's Horizon. Industry experts told MPs that if Hinkley C did not go ahead it could have a knock on effect on the development of other nuclear projects in Britain. However, both the other groups said the Hinkley delays had not deterred them from investing in projects in Britain and they were not dependent on Hinkley C proceeding. NuGen Chief Executive Officer Tom Samson told MPs it plans to make a final investment decision on its Moorside nuclear plant in northwest England by the end of 2018. Horizon Chief Operating Officer Alan Raymant said a decision on its Wylfa plant in Wales would be taken by the end of 2019. (Editing by Jason Neely and David Clarke)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives Ethics Committee said on Wednesday it had opened an investigation into Democratic congresswoman Corrine Brown of Florida. The committee said in a news release that it voted on March 16 to establish an investigative subcommittee to look into allegations Brown improperly solicited charitable donations, used campaign funds for personal purposes, failed to comply with tax laws and made false statements to the House and the Federal Election Commission. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)
The Hague (AFP) - The International Criminal Court ruled Wednesday there is enough evidence to try notorious Lord's Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen for crimes committed in Uganda, including keeping sex slaves and recruiting child soldiers.

The Hague-based tribunal's judges "confirmed 70 charges brought by the prosecutor against Dominic Ongwen," saying "there are substantial grounds to believe that Dominic Ongwen is responsible" for crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery, torture and conscripting children under the age of 15.

Ongwen, who surrendered early last year and was handed over to the ICC, is the only senior LRA commander currently in the court's custody.

Known as the "White Ant" in his native Acholi language, Ongwen is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role from 2002 to 2005 in the rebel group's reign of terror in northern Uganda, led by its elusive chief and fellow ICC suspect Joseph Kony.

A former child-soldier-turned-warlord, Ongwen was Kony's one-time deputy and one of the most senior commanders of the LRA, which is accused of slaughtering more than 100,000 people and abducting 60,000 children in a bloody rebellion against Kampala that began in 1986.

Prosecutors in January at a hearing to confirm charges against Ongwen told the ICC's judges he was the "tip of the spear" of the group that has sown terror across several countries in central and eastern Africa.

Ongwen, who is about 40 years old, allegedly ordered the killings of civilians as well as the abduction and enslavement of children to be rebel soldiers as the LRA attacked helpless villages across the northern Ugandan countryside, prosecutors said.

Witnesses to the carnage said Ongwen ordered his hostages, at least on one occasion, to "kill, cook and eat civilians," prosecutors said.

The hearing was also shown graphic images of bodies of LRA victims, burnt-out huts and the abandoned corpses of children during the January 21 hearing.

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- Ten commandments -

The LRA first emerged in northern Uganda in 1986, where it claimed to fight in the name of the Acholi ethnic group against the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

But over the years it has moved freely across porous regional borders, shifting from Uganda to sow terror in southern Sudan before heading into northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and finally crossing into southeastern Central African Republic in March 2008.

Combining religious mysticism with a bent for astute guerrilla tactics and bloodthirsty ruthlessness, Kony has turned scores of young girls into his personal sex slaves while claiming to be fighting to impose the Bible's Ten Commandments.

Ongwen's own troops were notorious for their punishment raids, during which they would slice off victims' lips and ears as a grim calling card.

Born in 1975, Ongwen was transferred to The Hague more than a year ago shortly after he unexpectedly surrendered to US special forces operating in the Central African Republic.

Rights groups point out Ongwen was himself initially a victim -- abducted at 14 by the LRA as he was walking to school -- which may prove a mitigating factor in sentencing if he is found guilty at trial.

Kony remains on the run despite an intense manhunt backed by US special forces.

So far this year alone the LRA has captured more than 200 people in the CAR, a quarter of them children, human rights groups said earlier this month.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Nine of the 10 planes operated by India's IndiGo airline, which received a bomb threat on Wednesday, were checked but nothing unusual was found, a police official told Reuters. One domestic flight that earlier landed in the Indian capital New Delhi from Jammu in the north was still being checked, said Dinesh Kumar Gupta, deputy commissioner of police at the capital's Indira Gandhi International airport. IndiGo, an airline operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., said in a statement that it had put in place additional security measures and all its passengers were safe. A spokeswoman said only three flights were searched. The company had received a phone call about a bomb threat on some of its planes earlier in the day. The bomb threats came a day after two brothers carried out suicide bombings at Brussels airport and on the Belgian capital's metro on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people. (Reporting by Aditi Shah and Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Malini Menon and Tom Heneghan)
By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Khalid El Bakraoui, the man named on Wednesday as the Brussels metro suicide bomber, is the link suggesting members of the same Islamist cell were behind the November attacks in Paris and Tuesday's Brussels bombings that killed 31 people. The group seems to have been knitted together by time serving in Belgian prisons and fighting in Syria. Belgium, with a Muslim population of about 5 percent of its 11 million people, has Europe's highest rate of citizens joining Islamist militants in Syria. Khalid and his brother Ibrahim, who blew himself up at Brussels Airport, were already known to authorities for violent crime. Khalid, 27, was sentenced in 2011 to five years in prison for car-jacking. Ibrahim, 30, was jailed in 2010 for shooting a Kalashnikov assault rifle at police after a robbery. Released in 2014, he has been sought since mid-2015 for breaching parole conditions. According to Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure, Khalid, under a false name, had rented a flat in the city of Charleroi that some Paris attackers had used as a base. He also rented another flat in the Brussels district of Forest that was the scene of a shootout last week after what police thought would be a routine house search. The March 15 shootout proved to be a decisive moment in the investigation into the Paris attacks, resulting in a police sniper killing Algerian gunman Mohamed Belkaid, a Paris attacks suspect. Police also discovered a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, who would be arrested three days later, the only suspected Paris attacks participant to be taken alive. Abdeslam and Belkaid had known each other for months at least. The two and another man, Najim Laachraoui, who had traveled to Syria in February 2013, were stopped in a Mercedes at a checkpoint as they crossed from Hungary to Austria in September, but then released. In December, police already hunting for Abdeslam launched a public appeal for Belkaid and Laachraoui, releasing a photo of two men in a shop. Belkaid was traveling using papers with the false name Samir Bouzid. Laachraoui, a 25-year-old Belgian, rented a house, also using a false name, in the Belgian town of Auvelais that was searched on Nov. 26. Traces of his DNA were found in houses used by the Paris attackers last year. He studied electrical engineering, and is suspected of having made the suicide bombs used in Paris and possibly those that exploded in Brussels. A week after launching the appeal, police found remains of a bomb factory, including traces of explosive acetone peroxide and handmade belts, in a flat in Schaerbeek, the Brussels borough where Laachraoui grew up. Apart from having traveled with Abdeslam, Belkaid can be tied to Paris through the attacks' suspected mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian killed along with his female cousin during a raid in Paris suburb St Denis on Nov. 18. Belkaid, using the name Bouzid, had wired money to Abaaoud's cousin. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Peter Graff)
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government won a confidence vote on Wednesday on a decree aimed at helping the country's feeble banking system, including state-backed guarantees to help sell bad loans. Lower house deputies voted 351-180 in favor of the package put forward by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who would have had to step down in the event he lost the vote. The decree will go to Italy's Senate, where it must be passed into law by April 7 at the latest or else it will expire. Renzi has called numerous confidence votes during his two years in office to accelerate the passage of legislation. The guarantee scheme aims to help banks and financial institutions shift some of the 200 billion euros ($223.28 billion) in bad loans that piled up on their balance sheets during three years of recession. The plan to let banks pack the loans into securities for sale was wrung out of months of talks with the European Union, but Renzi's critics say it would favor banks over their clients. Bad loan fears helped wipe out almost 40 percent of Italian banks' value earlier this year. Their stocks have recovered on Milan's bourse but are still 25 percent down on the year. The decree also contains measures to pull together under a holding company the 371 credit cooperatives that are currently tiny fragments in an unwieldy and expensive system. Credit cooperatives with assets worth at least 200 million euros, or that choose to make partnerships with lenders of that size, will be able to opt out of the new structure. The holding company would have capital of at least a billion euros, and the Treasury would be able to sell off some of its share if it needed to raise funds on the market. The government has already forced big cooperative lenders to convert into joint-stock companies, hoping this would prompt them to merge. The measure did not bear fruit quickly, but the first such merger looked set to be announced later on Wednesday. (Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Siva Govindasamy (Reuters) - Japan has opened talks with Western defense contractors about building a new generation of fighter jets, sources say, in what would mark an important milestone in Tokyo's strategy to maintain its air superiority over rival China. The discussions with defense companies including Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Ltd come as Japan readies its ATD-X experimental aircraft for its first test flights within days. Stealth fighter technologies being tested on the ATD-X, being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japanese Ministry of Defence's Technical Research and Development Institute, would also be incorporated into the new fighter, dubbed the F-3, industry and government sources said. "They have begun exploratory engagement to look at our capabilities," said a source with a Western defense contractor. "There is no policy decision and no program of record for the next fighter. There is only some discussion that, logically, there will be a fighter at some point." Analysts estimate the cost of such a program at $40 billion or more, a price tag that could yet prove prohibitive. Japan has already committed to buying 42 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. But that aircraft's perceived shortcomings in air-to-air combat and the United States' refusal to sell its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor have encouraged Japan to consider a domestic-led program to replace its fleet of aging Boeing F-15J warplanes. Plans are likely to be firmed by end-2017 or early 2018, which would enable the F-3 program to secure funding in Japans 2018-2022 five-year plan and be in service by around 2030, the sources added. Upgrades to a large portion of over 150 aging Japan Air Self Defence Force F-15Js, to incorporate new engines and radars among other advanced capabilities, could proceed while research into the F-3 program continues, said the sources. Japan's Defence Ministry said it was considering various options for future fighter jets "including independent development and international joint development" to replace its F-2 fighter fleet from about 2030. It declined to comment on whether it had started discussions with western defense contractors. CHINA FLYING HIGH China's development of modern and stealthy fighter jets, combined with Japan's more muscular security agenda under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is fuelling Tokyo's push for a new fighter. As tensions between China and the United States and its allies rise in areas such as the East China Sea and South China Sea, Tokyo wants to ensure it can defend the airspace over Japan and its territories. China's warplanes still lag the best aircraft used by the U.S. and its allies, but Beijing has been building its capability, military experts say. To maintain its air superiority, Tokyo had hoped to buy U.S. F-22 stealth fighters. Despite numerous discussions, however, Washington refused to sell, even to one of its closest Asian allies. While the F-35s will replace some of Japan's strike fighters, they are not a replacement for the F-15s in the air superiority role and don't have the F-22's capabilities, said one Japan-based source familiar with the thinking inside the countrys defense ministry. "Japan really wanted the F-22 but it got the F-35," added the source. "This is a source of concern and frustration in Tokyo." Japanese ministry planners believe that if the program goes ahead, the F-3 could be an aircraft similar to the F-22 in look and capabilities, said a second Japan-based source. Manned and unmanned options are being considered, with a preference for the former, the source added. Japan recently lifted a decades-long ban on arms sales and while the F-3 program is focused on domestic needs, exports of a home-grown fighter may also be considered. Any joint effort could be similar to Japans F-2 program, where Lockheed Martin teamed up with MHI to develop a fighter jet based its F-16. High development costs meant that the Japanese government paid around $120 million for each F-2, making it the second-most expensive fighter jet ever built after the F-22s at around $150 million each. The basic F-35 model, by comparison, is expected to cost around $85 million each once full production is reached. TOO COSTLY? Some analysts believe the cost of developing an aircraft with the performance level of an F-22 may be a hurdle too high even for the worlds third largest economy. "Paying for that performance difference by developing a new jet is simply too expensive. Where would Japan find $40 billion or more in its defense budget to develop a new plane? said Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of analysis at Teal Group. Help from Western firms could cut costs. One potential partner was the Eurofighter consortium, a joint venture between Airbus, Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aermacchi and BAE Systems that manufactures the Typhoon fighter jet, said sources. A Eurofighter spokesman declined to comment. Lockheed Martin said it was very interested in working with Tokyo on the proposed F-3 program. "Lockheed Martin has a very long history of developing new fighter aircraft, both indigenously and as a foreign partnership that incorporates leading edge technology to address emerging threats," a spokesman said in an email. Boeing's record in developing new fighter jets can help any "ground-up" program, Jim Armington, who heads business development in East Asia for Boeing's defense arm, told Reuters. Basing the F-3 on an existing design would give Japan a head-start, he added. Now, I cant say which direction the Japanese government will go with this fighter, and whether it will be totally indigenous Japanese industry only or whether it will be opened up for foreign role and cooperation," said Armington. "We are betting that there will be some opportunity for us to help." (Reporting by Siva Govindasamy in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's top carrier ANA Holdings <9202.T> said it would suspend regular flights to Brussels from Thursday through the end of March after militant attacks in the Belgian capital. ANA said it operates daily flights between Japan's Narita and Brussels, adding that it had not yet decided whether to resume flights from April. U.S. airlines including Delta, United and American have also canceled flights after the attacks that included two deadly blasts in a departure area of Brussels' airport at Zaventem. (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Havana (AFP) - After the heady excitement of seeing President Barack Obama shatter decades of US-Cuba hostility, Cubans woke up Wednesday wondering how much will really change on the communist island.

The climax of Obama's trip was a speech Tuesday in which his oratorical skills were on full display, urging Cubans to embrace democracy and vowing that the United States will drop its punishing economic embargo, even if that decision has to come from the more hawkish Congress.

The cheers for Obama in Havana's Gran Teatro showed how far the visit -- the first by any US president in 88 years -- has shifted Washington's old policy of treating Cuba like enemy territory. And while all-powerful President Raul Castro seemed less than happy, listening stone-faced, he had let the speech go ahead live on state television.

But after the euphoria came something of a hangover for Cubans who say there will be no easy answers.

"We appreciate his good intentions. He's a man who talks very well, but at the end of the day they're just words," said retiree Estrella Mora, 61. "Another thing is reality: Obama came and went, but the embargo is still there."

Cley Poll Betacourt, 41, praised Obama's speech and visit. "He said things as they are."

The problem, Betacourt said, "is that he wants to achieve very quickly things that will take years. We need time to change things here."

Betacourt said Cubans are not ready for radical political change and that reform of the country -- ruled by one party and with a sclerotic economy -- should come from within. "We are fine with our president. We listen to what he says, because he wants the best for us. We don't need anything else."

- Thinking for themselves -

Those who have experienced the hard end of Castro's rule cautioned that Obama -- however spectacular his visit -- has only limited power.

"I think the government will not listen to Obama's words on political change," said Mirian Leiva, a former member of the Ladies in White dissidents group. "I think these ideas of his were aimed at the population and that anything further is up to Cubans themselves."

Story continues

And former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer, 75, said Cubans will have trouble following through on Obama's call for them to build their own future.

He said Cubans are used to having a "paternalistic" figure "who will resolve all the problems, with everyone else like children who need being taken in hand and are waiting for a pope or a US leader."

That mentality, he said, is gradually easing but Cubans need to understand that "we are the ones with the main role for changing Cuba."

Certainly the state media have been quick to reinterpret Obama's speech for the population, warning that Obama's slickness could not be trusted.

"Obama's visit to Cuba was a masterclass in political marketing that we Cubans are not used to," state television commented.

"Maybe there won't be another US president for another 88 years. What will be more important is what happens and what happens depends not on what (Obama) thinks, but on the plans of an elite that he must now represent."
By Gordana Katana and Daria Sito-Sucic BANJA LUKA/PALE, Bosnia (Reuters) - Many Bosnian Serbs believe their wartime leader Radovan Karadzic is innocent of war crimes and that his possible conviction by a U.N. tribunal on Thursday would inflict a grave injustice on all Serbs. Karadzic, first president of the self-styled Bosnian Serb Republic, has been charged by the Hague-based tribunal with 11 counts of war crimes and genocide committed during the 1992-95 war in which 100,000 people died. He could face life in prison if found guilty, but his many Bosnian Serb supporters believe that would be a travesty. "It would be realistic to set Radovan Karadzic free because he is a man who did not commit a single crime, nor did he order genocide against any people," said Goran Gajic, a war veteran from Banja Luka, capital of the Serb Republic, one of Bosnia's two autonomous regions. Karadzic protested his innocence in a rare interview with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network published on Wednesday. "I know what I wanted, what I did, even what I dreamed of, and there is no reasonable court that would convict me," he told the website in an interview by email. Among other charges, Karadzic is accused of orchestrating the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims after Serb forces seized the U.N.'s Srebrenica "safe area" in eastern Bosnia. "The unnecessary killing of a single man is horrifying, let alone certainly several hundred at least ... Those who did it are the enemies of the Serbs first, then enemies of those families, then of the Muslim community," Karadzic said. To Bosnian Muslims and Croats, Karadzic, who also faces charges over the shooting of civilians in Sarajevo, is synonymous with war, death and destruction. Bosnian Serbs, however, view him as a national hero who created a Serb Republic - a state within a state, which survived under the 1995 Dayton peace agreement. "Radovan Karadzic will always remain ... a hero who made an immense contribution to the creation of Republika Srpska and the defense of the Serb people," said Bozica Zivkovic Rajilic, president of the Bosnian Serb Association of Women Victims of the War. SERBS ACCUSE COURT OF BIAS Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik, who rose to power with Western backing after distancing himself from the wartime leaders, now praises Karadzic's leadership, saying he did not order the crimes and accusing the U.N. court of bias against the Serbs. "Somebody has concluded that Serbs need to be held responsible for everything that happened," Dodik told reporters last weekend, adding that Bosnian Muslim and Croat wartime leaders were not prosecuted. "That's why it (the verdict) has no element of justice, but of revenge." Such sentiments are widely shared across the border in Serbia. "I don't think it (the verdict) will in any way help the reconciliation process which was the primary intention of the tribunal," Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic told state television RTS on Wednesday. In Karadzic's wartime stronghold of Pale, 16 km (10 miles) from Sarajevo, people remember him for turning their mountainous village into a town after his supporters moved there from the Bosnian capital, which was besieged by his forces for 43 months. "We are truly sorry for Radovan, our souls ache for him, who knows how enemies will judge him?" sighed pensioner Ljuba Vukovic, watching the defiant opening last weekend of a student dormitory in Pale named after Karadzic. Whatever the verdict, some young people don't believe it will have a major impact on life in ethnically divided Bosnia, beset by corruption and economic difficulties. "Whatever happens, the conditions in which we live will either remain the same - unbearable - or even worse," said Drazen Crnomet, a civic activist from Banja Luka. (Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularak in Belgrade; Editing by Adrian Croft)
Mexican film and television actress Kate del Castillo, who arranged Sean Penn's Rolling Stone interview with drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, said she fears the Mexican government even more than the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

"I don't fear the cartel, that's not my fear," she said in a televised interview with CNN en Espanol on Tuesday night. "I'm not afraid of Mr. Guzman nor his people. I'm afraid of the Mexican government. I'm afraid because I've seen all they've done, how they destroyed me during months."

Mexican authorities are investigating del Castillo for alleged money laundering. Attorney General Arely Gomez told a Mexican daily in January that there are "indications" the actress could have received illicit funds from El Chapo, but the ongoing investigation has shared no evidence to corroborate that.

Read More: Kate del Castillo Under Investigation in Mexico for Possible Money Laundering

Del Castillo, who resides in the U.S., denies that she has ever received money from El Chapo for any business venture.

In the interview with journalist Carmen Aristegui on CNN, del Castillo accused the Mexican government of leaking phone texts exchanged between her and El Chapo, messages that she claims were taken out of context to make it look like she was having an affair with the drug boss.

"They are leaking evidence," said the lead actress of the hit narconovela La Reina del Sur. "It's completely illegal what they are doing."

Del Castillo reiterated that she still plans to produce a biopic about Chapo's life story once she resolves her current legal situation. She says Chapo will have no veto power over the movie's depiction of him as Mexico's most notorious drug lord.

She also cleared the air about director Oliver Stone, saying he's not involved in the project despite rumors suggesting otherwise. Del Castillo explained that she met one of the film's producers at Stone's house several years ago and they later met for lunch to discuss the possibility of a film project.

Story continues

Read More: The Strange, Ongoing Saga of Sean Penn, El Chapo and Who Was (and Wasnt) Making a Movie

The CNN interview then turned to Sean Penn. Del Castillo brokered Penn's visit with El Chapo in January prior to Guzman's arrest. The project's producers, Jose Ibanez and Fernando Sulichin, also went to the private meeting in a remote Sinaloa jungle.

When the group of four met with El Chapo, Penn took out a letter of assignment from Rolling Stone saying that he and the two producers were working on a story about Chapo and he wanted del Castillo to translate their interview. Del Castillo says she did not know about the letter ahead of time, while Penn says he discussed it with her in advance.

"From our first meeting, I discussed with her my intention to interview Joaquin Guzman for an article in connection with the meeting that she facilitated," Penn told The New Yorker. "We discussed it again during the flight and the trip to Mexico with our partners.

Del Castillo responded to Penn's claim that he discussed the article idea with her as total and complete bulls," but she went forward with the interview because she thought the article might provide material for the movie.

By the time del Castillo met with Penn to look over his final draft, she said she had realized Penn was not interested in the movie project. She said she did not read the story in its entirety when Penn presented it to her, but once she eventually did she found issues with how Penn portrayed her at times, and she disagreed that the group went through a military checkpoint on the way to their meeting with Chapo.

According to Penn, a vehicle driven by Chapo's son was waved past a military checkpoint, but del Castillo said that never happened.

In the CNN interview, del Castillo said a version of Penn's article that had been approved by Chapo (Penn and Chapo agreed beforehand that the drug lord would be given final approval on the story) made no mention of the checkpoint.

"They changed it," she told Aristegui. "Do you think that if I had seen what he said about the military checkpoint I wasn't going to say, 'Are you crazy? You delete that because it didn't happen.'"

Read More: Sean Penn Tells 60 Minutes His El Chapo Story "Failed"

Part two of the interview airs on CNN en Espanol on Wednesday night.
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The weighted average yield on Kenya's 364-day Treasury bills fell to 11.914 percent at auction on Wednesday from 12.019 percent last week, the central bank said. The yield on the 182-day bills edged up to 10.622 percent from 10.499 percent last week. The bank received bids worth 17.96 billion shillings ($177.12 million) for the 12 billion shillings worth of bills on offer. It accepted 14.17 billion shillings. Next week, the bank will sell Treasury bills of all maturities worth a total 16 billion shillings in two separate auctions. ($1 = 101.4000 Kenyan shillings) (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Moscow (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Wednesday seeking to gauge whether Vladimir Putin is ready to discuss ways to ease Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.

American officials see movement on Assad's future as key to giving momentum to the peace talks being led by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva to end Syria's civil war.

Moscow agreed to bring its ally's representatives to the table for talks with rebel delegates, but the Russian president insists that only Syrian voters can decide Assad's fate.

Any UN-backed elections would be at least 18 months away -- even if the talks go well -- and, without guarantees of Assad's exit, Syrian opposition leaders may yet baulk.

So Kerry touched down outside Moscow hoping for a sign that Russia -- which has just withdrawn some of the forces it sent to shore up Assad's regime -- may be more flexible.

"What we're looking for, and what weve been looking for for a long time is how are we going to transition away from Assad's leadership," a senior US official told reporters.

Kerry is in regular contact with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, but the top US diplomat knows any change in the Kremlin's posture will only come from Putin himself.

"On the Russian side, there's only one decision maker and you need to be in the room with him to evaluate what's possible," the State Department official said.

- An opening for change? -

The official said a shaky ceasefire between regime and rebel forces and Russia's partial withdrawal could mark an opening for Putin to shift his stance on Assad.

"The question is whether we can get down to brass tacks with the Russians on how to get from here to there in terms of transitioning the government," the official said.

But the American delegation is cautious about predicting a breakthrough, insisting the visit is as much about judging Putin's true stance as convincing him to change it.

Story continues

Kerry is to meet both Lavrov and Putin on Thursday at the Kremlin. Later on Wednesday he was to meet in Moscow with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Aside from Syria's five-year civil war, Kerry and his hosts were also to address the crisis in Ukraine.

Kerry is to give his support to German and French efforts to convince Putin to rein in pro-Russian separatist rebels and allow the full application of the 2014 Minsk Protocol.

Under this plan, Kiev will accord the breakaway region a measure of autonomy and hold elections while Russia should end support for the rebels and respect Ukraine's border.
Moscow (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Brussels Friday to offer Washington's support and issue condolences after attacks that left 31 dead, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.

"Secretary Kerry will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on Friday to formally express the condolences of the United States for the loss of life in yesterday's terrorist attacks," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

Kerry will "reiterate the strong support of the United States for Belgian efforts to both investigate these attacks and continue contributing to international efforts to counter violent extremism," he said.

Washington's top diplomat is currently in Moscow where he will meet President Vladimir Putin on Thursday as part of a two-day trip to discuss the Syrian conflict and the ongoing peace talks, as the regime and rebel forces observe a shaky ceasefire.
The Hague (AFP) - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Thursday faces judgement for crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war including the Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity committed on European soil since World War II.

Almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered after the eastern Bosnian enclave was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995.

It was one of the darkest episodes of Bosnia's bloody three-year civil war which claimed some 100,000 lives and left 2.2 million others homeless during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

What happened:

Declared a "safe area" by the UN in April 1993, the mainly-Muslim town of Srebrenica was surrounded by Bosnian Serb army forces in a slow stranglehold for the next two years.

On the morning of 11 July, 1995, the Bosnian Serbs' army finally overran Srebrenica, causing tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the UN peacekeeping force's compound at Potocari on the hilly town's northern outskirts.

The peacekeepers and about 5,000 refugees, mostly women and children, retreated into the UN base, while thousands of others gathered outside.

The refugees inside the base were eventually expelled into the hands of waiting Bosnian Serb troops, who started forcibly busing people out, separating the men and boys from the women.

In the following days almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were systematically butchered by the Bosnian Serb forces under Ratko Mladic's command and their bodies dumped in mass graves.

Some bodies were later moved to secondary graves to conceal the evidence. Some 6,600 of the massacre victims have been exhumed, identified and reburied.

Prosecution:

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has indicted 20 suspects for crimes committed at Srebrenica. All have been arrested and brought to The Hague.

Fourteen convictions have so far been handed down including five for genocide. Besides Karadzic, three other people including Mladic still face charges for Srebrenica.

Story continues

Key sentences:

- Zdravko Tolimir -

Considered Mladic's right-hand man, Tolimir was handed a life sentence in April 2015. The former intelligence and security chief was found guilty of genocide and other crimes. He died in February while awaiting transfer from the ICTY's detention centre.

- Radislav Krstic -

The Bosnian Serb general led the attack on Srebrenica and was the first-ever suspect to be convicted of aiding and abetting genocide. Sentenced to 35 years in prison, his case was upheld on appeal in April 2004.

- Popovic and others -

The ICTY on appeal in January 2015 confirmed two life sentences for Vujadin Popovic and Ljubisa Beara, two senior officers in the Bosnian Serb army convicted of genocide. Four other accused were sentenced to between 13 and 35 years. A seventh accused, Milan Gvero, has subsequently died after being convicted.

- Vidoje Blagojevic and Dragan Jokic -

A senior officer in the Bosnian Serb army, Blagojevic was sentenced to 15 years and Jokic was handed a nine-year sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Trials currently under way:

- Ratko Mladic -

Mladic's defence has been ongoing since May 2014, but the prosecution was recently allowed to add more elements to the case after the discovery of a new mass grave. Mladic faces similar charges to Karadzic. Judgement is expected in November 2017.

- Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic -

Judges ordered that former Serbian intelligence chief Stanisic and his deputy Simatovic be retried after being acquitted in May 2013.

Acquittals:

- Momcilo Perisic -

The former Yugoslav ex-army chief was acquitted on appeal in February 2013, after having been initially sentenced to 27 years.

Died during trial:

- Slobodan Milosevic -

The former Yugoslav president and Serbian strongman died in detention in March 2006, facing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity charges.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that peace talks on the Syria conflict taking place in Geneva were always set to be long and difficult, and that it was too early to talk about patience running out on any side of the negotiations. Peskov was replying to a Reuters question about whether Russia would encourage the Syrian government delegation in Geneva to engage in substantive negotiations about a political transition in Syria. Western diplomats and opposition delegates say Damascus has so far limited talks to procedural issues. "No one ever expected easy negotiations, and it would hardly be right to already be feeling a lack of patience. Patience, a lot of it, will still be required on all sides. That is obvious," Peskov said on a conference call with reporters. "Russia has consistently followed an approach of providing as much assistance as possible for the talks among Syrians to advance successfully. And without doubt Russia will continue to take this responsible approach." Peskov also said he knew of no prior agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on handing Nadezhda Savchenko over to Kiev. A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot and parliamentarian, to 22 years in jail for being involved in the deaths of two Russian journalists during fighting in eastern Ukraine. Poroshenko said Putin had told him some months ago that Savchenko would be handed over, and he called on the Russian leader to honor that undertaking now. "I'm not aware of any deals. Russia in any case will conduct itself in accordance with the norms of its legislation," Peskov said, when asked about Poroshenko's comments. "As for a handover, or not handing (her) over, an exchange, that is a decision only the president of Russia can take. In this particular case I am not aware of any decisions in this direction taken by the president." (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin/Andrew Osborn)
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's state security body said on Wednesday it had audio recordings that showed several opposition politicians planned mass riots to oust President Almazbek Atambayev, but two of the accused politicians denounced the recordings as fakes. Violent protests brought down two of the last four presidents in the central Asian former Soviet republic - Askar Akayev in 2005 and Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2010. "Audio recordings that have appeared on the Internet ... are confirmed (as authentic) by audio recordings in the possession of the State National Security Committee," the security body said in a statement. The committee said it had obtained its own recordings as part of a criminal investigation and with court approval. "The investigation continues," it said without naming the people in the recordings. Local media named the politicians in edited versions of the audio tapes and two of them, former prosecutor general Azimbek Beknazarov and former diplomat Mambetzhunus Abylov, denied any wrongdoing. "That is not even my voice. It is a fake," Abylov told reporters. "This is absurd," said Beknazarov. At the same time, Beknazarov and Abylov, who are both leaders of the opposition El Unu (People's Voice) movement, said they had cancelled a planned rally in the city of Osh on March 24 because of Kyrgyzstan's border standoff with Uzbekistan. The Bishkek government this week called an urgent meeting in Moscow of a Russia-led security bloc in order to draw attention to a standoff with bigger neighbour Uzbekistan in an area where the border between the two has not been officially defined. Both sides briefly stationed dozens of troops and several armoured personnel carriers in the disputed area but have since withdrawn most of their servicemen. Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it has sent a note to Uzbekistan demanding the withdrawal of all troops and military equipment from the area. (Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Moscow (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday called for Europe to drop its "geopolitical games" and unite behind efforts to fight terrorism, a day after bomb attacks in Brussels killed 31 people.

"I really hope that Europeans, in the face of the terrible threat of terrorism that occurred yesterday in Brussels, will put aside their geopolitical games and unite to prevent terrorists from acting on our continent," Lavrov was quoted by Russian agencies as telling visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Europe is facing a security crisis after Tuesday's triple bombing in Brussels, which came on the heels of the November bomb and gun assaults in Paris that killed 130 people.

Russia's call to unite against terrorism comes amid a diplomatic push over the five-year conflict in Syria.

Steinmeier was in Moscow for meetings with Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin Wednesday, while US Secretary of State John Kerry touched down in the Russian capital ahead of talks with the duo Thursday.

The talks between Steinmeier and Putin on Wednesday were an "open and constructive dialogue" touching on the situation in the Ukraine as well as the Syria peace efforts, Germany's foreign ministry said.

The West is looking to size up the Kremlin's game plan after Putin's surprise announcement on March 14 that Moscow was withdrawing the bulk of its forces conducting air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Moscow launched a bombing campaign in September saying they were striking the Islamic State group and other "terrorists" before they hit Russia, but the West said they mainly targeted Assad's more moderate opponents.

- 'Fight against evil' -

Steinmeier said last week that Russia's drawdown in Syria could increase pressure on Assad to "negotiate in a serious way", but peace talks with the opposition in Geneva have failed to make much headway.

Story continues

"I personally cannot imagine that in light of 250,000 people killed and 12 million refugees, Assad can become a leader acceptable to all segments of the population," Steinmeier told Russia's Interfax news agency Wednesday.

An unprecedented ceasefire negotiated by Russia and the United States has largely held in Syria since February 27, but it does not apply to jihadists.

Many Russian officials, including Putin, have echoed Lavrov's call for unity in the fight against terrorism.

"The fight against this evil calls for the most active international cooperation," the Kremlin said Tuesday.

A Russian jet on its way from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort to Saint Petersburg was brought down in October by a bomb, killing all 224 people on board in an attack claimed by the Egyptian-branch of IS.

Ties between Moscow and the West have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War over Russia's intervention in war-torn Ukraine but the Kremlin's Syria gambit thrust Putin back into the centre of international diplomacy.

Other Russian officials and politicians have used the Brussels attacks to rebuke the West.

The outspoken head of parliament's foreign affairs committee, Alexei Pushkov, tweeted Tuesday that while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg was "battling an 'imaginary Russian' threat and stationing troops in Latvia, people are being blown up under his nose in Brussels".

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she deplored "double standards" in the fight against terrorism.
Brussels (AFP) - "Off we go! Life goes on!" said the Brussels subway driver, slamming the cabin door and pulling away from the station.

Barely 24 hours after Belgium's worst-ever terror attacks, underground metro services resumed in the capital as life began to return to normal Wednesday.

Part of the line where a suicide bomber killed around 20 passengers Tuesday remained closed, but most trains, trams and buses ran to schedule -- even if some commuters seemed reluctant to use public transport.

"I'm a bit afraid, especially for my little brothers," said Dominique Salazar, 18, as he took his siblings, aged three and six, to school. "But we don't have any other choice to get around."

Soldiers checked passenger bags at entrances to the subway stations in Europe's symbolic capital, where some entry points had been closed to enable tighter security.

The usual morning rush hour crowds on underground train platforms were noticeably thinner, however, and there were fewer cyclists on the streets above.

As workers headed for work in the city centre many stopped off to leave flowers at the historic Place de la Bourse square in the heart of Brussels, which has become a centre for public outpouring of grief.

By midday, a huge crowd had gathered there to observe a national minute of silence in memory of the 31 people killed and the 270 hurt, some seriously.

With Belgium unusually clear of rain Wednesday, chalk messages scrawled on the pavements testified to a people coming together in mourning.

"Solidarity", "We are one", "Love Brussels", said messages left beside candles, flowers and notes to the families of victims.

"Last night I came to leave a candle and I'm back this morning out of solidarity," said Latifa Charaf, 50, a teacher. "We thought it couldn't happen here, but it did and it's terrible."

- Jokes amid the fear -

At Schuman metro station at the foot of the European Union's headquarters and just one station from the Maalbeek stop where the attack took place, travellers seemed more confused by changes to the usual schedule than fearful.

Story continues

One passenger who stepped onto a train and then off again, asking: "Where's that one headed?"

"I haven't yet fully realised what's happening, I'm still stuck in my daily problems, but perhaps it's better that way," said Pierre Pardon, a social worker.

But he said fear was at the back of everyone's minds.

"Obviously! We heard that the son of one of my wife's colleagues died during the night. I myself was only 20 minutes away from the Maalbeek attack," said Pardon, 43.

"I guess my time hadn't yet come."

A 40-year-old secretary who gave her name only as Valerie said she had no time to worry. "I'm too busy figuring what's working and what's not, what stations are open, what trains are running," she said.

"And I don't want to be paranoid. People here are looking out for our security," she added, pointing to the three soldiers armed with assault rifles on patrol nearby.

Cries of "long live Belgium" and defiant applause broke out after the symbolic display of solidarity at noon at the central Place de la Bourse.

But the mood remained sombre at EU headquarters where Belgium's King Philippe and his wife, and Prime Minister Charles Michel, joined officials led by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for the minute's silence.

"We are showing our compassion," said Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur. "We need to reach out today to all those who were hurt."

Stepping off a train from Enghien, some 30 kilometres away, a supermarket employee who gave his name only as Vasco said "people are not as calm as they like to seem."

"But we're still smiling and making jokes, even about what happened yesterday. The Belgian spirit lives on."
A dramatic new twist in the ongoing battle between Apple and the FBI unfolded on Monday night when the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to vacate its hearing with Apple that was scheduled for Tuesday. The Cupertino, California-based company was set to begin arguing its case after a judge ordered it to supply the FBI with tools that would allow it to break into an iPhone that had previously belonged to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.

In the DOJ's request, it stated that a third party may have a means of helping the FBI to break into the iPhone in question without Apple's help, and the FBI now has until April 5th to provide an update. While the agency refused to disclose who or what this mysterious third party might be, it looks like the company's cover has now been blown.

UP NEXT: All the best new iPhone and iPad features in iOS 9.3

Via Reuters, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday that it has learned the identity of the company that will assist the FBI in hacking its way past the recovered iPhone's security. According to the report, mobile forensic software and solutions provider Cellebrite is the company in question.

"Cellebrite mobile forensics solutions give access to and unlock the intelligence of mobile data sources to extend investigative capabilities, accelerate investigations, unify investigative teams and produce solid evidence," the company says on its website. "Cellebrite's range of mobile forensic products, the UFED Series, enable the bit-for-bit extraction and in-depth decoding and analysis of data from thousands of mobile devices, including feature phones, smartphones, portable GPS devices, tablets and phones manufactured with Chinese chipsets."

The iPhone recovered from Farook is protected by a lock screen PIN code or password, and all iOS devices with lock screen protection are encrypted. The FBI had requested that Apple build a special version of iOS that would allow it to use a brute force attack to guess the phone's PIN or password without risking the deletion of the data after too many failed attempts, but we've already explained some of the many other ways the FBI might be able to break into the iPhone. It's unclear if Cellebrite plans to use any of those methods.

Story continues

Related stories

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Apple stared down the FBI and won

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More from BGR: All the best new iPhone and iPad features in iOS 9.3

This article was originally published on BGR.com
Hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in the personal bank accounts of Malaysia's prime minister must be handed to the government, a lawsuit filed by his predecessor demanded Wednesday.

Najib Razak, 62, has been under fire for months over allegations that perhaps billions of dollars were stolen from a state investment company he founded, and his own admitted acceptance of a mysterious $681 million overseas payment.

Both Najib and the now debt-stricken company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), strongly deny wrongdoing and reject accusations that the money paid directly into his personal accounts in 2013 involved 1MDB funds.

The suit by Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's strongman leader from 1981-2003, demands that Najib compensate the Malaysian government for the $681 million, according to a copy of the complaint.

The former leader, a prominent critic over the affair, also accused Najib of abusing his position "to undermine, subvert and compromise the various respective institutions" investigating the scandals.

It remains to be seen whether the case will have any effect against Najib, who has taken a number of heavily criticised steps to tamp down the affair.

These included sacking Cabinet members, including his deputy prime minister, who had called for transparency and replacing Malaysia's attorney-general with an appointee who abruptly halted his predecessor's investigations.

Whistle-blowers have been arrested or faced other threats, while media outlets reporting on the allegations also have come under pressure, raising growing concerns over rights and free speech.

Also named as plaintiffs in the case were two people who were booted out of Najib's ruling party after they criticised his actions and called for accountability.

Swiss authorities said recently up to $4 billion may have been stolen from Malaysian state firms including 1MDB and that they were investigating possible fraud and money-laundering.

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US, British, Singaporean and Hong Kong authorities also are looking into 1MDB-related fund flows.

Najib's handpicked attorney-general in January summarily absolved him of any wrongdoing in the mysterious overseas payment, claiming it was a personal gift from the Saudi royal family, most of which was returned.

The Saudis are yet to confirm that alibi, which is widely rejected in Malaysia as implausible.

Mahathir, who has repeatedly called for Najib's ouster, quit the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in disgust in February.

Earlier this month he spearheaded the formation of an unusual alliance between disaffected UMNO figures, opposition parties, and civil society groups which issued a joint demand that Najib step down.
By Joseph Sipalan KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's central bank said on Wednesday it would pursue administrative action against 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), after the troubled state fund missed a deadline to submit documents on its finances abroad. 1MDB, whose advisory board is chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, has been the subject of investigations over the last year by authorities in Malaysia, Switzerland and the United States following accusations of financial mismanagement and graft. 1MDB has denied the allegations. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the central bank had requested documents from 1MDB after it failed to comply with a directive, issued in August 2015, to repatriate a total of $1.8 billion from its accounts overseas. But 1MDB informed the central bank in October that the finances had been earmarked for a restructuring programme and to repay its foreign debts, and that they could not be repatriated, Zeti said. The governor was speaking to reporters at a briefing for the release of the central bank's annual report. She said the central bank had been willing to accept 1MDB's response if supporting documents could be furnished, but no such proof had been received so far. 1MDB did not provide reasons why they had not submitted the documents, Zeti said. "As it is being assessed that they (1MDB) have not fully complied with the bank's direction, the bank is pursuing appropriate administrative action as allowed by the laws under which the bank operates," Zeti told reporters. In a statement, 1MDB said it had "not yet received any official correspondence or confirmation from BNM" on the central bank's push for administrative action, adding that the firm had in fact provided documentary evidence "where available". "1MDB is committed to continue cooperation with BNM and will provide any further information that may be required by BNM to the extent that 1MDB has in its possession or is possible under the law," the company said. Zeti said recommendations for action were being prepared and would be submitted to the Attorney-General's office before her tenure as central bank governor ends in April. If the recommendations were accepted, 1MDB could face a fine or any other penalty available under Malaysia's financial regulations, Zeti said. "The main reason why we want to do this, is we want to uphold the integrity and functions of our financial system. All companies, regardless of who the shareholders are, have to comply with these regulations," she said. The central bank said in October it had issued the directive and revoked three of 1MDB's overseas investment permissions, citing breaches of the Exchange Control Act 1953. The central bank had also recommended criminal prosecution to be initiated under the act. Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, however, said he had reviewed the report of the central bank's probe and decided no offence had been committed. Earlier on Wednesday, former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad filed a suit against Prime Minister Najib, alleging corruption and abuse of power. Najib has been buffeted by allegations of graft and mismanagement at 1MDB and the revelation that nearly $700 million was deposited in his bank account. Najib has denied any wrongdoing, maintains that he did not use the funds for personal gain and was cleared this year of any criminal offence. (Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Nick Macfie)
BAMAKO (Reuters) - Authorities in Mali have arrested 21 people in connection with an attack on the headquarters of an EU military training operation there, a senior police official said on Wednesday. In the foiled gun attack on Bamako's Nord-Sud Hotel on Monday, one assailant was killed and two others arrested. There were no reports of casualties at the hotel, where the EU Training Mission-Mali is based. The EU mission is comprised of nearly 600 personnel deployed to train security forces as part of efforts to stabilize Mali after the defeat of Islamist militants who had seized the country's desert north in 2012. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Mali and neighboring West African countries have increasingly been the target of Islamists, some affiliated with al Qaeda. "Two individuals were arrested, and later we continued and arrested 19 other people," Moussa Ag Infahi, director general of the National Police, told state radio. Police at the scene recovered "a sack of grenades", ammunition, a sub-machine gun and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, he added. France led the military intervention that drove the Islamists from their control of northern Mail in 2013, fearing that the region could be used as a base for attacks against Europe. However, violence is again on the rise. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the group's North African affiliate, has claimed responsibility for three attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast that have killed dozens in the past five months. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
By Gina Cherelus (Reuters) - A man who nested in a giant sequoia tree in downtown Seattle, drew a flock of Twitter comments, with some cooing over #ManInTree and others condemning him for damaging the 80-foot-tall (24-meter-tall) city landmark before coming down on Wednesday. Seattle police negotiated with the bearded man from the window of a Macy's department store building some 30 feet (9 meters) from where he had been perched in the tree branches since Tuesday, said Officer Patrick Michaud. Michaud said the man "created himself a little seat, maybe even a nest up there at the top." Police closed off a small, triangular city block at the base of the tree to protect the public from falling objects, including the man himself, who became a top trending topic. "Has anyone tried sending a cat up to rescue him? I think they owe us one. #ManInTree," tweeted @TheChrisAsbury on Wednesday. "I know #ManInTree is (still) causing a logistical nightmare for the City of Seattle but God love this man!" tweeted @carrielamarr. The man was first noticed atop the tree on Tuesday morning, and he spent the day throwing objects, including branches and sequoia seed cones, at police officers on the street below, Michaud said. He also claimed to be armed with a knife. Police used a fire department cherry picker to negotiate with him, but late in the day it was needed elsewhere and left. A police statement said the man appeared to be going through a personal crisis. He was largely peaceful, Michaud added. By then, T-shirts emblazoned with "Remember the Tree" with the date that the tree-sitting began were being snapped up online. (https://teespring.com/rememberthetree) A live feed streamed by local broadcaster KOMO News showed spectators videotaping the man as he lounged in his nest, sporting an outfit of khaki pants, a checked hoodie and a red beanie hat. Some shouted at the man and accused him of vandalizing the tree that was planted in 1973 and, according to the Seattle Government Department of Transportation's SDOT Blog, was once 100 feet (30 meters) tall before being damaged by a storm several years ago. "I was okay with #ManInTree yesterday, but just look at the damage he has done to that thing. Not acceptable," tweeted Cameron Bielstein @CBielstein. (Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Sandra Maler)
By Rory Carroll and Andrew Chung SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Merck & Co told a federal jury on Tuesday it was seeking more than $2 billion in damages from rival Gilead Sciences Inc after the jury upheld the validity of two Merck patents in a high-profile dispute over Gilead's blockbuster cure for hepatitis C. After returning its verdict in favor of Merck on Tuesday, the jury in San Jose, California immediately began hearing evidence on how much Gilead owes Merck for infringing the patents. Bruce Genderson, an attorney for Merck, said the company is seeking a 10 percent royalty on Gilead's U.S. sales of nearly $21 billion for 2014 and 2015. Merck has also asked for a royalty of 10 percent going forward on Gilead's blockbuster hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni, which generated $19.2 billion in worldwide sales last year. Following the verdict, Gilead shares fell $1.92 to $91.80 in after-hours trading. Merck rose 57 cents to $53.60. In a statement, Gilead spokeswoman Michele Rest said, "Although we are disappointed by the jurys verdict today, there are a number of remaining issues to be decided by the jury and the judge." She declined to comment on any potential appeal. A spokeswoman for Merck said the verdict "accurately reflects the evidence in this case." The trial, which began on March 7, came as pharmaceutical companies race to capture a slice of the lucrative market for the newest hepatitis C treatments, which can cure well over 90 percent of patients with the liver disease. Insurers, politicians and patient groups have denounced the list prices of the drugs. Harvoni, at $1,125 per pill before discounts, costs $94,000 for a 12-week regimen. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Merck's Zepatier drug. In 2013 Merck contacted Gilead saying the active ingredient in Gilead's drugs, sofosbuvir, infringed Merck's patents, according to court papers. Foster City, California-based Gilead then asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose to declare the patents invalid, saying they do not clearly describe any disease fighting effects. Merck, based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, countersued for infringement. Gilead said in court filings that Merck played no role in sofosbuvir's discovery, but that when its breakthrough potential became clear, "Merck came knocking on Gileads door with its two patents in hand." Last month, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled that the sale and use of Gilead's drugs infringe Merck's patents. Michael Yee, biotech analyst for RBC Capital Markets, said "while it does not sound good that Gilead could theoretically owe billions of dollars in financial damages...it is a small amount relative to Gilead's $127 billion market cap." He said he expected Gilead to appeal. The case is Gilead Sciences, Inc v Merck & Co, Inc, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 13-cv-4057. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Rory Carroll in San Jose; additional reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Chris Reese and Diane Craft)
By Ben Klayman

DETROIT (Reuters) - A task force appointed by Michigans governor said on Wednesday state officials showed stubbornness, lack of preparation, delay and inaction in failing to prevent a health crisis in the city of Flint caused by lead contamination in the drinking water.

There were failures on all levels of government, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a report from the task force said. However, the report highlighted failures of state agencies, especially the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and said the state was "fundamentally accountable" for what happened.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been criticized for the state's poor handling of a crisis that garnered national headlines.

"It was a mixture of ignorance, incompetence and arrogance by many decision makers that created the toxic and tragic situation," Chris Kolb, task force co-chair and president of the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of non-profit groups, said at a press conference in Flint.(http://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7.pdf)

The 116-page report included 36 findings and 44 recommendations to be taken so the state can avoid a similar crisis in the future, including fixing the state emergency manager law to compensate for the loss of local government control.

Under the direction of a state-appointed emergency manager, Flint switched water supplies to the Flint River from Detroit's system in 2014 to save money.

The corrosive river water leached lead, a toxic substance that can damage the nervous system, from the city's water pipes. Flint switched back to the Detroit system last October.

The task force said MDEQ should receive primary blame for the crisis, citing its failure to use corrosion control chemicals in Flint's water system to prevent the lead leaching, and then resisting calls from others to take action after the lead poisoning was discovered.

Story continues

"They missed the boat completely," Kolb said.

Michigan this week outlined a plan involving several state agencies to help the city recover from the crisis. It included programs to address water infrastructure shortcomings and the health of children who have tested for high lead levels in their blood, expand support in Flint schools and boost economic development for the city.

The crisis has led to calls for Snyder to resign. Last week, several Democratic lawmakers criticized Snyder at a hearing about Flint, a working class, mostly African American city of 100,000 northwest of Detroit.

The crisis has led to several lawsuits in state and federal courts, and federal and state investigations.

This report is a damning indictment of Governor Snyders philosophy of running government like a business," U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, said after the report was released.

Snyder said many of the task force recommendations were already being implemented by the state. "This is a problem that I've made a commitment to fix," he said.
More than 2,500 babies could be diagnosed with microcephaly in Brazil if current trends within the Zika-affected country continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) told reporters today at a news conference in Geneva.

To fight Zika, a vaccine against the virus and measures to control mosquitoes will be crucial, WHO officials said. This is because more than half of the world's population lives in areas inhabited by Aedes aegypti, which is one of the mosquitoes that carry the virus.

"In less than a year, the status of Zika has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, told journalists.

So far, about 39 percent of all infants suspected of having microcephaly in Brazil wound up being confirmed to have the condition, WHO health officials said. Doctors have made these diagnoses  a total of 863 confirmed cases  by analyzing a computer tomography (CT) scan of the infants' brains. [Zika Virus News: Complete Coverage of the 2016 Outbreak]

Right now, there are about 4,300 more infants in the northeastern part of Brazil who are suspected of having microcephaly, doctors said. If this 40 percent confirmation rate continues, more than 2,500 of those babies could be diagnosed with the condition in the coming months, they said.

This number is far above the norm. Typically, an average of 163 infants with microcephaly have been born yearly in northeastern Brazil, WHO officials said.

Just 1 in 5 people infected with the Zika virus experiences symptoms, including rash, fever and muscle pain. However, infants born to women who become infected with the virus while pregnant may have an increased risk of congenital birth defects, including microcephaly.

The virus is now circulating in 38 countries and territories, Chan said. Although the virus's first "explosive wave" may occur before a vaccine is ready, scientists are already hard at work, she said.

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"At present, more than 30 companies are working on, or have developed, potential new diagnostic tests," Chan said. "For vaccines, 23 projects are being worked on by 14 vaccine developers in the United States, France, Brazil, India and Austria."

However, because the vaccine will be used to protect pregnant women and other women of childbearing age, "it must meet an extremely high standard of safety," she said. [The 9 Deadliest Viruses on Earth]

Despite the urgency of the situation, the WHO is struggling to receive funding to fight Zika. The organization requested $25 million; so far, it has received $3 million from various countries and is in active discussions to receive another $4 million, Chan said.

The United States is in a similar quandary. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to provide $1.8 billion to fight Zika, but that money has not been approved yet, largely because some members of Congress have asked that money allocated to fighting Ebola be reassigned to Zika.

This funding shortage is frustrating to some in the research community. "This is a nonpartisan issue," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, told Live Science in a previous interview. "This is the public's health."

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Paris (AFP) - Telltale patches of water ice on opposite ends of the Moon reveal that Earth's orbiting companion once spun on a different axis, according to a study released Wednesday.

The six-degree tilt, which happened several billion years ago, was likely caused by an ancient volcanic formation on the near side of the Moon, said the study, published in Nature.

The data underlying this startling discovery has been in plain view for nearly two decades, but scientists had failed to connect the dots, one of the researchers told AFP.

"It was kind of hidden because of the way we plotted polar maps," explained co-author James Keane, a researcher at the University of Arizona.

Two-dimensional representations create a subtle distortion, obscuring the fact that observed concentrations of ice near each pole were exactly 180 degrees apart -- and thus on an axis running through the dead centre of the Moon.

"That is my pet hypothesis about why nobody thought about this before," Keane said.

The man who finally put the top-and-bottom pieces of the lunar puzzle together was co-author Rich Miller of the University of Alabama.

Having located the largest concentrations of water ice near the current north and south poles by detecting hydrogen molecules -- the "H" in "H2O" -- he rotated a 3-D model to see how they would line up.

"He found a Sigma-8 correlation," which means that the odds of it being a coincidence were about one-in-a-million, said Keane.

That there was any ice at all after three billion years is due to the fact that the Moon spins on a rotation at a right angle with the Sun, which means its poles are in constant shadow.

- Eureka moment -

Indeed, the lunar poles are among the coldest regions in the Solar System -- chillier, even, than the atmosphere around distant Pluto.

Even after the axis tilted, the Sun couldn't reach the frozen H2O, which remains trapped at the bottom of polar craters or hidden behind mountains.

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If the Moon's axis had shifted a few degree more, however, the ice would have evaporated under the Sun's intense radiation.

After the team led by Matt Siegler of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona uncovered the Moon's "polar wander," as scientists call it, a key question remained: why?

That's where Keane's expertise -- planetary rotation -- came in.

"I did an analysis to see where there might have been an anomaly -- a disturbance to the Moon's mass -- that could have caused this," he said.

And that, he continued, led to another "eureka" moment.

The calculations immediately pointed to a well-known volcanic formation on the near-side of the Moon called the Procellarum KREEP Terrane, or PKT for short.

Ian Garrick-Bethell, a planetary scientist at the University of California in Santa Cruz, said this was a "plausible mechanism" for explaining the lunar tilt.

"Planets can change their orientation if their internal mass distribution changes," he said in a commentary, also published in Nature.

"Pockets of dense material tend to be close to the equator to minimise the planet's spin energy."

In the case of the PKT -- the Moon's most radioactive and volcanic region -- the heat it generated made it less dense, creating an imbalance.
"Right-wingin', bitter-clingin'" former Gov. Sarah Palin may have found a job way more suitable for her than vice president of the United States  as Judge Judy's television courtroom prodigy.

Citing an unnamed source, People magazine reported Palin signed a deal with production company Warm Springs to star as the judge in a TV courtroom reality show that would kick off in 2017 if it gets signed by a station. This would be Palin's second reality show after her short-lived TLC series Sarah Palin's Alaska.

The show has already hired a team, including the executive that found Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown, according to the report. "It's a production deal," the source told People. "What happens next is she'll meet with stations, make a pilot and sell it."

Palin doesn't have a juris doctor degree, but People's source said it's all good because Palin has "common sense wisdom."

"Palin's telegenic personality, wide appeal and common sense wisdom make her a natural for this kind of format, and she was Warm Springs' top pick for this project," the source told People. That may be the first time "Sarah Palin" and "common sense" were used in the same sentence.

If Palin's judging style is anywhere near as aggressive as her 20-minute slam poetry-esque endorsement speech for presidential candidate Donald Trump, we're in for a splitting headache.
Athens (AFP) - International aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday it had suspended activities at a refugee centre on the Greek island of Lesbos to avoid being complicit in an "unfair and inhumane" EU deal to send newcomers back to Turkey.

The move came a day after the UN refugee agency UNHCR said it had suspended some activities in Greece, saying reception centres had become "detention facilities".

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), operating in Lesbos, and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) swiftly joined MSF and the UNHCR in voicing concerns and scaling back activities.

- "Unfair, inhumane" -

"We took the extremely difficult decision to end our activities in Moria (on Lesbos) because continuing to work inside would make us complicit in a system we consider to be both unfair and inhumane," said Marie Elisabeth Ingres, MSF's head mission in Greece.

The NGOs spoke out after a deal struck last week between EU states and Turkey to force migrants and asylum seekers to return from Greek islands to Turkey.

"We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalised for a mass expulsion operation and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants," said Ingres.

She said MSF had closed "all activities" linked to its operation at the Moria camp on Lesbos, including transportation of refugees to sanitation and medical facilities.

MSF said it would continue to run its transit centre in Mantamados some 30 kilometres (20 miles) further north, where new arrivals receive first assistance, as well as sea rescue activities.

"MSF will also continue to run mobile clinics on the island of Lesbos for those outside of the hotspot location," the group said.

The EU and Ankara struck a deal last Friday aiming to cut off the perilous sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands which some 850,000 people used last year as a route to flee the war in Syria.

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The agreement went into effect Sunday.

- 'We cannot work safely' -

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday it would not be party to the deal nor be involved in returns or detention, noting Greece "does not have sufficient capacity on the islands for assessing asylum claims, nor the proper conditions to accommodate people decently and safely pending an examination of their cases."

Separately the Norwegian Refugee Council said it was suspending "a number of activities" at the Vial centre on the island of Chios.

"We cannot work independently and safely in a police-run detention facility. Now that it is a detention centre we no longer have adequate access to provide assistance to vulnerable refugees," said NRC head of operations in Greece, Alain Homsy.

Greek authorities last Saturday began accelerating the transfer to the mainland of some 8,000 refugees and migrants who had arrived on the islands before the March 20 cut-off and who now can hope to be resettled across Europe. Newcomers arriving since Sunday are instead now subject to return to Turkey.

Despite the NGOs' concerns, Greek deputy interior minister, Nikos Toskas insisted Wednesday that "we think we can control the situation" as the European Commission and Greece look to mobilise some 4,000 security personnel.

Meanwhile hundreds of protesting migrants blocked a road in northern Greece which leads to the Macedonia border for several hours on Wednesday.

The protesters, who were met by anti-riot officers, were calling for the reopening of the Balkans route through to northern Europe, a police source said.
An Auckland businessman who threatened to poison baby formula bound for China in a bid to blackmail New Zealand's multi-billion dollar dairy industry was jailed for more than eight years on Wednesday.

Jeremy Kerr, 60, pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail after sending threatening letters containing a pesticide called 1080 to dairy giant Fonterra and the NZ Farmer's Federation in 2014.

In the letters, he threatened to lace baby formula destined for various markets -- with China the only country specifically named -- unless New Zealand stopped using 1080.

The threat to supplies bound for China, a major importer of Kiwi baby formula, was not initially disclosed publicly by New Zealand authorities, who tightened access to baby powder in domestic shops.

They also launched a massive investigation into the threat to New Zealand's dairy sector, which was worth NZ$11.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) in 2015, making it the country's biggest export earner.

Police interviewed 2,600 people, eventually arresting Kerr last year after DNA evidence linked him to the letters.

Prosecutors said he owned the rights to a pesticide that was a market rival to 1080 and would gain financially if a ban was implemented.

A High Court hearing was told last month that he was under financial pressure and suffering mental health problems following his wife's death when the threats were made.

He told police after his arrest that reference to the Chinese market was just to "add some impact", the hearing was told.

Judge Geoffrey Venning on Wednesday accepted Kerr never meant to carry out the poison threat but said it was still one of the most serious cases of blackmail to come before the courts.

He said the threat could have jeopardised trade relations and had cost affected parties NZ$32 million, including the police investigation and security measures implemented by Fonterra.

Noting that the maximum term for blackmail is 14 years, Venning sentenced Kerr to eight-and-half years' jail.

Fonterra safety manager Maury Leyland said the threat had a very real, emotional and financial cost on Fonterra's staff and business as well as on ordinary people.

"It is hard to imagine a worse threat to children and families," she said in a victim impact statement.
Natalie Portman will be Hollywood's highest-profile attendee at the upcoming Beijing Film Festival next month.

The Chinese festival announced Tuesday that the star would attend its red-carpet opening ceremony on April 17. She will later participate in a forum on co-producing films in China and introduce a screening of her directorial debut, A Tale of Love and Darkness, at the China Film Archive.

Portman has had an avid following in China since her first appearance as an actress in Luc Besson's Leon: The Professional (1994), which enjoys cult status across much of Asia. Her Oscar-winning performance in 2010's Black Swan is also a fan favorite in China, although the film wasn't released there theatrically.

A Tale of Love and Darkness is based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Israeli author Amos Oz. The film was shot in Jerusalem and is told entirely in Hebrew, with Portman both starring and directing. It premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Portman previously attended the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2014. She has regularly expressed interest in working with Chinese directors, but has yet to shoot in the country. The actress is currently shooting Jackie, a biopic about former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, directed by Pablo Larrain.

The Beijing International Film Festival is set to run April 16-23. The event revealed Tuesday that Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore will also attend. Additional announcements are expected in the coming weeks.

Read More: Natalie Portman's 'Jackie' Biopic Finds Its JFK
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - China will allow landlocked Nepal to use its ports for trading goods with third countries, a senior official in Kathmandu said on Wednesday, potentially ending India's decades-long monopoly over the impoverished country's trading routes. A prolonged blockade of its border crossings with India last year by protesters demanding changes to a new constitution left Nepal desperately short of fuel and goods, throwing into sharp relief its dependence on routes into its southern neighbour. Nepal's prime minister K. P. Oli signed an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during a visit to Beijing this week to give Nepalese traders access to land routes and ports in China, commerce ministry official Rabi Shankar Sainju said. "This is a historic agreement for Nepal," Sainju told Reuters. "This cannot be an alternative to the Indian port but it is an additional route to boost our trade." The routes and ports that Nepal, sandwiched between China and India, can use would be decided by officials from Kathmandu and Beijing soon, he said. China is vying to increase its influence in Nepal, challenging India's long-held position as the dominant outside power. Beijing this week also agreed to consider building a railway into Nepal, supply petroleum products and to start a feasibility study for a free trade agreement. Nepal, still trying to recover from two devastating earthquakes last year, adopted its first post-monarchy constitution in September hoping this would usher in peace and stability after years of conflict. But protesters blocked trucks coming in from India, leading to acute shortages. Nepal blamed New Delhi for siding with the protesters, a charge India denied. Nepal currently uses the eastern Indian port at Kolkata for trade but officials said this is has become congested. India has offered to allow Nepal use of a second port. The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry said Nepal lacked the roads and railways to reach Chinese ports located more than 3,000 kilometers (1,875 miles) from its border. "Theoretically it is a good thing. But we have to do a lot of work before we can actually use the Chinese route," senior official Bhawani Rana said. (Editing by Tommy Wilkes and Richard Balmforth)
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's government will pump 350 billion naira ($1.76 billion)in the next quarter into Africa's biggest economy hit hard by a slump in oil revenues, its finance minister said on Tuesday as parliament prepares to pass a much-delayed budget. Africa's top oil producer is grappling with its deepest economic crisis in years, brought on by the fall in crude prices. President Muhammadu Buhari presented a record $30 billion budget in December but asked for its withdrawal a month later to make changes after a further drop in oil prices. The total budget has not changed but the deficit has risen to 3 trillion naira from 2.2 trillion. Giving details of the amended draft, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said the government planned to spend 350 billion naira in capital expenditures in the next quarter alone. "Companies that had laid off staff and those that had abandoned projects are going back to sites and the economy will bounce back," she said in a statement, without saying how the spending will be funded. Senior Nigerian lawmakers said on Tuesday they expected parliament to pass the 2016 budget this week, after a three-month delay to allow for revisions after a decline in oil prices. Senate President Bukola Saraki said on Twitter that parliament would ensure the budget was passed before the end of the week. Abdulmumin Jibrin, chairman of the budget committee in the lower house, said the legislature intended to vote on the budget on Wednesday. "We thank Nigerians for their patience and understanding," he wrote. Voting on the budget was postponed in February because ministers could not agree on revised public spending plans. Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele on Tuesday said the bank's monetary policy committee had urged "speedy passage of the 2016 budget in order to halt the depressing effect of the uncertainty that engulfs the waiting period". Nigeria has held talks with the World Bank and has looked at borrowing from the African Development Bank and China Exim Bank to plug the budget gap as oil trades around $30 a barrel, down from over $100 in 2014. ($1 = 199.0000 naira) (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram, Camillus Eboh and Ulf Laessing; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Raissa Kalowsky and Richard Balmforth)
(Adds union official)

By Felix Onuah

ABUJA, March 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's oil industry unions, which staged a strike this month, are pressing the government to prevent oil majors hit by a slump in crude prices from laying off staff, the oil minister said on Wednesday.

The two major unions NUPENG and PENGASSAN held a brief strike two weeks ago after the government said it will split state oil firm NNPC into separate units, part of reforms by President Muhammadu Buhari to end graft and mismanagement in the industry.

They suspended the action after the government said it would listen to their demands, which they laid out at a meeting with Buhari, their first since the former general was elected a year ago.

"They (unions) are worried about job loss in the sector arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving the rough end of the stick," said Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who attended Wednesday's meeting.

"And so we are going to be working with the oil majors to ensure that we do not experience the kind of job loss that we are hearing has the potential to occur in the sector," he told reporters.

Oil majors such as Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) work with NNPC in joint ventures.

The unions also opposed job cuts at refineries, which the government is considering selling, Kachikwu said.

NUPENG head Igwe Achese said the meeting had been successful. "Mr President has assured us that both NUPENG and PENGASSAN will continue to be part of the restructuring," he said.

The unions were also demanding a swift passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, a project in the works for a decade to overhaul the industry, he added. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) will call for environmental, tax and revenues sharing rules.

Kachikwu added the government hoped to end fuel shortages hitting much of the West African nation within two months as the state oil firm tries to restart Nigeria's outdated refineries.

"Our strategy is that whatever is produced in the refineries will not go for sale, we are going to keep them in the strategic reserve," he said. "The key problem here is that there is no reserve." (Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Potter and David Evans)
By Jake Spring BEIJING (Reuters) - Cadillac, a favorite among America's older 'supper club set', is revving up sales to younger luxury buyers in China through smoother designs and localized production to keep prices accessible. The General Motors brand is softening some hard edges on its angular cars to appeal to Chinese buyers used to the smoother lines of luxury cars made by BMW , Audi and Mercedes-Benz that dominate high-end sales in the world's biggest car market. After a slow start in China, Cadillac is poised to overtake Japan's Lexus <7203.T> among the leading second-tier luxury brands, according to consultancy LMC Automotive. The opening in January of its first dedicated factory in China should also help Cadillac make its cars more accessible to younger luxury buyers by avoiding a 25 percent import tax. Cadillac says the average age of a buyer of its cars in China is 34, little more than half the average age in the U.S. "In China, young buyers already dominate the luxury market. Since Cadillac is a relative newcomer ... it was far easier to begin to cultivate the desired positioning for the brand from the get-go," Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen told Reuters. Cadillac's China sales rose 17 percent last year to nearly 80,000 cars, or a 4.1 percent share of the luxury market, on the back of its ATS-L compact sedan and XTS large sedan. This year, de Nysschen has set a 25 percent growth target, to above 100,000 Cadillacs in China. The former BMW and Infiniti executive predicts China could overtake the United States as Cadillac's biggest market in 5-10 years. Cadillac sold around 175,000 cars in the U.S. last year. While shopping for a car in Beijing, 26-year-old entrepreneur Ge Di said he preferred Cadillac over the more established German luxury brands. "Mercedes, BMW, even Audi, skew more towards businessmen. The comfort level is a bit higher, but as a young person I care more about performance and design," he said. SECOND CHANCE China's luxury car market - seen rising 15 percent this year even as slower economic growth saps overall demand - is breathing new life into brands seen as ageing or unfashionable in the United States. Ford , for example, considered closing down its Lincoln brand, which with Cadillac dominated U.S. luxury sales until the 1990s, but China has revived its fortunes. Buick, which GM had thought about discontinuing, saw record China sales last month. Among the relative newcomers to China's premium market, Cadillac is vying with Lincoln, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan Motor's <7201.T> Infiniti and Honda Motor's <7267.T> Acura to unsettle the dominant German brands. De Nysschen - whose efforts to revitalize Cadillac include moving its headquarters from Detroit to New York's SoHo - says the brand will produce a single model design for its cars rather than making different versions for the Chinese and U.S. markets. China will play a larger role in driving the future direction of its global image. For example, Cadillac will stop designing separate long wheel-base cars for China, a mainstay of German luxury brands to appeal to chauffeur-driven Chinese businessmen. Instead, it will have one global "right size" design, de Nysschen said, somewhere between the previously stretched Chinese version and the shorter U.S. version. The shift is partly driven by younger Chinese who want to drive themselves, he added. "You will see a softening of some of the hard edges, and more three-dimension styling on the side of the car," de Nysschen said, but cars will still be "instantly recognizable as Cadillac." Cadillac's next China-produced car, the XT5 crossover SUV, will be aimed at a segment of the market that has defied the overall slowdown, with sales up 50 percent last year. "We see (Cadillac) growing significantly faster than the luxury market overall, and we see a lot of growth opportunity in the SUV area," GM President Dan Ammann told reporters in Beijing on Monday. (Reporting by Jake Spring, with additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Taiwan authorities are confiscating pebbles collected as mementos by tourists and returning the rocks to the island's picturesque beaches as they step up moves to preserve the scenic east coast.

In the latest geological repatriation, a cache of stones taken from outbound visitors by airport immigration were last week sent back to Taitung county, where rugged seascapes attract tourists, particularly from mainland China.

The haul of pebbles, collected over two months at Taipei's main airport, weighed a total of 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds), according to the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration.

Fears that tourists taking stones will erode the island's beaches have prompted authorities to put up signs at the most popular sites and at airports in recent years.

Tourists want to keep the patterned volcanic rocks as souvenirs, the administration said.

"Taking one or two doesn't seem like a lot, but our scenery will slowly disappear the more it happens," Lin Wei-ling, deputy director of the administration, told AFP.

Taiwan's tourism bureau has introduced a fine as high as Tw$500,000 ($15,430) for those caught, but Lin says no one has yet been slapped with penalties.

"We mostly rely on persuasion. After all, the fine seems disproportionally harsh for just taking a few stones," she said.

She added that educating the public has been effective as some visitors have sent back rocks they have taken after realising it is illegal when they return home.

The stones returned were from Taitung's Sanxiantai -- a group of offshore islands and coral reefs -- and Baxian Cave, where natural sea caves are carved into cliff faces.

Aside from being interesting rock formations, the two areas are also well-known as settings for Chinese Taoist legends about "Baxian" -- or the Eight Immortals.

Myths tell the tale of how three of the saints landed on Sanxiantai, and the immortals were said to have resided in Baxian Cave.
By Stine Jacobsen OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian humanitarian group said on Wednesday it is suspending its activities on the Greek island of Chios in the wake of the EU-Turkey deal, echoing the harsh criticism of the United Nation's refugee agency UNHCR. The decision by the Norwegian Refugee Council, a major non-governmental organization in the aid sector, comes a day after the UNHCR said it would no longer assist in the transfer of migrants and refugees arriving in Greece to "detention centers". The deal is aimed at halting the flow of migrants across the sea to Greece but the UNHCR said the deal was being prematurely implemented without the required safeguards in place. An official at the Norwegian Refugee Council said the way the center on Chios, a Greek island close to the Turkish coast, operated had changed "dramatically overnight" since Sunday, when the EU-Turkey deal came into effect. "Before it was an open reception and registration facility... Now it is a closed detention center," Dan Tyler, a protection adviser for the council, told Reuters by phone from Chios. The NRC said it was suspending most of its work within the registration center on the island, including direct distributions of water, blankets and clothes and maintenance of water and sanitation services. "We are three days in now, and I think the situation, if it remains as it is for much longer, will be appalling from a humanitarian point of view," said Tyler. The center was close to full, he said. It has the capacity to receive 1,200 people and already more than 1,100 people had arrived since Sunday. "We are extremely close to be in a position where this site is dangerously overcrowded ... We have a large number of refugees including pregnant women and children lying on the concrete floor in the reception hall," he said, adding that tension within the facility was building up and there had already been demonstrations. The NRC will maintain personnel at the center as an observation post, he said. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Tuesday it was pulling out of one center on the island of Lesbos "because the EU-Turkey deal is turning reception centers to deportation centers". (Editing by Hugh Lawson)
By Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Atlanta's airport was briefly evacuated on Wednesday over a suspicious package while U.S. law enforcement agencies and travelers were on edge a day after deadly suicide bombings by Islamist militants rocked Brussels. Passengers were ordered out of public areas of the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the United States' busiest by passenger volume, but the site was quickly cleared and operations resumed, airport officials said. Parts of Denver airport were also evacuated on Tuesday, hours after at least 31 people were killed and 271 wounded in attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train, as airports across the United States tightened security. U.S. officials were trying to find Americans missing after the attacks, which the officials said injured about a dozen U.S. citizens including three Mormon missionaries, a U.S. Air Force airman, and four members of his family. Among those missing were U.S. government personnel, a State Department spokesman told reporters in Washington. "We still have not accounted for every official U.S. government employee or their family members on the ground," said the spokesman, Mark Toner. "Partly that reflects the size of the mission or three missions: there's a bilateral mission, there's a mission to the EU, as well as a mission to NATO." The situation, Toner added, remains "very fluid." He could not confirm whether any Americans were killed. Representative Devin Nunes of California, chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee, said the attacks may have been aimed at U.S. citizens, noting that the airport blast struck close to U.S. airline counters and that the metro station hit was near the U.S. embassy. "It looks like it was targeted toward Americans to some degree," Nunes told reporters. Apart from the eight Americans confirmed as wounded, U.S. media reported on Wednesday that relatives of at least four other Americans who had been traveling in Belgium were still trying to track them down. Husband and wife Justin and Stephanie Shults, originally from Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively, but now living in Belgium, have not been heard from since they dropped a relative at the airport shortly before the blasts, a family member said. "We haven't been able to contact them going on 30 hours," Justin Shults' brother, Levi Sutton, told Reuters in a Facebook message. "Stephanie's mom is fine but she was separated from Justin and Stephanie." DEATH TOLL COULD RISE Sister and brother Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, who had been living in New York, remain unaccounted for, the New York Daily News reported. The Pinczowskis' citizenship was unclear. A woman who identified herself on social media as Alexander Pinczowski's girlfriend said she had been unable to contact him since Tuesday morning. Belgian officials have said the death toll could increase because some victims at the subway station were blown to pieces and hard to identify, and several survivors were in critical condition. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said on Wednesday that one of its missionaries, Richard Norby, 66, was in a medically-induced coma after lengthy surgery to address shrapnel wounds and second-degree burns. The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport systems. Islamic State, which controls areas of Syria and Iraq and has sympathizers worldwide, claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings, fueling debate and controversy in the United States about how to stop such attacks. U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said the United States and Europe should take a "harder look" at protocols at airports and other "soft sites" outside security perimeters. U.S. Republican presidential campaign hopeful Donald Trump has advocated torturing militant suspects to obtain information, while another Republican candidate, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, called for heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, rejected singling out Muslims and said while on a visit to Argentina that any such approach "is not only wrong and un-American, but it also would be counterproductive because it would reduce the strength, the antibodies that we have to resist the terrorism." Obama and Vice President Joe Biden said the United States was offering Belgium all assistance to help bring the bombers to justice. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Belgium on Friday, a State Department spokesman said. (Additional reporting by Megan Cassella, Amanda Becker and Susan Heavey in Washington, Barbara Goldberg in New York, Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Jeff Mason in Buenos Aires; Writing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)
To Hollywood, a transit impostor with a long history of posing as a New York City subway worker driving trains is rich material for a movie. But to transit officials, Darius McCollum is a criminal who shouldn't profit off his behavior.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday that it will use the state's Son of Sam law to try to recoup any money he makes off a feature film in development about his life.

McCollum, who's been arrested 30 times for transit-related crimes, told The Associated Press that his uncontrollable obsession with buses and trains is because of an autism-spectrum disorder and he needs help. He was most recently arrested in November, when he was accused of stealing a Greyhound bus from a terminal in New Jersey and driving it to Brooklyn.

Transit officials said they would ask for written notice from the film's producers, The Gotham Group, of their financial agreement with McCollum. The officials said they were seeking "any ill-gotten gains he receives from participation in this purported film project." The Gotham Group had no comment.

McCollum, now 50, had the subway map memorized by age 8. He befriended engineers and pilots and first started hanging around the subway as a child  he knows every subway line, every stop. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he was asked by the MTA to help fortify their system, his lawyer said. He wanted to work for the MTA, but transit officials have long said they would not hire someone who had stolen a train, as he did at 15 from Penn Station to the World Trade Center.

"The MTA created this problem because they were lazy and glad to have him do their work," said McCollum's attorney, Sally Butler. "They also aren't involved in this case. I will fight this."

McCollum's story has been in newspapers and magazines for decades. A documentary about his life, Off the Rails, will premiere April 7 at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C. The feature film, tentatively titled Train Man, was sold to a financier and is set to star Julia Roberts as Butler, who has been McCollum's attorney since his 2010 arrest in Queens for stealing a Trailways bus.

Story continues

Read More: Julia Roberts to Play Real-Life Lawyer in 'Train Man'

He hasn't seen any money yet from the producers, said Butler. Any money would likely come if the film makes it to production.

"And if he gets any, he should be able to keep it," she said. "This is not your usual guy in jail. He's a special case."

The state's Son of Sam law originated after rumors that publishers and movie studios were offering large amounts of money to David Berkowitz for his story, and it was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991 during a battle over the mobster tale Wiseguy. The struck-down law was replaced in 2005.

In a Brooklyn court on Monday, McCollum rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for up to 10 years. He's pleaded in every other criminal case against him. Butler is still trying to get McCollum into the borough's mental health court, where he'd receive treatment and have to adhere to a strict protocol or face stricter sentences. The district attorney's office initially said it would not allow the move but then backed off in court. A decision is expected April 11.

If not, McCollum may be headed for trial  his first ever.

Read More: Amazon's 'Man in the High Castle' Nazi Ads Pulled From N.Y. Subway
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A businessman was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday for threatening to contaminate infant formula in New Zealand, the world's largest dairy exporter. Jeremy Kerr pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail after sending threatening letters to New Zealand's national farmers' group and dairy giant Fonterra in 2014. The messages were accompanied by packages of infant formula laced with pesticide 1080 and demanded that use of the toxic pesticide be stopped. Kerr's business sold a competing pesticide. Police said in October they had arrested a man after an 11-month investigation. A court in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, found that Kerr was motivated by financial gain. "The impact on Fonterra, Federated Farmers and the potential impact on New Zealand's trade relationships with China and other countries was extremely serious," said Justice Geoffrey Venning in sentencing Kerr. China is the biggest buyer of New Zealand dairy products. The head of a New Zealand exporters' group said last year there had been a fall in Chinese demand after the threat to infant formula, which is prized among China's middle class. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Paul Tait)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - US President Barack Obama urged nations Wednesday to unite against terrorism after the deadly attacks in Brussels and said wiping out the Islamic State extremist group was his "top priority."

The Islamic State claimed responsibility after bombers killed 31 people and wounded 270 at Brussels airport and a metro station on Tuesday, leaving European and world leaders once more grappling for ways to tackle the jihadist threat.

"Groups like ISIL can't destroy us. They can't produce anything. They're not an existential threat to us. They are vicious killers and murderers," Obama said during a visit to Argentina.

"The United States will continue to offer any assistance that we can to help investigate these attacks and bring attackers to justice. We will also continue to go after ISIL aggressively until it is removed from Syria and removed from Iraq and is finally destroyed," he said.

"The world has to be united against terrorism and we can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security not only of our own people but of people all around the world. So that is the top priority of ours."

Obama spoke alongside his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri at the start of the US president's stop in Argentina, where he arrived following a landmark visit to Cuba.

The two sides in Buenos Aires signed agreements to boost trade and also cooperate on counterterrorism, peacekeeping and health threats such as the Zika virus that has struck Latin America.

- Working to destroy IS -

Belgian prosecutors said two brothers with links to November's major attacks in Paris were among the suicide bombers who struck Brussels.

Prosecutors identified Ibrahim El Bakraoui as one of two men who blew themselves up in the Zaventem airport departure hall while his brother Khalid struck at the Maalbeek metro station in the attacks on the symbolic heart of Europe.

Police stepped up a manhunt for a third airport assailant whose bomb failed to go off.

Story continues

Ahead of Obama's meeting with Macri, a man claiming to have a bomb threatened to blow up a building six blocks from the presidency in Buenos Aires, witnesses told media.

Police arrested the man, aged in his fifties, and evacuated the building housing a state radio station. No one was reported hurt.

Obama said US airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and operations against their bases in Iraq were "working" to weaken the extremist group.

"We are going to continue to press on them until we have driven them out of their strongholds and until they're destroyed," Obama said.

"While we are doing that, we're also extraordinarily vigilant about preventing attacks in the homeland and working with our allies to prevent attacks in places like Europe, but as I said before, this is difficult work."
By Marcus E. Howard

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former New York City police officer found guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man should not go to prison, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said on Wednesday.

"Peter Liang was indicted, prosecuted and subsequently convicted by a jury because his reckless actions caused an innocent man to lose his life," Thompson said in a statement.

"There is no evidence, however, that he intended to kill or injure Akai Gurley. When Mr. Liang went into that building that night, he did so as part of his job and to keep the people of Brooklyn and our city safe."

Liang, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on April 14. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Thompson said in comments also filed as a recommendation with the court that Liang should receive five years of probation on condition that he serves six months of home confinement with an electronic monitor. He also recommended that Liang perform 500 hours of community service.

"Although we disagree with Mr. Thompson on the fundamental issue of Peters culpability, he deserves praise for his dispassionate and courageous decision that incarceration is not called for in this case," Liang's attorneys Pauld Shechtman and Gabriel Chin said in a statement.

Liang, who was on the police force less than a year, was convicted of manslaughter in the Nov. 20, 2014 shooting of 28-year-old Akai Gurley, which occurred in a darkened, Brooklyn public housing stairwell he was patrolling.

Gurley's relatives expressed outrage over Thompson's recommendation, saying it "sends the message that police officers who kill people should not face serious consequences."

The incident sparked protests similar to those over police shootings of other unarmed black men in Maryland, Missouri and other states.

A jury found Liang responsible for firing a bullet that ricocheted off a wall and killed Gurley, who was walking one floor below. A Chinese-American, Liang testified that he was startled by a noise, which caused him to accidentally fire his gun.

Although prosecutors at trial argued that it was not an accident, Thompson said the case was about justice, not about revenge. "As I have said before, there are no winners here," said Thompson. "But the sentence that I have requested is just and fair under the circumstances of this case."

(Reporting by Marcus E. Howard; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
By Suzannah Gonzales

(Reuters) - A security guard at an Ohio school district was arrested on Wednesday after school and police officials said he threatened to blow up school buildings twice this week.

Students in the school district in North College Hill, a suburb about 10 miles north of Cincinnati, were evacuated and dismissed on Wednesday when officials briefly couldn't account for the guard's whereabouts. Students are safe and school buildings are secure, officials said.

For the rest of the week, students will not be allowed to bring any bags or purses to school.

Christopher Files, 20, is being held at a local jail on two counts of inducing panic, a second-degree felony, North College Hill Police Chief Ryan Schrand said.

Schrand arrested Files at the middle school after GPS tracking of Files' cell phone led police there. After a cell phone was found during a pat-down search, Files admitted to making the threats, Schrand said.

On Monday, Files called the high school office from his cell phone to say there's a bomb in the building, Schrand said. On Tuesday, Files called the elementary school office from his cell phone and said he would blow up the building and demanded money, officials said.

Files had been working as a private security guard at the high school for two weeks, and had been added as a second guard at the school after a fight a few weeks ago, officials said.

The district had been working with Files' private security agency since November 2013 and Files had a clean record, officials said.

Private security guards will not be working at the district's schools for the remainder of the week, Schrand said. Police officers will be on school premises instead.

Students will be on spring break next week, officials said.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled 4 percent on Wednesday, with U.S crude settling below the key $40 per barrel mark after a sixth straight week of record highs in stockpiles that traders warned could cut short the market's two-month long rally. Weak equity markets also sapped the strength in oil while a strong dollar weighed on demand for crude from users of the euro and other currencies. [.N] [FRX/] The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles rose 9.4 million barrels last week - three times the 3.1 million barrels build forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. [EIA/S] "The data will do little to help oil bulls, given the monster build for crude inventories already at record high levels prior to this," said Chris Jarvis, analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Frederick, Maryland. U.S. crude futures settled down $1.66, or 4 percent, at $39.79 a barrel. It was the sharpest one-day drop for the front-month contract in U.S. crude since Feb. 11, when prices fell to a 12-year low of $26.05. Brent crude futures finished down $1.32, or 3.2 percent, at $40.47 a barrel. Oil prices have rallied about 50 percent over the past two months. While declining U.S. oil output and strong gasoline demand drove some of the gains, the bulk was powered by OPEC and other major producers' plans to freeze production at January's highs. "A recovery built on fickle risk appetite and temporary supply disruptions has gotten ahead of itself, and a pullback is expected," said Mike Wittner, global head of oil research at Societe Generale. Some traders such as Tariq Zahir at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York were betting nearer-dated U.S. oil contracts would weaken versus longer-dated ones, expanding the market's so-called "contango" structure. "The rally, in our opinion, has run its course for now," Zahir said. Trading houses such as Vitol, Gunvor and Glencore were betting on oil remaining oversupplied at least until 2018. The EIA data was not entirely negative, showing gasoline stocks falling three times more than forecast and four-week demand for the motor fuel up 7 percent year-on-year. Crude stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub - an important data point - fell for the first time in seven weeks. Still, the focus was on total crude stockpiles, which hit all-time highs of 532.5 million barrels. The oil minister of Nigeria, an OPEC member, was confident crude prices would stabilize after the producer group agrees to a supply freeze in Doha next month. (Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in LONDON; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
There seems to be a lot going on in this stunning picture:

Sh*t! Forgot to save the location A photo posted by The Jefferson Grid (@the.jefferson.grid) on Mar 17, 2016 at 1:17pm PDT

One commenter has a hunch: Its Amboy, California. And a Google maps search confirms it:

Theres a lot less going on in the area than the picture suggests. Located over 100 miles from Las Vegas, Amboy is a ghost townin more than once sense. The abandoned highway outpost, which reportedly boasts a population of four, has a history of alleged paranormal activity. According to Las Vegas news channel KSNV News3LV:

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Paris (AFP) - More than 30 people have been identified as being involved in a network behind the Paris attacks on November 13, with links now established to this week's bombings in Brussels.

This is what we know so far about the attackers and their support network.

- Paris attacks -

A 10-man team of suicide bombers and gunmen launched attacks on the Bataclan concert hall, the Stade de France national stadium and a string of bars and restaurants around eastern Paris on the night of November 13, 2015. Seven of the attackers died on the night, and two more were killed the following week. The last member of the team, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Brussels on Friday after four months on the run.

The coordinated assaults claimed by the Islamic State group killed 130 people and wounded another 350.

- Stadium bombers -

The attacks began when three men blew themselves up outside the Stade de France where President Francois Hollande was watching a match between France and Germany.

Only one of that trio has been identified: Bilal Hadfi, a 20-year-old French national who was living in Belgium and who had travelled to Syria.

The other two were carrying fake Syrian passports they apparently used to enter Greece in October, posing as refugees. IS said in a video they were Iraqi.

- Bars/restaurants gunmen -

As police and emergency services rushed to the stadium, a group of three gunmen, including alleged ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, drove around spraying cafes and restaurants with bullets, killing 39 people.

Brahim Abdeslam eventually blew himself up outside a bar, injuring one person.

Abaaoud, a notorious Belgian jihadist of Moroccan origin, escaped unharmed but was killed in a massive police operation in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on November 18.

The third gunman, Belgian-Moroccan Chakib Akrouh, 25, blew himself up during the Saint-Denis operation. Abaaoud's 26-year-old French-born cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen, who helped him hide after the attacks, was also killed in the operation.

Story continues

- Bataclan attackers -

The worst bloodshed took place at the Bataclan concert hall, when three French gunmen -- all of whom had spent time in Syria -- stormed a concert by American rock band Eagles of Death Metal, killing 90.

Twenty-three-year-old Foued Mohamed-Aggad was part of a group of 10 that left Strasbourg for Syria in 2013. He was identified after his DNA was matched with that of his mother.

The other two attackers were 28-year-old former bus driver Samy Amimour and Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29. Both were from the Paris area and were known radicals.

Two of them blew themselves up and the third was shot by police.

- Salah Abdeslam -

A French national of Moroccan origin, Salah Abdeslam, 26, is thought to be the last surviving member of the cell directly involved in the Paris assault.

He is believed to have played a key logistical role, renting cars and an apartment-hotel used by the jihadists.

His role on the night has been one of the biggest mysteries, as he fled back to Brussels while his brother, Brahim, and other members of the team, committed suicide or were killed.

A suicide vest was found dumped in southern Paris. Phone signals suggest Abdeslam had been in the area.

He was captured on March 18 after a four-month manhunt and has told investigators he planned to blow himself up outside the Stade de France but changed his mind.

Prosecutors remain cautious: Abdeslam's version does not explain why he abandoned his car in the 18th district that night, an area which was not hit despite a claim by the Islamic State that it had been targeted.

- The Brussels link -

After the Paris attacks, attention turned to Belgium, home and hide-away for several of the suspects.

Just days after Friday's dramatic arrest of Abdeslam, four people carried out coordinated attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station that left 31 people dead and another 270 wounded.

Abdeslam had told investigators he was planning further attacks in Brussels, and links have emerged between him and the suspected Brussels attackers.

Two brothers, Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui were identified as suicide bombers -- one at the airport and one at a metro station -- who had already been sought for links to Abdeslam.

Another suicide bomber at the airport has yet to be identified, as well as a third person seen there on surveillance footage who is now on the run.

Belgian television said Khalid had rented an apartment in Brussels last week under a false name where Abdeslam's fingerprints were found after a bloody police raid.

He is also linked to another apartment in southern Belgium that Abdeslam and other jihadists used before the Paris attacks.

Another key suspect is Najim Laachraoui, whose DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris attacks, as well as at an apartment in Brussels where bomb-making equipment and one of Abdeslam's fingerprints had been found in December.

Prosecutors have said he "travelled to Syria in February 2013," and was registered under a false name at the border between Austria and Hungary last September.

He was travelling with Abdeslam and Mohamed Belkaid, who was killed in the Brussels raid three days before Abdeslam was captured.

Belkaid is believed to have provided logistical support to the Paris attackers.

- Charged -

Belgian authorities have so far charged 11 suspects, including three men accused of helping Abdeslam escape.
After finishing a speech on the lamentable state of American politics, House Speaker Paul Ryan fielded a question from one Capitol Hill intern who said he wouldnt ask the Wisconsin Republican to name names and say specifically whom he was talking about.

Im not going to, Ryan replied resolutely.

But he didnt have to. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, wasnt the only target of Ryans speech on Wednesday, but he was the primary one.

The 46-year-old Ryan spoke at length from a House hearing room about his concern that politics has drifted away from debates over ideas and attempts to unify the country, and is now debased by personal insults and divisive rhetoric.

Politics can be a battle of ideas, not a battle of insults, Ryan said. Thats what it should be.

Trumps favorite response to criticism, of course, is the personal attack. And he has built his candidacy around the condemnation of groups that he casts as villains, be they Latino immigrants or Muslim refugees or the Democrats or even the Republican leadership in Washington.

Ryan took issue with Trumps approach without naming him.

What really bothers me the most about politics is this notion of identity politics, Ryan said, that were going to win an election by dividing people, that were going to win an election by talking to people in ways that divide them and separate them from other people, rather than inspiring people on our common humanity, on our common ideals, on our common culture, on the things that should unify us.

The House speaker at the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)



Ryan has leveled the identity politics charge at Democrats in the past, indicating that he believes motivating voters based on their racial, ethnic or gender identity divisively pits one group against another.

We should not follow the Democrats and play identity politics, he said in a speech on Feb. 2. Lets talk to people in ways that unite us and that are unique to Americas founding. Thats what I think people are hungry for.

Story continues

But over the past month, Ryan has spoken out more forcefully and more frequently against Trump, even though he has maintained he will support whoever the Republican nominee is.

Three weeks ago, Ryan rebuked Trump for his comments about the Ku Klux Klan and then expressed an aspiration that quickly proved laughable.

I hope this is the last time I need to speak out on this race, Ryan told reporters.

Two weeks after saying that, Ryan expressed concern over the violence at Trumps rallies and placed responsibility for stopping it on Trump himself. Then three days later, Ryan called Trumps warning that there would be riots if he did not get the GOP nomination unacceptable.

And on Wednesday, Ryan  the 2012 vice presidential nominee  hinted at the embarrassment and alarm that he and others in the GOP feel about the rise of Trump.

Looking around at whats taking place in politics today, it is easy to get disheartened, Ryan said. How many of you find yourself just shaking your head at what you see from both sides?

There was plenty of fresh material to illustrate Ryans point. Just a day before, Trump had threatened Ted Cruzs wife, Heidi, on Twitter, blaming the Texas senator for ads created by an outside group opposing Trump that showed a picture of Trumps wife, Melania, nude on a bearskin rug  an image that ran in British GQ during her modeling days.

Ryan struck an uplifting tone in his remarks to an audience of Republican and Democratic interns, contrasting his message with Trumps often strident and angry words.

As leaders we need to raise our gaze and we need to raise our game and talk about ideas; try to unite us, not prey upon peoples fears, he said.

But Ryans speech was not just aimed at political leaders. He also made a plea for more understanding and civility among voters.

If someone has a bad idea, we dont think theyre a bad person, Ryan said. People with different ideas, theyre not traitors, theyre not our enemies. Theyre our neighbors, theyre our co-workers, theyre our fellow citizens. Sometimes theyre our friends. Sometimes theyre even our own flesh and blood.

When passions flare, ugliness is sometimes inevitable, but we shouldnt accept ugliness as the norm. We should demand better from ourselves, we should demand better from one another. We should think about the great leaders that have bestowed upon us the great opportunity to live the American idea. We should honor their legacy.

Ryan also talked about ways he has fallen short in the past, calling it wrong to have characterized those receiving government support takers.

I was callous and I oversimplified and I castigated people with a broad brush, Ryan said. Takers wasnt how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap trying to take care of her own family. And to label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong. I shouldnt castigate a large group of Americans just to make a point, so I stopped talking about it that way, and I stopped thinking about it that way.

He added: I didnt come out and say this to be politically correct. I say this because I was just wrong.

Ryan also critiqued criminal justice legislation passed in the 90s that Congress is now seeking to change.

Redemption is a beautiful thing. Its a great thing. Redemption is what makes this place work, this place being America, society. And we need to honor redemption, and we need to make redemption something that is valued in our culture and our society and in our laws, he said.

Despite his concerns about Trump, Ryan feels bound to an official stance of neutrality in the Republican primary because he is the chairman of the upcoming Republican National Convention in July and will preside over the proceedings.

Ryan said he has asked former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to stop mentioning his name as a possible alternative to Trump at a contested convention. But Ryan also said last week that it is more likely than in the past that the GOP nomination will be settled at the convention and not solely through the voting leading up to it.
Paul Ryan on Wednesday used his bully pulpit as Speaker of the House to address a Republican Party that doesnt exist today and likely wont until January 2017 at the earliest.

Standing in front of five American flags in the House Ways and Means Committee room, the Wisconsin lawmaker gave his highly anticipated take on the State of American Politics, a nearly 1,900-word address that contained zero mentions of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.

Related: Forget Trump  Here's Who's Really Destroying the Republican Party

Ryan explicitly refused to name names or take aim at anyone in either major political party, instead opting to outline a high-minded take on what our politics can be and to tut-tut both sides on the need for civility in the current hyper-partisan environment.

Looking around at whats taking place in politics today, it is easy to get disheartened, he said (watch the full speech below). Our political discourseboth the kind we see on TV and the kind we experience among each otherdid not use to be this bad and it does not have to be this way. Now, a little skepticism is healthy. But when people distrust politics, they come to distrust institutions. They lose faith in their government, and the future too. We can acknowledge this. But we dont have to accept it. And we cannot enable it either.

Related: Clinton vs. Trump  Get Ready for the Nastiest General Election in Memory

Throughout his speech and the following Q and A session  with questions from Capitol Hill interns, not reporters  Ryan urged his congressional colleagues to return to some modicum of decorum, and he admitted his own past failures to live up to the standard hes now looking to set:

There was a time when I would talk about a difference between makers and takers in our country, referring to people who accepted government benefits. But as I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized I was wrong. Takers wasnt how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap, just trying to take care of her family. Most people don't want to be dependent. And to label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong. I shouldnt castigate a large group of Americans to make a point.

Story continues

But the 46-year-old Ryans call to make our politics a battle of ideas, not insults may be like whistling past the graveyard given the nonstop circus of vulgarity known as the Republican presidential primary.

The latest incident came Tuesday night when Trump went on Twitter threatening to spill the beans about the wife of presidential rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (TX). The former reality TV star fired off his tweet citing an ad from a super-PAC that showed an image of his own wife, Melania, posing nude during a magazine photoshoot.

Related: Trump Wins Arizona and Gets Ugly, Threatening Cruzs Wife

Cruz has since emphasized he has nothing to do with the outside group, but the spat is just another example how crude the GOP primary, which once sported 17 contenders, has become, with brawls breaking out at Trump rallies across the country.

In that way, Ryans address, in which he looked very presidential, was an attempt to bypass the existing, unruly presidential lot, unlike his 2012 running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who issued a call to stop Trump a few weeks ago and has taken several jabs at the real estate mogul since.

Democrats couldnt help but notice the omission.

"Speaker Ryan is speechifying on the deck of the Titanic, running a do-nothing Congress while supporting Donald Trump, a racist demagogue, for president, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said in a state. Speaker Ryan's words will ring hollow until he backs them up with action and withdraws his support from Donald Trump."

Ryan has rebuked Trump, usually without mentioning his name, several times before, like when the billionaire called for a ban on allowing Muslims into the U.S. or the time he was slow to disavow his support from the Ku Klux Klan. But in not mentioning the GOP frontrunner by name, its unclear how much Ryan will be able to raise the bar.

Related: The Brutal Economic Truth Behind the Rise of Trump

Its entirely possible that Ryans greatest impact on the 2016 race is yet to come. As speaker, he is slated to serve as chair of the Republican National Convention this summer and many have begun to expect there will be a floor fight for delegates to prevent Trump from getting the GOP nomination.

For now, though, all Ryan is willing to offer is optimistic bromides and thinly veiled references. With so much at stake, the American people deserve a clear picture of what we believe, he said. Personalities come and go, but principles endure.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some detainees released from Guantanamo Bay are responsible for the deaths of Americans, a senior Defense Department official said on Wednesday, yet the administration still believes it is in the country's best interests to close the controversial prison.

Republican lawmakers who say the detention center could help prevent attacks like those this week in Belgium were angered by the remarks of Paul Lewis, the Pentagon's special envoy for the effort to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"Unfortunately, there have been Americans that have died because of Gitmo detainees," Lewis told the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. He did not give details about the deaths.

"When anybody dies it's a tragedy. We don't want anybody to die because we transfer detainees," Lewis said during an exchange with Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher. "However, it's the best judgment and the considered judgment of this administration and the previous administration that ... we should close Gitmo."

Congress members have argued bitterly over whether detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay would end up on the battlefield.

The Obama administration has been trying to make good on a 2009 pledge the president made to close the facility. U.S. law bars transfers to the United States, and lawmakers are unlikely to lift those restrictions, especially in an election year.

Guantanamo opponents say holding prisoners for years without charge or trial goes against fundamental U.S. values and acts as a recruiting tool for militant groups, potentially endangering American military personnel.

Many Republican lawmakers insist the prison is an essential tool for holding and interrogating suspects who threaten the United States. Rohrabacher suggested at Wednesday's hearing that the attack in Brussels, and attacks like those in Paris last year, might change the mind of U.S. allies who have pressed Obama to close the detention camp.

Story continues

"Let me suggest that attitude of our European friends may well be changing in the next six months or so when they realize that the slaughter thats taking place in Paris and now in Brussels is part of an international movement to destroy Western civilization and replace it with a caliphate," Rohrabacher said.

On Tuesday, attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers killed at last 31 people in Belgium.

Of the 780 prisoners ever held at Guantanamo, 647 were released to their home countries or resettled elsewhere, most while Republican George W. Bush was president. Today 91 detainees remain.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee and David Gregorio)
By Lisa Maria Garza

DALLAS (Reuters) - The estranged wife of celebrated Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to capital murder in the killings of her two children last week in her suburban Fort Worth, Texas home.

Wearing a yellow jumpsuit from the Tarrant County Jail and with what appeared to be scars on her left wrist, Sofya Tsygankova, 31, said little in her first court appearance in the case. Bond was set at $1 million for each of the two counts of capital murder.

Tsygankova, who faces a possible death sentence if convicted, was charged on Monday with murdering her daughters, Nika, 5, and Michela, 1.

An arrest affidavit provided by police on Tuesday said the children appeared to have been suffocated with a pillow and that Tsygankova then attempted suicide. An official autopsy has not yet been released.

Tsygankova had been in a local hospital since the discovery of the killings on Thursday for treatment of what were suspected to be self-inflicted knife wounds, police in the suburb of Benbrook said.

Kholodenko, 29, left an area hotel on Thursday morning to pick up his children at his wife's home, according to the arrest affidavit. The award-winning pianist discovered his wife inside a bedroom closet, wearing a blood-soaked nightgown with cuts to her wrists and a puncture wound on her chest, the arrest record said.

Detectives later found the children in separate bedrooms and both girls appeared to have been dead for some time. A pillow was found resting near or partially on top of their heads, the affidavit said.

Police records show Tsygankova visited a mental health facility in Tarrant County, Texas, the day before the children were found by police.

She told detectives she "didn't see any future for me and my kids" and admitted to wounding herself with a knife and swallowing a lot of pills.

Kholodenko and Tsygankova married in 2010, but filed for divorce last November, according to court records obtained by local media.

In 2013, Kholodenko won the gold medal in the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He is an artist in residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin and Lisa Maria Garza in Dallas; Editing by Paul Simao)
Warsaw (AFP) - Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo on Wednesday said Warsaw would not take in its share of migrants under an EU plan because of the jihadist attacks that killed 31 people in Brussels.

Poland is the first EU member to take such a step after Tuesday's bombings at the Brussels airport and metro, which also left 270 wounded -- including three Poles -- and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

"After what happened in Brussels yesterday, it's not possible right now to say that we're OK with accepting any number of migrants at all," Szydlo told private television Superstacja.

Her conservative and eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) government had earlier been willing to welcome the 7,000 refugees agreed by its liberal predecessors under Ewa Kopacz.

Europe is grappling with its worst migrant crisis since World War II. Last year alone some 1.2 million people flooded into the EU, most of them Syrians fleeing via Turkey and Greece.

"We're forced above all to ensure the security of our fellow citizens," Szydlo said, urging Europe against accepting "thousands of migrants who come here only to improve their life conditions."

Among these migrants "there are also terrorists".

The first refugees were due to arrive in Poland in late March or early April, after EU leaders forced through a one-off controversial deal last September to relocate 120,000 refugees among member states.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia had voted against the deal, while Poland had been in favour under its then Civic Platform (PO) government.

Szydlo defended the careful approach to migrants taken by Poland and its fellow Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia) as well as Croatia and Romania.

"Our stance is very cautious, which gives rise to major criticism from other countries in what we call the old EU, who hastily agreed to this influx of migrants into Europe," she said.

"This carelessness is the source of the problems we now face."

After the attacks in Brussels and earlier in Paris, "I regret to have to say that the EU is not drawing lessons from what is happening," she added.
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland cannot accept migrants at the moment, Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Wednesday, speaking a day after bomb attacks shook Brussels, killing more than 30 people. "Twenty eight EU countries agreed to solve the issue through relocation... But I will say it very clearly. I do not see it possible to allow migrants in Poland at the moment," Szydlo told TV station Superstacja. Last year, the EU agreed to resettle tens of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa in each member state. (Reporting by Adrian Krajewski)
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged the world to unite in denouncing the Brussels attacks, saying those responsible for the bloodshed had been blinded by "cruel fundamentalism". "I appeal to all those of good faith to join together in unanimous condemnation of this abominable cruelty which causes only death, terror and horror," the pope said on Wednesday at his weekly general audience in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attacks on Brussels airport and a metro train in the Belgian capital on Tuesday that killed at least 30 people. The pope said he hoped God would "convert the hearts of these people who have been blinded by cruel fundamentalism". (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
This story was updated at 2:00 a.m. EDT on March 23.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  A commercial Cygnus cargo ship launched into space late Tuesday (March 22), streaking into the Florida night sky on a mission to deliver a record-breaking load of NASA experiments and gear to the International Space Station.

The Orbital ATK-built Cygnus blasted off atop an Atlas V rocket at 11:05 p.m. EDT (0305 GMT) in a smooth liftoff under the light of a nearly-full moon from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here.

"For those of you that were here and saw it, I think you'd agree that it was an absolutely spectacular launch," Kenneth Todd, operations integration manager for the International Space Station Program, said early Wednesday morning (March 23) during a post-launch news conference. [Launch Photos: See Orbital ATK's Cygnus Streak into the Night]

The cargo ship's solar arrays deployed and unfurled as planned about 2 hours after launch, keeping Cygnus on track for its scheduled Saturday (March 26) arrival at the orbiting lab.

"We're looking forward to that, and getting the Cygnus on board and opening the hatch," former NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, said during the post-launch briefing. "Maybe they'll find a few Easter eggs on board  who knows?"

This flight is the second for Orbital ATK's enhanced Cygnus craft on an Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA). The cargo ship is also carrying even more cargo  more than 3.5 tons  than Orbital ATK's previous record-breaking flight in December, company representatives said.

"On our last mission, on OA-4, we were the biggest payload that Atlas V ever launched  we broke the record," Frank DeMauro, Orbital ATK's CRS program director, told Space.com. "Well, we broke the record again; we're the biggest again."

The current Cygnus spacecraft is filled to the brim with science gear, a haul that includes nearly 7,500 lbs. (3,400 kilograms) of vital crew supplies, hardware and research tools bound for the station, NASA officials said, buoyed by the lifting power of the Atlas V rocket. It's also carrying some gear that isn't destined to stay on the station, including a large-scale fire experiment and a cloud of five microsatellites to set free after the craft is released from the station in May.

Story continues

Orbital ATK named the Cygnus spacecraft the S.S. Rick Husband, in honor of NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander Rick Husband, who died on Feb. 1, 2003 during the ill-fated STS-107 mission aboard the shuttle Columbia. Husband and six crewmates were killed when Columbia, which suffered wing damage during launch, broke apart during re-entry.

Special deliveries

Cygnus launched just as the space station flew overhead, separated from its booster and settled into orbit around the Earth, where it will spend the next three days carefully maneuvering into a higher orbit. Early Saturday, astronauts on the space station are due to capture the Cygnus with a robotic arm. American astronaut and space station commander Tim Kopra will man the Canadarm2 robotic arm to retrieve the craft, assisted by British astronaut Tim Peake.

And after that, the real fun begins.

"Once we get the Cygnus on board, we'll have our work cut out for us," Todd said at a pre-launch press briefing on Monday (March 21).

Besides essential crew supplies and consumables, vehicle systems hardware and spacewalking supplies, the crew will unload a variety of experiments to explore. A 3D printer, from California company Made in Space, will help the station produce new tools and experiments, Gecko Grippers will stick to the walls, the Meteor experiment  which made it on board at last  will scrutinize Earth for incoming meteor showers, and Strata-1 will explore how the soil-like regolith that coats asteroids behaves.

Saffire-1, the large fire experiment, will be left behind to burn later once the spacecraft departs. After the cubesats are released and Saffire burns, Cygnus will be host to one final experiment: the Reentry Breakup Recorder will track the craft's breakup as it's destroyed in re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

Cargo deliveries back on track

This current Cygnus delivery flight is the fifth of 10 missions for NASA by Orbital ATK under a deal worth $2.6 billion. Another company, the Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, is flying 12 missions under its own $1.6 billion deal, and received a NASA order for five more cargo missions in December, according to SpaceNews.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus mission last December broke a streak of failed cargo launches to the space station: Orbital ATK's Antares rocket exploded during a launch in October 2014, followed by a Russian Progress craft failing to deliver its supplies in April 2015. Then, in June 2015, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket also exploded just after launch.

The space station's supply line is still recovering from that series of failed launches, but after this delivery they'll be back on track with vital consumable supplies, Todd said at the pre-launch briefing.

"The reality is that over a period of time there we didn't see a lot of vehicle traffic," he added. "Getting our consumables back up to the point where they need to be is something that we've been putting a lot of effort in, and our providers here  certainly Orbital ATK here  have delivered in a big way over the holiday season and here again with another mission. We're going to be in good shape on consumables after this mission."

In fact, the space station will be a very busy place for cargo deliveries in the next few weeks. Next week a Progress resupply ship will leave and a new one will arrive a few days later, and then within a few weeks they'll have another exciting arrival.

"Probably in a couple of weeks we're going to hit a first of the space station program, what I consider kind of a milestone  it looks like we're going to have both of our CRS [commercial resupply] providers on board at the same time," Todd said. "We'll have Cygnus as well as SpaceX Dragon. For those of us who worked through the transition from shuttle into this commercial cargo service, it's really a neat thing for us to be able to see both of these vehicles here at the same time. A lot of work for the crew, but certainly a milestone moment for the program.

"We'll have to get creative in terms of making sure we don't put the wrong things in the wrong vehicles when they get ready to leave," he added.

In January, NASA announced the selection of Orbital ATK, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. to fly a new round of cargo missions to the space station between 2019 and 2024.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A prominent Vietnamese blogger was handed a five-year jail term Wednesday on anti-state charges, a heavy sentence that was roundly condemned by lawyers and media watchdogs as a "travesty of justice".

Nguyen Huu Vinh, more commonly known as Anh Ba Sam, was arrested in 2014 and has been held in detention ever since, accused of disseminating anti-government articles on his wildly popular news site.

After a day-long trial amid heavy security in central Hanoi, Vinh and his assistant, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy "were found guilty of abusing democratic freedoms", the judge, Nguyen Van Pho, told the court.

"The defendants' acts were dangerous for society," the judge said, adding that during the investigation and at the court, both defendants "were not honest... and did not admit their crimes".

Both Vinh, 60, and Thuy, 35 -- who was sentenced to three years jail -- denied the charges under article 258 of the criminal code, which is one of several vaguely worded provisions that rights groups say is used to pursue regime critics.

"I am completely innocent," Vinh told the court in his final words before the verdict was announced, according to an AFP reporter in the official observation room for media and diplomats.

According to the official verdict, the blogs run by the defendants, which attracted more than 3.7 million page views, "misrepresented the party's line... and lowered public trust", in Vietnam's communist leaders.

"This is an unjust and illogical sentence," said Ha Huy Son, a defence lawyer speaking at the court after the verdict was announced.

- 'Travesty of justice' -

Vinh, once a policeman himself, founded the well known political and social blog "Ba Sam" in 2007 -- initially to store articles for his own reference.

The blog then became a news aggregator with links to major stories in state-run newspapers as well as blog posts from activists.

Story continues

Constant hacking attacks forced Vinh to regularly change the blog's web address.

It was taken down shortly after his arrest and has not been available since.

Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

The harsh sentence is "a travesty of justice", said Shawn Crispin of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"If Vietnam wants to be taken seriously... these types of anti-state convictions must stop," he said, calling for the immediate release of the bloggers.

The CPJ said that the number of jailed journalists in Vietnam had fallen from 16 to six, according to their most recent data.

As the court opened early Wednesday, dozens of protesters waved photographs of Vinh and chanted demands for his release, before scores of uniformed and plain clothed police forced them to disperse.

At least two people were arrested when police broke up the demonstration.

Vo Van Tao, 63, a journalist and friend of Vinh, said he had travelled from southern Nha Trang city to Hanoi by car to attend the trial because authorities prevented him from flying.

"Ba Sam is innocent, he's a hero. He did good work for the people of this country," he told AFP at the protest opposite the court in Hanoi.

Academic and dissident Nguyen Quang A, who was later detained by police after the protest Wednesday, told AFP that Vinh was on trial because "a lot of people read his blog", but the strategy would backfire and trigger greater public interest in what he had to say.
By Amrutha Gayathri

(Reuters) - Canadian gambling website operator Amaya Inc's <AYA.TO> <AYA.O> Chief Executive David Baazov has been charged with insider trading by Quebec's securities regulator.

The regulator said it had filed charges against Baazov for "aiding with trades while in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of the securities of Amaya" and "communicating privileged information."

Amaya's U.S.-listed shares fell as much as 27.7 percent to $10.30 in early trading.

The charges come about two months after Amaya said it had received a non-binding proposal from Baazov to take the company private.

"These allegations are false and I intend to vigorously contest these accusations," Baazov said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that he was "highly confident" he would be found innocent.

Amaya said in a statement that it believed the charges were without merit and it expected Baazov to be "fully exonerated" of the charges.

The company said it would continue to cooperate with the regulator and the charges were not expected to have any impact on its operations.

Amaya said it had conducted a review of the allegations against Baazov and found no evidence of any violations of Canadian securities laws.

Baazov said he had no further comment on his bid to take Amaya private, but added that he was committed to working toward closing the deal. Based on Amaya's basic shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, Baazov's proposal had valued the company at about C$2.8 billion, or $2.14 billion at the current exchange rate.

The regulator launched an investigation into Baazov and other executives in 2014 for trading in Amaya's stock ahead of the company's $4.9 billion takeover of PokerStars owner Rational Group.

It has also charged Benjamin Ahdoot and Yoel Altman, among others. Sylvain Theberge, a spokesman for the regulator, said these people were "in the circle on Amaya."

Amaya said the charges against Baazov involve allegations linked to an employee and a former financial adviser to the company.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)
By David Shepardson (Reuters) - Two Republicans on the Federal Communications Commission told a congressional panel Tuesday the partisan divide at the nation's telecommunications regulatory body is growing. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, a Republican, said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing that the number of votes splitting along party lines at the five-member FCC is growing under FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler - and is twice as high as under four prior chairmen. "Proposals from Republican commissioners have been roundly rejected as crossing a 'red line,' even when an identical proposal from a Democratic commissioner is accepted later on," Pai told a U.S. House panel. "Collaboration has fallen by the wayside." Wheeler has a busy agenda in the final year of the Obama administration and has drawn the ire of some industry groups and Republicans in Congress. He has proposed allowing consumers access to pay TV without renting an expensive set-top cable box. He also has proposed privacy rules that would require Internet service providers to get consent for using consumer data and has unveiled a plan to expand a subsidy for low-income Americans that covers mobile phones to include broadband Internet access. Kim Hart, a spokeswoman for Wheeler, said the chairman "has tackled complex issues resulting in more competition, strong protections and improved access to networks for consumers. During the first two years of the Chairman's tenure, 88 percent of votes have been unanimous." FCC Commissioner Michael ORielly, another Republican, criticized Wheeler for "constantly pushing the envelope into questionable directions, at the expense of collegiality, staff morale and soundness of decisions." Republican commissioners have ramped up the rhetoric in recent months. After a federal appeals court put on hold two separate FCC decisions, Pai said the FCC "needs to follow the law and return to the tradition of bipartisan, collaborative decision-making." Many Democrats back Wheeler's aggressive agenda. Representative Anna Eshoo, of California, praised Wheeler for his aggressive agenda that "puts the consumer first and strengthens competition." Representative Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican who chairs the panel that held the hearing, lamented the "sharp divisions" on the FCC, saying the commission should not give "short shrift to collaboration in favor of expediency." At a Senate hearing this month, Wheeler declined to confirm he will step down at the end of the Obama administration, as is customary for the chair of the commission. The Senate has so far declined to reconfirm a Democratic commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, who was renominated in 2015. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Dan Grebler)
By Tim McLaughlin and Luc Cohen

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Nearly 15 years since Enrons collapse decimated the retirement accounts of its employees, hundreds of thousands of U.S. energy workers remain precariously exposed to big, concentrated bets on company stock in their 401(k) retirement plans.

The slide in oil prices to their lowest levels in over a decade wiped out several billion dollars of retirement wealth in the energy sector in the past year. The losses may prove temporary for companies that successfully navigate the crisis, but tens of thousands of employees of struggling firms may see much of their nest eggs gone for good.

In Oklahoma and Texas, workers are delaying retirement plans, surrendering trucks, cars and land in personal bankruptcy cases, or just praying oil prices will recover.

"I just didn't see it coming," said John Thompson, 57, who was laid off in February from Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy Inc <SDOC.PK>. SandRidge shares, which peaked above $65 in 2008, are now worth 10 cents apiece. "Because of this, I'm not retiring any time soon."

SandRidge did not return messages seeking comment.

Almost without exception energy company 401(k) plans offered at least 10 different investment alternatives to company stock, their plans show.

Yet company reports and interviews with more than 20 current and former employees at independent energy firms show many employees have not taken advantage of opportunities to switch out of company shares.

Maureen Nelson, who retired from Chesapeake Energy Corp <CHK.N> in 2013, said she lost an estimated $100,000 as she watched the company's shares plunge in value.

Inertia and a strong faith in company leadership played a role in holding on to company stock, but so did company policies.

Many energy firms continued to match employee contributions with company stock, even as most large U.S. companies stopped the practice after the Enron debacle, according to several corporate benefits consultants.

Story continues

The energy industry followed the lead of heavyweights such as Chevron Corp <CVX.N> and Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N>, which for years provided matching contributions in company stock in worker 401(k) retirement plans while also funding separate defined benefit pension plans for them.

DOUBLE IMPACT

Smaller companies could not afford to do both, but they typically matched employee contributions in stock. And energy workers often plowed some or most of their own contributions into company stock, benefits consultants said.

"It's not prudent investing," said Lou Harvey, chief executive of Boston-based financial research firm Dalbar Inc. But employees tend to clamor for company stock.

Typically, workers at larger energy companies would have 20 percent to 60 percent of 401(k) assets in company stock, according to a Reuters analysis of such holdings for more than 400,000 employees.

By contrast, the average U.S. 401(k) plan has about 7 percent of assets in company stock, according to Washington D.C.-based Investment Company Institute.

At Chevron, more than 40,000 participants in its 401(k) plan held $8.9 billion, or 47 percent of investment assets, in company stock at the end of 2014, according to the latest annual report. (Graphic:http://tmsnrt.rs/1RwkqYB)

Chevron stopped matching in company stock last year for better diversification, spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie said. Exxon stopped new stock contributions after 2006. Its shares still accounted for $12.9 billion of the 401(k) plan's $22.3 billion in assets in 2014. Exxon declined comment.

When Texas-based Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001, employees suffered a one-two punch - they lost their jobs and much of their savings because nearly two-thirds of their retirement assets were in Enron stock.

After Enron's collapse, companies successfully lobbied Congress mostly against proposals to limit company stock ownership in 401(k) plans, fearing billions of dollars of their shares would be offloaded to meet the caps.

Caps were a bridge too far for companies, said Sheila Bair, former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and a U.S. Treasury official who worked on President George W. Bushs 2002 task force on retirement security.

Still, publicly-traded companies have revamped their retirement plans to make them more balanced, even imposing own limits on company stock ownership, said Rob Austin, director of retirement research at Aon Hewitt.

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Diversification has yet to reach much of the energy sector, though. Oil and gas workers had more than $32 billion in company stock in their 401(k) accounts, or about 38 percent of plan assets for the 40 companies in the S&P 500 Energy Sector Index, according to 2014 annual reports filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Since then, the index has lost 21 percent. Smaller independents have been hit about twice as hard, on average.

With about a third of his 401(k) plan in company stock, retired Chesapeake geologist Keith Rasmussen, 61, looks to sell land he owns in Oklahoma and Idaho to shore up his depleted retirement funds.

Chesapeake, once a shale boom darling, now trades 84 percent below mid-2014 levels, hurt by heavy debt and prolonged slump in natural gas prices. Nearly 8,000 participants in its 401(k) are exposed to the reversal of fortune, holding 35 percent of the plans $615 million in assets in company stock at the end of 2014, according to the latest annual report.

Some current and former Chesapeake employees said their decisions to hold onto stock were based partly on their reverence for Aubrey McClendon, its legendary former chief executive, who died in a car crash in early March

"You could be the biggest skeptic in the world, and you listen to him in a room for 30 minutes, and you're ready to hand him all your money," said Ginni Kennedy, 58, who retired from her engineering job at Chesapeake in 2013. "I had faith that he'd continue to be able to pull those rabbits out of his hat."

Chesapeake, which declined to comment, stopped matching in company stock last year.

Many workers are now paying a heavy price for failing to heed warnings about concentration risk.

Our bankruptcy work has quadrupled over the past six months, said Roger Ediger, an Enid, Oklahoma lawyer who handles personal bankruptcy cases. Most of them are energy related.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2014 underscored the risk of offering company shares in 401(k) plans. Its decision made clear that company stock was not automatically a prudent investment.

The ruling also highlighted the potential conflicts of interest for companies in their role as fiduciary of 401(k) plans.

It was a wake-up call to companies, said Bill Ryan, chief fiduciary officer at Evercore Trust, the largest U.S. third-party fiduciary.

At Fort Worth, Texas-based Quicksilver Resources Inc <KWKAQ.PK>, Evercore Trust took a rare step to block further employee investment in the companys 401(k) plan in October 2014, as fiduciary for the stock plan. The move preserved some value, but not much, given that by the time the stock fund was liquidated company shares have already fallen to about 50 cents from about $3.50 in 2014. Equity investors lost virtually everything five months later when Quicksilver filed for bankruptcy protection.

Bair, now a college president, said companies with heavy stock concentrations in their 401(k)s should follow peers that have caps in place to protect workers and avoid government mandates.

If we have another failure like Enron, government regulation may be coming.

(Reporting By Tim McLaughlin and Luc Cohen; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Anakara is hindering Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State and using the slogan of a "war against terrorism" to suppress Kurdish organizations in Syria and Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. Illegal traffic across the Turkish-Syrian border has decreased dramatically since the start of Russia's military operation in Syria, Lavrov told a news briefing. Referring to the Turkish border, he stressed a need to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding a halt of trade in artifacts and oil with Islamic State and to stop "terrorists" from crossing into Syria, including from Turkey. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Jack Stubbs)
Former Alaska Governor, Vice Presidential candidate, Fox News contributor and reality star Sarah Palin is looking to return to television as the headliner of a new syndicated daytime court show. The project is not set up at an established syndicator but at the under-the-radar Warm Springs Prods., a Montana-based production company which produces unscripted shows, most notably, Historys Mountain Men. The collaboration stems from a strong relationship Palin had developed with Warm Springs Prods., which shares a lot of common ground with Palin, a staunch Second Amendment supporter and hunting enthusiast. The production companys portfolio includes such programs as NRA All Access, NRAs Guns & Gold, Friends of NRA, Gun Gurus and Deadly Shootouts.

Palin has teamed on the show with two former top executives in the daytime space, Larry Lyttle, president of Big Ticket Prods  now part of CBS  the company behind daytime court shows Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown, and Barry Wallach, former president of NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution.

Details of the show, created by Lyttle, who will serve as showrunner, and Warm Springs, are still being worked out but it is expected to stay close to the traditional syndicated court show. Unlike most TV judges, Palin has no legal background, with the producers looking to appeal to people seeking a common sense in the courtroom. They also are looking to capitalize on the big social media following of the former politician, who has been back on the presidential campaign trail stumping for Donald Trump.

The court show, first reported by People magazine, will be pitched directly to TV stations shortly. It will be sold by Wallach and former CBS TV Distribution regional sales manager Lee Villas. Also coming up soon is the filming of the pilot as the project is still in the concept stage.

On TV, Palin previously headlined TLCs Sarah Palins Alaska.

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NAIROBI (Reuters) - A senior Burundi army officer and ally of the president was shot dead in the Defence Ministry compound on Tuesday, the army and soldiers said, the latest in a series of killings in an almost year-long crisis that risks plunging the nation back into war. Lieutenant Colonel Darius Ikurakure was shot by an assassin dressed in a military uniform, the army said in a statement. Other soldiers earlier gave a similar account and also said he was shot while inside the ministry compound. Tit-for-tat killings of pro-government and opposition figures have prompted international concerns that Burundi, which emerged from an ethnically charged civil war a decade ago, could slide back into conflict. The crisis has rattled a region with a history of ethnic fighting, including neighbouring Rwanda which suffered a genocide in 1994. "After the crime, the criminal managed to escape," army spokesman major Clement Cimana said in a statement, adding the weapon had been recovered and the authorities were still seeking to track down the attacker. He called for unity in the army. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing. "Such acts of violence risk exacerbating the current crisis in Burundi," Ban's spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. "The secretary-general reiterates his appeal for Burundians to resolve their differences peacefully and to engage immediately in an inclusive and transparent political dialogue." Soldiers said the assassin had attacked just after midday, when people may have been away at lunch, allowing him to flee. Ikurakure was commander of a combat engineering battalion based in Muzinda, northeast of the capital, Bujumbura. He was seen as close to Nkurunziza, with whom he fought as a rebel during the civil war that ended in 2005. Opponents accused him of being behind arbitrary arrests and killings in some areas of Bujumbura over the past year. The government says it only arrests those behind violence, and dismisses accusations of extra-judicial killing. Burundi's crisis erupted in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza said he was bidding for a third presidential term. His opponents said the move was unconstitutional but he went on to win a disputed election three months later. (Writing by Edmund Blair Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Alison Williams)
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak president Andrej Kiska appointed Robert Fico as prime minister on Wednesday after Fico's leftist Smer party won the largest share of the vote in a March 5 election and formed a four-party coalition. Fico's Smer won the most votes but lost its majority by a wide margin, raising uncertainty over whether a stable government could be formed before Bratislava takes over the European Union's rotating presidency later this year. But Fico, prime minister in 2006-2010 and 2012-2016, moved fast and three small centrist and nationalist partners signed a coalition agreement with his party on Tuesday. Fico's cabinet, also appointed on Wednesday, now has 30 days to win a confidence vote in the 150-seat parliament, where the four parties hold 81 seats. Ideological differences between Fico and two center-right coalition parties and animosity between Slovak nationalists and a party representing the Hungarian minority raise questions over how long the coalition will last. Fico's party will be dominant in the coalition and hold key ministries of finance, interior and foreign affairs. The finance ministry will again be in the hands of Peter Kazimir, respected for keeping budget deficits under control and known for his tough stance in the euro zone's negotiations with debt-plagued Greece. The coalition plans moderate cuts in taxes for corporations and small entrepreneurs and a balanced budget by the end of its term in 2020, two years later than previously planned. It has also agreed to tackle shortcomings in healthcare and education and increase transparency in government and public spending after a series of corruption scandals. Fico based his pre-election campaign on strong opposition to allowing refugees into Slovakia and filed a lawsuit against an EU decision to impose mandatory quotas on distributing refugees among member states. But this agenda was not mentioned at all in the coalition agreement, suggesting it was not a common priority for the four parties. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Sri Lanka's loss-making national carrier will not be able to repay its debt of nearly $1 billion, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament Wednesday.

With its own finances in a rocky state, the government will decide within six weeks whether it can afford to take over SriLankan Airlines' debt repayments, the premier said.

State enterprise development minister Kabir Hashim, who oversees the carrier, earlier this month put its debt at $933 million but on Wednesday it emerged the figure could be higher.

"The minister says the actual debt is likely to be much more than what we initially feared," Wickremesinghe said during a parliamentary debate on the economy.

"SriLankan Airlines will not be able to repay this debt. We will have to take a decision on this."

A mounting debt crisis of its own has forced the government to request a bailout of its own from the International Monetary Fund.

The beleaguered national carrier has drawn controversy in recent years after an independent investigator last year found evidence of serious corruption in a $2.3 billion deal to buy Airbus aircraft.

Wickremesinghe said Wednesday he was still reviewing the deal, reached under the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapakse despite huge losses at the airline.

The deal is also being probed by the police Financial Crime Investigation Division.

Last month ratings agency Fitch cut Sri Lanka's credit rating by one notch to B+ with a negative outlook over its debt crisis.

Negotiations are also under way for a $1 billion currency swap with a Chinese state-owned bank to shore up the country's dwindling foreign reserves.
By Lisa Baertlein (Reuters) - Democracy Works Inc, a non-partisan, non-profit group trying to encourage more Americans to take part in elections, said on Wednesday it is joining forces with Starbucks Corp, Spanish-language television network Univision and others in an attempt to boost U.S. voter turnout to 80 percent by 2020. The project, called the TurboVote Challenge, comes during one of the most contentious and unpredictable U.S. presidential races in many years, marked by strong participation in both Republican and Democratic primary elections and caucuses. Democracy Works, which aims to create "a more representative and inclusive democracy," said voter turnout had not been above 80 percent since 1888. An estimated 57.5 percent of eligible citizens voted in the 2012 presidential election, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The project's other founding partners include lodging web service Airbnb, Arizona State University, the Fusion TV network, ride-sharing company Lyft, news company Mic, online music service Spotify, email newsletter theSkimm, retailer Target Corp, mall operator Westfield Corp, shared workspace provider WeWork and the Video Game Voters Network. The parties will promote voter registration and encourage participation in local and national elections, among other things. Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz, who previously has weighed in on U.S. politics, government gridlock and social issues, said the dysfunction and polarization he first spoke about two years ago has only worsened. "We must do everything we can to reclaim and reimagine the American dream," Schultz said at Starbucks' annual meeting in Seattle on Wednesday. Univision anchor Jorge Ramos made headlines this political season for being one of the first high-profile journalists to publicly challenge Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. "Univision is committed to informing and empowering Hispanic, millennial and multicultural audiences to reach their full potential in the United States," Univision Chief Executive Randy Falco said in a statement. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Paul Tait and Bill Rigby)
(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp said media reports that the company had canceled its shareholder meeting set for Wednesday were false. "Media reports that 2016 Starbucks Annual Shareholders meeting has been cancelled are FALSE," Starbucks tweeted. "It's on, full coverage http://news.starbucks.com." (http://bit.ly/1Zsda6c) The meeting will be held as scheduled at 1 p.m. ET in Seattle, the company said. A notice on website sbuxshareholder.com had said the meeting had been rescheduled due to "exigent business needs". (http://bit.ly/1U8sBRE) (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)
By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Surinamese man who U.S. authorities said acted as the "right-hand man" to the son of the country's president during a scheme to send large amounts of cocaine to the United States was found guilty of trying to ship the drug, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Edmund Muntslag, who was arrested after a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation targeting Dino Bouterse, Suriname President Desi Bouterse's son, was found guilty by a federal jury in Manhattan on Tuesday of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. His conviction came a year after Dino Bouterse, 43, was sentenced to 16-1/4 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he tried to offer a home base to the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah in the South American country. Muntslag, 32, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life, according to a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Cesar de Castro, Muntslag's lawyer, said his client intends to appeal the verdict. Prosecutors said that in 2013, Bouterse and Muntslag sought to help people claiming to be Mexican drug cartel members, who were actually U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informants, send millions of dollars worth of cocaine to the United States. At the time, Bouterse was the head of a counter-terrorism unit in Suriname, while Muntslag acted as his "right-hand man, his partner-in-crime," Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew DeFilippis said in his opening statement. "Muntslag and the president's son were corrupt to the core," DeFilippis said. "They used their power and status in Suriname to traffic cocaine and to line their own pockets." In July 2013, Muntslag shipped a test load of 10 kilograms of cocaine by a commercial flight from Suriname to Trinidad, understanding the drugs would be transported to New York for sale, prosecutors said. Bouterse had meanwhile agreed with the purported cartel members to discuss a weapons deal with Hezbollah, prosecutors said. During a meeting in Greece with an undercover agent and DEA source posing as Hezbollah members, Bouterse agreed to help the group establish a base in Suriname, located north of Brazil, in exchange for $2 million, prosecutors said. Bouterse was arrested in August 2013 in Panama, where he was discussing the purported Hezbollah deal. Muntslag was arrested days later in Trinidad, where he was waiting to take an undercover agent posing as a Hezbollah agent to Suriname, prosecutors said. He was extradited in August 2015. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Geneva (AFP) - Syria's government has given a UN-backed taskforce permission to deliver aid to more besieged areas, but two opposition strongholds and a city controlled by the Islamic State group remain off limits, a UN official said Wednesday.

Jan Egeland, who heads the humanitarian taskforce co-chaired by the United States and Russia, said there has been sustained progress in delivering life-saving supplies.

The United Nations has identified 18 areas in the war-ravaged country it considers to be besieged.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government on Tuesday gave "a verbal greenlight to go to some new besieged areas", meaning the taskforce now has permission to reach a total of 15 locations, Egeland said.

But Damascus has not yet given humanitarian workers clearance to distribute aid in Douma or Daraya -- two key opposition-held areas near Damascus where the UN believes more than 100,000 civilians are in desperate need of supplies.

IS-controlled Deir Ezzor, with an estimated 200,000 besieged people, also remains inaccessible but England said plans were being firmed up for a humanitarian air drop.

"It's a major operation," Egeland told reporters, adding that it would be led by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) with logistical help from major powers like the EU, Russia and the United States.

A WFP air drop over Deir Ezzor last month faced technical hurdles since it had to be carried out at a very high altitude.

Since the start of the year, the UN, International Red Cross (ICRC) and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) have delivered aid to 384,000 Syrians living in what the UN defines as besieged or hard-to-reach areas, Egeland told journalists.

He made the comments in Geneva, where talks to end Syria's five-year civil war were finishing a second week and as a ceasefire declared on February 27 remained broadly in place.

Following the latest greenlights from Damascus to reach new areas, Egeland said plans were on track to get aid to roughly 1.1 million people by the end of April.

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On Wednesday, the UN, ICRC and SARC, travelling in a 27-truck convoy, delivered aid to 70,000 people in the Houlah area, which has been under siege for three years, the ICRC said in a statement.

The last time Houlah received humanitarian supplies was in October, Egeland said.

In total, the UN estimates that nearly 4.5 million Syrians are currently living in besieged or hard-to-reach areas.
Damascus (AFP) - The Islamic State group suffered a double setback in Syria Friday as army troops recaptured half of the ancient city of Palmyra and the Pentagon said the jihadists' second-in-command was killed in a US raid.

The seizure by Russian-backed Syrian troops of half of Palmyra including the hilltop citadel and the airport came nearly a year after IS overran the UNESCO world heritage site.

The Syrian regime's gains came after US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed to intensify the drive for a political settlement in the war-torn nation.

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said the death this week of Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, described as IS's number two, would hamper the jihadists' ability to conduct operations in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

He said the US was "systematically eliminating" IS's cabinet, referring also to the killing earlier this month of "Omar the Chechen", described by Washington as the jihadists' defence minister.

"The momentum of this campaign is now clearly on our side," said Carter.

However, separate attacks by IS in Iraq and Yemen Friday claimed over 50 lives, with observers warning that as their self-proclaimed "caliphate" shrinks towards extinction, its fighters are likely to ramp up suicide attacks on civilian targets.

A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people at a local football tournament south of Baghdad, while in Aden three suicide bombings at security checkpoints killed 22 people, including 10 civilians.

- 'An ancient treasure' -

Syrian state television said loyalist troops seized the Palmyra citadel "after inflicting many losses in the ranks of the terrorist group Daesh," using another name for IS.

It said the army had also cut off the main Palmyra-Deir Ezzor highway leading to the Iraqi border.

"Pro-government forces, which have the support in Palmyra of the Russian air force, took control of half of the city as well as the airport," a military source said.

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IS has blown up UNESCO-listed temples and looted relics that dated back thousands of years. Built in the 13th century, the citadel is Palmyra's main Islamic-era monument.

Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdelkarim said the army had also "liberated the district of hotels and restaurants as well as the Valley of the Tombs".

He said troops were 600 metres (yards) from the site of the Temple of Bel, which IS destroyed in September, "but it is advancing slowly because of mines and above all to protect the city, which is an ancient treasure."

- Assad still a sticking point -

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 soldiers were killed in fighting and by mines planted by retreating jihadists, while 24 IS militants died in air strikes and clashes.

In Moscow, the defence ministry said Russian warplanes carried out 146 air strikes against "terrorist" targets in Palmyra from March 22 to 24.

Its full recapture would be a major strategic and symbolic victory for President Bashar al-Assad, since whoever holds Palmyra also controls the vast desert extending from central Syria to the Iraqi border.

Despite the football tournament bombing, IS faces mounting pressure in Iraq where the army said on Thursday it had launched a long-awaited offensive to retake second city of Mosul, a key IS hub since 2014.

Iraqi forces cleared roadside bombs and booby traps Friday in villages from which they ousted jihadists a day earlier south of Mosul, officials said.

Friday's fighting for Palmyra came as the latest round of peace talks aimed at ending Syria's five-year war, which has left more than 270,000 people dead, came to a close.

Kerry and Putin, who back different sides in Syria's war, agreed at a rare meeting in Moscow to push for a political settlement, but the future of Assad remains a sticking point.

In Beirut, UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged a speedy end to the war and other Middle East conflicts saying "this is a critical time for the region".

But unless Assad agrees to step down, there are concerns the Syrian opposition could drop out of UN-brokered peace negotiations, which UN envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to restart on April 9.

- 'Jihadists celebrating Brussels' -

The focus of Syria's war appears to have shifted to the battle against IS in Palmyra, nearly a month after a truce between the army and non-jihadist rebels brokered by the United States and Russia came into force.

Global concern over the jihadist threat was further heightened this week by a deadly attack in Brussels that was claimed by IS.

In IS's de facto capital Raqa in northern Syria, "jihadists have been celebrating the Brussels attack all week," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

The group's top religious figure in the city, Abu Ali al-Sharii, led the Friday prayer with a pledge to commit more violence.

"We vow new operations by jihadists in the West," he said, according to the Observatory.
By Tom Miles and John Irish GENEVA (Reuters) - The EU sent its foreign policy chief to Geneva on Wednesday to breathe new life into Syrian peace talks, as the two sides remained at odds over the country's political future. Federica Mogherini spoke to negotiators on both sides, and the head of the government delegation, Bashar Ja'afari, said after his meeting that he believed an impasse in the talks had been broken. But he was told by the EU and U.N. that accelerating a political transition in Syria -- a major sticking point given fundamental disagreements between the warring parties over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad -- was the only way to defeat groups like Islamic State. Mogherini arrived unexpectedly on what was the penultimate day of the round of negotiations, possibly highlighting EU concerns that the talks risk getting deadlocked. "She came to support us to engage positively in the talks that would lead to an end to the Syrian crisis," Ja'afari said after the rare meeting with a senior Western official. "For the first time, I can tell you that we were able to break the impasse, maybe in the form and a little bit in substance." The five-year-old conflict between the government and insurgents has killed more than 250,000 people, allowed Islamic State to take control of some eastern areas and caused the world's worst refugee crisis. With a fragile truce in place in Syria, warring sides are more than a week into talks on ending the conflict, but government officials have rejected any discussion on a political transition or the fate of Assad, who opposition leaders say must go as part of any such plan. After the attacks in Brussels claimed by Islamic State, Ja'afari again insisted on Wednesday that fighting terrorism had to come before any discussion of political transition. "My main message especially in meeting with that (Syrian government) delegation is the need to start a political transition in Damascus," Mogherini told reporters, stressing that there had been no change in the EU's position on the "Syrian regime". "This in our opinion is the only way create conditions in the country to first find peace and security and secondly defeat Daesh (Islamic State)." U.N. special envoy Staffan De Mistura echoed her comments. "So the ball goes back to those who have been complaining about terrorism and (we're) saying what about all of you helping us to solve politically the crisis in Syria," he said. Mogherini's visit coincided with high-level meetings in Moscow between Russian and U.S. officials, which de Mistura has said he hopes will give an impetus to the talks, just as they did by engineering a cessation of hostilities that came into effect almost three weeks ago. COMMON GROUND DOCUMENT Activists and diplomats said de Mistura was finalizing a document to present to delegates on Thursday that will synthesize common points of convergence, but is likely to stay clear of the divisive political transition issue. Ja'afari said he had received a document from de Mistura that his delegation would respond to at the beginning of the next round, though the government could not return before Syrian parliamentary elections on April 13. De Mistura said on Tuesday that he aimed to establish if there were any points held in common by the different parties. If successful, he would announce these on Thursday. Randa Kassis, representing a Moscow-backed opposition group, said de Mistura would distribute a document of common points gathered from the various delegates. Points included creating a future unified Syrian army to fight terrorism or ensuring a democratic and non-sectarian based Syria. "We're waiting for a U.S.-Russian accord to solve the (key) issue once and for all. Until they resolve it this process will drag on," Kassis told Reuters. Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the HNC's delegation, whose chief coordinator Riad Hijab met de Mistura and Mogherini on Wednesday, said on Tuesday it was "obvious" there were no points of convergence with the Syrian government and accused it of renewing sieges and barrel bombing campaigns against civilians. (Additional reporting By Stephanie Nebehay and Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Ruth Pitchford and John Stonestreet)
ted cruz

Ted Cruz seemed to use a movie quote on Wednesday to fight back against GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in the candidates' latest feud, which centers on the candidates' wives.

"She is way out of his league," Cruz told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America." "If he wants to get in a character fight, he should stick with me.

The line was nearly identical to one used in the 1995 film "The American President."

In a memorable scene, President Andrew Shepherd, who was portrayed by Michael Douglas, said the following:

You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.

Fast forward to 3:03 of the below clip to catch the bit from "The American President":



It wouldn't be the first time Cruz used a dated pop-culture reference in a spat with Trump, if he did indeed lift the line from the movie. In previous dustups he has cited Janet Jackson, the 1970s TV show "Happy Days," and the hit 1980s song "Maniac."

The latest feud between Trump and Cruz started late Tuesday night as votes were being tallied in Utah and Arizona, when Trump tweeted the following:

Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016



That tweet came minutes after Trump deleted a similar threatening tweet toward Cruz's wife, Heidi. The ad Trump is referring to came from an anti-Trump super PAC that has no affiliation with Cruz. It showed Trump's wife, who had a successful modeling career, posing in a nude photo shoot for British GQ.

The ad read: "Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

Cruz fired back within minutes:

Story continues

Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016



Trump then shot back at Cruz on Wednesday morning, following his "Good Morning America" interview.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania," he tweeted. "That's why we call him Lyin' Ted!"

Watch Cruz's interview on "Good Morning America" below:



NOW WATCH: The images are worth a thousand words: Trump shares a meme attacking Ted Cruzs wife





More From Business Insider


The tragedy in Brussels on Tuesday intensified the ongoing debate over whether President Obamas counterterrorism strategies to defeat ISIS have been working.

During a news conference in Argentina on Wednesday, Obama addressed the importance of defeating ISIS.

I understand why this is the top priority of the American people. And I want them to understand this is my top priority as well, Obama said. But we are approaching this in a way that has a chance of working, and it will work. And were not going to do things that are counterproductive simply because its political season. Were going to be steady. Were going to be resolute, and ultimately were going to be successful.

Graeme Wood, a contributing editor at the Atlantic and the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, is an expert on ISIS whose article What ISIS Really Wants from last year shed light on the terrorist groups beliefs as an agent of the apocalypse.

He spoke to Yahoo News on Wednesday about whats changed for ISIS over the past year and what this means for U.S. efforts to stop the groups reign of chaos and violence.

Islamic State militants parading in Libya's coastal city of Sirte in a photograph from Islamist media outlet Welayat Tarablos in early 2015. (Photo: AFP)

The U.S. campaign against ISIS so far

Wood says that the campaign against ISIS is going far better than could have reasonably been expected a year ago. Its remarkable, he said, that this has been the case without the heavy hand of U.S. involvement.

If you looked at ISIS plans for expansion and conquest, you would have seen a list of places that were very much up for grabs and battles that they were expected to win, Wood said in an interview with Yahoo News. Most of that list of battles are a list of ISIS defeats over the last year. They had some very serious setbacks tactically.

Its important for Americans to understand that merely degrading or destroying ISIS would not mean defeating the group, he said. As a mass movement, they are going to have foreigners in many different locations willing to support them in a violent manner, regardless of whether they are losing battles in Syria.

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A major concern prevented ground warfare

The U.S. and its allies cannot simply defeat ISIS on the battlefield, according to Wood, echoing what the White House has insisted. A plan is needed for what comes next, which is primarily why Obama has not deployed boots on the ground, as the more bellicose Republican presidential candidates want.

Wood says the U.S. and its limited coalition of allies can gain control of terrorist strongholds like Raqqa or Mosul if officials are willing to sacrifice more American lives, because there is no question that the U.S. is more militarily capable than ISIS.

According to Wood, several things will happen if this course of action is taken: 1) ISIS will be driven underground and turned into a beleaguered guerilla organization; 2) the U.S. would inherit a volatile, politically untenable situation; and 3) residents would demand some sort of rule of law that they deem credible.

The United States cant do that. Were not very good at it. The 2000s in Iraq showed us how bad at it we are, Wood said. We cant expect that were going to be better than we were in 2011.  The only way to win it is to make sure theres someone who can step in in our place and act as a government that the people there accept. That government entity does not exist.

A damaged building located just west of Benghazi, Libya. (Photo: Mohammed el-Shaiky/AP)

Why ISIS is targeting Europe

With more losses on the battlefield, ISIS could very well be lashing out at Europe even more than usual to signal strength and success to its adherents. The Islamic State group does not hide the fact that terrorist attacks against the West are presented as morale boosters.

They want to show they are still the premiere terrorist organization. And one way to do that is to dominate a news cycle, Wood said. They even speak about attacks [on the West] in terms of morale. They talking about warming the hearts of believers.

Its important not to overstate this motivation, however, because the desire among jihadists to inflict violence on the West clearly far predates their recent defeats. But the group needs to achieve some victories in order to appear as a juggernaut.

Major changes to ISIS since last year

Wood says that the group's lost territory since this time last year  Kobani, Ramadi, Sinjar and likely more soon  has radically changed the way they can portray themselves.

Formerly, they could say, Were unstoppable. Were incredible. Ive even had supporters of ISIS say to me, Look, they have the favor of God himself. How else could they keep at bay the entire world thats opposed to them? he said.

As for what they believe and what there goals are, that has not changed much. Wood said that ISIS members still talk incessantly about the importance of the caliphate, implementing their interpretation of Islamic law and helping to bring about the apocalypse.

He concluded: Ideologically, the same. Practically, some fairly big differences.

Related video:
Over the past several days, a massive wave of online support propelled the unlikely name "Boaty McBoatface" to the top of a poll proposing monikers for a British polar research vessel.

And because just enough of a good thing is never quite enough for the Internet, Twitter users followed up by asking the perfectly reasonable question: What if the Boaty McBoatface naming aesthetic were applied to animals?

Gauging by the swiftness and the variety of responses under the Twitter hashtag #TheInternetNamesAnimals, quite a number of people had apparently been waiting for exactly this opportunity. [From Blobfish to 'Adorable' Octopus: 9 Animals with Perfect Names]

For instance, @JarodAnderson put forth the name "Pantless Thunder-Goose" atop an image of an ostrich. And Alex Wild (@Myrmecos), curator of entomology at the University of Texas at Austin, suggested "Toothy McHugs" for a trap-jaw ant. Jessa Kent (@JessaKent) shared a colorful cassowary, dubbing it, "Rainbow McMurderbird," while Jonathan Colby (@myfrogcroaked) presented a spiky green caterpillar with the recommended name of "Ouchmaster Flex."

Extinct animals were also fair game, as Franz Anthony (@franzanth) demonstrated with "Crocs McPugface" (the short-skulled crocodile relative Simosuchus) and "Duckface McPancake" (turtlelike marine reptile Henodus.)

And Michele Banks (@artologica) introduced a charming pair: giant panda "Floofy McBoopface" and an unrelated humanoid individual native to Canada, "Prime Mountie McDreamy."

Floofy McBoopface meets Prime Mountie McDreamy #TheInternetNamesAnimals pic.twitter.com/pyLdqTxH0e  Michele Banks (@artologica) March 22, 2016

What's in a name?

Perhaps Boaty McBoatface wasn't quite as dignified a recommendation as its future operators and proposers of the poll  the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)  might have wanted. But as its overwhelming popularity suggests, many factors operate in its favor. It's catchy. It's certainly memorable. And, to be fair, it is an accurate description  when you hear the name, you don't have to think too hard to guess what it might represent.

Story continues

Animal common names frequently reference some physical feature that helps to identify them  think of the white-tailed deer, the yellow-bellied sapsucker, the trap-jaw ant or the shovel-nosed snake. And no one would suggest that the blobfish's name isn't a perfect fit.

But common names can also be puzzling, or even downright misleading. The red panda is certainly red, but it's no panda  it occupies the Ailuridae family and isn't a bear at all. Cuttlefish, jellyfish and starfish aren't fish  they're all invertebrates (animals without backbones) and are described respectively as mollusks, gelatinous zooplankton and echinoderms. Guinea pigs are rodents  not pigs  and they don't even hail from Guinea.

And as ridiculous as some of the proposals circulating on Twitter may sound, there are certain animal species whose actual common names are equally outlandish.

But don't take our word for it. Just ask Maratus jactatus, the jumping spider commonly known as sparklemuffin, or Acanthonus armatus, also known as the bony-eared assfish.

Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian prosecutors have named two brothers as being among three suicide attackers who struck Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 31 people and injuring 270. The third named bomber is believed to be an explosives expert.

Belgium has launched a hunt for a fourth suspect in the bombings in Europe's heart, who was captured by airport surveillance cameras pushing baggage trolleys with the two other men suspected of being the bombers.

The blasts Tuesday occurred four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks also claimed by Islamic State jihadists.

Here is a timeline of what has happened so far.

TUESDAY

- At 7:58 (0658 GMT): A first blast hits Zaventem international airport, followed nine seconds later by a second blast. Witnesses say they heard shots in the departure hall before someone shouted in Arabic and then two explosions occurred.

- Shortly before 0800 GMT: The airport is closed and a crisis cell meets at the interior ministry.

- Shortly after 0800 GMT: A third explosion hits the second carriage of a train in Maalbeek metro station near EU headquarters.

- 0815 GMT: Belgium moves to its highest level of terror alert.

- Shortly before 0900 GMT: The European Commission tells staff to stay home or in their offices, and a similar appeal is later made by the Belgian crisis centre to all Brussels residents.

- Shortly before 0930 GMT: All public transport grinds to a halt. Within the hour, the high-speed Thalys train service between Belgium, France and the Netherlands stops too, airports in cities including Frankfurt, London and Moscow beef up security. The border between Belgium and the Netherlands is reinforced.

- Shortly before 1030 GMT: Police and soldiers reinforce security around Belgium's nuclear power plants.

- 1045 GMT: Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel condemns the "blind, violent and cowardly" attacks.

- Shortly before 1100 GMT: Federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says one airport blast was "probably caused by a suicide bomber".

Story continues

- 1100 GMT: "The whole of Europe has been hit," says French President Francois Hollande.

- Eurostar train service between London and Brussels is suspended.

- 1330 GMT: Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur says there are "around 20" dead with another 106 wounded at the metro station.

- 1345 GMT: A fire service spokesman says the airport attack killed 14 people and left more than 90 wounded.

- 1425 GMT: US President Barack Obama condemns the "outrageous" attacks.

- 1500 GMT: The Belgian government declares three days of mourning.

- Shortly after 1500 GMT: Media publish video surveillance pictures of the airport bombing suspects, three men pushing luggage trolleys.

- 1600 GMT: UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemns the "despicable" attacks.

- 1615 GMT: Third bomb failed to explode at Brussels airport, says Brussels governor.

That bomb contained the heaviest charge, but the instability of the explosives caused it to go off shortly after the arrival of the Mine Clearance Service, the federal prosecutors said.

- 1640 GMT: The IS group claims responsibility, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" carried out the attack against "the crusader state" of Belgium.

- 1715 GMT: Belgian police issue a wanted notice for an airport attack suspect.

- 1740 GMT: Belgium's federal prosecutor says the airport assault may have been carried out by two suicide bombers and the police are "actively looking" for a third attacker.

- 1745 GMT: Police carry out raids across Belgium.

- 2030 GMT: The Brussels airport attackers "came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," local mayor says.

- After 2030, police acting on a tip from a taxi driver who had taken three men to the airport searched a house in Schaarbeek and found 15 kg of TATP high explosive, 150 litres (40 US gallons) of acetone, detonators, bags filled with nails plus other equipment.

WEDNESDAY

- 0730 GMT: Two of the suicide bombers named by media as Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, sought for links with key Paris attacks suspect, Salah Abdeslam.

- 1100 GMT: Belgians observe minute of silence for attack victims.

- 1230 GMT: Khalid El Bakraoui identified by federal prosecutor as Brussels metro bomber, his brother Ibrahim as airport bomber. Second airport bomber not identified while third unidentified assailant on the run.

Investigators say they found a message from Ibrahim on an abandoned computer saying he felt "hunted everywhere... no longer safe".

- 1600 GMT: Obama says "world has to be united against terrorism."

- 1730 GMT: Brussels airport to remain closed until Saturday.

- 1800 GMT: Turkey says it deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui to Netherlands in 2015 and notified Belgium.

- 1830 GMT: Second airport suicide bomber identified as Najim Laachraoui, police sources tell AFP.
Washington (AFP) - Tinder made a name for itself by getting users to "swipe" right or left to find a date. Now it wants to use that idea in the US presidential campaign.

The mobile dating app on Wednesday launched a feature called "Swipe the Vote" that allows users to respond to questions and find a political "match."

Questions include "Keep same-sex marriage legal?" and "Drill for oil and gas in the US?" and users are asked to swipe right or left depending on their answer.

The feature, developed with the nonprofit group Rock the Vote, aims to boost political engagement among young Americans and help them learn more about key issues. Those who want more information can tap on a question and see the details.

"Once you've swiped through ten of the hottest issues, you'll be matched with the candidate who best matches your views," Tinder said on its blog.

"We'll also show you how you compare with other candidates, too! From there, you can share who you matched with on social and -- most importantly -- easily register to vote with Rock the Vote."

The launch comes as some grassroots political activists, notably young women, are reportedly using Tinder to send messages to their matches promoting candidates such as Democrat Bernie Sanders or Republican Marco Rubio, who has now suspended his campaign.

"We've been amazed by the amount of users expressing their political views with matches during this presidential campaign," Tinder said on its blog.

"That's why we decided to build Swipe the Vote."
Jerusalem (AFP) - The tomb where Jesus is said to have been buried before his resurrection in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is to undergo major restoration, church officials said Wednesday.

The work could begin soon after Orthodox Easter on May 1. Western Christians mark Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, this coming Sunday.

The restoration, entrusted to a Greek team, is expected to be completed in early 2017 and the site will remain open to visitors in the meantime.

The shrine, several metres tall and wide standing under the church's dome, has for decades been held together by a metal frame.

Its marble slabs have been weakened over the years in part by daily visits by thousands of pilgrims and tourists.

It will be painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt during eight months of restoration work, said the Custody of the Holy Land, which oversees Roman Catholic properties in the area.

Broken or fragile parts will be replaced while marble slabs that can be preserved will be cleaned, and the structure supporting them will be reinforced.

The work is to be funded by the three main Christian denominations of the Holy Sepulchre -- Greek Orthodox, Franciscans and Armenians -- as well as public and private contributions.

The shrine was built in the early 19th century over the site of the cave where Jesus is believed to have been buried.
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York accused a Toys "R" Us employee of stealing nearly $2 million from the retailer by loading money meant for truck drivers onto a debit card he later used to make withdrawals from automated teller machines.

According to a criminal complaint made public on Wednesday, Daniel Chon, a director of inbound and outbound transportation, withdrew $1.92 million of "eCash" by logging into Toys "R" Us' secure "Fleet Card" system without permission on 117 occasions from May 2013 until this month.

Prosecutors said eCash was meant to help drivers who ship merchandise to stores from distribution centers pay for lodging, meals and repairs, and that employees like Chon, who joined Toys "R" Us in June 2009, were not supposed to use it.

According to the complaint, $1.89 million in eCash was withdrawn from ATMs over the nearly three-year period.

Video surveillance showed Chon using a Fleet Card within the last month at ATMs in New Jersey, and a Fleet Card was used last year in London, Madrid and Berlin on dates corresponding to Chon's travel to those cities, the complaint said.

Chon appeared in federal court on Wednesday, and was ordered released on $500,000 bond. His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Toys "R" Us in a statement said it has terminated Chon's employment, contacted law enforcement after uncovering the alleged wrongdoing, and will continue working with authorities.

The case is U.S. v. Chon, US. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 16-mj-00269.
By Amy Tennery NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz turned to Twitter to defend their wives' honor after a Super PAC put out an ad featuring Trump's wife nude and Trump threatened to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife. Trump's threat came on Tuesday night when he was upset about an ad that showed his wife, former model Melania Trump, lounging nude with a caption saying, "Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday." Trump said Cruz was behind the ad, which appeared on Tuesday, the day of nominating contests in Utah, where the heavily Mormon electorate favored Cruz in its caucuses, and Arizona, which gave Trump a victory in its primary vote. The ad said it was from Make America Awesome, a Super PAC that is allowed to promote a candidate but not coordinate with the campaign. Wow @SenTedCruz, that is some low level ad you did using a picture [of] Melania in a G.Q. shoot," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "Be careful or I will spill the beans on your wife." Trump later deleted the tweet but published another that read: Lyin Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife! Trump did not indicate what kind of beans he intended to spill about Heidi Cruz, who is on leave from an executive job at Goldman Sachs while campaigning, but her husband quickly came to her defense on Twitter. "Pic of your wife not from us," the U.S. senator from Texas said. "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless." The battle continued on Wednesday with Cruz telling CNN: "He went directly after my wife. If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he's better off sticking with me because Heidi is way out of his league." A Twitter response from Trump questioned Cruz' honesty. "Lyin' Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted!" he said. The director of Make America Awesome, Liz Mair, posted on Twitter that her group was responsible for the ad. She did not respond to an email from Reuters seeking comment. In a campaign appearance for her husband in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Heidi Cruz addressed the uproar briefly. "You probably know by now that most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality," she told reporters. So we are not worried in the least." (Reporting By Amy Tennery; Additional reporting by Melissa Fares and Gina Cherelus in New York and Megan Cassella and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott)
Donald Trump yesterday completely reversed himself on whether or not he would commit U.S. combat troops to the fight against ISIS, even as he bragged that he has the steady hands necessary to manage the countrys foreign policy in an increasingly dangerous world.

As Belgian authorities struggle to deal with the aftermath of what appears to be two murderous bombings in Brussels on Tuesday for which ISIS has claimed credit, the question of whether the countrys next commander in chief has thought clearly about how to deal with the terror group is on the minds of many. Trump didnt do much to inspire confidence on Monday.

Related: Trump  Turn US Military Into the Worlds Rent-a-Cop

Less than two weeks before, on March 10, at the most recent Republican presidential debate, Trump was asked about his position on using U.S. troops to fight ISIS. His answer was clear: The U.S. should send in troops, wipe out ISIS, and get out.

We really have no choice, the GOPs leading contender for the presidential nomination said. We have to knock out ISIS. We have to knock the hell out of them. We have to get rid of it. And then come back and rebuild our country, which is falling apart. We have no choice.

Asked how many troops he would commit, Trump said, I would listen to the generals, but I'm hearing numbers of 20,000 to 30,000. We have to knock them out fast  So, the answer is we have to knock them out. We have to knock them out fast. And we have to get back home. And we have to rebuild our country, which is falling apart.

But in an interview with The Washington Post editorial board on Monday, Trump denied having said that he would commit troops.

Related: The Secret of trumps Self-Funded Campaign  Its Dirt Cheap

Deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl asked the billionaire, Could I ask you about ISIS, speaking of making commitments, because you talked recently about possibly sending 20 or 30,000 troops and 

Interrupting Diehl, Trump said, No I didnt, oh no no no, okay, I know what youre saying. There was a question asked to me. I said that the military, the generals have said that 20- to 30,000. They said, would you send troops? I didnt say send 20,000. I said, well the generals are saying youd need because they, what would it take to wipe out ISIS, I said pretty much exactly this, I said the generals, the military is saying you would need 20- to 30,000 troops, but I didnt say that I would send them.

Story continues

Asked if he would commit troops if in fact some generals told him that was what was needed to defeat ISIS, Trump let fly with this barrage of words:

I find it hard to go along with  I mention that as an example because its so much. Thats why I brought that up. But a couple of people have said the same thing as you, where they said, Did I say that, and I said that thats a number that I heard would be needed. I would find it very, very hard to send that many troops to take care of it. I would say this, I would put tremendous pressure on other countries that are over there to use their troops and Id give them tremendous air supporters and support, because we have to get rid of ISIS, okay, just so  we have to get rid of ISIS. I would get other countries to become very much involved.

Related: New Levels of Chutzpah from Trump in D.C.

Bottom line takeaway from the Post interview is that Trumps position today is the opposite of the one he took at the Republican debate less than two weeks ago.

Trump clarified his new position, sort of, hours later when he was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Turns out he might be in favor of the number of troops he cited in the debate  just not their source.

I wouldn't deploy 20,000, he said. Id get people from that part of the world to put up the troops, and Id certainly give them air power and air support and some military support  I would never ever put up 20,000 or 30,000.

Also yesterday, trump artfully dodged another ISIS related question from the Post.

Related: Arizona and Utah Provide First Big Test of the Stop Trump Movement

When Fred Ryan, the papers publisher and CEO, asked whether he would consider using a tactical nuclear weapon against ISIS forces, he began, I dont want to use, I dont want to start the process of nuclear. Remember the one thing that everybody has said, Im a counterpuncher. Rubio hit me. Bush hit me. When I said low energy, hes a low-energy individual, he hit me first. I spent, by the way he spent 18 million dollars worth of negative ads on me. Thats putting 

Ryan interrupted, This is about ISIS. You would not use a tactical nuclear weapon against ISIS?

Ill tell you one thing, this is a very good looking group of people here, Trump said. Could I just go around so I know who the hell Im talking to?

And the conversation never got back to the subject of using nuclear weapons against ISIS.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
LONDON (Reuters) - Home Secretary Theresa May said U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was "just plain wrong" to say that Muslims in Britain were failing to report suspicious activity by extremists. "I understand he said that Muslims were not coming forward in the United Kingdom to report matters of concern. This is absolutely not the case - he is just plain wrong," May said in parliament. Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said in an interview with Britain's ITV television that it was "a disgrace" that one of the suspects behind last November's attacks in Paris had been found in an area of Brussels where he lived. He also said people in the Muslim community in California had known in advance about an attack that killed 14 people in December. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; writing by William Schomberg; editing by Stephen Addison)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's interior minister said U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was "just plain wrong" to say that Muslims in Britain were failing to report suspicious activity by extremists. "I understand he said that Muslims were not coming forward in the United Kingdom to report matters of concern. This is absolutely not the case - he is just plain wrong," Theresa May said in Britain's parliament. Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said in an interview with Britain's ITV television that it was "a disgrace" that one of the suspects behind last November's attacks in Paris had been found in an area of Brussels where he lived. He also said people in the Muslim community in California had known in advance about an attack that killed 14 people in December. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; writing by William Schomberg; editing by Stephen Addison)
By Guy Faulconbridge and William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Muslims were not helping to prevent attacks such as those that killed at least 30 people in Belgium, drawing a rebuke from Britain's government and from Muslim groups in the country. In an interview broadcast on Britain's ITV television on Wednesday, Trump was asked what his message was for British Muslims after Tuesday's bombings in Brussels and the attacks in Paris last November. "When they see trouble they have to report it, they are not reporting it, they are absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem," Trump said. His comments were countered by British interior minister Theresa May who said he was "just plain wrong" to suggest Muslims in Britain were failing to report suspicious activity by extremists. Trump, the front-runner in the race to be the Republican candidate in November's presidential election, has made a series of controversial statements during his campaign. His supporters see him as someone who speaks uncomfortable truths but he has outraged many others in the United States and around the world. Trump, who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, said it was "a disgrace" that one of the suspects behind last November's attacks in Paris had been found after a long manhunt by police in an area of Brussels where he lived. "He was in his neighborhood where he grew up and nobody even turned him in and supposedly this is retribution for that. It's a disgrace," he said. Trump said there were signs that an attack by suspected Muslim extremists in California in December, which killed 14 people, could have been stopped. "A lot of people in the community knew they were going to do it because in their apartment they had bombs all over the floor ... and they didn't report them," he said. "I don't know what it is. It's like they're protecting each other but they're really doing very bad damage. They have to open up to society, they have to report the bad ones." Britain's May told parliament that Trump was mistaken. "I understand he said that Muslims were not coming forward in the United Kingdom to report matters of concern. This is absolutely not the case - he is just plain wrong," she said. (Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Stephen Addison)
London (AFP) - US presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Wednesday said Muslims were "absolutely not reporting" suspected attackers in an interview with British television following the Brussels attacks.

"I would say this to the Muslims, and in the United States also, when they see trouble they have to report it," Trump told ITV television, a day after triple blasts killed some 30 people at Brussels airport and on the city's metro system.

"They're not reporting it, they're absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem," said Trump, who is the favourite to win the Republican nomination for the US presidential election on November 8.

"It's like they are protecting each other but they are really doing very bad damage... They have to open up to society, they have to report the bad ones," he told interviewer Piers Morgan.

Trump's comments were immediately rejected by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which represents hundreds of mosques and charities, and by one of Britain's top counter-terrorism officers, Neil Basu.

"He is wrong," Basu, a deputy assistant commissioner at London's Metropolitan Police, told BBC Radio.

"If we demonise one section of the community that is the worst thing we can do. We are absolutely playing into the terrorists' hands of making people feel hate," he said.

Miqdaad Versi, the MCB's assistant secretary-general, said Trump's comments "fuel this idea of bigotry".

They "really fuel the thing that terrorists themselves want -- that Muslims are apart from the West and cannot be seen as equal citizens," he said.

Trump has drawn controversy before by calling for Muslims to be barred from entering the United States following a deadly shooting attack in San Bernardino, California in December.
As the two democratic candidates for president spar over foreign policy, its clear that Clintons and Sanders views on Israel-US relations are far apart. Sanders has been highly critical of Israels military action against the Palestinians and of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus heavy handed efforts to block U.S. approval of a nuclear non-proliferation agreement with Iran last year. Sanders complains that U.S. policy has for too long been to back up Israel with military aid and looked the other way when Israel did bad things to the Palestinians.

But Sanders vs. Clinton doesnt begin to compete with Trump vs. Clinton, especially before the crowd of roughly 18,000 people who gathered for the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying organization in the country. Clinton and Trump seemingly tried to outdo themselves in vowing unflinching support for Israel. And in another preview of the bruising general election campaign battle awaiting them, Clinton and Trump exchanged insults and criticism during their separate appearances at AIPAC and later on CNNs Final Five interviews of the five remaining presidential candidates.

Related: New Levels of Chutzpah from Trump in DC

During her AIPAC speech yesterday, Clinton said  without specifically mentioning his name  that Trump lacked the temperament and steady hands to forge U.S. policy overseas. Israel could not trust him to protect their interests in Middle East talks, she insisted. She focused on Trumps conflicting statements as to whether he would be an unwavering ally of Israel or strike a neutral pose in an effort to negotiate a Middle East peace agreement.

Terrorist Attacks and Threats in Israel | FindTheData

We need steady hands, not a president who says hes neutral on Monday, pro-Israel on Tuesday and who-knows what on Wednesday, Clinton said to the cheering crowd. Everythings negotiable [with Trump]. Well my friends, Israels security is not negotiable.

Story continues

For his part, Trump had nothing nasty to say about Clinton in his prepared remarks, although he ad-libbed this line: Hillary Clinton, who is a total disaster by the way, she and President Obama have treated Israel very, very badly.

Related: ISIS Attacks on Brussels Airport and Metro Kill at Least 26

Later, during his appearance on CNN, Trump, a notorious counter-puncher, went after Clinton with more personal attacks. He touched on the FBI investigation of her mishandling of sensitive email during her four years at the State Department and the so-called Whitewater real estate business scandal that marred Bill Clintons governorship of Arkansas decades ago.

I think she doesnt have the stamina to be president, Trump said. Shes always got problems, whether its Whitewater or whether its emails, there is always drama. It should end. It should end. Honestly, she shouldnt be allowed to run based on the emails, to be totally honest with you. Shes being protected.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police have broken up a cell recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Libya, authorities said, part of a security crackdown on jihadists crossing the border. Tunisian security forces are on high alert after dozens of Islamist militants stormed through the border town of Ben Guerdan earlier this month attacking army and police posts and triggering street battles in which troops killed about 50 militants over three days. Twelve soldiers and seven civilians were also killed in the worst such attack in Tunisia's history. "Our counter-terrorism unit forces dismantled a cell which included 12 extremists who were recruiting young people to send into Libya to join Daesh (Islamic State)," the interior ministry said in a statement late on Monday. It said those arrested had helped jihadists who attacked Ben Guerdan this month to infiltrate to Libya to join Islamic State. Tunisian authorities said Islamic State militants had carried out the large-scale assault on Ben Guerdan in an attempt to seize control of the town and expand their territory. Tunisia has become increasingly concerned about violence spilling over its border as Islamic State has expanded in Libya, taking advantage of the country's chaos to control the city of Sirte and setting up training camps there. After Tunisia's 2011 revolution and transition to democracy, Islamist militancy has also grown. Officials estimate that several thousand Tunisians left to fight with Islamic State and other groups in Iraq, Syria and, increasingly, in Libya. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Gareth Jones)
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Argentina's President Mauricio Macri agreed on Wednesday to take joint steps to fight climate change including working to cut carbon emissions from air flights and integrating solar and wind power into electricity grids. Obama is visiting Argentina for two days to reset diplomatic relations and strengthen trade ties, marking a rapprochement after more than a decade of sour relations. The two countries committed to signing last year's Paris global climate agreement as soon as feasible and Argentina plans to enhance its contribution under the plan, a fact sheet on the agreement said. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited world leaders to sign the Paris agreement in New York on April 22. In addition, "the two governments will cooperate on scaling up renewables, including through U.S. assistance on market reform, system optimization, and integrating renewable energy in the power grid," said the fact sheet, issued by the White House. The countries, both of which are big oil and natural gas producers, also agreed to "promote safe and responsible development of unconventional oil and gas resources." The United States will coordinate visits by Argentine officials to U.S. shale gas fields and other unconventional petroleum drilling sites, the agreement said. In the bilateral announcement, Argentina said it would strengthen the national climate change plan it submitted as part of the U.N. climate agreement. Obama has said the United States remains committed to carrying out its own national climate strategy, despite a Supreme Court ruling last month that froze a key regulation to curb power plant emissions. Obama said despite the legal setback he is "very confident" that the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan is on "strong legal footing." [L2N15Q34T] (Reporting by Jeff Mason in Buenos Aires and Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry)
By John Shiffman and Duff Wilson

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A bill that aims to protect babies born to mothers who used heroin or other opioids during pregnancy was introduced on Wednesday in the House as part of the governments response to a Reuters investigation.

The bipartisan measure would require federal and state governments to do a better job of monitoring the health and safety of babies born drug-dependent. Last week  and also in response to the Reuters investigation  a similar bill moved to the Senate floor and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department pledged reforms.

We must do everything we can to safeguard the most vulnerable among us, Representative Lou Barletta, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in a statement on Wednesday. Barletta is the bill's prime sponsor.

Reuters found that 110 U.S. children who were exposed to opioids while in the womb later died preventable deaths at home  and that thousands more each year do not receive social supports required by a 2003 law. The news agency also found that no more than nine states comply with this law, which calls on hospitals to alert social workers whenever a baby is born dependent on drugs.

The House bill would require states to report each year the number of infants identified as born drug-dependent, and the number for whom plans of safe care are developed. The bill also calls for the distribution of best practices to social workers developing plans of safe care for the newborns and their caretakers.

This legislation puts families at the center of care and ensures that babies and mothers affected by substance use disorders get the help they need, the lead Democratic sponsor, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

The bill follows a hearing last week in which Representative John Kline, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and a cosponsor of the bill, quizzed a senior Obama administration official on the federal governments enforcement of the 2003 law and the Reuters series.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told Kline that her agency has revamped its policies and planned to be "more proactive" with states. Thus far, she said, HHS has directed South Carolina to resolve unspecified problems. All other states have been directed to update HHS by June on their social service efforts to help drug-dependent babies and their parents.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a federal judge was justified in increasing the prison sentence of money manager and arts patron Alberto Vilar to 10 years in prison from nine for securities fraud.

But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York vacated the $10 million in fines imposed on Vilar and Gary Tanaka, his business partner at the now-defunct Amerindo Investment Advisers Inc, who also was convicted of securities fraud.

Vilar, 75, was found guilty in 2008 of securities fraud and money laundering charges for engaging in a fraudulent investment scheme.

He was initially sentenced to five years in prison and Tanaka to five. A federal appeals court in 2013 ordered them resentenced in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affected how punishments should be calculated.

At their 2014 resentencing, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan said a longer period of incarceration was justified because the pair had taken steps to prevent victims of their crimes from being repaid.

Sullivan gave Vilar and Tanaka each an extra year in prison and increased their fines to $10 million from $25,000.

On appeal, Vilar and Tanaka said Sullivan's decision was based on their 2013 appeal. The 2nd Circuit disagreed, saying there "was no reasonable likelihood of vindictiveness."

In vacating the fines, the three-judge panel noted the two were indigent and were already ordered to forfeit $20.6 million and pay $26.6 million in restitution, plus tens of millions more in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case.

Michael Bachram, Vilar's lawyer, said he was pleased with the decision on the fines and might seek reconsideration of the prison term. Tanaka's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Vilar, whose Amerindo at its height had $10 billion under management, ranked high in the culture world for the millions he gave but fell short in promised donations to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Los Angeles Opera and other groups.

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Prosecutors said beginning in 1986, Vilar and Tanaka engaged in a fraudulent scheme by investing in risky stocks against Amerindo clients' wishes and offering high returns by investing in a sham product.

Prosecutors said that after the tech bubble burst in 2002, Vilar and Tanaka stole client money to pay their bills.

The case is U.S. v. Vilar et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 05-cr-00621.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
By Sebastien Malo NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least forty people with albinism have reportedly been attacked in the last eight months, the United Nations' top expert on albinism said on Tuesday in releasing a report condemning the superstitions behind the violence. All the attacks took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and most victims were likely to have been children, said Ikponwosa Ero, the U.N.'s independent expert on human rights and albinism. People with albinism live in danger in regions of the world where their body parts are valued in witchcraft and can fetch a high price. Superstition leads many to believe albino children bring bad luck. Attacks against people with albinism are particularly brutal, at times involving victims being dismembered alive by assailants wielding machetes, Ero said in issuing her first report in her UN position. "Dangerous myths" motivate and facilitate the hunting and attacks, Ero said. Ero, who is from Nigeria and has albinism, took the job as the UN's first independent expert on the issue last August. "Many erroneously believe people with albinism are not human beings but are ghosts or subhuman and cannot die but only disappear," she added. The report said the impact of witchcraft on people with albinism is a "harmful traditional practice and ... one of the root causes of ritual attacks." It called for investigations into the attacks and increased prosecutions as well as public education from a scientific perspective to counteract dangerous prejudices and traditional practices and beliefs. "Such awareness-raising will contribute to fighting myths and stereotypes about persons with albinism, particularly those that fuel stigma, discrimination and attacks," the report said. Albinism is a congenital disorder affecting about one in 20,000 people worldwide who lack pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. It is more common, however, in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of attacks could well be higher as they are frequently carried out in secret and not reported, Ero said. Discrimination, harassment and violence toward people with albinism are often met with passivity and indifference, taking place in remote areas and involving children who are perceived as bringing shame to their families, the report said. Children are commonly victims of the attacks, Ero told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It's pretty evident why," she said. "They are easy to capture because kids sometimes roam freely without adult supervision." Victims' body parts are hacked off to create potions or amulets. The practice feeds upon beliefs that the body parts can bring wealth, luck or political success. On the black market, prices range from $2,000 for an albino limb to $75,000 for an entire corpse, the report said. The research collected reports of attacks from charities and agencies and could not independently confirm all the incidents, Ero said. While the report did not name the seven countries where the violence occurred, attacks against people with albinism this year have been reported in Burundi, Malawi and Mozambique, according to Under the Same Sun, a Canadian advocacy charity. (Reporting by Sebastien Malo, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The U.N. envoy to Libya said on Wednesday he had been forced to cancel a flight to Tripoli because he had not been granted landing rights by the self-declared government there. Martin Kobler said he had intended to visit the Libyan capital to "pave the way" for a U.N.-backed unity government to move there from Tunis. Fayez Seraj, prime minister of the unity government, said last week that such a move was imminent. Libya has two sets of rival parliaments and governments, one in Tripoli and one in the east. A unity government was formed under a plan to end Libya's simmering conflict, but has faced stiff opposition from hardliners on both sides of Libya's political divide. Earlier this month the unity government called for an immediate transfer of power. But the prime minister in Tripoli, Khalifa Ghwell, warned it not to move, and the eastern government said it should first secure a long-delayed vote of approval from the internationally recognized parliament in the east. Ghwell's office in Tripoli said authorities there had asked Kobler for an agenda for his visit but had not received a reply and therefore had not granted permission for him to land. Previous requests from Kobler to visit had not been granted for the same reason, it said, adding that the visit had been postponed, not canceled. In televised comments on Wednesday, Ghwell repeated his criticism of Kobler and the U.N., saying they risked creating "chaos". Seraj has said that his government would be able to move to Tripoli after a security plan was agreed with police and military forces, as well as armed groups. But the security situation in the Libyan capital remains fickle, and there have been repeated clashes between armed groups. Overnight, the commander of Tripoli's diplomatic police, Faraj Swaihili, escaped an assassination attempt by an armed group, according to accounts posted by residents on social media. No-one could be reached to confirm the reports. At least seven people were killed on Wednesday in clashes about 35km (22 miles) west of Tripoli between a brigade from Zawiya and armed militiamen who had tried to ransack the town of Tuwaybiya to avenge an earlier killing there, said security official Sabri Kshada. That followed clashes near a bank in the Bab Ben Ghashir district of Tripoli on Monday, and heavy gunfire between the Zawiyat Addahmani area and Bab Azizziya on Saturday. Tripoli is controlled by a number of semi-official armed groups which clash periodically, and it was not clear if any of the most recent incidents were linked to political developments. Some armed groups, including powerful factions from the western city of Misrata, have said they will back the unity government, but other brigades remain opposed. (Reporting by Aidan Lewis in Tunis and Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Netflix still has 5 million people who subscribe to its DVD-by-mail service. That might not sound like a lot, especially when compared to the 75 million who are streaming customers, but it's more important to Netflix than you might think. The mail business is a lot more profitable  with profit margins of nearly 50 percent  than streaming. Although the mail business continues to decline by about 20 percent each year, Netflix would like to hold on to it as long as it can. Fortunately, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has just handed down a decision that will save the company quite a bit on postage stamps.

The U.S. Postal Service wanted to increase prices on Netflix, as well as GameFly, a similar company in the video game rental business. To do this, because there are antitrust concerns, it needed approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission. When it comes to the mail business, there are two kinds of products  "competitive" ones, which are subject to a statutory pricing floor, and "market dominant" ones, which are subject to a pricing ceiling.

Because nobody else sells to Netflix in the DVD-by-mail business, the round-trip mailers offered by the Postal Service have been classified in the "market dominant" camp, but the Postal Service aimed to change that. The main argument was that streaming had become a marketplace substitute for DVDs by mail, and thus, Netflix should be paying "competitive" rates. In other words, the Postal Service believed that if the cost of getting DVDs by mail got too high, customers would switch to streaming. Netflix would thus have a less of a demand for postage, and this marketplace dynamic would be a check on Postal Service pricing.

Alas, the commission rejected this argument, pointing out that some people prefer DVDs by mail because there are more movies and television shows available, or the quality of streaming might be inferior. Also, nearly two-thirds of those who get DVDs by mail also subscribe to Netflix's streaming service. The commission also wasn't convinced that the shift toward streaming correlated to the price sensitivity of the mailing business.

Courts generally defer to decisions from administrative agencies, and in this case, the D.C. Circuit not only says the commission's conclusions are "reasonable" but also "rather compelling."

Writing for the appellate court, which has decided to turn down a petition for review, Judge Laurence Silberman also points to the Postal Service's fundamental logic flaw.

"The Service enjoys market power in the [DVD-by-mail] (upstream) distribution market regardless of conditions in the [streaming] (downstream) content market because it does not face any competition in the distribution market," writes Silberman in the opinion. "Whether because of economic or legal hurdles, no other business offers or seems reasonably poised to offer a competing distribution channel that Netflix could readily take advantage of."

Silberman adds that Netflix simply has no other way of transporting DVDs by mail, so even if Netflix wanted to exercise bargaining leverage, there would be no way for it to do so. He also won't give the Postal Service any breaks for the speed of technological change, writing that the commission was not "unreasonable to hold that the potential technological evolution suggested by the Service was too speculative to condition its market power analysis here."
LONDON (Reuters) - A new cystic fibrosis treatment from Vertex Pharmaceuticals has been rejected as too expensive by Britain's healthcare cost agency NICE. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said on Wednesday that Orkambi, priced at an annual 104,000 pounds per patient, was not a cost-effective use of state healthcare resources, even though it offers clinical benefits. Vertex said it believed the evaluation process used by NICE in reaching its draft decision was not appropriate for rare diseases like cystic fibrosis, as it did not take into account the full benefits that medicines like Orkambi could offer. Cystic fibrosis is caused by a genetic defect that causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with sticky mucus. There is currently no cure. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Cairo (AFP) - The United Nations and global rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty urged Egypt on Wednesday to drop a renewed investigation of rights activists that has also strained ties with Washington.

Since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the authorities have led a crackdown on all forms of dissent -- not just Morsi's supporters but also liberal and rights activists.

Rights groups have regularly accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and torture of detainees.

"NGOs who have played a valuable role in documenting violations and supporting victims will see their activities completely crippled if this continues," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"This will stifle the voices of those who advocate for victims," he said.

Rights group also raised the alarm.

"Egypts civil society is being treated like an enemy of the state, rather than a partner for reform and progress," Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa programme, said in a joint statement issued by 13 global rights groups.

It said that in recent weeks the Egyptian authorities have questioned several human rights workers, barred them from travel and also attempted to freeze their assets.

"The authorities should halt their persecution of these groups and drop the investigation," the statement said.

Five months after the fall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egyptian authorities began an investigation into the funding of local and foreign groups that led to the closure of five international groups, the statement said.

The United States and other European countries condemned the move and evacuated several citizens who were threatened with arrest.

Under Egyptian law, human rights groups operating without legal registration or accepting foreign funding could be jailed for life. Life imprisonment in Egypt amounts to 25 years.

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"The Egyptian authorities have moved beyond scaremongering and are now rapidly taking concrete steps to shut down the last critical voices in the countrys human rights community," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that there was a "deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt in recent weeks and months".

His Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry brushed off the criticism, saying the authorities supported civil society in the country.

"But there are laws in all countries to organise and guarantee that the organisations carry out their responsibilities based on the rules they were founded on," he said.
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations has closed its military liaison office in the disputed territory of Western Sahara as demanded by Morocco amid an escalating dispute over remarks by the U.N. chief, a U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday. Dozens of U.N. international staffers pulled out of the Western Sahara mission, known as MINURSO, after Morocco demanded they leave because Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the term "occupation" during a recent visit. U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Morocco demanded the closure of the U.N. Dakhla military liaison office. It was Rabat's latest retaliatory step. "This was completed yesterday," Haq said. "The three military observers based there were relocated to the Asward team site, on the western part of the territory, controlled by Morocco. Morocco's request to close the liaison office in Dakhla is the first request directly targeting the military component." He said the liaison office was the U.N.'s "face-to-face counterpart to the Royal Moroccan Army" and handled all discussions on the ceasefire. Haq said the relocation made direct dialogue with the army "more difficult." U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric chided the Security Council on Friday for not issuing a strong statement of support for him and MINURSO in the dispute, something council diplomats blamed on Morocco's traditional ally France, along with Spain, Egypt and Senegal. Ban and the 15-nation council had their monthly lunch meeting on Monday. Several diplomats told Reuters that Ban left with the impression that a statement of support for him was imminent. But no such statement was issued. Haq repeated Ban's desire for a statement of support from the council. "In enough time, a lack of a statement can indeed be interpreted as a statement of its very own," he said. The controversy over Ban's comments is Morocco's worst dispute with the U.N. since 1991, when the U.N. brokered a ceasefire to end a war over the Western Sahara and established the mission. Rabat accused Ban earlier this month of no longer being neutral in the Western Sahara dispute when he used the word "occupation" to describe its 1975 annexation of the region, when Morocco took over from colonial power Spain. Ban had visited refugee camps in southern Algeria for the Sahrawi people, who say Western Sahara belongs to them. They fought a war against Morocco until the 1991 ceasefire. The Polisario Front wants a referendum on independence, but Morocco says it will only grant autonomy. Polisario says Rabat's moves against the U.N. jeopardize the ceasefire. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Washington (AFP) - The United States said it is "reassessing" China's participation in a large naval drill in the Pacific this year, amid tensions with Beijing over maritime claims.

China took part in RIMPAC -- the largest international naval exercises in the Pacific involving some 20 countries every two years under US leadership -- for the first time in 2014.

But soon after China's initial participation, aimed at reducing distrust, renewed incidents caused tensions to flare up anew.

China's land reclamation and military buildup in the South China Sea have drawn international condemnation, including from the United States.

The Chinese "have an invitation for RIMPAC and we will continue to review that," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee.

"Our strategy in the Asia Pacific is not to exclude anyone, but to keep the security architecture going there, in which everyone participates," he testified at a hearing.

"China is, however, self-isolating... that's why all these partners are coming to us."

"We are constantly reassessing" the opportunity to have China participate in the exercise, Carter added.

US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris has warned lawmakers that Beijing was "clearly militarizing" the South China Sea.

Washington recently struck an accord with the Philippines, making it possible for US forces to rotate through five bases there -- including those close to the South China Sea.

China claims virtually all the South China Sea, despite conflicting partial claims by Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

It has been asserting its claim by occupying more reefs and outcrops in these waters, and building artificial islands, including airstrips on some of them.

This year, RIMPAC is due to take place in June and July. RIMPAC 2014 involved 23 counties, some 50 ships, six submarines and more than 25,000 troops.
Buenos Aires (AFP) - The United States and Argentina sealed a major trade deal on the first day of President Barack Obama's visit Wednesday, bolstering the efforts of his counterpart to end a decade-and-a-half of international financial isolation.

After talks in Buenos Aires between Obama and new President Mauricio Macri, the White House announced the signature of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and support for Argentina's full participation in the IMF and other key international financial institutions.

Macri won elections in November, ending 12 years of leftist and crisis-ridden rule by the late Nestor Kirchner and his wife Cristina who reveled in political enmity with Washington.

Obama is keen to help shore up the new president, spying a chance to put Argentina on a firmer financial footing and creating a new ally in the region.

"The United States welcomes President Macri's efforts to strengthen Argentina's ties to the international financial system and engage with multilateral economic fora," the White House said.

The White House also announced that six trade delegations would visit Argentina and technical assistance to help support reforms.

Argentina is Latin America's third-largest economy, similar in size to Sweden, Nigeria or Taiwan.

But a $100 billion default in 2001 made it a financial pariah, effectively shut out from international capital markets.

Macri has tried to quickly clear billions' worth of remaining claims from holdout bond holders.

A deal has been agreed but has yet to be ratified.

Until the issue is resolved, Argentina is frozen out of the International Monetary Fund, making investment difficult.

Obama had traveled from Cuba -- where citizens are among the most pro-American in the hemisphere despite government suspicions and Cold War tension -- to a country where anti-American sentiment is rife.

George W. Bush was the last US president to visit Argentina. But his 2005 trip to a regional summit sparked mass protests, rioting and arrests.
Aden (AFP) - A US air strike on an Al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen has killed at least 40 fighters in a major blow to the jihadists who have been expanding their territory in the war-torn country.

The extremists have exploited a security vacuum in the Arabian Peninsula nation since Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels seized the capital in September 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee.

Tuesday's strike in Hajr in the vast southeastern province of Hadramawt killed at least 40 militants and wounded 25 more, a provincial official told AFP.

A tribal source, who confirmed the toll, said the casualties were new Al-Qaeda recruits training at the camp, adding that "other fighters survived the strike."

Dozens of Al-Qaeda militants were seen rushing to hospital to donate blood, according to residents.

Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, and has carried out deadly attacks on the West in the past.

It has taken advantage of the war between the Huthis and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition to expand in the south, seizing parts of Hadramawt including its provincial capital Mukalla in April last year.

- 'Unacceptable' expansion -

The United States has waged a long-standing drone war against AQAP militants, killing several of its leaders.

But Tuesday's raid by American military planes was unusual because US strikes usually target a small number of suspected Al-Qaeda members while they are travelling in a vehicle.

"The Americans felt that Al-Qaeda has started to expand its influence in an unacceptable manner after it established fixed camps to train its supporters," said Mustafa al-Ani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Centre.

He said Tuesday's strike was the first by Washington in nearly a year against a fixed Al-Qaeda position in Hadramawt.

The Pentagon said the camp was used by more than 70 fighters.

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The raid "deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks" that threaten US citizens, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," he added.

"It demonstrates our commitment to defeating Al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven."

Formed in 2009 when Al-Qaeda in Yemen merged with its Saudi counterpart, AQAP was behind the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbour that killed 17 American sailors.

The group also has a record of abducting foreigners, including US journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie who died during a failed rescue bid by US commandos in 2014.

More recently, AQAP claimed responsibility for the deadly January 7, 2015 attack in Paris on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, targeted for its cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

- 'Qaeda could strike back' -

The group could strike back "if the human losses were as big as the Americans say," Ani warned.

AQAP, which often attacks both Yemeni loyalists and rebels, has expanded its presence in the country's south in recent months while the Saudi-led coalition was focused on fighting the Huthis and their allies.

In the past few weeks, Al-Qaeda and the rival Islamic State group have tightened their grip on parts of the main southern city of Aden where the government has set up its temporary base.

The Arab coalition, which has waged a nearly year-long bombing campaign against the Huthis, began targeting jihadists for the first time last week in Aden.

In Abyan, another southern province, tribesmen captured a suspected local Al-Qaeda chief identified as Hilmi al-Zinji before handing him over to authorities in the government-held region, security officials said.

Fearing further strikes, Al-Qaeda militants on Wednesday evacuated public buildings they had occupied in Mukalla, and deployed five military vehicles around a hospital in the city where wounded militants were taken.

The World Health Organization says fighting in Yemen since March 2015 has claimed the lives of almost 6,300 people.
Washington (AFP) - The United States warned its citizens of the "potential risks" of European travel following a spate of terror attacks, including the latest bombings in Belgium that killed around 35 people.

Several Americans have already been confirmed wounded in the attacks, including three Mormon missionaries, a US airman and his relatives.

"The State Department alerts US citizens to potential risks of travel to and throughout Europe following several terrorist attacks, including the March 22 attacks in Brussels claimed by ISIL," the agency said, referring to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.

"Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants and transportation," it added, in a travel alert that expires June 20.

Three US missionaries from Utah were seriously wounded in the blasts at the Belgian capital's airport, according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They had been accompanying a French colleague who was heading to the United States and was also wounded.

And the US Air Force said one of its service members and several of his relatives were also injured in the attacks, which included a third bombing on a metro train.

"US citizens should exercise vigilance when in public places or using mass transportation," the State Department said.

"Be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid crowded places. Exercise particular caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events."

It noted that European governments were also guarding against attacks and conducting raids to disrupt plots.

"We work closely with our allies and will continue to share information with our European partners that will help identify and counter terrorist threats," the State Department said.
Vatican City (AFP) - The Vatican said Wednesday it is well on the way to opening its archives on Argentina's "Dirty War", which could bring new evidence to light on the fate of missing victims.

Cataloguing the records "could be completed in the coming months, after which the times and conditions for their consultation will be studied," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

The announcement came on the eve of the 40th anniversary of a coup on March 24, 1976, which installed the military dictatorship that would hold sway until 1983 and kill an estimated 30,000 people.

The archives contain reports by the Vatican's ambassadors to Buenos Aires on the stances taken by Argentine bishops in the "dirty war", as well as political and legal documents and references to the disappeared.

The country's bishops were divided, with many supporting the military over the socialist opposition.

Defenders of Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, insist he was among those Catholic clergy who quietly resisted the brutal regime, which tortured and killed scores of priests, nuns and others.

Critics insist Bergoglio failed to speak out on bishops and top church officials who turned a blind eye to the abuses or openly sided with the military dictatorship.

Two Catholic priests and a layman murdered during the regime in 1976 are being considered for sainthood under a process launched by Bergoglio when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires.

- Disappeared model -

But other priests have been implicated in the regime's crimes, including former Buenos Aires police chaplain Christian Von Wernich, sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for six killings, 31 cases of torture and 42 abductions.

The famous Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo organization, founded in 1977 to help locate children kidnapped during the military era, have accused Bergoglio of failing to do enough -- then or now.

At the general audience in Saint Peter's Square on Wednesday, the pontiff met with mothers of disappeared people and kissed Francoise Tisseau, the mother of French victim Marie Anne Erize Tisseau, who disappeared in 1976.

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"This kiss is for all the mothers who have suffered the disappearance of their children," she told Francis.

Tisseau's sister Marie Noelle told AFP: "it was a very emotional moment, we all cried".

The delegation of 10 people, including Tisseau's family, are in Rome to speak with a prosecutor who is looking into the possibility of bringing charges against an Argentine-Italian ex-military, Carlos Malatto.

Malatto, who moved to Italy in 2011, has been accused of being behind the disappearance and death of several people between 1975 and 1977, including Tisseau, a Franco-Argentinian model who had helped compatriots flee to France during the regime.

The "dirty war" was just one of several military dictatorships across Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s which collaborated in tracking down leftist opponents in a scheme known as Operation Condor.
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's prime minister has approved a $300-million research and development project in Hanoi by Samsung Electronics Vietnam, a local unit of a South Korean giant that is the communist country's single biggest investor. The project would operate for 50 years, rent-free, Vietnam's government reported on its news website on Wednesday. Samsung secured government approval late last year to raise its investment in another electronics facility to $2 billion. Its operations around the country include assembly of smartphones and televisions. The expansion comes amid similar moves by electronics firms operating in Vietnam, which include LG, Microsoft, Intel, Canon, Panasonic and Toshiba, helped by new free trade pacts and cheaper wages than China. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Martin Petty)
London (AFP) - Two quite different international minnows face off in Cardiff on Thursday as British rivals Wales and Northern Ireland resume preparations for their first ever appearances at a European Championship.

Whereas Wales boast stars like Real Madrid's Gareth Bale and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey, Northern Ireland's success has been constructed in homelier fashion, their squad a blend of grizzled professionals and emerging talents.

It is, respectively, 58 and 30 years since Wales and Northern Ireland graced a major tournament and this week's friendly will give an indication of how the two nations are shaping up ahead of Euro 2016.

"Friendlies are a chance for players to step in, show what they can do and stake a claim for a place at the Euro," said Wales midfielder Joe Allen, whose side also tackle Ukraine in Kiev next week.

"We face two strong teams. They're two very different games, but variety is key to our preparation. We can't wait to get to France and show the world what we can do."

Wales manager Chris Coleman will be without both Bale and Ramsey for the meeting with Northern Ireland -- the former left out in agreement with Real Madrid, the latter nursing a thigh strain.

West Ham United defender James Collins, Leicester City midfielder Andy King and Newcastle United full-back Paul Dummett will also be absent at the Cardiff City Stadium.

But the squad still teems with Premier League know-how in the form of Liverpool's Allen, skipper Ashley Williams, the Swansea City centre-back, and Crystal Palace pair Wayne Hennessey and Joe Ledley.

- 'Dream come true' -

"You don't replace Aaron and Gareth, but that's not to say that we haven't got strength in depth," said Coleman.

"This gives us a chance to look at one or two other guys and I see that as a positive, not a negative."

There is Premier League experience, too, in Michael O'Neill's Northern Ireland squad, but no-one with the cachet of a Ramsey or Bale.

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The stalwarts of their qualifying campaign were 36-year-old centre-back Gareth McAuley and 34-year-old utility man Chris Baird, while Kyle Lafferty, a fringe player at Norwich City, top-scored with seven goals.

O'Neill, who recently signed a new four-year contract, has been obliged to cast his net wide, resulting in an unlikely first call-up for Queens Park Rangers striker Conor Washington.

The 23-year-old was born and raised in England, made the grade with Welsh club Newport County and has never previously set foot in Northern Ireland, who he qualifies to play for through his grandparents.

"I would love nothing better than to make the Euros, but there are a lot of quality strikers ahead of me at the minute, so I have to be realistic," Washington told the BBC.

"If I did manage to make it to France with Northern Ireland, it would be a dream come true."

Baird and Corry Evans will miss the trip to south Wales through injury, while West Bromwich Albion left-back Chris Brunt has been ruled out of Euro 2016 with anterior cruciate ligament damage.
"Border-related violence and crime due to illegal immigration are critically important issues," the politician beckoned from a stage in Arizona. "We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels. We cannot stand idly by as drop houses, kidnappings and violence compromise our quality of life."

The cameras were rolling as a populist star of the Republican Party continued: "We cannot delay while the destruction happening south of our border  our international border creeps its way north."

This was not Donald Trump after his primary win in Arizona on Tuesday. It was former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer six years earlier, s to reporters at a press conference to announce that she'd signed SB 1070 into Arizona state law. The bill was later dubbed the "show me your papers" law, which gave law enforcement officers in the state the power to stop and question anyone they suspected of being an undocumented immigrant and eventually cost the state billions of dollars.

Trump has risen to the top of the Republican race for the White House with an uncensored appeal to mostly white voters who fear their grip on American culture slipping, according to observers. Among his more outlandish proposals are his promises to close America's borders, build a massive wall marking the country's Southern border and coerce Mexico to foot the $10 billion tab for it.

At a campaign rally in Tucson, days before Arizona's GOP primary, Brewer opened for Trump with a rousing appeal to her former constituents. "A ho live in Arizona know a little about illegal immigration and what it has done to our great state," Brewer told the crowd. "All of us believe in the rule of law: come legally!" she said about undocumented immigrants before coming full circle. "And Mr. Trump understands that."

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"A nation without borders is not a nation," Trump says on his online platform. "There must be a wall across the southern border."

Perhaps nowhere is that rhetoric more palpable than in Arizona, a state with a very recent history in anti-immigrant legislation. Many people draw a direct line between Trump's rise on the national stage and policies of the extreme right that have been embraced by the state's politicians in the last decade.

"I think Trump will no doubt carry the state because he's the face of hatred and speaks to all the angry people in this state who feel justified targeting immigrants and other non-whites because we're so close to the border," Lola Rainey, a former Pima County prosecutor who attended Trump's rally in Tucson, said ahead of the primary in a phone interview.

Alex Gomez, 34, lives in Phoenix and moved to Arizona as a child after her family fled California when that state passed Proposition 187 in 1994, which denied undocumented immigrants public services like health care and education. She remembers 2010's fight over SB 1070 as "the nightmare resurfacing again." For her, the fight was deeply personal: Her father had long been undocumented but, by 2010, had just received his permanent residency.

"As soon as SB 1070 passed there were entire neighborhoods that were completely deserted," she said in a phone interview. "Supermarkets, flea markets, swap meets were bare  it was like a ghost town."

As people fled the state  as many as 100,000 Latinos, Fox reported  in fear that they would be profiled and harassed, the bill had a far-reaching impact. Within a year, more than 16 states introduced SB 1070 copycat laws into their legislatures. Alabama introduced HB 56, the harshest of them all, in 2011. The state's politicians bragged at the time that the law " ," and they weren't kidding. It barred anyone in the state from renting a home or offering a ride to an undocumented immigrant and required teachers to run citizen checks on students. Later, courts slowly dismantled some of the more egregious parts of the law, but not before multiple people reported having the water in their homes shut off because they were unable to provide proper identification.

Meanwhile in Arizona, Brewer defended her state's law from critics. In 2011, she visited Huntsville, Alabama, to promote her book, Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical Politicos to Secure America's Border, and blamed the "liberal media" for twisting the law's intent. "The bottom line is we have to explain to people we are a nation of laws," she said.

But increasingly, Arizona became a state of debts. In the first year of the law's existence, the state lost an estimated $141 million in conference cancellations alone. In 2012, the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the law.

But the ideology behind the law hasn't died down, and Trump is living proof. "It's an election year," Alessandra Soler, who works as executive director of the ACLU of Arizona, said in a phone interview. "It's when immigrants become scapegoats and politicians exploit people's feelings about the border and that's what we're seeing playing out political stage."
WASHINGTON (AP)  Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton padded their delegate troves on Tuesday with victories in Arizona and attacked each other as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash of would-be commanders in chief.

Long lines and high interest marked primary elections across Arizona, Utah and Idaho that were largely an afterthought for much of the day as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

"This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander in chief," Clinton said in Seattle as she condemned Trump by name and denounced his embrace of torture and hardline rhetoric aimed at Muslims. "The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear."

Trump, in turn, branded Clinton as "Incompetent Hillary" in an interview with Fox News as he discussed her tenure as secretary of state. "Incompetent Hillary doesn't know what she's talking about," the billionaire businessman said. "She doesn't have a clue."

Read More: Donald Trump Calls Brussels Attacks "Retaliation" for Paris Terror Suspect Capture

The back-and-forth between the frontrunners came amid a frenzy of activity from voters eager to make their voices heard in the 2016 election.

In Utah, caucus-goers were dispatched by poll workers to local stores with orders to buy reams of paper and photocopy fresh ballots amid huge turnout. The state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic.

In Arizona, voters waited two hours or more in some places to cast primary ballots, while police were called to help control traffic.

The results from Arizona didn't bode well for Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich. They are running out of time to slow Trump and Clinton's march toward acquiring all the delegates needed to claim their parties' nominations.

Story continues

Trump's Arizona victory gives him the all of the state's 58 delegates, while Arizona awards its delegates proportionally on the Democratic side.

As voters flooded to the polls, the presidential candidates lashed out at each other's foreign policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.

Clinton  and Trump's Republican rivals  questioned the GOP frontrunner's temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish U.S. involvement with NATO.

Addressing cheering supporters in Seattle, Clinton said the attacks in Brussels were a pointed reminder of "how high the stakes are" in 2016.

Read More: Critic's Notebook: Trump Hits Clinton on "Stamina," Sanders Criticizes Israel in CNN 'Final Five' Special

"We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies," she said. "We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people."

Cruz seized on Trump's foreign policy inexperience while declaring that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic State group.

"He doesn't have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief," Cruz told reporters. "The stakes are too high for learning on the job."

The debate between the two took a detour late Tuesday night as they engaged in an unusual Twitter exchange about their wives.

The billionaire warned Cruz he would "spill the beans on your wife" after an anti-Trump outside group ran an ad in Utah featuring Trump's wife, Melania, in a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."

Trump's brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where preference polls suggest Cruz has a chance to claim more than 50 percent of the caucus vote  and with it, all 40 of Utah's delegates. Trump could earn some delegates should Cruz fail to exceed 50 percent, in which case the delegates would be awarded based on each candidate's vote total.

Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, cheered the billionaire's brash style, even as he acknowledged Trump doesn't play as well in Utah as other parts of the country.

"I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but he's human," Brady said. "I don't care."

Arizona's win gives Trump a little less than half the delegates allocated so far. That's still short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination before the party's national convention this summer.

However, Trump has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner. Overall, Trump has accumulated 739 delegates, Cruz has 425 and Kasich 143.

On the Democratic side, Clinton's delegate advantage is even greater than Trump's.

The former secretary of state is coming off last week's five-state sweep of Sanders, who remains popular among his party's most liberal voters but needs to improve his performance if he expects to stay relevant.

The Vermont senator, now trailing Clinton by more than 300 pledged delegates, had targeted Tuesday's races as the start of a comeback tour.

He, too, addressed the world's security threat: "We will stand as a nation with our allies and our friends and people all over this world," Sanders told supporters in San Diego. "We will stand with them and we will together crush and destroy ISIS."

Read More: Bernie Sanders Talks Trump, Brussels Attacks on 'Kimmel'
A little over a month after Jeb Bush suspended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Ted Cruz yet another establishment figure backing the self-proclaimed outsider.

On Wednesday, Bush said in a Facebook post, Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, including yesterdays Utah caucus. He added: Washington is broken, too many families are stuck in poverty and Western civilization is under attack from radical Islamic terrorists, as evidenced by the horrific attack in Brussels, which was preceded by attacks in Paris and California.

The endorsement reiterates a point that Cruz had made consistently on the campaign trailthat he is the only one who has won contests against Donald Trump. Bush himself struggled to do so in his pursuit for the White House, failing to win any of the first three nominating contests. In his statement Wednesday, the former Florida governor continued to express his distaste for the Republican front-runner.

Recommended: Why North Carolina Lawmakers Banned LGBT Non-Discrimination Policies

For the sake of our party and country, we must overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee, most likely Hillary Clinton, this fall, Bush said.

The endorsement reflects a new level of confidence in Cruz from the establishmentor at least, resigned acceptance. Months ago, Trump and Cruz were paired as the outsiders in the race. But Trumps commanding lead likely played a key role in Bushs decision. Notably, John Kasich was left out of the statement. The Ohio governor, who won his home state last week, plans to stay in the race. His continued presence has become a point of contention as Cruz looks to garner support from the same mainstream conservatives Kasich is courting.

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Cruz welcomed Bushs endorsement, saying it is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, take back the White House, and ensure a freer and more prosperous America for future generations.

Bushs decision to delay his endorsement until after Floridas primary is, in part, a blow to Marco Rubio. (Rubio has since exited the race.) But Bushs backing may still help Cruz consolidate support.

A slew of endorsements have come Cruzs way as of late, including from former rivals Lindsey Graham and Carly Fiorina. Graham originally backed Bush after his exit from the 2016 race, but conceded last week he had picked his poison and would fundraise for Cruz. Bushs brother Neil also decided to join Cruzs finance team earlier this month. Add to the list Mitt Romney, who said he planned to vote for Cruz in the Utah caucuses on Tuesdaythough hes also expressed support for Kasich. But whether a list of endorsements from these figures can sway the race against Trump, who has thrived off resentment among voters with the establishment, remains to be seen.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Three states and a territory voted on Tuesday night, but by the time the votes were tallied in the first, the results were already clearHillary Clinton and Donald Trump claimed the nights big prize, Arizona. The Grand Canyon State delivered strong support for both front-runner. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, though, kept the race tight by winning elsewhereCruz and Sanders in Utah, and Sanders adding a second victory in Idaho. As my colleague Russell Berman wrote, the voting punctuated the days news, with terror pushing the campaign out of the headlines:

The primaries played out as the candidates responded to the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, and Clinton quickly pivoted to national security during her election-night remarks in Seattle. The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear, she said after calling our Trump and Cruz by name. This is a time for America to lead, not cower.

You can read the rest of Russells analysis, and the full liveblog of the results, here.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Ben Gruber San Francisco, CA (Reuters) - Marc Newlin and Balint Seeber are checking how far apart they can be while still being able to hack into each other's computers. It turns out its pretty far - 180 meters - the length of a city block in San Francisco. The pair work for Bastille, a startup cyber security company that has uncovered a flaw they say leaves millions of networks and billions of computers vulnerable to attack. Wireless mice from companies like HP, Lenovo, Amazon and Dell use unencrypted signals to communicate with computers. "They haven't encrypted the mouse traffic, that makes it possible for the attacker to send unencrypted traffic to the dongle pretending to be a keyboard and have it result as keystrokes on your computer. This would be the same as if the attacker was sitting at your computer typing on the computer," said Newlin, a security researcher at Bastille. A hacker uses an antenna, a wireless chip called a dongle, both available for the less $20 (USD), and a simple line of code to trick the wireless chip connected to the target computer into accepting it as a mouse. "So the attacker can send data to the dongle, pretend it's a mouse but say 'actually I am a keyboard and please type these letters'," added Newlin. "If we sent unencrypted keyboard strokes as if we were a mouse it started typing on the computer, typing at a 1000 words per minute," said Chris Rouland, the CTO and Founder of Bastille. At a thousand words a minute, the hacker can take over the computer or gain access to a network within seconds. Rouland says that while companies are very good at encrypting and securing their networks and websites, they do not compensate for all cyber traffic across the entire radio spectrum. He says it's time to re-think cyber security, especially in the world where smart phones are capable of transmitting massive amounts of data per second. "No one was looking at the air space. So I wanted to build this cyber x-ray vision to be able to see what was inside a corporation's air space versus what was just plugged into the wired network or what was on a Wifi hotspot," said Rouland. Bastille is hoping to cash in on its security flaw findings and offer new types of sensors that take into account more of the threats present in a wireless world. In the meantime, Bastille is keeping tabs on the wireless mouse problem. They say some companies are starting to offer firmware updates to correct the security issues. Bluetooth devices are not vulnerable to this type of attack.
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump and his main challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, Ted Cruz, have escalated their bitter feud, taking to social media to clash over two unlikely figures: their wives.

An anti-Trump political group unveiled a controversial campaign ad ahead of Tuesday's votes in Arizona and Utah that uses a photograph of Trump's wife Melania lying provocatively in his custom-fitted jet, naked and handcuffed to a briefcase.

"Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady," read the online ad, posted on Facebook by the group Make America Awesome.

"Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

Melania Trump, 45, is a Slovenian-American jewelry designer and former model.

The use of the image, from a GQ magazine photo shoot in 2000 when she was Melania Knauss and not yet married to Trump, angered the billionaire real estate magnate, who made his own veiled threat about Cruz's wife Heidi in a tweet late Tuesday.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Trump posted to his seven million Twitter followers.

Cruz wasted no time firing back.

"Pic of your wife not from us," Cruz tweeted. "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless."

The suggestive ad was apparently part of an effort to sway voters in predominantly Mormon Utah by appealing to the morality of the state's socially conservative population, according to The New York Times.

Cruz comfortably won Utah and Trump finished third behind Ohio Governor John Kasich. Trump easily won Arizona in the day's other Republican contest.

Heidi Cruz, 43, is an investment manager who has taken a leave of absence from her position at Goldman Sachs to hit the campaign trail with her husband.

She swatted away Trump's threat, saying she was "not worried" about his bluster.

"You probably know that most of the things that Donald Trump says has no basis in reality," she told reporters in Wisconsin, which votes April 5.

"We have run our campaign with the principles that Ted and I believe in and a lot of the things that are done from time to time are not from our campaign."
Xinyao is one of the few music genres that Singaporeans can legitimately call their own. With its distinctive styles and relatable lyrics, xinyao songs are proof that Singaporeans are a creative bunch. Xinyao, written as  in Chinese, is actually the first and last characters of the term , (pronounced xin jia po ge yao). It literally means Singapore songs, even though theyre mostly in Chinese.

But The Songs We Sang, a documentary about the history of xinyao, features an instance of xinyao in Malay, which shows that the tradition transcended cultures! It started in the 80s, which is why xinyao is most associated with the era. If you grew up in that generation, chances are youll find The Songs We Sang a fond return to that decade, as music legends Eric Moo and Liang Wern Fook reminisce about the rise of the xinyao movement in that era.

Are you a xinyao kid? Then see if you can make it through these six memories from The Songs We Sang without getting the feels.

1. The transition from Nantah to NUS

The old Nantah. Credit: Good Morning Singapore

The old Nantah. Credit: Good Morning Singapore

One of the factors contributing to the rise of xinyao was the merging of Nantah (Nanyang University, which was where Nanyang Technological University currently is) with the University of Singapore to form the National University of Singapore. As with any merger, the students had strong emotions about the impending dilution of their identity, and this led to them expressing their feelings through xinyao. In fact, after watching The Songs We Sang, youll realise that the passage of time has done nothing to dampen those emotions.

2. Kopi-O was a xinyao song

The Coffee Shop. Credit: Remember Singapore

The Coffee Shop. Credit: Remember Singapore

Remember the SBC drama, The Coffee Shop? It was a heartlander series about the eponymous coffee shop, and it had one of the most memorable opening theme songs, with its chorus of Kopi-O! Kopi-O! It was actually a xinyao song performed by Eric Moo. Despite it being a Mandarin song, its most famous lines were not in Mandarin  ever wondered why? Eric Moo explains in The Songs We Sang, and talks about his struggle for its inclusion.

Story continues

3. 80s variety shows had a huge xinyao segment

Liang Wern Fook in The Songs We Sang. Credit: Golden Village Cinemas

Liang Wern Fook, a pioneer of xinyao, in The Songs We Sang. Credit: Golden Village Cinemas

An 80s television producer reveals that the rise of xinyao also contributed to an increasingly large xinyao segment in variety shows of that time, giving xinyao performers a chance to strut their stuff on national television. Compared to todays variety shows, which are mostly interview segments or game shows, the programmes of that time were glitzier affairs that held the promise of unearthing the next big Singapore star.

4. The vibrant arts scene

Eric Moo sings old favourites in The Songs We Sang. Credit: Golden Village Cinemas

Eric Moo sings old favourites in The Songs We Sang. Credit: Golden Village Cinemas

While the Western world was reverberating with the engineered beats of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Def Leppard, Singapores arts scene was brimming with something more organic. Students spent their recess time strumming guitars and singing along, with xinyao groups forming everywhere and competitions popping up all over the island. Thats why the sound of xinyao is so folksy  much of it was probably first composed in the schoolyard and sung to a simple melody which could be strummed on acoustic guitar. There definitely werent as many arts grants as there are now, but still, we Singaporeans managed to exercise our creative talents.

5. Xinyao was a representation of the kampung spirit

Kampung spirit in action. Credit: Singapore Kindness Movement

Kampung spirit in action. Credit: Singapore Kindness Movement

In an era without the Internet (or at least, a very primitive version of it), how did people form xinyao groups? There definitely werent Facebook groups or hashtags to find like-minded folk. They had to go out and meet people, share ideas, and become a community, which are the very traits of the kampung spirit that the government keeps wanting us to foster. It was a simpler time, when Singaporeans were less materialistic and much, much friendlier.

6. Bras Basah Complex, the xinyao hub

Bras Basah Complex. Credit: Trip Advisor

Bras Basah Complex. Credit: Trip Advisor

Bras Basah Complex has gone through many transformations, from comics mecca to stationery world these days. But back in xinyaos heyday, it was a thriving hub of song and music, where xinyao lovers would gather to perform and mingle. And its apparent that its connection to xinyao is fondly remembered  some 1,000 fans reunited for a two-hour concert featuring Dawn Gan, Eric Moo and Li Feihui in July 2014 in spite of the pouring rain.

Poster for The Songs We Sang. Credit: Golden Village Cinemas

Poster for The Songs We Sang. Credit: Golden Village Cinemas

The Songs We Sang revisits these memories with the loving tenderness that can only come from a person who loves xinyao. Catch it in cinemas to see how different Singapore was 30 years ago!

Credits: Good Morning Singapore, Remember Singapore, Singapore Kindness Movement, Trip Advisor, Golden Village Cinemas, insing.com

The post If youre from the Xinyao era, these 6 memories will strike a chord with you appeared first on The Popping Post.
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a cessation of hostilities starting at midnight on April 10 and peace talks in Kuwait beginning a week later, United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Wednesday. There have already been several failed attempts to defuse the conflict in Yemen, which has drawn in regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest country. "This is really our last chance," Ould Cheikh Ahmed told reporters in New York. "The war in Yemen must be brought to an end." A Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign in Yemen a year ago with the aim of preventing Iran-allied Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking control of the country. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said Saudi Arabia is "fully committed to make sure that the next talks take place and particularly supports us with regard to the cessation of hostilities." The United Nations says more than 6,000 people, half of them civilians, have been killed since the start of the Saudi-led military intervention whose ultimate aim is to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that the United States, Britain, France and others should suspend all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia over what the group deemed unlawful air strikes. "The only way to limit the damage is for countries to stop providing weapons to Saudi Arabia," said Philippe Bolopion, Human Rights Watch deputy global advocacy director. The Saudi-led coalition has targeted civilians with air strikes and some of the attacks could be crimes against humanity, U.N. sanctions monitors told the Security Council in January. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said prominent Yemeni figures would be enlisted to cooperate with a de-escalation and coordination committee on the cessation of hostilities and "to report on progress and security incidents." He said the peace talks would focus on five areas: a withdrawal of militia and armed groups; a handover of heavy weaponry to the state; interim security arrangements; restoration of state institutions; and resumption of inclusive political dialogue. The warring parties have been asked to present a concept paper on each of these areas by April 3, the U.N. envoy said. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), an affiliate of the global Sunni Muslim militant organization, has also expanded its foothold in the country as the government focuses on its battle with the Houthi rebels. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chris Reese and James Dalgleish)
In late December, 50 terrified refugees were stranded on an island off the Greek coast after their boat wrecked. One of them managed to make a phone call, and a few hours later, they were rescued by the coast guard. The call hadnt been to the coast guard, though, but to a small Berlin-based humanitarian startup youve likely never heard of.

Alarm Phone didnt even exist a year ago; today, it receives dozens of distress calls every day from boats attempting to cross the Mediterranean border. The company then contacts local search and rescue authorities. And its just one of a growing group of humanitarian startups helping migrants reach Europe safely. This DIY, grassroots response to the refugee crisis has given birth to everything from crowdsourced phrase books to emergency apps and bitcoin fundraising. It could even represent a shift in the way we approach humanitarian crises, says Gilles Carbonnier, a professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute of Geneva.

The debate about aid efficiency (or lack thereof) has been brewing for years. Yet, Carbonnier says, its the drama and urgency of the Syrian refugee crisis that may have finally set things in motion. A million souls arrived in Europe last year, but both established international nongovernmental organizations and local administrations were just scraping by to meet the most basic needs of newcomers. That created a strong sense of frustration for people, says Peter Hofstee. The 27-year-old Dutch graduate in international relations is creating a time bank to incentivize volunteers, allowing people to gift their time and skills instead of a check to refugees. Giving money is just not enough anymore, he says. People crave a more personal interaction, and they want to see the results firsthand.

Theres good to be done beyond collecting canned food, signatures and donations. Take Refugees Welcome, an initiative that pairs refugees with spare rooms.

For a new generation of tech-savvy, entrepreneurial minds, slow, bureaucratic humanitarian organizations look like inefficient dinosaurs. After all, techies know how to leverage the speed and flexibility of the digital era. Hofstees venture, for one, began as an impromptu meeting at his co-working space in Barcelona, Spain. Someone said they had to do something about the refugee situation, and a couple of months later, a team of 30 (all with other jobs as designers, writers or coders) has got a site called Beta Bank nearly ready to go and a long list of conventional NGOs interested in the service.

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Digital disrupters are also changing the fundraising game. While big NGOs still place ads showing the fear-stricken faces of children on buses, many benefactors are opting for crowdfunding money to give directly to refugees. And that may actually work better. According to Canadas Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, more than half of privately sponsored refugees reported earnings in their first year in Canada, compared with 14 percent of government-assisted refugees. Large players are starting to take notice, and to copy. In October, the powerful U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees took to Kickstarter  a platform better known for sponsoring sci-fi gadgets and obscure board games  to crowdfund $1.7 million in aid for refugees.

But theres good to be done beyond collecting canned food, signatures and donations. Take Refugees Welcome, an initiative that pairs refugees with spare rooms. We are not a humanitarian organization, insists Monika Pronczuk, head of the initiative in Poland. The goal, she says, isnt to just help by giving refugees free services, but to connect and empower people, which, she says, not only helps refugees integrate but also helps host communities fight bigotry.

There is some risk to the free-for-all-to-help approach. Maybe the grassroots initiatives and homegrown heroes are overlapping efforts with or diverting funds from larger institutions that could make a bigger, broader impact. Humanitarian work requires training, experience and sensitivity  otherwise, aid may not reach those families who most need it, or even end up in the wrong hands altogether, says Ariane Rummery, an UNHCR spokeswoman.

And there are also many things these young, tech-savvy organizations still cant do, like effectively lobby governments to open borders, or organize blanket distribution for hundreds of thousands of people. Thats why, Carbonnier argues, the best-case scenario is not one in which big NGOs are replaced, but one in which they collaborate with these smaller, more agile agents and learn from them. UNHCR and Doctors Without Borders are already doing that, with efforts to discover and integrate better, tech-savvier ways to do what theyve done for decades. Some of the grassroots innovations show incredible promise, Rummery acknowledges. A promise, she says, the world cant afford to ignore.

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HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will from April 1 cancel licences for foreign firms, including those operating mines and banks, that have not complied with a law to sell majority shares to locals, Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao said on Wednesday. "It's either you comply or you close shop," Zhuwao said. Zimbabwe had given foreign-owned firms a March 2016 deadline to submit plans on how to comply with a law requiring them to sell at least 51 percent shares to locals. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Joe Brock)
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will from April 1 cancel licences for foreign firms, including those operating mines and banks, that have not complied with a law to sell majority shares to locals, Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao said on Wednesday. Zimbabwe had given foreign-owned firms a March 2016 deadline to submit plans on how to comply with a law requiring them to sell at least 51 percent shares to locals. "Businesses have continued to disregard Zimbabwe's indigenisation laws as if daring our President and his government to do something about their contemptuous behaviour," Zhuwao told reporters. "It's either you comply or you close shop." The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act was passed in 2008 under President Robert Mugabe's black empowerment drive but implementation has been slow. Some foreign companies say the law will hinder much-needed investment. The world's two largest platinum producers Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum and banking groups Standard Chartered Plc and Barclays Plc are some of the foreign-owned firms with operations in Zimbabwe. Amplats and Implats have previously submitted empowerment plans to be considered by Mugabe's government. Zhuwao said he did not have details of which companies had complied with the law and would not be banned. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Joe Brock)
Policeman arrested in SUV probe

However, the constable fell ill yesterday and had to be treated at hospital. Another suspect, a police sergeant, also of the Eastern Division, promised to make himself available to officers of the Professional Standards Bureau last evening while a third officer, an acting corporal, is expected to be detained today.

The three are expected to be placed on identification parade at the Port-of-Spain CID today.

On Monday the Director of Public Prosecutions gave instructions for the officers to be detained. It is alleged that last Thursday night the three officers reportedly sold a stolen SUV parked at the police station compound in the East to a businessman from the Tabaquite area.

The high end SUV was allegedly sold for $12,000. The matter was reported to the head of the Eastern Division and officers of the Professional Standards Bureau were called in.

Over the weekend PSB officers carried out enquiries, secured statements and retrieved camera footage to assist them in their enquiries.

A party of officers led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Baldeo, Inspector Montrichard and Sgt Daniel along with others from the PSB carried out further enquiries and a file was submitted to the DPP.

Newsday understands that following the ID parade the DPP will again be consulted on the matter.
Councillors husband dies in accident

According to reports, La Touche was returning to his Diego Martin home at about 8 am after dropping off his sons at St Anthonys College when the accident occurred. Police believe La Touche may have gotten a bad drive causing him to lose control of his green Mitsubishi Lancer vehicle before crashing into the median.

Fire officials had to cut La Touche from the mangled wreck. He died on the scene. Upon hearing about the crash, La Touches family arrived on the scene, including his wife and sons who were seen being consoled by relatives.
Culinary Fusion

This culinary fusion was part two of the initiative currently being filmed for airing both in TT on Flow TV and Canada via F James Film/TV Co Ltd.

On the night, guests were invited to sample inventive creations from top chefs from TT and Canada, who drew inspiration from other countries such as Japan, Tahiti, Canada and the Caribbean.

Canadian chef Mark McCrowe teamed up with TT s chef Khalid Mohammed of Chaud to produce a very tasty shellfish buljol, comprising lobster, shrimp, squid, octopus, scallops, mussels and clam salad, with a tomato choka vinaigrette, avocado mousse and crispy plantain.

Another delightful dish came from chefs Raymond Joseph (TT ) and Rodney P Cole (Canada.) who served up sweet potato oildown and brown sugar spice crusted lamb, plus smoke salmon buljol with strawberry anchar and curry mango sauce.

Chefs Sharaz Mohammed (TT ) and Takehiko Ishiwata (Cda.) delivered a most interesting dish that comprised a Japanese Caribbean fusion of local provision mash, fresh red snapper, chicken thighs and mango salsa, so too did Chef David Harbansingh (TT ) who produced plantain wrapped saltfish breaded and fried, and served with tartar sauce.

Setting tongues on fire were Chefs Pierre Le Blanc (TT ) and Brian Piercy (Canada) who served a really spicy tuna tataki, then there was dessert from chef Shaun Hussey (Canada) and executive chef Khalil Ali and assistant Celene Boodoo (TT ).

Cindy Ann Gatt, director of marketing, Flow Trinidad stated: Tonights culinary fusion is the culmination of this exciting partnership of which Flow is proud to be a partner.

Last weeks music fusion was a success particularly for the bands involved and we are happy to continue our support for the arts and culture, whether through film, television or cuisine. The initiative by F James Film/TV Co Ltd is in partnership with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, Cable and Wireless Communications in the Caribbean and Bell Alliance in Canada.

Fabian James, producer, Club One New Releases (Canada) spoke of the television series and how excited he is about it, while the man behind the culinary aspect of the show, executive chef Roary McPhearson of Canada, said the hospitality received from the local chefs have been outstanding. He said: From a frozen rock to a hot rock it is the same. The collaboration is great. Some 25 musicians and six chefs left Trinidad last week, bound for Canada to finish filming the project.

Entertaining guests on the night were young local artistes Tamara Chartar, Denise Millian and Halogen Sunset.
MURDER IN JAIL

According to reports, at about 10 am, at the North Wing of the Remand prison, Parks was in his cell along with other inmates when a heated argument took place between himself and two other prisoners.

The argument escalated into shouting, cursing and threats being hurled at Parks. It was reported that a prisoner who is also 30, used an improvised weapon and began stabbing Parks on the left side of his neck.

As blood gushed from the stab wounds, Parks began screaming which alerted prisons officers on duty. The area of the North Wing was cordoned off and Parks was removed from his cell and taken by ambulance to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he succumbed to his injuries at about 1 pm. While Parks was being taken to hospital, officers of a special surveillance unit within the prison assisted in locking down the area and two suspects, one dressed in Muslim garb, were removed from the cell where the bloody attack took place and taken to another area of the prison.

Officers of the Homicide Bureau, along with their colleagues from the Northern Division, led by Senior Supt Saisnarine Mahabir went to the prison and secured the two suspects. The suspects were then handed over to the officers of the Homicide Investigations Bureau and Newsday understands one of the two persons detained will be used as a witness against the other prisoner. Other prisoners who witnessed the murder were interviewed and statements recorded.

On being told that Parks was dead, some prisoners began banging their cells while others refused to eat their meals. Prison sources said yesterday that they expect more violence to take place as a result of the murder and that areas of the prison would be monitored around the clock.

Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart was given a preliminary report into the murder and a more thorough report is expected to be made available to him by today.

Newsday understands the Remand section of the mens prison at Golden Grove is severely overcrowded and prisoners awaiting trial, some for as long as ten years, have been clamouring for better conditions and they believe the overcrowding and delays in getting speedy trials are contributing to the disenchantment among prisoners.

An autopsy on the body of Parks is expected to be carried out today at the Forensic Science Centre and the Director of Public Prosecutions will be approached for directions in the matter.

In am unrelated case, two prison officers aged, 37 and 38, based at the Golden Grove Prison, were arrested shortly after 11 am yesterday while trying to smuggle contraband items into the prison. According to reports the officers had in their possession cell phones, tablets, lighters and cellphone chargers among other items. The items were detected during a routine search.

The officers were taken into custody by their colleagues who later handed them over to officers of the Arouca Police Station. Officers led by Snr Supt Mahabir and including Sgt Joseph and others interviewed the prison officers who are expected to be charged shortly with several offences. Newsday understands that since the introduction of scanners at the prisons, there has been an increase in the detection of prison officers attempting to smuggle contraband items into the prisons.

Investigations are continuing.
Canadian firm paid $102M for $3.2B waste

A Parliament committee heard on Monday of $3.2 billion being spent by Petrotrin on the USD plant which contained more than 200 design defects from day one, a bent beam and wrong seismic specifications.

The committee was told that when the problems were picked up in 2013, Samsung Engineering and Construction Limited proposed an unprecedented method to remedy the issues raised called base isolation, a method untested in relation to oil refineries.

We then went through a number of months working jointly with Petrotrin, Samsung and the project management consultants who were SNC Lavalin, said Jonathan Barden, Petrotrins vice president - refining.

Despite talks and meetings, over years, no solution was ever identified and Barden indicated base isolation is unlikely to be used.

The USB project was started in 2009 and constructed by South Korean firm Samsung Engineering and Construction Limited. But according to statements made by Government officials in Parliament in 2013, SNC Lavalin was hired to manage the project in 2009. The then Government Whip Dr Roodal Moonilal, speaking during a private motion brought by Diego Martin North/ East MP Colm Imbert (now Minister of Finance), told Parliament that the Malcolm Jonesled Petrotrin board granted a $42 million project management contract to SNC Lavalin on July 15, 2009. However, Moonilal said, the value of this contract rose to $102 million due to delays.

SNC Lavalin is currently facing a criminal fraud charge in Canada, due to come up for hearing in 2018. Minister of Energy Nicole Olivierre yesterday said a lot of money was spent on the project. The company is looking at it to see what can be done because a lot of money was expended, Olivierre told Newsday after appearing in the Senate for Question Time. We need to determine what it will take and we will have to see what is the best way forward. Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Victor Hart yesterday welcomed the disclosures made at the Parliament committee, the Joint Select Committee on State Enterprises.

We are not fulfilling our supervising responsibilities as we are seeing with Petrotrin, Hart said. Why we dont we fire people when they are not performing
Diego Martin North Secondary School students suspended

The Ministry of Education, in a statement issued yesterday, reported that small amounts of flammable material were also ignited in the female students washroom and in a classroom. In each case, the fire was quickly extinguished by MTS officers without any damage to school property.

Students were confined to their classrooms and searches conducted by a team comprising the principal, vice principal, deans, safety officers and MTS Security, the ministry said.

No incendiary devices were found. Classes resumed and school was dismissed at the normal time.
Sixth Zika case, third from Gulf View

Hosein, together with Public Health Inspector IV, Jamel Mohammed, was speaking to reporters during a tour of a townhouse development at Gulf View, La Romaine shortly after a third Zika case was confirmed in the southern city.

The person, a 37-yearold engineer who works in Port of Spain, began exhibiting symptoms on March 10. The symptoms lasted about one week. He has since returned to work. He is the sixth person to be diagnosed with the virus.

The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes).

Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache.

Meanwhile, Hosein said the Minister of Health had expressed concern about the frequency of Zika cases in the Gulf View area during a telephone call early yesterday morning.

The Minister of Health called me and he is very concerned about the cases being in San Fernando especially within the Gulf View community. I immediately called on the Public Health Department and the Engineering Department, Hosein said.

On March 15, the Ministry had announced that two persons, a mother and daughter from Gulf View, La Romaine had tested positive for the zika virus. They were the second and third cases confirmed locally.

The first positive case, a 61-year-old woman, was located in Diego Martin.

The fourth case, a 30 year old female, was located in Tunapuna, and the fifth, a female, 47, who experienced joint pains and conjunctivitis, was located in DAbadie.

And gesturing to a damaged water tank, which was obviously being used by residents of one of the townhouses, Hosein said mosquitoes were breeding in water which had gathered in the damaged tank.

Larvae all over this tank. You have an underground drain here coming from Gulf City Mall, water stagnant there and anywhere they get, they (mosquitoes) will breed, he said, adding Ministry of Health personnel had taken samples of the mosquito larvae earlier in the morning.

I am making a special appeal to all citizens of San Fernando and Trinidad on the whole, to clean their premises.

This is the only way we can avoid this epidemic from spreading further, he said, adding, this is the third confirmed case but we have to cautious because a lot of people have it and dont know they have it, because one of the symptoms is red eye and one of the members of staff had the red eye and they didnt know it was Zika. Asked whether there were fines in place to deal with errant homeowners, he said the fine had increased from $1500 to $3,500.

We are not treating this lightly at all, so the Public Health Department is going out and what we also notice is some houses have concrete roofs and they seem to want to breed right on the concrete roof, he said, adding increased spraying would also take place in the area.

We are going to send a (public address system) out because people taking it for granted they would not be affected, Hosein said, adding instructions had also been given to remove all derelict vehicles from the southern city.

Meanwhile, Mohammed said house to house individual spraying was also needed and called on residents to work together with the public health department to control the mosquito.
Local film Trafficked for Cannes film festival

Trafficked director Sean Hodgkinson informed Newsday that yesterday he received e-mail confirmation that the film would be included in the Festival International du Film PanAfricain de Cannes (Cannes International Pan African Film Festival) being held from April 16-20.

Were very excited to have it premiere in Europe.

You make a film for Trinidadian audience and now find it has international appeal, he said.

He added, It shows our local industry can reach a global audience. Hodgkinson, speaking during a telephone interview, said it is very exciting and noted that with the downturn in the economy we can look at supporting film to boost the economy. He pointed out, for example, that when they go to Cannes they may meet people who are interested in doing films in Trinidad.

Hodgkinson stressed that making films anywhere in the world is difficult and we just appreciative to have the film seen by as many people as possible and that the message could get to them. He noted the story, which involves three friends on vacation getting caught up in the deadly drug trade, is based on true events.

He explained that it was made for Trinidadians but is resonating internationally and at the Pan African Film Festival last month in Los Angeles it was really well received.

That should say something he said. He noted it is a story that everyone can relate to and the film connected because the audience connected with the characters.

Good films transcend language, he said.

One of the films producers, Natasha Nunez, also commented on the Los Angeles festival and recalled that, despite very little marketing, they were able to fill a movie theatre. She noted that the film brought out a lot of Trinidadians living in the US city and one man told her that the last Trinidadian film he saw in LA was Bim in 1974.

He was so relieved to see the (local) film industry so vibrant and people making films that resonate, she said.

She noted that everyone was captivated by the story and wanted to know where it was shot.

We have to pull up our bootstraps and travel the globe to showcase it, he said.

She described the acceptance of the film into the Cannes festival as a victory because they have the opportunity to showcase Trafficked to a new audience.

Our objective is for as many people to see it as possible. And to make as many contacts, she said.

She noted the film was done for educational purposes and can be shown in forums outside the movie theatre. The producers, herself and Garth St Clair, are planning to collaborate with the Ministry of Community Development to take the film into communities.

Nunez said they next plan to have the film aired on local television. Trafficked stars Aaron Charles, Gyerlini Clarke, Kia Rollock, Brett Bengochea, Felipe Mican, Abdi Waithe and Brendon OBrien.
Mark: Jwala firing planned

Mark raised this question as he opened debate on a private motion in the Senate, which called on the Senate to condemn the Government for firing Rambarran last December.

Quoting from a statement made by Rambarran at a public event on November 6, 2013, Mark claimed the former governor made reference to a forensic probe into CL Financial and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was in the process of laying criminal charges against former company executives.

Alleging that many of these persons were big financiers of the PNM (Peoples National Movement), Mark wondered if an attorney would advise the matters against these persons be discontinued because of insufficient evidence.

Mark further alleged that while ordinary citizens and business persons cannot get foreign exchange, large sums of foreign exchange were given to Republic Bank so it could purchase commercial banks in Ghana and Suriname. Claiming that Economic Advisory Board chairman Dr Terrence Farrell recently said in a newspaper article that the TT dollar should be allowed to slide, Mark declared, There is a parallel black market in TT. Mark said the Central Bank Act showed the Governor was accountable only to the Banks board of directors. Declaring that the Act should be amended to give the Bank greater autonomy, Mark said no public statement was issued by either the Government or the Bank to justify Rambarrans dismissal. He boasted that Rambarran was well qualified for the post. During the Budget debate in the House of Representatives last October, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Stuart Young said the former Peoples Partnership government approved a sum of $1 million to be paid to Rambarran prior to his appointment as Governor.

Young said documents show this was in relation to a forensic management audit into the sale of BWIAs London Heathrow slots
Forestry Intervention on Ganga to be Carried out in a Time Bound Manner says Uma Bharti

New Delhi, Wed, 23 Mar 2016 NI Wire

Detailed Project Report on Forestry Interventions for Ganga Released

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has said that Forestry intervention on Ganga will be carried out in a time bound manner. Releasing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Forestry Intervention for Ganga in New Delhi today alongwith Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Prakash Javadekar, the Minister said from time immemorial the vegetations along the river Ganga had the medicinal power to keep its water clean. Terming them as Brahmdrav, Sushri Bharti said this plantation programme will start from Uttarakhand. The Water Resources Minister was of the opinion the large scale vegetations along the river Ganga will also help in enriching the aqua life of the river. Complimenting the experts of Forest Research Institute (FRI) Dehradun for their contribution in the preparation of voluminous report, the Minister said her Ministry will start implementing the report very soon.

Terming the Governments commitment to keep Ganga alive and ridding it of pollution as complete and final, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, said that forests should be set up in the catchment area of the river to maintain the lively relationship between forests and water. He said that trees and plants prevent soil erosion, recharge water and also increase the level of groundwater. The Minister said that one-third of the pollution from industries has been reduced. He emphasised the fact that the release of black liquor and spent discharge into the river has been stopped almost completely, which is a major success. He said that much progress has been achieved on the sustainable sand mining policy.

Earlier Dr. Savita, Director, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun gave a power point presentation highlighting the major components of the DPR.

Union Minister for State Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Prof. Sanwar Lal Jat, Secretary Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Ashok Lavasa, Secretary, Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Shashi Sekhar and DG, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Dr. Ashwani Kumar also spoke on the occasion.

A day long workshop was also organised to mark the release of DPR. Senior officials from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, environmentalists, scientists, representatives of Eco Task Force, ITBP, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and Civil Society organizations attended the workshop.

The DPR has been prepared by FRI after extensive consultations with various stakeholders and incorporating science based methodology. This included use of remote sensing and GIS technologies for spatial analysis and modelling of pre-delineated Ganga riverscape covering 83,946 sq.km out of a much larger Ganga River basin within the country. FRI designed four sets of field data formats to obtain the site based information on proposed forestry plantations in natural, agriculture and urban landscapes along the river course and other conservation interventions. More than 8,000 data sheets were obtained from five states along the river course. The Institute also developed a software to collate, analyze and report generation on potential plantation and treatment models.

Extensive plantations in natural, agriculture, and urban landscapes besides conservation interventions such as soil and water conservation, riparian wildlife management, wetland management, and supporting activities such as policy and law interventions, concurrent research, monitoring and evaluation, and mass awareness campaigns have been envisioned in the DPR. Altogether, 40 different plantation and treatment models have been selected for implementation by Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. The project will be implemented over a period of five years by the State Forest Departments of these five states in Phase-I (2016-2021).

The project envisages active involvement of two battalions of Eco Task Force in the states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for raising plantations in difficult terrains. The State Forest Departments in five states are also expected to involve ITBP, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and Civil Society organizations for various proposed activities including monitoring and awareness campaigns.

Source: PIB
Mowgli from 'The Jungle Book' comes home

hollywood, Wed, 23 Mar 2016 NI Wire

Neel Sethi to kick start his international tour from India.

When it comes to stories from "The Jungle Book," Indians feel a deep sense of ownership as the timeless tale is set in India. After getting the impressive line-up of Indian talent to voice the iconic characters in Disney's all-new, live-action epic film "The Jungle Book," Disney India now gears up to welcome Neel Sethi aka Mowgli. Neel was hand-picked by director Jon Favreau from over 2000 hopefuls to play the role of Mowgli. 12-year-old Neel will visit India later this month to present the film and visit some very special sites while in Mumbai.

"The Jungle Book" is Neel's first film as an actor and interestingly he plays the only human being in the story!

I have heard so many stories about the jungles of India from my maternal grandparents, who live here. I am so excited to be visiting my homeland once again. When my parents heard that I got the part to play Mowgli, they were so excited because the stories are based in India, says New York City based Neel. Speaking about the experience acting in his first film, the 12-year-old says, I am thrilled to have played Mowgli in my first film and befriend the much loved characters like Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear. India is the first country internationally that I will be presenting the film in. I really hope people in India enjoy watching the jungle come to life!" says the young actor.

Finding the right kid to play Mowgli was imperative and we did an exhaustive worldwide search of 2,000 kids before we found Neel. He was one of the last people that I looked at, and right away, I felt that he had the same emotional and physical qualities that Mowgli had in the 67 animated version. His look was uncanny in how much he evoked what we wanted. He inherently had a good sense of fun and humor, says director Jon Favreau and further added Everything in this movie is geared toward the performance of this one kid. Ive worked with enough kids to be confident in my own taste and my ability to get the performance. He was just so real. He felt right. We knew we found our Mowgli.

We are thrilled that Neel Sethi, who plays Mowgli in the film, is starting the films campaign with India. The Jungle Book and India have a special connection and it is indeed exciting that we are able to host Mowgli in India , says Amrita Pandey, Vice President - Studios, Disney India.

Disneys all-new, live-action, epic adventure, The Jungle Book, will release in India on April 8, a week before coming out in the US.

The Jungle Book Trailer #2 (2016) Scarlett Johansson
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Nokia (News - Alert) used to be an absolute powerhouse when it came to mobile devices, at least until the smartphone market started to emerge. While its dominance in mobile is somewhat tarnished, it's managed to make some noteworthy changes and become a power in other fields. A recent Current Analysis (News - Alert) survey discovered that Nokia is now the number one vendor of 4G public safety material.





The Current Analysis study, Carrier Investment Plans For Evolving Today's 4G Networks Toward a 5G Future, turned to 100 service provider executives worldwide, and noted that Nokia was tops when it came to technologies beyond 4G. Public safety was also a major priority, and when public safety hardware was needed, Nokia was often first choice.

Nokia has previously been seen working with several public safety agencies to bring 4G LTE (News - Alert) technology into play, ranging from vehicle tracking systems to real-time communications tools for first responders. Nokia's got long-term name recognition too, as by some reports, it's been in public safety for the last 60 years.

What's more, Nokia also has some exciting plans for the future. It's set to demonstrate several at a trade event, including new LTE networks geared toward expanding access in places that may not already have it, as well as new services for both LTE and the still-growing Internet of Things (IoT). Nokia also has plans for more software-defined networking (SDN) operations for a more responsive network, and even group encryption tools to keep those communications from the field to central offices protected. Nokia is even demonstrating a Network in a Box (News - Alert) system that allows for mobile broadband connectivity to be established nearly anywhere in a matter of minutes, making it perfect for remote operations where a network may not currently reach.

As a public safety figure, Nokia clearly has a lot of capability here, but looking at some of these developments, it's easy to wonder if any of these will boil down to the consumer level. Consider the impact if everyone had a Network in a Box system; if it could generate sufficient throughput and bandwidth, it would render most every Internet service provider obsolete, and would require incredible upgrades just to compete. A one-user network should move pretty swiftly, which means capacity may not be that big of a problem. It's still early-stage stuff, thoughjust now being demonstrated by some reportsso it may be a long way off from that level of capability. Still, it might represent a major destabilizing effort; people want bandwidth and many are tired of hearing about why it's not there.

In the end, it's clear that Nokia is a major operation for public safety. That's a niche worth holding by itself. It could well make an expansion from there, and getting back into the public eye might be a step worth taking.
China plans to initiate 20 space missions this year including the testing of its most sophisticated rocket and the launching of a habitual space module. But security analysts in the US are expressing suspicions they have military implications.

China is already testing surface-to-air missiles that could strike targets in orbit and its also working with experimental lasers that can scramble or blind satellites.

This year, China intends to launch the Tiangong 2 space laboratory. China plans to later send astronauts to this habitual module, which will serve as a stepping stone toward a major space station. Chinese officials plan to have this station fully operational by 2020. Some security analysts fear the station will have military implications.

China still trails far behind Russia and the US in terms of space technology. But in the last 12 years, China has sought to rapidly reduce the gaps it holds with both nations, and its showing no intentions of slowing down.

SOURCE  Sputnik News
The US Navy is still considering putting an electric-powered gun aboard a Maine-built destroyer, but the futuristic weapon would be installed after the ship is built, a top Navy officer said.

The construction schedule is too far along to install an electromagnetic railgun aboard the Lyndon B. Johnson at Bath Iron Works, but its certainly an option after the ship leaves the yard, said Rear Adm. Pete Fanta, director of surface warfare.

Fanta proposed skipping the step of putting a prototype weapon aboard another ship this year and instead putting an operational gun aboard the Lyndon B. Johnson.

Railguns use pulses of electricity to fire projectiles at six to seven times the speed of sound, producing enough kinetic energy to destroy targets.

Its one of several technologies the Navy is considering to increase firepower at a lower cost than missiles. Fanta said its an engineering race to discover the best system.

The way we put it to the research and development team is, Youve got to earn your way aboard,' Fanta said. I want to make sure Im not putting a science project aboard. I want to make sure Im putting a war-fighting effort on board.

The Lyndon B. Johnson is the third and final destroyer in the Zumwalt class under construction at Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary.

The destroyers make an attractive platform for a railgun, laser system or other energy-based weapons because it uses powerful marine turbines to help produce up to 78 megawatts of electricity for use in propulsion, weapons and sensors.

The guided missile destroyer Zumwalt (DDG-1000) left today for a final set of builders trails ahead of an expected delivery to the U.S. Navy next month It is scheduled to be commissioned on October 15, 2016

The ship is expected to deliver to the service in April with the completion of its hull, mechanical and electrical systems (HM&E) ahead of a transit to California where the ship will be outfitted with its combat system and sensors.

Constructing and testing Zumwalts complicated integrated power system  which use the ships gas turbines and diesel generators to power a complex electrical grid inside the ship instead of a direct mechanical connection to the ships props  has taken more time than expected and the schedule has slipped past its expected delivery date.

BIW is currently building three of the ships as part of a $22 billion program for the class and well the restarted Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51).

Saving the combat system upgrade for San Diego was a decision the Navy made to free up manufacturing space at the Maine yard.

Destroyer Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is underway on Dec. 7, 2015. US Navy Photo

The large price tag of the Zumwalt (the lead ship is estimated to cost more than $4.4 billion) and concern over the Zumwalts seaworthiness made the U.S. Navy cut down its order from 32 to three (some sources two) new guided missile destroyers.

Once operational, the new destroyer will be one of the most heavily armed surface naval weapons platforms of the U.S. Navy, capable of striking its targets from a long distance. Each ship features a battery of two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) firing Long-Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP) that reach up to 63 nautical miles [72 miles, 115 kilometers], providing a three-fold range improvement in naval surface fires coverage, according to the U.S. Navy website.

The U.S. Navy is also thinking of arming the Zumwalt with combat lasers and electromagnetic railguns. The ship can produce up to 78 megawatts of energy and features a special Integrated Power System (IPS).

SOURCES  Military Times, USNI News
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...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 8 PM CDT SUNDAY FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND WEST-CENTRAL IOWA... * Affected Area...In Iowa, Monona county. In Nebraska, Knox, Cedar, Thurston, Antelope, Pierce, Wayne, Boone, Madison, Stanton, Cuming, Burt, Platte, Colfax, Dodge, Butler, Saunders, Seward, Lancaster, Saline, Jefferson and Gage counties. * Winds...South 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. * Relative Humidity...As low as 22 percent. * Impacts...Any fires that ignite may spread rapidly and exhibit extreme fire behavior. Use extreme caution if engaging in any activities that could start a fire. Outdoor burning is not advisable. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. &&
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday agreed that peace between Palestinians and Israelis can only be achieved if both parties agree to talk and accept the two-state solution.

Peace wont come through UN Security Council resolutions but through direct negotiations between the parties. The best formula for achieving peace remains two states for two peoples in which a demilitarized Palestinian state finally recognizes the Jewish state, Netanyahu said in a video address to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

He said he is ready to enter talks with Palestinians with no pre-conditions. He however blamed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for his opposition to direct talks with Israel.

Netanyahus comment followed Sunday criticism by US Vice-President Joe Biden who said neither Israel nor Palestinians were ready for peace.

Biden who recently travelled to the region blasted Netanyahu for his latest decision to seize more lands in the West Bank. For Biden, such move neither encourages peace nor the two-state solution proposed by the international community to end the conflict.

He also criticised Palestinians for their aggressive campaign at international meetings to secure sanctions against Israel.

On that Netanyahu argued that he hoped the US would continue to reject any move towards a UN Security Council resolution backing Palestinian statehood.

A Security Council Resolution to pressure Israel would further harden Palestinian positions and thereby could actually kill the chances of peace for many, many years, he added.

Meanwhile in a separate report, the Hamas movement in the Gaza strip Tuesday held military drills to test its readiness in the event of another Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The military exercises which reportedly involved 1,000 police and emergency services personnel barred media coverage. Reports also add that hospitals and schools were placed on alert, as in war time.

Gaza has known three wars since 2008 between the Hamas movement and Israel, the latest being the 2014 5-day war known as the worst which claimed lives of more than 2,000 Palestinians and over 80 Israelis.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has reaffirmed, in a phone talk with King Mohammed VI, that Washingtons standpoint on the Sahara issue remains unchanged.

The Royal Office actually announced that King Mohammed VI has had on Wednesday talks over the phone with US Secretary of State John Kerry and that the talks mainly dealt with the Sahara issue.

The Secretary of State assured the Moroccan Sovereign that the United States position on the Sahara remains unchanged and falls within the framework adopted jointly by King Mohammed VI and President Barack Obama in November 2013 in Washington, says the statement of the Royal Office.

John Kerry also told the King that dialogue between the two countries would continue until a final solution to this regional dispute is reached, on this basis, says the statement.

This is not the first time in the past few days that Washington renews support to Moroccos position and to the autonomy initiative it proposed to settle the Sahara conflict.

Amidst the dispute between Moroccan authorities and the United Nations Secretary General following the latters blunders when referring to Moroccos presence in the Sahara, the US mission to the United Nations issued in New York last week a statement renewing Washingtons support to the Moroccan autonomy initiative saying we consider the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as serious, realistic and credible and we think that this initiative is a potential approach likely to fulfil the aspirations of the Western Sahara people to run their own affairs in peace and dignity.

The same unchanged position was reiterated in Rabat by the US Ambassador to Morocco, Dwight L. Bush, who said that Washington is very concerned over the turn of events between the UNSG and Morocco and wants to help solve this problem.

Diplomatic sources from New York also announced that the United States will submit to the Security Council over the few coming days a draft declaration on the dispute between the UN Secretary General and Moroccan authorities.
Khalid (left) and Ibrahim (right) el-Bakraoui are alleged suicide bombers who carried out the attacks in the Brussels airport and metro, respectively.

Belgian authorities are piecing together the identities of the men suspected of carrying out Tuesdays deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels that killed more than 30 and left up to 270 injured. The bombings in the European capital came less than a week after Belgian police captured Salah Abdeslam, a Paris suspect whod been on the run since the November 13 strike. Abdeslams arrest  and the months-long manhunt to track him down  revealed a deep network of associates with ties to radicalism. Some of those names have resurfaced in the Brussels investigation, hinting at significant links to those who carried out the Paris massacre. Heres what we know so far:

The Attacks

Terrorists targeted two separate locations. Two large explosions erupted in Zaventem airport shortly before 8 a.m., near check-in desks. Suicide bombers caused the blasts. At least 11 people were killed in the airport attack. Later that morning, another suicide bomber blew himself up on a train entering the Maelbeek subway station, close to the European Union headquarters. The carnage left 20 dead and scores injured.

Authorities believe five men directly participated in the attacks. They have now identified three suspected attackers: brothers Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 30, and Najim Laachraoui, 24. Laachraoui and Ibraham el-Backraoui carried out the airport attacks. Khalid blew himself up in the Maelbeek metro station. All three are believed dead.

Authorities found the fingerprints of Ibrahim  the Zaventem airport bomber  at the scene, reports The Guardian. He is seen on surveillance footage (below), dressed in black (center), with two other men. The man on the left, also clad in black, is assumed to be the second suicide bomber. CBS News reports that sources with the Belgian police are identifying the second suicide bomber as Naijim Laachraoui; police earlier Wednesday thought Laachraoui had escaped, making him the target of a nationwide manhunt and the most-wanted man in Europe.

Photo: Belgian Police

That still leaves one airport attacker at-large, though his identity is unknown. Investigators say this man likely left a powerful unexploded bomb behind in a piece of luggage that squads found and later blew up in a controlled detonation. At first, police thought this suspect may have panicked and fled, but they now say its more likely his getaway was part of the plan.

The second brother, Khalid, died in the blast at Maelbeek metro station  though authorities havent ruled out the possibility that he also participated in the airport massacre. Authorities also said Thursday that they are seeking a fifth suspect, who may have participated in the attacks. Security cameras captured images of this man in the metro station walking next to Khalid el-Bakraoui, lugging a large bag. Police dont know whether he is alive and at large, or if he died in the attack.

The Attackers

Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui

The el-Bakraoui brothers had been known to Belgian police as criminals and gang members with long rap sheets. They came under scrutiny by police for extremist ties following anti-terrorist operations in Belgium last week linked to the Paris strike, though reports are starting to leak out that law enforcement may have been aware of the brothers radicalization earlier.

Khalid, the man responsible for the metro bombing, had been wanted as early as August of last year, when Belgian police put out an Interpol red notice for terrorism charges, reports the Times. The notice had gone out after Khalid violated parole for a 2011 sentence involving carjacking and assault-weapons possession.

Belgian police had apparently ramped up the hunt for him last week, after a March 15 anti-terrorist raid at an apartment in a Brussels neighborhood that erupted into a shoot-out with police. Investigators later found Paris suspect Salah Abdeslams fingerprints after that operation (Abdeslam was arrested Friday, a few days later). They traced the raided apartment back to Khalid, who had apparently been renting the home under an alias.

Ibrahim, who blew himself up at the Brussels airport, had also been the target of police following the March 15 raid, though his involvement in that incident is less clear right now. He was convicted of shooting a police officer during an armed robbery in 2009 and, according to the Times, was sentenced to nine years in prison. Its unclear why he was released.

Later Wednesday, Reuters reported that Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said that Ibrahim had been detained in Turkey last June on suspicions he was attempting to cross into Syria. Turkish officials informed Belgium authorities in early July that hed been arrested, and allegedly debriefed on his ties to Islamic militants. Belgian apparently ignored the warning, so Turkish officials deported him back to the Netherlands at Ibrahims request. Erdogan says he warned European officials in Belgium and the Netherlands about that decision, but nothing prevented Ibrahim from moving freely around the European Union, according to the Guardian.

Yet Ibrahim apparently knew he was a wanted man, at least after last weeks raids that led to the arrest of Abdeslam. He had apparently steeled himself for the suicide mission, too. Authorities apparently found a note and will on a computer in a trash can outside an apartment that police raided Tuesday after the attacks. (The raid also turned up more than 30 pounds of an explosive material and an ISIS flag. The tip came from the cabbie who drove the men to the airport.) According to USA Today, the note made veiled reference to the arrest of Paris attacker Abdeslam: Being in a hurry, I dont know what to do, being searched for everywhere, not being safe. If it drags on it could end up with me in a prison cell next to him.

Najim Laachraoui, 24

Belgian authorities told the public Monday that they were aggressively searching for 24-year-old Laachraoui, a known associate of captured Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam and alleged bomb-maker. He was the target of a massive manhunt earlier, but now sources are saying that Laachraoui also blew himself up in the Zaventem airport.

Police suspect that Laachraoui, a Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent, may have been the bomb-maker in the Paris attacks, and its likely that he helped put together the explosives in the Brussels blast. His DNA was also found at the site Belgian police raided Tuesday after the attacks.

Laachraoui grew up in the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek and apparently attended a Catholic high school in the community where he studied electromechanical engineering.

Laachraoui, who had also been using the alias of Soufiane Kayal for some time, traveled to Syria in 2013, where, according to the Washington Post, he may have received explosives training. Here is his laundry list of links to the Paris massacre, as reported by Daily Intelligencer Monday:

Laachraoui had traveled to Budapest with Abdeslam in September of last year, two months before the terror attacks. (They went with Mohamed Belkaid, who was killed in a Belgian police raid last Tuesday.) CNN also reports that he communicated over the phone with the alleged Paris mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. According to the Times, he also (as Kayal) rented a house outside of Brussels that may have been used by the Paris attackers before the November 13 massacre; authorities identified Laachraouis DNA there when they searched the place about two weeks after Paris. Both Laachraoui and Abdeslams DNA turned up again in December in a Brussels neighborhood during an anti-terrorism investigation.  Investigators matched Laachraouis DNA to that on at least two suicide belts used in Paris. Authorities also found remnants of explosive powder often used in those devices in the house that he had rented  all of which certainly suggests this guy had a serious role in prepping or planning for Paris.

Belgian police made one arrest Wednesday in connection to the attacks, but his identity or the reason behind his detainment are still unknown. (Reports, now debunked, said Laachraoui was taken into custody.)

This post has will be updated as more information becomes available.
True Detective season three. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Ted Cruz called for law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized. On Wednesday, Jeb Bush endorsed Cruz as an antidote to Donald Trumps divisiveness.

Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, Bush said in a statement released early Wednesday. For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies.

Cruz is certainly less vulgar than the candidate who threatened to spill the beans on his wife last night.

Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

But the idea that the Texas senator doesnt bring divisiveness into the political arena would be news to his Senate colleagues, whom he has repeatedly demonized for insufficient partisanship. It would also be news to anyone who thinks the president is not a secret Muslim whose White House is full of stealth jihadists working to bring sharia law to the United States  last week, Cruz named a man who has espoused such notions as his top foreign-policy adviser.

Still, Bushs other rationalizations for backing Cruz make sense. On paper, John Kasich looks more like Bushs ideal nominee, which is to say he looks more like Bush himself  a pseudo-moderate swing-state governor. But when you add his delegate total to that paper, Kasich also looks like an also-ran. For sincere #NeverTrump conservatives, the choice in this race is clear.

While Bushs endorsement will swing roughly as many votes as Jeb has family members, his backing is still a big win for Cruz. The nod gives the senator Establishment credibility and access to the Bush familys vast donor network, while marginalizing Kasich.

For Cruz, Bushs endorsement is the latest in a string of approving gestures from the Republican Establishment. As Politico notes, Mitt Romney recorded get-out-the-vote calls for Cruz ahead of Tuesdays Utah primary, and Senator Lindsey Id kind of like to see Ted Cruz murdered Graham held a fund-raiser for the Texan on Monday.

In the bizarro world that Trump has created, the far-right ideologue with no friends in the Senate is a darling of the Establishment; the candidate calling for the pseudo-occupation of Dearborn, Michigan, is a unifier. But if this years topsy-turvy cycle has you pining for the corrupt, dynastic politics of yesteryear, fear not: The Washington Posts Ed OKeefe notes that the restoration of dynasty may be Bushs true motivation.
Emory University, in Atlanta. Photo: Daniel Mayer/Wikipedia

College can be a stressful period: Youre living on your own for the first time, youre meeting all sorts of new people, you have to do a lot of reading. Most jarring is the realization that not everyone believes the same things as you do. Some people, for example, like Incubus. It can be jarring. Heck, they even might have political views you find abhorrent!

Some students at Emory are struggling mightily with that last part, if an article in the Emory Wheel (via Gawker) is any indication. Sunday night and Monday morning, the paper reports, some person or group chalked various messages in support of Trump all over campus. The article gives no indication the chalkings were themselves racist or otherwise offensive, other than that they expressed support for a gross political candidate, though one did read Accept the Inevitable: Trump 2016.

A group of activists responded on Monday not by laughing at how any of their students could be dumb enough to support a tiny-handed buffoon, or chalking their own anti-Trump messages, but by going nuclear  at least by college-student standards: They immediately started protesting the Emory administration and, eventually, confronted the president himself for failing to act against the the brutal overnight mass-chalking.

University President James W. Wagner, who had been standing just inside the threshold of the door, had been called into the board room by students and listened at the head of the table while they described how the appearance of the chalkings made them feel. He addressed several questions throughout the time in the board room, including Why did the swastikas [on the AEPi house in Fall 2014] receive a quick response while these chalkings did not? to which Wagner replied that they represented an outside threat and clarified that it was a second set of swastikas that received a swift response from the University. What do we have to do for you to listen to us? students asked Wagner directly, to which he asked, What actions should I take? One student asked if Emory would send out a University-wide email to decry the support for this fascist, racist candidate to which Wagner replied, No, we will not. One student clarified that the University doesnt have to say they dont support Trump, but just to acknowledge that there are students on this campus who feel this way about whats happening  to acknowledge all of us here. Other students asked for improving diversity in the higher positions of the University, including the Board of Trustees and the faculty in general who should not be simply diversity sprinkles to improve statistics, as one student described it. Grievances were not restricted to shortcomings of the administration. [Faculty] are supporting this rhetoric by not ending it, said one student, who went on to say that people of color are struggling academically because they are so focused on trying to have a safe community and focus on these issues [related to having safe spaces on campus].

Eventually, Wagner relented and said he would, in fact, draft an email. More alarming:

The University will review footage up by the hospital [from] security cameras to identify those who made the chalkings, Wagner told the protesters. He also added that if theyre students, they will go through the conduct violation process, while if they are from outside of the University, trespassing charges will be pressed.

A college using using security-camera footage to track down and possibly punish students who expressed political speech? The only way to fairly describe that is, well, the only way to fairly describe the spectacle of a Trump rally delivered to a deliriously cheering crowd: extremely creepy, and a sign that something has gone seriously wrong.
Oh, sheet. Photo: Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images

The great aspiration of the Paris climate accord is to keep global warming from exceeding two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. But according to a new paper, even two degrees of warming would mean the disintegration of large sections of the polar ice sheets, boulder-spewing storms stronger than any since prehistory, and the drowning of most coastal cities by the end of the century.

Were in danger of handing young people a situation thats out of their control, the papers author, retired NASA climate scientist James Hansen, told the New York Times on Tuesday.

Using computer models, evidence from ancient episodes of climate change, and modern observations, Hansen and his team arrived at one essential conclusion: The melting of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets will set off a vicious cycle that dramatically accelerates the pace of climate change. The key concept here is ocean stratification, a process by which cold, fresh meltwater rises to the ocean surface while warmer salt water is pushed beneath. (The Washington Post notes that an anomalously cold blob of ocean water has been detected off the southern coast of Greenland.) That warmer salt water would eventually reach the base of the ice sheets, melting them from below, thus spurring more stratification, which would then spur more melting, which would then spur more stratification, which would spur more warming, until our grandchildren are all swallowed by the sea.

But thats not all! Hansens paper also projects that the influx of cold meltwater in the North Atlantic region, combined with warmer equatorial waters, would drive midlatitude cyclones so strong, the waves would be capable of thrusting gigantic boulders ashore.

Hansens paper took a controversial route to publication. Last year, the scientist published a discussion paper and shared some of his preliminary findings with the news media, sparking criticism from peers who felt he may have been counting his eggs before they hatched (into catastrophic cyclones).

Near as I can tell, the issues that caused me concern originally still remain in the revised manuscript, Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann told the Post. Namely, the projected amounts of meltwater seem unphysically large, and the ocean component of their model doesnt resolve key wind-driven current systems (e.g. the Gulf Stream) which help transport heat poleward.

But David Archer, a geoscientist at the University of Chicago, told the paper that the study is another Hansen masterwork of scholarly synthesis, modeling virtuosity, and insight, with profound implications.

Lets hope Archers wrong.
The Revolt of the White Lower Middle Class, by Pete Hamill, from April 14, 1969.

I had gone off to Europe to write for the Saturday Evening Post, Pete Hamill recalls, and then came back almost a year later, and I saw New York in a way that was fresh rather than just a habit that I embraced each morning, and began to see and hear the complaints: Nobody gives a shit about you or me. It was 1969, Mayor John Lindsay was saying lofty things about poverty and housing and race, and hard-hat New York was steamed. The Democratic Party, Hamill continues, was moving away from service-oriented politics  you know, your-kid-needs-a-bail-bondsman stuff that was useful  into abstractions, and arguments about Vietnam and issue-oriented politics. Hamill did his reporting among the Archie Bunker guys in tough neighborhoods (Park Slope was one back then!), and got quotes like this:

Look around, another guy told me, in a place called Mister Kellys on Eighth Avenue and 13th Street in Brooklyn. Look in the papers. Look on TV. What the hell does Lindsay care about me? He dont care whether my kid has shoes, whether my boy gets a new suit at Easter, whether I got any money in the bank. None of them politicians gives a good goddam. All they worry about is the niggers. And everything is for the niggers. The niggers get the schools. The niggers go to summer camp. The niggers get the new playgrounds. The niggers get nursery schools. And they get it all without workin. Im an ironworker, a connector; when I go to work in the mornin, I dont even know if Im gonna make it back. My wife is scared to death, every mornin, all day. Up on the iron, if the wind blows hard or the steel gets icy or I make a wrong step, bango, forget it, Im dead. Who feeds my wife and kid if Im dead? Lindsay? The poverty program? You know the answer: nobody.

Hamill was able to talk to them because he had grown up in their world: It could be the guy standing next to you at the bar  I was still drinking then. Or it could be a friend that I hadnt seen for a while. I had worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard as an apprentice sheet-metal worker when I was 16, and I had friends from there, in particular a guy named Eddie McManus, who advised me: Get the hell out of here! 

The Initial Response

You wouldnt think the guys in this story come off well, but Hamill recalls that they felt so invisible in the media that they actually cheered its publication: I think that it was raised or mentioned at all was unusual. A letter the magazine ran a few issues later, from a reader named Robert J. King, bears that out. Finally  someone has shown a modicum of understanding, he wrote. I am, I suppose, one of the middle-class whites that Mr. Hamill mentioned in his article, but I have nothing against the ordinary, decent black man. As Pete Hamill points out, he too is a victim of phony liberals  I have always loved my city and my neighborhood. I am, though, on the brink of quitting, and people like Lindsay have made this so.

A lot of them did quit. In the 1970s, New York City lost 1.3 million white people, mostly to the suburbs and the Sun Belt. The Democratic machine ceded its grip on blue-collar white voters; the Republican Party scooped them up, telling them that less government would solve their problems. Never mind, as Hamill says, that the government itself had built their lives: Thats what made the middle class! It was two things: the G.I. Bill and unions. And once they started busting the unions up  particularly an exunion guy, Ronald Reagan, the turncoat champion of America, who had lived through the Depression thanks to the New Deal  the others were just left to flounder for themselves. In the 1980 election, Reagan won New York State by three points and came within 18,000 votes of taking Queens.

Today

A few things besides the unabashed use of the N-word leap off the page in Hamills portrait of these future Reagan Democrats. He noticed that their reasons for backing a mouthy Brooklyn assemblyman named Vito Battista amounted to, in one guys words, I like that Battista. He talks our language. That Lindsay sounds like a college professor. (Remember Sarah Palin: We need a commander-in-chief, not a constitutional-law professor lecturing us from a lectern.) And Hamill also caught something else: that these folks watched a lot of TV, and that televisions preference for the politics of theatre had begun to skew their views of the larger world sharply. The Apprentice fired its first contestant in 2004.

*This article appears in the March 21, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
Barack Obama, president of a successful government, meets with leaders of a highly unsuccessful one. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, President Obama visited Cuba at a moment when his presidency is at an apogee, and international communism is mired in a long, terminal decline. Obama has revived the liberal project, implementing center-left reforms to end the Great Recession, reduce carbon emissions, regulate financial markets, and expand access to health insurance (health care notably having long been perhaps Cubas only conceivable advantage relative to the U.S.). Yet, in the United States, liberalism faces greater pressure from the left than at any time since the 1960s, when a domestic liberal presidency was destroyed by the Vietnam War.

While socialism remains highly unpopular among the public as a whole, Americans under the age of 30  who have few or no memories of communism  respond to it favorably. The Bernie Sanders campaign has introduced once-verboten questions about the market system into Democratic Party politics  a challenge Hillary Clinton has beaten back by relying on the residual loyalties of her base rather than mounting a frontal ideological challenge. Meanwhile, Jacobin magazine has given long-marginalized Marxist ideas new force among progressive intellectuals. It seems impossible at the current moment to imagine Marxists exercising power at the national level. But it also seemed impossible to imagine New Dealhating conservatives  then just a faction within a party  exercising national-scale power after their standard-bearer was routed in the 1964 elections. Yet, a mere 16 years later, their time had arrived. So, on the theory that its never too early to start planning the counterrevolution, it is worth reiterating that Marxism is terrible.

Sanderss success does not reflect any Marxist tendency. It does, however, reflect a generalized hunger for radical solutions, discontent with the Obama administrations pace of progress, and a generational weakening of the Democratic Partys identification with liberalism over socialism. It has never been exactly clear what Sanders means when he calls himself socialist. Years ago, he supported the Socialist Workers Party, a Marxist group that favored the nationalization of industry. Today he endorses a revolution in metaphorical rather than literal terms, and holds up Denmark as the closest thing to a real-world model for his ideas. But, while socialism has meant different things throughout history, Denmark is not really a socialist economy. As Jonathan Cohn explained, it combines generous welfare benefits and high-quality public infrastructure with highly flexible labor markets  an amped-up version of what left-wing critics derisively call neoliberalism. While Denmarks success suggests that a modern economy can afford to fund more generous social benefits, it does not reveal an alternative to the market system.

It is on politics, not economics, where the influence of Marxist ideas has been most keenly felt. Enough time has passed since the demise of the Soviet Union to allow Marxist models to thrive without answering for communist regimes. In his fascinating profile of Jacobin, Dylan Matthews notes, The magazine is not going to defend Stalins collectivizations or Maos Great Leap Forward or really any other aspect of actually existing communism. But the fact that every communist country in world history quickly turned into a repressive nightmare is kind of important.

Many Marxist theorists have long attempted to rescue their theory from its real-world adherents by attributing its failures to idiosyncratic personal flaws of the leaders who took power (Lenin, Stalin, Mao  ). But the same patterns have replicated themselves in enough governments under enough leaders to make it perfectly obvious that the flaw rests in the theory itself. Marxist governments trample on individual rights because Marxist theory does not care about individual rights. Marxism is a theory of class justice. The only political rights it respects are those exercised by members of the oppressed class, with different left-wing ideological strands defining those classes in economic, racial, or gender terms, or sometimes all at once. Unlike liberalism, which sees rights as a positive-sum good that can expand or contract for society as a whole, Marxists (and other left-wing critics of liberalism) think of political rights as a zero-sum conflict. Either they are exercised on behalf of oppression or against it. Any Marxist government immediately sets about snuffing out the political rights of parties or ideas deemed reactionary (a category that also inevitably expands to describe any challenge to the powers that be). Repression is woven into Marxisms ideological fabric.

Lets not make this a reality. Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photos: Rob Carr/Getty Images, fStop/Corbis

Political correctness borrows its illiberal model of political discourse from Marxism, and it has mostly played itself out on university campuses and other enclaves where the left is able to impose political hegemony. (This is why some liberals who dont agree with political correctness, but also dont want to criticize it, dismiss it as nothing more than harmless college prankery.) Just this week, Emory Universitys president promised to use security cameras to track down and prosecute students who wrote Trump in chalk  chalking being a normally acceptable medium for sloganeering  after student activists pronounced the word a threat to their safety.

Of course, since students can easily access hurtful campaign news with more modern communication tools than chalk, the application of p.c. logic to the presidential campaign requires action beyond the walls of the ivory tower. Trumps campaign has given the illiberal left the chance to import its methods to the broader stage of a presidential campaign. Left-wing groups have set out to prevent Trump from delivering public speeches. The tactic first appeared just over a week ago in Chicago, where several hundred University of Illinois at Chicago faculty members signed a letter asking the university to cancel Trumps speech, and a demonstration planned to, in its words, #SHUTITDOWN. There is some dispute as to whether the demonstrators caused Trump to cancel his speech, or whether he used them as a pretext. What is indisputable is that a faction of the left has made shutting down Trump rallies its goal. A version of the tactic reappeared in Arizona, where activists blocked highway access to a Trump rally, though police managed to clear them. Sanders, to his credit, has decried such efforts, but influential left-wing intellectuals have defended the practice in essays with headlines like How the people of Chicago silenced Donald Trump.

The efforts to shut down Trump reflect the growing influence of Marxian politics, and these ideas merit study. A Jacobin column defends impair[ing] the circulation of Trumps hate-filled message. What about free speech? Well:

Free speech, while an indispensable principle of democracy, is not an abstract value. It is carried out in the context of power disparities, and has real effects on peoples lives. We can defend freedom of speech  particularly from state crackdowns  while also resolutely opposing speech that scapegoats the most vulnerable and oppressed people in our society.

Free speech is for people on the wrong end of power disparities  which is to say, the oppressed and their allies, or, put more bluntly, the left. Free speech is not for a candidate who scapegoats the most vulnerable and oppressed. Importantly, this principle denies the right of free speech not only to Trump but also to the entire Republican Party (whose analysis of poverty, crime, terrorism, and so on constitutes scapegoating of the oppressed) but also large segments of the Democratic Party as well. It is highly unlikely that the illiberal left gets its hands on the machinery of the federal government within our lifetimes, but if it does, repression would be a foregone conclusion.

In the meantime, obviously, Trump poses a far more dire danger than his would-be censors. But it is important not to succumb to the panic that the far left is inculcating around Trump. Trump would threaten American democracy if elected, but all evidence suggests his election is highly unlikely. Trump is disliked by a massive, landslide majority. A majority actually fears him. There is no strategic reason to believe that preventing Trumps election requires direct confrontation or anything other than normal campaigning. In fact, there is more reason to believe that confrontation helps Trump than to believe the opposite. A poll found the Chicago conflagration made Republican voters, on net, more rather than less likely to support Trump. A reporter I know on the trail met two voters who told him they switched from John Kasich to Trump in response to Trump canceling his speech. That reporter also conveyed the same impression described by Seth Stevenson: Trumps barking ejections of protesters at his rallies are their emotional apex, the one point in the generally rambly and often boring soliloquies where Trump can demonstrate the atavistic qualities of command. It stands to reason that supplying evidence for Trumps claim to be the victim of political correctness helps rather than hinders him.

But the efforts to shut down Trump are not the product of calculation  or, at least, not a calculation to prevent Trumps election. The justifiable fear Trump engenders provides the far left, which has no immediate prospects of enacting its program democratically, with the thrilling opportunity to bring the struggle from the ballot box to the streets. Sometimes a combative scrum  not the marketplace of ideas  is the face of democracy, exults Jacobin. Severe threats to equality often push people to act militantly, marshaling their own speech to ward off their authoritarian foes. It even admits that blocking Trump by electing his major-party opponent is not the point, urging on a fight for real democracy  not just trusting [the] candidate who supports the very neoliberal policies that helped birth Trump. Matthews may credit Jacobin with winning the war of ideas on the left, but Jacobins notion of winning this war seems to be a bit more literal.

Nor do realistic advocates of social and economic equality have any reason to share or accept the lefts desperation. The popular, sitting liberal president has enacted the most important egalitarian social reforms in half a century, including higher taxes on the rich, lower taxes on the poor, and significant new income transfers to poor and working-class Americans through health-care reform and other measures. All of this has happened without the alliance with white supremacy that compromised the New Deal, or the disastrous war that accompanied the Great Society. The case for democratic, pluralistic, incremental, market-friendly governance rooted in empiricism  i.e., liberalism  has never been stronger than now. What an odd time to abandon a successful program for an ideology that has failed everywhere it has been tried.
Judge Palin presides. Photo: Mark Wilson/2014 Getty Images

Sarah Palin, whose last reality-TV show, Amazing America With Sarah Palin, was not exactly a smash hit, is getting a second chance at daytime-TV stardom. People reports that the former Alaska governor has signed a production deal with Warm Springs, a production company based in Montana, for a courtroom reality show in the vein of Judge Judy. Palins telegenic personality, wide appeal, and common-sense wisdom make her a natural for this kind of format, an unnamed source told the magazine. She was Warm Springs top pick for this project.

Although Palin, unlike Judge Judy, does not have a Juris Doctor degree, a Warm Springs representative told USA Today that her popularity makes up for this minor drawback. Shes sold millions of books, shes a proven ratings draw, she has close to 6 million followers on social media, she has a huge audience and you can say that audience corresponds well with a daytime audience, he said. In other words, Palins fans are exactly the sort of people one might expect to watch daytime television.

Shes signed the production deal, but Palin still has to make a pilot, meet with networks, and sell the show. If that doesnt work out, she can always fall back on her blossoming freestyle-rap career.
Donald Trump. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. This week: the terror attacks in Brussels, the GOP quest to unite around an anti-Trump, and a farewell to Margaret Sullivan, the New York Times public editor.

In the wake of the terror attack in Brussels this week, NBCs Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie caught some criticism for practically suggesting to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton that torture might be necessary. How much do such responses of high-profile journalists contribute to creating fear and panic in the U.S.?

Fear has brought out the worst in America throughout its modern history. We tirelessly recall that FDR told America it had nothing to fear but fear itself at his first inaugural address in 1933, but often omit the part that he signed an order to incarcerate Japanese-Americans in internment camps later in his presidency. So many calamities in modern American history have been prompted by fear, its impossible to list them all, from the Red Scare of the McCarthy era to the failure of the Reagan administration to address the AIDS crisis to the misbegotten, 9/11-generated Iraq War, which helped create the Islamic State that has rained down blood on Paris, San Bernardino, and Brussels in less than five months.

The missteps of morning talk-show hosts are, truly, the least of our problems right now  and in general I think we should worry less about the ginning up of panic by television news (or other journalistic platforms) and keep our focus on the fearmongering politicians who are running for president in an election year. Trump does not need prompting from Lauer and Guthrie to talk about torture as a panacea for terrorism. His fear-driven solutions for dealing with ISIS  more torture, sealing our borders, reducing support of NATO  are as ineffectual as they are incoherent. Cruzs plan to have wholesale policing of American Muslim communities is nothing if not a propaganda gift to the Islamic State, inviting more terrorism. And John Kasichs proposal in the aftermath of Brussels: President Obama should cut short his trip to Cuba. Thatll show em!

You will notice that none of the Republican candidates  nor Clinton, who called for steady leadership and one of her typical bullet-point lists of more or less existing American policies  proposes ground troops in the Middle East. Youll notice that Thomas Friedman and Roger Cohen, both of whom offered thoughtful critiques of Obama policy in this mornings Times, had no real solutions of their own, unless Friedmans pitch for American support to the developing democracies of Tunisia and Kurdistan counts as one. (As goes Tunisia, so might Syria? This seems like magical thinking.) I certainly dont have a solution either, but I do get why Obama is doing everything he can to tamp down fear, even at the price of being criticized for passivity, weakness, etc. Policy based on fear prompts even rational politicians like Clinton to sign on to debacles like Iraq, and politics based on fear can only increase the odds of a self-professed strongman like Trump gaining power.

Ted Cruzs big win in Utah last night, as well as Jeb Bushs endorsement of him, suggest that the GOP nomination still isnt quite Trumps for the taking. Did yesterday provide any additional hope for voters hoping to avoid a Trump nomination?

Mormons really do not like Trump, and if America (Mormon population about 1.7 percent) were Utah (Mormon population 58 percent), hed be done. Meanwhile, back in the real world, nothing has happened to slow Trumps path to the nomination. The GOP is still in the same place, and its not going to change: Either Trump is going to have a majority of delegates by the time the party convenes in Cleveland, or hes going to have a plurality, in which case all hell is going to break loose as the anti-Trump forces attempt to secure the nomination for a candidate with fewer delegates than Trump or possibly a compromise choice (e.g., Paul Ryan) who arrives at the convention with no delegates at all. Any American planning to take a vacation the week of July 18 may want to reconsider: This is going to be binge-watchable must-see TV, and you will never get to the beach.

Related Stories Retire the Notion That Trump Hijacked the GOP

As for Jeb Bushs endorsement: Surely if weve learned anything from this political cycle its that endorsements from the GOP Establishment mean nothing. If they did, Jeb would still be in the race, for no one in the Republican field had collected more of them. And once again, we have an illustration of the timidity that helped crater the Bush candidacy. Bush is finally  finally  putting distance between himself and his brother George, who said I just dont like the guy when speaking of Cruz to a room of donors back in October. We can look forward to more bold stands from Jeb now that hes back in private life, but its past time when any of them would merit an exclamation point.

Margaret Sullivan, the Times public editor, leaves her post next month, on the heels of what is probably her biggest success: a rewriting of the Times anonymous-sourcing policy. What should the newspapers next public editor learn from Sullivans tenure?

The job of public editor really gained traction after the papers own fear-induced calamity in the wake of 9/11. The Times inability to apply serious journalistic scrutiny to the Bush administrations case for the war in Iraq  an institutional failure that did not just involve credulous and ideological reporters like Judith Miller but editors in the chain of command to the top of the masthead  required serious self-examination and reform if the paper was going to regain the trust of its readers and even many in its own newsroom. The first public editor, Daniel Okrent, played a significant role in pushing for such reform and asking the hard questions that the paper had failed to ask itself in the run-up to the war.

Since then, public editors have come and gone with far less impact. But that was not the case with Sullivan. She has been fearless and provocative, and, as her tenure nears its end, she has scored a major achievement in getting the Times to reform its use of anonymous sources. Earlier on she got the paper to drop its odious willingness (shared by other journalism outlets) to give some of those quoted in its news columns the right to approve their quotes after the fact. She got Michael Hayden, the former head of the NSA and the CIA, to say on the record that the Times story on warrantless government surveillance, held back by the paper for 13 months at the urging of the Bush administration, in fact did not endanger American national security. Sullivan also took on the Times failings in dealing with poverty, sexism, and even its lack of racial diversity in its staff of culture critics, often prompting change.

One hopes the next public editor will learn from Sullivans tenure that nothing should be off-limits; a strong critic, advocating for both the readers and the highest standards, makes the paper better and its often-opaque practices more transparent. She is going to be a tough act to follow. Meanwhile, the Times loss is going to be another gain for Martin Barons ever-more-competitive Washington Post. Sullivan is launching a free-ranging media column there that is likely to be a must-read throughout this election year and beyond.
Kasich has no plausible path to the nomination. Yet he shambles on and on. Photo-Illustration: Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

In Tuesdays Republican presidential nominating contests, Donald Trump won Arizona and all of its 58 delegates, while Ted Cruz won Utah and its 40 delegates. The third candidate still in the field, John Kasich, won no delegates, and his big psychological victory was finishing a very poor second place in Utah over Trump in what may very well be Americas preeminent Trump-hating jurisdiction. He also managed to finish fourth in a three-man race in Arizona by trailing the zombie candidacy of Marco Rubio (who did better in early voting than Kasich did in early voting or on election day).

In popular mythology, when you get bit by a zombie you soon zombify yourself. The Arizona showing by Kasich seems to consign him to the ranks of the walking dead. Even before last night, there were signs in every direction that the Ohioan had worn out his welcome with, well, just about everybody in the GOP. His refusal to give Ted Cruz a clean shot at Trump in Utah greatly annoyed Mitt Romney, who can hardly be expected to promote Kasichs interests if the contested convention they both want actually materializes. But as Robert Draper explained on Monday in The New York Times Magazine, its hard to find much of any insider base of support for the man:

[M]ost party insiders to whom Ive spoken flatly reject a draft-Kasich movement. Partly this is because he hasnt earned it. To date he has triumphed only in his home state  which was not a huge surprise, given that he won all 12 of his previous elections (for State Senate, Congress and governor) there. Kasich was something of an absentee candidate in the South and has underperformed in the North and the Midwest outside Ohio. His fund-raising abilities are not especially impressive: He has raised $15.3 million thus far, not much more than the $14.2 million that Marco Rubio raised in the last quarter of last year alone  Perhaps just as important, conservatives  particularly in the G.O.P. commentariat  do not see Kasich as one of them  As governor, Kasich expanded Medicaid benefits in his state, against the wishes of a Republican-controlled Legislature. He also embraced Common Core educational standards and today favors a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants. All of these constitute apostasies to movement conservatives. But theres a third layer of resistance to Kasich, one with which Cruz can identify: Many Beltway Republicans dont like him.

Yeah, the dirty little secret of the Kasich campaign all along has been that the actual candidate behind his relentlessly upbeat campaign has a long-standing reputation in Washington and Columbus as a nasty piece of work. Republicans who know this are understandably a mite irritated at Kasichs little lectures on how to emulate the sweet reasonableness of Jesus.

But if Kasich really has little support in the Republican Establishment, how about his occasional claim of being a big brawling anti-Establishment figure himself, fighting the good fight out there in the Ohio badlands? Roll Calls Stu Rothenberg, who certainly knows a Beltway insider when he sees one, had great sport with the idea of Kasich the Outsider in a recent column:
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Western Tuesday primaries got off to a predictable start, with several outlets projecting that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would win in Arizona. With 75 percent of precincts reporting in the Republican race, Trump has 47 percent, followed by Cruz at 25 percent, and Kasich at 10 percent. On the Democratic side, Clinton has 58 percent to Sanderss 40 percent.

While Trumps win does not come as a surprise, it still gives the front-runner a boost. Arizona is winner-take-all, so Trump scores another 58 delegates.

Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

And Kasichs loss is actually even sadder than it appears in most vote tallies:

According to FiveThirtyEight, if Clintons lead holds, she should gain about 17 delegates over Sanders on Tuesday.

In her victory speech, Clinton looked ahead to the general election, as shes been doing more and more in recent weeks. What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, its dangerous, she said, referring to their response to the Brussels terror attacks. She also said voters need to remain positive, thought its hard when we see people running to be president of the United State who are literally inciting bigotry and violence.

Sanders supporters were unenthused by the initial results, but the Vermont senator fared better in Idaho and Utah later in the night.

When Donald Trump's victory in AZ is announced over loudspeakers at Bernie Sanders HQ, dozens of people in crowd flash the bird at the TV  Kasie Hunt (@kasie) March 23, 2016

This post has been updated throughout.


Nope, this thing wont be settled anytime soon. Photo: Getty Images

Going into Tuesdays contests, the main sources of suspense were whether Ted Cruz could sweep Utahs delegates by winning over half the vote in that states caucuses, and whether Donald Trump could hang onto a lead in winner-take-all Arizona, despite a late charge there from Cruz. The answers were yes and yes.

As in the Democratic contest, the massive early vote in Arizona was decisive; Trump held onto a roughly a 2-1 lead over Cruz after posting a near-majority in early voting. There is speculation as to whether Trump would or would not have won without Marco Rubio taking a significant share of the early vote (around 18 percent), based on a robust performance before he dropped out of the race on March 16. But unfortunately for Trumps detractors, those early votes count the same as any other. And anecdotally, it seems clear that, like Hillary Clinton, Trump owed his victory in the state to strong support among retirees.

The growing legend of LDS antipathy to Donald Trump grew stronger as the results came in. The only Arizona county Cruz won is Graham County, which has a large Mormon population. But in Utah, Cruz easily exceeded the 50 percent threshold needed to sweep the states 40 delegates (significantly but not completely offsetting Trumps 58 delegates from Arizona), with Trump battling John Kasich for a largely meaningless second-place finish. Luckily for Trump, these two contests mark the last being held in states with large LDS populations. Worse yet for Cruz, were down to just four states (Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, and South Dakota) where Evangelicals make up a majority of the Republican primary vote.

Tonights footnote comes from American Samoa, where as expected, all nine delegates selected in an intimate convention gathering were officially uncommitted (most American Samoans, including elected officials, do not identify with one of the two major parties, and thus were excluded from the GOP event). So you can add them to the pot to be stirred if there is a contested convention.

In terms of the overall dynamics of the race, one of the big topics of conversation is going to be why John Kasich is still a candidate being treated as a potential nominee in a contested convention. Hes losing to zombie candidate Rubio in Arizona, and could wind up losing to Trump, every good Mormons least favorite candidate, in Utah. He needlessly antagonized potential ally Mitt Romney by campaigning in Utah after the 2012 nominee designated Cruz as the Trump-killer there. And he got skunked on delegates immediately prior to a two-week hiatus in Republican primaries and caucuses, which means any signs of Big Mo for Kasich are going to be increasingly in the rear-view mirror and confined to his own state.

All in all, it was a pretty good night for Donald Trump, albeit one that again raises questions about his level of support if the contest ever finally becomes a one-on-one fight with Ted Cruz. We very likely wont know before the big June 7 primaries in California and New Jersey whether Trump has won a majority of delegates or has stalled just short of a clean win. But hes getting very close to the point where Republicans still in the #NeverTrump camp are thinking in terms of taking a walk instead of executing some sort of coup to regain control of their party.
The FBIs sudden, unexpected request to delay their court hearing against Apple on Monday  theyve supposedly found a new potential method of unlocking the phone  has raised a slew of additional questions. Chief among them are: What is the method and who is the third-party helping the FBI?

While that former question is still unanswered, the latter is reportedly the Israeli cybersecurity firm Cellebrite, characterized by Recode as a leader in extracting information from mobile devices. (The original report, from Israeli site Ynetnews, can be read here. Ynetnews is a subsidiary of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which, according to cybersecurity reporter Joshua Kopstein, has been known to give free publicity to Israeli [companies].)

Founded in 1999, Cellebrite serves customers in the intelligence, public safety, military and enterprise industries with industry-leading, award winning mobile forensics solution components.

Cellebrite has not commented on whether they are working with the FBI on cracking Syed Farooks phone, but they do market a line of products called UFEDs (Universal Forensics Extraction Devices), which can supposedly unlock phones running iOS 8 or earlier. Farooks phone is running iOS 9, so while their current public tools cant unlock the phone, they likely are, or were, working on a method.

Cellebrite is not new to working with the FBI. According to public records reviewed by Motherboard, the FBI has ordered more than $2 million worth of equipment from them since 2012.

There has been some speculation on the method being used to access the phone, the most prevalent being mirroring the NAND chips in the phone (NAND is a type of logic gate that computers use). As cybersecurity expert Jonathan Zdziarski explains:

Most of the tech experts Ive heard from believe the same as I do  that NAND mirroring is likely being used to some degree to brute force the pin on the device. This is where the NAND chip is typically desoldered, dumped into a file (likely by a chip reader/programmer, which is like a CD burner for chips), and then copied so that if the device begins to wipe or delay after five or ten tries, they can just re-write the original image back to the chip. This technique is kind of like cheating at Super Mario Bros. with a save-game, allowing you to play the same level over and over after you keep dying. Only instead of playing a game, theyre trying different pin combinations. Its possible theyve also made hardware modifications to their test devices to add a socket, allowing them to quickly switch chips out, or that theyre using hardware to simulate this chip so that they dont have to.

In other words, NAND mirroring is like a very complicated undo button that prevents the phone from logging incorrect passcode attempts, which would otherwise eventually wipe the phone completely. But of course, dont expect the FBI to confirm any of these details anytime soon.
A fully vaccinated, happy child. Photo: Gaj Rudolf/Getty Images

A new study that looks at recent outbreaks of measles and pertussis (otherwise known was whooping cough) suggests what many people have suspected all along: Many of them occur in areas where large numbers of people are unvaccinated on purpose.

Vaccine refusal is a hot new trend sweeping the nation. The law doesnt require parents to vaccinate their kids, but public schools generally wont accept students who havent had certain shots, though many states allow exemptions for non-medical reasons. In the past, those exemptions were mostly taken by people with certain religious beliefs (like Christian Scientists), but in recent years, the numbers have risen, especially in states that allow philosophical exemptions in addition to religious ones. In California, for the 2013-2014 school year, for example, only 1,000 people were granted exemptions for medical reasons, whereas over 17,000 people took them for philosophical reasons, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control. A law passed in the state of California last year will take effect in July of this one which will no longer allow for the so-called personal exemptions which have allowed so many to slip through unvaccinated, hurray.

The CDC noted in the report that the unvaccinated tend to cluster geographically, increasing the likelihood of outbreaks further. The new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, examined 1,416 cases of measles and 32 pertussis outbreaks in the United States. Of the measles cases, 56.8 percent of the people who contracted the disease were unvaccinated, and of those, 70.6 percent were not vaccinated for non-medical reasons. Of the 12 pertussis outbreaks, 8 out of 12 had very high numbers  between 59 and 93 percent  of intentionally unvaccinated victims.

These findings are worth pondering at length, if you ever suspect you might need to make a vaccination decision for yourself or others. The phenomenon, the report concludes, of vaccine refusal was associated with an increased risk for measles among people who refuse vaccines and among fully vaccinated individuals. Remember: When you dont vaccinate your kids, youre putting other peoples children at risk, too.* In the case of whooping cough, Although resurgence has been attributed to waning immunity and other factors, vaccine refusal was still associated with an increased risk for pertussis in some populations.

There you have it, for the 100th time: Get your vaccines, vaccinate your children.

*This posted has been corrected to reflect that, while a percentage of vaccinated adults are still at risk of measles, the majority are not.
frances is so pretty. courtney looks a bit better, too. and yes. pm every family member on my moms side is crazy.

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Do you have a crazy family member?



My whole family is just not the sort of people i want to regularly associate with

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same lmao

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Mte tbh

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I always say that about my parents lol



I love them as parents but I would never want to be around them if they weren't my family, I do not like them at all

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Frances is so pretty. I'm always a little stunned by it when I see her.

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i was just gonna say... she is really stunning

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she's so beautiful and her fashion is always on point. imma need someone to id those tights for me.

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came here to say this! i need them!

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she is so beautiful

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didn't she have work done?

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See also:







The three of them should open a real estate company tbh.



Edited at 2016-03-23 12:54 am (UTC) Courtney has that exact same weirdly gaunt face/jaw line that you mostly only see in desperate new Realtor listings.See also:The three of them should open a real estate company tbh.

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delete that second image.

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BUY FROM A REALTOR(tm)

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If Reese put as much effort into her eyebrows as her plastic surgery.

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Courtney actually looks great in person but u know the paps will only submit the worst ones considering her past reputation. Britney on the other hand is a media darling so those pics will rarely see the light of day

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Do you have a crazy family member?



my mom has an uncle who was persecuted during the dictatorship and nowadays recounts how those were the good days. I guess that counts, right? And also my dad's side is full of racists and homophobes and I stay as far away from them as possible.



Is Frances still with that guy who looks a lot like Kurt?



Edited at 2016-03-23 12:54 am (UTC)

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lol sounds like my dad's side of the family, he's kinda of an exception tho. he's a huge douchebag in many ways, but at least never turned out to be a coxinha, and is not a racist or homophobe like the rest of his family.



now my mom's uncle omg, he was a teacher and the school pretty much told him to shut up or he'd be reported to the police, which basically meant tortured and killed/disappeared. And now he's gone on a crazy spiral against the government and saying how military intervention might be the only solution, I had to unfollow him on facebook. Couple months ago he posted a picture of the Palacio do Planalto with red lights and he commented like 'this is it, communist dictatorship is upon us!!1!', I replied with '... you do know that's for the AIDS awareness day, right?' and he deleted my comment lmao what a fucking child

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yeah. and she married him.

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isaiah silva is her husband now, frances is stepmom to his child with another woman. courtney was not invited to the wedding

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Do you have a crazy family member?



Basically my entire dad's side. I love them, but they're a special group

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My entire family is crazy and also trash.





But omfg she is soooo gorgeous!

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i dunno how courtney walks around with her bangs in her face like that. there is nothing more annoying to me than having my hair all up in my eye area! :p

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I don't know which part is worse-- "homophobic xenophobic sexist" or "juggalo."



Edited at 2016-03-23 12:58 am (UTC)

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mte

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omg adding juggalo to that mix was just the greasy cherry on top of the nastiest sundae.

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ITA with the first part... the second... YIKES, you've got my sympathy :/

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Damn she looks like her daddy.

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Yes, she does.

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LOL

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Girl stop

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LMAO

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omggg hahaha nope!!





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you ugly vulture

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she looks exactly like her mom

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i think frances is so beautiful tbh



my mom was diagnosed bipolar but chose to self medicate w/ alcohol for decades, rough stuff so i feel for frances in dealing w/ that and i couldn't imagine handling my mom's moods, etc. without having my dad there for support.

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Do you have a crazy family member?



I have an aunt who is your definition crazy cat lady. She has 7 of her own and always a few that she's "fostering". People also have begun leaving their unwanted kittens on her doorstep because they know she'll take care of them. Whenever we have family dinners, no one wants to eat the food she brings because it always has cat hair in it. She also has a pet rooster and works for a church.

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giving me aunt gayle vibes

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now I have to watch all Gale's episodes again.

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omg

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Aww at least she's "crazy" in a nice way and not a murder-y way!

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how bad does her house smell?

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aw I'd totally chill with her

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more like do I have any sane family members

which including immediate family, extended family, and myself...a hard no lol

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i'm actually really worried about my brother



he's never been diagnosed, but he's had poor adaptive social skills his entire life and possibly has mild Aspergers. recently i've been concerned because he's become a full-blown hypochondriac. he's been to three doctors in the past month for different ailments. i don't know how to help him. i basically begged my mother to have a sit-down conversation with him because we're all really worried about his mental health.

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Sending good vibes your way! *hugs*

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omg wanna email me?



My brother isn't a hypochondriac but he has similar issues in not wanting to leave the house or do anything or feeling equipped to get a job, having poor social skills, etc. My parents are just like "you're close enough in age: tell him what to do!" and it's like... yeah I'm only 2 years his junior, but he's been living at home doing almost nothing for the past decade. Our experiences are a million miles away.

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I'm seeing a therapist for hypochondria, I really hope he can get help..you can't rid of something like this on your own :(

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If I were an attendee I'd be sad but I'm ready for more bops.

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I'm looking at his stats and it looks like Earned It, The Hills,and Can't Feel My Face were all top 10 hits in most European countries. Idk about his album sales or touring power. He was capable of arenas in the US I think tho

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ia. he should have his own tour even if it's playing in smaller venues

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same thing happened when Pharrell was going to open for Bruno Mars (lol) and then Happy blew the fuck uuuuuup and Pharrell peaced on that tour.



I bought a ticket mainly just to see Pharrell and then he dropped out and I was faced with those two dudes that sing that song "Am I Wrong" :'(((

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Edited at 2016-03-23 10:13 pm (UTC) those two am i wrong dudes were the ~special guests~ for taylor's 1989 tour in vancouver i was LIVID #justiceforCARLYRAEJEPSEN !!!!

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he's so awkward live

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i think it depends on the night you catch him. and who's there.

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LOL ok...

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She withdrew the pussy and he lost interest.

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I thought he only liked white girls

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Same. I thought he was a self hater.

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I thought he only liked dick

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I don't think he should be an opening act at this point anyway.

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OT Kinda: but I'll be seeing Rihanna's ANTI tour tomorrow night in Detroit!

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well that's unprofessional af, but igi...he can headline his own tours now.

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I kinda want to catch Rih when she comes to my city. I saw her when she toured Unapologetic and for some reason I just have no desire to see her again even though I love her and I love the new album.

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I love the album but idk if I'd ever want to see her in concert :/

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his voice is honestly the worst ever, so her fans are lucky

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oop at your taste.

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if they can stand her singing tho...

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OMW @ this undercover RiRi drag.



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so 2 and 1/2 months away....

but he hit a stride now so that's why you can join.

smh stop lying

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his dealer can;t hook him up overseas

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I thought it was weird that he was opening for her in the first place.

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Why do I get the feeling he's not read to commit to a tour because he's not done partying yet?

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that's not really him. that's his "aesthetic".

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I don't think it's just an aesthetic - you don't think he is high all the time?

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I've only ever heard his songs on the radio, but apparently he sings really gross misogynistic stuff? Receipts?

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lol i like this song, oop

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All of the lyrics to The Hills..

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Georgia is a really popular place to film movies and shows right now, so this is really big. I was surprised it was Disney to be the studio to stand up, but then I remembered they also own ABC.

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lol Disney owns like half the world now.

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iirc the NBA and whatever the baseball one is did as well (I don't know sports ok)

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they would go broke if the walking dead left ga it brings in so much money.

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good

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Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies-





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I just had to stop right there for a few minutes and laugh

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Disney has been an LGTB+ friendly employer even when it wasn't ~cool. The Mouse is a devil in many ways, but not when it comes to this.

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Lmao mte

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They probably mean behind the scenes lbr. Whenever I see BTS stuff for Disney (Pixar in particular) there's a lot more diversity than there is on camera

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LMAO.



Yeah I laughed first and then I was mildly impressed with Disney, Marvel and this gif.



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They are but also is like Matt Damon with his "keep race/inclusiveness behind the scenes, not in the screens" (sorry i can't remember his exact quote)

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I mean, Marvel goes beyond the movies... you know that, right?

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If TWD takes the bandwagon, they're fucked imho

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I wonder if The CW would join in too, especially to save what face they have left after The 100 debacle. (Not sure if they ever filmed here for that, but I know The Vampire Diaries and The Originals did/do.)

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I mean the CW could theoretically move them to Vancouver where basically everything else they have films. Except for outdoors with the Originals (which does require sometimes specific imagery), everything else is filmed on a stage with a backdrop/green screen behind the windows.



Also, the 100 has only filmed in Vancouver.



Edited at 2016-03-23 09:21 pm (UTC)

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my friend does the walking dead tours at least twice a year and has been to and seen a lot of the sets (when they weren't filming), so it'd be a big hit. they could just move production to my home state. here and rural georgia look a little bit the same...(she says, wishing they filmed twd here)

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Dang, good on them.

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GOOD! And I say that as someone who lives in this pisshole state. The only way any politician will listen is if you hit them where it hurts - their pocketbooks. So, yeah, I'm definitely in favor of this.

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actually governor deal has been against this bill since the beginning. surprisingly since he's repub and a crook but perhaps he foresaw $$$$ he could pocket withdrawing. hollywood has mentioned packing up early on too and yet the bill is still in discussion so $$$ may not matter for once. glad to see everyone is taking a stand against it though.

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I'm surprised, but good for them.

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yikes, get your shit together, Georgia.

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the south will rise again! /toots horn

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lmao

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the whole south is trash

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Good for them, apparently the NFL is saying that they would reconsider having the super bowl in Atlanta (2019/2020) if they pass this bill.

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Really?? That's pretty huge for the NFL to be so updated on LGBT issues. Good for them.

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oh WOW! that's awesome!

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the same organization who defends washington keeping the name "redskins" now cares about discrimination? mmmk

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I don't think religious officials should be forced to do same-sex weddings but denying employment is another matter altogether.

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Would you be ok if a government official refused to grant an interracial marriage?

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Do you understand the difference between religious official and government official? Just wondering...

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Mkay, separation between church and state works both ways. Religious officials are not state employees. I think it's fucked up for them to discriminate, but they aren't government employees. There's a difference.

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Personally, I don't have a serious problem with religious officials refusing to perform gay weddings. State officials on the other hand... That's fucked up. It's actually legal in my state for magistrates to refuse to perform same sex weddings, but hey... There is a bill that passed today that now makes it legal state wide for employers to fire or refuse to hire people based on their gender identity and sexual orientation. I live in a county (one a handful of counties in NC with similar legislation) where there was a local non-discrimination ordinance protecting the LGBTQ community from workplace discrimination, but the bill that just passed overturned all local LGBTQ protections 



Hoping our idiot governor sees that the bill over reaches and vetoes it, tho I'm not too hopeful since he wanted this special session called so the general assembly could block Charlotte's non-discrimination bathroom ordinance.

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people always bring that up but i don't see why any lgbt couple would want to "force" someone to do a wedding for them. it's supposed to be a happy day and having a homophobic officiator would bring down the mood.

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I'm conflicted on this issues. I don't think anyone should be discriminated against or fired due to discrimination, but I like the idea of caterers and restaurants being able to discriminate. It's a good way of attaching a scarlet letter so I'd know which places to avoid and places that are ok with it so I'd know where to take my business. And I'd be afraid of them intentionally spitting/peeing/ect food based off of religious beliefs. I can see people doing that for events they wouldn't want to cater (i.e. weddings)



does that make sense idk

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Same. I'm deeply uncomfortable with the idea of forcing religious organizations to perform religious ceremonies in opposition to their beliefs, but I also think it's immoral to deny social services (especially necessities of life like food and shelter ffs) to a category of humanity.



Not to mention the galling hypocrisy of a Christian organization refusing to serve a member of any marginalized population of society. Makes me long for a Messiah with a flaming sword.

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They should be able to refuse religious ceremonies to whomever they want, because that has no impact of anything outside of their religion, but not legally binding ones. If the officiant is given the power to carry out official shit, they need to follow the same rules as everyone else with powers delegated from the state.

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No one is forcing religious officials to do same-sex weddings. That would violate the First Amendment.

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"they could fire or refuse to hire people based on their gender identity or sexual orientation." smd muffas

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I'm in NC and there are no statewide laws protecting LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination (in fact, in most cities and towns it's perfectly legal to fire someone for being gay). However, today, the state passed a bill that would strip all local legislation that protects LGBTQ from discrimination. So any towns that have laws or ordinances protecting LGTBQ from being fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity can no longer enforce those laws.



I'm going to a rally tomorrow to see what we can do.

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wow that's really shitty tbh :/ good luck on the rally bb

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I have a friend in NC who posted about this today, and I was legitimately shocked. Like what in the world??

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That's absolutely crazy. Good luck at the rally.

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north carolina is so fucked

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That governor better fucking veto that bill

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I'm shocked Deal didn't write it himself tbh. He would be on their side. But hopefully he'll get enough heat that he won't have any choice but to veto it.

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It's insanely discriminatory.

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Fuck Scalia & Hobby Lobby for leaving behind this shitty ass legacy.



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icon love ^__^

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I love her, and I'd never heard of that book but now I really want to read it tbh

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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29387398-the-hate-u-give looks like it not even getting published this year

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Wow not even a cover and it's being optioned.

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I know the author, and she's an absolute sweetheart. It's been great to watch her life completely turn around because of this book.

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Fun fact: @amandlastenberg was a finalist for the role that ultimately went to @Zendaya in the new SPIDER-MAN movie. Producers loved her.  Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) 23. Marz 2016



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Should've been her tho.....

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Isn't Zendaya a Weinstein girl now? Maybe that's one fo the reasons why.

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TBH depending on the kind of role I can see why they'd go for Zendaya over Amandla. Like if she's going to be a love interest, Z is more mature-looking whereas Amandla still looks pretty young. Then again the guy they picked for new Spidey doesn't look that old either. *shrug*

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I can picture Zendaya in these superhero action movies though. I think Amandla might be more suited towards drama.

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Wow, Amandla is a good actress and while I haven't seen Zendaya in anything, general consensus seems like she's not that good. Now I really want to know what the role is.

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the power of harvey

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i like zendaya just based on her instagram but i would've loved to see amandla in a superhero movie more

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i'd love to see either one of them in a spiderman movie. i'm just glad they wanted black girls and it wasn't all white girls then z

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I don't mind either girls going for the roles but Zendaya does do stunts on her Disney show so maybe that plus being a Harvey girl gave her the edge.

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Now I really like Zendaya and am rooting for her to have a legit career out of Disney but her acting needs work, to put it kindly. I'm wondering if Zendaya having a better team behind her helped push her over Amandla. Not that it matters in the long run, I can't see this franchise doing much for anyone's career tbh.

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this could be interesting

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This sounds really interesting. Also, her fro is beyond majestic.



Countdown to assblasted racists getting mad about the subject matter.

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This sounds interesting. I hope she gets to do it and nothing happens to cancel the movie.

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I'm glad she going more roles

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I've been excited about this since I saw the book deal announcement in Publishers Weekley (reading BD announcements and rights reports are the best way to find out what good stuff is coming out in the next year or so).

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This should be a perfect project for her. Especially given how much she speaks out on these very issues.

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Wow good for her and the author!

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this sounds promising, but idk if the writer can put out a good script tbh..

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Hopefully they'll have help.

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i hope so cuz her filmography is not that promising, like she hasnt written that many movies and from what she's done half is good and half is bad lmfoa

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The crash in LNG prices has claimed a major victim. Woodside Petroleum and its partners, which include Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and PetroChina have decided to cancel a massive LNG project in Australia because the economics no longer work.

Related: Chinas Oil Majors See Production In Biggest Fields Shrink

The Browse LNG project was planned for Western Australia, a $40 billion floating LNG export facility that would have sent Australian natural gas abroad. Citing the extremely challenging market, the project was scrapped on March 22. Its very, very difficult for us to invest in this price environment, Woodsides CEO Peter Coleman said.

Weve got a glut of LNG at the moment and a large number of potential projects out there, Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., told Bloomberg in an interview. The interesting question for Woodside is, What will they do next? This removes an organic growth driver. Related: The Current Oil Price Rally Is Reaching Its Limits

Browse LNG faced an array of setbacks. The project originally had an onshore site in mind, but ran into stiff opposition from local communities. That led the developers to an offshore floating concept, which actually trimmed costs by 35 percent.

Still, with LNG prices a fraction of what they once were, the decision does not come as a surprise. A handful of other large LNG export facilities that have been planned for Australia are also getting second looks. Browse had failed to secure any customers for its planned capacity, and with LNG prices now down to multiyear lows, it would be much more difficult for this project to turn a profit than for some competing projects that sealed contracts years ago. Related: Chile Sees Unrest In Its Gold And Copper Sectors

For example, Chevrons $54 billion Gorgon LNG project, which just came online, has raised questions about its long-term profitability. However, Gorgon at least already had most of its capacity under long-term contracts. Woodsides Browse LNG, even if it found buyers, would struggle to make the numbers work with LNG prices so low. The companys chief executive said in February that now was not the time to be reckless with spending.

LNG prices for April delivery to Asia averaged just $4.46 per million Btu (MMBtu), about one quarter of the price from just two years ago.

By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
As the Belgian capital, Brussels, deals with the immediate aftermath of coordinated terrorist attacks on the international airport and subway system that killed as many as 34 people and wounded 180 others, as ISIS attacks stretch from Turkey to Brussels.

On Tuesday morning, two bomb attacks targeted the Zaventem Airport, killing 11 people, and a third targeted a metro station near European Union headquarters, killing 20 people, while reports of a fourth explosion have now begun to emerge in what appears to be the controlled explosion of a device, with no further details at this time.

The bombings targeted the departures of the airport, which has now been cleared out by emergency security forces, while the citys entire metro system remains on lockdown. Related: Supply Outages in OPEC Countries Push Up Oil Prices

EU Council meetings scheduled for Tuesday have been reportedly cancelled, while the EU Parliament has not been evacuated, but remains on high alert.

The countrys two nuclear power plants are also being evacuated of all non-essential personnel as a precaution, and surveillance and security have been stepped up. This precaution is being taken due to video footage discovered after the Paris terrorist attacks showed a senior Belgian nuclear official at the property of a key suspect.

This is Paris 2.0. The main suspect in the November bombings in Paris, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels on Friday.

So far, we have learned from Belgian media reports that the airport attack was a suicide bombing. Related: What Happens When Oil Hits $50?

The Belgian interior minister had warned on Friday that the arrest could lead to a revenge attack and that the country should be on high alert, as stopping one cell can  push others into action.

Oil prices immediately responded downward to the news of the attacks in Brussels, with investors looking instead for safer commodities, such as gold and government bonds.

Brent crude fell 14 cents this morning to $41.40 per barrel. By late morning, Brent crude futures were down 16 cents to $41.38 per barrel. By around noon, both WTI and Brent had jumped back a bit, with WTI up 0.1 percent to $41.54 per barrel and Brent up 0.4 percent to $41.69 per barrel. Related: Have Oil Markets Grown Numb To Supply Disruptions?

The Brussels attacks come right after a terrorist attack in Turkeys largest city, Istanbul, over the weekend, and also shortly after the European Union struck a deal with Turkey. Turkey agreed to take back refugees and asylum seekers landing in Greece, thereby closing off this particular human smuggling route. In return, the EU will give Turkey 6 billion euros in aid to help 2.7 million Syrian refugees now in Turkey. Turkey is also trading in here on an eased European visa regime for its citizens.

The string of attacksall fallout from the Syrian conflict and the fight against the Islamic Statefrom Paris and Ankara to Istanbul, and now Brussels, suggests the range of targets from the terrorist group are widening.

Talk of closed borders, unrest leading to riots and the overall viability of the European Union is intensifying and the security situation, and the political fallout could be significant.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
While Georgia has been caught up recently in a major pipeline competition, with Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran all making a play for the action in this small, strategically located energy-transit hub, some men in the central Georgian village of Ruisi have been busy with a pipeline project of their own.

They lay a kilometer-long, underground pipeline to leach into the British Petroleum-operated, more than 800-kilometer-long Western Route Export Pipeline, which carries 100,000 barrels of oil daily from Azerbaijans Caspian Sea coast to Georgias Black Sea coast. Known as the Baku-Supsa pipeline for the terminals at both ends, the conduit was the first link in the countrys energy-export network. Related: Supply Outages in OPEC Countries Push Up Oil Prices



The suspects built their own terminal in Ruisi, about a 20-minute drive west of Joseph Stalins birthplace, Gori, and created a parallel world of shipping, processing and retailing the Caspian Sea oil. A police video showed rows of large tanks used to collect the stolen oil. A makeshift tap was installed on the body of the Baku-Supsa pipeline to turn off and on the flow into its new, mini- branch.

From Ruisi, the oil was loaded onto trucks and camouflaged as vegetables  cabbage, to be exact, police said  and driven about 90 minutes east to the capital, Tbilisi. A makeshift refinery there then turned the cabbage-concealed crude into petroleum products. Related: What Happens When Oil Hits $50?



Illegal tapping into the Baku-Supsa route, essentially a refurbished Soviet-era pipeline, has happened before. Poverty explains the motivation. Decent jobs in rural Georgia are few, if any; a fact illustrated by Tbilisis growing population.

But the latest crude caper seems the largest and the most elaborate operation so far. The heftier Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries oil from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey, is less susceptible to such poaching. Related: An Output Freeze Is Still The Big Red-Herring For Oil



Georgian villagers have meddled with other types of subterranean international conduits. In 2011, an elderly woman scavenging for copper with a spade sliced a major fiber-optic cable, leaving all of Armenia and part of Georgia without Internet access.

For their own operation, the two Ruisi oilmen, whose identities were kept confidential pending trial, could face up to 10 years in prison.

By Giorgi Lomsadze via Eurasianet

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Since the introduction of Western sanctions in 2014, Russia has increased its efforts to lure China to participate in large energy projects, primarily in the Russian Arctic and Far East territories. The Kremlin is hoping that the new energy alliance between two largest Eurasian powers will help the cash-starved Russian energy industry to complete large infrastructural projects and compensate for lack of Western capital and technology.

Eastern help for energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft

Gazprom is the latest in a line of Russian companies that negotiated a financial deal with Chinese financial institutions. Although the loan is relatively small considering Gazproms financial needs, it is nevertheless important, because it represents the biggest loan to date from a Chinese lender. It will help the embattled Russian gas giant ease its financial troubles that came with the historically low gas prices. It will also aid in financing its large infrastructural pipeline projects, including the Power of Siberia and potentially the Northern and Turkish Stream.

In 2014 and 2015, the two countries negotiated multi-billion deals to build the Power of Siberia and Altay natural gas pipelines. At the same time, Russian oil giant Rosneft plans to pursue with deals worth $500 billion with China over the next 20 years. As a result, Russia might surpass Saudi Arabia as Chinas largest oil supplier.



Related: Have Oil Markets Grown Numb To Supply Disruptions?

(Click to enlarge)

The pipeline deals are the most prominent examples of Sino-Russian cooperation. But there are other equally important projects that have already been given the green light or are currently being negotiated.

Rosneft is in talks to allow Chinese companies to participate in its offshore Arctic operations that were cancelled in 2014 after Exxon Mobile pulled out due to the sanctions regime after the Crimea annexation. The Kremlin is apparently even considering selling its 19 percent stake in Rosneft to keep the fiscal deficit at bay. China is high on the list of potential buyers. Simultaneously, Moscow is considering the relaxation of its restrictive ownership model to allow Chinese companies a controlling stake in some energy projects.



Related: What Happens When Oil Hits $50?

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Forbes

The newly founded Chinese investment fund, created specifically to invest in energy and infrastructure projects overseas, plans to invest in the Yamal LNG terminal in Eastern Siberia where Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) already has a 20 percent stake. Russias Novatek has already invested around $10 billion in the project, but Western sanctions and low prices forced the company to seek additional sources of capital.



Related: Supply Outages in OPEC Countries Push Up Oil Prices

The picture is not entirely rosy, though. The situation has changed since Gazproms and CNPCs chairmen Alexey Miller and Zhou Jiping signed the $400 billion gas deal in May 2014. Petroleum prices have collapsed in the meantime and the Russian side does not have the incentive to pursue the agreement under the same terms.

In addition, structural problems in the Chinese economy could slow the demand for Russian oil and gas. Chinese natural gas consumption grew only 3.7 percent in 2015, in comparison to 15 percent annual growth in previous years.

Russia only one of several suppliers

Russia is facing fierce competition from other oil and gas producers. Saudi Arabia is persistent in keeping its high output policy in place. China is an important part of this plan. In the LNG sector other countries, such as Australia and the United States, are joining the fight with traditional producers for their share of the lucrative natural gas market.

Finally, despite common political and strategic goals that both Moscow and Beijing are keen to promote, Chinese money does not come cheap. Chinese companies are not eager to invest in the uncertain Russian economic environment at any cost. The Kremlin will have to offer strong incentives to attract Chinese capital.

By Ante Batovic via Globalriskinsights.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Japanese trading firm Mitsui & Co warned Wednesday that it is set to post its first annual loss since being established in 1947, after a sustained rout in energy and metal prices forced it to book $2.3 billion (260 billion yen) in write-downs on projects from South America to Australia. Related: Chinas Oil Majors See Production In Biggest Fields Shrink

The Tokyo-based firm, Japans second biggest trading house, expects a net loss of 70 billion yen ($623 million) in the fiscal year ending March. This is due to booking impairment charges on assets which include the Caserones copper project in Chile, the Browse LNG project in Australia and its Brazilian mining unit. The company had previously forecast a net income of 190 billion yen.

Last month, a Chilean court backed the countrys environmental authority on its decision to charge Caserones with the second-highest fine ever imposed in the South American nation, after the regulator found a number of infractions at the mine. The largest penalty so far  $16 million  was imposed in 2013 to Barrick Golds (TSX, NYSE:ABX) now shelved Pascua Lama gold and silver mine. Related: The Current Oil Price Rally Is Reaching Its Limits

More than two-thirds of Mitsuis profit comes from its resource business, such as iron ore, coal, oil and gas trading, which explains the major impact the plunge in commodity prices is having on the Japanese firm.

For every dollar drop in the price of crude, Mitsuis profit falls by about 2.7 billion yen, the company said in a presentation last November.

Despite its loss forecast, Mitsui maintained its dividend forecast of 64 yen per share for the full year.

By Cecilia Jamasmie via Mining.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
UK Chancellor George Osborne announced major tax cuts for the countrys energy industry last week, in hopes of propping it up amid the continued price depression.

At first glance, this is the best news UK oil companies have gotten since last year, when the Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) was slashed from 50 percent to 35 percent, and the corporate profit tax was reduced from 32 percent to 20 percent. But below the surface, there is a different story.

Now, the PRT has been completely droppedeffective retroactively as of 1 January 2016--and the profit tax (supplementary charge) has been cut to 10 percentagain with implementation backdated to the beginning of this year.

These measures reduce the headline rate paid by oil companies to 40 percent, for both new and mature fields, from 50 percent and 67.5 percent, respectively.



Related: The Current Oil Price Rally Is Reaching Its Limits

Osborne defended the decision by arguing that the energy industry employs a lot of people, many of whom have already been laid off as a result of the price slump. He said the measures were aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry.

That may well be, but how successful the measures will be is questionable.

For starters, their direct positive effect on the companies performance is doubtful, as suggested in an analysis by Rystad Energy. The analysis is based on the UK oil asset performance of the five biggest sector operators in the country for the first two months of this year, factoring in the tax reduction. None of these performances is positive. According to the author of the analysis, this clearly indicates that high taxes are not the problem. The problem is low oil prices, and it is more serious in the UK than elsewhere because this is the country with the highest production costs per barrel of crude.



Related: Oil See-saws On Brussels Bombings, OPEC Freeze Rumors

Outside the energy sector, there is also environmentalist pressure to consider. Osbornes announcement was immediately met with strong opposition from green groups. Though this pressure could be ignored, at least for a while, the obligations that the UK signed up for under the Paris Agreement cannot be. It has pledged to reduce carbon emissions, as have 194 other countries.

Stimulating hydrocarbons extraction is not the best way to do this, so its likely that last weeks tax-relief decision will have potentially serious repercussions for the government, and could lead to a change of heart (or government) in three years.



Related: Oil Prices Struggle To Move Beyond $40

Finally, there is the public reaction to the tax cuts. The energy industry contributes 16.4 percent of the total corporate tax revenues of the UK, according to PwC. This is about 30.1 billion, or $43.27 billion. The tax cuts have been calculated to cost 1 billion in lost government revenue over the next five years. This cost is most likely to be passed on to the public, which, again, is unlikely to be a popular move.

So, although a tax break is always welcome, it cannot do what UK energy companies need: raise the price of oil and reduce production costs, which are so high because most oil fields in the countrys North Sea continental shelf have crested the peak of their productive lives. They will just have to outwait the price rout and enjoy the lower taxes while they last.

By Irina Slav of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Reprinted from Campaign For America's Future

Steven Pearlstein, in the ominously titled "What Bernie Sanders would do to America" at The Washington Post, warns that asking our government to do things like raising the minimum wage to $15, extending public education by four years, providing Medicare-for-All and especially paying for that by taxing corporations and extremely high-income individuals would "turn America into Denmark or Sweden."

He means that in a bad way.

Sanders' Proposals Would End The World As We Know It

Pearlstein turns to several "economists" to make a case against government doing things to make our lives better. These "economists" use their high "economist" perch on which they sit so far above us mere mortals, to explain that we can't have a government that does things for the people because "the trade-offs that go along with such a system" are "higher taxes and unemployment rates, open trade, slower growth, more income redistribution."

However, his "economists" do not make an economic case to support their argument. They make a political case to knock down Sanders' proposals. (P.S.: "Open trade?" What?)

Deep Economic Modeling That Involves No Economic Modeling At All

An example of the deep economic modeling that went into one "economist's" argument:"'There's nothing wrong with it other than that Americans are not Danes,' said Princeton's Alan Blinder, a top economic adviser to President Bill Clinton."

Another deep "economic" argument:

"The number one reason these policies are feasible in Denmark is that the country is extremely homogenous," said Jacob Kirkegaard, a Dane who is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. "The perception among the electorate is that the government will provide for me and for people who, in a linguistic, cultural and ethnic sense, are just like me."

And another "economic" argument: "The danger for the United States is that it would wind up looking more like Italy and Greece than Denmark and Sweden."

Pearlstein's "economists" also worry that Medicare-for-All "goes too far." Pearlstein quotes one economist who actually did economic modeling, but does so only to have other "economists" knock this down using political, not economic arguments:

"An analysis done for the Sanders campaign by Gerald Friedman, a University of Massachusetts economist, concluded that ... The average family ... would save nearly $6,000 a year, even after paying a new 8.4 percent payroll tax to the government instead of premiums and co-payments to insurance companies. At the same time, employers who offer insurance would save more than $9,000 per employee."

How does Pearlstein knock down the results of actual economic modeling?

"But Kenneth Thorpe, a widely respected health economist at Emory University, argues that Friedman overestimated the administrative savings and reduction in drug prices that the government could negotiate on generic drugs and home health care, both fast-growing segments. And he said that Friedman badly underestimated the additional demand for medical services induced by the elimination of co-payments and deductibles, creating the health-care equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet."

Thorpe offers no data or other evidence that Friedman "overestimated" the savings or additional demand. He just states this. But he is an "economist," so Pearlstein draws on this title for credibility.
Reprinted from Bill Moyers Website

Co-written by *Michael Winship





They represent everything wrong with the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton should tell them to take a hike.





There are two Democrats whose resignation from office right now would do their party and country a service.

Their disappearance might also help Hillary Clinton convince skeptical Democrats that her nomination, if it happens, is about the future, and not about resurrecting and ratifying the worst aspects of the first Clinton reign when she and her husband rarely met a donor to whom they wouldn't try to auction a sleepover in the Lincoln Bedroom.

In fact, while we're at it, and if Secretary Clinton really wants us to believe she's no creature of the corporate and Wall Street money machine -- despite more than $44 million in contributions from the financial industry since 2000 and her $675,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, not to mention several million more paid by other business interests for an hour or two of her time -- she should pick up the gauntlet herself and publicly call for the departure of these two, although they are among her nearest and dearest. And we don't mean Bill and Chelsea.

No, she should come right out and ask for the resignations of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Democratic National Committee Chair -- and Florida congresswoman -- Debbie Wasserman Schultz. In one masterstroke, she could separate herself from two of the most prominent of all corporate Democratic elitists.

Each is a Clinton disciple and devotee, each has profited mightily from the association and each represents all that is wrong with a Democratic Party that in the pursuit of money from rich donors and powerful corporations has abandoned those it once so proudly represented -- working men and women.

Rahm Emanuel first came to prominence as head of the finance committee for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, browbeating ever-increasing amounts of money out of fat-cat donors, and following Clinton into the White House as a senior adviser attuned to the wishes and profits of organized wealth. Few pushed harder for NAFTA, a treaty that would cost a million or more working people their livelihood, or for the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" crime bill which Clinton later admitted was a mistake. After alienating most of Washington with his arrogance and bluster Emanuel left in 1998 and went into investment banking in Chicago, making more than $16 million in less than three years.

He came back to Washington as a three-term Illinois congressman, chaired the fundraising Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (calling on his Wall Street sources to get in on the gravy by electing so-called New Democrats over New Deal Democrats), and soon was back in the White House as Barack Obama's chief of staff. There, he infamously told a strategy meeting of liberal groups and administration types that the liberals were "retarded" for planning to run attack ads against conservative Democrats resisting Obamacare. Classy. Writer Jane Hamsher described him as tough guy wannabe but really "a brown nose for power ready to rumble on behalf of the status quo."

And now he's mayor of Chicago, reelected last April for a second term, but, as historian Rick Pearlstein wrote in The New Yorkera couple of months ago, "Chicagoans -- and Democrats nationally -- are suffering buyer's remorse."

Remember that shocking dashcam video of a black 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by a Chicago policeman while he was walking away? Of course you do; who can forget it? Remember, too, that for 400 days the police kept the existence of the video secret and did nothing about the shooting. Meanwhile, the City of Chicago paid five million dollars to McDonald's family, who at that point had not filed a lawsuit. But despite the large sum of money coughed up by his own administration, Emanuel claims he never saw the video. If that's true, he was guilty of dreadful mismanagement; if he did know, he's guilty of far worse.

Only after his re-election was the cover-up of the murder revealed. In Pearlstein's words, "Given that he surely would not have been reelected had any of this come out before the balloting, a recent poll showed that only 17 percent of Chicagoans believe him. And a majority of Chicagoans now think he should resign."

The Laquan McDonald murder is just one of the scandals on Emanuel's watch: crime and abuse by police run rampant, the city's public schools are a disaster, the transit system's a mess. Yet while Emanuel has devoted little of his schedule to meeting with community leaders, Pearlstein reminds us that he did, however, "spend enormous blocks of time with the rich businessmen, including Republicans, who had showered him with cash..." Now many of them have deserted him, including one of his richest Republican -- yes, Republican -- contributors, multimillionaire Bruce Rauner, who became governor of Illinois.

Emanuel should go -- and Hillary Clinton should say so. But while Senator Bernie Sanders, campaigning during the Illinois primary, said he would not seek and would not accept the mayor's endorsement, with Secretary Clinton it's business as usual. Emanuel has held fundraisers for her campaign since 2014 so chances are she'll stay mum, take the money and run.

As for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she embodies the tactics that have eroded the ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy jobs in the world of corporate influence.
By Larry Huss,

No wonder the political class is universally despised. It is virtually impossible for them to tell the truth about anything. In most instances the truth is found in what the politicians choose to ignore. Here are three examples. (For those of you who believe in moral relativity, you just as well stop here because you will miss the point while trying to imagine all the things that someone else did wrong  as if that excuses the behavior discussed below.) And there are three more and three more and three more from all angles of the political theatre. It has less to do with the liars political persuasions and more to do with the distraction of the American voters who are busy trying to make a life while the political class is busy soiling the foundations which allow the voters to make a life. And it has much to do with the decline of journalism into the role of political cheerleader and character assassin rather than government watchdog. Here are but three examples:

The Outsider

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is probably the most hated man in the United States Senate. He is not hated for his political views because they are pretty mainstream Republican. He is hated because he routinely stabs his fellow Republicans in the back through the use of innuendo, guilt by association and half truths. It is his stock in trade and he rivals Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI) in its use. But Mr. Cruz is a shrewd operator. Given his universal dislike, he played upon it as if he stood alone in the battle against the political class, that he alone had the courage to buck the system, and that he, as an outsider could return power to the people and end the cozy and incestuous relationship between politician and power brokers.

So good was Mr. Cruz at portraying himself thusly, that journalists from all ends of the spectrum afforded him the status of outsider along with the real outsiders, Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson. And thus he ran. But many of us knew it was a lie because that is what Mr. Cruz does  lies.

In recent weeks, Mr. Cruz has been working diligently with the political power brokers  the very people that he has publicly eschewed  to try to deny Mr. Trump the Republican nomination. Mr. Outsider has become Mr. Insider in spades. The very people who Mr. Cruz disdained in public, provided him with millions of dollars in contributions, and are now set to provide even millions more as they reluctantly agree to back Mr. Cruz  a person who they now have demonstrable proof that they can buy. What a sleazeball.

The Insider

Democrat front-runner, Hillary Clinton, appeared before the American-Israel Alliance (AIA), this past week to seek support for her candidacy. The AIA is a powerful lobbying group with significant financial resources which it routinely spends (mostly in presidential and senate campaigns). While it is not exclusively tied to the Democrats, it leans decidedly Democrat. While it provides support to incumbents in key political positions without regard to party affiliation, in contested cases involving empty offices, it leans decidedly Democrat.

So Ms. Clinton was in a decidedly friendly crowd when she spoke. There were moments of standing ovations when she delivered patterned bromides. But all those bromides, all those declarations of critical support for Israel, and all of those promises of a better tomorrow for Israel and the Jewish people belie the fact that she was the foreign policy instrument for the most anti-Israel president since the creation of the Jewish state. At every turn of the screw, President Barack Obama, in league with his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, criticized, denied, and blamed Israel for the problems in the Middle East. But the most critical element is the new nuclear deal with Iran for which Ms. Clinton has claimed credit. That deal leaves Israel more vulnerable than ever to Iran, a country so vehemently anti-Semitic that it has engraved rockets that it tests in violation of the Obama/Clinton deal with the inscription, Israel should be wiped from the pages of history.

And while Ms. Clinton claims disdain for the acts of Iran, she is the architect of its path to belligerence. And while she demands new sanction against Iran, she knows that the lifting of international sanctions under the Obama/Clinton deal will mean that any future unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States (and there will be none under Mr. Obama) will be impotent  and so does the Ayatollah Khamenei. Ms. Clintons soaring rhetoric belies her complicity in the dangers that confront Israel. And yet Ms. Clinton received thunderous applause from the AIA attendees for such statements. But then the vast majority of the attendees are a part of the political insiders for which maintenance of their insiders position is more important than holding miscreants like Ms. Clinton accountable.

The Bulls**tter in Chief.

President Barack Obama (D), in a historic moment, visited Cuba where he met with Raul Castro, leaders of the ruthless and totalitarian regime that has kept the people of Cuba isolated and impoverished for over a half century. In doing so, Mr. Obama followed a too often pattern of giving everything and receiving nothing in return (i.e. the Obama/Clinton nuclear deal with Iran, the empty threat for the use of chemical weapons by Syria, the response to Russias invasion of the Ukraine, the dismissal of genocide of Christians in the Middle East, and on and on). In this instance, in preparation for Mr. Obamas visit, Mr. Castro rounded up and arrested the leaders of political dissent in Cuba.

This was an instance in which Mr. Obama could have made a significant statement by canceling the visit, or speaking out strongly against these human rights violations, or meeting with the dissidents or suspending support for lifting the embargo, or a hundred other meaningful actions. But not Mr. Obama. Even the respected Wall Street Journal succumbed to Mr. Obamas bulls**t. It headlined Tuesdays edition with In Cuba, A Meeting of Leaders Turns Tense. Says who? Not a single word of the actual conversation between Mr. Castro and Mr. Obama has been published nor will it. Instead we are left to their public utterances and the agreed joint press conference following their private meeting. As reported by WSJ:

Mr. Obama declared a new day in relations between Washington and Havana and said he welcomed Mr. Castro pointing out what he described as Americas shortcomings. Yet he also bluntly said that the U.S. and Cuba cant fully normalize relations if the Castro regime doesnt improve its record on democracy and human rights. In the absence of that, I think it will continue to be a very powerful irritant. Mr. Obama said.

Wow. That was tense. That Mr. Obama really told them. And then Mr. Obama backed up his tough talk by demanding that Congress lift the economic sanctions against Cuba and promised Cuba that there would be increasing trade and investment by American companies in Cuba  regardless. That will prove that we are serious. Ill bet the Castro brothers are shaking in their boots  not from fear but from laughter as they once again witnessed the most feckless leader that America has ever produced and walked away knowing that they had gotten everything they wanted and gave nothing in return.

In the end, Mr. Castro, for his part, demanded that America give back Guantanamo Bay, including the United States Naval base. A proposition to which Mr. Obama would readily agree if it were in his power  which it is not.
By Jason Williams

Taxpayer Association of Oregon

Is it just me or does the media and law enforcement give out too much information after a terrorist attack that will likely aid the next terrorist attack?

I was watching the coverage of the Brussels attack when it was reported that law enforcement received a tip from a taxi cab driver to the possible home of the bombers. Here is an example of what the media reported:

The taxi driver who transported the three men suspected of attacking Brussels international airport on Tuesday later led investigators to their safe houseThe unidentified driver was suspicious of the brothers when he tried to help them with their suitcases but they declined, according to the report.Upon finding out about the attack, the driver contacted police and led authorities to the pick-up address Authorities raided the property and discovered a nail bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag.

The story reveals how the terrorist made a giant mistake in using a cab driver by leaving a trace of where their home was. This comes at the same time when police and the media are warning that more attacks are on the way. Surely all of the terrorist cells in Europe are watching the news, and those that are planning the next one are adjusting their plans to avoid this mistake next time. Why cant authorities hold the story about the taxi cab driver for 30-days?

This mistake has already has already happened before. After the 9-11 attack, Osama Bin Laden produced a follow-up video in Afghanistan. The archaeologist/geologist the Pentagon used to determine the rocky mountain background in Osamas video was able to determine based on the rocks what region Osama filmed the video in. After that archaeologist was interviewed by the media, all the next videos Osama did during his life were all draped with a blanket wall. Simply put, the terrorist are watching the news and we should be strategic in what the police and media release.
The 'solo lady traveller' is the fastest-growing demographic of the travel industry. As per the 'Women Traveller Survey 2015' done by TripAdvisor, 41 per cent out of 1,300 women surveyed had travelled alone that year. This figure was 37 per cent in the 2014 survey.

What's more, Indian women seem to be more independent than their global counterparts. Close to 29 per cent said travelling solo changed their thinking about life; the global average was 15 per cent.

Piya Bose, a corporate lawyer-turned-travel enthusiast who has founded 'Girls on the Go', a women's-only travel club that takes members to new and exotic destinations, says, "Indian women now have the time and finances to explore the world and are finally packing their bags to travel to distant places like Mongolia and Antarctica without dragging family and friends along."

"Statistics also reveal that fewer Indian women now perceive travelling alone in India as unsafe - only 11 per cent this year as against 33 per cent last year," says Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India.

The hospitality industry has latched on to the trend. A lot of hotel chains have started offering packages and programmes exclusively for women guests.

Eva Floors

ITC Hotels has dedicated Eva floors for women guests. At ITC Windsor, Bangalore, the plush Eva rooms on the exclusive floor are attended to by an exclusive team of women associates. The pampering begins with a welcome drink by the butler, who also helps the guest in unpacking and setting things right. In the evening, she wheels in the Chef's Trolley with petit fours, a delightful treat, which changes every day and is made especially by the chef for guests on the Eva floor.

One of the defining features of Eva floors is the interactive door bell, which enables the guest to see the visitor without opening the door or even moving towards the door. This is besides a video phone. Plus, all telephone calls are screened by the operator before being passed on to the guest.

"The Eva floor, now integral to our hotels, expresses our appreciation of the woman business traveller. It endeavours to pamper her and to make her smile and luxuriate in our hospitality," says Virender Razdan, General Manager, ITC Windsor Bengaluru.

Eliza programme

The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, has Eliza, a programme that gives single women travellers unique privileges. The hotels 'Single Lady Corridor' comprises 12 Eliza rooms on the third floor. Each room has a separate door camera for security. Flower arrangements, vanity sets and specially designed linen add a feminine touch. "Ever since we launched the programme, the occupancy rate for these rooms has been 70-75 per cent, predominantly due to guests from European and US markets," says Vijay Wanchoo, Senior Executive VP & GM, The Imperial Hotel.

Kamal package

The dedicated all-women team at Leela Palace, New Delhi, treats its single woman guests like a 'lotus flower', which deserves special care. Its 'Kamal' package offers several bespoke women-friendly services. Besides several security and personal services, the guests even get a selection of books by leading women Indian authors, yoga mats and styling accessories. On request, they can go for a private yoga session, live cooking demonstration by an Indian chef or use the services of a make-up stylist.

"The business woman traveller is one of the fastest-growing segments with year-on-year growth of about 50 per cent. The business from this segment stands at 15 per cent," says Louis Sailer, General Manager, The Leela Palace, New Delhi.

Special Care

Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway assigns guests a lady concierge who can be called on her mobile directly. Women travellers can also use Sheraton's gym-in-the-bag, which includes workout cards, workout mat, foam rolls, resistance band and massage stick; it is delivered to the room.

The hotel's plans have so far worked to perfection. "In 2014 and 2015, 17 per cent travellers staying with us were single women," says Saurabh Bakshi, General Manager, Sheraton Bangalore. ~

The author is a Delhi-based freelance journalist
Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman, Bisleri, tells Ajita Shashidhar, why aerated drinks still have ample opportunities for growth in India.

You sold two iconic brands, Thums Up and Limca, to Coca-Cola Company 23 years ago. Now, what's the thought behind getting back to the aerated beverage space at a time when consumption is declining?

We are looking at it as an opportunity to introduce some great new taste. When the colas are on a decline, to launch one may not sound right, but all our beverages are distinctly different from what is currently available. It is declining because people are tired of the taste of regular colas and they want something new. We are trying to get the people out of the boredom of colas with our offerings. I am quite sure it will give us an edge.

Did you ever imagine making a comeback to the aerated beverage space?

Not really. After selling to Coca-Cola, my mind was blank. It wasn't easy to sell water. Now that water is growing at 22-25 per cent and, despite the fact that cola will be just 1 per cent of our sales, I see a great opportunity because only 20 per cent of India has access to aerated drinks.

You had got into the energy drink space with Urzaa, but one doesn't get to see it today.

We made a number of mistakes. We got carried away by Red Bull and thought that by giving consumers an energy drink at Rs 50, will work. But the person who is drinking Red Bull (priced at Rs 100) is not attracted by the price. We will come back with Urzaa, but we need to fathom, what is it that we can do to be different.

What next? Any plans on juices or milk-based beverages?

I don't have the mindset to create juice and milk-based brands. I will stay away from it.
We ask Karthik Reddy, Managing Partner at early stage venture fund company Blume Venture Advisors, what he likes about Zopper - a hyper local electronics marketplace that connects buyers with neighbourhood sellers. "Difficult question," he sighs, before explaining his investment thesis. "A good set of founders is never fixated with their idea. Those who fall in love with their solution typically fail faster." Zopper's founders, Neeraj Jain and Surjendu Kuila, fell in the first bracket. And when Blume bet his money on them in 2012, Zopper was not even born. Much like Snapdeal founders, Jain and Kuila were testing ideas, morphing, reincarnating, and in corporate lingo, pivoting.

The duo launched their first business in 2011. It was called Brandandme and showcased a brand's unique selling proposition to its customer base through quizzing and social conversations. "It was doing decently well but we realised we were too early in the market," says Jain. Their next start-up was Reviews42, a community-based product reviews platform. The idea was to syndicate reviews to other e-commerce companies since they were a cost-effective way of customer acquisition. Next, this morphed into a price comparison platform. "We did reviews and then crawled websites to showcase the price points for various e-commerce platforms. We realised it was a small market. Reviews were a good-to-have, not a must-to-have thing for e-commerce players," Jain says. Reviews42 gave way to Zopper in June 2014.

An electronics marketplace wouldn't have the limitations of a small pie. It is a $100-billion opportunity, 60 per cent of which is in services. But only about 15 per cent of mobile sales and 1-2 per cent of large appliances are currently sold through the online channel. Indeed, there is a huge market that e-commerce companies can hope to capture. Zopper is in 26 cities now and will launch in another 30 this year. Selling everything from mobiles to kitchen to home appliances, it hit $100 million of gross merchandise value (GMV) in December 2015, a holiday month. It is currently working with 22,000 retailers, processing 100,000 orders a month, and charges between 2-4 per cent commission. In 2015/16, its revenue run rate is around $2.5 million. Apart from Blume, the company has attracted overall investments of $22 million from Tiger Global and Nirvana Venture Advisors.

Reddy of Blume says that the company has been able to solve an offline problem, the problem of small merchants. They can of course list on the bigger marketplaces such as Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon, but these companies are not engineered to service the small supplier. "They are milked more. The big platforms are also playing a discount game. With Zopper, the offline guy can compete with the online guy and can be discovered within a five-kilometre radius," he says. For a consumer, it could mean faster delivery and more reliability.

"We work as a conduit," says Kuila, a rare Bengali founder in India's bania-dominated e-commerce industry. "For a lot of categories with hyper local attachments, our platform works best as we enable discovery and pricing from a local neighbourhood store. The closest stores are shown first in the app," he adds.

For onboarding retailers, Zopper follows the FMCG model. In every city, important pockets are identified and relationship managers target retailers, inform them about the company, and train them on using its app. The company currently employs 80 relationship managers. Television commercials have helped as well - campaigns in November-December last year led to "inordinate requests".

"With Zopper, the offline guy can compete with the online guy and he can be discovered within a five-kilometre radius"

Interestingly, Zopper has positioned itself in the services market, which the founders tout as one of their differentiators. It offers an extended warranty for products bought; customers can also save the purchase invoice on its app. "Other e-commerce players are focusing on the discovery part and the fulfilment part. But we are focusing on ownership," explains Kuila. "If you look at the lifecycle of an electronics product, it could range from five-six months for a mobile phone to seven years for a durable. There are problems you face during this period. So we offer convenience, selection, instant gratification, and after-sales support."

The strategy appears to be working. Business Today spoke to Uday Anand, who owns five stores called Razzle Dazzle Electronics in East Delhi. He has partnered with Zopper for more than a year now and makes `10 lakh every month, on an average, through the hyperlocal platform. "Recently, Zopper provided an additional one-year warranty for any product that is paid through the credit card," Anand says. "They would just charge 2 per cent of the total amount. No one provides one year extra warranty for just 2 per cent more. It helps us attract more buyers," he explains.

Typically, Zopper charges 8 per cent of the product value for a year's extended warranty. It has partnered with various service providers for after-sales support.

Revenues from warranties cobble up to 35-40 per cent of the company's top line, the rest coming from marketplace commissions. Kuila's profile on LinkedIn reveals an eye-catching, possibly daunting target: "As we have a very lean business model we would be India's first profitable e-commerce platform (in scale) in 2016". What does that mean?

The company is lean because of many things, including how it manages logistics. Kuila explains that in 70-75 per cent of the cases, the delivery is executed by the retailer himself - that's the advantage of being hyperlocal. Local retailers don't have to wait for the money to be remitted if they do it themselves. The company, unlike other online marketplaces, also has alternative revenue streams. Besides warranty income, it expects revenues from sale of technology platforms such as point of sale solutions. In March, it announced the acquisition of EasyPOS, a cloud-based point of sale software firm.

Zopper today claims gross margin profitability. "We have to cover marketing and manpower costs. Most of our fixed costs are talent (60-65 per cent)," Kuila says. The company employs 300 right now. Its big goal next year is to align the cost per order to the commissions it makes from the marketplace.

If that is achieved, Zopper could set an example in the Indian e-commerce industry. At a time of falling valuations, it would also send the right signal to investors.
Modi greeted Nawaz Sharif on Pakistan Day

ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has greeted his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Pakistan Day and reiterated his countrys commitment to resolving bilateral disputes through dialogue.



I would like to reiterate Indias desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan. India remains firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through a peaceful bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terrorism and violence, Mr Modi said in his message.



The message comes as the two countries take steps to get past a setback caused by the Pathankot attack and are readying to move on with the dialogue agreed between them when PM Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore on Dec 25.



A team of Pakistani investigators is set to visit India from Sunday for collecting evidence related to the attack.



Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz delivered last week the invitation for PM Modi for the coming Saarc Summit, to be hosted by Pakistan, to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of a Saarc foreign ministers meeting in Nepal.
Nation celebrated Pakistan Day 23 March, 2016



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Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: The nation commenced celebrations for Pakistan Day on Wednesday with a pledge to make the country stronger by wiping out the menace of terrorism, achieving sustainable economic growth and political stability.



The day marks the historic event of 1940, when the Lahore Resolution was passed demanding a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent, dawned with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital and 21-gun salutes in provincial capitals.



Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif witnessed the parade, and were later joined by Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman on the podium. Paratroopers from the three armed forces landed smoothly on the ground.



Paratroops from Shahbaz team of Army's Special Services Group (SSG), the Sea Eagle team of Pakistan Navy and Shahpar team of the PAF demonstrated the exercise. The divers had jumped from 10,000 feet and can also jump from a height of 25,000 feet, that too in night.



The national flag brought to the ground by the sky diving paratroopers was handed over to President Mamnoon Hussain by GOC SSG Major Gen Tahir Hussain Bhutta. A number of aircraft belonging to the Army Aviation wing and Pakistan Air Force performed a fly-past and demonstrated aerobatic performances.



Chinese Z-10 attack helicopters, HH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, Puma transport helicopters and Mi-17 transport helicopters were among the aircraft presented by the Army Aviation wing.



Sherdils, JF-17 Thunder and No. 9 Squadron's F-16 jets of the PAF also displayed aerobatic performances.



Contingents of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Frontier Corps and Pakistan Rangers held a march-past and performed a salute to President of Pakistan.



Troops of the parade including foot columns of the Pakistan Army, navy, air force, Frontier Corps, Northern Light Infantry, Mujahid Force, Islamabad Police, tri-service Lady officers, tri-service Armed Forces Nursing Service, Girls Guide, Boys Scouts, Special Service Group from three Services, mechanised columns of Armoured Corps, Artillery, Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Strategic Force Command, Camel Band and President's body guards.



Pakistan Army's tanks, including Al-Khalid and Al Zarrar tanks, also performed gun salute in front of the chief guest on the occasion.



President Mamnoon Hussain delivered a speech to the participants of the parade in which he lauded Pakistan Armys sacrifices and repeated that Operation Zarb-i-Azb, the anti-terror operation started after the Karachi airport attack, will not be stopped until the elimination of last terrorist from Pakistani soil.



He reiterated the countrys stance that Pakistans nuclear stockpile is for countrys safety and it does not intend to go to war with any country unless forced to take such a route. "We are a peaceful nation and have never participated in any arms race," the president said



"This parade shows our resolve to fight all the enemies of our beloved country. This display of weaponry and skills shows that our forces are next to none in bravery, courage and valour," said the president. The president said many a detractors predicted a bleak future of Pakistan but today, the whole world recognises Pakistan as a reality.



"Kashmir is our jugular vein and we will continue our moral, political and diplomatic support for our Kashmiri brethren," he said. Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sohail Aman leads a fly-past of Pakistan Air Force jets presented to President Mamnoon Hussain over the parade venue.



The highlight of the day is the joint military parade which being held at the Parade Ground near the Shakarparian hills in Islamabad. Personnel from all three services, Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force, are participating in the parade.



The ceremony began with the singing of the national anthem. The arrival of President Mamnoon Hussain, the chief guest of the event, started the proceedings.



The celebrations for the day were kicked off shortly after midnight on Tuesday with a grand fireworks display at the Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore, the site where the historic Lahore Resolution was passed on March 23, 1940.



The national flag was hoisted atop all government buildings to mark the day, a public holiday. Special prayers were offered in mosques after morning prayers for the integrity and solidarity of the country.



Pakistan held a similar parade last year to mark Republic Day after a gap of seven years in Islamabad. This year, Pakistan Day will be celebrated at the United Nations for the first time, with a concert planned in the prestigious General Assembly hall.



Earlier during the day a change of guard ceremony was held by the Pakistan Air Force at the mausoleum of national poet Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal in Lahore.



A 31-gun salute was fired before sunrise to commemorate Pakistan Day in the federal capital city. Similarly 21-gun salutes were fired in the provincial capital cities.



Stringent security measures have been taken in view of the military parade.



Rawalpindi Police as part of security measures for Pakistan Day have depoloyed around 2000 policemen to avoid any untoward incident.
US military vehicles discharged at Karachi Port

KARACHI: A large number of US military vehicles were discharged by a vessel at Karachi Port in the first week of this month. The consignee (importer) of the vehicles was the US army, officials disclosed on Tuesday.



According to official documents and sources, vessel M.V. Liberty Promise carrying about 401 military vehicles, each weighing 2.5 ton, along with four other consignments belonging to private companies, berthed at the ports East Wharf on March 1. The vessel left the port on March 6.



The Import General Manifest (IGM) of Pakistan Customs did not specify the brand of the military vehicles, but sources at the port told Dawn that most of them were Humvees which had been widely used by the US army in Iraq and Afghanistan up to 2011.



The vessel loaded (port of shipment) the military vehicles from Wilmington, US. However, it could not be ascertained if the final destination of these vehicles is Afghanistan, where the US military has decided to prolong its stay.



But the shipment does suggest that the Karachi Port is being used as a transit facility for shipment of logistical, non-lethal equipment of the US military.



The Karachi Port took special measures to keep the vehicles under wraps by erecting containers around them at East Wharf.



The US military also imported one unit of screen machine, impact crusher, etc, and the port of shipment was Jacksonville. The US Embassy in Islamabad imported four boats, TC craft and tow unit and the port of shipment was Beaumont.
In what could possibly be one of the biggest performances to grace the shores of Phuket, German electronic DJ and producer, Robin Schulz is heading to Phuket for a one-off performance in April.

Having topped the charts across Europe and boasting numerous top 10 hits in the US, Asia and Australia including Prayer in C, Sugar, Headlights, Waves and Sun Goes Down, Grammy nominated Schulz will be taking his sounds to Bang Tao Beachs XANA Beach Club on 4 April 2016.

Promotor Aaron Zoanetti is excited to bring Schulz to Phuket-

Were incredibly thrilled that an artist the caliber of Robin Schulz will be performing in Phuket- his iconic sounds suit the beaches of Phuket perfectly, says Zoanetti.

For his part, Schulz is looking forward to performing in an idyllic setting-

One of the perks of my job is playing in some really fantastic venues and locations, and the beaches of Thailand are going to be a really electrifying place to perform.

General Admission tickets can be pre-purchased for THB690 by visiting http://www.robin-schulz.com/#dates

A strictly limited number of tickets will be available on the door for THB750

Doors Open at 8pm.
Chinggiskhaania bifurcata is the scientific name of one of the new kinds of multicellular algae recently found preserved as ancient fossils. Credit: Troye Fox

Homing in on when life on Earth evolved from single-celled to multicellular organisms is no easy task. Organisms that old lacked many distinguishing characteristics of modern life forms, making their fossils exceptionally rare.

But University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee paleontologist Stephen Dornbos and his research partners have discovered new clues in the quest. The team found fossils of two species of previously unknown ancient multicellular marine algae, what we now know as seaweed  and they're among the oldest examples of multicellular life on Earth.

Their age is estimated to be more than 555 million years old, placing the fossils in the last part of Precambrian times, called the Ediacaran Period. They provide a crucial view of Earth's earliest evolution of multicellular life, which scientists now think started millions of years earlier than previously thought.

The team's work is detailed in a paper in the open-access online journal Scientific Reports, published March 17.

"This discovery helps tell us more about life in a period that is relatively undocumented," said Dornbos, UWM associate professor of geosciences and first author on the paper. "It can help us correlate the changes in life forms with what we know about the Earth's ancient environments. It is a major evolutionary step toward life as we know it today."

Credit: Alexandra Kilmer

Scientists think that an explosion of animal diversity and complexity began near the start of the Cambrian Period, about 541 million years ago. But Dornbos said this fossil find is the latest example of multicellular life forms appearing in the preceding Ediacaran Period.

Certain kinds of sedimentary rocks, called Burgess Shale-type (BST) deposits, have the right characteristics to preserve soft-bodied organisms as thin carbon films. During the Cambrian Period, BST deposits are more common, and they preserve fossils of increasingly complex animals. But only a handful of Ediacaran BST deposits are known globally.

Team members were searching for Ediacaran fossils in western Mongolia limestone when they uncovered a new BST deposit. That's where they found the seaweed fossils.

Stephen Dornbos, UWM associate professor of geosciences, holds one of the samples of ancient multicellular algae fossils he helped excavate in western Mongolia. Credit: Troye Fox

Dornbos' collaborators on the fieldwork, funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and NASA's Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, were Tatsuo Oji and Akihiro Kanayama of the Nagoya University Museum in Japan, and Sersmaa Gonchigdorj of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology in Ulaanbaatar.

BST fossils from the Ediacaran usually fall into two categories: multicellular algae, like seaweed, and fossils that are extremely difficult to classify, often the remains of extinct types of organisms. Consequently, Dornbos said, determining exactly what is preserved in Ediacaran fossil deposits can be hotly contested.

"If you find a fossil from this time frame, you really need strong support for your interpretation of what it was," he said. "And the farther back you go in geologic time, the more contested the fossil interpretations are."

Explore further Complex skeletons evolved earlier than realized, fossils suggest

More information: Stephen Q. Dornbos et al. A new Burgess Shale-type deposit from the Ediacaran of western Mongolia, Scientific Reports (2016). Journal information: Scientific Reports Stephen Q. Dornbos et al. A new Burgess Shale-type deposit from the Ediacaran of western Mongolia,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/srep23438
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, listens to Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt, as they attend a press conference in Sydney, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Prime Minister Turnbull assured Australians that they were in a stronger security position than Europeans because of Australia's greater border control. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australia's prime minister on Wednesday distanced himself from the man he replaced by announcing a new fund to promote clean energy innovation as the country heads toward a likely early election in July.

The announcement by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of the 1 billion Australian dollar ($760 million) Clean Energy Innovation Fund comes after his predecessor Tony Abbott accused him this week of seeking re-election on the Abbott government's record.

Among Abbott's biggest achievements of his two years in power was repealing a carbon tax that had been paid by the worst industrial polluters in a bid to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.

Turnbull, who has long advocated that polluters should pay for their carbon emissions, also announced the center-right government's support for two agencies that finance and promote clean energy in Australia.

Abbott had gone in an election in 2013 promising to abolish both government agenciesthe Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australian Renewable Energy Agencywhich had been established by the former Labor Party government.

"This is a very good day for innovation, it is a very good day for technology and for taking on the big challenge of global warming," Turnbull told reporters.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attends a press conference in Sydney, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Prime Minister Turnbull assured Australians that they were in a stronger security position than Europeans because of Australia's greater border control. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

"This reflects a very big change in the way the government ... is now approaching this type of investment," he said.

The green policy shift makes it more difficult for Labor to campaign against the government's climate change record. Abbott had been accused of taking a minimalist approach to reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, which are among the world's highest on a per capita basis because of the country's heavy reliance on abundant reserves of cheap coal.

Turnbull announced Monday that he will call an early election on July 2 unless the Senate agrees to pass contentious legislation next month, effectively kicking off a 15-week de facto election campaign.

The government trailed the opposition in opinion polls until Turnbull replaced Abbott as prime minister in September, although Turnbull's popularity has waned as observers have criticized his slow pace of reform.

Explore further Australia rejects moratorium on new coal mines

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Sumatran rhino is critically endangered with fewer than 100 remaining in the wild

Environmentalists have made physical contact with a Sumatran rhino on the Indonesian part of Borneo island for the first time in over 40 years, the WWF said Wednesday, hailing a "major conservation success".

The critically endangered rhino was caught in a pit trap this month in East Kalimantan province in an area close to mining operations and plantations, where the WWF said it was struggling to survive.

The female animal, thought to be aged around six, is now in a temporary enclosure and will later be airlifted by helicopter to a safer habitat on Borneo, Efransjah, head of environmental group WWF-Indonesia, told AFP.

The contact with the rhino comes after environmentalists discovered in 2013 that the Sumatran rhino was not extinct on Indonesian Borneoas had long been thoughtwhen hidden cameras captured images of the animals.

Borneo is the world's third-largest island and is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Efransjah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, hailed the capture of the rhino on March 12 as "an exciting discovery and a major conservation success".

"We now have proof that a species once thought extinct in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) still roams the forests, and we will now strengthen our efforts to protect this extraordinary species."

The Sumatran rhino will be airlifted by helicopter to a safer habitat on Borneo

The capture of the rhino was a joint effort between environment ministry officials, the WWF and the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia.

The Sumatran rhino is the smallest of the living rhinos. They are the only Asian rhino with two horns, and are covered with long hair.

There were once Sumatran rhinos all over Borneo but their numbers have dwindled dramatically, with poaching, and expansion of mining and plantation operations considered the main reasons for the decline.

Conservationists handle a Sumatran rhino at a sanctuary in Kutai, East Kalimantan

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the Sumatran rhino as critically endangered. The WWF estimates there are fewer than 100 remaining in the wild.

There are only a few substantial populations still in existence, most of them on Indonesia's main western island of Sumatra.

The wild population of Sumatran rhinos on the Malaysian part of Borneo was declared extinct last year, according to the WWF.

Explore further Cameras capture Sumatran rhino in Indonesian Borneo

 2016 AFP
Credit: Tonatiuh Ambrosetti & Daniela Droz / EPFL+ECAL Lab

EPFL+ECAL Lab, Pro Senectute Vaud and the Fondation Leenaards have joined forces in an innovative initiative to use new technologies to enhance social interaction among seniors. Their goal is to develop a digital solution that will allow greater interaction among older people in "solidarity neighborhoods." Preliminary results have shown that, despite widespread assumptions to the contrary, new interfaces can be developed to meet the needs of elderly users.

A decline in social interaction affects mortality in the same way cigarettes do: it has an impact on our physical and mental well-being. And as people age, many factors tend to limit social connections: reduced mobility, loss of eyesight or hearing, the death of loved ones, greater distance from loved ones, the inability to use new means of communication, etc. Paradoxically, new communication technologies also can be used to combat isolation among society's older generation.

Designers and engineers spend time with seniors

With this in mind, three partners joined forces: EPFL+ECAL Lab, which explores new design approaches to interfaces; Pro Senectute Vaud, which has over 14 years of expertise in developing local community processes through its "Solidarity Neighborhoods" method; and Fondation Leenaards, as part of its "Age and Society" program. London's Royal College of Art is also providing support.

This new project took the form of a several months' long immersion in the activities of the Ecublens and Prilly-Nord solidarity neighborhoods and the Grandson-Onnens-Montagny solidarity village. A number of workshops were run to identify seniors' needs, how seniors wished to interact and the interfaces and languages that had to be developed. All this was made possible by the active participation of the residents, who freely expressed their views on the proposals of the engineers and designers from EPFL+ECAL Lab.

According to Alain Plattet, who is in charge of the Community-based social work unit at Pro Senectute Vaud: "The project will make it easier to organize activities proposed by the residents and improve participation; this will in turn promote seniors' longevity and encourage social interaction through the sharing of photos, stories, etc." The enthusiasm displayed by the seniors who took part in the pilot project shows that "their supposed challenge in learning digital technologies is largely due to the fact that existing applications are not in line with their wishes and interests," said Nicolas Henchoz, the director of the EPFL+ECAL Lab.

More than just performance

The design approach is not limited to the visual aspect, as it focuses first and foremost on features and usage scenarios. And it presents a newfound freedom: the freedom to offer a stimulating and useful experience that meets the users' needs and fits their cultural and social environment. Preliminary results show that proximity, interactivity and user-friendliness are essential for the ability of seniors to use new communication technologies.

Beyond borders and generations

The project is meant to transcend local specificities, and for this reason communities in London were also taken into consideration. The Helen Hamlyn Centre, a postgraduate research center at the Royal College of Art with expertise in design solutions for the elderly, engages in field work to gain a greater understanding of needs, influence users' perception and seek to identify additional uses.

The goal is broad: to rethink interface design and digital services so that they fit ever more seamlessly into our daily lives. Thanks to the contribution made by seniors, the results will have an impact on a wide public and further develop how we interact with digital technology in a long-lasting way.

A video (in French) illustrates the topic:

Explore further Social Internet-based activities important for healthy ageing
A research project into the development of potatoes with sustainable resistance against phytophthora via genetic modification with genes from wild potato varieties and good resistance management (DuRPh) has concluded with a scientific publication on the research results. The Wageningen UR scientists indicated that their approach was successful in developing potato plants which require 80% less chemical control.

The potato is the third food crop and offers a relatively high yield and valuable food per hectare. Global potato cultivation is, however, under threat from the pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Farmers who can afford to do so spray their crops against the pathogen with chemicals up to 15 times a year, which is both expensive and harmful to the environment. Farmers without the means for chemical control lose a large part of their yield in some years as a result of the disease.

DuRPh

Published in Potato Research, the scientific publication describes the ten-year DuRPh study performed by Wageningen UR commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The goal of the research was to find 'proof of principle' for genetically modifying existing potato varieties solely with genes of potato species in order to develop a durable resistance against phytophthora. These potatoes could substantially reduce the global use of crop protection products and make a major contribution to the production of extra food.

To foster the durability of the resistance, Wageningen scientists brought combinations of resistance genes from wild potatoes over to cultivated potatoes, and developed a method for managing the use of various resistances.

The scientists mapped scores of resistance genes from wild potatoes of which nearly half were 'cloned' so that they could be transformed to existing potato varieties as single genes or in sets of two or three. After the scientists had determined that they could actually make susceptible potato varieties resistant, these potato plants were then multiplied to provide sufficient potatoes for research on trial fields.

Resistant potatoes

The resistant potatoes were studied in the field in various ways. In small 'monitoring plots' they also were used to study which types of phytophthora were present on the land. In larger demonstration fields, visitors from the sector and the general public could see the success of the attempt to make vulnerable potatoes resistant to phytophthora for four consecutive years.

The DuRPh research also aimed to make an intrinsic contribution to the discussion about genetic modification in society. To achieve this, the Wageningen research team organised meetings for the potato chain, social organisations and the general public. Visitors were able to see the genetically modified potatoes in the field with their own eyes, and note how well they coped against the phytophthora disease. The scientists also delivered many presentations both in the Netherlands and abroad.

Explore further Resistance genes from wild relatives of crops offer opportunities for more sustainable agriculture worldwide

More information: A. J. Haverkort et al. Durable Late Blight Resistance in Potato Through Dynamic Varieties Obtained by Cisgenesis: Scientific and Societal Advances in the DuRPh Project, Potato Research (2016). A. J. Haverkort et al. Durable Late Blight Resistance in Potato Through Dynamic Varieties Obtained by Cisgenesis: Scientific and Societal Advances in the DuRPh Project,(2016). DOI: 10.1007/s11540-015-9312-6
A new study published today in Nature reports Earth's moon wandered off its original axis roughly 3 billion years ago. Ancient lunar ice indicates the moon's axis slowly shifted location 125 miles, or 6 degrees, over 1 billion years. Credit: James Keane, U. of Arizona

A new study published today in Nature reports discovery of a rare eventthat Earth's moon slowly moved from its original axis roughly 3 billion years ago.

Planetary scientist Matt Siegler at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and colleagues made the discovery while examining NASA data known to indicate lunar polar hydrogen. The hydrogen, detected by orbital instruments, is presumed to be in the form of ice hidden from the sun in craters surrounding the moon's north and south poles. Exposure to direct sunlight causes ice to boil off into space, so this iceperhaps billions of years oldis a very sensitive marker of the moon's past orientation.

An odd offset of the ice from the moon's current north and south poles was a tell-tale indicator to Siegler and prompted him to assemble a team of experts to take a closer look at the data from NASA's Lunar Prospector and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions. Statistical analysis and modeling revealed the ice is offset at each pole by the same distance, but in exactly opposite directions.

This precise opposition indicates the moon's axisthe imaginary pole that runs north to south through it's middle, and around which the moon rotatesshifted at least six degrees, likely over the course of 1 billion years, said Siegler.

Discovery of lunar polar wander gains the moon entry into an extremely exclusive club. The only other planetary bodies theorized to have permanently shifted location of their axis are Earth, Mars, Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. What sets the moon apart is its polar ice, which appears to effectively "paint out" the path along which its poles moved. Credit: James Keane, U of Arizona

"This was such a surprising discovery. We tend to think that objects in the sky have always been the way we view them, but in this case the face that is so familiar to usthe Man on the Moonchanged," said Siegler, who also is a scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Ariz.

"Billions of years ago, heating within the Moon's interior caused the face we see to shift upward as the pole physically changed positions," he said. "It would be as if Earth's axis relocated from Antarctica to Australia. As the pole moved, the Man on the Moon turned his nose up at the Earth."

The discovery is reported today in an article in the scientific journal Nature, "Lunar true polar wander inferred from polar hydrogen." Siegler's primary co-authors are astrophysicist Richard S. Miller, a professor at the University of Alabama Huntsville, and planetary dynamicist James T. Keane, a graduate student at the University of Arizona.

Very few planetary bodies known to permanently shift their axis

Planetary bodies settle into their axis based on their mass: A planet's heavier spots lean it toward its equator, lighter spots toward the pole. On the rare occasion mass shifts and causes a planet to relocate on its axis, scientists refer to the phenomenon as "true polar wander."

Discovery of lunar polar wander gains the moon entry into an extremely exclusive club. The only other planetary bodies theorized to have permanently shifted location of their axis are Earth, Mars, Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa.

What sets the moon apart is its polar ice, which appears to effectively "paint out" the path along which its poles moved.

Planetary bodies settle into their axis based on their mass: A planet's heavier spots lean it toward its equator, lighter spots toward the pole. On the rare occasion mass shifts and causes a planet to relocate on its axis, scientists refer to the phenomenon as "true polar wander." Billions of years ago, the moon's change in mass was internal -- the shift of a large, single mantle "plume." Ancient volcanic activity some 3.5 billion years ago melted a portion of the moon's mantle, causing it to bubble up toward its surface, like goo drifting in a lava lamp. Credit: James Keane, U of Arizona

Moon's axis likely started relocating about 3 billion years ago

On Earth, polar wander is believed to have happened due to movement of the continental plates. Polar wander on Mars resulted from a heavy volcanic region. The moon's change in mass was internalthe shift of a large, single mantle "plume." Ancient volcanic activity some 3.5 billion years ago melted a portion of the moon's mantle, causing it to bubble up toward its surface, like goo drifting upward in a lava lamp.

"The moon has a single region of the crust, a large basaltic plain called Procellarum, where radioactive elements ended up as the moon was forming," Siegler said. "This radioactive crust acted like an oven broiler heating the mantle below."

Some of the material melted, forming the dark patches we see at night, which are ancient lava, he said.

"This giant blob of hot mantle was lighter than cold mantle elsewhere," Siegler said. "This change in mass caused Procellarumand the whole moonto move."

The moon likely relocated its axis starting about 3 billion years ago or more, slowly moving over the course of a billion years, Siegler said, etching a path in its ice.

Over time, the axis shifted 125 miles or 200 kilometersabout half the distance from Dallas to Houston, or equal the distance from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia.

A cross-section through the Moon, highlighting the antipodal nature of lunar polar volatiles (in purple), and how they trace an ancient spin pole. The reorientation from that ancient spin pole (red arrow) to the present-day spin pole (blue arrow) was driven by the formation and evolution of the Procellaruma region on the nearside of the Moon associated with a high abundance of radiogenic heat producing elements (green), high heat flow, and ancient volcanic activity. Credit: James Tuttle Keane, University of Arizona

Moving 125 miles over a billion years means the moon would have wandered at a rate of one inch every 126 years, or one centimeter every 50 years. That distance is a big deal on the moon, which is only about a quarter the diameter of Earth, Siegler said.

Neutrons can indicate the presence of water or ice

Polar wander explains why the moon appears to have lost much of its ice.

Siegler compares true polar wander to holding a glass filled with water. Most planets are like a steady hand holding a glass, their axis doesn't shift and the water stays put. A planet whose mass is changing is like a wobbly hand, causing its axis to shift and the water to spill out. Similarly, as Earth's moon changed its axis, much of its ice ceased to be hidden from the sun and was lost.

Co-author Richard Miller mapped the moon's remaining ice by using data from NASA's Lunar Prospector mission, which orbited the moon from 1998 to 1999. The presence of ice is inferred by measuring the energy of neutrons emitted from the lunar surface. Instruments on NASA's satellite, including a neutron spectrometer, measured neutrons liberated from the moon by a rain of stellar particles scientists call cosmic rays. Low energy neutrons indicate the presence of hydrogen, the dominant molecule in water and ice.

"The maps show four key features," said Siegler and his colleagues. "First, the largest quantity of hydrogen is offset from the current rotation axis of the moon by roughly 5.5 degrees. Second, the hydrogen enhancements are of similar magnitude at both poles. Third, the asymmetric enhancements do not correlate with expectations from the current thermal or permanently shadowed environment. And lastly, and most significantly, the spatial distributions of polar hydrogen appear to be nearly antipodal."

Lunar ice is ancient time capsule; may hold answers to deep mysteries

Siegler's discovery opens the door to further discoveries around an even deeper questionthe mystery of why there is water on the moon and on Earth. Scientific theory surrounding the formation of the solar system postulates water could not have formed much closer to the sun than Jupiter, Siegel said.

"We don't know where the Earth's water came from. It appears to have come from the outer solar system well after the Earth and moon formed," he said. "Ice on other bodies, like the moon or Mercury, might give us a clue to its origin."

The fact lunar ice correlates so well with true polar wander implies that it predates this motion, Siegler said, making the ice very ancient.

"The ice may be a time capsule from the same source that supplied the original water to Earth," he said. "This is a record we don't have on Earth. Earth has reworked itself so many times, there's nothing that old left here. Ancient ice from the moon could provide answers to this deep mystery."

Other co-authors on the scientific paper include Matthieu Laneuville, David A. Paige, Isamu Matsuyama, David J. Lawrence, Arlin Crotts and Michael J. Poston.

Explore further Rare full moon on Christmas Day

More information: M. A. Siegler et al. Lunar true polar wander inferred from polar hydrogen, Nature (2016). Journal information: Nature M. A. Siegler et al. Lunar true polar wander inferred from polar hydrogen,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/nature17166
Using A Selfie to Verify ID When Purchasing Online

Corporate cardholders will be able to use Selfies and Fingerprint Scans to Verify Their Identify when Making Online Purchases

TORONTO, March 23, 2016  BMO Financial Group (BMO) and MasterCard today marked the beginning of a phased launch of the first biometric corporate credit card program in Canada and the U.S. that will enable cardholders to verify transactions using facial recognition and fingerprint biometrics when making online purchases.

The introduction of this technology will increase security when making payments that don`t include a face-to-face interaction, and will be integrated seamlessly for easy use in reducing the likelihood of a card being used by anyone who is not the cardholder.

Beginning with corporate cards issued to BMO employees in Canada and the U.S., the MasterCard Identity Check mobile app will prompt participants to: Scan fingerprints or snap selfies to validate their identities via biometrics; and when verified, return to the merchant site to complete the online purchase The use of biometric technology has become more common for consumers looking for convenient and secure ways to make purchases using their smartphones, so this was the natural next step for us as innovators in the payment security space, said Steve Pedersen, Vice President, Head, North American Corporate Card Products, BMO Financial Group.

Mitigating the risk of fraud is always our top priority, and the inclusion of this technology is going to make payment authentication easier, and strengthen the security of the entire payments ecosystem. Mr. Pedersen added that the first phase will test the potential of delivering greater security and convenience using BMO employee corporate cardholders in the U.S. and Canada, including establishing and improving best practices in corporate environments, developing better protection against potential fraud and continually minimizing the need for customer service inquiries.

Once complete, the next phase will be to make the technology available to customers more broadly beginning in the summer of 2016. With BMO, MasterCard is hosting our first Canadian and U.S. corporate card biometric user engagement. Its always exciting to introduce biometrics to new cardholders.They quickly realize that they dont have to sacrifice convenience for security. By snapping a selfie or scanning a fingerprint, the person becomes the password, said Catherine Murchie, Senior Vice President of North America Processing, Enterprise Security & Network Solutions for MasterCard.

About BMO Financial Group Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services organization and a leading provider of commercial card and treasury solutions based in North America. With total assets of approximately $642 billion read more

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Sometimes, you stumble upon a nugget of gold among the forest of stones on the Internet. This article by journalist and scholar Sarah Kendzior, comparing Donald Trump with the autocratic rulers of former Soviet states in Central Asia -- Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan -- is the most fascinating and enlightening piece I've read in the stew of journalistic explanations that have been offered for the rise of Trump. Kendzior talks about the Central Asian countries as "spectacular states," or states where spectacle has supplanted more serious ways of governing, and about the U.S. in that context.

She includes this damning paragraph near the end of her piece, talking about how a President Trump would respond to his many detractors:

"The question is what kind of tactics he will use to silence the former. So far, his greatest asset has been the U.S. media  financially desperate, hungry for ratings, and eager to embrace a potential dictator to rescue their corporate model, subjecting their countrymen to unprecedented over-coverage of a single candidate in the process."

So horribly true. At home, the only news channel I get is Fox, because we just have basic cable. It's amazing to see, even though Trump continues to run down one of Fox's stars (Megyn Kelly), its news division continues, through people like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Howard Kurtz, to grovel at the feet of Trump's spectacular presence. But Fox is only the most unabashed media outlet in expressing its love of Trump. The others love him just as much but now and then try to pretend otherwise.
The conference was held under the theme Shea 2016: Enhancing Farm Value, with participants drawn from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

President Mahama, quoting the Ghana Standard Living report said women in the northern regions were the poorest so investing in shea nuts is the surest way of reversing the trend.

The president said his government will work to eliminate middlemen that operate within the processing stage of the crop who are depriving women of fair payment for their labour.

Mr Moumouni Konate, President of GSA, said More than 16,000,000 women collect and process shea.

Two billion shea trees grow naturally on parklands in 21 countries stretching from Senegal to South Sudan, he said.
The cash embezzlement occurred at four institutions during the year 2014 which involved unauthorized insertions on cheques to withdraw cash from school accounts, manipulation of official receipts to conceal fees collected and outright dissipation of cash withdrawals, according to the auditor general's report released in 2016.

According to the auditor general, the fraud occurred because the heads and accountants of the schools did not exercise effective supervision over cash receipting and banking duties.

The Schools are Presby Senior High School, Obrachire Senior High Technical School, St. Charles Minor Seminary and Karaga Senior High School.

How the fraud occurred

A former National Service personnel of Presby Senior High School, Kraboa-Coaltar, Andrews Larbi Amoah, embezzled GH56,155.23 of WASSCE exam and school fees collected through concealment of official receipts books and the use of fictitious receipts books and has absconded, the report said.

The accountant of Obrachire Senior High Technical School falsified payment records by insertions on 11 cheques endorsed by the headmaster and succeeded in illegally withdrawing GH17,000.00 from the schools account.

Management of St Charles Minor Seminary, Tamale and Karaga Senior High School disbursed GH29,179.60 from school revenue without first lodging the amount to their banks.

Unaccounted payments occurred in some 85 institutions totaling GH3,458,809.60 without supporting the disbursements with documentations such as purchase orders, invoices, waybills and in some cases payment vouchers to justify the transactions, neither did they provide records to confirm delivery of the items to their store, the report said.

Regional breakdown of cash irregularities

In Ashanti region, six schools paid a total amount of GH127,015.20 for maintenance and repairs of their vehicles and equipment without works orders and certificates of satisfactory completion of works.

Ten schools were accused of paying a total amount of GH289,558.39 to suppliers and service providers without supporting documents contrary to Section 17, Part VI of the Financial and Accounting Instructions (FAI) for schools and educational units that, invoices, receipts and other relevant supporting documents should be attached to payment vouchers.

Below are the schools

In Brong Ahafo region, the report accused a former Headmistress of Tuobodom SHS approved for the withdrawal of GH5,087.00 from the Schools bank account but failed to provide any record to show what the money was used for.

At Menji Senior High School, an Accountant (GH1,764.00) and Assistant Accounts Officer (GH900.00) collected fees totaling GH2,664.00 from students but failed to lodge the amounts into the Schools bank account

The following schools were accused of paying monies without supporting documents.

In the Central region, the report could not confirm the authenticity of payments totaling GH781,069.02 made by nine institutions due to the lack of the necessary supporting documents to substantiate the payments as required by Regulation 39(2c) of FAR 2004 (LI 1802) and Sections 10 and 16 of the Financial Report of the AuditorGeneral on the Public Accounts of Ghana, Pre-University Educational Institutions.

The institutions are listed below:

In the Eastern region, 23 schools were accused of unsubstantiated payments amounting to GH838,586.07.

Payments without works orders and performance certificates amounted to GH120,609.45. The schools are:

The report could not confirm the authenticity of payments totaling GH441,250.78 made by eight schools in the Greater Accra region as management of the institutions were unable to provide the supporting expenditure documents such as receipts, invoices etc.

Below is the breakdown:

Management of eight Educational Institutions paid a total amount of GH212,955.21 for repairs on official vehicles and equipment.

The transactions were not accompanied by works orders and completion certificates to attest to the works done in contravention of Section 16(1a) of the Financial Administration Act 2003, according to the report.

In the Northern region, the report said:

Twenty-four employees of EP College of Education, Bimbilla and Salaga SHS who were given GH66,355.00 salary advances had not paid back the amounts to their institutions.

Management of St Charles Minor Seminary, Tamale and Karaga Senior High School disbursed GH29,179.60 from revenue without first lodging the amount to bank.

In the Upper East region, heads of seven institutions made payments totaling GH175,343.59 for goods and services but were unable to provide the necessary expenditure supporting documents such as invoices, official receipts and statements of claims, the report said.

The schools are:

In the Upper West region, a total of GH215,708.31 was paid by the management of nine institutions without the necessary supporting documents.

The breakdown is shown below:

Heads of eight institutions in the Volta region made payments totaling GH370,460.74 for goods and services but were unable to provide the necessary expenditure supporting documents, according to the report.

In the Western region, The management of Annor Adjaye Senior High School, Half Assini collected a total amount of GH40,388.00 from 654 students in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 academic years in order to supply them with anniversary cloth.
DealDey is one of a handful of players in Nigerias very fluid e-commerce space. The digital shopping site aggregates daily online discounts on popular goods and services. It brands itself as Sub-Saharan Africas largest online deals platform, naming over 1 million users, 15,000 active merchants, and 20,000 verified listed businesses. Alexa ranks the DealDay at 41 in Nigeria.

Ringier Africa Deals Group is enthused about the prospects of DealDey under Ringier and Silvertree leadership given that DealDey on its own was able to attract investment not less than $1 million from the Swedish investment firm Kinnevik in 2011.

Kinnevik followed that with $5 million in series B financing in 2015 with no equity percentage given for either round.

Ringiers Stiegler named the acquisition as part of an expanding Africa strategy to invest fully in four verticals within Africa: classifieds, content, digital marketing, and e-commerce.

DealDey Co-CEOs Kehinde Oriola & Etop Ikpe say: The DealDey team is excited about joining forces with the newly-formed Ringier Africa Deals Group. It offers great opportunities as DealDey brings a wealth of experience in technology, merchant management and consumer behaviour in Nigeria  and we will be leveraging the Ringier Africa portfolio in marketing, classifieds and media as well as Silvertrees e-commerce expertise towards supporting the sustainable growth of the group.

Silvertree Co-Managing Director Paul Cook says: We are extremely excited to be entering three of Africas most exciting e-commerce markets, through our partnership with Ringier and joint investment into DealDey, Rupu and Tisu. Through this deal, we get to build on excellent existing platforms as we look to serve Africas emerging middle class. With Ringers deep content expertise and African footprint, we look forward to further accelerating the growth of these exciting businesses. Our focus will be on rapid but sustainable growth, as Africas e-commerce industry starts to mature and consumers look for world-class offerings, excellent customer service and great deals.
This brings up to 42 the total number of companies battling for to take over some essential parts of ECG's operations.

Below are a section of the companies who have expressed interest:

List of 18 Ghanaian companies

Power Meter Technics (Pty) Ltd & Pricoil Ghana Limited, China Railway No.5, Engineering Group Co. Ltd, Wilkins Engineering. Limited, ER- STOVS COMPANY LIMITED, TG Energy Solution Ghana Limited, Enclave Power Company, BXC GHANA LIMITED, HECDIG Limited, MBH

POWER AND GAS LTD, MC Jones Energy, Fallow Ghana Ltd, Wellfind Limited, Reroy Power Limited, IRIS, Infrared Imaging Solutions, Belstar Capital Ltd, in collaboration with CEC Africa Investments Ltd, The Quantum Group Ltd, Rabest Company Limited and Amandi/STL.

USA (4 companies)

Six companies from the United States of America, the country providing close to $500 million to restructure ECG, have also expressed interest.

They are Thelios Power/Orgone Development LLC, APSM, Pike Corporation & UC Synergetic Information-Thinking Engineering Solutions, CMF Global. Inc, New Generation Power and Latitude Capital Management L.P.

Some analysts and civil society groups have expressed concern that because the USA is providing funding for restructuring ECG, companies from that country stand a better chance of winning the concession bid.

However, MiDA officials have discounted this assertion, adding that only the best company can win the concession.

South Africa (3 companies)

Three companies from South Africa; namely, Total Utilities Management Services, Mat Tecknologies Consultancy Limited/Siri Engineering (PTY) Ltd and Pricoil Ghana Limited, with office in Ghana, have also expressed interest in the ECG concession.

United Kingdom (2 companies)

Actis GP LLP-United Kingdom and CDC Group pic from the United Kingdom have also shown interest.

France (2 companies)

Interest was received from-two companies from France EDF International Networks and Eranove Group.

Lebanon (2 companies)

Butec Utility Services-Lebanon and Matelec S.A.L-Lebanon also applied for the concession.

Interest from 10 other countries

Expression of interest was received from 10 other countries. They include

TataPower Company Limited Manila Electric Company/ MERI ALCO, Philippines; AFRASIA

Enerji MUh.ve Dan. Tic. A.S

Manitoba Hydro Intei Canada; ENG1E Limited, Uri Emirates; ESB International,

NIP Global Ltd, Israel; African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), Nigeria; and Metre Electricity Authority, (MEA) land.
With a length of nine meters, this vehicle named "Kayoola" allows you to carry on board 35 passengers, including the driver.

According to the designers, this model will eliminate the issues of a regular "black smoke" from a diesel bus. Thus, this model therefore uses a conventional heat engine, in place of a 100% electric unit to deliver 200 horsepower.

Solar energy as a 'range extender'

Strategically placed under the bus, two lithium-ion batteries allow Kayoola to have, between charges, 80km of travel power. The manufacturer's brochure also stipulates that will take only 80 minutes to recharge the device back to a 100% via a specific terminal.

To reduce this charging time, and roll-out an even cleaner power, students and engineers had the idea to graft onto the roof of the bus 12 solar panels. Their total power generated from these will be between 50 and 130 watts. These panels are sort of "a range extender" by allowing the bus to go 12 km extra with solar.

Practically, the two battery groups share the work. Specifically, while the bus is moving, the panels on the roof convert solar energy into electricity. This current then charges the first battery bank. Meanwhile, the second provides the vehicle with the energy to allow it to continue to move forward.

7,000 hires in 2018?

Kiira Motors Corporation now has three models. Yet none of them available for sale. The company, owned 96% by the Ugandan government, currently serves as a showcase for neighboring countries to the extent of his action. In addition, the development of such models is expensive, due to the use of more expensive technologies.

The price of this solar bus prototype is valued at 130,000 euros. If they are able to mass-produce this model, Kiira Motors Corporation intends to sell the vehicle around 50,000 euros apiece. However, we have to be patient as it will take sometime before we see the bus Kayoola on Ugandan roads.

At the inauguration of the test model, the company's leaders refused to indicate a launch date. They hope that this project will generate employment in their country of origin.
The interns would be paid $12,000 (4 million Naira) in addition to their food, lodging and travel expenses. They would be required to write about their beer-tasting adventures for the company's website.

"Whether you're a photographer or writer, social media maverick or beer blog surfer, we are looking for you. Adventure seekers and storytellers, beer experts or novices, brewery nerds and foodie fans all open to apply. So if you want to live, drink and tell the tale to the world, get ready to apply for the chance to share your experience as a Drink It Intern," World of Beer said on its website.
GGC will cover 2,780 acres and be supported by infrastructure meeting global standards in terms of specifications, energy efficiency, and utilities redundancies.

Ghana Gold City will set new regional and international standards as a fully integrated and sustainable living, working, and leisure destination, said Mostafa Salim, who leads development of real estate and infrastructure assets for UWI. Our focus on green and smart technologies in this development will facilitate on-going technology transfer to the region, further supporting Ashantis environmental, social, and economic objectives.

GCC has been designed according to UWIs signature economic cluster model.

Economic clusters are self-sustaining, urban developments with a 24-hour lifecycle including live, work, and leisure spaces. Each cluster is integrated into the economic network of the region and will act as a catalyst for growth. UWI will be seeking leading providers of green and smart technologies to bring efficient and environmentally conscious systems to the design, construction, and operation of the infrastructure.

Ghanas stable government, growing economy, and effective government institutions support the success of new businesses and entrepreneurs, said Imran Markar, who leads strategic relationships with institutional investors, government-linked agencies, and financial institutions for UWI. There is a growing population in Ghana seeking the types of job opportunities which will be created by the development, making [GGC] the ideal environment for UWIs economic cluster model.

UWI has been working with local Ghana officials on the development plans for the last 12-months.

Ghana Gold City will include: a central commercial hub, trading village, residential village, and office park to support the logistic inland port. The development will provide flexibility for the long-term growth and expansion of the citys needs.

Ghana currently functions as the inland port through which traders come for regional distribution. There are many landlocked countries around Ghana and they don't have access to the ocean or ports so all goods land in Ghana which has been established as a trading hub for , Salim said. Included in the zones, we will have one zone to streamline the goods processing system for regional traders to increase efficiency. Another zone will provide local wholesalers with an opportunity to participate in the value chain and buy goods for transport.

This is the first major urban development between Kumasi and Accra. Its residential areas are expected to address two key concerns for Ghanaians: road congestion along the Kumasi-Accra highway and the rising demand for home ownership. We designed this development considering the needs of local Ghanaians, Salim said. Ghana Gold City gives these commuters the option to live just 20 minutes away from their jobs in Kumasi. This will ease congestion on Ghana highways and improve overall quality of life.

As part of a larger strategy to facilitate Ghanaian residents wellbeing, GGC will include natural green spaces within 5 minutes of walking from anywhere in the development as well as a comprehensive networks for bicyclists and pedestrians. We are committed to greener, smarter, and happier cities. The pedestrian and bicyclist networks will reduce carbon emissions, further ease congestion, improve road safety, and facilitate healthy lifestyle practices, Salim said.

To ensure consistency of quality for GGC and realize its aspirations to improve quality of life for residents, UWI has designed planning guidelines for project contractors which will direct the overall design and development process including: preserving the cultural heritage of Ashanti, establishing convenient natural spaces, and providing strategic transport initiatives. Each space will contribute to a sense of place and belonging in the community and promote impromptu meetings among students, colleagues, visitors, and residents, Salim said. We will foster economic growth for the entire West African region through Ghana Gold City, but at the end of the day, our work is about developing a place which benefits the people of Ghana.
An eyewitness says the three heavily armed men successfully robbed a Forex Bureau in the area, but started firing into a crowd whose attention had been drawn to an alarm raised by the Forex Bureau attendant.

The witness said the robbers started firing in a bid to escape with their booty.

The robbers are suspected to have shot and killed the Forex Bureau attendant and injured five others.

The Police who engaged the robbers in a gun battle, critically injured one of the three robbers.
The Director of Public Affairs for the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Cephas Arthur, however, called on the public to be extra vigilant in order to make the work of the police easier.

"We are in an era where these [terrorist] attacks [are rampant]; although they are not happening in Ghana, they are all around us, and we know that mostly the terrorists also attack crowds. So, we have also deployed persons, who are well trained to manage that," Supt. Arthur noted.

"Policing is intelligence-led. In order to do preventive or proactive policing, you have to strengthen your intelligence. So, our intelligence apparatus has been strengthened already, and we have personnel on the ground before the Easter festivities at Kwahu.

"We have some anti-terrorist personnel also deployed over there. We have to be very vigilant as members of the public [and] pick pieces of information. Everything that we see that is not normal or unusual, we should not sleep over them; we should endeavour to pass those pieces of information onto the police or the security agencies there, so that they can also work. We [the police] are looking seriously at the activities of terrorists," he told Accra-based Class FM.
As demanded by the Millennium Challenge Compact II, the government of Ghana has begun settling its indebtedness to struggling power distributor the ECG  although the full complement of debt is undergoing an audit.

CASHEW INDUSTRY NEEDS BIG PUSH

The Africa Cashew Alliance (ACA) has urged government to create an enabling environment and policies in the cashew industry to enable it realize its objective of local value addition through processing.

UNION CALLS FOR PROBE INTO NEAR-SINKING OF NANA BESEMUNA

The Maritime and Dockworkers Union (MDU) of the TUC is calling for investigations into the accident on the Volta Lake that caused the near-sinking of the vessel Nana Besemuna.

Gruesome murder; Jilted man rapes and kill girl, slashes others

Zanetor's application thrown out

Ash Police Commander pledges to be neutral

NPP denies wrong-doing

NPP FIGHTS BACK OVER SA SECURITY CAPOS

The NPP says the BNI is overly exaggerating its report on the arrest of the three South African security capos who are providing training for its security details in the country.

ZANETOR THROWN OUT

An Accra high court yesterday struck out a motion filed by lawyers for Dr Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings to dismiss a suit challenging her eligibility as the Klottey Korle Constituency parliamentary candidate for the ruling NDC.

Horror at Hwereso; Man kill girl 17, after raping her

SCRAMBLE FOR ECG; COMPANIES INTERESTED IN CONCESSION JUMPS TO 42

The number of companies that have expressed interest in the private sector participation (PSP) in the ECG has jumped from 33 as of the end of 2015 to 42 companies at March 2, 2016.

TERROR THREATS: GHANA GAS TIGHTENS SECURITY

The Ghana National Gas Company has in the wake of terror threats alert in the West African sub-region, has met with some key security heads in the country to assess threat levels and map out plans and strategies to enhance a collective protection of the nations premier gas infrastructure.

3 SA NATIONALS ARE NOT SECURITY THREAT  NPP

The NPP has rubbished claims by some operatives of the ruling NDC and newspaper reports which suggest that the activities of the three South African nationals pose a security threat.

TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS BOOST SECURITY OVER RISING TERROR THREAT

Following reports of recruitment of young people into the swelling ranks of terrorists groups such as ISIS, coupled with the threat of terrorist activity in the sub-region, the Vice-Chancellors Ghana has revealed intentions to boost IT surveillance on the campuses of public universities.

ARRESTED SOUTH AFRICANS WERE TRAINING NPP SECURITY MEN  NPP

The NPP has confirmed the 15 people being trained by three South African ex-police men are part of its security detail, but denied links to any treasonable movtive.

20,000 MINORS REGISTERED IN 2012

A senior research fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Kwesi Jonah, has revealed that an estimated 20,000 under age persons managed to register in 2012, despite monitoring of the registration process by political parties and civil society organisations.

DEVELOP YOUR FULL POTENTIAL - NDUOM
The three, 54-year-old Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (Rtd.), 39-yearold WO/ Denver Dwayhe Naidu (Rtd.) and 45-year-old Captain Mlungiseleli Jokani (Rtd.) were arrested on Sunday March 20, 2016 at El Capitano Hotel in Agona Duakwa in the Central Region.

A Bureau of National Investigations document said The trio, all ex-police officers were engaged in training fifteen young men in various military drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response maneuvers.

But Dr. Anning said the argument by the NPP is absolutely rubbish.

Being popular doesnt meant that you are under threat. What about the 27 million people in this country? Does the interest of one particular individual triumph over the interest of 27 million people? I listened to Dr. Amoako Tuffuor last night claiming that this is good for national security because the trained people will support national security. Who told him that and whos security is Amoako Tuffuor talking about?, Dr. Anin asked on Accra-based Citi FM.

Dr. Kwesi Anning added that "the BNI has a remit under the law to protect the national interest and any such of activities that threaten or undermine the national interest it is their responsibility to bring it under control. So the BNI has done what is right.
"I know your [Ghana] intelligence and security forces are on the job. But you have to be aware of the threats of violence that comes from within Ghana.

"There's tribal tension; there's some tensions from Muslims and Christians in Ghana; there are land disputes; there are water disputes," he told Accra-based Citi FM.

John Graham's comments come on the back of attacks in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, which killed several people and destroyed properties.

Security experts have said that public places including hotels, restaurants, malls and other public places that attract a lot of foreigners are prone to attacks.

Meanwhile, President Mahama John Mahama on Tuesday called on African countries to be vigilant in order to ward off any imminent terrorists attacks in the region.
The Commission has subsequently interrogated the three early this morning, with the information gathered being sent to the South African security agencies in Pretoria, Accra-based Joy FM has reported.

The three, 54-year-old Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (Rtd.), 39-yearold WO/ Denver Dwayhe Naidu (Rtd.) and 45-year-old Captain Mlungiseleli Jokani (Rtd.) were arrested on Sunday March 20, 2016 at El Capitano Hotel in Agona Duakwa in the Central Region.

A Bureau of National Investigations document said The trio, all ex-police officers were engaged in training fifteen young men in various military drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response maneuvers.

Some leading members of the ruling National Democratic Congress, including its Deputy general secretary, Koku Anyidoho had subsequently accused the NPP of dealing with mercenaries in the country in order to win power at all cost.
"We live in dangerous times and we therefore need to be more vigilant by sharing useful information that will help us resist any security threats in our countries."

President Mahama made this known in the Ivorian capital to attend the fourth African Chief Executive Officers'(CEO) forum took time to call on President Alassane Quattara of Cote d Ivoire to commiserate with them for the recent death of 19 people at Grand Bassa terrorist attacks.

The attacks followed a similar attack on a prominent hotel in Ougadougou, capital of the Republic of Burkina Faso a couple of months ago.

President Mahama said although he sent a delegation as soon as the attacks occurred, it was also fair for him to console his Ivorian counterpart, once he was in the country.

The President said once the attacks occurred in different dimensions in the sub-region, sharing of security tips was useful to dismiss their common assailants in the sub-region.

He commended the security network in Cote d Ivoire for speedily dispatching the attackers and for restoring peace and calm in the country, just few days after the attacks.

The President said fighting terrorism collectively was paramount to pave way for economic growth and development in the African continent.

He said it was unfortunate that the attacks occurred at the time that West African countries were forging ahead for integration and gave the assurance that in spite of that, they would continue to put in workable measures that would propel them for high economic growth.

President Mahama called on the development partners to support with the elimination of such terrorist attacks to create enabling environment for the development of business and commerce in the region.
The establishment doesnt always win: the silent majority or the grassroots can sometimes upend the power brokers

Trump hypnotizes the media; Trump goes global; Trumpmania is the new Obamamania: Trump is no Obama but in terms of impact Trump clearly has the momentum in this cycle.

Incivility and intemperate language is global: We have all now seen that caustic language in politics is not only the preserve of third world Africa.

All politics is local: If you think you can run a great national campaign without paying attention to detail and local issues, ask Marco Rubio.

Money palaver is everywhere but money doesnt necessarily translate into votes.

Politics goes global: yes there is such a thing as political tourism. Despite all the commentary on the decline of American power, few national elections attract the kind of global attention America commands.

The media counts a big biiiig deal: For good or bad, you still cant discount the media in this whole process. Right from campaign announcement, to the scrutiny, to the analysis, to the coverage, the media can make or unmake you. Theyre gullible to sensation but they help moderate the debates too.

Campaign in poetry; govern in prose: you have to touch hearts. You have to communicate at voters level. Would Hillary Clinton make a great president? You betcha! Do people cry at her rallies? You dont betcha! Does she struggle to craft lyrical, soothing, emotive and moving story lines to hit directly at peoples feelings ? You betacha again.

Authenticity counts: the Clinton example says it all.

Politics is not all-intellectual or all wonky: case in point, Rubio and Clinton

So much for endorsements: case in point, Rubio. This is a great lesson for those who over stress the endorsements. The great question in political studies has always been: do endorsements matter? This season gives us a certain kind of answer: not really. Marco had all the big time endorsements but hes out of the race now. This should be a big lesson to politicians on the weight or magnitude to attach to political endorsements. My position here is that endorsements could bring attention and media coverage but it may not necessarily translate into votes.

Analysts are not soothsayers: It is possible to do analysis without predicting.

Voters are complex: You can give beautiful speeches, hire the greatest campaign people and have the biggest money machine but dont ever think you know the electorate too well.

Its all about the polls but even Nate Silver, the heralded polling aficionado, got Michigan wrong. God is the only all-knowing Supremo.

The winnowing process: media primary, polling primary, money primary and primary primary---they all matter.

Politics in America; its complicated: The rules can get very complex and the process keeps morphing from state to state. Its interesting and exiting but gets downright messy sometimes.

Every year is different: In politics timing is everything. What may work in one cycle may not work in another. Look at the voting trends for Hillary and the fate of Rubio/Christie. Santorum was the winner of the Iowa caucuses the last time(2012), this season he was 12 out of 13 candidates. In fact only 1.0% of the population voted for him in 2016 compared to 24.6% in 2012. Similar scenario goes for Huckabee who won the caucuses in 2008 and in fact several others states and then came up 9 this year. They both had zero delegates.

So much for Iowa: every year Americans complain about Iowa, every year Iowans have their way anyway.
According to him, he feels peeved for the gross disrespect shown him by the party hierarchy.

Read more: Aggrieved NPP parliamentary aspirant goes independent

Anokye who was tipped to win the partys parliamentary polls in the area was disqualified, leaving the incumbent MP, K.T Hammond as the only contender for the race.

Some aggrieved persons claiming to be delegates and loyalists of the party prior to the primaries in June 2015 issued a statement, saying they will not allow possible acclamation of long standing Member of Parliament, K.T Hammond as the Parliamentary nominee for the 2016 elections.

The group said the incumbent Member should not be reaffirmed for the 2016 elections because he had lost the support of his constituents.

See also: Failed NPP aspirant to contest as independent candidate

According to Mr. Richard Oduro Anokye, no reason was reason was given for his disqualification despite several attempt to seek one.

The contest which was originally scheduled for July 13, 2015 had to be postponed because of unresolved issues between the aspirants.

A rescheduled date, October 24, 2015 was also postponed because of a court injunction that was instituted against the party by some aggrieved members.

On December 18, 2015, Mr. K.T Hammond was popularly acclaimed by some delegates as the chosen candidate to represent the elephant family in the November 7 Parliamentary polls.

However, addressing the press on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, Anokye said, "The democratic process which began perfectly in 2015 under the then leadership has unfortunately ended in shame under the Acting leadership of the party. Today, the NPP is telling the people of Adansi Asokwa that they do not believe in the democratic tenet of choice and also the ability of the youth to lead the charge to Parliament".

"The primaries that was slated to be held on 24th October, 2015 never happened due to the prohibited injunction placed on it by the incumbent Member of Parliament. However, on the 18th December, 2015, Hon. Kwabena Tahiru Hammond, the incumbent MP, knowing very well that he has lost touch with the people on the grounds and again knowing the understandable insistence of the people to vote him out, with the help of the acting Chairman and General Sectary went out of due process to declare himself unopposed."

He noted that the "undemocratic wish of just one man" cannot stop him from pursuing his political career and also serve his people.

"We surely cannot allow one man to shut the dreams of many in the constituency, he added.
In my capacity as a practitioner I have had to deal with media folk of various ilk. Haven practiced journalism before, it was quite easy to appreciate the actions of journalism.

A video went viral that showed the news coverage of President Mahama's visit to the Scottish parliament - I maintain the phrase 'visit to the Scottish parliament' and would stay clear of calling it 'State visit'.

In the said video, and commentaries that preceded it, Stan Xoese Dogbe, the President's reliable and unmovable right hand man was seen shielding his boss from a potential ambush interview that was sought by a journalist on the issues of gay rights. Stan was seen firmly and effectively preventing the journalist from thrusting a microphone in the direction of the President so he could walk away without answering the question.

I have done a similar thing on several occasions.

As a PR person one of your jobs is to ensure that journalists do not arrest an event to skew the reportage in their interest.

This will sometimes mean stepping in to say something like 'I am afraid Mr. XYZ and this company will not like to comment on this matter at this moment'. There may be times that the practitioner must be tough and possibly use physical restraints especially when the journalist may be hostile. I therefore appreciate Stan's actions absolutely.

What however remains of concern is the seemingly undiplomatic manner this trip was organised. I haven't studied Diplomacy before but I didn't need to be an expert to realise this was a badly arranged visit that left a tonne of questions left unanswered. Bright Simonsof mPedigree and Imani Ghana encapsulated my feelings when he said;

" What has been bugging my mind is: who arranged this visit to the Scottish parliament in the first place? If the host country hasn't expressed a willingness to grant a state visit then why include on the itinerary a stop usually associated with state visits? Why should the President of a sovereign state go to the Parliament of another country to observe proceedings from a gallery, and then address a small group of parliamentarians in a committee room? It looks like someone was recklessly trying to make this a state visit by force. Why didn't the President make this a private visit to Aberdeen to collect his doctorate award? Whilst I resent the attitude of some of the Scottish parliamentarians and journalists, I think more blame should be assigned whoever arranged the visit. There was a sense of protest about the whole thing on the Scottish side, and it probably stems from lack of diplomatic preparation to ensure that the political elite was ready and generally willing to host a state visit. Someone probably arranged the whole LGBT controversy to scuttle what was seen as an imposition".

The President is just one man with a thousand things to do. He can't do everything himself. He counts on people that you and I pay to do some of this work. For this trip, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, State Protocol Department and Ghana's Mission to the UK must take the responsibility. Our institutions are often quick to step out for the applause but hasten slowest when the criticisms start falling around them. Again as Simons intimates, the President could have simply gone to the University on a private visit to pick up his award and then come back home quietly. I frankly didn't find this visit to the Scottish parliament for these unpresidential, undiplomatic heckling to be subjected to our President. Even getting a respectable seating place was disregarded.

Was it the case that State Protocol and National Security didn't access the area the President was to sit or they did and in their mind, there ws nothing wrong with having the President of Kwame Nkrumah's government and his wife and key officials cramped on two benches in the public gallery of a colony of Britain? Let's think about that for a second.

On the issue of Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Rights, Ace Ankomah, lawyer and member of Occupy Ghana puts it succinctly;

"I am going to try to remain restrained in my language.

I feel offended at what some Scottish MPs did or sought to do yesterday. Some TV footage is making rounds on social media. That behavior was cheap, low, crass and not right. The President did not pass the laws on homosexuality. He has no power to repeal them. That power is for parliament.

And for the information of these dummies, those laws were first written in official statues here by the UK, the country to which they, the Scots, technically and happily remain a colony (and they just gleefully voted to remain so).

And, does whoever arranged that part of the trip still have a job this morning?"

Yes, are we going to punish someone for this or we are going to wallow in our mediocrity and say these are not bread and butter issues? What we saw in photos and videos clearly show that something was not right. Let's do this right. We are proudly part of the 75 nations left globally who still maintain same-sex relationships must not be given legal stature. If any country won't invite our President to their country because of it, then they can take their country - that's my opinion but of course I am not always diplomatic.
We have taken notice of frontpage stories in the Tuesday, March 22, editions of the state-owned Daily Graphic, and in newspapers belonging to the rented press stable of the ruling NDC government, about the arrest of 3 South African nationals on suspicion of engaging in acts that threaten the countrys security.According to the publications, the 3 men were invited into the country by Capt. Koda (rtd), head of our presidential candidates personal security.We wish to place on record that the presence of the three men in Ghana is not for any act that can be said remotely to threaten the countrys security. Known security detail belonging to the NPPs presidential and vice presidential candidates were being given routine training by these security experts specialised and licensed to offer VIP Protection.Indeed, the two personal drivers of the candidates, as well as the official photographer of Nana Akufo-Addo, were part of the 15 persons undergoing training, which took place on the premises of a well-known, licensed, Ghanaian security company.The 3 South Africans arrived in the country on Business visas. Training of personnel in VIP protection is part of their business, and, therefore, no deception was intended. Is it not alarming, however, that a case which, according to the BNI, is still under investigation, has been leaked to pro-government newspapers, obviously in the bid to help the NDC score cheap political points? It is our firm conviction that the security agencies, if they are to enjoy the confidence of the people, must always be seen to be non-partisan and professional in the discharge of their constitutional mandates.Unlike some other countries where the State takes responsibility for providing security for opposition leaders, here, in Ghana, opposition leaders are responsible for providing and maintaining their own personal security. That is exactly the case here.In an age where a radio programme host by name Mugabe, on Montie FM, a radio station belonging to the stable of the ruling party, has stated that Nana Akufo-Addo will die before June this year, we, in the NPP, will not take any chances, whatsoever, with the security of our leaders. That threat by the radio station host has, unsurprisingly, not been deemed by the authorities to be an act that could threaten our nations security.signedNana AkomeaNPP Director of Communications
The Islamic State (ISIS) has reportedly claimed the attack.

As they recover from the shock of the attacks, people are asking why this happens, and who the people carrying out these suicide missions are.

That such attacks could be launched from inside a European country once again calls attention to a serious crisis: the radicalization of citizens outside the Middle East by extremist groups.

A willingness to embrace violence

The actions of the shooters like those in San Bernardino, Paris and very probably Brussels are difficult for most people to understand. But the work of scholars specializing in extremism can help us begin to unravel how people become radicalized to embrace political violence.

Security experts Alex Wilner and Claire-Jehanne Dubouloz define radicalization as a process during which an individual or group adopts increasingly extreme political, social or religious ideals and aspirations. The process involves rejecting or undermining the status quo or contemporary ideas and expressions of freedom of choice.

Newly radicalized people dont just agree with the mission and the message of the group they are joining; they embrace the idea of using violence to induce change.

And some members of these groups become radical enough to actually get involved in violent operations personally.

So how often does this radicalization process happen in the U.S.?

A recent report published by the Program on Extremism at George Washington University provides troubling statistics on Islamic State (ISIS) support in America:

The report goes on to say there are some 900 active investigations against ISIS sympathizers in all 50 states. As a result of these active investigations, 71 suspects have been charged for terrorism-related activities  and those charged share some interesting characteristics.

The average age of the suspects is 26 years, and the vast majority of them (86 percent) are male. About 27 percent were involved in a plot to carry out violence on U.S. territory. The suspects are diverse in terms of race, social class, education and family history. Forty percent of those arrested are converts to Islam. A large majority  58 out of 71  are American citizens.

Countries in the Arabic Peninsula have the highest rate of ISIS sympathizers, but the number on U.S. soil is higher than many would expect.

Twitter census

A group like ISIS attempts to grow its number of supporters from the mass population by using propaganda. Here social media plays a crucial role.

Take the example of the Australian physician who now serves in a hospital run by IS in Raqqa, and serves as a recruiter on YouTube.

Other facilitators like this doctor might provide different types of support  such as financial, logistical, technical or material.

A Brookings Institute report, The ISIS Twitter Census, uses social media metrics to map the geographical distribution of IS supporters. It also reveals tweeting patterns, follower ratio and the number of accounts followed.

The most interesting finding shows that the U.S. is fourth in the world and the U.K. 10th for IS-supporting Twitter users who can be located.

While these numbers are small set against the total number of Twitter accounts connected with ISIS (46,000), they still indicate a surprisingly strong online support base for ISIS in these two countries, which are clearly high up ISIS' target list.

The findings from these two reports also highlight some of the key recruitment and radicalization mechanisms use by ISIS.

Who is susceptible?

The work of psychologists Clark McCauley and Sophia Moskalenkoprovides a good model for understanding the types of people who are most likely to be attracted to the message ISIS is selling.

Like Sunnis in Syria or Iraq who have been victimized by those countries' governments, among the key targets for radicalization are individuals whose political grievances cant be channeled into an existing political system. One example is the Canadian citizen who left his country to be part of what he views as a utopia: the restoration of the Caliphate.

Once theyve joined up, individuals may stay engaged in terrorism activities because of the power of love between individuals. The Paris attacks were undertaken by two brothers and two cousins. The attackers in San Bernardino were husband and wife. The Boston bombers were brothers.

The suffering of marginalized people under particular regimes is another key factor.

Between 2011 and 2013, Iraq saw a serious rupture between the Sunni and Shiite communities. The government of Nouri Al-Maliki, who is Shiite, had Sunni political leaders arrested and Sunni soldiers removed from the army. Excluded from the institutions of the Iraqi state, which did little to keep them safe, many Sunnis decided to join ISIS, which was filling a security vacuum.

Meanwhile, in Western countries like France and the U.S., the isolation of still-excluded Muslim communities makes disenfranchised youth ripe for radicalization.

Competition between terrorist groups can further increase radicalization inside violent groups, leading to more and deadlier attacks.

Over the past several years, for example, ISIS has stood up against al-Qaida, defying its leadership and competing for support from the same demographics.

Immediately after the Paris attacks, which were planned and perpetrated by ISIS, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for an attack on a hotel in Mali.

The direct competition between the states of Iraq and Syria and ISIS for the control of territory and oil resources leads only to more violent struggles and the need to attract more fighters from foreign countries.

At the mass level

Violent groups like ISIS use jujitsu-style strategies, exploiting the reaction of their adversaries to their advantage when they attack Western targets.

Governments in countries such as Belgium, France, the U.K., Russia and the U.S. play into their hands by ordering large-scale military retaliation and stirring hostile anti-Muslim political rhetoric. These reactions help extremist groups improve cohesion in their ranks and rouse support from their target audiences.

Addressing the rank and file, ISIS uses hate discourse to dehumanize its opponents and devalue their lives. This perception of Westerners and nonbelievers justifies acts of extreme violence such as beheading foreign hostages such as Japans Kenji Goto, persecuting of Coptic Christians and burning alive prisoners such as Jordanian pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh.

When their own followers die, ISIS uses martyrdom as powerful tool to convince the target audience that the cause is worth suffering and dying for. Martyrs become heroes who are publicly celebrated and recognized on the Internet.

Overwhelmed

So, can we expect ever more people around the world to be radicalized to join ISIS? The outlook is mixed.

Despite the successes of its recruitment and radicalization campaign since 2011, recent media reports show that IS is struggling to integrate different groups of foreign fighters into its combat forces in the Middle East and North Africa, raising the prospect that competing loyalties could fracture the group and undermine its ability to project an appealing recruitment message.

As far as the fight against IS recruitment goes, this is a ray of hope. But theres plenty of bad news too.

Counter propaganda strategies deployed by the US on the Internet have been criticized as ineffectual. According to the Rand Corporation, deradicalization programs have had mixed results.

And as the recent attacks in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere sadly demonstrate, the resources to fight radicalization are often simply not there.
MEST is now accepting applications from South Africans, Ghanaians, Kenyans and Nigerians who wish to spend a year at MEST in Accra to take part in the intensive training program and launch their own software company, with potential for seed investment opportunities.

READ : MEST takes recruitment to Kenya

Applications close May 20, 2016.

Training Program: Admitted applicants receive a full scholarship to a one-year entrepreneurial training program that blends an MBA-type education with hands-on training in software development. During the program, students form into teams, develop a product, write business plans, and craft their investor pitches. The strongest and most promising concepts receive between $50,000 to $250,000 USD in equity investment, to support the launch of these new businesses.

Incubator: Teams that receive investment then start their journey at the MEST Incubator, where they receive continued hands-on support as they launch and grow their businesses. To date, the MEST Incubator has invested in over 25 companies and backed more than 75 co-founders. These companies have developed solutions addressing global markets, created jobs and wealth locally, received outside follow-on funding from global investors, and have gained admittance to top accelerator programs such as 500 Startups and TechStars.

With expansion into South Africa, this will mark the fourth country in Africa where MEST has a foothold in the African tech ecosystem.

2014 was the first year that MEST recruited outside of Ghana, due to our sponsorship from Interswitch in Nigeria, says Katie Sarro, Managing Director, MEST. Weve found the diversification of students in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria exponentially increase the business ideas that come from the training program. With the addition of South Africa, we look forward to fostering even more talent.

Selected Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EITs) will receive:

Incubator Network

MEST will also be expanding the reach of its incubator program, with new incubators launching in Lagos and Nairobi set to launch this summerand next year, in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
"You are the TRUTH baby... For always going the extra mile to make me smile.. I might act like I don't c it baby ,but my heart smiles at the very thought of it! My Rock! My Strength!! My protector!! My Defender !! My MINE!! You know sey I go use coconut break rock for your matter !! (That's the kind of God I serve)And Yes!! I will never Leave you! It still amazes me how my heart skips when you walk in a room or when u smile at me and how I still get goose bumps when u hold me in your arms! Thanks for all the sleepless nights you work so hard to make sure I never lack,for all d laughs,for the jokes,for the happiness you bring in our home,for all the love you teach,for constantly making sure I do not worry about notting , for keeping our dreams alive ...for loving this imperfect girl so PERFECTLY!!! #LUTID Happy anniversary baby," she wrote.
The actress shared the photo above and wrote,

"#Happybirthdaycaptain Capt Matthew Ekeinde.We thank God for gifting you to us. A God-fearing , Bible believing, kind hearted, Humble, Loyal, funny , considerate , Understanding, Responsible, Hardworking, visionary leader of a man ... What a blessing. Truly what a blessing.We love you. #march23rd #48 #thecaptain #still22ndinhawaiithough #8:06pm #countdowntomarch23rd."

Omotola is currently on a 10-day tripto Hawaii with her husband, Captain Matthew, in celebration of their 20th wedding anniversary.

Her husband has also proved to be the supportive type as he was available to comfort her when she briefly fell ill last week.

The 38-year old actress is already blessed with four children, and they are all from her marriage to her husband, Captain Matthew Ekeinde.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
After committing the despicable act, Azure then committed suicide by drinking a poisonous subtance later in the day.

It was gathered that the murder of the young student occurred on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, when Azure butchered her in the full glare of her mother and another lady.

According to the bereaved mother, Azure who was their neighbour, had broken into their room wielding a machete and an hammer, announcing that he was going to die but would ensure he also killed someone before his death.

He then the women that he was going to kill them if they prevented him from having sex with the student.

The deceased student, realizing that Azure meant his word and fearing for her mother's life, gave in to his request and he raped her in the presence of the mother.

Immediately after defiling the girl, Azure descended on her with the machete, inflicting wounds on her breasts and asked her mother and the other lady in the room to turn and face the window, after which he started inflicting knife wounds on the mother of the deceased.

The other lady, quickly pushed the door open and fled whilst shouting for help, with the assailant in hot pursuit but when he saw people rushing to the scene, he changed direction and fled the scene.

By the time the police arrived the scene, the girl was already dead while the injured mother was rushed to a nearby hospital.

A manhunt was mounted for the culprit and a search in his revealed the bloodied machete.
According to reports, Nwajoku had paid the officer in order to help facilitate his victory during the just concluded election.

The results apparently didn't go like he wanted. This is why he made the visit to the collation center to get his money.

His presence however caused a commotion in an environment that was mildly quiet before he made an appearance.

It took the efforts of men at the venue to pacify him down and ensure that things stay a bit calm.

The election in Rivers State has been marred in violence, leading to the killings of innocent people. Cult group have been used to harass voters an their communities.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The criminal identified as Jackson Feutubobai, had reportedly received the death sentence, yesterday, Tuesday, March 22, 2016.

Feutubobai had reportedly been sentenced to death by hanging by a Bayelsa state High court over the murder of a police inspector, Joseph Ofozini in Lobia II community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on April 5th 2013. 

Jackson had been a member of the gang that had killed 11 police officers on the day the unfortunate incident had taken place.

Justice M.A. Ayemieye, who had presided over the case, had said that the sentence mandatory for a murder charge is death.

While commenting on the death sentence, the State prosecuting counsel, Arthur Andrew Seweniowor, revealed that failure to appeal within the next three months following the sentencing, the state governor, Seriake Dickson would sign Feutubobai's death warrant.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at the Ogba area of the state, when Osijo's car had a slight collision with Sule-Hamzats car leading to an argument and claims of right of way.

Thinking that the incident had been solved by other road users, Osijo reportedly entered her car and drove away, only to be pursued to Surulere by the Sule-Hamzats who got her arrested by the police and was later charged to the Ogudu Magistrates Court where she presides over, and she promptly ordered that Osijo be remanded to teach her a lesson.

According to Osijos husband, Dipo, Sule-Hamzats driver, was actually the one who bumped into his wife's car, but the furious magistrate ordered that his wife be arrested and taken to her court, where she promptly ordered that she be remanded in Kirikiri Prison without giving her the opportunity to get a lawyer.

From information I gathered from eyewitnesses, it was the magistrates driver that was wrong at the time of the minor accident.

Yetunde, assumed she would be asked to leave, only to realise that Sule-Hamzats car was chasing her from behind.

She only started driving in January it was just a traffic offence that resulted in a minor scratch.

The magistrate and her driver chased my wife and when they caught up with her, she was arraigned and sent to prison on Monday, March 21, at about 5:30pm."

But the Chief Registrar of Lagos State High Court, Emmanuel Ogundare, said the account of what happened as told by Dipo Osijo was far from the truth.

How can a magistrate in Lagos, involved in an accident, order the arrest of the other party and arraign her in own court? This is a judicial officer, who knows the implication of such actions.

It was unfortunate that contrary to the report, the case was brought before Magistrate A. Elias, who sits in Ogba Chief Magistrates Court, that has the jurisdiction to handle the case from the area the accident happened.

Can we say because she is a judicial officer, she is not entitled to complain to the police or be heard when her rights is trampled upon?

The lady in question was arrested in Surulere, from Ogba where the incident occurred and taken to the police station, where her statement was taken.
Ugwu, former staff of Top View Hotel, Abuja, was arraigned on a charge of criminal intimidation contrary to Section 397b of the Penal Code.

He pleaded guilty to the charge and promised to be of good conduct by writing undertaking of good behaviour to the court.

Ugwu told the court that frustration led him to using threat of being a boko haram agent to extort money from the complainant.

The hotel also begged the court to strike out the case, since it had lost interest in the case. Prosecutor Ashashi H.P had told the court that the defendant sent a text message from his handset to the complainant telling him that "he is an agent of boko haram.

Ashashi said the text message stated that "I am coming to night to drink star at the hotel and bomb it. You should get ready for mass burial. I have done it in Emab Plaza some time ago.
On February 8, 2016, Justice Baba Yusuf of the court had fixed Wednesday to begin trial following the dismissal of Dasuki's application, seeking an order prohibiting the EFCC from further prosecuting him on account of his continued detention.

He was however not produced in court, and his lead counsel Messrs Joseph Daudu (SAN) and Ahmed Raji (SAN) also failed to appear.

According to the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, Dasuki refused to be in court because the senior lawyers defending him would not be present in court.

The first defendant said he would not be in court unless he is abducted because his lead counsel, J.B Daudu and Ahmed Raji, were not going to be in court, Jacobs said.

He alleged that Dasuki's lawyers are deliberately plotting to frustrate the case, saying they refused to visit their client in the DSS custody so that they could continue to use the excuse of lack of access to Dasuki.

Jacobs said, When a defendant is in custody, the counsel should be allowed access to the defendant.

I asked the DSS whether the lawyers ever made attempt to see him, they said they never did. It is a deliberate plant to frustrate the trial.

Dasuki, a former Director of Finance and Administration in the NSA office, Shuaibu Salisu and a former General Manager, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu Babakusa are being prosecuted by the EFCC on 19 counts of diversion of N32 billion meant for arms procurement.

The former NSA has been in DSS custody since December 29, 2015.
The Speaker, on Monday, March 21, 2016, called on Nigerians to assist people displaced by Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East.

Leadership reports that Dogara in conjunction with Vantage Habitat, donated a mini health centre to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Wassa-Abuja.

The Speaker said when he went to the food and other materials to the IDPs, earlier this year, on January 7, 2016, he saw the they needed medical attention.

Dogara said I remember in the course of the ceremony, there was one rallying cry that there was no health facility, and we promised that we were going to do something about it.

On getting to town, we started talking to corporate bodies and donors who said we had to wait until the budget was passed. And since I wasnt satisfied with the responses I was getting, I had to mention it to close friends that this is one of the immediate needs of the IDPs and fortunately, Capt. Hosa took it upon himself to partner with us and do this (referring to the Chairman of Vantage Habitat).

So I want to commend him for this gesture. Thats why Im happy that through their efforts, we have been able to put this in place. Some may express disappointment that this is small, thinking that it would be a gigantic structure.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vantage Habitat, Capt. Hosa Okumbo also thanked the Speaker for coming up with such a laudable project.

Watch Pulse Video below.
The ministers of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udoma, Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Gov. Willy Obiano of Anambra and Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, told state house correspondents that the government tiers had resolved to look at immediate ways of increasing their revenues.

According to Udoma, the NEC retreat resolved to concentrate on diversification of revenue sources, particularly on revamping agriculture as key to economic growth.

He further said that the retreat resolved to set national targets for self-sufficiency in a number of identified crops, stressing that ``in particular, we resolved to come together to make sure that by the end of this year, we will be self-sufficient in tomato paste.

"We also resolved that working together with the states that by the end of 2018, we will be self-sufficient in rice, that means we are going to expand rice cultivation in many states to achieve the target.

"We also resolved to work together to achieve self-sufficiency in meat production by 2019.''

The minister added that every state government was encouraged to identify at least two agricultural crops it had comparative advantage and that the government would open up rural roads to facilitate transportation of agricultural produce.
But the government acted swiftly in a statement notifying members of the state that there were plans of Security Bridge in the community.

As the 21-day notice given to the community by the state government to vacate the community elapses on Thursday, March 24, 2016, armed police men were sighted in the community patrolling.

The community had secured a court injunction restraining the Kaduna State government from carrying out the demolition but some residents who spoke to Pulse said they fear that authorities may not obey the court order.

We just saw heavy policemen patrolling our communities. We dont know what is really happening because we have secured a court injunction stopping the state government from carrying out such an illegal demolition, Tanko Yari said.

Let me tell you, a lot of people are ready to die protecting their houses because they have laboured all the years, bought land and erected these structures. Many of the people you see in these communities, most of them are retirees. The land issue had already been settled long time ago. It was an issue between Gbagyi communities and Federal Polytechnic Kaduna. Why is this government bent on inflicting pains on the people? Another resident Samuel Dariya asked.

Chairman of Gbagyi Villa residents, Mr. Chris Obodumu has said that Kaduna State Urban Planning andDevelopment Agency (KASUPDA) gave Planning Permits and Building Permission to the resident but wonder why the government was bent at punishing law abiding citizens.
The charges against Saraki were made public in September 2015 and since then, the Senate President has been running from pillar to post to avoid a trial.

Saraki first of all refused to appear at the tribunal on two separate trial dates, September 18 and 21, despite the issuance of an order for his arrest.

In explaining his absence, the Senate President said via Twitter:

My absence from the Tribunal today, was based on counsel received that the tribunal will respect the decision of the Federal High Court.

CCT Chairman & members who only take official oath and not judicial oath are expected to respect the decision of the superior court, he added.

He however didnt offer any explanation for his absence on the second date.

Saraki subsequently approached the Federal High Courts in Abuja and Lagos in a bid to stop his trial but both attempts failed.

He went further to the Court of Appeal but on Friday, October 30, 2015,that court also dismissed his application to have the trial stopped.

Saraki then proceeded to the Supreme Court with his plea but even the apex court ruled on February 5, 2016, that the Senate Presidents trial must continue.

The Senate President has repeatedly said that his trial is a form of political persecution launched on him by powerful people who are unhappy that he occupies the top legislative position.

Meanwhile, I wish to reiterate my remarks before the Tribunal, that I have no iota of doubt that I am on trial today because I am the president of the Nigerian Senate, against the wishes of some powerful individuals outside this Chambers, he said on September 29, 2015.

The charges have nothing to do with corruption or money being stolen anywhere and that is why at the end of the day, I will have my day in court. Because it is not about corruption, he said on February 26, 2016.

I dont understand how the same organisation that cleared my asset declaration to be proper in 2004, 2009 and 2011 can suddenly wake up and say that my record is faulted, he added.

Saraki also said, via a statement released by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Gbenga Makanjuola on March 11, 2016, that he was never given a chance to explain himself.

Given that for 13 years, all the documents from the senate presidents asset declarations from 2003, 2007 and 2011 were accessible by the Bureau for investigation. Sarakis application states that the condition precedence should have been drawn to it, to give the senate president the opportunity to explain and address any identified issues, the statement read.

In this regard, as the trial begins, Nigerians should note that this outright non-observance of the rule of law, reaffirms the belief that this trial is borne from political mischief and malice associated with the timeliness and nature of this suit.

As the head of Nigerias legislative branch, Dr. Saraki is confident that justice will ultimately prevail and he is ready, willing and prepared to submit himself to all proceedings that adhere to the strict dictates of the law. He believes that the law must take its righteous course and reassures Nigerians of his commitment to serving the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it added.

Despite Sarakis announced willingness and preparedness to face the law however, he still went ahead to file a last-ditch suit before Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court after the Supreme Court had already given a final ruling on the matter.

Kafarati, on March 22, 2016, announced his withdrawal from the case after he was accused of corruption.

It appears that Saraki doesnt realize that all these lofty justifications and attempts to avoid trial make him look as guilty as sin.

Saraki says he wasnt allowed to explain himself but isnt that what a trial is for? Why is he running helter skelter when no one has declared him guilty yet?

Also, the Senate Presidents habit of arriving at the CCT with an entourage of senators and lawyers just makes him look like a guilty person desperate to cover up his tracks.

Saraki needs to stop running about and just relax. He is still innocent until proven guilty so he should submit to the courts and allow justice take its course.

------------------------------------------------
The Army and Shiite members clashed over an alleged assassination attempt on the Chief Of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai by the sect.

Announcing their withdrawal, the head of the Shiite legal team, Mr. Festus Okoye, said the sect was not going to be part of the panel, because they were not allowed to see their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.

Punch reports that the chairman of the commission, Justice Muhammadu Garba, had to adjourn a sitting for the sect members to meet with El-Zakzaky.

Okoye said The legal team has resolved that in the light of the realities of lack of access, briefing and representation for the movement, the most honourable thing to do is to withdraw completely from appearing before the commission in whatever form and manner and cease any form of representation in whatever form or manner for the movement.

Suhaila Ibraheem, the daughter of Shiite sect leader, also accused the Nigerian Army of killing her three brothers.

See a Video report below.
Vanguard reports that she said this after the two day economic retreat for Governors of the 36 states of the federation and members of the National Economic Council (NEC).

Adeosun said We deliberated extensively on the drop in revenue, particularly as to how it affects the state governments and their ability to pay salaries and obligations. The general resolve of the house and consensus was that there was need to bring in more cost efficiency in their operations."

She also said In particular, to look at the setting up of the efficiency unit within the state governments, to rationalise expenditure and, of course, to increase IGR. To that end, there was a need to generate data because data is the basis of any revenue collecting efforts.

The federal and state inland revenue services collaborate to do joint audits to invest in revenue, relevant technology and efforts to improve collection. There is a need to develop incentives for both federal and state revenue generating agencies to ensure that there is an alignment of interest. 

Adding that There is a focus at state level on property and consumption taxes to help in improving revenue in a fair manner. Tax payer education must be intensified and to expand the tax base and ensure that there is a buy-in in the revenue collection agencies from the populace."

State governors were encouraged, where possible, to rationalize numbers of commissioners and general political appointees and, in addition, cost control measures to be identified and implemented on an on-going basis and there was a sharing of best practices from a number of states that could be applied elsewhere. 

From the Federal Ministry of Finance in anticipation of the approval of the budget, we have virtually lined up about N350 billion which we would be pumping into the Nigerian economy in the forth coming months. We explained our rational and the processes that we have put in place, safe guards to ensure that this money actually achieves the desired objective which is to stimulate the economy, Adeosun added.

The retreat was held on Monday, March, 21, 2016, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.\

See Pulse Photo Gallery below.
Adeosun, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mr Mahmoud Isa Dutse, announced this when she addressed newsmen on the outcome of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

She said that the shared amount comprised the month's statutory revenue of N270.5 billion.

"Also, there is the exchange gain of N3.49 billion which is proposed for distribution.

"Therefore the total revenue distributable for the month of February including VAT of N64.7 billion is N387.7 billion," she said.

Adeosun said also that the money shared included the N6.3 billion refunded to the federation by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that N370.3 billion was shared to the three tiers of government as revenue for the month of January. This shows an increase of N25.2 billion in revenue.

Giving the breakdown of revenue among the three tiers of government, Adeosun said the Federal Government received N127. 2 billion, representing 52.68 per cent; states, N64.5 billion, representing 26.72 per cent.

The local governments, she said, received N49.7 billion, amounting to 20.60 per cent of the amount distributed.

She announced that N22.7 billion representing 13 per cent derivation revenue was shared among the oil producing states.

Adeosun said that the country generated N176.3 billion as mineral revenue and N94.1 billion as non-mineral revenue in February.

She said this showed an increase of N2.7 billion and a decrease of N23.1 billion from what the country generated as mineral and non-mineral revenue in the preceeding month.

She said that for the first time since July, 2015, the government has credited its Excess Crude Account.

She put the new balance at 2.26 billion dollars, which showed that about one million dollars was credited.

Adeosun said vandalism of oil pipelines, among other factors, continued to negatively impact on oil revenue generation.

She said the shut-in, shut-down of production for repairs, resulted to shortfall due to technical hitches at different terminals throughout the month, impacting negatively on crude oil and gas revenue.

Also, there was revenue loss of 45.9 million dollars as a result of drop in income recorded from Oil and Gas Royalty, Companies Income Tax and Import Duty.
The budget has been the centre of controversy since it was reported missing from the Assembly premises in January.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki later said that two different versions of the document had been submitted to the legislative house.

The controversy led to the sacking of the Director General of the budget office, Yahaya Gusau and the redeployment of 22 officialsfrom the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

Read details of the process, as provided by the Twitter handle of the Nigerian Senate, below:

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For today, March 23 2016:

THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

National Assembly may okay N6.07tr budget todayThe National Assembly may today adopt N6, 077,680,000,000 as budget for 2016. This came to light yesterday following the successful presentation by the Appropriation Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives of reports on the 2016 budget which they have been working on since December, 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari laid the budget proposal before the joint session of the National Assembly. READ MORE

Government vows to sanction culprits of Rivers rerun violenceOutraged by the death of a corps member, Okonta Samuel, during last weekend rerun elections in Rivers State, the Federal Government has vowed to deal with the perpetrators of violence in the election. READ MORE

Belgium hunts for killers as 34 die in ISIS bomb attacksBelgian officials yesterday confirmed that 34 people were killed and over 170 others wounded in the coordinated bomb attacks at the Zaventem Airport and the Maelbeek Metro Station in Brussels. The terrorist group, Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility. READ MORE________________________________________

THE VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

FG, NYSC rise against killings in Rivers; UK, US condemn violence

P-HARCOURTTHE National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has threatened to review its collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC on conduct of polls, following recurring deaths of corps members on election duties. READ MORE

FG to inject N350bn to revive economyABUJA  To rebound the dwindling economy, the Federal Government, yesterday, announced its readiness to inject a total of N350 billion in the next few months. READ MORE

Boko Haram: Troops kill 58 terrorists, lose a soldierABUJA The Nigerian Army said, yesterday, that it lost one of its soldiers and killed no fewer than 58 terrorists, following a clearance operation to rid insurgents from their hideout at Musari. READ MORE________________________________________

THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER

Gunmen kidnap three Kaduna pastors, demand N100mMembers of the Taraya Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nigeria (Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, TEKAN), have been thrown into confusion following the kidnapping of their President, Dr. Emmanuel Dziggau. READ MORE

FG raises panel to probe EFCC, ICPCThe Federal Government has set up a presidential committee to investigate high-profile corruption cases allegedly compromised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. READ MORE

34 killed in Brussels terror attacksFour days after Salah Abdesalam, the most wanted suspect in the November 13, Paris attacks that killed 130 persons was arrested in Brussels, Belgium, three explosions hit the countrys airport and metro station on Tuesday, killing no fewer than 34 people. READ MORE________________________________________

THE NATION NEWSPAPER

Jobs, cash coming as govt plans N350b revival pillNigerians got some good news yesterday  the Federal Government is pumping N350 billion into the economy. READ MORE

Troops kill 58 Boko Haram fighters in BornoTroops have killed 58 Boko Haram fighters in the latest military operation in Borno State, spokesman of the Army Col. Sani Usman, said yesterday READ MORE
He said that kidnapping, terrorism, armed robbery and other heinous crimes could be brought under control if there is dedicated community efforts to assist the police carry out its constitutional duties.

He said: "The police alone cannot effectively do the job of policing the entire country without the cooperation from communities.

"Policemen are accessible to all Nigerians. Issues of insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery and others can be brought under control with dedicated efforts from the communities.

"We must collaborate with the communities to ensure effective policing of this great country.

"Religious leaders, traditional rulers, youth leaders and all groups must join hands with the police to ensure peace and security in our country.

"The police cannot do this job alone; we are appealing to the communities for their support and cooperation.

The police boss urged the state commissioner of police, Mr Henry Fadairo, to always organise town hall meetings to enable him hear the complaints of the people.

Fadairo said the meeting was organised for stakeholders to express their views, opinions, contributions and ideas, and give useful security strategies that would help in policing the society.

He expressed hope that the meeting would yield results that would be translated in changing the security challenges facing Cross River and Nigeria in general.

One of the stakeholders, Mr Richard Abang, a member of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), urged the police to re-double their efforts in the fight against kidnapping in the state.

According to Abang, kidnapping has become a frequent occurrence in the state, hence the need for the police to rise up and curb the menace.
The decision to not cast Grant Gustin who plays the character in the popular CW series of same name sparked controversy.

In a 2015 interview, Stephen Amell who plays Arrow in the CW series of same name, stated that Gustin should have been chosen for the role.

ALSO READ: undefined

Speaking to New York Daily News, the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director explained why the star of The CW series was never in the running to reprise his role on the big screen as the speedster superhero.

I just dont think it was a good fit, he said. Im very strict with this universe, and I just dont see a version where  that (tone is) not our world. Even if Grant Gustin is my favorite guy in the world and hes very good, we made a commitment to the multi-verse (idea), so its just not a thing thats possible.

Recently, Gustin admitted that he would have loved to play the Flash in films, but supports the decision to cast Miller. Ive never met the guy, but I think he is a fantastic and interesting actor, the actor said in January.

In the upcoming "Justice League," Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) will unite to battle evil.

Ezra Millers movies include The Perks of being a Wallflower, Trainwreck, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them among others.

Which of the two would make a better Flash in The Justice League?
From undefinedto Idris Elba, and even one of Marvels unforgettable villains Loki played by Tom Hiddleston, there has been several ideas about Craig's possible successor

ALSO READ: undefined

Speaking with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday, March 22, Hiddleston addressed the James Bond rumours surrounding him.

" Whos gonna be James Bond? is one of the nations favorite pub conversations, up there with, Whos gonna win X Factor? and, Is Britain gonna leave the E.U.?," the actor said.

I play a British spy in The Night Manager, so people I think have made the link. As somebody who grew up with Sean Connery and Roger Moore, when you mention it, theres a part of me that goes, Really? Are you kidding?'

ALSO READ: undefined

Hiddleston is popular for playing a spy in his TV series The Night Manager. His other movies include Avengers, Thor, I see the Light among others.

In July 2015, Idris Elba reacted to reports of him being the next Bond in an interview with Radio Times saying; Its just a rumour. I have no idea."

Do you think Hiddleston would make a great 007?
The House disclosed this to newsmen at a press conference held on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at the its chamber in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

In his address, the chairman of the House Committee on Information, Youths and Sports, Chief Olugboyega Aribisogan, said that the DSS did not contact any stakeholder to inform them about Akanni's release on Tuesday (March 22) night.

Aribisogan said: Up till this moment, we have not been told officially by the DSS whether or not Honourable Akanni was formally released from incarceration after spending 18 days without access to his doctors, lawyers and family members.

However, preliminary information available to us suggests that Honourable Akanni may have been brought to the hospital by men of the DSS and abandoned there because they could no longer hold him in captivity because of his deteriorating health condition.

Nigerians should be reminded that it took the rumour of Honourable Akannis death for the DSS to admit officially that it was holding him after spending 15 days in detention without access to anyone. As we speak, Honourable Akanni is in very critical condition and he has not been able to speak with anyone of us.

We, therefore, demand an official explanation from the DSS as to why Honourable Akanni was abducted and held incommunicado for 18 days, only for us to be told that he was admitted in a private hospital in Abuja.

Furthermore, we demand an explanation from the DSS whether in a democracy, it is part of its mandate to disobey court orders and dump Nigerians in detention for 18 days over unfounded allegations. Most importantly, we condemn strongly the DSS illegal arrest, detention and dehumanization of Honourable Akanni and we demand an unreserved apology forthwith.

We have also directed our counsel to seek redress and damages in court, because, to us, this act of impunity by the DSS under President Muhammadu Buhari is undemocratic, unpatriotic, dictatorial and brutish."
The lawmakers had earlier alleged that they were offered a bribe of $1 million to impeach Fayose.

They made the latest claim on Wednesday, March 22, 2016, during a visit to Vanguards corporate headquarters.

This thing is being orchestrated by the APC led government so they can either silence Governor Ayodele Fayose, who has been the only one speaking out against any policy that is not in tandem with what is expected in a democracy, the chairman of the House committee on information, Gboyega Aribisogun said.

That was when they used the EFCC against him. The second in command to the EFCC Chairman, Mr Lamorde was actually the one, who placed the impeachment notice on his table and asked the lawmakers to come in and sign and collect money in 2006.

Now they are using another agent of the state which is the DSS. We dont assume that these things can occur in a democracy. How can four people be taken away like that and nobody will talk? We hired a SAN in Abuja for them to tell us the offense or offenses they committed but they have not told us, he added.

Fayose had earlier alleged that Buhari was using the Department of State Services (DSS) to harass opposition politicians in Ekiti.

The DSS is said to have arrested some of the states lawmakers and recently released one of them, AfolabiAkanni who was earlier rumoured to have died in DSS custody.

-----------------------------------------------
Having followed the elections in the Republic of Benin very closely, I am very impressed with the orderly manner with which the administration of President Boni Yayi conducted those polls, Jonathan said according to The Cable.

They were adjudged peaceful, credible and transparent by local and international observers and President Yayi deserves commendation for providing the leadership that led to this outcome.

I also congratulate the people of the Republic of Benin for their role in the election and for showing the world that the Republic of Benin and its citizens have come of age in the practice of democracy.

I especially wish to appreciate the incumbent Prime Minister of the Republic of Benin, Mr. Lionel Zinsou, who was a candidate for President, for his exemplary conduct of conceding defeat and congratulating the choice of the people, Mr. Patrice Talon, on his victory at the polls.

Such a gesture by Prime Minister Zinsou is rare and should be applauded by all statesmen as the highest display of patriotism and maturity. Finally, I congratulate Mr. Patrice Talon on his victory and wish him a successful and peaceful tenure after his swearing-in, even as I urge that there should be no victor or vanquished in this process.

All the Beninoise people are winners and have cause to be proud of their nation, he added.

The former president earned widespread accolade after conceding defeat to successor, President Muhammadu Buhari, thus preventing Nigeria from erupting into massive waves of electoral violence which many around the world had predicted would occur.

He was recently chosen to head a Commonwealth observer mission for the Tanzania elections and was also called upon to intervene in Zanzibars political stalemate.

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Ganduje recently accused Kwankwaso of trying to unseat President Buhari and threatened to expose the atrocities of his former boss.

Speaking on the matter, the APC chairman said This is an internal matter between two friends, between two brothers and these differences unfortunately have developed between them.

All of us, all the party, the totality of the party must unite behind our chief executives, the president and the governors. So, we are going to do everything we can to resolve the issue amicably.

Odigie-Oyegun said this on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, at a meeting with APC delegates from Kano state at the partys national secretariat.

Governor Umar Ganduje was the deputy Governor to ex-Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso from 1999-2015.

See Pulse Galllery below.
Obasanjo stated this in reaction to Okupe's Facebook post last week Friday, March 18, 2016, where he described Obasanjo as the undisputed and authentic leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West.

Okupe had said: Senator Buruji Kashamu is not the leader of the PDP in the South West. He is not even the leader of the party in Ogun State. He leads an NGO called Omo Ilu which engages in empowerment programmes in the state, mainly in the Ogun East Senatorial district.

Baba Obasanjo still remains the undisputed and authentic leader of the PDP in the South-West. The fact that he tore his membership card is not tantamount to resignation from the party. An action he has not undertaken to date.

Tearing of the membership card though a very negative action is undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to certain unacceptable or intolerable happenings within the party which can and will be redressed."

Speaking to Premium Times on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, Obasanjo said Okupe did not know what he was saying, and should be ignored.

I was a national leader of the party for eight years, so, how would I now reduce myself to becoming its leader in the South West, Obasanjo said.
The national chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff, said the government needs to bring those behind the violence that marred the elections to book.

Sheriff said the PDP had already carried out its own investigations, but would like the Federal Government to also probe the matter.

The PDP chairman said The PDP expresses great concern at the turn of events at the re-run National and State Assembly elections in Rivers.

We join well-meaning Nigerians to condemn the cases of violence which reportedly characterised the process in some areas.

We urge the president to immediately constitute a panel to carry out a dispassionate investigation of the circumstances with a view to unravelling the truth and bringing the culprits to book.

Sheriff also condemned the biased role played by the security forces in Rivers state.

He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to release the remaining results of the election.

He also said It is not right for INEC to say it is not continuing with the announcement of the results in the middle of the elections. This is not healthy for our democracy.

INEC should be seen as an independent electoral empire and should not be part of the process where the rights and mandate of Nigerians will be denied,

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has threatened to release a video showing alleged atrocities committed by the military during the senatorial rerun elections.

See Pulse Gallery below.
The reports say, Francis will greet many refugees, most of which are not Christians.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization said the pontiffs gesture was a sign of humble service and concern for the plight of the migrants.

We can understand the symbolic value intended by Pope Francis visit to the CARA in Castelnuovo di Porto and his bending down to wash the feet of refugees.

His actions mean to tell us that it is important to pay due attention to the weakest in this historic moment; that we are all called to restore their dignity without resorting to subterfuge. We are urged to look forward to Easter with the eyes of those who make of their faith a life lived in service to those whose faces bear signs of suffering and violence.

He wants to tell us that it is necessary to pay due attention to the most vulnerable of this historic moment.
24-year-old Miss Blessing Ijoma, a computer science student of the school, is the founder of Hoursspent.com. Her company makes at least 10 per cent commission from every job handled by freelancers on her platform.

She will be representing Nigeria at the global finals in Bangkok later in March where she is expected to present her business ideas to a global Entrepreneurial Organisation (EO), GSEA jury to contest for the global prize.

Ijoma was rewarded for her innovative ideas and she was gifted with a cash prize of N1million and an all-expenses paid trip to Bangkok to contest in the global final in March.

Global CEO, Entrepreneural Organisation (EO), Mr. Vijay Tirathrai said he was impressed with Ijoma and 5 other finalists who made the list.

In his keynote address, he said EO was proud of the GSEA project which is aimed at creating better, more successful, and enlightened entrepreneurs out of the crop of the global youth population.

We are proud creating a source of influence to and the contestants should be proud to have been mentored by EO members.

Trust is necessary because the entrepreneurs might need the people someday in their careers as business people, said Tirathrai.

The first and second runner-up Oscar Odebuara of LASU (Green Barn) and Crystal Light (FUTA) went home with N500,000 and N250,000 and in kind prizes of access to mentorship all courtesy EO.
On Tuesday, March 22, the Yola Zone of the union, which comprised Adamawa State Univerisity, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Taraba State University, University of Maiduguri and Yobe State University raised concerns that this issue is causing universities to find it difficult to pay salaries.

Leader of the zone, Dr Musa Abdullah, released a statement saying, The Yola zone of ASUU frowns at the posture of government on the release of incomplete salaries to public universities.

This ugly trend, which began in November 2015, has continued unabated by the Federal Government.

Should Nigerian public universities be coerced to begin to raise revenue from within to pay salaries, that will be the end for the education of the children of the masses.

Any further shortfall in salary will not be accepted by the union and should the situation persist, then we are not in a position to guarantee industrial harmony, Abdullahi added.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology, revealed this during the official commissioning of the Abuja Office of the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT).

He said, The ministry will play an important role in helping to promote science and technology culture among our young people.

By organising scientific competitions our young people will benefit tremendously from a new scientific thinking that is needed to increase the awareness of our people for the role of science and technology in nation building.

FMST will organise a science competition that will identify and celebration the best among young scientists from all the 774 Local Government Areas in the country," he concluded.

Unlike most advanced countries, Nigeria has shortages when it comes to scientific innovators, who are part of the set of individuals championing developments in many countries.

For example, India has fast developed into one of the best technology inclined countries. They have improved on many things, especially their health and manufacturing sectors.
A parent, whose child was allegedly molested by a drunk Mr. Oshifala, blew the whistle on the internet over the weekend, bringing the matter to the attention of the media, and public. Negative reactions aroused swiftly as ex-students of the school posted tweets in support of the claim, culminating in a peaceful protest in front of the school premises on Monday, 21 March 2016.

However, following the protests and outbursts, Pulse gathered that activities at the school have now return to what they used to be. According to an anonymous source, academic activities are reduced, though, since the students have finished their exams, now waiting to go home for Easter holidays.

Pulse also gathered that Osifala is still a teacher in the school and no action has been taken to detain or suspend him pending conclusion of investigations.

It is expected that the holidays would be used to properly investigate and clarify what truly went down; as some students and people from other quarters maintained that the teacher is innocent, and is only being victimized, while others, most conspicuously some former students on twitter, and the Old Girls Association of Queens College (QCOGA) maintain that the embattled teacher is culpable, as he has a long unchecked history of molesting students.

While allegations and denials rumble on, the , alongside the school management and the PTA who have already combined forces to investigate the matter. Authorities of the college have also reportedly invited the police to probe allegation, which explains the Police van stationed outside the school at the time our correspondent visited the school earlier today.
A parent of a student of the school reportedly penned a mail to Olorisupergal, describing in details how her daughter was sexually molested by the teacher.

Authorities at the school has however denied these claims and students were seen protesting with placards as they defend the reputation of their Biology teacher.

Senior Secondary School 3 (SSS3) students of the school, on Monday, March 21, bore placards that read: No Mother, No child, No Case!, Haters at work, free Mr Seni, No Seni, no As, He didnt do it, It is a set up, as they chanted No Seni, no biology.

Although, the truth is yet to be made clear, more ex students of the school on social media has also made these same allegations against the teachers. Most of them admit that Oshifala was fond of using vulgar and sexual words when speaking to students even as others claim they are victims themselves.
More than a third of cells are not used, and the predictions are that it is going to get worse, said Jaap Oosterveer, a spokesman for the ministry of justice.

Obviously, from a social perspective, it is better because crime is down, but if you work in jails, it is not good news.

The Netherlands has been innovative in trying to solve its jail problem. It has leased spots in jail to Belgium and Norway, so around 300 Belgian criminals have been held at His Dutch Majestys pleasure in Tilberg prison.
Khalid, under a false name, had rented the flat in the Forest borough of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

Investigators found after that raid an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later.

Both brothers have a criminal records, but have not been linked by the police to terrorism until now, RTBF said.
Zinsou conceded defeat to Talon, who said he was already focused on fixing some of the tiny country's lingering problems, which include high unemployment and a flagging economy hit by a slowdown in its neighbouring trading partner Nigeria..

"I feel like a soldier packing for the front. This is not a day of glory - congratulations will have to wait," Talon said. "The task will not be easy, but we are happy and excited that our country has turned the page."

Despite the backing of outgoing President Thomas Boni Yayi and the main opposition Democratic Renewal Party, Zinsou, a former economist and investment banker, struggled to shrug off the perception that having spent most of his career abroad he is an outsider in his own country.

"I called Patrice Talon tonight to congratulate him on his victory and wish him luck," Zinsou said on his Facebook page.

The election was seen as reinforcing the democratic credentials of Benin.

By relinquishing power after serving two terms in office, Boni Yayi stands in contrast to leaders in other African nations, including Burundi, Rwanda and Congo Republic, who have altered their constitutions to extend their rule.

Talon was once a staunch supporter of Boni Yayi before falling out of favour. Boni Yayi later accused him of involvement in a plot to poison him.
Lieutenant Colonel Darius Ikurakure was shot by an assassin dressed in a military uniform, the army said in a statement. Other soldiers earlier gave a similar account and also said he was shot while inside the ministry compound.

The crisis has rattled a region with a history of ethnic fighting, including neighbouring Rwanda which suffered a genocide in 1994.

"After the crime, the criminal managed to escape," army spokesman major Clement Cimana said in a statement, adding the weapon had been recovered and the authorities were still seeking to track down the attacker. He called for unity in the army.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing.

"Such acts of violence risk exacerbating the current crisis in Burundi," Ban's spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. "The secretary-general reiterates his appeal for Burundians to resolve their differences peacefully and to engage immediately in an inclusive and transparent political dialogue."

Soldiers said the assassin had attacked just after midday, when people may have been away at lunch, allowing him to flee.

Ikurakure was commander of a combat engineering battalion based in Muzinda, northeast of the capital, Bujumbura. He was seen as close to Nkurunziza, with whom he fought as a rebel during the civil war that ended in 2005.

Opponents accused him of being behind arbitrary arrests and killings in some areas of Bujumbura over the past year.

The government says it only arrests those behind violence, and dismisses accusations of extra-judicial killing.
In the foiled gun attack on Bamako's Nord-Sud Hotel on Monday, one assailant was killed and two others arrested. There were no reports of casualties at the hotel, where the EU Training Mission-Mali is based.

The EU mission is comprised of nearly 600 personnel deployed to train security forces as part of efforts to stabilise Mali after the defeat of Islamist militants who had seized the country's desert north in 2012.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Mali and neighbouring West African countries have increasingly been the target of Islamists, some affiliated with al Qaeda.

"Two individuals were arrested, and later we continued and arrested 19 other people," Moussa Ag Infahi, director general of the National Police, told state radio. Police at the scene recovered "a sack of grenades", ammunition, a sub-machine gun and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, he added.

France led the military intervention that drove the Islamists from their control of northern Mail in 2013, fearing that the region could be used as a base for attacks against Europe.
Hundreds of migrants seeking work have been exploited or enslaved aboard fishing boats in Southeast Asian seas in recent years, their plight emerging in a growing number of media and other reports.

These reports, and a shift in Indonesian government policy in 2014, brought the scale of the problem to light, including the fact that many trafficked and enslaved fishery workers were stranded in Indonesia.

Some of the 24 Myanmar nationals expected to leave on Thursday have not spoken to their families since leaving Myanmar in search of work a decade ago, only to be duped into years of brutal, unpaid labour on fishing vessels.

"The departure of these men will bring to an end one chapter of this tragic story," Mark Getchell, head of the International Organization for Migration in Indonesia, said on Tuesday at the sixth ministerial conference of the Bali process on people smuggling and trafficking.

"But all the evidence suggests this is the tip of the iceberg, and much work needs to be done across the region to better protect the rights of migrant workers and ensure there is no repeat of the abuses they were subjected to over so many years."

Southeast Asia, one of the world's largest sources of seafood, has struggled to control "illegal, unreported and unregulated" fishing.

In late 2014 Indonesia issued a moratorium on foreign vessels fishing off its coast, forcing several to port and leaving hundreds of men stuck in the port of Ambon, and blowing up boats fishing illegally in its waters.

Separately, media reports described hundreds of fishing slaves kept in captivity, buried in unmarked graves or marooned on Benjina, an island in eastern Indonesia.

The IOM, at the request of Indonesia and with support from Australia, has identified, assisted and repatriated more than 1,200 trafficking victims from Ambon and Benjina, the organisation said in a statement.

Most of the men are from Myanmar, some from Cambodia and Thailand.

The IOM said it "strongly suspects" an additional 800 foreign nationals repatriated by fishing companies and through other means were also trafficking victims.

"No effort should be spared to pursue the companies involved and demand they compensate all of these unfortunate individuals who lost years of their lives to traffickers, solely to increase the profit margins of these companies," Getchell said.

The IOM, acknowledging the need for labour on fishing boats, called for regional governments to come together to address this issue in forums like the Bali process conference, said Paul Dillon, IOM spokesman in Indonesia.
Report says some 130 political prisoners were hanged on the gallows of the correctional centre between 1960 and 1990.

The remains of 47 of them mainly members of the Pan Africanist Congress and United Democratic Front anti-apartheid organisations had been exhumed, while 83 of them remain buried in unmarked graves.

The apartheid government was widely criticised for its mass executions of anti-apartheid activists, most of them black South Africans.

It said that the last execution carried out at the prison was of Solomon Ngobeni in November 1989, who was convicted of robbing a taxi driver.

The last woman executed was Sandra Smith, also convicted for murder in June of the same year.

In February 1990, President Frederik Willem de Klerk declared a moratorium on executions in the country, while the death penalty was abolished in 1995.

However, many South Africans have called for the death penalty to be reinstated after a surge in violent crimes and murders in the country.
Zimbabwe had given foreign-owned firms a March 2016 deadline to submit plans on how to comply with a law requiring them to sell at least 51 percent shares to locals.

"It's either you comply or you close shop."

The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act was passed in 2008 under President Robert Mugabe's black empowerment drive but implementation has been slow.

Some foreign companies say the law will hinder much-needed investment.

The world's two largest platinum producers Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum and banking groups Standard Chartered Plc and Barclays Plc are some of the foreign-owned firms with operations in Zimbabwe.

Amplats and Implats have previously submitted empowerment plans to be considered by Mugabe's government.
Dozens of U.N. international staffers pulled out of the Western Sahara mission, known as MINURSO, after Morocco demanded they leave because Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the term "occupation" during a recent visit.

"This was completed yesterday," Haq said. "The three military observers based there were relocated to the Asward team site, on the western part of the territory, controlled by Morocco. Morocco's request to close the liaison office in Dakhla is the first request directly targeting the military component."

He said the liaison office was the U.N.'s "face-to-face counterpart to the Royal Moroccan Army" and handled all discussions on the ceasefire.

Haq said the relocation made direct dialogue with the army "more difficult."

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric chided the Security Council on Friday for not issuing a strong statement of support for him and MINURSO in the dispute, something council diplomats blamed on Morocco's traditional ally France, along with Spain, Egypt and Senegal.

Ban and the 15-nation council had their monthly lunch meeting on Monday. Several diplomats told Reuters that Ban left with the impression that a statement of support for him was imminent. But no such statement was issued.

Haq repeated Ban's desire for a statement of support from the council.

"In enough time, a lack of a statement can indeed be interpreted as a statement of its very own," he said.

The controversy over Ban's comments is Morocco's worst dispute with the U.N. since 1991, when the U.N. brokered a ceasefire to end a war over the Western Sahara and established the mission.

Rabat accused Ban earlier this month of no longer being neutral in the Western Sahara dispute when he used the word "occupation" to describe its 1975 annexation of the region, when Morocco took over from colonial power Spain.

Ban had visited refugee camps in southern Algeria for the Sahrawi people, who say Western Sahara belongs to them. They fought a war against Morocco until the 1991 ceasefire.
Famed brothel owner Dennis Hof filed to run for the Nevada State Assembly District 36 last week as a Libertarian, after originally planning to run for an office up north.

Famed brothel owner Dennis Hof filed to run for the Nevada State Assembly District 36 last week as a Libertarian, after originally planning to run for an office up north.

Hof, whose brothel was featured on the HBO series Cathouse, filed the paperwork to run for the district Friday in Carson City, after originally wanting to run for the State Senate seat in Reno.

The author of the book, How to Be a Pimp, said the familiarity of Nye County and the more close-knit vibe of the community initiated his change of heart for deciding to run down south as opposed to up north.

Well, I spend a lot of time down there and I have businesses in three different places in Nevada and I felt like thats where I wanted to run, Hof said. People know me. Its a smaller area, as far as voters, and they know me better.

District 36, which includes Pahrump and other portions of Nye County, is held by two-term incumbent Republican James Oscarson, and Hof said his betrayal of trust is grounds for him to be ousted.

Well, I didnt go back on my word, he said. He (Oscarson) went back on his word and voted for the commerce tax, he helped raise taxes in Nevada $1.4 billion. Anybody who voted for the commerce tax needs to be fired.

The commerce tax Hof is speaking of is Gov. Brian Sandovals $1.1 billion package of new and extended taxes, including a business gross receipts commerce tax imposed on revenue of $4 million or more. Oscarson was one of 13 Republican members to vote for the bill, much to the chagrin of the Nye County Republican Party.

With that tax, Hof explained that there arent enough members of the government in Nevada that have business experience and that is hurting local business owners where it hurts most, their pockets.

Hof owns several brothels throughout the state, including the Love Ranch South in Crystal, where the infamous Lamar Odom drug overdose situation took place in October, and the Alien Cathouse in Amargosa Valley.

Being a successful businessman is what Hof thinks will set him apart from the other candidates.

They know me as a businessman, which expanded during the depression and I put lots of money down into Southern Nevada, he said. Im an employer and I think that is going to resonate.

They need businessmen running this. On that commerce tax, besides Michele Fiori, there were only two other people that ever had to write a paycheck. They dont know what its like to run a business in Nevada. Im a businessman, I understand it.

Hof plans to tackle several problems plaguing the state if he is elected, ranging from education to sex trafficking issues.

Heres the problem, we have the 45th worst business environment in the United States according to CNBC, we have the 49th worst schools in the United States, we have the highest sex trafficking in the United States and for those reasons alone its time to get new people in office.

Being a self-proclaimed outsider in the political world, as opposed to some of the more familiar candidates, Hof said that overall he just wants to see the state thrive.

The ultimate goal is to make this state an amazing place to be and help fix it, he said. Its about time that we have a businessman straighten out the state. We have a lot of problems and I think I can be part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem.

Hof will face in November the winner of the Republican primary. Challenging Oscarson in the June 14 voting is Tina Trenner of Pahrump and Rusty Stanberry of Las Vegas. No Democrat filed to run in the race.

Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
Former Pahrump Justice Court Judge Ron Kent has agreed to resign his judicial position by March 31, according to the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.

Former Pahrump Justice Court Judge Ron Kent has agreed to resign his judicial position by March 31, according to the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.

The news comes roughly six months after Public Defender Jason Earnest sought to remove Kent from the bench after filing an order of recusal on Sept. 8, 2015.

Earnest said Kent failed to meet his educational requirements as directed by the Nevada Supreme Court.

Documents from the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline filed on March 16 cited a stipulation and consent order for Kents resignation.

The document stated that the respondent acknowledges that due to health reasons, Kent is not currently taking the bench or hearing cases in his jurisdiction.

Additionally, Kent consented and agreed he will not seek, accept, or serve in any judicial or adjudicative position or capacity in the future in any jurisdiction in the state of Nevada.

Kent also agreed to waive his right to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court or present his case in contesting the allegations brought forward by the commission.

Efforts to gain comment from Kent were unsuccessful by press time on Tuesday.

Lisa Chamlee and Chris Arabia filed a joinder to defense attorney Jason Earnests original order of recusal, seeking Kents removal from the bench.

One month after Earnest filed the order of recusal for Kent, public defenders Lisa Chamlee and Chris Arabia filed a joinder seeking Kents removal from the bench.

At the time, Chamlee explained her reasoning for filing the joinder.

She noted that the Nevada Supreme Court mandates that all justices of the peace and judges have to complete whats called the Mandatory Ethics Course at the National Judicial College in Reno.

When I reviewed Judge Kents transcripts, I noticed that he did not complete the course, she said. The Nevada Supreme Court says you have 24 months from the date of election or appointment to complete the course. Judge Kent was elected in November of 2012 and he took office in January 2013, so its been almost three years since he was elected.

Laura Bogden, executive director of Nevadas Board of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) said all attorneys in Nevada, whether it be an attorney, state judge or justice of the peace, have the same CLE requirement, 12 total credits per calendar year.

The only difference is that state judges and justices of the peace do not have to pay an annual $40 fee, she said. There are a few waivers, such as military, federal judges, and hardship exemptions that need to be approved by our board on a case-by-case basis.

Bogden also said when attorneys, state judges or justices of the peace are non-compliant, they are assessed late fees and/or subject to suspension.

I am not aware of any state judges or justices of the peace that have been suspended, she said.

Additionally, late last year, Kent was admitted to the intensive care unit at UCLA Medical Center, following surgery for what is described as a life-threatening abdominal aortic aneurysm.

The aorta is the largest artery in the body, which carries oxygen-rich blood pumped out of the heart.

Aneurysms are a health risk because they can burst or rupture, leading to shock or death.

Kents longtime close friend Lori Doller said his surgery lasted longer than doctors expected.

His surgery really scared me because it was only supposed to last six to eight hours and it went 12 hours, she said. The doctor kept using the words life-threatening, which I didnt like. If that aneurysm had burst, he would have been dead.

Kent defeated Louis DeCanio in the 2012 general election, succeeding Judge Tina Brisbill, who retired after serving two six-year terms as justice of the peace and 18 years as a court administrator in the Town of Pahrump.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes
Pahrumps first on-demand transportation program got another name and is now governed by the town, but officials dont want to shell out money on the program as it still lacks a budget and operational plan.

Pahrumps first on-demand transportation program got another name and is now governed by the town, but officials dont want to shell out money on the program as it still lacks a budget and operational plan.

The program organizers for Pahrump Rural Transit, that was formerly known as Nye Ryder, requested an approval of up to $50,000 for operational funding from Pahrump at the Nye County commissioners meeting on Wednesday. The money was supposed to cover a part of the match for a grant from the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Nye County commissioners met the request with skepticism, citing the lack of a concrete financial plan for the program and the countys slim budget.

Commissioner Dan Schinhofen said that the numbers presented by the program officials dont add up.

Id like to know what all of the costs are. What your salary is, whos paid what, all of those things. I want to know all of that, he said.

Instead, Schinhofen said Pahrump will sponsor grants for the program and requested Pahrump Rural Transit organizers to come back to Nye County commissioners for approval of those grants.

Nye County Manager Pam Webster said $50,000 for the match grant wasnt in the county budget this year.

If you would want to consider this in the 17 budget, that might be a better (idea) and more appropriate. (Its) hard to do that given the fact that its not an imminent need for the funding and there would be time to bring that back as part of the budget cycle, Webster said.

The initial plan called for a countywide transit system, however after evaluating financial conditions of Nye County, the program organizers decided to focus on Pahrump.

Susan Holecheck, chair of the Nye County Regional Transportation Committee, said that under the program, one bus will operate on the north side of Pahrump and another one on the south side.

We just need to submit the budget, the actual monies would probably not be called for until October-November, she said.

Holecheck said the deadline for the NDOT grant is April 15. Pahrump Rural Transit will have to reapply for the grant if it doesnt get it this year.

Albert Bass, one of the Pahrump Rural Transit organizers, said officials had launched a community program last week to fundraise the money for Pahrump Rural Transit. The endeavor already brought $11,000 into the programs coffers and will be ongoing.

The total matching funds would be $145,000, and we are fulfilling that amount with other grants as well. We are fulfilling that through the community support, he said.

But there are so many other grants that come throughout the cycle, one of the big problems for us is that this particular time is two of the main grants that will actually be for $50,000 were mid-cycle and we cant even apply for it until the beginning of next year, he said.

The program officials delivered four buses from Salt Lake City, Utah to Pahrump in January thanks to numerous donations from the community.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DariaSokolova77
Pahrump resident Tina Trenner, a candidate for Assembly District 36 has always loved horses. But it wasnt until her Palomino horse came in second in a race when Trenner realized that she hates to lose.

Pahrump resident Tina Trenner, a candidate for Assembly District 36 has always loved horses. But it wasnt until her Palomino horse came in second in a race when Trenner realized that she hates to lose.

I was so mad at myself for not having made sure of what I did, she said about losing a race years back. And so, when I tell you that I dont like to lose, Im not kidding, and Im going to do everything it takes to get Oscarson out of office.

Trenner, who will challenge two-term Republican James Oscarson in the upcoming June 14 primary, spoke to a group of several dozen supporters in a packed Chatthai Bistro in Pahrump last Thursday at her fundraiser.

If I tell you Im sticking to the Constitution, Im sticking to our freedoms, I mean it. And I think a lot of you know me and know that I mean it, Trenner told the crowd.

Trenner campaigns under the slogan Because the Constitution matters. The Palm Springs, California native made water, land and taxes pivotal points of her campaign. She also pledged to protect wild horses.

The Oscarson campaign in the meantime put several banners across Highway 160 in Pahrump. The incumbent assemblyman took heat from many Pahrump residents last year after he voted for Gov. Brian Sandovals $1.1 billion budget package of extended and new taxes that represented one of the largest tax packages in Nevadas history.

Trenners fundraiser was headlined by New Zealand native Trevor Loudon, a political activist and author of two self-published books, Barack Obama and the Enemies Within and The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress.

Loudon praised the Republican-dominated Congress and decried amnesty. He said the U.S. is in a real crisis.

Right now, this country is Jimmy Carter on steroids, he said.

Loudon also spoke about domestic enemies and alleged that the U.S. is in the midst of a Marxist takeover.

He encouraged everyone to get involved in politics and said replacing Sen. Harry Reid with a Republican and electing Trenner for Assembly District 36 is part of saving America.

This is the year to do it, folks. If you are ever going to get involved in politics, this is going to count more than any other single year, he said.

Also present at the event was brothel owner Dennis Hof. On Friday, he filed as a Libertarian for Assembly District 36.

Hof said he came to Trenners fundraiser because he was interested in politics in Nevada.

When James Oscarson went back on his word, we need an alternative, we need somebody else to be involved in this. He cant give you a word and go back on it and expect me to support you.

Hof said he hoped Tina is the gal.

Rusty Stanberry, a business analyst at Boyd Gaming in Las Vegas, also filed for Assembly District 36 last Wednesday. Stanberry said he wants to repeal the Commerce Tax and Common Core, provide better transparency in all aspects of the government, lower taxes on small businesses and create more jobs.

I decided to run as a champion of lower taxes and better accountability of our school district and government programs, Stanberry said in an email.

Assembly District 36 includes parts of Nye County, Lincoln County and Clark County.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DariaSokolova77
Last week the U.S. campaign of Republican Joe Heck sent out a news release that accused his opponent, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, of lying.

Last week the U.S. campaign of Republican Joe Heck sent out a news release that accused his opponent, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, of lying.

Since she began campaigning, Cortez Masto has been saying that as state attorney general, she started a Mortgage Fraud Strike Force to investigate foreclosure-related fraud and securing nearly $2 billion for [Nevada] homeowners as part of the national mortgage settlement. One of her ads shows her husband saying, Catherine took on the big banks when they preyed on homeowners and forced them to pay $1.9 billion to Nevadans.

The Reno Gazette-Journal ran a story by its terrific fact-checker Mark Robison that concluded Cortez Masto was exaggerating her role, that Nevada merely signed onto a national lawsuit settlement negotiated by other state attorneys general.

Robison quoted Masto herself saying in two different interviews that her role in creating the settlement was limited  And keep in mind, when this settlement came to Nevada, for a lack of a better word, the cake was already baked. I mean all the terms were already set into it. I was not part of the year-long negotiation.

On the strength of that Robison article, Heck sent out a release headlined, Reno Gazette-Journal catches Catherine Cortez Masto in billion-dollar lie.

This is the way it starts.

The Robison piece deals principally with how the lawsuit settlement came to be in the first place. Cortez Mastos claim deals with how she used the settlement once she signed Nevada onto it.

She has been quite honest in saying that she didnt negotiate the settlement, but that she created a Strike Force to make sure Nevada foreclosure victims got what they could from it.

Robison gives Cortez Masto a grade of three out of 10 for truthfulness. I disagree. I think he, like Heck, confused the two issues. But that isnt really the point.

Nowhere does Robison call Cortez Masto a liar. Heck abandons all of Robisons nuance, using use that poisonous term to deal with a subjective matter that can be seen several ways.

Here is some context I think Robison left out:

Attorneys general of states like Nevada have virtually no negotiating power against insurance companies, the tobacco industry, financial institutions and others with great predatory power.

In the past, for example, Nevada has often dealt with insurers perfectly willing to pull out of the small Nevada market if they dont get what they want from the legislature or regulators.

So state attorneys general must wait for AGs from larger states to negotiate settlements and then sign onto them. Nevada, for instance, was relatively late in joining the national tobacco settlement.

But small state AGs have some latitude. First, they can decide whether to sign on at all. (Half a dozen states have never joined the tobacco settlement.) And they can decide how to implement the settlement.

No one forced Cortez Masto to piggyback on the national foreclosure effort. It meant her small staff would be strained well beyond its capacity. She chose to take it on.

And she did something that no one in this dispute, including Heck and Robison, have mentioned.

She didnt just create a Strike Force to implement the lawsuit settlement. On Dec. 6, 2011, she enhanced Nevadas ability to call Bank of America and other rogue financial powers to account by getting Californias attorney general to agree to a JOINT Strike Force effort. BOA might ignore Nevada, but ignoring California would be risky, indeed.

But the real issue here is Hecks behavior. He accused Masto of something to which she had, on her own, conceded. She never took credit for negotiating the settlement.

He called her a liar, and then invoked Robisons article to justify it.

All this is happening very early in the campaign. If this is the tone Heck is employing now, what will he be saying by November?

Heck is a decent guy. When he served in the Nevada Senate, he was widely admired on both sides of the aisle for his temperate nature and ability to work with Democrats.

In this campaign, all I hear is people asking what has happened to him. Few Republicans want a primary in which two Sharron Angles are running.

Heck is squandering a lot of good will.

Dennis Myers is an award-winning journalist who has reported on Nevadas capital, government and politics for several decades. He has also served as Nevadas chief deputy secretary of state.
BRUSSELS  Moderate Syrian opposition forces claim they are strengthening their positions against extremists in northern and southern Syria as the Russian military withdraws and a fragile cease-fire takes hold with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Two rebel commanders described the recent battlefield gains against the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra in telephone interviews Saturday. Their claims couldn't be verified, and it's too early to say whether the moderate opposition is truly expanding its support in rebel-held areas  after several years of decline in the face of attacks by the extremists and Assad's army.

Advocates of the Syrian peace process have hoped for this chain of events, where moderate forces  freed from devastating attacks by Russia and by Assad's army  could mobilize civilian opposition to the extremists. What's crucial now, the rebel commanders said, is that they receive humanitarian assistance quickly so that they can provide services and rudimentary local governance in areas where they are gaining control.

The rebel commanders spoke from Geneva, where they arrived recently from Syria to join in U.N.-sponsored discussions about political transition that are backed by the United States and Russia. The two spoke through a translator, in a conversation that was arranged by the High Negotiation Committee, the umbrella group for the Syrian opposition.

Maj. Abu Usama al-Joulani, the leader of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front in Quneitra, described recent events in southern Syria. He said that after the cease-fire was announced in late February, the Islamic State tried to activate "sleeper cells" in the south in the hope of expanding extremist support there.

But Joulani said moderate forces had arrested about 80 suspected extremists in the Daraa area and blocked their effort to expand the Islamic State's network. He said that in other fighting in the south, his group had killed about 30 Islamic State fighters and captured about 10.

A rebel commander named Iyad Shamsi described the situation in northern Syria. He said that since the cease-fire, his group, which he called the Asala wa al-Tanmiya Front, and other moderate opposition groups had been able to capture about 10 villages north of Aleppo that had been held by the Islamic State. He said his group, with several thousand fighters, has been partially armed by the United States.

This area around Azaz has been the scene of heavy fighting for months. What's new is that Shamsi's group is Sunni; most of the successes against the Islamic State in the north have been won by Syrian Kurdish fighters from the YPG, rather than Sunni rebels.

Shamsi said there have also been recent setbacks in northwest Syria for Jabhat al-Nusra, an extremist group allied with al-Qaida. He said that after the cease-fire, the Jabhat al-Nusra extremists had tried to tighten their control in Idlib province and had attacked Syrian civilians who were carrying banners to mark the fifth anniversary of the revolution to topple Assad's regime. Jabhat al-Nusra also fought with a moderate group known as "Division 13," further alienating some civilians, according to Shamsi.

"When the cease-fire started, Jabhat al-Nusra lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the people," Shamsi claimed. Syrians in the town of Maarrat al-Numan, south of Idlib city, organized to expel the Jabhat al-Nusra fighters, Shamsi said. "When the people had a chance for stability, they took it," he argued.

These developments inside Syria, if they are confirmed, are consistent with the advice offered by a group of prominent Syria experts who spoke Friday night at the Brussels Forum, organized by The German Marshall Fund, of which I'm a trustee. The experts included Samir Altaqi, a Syrian exile who heads the Orient Research Centre in Dubai, Borge Brende, the foreign minister of Norway, Jean-Marie Guehenno, the lead of the International Crisis Group, and Nancy Lindborg, president of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Though their specific comments were off the record, there appeared to be a loose consensus within this group on several points: Syrians must play a greater role in the political transition, rather than simply accepting dictation from Moscow and Washington; a role for Syrian Kurds must be found, but not so potent that it threatens the interests of Turkey; moves against the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra must involve Syrian Sunni fighters, rather than simply an air campaign by the United States and its partners; and Western humanitarian aid and mediation is essential to consolidate the cease-fire.

On all these points, Saturday's reports from the two Syrian commanders are encouraging. Syria is a recurring lesson in the failure of good intentions, but there's at least a more visible path forward now, with the cease-fire still holding after more than three weeks.
SPRINGFIELD  A judge may soon decide whether the state and a union representing 38,000 of its workers have reached an impasse in contract negotiations that have dragged on for more than a year.

The Illinois Labor Relations Board determined this week that there's enough information in a pair of complaints filed by Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 to warrant a hearing before a Springfield-based administrative law judge.

The administration and AFSCME have been bargaining over a new contract since shortly after Rauner took office last year. The first-term Republican filed a complaint with the labor board in January accusing the union of bargaining in bad faith and seeking a declaration of impasse. AFSCME responded by filing its own complaint accusing the administration of bargaining in bad faith.

Under an agreement between the state and the union, it's up to the labor board to decide whether talks have reached an impasse if the two sides don't agree that they have.

"We conducted our preliminary investigation on both cases and determined that they both raise a question of law or fact that warrants a hearing," said Melissa Mlynski, the board's executive director.

She added, "It is not us weighing in on the merits of the case or making a judgment that one side is correct at this point or incorrect."

The two complaints have been combined into one case and assigned to Administrative Law Judge Sarah Kerley. A date for the hearing hasn't been set.

If Kerley sides with the state, it could clear the way for Rauner to impose his contract terms.

The governor has been a frequent critic of AFSCME since before taking office and repeatedly accuses the union making unreasonable demands and seeking a contract that would cost the state $3 billion.

AFSCME says that figure is "wildly exaggerated" because it treats costs already in place under the union's previous contract, which expired at the end of June, as if they were new.

"AFSCME remains committed to bargaining in good faith and reaching a negotiated agreement," spokesman Anders Lindall wrote in an email. "But Governor Rauner refuses to bargain and remains solely focused on provoking further conflict. His confrontational approach threatens to create a statewide crisis."

The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment on the labor board's action.

Meanwhile, Rauner has yet to act on a bill that would send stalled contract talks to arbitration. The bill, essentially identical to one the governor vetoed last year, was sent to his desk last week. Spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said he plans to veto this version, too.

This time around, the measure passed the Senate with a veto-proof majority, including votes from two Republicans: Sens. Neil Anderson of Rock Island and Sam McCann of Plainview. In the House, it fell four votes short of the total needed to override a veto.

The administration and the union also are battling in Sangamon County Circuit Court in separate case over whether Rauner should have been allowed to lay off more than 150 state workers last year as part of budget-cutting efforts.
Domodedovo airport owner appeals initiation of case against him over 2011 terror attack

MOSCOW, March 23 (RAPSI) - Dmitriy Kamenshchik, the Domodedovo airport owner charged in the case over 2011 terrorist attack that left 37 dead, has filed an appeal against initiation of proceedings against him, Igor Trunov, the lawyer for victims, told RAPSI on Wednesday.

Prosecutors have supported his application, according to Trunov.

Kamenshchik has been charged with the provision of services that do not meet security standards and placed under house arrest.

Earlier, ex-director of Domodedovo Airport Vyacheslav Nekrasov, ex-head of Export Management Company Limited Svetlana Trishina, and Managing Director of Domodedovo Airport Aviation Security Andrei Danilov were detained on the same charges. On February 24, Trishina was put under house arrest.

A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the Domodedovo Airports international arrivals hall, killing 37 people and injuring 172, on January 24, 2011.

Doku Umarov, Russias most wanted terrorist at the time, claimed responsibility for the attack. Altogether, 28 men connected with the terrorist organization called the Caucasus Emirate were linked to the attack, according to the investigators. Seventeen of them were killed in special operations in 2011, and four were detained.

In November 2013, a Moscow Region court sentenced three men to life in prison and a fourth man to 10 years for their role in the suicide bombing.
Another Russian national pleads not guilty to involvement in 1991 crimes in Lithuania

MOSCOW, March 23 (RAPSI) - Russian national Yuri Mel, who stands accused of implication in clashes erupted in January 1991 after Lithuania declared independence from the USSR, has pleaded not guilty, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.

The Vilnius District Court began hearing the case in late January. Lithuania's Prosecutor General's Office has declared 65 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine defendants in the criminal case opened in the aftermath of the clashes. They were charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, battery, murder, endangering other's wellbeing, as well as unlawful military actions against civilians.

The case is being considered without personal presence of the most part of the accused persons. The judge said earlier that motions for rendering legal assistance have been forwarded to Prosecutor Generals of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russia and Belarus refused to cooperate.

Only two defendants, Russian nationals Yuri Mel and Gennady Ivanov, are present at the trial. Ivanov gave testimony on Tuesday; he pleaded not guilty as well.

Mel was arrested on Kaliningrad's border with Lithuania on March 12, 2014. Two days later he was placed in detention. The court has repeatedly extended his detention. Prosecutors believe that the man was in a tank that assaulted a TV tower in Vilnius.

Mel denied all charges and stated that he executed the governing bodies order on a hair-trigger alert and did not know that they would be sent to the TV tower.

He also said that the events which took place and actions of military servants could not be treated by prosecution as crimes against humanity.

In January 1991, a series of unauthorized protests swept across Lithuania after which Soviet military forces entered the republic. On the night of January 13, Soviet armored vehicles and tanks rolled into the center of Vilnius. Soviet troops clashed with civilians at a local TV tower, leaving 14 dead and over 600 injured.

Security personnel later claimed that the clashes were a result of a provocation, and that the victims were killed by sharpshooters.

On June 4, a court in Vilnius acquitted Boleslav Makutynovich and Vladimir Razvodov, former officers of riot police special unit, who were suspected of committing crimes during the clashes in 1991. The former riot police officers, who live in Russia, were tried in absentia.




The 2015 production season was very good for barley producers, according to Steve Edwardson, executive director of the North Dakota Barley Council. Growers experienced generally good planting and harvest conditions, yields were very good and acceptance rates were high.As a result of that good crop, he said, the following points highlight the current status, trends, and outlook for the barley market.Nationally, growers harvested approximately 3.1 million acres of barley in 2015, approximately 25 percent more than the 2.5 million acres harvested in 2014. In general, growers experienced good yields and quality for the 2015 crop year. North Dakota growers harvested approximately 67.2 million bushels, an increase of 87 percent from 2014. Nationally, growers harvested 214.3 million bushels in 2015, an increase of 18 percent from 2014.The latest USDA National Ag Statistics Service grain stocks report based on Dec. 1, 2015 figures shows an increase of approximately 16 percent in bushels stored on a national basis, Edwardson noted. However, that figure was much higher for North Dakota, which showed an increase of 26 million bushels, or 65 percent, from Dec. 1, 2014. The amount of barley stored on farm in the state practically doubled, from approximately 20.5 million bushels in 2014 to 45 million bushels this past December.This large increase in carryover stocks has brought about a large decrease in barley prices, he noted.Current spot cash prices for barley are soft due to significant carryover inventory, Edwardson said. Spot cash prices for malting barley are in the $2.75 to $3 per bushel range, with many buyers offering no current bid. Feed barley prices are in the range of $2.20 to $2.60 per bushel.The shift from open production to contracting programs is resulting in fewer buyers of spot cash malting barley in the marketplace, he continued. Feed barley prices remain weak due to limited market outlets, lack of export demand and overall abundant supply carryover stock from 2015.The large crop last year and the resulting high stock numbers has also impacted malting barley contracts being issued for this year, he noted.Growers report that 2016 malting barley contracting programs have been reduced significantly from last year. Buyers have reduced contracted production from 35 to 55 percent from 2015 levels due to the large stocks in storage, he said. Contracts filled early, with prices in the range of $4.40 to $4.90 per bushel. Buyers have indicated that it will simply take time to process and deplete current inventory levels. Consequently, acres will decline in 2016 to compensate for currently high levels of carryover inventory.Canadian barley production is expected to increase slightly in 2016, Edwardson noted. Ag Canada estimates barley at 6.67 million planted acres, an increase of 2 percent from last year. Canada continues to serve as a long term supplier to the feed barley market in Japan.As far as the international market outlook, Mexico continues to show near term potential as an export market for U.S. malting barley, Edwardson noted. Mexican imports of U.S. barley have been in the area of 400,000 metric tons over the past five years, depending upon competition from Europe and domestic production. U.S. exports of feed barley to Japan have been minimal, as noted earlier due to adequate supplies from other countries.In taking a look at the outlook for the future, Edwardson said the International Grains Council projects barley stocks to tighten globally as demand for barley increases for both livestock feed and malting for beer. Developing countries are increasing meat consumption, thus driving the increase for feed barley.Beer consumption in China and Asia is expected to increase, thus increasing the need for malt.Global barley production is anticipated to experience modest but steady growth over the next five years.
Music

Tsin Ting was a Chinese singer who died at the age of 88 on October 20, 2022. The news was first released on social...
Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003.
International Court of Justice Concludes Hearings in Preliminary Phase of Historic Nuclear Disarmament Cases

Contact:

Rick Wayman

+1 805 696 5159

rwayman@napf.org Sandy Jones

+1 805 965 3443

sjones@napf.org

16 March 2016

THE HAGUE a The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today concluded the oral arguments in the preliminary phase of the nuclear disarmament cases brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) against India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The hearings, which took place at the ICJ from 7-16 March, were the first contentious cases on nuclear disarmament ever heard at the Court. This set of hearings addressed the respondent nationsa objections to the cases relating to questions of jurisdiction and admissibility.

Tony de Brum, Co-Agent and former Foreign Minister of the RMI, recounted to the Court the Marshall Islandsa unique perspective about the effects of nuclear weapons due to 67 U.S. nuclear weapons tests conducted in its territory from 1946-58. In a stunning moment at the opening of the hearing against Pakistan on 8 March, Mr. de Brum had the full attention of the entire courtroom. He said:

Yesterday was a beautiful morning here in The Hague that featured a picture-perfect snowfall. As a tropical State, the Marshall Islands has experienced asnowa on one memorable and devastating occasion, the 1954 Bravo test of a thermonuclear bomb that was one-thousand times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb. When that explosion occurred, there were many people, including children, who were a far distance from the bomb, on our atolls which, according to leading scientists and assurances, were predicted to be entirely safe. In reality, within 5 hours of the explosion, it began to rain radioactive fallout at Rongelap. Within hours, the atoll was covered with a fine, white, powdered-like substance. No one knew it was radioactive fallout. The children thought it was snow. And the children played in the snow. And they ate it.

The Marshall Islands was clear that while their history with nuclear testing gives context to their current actions for global nuclear disarmament, the cases at the ICJ relate specifically to nuclear-armed statesa breaches of Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and/or customary international law.

Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent of the Marshall Islands, expressed disappointment that there were not nine respondent nations present for this round of hearings. Only India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ. Mr. van den Biesen said, aIt is a shame that the other six nuclear-armed States [United States, Russia, France, China, Israel and North Korea] have decided that, for them, there was no need to respond to the Marshall Islandsa Applications of 24 April 2014.a

All three respondent nations a India, Pakistan and the UK a claimed in written and/or oral pleadings that they are supportive of nuclear disarmament and that they agree with the Marshall Islands about the need for a nuclear weapons-free world. The Marshall Islands presented specific examples of behavior in direct contrast to such aspirational claims.

Most telling, perhaps, was Indiaas decision to test-fire nuclear-capable missiles on two days on which the ICJ was hearing the case against it. On both 7 and 14 March, India tested ballistic missiles, an act that Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent of the Marshall Islands, suggested could be called acontempt of court.a

The United Kingdom, for its part, told the Court that if it ruled against the UK in this case, it would be forced to be the aone hand clappinga among the nuclear-armed states calling for nuclear disarmament negotiations. On 11 March, responding to the UKas statement, Tony de Brum said, aThis is another way of saying that, to the UK, no parties are pursuing in good faith such negotiations. Or, put differently still, it is like the person who, caught in poor conduct, replies: aEverybodyas doing it.aa

Pakistan chose not to attend the oral hearings, telling Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the ICJ, in a letter, aThe Government of Pakistan does not wish to add anything further to its statements and submissions made in its Counter-Memorial and therefore does not feel that its participation in the oral proceedings will add anything to what has already been submitted through its Counter-Memorial.a

In his concluding remarks, Tony de Brum said, aIn its 1996 Advisory Opinion, this Court observed that nuclear weapons ahave the potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planeta. The Marshall Islands has come before this Court because of its belief in, and reliance upon, the rule of law.a

In its final submissions to the Court, the Marshall Islands asked the judges to adjudge and declare that the Court has jurisdiction over the claims of the Marshall Islands submitted in its Applications of 24 April 2014, and that the claims are admissible.

The 15 judges of the ICJ, along with judge-ad-hoc Mohammed Bedjaoui, will now deliberate on jurisdiction and admissibility issues raised in the written and oral pleadings. The Court will announce its decisions in a public sitting at a date to be announced.

For more information about these ICJ cases in a detailed Question and Answer format, click here.

Contact information for the International Legal Team:

Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent of the RMI

Attorney at Law at Van den Biesen Kloostra Advocaten, Amsterdam http://vdbkadvocaten.eu/en/phon-van-den-biesen-en/

+31.65.2061266

phonvandenbiesen@vdbkadvocaten.eu

ICJ Press Release: Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India) 16 March 2016
Trojans race to 46-7 win over Ellsworth in prep for postseason

If Southeast of Saline wins in the first round, it will host the second round game as well. The Trojans fell to Andale last season in the playoffs.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mar. 23, 2016

Contacts:

Vernon Smith/NOAA, 240-533-0662, 240-638-6447 (cell)

Christopher Johnson/U.S. Navy, 202-685-0766, 757-593-3891 (cell)



NOAA solves disappearance mystery of USS Conestoga

Ninety-five years ago, the World War I era Navy tug vanished with 56 crewmembers aboard

Today, NOAA and the U.S. Navy announced the discovery of the USS Conestoga (AT 54) in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary off San Francisco, 95 years after the Navy seagoing fleet tugboat disappeared with 56 officers and sailors aboard. The discovery solves one of the top maritime mysteries in U.S. Navy history.

The officers and crew of USS Conestoga, in San Diego, California in 1921. Lost for 95 years, the tug was discovered in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary off San Francisco. Credit: Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 71503

"After nearly a century of ambiguity and a profound sense of loss, the Conestoga's disappearance no longer is a mystery," said Manson Brown, assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction and deputy NOAA administrator. "We hope that this discovery brings the families of its lost crew some measure of closure and we look forward to working with the Navy to protect this historic shipwreck and honor the crew who paid the ultimate price for their service to the country."

On March 25, 1921, Conestoga departed the Golden Gate en route to Tutuila, American Samoa via Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When Conestoga failed to reach Hawaii by its anticipated arrival date the Navy mounted a massive air and sea search around the Hawaiian Islands, the tug's destination. Nearly two months later, on May 17, a merchant vessel found a battered lifeboat with the letter "C" on its bow off the Mexican coast leading to a search there.

For months, the ship's mysterious disappearance gripped newspapers across the country. Unable to locate the ship or wreckage, the Navy declared Conestoga and its crew lost on June 30, 1921. This was the last U.S. Navy ship to be lost without a trace in peacetime.

In 2009, the NOAA Office of Coast Survey, as part of a hydrographic survey near the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, documented a probable, uncharted shipwreck. In September 2014, NOAA launched a two year investigation codirected by James Delgado and Robert Schwemmer, West Coast regional maritime heritage coordinator for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, to document historic shipwrecks in the Greater Farallones sanctuary and nearby Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In October 2015, NOAA confirmed the identification and location of Conestoga during a mission that included an archaeologist from the Naval History and Heritage Command, as well as several senior Navy officers.

USS Conestoga at San Diego, California, January 1921. Credit: Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 71299

"Thanks to modern science and to cooperation between agencies, the fate of Conestoga is no longer a mystery," said Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment Dennis V. McGinn. "In remembering the loss of the Conestoga, we pay tribute to her crew and their families, and remember that, even in peacetime, the sea is an unforgiving environment."

Originally built to tow coal barges for the railroad, the Navy purchased Conestoga in 1917 for World War I service. The tug operated on the Atlantic coast and off the Azores, performing convoy and other duties before being assigned to harbor service in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1919. Ordered to duty in American Samoa, Conestoga steamed from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California at 3:25 p.m. on March 25, 1921, headed for Pearl Harbor. After leaving the Golden Gate, the tug, possibly towing a barge, was never heard from again.

Weather logs indicate that around the time of Conestoga's departure, the wind in the Golden Gate area increased from 23 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour, and the seas were rough with high waves. A garbled radio transmission from Conestoga relayed later by another ship stated the tug was "battling a storm and that the barge she was towing had been torn adrift by heavy seas."

Based on the location and orientation of the wreck in 189-foot-deep water, three miles off Southeast Farallon Island, NOAA, and its technical and subject matter experts, believe Conestoga sank as officers and crew attempted to reach a protected cove on the island.

"This would have been a desperate act, as the approach is difficult and the area was the setting for five shipwrecks between 1858 and 1907," according to NOAA's report on the Conestoga discovery. "However, as Conestoga was in trouble and filling with water, it seemingly was the only choice to make." To see sonar images, historical photos and other materials, visit http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/press/conestoga.

Video, from cameras mounted on remotely operated vehicles used to explore the wreck site, shows the wreck lying on the seabed and largely intact. The wood deck and other upper features of the tug, however, have collapsed into the hull due to corrosion and age. Extensive marine growth, primarily white plume anemones, drapes the hull's exterior while various species of marine life. Wolf eels, ling cod and rockfish also inhabit the site.

During the remote dives, NOAA confirmed a number of features consistent with the description and plans of Conestoga published in 1904 including the size of the wreck; the fourbladed, 12foot 3inch diameter propeller; the steam engine and boilers; the number and location of portholes, mooring bitts, and ventilator locations; a large steam towing winch with twisted wire on the drum; two porcelain marine heads; and a single, 3-inch, 50-caliber gun that was mounted on the main deck in front of the pilot house.

No human remains were observed during the dives but Conestoga is protected under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, which prohibits unauthorized disturbance of sunken military vessels or planes owned by the U.S. government, as well as foreign sunken military craft that lie within U.S. waters.

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 170,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters. Through active research, management, and public engagement, national marine sanctuaries sustain healthy environments that are the foundation for thriving communities and stable economies.

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our other social media channels.
Career Center students want your organs! PECK  Health occupations students at the Sanilac Career Center are again registering new organ and tissue donors. More than 2,200 new organ and tissue...

Pickup crashes into Sandusky police car Alcohol is suspected in two unrelated traffic accidents in Sandusky, one involving a car that hit a tree and shed, and the other a pickup...

Local library leader to get highest award Charles Mitchell, president of the Brown City Public Library, will be honored this evening (Oct. 19) with a 2022 Michigan Library Award. Mitchell, who led...
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 Unanimous Supreme Court suggests Second Amendment can preclude state felony prosecution for public weapon possession | Main | "Looking Forward: A Comprehensive Plan for Criminal Justice Reform in Ohio" 

As reported in this local article, a "federal judge has blocked Nebraska from putting a 13-year-old boy who moved here from Minnesota on its public list of sex offenders." Here is more about this notable ruling:

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf said if the boy had done in Nebraska exactly what he did in Minnesota he would not have been required to register as a sex offender "and he would not be stigmatized as such." "It therefore makes no sense to believe that the Nebraska statutes were intended to be more punitive to juveniles adjudicated out of state as compared to juveniles adjudicated in Nebraska," the judge wrote in a 20-page order.

In Nebraska, lawmakers opted to exclude juveniles from the Nebraska Sex Offender Registration Act unless they were prosecuted criminally in adult court, even though it meant losing thousands in federal funding. But the way the law is written made it appear that all sex offenders who move to Nebraska must register.

When the Minnesota boy in this case moved here to live with relatives, the Nebraska State Patrol determined he had to register because of a subsection of the law....

In this case, the boy was 11 when he was adjudicated for criminal sexual conduct in juvenile court in Minnesota. A judge there ordered him to complete probation, counseling and community service, and his name went on a part of that state's predatory offender list that is visible only to police. Even before that, the boy had moved to Nebraska to live with relatives.

In August 2014, the Nebraska probation office notified his family he was required to register under the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry Act or could be prosecuted. That same month, the boy's family filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the patrol from putting him on Nebraska's registry, which is public.

In Monday's order, Kopf concluded that the boy wasn't required to register in Minnesota because he was adjudicated in a juvenile court, not convicted in adult court, so Nebraska's act doesn't apply. He cited Nebraska Juvenile Code, which specifically says juvenile court adjudications are not to be deemed convictions or subject to civil penalties that normally apply. An adjudication is a juvenile court process through which a judge determines if a juvenile committed a given act.

Kopf's order said it was apparent that the purpose was to identify people guilty of sex offenses and to publish information about them for the protection of the public. "It is equally apparent that the Nebraska Legislature has made a policy determination that information regarding juvenile adjudications is not to be made public, even though this has resulted in the loss of federal funding for non-compliance with (the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act)," he said.

Late Monday afternoon, Omaha attorney Joshua Weir said the boy's grandmother was so excited when he called with the news she had to pull over in a parking lot. "They were very, very relieved," he said. Weir said the boy is a healthy, happy kid now and flourishing in school. "It would've been a tragedy if he would have been branded a sex offender," he said. "That's something that sticks with you for the rest of your life."

The state could choose to appeal the decision within the next 30 days.
 "Why Dylann Roof is a Terrorist Under Federal Law, and Why it Matters" | Main | Notable new comments and commitments on criminal justice reform from GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan 

March 23, 2016

Lots of food for marijuana reform thought via Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform

The biggest news this week in the marijuana reform space was the "dog-not-barking" decision by the Supreme Court to deny the "motion for leave to file a bill of complaint" brought by Nebraska and Oklahoma against Colorado for its recreational reforms (basics here). But, as highlighted by students in my semester-long OSU Moritz College of Law seminar on marijuana laws and reform via readings assembled for in-class presentations, there are lots of other topics for marijuana reformers (and their opponents) to be concerned with these days.

Here is a round up of just some of the many interesting reform-related stories flagged recently over at Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform:

March 23, 2016 at 10:10 AM | Permalink

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 "Looking Forward: A Comprehensive Plan for Criminal Justice Reform in Ohio" | Main | "Why Dylann Roof is a Terrorist Under Federal Law, and Why it Matters" 

March 23, 2016

State judge in Missouri decides state DOC purposely violated state law to avoid execution drug disclosure

As reported in this local article, headlined "Missouri Corrections Department Violated Sunshine Law In Execution Case, Judge Rules," a state judge reached some sharp conclusions about what the state DOC failed to show concerning execution drugs in the Show Me state. Here are the details:

The Missouri Department of Corrections purposely violated the states Sunshine Law when it refused to turn over records revealing the suppliers of lethal injection drugs for executions, a state court judge ruled late Monday. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon E. Beetems decision came in three parallel cases, including one brought by five news organizations: The Kansas City Star, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Springfield News-Leader, The Guardian and the Associated Press. Beetem last July ordered the DOC to disclose the names of the pharmacies from which it buys lethal injection drugs. But the issue remained moot while he reviewed the records in question to see if they needed to be redacted in order to protect the identities of members of the execution team. On Monday, Beetem ruled that while an exemption in the Sunshine Law protects the identities of the doctor and nurse who are present during the execution as well as non-medical personnel who assist with the execution and are also present, it does not protect the identity of the pharmacists who supply the execution drugs. He ordered the DOC to produce those records without redactions. He also ordered the DOC to pay the plaintiffs costs and attorneys fees. In the news organizations' case, that amounted to $73,335. The state has already indicated it plans to appeal. The Department of Corrections did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Beetem's decision. "At this point, it has cost the state of Missouri more than $100,000 to assert a frivolous position," said Kansas City attorney Bernard Rhodes, who represented the news organizations. "At what point will the state realize that they're wrong and at what cost to the taxpayers will it take before the state realizes they are wrong?" The other lawsuits challenging officials' refusal to provide information about the state's execution protocols were filed by former Missouri legislator Joan Bray, a death penalty opponent, and by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the American Civil Liberties Union and Christopher S. McDaniel, formerly of St. Louis Public Radio. Missouri, like other states, has had difficulty finding lethal injection drugs after European and American drug makers began refusing to provide them. The state has resorted to using largely unregulated compounding pharmacies, often keeping the sources of the drugs secret. In their lawsuit, the five news organizations said that public disclosure of the source, quality and composition of the drugs reduces the risk that improper, ineffective, or defectively prepared drugs are used; it allows public oversight of the types of drugs selected to cause death and qualifications of those manufacturing the chosen drugs; and it promotes the proper functioning of everyone involved in the execution process.

March 23, 2016 at 08:45 AM | Permalink

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So what?

Posted by: federalist | Mar 23, 2016 9:30:46 AM

The people of the state of Missouri passed a law that helped to open the government to oversight.

The state might have violated it. This is not surprising given their self-interest and the added burdens such laws put on the actors.

People, including conservatives who voice their distrust of government power (if selectively), should appreciate putting the state to the test here. It promotes democracy and good government in the long run. It will in some other case show the state doing something wrong while furthering ends those against the death penalty might prefer. Anyway, the state can still execute here as courts still can hold trials in open court.

Posted by: Joe | Mar 23, 2016 11:54:41 AM

The government acting lawlessly earns a "so what?" from federalist. Why am I not surprised?

Posted by: memyself | Mar 23, 2016 12:01:46 PM

So a handpicked judge decided to get some headlines--tell me when the Missouri Supreme Court does something.

Posted by: federalist | Mar 24, 2016 10:46:51 AM

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 State judge in Missouri decides state DOC purposely violated state law to avoid execution drug disclosure | Main | Lots of food for marijuana reform thought via Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform 

March 23, 2016

"Why Dylann Roof is a Terrorist Under Federal Law, and Why it Matters"

The title of this post is the title of this notable new article authored by Jesse Norris now available via SSRN. Here is the abstract:

After white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African-Americans at a Charleston, South Carolina church, authorities declined to refer to the attack as terrorism. Many objected to the governments apparent double standards in its treatment of Muslim versus non-Muslim extremists and called on the government to treat the massacre as terrorism. Yet the government has neither charged him with a terrorist offense nor labelled the attack as terrorism. This Article argues that although the government was unable to charge him with terrorist crimes because of the lack of applicable statutes, the Charleston Massacre still qualifies as terrorism under federal law. Roofs attack clearly falls under the governments prevailing definition of domestic terrorism. It also qualifies for a terrorism sentencing enhancement, or at least an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines, as well as for the terrorism aggravating factor considered by juries in deciding whether to impose the death penalty. Labelling Roofs attack as terrorism could have several important implications, not only in terms of sentencing, but also in terms of government accountability, the prudent allocation of counterterrorism resources, balanced media coverage, and public cooperation in preventing terrorism. For these reasons, the Article contends that the government should treat the Charleston Massacre, and similar ideologically-motivated killings, as terrorism. The Article also makes two policy suggestions meant to facilitate a more consistent use of the term terrorism. First, the Article proposes a new federal terrorism statute mirroring hate crime statutes, which would enable every terrorist to be charged with a terrorist offense. Second, simplifying the definition of terrorism to encompass any murder or attempted murder meant to advance an ideology would avoid the obfuscation invited by current definitions. However, even without such changes, the government still has the authority and responsibility to treat attacks such as Roofs as terrorism for nearly all purposes.

A few prior related posts:

March 23, 2016 at 09:22 AM | Permalink

Comments

It begs the question that we need federal statutes for "terrorism" in the first place. There is a straight forward murder case to be prosecuted against Dylann Roof. South Carolina, law, judges and juries can handle it very well. No additional federal statutes are needed in this case or any other act of "terrorism" that has occurred on American soil. All fifty states have criminal statutes dealing with homicide in all its various forms.

Posted by: Jardinero1 | Mar 23, 2016 12:52:51 PM

"Labelling Roofs attack as terrorism could have several important implications, not only in terms of sentencing, but also in terms of government accountability, the prudent allocation of counterterrorism resources, balanced media coverage, and public cooperation in preventing terrorism."

Wow, If the author utilized facts and reason, he would conclude that "terrorism" is so extremely rare, so extremely insignificant as a threat to life and limb, that no resources, media, or public cooperation is required, at all.

Posted by: Jardinero1 | Mar 23, 2016 12:57:40 PM

We do not need any more federal terrorism or hate crime laws. This is a murder case - period. This is where "Big Government" comes from - more prosecutorial discretions for new potential make believe crimes, whether it is a terrorist murder or selling jihadi cookies.

The author appears to be another wet-behind-the-ears feelz person that this world needs less of. I am trying to guess their age, upbringing and education.

Posted by: albeed | Mar 23, 2016 5:05:37 PM

Terrorism that involves some national matter such as interstate conduct of some significant degree logically could be a federal concern. The article cites some laws in place basically to deal with racist behavior the states did not adequately handle. Not applicable here given the state is seriously prosecuting the matter.

I don't see this being a good case for a federal prosecution but wouldn't be surprised the open-ended language of the statutes in place arguably could be applied somehow. Know justices repeatedly have opposed relying on prosecutorial discretion, but at some point that is what we have to rely upon.

Posted by: Joe | Mar 23, 2016 10:13:14 PM

The defendant is perhaps a wacko. Is he a member of a terrorist group? No? It is similar to conspiracy. You can be a single person who kills others in order to terrify. But if you are not part of ISIS or some group then the "group on" method of prosecution is not needed. He killed. Penalty should be death. What more can you do? Punish his mom and dad? Second Grade teacher? Whose fault is it?

Posted by: Liberty1st | Mar 24, 2016 12:23:13 AM

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In a job listing that sounds part Gosford Park, part Devil Wears Prada, and part total parody, a staffing agency says they're offering "$175,000 +" to the Higgins/Holloway hybrid who has what it takes to be the "BEST Personal Assistant for an extremely creative client in Noe Valley."

According to the listing on The Help Company, "a premier staffing and placement agency serving Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco," "This client has recently remodeled their 10,000 sq foot home and is looking for an Assistant/House Manager who can help run their day to day lives. You will be responsible for calendar management for this family of 5 (plus a puppy!), help with travel planning, restaurant reservations, to running local errands and organizing closets and pantries."

Please tell me the puppy has a calendar. Please!

"We are looking for someone who can set up systems for this new home and organize everything from a gift database to cleaning routine for the housekeeper and groundsmen," the ad reads. Groundsmen! That certainly is a fancy term! You're right, these people are creative!

Froofy liberal arts degree-holders, take note: "Anyone with a background in architecture or art would be a bonus to this client - as they have an extensive art collection comparable to a museum!" So in between OpenTabling and pantry organization I guess you're expected to talk art with your boss? Or something?

That art collection's not the only glamorous aspect to the position, as your prospective employer also "loves to entertain HIgh Profile friends from around the world." OK, so, yeah, the way the ad is written makes it ripe for mockery (though to be fair it wasn't written by the family, it was written by the placement agency). But the salary they're offering is no joke: Dependent on experience, the art-expert-errand-runner will pull down "$175,000 +"

Applicants should have "a minimum of 10 years experience" and "a deep level of commitment to service and understand white glove service," which knocks me out of the running. But I'm sure one of you guys is qualified...and if you apply and get an interview, you'd better tell me all about it.

[h/t Leah Garchik]


A new batch of Hillary Clinton's infamous emails have appeared on Wikileaks, and among them there's one name that appears a bunch and that's Jared Cohen, director and founder of Google Ideas and previous staff member at the State Department. As CBS 5 notes, Cohen was a close advisor to both Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton before going to Google/Alphabet to become a close advisor to executive chairman Eric Schmidt and serving as an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The connection between Google and then Secretary of State Clinton is kind of a pet topic that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has written about before. Assange describes Cohen as "a fast-talking 'Generation Y' ideas man at State under two US administrations, [and] a courtier from the world of policy think tanks and institutes, poached in his early twenties." Assange has suggested, after personally meeting with Schmidt and Cohen in 2011 while under house arrest, that the pair were engaged in doing "back-channel diplomacy" on behalf of Washington, and specifically for Clinton. And, he says, "Googles geopolitical aspirations are firmly enmeshed within the foreign-policy agenda of the worlds largest superpower."

Cohen can be found forwarding SF Chronicle articles to Clinton's team back in June 2010, and as CBS 5 shows, discussing a defection tracker with Clinton's team in 2012, which would be an online tool to "publicly track and map the defections [from Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government] in Syria and which parts of the government they are coming from."

A quick search for San Francisco among Clinton's emails yields these results, if you're curious.

In an effort to dispel the many rumors and discussions about impropriety in Clinton's email archive, the Clinton campaign has put together this in-depth FAQ on the topic. Clinton and her team have said that among the 62,320 sent and received emails in her Gmail account, 30,490 of these emails were provided to the State Department, "and the remaining 31,830 were private, personal records."

Meanwhile, as of last fall, Schmidt put together a startup called The Groundwork that Quartz described as "part of efforts by Schmidt... to ensure that Clinton has the engineering talent needed to win the election. And it is one of a series of quiet investments by Schmidt that recognize how modern political campaigns are run." The website for The Groundwork appears now to be dead.

Related: Google Searches For 'Move To Canada' Hit Highest Point Since 2004 Election
When Donna Davis looked in the mirror, she saw that her skin had turned yellow.

As KQED tells her story from 2014, Davis, fell ill after enjoying a "delicious" soup she cooked from mushrooms foraged at Salt Point State park in Sonoma.

But Davis had made an error, mistaking poisonous Amanita phalloides  commonly known as "death caps"  for edible hedgehog mushrooms. Unlike hedgehogs, death caps are often olive-green in color and have gills, or little ribs under their heads. Nearly a day after eating her soup, Davis was dehydrated, confused, and frightened.

After being treated in a hospital and narrowly avoiding a liver transplant, Davis was one of the lucky ones. Between 2010 and 2015, 57 became sickened and five died after eating death caps. One mushroom is enough to kill a person, and dogs, says Debbie Viess of the Bay Area Mycological Society, "die in droves."

As recent rains have brought a boom in mushroom growth, so too have they invited death caps. The "strikingly beautiful mushroom" according to the Bay Area Mycological Society, "can be found everywhere," in California as Dr. Craig Smollin, Co-Director of the San Francisco division of the California Poison Control System, told KCBS. "They could potentially grow in someones backyard.

So what's an amateur forager to do? "Assume nothing, and learn for several seasons before you eat any wild mushrooms," says Viess. "Use good, regional books, find a mentor, and have your initial IDs checked by more knowledgeable and trusted identifiers." Of course, you can also see Viess' post on the "invasion of the death cap." Or you can just forego foraging altogether.

Related: Generous Rain, Regulations Make Point Reyes A Mushroom Magnet


Valencia Street probably already hit "peak restaurant" last year, and if you believe chef and restaurateur Dennis Leary (The Sentinel, Golden West, House of Shields), so did the rest of the city. San Francisco Magazine has a long-read in their new issue in which they speak to a bevy of local players in the restaurant scene, including Leary, Marlowe/Park Tavern owner Anna Weinberg, and restaurant empire building Adriano Paganini (Beretta, Lolinda, Belga, Delarosa, Super Duper, etc.) who all say many of the same things that restaurateurs have been saying about San Francisco for years now. Basically, it's a nearly impossible place to do business, rents are going through the roof, it's impossible to hire good staff these days because no one can afford to live here, and yes your chicken entree does have to cost $40 for all of the above reasons. Also, God help anyone who's trying to open anything this year, but also, best of luck.

Below, a few choice pull quotes.



On making sure your concept works: "Anyone who opens a restaurant needs to create a concept that is really on in some way and isnt marginal. Because marginal isnt working anymore... You need to make damn sure that youre going to be very busy at all times. Otherwise, dont even do it."

- Adriano Paganini

On keeping prices low: "Its about being creative. You figure out how to use ingredients that dont cost as much but taste good. The advantage restaurants have right now is that people are willing to try anything."

- Ryan Cole, one of the owners of Hi Neighbor Hospitality, which opened the $35 prix-fixe spot Trestle to instant success last year.

On having to raise prices eventually: "Theres only so much you can cut before you raise prices. Theres no hidden thing, like, oh, we shouldnt get garbage picked up anymore. You have to raise prices."

- Laurence Jossel, chef-owner at Nopa

Regarding the city's healthcare mandate, and that earlier scandal in which the City Attorney's Office went after restaurants that were pocketing leftover flexible spending account money at the end of the year: "So heres the problem. Im paying $850,000 a year to insure Tacolicious employees. I promise you that not $100,000 of that money will be used. My average employee is 26 years old and drinks enough on a nightly basis to kill any bacteria in their system... The city went on a witch hunt, basically because the government wanted money."

- Joe Hargrave, owner of Tacolicious

On the complications surrounding minimum wage mandates, and wage discrepancies: "Its not that paying the dishwasher $19 is going to bankrupt you. Its if you pay him $19, what are you going to pay the sous chef? Thats the part that people forget about."

- Andrew Hoffman, co-owner of Comal and The Advocate in Berkeley, where the city council has discussed raising the minimum wage to $19

Regarding how hard it is to hold on to staff right now: "Ive had three hostesses stolen; theyre being paid $85,000 a year to be receptionists at tech companies that shall go unnamed. And by the way, I cant tell them not to do it  the lifestyle is so much better.

-Anna Weinberg of Big Night Restaurant Group (Marlowe, Park Tavern, The Cavalier, Leo's Oyster Bar)

Regarding fast-casual concepts and the rise of delivery apps: "If we have a team of cooks prepping an order for 100, they can serve them with less labor hours than three employees at the register can serve 100 people. Its not glamorous, but its an adjustment. If youre a restaurateur today and not using the hundreds of apps available to you, then, for many reasons, youre behind."

- Matt Semmelhack, co-owner of AQ and Bon Marche, and the upcoming fast-casual FiDi pita bar, Sababa.

On how East Coast restaurateurs are all suddenly clamoring to expand here: "From the national-press standpoint, San Francisco looks like the gold rush again. People want to get in. But I dont think theyve done the due diligence for how expensive it is to operate in a city like this."

- Dennis Leary

More on why your dinners are just going to keep getting more expensive: "[Customers are] going to have to stop asking us to subsidize their lifestyle. Youre going to have to pay double for your steak if you want to live in this fabulous city. I cant absorb it anymore."

- Anna Weinberg

On still being hopeful that you can make it as a first-time restaurateur: "The fact that Im opening a tasting menu-style restaurant with no tipping scares the hell out of me. Not because I dont think well be amazing, but will I be able to fill my restaurant every night, or will someone bill me as a special-occasion place? Should I just open a burger-and-pizza joint and have roast chicken on the menu?... [But] I want to experience owning my own restaurant in San Francisco. For me, the struggles worth it."

- Kim Alter, former Haven and Plum chef, who's set to open her first SF restaurant Nightbird in Hayes Valley any month now

Related: How Many San Franciscans Are Rooting For The Tech Economy To Tank?
A San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee gave its seal of approval this week to legislation that would protect teachers, school employees, child caregivers, and their families from evictions during the academic year.

CBS 5 reports that while families with kids under 18 are already protected from owner move-in evictions, the new legislation, introduced by Supervisor Campos last month, seeks to extend the same assurances to educators, shielding them from no-fault evictions, Ellis Act evictions excluded.

Lita Blan, head of the San Francisco teachers union, calls affordability for housing in San Francisco a major issue for educators. "Among young teachers it's their number one concern," she said last summer. "I hear it all the time. I can't stay in the district if I can't find a place to live."

For Belann Giaretto, a director at Pacific Primary School in the Western Addition, the situation is dire. As she told CBS, This teacher crisis has been the worst crisis Ive ever seen... Whats ahead is really terrifying if we dont have teachers.

The Chronicle had previously invoked the example of Allison Leshefsky, a PE teacher at Bernal Heights' Paul Revere Elementary School. Leshefsky was evicted last year during during the academic year, leaving her in a precarious situation. As she put it, Teaching is a very thankless profession, and to have to not deal with that during the school year would have made a huge difference not only in my personal life but in the education of the kids I serve... All students deserve teachers who are secure in their homes.

Still, Campos himself feels that the measure, which must now seek full Board of Supervisors approval next month, is modest in its scope. [What] this proposal does," he said, "is it tries to stop the bleeding.

Previously: Campos Wants To Protect SF Teachers From Eviction
Remember the totally bizarre and hoax-sounding March 2015 kidnapping and ransom case involving Vallejo resident Denise Huskins? After she was released from two days of captivity, Huskins and her partner Aaron Quinn were accused by the police of faking the kidnapping and consequently pilloried in the national press for wasting police resources and playing the victim. The problem, of course, was that the kidnapping was real  allegedly the work of 38-year-old Matthew Muller, a former Marine and lawyer suffering from bipolar disorder who had committed similarly bizarre crimes involving female victims before. Huskins and her partner Aaron Quinn, reports KTVU, are now suing the city of Vallejo.

The two allege that the city's police department publicly smeared her and her partner as fraudsters, and that the police force's actions resulted in a "violation of the 14th Amendment, defamation, false arrest and false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress."

To jog your memory: After Quinn reported the kidnapping (Quinn was tied up as well, and drugged, and consequently was unable to report it until the next day), Huskins turned up in Southern California apparently unharmed. Although it was later revealed that she had been drugged, blindfolded, and sexually assaulted while in captivity, the specific details were not publicly known and that lack of information, combined with the fact that she outwardly appeared fine, fed into the public's doubt of Quinn and Huskins's story.

This entire case was extremely strange for numerous reasons, not the least of which being the multi-page "manifesto" released by the suspected kidnapper(s) claiming they were "gentlemen criminals" merely engaged in a "dry run" getting ready for future crimes. Muller later emailed a 15-page, single-spaced email to Huskins' attorney apologizing, saying he and his fictional accomplices had intended to kidnap someone else, and they felt bad for kidnapping her  which is why they released her without collecting the demanded $15,000 ransom. In the end, it turned out that Muller had allegedly acted alone, but he has yet to have his day in court. In September, Muller pleaded no contest to a Dublin home invasion that occurred several months later.

According to KTVU, Huskins's and Quinn's lawsuit alleges the police attacked Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs families, created a destructive nationwide media frenzy through public statements accusing Plaintiffs of faking Denises kidnapping and rape, and rubbed salt in Plaintiffs fresh wounds in the days and weeks following the attacks."

Huskins and Quinn, the channel notes, are seeking a jury trail. Having been smeared in the national press, it appears the two want a public opportunity to clear their names.

Previously: [Updated] Vallejo Kidnapping Of Denise Huskins Not A Hoax After All, Says FBI

Crazy Vallejo Kidnapping Story Probably Total Hoax

More Twists In Vallejo 'Kidnapping': Kidnappers Say It Was Just A 'Dry Run,' Nancy Grace Says 'Nope'
A year after opening the city's first "Navigation Center" for the homeless at 16th and Mission Streets, a project heralded as a new approach to a persistent issue that would be replicated if successful, the Mayor's Office has announced the location of a second such center. The Civic Center Hotel, a notorious SRO located on 12th Street off Market, will provide 93 units of housing to homeless clients whom it will begin to accept in two months.

The Chronicle describes the hotel as "notoriously blighted and dangerous," observing that the police were summoned to the address 51 times in 2014 and recalling incidents like an elevator stabbing. Owned by the UA Local 38 Plumbers Union Pension Trust Fund, the Civic Center Hotel is slated for redevelopment in two years' time, when it will become 550 units of which 25 percent are to be affordable and 110 are to be part of a Community Housing Partnership for formerly homeless San Franciscans and current SRO residents. Currently, the 156-room hotel holds just 53 residents. When current residents are joined by 93 others, they too will have access to services offered at the center, while ten units will be used for administrative purposes.

Though an anonymous donation of $3 million fueled the original Navigation Center, this second effort is to be funded by city money. The mayor also announced today that San Francisco will add 200 units of permanent supportive housing at which Navigation Center residents can eventually land, with rent paid for by the city and federal vouchers. Meanwhile, Lee is perhaps investigating a Dogpatch site for a third navigation center.

The Navigation Center concept, just to catch you up, allows homeless people to arrive along with all their belongings, pets, and any significant others and camp-mates, in order to provide long-term shelter while each individual's various issues are assessed. Residents are fed daily and allowed to come and go as they please all while receiving supportive services with a view toward transitioning to permanent supportive housing.

Some registered displeasure at the new location, including District 6's Supervisor Kim, who seemed to seethe about a lack of input, I support the Navigation Center model," she said, according to a release. "[No] one should be left to struggle to survive on the streets. But there must be a process to allow the public to weigh in. Just as we wouldn't locate a Navigation Center in Pacific Heights or West Portal or the Castro without public input, we shouldn't put a center in District 6 without that same opportunity."

Homelessness surpassed affordability as the number one concern among San Franciscans according to a February poll that perhaps relatedly revealed majority disapproval for Mayor Lee. Earlier this month, whe Lee's office said that another Homeless Navigation Center could take as long as half year to arrive, Supervisor David Campos pushed back, calling on the city to declare a "shelter crisis" to convert public land to shelters more quickly. Yesterday, the Examiner adds, Campos introduced legislation insisting that San Francisco open three more Navigation Centers, including one for young homeless people, in the next four months.

However, Mayor Lee has openly criticized Campos's proposals as rhetorical and pointless. Bolstering that point, the Chronicle observed that Campos's proposed sites appeared unlikely or even frivolous. He also neglected to propose sites within his own neighborhood, Bernal Heights. Of the new location, Campos, said "you know, Ill take it. It goes to show my ordinance is already having an effect."

Related: Homelessness Debate Between Mayor's Office And Supervisor Campos Continues
As the Bay Area continues to react to Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels, experts say that cities like San Francisco should brace for similar attacks and change security measures in vulnerable areas like those targeted this week.

Last night, both San Francisco City Hall and San Francisco International Airport were bathed in the colors of the Belgian flag in solidarity with Brussels, which was struck by three bombings yesterday that killed at least 30 people and injured at least 230.

Two of the explosions were in the Brussels airport, the third on a train as it left a subway station. Though local officials say that there is "no credible threat" posed in the Bay Area, SFPD, BART police, and security at SFO were all on high alert following the attacks. But is that enough? Former FBI Agent Rick Smith tells KRON 4 that it's likely not, saying that Its coming here, folks. Its coming to this country soon...Be aware of it. Be awake. Be vigilant.

A TSA agent at SFO expressed similar concerns to the Chron, saying that "Any dingbat can just take something and hide it under their shirt or in their bag and walk in here and blow up the place."

No changes in passenger screening procedures at #SFO but increased patrols taking place around airport. pic.twitter.com/a6K2iQY0IW  Matt Keller (@MattKellerABC7) March 22, 2016

That agent called for "screening of passengers before they enter the terminals," a stance with which SoCal Congresswoman Janice Hahn, among others, agrees, the Wall Street Journal reports, saying that Hahn "called on the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to expand security perimeters at American airports in response to the attacks."

We will have to "start to pushing the security perimeter back...Were going to have to step that up" - Fmr DHS official Michael Chertoff  Norah O'Donnell (@NorahODonnell) March 22, 2016

However, it might not be that easy, the WSJ says, as "pushing checks out further could raise other security issues, industry executives say, and add costs and delays that may outweigh any security benefit." According to one aviation security expert, no matter where to put the security perimeter you still have the queues. If you cause congestion, a whole lot of people crammed together, its a target-rich environment no matter where it is. A big crowd is a target.

Back in San Francisco, however, Belgians and their friends were more focused on the present than the future. At a vigil at SF's City Hall Tuesday night, about 100 people sang the Belgium national anthem and held a moment of silence for the victims, KRON 4 reports.

"My heart is with all the people in Belgium, my family and friends, but also my Belgium friends here in the Bay Area. I have not heard from everybody, and I'm sure they may have some people affected," Leslie DeSaeyere, a native of Belgium, told ABC 7 from the vigil.

"Many held up three fingers, a symbol affirming their respect and allegiance in their home country," KTVU reports. "I'm in shock. Now I'm just numb. I've gone through all those stages: anger, sadness confusion," Virgine De Paepe said from the vigil.

"It's just hard to know that the only thing we can do to show our support is to gather here, but I think it does make a difference because it shows the world is watching," said Alex de Hemptinne, a UC Berkeley student from Belgium.

According to ABC 7, Bay Area Muslims were quick to condemn the terror attacks, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility.

"They have their own desires, political or whatever, but Islam has nothing to do with this, and we need people to step up to the plate and counter this ideology," Zaki Agha of Bay Point's Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said.

According to the Belgian Trade Commission, there are about 5,000 Belgians in the Bay Area. Nathalie Delrue-Mcguire, who was appointed by the King of Belgium as the Honorary Consul of Belgium in San Francisco on July 1st, 2013, urges all of them to band together in this time of strife.

"The best message is to stand in solidity - show our support, show our love," she says.

"Thats very important and also not be scared."

Outside SF City Hall right now - support for Brussels pic.twitter.com/w63eTZZXPU  Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) March 23, 2016

Messages for Belgium, vigil at 7p SF Civic Center. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/FNAJCRZCDw  Cbarnard (@CornellBarnard) March 23, 2016

Belgian national anthem sung at tonight's vigil at SF City Hall. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/fjW2fOhm2A  Cbarnard (@CornellBarnard) March 23, 2016

Les trois couleurs du drapeau belgique A photo posted by Sol Fung (@solfung) on Mar 22, 2016 at 10:54pm PDT

Previously: In Wake Of Brussels Bombings, SF And BART Police On Heightened Alert


Though it's probably not news to the hacker world, the rest of the world is learning that the feds may not have ever really needed Apple's help to unlock and/or retrieve data from the iPhone 5C that belonged to San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook. On Monday, the FBI asked a federal judge to vacate a scheduled hearing they had in the case against Apple, which so far has refused to cooperate with the government's demands, saying that they had identified an "outside party" to help in cracking the phone. Today, Reuters and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth are reporting that Israeli-based company Cellebrite, which has been developing forensic software solutions for mobile phones for law enforcement, has been contracted to undertake the problem.

Per the court filing, "Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook's iPhone."

Late last week, some key mobile OS engineers at Apple threatened to quit if they were compelled by the government to compromise the privacy controls that are built into the phone's software.

Meanwhile, much of Tuesday's news coverage of the terrorist attack in Brussels focused on the inability of law enforcement to track the communications of terror suspects given advancements in encrypted text messaging using apps like Telegram  which ISIS fighters in Belgium have now been explicitly instructed to use for all communication.

Cellebrite is both a provider of mobile technology in a retail setting, and has a significant business working with military, intelligence, and law enforcement on mobile forensics and data extraction. They are a subsidiary of Japan-based Sun Corp, and Cellebrite USA has an office in Parsippany, New Jersey, per Wikipedia. So far, officials from the company have declined to comment on this case.

According to a publicly accessible contract, the feds inked the deal with Cellebrite on Monday. TechCrunch, however, points out that it's "possible that the FBI knew this option existed all along and the Justice Department was pessimistic about the case." They add,"It's better to postpone and then drop the case than setting a precedent in favor of privacy and Apple."

Edward Snowden offers his own bit of snarky I-told-you-so in the case, pointing out that the FBI's original court filing insisted that Apple had "the exclusive technical means which would assist the government," implying that the feds invoked the All Writs Act too soon in a broader effort to weaken encryption technologies overall.

Previously: Feds Can Likely Unlock iPhone Without Apple's Help, Postpone Tomorrow's Hearing

Key Apple Engineers Suggest They'll Quit If Feds Force Them To Unlock iPhone
We've all been there: It's late, the bars are closing, and you really want to party through it but your techno-utopian drug dealer only accepts bitcoin. What's a guy/gal to do? Before, you were most likely SOL  forced to buy drugs with paper money as dirty as the mean streets of San Francisco themselves. Well, not anymore. As of today, there is now a bitcoin ATM located on Mission near 17th Street, and, best of all, it's open until 2 a.m.

Let the good cryptocurrency decisions begin.

The ATM is located inside Mission Groceries, and is brought to us courtesy of Coinsource  a company working to build a network of bitcoin ATM's across the country.

"[We're] delighted to install a low fee bitcoin ATM in the heart of the Mission, easily available to both neighborhood locals and visitors alike," explained Coinsource Managing Partner Sheffield Clark in a press release today. "We are committed to providing the highest level support to our customers and guarantee always-low fees. All our machines adhere to cutting-edge security standards and provide simple, convenient, instantaneous transfers compatible with any bitcoin mobile wallet.

Consource's media person, David Wachsman told SFist that there are currently two other bitcoin ATM's in SF, also in the Mission, but "they're both in the same location, which is closed quite often." And anyway, neither of them are accessible until 2 a.m.



Bitcoin, of course, was the preferred currency of San Francisco resident and worldwide drug kingpin the Dread Pirate Robert, a.k.a. convicted felon Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison last year for running the online drug market the Silk Road out of a SF sublet.

One bitcoin is currently worth just under $420, which is definitely not a sign from the crypto gods that you should order something fresh via the dark web. Probably.

Related: S.F. Gets Its First Bitcoin ATM At FiDi Cafe


Russell Deutsch, the 57-year-old owner of Old Port Lobster Shack restaurants in Redwood City and Portola Valley and the Old Port Lobster Grill in San Jose, appears to be in some hot water with the state of California. He's pleaded not guilty to tax evasion charges in San Mateo County court, with the authorities claiming he underreported taxable sales at his three restaurants for eight years to the tune of almost $1 million, as CBS 5 reports.

Deutsch was found to owe $950,628 in back taxes to the state, and upon serving a search warrant, authorities discovered $600,000 in cash at Deutsch's Portola Valley home.

He was remanded into custody Tuesday following his plea, as the San Mateo Daily Journal reports, and he's being held on $950,000 bail.

Almanac News further reports that Deutsch recently opened a fourth restaurant, Rusty's Roadside Grill at the Ladera shopping center in Portola Valley. CBS 5 notes that he had plans to expand the Lobster Shack empire to Sacramento and Portland, Maine as well.
Anaplan? Twilio? Klarna? These are all real companies that we will not link to, but feel free to Google them. The hilarious cast of HBO's Silicon Valley, who will be bringing us the show's third season starting April 24, can be seen in the above video from Wired trying to decipher what actual Silicon Valley businesses do based on their names.

And yes, Automattic, with two T's, actually is a company run by a guy named Matt. "What a piece of shit," says Kumail Nanjiani (who plays Dinesh).

Previously: Silicon Valley Season 3 Full-Length Trailer Features Erlich Riding A Unicorn
With every seat in Irie Zulu full, owner Yollande Deacon makes her way around the cozy restaurant from table to table, chatting with friends, greeting newcomers, occasionally darting off to the kitchen to lend a hand and giving the excellent African and Jamaican dining spot the vibe of a casual dinner in her living room.

Deaconwhom farmers market regulars may recognize from her Afro Fusion Cuisine brandaims to bring the joy and beauty of African and Jamaican cuisine to Wauwatosa, emphasizing locally sourced meat and produce. So far, shes nailed it.

The menu, which rotates almost daily to feature items from across Africa and Jamaica, often provides a nice mix of dishes that a diner unfamiliar with African and Jamaican foods would still recognizesuch as Johnny Cakes and various curriesalongside less-well-known dishes like gnama choma and sukuma wiki.

I attended a Friday dinner service, and Jamaican food was featured that evening. We started our meal with Johnny Cakes ($5) as an appetizer; although the tasty biscuits are a relatively simple combination of basic ingredients (cornmeal, baking powder, flour and salt), they have a wonderful sweet flavor and are not too dry.

For an entree, its hard to top the curry goat ($21), featuring local farm-raised goat seasoned with Afro Fusion Cuisine seasoning in a Jamaican curry sauce and served with either a yellow coconut rice or rice and peas. The goat itself was wonderfulperfectly seasoned with just a hint of a spice bite, but not so strongly seasoned that the natural gaminess of the animal was covered up. The goat came in chunks that were somewhat uneven, showing that it had been cut by hand, and with some still on the bone, making it a touch messy at times (not first-date material, probably). I preferred the earthiness of the rice and peas to the brighter (in color and flavor) yellow coconut rice, but both were excellent additions to the dish.

Irie Zulu also features a vegan dish every day of the week, and Fridays was the beautifully titled Irie Vegan Heaven ($18), which features rotating organic seasonal vegetables in a jerk seasoning. I loved the one bite I had, and while I wanted more, my vegan wife declared it too good to share. Its still rare to find a restaurant that caters so successfully to both meat-eaters and vegans, and Irie Zulu manages to excel with both styles.

They also feature a formidable, excellent cocktail listI was partial to the Shaka Zulu Roar ($9), which mixes their house-made hibiscus juice with ginger juice and a dry gin to create a beautiful pink cocktail. Their house sangria ($7) mixes that hibiscus juice with organic South African cabernet sauvignon to create an easy-drinking but unique take on the old standby. Their wine list tends to skew South African and French.

When Deacon came by our table, I asked her about her mission for the restaurant. When I first started, she told me, I didnt want Irie Zulu to feel overly manufactured. It needs personality. I wake up and say, What do I want to cook? This fun and freewheeling nature permeates the ambiance and menu of Irie Zulu, making it a one-of-a-kind dining experience.

Irie Zulu

7237 W. North Ave.

414-509-6014

$$-$$$

iriezulu.com

Handicapped access: Yes
SIOUX CITY | Seven Siouxland women were honored during the 32nd annual Women of Excellence recognition banquet Tuesday evening at the Sioux City Convention Center. The event recognizes leadership, character and accomplishments.

It is a fundraiser for Women Aware, a United Way of Siouxland agency that provides supportive services for individuals and families to increase their self-sufficiency. The honorees were recognized in the following categories:

Women Striving to Improve Quality of Life

Sally Hartley, of Sioux City, was nominated by Northwest Area Education Agency, where she is the chief administrator and an Early Childhood/Special Education teacher and consultant. She has been involved as a volunteer leader for Boy Scouts and 4-H, volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters and served on boards for SHIP and Community Action Agency of Siouxland. She also worked on the education committee for Children's Museum of Siouxland.

Women Taking Risks

Col. Stephanie Samenus, of Sioux City, was nominated by the 185th Air Refueling Wing. She has served on several boards including Girls Inc., Siouxland Chamber of Commerce and Sioux City Art Center. She is a volunteer at Lawton-Bronson High School and a CCD teacher at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Anthon, Iowa. Samenus is the first female group commander in the refueling wing's 7-year history, commanding over 400 airmen who support the wing's federal and state missions.

Women Helping Women

Cindy Brewer, of Sioux City, was nominated by the Junior League of Sioux City. She has been a member of the Junior League since 1996, and has served on several boards including Leadership Siouxland, Sioux City Parks and Recreation Board and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Women Developing the Community

Beverly Wharton, of Sioux City, was nominated by Briar Cliff University. She will retire at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year after 15 years as president. In addition to her involvement in BCU activities, she is a leader among many important Siouxland projects, including the Great Places committee that earned a $1 million grant to finance the Firehouse Market, ISU Design West Studio and the Sioux City Public Museum. She has volunteered for numerous community organizations including Mercy Medical Center, United Way of Siouxland, the Diocese of Sioux City and the Sioux City Symphony.

Young Women of Excellence

Libby Claeys, of Sioux City, was nominated by Phyl Claeys. She works in the hospitality industry and is the founder of the Roller Dames. She has developed the team to become nationally ranked and has involved hundreds of local women and children in the program. She spearheaded the Sk8 the State for MS and has helped raise money and public awareness for research in multiple sclerosis. Claeys has traveled to the Netherlands and Thailand to raise awareness of human trafficking, and locally is a volunteer captain for River-Cade.

Women of Promise

Emily Vondrak, of Sioux City, was nominated by Briar Cliff University. She is a full-time student at Briar Cliff University and works part-time as a server at the Hard Rock World Tour Buffet. She also is the social media intern for the BCU marketing department. She was on Heelan High School's debate team and the Mayor's Youth Commission, and is an Iowa Women Lead Conference campus ambassador. She also is Enactus vice president and BeSomebody project chair.

Marilyn Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award

Sister Shirley Fineran, O.S.F., is an assistant professor of social work at Briar Cliff University. She was a founding member of several organizations, including the Food Bank of Siouxland, Siouxland Habitat for Humanity and Siouxland Unidad Latina. She serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Home, and continues to work with the Mary Treglia Community House. Her newest mission is establishing a halfway house for women who have been involved with human trafficking.
Training and education are important elements to any business. But many online training courses are often either boring or ineffective. Enter Market Campus. The company works to make its courses actually fun so that students can take in the information and want to learn even more. Learn more about Market Campus in this weeks Small Business Spotlight.

What Market Campus Business Does

Provides digital marketing courses and certification programs.

The company offers both video courses and one-to-one mentoring programs.

Business Niche

Making learning fun.

Founder and CEO Brandon Hassler told Small Business Trends, If youve done online courses before youve likely had a negative experience. Typically they are boring slides with bullet point information with some monotone voice in the background lecturing. Our courses take a completely different approach to learning. We guide you through a custom path from A to Z and through fun whiteboard videos, easy reading and practice quizzes you are able to learn this valuable skill.

How the Business Got Started

As a physical course.

Hassler says, We started as an actual physical marketing bootcamp in Utah but as we grew we got more and more demand from around the country. This past January, we took a huge pivot and took all of our material and re-created it in a unique online experience. Since then weve expanded our subscriber base into many different countries.

Biggest Win

Helping People.

Hassler explains, To not only watch people take a chance on us but to watch them succeed professionally (new job, promotions, their startup increases online sales, etc) is just an amazing feeling that keeps us going everyday.

Biggest Risk

Making the change from offering in-person classes to online ones.

Hassler says, We did virtually no market validation, which was so stupid of us because, for all we know, we could have launched the new online model and had nobody sign up. Fortunately, on our first day, we saw subscribers coming in. It was a big cut in revenue going from a $2,800 9-week in-person course to a $29/month subscription, but it has definitely paid off and has allowed us to have a much bigger audience.

How Market Campus Would Spend an Extra $100,000

Promoting the product.

Hassler says, We have an amazing product; its just a matter of getting it out there. That requires manpower on our side; so, a lot of that would go into building a solid team and we would probably put more money towards ad spend since we barely do any (most of our sales come from organic channels).

Favorite Quote

People say you have to have a lot of passion for what youre doing and its totally true. And the reason is because its so hard that if you dont, any rational person would give up. Its really hard. And you have to do it over a sustained period of time. So if you dont love it, if youre not having fun doing it,  youre going to give up. And thats what happens to most people, actually. If you really look at the ones that ended up being successful in the eyes of the society and the ones that didnt, oftentimes its the ones [who] were successful, loved what they did, so they could persevere when it got really tough. And the ones that didnt love it quit because theyre sane, right? Who would want to put up with this stuff if you dont love it? So its a lot of hard work and its a lot of worrying constantly and if you dont love it, youre going to fail.  Steve Jobs

* * * * *

Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program.
There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to
Divon James Chase, 25, of Lexington Park, Md.

LEONARDTOWN, Md.

(March 22, 2016)Divon James Chase, 25, of Lexington Park, was been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly abusing a dog. Chase was issued a criminal summons on Monday, March 14.On March 14, Corporal E. O'Connor responded to the area of JD Court and Great Mills Road for the report of a subject beating a puppy. According to witnesses, a small dog dashed across all lanes of Great Mills Road to an area near the Chesapeake Public Charter School. Several independent witnesses allege they observed the suspect "sling the dog over his shoulder and slam the dog to the ground on its head." Witnesses also said that the man continued to punish the small dog by dragging and kicking it.As Corporal O' Connor continued her investigation she was able to identify the suspect as Chase. As a result of her investigation, she made an application for charges to the District Court Commissioner that same evening.Chase is currently awaiting a hearing in the District Court.Police notified Animal Control which will review the incident to determine if further action is required.Any other citizens who may have witnessed this incident are encouraged to contact the Sheriff's Office at 301-475-8008.
Vice Admiral Terry Benedict, Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) director, tells Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) personnel that their efforts are "absolutely critical to the defense of our country" during a ground breaking ceremony for the new Missile Support Facility, March 18. "Once completed, this $22.7 million effort, 58,000-square-foot facility is going to house the SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) program offices and the labs for over 300 outstanding professionals in the fields of engineering, physics, math, statistics, computer science, and the list goes on," said Benedict, the event's keynote speaker, as (left to right) NSWCDD Commanding Officer Capt. Brian Durant, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., listen. NSWCDD has been a key member of the SLBM team since the program's inception, and will continue throughout the next generation of submarine - the new Ohio-Replacement Program.

DAHLGREN, Va.

(March 22, 2016)Congressional and military leaders broke ground for a new facility considered vital to the Navy's Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Program, March 18.Four speakersCapt. Brian Durant, Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.described the building as crucial to the top-priority SLBM program responsible for 70 percent of the nation's nuclear deterrent capability.SLBM systems have provided a reliable, secure strategic deterrent for the nation since 1960."What you do here today and in the future is absolutely critical to the defense of our country," Benedict, the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) director, told a civilian and military audience, predominantly Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) personnel."The Ohio Replacement Program (ORP) and United Kingdom's Vanguard Successor Program will require the expertise of Dahlgren in order to be successful," said Benedict. "Your efforts have specifically resulted in the 60 plus years of success for SSP and the Fleet Ballistic Missile Program."Wittman called the $22 million building, "a great milestone" for the development of submarine launched ballistic missiles, stating that it will enable Navy civilian scientists and engineers to keep "our Fleet Ballistic Missile Programs on track".The facility will feature state-of-the-art labs, offices, and equipment for more than 300 NSWCDD Strategic and Computing Systems Department scientists, engineers, and technical experts who develop, test, and maintain the SLBM fire control and mission planning software."Our facilities are part of generating readiness," said Wittman. "We want to ensure that you are working in facilities that will enable you to do that job. Thank you for the fantastic work you do."NSWCDD has been a key member of the SLBM team since the program's inception, and will continue throughout the next generation of submarine known as the new Ohio-Replacement Program.The first Ohio Replacement Submarinea future nuclear submarine designed to replace the Trident missile-armed Ohio-class ballistic missile submarinesis scheduled to begin construction in 2021.The speakers emphasized that the NSWCDD facility will help ensure that the Ohio Replacement Submarine remains a strategic deterrent into the 2080s."Ohio Replacement submarines are important to how we keep this nation safe," said Kaine, adding that, "this program is helping our greatest ally (Great Britain) help make the world safer."In addition to the new NSWCDD Missile Support Facility, the Ohio Replacement Program will use facilities managed by the Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and several industrial and shipyard sites to perform early evaluation of ship systems and subsystems.In his welcoming remarks, Durant recounted Dahlgren's history, especially its ability to deliver unique solutions to the warfighter, from a tractor mounted gun during World War I to the current laser weapon system deployed on USS Ponce (AFSB-1)."As we break ground on this new facility housing our Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile program, we mark another great milestone in the history of NSWC Dahlgren," said Durant, pointing out that the SLBM program has a long association with NSWCDD."From the beginning, the Navy looked to Dahlgren for a solution," he recounted. "Our engineers demonstrated that the division was uniquely qualified to undertake the work, in large part because of its experience in ballistic computations and the computing capability that existed at that time at Dahlgren."The command's SLBM accomplishments culminated in Jan. 7, 1960 with the first launch of a Polaris missile from a submarinethe USS George Washington (SSBN-598).Over 56 years later, the NSWCDD commanding officer reflected on the impact of that launch at the groundbreaking for the command's new Missile Support Facility."As a testament to the high quality of work performed here at Dahlgren, the commander of the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) relayed to President Eisenhower the success of the first submarine launched ballistic missile: Polarisfrom the deep to targetperfect," said Durant.Over the years, the Polaris Program evolved to the Poseidon Program and then to the Trident Program, each with greater targeting accuracy requirements."In 1970, roughly five branches with 75 people were working on SLBM programs," said Durant. "Today, our Strategic & Computing Systems Department has nearly 300 people still working on SLBM. This new facility is a testament to the value of their efforts and what it provides to the nation and will continue to reinforce the foundations of the SLBM program here at Dahlgren."
Scott Herman, an openly gay man running for a seat on the Oakland Park Commission, conceded defeat last week but hinted his political future is far from over.

Michael E. Carn, sitting city commissioner, won a special election held March 15, defeating Herman and former mayor Layne Dallett Walls. With 16 of 16 precincts reporting, Carn, a civil engineer, collected 2,418 votes compared to 2,303 for Herman and 2,122 for Walls.

Two days after the election, Herman stated he was still optimistic he could gain ground in the race with overseas ballots that had yet to be counted, but ultimately acknowledged the defeat.

We came within 80 votes and thank you, the Herman campaign stated in a text message to supporters. November is just around the corner and a much better game can be in place with name recognition. Who knows what can happen as I was already asked to run for one of the three seats.

This was Hermans third attempt to win elected public office in Broward County, having previously campaigned for the Florida House of Representatives in 2012 and 2014. A disabled combat veteran of the Gulf War, Herman, 45, campaigned on a platform of putting principles over politics.

Unofficial vote totals show 6,843 people cast their ballots in the citywide, non-partisan election. In its July 2014 report, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Oakland Park to have a population of 43,800.

In the Presidential primary election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton easily carried Broward County, collecting 134,328 votes to 49,054 for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On the Republican side, real estate developer Donald J. Trump won Broward with 53,319 votes compared to 30,786 for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of West Miami.
Matt May and Jennifer Sierra-Grobbelaar are the creative team behind Diego & Drews Wedding, an interactive show opening next week at the Broward Center. Submitted photo.

The way Matt May and Jennifer Sierra-Grobbelaar finish each others sentences, youd think they were an old married couple.

No, were more like Will and Grace, chuckled May, who is a fixture in the South Florida theater community.

The two longtime friends are still headed to the altaras the co-writers and producers of Diego & Drew Say I Do, a new show premiering in the Broward Centers Abdo New River Room next weekand their show is definitely a love child.

When we first started crafting the show, we spent so much time together, night after night after night, writing, writing, writing until it was done, said Sierra-Grobbelaar. Not only do we spend most of our free time together, (the show) has become a fabric of our being.

The audience at the Broward Center will participate in the theatrical ceremony, dance the night away, sample a fusion Southern/Puerto Rican feast and taste the wedding cake, too.

While it may be easy to draw comparisons with other popular audience-participation shows like Tony & Tinas Wedding, May and Sierra-Grobbelaar promise an unique experience for the audience.

This is a departure, she said. There is a purpose to the story and were not just focusing on the negative aspects of families. Its really about celebrating love.

Celebrating love with two handsome grooms, their two eccentric families, an uptight wedding planner, an ex-boy band crooner and a diva in drag, all the essential components for a fabulous gay wedding.

The opportunity to partner with the Broward Center arose at a dinner last year with programming executive Jill Kratish. Over the past two seasons, the center has expanded offerings in the flexible Abdo New River Room space and developed a new audience base as a result.

Fort Lauderdales sizable LGBT community has long been supportive of the Broward Center and gay-themed programming does well there. May and Sierra-Grobbelaar also credit good timing.

Ive had this idea in my head for a while and three days later, the ideas started flowing and we said lets give it crack, recalled May. We had the majority of the script completed when the Supreme Court came down with the marriage equality decision.

The duo is feeling the pressure as the premiere approaches.

I think its both exciting and scary. Were not just the writers, but also a part of the producing team. Were on the hook to make this successful and pay all the bills, said Sierra-Grobbelaar, who coordinates marketing for Neil Goldbergs Cirque Productions in Pompano Beach and was an associate producer of the Broward County centennial production, We.

The Broward Center is a phenomenal facility with great people, May added. Weve bounced lots of ideas by them and its been a collaborative effort across the board, which is comforting that were all in it together.

Theyre also thankful for their director, who Sierra-Grobelaar called, the miracle that is John Manzelli.

The producers are equally enthusiastic about their cast, including Mike Westrich, Jeffrey Bruce, Madelin Marchant, Merry Jo Cortada and Eric O'Keefe andBenjamin-Michael Joseph Antipuna in the title roles.

One thing is certain, there are no pre-nuptial agreements involved because this marriage is guaranteed to be a success.

Diego & Drew Say I Do will be presented in the Abdo New River Room of the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale, March 31  April 10. Tickets start at $59.50 at BrowardCenter.org.
The Moon's Ancient Poles NASA

New NASA-funded research provides evidence that the spin axis of Earths moon shifted by about five degrees roughly three billion years ago.

The evidence of this motion is recorded in the distribution of ancient lunar ice, evidence of delivery of water to the early solar system.

The same face of the moon has not always pointed towards Earth, said Matthew Siegler of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, lead author of a paper in todays journal Nature. As the axis moved, so did the face of the man in the moon. He sort of turned his nose up at the Earth.

This interdisciplinary research was conducted across multiple institutions as part of NASAs Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) based at NASAs Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.

Water ice can exist on Earths moon in areas of permanent shadow. If ice on the moon is exposed to direct sunlight it evaporates into space. Authors of the Nature article show evidence that a shift of the lunar spin axis billions of years ago enabled sunlight to creep into areas that were once shadowed and likely previously contained ice.

The researchers found that the ice that survived this shift effectively paints a path along which the axis moved. They matched the path with models predicting where the ice could remain stable and inferred the moons axis had moved by approximately five degrees. This is the first physical evidence that the moon underwent such a dramatic change in orientation and implies that much of the polar ice on the moon is billions of years old.

The new findings are a compelling view of the moons dynamic past, said Dr. Yvonne Pendleton, director of SSERVI, which supports lunar and planetary science research to advance human exploration of the solar system through scientific discovery. It is wonderful to see the results of several missions pointing to these insights.

A cross-section through the Moon, highlighting the antipodal nature of lunar polar volatiles (in purple), and how they trace an ancient spin pole. The reorientation from that ancient spin pole (red arrow) to the present-day spin pole (blue arrow) was driven by the formation and evolution of the Procellaruma region on the nearside of the Moon associated with a high abundance of radiogenic heat producing elements (green), high heat flow, and ancient volcanic activity. Credits: James Tuttle Keane, University of Arizona

The authors analyzed data from several NASA missions, including Lunar Prospector, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Crater and Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), and the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), to build the case for a change in the moons orientation. Topography from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and thermal measurements from the Diviner lunar radiometer both on LRO are used to aid the interpretation of Lunar Prospector neutron data that support the polar wander hypothesis.

Siegler noticed that the distribution of ice observed at each of the lunar poles appeared to be more related to each other than previously thought. Upon further investigation, Siegler and co-author Richard Miller of the University of Alabama at Huntsville discovered that ice concentrations were displaced from each pole by the same distance, but in exactly opposite directions, suggesting the spin axis in the past was tilted from what we see today. A change in the tilt means that some of the ice deposited long ago has since evaporated as it was exposed to sunlight, but those areas that remain in permanent shadow between the old orientation and the new one retain their ice, and thus indicate what happened.

A planetary body can shift on its axis when there is a very large change in mass distribution. Co-author James Keane, of the University of Arizona in Tucson, modeled the way changes in the lunar interior would have affected the moons spin and tilt. In doing so, he found the Procellarum region on the lunar near-side was the only feature that could match the direction and amount of change in the axis indicated by the ice distributions near the poles. Furthermore, concentrations of radioactive material in the Procellarum region are sufficient to have heated a portion of the lunar mantle, causing a density change significant enough to reorient the moon.

Some of this heated mantle material melted and came to the surface to form the visible dark patches that fill large lunar basins known as mare. Its these mare patches that give the man in the moon his face.

Siegler, Miller, and co-author David Lawrence of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland are part of the Volatiles, Regolith and Thermal Investigations Consortium for Exploration and Science team, one of nine teams funded by SSERVI.

Said Siegler, These findings may open the door to further discoveries on the interior evolution of the moon, as well as the origin of water on the moon and early Earth.

For more information about SSERVI and the finding, visit: http://www.sservi.nasa.gov

For more information about NASAs Ames Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ames
What does a company need to do when employing a foreign national?

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Conditions for employing foreigners in Slovakia depend on many factors, particularly on the country of origin of a potential employee and on the type of his stay. For some foreign nationals, however, the process might take as much as five months.

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Citizens of the European Union, European Economic Area member states and the Swiss Confederation (EU citizens) and their dependants are in an easier position when searching for a job in Slovakia. From the labour-law point of view, they have the same position as citizens of the Slovak Republic.

If the employer decides to employ such a foreigner, the only difference compared to employing a Slovak is that he has to report this at the local labour, social affairs and family office (labour office). Within seven workdays from when a foreigner begins the job, or after he leaves it, the employer is obliged to deliver to the labour office an information card about the start/end of the labour-law relation of an EU citizen or his dependant/family member on the Slovak territory. In the case of a dependant/family member of an EU citizen, the employer has to add also a copy of the work contract.

Another group consists of foreigners who can be employed without obligation to acquire a special permit which is possible thanks to the nature of their stay in Slovakia. Mostly, these are foreigners whose primary objective of stay here is not to work, but their stay enables them to work to a certain degree. The biggest part of this group is third countries nationals with permanent residence in Slovakia, and Slovaks living abroad. People under international protection (refugees and people with subsidiary protection granted), foreign interns, journalists or clerics belong here to. Their work activity in Slovakia is in no way limited.

Limits for some

Legislation largely limits the possibility of work for other groups by the previous duration of their stay in Slovakia, by maximum duration of employment or by their field of work. Foreigners with temporary stay aimed at uniting a family are entitled to work without the obligation to acquire a work permit for one year after acquiring a permit to stay has elapsed. Asylum seekers, if their asylum request has not been decided upon, after nine months, and foreigners who became victims of human trafficking, for example, after 180 days.

Foreign students at university are entitled to work in Slovakia a maximum of 20 hours per week; students of secondary or language schools a maximum of 10 hours a week. Research workers with temporary residence aimed at research and development can only do pedagogical activities a maximum of 50 days in a calendar year, exceeding their host agreement.

Some categories of foreigners who come to work in Slovakia for a very limited period of time do not need a special permit for employment either. These include, for example, participants of scientific or artistic events, the work of which in Slovakia cannot exceed 30 days in a year; or workers doing some industrial construction or repair work, programming work or expert training, whose work cannot exceed 90 days in a year. If an employer requires the foreigner to work exceeding these limits, a foreigner would have to acquire a temporary stay permit, aimed at employment, first.

Similar to employees from the EU, also for nationals of third countries who are not required to obtain a special permit for work, the administrative difficulty of obtaining it is comparable with employment of a Slovak citizen. Apart from the above-mentioned reporting duty the employer is required to keep a copy of his document proving his stay for the whole duration of employment.

Labour and residence permit in one

Thanks to transposing of an EU directive on a single application procedure for a single permit for third country nationals to reside and work, the administrative difficulty of procuring an employment permit has been partially reduced, as the two-stage character of this process has been eliminated. In the first stage, third country nationals had to acquire a permit for employment, and based on this, in the second step, a residence permit. Due to this change, this process has been simplified. Thus, a foreigner is not forced to communicate with two offices but the foreign police procure the documents for issuing unified residence and employment permit directly from the labour office.

The original, two-stage process has been preserved only in the case of seasonal employment, employment of sailors and special situations of foreigners who are allowed to work without an obligation to get an employment permit after some stay in Slovakia if they want to be employed before this time elapses.

Locals first

An employer who decides to employ a foreigner for whom no legal exception applies must first report the job vacancy on a separate form to the due labour office. He must report it at least 30 workdays before the application for temporary residence is filed. During this period, the labour office will check on whether there is no job applicant registered in his evidence who would fulfil conditions for this vacancy. Only if no such applicant in the labour office evidence is found, the employer can be allowed to employ the foreigner.

Only after the 30-workday deadline has expired, a foreigner can ask for temporary residence for the purpose of employment. If he or she filed the application earlier, foreign police would turn it down without further evaluating it. The application must have attached a valid passport, two photographs (3x3.5 cm), employment contract or promise of employment, a certified document proving the education, criminal record report, a document proving accommodation in Slovakia, a document proving the financial provision of the stay, and an administrative fee of 165.50 or 170, depending on whether the application is filed at the foreign police or Slovak representation abroad, must be paid. Police will decide on a temporary stay within 90 days. Only after the temporary residence permit is issued, a foreigner can start working legally.

Part-time not possible

The hiring itself of a foreigner is not much different from the previous cases. Only the duty of the employer to inform the labour office in case the foreigner failed to start working within seven workdays from the day agreed upon as the first working day, is distinctive. The disadvantage, however, is that such a foreigner can be employed only in employment relationship. No work agreement outside the employment relationship (f.e. work performance agreement) is allowed.

The whole process of employing a foreigner, from his selection to starting a job, thus lasts for about five months, which corresponds with the legislation focused primarily at protection of the labour market and the situation when the economy is able to fill vacancies with domestic labour.

A special type of temporary residence  Blue Card  should represent the simplest and fastest way for a foreigner to enter the labour market in Slovakia. The deadline for issuing this type of residence permit has been shortened to 30 days. Acknowledging qualification as necessary materials for acquiring Blue Card takes approximately three months, however. In Slovak conditions, this type of residence permit is used very little.

More detailed information on employing foreigners in Slovakia and solution of individual situations can be found at www.iom.sk , or at 0850 211 478.
Madian here means resisting the decline of society, oligarchy in the state and an increase in extremism.

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When Marek Madaric, the ideological father of Smer, describes free assembly and free expression as the maidanisation of politics, he is approaching the Russian understanding the Ukrainian Maidan demonstrations.

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Unlike the western cultural environment, of which we have been a part for a quarter century, Russia perceived the democratisation efforts in Ukraine as a coup against the ruling power orchestrated by fascist extremists. And it made sure to send its little green men to secure things.

But madianisation, the way we should perceive it and the way the West world has perceived it, is resistance against decline in society  opposing oligarchification of the state and increased extremism.

Igor Matovic, Richard Sulik, and their street performances have not contributed to a solution so far. On the contrary, they even make the state of affairs worse, by putting street and Facebook activism before practical solutions. They only strengthen the feeling of decline with non-sensical protests at a time when they have no power to change anything.

To contribute to making things better, they must become a strong and constructive opposition that not only takes up space on the squares, but positions on political issues. They have all the chance to do so, because it is the Smer of Marek Madaric is generating the decline.

It is Smer that is responsible for the state the country is in, and as well the lack of trust in political institutions. Under its two governments, an octopus has grown through the Slovak economy and processes are controlled by interest groups. After 10 years of Smer solutions, some voters came to the decision that they prefer even neo-Nazis.

Resistance towards this state of affairs is natural. The anger of thousands of right leaning voters who believed in change is understandable. It is up to us to decide what the maidanisation will bring. Smer must finally offer sensible solutions, and not just more scandals.

Meanwhile Matovic and Sulik in the opposition must make sure that these solutions are implemented without stealing or oligarchs.

If that happens, the maidanisation of political circumstances will have been worth it. The opposite would be armed little green men  not foreign invaders, but ones with a double cross on their chests.
Chairs of Smer, SNS, Most-Hid and Siet will officially form a new government on March 23.

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Robert Fico of Smer, Andrej Danko of the Slovak National Party (SNS), Bela Bugar of Most-Hid and Radoslav Prochazka of Siet signed a coalition agreement on March 22 at Bratislava Castle.

In his speech, incumbent Prime Minister Robert Fico reminded of the attacks in Brussels, adding that only strong and stable governments can respond to terrorism.

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If we want Slovakia to prosper, we need elementary safety and peace in the country, Fico said, as quoted by the SITA newswire. He stressed he does not ask for support, but respect. I ask for respect as there is no other alternative, only the alternative of chaos.

The four coalition partners followed standard democratic principles when forming the government, the PM continued.

I will do everything for the government to be graced by responsibility, understanding and compromises, Fico added, as quoted by SITA.

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Read also: Meet Slovakia's new cabinet (UPDATED) Read more

SNS chair Danko said he is fulfilling his dream, to return the oldest political party back to the top political game. He described the government as the government of compromises where everybody forgot about their egos. Though people expressed their disagreement with establishment in the elections, they do not want people who carry weapons to the parliament to rule the country, Danko added, as reported by SITA.

Bugar of Most-Hid described the government as the most unexpected one and stressed that the parties start ruling during very hard times.

Slovakia is changing and I am not sure whether it is for better, Bugar said, as quoted by SITA, adding that thus the country needs a stable and predictable government.

The presence of Most-Hid in the new cabinet should bring the change in managing the country in favour of all people, Bugar stressed.

Prochazka assumes that the priority of the new government should be to return trust in people that the state does not have to be a reason for worries, but a provider of quality services. He stressed that the cabinet should work in favour of all, despite their political attitudes, as reported by SITA.

Based on the agreement, Smer will have eight ministers in the new cabinet, while SNS will have three, Most-Hid two and Siet one. Moreover, Smer will nominate one state secretary at every ministry. Most-Hid and SNS will have five state secretaries, Siet three.

The parties also agreed on their programme priorities for 2016-2020.
Flags in front of the Presidential Palace will fly at half-mast to pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels bomb attacks.

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The leaders of four coalition parties honoured the victims of the March 22 terrorist attacks, which claimed at least 30 casualties and more than 200 injured, with one-minute of silence when signing a coalition agreement.

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This important act [of signing the coalition agreement] took place in the shadow of tragic events, incumbent Prime Minister Robert Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newsiwire. As prime minister Im expressing my full solidarity with the Belgian prime minister [Charles Michel], as a citizen with all the Belgian people, and as a human being with all who lost their relatives and friends.

In response to the attacks, Slovak President Andrej Kiska decided that flags in the Presidential Palaces front courtyard should fly at half-mast to pay tribute to the victims.

Our society mustnt be overcome by fear, Kiska said earlier in the day, as quoted by TASR, adding that it is terrible that even in the current, modern world there are people whore able to commit such terrorist acts.

Meanwhile, the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that no Slovaks died or were injured in the attacks. Ministrys spokesperson Peter Stano also clarified the information which appeared in the media that two Slovak citizens were injured.

Based on specified information, these were Austrian citizens who are related to a Slovak intern in Brussels, Stano told the TASR newswire.

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Read also: Fico: Slovakia may reconsider its threat level Read more

Attacks not a surprise

Security analyst Jaroslav Nad said that the explosions in Brussels were not a surprise, as the Belgian capital is among the cities under an enormous threat of terrorist attacks.

Its because its at the heart of Europe, and the community of the powerful converges there, Nad told TASR, adding that such attacks cannot be completely prevented. He noted that the blasts might be a response to the arrest of several radicals, including Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of involvement in the attacks in Paris last November.

Nad noted that one of the explosions at Zaventem airport occurred at the American Airlines booth, while the one at a metro station was near the EU institutions.

Its as if theyve attacked the USA and the EU, the analyst continued.

Another analyst Milan Zitny said that the blasts at an airport and metro station were probably a reaction to the arrest of Abdeslam, the main mastermind behind the November terror attacks in Paris. It needs to be taken as a warning to the heart of the EU, he added.

We need to be serious about this, as the EU administration as well as NATO administration for Europe is there [in Brussels], Zitny said, as quoted by TASR. It also gives a very bad reputation to Brusselss intelligence services and the police force.
President Andrej Kiska was among the first people to see the new model, of which production starts in the end of the year.

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Kiska visited the PSA Peugeot Citroen plant during his visit to Trnava. He and companys CEO Remi Girardon visited several production lines, the TASR newswire reported.

During the visit, the carmakers management announced it will increase the volume of this years production, from the originally expected 290,000 to 315,000, Girardon said.

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Kiska was also curious about the possibilities for young people and the dual education, which the carmaker will start as of next school year with 30 pupils.

It is a pleasure to come to the company which employs more than 3,500 people and together with sub-contractors it gives jobs to dozens of thousands of people, Kiska said, as quoted by TASR. And what is important, it plans further development here.

Thus it is important to have the structure of Slovak education set in a way that the companies willing to open new jobs will find appropriate people, he added.
All newly elected MPs have sworn an oath for the next term, they also held a minute of silence for the victims of Brussels attacks

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PARLIAMENT convened in its new composition for the first time on March 23. At the inaugural session, MPs swore the oath as required by the Constitution and elected the parliaments speaker and his deputies, as well as heads of parliamentary committees.

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Prior to swearing their oaths, the parliament held a minute of silence in memory of the victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels from the day before.

video //www.sme.sk/vp/33513/

Danko becomes speaker

As the ruling coalition agreed, the MPs have elected head of the Slovak National Party (SNS) Andrej Danko to the post of parliament speaker, one of the top three constitutional posts in the republic. He was elected with 112 of the 146 valid votes in the secret ballot. There are 150 MPs in the parliament.

Andrej Hrnciar of Siet, Bela Bugar of Most-Hid, and Martin Glvac of Smer will serve as Dankos deputy speakers. Lucia Nicholsonova of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) was elected the fourth deputy speaker, a post which traditionally belongs to the opposition.

After he was elected, Danko took over presiding over the inaugural session. In his first speech to MPs he stressed responsibility.

In politics, I have always wanted to be the one who does not endorse xenophobia and racism, Danko said as quoted by the Sme daily. Referring to the Brussels terrorist attacks from the day before the session, Danko said he realized how dangerous it is to use weapons and solve problems with violence and play on the lowest instincts and emotions.

Words are the only weapon that MPs should be using in the parliament, Danko said, and added that human rights should be key for all Slovakias policies.

Weapons in parliament

The reason why Danko mentioned weapons was the incident from earlier on March 22, when the newly elected MPs first came to the parliament to talk about the division of posts in the parliamentary bodies. One of the LSNS MPs, Peter Krupa, brought his pistol to the parliament. After he revealed he was carrying a weapon during the security check, he deposited it in the chest of the security service.

LSNS head Marian Kotleba said that the MP holds the weapon legally, Sme daily reported.

After the official inauguration, MPs and their assistants are no longer required to pass security checks.

Many of the MPs have expressed their concerns over their colleagues carrying weapons to the parliament. Another LSNS MP, Milan Uhrik, admitted the partys MPs carry weapons and they deposit them with the security service when entering parliament. He insisted they felt threatened.

Our members have been several times assaulted by activists and junkies, he said as quoted by SITA.

Newly-elected deputy speaker Lucia Nicholsonova also said that she will take efforts not to let weapons into the parliament.

Various emotions occur in that room, she explained. I dont want to wrong anyone, maybe they are mentally stable, but maybe theyre not.

Star of David in parliament

No incidents have been reported during the inaugural session of the parliament.

Two MPs, Ondrej Dostal elected for SaS and Viera Dubacova from the OLaNO-NOVA slate, came to the parliament wearing the Star of David, to commemorate Germanys transformation into a Nazi dictatorship on this day in 1933, as they said.

They also wanted to point to the dangers of having fascists in parliament, they said as reported by the TASR newswire.

Its meant to honour human dignity and freedom, to which every activity in the state apparatus should be submitted, Dubacova said as reported by TASR.

Pointing out to fascists in parliament is connected with the far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia (LSNS) elected into parliament. The partys MP Milan Uhrik said it was circus to wear the star in the parliament and refured his party to be labeled fascist, TASR wrote.

Only Siet without a caucus

At the inaugural session the parties represented in the parliament also formed their respective caucuses and elected their heads.

The Siet party, which originally had 10 MPs elected to the parliament but three of them left the party before the inaugural session of the parliament in protests to the party joining a ruling coalition with Smer, will not have a parliamentary caucus. The minimum of eight MPs is required for a caucus to function, and Siet only has seven MPs.

According to earlier reports the MPs were considering joining the caucus of Most-Hid, but in the end they will remain outside any caucus, the partys head Radoslav Prochazka confirmed.

Smer has the strongest caucus, with 49 members. It is headed by former defence minister Martin Glvac. The head of the SaS caucus, with 21 MPs, is Martin Poliacik. Richard Vasecka will head the OLaNO-NOVA caucus which includes 19 MPs, while the SNS caucus with 15 MPs is headed by Tibor Bernatak. Parliamentary newcomer LSNS with 14 MPs is headed by its chairman Marian Kotleba, while another newcomer, Sme Rodina, has 11 MPs and is headed by Boris Kollar. Most-Hids caucus includes 10 MPs (one of the MPs elected on the partys slate, Zsolt Simon, did not join the caucus after he left the party in response to the party joining Smer and SNS in a ruling coalition). The caucus is headed by MP Gabor Gal.

Outgoing cabinet quits

Following the session, the outgoing cabinet of Robert Fico, Slovakias first-ever one-party government, is expected to submit their abdication to President Andrej Kiska, thus making way for the new cabinet to step forward with its programme statement and ask the new MPs for their trust.

The new cabinet, formed by Fico who will remain in the prime ministerial chair for the next term based on the coalition agreement, now has 30 days to be approved by MPs.

Ministers of the outgoing cabinet were present in the parliament for the oath ceremony. Many of them were elected MPs from the slate of Smer. If the parliament okays the new cabinet, they will vacate their parliamentary chairs and will be replaced by the candidates next in line on their respective slates.
Slovakia increases the degree of terrorist threat for the first time.

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In response to the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels and the subsequent worsened security situation in Europe, Interior Minister Robert Kalinak declared the second, increased degree of terrorist threat in Slovakia. It came into effect on March 23 at midnight, the SITA newswire reported.

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The decision follows the recommendation of the expert group for coordination of exchange and analysis of information and cooperation in the fight against terrorism, which runs alongside the committee of Slovakias Security Council for coordination of intelligence services and the Council of the National Security Analytical Centre.

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Read also: No Slovaks among victims in Brussels Read more

Slovakia has declared the second degree of threat in case there was a terrorist attack or attempted terrorist attack in any of the EU or NATO member states and its consequences may impact the country, its citizens or its interests. The possibility of attacking Slovakia, however, is still low though such possibility cannot be ruled out completely. The country can declare the second degree also in case other countries are attacked by terrorists to a similar extent, as reported by SITA.

Following the terrorist attacks in Brussels, which claimed at least 30 casualties and some 230 injured, the Security Council of Slovakia was convened. Slovakia adopted the same measures as in the case of November attacks in Paris. Security forces monitor traffic junctions like airports and railway stations, as well as cultural and sporting events.

There are also more police officers in the streets, SITA wrote.
MPs for SaS and OLaNO-NOVA, criticised the aid provided shortly after elections, but the Economy Ministry says it informed both the prime minister and the finance minister.

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Only five days after the elections the outgoing government approved the investment aid amounting to 48 million for Ruzomberok-based paper mill Mondi SCP. Its co-owner has links to the ruling Smer party, said opposition MPs Jana Kissova (Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)) and Igor Matovic (Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO-NOVA)).

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Provisions of the stimuli were not even conditioned by the creation of new jobs. The government thereby gave the firm money that it could have allocated to the education or health sectors, said the MPs, as reported by the TASR newswire.

The outgoing government evidently has money to spare, but it wont go to the health or education sectors, or for a pension increase, Kissova said, as quoted by TASR. A large portion of this money will be provided to a single extraordinarily successful supranational company  Mondi SCP Ruzomberok.

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Read also: Mondi to invest 310 million in Ruzomberok Read more

Matovic stressed that the stimuli were provided by Economy Minister Vazil Hudak without previous discussion within the government or with the public. A law that was approved by the Smer government some time ago enabled him to do so.

The law now stipulates that the aid for investments amounting to more than 200 million does not have to be reviewed and approved by the government. It can be inked by the economy minister who then sends the proposal to Brussels.

Kissova finds granting incentives in this way to be dangerous for the economy.

The government should create a business environment that would ensure that firms dont need stimuli, she stressed, as quoted by TASR.

She also claimed the company did not promise to create any new jobs or maintain the existing ones, as reported by public-service broadcaster RTVS.

The outgoing government hasnt granted any stimuli, but issued a decision that is yet to be assessed by the Slovak Antimonopoly Office and subsequently reported to the European Commission, said Michal Dzurjanin of the Economy Ministrys press department, as quoted by TASR. This process could take one year or 18 months, and no assistance will be provided until then.

He also said that Hudak informed both the prime minister and the finance minister about his decision to approve the aid. Moreover, regarding the amount of investment it was not necessary to assess the hike in employment as it emerges from the plan to extend production, he added, as reported by RTVS.
The Slovak parliament and the Bratislava Castle has made it among places known throughout the world which can be viewed on the internet.

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The parliament building will now become part of the Google Cultural Institute website in the coming weeks. Together with the Bratislava Castle, they will join other widely-known places, like Versailles or the White House, which enable people to view their rooms and art online, via digital exhibition, the TASR newswire reported.

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Those choosing the Slovak parliament will be able to see also works of art exhibited in the buildings interior.

The collection of seven wood plates of oil paintings from famous Slovak artist Albin Brunovsky, which dominate the foyer in front of the assembly hall, will be scanned with a special HD technology, the press department of the Parliaments Office informed the TASR newswire.

The public will also be able to see several unique collections of wood reliefs hung in the halls close to parliamentary committees, which are usually closed to visitors.

It will also be possible to see panoramic pictures of representative rooms of the Bratislava Castle.

Domestic and foreign users will thus be able to enjoy the tour of this part of the Bratislava Castle which is usually not open to the public, the communication department continued, as quoted by TASR.

The rooms, which are usually used for events organised by top constitutional representatives, are interesting for their gold stucco decorations and its furnishing in Teresian style.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  The draft of a new Turkish constitution will be submitted to the national parliament for consideration before the end of April, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wants to secure a transition from the present parliamentary to a presidential form of government through a new constitution.

"Next week, AKP's committee will begin work on a draft constitution. Next month, no later than in the end of April we will present it to parliament. Parliament debates on the draft will be held in May-June," Davutoglu told reporters.
Earlier this week, a source close to the negotiations told RIA Novosti that the contact group meeting will be preceded by the talks of four thematic subgroups. The formation of the subgroups of the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation on political, economic, humanitarian and security issues was stipulated by the Minsk ceasefire agreement.

According to the source, the subgroup on humanitarian affairs will continue to work on the release of prisoners and illegally detained persons. Also, according to the source, the Ukrainian side intends to raise the question of the fate of Ukrainian military helicopter pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who was found guilty in the killing of two Russian reporters, and the ban for Ukraines representative in the humanitarian subgroup Irina Gerashchenko to enter Russia.

Southeastern Ukraine has been suffering from a crisis triggered by a military operation launched by Kiev authorities against local militias in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in April 2014. The regions have refused to recognize the pro-Western government in Kiev that came to power in 2014 in what they consider to have been a coup.

In February 2015, Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine worked out a ceasefire deal in Minsk, later signed by Kiev and the eastern Ukrainian militia. Despite the fact that the agreement was reached a year ago, there have been repeated reports of violations of the deal.
In the interview with Das Bild, the Bavarian Prime Minister reiterated that his party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), wants to impose an annual cap of 200,000 asylum seekers in Germany.

Seehofer said that refugees and migrants must be stopped at Europe's borders, or at internal borders if they slip through, and that an immediate decision must be made on whether to let them in. He described this solution as "more humane" than rejection after a lengthy asylum process.

"The federal government has changed its refugee policy completely, even if they don't admit it," Seehofer told the paper.

"There has been a creeping turn away from the unconditional welcoming culture. In spite of the pictures from the Greek-Macedonian border, no German politician is saying today, 'open the borders, everybody come to Germany.' The 200,000 limit will probably not even be reached this year, although it is not thanks to the federal government." the politician said.

Professor Lees told Sputnik that Seehofer's declaration about the cap not only puts pressure on German politicians to enforce the limit, but also forces other EU countries to be explicit about how many asylum seekers they will take.

"An interesting side effect of this cap, which is obviously a big reduction of the numbers that Germany has taken in to date, is that it actually puts quite a lot of pressure on other countries to increase their caps, if we think about the UK for example, which has pledged to take a much smaller number of refugees," Lees said.
In this respect, he acknowledged, Russian special forces are far ahead of their western colleagues: as the vast majority of terrorist plots have been disrupted at the initial stage.

The expert also suggested why it was Belgium to be targeted by terrorists.

This is the result of a lack of expertise in the foreign policy of the European Union: the huge refugee influx came as a huge burden to the countrys special forces, who were unable to stay at least one step ahead, he said.

Russian international security expert Viktoria Legranova also suggested that Belgian security services had failed in their approach.

When the special forces were working on Salah Abdeslam, they were obliged to check all the connections, groups, and identities of those who could have had any connection to him: their IP addresses, international contacts, etc, she told Radio Sputnik.

If upon obtaining the information on his whereabouts they rushed in to arrest him, without first studying the situation, they may have launched some psychological mechanism [prompting others to] carry out several pre-planned terrorist attacks, she explained.
Finland and Russia also signed a memorandum on the exchange of information regarding immigrant issues. The agreement was made between Finland's Interior Ministry and Russia's Migration Service.

The refugee issue has, for some time, been a stumbling block in relations between Finland and Russia. Although only about 1,700 migrants came to Finland from Russia via "the Arctic route" (compared to thousands arriving via neighboring Sweden before the resumption of border controls on New Year's Day), the Finnish media have been relentless in pressing the matter, especially after Finland's Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto blasted his country's eastern neighbor by calling the refugee problem "a hybrid war on Russia's part" in February.

In addition to the refugee situation, the presidents also discussed cooperation in trade and tourism, stating that the EU-imposed sanctions have proven to be a major setback for both countries. According to data presented by Vladimir Putin, bilateral trade between Finland and Russia dropped by 40 percent last year, while tourism fell 19 percent.

For the past two decades, relations between Russia and Finland have been based on mutual and neighborly cooperation, particularly with respect to trade and investment. However, relations between Russia and the European Union, of which Finland is a member, deteriorated significantly in 2014 due to the Ukrainian crisis.


LONDON (Sputnik)The British government lifted a warning to its citizens against travels to the Belgian capital of Brussels following a Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) session chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday.

"In terms of travel advice, we continue to advise people to follow the advice of the Belgian authorities. Therefore we are no longer advising against travel to Brussels," a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said British embassy staff were working to assist all its nationals affected in two Brussels Airport suicide attacks in the northeastern municipality of Zaventem and one inside a subway carriage at the Maelbeek station near European institutions. These include four British nationals injured in the attacks and one missing British national.
"I have no doubts that European leaders will take additional measures in the fight against terrorism, but the problem is in the fact that there are no visible results. Of course, they can tell us that the measures they have introduced have frustrated more planned attacks than before, but this is poor consolation for European citizens."

The war on terrorism, Milhazes notes, is a "new kind of war, without frontlines, with an invisible or hidden enemy, but we must realize that this truly is a war, and that in order to win it, we need to search for new ways to fight it."

Simply bombing the terrorists is insufficient, the commentator argues; it is necessary to rethink both the strategy and tactics of this war.

First of all, "it's important to note that these attacks occur most commonly in those European countries and those cities that contain numerous Muslim communities, and this must be taken into account when it comes to the organization of the fight against terrorism."

"It was a big mistake," Milhazes laments, "to concentrate these communities into ghettos on the outskirts of large cities, where little has been done to integrate these people. Now, nothing else remains to be done except the long and costly job of 'separating the grain from the chaff', in order to allow people to sprout and to feel themselves at home, rather than in hostile territory."
In April 2014, Belkaid Mohamed went to Syria to join Daesh, according to the terrorist registry which had been leaked to the British television channel Sky News . The registry contains detailed information on tens of thousands of Daesh recruits. The documents show that the 35-year-old had been selected, according to one form, to become a suicide bomber.

In early December, Mohamed Belkaid was wanted internationally by the police for suspected involvement in terrorist attacks in Paris, which claimed 130 lives.

Swedish security police declined to comment on the tracks leading to Sweden.

"It is still too early to say. We are in contact with our international partners. We are now keeping an eye on the investigation that is taking place in France and it will happen in Belgium," says Fredrik Milder, press secretary of the Swedish Security Service Sapo.

According to the Belgian investigators, Mohamed Belkaid was known under the assumed name of Samir Bouzid in Belgian jihadi circles.

After the police had raided the apartment in Forest, an intense skirmish broke out. The police who arrived on the scene were met with a hail of bullets which injured four policemen. Belkaid was shot dead by a sniper, but two of his fellow terrorists managed to escape and have been on the run ever since. Whether or not they were the main suspects in the Brussels attacks remains unclear.

Suspected Belgium attackers at airport. Note highly amaturish concealment of possible detonator in gloves. pic.twitter.com/P1vzSYjrmq  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 22  2016 .

On Tuesday, at least 34 people were killed and some 260 injured in two bomb blasts in Brussels Airport and an explosion in a metro station in central Brussels. According to the Swedish Foreign Ministry, three Swedes were wounded in yesterday's attacks in Brussels.
For example, Aliot remarked, France could've played an important role in the fight against Islamism in Europe, but instead the country directed its energies elsewhere.

"Instead we went to wage war in places we had no reason to attack: Afghanistan, Iraq, that doomed Libyan affair. And now we have to pay for it by dealing with thousands of unfortunate refugees migrating here, some of whom are potential or actual terrorists," he told Sputnik.

According to Aliot, Europe is now dealing with a 'fifth column': people who act behind the backs of security agencies and resort to using the most despicable methods to combat the Union, and European leaders were apparently unable to comprehend the true extent of this threat for a long time.
French parliament members proposed several ideas for preventing terrorist attacks, from increasing security measures to an alliance with Russia, Metro News reported

At a question time with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, many legislators called for enhanced security measures. Most ideas touched on increased monitoring and detaining people on terrorism watch lists, strengthening security measures and attacking manufacturers of encrypted phones.

One idea to stand out from the largely internal measures was posed by Eric Ciotti of Nicolas Sarkozy's Les Republicains party. Ciotti proposed the creation of an alliance with Russia, in order to combat the Islamic State and put aside other disagreements over Syria.
Following the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001, western security agencies appeared to prioritize protecting aircraft from bombings and hijackers, after check-in. However, the attack in the unsecured area of Zaventem airport raises problems for police and intelligence authorities on how such soft targets can be prevented from future attacks.

Professor Moorcraft, author of 'The Jihadist Threat: The Reconquest of the West' told Sputnik that an attack in London was "likely."

"Britain's intelligence officers are worried about a rolling Mumbai-style attack  or a dirty bomb," Professor Moorcraft said.

"Both require a fair amount of organization, although we're not controlling our borders  it's a bit more difficult to smuggle that amount of ammunition into Britain than across the border between France and Belgium  but Britain's intelligence services are ten years ahead than Belgium or France."

However, Professor Moorcraft cites cuts to the army and special branch forces means Britain is "really overstretched."

"I think we're doing quite well, I wouldn't over play it  but we have a real problem because when we cut the army, people forget that includes Special Forces and the SAS are also from the army, they're exhausted and burned out.

"Special branches haven't had weekends off for years, they're run ragged. We are really overstretched. The real problem is that we have lost control of our borders, we don't know who is leaving our country."


ATHENS (Sputnik)There is no substantial reason for the Greek public to be fearful of terrorist attacks as there is no evidence of such cells operating in the country, Alternate Minister for Public Order and Citizen Protection Nikolaos Toskas said.

"Greece does not have to worry. Our country is not a target because of historical reasons but we must stay on the alert as many people are passing through Greece and we are also cooperating with other governments. Neither terrorist cells nor actions that should bother us have been identified," Toskas said in an interview with the local Skai broadcaster late on Tuesday.

Last November's terrorist attacks in Paris mobilized the Greek government to take steps to protect the foreign diplomatic missions in the country, he added.
In Sweden, the police are trying to track down an anonymous Twitter account that on the weekend published a threat just minutes before the extensive cyber-attack on the Swedish media. The account also warned that in the following days further attacks would be directed against the Swedish Government and the media who spread "false propaganda."

Although the attacks were initially pinned on the Russian government owing to the fact that Russian IP addresses had been used during the crime, further investigation revealed immigration critics to lie behind the web assault.

The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet went so far as to call the attacks on the Swedish media a threat to democracy. This doesn't impress Jarvinen too much.

"No, it's not a threat to democracy. Media houses must ensure that their websites have enough capacity to withstand possible attacks", says Jarvinen, suggesting that it is also a good idea to have a plan B in case your website is not working.

Even the mobile network company TeliaSonera experienced problems with their websites yesterday, which began about the same time as the cyber-attack against the Ministry of Defense.
The European Commission believes such move makes sense, because all visitors of airports would then be checked before entering the terminal, the German Die Welt newspaper reported, citing information that emerged in high-level circles of the Commission.

According to the media outlet, the European Commission cited the example of the Moscow Airport Domodedovo, which has successfully introduced controls after a suicide bombing in 2011.
Very sad and disappointing that Ankara did not receive the same response as Paris or Brussels.  Hannah More (@hannahmore) 22  2016 .

Also, while Facebook used its Safety Check feature following the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, the social networking giant appeared reluctant to do the same after the twin suicide bombing in Beirut which took place only a day before the Parisian massacre.

Likewise, few civilian victims of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa get the same treatment as those who were killed in Brussels or during the terrorist attacks in Paris last year.

"When a bomb emblazoned with 'Made in USA' massacres civilians in the Middle East, scarcely a single tear is shed. When Westerners are subjected to the same terror people in Muslim-majority countries endure on a regular basis, the sky falls," Ben Norton, a politics staff writer at Salon, grimly adds.

So how is it possible that when some victims of terrorism and war are being mourned by virtually the entire world, a much greater number of residents of a different region are simply being buried and forgotten?

"The answer to this question, of course, is that this selective mourning is political. It is a political decision, that is the result of particular political views, views that normalize the idea that the victims of Western wars deserve the fates decided for them," Norton says.

In the aftermath of the Brussels atrocity, perhaps we need to be reminded that all human lives  regardless of a persons skin color, language or cultural identity  from Belgium to France and from Turkey to Syria, all are equally valuable. If we reserve our empathy for a select group of people, then we can surely expect no sympathy when we become the victims ourselves.
EDINBURGH (Sputnik), Mark Hirst  Scotlands most senior prosecutor, the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland announced on Wednesday about his intention to resign from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), Scotlands prosecution service.

"It has been a real privilege to serve as Lord Advocate, leading Scotlands prosecution service and providing independent legal advice to the Scottish Government. However, after nine years as a Law Officer  the last five as Lord Advocate  I have decided it is the right time to step down and do other things," Mulholland said in a statement published on prosecutor's office website.

Later in the day, Robert Forrester, spokesman for the Justice for Megrahi committee, which accuses COPFS of perversion of the course of justice and perjury in the case of investigation into the trial of Libyan Abdelbaset Megrahi, told Sputnik that Mulholland would be remembered for "negative and regressive influence" on prosecution service. Megrahi was convicted of the 1988 terrorist attack, in which Pan Am Flight 103 was downed by a bomb over the southern Scottish town of Lockerbie.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Russia is delivering arms to Iraqi Kurdistan on a schedule that is approved and coordinated with Baghdad authorities, Russia's Ambassador to Iraq Ilya Morgunov said.

"All issues regarding military deliveries to Iraq from the Russian side are discussed with representatives of the federal Iraqi government in Baghdad or Moscow. The weapons are delivered to Iraqi customers as they are produced by Russian enterprises, in accordance with timelines outlined in contracts," Morgunov told RIA Novosti.

"If we're talking about deliveries free of charge to Iraqi Kurdistan in order to strengthen the capacity of the Kurdish Peshmerga self-defense forces, this is done in coordination with the Iraqi government in Baghdad, where Russian planes arrive for customs procedures and to obtain consent to proceed to Erbil. The Kurds are primarily supplied with small and medium firearms and ammunition," he added.
Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst for the US Secretary of Defense, has advised US authorities not to doubt Moscows seriousness in announcing that it is ready to unilaterally use force on Syrian ceasefire violators starting from March 22.

In his interview with the news channel RT, Maloof said that there is no coordinated activity on the part of the US to induce some of the rebel groups to observe the ceasefire.

The former Pentagon official explained that the US does not have a clear strategy regarding these groups. On the one hand, he said, Washington wants these groups to fight against Daesh, however in the long run they may end up fighting against President Assad.


WASHINGTON (Sputnik)The US-led coalition against the Daesh terrorist group conducted 25 airstrikes in Syria and Iraq on Tuesday hitting the groups personnel and infrastructure, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a press release.

"In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes using ground-attack, attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft against Daesh targets," CENTCOM stated on Wednesday. "Additionally in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using rocket artillery and attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft against Daesh targets."

Eight airstrikes near three Syrian cities, Mara, Raqqa and Manbij, destroyed six Daeshs tactical units, as well as mortar and fighting positions and a weapons storage facility.
According to Bangkok-based geopolitical analyst, Tony Cartalucci, Washington and its Middle Eastern partners appear to be unhappy with the fact that the Syrian Arab Army, assisted by Russia, have choked off military supplies running into Syria through Turkey, US ally Jordan and Iraq to Syrian Islamists.

The analyst points out that US hawks have not yet given up the idea to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the plan aimed at training and equipping "moderate" fighters in Syria received high praise from American military officials and lawmakers.

US President Obama recently authorized a limited new plan to train and arm Syrian rebels.
He added that "the link has not completely dried out, but it has become much smaller."

"However, it is still there and it is actively used at the border between two Kurdish enclaves in the north of Syria. That is why the Turkish side carries out artillery shelling of Kurdish positions when the Kurds attempt to gain territory from the Islamic State, preventing them from fighting terrorists," the minister said.

"In terms of security, we are not satisfied with the situation in Ukraine. There is still instability, and [there have been] violations of the ceasefire. But we have made some progress in this area," FM Steinmeier said.

"We agree that we will continue to look forward to a peaceful solution in Ukraine," he added.

Answering the question about fulfillment of Minsk agreements German FM Steinmeier said that he's supporting decree of Normandy Four. "We can improve situation in erms of security," he said.

Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier will focus on establishing direct dialogue between representatives of Kiev and Ukraine's troubled Donbas region.

"We underlined the need to pay special attention to this crucial point," Lavrov told reporters following a meeting with Steinmeier.

The exchange of information that could facilitate the fight against the international terrorism should be intensified, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday after talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"It is in our common interest to counter global terrorism. Terrorists' plan to scare people in our countries and make them change their lifestyle should not be implemented. This is what the terrorists are seeking. We have to defend our way of life, protect it with the opportunities provided by the rule-of-law state, and our Interior Minister [Thomas de Maiziere] said today that in the fight against international terrorism, the exchange of information between friendly states should be utilized," Steinmeier said.

"I think we can do more than we have done before. In the morning, we agreed with Sergei Lavrov that these issues would be studied even more closely in the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE]," he said.
"It is also highly unlikely that the fate of Ukrainian volunteer fighter Nadezhda Savchenko will become a serious issue. The two sides' arguments are well-known; the question is turning increasingly to the legal and diplomatic plane, and in the negotiations it deserves a maximum of three to four phrases."

Ultimately, Expert suggests, when it comes to the Ukraine issue, Moscow and Washington have reached a stalemate, and Kerry's visit is unlikely to cause any tectonic shifts.

"The United States managed to convince the European Union that Ukraine is a serious problem, and that the future and security of Europe depends on Ukraine, but even the Europeans understand that they have nothing more to pressure Russia with," Viktor Kremeniuk, the deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute of the US and Canada told the magazine.

At the same time Moscow, for its part, "understands that Kiev is not ready to implement the Minsk agreements," even though they are "the only method of transforming Ukraine into a more or less viable entity."

"As a result, the Ukrainian question, most likely, will be frozen for an indefinite period, with Washington, Brussels and Moscow needing only to periodically measure the temperature of the conflict and keep Petro Poroshenko from making any attempts to disrupt the status quo."

Syria Under the Looking Glass

"The Syrian situation," Expert notes, "looks more interesting. According to John Kirby, the sides will discuss "ongoing efforts of the International Syrian Support Group to maintain the cessation of hostilities, provide aid and improve and expand humanitarian access, and facilitate a political transition in Syria, while also combating Daesh."

"By all appearances, some kind of framework agreement has been reached," expressed in the Geneva peace talks and the ceasefire agreement, the latter worked out in coordination with the US. "However," the magazine notes, "the devil is in the details."

"And these details are many: Damascus's unwillingness to accept the partition of Syria, difficulties in Russian-Iranian negotiations, Moscow tying the Syrian issue to global cooperation with the US, the absence of a clear American position regarding Syria's future (Washington wants autonomy for Syrian Kurdistan, but doesn't know how to sell this to its Turkish partners), and finally, the US's inability or unwillingness to control their clients among the Syrian opposition factions."
According to Cartalucci, there is something sinister about the fact that Daesh shows up in regions where the Western elites cannot intervene directly without a plausible pretext.

"This includes North Africa, the Middle East, and even [reaches] as far as Asia," he remarks.

Although the story sounds like another "conspiracy theory," these suspicions are not entirely groundless.

Leaked Defense Intelligence Agency's Report

Cartalucci recalls a leaked 2012 Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report on the Syrian military uprising that stated clearly:

"If the situation unravels, there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria (al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran)."

The report also clarified who "the supporting powers to the opposition" actually were:

"The West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support the opposition; while Russia, China, and Iran support the regime."

Moreover, the DIA report disclosed that the Syrian uprising was instigated and driven by Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, rather than an amorphous "moderate" Syrian opposition.

It means that while targeting Syria and Iran, "the powers supporting the opposition" has sided with Sunni fundamentalists.
Indeed, the Western press jumped at the opportunity to point the finger of blame at Russia for bombing the so-called moderate Syrian rebels instead of terrorists in the region.

"Many news reports suggest that Aleppo has been a 'liberated zone' for three years but is now being pulled back into misery," Kinzer recalled.

However, the truth of the matter is that it was actually the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front who "liberated" Aleppo back in 2013.

"The US has remained silent about Nusra Front's leading role in the military effort against Assad, concealing the fact that Nusra's success in northwest Syria has been a key element in Secretary of State John Kerry's diplomatic strategy for Syria," Porter explains.

Fehim Tastekin of Al-Monitor explained in his February article that in addition to its strongholds in rural Idlib, al-Nusra Front had a presence in north of Aleppo, as well as in Turkmen regions of Latakia and Azaz, having significant mobilization capacity in these areas. It generally operates under the flag of its close ally Ahrar al-Sham.
Moreover, he suggested, "there should not be permanent and non-permanent membersThe Security Council should be comprised of 20 countries which should constantly be rotated."

Offering an example of his discontent with the current system, Erdogan criticized the Security Council's 'indecisiveness' on Syria. "We are talking about Syria, where 500,000 people have been killed. There is the cruel figure of Assad, who has spawned state terror. In fact, he should be tried in The Hague, but the international community has not agreed to this yet."

"How is this possible? What kind of world is this? What kind of Security Council is this?" Erdogan asked.

Analyzing Erdogan's remarks, independent online Russian newspaper Svobodnaya Pressa suggested that what the president is effectively calling for is "the dismantling of the key institute in charge of security in the world."

Its undoing, the paper notes, would signify the end of "an international security infrastructure designed during the Yalta Conference in 1945." The agreement between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt at the close of World War II formed the concept of permanent membership, with a right to a veto, for the 'great powers' including the Soviet Union (succeeded by Russia), the United States, China, Britain and France.
In his recent Op-Ed for Russia Today Neil Clark, a journalist, writer, broadcaster and blogger, writes that former US Secretary of State Clinton's emails as well as secret cabels and reports provided by Wikileaks and American conservative educational foundation Judicial Watch show that Washington was by no means an innocent bystander, but went out of its way to destabilize Syria and exploit its ethnic and religious divisions.

What previously seemed to be just a set of circumstances have turned out to be elements of a highly thought-out and well-orchestrated project.

Nothing hinted at any trouble back in 2006, when US Ambassador to Syria William Roebuck sent a cable to the White House describing "potential vulnerabilities" of the Assad government and the "possible means to exploit them."
Discussing the recent Brussels terrorist attacks and the rising tide of Islamophobia in the US, Zahr acknowledged that Clinton's way of speaking is more diplomatic and "polished," but that her actions show that, "she exercises Islamophobia, she just doesn't talk Islamophobia." Zahr noted that Islamophobic rhetoric is used as a tool for political gain, as calling for aggressive action against Muslims gets votes, as can be seen in the case of Trump.

Zahr noted that, in Michigan, there is a large population of Muslims who are "extremely familiar with Hillary Clinton" and who are "extremely antagonistic to voting for her." He adds that a lot of people in the region support rival Bernie Sanders, as they don't see much difference between Clinton and Trump.

Akin, however, observed differences between the two candidates, noting that, while Clinton is more in line with neo-conservatives, Trump is a "wildcard", and, being a wildcard, "he can say pretty much whatever comes to the top of his mind."

Zahr stated that, "there's all kinds of ridiculousness and absurdity that comes along with a Trump presidency." He hopes that America won't have to experience it, but suggests that a Trump presidency may be something that America must endure to "mature as a nation."
First up, a number of a relatively encouraging stories, including: Obama went to Cuba as the first American President to visit the Cold War-ravaged island nation in more than 50 years; An update (with some good news and some bad) on the Illinois county where thousands of voters were turned away without voting last week due to ballot shortages (which we covered in detail on last Friday's show); A new poll finds Utah (Utah!) could go Democratic this year if Trump is the GOP nominee. (And guess which Democrat does best against him?); Bernie Sanders holds a huge event in Seattle in advance of several primaries and caucuses this week in western states, about which his campaign is reportedly very optimistic; and Rush Limbaugh freaks out and misinforms listeners because a new film documents how his business model is about freaking people out and misinforming listeners.

Then, I'm joined by the intolerably reasonable blogger Kevin Drum of Mother Jones, who argues that the electorate isn't nearly as "angry" as the corporate media continue to (mis)report them to be (speaking of "business models"), before he goes on to offer his (apparently controversial) list of the "Top Ten Things That Are Going Great in America".

Really? Many things are going great?! That's simply outrageous! Drum explains how such outrage  even over legitimate concerns  can sometimes keep very real problems (such as high lead levels in places around the country other than Flint, for example) from being reported, noticed and even fixed at all.
"At parties every time a picture was taken I [would] put the spliff behind my back so people on Facebook don't think I'm a constant druggie," she said.

"If the photo was not going to end up on Facebook, I wouldn't care as much [] because not everyone would see it."

Another participant, a 21-year-old called *Shelly, admitted she had changed the way she interacted with others at parties to avoid damaging any of her personal relationships.

"I remember during freshers' [university orientation] week I had a boyfriend. He was really jealous and he saw some pictures of me on someone's shoulders and just went mental at me. So I had to consciously think every time there was a camera out: 'oh, am I standing too close to this boy?' "

'Under Constant Surveillance'

While the monitoring of online behavior isn't necessarily a new phenomenon, Dr Marder said the prevalence of social media and the increased availability and accessibility of modern technology was blurring the lines between the online and offline lives of some people.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Hundreds of people protested in New Orleans against President Barack Obamas decision to approve a new round of deep sea drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said in a press release on Wednesday.

"Hundreds of Gulf Coast residents, supported by local and national environmental and social-justice groups, rallied at the Superdome in an unprecedented call to end federal offshore fossil fuel lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico," the release stated.

The rally came the same day the Obama administration approved the leasing of 43 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico in an oil drilling plan that leaves the Gulf and the Arctic open to dirty and dangerous fossil fuel extraction projects, the CBD noted.
This guy right here, John McCain, who basically doesnt like us; hes like this with Elon Musk, Tobey said during a March 15 presentation at the University of Colorado-Boulder, according to audio posted by Space News. So Elon Musk says, 'Why dont you guys go, why dont you go after United Launch Alliance and see if you can get that engine to be outlawed?' 

During his speech, Tobey suggested silencing McCain, who is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman.

The problem is that it carries a $1 billion or $2 billion budget, and is it worth that billion or two dollars of taxpayer money just to silence John McCain, whos the squeaky wheel in all this? Tobey said. It really is a one-man band out there thats driving forward. Everyone wants to get off of the RD-180 engine, but they want to do it in a more logical and organized way that basically doesnt put those national assets at risk.

ULA CEO Tony Bruno did not approve of Tobeys commentary however, announcing that his employee had resigned, effective immediately, and claiming that his company welcomes competition.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Steinmeier arrived on a working visit to Moscow earlier in the day to discuss, among other things, the Syrian peace process with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"The results on Syria proved that perseverance and teamwork could benefit the world," Steinmeier told reporters upon meeting Lavrov.

On February 22, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria, which took effect on February 27 and is generally holding across the country despite reported minor violations.
The fourth race on Tuesday evenings card of racing at The Raceway at Western Fair District was declared a No Contest by the Ontario Racing Commission Judges following a spill that occurred shortly after the start.

Ryan Holliday was making a bid for the lead with Its Machademic from Post 2 when the pacer made a sudden break and fell. Dutch Seelster and driver Scott Wray, who were scoring from the second tier, were right behind Its Machademic. As a result, that pacer collided with Holliday and Its Machademic.

Holliday was shot out of his racebike, but quickly got back to his feet. Its Machademic also got up quickly. Wray and Dutch Seelster managed to stay up despite colliding with the fallen horse and driver.

Holiday opted to book off the remainder of his Tuesday evening drives following the spill.

My necks a wee bit sore, Holliday told Trot Insider. Ive got a couple little cuts, but nothing serious.

Holliday also noted his charge, Its Machademic, came away in relatively good order.

The last I heard he was about the same - just cut up a little, I think, added Holliday.

Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing both Holliday and Its Machademic a quick return to the racetrack.
On the heels of a jaw-dropping qualifier at Dover Downs on March 16, the multiple award-winning Wiggle It Jiggleit is ready to rock for Team Teague.

Wiggle It Jiggleit is scheduled to take on six foes in a $60,000 Invitational Pace on Monday, March 28 at Dover Downs.

The four-year-old son of Mr Wiggles-Mozzi Hanover, who recently toured the Delaware oval in 1:50.1, will start from Post 5 for trainer Clyde Francis and driver Montrell Teague.

The 24-time winner will look to add to a bankroll that exceeds $2.2 million.

Heres the field:

$60,000 Invitational Handicap

1. One Through Ten

2. Bushwacker

3. First Class Horse

4. Dapper Dude

5. Wiggle It Jiggleit

6. Rockeyed Optimist

7. Bettors Edge
Trot Insider has learned that longtime Canadian Trotting Association executive and Standardbred industry participant Gordon M. Findlay passed away on Sunday, March 20 in his 98th year.

Originally from Chatsworth, Ont., Findlay was residing in Guelph at LaPointe-Fisher Nursing Home at the time of his passing.

Findlay was born into a family very familiar with horses. Son of the late Allan and Jessie Findlay, Gordon's father had a livery stable, and also judged light horses and heavy horses in Ontario for 46 years. Ken McKinnon was a CTA director from nearby Owen Sound, and connected Findlay to the CTA in 1956 when he started his tenure as CTA Secretary-Treasurer.

"He was probably the first modern day executive of the CTA," said former Standardbred Canada President and CEO Ted Smith, who was familiar with Findlay as his father Claire was one of the many presiding judges across the country that were under the oversight the CTA." The office was on Browns Line in Etobicoke, he worked there with three or four people and they were the Association, they did everything. They were responsible for the racing officials, licencing, memberships, racelines, and it was all manual. Eligibility cards, year-end summaries, exchanging that data with the United States Trotting Association."

The introduction of night harness racing was most certainly a pivotal moment for the future of harness racing in Canada. During the 1960s, CTA membership more than tripled, from 3,871 people in 1960 to 12,789 nine years later. In 1967, harness racing became Canada's number one patronized sport. Blue Bonnets witnessed the first single-day million-dollar handle. Throughout this period of growth, Findlay -- who for a period of time lived with his family above the CTA office -- was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the organization.

"When I started, I had one person working for me and I saw that grow to 29," said Findlay in a 1989 Trot interview. "They were pretty rewarding years. The whole thing was a challenge every day, because there was always something new happening."

With that period of growth came the need to tighten up the rules and regulations, something Findlay felt was key for that growth to continue.

"When I started there was hardly any control. Anybody could write in to get a driver's licence and it was more or less issued on the strength of two directors vouching and signing for the applicant. I've got to give Dr. [Cecil] Heslop a lot of credit, because he backed me up when I said 'we've got to tighten these things up."

During that time, Findlay served under three CTA Presidents: Heslop, Hugh Proudfoot and H. Allen Dickenson. A well-respected participant, Findlay would help mediate situations between the horsemen's group and the Ontario Jockey Club as an impartial third party. He also served as the Registrar for the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society and was the farm manager of Argyle Farm for George Henderson.

Through his position, he met and became friends with legendary horsemen Del Miller, Billy Haughton and Joe O'Brien, as well as P.J. Baugh of Almahurst Stud Farm. While residing in Brampton, Ont., Findlay had property adjacent to Armbro Farm and became good friends with Elgin and Charlie Armstrong. He remained active in the business with a few broodmares and racehorses through the early 1990s.



Left: An undated headshot of Gordon Findlay; Right: Gordon Findlay with Gabe Trahan, supervisor of racing Province of Quebec, during the International Trotting Conference in Columbus, Ohio, 1969. Left: An undated headshot of Gordon Findlay; Right: Gordon Findlay with Gabe Trahan, supervisor of racing Province of Quebec, during the International Trotting Conference in Columbus, Ohio, 1969.

Gordons life was centered around his love for his family and passion for harness racing. Family meant a lot to Gordon, who was very proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Loving husband of Norma for 68 years, beloved father of Don (Donna), Dale (Nancy) and Dave (Cathy). Very proud grandfather of Ryan (Josee), Scott (Boram), Andrew (Katrina), Nicole (Ryan), Katlyn, Zach and Josh. Great grandfather of Rebecca, Carter, Mason, Nathen, Jack, Myles and Connor.

Cremation has taken place and a celebration of life will be held in April.

The family would like to thank staff at Heritage House and LaPointe-Fisher for their support and on-going care of Norma Findlay.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Gordon Findlay.
Trot Insider has learned that longtime Alberta horseman James E. 'Jim' Rogers passed away peacefully at his home on Tuesday, March 22 at the age of 87.

Jim has been very active in the Standardbred industry in Alberta for over 50 years. For many years, Jim has had prominent pacers in Alberta and across North America. Notably in the early 70s with partner Ed Tracey, he bred the amazing pacer Herbert Dundee. Though 'Herbert' got off to a slow start, at the age of five in 1979 he came into his own, showing his talent for a lifetime of 101 starts with 63 wins totaling $172,328 in earnings and a mark of 1:58.2. In the 80s, Jim and Ed also partnered and bred with the stallion Fulmini, who became well known, and they were proud of his offspring. With Ella Rogers, Jim bred and raced another fantastic pacer in E Jay Bullet, who paced in 1:54.1 as a four-year-old in 1988 and accumulated lifetime earnings of $403,114.

Racing was a huge part of who Jim was, and with Connie Kolthammer, he went on to develop the Outlaw Stable. Many, many articles have been written about this well established, well known racing and breeding farm. They are well known not only for the horses breeding, conformation and talents, but also for the care Jim and Connie put into their horses and all animals who call Outlaw Stable their home. Most notably, the stallions Smart Shark and Blue Burner, who have sired multiple Open and Sires Stakes winners, and the pacing mare Outlaw Independance. At three, Outlaw Independance paced in 1:54 and was a multiple Open and Sires Stakes winner herself, earning $515,308. Many of these horses are still talked about often and fondly within the industry.

Jim Rogers had dedicated many years to the industry and the animals he loved. He, his horses and his Outlaw Stable are well known and sought after throughout North America. Jim was never short on a smile, a good story and helpful advice for anyone who happened by. His home, barn and farm were always open to visitors, with a cup of coffee and a warm smile.

Details regarding arrangements have not yet been finalized, but Trot Insider will update this notice when those details are available.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Jim Rogers.

(With files from ASHA)
Standardbred Canadas main office in Mississauga, Ont. will be conducting all of its regular business on Thursday (March 24), but due to impending freezing rain that is expected to hit the area in the morning, the office itself will be closed. All staff can be reached and functions performed by contacting SC via telephone and email.

Standardbred Canada staff will be monitoring emails during the closure, and if anyone needs to reach SC staff members, they should do so via email. The email addresses for staff members are available here, and can be accessed by clicking the persons name.

For a list of staff members telephone extensions, click here. Call 905-858-3060 for SCs automated phone service, and please be ready to enter the extension of the person you would like to speak with.

A quick list of important services and extensions appears below.

Membership Inquiries: Ext. 233 (Linda Henry)

Ownership Transfers: Ext. 254 (Catherine) or Ext. 231(Barb)

Foal Registration: Ext. 231(Barb)

French Services: Ext. 238 (Linda Bedard) or Ext. 254 (Catherine)

Stakes: Ext. 247 (Robin)

Mare Residency: Ext. 247 (Robin)

Horses for Sale Board: Ext. 247 (Robin)

Eligibility: Ext. 251 (Val)

Trot Insider will continue to cover industry news during the closure and will also be providing updates regarding weather-related cancellations.

To submit news to Trot Insider, click here.

Good Friday falls on Friday, March 25 this year, thus SCs main office will be closed in observance of the holiday.

The office is scheduled to re-open on Monday, March 28 at 8:30 a.m.

SC hopes that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Good Friday.
One incumbent is running in the five-candidate race for two open seats.
We call it cornmeal mush. The Italians call it polenta. And theyve been making it since shortly after Columbus introduced corn to the Old World upon his return from America.

At its most simple, polenta requires exactly two ingredients: cornmeal and a liquid. Sometimes fat or seasonings are added. Traditionally, it is prepared by bringing the liquid to a boil in a saucepan, adding the cornmeal in a slow, steady stream, then simmering the resulting mush, stirring constantly until it thickens. The whole process takes 30 to 40 minutes.

But let me be honest with you. That is not the way I make it. First, Im not inclined to babysit a dish for 40 minutes. Secondly, I am not a fan of polentas tendency to splatter as it cooks. That mush is hot!

Happily, a stewardess on a plane tipped me off years ago about a hands-free, eruption-free way to cook polenta. She said she simply tosses all of the ingredients into a casserole dish and bakes them. I was skeptical. No way it could be that easy. But I tried it out and she was right. Ive been making polenta in the oven instead of on the stove ever since.

There are many kinds of cornmeal at the grocer these days, fine, medium or coarse grain, stone ground, organic, some just labeled polenta, and in both white and yellow varieties. They all behave slightly differently when cooked, but they all can be used to make polenta. Texture-wise, fine-ground cornmeal turns out smoother and creamier, while coarser cornmeal is more granular. I like both. It takes a little longer to cook the coarser variety, and youll need to use a little more water.

Timing-wise, the vessel in which you cook the polenta makes a huge difference. If you use a casserole dish (earthenware or enameled cast-iron), the timing will work out pretty much as I explain in the recipe because those dishes heat up evenly from the bottom to the top. However, if you use a stainless steel pot (even one with aluminum or copper in the bottom), the polenta will take much longer to cook. Not to worry, though. If thats the only pot you have, the polenta will still be great.

Where does polenta fit into the meal? It can be served as a first course, perhaps topped with sauteed mushrooms. It can act as a main course partnered with the pasta sauce of your choice. It provides the perfect bed for sauteed shrimp or lamb, as well as for beef or chicken stew. Finally, its a great absorber of the meat juices generated by a roast. In short, polenta is wildly versatile. Think of it as a welcome alternative to rice, potatoes or pasta.

BAKED POLENTA

1 cup fine- or medium-grain cornmeal

4 to 4 1/2 cups water, low-sodium chicken broth or stock, or vegetable broth, or a combination

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat the oven to 350 deg.F.

In a 2-quart casserole dish, combine all the ingredients (use 4 cups liquid for fine cornmeal, and 4 1/2 cups for medium cornmeal). Stir the mixture briefly, then bake, uncovered, on the ovens middle shelf until thick and creamy, about 45 minutes if it is fine cornmeal and 1 hour if it is medium cornmeal. The polenta should have the texture of a thick porridge; if it is too thin, put it back in the oven and let it bake until it reaches the desired consistency, checking it at 15-minute intervals.

When the polenta is done, stir well and serve right away.

Makes 6 servings.

Per serving: 100 calories; 25 calories from fat (25 percent of total calories); 2.5 g fat (1.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 5 mg cholesterol; 380 mg sodium; 16 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 3 g protein.

POLENTA EMBELLISHMENTS

Onion: In a small skillet over medium heat, saute 1/2 cup finely chopped onion in 2 tablespoons butter until softened. Add 2 teaspoons minced garlic and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, then cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the onion mixture to the casserole with all the remaining ingredients and follow the recipe as written. When the polenta is done, stir in 1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (or another crumbled or diced cheese of your choice, such as Gorgonzola or fontina).

Mushroom: Top the creamy polenta with 1/2 pound assorted sliced mushrooms sauteed in butter with minced shallot or onion and finished with truffle oil and chopped fresh herbs.
Several hundred people packed the Kalama High School gym for a hearing on a draft environmental report for a $1.8 billion methanol plant proposed at the Port of Kalama.

Chinese-backed Northwest Innovation Works wants to invest $7 billion to build a trio of methanol plants in Kalama, Clatskanie and Tacoma. The refineries would convert natural gas to methanol, which would be shipped to Asia to make olefins, a key component in plastics.

On Tuesday night, the crowd was evenly split in their feelings about the project. Both sides waxed poetic about economic development and environmental factors to argue their points.

Most commentators were from Cowlitz County, although some traveled from Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver.

Red and green shirts dotted the crowd, signifying opposition and support for the project respectively. Audience members were told to leave their signs outside and to remain silent during public comments, which stretched for the entire three-hour public hearing. Yet the crowd made their opinions known with hand signals such as wiggling fingers and thumbs up or down.

The hearing was relatively tame, although the audience erupted into jeers after a Tacoma activist got into verbal argument with supporters of the project and used a hand gesture of her own to show them how she felt.

We drove Northwest Innovation Works out of Tacoma and we will not stop fighting, said Roxanne Murray, of Tacoma. She said she was concerned about the plant's water requirements and the risk of spills. If there is a mess, they are not liable to clean up.

The plant would use 4.8 million gallons of water a day from a well tapped into an aquifer where the Port of Kalama has water rights. The City of Kalama would supply 5,600 gallons a day, a small sliver of the 845,000 gallons a day the city projects to use by 2020.

Opponents balked at the high water use.

What a disgusting waste of a valuable resource  turning water into methanol and then into plastic, said Linda Horst of Kelso. Why would we allow a foreign government to squander our resources and to pollute our water?

Opponents also called the draft environmental impact statement incomplete because it didnt address carbon emissions from the point of natural gas extraction to the delivery of the final plastic products to customers.

Gregory Monahan of Portland said the plant would lead to a measurable contribution to greenhouse gases  this is the reason that I, as an outsider, feel entitled and compelled to speak out against this project.

The plant would emit 1.24 million tons to 1.53 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, depending on the method. This is equivalent to the annual carbon emission of 250,000 to 325,000 cars.

Northwest Innovation has proposed using an ultra-low emissions technology which would further decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Supporters raved about the projects greener approach to producing methanol compared to coal alternatives.

First of all, dont lump all fossil fuel projects together. Theyre not all the same, said Jim Baine of Kalama. This is a different project.

This facility can be built without disruption to traffic, air or groundwater, said Rep. Ed Orcutt (R-Kalama). I think the amount of revenue thats going to be generated by this is going to outweigh the costs.

Supporters also highlighted the economic stimulus the plant would inject into the community.

As a single mother, projects like these bring family wage jobs ... to help continue to support myself as a mother, said Bree Smith of Vancouver.

Representatives from local construction unions and the longshore union voiced their support of the project. The refinery would create about 1,000 construction jobs and 192 jobs during operation.

More important than the construction jobs is the  ripple through the economy and multiplier that is going to happen, said Mike Bridges, of the Longview Kelso Buildings Trade Council.

We need these opportunities for our young people.

One of the younger audience members disagreed.

The proposed project would change my water, my air and my life, said 14-year old Cambria Keely of Kalama. She raised concerns about toxins in air and water and their potential effects on the fishing industry. Im asking you to take the no-action policy.

The public has until April 18 to submit comments on the draft environmental impact statement. Co-lead agencies Cowlitz County and the Port of Kalama will then collect comments and draft a final environmental impact statement. There are no time estimates for how long that would take.

Northwest Innovation has to get 18 permits before it can get a green light to build the plant. However, the company says it hopes to start construction by late 2016.
Emmanuelle Renee Valle, 38, Tacoma, $900 restitution for attempted drug crimes April 7, 2010. Guilty plea March 10.

Anthony Louis Bourdony, 20, city unknown, two months in jail, one year community custody and $800 restitution for vehicular assault/disregard for the safety of others June 13, 2015. Guilty plea March 10.

Jonathan Joshua Keepers, 37, Cathlamet, 90 days in jail, one year community custody and $1,050 restitution for attempted drug crimes Sept. 4, 2015. Guilty plea March 10.

Scott David Allan Zayecheck, 45, Longview, seven days in jail and $800 restitution for possession of methamphetamine Sept. 27, 2015. Guilty plea March 10.

William Andrew Fleming Davis, 29, Kelso, six years and five months in prison and $800 restitution for first-degree unlawful possession of firearm Nov. 5, 2015. Guilty plea March 10.

Michael Angelo Salaz, 34, transient, 90 days in jail, one year community custody and $800 restitution for attempted drug crimes Jan. 5. Guilty plea March 1.

Danica Rae Portner, 21, Kelso, 20 days in jail, one year community custody and $800 restitution for possession of methamphetamine Nov. 1, 2015, possession of heroin Jan. 12, possession of heroin Feb. 10 and possession of buphenorphine Feb. 23. Guilty plea March 10.

Joshua L. Scott, 36, city unknown, 10 days in jail and $1,050 restitution for possession of methamphetamine Feb. 2. Guilty plea March 10.

Lisa Marie Bahr, 32, of Salem, 30 days in jail and $800 restitution for possession of methamphetamine and third-degree theft Dec. 23, 2014. Guilty plea Nov. 30.

Beatrice Avila-Nevarez, 47, Kelso, seven days in jail and $2,050 restitution for second-degree malicious mischief and driving under the influence Nov. 1, 2015. Guilty plea March 14.

Darick Grit Maury, 44, Longview, 30 days in jail, one year community custody and $800 restitution for attempted possession of methamphetamine Jan. 1. Guilty plea March 10.

Breanna Ashley Robbins, 24, Kelso, two years community custody and $1,050 restitution for possession of methamphetamine Oct. 16, 2015, and bail jumping Dec. 24, 2015. Guilty plea Feb. 22.

Tracy Rebecca Williams, 28, Kalama, three months in jail, one year community custody and $800 restitution for possession of a stolen vehicle and second-degree identity theft Dec. 4 and possession of heroin Jan. 11. Guilty plea March 15.

Troy Matthew Fich, 36, Longview, three years and seven months in prison, three years community custody and $800 restitution for failure to register as a sex offender in July 2015. Guilty plea March 15.

Michael James Freedman, 26, city unknown, nine months in jail, 3 years community custody and $800 restitution for two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes Oct. 1-Dec. 18, 2015. Guilty plea Feb. 16.

Charles Benjamin Moimoi, 20, of SeaTac, Wash., one year in jail and $800 restitution for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm Feb. 5. Guilty plea March 3. (Moimoi has been extradited to Oregon, where he faces murder charges.)

Amber Lee Mathis, 29, Longview, 10 days in jail, one year community custody and $1,050 restitution for possession of methamphetamine March 4. Guilty plea March 15.

Ronald Aaron Malone, 44, Kelso, 10 days in jail, one year community custody and $800 restitution for attempted possession of methamphetamine Sept. 18, 2015. Guilty plea March 17.

Charles Randle Waddington, 32, Kelso, seven years six months in prison, one year community custody and $1,300 restitution for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possession of heroin with intent to deliver Dec. 7, 2015. Guilty plea March 17.

Dismissals

Jacob Aaron Elliott, possession of methamphetamine charge from Nov. 2015 dismissed March 8.
A Cowlitz County Superior Court judge Tuesday found a 20-year-old Vancouver man guilty of first-degree child rape and possession of child porn.

Jordan Wayne Pittman was arrested in May 2015, after he was accused of raping and taking nude photos of a then 7-year-old female family member at a Woodland home. His bench trial, meaning there was no jury, was March 2.

According to court documents, Pittman denied raping the girl when he was arrested in May. Superior Court Judge Michael Evans called Pittmans excuse suspect and said he trusted the testimony given by a school nurse, to whom the little girl confided.

Evans did not feel that there was enough evidence to convict Pittman of a second count of rape and decided not to convict him of first-degree child molestation.

He will be sentenced May 3 at 9 a.m.
tech2 News Staff

After getting a nod from the government, the Cupertino tech giant has begun hunting for prime real estate to set up its flagship Apple Stores in India, reports The Times of India.

Leading real estate firms seem to be scampering around trying to find massive plots in major cities not just for Apple but for Samsung as well. According to the same source, Samsung too has plans to set up massive retail stores and is looking for properties that are 15,000 to 20,000 square feet. Samsung may be looking to setup a store that is similar to the massive one in Korea (Samsung D'Light) and will add to the already existing 1,100 stores in India. The Korean company will also be setting up smaller 2,000-2,500 square feet stores just for its smartphones.

Apple on the other hand is looking to set up its famous (and in some cases even patented) glass stores similar to the one at Fifth Avenue in New York. The same will be 2,000-3,000 square feet in size and will also include separate spaces for technical support and rooms for holding workshops.

(Also Read: iPhone SE: Why Apple needs to gamble with a budget smartphone)

Executives from top brokerage firms claim that Apple is looking for prime retail locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune for its first phase of the larger stores. The second phase will consist of smaller outlets.

The competition is heating up and after ignoring India for long, Apple CEO Tim Cook does pretty serious and the same was revealed during a recent town hall.

For now, all eyes will be on Tim Cook tonight as the CEO unveils its revamped 4-inch smartphone tagged as the iPhone SE. The smartphone is expected to pack in specs similar to the iPhone 5s with a new design but not 3D Touch, which will remain exclusive to the iPhone 6s models for now.
hidden

US prosecutors said that a "third party" had presented a possible method for opening an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, a development that could bring an abrupt end to the high-stakes legal showdown between the government and Apple.

A federal judge in Riverside, California, late Monday agreed to the government's request to postpone a hearing scheduled for Tuesday so that the FBI could try the newly discovered technique. The Justice Department said it would update the court on April 5.

The government had insisted until Monday that it had no way to access the phone used by Rizwan Farook, one of the two killers in the December massacre in San Bernardino, California, except to force Apple to write new software that would disable the password protection.

The Justice Department last month obtained a court order directing Apple to create that software, but Apple has fought back, arguing that the order is an overreach by the government and would undermine computer security for everyone.

The announcement on Monday that an unnamed third party had presented a way of breaking into the phone on Sunday - just two days before the hearing and after weeks of heated back-and-forth in court filings - drew skepticism from many in the tech community who have insisted that there were other ways to get into the phone.

From a purely technical perspective, one of the most fragile parts of the government's case is the claim that Apple's help is required to unlock the phone," said Matt Blaze, a professor and computer security expert at the University of Pennsylvania. "Many in the technical community have been skeptical that this is true, especially given the government's considerable resources.

Former prosecutors and lawyers supporting Apple said the move suggested that the Justice Department feared it would lose the legal battle, or at minimum would be forced to admit that it had not tried every other way to get into the phone.

In a statement, the Justice Department said its only interest has always been gaining access to the information on the phone and that it had continued to explore alternatives even as litigation began. It offered no details on the new technique except that it came from a non-governmental third party, but said it was "cautiously optimistic" it would work.

"That is why we asked the court to give us some time to explore this option," a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, Melanie R. Newman, said. "If this solution works, it will allow us to search the phone and continue our investigation into the terrorist attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 people."

It would also likely end the case without a legal showdown that many had expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

An Apple executive told reporters on a press call that the company knew nothing about the Justice Department's possible method for getting into the phone, and that the government never gave any indication that it was continuing to search for such solutions.

The executive characterized the Justice Departments admission Monday that it never stopped pursuing ways to open the phone as a sharp contrast with its insistence in court filings that only Apple possessed the means to do so.

Nate Cardozo, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group backing Apple, said the San Bernardino case was the "hand-chosen test case" for the government to establish its authority to access electronic information by whatever means necessary.

In that context, he said, the last-minute discovery of a possible solution and the cancellation of the hearing is "suspicious," and suggests the government might be worried about losing and setting a bad precedent.

But George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr, a former Justice Department computer crime prosecutor, said the government was likely only postponing the fight.

"The problem is not going away, it's just been delayed for a year or two," he said.

Apple said that if the government was successful in getting into the phone, which might involve taking advantage of previously undiscovered vulnerabilities, it hoped officials would share information on how they did so. But if the government drops the case it would be under no obligation to provide information to Apple.

In opposing the court order, Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, and his allies have argued that it would be unprecedented to force a company to develop a new product to assist a government investigation, and that other law enforcement agencies around the world would rapidly demand similar services.

Law enforcement officials, led by Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, have countered that access to phones and other devices is crucial for intelligence work and criminal investigations.

The government and the tech industry have clashed for years over similar issues, and Congress has been unable to pass legislation to address the impasse.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

As drones are becoming a security hazard day by day, the Government of India has amended the Customs Baggage Declaration regulations to make it mandatory for people entering India to declare specifically if they are carrying drones. This amendment will come into affect starting April 1.

A report by Medianama states that some of the listed items include jewelry over free allowance, gold bullions, satellite phone, currency over Rs 10,000 or USD 5,000, and seeds, plants etc. The notification also points out that those who would be carrying drones will have to fill further forms at the red channel, where the item might either be deemed ineligible for entry in India, or have a duty imposed upon it.

As of now, there is no clarity on how much the duty might cost. This rule has made it very difficult for anyone to get their hands on drones in India.

This month, the pilot of a Lufthansa passenger jumbo jet reported a drone aircraft nearly collided with the airliner on its landing approach to Los Angeles International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who has introduced legislation to require new safety features on drones, pointed to the close call as an example of the hazards posed to commercial aviation by unregulated drone activity.
tech2 News Staff

After a short spring event, where Apple announced the iPhone SE and an all new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, the company also began the roll out of software updates for all of its devices. It seems that Apple came prepared and was ready to roll out not just an iOS 9.3 update but OS X 10.11.4, watchOS 2.2, and tvOS 9.2 software updates as well.

We have already gone in depth about the update coming to Apple's smartphones and tablets with iOS 9.3. While the update is about 330MB in size, its main area of focus is bug fixing but it also delivers some brand new features like Night Shift, while improving on the existing ones (like adding Touch ID support for its Notes app).

OS X 10.11.4

Coming to OS X 10.11.4 for desktops and laptops, Apple finally adds support for Live Photos (that debuted with the launch of the iPhone 6s) in the Messages app. The same is denoted with a small circular icon at the corner of a Live Image.

Notes within the Notes app can now be password protected, which works in tandem with the iOS 9.3 update on smartphones and tablets. Apple also added an option to import notes from other note taking apps like Evernote (even Microsoft was after Evernote recently).

Bug fixes and much needed performance improvements aside, the new update now also allows iBooks PDF files to be stored in iCloud. Also available are security updates for OS X Yosemite and OS X Mavericks that can be downloaded from the company's website.

watchOS 2.2

Apple's Watch OS goes from version 2.1 to version 2.2 and gets some new features. Indeed the much-awaited feature is the ability to pair two Apple smartwatches with one smartphone. Clearly, this will need both the devices (Apple Watch and iPhone) to be updated to the latest version. Also added is Nearby feature support that lets users locate point of interest (POIs) easily. Also added are two additional buttons that were earlier accessible only via Force Touch and an improved glance feature. As always there are again performance improvements and bug fixes that are a part of this update.

tvOS 9.2

Clearly the biggest update to arrive on tvOS 9.2 is Siri voice dictation which was demonstrated on stage at the Apple event. Users can now use Siri voice commands via Siri Remote to search the App Store and even enter passwords without using keyboards. Also added to tvOS 9.2 is the iCloud Photo Library.

Another important feature that comes to tvOS is support for Bluetooth keyboards. Additionally, users can now even organise their apps using folders and tvOS also comes with an iOS 9 like app switcher as well.
Work abstention observed in Southern Medical College and Hospital

Teachers and staff of Southern Medical College and Hospital observed work abstention yesterday. NN Photo n NN photo

Chittagong Bureau :

The work Abstention was enforced in a private medical college hospital in the port city from yesterday. Following the work stoppage, the campus and hospital activities remained stalled from yesterday morning at Southern Medical College and Hospital in city .

As a result the patients became worst sufferer and the students faces study break .The doctors and other employees of hospital enforced pen-down strike for two hours demanding the increase of pay and allowance .

The students sources said until their demands are fulfilled, the work shut down for 2 hours from 10 am to 12 noon everyday will continue.

Central councilor of Bangaldesh Medical Association Dr. Hossain Ahmed told that they placed their demands 2 years before but the management yet to fulfill their demands despite several sittings with the management.

Mentionable that the salary and allowance of southern Medical College and Hospital is more less than the other private medical colleges of USTC, Maa-o-Shishu Hospital, BGT Medical Hospital of the port city.

A agitated striking teachers told that there are about 100 physicians in Southern Medical college Hospsital including intern doctors and their pay and allowances are comparatively low.

A intern doctor told this reporter that 11th batch of MBBS course is running in the college and there are gyney, surgery, ENT, Eye, Pathology, Forensic and outdoor department.


Huma not ready to limit herself

Huma Qureshi, who will be seen sharing screen space with southern superstar Mammootty in Malayalam film White, says she will not confine her movie repertoire to one language, and will instead focus on quality scripts. I havent really thought about completely going down south. I think wherever there is a good script, I think Ill just go there. I will not bind myself to a language. I am an actor. As long as a script is interesting, I will just follow my heart, Huma said on the sidelines of an awards ceremony.
Brussels attacks: 2 brothers behind bombings

Two of the suicide bombers who carried out attacks in Brussels on Tuesday have been named as brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, Belgian nationals.

The federal prosecutor said Brahim was part of the attack at Zaventem airport that killed 11 people. Khalid struck at the Maelbeek metro, where 20 people died. In all 260 people were injured.

Police are still hunting another man seen in an airport CCTV image. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning. The nation held a minute's silence at midday (11:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the attacks and warned that more would follow. On Wednesday, anti-terror police also carried out a raid in the Anderlecht area of the city, making one arrest. The federal prosecutor, Frederic van Leeuw, denied earlier media reports that the man was wanted jihadist Najim Laachraoui. The arrested man's identity has not been released. First victim named Mr van Leeuw said the two brothers were known to police and had criminal records but these were not related to terrorism. They were identified by DNA records. He said Brahim el-Bakraoui had left a note saying that people were looking for him everywhere and that if he gave himself up he would end up in a cell.

The RBTF broadcaster, quoting a police source, said that Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, had used a false name to rent the flat in the Forest area of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a shootout last week.

It was during that raid that police found a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the Paris terror attacks of 13 November.

He was arrested in a raid in Brussels last Friday and is due to appear before a pre-trial court on Wednesday.

Khalid el-Bakraoui appears on the Interpol website. It says that he is being sought for terrorist activities.

RTBF said Khalid was jailed in 2011 for carjacking while Brahim, 30, was jailed in October 2010 for firing at police. Brahim el-Bakraoui is in the middle of the widely circulated CCTV image taken at Zaventem airport, Mr van Leeuw confirmed. The man on the left is believed to have died at the airport but has not been identified.

The man on the right has not been identified and is still being sought, Mr van Leeuw said.

He said that this man had a bag of detonators that were left behind and which were later exploded without harming anyone. No other weapons were found at the airport.

Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure had earlier identified this man as Laachraoui. He was named earlier in the week by police as a wanted accomplice of Abdeslam. Analysts say Laachraoui is believed to be a key bomb maker, and French media say he also played a major role in the terror attacks in Paris.

Some Belgian media reported on Wednesday that he was the man arrested in Anderlecht but this report has been withdrawn. The first of the victims to be named is Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37.

She had been at Zaventem airport with her Belgian husband and twin four-year-old daughters, who were unharmed, her brother told Peruvian radio. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, welcoming French counterpart Manuel Valls to Brussels on Wednesday, insisted that "Europe's destiny is peace and security".

He said: "We are more determined than ever to act in the face of enemies of democracy."

The country has raised its terrorism alert to the highest level. It has also been announced that the international airport will remain closed on Thursday.




HRW wants retrial of Mir Quasem

HRW.org, New York :

Bangladeshi authorities should immediately set aside the death penalty against Mir Qasem Ali, a senior member of the executive committee of opposition party Jamaat-e-Islaami, and order a new trial that meets international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction against Ali despite earlier statements in court by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, criticizing the attorney general, prosecutors, and investigators for producing insufficient evidence in the trial court. According to credible, detailed notes from the hearing in the Supreme Court, he said to the prosecutors: "What prevented the investigation agency to produce sufficient witnesses to prove

the charges?  The prosecution and the Investigation Agency need to produce sufficient evidence to support a conviction We feel really ashamed when we read the prosecution evidence." The attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, in turn was quoted saying, "The Supreme Court observed that a huge amount of money is being spent on the prosecutors and investigators, but they did not handle and investigate the cases properly."

Bangladesh's Attorney General Mahbubey Alam leaves the Supreme Court in Dhaka after the court's verdict on appeals by two opposition leaders on November 18, 2015. Bangladesh's Supreme Court rejected final appeals from two opposition leaders against death sentences for atrocities committed during the 1971 war of independence.

"Convictions can only be upheld when there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, yet in this case there are grave doubts about the evidence after the court so strongly criticized the prosecution," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "In death penalty cases the authorities must adhere to the highest standards."

Ali was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2014, by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on 10 out of 14 counts of abduction, torture, and confinement as crimes against humanity. For these crimes, he was sentenced to 72 years in prison. Ali was also convicted on two further counts of murder, in one case of two adults and in the other of a child, Jashim Uddin. He was sentenced to death for the murders.

On March 8, 2016, the Appellate Division of the Bangladeshi Supreme Court set aside three of the abduction and torture convictions. It also acquitted Ali of the murder of the two adults. However, it upheld the conviction and death penalty sentence against Ali for the murder of Jashim Uddin during the war.

Human Rights Watch has long supported justice and accountability for the horrific crimes committed during Bangladesh's 1971 war. But this must be done through trials which meet international standards, particularly since the death penalty is at stake. Bangladesh owes the victims of 1971 a fair and proper accountability process.

As in other cases before the ICT, the defense was arbitrarily limited in its ability to submit evidence, including witnesses and documents. Defense lawyers were allowed to produce only three witnesses to counter 14 separate charges. Lawyers were threatened orally with a 50 lakh taka (approximately US$64,000) fine when they asked the judges to review their order limiting witnesses. The court denied the defense the opportunity to challenge the credibility of prosecution witnesses by rejecting witnesses' earlier statements that were inconsistent with their trial testimony. The refusal to allow the accused to challenge the credibility of prosecution witnesses has been a hallmark of trials before the ICT. During the appeal at the Supreme Court, the chief justice called the prosecution and its investigation agency "very incompetent." He accused the prosecution of dealing with proving the case against Ali "half-heartedly" and with "no responsibility." The chief justice said he was "shocked" and that the prosecution's case against Ali was full of contradictions. He expressed particular concern at the prosecution's failure to rebut the accused's alibi defense, which put Ali in Dhaka on the day of the murder in Chittagong: "Defence could produce a series of documentary evidences in support of their alibi. But the prosecution and the investigation agency were very incompetent." The chief justice further went on to accuse the prosecution of using the ICT trials purely for political benefit and political interests: "We are very disappointed to see that you are using these trials out of your political benefits. These trials are being used for political interests."

The chief justice's sentiments echo those made by the Supreme Court in its written verdict in another ICT case against Delwar Hossain Sayedee. The chief justice wrote that verdict when he was a justice on the Supreme Court before his promotion to chief justice. In that case, Sayedee's death penalty was commuted by the Supreme Court to a life sentence, though it stopped short of ordering a new trial.

The chief justice's statements in the Ali case caused a furore among those backing the ICT trials. A government minister, Qamrul Islam, called for the removal of the chief justice and for a rehearing to be held.

"Human Rights Watch has long supported justice and accountability for the horrific crimes committed during Bangladesh's 1971 war. But this must be done through trials which meet international standards, particularly since the death penalty is at stake," said Adams. "Bangladesh owes the victims of 1971 a fair and proper accountability process." Trials before the ICT have been replete with violations of the right to a fair trial. The ICT has fundamental flaws because of article 47(A) of the constitution, which states, "This Article further denies any accused under the ICT Act from moving the Supreme Court for any remedies under the Constitution, including any challenges as to the unconstitutionality of Article 47(A)." The article specifically strips people accused of war crimes of certain fundamental rights, including the right to an expeditious trial by an independent and impartial tribunal, and the right to move the courts to enforce their fundamental rights. This article has permitted the ICT overly broad discretion to deny those accused in this and prior cases the rights and procedures accorded to other defendants.

Many of the trials before the ICT have been marred by evidence from intercepted communications between the prosecution and the judges that has revealed prohibited and biased communications. The ICT's response on several occasions to those who have raised objections about the trials has been to file contempt charges against them in an apparent attempt to silence criticism rather than to answer substantively or to rectify any errors.

The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a state party, has said that, "in cases of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty, scrupulous respect of the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important" and that any death penalty imposed after an unfair trial would be a violation of the right to life and to a fair trial.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its longstanding call for Bangladesh to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and join the growing number of states that have abolished the use of capital punishment.

"We welcome the fact that the chief justice identified problems with the evidence in the Ali case, but the court should follow through by ordering a retrial," Adams said. "Allowing the death sentence in a case with such fundamental doubts about the evidence is unthinkable."


US Congressman wants probe on BB fund heist

Carolyn Maloney

Staff Reporter :

The US New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney on Wednesday called for an investigation into the Bangladesh central bank's $81 cyber heist from its reserve account held with US Federal Reserve Bank.

"This brazen heist from the Bangladesh central bank's account at the New York Fed threatens to undermine the confidence that foreign central banks have in the Federal Reserve, and in the safety and soundness of international monetary transactions," Maloney said in a statement.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is helping investigate the heist, which led to the ouster of Bangladesh's central bank governor.

Maloney also sent a letter to New York Fed President William Dudley, requesting a private meeting with bank staff to discuss the cyber fraud.

She said she wants to ask a series of questions, including whether it is appropriate to rely solely on the SWIFT global bank messaging system to authenticate outgoing payments from foreign central bank accounts.

Her comments are the first sign that the attack could gain political traction in the United States. The New York Fed has faced separate political criticism since the financial crisis for missteps and perceived conflicts of interest in its role as the central bank's top Wall Street regulator.

"We fully intend to reach out to the congresswoman and will endeavor to address her questions," a New York Fed spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The New York Fed, which holds the accounts of some 250 foreign central banks and governments, has previously said very little publicly about the heist, beyond a March 9 statement that the payments were made in the usual way and that there was no evidence its systems were compromised.

The office of the Fed's Investigator General has said it is aware of the situation but has not commented on whether it will conduct its own review.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank criticized the New York Fed in the incident report, which surfaced on Tuesday but was dated March 13. The report said that the New York Fed allowed five of 35 fraudulent payment instructions to go through.

"We view this as a major lapse," Bangladesh Bank said in the report.

In her letter to the New York Fed, Maloney said she wanted to know why the bank treated the 30 transfers differently than the other five.

Police and forensics experts hired by Bangladesh Bank are still collecting information from its computer systems to determine what happened.
IT expert Zoha found

Staff Reporter :

Cyber crime expert Tanvir Hassan Zoha returned to his 18/3 Kalabagan Lake Circus residence early Wednesday after one week of his missing. "In police van, plainclothes police along with Zoha arrived at Kalabagan Lake Circus residence at about 1.30am on Wednesday and left Zoha there," Zoha's uncle Mahbubul Alam told journalists the same day.

He said that, the law enforcers told him that Zoha was found loitering on the Airport Road in Dhaka on Tuesday night. "As Zoha's pictures were published in different national dailies, police rescued him from the airport road and dropped him at his residence," quoting law enforcers Mahbubul Alam said.

Zoha went missing on March 16 and his personal cell phone was found switched off following his statement to the media in connection with $101 heist of Bangladesh Bank. He was reportedly member of the investigation team into the Bangladesh Bank fund heist. After the incident, Zoha talked to the media over the issue.

Zoha's uncle Mahbubul Alam said plainclothes police found Zoha wandering in the Airport area and then took him to his residence after confirming his identity around 1:30 am. Zoha is now physically week and taking rest in a safe place, he said. "We couldn't talk to him yet," he said.

Zoha's family alleged that police did not cooperate when they had approached several police stations after his abduction from Dhaka Cantonment area in the wee hours of March 17.

Zoha's wife Kamrun Nahar Chowdhury claimed that he was abducted from Kachukhet area around 1am.

On that night, Zoha's uncle Mahbubul Alam claimed that Zoha went to the office of an intelligence agency from where he phoned his friend Yamir Ahmed to accompany him on the way to his residence.

Quoting Yamir, Mahbubul said: "Zoha and Yamir hired a CNG-run autorickshaw, but it went out of order after two minutes. Then two microbuses blocked them and took away. But Yamir was dropped in the Manik Mia Avenue."

Later, Yamir informed Zoha's family about his "abduction."

However, none of the security and intelligence agencies admitted of picking up Zoha, who had identified himself as a cyber security specialist for the ICT Division, while speaking to media on the $81 million Bangladesh Bank cyber heist. But as the government body soon denied any links with him, Zoha said he used to work at the ICT Division.

The transfer of $81 million from the Bangladesh Bank account maintained with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Philippines by hackers drew international media attention after Philippines' Daily Inquirer broke the news on Feb 29.

Bangladesh Bank officials learnt of the heist, which took place in the first week of February, almost immediately, but withheld the information for about a month.
Cargo ship thru Shela banned

Stranded vessels to quit Sundarbans

Staff Reporter :The government on Wednesday banned permanently sailing of all kinds of cargo vessels through the Shela River in the Sundarbans under Mongla upazila in Khulna.The decision came four days after a coal-laden cargo vessel capsized in the Shela River.However, the decision will come into effect after ferrying the ships now stranded in the river according to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade between Bangladesh and India."Following the capsize of a coal-laden cargo vessel on March 19 and an oil tanker last year, we have decided to ban sailing of water vessels through the Shela River in order to protect the Sundarbans from further environmental disaster," Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told journalists after taskforce meeting on river protection, navigability and usual flow of water.He said ships with 12 feet deep are now crossing through the Mongla-Ghashiakhali channel, an alternative route to the Shela River one, and opening it for water vessels. On March 19, a Jessore-bound coal-laden cargo vessel 'MV Sea Hosrse-1' from Chittagong carrying 1,235 tonnes of coal sank in the Shela River at Harintana. The Department of Forests on March 20 formed a four-member committee, headed by Assistant Conservator of Forest Kamal Ahmed, to find out the possible reasons behind the vessel capsize.The report is now with Conservator of Sundarbans East Zone Saidul Islam, said Assistant Conservator Kamal Uddin Ahmed.He said the probe body recommended permanently shutting the Shela River route, salvaging the two sunken vessels on the river as soon as possible and marking the spots where vessels have capsized earlier.In December 2014, an oil tanker sank in the same river spilling 357,664 litres of furnace oil and the government banned the sailing of all kinds of vessels through the route for temporary period.Last year after capsize of an oil tanker in the river, the environmental groups and conservation organisations had repeatedly demanded shutting of river routes through the Sundarbans.But the government in January last year reopened the Shela River route to water vessels, apparently under pressure of the river transport workers. The government had reopened the Shela River route considering the interest of businesspeople, not that of general people and not even the environmental concern.
Satkhira SP summoned, cops of 11 centres suspended

Probe body formed for Pirojpur police firing: Official result of 502 UPs announced: Vote casting 74 pc: AL bags 380; BNP-32, others 33 posts

Sagar Biswas :

Massive violence by ruling party-backed candidates, dubious role of local administrations and ballot stuffing by some law enforcement members in different centres have appeared as 'big reasons' for the failure of Election Commission [EC] in playing their designated role in the Tuesday's election in 712 unions.

The EC on Wednesday summoned Police Superintendent of Satkhira Chowdhury Manjurul Kabir asking him for explanation for his failure in dealing with irregularities on the previous night of the election.

At the same time, the EC also sent letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Satkhira district asking him to inform the reason behind the huge irregularities, and also take action against the responsible persons for the electoral offence, officials said.

The EC, in the meanwhile, also decided to suspend all police members who were assigned election-duty in 11 centres of four upzilas in the district of Satkhira. The decisions were taken by EC on Tuesday night instantly after getting series of complaints over electoral anomalies against the on-duty policemen and local administration. "Apart from taking action against accused police members, the Commission has also sent letters to Deputy Commissioner and SP to file cases against the candidates responsible for irregularities," Deputy Secretary of EC [election conducting cell] Shamsul Alam said.

On charge of stuffing ballot in the previous night, the EC halted voting in three centres of Kumira union under Tala Upazila, four centres of Alipur union at Sadar Upazila, three centres of Kaikhali union at Shyamnagar Upazila, two centres of Kushdanga union at Kalaroa upzila and one centre from each Keralkata union and Parulia union of Bedhata Upazila, according to the officials.

"Among the 14 most disturbed centres in Satkhira, the law enforcers tried to resist anomalies only in three centres. But no action was taken in the rest eleven centrers. So, the EC has taken decision to file cases and suspend the responsible policemen," Shamsul Alam said.

In this backdrop, voting is going to be held in 11 UPs today. Besides, the election will be held in Neehla and Hoaikang UPs under Teknaf Upazila on March 27.

The first phase UP election in the country's 712 UPs was held earlier on Tuesday where chairman candidates participated under party symbol for the first time. The EC halted polling in 65 centres for alleged irregularities and violence. Two persons were reportedly killed during the voting. The violence, however, turned deadly in the night when unofficial result was coming out from different centres, leaving at least 9 persons killed in different parts of the country.

Pirojpur district administration on Wednesday formed an investigation committee to unearth the reason behind the Tuesday night's police-BGB firing that claimed lives of five people at Dhanishapa union of Mathbaria Upazila in Pirojpur.

Superintendent of Police in Pirojpur Walid Hossain said, "The three-member probe body headed by additional district magistrate Mohammad Manik Har Rahman will investigate the matter. The rest two are Additional Superintendent of Police Subrato Halder and Mathbaria Upazila Election Officer Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman."

The victims of BGB-police were identified as Solaiman Sahel, Quamrul, Belal, and Shahadat. Two others, those received fatal bullet wounds, succumbed to the injuries on the way to hospital.

"About 600-700 people, equipped with lethal weapons, intercepted the Presiding Officer in the area around 8:30pm, when he was returning to the UNO office from Dhanishapa Degree College centre with election result sheets after the UP polls. The agitated mob tried to swoop on the Presiding Officer and snatch the result sheet," Kazi Ziaul Baset, Executive Magistrate, said.

As he tried to prevent them, the mob also attacked Magistrate Baset. In this situation, the Magistrate [Baset] ordered the BGB and Police to open fire to bring the situation under control.

Meanwhile, the EC yesterday claimed that the vote casting in the first phase of UP election was recorded around 84 per cent after getting official result in 502 UPs. Of them, the ruling Awami League has got 33.34 per cent and BNP bagged 10.29 per cent.

"We have got final result of 502 unions where the vote casting ratio was 73.82. Out of 502, Awami League won in 380 UPs, BNP in 32, Jatiya Party in 7, Bangladesh Workers Party in two, JSD in three, Islami Andolon Bangladesh in one and the independent candidates won in 76 UPs in 'chairman' posts," EC Secretary Sirajul Islam said.

"Of the 502 UPs, the number of voters was 81,29,009. The number of vote casting was 60,00, 826. About 1,06, 465 votes were cancelled. Polling in 56 centres was halted. In these centres voting will be held again," he said.
Time for action on universal access to water

Jan Willem Goudriaan :

On World Water Day, it will be two years since the EPSU-led Right2Water campaign became the first ever successful European Citizens Initiative (ECI). Then a new and untested campaign tool, our ECI nearly doubled the minimum number of signatures required, reaching a total of 1,884,790 supporters by the time it was submitted in December 2013. But the momentum didn't stop there. The candidates for Commission President in the European elections, including current president Jean-Claude Juncker and European Parliament President Martin Schulz all endorsed Right2Water. And on 8 September last year, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of Lynn Boylan's follow-up report to the ECI Right2Water, so giving further democratic backing to our ambitious demands.

Despite this, the European Commission has failed to act. An unambitious Communication released by the Commission in 2014 has been followed by two years of silence and no concrete legislation to introduce the human right to water in the EU. The longer the Commission refuses to listen to the Right2Water's supporters and signatories and implement political change, the longer it discredits its own legitimacy - and the more Europe's water services, workers and citizens will suffer. The European Citizen's Initiative was created as part of the EU's own democratic revolution and gave the promise of real legislative powers to the people of Europe. For its own sake, the Commission must now demonstrate that its promise was not an empty one.

Enough is enough. This World Water Day, the EPSU will hold a demonstration in front of the Commission to call for the implementation of the human right to water and sanitation in the EU once and for all. Supported by members of Belgian and other trade unions, MEPs and the European Water Movement, we want to show Commissioners that Right2Water is alive and kicking. We refuse to accept the Commission's silence.

Water is a human right, according to the United Nations, which in 2010 declared that every man, woman and child should have access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation. As the most precious life source the earth has to offer, without which humans cannot survive, the recognition of water's importance to human beings as equal to their right to life and dignity goes without saying. Yet 663 million people worldwide, including in Europe, continue to lack access to these two most basic of needs.

With such figures, it is alarming that improving water services and expanding access to clean water and sanitation have not been promoted to the top of the list of priorities for political leaders. Moreover, the policies of European governments and institutions are actually making the situation worse.

Since 2008, the European financial and economic crisis has seen poverty levels and the number of low income families soar, and an increasing number of people struggle to pay their water bills. The austerity policies pursued by European leaders in the wake of the crisis have seen the mass sell-off of state assets and handed many vital public services to private providers, which has in turn increased costs for citizens and their families. For many who can't pay, water supply can be cut off entirely.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Greece, where "fiscal consolidation", as imposed by the Troika, has been tied irrevocably to a political commitment to roll back the state. On World Water Day Greek workers and social movements will recall that close to 95% of people in Thessaloniki rejected the privatisation of their water company in a referendum in May 2014. But the creditors ignore the demands of these citizens and commercialisation policies continue to be pursued with vigour. The partial privatisation of water companies in Thessaloniki and Athens features prominently in the Troika's bailout plans for Greece: the sell-off of these companies plays a key role in releasing cash which can then be pumped back into the creditors' coffers.

Studies continue to prove that public services, when kept in public hands, are more accessible, deliver better quality, are more efficient and cheaper to run. It is no coincidence that once privatised water services all over Europe are being increasingly brought back into public management by municipalities. A Spanish court last week questioned the years-long concession for private water operator Aguas de Barcelona - one of Europe's largest. And the Barcelona city council is committed to returning water services back to the control of the citizens.

This all supports the nearly two million European citizens whose voices united into a single, resounding cry for the European Commission to change course when they signed the EPSU-led ECI Right2Water. Supporters of Right2Water want to see water supply and management excluded from "internal market rules" and commercialisation, as well as increased efforts from the EU to achieve universal access to water and sanitation. Put simply, Right2Water calls for the dream of the human right to water to be turned into a reality.

We demand that the Commission introduce legislation once and for all - the time to act is long overdue.

(Jan Willem Goudriaan is the General Secretary of the EPSU, and Vice-President of the European Citizens' Initiative Right2Water).


Awareness against Zika virus

As per news report the first case of Zika virus was detected in Bangladesh two years back. News reports in media quoting the government officials said on Wednesday that Zika was found in the blood sample taken in 2014 from a sexagenarian in Chittagong city; but he is now safe and sound.

Zika, an emerging Aedes-mosquito-borne virus spreading throughout the Americas recently and there is a growing fear that the virus could reach Bangladesh anytime as said by experts. Now its presence has been finally detected to prove that experts made timely warning about it. They have also suggested for taking preemptive and precautionary measures so that Zika could not spread explosively. Aedes aegypti, the carrier of the virus, is also responsible for spreading Dengue fever throughout the Indian sub-continent region, especially in Bangladesh and India.

BBC said that the virus has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains. So some countries have also advised women not to get pregnant without test for Zika virus. There is currently no vaccine available to fight the threat. In this context, Bangladesh should take special care for pregnant women to save their children from being born handicapped from mothers' womb.

If this virus spreads, experts said, it can make thousands of victim to spread at an epidemic rate. It is just a matter of time. Detecting a Zika-infected person could be difficult at the entry points - for example, airports and border entry points - of the country since one needs to go through several medical tests before being identified positive. Now government needs to set-up scanning mechanisms at airports to detect the Zika-infected visitors arriving in Bangladesh.

Besides, Thailand and Taiwan - two most popular destinations for tourists - are also favourite to growing number of Bangladeshi travelers with increasing risk of the virus. In airports, these travellers on their return must be subjected to watchful check.

Health experts believe there is an urgent need to coordinate national and international efforts to investigate and understand the relationship of this virus with human beings better. They also call for issuing travel warnings, highlighting the fact that the most effective form of prevention is getting rid of stagnant water where mosquitoes easily breed. They also need effective protection against mosquito bites such as using bug repellant and sleeping under mosquito nets.

In our view Bangladesh health experts must immediately launch public awareness campaign to take the threat to the knowledge of the common people. There must be more preventive measures than curative one while our hospital system should create arrangement to treat patients if situation so arises.
ISIS claims killing of Christian in Kurigram

Catholic Herald :

ISIS have claimed responsibility for the killing of Hussein Ali Sarkar, a Christian stabbed to death yesterday in Bangladesh.

According to SITE, a US-based intelligence group, ISIS said they carried out the killing, which took place in Kurigram, north of Dhaka. ISIS reportedly said that a "security detachment" killed the "preacher" to be a "lesson to others".

Ali Sarkar, aged 68, converted to Christianity to Islam in 1999. Police said he was not a preacher.

Kurigram district police chief Tobarak Ullah told Reuters that three attackers stabbed Ali Sarkar while he

was having his morning walk on Tuesday. The killers then set off bombs "to create panic", Ullah said.

In December, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on a mosque of Ahmadi Muslims, whom ISIS regard as polytheists.


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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Gov. John Bel Edwards is seeking to remove a state law that keeps Louisiana from issuing driver's licenses that comply with the security measures of the federal REAL ID law.

The Senate Transportation Committee advanced the legislation Tuesday to the full Senate without objection.

The Democratic governor's position is a reversal from his Republican predecessor, Bobby Jindal, who vetoed a similar bill in 2014 amid privacy concerns from conservative groups. Similar concerns were raised Tuesday.

Lawmakers say they worry continued refusal to comply with REAL ID law could force Louisiana residents to need a passport or other federal documents to board domestic flights starting in 2018.

Under the proposal by Baton Rouge Sen. Yvonne Dorsey Colomb, Louisiana residents would get to individually decide if they want REAL ID-compliant licenses.
The court did not hand down a judgment in today's contempt hearing, but an expert witness showed once and for all that the city marshal played foul in response to The IND's public records requests.

Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope enters the Lafayette Parish Courthouse for day one of his contempt hearing. Photo by Robin May

While the Lafayette city marshal was not yet judged at Tuesday's contempt hearing, those in 15th Judicial District Judge Jules Edwards' courtroom were shown the anatomy of his predator  a Barracuda.

Specifically, in this case, the big fish is a Barracuda file server employed by Lafayette Consolidated Government to archive emails sent to and from the citys network. This was perhaps not the most exciting day in court, but it was one that demonstrated the absurdity of Marshal Brian Popes I got spoofed defense.

We can now see quite clearly that Pope deleted emails that proved last year he used his office in collaboration with the campaign for sheriff of Chad Leger to attack Legers opponent, Mark Garber, and that he authorized the distribution of the attack via a third-party mailing list service called Campaigner.

Tuesday's proceedings showed that Pope allowed Leger's campaign to use his official email address to blast what amounts to Leger campaign press materials, turning over the lock and key to his authority and reputation to Legers campaign manager Hilary Joe Castille.

Photo by Robin May J. Kevin Stockstill

Even questioning by Popes own attorney indicated that Pope may try to distance himself from culpability by arguing that he only authorized the use of his email address and not the content delivered by it. If Castille is the puppeteer, then Pope is Pinocchio.

If youve been following this story, youve connected those dots all along. Whats significant here is that expert IT testimony showed exactly how Popes dissembling failed.

Testimony by IND expert witness Doug Menefee, a former Schumacher Group chief information officer and recent collaborator with Amazon Web Services, showed that when Pope deleted a Campaigner authorization email and Castille-authored press materials they were removed only from an exchange server that interfaced with the marshals offices work computers.

That system is primarily operated by City Court.

Menefees description of the marshals IT architecture showed definitively that Pope deleted 79 pages of documents that did not arrive in a court-ordered response last December to two outstanding public records requests filed by this newspaper.

To boot, Menefees testimony revealed that Pope would have circumvented LCGs content filter by using his smart phone to authorize the use of Campaigner to distribute a press advisory and statement authored by Castille. Pope at one time testified that he was blocked from accessing Campaigner at his office workstation, and that he had never before heard of it much less used it to shotgun an attack on Garber via this bizarre press conference and press release.

While Pope perhaps thought the emails were gone for good when he emptied his Outlook trash bin, he did not count on those emails residing for posterity on LCGs Barracuda archive.

At best, Popes defense, as revealed in his attorney J. Kevin Stockstills examinations of Menefee and Popes own IT expert Brian Hanks, became a series of murky evasions. The INDs expert cant prove at this point when those emails were deleted, as Stockstill pointed out. Furthermore, Stockstill indicated, you cant really expect the marshal to know that the stuff he deletes still exists on a different server.

Because, in all likelihood, he's never been bitten by a Barracuda.

Stockstills reasoning ignores a key feature - desire. The marshals office does have an on-site IT help desk operated by LCG. Had Pope really wanted to fulfill The INDs request with emails he knew existed, he could have taken it up with IT. Instead, he satisfied himself with what turns out to be legally unsatisfactory responses to The INDs official requests.

You could speculate that Stockstills approach amounted to a preemptive softening of any potential criminal prosecution Pope may face. Stockstill circled closely around a defense from incapacity that may or may not ultimately land for presiding District Court Judge Jules Edwards, but leaves enough on the table for Pope to plea incompetence in the face of blinding technology.

Given the immense and complicated testimony produced by Menefee, Edwards elected to recess proceedings until March 24 at 3 p.m., at which time we expect to hear closing arguments and a ruling. Pope could face criminal or civil contempt charges in addition to attorney fees awarded to The IND in January and a ticking clock of penalties he faces for each day he fails to satisfy the outstanding requests.

On Tuesday, IND attorney Gary McGoffin told the court those legal fees and penalties now total about $90,000.

[Editor's Note: A line in this story that inaccurately reflected the sentiments of City Judge Doug Saloom has been removed. The IND regrets any confusion that may have resulted.]
Not sure what the big hubbub is between The IND and the city marshal? Here's a nifty timeline of our public records dispute.

City Marshal Brian Pope, center, is flanked by deputy marshals while delivering a political attack on then-candidate for sheriff Mark Garber last October. The episode set off a public records dispute that's had The IND and the marshal in and out of court for the past several months. Photo by Robin May

In The IND's vigor to provide detailed blow by blow of our public records dispute with the city marshal, we've neglected to consider the uninitiated of our readership. We submit to your perusal this easy-to-follow timeline. If you want to go deeper, see the links provided for stories we've written since this began last October.

Oct. 7, 2015 - Pope holds a press conference attacking sheriff candidate Mark Garber. Based on Popes clunky delivery, his known friendship with Garbers opponent Chad Leger and the political overtone of the conference, The IND suspects collaboration with the Leger campaign.

Oct. 8 - The IND files its first public records request asking for emails from the marshals official [email protected] address that could demonstrate his collusion with the Leger campaign. State law requires that he respond to the request in three days. Pope subsequently denies the request citing a bogus investigation and an inapplicable Louisiana attorney generals opinion.

Oct. 15 - Pope skips town to Mexico and notifies The IND that he cannot respond to the request until his return after the October primary election. He meanwhile claims through his attorney that the only responsive documents are email replies he received in reply to the subject press conference notice he had sent out via mass distribution via third party vendor across the country. The mailing vendor in question here is a service called Campaigner.

Nov. 16 - The IND files suit seeking a court order to turn over the requested records. More than a month has passed without a response to our Oct. 8 request.

Nov. 30 - The IND files a second public records request.

Dec. 14 - Pope and The IND go to court. District Court Judge Jules Edwards orders Pope to turn over records and prohibits him from withholding documents. Under oath, Pope denies having ever used Campaigner and claims that his office wrote press materials connected to the October press conference. His attorney speculates that Popes email address may have been spoofed  i.e. co-opted without his permission.

Dec. 17 - At the courts suggestion, Pope hires an IT consultant to help him produce a response to The INDs requests. He delivers a stack of 588 pages. Many of the docs show that Pope was well aware of the use of Campaigner by his office to publicize the conference.

Dec. 24 - The IND receives a stash of documents via mirror request of Lafayette Consolidated Government which contains 79 pages deleted from Popes computer and not produced in Pope's Dec. 17 response. The response contains emails from Leger campaign manager Joe Castille to Pope with the script for his press conference and the Campaigner-distributed advisory attached. Email records confirm Legers campaign had authored the Oct. 8 press conference after all. Also included is an authorization email from Campaigner that allowed the Leger campaign to use Popes official email address to distribute the press materials.

Dec. 28 - Pope lies under oath in a video deposition, once again claiming to have never used Campaigner and that his office authored the press conference materials. Hes confronted with the LCG documents and walks back portions of his claim.

Jan. 4 - In light of Popes defiance of court orders, the Court finds Popes responses woefully inadequate and his failure to comply arbitrary and unreasonable. District Judge Jules Edwards awards fees and costs to The IND and assesses penalties of $200 per day - $100 per outstanding request - for each day that the marshal fails to satisfy the requests.

March 22 - The parties reconvene for a contempt hearing. Expert testimony shows definitively that Pope deleted the emails missing from his Dec. 22 production, and that he is the only person who could have authorized the use of his email by Campaigner. The INDs attorneys tally 173 days without a responsive request. Penalties and fees combine exceed $90,000.

March 24 - The court finds Pope in contempt of court, sentencing the marshal to 30 days house arrest, all but 7 suspended, two years probation, 173 hours of litter abatement and 168 hours of community service in the form of presentations on public records law. Pope subsequently challenges the rulings and avoids incarceration for the duration of his appeal.

April 5 - A public records request filed by The IND reveals that Pope has spent tens of thousands of public dollars on his legal defense, which ballooned to three attorneys to handle his appeal.

April 7 - Lafayette District Attorney Keith Stutes begins a criminal investigation of Pope in connection with potential charges of malfeasance, abuse of office and perjury.

April 18 - IND attorney Gary McGoffin attempts to depose Joe Castille, only to be blocked on camera by Castille's attorney Clayton Burgess. Burgess claims that he and his client had no time to prepare for the deposition. McGoffin produces at the deposition a February letter from Pope's counsel to Burgess in which the attorneys refer to our attorney as "McGoof" and discuss launching an "offensive" on the sheriff's office. The letter had been accidentally filed by Pope's attorneys into the court record.
Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes.

What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection?

Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were.

Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property  there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection:

You get to see exactly what will happen to your money

When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor.

Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on.

A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with.

You find out about potential major repairs

Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing.

If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately.

You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on

One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home.

Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly.

You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for

While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best.

This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit.

Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home.

You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price

If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home.

You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price.

You can sell your home faster and for more money

If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are.

In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price.

Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for.

Your home will hold its value longer

As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property.

When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home.

You can make smart decisions about property investments

Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property.

If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal.

There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about.

If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage

If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing.

They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit.

You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors

If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for.

For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money.

You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition

Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building.

You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure.

Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so.

As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois homeless shelters struggling to get by without state aid during the budget stalemate could get a much-needed financial boost through specialty scratch-off lottery tickets.

A bipartisan measure pending in the Illinois Legislature would create a new $3 scratch ticket and designate all the proceeds beyond administrative costs and prize money for grants to help shelters that serve the tens of thousands of homeless people statewide.

As social service providers suffer statewide without government aid, the proposal demonstrates one instance in which lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to sustain funding for one of the many programs that can no longer operate at full capacity. The failure of the Democratic-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to agree on a budget that should've taken effect July 1 has left many social service providers facing uncertain futures.

The Illinois Department of Human Services, which provides programming for the state's homeless, youth and disabled, owes over 800 private contractors about $168 million in back payments. And every day that goes by without a budget adds to an already staggering state debt. Comptroller Leslie Munger said the state's backlogged bills could total $10 billion by June 30.

Costs of Springfield inaction mounting SPRINGFIELD  With Illinois now two-thirds of the way through its fiscal year without a comp

"(My plan) is a creative way to address homelessness in our area and create a long term path toward independency among this population," said south suburban Chicago Democrat Rep. Thaddeus Jones, one of three legislators sponsoring the bill. He said his proposal is one way to fund human services without adding more costs to the still undecided budget.

Jones said he also wants the tickets to bring awareness to homeless youth and veterans in a state where homelessness affects about 38,000 people, according to a 2014 Department of Human Services report on state funded shelters.

Helping Hands of Springfield is one Illinois shelter housing over 40 adult men and women a night that could benefit from Jones' plan. Its executive director, Rod Lane, said that while Jones' proposal is a good idea, he would prefer predictable and timely payments from the state.

"Any money would be beneficial, but our hope is to get funding restored," Lane said.

Lane said he expects the location will close its doors on weekends to non-residents who come to shower, eat and retreat from inclement weather because it can't pay employees to work weekend and overnight shifts. It takes about $200,000 to operate the shelter annually. About $100,000 of the shelter's funding that would have come from the state has not been funded because of the budget impasse.

But Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican who has been outspoken in his opposition to piecemeal budgeting, said he's concerned a new scratch-off game could divert consumer money from other causes. Specialty games that have been approved by the Legislature include support for cancer research, HIV/AIDS awareness, veteran support, Multiple Sclerosis and the Special Olympics.

"To add another one, you're telling the department how to market games and which ones are viable," Harris said. "There are probably a hundred different causes one would say deserve a scratch-off game."

The budget standoff also has sparked calls to use private money to pay for such things as the Illinois State Museum, which the governor ordered closed last October, and the Springfield and DuQuoin Fairgrounds. At a news conference Tuesday, Rauner said transferring the state's burden to donors would allow more public money to go to human services and schools.

While it's unknown how much money the homeless specialty ticket could generate in revenue, the specialty ticket benefiting veterans, also priced at $3, has donated over $10 million in the past decade.

The state's lottery generated about $2.8 billion in sales last year.

The Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services Program, which helps over 700 homeless youth find shelter and food, was forced to end its program in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood that served about 75 youth in February because it couldn't afford operating costs. However, the group's outreach programs in East St. Louis remain open.

Jassen Strokosch, communications director for Children's Home and Aid, said the youth homeless prevention program costs the state about $200 per youth each month.

"We have generous donors who have helped keep those programs open," Strokosch said. "The reality is we know where youth end up without these programs. They end up incarcerated, abused, neglected and wards of the state."
Mother Olga Yaqob, founder of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, was born and raised in Iraq.

In a recent book, she writes about "merciful hope" and how one encounters it via charitable acts. Giving food to the hungry. Visiting the sick. Welcoming the stranger. She discovered these "were not only a service to others but also a much deeper encounter, in which Jesus invited his followers to see him in those whom they served." She saw God in those who suffered terribly, unjustly, alone. "In the midst of the darkness of violence, hatred, bloodshed, and deaths of both civilians and military personnel, faith in God became my anchor in the face of such a storm."

In her war-torn country, Mother Olga would bury unclaimed bodies, carrying them in her arms. "They were very difficult times in my life. I had to take responsibility for bringing their bodies to our convent to wash them according to the custom of the culture in order to prepare them for burial." She looked to Mary as her model, "who stood at the foot of the cross when they took down the body of her only Son and laid him in her arms, that precious body, beaten, pierced, and covered with blood."

Terror reigns in Iraq today, and it has driven many Christians from their homes. A new report from the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians documents some of what has happened to the Christians targeted by ISIS. Among images that jump off the pages of a nearly 300-page study: A Christian man from Mosul who committed suicide after he had to watch as ISIS fighters "brutally raped his wife and daughter in front of him." Or the woman who "was victimized so often that she resorted to defecating on herself to make herself less desirable, and had to be trained to use the bathroom again after she escaped." According to the report, "ISIS is estimated to have taken over 1,500 Yazidi and Christian girls as sex slaves. They are bought and sold on an open slave market, and are often raped in rapid succession by a number of fighters in a single night."

And these are just some of the horrors we know.

Here at home, the U.S. government faces a decision about whether it is going to recognize what is happening in Iraq as the genocide it so clearly is, following in the footsteps of the EU parliament, among others. The question has become not one of America sticking its neck out or being a moral leader, but not standing in the way of what would otherwise be something of a global consensus, one that Pope Francis has been begging the world to see for some time now.

What the sloganeering of a certain presidential candidate misses is that America's greatness is rooted in something more than ourselves, greater than ourselves. American exceptionalism can be a boast, but it can also be a humble and confident prayer. It's a reminder that we must protect, defend, welcome and lead, with gratitude for the freedoms we have. Listening to the crowd reactions at a primary victory party one recent Tuesday, the masses seemed more like spectators at a sporting event than people bent on the hard work of restoring virtue to the troubled republic.

Before he became Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said in a conversation with his good friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka, "Participating in political life is a way of honoring democracy." When we don't take that as seriously as we ought, democracy ceases to honor us. Some of the radical social experiments codified by the judiciary in recent decades certainly contributed to the unraveling of what healthy social order there was.

I keep hearing how America is a religious nation. If that's going to mean anything, now is the time for people of faith to humble ourselves, examine our conscience and see if we are giving what we should to our society. And it can start simply, by going out of your way for another. Remembering the forgotten, the lonely. Visiting the sick. Learning from a girl in a war-torn country looking for hope and meaning. Remembering who we are and want to be.

-----

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.
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Turkish border guards stopped a suspected Daesh-linked ("Islamic state") suicide bomber on the Syrian frontier on Tuesday, a security source said, Anadolu reported.

The potential bomber, who was carrying explosives, was arrested alongside nine other suspected Daesh members in Gaziantep province, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking publicly.

According to a statement from the provincial governors office, the group originally consisted of 13 suspects but three escaped. It said two were injured when they were arrested.

The group had crossed from Syria, the security source added without providing further detail. The Turkish authorities regularly arrest suspected Daesh members in the provinces of Gaziantep and Kilis, which border a region of Syria under the groups control.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is preparing to visit Pakistan in coming days, IRNA reported on March 22.

According to the report, the major agenda at Rouhani's visit to Islamabad is negotiation over Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline as well as boosting power export to this country.

Before, Pakistani Express Tribune reported that two months after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Tehran in January, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is preparing to kick off a visit to Islamabad on March 25-26.

The schedule of Rouhanis two-day trip was disclosed during a meeting between Pakistani Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost on March 9.

IRNA reported that the economic ministers of Rouhani's cabinet will accompany him in Pakistan visit.

The Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian told IRNA on March 22 that exporting 3000 megawatts(MW) of power to Pakistan is possible.

Falahatian didn't reveal how much kilowatt-hour (kWh) of Iranian electricity would be exported to Pakistan, however, Pakistan has about 4 percent share in Iran's 10-billion kWh electricity energy export, Iran Energy Ministry's annual report says.

A few weeks ago Pakistan lifted sanctions against Iran, shortly after international sanctions on Iran were lifted according to the countrys nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project (also called Peace Pipeline) is also expected to discussed between two sides.

Pakistan should have intake Iranian gas since the beginning of 2015, but it hasn't started the construction of pipeline in its territory yet.

According to agreement, Iran would export 22 million cubic meters per day of gas to Pakistan The pipeline can carry 110 million cubic meters of gas a day.
Exporting 3000 megawatts(MW) of power to Pakistan is possible, the Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian told IRNA on March 22.

Without specifying the details, he said that the delayed debts of Iran's neighbor power clients is about $1.5 billion.

He also said that Pakistan hasn't demonstrated a serious willingness to increase power import from Iran.

According to Iran's Energy Ministry's latest weekly report, the country increased power generation capacity by more than 600 MW in 2015 to about 73,500 MW.

Iran has planned to increase power generation capacity to 100,000 MW by 2021.

Falahatian didn't reveal how much kilowatt-hour (kWh) of Iranian electricity would be exported to Pakistan, however, Pakistan has about 4 percent share in Iran's 10-billion kWh electricity energy export, Iran Energy Ministry's annual report says. Iran's electricity export decreased from about 11.8 billion kWh in 2014 to about 10 billion kWh in 2015. Iraq and Turkey share 90 percent of Iran's total power export.

Falahatian said that Iraq is importing about 300 MW of Iranian power in this season (spring) from Iran, while the power deal between two nations has been expired since the beginning of 2015 and should be extended.

Coming to Pakistan's debts to Iran, The Express Tribune reported on March 10 that Pakistan is already importing 73MW to meet the requirement of Gwadar but payments could not be made since 2011. "Now that sanctions have been removed from Iran, officials believe banking channels will be opened, paving the way for payment of outstanding bills," the report said.

Two months after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Tehran in January, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is preparing to kick off a visit to Islamabad on March 25-26. The schedule of Rouhanis two-day trip was disclosed during a meeting between Pakistani Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost on March 9.

During this visit, Pakistan and Iran are set to sign deals for supply of over 3,000 MW of electricity, The Express Tribune reported .
Around 26 per cent of organisations in the Middle East have experienced economic crimes in the past 24 months, lower than the global average of 36 per cent though a 5 per cent increase since 2014, a report said.



Although the number of affected organisations in the Middle East was lower compared to the global average, the number in the region who simply didnt know if theyd been a victim was much higher than the global average (20 per cent against 11 per cent), indicating uncertainty as to whether their organisations are experiencing economic crime, according to the report titled Adjusting the Lens on Economic Crime in the Arab World from PwC, a global network of firms providing assurance, advisory and tax services.



The report illustrates how economic crime has evolved over the last two years, morphing into different forms depending on industrial sector and region.



The challenge for businesses is to close down the opportunities to commit economic crime. A major part of this is staying ahead of new threats, while developing new ways to prevent, detect and respond effectively to those threats, said Nick Robinson, PwC Regional Forensic Services leader.



Its also vital to ensure that organisations have a culture based on strong values, supported by robust policies and ethics and compliance programmes. This needs to be integrated into day-to-day decision-making to be successful.



The survey shows that even though there has been a marginal decrease, it is possible that this small decrease is actually masking a worrying trend  that economic crime is changing significantly, but that detection and controls are not keeping up with the pace of change. Further, the financial cost of each fraud is on the rise.



According to the survey, one in four organisations have not carried out a single fraud risk assessment in the last 24 months, while 17 per cent are discovered by mere accident. This suggests that organisations need to ensure that they are not lulled into a false sense of security if the level of reported incidents are low and that they revisit their fraud detection mechanisms.



However, on a more positive note, the survey highlights that the role of internal audit in detecting fraud has been more effective compared to how it was in 2014, despite it being slightly below the global average.



Tareq Haddad, PwC Partner, Middle East Investigations leader said: It takes continuous efforts to combat the persistent issue of economic crime. Over the year it has been proven that managements who have put in place strong anti-fraud programmes have preserved the value and reputation of their organisations and gained the trust of stakeholders through demonstrating its ability to deal with such complex issues.



Such programs must include a proper fraud risk assessment and putting effective mechanisms in place to deter, prevent and detect fraud. Furthermore, an organisations reaction to fraud incidents and continuous improvement of its systems over time is key to mature its abilities to manage the risk of fraud, he added.





Additional key highlights of the report include:



 Cybercrime: 30 per cent organisations have been affected so far and 39 per cent think they will be affected in the next two years. Cybercrime remains the second most reported economic crime.



 Response to cybercrime: Most companies are still not adequately prepared for or even understand the risks faced. Only 33 per cent organisations have a cyber-incident response plan.



 The fraudster profile: Most likely, a fraudster in the Middle East is in middle management (29 per cent) or a junior role (46 per cent). Types of fraud more prevalent in the region include misclassification of payroll expenses, false wage claims and fraudulent reductions in payroll taxes.



 Anti-money laundering: More than 20 per cent of financial services firms have not conducted risk assessments across their global footprint. However, Middle Eastern respondents appear to be ahead of the curve in many areas and in the last two years, 68 per cent have hired additional resources in this area.



 Ethics and Compliance: More than one in five respondents are not aware of a formal ethics and compliance programme, even though 79 per cent companies claim to have a formal plan in place. The report also suggests that a good compliance programme should be embedded in the HR processes in order to combat economic crimes and that, if done well, this approach can reduce such cases, as well as protect the brand and reputation.



Further interesting messages from the survey are around bribery and corruption, with 92 per cent of the respondents in the Middle East saying they dont see bribery as a legitimate practise in their organisation, and 83 per cent of them saying they would rather lose a sale than pay a bribe. While Only 6 per cent say theyve been asked to pay a bribe in the last two years, and only 9 per cent say they lost business to a competitor as a result.



The good news is that, according to Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index for 2016, a number of the major economies in the region have made progress in this area, with the ratings for Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all improving slightly, the report said.



There has been little progress elsewhere in the region: Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia have deteriorated slightly, and three of the bottom ten countries are from the region, namely Iraq, Libya, and Sudan, all of them are countries affected by conflict.  TradeArabia News Service
PA Consulting Group Middle East and North Africa (Mena) has appointed Andrew Ford as a senior expert working within the delivery of mega projects, as part of its aggressive recruitment drive in the region.



An expert with 35 years top level experience in helping to deliver projects such as New York University Abu Dhabi, the Lusail Primary Infrastructure re-development in Qatar and real estate for various Dubai Government departments and partner organisations, Ford joins the team to reinforce the firms consulting services for large scale global mega events.



Jason Harborow, the head of PA Consulting Group Mena, said: "I consider Andrews appointment to our team as a game changer in how we will help clients deliver the major projects planned in this region over the next five to ten years."



"Having worked with Andrew in the past, I know the energy, commitment and passion that he brings to PA. He is a highly self-motivated and results-orientated person and I welcome the level of professionalism that he maintains," stated Harborow.



Ford has 18 years specific experience in the UAE real estate and construction industry, holding key roles in contract administration, construction, design management, commercial management and project management, across a broad spectrum of projects covering civil, hospitality, education, commercial and industrial sectors.



He has worked for government authorities at a senior director level, meeting the demands of auditability, governed processes and confidentiality.



His experience working within multi-disciplined organisations has enhanced his abilities to ensure effective team interaction, problem solving, adhering to project development timeframes, fixed budgets and achieving the quality and exacting standards of the client and end-user, stated Ford.



Harborow said: "We have started this year with an aggressive recruitment drive to support our growth plans for the region. Ford is one of 14 new members of staff to join us since the beginning of the year. The increased headcount is vital to the ongoing delivery of work we are producing for our clients across a variety of industries."



The government services, healthcare, and transport, travel and logistics sectors continue to be major areas of expansion for PA, both globally and within our region. We are bringing together the best minds in the business to ensure the offering to our current and future clients is unbeatable, he added.



PA Consulting Group has been operating in the Gulf region for over 30 years, successfully delivering more than 150 projects in 13 Middle Eastern countries, across sectors including healthcare, financial services, transport, energy, government, defence and security, education and manufacturing.-TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based Al Rawabi, a leading producer of dairy products and juices, has announced plans of a new investment worth Dh80 million ($21.7 million) in 2016 to enhance production and to enter new markets in the region.



Addressing a press conference to unveil the companys growth plans in the context of the recent elevation of Dr Ahmed El Tigani as the CEO of the company, officials said that the new investment follows last years Dh25 million ($6.81 million) in state-of-the-art cold storage infrastructure, said a statement from the company.



Abdallah Sultan Al Owais, chairman, Al Rawabi Dairy Company, said: In 2015, we grew by 15 per cent compared to an industry average of 7 per cent. This achievement is the result of strategic thinking, phased investments over the years, innovation and commitment of Tigani and his team to the brand.



We have an ambitious road ahead and our mission is to be a Middle East and North Africa (Mena) brand by 2020 with presence in key markets across the region, he said.



Al Owais also noted that the company is confident that it will grow by 15 per cent in 2016.



As part of streamlining processes, Al Rawabi will also centralise operations of stores for more effective supply chain management and increased productivity, said the statement.



Additionally, the chairman said that this year Al Rawabi will add a new modern state-of-the-art automated facility which will help the company increase output to 70 per cent from the current 30 per cent.



Currently, Al Rawabi produces 175,000 litres of fresh juice products and 325,000 litres of dairy products daily, added the statement.



The company had invested Dh125 million ($34.03 million) to expand farm facilities and dairy cattle in 2013 and another Dh22 million ($5.99 million) in 2014 in new third generation filling and pasteurisation lines as part of its strategy to become a regional leader, it said.



Abdulla Al Qubaisi, vice chairman of Al Rawabi Dairy Company, said: This year we are looking at enhancing our portfolio with an unparalleled range of new value added products. These products will also seek to address key lifestyle-related concerns of our society like obesity, hypertension, diabetes and Vitamin -D deficiency.



The company will expand its range of fresh juices and is also working on reducing sugar content in fruit juice without compromising on taste. In the dairy products category, Al Rawabi is also looking at introducing a range of cheeses and to expand into new category of products, including ice creams, he added.



Tigani added: In the next three to four years, we will be present in all GCC countries, apart from increasing the brands visibility in more African countries.



The aim is to double the turnover from 2015 levels by 2020 and reach a customer base of over 15,000 stores by the end of 2016 from the current 12,500, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
US Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton swept to victory in Arizona on Tuesday in contests that were overshadowed by deadly attacks in Brussels that raised security concerns in the US.



Trump, who has riled establishment Republicans, easily defeated his two rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, US television networks projected.



On the Democratic side, Clinton stretched her advantage in the Democratic contest by winning Arizona, routing US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.



The contests in Arizona and Utah took place on the same day that attacks in Brussels killed at least 30 people, adding to Americans' concerns about the threat from Islamist militants.



"This is a time for America to lead, not cower," Clinton told supporters in Seattle in a victory speech she used to attack Trump and Cruz for views she said were out of step with most Americans.



Sanders was unbowed in defeat, saying national polls showed him gaining on former secretary of state Clinton.



"When we began this campaign about 10 months ago we were three percent in the polls, about 70 points behind secretary Clinton. As of today the last poll that I saw we are five points behind and we are gaining," he said.



Long lines of voters were reported in both states.



Trump, the New York billionaire and former reality TV star, has ridden an anti-Washington message to become the favorite for the nomination. This has left a flagging anti-Trump effort with faint hopes of stopping him at the Republican national convention in July.



"Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!" Trump said on Twitter. "Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court Justices!"



HARDLINE MESSAGE



Trump's hardline immigration message is popular in Arizona, one of the US states that borders Mexico, and he leads in polls. He lags behind top rival Cruz in Utah.



Arizona will award its entire slate of 58 delegates to Trump.



In Utah, the state's 40 delegates will be awarded proportionate to the popular vote, unless a single candidate captures at least 50 percent of the vote, in which case that person will be awarded all the delegates.



On Monday, Trump warned against efforts to deny him the nomination if he falls short of securing the 1,237 delegates needed ahead of the July convention. Trump now has 678 delegates.



"I think it is going to be very hard for them to do," Trump said on CNN of any effort to deny him the nomination if he falls short. "I have millions of votes more than anybody."



Clinton showed her strength yet again in Arizona and looked to have a solid path to the Democratic presidential nomination. The two nominees from each party will meet in the Nov. 8 presidential election.



Sanders is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday. Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not the winner in a given state because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally in all states.



Tuesday's Republican contests were the first since US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed him in his home state.



Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the anti-Trump vote with Cruz.



In Arizona, Trump had the backing of former Republican Governor Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, two of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on illegal immigrants.-Reuters
Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production LLC (OOCEP), an upstream subsidiary of Oman Oil Company (OOC), is preparing to spud a pilot well in Block 65 in north Oman, a report said.



Covering an area of around 1,230 sq km, Block65 is surrounded by major oil and gas fields that produce from shallow cretaceous formations, Oman Observer reported.



According to OOCEP, the Pilot and Appraisal Study Agreement signed with the government last year calls for the drilling of one well to assess the prospectivity of unconventional resources in the Block.



Drilling site civil work has been completed and the righas been mobilised to site. The spud of the pilot well is anticipated to take place during mid-March 2016, OOCEP was quoted as reporting by the Observer.



Progressing towards achieving the plateau production of 70 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd), OOCEP successfully completed commissioning of 21 new wells, reaching a total number of 31 online wells in 2015, the company said.
Oil must rise above $50 a barrel if the energy sector is to attract the investment needed to build enough capacity to meet future demand, US consulting firm Oliver Wyman said in an annual energy outlook.



"Oil does not work at $50 a barrel. The price needs to be at least $65 a barrel, or the industry is not going to see the investment required to offset impending decline," Francois Austin, head of Energy Practice, said in the group's second Energy Journal.



"Change has become the new constant in the energy industry, with continuing pressure from record low oil prices, an excess of supply and not enough global demand," Austin said.



Oil has fallen to around $40 a barrel from close to $80 in late 2014, when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would not cut production to help balance supply and demand.



Opec, led by Saudi Arabia, has seen its global market share eroded by a boom in non-Opec production over the past few years, mainly from the US shale sector and Russia.



Low oil prices have shut off higher-cost production and forced major refiners to slash spending, cut jobs and shelve projects. Oil-reliant governments have been forced to impose painful social reforms as they struggle with dwindling revenues.



The Oliver Wyman report said the energy industry would need new strategies to overcome significant challenges, not just from low prices, but changes to the regulatory and environmental frameworks.



"Unprecedented shifts are forcing oil and gas companies, utilities, governments, investors, regulators and even consumers to rethink basic assumptions that have guided the energy sector for decades worldwide," the report said.



"To stay ahead of the profound transformation under way, business and government leaders must forge new strategies, operating models and risk mitigation tactics."



The report forecasts demand growth at around 1 million barrels per day.



The report echoed the view of the International Energy Agency that oil prices below $40 for an extended period would increase global dependence on the Middle East, home to some of the world's lowest-cost producers.



"While some niche assets and conglomerate operations may be able to endure, many smaller mature assets are headed for decommissioning unless significant cost-saving technology emerges. Regulatory efforts to foster cooperation and cut costs have had limited success so far," Austin said.  Reuters
More than two months after international nuclear sanctions on Iran were supposed to have ended, frustration is deepening that few trade deals are going through as foreign banks shy away from processing transactions with the country.



Iranian hopes of rapidly ending the country's economic isolation are fading as particularly European banks - some of which have already been hit by hit huge US fines for sanctions busting - fear falling foul of the many other restrictions imposed by Washington that remain in force.



Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the US of foot-dragging following the official implementation in January of a nuclear deal with major powers.



"The Americans have not acted on their promises and (only) removed the sanctions on paper," he said in a televised address on Sunday, complaining that international financial transactions faced problems because banks "fear the Americans".



Many nuclear-related sanctions did end when the 2015 nuclear deal was implemented on January 17, including measures imposed by the European Union and rules allowing US authorities to go after foreign companies and individuals dealing with Iran.



Agreements on a number of major contracts have been announced with great fanfare, with Tehran hoping relief from the crippling sanctions will lead to billions of dollars in trade and investment, reviving the economy and raising Iranians' living standards. However, significant sums have yet to start flowing.



US banks are still forbidden to do business with Iran and while lenders based elsewhere are not covered by this ban, major problems remain. Chief among these are rules prohibiting transactions in dollars - the world's main business currency - from being processed through the US financial system.



The Iranian business community believes the US has failed to spell out exactly what is permitted and what is not, leading to the uncertainty that makes international banks reluctant to process Iranian-linked transactions.



"We have to try to put pressure on America to make this issue clear. Otherwise, removing the sanctions does not mean anything," said Ferial Mostofi, chairwoman of privately-owned Iranian project management firm KDD Group.



KDD Group, which is active in sectors including iron, steel and mining, has noticed greater business interest from abroad, she said, but so far no deals have been concluded.



"If the banking situation stays as today, definitely we shall be facing problems for the payments," said Mostofi, who also chairs the Investment Commission at the Iran Chamber of Commerce.



The US Treasury, which is responsible for enforcing sanctions on Iran, gave no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment.



Iranians based in Dubai, historically one of Iran's main trading partners, complain they cannot get letters of credit to finance deals with their home country, while others have even had their company bank accounts closed in recent weeks.



The problems are also complicating Iran's plans to sell more oil, as well as recover up to $100 billion in assets that had been frozen by the sanctions in foreign bank accounts.



AGREEMENTS, FEW DEALS



Since January, Iran has struck agreements worth an estimated $50 billion with countries including Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Germany and others involving trade, project finance and other investment.



Agreements include a contract to buy 118 Airbus jets worth $27 billion. However, the funding needed to turn agreements into firm deals is another matter.



One Airbus executive told a conference in Paris last month that "we only see the back of banks at the moment", telling them: "Don't be afraid!"



Banks remain deterred by a $9 billion US fine on BNP Paribas in 2014 for violating US financial sanctions and other penalties, and the head of the French banking federation told the conference that lenders had yet to be assured of "complete legal security and clarity".



That will be tough as long as Washington keeps the ban on processing dollar transactions for Iran in the U.S. system.



"Until US sanctions are lifted European banks with major operations in the States, of which there are many, will still be exposed to onerous trade restrictions unless they can prove complete separation of European and US divisions of their business," said George Booth, a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons.



"That's easier said than done. It should not be underestimated the level of internal restructuring required to satisfy this criteria," said Booth, who advises firms hoping to do business with Iran.



Seyed Arash Shahr Aeini, deputy chief executive of the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran, an Iranian government agency, said so far only smaller banks were willing to become involved, and transactions were limited to around $50 million.



"Some small amounts have gone through but the huge amounts will require the involvement of big foreign banks which were active in Iran projects before the sanctions were imposed. They are still reluctant to start doing business with Iran."



In recent weeks SWIFT, the global payments network, has reconnected several Iranian banks to its system, allowing them to resume cross-border transactions with foreign banks four years after they were cut off.



While an important step towards re-integrating Iran into the global financial system, the outcome has appeared patchy so far.



Two banking sources said most international banks were still refusing to accept cheques from holders of accounts at one major Iranian commercial bank that has been reconnected.



Ali Sanginian, chief executive of Amin Investment Bank, Iran's largest investment bank, blamed the delay in reintegrating Iranian lenders on the remaining sanctions, the banks' anxieties and outdated technology used in Iran.



An international banker in the region said his bank's aversion to Iranian transactions had not changed. "Around 85 percent of trade is in US dollars and if you're dealing in dollars you cannot risk that by involvement with Iran," the banker said.



Of the transactions that are happening, some are in euros and other currencies, permitted under the current arrangement.



"Notwithstanding the relaxation of the position, it is still unclear as to whether if you are moving US dollars around they may get held up in the banking system," said James Kidwell, chief executive of shipping group Braemar. "Some people are probably choosing to transact in euros to avoid that problem."



Iran has managed to sell oil to India and other buyers in euros. It told trading partners which owe it billions of dollars that it wants to be paid in euros, Reuters reported last month, citing a source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. - Reuters
Seawings, a seaplane tour operator in the Middle East, has launched an educational programme which is being offered to schools, colleges and universities covering topics such as engineering, aerodynamics, and architecture.



The programme has been structured by teaching professionals and includes a 30-minute classroom educational briefing followed by a 40-minute scenic flight allowing students to use their observational skills along with the lessons learnt on the ground to inspect Dubai and apply the theory from the air.



Due to its diverse nature and variety of subjects offered, the programme can be incorporated into various international curriculums offered by education institutions in UAE. Additionally, students gain a unique perspective of Dubais development with aerial views of the citys ground breaking architecture from unique advantages.



The classroom briefing provides tasks and learning points that can be structured to focus on various aspects of the city such as; architecture, economy, ecology, history, development and city planning. Students are then able to use their observation and investigative skills as they fly above the city. The programme is fully customisable and can also be used for students to gather data and analyse patterns on a city-wide scale. The Seawings Education Programme is incorporated into curriculums to provide a new perspective while complimenting classroom learning. - TradeArabia News Service
Liz Cheney penned an open letter to former President Bill Clinton on Monday, inviting him to meet with her two days later in Cheyenne. The topic: comments made by Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton concerning the coal industry.

A storm prompted Bill Clinton to cancel his trip to campaign in the Cowboy State on his wifes behalf. But one of Cheneys U.S. House opponents, state Sen. Leland Christensen, questioned whether she had any intention of holding such a meeting, given that she was scheduled to attend a campaign fundraiser Wednesday evening in Washington, D.C.

Wyoming people know better than to trust her sudden interest in coal  she hasnt ever been there for coal and was going to be at a D.C. fundraiser for herself the whole time she made this offer, Kristin Walker, Christensens campaign adviser, said in a statement emailed Tuesday to the Star-Tribune.

Cheneys campaign responded with its own statement, which stressed that she was prepared to meet with Bill or Hillary Clinton to discuss coal.

Liz is in Cheyenne  even though Bill Clinton canceled, Cheney campaign manager Bill Novotny wrote. She has reiterated her offer to meet wimth the Clintons anytime, anyplace to explain the critical importance of Wyomings energy industry, and make sure they know we wont let Hillary Clinton  or anyone else  kill Wyomings jobs.

Critics have questioned Cheneys Wyoming ties before. She lived in Wyoming as a child and bought a home in Wilson in May 2012. But Cheney spent a great deal of her life outside the state and raised eyebrows last month when a Facebook post explaining why she was running for Congress listed Alexandria, Virginia, as its location. Her campaign attributed the Virginia location to a glitch.

So let me get this straight  Liz Cheney announced her campaign from Virginia and now from D.C. she is announcing  knowing at the same time that she is having an elite fundraiser with D.C. insiders  that she would have met with Bill Clinton in Wyoming? Walker said in the statement. Criticizing him for coming to Wyoming to fundraise while she herself is hosting a $5,400-per-person fundraiser in Washington, D.C.?

Cheneys camp suggested Christensens attacks were a distraction from real issues facing Wyoming.

As Wyomings congressman, Liz will lead the fight to defend Wyoming coal, oil and natural gas, Novotny wrote. Leland Christensen should forego the negative attacks so he can focus his attention on the challenges facing Wyoming industry, our families and communities.

Cheneys letter to Bill Clinton centered on comments made by Hillary Clinton during a March 13 CNN town hall meeting in Ohio. During the event, the presidential hopeful said, Were going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.

The statement drew strong condemnation in Wyoming, the nations top coal-producing state, especially at a time when the energy sector  and the states economy  are struggling.

Thousands of our citizens, families, businesses and communities have already been devastated by President Obamas War on Fossil Fuels, Cheney wrote in her letter. We wont stand by and watch Secretary Clinton, or anyone else, continue these policies.

While opponents swiftly attacked candidate Clinton for her coal comments, a transcript of the town hall shows she made them while speaking about her $30 billion plan to revitalize coal communities, from Appalachia to the Powder River Basin.

And were going to make it clear that we dont want to forget those people, she said immediately after the controversial comments, according to a CNN transcript. Those people labored in those mines for generations, losing their health, often losing their lives to turn on our lights and power our factories.

Minutes after the former president canceled his Wyoming appearance, Liz Cheneys campaign sent out an email touting her first campaign ad, which challenged Hillary Clintons energy strategy. The ad was intended as a response to Bill Clintons planned appearance in Cheyenne, according to the email.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clintons rival for the Democratic nomination, also canceled a visit to Wyoming on Wednesday due to the storm.

Wyoming Democrats will hold their presidential caucus on April 9.

Star-Tribune staff writer Hunter Woodall contributed to this report.
DENVER  Police temporarily evacuated a portion of Denver International Airport's main terminal Tuesday afternoon because of a possible security threat.

A police bomb squad later determined that suspicious packages found in the terminal did not pose a threat, according to airport officials.

The top two levels of the west side of the terminal were evacuated after Transportation Security Administration employees reported the packages near an airline check-in counter.

The evacuation included baggage claim and passenger pickup, as well as the ticket counters for American, Aero Mexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways.

The Obama administration stepped up security at major transit hubs across the country after Tuesday's airport and subway bombings in Brussels, Belgium.

The evacuation at DIA, which lasted about 2  hours, is expected to cause some flight delays.
Editor:

Elections are the foundation of a democracy. Because Natrona County Clerk Renee Vitto has the authority to unilaterally make a decision to remove polling from area schools citing handicapped access and school safety concerns doesn't mean her decision is the right one or that this decision should not be subject to voter approval. Having voting in the schools enabled teachers to have conversations with their kids about the rights and responsibilities of living in a republic.

During Casper's smoking ban election, some of these polling centers had two- to three-hour lines. Polling centers can only discourage participation in democracy as people will now need to take two or three hours off on election day (probably more) to register their preferences. How many employers will gladly allow their employees to take half a day off to vote on election day? Further, establishing a polling center at a church is a violation of the state Constitution and the First Amendment's establishment clause and separation doctrine and is likely to result in costly lawsuits that will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A better answer is for Wyoming lawmakers -- both Republican and Democrat -- to support a statewide election holiday where schools and banks and businesses are closed in the middle of the week and polling returns to schools. When students ask their teachers why they don't have school on Election Day (both primary and general), teachers will still have the opportunity to explain that voting is one of the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy while addressing school safety concerns.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

VA suspends official

in relocation scam

WASHINGTON  The Department of Veterans Affairs is suspending the head of the Veterans Benefits Administration for allowing two lower-ranking officials to manipulate the agencys hiring system for their own gain.

Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson says acting VBA chief Danny Pummill will be suspended without pay for 15 days for his role in a relocation scam that has roiled the agency for months. Pummill failed to exercise proper oversight as Kimberly Graves and Diana Rubens forced lower-ranking managers to accept job transfers and then stepped into the vacant positions, keeping their senior-level pay while reducing their responsibilities, Gibson said Tuesday.

Rubens earns $181,497 as director of the VBAs Philadelphia regional office, and Graves receives $173,949 as head of the St. Paul, Minnesota, benefits office.

Rosie the Riveters honored with DC visit

WASHINGTON  Seven decades after their we can do it attitude proved invaluable to the Allied victory, about 30 Rosie the Riveters were honored Tuesday with a trip to Washington that included visits to the National World War II Memorial.

Wearing honor flight red cardigans, the women  now in their 80s and 90s  whose work helped the war effort, posed for group photos with the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop, had lunch at a Library of Congress building and visited Arlington National Cemetery. At every stop, people approached them, shook their hands, and said, Thank you.

As women worked during the war at jobs traditionally done by men, such as churning out bombers at Ford Motor Co.s Willow Run plant in Michigan, one of them was the inspiration for the Rosie character that came to symbolize female empowerment and the were-in-this-together spirit of the American homefront.

FLORIDA

Man charged in elderly moms starvation death

BOYNTON BEACH  Authorities say a Florida man let his elderly mother starve to death, and her body decomposed inside their home.

The Sun Sentinel reported that Robert Hart, 65, was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person. The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office reports Hart called 911 in December to report his mothers death. Deputies who responded to the Boynton Beach trailer said they could smell decomposition from outside.

Hart reportedly told deputies that his mother, 92-year-old Violet Barker, had gone into her room to hibernate two weeks earlier, and he never went to check on her or feed her. Hart also told deputies he was unemployed and depended on his mothers Social Security checks.

CALIFORNIA

Man drops giant python in restaurant

LOS ANGELES  Los Angeles police say diners scattered when a man dropped a 13-foot python on the floor of a sushi restaurant.

Officer Drake Madison says the man had argued with an employee and stormed out of Iroha Sushi of Tokyo in Studio City on Sunday evening. Madison says a short time later, the man returned with the giant snake, threw it into the dining room and walked out again.

Wire reports
PHOENIX  Some of what was found on Arizona Corporation Commissioner Bob Stumps cell phone is a public record, the Attorney Generals Office said Tuesday.

But whether those texts sent and received by the state utility regulator will see the light of day remains unclear.

On Tuesday, attorneys for all sides in the public-records dispute provided a list of what was recovered from Stumps phone to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner.

Several hundred texts were listed, though many appear to be duplicates. The Attorney Generals Office used multiple computer programs to find messages that Stump conceded he deleted from his state-issued phone.

There appear to be no recoverable texts that fall within the dates in the public-records request filed by the group calling itself the Checks and Balances Project, which has also sued to compel disclosure of the texts.

Those dates were ahead of the 2014 Republican primary, during which a phone log showed the existence of repeated texts between Stump, two candidates he was supporting for the commission, the head of a group sending money from anonymous donors to help elect them, and an executive of Arizona Public Service, a utility regulated by the commission. The two candidates Stump supported were running against pro-solar-energy opponents.

Tim LaSota, Stumps attorney, said the new finding about the time frame should be the end of it. LaSota, along with commission attorney David Cantelme, now wants the lawsuit dropped.

But Dan Barr, who represents the Checks and Balances Project, said not so fast. He thinks theres more information to be had.

The report given to Warner raises a bigger issue.

If the judge concludes the attorney general is correct  that there were text messages that could fall within the definition of the public records law  it raises the question of whether Stump violated that law by deleting them.

But even that is not black and white.

Cantelme has argued that even texts that are public records do not have to be preserved forever. He said once the usefulness of the information has passed, it can be deleted.

Yet if it turns out the deleted messages were recovered  and if Warner determines they are public  then anyone could ask to see them.

The dispute that now goes to the judge centers on the question: what is a public record?

It is undisputed that all of the texts were recovered from Stumps state-issued phone.

Courts have said, however, the fact that a document or message is on a government device does not determine whether it is public. Instead, they said the deciding factor is whether it deals with public business.

So a text to a friend proposing a lunch date would not be public, even if sent from a state-issued phone.

Stump has contended nothing he deleted was a public record.

But Mia Garcia, spokeswoman for Attorney General Mark Brnovich, said the analysis by the agencys attorneys found that some of the recovered messages cannot legally be exempted from disclosure.

LaSota and Cantelme disagree.

Garcia acknowledged most of the recovered messages do not fall within the dates requested by the Checks and Balances Project.

But Garcia said Brnovich believes the court should look at everything recovered, including not specifically requested by Barr, to put an end to the question of what the public is entitled to see of the deleted messages.

Wed like this resolved as quickly as possible, she said.
Voters in Chandler waited long after the polls closed to cast their ballot in Arizonas presidential primary election.

Under a fresh cloud of overseas violence, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton padded their delegate troves on Tuesday with victories in Arizona and attacked each other as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash of would-be commanders in chief.

In Arizona, Trump took 47 percent to Ted Cruzs 23 percent and John Kasichs 10 percent among Republicans. Among Democrats, Clinton won with 60 percent to Bernie Sanders 37 percent, with 82 percent of the votes tallied by late Tuesday night. Trump and Clinton won in Pima County as well as statewide.

Long lines and high interest marked primary elections across Arizona, Utah and Idaho that were largely an afterthought for much of the day as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

In Utah, Sanders was the winner while Cruz was leading on the Republican side.

Democrats were also caucusing in Idaho.

This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander-in-chief, Clinton said in Seattle as she condemned Trump by name and denounced his embrace of torture and hardline rhetoric aimed at Muslims. The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear.

Trump, in turn, branded Clinton as Incompetent Hillary in an interview with Fox News as he discussed her tenure as secretary of state. Incompetent Hillary doesnt know what shes talking about, the billionaire businessman said. She doesnt have a clue.

The back and forth between the front-runners came amid a frenzy of activity from voters eager to make their voices heard in the 2016 election.

In Utah, caucus-goers were dispatched by poll workers to local stores with orders buy reams of paper and photocopy fresh ballots amid huge turnout. The state Democratic Partys website crashed due to high traffic.

In Arizona, voters waited two hours or more in some places to cast primary ballots, while police were called to help control traffic. Maricopa County, with four times as many voters, had fewer than half as many polling places open as Pima County.

The results from Arizona didnt bode well for Democrat Sanders and Republicans Cruz and Kasich. They are running out of time to slow Trump and Clintons march toward acquiring all the delegates needed to claim their parties nominations.

Trumps Arizona victory gives him all of the states 58 delegates, while Arizona awards its delegates proportionally on the Democratic side.

As voters flooded to the polls, the presidential candidates lashed out at each others foreign-policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.

Clinton  and Trumps Republican rivals  questioned the GOP front-runners temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish U.S. involvement with NATO.

Addressing cheering supporters in Seattle, Clinton said the attacks in Brussels were a pointed reminder of how high the stakes are in 2016.

We dont build walls or turn our back on our allies, she said. We cant throw out everything we know about what works and what doesnt and start torturing people.

Cruz seized on Trumps foreign-policy inexperience while declaring that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic State group.

He doesnt have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief, he told reporters.

The debate between the two took a detour late Tuesday night as they engaged in an unusual Twitter exchange about their wives.

The billionaire warned Cruz he would spill the beans on your wife after an anti-Trump outside group ran an ad in Utah featuring Trumps wife, Melania, in a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, youre more of a coward than I thought.

Trumps brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where preference polls suggest Cruz has a chance to claim more than 50 percent of the caucus vote  and with it, all 40 of Utahs delegates. Trump could earn some delegates should Cruz fail to exceed 50 percent, in which case the delegates would be awarded based on each candidates vote total.

Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, cheered the billionaires brash style, even as he acknowledged Trump doesnt play as well in Utah as other parts of the country.

I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but hes human, Brady said. I dont care.

Arizonas win gives Trump a little less than half the delegates allocated so far. Thats still short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination before the partys national convention this summer.

However, Trump has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner. Overall, Trump has accumulated 739 delegates, Cruz has 425 and Kasich 143.

On the Democratic side, Clintons delegate advantage is even greater than Trumps.

The former secretary of state is coming off last weeks five-state sweep of Sanders, who remains popular among his partys most liberal voters but needs to improve his performance if he expects to stay relevant.

The Vermont senator, now trailing Clinton by more than 300 pledged delegates, had targeted Tuesdays races as the start of a comeback tour.

He, too, addressed the worlds security threat: We will stand as a nation with our allies and our friends and people all over this world, he told supporters in San Diego.
of Tucson, AZ passed away Thursday, March 17, 2016. She is survived by two children, Alicia of Peoria, AZ and Eric of Tucson and by her sister, Pamela Hopkirk of Orange Grove, CA. Peggy was born in Hemet, CA on March 15, 1949 and moved to Tucson shortly thereafter. She graduated from Catalina High School in 1967 and attended the University of Arizona. She truly cherished her horses and was involved in the Tucson hunter/jumper community. She was a docent at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Peggy was a gentle woman who felt most comfortable when caring for animals. There will be an informal memorial gathering on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 in Tucson at the Juan Santa Cruz Picnic area on N. Kinney Road near the Desert Museum: Gather at 3:00 p.m., memorial at 4:00 p.m. Details: http://bit.ly/1Zizb7C Memorial gifts may be made in Peggy's name to Therapeutic Riding of Tucson (TROT), 8920 East Woodland Road, Tucson, AZ 85749. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.
who was born on November 2, 1934, passed into Heaven on January 8, 2016. He was a husband twice. He was married for 53 years to the late Ruth Virginia (Padgitt) Palmer and is survived by his second wife, Vicki (Whelchel) Palmer of Kearny Arizona. He was a good father who provided well for his three children, Joseph Palmer, Debra Schrick and Diane Fuller (deceased). To ten natural grandchildren and to two informally adopted granddaughters, he was entirely affectionate. To his daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, he was kind and supportive. One grandson bears his name. Kenneth was an army veteran and a welder by trade. He had an entrepreneurial spirit and for a few years owned a business which manufactured dump-beds and trailers for large trucks. Afterwards he worked at the Twin Buttes copper mine south of Tucson. He had many good friends from among his neighbors, his days of employment and the churches he attended (Del Norte Baptist, Northwest Community, Canyon Del Oro Baptist and Fellowship Baptist). He was happy to be known as a believer in Jesus Christ and to be in the company of others who knew Him. He was born and raised in Parkersburg W.Va. by Joseph Franklin and Beatrice Palmer. He had two older sisters and a brother who have passed on before him. He has had four nephews and a niece, and to some (because of his kindness) he was more like a father than an uncle. The first home he owned was in Lubeck W.Va. Other homes were in Ellenboro and St. Mary's W.Va. and Tucson, Oro Valley and Kearny, Arizona. Memorial Services for Kenneth will be held on Friday, March 25, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at Fellowship Baptist Church in Kearny. All are welcome. A luncheon will follow. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Avalon Chapel.
George Domino loves food.

Thats not surprising  hes Italian.

But it was more than that that spurred the retired University of Arizona psychology professor to pen his first cookbook, E Facile!

As a young boy in Torino, Italy, during World War II, there were times when food was scarce, especially during the month he spent in a concentration camp.

The memories of those days contrasted with the abundance of food in this country. That, and a simple desire to get more men in the kitchen, fueled the Mediterranean cookbook.

As a psychologist, I know that men and women dont think quite alike, said Domino, whose cookbooks title translates to Its Easy.

I didnt see anything like this on the market and up until now its been a womans task to cook, but that is changing.

Domino was about 6 when the German army relocated his father to Czechoslovakia, leaving him, his sister and mother in Torino.

Determined to find him, the three boarded a train in Bolzano, Italy, and headed to Czechoslovakia through Austria. About 100 German soldiers made up most of the other passengers.

Before we got on the train to look for my father, a nicely dressed gentleman came up to us and gave us a box. He said it was a gift from the German government, Domino said. When we opened the box there was German money in it; it was the equivalent of about $60,000 today.

His family planned to use this money to bribe whomever they could to find their father, but when their train was bombed by the British Royal Air Force, leaving only eight passengers alive  including Domino and his mother and sister  they became prisoners of war.

When the Red Cross came, a Gestapo looked at the box and the money inside and told us it was counterfeit, so they took us to a German concentration camp, Domino said. The man that gave us the money was probably a member of the Office of Strategic Services, a branch in the U.S. army that trained saboteurs and spies to flood Germany with fake money to destroy their economy.

Once released from the camp, they continued their search. They found his father, but as they headed back home to Torino, they realized the treacherous journey wasnt over.

After spending a couple hours of the night in a metal shack infested by a family of large rats, my dad woke us up Domino said, whose eyes teared up with the memory. He told us we were going home; he said if we die, then we die, but we didnt and we made it back. I remember being so scared.

Domino will never forgot those days. But mixed in with the painful memories are happy ones, many of them involving his mothers cooking and family gatherings around the table.

Italians really love food, he said, an echo of his Italian accent still in his voice.

It is our life.

He has a few rules about cooking: Ingredients should be fresh, and local if possible, he said.

But thats not all: ... Eating should be a wonderful family affair that is a slow, enjoyable experience.

For his cookbook, he took a wide variety of recipes  many of them his mothers  and he and his wife, Valerie, tested them all. His goal was to create a book with recipes that are easy to understand and follow.

I decided that in every recipe I would add what equipment you needed because if you dont have the right equipment, you cant start cooking, Domino said. Instead of paragraph-form recipes, I wrote numbered steps, left out pictures and wrote simple and clear, avoiding confusing jargon.

Each page leaves room for notes so that one can document their journey throughout the book and mark what they did and did not like or what they change.

E Facile! encompasses Dominos lifetime of learning, growing and endurance. But Domino said it is more than that: it is a reminder of where he came from.
Pima County Recorder's Office employees are back to work after being force to evacuate the Public Service Center downtown after a suspicious package was found in the packing garage late this afternoon.

Tucson Police Department's bomb squad inspected the item in the parking garage, located at 240 N. Stone Ave, and employees were out of the building for roughly an hour.

During the evacuation staff were unable to answer questions about voting eligibility, polling locations and other voting-related issues.

County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez added 15 more operators to resume handling voter assistance phone calls after being let back into the building at about 6:35 p.m.

The evacuation temporarily slowed the county's ability to verify ballot signatures, which could mean fewer results could be available tonight.

Polls closed at 7 p.m.
For two weeks, pragmatism got a cold shoulder from the people working to reform Tucsons election system.

A citizens committee should simply recommend the best new system of governance for Tucson, some argued, not worry whether voters would buy the idea. The City Council and others would be responsible for selling it.

Then Monday night a new idea emerged, articulated by member John Hinderaker, and seemed to win the day: That the ideal solution preferred by most of the committee also was the more pragmatic and salable  a new hybrid election system that goes to ward-only elections but adds two at-large council seats.

Thats a great bargain if true, but I worry it isnt.

This committee isnt just abstractly pondering whether Tucsons hybrid system of primary and general elections is a good one. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in November that it is unconstitutional. The city is appealing, but we need to find a new system of elections before the court forces us.

The committee was asked to recommend a new system to the City Council, for it to put on an upcoming ballot.

Our weird system dates to the 1929 city charter and goes like this: Residents of each ward vote in the primary election only for candidates seeking to represent their ward, but in the general election the whole city gets to vote for council members in all six wards. The court ruled this unconstitutionally favors Democrats.

I think its right. While its true that at times Republicans have won seats and even had governing majorities, right now its an all-Democratic group, reflecting the Dems registration advantage in the city.

The courts suggestion: citywide elections. In other words, wed all vote for all candidates in the primary election as well as the general. This is a mess of a solution that nobody wants  not the Republicans who brought the lawsuit, nor the Democrats who dominate the citizens committee and the council.

What local Republicans prefer is a simple ward-only system, where you vote in the primary and general elections only for the council member who represents your ward. If residents vote their party registration, that would mean the Republicans generally would win Wards 2 and 4 on the east side. Now, those districts are represented by Democrats who didnt win the majority of votes in their wards but did win the citywide vote.

Some citizens committee members favor this change, in part because it is simple.

Going to ward-only elections is going to be the easiest transition for the voters, member Lenny Porges told his colleagues Monday night.

But he was in the minority. Only six of 14 members present said they would prefer that proposal over another one, the one favored by Hinderaker and others: A new hybrid system that my colleague Becky Pallack and I like to call ward-only plus two. The committee voted Monday night to pass both ideas on to the council.

Under the new hybrid proposal, the city would hold ward-only elections for council members representing the six wards, but two at-large seats would be added, making the council an eight-member body, plus the mayor.

The main pro argument, expressed passionately by member Randi Dorman, is that council members dont simply focus on their own wards interests, that there are two members looking out for the city as a whole.

Staying the same is not an option. But moving forward with a vision is, and the hybrid system lets us achieve that, Dorman said.

Another member, Tannya Gaxiola, explained: Whats important for me is making sure that we are preserving the strong neighborhood tradition we have in Tucson. The hybrid system would preserve that but would add the ability for the at-large members to take a broader look at the city.

Maybe true, but could it be sold to voters?

Dorman said yes: The simplicity of the ward-only system makes it easy to support but also easy to oppose. When I look at the hybrid system  once you understand it, its easy to support.

Indeed, if you take the arguments for the at-large members at face value, they make some sense. But if you look at it from a partisan perspective, the idea is pretty fishy.

The ward-only aspect of the proposal would likely give Republicans two seats, but then the at-large seats could dilute their influence by adding two more members who, if voters follow their registration patterns, would put two more Democrats on the council.

The chairman of the Pima County Republican Party, Bill Beard, told me he was disappointed not to have been consulted by the committee or council in this discussion which, after all, revolves in good part around representation of the members of his party.

The only thing theyre going to accomplish by going to ward-only but adding at-large seats is stacking the deck for Democrats to continue controlling the City Council in Tucson, he said.

So its possible Republicans will actively oppose this proposal if it goes to the ballot. The ward-only-plus-two idea also has the drawbacks of being a bit complicated and adding cost  probably around $650,000 per year. I wont be surprised if those factors make this idea a tough sell.

On the other hand, while ward-only elections are a simple solution, its also likely some Democrats will oppose that idea if it goes to the ballot. Citizens committee chair Bonnie Poulos said she would oppose it, and member Jeff Rogers, a former county Democratic Party chair, said he expects organized opposition.

So neither proposal can necessarily claim the pragmatists crown. Thats the bad news, and it makes me return to my support for ward-only elections because the system is simple and functional.

The good news is, as Hinderaker said of the two proposals, Either of those are really pretty close together and represent a big change for the city.
Wildlife officials are asking hikers to refrain from bringing domestic sheep or goats into bighorn sheep habitat in the Catalina Mountains because the domestic animals can transmit diseases such as pneumonia to bighorns.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department recently posted signs warning of the disease risk at three trailheads in the habitat area north of Tucson after receiving two reports of a person walking a domestic goat on one of the trails.

It was on the Finger Rock Trail where the person was seen walking the goat, said Mark Hart, spokesman for the department. The person has broken no law but might not know that he or she is putting the bighorns at risk. Even one goat poses a risk to the bighorn population.

Thats why the department has put up signs at trailheads for the Finger Rock, Pima Canyon and Ventana Canyon trails in the bighorn sheep management area, Hart said.

Bighorns from elsewhere in Arizona have been brought to the area in recent years in an effort to rebuild a herd that disappeared from the Catalinas in the 1990s.

Hart said 44 GPS-collared sheep are known to be alive in the range, but the overall population estimate is 75 to 80 animals, based on field observations of uncollared bighorns.

DISEASE RISK

The primary concern is pneumonia, Hart said. We know that domestic sheep and goats can transfer pneumonia to bighorn sheep.

He said physical contact between the domestic and wild animals isnt necessary for transmittal of disease.

It can be transmitted through a domestic animal urinating or defecating in an area later visited by a bighorn, Hart said.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton won in Pima County as well as statewide in Tuesday's election.

In Pima County, Trump has 43 percent of the GOP vote so far, to Ted Cruz's 24 percent and John Kasich's 11 percent. Cruz and Kasich are making slightly showings in Pima County than statewide, according to partial results. In Arizona as a whole, Trump has 46 percent, Cruz 22 percent and Kasich 10 percent.

(The rest of the GOP votes went to candidates who have dropped out. Statewide so far, for instance, former candidate Marco Rubio has 16 percent; early ballots went out in Arizona before Rubio dropped out.)

Among Democrats' votes in Pima County counted so far, Clinton has 60 percent to Bernie Sanders' 38 percent. That mirrors statewide results so far.

Based on their insurmountable leads already, The Associated Press declared Trump and Clinton the winners in Arizona.

Trump wins all of the GOP delegates from Arizona, but Clinton and Sanders will share their Democratic delegates from the state proportionately based on their final percentages.

Arizona voters went to the polls today, Tuesday, March 22, in a presidential preference election. Polls closed at 7 p.m.; long lines were reported in the Phoenix area at closing time.

In other states voting Tuesday, Sanders won Utah and Cruz was leading there; Idaho's results weren't yet in.

Here is the latest Associated Press story on Arizona's results:

PHOENIX (AP)  Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rolled to primary victories Tuesday in Arizona on a day that saw enthusiastic voters standing in line for several hours for the opportunity to weigh in on the divisive presidential race.

Trump won on the Republican side, capitalizing on his harsh border rhetoric and endorsement of immigration hard-liners to secure the state's rich delegate prize. On the Democratic side, Clinton fended off an aggressive challenge by Bernie Sanders, who went all out to turn around his campaign in Arizona after getting swept a week ago by the former first lady and secretary of state.

Trump was leading Ted Cruz by a wide margin in tallied early ballots, far too much for any shift among late voters to make up. Clinton also opened up an insurmountable double-digit lead.

When the polls closed at 7 p.m., hundreds of people were still lined up after Maricopa County  home to metro Phoenix and 4 million people  decided to open just 60 polling sites. That compares with 200 in the 2012 White House primary and 700 in the 2014 general election.

The move was designed to save money and in response to the popularity of early mail-in ballots. In addition, independents who can't vote in the primaries make up more than a third of the electorate.

Keith Clausen, who waited nearly five hours to vote at a Presbyterian church in Phoenix, said he witnessed people who spent long stretches in the line walk away without voting. They either had to return to work or be somewhere else.

"Just the amount of people waiting in line is absurd," Clausen said. "I feel that whoever made this cut (of polling places) deserves to hear from voters who had to wait in line."

Trump's victory was fueled by three campaign appearances before raucous crowds in Arizona, where GOP primaries have long been dominated by the immigration debate. The debate peaked in 2010 with the state's passage of the anti-immigration law known as SB1070 but waned in recent years after business leaders tired of the backlash and series of legal challenges.

Trump revived the debate nationally after declaring he would build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it. He called Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers and vowed to forcibly deport the 11 million people living in the country illegally. He sought the endorsement of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who made a name for himself as an immigration fighter but was forced by a federal judge to quit enforcing immigration laws after being found to have violated people's constitutional rights.

Gov. Jan Brewer also endorsed Trump.

Supporters gravitated to the New York businessman.

"Just the way, you know, you think you could have a beer with him," voter Don Rock said outside a Phoenix polling place. "Of course, I wouldn't mind going on one of his yachts partying with him, but he just talks normal. All the other ones, politicians, they just say what they want you to hear, and they just don't do anything."

In the Democratic race, Sanders courted Latinos, tribal members and young voters in a series of Arizona appearances and drew 7,000 supporters to a Phoenix event.

He boldly took on Arpaio over his immigration crackdowns in an attempt to win over Latinos who have years of frustration over the lawman's policies. He made an appearance on the Navajo Nation  a rarity in presidential politics  and his wife toured a sacred Apache site at the center of a bitter fight over a copper mine.

But Clinton had the strong backing of the Democratic political establishment and aired TV ads touting the support of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head five years ago at a Tucson political event. Former President Bill Clinton also came to the state to campaign for his wife.

Marie Howard, 57, of Tonalea, Arizona, keeps postcards, an autographed photo and newspaper clippings that remind her of when Clinton visited the Navajo Nation and the Grand Canyon long before she became a presidential contender. She backed Clinton in Tuesday's election.

"She's the only one who's been out here trying to make a difference," Howard said.

Trump lands 58 delegates for his win, while Clinton wins 75 pledged delegates. Ten Democratic superdelegates can vote for the candidate of their choice.
A water-sharing agreement will allow Tucson to soon store enough of Phoenixs Central Arizona Project water to serve 17,000 homes.

The agreement to significantly boost Phoenixs CAP water storage in Tucson was announced at Tuesdays White House water summit. The agreement calls for 4,910 acre-feet of Phoenixs CAP supply from the Colorado River to be stored within the next year in recharge basins in the Avra Valley, west of the Tucson Mountains. Up to 40,000 acre-feet of Phoenixs water could be stored there by the end of the decade.

It was one of dozens of water sustainability measures unveiled or discussed at the national summit. The session was called in part in response to the Wests prolonged drought, and to the Flint, Michigan, water crisis caused by lead contamination.

But while most of the summit was filled with talk of new technologies and research tools, massive corporate investments in new supplies and hope for ramped-up conservation measures, an Arizonan who spoke at the four-hour summit offered a more discordant note. Gila River Indian Community Chairman Stephen Roe Lewis  whose tribe controls by far the biggest individual share of CAP water  criticized state and federal officials for leaving tribes out of the seven-state talks looking for ways to save water in the Colorado River Basin.

It is a glaring misstep that needs to be corrected, Lewis told the summit, held at the Eisenhower Office Building adjacent to the White House. We want to be at the table. At our hearts, were stewards of the land. When we start talking about innovation, we have very innovative solutions to water management.

Arizonas water chief, Tom Buschatzke, said he has already discussed the ongoing negotiations with the Gila River Tribe but doesnt believe its practical to expand the talks beyond the state water officials and others who currently participate in the meetings.

I think you can understand that probably every water user in the state would want to be in that room, and that is not possible, said Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the Colorado Rivers reservoirs, had no comment on Lewis statement.

By contrast, Tucson and Phoenix officials were pitching their agreement as an example of the kind of cooperation needed to protect the region against its unyielding drought, now in its 15th year and standing as the Colorado Basins worst drought in 1,200 years.

The biggest benefit of the agreement is that were working with other communities to insure long-term water security, Tucson Water spokesman Fernando Molina said. It gets as much of this states allocation (as possible) into the ground in a way it can be used more effectively.

A lot of Maricopa County communities have recharge capability, but not the infrastructure to recover it and get it out of the ground, Molina said.

The new agreement ramps up a 2014 pact that allowed Phoenix to store 850 acre-feet of its CAP supply in the Avra Valley basins belonging to Tucson Water. In 2015, about 4,000 acre-feet of Phoenix water was stored there. Before the 40,000 acre feet can be stored, legal issues must be resolved and design work must be done on expanded recharge basins here, Tucson Water says.

The agreement benefits Tucson in the short term by raising its water table with recharged water. When future Colorado River water shortages become severe enough to impact cities  a prospect most likely five or more years away  Phoenix can take some of Tucsons CAP water as it comes down the canal.

At that time, Tucson would be able to use Phoenixs water that was stored in its basins. Expanding Avra Valley recharge basins to accommodate Phoenixs water will cost $20 million to $30 million, and Phoenix will pay for it, Molina said.

If CAP supplies to cities are ever completely curtailed, Tucson would be in a better position than Phoenix because this city would have Phoenixs stored water and Phoenix would have no CAP supplies of Tucsons to divert. But Molina said hes not aware of any forecast of a complete cutoff in the foreseeable future.

To forestall the possibility of major shortages, the seven river-basin states water officials are meeting regularly to try to work out a water-saving agreement. Their goal is to reduce water use in the lower basin of the river by 1.5 million to 3 million acre-feet over a five-year period, enough to keep Lake Mead, a Colorado River water reservoir at the Nevada border, from dropping below 1,025 feet or so. Cutbacks in deliveries to cities and tribes could occur at that level or shortly below it.

But in his talk at the summit Tuesday, Lewis said the tribes get lost in the mix in these discussions. The Gila Tribe has rights to 311,000 acre-feet of CAP, more than twice as much as the second biggest CAP right holder, the city of Tucson. Indian tribes statewide get about 555,000 acre-feet of CAP, compared to cities and industries 620,000.

The feds think the tribes are working with the states and the states think the feds are working with and speaking for the tribes, Lewis said. Neither happens and the tribes get left out. We have no more time left. We all look forward to being proactive and working together in a collaborative fashion.

Arizona water chief Buschatzke said he has started discussing a preliminary proposal to meet the states water-savings goal with water users statewide, including Indian tribes, and that he met with representatives of the Gila River Indian Community before the start of 2016.

These discussions with our water users are at a very, very preliminary stage, Buschatzke said. Were doing our best to be inclusive. ... We certainly wouldnt consider leaving tribes out of the discussions.

The Bureau of Reclamation also wrote tribal chairman Lewis on Feb. 4, offering to set up a meeting with tribal officials to discuss the water issues.

The Gila River Indian Community holds significant and important water rights in the basin and could be a key partner in the development of additional measures to address the drought, wrote Terry Fulp, the bureaus Lower Colorado regional director.
PHOENIX  Saying its the best deal animal rights advocates will get, a Senate panel voted to bar cities, including Tucson, from keeping pet stores from selling commercially bred dogs and cats.

The 5-3 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday came after Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, added what he said are some teeth to the proposal to ensure that pet stores are acquiring their animals only from reputable breeders who comply with all U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations. That includes a $1,000 fine for a first violation  and a ban on selling anything but rescue and shelter animals for a third violation within five years.

And Kavanagh promised to add new provisions when HB 2163 goes to the full Senate. That includes a requirement that pet shops provide the name of the breeder to prospective buyers, allowing them to investigate for themselves the conditions in which the animal was bred.

The changes were enough to convince the Humane Society of the United States, which had opposed earlier versions of the measure, to withdraw its objections. Ditto for former state lawmaker Nancy Young Wright, who had been working to get Tucson to outlaw the sale of commercially bred animals and had testified against an earlier version of the legislation.

But none of that satisfied Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson.

The USDA standards that we are now enshrining in law and enforcing in law are laughable if they werent so sad, he said.

They do not protect these animals, Farley continued, citing provisions that allow animals to be kept in cages day and night that are only 6 inches higher and longer than the animal itself, a wire cage with a wire bottom, stacked on top, that only have to be cleaned once every two weeks.

We get the drift, Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, said of Farleys concerns. You have somewhat of a valid point.

Shooter said there is nothing the state can do to alter the USDA standards.

Kavanagh conceded the deal pleases both the breeding industry and the pet stores that sell their animals.
OPINION: "While it is important to take on cutting edge programs for an institution, Best Practices would dictate a thorough analysis of the costs of a new program versus the proven effectiveness of that new program. After all, these are taxpayer funds we are dealing with," writes Nick Pierson, candidate for the Pima Community College Governing Board.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

Hyderabad: What was supposed to be a thanks-giving meeting of the All India Majlis-e-Itehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) at the party headquarter Daraul Salaam turned out to be an immense show of support where unity among Muslims of Hyderabad were flaunted and praised at a time when their fellow community members in other numerical powerful states fell apart and decimated into void.

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MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi scored hat-trick from Hyderabad parliament, the seat MIM is winning unstoppable since 1984. MIM also retained its seven assembly seats with huge margins and finished second on three seats while scoring good performance on many other seats, its non-Muslim candidates from Muslim dominated seats also made a mark. Just a week back, MIM also won 101 municipal wards across Telangana and Rayalseema thus strengthening party base in rural areas.





Asaduddin Owaisi



In its thanks giving meeting MIM paraded all its elected representatives including some who lost but did well in elections, trying to project communitys might, continuously reminding the crowd that it was the result of their unity.

Party star speaker Akbaruddin Owaisi thanked Hyderabad Muslims for their support claiming no wave can crack into unity of Muslims here. Every wave from Janta party, to Indira Gandhi to now this communal Modi they all get devastated after reaching Musi river of Hyderabad. When Muslims across India have to bear the brunt it was the unity of Andhra Pradesh Muslims which defeated Modi wave, he said.

Systematically projecting his speech for national audience Mr. Akbaruddin Owaisi asked how 25 crore Indian Muslims could not made their presence felt in this elections. He said UP Muslims have to blame themselves for dismal performance in elections where they have been reduced to zero.

MIM leader posed stream of questions as if directly addressing to Muslims of UP, he asked why even after being nearly 20% and more than 3 crore they failed to send a single Muslim to parliament. Akbaruddin Owaisi giving his assessment said lack of unity and division of Muslim votes have indirectly helped BJP to make a sweep in Uttar Pradesh which ultimately became a booster for BJP and indirectly helped Modi to become Prime Minister.

MIM president Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi takes up from where is brother had left; he said there are nearly 20 seats in UP where Muslims should have won. Taking names of each seat after another like Moradabad, Bijnor, Sambal, Sharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, he said, In all 20 Muslim dominated seats BJP won because Muslim votes were divided and traditional SP and BSP voters didnt voted for Muslim candidates and shifted towards BJP.

He indirectly claimed that India has moved towards majoritarian democracy where Muslim candidates didnt get other community votes, stark example of it he said is BJPs Muslim face Shahnawaz Hussain.

Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that even SP workers didnt vote for their own Muslim candidates while Muslims even after Muzzafarnagar riots supported Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family the only reason they won was Muslim votes he claimed, but when it came to voting for Muslims no OBC voted.

Where is secularism in Uttar Pradesh, 19% are Muslims but not a single candidate won. In the 15th Lok Sabha there were 15 Muslims from UP including two of our sisters but all lost, he said.





Akbaruddin Owaisi adressing under secuirty cover.



He questioned that if Imran Masood was wrong in his speech about chopping Modi into pieces then what about Giriraj Singh who said Muslims should go to Pakistan, How can he (Giriraj) win from Nawada (in Bihar). How is it justice?

Mr. Owaisi asking Muslims of UP to reflect over the situation said, In state where we are less than 10% BJP was routed and the states where we are above 20% BJP acquired the whole ground. Ponder over it, he said.

In his emotional speech MIM chief questioned the UP Muslims, Modi has united his breed, Muslims of Uttar Pradesh why didnt you get united. Couldnt have you send a single Muslim to parliament. What happened, in your land? Babri Masjid was demolished and you cant win on a single seat. You couldnt project unity not even on a single seat.

He then added, Time has come to create unity in our stands, regional parties and even Congress could not stop BJP. Its our turn to take the leadership of our community in our hands to fight against fascists.

Trying to generate a sense of optimism among the listeners Mr. Asaduddin said, People are thinking what will happen to us, when Modi have won with such a big majority. I am telling this to all self-esteem Muslims of India that there is no need to fear. Remember we are Muslims, Muslims and fear cannot stand on same place. Either it will be Muslims or the reign of fear, I am sure the last standing will be us.

Soliciting Muslims to be ready to fight with Narendra Modi in democratic spirit Hyderabad MP said, You can do match fixing with anyone in parliament but I know only one battle. I will tell him looking into his eyes that you are the killer of Gujarati Muslims you are the killer of Ehsan Jaffari. Then in midst of wild cheers and sloganeering he added, 280 is nothing my brothers, nothing will happen. Do watch on TV, it is going to be an entertaining fight in parliament; pray to Allah for giving power to my voice, I will fight against these oppressors in parliament.

Both Owaisi brothers made the most about news on busting of a gang who were allegedly conspiring to assassinate Akbaruddin Owaisi. MIM president said till any single person of Khandan-e-Owaisi survives it will continue to work for the Jamat (MIM), Akbaruddin Owaisi pointing to his son Nooruddin indicated that someone is sitting ready to take over if anything happens to him.

In the context of recent communal riots at Kishanbagh he promised to build pressure on new Government of Telangana to make it first state in whole country to pass Communal violence prevention law where a police officer will be held accountable for any communal violent incident under their jurisdiction.

Acknowledging that due to opponents they were made to concentrate their campaign on their sitting seats IM president said his party will do self-introspection on their past mistakes and short comings to perform better on all indicators of development and in representing the cause of minorities and other oppressed sections. MIM chief also said that he is hopeful to get double digit assembly seats in next elections.

Making clear his expansion plans Asaduddin Owaisi said MIMs first stop will be Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Ending his arousing speech MIM chief credited Hyderabad as land of resistance, I dont have words to thank people of Hyderabad, where whole India has helped the pharaoh of our times to raise you have supported the victory of the right over might.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS 2014
Help India!

By Amit Kumar for Twocircles.net

This is the second in a four-part series on cases of Dalit atrocities in India which were brought up during a tribunal held by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights in collaboration with other other liked-minded associations.

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New Delhi: In June 2015, the weather in Bihar had turned for the worse: intermittent showers were a small comfort from the blazing sun: but for the 300-odd residents of Mirzapur, (Police Station Patori, District Samastipur, Bihar), this was a month where things went from bad to worse and all because they staked claim over what was theirs: land, that was coveted by the Rajputs of the area. This case was one of the 20 cases of atrocities against Dalits that were presented before a tribunal, organised by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) along with National Movement for Dalit Justice (NMDJ)

The story of this incident, like almost all caste-related issues in Bihar, has its origin in tensions related to land issues and the control exercised by the upper castes in the area. Like most villages of Bihar, the majority of the land in the area near the Mirzapur village is controlled by Rajputs. A pond, which covers about seven acres, is dotted by Dushadhs (Schedule Caste) families. The 200 families have been living near the pond for the past 70 years. However, earlier in the month, the Rajputs, which number about 300 families, asked the families to vacate the land, saying that the land belonged to a dominant land lord Tribhuvan Singh of District Vaishali. After the SC families refused to yield, the Rajputs decided to take matters in their own hand.

On June 23, just as the sun was about to rise; the Rajputs, numbering around 300, attacked the village. Firing over 200 rounds, the Rajputs attacked the inhabitants, looting all their possessions and injuring dozens in the process. One person, Rambhagat Paswan, recounted the ordeal while talking to Twocircles.net. It was chaos everywhere: children, senior citizens, women, men were all running like mad: women were particularly attacked, their clothes torn by upper-caste men. I was shot in my left shoulder and my mother-in-law, who is a senior citizen, suffered so bad in the incident that she passed away a month later, he says, barely able to hold his tears. My daughter got lost for three days. All this happened because the land, which is ours, was wanted by the Rajputs, he adds.

Documents showing the reply of the Circle officer, which proves that the land does not belong to the Rajputs

Paswan also says that the police, although aware of the tensions, did little about it. Nearly two hours after all our houses were destroyed and our meagre possessions had been looted, the police came to investigate the matter. How is that ordinary citizens own so much ammunition to shoot more than 200 rounds of bullets? he asked. By the time dawn had broken out, 25 houses had been completely damaged, along with cycles, and the seven hand pumps around the village. The night was spent in the open, with almost zero food and water. Paswans wife, who had accompanied him to the Tribunal, said her mother suffered massive injuries. We had to take her to a private clinic, where she passed away after battling for a month. We received no compensation from the government, she added.

It was not as if the Rajput attackers were done: the following night, they attacked again to ensure that the message was delivered to the Dusadhs of the area: leave, else the attacks will continue. On the night of 24th also, the same procedure was once again followed: the police watched, while the upper-caste men went on a rampage.

The Jury, which heard the pleas of the members of the village, believes that the central issue in the case in the ownership of land. Ruth Manorama, who was one of the jury members, asked the villagers to file for ownership of the land, since the Rajputs claim it to be theirs. However, as documents produced by the Circle Officer Indradev Pandit show, the disputed land is government mad and there is no record of this piece of land being owned by the accused Rajputs. Speaking to Twocircles.net, Ruth Manorama, social activist and President, National Association of Women and one of the jury members, said, Since they have been here for more than 12 years, they can claim ownership of the land. It is government land and not the property of the Rajputs, so once they claim ownership, the disputes will hopefully end, she said. She further added that the land needs to be developed from the money allotted under the Schedule Caste Sub Plan, and that they must be provided housing under the Indira Awas Yojana.

Since the incident, however, the lives of the SC families have taken a turn for the worse: the accused remain free, while the SC families continue to live in fear. More than nine months have passed, but there has been no action against the accused, says Paswan. Instead, the Rajputs have filed a case against us for rioting in Hajipur against us, he added.

The polices actions too have left a lot to be desired: the demands for a local police picket have been ignored. How have they not manage to file even a charge sheet against eh accused after all this while? We received zero assistance from the government. Let alone houses, we did not even get food, said Paswan.

Related:

Where has all the anger gone? Dalit survivors of Sunped wonder as they fight for justice
Help India!







By TCN News,

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Puducherry: Periyar Viduthalai Kazagam, a Tamil Nadu based organization along with Puducherry unit of Khudai Khidmatgar jointly protest against the brutal honour killing of a Dalit Boy in Tamil Nadu in front of Anna Statue, Anna Salai, Puducherry.

Sankar,21, a Dalit was brutally murdered by three men on March 13 in full public view in Tamil Nadus Tirupur district allegedly due to his marriage with a girl from higher caste.

On Monday, both these organizations condemned this killing and said that communal violence is growing in the country against Dalits, Tribals and Minorities.

Inamul, leader of Khudai Khidmatgar addressed the gathering and said that killing of Sankar cannot be isolated from other instances of Dalit killings in Faridabad, Haryana, Manipuri, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

We are speaking about social justice and equality but promoting violence among societies. Such dual politics and policies cannot be sustained. We will not allow these forms of violations in the land of Mahatma Gandhi Ji, Khan Abdul gaffar Khan, Dr BR Ambedhkar, Bagat Singh, and Periyar since they fight for freedom from all sorts of evils in the society, Enamul said.

Advocate Lucia, Convener for Association for Violence Against Women, addressed, that the Caste card is being promoted in a violent way during election seasons, so that the administration could more and more suppress the minorities. These forms of violence attack women mentally and physically.

Gokul Gandhi, Secretary, Periyar Viduthalai Kazagam also criticized promotion of violence under the name of caste and condemned killing of Sankar.
Deepika Padukone has been one Bollywood actress who has inspired a million others with her work and her dedication towards her art. It is known that Deepika the bubbly Bollywood actress who is loved for her dimples has gone through the darkness of depression in her past.

Deepika has been vocal about the phase of depression which she once went through and how she struggled to come out of it. The Bollywood actress also started a foundation named Live Love Laugh for people suffering from depression. Through the foundation she is working endlessly to spread awareness about depression and end all the stereotypes associated with it.

She has now launched the You Are Not Alone campaign under the foundation which will aim at making people suffering from depression speak out and bring them together, starting with students in schools. Reports suggest that the campaign will raise the information levels about the condition and help students and teachers know more about it by understating each other better. Schools have been chosen as schools are the primary communication medium for students and teachers in the school can prove to be an important supporter and adviser for the Youth which on and off suffers from the said condition at some or the other point of their lives.

The campaign will include on ground activities like training GPs, creation of national database of mental healthcare doctors and professionals and other initiatives for fundraising and creating partnerships with NGOs and institutes like TISS and NIMHANS.

These institutes will give the campaign much needed boost and pave a path to reach the ones suffering from depression.

Deepika Padukone launched the campaign at her own school where she had studied i.e. Sophias High School in Bengaluru. Deepika plans to spread the campaign to 200 schools very soon, post which the campaign shall be extended to colleges and corporate offices. Deepika Padukone is currently shooting for her Hollywood debut XXX: The Return of Xander Cage with Vin Diesel. Heres wishing her all the best for her thoughtful campaign.
Joran van der Sloot Admits: I Always Lied To the Police"

March 23 2016 Jason Glatzer

Joran van der Sloot appears to have confessed to the 2005 murder of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway during a hidden-video interview with an undercover reporter working for RadarOnline and the National Enquirer.

Back in May 2005, the world was in arms over the disappearance of the then 18-year-old Holloway while she was on a trip with 124 of her Mountain Brook High School classmates to Aruba to celebrate their graduation. Van der Sloot was an immediate suspect in the disappearance due to Holloway last being seen with him at a casino bar. She was later witnessed leaving with him and two of his friends, Deepak Kalpoe and Satish Kalpoe.

A high-profile investigation took place involving investigators from Aruba, the United States, and the Netherlands. The trio of suspects were arrested on two separate occasions, however, Aruban prosecutors eventually closed the case without any charges being filed against the suspects.

While Holloway's body was never found, a judge declared Holloway dead in 2012.

Van der Sloot again found himself in hot water on the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of Holloway on May 30, 2010, when 21-year-old Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez was murdered in a hotel room registered in his name in Lima, Peru. Van der Sloot reportedly entered Peru via Colombia to participate in the Latin American Poker Tour.

Charges were brought forth and van der Sloot pled guilty to the "qualified murder" and simple robbery of Flores, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

It appears we can finally have some closure in the murder of Holloway, as van der Sloot admitted in a secretly-filmed interview that he lied to the police and that he is guilty of the crimes.

"I always lied to the police," van der Sloot claimed. "I made up so many stories against the police. Also, when I was younger, I never told everything. The police just never knew what they had to ask me. I think it was one of the worst police investigations that ever took place."

"You are talking about the Holloway case?" the reporter inquired. "Yes, yes... yes. This is also where I am guilty, and I accept everything that I have done."

While van der Sloot is most known for the two murder cases, he was also known throughout the poker world as a player. While he has no recorded live tournament cashes, according to HendonMob, he was a member of the PocketFives online poker community where he recorded $1,949 in online tournament cashes. Additionally, PokerNews Netherlands reported that back in 2009 he competed in the partypoker $300K Guaranteed.

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Prostate Cancer (PC) is the second most common cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death among men worldwide [1]. The global incidence of PC has increased dramatically in recent years, largely due to aging of the population and the practice of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing [2]. The worldwide PC burden is expected to grow to 1.7 million new cases and 499 000 new deaths by 2030 [1].

PCs display a wide range of clinical characteristics, from slow-growing tumors of no or little clinical significance to aggressively metastatic and lethal diseases. Extensive knowledge of the etiology and progression of PC makes it an ideal disease for cancer detection, prognosis and prevention. Despite the availability of PSA as an established marker for over two decades, routine pathological parameters (such as Gleason score, number or percentage of positive cores and the maximum percentage of tumor involvement in any core) are the only parameters used to assess prognosis at biopsy [2]. This is because PSA is not cancer-specific and is also produced in normal prostate; its levels increase in several benign conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostate inflammation besides PC. Population-based studies suggest that PSA screening overdiagnoses PC, where a large number of detected prostate tumors are either benign or indolent [3]. Because of its unreliability, PSA-based diagnosis requires confirmation by invasive, repetitive and costly procedures such as transrectal ultrasound (TRUS-guided biopsy [4]. Serum PSA levels  4.0 ng/ml are used as a cut-off point for cancer. However, the levels between 4.1-10 ng/ml are considered grey zone because BPH patients often display serum PSA levels of up to 10 ng/ml [5, 6]. All grey zone PSA patients are advised to undergo TRUS-guided biopsies. Moreover, TRUS-guided biopsies often miss the tumor and detect cancer in only 40-60% of clinically significant cancers, necessitating several repetitions [7-9]. It is estimated that around 1 million prostate biopsies were performed in the United States alone in 2007 [10-12]. Considering that a total of 186,000 new cases of prostate cancer were reported in 2007, it appears that out of every 5 prostate biopsies, at least 4 were cancer-negative and unnecessary. Dr. Shahs laboratory has cloned a novel transcript (referred as neuroendocrine marker or NEM) that is selectively expressed in malignant prostate [13].

Comparison of ROC curve analysis of same set of patients suggest that NEM is a more reliable PC marker than PSA (Figure 1).







More importantly, PSA-based grey zone patients were clearly stratified by NEM into cancer and non-cancer ones (Figure 2). Based on these results, it appears that combined NEM+PSA test can significantly improve reliability of PC detection and significantly reduce the number of diagnostic biopsies.

Early detection still remains essential for good PC prognosis and treatment options. Localized PC can be effectively treated with prostatectomy, radiation therapy, or other local treatments. Advanced PC that has recurred or spread beyond the prostate is difficult to treat. On the other hand, aggressive treatment of indolent PC causes major side effects and reduces a patients quality of life for little to no benefit. As the vast majority of men diagnosed with PC elect to undergo definitive therapy, over-diagnosis leads to over-treatment, associated morbidity and adverse effects on the quality of life. NEM has displayed a significant correlation with Gleason score, suggesting that NEM will also help determine prognosis of prostate tumor at the time of detection. This should greatly help in stratifying the patients into those that require aggressive treatment from those who do not.

Hence, the measurements of cancer biomarkers such as NEM and PSA are generally carried out for the following two purposes: (1) to screen the risk populations for the possibility of cancer; and (2) to determine the efficacy of the therapy in patients undergoing cancer treatment. For both purposes, a large number of clinic samples are needed to be tested. Ideally the cancer biomarker screening can be done at a high accurate and a rapid manner, preferably with automation and low cost at the point-of-care.





To this end, Dr. Ques laboratory recently has developed an optofluidic chip-based diagnostic system (Figure 3). This type of chip offers 50-100 fold more sensitivity compared with the traditional ELISA for PSA and NEM. In addition, this type of chip not only can be made disposable thereby avoiding any possible cross-contamination during the test, but also can offer many advantages such as elimination of the labeled antigen, the need of the sophisticated equipment and the highly trained individuals. These advantages make the technology suitable for point-of-care application to screen elderly male populations for PC and to monitor the progress of patients undergoing PC treatment.





Written by:

Long Que, Ph. D.

Associate Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Read the Abstract

References:

Ferlay, J., H.R. Shin, F. Bray, D. Forman, C. Mathers, and D.M. Parkin, Estimates of worldwide burden of cancer in 2008: GLOBOCAN 2008. Int J Cancer, 2010. 127(12): p. 2893-917.

Schroder, F.H., Words of wisdom. Re: Screening for prostate cancer: a review of the evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Eur Urol, 2012. 61(2): p. 423-4.

Force, U.P.S.T., Final Recommendation Statement: men, Screening with PSA. Ann Internal Med, 2012(May 22).

Vickers, A.J., A.M. Cronin, G. Aus, C.G. Pihl, C. Becker, K. Pettersson, P.T. Scardino, J. Hugosson, and H. Lilja, Impact of recent screening on predicting the outcome of prostate cancer biopsy in men with elevated prostate-specific antigen: data from the European Randomized Study of Prostate Cancer Screening in Gothenburg, Sweden. Cancer, 2010. 116(11): p. 2612-20.

Klotz, L., Active surveillance for prostate cancer: overview and update. Curr Treat Options Oncol, 2013. 14(1): p. 97-108.

Schroder, F.H. and M.J. Roobol, Defining the optimal prostate-specific antigen threshold for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Curr Opin Urol, 2009. 19(3): p. 227-31

Freedland, S.J., W.J. Aronson, G.S. Csathy, C.J. Kane, C.L. Amling, J.C. Presti, Jr., F. Dorey, and M.K. Terris, Comparison of percentage of total prostate needle biopsy tissue with cancer to percentage of cores with cancer for predicting PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy: results from the SEARCH database. Urology, 2003. 61(4): p. 742-7.

Crawford, E.D., D. Hirano, P.N. Werahera, M.S. Lucia, E.P. DeAntoni, F. Daneshgari, P.N. Brawn, V.O. Speights, J.S. Stewart, and G.J. Miller, Computer modeling of prostate biopsy: tumor size and location--not clinical significance--determine cancer detection. J Urol, 1998. 159(4): p. 1260-4.

Kitagawa, Y., S. Ueno, K. Izumi, Y. Kadono, H. Konaka, A. Mizokami, and M. Namiki, Cumulative probability of prostate cancer detection in biopsy according to free/total PSA

ratio in men with total PSA levels of 2.1-10.0 ng/ml at population screening. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol, 2013.

Cool, D.W., M.J. Connolly, S. Sherebrin, R. Eagleson, J.I. Izawa, J. Amann, C. Romagnoli, W.M. Romano, and A. Fenster, Repeat prostate biopsy accuracy: simulator-based comparison of two- and three-dimensional transrectal US modalities. Radiology, 2010. 254(2): p. 587-94.

Djavan, B., M. Remzi, C.C. Schulman, M. Marberger, and A.R. Zlotta, Repeat prostate biopsy: who, how and when?. a review. Eur Urol, 2002. 42(2): p. 93-103.

Song, L., Y. Zhu, P. Han, N. Chen, D. Lin, J. Lai, and Q. Wei, A retrospective study: correlation of histologic inflammation in biopsy specimens of Chinese men undergoing surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia with serum prostate-specific antigen. Urology, 2011. 77(3): p. 688-92

Shah, G., A. Srivastava, and K. Iczkowski. Neuroendocrine marker: a novel, reliable early stage marker for prostate cancer. in 100th AACR Annual Meeting. 2009. Denver, CO.
Institutions asked to have legal advisers Updated: 2016-03-23 02:38 By Cao Yin and Xin Zhiming(China Daily)

In an unprecedented move, President Xi Jinping has asked all institutions in China to hire professional legal representatives and advisers.

It should become an encompassing system for all political parties, government departments, citizens' organizations  such as trade unions and women's federations  and State-owned institutions, to have public-sector lawyers or corporate legal counsels, Xi said on Tuesday at a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.

The group is the top decision-making body for China's reform and transition. The statement issued after the meeting did not specify how the change is to proceed, nor did it appoint representatives to any central government institutions.

The initiative will help develop the rule of law in China, Xi said.

The meeting also decided to select future legislators, judges and prosecutors from professional lawyers and legal scholars.

Wang Junfeng, president of the All China Lawyers Association, welcomed the move, adding that since the late 1970s, when China began its reform and opening-up, more than 300,000 certified lawyers have been cultivated, a sufficient number to accomplish the planned change.

"The Chinese legal profession is capable of providing very experienced people to serve as legal counsels to the top-level government entities such as the State Council," Wang said.

Yang Weidong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said legal advisers will serve as members of judicial think tanks for the government.

"With the legal advisers, officials can learn more about the law in the process of policymaking and project management. Having legal advisers will help them reduce the risk of making mistakes in their work," Yang said.

Ruan Chuansheng, a lawyer in Shanghai, said some government agencies in Shanghai have already been hiring legal advisers since the city was chosen in 2013 as China's first pilot judicial reform area.

The reform has resulted in a marked increase in officials' legal awareness, Ruan said.

The meeting also decided to speed up the building of a unified system to provide equal access to investors from all sectors to facilitate partnerships between the government and private stakeholders.

Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn
Nepalese PM welcomes investment for 'new phase of development' Updated: 2016-03-23 19:48 By ZHANG YUNBI(chinadaily.com.cn)

Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prashad Oli has said that his country has "entered a new phase of development" and welcomes more investment, including funding from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Oli made the remarks during a group interview on Tuesday in Beijing. He will attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which is set to open on Thursday.

Nepal "wants to invite all the organizers, companies, friends, private groups, and government as well, to support and cooperate with Nepal and to invest in Nepal", he said.

He noted that as a member of the AIIB, the country wants to "utilize the capacity of the bank".

"On the question of infrastructure development, Nepal is not advanced," he said.

"So we want to invite the organizers, including the bank, to invest in the field of infrastructure development in Nepal," he added.

Premier Li Keqiang held talks with his Nepali counterpart Oli on Monday and they agreed to expand reciprocal cooperation between the two countries in pursuit of common development.

After their talks, Li and Oli witnessed the signing of a string of cooperation documents, involving areas such as transport, trade, energy and finance.
China efforts on drought relief backed by Vietnam Updated: 2016-03-23 08:26 By Zhang Yunbi(China Daily USA)

Increase in water discharge sends positive signal on reinforcing close liaison, ambassador says

Vietnam "endorses and speaks highly of" the decision by China to discharge more water downstream on the Lancang-Mekong River to help relieve serious drought in the country, according to the Vietnamese ambassador to China.

After Vietnam asked for help earlier this month, China decided to discharge more water from the Jinghong Hydropower Station in Yunnan province to downstream areas from March 15 to April 10, benefiting five regional countries.

"It is a positive signal for reinforcing close cooperation in the sustainable management and use of water resources," Dang Minh Khoi said in an interview with China Daily.

China offered the help shortly ahead of the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Sanya, Hainan province, on Wednesday.

The Lancang-Mekong River runs from China through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Wednesday's meeting will mark a milestone in cooperation on common development between all six countries, Khoi said.

Vietnam, where the river reaches the sea, emphasizes coordination and cooperation efforts regarding the use of the river water, the ambassador said.

China, where the river rises, "plays a very important role in regional cooperation mechanisms", especially the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, first proposed by Beijing, he said.

After the mechanism was established, "it was the first time that the six countries along the river had joined hands in achieving sustainable development" along the waterway, he said.

The mechanism will be of great significance to the region's sustainable development and will boost ties among the six countries, he added.

Khoi said the leaders' meeting will result in a joint statement being issued to outline the principles and directions for cooperation, and another joint statement on boosting cooperation on production capacity as well as a list of initial goals.

With these documents, hopefully the mechanism will facilitate existing cooperation mechanisms within the region and create added value in cooperation among the six countries, he said.

Khoi said Vietnam has proposed some programs for the initial goals to serve the common interests of all parties. The mechanism will "make tangible contributions" to protecting water resources and the sustainable use of water, he said.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Khoi said that as half of the 10 ASEAN members take part in the mechanism, it will "effectively boost the strategic partnership between ASEAN and China".

He said Sino-Vietnamese relations "maintain an improving and developing momentum", with the Party chiefs of both countries exchanging visits last year and reaching important consensus, including ways to tackle maritime issues.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

Jinghong Hydropower Station in Yunnan province is discharging about 2,000 cubic meters of water a day into the river to help Vietnam combat drought. Hu Chao / Xinhua

(China Daily USA 03/23/2016 page3)
No trade, no killing of elephants Updated: 2016-03-23 07:09 (China Daily)

A herd of elephants in the Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The park is regarded as the best place in the world to see African elephants. [Chen Liang/China Daily]

If no one buys ivory, no one will kill elephants for their ivory.

That explains why China introduced a one-year ban on imports on ivory and ivory products in 2015, and why it has now extended that ban until the end of 2019.

It also explains why China has intensified its efforts to extend its ban on imports of ivory and ivory products obtained after 1975 (when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna took effect) to all ivory and ivory products before the convention. The decision was announced by State Forestry Administration on Sunday.

This is meant to drive home the awareness among Chinese people that even ivory and ivory articles obtained or made before the international convention on the protection of endangered wild animal and plants took effect should not be considered eligible for use as decorative articles.

And it means that ivory and ivory products obtained by Westerners during their colonial period cannot be imported into China.

It is unethical for some Western people not to have a guilty conscience about seeking to profit from their forefathers' killing of a large number of elephants in Africa during the colonial times. It is an act of justice for China to stop them selling such ivory and ivory articles to Chinese.

It will take time for people worldwide to develop the awareness about not selling or purchasing ivory or ivory products in order to protect the wild elephants in Africa.

Statistics show that the number of elephants in Africa in 1900 was 10 million but it dropped to 1.2 million by 1980 because of the demand for ivory. The number now stands at 500,000.

Strictly banning the trade of ivory and ivory articles worldwide is an effective way to reduce the killing of African elephants for commercial purposes before the whole world knows that it is a crime to kill elephants and it is unethical to buy or sell ivory articles.

By extending its ban to the import of all ivory and ivory articles and extending its one-year ban to four years, China is contributing to the protection of wild elephants in Africa.
Chinese investors warm up to US Updated: 2016-03-23 10:51 By Paul Welitzkin in New York(China Daily USA)

As more Chinese companies set up shop in the US, Chinese investors are eager to follow those companies into American capitalism by investing in US stocks, observers said.

Noting that investment diversity is considered an admirable goal by many professionals, Chinese investors see US shares as a good hedge for their portfolios, and now thanks to the Internet, the process of opening an account to buy and sell US stocks is also relatively easy.

"People who want to diversify their investments seek US stocks," Jack Liu, senior vice-president of Chardan Capital Markets in New York, told China Daily. "I believe a lot of Chinese investors are between 30 and 40 years old and many have a Western education. They think they understand US markets and are familiar with it because they may have lived in the US at one time."

He said many Chinese investors who acquire US stocks are high net-worth investors. "They will use a US brokerage like Morgan Stanley to open an account," he said.

John Liu, no relation to Jack Liu, is the founder and CEO of Firstrade Securities Inc, in Flushing, New York. After working for US brokerage Merrill Lynch, he started Firstrade in 1985 and in 1997, he opened an online brokerage.

He describes the typical Chinese investor in US stocks at his firm as those who were born after 1980 or even after 1990.

"Many of them are employed by a technology company and they may have come to the US in the last 10 years or so. They are very tech savvy. The males slightly outnumber the females and most are upper-income individuals," he said in an interview.

Most Americans prefer to use a professionally managed mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) for their stock investments, John Liu said, but Chinese investors prefer to invest in individual companies.

"Investor participation in the institutional level with a mutual fund or ETF is very low for Chinese investors," he said. "They don't think about mutual funds or ETFs. They want to invest in Chinese companies that are listed in the US like Alibaba and Baidu. They are familiar with the company and the brand."

Noting that most Chinese investors in US stocks now are upper-income individuals, John Liu expects mutual funds and ETFs to gain popularity with Chinese clients in the future.

"As the middle class grows, the trend will be to use more mutual funds and ETFs," he said. "Americans now believe that it is best to have a professional manage their investments for the long term. I suspect the Chinese will eventually warm up to this as well."

Most Chinese investors view US stocks as a way to balance their portfolios with assets that are not connected to the value of the yuan, John Liu said.

"In addition to diversity, Chinese investors are looking for what they believe is a stable alternative. They see the US as a safe-haven currency. It's also why the Chinese seek to invest in US property as well," he added.

He said individual Chinese investors can send no more than $50,000 a year out of the country to buy stocks and other investments under current laws in the Chinese mainland.

He said opening an account with a brokerage is a simple process for most Chinese investors. He said they need an acceptable Chinese form of identification.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com
WeWork, startup that rents office space, now in Shanghai Updated: 2016-03-23 10:51 By Niu Yue in New York(China Daily USA)

WeWork, a US co-working office company, has opened a branch in Shanghai. The friendly interior design of its headquarters in New York's Greenwich Village highlights its efforts at community-building. Long Yifan / for China Daily

WeWork, the office space startup whose valuation has been put at $16 billion, has opened operations in Shanghai, its first location in China where the co-working rental space is crowded with other companies.

"In Shanghai, consumers needed us, so we went there," Fred Lu, the newly recruited general manager for Shanghai, told China Daily. "We have confidence in the Chinese market," he said when asked about the current business climate. Lu previously worked for GE Co, Microsoft and Baidu in China.

WeWork is in Shanghai's busy downtown district of Jing'a, where it leased an office building for renting space.

Outside of China, the company's individual renting packages start at $45 a day for a desk to $450 a month. Lu said the company's pricing in China will be set after marketing strategies are finalized.

Jennifer Skyler, public communications director at WeWork's New York headquarters, said the operation in China is focusing on finding staff knowledgeable about the Chinese co-working market.

WeWork recently raised $430 million from Chinese investors in a fundraising that values the office space startup at $16 billion and will help it expand into Asia. Lenovo was the leading Chinese investor.

For WeWork, there is an abundance of Chinese competitors in the world of flexible workspace, with more than 1,600 startup incubators in China offering space as well as such services as consultations with lawyers, accountants and business consultants from top firms.

They include 36Kr, Regus, XNode, URWORK and People Squared, one of Shanghai's oldest co-working spaces, which opened in 2010.

36Kr is a leading entrepreneur incubator whose investors include Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma and investment firm Innovation Works. Kaifu Li is the founder and CEO of Innovation Works. He was the vice-president at Google Engineering and president of Google Chinese Operations.

WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. According to the company, it achieved profitability one month after launching. In 2015, WeWork's income surpassed $400 million and was called the networking unicorn in the US entrepreneural industry.

In February 2014, WeWork's investors valued the company at $1.5 billion. With its latest fundraising, its valuation had jumped to $16 billion, making WeWork, on paper, the world's sixth most valuable company, FastCompany magazine reported this week.

The magazine said WeWork now has 80 co-working spaces in 23 cities around the globe, and its 50,000 space-sharing members range from startups to big companies like pharmaceutical company Merck & Co, and American Express.

In the US, WeWork emphasizes Western office culture, including craft beer, arcade games and an annual camping retreat.

Liu Xiaoyu, business analyst at 36Kr, said the success of WeWork's business model comes from the two founders' experience in US real estate.

"They selected good locations for their business, and they were innovative enough to integrate the concept of public business zones in hotels into the shared office business," Liu said.

Zhong Shu, CEO of 36Kr, said WeWork faces many challenges to expand in China.

"For Chinese real estate business, the cost of capital accounts for 2 to 3 percent of the total cost, while the sale and rental ratio ranges from 8 to 9 percent," Zhong said. "But in the US, it is the other way around."

Long Yifan in New York contributed to this story.
Art week undaunted by lower sales Updated: 2016-03-23 10:51 By Hezi Jiang in New York(China Daily USA)

Lark Mason, chairman of Asia Week New York, speaks at a reception on March 14 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Provided to China Daily

Economies will fluctuate, but Chinese art has staying power, according to one gallery owner.

"The long-term future of the Chinese art market is easy to predict," said James Lally, whose New York gallery bears his name. "Chinese art will be more and more collected around the world. It's one of the greatest civilizations of history."

Lally spoke to China Daily on a day when the eighth annual Asia Week New York announced that its art sales had fallen precipitously over the past year. The event concluded on March 19 with $130 million in sales compared with $360 million in 2015.

The organizer of the event said the drop was expected.

"The results this year were always expected to be less than 2015, which included the incomparable collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, and the expectation that the economic slowdown in China would have a negative impact," said Lark Mason, Asia Week New York chairman.

"The results were lower, but not dramatically so when compared to 2014 ($200 million), and the high end of the market showed considerable strength with robust sales at the auctions and among the dealers for the top-level works."

Art insiders had been predicting lower sales ahead of the 10-day Asian art "shopping spree". The art market is "very much linked to the economy", said Grace Rong Li, an art adviser, noting China's economic transition and stock market volatility.

Mason said it's the not-so-rich who were most affected.

"The economy in China did not affect the high-end and best-quality items, but it absolutely affected the less-quality, lower-value items," said Mason. Those with less disposable income "are more dramatically affected by the downturn of the Chinese economy than people who are wealthy with lots of resources".

Dessa Goddard, head of Asian Art for the Americas at Bonhams, made a similar observation. Bonhams, a privately owned British auction house, recorded $8.7 million in sales during Asia Week, with the two Chinese art auctions realizing close to $3.6 million.

The top sale was a jade vase and lid from the Qianlong period (1735-96) that soared past estimates and claimed more than $1 million, eight times its high estimate.

"Whereas the lower end and middle market are a bit sluggish, the very best pieces still achieve excellent prices; in my view, an indication that the very wealthy have not been greatly impacted by the current turbulence," she told China Daily in an e-mail. "Perhaps the greatest impact we are seeing is that first-time bidders were down about 50 percent from a year ago."

According to Goddard, snuff bottles continue to be a very popular collectible. Pre-20th-century jade carvings also are selling very well, and there has been great interest in Buddhist works of art.

"Archeological material has picked up somewhat in the last couple of years, but continues to be a soft spot," she said.

Mason described the current buyers as "more sober and more selective".

"In an economic downturn, you lose the speculative buyers who are buying things with the intent of immediately selling them. Those people disappear," he said.

Goddard said Bonhams also saw less exorbitant bids, and "a higher rate of lots selling for closer to their pre-sale estimates".

Lally, who has 46 years of experience in dealing Chinese art, believes the slowdown is quite natural, as many of the Chinese buyers, who are also dealers themselves back in China, gain more arts knowledge.

"They have done a lot more work," he said.

A large number of art dealers from China started in the 1990s and began with a small inventory, Lally said. Like many art dealers, they made a lot of purchases at first.

"There are things that you pay too much for and take longer to sell," he said. "That makes you sober."

There is a learning curve to identify the unique objects that are worth stretching one's bid for, said Lally, and many of the Chinese buyers are making better decisions.

"The Chinese buyers are some of the fastest learners I've seen," he said.

Lally curated a 75-piece ancient Chinese jade exhibition for Asia Week and sold about 80 percent of the collection. Buyers from China purchased about 40 percent of the items, he said.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com
88 Chinese universities included in QS World University Rankings by Subject Updated: 2016-03-23 05:05 (Xinhua)

LONDON -- Some 88 Chinese universities are included in the Global 400 subjects in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, which was released Tuesday by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education research firm.

This makes China the country with the second most number of universities included in the Global 400 Subjects, according to the QS rankings. This is only after the United States, which has 164 universities included in the Global 400 subjects. The UK comes third at 78 universities.

China's best performances by subject this year come from Tsinghua University, with three top-10 places, and Peking University, with two top-10 places. Tsinghua University finishes eighth in both Architecture/Built Environment and in Engineering (Civil and Structural). Peking University also manages an equally lofty finish, coming eighth in Modern Languages; it also lies joint 10th for Linguistics. Tsinghua comes in 10th place in the world's Materials Science subject rankings.

This is the sixth edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, featuring a record-breaking 42 disciplines, making it the largest-ever ranking of the kind. The expert opinion of the world's top 76,798 academics and 44,426 employers informed the results, alongside the analysis of 28.5 million research papers and over 113 million citations sourced from the Scopus/Elsevier bibliometric database, said QS.
Suu Kyi nominated to govt post Updated: 2016-03-23 08:28 By Agencies in Naypyidaw, Myanmar(China Daily)

Blocked from presidency, observers say she is likely to at least assume role of foreign minister

Aung San Suu Kyi was nominated as a Cabinet minister in Myanmar's civilian government on Tuesday, giving her a formal position despite being blocked from the presidency in a nation ruled for decades by the military.

Suu Kyi, who has vowed to rule above the next president U Htin Kyaw, was named first in a list of ministers read out to lawmakers by the parliament speaker U Mann Win Khaing Than, who did not specify which position she or others would hold.

A parliamentary vote to confirm the posts was expected later in the week.

The NLD only named 15 ministers for 18 posts chosen by the civilian government, sparking speculation that Suu Kyi will take on four portfolios.

Suu Kyi is the sole woman and one of only six NLD members in the Cabinet, which also includes members from the main army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in keeping with the NLD's pledge for a cabinet of national reconciliation.

Observers said Suu Kyi was likely to at least take the role of foreign minister, giving her a Cabinet post, international clout and a seat at the country's influential Security Council, which is dominated by the military.

Suu Kyi, 70, is blocked by the Constitution because her late husband was British, as are her two sons.

Under Myanmar's complex political rules, the Cabinet role means she will likely have to forego her formal position as head of her National League for Democracy, which she led to a stunning victory in historic November elections that were the freest in generations.

"I feel confident with this new government formation," said NLD upper house MP Myat Ngana Soe after the announcement, adding that Suu Kyi would continue to hold sway over the party.

'Heart of government'

Suu Kyi's ban from the presidency has been a thorn in the side of her party since it was allowed a space in parliament under the outgoing government led by President U Thein Sein.

She has held several rounds of talks with army chief U Min Aung Hlaing since the elections, but was unable to remove the constitutional barrier.

Taking a role in the Cabinet puts an end to speculation that she would opt for a position akin to India's Sonia Gandhi, who wielded huge influence despite having no official government role.

"She wants to be at the heart of government. She wants to do it properly, and formally, and, this is important to her, legally," said Trevor Wilson, an academic at the Australian National University and former ambassador to Myanmar.

AFP - AP - Xinhua

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page11)
Schoolgirl faces charge of financing IS Updated: 2016-03-23 08:28 By Reuters in Sydney(China Daily)

Australian police said on Tuesday they had arrested two people, including a 16-year-old girl, on suspicion of raising funds to support operations of the Islamic State militant group.

The arrests in a Sydney suburb on Monday of the schoolgirl and a man, aged 20, were part of counterterrorism operations aimed at thwarting attacks by domestic radicals at home and disrupting the flow of funds to foreign fighters overseas.

"We anticipate that both these people will be charged and the charge that we anticipate they will have is one of financing terrorism," New South Wales state police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters.

"We will be alleging that they were involved in obtaining money to send offshore to assist the Islamic State in its activities," she said.

Australia's anti-money laundering agency said in November reports of suspected militant financing had tripled in the past year, with more than $38 million that could be used to support militants being investigated.

The amounts being sent in this particular case were small and most likely used to help facilitate the travel of foreign fighters into Syria, an Australian Federal Police source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"They are doing it usually by credit cards or ATM cards - pretty easy. It's not that much money. Some of it is a very small amount of money ... sometimes less than $1,000," he said.

Authorities believe dozens of Australians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Islamic State militants.

Australia, a staunch US ally, has been on heightened alert for attacks by homegrown radicals since 2014 and authorities say they have thwarted a number of potential attacks, while there have been several "lone wolf" assaults.

Islamic State raises the majority of its funding from oil, kidnapping and other illicit activities in far greater amounts than what is sent by individuals, said Greg Barton, a terrorism expert at Deakin University.

Arrests like those made this week were more valuable in identifying and arresting Australians who may be at risk of further radicalization than they in putting a dent in militant finances.

"It's more this gives us the basis for figuring out the connection and it also gives us the basis for laying charges," he said.

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page11)
Trump outlines foreign policy positions Updated: 2016-03-23 08:28 By Associated Press in Washington(China Daily)

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump confronted doubts on Monday about the depth of his knowledge of world affairs, delivering a sober speech to a pro-Israel crowd and outlining for the first time his team of foreign policy advisers.

In a lengthy interview with the editorial board of The Washington Post, Trump outlined a distinctly noninterventionist approach for the United States in the world.

"I do think it's a different world today, and I don't think we should be nation-building anymore," Trump said. He stressed instead the need to invest in infrastructure at home.

"At what point do you say, 'Hey, we have to take care of ourselves'?" he said. "So, I know the outer world exists and I'll be very cognizant of that. But at the same time, our country is disintegrating, large sections of it, especially the inner cities."

Trump has largely avoided policy details during his campaign, focusing instead on boldly stated goals and saying last week in an interview with MSNBC that his "primary consultant is myself".

During the interview, Trump stumbled when questioning the US role in assisting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

"They're not doing anything. And I say: 'Why is it that Germany's not dealing with NATO on Ukraine? Why is it that other countries that are in the vicinity of Ukraine, why aren't they dealing?'" he said.

In fact, since the Ukraine crisis erupted more than two years ago, the Obama administration has refused to provide the new, pro-Western government in Kiev offensive military equipment to use against Russian-backed separatists.

And while a February 2015 cease-fire helped reduce the worst of the violence, Germany and France led that mediation effort. The United States wasn't directly involved.

To be 'neutral'

Trump has also drawn concerns from Jewish leaders for saying he would attempt to be "neutral" in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He worked to soothe those worries on Monday in a major speech before the annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In a speech delivered from prepared remarks and a teleprompter, a rarity for Trump, he stressed that he is "a lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel".

Trump's remarks largely focused on Iran, calling the deal reached last year with several world powers aimed at keeping it from acquiring nuclear weapons "catastrophic for America, for Israel and to the whole Middle East".

He also said he would reject any attempt by the United Nations to impose conditions on either side during future peace talks in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that "it will only further delegitimize Israel".

Anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the venue, but there was no mass walkout of AIPAC attendees as some had planned.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton also addressed the conference, questioning Trump's readiness to guide the nation through international entanglements.

"We need steady hands," Clinton said. "Not a president who says he's neutral on Monday, pro-Israel on Tuesday and who-knows-what on Wednesday because everything's negotiable."

Israel's security, she proclaimed, "is non-negotiable".

Anti-Trump protesters rally outside during the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee Conference in Washington on Monday. Yuri Gripas/ Reuters

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page12)
EU airports, subways increase security levels Updated: 2016-03-23 08:28 By Agencies in Moscow and London(China Daily)

UK, Dutch and Polish governments convene emergency meetings after Brussels attacks

Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system on Tuesday.

The Paris airport authority said security was tightened at all Paris airports soon after the terror attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning. Airports in London, Prague, Amsterdam, Vienna, and many others, also saw increased security.

The attacks come just days after the main suspect in the Nov 13 Paris attacks was arrested in Brussels on Friday.

In Moscow, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov told Russian news agencies that authorities will "re-evaluate security" at Russian airports, although its measures are already among some of the toughest across Europe. There have been mandatory checks at the entrances to airports since a 2011 suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport that killed 37.

In London, Gatwick airport said that "as a result of the terrible incidents in Brussels we have increased our security presence and patrols around the airport". Heathrow said it was working with police to provide a "high-visibility" presence in light of the attacks.

In Germany, the state rail system, Deutsche Bahn, has halted its high-speed rail service from Germany to Brussels.

The UK, Dutch and Polish governments convened emergency security meetings as they beefed up security at airports.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and UK's David Cameron vowed to help Belgium.

"Our thoughts are there, in Brussels and we are praying for the victims," said Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo.

Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck said more police are on the streets and at airports in Vienna and other major Austrian cities.

Spain's Interior Ministry said officials were meeting to discuss the situation following the blasts in Brussels but that for the moment Spain was maintaining its Security Alert Level 4 - one step below the maximum - that has been in place since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in January 2015.

AP - Reuters

Armed police on patrol at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, on Tuesday. Police in European cities have stepped up security at airports and public places following the explosions in Brussels on Tuesday. Liselotte Sabroe / Reuters

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page12)
Belgium bombings raise worries in US Updated: 2016-03-23 23:44 By AGENCIES and Fu Jingin in Brussels(China Daily USA)

People gather at a memorial in Brussels following Tuesdays bomb attacks. [Photo/Agencies]

Major US airports were on high alert on Tuesday, with police out in force after at least 34 people were killed in twin suicide bombing attacks on the Brussels airport and subway, although officials said there was no specific threat to the United States.

Officials at Chinas embassy in Belgium said that there had been no reports so far of Chinese killed or injured in the attacks. The emergency unit of University Hospital Saint-Luc, which is near the airport, said there were no Asians known to be among those sent there for treatment.

The embassy has asked Chinese to exercise caution if they plan to visit Belgium.

The blasts at the airport and subway station occurred four days after the arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in November.

Belgiums security alert was raised to the highest level after the attacks. Police and troops on the streets were on alert for any further attacks.
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YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. Developments following the Brussels airport blasts on March 22, are in the spotlight of the Armenian Embassy in Brussels. As "Armenpress" reports, this was tweeted by the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan. "The Armenian Embassy in Brussels is following the developments. We will inform about any news, "he wrote.

17 people have reportedly been killed and dozens wounded after two blasts rocked Brussels Zaventem airport.

The Brussels airport administration urged to stay away from the airport after the two explosions occurred. The airport management wrote on Twitter: "Two terrorist attacks happened at the airport. People are being evacuated from the building. Stay away from the airport area. Flights are canceled, "the statement reads.

British BBC stresses the fact that the Brussels airport incident is followed by the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect of the Paris attacks. According to Belgian media, the airport is closed for flights. There are reports on social media that people fleeing in panic from the scene.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, sent a letter of condolence to Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium, on the occasion of the explosions at the Brussels International Airport and the subway, which left numerous casualties and injured. On behalf of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His Holiness expressed condolences to the families of the victims and all the people of Belgium.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the condolence letter reads as follows: "We strongly condemn the terrorist actions carried out in Brussels, which claimed dozens of innocent lives. This unjustified act goes against all humanity and challenges the entire civilized world.

In this hour, on behalf of the Armenian Apostolic Church, we express our condolences to you, the families of the victims and all the people of Belgium. We pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. "
The southern provinces and cities have created favourable conditions for HCM City businesses to expand production projects and build distribution systems besides co-operating with farmers for animal breeding and cultivation. File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS)  A trade co-operation programme between HCM City and 20 southern provinces over the last five years has significantly contributed to improving product quality, meet consumer demand and promote socio-economic development, a meeting heard in HCM City yesterday.

The programme, begun in 2011, focuses on providing and exchanging information and comparing notes on authorities oversight of commerce; supporting firms in creating links in production and distribution; strengthening oversight to secure product quality; and human resource training.

The southern provinces and cities have created favourable conditions for HCM City businesses to expand production projects and build distribution systems besides co-operating with farmers for animal breeding and cultivation.

Twenty three firms participating in the citys price stabilisation programme have invested more than VN14 trillion (US$627.8 million) in 38 production facilities, 54 agricultural farms, 53 supermarkets and shopping centres, and 55 shops in the region.

Thus they created reliable raw material sources and ensured high quality and low prices, the department said.

Le Van Khoa, deputy chairman of the city Peoples Committee, said linking up suppliers and buyers was one of the programmes important activities.

In five years 1,349 contracts worth more than VN22.13 trillion ($992.46 million) had been signed between city businesses and companies in the southern region.

Phan Kim Sa, director of the ong Thap Province Department of Industry and Trade, said the programme helped small production units improve their technologies, enabling more and more products to enter modern distribution systems in HCM City.

The province has abundant raw materials while the city firms have technological and managerial expertise, meaning the co-operation is a win-win proposition, according to Sa.

Following the resounding success of the programme, the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade yesterday renewed it for another five years.

The department and its counterparts in the 20 cities and provinces plan to enhance activities to link suppliers and producers, co-operate for price stabilisation programmes and resolve difficulties faced by businesses.

Khoa suggested the department should collaborate with its counterparts to help businesses build supply chains and brands and promote consumption in domestic and foreign markets, especially of VietGap and GobalGap certified farm produce.

They should all join hands to fight smuggling and trade fraud, and monitor quality of products in the market, he said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa hailed the programme and urged HCM City to expand the co-operation model to other places.

She hoped more businesses would join the programme in the coming years to increase the supply of quality goods.

Distribution networks should be expanded to make it easier for customers to access the products, she said.

Businesses should focus on improving product quality and competitiveness, particularly with the countrys deeper global integration, she said.

Relevant authorities should work to raise awareness of using Vietnamese goods among consumers, she added.  VNS
According to the planning, export of coal would be under a close management in order to gradually reduce export volumes and only certain types of coal, which Viet Nam did not have demand for in terms of consumption, would be allowed to be shipped abroad.  VNA/VNS Photo Trong Dat

HA NOI (VNS)  Viet Nam will develop a technologically-advanced coal mining industry with high competitiveness moving towards sustainability in the next five years to contribute to ensuring energy security.

This was the overall goal of the coal industrys development planning to 2020, with a vision to 2030, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung earlier last week.

The planning said that advanced technologies would be applied in all processes, from exploration to processing to providing coal for domestic production, and especially coal for electricity production. In addition, all coal mines would meet environmental standards before 2020.

According to the planning, export of coal would be under a close management in order to gradually reduce export volumes and only certain types of coal, which Viet Nam did not have demand for in terms of consumption, would be allowed to be shipped abroad.

This was necessary when Viet Nam still had to import coal to make up for the shortage of coal for thermoelectricity production. The shortage was anticipated to become more severe by 2020.

The planning estimated that coal output would reach between 47 million tonnes and 50 million tonnes in 2020, while the countrys total demand for coal was estimated at 86.4 million tonnes, of which 64.1 tonnes would be for electricity production. By 2030, Viet Nam would need totally 156.6 million tonnes of coal, while the output was estimated to be between 55 million tonnes and 57 million tonnes.

At a meeting held in November last year, the Viet Nam Energy Association said that there would be a shortage of about 12 million tonnes of coal for electricity production in the next five years.

New mines

According to the planning, the total coal reserves as of the end of 2015 was estimated at 48.88 billion tonnes, more than 3 billion tonnes of which would be used for the planning to 2020 and come mainly from the ong Bac (North East) coal basin.

Besides the ong Bac coal basin, which stretched through Quang Ninh, Bac Giang and Hai Duong provinces, coal reserves were also located in Song Hong (Red River) coal basin which covered Thai Binh, Hung Yen and Nam inh provinces, and included six domestic mines and more than 100 small-scale mines.

According to the planning, expansion of existing mines together with developing new ones would continue till 2030, in order to increase coal output.

Despite the Song Hong coal basins huge reserves, the basin was still under exploration and the exploitation would be very tough and complicated. The planning said that between 2020 and 2030, pilot exploitation using new technologies would be carried out at Song Hong basin as a base for the development of mines on an industrial production scale.

The planning estimated that the coal mining industry would need totally VN269 trillion (US$12 billion) by 2030.  VNS
Thai Hoa Hospital is one of the best hospital in the Mekong Delta region. Photo TH

HA NOI (VNS)  VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited (VOF) announced on Monday an investment of US$9 million in a management buyout transaction to acquire a controlling stake in Thai Hoa International Hospital in ong Thap Province.

VOF, belonging to VinaCapital, a leading investment management and real estate development firm, was an AIM-traded investment company established to target key growth segments in Vietnam.

Thai Hoa International Hospital established in ong Thap province in 2009, is a general hospital that served healthcare demand in the Mekong Delta region. The hospital currently has 30 doctors, 200 beds that can treat 300,000 patient visits per year.

The hospital planned for more visits between 2016 and 2017 due to the governments Private Partnership Program between public and private hospitals and the loosening of National Health Insurance regulations that will take effect in the second half of this year.

VOF placed Luong Ngoc An, who spent more than 20 years at Tu Du Hospital, one of the largest obstetrics in Viet Nam, to be the hospital CEO for the next stage of growth of the hospital.

As of the end of February, VOF was investing in Vinamilk, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel Ha Noi, Hoa Phat Group, Eximbank, International Dairy Product, Khang Dien House, Hau Giang Pharmaceuticals, Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation, PetroVietNam Drilling and Well Services JSC, VinaLand Ltd.

Shares in VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity closed at $2.5 on Monday in the London Stock Exchange.  VNS
Unitel network, a joint venture between Viettel Global Joint Stock Company of Viet Nam and Lao Asia Telecom of Laos .  Photo baocongthuong

HA NOI (VNS)  The 2016 Viet Nam  Laos investment co-operation conference will be held in the central city of a Nang on March 26 and March 27.

The conference is being organised jointly by the ministries of planning and investment of Viet Nam and Laos and the Association of Viet Nam Investors into Laos (AVIL).

This is a national-level conference being hosted by the governmental leaders of the two countries and will see the participation of leaders from ministries, agencies, localities and enterprises, from the two sides.

The investment co-operation conference this time will focus on content which seek investment co-operation in sectors which Laos prioritises to attract investments from Viet Nam.

The conference will also discuss preferential policies of the Laos government towards Vietnamese investors.

This is an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises and investors to access new investment projects in Laos, enhance connectivity and boost co-operation in investment, commerce, tourism and transport, in the near future.

A meeting between authorised agencies of Laos and Viet Nam, and associations and enterprises, will be held on March 26.

The meeting will evaluate investment results of Vietnamese enterprises in Laos, investment demands from Laos between 2016 and 2020 and orientation and prioritised policies of investments from Viet Nam to Laos.

The conference will take place on the following day, and will be hosted by the governments of the two countries, with the participation of about 500 delegates who are leaders of ministries and agencies, localities and organisations, apart from associations, enterprises, investors, and media, of the two countries.

The investment co-operation conference takes place in a favourable context, opening up prospects of investment co-operation between the two countries.

The two countries had their own development potential which could supplement each other through joint development, o Nhat Hoang, director of Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the ministry, said.

The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) opened new opportunities in co-operation in the sectors of economy, investment, trade and tourism among ASEAN countries, he added.

Viet Nam had widely and deeply integrated with the international economy.

The country signed free trade agreements (FTA) with big partners including South Korea, the European Union (EU), Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The new generation FTAs would boost trade, create favourable opportunities for foreign enterprises when investing and doing business in Viet Nam, Hoang said, while at the same time, creating a driving force for the country to reform institutions, create a clear and transparent investment environment and meet the requirements of integration and international practices.

The Vietnamese investment in Laos totals US$4.9 billion, according to FIA.

The country ranks second among countries with investment activities in Laos.

Vietnamese projects created about 40,000 jobs in Laos, which helped enhance labour capacity, generate income and contribute to the Laos State budget.  VNS
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Motoo Hayashi (first left) visis Family Mart and Ministop stores in HCM City on Sunday.  Photo vov

HCM CITY (VNS)  With its population of over 90 million, Viet Nam is considered a promising market for Japanese retailers, and firms like 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson and Ministop have all revealed plans to either enter or expand their business in the country.

Their executives were accompanying Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Motoo Hayashi during his visit to HCM City on Sunday.

Hayashi said the convenience stores, which had grown rapidly in Viet Nam, were a "very important" channel for medium and small Japanese businesses to sell their products in Viet Nam.

He said organisations like the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), the Japanese consulate and financial agencies would join hands to help Japanese retailers bring their goods to Viet Nam.

FamilyMart and Ministop, which operate a total of 130 stores around the country, plan to increase the number to 200 by November of this year.

They sell around 60 items, including agricultural products, confectionery and sake, Japans Jiji Press reports.

Given that Japanese convenience stores operate like all-in-one shops, they would bring not only consumer goods but potentially also financial and related services, Yasuzumi Hirotaka, JETROs chief in HCM City, said.

When the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade bloc that includes Viet Nam, Japan, Australia, the US and eight other countries, takes effect to bring low or zero duties and simple import procedures, Japanese products and services would stand a better chance of entering Viet Nam, one of the biggest and most potential retail markets in Southeast Asia, he said.

Both FamilyMart and Ministop have plans to open thousands of stores in Viet Nam, according to the chief.

On Sunday Hayashi visited Family Mart and Ministop stores in HCM City and also held talks with the heads of the two companies.

At a meeting hosted by JETRO, he said the government would support the planned establishment of a local group to provide information and know-how to Japanese companies planning to start businesses or make investments in HCM City, Jiji Press reports.

Strategic relations between Viet Nam and Japan were being increasingly promoted, indicated by the exchange of high-ranking delegations by the two countries, the Chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee, Nguyen Thanh Phong, told the Japanese delegation at a meeting on Sunday afternoon.

Japan is one of Viet Nams major partners in various areas ranging from official development assistance to foreign direct investment and trade.  VNS
Mountaineering: Samina Baig, first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest

In honour of Pakistan Day (March 23), Viet Nam News presents an article written by the Ambassador of Pakistan, Zaigham Uddin Azam

Resilient Pakistani Women

Pakistani women have always played a key role in improving the economy, social standards, and norms of Pakistan.

Women like Fatima Jinnah, sister of the founder of Pakistan, actively participated in the social movement which brought Pakistan into being. Ms. Benazir Bhutto made Pakistan proud when she became the first female Prime Minister of any Muslim country. She did so twice. Yet superpower countries are still reluctant to have a woman president.

Pakistan is one of the few countries where women hold more than 23 per cent of the seats in legislative Assemblies. This provides our women the right to participate in the lawmaking process of the country. Our women continue to make Pakistan proud by participating in our society this way. And some Pakistani women have recently proven the country a global leader by winning honors in various fields.

The three most inspirational Pakistani women are:

Malala Yousafzai

Malala is currently the most well-know Pakistani girl in the world. The girl from Swat, who wanted to go to school when girls were banned from attending schools in her troubled region, caught the worlds attention through the blog she wrote for the BBC, under the pseudonym Gul Makai.

She eventually returned to school, despite the ban. But she was shot in the head on her way home from school. Two friends travelling with her in the school van were also injured.

Malala survived, recovered and bounced back. She is now the worlds leading activist for female education in developing countries. Malala strongly believes that one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. Her message is respected worldwide. And she became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December, 2014.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Journalist, activist and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy made Pakistan proud by bringing home two Oscars for Pakistan. Sharmeens documentaries Saving Face (2012) about acid-attack survivors, and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015) about honour killings - both controversial topics - won two Oscars for Best Documentary  Short Subject. Thanks to Sharmeens efforts, laws to protect women better are now being drafted in Pakistan.

Sharmeen did her A-Levels at Karachi Grammar School, then attended Smith College (US) for a bachelors degree programme. When she returned home to Pakistan, she started writing for various newspapers and embarked on a career in filmmaking. She is one of the few female directors in the world to win two Oscars for non-fiction films.

Sharmeen won an International Emmy Award in 2010 for her documentary Pakistans Taliban Generation. Her documentary Saving Face won two Emmy awards at the 34th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards in 2013.

She was named as one of Time magazines 100 most influential people in the world in 2012. She also received the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award in Pakistan.

Samina Khayal Baig

Samina Khayal Baig (born 19 September 1990) is the first Pakistani woman - and the third Pakistani - to climb Mount Everest. She is also the youngest Muslim woman to climb Everest, having done so at the age of 21. And Samina is the first Pakistani woman, and the first Muslim, to climb the seven summits of the world.

Baig comes from Shimsal village in Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. She trained in mountaineering from the age of 15. Her brother, Mirza Ali, trained her. Baig is a student of the Arts. She began climbing when she was only four years old. Baig has worked as a mountain guide and expedition leader in the Himalayas, in the Hindu Kush, and on the peaks of Karakoram in Pakistan.  VNS

Filmmaking: Sharmeen Chinoy won two Oscars for documentaries on controversial subjects
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Three days of mourning began for those killed in the morning of March 22, as a result of two explosions in Brussels International Airport and another explosion at the Maalbek metro station in Brussels. According to preliminary data, 34 people were killed, over 230 injured. This night, in the center of Brussels on the Anspach Boulevard, about two thousand residents and tourists with candles gathered in a silent memorial service.

"This is the worst terrorist attack in the history of Belgium" , Prime Minister of the Kingdom Charles Michel said.

"We will continue to answer to this type of terrorism together, with firmness, calmness and dignity, keeping self-confidence, which is our strength," the King of Belgium said in a televised address.

According to the Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw, the investigation of the terror attacks is continuing day and night. He said that the entire Belgian police force, the military intelligence and State Security Service is mobilized.

The prosecutor has officially confirmed that all the explosions were terrorist attacks, but stressed that its connection to the November 13 Paris attacks, "has yet to be clarified.

Citizens of various countries were affected by the attacks in Brussels. In particular, 9 US citizens, including an Air Force serviceman, along with his 5 family members and 3 missionaries from Utah.

Two Serbian tourists were wounded, who are currently hospitalized.

According to the Italian Ambassador to Belgium, 3 Italian citizens were among the injured.

Railway stations gradually resumed work in the evening, except the Airport station, the Luxembourg station and the "Schuman" station. The Brussels airport will remain closed until at least March 24.

As for the urban transport, according to STIB, subway, tram and bus routes are gradually resuming the operations.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has promised that the authorities "by all efforts will return the country to normal life as quickly as possible," informed TASS.
HCM CITY  The Prime Minister has approved a project for three new farm co-operative models for rice, aquatic products and fruit in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta by 2020.

The project aims to promote connections between co-operatives and farmers, as well as improve the conditions of local people.

It will be carried out in three phases in the deltas 13 provinces and cities.

The first phase, which begins this year and will end in 2017, will evaluate the Deltas existing co-operatives based on the 2012 Co-operative Law and reorganise them according to the regions three key products. Establishing new co-operatives is another task of the project.

The second phase, to end in 2018, is for implementation of a model of provincial co-operative unions for each product, while the last phase is for establishing co-operative unions for the region.

Local authorities are in charge of encouraging individual farmers and farming households to join the co-operatives.

They are also responsible for working with the co-operative to find ways to generate more capital to promote their operations.

After two years of implementing the project, the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Planning and Investment will work with the Southwestern Region Steering Committee and the regions provincial authorities to review the work and create a plan to expand new co-operative models across the country.  VNS
HOA BINH  The Peoples Court of the northern province of Hoa Binh sentenced two drug traffickers for illegally transporting heroin.

Mua A ua, 35, who comes from Pa Co Commune, in Mai Chau District, of Hoa Binh Province received the death penalty while Giang A Xa, 52, from Son La Province was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to the indictment, in December 2013, ua was hired by a man whose identity remains unknown, to transport 26 cakes of heroin from Pa Co Commune to My inh Station in Ha Noi for a charge of VN30 million (US$1,330).

ua asked Xa to help him by going ahead to see whether the police were looking to arrest ua. ua paid Xa VN7 million ($310).

However, the two traffickers were arrested red-handed with 26 cakes of heroin and other items when they were travelling in Cao Phong Town, Hoa Binh Province.

ua confessed that he had illegally purchased one cake of heroin in October 2013 with his uncle who was arrested by Son La Police.

In 2005, ua was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally purchasing heroin and was given special amnesty in August 2010.  VNS
Tourists visit Ha Noi by electric cars.  Photo petrotimes.vn

HA NOI (VNS) Most of the electric four-wheelers used for tourist purposes nationwide have yet to be registered, the Viet Nam Register said.

Businesses have imported more than 1,300 vehicles for the tourist business, but only 176 vehicles, equivalent to 13.5 per cent, have been registered, Deputy Head of the Viet Nam Register Nguyen Huu Tri told the government online newspaper.

Electric cars are being used to transport tourists in 10 localities on a trial basis, following the approval of the Prime Minister. These localities are Ha Noi, a Nang, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh, as well as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Hai Phong and Khanh Hoa, besides Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Lao Cai.

Head of the transport ministrys Department of Transport Tran Bao Ngoc said the vehicles were completely reliable and safe for transporting tourists, with no accidents being reported so far.

The electric cars were considered to be environment-friendly, which helped to promote green tourism, he said.

Electric cars should be registered and given licence plates for monitoring purposes. However, the vehicles are yet to be regulated under the Road Traffic Law, leading to difficulties for state agencies in monitoring them and for businesses in operating them.

A representative of the Hai Phong Electric and Telecommunications Company told the newspaper that the companys 50 electric cars, which are being used to transport tourists at various tourist sites in Hai Phong City, had not been registered due to lack of appropriate documents and guidance from authorised agencies.

However, Hai Phong Police have requested that all electric cars must be registered before April, he said.

A representative of the transport department of the central Thanh Hoa Province said businesses operating electric cars wanted to register their vehicles, but lacked essential documents as required by the government Circular 86, issued in 2014, on the automobile transport business and its conditions.

The Viet Nam Register should give concrete guidance to help businesses register their vehicles, he said.

Thanh Hoa Police had temporarily provided plates to electric cars for better management, because the vehicles operate in limited areas.

Vo Van Hung, vice-chairman of Cua Lo Commune in the central Nghe An Province, said the number of electric cars in the commune have increased to nearly 500 to provide services to the increasing number of tourists visiting the locality. However, these vehicles have not been registered, making it difficult to manage them.

The transport ministry should issue regulations regarding registration of electric cars, he said. The problem was related to documents and procedures and so it needed specific mechanisms to legalise electric cars for better management, he said.

Deputy Transport Minister Le inh Tho said many localities failed to manage these kinds of vehicles. Electric cars are allowed to operate in limited areas to help tourists, but in many localities, they are operated like other vehicles.

The ministry will request the Prime Minister to stop the pilot use of electric cars for tourist purposes and to allow them to be operated like other vehicles for better management.

It was essential to review and amend related regulations to make the operation of electric cars as a condition-based transport business, he said.  VNS
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The US State Department has warned US citizens of potential risks of travelling to Europe after the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels, Armenpress reports, citing TASS.

The statement released by US State Department on March 22 said: "The State Department alerts US citizens to potential risks of travel to and throughout Europe following several terrorist attacks, including the March 22 attacks in Brussels claimed by ISIL (Islamic State terrorist organization)."

"Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation.

"US citizens should exercise vigilance when in public places or using mass transportation. Be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid crowded places. Exercise particular caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events," US State Department noted.

A series of terrorist attacks hit the Belgian capital on the morning of March 22. According to the latest reports, the death toll in three bombings in Brussels has risen to at least 34, and more than 230 are injured.

Belgium hiked its terror threat to its highest level (level 4) and closed the borders.
Opening a new chapter in bilateral relations, India on Wednesday began supplying electricity to in return for Internet bandwidth that will help connect its north eastern states, a move that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as historic.

India will supply 100 megawatt (MW) of electricity in return for 10 Gigabits per second Internet bandwidth.

Modi and his counterpart Sheikh Hasina launched the twin links through video conference.

In my opinion this is an historic occasion, Modi said as he nudged Dhaka to join the space cooperation with India.

India, he said, is marching shoulder-to-shoulder with in its progress and today is the opening of a new chapter, he said.

"In an era of inter-dependent world, the two nations have further strengthened their ties," he said.

Hasina said: The relation between the countries has further consolidated through the supply of power and Internet bandwidth.



As much as 100 MW of power will be supplied to Bangladesh from Tripua. PowerGrid Corporation of India Ltd has erected 400 KV line from Suryamaninagar (Agartala) to the Indian border while its Bangladeshi counterpart, PowerGrid Corporation of Bangladesh has laid a line from there to Comilla.

Simultaneously, a new gateway to give broadband connectivity to North-East states via Bangladesh was also opened.

We have gateways in west and south but entire east was untouched. As part of my Act East policy, this gateway in the east is very important. The opening of eastern gateway in association with Bangladesh will bring connectivity to eastern region particularly Assam, Tripura and Sikkim, Modi said.

Modi said previously road connectivity between Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Bhutan had been initiated. "Today we are doing electricity and digital connectivity... we have to cooperate in space too. It is our desire that Bangladesh joins India in space satellite mission too," he said.

"Bangladesh would observe its National day on March 26 and I pay my respect to the memory of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh. The era of good relations began during the time of 'Bangabandhu' between the two countries which still continues," said Modi.

He was referring to 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh and father of Hasina, saying he shared close bonds with India.

The eight north-eastern states would be immensely benefited with the opening of the third International Internet gateway, he said, adding that Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan have made considerable development in road links.

"Now India and Bangladesh are connected through water, surface communication and air. We want to be connected with Bangladesh though space also," the Prime Minister said.

In her speech, Hasina said: "We always remember India's cooperation during the liberation movement in 1971."



On the power supply, she said during her visit to Tripura in 2012, she discussed the matter of getting power from the state's Palatana project and it came true now.

Hasina said her country was getting 500 MW power from India now and both the countries made considerable development in the field of cooperation through roads, railways and power.

She also thanked Prime Minister Modi and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar for their cooperation.

Sarkar, at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, also joined the programme from here through videoconferencing.

For the Internet broadband connectivity, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Co Ltd (BSCCL) has laid a 30-km optical fibre cable from Brahmanbaria to Akhaura, adjoining Agartala, while state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has set up an international long distance (ILD) gateway at Agartala along with associated equipment.

BSNL will lease international bandwidth in Bangladesh for Internet to connect North Eastern states with rest of India.

An international bandwidth cable is present at Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh. The connectivity between Cox's Bazaar cable station and Akhaura at international border has been built by BSCCL. On Indian side, BSNL has laid about 3-4 km from Agartala to Akhaura in Tripura.

Before this link, telecom connectivity or basic bandwidth for networks was provided to North East from Chennai via Kolkata. The new link will be now a short route cable between Cox Bazar cable landing station in Bangladesh to Agartala through Akhaura.

The cost of the project is Rs 19.1 crore and BSNL will bear annual operational expenditure of USD 1.2 million from its own resources.

This link will deliver bandwidth of 10 Gbps which can be extended up to 40 Gbps.

India is already supplying 500 MW of power to Bangladesh through the Bahrampur-Bheramara inter-connection. Supply of another 500 MW was announced during Modi's visit to Dhaka last year.

Also, NTPC and BPDB of Bangladesh are working on 1320 MW Rampal power project.
will continue to operate normally in offices next week from March 28-31, bank unions said.

The announcement comes after officers and employees of called for a strike on March 28 to protest against the government's proposed stake sale in the state-run lender.

Messages of the strike call by the from March 28-31 were circulated through social media and Whatsapp. The rumours created a scare among the public.

The announcement by the bank unions will give assurance to the people regarding the nation-wide strike by the .

However, employees are striking work from March 28-31 to protest against government's alleged move to privatise banking entity.

M V Murali, Convenor, United Forum Of Bank Uniomd (U.F.B.U.) said employess in banking sector are supporting agitation by employees. Banking unions, except at IDBI, have not given call for strike.

The government of India, which holds about 80% stake in IDBI Bank, plans to reduce its shareholding in bank below 50%.

Bank is in the process of floating to offer fresh shares to instutional investors. It is planning to issue shares to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and later to multilateral agencies.
The ethos of Silicon Valley's high-tech industries favours intelligence over manners and background. Abrasive criticism of ideas is the norm rather than the exception. This take-no-prisoners management paradigm was established by Andy Grove, who died on Monday at 79. Grove, along with Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, was part of the troika that made Intel the world's premier chip maker. He had worked with both of them in Fairchild Semiconductor and he was their first hire, as director of engineering, when they founded Intel in 1968. The management practices he evolved became enormously influential. Intel became a byword both in terms of cutting-edge research and efficient manufacturing, as well as for its redoubtable ability to transform itself when the end-users' zeitgeist changed. Grove also mentored several of the Valley's leading lights, including Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
Zelenskys diplomacy masterclass outpacing dour, grey Putin in battle for hearts and minds When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year, there was no room for jokes or play acting, and Zelensky needed to step up. He did.

Megyn Kelly fires up at Meghan Markle over her deceptive nature Sky News Australia contributor Megyn Kelly has slammed Meghan Markle over her "abject dishonesty" after the Duchess of Sussex took a swipe at Deal or No Deal in her latest podcast episode which featured Paris Hilton.

Boris Johnsons dad tight-lipped on sons potential return Speculation has begun on who could replace Liz Truss in the wake of her resignation, with her predecessor Boris Johnson expected to stand for the Conservative leadership again.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The staff and board members of European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) and the Armenian National Committee of Belgium are deeply saddened by the deplorable terrorist attacks that happened in Brussels and Zaventem airport today. Armenpress was informed about this from the press service of the Armenian National Committee-International.

We are safe, but in shock. Thank you to all who have called and sent messages of concern and empathy. We grieve for the innocent losses of life and extend our thoughts and prayers to their families and friends.

In todays world, violence and hatred have no place! In the name of all our member organizations across Europe, we express our solidarity to the Kingdom of Belgium and its entire population in fighting terrorism and overcoming these cowardly acts, reads the statement.
9. The Return Of The Incredible Hulk Ride

Universal Orlando Resort is about to get even bigger! Ever since opening its doors in 1990, Universal has been dedicated to taking visitors on a thrilling adventure ride into the movies, and every year, those experiences get more and more action packed. Some big changes are planned over the coming years. With the return of the King himself, brand new water adventures, races and thrilling car chases; it really is the perfect time to be planning a future trip to Florida. Heres your guide to what attractions are coming soon, because one things for sure, adventure is Universal.Islands of Adventure has been a whole lot quieter lately without the Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster roaring around the park. Closing in early September, the track for the Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster has been dismantled and is slowly being replaced, piece by piece. Universal have promised that when it reopens, the attraction will be just as thrilling as it was before. Just, better. As well as a smooth new track, Universal have confirmed that there will be new ride vehicles and enhancements to the storyline. The new and improved Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster will once again be powering through Islands of Adventure this summer.
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YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. US Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss the Belgium attacks with Russian officials during his visit to Moscow on March 23-24, although the primary focus of the trip will be Syria, a State Department official told reporters, Armenpress reports, citing Sputnik News.

"The prime reason for [Kerry] going to Moscow is of course Syria. Its impossible to divorce that discussion from what happened in Brussels, particularly if it turns out that [Daesh] claims of responsibility [for the attack] are true," the official stated on March 22.

Earlier on March 22, a series of blasts hit Brussels' Zaventem airport and a city-center metro station, killing at least 34 people and injuring almost 200 others. The Belgian authorities are treating the explosions as part of a coordinated terrorist attack.

The State Department representative also noted that Kerrys discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials in Moscow would primarily be focused on the Syrian political process, cessation of hostilities and delivery of humanitarian aid.

On March 23, Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the ceasefire and aid situation in conflict-torn Syria, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino

 Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first.

 Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well.

 What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that.

The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players.

 How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long!

 Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package  which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

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Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice

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 Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information.

 Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead.

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Betway:

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Coral Casino:

Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account.

Ladbrokes Casino:

Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

Paddy Power Casino:

Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

William Hill Casino:

William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The brothers Bakraoui El Khalid and Brahim were known to the police but for organized crime but not for acts of terrorism, Armenpress reports, citing The Telegraph.

They are both linked to the prime suspect in the Paris massacre, Salah Abdeslam, investigators said.

The two suicide bombers who carried out the attacks in Brussels airport on Tuesday were brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, Brussels residents known to the police for crime, the RTBF public broadcaster said, quoting an unnamed source.

Khalid, under a false name, had rented the flat in the Forest borough of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

Investigators found after that raid an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later.

Both brothers have criminal records, but have not been linked by the police to terrorism until now, RTBF said.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The priority and final goal of the Minsk Group Co-chairs is achieving lasting solution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Minsk Group American Co-chair James Warlick announced about this in an interview with Amerikayi dzayn (Voice of America). We are greatly concerned over the ceasefire violation cases. Clashes that took place in January last year were the worst since the ceasefire agreement was signed. Most worrisome is the casualties among civilians. We condemn usage of heavy artillery, Warlick mentioned.

The Minsk Group Co-chairs attended a consultation in Tbilisi early in March, which was convened by the efforts of Reconciliation ways organization. Bother Armenia and Azerbaijan were represented: Any platform of dialogue is of importance.

As refers to the proposals of U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel regarding the reinforcement of the ceasefire on Armenia-Azerbaijan border and Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line, Warlick mentioned thjat the Minsk Group supports the proposals, Though we have not seen the final letter yet, but the proposals made by Ed Royce have received the support of the Co-chairs, but it must receive the support of all the sides. Our demand is the preservation of the ceasefire regime, Armenpress reports the American Co-chair saying.

Initiated by Chairman Royce and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY) and cosigned by over 80 of their House colleagues, the proposals outline three concrete steps to create lasting peace in the region: the removal of snipers, an increase in OSCE monitors, and the deployment of a gunfire locator system. Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have both expressed support for these life-saving initiatives; Azerbaijan has not.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Artsakh Karen Mirzoyan met with Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on March 23, who arrived in Stepanakert on a working visit; "Armenpress" was informed by the Information Department of Artsakh Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting the sides exchanged views on issues relating to the foreign policy agenda, reference was made to the current stage of the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict.

Both sides stressed the need of coordinated work in the international arena. In this context, the sides discussed cooperation between the two ministries and their respective units, methods and ways of strengthening and expanding cooperation.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia then met with the leadership of the central apparatus of the Nagorno Karabakh Foreign Ministry.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Rallies and other events will be held in all major cities of France on April 24. Co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France, ARF Bureau member Murad Papazian told about this in a press conference at Armenpress media hall, stressing that all the all the events will be demanding in their nature.

Events organized in Paris are governmental in their form. This will be another year that we organize the April 24 events in collaboration with the French government, in which representatives of the government participate. The theme is March for justice. We want to display that nothing ends with the centennial. We have our demands and Turkey must recognize the Armenian Genocide. We did hard work during the previous years to gain the trust of the government. The Armenian community has established firm ties with President Francois Hollande, Murad Papazian said.

Not only the Armenian community, but also the Turkish one vigorously works in France. Murad Papazian stated that political competition exists between the Armenian and Turkish communities. In his words, ever since Hollande became the President of France, Turkey aims to spoil the relations between the President and the Armenian community.

Turkey wishes to create an impression that Francois Hollande has betrayed the Armenians, but the contrary happened. Francois Hollande stood by the Armenian community. When he went to Turkey, he raised the issue of Armenian Genocide recognition, and arrived in Armenia in the sidelines of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. He also tries to put the emphasis on further development of relations with Armenia. We insisted on France to level up its influence in OSCE Minsk Group. France made proposals and is the advocate of peaceful conflict settlement, Murad Papazian added.

He mentioned that the Armenian community is strong in its positions in the political competition with the Turkish community. In his words, Turkey has acknowledged that the Armenian community is a serious player and now they invest huge resources together with Azerbaijan to wage anti-Armenian campaign.

Referring to the process of elaboration of the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide by France, Murad Papazian mentioned that Armenians have the support of the French President in this regard.

We face a legal issue regarding freedom of speech and as we know, during the trial of Perincek the emphasis was put precisely on that factor. Now we must do so that the bill is based on firm legal grounds. We are in touch with Jean-Paul Costa who is engaged in issues of the elaboration of the bill. Probably, the bill will be ready by mid-April. But we have another problem here. Turkey has raised its importance for the EU in the context of the migrant crisis and it can have its impact on our goals. Maybe there will be attempts to suspend the process, but we follow the developments, Murad Papazian said.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received foreign minister of the Republic of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan on March 23

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of NKR President, several issues related to foreign policy and cooperation of the two Armenian states were discussed during the meeting.

Artsakh Republic foreign minister Karen Mirzoyan partook at the meeting.
As a part of our commitment to serving communities in South Carolina, Joye Law Firm is honored to have the opportunity to help promising students further their educations.

CHARLESTON, SC, March 23, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Now in its 10th year, Joye Law Firm's scholarship program is seeking applications and creative projects from high school seniors across South Carolina, giving students the opportunity to win $2,000 scholarships to assist with college education expenses, the firm announced today.



"As a part of our commitment to serving communities in South Carolina, Joye Law Firm is honored to have the opportunity to help promising students further their educations," said Joye Law Firm's Managing Partner Ken Harrell. "Each year, we are amazed by the students' qualifications and by the thought and creativity they invest in our scholarship competition. We are certain this year will be no different.



To enter the scholarship competition, applicants must develop a "creative entry" that addresses the dangers of distracted driving and/or drunk driving. The entries can take one of many forms - an essay, a poem, a painting, a poster, a video, an audio recording, a web page or another form of create expression. "The more creative, the better," the firm states.



Applicants must also provide a high school transcript and must plan to attend a four-year institution of higher learning in the fall. The deadline for entries is April 1, and winners will be announced no later than June 1.



Judges will select scholarship winners based on criteria such as the quality of the creative entry, as well as the student's school activities, positions of leadership, special honors and awards, community involvement, academic performance, and professional pursuits.



More details about the scholarship program and how to enter are available on Joye Law Firm's website.



Leading by Example



To recognize the importance of giving back to the community, Joye Law Firm established Joye in the Community -- a year-round program that encompasses the firm's community and service efforts. The initiative is designed to enrich the lives of everyone involved in the program and raise awareness about the needs of those in the Clinton, Charleston, Columbia and Myrtle Beach areas. Visit www.joyeinthecommunity.com to learn more.



About Joye Law Firm



Joye Law Firm has been providing legal services to the people of South Carolina since 1968. The firm of accomplished South Carolina injury and disability attorneys offers more than 130 years of combined litigation experience. Visit www.joyelawfirm.com to learn more.



# # #
Education plays a crucial role in preparing young people to thrive in their careers and become responsible citizens.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, March 23, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Indiana personal injury attorneys of Sevenish Law Firm, P.C., has announced that the firm will award a combined total of $2,500 in college scholarships to the three applicants who submit the best essays dealing with the serious problem of school shootings.



"Education plays a crucial role in preparing young people to thrive in their careers and become responsible citizens," said attorney Randall Sevenish, founder of the firm and retired Captain / SWAT Team Commander with the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Indianapolis and martial arts expert, placing such a subject near and dear to his heart. "We are pleased that we can help some students reach their goals through our scholarship program, while also encouraging students to think critically about the issue of mass shootings in schools whether in a prevention phase usually associated with a fellow-classmate versus the more violent and callous active shooter scenario, whether by the deranged or of an extremist mentality."



The scholarship program is open to U.S. citizens who are permanent residents of Indiana and are currently in college in Indiana, or are on track to receive a high school diploma or GED within nine months and are planning to go to college in Indiana.



Applicants must submit an original essay that is at least 600 words long on school shooting safety, addressing points such as:



- What should you do if an active shooter is in the school? What steps can students take to avoid becoming a casualty in a school shooting incident? How can students prepare for a potential school shooting incident?



and/or



- What can students, our schools and our society do to prevent school shootings before they happen? How can we identify individuals who may be likely to commit acts of mass violence and get them help before they carry out an attack?



The first-place winner will receive a $1,250 scholarship, a $750 scholarship will go to the second-place winner, and the third-place winner will receive a $500 scholarship.



The deadline for entries is April 15, and winners will be announced May 2. For more details about the scholarship program and how to enter, go to the firm's website.



About Sevenish Law Firm, P.C.



Founded in 1985 by attorney Randall Sevenish, the Sevenish Law Firm, P.C., provides experienced and aggressive legal representation to victims of serious personal injuries in Indiana. The firm's office is located at 101 West Ohio Street, Suite 1540, Indianapolis, IN 46204. For more information, call the firm at (317) 636-7777 or fill out the online contact form.



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Mar 23, 2016 | By Tess

Earlier today, 3D printing filament companies 3D-Fuel LLC, 3Dom USA, and 3Dom Europe LLC announced that they were joining up to become one large company under the name 3DomFuel. The recently formed conglomerate is hoping to pool the research and development of the separate companies to form a larger, more productive, and internationally present 3D printing filament manufacturer.

3DomFuel will continue to offer the high quality 3D printing filaments of both 3Dom USA and 3Dom Europe, as well as 3D-Fuels most popular Advanced PLA products. From here on out, the company will develop and manufacture its new products under the trademark 3D-Fuel.

The merger, as stated in the joint press release, was a seamless one, as the involved parties share the same business ethos of manufacturing high quality, sustainable, and highly functional 3D printing materials. With their combined resources, the new company is hoping to be a global force in the FDM 3D printing filament industry.

Matthew Stegall, CEO of 3D-Fuel says of the new company, We are very excited about 3DomFuel and what this means to our loyal customer base. Our new manufacturing capabilities will result in even higher quality than what has been available to the 3D Printing market. Being 100% centered on the FDM 3D printing market means we concentrate solely on what is important to all creators, from manufacturers to enthusiasts. This, combined with our expanded infrastructure, will give 3DomFuel the ability to rapidly provide unique, sustainable, and highly functional materials to the global industry.

Currently, the newly formed companys products include Advanced PLA, Premium PLA, Wound Up, a 3D printing filament made from used coffee beans, Buzzed, a 3D filament made from organic beer brewing byproducts, Entwined, a hemp based filament, Glass Filled PLA, Biome3D a bio-based filament, and Dyna-Purge 3D Clean, a non-abrasive cleaning filament. The company is also working on developing new FDM 3D printing materials which it will reportedly release into the market in the coming months.

Jake Clark, CEO of North Dakota-based 3Dom USA, which developed Wound up, Buzzed, Entwined, and Glass Filled PLA, says, We have a strong focus on utilizing waste materials and by-products from manufacturing processes to develop new materials that provide unique properties to the 3D Printing Industry. Under the new company, we will have increased production and R&D capacity, enabling 3DomFuel to increase quality and material options even further.

Ciaran McMenamin, CEO of 3Dom Europe which is headquartered in Ireland, adds, We are pleased to join forces with 3DomFuel, allowing us to combine our strengths in facilitating the development and commercialization of innovative functional printing filaments.

As 3DomFuel is being formed, we at 3Ders are excited to see what types of innovative new products the newly formed conglomerate company will issue. We will be sure to stay tuned for any additional information regarding the new company, its leadership, and its 3D printing products.

Posted in 3D Printing Materials

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Mar 22, 2016 | By Kira

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOE) is leading an initiative to produce aerodynamic rotor blades using 3D printed molds. This National Rotor Testbed (NRT) wind turbine blade, whose aerodynamic design has just been completed, will be used to help researchers better understand how wind turbines in close proximity to each other may influence one another (known as wake aerodynamics), and how they can be optimized to improve energy-producing efficiency.

At the same time, the additive manufactured molds will demonstrate that, thanks to 3D printing technology, it is possible to reduce the time and costs associated with manufacturing wind turbinesand thus the costs associated with wind energy more generally.

The wind industry in the United States is a major economic force, employing 73,000 people nationwide and expected to attract $35 billion in investment over the next five years. Finding faster and more cost-effective ways to manufacture wind turbines, as well as researching how to better harness the power of the wind, is therefore critical, and 3D printing technology has the potential to address both.

One major area in need of research is that of wake aerodynamics. Many wind turbines located in close proximity, such as on a wind farm, can negatively affect each others efficiency. But at the same time, the only way to manufacture wind energy on a large scale is to have many wind turbines working together.

To understand how this can be solved, the DOE, in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TPI Composites, and Wetzel Engineering, will oversee the manufacturing of scaled-down turbine blades using 3D printed molds. This initiative is part of the DOEs $1 million investment into 3D printing research to develop cheaper wind turbine blades.

The blades, measuring approximately 13 meters in length, will be tested at the DOEs Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) facility in Texas to help researchers better understand how turbines in close proximity can have an effect on each others efficiency.

3D printing the blade molds is also a major step forward in reducing the time and costs associated with manufacturing wind turbines. Current processes for manufacturing rotor bladeswhich can average over 150 feet and must be strong enough to withstand great loadsis energy, cost, and time-consuming.

First, a plug is manufactured and used to create a mold, which in turn is used to fabricate the fiberglass blades. However, the first step could be entirely eliminated by applying 3D printing directly to the mold process, reducing manufacturing costs and giving researchers the time and freedom to experiment with new capabilities and improve design flexibility.

With the NRT rotor blades aerodynamic design complete, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which previously 3D printed a clean-energy house and car system, has been put in charge of using the Cincinnati Inc. Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) machine to develop a 3D printed mold, incorporating features and capabilities not available through other methods. Blade manufacturer TPI Composites designed the molds, with Sandia consulting and Weztel Engineering providing crucial insight to the aerodynamic design. Manufacturing is set to be completed in summer 2016, followed by structural testing and flight testing, which will take place in 2017.

Though the current research is targeted at simplifying the manufacture of turbine blades, it could also help demonstrate that other wind turbine components could benefit from 3D printing as well, potentially bringing wind energy costs even lower. The DOE has stated that its coat is to reduce the cost of wind power to support development that could provide up to 20 percent of the nations energy from wind by 2030.

This is a particularly exciting time for wind energy, as Sandia and U.S. DOE are also involved in a project to manufacture enormous wind turbine blades for offshore energy productionthat is, blades measuring up to 656 feet, or about 100 feet taller than the Empire State Building. Though theres word yet on whether these giant exascale wind turbines will be 3D printed, the sky is truly the limit.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Kenan Malik in Pandaemonium:

Solidarity and anger. Those were my immediate emotions. So I wrote last November after the Paris attacks: Solidarity with the people of Paris, anger at the depraved, nihilistic savagery of the terrorists. My emotions are much the same after the savage attacks in Brussels this week. But, beyond solidarity and anger,, I observed in November, we need also analysis. I have written much over the past few years about why conventional views about radicalization and the making of European jihadis are wrong. So here, some of the main themes of my articles on jihadism.

Terrorists often claim a political motive for their attacks. Commentators often try to rationalize such acts, suggesting that they are the inevitable result of a sense of injustice created by Western foreign policy or by anti-Muslim attitudes in the West. Yet most attacks have been not on political targets, but on cafes or trains or mosques. Such attacks are not about making a political point, or achieving a political goal  as were, for instance, IRA bombings in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s  but are expressions of nihilistic savagery, the aim of which is solely to create fear. This is not terrorism with a political aim, but terror as an end in itself.

More here.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The assets of the pension fund of Armenia were estimated at 35.5 billion AMD by February, 2016. 16.5 billion AMD of the assets was allocated by the participants, and the government co-funded exactly the same amount, 16.5 billion. 2.5 billion AMD is the income. The number of participants in the new pension system is currently 14 thousand, 65-70 thousand out of which are public sector representatives. The rest are private sector employees. Armenpress reports Central Bank official Karen Hakobyan told about this in a press conference initiated by the Economic Journalists Club.

In his words, the number of workers born after 1974 is 300 thousand, which means that nearly 50% percent is involved in the system. Karen Hakobyan added that 3-4 thousand people join the system every month. They are manly those who join the labor market for the first time.

He informed that the annual profitability of the funds is 7% and 66% of the assets are invested in Armenian drams. He added that the assets are mainly invested in bank deposits, government bonds, bonds issued by corporations, as well as shares of world famous companies such as Apple, Google, Nestle, Toyota, Nisan, Sony, Coca Cola and others.
Ian Buruma in The New York Review of Books:

Brussels has frequently had a bad press. Already in the 1860s, Baudelaire, who fled there from the French censors, called the Belgian capital a ghost town, a mummy of a town, it smells of death, the Middle Ages, and tombs. To a growing number of Europeans, Brussels is a byword for bureaucratic bullying by the so-called Eurocrats. Donald Trump called Brussels a hellhole. Perhaps he was thinking, if that is the right word, of Molenbeek. Densely populated by immigrants, mostly from North Africa, this district has become a symbol of seething European jihadism. Last years mass murders in Paris were apparently plotted there; the number of young men and women (around a hundred) who have left Molenbeek to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq is relatively high.

Still, much of the negative reputation of Brussels is undeserved and overblown. Brussels is not a dangerous citynot even Molenbeek, which is shabby, sullen (unemployment 30 percent), socially cut off, but not especially menacing. Many non-Muslim hipsters live there as well. Parts of Brussels are actually quite beautiful. The city has many fine examples of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, as well as the more famous sixteenth- and seventeenth-century gold-gabled buildings on the magnificent Grand Place. But Brussels is indeed rather chaotic, a political mess of nineteen different municipal districts, each with its own public authorities competing for funds, with an uncoordinated police force prone to conspicuous failures, and different political parties, linked to different language groups, operating their own more or less corrupt systems of patronage. Brussels, which has its own government, is mostly Francophone, but it is also the capital of Dutch-speaking Flanders and the capital of the European Union, whose own Quartier Europeen is almost like a separate city within the city.

More here. (Note: Thanks to Asad Raza)
Christopher Bollen in Interview:

Once, when I was feeling disenchanted with contemporary fiction and complaining that no one ever writes great books set in exciting foreign locales anymore, a friend suggested Lawrence Osborne. I can't remember who that friend is, but I owe her tremendous thanks. I dove headfirst into Osborne's 2012 Moroccan novel The Forgiven and was blown away not only by the jarring, mysterious story of careless Western vacationers caught in circumstances from which that they can't buy or talk their way free, but also by Osborne's wizardry with descriptions. He is almost unrivaled among living novelists in his ability to reanimate weather and nature-transforming sunsets, deserts, parties, and even the hands of locals into rare and ferocious marvels. Osborne's novels are full atmospheres, they continue to engulf as you read, and the worlds he creates never feel like creaking painted backdrops rolled out to separate scenes. He's often compared to Graham Greene, but I find him holding his own with Patricia Highsmiththe morality of his books are more ominous and shifting.

His latest novel, Hunters in the Dark (Hogarth), which arrived in the U.S. earlier this year, concerns a young British traveler who journeys over the boarder from Thailand into Cambodia. Flush with a win at a casino, Robert Grieve quickly falls into the passing hands of a wily American ex-pat, corrupt police officers, a beautiful young Cambodian student, and an opportunity to strip himself of his own past. It isn't so much a simple game of cat-and-mouse, as a ruthless and gorgeous chessboard. The dark history and deep humidity of Cambodia practically warps the pages.

More here.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. In the presence of Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan on March 23 the intergovernmental agreement on Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the Republic of Armenia and the State of Kuwait was signed in the Government. The document was signed by Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan and Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of Kuwait Yaqoub Al-Sanea. "Armenpress" was informed by the Information and Public Relations Department of the Government.

The Prime Minister welcomed and stressed the importance of signing the agreement, noting that in addition to the political, economic, cultural and other fields, the regulation of the legal field is also important. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the mutual visits of experts and exchange of experience in the legal field will strengthen the friendly cooperation between Armenia and Kuwait, as well as contribute to the development of relations in various fields.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian National Committee of Europe does not confirm missing of Armenian young man after explosions in Brussels. Communication director of Armenian National Committee of Europe Bedo Demirjian clarified the incident making a note on his Facebook page, mentioning that the hot line of the Armenian Embassy (+32.2.3484406) had received alarm call about the missing of two persons, who were later found. And the information about the missing of an Armenian young man after the explosions is probably part of that same information. We ask the Armenian community in Brussels to inform us in case they possess any information, Armenpress reports Demirjian wrote.

Two explosions rocked Brussels airport on March 22. Another explosion took place at the Maalbek subway station in Brussels, following the airport blasts. According to fresh data, 31 people died and almost 250 were wounded in the airport attacks.

The Brussels airport administration urged to stay away from the airport after the two explosions occurred. The airport management wrote on Twitter: "Two terrorist attacks happened at the airport. People are being evacuated from the building. Stay away from the airport area. Flights are canceled, "the statement reads.

BBC stresses the fact that the Brussels airport incident is followed by the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect of the Paris attacks. According to Belgian media, the airport is closed for flights. There are reports on social media that people fleeing in panic from the scene.

Islamic state organization has claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks.

Armenian Embassy in Belgium tries to find out if there are Armenians among the victims or injured.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. A Turkish gold trader at the centre of a corruption scandal that engulfed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been arrested in Miami and charged with laundering millions of dollars, Armenpress reports, citing The Independent.

Reza Zarrab, also known by the name Riza Sarraf, was accused in 2013 of bribing senior ministers from Turkeys ruling party with cash and lavish gifts as part of a scheme to bypass US sanctions on Iran.

On Saturday, the 33-year-old was arrested while on holiday in Florida with his wife and daughter. The arrest was made public late on Monday night when US prosecutors unsealed an indictment that charged him with fraud, money-laundering and sanctions-busting.

The arrest threatens to reopen a case that reached right into Mr Erdogans inner circle and to tarnish the party that he founded. It will also deepen existing tensions between Turkey and the United States. The US attorney in charge of prosecuting the case, Preet Bharara, became an overnight sensation after tweeting that Mr Zarrab would soon face American justice in a Manhattan courtroom.

Mr Bharara was bombarded with messages of support from Turkey, where opponents of the government have increasingly turned to social media in the face of a crackdown on critical news outlets. Mr Zarrab, an Iranian-born Turkish citizen, was detained and charged in Istanbul in 2013 in a huge corruption case that posed the biggest challenge to Mr Erdogan, the man who has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade as Prime Minister and then as President.

The allegations centred on a claim that Mr Zarrab was using a loophole in US sanctions on Iran to buy oil and gas in exchange for gold. The businessman, who owns a private jet and is married to a Turkish pop star, was accused of bribing senior ministers in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in order to facilitate the transfers.

The allegations exploded into the public domain in December 2013 with a string of high-profile arrests. Three cabinet ministers resigned after their sons were implicated. Mr Erdogan decried the investigation as an attempt to overthrow his government by supporters of his ally-turned-enemy, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. He ordered a huge purge of police, prosecutors and judges. All charges against Mr Zarrab and those linked to the government were dropped. Mr Erdogan later described the businessman as a philanthropist whose work had contributed to the country.

Lawyers for Mr Zarrab said that the US investigation had absolutely no link with the 2013 scandal. Mr Zarrab has not yet entered a plea. His lawyer told the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet that the latest accusations against him can all be explained. He is next due in court at the start of April.

The indictment accuses Mr Zarrab of using a global web of firms to hide the fact he was conducting transitions for or on behalf of Iranian entities.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Galust Sahakyan sent a condolence message on the demise of Gegham Grigoryan. As Armenpress was informed from the Public Relations and Media Department of the National Assembly, the condolence message reads,

I learnt with deep pain about the untimely death of the Peoples Artist of Armenia, Artistic Director of Al. Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Academic Theatre Gegham Grigoryan.

Gegham Grigoryan was genuinely one of the brilliant figures of the Armenian and world opera art, whose voice sounded on the most famous stages of the world, who was highly appreciated by the most rigorous specialists, whose singing was always enjoyed the multi-lingual audience.

He was our vocal visit card of culture abroad. He will remain in the memory of those knowing him, his art fans and in the history of the Armenian opera.

I sincerely express my sympathy with Gegham Grigoryans family, close relatives and art lovers and share their grief.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Najim Laachraoui, one of the suspects in Tuesday's Brussels bombings, has been arrested in the Belgian capital, Armenpress reports, citing TASS, La Derniere Heure daily said on Wednesday.

The newspaper said the suspect was arrested in the city's Anderlecht district.

L'Echo, a Belgian business newspaper, later reported that police confirmed Laachraouis arrest.

At least 31 people were killed and over 260 injured in the explosions that rocked Brussels airport and metro station on Tuesday morning.
ACAs library of educational tools help members improve their business practices. ACA also holds the most popular industry conferences and offers credentialing for collectors, attorneys, and more. ACAs Training Zone subscription gives agencies access to almost all of our education for one low cost.
IMGCAP(1)]As the founder of a consulting firm that provides cloud-based accounting software and business-process-as-a-service outsourced accounting in the cloud, Ive gotten a first-hand look at the adoption of cloud software in finance and accounting.

Our business was spun out of a midsized CPA firm in Houston, and because of that citys importance in the energy sector, it was natural that energy companies were the first prospects for our solutions and services. In trying to make the case for our services, we found that while a small percentage of prospects in Houston were willing to consider moving their financial data to the cloud, a much smaller number were willing to entertain outsourcing their entire finance and accounting function.

This meant two things for our business. First, we realized that simply selling and implementing the software was a natural first step until the middle market comes around to the benefits of outsourcing. Second, we learned that Houston isnt exactly the bleeding edge for technology adoption and we might need to spread our wings a bit and look to the country as a wholeor at least look west down Highway 290 to Austin. The technological differences between these two cities just a short distance apart (by Texas standards anyway), might tell the whole story of cloud adoption from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Houston is at heart an oil and gas town, and oil and gas companies are run by an old guard. The industry has been one of booms and busts, which over the decades have created gaps in the workforce. When a bust lasts long enough and enough people are laid off, the knowledge from the last boom isnt handed down organically to the next generation. Instead of having a wide range of ages, where the younger workers are taking what theyve learned and looking to innovate, you have the elders and a very green crop of inexperienced workers, along with the frustrations and inefficiencies that this situation fosters.

Add in the fact that oil and gas companies are often run by the classic good old boy networks of businessmen whose ties go back for many decades, and weve found that the lack of innovation and aversion to risk is especially apparent in how energy companies tend to run their back offices. The bottom line is that the CFO of an oilfield services or midstream oil and gas company is probably not too interested in a fundamentally new way of running the business. As with everything, there are of course exceptions.

Austin, on the other hand, had no industry to speak of, aside from state government and the University of Texas, so the city government has cultivated multiple tech booms since the 1980s. In the last ten years, the city has transformed at a lightning pace and has become technologically at least on par with San Jose, Raleigh-Durham, Boston and other tech hubs. This reputation has led to the somewhat inelegant nickname, Silicon Gulch. When we have a conversation with a software company CFO in Austin, we dont even have to talk about the benefits of the cloud and SaaS, or allay any fears about security and data integrity. Theyre already past that and want to talk about functionality.

This means that sales and marketing cloud accounting software and services from Houston to Austin requires a forward shift in talking points. In Houston, we have to explain the benefits of multi-tenancy, the total cost of ownership differences between SaaS and on-premises software, and the myths about data security when running ones own servers. In Austin, many of these companies are or were start-ups: everything they do is in the cloud, and more often than not, whatever they make and sell is in the cloud.

So while Geoffrey Moores Chasm between early adopters and the late majority doesnt quite describe the gap between these two cities, driving down Highway 290 can feel like moving between two different worlds, both technologically and culturally. Its interesting how those two seem to go hand-in-hand. We couldnt have picked a better place to understand the full picture of cloud adoption.

Marcus Wagner is founder and CEO of AcctTwo, a consulting firm and provider of cloud-based financial management solutions for challenges unique to oilfield/environmental/industrial services, midstream oil and gas companies, faith-based organizations and software companies. Click here to connect with Marcus.
IMGCAP(1)]Todays college students were born into the Information Age, and simply cannot imagine a world without technology. During my decade-long experience teaching graduate courses, students are increasingly cognizant of using technology to help them find answers quickly and replace manual tasks.

The younger generation of tech-savvy professionals is eager to apply technology to glean more from data and deliver deeper insights, if given the opportunity. As an educator, we cater to our students intrinsic use of technology by incorporating data analytics into the curriculum.

The Utica College masters program requires a minimum of five years of professional experience, so many of our students are employed full time while working toward their masters degree. Graduate students who are actively working as auditors or investigators quickly grasp the concept of using data analytics in their work. They immediately latch on to its ability to gather and analyze large amounts of information, and see its value in helping them make more informed business decisions.

Unfortunately, their enthusiasm turns to discouragement when they approach management about using purpose-built data analytics tools. The objections are common across all industries. Educating management often falls on young professionals who make some valid points, if given the opportunity to be heard.

Cant you just use Microsoft Excel? Thats what weve used for years and it works just fine, right?!?!

Excel often becomes the default analytics tool due to convenience and familiarity, but is not advantageous when conducting a thorough, professional investigation for these reasons:

Capacity: Excels record, row, column and worksheet limitations prohibit users from analyzing the complete data population, at least in one pass.

Functionality: When analyzing data to identify patterns, correlations and potential fraud, purpose-built data analytics tools offer functionality capabilities that speed up complex analysis.

Acquisition: Bringing data in from multiple data sources and systems into Excel is challenging and tedious. It requires significant data clean-up to prepare it for analysis.

Integrity: Data values can easily be altered by mistake or deliberately. Formula errors, duplication and security are also top concerns when providing assurance to the client or stakeholders.

Complexity: Testing and automating repeatable tasks require advanced programming skills.

While Excel and Access are loaded on just about every computer, they are not adequate for most complex data analytics work. Sophisticated data analysis technology should be a staple in every auditors and investigators toolbox. It allows you to bring in virtually limitless amounts of data from different sources into a single tool for analysis. Once imported, data cannot be altered and audit trails record every activity, which provides assurance in the findings being presented.

Learning how to use a new software program takes too long, and I dont want you wasting time figuring out how to use it.

While data analytics tools have been around for about 25 years, they have evolved significantly with each new release. In fact, many now offer point-and-click capabilities and all offer free how-to videos, technical support and help resources embedded within the software.

The academic community is actively working to give accounting, auditing, finance and forensic students experience using data analytics tools prior to entering the workforce. It typically takes two weeks or less to grasp the basics of using a purpose-built data analytics tool. Graduate students who have been analyzing data manually are surprised at how much faster it is to complete the same task using an analytics tool.

One Utica College graduate student, Larry Bateman, was first introduced to data analytics technology more than 27 years into his career. Bateman has worked as a special agent and financial investigator for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and currently works as a financial crimes consultant.

"I have used Excel and other Microsoft Office applications extensively in my work, but after seeing [data analysis tool] CaseWare IDEA, I realized how valuable it would have been for financial investigations," said Bateman.

Most data analytics tools are simple and intuitive. They simplify using equations, custom functions and scripts to dig through large data sets in search of anomalies, and easily automate repeatable tasks. The time savings is well proven. Furthermore, not everyone has to learn data analytics techniques. Students and younger professionals, who tend to pick up the techniques early, and are in an ideal position to share their knowledge with others in the organization. Some organizations take this a step further by designating super users who attend hands-on training and other educational opportunities to help guide others in their use of data analytics.

"Our auditors can now do in minutes what it took hours and hours and hours in Excel," said a senior director of internal audit. "They can get more value-added work done with fewer resources. Data analytics tools can quickly process five to six years of data, a tremendous amount, and summarize it into quarters by vendor."

My advice to clients learning data analytics is to use data from an audit or investigation they are working on to help learn the ins and outs of the data analysis software. This work-study process promotes learning to use the tool while working on data for an engagement so no time is lost.

Its about working smarter by spending less time on manual tasks, which enables staff to focus on more value-add work. Technology helps professionals make intelligent judgments about which documents to inspect, and gives them greater coverage of all available data by processing 100 percent of the data population. Without it, management is missing an opportunity to be more efficient.

Author Anthony Cecil has taught accounting, audit and finance students attending Utica College for the past decade. He is an experienced consultant, author and mentor. Cecil is an active member of the IDEA Academic Partnership, which provides technology and resources to students at no cost to help them develop critical thinking skills and data analytics techniques through hands-on instruction.
IMGCAP(1)]Selling products online (e-tailing) is a potential goldmine of opportunity, and technology has made it easier than ever via dynamic software platforms, intelligent fulfillment solutions, and ubiquitous mobile devices. The ease of entry into the virtual marketplace, however, does not limit the potential sales tax compliance obligations of your e-tailing clients. In fact, many states are specifically targeting e-tailers as states seek to grow their own sales tax collections.

The Shopping Cart

Before we talk about sales taxes, lets first admit that in 2016, e-tailing operations of all sizes have access to some incredible, affordable and flexible automation tools, especially the core software basis for a web-based presence: the virtual shopping cart. There are several shopping cart software solutions available; choosing the right one can solve many key business challenges for both e-tailing-focused firms and for businesses at the beginning of their e-tailing journey.

The shopping cart software your client chooses should support how to address customer acquisition, customer management, catalog management, customer communication and business systems. Each core business function or task should integrate with key departments within an organization by manually providing required information, or allowing integration and automation with business systems.

When it comes time for helping your clients choose a shopping cart, make sure the IT department is involved to ease integration and flow of information; make sure the marketing department is involved to ensure consistency and integration with existing marketing methods and channels; and ultimately make sure the shopping cart integrates with all business functions. Believe me, exploring all these possible elements during the choosing stage can save some major headaches down the road in the implementation stage.

Sales Tax Compliance

One critical element to consider at the outset is the ability of a shopping cart solution to conquer an important business obligation for any e-tailer: how to accurately calculate, collect, file and remit sales taxes. In the United States, there are more than 12,000 unique taxing jurisdictions, many of which apply their own sales tax rates or rules about what is or is not taxable, and even require unique forms and filing conventions.

If your clients happen to run a business with only one physical storefront, who only make sales across their counter, and who never, ever, ever make sales in other locations  then collecting sales tax can be relatively straightforward: they charge their customers the sales tax rate required by the jurisdiction where their business is located, and they file only with their local or state government.

However, whether your clients are ruling the e-tailing world through sheer web dominance, or they are an established brick-and-mortar just dipping their toe into the e-tailing pond, sales tax obligations and complexity are compounded when sales are made across a broader geographic area.

Once your clients have established the obligation to collect sales taxes on sales they are making (we can cover nexus on another day), having a proper automated solution mated to a shopping cart can be transformational. Here is a brief run-down of some sales tax compliance challenges that can be met effectively with the right automated solution:

Taxability of the Objects Sold

It probably goes without saying, but among those 12,000 jurisdictions, there is a great deal of variance as to how particular goods and services are treated for sales tax purposes. Most state and local sales tax regimes started life based on a fairly simple proposition: sales of tangible items are taxable. However, almost from the very first day, politicians and regulators have tinkered with that basic starting point. Exemptions, exclusions, deductions and other specific rules that apply to the things your clients are selling can be captured and maintained via an automated sales tax solution.

The management of the exemption certificates you receive from your customers is another critical compliance obligation. An automated transaction tax solution can help manage these certificates, reducing risk by ensuring that certificates are accurate, complete and applicable to the purchases a customer is making.

Applicable Rates

When it comes to rates, what I said about what is or is not taxable applies here too: there is a lot of policy and political influence on rates. The ability of policy makers to alter sales tax compliance obligations is boundless. Rates constantly change based on the policies, politics and relative revenue concerns of sales tax jurisdictions. In addition, there are scores of special rates applicable to specific goods or services, specific customers, specific sellers and even specific transaction types. Capturing these shifting rates and more importantly, their timely maintenance, is a major advantage of an automated sales tax software solution.

Perhaps even more critical to keeping rates straight is the proper determination of geographic location of your sales. As technology has improved in the way of geographic information systems (GIS) available to vendors to determine proper tax jurisdictions, the same data has become available to auditors and regulators. One result is that zip-code based locating solutions are no longer up to the task of accuracy. An automated sales tax solution properly integrated with a functioning shopping cart can eliminate the geographic locating challenge by using proprietary GIS systems to get the specific location of your sales right.

Note: It is essential to ensure your clients implement an online shopping cart solution that calculates in real-time, showing the buyer precisely how much sales tax will be collected, and the resulting all-in price. This capability is now the industry standard; anything less is an invitation for abandoned shopping carts.

Getting it on a Form

Once youve got your rules and rates working, proper reporting and record-keeping are the last hurdle. A properly set-up and integrated sales tax solution can take a lot of the pain out of regular sales tax reporting. From a fully automated filing and remittance solution, to the production of useful reports to support manual reportingno matter the level of filing automation your client prefersgetting the shopping cart/sales tax solution working together is critical for success.

The Future

The trend for the last few decades has been for states to recognize the growth of e-tailing and respond by expanding the number of vendors obligated to collect and remit their sales taxes. While all these efforts are cabined by some powerful U.S. Supreme Court cases, those decisions have not prevented the states from pursuing occasionally elegant, sometimes sublime, and usually successful workarounds to incrementally increase the number of sellers caught in the sales tax net.

From click-through nexus laws that focus on web-based advertising, to strong rules that look at business affiliations, to mandatory reporting of use tax obligations, the states are working hard to expand current nexus limitations. The overall result is an environment where states are actively searching for new revenue game.

Finally, remember that one big reason your clients are e-tailing is the ability of their web-based storefronts to reach customers across all borders. An automated sales tax solution in concert with a functional shopping cart can make your clients forays into foreign markets seamless. EU, South American, Asian and even Aussie and Canadian VAT regimes present similar challenges as the U.S. sales tax system (rules, rates and boundaries, filing and remittance), each of which can be met by the best automated transactional tax solutions.

A shopping cart does more than sell products and services quickly and securely. It is also the best place to solve the challenges of sales and transaction tax compliance. For e-tailers, it is imperative they find a shopping cart solution that integrates tax calculation and address verification, applies accurate rules and rates, manages exemption certificates, gets info on the forms and gets them filed on time, and provides a consistent, repeatable transaction tax compliance result for years to come.

Marshal Kushniruk is executive vice president of global business development at Avalara, a provider of cloud-based software delivering compliance solutions related to sales tax, VAT and other transactional taxes. Contact him at marshal.kushniruk@avalara.com.
The American Institute of CPAs has written to the Internal Revenue Service recommending some changes in the IRSs proposed regulations for country-by-country reporting by multinational corporations of financial information to curb tax avoidance.

The proposed regulations were issued last December as part of an effort by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational corporations. The U.S. Treasury Department has worked with the OECD and the Group of 20 nations on those efforts, which also included the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, or BEPS, action plan. The proposed regulations would require annual country-by-country reporting by U.S. businesses that are the ultimate parent entity of a multinational enterprise, or MNE group, and have annual revenue for the previous annual accounting period of $850 million or more.

In line with commitments the U.S. has made to its OECD and G20 partners, the IRS and the Treasury proposed the regulations. They would require the U.S. parent company of large, public and privately held multinational companies to provide certain financial data to the IRS on a country-by-country basis. The information is meant to provide tax authorities with better tools to identify where a company might be artificially shifting taxable profits into tax havensa red flag for tax avoidance warranting further investigation.

The AICPA made a number of recommendations in its March 21 letter, including allowing a voluntary opt-in for calendar year 2016 reporting and a robust National Security Exception for the information required to be reported. In addition, the AICPA requested clarification Monday on several issues.

The AICPAs six recommendations are:

1. Allow U.S. MNE groups to elect on a voluntary basis to apply the proposed regulations for tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2016 and before the effective date of the final regulations

2. Clarify that a U.S. MNE groups reporting is based solely upon its own annual accounting period and is not contingent on the timing of the annual accounting periods of its foreign constituent entities;

3. Clarify the classification of certain assets as tangible, intangible or cash equivalents;

4. Clarify issues related to the reporting of the number of full-time equivalent employees for each tax jurisdiction included on Form XXXX, Country-by-Country report;

5. Confirm the status of U.S. possessions and territories and whether their treatment as foreign jurisdictions is correct; and

6. Allow a National Security Exception for information contained in the required Country-by-Country reports.

The letter provides a detailed discussion of each of the six recommendations.

Other groups are also weighing in with comments in time for the March 22 deadline for comments.

Global Financial Integrity (GFI), along with more than 100 other members of the Financial Transparency and Accountability (FACT) Coalition, submitted a letter Tuesday to the Treasury Department and the IRS urging them to maintain and strengthen a proposed rule on country-by-country reporting that would bring more transparency to how U.S.-based companies book profits and pay taxes in many of the countries in which they have subsidiaries. The groups believe the proposed rule could give the IRS and, potentially, foreign tax authorities, a window into how multinational companies may be manipulating the international tax system and avoiding taxation in the U.S. and other countries.

We are extremely pleased to see that the government is moving swiftly to implement this international commitment, but were concerned that Congress will be unable to access the data, which will really frustrate the intent of having this additional transparency, said Heather Lowe, legal counsel and director of government affairs for GFI, who organized FACTs letter. The IRS is treating the new form that large multinational companies will have to file as tax information, which means that it will be shielded from the public and even Congressional view by a high level of confidentiality. However the information captured on the form is simply a disaggregated version of information already publicly available for many companies on their SEC filings. Congress must be able to access this information to analyze it and propose the kind of tax reforms necessary to stop corporate tax dodging for good.

The FACT Coalitions comment letter also recommends that the reporting include a larger percentage of the corporate group than what has been proposed, and that the basic financial information required by the form be made publicly available.

Other recommendations include the addition of two new columns on the formone for offshore income on which the company is deferring taxes and another to capture the companys reserves for uncertain tax positions. These are important pieces of information that are unique to American corporate tax planning and would go a long way to helping the government understand how corporations may be engaging in aggressive profit-shifting.

GFI president Raymond Baker added, This rulemaking is an unprecedented opportunity to finally bring transparency to one of the most economically damaging practices that multinational companies engage in. The U.S. has lost billions in corporate tax revenue from this kind of activity, and developing countries lose even more. This proposed regulation is a start, but the government needs to make their international commitment to tax transparency real by publishing a stronger rule that puts the information in the hands of the people, or at least the people they have elected.
The Internal Revenue Service is offering up to $10,000 to the winner of a new competition to make its online tax information more understandable to taxpayers.

The IRS issued a notice Tuesday outlining the requirements and procedures for the Tax Design Challenge, a crowdsourcing competition with cash prizes that the IRS is hosting to begin reimagining the taxpayer experience of the future.

The goal, according to the IRS, is to develop new concepts for designing, organizing and presenting tax information in a way that makes it easier for taxpayers to understand their responsibilities and effectively use their own tax data.

The IRS noted that tax information is available to taxpayers across multiple IRS channels and contains a wealth of information. Many taxpayers, however, might not know where to find the information or how to use it, since the information often reads like a receipt and can be incomprehensible to those who are not financial professionals.

The Challenge asks: How might we design, organize, and present tax information in a way that makes it easier for taxpayers to manage their taxpayer responsibilities, and to use their own taxpayer data to make informed and effective decisions about their personal finances? This is an incredible opportunity for civic-minded technologists, designers, and innovative thinkers to improve and shape the user experience of one of the most visited government Web sites in the U.S., said the IRS.

The new designs should improve the visual layout and style of IRS information for the taxpayer, make it easier for taxpayers to manage their tax responsibilities, and enable taxpayers to make informed and effective decisions about their personal finances.

The IRS is encouraging entrants to consider end users in developing their designs. Our tax system includes people from many different socioeconomic backgrounds, with different needs and responsibilities, said the notice. The Challenge is an opportunity for talented individuals to touch the lives of Americans across the country through design. The most innovative designs will be showcased in an online gallery. Winning submissions will receive monetary prizes. The IRS enthusiastically supports crowdsourcing competitions, as they have proven to be cost-efficient vehicle for catalyzing innovation in government.

The first prize for Overall Design is $10,000 and second prize is $5,000. First prize for Best Taxpayer Usefulness is $2,000 and second prize if $1,000. For Best Financial Capability, first prize is $2,000, and second prize is $1,000.

However, the IRS cautioned the awards may be subject to federal income taxes and the IRS will comply with all tax withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable. The prizes will be funded by a co-sponsor, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and paid by the IRS.

For an entry to be eligible to win the Challenge, it must be an image or browser viewable file. Acceptable image formats include .PNG, .JPG, .GIF, .TIFF, and .PDF. The acceptable browser viewable format is .HTML.

The IRS is only requiring that the design of the taxpayer experience be submitted, but said it is not the responsibility of the entrant to build or code a working version of the design. However, the IRS noted the design must be ultimately implementable using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

The design must be built off the data fields found in a Tax Data Document that the IRS will post on www.taxdesignchallenge.com.

The challenge submission period begins on April 17 and runs until May 10, 2016, 11:59 a.m. ET.

The kickoff meeting for the Tax Design Challenge will take place at 1776, 1133 15th Street NW., Washington, DC 20005 on April 17, 2016, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Challenge submissions must be submitted electronically at www.taxdesignchallenge.com. Participants must register for the event. It is s open to the public but space is limited. Attendance is not required for participation in the Tax Design Challenge.

Participants can register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tax-design-challenge-kickoff-at-1776-tickets-23103120054. At this event, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the IRSs first crowdsourcing challenge from leaders at the IRS and the Treasury Department. They will also be able to engage with policy experts about financial capability challenges that could be addressed with an improved taxpayer experience. They can network in-person with some of the mentors from the challenge. They can also meet and team-up with other civic-minded technologists, designers, and innovative thinkers. The IRS noted that free beverages and snacks provided by the co-sponsor.
The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee is calling on the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury Department and the Justice Department to return funds wrongly seized from taxpayers during civil asset forfeitures.

Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., who chairs the subcommittee, and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee led all the members in sending a letter Wednesday to top officials, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch. They asked their agencies to review all IRS civil asset forfeiture cases and return money to victims where warranted.

The practice of civil asset forfeitures, which has becoming increasingly common at law enforcement agencies across the country, has also become a controversial topic. The IRS in particular has come under pressure to return funds wrongly seized from taxpayers in a series of high-profile cases (see Prosecutors Return $447,000 in IRS Civil Asset Forfeiture Case and Prosecutors Drop IRS Civil Forfeiture Case). In December 2014, former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich., introduced bipartisan legislation to protect taxpayers against inappropriate use of civil asset forfeitures by the IRS (see Congressmen Introduce Bill to Curb IRS Civil Asset Forfeitures).

In the letter, Roskam and Lewis explain that the agencies' actions have unfairly harmed American citizens and have undermined Americans trust in their government and call on the agencies to give all due consideration to all pending petitions, to remit funds as appropriate, and to establish a process to review all similarly-situated cases to determine if funds should be remitted.

Last month, their subcommittee held a hearing at which victims of these seizures testified about how the IRS had seized their money based on allegations that they were structuring their cash transactionsthat is, making transactions of under $10,000 to avoid banking law reporting requirements. The structuring statute is supposed to help the government identify and prosecute money-launderers, drug runners, and terrorists, but in a number of these cases, the IRS used it against small business owners whose funds came from legal sources. Since bringing those cases, the IRS has since announced a new policy of focusing on structuring cases involving other criminal acts.

Last August, the subcommittee called on the agencies to review all past cases in which the IRS had seized money from citizens and small businesses owners that came from legal sources and to return those funds if warranted. At a follow-up meeting last month, the agencies appeared not to have made any progress on this front. One week after that meeting, however, the IRS did return $150,000 to a North Carolina store owner.

Wednesdays letter follows up on last months meeting. In the letter, all members of the subcommittee expressed their concern about the application of the IRSs civil asset forfeiture authority and hope that the agencies find a way to demonstrate good faith in reviewing these cases and giving justice to these American citizens.

At that meeting, the lawmakers noted, IRS Criminal Investigation chief Richard Weber and DOJ Criminal Division chief of staff David Bitkauer told Roskam that the agencies were unsure they legally could review closed cases and that, even if they did have the legal authority to review the cases, the agencies may not have created or maintained a sufficient evidentiary record that would allow them to determine whether remitting funds would be justified. Moreover, they said, even if the agencies reviewed cases and determined that justice would require remitting the funds, there may be no money available to make the victims whole.

The subcommittee members said in the letter they are troubled by the agencies response. The agencies representatives at that meeting did not provide any legal reasoning for why such a review would be illegal, and they seemed unconcerned that the IRS and DOJs actions in these cases unfairly harmed American citizens and have undermined Americans trust in their government, they wrote. One week after that meeting, we were pleased to learn that the IRS decided to return more than $100,000 to one petitioner, Ken Quran. The other pending petitions of which we are aware, including the Sowers petition, are currently under the DOJs jurisdiction, because the property owners challenged the seizure of their funds in court. To date, we have heard of no action taken on those petitions.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia arrived in Stepanakert on March 23, where he was received by Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan. Armenpress was informed about this from the Department of Press, Information and Public Relations of MFA Armenia.

President Sahakyan and FM Nalbandian held a detailed conversation over the peaceful settlement process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, referred to efforts made by Armenia, Artsakh and OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs aimed at that goal.

The sides highlighted the active and coordinated works of the Foreign Ministries of the two Armenian states.

Afterwards, Edward Nalbandian visited NKR Foreign Ministry, where he met with Artsakh FM Karen Mirzoyan. The sides touched upon activation of cooperation between the two foreign ministries, regular consultations and partnership in education.

Edward Nalbandian met with the leadership of Artsakh Foreign Ministry and held a discussion over foreign policy priorities of Armenia and Artsakh.

On the same day, Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with the professors and students of Artsakh State University and answered their questions.

Responding to the latest announcements of Baku, Minister Nalbandian said, Azerbaijani leadership calls the Co-chairs provocateurs for the reason that they suggest creating mechanisms investigating the incidents. In fact, that criticism is addressed not only to the Co-chairs, but also the states that chair the OSCE now or chaired in the past, the UN, the European Union, and all the countries and institutions that advocated and advocate those proposals.

Azerbaijan does not try to dismiss the facts that it stands behind the ceasefire violation cases and escalation of the situation. It even boasts about that. Put aside whether Baku really thinks that such behavior is worth boasting or it is just a propaganda tactic, but we have to document once more that Azerbaijans leadership has lost sense of reality. And this refers not only to Nagorno Karabakh issue. Azerbaijan insists that it is the most economically stable, most democratic, most tolerant and most protected in terms of human rights country in the world which can serve an example for other countries. While various international organizations, international institutions dealing with human rights say the contrary. Kingdom of crooked mirrors has been created in that country the leaders of which, looking at those mirrors, get delighted by themselves and call others to live in a world of such crooked mirrors.






TripAdvisor the travel planning and booking site, today announced the winners of its Travellers Choice awards for destinations, recognizing travellers favorite places around the world. Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions in destinations worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period, as well as traveller booking interest on TripAdvisor.

Travellers Choice Destinations 2016 - India

Winner State

1. New Delhi : National Capital Territory of Delhi

2. Jaipur : Rajasthan

3. Goa : Goa

4. Mumbai :Maharashtra

5. Udaipur : Rajasthan

6. Jaisalmer : Rajasthan

7. Bengaluru : Karnataka

8. Agra : Uttar Pradesh

9. Kochi : Kerala

10. Manali : Himachal Pradesh

11. Munnar : Kerala

12. Chennai : Tamil Nadu

13. Hyderabad : Telangana

14. Rishikesh : Uttarakhand

15. Srinagar : Kashmir

16. Pune : Maharashtra

17. Gurgaon : Haryana

18. Jodhpur : Rajasthan

19. Kolkata : West Bengal

20. Amritsar : Punjab

21. Shimla : Himachal Pradesh

22. Varanasi : Uttar Pradesh

23. Varkala : Kerala

24. Leh : Ladakh

25. Pondicherry : Union Territory of Pondicherry

The Travellers Choice Destinations awards this year include a great mix of the more popular destinations such as Goa and Jaipur, with a few lesser known ones like Munnar and Varkala. Both the winning international and domestic lists based on feedback and booking interest by our global travel community and Indian travellers will find plenty of inspiration as they start planning their upcoming holidays. My only tip would be to book those coveted hotels and tours on TripAdvisor quick before they sell-out! says Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India.

TripAdvisor has also identified top-rated hotels as well as popular attractions to offer travellers more insights about great things to discover in these award-winning destinations.

Top 5 Travellers Choice Destinations  India

(+/- denotes change in ranking year-over-year, destinations with no change are marked accordingly)

1. New_Delhi (+1) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in New Delhi: INR 3,203

New Delhi, the capital city of India is rich in heritage and culture, yet strikingly modern. One can visit the numerous historical monuments such as Humayuns_Tomb or take a walk down the winding roads of Chandni_Chowk, the ultimate shopping and food paradise. To relax, holiday goers can book a stay at the Travellers Choice award-winning boutique hotel Shanti_Home, bookable on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 8,408 per night.

2. Jaipur (-1) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Jaipur: INR 2,803

Known as The Pink City, Jaipur is a travellers delight. From the stunning forts of Amber and Jaigarh to the delightful Elefantastic which is Indias first elephant farm, the city has something to offer for all kinds of travellers. The Travellers Choice award-winning Pearl_Palace_Heritage_The_Boutique_Guesthouse is a great option for those looking for a unique experience and can be booked on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 2,402 per night.

3. Goa - TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Goa: INR 4,738

Known for its stunning beaches, Goa is the also the unofficial party place of India where Indian culture intertwines with Portuguese influences left over from a 500-year occupation. From scenic beaches such as Agonda_Beach, the beautiful Dudhsagar_Falls to numerous churches, restaurants serving delectable local cuisine; there is plenty for the travellers to choose from.

4. Mumbai (-1) - TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Mumbai: INR 5,071



The financial capital of India, Mumbai is also known as the city that never sleeps. It is also the center of the Indian Film Industry and sees millions setting their foot on its soil to try their luck in Bollywood. Visit the popular Marine_Drive to watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea or the carnival-like Juhu_Beach or savour the delicious street food, Mumbai leaves you captivated.

5. Udaipur (+1) - TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Udaipur: INR 3,870

Known as the Venice of the East, Udaipur boasts of several sparkling lakes with the most picturesque being Lake_Pichola. Travellers can visit several palaces, museums and temples to get a flavor of the royal life led by the erstwhile rulers. The award winning Jaiwana_Haveli is a perfect option for travellers looking to stay at a great location with unparalleled view of Lake Pichola, and is bookable on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 3,136 per night.

Top 5 Travellers Choice Destinations  World

(+/- denotes change in ranking year-over-year, destinations with no change are marked accordingly)

1. London, United Kingdom (+5) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in London: INR 13,813

Top-rated hotel in London: The Milestone Hotel, bookable on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 34,166 per night

2. Istanbul*, Turkey (+1) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Istanbul: INR 6,206

Top-rated hotel in Istanbul: World Heritage Hotel Istanbul, bookable on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 7,941 per night

3. Marrakech, Morocco (-2) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Marrakech: INR 6,940

Top-rated hotel in Marrakech: Riad Kheirredine, bookable on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 13,413 per night

4. Paris, France (+5) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Paris: INR 11,477

Top-rated hotel in Paris: Le Bristol Paris, bookable on TripAdvisor for an average of INR 73,870 per night

5. Siem Reap, Cambodia (-3) TripAdvisor average nightly rate of all bookable hotels in Siem Reap: INR 4,271


The city of Montgomery, Alabama, is the 2015 Altus Trophy winner, formally announced at a short ceremony here March 23.



The Altus Trophy, also known as the Air Education and Training Command Community Support Award, is presented annually by the Altus, Oklahoma, Chamber of Commerce to a community judged to have shown the most outstanding support to an AETC base. Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson, AETC commander, made the announcement at the annual spring AETC Commanders Civic Leader Group meeting.



The Altus Trophy selection committee chose Montgomery as the 2015 recipient because of its exceptional partnership with Airmen and families assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base, home of the Air Forces Air University. The chamber recognized the citys tremendous support, citing a year-round series of events that reflect the high regard the community has for the military. One specific event of note is the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Military Support Councils Eggs and Issues, a quarterly breakfast with state Senators in which attendees discuss issues impacting business, projects and the vitality of Maxwell-Gunter. The committee also recognized the steadfast support given to international students training at the base.



All the communities surrounding our bases provide stellar support to our Airmen, Roberson said. "In earning this years Altus Trophy, the people of Montgomery deserve our deepest appreciation. I, along with the Airmen and families at Maxwell, am thankful for all the people of Montgomery do for us every day in helping us carry out our mission to recruit, train and educate Americas Airmen.



Other finalists for the 2015 Altus Trophy included Little Rock, Arkansas, and Spokane, Washington.



This is the first Altus Trophy awarded to Montgomery. The city of San Angelo, Texas, was the 2014 Altus Trophy winner. Since the awards inception in 2010, Altus Trophies have been presented chronologically to Columbus, Miss.; Wichita Falls, Texas; Del Rio, Texas; and Enid, Okla.



A ceremony formally presenting the Altus Trophy to Montgomery will occur this spring.
90 female missileers, B-52 aircrews make history

Ninety female missileers made Air Force history March 22 as the first all-female missile alert crews to serve on alert at three intercontinental ballistic missile wings simultaneously.



In honor of Women's History Month, missileers based out of Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota; F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming; and Malmstrom AFB, Montana, completed a 24-hour alert shift to sustain an active alert status of the nation's ICBM force.



"The goal of this day was to highlight all the women who worked hard to make a difference in public service and government jobs in the past," said Col. Stacy Huser, the 91st Missile Wing Operations Group commander at Minot AFB. "We honored those women who have worked to gain opportunities and disavow stereotypes when they began their careers. This day was our tribute to them, as well as to inspire future generations of women to work in public service."



According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up almost 51 percent of the nation's population. Women currently make up 19 percent of the Air Force, the highest percentage of any service.



"The fact that we can look across our pre-departure briefing room and see a woman sitting in every seat, for every combat crew going out on nuclear alert, is in itself, significant," said Col. Tom Wilcox, the 341st Missile Wing commander at Malmstrom AFB. "Not because Team Malmstrom is fielding an all-women alert force, but because we have enough women filling combat leadership roles to take alert for the entire wing.



In addition to female missileers, B-52 Stratofortress aircrews from Minot AFB and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, participated by fielding all-female flight crews.



It is an honor to be flying with these women today, said Col. Kristin E. Goodwin, the 2nd Bomb Wing commander at Barksdale AFB. These two flights, launched and crewed only by women, serve as a source of pride for the whole 2nd Bomb Wing, Air Force Global Strike Command, and for each and every American.



Goodwin flew as aircraft commander for one of the B-52s alongside six other women. In total, 14 women whose ranks range from lieutenant to colonel flew in the bomber formation, serving in the roles of pilot, weapons system officer and electronic warfare officer.



"To carry on the legacy of women in the Air Force is very special to me," said 1st Lt. Elizabeth Guidara, the 12th Missile Squadron combat crew deputy director at Malmstrom AFB. "Not being afraid to take risks and taking ahold of those opportunities that present themselves are two things that I've learned to live by throughout my career."



Col. Todd Sauls, the 90th Operations Group commander, said he was proud of the diversity in his F.E. Warren unit and excited to see the alert mission come together.



When I was a second lieutenant, you would have 10 or so female missileers in an ops group and now we come close to deploying a whole female crew force just because of the numbers we have, Sauls said. This is about history and heritage and having events like this is a good way to honor the people who came before us.



First Lt. Kelly Gorham, a 320th Missile Squadron missile combat crew commander, said she never really thought of herself as a woman in the military.



Ive just been an Airman, Gorham said. (But) we are women, we are in the military and were doing good things. Sometimes the rewards are masked by that routine, but once you stand back and see that your family can sleep at night, see that your friends can sleep at night and the rest of the United States can sleep because youre standing alert, thats really the greatest reward you can ask for.



(Airman Collin Schmidt, Airman 1st Class Jessica Weissman, 2nd Lt. Jessica Adams and Airman 1st Class Luke Hill contributed to this story.)
For the first time since its inception, the U.S. Air Force will have the capability to break historic ground by fielding all women missile and aircrews to complete the mission of keeping Americas citizens safe and our nations enemies at bay.

In honor of Womens History Month, 90 female missileers based out of Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, and Malmstrom AFB, Montana, will complete a 24-hour alert. In addition, B-52 Stratofortress aircrews from Minot and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, will participate by fielding all-female flight crews.

The fact that we can look across our pre-departure briefing room and see a woman sitting in every seat, for every combat crew going out on nuclear alert, is in itself significant, said Col. Tom Wilcox, 341st Missile Wing commander. Not because Team Malmstrom is fielding an all-women alert force, but because we have enough women filling combat leadership roles to take alert for the entire wing.

It wasnt always this way, and we have further to go, but the Air Force has made great strides to build a force representative of the nation we serve, he continued.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up 50.8 percent of the nations population. Currently, women make up 19 percent of the Air Force, the highest of any service.

To carry on the legacy of women in the Air Force is very special to me, said 1st Lt. Elizabeth Guidara, 12th Missile Squadron combat crew deputy director. Not being afraid to take risks and taking ahold of those opportunities that present themselves are two things that Ive learned to live by throughout my career.

During their assignment, the missileers will maintain a 24-hour alert shift to sustain an active alert status of our nations intercontinental ballistic missile force. Two missileers will be on alert in each of the 45 missile alert facilities across Air Force Global Strike Command and control up to 450 ICBMs as part of the nations nuclear deterrence.

The B-52 crews are comprised of two pilots, a weapons officer and an electronic warfare officer. They will be responsible for flying the B-52 in all-weather conditions anywhere in the world and, if needed, deliver almost any weapon in the U.S. inventory to its target.

Because of the diversity of the missileer and B-52 crew populations, for the very first time both missions will simultaneously be able to be comprised of all female crew members while operating within normal scheduling parameters.

The goal of this day is to highlight all the women who worked hard to make a difference in public service and government jobs in the past, said Col. Stacy Huser, 91st Operations Group commander at Minot AFB. Were honoring those women who have worked to gain opportunities and disavow stereotypes when they began their careers.

This day is our tribute to them, as well as to inspire future generations of women to work in public service, she continued.
Women's History Month Spotlight: Col. Sheila Marcusen

Colonel Sheila Marcusen is the Reserve Deputy Command Surgeon for the United States Transportation Command and a member of the Air Force Element (954th Reserve Support Squadron) of the USTRANSCOM Joint Transportation Reserve Unit, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.



In this role, she provides service, support, and consultation to the USTRANSCOM Command Surgeon and deputy Command Surgeon. She is responsible for the leadership, supervision and activities of all unit medical personnel supporting peacetime, wartime, and disaster operations.



She deploys with and leads Air Force, Army and Navy Reserve and Active Duty medical personnel to support Joint Task Force Combatant Command Surgeons for patient movement operations and planning; and provides backfill and augmentation support to the USTRANSCOM Surgeons patient movement mission, moving over 28,000 patients annually.



She also collaborates with local, state, and National Disaster Medical System representatives to safely move medical evacuees during natural disaster operations.



Marcusen is a career Medical Service Corps officer who entered active duty with the Air Force in 1987 upon receiving a direct commission as an MSC. She served nine years active duty in a variety of commands and assignments including squadron section commander, medical logistics officer, medical resource management officer, aeromedical evacuation operations officer, detachment commander, and medical information systems flight chief.



She deployed to King Abdul Aziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia, where she supported Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield as the director of operations for the 1611th Provisional Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.



Marcusen joined the Air Force Reserve unit program in 1996 where she has held a number of positions supporting medical operations, aeromedical evacuation and joint patient movement operations including aeromedical staging, medical regulating, and patient movement requirements center operations.



She was recalled to active duty for one year immediately following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and since then has fulfilled long-term deployments and strategic short-term tours to the Middle East and to Europe in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.


Go for launch: Airmen forecast weather for space missions

Predicting weather for space missions is tough enough. But when forecasts cover part of Floridas lightning alley, where a rocket blasting off could spur strikes, the demands of the job can skyrocket.



Launches can trigger lightning strikes even when you dont have lightning in the area, said Kathy Winters, a launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron, which tracks the climate around Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.



An electrical field, Winters explains, may already be present in the clouds. So when a rocket blasts off, it can induce a lightning strike with its trail of exhaust -- a conductive path to the ground.



If a strike happens to hit a rocket, theres a chance it could damage the self-destruct system, the only way to destroy an errant rocket.



Its all about safety and thats a big reason why we do what we do on launch day, said Tech Sgt. Matthew Mong, a range weather forecaster with the squadron.



Were basically sending up a giant conventional explosive, he added. And if you cant control when and how it goes, then there are potentially millions of people at risk.



Windows of opportunity



Space mission experts aim for specific times when they can launch rockets into orbit. Some launch windows are merely seconds, while others can be a few hours long.



Its all about the orbit youre trying to get into, Winters said. Or if its a rendezvous (with another spacecraft) its going to be an even shorter launch window.



Much of the squadrons efforts are focused on these windows. If a launch has to be scrubbed due to weather, the delay could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Forecasters attempt to avoid these costly delays, without being ruled by them.



You cant be worried about how much its going to cost, Winters said of delays. You have to be focused on the weather rules and procedures. Everybody wants to see the rocket go, but only when its the right time.



Armed with $80 million-plus worth of equipment, from towers, sensors and radars, the squadrons forecasters strive to be as accurate as possible. After all, with 30 launches scheduled this year, a lot is riding on them.



Even when one team member is a no go for launch due to weather observations, especially wind speed and direction, the whole squadron is a no go.



We report that to the range. Its then up to them if they want to launch, said Winters, noting shes never seen a weather rule waived since 2000 when she first started.



About half of scrubbed missions are weather related, she added.



Tropical climate



Located between the Banana River and Atlantic Ocean, the spaceport gets wind gusts from opposing sides that can spawn erratic weather. Theres also the rare chance of a tornado or hurricane stalling missions.



The weather is never boring, never redundant, Winters said. Its very challenging.



Space launches, she noted, can handle strong winds anywhere from 20 to 50 mph, depending on the rocket.



Forecasters try to glean reliable estimates from studying weather patterns in several 5-mile rings that dot the 500-square-mile area they cover. The tailored forecasts help thousands of Airmen and mission partners stay at work on critical missions when severe weather looms.



It lets us keep things rolling, Mong said of the radar system. If we just did a blanket forecast we could stop work for hours for everyone and we wouldnt get a whole lot done here.



Besides radar, simple but effective weather balloons mine the sky for upper-air conditions throughout the day, with more balloons used on launch days.



That pretty much drives all model forecasting, Mong said of data collected by balloons that go as high as 115,000 feet. Without it, we couldnt really do much.



When lightning is present, he added, forecasters remotely roll out a weatherbot to release a balloon while its operator stays indoors.



Without accurate data, the odds of a rocket going up on its launch day are greatly impacted. Even with all the squadrons gadgets, the stormy nature of Central Florida still tests forecasters.



Its a great location with not so great weather for what were trying to do, Mong said. But its an ideal place because of the ocean and the large area here that gives us more launch options.
Flying the RPA mission

The aircraft is ready to fly, the ground control stations are up and running, and the crews have been briefed. Now its time to fly the remotely piloted aircraft.



The pilot, sensor operator, and mission intelligence coordinator step into the control station to prepare for flight, but theyre not alone; they are joined by other Airmen, each in their respective locations.



With the engines whirring up to speed, the launch and recovery element crew begins launch procedures for aircraft takeoff from the area of responsibility downrange.



"The launch and recovery element is responsible for conducting the launches and recoveries of the MQ-1B and MQ-9 aircraft, said Tech. Sgt. Kory, the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing NCO in charge of the commanders action group. The LRE is located within range for C-band line-of-sight to conduct its operations in the traffic pattern, terminal area, and on the airfield. The LRE is responsible to power-up the aircraft Ku-band satellite terminal and hand the aircraft over to the mission control element crew.



Aided by line-of-sight ground data terminals downrange, which are maintained by the 432nd Aircraft Communications Maintenance Squadron, the LRE crew launches the aircraft and climbs to an altitude where they can hand control of the aircraft off to the mission control element located stateside, via satellite links.



During the hand off of the aircraft, ACMS maintainers in the (ground control station) enable and ensure a good Ku link to the MCE crews, said Senior Airman Robert, a 432nd ACMS training monitor.



After the hand-off, the mission control element crew will fly the aircraft and carry out the mission, in of the specified mission areas: intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); close-air support (CAS); air interdiction; combat search and rescue; or strike coordination and reconnaissance.



RPAs allow us to not only conduct ISR and CAS, but also buddy lase for other assets, perform convoy and raid overwatch and even provide humanitarian support, said Maj. Patrick, the 432nd Wing chief of combat plans. The versatility of these aircraft give the supported commander a variety of options.



While the pilot is busy flying the aircraft and the sensor operator is operating the multi-spectral targeting system (MTS ball), the mission coordinator is also engaged by providing real-time intelligence.



Theyre looking for changes in terrain, weather, threats, and weapons systems because intelligence personnel can provide everything real time to the pilot and sensor (MTS ball), said Senior Airman Aaron, a 432nd WG/432nd AEW intelligence evaluator.



Also supporting the crew is the distributed ground system, a group of imagery analysts who watch the live feed coming from the aircraft. They are able to determine the difference between a woman holding a child and a man holding a gun on zoomed-in images.



Mission tasks are given by the air operations centers under the respective combatant commands. The air operations center determines where the aircraft will go, what mission is needed, and also give orders and guidance should the need for change occur.



The wing operations center (WOC) acts as a central hub for critical mission support to the aircrew to accomplish the tasking orders from an air operations center.



The main job of the WOC is to take care of the guys flying the mission to ensure mission success, said Maj. Steven, the 432nd WG/432nd AEW WOC deputy director. In the WOC were making sure crews are available, the weather is good, and planes can take off and fly with no problems, basically were monitoring all the factors so the mission can go smoothly.



During the mission, if a strike is needed, a joint terminal attack controller can radio an RPA for help to coordinate an attack on enemy forces.



"Partnering two different capabilities from the air and ground provides us with the ability to develop patterns of life for targets," said a JTAC assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command. "If and when the time comes to strike, we can do so with accuracy. This is instrumental in moving to a safer military for future conflicts. Not to mention, having the RPAs provide overwatch from the sky makes us feel safer as well."



Supporting troops on the ground has been a frequent use for the RPA community in recent years. In some instances, RPAs are able to track high-value targets at night using an invisible infrared laser, which helps designate and illuminate targets for ground forces.



If the need for a strike arises, the crew is prepared at a moments notice with precision accuracy.



Not only can RPAs strike static targets, but also because of the high loitering time, moving targets as well.



Because a combat air patrol is flown on a continuous basis, revolving shifts of Airmen in every career filed rotate throughout the CAP before the plane is landed and another one takes its place.



After the mission is completed and the plane is ready to land, the mission control element will fly back to base, handing the aircraft back to the launch and recovery crew for landing.



(Editors note: The last names in this story have been removed for security reasons.)
EUCOM implements travel restrictions to Brussels

As a precautionary measure to keep personnel and families safe in light of the March 22 attacks, U.S. European Command has implemented travel restrictions to Brussels, Belgium.



Unofficial travel to Brussels -- leave, liberty and special pass -- is prohibited until further notice. Those on official travel or emergency leave to Brussels will also require the approval of the first general or flag officer or senior executive service equivalent in the travelers or sponsors chain of command.



This EUCOM policy applies to military personnel, Defense Department civilian employees, contractors and command-sponsored dependents and family members. These restrictions do not apply to military personnel assigned to diplomatic posts in Belgium.



"My thoughts and prayers go out to our military family, the people of Brussels and all those impacted by these horrific terror attacks," Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, EUCOM commander, said in a statement. "We will assist Belgium in any way our military can. We strongly condemn these attacks and will continue to stand by our NATO allies and partners to defeat these terrorists who threaten our freedoms and our way of life."



Officials seek full accountability of personnel



To confirm the safety of all U.S. military personnel and families, including those on pre-approved leaves and other official travel, EUCOM officials said they continue to seek 100 percent accountability from all subordinate commands and units.



EUCOM continually assesses threats to U.S. forces with and alongside its host-nation counterparts, officials said, and is firmly committed to making every possible effort to ensure the safety and security of service members, civilians and their families.



Consistent with the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, due to the heightened threat environment, EUCOM officials are urging U.S. citizens to remain vigilant and aware of the local security situation, to follow local authority instructions, and to monitor local media for further developments.
Get AfricaFocus Bulletin by e-mail! Format for print or mobile Namibia: Meeting Expectations? AfricaFocus Bulletin

March 23, 2016 (160323)

(Reposted from sources cited below) Editor's Note "During his first year as President," according to a new report from Namibia's Institute for Public Policy Research," Geingob has been saying all the right things  from declaring an all-out war on poverty and declaring his assets as a means of promoting transparency and accountability, to providing tangible action [on other issues]." The actual record is mixed, however, and the president himself has stressed that "it is time to turn words into reality." With a Gini index of income inequality of 59.7, Namibia ranks among the most unequal in the world (http://tinyurl.com/mn8how), only slightly below South Africa's rating of 62.5 (for comparison, China is 46.9, Mozambique 45.6, the United States 45, and the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark all approximately 25). Now in its second quarter-century after gaining independence from South Africa, Namibia still faces the legacy of the apartheid system embedded in its social and economic structure. Yet the mood is still one of cautious optimism, as President Hage Geingob begins his second year in office, and Namibia is rated by Afrobarometer as the most tolerant among 33 countries surveyed (http://www.africafocus.org/docs16/tol1603.php). This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from a review of Geingob's first year, by Nangula Shejavali of Namibia's Institute for Public Policy Research. The IPPR report contains commentary and ratings from 10 Namibian commentators, as well as an overview by the author. For background articles with an analytical and critical perspective on the dominance of Namibia's ruling party, written before the election of President Geingob, see Henning Melber, "Post-liberation Democratic Authoritarianism: The Case of Namibia" (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2015.1005790) and "From Nujoma to Geingob: 25 years of presidential democracy," http://tinyurl.com/h3vel3k ++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++ One Year Of Geingob: An Analysis of the Namibian President's Hits and Misses during His First Year in Office Special Briefing Report No. 11 , March 2016 By Nangula Shejavali Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) http://www.ippr.org.na "After 25 years they (Namibian citizens) want food, clothing and shelter. They want jobs, better housing and good nutrition. They want a leader who will bring prosperity to the nation and they want that leader to act quickly."  President Hage Geingob, 21 March 2015 Introduction On 21 March 2015, President Hage Geingob was inaugurated as the third President of the Republic of Namibia. Having received an overwhelming 87 per cent of the vote in the Presidential election on 28 November 2015, the popular Geingob assumed the role of Head of State with an enormous level of public confidence and great deal of public expectation. Taking place on Namibia's 25th Independence Anniversary, Geingob's inauguration was a euphoric occasion, and the excitement in the air was palpable. Perhaps it was the promise of a fresher approach to governance. Or it may have been the fact that the new President hailed from a minority ethnic group, signalling a new era of tolerance and a profound sense of na tional unity. Geingob's inauguration speech set an impressive and inspiring tone that stressed inclusivity, promised that, "No Namibian should feel left behind!", and cemented this euphoria. The new President committed to addressing a number of priorities for his administration, clearly stating that addressing "the socioeconomic gaps that exist in our society" would be the main focus of his administration. In this vein, he declared an "all-out war on poverty and concomitant inequality" and promised to work towards "catapulting the economy into a new period of faster growth, improved job creation and improved service delivery". Beyond the socioeconomic priority stated (and presented in more detail below), the President also promised to strengthen the governance architecture to ensure that government is able to effectively respond to these priorities; and called on the Namibian people to "stand together in building this new Namibian House." It is against this background that this briefing paper provides a critical assessment of President Geingob's first year in office, drawing insights from a slew of documents, speeches, press releases and media reports issued since the President's inauguration. The paper also incorporates insights and scorecards from a handful of political, social and economic commentators. In his State of the Nation Address on April 21, which coincided with the opening of the 6th Parliament in 2015, Geingob made a recommitment to the many promises made in his inaugural address, this time adding more specifics to his plans. ... The President's Promises During Geingob's first few weeks in office, he delivered some key speeches that set the tone for what his priorities would be during his presidency. Chief amongst these speeches  in terms of highlighting his administration's priorities early on  were his inauguration speech |21.03.2015| and his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) |15.04.2015|. These two speeches form the basis for this analysis. In his inauguration speech, in addition to emphasising continuity (President Nujoma had represented peace, President Pohamba represented stability, and Geingob would represent prosperity), Geingob clearly outlined his priorities. "The main priority for the next administration will be addressing the socio-economic gaps that exist in our society. Therefore, our first priority will be to declare all-out war on poverty and concomitant inequality. Our focal point will be to address inequality, poverty and hunger and that will involve looking at a range of policies and inter- ventionist strategies to tackle this issue." In this regard, he noted a revised Government structure for his first term, that would better align existing Ministries to Government's objectives, enhance efficiencies, and make government more responsive in meeting these goals, i.e.: "poverty eradication and reduction of inequalities and disparities; sustainable economic growth and economic diversification; job creation; and improved service delivery." In his State of the Nation Address on April 21, which coincided with the opening of the 6th Parliament in 2015, Geingob made a recommitment to the many promises made in his inaugural address, this time adding more specifics to his plans. Eradicating poverty again featured prominently as a national priority, and the President used the opportunity to announce various initiatives in this regard, including an increase in the old age pension, and the introduction of a food bank. He also highlighted the need to tackle poverty using a multifaceted approach. "We will, therefore, tackle poverty from all fronts, through safety nets, access to quality education, and by creating jobs and growing the economy," he said, highlighting the renaming of the Labour Ministry to the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Job Creation. With regards to overcoming inequalities, he noted that the finalisation of the economic empowerment policy framework was long overdue and that consultation would resume on this policy framework. In this vein, in his comments on the economy, he also noted efforts to "raise the bar regarding transformation of ownership structures" including the restriction of ownership over natural resources, the finalisation of policies such as the Procurement Bill and the Retail Charter, the implementation of the Industrial Policy and the Growth at Home Strategy; and the support for local business. Access to land and affordable housing has been a major theme on the national agenda, with the Affirmative Repositioning movement further placing the issue  particularly of urban housing  front and centre of much of the policy discourse. In this regard, the President reaffirmed his "personal commitment to addressing land reform and provision of affordable housing to all Namibians", and highlighted various (possible) measures to accelerate the delivery of serviced land and housing. In the SoNA, Geingob also announced the introduction of free secondary school education, encouraged the private sector to do more with regards to skills development and training, and noted the importance of quality and affordable health services. He touched on the issue of combating corruption, encouraging the nation to report instances of corruption in its many forms to the Anti Corruption Commission. He also highlighted the need for public officials to avoid conflicts of interest, and encouraged them to disclose their assets. In this vein, in a much welcome move, he announced that he would disclose his assets through an independent assessment by PWC. ... In both his Inaugural Speech and the State of the Nation address, Geingob highlighted and drove home a metaphor to illustrate his presidency's emphasis on inclusivity  the analogy of The Namibian House. In the SoNA, he stated, "We are intent on building and maintaining a high quality house in which all its residents have a sense of shared identity. We are determined to build a house that will be a place of peace and refuge for all its children and a house in which no Namibian will be left out." ... Overall Assessment On the whole, President Geingob's performance in his first year of office has been a mixed bag made up of some great rhetoric, wonderful intentions, interesting policy pronouncements, and some sound action and consultation on certain policies. There have also been actions that have seemingly contradicted the positive rhetoric and some inaction on certain issues, raising question marks about how much progress can be achieved. During his first year as President, Geingob has been saying all the right things  from declaring an all-out war on poverty and declaring his assets as a means of promoting transparency and accountability, to providing tangible action with respect to national reconciliation, initiating consultation and early action on the urban land/housing crisis and reviving the policy review on economic transformation. That said, however, the President's first year in office has been focused on laying the grounds for the action and change he wishes to implement. In a way, the President has admitted as much, stating during the opening of the third session of the current parliament that 2015 was a year of talk, and 2016 would have to be a year of action. In the regard, he stated: "The year 2015 can be described as a call to arms. It was the year in which as President, I endeavoured to rally the nation behind a shared Vision through themes such as, War on Poverty, War against corruption, No Namibian Must feel left out and Harambee. I am certain that by embracing these themes and applying them to our policy making decisions, one day we will be able to eradicate poverty. In 2016, it is time to turn words into reality, it is time to implement and therefore I refer to this year as the Year of Implementation." That said, although the groundwork was being laid in his first year in office  seen with the stating and restating of the Poverty Eradication, Harambee, and Namibian House mantras, there is still plenty to assess of the President's performance based on the promises made when he came to office. The Hits Geingob entered office on a titanic wave of support and with huge public expectation, and before taking the helm (i.e. during his time as President-elect), made some announcements that helped to set a strong tone for his presidency. In terms of service delivery, these included instructing those on the Swapo party list who would be serving in Parliament to submit their CVs to ensure that they were placed in offices where their expertise would best serve the nation. This was certainly a welcome move, which he noted in his 100 days self-assessment by stating: "As you are aware, Cabinet Ministers were selected and allocated to various ministries based on their qualifications and level of expertise, after thorough analysis of their Curriculum Vitae, which I had requested. These appointments have rejuvenated the people as well as the ministries themselves." The President underlined the seriousness of this approach by naming and shaming those who had not submitted their resumes by the deadline. As President-Elect, Geingob also announced the creation of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare to fast-track efforts to address poverty, wealth inequality and food insecurity. In his words: "The establishment of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare is meant to ensure the co- ordination, implementation and evaluation of government programmes aimed at poverty eradication. This Ministry comes as a realisation that poverty eradication programmes are cross-cutting, and are developed and implemented by various government ministries but requires focus and co-ordination." The poverty eradication mantra has been present in most of the President's speeches, and in his March 2016 meeting with former Presidents Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba, he made sure to explain that the Harambee Prosperity Plan "will complement our National Development Plans and Vision 2030. 6 It therefore, recognises and builds on your successes and achievements. It is designed to have high impact and take us closer to the attainment of Vision 2030." The President has announced plans to reveal the Harambee Prosperity Plan during his 2016 State of the Nation Address in mid-April 2016. Encouragingly, there has also been positive action to follow on the promises made in his unifying inaugural speech. For example, he took action on increasing the old age pension grant from the measly N$600 previously granted to the elderly to N$1,000 in 2015 and N$1,100 for the current budget year (with another increase expected in 2017), in an effort to help reduce poverty; and has announced the creation of food banks to reduce food insecurity in the country, which has now been budgeted for in the 2016-2017 budget. Analysts have cautioned that the food banks should not become a bureaucratic burden and efforts should be made to ensure the intended recipients of food aid are the ones who receive the support. In this regard, the exact modalities of the plan are still unknown, although the Cuban government will provide support and advice based on their own experiences. He has also announced the introduction of a Basic Income Grant, although the details are still far from clear. Related to poverty reduction efforts and the extension of opportunities for all, the President has also done well in seeing through reforms set out by his predecessor for free secondary education. His major challenge with regards to education, however, is ensuring that learners receive high quality education to enhance their life chances, and to fully exploit their potential. A clear strategy to enhance educational outcomes remains unclear. With regards to governance, President Geingob has also made various efforts to ensure that his administration is delivering on the promises made to the people. He requested all Ministers to submit their Declarations of Intent to "outline their promises to the public". He held an induction seminar for Cabinet members early on in his Presidency "to take Cabinet through key important concepts, thinking and approaches that will mark the tenure of my Presidency. These include: good governance and ethics, poverty eradication, reduction of income disparities, accelerated economic growth, job creation and rapid industrialization." And he ensured that Performance Agreements (in line with the Declarations) were set in place to monitor the performance of his Ministers. President Geingob has worked hard to ensure he remains a true ambassador of his Namibian House analogy, in which "no Namibian should feel left out", and, as promised, the focus of his efforts have remained on mending socio-economic gaps in Na- mibian society (particularly on poverty reduction). His public engagement through town hall meetings was evidence of this. According to his reports on these meetings, "During the period under consideration, we covered close to 14 thousand kilometers on road and by plane, sat into a collective 93 hours of town hall meet- ings, listening attentively to participants and meticulously documenting questions, observations and suggestions. We received in excess of 2400 questions and ideas from Namibians from all walks of life. We are committed to respond to all questions in a formalized manner." At this stage, we can only assume that the formalized manner in which these questions will be responded to is in the embodiment of the Harambee Plan. The President's consultative approach could also be seen in his meeting with members of the Affirmative Repositioning movement on the issue of urban housing, engaging the public on social media platforms (particularly on his Facebook page), and ensuring that public input is sought on critical Bills such as the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework, which deals with the economic transformation he spoke of in his 2015 SoNA. He has noted that, "We will continue engaging and consulting with stakeholders like farmers, the media, trade unions, youth, women and the private sector. These consultations will go hand in hand with a drive towards implementation and transformation of workable suggestions into actions." The 24 July 2015 consultations with the AR movement resulted in a plan to clear tens of thousands of plots countrywide for forthcoming housing projects aimed at low earners. The President received praise  along with First Lady, Monica Geingos  for setting a personal example in declaring his assets. In his speech on that day, he stated that, "It is clear that in administering a nation, one has to be transparent and accountable. It is for this reason that I have decided to declare my assets in public, for your scrutiny." During that press conference, it was declared that, "Geingob's assets are worth over N$50 million while the First Lady's assets range from N$45 to N$60 million in equity." ... The Misses Despite the above-noted 'hits', the President has also missed some key opportunities to really shine, and to respond to the pressing needs of our time. While pushing the poverty eradication agenda, he has been seen to spend excessively on a big government (with some Ministries having more than one Deputy Minister), as well as highly paid advisors, some of whom reportedly earn more than Ministers. While the Constitution does provide for the President to have advisors, the pay packages awarded to these advisors and to the extra Deputy Ministers have raised concern amongst analysts, and has added an extra burden on the state's coffers at the same time as Namibia's debt rises to worrying levels. While the amounts themselves may not be huge in terms of the budget as a whole, an expanded executive is symbolic and potentially sends the wrong message about priorities. ... The size of the Executive, and the seeming excesses afforded to the President's advisors  dubbed the A team  have perhaps been the cause of the heaviest criticism the President has faced thus far. And while he means well in surrounding himself with the people he believes can best effect the change he wishes to create, many have continued to question the 'value add' of some of the advisors and what change they will actually effect. Indeed, given the expense of this team, and the clear need for transformation voiced by the President himself in his inaugural speech, one would hope for more concrete action. The President has announced that he will unveil the details of the Harambee Prosperity Plan during his second State of the Nation address, and there is hope that the socio-economic transformation that will come about as a result of the plan will bring about the prosperity the President has promised, and in so doing assure the nation of the advisors' value. In response to the criticisms levelled with regard to the expense of the A-team (specifically responding to the criticism raised at The Namibian's #100DaysOfGeingob event), the President defended his selections, stating that: "There was commentary that the Namibian House is too expensive. I would like to say that any good house is expensive. Furthermore, one only worries about the expenses if the resources are being wasted without any delivery. It is therefore fair to give the Team Hage a chance and if it fails to deliver then you can pass a verdict. I have high expectations on the performance of these individuals, and will therefore be the first person to take them to task in case of non-performance." ... The President has shown his defensive nature on several fronts, often claiming the media bends the truth, tells outright lies, or fails to understand his vision. ... On fighting corruption, although the President set a positive personal example in declaring his assets, he has not insisted that members of Cabinet and other MPs be publicly accountable, and a new National Assembly asset register has yet to be published a year after MPs were sworn in. In this regard, although he has  in word  encouraged the disclosure of assets, he has missed important opportunities to show broader transparency and accountability by enforcing this practice at a broader level. Further, while his rhetoric on the fight against corruption has been strong, real action has been lacking, and there is some public skepticism about certain tenders that the President has been reported to have defended  e.g. the controversial airport tender and the Xaris deal, amongst others. ... Unemployment (particularly youth unemployment) remains effectively unattended to, despite mentions of the problem in various speeches. Although the President has engaged the private sector on various platforms, this has not produced results in terms of job creation. Unlike the plans announced for welfare projects to ensure poverty reduction, when it comes to job creation and enterprise development, equally if not more important in reducing poverty and inequality, the Geingob administration has done little. AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please write to this address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the bulletin, or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the original source mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see http://www.africafocus.org
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The Syria government forces have regained control of historic area of Palmyra, Syrian brigadier-general said, Armnepress reports citing Sputniknews website.

"The Syrian army regained control of the historic town of Tadmur (Palmyra) with small weapons," a Syrian brigadier-general told Sputnik. Thus, he emphasized that the town was taken without air assistance.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, when mass anti-government protests against President Bashar Assad escalated to an armed confrontation between government troops and allied militia on the one hand, and Syrian opposition factions and radical Islamists on the other.

Palmyra has been under Daesh control since May 2015. The terrorist group, which is outlawed in many countries, including Russia and the United States, has already destroyed part of the ancient city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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A.J. Daulerio, 41, was sitting ramrod straight in the Florida courtroom during the awkward moment when he was asked on video by Hogans lawyer, Can you imagine a situation where a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy?

Let's remember that Jezebel is a sister publication of Gawker, which just lost its shirt, and every other shirt in the known and all possible universes, by believing it was newsworthy to air a video of Hulk Hogan having sex with his best friend's wife. The hundred-million-plus verdict will probably put the whole outfit out of business, and even as a journalist it's hard to feel too bad for an entity whose editor testified thusly, according to the New York Post:

But it looks like the festival isn't going to fold, offering this perfectly sensible statement: Tribeca, as most film festivals, are about dialogue and discussion. Over the years we have presented many films from opposing sides of an issue. We are a forum, not a judge.

Oh really. The piece is one of those tarred-by-association things, the implication being that Tribeca is inviting in a crank. Kind of like those articles you see that say "Rand Paul [or whoever questioned vaccine orthodoxy in any given news cycle] once belonged to an organization of doctors that once suggested that something once happened to a child who got 27 vaccines at once. That suggestion has been widely debunked."

"Wakefield," she continued, "claims the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration are ignoring a link between vaccines and autism, especially among African American boys. That claim has been extensively debunked ."

"This years Tribeca Film Festival will include a screening of a film by Andrew Wakefield, the former doctor who was stripped of his medical license after authoring a discredited study that implied a link between vaccines and autism," wrote Anna Merlan. "A spokesperson for the film tells Jezebel that there will be 'celebrity support' for the film at the screening."

--

But back to Andy Wakefield. The comment section on the story was typically vitriolic and downright goofy. And -- warning -- these are hip young people of today and they use dirty swear and cuss words that are used by the cool hip people of today who no longer care what their parents think of their language as of right now this minute, so there! (My comments in italic.)

==

-- "do you think he GETS it? do you think he understands the harm? and if so, does he just not give a fuck (making him evil as fuck)? or if he DOESNT get it, does he just believe his own science?

"i cant decide which is worse..."

(I think he believes his own science, which is correct.)

-- "Well, the evil Zionist Bilderberg Group has concocted Malthusian plans in order to subtly control the population of the subject humanoids. In this way, the lizardmen can more easily destroy our weakened militaries. Ten years after each human is afflicted with autism and the CIA-invented AIDS virus, the ships from Vega move in and they repurpose our existing infrastructure to suit their needs. Only the most powerful Freemasons are allowed to participate in the new society, while the rest of us are swiftly exterminated."

(I think this is meant satirically, but I can't be sure. Given that there are no pro-Wakefield comments, I suspect it is.)

-- "He needs to die of a vaccination-preventable illness."

(I vote for a lethal case of chicken pox!)

-- "Actually I would use murderer in that analogy. Little old ladies that are racist are usually harmless to other people, not nice to be around, but generally harmless. A anti vaxxer can kill someone."

(An vaxxer can murder the English language!)

--" Oh my god I hope they can stop this from happening. My nephew is autistic and members of my family grasp at straws looking for reasons and vaccines always come up. It changed him, they say. Now they dont want to vaccinate anymore and its harmful to kids who CANT be vaccinated and theres no amount of actual science I can show them that will make them feel otherwise because OF THIS ASSHOLE"

This was posted by the Duchess of Dork -- her words, not mine.

--

So anyway, I thought I would post a benign and polite comment, which I almost never do (post comments, that is). It was this -- close but not verbatim: "I think this will be a really wonderful film and I can't wait to see it. Ideally it will convince more parents that vaccines are driving the autism epidemic."

I was pretty sure that to Jezebel, that would sound so naively stupid and not hip and edgy that they might run it just to set off more ridicule, especially since I used my real discredited name. They didn't. If I thought they had any money left or would be around after approximately next Tuesday, I'd think about suing. (Not really. I am not a asshole!)

--

Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

The science experiments in Canadian schools could become a little more elaborate, thanks to some new federal funding that will reimburse teachers for some of their own money spent in classrooms.

The Liberal budget, presented Tuesday, introduces a teacher and early educational supply tax credit that will allow an eligible educator to claim a 15 per cent refundable tax credit based on up to $1,000 in expenditures made by an employee for eligible supplies. That credit is worth $150 if the full amount is claimed.

Related

Teachers and early childhood educators often incur at their own expense the cost of supplies for the purpose of teaching otherwise enhancing students learning in the classroom or learning environment, the budget states.

To make the claim, employers will be required to certify that the supplies were purchased for the purpose of teaching or otherwise enhancing learning in the classroom or learning environment. Individuals making a claim will need to retain receipts for verification purposes.



Coyne: Federal Budget an extraordinary burst of spnding qualify as an educator, youll need to hold a teachers certificate in a diploma or certificate in early childhood development recognized in the province or territory in which you are employed.

And whats eligible? Science experiments count and the government has a list of ingredients it suggests, including seeds, potting soil, vinegar, baking soda and stir sticks.

Art supplies like paper, glue and paint, poster and chart paper count as well, as do board games and educational support software.

The new measures will apply for supplies acquired on or after Jan. 1, 2016. Hopefully some teachers have saved their receipts.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

To the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau:

How is this night different from all other nights? Such is the question we Jews ritually ask the youngest child at the Passover table. Commemorating the Israelites exodus from Egypt, the question carries with it resonances of a chosen people - -at once persecuted and graced with sanctity. Remarkably, this biblical narrative of specialness  not only of what Jews do on Passover, but of who they are  continues to grip the political conscience of many.

So widely felt is this cachet of exceptionalism that the question of distinction, typically reserved for the Seder dinner, is now on Canadas  on your Canadas  political table. To you, we ask, in the idiom of Passover: How is this Zionist state of Israel different from all other states?

If Jewish exceptionalism has been bound up with the Bible, it has also been intensified by the Holocausts legacy: a grim souvenir of human hell and an imperative never to revisit that abyss. Much to its detriment, this moral edict has been conflated with the interests of a powerful political industry serving the Zionist state since its inception.

In 2016, this same industry continues to invoke the spectre of the Second World War, less as an elegiac tribute to those who perished in the camps than as a manufactured moral consensus supported by a concert of world leaders, i.e., that, given past history, the state of Israel deserves preferential treatment, and that any contestation of her privilege, of her immunity from Geneva conventions and international law, is to be condemned.

Your endorsement of the recent Conservative motion condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) abets that favouritism.

Such preferential treatment, however, is not honourable. It rankles, sir, with all those who uphold values of fairness and equality, ones you profess to share. And still you defend the Zionist state despite its transgression of international law and violation of Palestinian human rights.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which demands that Israel end its occupation of Palestine and dismantle the Wall, that it recognize the fundamental right of Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality, and that it respect, promote and protect the rights of Palestinian refugees to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194, is the counterpoint to your preferential treatment of Israel: a legitimate call to the world to redress this iniquity which you and others sustain.

To be clear, BDS does not intend to single out Israel. Rather, it demands that she be held accountable, just like other states. Those who grieve that BDS singles out Israel need to ponder Israels self-assigned exceptionalism. By acting above the law, she distinguishes herself and singles herself out.

A vociferous body of Israels apologists intensifies this singularity by striking fear and guilt into public consciousness, by imposing her immunity from condemnation with heavy psychological artillery.

Ritually they cry out anti-Semitic! against anyone who dares question her draconian occupation of Palestine. Thus, countless advocates of justice are cowed into submission and silence.

Are you, sir, among those who have buckled under the pressure? Do you, sir, worry that Israels apologists will berate you, as Netanyahu recently excoriated United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon? It is not an unreasonable concern, I grant you.

But consider this: an Israeli historian who recently addressed an audience in Berlin on the question of pursuing a BDS strategy of protest, remarked: if you dread the shame of being falsely accused of anti-Semitism, remember the daily agony of those who live under Israeli occupation, whose houses are demolished before their eyes, whose hospitals and schools are bombed with white phosphorus, whose land is ravaged by Jewish settlements, and whose children, at a tender age, are tortured by Israels military.

Your woes, he argued, will pale beside theirs as you contemplate their fate. In the face of vilification from combative Zionists, he urged courage, not submission.

We non-Zionist Jews believe that the BDS approach is the most effective and peaceful strategy (pace Monsieur Dion) for bringing down the myriad walls of a brutal occupation, and we ask you to let your conscience prevail over your fears.

We ask you to resist the false alarm that your Zionist friends sound when they cry anti-Semitism! as the proverbial boy might cry wolf! For those who do so are robbing a horrendous historic episode of its gravity, confusing legitimate dissent with genocide. Criticism is not Kristallnacht; challenges to the occupation are not the gas chambers. The distinction is crucial.

BDS is a non-violent pressure tactic, not a form of anti-Semitism. It seeks to eradicate precisely what it has been accused of, i.e., racism. Contrary to the tales spun by its strident critics, contrary to the roar of media propaganda, the BDS movement is urging the Zionist state to relinquish its inherently unjust ethnocentricity, to allow Palestinians and Jews to coexist as equal citizens and, in this, to save both from disaster.

Some may resist this shift from ethnocracy to democracy, yet it is a necessity that must be embraced for everyones salvation.

In 1944, Lessing J. Rosenwald, president of the American Council for Judaism, wrote: To project at this time the creation of a Jewish state or commonwealth is to launch a singular innovation in world affairs which might well have incalculable consequences.

Today, as those words ring true, BDS activists are peacefully and legitimately waging a struggle against such incalculable eventualities. But by stymying with parliamentary sanctions the righteous efforts of these advocates, you leave the door open for the unthinkable. We Jews of conscience ask you to rescind your endorsement of Zionist privilege so that the unthinkable will never visit us again.

This article originally appeared on HuffingtonPost.ca.



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Introduction

The presidential elections of 2016 have several unique characteristics that defy common wisdom about political practices in 21st century America.

Clearly the established political machinery  party elites and their corporate backers - have (in part) lost control of the nomination process and confront unwanted candidates who are campaigning with programs and pronouncements that polarize the electorate.

But there are other more specific factors, which have energized the electorate and speak to recent US history. These portend and reflect a realignment of US politics.

In this essay, we will outline these changes and their larger consequences for the future of American politics.

We will examine how these factors affect each of the two major parties.

Democratic Party Politics: The Context of Realignment

The rise and decline of President Obama has seriously dented the appeal of identity politics  the idea that ethnic, race and gender-rooted identities can modify the power of finance capital (Wall Street), the militarists, the Zionists and police-state officials. Clearly manifest voter disenchantment with identity politics has opened the door for class politics, of a specific kind.

Candidate Bernie Sanders appeals directly to the class interests of workers and salaried employees. But the class issue arises within the context of an electoral polarization and, as such, it does not reflect a true class polarization, or rising class struggle in the streets, factories or offices.

In fact, the electoral class polarization is a reflection of the recent major trade union defeats in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. The trade union confederation (AFL-CIO) has almost disappeared as a social and political factor, representing only 7% of private sector workers. Working class voters are well aware that top trade union leaders, who receive an average of $500,000-a-year in salaries and benefits, are deeply ensconced in the Democratic Party elite. While individual workers and local unions are active supporters of the Sanders campaign, they do so as members of an amorphous multi-class electoral movement and not as a unified workers bloc.

The Sanders electoral movement has not grown out of a national social movement: The peace movement is virtually moribund; the civil rights movements are weak, fragmented and localized; the Black Lives Matter movement has peaked and declined while the Occupy Wall Street Movement is a distant memory.

In other words, these recent movements, at best, provide some activists and some impetus for the Sanders electoral campaign. Their presence highlights a few of the issues that the Sanders electoral movement promotes in its campaign.

In fact, the Sanders electoral movement does not grow out of existing, ongoing mass movements as much as it fills the political vacuum resulting from their demise. The electoral insurgency reflects the defeats of trade union officials allied with incumbent Democratic politicians as well as the limitation of the direct action tactics of the Black Lives Matter and Occupy movements.

Since the Sanders electoral movement does not directly and immediately challenge capitalist profits and public budget allocations it has not been subject to state repression. Repressive authorities calculate that this buzz of electoral activity will last only a few months and then recede into the Democratic Party or voter apathy. Moreover, they are constrained by the fact that tens of millions of Sanders supporters are involved in all the states and not concentrated in any region.

The Sanders electoral movement aggregates hundreds of thousands of micro-local struggles and allows expression of the disaffection of millions with class grievances, at no risk or cost (as in loss of job or police repression) to the participants. This is in stark contrast to repression at the workplace or in the urban streets.

The electoral polarization reflects horizontal (class) and vertical (intra-capitalist) social polarizations.

Below the elite 10% and especially among the young middle class, political polarization favours the Sanders electoral movement. Trade union bosses, the Black Congressional Caucus members and the Latino establishment all embrace the anointed choice of the political elite of the Democratic Party: Hilary Clinton. Whereas, young Latinos, working women and rank and file trade unionists support the insurgent electoral movement. Significant sectors of the African American population, who have failed to advance (and have actually regressed) under Democratic President Obama or have seen police repression expand under the First Black President, are turning to the insurgent Sanders campaign. Millions of Latinos, disenchanted with their leaders who are tied to the Democratic elite and have done nothing to prevent the massive deportations under Obama, are a potential base of support for Bernie.

However, the most dynamic social sector in the Sanders electoral movement are students, who are excited by his program of free higher education and the end of post-graduation debt peonage.

The malaise of these sectors finds its expression in the respectable revolt of the middle class: a voters rebellion, which has temporarily shifted the axis of political debate within the Democratic Party to the left.

The Sanders electoral movement raises fundamental issues of class inequality and racial injustice in the legal, police and economic system. It highlights the oligarchical nature of the political system  even as the Sanders-led movement attempts to use the rules of the system against its owners. These attempts have not been very successful within the Democratic Party apparatus, where the Party bosses have already allocated hundreds of non-elected so-called mega-delegates to Clinton  despite Sanders successes in the early primaries.

The very strength of the electoral movement has a strategic weakness: it is in the nature of electoral movements to coalesce for elections and to dissolve after the vote.

The Sanders leadership has made no effort to build a mass national social movement that can continue the class and social struggles during and after the elections. In fact, Sanders pledge to support the established leadership of the Democratic Party if he losses the nomination to Clinton will lead to a profound disillusionment of his supporters and break-up of the electoral movement. The post-convention scenario, especially in the event of super-delegates crowning Clinton despite a Sanders popular victory at the individual primaries, will be very disruptive.

Trump and Revolt on the Right

The Trump electoral campaign has many of the features of a Latin American nationalist-populist movement. Like the Argentine Peronist movement, it combines protectionist, nationalist economic measures that appeal to small and medium size manufacturers and displaced industrial workers with populist right-wing great nation chauvinism.

This is reflected in Trumps attacks on globalization - a proxy for Peronist anti-imperialism.

Trumps attack on the Muslim minority in the US is a thinly veiled embrace of rightwing clerical fascism.

Where Peron campaigned against financial oligarchies and the invasion of foreign ideologies, Trump scorns the elites and denounces the invasion of Mexican immigrants.

Trumps appeal is rooted in the deep amorphous anger of the downwardly mobile middle class, which has no ideology  but plenty of resentment at its declining status, crumbling stability and drug-afflicted families (Witness the overtly expressed concerns of white voters in the recent New Hampshire primary).

Trump projects personal power to workers who bridle under impotent trade unions, disorganized civic groups, and marginalized local business associations, all unable to counter the pillage, power and large-scale corruption of the financial swindlers who rotate between Washington and Wall Street with total impunity.

These populist classes get vicarious thrills from the spectacle of Trump snapping and slapping career politicians and economic elites alike, even as he parades his capitalist success.

They prize his symbolic defiance of the political elite as he flaunts his own capitalist elite credentials.

For many of his suburban backers he is the Great Moralizer, who in his excess zeal, occasionally, commits pardonable gaffes out of zealous exuberance  a crude Oliver Cromwell for the 21st Century.

Indeed, there also may be a less overt ethno-religious appeal to Trumps campaign: His white-Anglo-Saxon Protestant identity appeals to these same voters in the face of their apparent marginalization. These Trumpistas are not blind to the fact that not a single WASP judge sits on the Supreme Court and there are few, if any, WASPs among the top economic officials in Treasury, Commerce, or the Fed (Lew, Fischer, Yellen, Greenspan, Bernacke, Cohen, Pritzker etc.). While Trump is not up-front about his identity  it eases his voter appeal.

Among WASP voters, who quietly resent the Wall Street bailouts and the perceived privileged position of Catholics, Jews and African-Americans in the Obama Administration, Trumps direct, public condemnation of President Bush for deliberately misleading the nation into invading Iraq (and the implication of treason), has been a big plus.

Trumps national-populist appeal is matched by his bellicose militarism and thuggish authoritarianism. His public embrace of torture and police state controls (to fight terrorism) appeals to the pro-military right. On the other hand, his friendly overtures to Russian President Putin (one tough guy willing to face another) and his support to end the Cuban embargo appeals to trade-minded business elites. His calls to withdraw US troops from Europe and Asia appeals to fortress America voters, while his calls to carpet bomb ISIS appeals to the nuclear extremists. Interestingly, Trumps support for Social Security and Medicare, as well as his call for medical coverage for the indigent and his open acknowledgement of Planned Parenthoods vital services to poor women, appeals to older citizens, compassionate conservatives and independents.

Trumps left-right amalgam: Protectionist and pro-business appeals, his anti-Wall Street and pro-industrial capitalism proposals, his defense of US workers and attacks on Latino workers and Muslim immigrants have broken the traditional boundaries between popular and rightwing politics of the Republican Party.

Trumpism is not a coherent ideology, but a volatile mix of improvised positions, adapted to appeal to marginalized workers, resentful middle classes (marginalized WASPs) and, above all, to those who feel unrepresented by Wall Street Republicans and liberal Democratic politicians based on identity politics (black, Hispanic, women and Jews).

Trumps movement is based on a cult of the personality: it has enormous capacity to convoke mass meetings without mass organization or a coherent social ideology.

Its fundamental strength is its spontaneity, novelty and hostile focus on strategic elites.

Its strategic weakness is the lack of an organization that can be sustained after the electoral process. There are few Trumpista cadres and militants among his adoring fans. If Trump loses (or is cheated out of the nomination by a unity candidate trotted out by the Party elite) his organization will dissipate and fragment. If Trump wins the Republican nomination he will draw support from Wall Street, especially if faced with a Sanders Democratic candidacy. If he wins the general election and becomes President, he will seek to strengthen executive power and move toward a Bonapartist presidency.

Conclusion

The rise of a social democratic movement within the Democratic Party and the rise of a sui generis national-populist rightist movement in the Republican Party reflect the fragmented electorate and deep vertical and horizontal fissures characterizing the US ethno-class structure. Commentators grossly oversimplify when they reduce the revolt to incoherent expressions of anger.

The shattering of the established elites control is a product of deeply experienced class and ethnic resentments, of former privileged groups experiencing declining mobility, of local businesspeople experiencing bankruptcy due to globalization (imperialism) and of citizens resentment at the power of finance capital (the banks) and its overwhelming control of Washington.

The electoral revolts on the left and right may dissipate but they will have planted the seeds of a democratic transformation or of a nationalist-reactionary revival.

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The question of whether the horrors committed upon Indigenous peoples by colonial and then Canadian officials can be called genocide often attracts a great deal of controversy. Most Canadians cling to the notion that genocide means something that happens to other people, in other, far away countries. They misunderstand genocide to have occurred only when millions of people belonging to a specific ethnic group are murdered in a short space of time  as in the case of the Holocaust. It is far more difficult to accept that ones own ancestors participated in the genocide of Indigenous peoples right here at home. But make no mistake, what happened in Canada fits every category of genocide. Today, modern policies of racism pick up where genocidal policies left off  and its killing our people.

Genocidal acts around the world have been responsible for the deaths of millions. These are different from the deaths caused by wars because of the targeted nature of the killing. People are singled out for death or abusive treatment because they belong to a specific national, ethnic, racial or religious group. There is no numerical threshold that must be reached to qualify as genocide, nor must the entire group be targeted. Millions of Jewish people were targeted and murdered in 1940s during the Second World War by Nazi Germany. The Rwandan genocide resulted in the brutal deaths of an estimated 800,000 people in 1994. A year later, the Srebrenica genocide resulted in the murder of approximately 8,000 men and women. What is common in all three examples is the attempt to destroy (in whole or in part) the specific groups.

After the mass murders of Jewish people during the war, the United Nations passed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. Canada signed on to the Convention in 1949 and formally ratified it in 1952. Article II defines genocide as the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial group, by the following means killing, bodily or mental harm, physical destruction, preventing births or forced transfer of children out of the group.

It doesnt matter whether the people committing genocidal acts were following constitutional rules, public officials or private individuals. They can still be convicted of genocide whether they committed or attempted to commit the acts, conspired with or incited others to do so, or were merely complicit in genocide. Where the greatest controversy seems to lie is in the necessity to prove intention. Many experts argue that the proof of genocide is in the result, not the intention. With regards to proof, the genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America is one of the longest lasting and most devastating genocidal acts in human history. Yet, even the Canadian Museum for Human Rights refuses to recognize it.

A short history of the Indian problem

Throughout Canadas history, the policy objective has always been to eliminate the Indian problem, which included policies that killed Indian children. Even if one could believe former Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncans claim that what happened in residential schools was simply a well-intended education policy gone wrong, the departments response to the many deaths of Indigenous children in those schools paints a far more sinister picture. As Duncan Campbell Scott, a deputy superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs, wrote in 1918:

Indian children  die at a much higher rate (in residential schools) than in their villages. But this alone does not justify a change in the policy of this Department, which is geared towards a final solution of our Indian problem.



The abuse, neglect, torture, medical experimentation, rapes, beatings and murders in residential schools speak of something far more sinister than an education system designed to assimilate Indians. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) explained that Canadas Indian policy was designed to eliminate Indigenous peoples as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious and racial entities. After years of extensive research and interviews with residential school survivors, the TRC concluded that Canada had, in fact, engaged in cultural, physical and biological genocide against Indigenous peoples. Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada (one of the most conservative institutions in this country) called residential schools a form of cultural genocide and one of the worst stains on Canadas human rights record. Even former Prime Minister Paul Martin called residential schools a form of cultural genocide, but this is not the end of the debate.

Canadas own final solution

Most Canadians dont know about the politics behind the international movement to outlaw genocide or the actions taken by Canada to prevent Indigenous peoples from ever bringing a claim of genocide against Canada. Cultural genocide was specifically left out of the Convention due to the vigorous opposition of Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Canada also refused to implement the Convention into domestic law through legislation, as was expected by all parties. Some experts argue that Canadas attempt to circumvent international law by keeping it outside of domestic law is eerily similar to Nazi leaderships arguments that Germany never accepted international law in German law. Even the act of making Indigenous peoples citizens has been described as an attempt to prevent them from bringing a claim of genocide against Canada as identifiable groups.

Classroom in residential school. Date unknown.

The totality of colonial and Canadian laws and policies has resulted in the deaths of as many as two million Indigenous peoples. Yet, in 2009, then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the world that there is no history of colonialism in Canada. When such high ranking officials offer nothing but complete denial of the collective suffering of Indigenous peoples at the hands of both colonial and Canadian governments, it doesnt offer much hope for change.

Its time that all Canadians knew the facts  and the fact is that Canada has committed genocidal acts against Indigenous peoples in all categories:

1. Killing of members of the group

scalping bounties paid for each Mikmaw man, woman and child;



smallpox blankets provided to Indigenous peoples to spread lethal diseases;



deliberately infecting Indigenous children with infectious diseases in residential schools;

2. Serious bodily and mental harm

rape, sodomy, torture, solitary confinement, electric chairs, assaults on Indigenous children in residential schools;



removal of thousands of children from Indigenous families into white families;



forced sterilization of Indigenous women and girls so they could not bear children;

3. Inflicting conditions of life meant to bring about physical destruction

starvation of children in residential schools that led to their deaths;



the beating, torture and abuse of children which led to their deaths;



failure to provide health care to Indigenous peoples legally trapped on reserves or in residential schools;

4. Imposing measures to prevent births

forced sterilization of Indigenous women and girls;



forced abortions of Indigenous girls in residential schools;

5. Forced transfer of children from one group to another

theft of Indigenous children from families into residential schools, some never seen alive again;

theft of thousands of Indigenous children to be adopted into white families.

The current conjuncture

So why is it so important to understand the history of genocide in Canada? Because its not history. Todays racist government laws, policies and actions have proven to be just as deadly for Indigenous peoples as the genocidal acts of the past. What used to be the theft of children into residential schools is now the theft of children into provincial foster care. What used to be scalping bounties are now Starlight tours (deaths in police custody). There is no way for Indigenous peoples to get over the past so long as modern policies are based on the same racist underpinnings and have the same destructive results. Racism for Indigenous peoples in Canada is not just about enduring stereotypical insults and name-calling, being turned away for employment, or being vilified in the media by government officials  racism is killing our people.

A recent Statistics Canada report showed that First Nations adults die from avoidable causes at more than twice the national average. They defined the term avoidable as implicating public health policies and the provision of timely and adequate healthcare. Examples include Brody Meekis, who died of treatable strep throat, or Brian Sinclair, a disabled man, who waited 34 hours in emergency until he died of a treatable bladder infection. Other socioeconomic variables such as education were, not surprisingly, found to have a major impact on reducing avoidable deaths. This report supports earlier studies which have linked the chronic underfunding of essential human services like water, sanitation, housing, education and health care with the premature deaths (from seven to 20 years earlier) of First Nations members compared to Canadians. We know from numerous Auditor General of Canada reports that the primary difference between First Nation social programs and those in the rest of Canada is discriminatory underfunding.

Even federal government reports admit that the primary reason for the 30,000 to 40,000 Indigenous kids in care is the underfunding of child and family services in First Nations. The over representation of Indigenous peoples in prisons has also been called a national emergency and is directly tied to what the Office of Correctional Investigator has called discriminatory laws and policies.

Even the Supreme Court of Canada has intervened on the over-imprisonment of Indigenous peoples, but imprisonment continues to increase. Federal and provincial governments have refused to acknowledge that we have a real racism problem in Canada despite pleas from First Nations and many interventions from the UN . Even the historic Idle No More movement was not enough to make government officials take any action  except to put us all under surveillance and label us as terrorists. Lack of concern for the lives of Indigenous peoples is a current reality. When former Prime Minister Harper was confronted by growing public concern, demands by First Nations for an inquiry and several United Nations reports condemning Canadas refusal to act on murdered and missing Indigenous women, his response was its not high on our radar to be honest.

Canada has long known what the problem is, but has failed to take action. The newly elected Liberal government has promised a new way forward with Indigenous peoples, which includes a nation-to-nation relationship and the implementation of the UN s Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN DRIP). It has also promised to implement the TRC recommendations, which include a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women. While we welcome these encouraging promises, we cannot forget that every successive government since contact has had a hand in the genocide of Indigenous peoples. Weve heard many lofty promises before.

Montreal march for Indigenous rights, October 2015. Posted on theguardian.com; Cristian Mijea.

Whats to be done?

We cannot sit back and wait to see whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will make good on his promises. We have to set the agenda and keep pressure on the government to take action. The lives of Indigenous peoples depend on it. We need an emergency action plan to address the devastating outcomes of genocidal policies including safety, health, education, housing, water, food, and child and family. These essential human services must be funded on a needs-based formula, not on provincial comparisons. Trying to address the gap is folly given the cumulative destructive nature of chronic underfunding and our unique rights.

However, nothing will change unless Canada addresses the root causes of our poverty and recognizes our ownership and jurisdiction over our lands and peoples. If we are ever going to get to a place where Indigenous peoples can feel safe and secure in their own territories, we have to move beyond shock, denial and debate over the term genocide and address the lethal origins of these modern racist policies. A full-scale, comprehensive review of all federal and provincial laws and policies is needed to ensure compliance with human rights laws, constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights, and international laws like UN DRIP. There is room enough for all of us to live in Canada, share the wealth and responsibility for protecting the lands and waters which sustain us, and make a good life for our families, communities and Nations. We have the collective power to end genocide against Indigenous peoples and restore justice in Canada  our very lives depend on it.

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WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 -- French livestock officials are awaiting test results on tissue samples from a cow suspected of having bovine spongiform encephalopathy. If confirmed, it would be the countrys first case of BSE since 2004.

France is Europes biggest cattle producer and there is concern that a new case of BSE  more commonly known as mad cow disease -- could affect exports in an industry already struggling with low prices. Last year French beef exports totaled just over $1 billion, trade ministry data show.

The suspect cow died on a farm in the Ardennes region of France. Preliminary testing on the carcass on March 17 indicated the presence of BSE. Tissue samples have been sent to an official European BSE reference laboratory in the UK for further testing. Officials said it could be several days yet before results are available.

Confirmation of the disease could prompt the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to reassess Frances official BSE risk level. Only last year the country regained the safest rating of negligible risk. South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Singapore lifted embargos on French beef following the OIE decision.

BSE is a brain-wasting disease that is fatal to cattle. Scientists say it is usually transmitted through animal feed containing tissue from infected animals. Most countries, including the U.S. and Canada, ended that practice years ago. BSE has also been linked to the incurable variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, which destroys brain tissue.

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There have been four confirmed cases of BSE in the U.S. The first was in 2003, in Washington state, in a dairy cow that was born in Canada. The most recent case was in 2012, in a dairy cow in central California. The OIE upgraded the U.S. to a negligible risk rating in 2013. It was previously rated as a controlled risk country.

A spokesman for the National Cattlemens Beef Association noted that while France is approved to export beef to the U.S., the U.S. hasnt purchased any of the meat from France since March 2010. Future export eligibility, he added, would be based on Frances OIE risk status.

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By: Lorraine Greco

If there is one place that, in recent years, overwhelmingly demonstrates the need and importance of U.S. farm policy, it is California. For the past four years, this top agricultural producing state has experienced record drought conditions and for farmers like my husband and me, it has taken a toll on our operation.

We have been growing rice in the Sacramento Valley for 30 years and we have never seen a weather event this relentless. Although the arrival of El Nino has provided much needed rain, the effects are marginal because of the intensity of the drought.

Operating loans are essential for every farmer because of the cost of producing crops, but for my family they have enabled us to keep going to the next year despite depressed yields and prices, and in some cases the inability to plant a crop at all.

We would not be able to receive this crucial financing without crop insurance and farm policy in place. Farming is an inherently risky business and bankers want assurances that we will be able to pay back the loan if disaster strikes. We were not born into farming  we built our operation from the ground up  so we still have land and equipment payments to make regardless of whether we have a good or bad growing season, or whether a natural disaster wipes out our crops altogether. Crop insurance is something we purchase each year to manage this risk and we only receive an indemnity when we suffer a verifiable loss. Even then, it doesnt make us whole, but it does soften the blow from a bad year.

Its important to have this kind of safety net in place for all farmers, all across the country. And, I am always alarmed by the calls in Washington to cut what remains of the farm safety net, especially from those who have no idea what it takes to grow food and fiber. We need risk management tools now more than ever to help us overcome unpredictable weather events.

Additionally, we need policy in place to combat unfair practices with our foreign competitors like China and Thailand whose support for their rice growers far exceeds that of the United States and actually violates agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO). While the U.S. was reforming its policy in the 2014 Farm Bill, other countries were ramping up support for their farmers, in some cases by more than a 100 percent. Their policies are trade distorting and leave American growers at a competitive disadvantage.

American farmers can and do manage extraordinary risks, year in and year out, but we cannot manage the challenges associated with unpredictable and sustained natural disasters, volatile markets, and trade distorting policies of our foreign counterparts without risk management tools like crop insurance and farm policy.

Lawmakers in Washington should consider this reality. If they want to continue to have agricultural production in this country, and in California in particular, they need to invest in it.





Lorraine Greco serves on the California Board for the U.S. Rice Producers Association. She grows organic rice with her husband in northern California.

#30

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YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has endorsed Ted Cruz for the nomination, saying the US senator from Texas represents the partys best chance of winning the White House, Armenpress reports citing The Guardian.

In a statement, the former Florida governor called Cruz a consistent, principled conservative who had demonstrated an ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.

Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential, Bush said.

The 63-year-old, whose father and brother have served as president, dropped out of the nomination race after losing in South Carolina on 20 February.

The endorsement comes as establishment Republicans scramble to stop the frontrunner, Donald Trump, from winning the nomination because of his divisive proposals, including a plan to deport 11 million undocumented migrants.

Cruz has run in second place behind Trump and could conceivably win enough Republican delegates to take the nomination.

The lone path of the Ohio governor, John Kasich, to the nomination is to extend the race until the partys national convention in July. The idea is to deny Trump the required 1,237 delegates needed and force party leaders to consider someone else.

A source close to Bush said he picked Cruz because he had the most viable path to the nomination and had shown that he could win states. The source said Bush considered a push for a contested convention to be a hail-Mary strategy at best.

In the weeks after he withdrew, Bush met former rivals Cruz, Kasich and the US senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Rubio dropped out of the race after losing in Florida last week. Bush spoke by phone to Cruz on Monday.

In his statement, Bush said Republican voters must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity that Trump had brought into the political arena or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies.

To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that.

In a statement, Cruz said Bushs endorsement is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat the Democratic nominee in the election on 8 November. The current Democrat frontrunner is Hillary Clinton.






YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. Embassy, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Economy, organized a seminar on March 23 for government officials and private sector representatives on the Generalized System of Preferences, a U.S. trade program designed to promote economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential, duty-free entry for thousands of products from 122 designated countries, including Armenia. Before the start of the seminar First Deputy Minister Garegin Melkonyan had a meeting with the GSP director of USTR Ms. Aimee Larsen and Economic and Commercial officer of the Embassy of the United States of America Mr. Raphael Sambou.

Armenpress was informed from the Information and Public Relations Department of the Armenian Ministry of Economy that Garegin Melkonyan greeted guests and emphasized the importance of having such events in Armenia. Mr. Melkonyan noted. "Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed between US and Armenia is an important tool to intensify and deepen relations, particularly in the field of trade and economic cooperation, further export growth. Armenian export to U.S. needs diversification and in this regard this seminar will raise awareness among Armenian exporters regarding preferential regimes U.S. is granting to Armenian companies"

According to the Economic and Commercial Officer of the Embassy of the United States of America Raphael Sambou The U.S. Embassy is delighted to help facilitate and boost Armenian exports to the U.S. by bringing Ms. Aimee Larsen, the GSP Director of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, to Armenia. Ms. Larsens visit was organized as a direct outcome of the first meeting of the U.S.-Armenia Council on Trade and Investment, held in Yerevan in November 2015. We believe this newly-established Council will help broaden U.S.-Armenia trade and investment relations, and we hope that Ms. Larsens seminar will be a positive step in that direction.  Although the vast majority of Armenian exports to the U.S. already enter under the GSP program, and thus benefit from this preferential duty-free treatment, the participants in Ms. Larsens seminar will be able to explore ways to increase exports in areas where GSP benefits have not yet been fully claimed.

During the seminar Ms. Aimee Larsen made a presentation on expanding Armenia's exports through the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program. Armenia's GSP exports to the U.S., procedures of the program were presented as well. Comprehensive answers were given to the questions raised by the participants.

At the end of the seminar for the further development of trade and economic relations Garegin Melkonyan proposed to the American side to discuss a possibility of having a similar event in autumn this year with much higher involvement of private sector.
Terrorist Strikes and the Blame Game

Inside the Burssels airport. ( Jef Varsele) (AINA) -- Europe is counting the cost of the latest Islamist terrorist strikes. Two explosions at Zaventem airport in Brussels, with an accompanying explosion at Maelbeek metro station in the heart of the city, have left over 30 dead and dozens seriously injured. These events follow the Islamist terror attacks in Paris last November which killed 130 people. Both sets of attacks were carried out by Muslim radicals acting in support of the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL).

In such circumstances, it is almost unimaginable that someone would blame the victims. Yet this has become something of a tradition in the wake of terrorist strikes taking place on an increasingly frequent basis across the continent of Europe.

Marginalised groups

Expressing this trend, former CNN correspondent now with Al-Jazeera, Mohammed Jamjoom, commented as follows within hours of the Belgian attacks: "Large segments of the populations in Europe, while they may have citizenship in the countries where they've been living most of their lives, they feel disenfranchised... This makes it much easier for groups like ISIL or other groups ... to recruit them to go to places like Syria perhaps to get training, then go back and plot attacks."

Mr Jamjoom argues that European policymakers have not sufficiently addressed this situation: "They've said in the past that they intend to have ... policies that are more inclusive. But the fact that these attacks keep happening kind-of shows that Europe hasn't been doing a good job at this."

Al-Jazeera is not alone in hosting such blame-the-victim commentary, nor is Mr Jamjoon alone in expressing it. A January 2015 report from leading news agency Reuters similarly suggests that ultimately Europeans are responsible for their own experience of terrorist strikes. This report gave voice to former Belgian justice minister, Laurette Onkelinx who said: "Despair is certainly one of the key explanations. When you are in despair, when you have no future, you are much easier prey to preachers of hatred." The report goes on to identify discrimination and the activities of so-called "far-right" political groups as contributing to the despair among Muslims.

Undoubtedly, there are marginalised groups in European countries, as there are in countries of the Middle East, Asia, the Americas and, indeed, everywhere. But European policymakers have long sought to address such marginalisation. Considerable funds have been allocated by both national governments and European Union agencies for affirmative action policies, to the advantage of diverse marginalised groups.

A European Parliament Report on cohesion policy and marginalised communities of 30 October 2015 defined marginalised communities as "diverse groups and individuals, such as minorities, Roma, people with disabilities, people living below the poverty line or at risk of poverty, migrants, refugees and socially excluded groups in society."

It is striking that of all the diverse groups identified as marginalised in this definition, certain groups of Muslims are alone in responding with terrorist attacks on civilian targets. Such extreme and coordinated violence cannot be found among Roma, people with disabilities, or non-Muslim people living below the poverty line or migrants.

So there are clear flaws in the argument that marginalisation on its own leads to despair, which in turn leads to terrorist training and action. This trajectory only seems to apply to marginalised Muslims.

The Molenbeek phenomenon and multicultural mistakes

European policymakers do indeed need to engage in soul-searching, but not for the reasons identified by Mr Jamjoom and similar commentators. Where these policymakers have made crucial mistakes is in the area of multicultural policy and social evolution.

European multicultural policies since the 1970s have embraced a hands-off approach, allowing the emergence of sub-culture ghettos which represent, in effect, transplanted communities from other countries. This certainly has its advantages in some cases, as can easily be seen by a restaurant outing to any of the Chinatowns that exist in cities throughout the West.

But Muslim ghettos pose special problems. The Brussels suburb of Molenbeek is a high density Muslim community, described by some commentators as a hotbed of jihadi radicalism. Molenbeek provided refuge to Paris attacker Salam Abdelsalam. It was the home of one of the 2004 Madrid train bombers, as well as of the gunmen who attempted to attack passengers on the Amsterdam-Paris train last April. The terrorist who murdered four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014 had also spent time in Molenbeek.

European policymakers need to tackle the formation of such Muslim ghettos. A hands-off approach is no longer tenable in this age of Islamist terrorist strikes. Europe's political elite needs to engage in a kind of social engineering that involves far greater integration of Muslim communities in Europe, dispersing Muslim families in majority non-Muslim neighbourhoods. This kind of intervention would also involve a close monitoring of sermons in mosques, as well as applying strict controls in issuing visas to potentially inflammatory speakers from the Muslim world. The arrival of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees in Europe makes this task more difficult but at the same time much more urgent.

Europe should not blame itself for the terrorist strikes. Responsibility clearly lies with the Islamist groups who carry out these attacks. But European leaders need to take charge of their growing Muslim minority populations as a matter of great priority. They owe it to Europe's future generations.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. On March 23 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received Yaqoub Abdulmohsen Al-Sane, the Minister of Justice, Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of the State of Kuwait and the members of the Delegation accompanying him.

Armenia President noted with satisfaction that the relations between Armenia and Kuwait are developing in a normal way and the bilateral cooperation agenda is expanding year by year.

As Armenpress was reported by the Department of Mass Media and Public Relations of the Armenian Presidents Staff, Serzh Sargsyan warmly recalled his 2009 state visit to Kuwait, which resulted in significant activation of inter-state relations based on centuries-old friendship of the two peoples, embassies were opened in Kuwait, two sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee has already been held, identifying new opportunities for development of cooperation.

The President gave a big role to diplomatic missions in Armenia and Kuwait in strengthening the Armenian-Kuwaiti relations and expressed hope that they will make more efforts hereinafter. Serzh Sargsyan stressed the importance of high-level political, economic and cultural relations in parallel with the progress of cooperation in the sector of justice which was created due to the intergovernmental agreement, signed during within the framework of Minister Yaqoub Abdulmohsen Al-Sanes visit.

The President thanked Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah IV Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the government for caring and kind attitude to the Armenian community, as well as for the assistance provided by the State of Kuwait to Syrian-Armenians in the frames of the aid to the affected Syrians because of Middle East crisis.

Kuwaiti Justice Minister thanked the Armenia President for the warm reception and noted that he agrees with the presidents assessment on progress achieved in relations between the two friendly states in a short period of time.

He expressed hope that the agreement signed in the frames of his visit will serve as a new basis for expanding the collaboration and signing new documents.
March 22, 2016

CAIRO  On March 13, Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail issued a decision to dismiss Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind from his post over remarks that were considered offensive to the Prophet Muhammad.

In an interview on Sada Elbalad TV on March 11, Zind was asked about a case involving the imprisonment of journalists and if it contradicted the constitution. He responded that everyone who breaks the law will be put behind bars even if it was the prophet himself.

On the next day, speaking on a call-in show with the same TV program, Zind apologized, saying I ask God Almighty for forgiveness, and said his remarks were a slip of the tongue.

Zind accused the Muslim Brotherhood, which is labeled as terrorist by the Egyptian government, of being behind the remarks going viral on social media in order to trigger outrage against him. It is worth noting that he was a harsh critic of the group when Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi was in power from June 2012 to July 2013.

Using an Arabic hashtag that translates to #Prosecute_Zind, which was picked up by a large audience in the Arab world and Egypt, activists on Twitter demanded that Zind be referred to the judiciary.

In a statement issued March 13, which did not explicitly name Zind, Al-Azhar warned that all those involved in public discourse and in the media must respect the name of the prophet. He should not be subjected to any insult, even if it's unintentional.

Zind is the second justice minister in less than a year to vacate the post over media remarks that triggered outrage. He led the ministry after his predecessor Mahfouz Saber resigned May 11, 2015, amid controversy following his remarks that judges must come from a respectable milieu" and that sons of rubbish collectors should not become judges.

This isnt the first time Zind has made controversial statements. On Jan. 28, Zind said in a TV interview, I would not be satisfied until 10,000 Brotherhood members were killed for every martyr of the armed forces and the police in the attacks that targeted Egypt since Morsi was ousted.

These statements caused anger and were perceived as irresponsible. On Feb. 8, Human Rights Watch called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to condemn the remarks, which according to the organization "advocate the mass killing of Muslim Brotherhood supporters."

On March 13, shortly before the decision to dismiss the minister, the Egyptian Judges' Club issued a statement announcing its commitment to Zind remaining in office, in order to continue to enhance the judiciary, which has already started to bear fruit.

The statement pointed at a potential clash between the Judges' Club, which includes 13,000 judges, and the government, Reuters said.

Abdallah Fathi, head of the Judges' Club, told Reuters, Egypt's judges are sorry that someone who defended Egypt and its people, judiciary and nation in the face of the terrorist organization that wanted to bring it down should be punished in this way.

Judge Tahani al-Gebali, former deputy head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, told Al-Monitor, The decision to dismiss Zind is unconstitutional. She added, The appointment and dismissal of the justice, interior, defense and foreign affairs ministers consist of sovereign decisions that should be issued by the president alone under the current constitution of 2014, and it is not up to the prime minister to issue such decisions.

Commenting on whether or not the decision was made following a meeting between Sisi and Ismail  that is, upon Sisis directives  Gebali said, The president shall not delegate sovereign powers. A direct decision shall be issued by the president himself, not through someone else. She added, "The prime minister violated the limits of his constitutional powers.

On the reasons behind the dismissal, Gebali said, There are major questions about this, especially at this time. A Cabinet reshuffle was scheduled to be conducted soon, so why not wait. She argued that the decision is a political mistake, and Zinds remarks on the prophet are not sufficient reasons for the dismissal of a minister from his post.

In a March 19 article in the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, Mourid Subhy wrote that the immediate dismissal came following Zinds remarks on TV on March 11, in which he implicitly recognized that the murder of Italian youth Giulio Regeni came after he was being tortured, which underscores political suspicion. This goes in line with the Italian suspicions, despite the Egyptian attempts to rule out this hypothesis.

Egyptian journalist Abdullah al-Sinawi, who is close to Egyptian decision-making circles, wrote an article for Al-Shorouk newspaper March 18 on the reasons for Zinds dismissal. He said, The declared reason is different from the real reason. It was declared that the reason is blasphemy against the prophet. Yet, the thing that remained undeclared is that Zinds presence has become a burden that the ruling regime can no longer stand.

Gebali added, Zinds remarks on the imprisonment of the prophet are not perceived as contradictory to Islam, since he asked God for forgiveness. Legally, a lawsuit cannot be filed for the blasphemy of the religion. She argued that under the Egyptian Penal Code, any case in this regard will be dropped because Zind has apologized and asked for forgiveness at the same time.

Speaking about Zinds term at the Justice Ministry, Gebali said it was very positive," noting that he did a lot to advance the situation for both courts and judges, ensuring easy access to the courts. "This is in addition to his positive and progressive stance toward female judges, as a group of female judges were appointed during his term, and he appointed a female judge as his assistant.
March 23, 2016

Seventeen Egyptian rights organizations have released a joint statement condemning what they described as an orchestrated, escalating assault on Egyptian civil society organizations in recent weeks.

The statement, published on the official website of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies on March 21, added that recent measures adopted by the authorities against a number of rights organizations  including travel bans, summons for questioning and the freezing of assets of two prominent rights defenders  were an attempt to entirely eliminate rights organizations and use the judiciary as a political tool to silence dissidents.

Indeed, independent civil society organizations are the latest target of a widening security crackdown on dissent that has seen thousands of opposition members, secular activists, journalists and intellectuals imprisoned since the military takeover of the country in July 2013.

The imposition of travel bans on rights activists Hossam Bahgat and Gamal Eid and the freezing of their assets (along with the assets of Eids family members) on charges they received a total of $1.5 million in illegal funds from foreign entities has raised fears among rights groups of increased repression and a diminishing space for freedom of association in Egypt.

Bahgat, the founding chairman of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and a journalist working for the independent news portal Mada Masr, was prevented by authorities from traveling to Jordan on Feb. 23 to participate in a UN conference on justice in the Arab world. Four months earlier, he had been summoned for investigation by the military prosecutor in relation to an article he had written about a split in military ranks. He was detained for two days in November 2015 on charges of publishing false news that harms national security and disseminating information that disturbs public peace. His impromptu release a couple of days after his arrest was clearly the result of international pressure piled on the authorities following a wave of outrage over his detention and calls for protests in Cairo, London and other cities to demand his release. While Bahgat was able to walk free, he was not sure if the charges against him had been dropped or if he would face trial at a later date.

Eid, another prominent human rights activist and lawyer and founder-chairperson of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, was banned from traveling to Athens on Feb. 3. He was turned back by airport officials who told him that his name was on a travel ban list following a judicial order.

A Cairo court has postponed to March 24 a session to rule on last weeks judicial order freezing the assets of the two activists after the defendants failed to show up in court. Their defense lawyers said their clients had not been officially notified of the case.

The measures against Eid and Bahgat are part of a wider security onslaught against civil society organizations working to promote democracy and human rights. In recent weeks, the authorities have reopened investigations into the so-called foreign funding case, dating back to 2011. The targeted organizations include Eids Arab Network for Human Rights Information and Bahgats Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The notorious case (No. 173 of 2011) has been reopened to silence critics and crush the last vestiges of free expression in the country, Eid told Al Monitor.

In 2011, five foreign NGOs were accused of operating and receiving foreign funding without a license  43 of the NGOs staffers (17 of whom were US citizens) faced charges of conducting research, political training and workshops without licenses and "illegally receiving foreign funding." The defendants were handed down jail sentences ranging between one and five years, many of them in absentia. The court also ordered the closure of the international NGOs and the confiscation of their funds. Meanwhile, Egyptian civil society organizations accused in the same case were allowed to continue to operate.

In September 2014, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi amended Article 78 of the Penal Code, adding the provision that receiving foreign funding for the purpose of harming national security is punishable by life imprisonment. The decision to reopen investigations of the Egyptian NGOs comes after the 17 aforementioned rights organizations sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights decrying the deteriorating human rights situation. They cited extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, police brutality and torture among a host of rights violations practiced in the country.

In their letter, the rights groups mentioned this weeks investigation of three female staff members of Nazra for Feminist Studies (an NGO working to promote the causes of women) on charges of receiving illegal foreign funding. Mozn Hassan, the chairperson of Nazra, described their interrogation by prosecutors as an attempt to intimidate us and restrict our activities. She said she believed her organization was specifically targeted because of "Nazras perception of feminism as a movement that requires political and legal reforms.

The letter also mentioned visits by government officers to several civil society organizations as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into their funding.

Meanwhile, El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence  a prominent institution providing medical services and counseling to victims of police torture  was shut down in late February after it had received an administrative closure order claiming it had violated the terms of its license. The order did not disclose details about the nature of the violations. Furthermore, Negad El Borai, a human rights lawyer who heads the legal unit at United Group for Law, was interrogated March 3 for three hours before an investigative judge on charges of receiving foreign funding, managing an illegal organization and spreading false news. El Borai, a columnist for the independent Al Shorouk newspaper, is a staunch advocate for freedom of expression, assembly and association. Rights advocates believe that his work in helping draft a law to combat torture in Egypts prisons is the real reason for his persecution.

The investigative judge in the foreign funding case has described the measures against the rights organizations as precautionary. Officials have meanwhile rejected any criticism of the rights abuses that rights groups say "have reached unprecedented levels in the countrys modern history." In response to a recent scathing resolution by the EU Parliament that called for the suspension of military aid to Egypt because of the continued rights violations, the Foreign Ministry released a statement lamenting that the EU resolution was based on undocumented media reports.

The repeated denials of rights abuses and continued repression signal more harassment of rights defenders and greater restrictions on freedom of association in the country in the weeks and months to come.

The reopening of investigations of NGOs in the foreign funding case, the freezing of our assets and the travel bans are meant as a clear message to rights groups: Be silent or meet a similar fate. Thats because the voices of these rights groups are the loudest in calling for democracy and in fighting repression, Eid said. He reminded the government, however, that restrictions on freedom of expression and association can produce neither stability nor security.

With the trial to decide on the freezing of Eid's and Bahgats assets adjourned, neither Eid nor the other rights defenders are betting on a positive outcome  nor do they expect an easing of the clampdown on rights organizations anytime soon.
March 23, 2016

All is not well in post-sanctions Iran. In his first Nowruz message since the signing and implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), President Hassan Rouhani was muted about the sanctions relief. He only used the word sanctions twice, and when he did, he merely broadly stated, Banking, financial, monetary, oil, gas, petrochemical, insurance and transportation sanctions  have been lifted. Conditions for the economic activities of our people have gotten greater and greater."

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is of a different mindset. In his Nowruz speech, in which he referred to sanctions at least 28 times, Khamenei stated, The Americans have said that they would lift sanctions, and they have actually done so on paper, but through other ways and methods, they are acting in a way that the result of sanctions repeal will not be witnessed at all.

Normalization of Irans trade with the world is of utmost importance to the Iranian leadership for multiple reasons. For Rouhani and his moderate camp, political fortunes are greatly tied to the JCPOA having a tangible impact on the lives of ordinary Iranians. Indeed, for those seeking a more open Iran, it is greatly unfortunate that the lifting of banking and financial sanctions has done little to remove fears about doing business with Iran. If you dont believe the Iranian insiders who tell Al-Monitor that few to none of the major players yet dare go near Iran, listen to Ayatollah Khamenei, who usually avoids going into detail.

Today, in all Western countries and in all those countries that are under their influence, our banking transactions have been blocked. We have a problem bringing our wealth  which has been kept in their banks  back to the country. We have a problem conducting different financial transactions that require the assistance of banks.  The US Department of the Treasury acts in a way  that big companies, agencies and banks do not dare to approach the Islamic Republic and have business transactions with it.

To grasp the impact of lingering fears about engaging with Iranian banks and businesses, one must consider the motivations for Irans strategic decision to negotiate over its nuclear program. Moreover, one must grasp the nature of decision-making in the Islamic Republic.

The economic pain of the sanctions did not decisively bring Iran to the table. Rather, what contributed to changing calculations was concern over who Iranians may blame for the pain. Iran is no exception to the rule that all politics is local. Thus, a key motive for the Islamic Republics decision to seriously engage with the six world powers was to prove to Iranians that it has reasonably and in good faith sought a resolution to the nuclear issue. Khameneis aim was to show Iranians that their leadership has left no stone unturned in pursuing their interests. The centrality of avoiding blame extends to the very heart of Irans complex decision-making.

While Khamenei has final say on key national security and foreign policy issues, there are many decision shapers. The supreme leaders ultimate role is to act as the check in a state void of institutions strong enough to provide systemic balance. Thus, while having final say on important matters of state, the supreme leader often also acts as a bellwether of the political climate. Though complex and cumbersome, Iranian decision-making has certain benefits  at least for the political leadership. One member of the Supreme National Security Council, the highest decision-making body in Iran, told Al-Monitor in late 2014, amid the nuclear negotiations, Once a decision is made, it is very strong  if anything goes wrong, there is no one person to blame. The [political] system will say, OK, we did our best, but  everybody was involved, [and] it seems we took the wrong decision. Otherwise, this blame game will cripple the country." It is against this backdrop that one must view Khameneis specific and repeated reference to the continued troubles of Iranian banks in his Nowruz speech.

To be fair, Khameneis anti-American discourse, which centers on words like treachery and animosity, has been amplified by a series of bad experiences stretching over the terms of four Iranian presidents. In the 1990s, then-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjanis outreach to US oil firms was met with Congress passage of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, the foundation for subsequent secondary US sanctions targeting the Iranian energy sector. In the early 2000s, under then-President Mohammad Khatami, tacit Iranian-American collaboration to successfully overthrow the Taliban ended as the Islamic Republic was labeled a member of the infamous Axis of Evil. Moreover, under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran-US dialogue on Iraq faltered, while the White House not only rejected a nuclear fuel swap it had promoted but opted to instead push for intensified UN Security Council sanctions.

Despite these missed opportunities, most Iranians have so far favored engagement with the United States, as evidenced by their support for the JCPOA and the preceding negotiations. However, there are new and potentially troublesome dynamics at play that may greatly feed sentiment that faults the United States for the continued ostracizing of the Iranian economy.

In the past, talk of American treachery has fallen on deaf ears among many Iranians, partly because the Islamic Republics dealings with the United States were largely kept in the dark. In contrast, the highly publicized nature of the direct, high-level Iran-US engagement that led to the JCPOA has paved the way for anti-American sentiment to potentially find new breeding ground in Iran  should the United States come to be perceived as duplicitous.

To this end, there is a strong and shared interest between Rouhani and US President Barack Obama that ordinary Iranians imminently see  and feel  the normalization of Irans economic engagement with the world.

What is at stake is less about the future of the JCPOA and more about the risk of inopportune shifts in the Iranian political landscape at a crucial crossroads. Over the next 15 months, both Iran and the United States are set to hold important presidential elections. For President Obama, facilitating US commitments under the JCPOA is thus not only about securing an important aspect of his legacy, but more so, ensuring that his successor  whomever he or she may be  will encounter the same constructive Iranian approach he has benefited from so much. If not, it will be to the detriment of all.
March 23, 2016

When Mohammad Sarafraz was appointed in November 2014 to take over as head of Irans national television, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), expectations were that he would clean up a highly partisan institution suffering from budget and management issues. But Sarafraz, who founded IRIBs foreign language programs Press TV, Al-Alam and HispanTV, has been beset with a number of controversies in recent months.

On March 22, a number of Iranian websites published rumors about Sarafrazs alleged resignation and absence from work. Entekhab website wrote, Under the circumstances where the days before Nowruz are the busiest days for the IRIB, Mohammad Sarafraz, the head of this organization, has not been present at his office for 10 days.

The article continued, With the exit of the special inspector of the IRIB and her residence in the capital of Oman, there have been whispers of [Sarafrazs] unhappiness. The article did not go into details of the story regarding special inspector Shahrzad Mirgholikhan, but according to Aftab News, Mirgholikhan had clashed with the deputy of technology at IRIB.

Mirgholikhans tale and history adds another level of mystery to Sarafrazs reported absence. Before suddenly leaving, Mirgholikhan left a video message published by Iranian websites in which she said she did not regret working at IRIB or with Sarafraz. She added, If there is one real man in the Islamic Republic, it is Dr. Mohammad Sarafraz. Before becoming entangled in the current IRIB drama, Mirgholikhan had served five years in an American jail for attempting to purchase night vision goggles for Iran. Aftab News wrote that while conservative media had held up Mirgholikhan as a symbol of resisting against the arrogant powers, their media silence on her sudden departure is strange.

IRIB Public Relations answered back against the accusations of Sarafrazs absence and resignation. Their statement called the articles about Sarafrazs absence media mischief and a clear example of disturbing public opinion.

The statement denied that Sarafraz was absent for 10 days and claimed that he held meetings with Iranian officials on March 15, March 17 and on the days before the Iranian New Year (March 20). According to IRIB, critical media, in order to weaken and destroy Irans national television, created the rumors about Sarafrazs resignation. The statement continued that they would use all of their legal resources to file a complaint against media publishing these rumors.

The last time such an Iranian figure was absent from work was 2011. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had clashed with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the position of the intelligence minister. Ahmadinejad never politically recovered from his 11-day absence and public spat with Khamenei.

What caused the rumors about Sarafrazs absence is still unclear. He has not publicly addressed the media himself, though based on the variety of reports and the video of Mirgholikhan, it is certain that there is some type of trouble behind the scenes.

The last time IRIB made news was in February when a Press TV reporter recorded a senior manager sexually harassing her in a phone conversation. Two executives were fired over the incident.
March 22, 2016

Israeli Channel 2 aired on March 17 an investigative report documenting the activists of the Breaking the Silence organization allegedly collecting classified information about Israel Defense Forces (IDF) activity. In one of the high points of the report, former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter makes an appearance. Dichter, who is currently a Likud Knesset member, responds to the investigative material by telling the Channel 2 interviewer in a worried tone, If you hadnt told me the background, and told me what I was watching, I would have said it looked like information gathering by the handlers of an agent. Dichter concluded with the following punchline: and I didnt hear a word about Palestinians or Gazans. The words of the former Shin Bet chief were designed to back up what was presented as a Channel 2 investigative report. But in reality, it seemed like a propaganda clip of the right-wing Ad Kan ("No More") nongovernmental organization (NGO).

The Ad Kan people were the ones to supply the ostensibly incriminating material to Channel 2. In the last two years, the Ad Kan organization planted its activists in Breaking the Silence, an NGO that attempts to fight against the occupation by revealing testimony of soldiers about their army service in the territories, during conflicts and also during daily life.

In an attempt to give the report a serious dimension, Channel 2 correspondent Ofer Hadad said, At our request, we received all the unedited materials from all those hidden cameras. Unedited, not shortened. Hours of meticulous questioning and, yes, some of the evidence deals with questions regarding IDF activity in the territories.

On the assumption that Hadad indeed viewed all the long, jam-packed, unedited filmed materials, and all that he succeeded in collecting from them was barely 2 minutes of transmission of [ostensibly] classified material on weapons and events that can be read about in any newspaper, it is not at all clear what new details were disclosed by his work, if at all. And what about most of the material that was not broadcast; material that probably featured problematic behaviors of IDF soldiers in the territories? Dichter did not hear a word about Palestinians only because Channel 2 did not air those sections of the evidence.

Former head of Israeli Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi said in the report that the confidential material could cost human life. But Hadad and his apparatus did not need dramatic accusations leveled by Mizrahi or Dichter as to whether their report was serious, in-depth and tight, and met press standards. What Hadad did bring is information collected by a right-wing organization in its war against Breaking the Silence. Thus, there is a significant and substantive problem in presenting that information as the result of an investigative report. If Channel 2 had planted its own reporter inside Breaking the Silence, the situation would be different. But for considerations of ratings and left-wing bashing, something that has become popular recently in the Israeli public, Israels senior news provider chose to act like a member of the Ad Kan NGO.

Israeli democracy can contain the two organizations  the left-wing organization presented by Channel 2 as an Israel hater (Breaking the Silence), and the right-wing organization, presented as patriotic (Ad Kan). There is room for both, and both are important. But Israels key television channel that broadcasts Israels most watched news edition in the country cannot take an active part in this war. It cannot be a proxy of either side.

As expected, the report aroused a storm. This time, not only right-wing politicians accused Breaking the Silence of treason, but those affiliated with the center-left also accused them. Statements were released by a gamut of politicians, from Yesh Atid Chair Yair Lapid to Zionist Camp Knesset members Eitan Cabel and Itzik Shmueli, who accused Breaking the Silence of activities against the State of Israel. Within minutes of the airing of the report, the prime minister accused Breaking the Silence of crossing a red line," and said the issue is being dealt with by the relevant authorities." Following Netanyahus announcement, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon announced that he instructed the IDF to launch an investigation to see whether released soldiers who finished their compulsory service revealed classified information about their service. Afterward, Yaalon accused the organization of treason, saying, If they use this secret information outside of the country, or if they distribute this information and these documents outside of the country  this is treason. Even if they keep the information to themselves  it is still treason. Who is holding these documents? Why do they [Breaking the Silence] need to know what weapons we use in the air, on land, etc., and how they're used?

If Yaalon and Netanyahu are claiming that treason is involved, they should see to it that all those involved should be detained and investigated. All existing criminal tools should be used against them. But they wont take this path since they also realize that such an investigation would quickly boomerang on them, for two reasons. First, because similar activities are carried out by the right wing as well, and second, because such a radical step would have an adverse effect on basic human rights such as freedom of speech.

As far as the news department of Channel 2 is concerned, it has scored a success: It generated a political storm that caused all the networks to roll in arguments and debates. These arguments often included calls for tarring and feathering the Breaking the Silence people. But for ethical journalist practice in this investigative report, Channel 2 deserves a failing score. The Ad Kan organization could not have asked for better news coverage. Instead of simply uploading the information it collected on its Internet site, Channel 2 adopted Ad Kans material. This lent the material the appearance of, and presumed validity of, objective journalism.

There may be, perhaps, one positive result of this affair. Perhaps, after this incident, Netanyahu and other right-wing politicians will stop blaming the media for operating in the service of the left. But when taking into consideration the feelings of the public vis-a-vis the Israeli press and the electoral benefits involved in bashing the left, we can assume that no such change is in the offing.
March 22, 2016

The Arab Gulf states have begun taking practical and executive measures sanctioning Hezbollahs apparatus and entities supporting or dealing with it. Their actions stem from the March 2 decision by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Saudi Arabia was the first to act, having taken steps even before the GCC decision. On Feb. 26, the Saudi Ministry of Interior blacklisted three Lebanese men and four Lebanese companies for ties to Hezbollah and extended sanctions on them aimed at freezing their assets in the kingdom. Saudi citizens and residents are prohibited from dealing with these individuals and companies Vatech Sarl, Le Hua Electronic Field Co. Limited, Aero Skyone Co. Limited and Labico Sal Offshore  by order of Royal Decree A/44, targeting terrorists and their supporters. On March 3, the Ministry of Interior announced its intention to prosecute citizens and residents who sympathize, collaborate with or finance Hezbollah's militia.

The Lebanese awoke March 17 to a jarring headline in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah: Kuwait bans Syrians, Lebanese and Gulf nationals from entering the country or from renewing permits. The article reported that Kuwait had already banned a number of Lebanese and Syrians with ties to Hezbollah and the Islamic State (IS).

That same day, the Saudi newspaper Okaz, which is close to Saudi decision-making circles, published the article Hezbollah ministers banned from Arab conferences. The newspaper reported that ministers affiliated or allied with Hezbollah would be barred from attending Arab League council meetings, a move affecting the Lebanese ministers of foreign affairs, culture, transportation, industry, energy and education, as well as ministers of state for parliamentary affairs and public works.

The article also said sources were predicting a widening of commitment to Hezbollah's terrorist designation because of the group's insistence on maintaining its current path, rather than reconsidering and altering its policies. The group's determination was confirmed March 6 by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in a speech in which he said, We will teach a lesson to all the Arab countries and the Arab world,  and we will impose ourselves on the Arab world. Five days later, on March 11, the Arab League Council of Foreign Ministers issued its decision to also classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Nasrallah then further escalated the tone of his attack against the Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, in a speech, also on March 11, at a commemoration ceremony for one of its leaders. He said that Saudi Arabia is furious because of its failed bets in Syria and Yemen and is trying to blame Hezbollah for it. Well, they got angry, so they directed their wrath on all of Lebanon, Nasrallah said. He also remarked, We don't want money, nor do we want weapons, hinting at the Saudis' cancellation of a $3 billion military aid package to the Lebanese army.

It seems that the latest measures by the Gulf states aimed at putting a stranglehold on Hezbollah and its supporters are in retaliation for Hezbollahs response as set out by Nasrallah, positions that escalated the crisis instead of calming or containing the situation. Meanwhile, as events spiraled out of control, the Lebanese government remained paralyzed, crippled by a political divide between those supporting Hezbollah, the March 8 camp, and those opposing Hezbollah, the March 14 alliance.

Exacerbating matters and hindering the government's inability to react to contain the crisis is that unanimous Cabinet approval, a rare occurrence, is required to make decisions in the absence of a president, who presides over Cabinet sessions. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014. Thus, for the moment, every minister, mainly those allied with Hezbollah, has veto power and can block any decision not in line with the organization's strategy.

The crisis has Prime Minister Tammam Salam in a corner. Although Salam has publicly stated his objections to Hezbollahs positions and expressed solidarity with the Gulf countries, he realizes that Hezbollahs participation in his government is providing the Shiite party cover because there is no alternative in the absence of a president. The group can therefore continue with its pro-Iranian policies and its conflict with the Gulf states, which are isolating Lebanon from the Arab countries.

Salam also knows that Hezbollahs participation in the government is the reason behind the Gulf countries' actions. Why should they continue to support a state controlled by a component hostile to them. Dissolution of the government, which would have been the best solution if the country were not in the midst of a presidential vacuum, is not an option.

If Salam resigns, yes, it would remove Hezbollah's cover, but he would also be dismantling the last remaining, quasi-functioning state institution. Rashed Fayed, a media spokesman for the Future Movement, told Al-Monitor, The current government is a constitutional necessity. How could a new, neutral government, or any government, be formed without a president whose duty it is to hold consultations with the legislative branch before designating a new prime minister? Indeed, the prime ministers resignation would expand the constitutional vacuum and open the door to a review of the Saudi-brokered Taif Agreement, perhaps resulting in the Sunnis' losing prerogatives they gained in the accord.

The March 14 camp, considered an ally of the Arab Gulf states, has proven itself incapable of confronting Hezbollah in a way satisfactory to these states, because it lacks a unified strategy. One March 14 member, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, chose to resign because of the government's inability to stand up to Hezbollah, especially in regard to the case of Michel Samaha, a former minister recently released from prison by a military court after being convicted of smuggling explosives from Syria and fomenting sectarian strife in Lebanon. Others, like the Lebanese Forces, had rejected forming a government with Hezbollah in the first place without a written guarantee the organization would only use its weapons by national consensus.

The presidential crisis has exacerbated disagreements within the March 14 camp. The alliance couldn't even agree on a presidential candidate from among its ranks. Furthermore, it endorsed the nomination of two candidates, Michel Aoun and Suleiman Franjieh, from among its rivals allied with Hezbollah, after failing to agree on a common strategy because of partisan considerations. This confirmed the prevailing impression that the March 14 camp is directionless, even surrendering to its opponents will and candidates.

All this puts the government in a difficult position. With two ministers from Hezbollah and six others from Hezbollahs political bloc, how will the government deal with Arab countries that have labeled Hezbollah a terrorist organization? Given the emerging crisis with the Arab countries, how can the Future Movement, the largest party in the March 14 camp, justify to its Arab backers and allies the continuation of its ongoing dialogue with Hezbollah to ease the Sunni-Shiite sectarian divide? What is the point of maintaining the dialogue while the divide is deepening and being amplified by the recent crisis with the GCC countries?

Fayed concluded, Gulf states and Western countries have their rightful reasons to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, but things are different from our position as Lebanese. We reject most of the practices of Hezbollah and recognize their seriousness. We believe it threatens Lebanon's security. There is a part of the Lebanese people that still supports Hezbollah, and we cannot exclude [Hezbollah].
March 22, 2016

Congress' human rights panel is taking a rare look this week at US ally Morocco's controversial record in the disputed Western Sahara.

The March 23 hearing by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission comes as the 25-year-old UN mission to set up a referendum in the resource-rich area is set to expire next month barring another extension. Morocco announced last week that it was ending its $3 million contribution to the mission after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the country's presence an "occupation," which sparked a mass protest in Rabat.

"For far too long the native peoples have had their rights of self-determination put on hold, while numerous other internationally recognized human rights have been violated by Moroccos occupation," commission co-chairman Joe Pitts, R-Penn., told Al-Monitor in an e-mail. "The Moroccan Governments latest row with the Secretary General of the United Nations demonstrates the unattainable posture of the Kingdom. A resolution can only come with a spirit of cooperation, transparency and engagement  the hearing hopes to play a role towards that end, and I hope the State Department will decide to participate on Wednesday."

The conflict dates back to 1975, when Morocco annexed what it refers to as its "southern province" following the withdrawal of occupying power Spain. Rabat has offered autonomy to the region, but a number of the native Sahrawi inhabitants living in refugee camps in Algeria want a referendum on independence.

The Polisario Front, which represents the pro-independence faction, accused Morocco of inflicting a "slap in the face to the Security Council, and a dangerous provocation that could lead to war" in a March 20 statement.

Yet, a lobbyist for Morocco said it is the Polisario that deserves scrutiny. Almost a decade ago, Chairman Tom Lantos himself urged the Polisario Front to accept Moroccos reasonable and realistic offer of far-reaching autonomy for the people of the Western Sahara. Majorities of Congress in both chambers have done the same, reinforcing US policy supporting a solution to the conflict based on a formula of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty through letters, hearings, statements and laws. And while Morocco is doing everything it can to improve the lives of the people living in the area  devolving power to local authorities, building new infrastructure, and investing in job creation and education  Algeria and the Polisario havent budged, letting thousands of people languish in desolate camps, even robbing them of humanitarian aid. It is the Polisario that deserve the scrutiny of the commission bearing Chairman Lantos name, said Jordan Paul, executive director of the Moroccan American Center for Policy.

The US State Department calls Morocco's autonomy plan "serious, realistic and credible" if the Sahrawis can be convinced it is in their interest. Its most recent human rights report, however, alleges government restrictions on the civil liberties and political rights of pro-independence advocates; limitations on the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and the use of arbitrary and prolonged detention to quell dissent.

Meanwhile, Congress has increasingly sided with Morocco in recent years following a $3 million-a-year lobbying blitz, which dwarfs rival Algeria's $420,000-a-year campaign. For the past two years, Congress has mandated that part of the US economic assistance for Morocco be earmarked for the Western Sahara, which the State Department has followed by investing in "civil society organizations" and "local representative bodies."

Pitts has been a lone vote of dissent. Last year, he wrote a letter, first reported by Al-Monitor, to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton protesting a Morrocan mining company's $1 million donation to the Clinton Foundation.

Much of the dispute centers around Morroco's exploitation of the area's natural resources, including phosphate deposits and fisheries. Morocco counters that it is spending vast sums of money to improve the lives of the region's inhabitants, making its operations in the non-self-governing territory legal under international law.

The March 23 hearing will be the first time the House examines the conditions in the Western Sahara in about a decade, according to congressional staffers. Invited witnesses include several prominent advocates for Sahrawi rights, but no State Department officials had agreed to appear as of March 22.
The Birmingham Design Review Committee voted not to allow a new sign to go up in place of the Pepsi sign at its meeting Wednesday morning.

84 Outdoor, a Pennsylvania billboard company, asked the committee to approve their design for a UAB billboard atop the 17-story Two North Twentieth building - but the company's attorney, Alton Parker, said the company was before them as a courtesy.

"You have before you a grandfathered, legal non-confirming sign over which you have no jurisdiction," Parker said.

Several members of the DRC disagree with this assessment - and after a closed session to consult with the city attorney, the committee voted unanimously to disapprove the sign on the grounds that it is "an inappropriate solution to a historic sign."

The DRC approving the billboard would set a precedent for any other potential advertisers to use the board, said Chervis Isom, who spoke to the DRC on behalf of the John Hand Condo Owners Association.

"I doubt there's a major city in America that has a billboard on top of its skyline. It violates all principals of urban renewal," Isom said. "I would submit to you that 84 Outdoor couldn't care less about ... Birmingham. I guarantee you if Chick-Fil-A would pay more, we'd have a cow on top of this building. We would be a laughing stock."

84 Outdoor Corporate Counsel Cheri Bomar said the company is reviewing its legal options to see how it can appeal the vote.

Birmingham advertising agency Cayenne Creative designed the sign. UAB is spending $300,000 on the sign and has a one-year lease.

Harbert Realty put up the original Pepsi sign in 2014 without approval from the DRC after multiple submissions the committee ultimately rejected. Usually, the city does not give permits for projects until they get DRC approval.

At the time, Harbert said it didn't need a permit for a vinyl covering because the dimensions of the sign did not change. At least one leader in the Department of Planning, Engineering and Permitting disagreed, saying that a permit was not required but DRC approval is.

The day after UAB announced its plans for the sign, the city sent a cease and desist letter to 84 Outdoor.

"Any physical and/or material alterations to the building, including signage, must comply with the Birmingham Green Design Guidelines and be approved by the Birmingham Design Review Committee before a sign permit is issued," Andre Bittas, Director of the Department of Planning, Engineering and Permitting, wrote in the letter. "In order for the work to replace the sign to continue the following actions must be taken ... Obtain approval from the Birmingham Design Review Committee."
Deepwater Horizon.jpg

Mark Wahlberg stars as Mike Williams, an electrician on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and injuring 16 others. (Lionsgate)

(David Lee)

A film depicting the events of the BP oil spill of 2010 will open in September, and we've got our first look at it in a teaser trailer.

The film, called

stars Mark Wahlberg as Mike Williams, an electrician on the oil rig that exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and injuring 16 others.

The Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit, owned and operated by Transocean, was drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 100 miles off of Alabama's Gulf coast when the explosion occurred.

The explosion caused the rig to burn and sink, resulting in a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. About 3.19 million barrels of oil flowed into the gulf over the span of nearly three months.

Directed by Peter Berg (who directed Wahlberg in "Lone Survivor"), the film also stars Kurt Russell, John Malkovich and Kate Hudson.

The film will tell the story of the individuals who risked their own lives to save others in the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

"Deepwater Horizon" opens in theaters Sept. 30, 2016. Watch the trailer below:
Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

13 haunting photos from Alabama's forgotten past

Glenn Wills has a motto: "Take pictures of everything no matter how mundane. Almost nothing you see now will exist in a hundred years." Three years ago, the former photojournalist from Alabaster decided to live by those words. He set out on a mission to travel the state and began to blog about crumbling roadside sites on ForgottenAlabama.com and his Forgotten Alabama Facebook page.

More than 25,000 miles later, he has visited each of Alabama's 67 counties and taken 10,000 photos of abandoned buildings and churches, forgotten vehicles and dilapidated schools. As the number of visitors to his blog and Facebook page grew, Wills made plans to fulfill another dream: Publishing a book of his photos. The completed hardcover book, called "Forgotten Alabama," features about 185 of Wills' favorite photos. The book sells for $29.99 and can be purchased online by clicking here.

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Glenn Wills | Forgotten Alabama

The book "Forgotten Alabama" sells for $29.99 and can be purchased online by clicking here.

Get a preview of the book with 13 of Wills photos in this slideshow. This photo shows Marsh Store in Locust Fork, Ala.

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Wards Funeral Home in Opelika.

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(Photo by Candy Avera)

Glenn Wills, author of Forgotten Alabama.

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Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

How to buy Forgotten Alabama

The cover of "Forgotten Alabama" by Glenn Wills of Alabaster. The hardcover book is $29.99 and can be purchased here.

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The Capt. Chris, a retired shrimp boat in Bon Secour in Baldwin County.

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Abandoned repair shop on Oates Street in Dothan.

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Bethany Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Hale County.

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Marion Fire Department truck in Perry County.

READ MORE about abandoned Alabama sites:

Abandoned Alabama: Take a photo tour of haunting derelict homes, buildings

Abandoned Alabama Part 2: The ghosts of cities past

Abandoned Alabama Part 3: Ice Cream Castle, Jemison insane asylum, Masonic Lodge

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Abandoned mansion on Goldthwaite Street in Montgomery.

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The home where Rosa Parks grew up in Henry County.

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The Woodville house in Jackson County.

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An old railroad switch tower in Athens.

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A sharecropper's house in the Mt. Hope community of Lawrence County.

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Shoal Creek Bridge in Florence.

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An unknown church in Valley Head.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. On March 23 Armenia President and President of the Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan attended solemn event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of FIDE Honorary Vice-President Prof. Vanik Zakarian, held in Tigran Petrosian Chess House.

Armenpress was informed from the Department of Mass Media and Public Relations of the Armenian Presidents Staff that Blitz Chess Tournament was held during the event, which was attended by three generations of the Armenian chess players, strongest veterans of Armenia, the strongest chess players of nowadays, as well as still young but already internationally successful players of the new generation. Documentary film about Vanik Zakarian was also presented.

After the end of the tournament solemn closing and prize giving ceremony was held.

Serzh Sargsyan highly appreciated Vanik Zakarians contribution in the development and popularization of the Armenian chess and thanked him noting that Vanik Zakarian, overcoming difficulties still at the beginning of 1990, managed to find ways to create opportunities for children to learn chess and assured our players to participate in international tournaments and achieve great success. According to the President, even after leaving the post of President of the Chess Federation, Mr. Zakarian continues to live a life of chess, worries about the failures of our players and rejoice in their victories.

Serzh Sargsyan considered outstanding Vanik Zakarians achievements in the sector of science, noting that Zakarians in both mentioned sectors was appreciated by the state. The president expressed a hope that the famous intellectual will be useful for the chess for many years.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Russias top military commander in Syria says that Russian Special Forces have been active in the country, Armenpress reports citing The Washington Post.

Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov said in an interview with the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta released on March 23 that Special Forces soldiers have conducted intelligence to pinpoint targets for Russian airstrikes in Syria. He said they also have helped direct aircraft during their missions and carried out other unspecified tasks.

Dvornikov didnt say how many Special Forces soldiers have been deployed to Syria.

President Vladimir Putin last week ordered a pullout of some Russian warplanes from Syria, but said that strikes against the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front will continue. Those groups have been excluded from a Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 and has largely held.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Thanks to the special measures taken by officers from the General Department of Criminal Intelligence along with their colleagues from Interpol NCB in Armenia, Armavir Marz Department and Armavir division of Police of the Republic of Armenia, Latvian citizen Aram Gabriaelyan, DOB 1995, was detained in the village of Parakar on Tuesday, March 22 at 10 a.m.

Armenpress was informed from the official website of the Armenian Police that the young man had been wanted by Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Latvia charged under the Latvian Criminal law, article 117, part 12 /murder committed under aggravating circumstances/ since June 8, 2015.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Russia's Rostov on-Don airport has been evacuated, an airport employee told RIA Novosti, Armenpress reports citing Sputniknews website.

According to the reports, a suspicious package was found in the airport. The evacuation is underway.






As Republican race tightens, former rivals join forces but it remains to be seen if Donald Trump can be challenged.

Jeb Bush has endorsed Ted Cruz to be the American president. It must be a stunning sentence to read. It was certainly surprising to write.

This latest endorsement picked up by Cruz is hugely symbolic.

It doesnt bring a huge swath of supporters, because at this stage of the US presidential race, if youre endorsing another candidate, its because you didnt win a huge swath of support.

Bush, the former Florida governor, announced his support in a Facebook post. He called Cruz a consistent, principled conservative.

READ MORE: Cruz wants to patrol Muslim neighbourhoods

And it was a sign that part of the Republican establishment is finally willing to accept that Cruz is best placed to stop Donald Trump.

Thats quite a step because almost no one in Washington  Republican or Democrat  likes Ted Cruz.

He is viewed as an opportunist, a man who arrived in the Senate with one eye already on his presidential run. The feeling was Cruz made decisions based on what would be best for Ted Cruz and his appeal to the Republican Partys conservative base.



Donald Trump and the media

Jebs made his move now for a number of reasons.

Firstly he really dislikes the Republican frontrunner Trump. He sees him as a rude, brash, vulgar aberration; someone who is not really a Republican and certainly not a conservative.

He still bears the scars of the incessant attacks from the billionaire businessman at the beginning of his campaign. In fact, for every tweet Trump sent out attacking others in the Republican race, he posted four attacking Bush. And the former governor also remembers that Trump called his brother  former president George W Bush  a liar over the intelligence that took the United States to war in Iraq.

READ MORE: Trump at his angriest, antagonistic worst

Cruz is in second place in the nominating contest. So does Bush now believe that he would be a candidate who could unite the Republican Party and appeal to enough independents and Democrats to win the general election? No, he doesnt. But what he does provide is the best hope the Republicans have to block Trump from picking up enough delegates to secure the nomination.

If that happens, then when Republicans gather for the convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in July, therell be a contested convention. And those backing Ted Cruz will have done their job.

At that point, pressure will be brought to bear on the delegates from the Republican establishment to pick a more electable candidate. Of the three still in the race, John Kasich would be that choice. But he still has only won his home state, and it is hard to see where he gets a second victory.



Trump cements position as Republican frontrunner

Trump is almost certain to go into that convention with the most delegates. One of the strengths of his campaign is that he is not a politician and, therefore, doesnt follow the unusual rules. He believes if he was denied the nomination, there would be riots.

And given that he has racked up hundreds of thousands of votes in this campaign, the Republican Party would be taking a big gamble to essentially write those off, ignore the will of the people, and manipulate another candidate into position.

READ MORE: Super Saturday  a nightmare for Republicans?

It could lose the party support for generations to come. People would be hugely disillusioned with a system they already dont trust.

Its almost impossible to believe that the delegates would buy such a move; that they would ignore the support of so many voters, a process that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars and will take more than a year to complete.

But then Ive written about many more surprising things during this campaign.
As refugees continue to flee civil war in Syria, the road to asylum remains difficult for some Syrian-born Palestinians.

Berlin, Germany  When Rami Al al-Hasan tried to explain to a German official that he was a Palestinian national from Syria, the case worker was puzzled.

[German officials] dont understand that I was born in Syria but I dont have a Syrian passport. Its very unusual for them, he said.

The 23-year-old student arrived in the small city of Siegburg, Germany, in December 2014.

Although he has been in Germany for more than a year, Hasan still waits for the interview as part of his asylum application process. He was initially advised to apply for political asylum because of his Palestinian citizenship. But since he was born in Syria, Hasan felt that he was entitled to the same procedure as refugees holding Syrian passports.

Some officials are unaware of Syrian-born Palestinians status, and complications arise when processing their request for asylum.

After hearing conflicting stories from other Syrian-born Palestinians, Hasan realised different cities utilise different procedures.

They dont get the meaning of Palestinian Syrian. Some [local migration offices] register Syrian-born Palestinians as Syrians, and others just have to wait [until their citizenship status can be determined].

Syrias Palestinians

Before civil war erupted in Syria, an estimated 560,000 Palestinian refugees lived in the country. A largely invisible minority, Palestinians intermarried with locals and integrated smoothly into the social fabric of the country, even being eligible to be drafted by the Syrian military.

Since neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon closed their borders to Syrian Palestinians from Syria in 2015 (and later to Syrians in general), Europe has become an increasingly attractive destination for them.

According to the UNs Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, more than 110,000 Syrian-born Palestinians have fled Syria since the start of the conflict. Another 450,000 have been internally displaced.

We estimate that at least 60,000 have fled the region [outside UNRWAs jurisdiction of Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine], UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness told Al Jazeera. Probably a good many of those have fled to Europe.

What were seeing is the increasing regional vulnerability and fragility of Palestinians. They no longer feel safe in the region, so they are braving the life-threatening journey to Europe, said Gunness, referring to the repeated displacement of the Palestinians, beginning with the purge of a large number from Palestine after the countrys partition in 1948, and since then, throughout the regional conflicts in varying countries over the past decades. They are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, he says.

Palestinian, Syrian  or both?

Growing up in Aleppo, Hasan had the same upbringing as a typical Syrian, down to his Aleppine dialect and pride of what he considers his hometown. His siblings are also married to Syrian nationals. Growing up, he says, his friends were unaware that he was different.

Children of Palestinian fathers or grandfathers are considered to be Palestinian nationals, according to the Syrian government, regardless of the mothers citizenship. Only in very limited circumstances, such as the absence or statelessness of a father, could the mother grant her child Syrian citizenship.

In lieu of a passport, Syrias Palestinians are provided with travel documents and retain the right to live and work in Syria. The Syrian embassy in Berlin didnt reply to a request for comment about the countrys nationality laws.

I was treated like a Syrian in Syria, but outside of Syria, its different, Hasan says. Most countries around the world require visas from Palestinians, and with some countries not recognising them as citizens of war-torn Syria, the validity of their refugee status is still being questioned.

Applying for asylum in Germany

In 2015, Germany registered 1.1 million requests for asylum, more than five times the number in 2014. Around 430,000 Syrians were among those seeking refugee status in Europes largest economy.

A spokesperson for the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees told Al Jazeera in an email that Syrian-born Palestinians are regarded the same as Syrian nationals under German refugee law.

READ MORE: The Syrian refugees of Gaza

Syrian Palestinians, who do not have Syrian citizenship, are treated in the same manner as refugees from Syria who have Syrian citizenship under the asylum procedure in Germany, the spokesperson said. For all refugees from Syria, there is the so-called individual assessment with consultation, in which [asylum applicants] describe their personal reasons for leaving.

While the migration office is responsible for selecting asylum applications, the bureau is divided into local offices in municipalities throughout the country. According to the migration office, the national law is supposed to be applied the same way in every office.

Every effort is made by the [migration office] to ensure that every Palestinian is treated equally in the personal interview, said the spokesperson. For this, there are specifications and guidelines for specific countries of origin, which are available to decision-makers.

Challenges facing Syrian Palestinians

While German asylum law is meant to afford Syrian-born Palestinians the same protections as Syrian nationals, the asylum procedure remains a challenge for some at the local level.

In early 2015, Rami Haki arrived in Gunzburg. Life in the quiet town is different from his hometown of Damascus, but the 37-year-old doesnt mind.

Haki came to Germany with his wife, Hanaa, and their three children; they had a fourth child after arriving in Germany. While Hanaa is a Syrian national, Haki and the children are considered Syrian-born Palestinians. Hakis father came as a refugee to Syria after his family fled Palestine in 1948.

It is something my children and I didnt choose, explained Haki. This is done to protect the Palestinian nationality. When Palestinians adopt another nationality, they cannot go back to their country [of Palestine], he said, adding that the issue was all political.

The family tried to apply for refugee status together. However, at the interview in Munich, officials separated Haki from his wife and children, whose case, as dependent children of a Syrian national, was processed and approved quickly. On the childrens residence permits, the box indicating nationality is left void.

Haki didnt even realise that his application had been processed separately until his familys approval arrived and his name was missing on the documents.

I thought this official made a mistake in my file because he didnt put me and my wife in the same file, He says. I was told that we have two [separate] files because I am Palestinian and my wife is Syrian. But for me, this is not normal; I am Palestinian from Syria. I come from Syria, so I am the same as my wife.

He spoke to a worker at the local migration office and was told that theyd overlooked his Syrian travel documents and he was registered as a Palestinian national from Palestine. The documents were eventually corrected, and Haki was granted asylum last January.

A second-class person

Twenty-two-year-old Mohamad Jabeti had just begun university when he was forced to flee Damascus, his hometown. Jabeti is the grandson of a Palestinian refugee who had also fled Palestine in 1948.

Since September 2015, he has lived in Mannheim, one of Germanys largest cities. Despite his overall positive experience in Mannheim, Jabeti has found it difficult to explain his lack of a Syrian passport to German authorities.

Syrians dont have problems with asylum, but with Palestinians, [the German government] makes it very hard, Jabeti told Al Jazeera. I feel like a second-class person.

Jabeti often becomes frustrated when he meets Syrians and Iraqis who have had their asylum application fast-tracked. Many have been transferred from refugee housing and are allowed to study or work, while he continues to wait for an update from the migration office.

Q&A: Beyond Yarmouk, Palestinians in Syria need aid

I feel like I dont have the same rights as everyone else, he said. I want the German government to know that I am in the same situation as other Syrians.

However, the situation has reinforced his connection with his Palestinian roots. I am Palestinian. It is difficult to say that I am not Palestinian, he says, but I feel like I have no country, no nationality.

Special rules

In January 2016, Sweden imposed border controls to stem the influx of refugees arriving from Denmark. For Syrian-born Palestinians, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Migration told Al Jazeera that such cases were treated as Syrians and special rules were in place for individuals under UNRWAs protection.

The Swedish Aliens Act which determines refugee status and identifies those in need of international protection contains articles that explicitly extend to a stateless alien who is outside the country in which he or she has previously had his or her usual place of residence, explained a spokesperson for the ministry to Al Jazeera.

Thus, a stateless Palestinian who has had his or her permanent residence in Syria will have the application for asylum tried against the circumstances in Syria, in the same way as Syrian nationals.

Germanys neighbours arent all so forthcoming about their strategy for processing applications from Syrian-born Palestinians. The United Kingdom has pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020. Cases are to be referred by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. When asked whether Syrian-born Palestinians are expected to be among the new arrivals, officials from the UK Home Office refused to comment.

Other countries are also adopting special measures to offer asylum to Syrian Palestinians. Since his election in October 2015, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shifted Canadas policy on Syrian refugees. The country achieved its goal of resettling 25,000 refugees from Syria by the end of February 2016. Now, more than 26,000 have arrived

People from Syria, but with a country of citizenship other than Syria, and stateless people are eligible [for resettlement in Canada] when referred by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told Al Jazeera in an email.

According to UNRWAs Gunness, countries need to ensure that resettlement programmes dont discriminate against Syrias Palestinians. The immediate thing to do is to make sure [Syrian Palestinians] dont fall through the cracks, he says. Countries have to make it clear that Palestinians from Syria are to be treated in exactly the same way as Syrians from Syria because they are fleeing the same horrendous circumstances.

Dreams of a passport

In a world where international travel requires a passport, Hasan dreams of having one of his own. He feels burdened by his current situation.

I would like to have any passport, says Hasan. I only have a travel document. I dont want to talk about it because it makes me sad.

For the time being, he doesnt see himself returning to Syria. Instead, he plans to enrol at a university in neighbouring Cologne or Bonn to study computer science. He is already mastering the German language and lives with a local family.

I like living in Germany, says Hasan. As a student, its just perfect.

Still, he says, he wants to see the world and perhaps travel to Italy and around Europe. One day, he says, he would like to go to the United States or Canada.

I heard on the news that these are fantastic countries for immigration and all about the American Dream.

Maybe someday, when I have my own passport.
Once a zone with perfect conditions for farming, Ferghana Valley is today under threat of desertification.

Kuva, Uzbekistan- This town sits in the corner of the most fertile piece of land between Iran and China.

The overpopulated, Israel-sized Ferghana Valley has attracted the armies of Alexander the Great, Arabs, Mongols and Russian tsars. It has also spawned some of the bloodiest conflicts in the former Soviet Union, including ethnic clashes, incursions of armed Islamists and the Uzbek governments merciless crackdown on a 2005 popular revolt.

The glaciers and snows of the Tian Shan mountains around the valley give birth to the Syr Darya, one of Central Asias two major rivers, and turn the valley into a giant hothouse with nearly perfect conditions for farming. Border areas in nearby Xinjiang, Chinas troubled Muslim region, also depend on Tian Shans glaciers for water.

But between 1961 and 2012, the sky-scraping range whose name means Heavenly Mountains in Chinese, has lost 27 percent of its ice mass, the German Research Centre for Geosciences said last year. The annual loss amounts to up to 5.4 cubic kilometres of water a year, it said.

This means that the glaciers in the Tien Shan lose each year as much water as all the people of Switzerland, including industry consume in six years, Dr Daniel Farinotti of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research who led the research, told Al Jazeera.

By the 2050s, the loss may amount to half of the glaciers ice mass, the research concludes pessimistically.

The situation is of particular concern in light of both the local population growth and the continued glacier shrinkage anticipated in response to climatic changes, it said.

Killing for Water

The fields and orchards of Kuva, a millennia-old town known for Buddhist artefacts and irrigation systems that predate the Arab invasion of the 8th century, are a short drive away from the mountains.

But farmers here are ready to kill each other for water, a local mirob, or community official responsible for distribution of piped water from a communal canal, told Al Jazeera.

The official, who could not give his name because of his jobs sensitivity, described how over the past decade farmers have increasingly resorted to quarrels and fistfights and used their connections to officials to influence the timing and duration of water allocation to their land lots.

This year, theres next to nothing to irrigate the fields with. Theres been no winter this year, so were begging God for water, farmer Rasul Azamatov told Al Jazeera.

He drove his rundown motorcycle along an old, dry trough, its concrete sections bent and cracked, the cracks stuffed with plastic or cotton. An apricot orchard around him was in full bloom, pink petals falling on the dry soil with sparse leaves of last years grass that survived the snowless winter, but is withering without rain.

The districts irrigation hub is the Kerkidan reservoir built in Soviet times and once a magnet for picnickers and fishers. But what is left of the reservoir that is now shared by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan is an expanse of drying, crackled dirt and a few muddy puddles.

The Ferghana valley is a bit bigger than Israel, but lacks its proficiency in water conservation  and does not have many alternatives to farming. Cheap Chinese exports have killed local plants and factories, and the valley has become a major source of labour migration  mostly to Russia.

Energy for water

Apart from global warming, experts blame the perennial drought on the Soviet system of swapping water for energy  for its collapse.

The root of the problem is the disintegration of the resource-sharing system the Soviet Union imposed on the region until its collapse in 1991, the International Crisis Group, a conflict studies think-tank, said in a 2014 report entitled Water Pressures in Central Asia.

Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had few natural resources, but boasted massive dams and hydropower plants. They used to receive coal and natural gas from downstream Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The system was designed to turn Central Asia into a strategic source of cotton but fell apart by the late 1990s amid squabbles over energy pricing and unpaid debts, and a plethora of bilateral and regional agreements and resolutions concluded in that decade failed to fix it, the report said.

These days, Kyrgyzstan is withholding water in massive upstream reservoirs releasing it according to electricity generation needs  that is in winter  and not the interests of now-foreign farmers next door.

The dust-ups over water are aggravated by bad blood.

Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have been at odds for decades. Hundreds of people were killed in violent ethnic clashes in the Kyrgyz part of the Ferghana valley in 1990 and 2010, and the latter conflict prompted a brief exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Unsurprisingly, the word war resurfaced when Moscow threw its weight and money to revive Soviet-era designs to build five more dams and hydropower stations in Kyrgyzstan. The Kremlin pledged to finance the $3.2bn project on the Naryn River, Syr Daryas tributary, as part of its political effort to restore its foothold in Central Asia.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov wasnt very subtle with his warning. Control over water resources in the republics of Central Asia may lead to a full-scale war, he said in October.

But early this year, Russia and Kyrgyzstan scrapped the plans because of an economic meltdown caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions slapped on Moscow.

A Gordian knot

The Ferghana Valleys problems are replicated throughout Central Asia, a landlocked region of more than 60 million people where conditions for farming are far less favourable, but tens of millions still live off land. Their problems are exacerbated by desertification, old and decrepit infrastructure and poor water management.

The cotton monoculture and Soviet-era reclamation of steppes and deserts have already killed the Aral Sea, once the worlds fourth-largest inland body of water that lies some 1,500km east of Kuva. Aral is now reduced to two smaller lakes, while most of its former seabed has turned into a desert that releases tens of thousands of tons of toxic salt-dust annually.

Despite the immense environmental damage Arals desiccation has inflicted, the authoritarian governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, both listed among the worlds largest cotton producers, still force farmers to grow the water-thirsty fibre.

Authorities buy it at a fixed low price and rely on forced labour, mainly government employees and students who pick cotton for weeks or even months each autumn.

Uzbekistan controls one of the worlds largest systems of forced labour that involves millions of people, rights activist and campaigner Umida Niyazova, who was forced to leave Uzbekistan for Germany, told Al Jazeera.

Uzbekistan: A dying sea, mafia rule, and toxic fish

In southeastern Kazakhstan, another major body of water faces Arals fate.

The shallow, boomerang-shaped Balkhash is the worlds 15th largest freshwater lake mostly fed by the Ili River that flows from China. The lake that supplies three Kazakh regions with is shrinking as China amasses Ilis waters in a dozen reservoirs.

Given the Gordian knot of regional problems, some experts think that in the coming decades, an armed conflict in the region over water seems inevitable. The answer is clearly yes, Dr Farinotti said.

RELATED: Banned Russian art squirrelled away in Uzbekistan
EU must deal with the threat of terrorist attacks from a security standpoint as well as socially and politically.

Tuesdays deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels are yet another reminder that the scourge of terrorism in Europe is a long-term problem that may very well get worse before it gets better. It is also a stark reminder that the social and political fallout from such attacks have potentially far-reaching consequences for the European Union as a whole.

This much we know from the initial investigation. Two suicide bombers  brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui  detonated improvised explosive devices at Zaventem Airport. A subsequent review of video from airport security cameras show the Bakraoui brothers inside the terminal moments before the attack with a third suspect, not yet identified, who is now the subject of a continent-wide manhunt.





Barely an hour after the airport attack, a third improvised explosive device was detonated at the back of a subway car approaching the Maelbeek metro station. A total of at least 30 people were killed and more than 200 more injured in the two attacks, which Belgiums Prime Minister Charles Michel described as a black day for the country.

Not surprisingly, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Focus of the investigation

The main focus of the investigation at this point will be to identify the third suspect shown on airport surveillance video with the Bakraoui brothers, the person responsible for placing the explosive device inside the subway car, and other members of their cell. They will also want to corroborate ISIL claims of responsibility for the attacks.

ALSO READ: The slaughter of the innocent in Brussels

Less than a week ago, Europes most wanted fugitive, Salah Abdelslam  the only known survivor of the ISIL cell that murdered 130 people in Paris last November  was arrested by Belgian police not far from his family home in the Molenbeek area of Brussels, giving a justifiable yet short-lived sense of relief to Europe.

Of the estimated 30,000 or so foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria and Iraq since 2011, more than 5,000 came from Western Europe by

Quite telling, however, Abdelslam reportedly told investigators that he was planning another attack, but provided no details.

Investigators will be eager to determine whether yesterdays attacks were what Abdelslam was referring to. If not, the likelihood that one or more other unknown terrorist cells are already operational in Europe dramatically increases  an all too real nightmare scenario supported by numbers that concern European leaders and their security services the most.

Of the estimated 30,000 or so foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria and Iraq since 2011, more than 5,000 came from Western Europe  and most of those from just four countries: 1,700 from France, 760 each from the UK and Germany and 470 from Belgium.

Just as disturbing, it is estimated that as many as one out of four of those fighters has already returned home, providing a potential base of support for existing and new cells determined to carry out more attacks in Europe.

Wider political implications

But beyond the obvious security concerns associated with terrorist cells operating inside Europe, the tragic attacks that unfolded in Brussels yesterday have much wider political implications for the EU, which is still dealing with the aftermath of last Novembers terrorist attacks in Paris and a migrant crisis with seemingly no end in sight.

Expect continued and heated debate on EU border controls, particularly as they relate to the Schengen Agreement, which allows free movement across the borders of all but six member states.

The Schengen zone has been under fire since the start of the migrant crisis in early 2015, but after the Paris attacks, France and certain other member states enacted strict border control measures. The European Commission wants all border controls within the zone lifted by the end of 2016.

However, with yesterdays attacks in Brussels and the real threat of more such attacks to follow elsewhere in Europe, doing so at this point may be too politically difficult to enforce.

Consider also, the recent yet tenuous agreement between Turkey and the European Union to limit the flow of refugees and asylum seekers into Europe. One the one hand, the threat of sustained terrorist attacks within EU member states, particularly after yesterdays tragic events in Brussels, could place more focus on strengthening external borders, leading to even closer ties and more cooperation with Turkey.

ALSO READ: A message from Molenbeek: We are not terrorists

But it also quite possible those attacks will reignite anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe and increase popular demands for EU governments not to grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens  a key condition by Ankara in return for their cooperation on migrant issues.

There is also the very real concern that nationalist movements across the EU will use the fear of more terrorist attacks to force mainstream political parties to adopt at least some hardline measures aimed at Muslim immigrants.

Those same sentiments can also bolster the cause for political parties and groups in the United Kingdom that are determined to see it leave or at least become more isolated from the EU.

Without doubt, the EU is faced with the reality that a long-term threat from terrorist attacks inside its borders is an issue it will have to deal with from a security standpoint, as well as socially and politically.

The challenge will be to maintain balance so as not to swing too far to the right on the political spectrum. To do otherwise, could easily spell the end of the EU as we know it.

Martin Reardon is a senior vice president with the Soufan Group, a New York-based strategic security and intelligence consultancy, and senior director of Qatar International Academy for Security Studies. He is a 21-year veteran of the FBI and specialised in counterterrorism operations.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. One of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June last year and deported to Belgium, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Armenpress reports citing Independent website.

He did not name the attacker, who he said was detained at Turkey's border with Syria at Gaziantep.

Two explosions rocked Brussels airport on March 22. Another explosion took place at the Maalbek subway station in Brussels, following the airport blasts. According to fresh data, at least 34 people died and over 200 were wounded in the airport attacks.

The Brussels airport administration urged to stay away from the airport after the two explosions occurred. The airport management wrote on Twitter: "Two terrorist attacks happened at the airport. People are being evacuated from the building. Stay away from the airport area. Flights are canceled, "the statement reads.

BBC stresses the fact that the Brussels airport incident is followed by the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect of the Paris attacks. According to Belgian media, the airport is closed for flights. There are reports on social media that people fleeing in panic from the scene.

Islamic state organization has claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks.
The radicalising effect of violent Republican rhetoric on prospective ISIL recruits should not be overlooked.

Khaled A Beydoun is a law professor, and author of American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear.

If you thought the hateful rhetoric from the United States Republican Party candidates could get no worse, Tuesdays Belgium attacks are sure to up the ante.

The horrific acts in Brussels claimed the lives of 34 innocents, and left hundreds more injured, reigniting fear of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) radicalisation, only five months after the terror network claimed responsibility of the Paris attacks.

However, what the world saw as an immeasurable tragedy, leading Republican candidates pounced on as an invaluable opportunity  namely, an opportunity to not only advance the Islamophobic slander that drives up ratings and delivers voters.

But, more dangerously, intensifying such rhetoric only emboldens extremists in their camps and arms ISIL militants with the propaganda needed to advance their apocalyptic vision  in Belgium, the United States, and beyond.

Converging extremisms

Much blood has been spilled as a consequence of ISIL extremism  the vast majority of it Muslim blood and many words written about the radicalising effect of their ideology, and the marketing of it to impressionable Muslims in Europe and North America.

However, sparse if any attention has been paid to the radicalising effect of Donald Trumps bombast against Islam, Ted Cruzs hate-mongering campaign, and the blatant us versus them narrative pushed by both fringe and established figures within the Republic Party.

This narrative, which posits the Islam that hates us as the ideological opposite and existential opponent of the US, is the very worldview held by ISIL.

In the US, Cruz and most notably Trump are moving from state to state peddling a mutated form of Islamophobia to fringe segments of the Republican Party  disenchanted with the latent racism and bigotry of its establishment.

It is the rhetoric that equips ISIL with an endless supply of propaganda to present to potential recruits, and mainstream political figures and television fixtures - especially Trump - as the living incarnate of American evil. by

The brazen rhetoric, in the form of fully fledged Muslim bans and making the desert glow, is what they have been craving, and Trump  with Cruz not far behind in both delegates and bluster  are more that happy to deliver.

Across the Atlantic, ISIL is likewise peddling the same West versus Islam banner. Mainly in Europe, most notably states such as France and Belgium, where endless populations of disaffected Muslims live on the legal and geographic fringes.

Nearly six percent of Belgiums population of 11.2 million are Muslims, with roughly half living in Brussels. Therefore, nearly a quarter of Belgiums capital is Muslim, the vast majority of whom are marred by poverty, religious and racial discrimination, and a widespread belief that Muslim identity cannot be reconciled with Belgian identity.

Poverty, discrimination and isolation within Belgian and French Muslim ghettoes  or banlieues  makes for fertile recruitment soil for ISIL. Their message of the West hates Islam is turning Trumps polemic on its head, mobilising young disaffected Muslims in Europes ghettos to become a mujahidin  and to take the radical step, immediately satisfying and life-changing, to obtain meaning through self-sacrifice.

Similarly, the violent Republic rhetoric pitting the US versus Islam is radicalising scores of disaffected Americans  largely white working class with strong anti-establishment feelings  to enlist with presidential hopefuls promising modern religious crusade.

Timeline: Attacks in Europe since 2004

However, this revitalised, radical wing of the Republic Party is no longer fringe  as shown by nearly two-thirds of the party supporting the Islamophobic policies proposed by Trump.

This figure is sure to spike upwards after the Belgium attacks, vividly illustrating that the radicalisation spawned by the Republican rhetoric is mobilising scores of ideological extremists stateside, but also abetting the radicalisation of Muslims recruits in Europe, and possibly, inside the US.

Abetting ISIL

Only hours after the Belgium attack, Cruz said: We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalised. Expressing that radicalisation was a process exclusive to Muslims; and second, that entire neighborhoods, not fringe individuals, were prone to extremism.

OPINION: The slaughter of the innocent in Brussels

Cruzs proposal is not new. Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) policing of Muslim American communities is well under way, and has been piloted in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis since 2014. The New York Police Department has been spying on mosques, community centres, and other Muslim geographies since 2002.

However, much of CVE policings success is based upon its operational ambiguity and the intended ignorance it creates. It is clandestine and quiet  nothing like the loud, lurid and in-your-face demonisation of Trump and Cruz.

It is the rhetoric that equips ISIL with an endless supply of propaganda to present to potential recruits, and mainstream political figures and television fixtures  especially Trump  as the living incarnate of American evil.

OPINION: Brussels attacks: EUs terror problem will get worse

Trump  a Wall Street-bred, no-holds-barred, entitled and angry villain that represents the worse of the US  is framed by ISIL as the poster-politician spearheading the war on Islam to pools of potential recruits in Europe and the US.

If Trump is liberal Americas nightmare, a Trump presidency is the propaganda arm of ISILs dream.

Just the beginning

The radicalising effect of violent Republican rhetoric on prospective ISIL recruits should not be overlooked, and understating it only enhances the peril to the US.

While countering radicalisation has focused exclusively on Islam as a source, and Muslim as culprits, broadening that frame to include other extremist ideologies must be explored.

As illustrated by the 2016 presidential campaign in the US, these extremist ideologies no longer exist on the American fringe but are fully entwined into mainstream political discourse, and championed by presidential frontrunners. Their radical rhetoric is galvanising bigots, emboldening violence, and most dangerously, endorsing the apocalyptic confrontation peddled by ISIL.

Trump may very well be right about saying this is just the beginning. Especially if he is elected president in November, and the radical slanders delivered for votes are no longer campaign rhetoric, but become the sanctioned speech and policy of the US government.

Extremists representing the worse of the US, and ISIL faithful embodying the worse of Islam, are both pulling for that very result.

Khaled A Beydoun is an assistant professor of law at the Barry University Dwayne O Andreas School of Law. He is a native of Detroit.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Weeks after ISIL-linked fighters are pushed back by Afghan forces in countrys east, residents tell their stories.

Weeks after the Afghan government claimed victory over ISIL-linked fighters in the countrys east, local residents have described living in fear for almost a year under the rule of the armed group.

In early March, President Ashraf Ghani said Afghanistan would be a graveyard for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS), as he announced that Afghan forces had dislodged fighters loyal to the group from regions of Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan.

According to officials and local residents, Afghan soldiers and local villagers teamed up to push the fighters back 8km and recapture 22 villages.

The ISIL loyalists had held some remote districts in the countrys east for almost a year.



Locals told Al Jazeera that many schools were closed down while the fighters controlled the area and pupils were warned not to attempt attending classes.

One of the schools, Deserak High School in Achin district, was shut down and turned into the groups headquarters.

They told us this school was part of the infidel, non-believers and they prevented us from learning, said pupil Ahmed Shinwari,.

Residents of Akhond Zadgan village said many Afghan soldiers were captured and beheaded, or shot, during the fight to take back control of the area.

One resident, Sabar Mira, told Al Jazeera that she lost two of her grandsons this way.

They cut my grandson Ali to pieces and beheaded him. Hakim was shot dead. Now I have been left destroyed. These dogs killed both of them, she said.

Another villager, Said Amin, witnessed similar incidents.

If they found an Afghan army soldier, they would behead him and then put the head on the stomach, he told Al Jazeera.

The fighters would leave a note saying the body had to be left on display for some time, and anybody who moved it would get the same punishment.

READ MORE: ISIL hits Afghan airwaves to drum up support

Not trusting the Afghan army to do enough to protect them, some villagers formed their own groups to protect the district.

If the government stands with us, they [ISIL] will not be able to retake this area. But if they dont help us, they could take it tomorrow, Pir Mohammed, a village elder, told Al Jazeera.

John Campbell, the former US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said earlier this month there were between 1,000 and 3,000 ISIL fighters in the country.

Some officials say most fighters calling themselves ISIL are disaffected Taliban members.

Last year, ISIL-claimed beheadings of a group of ethnic Hazara people prompted mass protests in the country.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the capital, Kabul, urging the government to take action against rising violence against Afghan civilians.
Obama admits the US played a part in rise of a junta that killed or disappeared more than 13,000 Argentinians.

President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US relations with Latin Americas dictatorships in the 1970s damaged its image in the region, but said he hoped the release of long-classified documents about Argentinas dirty war would rebuild trust.

Obama made the comments on Wednesday, the eve of the 40th anniversary of a military coup that led to one of the most brutal regimes in Latin American history.



Obama buries Cold War rivalry with Cuba

The Obama administration announced last week that it would declassify thousands of CIA, FBI, and other internal documents that could shed much light on one of the South American nations most painful chapters.

Argentinas government estimates some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared during the crackdown on left-wing dissidents, though activists say the number is as high as 30,000.

I dont want to go through the list of every activity of the United States in Latin America, Obama said, answering a question during a joint news conference with Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Obama then noted that fighting communism was a focus of Americas foreign policy in the 1970s.

One of the great things about America, and I said this in Cuba, was that we engage in a lot of self-criticism, said Obama.

OPINION: Remembering Operation Condor

Despite efforts to keep the focus on the future, Obamas visit has been clouded by a renewed look at Argentinas past and questions about Americas role in Argentinas 1976 military coup  and the dictatorship that followed.

On this anniversary and beyond, we are absolutely determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation, said Obama.
Solidarity, debate over Islams future in the West and anger at politicisation dominate social media after bombings.

The deadly bomb attacks on the Belgian capital claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have prompted a huge and varied reaction on social media.

Hashtags referring to the attacks trended worldwide on Twitter, picking up millions of mentions and reaching tens of millions more users.

On Facebook users changed their display pictures to ones featuring the Belgian flag in solidarity with victims of the bombings.

Initial posts focused on the explosions at Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek metro station, with those at the scene tweeting footage of the aftermath of the attacks.

Later reactions were varied with most expressing their horror at the killings but some using the attacks to support their political views and debate the issue of Islam in Western countries.

In the UK -where there is an upcoming referendum on the countrys continued membership of the EU  there was an angry reaction when Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson referred to Brussels as the Jihadist capital of Europe, adding the UK was safer out of the Union.

@allisonpearson you're going to make this about brexit?? Really? How classy of you  Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) March 22, 2016

Most Twitter users responding to her post condemned Pearson for politicising the attacks but a few praised her for speaking the truth .

Brussels is one of the seats of the European Parliament and houses many EU buildings. In the UK the name of the city is often used by Eurosceptics as a byword for the EU.

The anger was not reserved for Pearson alone. Comments by US Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were also subject to controversy.

Cruzs suggestion that police securitise Muslim areas and Trumps comments about using torture to prevent future attacks prompted condemnation and praise alike.

Trump's and Cruz's persecutory policies on Muslims are equally abhorrent. Don't let Cruz slide b/c his rhetoric less chaotic, more familiar.  Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) March 22, 2016

Hope all voters see that we don't need a POTUS who can react to terrorist events.We need @realDonaldTrump who will PREVENT them! #VoteTrump  The Trump Train  (@TheTrumpTrain) March 22, 2016

In the US Republican primaries a lot of debate has focused on Europes ongoing refugee crisis and the threat the mainly Muslim migration poses to Western states.

Anti-Muslim backlash

A familiar theme following attacks like the ones in Brussels and earlier in Paris is debate surrounding the future of Islam and Muslims in Europe.

ISIL (also known as ISIS) has claimed responsibility for both attacks, evidence critics of Islam say is evidence of the threat posed by Muslims.

The hashtag #StopIslam -started by critics of the religion- was quickly flooded with messages of solidarity with Muslims and refusal to let ISIL divide communities in the West along religious lines.

https://twitter.com/CSA_Proud/status/712341781690580994

A picture is worth a thousand words. End of discussion #StopIslam pic.twitter.com/c6IuLfNYxl  Ronald Phiri (@RonaldPhiri01) March 23, 2016

As of Wednesday morning, the overwhelming majority of tweets using the hashtag were condemnations of Islamophobia.

Disproportionate grief

Another prominent theme following the attacks was the allegedly disproportionate emphasis media outlets placed on covering them over similar attacks in Turkey and other countries.

Many users pointed out that the attacks in Istanbul by ISIL just a few days earlier had not received the same amount of coverage as the ones in Belgium, with some going further by stating this was due to bias against non-Europeans.

https://twitter.com/leylasenturk/status/712360249773178883

So are the Belgium bombings getting more coverage than the Turkey bombings because it's a "western" country?  Chelsea (@ChelssPenk) March 22, 2016

Other users suggested the disparity was because attacks in Belgium  a European country, with a similar culture to others in the West  would resound more emotionally with others living in the West.

https://twitter.com/davshane24/status/712498997085089793
Despite ban, an estimated 41 percent of girls in the country are married before they turn 18.

As Nepal prepares to host the Girl Summit in Kathmandu promoting gender equality, the government says it aims to end child marriage by the year 2030.

This is a real challenge, as Nepal has one of the worst rates of child marriages in the world. UNICEF estimates that 41 percent of girls are married before the age of 18.

Pari Devi Mandal is a 17-year-old mother of two and has already been married for four years.

I knew I was getting married but I didnt know what it meant, Pari told Al Jazeera in Sakhada village.

Paris husband, Sanjeev Mandal, is one year older and still angry at his father for initially arranging the marriage without his knowledge.

I didnt know I was getting married. My parents got me married, Sanjeev said.

Bidheshwor Mandal, Sanjeevs father, told Al Jazeera that the marriage was arranged in line with tradition and culture.

Its our culture. Our society expects us to get our children married early, Bidheshwor said.

WATCH: Nepals slave girls

Since 2002, the legal minimum age for marriage in Nepal has been set at 18. But social pressure is high and girls are still being married off in the name of honour of culture.

Manohar Kumar Pokhrel, a human rights activist, said that even the police are hesitant to take action against the practice, especially those who are politically connected.

The rich get away with impunity; its only the poor and the powerless end up getting caught, he said.
Nigers president has been re-elected as his main opponent remains in France seeking medical treatment after being jailed for several months.

The electoral commission released results on Tuesday showing that President Mahamadou Issoufou received more than 92 percent of the runoff vote.

His rival Hama Amadou received 18 percent of the vote, which saw a low turnout after the opposition called for a boycott.

READ MORE: Niger votes in runoff amid opposition boycott

Amadou was arrested and held from November until March for alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking scheme, a charge he has dismissed as politically motivated.

He still was given the all-clear to run in the election for the Nigerian Democratic Movement party but only days before the vote, he was flown to Paris on medical grounds.

The run-up to the first-round vote was marred by violence between supporters of the rival camps, the arrest of several leading political personalities and the governments announcement that it had foiled a coup bid.

Despite large uranium deposits and other resources, Niger is one of the worlds poorest countries.

Apart from political turmoil, the landlocked country is under constant threat from al-Qaeda-linked fighters to the north and west, and Boko Haram in the south.
Former Bosnian Serb leader speaks out ahead of UN tribunal verdicts on Thursday in genocide and war crimes trial.

Radovan Karadzic, wartime leader of the self-styled Bosnian Serb Republic, protested his innocence in a rare interview given before his possible conviction by a United Nations tribunal for his role in Bosnias war more than 20 years ago.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network published the interview on Wednesday, a day before UN judges are due to deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial.

I know what I wanted, what I did, even what I dreamed of, and there is no reasonable court that would convict me, he told the website in an email interview.



Remains still found, 20 years after Srebrenica

Karadzic has been charged by the Hague-based tribunal with 11 counts of war crimes and genocide committed during the 1992-95 war, in which 100,000 people died. He could face life in prison if found guilty.

Among other charges, Karadzic is accused of orchestrating the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims after Serb forces seized the UNs Srebrenica safe area in eastern Bosnia.

The unnecessary killing of a single man is horrifying, let alone certainly several hundred at least Those who did it are the enemies of the Serbs first, then enemies of those families, then of the Muslim community, Karadzic said.

READ MORE: Sarajevo  memories of war

To Bosnian Muslims and Croats, Karadzic  who also faces charges over the shooting of civilians in Sarajevo, capital of the former Yugoslavia  is synonymous with war, death and destruction.

Bosnian Serbs, however, view him as a national hero who created a Serb Republic  a state within a state, which survived under the 1995 Dayton peace agreement.

Radovan Karadzic will always remain  a hero who made an immense contribution to the creation of Republika Srpska and the defence of the Serb people, said Bozica Zivkovic Rajilic, president of the Bosnian Serb Association of Women Victims of the War.

Goran Gajic, a war veteran from Banja Luka, capital of the Serb Republic, one of Bosnias two autonomous regions, said: It would be realistic to set Radovan Karadzic free because he is a man who did not commit a single crime, nor did he order genocide against any people.

Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik, who rose to power with Western backing after distancing himself from the wartime leaders, now praises Karadzics leadership, saying he did not order the crimes while accusing the UN court of bias against the Serbs.

Somebody has concluded that Serbs need to be held responsible for everything that happened, Dodik told reporters last weekend, adding that Bosnian Muslim and Croat wartime leaders were not prosecuted.

Thats why it [the verdict] has no element of justice, but of revenge.

READ MORE: Remembering Dayton  the accord that ended Bosnian war

Such sentiments are widely shared across the border in Serbia.

I dont think it [the verdict] will in any way help the reconciliation process, which was the primary intention of the tribunal, Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic told state television RTS on Wednesday.

In Karadzics wartime stronghold of Pale, 16km from Sarajevo, people remember him for turning their mountainous village into a town after his supporters moved there from the Bosnian capital, which was besieged by his forces for 43 months.

We are truly sorry for Radovan, our souls ache for him, who knows how enemies will judge him? said pensioner Ljuba Vukovic, watching the defiant opening last weekend of a student dormitory in Pale named after Karadzic.

Whatever the verdict, some young people dont believe it will have a major impact on life in ethnically divided Bosnia, beset by corruption and economic difficulties.

Whatever happens, the conditions in which we live will either remain the same  unbearable  or even worse, said Drazen Crnomet, a civic activist from Banja Luka.
UN high commissioner for human rights takes Sisi government to task for harassing rights advocates and seizing assets.

A previous version of this article misidentified Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein as the UNHCR Commissioner.

The UNs high commissioner for human rights has expressed grave concern over Egypts prosecutions of human rights defenders and the shutdown of civil society organisations by the military government.

The comments from Zeid Raad al-Hussein on Wednesday came ahead of a judicial hearing for two key human rights activists set to begin on Thursday in Cairo. Media outlets are restricted from reporting on the proceedings under a court order.

This looks like a clampdown on sections of Egyptian civil society and it must stop, said Zeid. NGOs who have played a valuable role in documenting violations and supporting victims will see their activities completely crippled if this continues. This will stifle the voices of those who advocate for victims.



Egypts Sisi offers to sell himself

A series of travel bans, interrogations, and asset freezes indicate that criminal charges may be pending against rights groups in the country, an alliance of international rights groups also warned on Wednesday.

Civil rights in Egypt have been increasingly restricted since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi  then head of the armed forces  ousted president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

International rights groups warned that leading Egyptian human rights defenders may face trial on charges of working without official registration, or accepting foreign funds without government authorisation.

The latter charge could carry sentences of life imprisonment under a decree issued by Sisi in 2014.

The Egyptian authorities have moved beyond scaremongering and are now rapidly taking concrete steps to shut down the last critical voices in the countrys human rights community, said Nadim Houry from New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The Egyptian Institute for Personal Rights, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, and other local rights groups say the independent human rights community in Egypt is at unprecedented risk.

London-based Amnesty International condemned Egypts crackdown on human rights advocates, saying authorities should halt their persecution and drop attempts to prosecute them and seize their assets.

Egypts civil society is being treated like an enemy of the state rather than a partner for reform and progress, Amnestys Said Boumedouha said.
Top Syrian government negotiator says US-Russian meeting in Moscow will not affect his countrys stance on peace talks.

No foreign power should be allowed to interfere in ongoing Syria peace talks in Geneva, its government negotiator said, as John Kerry, the US secretary of state, landed in Russia seeking answers on plans for President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian envoy Bashar al-Jaafari denied that high-level US-Russian meetings in Moscow would affect Syrias peace process in an interview with the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

When we say that the dialogue must be between Syrians, without outside intervention, this also applies to the Russians and Americans, Jaafari said.

Jaafari, who serves as Syrias ambassador to the UN in New York, said believing that Moscow can pressure its ally in Damascus amounted to a misreading of the situation.

His comments came as Kerry arrived in Moscow for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday.



Syria war: Woman speaks out on sadistic government jails

Now that a fragile truce in Syria is in place and warring sides have begun peace talks in Geneva, Kerry wants to get down to brass tacks on the question of Assad, a US State Department official told Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity before the meeting at the Kremlin.

Russia has repeatedly said that only the Syrian people can decide Assads fate at the ballot box, and has bristled at any talk of removing the Syrian government.

Negotiations in Geneva, entering a tenth day on Wednesday, were rattled last week by Russias surprise decision to withdraw most of its troops from Syria, a move analysts say could help peace efforts by weakening Assads position.

The meetings in Moscow on Thursday are expected to touch on a fragile ceasefire declared on February 27, which has raised hopes for an end to the five-year Syrian conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people, and forced millions to flee their homes, according to the UN.

READ MORE: Russia threatens force against Syrian truce violators

The State Department official played down expectations that the meetings would have an immediate effect on peace talks.

Obviously what we are looking for  and what we have been looking for  is how we are going to transition Syria away from Assads leadership, the official said.

Al Jazeeras Whitney Hurst, reporting from Geneva, said Jaafari gave a statement after meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, in which he condemned the attacks in Brussels and described them as the result of failed counterterrorism policies.

There has been no confirmation that the attackers in Brussels had fought in Syria, but the cell that carried out Novembers Paris attacks had fought with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in the country.
Government forces advance towards famed ancient city that has been in the hands of ISIL since May 2015.

Syrian government forces are advancing on the ancient city of Palmyra, edging closer to recapturing it from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), state media and a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

Backed by Russian air strikes and Lebanese militia, the Syrian army was now within 3km of Palmyra, according to the state TV broadcaster.

READ MORE: Moscow cannot pressure Damascus, says Syria UN envoy Jaafari

God willing, within a few hours we will enter and secure the town, one officer told the Syrian Ikhbariya TV, which was broadcasting live from a road reportedly on the outskirts of Palmyra.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said government forces were just 2km away from the city.

Ancient treasures

The Syrian army, backed by Russian warplanes, started a major offensive to retake control of Palmyra two weeks ago.

The city, a UNESCO World Heritage site affectionately known by Syrians as the bride of the desert, has been in the hands of ISIL since May 2015.

In August, ISIL sent shockwaves around the world as it started destroying several famous sites in the desert city, including the more than 2,000-year-old famed Temple of Bel.

Recapturing Palmyra would be a symbolic and strategic victory for the army and its Russian allies, since whoever controls the oasis city also controls the surrounding desert  an area of some 30,000 square kilometres extending to the Iraqi border.

General Alexander Dvornikov, who commanded the Russian military in Syria, said in an interview with the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta released on Wednesday that if Palmyra falls, it could deal a devastating blow to ISIL.

Dvornikov said the ongoing Syrian army offensive will cut the Islamic State group of forces in two and open the road to Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, and create conditions for reaching the border with Iraq and establishing control over it.

Russian backing

Moscow withdrew most of its forces and aircraft from Syria last week, after a months-long bombing campaign played a key in part in helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assads army to win back ground.

Russia said, however, it was keeping its bases in the country and would continue to carry out air strikes against ISIL, al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups.

READ MORE: The Syrian conflict does not end here

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Syrian army would soon recapture Palmyra.

I hope that this pearl of world civilisation, or at least whats left of it after bandits have held sway there, will be returned to the Syrian people and the entire world, the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.





On Monday, at least 26 Syrian soldiers were killed by ISIL fighters during a battle 4km west of the city, according to the Britain-based Observatory.

The latest push for Palmyra was from the west and south and Syrian forces were also closing in on the ISIL-held town of Qaryatain in central Syria, Homs governor Talal Barazi said.

There is continuous progress by the army from all directions, Barazi told The Associated Press by phone, adding he expected positive results over the next few days.

The advance on Palmyra comes against the backdrop of Syrian peace talks currently under way in Geneva between representatives of the Damascus government and the opposition.
Rev Dunn has offered to house the asylum seekers  who are originally from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, and Bangladesh  should immigration authorities try to deport them. It's a bold move that could put him at risk of jail time for harbouring unlawful residents.

Australians, he said, should emulate the father in the parable and embrace the refugees, whom the government has vowed to return to two controversial offshore detention facilities after arriving in the country for medical care.

IN A recent sermon, Rev Mark Dunn (pictured) asked his congregation to recall the prodigal son as they considered the plight of 267 asylum seekers facing deportation.

"The stand I take for asylum seekers, indeed the whole of my ministry, is guided by scripture and the values and teachings of my faith," says Dunn, who presides over St. John's Uniting Church in Essendon, a Melbourne suburb. "'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' includes asylum seekers."

St. John's is one of at least 11 Anglican and Uniting churches in Australia to have publicly invoked Christianity's golden rule. Their offers of sanctuary have bolstered a nationwide campaign against the government's crackdown on asylum seekers and signaled a potential shift in public opinion about its offshore detention policy.

Across the country, 115 churches have offered support for the asylum seekers and pushed the government to let them stay, according to the National Council of Churches in Australia, which represents 19 denominations. On Palm Sunday, some 50,000 protesters rallied in cities from Sydney to Perth to call for more compassionate treatment.

The heated debate over asylum seekers in Australia echoes the migrant crisis that has embroiled Europe for more than a year. It also reflects the plight of refugees across the globe. While many of the migrants in Europe are fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and Africa, those attempting to reach Australia are just as likely to come from South Asia.

The latest flashpoint in Australia's longstanding asylum debate comes after the High Court last month upheld the constitutionality of detaining and processing asylum seekers in foreign countries. The ruling has cleared the way for the return of the 267 asylum seekers to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, a small Pacific island nation.

The Australian government has outsourced the processing of asylum seekers who arrive illegally by boat or are intercepted at sea to the two islands. The potential returnees include 37 babies born in Australia after their mothers were transferred for the births because the detention centers lacked adequate medical facilities.

The Australian Human Rights Commission and international advocacy groups, such as Amnesty International, have blasted the government for its reliance on far-flung detention centers. Critics have warned about the centers' squalid conditions and the effects of prolonged detention on children. Concerned staff members and independent monitors have reported a rash of attempted suicides and multiple cases of sexual assault, including against children.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says offshore processing saves lives by deterring asylum seekers from attempting to reach Australia in dangerous boats.

An estimated 1,900 asylum seekers died en route to Australia between 2000 and late 2013, when Mr. Turnbull's center-right Liberal Party gained control of Parliament, according to the Melbourne-based Border Crossing Observatory.

The majority of the deaths occurred during six years of governance by the center-left Labor Party, which ended offshore processing in 2008. It reinstated the policy in 2010 and strengthened it further in 2013, when a record 20,000 asylum seekers arrived on Australian shores.

"The government needs to look and develop other options because there is more than this one binary proposition being fed to the public," says Misha Coleman, executive officer of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce.

The government has also vowed not to allow even certified refugees to live in Australia if they arrive illegally, a policy first initiated by the Labor Party. It's instead tried to recruit other countries to take them in. Those efforts have mostly failed because of roadblocks in Australian courts and pushback from asylum applicants.

Ms. Coleman says detention has now become effectively indefinite. In January, the average length of stay for asylum seekers at both onshore and offshore centers hit a record 445 days, according to the government.

"It was never meant to be forever and that is what it has become," she says. "So we are saying until and unless the Australian government in its own policy thinking finds a resettlement scenario, they just can't keep people locked up."

While Australians have generally favored the offshore solution in recent years, the controversy over what to do with the 267 asylum seekers could shift public opinion against the policy.

A survey conducted last year found that 54 percent of respondents supported processing on Nauru and Manus Island, compared to 31 percent who were against it. Recent polls suggest Australians are evenly split on whether to allow the 267 asylum seekers to remain in the country.

Robert Manne, an emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University in Melbourne, says Australians' attitudes about asylum seekers largely hinge on whether their arrivals are legal and expected.

"It explains the paradox that Australians are relaxed about government programs of refugees and very unrelaxed about spontaneous arrivals by boat," he says.

Australia, where more than a quarter of the population is foreign-born, currently accepts 13,750 refugees annually through official channels.

Prof Manne says the public had little objection to a recent influx of 12,000 Syrian refugees that arrived in addition to the annual quota. In contrast, he says, boat arrivals disturb the public and have been a major political issue since boat people began arriving after the Vietnam War.

"It's a feeling that we have either lost or have retained control of the borders that seems to be the animating political factor," Manne says.
UN special envoy says new round of peace talks between rival sides in the conflict will begin in Kuwait on April 18.

Yemens warring parties have agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities starting next month in an attempt to end the year-old conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people  half of whom were civilians.

The ceasefire will take hold at midnight on April 10, the UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Wednesday. A new round of peace talks between the rival sides will take place in Kuwait beginning on April 18, Ould Cheikh Ahmed added.

The country is facing a humanitarian catastrophe, according to the United Nations, with millions of people without enough food or access to adequate medical care.

There have already been several failed attempts to defuse the conflict in Yemen, which has drawn in regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran and triggered. A first round of talks was held in Switzerland in December.

READ MORE: Yemens Houthis in talks with Saudis

This is really our last chance, Ould Cheikh Ahmed told reporters in New York. The war in Yemen must be brought to an end.

https://twitter.com/OSESGY/status/712697839344816128

The UN envoy said the face-to-face talks in Kuwait will focus on a series of issues, including the withdrawal of military forces, the handover of heavy weaponry, interim security arrangements, and the restoration of state institutions, Al Jazeeras Shihab Rattansi reported from UN headquarters in New York.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the talks aim to reach an agreement to end the conflict and allow the resumption of political dialogue leading to a peaceful transition based on a regional peace initiative.

He also said that the parties have promised to reinforce a committee overseeing the ceasefire with prominent Yemeni figures who will report on progress and security incidents.

Humanitarian catastrophe

The conflict intensified in March last year, after Iran-allied Houthi fighters and soldiers loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh  the former Yemeni president  swept across southern Yemen, taking the port city of Aden and forcing the Arab Gulf-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

Saudi Arabia assembled a mainly Arab military coalition in response and began launching air strikes on Hadis opponents.

In October, the coalition began sending regular ground troops to help Hadi loyalists secure their gains, including the recently recaptured Aden.
We investigate how the erosion of democracy in the US is being revealed by the 2016 presidential campaign.

Whats happening to American democracy? With a populist billionaire demagogue winning support on the right, a self-declared socialist confounding US historical prejudices on the left and millions of disenchanted voters apparently determined to disregard the political establishment in Washington, the nomination race for this years presidential poll has become one of the most peculiar and polarised electoral contests in decades.

In a two-part special report for People & Power, Bob Abeshouse set off in search of an explanation.

WATCH PART 2: Voters Rights: Whats Happening to American Democracy?

FILMMAKERS VIEW

By Bob Abeshouse and Simon Bouvier

When billionaire and reality TV star Donald Trump announced his bid for the presidency last June, few pundits took it seriously.

They thought it was a stunt to boost the Trump brand, and that he would soon be gone. But Trump has not only stuck around, he is now the odds-on favourite to beat out his rivals in the race to become the Republican Partys candidate for Novembers general election.

Trumps simply stated goal to Make America great again targets the economic anxieties of voters who feel they have long been neglected by their elected officials in Washington DC.

With great success, Trump has resorted to the tried and tested populist strategy of providing frustrated and fearful voters with scapegoats. The construction of a wall on the southern border to keep out illegal immigrants  whom Trump has famously accused of bringing drugs, bringing crime and being rapists  is a central element of his platform. So is a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States playing to a strain of terror-driven Islamophobia, which resonates with a considerable portion of the US electorate.

Its one of the functions of a president to turn anger into hope, and Im afraid Donald Trump is not deflecting the anger, hes intensifying it, says William Galston, a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC.

Galston has written extensively on American political philosophy and public policy and admits he is one of those who did not suspect Trumps message would appeal to so many voters.

Im astounded at Donald Trumps success so far, Galston says.

Many of us have been writing about the loss of trust in our governing institutions, about some of the economic problems, but I think we all underestimated the extent to which all of this was coming together into discontent, anxiety and outright anger.

On the other side of the American political spectrum, discontent, anxiety and outright anger have also found their expression in support for another outsider  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Although Hillary Clinton seems to be on her way to winning the Democratic nomination, Sanders has registered surprising victories and is racking up millions of votes.

A self-described socialist  still a political taboo for many Americans a quarter century after the Cold War -Sanders has campaigned mostly on his outrage at rising inequality and a corrupt campaign finance system. His call for a political revolution is resonating very strongly with young voters and working-class Democrats opposed to free trade agreements, to whom he promises tuition-free college education, a $15 minimum wage and universal public healthcare.

Critics have called proposals from both Trump and Sanders costly and unrealistic, but support for these anti-establishment candidates has persisted, a sign of unresolved economic problems and the decay of American democratic institutions.

There is perhaps no better place to feel the pulse of We the People than Vigo County, Indiana. The first east-to-west and north-to-south roadways of the continental US intersect in Terre Haute, the county seat known as the Crossroads of America.

But Vigos midway-point status goes well beyond geography: the countys population is an improbable blend of socio-economic and political characteristics that have allowed it to register an almost perfect record in picking the winning candidate in US presidential elections. Since 1888, the people of Vigo County have chosen the winner in every single election but two. The last time they picked a loser was in 1952.

According to Randy Gentry, the chair of the Vigo County Republican Party, one candidate has been generating a lot of excitement in Terre Haute this election: Donald J. Trump.

Hes got a big mouth on him, but I like to listen to him. He says what he believes in, he doesnt have to kiss anybodys back. He can do what he wants and a lot of people like that, says one attendee of Gentrys monthly Politics and Pie meeting, when county Republicans gather to discuss the latest developments in local and national politics over a meal. He doesnt have anybody funding his campaign, therefore he can say what he wants to, said another man standing next to him.

Trump takes every occasion to remind voters that he doesnt rely on anybody but himself. I dont need anybodys money, he told supporters when he announced his presidential bid last June. Im using my own money, Im not using the lobbyists, Im not using donors, I dont care. In fact, the perception that Trump cant be bought is an important factor in his appeal. Sanders also emphasises the corrosive influence on democracy of the campaign finance system which allows wealthy contributors and corporations to pour huge sums of money into campaign contributions and lobbying.

Were in a period of deep, deep distrust in Washington right now, says Michael Dimock, the president of the Pew Research Center, the top non-partisan polling organisation in the United States. A recent Pew survey found that only 19 percent of Americans say that they trust the federal government in Washington to do what is right.

Dimock also points out that the publics concern about money in politics has increased significantly. Seventy-five percent think the problem is worse today than its been in the past. Theres very much a sense that the breakdown in representation between elected officials listening and responding and caring about their constituents has been compromised by the influence of money.

In 2010, a US Supreme Court decision in a case known as Citizens United equated spending on political advertising to free speech, unleashing a tsunami of cash into the American electoral process.

The decision overturned a ban on campaign spending by corporations and unions. Ever since theyve been allowed to make unlimited expenditures in support of or opposition to a candidate, just so long as there is no coordination with the candidates campaign.

A few months after this decision, another federal court ruling applied the Citizens United precedent to political spending by individuals. Since then, millionaires and billionaires have been free to spend as much of their fortunes as they want to back political candidates. The vehicles for all this new spending are known as super-PACs, and they have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars this election cycle.

Whats different about the way that money is flowing into the process, is that it is not flowing through channels that are controlled or steered by either the political parties themselves, or their candidates, says Ken Vogel, the chief investigative reporter for the Washington DC publication Politico.

Citizens United sort of precipitated the migration of money and power away from the organised political parties and to these billionaires and millionaires and outside groups funded by them.

According to Vogel, Trumps success, Trumps ability to stay on top of the polls is a function of the new money-in-politics system that we have.

Before super-PACs, presidential candidates would have found it difficult to mount a campaign without the backing of the party establishment. Today, all a candidate needs is a single wealthy contributor funding a super-PAC that is supporting him.

Vogel points out that without super-PAC backing Republican candidates might not otherwise be able to sustain a campaign for a prolonged period of time. Their ability to do so has made it harder for a single alternative to Trump to arise and take him on. Trump was also aided by the fact that super-PACS funded by wealthy contributors initially attacked rivals competing for the establishment vote rather than him.

James Bopp, the attorney who first brought the case all the way to the Supreme Court and now a special counsel to the Republican National Committee, says Citizens United was a step in the direction of a more democratic system. It is true [that super PACs have weakened the party] but the resolution of that is striking the restrictions on political parties so that they  just like super PACs  can compete.

Bopp argues that more money in politics is needed to help educate voters. And he isnt bothered by the publics growing concern that the campaign finance system is giving too much power to the wealthy, fuelling mistrust of government. We need to be cynical about the government, he says. We need to understand that the government is there to take our money and give it to friends of theirs. Thats what the Democrats do, its called redistribution.

In fact, tax bills in Congress that affect the distribution of income are the best place to find out who wields power and influence in Washington, DC.

Taxes is probably the biggest battle there is that pits wealthy special interests  both corporations and rich people  against everybody else, says Frank Clemente, the President of Americans for Tax Fairness, a public interest group in Washington DC that works on tax issues. Clemente says his organisations polling shows that Exhibit A for the public about why the system is rigged, why the system is corrupt, is their view that the tax system is designed for the wealthy. Its designed for big corporations.

In 2014, Americans for Tax Fairness released a report analysing lobbying by corporations, Wall Street and the high tech industry over so-called tax extenders, tax breaks that Congress extends every year or two. What surprised Clemente the most about his study was the number of lobbyists working to insert corporate tax loopholes into legislation.

Fourteen hundred lobbyists is a lot of lobbyists, its a lot of people, its a small army, he says. And theyre up here lobbying Congress day in and day out on these issues. He also says that when it comes to tax extenders for business, there isnt a great deal of difference between Democrats and Republicans.

PART TWO:





Clementes report covers lobbying from 2011 through to September 2013. Using data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Al Jazeera brought it up to date in order to determine which companies and organisations lobbied the most intensely on tax extenders, and how much money they had contributed to Democrats and Republicans in Congress over the past five years.

Al Jazeera found many financial institutions that had received billions of dollars in bailout funds from taxpayers after the 2008 crisis, including GE, Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Chase and their trade associations, were among the organisations pushing the hardest for tax extenders. The ten industries lobbying the most for tax extenders collectively spent in total close to $5.7bn on lobbying, and contributed nearly $200m to the campaigns of sitting members of Congress between 2011 and the end of 2015.

The reason US companies are so keen on buying influence in Congress is because it allows them to push through legislation that is of enormous financial benefit to them. One of the best examples of this is a law that provides a tax extender called the Active Financing Exception. It allows companies to avoid paying taxes on the huge profits made by their offshore subsidiaries unless that money is brought back into the US.

In December, the Active Financing Exception was made permanent as part of the latest government spending bill. According to Clemente, It was essentially a $78bn giveaway to corporations, largely to Wall Street financial houses, money that could go to make critical investments in this country, or that could go to help reduce the deficit if you are fiscally conservative.

As a result of tax loopholes like the Active Financing Exception, billions of dollars of profit end up in offshore tax havens such as the Cayman Islands. A quarter of US Fortune 500 companies have set up subsidiaries in the Caymans. Many of them use Ugland House, a modestly-sized building on Grand Cayman, as their office address. Ugland House, the headquarters of corporate law firm Maples & Calder, is thus also the registered address for more than 18,000 corporations that have set up in Cayman.

Patrick Schmid, a Caymanian attorney who has been practising in offshore jurisdictions for nearly 20 years, says he does not know what is meant by the Caymans being a tax haven, adding that he considered Cayman an international financial center.

He admits lawyers who work in Cayman pay close attention to evolutions in US tax law. The legal community here would be very cognizant of constantly watching the things that go on in the jurisdictions from which we get the majority of our business, he says. Indeed, the use of offshore subsidiaries by high-tech companies such as Apple and Facebook, as well as Wall Street banks, is well within the boundaries of US law today.

The US Congress could shut it down at any time but its because of lobbying from the corporations and its because of the influence of US business that we havent shut it down, says Richard Philips, a research analyst at Citizens for Tax Justice which published Offshore Shell Games, a report about offshore subsidiaries used by US corporations, late last year.

Congressmen who sponsored bills seeking to make the Active Financing Exception and other tax extenders permanent declined requests to be interviewed, as did trade associations that lobbied Congress heavily on these issues, including the US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

According to data from the White Houses Office of Management and Budget, corporate tax paid for a third of the government budget in 1952. In 2014, the last year for which definitive figures are available, taxes on corporations paid for little over one tenth of the federal budget.

The way that tax policy has changed has had a corrosive effect on American democracy because I think its made people a lot more cynical, Phillips adds. They say Why am I paying thousands of dollars in taxes every year while these companies who make billions of dollars pay nothing?'

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have been adept at channelling that anger and turning it into support for their respective bids for the presidency.

Trumps tax plan is the only one of his policy proposals for which he has been willing to provide specifics. His plan would exempt any households making less than $50,000 a year from income tax, and would lower the federal corporate tax rate from 35 to 15 percent. It is estimated Trumps proposal would increase the deficit by $10trn over 10 years, but it would prevent US companies from parking profits offshore to avoid paying taxes. He says he would offer corporations a discounted 10 percent rate to repatriate their money before closing tax loopholes like the Active Financing Exception.

Sanders also wants to close the loopholes, but has no intention of lowering the corporate tax rate or offering companies which have been stashing their profits offshore a discount on their tax bill. US companies are keeping more than $2trn offshore. Bringing it home at current tax rates would provide more than $600bn to the US Treasury.

Despite their differences, both candidates are resonating with working-class voters back in Terre Haute. We see a split pretty much between our members kind of talking about Donald Trump and supporting what hes saying, and on the other side we have a lot of talk and support for Bernie Sanders, says Tom Szymanski, the union representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 725. Its interesting that theyre not really going with the mainstream political candidates like they did in the past.

White working-class voters who have been hurt by globalisation and free trade are the core of Donald Trumps support. Over the past 30 years, the hourly wages of workers in the US have stagnated and the middle class is no longer the countrys economic majority. Many of them are angry about economic conditions, but, more than that, they experience a sense of insult and loss of status, says William Galston, the Brookings Institution scholar. They think that elites look down on them, they feel that each political party has taken them for granted in different ways, he adds. So its now coming out as a kind of rejection of the establishment as a whole.

I dont think we need somebody that has a political background, one man who was pumping gas in Terre Haute to help raise money for a local charity told Al Jazeera in January. I think we just need to have somebody whos got common sense and can work numbers well. Many in Vigo County think that Trumps business experience is what is needed to turn Americas economy around for a shrinking middle class, and are convinced he will be elected president.

The publics disillusion with the US political establishment in the presidential election this year could mean that the country is on the verge of a major transition towards right-wing populism, or a new era of progressive reform.

If you look at whats distinctive about American political culture, its belief in the American Dream, that its within your control to determine your economic destiny, says Galston.

And this loss of sense of control, if it persists, it will lead to very significant political changes, the exact shape of which I am not smart enough to predict. But I know they will happen.
Pianist-organistis one of the brightest and most articulate talents to emerge from the British and European scenes in recent times. His refusal to be pinned down to any specific career path or musical trajectory is to his credit but even more so is his ability to produce authentic music without compromise across style, genre or approach. Downes has that quality to his work that says, "Never mind the situation, this is me. This is my music."From the jazz-rock ofand his piano trio The Enemy to his remarkably mature playing on's recent ECM release Time is a Blind Guide and his duo Tricko with cellist Lucy Railton, Downes is a coming man. He has been so, since he arrived on the British scene with. At the time, some might have questioned his decision to leave a group just in the process of establishing itself. In practice, the decision has proven a sound one both for the pianist and Empirical, allowing both to develop their talents in new ways.Downes' latest project was assisted by Aldeburgh Music's Open Space programme. It takes him into whole new areas, though the forthcoming album Vyamanikal with saxophonistwas in some ways presaged by Wedding Music, the duo's previous download only release. Featuring Challenger on tenor and soprano and Downes on various church organs in the county of Suffolk, the music is as beautiful and emotionally moving as the project itself is both practical and whimsical. It was hatched in Huddersfield, has spread its wings at Aldeburgh and will shortly take flight at the annual Aldeburgh Festival in June and later this year in Cologne and at the Manchester Jazz Festival.The pair met some ten years ago, Challenger tells me,"We first met at the Glamorgan summer school, where I was working as an assistant in 2005. He must have been 18 or somethingI was 22. After that, we worked together sporadically but maintained a strong link socially. We were always on the same page musicallyI always liked his groupsand I remember we decided to solidify the partnership backstage somewhere in the RFH. We asked each other what we both wanted to do and both said we wanted to make some music that involved the organ. Then it was just a matter of making it happenwhich was actually fairly easy!"The result was Wedding Music, which began with a residency at Huddersfield University. As part of the project, they were allowed to record in St Paul's church with its fine concert organ, which is used for the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. They recorded hundreds of minutes of improvisation, finally settling on some forty minutes that seemed to best represent their intentions.However, they were also able to transform some of the improvisations into formal pieces and perform Wedding Music live using Hammond organ and keyboards in club situations, as well as playing a concert at London's Festival Hall on the venue's newly refurbished organ. The Aldeburgh project has grown from that through an extended residency courtesy of Aldeburgh Music, which the pair obtained "on the premise that we wanted to do a series of recordings at various local churches in the Suffolk countryside," Downes explains.On Thursday 23rd June, as part of the Aldeburgh Festival, Downes and Challenger will take their audience with them in a vintage bus around the beautiful Suffolk countryside, performing the music in three of the churches used on the album. In fact, the project takes Downes back to his very first steps in music. As choirboy, Downes learnt to play on the organ of his local church in Norfolk, where he grew up. "The first thing I really learnt to do on the organ was improvise because I had a teacher who was very interested in that area," he says, "but not in a jazz style. It was more in an extemporizing sense of taking hymns or psalm themes but placing them in different contexts. Through my interest in that, my mum suggested I listen to Oscar Peterson. That was when I started getting more into the jazz thing."At weekends and in school holidays, Downes would "hop on a train and play different organs around Norfolk," "organ-crawling," as he called it. With the support of the Aldeburgh Music programme, Downes and Challenger checked out a number of churches with notable instruments before settling on the six they used to record Vyamanikal."We went back and did two days at each church, so it was quite a lot of time," Downes says. "We whittled it down to about forty minutes including some overlaying of different tracks but the results are quite interesting. Some of the instruments like the famous Tamar organ in Framlingham and the one at Snape weren't necessarily our favourites. In a way, the ones in the smaller churches were essentially converted harmoniums that had all these bizarre little quirks because they are slightly buggered but we could do a bit more interesting things on them and create some wonky music."For Challenger the idea of the project as a journey in every respect is crucial. "The location was really important," Challenger points out. "Trying out nine or ten organs and then recording on six was a real journey and the Suffolk countryside was amazing. We've tried to incorporate some of the journeying we did into this, so rather than hearing a saxophone and an organ in a church, like on Wedding Music, you will hear real spatial qualities to the recordings -snippets that are outside, two performances in two churches at the same time, the manipulation of microphones. It feels like you are moving as the song progresses."And that is what Vyamanikal is. It is a record that has successfully exploited so many different musical aspects offered by the opportunityfrom the instruments themselves, the acoustics of the churches, the position of microphones and the proximity or otherwise of the two musicians within those spaces to the highly developed improvisational abilities of Downes and Challenger. As Downes explains, it is also a project that can spin off in many other directions."The last part of the Aldeburgh project was that they gave us some money to expand some of that music out to a bigger ensemble," Downes continues. "So, we sampled some of the organ parts onto a keyboard and added a viol player, a cellist, a tuned percussion player, a violinist,doing live processing and, of course, Tom playing saxophone and me playing piano and samples. So, it became an ensemble that we could tour clubs with but which didn't have organs."In April, Downes and Challenger perform some of the music at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall with Lucy Railton on cello and Cologne-based drummer. Then in Manchester in July, they will perform in St. Anne's church, along with some live film footage by documentary film-maker, Ashley Pegg, made in Aldeburgh. "So, every time we do a concert it has to revolve around the instrument and the space we're in," Downes says. "It means we can never export the exact same copy to a different venue. It always has to be quite site and instrument specific. By its nature, it is always changing."It is a point that Challenger echoes. "Again, it felt like another natural part of the process of Vyamanikal," he tells me. "The music sounded great on the instruments present and it was nice to see the music showing its strengths despite the fact there wasn't an actual organ. It stood up by itself. Melodically, it was nice hearing the themes being shared around the ensemble and the processing really added a different spatial dimension than the natural acoustics of a church. The pacing was surprisingly easyand this was such a joy to watch unfold. It's a buzz to see seven people all navigate music at such a slow tempi!"I ask Downes how he would define the differences between Wedding Music and Vyamanikal. "The first album was recorded at St Paul's on this incredible concert-worthy organ," Downes replies. "As a result, the music is much more on the grand spectacular side of things, whereas this record was recorded on smaller, more humble instruments. Vyamanikal is more about the real fine detail. The nature of big organs like that is that you can't get mikes very close to them. They are too high or too massive to close mike. With smaller organs you can get inside them and record the sounds of the keyboard action or the air coming out of the pipes. So, you can be a lot more audiophile about the smaller instruments. That's what we've gone for on the second record."Both are clear that the experience of working on Wedding Music and performing the music live was highly important in the development of Vyamanikal, as Challenger explains,"I view that whole periodfrom the initial idea, to the first improvisations, to their consolidation and development as a giant processone that was revelatory for me. I learned a lot about many areashow we worked together, how we interacted musically, how I responded to the situations we performed in and, most of all, I really felt I learned about 'space' and all of its permutations. When it came to recording Vyamanikal I felt we had a strong concept of how we would go about creating some new music. During the time with Wedding Music, we had really honed in on things like duration, dynamic range, those melodic and harmonic subtleties that myself and Kit are fond of and playing outside of the twelve-tone equal tempered scale.""Wedding Music was very much a free jazz kind of 'knees-up' in the area we are probably more versed in," Downes says laughing. "With this second album, we wanted to move it into a different territory, one that was a little more unchartered for us that was more about space. The big difference between the two instruments is that the saxophone runs out of breath, whereas I never do. That is the sort of spark we wanted to explore in the relationship between the two instruments."It also seems that both records involve the exploration of several musical languagesjazz, free improvisation and contemporary or new music. And perhaps there is also a certain minimalist quality to the music in the way they use subtle, ambient modulations and the way the music seems to inhabit and move through space. The namesandspring to mind. It turns out Downes is a fan of all three and was lucky enough to hear and see the latter a few years ago in London.The saxophone seems to come from within the organ rather than sitting on top. It is about "pace, space and breathing" rather than the kind of free improvisation that focuses on the speed of the player's reactions. Downes rejects the reference to minimalism in the sense of a constant pattern or design. "There isn't a pattern," he tells me, "because the music is improvised." In other respects, however, Downes is more comfortable with my suggestion. "Those three were influences," he adds, "but I'm very flattered that you think that they share qualities because they are biggies for me."My remarks should, nevertheless, take nothing away from what has clearly been a voyage of discovery for Downes and Challenger. As Downes explains, "We couldn't use the languages that we normally rely on such as melodic or even harmonic hooks, which would seem trite in that really stripped-down context. So, we had to find different ways of saying the same thing or move the tension along. We couldn't rely on our old free improv or jazz language or invent some kind of cod-classical language. We had to create a whole new set of tools for ourselves. It was a really rewarding and refreshing process. It was about what says the most with the least."I ask if he ever feels that the sheer range of projects with which he is involved stretches him too thinlyNASA is apparently very jealous. His response is both pragmatic and based on aesthetic considerations."If I were offered a two-hundred date tour with my piano trio, I would probably take it," he says. "Then my music might start to fit a less wide brief. But the music scene can't support that kind of thing anymore. So, we search out different possibilities and we live in the age of the internet and if you have an ounce of curiosity you can find out pretty much everything about something you only just discovered a moment ago. For curious minds it's hard to cut stuff out. But there are plenty of things I turn down as well, that I don't feel are right for me or are what I want to do. If I said 'yes' to everything I was asked to do my work would be too unfocused. There is a certain energy that I extend in keeping a degree of control. In terms of my emotional investment in my participation in all these projects, I feel like I go through much the same sort of processes in each project even if the outcome is radically different."Not yet thirty, Downes does not feel ready to limit his activities to one or two directionsnor should he. He is fortunate to have come through at a time when there are so many exciting possibilities and so many bright and talented musicians around. If only that were matched by funding and media and audience support."My focus is narrowing down a little," he says, "but I still get excited by the people I play with and by the mechanics of each project. Like Troyka or Wedding Music, they are such different ways of playing together. They're just settings. It's more about the people you're working with. I want to find something out musically with that person, more than I want to follow some kind of through-lined genre interest in my work."
Tracks and Personnel

Swiss composer and cellist Stefan Thut was born in 1968. Trained at the Lucerne Conservatory then at Boston University School of Music, he is now based in the Swiss canton of Solothurn. After experiences in new and experimental music, improvisation and noise he started composing, writing scores.A member of the Wandelweiser group, as an interpreter Thut has premiered solo pieces including compositions by fellow members Jurg Frey,and Manfred Werder. Two of his own compositions figured on the five-disc box Wandelweiser und so weiter (Another Timbre, 2013) Among other places, his scores have been realised in Dusseldorf, Tokyo and New York. He has also performed with the ensemble incidental music in Berlin, Brussels, London and Zurich.Thut's discography is fairly slim, with releases being rare or intermittent, so the two contrasting recordings below, released on different labels, in rapid succession, represent a positive flurry of activity...Stefan ThutOne and SevenINSUB2016The title of this piece "One and Seven" refers to its use of one voice and seven instruments, which here are cello (played by Thut himself), hurdy-gurdy, violin, harmonium, bowed metal pieces, electric bass and snare drum. Alongside Thut, the ensemble includes INSUB label curatorsand d'incise. The one fifty-five-minute track opens to the unaccompanied voice of Antoine Lang who sings a single sustained tone that he then repeats, establishing a pattern that the instruments soon follow. Punctuated by occasional brief periods of silencein a fashion recognisably characteristic of Wandelweiserthe instruments play sustained tones that slowly wax and wane, sometimes several overlapping one another, often not.Although the seven instruments are not an obvious combination in a septet, they are never called upon to play together as an ensemble and, hence, this instrumentation works very well in context. Together, the instruments provide a broad enough range of textures and timbres to create a varied, shifting soundscape. There is a pleasing logic to the way that the instruments enter and then fade away, ensuring the music never becomes overcrowded or cluttered, and so every sound can be heard clearly without being masked by others. Altogether, "One and Seven" makes a highly satisfying experience that stands up well to repeated listening.Stefan ThutUn/even and OneIntonema2016Glancing through the titles of Thut's scores , one reaches a point where the titles seem to become obsessed with "boxes""two strings and boxes," "one and three boxes," "five and three boxes..." and so on. No, Thut hadn't lost his marbles; he had become interested in the different ways in which a cardboard box could be employedas table, as vehicle, as resonator, as amplifier, as percussion... While Un/even and One does not make specific mention of a box in its title, boxes do play a pivotal role in the piece, as can be seen on the YouTube clip, below, shot the day before the actual performance and recording of this CD. In the clip. Thut himself can be seen on cello, alongside Intonema proprietor and saxophonist Ilia Belorukov.Thut's score specifies that, as preparation, the musicians should "on cardboard boxes of various sizes rub with one finger onto the surface of each box as if writing (longhand or print letters) and record each player writing his or her name from inside the box." At the performance, "the recordings are played back by an iPod and contact speaker attached to a large cardboard box." In the YouTube clip, this large box is out of shot but is being pushed right and left by Anna Antipova who is also playing back the recordings on iPodhence, the sound that can be heard when no-one is obviously playing their instrument. In addition, the position of the box that Antipova is moving also determines which musicians play at particular times i.e. moving the box is a form of conducting; notice how the movement of the box stimulates the musicians to play...Compared to "One and Seven," "Un/even and One" is a very different workfar more experimental, at times seeming to have some of the formal precision of a Beckett play. From the YouTube clip, it may seem that it is better seen live than heard on disc, as the silences and the sense of expectation they engender are as important as the sounds themselves. However, as an entity in its own right, away from the performance or recording of it, the CD recording does eloquently capture the experimental nature of Thut's score, with its soundsand silencesconveying the piece's sense of ritual and mystery.Taken together, these two recordings provide a fascinating snapshot of Thut's work and whet the appetite for far more.One and SevenTracks: One and SevenPersonnel: Stefan Thut: composition, cello; Antoine Lang: voice, volumes; Alexis Dergrenier: hurdy-gurdy; Patricia Bosshard: violin; Cyril Bondi: harmonium; d'incise: bowed metal pieces; Raphael Ortis: electric bass; Rodolphe Loubatiere: snare drum.Un/even and OneTracks: Un/even and onePersonnel: Yuri Akbalkan: sine waves, white noise; Anna Antipova: box, playback, movement; Ilia Belorukov: alto saxophone, objects; Andreey Popovskiy: violin, objects; Denis Sorokin: acoustic guitar, ebow; Stefan Thut: cello, composition.
Stefan Musser walked into Ustler Hall expecting to date a feminist woman Tuesday night.

The UF physics senior attended the first Speed Date a Feminist event, hosted by the Womens Student Association as part of Womens History Month.

About 20 students sat across from each other in two rows to discuss what feminism means to them.

I was under the impression that there would be feminists and they would be engaged in speed-dating with the intention of potentially forming romantic partnerships, the 22-year-old said.

Musser said he saw the event on Facebook but didnt read the description on the page.

When I saw the term speed dating, I thought that it was that, he said. It was my mistake. I didnt read more of the description.

Instead, all Musser and his two friends took home were cheese cubes and crackers from the snack table.

Audrey Guerra, the co-programming director of Womens History Month, organized the event. The 21-year-old said she expected misunderstandings.

I anticipated something like that to occur, but it was the end of the event, so I was a little surprised, she said. I am happy they at least got some food for their troubles.

Guerra said the event allowed students to talk about feminist issues in a new style.

This event is introducing people to feminism in a speed-dating-type format, the UF political science junior said. We are hoping to encourage people to look at feminism in a much more approachable way.

Mark Tracz, a UF family, youth and community sciences senior, participated to learn about others perspectives. Tracz was one of the five men who attended.

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I try to read up to stay educated, the 22-year-old said. To me, feminism is about making sure people have the ability to speak and feel empowered to say whats on their mind.

Guerra asked the participants to which pro-feminism organization they would donate a million dollars.

Jodi Bauson, a UF biomedical engineering freshman and Girl Scout, said she would donate to Girl Scouts of America.

I feel like they really helped foster that belief that we could do what we want, the 19-year-old said. If you give the money to young girls, you can help them realize their potential.

Emily Nieves, a UF political science junior, said she feels feminism isnt accepted by everyone.

There are a myriad of reasons why feminism isnt accepted, the 20-year-old said. The largest one is people not knowing what feminism is.

Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MerylKornfield.
Law students dunked UF College of Laws Dean Laura Rosenbury at the 10th Annual Multicultural Fair on Tuesday.

About 750 people attended the event, where students dunked the dean for the first time.

The fair raised $400 for a sports law conference taking place April 4 that will discuss entertainment and sports media law.

About 43 UF law organizations chose countries to educate students about. They created posters about their countries and provided dishes from them, said Andy Schein, the president of the Law College Council.

Kelsey Pena, the treasurer of UFs Association for Public Interest Law, served students shepherds pie from Ireland.

Other tables offered tacos, meat pies, plantains and ginger beer to give students a taste of each country.

Clubs had to purchase dishes from restaurants or vendors, Schein said. Because of this, they were each given about $100 to buy food.

Each club also submitted a poster  decorated with its countrys colors  that displayed legal and fun facts.

Schein said the fair was a nice break for law students before they start preparing for finals.

Everybody buckles down for finals; no one even leaves the library or their house, so its good to have people out here now, the 24-year-old said.

Anne-Marie Kabia, the director of communications for the Black Law Student Association, said she liked meeting others at the fair.

Its nice just to be out here and to get to know about other organizations and to connect and network with other students, the 26-year-old UF law student said.

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Kelsey Pena, right, the treasurer of UFs Association of Public Interest Law, serves a student shepherd's pie, which was part of the Ireland table at the 10th Annual Multicultural Fair at the Levin College of Law on Tuesday.
Some called it a time to reconnect with the community, while others called it stunt by law enforcement to redirect public attention.

Some residents felt their voices went unheard Tuesday night, when the Alachua County Sheriffs Office and Gainesville Police held a meeting to discuss Sundays fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy.

Inside the Powerhouse Family Worship Center at 6 p.m., residents expressed a mix of anger and understanding, along with a sense of heartbreak that pervaded room.

On Sunday night, Robert Dentmond, a sophomore at Gainesville High School, called police and said he was intent on shooting himself with an M16 assault rifle.

Dentmond stood in the middle of a parking lot at Majestic Oaks Apartments, where nine law enforcement officers fired their weapons and killed him after a tense standoff.

Alba Berroa, a Majestic Oaks Apartment resident, said Dentmond was asking for help when he called 911.

Sheriff Sadie Darnell said the incident, however tragic, was an example of textbook policing.

Though Dentmonds weapon turned out to be a plastic BB gun, law enforcement officers are trained to take all credible threats seriously.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently investigating the matter.

GPD Chief Tony Jones said authorities requested the FDLEs involvement for the sake of transparency. FDLE is not required to investigate officer-involved shootings in every Florida city.

Florida Senate Bill 810: Investigation of Lethal Force by Law Enforcement Officers and Florida House Bill 933: Investigation of Lethal Force by Law Enforcement Officers both would have required law enforcement to report any case involving lethal force to FDLE.

Both were struck down March 11.

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The nine law enforcement officers involved in Sundays shooting are currently on non-patrol duties.

At the meeting Tuesday, Santa Fe College student Jecomiah Walker felt the communitys voice was stifled, citing a large attendance of residents and a small representation of elected officials and mental-health experts.

Its like theyre sweeping everybodys emotions under the rug, and its only frustrating people thats in here trying to speak, Walker said.

Instead of placing all the blame on law enforcement, Darnell said, the entire community should receive eight hours of mental health care training. Darnell said ACSO has the highest percentage of law enforcement personnel with Crisis Intervention Training in Florida. Both ACSO and GPD recommend 40 hours of instruction to receive CIT certification.

Three ACSO officers and one GPD officer who were present on Sunday had their CIT certifications.

Berroa, who lives in Dentmonds former building, said law enforcement not only killed Dentmond, but also put the safety of residents at risk.

In the parking lot, Berroas white Toyota has a bullet lodged in the windshield and a hole on the trunk.

As her neighbor sat on a couch with her husband Sunday night, a stray bullet broke through her wall and hit the TV, Berroa said.

A bullet that struck an adjacent apartment narrowly missed a young girl who sat in her bedroom, she said.

Dentmonds sister wanted to reason with her brother, Berroa said, but police did not allow residents to enter the active crime scene.

And a lot of people want to know why things wasnt done differently, she said. Like, why so excessive?

She said tear gas, mace or a trained sharpshooter could have all ended the situation without ending the teenagers life.

Ian Brandon, a Micanopy resident who works in Gainesville, protested the shooting Tuesday afternoon outside GPD Headquarters.

They need training in de-escalation and crisis intervention, not just, Do what I say or Ill kill you, Brandon said. Thats the only training they got right now.

Darnell said the deputies are well trained, and that only additional funding would help improve ACSO practices

We cant diagnose, she said. We can try our best to de-escalate. We can try our best to establish a rapport, but we need the help of professionals.

Like it or not, she said, it boils down to money.

Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @martindvassolo.
In 1854, U.S. diplomats wrote to Secretary of State William Marcy in the Ostend Manifesto that the U.S. should try to either purchase Cuba from Spain or declare war on Spain and seize Cuba. Beginning with the tenure of Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, the U.S. tried to take possession of Cuba to extend economic control over the region and expand U.S. slave territory. As Adams declared, the acquisition of Cuba was an object of transcendent importance to the commercial and political interests of our Union.

As American politicians have always been a thoroughly disinterested bunch, the manifesto spurred a controversy, not for concern over the islands right to sovereignty and self-determination, but rather Northern concern that Cuba would figure as one more Southern (slave) state, thus challenging Northern political and economic hegemony.

Cuba officially obtained independence from Spain in 1898 and from the U.S. in 1902, although it continued to be ruled for the next half century as a neo-colony of the U.S. With the American design for Cuba fulfilled, our country exploited the islands riches, influencing the political situation through organized crime and coercion while the denizens of the islands lived largely in abject poverty.

The period from 1959 to the present has been radically different from the U.S.s side, as the scale of our engagement completely diminished following the Cuban Revolution and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. In this period, per misplaced bitterness from both Washington and the Cubans who voluntarily fled after 1959, our policy entailed the implementation of a total embargo. This heinous measure only amounted to the crushing of the Cuban people whilst Castros government consolidated its resources, and after some 60-odd years, the embargo has completely failed to shake the Castros from power.

This in turn entails the most offensive aspect of our present dialogue for me: Cuba is not opening up. The New York Times ran a piece on Sunday that claimed, Though Cuban society has been closed off from the world for a half-century, there remains an uncanny openness about the nations people.

The vision of the piece, in all its patronizing and inaccurate glory, is the one into which Americans have sadly been inculcated: American saviors ready to storm into and save this sad Communist land of mojitos, old Chevys and Che posters.

The interesting aspect of the phrase has been closed off is that it is in the passive voice and we dont know who closed Cuba. Was it Fidel? The U.S.? Aliens? It is clear nonetheless, within our neo-colonial narratives, that Cuba now figures into the space it always did before the revolution: one open for American political and economic domination.

In the time Cuba has been closed off, it has managed to ensure universal healthcare and education, attain a 99.8 percent literacy rate and become the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Cuba presently has around 50,000 health workers volunteering in 66 countries, and Cuban doctors were among the first to arrive in West Africa in the fight against the Ebola outbreak. The list goes on.

Research the history, look up the statistics and you will see that the normalization we see on TV is really just the U.S. ceasing its senseless barbarism and overt attacks against a country whose main crime was trying to implement its own system.

I fear Cuba is being re-colonized into a new U.S. playground destination, its resources and pristine environment soon to be subjugated to the almighty dollar and the whims of the free market.

Thus, I exhort Americans, as we observe and participate in this historic transition, not to accept the ridiculous trope that Cuba is opening up, when in fact it is the mindset and actions of the U.S. that have been closed off to reason and decency for the past 60 years. Viva Cuba libre!

Jordan MacKenzie is a second-year UF linguistics masters student. His column appears on Wednesdays.

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           2005     ..        
On the other hand, the target group included a capricious mob which was very difficult to fathom. While enthusiastically endorsing the initiative, many people made the right noises but failed to deliver the goods.

There was a reason for this approach to instigating PNGs national literary awards. On the one hand, there was no way of knowing what would work and what would not work  new ground was being broken.

For its six-year life, the Crocodile Prize has been an evolving and moveable feast. Not quite making it up as it went along but close.

THERE is no turning back. The Croc is going to live in Papua New Guinea and thats that.

I think its fair to say though that everyone realised the competition would have to be handed over to PNG at some stage.

You cant have your national literature competition run by another country.

The difficulties and unpredictable nature of trying to organise a major project in PNG came home to Keith Jackson and me with a vengeance in 2013.

In that year, an attempt was made to hand over the competition to a new, legally constituted, democratically elected, apparently enthusiastic Papua New Guinean organisation. It didnt work.

After rescuing the Prize from disaster late in 2013, a three year strategy evolved. And then, in 2014, the creation of the Simbu Writers Association offered an opportunity for more certain planning.

This involved the gradual handover of specific elements of the competition, beginning in 2015.

The thinking was that, over the following two years, more elements of the Prize would be handed over. If this was successful, by 2017 the Prize would be an entirely Papua New Guinean affair.

In 2015, the contest was managed from Australia but the bulk of the budget was raised from sponsors in PNG and the organisation of the awards ceremony writers workshop was undertaken by the Simbu Writers Association. The arrangement worked very well.

For 2016, the whole Prize has been handed over to a PNG-based committee headed by writer Baka Bina.

The publication of entries in PNG Attitude is still occurring and the Anthology will be edited and produced in Australia.

Hopefully in 2017, Papua New Guinea will take over the Anthology and the transition will be complete and the competition will be truly Papua New Guinean.

Keith is getting on with running PNG Attitude and I am concentrating on publishing books by Papua New Guinean authors through Pukpuk Publications.

A strategy for devolution has evolved and this will hopefully see the Crocodile Prize thrive in Papua New Guinea as it should.

Papua New Guinean writers should be aware that the process of devolution is now a one way street. There will be no more rescues. If the Crocodile Prize fails that will be the end of it.

The ball, as they say, is well and truly in Papua New Guineas court.




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But I Think He's a Non-Believer by Constance Daley Death of a Thug The Life and Horrors of Suharto by Andreas Harsono ___________________________ This Just In Sierra Club: McCain Ducked All 15 Key Votes On Green Laws (AR) A Work By AR's T.S. Kerrigan Is Chosen As 'Best Poem' By Wordpress Site Murder At Mile 63

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BEWARE THE SELF-REVERENTIAL PRESS by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Shortly before the primary votes this past week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter called Sen. Barack Obama's surge to the Democratic nomination "inevitable." It also called for Hillary Clinton to "start her campaign for Senate majority leader." [MORE] Constance

A CONVERSATION WITH MY CAT Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Normally, when the cat starts his evening rant of meowing continuously until he makes his point, I just take it as long as I can, pick him up, and put him in the garage for the night. He doesn't want to go, but the meowing stops and I don't care if he likes it or not. [MORE] Momentum

OUT OF STRUGGLE, ART by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here we are again at the crossroads of art and social change, having the opportunity to watch good and great films about the lives of women in support of the Women's Crisis Center. [MORE] Campaign 2008

HOW TO PREDICT SUPER TUESDAY II WINNERS? ONLINE SEARCH by Jay Bhatti NEW YORK, March 4, 2008, 7:00PM ET -- With the outcomes of the Texas, Vermont, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries to be decided tonight, how possible is it that online searching can predict who will win tonight's primaries? [MORE] One Woman's World

DON'T VOTE; IT ENCOURAGES THEM by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Call me angry and disgusted but don't call me un-American because I won't be voting come November. [MORE] On Native Ground

BUSH AND THE KEYBOARD COMMANDOS by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the days tick down toward the eventual departure of President George W. Bush from the White House, it's a hopeful sign that most Americans are no longer moved by his Administration's constant exploitation of terrorism for political gain. [MORE] Momentum

WHICH AMERICA DO YOU LIVE IN? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a little confusing. [MORE] Make My Dat

THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] On Native Ground

FIDEL RETIRES: NOW THE COLD WAR IS REALLY OVER by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Maybe now, we can finally say the Cold War is over. [MORE] Make My Dat

THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] One Woman's World

POLITICS IS NO PARTY by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Are you having a hard time focusing your eyes? Do you have faint red spots all over your body? Is there a ringing in your ears and do you see wavy lines when you look at your television set? Do your hands shake when you try to hold a cup of coffee? And have you recently been forgetting what day of the week it is - or what year? [MORE] Make My Day

FOR BETTER OR WORSE ... A LOT WORSE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse." [MORE] Constance

YOU CALL THESE RIGHTS? by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you express an opinion you hope to persuade others to your point of view. It doesn't always happen but still, opinion writers try. [MORE] Momentum

THE BRIDGE WOMAN by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Out there in America - yes, still - is a generation of women who were born in the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and who came to radical consciousness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. [MORE] On Native Ground

OBAMA AND MY GENERATION by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I originally planned on voting for Dennis Kucinich in the Vermont Primary on March 4. [MORE] The Willies:

WARNING: THIS MEDICATION MAY MURDER YOUR FRIENDS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla. -- You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Stop Prozac and you may take a shotgun, an Uzi or an AK-47 and mow down your family and friends, or even a whole classroom full of your fellow students. You didn't? Well, that warning is not on the bottle, but like countless mass-murder incidents before it, Friday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 last year, was probably precipitated by the effect of stopping medications that suppress anger and other powerful emotions but do not relieve the underlying cause. Isn't it time we started warning people - or stopped prescribing these medicines? [MORE] One Woman's World

DON'T KNOCK ON MY DOOR by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I wish I could feel delight in my poet's mansion being like Grand Central Station all the time, but I can't. And I wish my place was such a place that someone would one day write: "Her door was always open and she always made you feel all fuzzy and warm in her presence. She could make a cup of coffee seem like a banquet." [MORE] Reporting: Panama

PANAMA'S VIOLENT LABOR UNREST INTENSIFIES Mark Scheinbaum PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb, 15, 2008 -- After just one day of relative calm, wildcat construction strikes by some members of Panama's largest union flared up again Friday morning, four days after a police sniper shot one worker. More than 140 demonstrators have been injured and at least 500 arrested, authorities say. [MORE] Brasch Words

TO STIMULATE ECONOMY, BUY A CHINESE-MADE U.S. FLAG by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler. [MORE] Make My Day

THE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- To commemorate the death of noted shark exploder Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws" movies that resulted in Erik never setting foot in the ocean again, we are reprinting this column from 2003. Shark Experts 0, Sharks 1 [MORE] Momentum

THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - As I write this, it's raining ice. Maybe a half a foot of snow and ice has already landed up here in the woods of Dummerston. Our cars are encased in it, and the door to the house is blocked. The satellite dish that brings in our Internet service quit about 20 minutes ago - frozen solid. [MORE] The Willies

AMERICA TO HILLARY: GET OUT! by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 13, 2008 -- Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted the Rudy Giuliani strategy, and it's working - for Sen. Barack Obama. It turns out to be the strategy all Democrats are seeking - an exit strategy. But it's not for Iraq. It's for her exit from the race for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. [MORE] Constance

CONFESSIONS OF A DISAPPOINTED VOTER by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A week ago at just about this time, I completed an article and was about to submit it as scheduled to The American Reporter. I was feeling rather elated, ready to show up on Super Tuesday morning, firmly touch the X next to Rudy Giuliani's name and get on with my day. He was my choice; he would get my vote. [MORE] Reporting: Florida

SIERRA CLUB SET TO SUSPEND FLA. CHAPTER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 10, 2008 -- The national Sierra Club is set to suspend its Florida chapter after years of divisive infighting, the president of the national club told Florida members in a letter delivered to some this weekend. It is the first time in its 116-year history that such a step has been considered by the club, according to news reports. [MORE] One Woman's World

PLANT A NEW WORLD THIS SPRING by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- For a little while, the men will just have to toss and turn in their fear-free-women beds. For a small space of time Hillary Clinton will just have to trudge on toward the White House without my faint applause in the background. [MORE] On Native Ground

VERMONT AND THE 5 STAGES OF CONSERVATIVE GRIEF by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- First, Vermont tried to convince the nation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. [MORE] Make My Day

REBEL WITHOUT A TONGUE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kids' brains work in amazing ways. At times, they can grasp complex concepts and make impressive discoveries. Other times, you have to wonder how we ever survived as a species. [MORE] The Willies

FOR DEMOCRATS, NOW IT'S ABOUT RACE, INCOME AND GENDER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Feb. 6, 2008 -- It's not a good time to be a Democrat. As the Super Tuesday results demonstrated, the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the partly along clear racial, income and gender lines - the very distinctions the party has sought to erase in principle but has emphasized in its pursuit of diversity. [MORE] Momentum

SUPER TUESDAY BLUES by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Super Tuesday has come and gone and I still can't get excited about the upcoming presidential elections. [MORE] The Willies

ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY, YOUR PUSH IS NEEDED by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 5. 2008 -- I'm expecting a sea change tonight. I believe that for the first time in this nation's history we will once and forever banish racism as the deciding factor in the destiny of African-Americans, and indeed adopt diversity as our path to the future. [MORE] Campaign 2008

AT 88, EVERY VOTE REALLY COUNTS by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 5, 2008 -- Pearl Turner will caucus for Mitt Romney tonight in Denver. [MORE] One Woman's World

STAND BY YOUR WOMAN by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- The black vote. The gay vote. The fundamentalist vote. The Hispanic vote. [MORE] An AR Special

SUSPECTS IN BENAZIR ASSASSINATION HAVE TIES TO MUSHARRAF by Ahmar Mustikhan WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Gordon Brown this past Monday feted coup-leader-turned-President Pervez Musharraf at 10 Downing Street, Britain's new prime minister probably didn't ask the Pakistani dictator a question that is now on many minds: Did you order the murder of Benazir Bhutto? [MORE] Momentum

TO THE VERMONT DELEGATION: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt.  Back when President George W. Bush and Dick Vice President Dick Cheney were building up to their loathsome war in Iraq, very few people were brave enough to call the bullies' bluff. [MORE] On Native Ground

IF BUSH HAS HIS WAY, WE'LL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. - In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President Bush cautioned against accelerating U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying that it would endanger the process that has been made over the past year. [MORE] Campaign 2008

CLASH OF COMMENTS AND PROTESTORS AT CLINTON, OBAMA RALLIES IN DENVER by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 1, 2008 -- At least four presidential campaigns of both partiers rolled into in Denver this week ahead of the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 22 states, but it was the Democratic presidential contenders who drew the big crowds and duked it out Wednesday. If sheer numbers are any indication, Sen. Barack Obama - preceded by a buoyant and beautiful Caroline Kennedy - won the round handily. He is the overwhelming favorite to win the Colorado primary next Tuesday. [MORE] The Willies

WHY THE FLORIDA PRIMARY STINKS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 30, 2008 -- I was with my wife and daughter driving the back way from Miami home to Bradenton when we stopped at a McDonald's in Clewiston, the only big town along the vast shore of Lake Okeechobee, the state's precious freshwater reservoir. The McDonald's had three televisions at a central seating area, each tuned to a different network, and our table was in front of CNN as the very first election results started to pour in around 7:30PM. With them, almost as counterpoint, suddenly came such an overwhelming odor of cow plop that my wife started to throw up as we all ran to the parking lot. [MORE] Passings: Suharto

DEATH OF A KEMUSU THUG by Andreas Harsono JAKARTA - A few minutes after hearing that former president Suharto had died in his hospital bed, Marco, a militia leader in downtown Jakarta, raced to Suhartos house, wearing his jungle camouflage and began guarding the Suhartos residence on Cendana Street. [MORE] Constance

I REMEMBER YOU by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. -- It seems to be more often lately that the sentiment is spoken but it's always been out there: "You never get over the death of your child." This is true. But the heartfelt expressions come from some who cannot fathom the notion of losing a child; their own child is who is in their mind, not another mother's child. [MORE]
Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, will attend the New York GOP's annual gala next month, the party announced Wednesday.

Trump will join New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez as one of the featured guests at the $1,000 a person gala. The event will be held April 14 at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.

The New York GOP said the three Republican presidential candidates  U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are the others  have been invited. So far, Trump is the only one to accept the invitation.

The gala will be held five days before the New York presidential primary on Tuesday, April 19. Trump, a Manhattan resident and real estate mogul, holds a large lead in the polls and is expected to win his home state.

"We are thrilled to welcome Republican presidential candidate and fellow New Yorker Donald Trump to our event," state Republican Chairman Ed Cox said.

"This year has become one of the most exciting and vital presidential elections in many years. New York Republicans are more motivated than ever to take back the White House, and for the first time in a long time, will play a decisive role by their votes in the April 19 presidential primary. The excitement is palpable, and we expect this event to be a great success."

As of Wednesday, Trump has won 739 of the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the GOP presidential nomination. He added to his total with a victory in the Arizona primary Tuesday.

Trump has several supporters in New York, including Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey and Buffalo business Carl Paladino, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010.

Leading up to the New York primary, Trump is expected to make appearances in his home state. There's speculation he will hold events in upstate cities, namely Buffalo and Syracuse.

Despite Trump's big lead in New York, his foes are trying to build support here. Cruz met with a group of Republicans Tuesday in Manhattan, according to Daily Caller. The audience included Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Cox.
A Syracuse man, who fled authorities for over five years on felony drug charges, was found in Florida on March 11 and transported back to Auburn on Tuesday.

Shamich M. Davis, 34, 262 McLennan Ave., was charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. If Davis plead guilty and cooperated with authorities, the plea deal with District Attorney Jon Budelmann's office back in June 2011 included a minimum of four years in prison with two years of post-release supervision.

Davis did not show up to his sentencing, and Judge Thomas Leone issued an arrest warrant after imposing the maximum 12-year sentence with three years of post-release supervision.

The United States Marshal Service in Jacksonville, Florida captured Davis on March 11, according to the Auburn Police Department. He was placed into custody of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Davis was brought back to Auburn on March 22 and was processed on Leone's bench warrant.

Davis is now being held in Cayuga County Jail. He will appear in Cayuga County Court on Thursday.
Chocolate upward price trends to continue beyond Easter

The cocoas price passed US$3, 000 a tonne this week.

However, the Easter holidays are not the driving force.

More importantly, skilled worker shortages and political uphveals in West Africa are the major contributors to the price increase trend. West Africa is the source of 70 per cent of the worlds cocoa beans.

Professor David Guest from the Department of Plant and Food Sciences at the University of Sydney told The Observer in 2015 that rising chocolate costs were inevitable.

You need to look after these trees properly, which requires labour, said Professor Guest.

And labour shortages are a real problem in the cocoa-growing areas because of a drift of young people to the cities and people suffering from poor health, he stated.

Skilled farmers are also moving away from plantation commodity crops to highvalue horticulture. For example Kenya is exporting fresh vegetables by air daily to UK and European countries. But Australian consumers are eating more chocolate in 2015

Overall yearly demand adding to price drive

According to Professor Tim Benton from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds in the UK an overall increasing demand for cocoa is helping to drive up prices.

Demand for cocoa is growing fast and it is not clear what stocks are held across the world, Professor Benton said.

This creates a recipe for price uncertainty. It can drive up prices, lead to panic buying and create the potential for a price spike, he states.

Australians are certainly contributing to the increased demand with new Roy Morgan Research statistics released this week confirming that consumers ate more chocolate in 2015 than they did in 2013.
The top 20 supermarket brands Australians say they cannot do without

Canstar Blue has conducted a survey to discover what top 20 supermarket sold brands Australians say they cannot do without.

Despite the growing trend of buying private label, the Canstar Blue study found that the 3, 000 consumers questioned all managed to list brands that were essential to them.

The big supermarkets are focused on improving their private label groceries and consumers are benefiting from improved quality and low prices, said head of Canstar Blue, Megan Doyle.

While this is good news for shoppers, its putting huge pressure on brand names and there is growing competition for shelf-space. If things continue as they are, only the most popular brand names will survive. Thats why we wanted to find out which big brands Australians not only love, but are also happy to pay that bit extra for at the checkout, she said.

Australian brands listed amongst favourites

Brands those surveyed say they cannot live without do not just include big international brands like Coca-Cola, Cadbury and Nestle. Australian brands named in the top 20 list include Arnotts, Sanitarium, Uncle Tobys, Bega Cheese, Dick Smith Foods and Vegemite.

Although Australian brands are listed, Doyle says there are more international brands than Australian brands.

Even though some of the most popular brands on the list are imports, a common theme from the survey was that Australian consumers want to see local brands doing well, particularly those that weve grown up with, said Doyle.

Its natural to feel a sense of loyalty to the brands youve been buying all your life, she said.

The top 20 brands Australians cannot live without

The complete list of supermarket brands Australians say they cannot live without is as follows:

Cadbury

Arnotts

Heinz

Kelloggs

Kraft

Coca-Cola

Nescafe

Nestle

Lindt

Sanitarium

Golden Circle

Bega Cheese

SPC

Edgell

Uncle Tobys

Streets

Kleenex

Vegemite

Dick Smith Foods

John West

Who are Canstar Blue?

Canstar Blue is a service which evaluates and compares consumer products available for sale in Australia. It is funded by website advertising, ratings licences and lead commissions.
Wrigley Pacific appoints new General Manager

Patrick Gantier is now General Manager for Wrigley Pacific, a division of the Mars group.

Gantier was formerly the General Manager for Mars Food France and has 20 years-experience in the fast moving goods industry in Europe and in the US. He joined Mars in 2008 as Marketing Director.

Prior to his time at Mars Gantier worked various marketing roles in France and Central Europe. He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and Finance and a Masters degree in Marketing.

Wrigley pacific is responsible for a number of chewing gum and confectionary brands sold in Australia including Skittles, Eclipse mints, Starburst lollies and Extra chewing gum which was relaunched in 2015.

Former General Manager for Wrigley Pacific, Andrew Leakey, has been appointed General Manager for Mars Chocolate India.
WASHINGTON  Phoenix and Tucson water officials took the occasion of the first-ever White House Water Summit to announce plans Tuesday for a more than fivefold increase in the joint conservation effort between the two cities.

The announcement will mean 1.6 million gallons of Phoenix water will be stored annually in Tucson  a theme of collaborative effort that ran through Tuesdays meeting that drew water officials from around the country  including a number from Arizona.

I think sometimes its easy to compartmentalize this as a Southwestern issue, but it really is an issue thats impacting the entire country, said Heather Macre, a Maricopa County representative in the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, who was also at the event.

She said the summit, timed to coincide with U.N. World Water Day, was a place where we can all get together, talk about the issues were facing, and see if theres innovative solutions that we can share, not just across the aisle, but also across the country.

Her organization is one of a group of Colorado River Basin agencies that announced an expansion of its own conservation project Tuesday. The group launched the second phase of a project that compensates water users who take part in voluntary conservation projects, and connects farmers, ranchers and tribes with municipalities and policymakers to encourage conversations on water solutions.

She said collaboration among regional organizations is going to be the solution as opposed to doing it on a state or agency basis.

That was echoed by officials from Tucson and Phoenix, who launched a program in 2014 that began storing 800 acre-feet of Phoenixs excess water in Tucsons available storage space.

Timothy Thomure, director of Tucson Water, said the programs long-term goal is to increase the storage capacity to 40,000 acre-feet per year, or one-third of Phoenixs total water allotment.

Because Tucson relies on wells and Phoenix relies on surface water, the cities have been able to leverage their respective infrastructure and gain tremendous efficiency and really create resiliency for both communities, said Kathryn Sorensen, director of Phoenix Water Services.

Thomure said the cooperative idea seems to be spreading.

We are talking with other communities in the Phoenix Valley about whether theyd be interested in participating in something similar, and were starting to get some interest based on the success weve had working with Phoenix, he said.

The Colorado River Basin has gone through more than a decade of drought, but Macre said she was happy to see the federal government bring awareness to an issue that affects the entire nation, not just the desert states.
Hear the story of Adam and Eve at a special lecture Thursday, March 24, at NAU. American literature professor and Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt will give the talk, Getting Real: The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, at the Cline Library Assembly Hall at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Greenblatt, John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, will discuss the story of Adam and Evea story that defined the way in which people for centuries understood the nature of their lives and served as the human origin story for great world religions. The event is free and open to the public.

On March 11, Greenblatt was awarded the The Holberg Prize, the largest international prize awarded annually to an outstanding researcher in the arts and humanities, social science, law and theology.

The Holberg Prize press release states, Stephen Greenblatt has been one of the most distinctive and influential voices in the humanities for four decades.

His work has had immeasurable impact on the practices of history, literary studies and cultural criticism, well beyond his own specialist area.

He has provided us a vocabulary through which we can approach the task of understanding our times and its history.

Market of Dreams celebrates anniversary

The Market of Dreams (El Mercado de los Suenos) will celebrate its first anniversary on Saturday, March 26 from noon-6 p.m. Crafts, face-painting, an Easter egg hunt for the kids, live music and dancing are only a few activities planned for the day. Prices on all products will be discounted 10 percent. Everyone is welcome.

The Market of Dreams is a multicultural entrepreneur center. Its retail space with arts, crafts and foods is located at 2532 E. Seventh Ave.

The Market of Dreams operates under the umbrella of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, a non-profit organization. The Market offers business workshops, classes and access to a wide range of small-business resources. Vendors share market space and have access to a commercially-certified kitchen for food production. Youth entrepreneurship and involvement are encouraged.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the latest election totals.

Bernie Sanders scored big points in Coconino County with two recent appearances in the Flagstaff area, but it was not enough to overtake former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Arizonas Democratic Presidential Preference Election.

The Vermont senator ran away with 53.4 percent of Coconino Countys Democratic vote, compared to Clintons 44.1 percent with 100 percent of precincts reporting. Statewide, however, Clinton trounced Sanders, picking up roughly 236,000 votes to Sanders roughly 163,000 with 90 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Arizona Secretary of States unofficial 2016 presidential preference election results. Media outlets began calling the race for Clinton less than two hours after the polls closed in Arizona.

Local Clinton supporters credited her win to her stance on issues like immigration reform, as well as her appeal to an older voting demographic, including the states many retirees.

Who moves to Arizona? How old are we? This is not rocket science, its because when you look at the statistics, Hillary does better with everyone over the age of 35, said Harriet Young, a fervent Clinton supporter.

Patrice Horstman, another Clinton backer, also pointed to the fact that Clinton won the state in 2008 when she was running against Barack Obama.

I think the Clinton name resonates very well in Arizona, especially with the Hispanic and Native American communities, Horstman said.

Horstman and Young werent surprised that Sanders carried Coconino County, considering his multiple visits to the Flagstaff area and the strong influence of younger voters here.

He earned those votes, said Horstman said.

Both women gave ample credit to the Vermont senator for firing up young people and getting them to the polls, a quality they said benefits the Democratic party as a whole.

I think Hillary is going to win the nomination, but having won it she will have behind her many people she would never have mobilized on her own and that is what Bernie has done, Young said. I see him as an additive. What he has done is a good thing for the Democratic message.

In Flagstaff, voters who chose to talk to The Daily Sun after leaving the polls overwhelmingly supported Sanders.

Marcus Clanton, who voted for Sanders, said he agrees with all the issues in Sanders platform. Clanton said he tried to see Sanders at his rally at Twin Arrows, but did not get in to the main ballroom to hear the senator speak.

Like some other voters across the state, Gerret van Hylckama said he was turned away from the polls after being told he was not registered with a party, even though he thought he was a registered Democrat.

He said other voters who were in line with him also had to either take a provisional ballot, or go home for another form of ID, due to an address change or other change.

Voter Nick Hollis said he usually votes in each general election, but voted for Sanders in Tuesdays election largely as a result of local efforts for the candidate.

Ive been called multiple times by the volunteers, I think that was what pushed me to vote, he said.

For some voters, their choice was based somewhat on what other choices were available.

Sanders supporters in Flagstaff were disappointed but not surprised to hear Clinton had won the Arizona Presidential Preference Election, but Sanders carried Coconino County.

Sanders volunteer Evan Tuohy said despite the early reports that Sanders had lost in Arizona, the group remained hopeful for wins in Idaho and Utah, the other two states holding primaries Tuesday.

We all knew Arizona would be close, Tuohy said. But we are still holding on, we have a lot of states left.

Volunteer Chanelle Flori said the results did not come as a shock.

Im not surprised about Coconino County and Im not surprised at the rest of Arizona, she said.

Volunteer Jacob Ollanik said he was happy to hear Sander carried Coconino County.

Im very happy with the turnout in Coconino County, Ollanik said.

On the Republican side, real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump carried both Coconino County and the state as a whole. Trump got 39.2 percent of the countys GOP vote, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz received 32.8 percent of the local vote and Ohio Governor John Kasich got a mere 8.6 percent.

According to the Arizona Secretary of States unofficial 2016 presidential preference election results, Trump racked up roughly 250,000 votes statewide  nearly double Cruzs roughly 133,000 votes with 90 percent of precincts reporting.

Merle Henderson, head of the Flagstaff Tea Party, credited Trump with leading a conservative constitutional revival that will carry over into the fall election.

We may have differences over personality, but we are prepared to support Trump as the nominee, Henderson said.

First-time voter Nathan Kish said he voted for Cruz.

I wanted to vote Republican, but I didnt want to vote for Trump, he said.

Kish said he agreed with much of Cruzs platform, and said Cruz was his most favorable choice out of the three remaining Republican candidates.

Meanwhile, Kasich received roughly 53,000 votes statewide.

_____

2016 Presidential Preference Election Results

COUNTY VOTES COUNTY % STATE VOTES* STATE %* REPUBLICANS Trump 3,324 39.2% 249,842 47% Cruz 2,843 33.5% 133,479 25% Kasich 742 8.8% 53,021 10% DEMOCRATS Clinton 5,738 44.2% 235,647 58% Sanders 6,941 53.4% 163,410 40%

*90 percent of Arizona precincts reporting

Sources: Coconino County Election Summary Report and Arizona Secretary of State Unofficial 2016 Presidential Preference Election Results
The Harvard education professor Howard Gardner once advised Americans, Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States.

Following his recommendation, I enrolled my 7-year-old son in a primary school in Joensuu. Finland, which is about as far east as you can go in the European Union before you hit the guard towers of the Russian border.

OK, I wasnt just blindly following Gardner  I had a position as a lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland for a semester. But the point is that, for five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. Finland has a history of producing the highest global test scores in the Western world, as well as a trophy case full of other recent No. 1 global rankings, including most literate nation.

In Finland, children dont receive formal academic training until the age of 7. Until then, many are in day care and learn through play, songs, games and conversation. Most children walk or bike to school, even the youngest. School hours are short and homework is generally light.

Unlike in the United States, where many schools are slashing recess, schoolchildren in Finland have a mandatory 15-minute outdoor free-play break every hour of every day. Fresh air, nature and regular physical activity breaks are considered engines of learning. According to one Finnish maxim, There is no bad weather. Only inadequate clothing.

One evening, I asked my son what he did for gym that day. They sent us into the woods with a map and compass and we had to find our way out, he said.

Finland doesnt waste time or money on low-quality mass standardized testing. Instead, children are assessed every day, through direct observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality personalized learning device ever created  flesh-and-blood teachers.

In class, children are allowed to have fun, giggle and daydream from time to time. Finns put into practice the cultural mantras I heard over and over: Let children be children, The work of a child is to play, and Children learn best through play.

The emotional climate of the typical classroom is warm, safe, respectful and highly supportive. There are no scripted lessons and no quasi-martial requirements to walk in straight lines or sit up straight. As one Chinese student-teacher studying in Finland marveled to me, In Chinese schools, you feel like youre in the military. Here, you feel like youre part of a really nice family. She is trying to figure out how she can stay in Finland permanently.

In the United States, teachers are routinely degraded by politicians, and thousands of teacher slots are filled by temps with six or seven weeks of summer training. In Finland teachers are the most trusted and admired professionals next to doctors, in part because they are required to have masters degrees in education with specialization in research and classroom practice.

Our mission as adults is to protect our children from politicians, one Finnish childhood education professor told me. We also have an ethical and moral responsibility to tell businesspeople to stay out of our building. In fact, any Finnish citizen is free to visit any school whenever they like, but her message was clear: Educators are the ultimate authorities on education, not bureaucrats, and not technology vendors.

Skeptics might claim that the Finnish model would never work in Americas inner-city schools, which instead need boot-camp drilling and discipline, Stakhanovite workloads, relentless standardized test prep and screen-delivered testing.

But what if the opposite is true?

What if high-poverty students are the children most urgently in need of the benefits that, for example, American parents of means obtain for their children in private schools, things that Finland delivers on a national public scale  highly qualified, highly respected and highly professionalized teachers who conduct personalized one-on-one instruction; manageable class sizes; a rich, developmentally correct curriculum; regular physical activity; little or no low-quality standardized tests and the toxic stress and wasted time and energy that accompanies them; daily assessments by teachers; and a classroom atmosphere of safety, collaboration, warmth and respect for children as cherished individuals?

Why should high-poverty students deserve anything less?

One day last November, when the first snow came to my part of Finland, I heard a commotion outside my university faculty office window, which is close to the teacher training schools outdoor play area. I walked over to investigate.

The field was filled with children savoring the first taste of winter amid the pine trees. My son was out there somewhere, but the children were so buried in winter clothes and moving so fast that I couldnt spot him. The noise of children laughing, shouting and singing as they tumbled in the fresh snow was close to deafening.

Do you hear that? asked the recess monitor, a special education teacher wearing a yellow safety smock.

That, she said proudly, is the voice of happiness.

In Finland teachers are the most trusted and admired professionals next to doctors, in part because they are required to have masters degrees in education with specialization in research and classroom practice.
Dead trout. Dead bullfrogs. Dead cows.

Photos of all three have appeared in the Daily Sun recently, and in each case the hands of humans were involved  directly or indirectly. The three species are part of an altered landscape and ecosystem since Flagstaff was established 150 years ago, and unnatural deaths like these remind us just how fragile that new balance between life and death can be.

Two species of trout  Apache and Gila  are native to Arizona. But most trout in Arizona today are raised in hatcheries and released into reservoirs and the few remaining perennial streams and rivers in the state. Arizona Game and Fish manages the trout population largely for the benefit of sport fishermen, but that also means managing the habitat for clean water, appropriate food sources and controlling invasive, predatory species.

The die-off last week at Lower Lake Mary came after a mid-March restocking. Thats not particularly early, given the recent warm weather. But it followed a cold early winter that saw nearly two continuous months of ice on the lake.

That meant that sunlight was prevented from reaching bottom plants that produce oxygen  it is why most fish are lethargic in winter. Newly introduced fish are not acclimated to lower oxygen and conserving energy, and so they suffocated in the thousands. Game and Fish no doubt has learned a valuable lesson in taking oxygen readings at lower depths before stocking so soon after ice out. And given the size of the states hatchery operation, wed expect a new batch of trout to be released to lower Lake Mary in the near future.

The bullfrogs that were found in Raymond Pond in Kachina Village, however, are not part of a Game and Fish stocking program. They are a voracious nonnative predator of insects, crustaceans and even small fish, and theres a good chance the bullfrog tadpoles were released to the pond either out of ignorance or malice. Lets hope Game and Fish can scoop them all up in time before they migrate down Pumphouse Wash into Oak Creek, where they might eventually reach the Verde River. Frogs legs might be a local delicacy in some parts of the world, but wed hate to think they would find favor here at the expense of the delicately balanced Oak Creek watershed.

As for the dead cows, some things remain a mystery despite the best efforts of forensic science. The carcasses of cattle found dead at the Flying M ranch have had body parts removed in ways that ranchers say cant just be the work of coyotes, vultures and other scavengers. As we reported, similar cases in the county and throughout the Southwest date back 30 years, and the troubling part is that no human suspects have ever been identified, much less arrested. If cattle are being killed and mutilated at the hands of humans, the range seems even more dangerous today than back in the days of feuding cattle barons and sheepmen.

But for the dead cows not definitively killed by humans, the question for ranchers is how much should they be looking into other causes? As with bison, large, hoofed ungulates like beef cattle are not native to the high desert grasslands of the Colorado Plateau. Experts over the years have tried to devise grazing patterns that preserve the natural rangeland while proving sustainable to cattle ranching. Cow mortality might be only the most extreme result of a system out of adjustment  disease and malnutrition are other indicators.

We dont discount the knowledge that ranchers bring to assessing the health of their herds. But back in 1979, a similar rash of cases over three years resulted in investigators concluding that only 30 of 100 cattle deaths  30 percent  had some human link. Its those other 70 percent that should give ranchers and ecologists alike just as much pause.

There is little expectation that the pre-Flagstaff wilderness landscape will ever be restored. But to the extent that science can remanipulate the altered environment and the species in it, then conservation is not only feasible but desirable. The challenge is to remember that some species wont be re-established or restocked as easily as others and that technology is no substitute for presettlement natural habitats.

Progress is usually incompatible with authentic preservation, so we have to learn how to minimize the dislocation and disruption  even mortality  that are its inevitable result.
A federal judge has blocked Nebraska from putting a 13-year-old boy who moved here from Minnesota on its public list of sex offenders.

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf said if the boy had done in Nebraska exactly what he did in Minnesota he would not have been required to register as a sex offender and he would not be stigmatized as such.

It therefore makes no sense to believe that the Nebraska statutes were intended to be more punitive to juveniles adjudicated out of state as compared to juveniles adjudicated in Nebraska, the judge wrote in a 20-page order.

In Nebraska, lawmakers opted to exclude juveniles from the Nebraska Sex Offender Registration Act unless they were prosecuted criminally in adult court, even though it meant losing thousands in federal funding.

But the way the law is written made it appear that all sex offenders who move to Nebraska must register.

When the Minnesota boy in this case moved here to live with relatives, the Nebraska State Patrol determined he had to register because of a subsection of the law.

Specifically, it says the Sex Offender Registry Act applies to any person who on or after January 1, 1997 ... enters the state and is required to register as a sex offender under the laws of another village, town, city, state, territory, commonwealth, or other jurisdiction of the United States.

The term sex offender isnt defined in the Nebraska act, but the patrol, which maintains the registry, defines it as an individual who has been convicted of one of the crimes listed in the act. The patrol has interpreted it to apply to sex offenders who are required to register for any reason and at any age under the laws of another state.

In this case, the boy was 11 when he was adjudicated for criminal sexual conduct in juvenile court in Minnesota. A judge there ordered him to complete probation, counseling and community service, and his name went on a part of that states predatory offender list that is visible only to police.

Even before that, the boy had moved to Nebraska to live with relatives.

In August 2014, the Nebraska probation office notified his family he was required to register under the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry Act or could be prosecuted.

That same month, the boys family filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the patrol from putting him on Nebraskas registry, which is public.

In Mondays order, Kopf concluded that the boy wasnt required to register in Minnesota because he was adjudicated in a juvenile court, not convicted in adult court, so Nebraskas act doesnt apply.

He cited Nebraska Juvenile Code, which specifically says juvenile court adjudications are not to be deemed convictions or subject to civil penalties that normally apply.

An adjudication is a juvenile court process through which a judge determines if a juvenile committed a given act.

Kopfs order said it was apparent that the purpose was to identify people guilty of sex offenses and to publish information about them for the protection of the public.

It is equally apparent that the Nebraska Legislature has made a policy determination that information regarding juvenile adjudications is not to be made public, even though this has resulted in the loss of federal funding for non-compliance with (the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act), he said.

Late Monday afternoon, Omaha attorney Joshua Weir said the boys grandmother was so excited when he called with the news she had to pull over in a parking lot.They were very, very relieved, he said.

Weir said the boy is a healthy, happy kid now and flourishing in school.

It wouldve been a tragedy if he would have been branded a sex offender., he said. Thats something that sticks with you for the rest of your life.

The state could choose to appeal the decision within the next 30 days.
Reports of recent polling stirred Nebraska's political pot on Wednesday with some eyes wandering far ahead to the 2018 gubernatorial election.

A survey of 600 likely voters in this year's general election found Gov. Pete Ricketts enjoys a healthy favorability rating.

But attracting more attention was a message posted on Twitter by a Nebraskan who said she had received a phone call that measured the favorability of former Gov. Dave Heineman as well as Ricketts.

That triggered some speculation about the lingering possibility of a Republican primary contest between Ricketts and Heineman two years from now.

Heineman, who was term-limited out of office at the end of 2014, has never flatly ruled out that possibility.

The survey that asked the question about Heineman was not commissioned by anyone associated with the former governor, a close associate said.

Heineman is employed by Falls City businessman Charles Herbster, who essentially funded state Sen. Beau McCoy's 2014 Republican gubernatorial primary campaign. McCoy and Carlos Castillo, Heineman's former campaign manager, also work for Herbster, who himself was in the 2014 GOP gubernatorial race before he subsequently withdrew.

Heineman was traveling and unavailable for comment.

The telephone survey that measured Ricketts' favorability was a poll undertaken by Optimus, a firm that does polling for governors, senators, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The results, which were made available to state senators, were broken down by congressional district.

The favorable versus non-favorable rating for Ricketts was 59-26 in the 1st District (which includes Lincoln); 52-33 in the 2nd District (metropolitan Omaha), and 61-20 in the 3rd District, which includes western and central Nebraska along with the northeastern and southeastern corners of the state.

The survey also ranked issues important to Nebraskans, with the economy and jobs leading the list. Also high, in order, were health care, education, taxes and government spending.

Health care topped the list of concerns in the 3rd District, a Republican stronghold.

On a separate question, property taxes headed the list when respondents were asked which tax should state government "prioritize for tax relief."

Strong support was expressed for a proposed constitutional amendment, introduced by Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, that would "protect the rights of farmers and ranchers (while) preventing the Legislature and environmental groups from imposing restrictions on crop and livestock production."

Statewide support was 65-20.

Results for Nebraska's members of the House of Representatives were 59-15 favorable for Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, 48-22 favorable for Rep. Brad Ashford and 55-19 favorable for Rep. Adrian Smith.
The Marshall County Arts Cooperative is looking for people to park cars, direct traffic, bus tables and sell concessions during its Orchestra on the Oregon Trail event in September.

The arts cooperative is looking for approximately 200 volunteers to make the event a success.

The all-day event is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 4, at Alcove Spring Historic Park. To make sure they have plenty of help, however, the arts cooperative is asking people to express their interest in volunteering by May 1.

Barb Buck, of Hanover, is in charge of coordinating all of the volunteers.

Last year, it required well over 200 volunteers to make Orchestra on the Oregon Trail the success it was, said Barb Buck of Hanover, who is in charge of coordinating all of the volunteers.

The feedback from those volunteers was overwhelmingly positive, so Im hoping to have a number return this year as well as looking forward to new participants, Buck said.

Volunteers work a four-hour shift. The majority of volunteers are needed the day of the event, but shifts are available on the days leading up to the event as well as the day after the event.

On the day of the event volunteer assignments include everything from handing out programs to picking up trash. The majority of assignments involve physical labor, standing throughout the duration of the shift, and enduring Kansas weather.

Volunteers are admitted to the event for free.

This event strengthens our community as well as highlights both the arts in Marshall County and the great treasure we have in Alcove Spring, Buck said. Orchestra on the Oregon Trail is not only a boon to the local economy and an opportunity to put Marshall County on the map, it also unifies and affords the opportunity for people of all ages to come together to experience the art of music as it meets the art of nature.

For more information or to volunteer for the event, contact Buck at 785-337-2562 or at bjb@bluevalley.net .
It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios?

Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything.

No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now.
Securing funds to start your business requires more than just a solid business plan. Think that your credit score and personal credit history don't matter? Think again. If you understand what lenders are looking for when reviewing a loan application, you can greatly increase your odds of getting approved. Preplanning and proper positioning are crucial and this seminar will show you how to do it. Topics include: how your FICO score is determined, how credit bureaus operate, how to obtain, review and understand your personal credit report, how to significantly increase your credit score in as little as ninety days, techniques to rapidly reduce or eliminate debt, and how to deal with inaccurate or derogatory information in your credit file.Greg Frank, owner of the Financial Fitness Center & Superior Credit Care, brings more than 15 years of experience in the debt & credit field to his work. In addition to being a Consumer Advocate specializing in debt & credit issues, Greg is also coauthor of the popular textbook, Invest in Your Debt, & a Certified Seminar Leader who teaches in Colleges, Churches and other venues throughout the Southeast. The free workshop will be on March 24 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Please pre-register.It's never too early to start crocheting hats and scarves for your loved ones. We have added another section of this popular class. Learn to crochet an afghan to keep warm! Or make any number of other crocheted projects. This workshop-style class is designed for beginners and more advanced needle workers alike. Beginning students will learn to choose various yarns and hooks, read patterns, and execute basic crochet stitches. They will also work on projects selected by the instructor and of their own choosing. Advanced students will choose projects and work with the instructor to refine techniques. All students will enjoy the satisfaction of this time honored craft. Classes will be in Thursdays starting March 31 through May 5 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. The fee for the class is $50. The course code is 25378. New students may call 252-940-6357 for a supply list and syllabus.Are you an auto dealer or aspiring to become one? This will be your only opportunity to take a certification class in spring 2016. Dennis P. Mauk Sr. will teach both teach two courses. Our Auto Dealer Pre-license class will be from April 12-13 from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. This course is required for those who want to become auto dealers. Our Auto Dealer Renewal course will be on April 14 from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. The annual renewal course satisfies the continuing education requirement for non-franchised auto dealers to retain their dealer's license. The courses are $75 each and students should bring a 2 gigabyte flash drive to save important documents.Most business owners and prospective business owners know that networking is essential to the success of any business. And yet, many fail to invest the time and energy to do it for a variety of reasons. It may be because they are simply introverted, or stressed out, or just do not know how to do it, according to Emily Ballance, professional speaker and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience as owner of two businesses.Ballance will speak on how to "Market Your Business by Networking in Your Local Community" Thursday, April 7, from 6-9 p.m. in Room 828 of Building 8, Beaufort County Community College. This seminar is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Small Business Center of Beaufort County Community College. For questions or to register, contact Lentz Stowe, Small Business Center Director, atorBallance said, "But if you want to get business in your local community, you must invest time in both. And fortunately, face-to-face networking is low-cost and can be very effective, if you know the right way to approach it.Ballance said.Ballance is a Certified Speaking Professional, which is the highest earned designation awarded by the National Speakers Association. Women who have earned this designation make up less than 8% of the organization.Ballance speaks on business related topics for Small Business Centers throughout the North Carolina Community College System. She also travels across the country presenting keynotes on generations, stress management, positive humor, and workshops on personal development and business topics which you can see at www.emilyballance.com.Callfor more information. Please see our redesigned BCCC Continuing Education website. Just visitand click on the Continuing Education link at the top.Attila NemeczBeaufort County Community College5337 US Hwy 264 EastWashington, NC 27889
The Obamas on yet another family vacation; this time to Cuba: Above. Hussein Obama ceremoniously sending the first postal correspondence to Cuba in over 50 years: Below.

Remarks by President Obama to the People of Cuba

American Democrats' first really cool president, Barack Hussein Obama, has now achieved near normalized relations with Communist, dictatorial Cuba. Working hand in steel glove with the Castro brothers, Fidel and Raul, Hussein Obama has done what no other modern American president has accomplished in modern times, he has cozied-up to a Communist, dictatorial regime, and not since President Calvin Coolidge has an American president visited the island state. Of course, in January, 1928, President Coolidge visited a Democratic Republic patterned after the United States' government, and there is a reason for that ...In 1898, the expeditionary forces of the United States liberated the Cuban people, after nearly 400 years of subjugation from the colonial /imperial grip of Spain. Rather than conquering the nation, the United States government allowed Cuba to become a protectorate of this nation, and, therefore, one can understand why the sensible, intelligent American people resisted allowing the brutal Castro regime of dictatorial Communism - the ultimate tyranny in our northern hemisphere here in modern times.Now, Barack the Cool, Hussein the Wise, has normalized relations with the only Communist country in our World hemisphere, and he did it by executive fiat alone. The United States fought a war, The Spanish American War (1898-1901), in part, to remove foreign European Imperial powers from our hemisphere, which made Cuba free. Now, Hussein Obama used his "phone and his pen" to legitimize tyranny only 90 miles from our shore.While listening to, and reading some of our cool president's speech , I imagined that committed Communists and Socialists would be truly inspired; however, no true American patriot would be satisfied with this presentation to the regime ... not one with a full working brain.Why, pray tell?During the nearly 38 minute speech, pausing only to bask in the glow of applause from committed Communists and Socialists, the Democrats' president spoke in a manner that was relatively empathetic to the struggle of the good Cuban people against tyranny; born by the deeds of ... the United States(?):Regarding real history, Professorial Obama lectured America, the one that patriots like me embrace, by proxy of the Cuban tyrannical regime he addressed, where he spoke exclusively of the promise of Cuba, 'in spite of past American intervention', while not even mentioning the Spanish American War. A war where: America sacrificed the blood of our own patriots to liberate, in part, these very Cubans; and a past American president , at the ripe age of 39, displayed incredible valor while leading his volunteer regiment of Rough Riders at The Battle of San Juan Heights. President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in that bloody and decisive battle. Theodore Roosevelt, considered by every real historian as one of America's top 6 presidents was not mentioned by Hussein as well.After exhibiting a solidarity, a political symbiosis with the 'Cuban People', the Democrats' really cool president met with Cuba's leaders, the Cuban people of Havana, had his picture made in front of a gigantic image of Che Guevara, and took in a Cuban baseball game, and did the wave with Raul, while ISIS struck Brussels, Belgium. After nearly 8 long years in our presidential office, this is the Hussein Obama I well know.Thank you. (Applause.) Muchas gracias. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.President Castro, the people of Cuba, thank you so much for the warm welcome that I have received, that my family have received, and that our delegation has received. It is an extraordinary honor to be here today.Before I begin, please indulge me. I want to comment on the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Brussels. The thoughts and the prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium. We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally, Belgium, in bringing to justice those who are responsible. And this is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality, or race, or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can -- and will -- defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.To the government and the people of Cuba, I want to thank you for the kindness that you've shown to me and Michelle, Malia, Sasha, and my mother-in-law, Marian."Cultivo una rosa blanca." (Applause.) In his most famous poem, Jose Marti made this offering of friendship and peace to both his friend and his enemy. Today, as the President of the United States of America, I offer the Cuban people el saludo de paz. (Applause.)Havana is only 90 miles from Florida, but to get here we had to travel a great distance -- over barriers of history and ideology; barriers of pain and separation. The blue waters beneath Air Force One once carried American battleships to this island -- to liberate, but also to exert control over Cuba. Those waters also carried generations of Cuban revolutionaries to the United States, where they built support for their cause. And that short distance has been crossed by hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles -- on planes and makeshift rafts -- who came to America in pursuit of freedom and opportunity, sometimes leaving behind everything they owned and every person that they loved.Like so many people in both of our countries, my lifetime has spanned a time of isolation between us. The Cuban Revolution took place the same year that my father came to the United States from Kenya. The Bay of Pigs took place the year that I was born. The next year, the entire world held its breath, watching our two countries, as humanity came as close as we ever have to the horror of nuclear war. As the decades rolled by, our governments settled into a seemingly endless confrontation, fighting battles through proxies. In a world that remade itself time and again, one constant was the conflict between the United States and Cuba.I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas. (Applause.) I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. (Applause.)I want to be clear: The differences between our governments over these many years are real and they are important. I'm sure President Castro would say the same thing -- I know, because I've heard him address those differences at length. But before I discuss those issues, we also need to recognize how much we share. Because in many ways, the United States and Cuba are like two brothers who've been estranged for many years, even as we share the same blood.We both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans. Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners. We've welcomed both immigrants who came a great distance to start new lives in the Americas.Over the years, our cultures have blended together. Dr. Carlos Finlay's work in Cuba paved the way for generations of doctors, including Walter Reed, who drew on Dr. Finlay's work to help combat Yellow Fever. Just as Marti wrote some of his most famous words in New York, Ernest Hemingway made a home in Cuba, and found inspiration in the waters of these shores. We share a national past-time -- La Pelota -- and later today our players will compete on the same Havana field that Jackie Robinson played on before he made his Major League debut. (Applause.) And it's said that our greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, once paid tribute to a Cuban that he could never fight -- saying that he would only be able to reach a draw with the great Cuban, Teofilo Stevenson. (Applause.)So even as our governments became adversaries, our people continued to share these common passions, particularly as so many Cubans came to America. In Miami or Havana, you can find places to dance the Cha-Cha-Cha or the Salsa, and eat ropa vieja. People in both of our countries have sung along with Celia Cruz or Gloria Estefan, and now listen to reggaeton or Pitbull. (Laughter.) Millions of our people share a common religion -- a faith that I paid tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in La Cachita.For all of our differences, the Cuban and American people share common values in their own lives. A sense of patriotism and a sense of pride -- a lot of pride. A profound love of family. A passion for our children, a commitment to their education. And that's why I believe our grandchildren will look back on this period of isolation as an aberration, as just one chapter in a longer story of family and of friendship.But we cannot, and should not, ignore the very real differences that we have -- about how we organize our governments, our economies, and our societies. Cuba has a one-party system; the United States is a multi-party democracy. Cuba has a socialist economic model; the United States is an open market. Cuba has emphasized the role and rights of the state; the United States is founded upon the rights of the individual.Despite these differences, on December 17th 2014, President Castro and I announced that the United States and Cuba would begin a process to normalize relations between our countries. (Applause.) Since then, we have established diplomatic relations and opened embassies. We've begun initiatives to cooperate on health and agriculture, education and law enforcement. We've reached agreements to restore direct flights and mail service. We've expanded commercial ties, and increased the capacity of Americans to travel and do business in Cuba.And these changes have been welcomed, even though there are still opponents to these policies. But still, many people on both sides of this debate have asked: Why now? Why now?There is one simple answer: What the United States was doing was not working. We have to have the courage to acknowledge that truth. A policy of isolation designed for the Cold War made little sense in the 21st century. The embargo was only hurting the Cuban people instead of helping them. And I've always believed in what Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the fierce urgency of now" -- we should not fear change, we should embrace it. (Applause.)That leads me to a bigger and more important reason for these changes: Creo en el pueblo Cubano. I believe in the Cuban people. (Applause.) This is not just a policy of normalizing relations with the Cuban government. The United States of America is normalizing relations with the Cuban people. (Applause.)And today, I want to share with you my vision of what our future can be. I want the Cuban people -- especially the young people -- to understand why I believe that you should look to the future with hope; not the false promise which insists that things are better than they really are, or the blind optimism that says all your problems can go away tomorrow. Hope that is rooted in the future that you can choose and that you can shape, and that you can build for your country.I'm hopeful because I believe that the Cuban people are as innovative as any people in the world.In a global economy, powered by ideas and information, a country's greatest asset is its people. In the United States, we have a clear monument to what the Cuban people can build: it's called Miami. Here in Havana, we see that same talent in cuentapropistas, cooperatives and old cars that still run. El Cubano inventa del aire. (Applause.)Cuba has an extraordinary resource -- a system of education which values every boy and every girl. (Applause.) And in recent years, the Cuban government has begun to open up to the world, and to open up more space for that talent to thrive. In just a few years, we've seen how cuentapropistas can succeed while sustaining a distinctly Cuban spirit. Being self-employed is not about becoming more like America, it's about being yourself.Look at Sandra Lidice Aldama, who chose to start a small business. Cubans, she said, can "innovate and adapt without losing our identity...our secret is in not copying or imitating but simply being ourselves."Look at Papito Valladeres, a barber, whose success allowed him to improve conditions in his neighborhood. "I realize I'm not going to solve all of the world's problems," he said. "But if I can solve problems in the little piece of the world where I live, it can ripple across Havana."That's where hope begins -- with the ability to earn your own living, and to build something you can be proud of. That's why our policies focus on supporting Cubans, instead of hurting them. That's why we got rid of limits on remittances -- so ordinary Cubans have more resources. That's why we're encouraging travel -- which will build bridges between our people, and bring more revenue to those Cuban small businesses. That's why we've opened up space for commerce and exchanges -- so that Americans and Cubans can work together to find cures for diseases, and create jobs, and open the door to more opportunity for the Cuban people.As President of the United States, I've called on our Congress to lift the embargo. (Applause.) It is an outdated burden on the Cuban people. It's a burden on the Americans who want to work and do business or invest here in Cuba. It's time to lift the embargo. But even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize their potential without continued change here in Cuba. (Applause.) It should be easier to open a business here in Cuba. A worker should be able to get a job directly with companies who invest here in Cuba. Two currencies shouldn't separate the type of salaries that Cubans can earn. The Internet should be available across the island, so that Cubans can connect to the wider world -- (applause) -- and to one of the greatest engines of growth in human history.There's no limitation from the United States on the ability of Cuba to take these steps. It's up to you. And I can tell you as a friend that sustainable prosperity in the 21st century depends upon education, health care, and environmental protection. But it also depends on the free and open exchange of ideas. If you can't access information online, if you cannot be exposed to different points of view, you will not reach your full potential. And over time, the youth will lose hope.I know these issues are sensitive, especially coming from an American President. Before 1959, some Americans saw Cuba as something to exploit, ignored poverty, enabled corruption. And since 1959, we've been shadow-boxers in this battle of geopolitics and personalities. I know the history, but I refuse to be trapped by it. (Applause.)I've made it clear that the United States has neither the capacity, nor the intention to impose change on Cuba. What changes come will depend upon the Cuban people. We will not impose our political or economic system on you. We recognize that every country, every people, must chart its own course and shape its own model. But having removed the shadow of history from our relationship, I must speak honestly about the things that I believe -- the things that we, as Americans, believe. As Marti said, "Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy."So let me tell you what I believe. I can't force you to agree, but you should know what I think. I believe that every person should be equal under the law. (Applause.) Every child deserves the dignity that comes with education, and health care and food on the table and a roof over their heads. (Applause.) I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear -- (applause) -- to organize, and to criticize their government, and to protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. (Applause.) I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly. (Applause.) And, yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections. (Applause.)Not everybody agrees with me on this. Not everybody agrees with the American people on this. But I believe those human rights are universal. (Applause.) I believe they are the rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world.Now, there's no secret that our governments disagree on many of these issues. I've had frank conversations with President Castro. For many years, he has pointed out the flaws in the American system -- economic inequality; the death penalty; racial discrimination; wars abroad. That's just a sample. He has a much longer list. (Laughter.) But here's what the Cuban people need to understand: I welcome this open debate and dialogue. It's good. It's healthy. I'm not afraid of it.We do have too much money in American politics. But, in America, it's still possible for somebody like me -- a child who was raised by a single mom, a child of mixed race who did not have a lot of money -- to pursue and achieve the highest office in the land. That's what's possible in America. (Applause.)We do have challenges with racial bias -- in our communities, in our criminal justice system, in our society -- the legacy of slavery and segregation. But the fact that we have open debates within America's own democracy is what allows us to get better. In 1959, the year that my father moved to America, it was illegal for him to marry my mother, who was white, in many American states. When I first started school, we were still struggling to desegregate schools across the American South. But people organized; they protested; they debated these issues; they challenged government officials. And because of those protests, and because of those debates, and because of popular mobilization, I'm able to stand here today as an African-American and as President of the United States. That was because of the freedoms that were afforded in the United States that we were able to bring about change.
Readers of the American Banker know that I am very concerned that regulators at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might inadvertently strangle the small-dollar, payday loan market, destroying a lifeline of credit for millions of responsible, low- and middle-income Americans. CFPB Director Richard Cordray, whom I respect and believe wants sincerely to keep small-dollar credit available, would do well to have his staff talk with researchers at the Urban Institute.

The institute's recent study, "Small-Dollar Credit: Protecting Consumers and Fostering Innovation" (December 2015), is the latest in an intelligent series of published roundtable discussions about what researchers and regulators know  and do not know  about small-dollar credit. The authors of the study (Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, and Caleb Quakenbush) point out that most research on small-dollar loans focuses on consumers' needs and behaviors, but is quite light, at best, on the needs and behaviors of lenders.

Yet, without a better understanding of providers' business models, profitability, loss rates, volume and overhead costs, regulators cannot possibly create a product that ensures consumers get the credit they need and deserve. The first protection a consumer needs is the assurance that any new reforms will not inadvertently drive all regulated credit from the market. No lenders, no credit. Or worse, as the authors note, consumers will be forced to find other, far more harmful products.

The authors note that most research suggests the overwhelming majority of borrowers need credit because of a family emergency; a temporary, unexpected cash shortfall; or an occasional manageable gap between paychecks. Right now most of these consumers are getting credit when they need it. Regulators must be careful that they do not destroy this supply of credit while trying to help the much smaller percentage of borrowers who probably should not be getting credit at all.

To this end, the authors offer some suggestions. First, technology changes "more rapidly than the law," so regulators should not freeze products or procedures in ways that might stifle more effective or efficient technologies coming onto the market. My own experience suggests that this is especially true as new technologies enhance our ability to do quick and accurate underwriting, but it also might apply to other innovative and safe products in the nonbank space.

Second, regulators should not ignore experience for the sake of an abstract ideal. The authors note that payday lenders do not operate in those states with a 36% APR cap, yet many people still advocate that reform. Similarly, almost no licensed lender makes advances to military families anymore due to imposition of the same 36% APR rule. We need to learn from what does and does not  and never will  work.

Third, in an environment in which knowledge is still quite limited, we should not try to do too much too quickly. The states have a long and successful history serving as the laboratories for innovation in bank products and services and regulation. Regulators should look especially at the experiences of states that have made successful changes. The authors note that Colorado's movement toward small installment loans is quite worthy of study. No doubt there are other states whose models also work well.

Lastly, the authors suggest that regulatory innovators experiment with "pilots" first and be careful to build proven "safe harbors" into their regulatory innovations so that providers will have confidence they are in compliance with the law. As the authors wisely note, reforms that inadvertently destroy lenders will seriously "disrupt the lives" of consumers without solving their need for credit.

As a former regulator, I know all too well the temptation to write the perfect rule based on personal preferences rather than hard data. And as a longtime observer of, and participant in, the financial industry, I have seen well-intentioned regulations destroy the nascent small-lender market in commercial banks.

The Urban Institute has done us all a favor by reminding us at the outset of its article that regulatory prudence beats regulatory hubris: "Financial regulations can help protect consumers from harmful practices, but their benefits must be weighed against their potential to drive potential innovators from the market, unnecessarily restrict consumers' access to credit, or, worse, push consumers toward other more harmful products."

I hope the CFPB staff will heed these words of caution while promulgating new rules on small-dollar lending.

William Isaac, a former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is senior managing director and global head of financial institutions at FTI Consulting. He and his firm provide services to many clients, including some who may have an interest in the subject matter of this article. The views expressed are his own.
In an unfinished space called Grind  a somewhat counterintuitive name choice for a workplace meant to be fun and to foster creativity  Startupbootcamp Fintech New York is set to welcome its first class of 10 startups.

The downtown New York facility, leased from Verizon, has the requisite whiteboards, open work environments and meeting spaces found at the many other fintech accelerators out there (there are 172 in the U.S., according to one estimate). But there's also something else going on here.

There are 225 mentors enrolled in Startupbootcamp Fintech New York (say that five times fast)  more than 20 for each startup, an extraordinarily high mentor-to-mentee ratio. This gives the name "boot camp" some legitimacy. No one has to do pushups, but there's an intense schedule planned of lectures, classes, and programming workshops.

The mentors started in right after the applicants' initial pitches, like on television's Shark Tank. (Those accepted to the 13-week program, which will begin on April 18, received far less money: a $20,000 grant to help with living expenses.)

"There are mentors who offer advice and feedback on the pitch, the product, the market size," said Jesse Podell, a managing director at Startupbootcamp "The idea is to not to tell them what to do or what you would do, but just have an interactive conversation where perhaps they can walk away with a relationship. So even the teams that weren't selected walked out glad that they had made a useful connection. Because for early-stage startups, they may never have talked to somebody like that before."

The feedback is candid, said Podell, a former securities trader. "We train our mentors to be nice but not too nice," he said. "You're not serving [startups] if you're not taking them to the mat on certain assumptions they have."

This will help prepare them for the real world. "At startups, until you externalize and start talking to people, it can be a challenge to talk to a banker who might say, 'I would never use that,'" Podell said.

In some accelerator programs, the advisors are virtual  on call via email and phone, but not physically present. At the boot camp, they meet with teams in person, and some stick with their team for the duration of the program.

Deep-Pocketed Partners

A major selling point for participants in the boot camp is the partnering institutions. "The fact that we have banks and payment networks helps us validate what we're doing," said Zohar Steinberg, founder of token (spelled with a small "t"), one of the 10 startups in the New York program.

The partners also include Santander, Rabobank, MasterCard, Deutsche Bank, Thomson Reuters and the venture capital firm Route 66. They're looking for investment opportunities, pilot projects and employees.

Madrid-based Santander began talking with Startupbootcamp a year ago about doing something in New York.

"We wanted to start looking at the ecosystem on the East Coast," said Pablo Ruiz, head of open innovation at the bank. "New York is a great ecosystem for fintech. We started to look at how we could participate in the ecosystem and work with talented startups to understand how we could bring innovation from an outside-in perspective to Santander."

The bank is not looking to buy startups at this early stage, he said, but wants to work with them and help them grow. It plans to assign a banker mentor to each startup.

"In this process, we gain insights, see how they evolve, and we can then look at partnering with them," Ruiz said. "But they're still at an early stage. It's more about, how can we see new technologies, new business models and work with them?"

The corporate sponsors and advisors will help run pilots and proofs of concept and find ways to work together.

"If the startup is growing a little bit and it turns out that it's more of a feature, not a company, there's an acqui-hire potentially for these banks," Podell said.

Some startups will ultimately receive investment, others will be acquired outright.

"Many of these banks have their own VCs internally," Podell noted. Many have capital to deploy.

Choosing the Teams

Startupbootcamp started its fintech program in 2014 in London, then moved to Singapore. New York was considered a logical next step, given its status as a financial hub. "We have a good fintech ecosystem here that could nurture something like this," Podell said.

The group solicited applications from fintech startups for three months and received more than 400. Staff and partners took a month to pore over the submissions. The team held 13 one-day speed-dating sessions, in Buenos Ares, Sao Paolo, Mexico City, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, and two in New York. Five teams came in the morning and pitched for five minutes each, and five came in the afternoon and did the same. In between, the Startupbootcamp team sat at a table and the startups visited with them.

They chose the 20 teams they liked the most, and at a "monster event" selection weekend at another Grind space, 10 final teams were chosen.

The teams were selected partly according to how well they could explain their ideas.

"A team's ability to properly convey the message and problem they're solving gives them an infinite better chance at getting into one of these programs than those who are waffling or not quite clear," Podell said. "If you can't describe to me like a third grader what your app does or what your product is, how on earth are you going to be able to sell it to anybody? The way you can convince a room that you're that person is by having a very simple, clean message about what you do."

The chosen startup teams were given a month to get their lives in order, then they will come to New York.

One of them, Boston-based AlphaPack, is creating a tool banks could use to help customers manage their money. It's designed to be embedded in an institution's online banking software.

"The minute you log on to online banking, it's giving you advice," said Ravi Balasubramanian, CEO and co-founder of AlphaPack.

It uses Yodlee's account aggregation service to bring in information from accounts customers have with other banks.

Rather than forcing people to think about saving and budgeting, the tool is meant to help people achieve their goals like getting a mortgage, he said.

Much of the value of Startupbootcamp, Balasubramanian said, is getting advice from people who have experience and "getting to the right people where we can start having a conversation, what requirements we have to satisfy," he said.

Another member of the class, Latvia-based Factury, has created a smart contract system for handling invoices using a blockchain (the invoices are the contract in this case).

It plans to connect suppliers and buyers on its platform and solve invoice payment problems.

"Permissioned and private blockchains will be common in the payments world," said Arturs Ivanovs, co-founder of Factury. "This holds a challenge for banks, to create systems on blockchains to communicate with each other. There's no better place to build such a platform as in an accelerator with so many experts in one room."

The Factury team hopes to move from Latvia to New York permanently.

Steinberg's token aims to build a digital identity layer between online shoppers and payment gateways. It would provide a mobile app somewhat like PayPal that would provide a virtual card. Consumers provide their name, card number, expiration date, security code and other details when they use the mobile app. token then generates an alternate identity that includes a pseudo-name, a 16-digit card number, an associated expiration date and card verification value.

"Even if the merchant being is being hacked and information stolen, you won't be affected," said Zohar Steinberg, token's founder.

Sometimes Startupbootcamp connects people in different areas in large organizations like Rabobank and MasterCard who have never met or had a chance to work together before. "Now you have people within the bank across the business lines actually collaborating with each other, thinking about innovation and having fun," Podell said.

The boot camp will also connect the startups with venture capitalists.

"Startups can't get enough of VCs," Podell said. "We're going to load them with as many office hours as is humanly possible, and hopefully more than one associate or principal from one of these firms will take the time to do 20-minute back-to-back sessions with the teams and get to know them."

Some mentors are motivated by wanting to be on a board of a fintech company or to angel-invest in one. But most do it for fun, Podell said.

For the first weeks, they do a deep dive into the startups' business models. "I'm a big fan of lean startup [methodology], and trying to validate assumptions and thinking of what their value proposition truly is is a really great way to start," Podell said.

Experts in residence will give lectures on subjects like public relations, cloud computing and "virtual CFOs" who act as chief financial officers-for-hire. A law firm partner will provide more than 100 office hours and offer sessions on legal and compliance issues for startups.

"People aren't doing startups because they're cool," Podell noted. "You'd have to be crazy to go into this industry and try to be a startup because you're cool, because it's so heavily regulated that you can get killed. That's why we have the support to help understand the legal part of the business."

The final "demo day" in July, in which the startups will pitch their technologies to potential investors, is not the end-all be-all that it is for some accelerators.

"Demo day is fun and it's amazing, but if it's the first time they're meeting investors or really showing their proposition to the world, then we haven't done our job properly," Podell said. "Life is not about demo day, it's about building relationships and connections and it takes a long time. Our demo day will be more of a celebration of them having completed this very rigorous, intensive program. Our schtick is, Give us 13 weeks and we'll get you wherever you need."

And then? "Then we free our teams into the wild," Podell said. "We let them go and try and to start doing business." Podell and his three staff members at Startupbootcamp Fintech New York will "reboot," and may work with startups in other sectors, perhaps using the same offices.

Editor at Large Penny Crosman welcomes feedback at penny.crosman@sourcemedia.com.


Figuring out a bank's priorities is often as easy as following the money. Where is it spending? Where has it stopped spending?

At Fifth Third in Cincinnati, the path is pretty clear. The company is taking the capital that used to be tied to branches and reinvesting it in data analytics and improving its back-end systems with the hopes of being better at digital banking.

The $138.6 billion-asset company announced March 21 that it plans to hire 200 developers, engineers and others IT-related staffers by the end of the year, bringing its tech staff to more than 1,000 people. The company has already filled 80 of those positions.

Ohio Fifth Third Bancorp to Add 200 Tech Jobs This Year Fifth Third Bancorp plans to hire about 200 technology professionals this year, amid a focus on mobile and digital banking. March 21

Bank technology What Do Millennials Want from Banks? Everything. Nothing. Whatever. There is seemingly endless research on the attitudes of millennials toward banks, but the major takeaway from all of it is that banks can't expect millennials to want to bank only one way. March 16

As CEO Greg Carmichael "looks out on the industry, he sees an opportunity in technology to increase customer experience and efficiencies, while at the same time dealing with the deceleration of brick-and-mortar," said Sid Deloatch, Fifth Third's chief information officer. "That collates exactly where we want to go in terms of the growth in technology. We want to be able to do dynamic offerings through the consumer side with an omnichannel perspective. It's all about recognizing and trying to be transparent about who are our most profitable customers."

It's also about recognizing trends within its customer base. From 2014 to 2015 the share of the bank's customers using its mobile banking app increased 28%. During that same period, the number of customers interacting with the bank only via mobile applications increased 58%. Digital-only customers account for between 5% and 10%, while more than 80% customers rely on multiple channels, Fifth Third's chief financial officer Tayfun Tuzun, said late last year. He added that 10-15% of customers rely strictly on the branches but that the company expects the percentage to decline over time.

Besides looking for ways to improve its digital channels from a user's perspective, the new staffers will spend their days looking for ways to make the back end work better. Although the company is focused on digital banking, that could also mean finding ways to make the technology at the branches better, too. For instance, it is working to improve the in-branch, teller-based check processing service so that it can implement real-time deposit recognition like it already does with mobile check captures, Deloatch said.

Also, the company is looking to improve the way it collects and uses data. That should help the bank in "solving faster credit decisioning, identifying customer profitability and making next best offers which will be done real-time over digital channels," Deloatch said.

Observers say it is a smart move for the company.

"Survival really depends on personalizing digital banking," said Mark Schwanhausser, director of omnichannel financial services at Javelin Strategy & Research. "So the point here about big data is that it is an immediate need."

In short, the more a bank knows about a customer, the more it can tailor its offerings to their needs. And with digital banking eroding the number of face-to-face interactions, these insights can help prevent a situation where a customer leaves or gets other products from a different bank.

In the past year Fifth Third has shed 105 branches, roughly 8% of its total network. The savings gained by those sales and closings are helping to bankroll the tech investment. Fifth Third has said that more than 100 of the new positions it is hiring for will come with salary packages totaling more than $100,000 each.

"It's a redeployment in my mind that recognizes the fundamental shift to mobile first," Schwanhausser said.

In that regard, Fifth Third finds itself in good company  bank executives are under tremendous pressure to cut costs, but many are adamant that they don't want to sacrifice innovation for the sake of operational efficiencies.

And luckily for Fifth Third's management, its investors have not experienced much sticker shock.

"These are investments that banks don't have a choice in making," said Scott Siefers, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill.

Fifth Third's investors also likely take comfort in the fact that it has a real competitive advantage in its new chief executive, who brings a tech-minded focus to the company's operations. Carmichael has previously been the bank's chief information officer, and he has made it clear that technology would become a priority while he is at the helm.

"This is an industry going through so much technological change, so if you can have a leg up that's helpful," Siefers said, adding that investors also won't judge Carmichael "solely on how good the bank's mobile offering is."

But Carmichaels experience doesn't just help the bank's standing in investors' minds  it also provides Fifth Third with clout when attempting to recruit the best in tech. Current and prospective employees enjoy knowing that one of their own rose through the ranks to become CEO, Deloatch explained.

"It's a great discussion point as we go into recruiting environments to tell the story about how Fifth Third is becoming a technology company," Deloatch said.


Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida in Stuart has reached an agreement with an activist investor after signs had emerged of a potential proxy battle.

The $3.5 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that it would give non-voting observer status on its board to Matthew Lindenbaum, a managing member at Basswood Capital Management in New York. Lindenbaum, who will be a board observer for a least six months, "agreed to abide by other certain agreements for the same term," Seacoast said, without providing any specifics.

Lindenbaum earlier this year had asked for a Seacoast board seat, and later asked for nonvoting, observer status. As of Monday, Seacoast and Lindenbaum had not reached an agreement, prompting Basswood to disclose in a regulatory filing that it could explore other options, including discussions with potential acquirers of Seacoast.

Basswood is Seacoast's second-largest shareholder with a 6.9% stake. Lindenbaum did not return a call seeking comment.

Seacoast also named two new directors on Wednesday, expanding its board to 14 members. Seacoast will appoint Herb Lurie, a senior adviser at Guggenheim Securities, at its April board meeting. Later this year, the company will appoint Tim Huval, chief human resources officer at Humana.

Lurie, 55, is a former chairman of the financial institutions group at Guggenheim. Before joining Humana, the 55-year-old Huval was chief information officer for global wealth and investment management at Bank of America.


If Nandita Bakhshi's resume were a suitcase, it would be covered with travel stickers.

Bakhshi has made a number of stops in a wide-ranging, 28-year banking career. They include managing director of mobile solutions at First Data in the U.K. and Germany, head of consumer deposits and payments at Washington Mutual in Seattle, and her most recent job as North American head of direct channels at TD Bank in Toronto.

But now she has really arrived.

Bank of the West in San Francisco announced last week that it had selected Bakhshi, 57, to replace Michael Shepherd as its next president and chief executive. She is expected to join Bank of the West, a unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas, as a CEO-in-training on April 1 and will take the helm officially on June 1, when Shepherd transitions to a new role as chairman of BNP Paribas' U.S. holding company.

Bakhshi received word of her hiring while she was out celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary with her husband earlier this month. It capped a months-long courtship that began in the fall when Shepherd, 60, first told his board and his bosses at BNP Paribas that he was ready to scale back his responsibilities. In Bakhshi, the $75.7 billion-asset Bank of the West is getting a proven leader with a strong record of innovation and reputation for getting the most out of her teams, Shepherd said in an interview Friday.

"Our bank is performing well and it has a strong foundation, and it's now time for a dynamic, execution-oriented business leader to propel us to stronger performance in the future," Shepherd said.

Bakhshi would become just the fourth woman to head a top-40 bank, joining KeyCorp's Beth Mooney, Ally Bank's Diane Morais and CIT Bank's Ellen Alemany. But while Bakhshi said she is "proud" to join such select company, she rebuffed any efforts to attach historical significance to her hiring.

"I am delighted to be the CEO of Bank of the West  and I know that in my position I will help women and men reach their career goals," she said in an interview. "I know our industry is evolving [but] I really hope we get to a place where we talk about a CEO without calling them a female CEO."

Bakhshi, who was born and raised in India, began her banking career in the U.S. working as a part-time teller. She worked her way up to many high-ranking positions since then, including running TD Bank's entire retail banking operation, but observers says the experience of working one-on-one with customers has always stuck with her.

"The fact that she started on the front lines gives her not only credibility, but perspective on what it takes to best serve customers," said Deborah Bianucci, the president and chief executive officer at BAI. "I think that, along with her strong communication skills and her track record, gives her great influence with the people who are in her organization."

Bakhshi also has a track record of innovation. At FleetBoston, where she served as executive vice president of products and channels, she was credited with implementing the first talking ATMs for the visually impaired. At Washington Mutual, she was instrumental in helping to build an online account-opening platform that was among the first of its kind in the industry.

Bakhshi will be joining a company that has a lot going for it but also faces its share of challenges. On the plus side, Bank of the West posted record profits in 2015 and enjoys a strong reputation with customers in its markets. It ranked No. 3 out of 32 banks in American Banker's annual bank reputation survey in 2015 and was ranked No. 3 in California in J.D. Power's annual customer satisfaction rankings last year. It's also one of the nation's fastest-growing small-business lenders.

Its big challenge is improving its returns on assets and equity, which lag those of its regional-bank peers. Shepherd said key to that effort is diversifying its revenue streams so that fee income accounts for a higher percentage of overall revenues. Bank of the West has more than 560 branches in 19 states. More than half of its branches are in California.

Bakhshi said she plans to spend roughly the first three months visiting with employees across the organization, particularly with those on the front lines, to learn what's working well and what's not.

"While I know retail banking, commercial banking, small-business banking, cash management, I'm going to be in a mode where I'm listening to my colleagues describe how things work at Bank of the West," she said. The aim, she added, is to figure out what Bank of the West could be doing better and, "importantly, keep, cherish and sustain what is working."


I happen to like Donald J. Trump.

In fact, if he becomes the next president of the United States I will react with joy, for one simple reason: he will have vanquished political correctness.

Once upon a time, political correctness was an inside joke on elite campuses. Twenty-five years ago, it referred to outlandish arguments at Cornell and Oberlin about whether to celebrate "Womyn's Herstory Month" or ban the word "Oriental." Now it's become something far more serious. It grew and grew, breaking out of the college elite to universities everywhere, and then eventually to the government and all of civil society. It now stands as a system to silence people who oppose the power brokers' cultural agendas; it punishes dissenters through defamation, intimidation, a new McCarthyism, and even threats of outright violence.

Nothing we debate matters if Americans can't have a real debate. And we can't have a debate on anything as long as political correctness blockades us. So whether or not I agree with Donald J. Trump on Bush's Middle East policies or funding Planned Parenthood, the bottom line is this: he is the only candidate who offers us any hope of ending political correctness.

I Reject the Christian Case against Trump

Christian commentators, both Protestant and Catholic, have denounced Trump for his divorces, past promiscuity, vulgarity, and alleged ignorance about the Bible. Such denouncers are an embarrassment to their faith. The entire narrative of Jesus Christ is based on human redemption. God gave His only Son on a cross to be sacrificed so all of us could be ransomed from the bondage of sin. Without the notion that human beings can be delivered from evil and change for a better purpose, there is no Christianity.

I was once a young gigolo. I engaged in unchaste acts with almost two hundred men before I found redemption in Christ and repented for my sins. Unlike Donald J. Trump, I also drank more rum than a British pirate, committed misdemeanors, and fell into years of malingering sloth. Am I therefore now to be disqualified from any public office?

If so, I am curious as to what these Trump haters believed was the purpose of the crucifixion. Was it so that sinners could remain sinners and people who never made any mistakes could keep to themselves and hoard all political power among the like-minded? If so, maybe Paul never needed to travel to Damascus. He could have kept on telling crowds to stone Christians, and it would not have made a difference.

I Reject the Racism Charge against Trump

I know a lot about racism  I am the sole Latino male in an English department on a campus with over 40,000 students. The department has no black faculty members. It appears likely that in 2007, the search committee saw my mix of liberal/conservative scholarship and assumed I would be submissive and complacent about racial issues yet progressive on homosexuality and feminism. Surprise  they got the exact opposite! For being a brown-skinned Latino who speaks up and doesn't hesitate to defend his race and his faith, I've been the target for eight years of abuse from people who think of themselves as paragons of tolerance and egalitarianism.

Racism means denying early promotion, vandalizing the office doors of minorities, blocking them from important committees, and investigating them for phony charges in craven attempts to discredit and fire them. These are the activities that allow an entire institution to bring the number of blacks on a department's faculty to zero. Zero! I don't see Trump doing things like that. This is the kind of thing Hillary and Bernie supporters do, like the Hillary and Bernie supporters who staff the campus where I work. Those things really happened to me.

People who engage in these real forms of racism always keep their agenda secret, which is why they are the loudest attackers against Trump. He blows their cover by getting people everywhere to say what they really think about race instead of continuing America's politically correct charade.

True malevolence adores secrecy and dissembling. More often than not, racial injustice thrives under disguises of condescension, exploitation, and mental manipulation. Higher education, Hollywood, and big-city bureaucracies are the biggest foes of Black Lives Matter despite the fact that they are universally led by Democrats who claim to love and defend people of color.

"Racism" does not mean saying insensitive things. It means doing harmful things to people of color. It is not racist to speak frankly about border security. In 2006, Barack Obama voted for H.R. 6061, which allocated $1.2 billion for 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Seven hundred miles is long enough to insult Latin Americans but short enough to entice them to come through the massive gaps left open. What harms immigrants of color more  clarity about future prospects, or mixed messages that might lead them to spend their family's only money on a human smuggler?

A wall between the United States and Mexico sends exactly the right "message": these are two different countries with different ways of thinking, and their peoples should flourish by building their homelands into great nations rather than by being exported en masse from dysfunctional governments that do not want to change to a dysfunctional government that does not know what it wants.

Ditto on Islamophobia

"Racism" does not mean expressing reservations about the mutual benefits between a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values and immigrants who adhere to Islam, a religion practiced by people practicing ethnic cleansing and even genocide against Jews and Christians in those immigrants' home countries.

There is a profound racism embedded in the notion that the best thing for any Latino or Muslim is to settle permanently in the United States. In being naturalized, they sever their ties to the civilization from which they came and assimilate into the Democrats' toxic liberal brew of consumerism, iPods, abortion, sodomy, fornication, pornography, marijuana, and atheism. Shame me though it does to say it, this mix is American culture, which I should know  I was born in the United States and have been fighting the left's influence on popular culture for most of my life.

If the prevailing forces on the American left are so incensed by a Christianity that celebrates chastity, complementary gender roles, and strict family values, why on Earth are they promising Muslims that they will be happy settling in the very country the left strives to secularize?

Is free in-state tuition to California State University, Los Angeles, where a near riot exploded simply because Ben Shapiro was invited to deliver a speech, so important that a Moroccan family should forever forsake their rituals and Arab traditions and move to Sherman Oaks, California? If they try to keep their values alive while living in Los Angeles, the Democrats will turn a deaf ear to the complaints that their daughters are getting abortions and dressing like tramps while their sons are dyeing their hair green and loitering outside gay nightclubsjust like white liberal Americans.

Is it more racist to say, "You come from a beautiful home country that needs your talent and hard work" or "Come to America so you can change and become just like Miley Cyrus and George Clooney"?

Policies Don't Matter if Our National Culture Is Dead

I am a one-issue voter: I want our country to have real discussions about things. In a real discussion among people speaking truthfully, better ideas will prevail over weaker ones. Both unconstitutional censorship and unofficial silencing are killing our country on every front. We have to end political correctness before we can fix anything. And the only person who can end political correctness is Donald J. Trump.

Early on, I was dismayed by my mistaken impressions of the Trump campaign. One of his supporters told me, "none of the policy matters if we don't have a national culture anymore." At the time, I assumed he was speaking as a white supremacist opposed to the dilution of genetic purity. Perhaps he was, in part  but it doesn't matter now, because I have stumbled upon a different meaning of that quote, to which I wholeheartedly subscribe.

Government can grow and shrink, unemployment can rise and fall, banks can open and close  but when our culture unravels, it cannot be sewn back together again. My friend is right that countries do rise and fall, based mostly on the unquantifiable facets of national character: shared values, which cultivate trust among citizens and inspire people to collective sacrifice. Our culture is being murdered by those who hate religion, despise nationalism, elevate hedonism of all kinds, and seek to continue the complete erosion of courtship and intact families.

For many years, I made the mistake of thinking that the solution would be to raise up leaders who shared my values. I thought we had to follow bellwethers who exemplified the purest form of our highest ideals, a standard that all but excluded flawed figures like Donald J. Trump. Our purism sounded sensible, but it backfired.

What we need, instead, are leaders who create the conditions under which we can defend our values in the public square, speaking for ourselves rather than having others speak on our behalf. Maybe Donald Trump accepts gay marriage, something I oppose; even if he does, I find him the one who is most likely to forge a new national arena where I, free of any debt to some pedigreed expert, get to say things that "offend" others without worrying about being able to feed my two children.

How does it help me if Matt Walsh gets to write column after column about awful liberalism is if I lose my job for publicly opposing gay adoption? How does it help my best friend, a Marine who served in Iraq, if FOX News employs a tiny team of conservatives interviewing the same 100 or so contributors in New York and Los Angeles studios, but my friend can be fired for speaking truthfully about what he saw Muslims do to each other in the Middle East? How does it help the people in my Baptist church if Russell Moore can publish columns, but they have no way of blocking their teenage children from watching porn or using transgender bathrooms?

I don't need a president who thinks exactly the way I do. I need a president who celebrates free and honest expression, so I can defend my thoughts in my own life. That's why I like Donald J. Trump and hope he becomes the next president.

Robert Oscar Lopez can be followed at English Manif or on Twitter (@baptist4freedom) or Soundcloud.
Jeffrey Goldberg has the April Fools cover of The Atlantic this Spring, a confectioners assessment of seven some odd years of the Team Obama foreign policy. Celebrity journalism is usually classified as either an orchid or an onion. Either/or because there are few media outlets these days that are truly fair and balanced. The politics of the left, and far left, dominate most political coverage today. Goldbergs treatment of the Obama years is no exception.

Political correctness is the dominant approach of 21st Century journalism. The Atlantic is a pioneer with that genre. No surprise then that this first of many forthcoming Obama presidency media report cards, 22,000 words long, is an orchid; indeed, a veritable bouquet of muddled apologetics and pettifoggery.

Goldberg doesnt specifically claim that team Obama has a foreign policy strategy. He prefers the word doctrine. Therein lays the rub.

Strategy is a national vision with clear goals. Doctrines are the principles and practices consistently applied to achieve specified goals. The first speaks to what and the latter speaks to how. Doctrine is irrelevant without clear objectives. Indeed, doctrine, operational art, and tactics are moot without coherent strategy.

Journalists like Goldberg and politicos like Obama are, however, excellent examples of the vision deficit among contemporary politicians and pundits alike. Both men might have benefited from a couple of years of military school or service before presuming to abuse the verities of leadership, strategy, doctrine, or tactics.

National strategy is ever about winners and losers. Alas, strategic thinking is now conflated with game theory and social engineering, hypotheses that see win/win outcomes and global nirvana through the gauze of flawed assumptions, wishful thinking, and humanitarian claptrap. Indeed, goals like victory, success, or winning are often demonized.

Specific bogymen for the left are now familiar: Wall Street, banks, enterprise of any sort, nationalism, military solutions, tradition, history, Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, and now Donald Trump. The Bush family used to be the all-purpose scapegoat for Obama malfunctions, but according to Goldberg, the Bush regimes have been rehabilitated.

Failed or fraudulent domestic or defense programs or institutions never make team Obamas rogues gallery. Government failure is just another fiscal stimulus under no-fault doctrine.

When capitalism fails, a business is likely to disappear, unless government intervenes. Conversely, when domestic or foreign adventures fail, fiasco is sustained with better funding. There are few moral hazards with contemporary government, especially at the federal level where money is printed and deficits, debts, defeat can be rationalized or ignored by executive order.

Uncle Sam is a red, white, and blue Santa Claus for social programs at home and profligate aid programs abroad. These days, both classes of dependents are too big to fail.

The 21st century may be known to historians as the no fault era of social democracy. Barack Obama didnt invent no-fault culture, but it is a worldview that fits his national security doctrine like a burka. Doubling down on botched humanitarian interventions, small wars, and regime changes are hallmarks of recent Obama follies.

At the same time, notions of victory, success, and winning have disappeared from the national conversation. Leaders who abhor victory usually refuse to recognize failure either. Foreign policy has become an absurdity, small wars that kill Muslims with drones powered by humanitarian oxymorons.

The no-fault era is exacerbated by several personal Obama quirks that contribute to strategic confusion: ego, a prickly personality, secrecy, racial/religious identity paranoia, demonization, and little tolerance for disagreement. When things go south for team Obama, the other domestic or foreign enemies are blamed  with one notable exception. No matter the obscenity or atrocity, the faith of his fathers, Islamism and Muslim culture, enjoys immunity from censure or sanction.

In contrast, European allies are castigated by the President and Goldberg about moral responsibilities, yet nary a word about Ummah accountability. Apparently terrorism, Islamism, refugees, and Muslim dystopia in general are now just extensions of white mans burdens -- if you buy the moral logic of Obama and The Atlantic.

Jews, Russians, the Chinese, Christians, high school graduates, white males, conservatives, libertarians, or Republicans are the preferred demons. If you are not an open borders social democrat, you are, by definition, a bigot. Most traditional values, western culture or nationalism especially, are thought to be varieties of intolerance or racism.

Ironically, the Goldberg puff piece confirms Obamas temperamental insecurity and immaturity. The commander-in-chief does not suffer dissent gladly, projects his character flaws onto others, and he is likely to demonize opponents with petty snubs and surrogate invective. Obamas treatment of Putin and Netanyahu are illustrative.

Putin is dismissed as a KGB thug and Netanyahu has been characterized as a chicken shit. In fact, Putin is a born again orthodox Christian and Netanyahu is a Special Forces war hero. Nonetheless, guano seems to be an Obama policy theme. Goldberg tells us that Obama defines his foreign policy doctrine as dont do stupid shit. Team Obama should know, the Oval Office seems to have redefined shit -- and stupid -- as virtues.

There is a prominent counterpoint to the apologetic Goldberg hypothesis. Call it the Limbaugh theorem. Rush Limbaugh, pundit/comedian on the right, claims that Obama has a very explicit strategy underwritten by specific cynical goals. The Limbaugh theorem suggests that Obama thinks more of third world victims than he does about American uniqueness, say nothing of greatness. For Limbaugh, Obamas strategy is to take America down a peg or two to achieve a kind of global moral and cultural equivalence for all.

Withal, any smug recitation of White House spin confirms dystopic policy, the abject stupidity of intervention or regime change in a Muslim culture where the default setting is 7th century theocracy. Alas, strategic malpractice is now aggravated by a refugee/immigrant tsunami. Immigration, the latest administration tar baby, says all that needs to be said about no-fault foreign policy.

What sane analyst argues that the answer to Muslim terror, jihadism, or cultural pathology is more religious ghettos in the West, Europe, or America? The sad truth of Muslim crusades to date is that the West has put its values and culture at risk in exchange for seedbeds of theofascism.

The administration is fond of claiming that the Islamic State is the illegitimate product of Syrian tyranny or Russian collusion. Al Baghdadi may be a bastard, but then he is Americas bastard; indeed, the love child of impotent foreign policy in the Middle East.

G. Murphy Donovan writes about the politics of national security
During the course of my work, I visited a little-known Spanish territory sitting on the continent of Africa just across from Gibraltar called Ceuta, or, if you are in Morocco, Sebta. Its one of three Spanish protectorates on North African soil surrounded by Morocco ever since the sixteenth century -- and has been a sore spot between the two nations ever since. But once you walked about twenty yards and stepped across an unseen line on the ground into Ceuta you were technically in Spain in Europe, the EU.

That meant that after catching a quick ferry ride across the Mediterranean you were literally on the European continent and free to go anywhere in the EU without passport checks. The challenge was getting from Moroccan land across that unseen line into Ceuta. But it was not hard to do.

I crossed through the Ceuta border post often, going back and forth from my home base in Spain. Since its my job to notice details, I noticed that the border was less than secure -- on both sides. Sure, both countries have the requisite 3-Bs for securing a position -- boys, bullets, and barriers. Winding its way between Ceuta, Spain, and Morocco, there was a double fence topped with razor wire, reminding me of the U.S.Mexican border. There were guard dogs, spotlights, riot vans with their windshields covered in steel mesh. There were men on both sides armed with submachine guns; there were metal detectors, there were multiple steel gates, and it all made the border appear well protected.

But in reality it wasnt.

The metal detectors on either side were turned off nearly every time I went through. A well-dressed bad guy with nice suitcases could bring weapons or anything else across without much trouble at all -- just by giving off the good citizen appearance. But there was something even simpler, something worse.

Assume for a moment that Libya has surface-to-air missiles, MANPADS, floating around in the hands of radical militant Islamist bad guys (which they do). Then assume that a group of those bad guys wants to strike Western targets, killing as many as possible (which they do). How do they do it? Sail across the Mediterranean Sea? No, theyll be boarded by a NATO warship, arrested, and thrown in jail. Take a ferry out of Benghazi? No, theyll be stopped at the port in Europe.

First, they head southwest, crossing into Algeria, where they sell or transfer the weapon to al-Murabitoun -- the main al-Qaida jihadi group in Algeria -- who then continue the trek southwest, crossing into Mauritania at the porous border near Chegga. Once inside, they make their way to Nouadhibou, an Atlantic port city just a few thousand yards south of Western Sahara -- which is essentially Morocco. They hire a simple wooden fishing boat, push out into the Atlantic, head north a few miles, and beach it on the Moroccan Atlantic coastline of Western Sahara. Fishermen are everywhere along that area, so its nothing out of the ordinary. The terrorist, having coordinated a vehicle with sympathizers in Morocco, heads north up through the modern highway to Agadir, turns right for Marrakech, hangs a left toward Casablanca, and then Rabat, all the way to... you guessed it, to the northernmost point of Ceuta, Spain... yet still on the African continent.

But you cant just walk through with a five-foot-long surface-to-air missile -- thatll draw attention whether the metal detectors are on or not. But again, that crossing point has water on the eastern side. They go to a Moroccan tourist shop, buy an inflatable pool raft, wait until dark, and float the weapon twenty yards north from one side to the other, passing the border station to the Spanish side. Kick their way back to shore, knife-sink the raft, hail one of the dozens of cabs that make a U-turn at Martinez Catana Avenue looking for customers, and the bad guys are technically in Spain -- the EU. Once inside, they catch one of the daily ferries leaving the marina at Puerto de Ceuta for mainland Spain, and therell be no further checks on the other side of the ferry ride -- they, their weapon, and their evil intent are in Europe. Its like catching a bus to go from Madrid to Barcelona, or from Canton, Ohio, to Chicago -- no checks.

Once on the mainland, they are able to go anywhere with anything, crossing borders unchallenged all across Europe, to airports in Spain, Italy, France, crossing through the Chunnel into England and armed with a shoulder-launched missile capable of blowing a slow, fat passenger jet completely out of the sky. How many Ceutas are there? How many holes, how many threats around the world? Lots -- and they are simple to exploit.

From my experience, the simple plans work. Box cutters took down three jet airplanes on 9/11; simple trucks with explosives destroyed our embassy and Marine barracks in Lebanon in the 1980s, and the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was taken out by a rental truck parked out front in 1995. Simple works.

Bad guys could shut down mighty LAX -- Los Angeles International Airport -- or any airport in the United States with a spray bottle filled with ammonia nitrate. A bad guy need only crush up the small white balls out of the one-use instant cold packs that you can buy at almost any CVS or Walgreens pharmacy, or buy a sack of fertilizer and then mix either with water. Then walk through the airport and spray it on the floor, call in a bomb threat, and the K9s will indicate bombs everywhere. The authorities would tear the place to the ground trying to find bombs that dont exist -- simple works. Get that mixture into the wax used to polish the floors and that airport will be razed.

Bad guys with half a brain can walk through airport security, head to any Hudson News snack store, and buy all the supplies needed to make a deadly blowgun, a functioning frag grenade out of a coffee thermos, an incendiary carry-on suitcase, and even a functioning shotgun just using Axe body spray, lithium batteries, a hair dryer, a handful of quarters, and a few other items. Simple works.

The sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area in October 2002 were carried out by two guys whose collective IQ was probably no larger than their shoe sizes, yet they took a rifle, hid in the trunk of their Chevy Caprice, and shot people from a hole bored out next to the license plate. These two moral midgets managed to effectively shut down the nations capital. It was the sort of operation that, if deployed across the country in teams, would lock the nation in fits for weeks, shut down commerce in major cities, tie up law enforcement, and cause significant economic damage... for the cost of a few rounds of ammunition.

I hope the good guys realize these weaknesses, because the bad guys do and are always looking for more -- though Tuesday's attacks in Brussels suggest otherwisw. As the late, great British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said long ago, the bad guys only have to be right once, but the good guys have to be right all the time.

Jamie Smith is a decorated former CIA officer, author of Gray Work: Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy (WmMorrow/HarperCollins 2015), frequent commentator for FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, former advisor to the Chair of US House Intelligence Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence Subcommittee, advisor to GRAY | Solutions and holds a doctorate in law.
The disturbing campaign to suppress speech that is purportedly hurtful, unpleasant, or morally distasteful is a troubling and recurrent pattern of behavior by "progressive" leftists and "social justice" advocates from Muslim-led pro-Palestinian groups. Coalescing around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, this unholy alliance has been formed in a libelous and vituperative campaign to demonize Israel, attack pro-Israel individuals, and promote a relentless campaign against Israel in the form of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. As the ideological assault against Israel and Jews intensifies on university campuses, and pro-Israel individuals begin answering their ideological opponents, the student groups leading the pro-Palestinian charge (including such groups as the radical Students for Justice in Palestine [SJP]) have decided that their tactic of unrelenting demonization of Israel is insufficient, and the best way to optimize the propaganda effect of their anti-Israel message is also to suppress or obscure opposing views.

The pronouncements of these groups are now frequently defined by baleful whining. For instance, a leaked memorandum from the Binghamton University Students for Justice in Palestine chapter revealed that members would be required never even to engage in dialogue with pro-Israel groups on their campus. They would be prohibited from "engaging in any form of official collaboration, cooperation, or event co-sponsorship with [pro-Israel] student organizations and groups." And SJP members "shall in no manner engage in any form of official collaboration with any student group which actively opposes the cause of Palestinian liberation nor with groups which have aided and abetted Zionist student organizations"  meaning, of course, that the so-called intellectual debate that universities purport to promote in exactly this type of discussion will never take place when SJP is involved.

Because they cannot win an honest, open ideological debate about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict  because they deal almost exclusively in misrepresentations and untruths (the allegation of Israeli apartheid being the central example)  SJP has characteristically has tried to insure that no pro-Israel voices are heard, by either disrupting and shutting down pro-Israel events and speakers or urging administrators to disinvite speakers they deem Islamophobic, too pro-Israel, or critical of their own tactics and activism.

The thuggish substitution of event disruption and the shutting down of other people's speech for what is supposed to be two-sided academic dialogue and debate occur with increased regularity. These methods mark another, more pernicious, aspect of the campus campaign against Israel, Zionism, and Jews.

At the University of California, Davis this month, for example, George Deek, a Jaffa-born Arab Christian, planned to give a speech entitled "The Art of Middle East Diplomacy" when some 30 pro-Palestinian activists stood up and blocked Deek with banners and took over the event by screaming, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free"  meaning an Arab state in place of present-day Israel  and chanting such toxic ditties as "long live the Intifada," "Allahu Akbar," and "When Palestine is occupied, resistance is justified." These activists further employed ghoulish calls for the murder of Jews and "Israel is anti-Black" and "Palestine will be free, fight white supremacy"  an intellectually clumsy way of trying to frame Israel as a racist state.

In February, Bassam Eid, a Palestinian himself and the founder of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, witnessed how nothing positive said about Israel is allowed to be heard, even from such a credible, though unusual, source as a Palestinian. During his speech, in which he was critical of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for their failure to seek peace, Eid was verbally attacked by a student attendee, who said in Arabic, "Dr. Bassam, do not dare talk about us [Palestinians] anymore. You have shamed our God  you've shamed us, disgraced us, you are a traitor, you are a traitor, in the name of God you are a traitor.  You are worse than the Jews and we will hunt you down and find you in every place. Be prepared." When it became obvious that his speech would not be able to continue uninterrupted, Eid cancelled the event and had to be escorted off site by the police.

Last November, the University of Minnesota Law School sponsored a lecture by Hebrew University professor Moshe Halbertal, an expert on Israel's military code of ethics, entitled "Protecting Civilians: Moral Challenges of Asymmetric Warfare." The lecture was delayed for 30 minutes by the unruly heckling and chants of some 100 protesters from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who indignantly rose from the audience, interrupted, and accused Halbertal of war crimes and complicity in the 2014 Gaza incursion.

Also in November, as yet another example, the University of Texas at Austin's Institute for Israeli Studies hosted an event with Stanford University's Dr. Gil-Li Vardi, who was to present a study on "The Origin of a Species: The Birth of the Israeli Defense Forces' Military Culture." At the event, twelve members of a so-called "Palestine Solidarity Committee," intent on disrupting the speech, created a human wall in the back of the room with the purpose of not allowing the event to begin. The anti-Israel activists tried, without the benefit of actually knowing what the speaker would say, to prevent her from presenting her viewpoint by shrieking out such taunts as "You are a former IDF soldier; we do not listen to you."

Sometimes the silencing of pro-Israel voices is more subtle, but no less pernicious. This month, for instance, the student association at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) decided to exclude Hasbara Fellowships  an organization that promotes Israeli advocacy on campus  from a campus "Social Justice Fair" because UOIT's student government had passed a pro-BDS motion. It therefore apparently seemed perfectly reasonable to exclude the Hasbara Fellowships program, since the "organization seems closely tied to the state of Israel."

A pro-Israel student group at Columbia University, Artists 4 Israel, was also denied the opportunity to express views during Israeli Apartheid Week, during which the SJP chapter had erected its version of a mock "apartheid wall," emblazoned with anti-Israel slogans and symbols. To counter the display with a pro-Israel one, Artists 4 Israel had set up a 15-foot inflatable figure, a "pro-Israel Pinocchio," replete with a long nose and a sign that read "'Apartheid' Week Compassion Abuse" as an effective, sardonic swipe at SJP's toxic campaign. The chair and vice chair of Columbia's student government, who not coincidentally are members of Columbia's SJP chapter and pro-BDS activists, ordered the removal of the Pinocchio figure, offering the disingenuous justification that Pinocchio's long nose might be construed as anti-Semitic and that the pump used to inflate the figure was too loud for use on the Columbia grounds.
The wheels of justice slowly have been turning, and those of us who feared that Lois Lerner and the IRS would get off scot-free despite their lawless targeting of Tea Party groups have something to celebrate. And Lois Lerner may have had a troubled sleep last night if she was paying attention instead of enjoying her six-figure pension with leisure activities.

An appeals court judge in the Sixth Circuit has delivered a blistering rebuke to both the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department attorneys that have defended it in behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel. As a result, officials current and former will be forced to testify under oath for their misdeeds in a civil action with big bucks at stake. Stephen Dinan reports in the Washington Times:

A federal appeals court spanked the IRS Tuesday, saying it has taken laws designed to protect taxpayers from the government and turned them on their head, using them to try to protect the tax agency from the very tea party groups it targeted. The judges ordered the IRS to quickly turn over the full list of groups it targeted so that a class-action lawsuit, filed by the NorCal Tea Party Patriots, can proceed. The judges also accused the Justice Department lawyers, who are representing the IRS in the case, of acting in bad faith  compounding the initial targeting  by fighting the disclosure.

The IRS had been claiming that release of the list of groups it targeted would violate their privacy. This is the bad faith the appeals court rebuked. And the release of the names will enable the class to be certified, so that a class action lawsuit can proceed.

Normally, sovereign immunity enables federal government to go un punished for harmful behavior, but if malfeasance can be proven, I suspect that individuals like Lerner can be personally sued by the class. I am no lawyer, but this is my general understanding of the way sovereign immunity has its limits.

The language used by the judge is startling:

The lawyers in the Department of Justice have a long and storied tradition of defending the nations interests and enforcing its laws  all of them, not just selective ones  in a manner worthy of the Departments name. The conduct of the IRSs attorneys in the district court falls outside that tradition, Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote in a unanimous opinion for a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. We expect that the IRS will do better going forward.

I wonder if complaints can be filed against the individual DoJ lawyers who misbehaved?

Now, discovery can begin in the case, which means opening up internal documents and taking testimony under oath.

Edward Greim, a lawyer at Graves Garrett who is representing NorCal Patriots, said they should be able to get a better idea of the IRS decision-making once they see the list of groups that was targeted. What well be able to see is how, starting in the spring of 2010, with the first one or two groups the IRS targeted, well be able to see that number grow, and well even be able to see at the tail end their possible covering up that conduct, he said. He said they suspect the IRS, aware that the inspector general was looking into the tax agencys behavior, began adding in other groups to try to muddle the perception that only conservatives were being targeted.

Lets see what the memos and emails say. If there is something to the effect of "we'd better get some other groups on the list," that woudl demonstrate a conspiracy. Unless, of course, they were accidentally destroyed, but then again, people can be placed under oath. And they cant be sure what evidence remains.
In November, I asked if ISIS was establishing itself in South Asia and suggested that we will face severe consequences if we ignore this possibly game-changing threat. Having just returned from almost a month in South Asia, I can say confidently that this is no longer a question: ISIS is in South Asia, and it might already have set up shop in India.

My November piece focused on Bangladesh and a suspected ISIS headquarters in the capital of Dhaka. In the short time since then, more evidence of an increasingly powerful ISIS there has emerged. Its November claim taking credit for the murder of a Bangladeshi policeman is no longer in dispute. More recently, ISIS has murdered a Hindu priest in Northern Bangladesh and takes credit for killing a Shiite in Southwestern Bangladesh. Police dispute the claim, variously attributing the murder to drug addicts and groups aligned with political parties that are in opposition to the current government. Statements by the Bangladeshi police should be suspect, however. They are notoriously corrupt and openly beholden to political parties. As the ruling Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed have a strong interest in maintaining the fiction that Bangladesh is a moderate country and that any threats to moderation come from their political rivals, the police denial is not unexpected.

On February 12, 2016, the US State Department issued a travel advisory, alert[ing] U.S. citizens to the ongoing potential for extremist violence in Bangladesh. Since September 2015, Bangladesh has experienced a series of increasingly sophisticated violent attacks. These include the murders of two foreign nationals, as well as bombs and other attacks against gatherings of religious groups and security forces. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) publicly claimed credit for many of these attacks. State never equivocated about ISIS/ISIL or doubted the ISIS presence, despite its penchant for mollifying local governments.

Pakistan is hardly worth a mention as the ISIS presence is so well-established that even the mainstream media acknowledged it over a year ago.

The most frightening development, however, is the opening of an ISIS center in Kolkata [formerly Calcutta], India. During my time in that city, I was able to investigate the alleged center, map out entry points and security, and even snap some photos. Moreover, I was able to walk from that office to the undisguised office the Islamist Jamaat e Islami in less than five minutes during a high traffic time of day. While some questions remain, it is clear that we are seeing increased Islamist activity and cooperation in India. The State of West Bengal (where Kolkata is located) has long been hospitable to radical Muslims; and whether under communist rule (1977-2011) or since, the state has refused to plug gaping holes in its border, allowed agents to smooth the illegals merger into West Bengal society, and has sat by idly while the process has led to marked demographic change in the state; as documented in my book, A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: the Murder of Bangladeshs Hindus.

Officially, the regions major intelligence agencies (Indias Research and Analysis Wing or RAW; Bangladeshs Directorate General of Forces Intelligence or DGFI, and Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI, which the US lists as a terrorist group) deny any ISIS presence; however, those public denials do not comport with their private statements.

The danger is serious and growing. South Asia has more than 4.5 times as many Muslims than the Middle East, which means a greater pool for radicalization. It is easier for South Asians to enter the US, and it is almost automatic for them to enter the EU, gain citizenship, and take a plane here. We have opportunities to stop it, especially by supporting the one regional ally as opposed to radical Islam as we are: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He faces a host of domestic and regional challenges where we can help (job-creating joint ventures in the growing economy; backing for anti-terrorist actions in Kashmir; and more). Unfortunately, Modi like Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, is not one of the Obama Administrations favorites; and that window of opportunity is closing.
Sky News is reporting that more than 120 ISIS fighters have signed up for a suicide bomber brigade. The brigade consists of members from several European countries, as well as countries in the Middle East.

The list was gleaned from registration documents that were given to German intelligence officials by an ISIS defector.

The Hill:

The files also include registration documents for new recruits and information about training camps, Sky News reported. There were 25 Belgians identified in the files, 48 references to Belgian nationals and 70 references to the country itself. ISIS recruits who return to Europe are reportedly trained to both carry out attacks and to be trainers. The report came after ISIS claimed responsibility for Tuesday's deadly attacks in Brussels, Belgium, which killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 200, according to CNN Earlier this month, The Australian reported that the list of suicide bombers was included in more than 22,000 registration documents leaked to the German intelligence service. The documents were reportedly leaked by an ISIS defector.

You have to assume that not all of those suicide bombers would return home. But even if only a fraction of them are in Europe right now, that's a terrible amount of firepower available to terrorist cells to exploit. Just two suicide bombers killed 34 in Belgium. Imagine half a dozen of them let loose on a European city?

It seems certain that something very, very big is coming. Belgium can't be the best that ISIS can do. Perhaps it won't rival 9/11 in casualties. But it will be awful enough, and shocking enough that such an attack will shake the European nations to their foundation and challenge their notions of tolerance to its core.
Many AT readers will remember the terrific 1967 World War II movie The Dirty Dozen starring Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Robert Ryan, and a number of instantly recognizable faces.

The plot is that Lee Marvin, a major, is commissioned to put together a secret team to blow up a recreation chateau in France for high-ranking German officers. After various adventures, the secret squad is successful in crossing France and, at the climactic moment, blowing the chateau to smithereens.

Why is this relevant? These were soldiers on a clandestine mission to kill the enemy. These soldiers are heroes. While they have personal problems that are part of the drama, they are not insane, and they are not driven by unknowable motives. They are soldiers playing their part in the victory to be achieved by their country, the United States of America.

So also with the bombers in Brussels Tuesday. They are loyal to the commission of Mohammed in the Koran to kill the infidel and, by participating in this episode of holy war  jihad  securing their place in Paradise. In fact, dying in jihad is the only way that that outcome can be assured. They are not driven by unknowable motives. They are soldiers playing their part in the victory to be achieved by the universal community of Islam, by the ummah under the caliphate

ISIS has claimed credit for this engagement. ISIS was created spiritually if not literally by the Muslim Brotherhood. Who is the Muslim Brotherhood? The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by an Egyptian Hassan al-Banna.

Why 1928? Because in 1924, a very profound event had happened. In 1924, as part of the reorganization of Turkey after its defeat in World War I, the hero-general Mustafa Kemal abolished the Sunni caliphate, ending a history that had run from the death of Mohammed in 632. Kemal put Turkey, the rump state of the Ottoman Empire, on the path of secularization.

Hassan al-Banna formed the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 to restore the caliphate, of which, with suitable internecine and doctrinal warfare, ISIS is a component.

The Muslim caliphate, an institution that conquered most of the known world of its day and at one time was the most influential institution in the world, is at war with the West. Brussels was an engagement in that struggle, the ultimate objective of which is the establishment of a worldwide caliphate, ruling every sacred and profane activity of every individual in the world. Osama bin Laden twice  in 1996 and in 1998  followed appropriate Muslim custom by publicly declaring this war.

The West has come to have a stylized way of making war specified in the Hague and Geneva Conventions:

We distinguish between a soldier in uniform and carrying his weapon openly and a spy who does neither and is executed summarily when in combat. Islam does not make this distinction.

We do not make war directly on civilians, particularly women and children. Islam does not draw this distinction and in some situations specifically trains women and children in their role as women and children to attack the enemy.

We envision victory being achieved by defeating the armed forces of the enemy. Islam envisions victory by demoralizing the enemy society.

Conclusion?

We have to understand that we are in a war. We have to understand the type of war we are in. We have to understand the morality of the enemy as the enemy sees it. We have to have respect for the enemy by accepting that he means what he says and not take the racist view that the enemy is too immature to mean what he says.

Like all totalitarians, the enemy tells us in detail what he expects to do and how he expects to do it. Nota bene.
Mobile payments have been something that Google have been experimenting with for a long time now. North Americans will know the failed attempt of Google Wallet that Android 2.3 endured with Sprint. Since then, weve seen Apple and Samsung launch the not-so-original Apple Pay and Samsung Pay platforms, and Google soon followed suit with the as-original Android Pay service. Joking aside, Android Pay is one of the few services that has the potential to reach the most amount of customers, thanks to the fact that its compatible with a much, much wider variety of devices. Like many new initiatives from Google, Android Pay was launched in the United States first, but today the official Android UK blog has detailed the upcoming launch of the service across the pond in the UK.

When it launches in the upcoming months Android Pay in the UK will support Visa and MasterCard cards as well as bank accounts from many of the big names including Halifax, Nationwide, First Direct, Lloyds, MBNA and more. Curiously absent here is Barclays, one of the UKs biggest banks, and also one that is championing their own mobile payments system. Stores confirmed to support the service at launch include Aldi, BP, Costa, Starbucks, Greggs, Waitrose and Transport for London for quicker ticket purchases. Theres a wide variety of stores, banks and online brands featured in the gallery below.

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The Android blog post tells us to stay tuned for more information. Those in the UK will no doubt feel as if Google have taken their sweet time bringing Android Pay across the pond, as Apple Pay has been available in a number of large retail stores up and down the high street, as well as being offered by many of the biggest banks in the UK. Regardless, no service is perfect at the moment, and these are still in the opening stages of development, which means that itll take some more time for all the bigger names to join in the fun, but as with a lot of different technologies, everything has start somewhere. Android Pay is also expanding in the US, too so there are good signs of progress for the platform as a whole.
Eric Schmidt is one of the most accomplished names in the tech sphere right now. During his long and rather illustrious career, which included a period at a high-ranking position with Sun Microsystems, one of the main things he had been pursuing was the idea of an active computer network that would allow for quick, easy and adaptable development and deployment of software. In essence, he spent most of his career trying to flesh out the concept of a cloud backend for a business; essentially, infrastructure as a service. Although its still the third place option in the sphere and has some kinks still being worked out, Schmidt has said that Google Cloud Platform in its current form, being the closest thing imaginable to his original vision, is the magnum opus of his time in the tech world.

According to Schmidt, the idea for the cloud services that Google offers began when their search traffic began to reach critical mass. The high traffic was beginning to cause issues and their technicians tools just werent agile enough, at the time, to keep up. At that point, the company decided to create a specialized operating system and suite of software that would serve as the backend they needed, making development and deployment of new software easier than ever. As the system evolved and development rolled on, Google eventually saw fit to let other businesses in on their system via a cloud-based backend. Google would provide the servers, horsepower and software development environment, while customers would only have to worry about software creation, deployment and client-side network maintenance. This first-generation cloud service came to be known as Google AppEngine.

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When Google publicly rolled out their AppEngine cloud services back in 2008, they allowed developers to use a system not unlike Googles in-house systems to do many of the same kinds of things Google was doing; creating and distributing software, managing networks and deploying frontends for users. According to Schmidt, however, there was something fundamentally wrong. The toolset was geared more toward developers and experimenters than the average business user, netting them a relatively low rating among enterprise users. The problem continues to this day with Google Cloud Platform and is part of the reason theyre still the underdog in the IaaS space, although it is a problem thats being gradually addressed. Schmidt expressed confidence, however, that this issue would be solved and the creativity and unique needs of users would eventually take the reigns off of Google Cloud Platform.
If you have been close to any news feeds today, then you will have likely heard about the attacks that have taken place in Brussels today. Both the International Airport and part of the citys subway system was hit in attacks which seem to be the result of a combined terrorist attack on the city. With any attack like this, staying in touch with friends, family or loved ones who maybe in the city will be of the utmost importance and as a result, a number of the carriers and social media companies have been looking to keep communications open between Brussels and the rest of the world.

Early today, Facebook announced that they were reactivating their Safety Check feature which can help those in Brussels get the word out to friends and family outside of the country that they are safe and fine. This was then followed by all of the major U.S. carriers and some Canadian carriers announcing that they were zeroing out charges for calls and texts to Brussels over the coming days and weeks. Following which, Google has now confirmed they are also zeroing out charges for any calls made through Hangouts.

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The announcement came through the companys social media channels and advises that any calls made to Belgium through Hangouts, Hangouts Dialer or Google Voice will be free. In light of the similar recent attacks in Turkey, Google has also announced that the same free calls will be on offer to those who wish to call Turkey to check in with family and friends. For those who are in Brussels, Google also announced that they are regularly publishing Google Now cards that offer up to date information on the current transport options within the city. This will be of use to those in Brussels as the attacks were attacks on the transport network and have resulted in a number of transport closures throughout the city. Google has also confirmed that their Now cards also come with a direct link for the Government Crisis center if needed. Google did not provide details on how long the availability of free calls to Belgium and Turkey will remain active for, although it is presumed they will remain free over the coming days, if not weeks.
In case you havent been following the news recently, U.S. president Barack Obama just made a historical visit to the isolated island country, the first of an American head of state in around 90 years, and it was a result of a diplomatic approach and warming on the relationship between the two countries, after decades of isolation and intensity. Accompanying president Obama on the trip were representatives of several American technology companies such as Airbnb, PayPal, and Google. Browsing the web, interacting with friends on Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, WhatsApp, making video calls on Skype with loved ones that are far away  these are very common tasks for most of us. However, for the majority of the Cuban people, it is a distant dream, since internet access over there is very limited. The search giant is known for its attempts to bring internet access to those who still dont have, and Google just announced their first physical presence in the country as part of a project to provide free, high-speed internet for Cubans.

The online technology center is a partnership between Google and Kcho.mor, one of the most famous artists in Cuba, and it located inside Kchos sculpting studio. The place has dozens of Chromebook laptops, smartphones, Google Cardboard virtual reality goggles, and will offer internet connections with speeds of up to 70 Mbps, 70 times the average speed the few Cuban citizens have access to. The studio will be open five days a week, from 7 AM to midnight, and will be able to handle 40 people at a time.

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Google didnt give any specific details about the project and one important aspect is internet censorship. The network will be run by Cuban state-owned telecommunications company, and the government is known to restrict internet access to its citizens, so it is not clear what limitations it might have. Nonetheless, it will be a great advance in connecting Cubans and a lot of people will be able to communicate with loved ones living abroad since only 30% of the population have regular internet access. Other American companies are also introducing their services in the island  PayPal is planning a way to offer money transfer in the country, Airbnb is about to open its listings there to everyone, Netflix is arriving there too, among others.
Huawei P9-related info has been leaking out for quite some time now. The company has released several P9 teasers thus far, and has confirmed that the device will be introduced on April 6th in London. It is highly likely Huawei plans to unveil the Huawei P9 Lite and P9 Max alongside the P9, though nothing has been confirmed just yet. This will be the first high-end smartphone this China-based company will release this year, and judging by the leaks, it will be an interesting product, read on.

Well talk about leaks in a second, lets first focus on the new official info released by the company. If you follow the source link down below, youll be taken to Huaweis official website where Huawei updated Huawei P9 launch page. The company still doesnt mention the Huawei P9 naming, but they are teasing the devices dual camera setup which will be placed on its back. Huawei is using the Change The Way You See The World slogan, and has also included a timer until the event kicks off, along with the teaser video which can be found below the timer. The official teaser images are also included on this website, images weve seen in a .gif which leaked yesterday. Huawei basically confirms that the fingerprint scanner will be placed on the back of this phone, that the device will sport chamfered edges, and that two cameras will be available on its back.

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Now, in case youd like to check out the design of this phone, you can do that by clicking here, presuming the leaked images are accurate, of course. If you follow the provided link, youll notice a couple of real life images of the Huawei P9, and the man holding the phone is allegedly Huaweis President, Ren Zhengfei. Now, according to some leaked info, the Huawei P9 will sport a 5.2-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) display, along with 3GB / 4GB of RAM and 32GB / 64GB of internal storage. The device will sport two 13-megapixel snappers on the back, and Android Marshmallow will come pre-installed here with Huaweis Emotion UI (EMUI) on top of it. Huawei P9 will be made out of metal, and it will probably resemble its predecessor to some extent.
Verizon Wireless has announced that the rollout for the March security update optimized for its version of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge smartphone has officially started earlier today. The update upgrades the devices firmware version to LRX22C.N915VVRU2BPA4 and according to Verizon, it only includes the latest Android security patch. In other words, this isnt a major operating system update and your Android OS version will remain unchanged after its downloaded and installed on your device.

As usual, it may take a while before you actually get the update on your Galaxy Note 4 Edge. If youre particularly impatient, you can always try to manually download the security patch which may or may not work. To attempt that, navigate to Settings > General > About device > Software updates and tap the Check for updates option. In an unlikely case in which you encounter any issues, connect your phone to a PC or Mac and update it via the Verizon Software Assistant tool which can be installed on pretty much every contemporary Windows and OS X machine by clicking on the auto play pop up after you plug your device into it.

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As for the exact contents of this security patch, they are mostly dedicated to fixing various issues related to the so-called mediaserver. Mediaserver (yes, thats definitely the correct spelling) is the name of one of Android core functions used for accessing both local and remote content which most often come into play when Android needs a way to access contents of an MMS and perform browser playback of various media files. Up until this security update, some rather specific vulnerabilities in the mediaserver allowed a potential attacker to cause memory corruption and remote code execution by basically mimicking the mediaserver process. Luckily, thats all patched up now.

This March security update for the Galaxy Note Edge on Verizon network comes less than a week after the US carrier started rolling out the same patch on the latest two Samsung flagship devices  Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The update originally started rolling out on March 7th and given how the Galaxy Note 4 Edge isnt exactly the latest and greatest smartphone on the market, two weeks isnt that bad of a wait. Verizon will hopefully continue this trend of supporting its older Samsung models with security patches in a relatively swift manner, at least for the foreseeable future.
Samsungs mobile devices are spread all over the world, and the companys latest flagship phones announced at MWC in Barcelona have already earned millions of fans. With this in mind, theres no wonder why certain consumers think smartphone whenever they hear Samsung, but as the majority of people know, Samsung is a conglomerate company involved in the manufacturing of a wide variety of items, from consumer electronics to industrial products. The company has also shown an interest in the automotive industry, and now it seems that Samsung is working on a new product for motorcycle enthusiasts. Its called the Samsung Smart Windshield, and as its moniker suggests, its a smart windshield for motorcycles, able to connect to the riders smartphone.

Excluding the dealings of Renault Samsung Motors from the picture, over the past year or so Samsung has been working on a handful of products designed to bolster road safety. Not long ago the company began testing its Safety Truck program in Argentina, and earlier in February 2016 the Korean tech giant announced Samsung Connect Auto  a device able to bring 4G connectivity to just about any car equipped with an OBD (on-board diagnostic port). Now the company appears to have gained an interest in making motorcycles safer and smarter at the same time, through a new product called the Samsung Smart Windshield. The windshield connects to a smartphone through Wi-Fi connectivity and projects relevant information to the rider, including GPS navigation, messages, emails, incoming calls and so on. It also allows users to set a pre-defined message to inform their contacts that they are unreachable.

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Its worth noting that the Samsung Smart Windshield doesnt project images on the windshield itself, but rather in a smaller area near the motorcycles dashboard. Presumably, the Windshield has been designed in this manner in order to avoid distracting the rider, but then again the rider is required to look slightly downwards in order to get a read on the display, and its probably not the best idea to check lengthy messages in this manner. In any case, at the moment, theres no word on availability, but you can get a clearer view of how the Samsung Smart Windshield works by checking the video below, released on YouTube by global advertising agency Leo Burnett.
Up until recently Nintendo had shown no interest in the mobile market and, as a matter of fact, the company said numerous times before that they had no plans to develop games for the mobile niche. This is no longer the case, and although Miitomo  the companys first application to hit iOS and Android  is not a fully-fledged game, it marks Nintendos first step into the realm of mobile apps. Now the question is whether or not launching Miitomo was a good idea or profitable endeavor, and as fresh reports reveal that Nintendos mobile app reached 1 million users in less than a week of availability, the answer becomes very clear.

As a company, one could say that Nintendo is somewhat set in its ways, not only in terms of how it approaches the console gaming market but also in regards to how it handles YouTube copyright and other aspects of its business. This is the reason why Nintendos announcement of Miitomo last October came as a surprise, but as it turns out, the companys decision to finally join the mobile market might have already paid off. Following the applications release on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Japan last week, Nintendo recently took to Twitter to announce that the application has already been downloaded by more than 1 million users in less than a week of availability. Since its release, the application became the most downloaded free application in the App Store in Japan, and after the user base surpassed the 1 million mark, the companys shares rose by 8.2%, representing the largest increase since February 2015.

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For those of you who may be wondering, Miitomo is a free-to-use social messaging app sprinkled with casual gaming aspects, allowing users to create a cartoonish Mii avatar based on a real selfie captured with the smartphone. The avatar can be further customized with various facial characteristics, character voices, and clothing. The interactive part consists in answering a variety of endless questions in regards to the users likes and dislikes, sharing the Mii avatar on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and connecting with friends and their Mii avatars to answer their questions. Although the application is currently available only in Japan, Nintendo plans to release Miitomo in 15 additional countries  including France, Germany, and the U.S.  by the end of March.
The Samsung Gear S2 is a fairly attractive device, but it is not without flaws or shortcomings. Granted, overall its safe to say that the Gear S2 is one of the best smartwatches on the market, but smartwatch enthusiasts looking for a new purchase might find themselves in a situation where they have to choose between the Gear S2 and the Gear S2 Classic, but cant make up their minds. The Samsung Gear S2 is somewhat of a sporty wearable featuring a rubber strap, whereas the Gear S2 Classic flaunts a more conservative look thanks to certain design elements and the inclusion of a leather band. Fortunately for Samsung Gear S2 owners and prospective buyers, the Korean tech giant might soon release a Band Adapter for the Gear S2, which would allow users to pair the smart watch with a wide variety of straps, including leather ones.

A couple of days ago a leaked internal document said to originate from Samsung revealed that users who may have encountered issues with their Samsung Gear S2 rubber bands might be able to get a replacement for free. Today, a series of leaked pictures suggest that Samsung might soon offer a second alternative to Gear S2 owners who may want to replace their rubber bands for whatever reasons; whether as a necessity or as a fashion statement. Although there is no official word on the product at the moment, the leaked images show what seems to be the official packaging for the Samsung Gear S2 Band Adapter, along with a personalized Gear S2 smartwatch featuring a leather strap, as opposed to the usual rubber band. Should Samsung release the Band Adapter on the market, its safe to say that Gear S2 owners will have the opportunity to personalize their smartwatches to a much greater extent.

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At the end of the day, however, while the packaging shown in the leaked pictures appears legitimate, the photos still fall in the realm of leaks and rumors and should be treated as such. The original source on XDA-Developers claims that it is the official Band Adapter from Samsung, and while its not yet available for purchase, it should be hitting the market soon.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 series and Galaxy Note 5 just cannot catch a break when it comes to getting their Marshmallow updates  Telus has already changed the scheduled date more than once this month. The latest update listing has the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and the Galaxy Note 5 all moved to a Delayed status for their target launch. Our source spoke to their source at Rogers and was told that after an update which rolled out for Samsung devices and broke support for the Voice over LTE (VoLTE), they were being extra cautious and doing more testing for further updates. It is very possible that Telus is following the same path, but the delay most certainly means there must be a problem with the update to throw it in the delayed category. When questioned, Telus revealed that an update on a potential release date should be made public next week.

The lack of timely updates, especially from one major release to another, such as the case with Android Lollipop to Android Marshmallow, can be particularly frustrating to a smartphone user. It makes it even more frustrating when you are buying a flagship device, such as the Galaxy S series or Galaxy Note series  some of the more expensive devices on the market. When you pay that kind of money for a smartphone and from a major manufacturer like Samsung, a certain level of understanding is likely to be expected. If issuing an update is so difficult, possibly TouchWiz is the problem and changes need to be made to insure that customers get an improved service.

Not all of the blame can be put on Samsung, but that is where it all begins  by the time it gets to the carrier for their testing the software upgrade should be a fairly polished product. Is it the carrier add-ons causing the issue? No matter what the cause, it is better to wait and get a product that will work rather than rush it out early with bugs  which would really upset the users. There has just got to be a better and quicker way to push out updates but that would involve the manufacturers to all use a purer Android, like the Nexus devices.
UK network Three has found itself in an interesting position over the last few years, becoming one of the only networks to really embrace SIM-only contracts in a big way, as well as now being the only network to offer unlimited data, including 4G. With lower-cost contract prices and unlimited data, Three has become a network known for a younger generation, and other initiatives such as Feel at Home have only helped further that. Young people often want to learn new skills for the future and so Three is helping in this regard through their Discovery offering. Three launched the Discovery program not too long ago in Maidenhead, with their first Discovery Store offering people, school visits and small businesses the opportunity to learn about new technology and what they could be used for. Now, theyre expanding this to Swansea and Islington, London with the opening of two new Discovery stores.

To celebrate the opening of these new stores, sessions will be held in both the Swansea and Islington stores over the next few weeks. In Swansea, there is a break into the tech business session being held today, Wednesday 23rd, from 5PM  6PM which will feature local entrepreneurs talking about how to use technology to better help their businesses. The following Wednesday, the 30th of March, a blogging master class will be held with a leading Welsh influencer from the blogging scene at the same time of 5PM  6PM. Meanwhile, the Islington Discovery store will be holding an event for Mums dubbed Mums the word with blogger, English Mum, in attendance today on March 23rd from 4:30PM. This will be a session for all bloggers to understand how to launch their own blog, drive engagement and make something successful. Finally, on April 7th foodie Instagram sensation Edd Kimber will be hosting a session educating users on how to create buzz and take the perfect foodie photos from 5:30PM.

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These sessions are just the start however, as the Three Discovery website has lots of information on how to schedule a visit for a school trip, a small business as well as outlining the ability to just drop in. With Chromecasts, the latest Android tablets and smartphones on hand as well as expert advice, stores like these could become less gimmicky than they immediately seem, after all its well known that the vast majority of users barely scratch the surface of what their devices are capable of.
(ANSA) - Pisa, March 23 - The bodies of three of the seven Italian Erasmus exchange students killed in a bus crash in the Catalonia region of Spain on Sunday arrived late Tuesday in Pisa on an Italian military flight, where they were met at the airport by Education Minister Stefania Giannini and Pisa's mayor and prefect.

The four remaining victims' bodies are expected to arrive in Italy on Thursday.

The bodies of Francesca Borrello, Serena Saracino and Elisa Scarascia Mugnozza are being transported to Genoa, Turin and Rome, respectively.

The seven young Italian women were among 13 people killed in Sunday's crash. The bus was taking a group of students back to their base in Barcelona after they visited Valencia for the city's famous Fallas festival.

Another student, 23-year-old Laura Ferrari, suffered a serious head injury in the crash and remains in a pharmacological coma in a Barcelona hospital after having undergone surgery.


(ANSA) - Rome, March 23 - The foreign ministry said Wednesday that Italian national Giovanna Lanzavecchia, who was detained last Saturday in Turkey, has returned to Italy. Turkish police arrested the 24-year-old from Milan in an Istanbul Internet cafe' for allegedly publishing propaganda in favour of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. "She arrived today at (Milan) Malpensa (airport) following an expulsion order from Ankara authorities," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

While in Turkey, Lanzavecchia was held at a detention centre for foreigners in Istanbul in view of expulsion.

Pro-government Turkish press sources said Lanzavecchia - who arrived in Turkey on Friday and had been staying in a hotel in the Sultanahmet district in the historic centre - was accused, among other things, of publishing photos of armed PKK militants.


(ANSA) - Rome, March 23 - The Italian foreign ministry believes it is highly likely that an Italian national is among the over 30 victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels, ANSA sources said Wednesday. The Italian embassy has contacted the probable victim's family about the necessary identification procedures, the sources said. Patricia Rizzo, an Italian official for a European Commission agency, is among the missing people after Tuesday's attack at the Maalbeek station of the Brussels metro. The woman's family and friends are looking for her in hospitals in the city, her cousin Massimo Lenora said on Facebook, asking for assistance in finding Rizzo. Former minister Maurizio Lupi Maurizio Lupi said after a meeting of party whips at Premier Matteo Renzi's office Wednesday that the government was trying to verify whether an Italian woman was killed in the attacks. "The premier informed us that verification of a possible Italian victim is taking place," Lupi told reporters. "(The possible victim is) a woman who was missing. "The phase of identification (of the body) is under way.

The relatives are at the (Italian) console in Brussels. "She was a woman who was taking the metro as normal. She should be among the victims of the metro (attack) but the violence of the explosion has made it impossible to recognise the victims".


(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 23 - The Vatican's archives on the military dictatorship in Argentina will be opened in a matter of months, Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Wednesday, noting that this had been the express request of Pope Francis some time ago. The archives are being catalogued and in the meantime specific questions, especially on judicial and humanitarian issues, will be answered, he said. At the start of his pontificate three years ago the pope faced short-lived allegations of inaction during the Dirty War of dictator Jorge Rafael Videla from 1976 to 1981. Some activists for the 'disappeared', opponents of the regime who were abducted and killed, still claim some in the Catholic Church were partly complicit with the military junta.


Libya: Kobler, Serraj government a matter of days UN envoy after neighboring countries' summit in Tunis

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 23 - A meeting of countries neighboring with Libya was held in Tunis to examine the evolution of the Libyan scenario and study the means to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, with the participation of representatives of the UN, African Union, Arab League, European Union, Libyans, and the foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Niger and Chad. UN special envoy for Libya, Martin Kobler, stressed in his address the main difficulties still preventing a national unity government from taking office, but said he is convinced that the transfer of the Serraj government to Tripoli is at this point a matter of "days if not weeks".



Kobler observed how terror groups, meanwhile, are continuing to take advantage of political divisions, with grave consequences for the Libyan people and neighboring countries and for the serious humanitarian crisis in several areas of Libya.



The UN envoy said it is indispensable for Libyan political actors to take responsibility in the interest of the Libyan population to stop human suffering and chaos. (ANSAmed)
ROME - The parties in conflict in Yemen have agreed a ceasefire starting from April 10 and peace talks from April 18 in Kuwait. The announcement was made by UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.



Previous attempts at achieving a truce and ending fighting that have led to a serious crisis in the poorest country of the Arab world have all fallen through, after a political crisis led to the fleeing from the capital Sanaa of President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi.

More than 6,000 people, about half of them civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia launched a multi-national campaign against rebel fighters on March 26, 2015.

UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein said earlier this month that ''it would seem that the coalition is responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as all other forces put together, virtually all as a result of air strikes.'' Another approximately 6,000 others have been injured in the conflict. (ANSAmed).
GENEVA - Two migrants set themselves on fire during a protest in the Greek border town of Idomeni on Tuesday. Both of them have been hospitalized for burns but do not seem at risk of losing their lives.

The incident had occurred during a protest in the migrant camp that has sprung up along the Greek- Macedonian border, where about 12,000 refugees and migrants have been stuck since the closing off of the Balkan route.

In the meantime the UN's Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday announced it has suspended some activities at 'hotspots' for migrants and refugees in Greece because they have become holding centers after the agreement between the European Union and Turkey.

Save the Children is currently weighing whether or not to stop its activities in Greek hotspots. The director of the Italian branch of the international NGO, Valerio Neri, on Tuesday praised the decision by UNHCR to halt some of its activities at the hotspots after new provisions brought in have transformed them into detention centers.
Amnesty report criticizes Jordan for human rights violations And for 12,000 Syrians stuck at the border

(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, MARCH 23 - Amnesty International on Wednesday cited human rights violations by Jordan including not enabling Syrian refugees to get healthcare, mistreatment of detainees and repression of press freedoms. The statement added that Amman has denied entrance to over 12,000 Syrian refugees stuck in a desert area near the border with Jordan, who fled the Syrian conflict and are currently in dire conditions. On the issue of freedom of expression, Amnesty International said that journalists are often arrested and put on trial for criticizing the authorities. The organization added that the Jordanian authorities had restricted freedom of expression and association, using laws that criminalize protests and other forms of peaceful expression. Dozens of journalists and activists have been arrested. Amnesty International underscored that those in charge of border control do not allow Palestinian authorities to enter Jordan. (ANSAmed).




Brussels: four terrorists, one fugitive, State attorney Only two suicide bombers identified as Bakraoui brothers

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 23 - Four terrorists were involved in yesterday's attacks in Brussels: three died as suicide bombers while a fourth - the man wearing a hat in the photo released by police - is on the run, Belgian federal prosecutor, Frederic Van Leuw, said on Wednesday. Out of the three suicide bombers, only two have been identified as the Bakraoui brothers. Ibrahim blew himself up at Zaventem airport and Khalid in the attack on the subway station. Neither the second suicide attacker at the airport nor the fugitive have been identified so far. (ANSAmed)
ROME - More protests were held on Wednesday by migrants and refugees at the Idomeni makeshift camp on the Greek side of the Macedonian border.



Some 15,000 people are stuck there after the closing of borders along the Balkan route. Syrians, Iraqis and migrants from other nations continue to demand that the borders be reopened to enable them to resume their journey towards northern and western Europe. On Tuesday, two Syrian refugees set themselves on fire during a protest in Idomeni but did not die of the injuries sustained.



Protests have also been held on the Greek islands against the closing of the borders.



Media reports say that hundreds of migrants have blocked the Evzoni crossing on the Greek-Macedonian border in Greek territory, shouting slogans demanding that the borders be reopened and that police allow them to enter Macedonia. Other migrants are blocking the Polykastro-Salonika highway, allowing only ambulances through. Meanwhile, after the UNHCR halted its activities in Greek hotspots - which it says have been transformed into detention centers after the EU-Turkey agreement on repatriation - Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has also opted to suspend its activities at the Moria hotspot.



''We made the extremely difficult decision to end our activities in Moria because continuing to work inside would make us complicit in a system we consider to be both unfair and inhumane,'' said Marie Elisabeth Ingres, MSF head of mission in Greece.



''We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalised for a mass expulsion operation, and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants.'' (ANSAmed)
(by Denis Greenan).

ROME - Premier Matteo Renzi told a meeting of Italian party whips on Wednesday that there was no evidence that Italy was facing a specific threat of a terrorist attack after Tuesday's terror attacks that killed 32 people and wounded 270 in Brussels. "Like all our partners, we have taken all the necessary security measures, although there is no evidence of a specific threat in Italy," Renzi told the meeting called after Tuesday's attacks in Brussels, ANSA sources said. The premier also said closer security cooperation was needed among European States to combat the threat.



"It's necessary to tighten the intelligence mechanisms among the European countries and more besides," he said, according to sources, at a meeting featuring whips both from opposition and ruling-coalition parties. "It's necessary to enhance Europol and work on a common structure".



Rome Prefect Franco Gabrielli said more police have been deployed in the nation's capital in the wake of the Brussels attacks, in which an Italian woman working for a European Commission agency, Patricio Rizzo, is believed to have lost her life. "We have increased law enforcement presence and are assessing military contingents," Gabrielli said. "We'll see what the government makes available to us. "I believe what the premier and the interior minister said yesterday...will be reflected in actions to be decided on in the next few hours".



Gabrielli rejected the possibility of installing metal detectors at the city's main train station, Roma Termini, in light of the Brussels attacks, and said that the fight against terrorism must focus on the source.



"In a station like Termini that moves 500,000 people every day, individual checks with metal detectors are unthinkable," Gabrielli said.



"And you either do checks or you don't do checks. These men have taught us, moreover, that attacks happen not before the checks but after," he said, also ruling out metal detectors at big metro stations.



"We need to work on the causes of this phenomenon more than the effects, on geopolitical systems and on what drives these issues".



At Fiumicino Airport two Iraqis bound for London were stopped but later released. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano called for the "immediate approval" of an EU-wide directive regulating the use of airline passenger information collected by airlines called passenger name records (PNR).



Alfano warned against the issue becoming a "European soap opera" and said he thinks now "is the right time" for moving forward.



Alfano also called for European countries to share their intelligence information.



"Information should be put in the European data banks and none of us should be possessive about our own information," he said.



He said Italy already does so and sharing intelligence "will make everyone stronger".



The EU interior ministers will hold an extraordinary council meeting to discuss the Brussels attacks Thursday.



Anti-immigrant Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said the attacks were the consequence of liberal immigration policies and "potential criminals" should be stopped from entering Europe.



Speaking at a rally at Avezzano, Abruzzo, he said the 32 victims "are the children of the 'buonismo' at all costs of (migrant) reception." 'Buonismo' is a derogatory term from 'buono' (good) used to describe what might be called "bleeding-heart liberalism". Populist rightwinger Salvini said that "it's time to say that the potential criminals mustn't come into our home".



(ANSAmed).


(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MARCH 23 - In spite of an ongoing ceasefire, civilians are reportedly continuing to die in Syria.



Since the truce came into effect on February 27, 326 people including 73 children and underage teenagers were killed in fighting, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). A reported 148 civilians, including 34 minors, were killed in areas affected by the ceasefire.



Meanwhile, 178 civilians, including 39 minors, died as a consequence of fighting or bombings across regions not covered by the ceasefire, where ISIS or the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, the al-Nusra front, are present.



According to SOHR, overall 530 people have died since the start of the truce, including fighters from all sides of the conflict, in regions affected by the cessation of hostilities, and 1,279 in areas that were not included in the deal.



The NGO added that it was able to document in the same period the death of 10 civilians, including seven minors, due to malnutrition and the lack of medical treatment in areas besieged by loyalist forces in the province of Damascus, including the town of Madaya. (ANSAmed)
Yemen truce to start 10/4 and talks in Kuwait from 18/4 Over 3,000 civilians killed over past year, UN

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 23 - The parties in conflict in Yemen have agreed a ceasefire starting from April 10 and peace talks from April 18 in Kuwait. The announcement was made by UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.



Previous attempts at achieving a truce and ending fighting that have led to a serious crisis in the poorest country of the Arab world have all fallen through, after a political crisis led to the fleeing from the capital Sanaa of President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi. More than 6,000 people, about half of them civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia launched a multi-national campaign against rebel fighters on March 26, 2015. UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein said earlier this month that ''it would seem that the coalition is responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as all other forces put together, virtually all as a result of air strikes.'' Another approximately 6,000 others have been injured in the conflict. (ANSAmed).








The Ministry of Interior will contribute to the European effort to manage the migration crisis in Greece with 70 police officers, six trucks, two maritime patrol ships and other logistical tools, announced Minister Petre Toba, according to a statement sent out Sunday and reported by Agerpres.

Romania has a significant contribution, along with Germany and France, the quoted source informs.

'' Following the European Council meeting in Brussels, during March 17 to 18, to which our country was represented by the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, the Heads of State and Government adopted a series of actions and additional measures to support Greece in the context of implementing the agreement with Turkey in managing the migration crisis. Following the commitments made, Interior Minister Petre Toba, conducted an analysis in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the capabilities that MIA can contribute with to this European approach, '' reads the Ministrys press statement.




The signing took place in a ceremony held at the St. Regis Hotel Abu Dhabi Corniche, attended by Kanji Fujiki, Ambassador of Japan to the UAE, in the presence of Dr. Khalifa Al Romaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency, and Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, chairman of the board of directors at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).

The Japanese delegation included representatives of the Office of National Space Policy of Cabinet Office, the University of Tokyo, the Japanese Embassy in the UAE, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

During the ceremony, the UAE Space Agency signed a MoU with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which covers various aspects of cooperation in space exploration and the peaceful exploitation of outer space, the development of scientific and experiential satellites, remote sensing, communications and cooperation in the exchange of information, research and scientific studies and data, as well as holding mutual lectures and research conferences.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Khalifa Al Romaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency from the UAE side, and Dr. Naoki Okumura, President of JAXA, from the Japanese side.

MBRSC signed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to launch the Hope Probe to explore Mars. The probe will be launched aboard H-IIA rocket in 2020. The contract was signed by Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, and Hisakazu Mizutani, executive vice president at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

UAE and Japan confirmed their intentions to promote a broad range of cooperation in space sector on the basis of mutual benefit and reciprocity.

Strategic targets

Khalifa Al Romaithi said: "Today's signing comes within the context of the strategic targets of the UAE Space Agency, in terms of building and developing mutually beneficial partnerships with various international institutions that carry long experience in the space sector in general, and the development of human resources in this field in particular.

He added: "Japan has a long history of space science and technology and has accumulated abundant knowledge and experience, an experience that the UAE is interested in exploiting in what offers benefits to the local space sector, and enhances economic diversity in the country."

Capacity Development

Kanji Fujiki, Ambassador of Japan to the UAE, said: "Japan and the UAE share the same recognition that space development and utilisation could be a strong and effective driving force for fostering science-spirits in young generations, for nurturing new innovative future industries and for strengthening national security capability."

Fujiki added: "Japan has a long history of space science and technology and has accumulated abundant knowledge and experience, both positive and negative, and is pleased to share them with the UAE for our mutual benefits. I am confident that the MoU signed today will serve as a cornerstone for more intensive cooperation in the field of space, which will certainly offer tremendous benefits for our ambitious space programmes."

Essential expertise

Dr. Mohammed Al Ahbabi, director general of the UAE Space Agency, said: "Since the announcement of the UAE's plan to join the space club, and the launch of the Hope Probe project to explore Mars, the Agency has sought to develop its relations with the various relevant institutions in the space sector, in order to avail all necessary expertise to guarantee the success of this ambitious project. During our meetings with our Japanese counterparts, we discussed opportunities for joint cooperation on various levels, mainly in the field of developing our local capacity and scientific qualifications, which lead us to today's signing."

HE Al Ahbabi noted that the Hope Probe Project, which is the first of the Agency projects, will contribute to consolidating the country's position within the ranks of developed countries with ambitious space programmes, which makes the experience sharing with Japan an essential step that would leave a positive impact on the programme.

Deep relations

Dr. Naoki Okumura, president of JAXA, has appreciated cooperation between JAXA and UAE since 2009, including JAXA's microwave discharge neutralizer on board the UAE satellite launched in 2013. Okumura also noted that "the MoUs signed today would strengthen the cooperation with UAESA for mutual enhancement of space activities by utilising Japanese technologies and experiences we have accumulated for a long time."

An ambitious project

Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, chairman of the board of directors MBRSC added: "The stage reached by this ambitious Arab project is an achievement that reflects the efforts of both sides and their relentless work in reaching the goals the project aspires to achieve.

Al Mansoori also commended Japan's experience in outer space exploration, pointing to the strong relationships between the UAE and Japan in the space industry." He added: "There has been cooperation and agreements in different areas related to other space projects, including collaboration with JAXA in our DubaiSat-2 project, in addition to assigning MHI the task of launching the third UAE satellite, KhalifaSat, the first Arab satellite which is being built purely by Emirati engineering and expertise in the UAE.

He added: We are confident that the UAE will have a significant presence in space technologies worldwide by 2020. Through wise leaderships vision, building a new generation of engineers, scientists and experts, as well as creating world-class infrastructure will contribute in making the UAE one of the few countries that possess developed space technology that serves humanity and enriches the human knowledge.
Taking place on April 25 and 26, WASS 2016 will engage local and international stakeholders from regulatory authorities, airline operators, airport operators, aircraft manufacturers, pilot associations, safety organisations and air traffic control service providers to highlight key strategies for the safety culture of the future.

The Summit will address how the aviation industry ensures that safety is standardised and best practice is implemented worldwide, particularly considering the impact of rapid growth of airlines in emerging markets, and how airports with increasing levels of traffic and new routes must enhance and optimise their safety practices. The Summit will also look at how airlines and airports measure their own performance and implement effective predictive measures and pressure checks to prevent incidents before they happen.

2015 saw significant events including the German Wings crash in France and the Metrojet terrorism event over Egypt. Other fatal incidents on revenue fare paying flights all involved propliner aircraft and, although there was a good reduction from previous years, incidents that could result in fatalities continue to occur. These include a mid-air collision over West Africa between a business jet and a B737. The business jet crashed into the sea and the B737 managed to land safely without any fatalities. This event may be an extreme occurrence but the possible consequences of an incident of this nature are catastrophic.

Runway excursions and incursions are still occurring, along with aircraft operating from closed runways or even taxiways. Serious injuries to passengers and cabin crew as a result of turbulence also appear to be increasing and a recent ground handling incident in India shows that flight safety does not just occur in the flight phase. WASS will analyse how all parties must respond to ensure continued safe operation.

Consumer drones, UAVs and the illegal operation of lasers present a current and growing danger to air transport, especially in locations where the industry operates in close proximity to large urban populations. The experts gathering at WASS will debate what regulations and educational programmes are needed to ensure safety.

Some of the sessions at WASS include creating a just culture, effective crew management strategies for safe operations, risk management and predictive safety, assuring air cargo safety, as well as inflight tracking and safety.

Mohammed A. Ahli at Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said: Dubai Civil Aviation Authority is committed to support the on-going development of safety in the aviation sector across the world. We believe that a global gathering of safety experts will make a genuine difference to the industry, enhance performance levels and celebrate best practices, so we are dedicated to backing the World Aviation Safety Summit. We look forward to supporting the learning and innovations that come out of the Summit, highlighting Dubais commitment to ensure a safe and secure future for air travel.

Nick Webb, managing partner at Streamline Marketing Group commented: WASS has been established as the ideal platform for thought leaders of the global aviation safety sector to come together. It is where they discuss the safety measures and processes necessary in order to efficiently manage threats, risks and road blocks challenging aviation safety professionals worldwide. Air traffic is projected to double in the next 15 years and WASS is giving the industrys leaders an opportunity to discuss solutions to the demands of the booming industry. We look forward to welcoming the worlds global aviation safety experts in Dubai for the fourth edition of the Summit.

According to IATA, the number of air accidents and resulting fatalities dropped in 2015 from the previous year, and was well below the five-year average. IATA said the 2015 global jet accident rate, measured in hull losses per 1 million flights, was 0.32, compared with 0.27 in 2014 and 0.46 in the previous five years.

In his recent report, Tony Tyler, Director General of IATA commented that 2015 was another year of contrasts when it comes to aviations safety performance. In terms of the number of fatal accidents, it was an extraordinarily safe year and the long-term trend data show us that flying is getting even safer. Tyler added that we were all shocked and horrified by two deliberate acts--the destruction of Germanwings 9525 and Metrojet 9268. While there are no easy solutions to the mental health and security issues that were exposed in these tragedies, aviation continues to work to minimise the risk that such events will happen again, concluded Tyler.
All the latest Ashbourne news. Ashbourne is an historic market town in Derbyshire. Situated on the southern edge of the Peak District, it is known as the 'Gateway to Dovedale' and the 'Gateway to the Peak District'. Ashbourne is famous for the annual Royal Shrovetide Football Match, which has been played since at least 1667, although its origins may date back centuries earlier. Ashbourne became a Fairtrade town in March 2005. The popular Tissington Trail, which follows the route of the former Ashbourne to Buxton railway, starts on the edge of town. Keep up to date with the latest news from the town by signing up for our newsletter.
Of the 130,838 South Koreans who since 1988 have registered to meet relatives in the northern part of the border 50.4% is now deceased. Since the conservative Lee Myung-bak won the election, in 2008, only four rounds of meetings were held. The price of tensions on the peninsula paid by the weakest.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - For the first time since the division of the Korean peninsula, the number of family members separated by the border who are dead outnumber the living. At least with regards the South, given that the North does not supply data on this highly sensitive subject. According to the South Korean Red Cross, responsible for handling family reunifications for the 130,838 South Koreans who since 1988 have registered to meet relatives in the northern part of the border, 50.4% is now deceased.

As for the survivors - a total of 64 916 people - 82.4% are over 70 years of age; 56.6% also exceeded 80 years. Despite this data reflecting the urgency of allowing further meetings, since the presidency of conservative Lee Myung-bak (2008) only four rounds of family reunifications were held.

The last took place in October 2015. These moments are among the most harrowing for Koreans from the psychological point of view: they underline the fact that once the two parts of the peninsula were united and that there were families who have been torn apart by war and division, who for decades they have never been able to see, hear or write to each other.

To take advantage of this opportunity, South Koreans who can prove that they have a living relative on the other side of the border must register with the South Korean Ministry of Unification. From this macro-list, the Seoul government prepares various lists in order of seniority and degree of kinship: the priority is given to those who are older - but can still bear the physical and mental stress that these reunifications involve - and who has close relatives such as children or brothers and sisters. Given these criteria, they arrive at a list of about a thousand names, and the ministry relies on a computer during a televised lottery to randomly select names that will be included in reunification.

In addition, there are a number of "reserves", who are called up in the event of unforeseen dropouts: Participation in the meetings means automatic exclusion from subsequent lists. The methods of selection applied by Pyongyang and statistics on family members of the North are unknown.

Since the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000 - which was supposed to have institutionalized these meetings- there have been 19 family reunifications, plus seven via video conference. Only 18,800 families have been able to meet.
by Thanh Thuy

The nuncio to Vietnam celebrated Palm Sunday, the "big door" that "introduces us to the Holy Week". In the diocese on the border with China, almost all the faithful belong to ethnic minorities.

Hanoi (AsiaNews)  In his exhortation on Palm Sunday, Mgr Leopoldo Girelli, non-resident nuncio to Vietnam (pictured), told the faithful in Lang Son, diocese of Lang Son and Cao Bang, that we must know how to choose the best way to follow Jesus who promises "the happy kingdom".

His comments focused on the behaviour of the "people of Jerusalem" who hailed Jesus as king of Israel on Palm Sunday, only to shout at Pilate 'Crucify him' a few days later.

The Diocese covers the provinces of Lang Son and Cao Bang on Vietnams northern border with China, some 17,812 sq. km. With 5,364 members, 3 per cent of the local population, divided among 24 parishes with 18 priests, it is the diocese with the smallest number of Catholics.

"Almost all the faithful in the diocese belong to ethnic minorities, Sister iep, a Dominican nun, told AsiaNews, virtuous people, simple and honest in their everyday life.

They love and obey the Holy See. They live every circumstance with strong faith and have hope in the Easter season. Each of them carries the Good News to many people."

On 12 March, Pope Francis decided to transfer two bishops of the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference. Mgr Joseph ang uc Ngan (1957), the current bishop of Lang Son and Cao Bang, will go to the diocese of a Nang, whilst the current Bishop of a Nang, Mgr Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri (1956), will go to the diocese of Lang Son and Cao Bang.

"Let us pray and thank God for this. We are grateful to Pope Francis, and we thank the Holy See and the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. Let us welcome Bishop Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri, Mgr Joseph ang uc Ngan told the faithful of the diocese upon hearing the news.

The diocese of Lang Son and Cao Bang will welcome the new bishop in the cathedral on 9 April and all the faithful of the diocese of a Nang will greet Bishop Joseph ang uc Ngan in the cathedral.

Together with Mgr Joseph ang uc Ngan, Nuncio Mgr Girelli celebrated Palm Sunday Mass, which he defined as the "big door" that "introduces us to the Holy Week."

"This week marks the culmination of the mystery of the Redemption. Jesus goes to Jerusalem to complete the Word of God. He is crucified on the Holy Cross to give the grace of salvation to all."
Nepali Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, ink a series of agreements, the most important of which gives transit rights to Nepali goods. Thus, Nepal is free from dependence on Indian ports to export its goods. The deal also boosts Chinas One Belt, One Road strategy, by which Beijing wants to expand its access to markets in Europe and Africa.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews)  During the official visit to Beijing by Nepali Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, the governments of China and Nepal signed a series of agreements sealing the friendship and collaboration between the two Himalayan neighbours. At the same time, the deals open up new scenarios in South Asias economic and geo-political balance to the detriment of India.

The main agreement  the Nepal-China transit treaty signed on Monday  grants Nepal transit rights in mainland China. Hitherto, the landlocked mountain nation had a similar deal with its southern neighbour. Now Nepali exporters can use Chinese ports, thus ending Nepals trade dependence on India.

For China, it means another important piece to its "One Belt, One Road" strategy, which involves a series of ports and roads along its trade routes to Europe and Africa.

For Nepal, the need to find an alternative route for its goods emerged forcefully during Indias five-month embargo. After its northern neighbour adopted a new constitution, New Delhi shuttered its 1,800-kilometre border, preventing Nepal from importing even basic goods.

My trip to China is not ordinary. I have a special mission to rewrite the history between Nepal and China, Prime Minister Oli said during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

In addition to the Transit Treaty, the two countries agreed on several other files. The latter include a deal on building, managing and maintaining a bridge on the Xiarwa River, in Nepals Humla district, on the border between the two countries; working together on the Pokhara Regional International Airport Project; pursuing joint exploration of oil and gas resources; strengthening intellectual property rules; and launching a joint feasibility study on a China-Nepal free trade agreement.

Despite the sweeping deal, several experts doubt that Chinese ports will be accessible on the short run because of the Himalayas, which are still difficult to cross.

In India, doubters point out that for Nepal the deal is not that convenient; for instance, the Nepali capital of Kathmandu is more than 2,400 km from the nearest Chinese port, Guangzhou, but only 866 kilometres from Kolkata.

Still, everyone agrees that the treaty is a fundamental game-changer for both countries. For Nepal, it will gradually reduce its dependence on India.

The deal is important, said Tank Acharya, a diplomat. It was possible not because China gives more priority to Nepal than India, but because China is working for global connectivity and Nepals territory will be used to connect [continental] Asia and South Asia through road links.

Thus, China will boost its trade more than India with this agreement. This sealed Chinas interest. As Chinese President Xi told Prime Minister Oli, "Nepal can be a bridge between China and India".

(Christopher Sharma contributed to this article)
Hussein al-Radi detained in the Eastern Province as part of the "war" launched by the Gulf States against supporters of the Lebanese militant group. He had already come under fire from the authorities for defending Nimr al-Nimr. In a video posted online he described him as a "hero".

Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Saudi security forces have arrested a Shiite religious leader, accused of exalting Hezbollah. According to the Arabic daily Al-Watan, Hussein al-Radi (in the photo) was arrested in the context of the "war" launched by the Gulf States  led by the Saudis - against the the Lebanese Shiite armed militant movement, described as "terrorist" . The region's governments have therefore set out a series of punitive measures against any "supporters".

Hezbollah is a Shiite militant armed group, whose influence in Lebanese politics has grown more in recent decades. Allies and supported by Iran, they have put their military force at Assads service in fighting fundamentalist militia of al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda) and the Islamic State (IS), inflicting heavy defeats.

The Shiite imam was arrested in the region of Al-Ahsa, in the Eastern province.

Hussein al-Radi is accused of having "exalted" the deeds of the "terrorist group Hezbollah" and "insulting the kingdom" in a video "published and shared" online. He has also "broken agreements signed earlier" with the authorities, who had already indicted him "for defending the terrorist Nimr al-Nimr after his execution."

In early January the Saudi government decided to execute 47 people for "terrorism", including the Shiite dignitary Nimr al-Nimr, leader of protests by the Shiite Muslim minority in the country denouncing an attitude of "marginalization." The execution has triggered a wide protest in the capital and other Iranian cities, resulted in the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashad.

In response to the attack several of the Arab world and the Gulf governments have decided to withdraw its ambassador to Iran, Qatar including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sudan, sparking a political crisis (and religious) in the Muslim world between Sunnis and Shiites.

In a video recorded March 20 Radi last, with a bushy white beard, speaks from a podium lauding Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, calling him a "hero." He also spoke of Iran as a regional and international power.

Ibrahim AlMugaiteeb, president of Human Rights First Society, an activist movement based in the Eastern Province, says he is not surprised by the arrest of Radi. He adds that it is not permissible to detain such a senior religious leader, although it is equally true that he " pushed the envelope" with his statements.
Photo caption: Dragon dancers perform during a Chinese New Year Parade through Vancouvers Chinatown on February 16./ Photo: Xinhua

By Ian Young,

South China Morning Post

Special to The Post

When Canadas new Liberal government last week unveiled its sweeping rollback of the ousted Conservatives citizenship crackdown, much of the focus was on the decision to remove terrorism as grounds for revoking dual citizenship.

But the amendments also carry huge implications for anyone who simply heads back to their country of origin after obtaining a Canadian passport. This modern phenomenon of reverse migration is one that has been thoroughly embraced by tens of thousands Hong Kong and mainland Chinese immigrants alike, to varying degrees of legality.

The changes, for the most part, put things back the way they were in 2014.

The proposed amendments to the Citizenship Act, unveiled last Thursday, remove the requirement that new citizens must intend to live in Canada after obtaining citizenship. According to the government, the intent-to-reside provision created concern among some new Canadians, who feared their citizenship could be revoked in the future if they moved outside of Canada.

The proposals also shorten the period of physical presence required of new citizens to three years (1,095 days) out of the previous five, compared to four years out of six under the Tories; allow periods of non-permanent presence in Canada  for instance, time spent as a student, temporary worker or even a visitor  to be credited among those three years (albeit up to a maximum of one years credit, with each full day of non-permanent residency counting as half a day); and shrink the age band for applicants who must pass language tests, from 18-54, compared to 14-64 previously.

Canadian income-tax-filing requirements have been retained, although reduced to three years out of the five years prior to seeking citizenship, in keeping with the new residency rule. In a further supplemental move required as a result of the new non-permanent-resident time credit, a rule requiring 183 days of presence in Canada in four out of six years is also scrapped.

The government is keeping its commitment to repeal certain provisions of the Citizenship Act, including those that led to different treatment for dual citizens. Canadian citizens are equal under the law. Whether they were born in Canada or were naturalised in Canada or hold a dual citizenship, Immigration Minister John McCallum said in a statement.

Removing the intent-to-reside-in-Canada rule represents a major switch in thinking, although actual enforcement of rules about intent has been patchy at best. For instance, Quebecs Immigrant Investor Programme for millionaire permanent residents requires a stated intent to live in the French-speaking province - but that hasnt stopped about 90 per cent of QIIP applicants from moving elsewhere in Canada (mainly Vancouver). Its hard to prove false intent at the time a residency statement is made, and the Canadian Charter guarantees freedom of movement.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said he supported the changes, which represented a total reversal from the approach of the Tories, under whom citizenship was harder to obtain and easier to lose; now its easier to obtain and much harder to lose.

The removal of the intent-to-reside provision was hands down, slam-dunk the most significant change, Kurland said. He said the previous exposure to revocation of citizenship under the intent rule would have hung over [new citizens] heads, forever.

Its the difference between sleeping soundly  [versus] knowing that at some day in the future, over decades to come, the state may intrude on your life and decide that you did not have the intent to be Canadian, he said.

Kurland had lobbied the previous Tory government of prime minister Stephen Harper to introduce the pre-citizenship tax-filing requirement, and he said he was happy to see it retained under the Liberals Justin Trudeau as a non-partisan policy element.

There are estimated to be almost 300,000 existing Canadian citizens in Hong Kong, most of them returnee immigrants whose decision to head back to the SAR is perfectly legal and will remain so under the new rules.

Yet illegally evading Canadas pre-citizenship residency requirements has become an industry that caters to some sectors of the wealthy Chinese community. The biggest immigration fraud in Canadian history involved Xun Sunny Wang, a Vancouver-area immigration consultant who specialised in helping rich Chinese fake their presence in Canada as permanent residents, in order to later obtain citizenship. Wangs clients were actually living and working China, but had him doctor their passports and forge various documents to create the illusion that they were in Canada instead. Jailed in October for seven years, Wang helped cheat immigration rules for at least 1,200 clients, who paid him C$10million in the process.

The Hongcouver blog is devoted to the hybrid culture of its namesake cities: Hong Kong and Vancouver.

All story ideas and comments are welcome. Connect with me by email ian.young@scmp.com or on Twitter, @ianjamesyoung70.

Ian Young is the South China Morning Post's Vancouver correspondent and the author of the Hongcouver blog, where this piece was first published.

The original can be found here

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1919566/citizenship-revamp-new-canadians-no-longer-have-intend-live-canada
By Victor Ing,

Special to The Post

On March 8, 2016, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable John McCallum, announced the overall immigration targets for 2016.

The plan released two weeks ago by the Minister focuses heavily on the reunification of families in 2016. In a recent address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event held in Vancouver on March 18, 2016, Minister McCallum stated that reuniting families in Canada will help immigrants build successful lives.

The Minister was emphatic that family members who come to Canada as dependants are as important to the Canadian economy as those immigrants who are approved for permanent residence under economic classes such as provincial nominees and other skilled workers.

The 2016 immigration plan will increase acceptance of family applications to about 80,000, while also reducing the inventory of backlogged family applications.

Furthermore, the Minister plans to double the number of sponsorships for parents and grandparents that it will accept for processing in a calendar year from 5,000 to 10,000 and to admit 20,000 parents and grandparents by the end of 2016.

The 2016 plan for immigration levels is ambitious. Canada plans to admit about 300,000 permanent residents to Canada in 2016, which is the highest targeted levels of immigration in over a century.

Liberal party immigration policy has long held that Canadas targeted immigration levels should be about 1% of the population or about 360,000 per year. This will be the first time since 1913 that Canada reaches the 300,000 mark for immigration. However, the increased levels of immigration will primarily benefit families and also refugees as part of Canadas ongoing humanitarian commitments to assist with the Syrian refugee crisis.

To accommodate these increases in acceptance for families and refugees in 2016, the approval of economic immigrants is expected to be reduced to 160,600, which is a significant drop from 2015 levels.

At the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event and a reception held on the same day, the Minister confirmed to attendees that the anticipated decrease in 2016 for economic immigrants is intended to be a temporary measure. The Minister stated that he fully expects that economic immigration numbers will be increased to regular levels for 2017.

This year is meant to catch up with the backlogs in the family immigration streams with future years focusing on economic immigration. As part of his agenda, the Minister plans to make it more attractive and easier for international students to obtain Canadian permanent residence. Currently, international students are finding it difficult under the Express Entry system to obtain permanent residence because their Canadian education is being undervalued.

Finally, the Minister spoke about his views that he would like to make changes to Canadas federal economic programs to be more competitive with the various provincial nominee programs that have gained popularity over the years, particularly for low or semi-skilled workers. The Minister identified gaps in the existing federal immigration programs and said that he would be considering changes to create additional pathways to permanent residence for low or semi-skilled workers in Canada.

Victor Ing is a lawyer of Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre. He provides a full range of immigration services.

For more information go to www.canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email victor@canadian-visa-lawyer.com.
On Sunday, March 20th at 9:00pm I thought to myself, Thank goodness, Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW) is finally over! A second later I thought, Ive just been inspired by some amazing designers, is it really over?

I was 20 minutes behind schedule and arrived at the Chinese Cultural Center at 3:40pm. My Media Pass allowed me to jump the long queue and enter the venue. Unfortunately the front row of the first come, first serve Media Pit was filled with a mix of photographers and unmanned video cameras mounted on tripods. I found a spot on the third step of the wooden riser just slightly off center. I managed to assemble my gear, snap a few test shots and eat a quick lunch before the show started at 4:30pm. Unlike some photographers who came prepared with chairs, stools and monopods, I planned to spend the entire evening standing and shooting hand held.

While my space is limited to four images, the following events were worth mentioning. Bonnie Chungs Je vis Couture line of tops and dresses were mixed & matched to created 42 different bridal gowns. Evan Clayton known for sending models down the runway in sheer blouses, gothic style harnesses and tiny strips of fabric once again shocked the audience. This time he brilliantly displayed his entire collection before revealing his identity. The wonderfully crafted, softer, more feminine pieces caught everyone by surprise. John 3:21 included childrens clothes in his collection. Everyones hearts melted as several 3  4 year olds timidly walked down the runway. Lastly, Simone, the Emcee randomly picked five male and five female fashionistas (of all ages) from the audience. She cranked up the music and sent them down the runway to everyones delight.

Fashion week in any city can be overwhelming. Hence the mixed emotions described earlier. I attended the Opening Gala then skipped Tuesday  Saturday. During the 4.5 hour closing event, 15 designers sent collections down the runway. Conservatively limiting my shots, I still managed to take 2,400 images. It also took 4.5 hours to download 5  16gb memory cards to my laptop.

My four favorites are shown below. After 4 years of modeling locally, Kelsey was scouted online by an Australian modeling agency and shell soon be headed to model in Shanghai for 3 months and Jakarta for 3 months. Congratulations!

Photo caption

VFW16 01 FKashmir IMG_5037 app LC38:

Californian Designer:

Futa Kashmir (Jocelyn Bada)

VFW16 0 LAT IMG_4723 app LC38:

South Korean Designer:

Heill Nicole & Nathan (Heill Yang)

VFW16 03 Heill IMG_6199 app LC38S:

Argentinian Designer:

Lautaro Amadeo Tambutto

VFW16 04 Seen IMG_4170 app LC38S:

Model: Kelsey

Jacket: H&M

Blouse: Urban Behavior

Pants: Stitches

Booties: Army/Navy

Visit R!c's website: www.SidewalkRunway.com or follow him on instagram.com/sidewalkrunway_com or Twitter @RunwaySidewalk

All images are copyright protected. Re-posting or re-production of images is strictly forbidden without written consent.
AP: Hundreds Of IS Fighters Set To Unleash Terror Across Europe

Trending News: 400 IS Fighters Have Been Given Orders To Attack

Why Is This Important?

Because Paris, Istanbul and Brussels might just be the beginning.

Long Story Short

The AP is reporting that the Islamic State terror organization has trained 400 extremists to attack Europe.

Long Story

If the AP's report is correct  and we hope to hell it's not  yesterday's attack in Belgium, last week's bombing in Turkey, and last year's attacks in Paris, might only be a terrible precursor to what's to come.

Security officials have told the AP that at least 400 IS terrorists have been trained and sent to Europe in order to carry out attacks. The attacks may be difficult to stop as the extremists have been "given orders to find the right time, place and method to carry out their mission." The terror cells are "semiautonomous" and can pivot independently and quickly, making it difficult for authorities to track and capture them.

The news will undoubtedly spread panic across Europe and the West and also put the stability of the European Union in question. Brexit supporters have already used the attacks in Brussels to push for Britain's exit from the EU. Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have also used the attack to call for greater security and tighter, if not completely closed, borders. Islamaphobia will be on the rise but it's important to remember that IS is an incredibly small subset of Islam (if you can even include them in the same set).



As the terror group loses ground in Syria, fighters are being sent to Europe to spread terror. After yesterday's attacks in Belgium, the US State Department issued a European-wide travel alert.

Europe travel alert: we are alerting US Citizens to the potential risks of travel to and throughout Europe https://t.co/6gn1VhhD97  Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) March 23, 2016



The AP spoke to intelligence officials from Europe and Iraq.

The good news  and this might be the only good news we hear for a while  is that reports came out earlier this month that thousands of secret ISIS documents had been obtained by Western authorities. The jihadi application forms provide the personal details of potential recruits and could give intelligence communities enough information to identify hundreds, if not thousands, of potential extremists.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Fighting a war in a specific country is already hard enough  how do we fight a hidden enemy that's constantly in motion?

Disrupt Your Feed: The longer it takes to dismantle IS, the worse the situation will get.

Drop This Fact: Some estimate that there are over 30,000 IS fighters in total.
The Migration Council in Australia has suggested that there should be a visa lottery for international students to address the severe shortage of skilled professionals in certain areas.In a report it suggests that to address the skills shortage over the medium term there should be a visa lottery of up to 10,000 international students from across the globe. As demand to come to Australia generally outstrips the number of available places, a visa lottery would ensure a fair approach."Targeting students across the world in disciplines such as, amongst others, computer science and engineering would help build the workforce of the future. This will supercharge the innovation ecosystem with talent and ideas," the report says.It suggests that each graduate would be offered a four year working visa without the requirement of a sponsoring employer instead of getting bogged down with various visa criteria.Under the plan there would be a select number of key requirements such as being undergraduate or holding Master's degree from a recognised world leading university in a designated field of interest, being under 30 and having a high proficiency in English. Applicants would also have to pass standard health and character requirements.The report says that other requirements would add unnecessary detail to what is a simple policy idea. To link these new migrants to innovation, anyone who can document a successful new business would be extended automatic permanent residency while other standard pathways to permanent residency would remain open."The timing for an idea like this is crucial. At the moment, other countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are turning away international students who complete university qualifications. New ideas and best practice innovation are going to waste and Australia can capitalize," the report explains."In addition, with some of the IT departments at universities in Asia, an ability to open up people to people links in the Asian Century would further enmesh Australia into our region. Lastly, running a visa lottery would be an innovative approach in itself," it adds.According to the report more than 10,000 graduates could be expected to apply, requiring the need for a sorting mechanism like a lottery. Working out the mechanics and process would add another policy tool to the Australian migration framework."10,000 temporary work visas is a small addition to the current migration trends but if the policy is right, the effects for the start-up environment in Australia will be enormous," the report adds."Across the world, countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are putting up barriers to new migrants. International students are being kicked out despite wanting to stay. A visa lottery aimed at these motivated young students from across the world would be Australia's opportunity. Young migrants are willing to take risks and have an appetite for disruption, critical qualities for an innovative economy," said Henry Sherrell, of the Migration Council."This new idea would attract people who can generate ideas within our local environment. Successful business ideas are more likely to be created and supported by those who already live in Australia as people are fully aware of regulatory frameworks, supply chains and consumer markets, amongst other factors," he added.
I have recently been invited to apply for the Subclass 189 visa on Mar 23, 2016. As I go through preparing the documents, I am concerned about a previous visa refusal - Subclass 176 - Skilled nominated visa from Victoria in March 2010. How does a prior refusal impact a new visa application ? And how should I communicate this to DIBP ?



Backstory on why I got rejected: The 176 visa was rejected due to employment threshold not being met. My work experience was not confirmed by my HR contact and I was also accused for producing a fraudulent document. Although, the document I submitted was for business purposes provided to me by HR. All of this took place while I was away on vacation only to return to a rejection email and the visa could only be reviewed by MRT through my sponsor (Victoria govt). The Victoria govt didn't assist and that was that. Visa refused and the matter closed.



Fast forward 6 years, and I have an invite to lodge a visa again. I intend to be honest throughout the documentation, but I'm concerned I will be negatively viewed based on my previous visa refusal.



Some informed thoughts would be appreciated.
The new crossover will be based on the popular Duster's platform; will be aimed at emerging markets and could get five- and seven-seat variants.

Renault has released a first teaser image of its new Kaptur crossover which is based on the design and style of the slightly smaller Captur sold in Europe. As seen in the spy photo, Renault has started testing the new model (Codename: HHA) and what's evident is that the new model comes with a slightly longer wheelbase. This points to greater space on the inside and enough room for a third row of seats that are very popular in emerging markets like Brazil, Russia and India. The European-spec Renault Captur measures 4.12 metres in length, but the new Kaptur is expected to be go over 4.4 metres. In comparison, the Duster SUV measures 4.3 metres.

However, according to company sources, the model headed to India won't be badged "Kaptur". The new crossover will be positioned above the Duster in our market. Although based on the Duster, it will look more like a stylish version of the five-seat Captur, both inside and out. This, however, could be a bit challenging, as the Captur is based on a more expensive platform. But Renault has proved its ability to transform the interiors of budget cars like the Kwid, so this should be a feasible task with some clever selection of materials and accessories.

The new Renault crossover is likely to use underpinnings from Renault and Dacia's M-Zero platform which is slightly longer and is created especially for longer models like the Lodgy that need to be built on a tight budget. This model will come with a slightly more powerful 1.5-litre diesel engine, while transmission choices could include five- and six-speed manuals and a six-speed AMT Easy-R single-clutch automatic. An AWD version, with the independent rear suspension from the Duster 4X4, is also likely to be on the cards.

This new crossover is expected to first arrive in Brazil, the market it is being primarily developed for. Its arrival in India could follow soon after.


The fourth iteration of Indias annual drag racing event was held on March 12 and 13 and saw over 350 participants compete.

Every year, people from all over the country converge on a lonely airstrip in Aamby Valley in Lonavala to participate in a two-day drag racing series, The Valley Run. Organised by Elite Octane, the aim is simple - set the fastest time possible down a quarter-mile straight.



In its fourth edition, the Valley Run 2016 drew over 350 participants from all across India with entries ranging from stock cars and motorcycles to their heavily modified counterparts to high-end foreign exotics such as Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris and Ducatis.



Participants were divided into categories as per the make, cubic capacities and the extent of modifications done to their vehicles. The first day saw Indian cars and bikes in action - everything from street tune to their heavily-modified avatars, whereas day two saw exotics and imports shoot down the straight for quarter mile glory.



From the Indian motorcycle entries, Rehana Hajee from Bengaluru was the Fastest Female on the course with her drag-prepped Yamaha RD350 at 15.75sec. In the Men's category, Arvind Ganesh from Chennai bagged the award for clocking the Fastest Time for an Indian Bike category, also with his Yamaha RD350 at 12.48sec.



In the International Motorcycle categories, Nadeem Shah from Mumbai clocked the fastest time for a male astride his BMW S1000RR as Fastest Rider of the Event, which was also the fastest time of the event at 10.92 seconds. Labdhi Shah from Navsari bagged the award in the Female category with her Kawasaki Z800 at 12.91sec. She also stood third in the P3 (muscle bike) category with her Harley Davidson.



Amongst the Indian cars present, the DC Avanti made its drag race debut at the event driven by Anant Singhania winning the Indian Open and the A6 class (Indian cars above 2,550cc) categories. Paras Shah from Mumbai took the honours of the Fastest Indian Car in the B6 class (Modified Indian Cars) at the event, while Nidhi Maru Shah from Mumbai was the Fastest Female Driver at 16.71sec. Both drove a Toyota Corolla.



In the Supercar categories, Biren Pithawala from Surat bagged the top honours in his Nissan GTR as the Fastest Time for a Foreign Car and also bagged the Fastest Time in the Four-Wheeler category.



Our staff member Selvin Jose also participated in the event driving an Audi RS6 Avant. He stood second in the H3 (Foreign cars from 3,001cc to 4,000cc) category at 12.58sec and stood first in the J (Unrestricted) category at 12.74sec.

OVERALL RESULTS

The Valley Run

12-13 March

Two-wheelers



1. Nadeem Salim Shah 10.928s

2. Gurpreet Singh 11.139s

3. Mohd Riyaz 11.188s

Cars

1. Biren Pithawalla 11.995s

2. Selvin Jose 12.585s

3. Sirish Chandran 13.351s




However, the world's first Dodge Challenger Hellcat Convertible comes with a few details that are not so predictable. For one thing, the whole shenanigan has Ralph Gilles' stamp of approval.Here's John Iverson of Iverson Customs, the South Dakota aftermarket company that orchestrated the project, explaining how the car came to be, complete with Ralph Gilles' stamp of approval."I contacted some suits at Chrysler to arrange a meeting with the man behind the design of the-the Hellcat, Mr. Ralph Gilles. My son Austen and I met him at a National Auto Dealer Association 20 Group meeting where we presented our idea. We obtained is signature approval for the first conversion to be created. After extensive research, I chose to contact Larry at Drop Top Customs to have my vision become a reality. His passion, knowledge, and experience with Mopars quickly became evident so I knew he was the right man for the project. The first convertible Hellcat was born," Iverson said.As you'll be able to see in the image gallery below, FCA head designer and former SRT helm man Ralph Gilles has signed a few elements of this Hellcat, such as the battery casing and the engine cover.We expect this to mean we're dealing with a proper convertible conversion, and while we can't see too much (in this area) in the presentation photos, the extra bracing in the engine compartment is visible.The roof removal job was handled by DropTop Customs over in Florida, which does have a solid reputation (at least as far as online reviews go), so we expect this SRT machine not to turn into a pretzel when its blown 6.2-liter Hemi is put to work.Interestingly, the droptop demonic kitty is listed at $139,900, which makes for more than double the Hellcat's MSRP. We understand the work involved in such a project has to be remunerated, but with unofficial sources claiming DropTop Customs will slice your Challenger for $17,000, the price of this one-off (this is how Iverson introduces it) doesn't exactly seem reasonable. Oh, and it also has 555 miles on the clock.As for how the muscle machine looks with the top up (this is always the tricky part), we'll let the video below do the talking.: If this open-air SRT machine seems expensive, how about a 2016 Challenger Hellcat tuned to 1,000 hp that costs $155,000 ? It seems we're dealing with a trend in the speculation world - buy early, modify and resell. We have reached out to Ralp Gilles to ask for his opinion on this.
By popular demand, this cool orange tone is now available on regular versions of the 2016 Dodge Challenger and Charger.Weve seen a tremendous response from our customers after we announced the return of Go Mango at the 11th annual Spring Festival in California. In fact, nearly half of all SRT and Hellcat orders are for Go Mango, said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands - Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and Fiat in North America. To meet consumer demand, we plan to expand this modernized heritage color to the entire Charger and Challenger lineup later this spring.It looked a little paler back then, but Go Mango dates back to the 1970 Challenger, Dodge reminds us. More recently, it made a comeback as a limited edition tone for the Charger R/T Daytona models. A quick Google search will reveal that the 2016 Dodge Dart also comes with this orange hue.The 2016 Dodge Charger SXT and Challenger SXT in Go Mango are on display at the 2016 New York International Auto Show. We'll have photos of them pretty soon. But for now, these press photos will have to do.The carrot-like shade is the latest in the brand's long line of vibrant, throwback colors like Plum Crazy, which was brought back last year at the purple Woodward Dream Cruise. Sublime Green is also back, but Orange seems to fit the Dodge brothers better than anything else. Dealers can start to order the bright hue immediately with deliveries taking place later this spring. If you like to geek out over classic Mopar colors, now is a great time to do it!
ABS

ESP

HP

kWh

The Japanese brand will showcase four custom New Mobility Concepts at the New York event, but they are all based on the same platform and technology.If the look of the Nissan New Mobility Concept is familiar, you are onto something, as it is a rebadged Renault Twizy. The name does not mean much for Americans, but the model we mentioned is available in Europe and is a fully electric vehicle.Since the NMC is smaller and lighter than a regular car, it comes with low taxes and other benefits, as well as the ability to park four of them in a regular parking spot (editors note: we have seen this in real life). This vehicle is considered a quad, not a car, so it does not have to abide by the same crash testing regulations. However, there are rules for these cars as well, and this model comes with, driver airbag, four-point front seat belt, and a three-point rear seat belt, traction control, andCharging time is just 3.5 hours from a regular outlet, and the range of this car is of approximately 40 miles (64 km). Top speed is limited at 25 MPH (40 km/h), for safety and range reasons. The 17electric motor powers the rear wheels, and it comes with a 6.1Lithium-Ion battery. The press release below has a typo on this, but we assure you the battery capacity is 6.1 kWh, not 61 kWh.Nissan will offer the new New Mobility Concept for sale in Canada beginning this summer. Meanwhile, in the United States of America, this vehicle is being used as an experiment with the aid of Scoot Network. In San Francisco, a user can rent a Nissan New Mobility Concept for just $6 for half an hour, or $80 for a full day of use.I do not know about you, but six bucks for a quick ride in one of these is a good deal, especially if you have not experienced an electric vehicle before.
Such a feature would've probably been the only possible thing that would've prevented the 991-generation GT3 in the video below from crashing.As you'll be able to see in the footage, the driver of the Neunelfer seems to defy any form of common sense behind the wheel, putting the vehicle in a situation where a total loss, which is the result of this twisted episode, is the only potential outcome.For starters, the man decided to skip the GT3's track aura and use his Porsche to race on the streets. The 911 GT3 is seen following a host of supercars traveling at serious speeds on a coastal road.However, the Lamborghini Aventador, Lamborghini Murcielago and Porsche 911 GT3 RS PDK we see flying across the road before the Porsche enters the frame, all take their time to brake before a twist in the road, which, by the way, was visible from afar, especially given the broad daylight conditions.Well, the Porsche doesn't, entering the bend at a rate of speed that makes notions such as oversteer or understeer irrelevant - the velocity of the car means inertia simply threw it on the exterior of the bend - this is why misjudging your entry speed, even by an unimaginable margin such as the one seen here, is an error that must be reserved for the circuit.The 911 GT3 hit a wall and flipped, with the vehicle's airbags obviously being deployed. The details are limited at the moment, so while we're not sure about the exact whereabouts of the accident, we can tell you the driver reportedly survived the crash. But we obviously can't say the same about the car, which means the world now has one less 911 GT3.
Photo courtesy of LeasePlan.

Investor consortium LP Group BV has completed its acquisition of LeasePlan NV for $4.05 billion (3.7 billion euro), the fleet management company has announced.

LP Group BV acquired the global Dutch fleet management company from Global Mobility Holding BV, a joint venture of Volkswagen AG and German banker Friedrich von Metzler who each held a 50% stake.

"Today marks the start of a new era for LeasePlan," said Vahid Daemi, LeasePlan's CEO and chairman. "Our new shareholders fully support our growth ambitions and our long-term strategy to provide high-quality and leading-edge driver mobility solutions to our clients worldwide."

The consortium is made up of six investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's Luxinva SA, Danish pension fund ATP, Singapore-based investment firm GIC, the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, Dutch pension fund PGGM, and London-based private equity firm TDR Capital.

LP Group BV financed the acquisition with equity covering half the purchase price and several debt instruments including a mandatory convertible note of $536 million (480 million euro) and senior secured notes comprising of euro-denominated senior secured notes due in 2021 and U.S. dollar-denominated senior secured notes due in 2021 amounting to approximately $1.78 billion (1.6 billion euro).

"We are excited to have completed the acquisition of the market leader in global fleet management and driver mobility," said Manjit Dale, founding partner at TDR Capital LLP. "We strongly believe in the future of LeasePlan, a company with an unmatched portfolio of market-leading assets, loyal clients, a highly dedicated employee base and a sound strategy for the future, under highly experienced management. We all look forward to supporting the management team as they continue their focus on growing the business."

Earlier this year, LeasePlan NV reached a milestone of 1.55 million vehicles under management. The change in ownership isn't expected to affect LeasePlan's U.S. fleet management unit.
Photo courtesy of VW.

U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider natural gas vehicles in addition to electric vehicles while negotiating a solution to Volkswagen's emissions scandal.

Inhofe, who currently serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. The EPA is now negotiating a plan with Volkswagen that may require the automaker to produce electrified vehicles.

"EPA would gain more value from including natural gas vehicles  including heavy-duty trucks  in the agreement to complement the EV path this administration continues to favor. This could significantly improve air quality in a less expensive, more manageable way than choosing to only support the advancement of electric light-duty vehicles," wrote Inhofe.

The senator's letter has been met with praise from the natural gas industry.

"Natural gas vehicles with the new Near Zero engine, available on the market today, lower nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent or more over their diesel counterparts, and provide a cost-effective real-world answer to this challenge," said Clean Energy Fuels Corp. CEO Andrew Littlefair in a statement. "Only a comprehensive solution including both light duty electric vehicles, and natural gas vehicles in the medium and heavy-duty trucking markets, will be able to correct the damage caused to our environment."

Inhofe requested for a response from McCarthy about the EPA's plans by March 31, a week after Volkswagen is set to present a solution to the court.
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime, photo courtesy of the automaker.

Toyota's next-generation plug-in hybrid Prius, called the Prius Prime, improves fuel efficiency by 26% over the outgoing model with an estimated 120 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe), Toyota announced at the New York Auto Show.

The Prius Prime increases battery capacity with a 8.8 kilowatt-per-hour lithium-ion battery pack compared to the 4.4 kilowatt-per-hour battery pack of the outgoing Prius Plug-In.

The vehicle gets the 1.8L Atkinson-cycle, 4-cylinder engine found in other 2016 Prius models with an 11.3-gallon gasoline tank. The Prius Prime is expected to offer an electric range two times better than the 2016 model and can drive at speeds of 84 mph without switching from EV mode.

Both the standard Prius hybrid and the Prius Prime are powered by Toyotas hybrid synergy drive powertrain, which seamlessly combines the output of the gasoline engine and electric motor through a planetary-type continuously variable transmission.

The Prius will feature a Toyota-first dual motor generator drive system, using both the electric motor and the generator for drive force, helping to boost acceleration performance. Regenerative braking recaptures electrical energy under deceleration and braking and stores it in the battery, which helps to reduce fuel consumption.

The Prius Prime will offer tech features, including an available 11.6-inch, HD central multimedia screen with standard navigation, and available full color head-up display. The vehicle will come equipped with the automaker's Entune multimedia system and Prius Prime mobile apps that allow the driver to manage charging schedule and status, locate charging stations, track and compare the driver's eco driving score, and remotely control the vehicle's climate system.

Toyota will also offer Toyota Safety Sense, an affordable safety suite that bundles a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection and automatic braking; lane departure alert with steering assist; full-speed dynamic radar cruise control with full stop technology and automatic high beams. Blind spot monitor, rear cross traffic alert, and intelligent parking assist (IPA) are also available.

The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime will arrive to the automaker's showrooms in late fall.
A pickup truck rental from Enterprise Truck Rental. Photo courtesy of Enterprise Holdings.

This spring, Enterprise Truck Rental, a service of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, is responding to its customers by offering tow-capable pickup trucks for personal use to renters across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.



The business has offered tow-capable pickups to commercial renters, but this is the first time consumers have the option to rent a 3/4- or 1-ton pickup truck with a hitch for easy towing of boats, campers, trailers, All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), and snow mobiles, according to Enterprise.

Listening and responding to our customers is critically important to the Enterprise business model, said Frank Thurman, corporate vice president of Enterprise Truck Rental. We place a big emphasis on providing rental solutions that support what our customers want to accomplish  across all of our lines of business. In fact, we first decided to rent commercial trucks in 1999 based on customer demand. Then, in 2009, we started offering truck rentals for personal use because customers kept asking for that option.

Enterprise Truck Rentals commercial-grade fleet includes a range of trucks, cargo vans, and pickup trucks for business as well as personal use. Enterprise also sells well-maintained and low-mileage used medium-duty commercial trucks, according to the company.

Enterprise car rental and truck rental customers receive free pickup and 24-hour roadside assistance, says the company.

Since we launched Enterprise Truck Rental in 1999, the division has been providing tailored solutions to ensure our customers receive the right model at the right rate and for the right terms, said David Nestor, senior vice president of North American Operations for Enterprise. That means customer service excellence is at the core of both our truck rental and car rental businesses, which only further differentiates the Enterprise brand in the competitive transportation sector.

Enterprise Truck Rental has seen a 25% year-over-year growth and now operates in more than 260 locations in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Columbine II, a Lockheed VC-121A Constellation that once served as Air Force One for President Dwight Eisenhower, took to the air this week after being grounded since 2003. The airplane, which has been undergoing restoration in Tucson, Arizona, flew to the Mid America Flight Museum, in Mount Pleasant, Texas, on Monday. The 1,000-mile flight took about five hours. Volunteers from the museum have been working with engineers from Dynamic Aviation, the aircrafts current owner, to return it to flight status. The Connie was to have flown to Bridgewater Airpark, in Bridgewater, Virginia, the home base for Dynamic Aviation, on Tuesday but that flight has been delayed until Wednesday. The reason for the delay has not been released.

Karl Stolzfus, chairman of Dynamic Aviation, told reporters his company will completely restore the interior to create a living museum reflecting the times of the Eisenhower administration. He was a very good president and a very well-liked president, Stolzfus said. President Eisenhowers granddaughter, Mary Jean Eisenhower, was the guest of honor at the departure ceremony in Arizona, and shared her memories of flying in the airplane as a child. Now she moves on to expert hands who will restore her and ready her to be shared with future generations of Americans around the country, Eisenhower said.
Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski gave an exclusive interview to RFE/RLs Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Tuesday. See the full transcript below.

Azatutyun: How would you characterize Human Rights Dialogue raised with the Armenian authorities?

Ambassador: The Human Rights Dialogue held last week in Yerevan is a regular feature in the contact between the European Union and Armenia. The dialogue was conducted in a very open, frank and cooperative atmosphere. We discussed very openly all the issues on the human rights agenda. It is no secret that the most important issue discussed was the preparation to 2017 national elections and the work on the electoral code in Armenia.

Azatutyun: During the dialogue have you raised issues of human rights violations here in Armenia?

Ambassador: We discussed the whole spectrum of issues. As I said, the most important item on the agenda was the implementation of the Constitutional reforms and the work on the Electoral code. But we discussed also the situation of the vulnerable groups, the rights of women, the rights of children. We discussed issues of domestic violence. We discussed issues related to non-discrimination. We discussed also individual cases.

As a separate issue we addressed the topic of investigating the allegations of irregularities during the last Constitutional referendum, but we raised also the issue of the 2008 tragic events in Armenia and the need to clarify the issues and to bring all the responsible to account.

We also handed over a number of individual cases, names of people, whom we believe the Armenian authorities should pay very close attention, because this individual cases are not good for the image of Armenia.

Azatutyun: Could you please provide some examples or names?

Ambassador: I wouldnt like to discuss this topic in public, because part of the success of this dialogue is that we do it in a very open spirit but in a confidential way. So there are issues I wouldnt like to discuss in public, but it will not be a secret that we raised the issue of an activist, who was detained on the New Years Eve and who is on pre-trial detention and whose pre-trial detention, we believe, is excessive, is not commensurate with the situation in which he is implicated.

We raised also a number of other issues of people, who are in prison, who, we believe, are not treated in a commensurate way.

Azatutyun: Have you discussed the National Human Rights Action Plan and do you support Armenias reform efforts?

Ambassador: Yes, the Human Rights Action Plan was on the agenda. The general message that we sent as the European Union is the following: Armenia has very good plans, but it needs more action. There is abundance of plans, but there is some deficit of action. Therefore, what is most important for us, is to focus our shared attention on the implementation of this plans, on monitoring this implementation and bringing concrete results from the plans.

So, yes, we discussed Human Rights Plan, we discussed the link between the plan and the Human Rights Support Program, a big support program signed last year by the European Union, worth 12 million Euros, which deals with 5 areas of human rights. The new elements in this Human Rights Support Program are that some of the legislation that Armenia is planning to adopt is linked to concrete benchmarks. For instance, Armenia committed itself, through this Human Rights Budget Support Program to adopt a law on domestic violence by the end of 2016. Armenia committed itself to adopt the law on non-discrimination by the end of 2017 and this is the new elements that our Human Rights Support Program brings into the discussion of Human Rights in Armenia.

Azatutyun: How the result of this dialogue feeds into the overall EU - Armenia cooperation? How are they followed up?

Ambassador: This dialogue is very important, because, as stated by the President of Armenia and other leaders of this country, Armenia wants to build relations with the European Union on the basis of common values. And these common values are human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Therefore, if you want to have a strong relationship between Armenia and the European Union, the factor of human rights, the factor of democracy and rule of law is important. Therefore, we need to make progress, because making progress on Human Rights by Armenia will help to solidify this common basis of our relations.

Azatutyun: It is a very interesting point, because the European Union and the Armenian authorities are talking very much on human rights, democracy, but in Armenia we got very interesting referendum. What can you say about this? I mean, there is the reality and there are announcements.

Ambassador: As I said, the preparations to 2017 national elections were in the focus of the discussion, because for the European Union the next elections are crucial for the future of Armenia. The next elections will determine the model of political governance and also the model of relationship between the authorities and the society at large. Therefore, we had a very frank discussion, where we simply made it clear that we would wish the next elections to be held according to the best standards not only in this regions of South Caucasus, but the best European standards to the extent possible. For this reason we would encourage the authorities to conduct a very inclusive dialogue with the opposition and the civil society. Armenia needs a frank discussion between all the interested parties. Armenia needs a political round table to build a national consensus around the next elections. So we hope very much that there will be an inclusive dialogue inside Armenia and also all the recommendations by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, which will be prepared in the weeks to come, will be taken into account and will be reflected in the Electoral Code.

Azatutyun: If we dont have democratic elections, what kind of influence will it have on EU  Armenia relations?

Ambassador: I have mentioned it several times during my work here in Armenia that we proceed from the need to have a positive agenda, therefore we want to work on the basis that there is a will to improve the standard of elections in Armenia. We have heard many declarations by members of the government, by the leaders of Armenia that Armenia will have better elections, Armenia will have elections on the basis of the Electoral Code, which will meet all the necessary criteria and requirements and be negotiated on a very wide, inclusive basis. So we hope for the best and we work on the assumptions that these declarations are sincere and I think that this is the only logic that we can adopt in the present circumstances. So, yes, we believe that there is a wish from all sides, from the parties involved in the political life in Armenia to improve the political governance in Armenia.

Azatutyun: Could you elaborate a bit more on the agenda items related to anti-corruption efforts?

Ambassador: In addition to the Human Rights Dialogue we met the subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Legal Affairs. Two items dominated the agenda: one is the reform of justice and the other is fights against corruption. We discussed it at length.

Armenia needs a breakthrough in its fight against corruption. We have again a number of good documents, we have Strategy, we have an Action Plan, we have an anticorruption body chaired by the Prime Minister. But we need results. So we have plans, but we need action.

Unfortunately, last year Armenia slipped from position number 94 to 95 on Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index, while its neighbor Georgia climbed from 52 to 50. And Georgia is a good example that even with the legacy of the past years, even with the same level of income per capita, it is possible to make decisive steps and make a breakthrough.

For Armenia the fight against corruption is probably one of the most important tasks, a task, which would require national consensus, which would require the unity of all political forces, because without fighting corruption the progress in all possible aspects  economic, political, social, is hard to imagine. So we sent this messages very clearly, we received very detailed presentations from the Armenian side, sometimes very frank assessments. We expect action and the most important things are, of course, changing law, changing legislation, including all the necessary standards of the fight against corruption which exist in the European practice and also the establishment of independent anticorruption body with investigative powers according to the best standards of Europe and the West in General.

Azatutyun: But in Armenia anticorruption body is headed by the prime minister, so you are talking about an independent body, but

Ambassador: We are talking about independent investigative body. There are different models. The European Union is supporting a project with Civil Society, with experts to suggest the possible solution for Armenia. There are different examples of such independent investigative anticorruption agencies starting from Singapure, Hong Kong, going through Western experience, also transitional countries experience: Poland, Romania. All these countries have developed such independent institutions.

Azatutyun: Not headed by authorities.

Ambassador: Not headed by administrative branches of power.

Azatutyun: Is it crucial for anti-corruption steps to have an independent body?

Ambassador: This agency will always be a part of the system of governance. It will have to be put into the structure of the executive branch, but it would have to be separate from political influence, it will have to be separate from political appointments, it will have to be totally independent from the governmental, ministerial and other structures.

Azatutyun: Can we say that without the independent body we cannot get real results in anti corruption fight?

Ambassador: There are different scenarios. I have spoken many times in public on how to address the issue. You can try to do some measures in selected branches. And it is also possible. I wouldnt, probably, believe that Armenia necessarily should follow the path of Georgia concerning the fight against corruption in the Judiciary or in the Police, which in Georgia took a very radical form by totally renewing the composition of the Police or the Judiciary. Probably, Armenia doesnt have to apply the same radical approach, but it is possible to look into different sectors and to focus there.

There are very concrete ideas for the fight against corruption for instance in the education (in the tertiary education, university education), prepared by good experts under the auspices of the Council of Europe and funded by European Union. There are recommendations made by the civil society concerning the secondary education.

There is, as I understand, also a pilot project financed by the international community in some secondary schools, which would include the fight against corruption, which the government supports.

So, even these sectoral measures, if implemented quickly, decisively, can bring some results. So I wouldnt say that the establishment of this independent body is a condition sine qua non, condition, without which you cannot move forward. There are different scenarios. But what is necessary also for the population, for the society at large that they can see quick results.

We are encouraging the government -- look at these sectors. And the Action Plan singles out certain priority sectors, but act decisively. You dont have to reinvent the wheel. And, by the way, when I said this expression, the Justice Minister quickly said -- I agree with you. We dont have to reinvent the wheel, because there are enough good examples around. Simply, there should be a political decision -- yes, we should be doing it.

Azatutyun: Is it a political issue?

Ambassador: I think it is a political issue since the President himself, in his very important speech in February mentioned the same issues that we, as the European Union, are emphasizing. Fight against corruption and the independence of Judiciary.

The February speech of the President is a speech, which can be the basis for resolute action.

Azatutyun: Many people here in Armenia dont believe that the authorities, whose relatives have businesses in this country, can fight corruption. Do you believe that men, who have businesses can really do real steps against corruption?

Ambassador: For Armenia to be successful in its further development, for sure has to draw a very clear line between politics and business. Thats also the experience of many transitional countries. The link between business and politics can be very very damaging for the development of both the political model of governance and also the economic model of governance. So that is something that Armenians, now having the opportunity to implement the Constitutional changes, should pay a very close attention to.

But as I said in some of my public statements, the presence of rich people, business people in public life, in government, in the parliament, is not bad in itself. There are other countries where rich people are there. Look at the electoral campaigns in some other countries. You have millionaires running for big jobs. So its not bad in itself. But what is necessary is to have a clear rules for avoiding the conflict of interests, clear rules for transparency of your economic activities in the past and of course withdrawal from active economic activities, when you are in a public function.

And it's not only you, but also the transparency concerning your family, your extended family, etc. These are clear rules, which exist in many countries avoiding conflict of interest, transparency. Because if there is a suspicion that you are using your job as a minister or as a parliamentarian to create better conditions for your own personal and business activities, nobody in Armenia or in any other country will believe that you are acting in the interests of the whole nation. But when you have very transparent and very strict rules on the conflict of interest, then even very rich people can be trusted, because people will understand -- OK, they have some wealth, but theyre not in the government to make themselves richer or to protect their wealth.

Azatutyun: And the last question, Mr Ambassador. Are you concerned that after negotiations with Armenia the new framework agreement will not be signed and in that case what will be EU attitude toward Armenia?

Ambassador:We conduct all negotiations on the basis of good faith. I cannot imagine a situation the situation, where the European Union would start a negotiation and then say that at the end: sorry, we just changed our position and now we are no longer interested.

I believe that now these issues of what are the possibilities for the relationship between Armenia and the European Union are clear. And we negotiate on the basis of clear statements by the president, by the leaders of this country. So we do not have any B scenario or C scenario, of what happens if there is again a complicating factor.

Azatutyun: But the last time we know what kind of results we had after long term negotiations.

Ambassador: Well, I think that last time was the last time, meaning that it will never be repeated. I can only hope that the proper lessons have been drawn from that experience and we are now in a process, where this experience will prevent us from going through the same situation again.

So, I am quite confident that we will have a good document, because there is nothing in this document, which would complicate Armenias life within the Eurasian Economic Union. At least the political part, the trade part and some of the sectoral parts are clearly on the level that should not be seen as being difficult for Armenia in any way, quite the contrary.

So, we are who we are and we want a good, fruitful process and the signals that we are receiving from Armenian negotiators are constructive. So why assume a bad scenario again? One time is enough.
20 March 2016 00:01 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

March is a month rich with holidays in Azerbaijan. This is a month, when everyone longs for spring even stronger with every week, since Azerbaijanis anticipate their one of the most cherished holidays -- Novruz Bayram.

Novruz is a holiday when people are kind of uniting with nature ... since spring is coming and nature is awakening. Probably, no other holiday could be more natural than Novruz for Azerbaijanis, symbolizing the end of an old year and beginning of a new year.

The holiday, loved by both children and adults makes happy all around. People congratulate each other with words Novruz bayramnz mubark olsun! (Happy Novruz!)

The spring holiday is accompanied by folk festivals, unusual traditions and, of course, lavish treats on the tables.

Being the oldest festival of spring and included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, its celebrated for more than 3,000 years by more than 300 million people in the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Black Sea basin, Central Asia and Near East.

Although Novruz is celebrated mainly in Muslim countries, it is not an Islamic holiday, but a celebration of the spring equinox, symbolizing the renewal of nature.



Novruz is a tradition dating back to Zoroastrianism, the oldest of the monotheist religions. British scientist Mary Boyce noted that this holiday was dedicated directly to the fire in Zoroastrianism, that the Zoroastrians found vitality in to worship. This holiday meant defeating the Evil Spirit.

Azerbaijan, also known as Land of Fire has a rich tradition associated with fire, considering a symbol of purification. Novruz represents ancient rites, talking about the proximity of a fire phenomenon to the spirit of Azerbaijanis.

Some scientists suggest that the presence of fire in the festive rituals is not accidental. Fire is a symbol of life, what is more important, it gives warmth, signing that spring is on its way.

The holiday celebrations begin a month before the actual holiday, which is marked on March 20-21.

Preparation for the holiday begins with Water Tuesday, or as it is known here, Su Chershenbesi, following by Fire Tuesday (Od Chershenbesi), Wind Tuesday (Yel Chershenbesi) and Earth or Last Tuesday (Torpag or Akhir Chershenbesi).

The four Tuesdays are associated with the arrival of the new year and nature's rebirth and dedicated to the awakening of one of the natural elements.

Every family awaits guests on this day. Knocking at one of the doors and you will always be invited to the festive table, which is full of various treats and unusual dried fruit, nuts and dyed eggs. The center of the table is decorated with a big tray Khonca with Semeni placed inside sprouted wheat in a bowl, which is considering an essential feature of the festival.

People cook numerous Novruz desserts. Since March is a period of vitamin deficiency, Novruz pastries are all about butter, nuts, sugar and spices are good to keep people immunity strong.

Such attributes of Novruz table as pakhlava (baklava), shakarbura (a cookie with nuts and sugar wrapped in dough), and shorgogal (layers of pastry flavored with turmeric and fennel seeds) decorate almost all Azerbaijani tables. All these sweets are associated with star, half moon and sun, respectively, as their shapes remind these symbols.

Tea meal is gradually replaced by a festive dinner with a "King" of Azerbaijani cuisine -- fragrant "Plov" (Pilaf). The table must be set with at least seven dishes.

The indispensable attribute of Novruz is lightening bonfires in every yard. Happily jumping over it for seven times people says Relieve me of my troubles and misfortunes and bestow me much more joy". People of all ages will join in the tradition, happily believing that the fire will purify and take away all their troubles.

Novruz is also famous for its bright customs - such as placing hats at a door, which is probably the most favorite one among children.

During every four Tuesdays and on the main holiday children knock on neighbors' doors, leaving the caps or small pouches in the doorway and hiding nearby. Neighbors, in turn, fill the caps with holiday treats and then returned it to the place.

One of the most amazing views which indicate about the forthcoming spring in Azerbaijan is cherry trees, which bloom for Novruz delighting people with its pink and fragrant flowers.

Wish you all happy spring so that you can enjoy every new flower and sun ray of nature.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 March 2016 10:01 (UTC+04:00)

Turkey warned its citizens not to travel to Belgium following Tuesdays terror attacks in Brussels, Anadolu Agency reported.



The Foreign Ministry has advised Turkish citizens against non-urgent travel to Belgium, the ministry said in a statement on its website.



According to Belgian media, at least 34 were killed in explosions at the countrys main airport and a metro station.



The statement said the Turkish embassy in Brussels and the consulate general in Antwerp were only receiving emergency calls.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 March 2016 10:30 (UTC+04:00)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement of support to Belgium on Tuesday following a series of bomb blasts in Brussels, Anadolu Agency reported.



Turkey stands by Belgium in these hard times, he said in a message issued by his office. Our people, who were exposed to terrible attacks by different terrorist organizations, deeply feel the Belgian people's pain and share it.



Attacks at Belgiums Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station, close to EU institutions, killed 34 on Tuesday morning, according to public broadcaster VRT. The explosion at the metro station left 20 people dead, as VRT reported.



Turkish President also referred to recent deadly terrorist attacks in capital Ankara and Istanbul as he stressed terrorist organizations "know no humane or moral bounds" in their attacks, and are all the same in the methods they use.



After the attacks of the PKK in Ankara and Daesh in Istanbul - killing tens of people a short time ago - the terrorists targeting Brussels showed once again that they do not have limits and have no human values and morals with regards to their terrible methods as they have no difference to each other, Erdogan said.



He added: The atrocious attacks in Brussels obviously show terrorism cannot be a fight for freedom and we should fight against all types of terrorism together.



Erdogan further emphasized Ankara's readiness to give any kind of support to its "ally Belgium" as his country pursues its "resolved fight" against all terrorist organizations.



The Turkish Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning the attacks.



These vicious attacks in Brussels - at the heart of Europe - have once again targeted the civilized world and global values, the statement said.



We once again point out that we are ready for any type of support to our ally Belgium in its fight against terrorism, it added.



The notice also said Turkey would maintain solidarity with its allies and the international community.



Erdogan and King Philippe have phone call over Brussels attack



Erdogan called on Tuesday Belgium King Philippe to express Turkey's support for Belgians against terrorism, the Turkish Presidency announced.



Erdogan offered his condolences to King Philippe, condemning the recent terrorist attacks in capital Brussels which left at least 34 people killed and more than 170 wounded, the presidency said.



Refering to the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul and Ankara, Erdogan said in the phone call to King Phillippe that Turkey shares the Belgians' pain and is in solidarity with Belgium.



According to the statement, King Phillippe pointed the joint fighting against terrorism and thanked Erdogan for his support and awareness.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 March 2016 12:32 (UTC+04:00)

Turkish border guards stopped a suspected Daesh-linked ("Islamic state") suicide bomber on the Syrian frontier on Tuesday, a security source said, Anadolu reported.



The potential bomber, who was carrying explosives, was arrested alongside nine other suspected Daesh members in Gaziantep province, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking publicly.



According to a statement from the provincial governors office, the group originally consisted of 13 suspects but three escaped. It said two were injured when they were arrested.



The group had crossed from Syria, the security source added without providing further detail. The Turkish authorities regularly arrest suspected Daesh members in the provinces of Gaziantep and Kilis, which border a region of Syria under the groups control.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 March 2016 14:46 (UTC+04:00)

Former Kyrgyz President Askar Akayevs son-in-law Adil Toiganbayev was detained at Kyrgyzstans request in Dubai, the UAE, RIA Novosti reported citing the press service of the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry March 23.

The first Kyrgyz President Akayev was overthrown as a result of a tulip revolution in 2005 and left the country with his family. His son-in-law Toiganbayev, as well as a number of associates, were accused of corruption and were declared internationally wanted.

Toiganbayev has been wanted by law enforcement bodies of Kyrgyzstan since 2005 and is accused of a number of crimes, according to the countrys interior ministry.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 March 2016 16:00 (UTC+04:00)

Exporting 3000 megawatts(MW) of power to Pakistan is possible, the Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian told IRNA on March 22.

Without specifying the details, he said that the delayed debts of Iran's neighbor power clients is about $1.5 billion.

He also said that Pakistan hasn't demonstrated a serious willingness to increase power import from Iran.

According to Iran's Energy Ministry's latest weekly report, the country increased power generation capacity by more than 600 MW in 2015 to about 73,500 MW.

Iran has planned to increase power generation capacity to 100,000 MW by 2021.

Falahatian didn't reveal how much kilowatt-hour (kWh) of Iranian electricity would be exported to Pakistan, however, Pakistan has about 4 percent share in Iran's 10-billion kWh electricity energy export, Iran Energy Ministry's annual report says. Iran's electricity export decreased from about 11.8 billion kWh in 2014 to about 10 billion kWh in 2015. Iraq and Turkey share 90 percent of Iran's total power export.

Falahatian said that Iraq is importing about 300 MW of Iranian power in this season (spring) from Iran, while the power deal between two nations has been expired since the beginning of 2015 and should be extended.

Coming to Pakistan's debts to Iran, The Express Tribune reported on March 10 that Pakistan is already importing 73MW to meet the requirement of Gwadar but payments could not be made since 2011. "Now that sanctions have been removed from Iran, officials believe banking channels will be opened, paving the way for payment of outstanding bills," the report said.

Two months after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Tehran in January, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is preparing to kick off a visit to Islamabad on March 25-26. The schedule of Rouhanis two-day trip was disclosed during a meeting between Pakistani Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost on March 9.

During this visit, Pakistan and Iran are set to sign deals for supply of over 3,000 MW of electricity, The Express Tribune reported .

Three power import deals are expected to be inked by the two countries including supply of 100MW, 75MW and 1,000MW. The 1,000MW agreement could be extended to 3,000MW of electricity," a diplomatic source told The Express Tribune.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 March 2016 17:00 (UTC+04:00)

Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has extended condolences to King Philippe of Belgium over the terror attacks that took place in Brussels, said Turkmen government in a message March 23.

Terror attacks hit the Zaventem airport and a metro station in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, killing at least 34 and injuring 250.

Turkmenistan, resolutely opposing any manifestation of terrorism and extremism, fully supports the international communitys efforts for fighting this evil and eradicating it, said Berdimuhamedov.

President Berdimuhamedov, on behalf of the Turkmen people and government, as well as on his own behalf, conveyed deep empathy and support for families, relatives and close ones of the terror attacks victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
 

       3.0 (      -       -         ): editor [at] bahrainmirror.com
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Overcast. High near 75F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
In response to growing demand, Freedom Bakery will launch a second crowdfunding campaign on 7 April.

Freedom Bakery is a Glasgow-based social enterprise that gives training and employment to recently released ex-offenders.

Artisan breads and cakes are being baked and sold to the public by a group of prisoners at HMP Low Moss, near Bishopbriggs. This follows similar schemes in London and Italy, whereby offenders bake and create pastries during their sentence.

Matt Fountain, a self-taught baker, launched the initiative in an attempt to offer inmates employment, after finding himself disheartened by the high levels of reoffending in Scotland  the reconviction rate there is 64%.

Due to growing demand, there are now plans afoot for a second bakery in the city.

More opportunities

Freedom said: We need to establish a second bakery in Glasgow, so that we can provide more opportunities for the people were working with, ultimately with short-term employment opportunities as they leave prison.

It will also allow us to trade more broadly, meeting increasing demand so that we can reinvest our profits back into the people we were established for. The plans for our new bakery mean we will be able to engage with more groups in society, provide classes for the public and increase our service in the community.

The group aims to raise 15,000 towards the creation of the second bakery. And it said there would be exciting rewards for those who contribute.
Not only that, which is brilliant enough, but the British astronauts sandwich was also specially designed by Heston Blumenthal for the occasion.

Why do you need a bacon sandwich to be specially designedits just bacon and bread, right? Yes, if youre on Earth, but this one was quite literally out of this world.

The porcine package in question was put together as part of Channel 4s Hestons Dinner In Space, which aired this week. In the programme, the chef teamed up with the UK Space Agency, the ESA and Nasa to design meals for Tim Peake to eat while hes on his six-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

Space food is usually dehydrated and powered  it has to cope with zero gravity, the effect that space has on taste (which is, by all accounts, quite considerable) and no moisture is allowed.

It is also worth noting that bread has been banned in space since astronaut John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich (on rye bread, just so you know), into space in 1965, and the crumbs caused a fair bit of chaos. Everyone was fine, but bread was prohibited as a result.

And while were on the subject of sandwiches in space, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian Soviet cosmonaut, carried a homemade salami sandwich on to his historic flight, when he became the first human to journey into outer space  his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

And Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to eat on the moon when they consumed ham-salad sandwiches  but those were dehydrated, so just powder, really.

Blumenthal and his team spent months developing the sandwich, trying all sorts of methods and combinations, to make sure it actually tasted like bacon when Peake tasted it hundreds of miles above earth. And it was the worlds most expensive bacon sandwich  Blumenthal said on the programme that the fuel alone to send the meal into space cost a couple of million pounds.

Peake was reportedly so excited that he couldnt wait to try it. Blumenthal said: It was supposed to be a treat for later, but he had it on the first day!

Two years of research

The sandwich was the result of two years of research, as Blumenthal feared giving Peake food poisoning: Theres no hospital - if someone was really ill up there, what would happen?

And if the roles were reversed and it was Blumenthal in space, he was asked what he would choose: It would be tea from a cup and an ordinary sandwich...Id have ham and cheese.
Industrial Milk Company S.A. (the Company) will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders (the AGM) on Wednesday 27 April 2016, at its registered office at 26-28, rue Edward Steichen, L-2540 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, at 10.00 a.m. Central European Time (CET) (or such subsequent date which might be notified per separate notice).



The AGM will have the following agenda:



1. Presentation and approval of the management report of the board of directors (the "Report of the Board"), the independent auditor's report on the annual accounts of the Company prepared in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (the "Auditor's Report"), the individual annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ending 31 December 2015 (the "Annual Accounts"), the consolidated financial statements of the Company's group prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards for the financial year ending 31 December 2015 (the "Consolidated Financial Statements") and presentation and report by the Board of the salary, fees and advantages paid to the executive directors.



2. Review and approval of the Annual Accounts of the Company for the financial year ending 31 December 2015.



3. Review and approval of the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company's group for the financial year ending 31 December 2015.



4. Allocation of the loss for the financial year ending 31 December 2015.



5. Decision on the continuation of the Company in accordance with Article 100 of the Luxembourg law dated 10 August 1915 on commercial companies, as amended.



6. Discharge to the directors of the Company.



7. Re-appointment of Mr Alex LISSITSA, Mr. Dmytro MARTYNIUK and Mr. Oleksandr PETROV as executive directors of the Company and confirmation of the mandates of the current non- executive members of the Board of Directors.



8. Approval of a buy-back programme to be put in place by the Company pursuant to which the Company may acquire a maximum of 1,565,000 of its own shares during a period ending 18 months from the date of the AGM. Such shares shall be purchased at a price ranging between PLN 1 and PLN 20, being understood that the maximum price cannot be higher than the price of the last independent trade on the shares at the date of purchase by the Company of the shares.



9. Miscellaneous.



The AGM is formally convened 30 days before the meeting date by (i) the publication of the convening notice in a Luxembourg nationwide newspaper and on the on the Luxembourg Official Gazette (Memorial C, Recueil des Societes et Associations) and (ii) the dissemination of the convening notice on a EU-wide basis through appropriate media in accordance with the applicable Luxembourg legal provisions such as the Luxembourg law of 24 May 2011 on shareholders' rights in listed companies, the Luxembourg law of 10 August 1915 on commercial companies, the Luxembourg law of 11 January 2008 on transparency requirements and the Luxembourg law of 9 May 2006 on market abuse.

The convening notice shall be made available on the Company's website, from the date of the publication above-mentioned to the date of the AGM (included), at the following address http://www.imcagro.com.ua.



The record date for shareholders to participate in the AGM is Wednesday 13 April 2016, at 24.00 (midnight) CET. (the Record Date). Only shareholder who were holders of the Company's shares at the Record Date will be allowed to attend and vote to the AGM, subject to (i) the confirmation of their participation to the Company (through the form of participation available on the Company's website at http://www.imcagro.com.ua) no later than Wednesday 13 April 2016, 18.00 CET. and (ii) the delivery to the Company of the depositary certificate evidencing the shares held by the shareholder at the Record Date, within the forms and delays prescribed below.



In order to participate in the AGM a shareholder must:



1. Fill and sign the form of participation as made available on the Company's website (http://www.imcagro.com.ua) and deliver it in original and duly signed, by mail (ordinary or registered) to the Company's registered office at 26-28, rue Edward Steichen L-2540 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (quoting "2016 IMC Annual General Meeting").



2. Obtain an original depositary certificate (the Shareholder's Certificate), dated as of the Record Date and issued by authorized entities maintaining the securities account of such shareholder, confirming the amount of shares held by the shareholder at the Record Date, such Shareholder's Certificate having a validity date falling not earlier than the date of the AGM.



3. Deliver no later than Wednesday 25 April 2016, 18.00 CET to the Company, either (A) the original of the Shareholder's Certificate dated as of the Record Date (i) in person, (ii) by hand-delivery, or (ii i) by mail (ordinary or registered), at the Company's registered office at 26-28, rue Edward Steichen L-2540 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, or (B) A copy of the Shareholder's Certificate may also be delivered by e-mail to Luxembourg@totalserve.eu, but no later than Monday 25 April 2016, 18.00 CET



4. Fill and sign the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions, in case of participation by correspondence or by proxy, and deliver it in original no later than Monday 25 April 2015, at 18.00 to the Company's registered office, either (i) by hand-delivery (with acknowledgement of receipt), (ii) by a registered mail quoting "2016 IMC Annual General Meeting" or (iii) by special courier, together with the original Shareholder's Certificate as evidencing the shares held by the Shareholder at the Record Date (if not yet delivered in original or copy within the forms and delays of the item 3. above).



The present document is valid for the AGM to be held on Wednesday 27 April 2016 at 10.00 a.m. CET, as well as for any rescheduled subsequent AGM having the same agenda, the case the quorum would not be achieved at the first meeting or for such other reason.



The agenda of the AGM and the proposed resolutions by the Company (incorporated herewith by reference) are available on the Company's website at the following address: http://www.imcagro.com.ua.

These documents must be considered by the Shareholder to make an informed assessment on the items of the agenda and the proposed resolutions.



For detailed information and instructions regarding the AGM, please see document "ND AGM Important information for participating to the AGM - 2016", available on the Company's website at http://www.imcagro.com.ua.





IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPATING TO THE AGM



Dear Shareholders,

This document has been prepared by Industrial Milk Company S.A. (the Company) in connection with the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the Companys shareholders (the AGM) to be held on Tuesday Wednesday 27 April 2016, at its registered office at 26-28, rue Edward Steichen, L-2540 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, at 10.00 a.m. Central European Time (CET) (or such subsequent date which might be notified per separate notice).



The purpose of this document is to indicate and explain (i) the steps that should be taken by the shareholders in order to participate in the AGM, (i i) the rights of shareholders and applicable delays to respect and (iii) the voting procedures available to shareholders.



This document should be read in conjunction with the Companys articles of association (the Articles of Association) and applicable provisions of Luxembourg law, such as the law of 24 May 2011 of shareholders' rights in listed company (the Shareholders' Rights Act) and the law of 10 August 1915 on commercial companies (the Companies' Act).



The present document is valid for the AGM to be held on Wednesday 29 April 2015, at its registered office at 26-28, rue Edward Steichen, L-2540 Luxembourg, as well as for any rescheduled subsequent AGM having the same agenda, the case the quorum would not be achieved at the first meeting, or for such other reasons.



1 Confirmation of attendance and record date



The AGM is properly convened 30 days before the meeting date by (i) the publication of the notice in a Luxembourg nationwide newspaper and on the Luxembourg Official Gazette (Memorial C, Registre des Societes et Associations) and (ii) the dissemination of the notice on a EU-wide basis through appropriate media in accordance with the applicable Luxembourg legal provisions.

Each shareholder wishing to exercise its rights to attend and vote at the AGM should send to the Company a form to confirm its participation to the AGM (the Form of Participation), no later than Wednesday 13 April 2016, 18.00 CET CET.



The rights to vote at the AGM are determined in accordance with and at the record date (the Record Date), which is set on Wednesday 13 April 2016, at 24.00 (midnight) CET.

Only shareholders who confirmed their participation to the Company on due time will be authorized to participate and vote at the AGM (the Authorized Shareholder(s)).



The Form of Participation can be downloaded from the Companys website at http://www.imcagro.com.ua and shall be returned in original by the Shareholder to the Company at the Notice Address (as defined hereafter) and following the instructions provided herein.



In addition to the Form of Participation, each shareholder who holds its shares in the Company through the facilities of the Polish National Deposit of Securities (KDPW) shall request an original depositary certificate (the Shareholder's Certificate) from the broker or custodian bank who is a participant of the KDPW and who maintains the securities account for such shareholder evidencing its amount of shares held at the Record Date.

A shareholder intending to participate to the AGM (in person, by correspondence, or by use of a proxy) shall provide the Company with a Shareholder's Certificate issued at the Record Date.



The Shareholder's Certificate shall be delivered in English. In the contrary, the shareholder shall provide at its own expense and in the same deadlines as the ones applicable to the delivery of the Shareholder's Certificate, a certified true translation by an officially agreed translator.

The Shareholder's Certificate should be issued by the shareholders broker or custodian bank at such time as to enable the shareholder to deliver the Shareholder's Certificate (original or copy) to the Company no later than on Wednesday 13 April 2016, 18.00 CET.



In case of translation of the Shareholder's Certificate, the shareholder shall ensure the certified true translation (original or copy) is delivered to the Company together with the Shareholder's Certificate and no later than Wednesday 13 April 2016, 18.00 CET.



To receive information on formal requirements of, and documents to be submitted to the broker or the custodian bank for the purpose of the issuance of Shareholders' Certificates, all shareholders are advised to contact their brokers or custodian banks.



Each shareholder shall deliver the original Shareholder's Certificate either (i ) in person, (ii) by hand-delivery or, (ii i) by mail (ordinary or registered), at the address for notices to the Company as provided in item 6 ("Notices and further questions to the Company") (the Notice Address), no later than Monday 20 April 2016, 18.00 CET. A copy of the Shareholder's Certificate may also be delivered by e-mail to Luxembourg@totalserve.eu, but no later than Wednesday 13 April 2016, 18.00 CET.

Only Authorized Shareholders who were holders of the Company's shares at the Record Date will be allowed to attend and vote to the AGM subject to (i) the confirmation of their participation to the Company (through the form of participation available on the Company's website at http://www.imcagro.com.ua, no later than Wednesday 13 April 2016, 18.00 CET and (ii) the delivery to the Company of the original Shareholder's Certificate, within the forms and delays prescribed herein.



2 Participation to the AGM



 Any Authorized Shareholder who holds one or more shares of the Company at Record Date is entitled to attend and vote at the AGM, if it fulfilled all formalities to confirm its participation within the applicable forms and delays. One share entitles to one vote on each resolution to be voted. Each Authorized Shareholder may participate:

1) In person (in the case of a natural person) or by means of its duly authorized representatives (in the case of a legal person).

2) By correspondence, using the proxy voting form (the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions) as available on the Company's website (http://www.imcagro.com.ua). Only voting instructions expressed by the use of the provided Proxy Voting Form and Instructions (duly filled) are considered as valid and recorded.

The Proxy Voting Form and Instructions shall be delivered by the Shareholder to the Company, either (i) by hand-delivery (with acknowledgement of receipt), (i i) by a registered mail, or (iii) by special courier, to the Notice Address.

In any case, the Company shall receive the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions in original, together with a certified true copy of the international valid ID card, passport or other official document in English evidencing the Shareholder's identity and the original of the Shareholder's Certificate (if not delivered before) no later than Monday 20 April 2016, 18.00 CET.or it will not be recorded as valid.

3) By proxy (both in the case of a natural person or a legal person) through the appointment of a natural or legal person (the Proxy Holder) to attend and vote at the AGM in the Authorized Shareholder's name and upon written instructions of the Authorized Shareholder.

The Proxy Holder may not be a shareholder.

The Proxy Holder must be designated in writing (the Proxy) and the Proxy must be delivered in original by mail (ordinary or registered) to the Notice Address.

In any case, the Company must receive the Proxy before Monday 20 April 2016, 18.00 CET, or it will not be recorded as a valid Proxy and the Proxy Holder will not be authorized to attend and vote at the AGM on behalf of the Authorized Shareholder.

The Proxy Holder is entitled to act in the Authorized Shareholder's name and exercise the same rights the Authorized Shareholder benefits (please refer to item 3 "Rights of the Shareholder").

The Proxy Holder is only entitled to vote at the relevant general meeting for which the proxy is provided (or such subsequent meeting having the same agenda) and an Authorized Shareholder can only appoint one proxy to represent it.

Each Authorized Shareholder may act as a Proxy Holder for another Authorized Shareholder taking into account potential conflicts of interests and the obligation to act following written instructions of the proxy provider given in the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions (except the case where the Authorized Shareholder gave proxy to its Proxy Holder under the "Option A" of the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions).



 What documents should a participant bring at the AGM?

(i) A natural person is required to bring at the AGM an international valid ID card, passport or other official document in English confirming his/her identity;

(ii) a legal person is required to bring:

a) an extract in English from its respective trade register; and/or

b) other documents in English evidencing the right of a natural person to represent the Authorized Shareholder at the AGM (e.g., an unbroken chain of powers of attorney), and

c) an international valid ID card, passport or other official document in English confirming the identity of the Authorized Shareholder's representative.

(iii ) a Proxy Holder appointed by an Authorized Shareholder is required to bring:

a) An ID card, passport or other official document in English confirming the identity of the Proxy Holder;

b) the Proxy in English (or a copy); and

c) the duly filled Proxy Voting Form and Instructions, signed by the Authorized Shareholder and any other written instructions given by the Authorized Shareholder to its Proxy Holder if the case may be (e.g., question to ask during the AGM).

Please note that in all cases the Proxy to represent an Authorized Shareholder at the AGM can only be provided directly by the Authorized Shareholder himself (and not by a proxy of the Shareholder).

In case of any doubts relating to the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions or the Proxy presented by a Proxy Holder to participate in the AGM and admission thereto, the decision of the chairman of the AGM will be decisive regarding the admission of the considered Proxy Holder to attend and vote at the AGM.

For the convenience of its Authorized Shareholders, the Company proposes to appoint any lawyer (avoc at a la Cour) of NautaDutilh Avocats Luxembourg, each individually and with full power of substitution, as proxy for the Authorized Shareholders (the Proposed Shareholders' Proxy) to attend the AGM and vote in accordance with the voting instructions of the Authorized Shareholder as provided in the duly filled Proxy Voting Form and Instructions, signed by the relevant Authorized Shareholder.

Please note, however, it is permitted to nominate a proxy other than the Proposed Shareholder's Proxy. One person may represent more than one Authorized Shareholder.

If the designated Proxy Holder is the Proposed Shareholders' Proxy, the following steps will be applicable:

1) Download and complete the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions available on the Companys website at (http://www.imcagro.com.ua) and indicate the Proposed Shareholders' Proxy as proxy;

2) Duly fill and sign the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions and the voting instructions herein (please be aware that voting instructions must be specifically provided for each resolution if the chosen proxy is the Proposed Shareholders' Proxy, otherwise the Proposed Shareholders' Proxy will abstain from voting for each resolution where no voting instructions were properly provided);

3) Attach thereto all documents specified in the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions (i.e., the original Shareholders' Certificate, if not already deposited with the Company, evidencing the rights of the Authorized Shareholder at the Record Date); and

4) Send the duly completed Proxy Voting Form and Instructions together with all required documents to the Company, no later than 20 April 2016, 18.00 CET, within the forms and delays required for the participation by proxy as indicated in the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions.



 Important information:

(i) In any case, the original Proxy Voting Form and Instructions shall be delivered by the Shareholder to the Company together with the original Shareholder's Certificate (if not yet delivered) and all required documents before Monday 25 April 2016, 18.00 CET, or the voting instructions will not be recorded as valid.

(ii) The Proxy Voting Form and Instructions together with all required documents must be duly completed and signed to be recorded as valid voting instructions.

(iii ) Only an Authorized Shareholder who provided the Company with its Shareholder's Certificate within the forms and delays required and who have not collected such Shareholder's Certificate before the AGM date, may appoint a proxy designated by the Company. In all other cases, the Proxy given by the shareholder will be or becomes ineffective.

(iv) If, for any item on the agenda of the AGM (the Agenda) requiring a vote, the voting instruction is not properly completed in the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions (except the case where the Authorized Shareholder gave proxy to its Proxy Holder under the "Option A" of the Proxy Voting Form and Instructions), the Proposed Shareholders' Proxy will abstain from voting.

(v) Voting through a Proposed Shareholders' Proxy is an option proposed by the Company for the sake of convenience. Naturally, each Authorized Shareholder may attend the AGM and vote its shares in person or through its own proxy.

(vi) The name, address and other information on the Authorized Shareholder shall be consistent in all documents. Admission to the AGM of persons other than those representing the Authorized Shareholders shall be decided solely by the Chairman of the AGM.



 How to revoke the Proxy granted to a Proxy Holder?

Each Authorized Shareholder may revoke a Proxy given to the Proxy Holder by sending a document expressly revoking the granted Proxy to the Company within the forms and delays indicated below.

The Proxy Holder must be revoked in writing (the Revocation) and the Revocation must be delivered in original and in English by mail (ordinary or registered) to the Notice Address.

Such Revocation will be effective and the Proxy will be revoked if it is delivered to the Company not later than Monday 25 April 2016, 18.00 CET.

The Revocation needs to comply with the formalities of the original Proxy.

Each Authorized Shareholder may revoke the granted Proxy at the AGM itself.



3 Rights of the Authorized Shareholder



 The right to table draft resolutions and/or add items to the agenda

Any Authorized Shareholder acting solely or with other Authorized Shareholders, together holding at least 5% of the share capital, may:

(i) add items to the Agenda; and

(ii) table draft resolutions regarding items of or to be added to the Agenda.

Such request (the Request) must be made in writing in English and contain a justification regarding the proposal.

The Request must be delivered by latest Tuesday 5 April 2016 (i) by mail (ordinary or registered) to the Notice Address, or (ii) by e-mail to Christian.tailleur@lu.totalserve.eu and indicate an address (postal or electronic) where the Company may send the acknowledgement of receipt of the Request.

The Company will then add the proposed items to the Agenda and publish an amended version of the Agenda.



 The right to ask questions

Each Authorized Shareholder, acting in person or through its Proxy Holder, may ask questions regarding one or several items of the Agenda, during the AGM. If acting through its Proxy Holder, the Authorized Shareholder must give written instructions to the Proxy Holder for the questions to raise, or at least, a general right to ask all questions (regarding one or several items of the Agenda) the Proxy Holder may deem appropriate.

The Company will then answer to the questions raised, on a best-effort basis during the question and answers session of the AGM, on an individual or global basis (if the question was raised several times).

The Company will however not have to answer the question if the answer can be found on the Company's website, at the following address: http://www.imcagro.com.ua.



4 Language of documents



All documents relating to the AGM (including the Shareholders' Certificate) must be delivered to the Company in English. If any document has been prepared in any other language, the Authorized Shareholder must translate such document into English prior to the AGM and provide the Company with the translation together with the translated document, within the forms and delays as applicable to the translated document itself.



5 Language of AGM



The AGM will be conducted in English. Please note that the English language version of all resolutions is binding as the resolutions will be adopted in English.



6 Notices and further questions to the Company



Shareholders should address all notices and queries with respect to the AGM to the following Notice Address:

Industrial Milk Company S.A.

26-28 Rue Edward Steichen

L-2540 Luxembourg

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Or by email to the following e-mail address: Christian.tailleur@lu.totalserve.eu .

On all related correspondence (e.g., such as the object of the mail or the e-mail), kindly indicate the following notice:

2016 Annual General Meeting Industrial Milk Company S.A."

Please note that the Company's website is at the following address: http://www.imcagro.com.ua



Legal basis: Legal basis: Paragraph 39.1.1 of the Regulation of the Minister of Finance dated 19 October 2005 on ongoing and periodic information to be published by issuers of securities (Journal of Laws of 2005, No 209, item 1744, as amended).




A Pinellas County fraud suspect wanted since 1993 was arrested Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office issued an arrest warrant for Barbara Lee Greenberg, 55, on February 24, 1993. Investigators charged her with forgery in the amount of approximately $15,000.

Deputies were unable to locate Greenberg at the time, and the case went cold.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force took up the case as part of a larger effort to close cold cases. Deputy marshals with the task force uncovered information leading them to Greenberg in Pennsylvania under the assumed name "Barbara Cebula."

Marshals took Greenberg into custody without incident. She was arraigned as a fugitive from justice.
Oregon Coast Spring Break Top Ten: the Good, the Rad and the Unbelievable

Published 03/21/2016 at 8:51 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  So much Oregon coast, so little time. Now that it's spring break, you probably need to cram as much fun into a few days as humanly possible. But there's numerous things you probably don't know about this time of year, like its unusually photogenic clouds, things that glow, wild nature, kids attractions and even the wackier bar scene for grownups. (Photo: more dramatic cloud scenes like this at Ecola State Park can be found in spring).

Photogenic Clouds of Spring. A little known fact is that spring produces much more interesting and photogenic sunsets, as well as more dramatic cloud scenes. From later March through April and May there's plenty of days with a nice mix of fat, bulging clouds and sun. At sunset, these big clouds then create a lot of things for the rays to bounce off of, bending and twisting the last light of the day, but also painting them in stunning ways. (At right, a dramatic spring sunset at Oceanside).

You also get more spectacular scenes of dark clouds lit by sunlight, which make for amazing, brooding moments.

Scientifically, it has to do with the kinds of cumulus clouds this time of year brings, along with the less polluted air of spring, which allows for purer colors.

Aquariums Galore. The big attractions are, of course, the aquariums on the coast. In Newport, there are two: Oregon Coast Aquarium (541-867-3474 www.aquarium.org) and the Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center (541-867-0226 hmsc.oregonstate.edu/). In Depoe Bay there's also the Whale, Sea Life and Shark Museum (541-912-6734 oregonwhales.com/Museum/museum.html) which doesn't have life animals but is fascinating nonetheless.

In Seaside, there is the Seaside Aquarium (www.seasideaquarium.com 503-738-6211), the only one that lets you feed the seals.



Blow Your Own Glass Floats. Wondrous creations can come out of your hands at the Jennifer Sears Glass Art Studio. Here you can learn to blow your own fanciful creation. They supply the materials, they help you create the masterpiece, and you've suddenly made a memory from your own hands. You need to make reservations ahead of time. 4821 SE Hwy 101, Lincoln City, Oregon. (541) 996-2569. www.jennifersearsglassart.com/

Whales, Whales, Whales. Lots of gray whales are heading north to Alaskan waters this time of year, often with newborn young in tow. This helps create the famed Whale Watch Week in late March, where volunteers stand at dozens of high vantage points along the Oregon coast to help you spot the gargantuan cetaceans.

Yet this peak whale migration goes on beyond Whale Watch Week, and your chances of spotting a whale stay greatly increased for the next month or so. Even better: your chances of seeing an Orca rise as well, especially in April. There's a mysterious breed of Killer whales (known as transients) that chases the grays up the coastline, looking to eat the young whales. Almost nothing is known about them. But they appear almost like clockwork and make for some spectacular appearances at times.



The gooseberry - a kind of jellyfish - may be one remarkable find you could make



Beachcombing Treasures. A mix of stormy weather and nicer days creates a lot of interesting finds on the beaches. Big wave action causes debris and weird creatures to wash up in great numbers and it's fascinating. Live eggs of skates, purple jellyfish-like critters, objects from foreign countries, wild shells from a variety of oceanic life forms, bizarre bundles of giant tubes (bull whip kelp) or beach grass (known as whale burps) and much more.

Look for patches of stuff on the beach and investigate. You'll be amazed. This is a good time to look for the coveted Japanese glass floats that have nearly disappeared. Best of Oregon Coast Spring Break Lodgings





Agates. Sand levels can still be fairly low in March and April, especially if storms keep popping up. Look for gravelly areas on the beach or stretches were bedrock is showing, and you'll likely find gobs of agates. Where and when the hunting hotspots happen varies constantly, but some good places to check include Newport's Moolack Beach, Lincoln City's southern beaches, Oceanside, Arch Cape, Hug Point and several places south of Yachats like Bob Creek or Strawberry Hill.

Brown Waves of the North Oregon Coast. These are sometimes confused with pollution or with an environmental problem by tourists and even some locals who arent used to it. It is simply a larger than normal bloom of diatoms  a form of phytoplankton. In fact, it means the ocean is extremely healthy in the area.

Diatoms are actually the creatures largely responsible for the sea foam you see as well. Their microscopic skeletons combine with the air to make all those suds and bubbles. When gobs and gobs of these show up on the beaches, they turn the surf brownish. This is more prevalent in the Seaside to Warrenton area, where the nutrient-rich waters here foster enormous phtyoplankton blooms. Sometimes, the waves look downright sludgy and almost black in spots. It's rather amazing.

Glowing Sand. The phenomenon shows up as tiny, greenish, blue sparks in the wet sand. Look for an extremely dark beach with no light interference from lights or from the moon, and rub your feet backwards in the wet sand near the tideline. You may see it.

The cause of this is a form of phytoplankton called dinoflagellates  part of the family of microscopic plants that form the bottom of the food chain for marine life. This particular brand is bioluminescent, meaning they give off a glow when disturbed or bumped through internal chemistry processes, much in the same way a firefly does. When a lot of brown waves or sea foam shows up, this is a signal they could well be around.

Family Friendly at Night. Numerous playhouses along the coast offer up entertaining live theater, including the Coast Theater (coastertheatre.com), Tillamook Theater for the Performing Arts (www.tillamooktheater.com), Newport Performing Arts Center (www.coastarts.org) and Theatre West in Lincoln City (www.theatrewest.com). Rockaway Beach, Lincoln City and Seaside have video arcades where the kids can run a bit wild with their imaginations.

Or take them out on a night excursion (using a flashlight and an eye on the tides) and look for the famed glowing sand talked about above. If the weather is clear, it's an incredible time to stand on the beach and look for shooting stars and roving satellites.

Wacky Dive Bars. The Oregon coast is not Daytona Beach for collegiate spring breakers by any means. But for those who want to do a little reveling  in college or not - the wacky dive bars of the coast can be like visiting another country. And it makes you want to dive right into this local culture. Some beautifully strange experiences abound. Especially when you get some seriously sauced locals with a rougher edge or out-of-towners who believe they own the place, the results can be riotous. Plus, coasties can be some of the most endearing folks you'll ever meet in such an environment.

Some suggestions for kookier nocturnal cocktail adventures include Snug Harbor in Lincoln City, Sand Bar or Moby Dick's in Newport, and Sampai Lounge in Depoe Bay.





The Beaches Less Traveled. Often, there are so many people looking to get away from it all they bring all of it with them. The peak spring break time is when Oregon schools are out, and the north coast is fairly busy the following week (usually early April) when Washington schools are out. (Photo above: Arch Cape in spring).

Either wait for a calmer week or hit the deliciously (slightly) hidden spots, which are always a short drive from the big attractions of Seaside, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Newport or Lincoln City. On the north coast, Arch Cape, the village of Cape Meares, Tierra Del Mar and parts of Oceanside are often enough off the beaten path enough where you'll find few and far between surrounding you. On the central coast, Gleneden Beach and parts of Depoe Bay are less frenzied, while the 20-mile stretch between Yachats and Florence has some of the best semi-solitary adventures of them all. Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps and Virtual Tours

More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

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The earliest returnees to Deweyville are leaving footprints.

Mud left behind from drained Sabine River flooding that swept up sewage and tons of debris is still damp. Foul smells in homes with furniture strewn about are emerging from the muck as the disaster's next phase - rebuilding a wrecked town and reimagining its future - comes into focus.

Some still can't see the road ahead.

"We knew it would be bad. We expected it. But still, it hurts," 69-year-old Gail Tabelin said moments after she walked through her home of six years for the first time in more than a week.

Tabelin, who moved to Southeast Texas from Oregon to be closer to family, said she won't rebuild the home swamped by the Sabine because she won't be able to afford a second loan.

"We've got to decide if we're going to stay (in Southeast Texas) or if we're going to go," she said.

When the Tabelins arrived home Monday - they had to break their back window with a hammer to get in - some residents were on their second day of cleanup work. Much of the town remained deserted.

The disaster-response economy was beginning to bloom, with insurance adjusters and contractors milling about and faith-based groups taking applications for free restoration work.

Across the street from the Tabelins, 65-year-old Lucille Salter worked with her ex-husband Carroll, with whom she stayed while displaced, to tear out flooring and wall paneling.

Salter plans to stay, so she was rushing to dry out the home and stem the threat of mold. Two U-Haul and three trailerloads of her belongings are safe in storage. Weeks of work lie ahead.

"You've got to (start working now)," Salter said of her home of 41 years, which her late father built in 1954.

Many begin stripping homes

Now that the Sabine River and all that it swept up has drained from the small Newton County riverside town of about 1,000, the attention shifts to the people who will either put back the pieces or abandon them.

At this early stage, it's tough to gauge what will happen, though the perseverance of some families left room for optimism.

"You can get in there and do it yourself," said David Gillis, a 64-year-old resident of the Kirkendahl area. "If you've got a home and some health, you should get in there (and rebuild)."

Gillis and his wife, Vera, said they spent Sunday night in their Toyota Tacoma. He said this while he grabbed earthworms from a brimming ditch and put them in a canister to keep them for catfishing.

More than 400 people received free tetanus shots in Deweyville on Monday, a local emergency management official said.

Jamie Holden, who stayed on his roof with his furniture for six nights during the flood, didn't have to wait for the county judge's evacuation order to be lifted Sunday before he could return to work.

Holden has already slept three nights in the home he has begun to tear apart.

Jeremy Slone, his brother Josh, a cousin and a friend spent Monday gutting Slone's home. Carpentry is not his trade, but Slone plans to help out at a dozen family members' homes this week, mostly using their bare hands.

"We've got months' worth of work to do," Slone said. "I'm tired and overwhelmed."

Few homes were better prepared for the flood than the McClains', whose in-law relatives used a forklift to surround the home with at least 80 super sandbags - each one weighing 2 tons.

They fared no better than their neighbors.

Shawn Barnes, the 56-year-old son-in-law of Dot and Bob McClain, said Monday as he was stripping carpet from the home that he was unsure whether it could be salvaged or would be demolished.

The McClains, 78 and 80 years old, aren't sure if they'll return, Barnes said.

"They don't know the magnitude of this," Barnes said.

School, public buildings are unusable

Pockets of Deweyville were having their electricity restored Monday, and the town's water supply is running.

But the government buildings providing local services, including a Justice of the Peace court and the town's library, are unusable.

Questions abound about the future of the school district, whose high school campus was not touched by flood waters but remains the staging area for recovery efforts.

Deweyville ISD Superintendent Kevin Clark said the district will meet with insurance adjusters Wednesday to talk about the elementary school. Clark said he can't be sure until then whether it is salvageable.

The school on Monday afternoon was dark and scrambled. Benches, caught up in the flood's current, were tossed askew. A thin layer of water covered a classroom floor and pooled in the school's low spots near wet and caked mud.

Books, toys and seats were scattered after days of floating inside the school's library. A carpeted wall appeared warped. A damp curtain clung to a window pane.

Across a field from the library, the district's administration building fared better because it sits 3 feet higher, Clark said. It's possible that building can be dried out, restored and become one of multiple locations where elementary students will go to class, he said.

The district has canceled classes throughout this week, and the high school continues to function as a hub for disaster response and assistance, including sign-ups for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance and food for the needy, Clark said.

FEMA had not made it to Deweyville on Monday - the agency is expected to meet with local officials mid-week, according to one official.

Ginger Curl said she hopes federal aid will help her rebuild, which she can't afford on her own.

"This is a very poor town," Curl said. "What people out here need is money - a place to stay, food, gas and medicine."

A treasure amid destruction

Most of the people who returned home were greeted with disaster.

At least one found a pleasant surprise.

Gail Tabelin, between steps on sloshing carpet, shrieked in happiness after discovering a rubber container with old, valuable sewing material inside untouched by water.

"It's amazing when you have all this destruction, and that one box is OK," Tabelin said, wearing a sewing vest on her trip home. "I'm happy that survived."

Her home's stench wafted outside with the breeze.

"Oh, pee-yew, it stinks," Tabelin said.

EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_news

BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/BrandonKScott
Deweyville ISD plans to resume school April 11, and the high school campus untouched by the record flood that overran the town will likely be the "central point" of K-12 classes, Superintendent Kevin Clark said.

Deweyville's elementary school was among the hundreds of homes, businesses and government buildings inundated all last week by Sabine River flooding. The district's high school campus has served as the hub of response and relief efforts.
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These days John Sims wakes up to a cooked breakfast - eggs and waffles one morning - he shares with family, but his home life is hardly blissful.

Sims, whose family was one of several hundred ousted by Sabine River flooding that has plagued East and Southeast Texas, is one of eight people living in a trailer home outside of Deweyville.

"They're for it, but I don't like to intrude on people," Sims said of his mother- and father-in-law. "This is going to take months."

Displaced Southeast Texans might return home, but most can't sleep inside. Instead, they're scattered across the region, staying hours away from the houses they work on daily, crammed in with nearby friends or family or living in an array of unfamiliar places like hotels, cars or tents.

In Deweyville, no one has slept in the town's emergency shelter, which opened Saturday night at the high school for the first time, a local emergency management official said.

"Everybody had been displaced for so long, they had to find a place to stay (before the shelter opened)," said Shayna Slone, a Deweyville Elementary teacher who is connecting needy families with patrons.

On Tuesday, the third day since the county judge lifted an evacuation order from the small community, much of the town was gutting their homes and lugging their waterlogged belongings to the side of battered streets.

It's the early stage of a community-wide rebuild after the Newton County town of 1,000 was swamped by Sabine River flooding that swept up sewage, animals and debris.

Most families, who face their own decisions about whether to pick up and move elsewhere, don't know how long they'll be homeless because they're still in early conversations with insurance adjusters and waiting to see what federal aid stemming from a presidential declaration of disaster will be offered.

Brothers Michael and Howard Waxter were forced from their home more than a decade ago by Hurricane Katrina.

The New Orleans natives now live at a small apartment in Orange. Their second-floor unit was spared from significant damage, but much of the complex still reeks from the flooding.

The Waxter brothers spent the past eight days going from shelter to shelter - first to the North Orange Baptist Church, then to the Montagne Center in Beaumont and this week at the First Church of God back in Orange.

Howard Waxter said he suffers from high blood pressure and anxiety. He wasn't able to make it out of his apartment with enough medication to last more than a few days.

Pharmacies in Beaumont are taking prescriptions from Orange, then driving back and forth to deliver medicine, which American Red Cross volunteer nurse Loly Thomas said is uncommon even in disaster relief situations.

"It's been a huge challenge to get around," Howard Waxter said.

Michael Waxter said he and his brother knew from their Hurricane Katrina experience to move quickly when mandatory evacuations were ordered last week. It can be an unhealthy environment sticking around in a flood's aftermath.

"Being here at the shelter helps for comfort and peace of mind," Michael Waxter said.

Sunset Acres, a subdivision off Texas 87 just outside of Deweyville, has generated a reputation for housing the flood's refugees.

The area stayed dry, and as many as 10 people are returning to one house there each night between dusk-till-dawn work on their homes. At least three homes within a short walk of one another are housing friends and family.

"It's hectic," said one man who's been sleeping on a queen-size mattress on a floor in his son's house for close to two weeks. "It's not home, (but) thank God we have a roof over our head."

Four generations of one family are staying in James and Kathy Ray's three-bedroom Sunset Acres trailer - their daughter, son-in-law, grandson and his family.

"Everything's worked out good," said James Ray, who wakes up at 4 a.m. every morning and has breakfast cooked when his guests wake up. "Everybody gets along."

Shannon Strickland, a 47-year-old Port Neches resident helping Deweyville recover, has "adopted" a family to help.

Some people in Deweyville are going to different houses each night to stay with friends and families, she said, jokingly likening them to "gypsies." One family with children is sleeping in a tent, she said.

"I think most are staying close" to the community so they can get home to work each day, Strickland said.

Not all are. Multiple families are staying at campsites near the lake at Toledo Bend, according to Strickland and Shayna Slone. They make four-hour round trips daily.

Tabitha Brooks, whose home flooded on Wrenway Avenue in Orange, spent four hours at Salvation Army trying to get a $100 Wal-Mart gift card for food and supplies.

Brooks and her five children are living in a nearby two bedroom apartment with her oldest daughter.

Shawn DeGay moved into her mother's three bedroom house with her husband and three children. DeGay appreciates having somewhere to go but said there is some discomfort in not being at her home, beyond the crowded space.

"It's as simple as wanting to turn the (thermostat) to the temperature you like it," DeGay said.

EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_News

BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/brandonkscott
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The staff of Big Thicket National Preserve has a schedule of ranger-led programs in March, April and May to encourage everyone to explore the thicket.

From canoe trips on the Neches River to a black bear presentation and night hikes, park ranger will offer a variety of free programs.

Some programs require participants to pre-register, and still others have alternative meeting locations.

Be sure to consult the Winter/Spring 2016 Ranger-led Program Schedule. For details on those visit www.nps.gov/bith/planyourvisit/calendar.htm or www.facebook.com/BigThicketNPS.

LIST OF EVENTS

March 25, 7:30 p.m.: Night Hike

Engage your senses and learn about nocturnal animals on this 1.7-mile walk. Bring water, good walking shoes, and a flashlight or headlamp with a red lens. No light-up shoes. Meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Kirby Trailhead, located 2.5 miles east of the Big Thicket National Preserve Visitor Center. You can also meet the rangers in the Visitor Center parking lot at 7 p.m. and caravan to the trailhead.

April 3, 1:30 p.m.: Beech Woods Hike

The Beech Woods Trail is in the Beech Creek Unit. Meet at the trailhead on FM 1992, 1.5 miles north of FM 1013; or meet the ranger at the visitor center at 12:30 and caravan to the trailhead. Call the visitor center at (409) 951-6700 to register.

April 16, 9 a.m.: Canyonlands Hike

The 3-mile round-trip hike to the Neches River follows old logging roads and cross-country routes. There may also be an optional longer hike to Crescent Lake. Bring plenty of water and lunch. Meet at the Exxon Mini-Mart in Spurger. Call the visitor center at (409) 951-6700 to register.

April 17, 10 a.m.: Paddle the Preserve

Join park rangers for a guided canoe trip on the waters of the preserve. This program targets the casual and novice paddler. Canoes, PFDs and paddles will be provided. Trip locations vary and space is limited, so call the visitor center at (409) 951-6700 to find each trip location and to register.

April 21, 6:30 p.m.: Black Bears in the Big Thicket

Learn about the history and ecology of black bears in southeast Texas at this evening program. Meet at the Big Thicket Visitor Center. About 45 minutes.

April 22, 8 p.m.: Earth Day! Full Moon Night Hike

Celebrate Earth Day with a full moon night hike on the Sundew Trail. Bring water, good walking shoes, and a flashlight or headlamp with a red lens for this 1-mile walk. No light-up shoes. Meet at 8 p.m. at the Sundew Trailhead, located 7 miles north of the Big Thicket National Preserve Visitor Center. You can also meet the rangers in the Visitor Center parking lot at 7:30 p.m. and caravan to the trailhead.

May 1, 1:30 p.m.: Turkey Creek Trail Hike

The hike explores the Turkey Creek Trail from the Pitcher Plant Trail to CR 4825 and back. The full round-trip distance is 6 miles; hikers can choose to hike a shorter or longer distance. Meet at the Pitcher Plant Trailhead on CR 4850, two miles south of FM 1943 east of Warren, with water and snacks. Call the visitor center at (409) 951-6700 to register.

May 15: Paddling the Big Thicket

Join park rangers for a guided canoe trip on the waters of the preserve. This program targets the casual and novice paddler. Canoes, PFDs and paddles are provided. Trip locations vary and space is limited, so call the visitor center at (409) 951-6700 to find each trip location and to register.

Throughout 2016 visitors are invited to "Explore Your Thicket."

This 100 miles challenge is part of the preserve's National Park Service Centennial Celebration. In the 12 months leading up to the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service - Aug. 25 - the staff at Big Thicket National Preserve invites you to rediscover this national park.

This program challenges visitors to travel 100/50/25 miles, depending on age, through the preserve.

Participants can paddle, hike, run, jog, travel on horseback, and even trek off-trail through the thicket.

Track your mileage as you explore and contact preserve staff as you reach the targeted miles, so they can welcome you to the Centennial Club. They can also help track those miles! Simply call the visitor center at (409) 951-6700.

You can also participate in "Share Your Thicket Centennial Photo Contest while exploring the preserve. Park visitors are invited to submit photos by way of Instagram for entry into a year-long contest using the hashtag #BigThicketPhotoContest.

Monthly winners are chosen in three categories and displayed in the visitor center. An overall winner will be chosen in the fall.

To learn more about all of Big Thicket's 2016 Centennial events go to www.nps.gov/bith/get involved/centennial-activities.htm.

Big Thicket National Preserve consists of nine land units and six water corridors encompassing more than 112,000 acres. The Big Thicket, often referred to as a "biological crossroads," is a transition zone between four distinct vegetation types  the moist eastern hardwood forest, the southwestern desert, the southeastern swamp, and the central prairies. Species from all of these different vegetation types come together in the thicket, exhibiting a variety of vegetation and wildlife that has received national interest.
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By May 2017, Beaumont ISD will not have had a trustee election for six years.

To stage a district-wide vote 13 months from now will require the appointed Board of Managers to draw new trustee district boundaries, to decide whether voters will have a single-member or combination at-large seats and to call for an election.

It's a knotty problem because the appointed managers will have reached their two-year ceiling in July. The board's members, however, will likely have their terms extended by the Texas Education Agency commissioner because of a state law enacted by the Legislature last year that allows for it.

Meanwhile, the managers are trying to figure out what the law is, said board president Jimmy Simmons.

The board members discussed the situation in executive session Tuesday, but took no action even though the calendar will catch up to the school district in just a little more than a year.

"We can't have (an election) any sooner than May 2017," Simmons said.

State law governing school district elections require boards of trustee to run at the same time as another regularly scheduled election, such as a City Council election, which in Beaumont have been in May in odd-numbered years.

The most recent BISD trustee election was May 2011. The election scheduled for May 2013 was canceled because of legal turmoil.

While the lawsuits were playing out in various courts, the school district's governance collapsed, and in July 2014, the state education commissioner installed an interim superintendent and replaced the elected trustees with a board of managers.

"We're the canary in the coal mine," Simmons said of the Board of Managers, which was installed under the law at the time that prescribed two years only for an appointed board.

The 2015 Legislature amended it to extend a board of managers' stay and the BISD board will plow untilled ground this July.

There are two reasons to extend a board's stay, which include a district's financial or academic performance. BISD's performance in both areas is still shaky, but improving.

The Board of Managers has appointed new leadership in key positions, such as superintendent and a new chief financial officer, plus an internal auditor and a new purchasing director.

Total revenue for the school district through its second quarter ending Feb. 29 was $159.3 million with year-to-date transactions of $131.1 million, yielding a balance of $28.2 million, CFO Cheryl Hernandez reported to the board Tuesday night.

Simmons said the board wants to consult with new Education Commissioner Mike Morath on drawing new trustee districts and has to hire a consultant to help address the issue.

As a practical matter, Morath likely has no choice except to extend the Board of Managers for at least another year, using either financial or academic performance as the underlying reason.

"That's the commissioner's discretion," Simmons said.

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/dwallach
Sacramento-based Sutter Health recently signed an agreement to become the majority owner of Modesto, Calif.-based Stanislaus Surgical Hospital, according to The Modesto Bee.

Here are four takeaways:

1. The deal is effective April 1.

2. Equipped with eight operating rooms and 23 inpatient beds, Stanislaus Surgical is a licensed acute care hospital.

3. The hospital specializes in hip and knee replacements.

4. Per-the-agreement, Stanislaus Surgical will continue operating in its current form and will be a separate business entity with Sutter working with the hospital's physician ownership group.

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Overwhelming debt and the long training process deters many from pursuing a career in medicine, but the career's many benefits often outweighs the cons, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Here are five reasons to consider becoming a physician:

1. Physicians can change a patient's life. Physicians know early intervention can help a patient in immeasurable ways. If a physician provides a patient with superior diabetes care, this may prevent limb loss, blindness and other health conditions.

2. Our nation is facing a shortage of up to 90,000 physicians. By 2025, the Association of American Medical College estimates the United States will have a shortage of between 46,000 physicians and 90,000 physicians.

3. As the country diversifies, so should the physician workforce. The United States has a wide variety of cultures, with many different languages, customs and backgrounds. The U.S. physician base should also reflect this diversity as culture impacts care. A more diverse physician base can dispel common stereotypes and educate the healthcare industry.

4. The field needs leaders trying to make a difference.

5. Physicians can use the influx of data to better patient care. As technology advances, the industry will have a substantial amount of data at its fingertips. Physicians can be on the forefront of this data, and leverage it to better our nation's health.

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More than ever before, patients want to know the charges associated with their care, as they take on a greater share of their healthcare costs with higher deductibles and co-pays.

One expense patients are becoming more aware of is a facility fee, according to a Daily Item report.

Here are six things to know about facility fees.

1. Facility fees allow a healthcare organization to bill patients a service charge for the patient's use of hospital facilities and equipment. In some cases, a patient may be responsible for the service bill if their insurance declines to pay or if the patient has a high deductible health plan. Hospitals can charge patients facility fees if they see physicians who work in an office that is owned by the hospital.

2. Ultimately, the fees help offset costs to operate hospitals and outpatient clinics, along with access to support staff and physicians, according to the report.

3. Hospitals charge facility fees for outpatient services performed by employed physicians that independent physicians do not charge. Facility fees can increase the total cost of a service by three to five times compared to the same service provided by an independent physician, according to an Orlando Sentinel report, which cites information from the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee.

4. Facility fees have been a hot legal topic and remain controversial. Consumers have increasingly complained about unexpected provider-based billing, which allows a healthcare organization to bill patients for physician care in addition to a service charge for the patient's use of hospital facilities and equipment. The practice has spurred federal regulators to examine the procedures in place for hospital service charges and pricing transparency, reports The Plain Dealer. Federal regulators, concerned with rising care costs and consumer complaints, plan to review the impacts of provider-based billing this year.

5. Additionally, a new law in Connecticut, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires all hospitals and health systems that acquire a physician group and plan to implement a facility fee to notify the practice's patients from the previous three years.

6. And last year, President Barack Obama signed legislation outlawing provider-based billing at off-campus outpatient facilities, however the law does not apply to existing outpatient centers.

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Philadelphia-based Temple University Hospital will miss out on $19 million in funding if Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and state representatives can't agree on a budget by June 30, according to The Temple News.

Although Gov. Wolf has approved the health section of the budget, he vetoed other sections, leaving TUH without state appropriations.

Robert Lux, vice president and CFO of Temple University Health System, told The Temple News that the lack of funding would impact community programs at TUH and will cause negative implications with credit rating agencies.

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Nashville (Tenn.) General Hospital at Meharry needs $7.5 million to pay outstanding bills, less than two months after it was granted an emergency $10 million, according to The Tennessean.

Nashville General CEO Joseph Webb, DSc, requested the infusion of funds for the hospital at a budget hearing Tuesday. He said the $7.5 million would help the hospital reduce the number of days it takes to pay vendors from 80 to 90 days to 30 to 40 days.

"We like to say that we're slow-pay," said Dr. Webb. "We're not a no-pay, so the vendors have become fairly aggressive in looking for a shorter time for their payment."

The $7.5 million supplement  like emergency funds issued to the hospital in February  would be in addition to a $35 million requested subsidy for the hospital's 2016-17 budget.

In February, Dr. Webb requested and was granted $10 million in emergency funds for the hospital. Of those funds, $2.4 million will go toward addressing deficiencies identified by the Joint Commission, and the remaining funds will be used for strategic initiatives, accelerated account payments and to help the hospital handle a projected $1.4 million budget shortfall.

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NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Ramanathan "Ram" Raju, MD, told the New York City Council that the public hospital system faces "unprecedented threats" to its survival, according to the Daily News.

Numerous factors have contributed to the system's financial troubles, including cuts to federal aid for hospitals that care for uninsured patients. The 11-hospital system provides care to 1.4 million patients every year, including more than 425,000 uninsured.

NYC Health + Hospitals faces a $1.2 billion budget gap next fiscal year. To address the shortfall, the system has implemented a turnaround plan, which depends on attracting more paying patients and getting more people to sign up for MetroPlus, its health insurance plan.

However, on Monday, Dr. Raju told the city council the turnaround changes are "not yet sufficient to ensure our long-term financial sustainability," according to the report.

New York City Councilman Corey Johnson is doubtful the plan will be enough to keep the system afloat.

"It's hard for meto have confidence our public hospital system is going to be able to continue to exist in New York City," he said. "It's hard for me to see how we are going to be able to dig our way out of this hole."

According to a report on New York City's finances issued by the state comptrollers office, the hospital system projects it will close the fiscal year that ends June 30 with a cash balance of $104 million, enough to support six days of operations.

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Massachusetts hospitals are throwing their support behind a bill that would require private payers to reimburse for virtual visits with a physician at the same level as in-person services, according to a STAT report.

Here are five things to know about the bill.

1. Under House Bill 267, all Medicaid and state employee plans would be required to cover telemedicine services, including patient-to-physician and physician-to-physician consultations, according to the report. Physicians could also remotely treat patients in states other than Massachusetts.

2. The bill would include services transmitted by video, audio or other electronic communication.

3. State Rep. John Scibak (D-South Hadley), a former hospital vice president who sponsored the bill, said the goal of the legislation is to reduce the time, money and stress it takes for patients to travel to the hospital, according to the report.

4. The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which represents 17 private insurance plans, however, claims the bill is too broad and would allow physicians to bill even for minor services, such as a phone call, according to STAT.

5. If the bill passes, Massachusetts would join 29 states that have some type of parity law requiring coverage of telemedicine services, according to the report, which cites information from the American Telemedicine Association. The report notes, however, that not all of these states require equal reimbursement rates, and that states define telemedicine differently.

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A series of articles in the New York Post suggested New York City Health + Hospitals was in a state of havoc over its transition to an Epic EHR system, but system President and CEO Ramanathan Raju, MD, struck down those allegations and assures the health system's transition is going fine, reports Capital New York.

An anonymous source in the New York Post articles claimed Dr. Raju was under pressure from City Hall to stick to an April 1 EHR go-live, and that missing the deadline would compromise his job. In a City Hall meeting Friday with Mayor Bill de Blasio's staff, Dr. Raju said the April 1 date was self-imposed, and there is no threat of being fired.

"It could be April 7. If I'm not ready, it's not something we are chasing," Mr. Raju said, according to the report. "This deadline is craziness. If we miss the deadline, no one is going to chop my head off Nobody is going to fire me. That's not a problem."

Dr. Raju also discussed the resignation of former CIO Bert Robles. Mr. Robles was asked to resign in February 2015. During the City Hall meeting, Dr. Raju said Mr. Robles' resignation was due to his lack of experience with the project. "I didn't want someone learning on the job," Dr. Raju said, according to the report. "This is too big to do that."

In previous comments to Becker's Hospital Review, NYC Health + Hospitals said the reason for the CIO's termination was personal conduct. "Bert Robles and several other members of the Epic implementation team have been terminated for reasons related to personal behavior and conduct that did not affect the Epic implementation project," the system stated in August 2015.

NYC Health + Hospitals is investing $764 million to implement Epic's EHR.

Editor's note: This article was updated March 24, 2016 after omitting the word "not" from NYC Health + Hospitals' previous comments. We regret the error.

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Three Facebook users have filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook, several medical organizations and providers alleging Facebook obtained and used health information without their knowledge or consent, according to a Law360 report.

Smith et al v. Facebook, Inc. et al, filed in the California Northern District Court, names eight defendants including:

 Adventist Health System, based in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

 American Cancer Society

 American Society of Clinical Oncology

 BJC Healthcare, based in St. Louis

 Cleveland Clinic

 Facebook

 Melanoma Research Foundation

 University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, based in Houston

The lawsuit alleges Facebook uses private health information to create marketing profiles on each user, according to a Courthouse News Service report. These marketing profiles are then used to tailor advertisements based on that private information.

Lead plaintiff William Smith argues the healthcare organizations named in the lawsuit should have disclosed to patients their relationship with Facebook. The lawsuit specifically points to a chart Facebook uses to sell advertisements. The chart places more than 225 million users into 154 separate medical categories, according the Courthouse News Services report. Mr. Smith argues the harvesting of PHI is not allowed on several medical websites, including websites for Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages, restitution and an injunction to halt the defendants from tracking and disclosing PHI of Facebook users, according to the Courthouse News Services report.
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic said Tuesday it will shut down Mayo Medical Laboratories New England in Andover, Mass., the site of its East Coast lab operations, according tothe Post-Bulletin.

Mayo Clinic will close the Andover lab at the end of 2016 upon the end of the facility's lease, according to the report.

The lab's 105 employees were informed of the closure Tuesday morning. They will be invited to move to Minnesota and work at Mayo Clinic's headquarters or take a severance package.

"It is our hope that the vast majority of staff at our New England facility will be interested in open positions at other Mayo locations," Mayo Clinic spokeswoman Gina Chiri-Osmond said, according to the Post-Bulletin. "There are positions available for all employees who hope to continue their careers at Mayo. Mayo Clinic is committed to doing everything possible to retain current employees during this time of change and to providing support throughout this process."
March 20 was the International Day of Happiness, which the United Nations has celebrated since 2013. Happiness is a vital part of humanity, but where are the happiest places on earth to live?

The World Happiness Report looked into it. The report, which has been published annually since 2012, recently came out with a 2016 update detailing the happiness level of 156 countries. The countries are evaluated based on a variety of factors, including social support, perceptions of corruption, freedom to make life choices, healthy life expectancy and GDP per capita.

Here are the 25 happiest and least happy countries in the world, according to the World Happiness Report.

Happiest countries

1. Denmark

2. Switzerland

3. Iceland

4. Norway

5. Finland

6. Canada

7. Netherlands

8. New Zealand

9. Australia

10. Sweden

11. Israel

12. Austria

13. United States

14. Costa Rica

15. Puerto Rico

16. Germany

17. Brazil

18. Belgium

19. Ireland

20. Luxembourg

Least happy countries

1. Burundi

2. Syria

3. Togo

4. Afghanistan

5. Benin

6. Rwanda

7. Guinea

8. Liberia

9. Tanzania

10. Madagascar

11. Yemen

12. Uganda

13. Burkina Faso

14. Chad

15. South Sudan

16. Niger

17. Angola

18. Cambodia

19. Ivory Coast

20.Comoros

Click here to see the complete 2016 update and read the full ranking of countries' happiness levels.
Although roughly one-third of parents use online physician ratings to help inform their search for providers, most say they don't have total confidence in Web-based reviews, according to research from U.S. News & World Report.

More than two-thirds of parents don't trust online reviews of physicians and even assume some are made up, according to a national poll by the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. About the same proportion of parents also said there is an insufficient number of ratings to make support decision-making, while more than half of parents believe physicians may influence who posts ratings, according to the report.

The poll found 36 percent of mothers and 22 percent of fathers visited websites with online ratings to find a physician for themselves or a family member in the past year. Two-thirds of these people based their decision on the ratings they read, according to the report.

Older parents expressed the most concerns about online ratings. More than 70 percent of parents over 30 were worried they might be influenced by fake reviews. Fifty-nine percent of parents younger than 30 expressed the same concern.

"Doctor-rating sites have the potential to help make the patient-physician relationship more service-oriented," said David Hanauer, MD, lead author of the study and a pediatrician at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. "In order for online rating sites to become a more accepted and useful tool, doctors will need to be more engaged in the process, in ways that assure that ratings are authentic."
The board of directors of Kinston, N.C.-based LenoirMemorialHospital has unanimously voted to pursue exclusive negotiations to create a management services agreement with Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care.

LenoirMemorialHospital and UNC Health Care began discussing an affiliation earlier this year.

"With this partnership, we have the opportunity to expand high-quality healthcare  and a deeply respected brand  to our part of the state. We are confident this partnership will preserve the Lenoir Memorial legacy of local healthcare for future generations," said Gary Black, president and CEO of Lenoir Memorial Hospital. "Adding access to UNC's groundbreaking research and focus on advancing clinical care and our commitment to the patients we serve enhances what we can deliver together, close to home."

Hospital officials expect to finalize the details of the agreement in April. The agreement will not involve any sale or exchange of assets and will allow the Lenoir board to maintain local governance of the hospital, both parties agreed. Lenoir Memorial employees will remain in their current positions.
Hospital mergers in New York typically result in higher prices, with little improvement in quality, according to a new Manhattan Institute report, sponsored by the New York State Health Foundation.

In the report, authors cite a 2012 literature review by health economists Martin Gaynor and Robert Town, which included New York. Two studies cited in the literature review found across geographic markets, hospital consolidation results in higher prices; in concentrated markets, price increases can surpass 20 percent.

The studies also found lower mortality across various conditions for patients in less concentrated hospital markets, according to the report. Specifically, higher HMO penetration was linked to lower mortality from gastrointestinal hemorrhage and congestive heart failure.

Authors of the Manhattan Institute said New York's $12.8 billion Medicaid reform effort, while taking positive steps to reduce costs and deliver benefits, may make the problem worse by allowing consolidating hospitals to duck antitrust rules.

Furthermore, the authors argue that antitrust litigation  because it is infrequently used and does not address existing factors that limit competition in hospital markets  should be only one of several tools deployed by regulators.

The authors said antitrust is, and must remain, a vital tool in New York, but a complementary strategy can be found in addressing core deficiencies in state markets that handicap competition. They said these include lowering barriers to entry for new competitors and business models, as well as encouraging more competition among providers and across geographic regions through value-based purchasing arrangements.

"By effectively merging supply- and demand-side reforms, policymakers can address the root causes of the lack of competition in healthcare markets without micromanaging provider experimentation  and potential consolidation  among providers," the authors wrote.
Bowie (Texas) Memorial Hospital board members signed a contract to sell the facility to Hashmi Group for $1.5 million, according to a KAUZ news report.

Bowie Memorial, which closed last November, accepted Hashmi Group's takeover bid in February.

With the sale contract signed, Hashmi Group plans to reopen the hospital under a new name: Central Hospital of Bowie.

Regarding the transaction, Hasan Farid Hashmi, MD, of Hashmi Group, said, "Our aim is not just to restart the hospital, but to advance to a point that it becomes a regional center."

The transaction is expected to close May 16.

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Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health has signed an agreement to become majority owner of Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto, Calif.

Here are five things to know about the agreement.

1. The agreement will take effect April 1.

2. Under the agreement, Stanislaus Surgical, a licensed acute care hospital with eight operating rooms and 23 inpatient beds, will remain a separate business entity and will continue operations in its current form.

3. In a prepared statement, Bill Davis, CEO of Sutter Health's surgery center division, said the agreement helps Sutter Health move further along its strategic path "that accounts for a changing healthcare environment and today's value-minded consumer."

4. Daryn Kumar, CEO of Memorial Medical Center, Sutter Health's 423-bed hospital in Modesto, added, "Partnering with SSH adds value to our system, and complements the acute care and outpatient surgery services already available at Memorial Medical Center and the outpatient care provided by staff and physicians at Sutter Gould Medical Foundation."

5. The agreement comes years after Sutter Health began engaging in exclusive discussions with Stanislaus Surgical for a partnership in the delivery of surgical services in Modesto.

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The proposed merger between Jameson Health System, a single hospital system in New Castle, Pa., and Pittsburgh-based UPMC has been given the go-ahead under a consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The final order places restrictions on the transaction, such as requiring UPMC to maintain Jameson as an acute care hospital for at least 10 years. UPMC will also take over Jameson's $18 million in pension obligations and make $15 million in improvements at Jameson over the next two years, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The UPMC-Jameson merger has been in the works for nearly two years. The process of joining the two began in September 2014, when Jameson signed a letter of intent to merge with UPMC. They signed a definitive merger agreement last February.

The organizations had hoped the deal would be approved by the state attorney general and close last spring, but the decision was delayed due to antitrust concerns. The transaction was issued another setback last August, when the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office recommended Jameson look for other buyers before finalizing the deal with UPMC due to the potential antitrust issues associated with the deal. In January, the state attorney general said she would not oppose the proposed merger.

The consent decree requires UPMC to give the attorney general's office 120 days notice before acquiring any additional Pennsylvania hospitals.

Jameson and UPMC hope to complete the merger by May 1.

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Wheeling (W. Va.) Hospital has taken the first step to acquire Harrison Community Hospital in Cadiz, Ohio, as CEOs of both organizations recently signed a letter of intent for the transaction.

"The Harrison Community Hospital Board of Trustees and administration are excited and pleased to take the next step to ensure we are keeping quality healthcare close to home with signing the letter of intent," said Harrison Community Hospital CEO Clifford Harmon.

HCH is a 25-bed independent hospital, and Mr. Harmon explained he and the board understand that small independent hospitals are becoming obsolete. The hospital's board decided in 2014 to explore potential partnerships.

Ron Violi, CEO of 247-bed Wheeling Hospital, expressed excitement about the proposed transaction. "Our goal has always been to keep patients close to their homes and their loved ones," he said. "That is our intent for the residents of Harrison County."

Both organizations will now enter a period of due diligence. If they finalize an agreement, it must receive state and federal regulatory approval.

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After a public hearing and much consideration, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has approved St. Louis-based Centene's acquisition of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Health Net  with a few conditions.

"After thorough review including extensive public input, I concluded that this transaction provides an opportunity to bring new capital and resources from a major national health insurer largely outside of California (Centene) to enable a California health insurer (Health Net) to continue to compete and offer health consumers additional choices in California's individual, small group and large group commercial health insurance market," Mr. Jones said in a statement.

Mr. Jones' conditions for the acquisition include the following:

1. There won't be merger costs for California consumers.

2. Health Net will keep its commercial line of business.

3. Health Net "will continue to offer products through Covered California," according to the press release.

4. Together, Health Net and Centene have to supply consumers with timely and sufficient access to provider networks.

5. Health Net and Centene "must improve the quality of care delivered through their health insurance," according to the press release.

6. The insurers have to work together to create better health insurance rates, and they must use the same techniques they used before merging. They must also agree that increases will be minimal.

7. Health Net and Centene must keep a sufficient distribution channel for Health Net's insurance.

8. Health Net's upper level management must remain in California. There are limits on whether Centene can move Health Net's operations out of the state.

9. Centene will make a $200 million infrastructure investment to create a call center in California.

10. The insurers "will invest an additional $30 million in California's low and moderate income neighborhoods, with investments prioritized for health facilities," according to the press release.
Police in Shandong province have made 37 arrests for the illegal distribution of vaccines. The arrests are part of a public health crisis that has galvanized serious concerns about drug safety and a possible government cover-up in the world's second-largest medical market, according to The Guardian.

Here are five things to know about China's vaccine scandal:

1. The scandal broke last month when authorities acknowledged an April 2015 arrest of a mother and daughter accused of selling $88 million worth of vaccines since 2011. Chinese citizens have expressed concern about the belated nature of the announcement, according to The Guardian.

2. The investigation is centered on 12 vaccine types that were improperly stored or expired. It is not known how many people were exposed these drugs.

3. Three pharmaceutical companies are currently under investigation. One has been named, Shandong Zhaoxin Bio-tech Co. The company has been ordered to cease operations.

4. China has a long history of public health scares and government-withheld information. In 2002, Chinese authorities were slow to report an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, which contributed to the deaths of hundreds in China and other nations.

5. According to The Guardian, the World Health Organization's Chinese office issued a statement asserting that improperly stored or expired vaccines seldom pose a health risk. "The risk to children is lack of protection from the disease for which the vaccine was intended," the WHO statement said.

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Stryker has launched a risk-sharing program for hospitals that invest in the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System. The program, called the SurgiCount Promise, includes up to considerable product-liability indemnification and a rebate of the cost of implementing the system.

The SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System is designed to help reduce the risk of leaving a surgical sponge inside of a patient, an issue with an estimated average cost of $2.4 billion a year. Unlike the traditional manual sponge count procedure, the SurgiCount-verified count is maintained in the hospital's SurgiCount 360 software, which gives surgeons, nurses and hospital administrators a permanent record of the verified count.

Under the new risk-sharing program, Stryker agrees to give hospitals that report a retained surgical sponge up to $5 million to cover legal costs, as well as refund the money the hospital spent implementing the SurgiCount system for up to three years.

"The SurgiCount Promise illustrates Stryker's confidence in the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System," said Dylan Crotty, vice president and general manager of Stryker Surgical. "We know that SurgiCount can help protect a hospital's patients, staff and bottom line by significantly reducing the risk of retained sponges. The SurgiCount Promise gives participating hospitals complete confidence to invest in patient safety by shifting product-cost risk to us."

More articles on retained foreign objects:

4 strategies to prevent unintended retention of foreign objects

Hospital fined $86k for leaving towel in patient creates new towel count system

Number of preventable medical errors reach record high in Indiana




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Stocks across Europe opened in the red yesterday in the aftermath of the attacks, with travel shares worst hit

Airline and travel stocks led early losses across the stock markets following yesterday's bomb attacks in Brussels.

At least 34 people were killed and more than 200 injured after explosions at Brussels Airport and a city centre Metro station.

Stocks across Europe opened in the red yesterday in the aftermath of the attacks, with travel shares worst hit.

Ryanair was down almost 4%, and IAG, the parent company of Aer Lingus and British Airways, was down 1.5%.

For financial markets, the events came in a week where liquidity was starting to dry up ahead of the Easter holiday and investors were beginning to think about cashing in on a steep rally in stocks over the last few weeks.

Meanwhile, holiday firm Thomas Cook said British tourists were delaying booking their holidays amid fears of terrorist attacks overseas.

The FTSE 250 company said the business continued to be impacted by a "volatile geopolitical backdrop", with the number of summer trips sold for 2016 hitting 40%, down 2% on last year.

It also said demand was shifting across the market, with "significantly lower" bookings for Turkey being offset by a rising demand for trips to the western Mediterranean, the US and Cuba.

Its winter market also saw a 3% decrease in bookings compared to last year, with 90% of its programme sold.

Travel companies have seen their bookings come under pressure after a number of terrorist attacks hit popular holiday destinations, including Turkey, Paris, Tunisia and Egypt. The update from Thomas Cook comes as airline and travel stocks led the losses on European stock markets as shares fell in the wake of the terrorist bombings.

Shares in Thomas Cook were down more than 6%.

Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: "Thomas Cook continues to operate in a volatile market environment.

"We know that customers want a summer holiday but we can see that some are leaving it later to book this year as they consider their options.

"The early actions we took to move flights away from Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt have positioned us well for increased customer demand to resorts in the western Mediterranean, with strong sales to the Canaries, Balearics and the Spanish mainland in recent weeks.

"We have also seen an increase in sales to long-haul destinations such as the USA and Cuba as customers look further afield for their holidays."

It said UK performance was improving, with average selling prices up 4% for package holidays and 1% for seat-only trips, but total bookings were down because of later bookings.
Northern Ireland's economy would be hit harder by a Brexit than Britain's, partly because of its land border with the Republic, according to a new report

Northern Ireland's economy would be hit harder by a Brexit than Britain's, partly because of its land border with the Republic, according to a new report.

Oxford Economics' study said that "overall our modelling indicates that Northern Ireland's economy is likely to be relatively more vulnerable to the type of structural changes triggered by a UK exit from the European Union in comparison to the rest of the UK".

The report was commissioned by Stormont's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to try and understand the economic implications of withdrawal.

The UK economy as a whole is predicted to shrink if it leaves the EU, but Northern Ireland will retract at a stronger rate.

The report said the main reasons for province being hit more heavily than elsewhere in the UK include stronger trade links with the Republic, compared with Britain.

Northern Ireland's "relatively high level" of foreign direct investment is another reason why the region could suffer.

Additionally, manufacturing could be hit harder than other areas of business.

The report said that Northern Ireland's manufacturing industry currently "has a relatively high dependence on the food, beverage and tobacco and transport equipment" sectors, which are more at risk.

The study added that, in the best scenario, the province would be unaffected by the potential disruption of leaving the EU.

The analysis was built on a wider project across the UK that examined nine alternative scenarios which could occur if there was to be a Brexit.
The divisions in the Conservative Party over the EU referendum are mirrored inside the Northern Ireland Office.

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers has been a prominent supporter of the Brexit camp, while her Parliamentary under-secretary Ben Wallace is staunchly pro-EU.

Mr Wallace, who previously worked as an overseas business development director in the aerospace industry, said the case for staying was overwhelming.

Speaking at a CBI Brexit discussion in Belfast yesterday, he said: "I can't see what we would gain by leaving. The EU, for all its problems, provides us with a great stable place to do business. Northern Ireland exports to the EU are worth 3.6bn.

"We need access to markets that can afford to buy our goods and our manufacturers want to feed into European supply chains. That's a key issue for local companies, including those who trade easily with the Republic."
First Minister Arlene Foster with Wilfred Mitchell and Carolyn Brown of FSB Northern Ireland

Small businesses in Northern Ireland are calling on Stormont to bring in recommendations raised in a Government report aimed at slashing red tape.

Wilfred Mitchell, Northern Ireland policy chair of the FSB, is calling for the introduction of a 'regulatory budget', aimed at working out and examining the overall cost of regulation on businesses here.

"Business accepts there is a need for regulation, but it is vital that our politicians understand the potential impact it can have before implementing it," he said.

During a visit to the FSB offices in Belfast, First Minster Arlene Foster - who carried out a review of business 'red tape' during her time as Finance Minister - said she was supporting the initiative by the FSB.

"I give my assurance that the Northern Ireland Executive will do all in its power to support small to medium sized businesses to thrive and grow.

"This will curtail the ever-rising cost of regulation on the typical businesses of Northern Ireland.

"Small to medium sized businesses are the backbone of the Northern Ireland economy and I very much welcome the Federation's contribution to improving the business environment.

"The Northern Ireland Executive will consider carefully the recommendations in the FSB's manifesto and regulation policy paper.

"I commend the work that organisations like FSB continue to do to promote better regulation of this vital sector."
The Dark Hedges in County Antrim has become an even more popular tourist attraction after featuring in Game of Thrones

Disney is taking notes from Game of Thrones as it is making a musical drama using locations in Northern Ireland.

The musical is hoped to follow in the success of previous Disney Channel musical films such as High School Musical which became a franchise and was turned into a blockbuster film.

The 10-part series will follow the story of Skye, a 15-year-old city girl who goes with her father to live in a rural holiday lodge following the death of her mother.

Filming is taking place on the 400-acre Montalto Estate at Ballynahinch in Co Down.

Scenes are also being shot in Castlewellan and Tollymore Forest near Newcastle.

Tourists have flocked to Northern Ireland to see the locations which feature in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Director of programming for Disney Channels in the UK and Ireland David Levine said it hopes to bring song and dance to a place mostly known for swords and dragons.

He said: Northern Ireland has a great production pool and up until now it has been mostly known for swords and dragons.

Disney Channel is bringing songs and dancing  we have a great, talented cast who can not only act but sing and dance and we have original songs.

The Lodge has a cast of 22 and 67 crew of whom 46 are from Northern Ireland.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Game of Thrones film location - Stranocum Dark Hedges - Ballymoney Game of Thrones Film Location - Iron Islands - Ballintoy Game of Thrones Film Location - Dragonstone Mussenden Temple The Dark Hedges lining the Bregagh Road in Co Antrim have attracted visitors from all over the globe Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge near, Ballintoy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Tourist Board The Cushendun Caves Murlough Nature Reserve Arlene Foster wants to use tourism jewels like Ballintoy harbour to tempt Asian and Arab tourists Ballintoy harbour Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy, during filming at Ballintoy PA Game of Thrones Arya remains under the watch of the The Hound HBO HBO has defended graphic scenes of sex and violence in fantasy epic Game of Thrones Maisie Williams as Arya Game of Thrones King Joffrey and his smirk of contempt are back HBO Game of Thrones Jaime and Cersai in heated discussions HBO Game of Thrones Sansa and Tyrion have a heart-to-heart HBO Game of Thrones Oberyn with Ellaria, mother of the four youngest Sand Snakes HBO Game of Thrones Tyrion and Shae have words HBO Game of Thrones The Hound strides the fields in heavy armour HBO The battle for the wall: Jon Snow (Kit Harington) continues to fight the Wildlings in the Game of Thrones Season 4  HBO Dragon lady: Emilia Clarke Game of Thrones Daario will be a new arrival in season 4 HBO Game of Thrones Tywin wearing the Hand of the King brooch HBO Game of Thrones Ygritte and Tormund prepare for battle HBO Game of Thrones Sam, a steward of the Night's Watch HBO Game of Thrones Margaery and Olenna in the courtyard HBO / Facebook

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Disney have said the key themes of The Lodge would include the ability to accept change, overcoming hardship and being true to who you are.

It will feature nine songs which are performed more than 30 times throughout the series and which Disney hopes will become hit tunes as well as comprising a successful soundtrack album.

Levine said: The Disney Channel has had a great history of bringing music to its audiences.

We can only hope that we can hit the success of the likes of High School Musical, Camp Rock and Hannah Montana.

The Lodge stars London-based actress Sophie Simnett as Skye and features mostly British talent alongside young French, Dutch and Scandinavian actors.

It will be launched on the Disney Channel in the UK and Ireland in the autumn and later rolled out to territories in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
So, now we're at our most miserable and dissatisfied between the ages of 50 and 54. A couple of months ago, another survey found that our 40s were the unhappiest and most stressful time of our lives. Now it seems that the misery continues into our 50s and doesn't abate until we're 65. How comforting.

Maybe it has something to do with not "acting our age", a trend personified by the likes of Mick Jagger and Madonna. Mick's 72; Madonna's 57 and they're still working and gallivanting around as if they're in their 20s.

They are the living and breathing examples of the idea that 60 is the new 40, and 50 is the new 30. That idea is aided and abetted by the new generation of facial fillers and injectables that help roll back the years. Although, in Madonna's case, a heavy hand is making her look puffed-up and weird.

Mick Jagger's mug may be criss-crossed with what he says are "laughter lines" ("Nothing could be that funny," was George Melly's classic retort to that claim), but at least he looks real.

Being 50 and over is harder for us women, though. Whereas men can go grey and look distinguished, we look washed-out and tired if we don't make a big effort with our appearances. We seem to put on weight more easily, too, and to become invisible on the street, where once we could have turned a head or attracted a wolf-whistle. It follows that, in a youth obsessed culture, nobody wants to be seen as slowing down too soon, and so we soldier on and on, wary of the new kid on the block encroaching on our territory.

And at this age, we've also been through at least two recessions in our lives and we carry the battle scars.

The most recent downturn has set us back years, draining nest eggs and forcing many of us to stay working full-time, when we'd rather be relaxing a little bit more and spending time with our families and elderly parents.

Many of us fell into the trap, in our 30s and 40s of taking out huge, long-term mortgages on properties now in negative equity, loans which must be repaid. There's no rest for the wickedly property-mad. For me, the worst aspect of 50 is the thought of losing my elderly relatives. Somehow, it has taken until this age to fully realise their mortality. I don't want them to go anywhere.

Mary Johnston: 'My rule of thumb these days is do it while you can'

According to the recent poll by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I should be at the absolute peak of my lifetime happiness right now - and the good news is, this state of contentment is set to last for a further 10 years or more.

I should be currently feeling as happy as a teenager all over again, but I'm in my 60s and fast becoming one of the oldest people I know.

I find it impossible to believe that I am the age I am and still feel this good, so that's something at least, but to say that this is the best era of my entire life is stretching it somewhat. I loved my 30s and my 40s were fab. The ONS claims that people in their 50s are the least content these days, because they're having kids later in life and coping with ageing parents. Maybe so.

But I'd guess they're probably more financially stable than we were in our 50s and better equipped all round to deal with their teenagers.

They're also more savvy than we were. I'm hoping that, by the time mine are that age, if this survey is right, I'll still be as happy as Larry and still well enough to lend them a hand and cajole them out of their state of discontent, through my enduring happiness.

Both my husband and I had some hard times career-wise in our 50s and my youngest was still at primary school, but you just have to get on with it, which we did and came out the other side.

I find comfort in the words of CS Lewis: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." Seems the fact that I'm still married adds to my sense of well-being, or so they say, but conversely my husband's a bit of a misery guts, so that must be down to his atheism, while me having a religious belief adds to my sunny disposition.

Indian and Chinese people have proven to be happier than others, but no one's offered any reason why.

Now to the nitty gritty. In my opinion, one's state of happiness is due to many considerations, good physical and mental health being of paramount importance. Some are born with a "glass half-full" mentality and others regularly fear the worst. My rule of thumb these days is 'do it while you can'.

Whatever it is that makes you happy and fulfilled, be it painting on silk like one of my pals, spending three hours a day exercising in the gym like another, or loving a good lie-in in bed like me, do it.

I love to travel and have become a bit of an adrenalin junkie, trying things I'd never have tried before.

My growing band of grandchildren - I now have six -make me extremely happy. They wear me out, but they fill me with joy.

I was going to say one thing is for sure, we'll all get old, but nothing is for sure in this life, so make the very most of it.

And finally, according to this survey, even in your 90s, you could still be as happy as you were in your 20s. You couldn't make it up.

From sliding down banisters to botox ... how these four local celebrities are ageing disgracefully

Denise Watson (44) is a radio and TV presenter/reporter for UTV and U105. She lives in Lisburn with her husband David Scott (45) and their two daughters Samantha (11) and Beth (7). She says:

Growing older doesn't phase me at all. In fact, I embrace ageing. I tell everybody my age and I don't have a problem with that at all. As I get older, I feel more secure and comfortable in my own self than I ever have.

As someone who played sport at a high level when I was younger, I have had a lot of problems with my knees and ankles. When I walk upstairs now, I can hear my knees clicking. But all that I worry about with regard to age is that I can stay healthy enough to be there for my two girls as they grow up. I do everything I can to ensure that I'm healthy, such as eating well.

Botox or surgery wouldn't be something I would do, as I hate anyone fiddling with my face. I know I have wrinkles, so I regret going to sunbeds and lying for hours in the sun when I was a teenager without proper sun protection. But that's just what we did in the Eighties."

Pamela Ballantine (57), host of UTV Life, lives in Belfast. She says:

Age is just a number. It has never bothered me. When I was 40, the party went on for a week and when I was 50 it lasted 10 days, so goodness knows what will happen when I turn 60.

As I have got older, I actually feel more confident in myself, both in work and my identity. I'm not sure that it's as the saying goes 'with age, comes wisdom', but certainly with age, comes experience.

At this stage of my life I know what is right for me. There is nothing I cannot do now, there are some things I wouldn't do - such as run round in a crop top with my belly out - I think Ulster has suffered enough. I wouldn't do a bungee jump, but I wouldn't have done it when I was 20 either. I will still abseil off the top of buildings and drive fast cars, and I will definitely still slide down banisters."

Jo-Anne Dobson (50) is an Ulster Unionist MLA for Upper Bann. She lives on a farm in Waringstown with her husband John and their two sons Mark (22) and Elliott (25). She says:

I turned 50 this year, and I feel as long as I have my health and the right attitude, age doesn't matter. I embrace life as I lost my best friend, Louise Peacock, in January. She was just 48 and had been terminally ill with breast cancer.

So age is about having the right mindset where you value every single day and don't get hung up on things. We are all only here for a short time, so we should make the most of our time. My mum, Joanie, who is in her 60s, is an inspiration to me. She has a great attitude to life. It's easy to get depressed about getting older when, in fact, you should be making the most of your time and living your life to the full."

Vinny Hurrell (33), who lives in north Belfast, is a presenter on Radio Ulster and hosts his own topical late-night show. He says:

My age on an old website is still 28, even though I am in my 30s now, so I must be more concerned about ageing that I think. When I was in my teens I used to wish I was older, so I could do what I wanted and be in control of my life.

Now it feels as though time has passed very quickly.

I like to give myself goals to tick them off in terms of my career and my personal happiness. My big concern is that I won't achieve them. In terms of my physical appearance, I do go to the gym four times a week as I was quite chubby at school and lacked confidence.

While I am training to stay healthy, I also don't want my belly hanging out either. Although I'm too young now and don't need treatments such as Botox, I wouldn't rule it out when I get older if I need it. I don't think I wouldn't consider surgery and I'd like to think if I took it too far, my family would tell me to stop, so I didn't end up looking like Jackie Stallone."
A Stormont minister is threatening legal action against the head of Northern Ireland's Chamber of Commerce in a row over the Brexit campaign.

Enterprise, Trade and Industry Minister Jonathan Bell has referred remarks made by Chamber chief executive Ann McGregor to his solicitor.

Mrs McGregor said that she could make no comment as the dispute escalated.

Last week she asked Mr Bell to withdraw remarks made in the Assembly that a majority of local Chamber of Commerce members were in favour of leaving the EU, as is the minister's DUP.

Afterwards the Chamber also said that it wanted Hansard, the official Assembly record, to be altered.

Mr Bell's department confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that a solicitor had been brought in but it declined to comment further.

Mr Bell had told MLAs that he had been at a function at which Mrs McGregor had said the majority of Chamber members were supporting the drive to leave the European Union. Questioned by Ulster Unionist Alistair Patterson, Mr Bell said he had recently held talks on a Brexit with the Federation of Small Businesses and the CBI, as well as the Chamber of Commerce.

"Most recently, I was in Bushmills with the Chamber of Commerce and Ann McGregor," he added. "Interestingly, at that function, Ann McGregor said that, based on her conversations with members, the majority of members are for leaving."

However, the most recent survey by the Chamber concluded that around 81% of businesses in Northern Ireland supported staying in a reformed EU.

Just 11% of those surveyed said they wanted out of Europe, compared to 30% in the rest of the UK.

Mrs McGregor later claimed that the minister's comments did not reflect the views of the majority of Chamber members.

"I have actually asked the minister to withdraw these remarks, because I have even had people joke: 'I see you are the poster girl for the 'Out' campaign'," she said.

A Chamber spokesman added: "In all statements made by the Chamber and its officers, the Chamber has maintained a clear position of neutrality on the upcoming EU referendum, to respect the diversity of views amongst the businesses we serve.

"The Chamber does, however, report our members' views and to date we have carried out two surveys, with the most recent one highlighting that 81% of our members are in favour of staying in the EU. We will keep surveying business opinion and report the findings before the referendum on June 23. We have asked that the reference is removed from Hansard."

A statement from Mr Bell's department read: "The matter has been referred to the minister's solicitor."

The NI Chamber of Commerce said it had "nothing to add".

Business, Page 33
Litter on the beach at Newcastle, Co Down

The amount of litter blighting Northern Ireland's shores has risen by more than 50% in a year, according to new figures released by the Department of the Environment.

More than 5,000 items were found per kilometre of coastline on average, the 2016 Northern Ireland Environmental Statistics Report revealed.

It showed that 5,332 items of litter were found per kilometre, more than 50% above the previous year's figure of 3,498 items/km.

The amount was also 21% more than the 10-year average of 4,421 items/km.

Fourteen beaches across Northern Ireland are surveyed annually by volunteers from Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

The report revealed that the most common types of litter were plastic and cord, followed by drinks bottles, bottle tops, sweet wrappers, tin cans and fast-food containers.

Ian Humphreys, chief executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said everyone had their part to play in tackling the problem of marine litter, even if it is just to stop dropping it in the first place.

The group has launched its Live Here Love Here campaign for people who want to look after their local area.

"Marine litter has been described as a dire, vast and growing threat to the marine and coastal environment," Mr Humphreys said. "It is a global phenomenon, so solving it requires people working together across continents for many years to come."

"This does not mean leaving the solution to others. With 80% of marine litter coming from the land, we all have our part to play - if only to stop dropping litter in the first place. Joining the growing movement of people involved in Live Here Love Here is one positive way to become part of the solution.

"The result will be healthier places to live with less crime. Cleaner beaches will also attract more tourists, helping the local economy and creating jobs."

Mr Humphreys said Northern Ireland's annual BIG Spring Clean would take place in April and that people can get involved in a clean-up or even organise their own. A free clean-up kit can be requested at www.liveherelovehere.org.

The report revealed that illegal dumping of waste was the biggest environmental concern for households in Northern Ireland, but levels of public concern about the environment have dropped to 70% from a peak of 82% in 2008/9.

Under a third of monitored rivers are of a good standard or better, while only five out of 21 monitored lakes are classified as a good standard.

The data also showed that 14 of the 23 beaches monitored in Northern Ireland were classified as excellent, while seven were good and two were sufficient.

In 2014/5, almost a fifth of Northern Ireland's total electricity consumption was generated from renewable sources.

The total amount of municipal waste declined by a tenth between 2005/6 and 2014/5, while less than half (43%) of municipal waste was sent to the landfill in the latest year.

More than 1,000 Areas of Special Scientific Interest across Northern Ireland were assessed, and 68% of features were found to be in favourable condition, with 30% unfavourable - representing little change from 2014.

Meanwhile, at the end of 2015, 305,000 hectares of land in Northern Ireland (29%) were being managed under agri-environment schemes to help wildlife, a decrease of 6% compared with 2014.

There was an increase in the listings of buildings, up from 8,191 in 2003/4 to 8,702 in 2014/5.
There has been a dramatic rise of more than 20% in cancer diagnoses in Northern Ireland, new figures have revealed

There has been a dramatic rise of more than 20% in cancer diagnoses in Northern Ireland, new figures have revealed.

The chance of developing cancer by the age of 75 in Northern Ireland is now one in 3.4 for men and one in 3.8 for women.

The news came as it was announced that 60 specialist cancer care nurses and support workers are to be added to the health service workforce in here over the next five years.

Most of the 11.5m boost for specialist cancer services is to come from charities.

Experts at Queen's University have found that between 2005 and 2014, diagnoses in men increased by 24% from 3,619 to 4,486.

Among women, it had risen from 3,648 to 4,454.

The rise is attributed to an ageing population.

More than 54% of all cancer patients survived five years after diagnosis, while over 70% of patients were alive after 12 months.

But more than 20% died within six months of diagnosis.

Prostate cancer was the most common cancer in men, followed by colorectal and lung cancer.

Breast cancer was the most common in women, with 12% being cases of colorectal cancer and lung cancer.

Charities welcomed the 11.5m investment, which will see clinical nurse specialists (CNS) across all five health trusts and focus on different cancer types.

It is designed to fill gaps in the service which currently results in women diagnosed with breast cancer getting the support of a CNS.

The Health and Social Care Board will invest 2.4m, Macmillan Cancer Support 7m and Friends of the Cancer Centre has pledged a further 2.1m.

The Northern Ireland Cancer Registry report also revealed that cases of cancer were 14% higher in the most deprived communities compared to the regional average and 8% lower in the least deprived communities.

Gerry McElwee of Cancer Focus Northern Ireland said: "The difference in lung cancer incidence is largely due to the noticeably higher smoking prevalence in the most deprived areas (34%) than in the least deprived (12%).

"However, the causes of health inequalities are due to complex interactions of many social, economic and lifestyle factors."

Heather Monteverde of Macmillan Cancer Support NI said: "Macmillan first established clinical nurse specialists in the 1970s and we have been campaigning for 10 years to increase numbers here in Northern Ireland."

Colleen Shaw, chief executive of Friends of the Cancer Centre, said the group was "committed to ensuring that cancer patients in Northern Ireland have access to the best possible care and we see clinical nurse specialists as a vital part in this."

Health Minister Simon Hamilton said: "Clinical nurse specialists work at the front line, providing support during and after treatment. They are the main point of contact for patients and families, play a vital role in the coordination of care, and ensure that patients receive the holistic support they need to meet their clinical and emotional needs.

"This investment will benefit patients directly with more nurses on the ground."
Northern Ireland children not eligible for a NHS vaccine programme to fight a deadly strain of meningitis are heading off to England over the Easter weekend to avail of a newly-sourced batch of the vaccine

Northern Ireland children not eligible for a NHS vaccine programme to fight a deadly strain of meningitis are heading off to England over the Easter weekend to avail of a newly-sourced batch of the vaccine.

At least 10 children from here have been registered to receive the meningitis B vaccine at a private practice near Slough amid shortages of the Bexsero vaccine.

There is currently a waiting list in Northern Ireland for those able to shell out the 200 it costs to buy the drug privately.

A vaccine to protect against meningitis B became available on the NHS last September for babies aged over two months, followed by a second dose at four months and a booster at 12 months.

But parents wishing to have older children inoculated must pay privately to vaccinate against an illness that kills one in 10 victims and can cause brain damage.

A campaign for a broader childhood immunisation programme reached its height last month after Faye Burdett (2) died on Valentine's Day, just hours after her distraught parents Jenny and Neil released images of their ill daughter on the internet.

An existing petition on the issue was flooded with more than 800,000 signatories, thought to be the biggest petition to Westminster in history, ensuring a debate in the House of Commons.

Bexsero's manufacturer Glaxosmithkline said supplies were short due to "unexpected global demand" but it hoped to remedy the situation by the summer.

The manager of the Lanes practice near Heathrow Airport, Helen Probert, said she had been informed that stocks of the drug had run out in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

She said the clinic was unable to order the drug around the turn of the year but had just sourced 3,500 doses from Norway. The practice has been inundated.

"They are literally coming over from Northern Ireland for the day, on the plane this weekend, just for the dose and going back home straight away," she said.

Mark Regan, CEO of Kingsbridge Private Hospital, where the vaccine has been offered privately, said it had received calls from around 500 concerned parents.

"We have a limited supply and we've had to add names to a waiting list, notifying them as and when we take delivery."

Yesterday, a spokesperson for Northern Ireland's department of health confirmed sufficient supplies of the vaccine existed for the NHS programme, but added: "The Department has no influence over the supply of the Men B vaccine for private use."
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt and party colleague Danny Kennedy at the funeral for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church

PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton at the funeral for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church

The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack is underway in Belfast.

The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack is underway in Belfast.

The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack is underway in Belfast.

Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Among the mourners was Justice Minister David Ford, George Hamilton Chief Constable of the PSNI, Kate Carroll widow of the late Stephen Carroll, Theresa Villiers Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and First Minister Arlene Foster. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 A PSNI officer salutes The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Among the mourners was Justice Minister David Ford, George Hamilton Chief Constable of the PSNI, Kate Carroll widow of the late Stephen Carroll, Theresa Villiers Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and First Minister Arlene Foster. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016

Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Sharon (wife) is comforted with Family and Friends During The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: A man displays the order of service as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Family members of Adrian Ismay comfort one another outside Woodvale Methodist church as the funeral of the murdered prison officer takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Family members comfort one another outside Woodvale Methodist church as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Family members follow the remains of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay as his funeral takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: A police officers salutes the hearse on arrival at Woodvale Methodist Church as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Sharon Ismay (2nd R) is comforted along with family members outside Woodvale Methodist church as the funeral of her husband, the murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: A piper leads the cortege as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

A police officer stands guard near mourners as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Adrian's wife Sharon looks to the sky as the family walk behind the coffin.

McBurney/Adrian Ismay Funeral of Prison Officer Adrian Ismay Pictured Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary for State Vernon Coaker after the funeral service Date: Tuesday 22 March 2015 Location: Woodstock Methodist Church, Belfast Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX Liam McBurney +44 7837 685767 +44 2890 660676 liammcburney@gmail.com

Northern Ireland Justice Minister David Ford (centre) at Woodvale Methodist Church in north Belfast for the funeral of prison officer Adrian Ismay, who was murdered by dissident republicans. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. Mr Ismay, a married father-of-three, died eleven days after sustaining serious leg injuries in an under-vehicle bombing. See PA story ULSTER Prison. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

People attend a short vigil in Belfast city centre to remember murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay, whose funeral took place today.

People attend a short vigil in Belfast city centre to remember murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay, whose funeral took place today. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. Mr Ismay, a married father-of-three, died eleven days after sustaining serious leg injuries in an under-vehicle bombing. See PA story ULSTER Prison Vigil. Photo credit should read: Lesley-Anne McKeown/PA Wire

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Family and Friends during The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Justice Minister during The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Kate Carroll (widow of Stephen Carroll) During The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Vigil at Belfast City Hall for murdered prison officer Adrain Ismay this lunchtime. Mr Ismay was burried at the same time the vigil took place. He was murdered earlier this month when a group calling itself the New IRA planted a bomb under his van.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Sharon (wife) is comforted with Family and Friends During The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016 Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Among the mourners was Justice Minister David Ford, George Hamilton Chief Constable of the PSNI, Kate Carroll widow of the late Stephen Carroll, Theresa Villiers Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and First Minister Arlene Foster.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Vigil at Belfast City Hall for murdered prison officer Adrain Ismay this lunchtime. Mr Ismay was burried at the same time the vigil took place. He was murdered earlier this month when a group calling itself the New IRA planted a bomb under his van.

Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk 22/3/2016 Mandatory Credit - Picture by Justin Kernoghan Family members weep as close family and friends help to carry Adrian's coffin at his funeral in the Shankill area of Belfast - The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack took place in Belfast today. Mr Ismay, 52, was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast on 4 March. He was said to be recovering well, but died in hospital last Tuesday. A group calling itself the new IRA said it carried out the attack. A man has appeared in court charged with murder.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Vigil at Belfast City Hall for murdered prison officer Adrain Ismay this lunchtime. Mr Ismay was burried at the same time the vigil took place. He was murdered earlier this month when a group calling itself the New IRA planted a bomb under his van.

The family of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay yesterday said goodbye to the "big man with a big heart".

His distraught wife Sharon wiped away tears as she gathered her three daughters - one of whom is pregnant - around her along with her grandchildren, before mourners carried her husband's coffin away from Woodvale Methodist Church in Belfast. On top of the coffin sat a poignant reminder of the man known to friends as 'Izzy' - a Prison Service cap, gloves and medals.

The English-born 52-year-old father-of-three died 11 days after being injured in a dissident republican bomb attack earlier this month.

His brother-in-law and close friend Ron Abrahams told mourners: "He was a big man with a big heart."
An Audi Q7 like the one in which the family got trapped

Algae on the slipway which would have made it difficult for the vehicle to get any traction

Rescue services at the pier in Buncrana where a family of five perished after their car slide into Loch Swilly

Emergency services on the pier at Buncrana after yesterdays tragic accident

Tributes left at the scene of the tragedy. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Francis Crawford Who raised the alarm, at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal, after Five people, including children, have died after a car went off a pier. Picture Joe Bolan / Press Eye

Francis Crawford Who raised the alarm, at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal, after Five people, including children, have died after a car went off a pier. Picture Presseye

Francis Crawford Who raised the alarm, at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal, after Five people, including children, have died after a car went off a pier. Picture Presseye

Garda at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal, after Five people, including children, have died after a car went off a pier. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Francis Crawford Who raised the alarm, at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal, after Five people, including children, have died after a car went off a pier. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Francis Crawford Who raised the alarm, at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal, after Five people, including children, have died after a car went off a pier. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Flowers left at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Flowers left at the Scene at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

John McCarthy from the RNLI at the Pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Martin McGuinness at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Margaret McLaughlin

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Margaret McLaughlin

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Margaret McLaughlin

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Margaret McLaughlin

The scene at the pier in Buncrana Co Donegal. Picture Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Buncrana pier tragedy: Former Ballymena United footballer Davitt Walsh heroically dived into the water and saved baby. Image: RTE News

Remains of the five members of the same family who drowned at Buncrana pier are taken to the family home on Tuesday morning. Photo: Joe Boland / Press Eye

Remains of the five members of the same family who drowned at Buncrana pier are taken to the family home on Tuesday morning. Photo: Joe Boland / Press Eye

Sean McGrotty and his two sons Evan and Mark died at the scene. His partner Louise wasnt present at the time of the tragedy, but her baby Rioghnach-Ann, whom she is cradling here, was rescued

Remains of the five members of the same family who drowned at Buncrana pier are taken to the family home on Tuesday morning. Photo: Joe Boland / Press Eye

Louise McGrotty with baby Rioghnach-Ann, who survived the tragedy, and son Evan (8), who lost his life

Evan McGrotty, aged eight, died alongside his father Sean McGrotty (49), 12-year-old brother Mark, grandmother Ruth Daniels, 59, and her 14-year-old daughter, Jodie Lee Daniels, when their SUV sank after sliding off a "slippery as ice" slipway in Buncrana in March 2016.

Thousands of pounds have been raised to help the family of the Buncrana pier tragedy which killed five people - including two young children.

Sean McGrotty, 46, his sons Mark (12), Evan (8) his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels (57) and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie Lee Daniels died when their Audi car slipped into the water.

The family were on a day trip to Buncrana, Co Donegal when their Audi Q7 car slid off a slip way into Lough Swilly on Sunday evening.

The only survivor was four-month-old baby girl Rionaghac-Ann.

She was rescued by a bystander who stripped down and swam out to the sinking car.

Louise, Mr McGrotty's wife, had been away on a hen weekend and rushed to be beside her daughter's side at Letterkenny hospital on Sunday night. The girl is said to be "doing well" in hospital.

A second crowdfunding page has been set up and has raised more than 10,000.

Bystander Davitt Walsh, who had gone to the pier with his girlfriend for a walk, has been hailed a hero after he swam out and rescued Ms James and Mr McGrottys four-month-old daughter Rioghnach-Ann.

The baby was rushed to Letterkenny General hospital where she was treated but has since been returned to her mother.

Meanwhile friends of 14-year-old Jodie-Lee Daniels who was killed in the tragedy have started an online campaign in a bid to get Justin Bieber to acknowledge the teenager's death.

The campaign states that Jodie-Lee was a huge fan and calls for the singer to tweet or record a video in memory of the young girl.

The hashtag #jbforjodie has been trending on social media and posts about the campaign are being shared across the world.

Manchester United strike Wayne Rooney paid a touching tribute to the two children Mark and Evan who died in the tragedy.

Friends of the young boys launched the hashtag #rooneyformarkandevan.

The footballer tweeted saying: "Devastating news about young Mark, Evan & family from Derry. Your support hasn't gone unnoticed. Prayers with family."
Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Belfast , UK - March 23, Pictured is Homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil held by friends of homeless woman Catherine who passed away in Belfast City centre and was laid to rest on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Pictured is homeless teen Maria Brady (18) who described Catherine Kenny as being like a mother to her during a vigil on March 23, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

A vigil has been held in memory of homeless woman Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast's streets.

Dozens of heartfelt messages and floral tributes have been left at the spot where Ms Kenny (32) from Co Down died.

Homeless teenager Maria Brady (18) described Ms Kenny as being like a mother to her during the vigil held by friends and family.

Earlier hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects to the 32-year-old.

She is the fifth homeless person to die on Belfast's streets this year.

Large crowds gathered at St Patrick's Church in Downpatrick.

Her sister Lee-Maria Kenny Hughes previously told the BBC Stephen Nolan show of her devastation at her sister's death saying she knew they loved her but "it wasn't enough".

In an emotional interview she told how they had tried on many occasions to help her but that addiction to drugs and alcohol had "gripped her".

Lee-Maria's husband Darren said his sister-in-law went to a "dark place".

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Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 The Funeral of homeless woman Catherine Kenny who was found dead in a shop doorway in Belfast, Takes Place at St Patrick's Church in Downpatrick on Wednesday. She is the fifth homeless person to die on Belfast's streets this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.  Press Eye - Belfast - Norther / Facebook

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"There was no getting through to her. No matter what we offered her, suggested or encouragement we gave her,no matter how many times we told her we loved her, and she knew we loved her but it was never enough.

"She always at every opportunity we seen her, she always said see you later, and she just turned and walked to the life she felt that she had to live."

Catherine's family have said they don't want her death to be in vain and that in order to prevent more happening, drugs need to be eradicated from society.

They hoped speaking out will save a life.

"We don't want Catherine's death to be in vain. She would be the first one to try and save someone's life. If she had managed to find her way back from this, of that i have no doubt she would have tried to save someone else's."
Mark McGrotty, right, and his brother Evan pictured holding their baby sister Rionaghac-Ann

Five coffins carrying the remains of the Buncrana pier tragedy victims have returned home ahead of their funeral as mourners and neighbours flocked to pay their respects.

Books of condolences were opened at St Joseph's Church in Galliagh and Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty in Londonderry, a city numbed by the scale of the grief wreaked on the remaining family of those drowned.

Sean McGrotty, 46, died along with his two sons Mark, 12, and Evan, eight, their grandmother Ruth Daniels, 57, and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie Lee Daniels.

The only survivor was Mr McGrotty's four-month-old baby girl Rionaghac-Ann.

Hero rescuer Davitt Walsh swam out into Buncrana harbour in north Co Donegal on Sunday night in an effort to reach the six people trapped in a car that had slid off the slipway into Lough Swilly.

Mr McGrotty handed him his baby out the broken driver's side window just moments before the Audi Q7 sank.

Before the Dail held a minute's silence in their memory, Enda Kenny said he will never forget the chilling eyewitness accounts that have touched the entire island.

Acting Taoiseach Mr Kenny said the magnitude of the horror put everything else in perspective.

"Our hearts go out to them and what is a devastating impact on the lives of the extended family," he said.

"We all know in our own lives the numbing grief that comes with the loss of a loved one.

"In these circumstances, however, this is a particular and deepest grief, that the tranquillity and beauty of a sunny spring Sunday was shattered by this tragedy."

Mr Kenny added: "I will recall - as many people will - forever the words of (eyewitness) Francis Crawford in his description of what happened.

"And I admire the courage of Davitt Walsh, who rescued and saved the life of baby Rionaghac-Ann.

"When you try to consider the horrendous impact of what was happening as that vehicle skid towards the water...

"A father handing his own baby to the rescuer - to say 'save our baby' - this puts things into perspective and in context."

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin described it as an unspeakable tragedy and trauma.

"The nation is truly shocked at the scale of that tragedy and its wider impact on the communities of Donegal and Derry," he added.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said the thoughts and prayers of everyone are with the family.

Parish priest in Derry's Ballymagroarty, where the victims lived, Father Paddy O'Kane, spent his day preparing for Thursday's funeral as well as comforting the mother of the two little boys and the rescued baby, Louise James.

She was in Liverpool at a hen party when the five members of her family drowned.

Ms James told the priest she was "destroyed" and "lost" since the tragedy.

Father O'Kane said the only "little sliver of hope" was the survival of baby Rionaghac-Ann.

She is said to be in a stable condition at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Former Irish president Mary McAleese is still haunted by a letter she received from a father describing his gay son as "evil", she revealed yesterday.

Ms McAleese, whose son Justin is also gay, said the letter kept her awake at night and that she was concerned for the young man.

"I worry about that young man's mental health, for not all human beings have the coping skills to emerge safely and mentally well from such a toxic home environment - some do, some don't," Mrs McAleese added.

Speaking at the launch of a report on the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, showing that high levels of suicidal thoughts and self-harm by teenagers who are bullied for their sexuality, the former president urged parents, teachers, school governors and politicians to heed its findings.

"Take it to their heart and make it their vocation to do whatever it takes to end this tragic and unnecessary waste of young lives," she added.

It reveals a "secret world of suffering," said Ms McAleese.

Last year, the former head of state, who is originally from Ardoyne in west Belfast, said her son went through "torture" when he discovered what his Church taught about homosexuality.

Justin McAleese (31) came out as gay to his family and friends 10 years ago.

He campaigned for a Yes vote in the Republic's same-sex marriage referendum last year and revealed his experience of growing up as a gay man.

He said that he was on the verge of coming out publicly when a former Ulster Unionist advisor to David Trimble, Steven King, married his boyfriend in Canada.

However, he said he delayed this after hearing Ian Paisley Junior describing the relationship as "immoral, offensive and obnoxious".

Mr Paisley later told Mr McAleese he needs to "get over it".

"I mean, seriously, all of this stuff where people are self-absorbed about their own gender and how everything is about them. Most people are kind of fed up with it.

"They want to live and let live. Get over it. Get over yourself," he told the Irish Times last April.
Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Wednesday 23rd March 2016 St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick. Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 The Funeral of homeless woman Catherine Kenny who was found dead in a shop doorway in Belfast, Takes Place at St Patrick's Church in Downpatrick on Wednesday. She is the fifth homeless person to die on Belfast's streets this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

Hundreds turned out for the funeral of Catherine Kenny who died on Belfast streets.

Hundreds of mourners have gathered to pay their respects to a homeless woman who died on Belfast's streets.

Dozens of heartfelt messages and floral tributes have been left at the spot where Catherine Kenny (32) from Co Down died.

She is the fifth homeless person to die on Belfast's streets this year.

Large crowds gathered at the 32-year-old's funeral at St Patrick's Church in Downpatrick.

Her sister Lee-Maria Kenny Hughes previously told the BBC Stephen Nolan show of her devastation at her sister's death saying she knew they loved her but "it wasn't enough".

In an emotional interview she told how they had tried on many occasions to help her but that addiction to drugs and alcohol had "gripped her".

Lee-Maria's husband Darren said his sister-in-law went to a "dark place".

"There was no getting through to her. No matter what we offered her, suggested or encouragement we gave her,no matter how many times we told her we loved her, and she knew we loved her but it was never enough.

"She always at every opportunity we seen her, she always said see you later, and she just turned and walked to the life she felt that she had to live."

Catherine's family have said they don't want her death to be in vain and that in order to prevent more happening, drugs need to be eradicated from society.

They hoped speaking out will save a life.

"We don't want Catherine's death to be in vain. She would be the first one to try and save someone's life. If she had managed to find her way back from this, of that i have no doubt she would have tried to save someone else's."
Journalists at some of Northern Ireland's best-known newspapers have voted in support of industrial action

Journalists at some of Northern Ireland's best-known newspapers have voted in support of industrial action.

Staff at the Johnston Press-owned News Letter, Derry Journal and the Morton Newspapers group of regional titles voted overwhelmingly in support of action in a dispute over pay, redundancy terms, staffing levels and changes to work practices.

The National Union of Journalists welcomed the vote and said it sent "a very strong signal."

Johnston Press plans to sell, close or slash costs at local newspaper titles it has deemed "sub-core".

These include the Londonderry Sentinel, Ballymena Times, Ballymoney Times, Banbridge Leader, Belfast Vibe and Tyrone Times.

A spokesman said the sub-core label "does not automatically mean we're about to close or sell these titles. These are the titles where we are looking to establish new innovative models to enable us to improve the levels of return".

Earlier this year it announced it was to cut up to 13 editorial jobs in Northern Ireland.

The Edinburgh-based group said profit for last year increased by 22.6% to 31.5m, while revenues were down 6.8%, to 242.3m. But total operating costs were cut by 6.7% to 191.7m.

The company said in its latest results statement: "We have identified news brands that are now considered non-core and will be either divested or run with less costs, reflecting the medium-term outlook for the identified assets.

"The company will run a formal process, with advisers, to market defined asset groups for sale during 2016."
Micheal Neeson is planning to emulate his father Liam by starring as Michael Collins on big screen.

A big-budget movie planned to coincide with the centenary of the Easter Rising will miss its target date by at least a year.

The Rising, which was to feature the big screen debut of Liam Neeson's son Micheal, will not reach cinemas until next year at the earliest - and may not see the light of day until 2018.

Co-written and co-produced by Northern Ireland man Kevin McCann, the movie, which is supported by Northern Ireland Screen and the Irish Film Board, had promised on its website that it would be "released to a global cinema audience in 2016, the centenary year of the Easter Rising".

The project attracted significant publicity with its casting of Micheal as Irish patriot and revolutionary Michael Collins - 20 years after Ballymena-born Liam's Golden Globe-nominated performance in the eponymously-titled classic directed by Neil Jordan.

Now, however, it has emerged that filming has not even started, with McCann currently attempting to obtain more funding for the homegrown project in the United States.

"It was unfortunate that we didn't get it ready for the anniversary, but the nature of film financing is changing by the day - it's been a challenge," McCann explained.

Ironically, the young Neeson had to be persuaded to take the Michael Collins role because he did not harbour ambitions to emulate his Hollywood star father.

"Dad was like: 'Please become a carpenter or something," Micheal told the London Evening Standard last year.

"On my Mum's side I was encouraged to do whatever I wanted. I've done a couple of drama courses.

"At the beginning I'd be shaking. Dad always said: 'Just take three deep breaths', and it does work, although you don't want anyone seeing you do it."

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close File photo dated 14/05/1916 of a view from Nelson's Column showing ruins in the city of Dublin. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of Sackville Street (O'Connell St) and the River Liffey at Eden Quay showing the devastation wrought during the 'Easter Rising', as a trove of rarely-seen photographs lays bare the utter carnage wreaked on Dublin during the tumultuous Easter Rising 100 years ago this weekend. PA PA File photo dated 30/04/1916 of British troops at a road block outside Cassidy's Grocery during the Easter Rising in Dublin, 1916 as a trove of rarely-seen photographs lays bare the utter carnage wreaked on Dublin during the tumultuous Easter Rising 100 years ago this weekend. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of Sackville Street from the Nelson Column after the Rising in Dublin as a trove of rarely-seen photographs lays bare the utter carnage wreaked on Dublin during the tumultuous Easter Rising 100 years ago this weekend. PA PA File photo dated 01/04/1916 of crowds outside Bow Street court, for the Roger Casement Trial as a trove of rarely-seen photographs lays bare the utter carnage wreaked on Dublin during the tumultuous Easter Rising 100 years ago this weekend. PA PA File photo dated 01/05/1916 of children carrying wood from Sackville Street, Dublin after the Rising as a trove of rarely-seen photographs lays bare the utter carnage wreaked on Dublin during the tumultuous Easter Rising 100 years ago this weekend. PA PA File photo dated 24/04/1916 of a poster issued by members of Sinn Fein proclaiming the creation of an Irish Republic. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/21916 of souvenir hunters of all ages scrabble amongst the rubble in the streets of Dublin in the aftermath of the 'Easter Rising'. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of damage in Dublin from the top of the Nelson Pillar. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of the Dublin Savings Bank closed after the Rising. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of British soldiers guarding an improvised armoured car made from a locomotive boiler and used to convey troops from point to point during the 'Easter Rising'. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of the ruins of the General Post Office viewed from the top of Nelson's Column , Dublin as rebels, proclaiming an Irish Republic, seized control of the building on the 24th April. PA PA File photo dated 25/04/1916 of the scene from O'Connell Street in Dublin. PA PA File photo dated 11/05/1916 of a part of the ruins of the Picture Gallery . PA PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp File photo dated 14/05/1916 of a view from Nelson's Column showing ruins in the city of Dublin. PA

Micheal (20) has already proven himself as an actor, winning plaudits alongside his 63-year-old father in one of the most expensive adverts ever made - LG's showcase production shown during the interval at this year's Superbowl.

While waiting for shooting on The Rising to get into full swing, he opened a fashion gallery in London. Other notable cast members due to be involved in the delayed movie include Colin Morgan, confirmed to play Sean Mac Diarmada, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, star of The Tudors and Dracula, who will play Patrick Pearse.

The role of Rising leader Thomas Clarke is yet to be cast, admitted McCann, although a major coup for the production team was the securing of Riverdance superstar Michael Flatley, who has agreed to provide one of the songs on the soundtrack.

McCann's work includes the movie The Boys Of St Columbs for BBC and RTE, which followed the lives of several great Irish figures including Northern Ireland Nobel Laureates Seamus Heaney and John Hume.

Among his latest work is Volkswagen Joe, which is the first film awarded funding by the European Peace Programme.

Based on a play written by his father, it is a half-hour drama set in an Irish border village during the Troubles.
The reported establishment of a governmental committee in Libya to assess compensation claims from victims of Colonel Gaddafi-sponsored IRA terrorism is an important development, MPs have been told.

Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood welcomed comments from Libyan deputy prime minister Ahmed Maiteeg that the committee would study the merits of calls for pay-outs.

"This is welcome news," he told a Westminster committee. "This means you have got someone at very senior ranks saying they are willing to look at this."

Mr Ellwood was giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the ongoing failure to secure compensation for the British victims of IRA bombs made with Libyan Semtex.

While the US, France and Germany negotiated multi-million pound settlements with Colonel Gaddafi for citizens impacted by Libyan-directed terrorism, the previous Labour government has been heavily criticised for not striking a similar deal.

Mr Ellwood also struck a note of caution, however. He said that while the issue was now on the radar of the new Libyan unity administration, substantive progress was still a way off.

"Even if such a committee is formed, progress is unlikely to be rapid," he said. "The new Libyan government faces significant security, political and economic challenges. We would not want to raise expectations too early that any settlement in victims' favour is likely in the immediacy.

"We will continue to support victims in efforts to seek redress and will encourage the Libyan authorities to engage with UK victims, victims' families and their representatives once stability returns and the security situation allows our embassy to reopen."

Mr Ellwood said it was still too dangerous for victims and their representatives to travel to Libya to make their case in person.

But he insisted that when the situation improved he would facilitate a delegation to travel. "The last six months have seen changes take place in Libya which we've not seen for many years," he added. "Talk of a formation of a committee, if you think of all the things that are going on in Libya, the difficulties they are enduring, that you then have a senior government minister committed to saying, 'We will take a look at this', I think this is very important and welcome news.

"The Libyan government is more aware of this issue than they have been for many, many years."
The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack is underway in Belfast.

The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack is underway in Belfast.

The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack is underway in Belfast.

Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Among the mourners was Justice Minister David Ford, George Hamilton Chief Constable of the PSNI, Kate Carroll widow of the late Stephen Carroll, Theresa Villiers Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and First Minister Arlene Foster. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 A PSNI officer salutes The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Among the mourners was Justice Minister David Ford, George Hamilton Chief Constable of the PSNI, Kate Carroll widow of the late Stephen Carroll, Theresa Villiers Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and First Minister Arlene Foster. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016

Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Sharon (wife) is comforted with Family and Friends During The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: A man displays the order of service as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Family members of Adrian Ismay comfort one another outside Woodvale Methodist church as the funeral of the murdered prison officer takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Family members comfort one another outside Woodvale Methodist church as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Family members follow the remains of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay as his funeral takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: A police officers salutes the hearse on arrival at Woodvale Methodist Church as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: Sharon Ismay (2nd R) is comforted along with family members outside Woodvale Methodist church as the funeral of her husband, the murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 22: A piper leads the cortege as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

A police officer stands guard near mourners as the funeral of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay takes place on March 22, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Ismay was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast earlier this month. The 52 year old was thought to be recovering well from his injuries but died following a heart attack due to complications following the bomb attack. The new IRA, a dissident terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the murder. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Adrian's wife Sharon looks to the sky as the family walk behind the coffin.

Northern Ireland Justice Minister David Ford (centre) at Woodvale Methodist Church in north Belfast for the funeral of prison officer Adrian Ismay, who was murdered by dissident republicans. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. Mr Ismay, a married father-of-three, died eleven days after sustaining serious leg injuries in an under-vehicle bombing. See PA story ULSTER Prison. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

People attend a short vigil in Belfast city centre to remember murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay, whose funeral took place today. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. Mr Ismay, a married father-of-three, died eleven days after sustaining serious leg injuries in an under-vehicle bombing. See PA story ULSTER Prison Vigil. Photo credit should read: Lesley-Anne McKeown/PA Wire

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Family and Friends during The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Justice Minister during The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Kate Carroll (widow of Stephen Carroll) During The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Vigil at Belfast City Hall for murdered prison officer Adrain Ismay this lunchtime. Mr Ismay was burried at the same time the vigil took place. He was murdered earlier this month when a group calling itself the New IRA planted a bomb under his van.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Sharon (wife) is comforted with Family and Friends During The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

Mandatory Credit - Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye  Tuesday 22nd March 2016 Adrian Ismay: Funeral for prison officer targeted in van bomb The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack. Among the mourners was Justice Minister David Ford, George Hamilton Chief Constable of the PSNI, Kate Carroll widow of the late Stephen Carroll, Theresa Villiers Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and First Minister Arlene Foster.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 The funeral cortege for murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay arrives at Woodvale Methodist Church this morning. Mr Ismay died 11 days after being seriously injured in an under car bomb planted by a group calling itself the ONew IRAO on the 4th of March this year. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Vigil at Belfast City Hall for murdered prison officer Adrain Ismay this lunchtime. Mr Ismay was burried at the same time the vigil took place. He was murdered earlier this month when a group calling itself the New IRA planted a bomb under his van.

Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk 22/3/2016 Mandatory Credit - Picture by Justin Kernoghan Family members weep as close family and friends help to carry Adrian's coffin at his funeral in the Shankill area of Belfast - The funeral for prison officer Adrian Ismay who died following a dissident republican bomb attack took place in Belfast today. Mr Ismay, 52, was seriously injured after a booby-trap device exploded under his van in east Belfast on 4 March. He was said to be recovering well, but died in hospital last Tuesday. A group calling itself the new IRA said it carried out the attack. A man has appeared in court charged with murder.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 22/03/2016 Vigil at Belfast City Hall for murdered prison officer Adrain Ismay this lunchtime. Mr Ismay was burried at the same time the vigil took place. He was murdered earlier this month when a group calling itself the New IRA planted a bomb under his van.

Outside a tiny church in Belfast yesterday, the distraught relatives of murdered prison officer Adrian 'Izzy' Ismay clung desperately to each other for support at his funeral.

A minister told mourners that the part-time search and rescue volunteer would have been deeply upset by the loss of five family members in the Buncrana drowning tragedy at the weekend.

Sharon Ismay wiped away tears as she gathered her three daughters - one of whom is pregnant - around her along with her grandchildren, before mourners carried her husband's coffin away from Woodvale Methodist Church.

They were led by a lone piper who played one of Mr Ismay's favourite tunes, Highland Wedding.

Hundreds of Mr Ismay's prison officer colleagues were at the funeral, along with a number of people whom the English-born Falklands War veteran had rescued or searched for in emergency call-outs down the years.

And it was those roles - with the Community Rescue Service (CRS) and previously with St John Ambulance - that prompted Methodist Church President Rev Brian Anderson to remember the five members of the McGrotty family from Londonderry, who died in Sunday night's tragic accident in Donegal.

He said: "I suspect the awful deeds that happened in Buncrana would have bothered Izzy."

The sentiment was echoed by Mr Ismay's colleagues, who revealed that of the last 250 call-outs for the CRS, the murdered man had attended 200 of them.

Security had been tight across Belfast for Mr Ismay's funeral.

From breakfast-time in east Belfast the PSNI sealed off Hillsborough Drive where Mr Ismay lived and where he sustained the injuries which were to lead to his unexpected death, 11 days after a bomb partially exploded under his van.

The cortege didn't pass the spot where the explosion happened and which is now a virtual shrine to his memory, with dozens of flowers hanging from lampposts. Instead, a hearse carrying Mr Ismay's coffin drove down the Castlereagh Road preceded by four PSNI motorcycle outriders and through the city centre to the church in Cambrai Street. Visits to Maghaberry, Hydebank and Magilligan jails had been cancelled, to allow as many prison officers as possible to attend the funeral service. It was relayed to a nearby church hall and to the streets outside, because the church simply couldn't cope with the number of mourners.

Many of Mr Ismay's friends and colleagues struggled to contain their emotions as his widow Sharon arrived with her daughters Sarah, Tori and Samantha, who suffers from Down's Syndrome.

Tori had written in a death notice: "I have lost, Heaven has gained the most wonderful Daddy this world contained."

Mr Ismay's three grandchildren were at the service and it was said that he was eagerly anticipating the arrival of a fourth grandchild within a few weeks. Mourners also heard that Mr Ismay had been looking forward to the wedding of his daughter Tori and her fiance Kyle and to a family holiday in Florida.

One of Mr Ismay's brothers-in-law, Ron Abrahams, delivered a powerful and emotional eulogy which he described as one of the hardest and saddest things he'd ever had to do.

He said Carlisle-born Mr Ismay was a big man with a big heart. He added that he had come to Northern Ireland as a Royal Navy officer who had been decorated for his service in the Falklands War on HMS Minerva and HMS Illustrious.

Mr Ismay met his Ulster-born future wife Sharon at a function on board HMS Caroline in 1984, marrying her three years later.

Mr Abrahams said his brother in law was an honorary Ulsterman and a fanatical supporter of the province's rugby team, as well as a season ticket holder at the Kingspan stadium not far from his home. Mr Abrahams said that away from his work with the Prison Service, which he joined in 1987, Mr Ismay was generous with his time with the Scouting movement, the St John Ambulance organisation and Community Rescue Service.

"If he could help, he would. He never distinguished people by religion, race or colour. People were his priority without exception and he threw himself whole-heartedly into every activity he participated in," he said. "And he never expected anything of anyone that he didn't expect of himself."

Mourners applauded Mr Abrahams and afterwards the Woodvale minister the Rev Colin Duncan added his voice to the tributes. He said Mr Ismay had been involved in many difficult incidents during his years with St John Ambulance, particularly at the North West 200 motorcycle races on the north coast.

Mr Duncan also said that his work as a search and rescue worker was extremely important to him and he disclosed that he had once responded to a call as he and his family prepared to sit down to their Christmas dinner.

He added: "He was a man of big stature and big personality. And he had a great sense of humour and quick wit." The Scots-born clergyman continued: "Let's give thanks for Izzy's life, this man who touched so many people in so many different ways; this man who has left behind a legacy in the way that he has served the community and served his country, in the Royal Navy, the Prison Service, St John Ambulance and the Community Rescue Service."

On top of Mr Ismay's coffin were his Prison Service cap and gloves, along with a number of his Royal Navy and St John Ambulance medals.

The lone piper led mourners out of the church and down the Shankill Road to Roselawn crematorium. It was a private service and journalists observed the Ismay family's request to stay away from Roselawn.

A number of reporters representing national newspapers and media organisations had turned up to cover the funeral service at Woodvale Methodist Church.

But the early interest from news desks across the water in the resurgence of the 'new IRA' in Northern Ireland quickly dissipated after the return of global terrorism in Brussels.
It happened in the Camberwell Way area.

Police are treating a fire at two derelict houses in Ballymena as an arson attack.

Police and fire crews were called to a fire in the Camberwell Way area during the early hours of Wednesday March 23.

Sergeant Avine Kelly said: Police received a report at around 1.45am of two houses on fire in Camberwell Way which is in the vicinity of Victoria Park.

"At this time, the fire is believed to have been started deliberately and police are appealing for witnesses.

We are appealing for anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area late last night or just after midnight during the early hours of this morning to contact us in Ballymena on the non-emergency number 101. Alternatively, information can also be given anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
A Meeting of a Belfast City Council committee yesterday descended into a shouting match between the DUP and Alliance over a leaflet distributed by one of the latter party's councillors.

In a fierce war of words, the DUP's Christopher Stalford and Alliance's Michael Long shouted over each other in anger.

Meanwhile, the DUP's Brian Kingston accused Alliance's Nuala McAllister of distributing a "disgraceful" leaflet.

Mr Long accused the unionist parties of bullying Ms McAllister before committee chair Declan Boyle of the SDLP brought the meeting to order.

DUP, UUP, PUP and SDLP councillors all expressed concern over a newsletter-style leaflet distributed around north Belfast by Alliance.

It asked what councillors from those parties had to hide - alongside a photograph of a jar of money - after they voted against making audio recordings of council meetings.

Some 31 Belfast councillors, including SDLP and unionist representatives, have signed a petition accusing Ms McAllister of breaching the code of conduct for council members.

The leaflet referred to the unionist parties and the SDLP voting against placing audio recordings of committee meetings on the council website.

Those parties said they voted the way they did on the basis of legal advice.

Despite the shouting match, at the end of the heated discussion councillors agreed to review the policy of placing recordings of committee meetings on the City Hall's website.

Mr Kingston claimed the leaflet carried the "innuendo of financial corruption and bribery".

The matter is currently being investigated by the Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

It was brought up at yesterday's meeting of the strategic policy and resources committee by Ulster Unionist Chris McGimpsey.

Mr McGimpsey had first raised his motion expressing concerns over recording committee meetings at the planning committee, but said he had been told to bring it to the strategic policy and resources committee.

He said councillors had received legal opinion that while it was not illegal to record committee meetings and place the recordings online, it was not advisable.

The UUP councillor claimed that the Alliance leaflet had "clearly brought councillors into disrepute".

Mr Kingston then said his party had voted against recordings on the basis of the legal advice and that his party stood by that decision.

Ms McAllister told the committee that she believed other councillors were embarrassed.

"I just want to put on record I will not be apologising," she told the committee.

Mr Long then said he felt Ms McAllister had been treated by some unionist councillors in a way that he could only describe as bullying.

"On a number of occasions we feel this has strayed over the line," he told the committee.

Mr Long also questioned why Antrim and Newtownabbey Council had been recording committee meetings and placing the audio online for some time with no objections from the parties who are objecting to the same policy in Belfast.

Sinn Fein councillor Deirdre Hargey said she felt councillors should "hang their heads in shame" over the bad-tempered display at the meeting, describing it as "pathetic".

"It was nearly easier discussing the flag decision than this," she said, referring to the rows over the decision to stop flying the Union flag from Belfast City Hall 365 days a year.
At Belfast City Hall, a crowd of around 100 people gathered for a vigil of murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay.

Organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, a piper played before a minute's silence was held.

Peter Bunting from ICTU said the vigil was an opportunity for the trade union movement "to illustrate its revulsion at the murder of a worker" and "to display our solidarity with prison officers - it's very important that those people are supported".

He added: "Today shows that people are prepared to stand down those who murder workers."

Also attending was Tony Jones (70), from Greenisland. His own father was a governor of Crumlin Road Prison who was killed by the IRA in 1979. "I know what the family is going through because of my memory," he said. "It's sad and I'm very mindful of my own family today. That's why I'm here, because I genuinely do feel for them."

Helen Flynn (29), from Ballynahinch, said: "I'm here just to show that the people of Northern Ireland don't believe in this type of thing. I'm outraged that it's still happening.

Claire McCann (37), from east Belfast, said: "I think it's disgusting that this is still going on. This is a reversion to the past, it's disgusting that people are trying to drag us back to violence. It's devastating for the family and it's really important that we show solidarity with them."
Legend has it that St Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland, but he seems to have missed one  as an unsuspecting homeowner found out when a 5ft reptile burst through his ceiling and landed on top of him.

Last Friday, just a day after the national holiday, the man was standing on a ladder and doing some renovation work at his home in Glasnevin, Co Dublin, when he was caught by surprise by the errant snake.

He was in quite a panic because he was trying to get the snake, Gillian Bird from the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) told independent.ie.

I asked him to see if he could get a box over the snake. He said he had a box over the snake, and he was sitting on it, and could we please come as quickly as possible!

When the DSPCA arrived, they found the nearly five-foot-long rat snake, a non-venomous species usually found in cornfields in America.

The homeowner noted that his previous tenant had had a snake, but had left the house some time ago without telling him that the pet had escaped.

Snakes are great escape artists. If you leave the tank open even the tiniest bit they can get out, and some snakes can be quite forceful, so if you dont have a very secure tank or if the lid is a little bit loose, they can actually force their way out quite well, said Ms Bird.

She continued: They like to go and find warm, dark places, like the attic space, bathrooms or hot presses.

The rescued snake, nicknamed Paddy , is now in the care of the DSPCA.

Its very thin, so its obviously been loose for a while. Its doing good now, but its a slow process. Its going to take a little bit of recovery, so we have it in a tank on a heat mat. Because theyre cold-blooded, they need some warmth to move.

Then we have to slowly stimulate its appetite again to get it eating, but you cant feed them too much at this stage, because their stomachs would be very shrivelled up.

Ms Bird explained that they dont yet know the sex of the snake, because their reproductive organs are concealed internally.

While a stray snake falling from a hole in the ceiling may sound like a nightmare to most of us, Ms Bird said they have received a number of similar calls over the years: Its not uncommon, we do get a few calls like this every year.

For now, the DSPCA are hoping the owner will come forward, but if they do not, they will be looking to re-home the rescued snake.

It can be difficult with any pet to find a good home, but we usually manage to find homes for quite a few of the reptiles we get into the DSPCA.

Irish Independent
A remote Irish island has urged American citizens to relocate and join them if Donald Trump becomes president.

Inishturk, just off the coast of County Mayo, has a population of just under 60 people and islanders are desperately trying to encourage new residents to move to the 5km long island.

With Donald Trump surging ahead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the United States, many Americans have already researched moving away if the billionaire is elected.

Mary Heanue, Inishturk development officer, told Irish Central that the island could be an ideal place to escape to.

She said: "Our big concern is employment and trying to encourage families to move over here because the population is declining.

"The island featured on an Irish TV documentary last year which gave us great publicity and a good few extra bookings. But we ended up having a terrible summer and a lot of people canceled.

"I've heard there are quite a few people in America looking to move to Ireland and other countries if Donald Trump becomes president. I'd like them to know that we'd love to see them consider moving over here.

"They'd be given a huge welcome and they'd find this is a fantastic place to live and to bring up children. Their kids would probably get the best education anywhere in the country too, because the teacher to pupil ratio is nearly one-on-one.

"Although winters can be hard and it's the kind of life that wouldn't necessarily suit everyone, they'd find it very peaceful here and they'd soon find out there's nowhere as nice in the world on a summer's day than here."

After Trumps gains on Super Tuesday earlier this month, there was a massive surge in Google searches for How to move to Canada.
Prince Harry arrives at the Himalayan village of Okhari on day four of his visit to Nepal

Prince Harry has extended his tour of Nepal to do his "small bit" to help a disaster response charity rebuild an earthquake destroyed school.

Harry will spend six days eating, sleeping and working with Team Rubicon UK volunteers in a remote village whose makeshift classrooms will not stand the coming rainy season.

More than 100 pupils are being taught in a temporary school made of poles, tarpaulins and tin after the devastating earthquake struck the country last April killing almost 9,000 and damaging almost a million houses and buildings.

At a reception hosted by Britain's Ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris at his official residence in Kathmandu, Harry said: " The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave.

"Thankfully however, I'm not leaving just yet. I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.

"The team I'm joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake. I'm so grateful to have this opportunity at the end of my official tour to do my small bit to help this beautiful country."

Harry joked that the tika dot - a symbol of welcome - placed on his forehead many times during his five-day visit, had become a permanent symbol: "If anything I may have been a bit too welcome. This tika is here to stay."

And in a sombre moment the Ambassador called for silence to mark the terrorist attacks in Brussels.
In this image provided by Daniela Schwarzer, smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Daniela Schwarzer via AP)

The aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport. Pic Jef Versele/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows smoke rising from the Maalbeek underground, in Brussels, following a blast at the station close to the capital's European quarter. Pic Getty Images

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, after two explosions rocked the main hall of the airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others. The Brussels metro service was being shut down on March 22, its operator said, following a blast at a station close to the capital's European quarter. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / Belgium OUT/AFP/Getty Images

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

People walk on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

This view taken on March 22, 2016 shows the broken glasses at Brussels Airport in Zaventem after a two explosions targeted the main hall. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / JONAS ROOSENSJONAS ROOSENS/AFP/Getty Images

Passsengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers who were evacuated from the airport wait in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport of Zaventem and a city metro station, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / SEPPE KNAPEN / Belgium OUTSEPPE KNAPEN/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers gather, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Belgium police officers block a street in Brussels on March 22, 2016 after an explosion occurred at a metro station. At least 13 people have been killed after two explosions occurred this morning in the departure hall of Brussels Airport. The Brussels metro stations have been evacuated after explosions at Schuiman and Maelbeek-Maalbeek. Government sources speak of a terrorist attack. The terrorist threat level has been heightened to four across the country. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / PHILIPPE FRANCOIS / Belgium OUTPHILIPPE FRANCOIS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Two passengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are gathered near Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

In this photo provided by Georgian Public Broadcaster and photographed by Ketevan Kardava a man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP)

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian police vehicle driving past passengers who are evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem. Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers boarding a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

The military police carries extra patrols at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, on March 22, 2016 in response to the attacks in the departure hall of Brussels Airport and at a Brussels metro station. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers waiting in a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen and soldier stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A helicopter of the Belgian police flies above the area near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian emergency vehicle driving past passengers evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture shows damage to the facade of Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 2016 after two explosions in the airport. Belgian firefighters said there were at least 21 dead after "enormous" blasts hit Brussels airport and the city's metro system. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUTDIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images

A security perimeter has been set, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers board a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers walk past as a group of travelers stand together, after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities locked down the Belgian capital on Tuesday after explosions rocked the Brussels airport and subway system, killing at least 13 people and injuring many more. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Emergency workers arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen speak at a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at the scene near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

A police officers sets security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Picture taken with permission from the Facebook site of Jef Versele showing the aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport.

A Eurostar representative gives advice to a traveler after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Police dog handlers speak to travelers as they patrol after Eurostar train services were suspended on the Brussels route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 21, 2016 after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions. Belgian firefighters said at least 26 people had died after "enormous" blasts rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / --/AFP/Getty Images

A man looks at flowers and a sign reading (Defy terror, protect freedom) outside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Smoke billows from the Zaventem Airport after a controlled explosion in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs struck the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Travelers wait at the counter of Brussels airlines in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

An Israeli airport security guard patrols with a dog in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A pilot and cabin crew are evacuated from Zaventem Airport in Brussels by bus after an explosion on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 26 people were reported dead. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

The blown out facade of the terminal is seen at Zaventem airport, one of the sites of two deadly attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after the attacks Tuesday on the Brussels airport and its subway system. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Policemen and soldiers stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemem stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A wreath is layed on a table along flowers and a candle inside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016 as the national and EU flag is reflected in the window. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

A boy holds a placard expressing sympathy for the victims of the terror attacks in Brussels during a protest at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni on March 22, 2016. Greece will not be able to start sending refugees back to Turkey from March 20, 2016, the government said, as the country struggles to implement a key deal aimed at easing Europe's migrant crisis. The numbers are daunting: officials said as of Saturday there were 47,500 migrants in Greece, including 8,200 on the islands and 10,500 massed at the Idomeni camp on the Macedonian border. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVICANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers get informed at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The departure board at Rome's Fiumicino aiport displays the cancellation of flights to Brussels on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol entrances to Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The flags of Belgium and the European Union are seen flying on half mast reflected in the window of the Belgian embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

An Italian police officer patrols with a dog at Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016 as security measures were reinforced in the wake of attacks in Brussels. European countries vowed to defend democracy against terrorism after blasts at Brussels airport and in the EU's institutional heart left at least 26 dead and dozens injured. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

A Belgian soldier patrols outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small group of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A man lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man puts a Belgian flag at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian soldier speaks to a police officer outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small groups of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A candle burns next to a heart drawing at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman leaves a bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours next to a French national flag with the lettering 'Paris - Brussels - Solidarity' at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris on March 22, 2016, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian police officer watches people walk past during an operation to limit the number of people allowed into the central Station in Brussels on March 22, 2016 following co-ordinated attacks at the Airport serving the Belgian capital and its Metro system. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man plays the cello as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A replica of the Manneken Pis statue stands at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 in Paris shows a view of a smartphone screening an Instagram page with the ashtag "#JESUISBRUSSELS" (#IAMBRUSSELS) and two tributes images picturing the color of the Belgian flag, a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu and the famous Belgian comic character Tintin, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels on March 22, 2016 after rush-hour bomb attacks killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. Within hours of Brussels attacks tens of thousands of people were sharing images on social media of Herge's cub reporter Tintin, the country's most famous creation, in tears. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTIONJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Police forces block the access to the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A man reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flag flies at half mast above the Royal Palace in Brussels on March 22, 2016 in the wake of co-ordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State group (IS) millitants at the city's airport and in a Metro train. Belgium will hold three days of national mourning in the wake of the deadly attacks in the capital Brussels that killed around 35 people. "All national flags on public buildings will be at half-mast," Frederic Cauderlier, spokesman for Belgian premier Charles Michel, told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit checks the baggage of passengers at Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: A K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Belgian special police forces take position in Zaventem following blasts at Brussels airport and a metro station on March 22, 2016. The European Union vowed to defend democracy and tolerance and to combat terrorism "with all necessary means" after triple blasts struck Brussels, the 28-nation bloc's capital. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 injured. The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volonteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev on March 22, 2016, in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANATOLII STEPANOVANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images

People holds a banner as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. THIERRY MONASSE AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A woman writes a message on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People look at informations inside the North station (Gare du Nord - Noordstation) on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, as stations are opened again with high security measures after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police issued a wanted notice for a suspect in the bomb attack on Brussels airport on March 22 in which at least 14 people were killed. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels that left some 35 people dead and threatened further violence. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A Metro station is closed off at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on a wall following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Police officers stand guard at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem following twin blasts on March 22, 2016. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZPATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images

A man holds a sign as people take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a frame with an inscription which translates as "For our Belgian friends" among floral tributes, candles and notes at the Place de la Republique in Paris in tribute to the victims following a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police found a bomb and an Islamic State flag during a search of a Brussels apartment carried out hours after deadly attacks in the Belgian capital that killed around 35 people, prosecutors said. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGETJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe.KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A miniature sculpture of Brussels' landmark Manneken Pis (Little man Pee) is seen in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A couple watches as the colors of the Belgian flag are projected on to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as the German capital shows its solidarity following the Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016. Security was tightened across Europe and transport links paralysed after a series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 34 people. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol outside the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group killing at least 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris as people gather for a tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAUMARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A man waves a Belgian and Palestinian flag as a mark of solidarity at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A member of the public holds a Belgium and Palestine flag at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout CCTV image issued by Belgian Federal Police of three men they believed are connected with the explosions at Brussels airport. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

A Federal police helicopter shines light on roofs during searchings at the Place Princesse Elisabeth in Schaarbeek in the region of Brussels on March 22, 2016, during ongoing security operations in the wake of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is display on the Trevi Fountain in Rome on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYSGABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

Messages and tributes left by members of the public at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Young women hold each other at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young girl lights a candle at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People gather to leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

A candle is lit at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam displaying the colors of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Women lay flowers in front of the Belgium Embassy in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People bring flowers and candles to mourn at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People light candles in the shape of a heart outside the stock exchange in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

People light candles at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Two Belgian flags are projected on Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A writing on the asphalt reads "Brussels forever" at the place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, where people write hundreds of messages on the ground to remember the victims of todays attack, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: A Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputy patrols Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The Belgian flag is projected on Rome's historical Trevi Fountain to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colors black, yellow and red in honor of the victims of the today's attacks at the airport and the metro station in Brussels, in Paris, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A person writes a message as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies patrol Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

People light candles at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on the European Union Commisson building in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian and peace flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes, a cross and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows Red Cross tents and police vehicles at the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, which was evacuated after an explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train Tuesday, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / Belgium OUTLAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian federal police released this image of Brussels bomb suspects. The two men on the left, each wearing a single black glove, are thought to be suicide bombers, while the third is thought to be on the run.

Photos issued by the Belgian Federal Police of Najim Laachraoui, who according to local media is thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, and who is believed to be on the run. Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A sad face is drawn on a Belgian flag near Maelbeek metro station following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - Belgian police officers stand guard near Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Photos shows colours of the Belgian flag being projected on to (from top L) the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam and Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks. AFP/Getty Images

People gather to pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks on the Place de la Bourse in central Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A man pays tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks next to a Tunisian flag at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse - Beursplein square in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A soldier checks the identification of a person entering Brussels Midi train station on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: People chant and sing songs at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Candles and a printed message are pictured at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is pictured onto one of the two lion sculptures at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Mathilde of Belgium (C) meets soldiers during a visit to Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / FREDERIC SIERAKOWSKIFREDERIC SIERAKOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - A boy lights a candle at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A heavily armed police officer stands watch in front of Union Station in Washington, DC, March 23, 2016. A dozen Americans were wounded in the Brussels attacks and a number unaccounted for, but no US nationals were known to have been among the 31 dead, the State Department said Wednesday. / AFP PHOTO / Jim WatsonJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

King Philippe - Filip of Belgium and Queen Mathilde of Belgium mourn after laying down flowers in the area of the explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / THIERRY ROGE / Belgium OUTTHIERRY ROGE/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman hold a placard reading "Against terrorism and hatred, Solidarity" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a placard with a heart-shaped Belgian flag reading "We want peace on Earth" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flags reading "Pray for Belgium" are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Flowers, candles and tributes, to the victims and injured, continue to adorn the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Paper butterflies and messages of support adorn the walls of the Bourse De Brussels building in the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Composite image showing Tower Bridge in central London lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Manchester Town Hall displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives react as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles at a makeshift memorial as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Two children write on a wall at a memorial for victims of attacks in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People light candles which create an heart shape at at a wake of Brussels Airport employees on Martch 23, 2016 in Zaventem, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / YORICK JANSENS / Belgium OUTYORICK JANSENS/AFP/Getty Images

A couple stand on March 23, 2016 in front of a makeshift memorial with floral tributes and candles in Brussels a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 23: The arches of Wembley Stadium are illuminated with the colours of the flag of Belgium on March 23, 2016 in London, England. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 31 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A man wears the Belgian flag as people observe a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

A Belgian national flag is projected onto the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, in solidarity with Belgium after the attacks that occurred yesterday in Brussels, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgians began three days of mourning Wednesday for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings, and the country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A woman covers her face near Maelbeek metro station as she reacts following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The teams stand as a minute silence is observed for the victims of the Brussels attacks prior to the friendly football match between Romania and Lithuania in Bucharest March 23, 2016. Romania won 1-0. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL MIHAILESCUDANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images

The National Gallery and fountains in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

London County Hall by the River Thames displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk are seen in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

People bring flowers and candles at Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People gather at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A small girl sits among candles set up at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People bring flowers and candles to Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Sonia (surname witheld) embraces her children Mateo and Alessia at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

People hold a banner showing the Brussels mascot defusing a bomb at Place de la Bourse on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The suspected bombmaker in the Paris terror attacks was one of two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Brussels airport.

Najim Laachraoui, 24, was previously believed to be on the run after dumping a bag containing a bomb that failed to detonate and fleeing the airport.

But officials said his DNA has been verified as that of one of the suicide bombers - meaning the identity of the infamous "man in white" remains a mystery as security services continue to search for him.

The revelation adds weight to the theory that both attacks, which killed more than 150 people and injured hundreds more, are linked to the same Islamic State (IS) cell.

Expand Close Belgian police have identified a prime suspect in Tuesday's Brussels blasts and two suspected suicide bombers, linking them directly to Islamic State militants behind last November's Paris attacks. Graphic shows timeline of terrorist attacks from Paris to Brussels. The credit GRAPHIC NEWS mu / Facebook

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Whatsapp Belgian police have identified a prime suspect in Tuesday's Brussels blasts and two suspected suicide bombers, linking them directly to Islamic State militants behind last November's Paris attacks. Graphic shows timeline of terrorist attacks from Paris to Brussels.

It comes as Turkish officials claim they warned the Belgian authorities that one of the Brussels killers was a terrorist - but he was allowed to walk free.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, which had his DNA all over them, according to The Associated Press.

He was being hunted by the Belgian authorities who had suspecting him of being an accomplice of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested on Friday.

Belgium's threat alert remains at its highest level and several suspects believed to be linked to the attacks are still on the loose, according to Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium's terrorism threat body.

Prosecutors said at least 31 people were killed and 270 injured in the three suicide bomb attacks at an airport and metro station in Brussels on Tuesday morning, and the death toll could rise.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who is also known as Brahim, and Laachraoui blew themselves up at Zaventem Airport at 8am local time.

Expand Close CCTV image issued by Belgian Federal Police of the man hunted in connection with the explosions at Brussels airport (Belgium Federal Police/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp CCTV image issued by Belgian Federal Police of the man hunted in connection with the explosions at Brussels airport (Belgium Federal Police/PA)

Just over an hour later more commuters were killed when Ibrahim's brother Khalid detonated a suicide bomb in the carriage of a train at the Maalbeek Station.

Turkish officials said they warned Belgium last summer that Ibrahim was a terrorist.

He was caught in June at the Turkish-Syrian border and deported to the Netherlands.

Expand Close Photos issued by the Belgian Federal Police of Naji
Tory MPs accused Labour's John McDonnell of supporting IRA terrorists after the shadow chancellor questioned George Osborne's fitness for office.

Mr McDonnell described Mr Osborne as a "political Chancellor" who should resign over the disability cuts row.

But Tory MPs criticised him for making a point about integrity on the day of a terror attack in Brussels, considering Mr McDonnell in 2003 said "the bombs and bullets" of the IRA had been responsible for the peace process.

Former Army officer Tom Tugendhat said Mr McDonnell had stood alongside terrorists who murdered his friends.

The Tonbridge and Malling MP said: "You have called into question the morality of the leadership of the Chancellor. Will you please discuss the morality that allows you to stand with bombers who murdered my friends in Northern Ireland and question the integrity of the Chancellor?"

Fellow Tory James Cartlidge also intervened. "Will you withdraw your previous support for terrorist organisations that have attacked this country?" he asked.

Mr McDonnell replied: "You have heard me share the sentiments of the House on Belgium. To bring that into the debate as a political point at this stage is unacceptable."

Responding to Mr Osborne's speech in the Budget debate, Mr McDonnell had said: "The behaviour of the Chancellor over the last 11 days calls into question his fitness for the office he now holds.

"What we've seen is not the actions of a Chancellor, a senior Government minister, but the grubby, incompetent manipulations of a political Chancellor. The Chancellor personally forced through cuts in personal independence payments (PIPs).

"PIPs are the benefits that for many disabled people actually make life worth living. The Chancellor was willing to cut away this vital support to some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people of our community. Do not tell us we're all in this together."

McDonnell caused controversy when he told a gathering to commemorate IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands: "It's about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have is due to the action of the IRA."

Mr McDonnell later apologised "from the bottom of my heart" for any offence and admitted he should not have used those words.
In this image provided by Daniela Schwarzer, smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Daniela Schwarzer via AP)

The aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport. Pic: Jef Versele/PA Wire

The aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport. Pic Jef Versele/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

The aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport. Pic: Jef Versele/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows smoke rising from the Maalbeek underground, in Brussels, following a blast at the station close to the capital's European quarter. Pic Getty Images

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, after two explosions rocked the main hall of the airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others. The Brussels metro service was being shut down on March 22, its operator said, following a blast at a station close to the capital's European quarter. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / Belgium OUT/AFP/Getty Images

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

People walk on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

This view taken on March 22, 2016 shows the broken glasses at Brussels Airport in Zaventem after a two explosions targeted the main hall. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / JONAS ROOSENSJONAS ROOSENS/AFP/Getty Images

Passsengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers who were evacuated from the airport wait in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport of Zaventem and a city metro station, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / SEPPE KNAPEN / Belgium OUTSEPPE KNAPEN/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers gather, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Belgium police officers block a street in Brussels on March 22, 2016 after an explosion occurred at a metro station. At least 13 people have been killed after two explosions occurred this morning in the departure hall of Brussels Airport. The Brussels metro stations have been evacuated after explosions at Schuiman and Maelbeek-Maalbeek. Government sources speak of a terrorist attack. The terrorist threat level has been heightened to four across the country. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / PHILIPPE FRANCOIS / Belgium OUTPHILIPPE FRANCOIS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Two passengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are gathered near Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

In this photo provided by Georgian Public Broadcaster and photographed by Ketevan Kardava a man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP)

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian police vehicle driving past passengers who are evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem. Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers boarding a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

The military police carries extra patrols at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, on March 22, 2016 in response to the attacks in the departure hall of Brussels Airport and at a Brussels metro station. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers waiting in a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen and soldier stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A helicopter of the Belgian police flies above the area near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian emergency vehicle driving past passengers evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture shows damage to the facade of Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 2016 after two explosions in the airport. Belgian firefighters said there were at least 21 dead after "enormous" blasts hit Brussels airport and the city's metro system. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUTDIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images

A security perimeter has been set, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Closed off road between Maelbeek station and Arts-Loi in Brussels. Pic: Shigeo Sugimoto/PA Wire

Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers board a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers walk past as a group of travelers stand together, after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities locked down the Belgian capital on Tuesday after explosions rocked the Brussels airport and subway system, killing at least 13 people and injuring many more. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Emergency workers arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen speak at a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at the scene near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

A police officers sets security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Picture taken with permission from the Facebook site of Jef Versele showing the aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport.

A Eurostar representative gives advice to a traveler after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Police dog handlers speak to travelers as they patrol after Eurostar train services were suspended on the Brussels route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 21, 2016 after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions. Belgian firefighters said at least 26 people had died after "enormous" blasts rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / --/AFP/Getty Images

A man looks at flowers and a sign reading (Defy terror, protect freedom) outside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Smoke billows from the Zaventem Airport after a controlled explosion in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs struck the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Travelers wait at the counter of Brussels airlines in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

An Israeli airport security guard patrols with a dog in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A pilot and cabin crew are evacuated from Zaventem Airport in Brussels by bus after an explosion on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 26 people were reported dead. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

The blown out facade of the terminal is seen at Zaventem airport, one of the sites of two deadly attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after the attacks Tuesday on the Brussels airport and its subway system. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Policemen and soldiers stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemem stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A wreath is layed on a table along flowers and a candle inside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016 as the national and EU flag is reflected in the window. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

A boy holds a placard expressing sympathy for the victims of the terror attacks in Brussels during a protest at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni on March 22, 2016. Greece will not be able to start sending refugees back to Turkey from March 20, 2016, the government said, as the country struggles to implement a key deal aimed at easing Europe's migrant crisis. The numbers are daunting: officials said as of Saturday there were 47,500 migrants in Greece, including 8,200 on the islands and 10,500 massed at the Idomeni camp on the Macedonian border. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVICANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers get informed at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The departure board at Rome's Fiumicino aiport displays the cancellation of flights to Brussels on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol entrances to Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The flags of Belgium and the European Union are seen flying on half mast reflected in the window of the Belgian embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

An Italian police officer patrols with a dog at Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016 as security measures were reinforced in the wake of attacks in Brussels. European countries vowed to defend democracy against terrorism after blasts at Brussels airport and in the EU's institutional heart left at least 26 dead and dozens injured. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

A Belgian soldier patrols outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small group of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A man lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man puts a Belgian flag at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian soldier speaks to a police officer outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small groups of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A candle burns next to a heart drawing at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman leaves a bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours next to a French national flag with the lettering 'Paris - Brussels - Solidarity' at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris on March 22, 2016, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian police officer watches people walk past during an operation to limit the number of people allowed into the central Station in Brussels on March 22, 2016 following co-ordinated attacks at the Airport serving the Belgian capital and its Metro system. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man plays the cello as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A replica of the Manneken Pis statue stands at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 in Paris shows a view of a smartphone screening an Instagram page with the ashtag "#JESUISBRUSSELS" (#IAMBRUSSELS) and two tributes images picturing the color of the Belgian flag, a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu and the famous Belgian comic character Tintin, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels on March 22, 2016 after rush-hour bomb attacks killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. Within hours of Brussels attacks tens of thousands of people were sharing images on social media of Herge's cub reporter Tintin, the country's most famous creation, in tears. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTIONJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Police forces block the access to the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A man reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flag flies at half mast above the Royal Palace in Brussels on March 22, 2016 in the wake of co-ordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State group (IS) millitants at the city's airport and in a Metro train. Belgium will hold three days of national mourning in the wake of the deadly attacks in the capital Brussels that killed around 35 people. "All national flags on public buildings will be at half-mast," Frederic Cauderlier, spokesman for Belgian premier Charles Michel, told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit checks the baggage of passengers at Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: A K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Belgian special police forces take position in Zaventem following blasts at Brussels airport and a metro station on March 22, 2016. The European Union vowed to defend democracy and tolerance and to combat terrorism "with all necessary means" after triple blasts struck Brussels, the 28-nation bloc's capital. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 injured. The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volonteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev on March 22, 2016, in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANATOLII STEPANOVANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images

People holds a banner as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. THIERRY MONASSE AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A woman writes a message on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People look at informations inside the North station (Gare du Nord - Noordstation) on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, as stations are opened again with high security measures after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police issued a wanted notice for a suspect in the bomb attack on Brussels airport on March 22 in which at least 14 people were killed. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels that left some 35 people dead and threatened further violence. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A Metro station is closed off at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on a wall following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Police officers stand guard at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem following twin blasts on March 22, 2016. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZPATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images

A man holds a sign as people take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a frame with an inscription which translates as "For our Belgian friends" among floral tributes, candles and notes at the Place de la Republique in Paris in tribute to the victims following a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police found a bomb and an Islamic State flag during a search of a Brussels apartment carried out hours after deadly attacks in the Belgian capital that killed around 35 people, prosecutors said. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGETJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe.KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A miniature sculpture of Brussels' landmark Manneken Pis (Little man Pee) is seen in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A couple watches as the colors of the Belgian flag are projected on to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as the German capital shows its solidarity following the Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016. Security was tightened across Europe and transport links paralysed after a series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 34 people. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol outside the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group killing at least 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris as people gather for a tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAUMARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A man waves a Belgian and Palestinian flag as a mark of solidarity at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A member of the public holds a Belgium and Palestine flag at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout CCTV image issued by Belgian Federal Police of three men they believed are connected with the explosions at Brussels airport. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

A Federal police helicopter shines light on roofs during searchings at the Place Princesse Elisabeth in Schaarbeek in the region of Brussels on March 22, 2016, during ongoing security operations in the wake of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is display on the Trevi Fountain in Rome on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYSGABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

Messages and tributes left by members of the public at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Young women hold each other at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young girl lights a candle at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People gather to leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

A candle is lit at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam displaying the colors of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Women lay flowers in front of the Belgium Embassy in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People bring flowers and candles to mourn at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People light candles in the shape of a heart outside the stock exchange in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

People light candles at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Two Belgian flags are projected on Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A writing on the asphalt reads "Brussels forever" at the place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, where people write hundreds of messages on the ground to remember the victims of todays attack, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: A Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputy patrols Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The Belgian flag is projected on Rome's historical Trevi Fountain to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colors black, yellow and red in honor of the victims of the today's attacks at the airport and the metro station in Brussels, in Paris, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A person writes a message as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies patrol Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

People light candles at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on the European Union Commisson building in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian and peace flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes, a cross and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows Red Cross tents and police vehicles at the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, which was evacuated after an explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train Tuesday, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / Belgium OUTLAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/AFP/Getty Images

Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium. Pic Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP

Belgian federal police released this image of Brussels bomb suspects. The two men on the left, each wearing a single black glove, are thought to be suicide bombers, while the third is thought to be on the run.

Photos issued by the Belgian Federal Police of Najim Laachraoui, who according to local media is thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, and who is believed to be on the run. Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A sad face is drawn on a Belgian flag near Maelbeek metro station following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - Belgian police officers stand guard near Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Photos shows colours of the Belgian flag being projected on to (from top L) the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam and Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks. AFP/Getty Images

People gather to pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks on the Place de la Bourse in central Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A man pays tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks next to a Tunisian flag at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse - Beursplein square in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A soldier checks the identification of a person entering Brussels Midi train station on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: People chant and sing songs at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Candles and a printed message are pictured at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is pictured onto one of the two lion sculptures at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Mathilde of Belgium (C) meets soldiers during a visit to Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / FREDERIC SIERAKOWSKIFREDERIC SIERAKOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - A boy lights a candle at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A heavily armed police officer stands watch in front of Union Station in Washington, DC, March 23, 2016. A dozen Americans were wounded in the Brussels attacks and a number unaccounted for, but no US nationals were known to have been among the 31 dead, the State Department said Wednesday. / AFP PHOTO / Jim WatsonJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

King Philippe - Filip of Belgium and Queen Mathilde of Belgium mourn after laying down flowers in the area of the explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / THIERRY ROGE / Belgium OUTTHIERRY ROGE/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman hold a placard reading "Against terrorism and hatred, Solidarity" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a placard with a heart-shaped Belgian flag reading "We want peace on Earth" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flags reading "Pray for Belgium" are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Flowers, candles and tributes, to the victims and injured, continue to adorn the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Paper butterflies and messages of support adorn the walls of the Bourse De Brussels building in the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Composite image showing Tower Bridge in central London lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Manchester Town Hall displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives react as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles at a makeshift memorial as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Two children write on a wall at a memorial for victims of attacks in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People light candles which create an heart shape at at a wake of Brussels Airport employees on Martch 23, 2016 in Zaventem, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / YORICK JANSENS / Belgium OUTYORICK JANSENS/AFP/Getty Images

A couple stand on March 23, 2016 in front of a makeshift memorial with floral tributes and candles in Brussels a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 23: The arches of Wembley Stadium are illuminated with the colours of the flag of Belgium on March 23, 2016 in London, England. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 31 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A man wears the Belgian flag as people observe a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

A Belgian national flag is projected onto the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, in solidarity with Belgium after the attacks that occurred yesterday in Brussels, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgians began three days of mourning Wednesday for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings, and the country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A woman covers her face near Maelbeek metro station as she reacts following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The teams stand as a minute silence is observed for the victims of the Brussels attacks prior to the friendly football match between Romania and Lithuania in Bucharest March 23, 2016. Romania won 1-0. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL MIHAILESCUDANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images

The National Gallery and fountains in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

London County Hall by the River Thames displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk are seen in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

People bring flowers and candles at Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People gather at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A small girl sits among candles set up at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People bring flowers and candles to Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Sonia (surname witheld) embraces her children Mateo and Alessia at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

People hold a banner showing the Brussels mascot defusing a bomb at Place de la Bourse on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Teenagers and workers from Northern Ireland who were in Brussels yesterday have said they feel lucky to be alive.

A group of 18 students from east Antrim had missed their train and avoided one of the explosions at the airport by minutes.

James McCaughan, a youth worker with the group, said they initially thought a fire was to blame for the panic.

"We didn't realise what had happened," he said in an interview with BBC Radio.

"We were just obviously in an emergency situation. Our priority was really to get the young people safely out without any panic."

He continued: "My co-worker Heidi was with me and we just kept them calm and got outside. Everything was OK but when they started looking on social media then people were a bit more scared."

With the airport and public transport in Brussels locked down for security, the group arranged for a private minibus to take them to Amsterdam to catch a separate flight. They arrived safely back in Dublin last night.

One of the teenagers, Shealyn Caulfield (17) from Ballymena, told reporters: "We missed our first train to the airport so we were 10 minutes behind schedule and missed the bombing by a few minutes.

"As soon as we arrived at the airport we were told to sprint out of the emergency exits. We then were walking towards a metro and were told that there had been another bombing in the metro stations and that public transport was shut down."

Her mother Clare Caulfield, who was at home, told the Ballymena Times she was terrified when she heard the news.

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"She texted this morning to say that they missed the first train to the airport," she said. "They missed that train, thank God.

"They got into the airport and the bombs went off, and they had to be evacuated.

"At that stage, I knew nothing about it. I was in spin class in the gym. I happened to look over to the left and saw all this running on the TV.

"I was about to pass out. I couldn't take it in."

An Education Authority spokesperson said: "No one was injured and the group was immediately moved to a safe area where direct contact was made with the authority and the parents of the young people."

Barry Magee from Downpatrick has lived in Brussels for 11 years and works in the European Parliament.

After hearing about the first two explosions at the airport, he contacted his manager to say he would work from home.

In less that half-an-hour a third explosion occurred at the Maelbeek station, some
In this image provided by Daniela Schwarzer, smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Daniela Schwarzer via AP)

The aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport. Pic Jef Versele/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows smoke rising from the Maalbeek underground, in Brussels, following a blast at the station close to the capital's European quarter. Pic Getty Images

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, after two explosions rocked the main hall of the airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others. The Brussels metro service was being shut down on March 22, its operator said, following a blast at a station close to the capital's European quarter. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / Belgium OUT/AFP/Getty Images

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

People walk on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

This view taken on March 22, 2016 shows the broken glasses at Brussels Airport in Zaventem after a two explosions targeted the main hall. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / JONAS ROOSENSJONAS ROOSENS/AFP/Getty Images

Passsengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers who were evacuated from the airport wait in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport of Zaventem and a city metro station, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / SEPPE KNAPEN / Belgium OUTSEPPE KNAPEN/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers gather, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Belgium police officers block a street in Brussels on March 22, 2016 after an explosion occurred at a metro station. At least 13 people have been killed after two explosions occurred this morning in the departure hall of Brussels Airport. The Brussels metro stations have been evacuated after explosions at Schuiman and Maelbeek-Maalbeek. Government sources speak of a terrorist attack. The terrorist threat level has been heightened to four across the country. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / PHILIPPE FRANCOIS / Belgium OUTPHILIPPE FRANCOIS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Two passengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are gathered near Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

In this photo provided by Georgian Public Broadcaster and photographed by Ketevan Kardava a man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP)

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian police vehicle driving past passengers who are evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem. Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers boarding a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

The military police carries extra patrols at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, on March 22, 2016 in response to the attacks in the departure hall of Brussels Airport and at a Brussels metro station. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers waiting in a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen and soldier stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A helicopter of the Belgian police flies above the area near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian emergency vehicle driving past passengers evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture shows damage to the facade of Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 2016 after two explosions in the airport. Belgian firefighters said there were at least 21 dead after "enormous" blasts hit Brussels airport and the city's metro system. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUTDIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images

A security perimeter has been set, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers board a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers walk past as a group of travelers stand together, after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities locked down the Belgian capital on Tuesday after explosions rocked the Brussels airport and subway system, killing at least 13 people and injuring many more. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Emergency workers arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen speak at a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at the scene near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

A police officers sets security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Picture taken with permission from the Facebook site of Jef Versele showing the aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport.

A Eurostar representative gives advice to a traveler after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Police dog handlers speak to travelers as they patrol after Eurostar train services were suspended on the Brussels route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 21, 2016 after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions. Belgian firefighters said at least 26 people had died after "enormous" blasts rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / --/AFP/Getty Images

A man looks at flowers and a sign reading (Defy terror, protect freedom) outside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Smoke billows from the Zaventem Airport after a controlled explosion in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs struck the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Travelers wait at the counter of Brussels airlines in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

An Israeli airport security guard patrols with a dog in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A pilot and cabin crew are evacuated from Zaventem Airport in Brussels by bus after an explosion on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 26 people were reported dead. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

The blown out facade of the terminal is seen at Zaventem airport, one of the sites of two deadly attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after the attacks Tuesday on the Brussels airport and its subway system. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Policemen and soldiers stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemem stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A wreath is layed on a table along flowers and a candle inside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016 as the national and EU flag is reflected in the window. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

A boy holds a placard expressing sympathy for the victims of the terror attacks in Brussels during a protest at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni on March 22, 2016. Greece will not be able to start sending refugees back to Turkey from March 20, 2016, the government said, as the country struggles to implement a key deal aimed at easing Europe's migrant crisis. The numbers are daunting: officials said as of Saturday there were 47,500 migrants in Greece, including 8,200 on the islands and 10,500 massed at the Idomeni camp on the Macedonian border. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVICANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers get informed at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The departure board at Rome's Fiumicino aiport displays the cancellation of flights to Brussels on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol entrances to Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The flags of Belgium and the European Union are seen flying on half mast reflected in the window of the Belgian embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

An Italian police officer patrols with a dog at Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016 as security measures were reinforced in the wake of attacks in Brussels. European countries vowed to defend democracy against terrorism after blasts at Brussels airport and in the EU's institutional heart left at least 26 dead and dozens injured. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

A Belgian soldier patrols outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small group of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A man lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man puts a Belgian flag at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian soldier speaks to a police officer outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small groups of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A candle burns next to a heart drawing at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman leaves a bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours next to a French national flag with the lettering 'Paris - Brussels - Solidarity' at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris on March 22, 2016, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian police officer watches people walk past during an operation to limit the number of people allowed into the central Station in Brussels on March 22, 2016 following co-ordinated attacks at the Airport serving the Belgian capital and its Metro system. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man plays the cello as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A replica of the Manneken Pis statue stands at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 in Paris shows a view of a smartphone screening an Instagram page with the ashtag "#JESUISBRUSSELS" (#IAMBRUSSELS) and two tributes images picturing the color of the Belgian flag, a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu and the famous Belgian comic character Tintin, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels on March 22, 2016 after rush-hour bomb attacks killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. Within hours of Brussels attacks tens of thousands of people were sharing images on social media of Herge's cub reporter Tintin, the country's most famous creation, in tears. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTIONJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Police forces block the access to the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A man reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flag flies at half mast above the Royal Palace in Brussels on March 22, 2016 in the wake of co-ordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State group (IS) millitants at the city's airport and in a Metro train. Belgium will hold three days of national mourning in the wake of the deadly attacks in the capital Brussels that killed around 35 people. "All national flags on public buildings will be at half-mast," Frederic Cauderlier, spokesman for Belgian premier Charles Michel, told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit checks the baggage of passengers at Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: A K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Belgian special police forces take position in Zaventem following blasts at Brussels airport and a metro station on March 22, 2016. The European Union vowed to defend democracy and tolerance and to combat terrorism "with all necessary means" after triple blasts struck Brussels, the 28-nation bloc's capital. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 injured. The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volonteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev on March 22, 2016, in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANATOLII STEPANOVANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images

People holds a banner as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. THIERRY MONASSE AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A woman writes a message on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People look at informations inside the North station (Gare du Nord - Noordstation) on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, as stations are opened again with high security measures after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police issued a wanted notice for a suspect in the bomb attack on Brussels airport on March 22 in which at least 14 people were killed. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels that left some 35 people dead and threatened further violence. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A Metro station is closed off at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on a wall following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Police officers stand guard at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem following twin blasts on March 22, 2016. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZPATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images

A man holds a sign as people take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a frame with an inscription which translates as "For our Belgian friends" among floral tributes, candles and notes at the Place de la Republique in Paris in tribute to the victims following a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police found a bomb and an Islamic State flag during a search of a Brussels apartment carried out hours after deadly attacks in the Belgian capital that killed around 35 people, prosecutors said. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGETJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe.KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A miniature sculpture of Brussels' landmark Manneken Pis (Little man Pee) is seen in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A couple watches as the colors of the Belgian flag are projected on to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as the German capital shows its solidarity following the Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016. Security was tightened across Europe and transport links paralysed after a series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 34 people. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol outside the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group killing at least 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris as people gather for a tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAUMARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A man waves a Belgian and Palestinian flag as a mark of solidarity at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A member of the public holds a Belgium and Palestine flag at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout CCTV image issued by Belgian Federal Police of three men they believed are connected with the explosions at Brussels airport. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

A Federal police helicopter shines light on roofs during searchings at the Place Princesse Elisabeth in Schaarbeek in the region of Brussels on March 22, 2016, during ongoing security operations in the wake of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is display on the Trevi Fountain in Rome on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYSGABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

Messages and tributes left by members of the public at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Young women hold each other at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young girl lights a candle at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People gather to leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

A candle is lit at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam displaying the colors of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Women lay flowers in front of the Belgium Embassy in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People bring flowers and candles to mourn at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People light candles in the shape of a heart outside the stock exchange in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

People light candles at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Two Belgian flags are projected on Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A writing on the asphalt reads "Brussels forever" at the place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, where people write hundreds of messages on the ground to remember the victims of todays attack, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: A Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputy patrols Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The Belgian flag is projected on Rome's historical Trevi Fountain to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colors black, yellow and red in honor of the victims of the today's attacks at the airport and the metro station in Brussels, in Paris, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A person writes a message as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies patrol Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

People light candles at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on the European Union Commisson building in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian and peace flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes, a cross and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows Red Cross tents and police vehicles at the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, which was evacuated after an explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train Tuesday, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / Belgium OUTLAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian federal police released this image of Brussels bomb suspects. The two men on the left, each wearing a single black glove, are thought to be suicide bombers, while the third is thought to be on the run.

Photos issued by the Belgian Federal Police of Najim Laachraoui, who according to local media is thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, and who is believed to be on the run. Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A sad face is drawn on a Belgian flag near Maelbeek metro station following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - Belgian police officers stand guard near Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Photos shows colours of the Belgian flag being projected on to (from top L) the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam and Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks. AFP/Getty Images

People gather to pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks on the Place de la Bourse in central Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A man pays tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks next to a Tunisian flag at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse - Beursplein square in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A soldier checks the identification of a person entering Brussels Midi train station on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: People chant and sing songs at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Candles and a printed message are pictured at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is pictured onto one of the two lion sculptures at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Mathilde of Belgium (C) meets soldiers during a visit to Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / FREDERIC SIERAKOWSKIFREDERIC SIERAKOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - A boy lights a candle at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A heavily armed police officer stands watch in front of Union Station in Washington, DC, March 23, 2016. A dozen Americans were wounded in the Brussels attacks and a number unaccounted for, but no US nationals were known to have been among the 31 dead, the State Department said Wednesday. / AFP PHOTO / Jim WatsonJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

King Philippe - Filip of Belgium and Queen Mathilde of Belgium mourn after laying down flowers in the area of the explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / THIERRY ROGE / Belgium OUTTHIERRY ROGE/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman hold a placard reading "Against terrorism and hatred, Solidarity" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a placard with a heart-shaped Belgian flag reading "We want peace on Earth" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flags reading "Pray for Belgium" are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Flowers, candles and tributes, to the victims and injured, continue to adorn the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Paper butterflies and messages of support adorn the walls of the Bourse De Brussels building in the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Composite image showing Tower Bridge in central London lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Manchester Town Hall displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives react as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles at a makeshift memorial as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Two children write on a wall at a memorial for victims of attacks in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People light candles which create an heart shape at at a wake of Brussels Airport employees on Martch 23, 2016 in Zaventem, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / YORICK JANSENS / Belgium OUTYORICK JANSENS/AFP/Getty Images

A couple stand on March 23, 2016 in front of a makeshift memorial with floral tributes and candles in Brussels a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 23: The arches of Wembley Stadium are illuminated with the colours of the flag of Belgium on March 23, 2016 in London, England. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 31 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A man wears the Belgian flag as people observe a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

A Belgian national flag is projected onto the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, in solidarity with Belgium after the attacks that occurred yesterday in Brussels, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgians began three days of mourning Wednesday for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings, and the country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A woman covers her face near Maelbeek metro station as she reacts following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The teams stand as a minute silence is observed for the victims of the Brussels attacks prior to the friendly football match between Romania and Lithuania in Bucharest March 23, 2016. Romania won 1-0. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL MIHAILESCUDANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images

The National Gallery and fountains in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

London County Hall by the River Thames displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk are seen in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

People bring flowers and candles at Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People gather at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A small girl sits among candles set up at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People bring flowers and candles to Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Sonia (surname witheld) embraces her children Mateo and Alessia at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

People hold a banner showing the Brussels mascot defusing a bomb at Place de la Bourse on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The only surviving suspect thought to be responsible for bringing carnage to Brussels Airport yesterday as the Belgian capital suffered a string of bombings by Isis jihadists which left 32 people dead - is still on the run.

Days after the Belgian authorities ended their four-month hunt for fugitive Paris attacker Saleh Abdeslam, a new pursuit began as police issued a CCTV image of three men pushing luggage trolleys into Zaventem Airport before its departure hall, crowded with early-morning travellers, was devastated by two explosions yesterday morning.

Investigators were urgently seeking one of the trio - who wore a light-coloured jacket with a black hat and thick glasses - after announcing that his two apparent accomplices were believed to have died in the attack.

The suspect in the middle of the CCTV image has been identified through DNA as Ibrahim el-Bakraoui  born in Brussels.

The second suicide bomber on the left in the image has not been identified and is believed to have died.

The suicide bomber in the Meto Attack has been identified as Khalid el-Bakraoui who was Ibrahim's brother.

ARREST 'MISIDENTIFIED' REMAINS ON THE RUN

Citing a police source, RTBF said the brothers were known to the authorities but for involvement in organised crime rather than terrorism.

On Wednesday morning Belgian media initially stated that the third man Najim Laachraoui had been arrested.

He was believed to be the only remaining suspect on the run following the attacks on Tuesday.

According to reports he was detained in the city of Anderlecht.

However DH newspaper have withdrawn their report saying "Contrary to what we announced, the man arrested in Anderlecht is not Najim Laachraoui".

The Belgian federal prosecutor Frederick Van Leeuw has confirmed the suspected surviving bomber is still on the run.

UNEXPLODED BOMB CONTAINED BIGGEST CHARGE

He also confirmed that the Laachraoui's bomb contained the biggest charge at the airport.

The discovery of an unexploded suicide vest at the international hub led to speculation that the wanted suspect may have pulled out at the last moment.

An hour after the attack, a third device detonated on a train at Maelbeek metro station in central Brussels, killing at least 20 and injuring more than 100.

The Belgian Prosecutor says police found bomb-making equipment and the will of one of the suicide bombers - one of the brothers - Ibrahim El Bakraoui on a computer during a raid at an apartment.

ARREST

The prosecutor also said one person detained in one of the raids remains in custody and is under questioning.

BROTHERS ROLE CONFIRMED

Mr Leeuw said DNA confirmed that Ibrahim El Bakraoui attacked the airport and his brother Khalid El Bakraoui attacked the Metro station.

He did not name the second bomber at the airport.

BELFAST CITY HALL TO BE LIT UP IN BELGIAN COLOURS

Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor Guy Spence confirmed that his request to light up the city hall had been approved.

A book of condolence for the 
The Dutch government has temporarily closed its consulate-general in Istanbul

The Dutch government has temporarily closed its consulate-general in Istanbul because of a "possible terror threat" and advised its citizens to avoid the area.

The foreign ministry issued a brief statement on Wednesday announcing the closure, calling it a precautionary measure, but gave no details of the nature of the threat.

Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in a statement: "The security of my staff and visitors... has our highest priority."

He added: "We cannot, for obvious reasons, give further details of the nature of the threat or the information it is based on."

The announcement came just days after a suicide bomber, identified as a militant with links to Islamic State, targeted the area.

The attack on Saturday hit Istanbul's pedestrian Istiklal Street, which is lined with shops and cafes in an area that also has government offices and foreign missions, including the Dutch consulate-general.

Turkish security forces detained three men on Tuesday, including an Iraqi and a Syrian, suspected of planning another attack in Istanbul.

The Turkish private Dogan news agency said the trio was plotting to target the German consulate and a German school in Istanbul.
President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US relations with Latin America's dictatorships in the 1970s damaged its image in the region, but said he hoped the release of long-classified documents about Argentina's "dirty war" would rebuild trust.

Mr Obama made the comments on the eve of the 40th anniversary of a military coup that would lead to one of the most brutal regimes in Latin American history. Ahead of his visit, last week the Obama administration announced it would declassify thousands of CIA, FBI and other internal documents that could shed light on one of the South American nation's most painful chapters.

"I don't want to go through the list of every activity of the United States in Latin America," Mr Obama said, answering a question about his presence during the anniversary. He then noted that fighting communism was a focus of America's foreign policy in the 1970s.

"One of the great things about America, and I said this in Cuba, was that we engage in a lot of self-criticism," said Mr Obama, standing next to Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Mr Obama arrived to Argentina early on Wednesday after an historic visit in Cuba. The two-day visit comes as Mr Macri has gone to great lengths to repair relations after years of antagonism by the previous administrations.

Mr Obama has made no secret of his preference for Mr Macri over his left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez.

Later Mr Obama planned to hear from young Argentinians at a town hall meeting in what's become a hallmark of his trips abroad. Joined by first lady Michelle Obama, the president was to be feted by Mr Macri at a state dinner in the evening, marking the first such visit by a US president in nearly two decades.

Despite efforts to keep the focus on the future, Mr Obama's visit has been clouded by a renewed look at Argentina's past and questions about America's role in the Argentina's 1976 military coup and the dictatorship that followed.

"On this anniversary and beyond, we are absolutely determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Mr Obama.

In another gesture directed toward the victims of Argentina's "Dirty War," Mr Obama planned to visit Remembrance Park in Buenos Aires on Thursday. Argentina's government estimates some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared under force during the crackdown on leftist dissidents, though activists say the number is as high as 30,000.

Mr Obama's visit to Argentina, like his visit this week to Cuba, aims to bolster his efforts to keep the US focused on economically important regions like Latin America and Asia, even while dealing with pressing security concerns in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Prince Harry has announced he will extend his trip to Nepal

Prince Harry takes part in a holi celebration at Gauda Secondary School on day four of his visit to Nepal on March 22, 2016 in Leorani, Nepal. Prince Harry is on a five day visit to Nepal, his first official tour of the country. (Photo by James Whatling - Pool/Getty Images)

Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire

Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire

Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire

Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire

Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PA

Prince Harry is to extend his trip to Nepal by six days to help rebuild a school damaged by a devastating earthquake last year.

The 31-year-old said he will work with a charity group in a remote village, but would not give the location.

He made the surprise announcement at the end of what was to be a five-day official visit, during which he visited earthquake-damaged heritage sites, temples and a camp where people made homeless by the April 2015 earthquake are still living.

Harry arrived in Nepal on Saturday on his first trip to the Himalayan nation.

He is the first member of the Royal Family to visit Nepal since it abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008.

Harry said: "The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave. Thankfully however, I'm not leaving just yet!

"I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.

"The team I'm joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake."

Nearly 9,000 people were killed and one million houses damaged by the earthquake. It also damaged Nepal's tourism industry, which drew foreign tourists to visit Hindu temples and trek mountain trails.

Harry said he had wanted to pay his respects to the many who died, and also show that the country is "open for business and has so much to offer".

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Indian Hindus celebrate the festival of colors or Holi in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) AP A Bangladeshi woman shuts her eyes as coloured powder is smeared on her face during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad) AP A Bangladeshi woman shuts her eyes as colored powder is smeared on her face during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad) AP Indian bikers ride a motorcycle after taking part in celebrations for the Holi festival in Siliguri on March 23, 2016. Holi marks the welcoming of spring and is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, with people chasing each other and playfully splashing colorful paint, powder and water on each other. / AFP PHOTO / DIPTENDU DUTTADIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian revelers dance during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/ Rajesh Kumar Singh) AP Indians play with colors during Holi festival celebrations in Jammu, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) AP TOPSHOT - Indian revellers take part in celebrations for the Holi festival in Siliguri on March 23, 2016. Holi marks the welcoming of spring and is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, with people chasing each other and playfully splashing colorful paint, powder and water on each other. / AFP PHOTO / DIPTENDU DUTTADIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian Hindus celebrate the festival of colors or Holi in Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) AP Indian Hindus celebrate the festival of colors or Holi in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) AP An Indian man pours a bucket of colored water on others during Holi celebrations in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/ Rajesh Kumar Singh) AP Indian residents take part in Holi celebrations in Allahabad on March 23, 2016. The Hindu festival of Holi, or the 'Festival of Colours' heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter. / AFP PHOTO / SANJAY KANOJIASANJAY KANOJIA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian residents take part in Holi celebrations in Allahabad on March 23, 2016. The Hindu festival of Holi, or the 'Festival of Colours' heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter. / AFP PHOTO / SANJAY KANOJIASANJAY KANOJIA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian residents take part in Holi celebrations in Allahabad on March 23, 2016. The Hindu festival of Holi, or the 'Festival of Colours' heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter. / AFP PHOTO / SANJAY KANOJIASANJAY KANOJIA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian residents take part in Holi celebrations in Allahabad on March 23, 2016. The Hindu festival of Holi, or the 'Festival of Colours' heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter. / AFP PHOTO / SANJAY KANOJIASANJAY KANOJIA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Bangladeshi students throw coloured powder during Holi celebrations at the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University on March 23, 2016. The Holi festival is celebrated to mark the onset of spring, with people from all walks of life coming out on the streets and applying coloured powder to anyone and everyone upon the advent of spring. / AFP PHOTO / MUNIR UZ ZAMANMUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Bangladeshi students throw coloured powder during Holi celebrations at the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University on March 23, 2016. The Holi festival is celebrated to mark the onset of spring, with people from all walks of life coming out on the streets and applying coloured powder to anyone and everyone upon the advent of spring. / AFP PHOTO / MUNIR UZ ZAMANMUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian devotees covered with coloured powder pose for a photograph during Holi celebrations at the Durgiayana Temple in Amritsar on March 23, 2016. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month / AFP PHOTO / NARINDER NANUNARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Bangladeshi students throw coloured powder during Holi celebrations at the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University on March 23, 2016. The Holi festival is celebrated to mark the onset of spring, with people from all walks of life coming out on the streets and applying coloured powder to anyone and everyone upon the advent of spring. / AFP PHOTO / MUNIR UZ ZAMANMUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry takes part in a holi celebration at Gauda Secondary School on day four of his visit to Nepal on March 22, 2016 in Leorani, Nepal. Prince Harry is on a five day visit to Nepal, his first official tour of the country. (Photo by James Whatling - Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Indian students celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. AFP/Getty Images An Indian student takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. Holi, the Hindu spring festival or 'Festival of Colours' is celebrated with coloured powder and water and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. / AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu SARKARDIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An Indian student takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. Holi, the Hindu spring festival or 'Festival of Colours' is celebrated with coloured powder and water and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. / AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu SARKARDIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An Indian student takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. Holi, the Hindu spring festival or 'Festival of Colours' is celebrated with coloured powder and water and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. / AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu SARKARDIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An Indian student takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. Holi, the Hindu spring festival or 'Festival of Colours' is celebrated with coloured powder and water and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. / AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu SARKARDIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An Indian student takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. Holi, the Hindu spring festival or 'Festival of Colours' is celebrated with coloured powder and water and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. / AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu SARKARDIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An Indian student takes part in an event to celebrate the Holi festival in Kolkata on March 23, 2016. Holi, the Hindu spring festival or 'Festival of Colours' is celebrated with coloured powder and water and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. / AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu SARKARDIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian university students celebrate the Holi festival with coloured powder in Amritsar on March 22, 2016. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month. / AFP PHOTO / NARINDER NANUNARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian university students celebrate the Holi festival with coloured powder in Amritsar on March 22, 2016. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month. / AFP PHOTO / NARINDER NANUNARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indian disabled children celebrate the Hindu Holi festival with coloured powder in Amritsar on March 22, 2016. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month. / AFP PHOTO / NARINDER NANUNARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire PA Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire PA TOPSHOT - Nepalese revellers celebrate the Holi spring festival in Kathmandu on March 22, 2016. The "Holi" festival of colours is a riotous celebration of the coming of spring and falls on the day after the full moon in early March every year. / AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH MATHEMAPRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire PA Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Harry. Photo credit should read: James Whatling/PA Wire PA Nepalese revellers daub each other's faces with coloured powders during Holi festival celebrations in Kathmandu on March 22, 2016. The "Holi" festival of colours is a riotous celebration of the coming of spring and falls on the day after the full moon in early March every year. / AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH MATHEMAPRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry visits Gauda Secondary School and takes part in Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour, in Okhari, Nepal. PA PA Nepalese revellers celebrate the Holi spring festival in Kathmandu on March 22, 2016. The "Holi" festival of colours is a riotous celebration of the coming of spring and falls on the day after the full moon in early March every year. / AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH MATHEMAPRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images An Indian Hindu widow smeared with colors sits and watches others playing during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup) AP An Indian Hindu widow lies on a bed of flower petals during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup) AP Indian Hindu widows throw flower petals and colored powder during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup) AP Indian Hindu widows throw flower petals and colored powder during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup) AP Indian Hindu women from Barsana with wooden sticks wait to beat the shield of men from Nandgaon during the Lathmar Holi festival at the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana, 115 kilometers (71 miles) from New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 17, 2016. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing. (Nitin Joshi via AP) AP An Indian Hindu woman from Barsana beats the shield of a boy from Nandgaon during the Lathmar Holi festival at the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana, 115 kilometers (71 miles) from New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 17, 2016. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing. (Nitin Joshi via AP) AP Hindu men from the village of Barsana throw colored water and powder on the villagers of Nandgaon in the Ladali or Radha temple before the procession for the Lathmar Holi festival at the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana, 115 kilometers (71 miles) from New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 17, 2016. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing. (Nitin Joshi via AP) AP Indian Hindu women from Barsana beat the shield of men from Nandgaon during the Lathmar Holi festival at the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana, 115 kilometers (71 miles) from New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 17, 2016. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing. (Nitin Joshi via AP) AP Indian Hindu widows throw flower petals and colored powder during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup) AP Indian Hindu widows throw flower petals and colored powder during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (AP Photo /Manish Swarup) AP / Facebook

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Whatsapp Indian Hindus celebrate the festival of colors or Holi in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

"I hope that everyone back home who took an interest in the tour can see that Nepal is a country that you really have to come and visit," he said.

According to a Kensington Palace statement, Harry will help rebuild a school where students have been studying since the earthquake in makeshift classrooms made of poles, tarpaulins and tin.

The temporary facilities provide little defence against difficult weather conditions, it said.

Team Rubicon is a US-based disaster response group that combines the skills of military veterans with first responders.

Harry served twice with the UK military in Afghanistan before leaving the army in 2015.
We in Northern Ireland, having come through nigh on 30 years of terrorism, can empathise with the people of Brussels today as they begin to come to terms with the horrors visited on them yesterday by Islamic State

We in Northern Ireland, having come through nigh on 30 years of terrorism, can empathise with the people of Brussels today as they begin to come to terms with the horrors visited on them yesterday by Islamic State.

With a death toll of 34 and scores more injured, it is another massacre of the innocent by a nihilistic organisation with the seemingly singular ambition of destroying everything that western society holds dear.

We know the terror those citizens felt when the bombs went off in the airport and the Metro. We endured no-warning attacks many times, fled in terror from the scenes of bombs or gun attacks and wondered when it would ever end. Our only advice, based on our experiences, is that, ultimately, evil will be defeated - but it could be a long, drawn-out conflict.

The people of Brussels are asking the same questions today as we often asked. How did the State, with all its security and intelligence apparatus, find itself unable to defend its people against small terrorist cells?

This was a city and a country on high alert, yet terrorists set off three bombs. But IS has a more fearsome fanaticism than even we faced. How do you defend against terrorists who hold no more regard for their own lives than they do for their targets? They are prepared to strap explosives to themselves and become human bombs, if that is what is required.

It is a form of warfare for which modern democratic societies are ill-prepared and even ill-equipped to deal with. IS is a body that cannot be reasoned with. It doesn't seek negotiation or recognition of any legitimacy in its actions. It simply wants to annihilate those it sees as its enemies.

There does seem to be an intelligence failure on the part of the Belgian authorities. Given that radicalisation of young Muslims is a recognised problem in the country, it seems strange that those most likely to pose a risk have not been under more intense surveillance. There inevitably will be a debate within Europe now on just how far governments, police and intelligence services can dilute civil liberties in pursuit of information on suspected terrorists. There will be calls for greater powers to scrutinise, even intercept, electronic mail and telephone calls, but this is an issue requiring very careful consideration before any decisions are made.

The liberties people throughout Europe and the western world enjoy have been hard won and are the manifestation of civilised societies. To begin to erode them, even for valid reasons, would be to begin to create the sort of totalitarian society IS rejoices in.

We also have to remember that the attacks on Brussels, just like those in Paris last year, have their genesis in what is happening in places like Syria and Iraq.

The West must accept its military adventurism in Iraq in particular has unintentionally helped create a monster now threatening the lives of people far from the fields of conflict.
In this image provided by Daniela Schwarzer, smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Daniela Schwarzer via AP)

The aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport. Pic Jef Versele/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: @davidcrunelle/PA Wire

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows smoke rising from the Maalbeek underground, in Brussels, following a blast at the station close to the capital's European quarter. Pic Getty Images

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

The scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard. Pic: Stephanie Vanhemelryck/PA Wire

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, after two explosions rocked the main hall of the airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others. The Brussels metro service was being shut down on March 22, its operator said, following a blast at a station close to the capital's European quarter. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / Belgium OUT/AFP/Getty Images

A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

People walk on a blocked highway near Zaventem, leading to Brussels National airport, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

This view taken on March 22, 2016 shows the broken glasses at Brussels Airport in Zaventem after a two explosions targeted the main hall. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / JONAS ROOSENSJONAS ROOSENS/AFP/Getty Images

Passsengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers who were evacuated from the airport wait in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport of Zaventem and a city metro station, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / SEPPE KNAPEN / Belgium OUTSEPPE KNAPEN/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

A passenger waits, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers gather, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Belgium police officers block a street in Brussels on March 22, 2016 after an explosion occurred at a metro station. At least 13 people have been killed after two explosions occurred this morning in the departure hall of Brussels Airport. The Brussels metro stations have been evacuated after explosions at Schuiman and Maelbeek-Maalbeek. Government sources speak of a terrorist attack. The terrorist threat level has been heightened to four across the country. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / PHILIPPE FRANCOIS / Belgium OUTPHILIPPE FRANCOIS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers leave with their luggages, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Two passengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are gathered near Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

In this photo provided by Georgian Public Broadcaster and photographed by Ketevan Kardava a man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP)

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian police vehicle driving past passengers who are evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem. Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers boarding a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

The military police carries extra patrols at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, on March 22, 2016 in response to the attacks in the departure hall of Brussels Airport and at a Brussels metro station. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows passengers waiting in a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen and soldier stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A helicopter of the Belgian police flies above the area near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a Belgian emergency vehicle driving past passengers evacuating the Brussels Airport of Zaventem, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A picture shows damage to the facade of Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 2016 after two explosions in the airport. Belgian firefighters said there were at least 21 dead after "enormous" blasts hit Brussels airport and the city's metro system. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUTDIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images

A security perimeter has been set, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016 near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers board a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers walk past as a group of travelers stand together, after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities locked down the Belgian capital on Tuesday after explosions rocked the Brussels airport and subway system, killing at least 13 people and injuring many more. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Emergency workers arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. The increased security comes in the wake of the explosions in Brussels, according to several media have claimed more lives. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen stand guard at the entrance of a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

First aid workers arrive atr Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemen speak at a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian servicemen and police officers block the road outside the Prime Minister's office where a meeting of the National Security Council is held, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on March 18 of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a statement after a meeting with French Prime Minister, French Defence Minister and French President following Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 21 people in apparently coordinated attacks, officials said. / AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTINSTEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters arrive at the scene near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

A police officers sets security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Picture taken with permission from the Facebook site of Jef Versele showing the aftermath of this morning's explosions at Brussels airport.

A Eurostar representative gives advice to a traveler after services were suspended on the Brussels Eurostar train route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Police dog handlers speak to travelers as they patrol after Eurostar train services were suspended on the Brussels route because of the attacks in Belgium, at St Pancras international railway station in London, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 21, 2016 after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions. Belgian firefighters said at least 26 people had died after "enormous" blasts rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station today, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / --/AFP/Getty Images

A man looks at flowers and a sign reading (Defy terror, protect freedom) outside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Smoke billows from the Zaventem Airport after a controlled explosion in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs struck the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Travelers wait at the counter of Brussels airlines in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Police and rescue teams are pictured outside the metro station Maelbeek in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

An Israeli airport security guard patrols with a dog in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. After the Brussels attacks, Israel briefly announced that all Israeli flights from Europe were canceled, then reinstated the flights, Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Leffler said. Pini Schiff, former director of security at Ben-Gurion Airport, said the attack in the Brussels airport was a colossal failure of Belgian security, and he said the chances are very low that such a bombing could take place in Israels airport. Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is considered among the most secure in the world, an outcome stemming from several Palestinian attacks on Israeli planes and travelers in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A pilot and cabin crew are evacuated from Zaventem Airport in Brussels by bus after an explosion on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 26 people were reported dead. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

The blown out facade of the terminal is seen at Zaventem airport, one of the sites of two deadly attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after the attacks Tuesday on the Brussels airport and its subway system. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Policemen and soldiers stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Policemem stand guard near a security perimeter set in the Rue de la Loi near the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after an explosion killed at least 11 people, according to spokesman of Brussels' fire brigade A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people, according to media reports, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A wreath is layed on a table along flowers and a candle inside the Belgium embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016 as the national and EU flag is reflected in the window. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

A boy holds a placard expressing sympathy for the victims of the terror attacks in Brussels during a protest at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni on March 22, 2016. Greece will not be able to start sending refugees back to Turkey from March 20, 2016, the government said, as the country struggles to implement a key deal aimed at easing Europe's migrant crisis. The numbers are daunting: officials said as of Saturday there were 47,500 migrants in Greece, including 8,200 on the islands and 10,500 massed at the Idomeni camp on the Macedonian border. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVICANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers get informed at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The departure board at Rome's Fiumicino aiport displays the cancellation of flights to Brussels on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

Travellers gather at Ryanair helping desk at Barcelona El Prat airport after the Brussels attacks, in Barcelona on March 22, 2016. Europe froze air and rail links to Brussels as the authorities tightened security in alarm over a series of deadly bomb blasts that ripped through the Belgian capital's airport and a city-centre metro station. / AFP PHOTO / PAU BARRENAPAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol entrances to Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016, in the wake of the series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 26 people. Authorities in Europe have tightened security at airports, on subways, at the borders and on city streets after deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The flags of Belgium and the European Union are seen flying on half mast reflected in the window of the Belgian embassy in Berlin on March 22, 2016. People left tributes to the victims outside the embassy after a series of apparently coordinated blasts ripped through Brussels airport and a train. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

An Italian police officer patrols with a dog at Rome's Fiumicino aiport on March 22, 2016 as security measures were reinforced in the wake of attacks in Brussels. European countries vowed to defend democracy against terrorism after blasts at Brussels airport and in the EU's institutional heart left at least 26 dead and dozens injured. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian flag flies at half mast above 10 Downing Street in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast outside the embassy of Belgium in London, in the wake of coordinated bomb attacks on the main airport and the Metro system in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

A Belgian soldier patrols outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small group of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A man lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man puts a Belgian flag at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian soldier speaks to a police officer outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small groups of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

A candle burns next to a heart drawing at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman leaves a bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours next to a French national flag with the lettering 'Paris - Brussels - Solidarity' at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris on March 22, 2016, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSONTHOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian police officer watches people walk past during an operation to limit the number of people allowed into the central Station in Brussels on March 22, 2016 following co-ordinated attacks at the Airport serving the Belgian capital and its Metro system. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bombs blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A man plays the cello as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A replica of the Manneken Pis statue stands at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 in Paris shows a view of a smartphone screening an Instagram page with the ashtag "#JESUISBRUSSELS" (#IAMBRUSSELS) and two tributes images picturing the color of the Belgian flag, a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu and the famous Belgian comic character Tintin, in tribute to victims of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels on March 22, 2016 after rush-hour bomb attacks killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. Within hours of Brussels attacks tens of thousands of people were sharing images on social media of Herge's cub reporter Tintin, the country's most famous creation, in tears. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTIONJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People hold hands as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Police forces block the access to the Maalbeek subway station, in Brussels, on March 22, 2016, after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A man reacts as people gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young boy helps light a candle as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels after a series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people in the city's airport and a metro train, sparking a broad security response. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flag flies at half mast above the Royal Palace in Brussels on March 22, 2016 in the wake of co-ordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State group (IS) millitants at the city's airport and in a Metro train. Belgium will hold three days of national mourning in the wake of the deadly attacks in the capital Brussels that killed around 35 people. "All national flags on public buildings will be at half-mast," Frederic Cauderlier, spokesman for Belgian premier Charles Michel, told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit checks the baggage of passengers at Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: A K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Belgian special police forces take position in Zaventem following blasts at Brussels airport and a metro station on March 22, 2016. The European Union vowed to defend democracy and tolerance and to combat terrorism "with all necessary means" after triple blasts struck Brussels, the 28-nation bloc's capital. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 injured. The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volonteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev on March 22, 2016, in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANATOLII STEPANOVANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images

People holds a banner as they gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. THIERRY MONASSE AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A woman writes a message on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People look at informations inside the North station (Gare du Nord - Noordstation) on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, as stations are opened again with high security measures after a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police issued a wanted notice for a suspect in the bomb attack on Brussels airport on March 22 in which at least 14 people were killed. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels that left some 35 people dead and threatened further violence. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belgium OUTNICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A Metro station is closed off at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A message is written on a wall following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Police officers stand guard at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem following twin blasts on March 22, 2016. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZPATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images

A man holds a sign as people take part in a rally on March 22, 2016 on the Palazzo di Citta square in Turin in memory of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. Around 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group and described as a strike at the very heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARCO BERTORELLOMARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows a frame with an inscription which translates as "For our Belgian friends" among floral tributes, candles and notes at the Place de la Republique in Paris in tribute to the victims following a series of apparently coordinated explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro train, killing at least 14 people in the airport and 20 people in the metro in the latest attacks to target Europe. Belgian police found a bomb and an Islamic State flag during a search of a Brussels apartment carried out hours after deadly attacks in the Belgian capital that killed around 35 people, prosecutors said. The Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the attacks. / AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGETJOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

People stand hand in hand in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe.KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A miniature sculpture of Brussels' landmark Manneken Pis (Little man Pee) is seen in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A couple watches as the colors of the Belgian flag are projected on to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as the German capital shows its solidarity following the Brussels attacks on March 22, 2016. Security was tightened across Europe and transport links paralysed after a series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 34 people. / AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Police officers patrol outside the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following a series of attacks in Brussels today claimed by the Islamic State group killing at least 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris as people gather for a tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAUMARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A man waves a Belgian and Palestinian flag as a mark of solidarity at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A member of the public holds a Belgium and Palestine flag at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout CCTV image issued by Belgian Federal Police of three men they believed are connected with the explosions at Brussels airport. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

A Federal police helicopter shines light on roofs during searchings at the Place Princesse Elisabeth in Schaarbeek in the region of Brussels on March 22, 2016, during ongoing security operations in the wake of triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / James Arthur Gekiere / Belgium OUTJAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is display on the Trevi Fountain in Rome on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYSGABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

Messages and tributes left by members of the public at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels following the terrorist bomb attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, came after the arrest in the city last week of terror mastermind Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's Paris atrocity from the notorious Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Young women hold each other at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: An Amtrak police K-9 unit patrols Union Station March 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Security has been increased around the city after bombings in Brussels have left at least 34 people dead and scores more injured in the bombings. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: Passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A young girl lights a candle at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: People gather to leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

A candle is lit at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A photo taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam displaying the colors of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Evert Elzinga / Netherlands OUTEVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images

Women lay flowers in front of the Belgium Embassy in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People bring flowers and candles to mourn at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People light candles in the shape of a heart outside the stock exchange in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

People gather at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

People light candles at a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) following attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images

Two Belgian flags are projected on Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A writing on the asphalt reads "Brussels forever" at the place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, where people write hundreds of messages on the ground to remember the victims of todays attack, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: A Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputy patrols Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The Belgian flag is projected on Rome's historical Trevi Fountain to honor the victims of the deadly attacks at Brussels airport and subway, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the Belgium national colors black, yellow and red in honor of the victims of the today's attacks at the airport and the metro station in Brussels, in Paris, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22: A person writes a message as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people are thought to have been killed after Brussels airport and a Metro station were targeted by explosions. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies patrol Union Station train hub as security is heightened in reaction to bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium this morning on March 22, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. At least 36 lives and injured at least 200 people in the morning rush hour bomb attacks at the international airport and a subway station. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

People light candles at the Place de la Bourse following today's attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Belgian flag projected on the European Union Commisson building in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

People hold a banner reading in French and Flamish "I AM BRUSSELS" as they gather around floral tributes, candles, belgian and peace flags and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. AFP/Getty Images

A woman lights a candle among floral tributes, a cross and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on March 22, 2016 in tribute to the victims of Brussels following triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. Belgium launched a huge manhunt on March 22 after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / Aurore Belot / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows Red Cross tents and police vehicles at the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, which was evacuated after an explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train Tuesday, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / Belgium OUTLAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian federal police released this image of Brussels bomb suspects. The two men on the left, each wearing a single black glove, are thought to be suicide bombers, while the third is thought to be on the run.

Photos issued by the Belgian Federal Police of Najim Laachraoui, who according to local media is thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, and who is believed to be on the run. Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A sad face is drawn on a Belgian flag near Maelbeek metro station following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - Belgian police officers stand guard near Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks in the Belgian capital killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on March 22, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Photos shows colours of the Belgian flag being projected on to (from top L) the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam and Rome's Campidoglio in tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks. AFP/Getty Images

People gather to pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks on the Place de la Bourse in central Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

A man pays tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks next to a Tunisian flag at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse - Beursplein square in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUTAURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A soldier checks the identification of a person entering Brussels Midi train station on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: People chant and sing songs at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Candles and a printed message are pictured at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A Belgian flag is pictured onto one of the two lion sculptures at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Mathilde of Belgium (C) meets soldiers during a visit to Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / FREDERIC SIERAKOWSKIFREDERIC SIERAKOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - A boy lights a candle at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A heavily armed police officer stands watch in front of Union Station in Washington, DC, March 23, 2016. A dozen Americans were wounded in the Brussels attacks and a number unaccounted for, but no US nationals were known to have been among the 31 dead, the State Department said Wednesday. / AFP PHOTO / Jim WatsonJIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

King Philippe - Filip of Belgium and Queen Mathilde of Belgium mourn after laying down flowers in the area of the explosion at the Maelbeek - Maalbeek subway station in Brussels, on March 23, 2016, a day after the triple blasts killed some 30 people and left around 250 injured. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA / THIERRY ROGE / Belgium OUTTHIERRY ROGE/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Flowers and candles are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman hold a placard reading "Against terrorism and hatred, Solidarity" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

People gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

A woman holds a placard with a heart-shaped Belgian flag reading "We want peace on Earth" as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

Belgian flags reading "Pray for Belgium" are pictured as people gather at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, left 31 dead and hundreds injured in the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARDKENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Flowers, candles and tributes, to the victims and injured, continue to adorn the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: Paper butterflies and messages of support adorn the walls of the Bourse De Brussels building in the Place de la Bourse following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Composite image showing Tower Bridge in central London lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Manchester Town Hall displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PA

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives react as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives place candles at a makeshift memorial as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Brussels airport workers and their relatives hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of Brussels triple attacks near the airport in Zaventem on March 23, 2016, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Two children write on a wall at a memorial for victims of attacks in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People light candles which create an heart shape at at a wake of Brussels Airport employees on Martch 23, 2016 in Zaventem, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / BELGA AND Belga / YORICK JANSENS / Belgium OUTYORICK JANSENS/AFP/Getty Images

A couple stand on March 23, 2016 in front of a makeshift memorial with floral tributes and candles in Brussels a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers attacked the symbolic heart of the EU. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUENPHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 23: The arches of Wembley Stadium are illuminated with the colours of the flag of Belgium on March 23, 2016 in London, England. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 31 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A man wears the Belgian flag as people observe a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterdays' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

St George's Hall in Liverpool displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

A Belgian national flag is projected onto the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, in solidarity with Belgium after the attacks that occurred yesterday in Brussels, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgians began three days of mourning Wednesday for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings, and the country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 23: A woman covers her face near Maelbeek metro station as she reacts following yesterday's attack, on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is observing three days of national mourning after 34 people were killed in a twin suicide blast at Zaventem Airport and a further bomb attack at Maelbeek Metro Station. Two brothers are thought to have carried out the airport attack and an international manhunt is underway for a third suspect. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The teams stand as a minute silence is observed for the victims of the Brussels attacks prior to the friendly football match between Romania and Lithuania in Bucharest March 23, 2016. Romania won 1-0. / AFP PHOTO / DANIEL MIHAILESCUDANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images

The National Gallery and fountains in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

London County Hall by the River Thames displays the colours of the Belgium Flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk are seen in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London are lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Messages written in chalk infront of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Candles and messages in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London which is lit in the colours of the Belgium flag as a tribute following yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday March 23, 2016. See PA story POLICE Brussels. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

People bring flowers and candles at Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People gather at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A small girl sits among candles set up at a memorial site located at the old stock exchange in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed or wounded in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

People bring flowers and candles to Place de la Bourse, Brussels, to mourn for the victims on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Sonia (surname witheld) embraces her children Mateo and Alessia at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims following yesterday's terrorists attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

People hold a banner showing the Brussels mascot defusing a bomb at Place de la Bourse on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Hundreds of people come together at Place de la Bourse to mourn on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The first impulse of many on hearing news of the bombs in Brussels was to damn the bombers as 'sick', 'evil', 'twisted'.

That is similar to some of the language used about republican dissidents who killed prison officer Adrian Ismay.

On Nolan Live, Shaun Woodward, a former secretary of state for Northern Ireland described them as 'degenerate' and Paul Givan, a DUP MLA said they were 'subhuman'.

On that same programme I protested against the use of this language.

There are strategic as well as moral reasons why we shouldn't dismiss anyone, however cruel in such a way.

The first is that you are not going to get them to listen to you if you have already decided that they are beneath you, and wouldn't understand your superior compassion and intelligence.

There will be intelligence operatives and others trying to grasp what these people are up to, and none of them will be starting from the premise that they are 'evil' and 'sick'.

They will presume that they have motives, however bizarre, that in different circumstances they would be acting differently.

None of this should surprise anyone here.

One of the ironies pointed to on social media yesterday was that former IRA bomber Martina Anderson was rerouted away from Brussels, as part of the security crackdown, not because she was seen as a threat, but just as part of the general clampdown.

No one in Brussels is afraid of Ms Anderson any more.

And after the bombing of Adrian Ismay, much was made of how the dissidents in prison had smoked cigars to celebrate. But do we really believe that the reformed bombers of the Provisional IRA were much more mannered and restrained?

I have been in bars in Belfast where almost all the customers rose from their seats to cheer at the sound of a bomb going off.

The dissidents of today and the jihadis of IS like the Provos and UDA of the past can be trusted to have a high opinion of themselves too.

In the case of the dissidents, there is a logic, though we may not like it.

They want to preserve the flame of republican armed resistance.

They are not daft enough to think that they can overthrow the state and unite Ireland, but they want to keep the tradition of preparedness alive.

That's what the IRA was doing before the Troubles in the mid-1960s, when they only had a couple of dozen members in Belfast.

Brussels, like Paris in November, has been attacked by a group of jihadis, battle-hardened in Syria. These men have seen a lot of people die and do not have a high expectation of living long themselves.

And they want the West to get a taste of what their war is like, because they think we blithely vote for wars and as blithely stay out of them, never knowing the cost of the decisions we let our politicians take.

A response that says these people are 'subhuman' will be read as extending to thousands, perhaps millions of jihadis and their supporters and apologists.

It rings of a presumption that we are better than they, and they don't believe that.

Women line up at the Lakshmipur district community clinic polling center to cast their votes, March 22, 2016.

Bangladeshs first attempt at allowing parties to contest local government, or Union Parishad (UP), elections ended in bloodshed Tuesday with the deaths of seven people in poll-related violence, officials said.

Five people were killed when security forces opened fire after an altercation broke out over election results between supporters of one candidate and an on-duty magistrate in Prijojpur district, local Police Superintendent Mohammad Walid Hossain told BenarNews.

Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh force started shooting in an attempt to rescue the magistrate, he said

Three people died on the spot while two others died in the hospital, Hossain said.

Another person was killed in elections-related violence in Barisal district, while two on-duty officials were shot and wounded in Noakhali district, according to Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad. And in southeastern Coxs Bazar district, one person, Abdul Gafur, was killed in post-electoral violence, the Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo reported.

Meanwhile, six people were injured when someone exploded crude bombs the southern district of Lakshmipur, Khogendra Chandra, the presiding officer of local polling center, told reporters. He said police brought the situation under control.

Government officials had hoped the partisan elections would come off cleanly, but political observers said the use of strong-arm tactics demonstrated that such polling would weaken the democratic practice because of worsening confrontations between rival parties.

Voters in the 712 UPs in 36 districts cast ballots to elect one chairman, nine general members and three reserve (women) members for each UP that is in charge of improving rural infrastructure and overseeing some welfare programs.

Awami League, BNP clash

The ruling Awami League said voting in more than 99 percent of polling centers was peaceful, but the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alleged that elections in most of the UPs were marred by violence, fraud and meddling by the ruling party.

You see the ruling party candidates in many places have occupied polling centers. Some influential opposition candidates and independent candidates have done, too, to cast false votes. You see the level of violence has gone up, Professor Ataur Rahman, a teacher of political science and former president of Bangladesh Political Science Alumni Association, told BenarNews.

He said the decision to allow candidates to register with political parties was aimed at establishing total control of the ruling party in the most remote areas of the country.

From now on, the ruling parties would use the political and administrative influence to get its candidates to win so they can control everything. So, it will seriously weaken the democratic practice in the rural areas and take the Awami League-BNP fight to the grassroots, Rahman said.

In 2015, the Awami League government scrapped the provision of holding non-partisan local elections.

Commissioner: elections were fair

After the vote and the reports of violence, Commissioner Ahmad claimed that the elections largely were fair.

Apart from some stray incidents, the polls were free, fair and peaceful. We have suspended polling in 56 centers for irregularities. Substantial number of voters cast their votes in a festive mood, Ahmad told reporters during a press conference at his office.

The BNP boycotted the last general election, in January 2014, alleging that Ahmads commission was a puppet of the government.

A BNP opposition team, led by one of its vice presidents, Abdullah Al Noman, demanded that voting be cancelled in 50 Union Parishads, alleging massive fraud and occupation of polling centers.

The people have witnessed that this Election Commission is dictated by the government and the polls are rhetoric. Most of the 712 Union Parishad were occupied (by musclemen) and widespread fraud took place, Noman told reporters.

He said the government made the UP polls a political affair to make people uninterested in casting votes in the future.

They (the government) want to hold the next general elections in an atmosphere where people will not go to the polling centers, he said.

Some Awami League candidates boycotted the elections, alleging fraud as well.

I withdraw from the contest as the musclemen have pushed my agents out of the polling centers and cast false votes, Abdul Malek, the ruling partys candidate for chairman of the Dorichar Khejuria Union in the Mehendiganj sub-district of Barisal district, told reporters Tuesday morning.
A farmer walks on a dried out field in Bang Pla Ma, a district in Suphanburi province located in Thailands rice belt, July 2, 2015.

With much of Thailand suffering the worst drought in 24 years, the water supply for Bangkok and other urban populations is dropping to critical levels, officials warn.

The reservoirs of four dams along the Chaophraya, the nations largest river that feeds the central plains and passes through the Thai capital, could run out of water by July unless significant rainfall comes during the upcoming wet season and people conserve water, according to officials.

The total capacity of the four dams  Bhumibol, Sirikit, Pasak Cholasit and Kwai Noi  has fallen to 37 percent of their combined capacity, but only 2.56 billion cubic meters of water reserved for irrigation, drinking and other uses will last until July based on the dams current effluent rate, Prutipong Tasanchaleekul, a director of an irrigation office in the suburban Bangkok district of Rangsit, told BenarNews.

Yet he remains optimistic that rainfall will help raise reservoir levels during the traditional rainy season, which starts in July.

We still have El Nino, and late July should show a sign of La Nina, which is also a transition from dry season to rainy season, he said, referring to the warm weather phenomenon of El Nino which is expected to give way to cooler temperatures during a counter-phenomenon known as La Nina.

There should be rain, rain fall. There will be peak of rain fall in the five-year span of La Nina, Prutipong predicted during a phone interview.

As a measure for cutting down on water consumption, officials in Bangkok earlier this month announced a curfew during Thailands upcoming water festival and celebration of Songkran, the Thai new year, according to reports. Last month, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ordered rice farmers to reduce their output in order to save water. He also called on Thais in general to conserve water such as by taking shorter showers.

[W]e need all parties to campaign to save water for urban and capital consumption and no more off-season rice cultivation, Prutipong said.

Worst drought since 1992

At the Bhumibol dam in Tak province, the water supply has already dropped to 682 million cubic meters, or 7 percent of its full reserve capacity, Rakchart Lekboonpetch, an engineer who works at the facility, told BenarNews.

The reservoir at the dam is at its lowest level since 1992, said Satit Saikaew, another engineer at Bhumbol.

The shortage resulted from a miscalculation in 2012 when the dam, the nations second largest reservoir, released 5 billion cubic meters of water to fulfill a surge in rice farming, which was buoyed at the time by a controversial rice mortgage scheme implemented by the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The former PM is now facing charges related to corruption in that scheme.

It was a miscalculation in 2012. Some 5 billion cubic meters of water was dispensed to farmers as they enjoyed good price rices, but we did not have water to replenish the dam, Satit told BenarNews.

Isaan farmers hit hard

In irrigated zones, farmers may cultivate their paddies three times a year. Thailand has some 22 million acres of paddy fields, which yielded 23 million tons of rice last year. Some 6 million acres are useable for off-season cropping.

But this year, water in rivers in northern Thailand that are tributaries of the Chaophrya have partially or completely dried up.

In Thailands most impoverished northeastern region, known as Isaan among locals, the severe drought led to a sharp drop in output for small-scale rice farmer Siri Ekchote.

As a result of last years meager rainfall between June and August, his yield of jasmine rice and sticky rice sank from 360 to 160 sacks.

If there is no rain after Songkran, we villagers wont have water to feed our cattle and we cannot grow any crop, he told BenarNews.

China controls water

Thailands northeast, which has been hit hardest by the drought, borders the Mekong River from which water has been harnessed for dry season farming.

But the water supply from the Mekong has been impeded by five dams built by China upriver since 2003. Now, a project by Laos to build a dam along the river could add to irrigation woes in Thailand.

In recent days, China started to release water from its Jinghong Dam along the Mekong. Officials in Thailands Nongkhai province started harnessing water from the river on March 15.

And during a meeting in Sanya, China, between Chinese officials and leaders of five Southeast Asian countries, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth on Wednesday called for constructive cooperation states that use the Mekong, the creation of a water-management plan that would benefit all of them, and the establishment of a center that would allow those countries to share information about the their use of the river, the Bangkok Post reported.
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1) Youre too young.

2) Youre just a kid.

3) You dont have enough experience.

For most of us these statements feel like a knife to the heart. And while our zeal, passion, and motivation are constantly at war with the opinions of others, many of us know that at the core of hearts, God has called us to do the very thing we are being mocked for. But the real question is, will you follow the calling God has given you, or will you give up because of the opinions that surround you?

What are you called to do?

1) Be a pastor?

2) Write a book?

3) Plant a church?

4) Bring hope to the foster children of Uganda?

5) Provide food and water for the impoverished cities of India?

6) Go on a missions trip, and fight for the freedom of sex-trafficking victims?

Regardless of your calling, God sits in the captain's chair of each one. The opinions of others have no bearing on your God-given mission.

1 Timothy 4:12  Dont let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

And while so many of us in todays Christian society can quote 1 Timothy 4:12, how many of us are actually backing it up? I mean cmon. We can talk about CHANGE all we want, but to be honest, Id rather do something about it. We may be young-guns, but we can still pack a mighty punch against any opposition. Dont get me wrong. We may fail a few times before getting it right, but at least we are standing up for what we believe in. And at least we are pursuing the calling God has given us.

To The Young:

- Accept wisdom and criticism from those older, and more experienced than you. But do NOT allow man's opinion to get in the way of Gods calling for your life.

To The Old:

- Accept wisdom and ideas from those younger than you. But dont let young ignorance get in the way of Gods biblical direction and truth.

My Point:

- We are all on the same team. Its time for us to work together, and pursue world change for the cause of Christ.

We may be young-guns, but weve got a BIG GOD.


For Immediate Release, March 23, 2016 Contacts: Virali Modi-Parekh, Rainforest Action Network, (510) 747-8476, virali@ran.org

Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, (504) 452-4909, anne@labucketbrigade.org

Tom Brown, Center for Biological Diversity, (802) 498-3482, tbrown@biologicaldiversity.org Hundreds Gather to Oppose Offshore Oil Leases in Gulf of Mexico Gulf Residents, Environmentalists Rally at New Orleans Superdome in

Historic Keep It in the Ground Action NEW ORLEANS Hundreds of Gulf Coast residents, supported by local and national environmental and social-justice groups, rallied at the Superdome in New Orleans today in an unprecedented call to end federal offshore fossil fuel lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. The historic rally, highlighted by giant puppets and a rainbow of banners, amplified the call to end new fossil fuel leases and support a just transition away from fossil fuels for Gulf communities, especially those living on the coast or front lines of the oil industry. Busloads of concerned citizens came from around the Gulf, including Houston, Texas; Mobile, Ala.; Gulfport, Miss.; Pensacola, Fla.; and Lafayette, La. Demonstrators at the Superdome in New Orleans. Photo courtesy Center for Biological Diversity. More photos available for media use. Todays lease sale of 43 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico is the first since the Obama administration unveiled a five-year offshore drilling plan that protects the Atlantic but leaves the Gulf and Arctic open to dirty and dangerous fossil fuel extraction projects. Last week groups sent a letter to President Obama asking him to immediately cancel this auction, whose sales will contribute significantly to global carbon emissions. Offshore drilling also threatens the well-being of Gulf Coast communities and wildlife. Out of more than 5,000 active federal oil and gas leases, most are in the Gulf. In addition to ending new leases, Gulf residents also demand that the industry create at least 1,000 jobs to address its aging infrastructure and toxic legacy, particularly in communities of color. Fighting new offshore leases in the Gulf of Mexico, long an epicenter of the fossil fuel industry, represents a new front for the environmental movement. The Superdome rally builds off the momentum of the national Keep It in the Ground movement, which has held similar actions across the country over the past year. President Obama has the authority to halt all new fossil fuel leases on public lands and waters and should move this forward quickly to uphold promises made during the Paris Climate talks. The movement has had significant victories already, including a recent win by Atlantic Coast residents to protect their shores in the five-year offshore drilling plan. Last month Obama placed a moratorium on federal coal leasing to study its impacts on taxpayers and the planet. And since November, in response to protests, the BLM has postponed oil and gas leasing auctions in Utah, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Washington, D.C. Details on the Superdome event and Gulf organizing effort can be found at www.nonewleases.org . Images of today's rally are available upon request. Statements from groups and letter signatories:

The oil industry has drilled and polluted and destroyed the Gulf Coast for the last 100 years. Those of us who live here have let them get away with it. Today's action is historic precisely because of the past century of submission. We are telling Big Oil to take their rigs and go home. And we are telling our elected officials to get with it, to lead the transition from dirty energy to one that relies on wind and solar. Clean, safe jobs are the jobs we want; this is the future we want. If we don't grab it now, we risk being left behind in an oily puddle, said Anne Rolfes, founding director of Louisiana Bucket Brigade. A just transition requires visionary movement building at the intersections of exploitation and extraction. We believe art is a critical tool for bridging our folks and fights. This actions visual narrative and performative elements show how brilliant the future of the Gulf South and beyond will be once we move away from the fossil fuel industry as our predominant economic force, said Jayeesha Dutta of Radical Arts and Healing Collective. People in the Gulf Coast know the impacts of climate change and fossil fuel industry pollution firsthand. Thats especially true in low income and communities of color who are the front lines of this crisis. Hosting this oil and gas auction at the Superdome, perhaps the most iconic site of climate destruction in the United States, just adds insult to injury. The science is clear: in order to prevent climate catastrophe we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. That means an immediate end to all new oil and gas leases in the Gulf and a full transition to 100 percent renewable energy, said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org. From the BP drilling disaster to the loss of coastal wetlands the size of Delaware, the Gulf has already paid too high a price for our nation's oil addiction. We're standing alongside over 66,000 Care2 members who have asked the Administration to admit all carbon is connected, and end new oil leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, said Aaron Viles of Care2.com. If were to have any hope of protecting our coastal communities from the devastating effects of climate change and oil spills, we need to act now to keep fossil fuels in the ground. President Obama halted new offshore oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic, and he needs to do the same in the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic, said Blake Kopcho, oceans campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity.



In chilling foretelling, BP nicknamed its own Deepwater Horizon oil drilling lease Macondo, the cursed town of mirrors in Gabriel Garcia Marquez' 100 Years of Solitude  and the story of generations doomed to repeat history. We are here to stop the next generation of oil and gas leases, break the curse and unite with communities to claim a fossil fuel free future, said Janet MacGillivray, with Indigena. The Gulf of Mexico has been devastated by negligent oil companies and continues to be plundered for profit. We have to stop these corporate giveaways and protect these waters for Gulf Coast peoples and the planet. It's time to heed their call to end destructive offshore leases. Across all coasts, keep fossil fuels in the ground, said Ruth Breech, senior campaigner at Rainforest Action Network.
Airtel, a leading telecommunication service provider in Kenya has been recognized as the top Social Media Brand in Africa by the Africa Brand Index.

The award recognizes Airtel Kenya's outstanding use of social media platforms in engagement and resolution of customer issues.

Airtel Kenya outperformed all the other telecom companies in Africa to become the top telecommunication brand on Social Media for the month of February.

In the report published online on the Africa Brand Index Website, it shows Airtel Kenya scored the highest in community growth, content, engagement and sentiments.

The Africa Brand Index is a listing of the top brands on social media each month measured by an aggregate score of dozens of social signals.

The top brands are shown alongside their metrics and leader board position, showing the aggregate scores on a monthly basis.

Social media engagement rate measures how well people interact with the content an organization or brand posts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and many others.

It also provides the platform for users to share comments or express their feeling about a post of a particular brand to the total number of fans of the brand at the time it was posted.

"Our social media teams are dedicated to serve our customers on social media, 24/7, 365 days a year. We are proud of this recognition of their dedication to offer the best service experience to our customers," said Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi.

Airtel also continues to be a socially devoted brand based on recent report from Social Bakers dated October- December 2015 that verifies the company's 100 per cent response rate on Facebook and 98 per cent response rate on Twitter.
A small private shareholder in Sovereign Foods has taken legal action to secure his rights in the midst of an increasingly bizarre battle with Sovereign's board.

Albie Cilliers has applied to intervene in the High Court action launched last week by a bloc of Sovereign shareholders who want a shareholder meeting scheduled for Tuesday to be set aside.

Cilliers, who is the archetypal small investor that the JSE and the Companies Intellectual Property Commission claim to champion, said that he had been forced to do battle on his own account to counter what he deems to be abuse by the Sovereign board.

Cilliers is among dissenting shareholders, representing 11% of Sovereigns voting rights, who at a meeting on 14 January to decide on a proposal to buy back 10% of the poultry producers shares at R8.50 each, invoked a law introduced in 2008, which required Sovereign to offer other minority shareholders the same deal.

However, faced with a potential bill for paying out the 11% dissenters and the proposed 10% buyback, Sovereigns board decided to abandon the proposal. The resolutions passed by 85% of shares voted at the meeting have since been set aside.

Sovereigns board then scheduled a new shareholders meeting for Tuesday in which slightly revised resolutions are to be tabled, but this time, the dissenting minorities are to be barred from voting.

Cilliers said that the Sovereign boards refusal to allow him to vote at the crucial meeting was an abuse of a fundamental shareholder right.

He is seeking either to be paid out a fair value for his shares, or to be allowed to vote at a postponed shareholders meeting.

Cilliers is looking for relief from oppressive action by the Sovereign board in terms of section 163 of the Companies Act (2008).

It will be the first "oppressive action" case against a listed company taken under the jurisdiction of the 2008 act.

Cilliers said he had been trapped in a form of legal limbo since the Sovereign shareholders meeting on 14 January.

Sovereign has accused the dissenting shareholders of being aligned to Country Bird.

On Tuesday, Sovereign attempted to persuade the Competition Tribunal to block the Country Bird-aligned shareholders from voting at Tuesdays meeting on the grounds that this could give Country Bird some control over the outcome of the meeting.

Sovereigns legal actions suggest there is the suspicion that Country Bird has an agreement with one of the companys major institutional shareholders  notwithstanding the Sovereign boards claim of having the support of 70% of the shareholders.

Country Bird CEO Kevin James said the application to the tribunal was "patently contrived", and that there was no way his less than 10% stake in Sovereign could affect the outcome of the meeting, unless no more than 46% of the shareholders were to attend.

"The abuse of the Competition Act to prevent shareholders  minority shareholders at that  from exercising their voting rights cannot be tolerated," James explained.
The slump in commodity prices over the past year has jolted the mining industry out of its comfort zone. The industry is in a different place right now, where everything is under scrutiny. The fittest and most well-managed companies will be those that survive.

So where are the opportunities and how do companies in the mining industry rise above harsh times that have affected them? Mike Simms and Olivier Barbeau offer some advice.

Cutting costs and saving money

Most companies are in survival mode, with the threat of liquidation hovering over some of the smaller and medium-size mining companies in particular.

Before taking such a major step, its vital to check whether enough has been done to cut costs in a way that will not have a long-term negative effect on the business.

Survival checklist

#1. In the current climate, there may be obvious operational patterns which are an option for mining companies, both big and small. These include split or short shifts and not working 24/7.

#2. Using new technology could also help to reduce employment. While sensitive to job cuts, engaging technology in the short-term may be necessary for the long-term survival of the business.

#3. Some companies may have to consider restructuring their debt and look at other ways of raising money. Short-term measures, like external financing, may be a necessary option for some.

#4. Companies should also consider whether its viable to lease out their equipment to bring in some extra cash. Capital projects may need to be put on ice, while retrenching employees may be an inevitable last option for companies.

#5. Cutting costs need not be negative. Being innovative and creative and thinking of new ways of doing things could spark fresh plans. Changing the approach of the way you do things can lead to better systems in future.

Consider investing in renewable energy

With insecure energy supply in some African countries, finding ways to secure your energy supply by investing in your own base-load power plant or shifting to renewable energy may be more viable than ever. Technology that can reduce costs, particularly in energy and water, is well worth looking into.

Increasingly, companies are exploring the opportunity of using renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, where prices have dropped and are starting to look very competitive compared to conventional coal-fired electricity.

Diversify your assets if you can

Moore Stephens foresees more mergers and acquisitions in the next 12 months.

The larger mining companies and groups are likely to be the winners here. There is still money in the market looking to find a home. Companies are looking at distressed businesses as potential acquisitions. Bringing in other parties at a discounted rate may help companies to survive.

For those in a position to do so, a joint venture could be a good way to diversify into several metals or other companies. Equally those that are struggling may find a way out in joint ventures.

In an industry currently facing more risks and regulation, theres a need to tread more carefully and be astute about managing the risk. But timing could win out. Companies need to be flexible to adapt to whats happening in the world, as well as react swiftly when opportunities arise.

Get communities on board

In the current volatile economic climate, its vital to be sensitive and respectful to the communities in which mining companies work. The communities in which companies operate will be there long after the rocky times have subsided. A distressed mining environment can become even more distressed if theres tension.

The whole community is integral in developing a sustainable mine or operation. This is one of the important lessons the industry has learnt from South Africas experiences on the platinum belt. Keeping up with corporate social responsibility initiatives and other ways of giving back to the community helps in countering criticism that companies extract the natural resource for the benefit of shareholders who may be on the stock exchange in another jurisdiction.

Engaging with community stakeholders is also vital, while having board members with strong connections to the communities in which they work will build relations and important partnerships.

Through being inclusive, transparent and looking for creative solutions, companies that are able to weather the storm will be in a far better position to react to opportunities when the markets shift in future.

Michael Simms is a partner in accounting and advisory network, Moore Stephens UK, based in London. Olivier Barbeau is the managing partner of Moore Stephens in Johannesburg.
When it comes to an open-pit mining operation the magnitude of Husab in Namibia, you are going to require a lot of fuel-driven equipment such as drill rigs, excavators, rock breakers and trucks.

Engen is responsible for the fuel supply and logistics at the Husab Mine in Namibia

In 2014, CGNPCs Namibian unit, Swakop Uranium invited tenders for the supply of essential goods and services to its Husab project. Following a considered evaluation process, the contract for the provision of facilities, fuel, lubricants and services was awarded to Engen.

Special requirements

Engens commercial services manager, Paindane Henrique, says the contingent requirements upon each tendering supplier were typically complex. The mine will move 150 million tonnes of rock and 15 million tonnes of processed ore, per year and consume 80 million litres of diesel in doing so.

For example, a broad range of heavy vehicles each carried stringent specifications, based on the original engine manufacturers 50ppm diesel and lubricants requirements. These included low sulphur fuels with low water content and superior cleanliness to ensure operations and fuel system longevity. Engen products fitted this perfectly, adds Henrique.

Supplying these fuels requires optimum supply chain quality and monitoring at various stages in the supply process together with the necessary best available technology and operating practices.

Full responsibility

In addition, general manager of Engens international business division, Drikus Kotze says the company has been involved in the design, procurement and construction of the fuel storage and dispensing facility, and will assume full responsibility for the day-to-day management and reporting.

Naturally, to establish an operational fuel facility for a mine the size of the Husab, and which is located approximately 60km from Swakopmund, is no easy task.

We are currently operational from a temporary facility with the permanent facility nearing completion, explains Kotze. Construction of the permanent facility commenced in May 2015 and should be completed and commissioned in late March 2016, he adds.

Background

Discovered in 2008 and located 45km from Walvis Bay, the Husab deposit contains a high grade of uranium hosted in a type of granites called alaskites. When it is in full production, Husab will be one of the biggest uranium-only mines in the world.
Wonderbag has partnered with CapeNature and the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve (GCBR) to launch a project in Oudtshoorn and De Rust in the Western Cape that is creating jobs, developing skills and giving disadvantaged households the tools to help fight climate change.

CapeNature and GCBR have been running community workshops about climate change for a while. The Wonderbag initiative is a scaled-up version of what we have been doing, says Wendy Crane from GCBR. We can now reach many more people.

This scaled-up version will see community members receiving information on climate change, as well as tips and tools on how to conserve the environment, use water wisely and save electricity and other sources of fuel.

At the same time, people will be taught about the Wonderbag and the spekboom - a small-leaved succulent indigenous to the Eastern and Western Cape, whose enormous carbon-storing capabilities make it a natural climate change fighter.

Follow-up workshop

Each participant will receive a spekboom cutting to plant at home. A few months later a follow-up workshop will take place and households whose spekboom plants are alive and healthy will receive a Wonderbag.

Our goal is to spread the climate change message, says Susan Botha from CapeNature. We want communities to know about it and then do something to contribute. To this end, we give them tools, such as the Wonderbag and the spekboom, to join the fight in their own homes. The point is that if we all do our little bit, climate change can be mitigated.

The Wonderbag company, whose main factory is in Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal, provided the project with 1,000 Wonderbag DIY kits and trained two groups of women on making the cooking bags. Two micro-factories were set up in homes in Oudtshoorn and De Rust where manufacturing is progressing well.

Once enough stock has been built up, the community workshops will start. The manufacturing and community workshop costs are funded by the Foundation for Human Rights and the government of Flanders.

Environmental assets

Explaining GCBRs participation in the project, Crane says that the NGOs objective is to showcase examples of how human development can be combined with environmental protection. The fact is that many of our environmental assets are on private land in the hands of wealthy people. Our challenge is to find ways to assist poorer communities to balance environmental protection with their own livelihoods. This project is an excellent example of what can be done.

A committee on which all three partners are represented will identify the communities to be visited. The details are still being confirmed, but the planning is that a minimum of ten and a maximum of 20 communities in and around Oudtshoorn and De Rust will be targeted.

The project also has a business development element. Of the 1,000 bags that are being manufactured, 750 will be used in the trade model. The remaining 250 will be given to a local women empowerment group to sell and, in so doing, start a small business.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners have unveiled a new project - Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) - to diminish devastating environmental effects in maize production that occur simultaneously across many regions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Andrew Stepovoy via 123RF

The new project will develop new improved varieties and hybrids with resistance and tolerance to drought, low soil fertility, heat, diseases such as Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) and pests affecting a large target of maize production areas in SSA.

Reducing crop failure

STMA will use modern breeding technologies that will confer the desired resistance to pests and diseases and tolerance to climatic stresses like drought and heat to benefit farmers within their socio-economic capabilities, that often dictate their access to important farm inputs like fertilizers and improved seed, said Tsedeke Abate, project leader of STMA.

Over 35 million hectares of cultivated maize in SSA is rainfed. Climate change is heightening the intensity and frequency of drought in farmers fields. At the same time, maize productivity is further reduced by low fertility soils prevalent in most parts of SSA, yet the majority of smallholder farmers cannot afford the recommended amounts of nitrogen fertilizers. These, in addition to other stresses increase the risk of crop failure that negatively affects income, food security and nourishment of millions of smallholder farmers and their families.

STMA will draw from successes and lessons of the just concluded Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) projects, which successfully developed and deployed over 250 improved drought-tolerant and nitrogen-use efficient maize varieties benefiting more than 43 million people in the region. The new stress tolerant varieties and hybrids will increase maize productivity by 3050% for smallholders in 12 countries in eastern (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda), southern (Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and west Africa (Benin, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria).

Improved maize varieties

STMA is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The four-year project will put improved maize varieties in the hands of nearly five and a half million smallholder households by end of 2019. The project will also ensure women participation across the maize value chain from production to retail.

STMA will link up with national and regional initiatives to develop strategies that bridge the yield gap and dramatically increase maize productivity at smallholder farm levels. This continued collaboration with partners will enhance sustainable maize research and development systems in target countries through sustained variety release, deployment and adoption, which has thus far been insufficient in many SSA countries.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture is a key partner in the STMA project alongside very important national research organisations within the target countries, international institutions, small and medium seed companies and other private and public institutions.
PRETORIA: Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has urged the beneficiaries of the Lower Tugela Bulk Water Supply Scheme to save and reuse water.

Make sure that you use water more than once so that we can ensure that those that are not serviced do get services, said Minister Mokonyane.

Minister Mokonyane made the call during the launch of the Bulk Water Supply Scheme under Ilembe District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. The event was held on Tuesday, 22 March, at Ncedomhlophe Stadium.

The R1.32bn project includes the infrastructure required to abstract and treat water from the UThukela River to supply to secondary bulk and reticulation networks within the iLembe District Municipality.

These networks will ultimately supply both developed and unserved areas. On completion, the scheme will reach a total of 750,000 inhabitants. Local municipalities within iLembe District Municipality, who will benefit from the scheme include KwaDukuza and Mandeni.

Of the population to be served, 209,859 are indigent people.

Minister Mokonyane said the department is going to bring forward all plans to bring water from the scheme and show how best to accelerate the project working hand in hand with Umgeni Water.

As we continue to bring this infrastructure into place, let us ensure that we do not do illegal connections, steal water or destroy infrastructure.

She encouraged those who can afford to pay for water services to do so, while those who cannot pay to register accordingly.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, who also oversaw the launch of the project, said the scheme will assist in relieving the impact of the current drought conditions.

Now iLembe Local Municipality and eThekwini will find some relief. We are aware too that some in the community even lost jobs due to the closure of the sugar mill. We hope that this scheme will bring some relief, said MEC Dube-Ncube.

Phase 1 of the project is about 95% complete. The last part of the contract is expected to be completed in September 2016.
The new film adaption of J G Ballard's classic 1975 novelhas been a while coming. Much like the power-cuts that interrupt life in the novel's namesake, various attempts to translate the book for cinema have been erratic, and ultimately failed. But with director Ben Wheatley's effort garnering positive reviews and critical acclaim, perhaps it is useful to reconsider the story's meaning.

High-Rise tells the story of Robert Laing  a middle class doctor who moves into a complex of futuristic, luxury tower blocks just outside of London. The building where Laing lives is designed to provide everything its residents need, from green spaces, to shops and swimming pools.

But theres a darker side to this architectural Utopia. As events unfold, the building seems to exert a malign influence on its occupants and spats over resources escalate into violent conflicts between enemy floors. In some ways, the tower itself becomes the antagonist, influencing the moods and movements of the other characters as powerfully as any person.

Failed utopias

As Wheatley himself has said, it would be kind of pointless to make a film that has no relevance to modern life. So what message does High-Rise hold for us, in an era when our skylines are becoming more and more congested with towering edifices?

For one thing, the film draws on important lessons from our past. In the naked ambition of High-Rises lead architect, Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons), we can see traces of Le Corbusiers plans for his Ville Radieuse (the radiant city), first presented in 1924. In Le Corbusiers vision, high-density housing was arranged in a Cartesian grid, spread across a huge green area  it was intended to function as a living machine. It was never built, due to the sheer scale and costs involved.

High-Rise also brings into view some of the thinking around tower blocks from the time the novel was written. Following a number of failed high-rise projects from the 1960s onward, people began to critique architecture as a form of social engineering, which could influence residents' behaviour in negative ways.

Take, for example, Pruitt Igoe in St Louis in the US: after its completion in the early 1950s, the complex quickly became known for its poor living conditions and crime. Lead architect Minoru Yamasaki lamented: I never thought people were that destructive. Its demolition in 1972 was labelled by Charles Jencks as the day modern architecture died.

Even today, politicians in the UK blame the design of streets in the sky tower blocks for building in crime  despite evidence to suggest that there were are many other social issues which contribute to these outcomes.

Architecture of inequality

As well as regenerating these historical topics for a modern audience, High-Rise also evokes some of the most pressing issues in todays urbanism  in particular, how social inequalities play out in our built environment.

High-Rise portrays architecture as a solidifier of social divisions. In the novel, society is stratified according to wealth, with richer tenants inhabiting the upper levels and less wealthy people toward the base. The residents' physical separation inflames their hostility toward those they see as different from themselves.

Studio Canal

But all too often, the reality is far more complex. Take, for example, the recent disputes over upmarket apartment blocks in New York or London, which funnel poorer residents into the building through alternative access routes.

Dubbed poor doors, these separate entrances prevent residents of different socioeconomic backgrounds from circulating in the same spaces, effectively building in social segregation. But while this practice has been condemned as abhorrent and divisive, it can actually help keep costs down for poorer tenants, because they dont have to contribute to the maintenance of main stairwells and lobbies.

Control, space, delete

If the social tensions portrayed in High-Rise are being played out anywhere in our society, its at ground level  and public spaces are the battlefield.

Corporations and developers are increasingly taking ownership of the public realm. As more gated communities, retail developments and privately owned parks spring up, the questions around who is allowed to come into these spaces and who is not become increasingly pressing.

In his later novel, Cocaine Nights, Ballard wrote with troubling prescience about this erasure of public life, and the rise of defensive urbanism:

Townscapes are changing. The open-plan city belongs in the past  no more ramblas, no more pedestrian precincts, no more left banks and Latin quarters. Were moving into the age of security grilles and defensible space. As for living, our surveillance cameras can do that for us. People are locking their doors and switching off their nervous systems."

Public space protection order, Hackney 2015.

This fear of others is perhaps more keenly felt through top-down measures such as public space protection orders. These local government mandates can prohibit certain behaviours in the public realm, such as sleeping rough, begging, or even standing in small groups.

In both examples, we can detect the same fear of otherness, which the residents of the High-Rise feel toward those on different floors.

This is the true power of the film adaptation: Wheatley has expertly reimagined Ballards futuristic novel in a way that rings true to us now.

Lost futures

That said, we are still some distance from the dense, dystopian settlements of High-Rise. But then, any architect can attest that the future never turns out in quite the way we imagine. For example, the Barbican Estate in London  which was perhaps a visual reference for the film  featured highwalks.

Gurkan Sengun/Wikimedia Commons

These raised, covered walkways were envisaged as the future of pedestrian movement. The architects even designed the highwalk system with connection points, ready for the attachment of new paths. But this version of London never arrived, and today the pathways are simply an eccentricity of the building.

The density and intensity of the High-Rise is not yet mirrored by modern society  and it may never be. But this film is a timely warning that the built environment reflects the cultures and values of the society which created it. And what is certain is that the more screens, gates, meshes and separation that we place between ourselves, the more fractured our social relations, and the more we demonise the weak, the poor and the voiceless.


At this year's Lions Health, on from 18-19 June 2016 at Cannes, a MedTech Expo will be launched. Spaces within the exhibition will be given to the most innovative companies in MedTech and to ensure a diverse, global mix of technologies and organisations, are being offered free of charge.

New and cutting-edge technologies are rapidly changing the healthcare landscape and it is essential that the communications industry adapts to this. The purpose of Lions Health is to provide a unique platform that inspires change while championing the value of creativity in healthcare communications. We hope that this new installation enhances this opportunity, said Louise Benson, festival director, Lions Health.

A specially curated exhibition will focus on areas including cognitive computing and big data; wearables and home health devices; virtual and augmented reality; telemedicine and video visits; personalised medicine & genomics; robotics; artificial intelligence; and 3D printing

Ed Wise, CEO of Omnicom Health Group, the sole sponsor of the MedTech Expo, commented, Technology is going to define the next generation of healthcare innovations. For communication companies, this will provide new platforms to create, invent and engage in ways that can make a real difference in how global health is delivered.

Experts with unbiased knowledge and strong industry credibility will review all applications to exhibit. They will be looking for innovative companies that offer a glimpse into the future of medicine and healthcare. For more information, go to www.canneslions.com/lions_health/.
On the next Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media radio show on Thursday, 24 March 2016, from 9-10am, show host Warren Harding focuses on the current state of loyalty in South Africa and we look at the loyalty programme trends with CEO and founder of Truth, Amanda Cromhout.

Amanda Cromhout

Truth is a boutique consultancy business specialising in customer centricity and loyalty programme strategy and design.

Truth recently released the largest survey on loyalty programmes in SA, in a whitepaper that has surveyed more than 24,500 respondents. The data reveals interesting insights for businesses who now more than ever, are looking to build and sustain loyalty from their customers.

While more than 100 programmes are available in SA, a massive one-third of consumers don't use loyalty programmes at all. We look at the state of loyalty in South Africa, the international trends, the challenges and advice for getting started with loyalty. We get the insights from Amanda on what is the difference between a loyalty programme and a rewards programme, how important data is and the balance between cost and profit. All of this and so much more on loyalty in South Africa.

Tune into Biz Takeouts every Thursday from 9am-10am live from the 2oceansVibe Radio studio in Cape Town as we discuss the topics that matter in Marketing & Media.

How to listen

Comments or questions

Podcast

A podcast of the show will be available in the Biz Takeouts special section on Biz later during the week.
The first night of the 10th annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) was a celebration of excellence at the Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg.

Zama Mkosi, chief executive officer at the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa (NFVF) said, The SAFTAs first night largely celebrates the technical craft of film and television production, the critical yet unsung heroes who arent in front of the camera. Without these resolute professionals, there wouldnt be an industry for actors and actresses to shine. They continue to raise the bar and create work that we have been proud to celebrate for the last decade. We congratulate the nominees and winners and hope to see them in the next years.

The SAFTAs trophy is the Golden Horn, it symbolises Circularity as an organising principle in African thought, and like a continuous reel of past-present-future speaks to endless creativity.

The SAFTAs are proudly sponsored by McCafe brought to you by McDonalds.

View the full list of winners from Night 1 and Night 2.
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Yes, this is the third post here today related to transphobia, but what can I say? Republicans are obsessed with confronting this non-existent threat.

Republicans in Kansas have fought tooth and nail to avoid funding education at a level that is constitutional, even going so far as to threaten the entire state judiciary including the state Supreme Court, but there's always money for enforcing bigotry.

State lawmakers have introduced bills to restrict transgender bathroom use and go a step further by paying kids to snitch on their peers for using the "wrong" bathroom.

The Student Physical Privacy Act would apply not only to public schools, but all public universities in the state as well, guaranteeing that anyone who saw someone transgender in the bathroom could sue their school for $2,500 for every time that it happened. The complementary bills (SB 513 and HB 2737) declare in no uncertain terms that transgender students are going to harm other students just by using the same facility alongside them. Allowing students to use restrooms, locker rooms and showers that are reserved for students of a different sex will create potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury to students, they read.

There's nothing funny about this but I could hardly blame you for laughing if you're familiar with recent Kansas history.

Local school systems sued the state because they were not provided enough funding to adequately care for disadvantage students. The local systems won in court and the legislature responded by cutting education even more to a point where schools were forced to close for the year early. The state government appealed the decision but the lower court ruling was recently affirmed by the state Supreme Court.

Lawmakers have responded to each court decision instructing them to provide more funding for education by threatening the judiciary.

These same lawmakers who can't be bothered to fund education want the same schools to be forced to pay their students for acting as the Transphobic Bathroom Gestapo. And where is that money going to come from?

It should be repeated as many times as it needs to be: this is not a real threat! No one is pretending to be transgender just to spy on people in the bathrooms or locker rooms. There isn't a single documented case of a transgender student sexually assaulting another student in the bathroom. They aren't in there for any other reason than to do their business just like everyone else. Being transgender is not synonymous with being deviant predator.

Personally I'd say these lawmakers are the bigger threat. They're the ones jeopardizing the futures of an entire generation by cutting education to the bone.

The bill introduced by state lawmakers may sound familiar because a lawmaker in Kentucky introduced similar legislation last year. Kentucky state Senator C.B. Embry introduced a bill to force schools to pay students $2,500 for each report.

I'm obviously not a constitutional law professor but these proposals seem like a wildly unconstitutional breach of privacy to me. In any case, the bills being considered in Kansas would violate Title IX and open the state up to numerous federal lawsuit. Who will pay for that?
Good news -- the Tennessee bill that would have gone further than any other state to place restrictions on transgender students has died in committee.

From the Associated Press:

The bill died in a House committee meeting packed with transgender youth who opposed the measure, some of whom testified before the committee. "It feels great to know that my voice is counting," Henry Seaton, an 18-year-old student who attends Beech High School in Hendersonville, said after the vote. Seaton, who was born female but identifies as male, testified last week in a subcommittee and then spoke to committee chairman Mark White, R-Memphis, before Tuesday's meeting.

Tennessee's bill would have been the most restrictive in the nation as it would not only prohibit transgender students from using a bathroom that corresponds with the gender they identify as. The bill also would have prohibited schools from making any accommodation for transgender students.

Even if the bill had passed through the legislature, Governor Bill Haslam would have vetoed it. Signing the bill would have opened the state up to federal litigation and cost state up to $1 billion in federal funding by violating Title IX.

Unfortunately, the GOP's crusade against transgender people is far from over, The transgender students who flooded the Tennessee House deserve a great deal of praise for their courage to step out and be seen and heard.
WASHINGTON  The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released its much-anticipated best execution guidance for dealers on Friday, providing answers to frequently asked questions about the rule as well as the exemption for sophisticated municipal market professionals.

MSRB Rule G-18 on best execution requires dealers, whether acting as agents or principals, to use "reasonable diligence" to determine the best market for a security and to then buy or sell the security in that market so the price for the customer "is as favorable as possible under prevailing market conditions." The best execution standard does not necessarily mean a dealer must find the best price.

Dealers are exempted from the rule if their customer is considered an SMMP under both Rules D-15, which defines an SMMP, and Rule G-48 on transactions with SMMPs. The rule also does not apply to trades between dealers. But it covers customer trades that are cleared through another dealer.

The MSRB first filed G-18 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2014 and received SEC approval later that year on Dec. 8. The rule was supposed to have been effective on Dec. 7 of this year, but dealers had questions about implementing it so the MSRB agreed to delay the effective date until after it issued the guidance. The effective date for the rule is now March 21, 2016. The MSRB has tried to ensure its rule and guidance align with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's rule on best execution for dealers trading corporate debt.

In its rule, the MSRB provides dealers with a non-exhaustive list of factors to take into account when using reasonable diligence to ascertain the best price for a muni, including: the character of the market for the security; the size and type of transaction; the number of markets checked; the information reviewed to determine the current market for the subject security or similar securities; the accessibility of quotations, and; the terms and conditions of the customer's inquiry or order.

The guidance tries to answer dealers' questions about such issues as: what constitutes reasonable diligence; how they should document their compliance; how to meet best-ex requirements in extreme market conditions, and; how brokers' brokers or alternative trading systems can be used to show reasonable diligence in determining the best market.

"The MSRB is issuing this guidance to facilitate dealers' compliance with their new obligations and ensure that retail investors consistently receive the benefit of fair handling of their orders to buy or sell municipal securities," said MSRB executive director Lynnette Kelly.

But the MSRB makes clear that it is somewhat limited in the guidance it can give on the rule. Rule G-18 is meant to be flexible to fit the diverse nature of different dealers' businesses, the board said, so determining whether a dealer exercised reasonable diligence "necessarily involves a 'facts and circumstances' analysis, and the actions that in one instance may meet a dealer's best-execution obligation may not satisfy that obligation under another set of circumstances."

The guidance urges dealers to develop written policies and procedures that both fit their specific business models and ensure documentation of their compliance. Even though the rule is meant to allow a broad range of policies and procedures, the MSRB recommends that dealers consider reviewing and including the existing practices of their trading operations, existing best practices within the municipal securities market, and existing best practices in the corporate debt securities market with respect to FINRA's best execution rule.

The MSRB suggests dealers pay attention to three requirements in the rule when documenting compliance. They should: have written policies and procedures for compliance; document periodic reviews of their written policies and procedures and the results of those reviews, and; consider documenting their adherence to the policies and procedures.

In the event of extreme market conditions, the MSRB said it expects dealers to have evaluated their procedures for such situations to make sure they: still treat customer orders fairly, consistently and reasonably; disclose to customers any differences in normal order-handling procedures, and; only implement different procedures designed to respond to extreme market conditions when warranted by market conditions.

The MSRB said there is no set number of either markets or dealers a dealer should check to meet its diligence requirement. A dealer should generally check more than one market or expose customer orders to multiple offerings or bids and show the external offerings or bids to retail customers, it said.

The rule also does not require dealers to use broker's brokers or ATS' as part of their diligence. The guidance said the rule is not designed to favor a particular type of venue over another and that the "expansive interpretation" of the term "best market" is meant to allow dealers to tailor their compliance with their specific areas of business. However, the guidance notes that electronic systems are becoming more available and dealers should periodically consider whether ATSs would provide benefits for their customer transactions.

Additionally, the guidance said using only one broker's broker pricing for a security or one ATS will not categorically qualify as reasonable diligence, but a dealer's policies and procedures can establish the facts and circumstances under which a dealer could be allowed to do so.

The self-regulator also received questions about what qualifies as a similar security under the rule. While not providing an exhaustive list, the MSRB said dealers could look at the issuer, source of repayment, credit rating, coupon, maturity, or a variety of other factors to determine similarity.

Leslie Norwood, associate general counsel and co-head of municipal securities for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said SIFMA welcomes the guidance but still needs to review it carefully with its members. She added that SIFMA will review the guidance with an eye toward differences between the MSRB's and FINRA's, as well as any implications for the market or any implementation challenges.

Jessica Giroux, general counsel and managing director of federal regulatory policy with Bond Dealers of America, said BDA also appreciates the MSRB's effort and work with FINRA and will be talking to its members about the changes.

"As always, the BDA continues to focus on the transparency and efficiency of the municipal securities market and we know the MSRB is implementing this (and other) rules for the same purposes," she said.
WASHINGTON  Several of the Supreme Court Justices seemed sympathetic with Puerto Rico's complaints that a federal appeals court ruling striking down its debt recovery law for utilities leaves it "in a no man's land" where it "is not entitled to the benefits," but " is subject to the burdens" of Chapter 9.

Puerto Rico appears to have some support from Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer. Even Chief Justice John Roberts complimented Christopher Landau, the lawyer representing Puerto Rico, on his response to a question. Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas were silent. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case because of a financial conflict and no one has yet replaced the late Justice Antonio Scalia.

The seven-member high court is expected to rule on the case by June.

But even if four of the seven Justices rule in favor of Puerto Rico and reinstate DERA, several of them worried on Tuesday that DERA might violate the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution, which prohibits states from impairing private contracts. Landau told judges the contract clause issue could be argued if the case is remanded back to the appeals court, but it is not an issue before the high court.

In addition, Congress could pass legislation that either gives, or refuses to give, Puerto Rico or its authorities bankruptcy protection under Chapter 9 and that measure would supersede any ruling by the Supreme Court.

Puerto Rico, its Government Development Bank, and their officials are urging the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, that concluded the Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act (DERA) is illegal. The appeals court sided with funds that hold over $2 billion of bonds by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and concluded that DERA violates a section of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that prohibits states from passing laws allowing their authorities to restructure debt without the approval of those entities' creditors.

During oral arguments before the Supreme Court, Ginsburg asked Matthew McGill, the lawyer representing hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management as well as Franklin and Oppenheimer funds, "Why would Congress put Puerto Rico in this never-never land, that is, it can't use Chapter 9 and it can't use a Puerto Rico substitute for Chapter 9?"

Puerto Rico "is locked out  It has to take the bitter but it doesn't get any benefit at all," she said.

Justice Sonia Sotomayer, who asked the most questions of all the Justices, also seemed sympathetic when she said, "It is inherent in state sovereignty that states have to have some method, their own method, of controlling their municipalities."

Landau argued that two sections of Chapter 1 of the bankruptcy code serve as a "gateway" that keeps Puerto Rico out of Chapter 9 altogether, including Section 903(1) which says state law cannot prescribe "a composition of indebtedness" that bind creditors without their consent.

Section 101(52) of the code says in part that the definition of state "includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico" except for the purposes of defining who may be a debtor under Chapter 9."

Section 109(c)(2) of the code says an entity is only a debtor under Chapter 9 if it "is specifically authorized, in its capacity as a municipality or by name, to be a debtor under such chapter by State law, or by a governmental officer or organization empowered by State law to authorize such entity to be a debtor under such chapter." Landau said that section means Puerto Rico is categorically precluded from authorizing its municipalities to enter Chapter 9 and that it is simply not part of Chapter 9.

Kagan said to McGill, "Why isn't Justice Breyer's and Mr. Landau's view of the text just as good if not better than yours?" She added, "I didn't come in here thinking that, but now I kind of am thinking that."

The justices noted that the bankruptcy code does not mention Guam or the Virgin Islands and wondered if Congress intended to treat the territories differently.

Roberts asked Landau why it doesn't make sense to think Congress wanted to keep Chapter 9 for the states and make the territory come to it for help.

Landau said frankly, it would be very anomalous [for] Puerto Rico [to be] in a worse position, let's say, than Guam and the Virgin Islands."

Roberts said Landau "came up with a very good answer." But Roberts asked why did Congress lump Puerto Rico with the District of Columbia in saying in the bankruptcy code that there were not states except for the purpose of defining who would be a debtor under Chapter 9.

Ginsburg also asked McGill, "What explains Congress wanting to put Puerto Rico in this anomalous position of not being able to restructure its debts?"

McGill gave three reasons. First he said, Congress has always micro-managed Puerto Rico's debt, citing a change to the Jones Act aid that limited the amount of debt it could take on. Second, he said, Puerto Rico debt is triple tax-free and therefore is held by bondholders all over the U.S. Finally, he noted, when Congress amended the bankruptcy code in 1984 to say Puerto Rico is a state except for defining who a debtor is under Chapter 9, it was concerned about the amount of indebtedness of both Puerto Rico, which had about $9 billion of debt, and D.C., which had about $1.6 billion of debt.
Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA) Chief Executive Officer has called for a revisit of the decision to privatise Air Botswana.

In an exclusive interview with Botswana Guardian this week, from his office, Kgotla Ramaphane indicated that the environment in the aviation sector globally was not conducive at the time of deferring the decision to privatise the airline. As we are established to implement privatisation-it would be better to study the environment again, find models suitable for it and bring it for privatisation, he said.

Air Botswana has been making losses for several years, and there have been various attempts to privatise it and frequent changes to the corporations management and board, so far without reducing the losses. Blaming the losses in part on overstaffing, the operation of an ageing, fuel-inefficient fleet, increasing operational costs, inadequate management expertise and an inability to retain and attract qualified pilots - the government earmarked Air Botswana to be the first of the parastatals to be privatised.





The privatisation process began in April 2000, when the government signed a consultancy agreement with World Bank-affiliated International Finance Corporation (IFC), which saw IFC being appointed as the governments main adviser in the privatisation process.

In 2003 the government attempted to privatise the airline, with Air Mauritius and Comair put forward as strategic partners. The process would have seen the winning bidder receiving a 45 percent stake in Air Botswana, with the government holding a further 45 percent, and employees holding the remaining 10 percent. It was planned that once the airline has firmed its position under new ownership, it would be listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange. Air Mauritius later withdrew from the process in September 2003, citing the downturn in global air travel markets since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. Comair also withdrew in December 2003, due in part to increased competition by low-cost airlines in the South African market. The government then suspended the search for a strategic partner in February 2004.

In September 2006 it was announced that three potential investors had placed bids for the tender to take over the airline: Airlink of South Africa, African World Airways Ltd, and Lobtrans (Ltd), a local truck fuel transporter. Shortlisted companies which did not submit bids included Ethiopian Airlines, Comair, Tourism Empowerment Group, ExecuJet, and Interair South Africa. In November 2006, PEEPA announced that Airlink has been put forward by the Ministry of Works and Transport (now Ministry of Transport and Communications) as the preferred bidder for Air Botswana.

The government ceased negotiations with Airlink in October 2007, when cabinet decided that the deal was no longer viable. Cabinet also believed the proposal didnt meet requirements for air transport for the country, and didnt address government objectives for the further development of transport and tourism sectors in Botswana.

The government then began the search for a management company to operate the company for a three-year period, and also announced that the government would recapitalise the airline by injecting P100 million to improve performance and to make it more attractive for privatisation. The government entered into negotiations with Comair, but following disagreements over terms, negotiations continued with reserve bidder International Development Ireland, in conjunction with Aer Arann.

According to press reports in August 2008, Alexander Lebedev, a Russian oligarch, expressed interest in investing in the airline, and the Ministry of Works and Transport confirmed that Lebedev was invited to travel to Gaborone to present his bid to the government. Part of the bid reportedly included extending Air Botswanas route network to Dusseldorf Airport; the base of Blue Wings which is 48 percent owned by Lebedevs National Reserve Corporation. At the end of 2008, it was reported that Lebedev had abandoned plans for investment in Air Botswana.

In another development, the national airline left the International Air Transport Association (IATA) because of its inability to meet the December 2008 deadline of the IATA Operational Safety Audit. It was then re-admitted as a full member in 2012, under the leadership of the General Manager, Sakhile Nyoni-Reiling.

In December 2012 Nyoni-Reiling resigned and in May 2013 the local press reported of internal conflicts and that two directors had been suspended for gross mismanagement pending investigations. In 2014, the Zimbabwean national Ben Dawah was appointed the new General Manager for Air Botswana. In late 2015 Tshenolo Mabeo the minister responsible for transport, sacked Dahwa together with his entire board of directors, following allegations of corruption. General Tebogo Carter Masire, former Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Commander, was appointed in February 2016 to lead Air Botswana as board chairman, replacing Nigel Dixon-Warren.
The volume of trade between Japan and Botswana remains very low despite the five decades of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Japanese exports to Botswana  mainly automobiles and semiconductors  account for only 1, 3million Japanese Yen (JPY) while Japans imports from Botswana  mainly diamonds  account for 3, 3million JPY. I intend to increase the volume of trade between the two countries, I am very worried that the level is so low, Japans envoy to Botswana and a special representative to SADC Masahiro Onishi confided to Botswana Guardian in a meet and chat with the Editor and Chief Sub-Editor of the newspaper, Justice Kavahematui and Ernest Moloi respectively at his residence in Ext. 11, Gaborone.

Flanked by his lieutenants  Ako Yamamoto and Itsuroh Abe  both second secretaries at the embassy, the Ambassador waxed confidence that the task at hand was possible and can, with concerted effort from both sides, be attained even before the end of his tenure in one and half years time. Not only does Onishi intend to enhance trade relations, he is desirous of furthering the bonds of friendship that exist between the two peoples by consolidating existing cultural and educational exchange programmes.

Indeed Onishi has already flexed his muscles as he prepares to launch a charm offensive that will eventually grow the level of trade between the two nations beyond the traditional commodities to include coal mining, power generation, transport and communications, infrastructure development, port facilities and health and agriculture among other sectors.





The envoy showed his intent when he invited a Japanese business mission last month to visit Botswana to explore investment opportunities. The mission not only met the acting minister of trade Vincent Seretse, according to the Ambassador, but also Business Botswana as well as the executive secretary of the regional economic bloc SADC, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax. The Ambassador says the visit was a meaningful opportunity for the company reps to explore possible areas of interest and cooperation. Some of the companies in the mission included Sojitz Corporation - a general trading company with a worldwide network of over 400 companies and operating in over 50 countries. It expressed high hopes that the visit to Botswana, a country well-endowed in natural resources, will facilitate the creation of new business in the near future.

There was also ITOCHU Corporation - a Japan based international trading and investment firm committed to the global good, which labours in Africa to contribute to regional economic and social development through its eleven local offices. ITOCHU made 1Mega Watt Photovoltaic power plant in Botswana under the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) by Japanese Government.JGC Corporation was founded in 1928 as Japans first engineering contractor and provides services in the areas of engineering, procurement and construction as well as in enterprise investment. It expressed confidence that it could help Botswana grow by improving infrastructure in the areas of transportation, port facilities, power & water, mineral resources, LNG, coal mining, health care and agriculture.

The Ambassador expressed total delight at the prospect that a joint venture between Japans Marubeni and South Koreas Posco Energy will later this year begin the expansion of Morupule B power station by another 300 MW and thereafter supply BPC with power over a 30-year period. Marubeni is a major Japanese trading conglomerate and project organizer that boasts 120 offices in 66 countries and is involved in wide-range of global trade and investment in energy, power, water, grain, petrochemical and industrial plants, and transportation equipment.

There was also Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Africa Corporation according to the embassys first secretary Itsuroh Abe, who also doubles as a commercial attache and will be liaising with these companies to ensure that they finally set up shop in Botswana.

However, Japans relations with Botswana are not only confined to economic ties, but extend into the cultural and social spheres of life through, for example, the provision of technical assistance in various fields such as the digital migration project and provision of 500 educational TV programmes to Btv; the academic research project on Jatropha as an alternative source of energy; helping Botswana to map and monitor the amount forest resources she has; grant assistance to grassroots and training of Botswanas civil servants by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

Abe points out that as a middle-income country (by UN standards), Botswana no longer qualifies to be given funds directly by its international cooperating partners hence the technical assistance that Japan provides the country to support its national economic development objectives. Botswana further enjoys support from Japan within the context of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), whose sixth summit is scheduled to take place in Africa this year.




NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Defence Ministry on Tuesday red flagged the "on-going contestations" over island territories in the Asia Pacific as a threat to security in the region even as it said there has been an "increase in assertiveness" during routine patrolling by the Chinese Army along the LAC.



In its annual report released in Delhi, the ministry also said that radicalisation and fresh recruitment in South Kashmir are a "cause of concern".



"External factors, including the changing situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, may also impact the internal situation in Jammu and Kashmir," the report said.



Noting that India's security environment encompasses a complex matrix of regional and global issues and challenges, it emphasised on the need to enhance preparedness to address consequences of instability and volatility in parts of the immediate and extended neighbourhood, saying, it remains a key priority.



"At the same time, there are renewed and successful efforts to build strong defence partnerships with a wide range of friendly foreign countries to enhance international peace and stability," the report said.



Without naming China or the US, the ministry said, shift in global balance of power, as reflected in recent developments in the Asia Pacific region, have introduced new dimensions in military and diplomatic interactions among the major powers and regional states.



"This has been manifested in renewed maritime disputes, changes in military posture and great power rivalry, all of which has added to complexities of the security situation in the region.



"In particular, the ongoing contestations over island territories in the Asia Pacific have fuelled regional tensions that could seriously strain the cooperative structures that have enabled a rapid growth of the Asia Pacific region as an engine of global growth," the report said.



On the situation at LAC (Line of Actual Control), the report said India-China border continues to be peaceful.



There are a few areas along the border wherein India and China have differing perception of the LAC, it said.



"Both sides patrol up to their respective perception of LAC and due to this transgressions occur...However there has been increase in assertiveness during routine patrolling by the PLA (People's Liberation Army)," the report said.



The annual report of the Defence Ministry also said Indian Ocean Region is central to India's growth and security.



The ministry said India is committed to building security cooperation with all partners in the neighbourhood on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect.



It identified terrorism and the activities of terrorist organisations as perhaps the "most serious" threat to peace and security.



The use of terrorism as an instrument of policy by a few states has exacerbated intra and inter-state rivalries, it said.



"Peace and stability in various regions of the world are marred by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In particular, the threat of nuclear terrorism continues to be a major international security concern, notwithstanding international efforts to strengthen nuclear security and to prevent non-state actors from acquiring nuclear materials," it said.



The report also said that India is keen to expand its energy basket by deeper engagement in this sector with Central Asian countries that are major energy producers," adding, changes in Iran open up new avenues for establishing regional connectivity between Central Asia and India.






NEW DELHI (PTI): Eyeing multi-billion dollar deals, Russia is sending a 500-member delegation to the defence expo which stared on Monday at Naqueri Quitol in Quepem Taluka, South Goa.

From Kamov helicopters to latest Kalashnikov rifles, Russia is exhibiting a whopping 800 defence-related products at the four-day exhibition beginning March 28.



In addition, Rostec State Corporation, an umbrella organisation in Russia of about 700 companies, intends to discuss creation of joint production of ammunition with the Defence Ministry. United Engine Corporation (UEC) will present models of aircraft and marine engines.



"We are very excited to come to India to be part of Defexpo India 2016. These are exciting times for India's defence industry as Asia's geo-politics increasingly takes shape around India," said Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation.



He added that Russia is deeply committed to partnering with India in the 'Make in India' endeavour and to strengthen partnerships, both from manufacturing and joint development perspectives for military and civil cooperation.



Russian Helicopters will showcase the Mi-38 and Ka-226T during the event.



The delegation will hold talks with state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Pawan Hans Limited, which operates helicopters Mi-172 and other aircraft.



Russian Helicopters also plans to organise a presentation of the Mi-38 and Mi-171A2 for Pawan Hans Limited.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/03/2016 (2404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of the citys police union says hes confident that an officer accused of assault will be cleared of wrongdoing.

On Tuesday, Manitobas Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) announced that it is investigating a Brandon Police Service officer for an allegation of assault.

The unit is less than a year old, and the union president says he was surprised by its choice for its first investigation of a BPS officer.

I just dont see this complaint going anywhere  In my opinion, I think well find that the officer did his job, Brandon Police Association president Kevin Loewen said.

The IIUs civilian director Zane Tessler, however, said the unit determined that an independent investigation was in the public interest.

In this particular situation with the Brandon matter, the circumstances in which it occurred, we felt that this was one where the IIUs involvement as an independent investigation agency was appropriate, Tessler said.

Neither Loewen, the IIU nor other sources would identify the officer who is being investigated. Loewen noted, however, that the officer is an experienced member of the force.

Other sources indicated that the officer is a man, while the IIU confirmed the complainant is a woman.

The IIU said the officer had responded to a domestic dispute on the afternoon of March 16.

The affected person, the IIU said, subsequently alleged that the officer had committed an assault. No medical treatment was needed.

The IIU didnt provide any further details, citing the ongoing investigation. Loewen also declined to elaborate on the accusations.

The BPS issued a statement in which it confirmed that it received a complaint after an officer attended a call.

It then notified the IIU, which Tessler added the force is required to do if it believes one of its officers might have been involved in a Criminal Code offence. In this case, an assault would fall under the Criminal Code.

The BPS declined to comment further, but noted that the officer involved remains on active duty.

The IIU investigates all serious incidents that involve police officers, whether they are on or off duty.

Under the Police Services Act, the IIU can monitor a police forces investigation or, if the civilian director considers it in the public interest, it can take over the investigation.

In this case, Tessler looked at the Brandon incident and was satisfied it was in the public interest for the unit to investigate.

IIU investigators have been sent to Brandon and their investigation has begun.

Once the investigation is complete, the director has three options. He can lay charges, take no action, or refer the case to the Crown attorney for an opinion on whether charges are warranted.

Loewen  who says he was given a broad overview of the incident by BPS management  said this case seems to highlight his concern that the IIU is a redundant layer of police scrutiny.

Our officers are obligated to respond to emergency calls for service and then when we do, were subject to so many layers of scrutiny for simply doing our job, Loewen said.

He wondered aloud whether the young unit, created in June 2015, is still feeling out which cases to take on, and perhaps felt obligated to investigate a Brandon case given that it hadnt yet.

I was surprised that given the complaint, and given the fact that there have been a significant number of higher-profile incidents in the province, that they would even have the time to spend here, Loewen said.

The incident may also be investigated by the Law Enforcement Review Agency if the IIU finds criminal charges arent warranted.

LERA commissioner Max Churley said his agency hasnt received the above complaint, but it still may.

The agency handles issues of police conduct, including matters that can overlap with the Criminal Code such as use of excessive force.

Churley said its up to the complainant to decide whether to pursue the issue as a criminal matter with the police or IIU, or administratively as excessive force with LERA. If both the IIU and LERA receive the same complaint, then the criminal investigation takes precedence.

In the case where a police service or the IIU doesnt lay a charge due to insufficient evidence, the LERA might still investigate and take action under its act.

In a case where an officer is found at fault through the LERA process, punishment can include a warning or reprimand, loss of leave or pay, loss of rank, suspension or dismissal.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @IanHitchen
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/03/2016 (2404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Sioux Valley Dakota Nation man caught for illegally possessing 6,000 cigarettes will have to cough up a lot of cash.

The offence dates from nearly two years ago, from a time when other Dakota people were also convicted of offences related to the possession or sale of unmarked tobacco.

A lot of fines and penalties have been levied against you and against other members of your community, and other communities close by, Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said in sentencing Mark Blacksmith in Brandon provincial court.

Hopefully, that has sent the message to everyone that its not worth getting messed up in this sort of enterprise because the price tag that gets attached when you get caught is really quite enormous.

Blacksmith, 27, pleaded guilty on Monday to possessing unmarked tobacco under the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act.

Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup said that Falcon Beach RCMP stopped a pickup truck on April 28, 2014.

Officers had received a tip that a truck with a specific licence plate number would be entering Manitoba from Ontario with a large quantity of cigarettes.

The plate identified the trucks owner as being from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, a community linked at the time to ongoing investigations into contraband tobacco.

Mounties intercepted the truck. The passenger, Blacksmith, was smoking a cigarette of a brand commonly bought in Ontario.

There was a large duffel bag in the back seat that contained 30 cartons of cigarettes that lacked the required markings to prove that the Manitoba tax had been paid on them.

The driver of the truck wasnt involved  in fact, he didnt even smoke, Lonstrup said.

Blacksmith admitted ownership of the tobacco, and confirmed that he hadnt made any stops to pay the provincial taxes.

In court on Monday, Blacksmith was fined the minimum $1,000 for the offence, and also charged $4,500 (the standard penalty for the offence of triple the tax due on the tobacco.)

He was also fined $100 for failing to attend court on Jan. 29, 2016.

Blacksmith didnt get into specifics, but told court that his case was connected to prior cases that involved the sale of contraband tobacco.

Some Dakota people took to selling unmarked, cut-rate tobacco in what they described as an effort to make up for a failure of the reserve, provincial and federal governments to address social and economic problems.

The defendants argued that tobacco tax laws didnt apply to them because the Dakota people didnt sign a treaty with Canada and their sovereign rights werent extinguished.

In each case, that argument failed. The court ruled that previous court decisions had made it clear that

laws and regulations apply to First Nation peoples regardless of whether they have a treaty.

In February 2014, four Dakota men were convicted under the same act as Blacksmith in relation to the running of a smoke shop near Pipestone that sold unmarked tobacco.

The shop was raided repeatedly between November 2011 and March 2012, and the men were fined a combined $190,000 and put on probation for two years.

Two women were also convicted under the same act in relation to a raid at a Sioux Valley home in March 2013. On the property, police found 34,350 unmarked cigarettes.

Last July, the women were fined $29,762 for the possession of the unmarked tobacco for sale.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @IanHitchen
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 22/03/2016 (2405 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VICTORIA  British Columbias Liberal government says Tuesdays federal budget signals a good start towards investing in provincial infrastructure projects.

Community and Sport Minister Peter Fassbender says hes pleased Justin Trudeaus government is willing to pay up to 50 per cent for large infrastructure projects such as Surreys light rail and the Broadway SkyTrain extension in Vancouver.

He calls the cost-sharing formula a step forward from the one-third split between the federal, provincial and municipal governments.

But Fassbender says the province is not about to move away from its commitment of one-third funding, which means municipalities must contribute 17 per cent to the projects.

Fassbender says B.C. remains committed to tabling balanced budgets even though the federal budget projects a deficit nearing $30 billion.

He says the Trudeau government has decided to run deficits, but B.C. is aiming for surpluses.

They have to make their choices, Fassbender says. They have to run their fiscal house as we do ours.

He says the budget signals many B.C. communities can start making construction plans for their projects.

We see the federal government being prepared to invest significantly across the country and here in B.C., particularly when we look at infrastructure and transit projects which I know the mayors of Metro Vancouver and other communities throughout the province have been advocating for.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson also says the funding is a good first step towards investments in housing, transit and social infrastructure.

The new funding and flexibility dedicated to transit will help us get moving on improving transit in Vancouver and throughout the region, and will both grow our economy while protecting our environment, the mayor said in a news release.

?I???
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TORONTO  While most clothing remains categorized along gender lines, there is a growing movement among some fashion brands to blur the boundaries distinguishing styles for men and women.

Spanish-based retailer Zara recently launched Ungendered, a 10-piece collection encompassing T-shirts, joggers, sweatshirts, jeans and Bermuda shorts for both men and women.

Designer Nicola Formichetti, who previously crafted outlandish looks for Lady Gaga, is at the helm of genderless clothing line Nicopanda, with rose-printed T-shirts, hoodies with cutouts and pink parkas among its spring-summer offerings.

Models wear clothing from fashion brand S.P. Badu in this undated handout photo. Toronto-born designer Spencer Badu is behind the unisex clothing label S.P. Badu. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-S.P. Badu

And Montreal-raised designer Rad Hourani has devoted his signature label to celebrating gender neutrality. While marking his fifth anniversary at Toronto Fashion Week in 2012, Hourani unveiled a utilitarian collection with military-inspired touches.

Beyond the runway, skirts have become embraced as stage style for artists like Justin Bieber and Kanye West. Jaden Smith  the teen son of star couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith  recently made a buzzworthy debut as the new face of Louis Vuitton when he wore a motorcycle jacket, fringed top and pleated skirt in the fashion houses spring-summer campaign.

When androgynous styles start to surface in fashion, its typically reflective of a greater social shift driving the movement, said Dale Peers, professor and program co-ordinator in the school of fashion at Seneca College in Toronto.

Peers said in the 1920s, social freedoms given to women after patriotic service in the First World War and earning the right to vote translated to style changes symbolic of their new status, with more masculine-looking silhouettes seen in clothing.

The changes of a century ago seem to be resurfacing with the more recent embrace of gender-neutral styles, she noted.

If were looking from a social perspective at our hopefully greater acceptance of different lifestyles and ideas, then this is social phenomenon that is being reflected once again in the zeitgeist, and therefore, it has that influence in fashion, said Peers.

Spencer Badu can recall occasions when hed make modifications to a female top hed purchased because he liked certain elements, like the length of the garment.

For me, there are no rules, said Badu, who is currently completing studies at the Fashion Institute at Olds College in Calgary.

The Toronto-born designer said his main objective with his label S.P. Badu is to challenge preconceived notions of gender, which could only be accomplished with a unisex brand.

Badu said he is focused on inclusivity, and tries to put an emphasis on comfort in his clothes. But he acknowledged that he needs to make key adjustments to ensure the styles will fit both male and female bodies, like placing invisible zippers on particular T-shirts and crafting exaggerated sleeves.

I think my esthetic is very narrow and it appeals to certain people, said Badu.

Where I challenge myself is that I try to appeal to people that also wouldnt consider wearing a unisex piece, that also wouldnt consider throwing on a cropped jacket because theyre kind of afraid.

Sandy Silva, director of fashion and beauty at the NPD Group, said despite the current crop of brands touting gender-neutral fashions, she doesnt see the divisions being entirely dissolved any time soon.

I dont believe a retailer is going to transform to a complete genderless offering. I think its testing the waters to see how it goes, a slow and steady approach, said Silva.

Im pretty sure dollars and cents will speak at the end of the day.

Follow @lauren_larose on Twitter.
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EDMONTON  An international conservation organization founded by chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall says it has chosen Edmonton as the site of its first Western Canada office.

JGI Canada says it will use the office as a hub to grow a school program about the need to protect the environment and understand the connection between people and animals.

Our goal is to create a generation of Janes, Jen Duffy, a spokeswoman for the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, said Wednesday.

Chimps are still our main focus species, but if we are making the world a better place for chimps we are making it a better place for everyone.

JGI Canada says it already has more than 400 groups in its Roots & Shoots program across the country that involves local hands-on conservation projects.

Duffy said there are three schools in Alberta where teachers have been trained to deliver the program aimed at kindergarten to Grade 6 students.

The program promotes compassion, empathy, critical-thinking skills and awareness about environmental sustainability.

The plan is to train more teachers and expand the program into Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Duffy said Alberta was chosen for the first Western Canada office because of the support JGI has received in the province.

Westmount Charter School in Calgary was the first school in Canada to sign onto the program.

It is not that we are coming here to fix things. People in Alberta have identified that they want to make a difference, Duffy said.

We are certainly not making a value judgment about Alberta. This is where people have been passionate about the work that we are doing.

In 1960, Goodall began doing research with wild chimpanzees in the forests of Tanzania. She later became an activist and speaks about how habitat loss is threatening animals.

The United Nations appointed Goodall a U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2002.
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TORONTO  Health Minister Eric Hoskins complained Wednesday about the billing practices of some Ontario doctors, who he said were taking hundreds of millions of dollars away from home care and other services.

Unpredictable and frankly out of control billing by some doctors is a problem that creates huge income for some doctors, but it leaves less for family doctors, said Hoskins.

It leaves less for our salaried doctors in community health centres, it squeezes our ability to invest more money in home care and community care, and it robs of us of the capacity to responsibly plan our health care spending each year.

There are no caps on billings by Ontario doctors, so they effectively set their own salaries, and at an average of $360,000 a year are the highest paid in Canada, added Hoskins.

But the unpredictable billing allows some specialists to earn several times the average, and forces the government to find millions of dollars on top of the $11 billion set aside annually for physician compensation, he said.

The health care system has to find the extra funding knowing that it means less for access, less for home care, less for palliative care and for other services, Hoskins said.

We cant reasonably plan our spending on patient priorities: shorter wait times, modern hospitals and expanded home care, if were unable to manage and anticipate how much must be spent in other areas.

The minister said he wants to fix a compensation system that is unfair to the majority of doctors in this province, and pleaded with the Ontario Medical Association to return to fee negotiations with the province.

We need to ensure that fees are structured so that they promote better care and better outcomes for patients and to ensure that all physicians are paid fairly, he said.

Its not right that certain high billing individuals are pulling those funds away from our family doctors and others.

OMA president Dr. Mike Toth expressed surprise and disappointment at Hoskins comments, and said the best way to get a new deal with doctors is for the government to agree to binding arbitration.

Wed like nothing more than to have a physician services agreement with the government, and have been saying that for more than a year, said Toth. We think the best way to settle this dispute is to have a binding dispute resolution mechanism, and of course theyve not agreed to that.

Toth called it disingenuous for Hoskins to ask the OMA to return to negotiations but then not have a process where we could be successful.

The OMA launched a constitutional challenge last fall after the Liberal government imposed what the doctors lobby said were fee cuts of 6.9 per cent.

But the Ministry of Health said Wednesday that the imposed fee cuts were only 3.95 per cent, plus another one per cent for billings in excess of $1 million.

Progressive Conservative health critic Jeff Yurek called Hoskins comments disrespectful, and said the minister was trying to divide the profession and bargain through the media instead of sitting down with the OMA to reach a deal.

The government is set to redesign the health care system, the biggest redesign in over 50 years, and they dont have the doctors on side, warned Yurek.

Follow @CPnewsboy on Twitter
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The Brandon School Division says Tuesdays attacks in Brussels will not affect international trips planned by several local high schools over the spring break.

Students from Vincent Massey High School and Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School are heading out of province today for trips to Spain and Hawaii, respectively, while Ecole secondaire Neelin High School students travel to Spain on Saturday.

Our senior administration has reviewed Spains travel advisory status this morning and as their advisory alert has not changed, there is no reason at this time to alter our plans, BSDs communications officer, Terri Curtis, said on Tuesday.

Both groups travelling to Europe will stop in Paris briefly on their way to Spain.

There will be a layover in Paris where students  will be kept in the secure side of the airport, Curtis said.

Vincent Masseys nine-day trip was supposed to feature stops in France and Spain, but division administration altered the itinerary in February. Security concerns after the Nov. 13, Paris attacks were the driving force behind the decision.

During Monday nights division board meeting, trustees approved upcoming overseas travel plans for two groups of Vincent Massey students.

In May, 14 jazz students are set to fly to Havana and next November, 35 to 40 drama students will be on their way to London, England.

BSD board chair Mark Sefton says that while student safety is the top priority,

its important to find a balance with travel opportunities.

Once the approval in principle has been granted, then its up to the administration to continue to monitor situations in those destination countries to make sure that our students will be safe, Sefton said.

The Winnipeg School Division has cancelled or rerouted a number of spring break trips to European countries following news of Tuesdays attacks.

 ewasney@brandonsun.com, with files from Charles Tweed and Tom Bateman

 Twitter: @evawasney
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MONTREAL  The lawyer for the train driver charged in the Lac-Megantic derailment that killed 47 people in 2013 wants a stay of proceedings in the case against his client.

Thomas Walsh filed a court petition last week on behalf of Tom Harding and alleges his clients charter rights have not been respected by the Crown, which has refused to outline its case and opted not to have a preliminary hearing.

A date for the stay motion to be heard hasnt been set, but Walsh said in an interview Wednesday its impossible to plan a defence without knowing the Crowns arguments.

Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in Lac Megantic, Que., July 6, 2013. The lawyer for the train driver charged in the Lac-Megantic derailment that left 47 people dead in 2013 wants a stay of proceedings in the case against his client. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Harding, railway traffic controller Richard Labrie, train operations manager Jean Demaitre and defunct railway company Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway have each pleaded not guilty to 47 charges of criminal negligence causing death.

That reflects the number of people who died after the parked train carrying crude oil broke loose and derailed, setting off massive explosions that decimated a large part of Lac-Megantics downtown core on July 6, 2013.

The charges were filed almost two years ago. Last year, the Crown was granted a preferred indictment, whereby a case goes directly to trial after bypassing a preliminary hearing often used to test the evidence.

The accused have opted for trial by jury.

Walsh says without an inkling of the Crowns case, a future trial will play out like a professional wrestling match.

You throw everybody in the same cage and theres an orgy of finger pointing and the jury comes up with the best response it can in the light of all that, Walsh said. I dont think thats a proper or fair way to do a criminal trial.

Walshs 27-page Quebec Superior Court filing, dated March 17, also makes reference to Hardings heavy-handed arrest by provincial police, arguing it was abusive.

He called the arrest by a tactical unit in May 2014, nearly 10 months after the tragedy, an attempt to destabilize his client. Walsh alleged the goal was to shame evidence out of Harding.

The case is scheduled to return to court on April 4, but a number of motions will be heard beginning April 20.

They include requests to have the trial moved out of Lac-Megantic and others dealing with divulging evidence and getting the Crown to lay out its case.

On the venue front, Demaitres lawyer, Christiane Filteau, says the request to move the trial is based on logistics.

She said finding bilingual jurors in a largely francophone area would be difficult, as would locating impartial jurors given that many locals belong to various class-action lawsuits. The makeshift courthouse isnt equipped for a such a trial, she added.

I want it in a jurisdiction other than Lac-Megantic, Filteau said. Its up the judge to decide, depending on whats available (elsewhere).

Walsh has previously said he wants an English trial in Lac-Megantic, so a bilingual jury would be necessary if everyone is tried together. Hes mused about a separate trial for Harding, but cant make that call without knowing more about the Crowns case.

Jean-Pascal Boucher, a spokesman for the director of criminal and penal prosecutions office, had no comment other than to say such debates would take place in the courtroom.
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WINNIPEG - Manitoba Liberals have made a campaign promise to increase the amount of exercise children get in schools.

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Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
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WINNIPEG  Manitoba Justice has asked RCMP in Saskatchewan to investigate a collision involving two off-duty Winnipeg police officers.

The Justice Ministry says the officers vehicle struck a parked car in a residential city neighbourhood in the middle of the night on March 12.

The crash caused extensive damage to both vehicles as well as to a fire hydrant.

Officials say one of the officers was treated at the scene and the other was taken to hospital by ambulance.

No other injuries were reported.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba was reviewing what happened, when its civilian director identified a conflict of interest and said the unit should not be involved.

As it is in the public interest to ensure an independent investigation, Manitoba Justices director of policing asked the RCMP to assume responsibility for the investigation on March 22, says a statement released Wednesday.

The ministry says no further details will be provided during the investigation.
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TORONTO  Former CBC Radio star Jian Ghomeshi has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking. A Toronto judge is expected to rule on the case Thursday. Heres what the three women behind the allegations testified at his trial:



FIRST COMPLAINANT:

A copy of a photograph of Lucy DeCoutere released by the court during the trial of Jian Ghomeshi on Friday, February 5, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

The woman alleged Ghomeshi yanked on her hair when they were kissing in December 2002 and then suddenly pulled her hair again while they were kissing in his home a few days later before punching her in the head.

The woman, who was 41 at the time and cannot be named, said she met Ghomeshi at a party in Toronto where he invited her to a taping of his CBC Radio show Play.

The woman testified she went to the taping and then to a pub with Ghomeshi, after which they ended up kissing in his car, where she said the first alleged assault happened.

He reaches around my head and he grabs my hair really, really hard and he pulls my head back, she testified. He said something like do you like it like that.'

The woman said she was left confused by the incident but still kissed Ghomeshi goodbye because he had switched back to the nice guy.

She saw Ghomeshi at another taping, which was uneventful, and then went for a third with a friend.

After going to a pub and dropping her friend off, the woman went with Ghomeshi to his home where they started kissing in his living room.

At one point, Ghomeshi abruptly pulled her hair extremely hard.

He pulls my head down and at the same time hes punching me in the head multiple times and Im terrified, she testified. I dont know if hes going to stop, can I take this pain.

The woman said she ended up on her knees, with her ears ringing and started to cry when Ghomeshi told her she should leave.

The woman said she didnt go to police until 2014 because she didnt think anyone would listen.

Court also heard that the woman told police she didnt have further dealings with Ghomeshi except for writing him one email in anger which she couldnt recall if she sent.

Under cross-examination, however, court learned that the woman sent Ghomeshi friendly emails, including one with a bikini photo of herself.

The woman said she sent them as bait, hoping Ghomeshi would contact her so she could get an explanation for the alleged assaults. She said she didnt remember the emails when she spoke with police.

SECOND COMPLAINANT:

Actress Lucy DeCoutere of Trailer Park Boys was the only complainant who could be identified after waiving her right to a publication ban.

DeCoutere, who is also a captain in the Royal Canadian Air Force, testified she was with Ghomeshi in his bedroom when he suddenly started choking her and slapping her face while they were kissing.

They first met at a conference in Alberta in the summer of 2003, and the pair emailed and phoned each other over the next month until DeCoutere, who lived in Halifax, made a trip to Toronto with plans to see Ghomeshi.

They went out for dinner and then back to Ghomeshis house where DeCoutere said he gave her a tour and suddenly started kissing her in his bedroom.

She said Ghomeshi then grabbed her by the throat, pushed her up against a wall and hit her face repeatedly with an open hand.

I remember not being able to breathe, she said. I was just completely bewildered by what happened therefore I tried to brush it off. I didnt leave.

DeCoutere said she and Ghomeshi had subsequent interactions after that night, but she said she had no romantic interest in him.

During cross-examination, Ghomeshis defence lawyer noted that DeCoutere only disclosed details of her post-alleged-assault interactions with Ghomeshi after the trial began.

DeCoutere said she hadnt understood the importance of after-contact incidents.

Ghomeshis lawyer produced a series of emails and a letter from DeCoutere to Ghomeshi, which the actress said she had not remembered until they were presented in court.

In one email, sent the day after the alleged assault, DeCoutere wrote you kicked my ass last night and expressed a desire to have sex with Ghomeshi. After showing the email to DeCoutere, Ghomeshis lawyer suggested that what happened in Ghomeshis home was no sexual assault.

Henein then produced a hand-written letter DeCoutere sent to Ghomeshi after her trip to Toronto, in which DeCoutere said she was sad they hadnt spent the night together. In the last line of the letter DeCoutere wrote: I love your hands.

THIRD COMPLAINANT:

The woman told Ghomeshis trial that while they were kissing in a park in 2003, he suddenly bit her shoulder and started squeezing her neck with his hands.

They met at a Toronto dance festival, where Ghomeshi came up behind the woman, who was 32 at the time, and rested his arms on her shoulders. When someone asked how they knew each other, the woman said Ghomeshi replied were engaged.

Shortly after that encounter, the woman said she met Ghomeshi in a park one night where they began kissing on a bench.

All of a sudden, I felt his hand on my shoulders and his teeth. And then his hands were around my neck and he was squeezing, the woman testified. I tried to get out of it and then his hand was on my mouth, sort of smothering me.

The woman said she had consented to the kissing but not to what followed, and left the park shortly after.

A few days later, the woman said she went out for dinner and drinks with Ghomeshi, and then they went back to her home where a sexual encounter took place.

The woman said she only told police about the encounter once Ghomeshis trial was already underway because the incident had been consensual and she was embarrassed about it.

When questioned by Ghomeshis lawyer, however, the woman accepted that she deliberately misled investigators by withholding information.

The womans dates with Ghomeshi ended after they went to a party where he repeatedly berated her best friend.

The trial heard that years later, the woman and DeCoutere became friends after allegations began surfacing about Ghomeshi in late 2014.

The woman initially said they didnt discuss their allegations against Ghomeshi but admitted under cross-examination that they actually did, while also talking about their shared contempt of him before and after they went to police.
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OTTAWA  The new federal budget showers the countrys veterans with cash, but questions lingered Wednesday about the details and just how far the money will go towards improving the lives of former soldiers.

Finance Minister Bill Morneaus fiscal plan delivers $5.6 billion  $3.7 billion booked in the current fiscal year  for better programs and services for the most critically injured former military members. The money will be spread out over decades, but federal accounting rules require all of it to be recorded now.

One of the marquee Liberal promises to veterans in the last election was to return to a pension-for-life system  or provide soldiers a choice between that and a lump-sum option.

Minister of Finance William Morneau speaks with the media after delivering a speech to members of the business community in Ottawa, Wednesday March 23, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

There was no sign of such a change in Tuesdays budget, but Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr says the government still backs the promise and needs time to consult on how it can be delivered.

This is clearly in my mandate letter, Hehr told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday. Were working towards implementing those commitments we made during the election and going forward.

Hehr wouldnt speculate on how long that will take.

Advocates were left wondering about the pledge, in part because the budget raised the lump-sum disability award for wounds suffered in the line of duty to a maximum of $360,000 next year from the current $310,000. Thats far below other countries such as Britain, where the payout is closer to $1 million.

Mike Blais, of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, said he remains unhappy and will continue to describe this as the chump-sum award.

Its no better than a workers compensation settlement, said Blais.

He said the award should be equal to what a veteran would have received in a lifetime pension, which was how it worked until Parliament unanimously agreed in 2006 to overhaul the system and pay lump sums for pain and suffering settlements.

As a veteran injured in the 1990s, Blais gets a lifetime pension, which he said will far exceed what soldiers wounded on the battlefield in Afghanistan receive.

People like me whove been on the old Pension Act will make four times more in pain and suffering than guys like Jody Mitic.

Mitic, a former master corporal, lost both legs in Kandahar in 2007 before going on to become an Ottawa city councillor, author and prominent veterans advocate.

Thats not fair, Blais said.

Between what was announced Tuesday and the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of changes introduced last year by the former Conservative government, an enormous sum of money is now being made available to ex-soldiers.

Veterans ombudsman Guy Parent said this is the time to start gathering data, focusing on outcomes and determining whether theres been a meaningful impact on lives.

We bring in new benefits (and) we improve the existing ones without necessarily looking at what the impact is on the overall situation on the families and the veterans themselves, Parent said.

Hehr said he agrees with Parent, but cautioned that measuring outcomes is not a simple exercise and questions about quality of life and satisfaction are complex and individual for the wounded.

The treatment of veterans became a lightning-rod for the Harper government and a political embarrassment for a party that prided itself on supporting the troops, particularly after a group of Afghan veterans launched a class-action lawsuit claiming the new system was discriminatory.

The case has been on hold since last year, when the Conservative government embarked on a series of changes meant to address the inequities and rebuild bridges with the veterans community.

Whether Tuesdays budget is enough to end the lawsuit remains an open question.

Don Sorochan, the Vancouver lawyer representing the six claimants, said Wednesday hell consult his clients, but there will be a meeting with Justice Department lawyers next month.

To my mind, Im encouraged by whats been done, Sorochan said.

He said he wants to hear about future plans.

Tuesdays fiscal blueprint also increases the salary replacement for the wounded known as the earning-loss benefit, but ties the minimum benefit to a senior privates salary instead of a basic corporals salary.

That measure will disadvantage the lower ranks, said Don Leonardo of the group Veterans Canada.
Opinion

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This article was published 23/03/2016 (2404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I read your March 11 editorial: Stop Ignoring Plight Of First Nations outlining your policy pertaining to reporting on aboriginal matters.

I am in complete agreement that there should be coverage of aboriginal issues, and I completely agree that racist viewpoints should not find a voice in your paper.

Where I disagree with you is in your implied suggestion that unless one accepts the approach that you advocate for all First Nation problems  namely, that the problem is money, and that we must spend more money to keep aboriginal people in their communities  the opinion is not worthy of expression.

There are some people  I am one of them  who believe that the position that you advocate is not the solution. When a disaster occurs in a First Nation community your editorial opinion inevitably reads something like this: National disgrace  plight of aboriginal people  80 per cent unemployment  government must spend more money.

Your message to people in these communities is that they are victims, they should stay where they are, someone else is responsible for finding jobs for them, and someone else will fix their problems. I suggest that this message is condescending, and the rote repetition of a failed formula.

It is a reality that most young people living in rural communities are not likely to find the jobs they want in their home communities. That reality exists whether they live in Waywayseecappo or Boissevain.

The challenge facing all young people is to adequately prepare themselves to succeed, and to move to where the jobs are.

BRIAN GIESBRECHT

Nesbitt
Opinion

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Its about getting a handle on this freight train of spending increases that the NDP is driving. There are no sacred cows here.

 Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister

The NDP and partisans on the left end of the political spectrum have harkened upon Pallisters no sacred cows comment that he made last week as proof that the sky will fall if the Progressive Conservatives come to power in April.

When he made the comment, Pallister was explaining his position on trying to reduce costs in government departments and eliminating wasteful spending.

Pallisters comment, of course, has played into the hands of the NDP campaign war room that is doing everything it can to scaremonger the electorate into believing that a Tory government will cut nurses, cut teachers, cut front line services, and thus hurt the most vulnerable in society.

On Sunday, NDP Premier Greg Selinger went up before media in front of the Victoria Hospital in Winnipeg to further drum that message home that services offered at hospital facilities were at risk, and that there are indeed many sacred cows that should not be touched.

That means that education is at risk. That means the future of daycare expansion is at risk. We have to make sure we fight against that because those services are essential to families, Selinger said.

These kinds of comments also dovetail nicely with the constant misinformation spewed, ad nauseum, by the NDP in that the former Filmon government axed 1,000 nurses for example  a statement that has been debunked time and time again by Manitoba media.

But theres good reason for the NDP in this province to feel threatened, actually, and it has nothing to do with whether Pallister is running with scissors and about to slice up a sacred government cow or two with the pointy end.

The CBCs poll tracker by Eric Grenier suggests that the Progressive Conservatives have gained enough popular support in the province that they could decimate the NDP seat count. As of March 21, the poll tracker projected a high of 44.5 per cent voter support for Pallisters Tories, with a projected seat count of 38 out of 57 possible in the Manitoba legislature.

The NDP know all too well that torquing the message and trying to instil a fear of the Opposition into the public is a great way to get re-elected. And theyre milking the negative messaging for all its worth. But the practise is also highly dishonest. We suggest the public be wary of these alarmist pronouncements, made by a long-in-the-tooth government that is running scared.

Pallister is quite right  when it comes to getting value for our tax dollars, there should be no sacred cows. That doesnt mean a vote for the Tories is a vote for cutting health care services or axing teacher numbers in our schools. But it may mean making different funding decisions, a review of departmental costs, and a leaner government ship.

Setting aside the numerous spending and policy differences between the two partisan camps, any government that has been in power as long as the NDP have been is bound to have grown complacent. There will be fat to trim, and efficiencies to find.

The NDP are making a rather large tactical error by trying to convince an indignant public that the sacred cows are in imminent danger, when a majority of Manitobans appear to be craving hamburger.
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WASHINGTON, Untited States  The old NATO alliance has become an election issue in the U.S., as the two presidential front-runners have adopted clashing rhetoric over the organization to which Canada has long contributed.

The Republican favourites nationalist-populist policy mix includes skepticism about whether the U.S. gets much out of the military organization  and whether its now obsolete.

The Democratic favourite responded to that with a full-throated defence Wednesday of the Cold War-era organization, combined with a rebuke of her rival Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton warned that her rival risked antagonizing partners around the world and throwing away one of the U.S.s greatest strategic advantages: its many allies.

In a speech on counter-terrorism, Clinton referred to the 28-country body as the most successful alliance in history and described her rivals policies as a gift to Russias leadership.

NATO in particular is one of the best investments America has ever made, Clinton told an audience at Stanford University in California.

Turning our back on our alliances, or turning our alliance into a protection racket, would reverse decades of bipartisan American leadership and send a dangerous signal to friend and foe alike.

(Vladimir) Putin already hopes to divide Europe. If Mr. Trump gets his way, itll be like Christmas in the Kremlin. It will make America less safe, and the world more dangerous.

She said the U.S. needs allies as much as ever  with terrorist attacks having occurred in London, Paris, Madrid, Brussels and Istanbul. She said those partners contribute not only to military operations but also expertise in banking, and efforts to stop terrorist financing; in diplomacy and development; and in regions like North Africa.

Trump has expressed skepticism about NATO in different interviews. Its part of his broader campaign theme that the U.S. is getting a raw deal in its relations with the rest of the world.

He told The Washington Post this week that he supported NATOs continued existence  but demanded that other countries shoulder more of the burden.

He went further in another interview.

I think NATO may be obsolete, Trump told the Bloomberg show, With All Due Respect.

NATO was set up a long time ago. Many, many years ago  when things were different. Things are different now. We were a rich nation then. We had nothing but money (then).

The debate reveals a unique dynamic of a potential Trump-Clinton showdown: This could be a rare election where its hard to tell which party is more militarily hawkish.

Trump occasionally plays the role with more aggressive rhetoric, such as talking about bombing the Middle East and taking the oil, and also by defending torture, which Clinton calls abhorrent.

But Trumps unpredictable policy palette also includes talk of retrenchment. Unlike Clinton, he speaks of reducing the U.S. military presence abroad, and letting others do the fighting where the U.S. doesnt have to.

Its likely that either, as president, would push other countries for military contributions. So has President Barack Obama. He grumbled in a recent interview about free-riders  countries that, he says, push the U.S. to act militarily without offering much of their own. That statement ruffled feathers in the UK and Saudi Arabia, and hes planning trips to soothe tensions with both countries.

Canada spends far less on its military than the U.K. Its in the lower tier of military spending among NATO members, according to figures compiled by the alliance.

Canada spends one per cent of its GDP on the military  compared with 3.6 per cent in the U.S., 2.5 per cent in Greece, 2.1 per cent in the U.K., and 1.8 per cent in France. Canada does contribute proportionally more to NATOs budget  at six per cent, compared with 22 per cent from the U.S.

When it comes to rhetoric, however, the Democrat is less inflammatory.

Clinton cast herself as a steadier actor, and her rivals Trump and Ted Cruz as dangerous, with counter-productive talk about walls, and carpet-bombing Syria, and keeping out Muslim visitors or refugees, and profiling Muslim neighbourhoods.

Proposing that doesnt make you sound tough. It makes you sound like youre in over your head, Clinton said.

Slogans arent a strategy. Loose cannons tend to misfire. What America needs is strong, smart, steady leadership.
The State has been given time to clarify issues raised about the case of a man accused of using threatening and abusive language towards the President.

Derek Byrne of Streamville Road, Kilbarrack in Dublin is alleged to have committed the public order offence at a protest outside a school in Dublin.
President Michael D Higgins has urged people not to let terrorists believe they can strike fear into lives.

After signing a book of condolence in the Belgian embassy in Dublin, Mr Higgins condemned the attacks which left 34 dead and hundreds wounded as cowardly and useless.

President Michael D Higgins visited the Belgian embassy earlier. Here's what he had to say on the attacks pic.twitter.com/zUfsaNedPu  Sean Defoe (@SeanDefoe) March 23, 2016

"Like all terribly destructive acts of terrorism directed against civilians, it has no serious end purpose other than the creation of such fears as would dislodge people," he said.

Mr Higgins expressed solidarity with the near 15,000 Irish people living in Belgium and said his thoughts were also with frontline workers who responded to the bombings.

President Michael D Higgins speaks to the media at the Embassy of Belgium in Dublin #Brusselshttps://t.co/kAS8s8WhZ1  RTE News (@rtenews) March 23, 2016

"150 years of theory will tell you that these acts are desperate and hopeless and useless," he said.

"They always create such fear as always creates the capacity for a reaction that would in effect not be entirely positive.

"These actions are terrible actions, they are cowardly actions ... but it's very important not to allow them to establish the fear which is their purpose."

A minute's silence was also observed at the embassy, with the book of condolence open to the public for several hours.

Enda Kenny has arrived to the Belgium Embassy to sign the book of condolences for the victims of #BrusselsAttacks pic.twitter.com/5ULxuzGmew  RTE News (@rtenews) March 23, 2016

Mr Higgins called on people to demonstrate how they want to live in peace.

"At the end of the day the great response always to terror acts against civilians is that civilians have shown in their resilience that their values are more important," he said.

"They are the values that endure from one generation to another.

"We reaffirm our commitment to wanting to live together in peace and being able to disagree in peace and none of this is associated frankly with any fundamental belief system or anything else."

Meanwhile, Ireland's most senior Catholic clergyman, Archbishop Eamon Martin, has written to colleagues in Belgium to express solidarity and sympathies.

"The horrific loss of life and serious injuries caused by these senseless attacks undermines the fragile bonds upon which our peaceful co-existence as a society rests," he said.

"I am mindful too of the work of security and healthcare personnel in offering assistance in a very difficult situation."
by Greg Murphy

One half of everyone's favourite legal team is set for a night at Cork Opera House this year.

Dean Strang rose to fame off the back of the hugely popular crime docuseries - Making a Murderer - released in late December 2015, detailing the recent life of Steven Avery.

Avery was arrested and served 19 years for a crime that he did not commit, and a number of years later he was incarcerated again and charged with the murder of Teresa Halbach.

Along with fellow lawyer Jerry Buting, Strang took on Avery's case and made a hugely compelling argument that he was set up by the authorities of Manitowoc County.

The case was watched by millions on the Netflix series and has gained both Strang and Buting a 'hero' status and following around the world.

The event, hosted by Old Oak in association with Aiken Promotion, will feature an evening of conversation with the Wisconsin lawyer who will discuss the 'systemic failures of the criminal justice system' as well as the broader implications of the Avery case.

The event will be hosted on September 22. Tickets on sale from 9am March 31 in Cork Opera House.
Jon Walters has pulled out of the Ireland squad for Friday's friendly in the Aviva Stadium.

The FAI international Player of the Year has returned to Premier League club Stoke to get treatment on a hamstring injury.
Manchester United and Manchester City are to face each other in China this summer as part of the International Champions Cup (ICC), the clubs have announced.

The match will take place in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing on July 25 and will be one of City's first under Pep Guardiola, who is set to succeed Manuel Pellegrini at the start of that month.

The ICC tournament will also see United play Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on July 22, and City take on the German side in Shenzhen on July 28.

Former United defender Nemanja Vidic said on MUTV: "I think it's great news we're coming on tour to China.

"We have so many followers in the country, over 100 million fans and it's good to visit them and spend some time with them. They're really passionate about United.

"I was in China in 2007 and I have to say the amount of energy we got from the fans there was unbelievable."

Former United midfielder Bryan Robson said: "They're great games to look forward to.

"Dortmund are just behind Bayern Munich as the biggest team in Germany and have some fabulous players.

"It'll be a treat for the fans to experience a derby game. People have said it'll be one of (Pep) Guardiola's first games as City manager but that doesn't matter as much as it's a derby and you have to go out there and try to win."

#ICC The fixtures for the pre-season International Champions Cup have been released. pic.twitter.com/UCotlCVgu4  PowerSport (@Power987Sport) March 23, 2016

Other English clubs who will be taking part in ICC pre-season games this summer are Barclays Premier League leaders Leicester along with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Leicester will take on Celtic in Glasgow on July 23, Paris St Germain in Los Angeles on July 31 and then Barcelona in Stockholm on August 3.

Liverpool and Chelsea will go head-to-head on July 27, with the former then playing AC Milan on July 30 - both games occurring at California venues.

The Reds then face Barca on August 6 at a venue that is yet to be confirmed.

Chelsea's other ICC games are against Real Madrid on July 30 (venue to be confirmed) and Milan in Minneapolis on August 3.

Tottenham are set to play two matches in Melbourne, against Juventus and Atletico Madrid on July 26 and 29 respectively.
Update 1.45pm: Disruption to airline passengers is set to continue after the main airport in Brussels announced it will remain closed for a third day.

The airport confirmed it will remain closed on Thursday and there is no set date for reopening.

It issued a statement which read: "Because the forensic investigation is still under way we currently have no access to the building. Until we can assess the damage, it remains unclear when we can resume operations."

#BrusselsAirport remains closed and all @AerLingus flights to/from #Brussels on Thursday 24 March are now cancelled pic.twitter.com/rp4wfrz4dV  Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) March 23, 2016

Commenting on the news Ryanair said: "Following the closure of Brussels Zaventem Airport, flights due to operate to/from Brussels Zaventem on both Wednesday (23 Mar) and Thursday (24 Mar) will operate to/from Brussels Charleroi.

"Customers booked to fly from Brussels should make their way to Brussels Charleroi, arrive at least 3 hours before their flight and allow extra time for additional security checks.

"Our full Brussels Charleroi schedule will be operating on both Wednesday and Thursday and further information is available on the Ryanair.com website. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones.

Update 1.30pm: One of the suicide bombers who launched a deadly attack at Brussels airport left a note in which he said: "I don't know what to do".

Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said Belgian national Brahim El Bakraoui was identified as having carried out the suicide attack at the airport on Tuesday morning by his fingerprints.

He said a note was found on a computer in a bin during a raid in Schaerbeek in which El Bakraoui wrote: "Being in a hurry, I don't know what to do, being searched for everywhere, not being safe, if it drags on it could end up with me in a prison cell next to him", which French media have reported is a reference to suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam.

Graphic shows timeline of terrorist attacks from Paris to Brussels.

Mr Van Leeuw confirmed that Belgian national Brahim El Bakraoui was one of the men pictured in a photo from Brussels airport issued by police on Tuesday.

He added the man to the left of the picture has not yet been identified and the man to the right, dressed in a white jacket and hat, is subject of a manhunt.

Ibrahim's brother, Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, also a Belgian national, was named by Mr Van Leeuw as having carried out the bomb attack on a train at Maelbeek station.

He said: "The suicide bomber was identified by his fingerprints, it was Khalid El Bakraoui, the brother of Brahim.

"The two dead terrorists had large police files, but not linked to terrorism."

Khalid El Bakraoui is listed as wanted by the Interpol website for "terrorist activities".

Update 12.25pm: The two Brussels suicide bombers have been identified by a Belgian prosecutor as Brahim El Bakraoui, who struck at the city's airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui who struck at a Metro station.

The second airport bomber has not been unidentified and a third, Najim Laachraoui, is on the run.

One of the suicide bombers at Brussels airport left a will in a bin, according to Belgian authorities.

Update 12.15pm: Belgium's main airport is to remain closed until at least Thursday night following the Brussels attacks.

Update 11.42am: Police in Belgium say they misidentified the man arrested as the prime suspect Najim Laachraoui.

Authorities there have clarified that Laachraoui is still on the run.

An arrest in connection with the terror attack has reportedly been made in the Anderlecht suburb of Brussels, but local media reports that Laachraoui had been detained have now been withdrawn.

.@EXPECT_GCTAT operational manager: The man arrested is not Najim Laachraoui, that's clear. #BrusselsAttacks https://t.co/8IoVqNz1P1  New Day (@NewDay) March 23, 2016

On the Anderlecht arrest, Belgian television reported that the suspect was "alive but is refusing to reveal his identity, which will only be known after DNA tests are carried out".

One strand of the investigation into the blasts is whether two of the three suspected terrorists pictured in a CCTV image from the airport released by police were wearing single gloves to secrete detonators.

Laachraoui is thought to be the third man in the CCTV images, who is dressed in a light-coloured jacket and is wearing a hat.

Police are reported to have raided an address given to them by a taxi driver who drove the three men to the airport where officers found another bomb and a flag representing the so-called 'Islamic State' group.

The Belgian prosecutor is expected to give a press conference soon.

Earlier: Brussels bomb suspect Najim Laachraoui has been arrested in Anderlecht, according to local media reports in Belgium.

Laachraoui, who was reportedly detained in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht, is believed to have accompanied brothers Brahim and Khalid El Bakraoui to the city's airport yesterday, where they blew themselves up, killing 14 people.

Newspaper La Derniere Heure reported: "The third man in the images taken at Brussels airport was arrested this morning by the DSU (Belgian Federal Police's Counter Terrorism and Swat Unit), according to our sources.

Najim Laachraoui

"The federal prosecutor has not confirmed this information."

Bomb-maker Laachraoui is also suspected of having played a "decisive role" in the Paris terror attacks, French media has reported.

He was an accomplice of Paris terror suspect Salah Adbeslam, who was arrested in Brussels on Friday.
Update: 9.30am: A suspect in the Brussels airport bombing has been named by Belgian media as Najim Laachraoui, who was already believed to be linked to last year's massacre in Paris.

Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure said Laachraoui is the third man pictured in a CCTV image taken at Brussels airport and is currently being sought by police.

Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said on Tuesday two of the three suspected "probably" committed a suicide attack, while the third is "actively sought".

Earlier this week, Belgian prosecutors said that DNA evidence had identified the 24-year-old as being one of the accomplices of Salah Abdeslam, who was involved in the Paris attacks which killed 130 people at sites including the Bataclan Theatre and Stade de France last November.

The DNA of Laachraoui, who used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayal according to French newspaper Liberation, is reported to have been found on "several explosive belts", as well as a house in Auvelais and one in Schaerbeek which was used to prepare explosives and hide Abdeslam, French media reported.

He is believed to have travelled to Hungary last year with Abdeslam, who was arrested in a raid on Friday March 18 in Molenbeek, Brussels.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday they are seeking details about Laachraoui, who is said to have travelled to Syria in February 2013.

Update 7.30am: Belgian state broadcaster RTBF has named the two suicide bombers who struck at Zaventem airport as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, from Brussels.

Citing a police source, RTBF said the brothers were known to the authorities but for involvement in organised crime rather than terrorism.

The development came as the international manhunt for their accomplice continued with police releasing new pictures of the fugitive which show his face up close.

He was named by local media as Najim Laachraoui, 24, who is also suspected of being responsible for the bombs used in the Paris massacre in November after his DNA was found on suicide belts used in the Bataclan Theatre and the Stade de France.

The first victim of the Brussels attacks which killed more than 30 people has been named by officials.

Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37, was killed in the bombings at Zaventem Airport. A spokeswoman for Peru's foreign ministry, Benilda Babylon, named her as the first confirmed victim of the attacks which struck the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

Fernando Tapia, Ms Tapia Ruiz's brother, told Peruvian radio station RPP that his sister was at the airport with her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin four-year-old daughters Maureen and Alondra, who also have Belgian nationality.

The international manhunt for the Brussels suicide bombers' accomplice is continuing as police released new pictures of the fugitive which show his face up close.

Belgium has entered its second day of mourning over the terror attacks that shook Europe in which 34 people are known to have died and at least 198 were injured.

Others have been reported missing following the double blast in the Belgian capital's Zaventem Airport, and the subsequent explosion on a subway train at Maelbeek Metro station.

Investigators are focusing on whether CCTV footage captured moments before the airport blasts shows two of the three suspected terrorists wearing single gloves to secrete detonators.

Zaventem's mayor said the explosives were stowed in their luggage and detonated before reaching the security gate.

The Belgian police Twitter account for appeals issued the latest photos, which also show close-ups of the two men believed to be dead, and asked for information from anyone who recognised them.

Islamic State (IS) militants have claimed responsibility. A communique that was published in Arabic and French also threatens other countries in the anti-IS coalition with "dark days", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

It came as transport terminals across Europe ramped up security measures following in the wake of the atrocities.

The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, happened four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's massacre in Paris. Detectives are yet to rule out a direct link between the attacks.

As night fell on Brussels, Mr Michel showed solidarity with Belgians by lighting a candle at a vigil at Place de la Bourse, the city's stock exchange building.

He told a press conference earlier that the atrocities had killed people whose lives "were in full course".

He said: "The lives of people who were most likely travelling without a care in the world, going to work or to school, lives that have been broken by extremism."

King Philippe of Belgium led the calls for calm as Belgian police issued an image of the fugitive, one of three seen pushing luggage trolleys through Zaventem Airport moments before two bombs exploded.

A third bomb was deactivated at the airport hours after the initial attack - which was followed by a bomb blast on a Metro train in the city centre as terrorists inflicted a new outrage on a European capital.

Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said the three people captured on camera at the airport were the chief suspects - with two of them "probably committing a suicide attack".

He said: "The third - dressed in a white jacket and wearing a hat - is actively sought.

"Various departments and experts are currently in various crime scenes. This will take place for many hours to come.

"Due to the violence of the attacks, this investigation is particularly difficult. Various operations are ongoing across the country and several witnesses have been heard."

Images of passengers climbing from a train into a smoke-filled tunnel near Maelbeek station were reminiscent of scenes following the July 7 attacks in London.

Other footage showed the injured from the Metro being treated in the street, while at the airport people could be seen fleeing in terror in video footage shot from an airport car park.

International leaders united in support for Belgium, with David Cameron branding the atrocities "appalling" and US president Barack Obama condemning the "outrageous attacks against innocent people".

French prime minister Manuel Valls said: "We are at war. In Europe we have been subjected to acts of war for several months."
Refugees and migrants in Greece have staged protests at the country's border with Macedonia and on islands near the Turkish coast today.

Officials still are unsure when an international agreement to reduce migration would take full effect.

Several hundred protesters camped out at the border disrupted food distribution by charities today, and demanded the border be reopened.

Small protests have also occurred at three detention camps on three Greek islands, where arrested migrants and refugees are waiting to be deported back to Turkey.

All refugees and migrants arriving in Greece are being arrested since Sunday, when the agreement between Turkey and the European Union took effect.

Greek officials could not say when the deportations would start, with outstanding legal and practical issues still to be resolved.

Amnesty International claims to have received credible information indicating that Turkey violated European and international law by forcibly returning the asylum-seekers, who fear attacks by the Taliban, to Kabul without granting them access to an asylum procedure.

The ink wasnt even dry on the EU-Turkey deal when several dozen Afghans were forced back to a country where their lives could be in danger, said Colm OGorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.

This latest episode highlights the risks of returning asylum seekers to Turkey  and the knock-on effects the deal is likely to have for refugees transiting through Turkey.

The suggestion that Turkey is a safe country for refugees as suggested by the EU in in the shameful deal it struck with the country just last week is a sham.
Front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have emerged victorious in their parties' Arizona primary contests.

Republican Mr Trump capitalised on his anti-immigration stance, a position that has long been popular with party voters in the state. The win means he takes all of the state's 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

The billionaire businessman made three trips to Arizona and had the support of Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio and former state governor Jan Brewer - a pair of politicians best known for leading immigration crackdowns.

Mr Trump defeated Texas senator Ted Cruz, who toured the US-Mexico border over the weekend in a last-minute push for votes. Ohio governor John Kasich did not campaign in Arizona.

Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, padded her delegate lead with a win in the state's Democratic primary.

With 75 delegates at stake, Arizona is the biggest prize of the night in the Democratic race and Mrs Clinton stands to gain more than half of those delegates - at least 40, compared with at least 16 for rival Bernie Sanders.

That means she will add to her delegate lead of more than 300. She now has 1,203 to Mr Sanders' 860.

When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Mrs Clinton's overall lead is even wider - 1,670 to Mr Sanders' 886. It takes 2,383 to win.

Other states voting are Idaho and Utah, with a combined 56 delegates up for grabs.

Celebrating her Arizona victory, Mrs Clinton pointed to the Brussels terror attacks as a sign of "how high the stakes are" in the general election.

She told a rally in Seattle that the nation needed a commander in chief who was "strong, smart and above all steady" in taking on these types of threats.

In a blast at Mr Trump, the former US secretary of state said the last thing the country needed "are leaders who incite more fear".

"In the face of terror, America doesn't panic, we don't build walls or turn our backs on our allies," she said.

Mrs Clinton said what Mr Trump and Mr Cruz were suggesting was "not only wrong, it's dangerous" and it was "time for America to lead, not cower".

Earlier Mr Cruz said surveillance in Muslim neighbourhoods must be intensified following the deadly bombings in Brussels, while Mr Trump suggested torturing a suspect in last year's Paris attacks would have prevented the carnage.

Echoing Mr Trump's earlier statements, Mr Cruz said the US should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group, which said it carried out the attacks, had a significant presence.

"We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalised," he said.

Mr Trump praised Mr Cruz's plan as a "good idea" that he supported "100%" and also intensified past calls for the US to engage in harsher interrogation techniques, arguing that Belgium could have prevented the bombings had it tortured a suspect in last year's Paris attacks who was arrested last week.

"Well, you know, he may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with the torture. Because he probably knew about it. I would be willing to bet that he knew about this bombing that took place today," Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the US, said "nothing's nice" about techniques such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning. But he added: "It's your minimal form of torture. We can't waterboard and they can chop off heads."

When reminded that international law banned torture, he responded: "Well, I would say that the eggheads that came up with this international law should turn on their television and watch CNN right now, because I'm looking at scenes on CNN right now as I'm speaking to you that are absolutely atrocious."

Speaking in New York, Mr Cruz praised the city police force's former programme of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighbourhoods, called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for forces nationwide.

"New Yorkers want a safe and secure America," he said. "New Yorkers saw first-hand the tragic consequences of radical Islamic terrorism."

Mr Trump said the city had had "the finest surveillance of the whole radical Islam situation that there is" and joined Mr Cruz in blaming the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, for ending it.

"He took it down and he knocked it out and that was a terrible mistake," said Mr Trump, adding: "We can be nice about it and we can be politically correct about it, but we're being fools, OK?"

New York Police Department commissioner William Bratton objected to Mr Cruz's remarks, saying: "I take great offence at his characterisation of that whole population.

He's really out of line."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, condemned the calls for surveillance, saying they sent "an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the constitution and religious liberties".

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand.

He said he strongly disagreed with calls for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims. "That would be unconstitutional - it would be wrong," he said.

Mr Sanders netted some delegates after a win in Utah's Democratic caucuses, but not enough to make up for his Arizona loss earlier in the night to Mrs Clinton.

With 33 delegates at stake in Utah, Mr Sanders will pick up at least 18. Mrs Clinton will receive at least five.

Ted Cruz has won the Republican presidential caucuses in Utah.
KARACHI: Gold prices on Friday lost some value on the local market, traders said. They dropped by Rs500 to Rs147400...
LAHORE: The activists of PTI took to the streets on Friday in protest after the Election Commission of Pakistan...
ANZ Bank has warned that its bad debt costs for this half will be at least $100 million more than it expected last month, due to a lift in soured loans in the resources sector.

The bank on Thursday said its total charge for bad and doubtful debts for the first half would be "at least" $100 million more than the $800 million figure it had flagged in mid February.

The cause for the downgrade was "a small number of Australian and multi-national resources related exposures", it said.

It is understood this includes loans to troubled steelmaker Arrium, and United States coal miner Peabody Energy, which last week said it may be forced to file for bankruptcy. ANZ shares had dropped 5 per cent to $24.11 by mid morning.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Australia has abandoned its bid to make money from the nation's $2 trillion superannuation pool after offloading the financial services business it set up in 2014 to offset its reliance on the newspaper business.

On Wednesday, News Corp sold off the Eureka Report  which it acquired from ABC presenter Alan Kohler for $30 million in 2012  and Eureka's financial services arm, brightday.

A break from tradition ... ABC's Alan Kohler works out the metrics of New Year's Eve partying.

Let's hope Eureka's stock tips are better than the sell recommendation it had on its own business.

The acquisition delivered a windfall for Kohler, but obviously failed to deliver for Rupert despite the desperate attempt to enter the financial services market via brightday in 2014.
Rio Tinto's iron ore chief Andrew Harding says he is committed to the business, despite not winning the top job at the major miner in a recent leadership change.

Perth-based Mr Harding was overlooked for the chief executive's role when Rio last week announced Jean-Sebastien Jacques, the chief of Rio's copper and coal division, would replace Sam Walsh in July.

Andrew Harding says he was disappointed not to get the top job at Rio Tinto but was still committed to the iron ore business. Credit:Philip Gostelow

"I was actually honoured to be considered for the job of CEO and yes, I was disappointed last week to find out I didn't have the job," Mr Harding said told reporters on Wednesday.

"But life is full of so much fun and Rio Tinto Iron Ore is an amazing business to run. There is still plenty for me to do and I am really committed to actually doing that."
Belgium is once again in lockdown. As the shocking pictures emerged from Brussels airport and the Metro, people once again asked: why Belgium?

Counter-insurgency expert, David Kilcullen, advocates taking the fight to IS  an increased commitment on the ground in Syria. Meanwhile, an ABC Web Poll asks: do Australian airports need increased security? There are also calls for "Israeli style airport security"  which is generally taken to mean profiling. Such measures may, ultimately, form part of our response. But we ought to exercise caution: Australia is not Belgium.

The scene at Brussels airport after the overnight bombing.

Belgium has peculiar problems. It is a nation divided. Political divisions between Flemish-speaking regions and French-speaking Wallonia run deep. These divisions resulted in the country having no elected government for 589 days following the general election of June 2010. Such political instability is unhelpful when attempting to construct a coherent counter-terrorism strategy.

Then there are general issues of social cohesion: Belgium has an acknowledged problem in integrating minorities. There have been economic failures. In some suburbs youth unemployment runs extremely high. These are not good indicators. They point to social unrest.
I've been attending funerals lately. Mostly of older people. As I enter my late 40s, significant figures from my childhood are disappearing at an alarming and confronting rate. Even David Bowie is gone! And friends of my parents, once vital and commanding presences, are stooped and frail and might need a hand getting up the stairs. The roll call of those departing is getting longer.

"Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me", wrote Emily Dickinson. He eventually stops for all of us, despite our protestations and clamouring efforts to avoid him.

Atheist blogger and activist Adam Lee recently wrote in the Guardian about an apparent shift in our attitude to death, something he cheerfully attributes to our having shrugged off the shackles of religion to embrace a more enlightened humanist vision of mortality  one which, according to Lee, involves "neither fearing nor denying [death], but gracefully accepting it as an inevitable part of the human experience".

It's hard to imagine what sort of comfort that would be to the mother of three young kids who has just been told she has terminal cancer. Or the father called at 2am to come and identify the body of his 19-year-old son. Or the young woman standing at the grave of the love of her life after a freak workplace accident. Chin up, it's just part of the human experience.

It is part of the human experience; but in the face of death, whether the gut-wrenching loss of someone young, or the gentler departure of an aged friend, something deep within all of us protests at what feels like an aspect of life that is profoundly and fundamentally wrong.
However, he has also promised that if the legislation is passed he will not bring on a double dissolution. Rather he would hold a normal election at a time of his choosing, perhaps on July 2 or perhaps sometime between August and November.

Turnbull has laid out a long and uncertain path to July 2. He has recalled Parliament from April 18 for three weeks' discussion and debate of his industrial relations legislation. In doing so he has challenged the crossbench to pass this legislation so as to avoid a double-dissolution trigger.

The second aspect of getting on top of things for Turnbull is to ultimately win the election and thus a mandate within his own party and with the electorate. This means not just getting re-elected but doing so convincingly. An added bonus would be to win control of both houses of Parliament so putting himself in a rare situation in the modern era.

That assumption may misread the nature of modern Liberal factional politics. While his internal conservative party opponents are interested in economic and industrial policy, that may no longer be their major interest. Instead they have become new-fangled cultural warriors rather than old-style economic advocates.

He must be betting on a double-dissolution election, but he is leaving a lot to circumstances outside his control. If the legislation does pass because two or more micro-party senators back down then he could still use another trigger to call a double dissolution, but that would look like a tricky breach of faith.

If he opts for an ordinary election at a later date then there are two consequences. First, the micro-party senators will be angry. He will have to deal with their humiliation not just until the next election but, in the case of all but Senator John Madigan, until 2019. His control of the Senate by elimination of the micro-parties will be seriously delayed.

Secondly, much will now depend on the reception of the budget. Turnbull must come up with the goods on that day in constrained economic circumstances. It can't be a normal pre-election budget with lots of goodies for voters. Personal income tax-cuts have effectively already been ruled out by Treasurer Scott Morrison.

If there are surprises in the budget, then for Turnbull's sake they must be attractive ones because the electorate is in no mood for further uncertainty. By then, we should all know what sort of election we are going to face and when it will be. We will know whether the first Morrison/Turnbull budget is an election special which must be sold to the public during an election campaign or whether it can be negotiated over many months as usual.

In all of this, the popularity of the government versus Labor and the Greens remains much more uncertain than it appeared likely to be at Christmas. The polls have tightened. Bill Shorten and his party have been given a small sniff of victory and look much more enthusiastic all of a sudden. The Greens are solid in the polls, and will be campaigning on progressive cultural issues.
With tax reform debate falling further down the rabbit hole, discussion is shifting to areas less prone to brute partisanship: our cities.

The Turnbull cabinet will soon consider a national cities policy being developed by Angus Taylor, the member for Hume. This is ahead of a federal election where our cities and their infrastructure look set to be a central theme far beyond the usual talk of things such as congestion and productivity.

Government policy needs to treat all of our towns and cities as an interconnected system. Credit:Glen McCurtayne

It also comes in the lead up to the once-in-a-decade United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, Habitat III, that will be held in Ecuadorian capital of Quito in October. This is where the global urban agenda for the next 20 years will be agreed upon.

A clear position on cities that drives and is shaped by public debate would be a powerful thing for our Urban Prime Minister (or his minister) to take to such a significant gathering of world leaders where the future of global urban policy will be framed. As far as talkfests go, as one of the most urbanised nations on earth, Habitat III is a talkfest that definitely matters to Australia.
In the shallow waters off Cape York Peninsula's east coast, the Great Barrier Reef is in the midst of a severe bleaching event, the worst in 15 years. Meanwhile, Tasmania still reels from fires of unprecedented severity that reduced ancient forests to charcoal. Tragically, we knew both events were highly likely, yet we failed to act.

In 2008, the Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society prepared a preliminary assessment on the implications of climate change on Australia's World Heritage areas. Understandably, the natural values would be hardest hit, particularly those associated with habitats already in decline.

That report warned that the increased frequency and intensity of fire, drought, cyclones, flooding and bleaching events would have significant impact across many of Australia's 19 World Heritage-listed properties.

Today, several months of hot and still waters in the Coral Sea combined with a weak monsoon have resulted in some of the worst conditions for coral bleaching in decades.
A second iteration of the Kardashian mural in Sydney has fared rather better, but the two nudes in Hosier Lane, unveiled on Wednesday morning, barely made it through the coffee crush before being censored by council contractors armed with tins of paint and rather limited artistic talent. By 9.30am, the nipples were gone, replaced on one of the murals with a suitably modest but rather one-dimensional tank top. One of the murals after the crack team of Genital Removal Experts had done their work. The subject of that painting, Peggy Sue Winters, was disappointed with the council's intervention. "I feel that censoring my body is taking away my ability to present myself in the way I want," said the nude model and dancer.

"It's all too common for female bodies to be commodified and objectified in our society, but when a woman takes control of that it's deemed unacceptable and confronting. The Kim Kardashian scenario is a prime example of that. "I hope that this culture of censoring and slut-shaming ends sooner rather than later, and I'm glad more and more people are taking a stand and helping to bring this issue into light." See her social media post of the image here. The City of Melbourne, however, sees it purely in terms of what it deems acceptable in a public place. "Hosier Lane is an iconic public space and we need to strike a balance to ensure that all members of our city can enjoy the public art on display," a council spokesman said.

"In this case, our contractors censored the images based on Council's street art guidelines. These guidelines correspond with the Australian Public Broadcasting guidelines for nudity in advertising and public places." The council's graffiti management plan frames the notion of acceptability with reference to the fact that it is a criminal offence in Victoria to "create offensive graffiti that is visible from a public place if that graffiti would offend a reasonable person". The second mural, before censorship... ...and after. (All images: Dean Sunshine)

Of course, one person's reasonable is another's prudish, and Dean Sunshine for one can't see why anyone would have an issue with images of nudity in a public place. "Really, you go to the NGV, you'll see nipples, heaps of them," he said. "In this day and age that sort of censorship is ridiculous." Lushsux similarly argues that the murals are part of a long tradition in fine art. "It's an update on the old thing of getting a model to stand in one place for 10 hours while you paint her on canvas in the nude in a dingy Parisian studio," he told Fairfax.
The Natural Way of Things, a fable about young women imprisoned in the desert after complaining about being sexually assaulted by men in business, sport, religion, and on a cruise ship, has sold a healthy 25,000 copies since October. It will be published in the US and Britain in June, has offers from publishers in Poland, Spain and Turkey, and is being adapted to film.

That changed on Wednesday when The Natural Way of Things, her gutsy fifth novel about misogyny, was chosen by staff of independent bookshops as both the best fiction and overall best book of the year at the Indie Book Awards - the first national awards of the year.

Much admired and shortlisted, Charlotte Wood often hears herself described as an "award-winning novelist". But until now her modest wins were an unpublished manuscript prize for her first novel and the people's prize in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her fourth.

"I've been surprised by the number of men who contact me and say they loved it," says Wood at her Marrickville home. "I had an email the other day from a man who said, 'I love it, I found it really powerful. I'm giving it to my son, I want him and all his friends to read it; all young men should read it'."

Also among the winners is comic actor Magda Szubanski for her first book, Reckoning, a best-selling memoir that reveals her Polish father killed Nazi sympathisers during World War II, and her own struggle with being gay.

Becoming a writer has been "quite a transformative experience", says the star of TV's Kath and Kim. "Just the process of writing was far more serious than anything I've done before and very emotional. I see even old friends look at me through a different prism."

The book, finely written over eight years, has sold an extraordinary 60,000 copies, and taken Szubanski around the country. "I think I've met every single person on the continent and posed for selfies with them," she says.

The Indies debut fiction award went to Lucy Treloar for her novel Salt Creek, the children's award to Aaron Blabey for The Bad Guys, Episode 1 and Fiona Wood's novel Cloudwish won the new award for young adult books.
The relationship between the two, now both in their eighties, is explored in conversation, recollection, archival footage, performance and the choreographic imagination. It's a story that doesn't have a neat ending, a notion that the film tantalises us with. They are still dancing  and there's still unfinished business between them.

Maria Nieves has no doubt about her place in the story of dance. "Never will there be a tango couple like us," she says, of her decades-long partnership with Juan Carlos Copes that is at the centre of Our Last Tango, German Kral's elegant, stylised documentary portrait.

Our Last Tango is a complicated story of partnership and rupture, a film that foregrounds storytelling, dance, dramatised presentation and the construction of the world it evokes.

Nieves is our initial guide, taking us to old haunts and familiar places in Buenos Aires. The film tells us how the couple met as teenagers and danced together for decades. Copes, a choreographer and entrepreneur, took a tango company to Broadway and did a great deal to keep the tango alive at home and abroad. Nieves was part of this, his partner on and off the dancefloor for many years. After they split up, they continued to perform together, until his second wife gave him an ultimatum.

Our Last Tango plays with performance and perspective, highlighting the way it creates its own reality. We do not simply have interviews and archival footage  there are also two sets of performers playing younger versions of the couple, exploring their stories through exhilarating dance sequences. The dancers who take these roles are seen rehearsing as well as performing, and they are filmed asking Maria Nieves about her memories and feelings  still painful for her, decades on.

The film's creative process is part of the story, incorporated into it smoothly and elegantly: the self-reflexiveness is not distancing. Nieves is quicksilver, funny and eloquent, while Copes is an impassive figure who doesn't appear to have much to say for himself  certainly nothing he shares with the filmmakers. And, while the film turns on her accounts, there is still a great deal that is left unsaid or unexplored.

Gaps and silences  as well as movement and dance  have a role to play in this narrative.
To understand how, let's step through the web of government support for clean technologies.

On Tuesday, the practitioners of the political dark arts were somehow able to turn an effective $1.3 billion reduction in renewable energy support into a flashy announcement of a new clean technology innovation fund.

The government has announced a new clean energy innovation fund, but will cut money for renewable energy elsewhere.

Whatever they are paying the spinners in the Turnbull government, it is not enough.

First there is the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, also called ARENA. It's reason for being is to deliver conditional grants to help develop still emerging renewable energy technologies.

ARENA has used its budget to back a range of projects from big solar farms to the development of household batteries. And it still had another $1.3 billion over the next six years to spend under its legislation.

There is also the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. It provides loans to the more established clean energy projects, which are still having trouble passing the conservative investment criteria of private lenders.

It aims to make a return on its investment, and has been doing so.

ARENA's funds must be accounted for in the federal budget. The finance corporation's $10 billion sits off the books. For several years the Coalition government has been trying to axe both, but had been frustrated by the Senate.
The federal government's refusal to yield on schools funding has forced a partial retreat from the biggest state with NSW Premier Mike Baird proceeding with a new compromise deal which would spread out the final two years of Gonski funding over four years, saving Canberra $610 million in payments over the forward estimates, and more than twice that nationally.

Confidential internal working papers obtained by Fairfax Media ahead of next week's Council of Australian Governments meeting, reveal the elements of the NSW plan in which the Commonwealth liability would drop from $4.5 billion to $3.2 billion assuming the four-year option were applied nationally.

Council mergers announced: Premier Mike Baird. Credit:Peter Rae

The proposed fiscal slow-down to make the money last twice as long, means the goal of achieving 95 per cent of the intended student resource standard (SRS)  the core tenet of the Gonski model  would not be achieved until 2021 rather than 2019.

"This proposal seeks to reintroduce the final two years of needs-based schools funding spread over four years," the document, which is marked "Sensitive: COAG discussion" states.
Personal trainer Bruce Herat has told a court Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer threatened to track down his address and kidnap his children following an argument over weights at a Burwood gym.

Mr Mehajer, the colourful property developer and currently suspended deputy mayor, has pleaded not guilty to threatening or intimidating Mr Herat, the father of Lindt cafe siege survivor Joel Herat.

During the first day of a two-day hearing at Burwood Local Court on Wednesday, Mr Herat said he approached Mr Mehajer at about 9.30pm on September 16 last year after seeing him "drop the weights" on a leg curl machine.

"I said I'm a personal trainer here, I'd appreciate if you don't drop the weights, it causes noise and damage to the machines and costs members in the long run" he told the court.
Police searching for a Queanbeyan man who vanished while swimming off North Wollongong beach have found a body believed to be his.

The 21-year-old man's two siblings and friends watched on from the shore as as Port Kembla Water Police continued to head up a massive search on Thursday afternoon, the Illawarra Mercury reports.

Surf life saving divers search the seas for a missing swimmer, towed by a colleague on a jetski at North Wollongong. Credit:Desiree Savage/Illawarra Mercury

It is understood the man's relatives in India are yet to be notified.

It is unknown why the man was in Wollongong, although police have suggested he might have been working temporarily in the area.
A pregnant 23-year-old Australian is facing 10 months in a Singaporean jail after being convicted of sedition

She said she was resigned to her fate but stood by her actions.

Former University of Queensland student Ai Takagi faced a sentencing hearing on Wednesday morning over four charges of sedition, stemming from a website she ran.

That site, the mostly crowd-sourced The Real Singapore, was shut down in May last year after Takagi published four articles likely to "promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different groups of people in Singapore".
Brisbane City Council will have its first Greens councillor after Labor conceded defeat in The Gabba on Wednesday, four days after the election.

While both Greens candidate Jonathan Sri and Labor's Nicole Lessio trailed the Liberal National Party's Sean Jacobs in the primary vote, the preference flow between the two left-leaning parties ensured Mr Jacobs was shut out.

Councillor-elect Jonathan Sri and Senator Larissa Waters are celebrating the Greens' victory in The Gabba. Credit:Bradley Kanaris

Greens Senator Larissa Waters, who was the first of the party's candidates to be elected in Queensland, said Mr Sri's election was an "exciting day" for the state party.

Senator Waters said the Greens were always behind the eight ball in Queensland due to the lack of an upper house in the state's Parliament.
A father who treated his cancer-stricken daughter with cannabis oil has escaped a conviction for supplying dangerous drugs in a landmark court case.

The Cairns man's case attracted national attention after he was arrested in front of a Brisbane hospital last year and fuelled debate over the legalisation of medicinal marijuana.

He walked out of court on Wednesday with a two-year good behaviour bond.

The 32-year-old, who can't be named for legal reasons, used the oil to treat his daughter's neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer.
Queensland has "no plans" to change the manner in which religious instruction is delivered in Queensland schools, despite a growing secular movement.

Under the education act, state schools make up to one hour of curriculum time a week available for religious instruction, not education, which is carried out by volunteers teaching ideology, not the history of the theology, its culture, or the role of other religions in society.

Under the education act, state schools make up to one hour of curriculum time a week available for religious instruction. Credit:Fairfax Media

Despite more and more parents complaining on social media and websites that their child had been included in religious instruction despite not having nominated a faith group on enrolment forms, or provided written consent, a spokesman for the Department of Education and Training said "at this time, the Department has no plans to change the manner in which RI is delivered in Queensland state schools".

"Schools need to act in accordance with the provisions of the RI policy," the spokesman said.
Police are searching for two children who have gone missing in south-east Queensland.

The cases are not related.

This Toowoomba girl has been missing since Monday. Credit:Queensland Police Service

Police are calling for public help to find a Toowoomba girl missing since Monday.

The 12-year-old was last seen at a shopping centre on Margaret Street about 3.50pm wearing a blue and white T-shirt, blue skirt, green sneakers and carrying a pink backpack.
The country's peak medical body has warned self-treating with cannabis oil is "fraught with danger", in the wake of a Queensland man escaping conviction in a landmark Supreme Court Case.

The 32-year-old, who can't be named for legal reasons, walked away on Wednesday with nothing but a two-year good behaviour bond hanging over his head.

Justice Peter Flanagan had taken into account the man's good intentions in feeding cannabis oil to his cancer-stricken daughter before she started chemotherapy.

A medicinal cannabis advocate outside court told waiting media there were hundreds more like him throughout the country.
Emergency services have been called in to help search for an Acacia Ridge boy who went missing after school on Tuesday.

The 11-year-old boy was last seen on Beatty Road, Archerfield, about 4pm wearing long dark pants, a light-coloured T-shirt and red shoes.

The 11-year-old boy was last seen about 4pm on Tuesday. Credit:Queensland Police Service

The boy is described as African in appearance, about 100 centimetres tall with a slim build and short black hair.

SES volunteers were working with police to search areas near Acacia Ridge State School and the nearby creek.
There have been four years of delays and political point-scoring, Shorncliffe's famous pier will finally reopen this Good Friday.

The 350-metre pier's official reopening on Friday will coincide with the annual Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race and the Bluewater Festival.

Council Field Services chairman David McLachlan, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk and Sandgate Chamber of Commerce Chairman Bill Gollan at a Shorncliffe pier site inspection earlier this year.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the Shorncliffe pier had been one of Brisbane's most loved landmarks between 1883 and 2012.

"The pier has been an important destination where many Brisbane people met, married, celebrated, strolled, fished, picnicked and photographed for more than 100 years," he said.
Mosquito-control teams are going house-to-house in a Far North Queensland suburb in response to a possible imported case of Zika virus.

Authorities are yet to confirm whether the resident, who fell ill after returning to Cairns from overseas, has been diagnosed with the mosquito-born virus linked to birth defects.

Aedes aegypti mosquito can spread the Zika virus. Credit:AP

Tropical Public Health Service (Cairns) director Richard Gair said the case was likely picked up in the Caribbean.

Cairns and other parts of the state's far north have previously been identified as problem areas for Zika because they are the areas of Australia most likely to see an outbreak.
His barrister, Eoin Mac Giolla Ri, acknowledged the Commonwealth charges Mr Huang faces in relation to the alleged links to the crime syndicate were serious.

Mr Huang's bank account showed he had received $300,000 from Taiwan, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard on Wednesday.

Sheng-Jiun Huang, 28, was arrested in December last year after police raided two Brisbane addresses, including one he leased in South Brisbane, in which Taiwanese workers were allegedly being held against their will to work in a call centre.

A Taiwanese man accused of helping run "slave houses" for a wealthy international crime syndicate in Brisbane has been denied bail.

But he pointed out that between the raids in mid-2015 and Mr Huang's December arrest, he made no attempt to flee and even attended a police station.

"There was nothing done in the creation of the lease that prevented him from being detected - it was done in his own name," Mr Mac Giolla Ri said.

His client had no criminal history either in Australia or in Taiwan, he added.

Mr Huang has lived in Australia for about four years and has a Taiwanese wife, along with an ex-wife and child in his home country.

The court heard in October last year two Taiwanese men intercepted at the Brisbane International Airport, who were carrying the contact information of Mr Huang's co-accused, admitted they were part of a triad.
The building surveyor who signed off on the Docklands tower ravaged by a fierce cladding fire is facing disciplinary action after a lengthy investigation by the state's building regulator.

The Victorian Building Authority will also refer the Lacrosse building's architect to the Architects Registration Board.

The Lacrosse apartment building in Docklands was badly damaged by fire in November 2014. Credit:Gregory Badrock

It is understood the tower was designed by high-profile Melbourne firm Elenberg Fraser, although the authority said "the conduct" of only one architect had been referred to the board.
The long weekend is just around the corner, but don't expect your highly anticipated rest to be accompanied by sunny skies and balmy weather.

So far, warm March conditions have prolonged the feeling of summer. However from Friday, Melburnians and (some) Victorians can kiss the sun and the warmth goodbye.

The long-weekend is approaching, and so is rain and cool weather. Picture: Wayne Taylor Credit:Wayne Taylor

"As we get towards the end of March and into April, it is very unlikely we'll get another 27 degree day," said duty forecaster Stephen Wood.

The Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for the next week reflects this sad reality: after Thursday, which will reach a top of 20 degrees, Melburnians will have to make do with a slew of 19-degree rainy days until at least next Tuesday.
It may not be Bondi, but Melbourne's leading beachside destination, St Kilda, is being undersold as a tourist attraction.

Port Phillip Council says while Sydney and Brisbane celebrate their beach lifestyle, Melbourne's beaches are hardly promoted, even though they are "better than the beaches most international tourists find at home".

An artist's impression of the St Kilda triangle revamp. Credit:Port Phillip Council

"Compared to everywhere else in the world it is pretty special," mayor Bernadene Voss said.

A master plan for a $350 million revamp of the St Kilda triangle was ticked off by the council this week  along with a plan to overhaul how visitors view Melbourne's seaside.
In an attempt by the Andrews government to avoid a sky rail-style public relations disaster, angry locals who would be affected by the planned Western Distributor toll road will get a say about the location of a controversial tunnel.

Transurban  the tolling company that will deliver the $5.5 billion road  infuriated Yarraville residents last year after quietly announcing it was moving a proposed tunnel portal to within 100 metres of their homes.

Under the first toll road plan released in May, the tunnel from the West Gate was to be in the centre of the freeway, far from homes.
A boom in home-based businesses in WA has seen an increase in what councils will approve, with a pathologist being given the tick on Tuesday to run a service from her Floreat home.

Dr Rebecca Howman made an application to the Town of Cambridge in January to use her Ferndale Street home study for "pathological interpretation"  a microscope-based assessment of blood samples that might identify leukaemia, lymphoma and other serious bone marrow disorders.

The Town of Cambridge has rejected an application for a home-based pathology service. Credit:Nicole Emanuel

She told the council she provided specialist review and interpretation of abnormal blood films.

"Timely specialist opinion on these films means that patients with disorders can be referred to hospital for urgent medical treatment," she said.
Ankara: One of the attackers in the Brussels suicide bombings was deported last year from Turkey, and Belgium subsequently ignored a warning that the man was a militant, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Erdogan's office later identified the man as Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, one of the two brothers named by Belgium as responsible for the attacks that killed at least 31 people in Brussels on Tuesday and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Speaking at a news conference, Erdogan said el-Bakraoui was detained in the southern Turkish province of Gaziantep near the Syrian border and was later deported to the Netherlands. Turkey also notified Dutch authorities, Erdogan said.
Australian Tim Noonan would have been on his regular Brussels train, in his regular carriage, had he not over slept on Tuesday morning.

It was Mr Noonan's regular train - the very middle carriage he usually sits in - that was blown apart under a series of coordinated terror attacks that rocked the Belgian capital during the morning peak hour.

"That's the carriage my wife and or I take pretty much every morning," he told Fairfax Media from his Brussels home.
Part of a plane in Mossel Bay, near Cape Town, on Monday. Credit:AP

The wreckage, discovered near the town of Mossel Bay on Tuesday, could be from an "inlet cowling" of an aircraft engine based on early reports, the Malaysian transport ministry said in a statement, two years after MH370 disappeared.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has said it will send a team to retrieve a piece of debris found along the southern coast of South Africa to check whether it could belong to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Malaysia said further examination was required to verify if the debris belonged to MH370.

Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board, shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

A curved piece of debris which may be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, was found in Wartburg, South Africa, in March. Credit:AP

A piece of the plane washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 but no further trace has been found.

Debris found earlier this month off the south-east African coast arrived in Australia for testing on Monday.
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Jason Spiller was a great guy - loving, caring and generous. His "Mr Perfect" persona caused three young women to be smitten by him and led them to have sex with him.

But there was one small problem - Jason Spiller was actually Jennifer Staines.

Over five years she managed to convince three victims and their families  two of whom were from Bristol - that she was a he.

Staines had sex with them as a man, touching them but not allowing them to touch 'him' in return. She even went on holiday with them as a man and had to hide when using toilets.

She used condoms when sleeping with the girls, although on one occasion one of the girls went to her doctor concerned she could be pregnant.

And when police were alerted they visited Jason and found him to be Jennifer - complete with a rubber penis and associated incriminating DNA.

Bristol Crown Court heard Staines had been looking for love and not sex.

Staines, 23, of Moreland Avenue, Lockstock Hall, Preston, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and two counts of possessing indecent photos of one victim.

She also admitted two sexual assaults on a second victim and three sexual assaults on a third.

But Judge Barry Cotter QC told her he wasn't clear what she had looked for when she conned the girls.

Jailing her for 39 months, the judge told her: "You planned carefully to deceive.

"You did everything to ensure you had the ability to engage in relationships in which they believed you were a gender you were not.

"I can't determine whether it was for love, love and sex, or just sex."

Staines sobbed in the dock as Fiona Elder, prosecuting, recounted the whole, bizarre saga at Bristol Crown Court.

One victim and her family listened intently, as did members of Staines' family and her girlfriend.

Miss Elder said: "These matters came to light in September 2014.

"There was a call to police from the mother of (one victim), concerned that her daughter had been involved with a female impersonating a male.

"Police spoke to (the victim) and identified two others.

"All three described intimacy as 'normal', a girlfriend/boyfriend relationship over time between them and a young man called Jason Spiller, from Preston."

Miss Elder gave an account of how Staines deceived each victim, in chronological order.

The first girl was from Bristol was aged 13, and Staines 17, when they chatted via social media.

Miss Elder said: "She found Jason a helpful and sympathetic ear. They became closer. They got together as girlfriend and boyfriend."

The pair talked via webcam, with Jason always wearing a hat, before he turned up in Bristol with gifts and was allowed to stay with her for five days.

Though he wanted sex, the youngster said she wasn't ready.

Later Jason was allowed to stay again and they "snogged"  but the court heard how Jason became controlling and the relationship deteriorated.

Though people online referred to Jason as a girl, his true gender remained a secret  even though he was found with a sanitary towel in his bag.

Police found the girl sent Jason naked and topless photos of herself.

The second victim, from Scarborough, was aged 17 and Staines 21 when they engaged in a sexual relationship.

The court heard Jason would never take his clothes off and wore a chest bandage because of stab scars.

When the victim found a photo for "Jenny Staines", Jason said it was his twin sister.

When Jason's mum phoned up, asking for Jenny, Jason said his twin had gone missing.

Miss Elder said: "(The victim) was not allowed to do anything to him. He said he was circumcised and it was painful to be touched.

"His T-shirt was always kept on and his boxer shorts were always kept on during sex, which occurred some 15 times."

The court heard full sex with condoms occurred in the dark, but "didn't feel right".

At one stage the girl consulted her doctor because she thought she may be pregnant, the court heard.

When the girl touched Jason's crotch there were socks in his boxer shorts, Miss Elder said.

The third victim, from Bristol, was 17 and Staines was 22 when Jason touched her intimately and used what was described in court as a 'imitation penis' on her - while she was unaware it was a sex toy being used.

Though the girl's family was adamant Jason was a girl, the victim was upset by this and talked about having children with him.

Stephen Mooney, defending, said his client had had gender dysphoria - the condition of feeling one's emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one's biological sex.

He said Staines was now in a lesbian relationship.

He told the court: "The behaviour demonstrated by Jennifer Staines was behaviour which was motivated not by desire for sex. It was a desire for love and affection."

After the court case, investigating officer Detective Constable Nadine Partridge said: "Jennifer Staines deceived and manipulated her victims into believing she was a young man, which is an appalling breach of trust.

"Her actions were driven by her own selfish desires and, although her victims "consented" to sexual activity with her, they were deceived about the true nature of what they were engaging in.

"The manipulation was so extreme that one of her victims still struggles to believe she was actually in a relationship with a woman, not a man.

"The victims and their families have been through a traumatic ordeal and they've found the courage to support the police investigation from the outset. I hope this outcome will help them move on with their lives.

"I believe there may be more victims out there so I'd encourage anyone who feels they may have been contacted by Jennifer Staines, posing as Jason, to come forward and speak to us. We're here to listen, believe and support you."
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A former Sydney finance broker has pleaded guilty to three charges of loan fraud totalling more than $100,000.Jennifer Mary Farias was the director Mortgage Finance & Insurance (MFI) which arranged finance for vehicles such as motorcycles, cars and jet skis on behalf of clients.Appearing in the NSW Local Court at the Downing Centre in Sydney, Farias admitted to having received $96,270 in loan funds and $10,349.26 in commissions from a credit provider as a result of submitting 10 loan applications, through MFI, which contained false information and false invoices.The invoices contained false information relied on by the credit provider when approving loans. Farias admitted the relevant loans would not have otherwise satisfied the credit provider's lending policies or would have been subject to more stringent lending policies.The false invoices also stated that approved loan funds should be deposited into bank accounts controlled by Farias rather than into those of the vehicle suppliers entitled to the proceeds of the loan funds.One loan application was also supported by a false payslip purporting to show a customer had earned year to date income of $30,857.86 when in fact he had only earned $8,496.04.An additional $20,000 in loan funds and $4,675.80 in commissions received as a result of fraudulent invoices were transferred by Farias to independent referrers or others who benefited from the supply of the false information.The matter has been held over to 10 May 2016.
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68th Precinct

Bay RidgeDyker Heights

Safe steal

Some good-for-nothing broke into a Third Avenue nightclub on March 12 and stole a safe full of cash, police said.

The freebooter broke into the club near 87th Street between 5 am and 8 am by unknown means  there was no damage to any of the doors at all  but once inside, he did some major financial damage.

The crook managed to haul off a safe with $50,000 in cash in it, according to a police report.

A subtle way in

A not-so-subtle crook smashed his way into an Italian deli on Third Avenue on March 14, authorities said.

The burglar used a brick to shatter the front glass door of the bodega between 86th and 87th streets around 4 am, according to police. For some reason he threw an iPad sitting in the store to the ground, then grabbed a cash drawer with $200 in it and fled.

Bag snatcher

A pilferer stole a womans handbag from off her stroller at a Fifth Avenue store on March 17, police said.

The woman was shopping at the shop between Bay Ridge and Ovington avenues around 3:30 pm when she left her bag unattended. She returned to her stroller to find her wallet had been swiped, along with $50 in cash in it, according to police.

Wedding band-it

Some burglar broke into a guys Ridge Boulevard apartment on March 17 and got away with his wedding band and other jewelry, according to police.

The victim was at work from 6:30 am until around 5:30 pm. He returned to his home at Bay Ridge Avenue to find the kitchen window unlocked and open. Then he found his watch, a ring, and his wedding ring missing, police said.

Piggy bank bust

A housebreaker ransacked a 68th Street apartment on March 19, according to a police report.

The victim left for work around 3 pm and came back to his apartment between Eighth and Ninth avenues around 11:30 pm to find it turned upside down and the window in his kids bedroom open.

The thief grabbed $2,000 stashed in his bedroom drawer, an iPad Air, a wallet, and even a piggy bank with $300 in it, police said.

 Dennis Lynch
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He flew all around the galaxy and now hes back performing in his hometown.

Midwood native Morris Beyda is returning to Brooklyn as Buzz Lightyear with the cast of Disney Live! Mickey and Minnies Doorway to Magic at Kings Theatre on March 25. The 30-year-old rug-cutter got his dancing start after he left Brooklyn for college, so hes never had a chance to perform in his hometown until now, and hes beyond pumped, he said.

I cant even tell you how excited Ive been, its been a full circle for me, Beyda said. Ive been trying to get to New York for a while to perform back home. This will be my first time bringing a show to Brooklyn since I grew up here.

Growing up with a strong religious background, Beydas early schooling consisted mostly of Hebrew and Jewish learning. It wasnt until he moved out of Brooklyn to attend Monmouth University in New Jersey that he began taking theater classes and taught himself how to dance. Beyda also credits his summer gig  helping out with kids performance groups at the Jewish Community Center  as the kick-starter to his career, he said.

Thats what really got me into performances, Beyda said.

Beyda spent a semester in Orlando with the Disney College Program, where he auditioned for the High School Musical tour on a whim  and got the job, he said.

That was my first-ever dancing job, Beyda said. I just went on a whim just believing in how much I wanted to do this, and my work ethic, and ended up booking it. And to this day Im super proud, because it started everything for me.

That was back in 2009  and since then, Beyda has toured the world performing in High School Musical, Phineas and Ferb, and now Mickey and Minnies Doorway to Magic, which is a fun sing-along performance that takes the audience on a journey through six magical Disney lands, he said.

Beyda is eager and thankful to return home and take the stage at Kings Theatre in Flatbush with his whole family cheering him on, he said.

Its cool to play where I grew up, and its going to be fun to have all my family in attendance  Im thankful, he said.

Disney Live! Mickey & Minnies Doorway to Magic at Kings Theatre [1027 Flatbush Ave. between Tilden Avenue and Duryea Place in Flatbush, www.kings theat re.com , (800)7453000]. March 2527. Showtimes vary. $28.
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UB architecture faculty projects shortlisted for Architizer A+ awards

He, She & It, a new artist space in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood designed by the Buffalo-based firm Davidson Rafailidis. Photo credit: Florian Holzherr

Rendering of High Living, a multi-unit residential concept created by Dioinno Architecture, whose founding principal, Jin Young Song, is an assistant professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo. Photo credit: Dominik Imseng

BUFFALO, N.Y.  Two separate projects designed by University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning faculty members are in the running for recognition from a global architecture and design competition.

Both projects are nominated in the Popular Choice category in the Architizer A+ Awards competition. Western New Yorkers are encouraged to cast their votes through April 1.

The Architizer A+ Awards competition features more than 100 categories, including juried and peoples choice contests.

The full list of categories is available at http://awards.architizer.com/public/voting/?cid=1.

Winners will be announced April 12 and will be recognized as part of a gala May 12 in New York City.

Architizer bills itself as the worlds largest online community of architects. The Architizer A+ Awards competition is the largest awards program focused on promoting and celebrating the years best architecture and products.

The UB projects are:

He, She & It, a unique new artist space in Buffalos Parkside neighborhood designed by the Buffalo-based firm of Davidson Rafailidis, whose principals  Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis  teach in UBs School of Architecture and Planning. Its nominated in the Concepts-Architecture-Workspace category. A direct link to the voting page is available at http://awards.architizer.com/public/voting/?cid=57.

High Living, a multi-unit housing concept designed for Dharavi Slum, one of the largest slums in the world, in Mumbai, India. The concept was created by Dioinno Architecture, whose founding principal, Jin Young Song, is an assistant professor of architecture at UB. It is nominated in Typology Categories-Residential-Unbuilt Residential. The direct link to this category voting page is http://awards.architizer.com/public/voting/?cid=95.

He, She & It is a collection of three distinct buildings for three spatial needs, collaged into one structure. The 1,400-square-foot building houses workspaces for a painter (he), a ceramist/silversmith (she) and a greenhouse (the it are the seedlings and plants).

Each space features a distinctive atmosphere for its respective user. Architecture student interns assisted Davidson and Rafailidis in all phases of the project, from design to permitting and construction drawing to presentation modeling.

Davidson is a clinical assistant professor and Rafailidis an assistant professor of architecture at UB.

High Living features a set of prefabricated connecting towers made out of repurposed shipping containers.

It is designed as a radical but realistic cure to issues of public health, safety and well-being in Dharavi Slum. Dioinno Architecture has offices in Buffalo and Seoul. Song is an assistant professor of architecture at UB.
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French economy minister Emmanuel Macron has this week said EDF Energy will make a final investment decision on the Hinkley Point C nuclear project near Burnham-On-Sea in early May.

A decision on the 18bn nuclear plant has been delayed several times by EDF amid concerns about how the project will be funded.

Speaking before the French parliaments Economic Affairs Committee, Mr Macron also said it was unlikely EDF would choose not to take part in the project.

The principal nuclear project in the developed world is Hinkley Point, Mr Macron said. Can we legitimately choose not to take part in the largest nuclear project in the developed world? For my part, I dont think so.

Earlier, referring to the movement of the decision date, he said to the committee: Why the start of May?

It must be taken before the general assembly of EDF, and its important that we give our British partners full visibility of this investment, which is absolutely critical for them also before the deadlines which are important for them.

Mr Macron continued: So we need to make the most of the coming weeks but there is no urgency to decide by the end of the month, because we need to work on a number of measures which are over and above Hinkley Point.

He was also keen to emphasise that Hinkley Point was not the cause of the short term financial problems of EDF.

The UK government has been criticised for guaranteeing a price of 92.50 per megawatt hour of electricity  more than twice the current cost  for the electricity Hinkley produces for 35 years.

But Mr Macron said that the guaranteed price from the UK government allows us to guarantee the profitability of the project at around 9% a year for 60 years.

Mr Macron added: So beyond the short term financial difficulties it is a good industrial and financial investment for the long term for EDF.

Earlier this month EDF said it was confident the plant would go ahead despite uncertainties over its funding.

Then, in a letter to staff, the companys chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy said the project needed to secure more funding from the French government.

He said the financial context was challenging and he was negotiating with the French state. The UK government has said it is committed to Hinkley.
1962: THE WAR THAT WASNT

The Definitive Account of the Clash between Indian and China

Shiv Kunal Verma

Aleph

425 pages; Rs 995



In 1962, the current Indian prime minister was 12 years old. His Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was nine. But despite the passage of so much time, India has stubbornly refused to declassify records that could help pinpoint the underlying causes of that disaster. This book attempts to fill that gap, in part at least.

1962 was a stunning defeat for India and the foreign policy repercussions continue to this day. If the Chinese had not opted for a unilateral ceasefire and pulled back, they could possibly have annexed everything north of the Brahmaputra. Apart from territory lost in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian army suffered huge casualties.

This book does not challenge the conventional narrative. It adds information that reinforces it.

Jawaharlal Nehru, then prime minister, trusted the Chinese too much and did not trust his own army. Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon knew nothing of war and was paranoid about possible army coups. The incompetent Lt General B M Kaul had never seen action but he was pitch-forked into command due to his close relationship with Nehru and Menon. Kaul ran away from the opening battle of Namka Chu.

The orders given to frontline commanders were contradictory and unrealistic since the high command did not know the terrain, or the ground situation. The army was short of ammunition. Troops had no warm clothes. They faced an enemy that enjoyed massive numerical superiority apart from being better-armed and acclimatised. To cap it all, the Chinese had superior intelligence.

Indian strategy and tactics were rigid and farcical. Time and again, formations were outflanked or hit from behind. Some strong defensive setups were abandoned in panic. In other cases, men fought to their last bullet against hopeless odds. The powers-that-be refused to use the air force in an offensive role. Towards the end of the conflict, an absurd request was made for support by the US Air Force, without even consulting the Air Chief Marshal.

This book makes an honest attempt to understand the events that led up to the clash. It starts with the Simla Accord of 1914 where Sir Henry McMahon doodled lines insouciantly on an inaccurately-drawn map. It describes the evolution of the Sino-Indian relationship in the 1950s when Panchsheel and Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai were buzzwords. That was when Maoist China annexed Xinjiang in the west and Tibet in the south and started making claims on Arunachal and Ladakh, based on Tibet's historical associations with those areas. It must be noted that India then barely had a presence in what was known as NEFA (the North-East Frontier Agency).

It is the author's contention that Nehru concealed border clashes as long as he could, and then made disastrous decisions in pursuance of a "Forward Policy". He also criticises the decision to replace the Assam Rifles with the regular army in upcountry Arunachal.

At the same time, the relationships between Nehru, Menon, the legendary B N Mullik, who headed the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the Indian army led to a surfeit of internecine intrigues. The IB did not communicate what it knew. That crippled the army's decision-making and contributed to the defeat.

There is a workmanlike description of the hostilities in October-November 1962 as well as descriptions of the battles with maps of local terrain. The book also refers to accounts by Chinese military historians, which adds more useful detail.

There are sundry eyewitness accounts. The author's father, the late Major General Ashok Kalyan Verma, was a young officer in 2 Rajput, when it took a hammering in Arunachal. He leveraged those family connections to interview officers and JCOs who fought in 1962. Those accounts are gold in the Indian context where battles are generally described in drab officialese.

The horror and fatalism of men knowing that they are being asked to follow senseless orders, which will result in their deaths, comes through. Perhaps the most poignant is the account of the Subahdar threatened with close arrest by Kaul for saying that this is the first time men are being asked to charge out of a nullah to attack a numerically superior force sitting on surrounding heights.

Some 54 years later, the protagonists are mostly dead (Mao, Nehru, Menon, et al), or long retired and elderly. It was a squalid affair. Incompetence, nepotism and lack of coordination between the IB and the defence forces all played a role in the debacle. The culpability must be shared between the political establishment, the bureaucracy and the armed forces.

The Henderson-Brooks Report with its narrow brief of looking at the military lacunae of 1962 was commissioned but it has never been declassified. Nor have other pertinent records been released (the request to the US government to deploy its airforce is available from declassified American archives).

This book throws light on some of the events. But it is one man's interpretation and, of necessity, based on incomplete information. It is said that those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. But what can one say about a nation that assiduously tries to bury its own past and conceal it from its own citizens?
March 23, 2016: CredR, India's online marketplace for pre-owned two wheelers, has joined hands with Honda Two Wheelers India to set up 100 hyperlocal bike exchange access points across four of its key markets in the country. This joint venture will include over 30 first hand dealerships in Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, CredR said in a statement. These Access Points will assist customers in exchanging any old two-wheeler for a new Honda two-wheeler and in getting the best exchange value against a fair evaluation of their old two-wheeler on the spot. The business partnership will soon be seen together at the 'Honda Bike Exchange Mela' to be held between March 25 and March 27, 2016 at six locations simultaneously across Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Through this tie-up, CredR aims at facilitating the exchange of 1,500 two-wheelers in a span of 30 hours across these six locations, in a synchronised effort. It also helps in simplifying the buying process, improve customer experience and make the transactions more reliable. Additionally, to serve maximum customers, the pricing will be driven through a newly launched technologically aided inspection app - CredR's Proprietary Valuation Tool which will analyse the bike engine on a real time basis. This new tool will help CredR to expand its customer reach, help to expedite the inspection process, thus increasing Honda's exchange conversion ratio from a conventional rate of 2% to more than 40%.

Source : BS Motoring
March 23, 2016: Honda Cars India, which had gone in for a price hike for its various models effective March 1, is planning to once against raise prices by up to Rs6,000 from April 1 to adjust against unfavourable exchange rates. A company spokesperson said on Wednesday that the company plans to raise prices by up to Rs6,000 for all its six models available in India to partially offset the impact of adverse exchange rates. Earlier this month, Honda had announced a hike in prices  ranging from Rs4,000 to Rs79,000  for its various models, following the levy of infrastructure cess by the Indian government, which was announced in the union budget on February 29. The hikes ranged from Rs4,000 Rs6,000 for the Brio, Rs5,000 to Rs19,500 for the Jazz, Rs24,600 to Rs38,100 for the City, Rs21,800 to Rs37,700 for the Mobilio and Rs66,500 to Rs79,000 for the CR-V. Many other carmakers had also hiked the price for various models earlier this month after finance minister Arun Jailtey announced the new cess.

Source : BS Motoring
March 23, 2016: In a bid to reduce vehicle-related pollution, the Telangana government has taken a decision to implement Bharat Stage IV norms from April 1, 2016. As per the decision, all new vehicles manufactured in 2016 should have a BS IV compliant engine. According to the order, vehicles manufactured after 2015 should have BS IV engine, without which the local RTO will not register the vehicle. However, for older vehicles with BS III engines manufactured prior to August 2015, the registration would be accepted during resale of vehicles. Since the past one year, only BS IV compliant vehicles were being registered in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area. However, from April 1, all districts in the state will register only BS IV compliant new vehicles. In 2015, the ministry of road transport had issued an order stating that from April 1, 2016, only BS IV vehicles should be registered. The order will be implemented after holding a meeting with dealers on March 25, transport commissioner Sandeep Sultania said. Bharat stage emission standards, introduced in 2000, were emission standards fixed by the Union government to regulate output of air pollutants from internal combustion engines. The different norms were brought into force in accordance with the timeline and standards set up by the Central Pollution Control Board. The communication reached the Telangana government last year and it was sent to dealers as well. For a start, a few cities, including Hyderabad, were chosen by the centre to roll out the new emission norms.

Source : BS Motoring
Air India is in the process of evaluating several options to bring down the government's stake once it turns profitable. The national carrier expects to turn profitable in 2018-19, two years ahead of the original turnaround target of 2020-21 through better revenue generation and restructuring of the Rs 10,000-crore term loans with government guarantee backed non-convertible debentures.

One of the options being considered is conversion of debt into equity such that the government's stake comes down to 51 per cent. Aviation ministry officials said in every internal meeting of Air India, privatisation was discussed at length, though there is no clarity on how the airline plans to rope in private investors. Air India has total debt of around Rs 50,000 crore.

State Bank of India is lead banker in the 26-member consortium to Air India and includes Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Central Bank of India.

According to sources, the lenders might be asked to exercise this option at a stage when the airline clocks better performance. "There are several plans which include asking the banks to convert debt into equity but that will work out only when the airline is profitable," said one official. However, he said the plan was at a very nascent stage and nothing has been finalised.

In an interview to Business Standard last week, chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani had said: "There is a huge backlog of past loans and we are servicing that debt. Even with all these loans, we are targeting a net profit by FY18."



Air India's market share has declined over the years in the face of competition from private airlines and according to latest data stands at 15.7 per cent, behind IndiGo and Jet Airways.

Lohani told Business Standard last week the company was in much better shape, thanks to soft crude oil prices and better operating mechanism. "We are looking at consolidation. We are now looking at growth. We are now talking about more flights. We are talking about aggressive revenue management. To put it simply, there is an attempt to run Air India like a commercial organisation," he had said.

When asked about the airline's privatisation plan, Lohani said he believed in the strength of the public sector. Earlier on Wednesday, a news agency reported that the government was considering setting up a panel, which would include representation from the finance ministry, the civil aviation ministry, the Cabinet secretariat and the airline, to consider selling 49 per cent stake in Air India to meet its revenue target from state asset sales next financial year. However, officials denied this, saying the airline was in the midst of a turnaround and any talk about privatisation and stake sale would be useful only when it started making profit. The ministry also denied any proposal to offer its equity in Air India to banks in a debt-swap agreement. "No such move," Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said, in a text message.

A committee headed by Rakesh Mohan, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, had recommended earlier that the government reduce its stake in AI to 26 per cent over five years.

Terming AI's financial situation as precarious, the National Transport Development Policy Committee, which was set up in 2010, had also said that the airline would need to be recapitalised, restructured organisationally, its working capital debt burden written off and some divisions made independent and corporatised.
The Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, a body of domestic drug makers, has moved the against the government order banning 344 fixed dose combinations (FDCs). Filed last week with the Federation of Pharma Enterpreneurs, it is to be heard on Monday, say sources.

The associations argue these drugs, banned on the reasoning of irrationality, has been used by people across the country, based on prescription, for several decades and no major adverse reaction was reported.

The central government announced a ban on 344 FDCs on March 10, after a panel of experts said these lacked therapeutic effects and had health risks. Following this, at least 20 drug moved various high courts, seeking revocation of the decision.

On Tuesday, the high court here refused to give a stay on the government order, on a petition filed by the Federation of South Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.
The high court here has issued an order restraining seven entities, and individuals, from returning deposits or paying out any money to the Group and it's promoters till April 4.

This comes on a petition filed by ICICI Bank, in connection with a debt restructuring agreement between it, and the latter's promoter, Varkey Group.

An order issued by judge K K Sashidharan earlier this month was on a petition filed by ICICI against Education, Edifications India, Everonn Schools, Everonn Skilling India and Varkey Group, with others. It will be next heard on April 4.

An Everonn spokesperson said banks failed to fulfill their funding obligations under the debt restructuring agreement. And, denied various allegations by ICICI in its application, including that the promoters planned to divert Everonn's business to other Varkey Group and gradually shut down the former.

Everonn Education has been engaged in providing information technology infrastructure, education content and training across government and private schools, colleges and retail centres.

According to ICICI's application, it sanctioned a loan of Rs 200 crore to Edifications India, full subsidiary of Everonn Education, for infusion as equity in various subsidiaries for setting up schools and colleges. It disbursed Rs 136.6 crore in tranches during June-November 2011. During the second half of 2011, Varkey Group acquired controlling interest in Everonn Education and its subsidiaries.

Later, in 2013 and 2014, Edifications India and Everonn Education entered into a debt restructuring agreement (DRA) with ICICI, Axis Bank and State Bank of India. It formed a Trust and Retention Account and allegedly agreed to transfer and route their receivables only through this account. However, the bank alleged, the company later opened several accounts with other banks, routing their income through those accounts. In a joint lenders meeting on November 17, 2015, Everonn Group and Varkey Group informed the bank the debt restructuring agreements wouldn't suffice and the lenders were asked to make a bigger sacrifice. The bank also alleges it was informed later that the future plan was to completely divert all business, contracts of Everonn Group to other entities of Varkey Group in India and gradually shut down the Everonn firms.

The bank also alleged that the financial results of Everonn Education for the quarter ended December 2015, published on February 21, 2016, showed income had fallen from 22.5 crore for the period ending December 2014 to Rs 3 crore for the period ended December 2015. "Further, by falsely accusing the banks/lenders of not disbursing the additional financial facilities, it has been shown that there is complete diminution in value in investments, advances to subsidiaries, advances to supplier and thereby proposed a writeoff of Rs 411.1 crore," it alleged.

Everonn response

In response to a mail seeking the company's response on the order and the ICICI allegations, an Everonn spokesperson said Varkey Group (VG) entered the education sector in India in 2012 and ICICI Securities had acted for VG in acquiring a controlling stake in a listed company, Everonn Education. Following the acquisition, the company signed a DRA with its banks, including ICICI. The DRA envisaged disbursement of new funds into the company for the purpose of implementing a bank-approved business plan for setting up K-12 schools.

"There is failure on the part of the banks to fulfil its funding obligations under the DRA. The company has, with the knowledge of the banks, requested VG to step in and provide financial support in the interest of over 1200 children studying in these schools and over 200 teachers and staff. There is no intention to transfer anys business or assets to VG or any of its associates," said the spokesperson.

Adding: "The current allegations by the bank have arisen as a result of the third quarter results declared recently by the company, which have been a fallout of the company's inability to drive its proposed business plan due to the bank's failure to comply with its funding obligations under the DRA."
Autorickshaw service aggregator Jugnoo, backed by Paytm, has joined Uber in accusing Ola of sabotaging its business by making bogus bookings on its platform, hurting its business and the earnings of drivers.The Chandigarh-based companys claims come a day after Uber, the global taxi hailing major, filed a case in the high court at Delhi against Ola, accusing it of making false bookings and seeking Rs 49.6 crore in damages.

Jugnoo says Ola instructed its employees to create fake accounts through which they book an autorickshaw on the companys app and then cancel it. In 10 days, Jugnoo says, it had 20,000 cancellations and has successfully tracked 800 fake accounts on its platform.

We found this 10 days ago, when some of our cities started seeing an abnormal number of requests and then cancellations. So, their idea was to exhaust the supply and agitate the drivers. We narrowed down where these requests were coming from and found they were from Olas offices, said Samar Singla, co-founder and chief executive at Jugnoo.Singla said he made contact with Ola via micro blogging platform Twitter and to the chief executive, Bhavish Aggarwal. However, the fake requests did not stop. We started to create a paper trail and at this point, have enough evidence.

We havent filed a case yet because we still hope that it will stop but if it doesnt, well be forced to file a lawsuit. An e-mail sent to Ola on the issue did not get a response. In December, Jugnoo had accused Ola of poaching employees and lifting its employee and driver database in Chandigarh. This was just ahead of Olas launch of a similar auto service in the city. Jugnoo has a presence in 30 cities and close to 10,000 autorickshaws on its platform. It says the majority of these bogus requests were from three centres -- Gurgaon, Noida and Mysuru. Investigating into where these requests were being made revealed they were coming from Olas offices, it says. While Jugnoo hasnt reported the number of drivers quitting its platform due to these develoments, Uber claims Olas actions over the past six months has resulted in the loss of 20,000 driver partners. Losses for Jugnoo in terms of the cancellation charges are relatively snall but the loss of drivers on whom the company spends to train, along with the loss of business, would make it a significant amount, if the charges are true.
Bengaluru-based taxi aggregator Ola on Wednesday said about 6,000 new CNG cabs have been added to its platform recently in Delhi-National Capital Region area. The company said it would invest Rs 200 crore for compressed natural gas (CNG) adoption over the next six months. The announcement follows Supreme Court's judgement that the taxis operating in NCR should mandatorily run on CNG by March 31, 2016.

"We are committed to providing a seamless mobility experience in the state in adherence to the local regulations, at the same time empowering our driver-partners by helping them switch to CNG with no negative impact on their earnings. Going forward, we plan to invest Rs 200 crore towards innovative green fuel technology, leasing of CNG cars as well as strengthening the ecosystem to catalyse greater CNG adoption in the region," said Rahul Maroli, vice-president, Strategic Supply Initiatives, Ola.

Ola's current CNG fleet in Delhi-NCR stands at 26,000, with plans to further continue on-ground programmes to help driver-partners seamlessly switch to CNG vehicles. The company says it aims to build its CNG fleet further by adding over 2000 cars across Micro, Mini and Prime to ensure availability at all times.
Reliance Communications (RCom) and the shareholders of Aircel are going to discuss a potential merger exclusively for another two months.

Rcom said on Wednesday it had extended the exclusive period to negotiate a possible merger with Aircel to May 22, 2016. The decision to merger is part of the consolidation witnessed by the industry to derive benefits in opex and capex synergies and revenue enhancement.

R Com also stated that discussions were non-binding in nature and that the transaction would be subject to completion of due diligence, definitive documentation and regulatory, shareholders and other third party approvals.

Hence, there was no certainty that any transaction would result. On 23 December 2015, R Com had announced it had entered into a 90-day non-binding exclusivity period with Maxis Communications Berhad and Sindya Securities and Investments, shareholders of Aircel, to consider potential combination of their Indian wireless business.

The announcement came a month after R Coms announcement of a similar deal with MTS, the Indian arm of Russias Sistema Group, which signalled the beginning of consolidation in the telecom sector.

R Com could, after the two mergers, become the countrys second-largest telecom company by subscribers after Sunil Mittals Bharti Airtel. R Com is now the fourth-largest telecom company by subscribers trailing Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Aircel comes in at fifth position.

Aircel offers 2G services in 19 circles, excluding Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. It has 3G spectrum for 13 circles and 4G spectrum for eight and has over 84 million users.
Although there is now a safeguard duty and minimum import prices on various steel products, five companies have asked the government to impose anti-dumping duty (ADDs) and countervailing duty on select products.

The five firms are JSW Steel, Steel Authority of India, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, and Essar Steel. They have asked the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties for these two duties on particular steel products of one category  hot rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel, in coils of a width of 600 mm (millimetre) or more, said a government official.

In September, the government had imposed a 20 per cent safeguard duty on various products of this category only. Last week, the directorate-general said the duty should be extended for two and a half years, as increased imports threatened serious injury to domestic producers. The government is yet to take a decision on this.

Last month, the government had imposed a minimum import price (MIP) for six months on as many as 173 steel products to protect domestic companies from cheaper imports. And, the steel ministry is working with the finance ministry on a financial package within two months for the sector.

The companies are looking for a long-term solution. Unlike safeguard duty or MIP, the anti-dumping duty or countervailing duty is country-specific. The companies focus is on China, which is the top steel exporter to India, said the official.

The steel ministry said imports were down 25 per cent over a year ago in the first 11 months of 2015-16. In 2014-15, imports were 9.3 million tonnes (mt); in 2015-16, these would be seven mt.

Safeguard duty is allowed under World Trade Organization rules as a temporary measure.

According to the commerce ministry, the purpose of ADD is to rectify the trade-distortive effect when goods are exported by one country to another at a price lower than its normal value. In June last year, India imposed ADD of up to $316 a tonne on import of certain steel products from three countries, including China.

Countervailing duties are meant to level the playing field between domestic producers and foreign producers of the same product who can afford to sell it at a lower price because of the subsidy they receive from their government.

PROTECT US

5 steel companies asking for anti-dumping duty (ADDs) and countervailing duty on select productsThe firms are JSW Steel, SAIL, Tata Steel, JSPL, and Essar Steel.

Specifics

They have asked for these two duties on particular steel products of one category  hot rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel, in coils of a width of 600 mm or more



In September

the government had imposed a 20 per cent safeguard duty on various steel products of this category only



Last month

the government had imposed a minimum import price (MIP) for six months on as many as 173 steel products.

Steel ministry

is working with finance ministry to issue a financial package within two months to revive steel sector
American taxi-hailing app and its Indian counterpart Ola, often intensely competing with each other on discounts and service, are now caught in a legal battle over alleged fake bookings.

moved the Delhi High Court on Tuesday, accusing Ola of making false bookings on its platform. Demanding Rs 49.61 crore in damages, alleged that Ola set up fake rider accounts, misled its drivers via fake calls impersonating Uber and gave misleading information. Bengaluru-based Ola, which has the highest share in the taxi-app space with Uber catching up fast, has denied the allegations. In view of the submission made by Ola, judge Vipin Sanghi directed it to abide by its statement and listed the matter for further hearing on September 14.

Defendants (Ola and its subsidiary Serendipity Cabs) emphatically deny the allegations. Counsel for defendants states they have not done anything to interfere with plaintiffs (Uber) business as alleged, or its system by making false accounts, bookings or cancellations... nor has any intention of doing so. Defendants, their agents and employees shall abide by this statement, the court said.

WAR ON WHEELS

Gloves off between Uber, Ola NUMBERS DONT ADD UP 50% Ubers claimed India market share

75% Olas purported market share VALUATION $60 bn Ubers estimated worldwide valuation. US-based ride-hailing company seen as one of the most valuable start-ups. No separate estimate available for India entity

$5 bn SoftBank-backed Olas valuation PROJECTION OF TAXI APP MARKET IN INDIA: $7 bn in 2020 Sources: Companies, industry estimates

It also issued notice to Ola and Serendipity asking them to file their written statement, reply and submit documents within four weeks.

According to sources, Uber in its petition alleged that Ola created as many as 93,859 false rider accounts on the US major's technological platform by stating fake names, e-mail IDs and untraceable phone numbers.

"The company alleges that Ola made 405,649 false bookings of taxi rides and thereafter cancelled them to create frustration and disrupt business. Also, according to Uber, Ola's employees impersonated Uber officials and circulated damaging text messages," said sources.

Uber has claimed that at least 20,000 drivers have left the company's platform owing to these reasons. According to Uber, it has paid around Rs 5 lakh as cancellation charges and alleged that by making false bookings, Ola was squatting on the cabs associated with Uber.

Meanwhile, Ola told the court that Uber's plea is the direct result of a contempt petition it has filed against the latter accusing the US-based taxi aggregator of not complying with court directions to phase out diesel cabs.

ON A COLLISION COURSE February 2016: A contempt of court plea was filed by Ola Cabs against Uber, claiming that the US giant flouted courts earlier directives and is still adding and plying diesel vehicles in Delhi. Uber India, on the other hand, accused Ola of submitting false and fabricated documents to the court for achieving illegal business gains

A contempt of court plea was filed by Ola Cabs against Uber, claiming that the US giant flouted courts earlier directives and is still adding and plying diesel vehicles in Delhi. March 2016: Ola launched a new class of Micro cabs, which have a base fare ranging from Rs 35 to Rs 45, at rates of Rs 6/km. The launch of the new fleet was seen as an attempt to undercut the prices of UberGo, Ubers cheapest class of cab available in the country, which ranges from Rs 6 to Rs 8/km.

Ola launched a new class of Micro cabs, which have a base fare ranging from Rs 35 to Rs 45, at rates of Rs 6/km. The launch of the new fleet was seen as an attempt to undercut the prices of UberGo, Ubers cheapest class of cab available in the country, which ranges from Rs 6 to Rs 8/km. March 2016: On the very same day Uber launched its bike taxis uberMoto, Ola announced that it has launched its pilot Bike Taxis in Bengaluru. Sources said that Ola purposely coincided its launch with Uber.

"All the allegations made by Uber in the plaint listed for hearing before Delhi High Court are denied in their entirety and we have apprised the court accordingly that the allegations by Uber are frivolous and false to its own knowledge," Ola stated.

"We can only speculate this is a counter to the contempt proceedings pending against Uber in the high court... This is an effort to divert attention from the current realities of the market where Uber has faced major setbacks including the recent incidents of its vehicles being seized by government authorities. We stand by our contempt petition that Uber has been plying new diesel vehicles within Delhi in wilful and deliberate defiance of the local rules and regulations," Ola stated.
The army conveyed in writing to the defence ministry its reservations against building six bridges for the World Cultural Festival (WCF) organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's (AOL) Foundation from March 11-13. The army regarded WCF as "a private function".

Yet the defence ministry overruled the army's written representation, ordering first one, and then two, bridges to be constructed over the Yamuna, for what it regarded as a "public function."

Business Standard has accessed the army's letter to the defence ministry, written in the third week of February, conveying the personal decision of the army chief. The letter cited three arguments why operational army bridges should not be used for a private event.

The army's first objection was that the bridging equipment was stored across various army cantonments. Transporting these to Delhi would req-uire a major logistical effort and expense. The second reason was that these bridges co-mprised valuable operational equipment, which had a finite service life in terms of the number of times they could be launched. The army argued that this limited service life should be safeguarded for war. The third reason was the impropriety of deploying military troops for what it considered a private function.

Overruling these objections, the defence ministry explicitly took the view that WCF was a public function. It conveyed to the army that a private function was one "organised by a private individual, for private purposes, in private premises."



It told the army that, where large public attendance was expected for a function that the government had cleared, it would have to take responsibility for public safety, traffic control, crowd control, etc.

With the defence ministry effectively overruling the army's objections, the generals say they took on the job whole-heartedly "in the spirit with which it built bridges for the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, and organised the annual Amarnath Yatra".

An engineer regiment from Meerut was moved to build and maintain the bridges, while equipment was transported from a large number of cantonments.

The "Regulations for the Army" lays down rules for "Employment of troops on duties in aid of civil authorities". According to Paragraph 301, troops may be called in for "maintenance of law and order; maintenance of essential services; assistance during natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods; and any other type of assistance which may be needed by the civil authorities."



In overruling the army's written objections, the defence ministry relied on the fourth clause: "any other type of assistance which may be needed by the civil authorities."



Army generals say the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments had jointly cleared WCF, while the Delhi government had requested for bridges. The decision to overrule army reservations to building bridges, however, was taken by the defence ministry.
The terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday has turned the spotlight on the security apparatus at airports in India.

The attack in Brussels comes barely three months after a parliamentary standing committee flagged concerns about the gaps in security at airports in India, which included inadequate CCTV coverage in terminals, presence of slums, and non-deployment of Central Industrial Security Force personnel in certain sensitive airports.

Also of concern is the government's inability to fill the post of the commissioner of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). BCAS is the aviation security regulator, which has been without a full-time head since 2012.

While security at all airports in the country has been heightened following Brussels, with restrictions on visitor entry and intensified baggage checks, there is no plan for security checks of passengers and their bags outside terminal buildings. At present, passengers are frisked before accessing the terminal only in Srinagar.

On Wednesday, IndiGo received threats about bombs on its aircraft. Its call centre in Chennai received a bomb threat, leading to increased checks of its aircraft. The airline's Jammu-Delhi flight was taken to an isolation bay upon landing at Delhi for checks following security threat. Nine other IndiGo aircraft were also checked at Delhi airport following the threat call.

The idea of frisking passengers outside terminals was first examined after the attack on Parliament but was not been implemented, following a review. It was felt this practice could lead to long queues outside terminals during rush hours and would require passengers to report much earlier for flights.

"Surveillance at airports can be enhanced with more personnel in uniform and plainclothes. Sniffer dogs can be deployed and staff trained in Intelligence and passenger profiling. These measures can help in enhancing security to a large extent," said aviation security expert P Mohanan.

Experts say that the aviation security globally has largely been shaped by policies to prevent aircraft hijack and aircraft bombings and not so much to prevent suicide bombings. In India, the other danger to airports is from outside the perimeter - encroachments.

Other measures to strengthen airport security have been hanging fire or have taken too much time for implementation. Plans to issue biometric cards to airport staff have been a non-starter. Airports in metro cities and 18 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports have their own bomb detection and disposal equipment. But other AAI-run airports rely on police or defence authorities for bomb detection.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee, in its report submitted in December, had highlighted lack of coordination between the Delhi Police and airport authorities and issue of encroachments in the periphery of Mumbai airport, requirement of additional CISF manpower at Mumbai, and the security risk posed by 5,000 casual employees, who work in the cargo complex in Mumbai.

During the committee's visit to the Delhi airport, the Delhi Police raised concerns about 12 issues, including inadequate CCTV coverage, lack of space for a police post in Aerocity, inadequate fencing around Terminal 3 and the risk posed by three adjoining villages. Delhi International Airport Limited had informed the committee that it constantly reviewed security and contingency plans.

The committee also observed that eight "hyper sensitive" airports and 19 "sensitive" airports did not have CISF cover. It suggested that the CISF should be deployed at all the 70-odd airports that had scheduled commercial flights.
Nearly 34 people were killed in a terrorist attack on a capital. Explosions rocked the city, leaving several people injured too.

This may immediately make you think about the deadly attacks on Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, which saw explosions at the airport and a busy metro station on Tuesday.

However, the same piece of information can also be linked to another terror attack  explosions at Ankara  the Turkish capital  on March 13, 2016. As per media reports, the toll has risen to 36 now. In fact, this was a second such incident in Turkey in a span of one month, killing many people. In another attack on February 18, 2016, 28 people were killed and 61 injured in a car bomb explosion in Ankara. A vehicle, laden with explosives, targeted a convoy of buses carrying military personnel that were stopped at traffic lights, this ABC news report states.

Read more from our special coverage on "BRUSSELS"

Hours after the attacks took place, the world and social media reached out to the nation. Leaders across the world, ranging from US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande to British PM David Cameron expressed their condolences.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris was seen with the black, yellow and red colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of bomb attacks. In Berlin, the Brandenburg gate was illuminated in the colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to Tuesday's victims. The courthouse in Lyon, France paid tribute to the victims by painting the building in Belgian flag colours, media reports say.

Social media trends like #JeSuisBruxelles, #IamBrussels, #PrayForBelgium and #All Together started trending and the internet showed that it stood with the nation in these tough times. A cartoon of Tintin  a beloved cartoon character  shedding tears after reading a report about the attacks also went viral. The cartoon shows him reading a newspaper when he says Mon Dieu or "My God."

Cartoons of a crying Tintin are used to pay tribute to https://t.co/X0KuoWYO2d pic.twitter.com/ZL8RsY6qz6  Mashable (@mashable) March 22, 2016

Facebook activated its safety feature for people in Brussels to mark themselves as safe in these times of distress.The media, too, covered the attacks widely  with live-blogs to continuous reportage  to relay the images to almost every household. Newspapers in India flashed this as their lead headlines and gave blanket coverage.

Meanwhile, the attacks of Ankara found mentions only in few news reports. They were largely on the international pages of newspapers and not on the front pages; websites too carried it for a brief period on their home pages before dropping its rankings. While on the social media, support did not match the magnitude Brussels has received. #Ankara was largely used to relay information and not support for the attacks. However, Facebook had activated its safety check feature in the explosion that hit the city a week ago.

In fact, the attacks there gave a platform for many to point out the hypocrisy in responses in case of a terror attack.

There are two different responses to terror attacks:

A compassionate one for places like #Brussels, a detached one for places like #Ankara.  Thomas (@thomas_sipp) March 22, 2016

The incidents portray the selective sympathetic behaviour when it comes to terror attacks. It makes one question why the outrage and the support are limited only to European nations and not in case of others.

You will find no Turk who will rejoice in view of the Brussels terrorist attacks. On the contrary, we all know too well the suffering and hardships such terrorist actions cause and the trauma it creates only helps us to understand and sympathize with the people of Belgium. However, we do expect the international community to start understanding our anger and frustration of being left alone to combat terrorism while they seem to be providing a helping hand, writes Ilnur Cevik in this piece titled Ankara, Istanbul are as safe as any European city

The heartbreaking fact of why no one was Ankara while everyone was Paris (referring to the attacks in Paris that killed 130) should be seen as a reality check, writes this author.

The bias in media and social media trends has been seen in case of attacks in Muslim or developing nations. A day before the Paris attacks, 43 died in a bombing in Beirut. In January 2015, 17 people that died after the attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo overshadowed the 2,000 killed by Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Baga. While coverage imbalances are often corrected after the fact, the latest example from Turkey shows it continues to be a potent issue, writes Jon Levine in this piece titled 'These attacks happened days before Brussels  but you probably didn't hear about them'.

Not just in case of Ankara, several attacks have hit many non-European nations, which seem to have gone unnoticed, as compared to the attacks on Paris and Brussels.

The West African nation of Mali had also witnessed a mass shooting at a Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako in November 2015. Al-Qaeda-linked militants killed 20 people and had taken 170 people hostage, before being hunted down by Malian commandoes.

The Indonesian capital, Jakarta, had seen a series of suicide bombings and shootings, which had left eight people dead including four assailants.

In Mogadishu, a group of militants linked to al-Shabbab killed 15 people and left others injured in a suicide attack at the SYL hotel.

As in case of Ankara attacks, all of these may have found mentions in news reports and a few tweets, but they are nothing as compared to the Brussels attacks.

Europe not a safe haven anymore

One can argue that the importance given to attacks in Europe is due to the region no longer being perceived as a safe haven anymore. The region had not seen a string of attacks  and their high intensity  like these until the emergence of groups like the Islamic State (IS).

First and foremost, it shows that terrorism is the new normal for Western Europe, at least for now. Citizens and politicians should acknowledge, rather than simply accept, this, writes this author on the new normal of terrorism in Europe.

However, the incident and the support does throw a light on living in two worlds in one planet. How attacks and disruptions are perceived as a normalcy, a routine, in one part of the world, while it is different in case of the other.
On the eve of Holi, pyres are burnt to ward off the evil. Every year people come up with different themes for effigies and this year the dummy of king of good times will go up in flames. This Holika dehan is to send out a strong message of anger that people have against Mallya.

He is now officially in the ranks of Ajmal Kasab, defecation, cigarettes, and Asaduddin Owaisi. Quite a fall for the king of good times.




The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth Rs 4.5 crore belonging to R Subramanian, promoter and managing director of retail chain Subhiksha Trading Services.

K S V V Prasad, joint director of ED Chennai zone, said the case was taken by the ED for investigation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. During investigation, it was found that Subramanian availed term loan and cash credit of Rs 77 crore from Bank of Baroda in 2007. However, the funds, meant for setting up the retail chain, were fraudulently diverted by Subramanian, said the ED.

Subramanian, an Indian Institute of Management  Ahmedabad gold medalist, has allegedly defaulted payment to banks and other investors and is facing legal cases in various courts. The department also found that four agricultural land parcels of 9.59 acres and two vacant land plots were fraudulently transferred in the name of Triad Trading Services Ltd, a group company of Subramanian.

Another two properties in the name of his wife located at Marakanam and Neelangarai were also identified by the ED for attaching. Problems had begun for Subhiksha in October 2008, when it started receiving legal notices for outstanding payment. In January 2009, the retail chain was forced to shut down around 1,600 retail shops following a cash crunch as well as a Rs 750-crore default to as many as 13 banks.

TOUGH TIME
The has barred the entry of media and outsiders in the campus ahead of Kanhaiya Kumar's planned visit.

Kumar is expected to join the protests over the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula.

Read more from our special coverage on "HYDERABAD UNIVERSITY" Hyderabad University VCs office vandalised upon return

Security has been tightened outside the varsity following Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar's visit to address the student faculty.

Clashes took place at the office of the Vice-Chancellor of on Tuesday. Angry students vandalised P Appa Rao's office, who resumed charge on Tuesday after going on leave amid the storm following the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula.

Students also alleged that Rao was involved in Rohith Vemula's death and that he has been brought back to prevent Kanhaiya Kumar's visit to the university.

26-year-old Rohith Vemula who hanged himself in Hyderabad Central University campus in January, was suspended from his hostel in August last year for allegedly attacking an ABVP leader.
is ferrying the passengers stuck in Brussels to Amsterdam from where the company plans to transport them back to their destinations. The Brussels airport remains closed after yesterday's terror attack as the departure terminal remains damaged and no certainity over when it will reopen. The airline is transporting the passengers to Amsterdam in 15 buses and will be accommodated there in hotels tonight.

Beside the buses the company will fly passengers out to Amsterdam. "Guests will board the aircraft at Amsterdam airport for onward travel to Delhi, Mumbai and Toronto. Alternate arrangements are being made for guests travelling to Newark. is working closely with the Belgian authorities and the Indian Embassy to facilitate an early transit for its guest and crew from Brussels," a statement from the company said.

"The airline's Emergency response centre in Mumbai and the Local Incident Control Centre in Brussels are working round the clock to provide all possible support to our staff and guests. Jet Airways has also deployed its teams from India and Continental Europe to help in the co-ordination efforts," the statement added. Jet Airways had announced on Monday that the airline will be shifting its European gateway to Amsterdam from Brussels from March 26.

Scores were injured when terrorists attacked two deadly blasts ripped through the Zaventern Airport killing 13 people and injuring many including two employees of Jet Airways.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today said Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began this morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.

When Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."



The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, further said Rana had objected to his association with LeT.

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.

However, Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."



When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife.

However, Headley said his wife knew about his plans to change his name.

"She knew that I was going to change my name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley," he said.

When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.
India is in the final stages of talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government for allowing Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to store crude oil in the coming underground strategic crude oil storage facilities at Mangaluru and Padur in Karnataka.

According to the proposal, ADNOC will fill the 1.5-million-tonne (mt) Mangaluru facility. Around two-thirds of the storage will be available to India for free for strategic use  guarding against global price shocks and supply disruptions  while the rest will be used by the firm for commercial storage.

The proposal required the cooperation of the Karnataka government. It has now been announced as a relief in the Budget. The storage had to be made tax neutral to maintain its competitiveness, a senior oil ministry official told Business Standard. We will start with one of the caverns but gradually it will be extended for both the Mangaluru and Padur facilities, he added.

India, which imports 80 per cent of its crude oil requirement, has already built a 1.3-mt strategic crude storage capacity at Visakhapatnam. With global oil prices tumbling to near 12-year lows of less than $40 per barrel, that facility has been filled with crude oil at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore.

In the second phase, state-owned India Strategic Petroleum Reserves (ISPRL) is constructing a 1.5 mt capacity at Mangaluru and another 2.5 mt storage project at Padur. The total 5.3 mt capacity of crude oil storage will be enough to meet the domestic requirement for around 10 days.

Initially, ADNOC will be allowed to fill a 0.75 mt compartment at the Mangaluru facility. Of this, 0.5 mt storage will be available to India for free and the rest will be used by ADNOC for commercial sales. They (ADNOC) will bring their crude oil and the investment will be theirs, the official said. ADNOC will use the facility as a warehouse for trading oil.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had last month held talks with UAEs Energy Minister Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei on the matter. This followed Narendra Modi's visit to the UAE last August, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 38 years, focused on closer bilateral cooperation under which the UAE had committed $75 billion investment.

India has imported 16.1 mt crude oil from the UAE in the current financial year  around 8 per cent of total oil imports. Imports from the UAE are seen rising to 18.5 mt in 2016-17. Indias total crude oil imports are estimated to rise 6.3 per cent to 201 mt, valued at $64 billion, in the current financial year.

ISPRL had obtained environment clearance for the Visakhapatnam facility in 2008 and the Mangaluru facility in 2009. Experts say underground crude oil storage projects come with complex health, safety and security-related challenges that must be addressed.

The OECD countries have been maintaining such reserves since the 1973 oil crisis. So, there is a long history and established international norms related to maintenance of these reserves. India must keep in mind the need to follow proper norms for safety and security, said Debasish Mishra, senior director, Deloitte.

CLOSE TO A PACT
The Seventh Central Pay Commission recommendations, handed over to the government in November, have aroused bitter resentment within the military. On March 11, the three service chiefs made a presentation to the "Empowered Committee of Secretaries", a 13-member panel headed by the cabinet secretary, which is looking into the recommendations. The army, navy and air force are waiting to see if this panel will tone down clauses that former army chief VP Malik has termed "a killer for the military."



This impression is rampant amongst soldiers, sailors and airmen, even though the Seventh Pay Commission has raised baseline military salaries by about 15 per cent, taking the pay of a lieutenant (the entry grade for officers) to Rs 56,100 per month; and that of a sepoy (the entry grade for ratings) to Rs 21,700 per month. This is significantly lower than the 40 per cent increases handed out by the Fifth and Sixth Pay Commissions. One of the Seventh Pay Commission members, Rathin Roy, underlining the imperative to curb government spending, has admitted unapologetically: "We are the stingiest pay commission, ever."



In addition to pay, soldiers get a special allowance called "military service pay", which exists in most militaries in forms such as the British army's "X-Factor Pay". The Seventh Pay Commission raises it for officers from Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,500 per month; and for persons below officer rank from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,200 per month.

Totting up these allowances, the Seventh Pay Commission chairman, Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, in an interview to The Economic Times on December 20, claimed he had recommended 30 per cent higher salaries for the military than civilian services would draw.

His logic was based on the dubious premise that military service pay constitutes a component of salary. In western military salary structures, such allowances are not salary, but compensation for the "intangible hardships" of military service. These include long separation from families, wives being unable to work, and children changing schools frequently and growing up without their father, et cetera.

During its deliberations, the Seventh Pay Commission asked the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) to compare military salaries in India with those of major foreign armed forces. While the IDSA study was relatively unbiased, the Commission chose to interpret them selectively, applying purchasing power parity to boost the value of Indian military salaries; and then comparing them with the per capita income of the concerned country. Given India's abysmal per capital income, military salaries look good by comparison. The Seventh Pay Commission uses this to argue that India's military is paid very well by international standards.

It's the comparison, stupid!



Since the hefty raises of the Fifth and Sixth Pay Commissions, few soldiers claim they are poorly paid. Even so, festering resentment stems from the widespread belief that civilian officials, particularly from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), conspire to whittle away the military's relative status. Soldiers point to a host of generous allowances and the assured promotion benefits that are triggered for entire civilian batches as a result of the first officer of that batch getting promoted. A key element of this was instituted by the Sixth Pay Commission through a mechanism called "non-functional financial upgrade". This mandates that when an IAS officer from a particular batch is promoted to a certain rank, all his batchmates from some sixty Group 'A' central services also start drawing the higher pay scale two years later, irrespective of competence or vacancies in that rank. The military had taken up a case for a similar upgrade, but this was not agreed to. The Seventh Pay Commission does not recommend its extension to the military either.

Thus, while practically every civilian central service officer would make it to the top pay grades, the army will remain a sharply pyramidal meritocracy, where less than one per cent of officers are promoted to lieutenant general rank (higher administrative grade, in pay commission scales). Those soldiers who do not make the cut - including meritorious officer, who are held back only because of limited promotion vacancies at each rank - are entitled to neither the power nor the pelf of higher rank since the army has no non-functional financial upgrade. The military's demand for parity has been one of the five "core anomalies" of the Sixth Pay Commission, and was strongly pressed before the "Empowered Committee" last week.

Cost-to-company



Adding to the bitterness amongst soldiers is the argument, increasingly voiced by civil service officers, that soldiers' emoluments should be evaluated in terms of "cost-to-company", taking into account all their emoluments and facilities. Top generals argue that the armed forces constitute "the cheapest gun fodder", since they incur the least lifetime cost to the government. They point out that soldiers incur the lowest induction cost, since they do not get paid salary during their training period, unlike civilian officers and the Central Armed Police Forces. They have the lowest retention cost, since they retire early, thus drawing salaries for less time than civilian counterparts; and they also have the lowest advancement cost, since relatively small numbers are promoted to higher rank, leaving many languishing at lower pay grades. Finally, soldiers also incur the lowest pension costs, since their pensions are fixed at 50 per cent of the last pay drawn - at lower pay grades in most cases.

The army has slowly - and sullenly - come to terms with the "first amongst equals" status of the IAS, which has been inexorably institutionalised since the Third Pay Commission noted that "an IAS officer gets an unequalled opportunity of living and working among the people, participating in planning and implementation of developmental programmes, working with the Panchayati Raj institutions, coordinating the activities of government departments in the district and dealing directly with the problems of law and order." Given this, the Third Pay Commission granted the IAS (and the Indian Foreign Service) three extra increments at each of three successive seniority grades - senior time scale, junior administrative grade and selection grade - to which IAS officers are promoted at four, nine and 13 years of service, respectively. Since the other services got just one increment at these grades, IAS/IFS officers accumulate six extra increments by the time they have served 13 years. This lead in emoluments continues through their service.

However, successive governments have ensured the military remains the "first amongst uniformed services." The Seventh Pay Commission now upsets this balance by recommending that "the criticality of functions at the district administration level holds good equally for the IAS, Indian Police Service (IPS) as well as the Indian Forest Service (IFoS)." It recommends that six additional increments be extended also to the IPS and IFoS.

The military chiefs have argued strongly before the "Empowered Committee" that the military - which they term "the instrument of last resort" - does not have the option of "handing over an adverse situation to any other government agency". They have argued that, while the police and central armed police force personnel often lay down their lives, including in cross border firing, they incur a "lower level of risk" compared with the armed forces, which "actively seek encounters with terrorists and close combat with the enemy, despite the high risk of death". The chiefs have argued that military service demands higher levels of proficiency, commitment and sense of sacrifice.

There is little to suggest, however, that the government is listening. The anomalies of the Sixth Pay Commission still remain unresolved, including the five "core anomalies" that include the military's demand for non-functional financial upgrade. A committee of secretaries that was constituted in 2011 heard the military for a month and then tossed the ball into the court of the Seventh Pay Commission. There is little to suggest the military's current representations would be treated with greater sensitivity.
Even as the Defence Exhibitions Organisation (DEO) scrambles to patch together a new location in Goa and access roads for Defence Exposition 2016 (Defexpo 2016) - the first one to be held outside Delhi - enormous interest in the Indian arms bazaar will bring 1,030 Indian and international defence companies to India's premier defence exhibition that kicks off on March 28.

Not even a local political movement that is protesting the land use and environmental effects of shifting Defexpo 2016 to Quepem Taluka of South Goa has dampened interest from the United States (93 companies), Russia (71), UK (46), Germany (39), France (38), Israel (38) and other arms producers like South Korea and Italy.

"More than 47 countries will participate in Defexpo 2016. For the first time, we will be holding live demonstrations of equipment, which was a constraint in Delhi," said A K Gupta, Secretary Defence Production, on Wednesday.

Defexpo's future location will depend upon how this exhibition goes off. Asked in writing by Business Standard whether subsequent Defexpos would also be held in Goa, the defence ministry responded: "No final decision has been taken on permanent venue of Defexpo. Future course of action will be based on the experience of the Expo in 2016 and the view of the Government of Goa."



Gupta indicated the success of Defexpo 2016 would not be gauged by the contracts signed, but by how effectively it would provide a business-to-business forum for Indian and foreign companies to tie up partnerships to benefit from the "Make in India" policy.

On Monday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had cleared the new Defence Procurement Policy of 2016. Not coincidentally, DPP-2016 will be available on the defence ministry website on March 28, the day Defexpo 2016 will be inaugurated.

Underlining the new commitment to "Make in India", Gupta stated that 90 per cent of the procurement approvals by the National Democratic Alliance government had been accorded under the "Buy Indian" and "Buy & Make (Indian)" procurement categories. He said DPP-2016's new category of "Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured" equipment would further add to indigenous production.

Interestingly, Gupta provided the first official assessment of the real foreign content of India's total defence procurement, which he put at 60 per cent. "We so 60-65 per cent of our procurement from domestic companies. If you take out the foreign content that these companies put in and work out the indigenous content, it comes to about 40 per cent," Gupta estimated.

He also laid down a target of 60 per cent indigenisation in the next five years, a target that most defence industry analysts consider unrealistic.

Among the 1030 companies participating will be controversial Italian company, Finmeccanica, which is the holding company for AgustaWestland, the helicopter maker whose contract for AW-101 helicopters was cancelled by the defence ministry after Italian prosecutors began investigating charges of bribery of Indian officials to get the AW-101 contract.

In the last Defexpo 2014, Finmeccanica had been asked to stay away, with then defence minister A K Antony wary of the cloud over it. Now, with a more liberal "blacklisting policy" being evolved, Finmeccanica is back in the limelight.

However, Gupta confirmed that two other blacklisted companies - Rheinmetall Air Defence and Singapore Technology Kinetic - would not be participating.

He also confirmed that Pakistan would not be amongst the 47 countries participating, as it had not been sent an invitation. China had been invited to send an official delegation, but has not responded.
Forensic audit firms are seeing a surge in demand from banks to probe accounts that have not defaulted but might have started to show some early signs of trouble.

Lenders started making this request in the face of pressure from bad loans. Forensic auditors said banks usually use these services once a company defaults on repayment. But, now, lenders are not waiting for a default to happen and are on the vigil if they sense trouble in the offing.

Vikram Babbar, executive director, Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services, EY, said banks were now following a proactive approach and would be looking at using forensic audits if they suspect any trouble in the account.

Analysts said sometimes a promoter would not have defaulted on a loan to a particular lender but might have had trouble in meeting a repayment deadline at other banks. This might raise an alarm. Bankers have their ear to the grapevine to catch news of companies being in trouble or of a possible fund diversion.

We also do asset-tracing for banks. But sometimes by the time we get there, it is too late, said Reshmi Khurana, managing director of Kroll India. So what needs to happen more often is a systematic monitoring of accounts that are in distress and not wait for them to get into corporate debt restructuring. And, we have been seeing that banks have started coming on to us early to ask for audit rights of a company and gain additional information which can provide leverage in times of negotiation with the promoters. Sometimes they are called before the default.





Apart from this, banks have also become cautious in internally identifying accounts that might need attention. As a result, audit firms have seen an increase in demand for training purposes as well.

The demand for anti-fraud training by banks of frontline staff has also increased. With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) insisting on banks cleaning up the books, there has been a surge in requests for forensic audits. In the last quarter, these requests have increased by almost five times, added Babbar.

A systemic review carried out by RBI, which had asked banks to recognise certain assets in the December- and March-ended quarters of this financial year, had led to an increase in bad loans. The central bank had also prodded banks to step up the fight in tackling the rising non-performing assets issue.
While there is nothing new about the opportunity for distressed assets funds (DAFs) in India, there is clear traction now, with about $1.62 billion being raised this year by domestic and global players.

In January, the Piramal Group floated the largest $1-billion DAF in association with Nirmal Gangwal-founded turnaround company Brescon Corporate Advisors. This was followed by global giants CPPIB and JC Flowers tying up with the Kotak Mahindra Group and Ambit Holdings to launch $525-million and $100-million funds this month, respectively. Banking sources say global alternative investment funds WL Ross & Corp and Oaktree Capital Management are also scouting for opportunities.

Indian banks had Rs 65-70 lakh-crore ($ 1-1.25 trillion) advances at the end of September last year. Of this, 11-14 per cent is estimated to be stressed assets, which have been either restructured or declared non-performing. This makes it a $100-150 billion opportunity for DAFs or alternative investment funds that invest in these stressed assets.

"For stressed companies, it is not an opportune time to tap the capital markets. Banks are not willing to provide liquidity and most promoters are not in a position to infuse capital," says Dinkar Venkatasubramanian, partner, transaction advisory services, EY. "There is certainly a dire need for capital and it presents the right opportunity for these investors to come in."





These funds were always interested but largely held back because of three reasons, which are set to change. First, there has been a lack of a regulatory framework to protect their interests. This is expected to be addressed now by the proposed bankruptcy law. Second, there was the need to control assets - which should be addressed via change of management post Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR). Finally, the new investors were apprehensive of being saddled with unsustainable debt. This will change now with lenders willing to look at an appropriate capital structure to enable revival.

"While none of these are proven on the ground, adequate progress is being made by the RBI, the government and the lenders to provide more confidence to the investors that their concerns will be addressed. This has created interest among the global players," says Venkatasubramanian.

The RBI has given banks March 2017 deadline to clean up the books. Also, the regulator has strengthened various tools, including introducing the SDR scheme. Besides, the government has proposed 100 per cent foreign direct investment in asset reconstruction companies as well as in security receipts that they issue to raise capital after taking charge of stressed assets. These are real drivers.

The new players ready to get into this with their money and effort agree with this. "A lot of these firms require change of ownership to build credibility and become bankable. This is where we can play a huge role," says Eshwar Karra, CEO, Phoenix ARC, an affiliate of Kotak Mahindra Group that will work with the fund that the Group has committed, along with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

"This is a flexible fund and we will look to invest $30-40 million per transaction. In certain instances, we could get strategic investors to invest along with us. With our expertise in the distressed market, our intension is to rehabilitate these firms," says Karra explaining the strategy.

The plan for Ambit Holdings' joint venture with JC Flower is no different. "We are not looking for a quick in-and-out," says Rahul Gupta, joint chief executive officer of Ambit Holdings, which is targeting at distressed mid-cap companies with sustainable debt structures that can be revived.

"We will be using a combination of change in management and financial management tools such as providing additional working capital to turn these around," says Gupta.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for extension of time period of the Scheme Special Industry Initiative for J&K" (SII J&K) Udaan till 2019-20. Initially the time period of Udaan was upto 2015-16. .

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Udaan provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State. So far, 67 leading corporates have partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under UDAAN with a commitment to train youth from the State covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT, ITES, Infrastructure, Hospitality etc. More than 19,000 candidates have been selected, more than 15,000 have joined training, out of them, 8700 candidates have completed training and 6,838 have been offered jobs. It is expected that the target of the Scheme, to train and enhance employability of 40,000 graduates, post graduates and three year engineering diploma holders, will be achieved by 2019-20. To accelerate the pace of implementation, mega selection drives have been introduced, in which around 8-10 corporates participate in a drive. It has significantly improved the number of selections. 67 mega selection drives have been held so far covering all districts of the state. .

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Udaan is a national integration scheme with the goal to mainstream J&K youth with rest of the country. The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job opportunity but also leads to counter radicalization and weaning away youth of J&K from militancy. .

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Finance Minister to leave on Four Day Official Visit to Australia on 28th March, 2016 to attract foreign investment in India: To participate in India Australia CEOs Forum Meeting; To address Make in India Conference among others. .

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will be leaving on a 4-day official visit to Australia on 28th March, 2016. One of the main objectives of the Finance Ministers visit to Australia is to attract foreign investment in India especially in Infrastructure sector among others. In the first leg of his official visit, the Finance Minister will arrive in Sydney on 29th March, 2016. During his stay at Sydney, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will address and have an interactive session at Sydney Campus of S.P. Jain School of Global Management. He will also have a meeting with The Hon. Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will inaugurate the Sydney branch of the Union Bank of India. .

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Next Day, i.e. 30th March, 2016, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will deliver the Key Note Address at Make in India Conference in Sydney. He will also have a meeting with prominent CEOs of Australia. Thereafter, he will have a bilateral meeting with The Hon. Scott Morrison, MP, Treasurer. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will have an interaction with Indian community. .

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As a part of the second leg of his Australia visit, on 31st March, 2016, the Finance Ministry Shri Jaitley will depart for the Australian capital, Canberra. During his stay in Canberra, the Finance Minister will have bilateral meetings with Senator The Hon. Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance and Mr. Peter Vergese, Foreign Secretary. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will have a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Australian National University (ANU) followed by an interaction with ANU Economists. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will be participating in K.R. Narayanan Oration at the University. In the evening, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will address the Indian community at a reception hosted by the High Commissioner of India in Australia in which leading members of Indian community from all major cities of Australia are likely to participate. .

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On the last leg of his Australia visit, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will arrive in Melbourne on 1st April, 2016. During his stay in Melbourne, the Finance Minister will have a meeting with Mr. Peter Coastello, Chairman, Future Fund. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will also participate in Invest in India Round Table Conference. He will also attend a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FICCI and Australia-India Business Council. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will have one to one meeting with CEOs of various companies. In the evening, the Finance Minister will visit the University of Melbourne. He will also meet the Hon. Daniel Andrews, Premier of VIC. .

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The Finance Minister will depart for back home on 2nd April, 2016 and will arrive in the national capital on 3rd April, 2016 after completing his 4-day official visit to Australia. .

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General Dalbir Singh, Chief of the Army Staff presided over the Valedictory Function of the Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC) at the College of Defence Management (CDM), Secunderabad & delivered the valedictory address on Wednesday. The COAS also presented the participant officers with the degree of Master in Management Studies (MMS) by Osmania University and a certificate of Advanced Course in Management by the All India Management Association. .

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While addressing the Defence services officers of the three services, the COAS highlighted that the national security environment has become particularly challenging due to its complexity & unpredictability. He expressed his confidence that the training during the course would serve the participant officers well and enable them to take timely and positive action oriented decisions in their position as senior military leaders. To achieve this, he considered it essential that in one's area of operations, one must keep abreast of the developments of related issues, partake in decision making along with others and indeed, must work in close coordination with all other organs of the state involved in the management of national security by facilitation and complementing each other's efforts. .

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The COAS appreciated the endeavours of the CDM towards optimizing the resources by harnessing management techniques for speedy decision making. He applauded the institution for having evolved as a Centre of Excellence & a premier tri-Services institution and stated that the College has made significant strides in aligning and integrating management philosophy with operational planning. He highlighted the need to harness all the management philosophies and techniques at our disposal. .

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The HDMC course had commenced on 25 May 15 with 150 selected participants of the rank of Colonel and equivalents from the three Services. Besides this, the course was also attended by participants from friendly foreign countries, viz. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nigeria, Mauritius & Sri Lanka. .

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Col Rohan Anand, SM.

PRO (Army)
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Secretary, Shri Sunil Arora held a review meeting of the National Museum on Indian Cinema at the Films Division in Mumbai on March 22nd, 2016. The focus of the meeting was on Phase II of the museum that would be housed in a state-of-the-art new building being specially built for the purpose. The progress of civil construction was reviewed and museum plans were discussed. .

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Shri Arora said that every effort was being made to make the second phase of the museum interactive, giving visitors a very unique viewing experience. He said the museum should highlight cultural and social impact of cinema. .

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The museum, spread over five levels would showcase various facets of Indian cinema from its early years to the present period. It would also have interactive exhibitions on all verticals of film making covering cinematography, editing, sound, script writing and screenplay among others. There would also be special sections on regional cinema, Hindi cinema, documentaries and Indian film music. .

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The new building housed in the Films Division complex on Pedder Road in South Mumbai, would also have two mid-size auditoriums, viewing galleries, cafeteria among others. The building is being built by the PSU National Building Construction Company. National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata under the Ministry of Culture has been tasked with setting up of the museum. .

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Earlier in the day, Secretary I&B visited All India Radio, Mumbai and interacted with the personnel. He said "All India Radio is an iconic institution with well settled standard operating procedures". He informed that the recently launched Music App of AIR has been widely appreciated and even noted Music Director A R Rehman has spoken good about it. Speaking about programme and marketing promotion, Shri Arora asked the Commercial Wing of AIR to adopt innovative marketing strategies and explore new clients to shore up revenues. .

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CP/GV
Letter of Intent and Memorandum of Understanding signed with Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship of India and the United Arab Emirates for cooperation in skill development and recognition of qualifications .

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post-facto approval to the Letter of Intent signed on 10.2.2016 between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and the National Qualifications Authority of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E). .

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The Letter of Intent will strengthen relations between the two countries and pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries on skill development and recognition of qualifications. .

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Following this, the Cabinet has also given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and the National Qualifications Authority of the U.A.E. for cooperation in skill development and recognition of qualifications. .

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The MoU will pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries on skill development and recognition of qualifications. Also the MoU will facilitate workforce mobility, skill development and placement of youth in overseas jobs in UAE. .

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Ministry of Tourisms 24x7 Toll Free Tourist Info/Helpline- 1800111363 or a short code 1363 has received a total of 17911 calls from Tourists as on 20th March, 2016. Since its launch on 8th February, 2016 by Minister of Tourism & Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma, its popularity is fast growing among Tourists. This Infoline service provides information relating to Travel & Tourism in India to the domestic and International tourists/visitors and to assist the callers with advice on action to be taken during times of distress while travelling in India and if need be alert the concerned authorities. .

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This project is being implemented by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India through M/s. TATA BSS who have been associated with the work after open bidding process. The languages handled by the contact centers include ten International languages besides English and Hindi, namely, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. .

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Tourists travelling in or planning to travel to India can seek help and information for a hassle free experience. The calls made by tourists (both international and domestic) while in India will be free of charge. The international tourists in India and also international callers who speak the aforesaid languages will be directed to the call agents proficient in the respective language. .

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The focus of the Tourist Infoline is on IEC i.e. Information, Education and Communication for the Tourists followed by a Helpdesk. This service primarily serves those who know very little about India or about travel within India, and those who do not understand Indian systems and often not even English. .

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Need for such Tourist Info/Helpline was felt due to reports regarding incidents involving crime against tourists especially the women tourists, there had been a concern expressed by the foreign tour operators and prospective visitors to India regarding the safety and security of tourists. There was also a serious concern about the tout menace and cheating of tourists. .

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Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) chaired a meeting yesterday for preparation of North East Business Summit, 2016 to be organized by the Ministry in Manipur from April 7-9.2016 in collaboration with Govt. of Manipur. .

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All the stakeholders in the field of Trade and Commerce, MSME, Horticulture, Flori Culture and food processing industry have been invited for the summit. The participants from handicrafts, handlooms and Ministry of Tourism have also been invited. .

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The Business Summit is expected to explore the possibility of trade and Commerce with ASEAN countries under Act East Policy of the Government. It will give a platform to all potential investors in different sectors such as Food Processing, Horticulture, Tourism, Handloom and Handicraft, Startups, Entrepreneurship etc., to have a better understanding about the investment environment & potential of North East. .

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Participants from all the North Eastern States and concerned Ministries of the Government of India are expected to attend the summit. In addition, the representatives from the private sector along with Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC) will also attend. .

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PMs interaction through PRAGATI

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today chaired his eleventh interaction through PRAGATI - the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. .

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The Prime Minister reviewed the progress towards handling and resolution of public grievances. Urging the officers to further speed up the pace of work in this regard, Shri Narendra Modi emphasized that grievance redressal is one of the biggest aspects of democracy. He called for focused action within the next one month, to ensure that barring exceptions, grievances are disposed off within 60 days. He reiterated his directive for top officers to intervene in this matter. .

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The Prime Minister reviewed the progress of vital infrastructure projects in the road, railway, power, and oil sectors, spread over several states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. .

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Reviewing the progress towards ease of doing business, Shri Narendra Modi observed that there is now healthy progress among states for investment. He called for further concerted efforts to build on the momentum, to create a positive perception. .

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The Prime Minister asked about Mission Mode projects under Digital India. Examining the progress of Digitization of Land Records, the Prime Minister called for integration of all land records with Aadhaar at the earliest. He emphasized that this is extremely important to monitor the successful implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. .

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Reviewing the progress of provision of citizen-centric services electronically, the Prime Minister called for a comprehensive district-wise review across the country, of how many services are actually being delivered online. .

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In the social sector, the Prime Minister assessed the status of the Widow Pension Programme, and the progress towards eradication of leprosy. .

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The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee described the Rashtrapati Bhavan today as a house of the people of India. He was addressing a group of grassroot innovators, writers and artists In-Residence who are staying in Rashtrapati Bhavan for a two week In Residence Programme. .

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The President said the In-Residence programme is among the many initiatives taken to open Rashtrapati Bhavan to the public. He described the participants of the In-Residence Programme as honoured and special guests. He said that they were special guests and will continue to be so because of their talent. All of them were creative minds of a resurgent India and they will add many more glorious chapters to our ancient civilization. If a society cannot respect talent, it cannot be described as a progressive society. Without innovations and creativity, no society can advance. .

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Smt. Omita Paul, Secretary to the President said the President firmly believes that innovation and creative ideas are essential for the growth and development of the country. By encouraging bright minds, we can usher innovations which go beyond economic gains and cover the aspect of social good. She said India needs new ideas and the bright young minds who can usher innovations can be true torch-bearers of the development. She emphasized that innovative ideas need to be supported if we want speed, scalability and sustainability. .

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All the participants in the In-Residence programme shared their experiences of staying at Rashtrapati Bhavan. They said their stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan had inspired them to take their creative initiatives to a higher level. When they return back to their States, they would serve as ambassadors of the President and Rashtrapati Bhavan and encourage others to innovate to find solutions to problems of the people in their day to day lives. .

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On the occasion, the first copy of a book documenting the In-Residence Programme was presented to the President by Smt. Omita Paul, Secretary to the President. .

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The innovators who called on the President included Shri G.K. Ratnakar from Karnataka (innovation: Mini Hydro Turbines), Shri Mushtaq Ahmed Dar from Jammu & Kashmir (innovation: Walnut Cracker), Shri Lal Biakzuala Ralte from Mizoram(innovation: Bamboo Splint Making Machine), Shri Mallesham Laxminarayana Chinthakindi from Andhra Pradesh (innovation: Laxmi Asu making machine), Shri Amrut Lal Bawandas Agrawat from Gujarat (innovation: Aaruni Bullock Cart and Innovative Pulley), Ms. Anuradha Pal from Andhra Pradesh (innovation: Right biotic an Anti-biotic finder) and Shri Swapnanil Debajit Talukdar from Assam (innovation: Foot operated manual page-turning machine). .

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The Writers who are staying at Rashtrapati Bhavan under the In-Residence programme include Shri Binod Ghosal from West Bengal, Ms. Jwishri Boro from Assam and Shri Dhwanil Ravindrabhai Parekh from Gujarat. All three are winners of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar. .

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The Artist In-Residence Shri Shitanshu G. Maurya from Uttar Pradesh and has won the National Award from Lalit Kala Akademi in 2010. .

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The In-Residence programme for innovation scholars, writers and artists was launched by the President of India on December 11, 2013 with a view to encourage senior innovation scholars, writers and artists as well as young and upcoming talent by facilitating them stay close to nature in the picturesque and serene surroundings of Rashtrapati Bhavan. The programme seeks to provide an environment which will inspire creative thinking and rejuvenate artistic/innovative impulses. .

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In previous two years, four writers, five artists and fifteen innovations scholars stayed in Rashtrapati Bhavan in different batches. .

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Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.1.2016 .

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to Pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2016. This represents an increase of 6 percent over the existing rate of 119 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise. .

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This will benefit about 50 lakh Government employees and 58 lakh pensioners. .

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The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC). The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be of Rs. 6796.50 crore per annum and Rs.7929.24 crore respectively, in the financial year 2016-17 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2016 to February, 2017). .

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The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the US $ 1,500 million project of World Bank Support to Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) [(SBM(G)]. .

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The Project basically provides for incentivising States on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM-G. Incentivisation of States was approved by the Cabinet while approving the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) on 24th September, 2014. The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through World Bank credit. .

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Under the approved project, the performance of the States will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs). Following are three DLIs. .

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i. Reduction in the prevalence of open defecation: The funds under this result area shall be released to the States on the basis of reduction in prevalence of open defecation amongst rural households in the State, compared to the previous year, .

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ii. Sustaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in Villages: The funds under this result area, shall be released on the basis of estimated population residing in ODF villages, .

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iii. Increase in percentage of rural population served by improved Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM): The funds under this DL1 will be based on the population served with acceptable level of SLWM services. .

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The States will pass on a substantial portion (more than 95 percent) of the Performance Incentive Grant Funds received from the MOWS, to the appropriate implementing levels of districts, Blocks, GPs etc. The end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the sanitation sector. .

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The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019. The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of States towards the SBM(G) 'outcomes' such as reduction in open defecation, sustainable achievement of open defecation - free (ODF) villages and improvement in solid and liquid waste management (SLWM). The project will also put in place a robust and credible independent verification system for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation. The project will support the SBM(G) programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining open defecation- free and clean environment. Since poor sanitation is related to ill-health, malnutrition, poor education and poverty; achievement of SBM(G) objectives will have a beneficial effect on all of these. It will therefore ensure a better quality of life for the rural population. .

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Backgrounder: .

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The total World Bank credit being obtained for the Project is US $ 1500 million (Rs. 9000 crore @ US $ l=Rs. 60), of which US $ 1475 million (Rs 8850 crore) is for providing incentive grant to the States and US$ 25 million (Rs 150 crore) is for providing programme management and capacity support to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS). The proposed Project is, therefore, not a new scheme, but part of the existing SBM (G) and provides part-funding to SBM (G) as Externally Aided Project (EAP) credit to support incentivisation of States. In other words, a Performance- based Incentive Grant Scheme, as part of SBM (G), is proposed to be launched through World Bank support credit funds. .

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The project comes in the background of acceleration of efforts under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) which has a goal to accelerate efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019. The program is considered India's biggest drive to improve sanitation and cleanliness in the country. Under the new SBM (G), the focus is on behaviour change and creation of complete open defecation free (ODF) villages. The objective of the proposed programme is to reduce open defecation in rural areas and strengthen the capacity of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to manage the SBM(G) programme. The project will therefore, support the SBM(G) programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining an open defecation free and clean environment. .

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for transfer of land measuring 89.72 ha in Sector 25, Dwarka, New Delhi, free from all encumbrances, to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for creation of a World class State-of-the-Art Exhibition-cum Convention Centre in Dwarka, New Delhi at a nominal sum of Re 1/- within six weeks of the decision by the Cabinet. This is a special case so that directions can be granted to DDA under Section 21(1) of the DD Act, 1957 read alongwith Section 41(1) of the Act. .

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The ownership of the said land will vest in and remain with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for creation of a world class state-of-the-art Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre comprising a host of independent and mutually beneficial facilities like exhibition halls, convention centres, banquet halls, auditoria, arena, financial centre, hotels, Food & Beverage (F&B) outlets & retail services. Project structuring, initial expenses of non-PPP trunk infrastructure costs will be borne by the Government. This may be Central Governments contribution by way of equity in the project. .

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Cabinet has also approved the constitution of a Committee comprising Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and CEO, NITI Aayog to steer the project including project structuring and development options in a transparent, competitive manner. .

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The project will be developed in Public-Private Partnership, utilizing if necessary viability gap funding of Gol. Permission is also granted to DIPP to lease/sub-lease the land and grant concession to the private entities for development and operation of various facilities. Permission for mixed land use in the project site will be accorded by DDA/ MoUD expeditiously. .

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The development of the ECC and supporting components is expected to help increase the share of Asia in terms of number of events to around 15% by 2021. It is estimated that the proposed ECC facility will infuse a demand for more than 100 international and local exhibition events annually. Development of the ECC and support facilities is estimated to contribute more than one million international delegates based (non-leisure) Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions (MICE) tourism per annum. The ECC and supporting facilities are expected to generate spending of more than Rs. 2 lakh crore (40 Billion USD) per annum after commissioning of the second phase of the project. The proposed Exhibition Centre, Convention Centre and Multi Performance Arena developments are estimated to generate over five lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities. The job creation shall not be limited to core ECC facilities but would also entail opportunities for regular formal employment in supporting ECC land uses like retail, office and hospitality. .

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Background .

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India lacks an integrated world class facility which can meet the requirements of global exhibition-cum-convention operators in terms of space, project facilities, transportation linkages, etc. Only a few centres in terms of organized space are available in the country. The Exhibition ground at PragatiMaidan has been the only organized large space for years which too is facing severe capacity and traffic constraints leading to great inconvenience to citizens and visitors to the centre in particular. Further, the huge constant demand for exhibitions and related activities puts immense pressure on the existing facilities resulting in lesser time available for maintenance to hold large sized events and maintain international standards. .

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It has been estimated that the global MICE market, which supports 400,000 conferences and exhibitions worldwide, is of the size of US $ 280 billion and is a significant economic driver for a large number of nations. The total size of the Asian MICE market accounts for US$ 60 billion having demonstrated a growth of 38% since 2006. In the absence of world class exhibition and conference facilities, India has not benefited from the potential benefits of this development. In order to capitalize on this vast market and to drive India's industry, commerce, trade and tourism, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has taken the initiative to develop a State-of-The-Art Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre at Delhi. .

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Belgian police have identified a prime suspect in Tuesday's Brussels blasts and two suspected suicide bombers, linking them directly to Islamic State militants behind last November's Paris attacks, Belgian media reported on Wednesday.

Najim Laachraoui, 25, is believed to be the man seen on CCTV pushing a baggage trolley alongside the bombers and then running out of the Brussels airport terminal. Earlier, some media reported that he had been captured in the Brussels borough of Anderlecht, but they later said the person detained was not Laachraoui. Police and prosecutors refused immediate comment but the federal prosecutor was due to hold a news conference at 1200 GMT. The death toll in the attacks on the Belgian capital, home to the European Union and NATO, rose to at least 31 with some 260 wounded, Health Minister Maggie De Block said on VRT television. It could rise further because some of the bomb victims at Maelbeek metro station were blown to pieces and victims are hard to identify.

One of the suspects seen on CCTV pushing baggage trolleys at Brussels airport just before the explosions was identified as Brahim El Bakraoui, public broadcaster RTBF reported. It said his brother, Khalid, blew himself up on the metro train. Both had criminal records for armed robbery, but had not previously been linked by investigators to Islamist militants.

Laachraoui is wanted in connection with the Paris attacks.

His DNA was found on at least two explosives belts used in those attacks and at a Brussels hideout used last week by prime Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last Friday after a shoot-out with police.

RTBF said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented aapartment in the city's Forest borough under a false name, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week. He is also believed to have rented a safe house in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi used to mount last November's Paris attacks.

The Syrian-based Islamist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, four days after Abdeslam's arrest in Brussels, warning of "black days" for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a centre of Islamist militancy.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

Prime Minister Charles Michel cancelled a trip to China and convened his inner cabinet to discuss security. Belgium observed a nationwide minute's silence at noon. King Philippe, the premier and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker attended a memorial event at Commission headquarters. More than 1,000 people gathered around an improvised shrine with candles and street paintings outside the Brussels bourse.
Even as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday blamed Europe's porous borders and lax security for the the bomb attacks that killed at least 31 people in Brussels on Tuesday, security was tightned at airports across the world, with South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and India saying that they were deploying additional resources at the major hubs.

Incheon airport, which serves Seoul, will add around 700 more staff for security monitoring and explosive detection, the operator Incheon International Airport Corp said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. It will closely check identifications of passengers entering the transit area as well as those who work in the restricted area. Authorities will now closely check areas such as restrooms and trash cans and will also step up screening of passengers' carry-on items, checked-in bags and cargo.

Narita Airport, east of Tokyo has also strengthened patrol of any suspicious objects, said Tsuyoshi Ohtake, a spokesman at Narita International Airport Corp. Asian airports had stepped up scrutiny since the Paris terrorist attacks and a suspected bombing of a Russian aircraft by the Islamic State last year. Much of the security checks at aerodromes have been focused on stopping terrorists from boarding planes, with measures such as full-body scans, shoe checks and ban on everything from liquids to nail clippers.

Indonesia upgraded security at its 192 airports in February, weeks after a deadly bombing and shooting assault by Islamic State militants in downtown Jakarta. A bomb went off in central Bangkok in August last year that killed 20 people. The airport authority in Hong Kong has established strict security measures and will keep close contact with government security agencies, according to an e-mailed response to Bloomberg News. If needed, the airport will take additional steps, it said.

Airport security has been heightened across Australia in the wake of the Brussels attacks, the Australian Federal Police said in an e-mailed statement. Measures may include dog and foot patrols, as well as specialist armed-response teams, the police said. All the country's airports have been asked to carry out response plans to armed attack, Minister for Transport Darren Chester said in an e-mailed statement. Still, he said there's currently "no credible threat" to Australian airports. Police presence at Haneda airport's domestic terminals have also been increased, Shoko Ono, a spokeswoman at Japan Airport Terminal Co, the operator of the terminals, said on Wednesday by telephone.

In the US, the country's largest cities were placed on high alert and the National Guard was called in to increase security at New York City's two airports, although Obama administration officials say there is no specific or credible intelligence of a copycat attack in the country. "At present, we have no specific, credible intelligence of any plot to conduct similar attacks here in the US," the US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said.

"That said, we remain very focused on the threat posed by lone terrorist actors who may lack direct connection to a foreign terrorist organisation; we are concerned that such radicalised individuals or small groups could carry out an attack in the Homeland with little warning," he said in a statement.

Companies are also taking steps to ensure the safety of its staff. Toyota Motor Corp has banned employee business trips to Belgium until they can be certain there are no threats, said Itsuki Kurosu, a spokesman for the automaker. The company has its European headquarters in the Belgian capital. Tire maker Bridgestone Corp said employees can't make business trips to Brussels.

SAFETY STEPS
Credit Suisse Group AG plans to eliminate an additional 2,000 jobs this year and deepen cuts at the investment bank, five months after Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam announced an overhaul of the Swiss lender to focus on wealth management. The shares jumped. The bank plans to cut risk-weighted assets in global markets, which houses securities trading, to about $60 billion this year, compared with a previous target of between $83 billion and $85 billion, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The unit is projected to post a loss in the first quarter. Credit Suisse is targeting 6,000 job ...
Navinder Singh Sarao, the British trader accused of making $40 million by fooling markets and contributing to the 2010 flash crash, lost an extradition ruling in London, moving him a step closer to being sent to face charges in the US. The 37-year-old will appeal on Wednesday's decision by judge Quentin Purdy to the high court after the ruling has been signed off by the Home Secretary Theresa May, which is largely seen as a rubber stamp. He remains free on bail. "We're disappointed," his attorney Richard Egan told reporters. "We had a strong ...
Inside Select City Walk, New Delhi, where almost every brand that wants a piece of the great Indian consumption story has pitched its tent, a grand fight is in the making. According to industry insiders, here Zaras 17,000 square feet store pulls in about Rs 10 crore a month, or around Rs 6,000 per square feet. H&Ms 25,000 square feet store makes Rs 12.5 crore a month, or about Rs 5,000 per square feet. Since neither label breaks down its country-wise numbers, these numbers, although not completely representative, are the closest reflection of their struggles in the country.

According to industry veterans, H&M has been faster off its feet. Scoring point for H&M is that it is priced right for India while Zara is relatively expensive. Zara wanted to reduce prices but did not do so eventually, said Dipak Agarwal, former CEO of DLF Brands which retails brands such as Forever 21 and Mothercare.

However the big challenge, for both, many believe would be stepping beyond the metros in their next phase of growth. And here H&M holds an edge unless Zara is willing to take a fresh look at its prices. Zaras entry range (womens wear) retails at over Rs 2,500, but H&M starts at around Rs 1,500. H&M will definitely impact Zaras sales in the medium term, Agarwal said.

Price, partnerships, styles

Both Zara and H&M cater to the premium category, but a Delhi-based mall head said, H&M will grow faster than other global brands given that it is more affordable, has no partners, and a balanced portfolio. H&M refused to comment on whether it would outgrow others, but said, We believe we have competitive prices, by having our own design and buying department. Inditex Trent, Zaras parent company refused to comment, but it has launched a budget chain to compete with the likes of H&M and other fast-growing discounters like Primark and Forever21.

Zara is also the first apparel brand to cross the $100-million mark in India where it has spent six years and built 16 stores. But its sales growth has slowed; according to the Trent annual report for FY15, it is down from 43 per cent in FY14 to 23 per cent in FY15.

H&M, on the other hand, is new to game. It has just two stores in India but its stores are turning in far better numbers according to sources in the malls it is present in. But as a source in Inditex Trent said, It is easy to grow from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore but to grow from Rs 50 crore to Rs 150 crore is really difficult. Besides, given that 75 to 80 per cent of the market is unorganised and brands are growing by just tapping the switch from unorganised to organised, he believes there is enough space for new and old brands to grow.

H&M has a wider range of styles and targets a larger customer base too  it caters to women, men and kids unlike Zara which focuses largely on women although it does have a mens line. Globally, according to a Reuters report, H&M has moved into Zaras fast fashion space by offering everyday styles.

Devangshu Dutta, CEO, Third Eyesight, says both have distinct operational strategies. H&M partners with designers to create special lines under joint branding, whereas Zara maintains its own branding. Zara has a far greater number of products in its annual range, and invests far more on product development. H&M spends a significant amount on advertising, which Zara mostly shies away from, he says.

The road ahead

Both brands are at different stages of their India journey, but are looking at non-metros. H&Ms next store will be in Bengaluru, followed by one in Noida, Mohali and Mumbai in 2016. It is looking at other cities as well and so is Zara.

However, the question is whether the premium brands will tweak their pricing strategies for small towns. According to the head of a Delhi mall, non-metros can absorb H&M as it is more affordable. After you move out of South Mumbai or South Delhi, there will be more shoppers for H&M than Zara. Thats why after 17 to 18 stores, Zara is finding it difficult to expand, he said.

However, in Mumbai, a senior executive with one of the leading malls said that all global brands struggle after four to five stores in metros, be it Zara or H&M. It is not easy to expand in tier II and III cities for any international brand, he said. Dutta however believes that both are marquee brands that more than hurting each other, will help all brands by driving customers to malls. Even if they do, the fight for converting footfalls to transactions is going to be an arduous one.
After a prolonged lull, a bunch of share buyback offers are in the market.

Such offers are typically undertaken by companies when share prices are perceived to be attractive (usually below intrinsic worth). This helps improve their stock valuation and, hence, reward the shareholders.

Read more from our special coverage on "BUYBACK" Corp Affairs Ministry amends norms related to buyback offers

From the success of Just Dials buyback offer, they met this objective. After plunging 45 per cent in a fortnight to Rs 420-odd in mid-February, the company announced a stock buyback, for 25 per cent of the shares. It now trades at Rs 740, almost twice its 52-week low in December 2015.

In the case of Dr Reddys Laboratories, specifics of the scheme are to be announced but the stock has recovered about 10 per cent from its 52-week low since the time its buyback plan was made public.

The question is if 2016 will see a return of buybacks. These had dried last year, after 21 offers in 2014. Tightening of Securities and Exchange Board of India norms on these offers did its bit to restrict companies from going big on such plans. For now, though, even as the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex is still down 10 per cent year-to-date and equities gaining significantly after the Union Budget, experts believe that as concerns of a bear market are not fully erased, one can expect more buyback offers this year.

A bear market is a preferred scenario for buyback, explains Jagannadham Thunuguntla of Karvy Stock Broking. Whenever there is a correction in secondary markets and share prices come down significantly, companies opt for it.





Deven Choksey of KR Choksey Investment Managers says a stock buyback is a function of cash utilisation and economic conditions. If a stock is trading at lower than its intrinsic value and stock market conditions are also depressed, buyback is a good way of improving return on equity for investors, he says.

The number of floated shares reduces after a buyback scheme, adding support to the earnings per share, thereby making more attractive its price-earnings ratio and return on equity. However, he cautions, if the markets stage a strong comeback, companies might not opt for a buyback.

As for investors, buybacks offer good exit opportunities when the investment conviction is not very high. For instance, among the ongoing buyback plans, Tips Industries has gained nearly eight per cent since the opening of its buyback offer and Onmobile Global about 15 per cent. Whereas Gujarat Apollos stock has lost 12 per cent after a buyback rollout.

However, for investors with a long-term horizon, buyback is an indicator of higher perceived intrinsic value, compared to its stock price. Choksey advises that if investors see value in a company, they should remain invested in the stock and not exit by using the buyback.
The shares of cement and steel companies have outperformed the broader indices in the past month or so. Most of the bigger listed companies have seen double-digit percentage returns in this period. The causes for the optimism are worth looking at.

Steel has already received some protection against imports and the industry is likely to receive a financial bailout of some description. A minimum import price has been set for various steel products for the next six months, which should offer some protection against cheap imports.

The financial bailouts could involve complex restructuring. For example, bank loans might be converted into preference shares, or into equity. Alternatively strategic investors could be brought in to take short-term stakes.

Ultimately offtake has to improve and prices have to be renumerative for the industry to turnaround.

Steel consumption is heavily driven by construction activity and by the automobile industry. The automobile and construction industries have been complaining that the minimum import price protection pushes up their costs. But, we'll just have to accept that the steel manufacturers lobbied more efficiently than their end-users.

The cement industry doesn't need protection against imports because it is not easy to transport cement. But, the industry has suffered from over-capacity and low realisations for several years. Industry players believe that there could be a turnaround in this financial year.

The emphasis on infrastructure and the attempts to revive real estate activity should lead to enhanced demand for cement. In addition, there are some sops such as exemption of service tax on low-end housing and also exemption of excise if the mix is manufactured onsite for construction. There has also been consolidation in the industry with Ultratech buying out Jaypee's cement capacity amounting to 22.4 million tonnes per annum.

It is inconceivable that steel and cement can do well without a pickup in construction. That is another industry which has been beaten down for the past several years. Construction is yet another industry, which is worth targeting for a likely turnaround and indeed, there are signs that investors are getting into construction.

Projects have stalled and credit cycles have lengthened. Construction companies are among the larger contributors to NPAs and debt-laden construction companies and developers have been forced to sell off their assets in order to unwind leverage.

It's early days and this could be a false dawn in the sense that there have not yet been visible improvements in the financials of these industries. However, there have encouraging advisories by industry stakeholders and there seems to be consensus that a revival is on the cards.

Dabbling in these shares will be a fairly high-risk propositions. These are extremely cyclical industries and their fortunes are heavily tied up with the government being able to deliver on both policy and processes. As we've seen over the past several years, there are no guarantees under such circumstances. However, if this revival is indeed fundamentally sustainable, the returns could be phenomenal over the next couple of years.

Out of these three industries, cement is probably in the best shape financially. However, paradoxically enough, if we're looking at turnarounds, the biggest returns are likely to come from the companies which are in the worst shape.

These three industries might offer a roller-coaster ride and stocks would have to be held for a significant time. However, if you have a reasonable risk-appetite, consider going overweight in stocks in these three businesses. Commit only a quantum of funds that you don't mind losing and be prepared to hold on for at least two years.

The author is a technical and equity analyst
The tax concessions announced by the governments of Punjab and Haryana in the past few days in their 2016-17 Budget proposals for the cotton spinning sector should help languishing units.Buying of cheaper cotton yarn by fabric and garmenting units (located in Ludhiana and Gurgaon) in these states from other parts of India had hit local units. Due to high value added tax (VAT), buying yarn from spinners in the state was costlier than bringing it from elsewhere.The Punjab government (legislative assembly elections here are due in early 2017) has said the rate on cotton spinning will be 3.63 per cent, from the earlier 6.05 per cent. Punjab has 165 spinning mills with 4.25 million active spindles, and consumes 650,000-700,000 bales (a bale is 170 kg) annually.Haryana has decided on zero for cotton spinning; it is currently five per cent. The state has an estimated 250,000 spindles, consuming only a part of the 2.5 million bales annual output.

The government is offering incentives to enhance the consumption of cotton. DCM Textiles, SEL Manufacturing and HP Cotton Textiles Limited are the three large units in cotton spinning in Haryana. The decision of the state government will provide protection to the Punjab based spinning units against the cheap imports from other states which have lower cost of production. "Punjab is a major consumer of cotton yarn in north and due to higher tariffs on local manufacturing entities an estimated Rs 9,000 cr worth of yarn is being imported annually from other states. The new tax structure will be a bulwark against dumping from other states to Punjab", told Kamal Oswal, the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Nahar Industrial Enterprises Limited.

Most of the spinning mills have been underutilising their capacities for the past few years as there were no takers for the yarn produced at a higher price.

The incentives offered by the emerging industrial hubs in states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat had curtailed the market of Punjab spinning sector in the past few years.

Manish Awasthy of Sportking Group told that the reduction will enable a level playing field for the Punjab based players.

The manufacturers also hope to get higher net investment margins with lower VAT as their VAT outgo will decrease. Rajiv Garg, the Managing Director of Garg Acrylics is sanguine as his 3.5 lakh spindles in Punjab would become more competitive profitable with the VAT correction in the state.

Having units in both the states of Punjab and Haryana, Neeraj Saluja, Managing Director of SEL Manufacturing Company Limited says that this will boost sales and profits of the manufacturers catering to domestic market.

The exporters will also get the benefit as they will have higher working capital at their disposal, said Rakesh Goel, CEO of DCM Textiles Hisar. Adding that the time consumed in getting VAT refund will be saved, Goel said that a zero rated VAT would allow the units with twin advantage of tax waiver and input tax credit.
At least 21 undocumented Nepali migrant workers have been deported with free tickets from Malaysia.

The Nepal Embassy in Malaysia, in a statement, said that its migrant workers left for Nepal on Wednesday, reports the Himalayan Times.

The people were sent back with the support of the Depot Tahanan Imigresen Machap Umboo, Malacca.

The statement also said 448 citizens have been deported to the country in past one year and the Nepali mission would make preparations to send others staying in various detention camps at the earliest.

The Nepali citizens, who had spent jail sentences in Malaysia, were sent back to the country with the help of different Malaysian organisations and companies.
At least 37 people have been arrested in China for illegal sales of vaccines, raising questions of product safety.

Three pharmaceutical companies that might have been involved in sales of expired or improperly stored vaccines going back at least four years are being investigated, reports the Guardian.

The case of illegal sales of vaccines was revealed last month when Shandong Province authorities acknowledged the arrest of a mother and daughter in 2015 who were accused of illegally selling vaccines across 20 provinces since 2011 worth $88million.

Following the public outrage, top Chinese leaders also got into the matter.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that there would be "no leniency" for those involved.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate of China yesterday said that it would directly oversee the investigation.

Beijing has a history of product safety and public health scares.

In 2008, at least six children were killed and thousands fell ill after consuming a toxic chemical called melamine which was found in children's milk powder.
Observing the 76th Pakistan Day celebrations on Wednesday, Islamabad has pledged to eliminate terrorism menace and achieve sustainable economic growth and greater political stability.

Pakistan Day marks the historic event in 1940 when the Lahore Resolution was passed demanding a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent.

The celebrations kicked off with a military parade at the Parade Ground near the landmark Shakarparian hills in Islamabad.

Personnel from all three services - the Army, Navy and Air Force - participated in the parade and exhibited their military might.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah besides other senior officials witnessed the parade.

Speaking on the occasion, President Hussain lauded the sacrifices of Pakistan Army and said that 'Operation Zarb-i-Azb', the anti-terror operation started after the Karachi airport attack, would not be suspended till last terrorist was not eliminated from the country's soil.

Reiterating Pakistan's stand on nuclear stockpile, he said that it was for the country's safety.

"We are a peaceful nation and have never participated in any arms race," Dawn quoted him as saying.

President Hussain also highlighted that Kashmir is the jugular vein for Pakistan.

"Kashmir is our jugular vein and we will continue our moral, political and diplomatic support for our Kashmiri brethren," he said.

Meanwhile, stringent security measures have been taken in view of the occasion with adequate police personnel being deployed to avoid any untoward incident.

Cellphone services will remain suspended from 5 am to 3 pm in the twin cities.
The Patna district administration on Wednesday conducted a raid at the Biharsharif prison after reports of RJD MLA Rajballabh Yadav, who is accused in a rape case, was hosting lunch for his jail-mates.

It is reported that the RJD MLA has been receiving all the facilities inside the jail premises, taking coznigance of which, today's raid was conducted.

The RJD legislator from Nawada in Bihar, had surrendered before a Biharsharif court on march 10, almost a month after an arrest order was issued against him in connection with the rape of a minor.

A 15-year-old girl has filed a complaint against the RJD MLA and accused him of kidnapping and raping her on February 6.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for extension of time period of the "Special Industry Initiative for J&K" (SII J&K) Udaan scheme till 2019-20.

Initially, the time period of Udaan was up to 2015-16.

Udaan provides exposure to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to the best of corporate India and corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State. So far, 67 leading corporates have partnered with Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under Udaan with a commitment to train youth from the state covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT, ITES, Infrastructure, Hospitality etc.

More than 19,000 candidates have been selected, more than 15,000 have joined training, out of them, 8700 candidates have completed training and 6,838 have been offered jobs.

It is expected that the target of the scheme, to train and enhance employability of 40,000 graduates, post graduates and three year engineering diploma holders, will be achieved by 2019-20. To accelerate the pace of implementation, mega selection drives have been introduced, in which around 8-10 corporates participate in a drive.

It has significantly improved the number of selections. 67 mega selection drives have been held so far covering all districts of the state.

Udaan is a integration scheme with the goal to mainstream J&K youth with rest of the country. The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job opportunity but also leads to counter - radicalization and weaning away youth of Jammu and Kashmir from militancy.
Dassault Systemes, the 3D EXPERIENCE Company on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) to collaborate and leverage technology including Dassault Systemes 3DEXPERIENCE Platform and Digital Manufacturing suite to achieve higher levels of academic excellence.

The MoU will deepen the existing relationship between both parties and will also make NITIE an Academic Certification Partner under the Dassault Systemes Academic Certification Partner Programme.

The collaboration will further create a new benchmark for technology enabled industrial engineering and management education in the areas of industrial engineering.

Industrial management includes operations management, manufacturing management, project management, supply chain, advanced logistics, production scheduling, manufacturing execution, ergonomics and safety and customer experience through business experience platform.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Chandan Chowdhury, Managing Director-India, Dassault Systemes hailed the partnership.

"This is just the first step towards transforming management education by leveraging technology. NITIE is one of the early adopters of cloud for management and higher education," Chowdhury said.

Expressing his confidence in the partnership, he said that it will be able to contribute to India's skills development mission and create better job opportunities for the youth of the country both in India and overseas.

Meanwhile, NITIE Director, Karuna Jain also expressed her happiness over the partnership.

"This (partnership) is going to take our endeavour to provide superior educational experience, which is industry relevant, to the next level. We understand the power of such tools and are certain that the state of the art solutions by Dassault Systemes would enrich the learning experience at NITIE," Jain said.

She said that by exposing the students to the future of Digital Manufacturing and Operations, NITIE ensures that the Industry has access to faculty, researchers and students who are future driven and exposed to best practices on manufacturing innovation.

"We believe our faculty and students through their research and application of these cutting edge platforms will enhance their contributions to achieve the 'Make in India' initiatives", Jain added.

Dassault Systemes is a leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions.

3DEXPERIENCE for Academia is the most advanced software for product and learning innovation and it is now available on the cloud, to all educators and students who want to experience the engineering practices of industry leaders for increased employment opportunities in the new global economy.

NITIE was established by the Government of India in 1963 with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the International Labor Organization (ILO), to create skilled professionals. It currently offers Fellow level (equivalent to Ph.D.) and Post-graduate Diploma courses in various engineering and management streams.
The two suicide bombers, who detonated their explosives in Zaventem airport killing at least 11 people and injuring 100 others, have been named as Brothers Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui.

Two blasts took place at the Zaventem airport and a third bomb went off an hour later at the Maelbeek metro station on the rue de la Loi, close to the European Union headquarters, killing twenty people and injuring 130 others.

The Belgian brothers were already being sought by the police due to suspected links to the November terror attacks in Paris, reports the Guardian.

Meanwhile, according to Belgium media the Brussels airport attacker still at large has been tentatively identified as Najim Laachraoui, reports the Guardian.

He is described as a possible suspect based on an apparent resemblance to a photo of Laachroui that police had released last night.

Laachraoui had traveled to Hungary in September with Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Meanwhile, the Belgian Police has launched a series of raids in a massive manhunt for the third man, who is thought to have escaped without detonating his suicide bomb following the attacks.

The police have issued photographs and asked the public to name the suspects as the identities of them are not known yet.

During a raid, the police discovered an explosive device containing nails, chemical products and an ISIS flag in Schaarbeek in the northern suburb of Brussels.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the terror attacks, saying that its operatives had carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices. Later in a statement, it promised further attacks which would be worse and bitter.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel described the incidents as 'black day' for Belgium and said that what was feared has happened. He announced three days of national mourning.

The Brussels airport will remain closed today and the metro will be running on partial services.
The spring festival of Nowruz was celebrated with traditional fervor and gaiety this week.

Jointly organised by several embassies, including the Embassy of Kazakhstan on March 21 at the Umrao Hotel in New Delhi, the World Day of Nowruz included a fair, a wide variety of cultural performances and range of cuisine from different countries to be savoured.

Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Ms. Preeti Saran, represented the Indian Government at the event as chief guest.

In India, World Day Nowruz was held for the second time. This year, to celebrate the spring festival of the revival of life, saw residents of Delhi and other cities of India, including well-known politicians and public figures, heads of the diplomatic missions, representatives of business circles and mass media, in attendance.

A special feature of the Nowruz celebrations was the presence of the musical ensemble "Kok Turkter" from Kazakhstan, which gave a concert that left the assembled audiences delighted.

The ensemble performed folk songs and music as well as compositions of outstanding Kazakh authors and composers of our time.

During the event, the Embassy of Kazakhstan offered its cuisine, clothes and souvenirs to residents of the Indian capital.
Abdul Latif, the former regional director of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was gunned down in drive-by shooting in Peshawar.

Latif, 61, also a professor at Qurtaba University was killed on Tuesday.

"He was a resident of Tehkal but was on a visit to Hayatabad to meet his relatives when unknown attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire at him just outside the house, killing him on the spot," the Express Tribune quoted Tatara SHO Abid Afridi as saying.

He had retired as a regional director from the ISI three years ago.

During his career, he also served in key positions including as the first secretary in Pakistan's embassy in Afghanistan in the 90s.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said the Indian Government is trying its best to locate Infosys employee Raghavendra Ganeshan, who has been missing after the attacks in Belgium.

"We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh," she tweeted.

Swaraj, who has been assuring the people of all help in Brussels, in a series of tweets said: "The airport is still not open. This may take some time. We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizen."

Swaraj also tweeted that the two crew members of Jet Airways injured in the explosions at the Brussels airport are recovering well.

"I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well," she tweeted.

Meanwhile, Infosys in a statement said that the company reached out to all its employees in the city to ascertain their whereabouts and safety following the attacks in Brussels.

"With the exception of one employee who we are trying to reach, we have been able to connect with all other employees. We are in touch with the missing employee's family and are working with the Indian Embassy and local authorities in Brussels to locate our employee on priority," the statement said.

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels and warned that more would follow.
Special Public Prosecutor the 26/11 case, Ujjwal Nikam, on Wednesday said David Coleman Headley has during his cross-examination accepted that he had funded Rs 80 lakh to terror outfit Lashkar e Taiba (LeT), adding that he did not know the purpose of the money.

"David Headley, the approver in 26/11 case, has been cross-examined today by the Attorney of Abu Jundal's lawyer. He has admitted three important facts. Firstly, he admitted that he has donated 80 lakhs Pakistani rupees to Laskar-e-Toiba. However, he claimed that he was not knowing exactly as to where that money was used and for what purpose," Nikam told the media here.

"Secondly, he has admitted that he has invested his money in Dubai as well as in Pakistan. He further admitted before the arrest by the FBI in the terror attacks of November 26, he was working as a drug peddler and he was convicted by American court for two times but he was released on the probation on certain grounds," he added.

Nikam further stated the criminal antecedents of Headley were brought on record by the defence, adding it would be helpful to the prosecution case.

" was criminal, is criminal and he has been tender pardoned because he has given certain evidence and we will use that evidence in due course of our time," he added.

He revealed that a man called Zeb Shah in Pakistan was helping him in his drug business.

During his cross-examination, Headley informed that he offered last funding to LeT in the year 2006 in Pakistan currency and he utilized his personal property to arrange the money.

On asking about the investments, Headley accepted to have properties in the UAE and Pakistan.

He also accepted that he was arrested twice in the US for drug smuggling and visited Pakistan thereafter.

Headley said that his first passport was prepared in the US by his parents and he himself prepared his new passport with the name Headley in the US itself.

Headley revealed that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native, who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

He also accepted that his wife Shazia Khan is from Pakistan and she was aware of his association with the LeT.

He denied her visit to Mumbai and also refused to provide any further information regarding his wife.

Headley admitted of speaking Punjabi, saying that he learnt the language from the people around him in Lahore.

He admitted that the Directorate of Enforcement Agency had funded his Pakistan visit between 1992 and 1998.

Headley's cross examination began at the Mumbai sessions court here.

Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal who is one of the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is cross-examining Headley in the presence of Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

His cross examination has been adjourned till Thursday morning.
On the occasion of Pakistan Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted his counterpart from Islamabad Nawaz Sharif and asserted that India remains committed to resolving bilateral disputes through peaceful dialogue.

According to Dawn, Prime Minister Modi in his message reiterated India's desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.

"India remains firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through a peaceful bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terrorism and violence," he said.

The message comes as a development with both the nations taking steps to move ahead after the major seatback to bilateral ties caused by the Pathankot attack.

A team of Pakistani investigators is set to visit India from Sunday for collecting evidence related to the attack.

Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz delivered last week the invitation for Prime Minister Modi for the upcoming SAARC Summit, to be hosted by Pakistan, to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of a SAARC Foreign Ministers' meeting in Nepal.

Prime Minister Modi is also expected to meet Sharif in Washington later this month on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.
Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar will represent the Indian Government at the Pakistan Day function at the Pakistan High Commission here this evening.

The development comes after Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh said that he might not be able to attend the function.

"I did receive an invitation for the event at a personal level. But due to my pre-occupations, I may not be able to attend the function," Singh told ANI.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq among others have been invited to attend the 'Pakistan Day' function in the capital.

Eyebrows have always been raised whenever Pakistan has invited separatist leaders for the events.

Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh had represented the government at the Pakistan Day reception last year.

Meanwhile, members of the Asiya Andrabi-led separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) today hoisted Pakistani flags at several places in Srinagar.

The DeM has been hoisting Pakistani flags every year on Pakistan Day and on Pakistan's Independence Day in the valley.

Last year, India had cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks with the Asian neighbour after Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit met the Kashmiri separatists ahead of the planned meet.
Kangana Ranaut, who has been the talk of the town lately due to her legal battle with her alleged ex-Hrithik Roshan, was recently seen dodging the question over the controversy in a recent media interaction.

The 28-year-old actress, who came to take the brand ambassadorship of Melange by lifestyle, was asked to comment on the Hrithik controversy involving her.

Giving it a skip, the 'Queen' star said, "Sometimes you should allow personal space. Strong doesn't mean walking without being intimidated. It means walking tall despite all the odds. Please give me the space right now."

Kangana will be next seen in Vishal Bhardwaj's directorial 'Rangoon' that stars Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles.
The nation on Wednesday paid homage to the three great freedom fighters - Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on their martyrdom day.

It was on this day, in 1931 that they were martyred in Lahore jail and cremated on the banks of Satluj river at Hussainiwala in Ferozpur district of Punjab.

The Petroleum Ministry has set up Amar Jyoti at the Martyrs Memorial in Hussainiwala which will be inaugurated today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on their martyrdom day.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Modi said, "I bow to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on their martyrdom day & salute their indomitable valour & patriotism that inspires generations."

"In the prime of their youth, these 3 brave men sacrificed their lives so that generations after them can breathe the air of freedom," he added.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has said the recent piece of debris found in one of its beaches will first be analysed to see if it possibly belonged to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 or not.

"The necessary arrangements are under way for the evaluation and collection of the part, which, if it indeed belongs to an aircraft, will then be handed over to Malaysian authorities," the Guardian quoted a statement issued by the SACAA as saying.

Malaysia on its part said that a team will be sent to retrieve the possible piece of aircraft engine inlet cowling which was found near the Mossel Bay, a southern cape of South Africa on Monday.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that based on early reports, there was a possibility of the piece originating from an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine while pressing that a further examination and analysis were needed.

Meanwhile, South African archaeologist Neels Kruger said that he found the piece while along a lagoon and recognised the brown honeycomb structure from photos of other pieces of possible MH370 debris.

Kruger after examining the piece alerted the South African Civil Aviation Authority and the Australian authorities about it.

In 2014, the flight MH370 disappeared from its radars after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, killing 239 passengers and crew members on board.

A piece on one wing was found in the French island of Reunion in July last year but no further confirmed wreckage has been found and several items were still in the process of being examined.

Meanwhile, the debris found off the south-east African coast arrived for testing in Australia on Monday.
Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Wednesday said that talks between India and Pakistan with 'sovereign equality' will help in bettering ties and added that resolving the Jammu and Kashmir issue was also crucial to the issue.

"Pakistan has always made efforts for a better relation with India and we continue to do so. But this is only possible when we (India-Pakistan) talk with sovereign equality. We also have to solve the Jammu-Kashmir issue so that relation between the two nations is strengthened," Basit said while speaking at the 'Pakistan Day' function at its High Commission in the capital.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted his counterpart from Islamabad Nawaz Sharif and asserted that India remains committed to resolving bilateral disputes through peaceful dialogue.

According to Dawn, Prime Minister Modi in his message reiterated India's desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.

The message comes as a development with both the nations taking steps to move ahead after the major seatback to bilateral ties caused by the Pathankot attack.
The Pentagon has estimated that dozens of people were killed in a massive US airstrike in Yemen, the second such mass-casualty strike undertaken by the US military this month.

The two strikes killed more than 200 people at what the Pentagon described as terrorist training camps.

Peter Cook, the Pentagon spokesman, late Tuesday announced that the US had bombed a mountain redoubt in Yemen used by al-Qaida's local affiliate, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), reports the Guardian.

Cook asserted that the training camp was used by more than 70 AQAP terrorists.

The Pentagon, however, did not provide details of where in Yemen the alleged camp was located.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," Cook said in a statement, reports Guardian.

The US airstrike took place hours after multiple attacks killed over 30 people and wounded more than 200 in Brussels. However, reports say that it is unclear if there is any connection in the events.

The US airstrike on March 5 had killed at least 150 people in Somalia, what the Pentagon described as a terrorist training camp used by al-Shabaab.

Meanwhile, Micah Zenko, a counter-terrorism analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that the US has carried out 575 airstrikes in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan, killing around 4,000 people, both militants and civilians.

Zenko added that the two most recent strikes in Somalia and Yemen resembled more like a conventional-war airstrikes instead of targeted killings which the White House prefer using the term as lethal counterterrorism measures.

Meanwhile, the White House avoided commenting on the same.

"This strike was conducted consistent with the policy for counterterrorism direct action announced by the president in May 2013," the Guardian quoted spokesman Maj Ben Sakrisson as saying.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted the nation on the eve of Holi.

In his tweet he said, "Greetings to all of you on the happy occasion of Holi.Happy Holi to all of you."

Residents in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura city last week celebrated 'Laddoo Holi' by smearing one another with coloured powder and tossing 'laddoos' at each other at the Sri Ji Temple.

Devotees enjoyed the festival of colours at the famous Dwarkadhish temple last week.

Holi festivities in the temples and pilgrim town of Vrindavan began from March 19 and will continue till March 24.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday described the Rashtrapati Bhavan as a house of the people of India.

President Mukherjee, who was addressing a group of grassroot innovators, writers and artists who are staying at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for a two-week 'In Residence' programme, described the participants as honoured and special guests.

The President said the 'In-Residence' programme is among the many initiatives taken to open Rashtrapati Bhavan to the public.

"They are special guests and will continue to be so because of their talent. All of them were creative minds of a resurgent India and they will add many more glorious chapters to our ancient civilization. If a society cannot respect talent, it cannot be described as a progressive society. Without innovations and creativity, no society can advance," said President Mukherjee.

Omita Paul, Secretary to the President, said the President firmly believes that innovation and creative ideas are essential for the growth and development of the country.

"By encouraging bright minds, we can usher innovations which go beyond economic gains and cover the aspect of social good. India needs new ideas and the bright young minds who can usher innovations can be true torch-bearers of the development," Paul said.

She emphasized that innovative ideas need to be supported if we want speed, scalability and sustainability.

All the participants in the 'In-Residence' programme shared their experiences of staying at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. They said that their stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan had inspired them to take their creative initiatives to a higher level.

The innovators, who called on the President, included G.K. Ratnakar from Karnataka (innovation: Mini Hydro Turbines), Mushtaq Ahmed Dar from Jammu & Kashmir (innovation: Walnut Cracker), Lal Biakzuala Ralte from Mizoram (innovation: Bamboo Splint Making Machine), Mallesham Laxminarayana Chinthakindi from Andhra Pradesh (innovation: 'Laxmi' Asu making machine), Amrut Lal Bawandas Agrawat from Gujarat (innovation: Aaruni Bullock Cart and Innovative Pulley), Anuradha Pal from Andhra Pradesh (innovation: 'Right biotic' an Anti-biotic finder) and Shri Swapnanil Debajit Talukdar from Assam (innovation: Foot operated manual page-turning machine).

The writers, who are staying at the Rashtrapati Bhavan under the 'In-Residence' programme include Binod Ghosal from West Bengal, Jwishri Boro from Assam and Dhwanil Ravindrabhai Parekh from Gujarat. All three are winners of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.

The Artist 'In-Residence' Shitanshu G. Maurya from Uttar Pradesh and has won the Award from Lalit Kala Akademi in 2010.

The 'In-Residence' programme for innovation scholars, writers and artists was launched by the President of India on December 11, 2013 with a view to encourage senior innovation scholars, writers and artists as well as young and upcoming talent by facilitating them stay close to nature in the picturesque and serene surroundings of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The programme seeks to provide an environment which will inspire creative thinking and rejuvenate artistic/innovative impulses.

In previous two years, four writers, five artists and fifteen innovations scholars stayed in Rashtrapati Bhavan in different batches.
Following his cross-examination, 26/11 operative David Coleman Headley on Wednesday revealed that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley's cross examination began at the Mumbai sessions court here.

Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal who is one of the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is cross-examining Headley in the presence of Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

Here are some developments of the cross-examination.

1.Headley said that Tahawwur Rana knew about his association with the LeT.

2.Headley recued himself from answering any questions pertaining to his wife Shazia Gilani.

3.To this the defence lawyer objected and said that he is running away from answering questions but prosecutor said that no one can be forced to give statement against his own wife as per law of privileged communication in evidence act.

4.To this, the court asked for more citation of law and then it will decide whether Wahab Khan can ask questions related to Headley's wife Shazia or not.

5.Headley said Rana was not in touch with the LeT.

6.When Wahab Khan asked him about referring from some documents while answering questions of prosecutor, Headley said that he referred to his testimony before the Chicago Court in May 2011 for some 30 to 40 times approximately.

7.During his statement to prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, he warned him not to switch off his mike during his cross examination as he did on previous occasions during his examination by the prosecutor.

8.Headley admits that before this conviction also, he had been convicted twice for drug smuggling in the US courts.

This is a developing story. More details to follow.
The April issue of New Zealand's Remix magazine is loaded with Iggy Azalea.

It not only has the 25-year-old rapper posing topless, but also the revelations of her infamous feuds, reports E! Online.

Chalking up criticism from her musical peers, likely referencing Azealia Banks, as their inability to compete with her, the 'Work' crooner said "it's just people being jealous."

"The artists that criticise me don't have as much success as me, so I think it gets them riled up, because they're not selling as much as I am.I honestly think that's what it boils down to...I don't want to say it's just people being jealous, but I do think the level of success I've had and how many fans I have and the amount of records I sell does have a lot to do with it," she told the magazine.

Despite the heavy involvement of her team on her first album 'The New Classic,' she has decided to really focus on her own taste and opinions for her sophomore album 'Digital Distortion.
A special court has convicted two AGMs of the State Bank of Mysore and five others for causing a loss of Rs.2.02 crore to the bank.

The Special Judge for CBI Cases, Bangalore, had convicted S/Shri M.S. Seetaram Rao, then AGM; K. Jagannathan, then AGM; M. S. Suryanarayana Rao, then Chief Manager; T.R. Subba Ramu, then Manager & K. Parthasarathy, then Dy. Manager, all working with State Bank of Mysore (SBM), Bangalore Branch and M.S.A. Aleem, then Chairman & Director, M/s. Flora International Ltd., Bangalore; Smt. Anuradha, then Director M/s. Flora International Ltd., Bangalore.

The culprits have been booked under Section of 120-B, 420 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced them to undergo three years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs. one lakh each.

Moving on, the court also directed the company M/s. Flora International Ltd. to pay fine of Rs. 12 lakhs.

The CBI had filed chargesheet against the accused persons on 24.09.2002, alleging that the bank officers were colluded with the Directors of M/s. Flora International Ltd. and cheated State Bank of Mysore, Bangalore Branch to the tune of Rs. 2.02 Crore(approx).

The bank officials had released various credit facilities to the M/s Flora International Company against the undrawn balance USD 70,000 (approx) under the letter of credit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on which the M/s Flora International Company had already availed packing credit facility from Andhra Bank, N.R. Road Branch, Bangalore and Indian Overseas Bank, Residency Road Branch, Bangalore.

It was also alleged that the bank officials had permitted the company for the excess drawings unscrupulously in the cash credit hypothecation of the company.
Amidst the raging storm surrounding Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide and the return of varsity Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar will visit the Hyderabad University on Wednesday and address the students there.

The varsity yesterday witnessed protests after Appa Rao resumed office after going on leave amid the storm following the suicide of Vemula.

The protesting students vandalised the VC's residence where he was due to address the press.

Kanhaiya had met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi yesterday and thanked him for his support to the JNU students.

He led a delegation of JNUSU and All India Students' Federation (AISF) leaders to meet Gandhi at his residence.

This is the first time that the Congress vice president met Kanhaiya since he was released on bail following an uproar over alleged anti- activities at the JNU campus. The student leader was charged with sedition.

Earlier, Gandhi had come out in full support for Kanhaiya amid the unrest at the JNU.

Kanhaiya was booked and arrested on a charge of involvement in anti- sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on February 9.
On 22 March 2016

Amco India announced that there was a fire accident in one of the plant of the Company situated at C-67, Sector 57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh- 201301 on 22 March 2016, around 07.00 A.M. in the morning.

Fortunately, there has been no loss or injury to human life. The fire was controlled within the time causing the least effect on plant & machinery. However, the Company is in the process of ascertaining the actual loss caused by the fire and have already informed to the Insurance Company of the same. The Company is taking adequate steps to ensure refunctioning of the plant at the earliest.

Since, the corporate office of the Company and the plant are situated in the adjoining building, the working was disrupted by the fire and this resulted in a bit delay in intimating to the Stock Exchange about the aforesaid incident.

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Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFCL) said that it proposes to issue 3,750 secured non-convertible redeemable debentures with a face value of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating to Rs 375 crore including Greenshoe option on private placement basis. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Steel Authority of India (Sail) will be watched after the company at the fag end of market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016 said that ratings agency CARE downgraded the ratings on the company's long term borrowing programme to CARE AA+ from CARE AAA. CARE in its report dated 16 March 2016, reaffirmed its ratings on the company's commercial paper/inter corporate deposits of Rs 8000 crore at CARE A+. The revision in the long term rating of Sail takes into account subdued financial performance during the nine months period ended December 2015, leading to moderation in its key credit matrics, CARE said. Going forward, the company's ability to improve its profitability and cash accruals while maintaining its capital structure and complete the ongoing M&E plan within the time and cost estimate shall remain the key rating sensitivities, CARE said.

Kalpataru Power Transmission (KPTL) announced that it has secured new orders worth about Rs 1320 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Bombay Rayon Fashions announced that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 30 March 2016, inter alia, to consider issue or allotment of equity shares on preferential basis to the lenders of the company by conversion of debt into equity shares under corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package and to fix the date, time and venue of the extra ordinary general meeting (EGM) of the shareholders of the company for seeking approval of shareholders for the preferential issue of equity shares. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHFL) announced that it proposes to issue 2,500 secured non-convertible redeemable debentures with a face value of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating to Rs 250 crore on private placement basis. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Tata Chemicals announced temporary shutdown of operations at its fertiliser plant at Babrala in Uttar Pradesh, from 22 March 2016, for the purpose of the planned, regular, major maintenance program generally taken once in two years. Tata Chemicals said that the shutdown will last for about 30 days. It added that this will not have material financial impact on the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Shree Rama Newsprint announced that securities allotment committee of the board has on 22 March 2016 allotted 1.37 lakh zero coupon non redeemable debentures of face value of Rs 1000 each amounting to Rs 13.77 crore to Central Bank of India. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Edelweiss Financial Services announced that Edelweiss Asset Management(EAML) has executed an agreement to acquire the onshore fund schemes managed by JP Morgan Asset Management India (JPMAM), including its India based onshore mutual fund business and the international fund of funds, subject to regulatory approvals. The assets under management (AUM) of JPMAM stands at approximately Rs 7081 crore, while the combined AUMs of both entities amount to approximately Rs 8757 crore as on 31 December 2015. Along with the schemes, EAML is committed to absorbing majority of employees of JPMAM ensuring business continuity as well as a platform for enhanced growth across the Edelweiss Group.The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016. The acquisition will further strengthen Edelweiss Group's Rs 31000 crore Global Asset Management businesses, which include the Group's existing mutual fund business, credit alternative funds, offshore funds and equity funds. The Global Asset Management business spans multiple asset classes, client segments and geographies.

Pincon Spirit announced that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 30 March 2016 to consider allotment of equity shares on preferential basis and allotment of equity share warrants on preferential basis. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

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Edelweiss Financial Services rose 2.58% to Rs 59.55 at 10:34 IST on BSE after the company said it has executed an agreement to acquire the onshore fund schemes managed by JP Morgan Asset Management India.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 81.96 points or 0.32% at 25,248.53.

On BSE, so far 2.01 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 1.44 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock hit a high of Rs 60.30 and a low of Rs 59.10 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 72.55 on 9 April 2015. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 44.40 on 12 February 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 22 March 2016, surging 18.47% compared with Sensex's 6.48% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 0.09% as against Sensex's 1.02% fall.

The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 81.40 crore. Face value per share is Rs 1.

Edelweiss Financial Services announced that Edelweiss Asset Management(EAML) has executed an agreement to acquire the onshore fund schemes managed by JP Morgan Asset Management India (JPMAM), including its India based onshore mutual fund business and the international fund of funds, subject to regulatory approvals. The assets under management (AUM) of JPMAM stands at about Rs 7081 crore, while the combined AUMs of both entities amount to about Rs 8757 crore as on 31 December 2015, Edelweiss said. Along with the schemes, EAML is committed to absorbing majority of employees of JPMAM ensuring business continuity as well as a platform for enhanced growth across the Edelweiss Group, it added. The acquisition will further strengthen Edelweiss Group's Rs 31000 crore Global Asset Management businesses, which include the Group's existing mutual fund business, credit alternative funds, offshore funds and equity funds, the company said in a statement. The Global Asset Management business spans multiple asset classes, client segments and geographies, it added.

On consolidated basis, Edelweiss Financial Services' net profit rose 27.5% to Rs 105.66 crore on 39.9% growth in total income to Rs 1343.26 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014.

Edelweiss Financial Services offers a range of products and services spanning retail finance, debt capital markets, commodities, financial markets, asset management and life insurance.

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India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects the current account deficit (CAD) to come in close to 1.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY16. CAD for 3QFY16 came in at USD7.1bn (1.3% of GDP), sequentially lower than USD8.7bn (1.7% of GDP) in 2QFY16, and also lower than USD7.7bn (1.5% of GDP) in 3QFY15. A lower CAD in 3QFY16 was mainly due to a lower trade deficit of USD34.0bn than USD37.4bn in 2QFY16. Despite a moderation in net invisible receipts, CAD on a cumulative basis narrowed to 1.4% of GDP during April-December 2015 from 1.7% in the corresponding period a year ago. Net invisible receipts moderated to USD26.9bn in 3QFY16 from USD28.7bn in 2QFY16 led by services receipts and private transfers.

Moderation in Services Export: Although net services exports grew 1% and software exports continued to rise on a quarterly basis, net services exports contracted 5.0% yoy in 3QFY16. Net services exports fell to USD53.7bn during April-December 2015 from USD56.5bn over the same period in the previous year. The decline in net services export was largely led by a fall in export receipts in transport and financial services.

Merchandise Export Contracts Further: Merchandise exports contracted for the fifth consecutive quarter, which remains a matter of concern. Merchandise exports contracted 3.9% qoq in 3QFY16 to USD64.9bn. Exports contracted 18.1% yoy during April-December 2015. Ind-Ra believes the export growth will continue to be constrained by the slowdown in growth across countries that will weigh on demand.

Import Contraction led by Lower Gold Demand and Commodity Prices: Overall imports contracted 5.8% qoq in 3QFY16 to USD98.9bn due to lower commodity prices coupled with a sluggish domestic investment demand. Unlike the previous quarter, gold imports contracted 9.6% qoq in 3QFY16 to USD9.03bn as the festival demand ebbed.

The import of crude petroleum and its products declined further to USD20.0bn in 3QFY16 from USD23.5bn in the previous quarter. The import of crude petroleum and its products declined sharply by 41.5% yoy during April-December 2015 primarily due to the sharp fall in global crude prices in 2015. With global crude prices bottoming out, Ind-Ra believes the contraction in import of crude petroleum and its products will moderate in the coming quarters.

Remittances Decline in 3Q: Workers' remittances declined to USD8.1bn in 3QFY16 from USD10.3bn in 2QFY16. Remittances by the Indian diaspora have been a stable source of foreign exchange receipts for India and helped the country finance trade deficit in 3Q. Due to the collapse in crude prices, the remittances have suffered largely affected by subdued performances in the Middle East.

Foreign Investment Recovers: Net foreign investment (portfolio and direct) again picked up pace in 3QFY16 and rose to USD10.6bn, after moderating to USD3.2bn in 2QFY16, led by foreign direct investment (FDI). While net foreign direct investment rose to USD10.8bn in 3QFY16 from USD6.6bn 2QFY16, foreign portfolio investments witnessed a marginal net outflow of USD0.2bn in 3QFY16 compared with a net outflow of USD3.5bn in 2QFY16. Equity outflows of USD1.2bn in 3QFY16 were nearly offset by debt inflows of USD1.0bn. Net portfolio investment recorded an outflow of USD3.7bn during April-December 2015 compared to a net inflow of USD28.5bn during April-December 2014. Ind-Ra expects improved performance in FDI to continue as India's economic growth improves gradually in 2016-2017 compared to that in 2015-2016. Ind-Ra believes the focus on 'Make in India' will attract larger and more stable FDIs.

Forex Reserve Increase: The forex reserves increased by USD4.1bn in 3QFY16 mainly because of higher FDI flows under the capital account. The net receipt under the capital account rose to USD10.5.bn in 3QFY16 from USD8.6.bn in 2QFY16. During April-December 2015, there was an accretion of USD14.6bn to forex reserves as compared to USD31.3 billion in April-December 2014.

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Ministry of Tourism's 24x7 Toll Free Tourist Info/Helpline- 1800111363 or a short code 1363 has received a total of 17911 calls from Tourists as on 20th March, 2016. Since its launch on 8th February, 2016 by Minister of Tourism & Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma, it's popularity is fast growing among Tourists. This Infoline service provides information relating to Travel & Tourism in India to the domestic and International tourists/visitors and to assist the callers with advice on action to be taken during times of distress while travelling in India and if need be alert the concerned authorities.

This project is being implemented by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India through M/s. TATA BSS who have been associated with the work after open bidding process.

The languages handled by the contact centers include ten International languages besides English and Hindi, namely, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Tourists travelling in or planning to travel to India can seek help and information for a hassle free experience. The calls made by tourists (both international and domestic) while in India will be free of charge. The international tourists in India and also international callers who speak the aforesaid languages will be directed to the call agents proficient in the respective language.

The focus of the Tourist Infoline is on IEC i.e. Information, Education and Communication for the Tourists followed by a Helpdesk. This service primarily serves those who know very little about India or about travel within India, and those who do not understand Indian systems and often not even English.

Need for such Tourist Info/Helpline was felt due to reports regarding incidents involving crime against tourists especially the women tourists, there had been a concern expressed by the foreign tour operators and prospective visitors to India regarding the safety and security of tourists. There was also a serious concern about the tout menace and cheating of tourists.

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The Union Minister for Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Birender Singh today said that to achieve the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), funds will not be a constraint. Speaking at the closing ceremony of Rural Sanitation and Water Supply Week at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, he said that under SBM (Grameen) and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), funds will be allocated to the states as per their demand. He expressed satisfaction that the pace of construction of toilets in rural India has gathered momentum and the States like West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have taken the lead in construction of Individual Household Latrines and community toilets. He also informed that many of the States may achieve the target of Open-Defecation Free status in 2017 or 2018, well before the target of 2nd October, 2019. Sikkim and Kerala are now Open Defecation Free, ODF States. Shri Singh said that merely achieving the target of toilet construction will defeat the very purpose of swachhta mission and added that more importance should be attached to the sustainability of the programme and change in the mindset.

The Minister informed that 8 to 10 percent of the Ministry's budget will be spent on various campaign strategies in future. Shri Singh also underlined that the participation of the citizen and ownership to the programme is the key to success. Shri Singh gave awards to 24 sanitation champions from the state and along with the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Shri Raman Singh. They also declared 110 Gram panchayats and 154 villages of the state as Open Defecation Free (ODF). Shri Raman Singh announced that his state will become ODF by December 2018.

Rural Sanitation and Water Supply week was inaugurated at Mohali in Punjab on 16th March by Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Ram Kripal Yadav. This has become an annual feature after Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on 02 October 2014 to realise its vision of 'Clean India' by 02 October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

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Thirteen Taliban fighters, including three key commanders, were killed in Marja district of Afghanistan's Helmand province on Friday.

"Security forces launched a major offensive against Taliban rebels in Marja district late on Thursday night and so far 13 rebels, including three key commanders, have been killed and nine others injured," an army spokesman told Xinhua news agency.

The three important commanders killed in the operations were identified as Mawlawi Rahmat, the military operational commander; Mawlawi Hamidi, the in-charge of judiciary and military leader of Taliban in Marja; and Mullah Dur Mohammad, a mine expert and commander of roadside bomb planter unit in Helmand province, the spokesman added.

--IANS

lok/ksk/dg
The African Union (AU) has strongly condemned the attacks in Brussels that killed at least 34 people.

An AU statement issued on Tuesday said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the AU Commission, "strongly condemns the despicable attacks at the Zaventem Airport and the central metro station in Brussels, claiming dozens of lives of innocent civilians and leaving scores wounded", Xinhua news agency reported.

Dlamini-Zuma expressed the AU's solidarity with the government and people of Belgium, offering her condolences to the bereaved families and wished speedy recovery to the wounded.

She reaffirmed the AU's strong rejection of all acts of and violent extremism.

She said the AU would continue working with Belgium and the other members of the European Union, and the international community at large in the fight against and violent extremism, stressing the need for enhanced international counter- cooperation.

The blasts, which occurred at the Belgian capital's airport and at the Maalbeek metro station, have killed at least 34 people and injured hundreds.
Agartala on Wednesday became India's third Internet gateway after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Premier Sheikh Hasina inaugurated an Internet connectivity project between the two South Asian neighbours.

"Leasing of international bandwidth for Internet at Akhaura to Agartala will allow people of Tripura to avail more reliable net connectivity," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

After Chennai and Mumbai, Agartala is now India's third Internet gateway.

The leasing of the Internet bandwidth from Akhaura in Bangladesh to Agartala, apart from helping the people of Tripura to avail more reliable Internet connectivity, will also improve Internet speed in the entire northeastern region.

India's BSNL has leased 10 GB bandwidth of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited from its Cox's Bazar Internet port.

This will also enable Bangladesh telecom operators to effectively monetise their already existing infrastructure.

Currently Tripura is connected solely through the Siliguri corridor.

Modi and Hasina on Wednesday also inaugurated a power transmission project between the two countries.

"Connecting hearts. 100 MW power connectivity between Bangladesh & Palatana (in Tripura) yet another link between the two countries," Swarup said in another tweet.

India is already supplying 500 MW of power across the Behrampur-Behramara transmission link on the border between West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The new power connectivity from Palatana will allow Bangladesh to address severe power shortages in its southeastern parts.

The decisions for these two projects were taken during Modi's visit to Dhaka in June last year.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has canceled his visit to China in order to deal with emergency affairs in Belgium, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

"China expresses its understanding regarding the cancellation and will remain in communication with the Belgian side," Xinhua news agency quoted spokesperson Hua Chunying as saying.

At least 34 were killed in a series of terrorist attacks on Tuesday in the Belgian capital.

Michel was planning to pay an official visit to China and to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in late March.
More explosive devices were reportedly found on Tuesday as police raided homes throughout Belgium in a desperate manhunt for the third suspect believed to have survived the coordinated bombings in Brussels, where at least 34 people were killed, a media report said.

The Belgian authorities identified two supsects -- Mohamed Abrinin, 31, and Najim Laachraoui, 24, who they said are accomplices of Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam.

Belgian federal prosecutors said the search of a home in the Brussels neighbourhood of Schaerbeek "led to the discovery of an explosive device containing among other things nails", Foxnews reported on Wednesday.

Investigators have also found chemical products and an Islamic State flag.

Two explosions in Brussels airport and one at a Metro station left 34 people killed and over 200 injured.
An internecine battle between various European Union nations, especially between France and Belgium, which had been brewing since the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris, flared up in public again after the carnage in Brussels on Tuesday.

Barely had the news of terror attack in Paris spread that several French officials, including senior ministers in the government, blamed Belgium for "hosting" the alleged terrorists who were suspected to be behind the Paris attacks. The French alleged that the Belgians knew of the radicalisation of a significant part of Muslim-dominated areas in Brussels but turned a blind eye to radical Islam taking root in their capital city.

And on Tuesday, French Economy Minister Michel Sapin told a French news channel that the Belgian government had, "intentionally or unintentionally, as they may have hoped for better integration of the Muslim minorities with the mainstream society, let communalism and radical Islam prosper in Maelbeek" (a Brussels locality that has been under the lens since the Paris attacks).

"The Belgian government clearly has failed in doing the needful and perhaps it is a kind of naivety with which they handled the entire situation," Sapin went on to tell the television channel.

Some French media also went on the offensive against Belgium, saying that the authorities had not taken the necessary steps to prevent the attacks, even though Brussels has effectively been in a lock-down kind of situation since the November 13 attacks.

On Tuesday evening, a French radio station host was told by a French security expert that the Belgian police had come to know of the hiding place of Salah Abdesalam, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, a couple of days before his arrest last week.

"However, the Belgian police refused to raid the apartment in the middle of the night, when the information was shared with them by the French police, saying that the Belgian law did not allow police to make arrests from homes before day-break. How seriously can you battle the mounting security challenges with such an attitude," the expert wondered.

Luckily for Belgium, several other French officials, including Prime Minister Manuel Valls himself, interjected and criticised Sapin for his comments. "At this critical moment, when we are faced with an unprecedented challenge, Europe can not afford to be divided or even seen as divided," Valls told a French radio show Wednesday morning, adding that if Belgium had difficult quarters with challenges, so did France.

"I am not here to give lessons to our Belgian friends. We also have parts of our cities under the influence of drug traffickers and extremists," Valls added. "All over Europe, and in France, we had turned a blind eye to increasing extremist ideas and salafists," the French prime minister admitted.

Sapin was also taken to task by his other party colleagues and other French politicians who said that France was almost in the same position as Belgium and had nothing to preach to anyone.

(Ranvir Nayar is a Paris-based senior Indian journalist. He can be contacted at r.nayar@mediaindia.eu)
A British family said their missing son could be the suicide bomber of the Islamic State (IS), who is responsible for an attack in Iraq, BBC reported.

IS announced on Monday that the attack on Iraqi forces was carried out by a militant named as Abu Musa al-Britani, saying the militant used a car bomb to target a convoy of Iraqi army after it had left a military air base.

IS claimed that about 30 people were killed in the attack, however, the Iraqi authorities believed only the bomber died.

The Awan family, from West Yorkshire, said the photo of the suicide bomber released by IS on a social media account was their 27-year-old son, Mohammed Rizwan Awan, BBC reported.

The British family members recognised the photograph instantly and said they "knew in their hearts" it was him, according to BBC.

The young man left Britain last year, telling his family that he was going to visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia, but contact with him was lost since then. His family said letters he left indicated that he had no plan to return to Britain and planed to say in Saudi Arabia.

British government and Iraqi authorities have not confirmed his identity so far. BBC said the young man would be the latest suicide bomber to have come from West Yorkshire if his identity is authenticated.

A 17-year-old suicide bomber, Talha Asmal, who took part in attacks near an oil refinery south of Baiji in Iraq last year, was from West Yorkshire. While four men who carried out the July 7 London bombings in 2005, which killed 52 people, was also linked to this region.
French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday called for "a global response" to combat which was targeting at Europe in a series of "cowardly and heinous attacks" in Brussels.

"We are facing a global threat, so we need a global response. The war against must be conducted in all Europe and with the necessary means," Xinhua quoted Hollande as saying.

"We have to ensure that decisions are effectively implemented," he added in the wake of a series of deadly explosions which rocked Brussels earlier in the day.

The French president warned that the battle to eradicate terrorist cells "will be long".

"The war against must be conducted calmly, with clarity and determination. We have to deploy the necessary means," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, twin blasts hit Brussels airport, leaving at least 14 dead.

Another explosion hit a metro station close to the European Union institutions, killing 20 people and making other 106 passengers injured, triggering high alert to neighbour countries where security was reinforced.

"In these circumstances, the French government decided to further strengthen security measures, police units at borders, and in transport," Hollande's office said in a statement.

Speaking after a security meeting, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he had deployed a further 1,600 police to bolster security at its borders and on public transport.

The Brussels attacks came a few days after Belgian police captured Salah Abdeslam, a suspect of the Paris attacks on November 13 last year in which 130 people were killed.

On Monday, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon warned the country was on high alert for a possible terror attack in the wake of Abdeslam's arrest.
A day after twin explosions at the Zaventem airport and another at a Metro station here killed 34 people and injured about 250, the Belgian media reported that a key suspect in the attacks has been arrested.

Two Indians who were injured in the terror attacks were recovering well, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet.

The man arrested by the Belgian authorities is Najim Laachraoui, thought to be the man on the right with a cap on among the three who were caught in a CCTV image taken before the Zaventem airport attack, BBC reported on Wednesday citing Belgian media.

Alleged jihadist Laachraoui has been arrested in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, the Belgian media reported on Wednesday. Two other attackers have been named in Belgian media as brothers -- Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, who were suicide bombers.

Belgium is observing three-day mourning following the bomb attacks. A minute's silence for the victims was to be held at midday (11:00 GMT).

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned that more would follow. Authorities, however, said it was too soon to say for sure whether the terror group was behind the blasts.

Authorities were examining surveillance footage to nab any suspects in Tuesday's explosions, a media report said.

Confirming recovery of the two Indians injured in the attacks, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: "I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well."

She also said that the government was doing its best to locate another Indian, Raghavendran Ganesh.

"We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens," she said in another tweet.

According to the airline, the injured crew are safe in hospital. "Our staff in Brussels is co-ordinating with the local authorities and hospitals to ensure that all the required medical care is provided to them."

Jet Airways, which operates daily non-stop flights to its European gateway at Brussels airport from its domestic hubs in Mumbai and New Delhi, has cancelled several of its flights to, from and via Brussels.

Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, the two suicide bombers who carried out the airport attacks, were Brussels' residents with criminal records but were not linked by police to until now, broadcaster RTBF quoted an unnamed source as saying, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two suspects carried explosive devices packed in suitcases on a luggage cart at Zaventem airport, reported Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure.

The newspaper quoted Zaventem's Mayor Francis Vermeiren who said there were three alleged airport attackers, visible in a photograph of a surveillance camera. They arrived by taxi with suitcases with the 'bombs' inside, Efe news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the same source, they put their suitcases on trolleys and the first two bombs exploded. The third bomb, according Vermeiren, was placed in a travel bag on top of the trolley, but the alleged terrorist "must have panicked, it did not explode".

The taxi driver who drove them to the airport recalled that they did not let him help with their luggage, according to the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, which indicates that the original plan of these men was to travel with five suitcases to Zaventem.

The three men had asked for a large car and got angry when he came with a small one, which could not fit five suitcases, according to the taxi driver.

After the attack, the driver remembered the three suspects from the surveillance footage and contacted the police. Later, state police were led to the Schaerbeek district of Brussels where the taxi driver had picked up the three suspects.

The surveillance footage in the airport captured three men, each pushing a luggage cart.
British Prime Minister David Cameron will chair an emergency meeting to determine Britain's response to the Brussels terror attacks.

The prime minister said Britain's security had been stepped up in the wake of "a very real terror threat" across Europe, BBC reported on Wednesday.

Two Britons were injured in the blasts at the city's airport and metro on Tuesday which left 34 people dead.

There are also concerns for David Dixon, an IT programmer from Nottingham, whose family said he had not been seen since the attacks.

Dixon has lived in Brussels for 10 years, his friends said.

Two blasts hit Zaventem airport in Brussels and another explosion took place at a Metro station in the city on Tuesday. At least 34 people were killed and over 200 injured in the blasts.

Brussels police have issued a wanted notice for a man seen pushing a luggage trolley through the airport along with two other suspects shortly before the twin explosions.

The two other men died in the attacks after detonating suicide devices, a Belgian prosecutor said.

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The terror attacks in Brussels have led to an embroiled debate over "Brexit", Britain's referendum on the membership of the European Union.

Within an hour of the first attack on Tuesday, the far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) issued a press release linking the attacks to the EU's immigration policies and the Schengen passport-free zone. This sparked an escalation in comments over the following 24 hours, mostly on social media, Xinhua reported.

In the release, UKIP defence spokesman Mike Hookem, who is also a member of the European Parliament, said: "The fact that terrorists can strike at the heart of the EU with apparent ease shows that they are perfectly placed to exploit the lax security situation created by the Schengen agreement and the EU's open door policies."

Hookem said that despite the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of involvement in the Paris attacks of November last year, "these (latest) attacks should come as no surprise when you consider that the head of Europol warned that as many as 5,000 ISIS-trained jihadists are wandering free in Europe".

Hookem was referring to an interview given on February 19 by Europol director Rob Wainwright to a German newspaper in which he said between 3,000 and 5,000 EU citizens who have been in terrorist training camps in the Middle East have slipped back into Europe.

"In Brussels alone, there are 94 returned Syrian jihadists living in the Molenbeek area," Hookem claimed.

"Add to this the archaic police system in Belgium and a total lack of intelligence sharing and you have a recipe for disaster."

On Wednesday, UKIP leader Nigel Farage posted on his Facebook page: "Next time you hear the (UK) Prime Minister say that Britain must remain in the EU for the sake of our security, please think of Brussels."

These and other remarks from populist politicians were condemned as exploiting a human tragedy for political gain.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was "not appropriate" to be making a link between the Brussels attacks and immigration at such a time.

According to Xinhua, writing on the website InFacts.org, which is campaigning for Britain to stay in the EU, its editor Hugo Dixon pointed out that Britain was not in the Schengen area and thus does have large degree of control over its borders.

Dixon continued that while Britain was not exposed to Schengen, the country still plays a big role in designing European counter-terrorism policies.

"The Brussels and Paris attacks are a reason to stay in the EU, not quit," he wrote.

Nevertheless, the events could have big implications in the run-up to the June 23 referendum on "Brexit".

Since the Paris attacks, British officials have feared that another terrorist outrage in Europe could severely damage the argument for staying in the EU, regardless of the motives behind an attack, or its perpetrators, or indeed whether EU membership is in any way relevant. When it comes to the referendum, people's perceptions will count just as much as hard facts.

Immigration has consistently been one of the top issues of concern among British voters, according to opinion polls.

And while there is no obvious link between terrorism and immigration from other EU countries, events such as Paris and Brussels could feed a sense of fear among many Britons that simply being so open to the outside world increases the risk of "importing" terrorists into the country.

On March 20, a website "What UK Thinks" issued its latest "poll of polls" averaging results from various opinion surveys. This put the "remain" and "leave" camps neck and neck, each at 50 percent, with recent months trending towards Brexit.

Xinhua said both sides of the debate will be watching new polls over the coming week to see if the Brussels attacks have swayed people's views about Brexit one way or the other.
The union cabinet, at a meeting chaired by chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the transfer of 50 acres of land in Tonk district to the Rajasthan government for establishing a Veterinary University Training and Research Centre.

An official statement said if the proposed centre was discontinued in the future, the land will be returned to its original owner, Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, along with available infrastructure free of cost for veterinary and animal science research purpose.

Establishment of the centre at Avikanagar by the Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences will strengthen the collaboration between the university and the institute.

The centre will impart training to rural masses, especially women, for enhancing livelihood security and gender equity leading to empowerment of rural people, especially women," the statement added.
The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its clearance for a $1,500 million (over 100 billion rupees) World Bank project to support Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) or Clean India Mission in rural areas.

The project is aimed at supporting government efforts to achieve universal sanitation in rural areas and end the practice of open defecation in the countryside by 2019.

The project, cleared by the cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, provides for "incentivising states on the basis of their performance in the existing scheme", Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

The project will also put in place a robust and credible independent verification system for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation.

The scheme will have separate parameters for each beneficiary states.

"In September 2014, the government set certain parameters for the states to get the benefit. These parameters include reduction in open defecation and so on," he said.

"Under the approved project, the performance of the states will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the disbursement-linked indicators," an official statement said.

It added that funds shall be released to states "on the basis of reduction in prevalence of open defecation amongst rural households" compared to the previous year's record.

The funds will also be released on the basis of estimated population residing in open defecation-free villages.

The states will pass on a substantial portion (more than 95 percent) of the performance incentive grant funds to the appropriate implementing levels of districts and blocks, the statement said.

The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019.

The project comes in the wake of accelerated efforts under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) which aims to boost efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019.
The union cabinet on Wednesday announced clearance for a $1,500 million World Bank project to support in rural India.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that under the scheme separate parameters will be fixed for each beneficiary states.

"In September 2014, the government set certain parameters for the states to get the benedfit. These parameters include reduction in open defecation and so on," he said.

The minister also announced that in next three years, the government will construct at least 1 crore houses in rural areas with an estimated expenditure of Rs 81,975 crore.
Celta Vigo's Argentine defender Gustavo Cabral has said that his side is "ambitious" to occupy fourth position in La Liga standings to qualify for the European Champions League.

Celta Vigo are currently in sixth position with 48 points from 30 matches; the same as fifth place Sevilla and six points behind Villarreal in fourth place, reports Xinhua.

"We have to keep working and deal with the eight remaining games as finals," Cabral said on Tuesday.

"We always look forward and why we not dream of playing in the Champions League and aspire to more things," he added.

The Argentine defender has described Sunday's 2-0 victory over Valencia at the Mestalla stadium as "important," praising his side's good performance.

Cabral refused to predict the result of the coming derby against Deportivo La Coruna, but hopes that his team can win the La Liga clash.
Actor Abhay Krishnaa says the climax of forthcoming Tamil comedy "Adida Melam", which releases in cinemas on Friday, will be unabashedly funny and entertaining.

"I can proudly say we've reserved the best for end of the film. While most of the film is enjoyable, the last 15-20 minutes is outright funny. Even some of the predictable moments are presented in the most unconventional way," Abhay told IANS.

Directed by Anbu Stalin, the film also stars Abhinaya, Nischala Krishnan, Urvashi and Mayilsamy.

"It's an entertainer, but not a lame comedy film. It's about how a dumb family handles the most serious situations. I'm part of a family that plans weddings, and the story revolves around events that involve the members of this family," he said.

Although the project was originally started in 2013, it was stopped after being shot for a few days. After initial hiccups, the film was wrapped up last October, and since then the makers have been eyeing for a suitable release date.

Though Abhay worked as an assistant cinematographer and assistant director, it was after starring in a short film that he had the courage to don the greasepaint for a feature film.

"I wanted to know if people would accept me as an actor. So when I did the short film, I realised it was well received and it didn't matter who starred in it, which boosted my confidence and I finally decided to act," he said.

Abhay heaps praise on his co-stars, especially about senior actress Urvashi, who plays his mother in the film.

"She's a big pillar of support to the project. The relationship I share with her in the film is really special, it's funny and emotional," he said.

Abhay has two more Tamil projects in his kitty.
The Czech Republic has raised its terror threat alert level from zero to one following the terror attacks in Brussels, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said.

Chovanec said on Tuesday that Czech authorities have no information about any terrorist attack threatening the country at present but they have deployed additional hundreds of police officers to reinforce the patrols and the military personnel will also be deployed, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Chovanec, the increased security measures apply to all international airports, cover selected buildings and metro. He said these measures may be further expanded, they will discuss the possibility to increase checks at Czech borders during Tuesday night's meeting.

Chovanec made the remarks at a press conference after talks with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, and representatives of intelligence services and police.

The terror threat alert system approved by Czech government earlier in 2016 has four degrees from zero to three. In emergency situations, the increase of alert degree could be announced by the interior minister but must be confirmed by the Cabinet within a week.

The first degree is marked with a yellow triangle and points to the existence of a general threat of terrorism. Similar security measures were introduced in the Czech Republic after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015.

In Tuesday's attacks, which occurred at the Belgian capital's airport and at the Maalbeek metro station, at least 34 people were killed and hundreds injured.
Belgium-based DJ Makasi, who was supposed to land in India for a concert, is stuck at Brussels airport in the aftermath of the twin explosions at the airport.

He was on his way to India to perform at Lawman Holi Reloaded 2016 on Thursday in Delhi.

However Makasi's flight got cancelled due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday which killed more than 30 people.

"I am out of words, I have nothing to say. I was at the airport waiting for my flight to India when this happened. It's a shame on humanity," Makasi said in a statement.

"I am shocked how things happened in front of my eyes, I mean who would have thought? I request my fans to pray and pray hard. I extend my heart to the families who lost their loved ones and wish the best for people who survived them blasts," he said while adding that he is hoping things will be "normal again" and "we get to fly soon".

Makasi has previously given performances at major festivals around the world like Tomorrowland (Belgium), Tomorrowworld (US) and Sunburn (India), among others.

Makasi is now reportedly expected to arrive in India on Thursday.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday said the Enforcement Directorate's action to attach his son Vikramaditya Singh's assets in New Delhi was uncalled for.

"It is not being done by court orders but suo motu action of the ED under political pressure from their political bosses," the chief minister said in a statement here.

Vikramaditya Singh is the state Youth Congress president.

Official sources said assets worth over Rs.7 crore were attached by the ED in the money laundering case against the chief minister.

The ED filed the case against the Congress leader under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after taking cognizance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI.

The Delhi High Court on March 16 refused to grant any interim stay on the money laundering case proceedings against the chief minister and others.

The judge issued a notice to the ED, seeking its response before May 31 on Virbhadra Singh's plea seeking a stay on the proceedings and quashing of the money laundering case against him.
With the government announcing eradication of tuberculosis by 2030, a doctor has says a new 'Endobroncial Ultrasound' medical process that was introduced in India recently can contribute in faster diagnosis of the disease leading to correct treatment on time.

The doctor said EBUS will help in diagnosis of diseases like TB, lung cancer and sarcoidosis with more accuracy along with the stages of the diseases.

Till now, the methods to confirm lung cancer and TB have been considered very confusing and time-consuming, which have compelled doctors to start medical treatment for all on the basis of assumption till the disease was confirmed.

"During EBUS, a bronchoscope with a special ultrasound transmitter and processor at its tip is put into the wind pipe of the patient. The scope that goes inside the trachea can be pointed in different directions to produce images of lymph nodes and other structures in the area between the lungs, called the mediastinum," said Dr. Arup Basu, senior consultant of chest medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

He said that using the detailed images, it was possible to check the actual percentage of the body or lungs that the diseases have affected.

"Using EBUS, biopsies are performed through the trachea using ultrasound rather than surgical incisions which are usually used in more severe cases."

EBUS is usually completed in less than half an hour. It allows the doctor to look in areas that have traditionally been hard to conduct biopsy.

Basu said that if during the entire procedure, the lymph nodes or any other part of lung are found enlarged, then a hollow needle can be passed through the bronchoscope and a biopsy can be obtained to confirm the disease which can be either tuberculosis or lung cancer or any other disease.

The successful trial of EBUS in India has been published in the Journal of Associations of Physicians of India.

Currently the technique is being performed at a few hospitals including SRGH, AIIMS and a few other private healthcare institutions.

Health surveys have shown that India has 22 lakh cases, more than three lakh deaths, and economic losses of $23 billion (Rs.143,123 crore) from TB every year.

On other advantages of EBUS, Basu said: "This procedure hardly takes one hour and if it remains smooth then can be done with half an hour. This also prevents any sort of unwanted surgeries which can cause other complications in human body."
Leaders from the institutions of the European Union (EU) and its 28-member states strongly condemned the deadly attacks in Brussels on Tuesday and expressed their solidarity with the Belgian authorities.

The EU heads of state or government and the leaders of the EU institutions published a joint statement hours after explosions killed at least 34 people in Brussels, Xinhua reported.

Explosions at Brussels International Airport and a metro station shook the Belgian capital city of Brussels, which hosts most EU institutions and meetings.

"The European Union mourns the victims of today's terrorist attacks in Brussels. It was an attack on our open democratic society," the leaders said in their joint statement.

"Our common European institutions are hosted in Brussels, thanks to the generosity of the government of Belgium and the Belgian people. The European Union and its Member States stand firm with Belgium in solidarity and are determined to face this threat together with all necessary means," they said.

Meanwhile, the EU leaders committed to fight against global .

"This latest attack only strengthens our resolve to defend the European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant. We will be united and firm in the fight against hatred, violent extremism and terrorism," the statement said.

European Council president Donald Tusk said the latest attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station mark "another low" by terrorists.

"These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence," he said, adding, "I extend my sincerest sympathies to the relatives and friends of the victims."

"The European institutions are hosted in Brussels thanks to the generosity of Belgium's government and its people. The European Union returns this solidarity now and will fulfill its role to help Brussels, Belgium and Europe as a whole counter the terror threat which we are all facing," he added.

The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU institutions will stand united "in the face of ."

"These attacks have hit Brussels today, Paris yesterday -- but it is Europe as a whole that has been targeted. The European Union and its institutions stand united in the face of terrorism," Juncker said in a statement.

As the head of the EU executive, Juncker commended the security forces, emergency services and all those who have helped victims in the deadly attacks and are still doing so now.

The metro station Maalbeek hit by a bomb this morning was only about 500 meters from the "Berlaymont Building," the headquarter of the European Commission.

"I would like to reassure the employees of the Commission and the European Institutions that their security remains a priority for me and that all possible measures will be taken in full cooperation with the Belgian authorities," Juncker said in a statement.

European Parliament president Martin Schulz issued a statement, condemning the attacks "barbarism and hatred" acts.

"I am horrified by the despicable and cowardly attacks which took place in Brussels today," he said.

"These acts anger and sadden me at the same time. They are born from barbarism and hatred which do justice to nothing and no one," he added.

In the name of the European Parliament, Schulz expressed his solidarity towards the Belgian people.

"Brussels, like other cities hit by such terrorist attacks, will stand strong, and the European institutions hosted so generously by the Brussels institutions and its inhabitants will do likewise," he said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the attacks are "horrific and cowardly," calling them "premeditated murders."

The Netherlands currently is holding the the rotating presidency of the EU.

"It has struck at the very heart of Brussels. The very heart of Belgium. The very heart of Europe," he said in his statement.

"And let me make absolutely clear that the Netherlands stands resolute with our Belgian neighbours in mourning and sorrow," Rutte said, adding that "bowing to this kind of violence can never be an option."

British Prime Minister David Cameron slammed the attacks in Brussels as "appalling and savage," warning that the European countries face "a very real terrorist threat."

"These are difficult times, these are appalling terrorists, but we must stand together to do everything we can to stop them and to make sure that although they attack our way of life and attack us because of who we are, we will never let them win," he said.

French President Francois Hollande called for "a global response" to combat which was targeting at Europe in a series of "cowardly and heinous attacks" in Brussels.

"We are facing a global threat, so we need a global response. The war against terrorism must be conducted in all Europe and with the necessary means," Hollande said.

"We have to ensure that decisions are effectively implemented."

The French president warned that the battle to eradicate terrorist cells "will be long".

"The war against terrorism must be conducted calmly, with clarity and determination. We have to deploy the necessary means," he said.
Actress Jacqueline Fernandez says she loves the generosity of the film industry in offering help for films, causes or charities, like for her 'Jacqueline Builds' initiative.

"Our fraternity has been very supportive of each other. Whenever there is someone from the industry who seeks help for their movies, or promotions or even causes, charities, I always feel like Bollywood or the film industry always stands up in solidarity, and I love that about my industry.

"Already I have got a lot of support from a lot of my co-stars, people who have been working with me and who have worked with me, so we are always there for each other, very important," said Jacqueline, who was at the Panbai School to thank schoolchildren who helped in her initiative.

Jacqueline said she intends to build homes for at least 10,000 families in Tamil Nadu, who were affected by the deadly floods late last year.

The event is scheduled to be launched on April 9 and she has tied up with NGO Habitat for Humanity.

"This year, I was particularly concerned about the floods in Tamil Nadu. Habitat for Humanity helped me put together 'Jacqueline Builds', but what we did not really actually expect was the amount of help that we have been receiving from all over India and my sincere thank you to everyone who donated and helped.

"I have done a build before, it is an amazing experience. You go there, you actually build the home with the person who will later be receiving the home, and you start from bottom up, so you're there carrying bricks, putting cement, you get really dirty and it's hot.

"There is a certain satisfaction that you get at the end of the day because you feel really happy, you put your blood and sweat into it. And the people you hand over the keys at the end of the day are so happy and grateful for the support you've given them, that is absolutely priceless," the actress said.

Jacqueline will be seen in "Housefull 3", "Dishoom" and "A Flying Jatt' this year.
The CPI-M on Wednesday demanded the release of Hyderabad Central University students and the dismissal of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao whose return has triggered widespread protests.

Saying over 30 students were in police custody with no knowledge as to where they were being kept, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said they must be freed immediately.

"The central government appointed vice chancellor should be removed forthwith," a CPI-M statement said. "The Telangana Police must proceed on the registered cases against him."

The CPI-M alleged "brutal police attack on students, faculty members and others" at the Hyderabad University on Tuesday.

"The police resorted to very intense lathicharge on the students who were protesting against the return of Appa Rao, who is facing criminal cases for creating circumstances leading to the suicide of (Dalit student) Rohith Vemula," it said.

"It is reported that the university has been sealed, food supplies stopped for hostels, water connections cut off and access to wifi denied.

"Also, widespread disciplinary action against the students and some faculty members is also underway.

"Instead of proceeding on the registered cases against the vice chancellor, the Telangana Police has resorted to such brutality against the students," it said.
Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Wednesday admitted to financing terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to the tune of around 6-7 million Pakistani rupees.

"I have never received any money from the LeT. I gave (them) funds from myself," Headley revealed during his cross-examination before Special Court Additional Sessions Judge G.A. Sanap.

His replies came during the cross-examination conducted by lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan, the defence counsel for Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, who is facing trial in the 26/11 case.

When specifically queried by Khan, Headley said: "I have donated around (Pakistani) Rs.60 to 70 lakh. It was in different times -- the last time was in 2010."

To a question about the source of his funds, Headley said it was the returns on his investments in the few shops that he purchased in the UAE, property trading in Pakistan and his business in New York.

On Khan's persistent questions about the funds received from the LeT and out of drug smuggling, Headley became irritated and countered by saying that the lawyer was repeatedly asking him the same thing, and switched over from English to Urdu and Hindi to convey the same.

At one point, seeing Khan smile, Headley said: "Your client's life relies on this case. You should be serious about it. Don't joke."

Khan objected to this and Special Judge Sanap also reprimanded Headley.

Headley also admitted that he was arrested in 1988 and 1998 in the US on charges of drug smuggling and had visited Pakistan once between the arrests.

Earlier, he claimed that his associate Tahawwur Rana was opposed to his (Headley's) links with the LeT.

He said Pakistani national Rana -- who ran an immigration consultancy in Chicago -- had knowledge that he worked as an operative of the LeT.

"Rana was aware of my association with the LeT and I informed him about the training imparted to me by LeT operatives. I also told Rana that I was spying for LeT. That must be around 4-5 months before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Headley told Khan.

"Rana had objected to my association with LeT. He asked me to stop using his office in Mumbai. I conceded to his objections and took steps to close down the office in July 2008," Headley added.

However, Headley declined to answer questions about his wife Shazia, with whom he continues to be legally wedded.

"She never visited India. I had informed her about my association with the LeT. Originally, she is from Pakistan, I don't want to disclose Shazia's present location... I will not answer any questions about her," he made it clear to Khan.

On her reaction to his disclosures, Headley said he did not want to speak about it.

"It (reaction) is between me and her... It's our personal relation and don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said," Headley said, adding that she was aware of his plans to change his name from Daood Gilani to David Coleman Headley.

When Khan persisted on questions about Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam objected and pointed out that under the Indian Evidence Act Section 122, the communication between husband and wife was a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley's cross-examination, which was due to start on Tuesday, was taken up on Wednesday after his week-long deposition was conducted in February.
Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Wednesday claimed that his associate Tahawwur Rana was opposed to his (Headley's) links with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley, 56, said that Pakistani national Rana -- who ran an immigration consultancy in Chicago, US, had knowledge that he worked as an operative of the LeT.

The revelation came during Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, lawyer of another alleged LeT terror operative Abu Jundal, before the Special Court of Judge G.A. Sanap, via video-conferencing from a US jail where he his serving a 35-year sentence.

"Rana was aware of my association with LeT and I informed him about the training imparted to me by LeT operatives. I also told Rana that I was spying for LeT... That must be around four-five months before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Headley told Khan.

"Rana had objected to my association with LeT... He asked me to stop using his office in Mumbai. I conceded to his objections and took steps to close down the office in July 2008," Headley added.

When asked by lawyer Khan about his business activities and the income from it, Headley said he had invested in it by buying four-five shops in the United Arab Emirates.

To a question whether the LeT funded him for his various activities, Headley countered by revealing that actually it was he (Headley) who donated money to the terror group.

"It was for various things and I have donated round Pakistani rupees six-seven million, the last being in 2010," Headley informed the court when asked whether his funding was used for terror acts.

However, Headley declined to answer questions posed about his wife Shazia, with whom he continues to be legally wedded.

"She never visited India... I had informed her about my association with the LeT. Originally, she is from Pakistan, I don't want to disclose Shazia's present location... I will not answer any questions about her," he made it clear to Khan.

On her reaction to his disclosures, Headley said he did not want to speak about it.

"It (reaction) is between me and her... It's our personal relation and don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said," Headley said, adding that she was aware of his plans to change his name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley.

When Khan persisted on questions about Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam objected and pointed out that under Indian Evidence Act Section 122, the communication between a husband-wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley's cross-examination, which was due to start Tuesday was taken up on Wednesday after his weeklong deposition was conducted in February.
The National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to the Chhattisgarh government in connection with the alleged wrongful detention and torture of a journalist who is a human rights activist.

The state chief secretary and director general of police have been asked to submit a factual report in the matter within two weeks.

According to the commission, journalist Prabhat Singh was picked up by policemen in plainclothes from his shop without notice or warning on March 21 evening.

"He was taken to the Parpa police station, beaten up and tortured all night and even deprived of food and water," a commission statement said.
Moderate Hurriyat group chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on Wednesday said they expect the Indian government to carry forward the spirit of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's vision that called for settling dispute within the parameters of humanity.

He hoped India and Pakistan would evolve ways and means to include the people of Kashmir in the composite dialogue between the two countries.

Speaking to the media before leaving for New Delhi to attend the Pakistan Day function to which High Commissioner Abdul Basit has invited him, Mirwaiz said: "Hurriyat conference is not against any country or nation.

"We have always welcomed the dialogue process between India and Pakistan. We hope the two counties would evolve the ways and means to include the people of Kashmir in the composite dialogue process.

"We believe the vision of Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be carried forward in which he said issues should be settled within the parameters of 'Insaniyat' (Humanity) which is much greater than the parameters set by the constitution" .

Umer dismissed opposition to the separatist leaders attendance at the Pakistan Day functions in New Delhi.

"It is like creating a storm in the tea cup. We have always been attending these functions at the invitation of Pakistan High Commission. We go there to put forth our viewpoint and not to oppose anybody," Umer said.
The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement, an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The Ashgabat Agreement has Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as its founding members. Kazakhstan also joined this arrangement later.

"Accession to the agreement would enable India to utilise this existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region," an official statement said after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Further, this would synchronise with our efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity," it stated.

It also said that India's intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to Turkmenistan, the depository stated.

"India would become party to the agreement upon consent of the founding members," the statement said.

--Indo-Asian News service

ab/bg
The Indian and Pakistani armies on Wednesday exchanged sweets and greetings on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to commemorate Pakistan Day.

"Soldiers of India and Pakistan exchanged sweets at Mendhar and Chakan-Da-Bagh on the LoC," defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta told IANS.

"The exchange of sweets on religious festivals and days of historical significance is part of the confidence building measures between the two sides and shall go a long way in promoting harmony and bonhomie along the LoC," he said.

The day marks the passing of the Lahore Resolution of 1940 demanding a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent.
Mutual help of India and Bangladesh will boost the bilateral cooperation between the two countries and facilitate their people, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here on Wednesday.

"Mutual help and the give and take policies would further boost the India-Bangladesh relations. The give and take policies must continue," Sarkar told reporters here after joining the videoconferencing between the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh from their respective capitals.

"Supply of 100 MW electricity from India's Tripura to Bangladesh and inauguration of third international internet gateway (IIG) in Agartala takes the bilateral cooperation of the two countries to a new height," said Sarkar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, along with Sarkar on Wednesday launched the supply of power and the IIG through videoconferencing from their respective offices in New Delhi, Dhaka and Agartala.

Sarkar said that it would not have been possible to commission the 726 MW Palatana power project in southern Tripura if Bangladesh had not allowed India to carry weighty turbines and heavy and oversized machineries through its territory.

"When the Bangladeshi prime minister had visited Tripura in January 2012, she sought power from the Tripura power project and we readily accepted the demand. Later, then prime minister Manmohan Singh and incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi expedited the process," he added.

Sarkar said that Hasina also readily agreed to allow India to construct a bridge over river Feni to get access to the Chittagong international sea port and agreed to share Bangladesh's submarine cable link to improve internet facilities in India's northeastern region.

The detailed project report is ready for the Feni bridge in bordering Sabroom in southern Tripura. "Works would be started after getting Rs.91.44 crore from the union commerce ministry."

A 47-km transmission line was erected linking the power grid at Surjyamaninagar in western Tripura to the Comilla power grid in Bangladesh to supply 100 MW of electricity to the country.

This will be in addition to the 500 MW Bangladesh is already receiving from West Bengal.

Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey told reporters that that India's NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd. (NVVN) and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), both state-run companies, signed an agreement to supply 100 MW of electricity to Bangladesh.

The minister, who was recently in Dhaka and attended a series of meetings to finalise the power tariff, said: "In Dhaka, several meetings were held to finalise the power tariff. It was decided that the electricity would be supplied to Bangladesh at Rs.5.5 per unit."

"During the meeting, the Bangladesh prime minister was very keen to get more power from India as the country needs 8,000 MW of electricity to meet its needs.

The Tripura government is also ready to provide more power to Bangladesh if the central government has no objection," Dey added.

During his visit to Dhaka on June 6-7 last year, Modi discussed power supply from Tripura with Hasina.

Modi had declared that India would eventually enhance the power supply to Bangladesh to 1,100 MW.
Irom Sharmila, who has been campaigning against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958, by undertaking "fast unto death", wants to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi while visiting Delhi.

Sharmila expressed her desire while interacting with a handful of reporters when she was presented before a court in the Manipur capital on Tuesday.

She is to appear before the Patiala House court on March 29 and 30 in connection with a case under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to commit suicide).

She said: "I want to tell the prime minister that only talks could solve all the burning problems. Besides, I want to highlight the objectionable policies of the Indian government."

On October 6 and 7, 2006, Sharmila carried on her fasting at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, and police registered a case for which she has to appear before the Patiala House district court every now and then.

On two occasions, she could not appear before the court as there were no funds for the travel of Sharmila and her entourage which includes medical, police and prison staff.

During her last visit to Delhi also, she had expressed her desire to meet the prime minister. Themeeting, however, did not come off, and she returned to Imphal, Manipur.

Official indications are that there may not be a positive response from the Prime Minister's Office to her desire.

First, there has been no formal request from her. Secondly, the prime minister may not be ready to discuss the demand she is likely to put up.

Thirdly, Sharmila herself has admitted that she has lost considerable ground and virtually there is no supporter at the court complex except for some reporters.

In fact, she has been thinking of a public debate on whether people still want the AFSPA and if she should stop the campaign against the act that absolves armed forces personnel of any criminal responsibility for damages to property or for loss of limb and life during anti-insurgency operations in an area.

The contradictory stand of the people has also puzzled officials.
I

talian anti-terror police have arrested an Iraqi alleged by French and Belgian authorities to have links to the Islamic State group which claimed Tuesday's deadly bombings in Brussels.

Police detained the 46-year-old Iraqi, Ehsan Aziz, on the outskirts of Naples late Tuesday on an arrest warrant. Aziz was sleeping in his car, where he told police he lived.

He told police he was a property agent for wealthy Arab tourists visiting the area and was taken to Naples' Poggioreale jail where he awaits extradition.

Aziz was also sought by Swiss authorities on suspicion of attempted rape, according to local media reports.

Announcing Aziz's arrest, Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Rome had deported 74 terror suspects since January last year including five Muslim clerics.

A total of 396 people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism and 653 had been investigated over the same period, he said.
Jammu and Governor N.N. Vohra on Wednesday called PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and state BJP chief Sat Sharma for separate meetings with him on March 25 to discuss government formation in the state.

Vohra sent two separate communications to them to call on him at Raj Bhavan in Jammu on Friday, a Raj Bhavan official said.

Vohra's missives come barely two days after Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The PDP has called a meeting of its legislators in Srinagar where Mehbooba Mufti will apprise them about the details of her meeting with Modi.

The PDP legislature party was also likely to elect its leader on Thursday who would be authorised to stake claim to form the new government in the state.

Jammu and was placed under Governor's Rule on January 8, a day after then chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed passed away in New Delhi.
A number of Japanese bellwether companies on Wednesday issued instructions to their employees asking them to avoid making business trips to Brussels and other European cities, in the wake of the deadly terror attacks.

Among the companies to issue the travel bans were top automaker Toyota Motor Corp., who while confirming the safety of all its European employees, issued a mandate instructing its staff to avoid major European transport hubs, such as airports and train stations, until the situation in Brussels has been confirmed safe and the terror alert levels lowered, Xinhua reported.

The Aichi prefecture-based automaker told its global employees with specific plans already booked to visit Belgium on business to scrap their plans indefinitely.

Fellow automaker Honda issued similar instructions to its employees, as did major tyre maker Bridgestone Corp.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., known worldwide for aerospace and ground transportation-related manufacturing, as well as for production of the Subaru brand of automobiles, instructed its Japan-based staff to cancel trips to Belgium and advised the cancellation of visits to other European cities.

Among Japan's megabanks, top lender Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ told its staff to drop any Belgium-bound trips specifically, as well as those to other European cities, as did Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

Spokespeople for some of the companies on Wednesday were quoted by local media as not ruling out the possibility of taking evasive action to safeguard personnel and business activities, if production were to be adversely affected, or business engagements and "flow of people" affected in the market.

On the political front, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conveyed both horror at the events in Brussels as well as indignation at so many innocent civilians being murdered in the attacks.

He said all acts of terrorism would never be tolerated and that Japan would steadfastly work alongside the international community to counter the increasing scourge of militant groups such as the so-called Islamic State, who claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels.

Expressing his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, he said Japan stood in solidarity with Belgium and the European Union in these turbulent times.
Jet Airways on Wednesday said that it has made alternate travel arrangements to transfer its stranded passengers in Brussels.

"All the airline's guests will travel today to Amsterdam in 15 buses and will be accommodated there in hotels tonight," the airline said in a statement.

"The Brussels airport continues to be closed for operations and is out of bounds for passengers following the unfortunate events of yesterday (March 22)."

The airline said that its aircraft will fly from Brussels to Amsterdam, as ferry flights.

"Guests will board the Jet Airways aircraft at Amsterdam airport for onward travel to Delhi, Mumbai and Toronto. Alternate arrangements are being made for guests travelling to Newark," the statement said.

"Jet Airways is working closely with the Belgian authorities and the Indian Embassy to facilitate an early transit for its guest and crew from Brussels."

Earlier, the airline had said that it has made travel arrangements for the family members of its injured crew in Brussels to travel there.

Two members of the airlines staff were injured in the bomb blasts that rocked Brussels' Zaventem airport on Tuesday morning.

According to the airline, the injured crew are safe in hospital.

"Our staff in Brussels is co-ordinating with the local authorities and hospitals to ensure that all the required medical care is provided to them," the airline had said.

"Jet Airways continues to closely monitor the situation in Brussels. The airline's emergency response centre in Mumbai and the local incident control centre in Brussels are working round-the-clock to provide all possible support to our staff and guests."

The airline has deployed its teams from India and continental Europe to help in the co-ordination efforts.

Currently, Jet Airways operates daily non-stop flights to its European gateway at Brussels airport from its domestic hubs in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Jet Airways has cancelled several of its flights to, from and via Brussels.
A court here on Wednesday granted conditional bail to CPI-M leader P. Jayarajan who is an accused in the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker Kathiroor Manoj.

The Thalassery sessions court gave Jayarajan bail while asking him not to enter Kannur district for the next two months, to make himself available to the CBI officials every time they ask, and also to see that the witnesses in the case are not be influenced.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) decided to move an appeal against this order at the Kerala High Court on Wednesday.

The Thalassery court on February 12 sent Jayarajan into a month's judicial custody after he surrendered before the district sessions court.

But since then he was cooling his heels most of the time in various hospitals, being a heart patient. When the orders came on Wednesday, he was at a ayurveda hospital near here.

Earlier this month, the CBI had to again approach the court which gave them the custody of Jayarajan for three days for questioning, as he was admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

Jayarajan is former Kannur district secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

He was booked by the CBI for conspiracy under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in the murder of RSS volunteer Manoj.

The CBI had earlier claimed that Jayarajan, the 25th accused in the murder of Manoj, was the brain behind the killing.

Manoj, 42, a district functionary of RSS, was hacked to death at Kathiroor in Kannur district of Kerala on September 1, 2014, allegedly by a group of CPI-M workers.

Speaking to reporters, CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan welcomed the court orders and said that Jayarajan has done no wrong and the CBI had cooked up the case to please the RSS.

"The bail is a setback to the ploy of the Kummanem Rajasekheran- state BJP president and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who are hand in glove to see that Jayarajan and the CPI-M is put on the back foot at the upcoming assembly polls," said Balakrishnan.

All eyes are now on if the CPI-M will field Jayarajan in the polls. He is one of the front-runners for getting a prized portfolio, should the CPI-M regain power at the May 16 assembly elecrtions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday condemned terrorist attacks in Belgium's capital of Brussels, saying the "abhorrent" attacks only deepened the resolve to defeat .

"Our thoughts are with all those in Brussels, including the injured and the loved one of those who were killed, and with the first responders and security personnel who are working tirelessly to keep Brussels safe," Xinhua quoted Kerry as saying.

Kerry said he has talked to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, noting that the US will stand firmly with Belgium and with all of Europe in the face of this tragedy.

"Attacks like these only deepen our share resolve to defeat around the world," Kerry said.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government on Tuesday strongly condemned the bomb attacks in the Belgian capital of Brussels which killed at least 34 people and injured more than 100.

Iraqi President Fuad Masoum said "Iraq strongly condemns such criminal act and expresses its deep solidarity with the friendly government and people of Belgium."

Masoum also called for "the strengthening of cooperation between different countries at all levels, in a way that could halt the growth of and eliminate their hotbeds and their means of support".

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said "the increase of criminal activities for terrorist groups in European countries calls for the international community to exert more efforts to eliminate the terrorists' hotbeds and their recruitment and training centers in the areas that are under their (terrorists) control in Iraq and Syria."

At least 34 people were killed in explosions on Tuesday at Brussels airport and on a city subway train. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Punjab Police and other security agencies have launched a manhunt after a car was snatched from a person at gunpoint at Sujanpur town in Punjab's Pathankot district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place late on Tuesday, police said.

Police officials, however, ruled out the possibility of a terror angle to the incident even though the whole district has been put on high alert.

"Three men approached the Ford Figo car and hijacked it at gunpoint after forcing the owner out of it. Two people drove the car and the third one fled on a motorcycle," a Punjab Police officer said in Pathankot.

Sujanpur is about six km from Pathankot on the Pathankot-Jammu highway.

Security agencies were taking the incident seriously in view of two major terrorist strikes in the area in recent months.

Terrorists from Pakistan had attacked the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Pathankot on January 2 this year and Dinanagar town in neighbouring Gurdaspur district on July 27 last year.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka have undertaken measures to further deepen and broaden their economic and political ties, Islamabad's envoy here said on Wednesday.

High Commissioner Syed Shakeel Hussain, speaking at a ceremony to mark the 76th Pakistan Day, said Sri Lanka and Pakistan were in the process of refining a free trade agreement, expanding the portfolio of tradable items and encouraging bilateral investments, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hussain expressed satisfaction on the traditionally close and mutually beneficial relationship between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in all fields.
Rome, March 23 (IANS/AKI) Pope Francis on Wednesday said it was with an "aching heart" that he followed the news of the terror attacks in Brussels which killed at least 34 people, Vatican Radio reported on Wednesday.

"I once again appeal to all people of goodwill to unite in the unanimous condemnation of these cruel abominations that are causing only death, terror and horror," Pope Francis told pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square.

Francis said his thoughts and prayers were with the families of the victims and those injured in the attack as well as the Belgian people.

"I ask everyone to persevere in prayer and to ask the Lord in this Holy Week to comfort the hearts afflicted and convert the hearts of these people blinded by this cruel fundamentalism," he said.

The Islamic State has said it was behind the attacks and warned that worse ones would follow.

--IANS/AKI

mr/
The defence ministry says radicalisation and fresh recruitment (for terrorism) in south Kashmir is a cause for concern, while also expressing concerns over "developments" in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

The ministry's annual report for 2015-16 said while there is a "steep decline" in terror attacks in the hinterland and violence by left-wing extremists, "...developments in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab have been a cause of concern, especially cross-border terror attacks and trafficking of arms and narcotics".

While stating that the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir remains "stable", the report said: "This is primarily due to the protracted operations of the security forces in the hinterland and effectiveness of the counter-infiltration grid on the Line of Control and International Border."

"However, radicalisation and fresh recruitment in south Kashmir is a cause of concern. External factors, including changing situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, may also impact the internal situation in Jammu and Kashmir," the report said.
Romania on Wednesday declared March 24 a national day of mourning as a sign of solidarity with the victims of the terror attacks in Brussels.

The flag is to be flown at half-mast and broadcasters will be required to adjust their programmes accordingly, government spokesman Dan Suciu was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Four Romanians were wounded by bombs in Brussels, among whom there was a minor who is currently in hospital, according to Romania's foreign ministry.

The Romanian intelligence service decided to keep the national terrorist alert level unchanged at blue, a low risk of terrorist attack, as "available information so far does not indicate any direct connection between the events in Brussels and risks against national security in Romania".

The attacks at the Zaventem airport and at the Maelbeek metro station left at least 31 people dead and over 260 people wounded.
A Russian court in the southern city of Donetsk has sentenced Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda Savchenko to 22 years in prison after finding her guilty of complicity in killing two Russian journalists in 2014, RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Ukrainian female pilot will spend a total of 20 years and four months in a regular-security colony as she has been in custody for a year and eight month during the investigation and the trial, Xinhua cited RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

Savchenko may be eligible for a pardon not earlier than in 12 years, according to the court ruling.

The court has also fined her for 30,000 rubles ($443) for illegally crossing the Russian border.

The court withdrew the accusation of complicity in shelling Ukrainian civilians, saying this matter was outside the jurisdiction of the Russian court.

Savchenko was accused of directing artillery fire during hostilities between Kiev government troops and separatists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014, which resulted in the killing of two Russian reporters.

Savchenko, who is considered a national hero by many Ukrainians, has denied the charges and said she had been kidnapped in Ukraine and then handed over to Russian authorities.

The Kremlin has so far refused to yield to appeals of various leaders, including US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to release Savchenko.
The second suicide bomber in Brussels airport terror attacks has been identified as Najim Laachraoui, a man wanted by police in connection with the Paris attacks, Belgian media reported on Wednesday citing police sources.

Laachraoui, a suspected accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, had been the subject of a police appeal for information since Monday after his DNA was found at two properties in Belgium believed to have been used as hideouts after the November 13 attacks in Paris, Xinhua reported.

Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports that Laachraoui blew himself up at Brussels airport on Tuesday, at the same time as Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who was formally identified as one of the bombers by Belgium's federal prosecutor earlier on Wednesday.

A third person suspected of being involved in the Brussels airport bombing remains unidentified and is still on the run.

Belgium's federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said on Wednesday that the third man, who was wearing a white jacket and black hat at the time of the attack, ran away from the scene. He had been carrying the biggest bomb of the three which did not explode.

At least 34 people were killed and 261 injured in explosions on Tuesday at the Brussels airport and on a city subway train close to the European Union institutions, according to the latest figures from the Belgian federal prosecutor.
The severed head of cow has been placed at a Hindu cow sanctuary in Pennsylvania and the state police are investigating the crime as a case of "ethnic intimidation."

The cow's head was dumped at over the weekend at the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary in Monroe County, according to media reports.

The Express Times newspaper reported Tuesday that Pennsylvania State Police are calling the incident which happened between Saturday night and Sunday morning "ethnic intimidation, criminal trespass and harassment."

State Trooper Carrie A. Gula, who was quoted by the newspaper, said explaining the intimidation description, "The victim's is Hinduism. In this religion, the cow is (a) symbol of life and may never be killed."

None of the 20 cows at the sanctuary were hurt, local TV station WNEP reported on its web site. The severed head was left where Sankar Sastri, who runs the sanctuary could find it, "but he's not letting this taint what the sanctuary is all about," reporter Jim Hamill said. "Now the sanctuary has a chance to educate folks about Hindu beliefs in spite of a disturbing deed."

Sastri told the station, "I hope this doesn't magnify anymore. I don't want to take it to the next side. I hope just a prank. They probably didn't realize. People are unaware of what we're about." Sastri would use the incident to inform the local people about Hinduism, Hamill said.

The Express Times reported that the cow sanctuary was founded about 20 years ago by Sastri, a retired professor and dean at the New York City College of Technology, and relocated to the area around Jackson Township from another location in the state only about about a month ago.

He told the newspaper's web site, lehighvalleylive.com, that finding the cow's head was like the scene from "The Godfather" movie where a severed horse head is left on a man's bed as a warning from the mob boss. But "they didn't leave it in my bed." Sastri said.

Rajan Zed, the president of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism, said that "Hindus are highly concerned" over the incident and asked Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Monroe County Chairperson John R. Moyer to reassure the community.

"It was shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful US Hindu community numbering about three million, who had made lot of contributions to the nation and society, to receive such signals of hatred and intimidation," he said in a statement.
Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) on Wednesday announced an additional investment of 35 million dollars (over Rs.233 crore) to build a power electronics factory in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.

"The company will build a power electronics factory on newly acquired land adjacent to a motor factory of TMEIC Industrial Systems India Private Limited," the company said in a statement here.

The new factory at Vasanthanarasapura Industrial Area in Yalladadlu village, 90 km from Bengaluru, will produce power electronics products like PV inverters, motor drive inverters and Uninterruptible Power Supplies.

Previously, TMEIC invested nearly 65 million dollars in the motor factory, the statement said.

Slated to commence operations from the summer of 2017, the new factory will majorly hire locals.

"Together with relocating operations from the current power electronics factory acquired from AEG Power Solutions BV in 2014, approximately 250 people are expected to be employed at this production site," the statement said.

According to the statement, the company received a large volumes of new PV inverter orders enabling the factory to work at full capacity.

TMEIC aims to supply made-in-India PV inverters locally as well as globally.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton cruised to big victories in the crucial Arizona primaries, but rivals Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders spoiled the party somewhat, with Cruz taking Utah and Sanders Utah and Idaho.

With his easy victory in Arizona's winner-take-all primary, Trump added another 58 delegates to take his tally of delegates to 739, while closest rival Cruz slowed Trump's momentum somewhat by adding 40 delegates to his tally of 425 with his victory Tuesday in Utah.

A strong victory in Utah with its sizable Mormon population with more than 50 percent vote gave Cruz all the state's 40 delegates but he failed to narrow the gap with Trump in the race for 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination.

As the results trickled in, Trump was in the midst of a Twitter battle with Cruz over an ad featuring a nude picture of his.

He threatened: "Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!"

Cruz responded by saying that the ad was not from him and if he went after his wife, then Trump was a "coward".

"Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless," Cruz tweeted.

On the Democratic side, front-runner Clinton won the biggest state of Arizona with a sizeable minority population.

Although rival Sanders won the other two nomination contests in Idaho and Utah, she chose to devote her victory speech in Seattle Tuesday night to hitting Trump, saying he'd incite "more fear".

"This is not just a contest between different candidates. This is a contest between fundamentally different views of our country, our values and our future," Clinton said.

Sanders who has suggested his fortunes would change when the Democratic contest moved West, easily won the Idaho and Utah caucuses on Tuesday night.

Analysts suggest Sanders could sweep three upcoming Democratic caucuses on Saturday in Washington state, Alaska and Hawaii, where the only Hindu-American member of the US House Tulsi Gabbard has been one of Sanders' highest-profile surrogates.

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CNN the campaign has mapped out a path to the nomination that doesn't require him to run the table in the remaining states.

"We have a path to victory. It's not an easy path, but it never has been an easy path," Weaver said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
A Japanese man attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) in Syria was detained in Turkey, private Dogan news agency reported Wednesday.

Turkish security forces captured the man in the southeastern province of Gaziantep bordering the neighbouring country, while searching a suspicious car in the Nizip district of Gaziantep, Xinhua cited the report as saying.

The suspect confessed during his interrogation that he came to Nizip in order to cross the border and join IS. He said he spoke to a Syrian individual by phone who convinced him to join IS, said the report.

The detained suspect will be deported once his documents are finalised at the courthouse.
US-India Business Council (USIBC) has come out in strong support of legislation that recognizes India's status as an essential US defence partner and facilitates additional co-production/co-development and trade.

The trade body comprised of 350 top tier US and Indian companies advancing US-India commercial ties, Tuesday expressed support for a bill introduced in the House of Representatives by George Holding, Republican co-chair of the House India Caucus.

The US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act amends the Arms Export Control Action in order to formalise India's status for the purpose of congressional notifications as a major partner of equal status as America's treaty allies and closest partners.

"This sends an important signal to the Indian defence establishment that today's political conditions are fundamentally different from the past," USIBC said.

The legislation also encourages actions necessary to promote defence trade, it said. For the US, it encourages the government to designate an official to focus on US-India defence cooperation and facilitate the transfer of defence technology.

It also provides for maintaining a special office in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), focus on enhancing India's operational capabilities, and promote co-production/co-development opportunities.

For India, it encourages the government to authorise combined military planning with the US for missions of mutual interest such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter piracy, and maritime domain awareness.

"Defence trade between our countries is one of the strongest areas of the bilateral economic relationship and has risen from some $300 million to over $14 billion over the last 10 years," USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said.

"This bill not only puts India on par with other NATO allies in terms of the notification period, it sends a clear signal to Washington and Delhi that defense cooperation should be a top priority for both governments," he said.

"That's why we have supported this bill from the very beginning and we thank Congressman Holding for his leadership in promoting deeper defense ties between the US and India," Aghi said.

"Together the US and India face a range of shared security challenges and I believe we should be encouraging deeper defence ties and closer cooperation between our countries," Holding said.

"The US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act will build upon the recent progress made to strengthen our strategic partnership by facilitating closer collaboration, promoting greater defence trade, and by elevating India's status," he said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
US First Lady Michelle Obama chose a floral gown made of Kashmiri fabric and embroidery by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan for dinner on the concluding day of the Obamas' visit to Cuba on Tuesday.

"The dress Michelle Obama selected for the Cuban dinner was in a Kashmiri fabric," the New York Times reported.

"It was embroidered with an Indian floral motif, and was similar to one in the same fabric from the designer's pre-fall collection," it added.

The embroidery on the gown was Kashmir's traditional "Ari work".

The dinner's dress code was "casual cocktail".

Celebrated designer Khan told the media "after what America has done for me, coming from India, I need to give back to this country".

"She (Michelle Obama) has made my brand and put America back in fashion," he said. "I would do anything for her."

Barack Obama is the first US President since 1928 to undertake a three-day visit to Cuba along with his wife Michelle Obama and senior officials. He arrived in Cuba on Sunday.
The US-India Business Council (USIBC) led a mission on exploring avenues for joint collaboration and investment in clean technology across three Indian cities -- New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

The trade body comprised of 350 top-tier US and Indian companies advancing US-India commercial ties led talks to grow bilateral cooperation in innovation, protecting the environment and meeting the country's ambitious clean energy targets.

The delegation included USIBC members working in the US-India energy corridor, presenting a board range of opportunity in the renewable energy space such as GE, AES, 8minutenergy, First Solar, Applied Materials, CH2M among others, it said Tuesday.

The Indian government has augmented its solar target fivefold to 100 GW and wind target to 60 GW by 2022, representing a $125 billion investment opportunity, USIBC noted.

The objective of the meetings was to create sustained engagement on national and state-level policies and regulatory frameworks, such as the National Solar Mission and state solar policies, and thereby, ensure a level playing field for all participants, it said.

There has been considerable progress in transmission, but the problem of congestion remains, both at the interstate and intra-state levels, USIBC said.

Through its meetings with senior Government of India officials, the delegation explored avenues for joint collaboration and technical exchanges in areas such as energy storage and transmission infrastructure, wind and solar power generation, energy efficiency technology and services.

It also articulated how investors can work in stride with both state and central governments to meet the country's ambitious clean energy targets of installing 175 GW by 2022.

"The strong focus on renewable energy will help increasing access to energy for all Indian citizens as part of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's ambitious reform agenda," USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said.

"There is also an urgent need for long-term financial solutions in the clean energy economy. American enterprise is eager to help in all ways possible," he said.

The delegation engaged with senior Government of India leaders to develop an action plan for a regulatory and infrastructure environment that will further foster innovation, attract investment, create jobs and fulfil initiatives such as Make in India, Innovate in India," Aghi said.

The delegation met among others officials in key central ministries and Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers Anandiben Patel and N. Chandrababu Naidu.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
With reference to the editorial, "Misinterpreting nationalism" (March 22), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is returning to its Hindutva roots. This is clear from its political resolution, adopted at the recently concluded national executive meeting. The shift of emphasis from "development" to "nationalism" perhaps became necessary for the party, as its support base seemed to be dwindling.

By consciously shedding the prefix "Hindu" from its core ideology of "Hindu nationalism", the BJP is trying to hide its real face. But given its adherence to the Hindutva ideology, it cannot repudiate "Hindu nationalism" replacing it with "Indian nationalism". The party of "hyper-nationalism" has now made chanting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" the marker and test of patriotism without expressly acknowledging or highlighting the depiction of the fair-skinned, multi-armed goddess as Bharat Mata in Hindutva iconography.

A secular country, varied and explosive in its mix of race and religion, should be able to avoid being personified as a goddess. "Jai Hind" is as good a nationalist chant as "Bharat Mata ki Jai". The state must remain neutral on matters of how its citizens express their love for the country.

There is nothing patriotic about calling fellow citizens unpatriotic. The kind of nationalism systematically espoused by the Sangh Parivar seeks to homogenise India's heterogeneous society. India's rich diversity is what makes it unique. The Sangh Parivar should accept the representation of the country as a dark-skinned tribal woman and shed its upper class image.

Empty platitudes of patriotism relegate bread-and-butter issues to the background where they are not addressed. It will be difficult for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pursue his "vikas" agenda at a time when the president of his party as well as party workers have opted for Hindutva under the cloak of "nationalism". Who knows what will happen if the the Sangh Parivar succeeds in equating Hindu revivalism with patriotism.

G David Milton Maruthancode



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The late Devakanta Baruah, who was the Congress president just before the Emergency when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister, secured a place in history for perhaps the most quotable quote in Indian politics: India is Indira, Indira is India. Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu is also perhaps aiming to become a part of history books, if one goes by his remarks over the weekend that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Gods gift to India, messiah for the poor and the modifier whom the nation needs. There are various theories doing the rounds for Mr Naidus over-the-top remarks, one of which suggested that his term in the Rajya Sabha is ending soon and he had to show off his loyalty to his supreme leader.
Is it an opportunity or a risk? It is a question many direct stock investors would be asking themselves when they see prices of good companies hitting 52-week lows.

In the past couple of months, a large number of companies have hit these lows. As many as 101 stocks, or 50 per cent stocks in the BSE-200, have hit such lows since February. These include Tata Consultancy Services, Lupin, Colgate-Palmolive, Oil India, Castrol India and other marquee companies. But, should you jump to buy these?

Says investment advisor Arun Kejriwal: When stocks fall that sharply, investors wonder that whether it is attractive or not. Sometimes, things are go right but one can also get stuck.Nilesh Shah, managing director, Kotak Securities believes that each stock has to be valued on the basis on valuation and not only on the basis of 52-week low or high. Many times, a fairly-valued 52-week high stock is better than an expensively valued 52-week low stock. It is important to evaluate fundamentals of stocks than its price movement, he says, adding that it is not necessary that a stock on a 52-week high is expensive or vice-versa.

However, there are investors who make decisions based on anchoring bias. Anchoring bias is relying too heavily on the very first bit of information while making decisions. So, information like 52-week high or low becomes a point to exit or enter stocks, which might either be too expensive or fundamentals arent very strong. It is much like buying something in a sale which you might not need or use.

Market experts believe that direct stock investors need to focus on a number of things such as fundamentals of the company, the business, quality of management, growth potential, etc. Often, such falls are caused by a genuine problem that is likely to continue for some more time. And investors, in their pursuit of bargain hunting, might land up into value traps.

According to Kejriwal, investors need to be clear about a few things. If only a couple of stocks have fallen to 52-week lows, they need to find a reason and see whether it is a good buying opportunity. Such good companies can be held for the medium to long term.

However, when a large number of stocks fall at the same time, there are expectations that there will be some buyback. But, any investor buying into this fall should be clear that they will exit on the bounce back because otherwise there are chances of getting stuck.

Investors can also use this as a strategy, but then it has to be a medium-to-long-term one. Such investors cannot just buy once and stop. If the stock falls again, they should buy more. This should be used more as an investment style, adds Kejriwal. This will help them average out costs and give a substantial boost when things turnaround.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have made a division of labour at the top to ensure it gets the widest coverage possible before hitting the election circuit.

A scene at the partys national executive meeting paints a picture of how the plans to execute this strategy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Amit Shah sat next to each other on the dais at a meeting held in New Delhi this weekend. On Shahs right sat senior leader L K Advani and on Modis left was Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The backdrop was of a huge hoarding with larger-than-life pictures of the two men from Gujarat on one side, and on the other side were tad smaller photographs of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani.

The speeches of Modi and Shah reflected this division of labour. The thrust was somewhat identical to when Vajpayee and Advani were at the helm of the party. Vajpayee represented benign pluralism of the and Advani followed the aggressive Hindutva line.

On Sunday, Modi attempted to be Vajpayee Mark-II. In his speech, references to the BJPs commitment to nationalism were cursory and he also alluded to the recently held world Sufi conference. However, much of Modis speech was devoted to the governments development agenda and its social welfare schemes. The PM said his government would march forward with one mantra  development, development and development. He asked party workers to not get distracted by other issues thrown at them by opposition parties.

Shah persisted with the nationalism line. He said criticism of the nation was not permissible, while that of the party, the government and its leadership would be tolerated. The political resolution of the party said it was unacceptable that people have refused to raise the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai (victory to mother India).

The BJP has laid out its for the next three years. It will go into the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on the twin planks of nationalism and development. During the two-day BJP national executive, Shahs speech focused on the issue of nationalism, as did the press conferences of Jaitley, senior leaders Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The only person to talk about development was Modi. To buttress the point that Modi was Indias vikas purush, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu described him as the Modifier of Developing India.

A BJP strategist said there was clarity in the party that it needed to keep its core support base engaged by keeping the pot simmering on the issue of nationalism, while the PM would lead the government to retain all who had voted for Modi for his promise of achhe din, or better days.

For this, the party machinery would organise events that exposed the Oppositions lack of commitment to the cause of nationalism. The PM, however, would always be seen on platforms that espoused social harmony and would inaugurate projects that signified development.

The Prime Ministers Office had identified construction of roads, development of ports, electrification of villages and development of the telecom sector as some of the key projects to showcase the governments intent as well as delivery. It is also hoping that money, in the form of subsidies, would start reaching each beneficiarys bank account by the time the next Lok Sabha elections come around.

BJP leaders said it had the Congress and Left parties on the run on the issue of nationalism, which would help it outmanoeuvre the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress as also the Sangh Parivars ideological enemies, the Left parties. On Wednesday, on the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, the BJP launched a three-day event to highlight the bankruptcy of the Congress on the issue of nationalism.

But what has worried the party leadership was a re-run of the 2004 India Shining campaign. It leaders pointed out that the Vajpayee government of 2004 couldnt adequately spread its message of its achievements and lost the elections. In the national executive, both Shah and Modi harped on the need for the more-than-110 million workers of the BJP to take the message of the government and the party to the grassroots, and devised several plans to ensure round-the-year engagement of party cadres with the people at large.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra on Wednesday called Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit chief Sat Pal Sharma for separate meetings on Friday to discuss government formation even as the regional party is set to hold its crucial legislature party meeting on Thursday.

"Through separate communications, the Governor has intimated the President, JK PDP and the state president of the BJP to meet him on Friday, 25th March,"a Raj Bhawan spokesman said in Jammu, as signs emerged for return of the PDP-BJP coalition government after a prolonged deadlock.

The meetings with the two leaders in Jammu have been scheduled to be held separately, he said. The state is under Governors rule from January 8.

A PDP leader said a meeting of the legislature party will be held in Srinagar at 4 pm on Thursday.

He said Mehbooba will preside over the meet which comes against the backdrop of her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Tuesday.

The leader said a final decision is expected after Mehbooba will take the opinion of the legislators on the formation of the government.

The party will likely make an announcement on the future of alliance with the BJP after the meeting, he said.

The BJP, meanwhile, asserted that it has not accepted any new conditions from PDP and threw the ball in Mehbooba's court, saying her party has to make the next move for government formation.

Party General Secretary Ram Madhav's assertion came a day after Mehbooba's meeting with Modi which she had termed as "very positive and good", triggering speculation that their talks over government formation was back on track following months of impasse.

"We have not accepted any new condition from the PDP," Madhav, a party's pointsman in the state, told PTI in Delhi.

The talks between Modi and Mehbooba were cordial during which specific issues were not discussed, he said, adding that she also did not put up any condition during the meeting.

The PDP-BJP coalition, after 10 months rule from March 2015 to January this year, ran into rough weather following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Sayeed breathed his last in a hospital in Delhi on January 7 following which the state came under Governor's rule the next day.

Since then, the PDP leadership sought Confidence Building Measures and assurances on the implementation of the already agreed Agenda for Alliance from the Centre for forming the government again.
At least 11 people have been killed, including six shot dead by security forces, and about a thousand others injured in poll-related violence during local elections in Bangladesh, police said today.

Much of the violence was in the southern coastal town of Mathabria, where clashes broke out yesterday when thousands of ruling party supporters attacked police and border guards and snatched ballot boxes.

At least five persons were killed and several others injured in Mathbaria area that saw the deadliest violence.

Apart from this, two persons were killed in Cox's Bazar and one each in Jhalakathi, Netrakona and Sirajganj in polls-related violence.

Police opened fire when the ruling party workers refused to move away after hearing that their candidate was losing.

Three persons died on the spot while three others passed away on way to hospital in Barisal.

Main opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called the polls a "farce" as their nominees bagged only 30 seats in 712 union councils and attributed the violence to the newly introduced system of contesting polls with party tickets.

"We previously feared the new system will spark violence, our apprehension turned true," BNP Spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon told PTI a day after the polls.

Awami League activists had laid siege to a college centre where the counting was under way, said police official Abu Ashraf. Most of the dead were ruling party supporters.

Yesterday, 712 Union Parishad went to the polls, held on the party lines for the first time. The Election Commission initially had planned to conduct elections to 730 Union Parishad but it had to postpone the polls in 18 places due to legal complications.

Elections to 643 Union Parishad are slated for March 31 in the second phase and 681 Union Parishad on April 23 in the third phase. Around 2,200 unions will go to polls in three more phases till June.

BNP, which boycotted the 2014 general elections but decided to take part in the local government polls to revamp their politics, said almost all the local council polls were marred by violence, rigging and fraud including ballot- stuffing by the ruling party supporters.

The elections will not change the political landscape of the country, but a sweeping victory would consolidate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's hold on power ahead of the general elections in 2019.
With the death of 11 more persons today, the death toll from the spurious liquor tragedy in Pakistan's southern Sindh province during Holi celebrations has reached 35 including 33 Hindus.

Police said that 11 more deaths reported from the Tando Mohammad Khan and Mirpurkhas districts of the province.

Though there are reports that 35 people have died so far, the death toll could be higher as there could be victims who died at home and were not brought to the hospitals because of fear of police action and arrests.

The first cases of toxic liquor poisoning were reported from Tando Muhammad Khan near Hyderabad city on Monday when around 35 members of the Hindu community including six women were admitted to separate hospitals. They had consumed the liquor to celebrate the festival of Holi.

Around 20 deaths were reported from the Liaquat University hospital and another 11 from district government hospital in Tando Muhammad Khan area, Deputy Inspector General Hyderabad Khadim Rind said.

In a separate incident, two Muslim villagers died in Mirpurkhas area of the province last night after consuming spurious liquor at a wedding.

Meanwhile, residents staged a protest against the police for failing to stop the illegal sale of hooch in their neighbourhood.

Authorities have suspended the area Station House Officer and two persons have been arrested for brewing the illegal alcoholic drink.

The latest incident is a reminder of a similar tragedy in Hyderabad and Karachi in 2014 during Eid-ul Azha celebrations when 29 people had died after consuming hooch.

Alcohol consumption is banned in Pakistan for Muslims but non-Muslims are allowed to ration alcohol from special liquor shops run by provincial excise departments.
Four youths have been arrested here for allegedly assaulting a cleric of a mosque at Bhaju in Shamli district.

According to SP (Shamli) Vijay Bhushan, the four youths have been identified as Mohit, Amit, Shani and Gaurav, all residents of Bhaju village.

The cleric, Noor Mohammed, was allegedly assaulted by the four accused as he was travelling on a bus from Shamli to Shahpur near Bhaju village.

A case has been registered in this connection, police said.
A Sri Lankan court banned foreign travel by six directors of a foundation that police said was remitted some of the USD 101 million stolen in the hacking of Bangladesh Central Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

The Immigration Department will implement the order, spokesman Lakshan Zoysa said.

Colombo chief magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya issued the order Monday based on a police investigation of a complaint made by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Sri Lanka's Central Bank.

The police reported to court that the Shalika Foundation had opened an account at a private bank in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Jan. 28 and six days later, that account received USD 19,999,977.50. The bank alerted the Bangladesh Central Bank about the remittance and returned the money.

Police said the foundation was set up to help low-income families. The address of its office appears to be a closed-up house in Colombo, and the foundation has no other known contact information.

In addition to the stolen funds remitted to Sri Lanka, USD 81 million was transferred to the Philippines. Bangladesh Central Bank Governor Atiur Rahman resigned last week, and Bangladesh authorities have said they were considering suing the Reserve Bank over the loss of the funds.

However, the Federal Bank said it found no evidence its own systems were compromised, and attention increasingly has focused on suspected vulnerabilities in Bangladesh bank's cybersecurity.
At least seven people were killed in clashes today west of Tripoli between tribesmen and forces loyal to Libya's unrecognised government, an army officer said.

The violence in the village of Touebiya, 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the capital, stemmed from a failed burglary.

Tribesmen attacked the village and burnt down homes, said Colonel Abderrazaq al-Kharmani, an officer with forces that support the unrecognised government in Tripoli.

"We seized one of their vehicles, destroyed another and killed seven of their fighters," he told AFP.

Kharmani said the confrontation broke out a day after a member of the tribal forces had been beaten to death with a stick by a woman in Touebiya as he tried to rob her home.

The tribesmen had attacked the village seeking to avenge his death, according to the officer.

Libya has descended into political chaos, with two rival governments seeking control, and insecurity since its 2011 revolution which ousted longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Aam Aadmi Party today said it was fully geared up for Punjab assembly polls slated for 2017 and dared both SAD and NCP to hold the elections ahead of the scheduled time.

Speaking during the political conference organised on the occasion of Hola Mohalla here, AAP, Punjab Convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur said he came to know that both Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Amarinder are issuing statements that there was a possibility of early polls in Punjab.

There are indications that Badal wanted to sacrifice the SAD-BJP alliance government on the SYL issue to attain 'martyrdom' for which he was planning to hold elections much earlier than the scheduled time, Chhotepur claimed adding that even Amarinder, who is having political nexus with the Badals, has also sent signals for the early assembly polls in Punjab.

"AAP wants to sound both Badal and Amarinder loud and clear that we are completely ready for the polls even if they want to hold these whether in two or six months, whenever.

The entire Punjab knows that Congress laid the foundation stone of the SYL and it was during Akali government that 90per cent construction of the SYL was completed", said Chhotepur.

AAP national spokesperson and In-charge Punjab Affairs Sanjay Singh said during the last nine years of "misrule" of SAD-BJP alliance, deterioration set in Punjab.

Sanjay Singh also cautioned people of Punjab that in their pursuit to hold early polls the SAD-BJP alliance might "create divisions " within various communities on "communal lines " and also try to "spread politics of hate" on the basis of caste and creed.

Farmers are being forced to commit suicides while the youth is being constantly pushed into the whirlpool of drugs, he alleged.

"Farmers are committing suicides and soldiers are getting martyred, but state government failed to take care of them, but in Delhi in a true spirit of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan', AAP govt gave Rs 50,000 per hectare to farmers as compensation of their damaged crop and martyred's family was given Rs One crore," Sanjay Singh said.

Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann alleged "While farmers are committing suicides due to debt and Industry of the state is ruined, Akali Dal is giving an advertisement of prosperous Punjab in its rule of nine years.

"Both Akalis and Congress are under panic of AAP, which



'could be evident of their frustration of referring us as 'Topiawale," Mann said.

"They make fun of us and term us Dilliwale, I ask Sukhbir Why he live in Delhi and why every evening helicopters drops him to Delhi only? Punjab is not of Sukhbir, Majithia and Amarinder only, it is native land of all Punjabis, who are proud and determined to get rid of them", Mann said.

"Akalis have looted you a lot and when they will offer you money for votes, grab it immediately as it is all of yours but give them a befitting reply in EVMs", Sangrur MP appealed.

SAD and Congress are trying to befool the public, but they don't know 'ye jo public hai ye sab jaanti jai' (People are smart enough to understand everything), Mann said.

"Punjab is passing through a phase which once again needs your support and you need to vow to teach lesson to those who have been destroying your motherland", Ashutosh said.

"Recently a survey conducted by a renowned agency has predicted AAP 89 seats in Punjab, but people of Punjab have termed this survey as wrong and claimed that AAP is being underestimated, as it will definitely cross the figure of 100 seats in Punjab assembly polls", Ashutosh said.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau has questioned retired IAS officer G S Sandhu in connection with a land deal case of 2011.

Sandhu appeared before the ACB yesterday, investigating officer Bajrang Shekhawat said.

Sandhu, the then Additional Principal Secretary of Rajasthan's Urban Development and Housing Ministry (UDH), has been summoned again on March 29 for questioning in connection with the illegal transfer ofleasedeedof a cooperative land to a private firm in 2011.

The lease deed was issued by Jaipur Development Authority in 2011 but was cancelled in 2013 following objection from company partner Manju.

The matter was later probed by the ACB which arrested RAS officer Nishkam Diwakar, company owner Shailendra Garg and interrogated former UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal in October last year.
Police in Argentina have arrested a man who allegedly walked into a radio station carrying a belt with fireworks and threatening to use them as explosives.

The security ministry says police arrested journalist Carlos Alberto Serbali in the office of state-run Radio Nacional in downtown Buenos Aires after he threatened to detonate a bomb inside the radio station today.

President Barack Obama is on a two-day visit to Argentina and security measures have been heightened after the terrorist attack in Belgium. The building is located about a mile from the presidential palace where Obama met Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich tells the government's Telam agency that authorities are still investigating and that she hopes the incident is unrelated to Obama's visit.
An army personnel was today sent to jail for a year for molesting and sexually harassing a woman in a drunken state by a Delhi court, which observed that he did not deserve any leniency as his duty being an armyman was to protect and not be the perpetrator.

Special Judge Hemani Malhotra awarded the jail term to T Manikadan, a resident of Delhi Cantonment, while allowing the appeal of Delhi Police against his acquittal by a trial court.

"Considering the nature of offence, coupled with the fact that convict being in Indian Army was to protect and instead turned into a perpetrator, he does not deserve any leniency.

"However, interest of justice shall be met with if he is sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for the period of one year and a fine of Rs 5000...," the court said.

"It stands firmly established that respondent T Manikadam had outraged the modesty and sexually harassed the complainant," the court said.

According to the police, the incident took place on the night of February 22, 2013 when the woman was going towards New Delhi Railway Station after finishing her work at office.

When she reached near Paharganj bridge, Manikadan, who seemed to be in drunken state, came from the front side and molested her, it said, adding that the woman raised an alarm and the man was caught by passersby and handed over to police.

The man, in his defence, had claimed he was falsely implicated by the woman. He alleged that when he was returning after withdrawing money from ATM, the woman caught him from behind, stating that he had assaulted her.

The court, however, said his argument was contradictory.

It said the woman remained consistent regarding the incident and there was no reason to doubt about her testimony as she had no previous enmity with the man.

"Her testimony regarding the man being drunk at the time of the incident is supported by his MLC which mentions the fact that he was smelling of alcohol when he was medically examined on the date of the incident," the judge said.

The man sought leniency in sentence saying he is serving in Indian Army and is the sole bread earner in his family comprising old parents, wife and two children.

Public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava had sought maximum punishment for the convict saying he did not deserve any leniency.
Ashwini Kumar today took over as Chief Executive Officer of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), a unit of the Maharatna company SAIL.

Earlier, he was functioning as the Executive Director (Works) of RSP, a release from RSP said.

A BE in Metallurgy from IIT, Roorkee Kumar had joined Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) of SAIL as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in April 1980, it said.
An Australian woman whose website published made-up stories about foreigners that prosecutors said incited racial hatred was jailed in Singapore today after falling foul of colonial-era sedition laws.

Ai Takagi was jailed for 10 months, the stiffest sentence ever imposed for the offence in strictly governed Singapore, which clamps down hard on any activity seen as promoting racial and class hatred.

Takagi was the Australia-based editor and owner of "The Real Singapore", which enjoyed huge popularity but was shut down after she and her Singaporean husband were arrested while visiting the island last year.

Prosecutors said Takagi, 23, posted fabricated stories to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in online advertising revenues for her site, which also had a Facebook page with a large following.

District Judge Salina Ishak said a strong sentence was needed because Takagi was inciting "vitriol and hatred" against all foreigners in Singapore.

Takagi, who is eight weeks pregnant with her first child, read an apology in court before the sentence was handed down.

She was given a month to settle her personal affairs before serving her prison sentence.

"Before this case started, I was not fully aware of the level of sensitivity needed when dealing with topics related to racial and religious issues in Singapore," she said in court.

"I sincerely apologise for the harm I have caused through my actions," said the Japanese-Australian law student, who expressed hope that she would someday be allowed to settle permanently in Singapore.

Singapore's sedition laws make it an offence to promote hostility between different races or classes in the multiracial society, which is mainly ethnic Chinese with large Malay and Indian minorities.

But critics say sedition laws, dating back to British colonial rule, can be used to clamp down on free speech.

About 40 per cent of the labour-starved island's 5.5 million people are foreigners, many of them from China, India and the Philippines.

Singapore has also cracked down on foreigners for sedition.

Last September Filipino nurse Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 29, was jailed for four months after insulting Singaporeans online and calling on his countrymen to take over the city-state.

Takagi had pleaded guilty to four counts of sedition lodged against her and her Singaporean husband, Yang Kaiheng, 27.
A Bangladeshi cyber-security expert reported missing after he criticised the central bank over an USD 81 million heist has reappeared, police said today.

The family of IT expert Tanvir Hassan Zoha reported him missing on Friday after he told a local TV station that "apathy" about computer security at the central bank had contributed to the theft, details of which emerged earlier this month.

Hackers stole the money from the Bangladesh Bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on February 5 and managed to transfer it electronically to accounts in the Philippines.

Police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder said Zoha had been found in the early hours of today near a railway station in the north of the capital in a disoriented state.

Sorder said police took Zoha home, deciding not to question him "considering his mental condition".

The family of the 34-year-old cyber-security specialist had alleged he and a friend were picked up by men in plainclothes while returning home from work on March 16.

The friend was later released but Zoha remained missing while his mobile phone was switched off and his Facebook account deactivated.

"Once he feels better, we will ask him about his disappearance. Right now his health is our priority," Zoha's uncle Mahbubul Alam told reporters.

Bangladesh has been scrambling to contain the fallout from the scandal, which cost the central bank governor and his two deputies their jobs.

Last week the finance minister accused central bank officials of being complicit in the theft.
Foreign banks looking to deal with Iran following the lifting of sanctions must avoid engaging with entities that remain subject to an embargo by Washington, a US official said today.

"What banks need to be careful about now is ... Not doing business with sanctioned parties in Iran, and there are some that are still sanctioned for terrorism," said Chris Backemeyer, the principal deputy coordinator for sanctions policy at the US Department of State.

Speaking to reporters in Dubai, Backemeyer, who was one of the negotiators in the talks that resulted in Iran's nuclear deal with major powers, named the Revolutionary Guards in particular.

In July last year, world powers including the United States signed a landmark deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to lift crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme.

But banks still face restrictions in the United States on handling transactions involving Iran.

"They (banks) need to be careful, and they need to be careful not to route things through the United States because... It's still prohibited for transactions (to go) through the United States," Backemeyer said.

The US official was in Dubai as part of a delegation to explain the deal with Iran to businesses. He pointed out that the US embargo on Iran "remains in place."



"Americans cannot engage in commercial activities with Iran. American companies aren't buying Iranian oil and haven't been for a couple of decades. That part hasn't changed," he said.

He said there are a few exceptions to the US embargo introduced by the Iran nuclear deal, including the export of aircraft of US origin for explicit civilian use.

The exemptions also allow the importation of Iranian foodstuff and handicraft, and permit subsidiaries of US firms incorporated abroad to engage with Iran as far as the JCPOA permits.
The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTP) today passed orders to revoke the suspension of seven advocates, who were barred for indiscipline, as per a directive of the Madras High Court here.

A Division Bench, comprising Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice K Ravichandra Babu, had directed BCTP to take a sympathetic view and revoke the interim prohibitory orders against the seven advocates "without prejudice to disciplinary proceedings."



The advocates were barred by the BCTP for indiscipline on a complaint by CISF to the Registrar General of the High court on November 20 2015, alleging that they and two other lawyers had indulged in unruly conduct, intimidation, obstruction, wrongful restraint of CISF personnel, destruction of public property and used abusive language.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has cancelled his visit to China following a series of bomb blasts at Brussels that killed at least 35 people, Chinese Foreign Ministry said today.

China expresses its understanding regarding the cancellation and will remain in communication with the Belgian side, spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing here.

At least 35 people were killed in a series of terrorist attacks claimed by Islamic State (ISIS) yesterday in the Belgian capital.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has extended condolences to his Belgian counterpart.

Michel was planning to pay an official visit to China and to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference later this month.
Israel's intelligence minister accused Belgian leaders of laxity today over the threat posed by homegrown Muslim radicals, the second cabinet member to hit out after the deadly bombings in Brussels.

"If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them," Yisrael Katz told public radio.

Katz charged that not only European leaders but also US President Barack Obama had undermined the battle against jihadist violence with their unwillingness to define it as "Islamic terrorism".

"When you don't define your enemy, you can't lead a worldwide campaign," he said.

Katz, who is also transport minister, is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and widely seen as his principal rival within the party.

He has taken a hawkish position on the wave of violence that has rocked Israel and the Palestinian territories since October, calling for the families of Palestinians implicated in attacks to be sent to Hamas-ruled Gaza as a deterrent.

On Tuesday, another Likud member -- Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis -- lashed out at Europe after the Brussels bombings, accusing it of ignoring the danger of "Islamic terror cells" and focusing on criticising Israel instead.

"Many in Europe have preferred to occupy themselves with the folly of condemning Israel, labelling products, and boycotts," Akunis said on his Facebook page.

"In this time, underneath the nose of the continent's citizens, thousands of extremist Islamic terror cells have grown."



Those comments drew a rebuke from Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who accused Akunis -- a Netanyahu ally -- of "miserable cynicism".
The suicide attackers who struck Brussels airport, killing at least 14 people, had their bombs in their luggage, the local mayor said.

"They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren told AFP.

"They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode," he added.

It was this case that bomb disposal experts blew up later, he added.

Vermeiren said of the airport attacks that "it was a war zone, atrocious to see, atrocious to live through. But strength and solidarity have won."



Belgium's federal prosecutor said earlier that there were two suicide bombers and they were "actively looking" for a third whose bomb did not go off.

Police issued a wanted notice for the suspect, along with a CCTV picture showing a bespectacled man with a goatee beard, wearing a white jacket and black hat, pushing a trolley with a large black bag.

Authorities earlier released a grainy picture of the same man alongside two men with dark hair in dark clothes who were also pushing trollies with similar bags.

Both of those men wore black gloves on their left hands.
Authorities today named two suicide bombers who struck Brussels as brothers linked to the prime suspect in the Paris attacks, as a manhunt for a third assailant in Belgium's bloodiest terror assault gathered pace.

Belgium's federal prosecutor named Ibrahim El Bakraoui as one of two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport Tuesday, while his brother Khalid struck a crowded metro train in coordinated blasts that left 31 dead and 270 injured.

"The third man is on the run," prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said of a man seen on CCTV pushing a trolley through Zaventem Airport alongside the two suicide bombers, shortly before the attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

"He left his bag with the biggest bomb in it which exploded later because it was so unstable," Van Leeuw told a press conference, adding that police had found a massive stash of explosives in a Brussels apartment.

Belgian investigators have unleashed a dragnet, releasing CCTV images of the three airport attackers -- with the second suicide bomber and the third man, on the run, still unidentified.

Belgium stood still at noon to mark a minute's silence for the victims of the carnage that left bodies strewn across the airport's departures hall and a train at Maalbeek station, near the European Union's headquarters.

Police had already been hunting the Bakraoui brothers, both Belgian nationals, over their links to Salah Abdeslam, the key suspect in the Paris attacks that left 130 people dead, who was arrested in Brussels on Friday after four months on the run.

The attackers' link to Abdeslam -- who told investigators he was planning an attack on Brussels -- has underscored fears about Europe's struggle to combat homegrown terrorism.

Van Leeuw revealed that airport bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui had left a desperate "will" on a computer that he dumped in a trash can on the street, in which he said he was being "hunted everywhere".

"I don't know what to do," the letter read. And in an apparent reference to the Paris attacker Abdeslam, he added: "I don't want to end up in a cell next to him."



Investigators had found an unexploded bomb, an IS flag and bomb-making materials in an apartment on the same street in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek on Tuesday night.

The find also included 15 kilos (33 pounds) of TATP high explosive, Van Leeuw confirmed.

Authorities are under heavy pressure over their apparent inability to undermine jihadist networks in Belgium, Europe's top exporter of jihadist fighters to Syria per capita.

Broadcaster RTBF said metro bomber Khalid El Bakraoui had



rented an apartment in Brussels last week under a false name where Abdeslam's fingerprints were found.

He is also linked to another apartment in southern Belgium that Abdeslam and other jihadists used before the Paris attacks.

Three days of national mourning have been declared in a country deeply shocked by the carnage.

King Philippe and Prime Minister Charles Michel led a minute's silence outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, the symbolic capital of Europe that is also home to NATO.

And at the city's Place de la Bourse, defiant applause broke out amongst the large crowd gathered to honour the dead, chanting: "Long live Belgium".

The airport announced it would stay shut through Thursday after the bombings that wrecked its main terminal building.

And while the city's subway system partially reopened after a day of lockdown, Belgium's friendly international football match against Portugal, due to take place in Brussels next Tuesday, was moved to Portugal.

Leaders across Europe have reacted with outrage to the attacks, with the EU vowing to defend democracy and tolerance but also combat terrorism "with all means necessary."



Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity on Tuesday night, while on social media, thousands shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

Analysts said the attacks pointed to a sophisticated jihadist network in Europe, and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there was an "urgent need" to tighten the EU's external borders following the attacks.

Cities across the continent have scrambled to boost security at airports and other potential targets, while Belgium remains on maximum alert.

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Europe had "allowed security to slip", questioning the wisdom of EU's Schengen passport-free zone, while the US warned citizens about the "potential risks" of travelling in Europe.

"I'm a bit afraid, especially for my little brothers," said 18-year-old Dominique Salazar as she took her young siblings to school.

"But we don't have any other choice to get around."



Soldiers were checking passengers' bags and the rush-hour crowds were thinner than usual.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said around 40 nationalities were among the dead and wounded, including citizens of Britain, Colombia, France, Peru and the United States.
Escalating its attack on BJP, Congress today accused the ruling party of practising "false" nationalism saying it had overturned earlier government's decision to name the international airport at Chandigarh after Bhagat Singh.

The party also stepped up its criticism of the Centre on the Rohith Vemula issue in the wake of the controversial Hyderabad Vice Chancellor rejoining the duty notwithstanding demands for his removal.

Party spokesperson Shobha Oza said Haryana's erstwhile Congress government had passed a resolution to name the international airport in Chandigarh after Bhagat Singh.

"This was overturned by BJP. The Prime Minister in 2015 had inaugurated the international airport. Instead of Bhagat Singh, the airport was named after RSS Pracharak Mangal Sain, who had headed the Jan Sangh in the state," she said.

Alleging that this is the "true face of BJP government", she said it exposed "false nationalism" of the BJP and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of remaining silent on this issue.

"This is the nationalism of BJP. Replace the name of a martyr with that of RSS pracharak."



Attacking the government over Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile rejoining duty, she accused him of "forwarding the anti-student and anti-Dalit agenda of the BJP/RSS".

Oza said after the suicide of Rohith, students have been demanding that the Vice Chancellor step down for failure to take action against the "injustice" meted out to them.

"The BJP government seems determined to ruin our top educational institutions. This government is working like a fascist party that is imposing its ideology on students and using the threat of jail when they resist," she said recalling the incidents in various universities and educational institutes including JNU.
Stating that BJP wants to unite the people, party leader Subramanian Swamy today said Indians across the country have the "same DNA" and his genes and that of Muslims are identical.

Blaming the British colonialists for "systematically dividing the people", he said, "we do not want to divide anybody, we want to unite people".

"Even the Muslims have the same DNA as myself," he added.

Emphasising the need for correct history to be taught to the people, Swamy said that "the theory of Aryans and Dravidians was bogus".

Referring to the theory of genetics and testing of DNA, he listed universities like Cambridge, Houston and Mysore which "show that DNA of all Indians from east to west, north to south, is the same".

"There is no difference in the DNA between the Varnas (as well). The Brahmin DNA and the Scheduled Caste DNA is the same. It is a question of education," the BJP leader said.

Referring to Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, Swamy said he went on to achieve great heights fuelled by a relentless pursuit of education.

"That is what education can do in this country. Anyone who is properly educated is equal to anybody else," he said.

Participating in a felicitation for Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi, he praised the services of the pontiff and the mutt to the people and society.

"I hope that a national renaissance in (our) country will come and he (Jayendra Saraswathi) will be able to unite everybody.

"Therefore, to make India one nation, as children of Bharat Mata, that should be the goal and I know Swamiji has inspired people and he will continue to give his blessings to us," said Swamy.

He also said the teachings of Kanchi Mutt and the acharyas gave him the courage to take on his rivals.
A British man was found guilty today of a 2014 plot to kill police, troops and civilians in a drive-by shooting in London, inspired by Islamic State group jihadists.

Suhaib Majeed, 21, was convicted of conspiracy to murder and preparation of terrorist acts following a trial in the British capital.

His school friend, Tarik Hassane, 22, pleaded guilty to the same charges last month.

Jurors had been warned by the trial judge at the Old Bailey court to put Tuesday's deadly events in Brussels out of their mind as they considered their verdict.

Majeed, a physics student at London's King's College, had obtained a gun and ammunition and was discussing buying a moped when police arrested him, the court heard.

A police station and an army reserve barracks in west London had been identified as possible targets, prosecutors said.

Hassane, seen as the ringleader, had been studying medicine in Sudan and was nicknamed "The Surgeon" but came back to Britain as the attack was planned.

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command, told reporters that officers suspected Hassane "was communicating with people in Syria".

"There is every possibility that he was in Syria but I can't confirm that," he added.

The two men were said to have links to the west London mosque attended by Mohammed Emwazi, the IS figure known as Jihadi John who appeared in a string of execution videos before being killed in a drone strike in Syria last year.

"This particular plot has evolved and become more complex than other attacks we've seen here in the UK in recent years involving Daesh," said Haydon, using another term for IS.

"This is about acquiring a moped, committing a drive-by shooting, acquiring a firearm, a silencer and ammunition, and in almost in broad daylight targeting police officers and the military and members of the public and making good their escape," he said.

British police have foiled seven jihadist plots in the last 18 months, according to Home Secretary Theresa May.

No date has yet been fixed for the two men's sentencing.
The Brussels attacker deported by Turkish authorities in 2015 was one of two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Belgian capital's airport, a Turkish official said today.

"It was Ibrahim El Bakraoui," said the senior official, asking not to be named, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Turkey had last year, close to the Syrian border, detained and then deported one of the Brussels attackers.
Two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Brussels are believed to be brothers who were being sought for links with Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris attacks, RTBF television reported today, citing police sources.

RTBF named the two as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, saying Khalid last week rented an apartment in Brussels under a false name where police found Abdeslam's fingerprints after a raid.

Police arrested Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, in a dramatic operation in Brussels on Friday that had been hailed as a "victory" in Belgium's campaign against terrorism.

Khalid is also linked to renting an apartment in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi from where Abdeslam and the other Brussels-based Islamic State jihadists set off to carry out the November 13 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead.

A police source told AFP on Tuesday that a man in the middle of three men seen on closed circuit television at the airport just before the twin blasts could be Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

Other reports Wednesday said one of the brothers, who they did not name, could have been involved in the separate attack Tuesday on the Brussels metro station of Maalbeek, which left about 20 dead.

Belgian police earlier Wednesday issued an appeal for information about the two men believed to have blown themselves up at the airport.

The police posted several tweets with the caption "Terrorism: who knows this man?", showing CCTV close-ups of two men pushing trolleys with suitcases through the airport departure hall.

They gave three slightly different images for each of the two men who the federal prosecutor said Tuesday had likely blown themselves up in the attack.

A third man, dressed in a light coloured jacket and wearing a dark hat, who was shown with the two others in a CCTV grab issued Tuesday, is believed to have fled the scene and is now the subject of a massive manhunt.
Belgian prosecutors said today that two brothers carried out suicide attacks at Brussels airport and on a metro train, with one of them leaving a desperate will in a trash can saying he did not know what do any more.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew himself up in the check-in hall of Zaventem airport while Khalid El Bakraoui attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, Frederic van Leeuw told a conference.

Prosecutors said the confirmed toll from the two attacks was 31 dead and 270 wounded.

Van Leeuw said Bakraoui's "will" said he was "in a rush", and "I don't know what to do ... Hunted everywhere ... No longer safe", adding that "I don't want to end up in a cell next to him".

That appeared to be a reference to Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is reportedly linked to Bakraoui, and who is in custody in Belgium after being captured last week.

The computer on which Ibrahim wrote the will was dumped in a trash can in the same street in the Brussels district of Schaarbeek where investigators found an unexploded bomb, an Islamic State group flag and bomb-making materials last night.

Prosecutors confirmed that they had found 15 kilos of TATP high explosive in the flat.

They also found chemicals including 150 litres of acetone, 30 litres of liquid oxygen, detonators, a suitcase full of nails and other bomb-making equipment including plastic trays, tools and ventilator.

A third man, who was filmed with Ibrahim and a second unidentified suicide bomber and who fled the scene without detonating his device, remains on the run, prosecutors said.

"The third man is on the run; he left his bag with the biggest bomb in it, which exploded later because it was so unstable. This third person remains unidentified and is still being looked for," he said.
A police official in Burundi says an army major has been killed by gunmen in the capital.

Moise Nkurunziza, the deputy spokesman for Burundi's police, said today that Maj Didier Muhimpundu was shot several times in a bar in Bujumbura on Tuesday night.

Muhimpundu's killing follows the assassination of another officer, Lt. Col. Darius Ikurakure, who was shot dead at the army headquarters in Burundi on Tuesday.

Army chief Prime Niyongabo urged unity within the armed forces in a statement after the killing of Ikurakure.

Hundreds of people have been killed in unrest following President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision last year to seek a third term in office, which he won.
The government today approved transfer of 89.72 hectares of land in Dwarka to DIPP for setting up of a world class state-of-the-art exhibition-cum convention centre.

The decision was taken by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Cabinet has given its approval for transfer of land measuring 89.72 hectares in Sector 25, Dwarka, New Delhi, free from all encumbrances, to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for creation of a World class State-of-the-Art Exhibition-cum Convention Centre in Dwarka, New Delhi," an official statement said.

A committee comprising secretaries from various ministries, including DIPP, Urban Development, Expenditure, DEA and Niti Aayog CEO would steer the project including project structuring and development options in a transparent, competitive manner.

The transfer will be done at a nominal sum of Re 1 within six weeks of the decision by the Cabinet, it said, adding the ownership of the said land will vest in and remain with the DIPP.

The Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre would comprise a host of independent facilities like exhibition halls, convention centres, banquet halls, auditoria, arena, financial centre, hotels, Food & Beverage (F&B) outlets & retail services.

Project structuring, initial expenses of non-PPP trunk infrastructure costs will be borne by the government. This may be central government's contribution by way of equity in the project, the statement said.

The project will be developed in Public-Private Partnership mode.

"Permission is also granted to DIPP to lease/sub-lease the land and grant concession to the private entities for development and operation of various facilities. Permission for mixed land use in the project site will be accorded by DDA/ MoUD expeditiously," it said.

It is estimated that the proposed exhibition-cum convention facility will infuse a demand for more than 100 international and local exhibition events annually.

The exhibition-cum convention facility is expected to



generate spending of more than Rs 2 lakh crore per annum after commissioning of the second phase of the project and are estimated to generate over five lakh employment opportunities.

India currently lacks an integrated world-class facility which can meet the requirements of global exhibition-cum- convention operators in terms of space, project facilities, transportation linkages, etc.

Only a few centres in terms of organised space are available in the country. The exhibition ground at Pragati Maidan has been the only organised large space for years which too is facing severe capacity and traffic constraints leading to great inconvenience to citizens and visitors to the centre in particular.

Further, the huge constant demand for exhibitions and related activities puts immense pressure on the existing facilities resulting in lesser time available for maintenance to hold large sized events and maintain international standards.

In order to capitalise on this vast market and to drive India's industry, commerce, trade and tourism, the DIPP has taken the initiative to develop an exhibition-cum-convention centre at Delhi, the statement added.
The Cabinet today approved transfer of 50 acre land to Rajasthan government for setting up of Veterinary University Training and Research Centre.

The Cabinet gave its approval for transfer of 50 acre of land from the Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute (CSWRI) at Avikanagar in Tonk district to the Rajasthan government on free of cost basis for establishment of 'Veterinary University Training and Research Centre'.

The centre would be set up by the Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner.

The transfer of land would be subject to an undertaking by the Rajasthan government that land will be used exclusively for the stated purpose, an official statement said.

CSWRI/ICAR will extend the needed technical support (without any financial involvement) for carrying out research in the area of veterinary and animal science in Rajasthan.

"If the training centre is discontinued in future, the land would be returned back to CSWRI along with the available infrastructure free of cost for veterinary and animal science research purpose," it added.

The establishment of the centre at Avikanagar will strengthen collaboration between the University and the CSWRI for mutual benefit.

The centre would impart training to rural masses, especially women for enhancing livelihood security and gender equity. It would demonstrate and transfer area specific, low cost, eco-friendly and sustainable technologies for enhancing productivity and profitability from livestock rearing.
Shiv Sena today alleged that provocative statements favouring division of Maharashtra are aimed at creating an unrest in the state and an attempt to "weaken and destabilize" Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his own partymen.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told PTI that the party is concerned about whether attempts are on to "weaken and destabilize" the Prime Minister by making such statements given the fact that he had assured he would protect Maharashtra's integrity as long as he is in Delhi.

"We suspect that people from the Prime Minister's own party are trying to make him unstable by raking up the issue. Shiv Sena is unfazed. It is not afraid of a fight. It is ready for the battle for the cause of Maharashtra", said Raut, whose party is a coalition partner of the BJP both at the Centre and in the state.

Asked whether the Sena would seek clarifications on the issue from the BJP and the RSS, Raut, who is leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, said it needed to be understood that Maharashtra has not been created by making requests, submissions and petitions.

"Maharashtra has been created following a struggle and sacrifice by 105 martyrs," he said, insisting "Maharashtra is united, it will remain united."



Replying to a question, he said statements favouring division of Maharashtra could be an attempt aimed at creating unrest in the otherwise peaceful state. "It could be an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the burning problems of drought, scarcity of water, suicide by farmers and rising unemployment", he said.

Asked about RSS ideologue M G Vaidya's statement that Maharashtra needed to be divided in four parts, Raut said as far as he is aware, Vaidya does not hold any position in the Sangh.

In an apparent dig at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said RSS now issues clarifications to the statements of even its chief. The jibe was in obvious reference to RSS clarifying Bhagwat's remarks on review of reservation policy which had created a controversy during the Bihar polls.

Raut's remarks came close on the heels of Vaidya's statement favouring splitting Maharashtra into four states. Vaidya had said, "One state should be Mumbai along with Konkan, Western Maharashtra can be a second state, Vidarbha the third state and Marathwada including north Maharashtra the fourth state called Devgiri.

"The government must set up a commission to carve out smaller states to ensure better governance and rapid progress of the people," he had said.

Earlier this week, Maharashtra Advocate General Shreehari Aney was forced to resign for his remark favouring a separate Marathwada state which led to an uproar in both Houses with the Opposition and even ruling ally Shiv Sena seeking his ouster.

Aney had said at a programme where relief was distributed among families of farmers who committed suicide that Marathwada had suffered more injustice than Vidarbha, and called for a movement for creation of a separate state. A few months ago, he had sparked a similar row by calling for a referendum on a separate Vidarabha state.
BJP President Amit Shah today said there was no truth in the charge against the Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi in the Sankararaman murder case and asserted that it was filed against him for political reasons.

"Years ago, for political intentions, a hurdle happened in the form of legal action over the Kanchi Mutt," he said here hailing Jayendra Saraswathi for his services to the people.

"But the truth cannot be hidden always. For political reasons, big action was taken against the Kanchi mutt on legal basis. However, everyone knew there was no truth in it and the case was filed based on political reasons," he said.

Participating in the 'Sahasra Chandra Darshan' felicitation for the Kanchi seer, who had completed 80 years last year, the BJP leader said "people across the country opposed it and took up cudgels against the action".

He recalled that he sat in a protest demonstration opposing the action against the acharya.

In 2013, Jayendra Saraswathi, junior pontiff Vijayendra Saraswathi and 22 others were acquitted by a Puducherry Sessions Court in the 2004 Sankararaman murder case.

After the September 2004 murder of Sankararaman, manager of a temple, Jayendra Saraswathi was arrested followed by his junior.

Praising the acharya for being easily accessible, Shah said he is a spiritual guide for the people. He lauded the services of Kanchi Mutt to the people and Sanathan Dharma.

"Be it east, west, south or west of the country, for all the people, Kanchi Mutt is the guiding centre," he said.

Stating that it was a blessing to be able to participate in the event, he said the acharya has travelled the length and breadth of Gujarat.

"When a big clash was looming large between two communities, he held talks and restored normalcy in Gujarat," said Shah.

Also, when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, the acharya was honoured for his services to society, he said.

"My prayer to the almighty is that he should guide society and the Mutt should continue to guide the Sanathan Dharma," he said.

In his address, Jayendra Saraswathi recalled that Modi used to travel with him during his spiritual yatra in Gujarat. "During my Gujarat yatra, Modi used to travel with me. He is a very good man who went on to become Prime Minister after being the Chief Minister of Gujarat," he said.

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BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said Jayendra Saraswathi had to undergo imprisonment as he was uniting people.

"Sri Jayendra Saraswahti had to undergo imprisonment. Why ? Because, he was integrating all Hindus and was bringing them in one platform," he said.

"Those who troubled Kanchi Mutt, the law of karma will catch up with them will one day certainly," he said.
The Union Agriculture Ministry has advised the general public not to fall prey to fake job offers by a city-based organisation 'Kisan Mitra Yojana' which is "masquerading" as the government's employment agency.

"It has come to our notice that an organisation by the name of Kisan Mitra Yojana having office at 14/2, Kisan Bhawan Building, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Peera Garhi, New Delhi, is masquerading as an employment agency under the Government of India to dupe gullible unemployed youth by offering fake offers of appointment," a public notice said.

The ministry said there is "no such organisation" under the Ministry of Agriculture.

"It may please be noted that recruitment in this ministry is carried out through a well-established selection procedure mainly through the Staff Selection Commission/Union Public Service Commission," it said.

The ministry further said it does not solicit any money whatsoever from any candidate at any stage of the recruitment process other than the prescribed application fee as advertised in the job notification.

"This ministry will not be responsible in any way for amount paid by the individuals to any individual or group of individuals or agencies purporting to be representing the ministry," the notice added.
China today accused the US of "instigating" the Philippines to go for UN arbitration on the disputed South China Sea issue, citing an American diplomat's remarks that ruling by an international tribunal would be critical for the "rules-based" future of the region.

"As Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said, the Philippines' action of forwarding the arbitration case is unlawful, unfaithful and unreasonable," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing.

"Its stubbornness is clearly the result of behind-the- scenes instigation and political maneuvering. China is surely not going to humour such a political farce," she said.

Hua was reacting to comments by Daniel Russel, top US diplomat for East Asia that the upcoming ruling by an international tribunal on the arbitration case brought by the Philippines would be a critical moment for the "rules-based" future of the region.

"It is interesting that the US has always mentioned the arbitration and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Is the US side does mean to maintain stability and order in the South China Sea, why has it not joined the Convention yet?," Hua asked.

China claims the whole of South China Sea and boycotts the UNCLOS arbitration tribunal questioning its authority, saying it will not recognise the tribunal's decision.

Besides the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the resource-rich South China Sea.

Regarding activity by Chinese Coast Guard vessels near Huangyan Island, Hua said China had to strengthen management in the waters to safeguard its sovereignty as well as the local stability and order as Philippine fishing boats were engaged in illegal activities in the region recently.

Stressing that Huangyan Island is China's inherent territory, Hua said Chinese public service vessels had asked the Philippines boats to leave in accordance with the law, yet those on board ignored the warnings and wielded knifes and threw comburent at Chinese law enforcers.

Such actions "brazenly defy Chinese law enforcement" and "severely endanger the stability and order in the waters of Huangyan Island. Therefore, China had no choice but to strengthen management in the waters of the island," she said.
China today welcomed Nepal's Constitution, describing it as "a historic progress in the political transition of the country", months after India had pressed Nepal to address concerns of the Madhesis under the new statute to make it broad-based and acceptable to all.

China's statement welcoming Nepal's new Constitution comes during the ongoing maiden visit to China by Prime Minister K P Oli who left Beijing for the Boao Summit in Hainan Province.

"The Chinese side welcomed the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal and regarded it as a historic progress in the political transition of Nepal," said a joint statement issued at the end of talks between Oli and Chinese leaders.

China expressed "sincere hope that Nepal could take this opportunity to realise its political stability and economic development".

"The bilateral relations maintained the momentum of healthy development on the basis of the Five Principle of Peaceful Coexistence, which sets a model of harmonious coexistence between the countries of different sizes and social system," the joint statement said.

"The two sides reiterated their firm commitment to respect each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect and accommodate each other's concerns and core interests," according to the joint statement.

When Nepal promulgated its new Constitution on September 20, India had asked the country to resolve differences over the new charter through dialogue free from violence which would enable broad-based ownership and acceptance.

"Throughout the process of Constitution-making in Nepal, India has supported a federal, democratic, republican and inclusive Constitution. We note the promulgation in Nepal today of a Constitution," India had said taking note of the development.

Madhesis, who are largely of Indian-origin, organised a nearly six-month violent protest campaign also imposing a trade blockade with India over the newly-promulgated Constitution which they said discriminated against them.

They only withdrew the campaign that crippled essential supplies to the Himalayan nation and left over 50 people dead, after the Constitution was amended to include their participation in government institutions in proportion to their population and fresh delineation of electoral constituencies.
China today welcomed Nepal's Constitution, describing it as "a historic progress in the political transition of the country", months after India had pressed Nepal to address concerns of the Madhesis under the new statute to make it broad-based and acceptable to all.

China's statement welcoming Nepal's new Constitution comes during the ongoing maiden visit to China by Prime Minister K P Oli who left Beijing today for the Boao Summit in Hainan Province.

"The Chinese side welcomed the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal and regarded it as a historic progress in the political transition of Nepal," said a joint statement issued at the end of talks between Oli and Chinese leaders.

China expressed "sincere hope that Nepal could take this opportunity to realise its political stability and economic development".

"The bilateral relations maintained the momentum of healthy development on the basis of the Five Principle of Peaceful Coexistence, which sets a model of harmonious coexistence between the countries of different sizes and social system," the joint statement said.

"The two sides reiterated their firm commitment to respect each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect and accommodate each other's concerns and core interests," according to the joint statement.

When Nepal promulgated its new Constitution on September 20, India had asked the country to resolve differences over the new charter through dialogue free from violence which would enable broad-based ownership and acceptance.

"Throughout the process of Constitution-making in Nepal, India has supported a federal, democratic, republican and inclusive Constitution. We note the promulgation in Nepal today of a Constitution," India had said taking note of the development.

Madhesis, who are largely of Indian-origin, organised a nearly six-month violent protest campaign also imposing a trade blockade with India over the newly-promulgated Constitution which they said discriminated against them.

They only withdrew the campaign that crippled essential supplies to the Himalayan nation and left over 50 people dead, after the Constitution was amended to include their participation in government institutions in proportion to their population and fresh delineation of electoral constituencies.

"The Chinese side will implement a 3-billion-yuan grant assistance from 2016 to 2018 to support the post-earthquake reconstruction of Nepal, to carry out 25 key projects in areas covering infrastructure construction," the joint statement said.

While striking key deals with Nepal, President Xi Jinping



said in his meeting with Oli that Nepal could be a bridge between India and China.

"Nepal can be a bridge between China and India," Xi said and hoped that the Himalayan nation would benefit from development in China and India as "it is in the common interest of the two big neighbours that Nepal enjoys stability and development".

China will also implement projects for recovery of people's livelihood in quake-stricken areas of northern Nepal, repair of cultural and historic sites, capacity building in disaster prevention and control as well as medical and public health cooperation, the joint statement said.

"The Chinese side agreed to provide more than 32,000 sets of household solar-power generation systems to Nepal, to build small-sized education and public health facilities in several selected locations in Nepal, and to enhance cooperation on disaster preparedness and mitigation.

"The Chinese side agreed to carry out rainwater harvesting project and other livelihood projects in Nepal to improve living standard of the local people," it said.

Oli arrived here on March 20 and the two sides signed 10 agreements including for a transit treaty and rail links during his talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.

The transit treaty reduces landlocked Nepal's dependence on India as it sources most of imports and exports through Kolkata port.

Nepal looks to source its supplies through the arduous Himalayan route through Tibet, which many analysts say will be an expensive proposition for Nepal considering easy proximity through the Indian border.

Nepal also looks to use China's port in Guangzhou for its import and export, officials said.

The joint statement also said both sides agreed to conclude a commercial deal on the supply of petroleum products from China to Nepal.

"In this context, they encouraged companies to speed up negotiations and concerned agencies to study providing supporting policies on issues of pricing, taxation, transportation, quality control and customs and frontier formalities," it said.

"The Chinese side agreed to build oil storage facilities for Nepal and will send experts to Nepal to carry out feasibility study on oil and gas resources research," it said.

China earlier supplied 1,000 mt of fuel to Nepal during the Madhesi blockade.

"The two sides agreed to establish a Dialogue Mechanism on Energy Cooperation to facilitate the long term planning of cooperation in this area, including trans-border power grid, hydro-power and solar power. The Nepalese side agreed to take necessary steps to facilitate Chinese enterprises and their investment in Nepal," it said.
As China plans to extend its Tibet railway network to Nepal, Chinese experts say the project which may cost about USD four billion could be extended to India as well to improve Tibet's interconnectivity with South Asia.

"Building the rail line may encounter many difficulties as it will pass the seismic zone and the Himalayan Mountains. However, given the current technologies, it will not be a big problem," Wang Dehua, director of the Institute for Southern and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studiessaid.

At least USD four billion is needed for the project and is expected to be completed within five years, Wang told state- run Global Times.

"The rail link could be a very good opportunity for the country to connect to India and would enhance bilateral relations," he added.

The Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli in his meeting with Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang on Monday has asked for Chinese help to build a monorail in Kathmandu and a railway line from the Tibetan border town Gyirong to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, Oli's foreign affairs advisor, Gopal Khanal has been quoted as saying by Japan's Kyodo agency.

"The two sides have also agreed on building railways in Nepal," he said.

Hou Yanqi, deputy head of the Chinese foreign ministry's Asia Division, told the media after Li-Oli meeting that the government would encourage Chinese firms to look at the internal rail plan to extend the rail network to Nepal.

China was already planning to extend the railway from the Tibetan city of Xigaze to Gyirong on the Nepali border, she said.

Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies told Global Times that the railway may lessen Nepal's dependence on India but does not mean that China is trying to compete with India for influence on Nepal.

After Oli-Li meeting the two countries signed 10 agreements including the transit treaty which would provide an additional avenue for land-locked Nepal for import and export of materials which are currently conducted through Kolkata port.

The article written by a senior fellow and director of



the Proliferation Prevention Program at Centre for Strategic & International Studies published in state run Global Times says India's bid to enter NSG is aimed at legitimising its nuclear weapons status.

"The costs and benefits of Pakistani membership are similar to those of India's, except that Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan tarnished Pakistan's record considerably when he sold centrifuge technology to Iraq, Iran and Libya", the article by Sharon Squassoni says.

It was the fourth article in the last one week carried by the daily to oppose India's admission into the NSG. The previous three articles were written by Chinese state run think tanks.
Leaders from China and five neighboring Southeast Asian countries met in a southern Chinese resort city today amid wariness but also hope for greater regional cooperation.

The inaugural Lancang-Mekong Cooperation meeting, named for the mighty waterway that begins in Tibet and discharges into the South China Sea in southern Vietnam, was framed by the Chinese and Thai co-hosts as a chance to deepen ties and cut trade deals in a fast-growing region.

The five Southeast Asian countries that run along the Mekong represent a key market for China under a sweeping strategy to boost trade and foreign investment called "One Belt, One Road." China has wooed the region with eye-catching projects including a textile-making hub in Cambodia, a deep sea port in Myanmar and new railways in Thailand.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who co-hosted the summit in the city of Sanya with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, called on participants from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to improve mutual trust, enhance trade and "make this region an important force for stability."



A number of development and trade deals were expected to be signed.

However, several countries have expressed concern about their giant neighbor's rise, including Vietnam, which has competing maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Escalating territorial conflicts have complicated what has generally been a decades-long Chinese effort to court its neighbors, with Beijing concerned over signs those countries may be drawing closer to regional rival the United States.

Earlier this month China released water from the Lancang River the segment of the Mekong River in southwestern China to alleviate drought in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta as a diplomatic gesture ahead of the summit.
China will provide millions of dollars in soft loan to Nepal to rebuild its International Airport at Pokhara which was devastated by last year's earthquakes, officials said today.

The Export-Import Bank of China did not reveal the size of the loan to Nepal's finance ministry, but said today that it would cover the parking apron, terminal and control tower.

Earlier, Nepal officials fixed the loan amount at around USD 216 million.

The airport reconstruction was one of the 10 agreements signed during Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang two days ago.

The project will encourage tourists to visit Nepal and make life easier for locals, state-run Xinhua new agency quoted the official of the bank as saying.

The airport project will also allow for more trade between China and Nepal, it said.

Nearly 9,000 people were killed in last year's devastating twin-earthquakes in April and May in Nepal and its largest cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara were the worst-hit.

The Chinese government-backed Exim Bank has financed more than 1,000 projects in 49 countries last year with outstanding loans up 46 per cent from the beginning of 2015 to 520 billion yuan (nearly USD 80 billion) at the end of the year.

Oli is on a week-long visit to China since March 20. The 10 agreements signed during his talks with Li included the land mark transit treaty to reduce the landlocked Himalayan country's dependence on India.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today called on state Governor E S L Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan here.

The visit has been described as a "courtesy call" where the two are also understood to have discussed about the latest developments in AP and the ongoing Budget session of the state Legislature.

Besides, Narsimhan and Naidu also discussed the recent verdict of the Supreme Court on the divisions of assets related to Higher Education Council between AP and Telangana, sources said.

The Apex Court's verdict has come as a boon to AP in the backdrop of the tussle between the two states over apportionment of assets as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, informed sources said.

This judgement would help AP gets its "rightful share" in other assets related to the erstwhile united state that were to be divided between the successor states, they added.
Apparently accusing Congress of "using" Kanhaiya Kumar, the BJP today termed the JNU student leader's visit to Hyderabad over Rohith Vemula's suicide as a "conspiracy" to deflect public attention from UPA government's policies which were "responsible" for his death.

BJP accused Congress of joining hands with those accused of anti-national acts, a reference to Kanhaiya, and asked it to not make universities a place for its politics.

"It is the policies of Congress government which led to so many suicides in Hyderabad Central University, including that of Vemula. Our government has taken measures to ensure that corrective action is taken. Now Congress is trying to deflect attention from its failure by allying with a person accused of anti-national acts," party National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Nine students before Vemula had also ended their lives at the university, he said.

The Modi government is working to ensure that no student suffers discrimination at unversities, he said.

Accusing Congress of using "proxies" to fight political battles "it cannot win directly", Sharma alleged it earlier used NGOs and activists like Teesta Sitalvad and now the students.

When Congress was in power, it was anti-poor and anti-students and it remains so even in opposition, he alleged.

JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya had held an hour-long meeting with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi yesterday.

While Kanhaiya did not interact with the media after the meeting, NSUI Chief Roji M John described it as a courtesy call to thank Gandhi for his support during the ongoing row at the university.

In Hyderabad, Kanhaiya today alleged the government flared up the issue of JNU to divert people's attention from Vemula's suicide and subsequent developments.
Amid a charged debate over patriotism and chanting of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", BJP patriarch L K Advani today said the controversy over the slogan is "meaningless".

"I don't want to comment on it. This is a meaningless controversy ('yeh ek vyarth vivad hai')" Advani told reporters in Gandhinagar on sidelines of an event when asked for his comment on the issue.

Advani's statement comes against the backdrop of AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi's refusal to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai" saying he is not obliged to do so by Constitution. Prior to Owaisi's statement that stoked a debate, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said the youth should be taught patriotic slogans.

The issue escalated into a political slugfest with the Shiv Sena, BJP and other parties slamming the Hyderabad MP over his stand. Maharashtra Assembly suspended an AIMIM MLA after he refused to chant the slogan, while the Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed a censure motion condemning Owaisi.

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Advani, who represents Gandhinagar seat in Lok Sabha, today held a review meeting with local corporators and MLAs about the utilisation of funds under MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme.

"I held a meeting with elected members of Gandhinagar corporation as well as MLAs of this area to take stock of utilisation of MPLAD fund, which is given to MPs to carry out developmental works in their respective areas," Advani said.

The BJP veteran said he was happy with the utilisation of development funds.

"As an MP of this area, I assess the utilisation of funds periodically. I am happy to know that the funds are utilised properly. Some projects were completed already while (some) are under construction. Today's visit was very fruitful," he said.
Raising the issue of agrarian distress, Chief Minister today said the entire system is "helpless" when industrialist Vijay Mallya runs away after incurring debts of Rs 9,000 crore even as farmers are forced to end their lives over meagre loans.

Claiming that farmers are committing suicide in Punjab, where AAP is looking to unseat the SAD-BJP alliance in polls due next year, he said it was their inability to repay loans which was forcing them to take the extreme step.

"When Mallya ran away with pending loans of Rs 9,000 crore, the entire system was helpless before him. I don't think that the independence Bhagat Singh envisaged has come in our country," said Kejriwal, who today unveiled statues of Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru at the Assembly here to mark their martyrdom day.

"There are several loopholes in our system. On one hand, Mallya ran away with a loan of Rs 9,000 crore, but on the other hand, a farmer has to commit suicide for a loan of just Rs 50,000-60,000," Kejriwal said, adding that "there are several persons" like Mallya who owe loans of crores of rupees.

Bhagat Singh used to believe that independence would not come by merely driving out the Britishers but when imperialism and poverty are uprooted, Kejriwal said.

"Recently, I visited Punjab where farmers are committing suicide. I was told that farmers were committing suicide because of non-payment of their loans taken for crops which were later damaged," he said.

The chief minister further said he had learnt that some farmers had committed suicide as they were also unable to bear



Excessive medical expenses.

In this regard, he spoke about the work done by his government for the welfare of farmers in Delhi and asserted that it would not let poor people die because they cannot afford medical expenses.

"The Delhi government has given the highest compensation to farmers for crop loss in the history of independent India. We gave Rs 20,000 per acre compensation.

"When farmers face problems, it is the responsibility of the government to resolve those," Kejriwal said.

Addressing a gathering here, Kejriwal said today is a "proud day" as statues of three revolutionaries were unveiled on the Delhi Assembly premises. Youths feel "deeply attached" to the three revolutionaries, who had been martyred on March 23, 1931.

"I want to thank Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel and Secretary Prasana Kumar for installing these statues here. I was told by the Speaker that Delhi Assembly is the first in the country where the statues of these revolutionaries have been installed.

"I think installing their statues is easy, but following in their footsteps is difficult. We should imbibe their values in our life," Kejriwal said.

On the occasion, 106-year-old Naseem Mirza Changezi, who had spent time with Bhagat Singh in Delhi before the latter carried out the episode at the Assembly, recounted his experiences with the iconic revolutionary.

"Days before the incident, Bhagat Singh had said he had made arrangements for the Assembly attack. He had told me no one will die in the bomb attack," said Changezi, who still lives in Central Delhi's Daryaganj area, in the same house where he had put up Bhagat Singh.

"Bhagat Singh had wanted freedom for India. I took part in the freedom struggle, but never had the intention of giving my life for the cause; Bhagat Singh was different," he added.
A severed cow's head was dumped at the home of a Hindu man, who owns a cow sanctuary, in a town in the US state of Pennsylvania, prompting authorities to launch a probe into what they say is "ethnic intimidation".

Sankar Shastri owns and manages the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary near Tannersville and state police are investigating the incident in which a cow's head was dumped at his home over the weekend, according to a report in the WNEP website.

While none of the about 20 cows at the sanctuary was hurt, the severed head was left where Shastri could find it. Shastri is, however, not letting the incident affect his work, the report said.

"If you like cows and show love and compassion then there's more love and compassion and you don't need war," he said.

Shastri expressed shock at the incident but added that he hopes the incident does not "magnify anymore".

"I don't want to take itto the next side. I hope it is just a prank," he said.

He added that he cannot think of anyone who would do something like this on purpose.

The Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary had been a safe haven in the Bangor area for nearly 20 years before moving to the larger piece of land in Monroe County. Now the sanctuary has a chance to educate folks about Hindu beliefs in spite of a disturbing deed, the report said.

"They (the persons who dumped the severed head) probably didn't realise. People are unaware of what we're about," said Shastri.

The cow sanctuary is considering installing cameras, but hopes this story helps people become more aware of the importance of these animals to Hindus, according to the report.
Slamming CPI(M) in Kerala, BJP President Amit Shah tonight alleged that the Left party was promoting "politics of violence" to ensure its existence.

While visiting a private hospital where three BJP workers are undergoing treatment following an alleged attack by CPI(M) workers, Shah told reporters, "CPI(M) is promoting politics of violence for its existence and the Congress in the state is providing an umbrella to the violence of CPI(M)."



"CPI(M),which is facing its downfall, is attempting to come back through violence," Shah said, adding that BJP would reply to it through votes.

"Several RSS-BJP workers have been killed by CPI(M) in the state and to stop this, BJP should come to power," he said while seeking the support of the people for the same.

The BJP chief spent about an hour at the hospital, where he met the relatives of the persons who were injured in the alleged attack by CPI-M workers at Kattayikonam near here.

Of the three undergoing treatment, the condition of one Amal Krishna (23) was said to be serious.

Former Kerala state BJP president V Muraleedharan was among 16 persons injured in the clash between workers of the party and CPI-M at Kattayikonam on March 14.
Delhi Police today zeroed in on a youth who is suspected to have murdered a 19-year-old girl and left her body at the rented accommodation of his friend in central Delhi's Patel Nagar area.

The youth, who has been detained, so far claimed that he found the body of Nikita after returning home from work and gave some leads to the investigators which helped them zero in on the prime suspect, a senior police official said.

The prime suspect is believed to be a close friend of the youth. He is being tracked by a police team, and they said, since last night he has been shifting his location in Delhi-NCR and western UP.

Raids are being conducted at his potential whereabouts, the senior official said.

Nikita's identity was ascertained with the help of an identity card recovered from the room. She had sustained four stab injuries -- two on her abdomen and two on arms.

A case of murder has been registered, police said.

Nikita, a school dropout, lived with her family in central Delhi's Anand Parbat area. Her father is a plumber.
The mother of deceased Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula tonight went on a sit-in protest in front of the main entrance of Hyderabad Central University after she was denied entry inside the campus to meet students who were injured in a police lathicharge yesterday.

Radhika Vemula wanted to hold a demonstration inside, but was prevented from entering the HCU campus, HCU Chief Security Officer TV Rao told PTI.

"She wanted to hold a dharna inside the campus. We stopped her from entering. She and around 20 students then sat on a dharna in front of the HCU gate," Rao said.

Raja Vemula, the younger brother of Rohit, said his mother wanted to meet the students who were injured yesterday in a police lathicharge.

"They did not allow her to enter the HCU campus, hence she sat on a dharna," Raja said.

The protesting students raised slogans against HCU Vice- Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, demanding his immediate removal from the post. They also sought the release of students and faculty members arrested in connection with yesterday's vandalism of the VC's lodge and stone-pelting.
A section of the main terminal at Denver International Airport was evacuated because of a possible security threat, officials said.

An airport spokesman told AFP that police were evacuating the western side of the terminal but that flights were continuing.

"It's a possible physical threat," Heath Montgomery said, without elaborating.

"Vehicle traffic has been stopped on the west side of the terminal, however, passengers may continue to access the east side of the terminal."



Montgomery said that several airlines had ticket counters inside the area evacuated - including American Airlines, Aero Mexico, Lufthansa and British Airways - and flight delays were possible.

The security alert came in the wake of terror attacks in Brussels that left around 35 dead and scores more injured.
Even as an infant died allegedly of suffocation in a locality near Deonar dumping ground where a fire has been raging since last week, Environment Ministry today said future course of action will be taken after a two-member probe team submits its report on Monday.

"My team has gone there and seen the fire. They will submit report by Monday. They will apprise us. After that, we will talk to the state government.

"We will also hold a special meeting next week here with state government officials, Mumbai officials and those who are concerned with the dump waste management in Deonar.

"Regarding the issue, what they are doing and what needs to be done, will be assessed during that meeting," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Terming the issue as "serious", Javadekar had recently sent a two-member special team to inquire into the fire incident.

Javadekar also had a telephonic conversation with the BMC Commissioner on the issue after which he blamed the fire on the "callousness" of contractors in charge of managing the dumpyard and said action will taken against violators.

Asked if there was a possibility of "sabotage", he had said it will be clear once the team submits its report after their investigation.

Air quality in several parts of Mumbai has oscillated between 'poor' and 'very poor' in the wake of the fire.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the average level of fine respirable pollutants PM2.5 fell in the 'poor' category in Mumbai recently.

A six-month old boy died in a locality near Deonar dumping ground with the parents saying the baby died of suffocation due to emission of toxic gases from the blaze, a charge refuted by officials.

The infant, Mohammad Sarfaraz, who lived with his parents in Shivaji Nagar near the dumping ground, died early last morning.

The baby's father alleged that his son was suffering from respiratory problems, but ever since the series of fire incidents took place in the vicinity, his condition had worsened and, in the wee hours of Tuesday, they found their child motionless and realised that he had died.

Police said the child had respiratory problems since birth.

Yesterday, a large number of residents had protested at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, demanding an immediate solution to the fire menace in Deonar and neighbouring areas.
A six-month old boy has died in a locality near Deonar dumping ground in Mumbai where a a fire has been raging since last week, with the parents saying the baby died of suffocation due to toxic gases emitted from the blaze, a charge refuted by officials.

The infant, Mohammad Sarfaraz, who lived with his parents in Shivaji Nagar located near the dumping ground, died early morning yesterday.

"My son was suffering from respiratory problems, but ever since the series of fire incidents took place in my vicinity, the situation worsened," the baby's father, Sarfaraz Khan, said.

"We admitted our child in a nearby clinic on Monday. We returned from the clinic late night on Monday after getting all the medicines, though my child was having problems in breathing.

"But when we woke up in the wee hours of Tuesday, we found our child motionless and soon we realised that he had died due to smog presence in my area," he alleged.

However, police said the child had respiratory problems since birth.

"Doctors had already advised the parents to take proper care as the child was having respiratory illness since birth," a senior officer from Shivaji Nagar police station said, adding, the child's parents have not registered any case in connection with his death.

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said the child's demise had nothing to do with the smog, and that the boy was suffering from respiratory problems since birth.

He said the fire at the dumping ground has been brought completely under control, and BMC was in the process of finding a permanent solution to the problem.

Yesterday, a large number of residents had protested at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, demanding an immediate solution to the fire menace in Deonar and neighbouring areas.
Discovering her spiritual side, noted fashion designer Malini Ramani today said that she would soon launch a range exclusively based on the theme of Yoga, titled 'Yogalini'.

Ramani, who also displayed "SuperNova" collection at Amazon India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 16, said she is now working on her series of Yoga clothes.

"I am exploring the spiritual side of mine through this series. The collection would be labelled as 'Yogalini'," Ramani, who has her store in state's Calangute area told PTI.

The fashion designer considers yoga a medium to stay connected to her inner self and has also been teaching it to a lot tourist, who visit Goa.

"I took training in kundalini yoga in Bali last year. Since then I have been teaching yoga in Goa. I have taught several people. Goa is also a rising Yoga hub.

"I am connected to my spirit through Yoga and I also want others to connect to their spirit through yoga. I have been teaching a lot of foreigners who arrive here in the tourist state," she said.

Ramani has been associated with Goa since last fifteen years and her love for the coastal state has been increasing every single day.

"I love Goa. I feel at home here. I love the people here and would continue by association with the State," she said.
Fresh from his Oscar-winning role in "The Revenant," Leonardo DiCaprio suggested today that his upcoming documentary on climate change could help raise awareness about a phenomenon which some US presidential candidates reject.

DiCaprio said one of the collaborators for the film to be released before the November election was Fisher Stevens, a producer of the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" about dolphin-killing in the small Japanese town of Taiji.

"We've been travelling around the world documenting climate change," DiCaprio told a press conference in Tokyo, adding they visited China, India and the North and South Poles.

Though he did not offer any names, the star of "Titanic" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" said some candidates seeking the highest US office are falling short in their environmental attitudes.

"We should not have a candidate who doesn't believe in modern science to be leading our country," he said.

"Climate change is one of the most concerning issues facing all humanity and the United States needs to do its part."



Republican front-runner Donald Trump said last year he did not believe in climate change, while his key rival Ted Cruz has dismissed it as "pseudo-scientific theory".

DiCaprio, who attended the COP21 climate change talks in Paris last year, has been raising the alarm on global warming since 1998 when he founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

The organisation is involved in 78 projects on protecting biodiversity, oceans conservation, wildlands conservation and climate change, according to its website.

The actor said "The Revenant" -- about a 19th century fur trapper filmed under extreme winter conditions in Canada and Argentina -- was "a turning point" for him personally, in that he noticed how much nature is changing.

"I look back on this time period with great reflection and great concern as well.
Ending suspense surrounding his party's electoral tie-up for the May 16 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, DMDK founder Vijayakant today aligned with Vaiko-led People's Welfare Front with the actor-turned-politician being declared as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.

DMDK got the lion's share of 124 of the 234 Assembly constituencies while PWF constituents-- MDMK, CPI (M), CPI and VCK, will field their candidates from the remaining 110.

"You (Vijayakant) will be the king, kingmakers (PWF leaders) will make you the king," Vaiko told Vijayakant, adding, the alliance will also be known as "Captain Vijayakant Front."



The seat-sharing agreement signed by Vijayakant, Vaiko, G Ramakrishnan (CPI-M), R Mutharasan (CPI) and Thol Thirumavalavan (VCK) was released to media.

The agreement also said Vijayakant would be the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.

If elected, the front will have a coalition government, a rare proposition in Tamil Nadu politics, the leaders said.

The development, however, was ridiculed by BJP, which had actively wooed DMDK in its effort to sew up a 2014-like NDA coalition, while DMK did not seem to take it seriously.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan claimed that PWF-DMDK combination, "will not win a single seat."



"They are confident that they will not win a single seat and have therefore named brother Captain (Vijayakant) as CM candidate in anticipation of at least securing deposit," he said.

Vijayakant, an actor-turned-politician, is addressed as Captain by supporters and cinema industry colleagues.

Radhakrishnan chided the Vaiko-led PWF for going back on its policy of not naming a CM candidate prior to elections.

Speaking to reporters, Radhakrishnan extended his greetings to the DMDK founder on being named the chief ministerial candidate, irrespective of "whether he becomes CM or not."



Vaiko continuing at the helm of affairs and Vijayakant being named as chief ministerial candidate reminded him of a popular Tamil comedy scene, he said.

"BJP will face the polls with enhanced strength and we will accept anyone coming to our(headed) alliance," he said adding the front will be instrumental in forming of the next government.

Tamil Nadu is set to witness a multi-cornered contest among the fronts led by AIADMK, DMK, DMDK-PWF, BJP and PMK.

BJP National Executive Member L Ganesan said DMDK and PWF



joining hands had brought about a 'clarity' to the state's political situation.

DMK leader M K Stalin also did not seem to take the new front seriously.

"We are doing our work," was his cryptic response to reporters' queries in this regard.

TMC leader and former Union Minister G K Vasan indicated that PWF-DMDK arrangement was nothing new as "it had been discussed widely" over the past few days.

Earlier, the breakthrough in alliance parleys came after Vijayakant, who recently declared that his party would go it alone in the polls, held talks with leaders of PWF, led by MDMK's Vaiko.

The move is considered a setback for DMK which had hoped to rope in all key anti-AIADMK forces under its leadership and made sustained efforts to bring in Vijayakant.

Likening Vijayakant to Yudhistra of Mahabharata Vaiko said, "Bheema, Arjuna, Nakul and Sahadeva" (reference to four PWF leaders) will not allow others to get near him and they would take on rivals first.

Vaiko, the coordinator of the PWF, said he would be the "Senapathi (Commander) of the PWF-DMDK forces" that would take on AIADMK and DMK.

He said,"this is the alliance expected by the people, this is a great front that would usher in change and be victorious."



Thirumavalavan, Ramakrishnan and Mutharasan too praised Vijayakant and said their combine would emerge victorious.
Delhi University today marked the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh as 'Martyrs' Day' by opening to students the doors of a room in the Vice-Regal Lodge, where the freedom fighter was reportedly imprisoned for a day during a court trial.

The Vice-Regal Lodge Estate, which now houses the office of the DU Vice Chancellor, was given over to the university in 1933.

The university invited 100 school students from five schools for the first guided tour of the resource materials and a visit to the room, which housed works on and by Bhagat Singh.

The resource centre on Bhagat Singh for students, historians and research scholars has on display compilations of handwritten letters by the freedom fighter and will be later developed in the form of a museum.

"The resource centre aspires to make everyone learn from the lives of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his associates," DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi said.

However, the VC said the university has no plans to open it for the public.

"But this is definitely a beginning where students of our university and research scholars and even school children will get an opportunity to learn from the writings of the martyr and the scholarly works on him," Tyagi said.

It was on this day in 1931 that freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed, a few hours ahead of schedule, after the trio was sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case.

Asked to comment on the comparisons between Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Bhagat Singh, Tyagi, an alumni of JNU, said he believes anyone fighting for a just cause is inspired by the legendary freedom fighter.

"This is not the right occasion (to comment). It's a solemn occasion where we are commemorating the death of a martyr who spent one day in this room. But I believe that anyone who is fighting for a just cause is being inspired by Bhagat Singh," Tyagi said.
The Netherlands evacuated and closed its Turkish consulate in Istanbul today because of a possible terror threat, the Dutch foreign ministry said.

The move comes after the latest attack on Saturday that killed three Israelis and an Iranian in a busy Istanbul shopping hub, blamed by the Turkish authorities on a jihadist with links to the Islamic State group.

Foreign Minister Bert Koenders "decided to temporarily close the Dutch consulate in Istanbul after a possible terror threat," officials said in a statement, adding "he advises all Dutch citizens to stay away from its vicinity and stay abreast of developments".

"For obvious reasons we cannot say more about the nature of the threat and where it comes from," Koenders added.

There were around 40 people at the consulate when it was evacuated and officials were continuing to work "from various other locations," the statement said.

"The safety of my colleagues and visitors to our institutions are a top priority," added Koenders.

Turkey has been suffering from "one of the biggest waves of terrorism in its history," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday, vowing to hit back.

IS has been blamed for four of the six bombings that have rocked Turkey in the past eight months, including a massacre at a peace rally in the capital Ankara in October that left 103 people dead.

A radical offshoot of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed the other two attacks.

German diplomatic missions and a school in Ankara were closed on Thursday in Istanbul for similar security reasons.
The Dutch government temporarily closed its consulate-general in Istanbul today because of a "possible terror threat" and advised its citizens to avoid the area, which is close to the scene of a suicide bombing that killed four foreign tourists last weekend.

The ministry issued a brief statement announcing the closure, calling it a precautionary measure, but gave no details of the nature of the threat.

"The security of my staff and visitors ... Has our highest priority," Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in a statement. "We cannot, for obvious reasons, give further details of the nature or the threat or the information it is based on."



The announcement came just days after a suicide bomber, identified as a militant with links to the Islamic State group, targeted the area.

Saturday's explosion also wounded dozens of people. Among the fatalities were two American-Israelis, another Israeli and an Iranian.

The attack targeted Istanbul's pedestrian Istiklal Street, which is lined with shops and cafes in an area that also has government offices and foreign missions, including the Dutch consulate-general.

Yesterday, Turkish security forces in cooperation with German intelligence detained three men, including an Iraqi and a Syrian, suspected of planning another attack in Istanbul.

The Turkish private Dogan agency said the trio was plotting to target the German consulate and German school in Istanbul.

The Dutch foreign ministry said 40 staff members were evacuated following Wednesday's closure.

Turkey's Dogan agency reported that one person was detained in Istanbul's neighborhood of Aksaray over the threat against the Dutch consulate-general. It provided no details on the identity or motives of the potential attacker.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 4.5 crore in connection with its money laundering probe against retail store chain 'Subhiksha' in the alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 77 crore.

The agency has attached seven immovable properties of the owner of the group R Subramanian, including four agricultural plots in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the CBI and Tamil Nadu Police are also probing the case. The central agency's bank security and fraud cell here had earlier filed a charge sheet against Subramanian and his firm.

Subramanian is the promoter and Managing Director of Ms Subhiksha Trading Services Limited, a retail chain of stores which sells products under the category of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), pharma, groceries, fruits and vegetables among others.

The CBI, in a statement, said the probe conducted by it revealed that Subramanian availed term loan and cash credit amounting to Rs 77 crore from Bank of Baroda in 2007. It was among various facilities availed from various banks for the purpose of establishing the chain of stores with the brand name 'Subhiksha'.

"But the funds were diverted fraudulently by him. The entire loan amount was at default," the agency said.

The ED during an investigation found that four agricultural plots to the extent of 9.59 acres and two vacant pieces of land were fraudulently transferred in the name of Ms Triad Trading Services Limited, a group company of Subramanian, it said.

"Another property in the name of his wife located at Marakanam and Neelangarai was also identified. These seven immovable properties valued at about Rs 4.50 crore were provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA," it said.

An attachment order under PMLA is aimed at depriving the accused from obtaining benefits of their alleged ill-gotten wealth and the accused parties can appeal against the order before the Adjudicating Authority of the said Act within 180 days, the agency said.

The EOW had also registered a case against Subramanian for alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust under relevant sections of IPC and Tamil Nadu Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishment) Act in 2013 based on a complaint.
Egypt has proposed to create a local tea brand with India which would step up the sourcing of Indian tea for the Egyptian market and boost the bilateral trade.

A 14-member delegation led the Deputy Chairman of Tea Board of India Amiya Kumar Das explored avenues to increase the bilateral trade between India and Egypt on tea segment here.

During their visit from March 20 to 23, the delegation met Egyptian Minister of Supplies and Domestic Trade and discussed various options to enhance the trade between the two countries, according to a statement issued by the Indian embassy here.

Minister Khaled Hanafy suggested the delegation have a Joint Venture with Egyptian entities to create a local brand which would have a market access not only to Egyptian consumers but also to the region, it said.

Both sides agreed to set up a core group to further study this proposal. He also agreed to step up the sourcing of Indian tea for the Egyptian market, the statement said.

Egypt has traditionally been one of India's most important trading partners in the African continent.

India is the seventh largest trading partner for Egypt, with tenth largest source for import and second largest destination for exports.

The governments and the business communities in India and Egypt are working closely to promote the dynamism in bilateral economic relations.

The visit of the tea delegation is part of the efforts to boost the trade relations between the two countries.

India is world's largest producer of Black Tea and second largest producer of all types of tea, producing 1200 million kg from the tea estates spread over a half a million hectares.

India produces different types of tea including Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiris, Dooars-terai and Kangra.

Over the past 20 years, Kenyan tea dominates the Egyptian market as COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) gives advantage to them with zero import duty, it said.

Kenya accounts for 88 per cent share in Egyptian tea market followed by India and Sri Lanka contribution about 3 per cent each.

Indian companies offer to Egyptian consumers wide variety of teas including Black, Green, White, Oolong, Organic, Instant, Flavoured in all forms like bulk, packets, cartons, tea bags, caddies etc at competitive cost, it said.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi reshuffled his government today, naming nine new ministers, including for the finance and investment portfolios, but leaving the key ministries of defense, foreign affairs and interior untouched.

The reshuffle comes at a time when Egypt under el-Sissi is facing a host of daunting problems, primarily an economy reeling from five years of unrest that has led to a severe slump in the vital tourism sector.

The government recently devalued the country's currency, sparking a surge in prices, all while Egyptian security forces are bogged down in a draining fight against Islamic militants.

The changes also mirror the urgency with which the general-turned-president seeks to revive the economy and restore investors' confidence, a task made more difficult by growing international criticism of Egypt's human rights record.

El-Sissi's time in office has been partially defined by the killing of hundreds of Islamists in street clashes and the imprisonment of thousands of supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the freely elected president he ousted in July 2103 following mass protests against his divisive, one-year rule.

The case of an Italian doctoral student who disappeared in Cairo in January and whose body was found nine days later bearing signs of brutal torture has further hurt Egypt's image over human rights.
Turkey said today it had detained and then deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui, one of the two suicide bombers at Brussels airport, and accused the Belgian authorities of failing to confirm his links to terror.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish authorities detained the attacker in June last year in Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, and then deported the "foreign terrorist fighter" to the Netherlands at his request.

A Turkish official confirmed to AFP that the attacker in question was 30-year-old Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a Belgian citizen who was one of the two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on Tuesday.

"One of the Brussels attackers was detained in Gaziantep and then deported," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.

Erdogan said the Belgian authorities had failed to confirm the suspect's links to terrorism "despite our warnings" following his deportation.

He said Belgian consular authorities were formally notified of his deportation on July 14, 2015, adding that he was then released by the Belgian authorities, without giving a timeframe.

"Despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, the Belgian authorities could not identify a link to terrorism," he said.

Erdogan said the man had initially been deported to the Netherlands at his own request and that Dutch authorities had been informed.

He did not specify how he had been transferred from the Netherlands to Belgium, where 31 people died in the bomb attacks at the capital's airport and on a metro train.

Bakraoui's brother Khalid, 27, blew himself at the Maalbeek metro station in the heart of the European district in Brussels.

The second suicide bomber at the airport has been identified as Najim Laachraoui, whose DNA had been found on explosives linked to the Paris attacks in November.

"I believe that we can work this out (the fight against terror) if world leaders form an alliance against terror. For that, we need to redefine global terror and terrorists," Erdogan said.

Turkey has previously complained that Western countries did not heed warnings of the dangers posed by jihadists it had expelled back to Europe after arresting them on the Syrian border.

European officials have also urged Turkey to improve intelligence sharing and praised an increase in cooperation in recent months.

Turkey says it alerted France on two occasions that one of the assailants in the Paris attacks was a potential threat after he travelled to the country in 2013, likely on his way to Syria. But officials say they never received a response from Paris.
The European Union's foreign policy chief held a rare meeting with a top Syrian official to help achieve a political transition in the country where the Islamic State group holds vast territory.

Federica Mogherini yesterday said she only discussed "support to the UN-led process" in the talks with Bashar Ja'afari in Geneva aimed at ending the Syrian civil war. The war has led to a refugee crisis in Europe and given an opening to IS.

"Not all exchanges were consensual," Mogherini said, adding that she didn't discuss the terrorism fight or a possible end to EU sanctions against Syrian officials. She declined to reiterate the EU's previous insistence that Syrian President Bashar Assad leave power, but said its policy hadn't changed.

Ja'afari, the Syrian government's UN ambassador, said afterward that it was his first meeting with Mogherini. He said the Brussels attacks had "opened the eyes of the Europeans for the necessity of reading the map again carefully, and giving priority to countering terrorism."



Mogherini came to Geneva following an invitation from UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is hosting the peace talks, now in their second week.

The indirect talks between government and opposition representatives are expected to take a break today, before resuming next month.

De Mistura said: "The message that Federica and I are giving is ... Terrorism is a priority, but the priority of the priorities is that to win the terrorism, you have to find a political solution in Syria. So the ball goes back to those who have been complaining about terrorism, and saying, 'What about all of you helping us to solve politically the crisis in Syria?'"



"And you will see that suddenly we will all be able to focus on Daesh, and by doing so, helping both Syria and Europe," he added, using an alternative acronym for IS.
The Delhi, Punjab and Assam police have been alerted about a former Pakistani soldier gaining entry into India through Punjab, with the intention of carrying out terror attacks in hotels and hospitals in the national capital during Holi.

In a communication, the central security agencies said Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir, an ex-military personnel of Pakistan Army, who had worked as a recruiter, coordinator and guide of Jehadi elements in Assam, had crossed over to India from Pakistan through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terrorists.

"The intention of this group is to kill citizens in Delhi in hotels and hospitals on or before Holi," the communication said.

The agencies said Alam had visited a madrasa in Barpeta district in Assam in September 2015.

The ex-Pakistan armyman had stayed in the madrasa for five days and thereafter left for Chirang district, bordering Bhutan.

Alam had used another madrasa in Dhubri district in Assam as his base and used to visit other parts of the state, it said.

In Dhubri, a teacher of the madrasa provided all required logistical support to Alam, the communication added.
Family members of two Jet Airways crew members, who were injured in the Brussels airport blasts, are being flown to the Belgian capital, the airline said today while maintaining that both the employees are "safe" in hospitals where they are being treated.

The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till tomorrow in view of the closure of the airport following yesterday's blasts, also said that its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations.

Brussels airport serves as the Mumbai-based airline's European hub for its international operations, which is now being relocated to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.

"Jet Airways crew who were injured (in the blasts) are safe in hospitals. Our staff in Brussels are coordinating with the local authorities and hospitals to ensure that all the required medical care is provided to them. We have made arrangements for family members of the injured crew to travel to Brussels," an airline spokesperson said.

Jet Airways staff are with guests at each of the locations in Brussels and are providing assistance to ensure they are comfortable, the airline said.

Two Jet Airways crew members, identified as Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanai from Mumbai, were injured in the explosions that rocked Brussels' Zaventem airport yesterday morning which led the airline to cancel all its flights to and from the Belgian capital till today.

The airline, later, also announced cancellation of its flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Brussels, scheduled for tomorrow.

In a statement issued today, the airline said that it was closely monitoring the situation in Brussels.

The airline's Emergency Response Centre in Mumbai and the Local Incident Control Centre in Brussels are working round the clock to provide all possible support to the airline's staff and guests, it said.

"Our staff are with guests at each of the locations in Brussels and providing assistance to ensure they are comfortable," it said.

The carrier has also deployed its teams from India and Continental Europe to help in the coordination efforts, it added.

(REOPENS DEL43)



Later in a separate statement, Jet Airways said its stranded passengers in Brussels have been accommodated at four locations by the local authorities.

The airline said it is also working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the India Embassy in Brussels to facilitate the passage of its staff and passengers.

However, Brussels airport continues to be closed for operations, it said, adding the airline is co-ordinating with the Belgian authorities to make alternative travel plans for its stranded passengers and also the staff.
The Federation of Bar Associations of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry today withdrew their one-day boycott of courts on March 24.

The Federation had called for the boycott in protest against advocates practising in lower courts not being considered for appointment as judges of High Court.

Paramasivam, Chairman, Federation of Bar Associations of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, said the decision to withdraw the boycott call was taken after the Federation came to know that the subject was already decided by the Supreme Court constitutional Bench in the matter of National Judicial Appointment Commission (for the Appointment of Judges of High Court and Supreme Court).

Only after the federation called for a boycott, the Bar Council of India had brought to its knowledge that the issue was argued before the Supreme Court, which had rejected the plea to give adequate representation to the lawyers practicing in the districts, he said in a release.

"Therefore, on behalf of lawyers practicing in the districts, the Federation is likely to a file a review or fresh petition before the Supreme Court in this matter.

"Accepting the request of the Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, the Federation decided to withdraw the boycott call," the release said.

After the boycott call was given by the Federation, the Bar Council of India had declared the proposed boycott of courts by Tamil Nadu lawyers onMarch 24as illegal, and threatened to initiate disciplinary action against bar leaders organising the protest and the lawyers participating in it.
The foreign investment promotion board at its meeting on April 5 will take up 16 FDI proposals, including that of Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co and Indian Rotorcraft in defence sector.

FIPB, chaired by the Economic Affairs Secretary, will also consider the proposal of Gulf Quarry General Trading FZC which has sought approval for investment in an Indian company that is yet to be incorporated.

The company plans to establish a new factory in Amritsar for crushing of gypsum rocks to make gypsum powder and boards.

FDI proposal of HWIC Asia Fund, Ordain Health Care Global, Jupiter Corporate Services, OneMarket India LLP and Elite Screens India Pvt Ltd would also come up for approval at the FIPB meeting.

Besides, Athena Chhattisgarh Power Ltd has also sought approval of FIPB for conversion of USD 30 million of outstanding retention money into equity against supply of Boiler, Turbine, Generator equipment package by China's Dongfang Electric Corporation Ltd.

The other proposals which are before the Board include Tikona Digital Networks, Malladi Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Menon Bearings, Mount Kailash Shipping and Helix Investment Holdings.
26 newborn infants were evacuated safely after a minor fire broke out at a district general hospital here today, police said.

An air-conditioner blast due to suspected short-circuit triggered the fire and filled the neonatal intensive care unit with smoke but alert doctors and hospital staff of the government hospital acted swiftly to shift the infants, police said.

"All the 26 infants were transferred to private hospitals. No infant has been affected by the incident. Short-circuit in the AC is suspected to have caused the blast," District Surgeon Nalini Namoshi said.

An air-conditioner exploded but the hospital staff acted fast and rescued the infants, IGP (North-East Zone) B Shivakumar said.

A fire tender was rushed to the spot and the fire was put out, police said.

Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil has sought a report on the incident, officials said.
Environmentalists have made physical contact with a Sumatran rhino on the Indonesian part of Borneo island for the first time in over 40 years, the WWF said today, hailing a "major conservation success".

The critically endangered rhino was caught in a pit trap this month in East Kalimantan province in an area close to mining operations and plantations, where the WWF said it was struggling to survive.

The female animal, thought to be aged around six, is now in a temporary enclosure and will later be airlifted by helicopter to a safer habitat on Borneo, Efransjah, head of environmental group WWF-Indonesia, told AFP.

The contact with the rhino comes after environmentalists discovered in 2013 that the Sumatran rhino was not extinct on Indonesian Borneo -- as had long been thought -- when hidden cameras captured images of the animals.

Borneo is the world's third-largest island and is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Efransjah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, hailed the capture of the rhino on March 12 as "an exciting discovery and a major conservation success".

"We now have proof that a species once thought extinct in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) still roams the forests, and we will now strengthen our efforts to protect this extraordinary species."



The capture of the rhino was a joint effort between environment ministry officials, the WWF and the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia.

The Sumatran rhino is the smallest of the living rhinos. They are the only Asian rhino with two horns, and are covered with long hair.

There were once Sumatran rhinos all over Borneo but their numbers have dwindled dramatically, with poaching, and expansion of mining and plantation operations considered the main reasons for the decline.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the Sumatran rhino as critically endangered. The WWF estimates there are fewer than 100 remaining in the wild.

There are only a few substantial populations still in existence, most of them on Indonesia's main western island of Sumatra.

The wild population of Sumatran rhinos on the Malaysian part of Borneo was declared extinct last year, according to the WWF.
Five persons have been arrested for allegedly shooting at a 19-year-old girl and stealing electronics worth lakhs of rupees last week in south Delhi's Moti Bagh, police said today.

Rohit (25), Anil (24), Shivam (21), Sharwan (26) and Bobby (19) were arrested yesterday. Three more members of the gang are still at large, Joint Commissioner (southeast range) R A Krishnia said.

Rohit is the leader of the gang and has around 60 cases registered against him in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The gang used to come from Ghaziabad and target only big shops and showrooms at night, police said.

In Delhi, the gang was mostly active in CR Park, Lodhi Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Mehrauli and South campus areas, all in the southern part of the city, and has at least 27 cases registered against them, they said.

The police have recovered six Honda City cars from their possession.

In the wee hours of March 19, the gang targeted an electronic appliance showroom in Moti Bagh. While they were about to make away with the loot, a family living in the neighbourhood woke up.

When the teenager, a member of the family, approached towards the showroom to check, Rohit allegedly fired two rounds at her and fled.

"A day after the incident, some members of the gang went to the area to take stock of the situation. When they assumed that there was no threat to them, they resumed their business and was allegedly involved in a failed attempt to steal an SUV in Saket area, where they had planned another burglary," DCP (South) Prem Nath said.

Based on tip-offs and constant surveillance, the south Delhi Operations team led by ACP Rajinder Singh tracked down the accused and arrested five of them, he added.
Four bikers were killed and three others injured today in road accidents in Bihar's Samastipur and Madhubani districts respectively, police officials said.

Three bikers were killed and two others injured when three motorcycles collided near Kewta road in Samastipur district, Dalsinghsarai police station in-charge Subodh Chaudhary said.

The victims and the injured persons were drunk, he said. Efforts were on to ascertain the identity of these five bikers, Chaudhary said.

In another incident in Madhubani district, a biker was killed and another injured in a collision between two motorcycles near Dengrautara village, Deputy Superintendent of Police Nirmala Kumari said.

The victim has been identified as Sanjay Kumar (32), she said. The injured Raju Gupta was admitted to a primary health centre at Benipatti.
After bidding to turn the page on the Cold War in Cuba, President Barack Obama arrived early today in Argentina, where campaigners hope he will acknowledge US backing for its former dictatorship.

After calling for freedom and democracy as he stood alongside the Cuba's Communist leaders, Obama has touched down in another Latin American nation with a history of delicate relations with Washington.

After a series of historic but at times awkward public appearances with Cuba's Communist leader Raul Castro, Obama will meet Argentina's new free market-friendly President Mauricio Macri.

Yesterday's deadly bomb blasts in Brussels prompted Argentina to put its security forces on high alert as it prepared for Obama's visit.

Macri has reached out to Washington and other foreign powers since taking office in December after years of combative relations under his leftist predecessors.

But the delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America's violent history will rear its head during his visit to Buenos Aires -- after the Havana visit touched on sensitivities over human rights in Cuba.

Tomorrow morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the "dirty war" by Argentina's dictators against dissidents.

Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that started the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Declassified documents have shown that top US officials backed the coup.

Obama arrived in the wee hours of today with First Lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters and his mother in law and were received by Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra.

Later in the day he holds talks with Macri, lays a wreath at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and meets with local people before attending a state dinner.

As well as becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in almost a century, Obama hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America, tarnished by involvement in coups and death squads.

Obama's administration said last week it would declassify military and intelligence records linked to Argentina's "dirty war."



"We're determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

The documents may shed more light on US involvement in "Operation Condor," a plan among secret police agencies across South America to target leftists and dissidents.

The sensitive date of the Argentina visit angered some victims' groups. Several groups have called on Obama to apologise for US support of the military regime.

But four opinion polls showed a majority of Argentines approved of Obama's visit.

Obama "believes that part of moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past," said Ben Rhodes, one of the president's top advisers.
Germany's president today condemned the illegitimacy of Communist rule in East Germany and lauded the benefits of human rights in a provocative speech to Shanghai university students.

China has been ruled by the Communist Party as a one-party state since 1949. Under the current administration of President Xi Jinping, authorities have tightened control over academics, lawyers and the media, activists say.

Drawing on Germany's history and his own life in the former East Germany, President Joachim Gauck, whose role is largely ceremonial, condemned "dictatorship" to students at Shanghai's prestigious Tongji University.

"Most people were neither happy nor liberated," he said of East Germany under Communist rule. "And the entire system lacked proper legitimacy.

"Free, equal and secret public elections were not held. The result was a lack of credibility, which went hand in hand with a culture of distrust between the rulers and those they ruled," he added, according to an official English translation of his speech.

"It was a state that, as part of the union of Communist countries dependent on the Soviet Union, silenced its own people, locked them up and humiliated those who refused to comply with the will of the leaders."



His outspoken comments are a marked contrast to most diplomatic visitors to China, who prefer to focus in public on the benefits of trade ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Gauck, who was in the commercial hub Shanghai as part of an official visit, said Germany was "concerned" about recent news regarding China's civil society though he gave no specific examples.

"Vibrant and active civil society always means an innovative and flexible society," he said.

He also told the students that academic freedom could benefit society.

"A university has to be a place of unhampered research and free and frank discussion," he said, speaking in German with translation into Chinese to an audience of around 100 students and professors.

"This freedom is a precious commodity."



Gauck dismissed the notion that human rights as outlined under a United Nations declaration were a "Western product".

"Even if the universal applicability of human rights does not yet mean that every person can de facto enjoy those rights... They can nonetheless lay claim to them," he said.

Last month, China rejected as "irresponsible" comments by UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein calling for the immediate release of rights lawyers and activists detained by Beijing.
Government today approved agreements signed between the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and the UAE for cooperation in skill development and recognition of qualifications.

"The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post-facto approval to the Letter of Intent signed on February 10, 2016, between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and the National Qualifications Authority of UAE," an official statement said.

"The Letter of Intent will strengthen relations between the two countries and pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries on skill development and recognition of qualifications," the statement said.

The Cabinet also approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and the National Qualifications Authority of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for cooperation in skill development and recognition of qualifications.

"The MoU will pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries on skill development and recognition of qualifications. Also the MoU will facilitate workforce mobility, skill development and placement of youth in overseas jobs in UAE," the statement said.
The government today approved the USD 1,500 million World Bank-funded project of Swachh Bharat Mission to provide performance-based incentive to various states for carrying out cleaniness drive in rural areas.

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the USD 1,500 million project, supported by the World Bank, to Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)," an official statement said.

"The project basically provides for incentivising states on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM(G)... The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through the World Bank credit," it said.

Performance will be measured against the states' ability to reduce open defecation, sustaining their open defecation-free status and improving solid and liquid waste management in rural areas.

"The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019. The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of states towards the SBM(G) outcomes," the statement said.

The project will also put in place a "robust and credible independent verification system" for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation, it said.

Out of the total World Bank credit of USD 1,500 million, USD 1,475 million is for providing incentive grant to the states and 25 million dollars for providing programme management and capacity support to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Government today cleared a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to explore opportunities for mobilisation of up to USD 75 billion long-term investment in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an ex-post facto approval for an MoU between India and the UAE signed on February 11, to mobilise long-term investment in the NIIF, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said here.

Addressing media after the meeting, Prasad said "the joint statement during the visit of Prime Minister to the UAE in August 2015, mentioned the establishment of UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund, with the aim of reaching a target of USD 75 billion to support investment in India's plans for rapid expansion of next generation infrastructure, especially in railways, ports, roads, airports and industrial corridors and parks."



The MoU will help establish a transparent and high-level framework and collaboration platform under which both countries intend to explore ways to facilitate and expand the participation of UAE's investment institutions in appropriate infrastructure projects and institutions in India including NIIF, he said.

A joint working group comprising of the concerned representatives of both parties would take forward cooperation under this MoU and to discuss and agree the terms, principles and criteria jointly, he added.

The objective of NIIF is to maximise economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects, NIIF would solicit equity participation from strategic anchor partners, he said.

The government in December had set up the Rs 40,000 crore NIIF, which is an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects.

While the government will invest Rs 20,000 crore in NIIF, another similar amount will come from private investors.

NIIF has already been established as a Category II Alternate Investment Funds (AIF) as per the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The HRD Ministry is developing an aptitude test which will help school students assess their areas of interest so that they can choose and pursue the right courses.

The ministry has formed a task force comprising officials of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and psychometric experts for developing a "prototype" of this proposed assessment test, official sources told PTI.

At present, the team of experts is working on creating the items and content for a test for Class IX, they said.

"Experts from CBSE, NCERT and other bodies are working under the larger umbrella of the HRD Ministry to create a prototype of the psychometric test for Class IX exam. Initially, this voluntary test may be carried out in a few areas and based on the feedback, the ministry may expand it in conjunction with state governments," a senior official said.

In a meeting of senior HRD Ministry officials last month, Secretary (School Education and Literacy) S C Khuntia is learnt to have reviewed preparations for the aptitude test.

The sources said that the exercise is right now in "preliminary" stages and the general thinking is that this test will be optional in nature and would be an additional tool available to students for making the right choice.

The Smriti Irani-led ministry is, however, also examining the possibility of providing certificates to students after the test.

When contacted, CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma said that CBSE had conducted aptitude assessment exercises in the past. "These tests should only be seen as an indicator to help the students and parents in making an informed choice," she said.

It is learnt that the HRD Ministry is deliberating on several ideas related to improving the school education in the country in conjunction with state governments.

Among the ideas deliberated upon in the meeting last month was the possibility of creating a separate cadre of principals and head masters for better management of schools.
Malaysia's beleaguered Prime Minister Najib Razak was today dragged to court by his predecessor Mahatir Mohamad, who filed a lawsuit demanding handing over of nearly USD 680 million to government that ended up in the premier's personal accounts.

62-year-old Najib has come under intense criticism from Mahathir and the country's opposition party over allegations of corruption linked to the debt-laden state-fund 1MalaysiaDevelopment Berhad (1MDB) and deposits into the prime minister's personal bank account of nearly USD 680 million.

Najib had denied the allegations and said the money was not for his personal use.

The lawsuit, which alongside Mahathir, also has former leader of ruling party United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Khairuddin Abu Hassan and former women's wing member Anina Saadudin as plaintiffs.

The lawsuit asked Najib to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in the personal bank accounts of Najib.

The three plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that Najib used his position as prime minister, Barisan Nasional Chairman and UMNO president to interfere official inquiries into 1MDB financial impropriety allegations.

The 1MDB allegations touched on the remittance of RM2.6 billion (USD 65 crore) and RM42 million (USD 10 million) into Najib's private bank accounts, among others.

Mahathir, Khairuddin and Anina are also seeking another declaration that Najib had misused his various official positions to unjustly punish the three plaintiffs for demanding answers to the various allegations.

Meanwhile, Najib's supporter Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak labeled the legal action by Mahathir as an exercise in desperation.

In a statement today, Salleh said the former prime minister's action demonstrated just how desperate he was, and that he was clutching at straws.

The plaintiffs seek exemplary and aggravated damages of RM2.6 billion and RM42 million respectively, among other reliefs sought.

Asked on how amount of damages that the trio were seeking were apparently similar to the two cases linked to Najib, deputy home minister Jazlan Mohammad said it was merely a "publicity stunt."



"It was a publicity stunt to invoke anger (among the people)," he told reporters.

Mahathir joined several opposition leaders this month to sign a "Citizen's Declaration", calling for Najib's resignation.

Swiss authorities had recently said that up to USD 4 billion may have been stolen from Malaysian state firms including 1MDB and an investigation on possible fraud and money-laundering is on.

US, British, Singaporean and Hong Kong authorities also are looking into 1MDB-related fund flows.
Veteran actor Harrison Ford is as excited about returning to "Indiana Jones" as his fans.

The 73-year-old actor said he was "looking forward" to working on the fifth installment of the film with Steven Spielberg, reported Digital Spy.

"I'll be ready. I'm excited about it. Steven Spielberg (had) this chance to revisit this character which has brought pleasure to so many people...Not to mention me," Ford said.

"It's great fun to work with this character. It's great fun to work with Steven. I'm looking forward to it," he added.

The new instalment will be written by "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" writer.

Indy was introduced to audiences in 1981's classic "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and returned in sequels "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989).
The NCP today questioned the Maharashtra government if it has set aside funds to deal with possible violence in the state against the backdrop of remarks made by Shreehari Aney, who resigned as Advocate General.

While speaking in the Legislative Council, an NCP MLC said repercussions of speeches made by JNU students in Delhi and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, are seen in Maharashtra.

"Only yesterday there was tension and unrest among students in Fergusson College, Pune after a JNU student gave a speech in support of Kanhaiya Kumar. Owaisi's speech in Latur has repercussions in the state Assembly as well," NCP's Kiran Pawaskar said.

"While there was already unrest due to these incidents, Aney backed division of the state, creating further unrest. In such a scenario, if violence was to break out, has government set aside any funds to deal with an emergency situation," he questioned.

Pawaskar further said that while Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is empowering farmers to an extent that they would not require further debt, the government has made announcement of no scheme in the budget that would achieve the goal.

"I was a part of the Union of MYCO company that provides cotton seeds to farmers. It has been noted that these seeds are of inferior quality which hampers production. The government can at least ensure that good quality seeds, fertilisers are provided to farmers," he said.
The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court today refused to grant ad-interim relief to petitioners seeking a stay on the holding of the upcoming Defence Expo scheduled between March 28-31 in the coastal state.

A division bench comprising Justice F M Reis and K L Wadane after hearing the petition filed by two Goa residents rejected their plea for ad-interim relief in the matter.

The petitioners -- Freddy Fernandes and Irene Lourenco-- are members of Orixtt Projeacho Avaz (OPA) which is opposing hosting of Defence Expo at Betul-Naqueri in South Goa and they had filed their plea in the high court seeking stay of the event.

They had contended that they were not aware of the risk and hazard involved in the hosting of Defence Expo.

They had also said that the Defence Ministry had refused to give them the detailed project report citing security concerns.

Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni, representing the state, argued that the work on Defence Expo's infrastructure creation had begun in January.

"The protestors were also given a power point presentation about the project on February 25," he contended.

Advocate Ryan Menezes, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that the event should be stayed as people were not aware of the details of the expo and that they were not taken into confidence.

Defence Expo is expected to witness the presence of 48 countries and more than 1,000 delegates.

The case would be heard next Wednesday by the division bench.
Deposing in the 2008 Mumbai attacks case, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia to whom he had disclosed about his links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."



Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began this morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.

When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."



The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Holi was today celebrated with gaiety and fervour in West Bengal as revellers took to the streets with sprinklers since morning.

Streets took rainbow hues as people played with colours to mark the festival, known as 'Dol Yatra' in this part of the country.

The revellers, a majority of them youngsters, broke into jigs and some sang songs as they smeared "gulal" on the faces of friends, relatives and even complete strangers.

The festival, which marks the advent of Spring, was celebrated as traditional "Basantotsav", (Spring festival) in the university town of Santiniketan in Birbhum district, where Visva-Bharati students and professors participated in the customary 'prabhat pheri' (morning procession).

A large number of tourists from all over the country who gathered there also listened to recitals of Rabindranath Tagore's songs and saw dance performance on the occasion.

The day was celebrated with religious fervour at the Vaishnav shrines of Nabadwip in Nadia district and also at the ISCKON headquarters in nearby Mayapur.

Monks of Ramakrishna Mission celebrated the day with the traditional 'prabhat pheri' inside the premises of the order's global headquarter Belur Math. They also smeared each other with "gulal".
Belgium pressed a huge manhunt today after Islamic State bombers attacked Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people and wounding hundreds as jihadists once again struck at the heart of Europe.

Two massive suicide blasts by men with bombs in their bags hit Zaventem Airport, leaving blood and mangled bodies strewn across the check-in hall and sending terrified travellers fleeing.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were "actively searching" for a third man whose explosives did not to go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, capital of the European Union, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent's ability to prevent terrorism.

It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam following four months on the run.

Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag, while on social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

"This is a day of tragedy, a black day," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the "deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium".

But as Belgium began three days of national mourning today, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the "blind, violent and cowardly" attacks.

"People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity," Michel said. "We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life."



The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attacks against "the crusader state" of Belgium.

Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism "with all means necessary" on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

"The whole of Europe has been hit," said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from November's attacks.

Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity.

US President Barack Obama vowed to stand with Belgium in the face of the "outrageous" attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while the FBI and New York police said they would send investigators to help.
India and France have signed an MoU for the construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, two months after the two countries decided to conclude the techno-commercial negotiations for the project by the year end.

The pact was inked yesterday at the end of the two-day visit of a high-level delegation of Electricite de France (EDF - French public utility) to Mumbai for holding discussions with National Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on the construction of the plants, diplomatic sources said.

French Ambassador to India Francois Richier, who was present on the occasion, reiterated his country's commitment to working seamlessly with India through a collaborative approach to enable both sides to contribute collectively to the development of nuclear energy in India in the most economical manner.

The EDF visit was a follow-up on the State Visit of French President Francois Hollande to India in January, during which France and India drew up a cooperation roadmap for concluding techno-commercial negotiations for the Jaitapur project by the end of 2016.

"It may be recalled that, on this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Hollande welcomed the initialising of an updated MoU between EDF and NPCIL for the construction of six EPR units at Jaitapur. This updated MoU was formally signed by EDF and NPCIL on 22nd of March," the sources said.

Asserting that both industrial parties were working on the "Make in India" aspect of the Jaitapur project, they said this will be carried out through industrial partnerships, and joint ventures between Indo-French manufacturers for cost- effective and time-bound localisation in India.

In this regard, it will also include the transfer of rights on technology to be mutually agreed on by the parties.

EDF is France's public electricity producer and supplier and has been designated by the French government for taking over AREVA NP.

EDF is now leading the negotiations for the French side, with the support of AREVA NP, for the Jaitapur nuclear park and supply of all equipment under EDF's scope.

"The project will thus benefit from EDF's recognised expertise and extensive experience in the development and construction of nuclear fleets and ensuring their safe and reliable operation," the sources said.

The Jaitapur nuclear power project, proposing a nuclear power plant of 9900 MW, consists of 6 European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) of 1650 MW each.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated by remote control 100 mw power supply from Tripura' Palatana to Bangladesh.

At the same time, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provided 10 GB Internet bandwidth to India and the entire programme was held through video-conferencing.

"In this age of interdependence, the two countries would further strengthen its ties and it is a significant day that both are promoting the ways of development," Modi said.

Hasina said that "the relation between the countries has further consolidated through the supply of power and Internet bandwith."



"Bangladesh would observe its National Day on March 26 and I pay my respect to the memory of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh. The era of good relations began during the time of 'Bangabandhu' between the two countries which still continues," Modi said.

He was referring to 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh and the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The eight north-eastern states would be immensely benefited with the opening of the third International Internet gateway, he said, adding that Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan have made considerable development in road links.

"Now India and Bangladesh is connected through water, surface communication and air. We want to be connected with Bangladesh though space also," the Prime Minister said.

He said the festival of Holi has started in India and Bangladesh and both would be coloured with new colours.

Modi congratulated India and Bangladesh teams for the World Twenty20 tie between the two this evening at Bengaluru.

Hasina, in her speech, said, "We always remember India's cooperation during the liberation movement in 1971."



On power supply, she said during her visit to Tripura in 2012, she discussed the matter of getting power from the state's Palatana project.

Hasina said her country was getting 500 MW power from India now and both the countries made considerable development in the field of cooperation through roads, railways and power.

She also thanked Prime Minister Modi and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar for their cooperation.

Sarkar, at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, also joined the programme from here through video-conferencing.

(Reopens CAL1)



After the formal opening of international gateway of Internet, Tripura became the third state having such a gateway after Mumbai and Chennai.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had laid the foundation of the project in Agartala on July 13, 2015 that aims at strengthening telecom services in NE states.

Under the project, an international gateway for broadband connectivity has been set up at Agartala in which connectivity will be provided through Bangladesh under a pact between BSNL and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited.

The cost of the project is Rs 19.1 crore and annual operational expenditure is around Rs 7.2 crore. The bandwidth of 10 GB can be extended up to 40 GB, officials said.

Pricing of one unit of power was fixed at Rs 5.5 in a meeting between Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey and Bangladesh Minister of State for Power Nasirul Hamid on January 9 in Dhaka.

Power Grid Corporation erected 47 km long 400 kv double circuit transmission lines from Suryamaninagar powergrid near here to Comilla in Bangladesh.

The 726 MW gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in Gomati district is run by ONGC Tripura Power Company.
India survived a mighty scare before pulling off an incredible 1-run victory over Bangladesh in a nerve-wracking low-scoring thriller to keep their semi- final hopes alive in the ICC World T20, here tonight.

Defending a modest 146, India looked down and out for the better part of the match before pulling their acts together in the final two overs to restrict Bangladesh to 145 for 9.

It was a piece of inspirational act by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who took his right gloves off when Hardik Pandya came in to bowl the last delivery with two runs required. Pandya bowled a fuller delivery wide off Shuvagato Hom who missed it and Dhoni caught it with only his inners on.

As Mustafizur started sprinting from the other end, the 34 plus Indian skipper beat his younger opponent in a short sprint to whip off the bails to lead to an unbelievable finish as the entire Chinnaswamy Stadium erupted in joy.

It was a perfect Holi gift for the fans by the Indian team, who now have four points and are up in the second position in the table with a match left.

Credit should also be given to Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled six magnificent deliveries in the penultimate over when Bangladesh needed only 17 off 12 balls.

When Hardik Pandya (2/29) was handed the ball, pacers Ashish Nehra, Bumrah, and spinners Ravindra Jadeja (2/22) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/20 in 4 overs) had already finished their quota and Dhoni was hardpressed to choose his options.

The dangerous Mahmudullah got one off Pandya's first delivery and Mushfiqur Rahim smacked the next through covers for a boundary bring the equation down to 6 from four balls.

To everyone's horror Rahim then played half scoop off the next ball on the pads which was just out of Dhoni's reach as equation became 2 off 3 balls. Off the next ball, Rahim mistimed a pull shot to get out as it became 2 off 2 balls.

With Mahmudullah on strike, he mistimed a pull off another full toss which was pouched brilliantly by India's beat fielder Jadeja.

With 1 needed for tie and 2 to win, it was the inspirational Dhoni, who brought smiles with his daredevilry and innovative thinking.
The government has approved a proposal to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement, a move that will further strengthen trade ties between India and the Eurasian region.

"The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here after the meeting.

The Agreement is an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are the founding members of the Ashgabat Agreement, while Kazakhstan joined it subsequently.

Accession to the Agreement would enable India to utilise the existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region, Prasad said.

Further, this would synchronise with India's efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity.

India's intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to the Depository State (Turkmenistan). India would become party to the Agreement upon consent of the founding members, an official statement said.
Indian-American groups have condemned the terrorist attack in Brussels claimed by the dreaded ISIS that killed more than 30 people and injured over 200 others.

The Association of Indian Muslims of America in a statement expressed its outrage and shock at the terrorist attack carried out by the Islamic State (ISIS) on civilians at the airport and a metro station in Brussels.

Kaleem Kawaja, executive director of the association, appealed to governments in western countries to enforce stringent security measures in public places to flush out suspected terrorists.

He also appealed to authorities at all the mosques, Islamic centres and organisations in these countries to report to the local police any suspicious and radicalised individuals in their Muslim communities.

Sending its heartfelt condolences to the families of the terrorist victims, American Sikh Council said such heinous acts must be condemned in the strictest manner.

"We pray for a speedy and full recovery of the injured. Our prayers are with all the victims, their families, and local community. May Almighty God lighten your burden, and grace you with hope and healing under these very difficult circumstances. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time of profound tragedy and grief," it said.
An Infosys employee from Bengaluru has been missing in Brussels since the deadly terror attacks and the Indian Embassy in the Belgian capital was making efforts to locate him.

The missing employee has been identified as Raghavendran Ganesh.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Brussels was trying to trace Ganesh.

"We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh," Swaraj tweeted.

Official sources said Ganesh is an Infosys employee and hails from Bengaluru.

Two Jet Airways crew members -- Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanai -- were injured in yesterday's explosions at Brussels' Zaventem airport and Swaraj said they are recovering well. Both Nidhi and Amit are from Mumbai.

"I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well," she said.

Swaraj said government was coordinating with Jet airways to evacuate Indian citizens.

"The airport is still not open. This may take some time. We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens," she said.

The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till tomorrow in view of the closure of the airport following yesterday's blasts, also said its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations.

serves as the Mumbai-based airline's European hub for its international operations, which is now being relocated to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.

Infosys spokesperson said following the attacks, Infosys reached out to all its employees in Brussels to ascertain their whereabouts and safety.

"With the exception of one employee who we are trying to reach, we have been able to connect with all other employees. We are in touch with the missing employee's family and are working with the Indian Embassy and local authorities in Brussels to locate our employee on priority," the spokesperson said in reply to an email query.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will arrive on his maiden official visit to Pakistan on Friday for talks on improving relations and clinching key economic deals including on import of 3,000 MW of electricity and construction of a gas pipeline.

Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that the invitation for the visit was extended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Rouhani will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and businessmen during his first ever visit to Pakistan on March 25-26.

He will hold meetings with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Sharif.

"The leadership will have an exchange of views on strengthening bilateral relations, particularly after lifting of the sanctions on Iran that has opened new avenues for enhancing economic interaction.

"Cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern will also be discussed," the FO said.

"Relations between the two countries are rooted in a long history of mutual trust, based on cultural, linguistic and religious bonds and Rouhani's visit will further deepen the existing fraternal ties between the two countries," the statement said.

Prime Minister Sharif had visited Iran in May 2014 and January 2016, said FO.

Sources said that the key Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will be prominent in the talks as the two sides are expecting to start its construction after lifting of sanction on Iran following successful implementation of last year's nuclear deal with leading world powers.

They will also discuss a deal to import electricity to Pakistan and expand trade ties.

"It is hoped that a deal to import 3,000 MW of electricity from Iran will be reached," an official of finance ministry said.

Various strategic issues including the rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran, peace in Afghanistan and the Syrian issue will also be discussed, according to sources.
The dreaded Islamic State today claimed responsibility for executing a 65-year-old Christian pastor in Bangladesh, saying the murder was "a lesson to others".

Hossain Ali, who converted to Christianity from Islam and working as a pastor at a church, was hacked to death by three motorbike-borne unidentified assailants in the northern Bangladeshi town of Kurigram yesterday morning.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based monitoring organisation, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for killing Ali.

In a statement posted on Twitter, IS said the murder was "a lesson to others".

"A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able to kill the apostate (Ali), who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity," the statement said.

Ali's murder came two months after another converted Christian was murdered in western Jhinaidah for which the Islamic State had claimed responsibility.

Ali converted to Christianity 17 years ago and retired from government service last year.

"We are yet to know who killed him...A tenant in his house went into hiding creating suspicion that he could have been murdered for religious reasons or over family matters as we heard there were some disputes among the family members," a police officer said yesterday, adding that a probe were ongoing.

A local source said Ali was a pastor at a church in the neighbourhood.

After the Jhinaidah murder in January, the US-based SITE intelligence groupsaid Islamic State had asserted that it killed the man because he converted from Islam.

Though the Islamic State has taken responsibility for a slew of murders, the Bangladesh government denies the terror group's presence in Bangladesh and attributes the murders to the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

A number of their operatives of the group have been detained in recent months.

There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh over the past six months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners that have killed at least nine persons including two foreigners and wounded more than 100.

Last week a top Shia preacher and homoeopathic doctor was stabbed to death in southwestern Bangladesh in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

A Hindu head priest was hacked to death on February 21 by gun-and-cleaver wielding Islamists at a temple in northern Panchagarh district's Debiganj Upazila.

In September last year, Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was murdered by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, and within five days of that incident Japanese farmer Kunio Hoshi was killed. Both attacks were claimed by IS-affiliated militants.
Three suspected Islamic State members arrested in Turkey were planning attacks on Germany's diplomatic missions or schools in the country, which were closed last week over a terror threat, Turkish media reported today.

The three men -- a Turk, an Iraqi and a Syrian -- were arrested in Istanbul yesterday by police acting on information from both Turkey's and Germany's intelligence services, Hurriyet newspaper and the broadcaster CNN-Turk reported.

The suspects, presented as members of an IS cell, are accused of plotting attacks on German interests in Turkey, the reports said.

Last Thursday, Germany closed its embassy in Ankara, its consulate in Istanbul and German schools in both cities, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier citing "very serious" indications of planned attacks.

Turkish authorities had criticised the closures, saying they were unjustified.

Two days later, a Turkish alleged IS member blew himself up on a busy shopping street in Istanbul, killing three Israelis and an Iranian and injuring dozens.

Yesterday's arrests in Istanbul come as police continue to hunt three Turkish suspected members of an IS cell believed to be planning further attacks in crowded public places.

A further 10 suspected IS members were captured yesterday on Turkey's border with Syria, one of whom was wearing an explosives vest, officials said.

Two of those held in southern Gaziantep province were injured in an exchange of gunfire with Turkish troops. Three others managed to flee the scene, the local governor's office said.

IS has been blamed for four of six bombings that have rocked Turkey in the past eight months, including a massacre at a peace rally in the capital Ankara in October that claimed 103 lives and a bombing outside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul in January that killed 12 German tourists.

A radical offshoot of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), with which the state is embroiled in a bloody conflict in southeast Turkey, claimed the other two attacks.
Israel has closed off the occupied West Bank ahead of the start of a Jewish holiday beginning today and the security measure will remain in place through Saturday, the army said.

The unusual decision comes amid a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks since October and will keep out tens of thousands of Palestinian workers.

The order preventing Palestinians from crossing into Israel from the West Bank was put in place overnight, with the Jewish festival of Purim set to begin Wednesday evening.

An army spokeswoman said the measure was taken on orders from the government following an "evaluation of the situation," without providing further details.

Exceptions will be made for humanitarian and medical cases, the spokeswoman said.

Purim sees street parades and an increase in the number of Jewish faithful visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City.

Israel has regularly closed off the West Bank during Jewish holidays such as Passover and Yom Kippur, though less often for Purim.

Violence since October has killed 198 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air raids in Gaza.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will embark on a 4-day visit to Australia on March 28, during which he will address a Make in India conference and meet CEOs of multinational companies.

"One of the main objectives of the finance minister's visit to Australia is to attract foreign investment in India, especially in infrastructure sector, among others," a finance ministry statement said.

On the first leg of his official visit in Sydney, the minister will have an interactive session at S P Jain School of Global Management and inaugurate the Sydney branch of Union Bank of India.

He will also meet with Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

On March 30, Jaitley will address the 'Make in India' conference in Sydney and hold a session with prominent CEOs of Australia.

He will then have a bilateral meeting with Scott Morrison, MP, Treasurer, followed by an interaction with the Indian community.

In Canberra on March 31, the minister is slated to meet Senator Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance, and Peter Vergese, Foreign Secretary.

He will also meet Vice-Chancellor of Australian National University (ANU) followed by an interaction with ANU Economists.

Jaitley will be participating in K R Narayanan Oration at the University and will later address the Indian community at a reception hosted by the High Commissioner of India in Australia.

On the last leg of the visit, Jaitley will arrive in Melbourne on April 1, 2016. During his stay there, he will have a meeting with Peter Coastello, Chairman, Future Fund.

The finance minister will also participate in 'Invest in India Round Table Conference' and attend an event where an MoU will be signed between FICCI and Australia-India Business Council. CEOs of various companies are slated to call on him.

Jaitley will visit the University of Melbourne and will meet Daniel Andrews, Premier of VIC.

The minister will be back in India on April 2.

"We also have our fair share of our policy diversions.

We are a functional and a reasonably noisy democracy. And therefore whereas the principal agenda really has to be to ensure the welfare of all, diversions do come up and some of them are extremely unpleasant diversions," Jaitley said.

The "maturity of Indian society" would be its ability to ignore these diversions and take us into a path where we can "ensure a harmonious relationship in the society and a growth process which benefits to us all", he said.

"The extent of maturity we display in marginalising these kind of policy diversions, would eventually determine the environment which we can create for a more prosperous India in which every segment of society gets its due," the Finance Minister added.

In his speech, Jaitley said that India is passing through a phase where growth levels have increased but added that there is potential to add to this.

"So we will have more resources, where there are gaps they can be used," he said, referring to providing support to minorities and backward sections.

Citing data, Jaitley said that there is a lot of diversity even among the conditions of different minority communities which also points to a link between educational and economic status.

He said a higher economic growth rate provides more resources to governments, which must use them for poverty alleviation and developmental schemes so it can lift those communities or groups to which progress has not reached.

Referring to data regarding various communities, he said "certainly there is a need, amongst minorites, amongst certain groups, Muslims in particular, that this advantage of the resource of the state, benefits them in more than one ways.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today attended the Pakistan Day celebrations here where the hardline and moderate Hurriyat factions pitched for adopting a "political approach" to resolve the Kashmir imbroglio and denounced the "brutal attitude" of the Modi dispensation.

Javadekar was at the event, where presence of his ministerial colleague V K Singh last year had drawn flak from the media, for around 20 minutes, and extended his "best wishes" to the Pakistani people on the sidelines.

Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said he had expected the current BJP-led dispensation to follow the "Vajpayee policy" towards Kashmir, but the Modi government "hardened" its position.

Farooq said any dialogue bereft of involvement of the three parties--Hurriyat, Kashmiris and Pakistan--would not succeed in resolving the issues faced by the restive border state.

"We were expecting that the BJP would go back to the Vajpayee policy. But till now there has been no such indication. On the contrary, it has hardened its position. The Kashmir issue is not any economic or law and order issue, it's a political issue. Till the time a political approach is taken, there would not be any progress," he told reporters at the event hosted at the Pakistan High Commission.

During his Kashmir visit in 2003, Vajpayee had said his government would hold talks with separatists on Kashmir "within the ambit of Insaniyat", after the separatists had not agreed to hold talks within the ambit of the Constitution.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was also present, said the Modi government was no different from the UPA dispensation which also had a "brutal attitude" towards Kashmir.

"India portrays itself as a democratic nation. But its behavior with the minority communities including Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits paints the opposite picture," he said.

Asked about the delay in government formation in the state owing to differences between PDP and BJP, both Farooq and Geelani described it as a "minor" issue that would not have any effect in resolving the "actual problems".
The JD(U)-RLD merger talks moved a step ahead today with the RLD supremo Ajit Singh's son Jayant Chaudhary holding a closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his aides here.

"We held fruitful talks on the merger of the RLD and the JD(U) during Chaudhary's meeting with our Chief Minister at his official residence here....The process of merger between the two parties is moving on right track," he told PTI on phone.

Tyagi, who is the JD(U) national general secretary and a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, refused to divulge details of the meeting, merely saying that the talks were encouraging and moving in the right direction.

He said that besides the Chief Minister, his aide Prashant Kishor, JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP R C P Singh and the state unit party president Bashistha Narayan Singh were present at the meeting.

Chaudhary also extended greetings to the Chief Minister for the Holi festival, the JD(U) national general secretary said.

The latest meeting to chalk out the merger between the two parties was a follow-up to an earlier meeting between Nitish Kumar and other top JD(U) leaders with Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary at Tyagi's residence in New Delhi on March 15.
A sizeable section of jewellers, bullion traders and artisans continued their strike for the 22nd day today to protest against the proposed 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, even as the government set up a panel to look into their demand.

Many jewellery houses in the country including in Delhi are closed since March 2 after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery in the Budget.

Several associations in different parts of the country have been on strike, demanding complete roll-back of the proposed excise duty, said Surinder Kumar Jain, Vice-President All India Sarafa Association.

"The government can increase import duty on gold by 1 per cent, instead of imposing excise duty," Jain told PTI.

"We are more concerned about thousands of artisans and small-scale traders," he said.

Almost 90 per cent jewellers kept their showrooms shut in Mumbai today.

Jewellers in various cities including Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur in Rajasthan, and Ratlam, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh are also continuing the strike.

However, most of the jewellers in Tamil Nadu, kept the showrooms open today.

Meanwhile, the government has constituted a panel under former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahri to look into the demands of jewellers.

The panel, which has been asked to submit its report in 60 days, will look into issues related to compliance procedure for the excise duty, including records to be maintained, forms to be filled, operating procedures and other relevant issues.

Jaitley in the Budget for 2016-17 had proposed 1 per cent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 per cent with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than studded with diamonds and some other precious stones.
Mowgli of the upcoming Hollywood film "The Jungle Book," child actor Neel Sethi will begin the international promotional tour for the movie in India, later this month.

The Disney live-action epic film will mark the debut of the 12-year-old actor, who plays the only human being in the story. Neil will visit India to present the film and visit some special sites in Mumbai.

"I have heard so many stories about the jungles of India from my maternal grandparents who live here. I am so excited to be visiting my homeland once again. When my parents heard that I got the part to play Mowgli, they were so excited because the stories are based in India," Neel said in a statement.

The New York based actor was hand-picked by director Jon Favreau from over 2000 hopefuls to play the role of Mowgli. Neel says he is "thrilled" to play the iconic character and hopes people in India will enjoy the movie.

"I am thrilled to have played Mowgli in my first film and befriend the much loved characters like Bagheera the Panther and Baloo, the Bear. India is the first country internationally that I will be presenting the film in. I really hope people in India enjoy watching the jungle come to life."



Favreau, who has directed films like "Iron Man", "The Office" and "Chef", had an "exhaustive worldwide search" to find the right child to play Mowgli but narrowed on Neel the moment he saw the young actor.

"He was one of the last people that I looked at, and right away, I felt that he had the same emotional and physical qualities that Mowgli had in the'67 animated version. His look was uncanny in how much he evoked what we wanted. He inherently had a good sense of fun and humour," he said.

"Everything in this movie is geared towards the performance of this one kid. I've worked with enough kids to be confident in my own taste and my ability to get the performance. He was just so real. He felt right. We knew we found our Mowgli," the filmmaker added.

"The Jungle Book" will release in India on April 8, a week before coming out in the US.
A delegation of Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today met Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and demanded action against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and JNU teacher Nivedita Menon for their alleged anti-India tirade.

In a memorandum to Rijiju, the BJYM delegation led by its national spokesperson Shivam Chhabra said that the two have been "instigating anti-India sentiments" among JNU students besides speaking against martyrs like Bhagat Singh and the country's forces.

The BJYM also demanded immediate action against the duo including their arrest, saying they have tried to incite students against the country through their lectures on the campus.

The BJYM leaders also accused the two of vitiating the atmosphere in and outside the JNU campus and playing with the lives and careers of students.

"There is a public sentiment against them, especially among students," the memorandum added.
Karnataka Governor and former Gujarat minister Vajubhai Vala's son Bhavdeep today wrote to city police commissioner seeking registration of a cheating case against an oil mill owner and eight others.

Bhavdeep, who was a sleeping partner in Rajmoti Oil Mill owned by Samer Shah, wrote an application to police commissioner Anopamsinh Gehlot accusing Shah and eight others of issuing a fake cheque in his name.

Shah, also the president of Saurashtra Oil Millers' Association (SOMA) and the Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), is wanted by police in connection with a murder case.

"I was a sleeping partner in Rajmoti Oil Mill from year 2006 to 2014. However, I ended the partnership in March 2014," Vala stated in the application.

In business terminology, sleeping partner is the one who does not play an active role in business, especially the one who supplies capital.

"I was cheated by Sameer and eight others when I got a legal notice from an edible oil mills from Jamnagar and asking me to that a cheque of Rs 21.74 lakh issued by me has been returned and therefore I should pay the amount within 15 days or face legal action," Vala said.

He said Shah and others could have issued the fake cheque in his name to defame him.

"Though I am no longer a partner with Rajmoti Oil Mill, I came to know that Sameer Shah and eight others may have issued fake cheque in my name to defame me," Vala wrote.

He demanded a case under them under various sections of IPC for forgery, cheating and conspiracy.

Shah is accused in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Amedabad branch manager of his firm, Dinesh Daxini over some financial issues earlier this month.

Police already issued a look out notice for Shah who is untraceable.

When contacted, the police commissioner said he has not yet received Vala's application.

"The application may have been submitted to the concerned police station, but I have not received it yet. But once I get the application, and after reading it the action would be taken accordingly," Gehlot added.
President Mamnoon Hussain today called Kashmir the "jugular vein of Pakistan" even as he sought a peaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute with India over it.

"We are a peace loving nation and want peaceful relations with other nations, especially our neighbours," Hussain said in his address at the Pakistan Day parade ceremony where the country's armed forced showcased their military might.

He said Kashmir is the "jugular vein of Pakistan" but his country would continue efforts for the peaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute.

Hussain reiterated support for Kashmiri people, saying, "Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their right to self-determination."



Last year, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while addressing a joint session of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's assembly in Muzaffarabad, had described Kashmir as his country's "jugular vein".

In 2014, army chief General Raheel Sharif had also termed Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of Pakistan and said the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiris.

Hussain said Pakistan's desire for "peaceful ties should not be misconstrued as our weakness".

He said Pakistan was not part of arms race with any country and its weapons were for the purpose of self-defence.

Amid tight security, a parade by armed forces, showcasing of latest weapons and a cultural show marked the Pakistan Day celebrations here.

The last parade was held on March 23, 2008, reviewed by General Pervez Musharraf as a civilian president, but was discontinued owing to security concerns.

The Pakistan Day is observed to commemorate a resolution passed by a gathering of Muslims in Lahore in 1940, urging a separate country for Muslims.

The day dawned with a 31-gun salute at the federal capital and 21-gun salutes at the provincial capitals.

The ceremony of the Pakistan Day parade kicked off with a fly past of Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy planes led by Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman.

The formations of F-16, JF-17 thunder, Mirage, F-7PG AWACs, P-3C Orion presented salute to the chief guest by flying over the dais.

Different regiments of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Rangers, Police, SSG and girl guides marched past the dais presenting salute to the President.

Prime Minister Sharif, President Hussain, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif witnessed the parade.

(Reopens FGN 30)



Mechanised columns of tanks, rocket launchers, indigenously developed short and long-range missiles, radars and unmanned aerial vehicles were also showcased at the parade.

Floats depicting culture of the four provinces, PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan were also part of the parade.

The skydivers of the Special Services Groups presented a thrilling free fall from ten thousand feet while carrying the national flags and those of the three services.

Hussain said Pakistan contributed troops many times for the UN peacekeeping missions in different countries and will continue to play its role to free the world of the scourge of terrorism and conflicts.

He said that operation against militants in North Waziristan was going through the last phase and soon the area would be free of terrorism.

"But the war on terrorism will not end till the last terrorist is eliminated. Our destination is to end lawlessness and terrorism from all parts of the country," Hussain said.

He said the enemy will not be allowed to cast an evil eye on the country as its armed forces are fully equipped to foil their designs with iron hands.

Pakistan Day is a public holiday and the national flag is hoisted at all major government and private buildings on the occasion.

Various political, social, religious, cultural and educational organisations arranged functions to highlight different aspects of the struggle for Pakistan and the lives of its founding fathers.

Pakistan Day is also being celebrated at the United Nations for the first time with a concert planned in the prestigious General Assembly hall organised by the Pakistan Mission to the UN.

The concert features Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Titled 'Sufi Night: Music of Peace', it is aimed at spreading the message of peace and harmony at the world stage.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal today celebrated Holi with his party leaders at AAP's office here.

Apart from the Delhi CM, AAP's top brass, including Kumar Vishwas, Dilip Pandey, Somnath Bharti, Amit Mishra and other MLAs, attended the celebrations at the party office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.

The party leaders applied gulaal on each others face and exchanged sweets even as many party workers and youngsters who also attended the function busied themselves in clicking selfies with the leaders.

Extending his greetings on Holi, Kejriwal invited his supporters at his residence tomorrow for Holi celebrations.

"I convey my best wishes to all the people Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, everyone, on the occasion of Holi."



"I invite you all to my residence tomorrow so we can celebrate Holi there too," he added.
Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Moscow for talks on Ukraine and Syria as the terrorist attacks in Brussels underscored the urgency of fighting the Islamic State group.

Kerry was to depart Washington late yesterday after accompanying President Barack Obama to Cuba and speaking by phone from Havana with the Belgian foreign minister to offer condolences for the victims of the attacks and any assistance Brussels might need.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and have highlighted the threat the group poses outside of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tomorrow, Kerry is to discuss the fragile truce in Syria that is hoped will spark UN-brokered peace talks amid disagreements over how to verify and respond to alleged violations, the State Department said.

His visit was arranged following Putin's surprise announcement last week of Russia's partial military withdrawal from Syria.

Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the US refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The State Department, however, insisted that Moscow and Washington are working constructively to monitor the truce.

The department also warned Russia against taking unilateral action in response to alleged violations. The Russian military has accused the US of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow's proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria cease-fire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.

Kerry also will call on Russia to do more to press pro-Russian separatists to comply with a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He is expected to raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia yesterday on charges the US says are false.

Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The US has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again yesterday.

"For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
A Sri Lankan woman, on a fast along with her two children for the last three days at the nearby Mandapam special camp, demanding that they be shifted to the camp where her husband is lodged, has withdrawn the protest, officials said today.

The trio withdrew the fast last evening after persuasions by officials and an advocate deputed by MDMK leader Vaiko.

Sathyakala, who allegedly fled from the island-nation to escape a jail term in a criminal case, and her husband Kadhirvel Dayabaran were arrested along with the children in Dhanushkodi near here where they arrived in 2014.

After interrogation by the Q branch Police and the Intelligence Bureau sleuths she and the children were lodged at the Mandapam camp, where people with suspicious background and former militants, are housed while Dayabaran was sent to refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli.

Since then she had been demanding that they be united with her husband.

Sathyakala had alleged that the living conditions in the Mandapam special refugee camp were horrible. The room where they stayed was like a dungeon without air and light.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today called for Europe to drop its "geopolitical games" and unite behind efforts to fight terrorism, a day after bomb attacks in Brussels killed around 30 people.

"I really hope that Europeans, in the face of the terrible threat of terrorism that occurred yesterday in Brussels, will put aside their geopolitical games and unite to prevent terrorists from acting on our continent," Lavrov was quoted by Russian agencies as telling visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Europe is facing a security crisis after yesterday's triple bombing in Brussels, which came on the heels of the November bomb and gun assaults in Paris that killed 130 people.

Russia's call to unite against terrorism comes amid a diplomatic push over the five-year conflict in Syria.

Steinmeier was in Moscow for meetings with Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin today, while US Secretary of State John Kerry touched down in the Russian capital ahead of talks with the duo tomorrow.

The West is looking to size up the Kremlin's game plan after Putin's surprise announcement on March 14 that Moscow was withdrawing the bulk of its forces conducting air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Moscow launched a bombing campaign in September saying they were striking the Islamic State group and other "terrorists" before they hit Russia, but the West said they mainly targeted Assad's more moderate opponents.

Steinmeier said last week that Russia's drawdown in Syria could increase pressure on Assad to "negotiate in a serious way", but peace talks with the opposition in Geneva have failed to make much headway.

"I personally cannot imagine that in light of 250,000 people killed and 12 million refugees, Assad can become a leader acceptable to all segments of the population," Steinmeier told Russia's Interfax agency Wednesday.

An unprecedented ceasefire negotiated by Russia and the United States has largely held in Syria since February 27, but it does not apply to jihadists.

Many Russian officials, including Putin, have echoed Lavrov's call for unity in the fight against terrorism.

"The fight against this evil calls for the most active international cooperation," the Kremlin said Tuesday.

A Russian jet on its way from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort to Saint Petersburg was brought down in October by a bomb, killing all 224 people on board in an attack claimed by the Egyptian-branch of IS.

Ties between Moscow and the West have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War over Russia's intervention in war-torn Ukraine but the Kremlin's Syria gambit thrust Putin back into the centre of international diplomacy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today called for Europe to drop its "geopolitical games" and unite behind efforts to fight terrorism, a day after bomb attacks in Brussels killed 31 people.

"I really hope that Europeans, in the face of the terrible threat of terrorism that occurred yesterday in Brussels, will put aside their geopolitical games and unite to prevent terrorists from acting on our continent," Lavrov was quoted by Russian agencies as telling visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Europe is facing a security crisis after today's triple bombing in Brussels, which came on the heels of the November bomb and gun assaults in Paris that killed 130 people.

Russia's call to unite against terrorism comes amid a diplomatic push over the five-year conflict in Syria.

Steinmeier was in Moscow for meetings with Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin Wednesday, while US Secretary of State John Kerry touched down in the Russian capital ahead of talks with the duo Thursday.

The talks beteen Steinmeier and Putin on Wednesday were an "open and constructive dialogue" touching on the situation in the Ukraine as well as the Syria peace efforts, Germany's foreign ministry said.

The West is looking to size up the Kremlin's game plan after Putin's surprise announcement on March 14 that Moscow was withdrawing the bulk of its forces conducting air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Moscow launched a bombing campaign in September saying they were striking the Islamic State group and other "terrorists" before they hit Russia, but the West said they mainly targeted Assad's more moderate opponents.

Steinmeier said last week that Russia's drawdown in Syria could increase pressure on Assad to "negotiate in a serious way", but peace talks with the opposition in Geneva have failed to make much headway.

"I personally cannot imagine that in light of 250,000 people killed and 12 million refugees, Assad can become a leader acceptable to all segments of the population," Steinmeier told Russia's Interfax agency Wednesday.

An unprecedented ceasefire negotiated by Russia and the United States has largely held in Syria since February 27, but it does not apply to jihadists.

Many Russian officials, including Putin, have echoed Lavrov's call for unity in the fight against terrorism.

"The fight against this evil calls for the most active international cooperation," the Kremlin said Tuesday.

A Russian jet on its way from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort to Saint Petersburg was brought down in October by a bomb, killing all 224 people on board in an attack claimed by the Egyptian-branch of IS.
Shreehari Aney, who resigned as Maharashtra Advocate General after a furore over his separate Marathwada remarks, today cautioned the government on "legislating morality" on the dance bars issue.

"As far as these dance bars are concerned, the problem of women working should be considered, along with men working, as a right to livelihood," he said.

"In an industry where work is of a hazardous nature, laws are required to ensure that these hazards are mitigated," Aney told PTI in an interview.

"In dance bars where women perform before a predominantly male audience, there are built-in occupational hazards. But merely because there are hazards, you can't stop the industry. The correct way would be to ensure that those hazards are minimised," he said.

"The lawmaking process is getting confused in a moral dimension. To legislate morality is an extremely difficult thing," Aney said.

On the other hand, to legislate protection (of women) is easy, he added.

"If framing of laws is done for the purpose of security of women at the workplace and to stop such anti-social activities as prostitution, it would not be a difficult law to frame," Aney said.

"But if consideration of moral policing enters the picture, framing of such laws becomes problematic and it is extremely difficult to frame laws legislating morality," he said.

Aney's remarks come against the backdrop of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' recent statement that the government will bring a comprehensive new legislation on the dance bar ban in the ongoing budget session of the state legislature.

The Supreme Court recently cleared the decks for the issuance of dance bar licences to hotels and restaurants in Mumbai as it modified the conditions for the permit and excluded installation of CCTV cameras from restaurants and dance performance area.

The state government had in 2005 banned dance bars in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra. Nearly 1,500 bars across the state had employed more than 75,000 women dancers.
Raising questions over the plight of minorities in poll-bound West Bengal despite political stability, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said recently released data indicated that their living conditions were "extremely inadequate".

Jaitley said the model followed by the state where growth levels were not fast enough to raise standards of all sections could be a factor for the condition of the minorities.

The Finance Minister, who was delivering a lecture organised by National Commission of Minorities(NCM) on 'Economic Empowerment of Minorities', said that post 1991, India witnessed a faster growth which also led to substantial reduction in poverty.

As he spoke about the role of economic growth in empowerment, the Finance Minister referred to a report 'Living realities of Muslims in West Bengal' released recently in Kolkata by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.

Referring to the data related to the minority community in West Bengal, Jaitley said that it indicated "living conditions which are extremely inadequate."



"Why is it that in a state like West Bengal, which has otherwise seen political stability since independence and has a sizeable minority population have data which indicates living conditions which are far less than adequate?," he asked.

"One of the reasons that struck my mind is that is it in terms of growth of economy, the state followed a model, where growth levels were not fast enough and I think it is a question which should be discussed," Jaitley said.

He said that post 1991, when in most parts, economic conditions improved, but a report on West Bengal comes with such findings. When there is high growth, Jaitley said all sections benefit, though some more than others and government can provide "targetted assistance" to all those left out.

The report released by Sen suggested that "Muslims in West Bengal are economically more deprived than others".

Jaitley also said the country experiences "policy diversions" from time to time, but maturity would be to ignore them and move towards growth in a "harmonious" way.

According to Jaitley, the "judge's view is final, it is



not necessary that it is infallible".

"If we are to maintain an element of statesmanship and some account of vision, I think there cannot be any guidelines as to who has to exercise which functions. It has to be a self imposed discipline and a self imposed 'Lakshman rekha' which all institutions like the Legislature, Judiciary and the Executive will have to impose.

"I do hope that resilience of Indian society and Indian democracy has enough strength in it that notwithstanding differences of opinion, we will in the long run be able to maintain it," he said.

Jaitley recalled how the judiciary changed from the 1950s and 1960s when it supported the government, but later turned assertive and sometimes even went beyond its domain.

"There was a tendency to cross the Lakshman Rekha and when you cross the Lakshman Rekha you get into functions which belong to the Executive or the Legislature," he said, recalling



the past events.

"Once this tendency picks up, then it creates an impression that one institution is in separation of powers is superior to the other other institution and therefore, a superior institution can take a better decision than the other parallel institution," he said.

Jaitley observed that in the last few decades, the country has moved from a cooperative federalism to a competitive federalism. Accordingly, he stressed the need for caution on the part of the three organs.

He said the Constitutionally mandated separation of powers among the three organs of the state has played a vital role in preserving democracy in India.

The Finance Minister said the system of checks and balances has ensured that they function well within their respective domains and do not usurp the essential functions of the other organs.

He emphasised that the lack of balance can upset the theory of separation of power. As such, he said that Judiciary cannot become Executive/Legislature or vice versa.

Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated the workshop on 'Constitution of India' in the Parliament Library Building, organised by Speaker's Research Initiative (SRI) of Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Mahajan, in her remarks, said the purpose of the workshop is to enable the MPs, the public representatives to have a better understanding of the Constitution.
Maharshtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has greeted people of Maharashtra on the occasion of Holi and the festival of colours.

In his message, the Governor said, "Holi and the Festival of Colours reflect India's beautiful unity in diversity. May the festival promote brotherhood and harmony in society and may it bring happiness and prosperity to our people.

"I wish the people of the state a very happy Holi and joyful festival of colours," he said.
Maharashtra will attain self-sufficiency for its power needs by 2017, state government told the Assembly today.

Maharashtra's planning for power generation till 2025 is in place, state Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said during a debate under rule 293 of the House.

As per the plan, there is a target of generation of 5,500 MW power in the state by 2017, the minister said, adding the government has approved online meter scheme for electricity consumers.

A 'viduyt sevak' will be appointed at gram panchayat level, Bawankule said.
Utility vehicles major Mahindra is planning to ship its heavy and commercial vehicles to Africa over the next 18 months, a top company executive said today.

"About 10 per cent of vehicles which we are selling, including light commercial vehicles (LCVs), are exported. We will perhaps go to some parts of Africa in the coming 18 months. We may begin shipment with our latest heavy truck model Blazo and other LCVs," Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, Nalin Mehta said here.

However, Mehta did not provide more details about the plans.

Replying to a query, he said their heavy trucks enjoy market share of 3.5 per cent and expects it to double in the next two years.

The company today announced the launch of its new heavy commercial truck series under the brand name Blazo which comes with a range of models including haulages, tractor trailers and tippers.

The Blazo was launched at the Auto Expo in February and today was its commercial launch.

"Our truck and bus business has been growing steadily and is taking full advantage of the buoyancy in the HCV segment. We are confident that new Blazo heavy truck range will further enhance our position," Mehta said.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal today met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and and appealed to reconstitute Thana Level Committees in the national capital.

She brought to his notice, the immense importance of these committees in fixing accountability of Delhi Police at grassroots to the people of the city, especially women.

"Maliwal Informed Singh about Lt Governor recently scrapping Thana Level Committees in Delhi and that she feels that this decision is extremely anti-women.

"She also brought to the notice of Home Minister that Thana Level Committees have been in existence for years. Earlier in 2014, Lt Governor himself had praised these Thana Level Committees and she fails to understand as to what has transpired in the last year that has caused him to scrap them," said a DCW official.

Maliwal also requested the Home Minister to personally look into the matter and ensure no politics is played on the issue of women's safety in Delhi.

"The Home Minister has assured her that he will take some concrete positive steps in this matter," the official added.

Each Thana Level Committee is led by the MLA of the concerned area and comprises of members from municipal bodies, RWAs, trade associations, student and labour representatives. The panel also has the SDM, Station House Officer and ACP concerned of the area.
A 35-year-old man was arrested today for allegedly throttling to death his 30-year-old live- in partner in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area, police said.

Pawan (35) was arrested from a village near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. He is accused of having murdered Renu Devi, his live-in partner with whom he also had a child.

The duo had rented the accommodation in Govindpuri after claiming to be a married couple, police said, adding that Renu had separated from her husband a few years back. She had later entered into a relationship with the accused, who works as a tailor in Okhla, they said.

According to police, Pawan returned home drunk on Saturday night and that led to an argument between Renu and him during which he allegedly throttled her in a fit of rage.

After allegedly strangling her, he locked the door from outside and left for his village with their two-year-old daughter.

The matter came to light when Renu's father came to her house yesterday and discovered her decomposed body. The post- mortem report suggested that Renu was killed at least three days back, police said.
Investigators probing the fate of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have begun analysis on debris found in Mozambique, Australian authorities said today.

So far only a wing part from the Boeing 777 recovered from a beach on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been found.

MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 during a Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight with 239 passengers and crew on board.

The two items from Mozambique have been x-rayed and cleaned to remove macrofauna, Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said in a statement.

Specialists -- including from Australia, Malaysia and Boeing -- were "conducting an examination which will include seeking to identify specific features that may be consistent with the items coming from an aircraft, and if possible, from MH370", JACC added.

"A statement on the findings will be made once the examination process is complete."



JACC added that Malaysia was working with South African officials to arrange for the examination of another piece of debris "suspected to be the cowling from an engine".

South African authorities said yesterday the fragment was picked up near Mossel Bay, a small town in Western Cape province.

Mossel Bay is more than 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) from Vilankulo, the Mozambican resort where one of the pieces being examined in Australia was found.

Australia is leading the search for the missing passenger jet in the southern Indian Ocean, where the aircraft was believed to have crashed after diverting from its route.

More than 95,000 square kilometres (36,700 square miles) of the 120,000 square kilometres target zone has been searched so far, with investigators due to wrap up the hunt in June-July if the plane is not found in the area.

Australian search officials added that a second "towfish", an underwater sonar vehicle pulled behind a search ship and fitted with survey instruments, had been lost to the ocean floor on March 21. Options to recover it are being considered.

A towfish was lost in January after hitting an undersea volcano but was later recovered.
US First Lady Michelle Obama opted for Kashmiri embroidered dress by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan at the Cuba state dinner.

President Barack Obama, the first lady and their daughters arrived in Havana, the capital of Cuba, on Sunday.

Khan said that the dress, which the First Lady selected for the Cuban dinner, was made from a Kashmiri fabric embroidered with an Indian floral motif and it is similar to the one from his pre-fall collection, reported the New York Times.

"I had sent her a couple of different things. I had no idea. You never know what she is going to wear. I guess I got pretty lucky," Khan said.

The designer is responsible for some of Michelle's best looks, including the gown she wore to a state dinner in India in 2009.

He seems to have become a family favourite: The first daughters Malia and Sasha Obama wore Naeem Khan dresses for their first appearance at a state dinner in Canada this month.
Police have seized several prohibited items including mobile phones, bidis and tobacco from central jails in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in the past two years, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel said in the assembly.

In reply to a question by a Congress MLA yesterday, Patel, who also holds the Home portfolio, said during checks police recovered 29 mobile phones from Ahmedabad jail in 2014, while 20 were seized from Vadodara prison.

In 2015, another 32 mobile phones were recovered from Ahmedabad central prison and six from Vadodara jail.

Congress legislator Tejashreeben Patel had sought information regarding recovery of banned goods from central jails in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in the past two years.

Police also recovered numerous bidi and cigarette packets from the jails in the past two years. A smoking pipe was also seized, the government said in the written reply.

A considerable number of chewing tobacco and pan masala packets were also seized from jails.

The police also recovered tea leaves, sugar and thermoses from the jails. The seizure also included five packets of garlic chutney, potatoes and onions, the reply stated.

Apart from above mentioned things, the other common items found in the jail included nail cutter and scissors.

Cash was also recovered from possession of some prisoners.

In reply to a supplementary question on what action has been taken after the discovery of the banned items, the government said that legal action has been taken against 253 prisoners as per jail manual, while departmental action has been taken against 173 employees, including some officers.
In the wake of multiple blasts in Brussels, Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary reviewed security preparedness of the Delhi Metro system, which carries around 2.6 million passengers daily.

Accompanied by Managing Director of Delhi Metro Mangu Singh, Chaudhary took stock of the security preparedness of the Delhi Metro system besides visiting the maintenance workshop and training institute at Shastri Park.

During his half-day visit to Delhi Metro network, the Minister visited the Patel Chowk Metro station after which he travelled by the Metro train upto Shastri Park via Kashmere Gate Metro station.

The Minister was shown and briefed about the safety and security related features available in the Metro trains.

At Kashmere Gate, he inspected the security arrangements in place for the interchange of passengers from Line-2 to Line-1 and vice versa.

The Minister's visit came a day after two bomb attacks claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 15 people in Brussels.

At Shastri Park, he visited the Operation Control Centre (OCC) and Security Control Room. He was apprised about the overall operational control and security management of the Metro network by Singh.

The Minister expressed satisfaction about the overall handling of the operations and security of such a vast system which carries around 2.6 million passengers daily.

The Minister also visited the Shastri Park Depot to see the workshop and maintenance practices and facilities available at the training institute for grooming professionals not only for the Delhi Metro but also for the other upcoming Metros in the country.

The Minister was briefed that the Delhi Metro has a very safe and sound security arrangement in place at all its stations and depots.

There are dog squads and bomb disposal teams, which swung into action anytime there is a safety and security alarm and concern.

Entry of passengers is facilitated through advanced door frame metal detectors (DFMDs) on the Metro System and baggage scanners are used to scan luggage automatically, thus ensuring that no untoward incident or security breach takes place.

Security of the Metro premises is handled by the CISF personnel whereas, to tackle law and order situation, Delhi Police too have set up its own police stations spread across the network.
National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) had been allotted Utkal-D & E coal blocks, near the company's Captive Power Plant in Angul district of Odisha.

The allotment agreement for these blocks having a reserve of more than 200 million tonnes of coal was signed between the Centre and NALCO in New Delhi yesterday.

Terming it as a Holi gift, NALCO CMD T K Chand thanked the Union Government and congratulated all the employees as well as the stakeholders.

"The company's smooth operation and expansion plans hinged on the allocation of these blocks. With this, NALCO's captive resources have been enriched, which will see the company through the next three decades and more," said Chand.

Vivek Bharadwaj, Nominated Authority, on behalf of Government of India and D Manjit, GM (Coal Mines Division), NALCO signed the agreement.

N R Mohanty, Director (P&T) handed over the documents to Chand today at Bhubaneswar.
Amidst drama at Fergusson College over the purported raising of anti-national slogans, an NCP MLA was allegedly manhandled today on its campus as a clash broke out between workers of his party and ABVP supporters.

A day after heated exchanges there between ABVP activists and students affiliated to Left organisations, NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad was allegedly manhandled on the Fergusson campus during a clash which led to the deployment of a riot squad and saw the police stepping in to control the situation.

The MLA wanted to meet Fergusson College principal R Pardeshi to discuss yesterday's incident and reached the campus at around 4.30 PM. But, unable to meet Pardeshi, he began a speech to NCP workers and supporters on the campus.

While he was speaking, members of ABVP and BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, started raising slogans against Awhad and allegedly heckled him.

Awhad's supporters and the rival groups soon came to blows and the NCP leader was allegedly manhandled during the melee.

Police had to intervene and escorted Awhad to his car. But even after the NCP leader had got inside the vehicle, footwear and stones were hurled at his car.

Police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd before Awhad and his supporters left the campus. After the clash, a riot control squad was deployed.

"Police had to use mild force to disperse the groups as Awhad was manhandled. Although a police officer took out his service revolver, no rounds were fired and Awhad was escorted out safely," said a senior police officer.

"We are yet to detain anybody in this connection. We will study CCTV footage to check what exactly happened," he said.

Meanwhile, with the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Minister Vinod Tawde.

Pardeshi had yesterday dashed off a letter to police seeking action against those who had "raised anti-national slogans" on the campus during a verbal clash between two students' groups. However, he today retracted his statement, saying he had sought a probe to ascertain if such slogans were raised.

Although in his letter yesterday, Pardeshi had asked police to take "stern action" against individuals who raised anti-national slogans, in a turnaround today, he told PTI the letter had a "typographical error" and he had only meant to request police to find out whether or not anti-national slogans were raised on the campus.

"I have been summoned by the Education Minister and I am



now leaving for Mumbai. I will update him about the incident," Pardeshi told reporters.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde said police would investigate the matter.

Inspector Pravin Chougule of Deccan Gymkhana Police confirmed that the principal has withdrawn his earlier letter and a revised version is being sent to the authorities.

Earlier, during his speech before he was escorted out by police, Awhad said, "The principal should be sacked as he seems to be mentally imbalanced... He wrote the letter and later withdrew it... I have come to Fergusson College not as an NCP leader but as a students' sympathiser, because I started my political as a student leader. Our fight is against fascism."



Referring to Pardeshi's letter yesterday, in which he had asked police to take action against those who "raised anti- national slogans", Awhad said, Pardeshi "purposely misled the police".

"He misled the police by writing a letter alleging that anti-national slogans were raised on the campus by students who had come to oppose JNU ABVP leader Alok Singh, who was having an interaction with the Fergusson students," he said, adding that a case should be registered against Pardeshi for this.

While Pardeshi said no permission was granted to the ABVP delegation for holding the meeting, 'Truth of JNU', a spokesman for the outfit said college authorities had told them that since it was supposed to be an informal interaction, there was no need for a formal nod.

Earlier in the day, various groups stormed the Fergusson campus condemning the letter and demanding stern action against ABVP members.
Amidst drama at Fergusson College over the purported raising of anti-national slogans, an NCP MLA was allegedly manhandled today on its campus as a clash broke out between workers of his party and members of BJP's youth wing and the ABVP.

A day after heated exchanges there between ABVP activists and students affiliated to Left organisations, NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad was allegedly manhandled on the Fergusson campus during a clash which led to the deployment of a riot squad and saw the police stepping in to control the situation.

The MLA wanted to meet Fergusson College principal R Pardeshi to discuss yesterday's incident and reached the campus at around 4.30 PM. But, unable to meet Pardeshi, he began a speech to NCP workers and supporters on the campus.

While he was speaking, members of ABVP and BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, started raising slogans against Awhad and allegedly heckled him.

Awhad's supporters and the rival groups soon came to blows and the NCP leader was allegedly manhandled during the melee.

Police had to intervene and escorted Awhad to his car, but even after the NCP leader had got inside the vehicle, footwear and stones were hurled at his car.

Police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd before Awhad and his supporters left the campus. After the clash, a riot control squad was deployed.

"Police had to use mild force to disperse the groups as Awhad was manhandled. Although a police officer took out his service revolver, no rounds were fired and Awhad was escorted out safely," said a senior police officer.

"We are yet to detain anybody in this connection. We will study CCTV footage to check what exactly happened," he said.

Meanwhile, with the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Minister Vinod Tawde.

Pardeshi had yesterday dashed off a letter to police seeking action against those who had "raised anti-national slogans" on the campus during a verbal clash between two students' groups. However, he today retracted his statement, saying he had sought a probe to ascertain if such slogans were raised.

Although in his letter yesterday, Pardeshi had asked police to take "stern action" against individuals who raised anti-national slogans, in a turnaround today, he told PTI the letter had a "typographical error" and he had only meant to request police to find out whether or not anti-national slogans were raised on the campus.
Nepal Prime Minister K P Oli today said their relationship with China is "higher than Mount Everest and superior than the Great Wall", underlining that the Himalayan nation will not allow any activity on its territory that will impair the Communist nation's interests.

Oli was addressing the Renmin University students here when he lauded the bilateral ties much on the lines of the repeated descriptionof Pakistan-China relations as higher than mountains and deeper than oceans.

"Nepal's relationship with China is higher than the Mount Everest, and superior than the Great Wall," Oli said who left Beijing today for the Boao Summit in Hainan Province.

He saidNepal adheres to the One-China policy and will not allow any activity on the Nepali territory that will impair China's interests.

The One-China policy refers to a policy or view that there is only one state called China.

Oli is on a week-long visit to China. Nepal has signed 10 agreements with China, including a landmark transit treaty to end the near-total dependence on India for essential supplies.
Scientists have developed a new model for understanding how stars similar to our Sun evolve, which may help determine the age of stars more precisely than current methods.

The framework helps explain how the rotation of stars, their emission of X-rays, and the intensity of their stellar winds vary with time.

Researchers from the University of Rochester in the US described how they have corroborated known, observable data for the activity of Sun-like stars with fundamental astrophysics theory.

By looking at the physics behind the speeding up or slowing down of a star's rotation, its X-ray activity, and magnetic field generation, the research is a "first attempt to build a comprehensive model for the activity evolution of these stars," said Eric Blackman, professor at the University of Rochester.

Using our Sun as the calibration point, the model most accurately describes the likely behaviour of the Sun in the past, and how it would be expected to behave in the future.

"Our model shows that stars younger than our Sun can vary quite significantly in the intensity of their X-ray emission and mass loss," said Blackman.

"But there is a convergence in the activity of the stars after a certain age, so you could say that our Sun is very typical for stars of its mass, radius, and its age. They get more predictable as they age," he said.

"We're not yet at the point where we can accurately predict a star's precise age, because there are simplifying assumptions that go into the model," said Blackman.

"But in principle, by extending the work to relax some of these assumptions we could predict the age for a wide range of stars based on their X-ray luminosity," he said.

Empirically determining the age of stars is most easily accomplished if a star is among a cluster of stars, from whose mutual properties astronomers can estimate the age.

Blackman said that its age can then be estimated "to an accuracy not better than a factor of 25 per cent of its actual age, which is typically billions of years."



The problem is worse for "field stars," alone in space for which the cluster method of dating cannot be used.

For these stars, astronomers have turned to gyrochronology and activity ageing - empirically ageing the stars based on the fact that older stars of known age rotate more slowly and have lower X-ray luminosities than younger stars.

Over the past few decades astronomers have been able to empirically measure these trends in rotation and magnetic activity for stars like the Sun, but now we are trying to devise a comprehensive theoretical interpretation, said Eric Mamajek, professor at the University of Rochester.

"Ultimately this should lead to improved constraints on the evolution of rotation and activity in Sun-like stars, and better constraints on how the magnetic properties of our Sun have changed over the course of its main sequence life," Mamajek said.

The study was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Myanmar's incoming finance minister said today he was shocked to discover his PhD is fake after netizens pointed out he had been a victim of a high profile scam run out of Pakistan that ensnared thousands of others.

Kyaw Win was one of 18 people named yesterday to the incoming cabinet of democracy veteran Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) will take office at the end of the month - ending decades of military-led rule.

The 68-year-old was one of six NLD members in Suu Kyi's big-tent cabinet - which also includes three army officers as well as opposition party figures.

Suu Kyi, who is banned from becoming president, was confirmed as foreign minister while the other roles are expected to be formally announced later in the week.

However local media widely published a leaked list of earmarked roles, with Kyaw Win, a career bureaucrat and adviser to the NLD's economics committee, taking the influential finance and planning portfolio.

An official CV issued by the NLD shortly after the cabinet announcement stated he held a PhD from a college in the United States called Brooklyn Park University.

But social media users quickly pointed out that Brooklyn Park was one of a number of fake online organisations created by a Pakistani group that ran a global fraudulent degree empire out of Karachi until its exposure last year.

"I openly admit it that I studied at this fake online university in my older age," Kyaw Win, who confirmed he would take on the finance portfolio, told AFP.

He explained how, like many others in junta-run Myanmar, he had a thirst for education but little opportunity to study abroad.

"Education has been my dream since I was young. I never stopped studying my whole life. But I could not study abroad because I did not have enough money," he said.

Kyaw Win said he did not discover the degree was fake until the the spread on Facebook after his cabinet nomination yesterday, an experience he described as "really painful".

Myanmar has undergone a dramatic political transformation since 2011 after almost a half-century of isolation under a military junta.

Its growing political openness was crowned by a historic November election that saw the NLD storm to victory.

Suu Kyi, 70, is the only woman on the incoming cabinet. There is widespread speculation she will take on four ministerial portfolios: foreign affairs, education, energy and the president's office.

Blocked from becoming president by a junta-era constitution because she married and had children with a foreigner, she has vowed to rule through a proxy president, the recently elected Htin Kyaw.
A US lawmaker is seeking answers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over the theft by cyber criminals of USD 81 million from an account belonging to the Bangladesh central bank.

Rep Carolyn Maloney of New York, the senior Democrat on a key subcommittee of the House Financial Services panel, asked the New York Fed in a letter why it blocked 30 of the 35 fraudulent orders to transfer funds out of the account but failed to block the first five orders.

Bangladesh Central Bank Gov Atiur Rahman resigned last week over the scandal. Attention increasingly has focused on suspected weaknesses in the Bangladesh central bank's cybersecurity.

Maloney is asking for a confidential briefing by the New York Fed's staff on the February 4 cyber theft.
A New Yorker who spent 20 years in prison for murder despite having multiple alibis walked free today when a judge overturned the conviction and said the man was victim of an unfair trial.

But the charges against Richard Rosario, 40, remain open and US prosecutors said they could still decide to retry him.

Rosario was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of murdering teenager George Collazo in broad daylight in the Bronx in June 1996.

Rosario maintained he was in Florida on the day of the killing and provided nine witnesses, but his defense lawyer never sent an investigator to Florida and the witnesses were never interviewed.

Rosario had lost years of legal challenges and federal appeals.

"Mr Rosario was convicted at a trial where he had ineffective counsel and several alibi witnesses were never interviewed by his attorney," said district attorney Darcel Clark.

"The charges against Mr. Rosario will remain open while we complete the alibi witnesses interviews and reinvestigate the case in order to decide whether to retry Mr. Rosario."



Clark reviewed the case after she took office in January when Rosario's new lawyers filed another appeal based on new evidence.
New Zealanders will learn today whether a proposal to ditch Britain's Union Jack from the national flag has been successful, with opinion polls indicating they will stick with the existing banner.

Prime Minister John Key has been the main advocate for change, organising a referendum on the issue he describes as a once-in-a-generation chance to update the flag after more than a century.

"It's fundamentally about taking the Union jack off and putting the silver fern on," Key said this week.

He has called the existing flag a relic of British colonial days, saying the silver fern used by the All Blacks "screams New Zealand" in the same way the maple leaf identifies Canadians.

But after an 18-month process costing NZ dollar 26 million (USD 17.5 million) it appears New Zealanders are overwhelmingly against change.

About three million ballot papers have been distributed in the South Pacific nation of 4.5 million people for the vote, conducted only by post and which closes at 7.00pm today (local time).

Preliminary results will be released about 90 minutes later and polling has consistently indicated about two-thirds of the electorate support the existing flag.

On one side of the ballot is the existing flag, a dark blue ensign with the Union Jack in the top left corner and four red stars representing the Southern Cross constellation.

On the other is the proposed alternative - a silver fern on a black-and-blue background, which retains the four stars.

Created by designer Kyle Lockwood, it beat four other proposed flags in a preliminary referendum last December.

Veterans' group the Returned and Services Association argues that to change the flag disrespects previous generations who fought and died under the banner.

Others criticise the design's aesthetics, with actor Sam Neill saying: "This ugly beach towel is no alternative. It's hideous."



But there are high-profile advocates for change, including ex-All Black skipper Richie McCaw, who says the existing flag is too similar to Australia's.

"The silver fern has always been the special symbol on the All Black jersey... So the new flag with a silver fern as a part of it would be a great option," he posted on Facebook earlier this month.
Power distribution companies in the capital today came under fire from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for putting high tension cables on trees, with the green panel warning of action against their top bosses if the wires were not removed within six weeks.

"Why are you (discoms) putting wires around the trees? Why don't you put wires on poles?... You make all the trees free of wiring in any part of NCT, Delhi within six weeks from today...

"In the event of default of direction and the work of trees being made free of electrical wiring in any form whatsoever, the Managing Director of the Company would be liable to be proceeded against in accordance with law personally," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

During the hearing, the counsel for BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, told the green panel that they required at least eight weeks to free the trees of electrical wires and poles were being installed at various points to achieve the target.

The green panel directed all municipal corporations and concerned departments to file their compliance reports with regard to deconcretisation of trees within two weeks.

"They shall protect the trees and ensure that their roots are not exposed...In the affidavit it would be specifically stated, any two colonies by each of corporation where aforesaid work in terms of the direction of the Tribunal have been followed and complied with. The affidavit be filed by the Commissioners of the respective Corporations," the bench categorically said.

The matter was listed for next hearing on April 29.

The NGT had last year issued notices to Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and North Delhi Power Ltd for choking trees by putting wires around them.

In 2013, it had directed public authorities, including municipal bodies, Delhi Development Authority to ensure that sign boards, advertisements, wires and other objects that deface trees as well as concrete around them in the national capital are removed forthwith.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate Aditya N Prasad alleging that concretisation of trees in various parts of Delhi was leading to weakening of the roots and eventually their death.
Government's think tank NITI Aayog and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will build a robust database for energy sector to enhance quality of energy policy formulation across fuel and consumer side.

"We need to step-up our understanding of global energy trends. India's energy data systems are particularly weak on demand side -- consumption of different fuels by consumer types and end-uses."



"Internationally, surveys are a common tool to understand consumer behaviour and project demand," Anil Jain, Adviser, Energy, NITI Aayog said in a blog posted on the think tank's website.

For any policy formulation "we must have reliable and complete datasets", Jain said adding Aayog will build robust energy scenarios collaboratively with global energy agencies.

As per Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), India will need an investment of over USD 3 trillion in energy sector till 2040.

"This calls for a competitive, world-class investment regime. We live in an interdependent world and have a vested interest in sound understanding of global energy demand and supply projections. With nearly one-third of our primary energy demand being met by imports, India is an active participant in global energy trade," Jain wrote.

India's energy imports are only expected to keep rising in the immediate future, until over the time the country ramp-up renewal energy supplies, and fully explore coal, oil and gas deposits, he added.

In December 2015, NITI Aayog signed a collaboration framework with Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. Followed up in March, this year, with a similar arrangement with IEA.

Jain said another tie-up is in the offing with the Energy Information Administration, USA.

"Hence, we have a keen interest in collaborating with expert institutions elsewhere, so that we may be equipped with top quality appreciation of global energy prices, supply and other trends", he said.

Also, in signing these joint programmes with leading think tanks, Aayog also offers the "value proposition of being the single-point of interaction for all energy sources," he said further.

"India's own energy mix is moving away from fossil fuel dominance with emergence of renewable energies in a big way. Hence, the need of the hour is to look at the omnibus energy sector and advise future strategy accordingly," Jain said.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said Sri Lanka and India have not held any talks on building a sea-bridge and tunnel connecting two countries.

Wickremesinghe was responding to a question by the opposition parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila in parliament.

Gammanpila said the Indian Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced in Indian parliament (Lok Sabha) a plan to construct the bridge.

Wickremesinghe in response said he did not know what Gadkari might have said in Hindi in parliament but the Sri Lankan government had not entered any talks with India on the subject.

Gammanpila said he was ready to send Wickremesinghe the comments made by Gadkari.

"The Asian Development Bank is ready to fully finance a bridge building project connecting Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka. The project was also discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his counterpart during the latter's recent visit," Gadkari had said in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha last year.

The India-Sri Lanka connectivity project cost is pegged at about Rs 24,000 crore.

"The Government, right from the day it assumed office, has been focussed on enhancing regional cooperation. Subsequent to PM's announcement of 'Act East policy', India pro-actively engaged in building effective and credible links between South Asia and South East Asia through enhanced regional connectivity," he had said.

Meanwhile, the government also told parliament that the Sampur coal power plant project, a joint venture with India will be expedited as part of measures to avoid a serious power crisis in future.

The Power and Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya making a statement on the recent nation-wide black out tabled some of the recommendations and proposals made to avoid a similar crisis in future.

The Sampu coal power plant in the eastern port district of Trincomalee is a joint venture with India's National Thermal Corporation (NTPC).
Stressing the need for creativity and innovations in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee today said no society can progress if it cannot respect talent.

Talking to participants of the Rashtrapati Bhavan's 'In-residence' programme, including writers, artists and innovators from different parts of the country, he termed them as "special guests" who would continue to be special because of their talent.

"All of them are creative minds of a resurgent India and they will add many more glorious chapters to our ancient civilisation.

"If a society cannot respect talent, it cannot be described as a progressive society. Without innovations and creativity, no society can advance," Mukherjee said.

He said the programme is among the initiatives taken to open up Rashtrapati Bhavan to the public.

Earlier speaking at the function, Omita Paul, Secretary of the President, said by encouraging bright minds "we can usher innovations which go beyond economic gains and cover the aspect of social good."



At the function, the participants shared the experience of their stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan with the President and said they were inspired to take their creative initiatives to a higher level.

When they return to their states, they would serve as ambassadors of the President and Rashtrapati Bhavan and encourage others to innovate to find solutions to problems of the people in their day to day lives.

The grassroots-level innovators included Mushtaq Ahmed Dar from Jammu and Kashmir (walnut cracker), Amrut Lal Bawandas Agrawat from Gujarat (Aaruni Bullock Cart and Innovative Pulley), Anuradha Pal from Andhra Pradesh ('Right biotic' --an Anti-biotic finder) and Swapnanil Debajit Talukdar from Assam (Foot operated manual page-turning machine).

The writers staying at Rashtrapati Bhavan under the



'In-Residence' programme include Binod Ghosal from West Bengal, Jwishri Boro from Assam and Dhwanil Ravindrabhai Parekh from Gujarat. All three are winners of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.

The programme for innovation scholars, writers and artists was launched by the President of India on December 11, 2013 with a view to encourage senior innovation scholars, writers and artists as well as young and upcoming talent by facilitating them stay close to nature in the picturesque and serene surroundings of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The duration of stay in Rashtrapati Bhavan under this scheme is one month. However, their stay can be extend for one more month by a Committee, in charge of the programme.

In previous two years, four writers, five artists and 15 innovations scholars stayed in Rashtrapati Bhavan in different batches.
Taiwan authorities are confiscating pebbles collected as mementos by tourists and returning the rocks to the island's picturesque beaches as they step up moves to preserve the scenic east coast.

In the latest geological repatriation, a cache of stones taken from outbound visitors by airport immigration were last week sent back to Taitung county, where rugged seascapes attract tourists, particularly from mainland China.

The haul of pebbles, collected over two months at Taipei's main airport, weighed a total of 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds), according to the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration.

Fears that tourists taking stones will erode the island's beaches have prompted authorities to put up signs at the most popular sites and at airports in recent years.

Tourists want to keep the patterned volcanic rocks as souvenirs, the administration said.

"Taking one or two doesn't seem like a lot, but our scenery will slowly disappear the more it happens," Lin Wei-ling, deputy director of the administration, told AFP.

Taiwan's tourism bureau has introduced a fine as high as TWD 500,000 (USD 15,430) for those caught, but Lin says no one has yet been slapped with penalties.

"We mostly rely on persuasion. After all, the fine seems disproportionally harsh for just taking a few stones," she said.

She added that educating the public has been effective as some visitors have sent back rocks they have taken after realising it is illegal when they return home.

The stones returned were from Taitung's Sanxiantai -- a group of offshore islands and coral reefs -- and Baxian Cave, where natural sea caves are carved into cliff faces.

Aside from being interesting rock formations, the two areas are also well-known as settings for Chinese Taoist legends about "Baxian" -- or the Eight Immortals.

Myths tell the tale of how three of the saints landed on Sanxiantai, and the immortals were said to have resided in Baxian Cave.
Hearing on JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar in Delhi High Court today saw the AAP government taking a firm stand that there was no violation of any bail condition by the student leader, even as Delhi Police sought to buy time saying the matter was being probed.

The police said it cannot comment on the pleas seeking cancellation of interim bail granted to Kanhaiya without verifying facts and they were investigating whether any bail condition was violated.

The investigators' response came after the Delhi government categorically stated that no grounds have been shown by petitioners which warrant cancellation of Kanhaiya's interim bail at this stage.

The court was hearing arguments, which would continue on April 28, on separate pleas seeking cancellation of interim bail to Kanhaiya on the ground that his speech after his release from Tihar Jail here earlier this month was "anti- national" and he had violated the bail conditions. They have also sought initiation of perjury proceedings against him.

However, special public prosecutor Shailendra Babbar, appearing for the Delhi Police, said "as regards the allegations that he (Kanhaiya) has violated the bail conditions, this fact is disputed. Unless verified by us, we cannot comment on this. The investigation is going on."



"We have not preferred any cancellation application. If the court will issue notice, we will come back to the court. I have to verify and unless verified I cannot comment," he told Justice Suresh Kait.

Delhi government's senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra, however, told the bench the state government has left it to the court. "If the court says that yes the bail conditions have been violated, we have nothing to say."



However, "no single ground has been shown which satisfy the condition that he (Kanhaiya) has violated the bail conditions at this stage. No violation is shown. They (petitioners) must place the grounds on which they are seeking cancellation of bail," Mehra said.

"There is no single act by which it could be said that there is violation of the order," he said, adding, "Courts are conscious of the fact that if their orders have been violated, then bail must be cancelled.

During the hearing, the counsel representing one of the



petitioner Vineet Jindal claimed that after Kanhaiya was released, he had organised a press conference in JNU campus.

"After his release what he did, kindly see. He says in Kashmir women are raped by security personnel. I do not know why the police is not taking action against him," he said.

The court, however, said, "What is the hurry? If the police is not taking any action then you can go to court. You said you have already given a complaint to the police. If he (Kanhaiya) had violated any condition, the other side (police) will look into it."



To this, the lawyer said, "State is not doing anything for reasons best known to them. May be they are under political pressure."



The bench then asked him to argue on the point of locus.

Advocate R P Luthra, who appeared for other petitioner Prashant Kumar Umrao, claimed that Kanhaiya had violated bail conditions by giving statements "challenging the integrity and sovereignty of the country".

"The conditions so imposed on him (Kanhaiya) have been violated by him and he has breached the faith shown on him by the court. The concession granted to him should be taken away," he said.

"This court ought to have taken suo motu cognizance of the matter. I know judges are too busy to see the information which are available in public domain. I am presuming that whatever was there in public domain, the judges have not seen that," he argued.

When the bench asked Luthra about his locus in the matter, he said he was intervenor before Supreme Court in the matter.

"We are not supposed to see what is there on TV," the bench said, adding, "State and Central government are looking into the matter."



Luthra responded, "They (State and Central government) are looking only for votes. They have failed."



The court, however, asked, "You satisfy the court on locus. You have not satisfied the court on locus yet."



When the court asked Luthra to show the order of the apex court in which he was made an intervenor in the matter, the counsel said he was making a statement on the bar regarding this and he would soon place the order before the court.

(Reopens LGD11)



When Mehra said that Luthra should be first asked to place before the court the apex court order, the latter said, "In this case, the standing counsel comes in court and says he has no objection if bail is granted to the accused."



Mehra shot back, "Who is he to say what a standing counsel should do."



At this juncture, the bench asked the counsel, "You confine your arguments to your plea."



On the issue of locus, Mehra said there is no locus of the petitioners as neither the state nor the police have moved the court for cancellation of bail.

Luthra, however, argued that the evidence are in domain of the state and a status report can be called from them.

He said he would hand over a CD containing the footage run by TV channels on Kanhaiya's speech and the state can verify these facts.

When the court again asked him to satisfy it on the point of locus, the counsel referred to a judgement of the apex court and said he can place other verdicts on this point.

The court thereafter posted the matter for April 28.

Luthra insisted he would argue the matter today itself but the court said it would hear the arguments on the next date of hearing. "Try to maintain the decorum. Come on the next date," the court said.

Besides seeking cancellation of interim bail, petitioner Umrao has moved another plea for initiation of perjury proceedings against Kanhaiya alleging that he had "deliberately and wilfully filed a false affidavit" before the court while securing the relief.

Kanhaiya, who was granted six months interim bail on March 2, is facing sedition charge in connection with an event at JNU on February 9 where anti-national slogans were allegely raised and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru hailed as a 'martyr'.
The White House is considering a possible visit by President Barack Obama to Hiroshima, the Japanese city devastated in history's first atomic bombing at the close of World War II, a US official told AFP.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the details of Obama's visit to Japan for a Group of Seven summit in late May had yet to be finalised, but a trip to Hiroshima had not been ruled out.

Obama is scheduled to participate in the summit of leading democracies in central Japan's Mie prefecture.

In 2008, then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Hiroshima, becoming the highest, sitting US political figure to visit the city.

Japan has long urged world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see the horrors of the atomic bombings and join efforts to eradicate nuclear arms.

Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government's top spokesman, refrained from directly commenting on the reports, but reiterated Tokyo's position.

"The government has always called on leaders around the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see for themselves the reality of atomic bombings," Suga said.

"We believe (visits) are important to boost international momentum toward achieving a world without nuclear arms."



Washington will make its final decision after a planned trip to Hiroshima by US Secretary of State John Kerry for a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers on April 10-11.

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 140,000 people, including those who survived the explosion itself but died soon after due to severe radiation exposure.

Three days later, the US military dropped a plutonium bomb on the port city of Nagasaki, killing some 74,000 people.

The bombings are controversial in the United States, where opinion remains divided over whether their use in the closing days of World War II was justified.
Oil prices slid today in cautious trade following the Brussels attacks, and as supply glut worries grew before the latest snapshot of US energy stockpiles.

At about 1215 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May dipped 23 cents to USD 41.22 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for May delivery lost 13 cents to USD 41.66 a barrel compared with yesterday's close.

Oil prices were barely changed yesterday with the market showing little impact from the attacks in Brussels that killed 31 people and wounded 270 more.

"Oil prices are pulling back as the market reaction to the Brussels attacks was not as adverse as expected," said IG analyst Bernard Aw.

"The impact of terror activity on financial markets has lessened substantially in recent years. Economies and markets have a tendency to adjust and desensitise to such events over time."



Oil also fell today after industry body the American Petroleum Institute said that US crude stocks rebounded by 8.8 million barrels last week, indicating weaker demand and fuelling the supply glut.

The API report was published ahead of Wednesday's key inventories report from the US government's Energy Information Administration.

The EIA is forecast to post a 2.5-million-barrel increase in US commercial crude stockpiles, according to experts polled by Bloomberg .

"Crude oil prices have fallen... Weighed upon as API data (showed) a larger than expected crude oil stockpile build last week," said Dorian Lucas, analyst at energy research group Inenco.

"The API reported a stockpile build of 8.8 million barrels last week, pushing total stockpiles to a record high of 531.8 million barrels.

"Government data from the EIA is expected today, and should a similar stockpile build be reported, crude oil prices could soften further," he warned.

of rising stockpiles tends to push oil prices lower because it indicates weaker demand in the world's top oil consuming nation.

Traders meanwhile eyed a crucial producers' meeting in Qatar next month.

"We continue to believe that price movements are continually influenced by the current global oversupply," said analyst Daniel Ang at Phillip Futures.

"Fundamentals (of supply and demand) should still be bearish in the immediate term and we continue to believe that cuts to US production would be key further down the road."



He said there may be some price volatility if top OPEC and non-OPEC members agree on a production freeze when they meet in Doha on April 17.
Taxi aggregator Ola today said it is planning to add 2,000 vehicles to its fleet every month in Delhi NCR, which will help reduce arrival time and ensure higher availability of cabs when the government runs odd-even system again.

"We are trying to start odd and even system again and during these days a good cab service is required as an option in which they can feel safe. As per Supreme Court order, all cabs plying in Delhi will have to adopt CNG. This is the way Ola is doing it," Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra said at Ola event where the company shared its business roadmap.

The second phase of the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme will be implemented in the city from April 15 to 30.

Mishra flagged off initial taxi of Ola driver partners who have adopted CNG during 5-day Ola Pragati Mahotsav.

"Total fleet of CNG cars in Ola now stands over 26,000 in Delhi NCR. Ola aims to build up its CNG fleet further by targeting addition of over 2,000 cars across Micro, Mini and Prime month after month, to ensure availability at all times and low ETAs (expected time of arrivals) across Delhi NCR," Ola Senior Director for Marketing Communications Anand Subramanian said.

The company added 6,000 new CNG vehicles under its Pragati Mahotsav camp.

In the five-day Pragati Mahotsav camp which ended on March 22, Ola offered its driver partners offering a benefit of up to Rs 1,50,000 on exchange of diesel vehicles and paying first two EMIs for those who go for new CNG vehicles.

For this camp, Ola has partnered with dealers of leading car manufacturers including Hyundai, Tata Nissan, Chevrolet, Fiat and Maruti amongst others.

"We will invest Rs 200 crore in six months to encourage Ola drivers to adopt CNG as well as on research and development of green fuel technology, leasing of CNG cars in Delhi NCR," Subramanian said.

He said that all Ola cabs in Delhi run on CNG fuel and by March 31 all cabs on Ola network in Delhi NCR will use CNG.

Using the Ola mobile app, users across 102 cities can book cabs, auto-rickshaws and taxis.

When asked about pan-India CNG adoption, Subramanian said that company will adopt CNG based on infrastructure support like availability of CNG fuel station.

Ola in September announced to invest Rs 5,000 crore to add 1 lakh cabs in its service by 2016 that it will lease out to drivers.

"We will focus to include more of CNG cabs wherever possible under this scheme," Subramanian said.
Seven policemen were today injured when a group of students from Osmania University (OU) pelted stones when they were shifting the body of a man found inside a water tank on the campus, police said.

The incident triggered tension in the University campus.

Two of the seven police personnel suffered injuries on their head, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east zone), A Ravindar, told PTI.

"The protesting students held a dharna raising slogans and did not allow the police to shift the body despite showing them the identity card of the deceased that established that he was not a student," he said.

"They later started pelting police with stones. However, the protesters have been dispersed and efforts are on to nab those who hurled stones," he said.

Earlier, the students, after learning that the body of a man was found in the water tank, gathered in large numbers and started protesting, claiming that the deceased was a student and alleged that he had committed suicide. They also demanded an inquiry into his death.

When the policemen were in the process of shifting the body for postmortem, the protesting students tried to prevent them and suddenly started pelting stones.

"The students claimed that the deceased was a student, but infact it is not so...," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kachiguda Division) Ch Laxminaryana told PTI.

He said the deceased has been identified as a labourer, of M K Nagar adjoining the OU, who had got inside the tank for swimming a couple of days back, but his body was found today.

"He (the deceased) seems to be a drunkard and he got inside the tank in view of the summer to cool himself...It seems he died due to suffocation and drowned," the ACP said based on preliminary investigation.

"They (some protesting students) resorted to stone pelting...The situation is tense, but under control now," Laxminaryana said.

Additional forces were deployed on the campus following the stone pelting incident.

(Reopens BOM 10)



Meanwhile, police said five cases were registered against those involved in the violence.

"Action will be taken as per law after identification of those responsible for the stone pelting, causing obstruction and injuries to the police officers and also for damage to a police vehicle," the DCP said.
Over 4 lakh Chinese students returned from overseas after graduating in 2015, an official said today.

A total of 409,100returned taking that total of returned Chinese students to over 2.21 million so far, Tang Tao, vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.

China at present has 321 industrial parks where returned overseas students can start their own businesses, housing 24,000 enterprises, Tang said.

The vice minister said China will improve measures to persuade Chinese students to return home in 2016, including better public services and projects such as the "Thousand Talents" recruitment program for global experts launched in 2008.

A multi-ministerial meeting system was created in 2003, ordered by the State Council, to assist returned overseas Chinese students.
A septuagenarian British national, charged with molesting a minor boy at a home run by his NGO in this district, appeared in a court and received copy of additional charge sheet filed against him by police in the 2011 case.

Jonathan Robinson was handed over the copy of the charge sheet at the Judicial Magistrate's Court at Valliyoor last evening, police said today.

The additional charge sheet mentioned details about Robinson's potency test, conducted earlier.

Police had registered a case against Robinson in 2011 based on a complaint from a Bengaluru-based NGO that he had allegedly abused a 15-year old boy, an inmate of the home for children in Valliyoor.
Pakistan is looking to have "normal" ties with India on the basis of "mutual respect and interest", its envoy Abdul Basit said today even as he called for resolution of all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute, to ensure "peace and prosperity".

Talking to reporters here, he described the proposed visit of a five-member investigation team of Pakistan to probe the Pathankot terror attack as a "positive development" and hoped they will be able to do their work "productively".

On Pakistan High Commission inviting Hurriyat Conference leaders to 76th anniversary of Pakistan Day celebrations this evening, Basit said, "They have been attending the reception for years and Pakistan did not see any issue in it."



He said, "It is also necessary to resolve all our problems, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, so as to put our relations on the irreversible trajectory of peace and prosperity. Cooperative relations are also required to address many common challenges including climate change and poverty."



A five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team had yesterday applied for visa to come to India to carry forward the probe into the Pathankot terror attack, days after the announcement by Foreign Ministers of the two countries that it will come here on March 27.

Referring to it, Basit said, "Let the team come. We will see. It's a positive development, I think. We hope the team would be able to do its work productively."



Asked about progress towards holding Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, Basit said that "no date" has been finalised yet but hoped the parleys will take place "sooner than later".

To another question on Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington next week, Basit said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend it.

He said Pakistan "being a nuclear power" has an "important" role to play and expressed the hope that international community will work together and ensure nuclear security in all its aspects and "without any discrimination".

Basit also condemned Brussels explosions and said there can't be any justification for actions of terrorists.
An NGO, which has filed a PIL challenging land allotment to a firm allegedly owned by the business partner of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel's daughter Anar, today sought to make the Union government a respondent.

The allotment flouted environmental clearance norms too and therefore the Centre should be a party, RTI Activists Sangathan said.

In a rejoinder to Gujarat government's affidavit before the bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi, the NGO said the construction area of project exceeded 20,000 sq m, and was within 10 km of Gir sanctuary, so it needed prior environmental clearance (EC) from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.

But there was no EC, so "the project cannot be permitted to commence."



The company, Wildwoods Resort and Realties (WRR), did not seek permission from Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife but instead approached Chief Conservator of Forests who can't issue one in the absence of an EC, it stated.

The state government tweaked rules to provide NoC to this firm, to which land was sold at a concessional rate of Rs 15 per sq mt against actual rate of Rs 180 per sq mt, it alleged.

Application by another firm was rejected on the ground that its proposed project fell within 2 km of protected area, citing a resolution dated October 18, 2011, it said.

The respondents Gujarat Government and others sought two weeks' time to file reply to these allegations.

The NGO, headed by Razak Baloch, demanded probe by a judicial committee and quashing of land allotment to WRR which followed an MoU between the Tourism Department and WRR in 2009 for setting up a wildlife resort with investment of Rs 80 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for integration of all land records with Aadhaar at the earliest as he examined the progress of its digitisation, a move aimed at checking fraudulence, among other things, in the registration of land deeds.

Chairing his 11th interaction through PRAGATI -- the information and communications technology (ICT)-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, the Prime Minister said it is extremely important to ensure the successful implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

The government had last year initiated a pilot project to develop a modern, comprehensive and transparent Land Records Management System based on the principle of authentication vis -a-vis linking with the Unique Identification Number (Aadhaar). The aim was to implement a conclusive land titling system with title guarantee.

The departments of registration and stamps in various states have already begun Aadhaar-based biometric verification.

Jind district in Haryana became the first district in the country to successfully complete the pilot project of linking land records with Aadhaar.

Of the total of eight villages selected for the pilot project, two were in Jind.

Reviewing the progress of provision of citizen-centric services electronically, the Prime Minister also called for a comprehensive district-wise review of how many services are actually being delivered online.

"The Prime Minister asked about mission-mode projects under Digital India. Examining the progress of digitisation of land records, the Prime Minister called for integration of all land records with Aadhaar at the earliest," an official statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tributes to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru and said they made the supreme sacrifice so that generations after them could breathe the air of freedom.

"I bow to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on their martyrdom day and salute their indomitable valour and patriotism that inspires generations.

"In the prime of their youth, these 3 brave men sacrificed their lives so that generations after them can breathe the air of freedom," he tweeted.

It was on this day that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed, a few hours ahead of schedule, after the trio were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case.

He also remembered socialist leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohia on his birth anniversary and described him as "a scholar and original thinker. He inspires people across party lines."



Modi also put out a copy of Lohia's letter written to Mahatma Gandhi from Bareilly Central Jail on April 30, 1941 whereby he introduced one Hari Dutt Kandpal from Almora to Gandhi, saying Kandpal, who was a firm believer in non- violence, wanted to meet him after being released from jail.

The Prime Minister also greeted Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Mutt on the special occasion of his Sahasra Chandra Darshan and gave him his best wishes.

"My warmest greetings to Pujya Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati ji of Kanchi Mutt on the special occasion of his Sahasra Chandra Darshan.

"Pujya Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati ji has devoted his life to service and spirituality. I pray for his good health and long life," he tweeted.
The family members of a boy who was abducted from outside his house in northeast Delhi's Babarpur area and murdered, today alleged that the police not only failed to track down the accused even after they informed them about ransom calls but took more than a month to conclude that he was murdered.

17-year-old Ankit Gupta, a Class 12 student at a private school, lived with his family in northeast Delhi's Babarpur area. "On February 11, he received a call and went outside his house, but he never returned," Sanjay Gupta, the victim's uncle, said today.

"We informed the matter to the police on February 12, the day we received a call from the abductors demanding Rs 1 crore for the safe release of the boy. Later, we negotiated with them and the ransom was settled at Rs 20 lakh, keeping police in the loop," he said.

Police kept laying traps wherever the abductors called the victim's family -- the locations ranging from Old Delhi Railway Station to several spots in northeast Delhi and Ghaziabad -- until the accused finally claimed on February 16 that the boy will not be sent back home.

According to DCP (Northeast) A K Singla, the police had formed 15 teams to rescue the boy and arrest the abductors. The teams are still working to nab the accused at the earliest.

Ankit's uncle further said, on February 16, the abductors also handed over the phone to someone claiming that it was Ankit but the voice did not match at all. When we raised doubts, they said that he was sedated. When we started questioning them, they said that Ankit will never be released and disconnected the call.

"By then they had also sensed that police officials had laid traps every time we went to spots mentioned by them to deliver the ransom amount," he said.

On February 25, the special task force of east district was roped in into the case but the accused could not be tracked..

On March 20, officials from east Delhi's Shakarpur police station asked the family to come to the police station.

Later, it emerged that body of a boy, whose details matched Ankit's, was found at a village under UP's Gautam Budh Nagar district on February 14, Gupta said.

With further verification, the police, on Tuesday, arrived at the conclusion that the deceased was Ankit.

"We do not suspect the role of anybody in particular but



the abductors were clearly not after money. It is a case of personal enmity and the abductors continued negotiating with us just to mislead the police," Gupta said adding that the police could have saved Ankit's life had they been more active in pursuing the case.

An official privy to the investigation said, the accused are suspected to be known to Ankit. The murder is suspected to have taken place on February 13, following which the body was dumped in a secluded area and found around 1.30 AM on February 14. Investigation is underway.

On February 11, hours before the abduction, Ankit had returned home after appearing in his practical papers in connection with the board exams. His father, Anil Gupta, is a scrap trader, police said.
Pope Francis today called for "unanimous condemnation" of extremist attacks in Brussels and elsewhere and urged prayers to convert hearts "blinded by cruel fundamentalism."



At the end of his weekly public audience, the pontiff led thousands of people in St Peter's Square in silent prayer for the victims of the airport and metro attacks a day earlier in the Belgian capital.

He told the crowd that he assured the "dear Belgian people" of his prayers and closeness.

"I yet again appeal to all persons of good will to unite in unanimous condemnation of these cruel abominations that are causing only death, terror or horror," the pope said.

He asked people to keep praying, to comfort those suffering, as well as to "convert the hearts of these people blinded by cruel fundamentalism."



Security was very tight, and police examined bags of tourists as they walked down the boulevard leading to the square. Those entering the square passed through metal detectors.

The US Embassy in Rome today issued a travel alert advising "particular caution during religious holidays" as well as at large gatherings.

Holy Week ceremonies over the next few days are expected to draw large crowds. On Friday night, Francis will preside over a Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum. On Sunday, he will celebrate Easter Mass in the square and give a blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, an event which in the past has drawn some 100,000 faithful.
To maintain double digit growth this fiscal, Preethi Kitchen Appliances, a subsidiary of consumer durables maker Philips, plans to boost sales of its products, a top official said.

"Three-fourth of our business is mixer grinder. We expect it to be more than half (of the business), while remaining will be from other categories, Preethi Kitchen Appliances, Chief Executive Officer, Rupendra Yadav told reporters here.

The company registered 11.5 per cent sales last financial year and expects to register a figure "higher" than that in current financial year, he said.

Preethi Kitchen sells products under brand 'Preethi', mixer grinder, glass top gas stove, stainless steel gas stove, induction cook top, table top, electric cooker, electric pressure cooker, health juicer, electric kettle, coffee maker, chopper, hand blender and electronic irons.

It has two manufacturing facilities one each in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

To a query on the time frame for the plan to boost sales in other categories, he said, "...Maybe over four to five year period."



Yadav and senior company officials were here to launch a new range of mixer grinders priced from Rs 5,945.

He said the kitchen appliances market in South India was valued at Rs 2,700 crore and the company has about 23 per cent market share.

About five to seven per cent of the sales was contributed from exports to Middle East, United States, Canada and other countries, he said, adding the company would focus on entering the South East Asian region.

Preethi's '500 KG Grinding Marathon' will be the first



initiative of its kind in the industry, to grind 500 kilograms of batter continuously. Preethi has attempted to create new benchmark in the industry by converting lab endurance tests to consumer relatable promises. The 500 kilogram grinding challenge will demonstrate the mixer-grinder's motor ability to grind large quantities of batter. This is a mark of Preethi's sustained excellence in producing quality products over several decades. The ground batter will be distributed to various NGOs to fulfill their breakfast needs.

Inaugurating the challenge, Rupendra Yadav, CEO of Preethi Kitchen Appliances said, "Mixer Grinder is the most important appliance in any kitchen. And Preethi is synonymous with Mixer Grinders for its industry leading innovation, incomparable quality & lifelong free service. It gives us great pride in launching "Preethi 500kg Grinding Marathon". This challenge allows us to test the product and demonstrate its quality at the entry level to our patrons. Every product from Preethi is the result of long-term research and development in creating sustainable and sturdy appliances that are excellent value for money for our customers. We hope that this product will reaffirm Preethi's reputation as a market leader in the Mixer Grinder category. This will also set a benchmark to measure the sturdiness of a mixer grinder in the industry".
A prominent Vietnamese blogger went on trial today on anti-state charges, amid heavy security at Hanoi's central court, with police closing roads and breaking up a protest by dozens of supporters.

Nguyen Huu Vinh, more commonly known as Anh Ba Sam, was arrested in 2014 and has been held in detention ever since, accused of disseminating anti-government articles on his wildly popular site.

The 60-year-old blogger and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, 35, are both accused of "abusing democratic freedoms", a charge that carries up to seven years in jail.

Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Vietnam has put more than 30 bloggers behind bars -- second only to China.

On Wednesday dozens of protestors waved photographs of Vinh and chanted demands for his release, before scores of uniformed and plain clothed police forced them to disperse.

At least two people were arrested when police broke up the demonstration.

Vinh, once a policeman himself, founded the well known political and social blog "Ba Sam" in 2007 -- initially to store articles for his own reference.

The blog then became a aggregator with links to major stories in state-run newspapers as well as blog posts from activists.

Constant hacking attacks forced Vinh to regularly change the blog's web address.

It was taken down shortly after his arrest and has not been available since.

Vo Van Tao, 63, a journalist and friend of Vinh, said he had travelled from southern Nha Trang city to Hanoi by car to attend the trial because authorities prevented him from flying.

"Ba Sam is innocent, he's a hero. He did good work for the people of this country," he told AFP at the protest opposite the court in Hanoi.

Academic and dissident Nguyen Quang A, who was later detained by police after the protest Wednesday, told AFP that Vinh was on trial because "a lot of people read his blog", but the strategy would backfire and trigger greater public interest in what he had to say.
The Principal of Fergusson College, who had asked police to take action against those who "raised anti-national slogans" on the campus during a verbal clash between two students' groups, retracted his statement today, saying he had only meant to seek a probe to find out if such slogans were raised or not.

With the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Mininster Vinod Tawde to give an explanation on the incident.

Yesterday, Principal R G Pardeshi had dashed off a letter to police alleging that "anti-national slogans" were raised during heated exchanges between the two groups when JNU ABVP president Alok Singh was to address students to explain "Truth of JNU" on the Kanhaiya Kumar episode.

"I request you to take stern action against individuals who raised anti-national slogans on the campus," Pardeshi said in his letter to the city police which he subsequently withdrew.

In a turnaround, Pardeshi today told PTI that the letter had a "typographical error" and what he meant was a request to police to investigate the matter to find out whether such anti-national slogans were raised by a group of students on the campus.

Deccan Gymkhana Police inspector Pravin Chougule confirmed that the principal had withdrawn his earlier letter, saying that a revised draft was being sent to the authorities.

A group of students owing affiliation to Ambedkarite organisations in the city had reached the college campus to counter the ABVP meeting.

"We did not raise any anti-national slogans during our protest," Sujat Ambedkar, son of RPI leader and former MP Prakash Ambedkar, who was present during the incident, said.

Police said they were examining CCTV footage of the campus to ascertain if any untoward things had happened during the rival demonstrations.

While Pardeshi said no permission was granted to the ABVP delegation to hold the meeting, a spokesman of the outfit said college authorities had told them that since it was supposed to be an informal interaction with the Fergusson students, there was no need for a formal nod from them.

Earlier in the day, various groups stormed into the campus condemning the letter and demanded stern action against ABVP members.

Meanwhile, Pardeshi told reporters that "I have been summoned by Education Minister and I am now leaving for Mumbai, where I will update him about the incident.
The Principal of Fergusson College, who had asked police to take action against those who "raised anti-national slogans" on the campus during a verbal clash between two students' groups, retracted his statement today, saying he had meant to seek a probe into whether such slogans were raised or not.

Yesterday, Principal R G Pardeshi had dashed off a letter to police alleging that "anti-national slogans" were raised during heated exchanges between the two groups when JNU ABVP president Alok Singh was to address college students to explain "Truth of JNU" on the Kanhaiya Kumar episode.

"I request you to take stern action against individuals who raised anti-national slogans on the campus," Pardeshi had stated in his letter written to city police yesterday which he subsequently withdrew.

In a turnaround, Pardeshi today told PTI that the letter written by him to police contained a "typographical error" and what he meant was a request to police to investigate the matter to find out whether such anti-national slogans were raised by a group of students on the campus.

Deccan Gymkhana Police inspector Pravin Chougule confirmed that the college principal had withdrawn his earlier letter, saying that a revised draft was being sent to the authorities.

A group of students owing affiliation to Left-leaning Ambedkarites organisations in the city had reached the college campus to counter the ABVP meeting.

"We did not raise any anti-national slogans during our protest," Sujat Ambedkar, son of RPI leader and former MP Prakash Ambedkar who was present during the incident, said.

Police said they were examining CCTV footage recorded at the college campus to determine if any untoward things had happened during the rival demonstrations.

While Pardeshi said no permission was granted to the ABVP delegation to hold the meeting on the campus, an ABVP spokesman said college authorities had told them that since it was supposed to be an informal interaction with the Fergusson students, there was no need for a formal nod from them.

(REOPENS BES3)



Meanwhile, Pardeshi has been summoned by Maharashtra



Education Minister Vinod Tawde in connection with the incident yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, Pardeshi said, "I have been summoned by Education Minister and I am now leaving for Mumbai, where I will update him about the incident."



Earlier, in the day, various groups stormed into the campus condemning the letter and demanded stern action against ABVP members.

"We have asked police to investigate and take action against students who allowed ABVP members and JNU ABVP's Alok Singh on the campus and conducted the event despite the fact that permission was denied for the event," he said.
Chairman and Managing Director of Hyderabad-based ELICO Ltd Ramesh Datla and Vice-Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Vikram Kirloskar have been elected Chairman and Deputy Chairman, respectively, for trade body CII, Southern Region.

Datla and Kirloskar were elected for the period 2016-17, at the first meeting of the Southern Regional Council held in Chennai today, a Confederation of Indian Industry press release said.

Datla served in various responsibilities including as the Past Chairman, CII National Committee.

Kirloskar was Past Chairman of CII Innovation Council and Global Innovation and Technology Alliance Board.

He has been a member of CII National Council since 2012.

Dr. Atul Chauhan - Chancellor, Amity University shared



his thoughts on this path-breaking partnership and revealed some of the highlights of the programmes. "The partnership between an apex industry body like CII and Amity, India's top private university will result in industry integrated competency based education which is practice-led. Importance will also be given to soft skills to produce a better class of professional. Students will get to interact with experts from the top of the Logistics and manufacturing industries who will be part of the faculty. They will get access to live case studies and will gain invaluable insights from leaders in the field."



"The school will be established at our Noida Campus and we plan to have more campuses established in major cities including New Delhi (NCR), Mumbai, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam & Kolkata."



Mr K V Mahidhar - Executive Director, CII spoke of how this approach will positively impact the future. "Over the years, the traditional system of higher education not supported fully creating ideal Logistics & Supply Chain professionals for the logistics industry. The true potential of talent has also not been realised. As a result, the supply of professionals to support the massive growth has not been on par with the demands of the industry." "In terms of numbers, the current requirement of 16.74 million employees is set to rise to 28.4 million by 2020. In the same period the global E-Commerce Logistics Market is set to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 9.69% while Indian Containers Handling is growing at about 11% CAGR. EXIM Cargo is also expected to increase to 2,800 Million metric tonnes.

He concluded by explaining how the CII School of



Logistics will contribute to India's national development on multiple levels. "India is an emerging logistics hub and Delhi NCR is one of the largest warehousing nodes in India. The Warehousing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% and the Freight Forwarding market at a CAGR of 12% till 2020. This means quality has to not just be maintained but improved rapidly as well to become a major global logistics hub."



"A developed globalized Logistics & Supply Chain Management System is vital for the success of the Government of India's for 'Make-in-India' plan. By producing world-class professionals,



the school will contribute on this front as well." About CII Institute of Logistics (CIL): The Indian logistics market accounts for $90 billion and is slated to grow at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 16% from 2007-10. To address the need of sharpening India Inc's competitive edge through better Logistics and Supply Chain practices, CII Institute of Logistics (CIL) was established in 2004 by the Confederation of Indian Industry as a Center of Excellence in Logistics and Supply Chain. At CII Institute of Logistics we create a platform for the Industry to gain more insights into the emerging trends, industry specific problems of national importance and global best practices in logistics & supply chain management.

We enable the industry to cut down the transaction cost, increase efficiency, and enhance profitability and enable to sensitize and bring solutions to macro level issues.

For more information, visit: http://www.Ciischooloflogistics.Com



For further Information, please contact:



Mr. John Varghese



Confederation of Indian Industry



9788116600/+91-44-42928906



Varghese.John@cii.In



R.Venkatramanan



Venkat.Ramanan@tinacca.
Yes! Human and lions can coexist.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have been able to answer the question that says that humans and lions can coexist through the creation of community conservancies - privately protected areas that engage local people in conservation and ecotourism.

These conservancies can help stem the unrelenting loss of lions, whose population has been in decline across Africa, and pose a viable solution to an old problem.

The paper, by researchers from the University of Glasgow's Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, the conservation group Living With Lions and the University of Hohenheim's Biostatistics Unit, shows that lion populations have increased substantially within Kenya's Masai Mara ecosystem over the last decade, and that the creation of community conservancies, which distributes tourism income to local people, has had the greatest impact on lion survival.

Sara Blackburn, lead author of the paper, tracked lion prides for five years within Kenya's Masai Mara region, on the northern side of the Serengeti National Park, building up a database of observations using the lions' whisker spot patterns to identity individuals over time.

"We know that lion populations are declining right across Africa, but moratoriums on trophy hunting don't prevent local people from killing lions, and fences stifle ecosystems.

"So we looked at the question 'Are there any scenarios in which lions can live alongside people and their livestock?'", she said.

The researchers have found that in the Masai Mara conservancies there was a significant increase in lion survival.

Conservancy membership provides households with financial benefits from wildlife tourism and engenders an attitude of coexistence with wildlife.

The net effect is that people become more tolerant of lions because they attract tourists and bring an alternative source of income to landowners.

"The most important finding in this study is that community conservancies are a viable way to protect wildlife and pose an alternative solution to building fences.

"If we are concerned about the population of lions, we need to let the people who actually live with the lions benefit from their existence," said Dr Grant Hopcraft, corresponding author on the paper.

The study illustrates that community conservancies are a good strategy for the future protection of lion populations.

National wildlife policies should therefore focus on developing opportunities, rights and responsibilities for wildlife conservation outside parks and reserves for private landholders and communities.

The data was published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
A Congressional resolution aiming to bring India on par with NATO allies in terms of trade and technology transfer besides elevating its "status" in export of defense articles from the US has been introduced.

Introduced by Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, the US-India Defense Technology and Partnership Act (HR 4825) proposes to amends the Arms Export Control Action so as to formalise India's status for the purpose of congressional notifications as a major partner of equal status as America's treaty allies and closest partners.

"This legislation will cement the process that has already been made and will lay a foundation for future cooperation and growth," Holding said in his remarks on the floor of the US House of Representatives.

"This legislation will elevate India's status by shortening the time required for the notification of sale or export of defense articles from the United States to India. It will encourage more joint contingency planning and require the US government review and assess India's ability to execute military operations of mutual interest," Holding said.

Welcoming the resolution, introduced ahead of US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India next month, the US India Business Council (USIBC) said that it sent an important signal to the Indian defense establishment that today's political conditions are different from the past.

"This bill not only puts India on par with other NATO allies in terms of the notification period, it sends a clear signal to Washington and Delhi that defense cooperation should be a top priority for both governments," Holding said.

Defense trade between our countries is one of the strongest areas of the bilateral economic relationship and has risen from some USD 300 million to over USD 14 billion over the last 10 years, said Mukesh Aghi, USIBC president.

Noting that together the US and India face a range of shared security challenges, Holding stressed on the need to encourage deeper defense ties and closer cooperation between the two countries.

"The US-India Defense Technology and Partnership Act will build upon the recent progress made to strengthen our strategic partnership by facilitating closer collaboration, promoting greater defense trade, and by elevating India's status," he said.

In his remarks on the House floor, Holding also questioned the decision of the Obama Administration to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

"What, I ask, is the benefit of the sale to our national security and the security of the region and our partners? This is one question, but the request to use taxpayer dollars to finance the sale of these F-16s to Pakistan is entirely another question," he asked.

"What has Pakistan actually done to deserve these fighter jets let alone financing from the United States taxpayers? Certainly not enough, in my view, as I firmly oppose the sale from start to finish," Holding said.

Every year since 2011, the Administration has been



required to utilise a waiver to continue providing security assistance to Pakistan, he said.

"Why, you might ask, does the Administration need to continually use a waiver? Well, it's because Pakistan has failed to be an honest and real partner in efforts to combat terrorism that is exported from its borders," he said.

"On this front, I have joined with Congressman Bera to seek restriction on the availability of security assistance to Pakistan next fiscal year. We are not seeking to completely prohibit the use of the presidential waiver, we are simply asking that 30 per cent of the funds should be not subject to the waiver," Holding said.

"This is a commonsense step that will hopefully, after years of trying, get the Pakistani government to cooperate and meet the requirements set in law," he said.

The legislation encourages actions necessary to promote defense trade.

For the US, it encourages the government to designate an official to focus on US-India defense cooperation, facilitate the transfer of defense technology, maintain a special office in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to the US-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).

For India, it encourages the government to authorise combined military planning with the US for missions of mutual interest such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter piracy and maritime domain awareness.
Rich tributes were today paid to freedom fighter Bhagat Singh to mark the day when he laid down his life for the country.

Thane Additional Superintendent of Police Srinivas Ghatge asked citizens to mould their children in such a way that they care of the country.

"Children should be educated about Indian culture, tradition, history. They should also be made aware about the national heroes and their contribution towards the country," he said addressing an annual function of preschool Millennium Star Kids here.

"They can do projects on national heroes like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Veer Savarkar among others and in turn take inspiration," he added.

District judge (Retired) Suresh Dwivedi, BJP National Council Member Om Prakash Sharma and school chairman Manish Mehta were present on the occasion.

It was on this day that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed, a few hours ahead of schedule, after the trio were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case.
Stepping up their agitation over the suicide of Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula, students of JNU today protested outside the HRD Ministry demanding removal of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile and withdrawal of police presence from the campus.

The students, who were stopped by police as they tried to march towards the ministry, have been raising three demands in connection with the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula who was found hanging at the Hyderabad Central University's hostel room on January 17.

A five-member delegation led by JNU students union Vice President Shehla Rashid Shora met MHRD Secretary VS Oberoi and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

"Our major demands include immediate removal of police presence in Hyderabad university campus, removal of Vice Chancellor and dropping of false charges against students unconditionally," Shehla said.

"The top official told us that ministry cannot do anything about removal of the VC as it comes under the purview of the Visitor. He also said that they can't intervene on issue of police presence as interventions are not being taken in good manner," she added.

The fresh protests over the issue, come in wake of resumption of office by HC Vice Chancellor two-months after going on leave amid the storm following the suicide of Vemula.

Yesterday, the VC's official residence was vandalised by students and police had to baton charge another group during their protest against him resuming charge.

Meanwhile, JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, who is out on bail in a sedition case, reached Hyderabad this morning where he was scheduled to address a meeting on the campus at the invitation of the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, which had spearheaded an agitation earlier demanding "justice" for Vemula.

However, he was denied permission by the university for the same.

In a clamp down, the authorities also barred outsiders including political leaders and mediapersons from entering the campus and suspended classes for four days.

JNU students who are caught in a row over an event on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, have been protesting in the national capital ever since Vemula's death demanding resignation of HRD minister Smriti Irani over the issue.

The students have also been demanding enactment of a "Rohith Act" to end caste based discrimination in educational institutions.
RSS ideologue M G Vaidya has said that four states can be carved out of Maharashtra for better administrative purposes and suggested formation of a new state reorganisation commission to look into the matter.

Vaidya mooted the idea in the backdrop of Srihari Aney's resignation as Advocate General of Maharashtra after his remarks favouring a separate Marathwada sparking a huge controversy, with opposition Congress-NCP and ruling ally Shiv Sena crying foul over it.

At an event in Jalna district of Marathwada on Sunday, Aney had said, "Marathwada bore more injustice than Vidarbha and should therefore be independent. Pressure has to be put at the Delhi level to form a separate state as the demand does not come under the purview of Mumbai."



The BJP in the state also distanced itself from views of Aney, who had earlier called for a referendum on the question of a separate Vidarbha state.

"A new state organising commission should be formed that should be looking to fulfil two conditions. First, a state's population should not be more than 30 million and second, it should not be less than 5 million," Vaidya told PTI.

"If we consider the formula, four states can be carved out of Maharashtra. The present conditions are not suitable for administrative purposes. Even the RSS has four 'praant' (provinces) in Maharashtra, while it has six in Uttar Pradesh for administrative purposes," he added.

Vaidya said a state's formation should not happen after violent agitations by the people, which should be done before any agitation.

He said that while some states have high population density, others like Sikkim (around 10 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (around 14 lakh) have low density which creates instability.

"There are states like Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab and Chhattisgarh which have a population of around 30 million and are doing well," he said.

"Similarly, if there are four states carved out of Maharashtra, all of them can be Marathi speaking states. For purpose of administration and interest of people, states can be divided," he said.

Vaidya said if Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeks his opinion, he will convey his views to him.

"I have also heard BJP is in favour of smaller states," he said.
Allrounder JP Duminy has been ruled out of South Africa's ICC World Twenty20 match against West Indies on Friday because of a hamstring injury.

Duminy suffered a hamstring strain in their game against Afghanistan.

The exact length for his recovery is unknown but South Africa are hopeful of having him ready for their final group game against Sri Lanka next Monday.

Scans confirmed the injury, team manager Mohammed Moosajee said.

Duminy has scored 83 runs in two matches without being dismissed, and also took 1-31 in the loss to England.

In Duminy's absence, South Africa will include Aaron Phangiso to complement the legspin of Imran Tahir with the wicket in Nagpur likely to suit spinners.

Duminy sustained the injury when he chased the third ball of Afghanistan's innings and left the field before the opening over was completed.

"Brandon Jackson, our physio, will have his work cut out for him. With these things you can't really put down a time frame. It could be anything from seven to 14 days," Moosajee said.
Delhi High Court today reserved its verdict on a plea against the release of a film 'Santa Banta Pvt Ltd' saying it will pronounce its verdict after watching it, even as the Censor Board stood by its decision to certify it on the ground that there was nothing objectionable.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath directed the producers of the movie to submit compact discs (CD) of the film, its trailer and preamble for its perusal.

The order was passed on a plea Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) which has contended that the movie, to be released on April 22, makes fun of the Sikh community and could also lead to "disturbance".

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the court that the board has certified the movie after considering all aspects and nothing offensive towards the community was found.

He said under the Cinematograph Act, only the producers can challenge the Board's order in the appellate tribunal and the petitioner cannot do so in the instant case.

He suggested that the court can direct the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to reconsider the certification of the movie as per the provisions of the Act.

Meanwhile, the producers, Viacom 18 and director of the movie opposed the plea saying there was no public interest in it and nor did the movie made fun of the community.

They also opposed reconsideration of the certificate by the government or any such direction by the court, saying this would amount to questioning the board's decision which took a call after seeing the movie.

They opposed maintainability of the plea saying the petitioner had on March 8 sent them a notice seeking change in the movie's name, taking down of the posters and demanding Rs 100 crore as damages, but not a word was mentioned that the film should not be released. They also said the posters were removed in view of the objections of the petitioner.

DSGMC in its petition has sought stay on the release of the film contending that it "misrepresented" the community and projected "the personality of the community in defamatory and denigrating manner" which could cause "disturbance".
National champion Saurav Ghosal prevailed over eighth seed Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet in the opening round of the British Open Squash tournament here.

The 29-year-old Indian registered a 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6 win over Castagnet, who won last week's Canary Wharf Classic here.

The world ranked 19 Indian will next take on Egypt's Marwan Elshorbagy, ranked 11th in the world and a former world junior champion, on Thursday.

The Frenchman seemed not fully ready for another gruelling fight, particulary against a player like Saurav, known in the circuit as "speedy Indian".

Saurav had clearly come prepared for the rigors. Unseeded but experienced, Saurav was quick to pluck the first game but from there the contest warmed up to a close tussle.

It took 66 minutes for Saurav to carve out the win after losing the second game and nearly slipping in the next.

India's highest ranked player Joshna Chinappa had lost to unseeded Donna Urquhart of Australia 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 5-11 on Monday.
A journalist from insurgency-hit Dantewada district has been arrested for allegedly posting objectionable comments on social media, police said today.

In view of the scribe's arrest, the main opposition Congress accused the state government of suppressing the voice of journalists.

Prabhat Singh, who is said to be working for a Hindi national daily, was picked up by Bastar police on March 21 from Dantewada district and arrested yesterday.

He was produced before a Jagdalpur court yesterday which remanded him in judicial custody for 15 days.

"Singh was booked under IT Act following the complaint by Bijapur-based journalist Santosh Tiwari and other scribes for allegedly posting an insulting message on a Whatsapp group early this month," Bastar Superintendent of Police R N Dash said.

There are three other cases also lodged against him last year at different police stations of Dantewada, he said.

Of them, two cases are related to section 420 of IPC (cheating), in which he is accused of issuing fake Aadhar cards to villagers in Geedam and Barsoor area of Dantewada for making money, the SP said.

"Prabhat is not a journalist as per our records. How come a journalist can be involved in the task of making Aadhar cards," the SP said.

Meanwhile, Singh's brother Vishnu has claimed that his sibling faced the police wrath for reporting on alleged fake encounter in Pakhnar area (of Bastar), in which an innocent tribal was recently killed by Bastar police.

Besides, on March 1, Prabhat had also filed a complaint against Santosh Tiwari, Mahesh Rao (local journalists) and members of Samajik Ekta Manch, a social organisation which conducts anti-Naxal mass events along with police, and accused them of defaming him on a WhatsApp group named 'Bastar News' using abusive language, Vishnu said.

He alleged that despite the complaint, no action was taken against them by Dantewada police and now his brother was being dragged in false cases.

The opposition Congress in the state has also opposed the arrest of Singh, alleging that police are continuously trying to silence journalists in Bastar.

"The fourth pillar of democracy is not safe in Bastar. Journalists are being continuously targeted. Bastar is burning and people are suffering from tyranny of administration and security forces. Democracy is being murdered there," party's state general secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told PTI.
Sebi has barred Orion Capital and Debt Market, Orion Broking Services India as well as their partners from securities markets for failing to redress "numerous" investor grievances.

The nature of investor complaints received against both the firms are predominantly on non-settlement of the funds and securities and balances due to their clients.

"In both the cases, several hundred complaints have been received against each of them and the claim amount is more than Rs 6 crore against Orion Capital and over Rs 4 crore against Orion Broking," Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said.

The firms failed "to redress numerous investor grievances pertaining to non-receipt of funds or securities."



None of the claims have been settled by the entities so far, it added.

"I also note that there are arbitration awards passed against both Orion Capital and Orion Broking and none of the awards have been implemented by the said entities," Sebi Whole Time Member Rajeev Agarwal said in an interim order.

By indulging in such activities, the two firms and their partners have failed to act in accordance with the requirements of the Stock Brokers Regulations.

Accordingly, Sebi has restrained Orion Capital and Orion Broking Services, Johnson P Jose, Cinzy Johnson and Joseph P C from the securities markets till further directions.

They have been directed "to cease and desist from undertaking any activity in the securities market." Besides, they have been barred from disposing of any assets without regulatory approval.
Markets regulators Sebi has disposed of complaints against 11 companies in a matter related to alleged non-compliance with the regulators' online complaint redressal system, SCORES.

The companies are Thapar Milk Product, Sureka Coated Tubes And Sheets, Trend East West LPG Bottling, Trimurtee Fertilizers, Star Electronics, Universal Tyres, Usha Rectifier Corporation, Vishal Lakto India, Sitapur Plywood Manufacturers, Metal Box India and Sukhchain Cements.

It was alleged that the firms did not obtain mandatory SCORES authentication from Sebi within the prescribed time and some also failed to redress complaints pending against them.

In nine similarly worded orders, Sebi's Adjudicating Officer Vijayant Kumar Verma said that the requirements under Section 15C of the Sebi Act were not fulfilled.

The Section 15C pertains to allegations that if any listed firm after having been called upon by Sebi to redress the grievances of investors, fails to do so within the specified time, such company shall be liable to a fine.

In the matter of Thapar Milk Product, Verma disposed of the complaint as the company was under liquidation which falls under the scope of 'other legal proceedings' used in Section 446 of Companies Act.

For Metal Box India, Verma dismissed the case after finding that the company had obtained SCORES registration and had resolved the pending investor grievance.

Launched in June 2011, SCORES provides a centralised database of all investor complaints. Online movement of complaints to the listed companies concerned and upload of their Action Taken Reports are done through this system.

It also helps investors view, track and follow up the action taken on their grievances. The online redressal system has significantly helped in reducing the processing time of complaints.
There was a major security scare across several airports in the country, including the national capital, following a phone call from the US that 11 aircraft of private carrier IndiGo could be in the danger of being blown up.

Airline sources said the caller, who identified himself only as Smith from the US, said at least 11 flights of IndiGo, which were either ready for take off or had already departed from around 10 airports, were facing bomb threat from a woman flyer.

The threat was for flights emanating from major airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati, Goa and Kochi, sources said.

"As many as 11 IndiGo flights were grounded today after the airline's call centre at Chennai recieved a message about bomb threat. The caller, who identified himself as one Smith from the US, said that a woman passenger allegedly belonging to the ISI of Pakistan was carrying a bomb and could blow up one of the aircraft," a source said.

In a statement, IndiGo said its call centre at Chennai received a bomb threat call at 1113 hours and within minutes the security agencies were informed.

IndiGo said, "All our passengers are safe".

According to sources, security agencies were carrying out extensive search on these planes across nine airports.

Soon after the call was made, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committees (BTAC) at different airports swung into action. The planes, which were mentioned by the caller, were isolated and subject to vigorous checks.

The 11 fligts are Vadodara-Delhi (6E 591), Kochi-Delhi (516), Delhi-Srinagar (853), Delhi-Chennai (443), Ahmedabad-Kolkata (135), Delhi-Mumbai (223), Chennai-Mumbai (612), Delhi-Goa (329), Guwahati-Delhi (571), Delhi-Ahmedabad (161) and Delhi-Vadodara (734).

"We are actively engaged in working very closely with the concerned agencies. We can assure you that our operations are safe...," IndiGo said.

According to the airline, there are certain laid down procedures to be followed by the airlines, airports and other government authorities and "all such procedures were followed and are being followed".

"We have commenced additional security measures as per our laid down procedures," it added.

Yesterday, a call was received about bomb threat to five Jet Airways flights from Delhi, barely hours after the explosions at Brussels airport, but it turned out to be a hoax.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi today reshuffled his cabinet with nine new ministers and created a new portfolio for business to revive the country's economy which suffered a setback in the past five years of political unrest.

The new ministers were sworn-in at the al-Ittihadiyah palace here, Egyptian TV reported.

The reshuffle targeted nine ministries. The new ministers of the cabinet are Galal Saeed as Minister of Transportation, Mohamed Abdel Rahem as minister of Justice, Sherif Ateya appointed as Minister of Civil Aviation, Amr el-Garhi as Minister of Finance, Dalia Khorshed appointed as Minister of Investment, Mohamed Rashed as Minister of Tourism and Khaled Ezz as Minister of Antiquities.

The reshuffle also included appointing three deputies for the Minister of Finance.

A new Ministry for General Business Sector was established and Ashraf el-Sharkawy was appointed as its Minister.

The Prime Minister Sherif Ismail was appointed as the head of the cabinet last September, and this is the first reshuffle to happen since his appointment.

The changes come at a time when Egypt is facing a host of seemingly intractable problems, primarily an economy reeling from five years of unrest that has led to a severe slump in the vital tourism sector.

They also follow the recent devaluation by nearly 15 per cent of the country's weakening currency, a move that led to a surge in prices.

The country's economy grew around 4.2 per cent in 2014-15. The government is expecting the growth to remain at a similar level in the current fiscal year.
Three fishermen of Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai district were arrested by Sri Lankan navy personnel while they were fishing near Neduntheevu, on charges of violating International Maritime Boundary Line.

They were taken to Kalainagar Naval Station in Sri Lankan along with their boat, Subburaj, Joint Director of Fisheries said.
Indian Angel Network (IAN) today said it has invested USD 250,000 in Chennai-based startup SP Robotics Works.

Nagaraja Prakasam led this round on behalf of IAN and will also join the board of company. The round has been co-led by The Chennai Angels (TCA), IAN said in a statement.

The investment will be primarily used for the growth and expansion of the company, it added.

SP Robotics Works provides robotic education to school and college students under the Kidobotikz brand name. Set up in August, 2012 by Pranavan and Sneha Priya, the startup is working on using robotics to decrease the usage of man-power for monotonous, hazardous and unstable works.

"Robotics is all about practical work. Children want to experiment and since they have time to make mistakes and learn from them, their basics get stronger. We wanted to change the phase of Indian education in par with the international standards by providing practical experiences to the school students," Priya said.

The company plans to launch the digital version of its courseware to inspire more students under Kidobotikz. The same will be soft-launched in Chennai within few months and then expanded gradually to various geographies, initially South India, the statement said.
The driver of a bus that crashed Sunday, killing 13 exchange students, may have fallen asleep or become distracted moments before the tragedy occurred in northeastern Spain, police said today.

Regional police commissioner Miquel Esquius told reporters that although investigations are continuing, police believe the driver may have dozed off or become distracted by a mobile phone or by talking to someone.

He said many of the nearly 60 students on the bus, including the 13 who died, were not wearing seat belts at the time of the early-morning crash south of Barcelona.

Seven of those killed were from Italy. The other six were two Germans, an Austrian, a French woman, a Romanian and an Uzbek.

The driver is the only one of 19 people still being treated in local hospitals who is said to be in critical condition. He has yet to give testimony regarding the accident. Authorities say he is being investigated for possible negligent homicide.

The students were returning from a firework festival in the eastern coastal city of Valencia.

They were studying in Barcelona as part of the European Unions Erasmus exchange program.
Sri Lanka's loss-making national carrier will not be able to repay its debt of nearly USD 1 billion, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament today.

With its own finances in a rocky state, the government will decide within six weeks whether it can afford to take over SriLankan Airlines' debt repayments, the premier said.

State enterprise development minister Kabir Hashim, who oversees the carrier, earlier this month put its debt at USD 933 million but today it emerged the figure could be higher.

"The minister says the actual debt is likely to be much more than what we initially feared," Wickremesinghe said during a parliamentary debate on the economy.

"SriLankan Airlines will not be able to repay this debt. We will have to take a decision on this."



A mounting debt crisis of its own has forced the government to request a bailout of its own from the International Monetary Fund.

The beleaguered national carrier has drawn controversy in recent years after an independent investigator last year found evidence of serious corruption in a USD 2.3 billion deal to buy Airbus aircraft.

Wickremesinghe said he was still reviewing the deal, reached under the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapakse despite huge losses at the airline.

The deal is also being probed by the police Financial Crime Investigation Division.

Last month ratings agency Fitch cut Sri Lanka's credit rating by one notch to B+ with a negative outlook over its debt crisis.

Negotiations are also underway for a USD 1 billion currency swap with a Chinese state-owned bank to shore up the country's dwindling foreign reserves.
An IndiGo flight from Srinagar today received a bomb threat soon after landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here following which the aircraft was taken to isolation bay and passengers deplaned safely.

IndiGo flight 6E 853 from Srinagar via Jammu landed at IGIA at around 1500 hours today and was taken to the isolation bay where a search operation is underway, sources said.

Earlier, the IndiGo call centre today received an anonymous call about the presence of a bomb on the flight, they added.

Specific details about the number of passengers in the plane could not be ascertained immediately.

The latest incident of bomb scare comes a day after the Delhi airport received calls about presence of bombs on five Jet Airways flights that originated from here hours after bombs ripped through Brussels airport and a city metro station killing at least 35 people and injuring several others.

In recent weeks, Delhi airport has been receiving many calls about bomb threats and so far all of them have turned out to be hoax.
Some unidentified persons pelted stones at parked car of KPCCPresident V M Sudheeran at Oochakada in the district here today, police said.

The incident occurred when the car was parked in front ofnew party office, which was inaugurated by Sudheeran.

Two persons came on a motorcycle and pelted stones at car when Sudheeran was speaking inside the new party office, police said.

The miscreants fled the spot after pelting stones, police said, adding, an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

Reacting to the incident, Sudheeran said there was no need to give political colour to the incident and also wanted the Congress workers to keep restrain.
Accusing Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal of playing politics by seeking 'Bharat Ratna' for Bhagat Singh, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today said Bhagat Singh's stature was too big for honours like Bharat Ratna.

"Bhagat Singh's stature was too big for awards and honours like Bharat Ratna. Bhagat Singh is the greatest Bharat Ratna himself and he lives in every Indian's heart", Amarinder said in his address while paying tributes to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at a function organised to commemorate their martyrdom day here.

Decrying the "politics" being played by certain vested interests in Bhagat Singh's name, he said, the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal was only doing politics by demanding Bharat Ratna for Bhagat Singh.

"But still it is the first sensible thing he has ever suggested in his life after destroying an entire generation of youth and farmers in the state by drugs and the debt", he alleged while taking a dig at Sukhbir's demand.

"Better think of the youth who have been trapped in the vicious web of drugs being supplied with your patronage and the farmers caught in the debts", he said asking Sukhbir to stop playing politics in the name of great martyrs.

However, Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar said he would welcome if Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were honoured with country's greatest civilian award.

Sukhbir in Nawanshahr today said his party would soon write to the Centre to award Bhagat Singh 'Bharat Ratna'.

Asserting that Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh illustrated the complete Punjabi spirit of sacrifice and courage, Amarinder exhorted upon the youth to follow his teachings and ideals.

On this occasion, Amarinder also reiterated his resolve and commitment to make Punjab "drug free and debt free" after forming the government in 2017.

"Shaheed Bhagat Singh should be the role model of every Indian youth in general and the Punjabis in particular", Amarinder said.

Paying tributes to the great martyrs, he said, "our future generations must learn and know as how many sacrifices have been laid to secure the freedom and independence of the country".

"We must not take our freedom and liberty for granted as our ancestors have laid great sacrifices to secure it", he said, while adding, "today I reiterate my resolve for a drug free and debt free Punjab".

(REOPENS DES20)



As a Haryanvi, Kejriwal will never stand up for Punjab's interests, Amarinder claimed and pointed out that the AAP supremo had declined to accept his challenge to an open debate as well as to contest the upcoming state Assembly polls.

With "not a single Punjabi" in the party and with allegations of sale of poll tickets and molestation of women, the AAP had "no leg to stand on" and could not be trusted to ensure Punjab's development, he said.

Claiming that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was "in control" of the Akalis, the state Congress chief alleged that the money given by the people for 'dharma prachar' was being "used to promote the political interests of the Akalis, led by the Badals".

Amarinder accused the chief minister of "trying to spread communal disharmony and polarisation through incidents of sacrilege and desecration" and vowed to send him to jail after getting all such cases re-investigated if elected to power.

"Those who try to divide the people using religion do not deserve any mercy," he said.

Vowing to expose Sukhbir and Majithia for their "patronage of the drugs and other mafias", Amarinder said he would go to Jalalabad and Majitha (the respective constituencies of the two) to show their "true colours" to the people.

"I decided to contest from Lambi for the same reason, to expose (Parkash Singh) Badal and give him a good thrashing for life, so that nobody ever dares to ruin Punjab the way he has done in the last one decade," he said.

The Congress leader said he had come to Dharamkot to take the "wind out of the sail" of Akali candidate Tota Singh, who had "ruined" thousands of people through the "fertilisers, cotton seed and education scams".

He lashed out at Singh and his son Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar, who is allegedly involved in a sex scandal, saying those like the father-son duo were a "disgrace" to politics.

Amarinder said he had prayed to Wahe Guru for strength to defeat Badal, who had "used religion to divide people and destroyed an entire young generation with drugs", besides "ruining the state's economy".

He reiterated his promises of farm loan waiver and jobs to the unemployed youth to wean them away from drugs if elected to power.
Expressing "grave concern" over the summoning of journalists of a newspaper group in Andhra Pradesh over their articles, the Press Council of India (PCI) has issued a notice to the state government and police chief seeking the facts of the case.

PCI Chairman Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad expressed "grave concern" over the summoning of four reporters and two desk journalists of Sakshi newspaper to Mangalagiri police station in Guntur on Monday so that they could be quizzed about the source of stories on land dealings in the Amaravati Capital Region.

"The chairman felt that prima facie, the action of Andhra Pradesh police to ask the reporters to disclose the source of their reports impinged on the freedom of the press," PCI said in a statement here.

It said that taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, the PCI Chairman has ordered that a notice be sent to the AP government, DGP and the Guntur Superintendent of Police to immediately send a report on the facts of the case.
Homegrown drug major Sun Pharma on Wednesday entered into a partnership with AstraZeneca for distribution of the latters diabetes medicine dapagliflozin in India.

As part of the pact, Sun Pharma will sell AstraZenecas dapagliflozin, a Type 2 diabetes medicine, under brand name Oxra. AstraZeneca India markets dapagliflozin under the brand name Forxiga.

Both the companies would promote, market and distribute dapagliflozin in India under their respective brand names, Sun Pharma said in a statement. AstraZeneca will retain the intellectual property rights to dapagliflozin, it added.

Sun Pharma CEO  India Business Abhay Gandhi said: "The addition of this innovative Type 2 diabetes treatment bolsters our diabetes portfolio. We believe that the extended portfolio will further enhance our service capabilities to offer customers and patients innovative medicines at affordable prices."



Dapagliflozin represents a significant advancement in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, AstraZeneca India MD Sanjay Murdeshwar said.

This agreement supports our strategy of working with a local partner to maximise the value from our innovative medicines in a key emerging market, he said.

Sun Pharma said it will also have the rights to promote and distribute combination of dapagliflozin with metformin under the brand name 'Oxramet', following regulatory approval. AstraZeneca India is seeking approval from the Drug Controller General of India for the combination of dapagliflozin with metformin.

Metformin is an oral medicine used to treat people with Type 2 diabetes. The overall Indian anti-diabetes market is more than Rs 8,400 crore and is growing at about 21 per cent annually, Sun Pharma said.

This segment is highly fragmented, having over 50 active players. However, the top five players, which includes Sun Pharma cumulatively accounts for 50 per cent of this market. In India, diabetes is estimated to affect roughly 69.2 million people and more than 415 million people worldwide. By 2040, it is expected to increase up to 642 million and Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes.

WHATS THE DEAL
Police said passengers were evacuated from a terminal at Atlanta's airport after a bomb squad investigated a suspicious package, but airport officials said operations have returned to normal.

Atlanta police Officer DT Hannah said the package was "cleared" and the terminal was reopened this morning.

Airport officials said bomb-sniffing dogs had indicated "a positive hit" while checking an unattended bag in the South domestic terminal around 9:41 AM local time today. They said passengers were allowed to re-enter the terminal less than 30 minutes later.

The evacuation comes one day after attacks at an airport and subway system in Brussels, Belgium, killed at least 34 people, including three suicide bombers, and injured 270 others.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport, with 101.5 million passengers in 2015.
Syrian pro-government forces advanced to the edge of the famed ancient city of Palmyra today, eyeing a major symbolic victory over the Islamic State jihadist group, a monitor said.

"The regime forces are now two kilometres (a little more than a mile) away on the south side and five kilometres away on the west side," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

IS seized the city dubbed the "Pearl of the Desert" in May last year, sending shock waves around the world as the group demolished some of the most treasured monuments of its UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site.

Regime forces launched an offensive to retake the city at the start of the month backed by heavy Russian air strikes.

IS has fiercely resisted the advance, killing at least 26 pro-government fighters on Monday alone, the Observatory said.

Aamaq, an IS-linked website, claimed that 30 troops were killed in an attack by a jihadist suicide bomber.

The recapture of Palmyra would be a strategic as well as symbolic prize for the regime.

Whoever controls the oasis city also controls the surrounding desert -- an area of some 30,000 square kilometres extending to the Iraqi border.

That would cut IS's area of control from some 40 percent of Syrian territory to 30 percent, according to the Observatory.

Global concern for Palmyra's magnificent ancient ruins spiked in September 2015, when satellite images confirmed that IS had demolished the famed Temple of Bel as part of its campaign to destroy pre-Islamic monuments it considers idolatrous.

The jihadists have waged a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas IS controls in Syria and Iraq and in mid-August last year beheaded Palmyra's 82-year-old former antiquities chief.
Syrian pro-government forces were poised today to launch an assault to retake the ancient city of Palmyra from jihadists, as Washington sought to inject new momentum into flagging peace talks.

The Islamic State (IS) group overran the city dubbed the "Pearl of the Desert" last May, and it has since blown up UNESCO-listed temples and looted relics dating back thousands of years.

Its recapture would be a strategic as well as symbolic victory for President Bashar al-Assad, since whoever controls it also controls the vast desert extending from central Syria to the Iraqi border, experts say.

Loyalists backed by Russian air strikes were "800 metres (yards) from Palmyra" and now control areas linking it to Damascus and Syria's third city Homs, a Syrian security source said.

"The army is now at (the southern and southwestern) entrances to the city and is preparing to begin the battle to liberate Palmyra," the source told AFP.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier Wednesday that regime forces were two kilometres (little more than one mile) south of Palmyra and five kilometres southwest of the city.

In Geneva, meanwhile, negotiators were making a fresh bid for a breakthrough ahead of a planned pause in the peace talks starting Thursday.

There is some hope that high-level US-Russian meetings this week could deliver the momentum needed to move on to a new round.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Russian capital ahead of meetings on Thursday with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with Syria a key issue on their agenda.

With the indirect negotiations in Geneva proving to be sluggish, all eyes are on Moscow since the two powers hold significant sway over the opposing sides in Syria's devastating conflict.

"The diplomatic process in Geneva is interconnected with what is taking place in Moscow," said the High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition umbrella group.

The HNC said it hoped that after the Kremlin talks "a clear message will be sent to Bashar al-Assad: He cannot continue to paralyse the political transition that the Syrian people are demanding.

"Syria's future must be decided by the Syrian people, not by a single man," said the group, whose leader Riad Hijab -- a former premier who defected in 2012 -- was set to hold a first official meeting with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura today.
Taiwan today gave its first ever international press tour of a disputed island in the South China Sea to boost its claim, less than two months after a visit by its leader sparked protests from rival claimants.

Taiping is the largest island in the Spratlys chain and is administered by Taiwan, which sees it as part of its territory.

But the Spratlys are also claimed in part or whole by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei and have been at the centre of escalating rows.

A visit to Taiping by Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou in January triggered criticism from the United States which described it as "extremely unhelpful", as well as protests from Vietnam and the Philippines.

But Taiwan remains undeterred in asserting its claim.

"We hope that the international community will understand our position in safeguarding our sovereignty in the South China Sea and our effective administration of Taiping Island," deputy foreign minister Bruce Linghu said after the group arrived on the island.

The Philippines is currently in the midst of an arbitration case against China at the Hague over the South China Sea.

As part of its case, the Philippines argues that Taiping and other islands are just "rocks", a categorisation which helps its broad claims in the area.

Taiwan disagrees, saying Taiping is a fully fledged island, a categorisation which entitles it to a 200-nautical- mile exclusive economic zone.

"It's an indisputable fact that Taiping is an island and not a rock. Taiwan enjoys full rights associated with territorial waters," Linghu said.

"Our sovereignty claim is firm but we are willing to put aside disputes to jointly develop the region with relevant countries for peace and mutual benefits," he added.

Linghu has previously accused the Philippines of "distorting the facts and misinterpreting the law" over Taiping during arbitration hearings.

A ruling on the arbitration case is expected before May.

As part of efforts to strengthen defence capabilities on Taiping, Taiwan last year inaugurated a solar-powered lighthouse, an expanded airstrip and a pier, all stops on Wednesday's press tour.

Journalists will also be shown other facilities, including a hospital, a temple and a post office. Ma will speak to reporters after the group returns later today.
Three suicide bombers who struck Brussels airport and a metro train in attacks claimed by the Islamic State were identified today, as a grieving nation observed a minute's silence for victims of the carnage.

As hundreds of mourners gathered in the city in a show of solidarity with the 31 people killed and 270 injured, prosecutors said brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui had carried out attacks at Zaventem airport and Maalbeek station.

Bomb-making expert Najim Laachraoui was identified by police sources to AFP as the second airport bomber, while police stepped up a huge manhunt for a third airport attacker whose suitcase bomb failed to detonate.

Turkey said it had detained Ibrahim El Bakraoui near the Syrian border in June 2015 and deported him as a "foreign terrorist fighter", piling more pressure on Belgian authorities who have faced criticism for failing to tackle the extremist menace.

All three suspects have been linked to the November attacks in Paris, which like the Brussels bombings were claimed by IS, underscoring the threat European nations face from the jihadist group.

US President Barack Obama urged nations to unite against terrorism and said wiping out IS was his "top priority."



Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw revealed that Ibrahim El Bakraoui had left a desperate "will" on a computer that he dumped in a trash can, in which he said he felt "hunted" and added "I don't know what to do."



In an apparent reference to Salah Abdeslam, the key suspect in the Paris massacre arrested in Brussels on Friday, Bakraoui added: "I don't want to end up in a cell next to him."



A third man in a hat and white jacket seen on CCTV footage with Bakraoui and Laachraoui pushing their bomb-filled bags on trolleys through the departure hall shortly before the attacks is still at large, Van Leeuw said.

Belgium has declared three days of mourning and on Wednesday hundreds of airport staff and their families carried candles and flowers in a silent march and vigil near Zaventem.

"It could have happened to me," said security guard Gregory Lupant, who added he was worried about colleagues "who had not been heard from, and others who had lost a leg or finger."



King Philippe, Prime Minister Charles Michel and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker led a minute's silence outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, the city that is also home to NATO.

In the city's Place de la Bourse, where mourners have laid banners and candles, defiant applause broke out among the large crowd gathered to honour the dead, chanting: "Long live Belgium".
Three persons of a family, including two minors, were killed when they came under the wheels of a speeding truck while crossing naitonal highway two under Shivsagar police station area of Bihar's Rohtas district today, police said.

Sasaram Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Amarendra Kumar said that incident occurred early morning when they had gone to participate in 'Holika Dahan'. The three persons were crushed to death by a speeding truck while they were crossing the NH 2.

The deceased have been identified as Umashankar Gupta (27), his younger brother Vishal Gupta (14) and his nephew Aditya Gupta (08).

The local residents blocked the NH 2 for two hours to protest against the incident, he said adding that blockade was lifted following an assurance that adequate compensation would be given to the next of the kin.

The deadbodies have been handed over the deceased's family members after conducting post-mortem at Sadar hospital, SDPO said.

The driver along with the truck managed to escape from the scene, he added.
Three police personnel were injured today by liquor mafia today during a raid at an illegal liquor manufacturing unit at Mahbatpur village in Bihar's Sheikhpur district.

Two sub-inspectors Suresh Rajak and Sheikh Hazrat and a constable Mohammad Ashraf were injured and the attackers also snatched a rifle from the police team during the raid, Sheikhpura SHO Anil Kumar said.

The injured have been admitted to a local primary health centre for treatment, he said, adding an FIR against persons has been lodged in this regard.

The police later recovered the rifle abandoned in a field and also seized 125 bottles of foreign liquor from the village.

The raid was part of a police plan to destroy country-made liquor manufacturing units across the state following the state government's decision to ban the manufacture and sale of all types of liquor at villages from April 1 in view of the new excise policy.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton today knocked down another barrier by winning in Arizona presidential primaries but the frontrunners lost out in Utah to their nearest party rivals who kept their chances alive as the race to the gathered steam.

The former reality star, Trump, and former secretary of state, Clinton, routed Bernie Sanders and Texas Senator Ted Cruz by notching up victories in the key western state of Arizona as they solidified their front-runner status in their parties for the November 8 presidential elections.

However, just a couple of hours later, the next-in-line to the nomination in both the parties - Vermont Senator Sanders and Texas Senator Cruz - received a huge morale boost by clinching much-needed victories in Utah's presidential caucuses.

Victory of the 69-year-old real estate tycoon kept his momentum rolling despite concerted efforts by party establishment to thwart the billionaire's presidential aspirations.

"Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!"



"Thank you, Arizona," Trump tweeted.

Clinton tweeted: "Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who are working so hard for our campaign. You're knocking down barriers."



With an impressive win in Arizona, Trump grabbed all the 58 delegates at stake in the State, thus, increasing his total to 739 delegates and further increasing the gap on delegate count with his main Republican presidential primary rival Senator Ted Cruz who has a delegate count of 425. To win the Republican presidential nominee, Trump needs 1,237 delegates.

He needs to win 52 per cent of the delegates in the rest of the Republican primaries. So far, the real estate tycoon has won 19 States as against Cruz's victory in eight States so far.

In Arizona, Clinton's sole rival Senator Sanders had polled 36.8 per cent of the votes as against more than 60 per cent by the former Secretary of State.

Clinton currently has 1,670 delegates, which includes 1159 won by her in various States and 467 super delegates who have pledged their support to her. Sanders has 886 delegates including 829 won in State primaries and caucuses.

The one with 2,382 delegates, would be declared the Democratic presidential nominee.

In Utah, media reports projected Cruz as the winner with about 70 per cent of the vote, with Ohio Governor John Kasich at 16 per cent and Trump at 13 per cent. After securing victory in Utah, Sanders now hopes to continue his winning streak in the rest of the Western States.

"Thank you to all those who caucused tonight in Utah!" Sanders tweeted.

The Democratic presidential primaries today were held in Arizona, Utah and Idaho and the race to now moves to the Saturday caucuses in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state.

Mainstream American media projected victory for Sanders in Utah based on results of initial counting of votes.

Sanders claimed 74.8 per cent of the vote to Clinton's 24.1 per cent with just 11 per cent reporting.

Utah, whose population is more caucasian, has 33 delegates up for grabs while neighbouring Arizona, where a substantial Hispanic population helped Clinton secure victory, is a larger state with 75 pledged delegates at stake.

Setting an eye on the November elections after an impressive win in Arizona primary, Clinton slammed Republican counterpart Trump for running a divisive campaign and inciting fear among people.

"We need a president who can provide leadership that's strong, smart, and steady. The last thing we need are leaders who incite more fear," Clinton told her cheering supporters in Seattle in the Washington State in her victory speech.

"In the face of terror, America doesn't panic. We don't build walls or turn our backs on our allies. We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people," she said in an attack directed at Trump.

"What Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it's dangerous. It will not keep us safe. This is a time for America to lead, not cower, and we will lead... We have to dismantle the global terror pipeline. We have to strengthen our defences here at home and we need to work closely with our allies... This election really matters," Clinton said.

"We need to keep working together. We need to make a point that we're going into the future with confidence and optimism," she said.

In her address, Clinton said this is not just a contest between candidates, but "between fundamentally different views of our country, our values, and our future".
The UN strongly condemned the Brussels terror bombings by the ISIS, as the Security Council called for measures to prevent financing of terrorist outfits and individuals and the UN chief sought perpetrators of the "despicable attacks" to be swiftly brought to justice.

The 15-nation Security Council also stressed the need to intensify regional and international efforts to overcome terrorism and violent extremism, while reaffirming that "terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security".

ISIS claimed responsibility for the terror attacks that ripped through the departure area of the international airport and a subway station in the busy morning hours in the Belgian capital and home to the headquarters of the European Union.

Around 35 people were killed and many more injured in yesterday's attack, which came just four days after the Belgian police captured Salah Abdeslam - the only suspect in the Paris attack to have survived.

The Council "stressed the need to take measures to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, terrorist organisations and individual terrorists" in accordance with UNSC resolutions and underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice.

"The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed," it said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the "despicable attacks" yesterday and said those responsible should be swiftly brought to justice.

A statement issued by his spokesperson said Ban is confident that Belgium's and Europe's commitment to human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence will continue to be the "true and lasting response to the hatred and violence of which they became a victim today".

President of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft said he is "horrified" by the attacks.

"We have in the last week seen atrocities in Turkey, Ivory Coast and now in Belgium. It must be condemned in the strongest terms," Lykketoft said in a statement.

"Acts of terrorism are unjustifiable regardless of their motivation and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes on of the most serious threats to international peace and security. Acts of terrorism have no place in the modern world and only serve to strengthen the resolve of governments the world over to find and prosecute the individuals responsible," he added.

The World Tourism Organisation said it is "deeply shocked by the tragic attacks" perpetrated.

"This is not an attack on Belgium, it is an attack on us all and sadly these tragic events remind us again that we are facing a global threat that needs to be addressed globally," said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai.
An unmanned cargo ship has been blasted off for the International Space Station on a resupply run that will also feature an unprecedented fire experiment after the craft leaves the orbiting outpost.

NASA partner Orbital ATK launched its unmanned Cygnus cargo ship from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at 11:05 pm (0305 GMT Wednesday), the start of a 30-minute launch window.

Cygnus is expected to enter into orbit about 20 minutes after liftoff and will reach the ISS on Saturday, where it will dock with the help of the station's robotic arm in a procedure due to start at about 1040 GMT, according to NASA.

The launch will mark Orbital's fifth supply mission to the orbiting laboratory, as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to deliver necessities to the astronauts living in space.

It will be the second since December, which marked the resumption of the company's missions after an Orbital Antares rocket packed with thousands of pounds of supplies exploded seconds after takeoff in October 2014.

Orbital is due to carry out two other ISS resupply missions this year for NASA, with the next one to take place in early summer from the US space agency's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia with an Antares rocket.

Tuesday's launch is the second flight to the ISS of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft, which carries 7,900 pounds (3.6 metric tons) of supplies to the station -- including food, water, clothes for the ISS crew of six astronauts, as well as material to support dozens of science and research probes.

Cygnus will stay at the ISS until May. Loaded with trash and once it is at a safe distance from the station, NASA engineers will then set off a blaze inside the capsule to see how large flames behave in space.

NASA has set off tiny controlled fires in space in the past, but never tested how large flames react inside an orbiting space capsule.

The Cygnus cargo also includes an instrument that, for the first time, will allow experts to evaluate, from space, the chemical composition of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere.

The pressurized vessel is also transporting a new 3D printer and another scientific highlight includes a so-called Gecko Gripper, a mechanism similar to the tiny hairs on the feet of geckos that makes it possible for them to stick to surfaces.

This technology could one day be used on the hands and feet of robots that would move along the exterior of spacecraft to carry out inspections and repairs.
France's prime minister today said there was an "urgent" need to tighten controls on the European Union's borders after bombings in Brussels that left around 30 dead and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

"There is an urgent need to strengthen the external borders of the European Union," Manuel Valls told French radio, adding that heightened vigilance was required to stop people crossing into Europe with false passports, as IS has "stolen a large number of passports in Syria."



Europe is facing a security crisis after the Brussels attacks and those in Paris in November which revealed jihadists were easily moving between member states, several of them returning from battle in Syria.

Two of the suicide bombers involved in the Paris attack -- which left 130 dead -- were found with fake Syrian passports and several crossed into Europe posing as refugees.

Valls again urged the adoption of a Europe-wide system of tracking airline passenger names which has led to misgivings among some over the use and security of personal data.

France has led the calls for adopting the Passenger Name Record (PNR) system first mooted in 2010, which would cover all international and internal EU flights while providing safeguards on access to and use of the data collected.
The US military conducted an airstrike against an al-Qaida training camp in Yemen, causing dozens of casualties, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook yesterday said the training camp was located in the mountains, and was being used by more than 70 terrorists belonging to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Cook did not specify the location of the camp. But Yemeni security officials and a witness said the airstrike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al-Qaida militants about 75 kilometers (47 miles) west of the terror group's stronghold city of Mukalla.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," Cook said.

A tribal member at the site said about 40 people were killed and wounded in the Brom Maifa district yesterday. He didn't give a breakdown and said that bodies were still being counted. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety.

The Yemeni officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to reporters.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaida and denying it safe haven," Cook said.

Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government.

The war has given AQAP a freehand to expand and seize cities and large swaths of land. Militants from the extremist Islamic State group have also taken advantage of the chaos to wage a series of deadly attacks across the country.
A US airstrike has killed at least 40 militants in an al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen, a major blow to the terrorist outfit's ability to use the country as a base for attacks.

"Early this morning the US military conducted an airstrike against an al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) training camp in Yemen," the Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said.

The camp was located in the mountains, and was being used by more than 70 AQAP terrorists, he said, adding that the Pentagon continues to assess the results of the operation.

The airstrike in Hajr in the vast southeastern province of Hadramawt killed at least 40 militants and wounded 25 more, media reports said.

"But our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," he said.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven," Cook said.
The US government has barred a Jewish college in suburban Detroit from participating in a popular grant programme after finding that almost 2,000 students lived full-time in Israel and weren't taking classes through the school.

The Michigan Jewish Institute broke its fiduciary duty to the US Education Department, which supplies Pell grants of up to USD 5,775 this year, and provided false information to an accrediting agency, the government said in a February letter obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

The school, referred to as MJI, declined to comment on the allegations, saying "that could be taken as politicising the matter." The Free Press reported today it is affiliated with the local chapter of the Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish group.

Under the Pell grant programme, the money goes to a college, which typically applies it toward a student's tuition and fees. Any leftover money can be paid to the student for other expenses, according to a government student aid website.

"The evidence shows that almost 2,000 US citizens, who were full-time Israeli residents, received Pell grants for ostensibly 'studying abroad' in Israel at Israeli institutions between 2006 and 2012," the Education Department's letter to Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov said.

"Not a single one of them ever physically attended classes at MJI and none of them graduated from MJI."



The Education Department said the full-time Israeli residents were "enrolled" in MJI so the school could partly use the money to fund its own operations. The government called it a "scam."



It's not clear what steps will be taken next. The school has told students to come up with other money to pay bills.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley today said that the US had once financed his trip to Pakistan and also claimed that he had "donated" about Rs.70 lakh to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) till 2006, two years before the Mumbai attacks.

The 55-year-old terrorist, who was cross-examined via a video link from the US, told the court that after his arrest in 1998, "The Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the US financed my trip. I was in contact with DEA then, but it is not true that between 1988 and 1998 I was providing information or assisting DEA".

Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US and has turned approver in the 26/11 case, contradicted reports that he had received money from the LeT.

"I never received money from LeT...This is complete nonsense. I gave funds to LeT myself. I had donated more than 60 to 70 lakh Pakistani Rupees to LeT throughout the period I was associated with them. My last donation was in 2006", Headley told the court.

He clarified that the money given was not for any specific operation of LeT, but was a general donation primarily for many things.

"These donations were from my business in New York and from the income that I earned by selling and purchasing some properties in Pakistan. I don't remember if I informed US authorities about my donations to LeT," he said.

Picking holes in the credibility of Headley's evidence, 26/11 attack plotter Abu Jundal's lawyer today argued that the terrorist, who faced conviction twice in the past before the Mumbai strikes, had indulged in criminal activities and violated his plea bargain agreements with the US government.

Headley was convicted in 1988 and 1998 by a court in the US for alleged drug smuggling, Jundal's lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan said. However, on both the occasions, Headley had entered into a plea bargain with the American government and got off with a lighter sentence.

"One of the conditions of my plea agreement was that I should not take part in any criminal activity. I violated this condition by going to Pakistan and joining the LeT," Headley told special judge G A Sanap, who is hearing the 26/11 terror case against Jundal in a sessions court here.

Headley told the court that after completing his four year sentence in 1988, he was involved in drug smuggling from 1992 to 1998 and had visited Pakistan during this period.

Headley was examined by the prosecution in February this year for five days and the court later adjourned the case for his cross-examination, which started from today.

Testifying from an undisclosed location in the US, Headley



told the court that it was not possible that his donations were used for the 26/11 terror attacks.

"My last donation was made in 2006 and at that time 26/11 plan was not in place," he said.

When Khan kept implying in his questions that he had received money from LeT, an irked Headley said, "I have repeated it several times. I did not receive any money from LeT...If you don't understand this language I can say it in Urdu."



Seeing Khan smile, Headley said, "Your client's life is relying on this case. You should be serious about that...Don't joke."



Headley also told the court that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit LeT.

On being asked by Khan about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."



He said Rana had objected to his association with LeT, and added that Rana was not in "constant touch" with any LeT operatives.

"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.

Headley also told the court that Rana had once come to Mumbai just prior to the 26/11 attacks, and that the latter continued his association with him till his arrest.

"I was working on Denmark conspiracy project (Mickey Mouse project) on my own and not with Rana. Rana offered me assistance on some occasions. He was a 'small part' of it," he said.

Queried about his wife Shazia, a visibly exasperated



Headley told the defense counsel that he is not going to answer questions about her.

Headley also refused to reveal the location of his wife, whether she is in USA or Pakistan, or her father's name.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He, however, said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.

"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."



When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."



When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

However, the judge said that he will decide tomorrow on whether Khan's question to Headley about his wife falls under this purview.

Headley also told the court that in the 1998 drug case trial in the US, he had testified against two co-accused, out of whom one was acquitted and the other was convicted as he pleaded guilty.

He said that he was sentenced to 15 months in jail and after that he was kept on five years' supervised release.

"There was a motion moved by the state government attorney to terminate my supervisory release because of my 'good conduct'," Headley said.

He also said that in the 1988 case while he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, his co-accused were awarded a heavier sentence than him.

The Pakistani-American terrorist had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.

Headley said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.
US officials say fewer prisoners released from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are returning to the fight than before.

But they acknowledged during congressional testimony Wednesday that Americans have been killed by released Guantanamo detainees.

The officials declined to provide details and did not say whether the incidents occurred before or after President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

Their remarks triggered criticism from Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee over Obama's intent to close the facility and house the remaining prisoners elsewhere.

The special envoys leading the facility's closure say it is a tragedy anytime a person is killed by a former detainee. Buy they say the risk of keeping the detention center open outweighs the risk of any transfer.
President Barack Obama has left Havana after a historic three-day visit, the first to Cuba by a US leader in nearly nine decades.

Obama, who was heading to Argentina, was seen off at the airport by Cuban President Raul Castro yesterday.

Earlier, Obama said that his visit meant the two countries could "bury" their Cold War-era hostility and he also called for Cuba to allow more political and media freedom.
The United States have said it is "reassessing" China's participation in a large naval drill in the Pacific this year, amid tensions with Beijing over maritime claims.

China took part in RIMPAC -- the largest international naval exercises in the Pacific involving some 20 countries every two years under US leadership -- for the first time in 2014.

But soon after China's initial participation, aimed at reducing distrust, renewed incidents caused tensions to flare up anew.

China's land reclamation and military buildup in the South China Sea have drawn international condemnation, including from the United States.

The Chinese "have an invitation for RIMPAC and we will continue to review that," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee.

"Our strategy in the Asia Pacific is not to exclude anyone, but to keep the security architecture going there, in which everyone participates," he testified at a hearing.

"China is, however, self-isolating... That's why all these partners are coming to us."



"We are constantly reassessing" the opportunity to have China participate in the exercise, Carter added.

US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris has warned lawmakers that Beijing was "clearly militarizing" the South China Sea.

Washington recently struck an accord with the Philippines, making it possible for US forces to rotate through five bases there -- including those close to the South China Sea.

China claims virtually all the South China Sea, despite conflicting partial claims by Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

It has been asserting its claim by occupying more reefs and outcrops in these waters, and building artificial islands, including airstrips on some of them.

This year, RIMPAC is due to take place in June and July. RIMPAC 2014 involved 23 counties, some 50 ships, six submarines and more than 25,000 troops.
The Obama Administration and Democratic presidential front runner Hillary Clinton have come out in support of NATO, disapproving of Republican Donald Trump's non-interventionist approach when he called for a review of US involvement in the 28-nation military alliance.

"It is a critical alliance for the United States," the State Department Spokesman John Kirby said.

"There are lots of relevant issues for NATO to consider and to contribute to and, frankly, to lead in," he said, adding that the US is very committed to its role in NATO.

"I don't see that changing," he said, responding to Republican presidential front runner Trump's statement a day earlier that the US needs to rethink its involvement in NATO.

"We are confident in the integrity of the NATO alliance. The Secretary has been very honest about the fact that we know that not all nations are contributing the two per cent of GDP that was required coming out of Wales to NATO commitments and other nations are. So we continue to support that requirement," he said.

"But we also value the individual skills and capabilities that so many armed forces belonging to NATO bring to the mission," Kirby said in response to a question.

Meanwhile, Clinton also strongly backed NATO, underlining its importance in the wake of yesterday's terror attacks in Brussels, incidentally, also the headquarters of NATO.

"I am a very strong supporter of NATO. It's the best international defence alliance I think ever," Clinton told CNN in an interview.

Trump has argued that NATO is a big financial strain on the US and that its allies are not chipping in as much.

Responding to Trump's criticism, Clinton said: "I think it would be a grave error to walk away from Europe, to walk away from NATO, to turn our backs on countries with whom we have a long history and shared values, and frankly, who we need to be working closely with as we defeat ISIS and other terrorist threats. I think NATO has a role to play," Clinton said.

"I would certainly, as President and Commander-in-chief, be looking to define that role to make sure that the capacities, the tools and assets that NATO has are at the disposal of member nations, like Belgium, during this terrible event that they are experiencing," Clinton said.

Advocating a light footprint in the world, Trump has said that the US involvement in NATO may need to be significantly diminished in the coming years.

"We certainly can't afford to do this anymore. NATO is costing us a fortune, and yes, we are protecting Europe with NATO, but we are spending a lot of money," he has said.
Amid the political crisis in Uttarakhand, 14 BJP MLAs of the state arrived here today and plan to camp in the pink city for next couple of days to chalk out their strategy.

"14 BJP MLAs have already reached Jaipur and 13 will reach in the evening from Delhi by air. 9 Congress MLAs who supported us in the Finance bill are also most likely to be present in Jaipur," BHEL-Ranipur MLA Adesh Chauhan told PTI over phone from Delhi.

"We will be in Jaipur for next two days and celebrate Holi in Jaipur," he said.

Another BJP MLA Bhimlal Arya (from Ghansali) also confirmed that that the MLAs have reached Jaipur and are staying in a hotel near Ajmer road.

Eight rebel Congress MLAs had stayed in a private farm house on Delhi-Jaipur highway here and left for Delhi last evening.
The son of a village head was allegedly beaten to death by five persons over election-related rivalry in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur district, police said today.

Prem Chandra Gupta (27) was last night attacked by Vijay Yadav and four others with sticks in Saidanpur village in Linebazar area, they said.

He was rushed to a hospital in serious condition where he was declared brought dead.

On the complaint of victim's mother Sheela Gupta, who is the village head, an FIR has been registered in this regard.
JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar today said the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of Hyderabad Central University will continue with its struggle until the Centre brings out 'Rohith Act'.

Kanhaiya, who landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here at around 11 AM, also said that he will participate and address a public meeting organised by the JAC on the HCU campus this evening, "if the police permits".

"Today, I will first meet Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika and his brother Raja. JAC has invited me to address a public meeting on HCU campus...If police allows me then I will definitely go to HCU and address the students," Kanhaiya told reporters at RGIA.

"We have experience with JAC for various struggles and we will take this fight forward...This struggle will continue until 'Rohith Act' is implemented...To fulfil his (Rohith) dreams of social justice on the campus," he said.

Notably, the mother and brother of Dalit research scholar Rohith, who had allegedly committed suicide in a hostel room on the campus on January 17, had last month met political leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri and KC Tyagi, seeking their support for enactment of a 'Rohith Act' against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

Earlier, the HCU authorities categorically said they would not allow outsiders, including media and political party leaders, on the campus in view of the prevailing situation.

HCU vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile's official residence was yesterday vandalised by students and police had to lathicharge another group during their protest against him resuming charge after a two-month leave in the wake of suicide by Vemula.

Meanwhile, the police, who made elaborate security arrangements in and around the university, prevented Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao from entering the campus.

The Congress MP demanded that President Pranab Mukherjee should immediately recall the VC, holding him responsible for the state of affairs on the campus.

Senior CPI leader K Narayana had earlier told PTI that Kanhaiya Kumar will address a meeting at the university this evening and attend a meeting on 'Constitutional Rights' at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Baghligampally here tomorrow, besides visiting Vijayawada.
The Delhi government is working towards providing round-the-clock permit to restaurants and bars in the city, Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra said today.

The proposed 2016-17 excise policy will enable owners of bars and restaurants to run their business for 24x7 in the national capital.

Asked if the city's bars and restaurants will be allowed to run 24x7, Mishra said, "Yes, we are working for round-the-clock permit for businesses. I believe that there will be less crime when shops will be open for longer duration."



The Tourism Minister said the government was in talks with shopkeepers, restaurant owners, police, labour department and other stakeholders in this regard.

"A final shape will be given to this proposal only after consultation with all stakeholders," Mishra said on the sidelines of an event here.
US-based fast food restaurant chain KFC today said it is working with authorities to resolve the issue over alleged presence of bacteria in water that led to the shut down of one of its outlet in Navi Mumbai.

The Konkan Region Food Drugs and Administration (FDA) yesterday shut down a KFC outlet in Nerul in Navi Mumbai on grounds that water from its purifying unit at Nerul was not upto the specified standards.

"As a responsible brand, the health and safety of our customers are well as our employees, is our number one priority. We want to assure our customers that we have regular checks and stringent systems to ensure that we uphold the highest standards across all our restaurants," a company spokesperson said.

The tests revealed that the level of E.Coli and Coliform Bacteria found in 100 ml of water to be 34 as against 0, a FDA official had said yesterday.

"We are confident that at no point was there any food safety concern at the said restaurant. We have shut down the store as of now and are working with the authorities to resolve this matter," the spokesperson said.

The company is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant firm that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in the country.
The Cabinet today approved USD 1.5 billion (about Rs 9,000 crore) World Bank support for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas.

"The project basically provides for incentivising states on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM-Gramin. Incentivisation of states was approved by the Cabinet while approving the SBM-Gramin on September 24, 2014," Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the Cabinet meeting here.

The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through World Bank credit, he said, adding that under the approved project, the performance of the states will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs).

The states will pass on a substantial portion of more than 95 per cent of the Performance Incentive Grant Funds received from the MOWS, to the appropriate implementing levels of districts, Blocks, GPs etc, he said.

The end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the sanitation sector, he added.

"The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019. The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of states towards the SBM(G) 'outcomes' such as reduction in open defecation, sustainable achievement of open defecation-free (ODF) villages and improvement in solid and liquid waste management (SLWM)," Prasad said.

(Reopens DEL54)



The project will also put in place a robust and credible independent verification system for annual measurement of improvement in rural sanitation, Prasad said.

The project will support the SBM(G) programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining open defecation-free and clean environment.

Since poor sanitation is related to ill-health, malnutrition, poor education and poverty, achievement of SBM(G) objectives will have a beneficial effect on all of these, he said, adding that it will therefore ensure a better quality of life for the rural population.

Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs) includes reduction in the prevalence of open defecation, sustaining open defecation-free (ODF) status in villages and increase in percentage of rural population served by improved Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).

The total World Bank credit being obtained for the project is USD 1,500 million, of which USD 1,475 million is for providing incentive grant to the states and USD 25 million is for providing programme management and capacity support to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS).

The proposed project is, therefore, not a new scheme, but part of the existing SBM (G) and provides part-funding to SBM (G) as Externally Aided Project (EAP) credit to support incentivisation of states.

In other words, a performance-based Incentive Grant Scheme, as part of SBM (G), is proposed to be launched through World Bank supported credit funds.

The project comes in the background of acceleration of efforts under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) which has a goal to accelerate efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in rural India by 2019.

The programme is considered India's biggest drive to improve sanitation and cleanliness in the country.

Under the new SBM (G), the focus is on behaviour change and creation of complete open defecation-free (ODF) villages. The objective of the proposed programme is to reduce open defecation in rural areas and strengthen the capacity of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to manage the SBM(G) programme.

The project will, therefore, support the SBM(G) programme in achievement of its objectives of attaining an open defecation-free and clean environment.
World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed around 35 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU.

Global landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of the Belgian national flag in solidarity.

In Brussels, hundreds crowded into Place de la Bourse in the capital's historic centre to grieve for the dead, while in London fans of Adele lit up the O2 stadium with their phones after the pop star asked them to "take a moment for Brussels".

The European Union vowed to defend democracy and combat terrorism "with all necessary means" after the bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station, only a short walk from the bloc's core institutions.

The EU said the Brussels attacks were an assault "on our open democratic society" at a time when the bloc is already on edge after a wave of jihadist violence.

"This latest attack only strengthens our resolve to defend the European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant. We will be united and firm in the fight against hatred, violent extremism and terrorism," leaders and its institutions said in a statement.

Officials said around 20 people were killed on the metro and 14 at the airport in the rush-hour assaults, which came days after the main fugitive suspect in November's gun and bomb rampage in Paris was arrested in Brussels.

"Our Union's capital is under attack. We mourn the dead and pledge to conquer terror through democracy," the Greek foreign ministry said on Twitter. "Nous sommes tous Bruxellois" -- "We are all citizens of Brussels."



Belgian colours lit up the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and hundreds joined a vigil in support of the Brussels victims. Flags were to fly at half mast in France, a nation still raw from last year's jihadist rampage.

"The whole of Europe has been hit," French President Francois Hollande declared, urging the continent to take "vital steps in the face of the seriousness of the threat".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed that "the horror is as boundless as the determination to defeat terrorism" and British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed: "We will never let these terrorists win."



US President Barack Obama branded the attacks "outrageous", calling on the world to stand "together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism".

"We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world," he said in Havana.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was confident



"Europe's commitment to human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence will continue to be the true and lasting response to the hatred and violence of which they became a victim today".

And Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, which has been combating threats from homegrown jihadists, said "we are absolutely shoulder to shoulder with Belgium".

He told the ABC: "Australia is allied with Belgium in this battle just as our forebears were 100 years ago in the fields of Flanders, in the First World War."



Turkey, which has seen hundreds killed a wave of bombings blamed on Islamic State as well as Kurdish rebels, said the attacks in Brussels rammed home the need to combat terrorism of every hue.

"The terrorists who targeted Brussels... Are showing once again that they respect no value nor any human and moral limit," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country was left reeling after a Russian plane was downed by a bomb over the Sinai in October that killed 224 people, also lashed out at what he called "barbarous crimes".

"(They) demonstrate once again that terrorism has no borders and threatens people around the world. Fighting this evil calls for the most active international cooperation."



Religious leaders also spoke out against the attacks, which Pope Francis described as "blind violence, which causes so much suffering".

In Cairo, the leading seat of learning in Sunni Islam, Al-Azhar, said the blasts "violate the tolerant teachings of Islam" and urged the international community to confront the "epidemic" of terrorism.

The attacks also reverberated in the US presidential campaign, where Republican front-runner Donald Trump said the cause of the bloodshed was "no assimilation" by immigrants.

"This all happened because, frankly, there's no assimilation.
New York's World Trade Center was lit in solidarity with Belgium after around 35 people were killed in bombings in Brussels.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo posted a picture of the 408-foot (124-meter) spire colored black, yellow and red on twitter and said it was lit "in solemn solidarity with the people of Belgium."



But the tribute from the tallest building in the US, built on the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York, sparked confusion.

A series of photographs published by AFP and other media showed the colors to be blue, white and red -- those of the French flag that lit up the Trade Center after the November attacks in Paris.

An AFP photographer said the colors on the World Trade Center appeared correct to the naked eye, but did not translate so accurately on film, shot against the dark night-time sky.

Uptown, New York's iconic Empire State Building remained dark, foregoing its traditional white, in sympathy for the lives lost.

Dozens of Belgian expatriates gathered in Union Square in Manhattan after night fell, bringing flowers, candles and flags to express solidarity with the victims and survivors of the attacks.

"It's important to be here," said Renaud Vanlangendonck, 33, a former teacher carrying his five-month-old daughter. "We saw it in New York, Paris, Istanbul... And now it's our country, it's horrible."



There was a visible police presence in Union Square as law enforcement bolstered security across America's largest city.

The FBI and New York police were dispatching detectives as early as Tuesday night to investigate the Brussels attacks with at least three US citizens -- Mormon missionaries -- among the casualties.

John Miller, deputy police commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, made the remarks as the US government, state and city authorities stepped up security at airports and transit hubs.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury today demanded immediate release of students and faculty members of Hyderabad Central University, arrested in connection with the attack on Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile's official residence.

Yechury, in a letter written to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, also alleged that police showed high-handedness as the students were deprived of water, access to wifi, and even food supply to hostel messes was stopped.

Cyberabad police today arrested 25 students and two teachers in connection with yesterday's incidents.

"In the fitness of living up to your own proclamations and assurances, the arrested students must be released immediately and the cases against them be dropped. The Telangana police must immediately proceed on the registered cases against the Vice Chancellor. As this is a Central University, we are demanding of the Central Government that their appointed Vice Chancellor be removed forthwith," Yechury said.

Most people in the country were "aghast" at the manner in which such "brutal assault" was mounted on the university community by the Telangana police, Yechury said, adding he was forced to write the letter as there was no response from the CM despite repeated phone calls and messages.

"Following the stoppage of water connection, access to wifi, food supplies to the hostel messes, the students themselves organised the preparation of food for the hostel inmates. Today, all these facilities were attacked by the police and the Vice Chancellor has reportedly shut down the hostels," he said.

Telangana government should act first against the Vice Chancellor who is named in the FIR filed with regard to Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, Yechury added.
A special UN envoy announced today a ceasefire across Yemen on April 10 followed a week later by fresh peace talks, raising hopes for a breakthrough in a war that has brought the impoverished Arab country to its knees.

Yemen has been gripped by violence since September 2014, when Iran-backed Huthi rebels stormed the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally recognized government to flee south to the second city of Aden.

"The parties to the conflict have agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities beginning April 10 at midnight in advance of the upcoming round of the peace talks, which will take place on April 18 in Kuwait," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a press conference in New York.

More than 6,300 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition -- which includes Kuwait -- began an air war in March last year to push back an offensive by the Huthi rebels, who control Sanaa.

Previous UN-sponsored negotiations between the Shiite rebels and government officials failed to reach a breakthrough, while a ceasefire went into force on December 15 but it was repeatedly violated and the Saudi-led coalition announced an end to the truce on January 2.

Only last month the UN envoy warned that the warring parties were unable to agree on terms for a new round of peace talks, but those divisions appear to have been overcome.

"The aim is to reach an agreement which will end the conflict and allow the resumption of an inclusive political dialogue," Cheikh Ahmed said Wednesday, telling reporters that he had held intense discussions with the internationally recognized government and the rebels.

The face-to-face negotiations are in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216, which states that the rebels must withdraw from seized territories and disarm.

The envoy said he hoped the cessation of hostilities would allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access to millions of suffering Yemenis.

The year-long coalition campaign has faced criticism over civilian casualties.

The UN said earlier this month that Saudi-led raids are responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 3,200 civilian deaths in the Yemen war.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Cadila Healthcare's shares fell on Wednesday after the World Health Organization (WHO) cited violations of manufacturing and clinical standards at one of the drugmaker's vaccines factory in western India.

WHO staff inspected Cadila's manufacturing plant in Moraiya in Gujarat state in October, and found "several major deviations" from standard procedures, the United Nations agency said in a letter dated Jan. 29. A copy of the letter, addressed to Avinash Waghale, manager of Cadila's vaccines business, was posted on the WHO's website. (http://bit.ly/1MlC05K)

Cadila's staff at the plant falsified multiple quality control records and reports to hide contamination, and failed to implement a quality assurance system, the WHO said. Sterility failures were also not reported, nor investigated, the agency said among a series of concerns outlined in the letter.

The Cadila case is yet another instance of international organizations or regulatory bodies criticising Indian drug-making facilities over manipulation of data and failing quality control standards. Dozens of Indian drug plants in recent years have been barred from supplying to the United States.

The Moraiya plant produced the Lyssavac-N rabies vaccine, which the WHO has been procuring to supply to various countries since Cadila got regulatory approval in 2008.

Cadila stopped production of the vaccine at the plant and began a recall of all batches it made there since April 2015 after getting the notice in November, the WHO said. It also sells the vaccine in India.

In a statement late on Tuesday, Cadila said it did not expect a significant impact on its business, and does not sell the vaccine in the United States.

Cadila also makes injectable drugs for the United States at Moraiya, but it said that plant was separate. Analysts at brokerage Edelweiss, however, said problems outlined by the WHO were reflective of "system-wide issues."

Cadila has twice received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings over faulty manufacturing practices at Moraiya, which makes up 60 percent of its U.S. revenue.

While Cadila responded to the WHO in December with a plan to fix the issues highlighted, the agency said in the January notice that "critical and major observations" remained of concern.

Addressing data fraud at the plant, Cadila told the WHO that the microbiologist on site was "casual in his approach towards work", and there was a "lack of supervision by the laboratory head," the WHO notice said.

Cadila's shares were down 2 percent at 0954 GMT on Wednesday, after earlier falling as much as 5 percent.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Heineken NV has raised its holding in India's largest brewer United Breweries Ltd to 43 percent by buying 24 million euros ($27 million) worth of additional shares on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Dutch brewer said.

Heineken, which bought a 37.5 percent equity stake in United Breweries in 2008 through its takeover of Scottish & Newcastle, previously owned 42.2 percent of the maker of Kingfisher beer, a unit of indebted business tycoon Vijay Mallya's UB Group.

reported last week, citing three people with direct knowledge of the plan, that Heineken was likely to ask Mallya, who owes creditor banks more than $1 billion, to step down from the board of United Breweries.

The sources had said such a move would probably be a prelude to Heineken raising its stake in United Breweries to above 50 percent, betting on a small but fast-growing beer market.

The Dutch brewer bought 2.1 million United Breweries shares in stock market transactions from a group of investors including private sector lender Yes Bank, a spokesman said in an emailed statement.

"Heineken continues to be positive about the prospects of the business in India. India has highly favourable demographics with strong economic fundamentals so the market remains an exciting opportunity for continued growth," the statement said.

Two-thirds of Indians do not drink alcohol, often for religious or cultural reasons, but rapid urbanisation and a rising middle class are changing consumer habits.

India accounts for 13 percent of world beer consumption, and annual volume growth is expected to outpace the global average, and major markets like China, through 2019, according to ratings agency Moody's.

Heineken, which is the single largest shareholder of United Breweries, said the deal would not result in any changes to the Indian firm's "governance structure".

It declined to comment on whether it would look at buying more shares in the near future.

($1 = 0.8947 euros)

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Alexander Smith and Ed Osmond)
Mobarak Musa, a mobile telephone salesman from Syria, has spent 10 years working in Saudi Arabia, sending part of his wages back home to support his parents and three brothers. A shift in Saudi labour policy means he won't be able to do so for much longer.

In early March, the Ministry of Labour announced that within six months foreigners would be banned from selling and maintaining mobile phones and accessories for them, in an effort to keep open more jobs for Saudi citizens.

So Musa became one of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in who may lose their jobs and be sent back to their home countries this year, as low oil prices slow the kingdom's and prompt the government to restrict employment opportunities for expatriates.

"I don't know where else can I go - I don't know any other job to do," Musa, in his 30s, said in his small shop at a mobile phone market in downtown Riyadh.

Millions of foreigners from south Asia, southeast Asia and elsewhere flocked to work in during the economic boom of the past decade, filling relatively low-paid posts in the oil industry, construction and services as well as many middle-management and professional positions.

Foreigners accounted for 10.1 million of the total population of 30.8 million in 2014, according to the latest official data. The money they sent home was important for their home countries; they remitted $9.1 billion out of in the third quarter of 2015, central bank data shows.

The inflow of people may now go into reverse. Saudi economic growth is slowing as low oil prices produce a state budget deficit that totalled nearly $100 billion last year, forcing the government into spending cuts.

Many analysts expect gross domestic product growth, which averaged over 5 percent annually between 2006 and 2015, to fall well below 2 percent this year. Partly because labour rules make it hard and costly to fire Saudi citizens, layoffs in the early stages of a downturn tend to hit foreigners almost exclusively.

Meanwhile the government, lacking the cash to create public sector jobs for Saudis as freely as before, and worried that the official unemployment rate of 11.5 percent among them could rise, is intervening more heavily in the labour market to push Saudis into jobs previously held by foreigners.

A top executive at a major Saudi company told Reuters in January that he wouldn't be surprised if one million foreigners had to leave the kingdom by the end of this year.

"The economic changes have started to pressure the labour market, and this has triggered the start of the migration of a large segment of foreign workers," said prominent Saudi economist Fadl al-Boainain.

"Declining corporate profitability has made the foreign workforce a target for managements seeking to cut fixed financial obligations."

CONSTRUCTION

So far, layoffs have been concentrated in the construction sector, which analysts estimate employs around 45 percent of foreigners. Hit by shrinking state contracts and delays in payments owed to them by the government, construction firms have been laying off tens of thousands of people since last year.

"After 12 years in a stable job with a big company, I have started to update my CV and send it to other employers," said Abu Fadi, a Palestinian-Lebanese engineer at a big construction company in Riyadh which is facing a liquidity crunch and hasn't paid salaries to its staff since September.

Abu Fadi, who has delayed his marriage plans until his future is clearer, said some of his colleagues who had brought their families to the kingdom were now unable to pay the rent.

Some 5,000 technical workers at his company have left, he said.

Job losses among foreigners look likely to spread to other sectors, partly because of government policy. Labour ministry spokesman Khaled Abalkhail said the ban on mobile phone sellers would affect about 20,000 workers, and that similar action would eventually be taken in other industries.

"The labour ministry targets aim to create jobs for around 1.3 million Saudis... There are plans for gradual nationalisation of other sectors such as taxis, travel and tourism, real estate, jewellery and vegetable markets," he told Reuters.

Abalkhail said displaced foreign workers could try to find jobs in other sectors. But it will be hard for many do so in a slowing economy, and many lack training for skilled jobs. If they cannot find a company to sponsor a work visa for them, they will have to leave the country within about 90 days.

Even some highly paid foreign professionals are considering leaving the kingdom because they see fewer opportunities as the flow of oil money shrinks.

After more than nine years in Saudi Arabia, a British petrochemical consultant in the oil-producing Eastern Province said he was considering returning home as projects in the industry were postponed and budget approvals were delayed.

"Last year was mostly fine, but the end of last year and this year are the worst I have seen," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the economic prospects of his firm.

A year ago, there were long waiting lists for foreigners seeking to move into residential compounds for well-off expatriates in Riyadh and oil-producing Eastern Province. The waiting lists have now shrunk or disappeared, and more villas in the compounds are vacant, residents say.

"Saudi Arabia continues to decline as a top destination for expatriates...given the country's higher dependence on oil revenues and the extent of planned austerity measures," Gulf Talent, an online recruitment portal for professionals, said in a report this month.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian business tycoon Vijay Mallya, under pressure from banks to repay more than $1 billion owed by his collapsed airline, has decided to not seek re-election as chairman of French drugmaker Sanofi's India unit, the company said.

Mallya, distracted by investigation into non-repayment of loans by his Kingfisher Airlines, has chaired the business since December 1983.

Sanofi India's board has recommended a resolution be passed at the annual shareholders meeting, likely to be held in April, to elect Aditya Narayan, former chief of the miner BHP Billiton India, as the new chairman of the board, the company said.

The company did not say when Mallya, whose UB Group companies also include India's largest brewer United Breweries, would step down from the board, neither did it give any reason for the move.

The collapse of Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines in 2013 left unpaid wages and many angry creditors. He left India early this month -- as banks sought a court order to confiscate his passport -- and has not disclosed his whereabouts.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Keith Weir)
By David Stanway

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's campaign to slim down its bloated industries could be derailed by more than $1.5 trillion of debt in its steel, coal, cement and non-ferrous metal sectors, which threatens to overwhelm local banks.

Tackling industrial overcapacity has become a priority for Beijing to make its slowing economy more efficient and address a supply glut that has hammered coal and steel prices.

China is providing more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in the next two years to handle layoffs from coal and steel, but that will only be made available once debts have been settled.

Critics say there is no clear mechanism for tackling the debt burden, which will put huge strain on the weakest sections of the banking sector.

The debt figures, revealed in papers submitted to China's parliament this month, highlight the dilemma facing state firms grappling with surplus capacity and how difficult it will be to pull off this central plank of Beijing's economic reform plans.

Costs for the estimated 1.3 million coal-sector layoffs alone are as much as 195 billion yuan, and coal industry delegates attending parliament urged government to provide more support to deal with the mounting debts of hundreds of stricken "zombie" firms.

The four sectors targeted in the battle against overcapacity owe around 10.2 trillion yuan ($1.56 trillion), according to documents submitted to parliament by Wang Mingsheng, head of Anhui-based coal firm Huaibei Mining.

China's statistics bureau puts coal and steel debts alone at 8 trillion yuan, of which about a third is bank debt.

If 20 percent of that were to go bad in 2016, which industry analysts say is not unrealistic, it would raise Chinese banks' non-performing loans by nearly half.

Bankers say city and regional banks set up by party or provincial government officials are most exposed, and that official NPLs, which already doubled last year, underestimate the scale of their problem lending.

"China needs to set up a new organisation, a special bank just to take over these debts in order to avoid the local banks going bankrupt," said steel industry consultant Xu Zhongbo.

China's banking regulator didn't return a request for comment, though earlier in March sent notices to joint-stock banks and city commercial lenders to boost risk assessment and collateral valuations to control exposure to industries suffering overcapacity.

A lawyer who handles steel industry non-performing loans for mid-sized Chinese banks said: "Banks' fear is not without reason. The steel sector's continued slump increases the difficulty of disposing of outstanding non-performing loans."

SHOUTING SLOGANS

As well as seeking cuts in value-added tax and relief from expensive "social functions" like healthcare and education, the coal delegates urged government to provide additional funding and policy support, and establish "debt-to-equity" mechanisms to handle the problem.

"Because the mechanisms and related policies for state-owned firms exiting the market are not complete, closing them will raise thorny problems like the settlement of debts," said Liang Tieshan, chairman of the Henan Pingdingshan Coal Group.

Average debt-to-equity ratios at steel firms rose 1.55 percentage points to 70.1 percent in 2015 and for at least five firms exceed 100 percent, figures from the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) show. Coal executives estimate their sector average exceeds 75 percent.

In plans published in February, Beijing promised to slash 100-150 million tonnes, or up to 12.5 percent, of crude steel capacity and as much as 500 million tonnes, or 9 percent, of coal production in over three to five years.

Liang of Pingdingshan Coal said state banks responded by implementing tougher credit policies and recalling some loans. He said one mine in Henan was facing a 40 billion yuan repayment bill that was unlikely to be rolled over.

The February policy documents said China would create a special mechanism to restructure industry debts and non-performing assets while introducing incentives to write off bad debts or transfer them to specialist asset managers, but officials said more specific measures were required.

"To cut capacity we cannot just shout slogans and issue targets - we must have a realistic and effective mechanism," said Wang at Huaibei Mining Group.

He said it was unreasonable to expect local governments to take the initiative in closing zombie coal firms, given the contribution coal makes to local GDP, employment and government revenue.

China's industry ministry and the commission responsible for state assets did not return requests for comment on how government will deal with the debt burden, or how it would affect their plans to cut capacity.

The action plans said China would rely mostly on "market methods" to solve debt problems, but Liang said the market was all but useless when it came to disposing of assets once a mine had closed.

Zhang Wuzong, chairman of Shiheng Special Steel Group, said there was also no incentive for managers to use China's bankruptcy laws, which offer little protection for executives.

"Creditors will come to retrieve their debts, and not just the banks," he said. "Your personal assets are frozen, and you will be sued. It is terrifying, so why don't these bosses simply run away?"

Chinese bankers complain privately they are also being held personally responsible for recovering doubtful debts, with loan officers' passports taken away to keep them from fleeing.

(Reporting by David Stanway; Additional reporting by Pete Sweeney, Engem Tham, Shu Zhang and Matthew Miller; Editing by Will Waterman)
Brent crude was 25 cents lower at $41.54, reversing gains in the previous session when it finished at $41.79.

The attacks on an airport and metro station in Brussels that left at least 30 dead also heightened risk aversion for oil and some other assets.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, said in a report after Tuesday's oil market settlement that U.S. crude stockpiles rose almost 9 million barrels last week to reach a record high of nearly 532 million.

The stockpile growth reported by the API was nearly 6 million barrels above estimates from analysts polled by . Official crude inventory data from the U.S. government will be released later on Wednesday.

"Near-term direction is likely to centre on the degree of increase in U.S. stockpiles," ANZ bank said in a note on Wednesday.

Adding to the abiding glut is the revival of Iranian barrels on the international market after sanctions were lifted in January.

Iran's crude oil exports have risen to 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) since sanctions were lifted, an increase of 900,000 bpd, a senior official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"Until January we could only export 1.3 million barrels of oil but two months after the (lifting of) sanctions we are exporting 2.2 million barrels of oil per day," Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri was quoted as saying by the Shana agency.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Richard Pullin)
By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Wednesday after figures from an industry group showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week by more than expected, reinforcing concerns that a global glut continues unabated.

U.S. crude futures fell 52 cents to $40.93 a barrel by 1239 GMT. Prices struck a 2016 high of $41.90 in the previous session. The contract has rebounded more than 50 percent after hitting its lowest since 2003 in February.

Brent crude was down 39 cents a barrel at $41.40, still up more than 50 percent from a multi-year low of $27.10 hit in January.

"Net supply in the short term should still be in excess and thus brings us to believe that the current uptrend is unsustainable," Phillip Futures analyst Daniel Ang said in a note.

Traders such as Vitol, Gunvor and Glencore are betting on oil markets remaining oversupplied for at least two more years.

Traders are looking to extend or lock in new leases on storage tanks for crude and refined products in key hubs as far out as the end of 2018, sources at storage firms and trading houses say.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 8.8 million barrels last week, a gain almost three times higher than that predicted in a poll.

Official crude inventory data from the U.S. government will be released later on Wednesday.

Oil prices rebounded on supply disruptions from Nigeria and Iraq and on discussions over a proposed output freeze by members and non-members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The possible deal to stabilise production was snubbed as "meaningless" by the head of the International Energy Agency's oil industry and markets division, Neil Atkinson, on Wednesday.

"Amongst the group of countries (potentially participating) that we're aware of, only Saudi Arabia has any ability to increase its production," Atkinson said.

"So a freeze on production is perhaps rather meaningless. It's more some kind of gesture which perhaps is aimed ... to build confidence that there will be stability in oil prices."

Qatar has invited all 13 OPEC members to Doha on April 17 for another round of talks to widen the production deal..

Libya and Iran have snubbed the initiative, arguing that they will need to boost their crude output further before considering joining any caps on production.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by Dale Hudson)
HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekhs younger son, Siddharth Parekh, and serial entrepreneur Sumeet Nindrajog are co-founders of private equity firm Paragon Partners. They recently raised $50 million in commitments, the first close of their $200-million fund. The childhood friends say announcing the first close is crucial for them as this is their maiden attempt. They talk to Shivani Shinde Nadhe about the focus, challenges in raising their first fund and the maturing domestic investor. Edited excerpts:



It has taken seven months to get the first close since you announced the launch of your fund in August 2015. Is the market difficult for first-time fund-raisers?



Nindrajog: We have been fortunate, as there are other funds in the market, which are yet to announce a close. We got our approvals in August, and from September to mid-February, we raised $50 million. The fund-raising market has been tight for a while. Although we were a first-time fund, we didnt go into the market with a blind pool. Our approach was to do a deal and make them see the portfolio we want to build.

Parekh: Global fund of funds or larger LPs (limited partnerships) dont look at first-time funds. The hurdle for the first time is higher. But, in our case, a lot of them liked our background. They liked the fact that we have done one transaction. They know what we can do. The fact that both of us know each other for long also gave them comfort. Hence, getting $50 million was crucial because now the foreign funds can be much comfortable.

You are targeting the domestic investor as well. What has been your experience in raising funds from them?



Nindrajog: There are not many capital investments in alternatives from domestic investors. But, that is changing. We felt, based on our network and the fact that we were a first-time fund, targeting this segment seemed appropriate. The fact that we have raised this amount, which has a good share of domestic investors, is a good achievement. Apart from Fairfax Group and some individuals from abroad, the rest is domestic.

Parekh: Domestic investors have invested more wealth in fixed income and deposits. The equity allocation is very small compared to global standards. If you want to create wealth, you need to have appropriate allocation and a mix of debt and equity. As that expands, you will see growth in investment in alternatives as well. We look forward to growing our domestic capital base in this fund as well as the others that will happen. With the start-up system, a lot of people are also investing on their own. Hence, the domestic investor is much more mature now.

What will be the split of allocation from domestic and foreign investors in the fund?



Parekh: Well close this fund by the end of this year. By then, well have 75 per cent of the funding coming in from foreign investors and 25 per cent from domestic ones. One of the reasons for this is that foreign investors have a higher appetite to sign larger cheques. Their interest in India has been a bit subdued, but I think this will change.

You have already announced your first investment in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company Capacite. Tell us more on the focus of the fund on sectors...



Nindrajog: We didnt want to do what everyone else was doing. We want to be contrarian. We want to come in where valuations are attractive, where we can work with businesses and scale them up. We also felt that if we want to attract investors, we had to differentiate; to demonstrate that, we choose sectors that might not be in favour now, but can be growth engines in the next few years.

For instance, the EPC sector has not done well but Capacite has done well. The company was formed 3-3.5 years ago and it was touched Rs 1,000 crore in top line. It has orders in excess of Rs 5,000 crore and the company is liked by its customers. It is very customer-focused and quality-conscious. This makes the firm stand apart. It will grow 50 per cent next year. Its an incredible team, with a professional background. We believe there are gems in every industry. Our objective is to find such firms.

Parekh: We would focus on ancillary sectors around infrastructure and suppliers to large projects, the renewal sector from a product and services point, and logistics players like cold chains. These segments are not covered well.

The health care and finance sectors are also your focus but those segments also have a lot of venture capital funds. What will be your strategy?



Nindrajog: In health care, we are looking at services delivery options such as diagnostics and more speciality clinics. We are also building a team, which will be more involved in scouting for deals in this space. One of the issues with health care is that as there is a lot of interest, valuations are a challenge. So, we have to be selective.

Parekh: I have seen the BFS (banking and financial services) space from Actis standpoint. Financial services has its challenges for PE because a lot of them are listed and you can only do PIPE (private investment in public equity) deals. We will look at the unlisted space and might do one or two PIPE deals.

What will suit us is NBFC (non-banking financial company). Within that, the most attractive is consumer lending business, where you can make higher returns on equity. You also have SME (small and medium enterprise) lending, housing finance, and unsecured consumer lending. Some of these are riskier, but they are all in growth stage. We have seen some deals in this space. We also like financial distribution (insurance, investment and saving products). There is a lot of tech-based businesses; we would like to focus on companies that are using tech to innovate.

What is the internal rate of return are you expecting?



Parekh: We are targeting standard PE returns, at around 30 per cent at deal level, and we want to give investors upwards of 20 per cent.
Jindal Steel opens 1.4 MTPA rebar mill in Oman

Considering the 15 MTPA rebar consumption in GCC countries, the 1.4 MTPA mill will strengthen Jindal Steel's position in the construction sector of the region

Considering the 15 MTPA rebar consumption in GCC countries, the 1.4 MTPA mill will strengthen Jindal Steel's position in the construction sector of the region

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) has commissioned a 1.4 million tonne per annum (MTPA) rebar mill at Sohar, Oman. The mill, the largest in Gulf and African region, along with the existing 2 MTPA SMS makes JSPLs Jindal Shadeed the largest integrated steelmaker in Oman. The new rebar mill capacity will significantly strengthen Omans domestic production capacity to substitute dependence on imports for the construction sector in the country.



The commissioning of the 1.4 MTPA rebar mill catapults Jindal Shadeed amongst the top 3 integrated steelmakers in the fast-growing Arabian Peninsula. In line with our commitment to strive for self-sufficiency in the geographies we operate in, we are confident that the construction sector of Oman would immensely benefit from Jindal Shadeeds new rebar mill, said Naveen Jindal, Chairman, Jindal Steel and Power Limited.



Jindal Shadeed has made investments of over $ 1 billion in establishing Omans largest integrated steel facility. The company has invested $ 190 million to set up the 1.4 MTPA rebar mill, which uses technology from Danieli of Italy, one of the leading global suppliers of equipment and plants to metals industry.



Jindal Shadeeds port-based integrated steelmaking facility would change the dynamics of Arabian Peninsulas steel market, which so far has remained dependent on imports from major steel-producing nations. Considering the 15 MTPA rebar consumption in GCC countries, the production capacity of 1.4 MTPA rebars by Jindal Shadeed at Sohar (Oman) would add significant value to the construction sector of the region, commented Ravi Uppal, MD and group CEO, JSPL.



JSPLs Jindal Shadeed had earlier set up the largest electric arc furnace in the Arabian Peninsula. Jindal Shadeed is the only steelmaker in GCC to export special quality billets to Europe for automotive applications as well as special quality round billets to Saudi Arabia for manufacturing of seamless pipes. With the commissioning of the rebar mill, Jindal Shadeeds capacities stand at 1.5 MTPA hot briquetted iron (HBI), 2 MTPA steel melting shop (SMS) and 1.4 MTPA rebar mill.



JSPL acquired Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel (JSIS) in Sohar, Oman from Al Ghaith Holdings PJSC of Abu Dhabi in 2010. JSIS at Sohar is the first and largest integrated steel plant in Oman and fourth largest in the Gulf region. Jindal Shadeed commissioned its 1.5 MTPA direct reduced iron (DRI) furnace in December 2010, within a short period of its acquisition by JSPL. The company then successfully commissioned the 2 MTPA integrated steel plant (ISP) in 2014.

BS B2B Bureau
In Ohio, the manufacturing, healthcare and tourism industries have shown considerable growth and potential.

There are certain licenses and permits you may need to obtain to operate an LLC in Ohio.

If you want to start a contracting business in Ohio, you might need to obtain a contractor license.

This article is for entrepreneurs who want to start a small business in Ohio.

One of the most common goals for Americans is to finally start their own business. To help set up our readers for success, Business News Daily is reporting on the small business environment in every state in the United States. In this installment, we cover the economic and small business environments in Ohio. We asked a few of Ohios roughly 982,000 small business owners about the challenges and opportunities of operating in the state.

Ohios business economy climate

Ohios economy has had its ups and downs over the years, experiencing decline long before the rest of the nation felt the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. However, since then, Ohio has ranked as one of the top locations for business in the U.S. As employment rises, so does the demand for skilled and experienced labor, and business owners find it progressively difficult to hire the employees they need at the cost they want.

Benefits of starting a small business in Ohio

There are some advantages that can come with starting a small business in Ohio. Below are the top benefits of becoming a business owner in the state.

1. Strong community support

Ohio entrepreneurs can expect a ringing endorsement from their local communities when they open up shop in the state. Local entrepreneurs report that once a small business is established in the state, its easy to attract and retain customers, as long as the company is reliable and professional. The small business owners we spoke with said the prevailing mentality is to buy local in Ohio.

I tell people, Im going to die printing in my shop, and it will remain in Columbus because of the community,' said Zachary Traxler, a freelance photojournalist and teacher who was formerly the CEO of Traxler Printing. In Ohio as a whole, youll see people speak highly of local businesses. Theyre going to seek a local business before they go to one thats based out of state.

In addition, there are numerous opportunities to network and find support from other area businesses. With scores of incubators and accelerators scattered throughout the state, some of which are located on one of Ohios many college campuses, entrepreneurs are never hard-pressed to find useful resources and mentorship nearby. [Read related article: How to Find a Mentor]

Business is all about relationships, and the one thing Ohio has going for it is that we are a very friendly, large community, said Sue Grabowski, chief marketing officer of tech platform Squawqr and owner of marketing firm Desidara. If you do good work and are a good partner, you can retain your local business very easily.

2. Blossoming tech industry

When people from across the U.S. think of the Midwest, they might not envision the region as a tech hub. But Ohio, by many accounts, is an up-and-comer in the tech world. From small tech startups and accelerators to large aerospace companies, Ohio has seen a recent surge in the level of technology being produced in-state. The big players rely on small businesses for support and professional services, as well as help to raise the level of disposable income in a given area.

Theres a lot of technology-related business happening here, said Roger Riddle, founder of Roger Riddle Consulting Limited.

Ohio lost a big chunk of its manufacturing economy over the years, so this historically Rust Belt state began reinventing itself out of necessity. Now manufacturing is coming back, but this time, its geared up for the 21st century. The tech startups and accelerators Riddle alluded to complement this emerging high-tech manufacturing sector in Ohio.

Traditional manufacturing was hollowed out, but now theres more growth in high-tech manufacturing, which needs a lot of small businesses to support, said Rohit Arora, co-founder and CEO of Biz2Credit. Theres not a lot of employment [in high-tech manufacturing], but they generate good salaries, and that whole demographic of manufacturing is completely changed.

Though often used interchangeably, entrepreneur and small business owner are not synonymous. The difference often lies in your companys legal status.

Did you know?: Technology trends, like tech-assisted shopping and a greater emphasis on automation, could influence the type of business youll have the most luck opening.

3. Manageable taxes and regulations

Another advantage of operating in Ohio is that the state government tends to give small businesses the breathing room they need to succeed. The entrepreneurs we spoke with said they dont feel hampered by state-level regulations and that the amount they pay in taxes is far from burdensome.

[Taxes and state regulations are] 100% manageable, said Konrad Billetz, whose Cincinnati-based eyewear company, Frameri, was featured on Shark Tank before he became a founding partner of Outliant, a consulting firm for software development startups. All of the benefits definitely outweigh any difficulty that there might be, and I cant think of any specific difficulties.

Ohio does not levy a corporate income tax. The top marginal rate for individuals is 3.99 percent on income over $110,650.

Theyve streamlined the tax process a lot; theyve cut taxes hugely, said David Watkins, vice president of Watkins Mechanical, Inc. We pay tax on profits to the federal government, but almost nothing to the state as far as income tax.

But Ohios sales and use taxes can be on the high end. Most counties in the Buckeye State charge a 7.25 percent sales tax, and in at least one county, the rate is as high as 8%.

Tip: Visit our overview of the best online tax software to find software for managing and filing your small businesss taxes.

Disadvantages of starting a business in Ohio

While there are several benefits to starting a business in Ohio, there are some challenges you might face as well. Here are some of the downsides local business owners have identified.

1. Weak brand exposure

In Ohio, it can be tough to get your brand name out to the broader public. Widespread internet access has made that easier, but when youre a brand-new startup with a limited reach, its a challenge to gain a foothold, entrepreneurs we spoke with said.

When youre a New York startup, 10 million people might know about you right away, Billetz said. Kind of getting your name out in Ohio can get difficult. And as a consumer product, you want as many people to know about you as [possible].

Loyal community support is all the more important when it can take so long to build brand recognition. For Riddles former company, Unbox Akron, it wasnt easy to expand beyond its original locality, he said, even though the company wanted to bring a taste of local Akron businesses and culture to other residents in the state.

One of the challenges that I see is reaching a wider audience, Riddle said. We have a following of people here who love Akron  but its a bit harder to reach other people, and thats been a challenge for us.

According to some business owners, the state itself has a branding problem. For those unfamiliar with Ohio, they said, it seems that stereotypes prevail.

Its a challenge getting people to think that the state of Ohio is more than just a farm, Grabowski said. There is a lot of farmland, of course; however, there are some very progressive areas, and the cities and suburbs here are thriving. The perception that Ohio is just all rural might be an obstacle.

2. Lack of economic diversity

Any investment advisor worth their salt will tell you to diversify your portfolio to mitigate risk. In Ohio and much of the Midwest, the economy at large is relatively reliant on just a few industries. When much of the activity in a given region is built around the demands generated by a handful of large companies or one segment of the larger economy, its easier for setbacks to send shockwaves throughout the state.

One of the key challenges in the Midwest compared to coastal areas is that economies are not very diversified, Arora said. [W]e find, in the Midwest, one of the challenges is that  these economies are pretty dependent on one or two industries, and if something happens in those industries, that impacts small businesses pretty quickly. Theres very little backup.

The same is true when a few third-party vendors dominate the small business landscape. Frank Campagna, managing director at Cleveland-based CBIZ Risk & Advisory Services, said small businesses often put all of their eggs in one basket when it comes to third-party vendors, breeding a potentially unstable environment.

A lot of these smaller businesses rely very heavily on a few key vendors, and youre at risk, at that point, of something happening to that vendor, Campagna said. In a volatile climate like were in right now, anything can happen to your vendor.

3. Tight labor market

Of course, it depends on the industry, but many Ohio entrepreneurs are seeing a lack of available employee prospects as the employment rate ticks up. Moreover, Ohios labor force is at a significantly low point compared to its recent history, restricting the job market and keeping things competitive despite the abundance of colleges and universities in the state.

Even my practice is hiring big time right now, and there is a lack of workers, said Campagna. We cant find good workers because everyone is employed right now. Large companies recommitting to the area, professionals coming out of school  everyone appears to be working.

But there is reason to be optimistic. Watkins said there isnt enough skilled labor in his field to fill his companys needs, but the states funding efforts and the retraining programs offered by some large companies, like General Motors, have him looking to the near future.

I think [the state-backed program] Ohio Means Jobs is doing a good job of providing a lot of tools for employers, he said. The state and GM have been funding guys to go back to school to learn new trades, too. Its a few years away, though, so for my industry right now, its competitive.

Top industries for small businesses in Ohio

If youre trying to decide what kind of business to start in Ohio, below are some of the states industries that best support small businesses.

1. Manufacturing

As the seventh-largest exporter in the U.S., Ohio is a hub of machine and tool production. Every year, the state produces $45 billion worth of manufactured exports to distribute to countries around the world, according to the 2022 Manufacturing Counts report from The Ohio Manufacturers Association.

According to the organization, manufactured products in the state accounted for 17.5% of the states GDP across its private sectors in 2020. Most manufacturing companies in the state are businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Further, manufacturing GDP in areas like Northeast Ohio is projected to grow by nearly $2.2 billion by 2025, per Team NEO (that stands for Northeast Ohio, naturally) and Moodys.

2. Healthcare

Ohio has more clinical trials per capita than any other state in the country. The state is also experiencing twice as much growth in research funding compared to the national average. This growth opens opportunities for Ohio-based medical transcription services, occupational therapy, home health and diabetic care, among other healthcare sectors. You can also start your own private medical practice in Ohio  assuming youve been to medical school, of course. [Get inspiration from the best medical transcription companies.]

3. Tourism

Ohio is home to many tourist spots, from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to the Columbus Zoo. Starting a business at a location fairly close to one of the states biggest attractions can help propel your companys growth, given the built-in traffic opportunities. Restaurants and lodging establishments are among the businesses tourists flock to most during their visits.

Key takeaway: Manufacturing, healthcare and tourism have shown some of the highest growth rates and have room for potential new businesses in Ohio.

How to become a licensed contractor in Ohio

While there are several types of businesses you could start in Ohio, you might be interested in starting a contracting business. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board requires the following trades to hold an Ohio contractor license:

Electricians

HVAC contractors

Hydronic technicians

Plumbers

Refrigeration installers

Other contractors, specifically general contractors, must apply for and be granted an Ohio contractor license and/or registration at the local level. Each city in the state has specific requirements for Ohio contractor licenses to hire and supervise other contractors; however, a business license to supplement your contracting business is managed at the state level. Learn more about jobs that require licenses.

Frequently asked questions about starting a business in Ohio

How much does it cost to set up an LLC in Ohio?

The basic cost to file the articles of organization to set up your LLC is $99. However, if you choose to have a professional service file the LLC for you, that starts at $49 plus state fees. It can take up to seven business days to file the articles of organization, but the processing time can vary due to the number of filings received. Expedited filing is available for an additional fee.

How do you set up an LLC in Ohio?

Setting up an LLC in Ohio begins with naming your LLC  which may seem obvious, but Ohio has specific naming requirements. These include incorporating the phrase limited liability company or its abbreviation and avoiding words that could confuse your LLC with a government agency (FBI, treasury, state department, etc.). Restricted words such as bank, attorney and university may require additional paperwork and a licensed professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, to be part of your business.

To ensure the name you want isnt already taken, you can perform a search on the states website. Most LLCs dont need a DBA (doing business as name), but you may want to consider registering for one if youre going to conduct business under another name.

Do you need a registered agent for your LLC?

Ohio requires you to nominate a statutory agent (or a registered agent) for your LLC. A statutory agent is an individual or business entity responsible for receiving important legal documents on behalf of your business and acting as your businesss main point of contact with the state. The statutory agent must be a resident or corporation, such as a registered agent service, of Ohio.

While not mandatory in Ohio, creating an operating agreement  a legal document outlining the ownership and operating procedures of your LLC  is a good idea.

Youll also need to register for an employer identification number (EIN) to identify your business entity with the IRS. Youll need this number to open a business bank account, for federal tax purposes and to hire employees.

Did you know?: Though often used interchangeably, entrepreneur and small business owner are not synonymous. The difference often lies in your companys legal status.

Do you have to register for state tax?

Depending on what type of business youre opening, you may need to register for one or more forms of state tax. These include sales tax, employer tax (which includes unemployment insurance tax and employee withholding tax) and commercial activity tax.

In Ohio, LLCs with gross receipts exceeding $150,000 per year must pay a commercial activity tax, which you can file for online or download the form to mail in. Theres no fee to file the form, but it does need to be submitted by May 10 of the current tax year, or youll be charged a penalty of either $50 or 10% of the tax due (whichever is greater).

Do you need a business license in Ohio?

To operate your LLC, you must comply with federal, state and local government regulations. The details of the specific business licenses and permits needed vary by state. If youre a first-time entrepreneur, you might consider hiring a professional service to investigate your businesss specific licensing requirements. You can also research which licenses and permits youll need in the U.S. Small Business Administrations guide and on the state of Ohios License & Permits website. Youll need to contact your county clerk to ask about any required local licenses and permits.

Resources for small business owners in Ohio

If youre an entrepreneur or potential small business owner in Ohio looking for resources to help you move forward, here are a few organizations that may be of service.

Ohio SCORE

The team at SCORE consists of professionals and expert mentors who counsel and guide entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their businesses. The services are entirely free and volunteer-driven. The chapters in Ohio cover North Central Ohio, East Central Ohio, Columbus, Dayton, Canton and Akron.

U.S. Small Business Administration district offices

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers financing and grants as well as consultations and counseling services. There are also opportunities to apply for federal government contracts through the SBA and avenues for obtaining assistance in the wake of natural disasters.

Ohio Small Business Development Centers

Ohios development centers for small businesses are dedicated to supporting the development and retention of small companies, helping entrepreneurs do everything from crafting business plans to navigating the states tax codes.

Ohio Means Jobs

Ohio Means Jobs is a cross between a job board and a resource center for both employers and workers. Part of a statewide initiative to assist small businesses and Ohio-based workers and to attract new businesses to the state, Ohio Means Jobs serves as a bridge between employer and employee.

Preparing for growth

If you want to start a business in Ohio, taking the above information into consideration can give your enterprise a solid foundation. Beyond that, creating a thorough business plan and securing the funding youll need will also help set your business up for success. Do it right, and you can grow your new company alongside your chosen industry.

Shayna Waltower and Adam Uzialko contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
Social media is a good platform to express views, counter opinions and provide feedback. But not all comments posted by users on a company's Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages are complimentary. Those that are to the contrary-if not handled with maturity - have a tendency to morph from a trickle into a flood, within a matter of hours.

So what should you, as a company, do when faced with those not-so-flattering comments on your pages? If you think ignoring negative comments is the best way out, you are being an ostrich. "Deleting these comments is not the solution. If a consumer can complain once, he or she can complain again, and the next one may be worse," says Namrata Balwani, the Delhi head of customer engagement agency OgilvyOne Worldwide.

That is what happened with the American food spreads company Smucker's. It was being criticised on social media for its stance against labelling of genetically modified organisms on the product labels. The situation got far worse when the company started deleting negative comments from its Facebook page. Social media platform Crowdbabble reported that amidst the controversy in November 2014, its Facebook page got 750 likes/comments per post, as against the usual 98. It was just the wrong way to attract attention, however.

Recently, FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever's beverage brand Lipton Green Tea found itself in the midst of a controversy when a user claimed that there were live worms in the green tea bags. The Facebook video fetched 8.8 million views and several comments from users who were convinced that there were worms. In response, the company posted a video three days later stating that the so- called 'worms' were lemon-flavoured pieces. The company replied in an e-mail: "The priority was to dispel the misconceptions created as a result of this video and provide a response to consumers to set the record straight".

Ambi Parameswaran, adviser at FCB Ulka Advertising says it is critical to "listen to what people are saying about your company and competitors on social media." He suggests that companies set up digital listening rooms to capture the buzz on social media related to their industry or company. A quick response implies that you care about consumers and value their opinion.

Balwani observes that personalised messages, rather than automated messages, are effective. Companies can equip their social media teams with enough information in the form of FAQs, so as to provide constructive responses instead of replying with, "I'll get back to you". After the initial reply, take the conversation offline as quickly as possible. This ensures that the incident does not become a public debacle, says Balwani. However, once the issue is closed, companies should clarify on the initial post that the issue has been resolved as per the person's satisfaction, and close the loop. "A closing statement shows that you attended to the customer and that you value customer service," she adds.

The tact is in using these negative comments to your advantage. E-commerce marketplace Groupon's Facebook page recorded a swarm of comments, most of which were double entendres, when it posted a link to a product called 'Banana Bunker'. The company took the jokes in its stride and replied to each one with hilarious and innocuous remarks. The customers had a hearty laugh and the product got sold out in a short period of time.

Turn the disgruntled customer into a delighted one. And you may win several brand advocates for free!

Listening Post

Most Eligible

Tinder has released a list of professions that get most right-swiped on its app in India. According to the dating app, men who are founders or owners, managing directors or directors, and architects, and women who are general managers, founders or owners and executive assistants are most right-swiped on Tinder. Some other popular professions in the men's list include project manager, consultant, financial analyst, software developer and photographer. The women's list includes jobs such as a registered nurse, lawyer, accountant and flight attendant. The list was compiled based on the occupations of user profiles that received the highest ratio of right swipes over the past three months. In February, Tinder had released a similar list for the US. Pilot, entrepreneur and fire fighter emerged as the most right-swiped professions for men; as for women, the top three professions in the US are physical therapist, interior designer and entrepreneur.

New & Improved

Google Photos has added several new updates to its iOS app. The app now supports viewing of Live Photos, has enabled improved navigation and has added the Split View feature. It also supports reduced cache usage when the device is low on space. Users can now store Live Photos on their Google app and view them. Live Photos is a feature available on some of the newer versions of iPhone in which, besides the still photo, the 'before and after' actions are also captured. Using Spilt View, users can see photos on iPads while sharing the screen with other apps. The app now also supports the native resolution of iPad Pro.

Digital Dashboard

Speaking Up

Adults who regularly express and discuss their opinions about current events online












Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan will push for state-run firms to win development rights for the vast Farzad B gas field in Iran during a visit to that country next month.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and fourth-biggest consumer, wants to increase dealings with Gulf countries that supply the bulk of its oil needs.

Pradhan said he is "hopeful" a deal on Farzad B could be concluded during his visit to Tehran on April 9-10.

"In Iran our primary interest is in E&P (exploration and production). We have old engagements with Iran and we continued to buy oil from Iran in difficult times," Pradhan told reporters.

A consortium headed by ONGC Videsh, the overseas exploration unit of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, discovered the Farzad B gas field in the Farsi offshore block in 2008, but was unable to get permission to develop it due to Western sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

ONGC Videsh last year submitted a $3 billion field development plan to Iranian authorities to develop Farzad B, which is estimated to hold initial in-place reserves of 12.5 trillion cubic feet, with a lifetime of 30 years.

India was one of a few countries that never halted oil imports from Iran during sanctions that were partly lifted in January. India is Iran's second-biggest oil client after China.

Pradhan said he will also discuss India's interest in developing Chabahar port in Tehran and building industrial complexes there.

Modi wants local companies to increase foreign energy deals, taking advantage of low global oil prices and a slowdown in overseas acquisitions by China.


CBRE Property Consultants have this week brought an Aston Quay property to market which is located close to the heart of the City with significant volumes of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.



It has direct links to several bus routes, Luas lines and both Tara Street and Connolly stations are situated close by.

The ground floor unit extends to approximately 157 sq. m. (1,686 sq.ft.) and forms part of an attractive mixed use four storey over basement building. Adjoining occupiers include Supervalu, Soho Cafe and Crunch Fitness.



The unit which previously traded as Boots is available immediately under the terms of a new lease at a quoting rent of 120,000 per annum.



Senior Surveyor at CBRE, Niamh Sheahan commented, "We envisage good interest given the profile of the unit and benefit of restaurant and take away planning. The unit presents a strong trading opportunity for operators seeking a high footfall location."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The Irish construction sector picked up pace in 2015, with continued growth anticipated in 2016 according to a new report published by Construction Information Services (CIS) yesterday.

The report tracks construction projects from planning stage to completion using an array of different data sources, including planning authorities, contractors and government agencies.



The figures show that that the value of projects on-site in 2015 amounted to 5.6bn, up 68% on 2014. The number of projects on-site rose by 54%. As a gauge of future activity, it is noted that there was a 32% increase in the volume of plans granted planning permission last year, while there was also an increase of 27% in the number of plans submitted.



Dublin accounts for the majority of projects currently ongoing (53% of total), although CIS do note that the proportion accounted for by Dublin fell last year and is expected to fall further this year as the recovery spreads around the country.



The areas seeing the strongest growth are commercial and residential. The data shows that the commercial sector is reflective of the expansion in the office-building sector, where the value of

projects on site increased by 163% in 2015 (Dublin accounted for 87% of the total).

The number of residential units on site in 2015 rose by 34%, but, at 11,000 units, this remains substantially below estimated demand (30,000).



According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "The growth now being witnessed in the construction sector looks exceptional at first glance, but context is of course required given the extent to which output

collapsed. The recovery is underway but there is still a long way to go, given the housing and office shortages, not to mention the infrastructural requirements over the coming years."



Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
"Brussels attacks require cautious, measured response"

Published on March 23, 2016

Story by Cafebabel

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Yesterday, a series of bombings in Brussels left 31 dead and up to 230 injured. As messages of condolence and solidarity pour in from across Europe, opinions on how best to respond to these latest attacks have varied significantly. We spoke to Dr. Lee Jarvis, reader in International Security at the University of East Anglia, who argues for the importance of avoiding knee-jerk reactions.

cafebabel: Could you explain a little more about what you mean when you say that the Brussels attacks should have a cautious, measured response?

Dr. Lee Jarvis: By this I mean three things: First, exercise patience in attributing responsibility for the attacks. Even though "Islamic State" now appears to have claimed this, work still needs to be done to verify the claim. Moreover, the nature of contemporary militant groups is such that even genuine claims such as these may mean little, given that decision-making authority is not always centralised in a "core" of a group.

Second, avoid simplification and generalisation. Any attack we might call "terrorist" has multiple causes and is a product of interaction between individual decisions and social contexts. Let us neither simplify these to a discussion of the responsibility of, for instance, particular faiths, nor stretch the net of responsibility to individuals and communities entirely unconnected to these terrible events.

Third, try to avoid the temptation toward kneejerk political, or worse, military responses. The history of counter-terrorism is one in which dramatic events are often met with equally dramatic responses (that in turn frequently bring about more harm than good). It is also one in which the lessons of history  and the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and moderation within previous counter-terrorism campaigns  are often forgotten.

cafebabel: Given the increasing frequency of similar attacks over the last year, what needs to be done to ensure responses dont escalate tensions further?

Jarvis: Evaluating the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts is notoriously difficult. First, there is surprisingly little reliable academic research  and no consensus  on the question of what works in this context. Second, there are no counterfactuals to which we can appeal to know whether things might have otherwise been different if something had or hadnt been done. Third, counter-terrorism policies are likely intended to serve more than one function (including apprehending suspects, reassuring publics, deterring would-be attackers, etc.). Because of this, I think it is crucial to avoid excessive or exceptional responses  especially given the temptation (and often a public clamour) to do something quickly.

Militaristic responses to counter-terrorism are of extremely limited utility in ending terrorist campaigns: hence I would be very sceptical about the value of President Obamas threat to continue "pounding ISIL". Moreover, draconian policies  and immoderate or deliberately provocative language  risk bringing suspicion and insecurity to communities associated (by others) with the perpetrators of attacks. So, there is a real danger that zealous or excessive responses to threats cause considerable harm to the lives of people around the world.

My work on British publics experiences of counter-terrorism powers with Dr. Michael Lister found that many individuals feel that post-9/11 initiatives directly reduce their own experience of citizenship, and leave them feeling personally less rather than more secure. These types of consequence, I think, need far more attention than they are often given.

cafebabel: You have said that the Brussels attacks should be viewed as a criminal rather than a military attack  yet similar attacks in Paris arguably initiated a military response. How do you view the process of ensuring this isnt repeated?

Jarvis: My fear is that we will see elements of both: one of the responses to the Paris attacks was an escalation of air strikes against "Islamic State" targets, and  we might ask  what did these retaliatory efforts actually achieve?

Im not sure that we can ensure this isnt repeated, but we should continue to point to the limitations of exceptional forms of counter-terrorism policy, the fear-inducing effects of hyperbolic language, and the historical successes of negotiation and diplomatic efforts (as in, for instance, the UKs campaign against the Provisional IRA).

We might also work harder to keep the threat of terrorism in perspective given that the direct risk this poses to individuals in Western Europe is absolutely minimal. Numerous studies have shown how any number of more mundane forms of violence  car accidents, for example  cause far more harm than terrorism. Yet, the relatively exotic nature of this threat means it  understandably  generates more attention and more fear.

cafebabel: There have been reports of misinformation circulating on social media following the attacks. At the same time, initiatives such as #PorteOuverte and other hashtags seek to use social media to provide assistance. On the whole, do you think social media is a help or a hindrance following terror attacks?

Jarvis: I tend to think social media  like all technology  is neutral: what matters is how it is used. In this sense, it is no different to earlier technologies used for the purposes of conducting and responding to terrorism, such as the telephone or the automobile.

I think that we might take comfort from the positive and progressive responses we have seen on Twitter and beyond, and the ability of such media to facilitate speedy assistance from "ordinary" individuals such as the offer of shelter and food. At the same time, such media have, of course, been used to scapegoat and demonise, as well as to misinform the public.

cafebabel: Speaking of the age of hashtags, how do you think that phrases such as "state of emergency" and "Brussels Lockdown" influence peoples reactions to events? Are these labels beneficial?

Jarvis: I dont think so. To me they are an example of securitisation in which an issue  undeniably tragic for those caught up in it  has been turned into a problem of national security requiring exceptional responses. Such labels, I fear, close down public debate and encourage us to expect future attacks: to feel threatened by terrorism. Surely a more productive response to terrorism is to reduce  rather than escalate  the terror that it arguably seeks to generate.

cafebabel: On a personal rather than governmental level, what advice can you give to individuals about how to best respond in the wake of attacks?

Jarvis: First, remember that such attacks are newsworthy because they are so unusual: the likelihood of any individual being directly affected is minimal.

Second, by extension, bear in mind that the present is not necessarily a good guide to the future. We should, I think, be particularly wary of arguments that events such as this are part of a "new normalcy". We should feel no less safe today than we did yesterday because of these attacks.

Third, remember that all responses to such attacks  whether airstrikes in Syria or my comments in this interview  are a product of political values and decisions. There is nothing necessary or inevitable in how any individual or organisation responds to terrorism. There are choices we have to make, and trade-offs to be negotiated (are we, for instance, willing to see restrictions on civil liberties if we think this will make us more secure?).

---

Dr. Lee Jarvis is a reader in International Security in the School of Politics at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and an editor of Critical Studies on Terrorism. He is author or editor of nine books on the politics of terrorism, counter-terrorism and security.

Story by Cafebabel
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Reservist graduates Army basic training

Army Reserve Pvt. Shannon N. Davis graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. The soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises. Davis is the daughter of Bonnie Davis, of Lake Jackson; sister of Heather Davis, of Saratoga; and granddaughter of Lanell Wright, of Refugio. She is a 2014 graduate of Brazoswood High School, Clute.

Airman graduates Air Force basic training

Airman Kyndel D. Orendorff graduated from basic Air Force training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio. The airman completed an eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

Orendorff is the daughter of Jason Orendorff, of Beeville, and Donna D. Recio, of Sarita; stepdaughter of Jose L. Recio, of Sarita; sister of Kristen D. Lerma, of Victoria, and Jamie L. Ramirez of Wichita, Kansas; and granddaughter of Yolanda Morales, of Portland. She is a 2014 graduate of Riviera Kaufer High School.

MEETINGS/REUNIONS

The Texas State Guard-Corpus Christi Unit meets at 10 a.m. the second Saturday each month at Del Mar College West Campus. Free. Information: Julie Chancler, 281-813-1614.

A post-traumatic stress disorder support group meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the YWCA, 4101 Corona Drive. Facilitator is Abel A. Sanchez. Confidential, free support. Information: 361-695-3493; 361-973-3219.

E.G. Perales Disabled American Veterans Chapter 150 meets at 7:30 p.m. the second Thursday each month at Embassy Suites Hotel, 4337 S. Padre Island Drive. Information: 361-877-4916.

Marine Corps League Coastal Bend Detachment No. 430 meets from 9:30-10:30 a.m. the fourth Saturday each month at Marine Hall, 5358 Kostoryz Road. Information: Tony Infante, tonyinfante2000@hotmail.com or 361-855-5263.

Fleet Reserve Association Branch 94 meets at 1:30 p.m. the second Sunday each month; Unit 94 meets at 1 p.m. the fourth Saturday each month at 1651 Flour Bluff Drive. Information: Donald Larson, 361-548-8919; www.fra.org.

Military Order of the Purple Heart-Alaniz-Valentine Chapter 598 meets at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday each month, and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 910 meets at 7 p.m. the third Tuesday each month at Veterans Band House, 1517 Mesquite St., at Heritage Park. Information: Ram Chavez, 361-728-7052; rchavez20@stx.rr.com.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8932, 702 Jester St., meets at 6 p.m. the third Thursday each month. Information: 361-937-9999.

American Legion Post 364 members meet at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday each month at 5323 Kostoryz Road.

American Legion Post 364 Auxiliary members meet at 7 p.m. the second Monday each month at 5323 Kostoryz Road.

Post 364 Sons of the American Legion meet at 7 p.m. the second Wednesday each month at 5323 Kostoryz Road.

The American Legion Riders meet at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday each month at 5323 Kostoryz Road. Information: 361-852-9115.

U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc., local chapter Sea Turtle Base, meets at 11 a.m. the second Saturday each month at Silverado Smokehouse, 4522 Weber Road. Information: 361-876-0042 or SubVetBobby@gmail.com and www.ussvi.org.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times Women's & Men's Health Services of the Coastal Bend executive director Amanda Stukenberg receives a check of $55,000 from the John and Augusta Doan Fund Tuesday. The organization will use the funds to provide services to reduce birth issues for clients.

SHARE Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times Representatives from the Shriners' Hospital for Children-Houston received a check of $15,000 Tuesday which they will use to support new service lines in Houston for specialty subacute care and inpatient rehab.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

Olga Elene Doan cared about children, she cared about organizations benefiting women's health and for those that helped others reach their goals.

This is why she established the John and Augusta Doan Fund in honor of her parents, and $429,000 were presented in checks to seven area nonprofit organizations Tuesday.

Coastal Bend Community Foundation Chair Susan Hutchinson knew Doan, who died three years ago, and helped her make sure that legacy would live on through these grants every year.

The 2016 grants were awarded to: Del Mar College Foundation, Habitat for Humanity-Corpus Christi, Shriners' Hospital for Children-Houston, St. Jude's Children Research Hospital-Memphis, Women's & Men's Health Services of the Coastal Bend, Salvation Army of Corpus Christi and YWCA of Corpus Christi.

"All of these nonprofits were selected by (Doan) to receive grants," Hutchinson said. "It would change over the years but she always watched what organizations were doing and which one had the greatest need."

The Salvation Army of Corpus Christi received the largest amount Tuesday of $126,710, which will help fund the organization's Center of Hope.

The center is scheduled to break ground in Fall 2016 and the money will be set aside specifically for the activity room, which will be named after Doan, area commander Maj. Terry Ray said.

"It's for the people who live in the center as a meeting place and area for classes on life-skills training. It will be for the 38 children who live with us from 14 different families," Ray said. "It will be a tribute to the (Doan) family and will let other donors and philanthropists know that what they do matters to these organizations."

The Women's & Men's Health Services of the Coastal Bend received $55,000, which the organization plans on using to provide services to reduce birth issues for clients.

"We will fund staff to help educate our clients to be healthy and have the nutrients they need before they become pregnant," executive director Amanda Stukenberg said. "We are so grateful to have been selected for this grant and we will do our best to keep continue her legacy."

Twitter: @CallerNatalia

Reporter Julie Garcia contributed to this story.
COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Thelma Jaquez performs her skit Tuesday, March 22, 2016, during clown school graduation at Del Mar College Center for Economic Development.

By Julie Garcia of the Caller-Times

The red and yellow stage is set. The props are laid out. The wigs are securely fastened.

After five weeks of preparation and laughter, the Del Mar College Clown School Class of 2016 was ready Tuesday to show their friends and family what they learned.

"I learned that being unserious is actually really serious," said Christina Moreno, 15, of Odem. In the clown world, Christina is "Mac," a third of the "Mac Ann Cheese" group. The other two in the group are her cousin, Katie "Cheese" Underwood, 15, and aunt Denise "Ann" Underwood.

The women from Odem, along with nine other people, are the first graduating class in 12 years. The class was brought back to the Del Mar College Continuing Education Department after the local clown alley, or club, dwindled in numbers.

Danny "Lanky the Clown" Kollaja returned as instructor. He has worked as a professional clown since the late 1970s, when he began as a teenager.

"I'm glad we're going to have a little more thriving funny bone in this community," Lanky said. "It's been missing for quite a while. It's really desperately needed."

Young and old friends and family of the clowning students, plus voyeurs from a neighboring medic class, came to watch nine skits and clown acts by Lanky. The veteran clown said he tailors his acts to the kind of crowd in attendance.

"There's a great diversity of people in there. It's awesome; we had a family in there doing something together and will share this new art form as a family unit," Lanky said. "

Not everyone who attended the five-week class was a newcomer to the art of making people smile while wearing a wig and makeup. Alan "Honey" Jones and Billy "Bling-Bling" Bird have been part of the Al Amin Shrine as clowns for several years. During graduation, the Shriner Clowns performed a well-known skit in the clown community called "Picnic." There are 26 Shriner Clowns in Corpus Christi, Jones said, and they take turns going to the Shriner orthopedic and burn hospitals in Houston and Galveston three times a year.

One of the clown students, Orlando "Valdino" Valdez, went to every class but had to miss graduation because of required military training. That didn't mean he couldn't participate in the final performance exam.

Skit-partner Ben "Lucky" Abbott worked the crowd while Valdino, a trained magician who owns a magic shop at the Corpus Christi Trade Center, asked the crowd via recording, "Are you ready to see a really cool magic trick?"

"Yeah!," responds the crowd. "I can't hear you," Valdino said. "Yeah!"

This year's graduates join more than 100 others who have graduated from Del Mar's program since the late 1990s. Alumni include lawyers, school teachers, doctors, city attorney and the current and past mayor of Corpus Christi, Lanky said.

"It's not too late, but you have to wait until next year," Lanky said.

There will be three follow-up workshops this year, including a basic balloon sculpture class April 5, intermediate balloon sculpture April 12 and face painting April 19. Check out DelMar.edu for more information.
Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times Members of Abundant Life Fellowship Church along with elected officials broke ground in January for a 210-feet-tall cross at Interstate 37 and Carbon Plant Road, across the highway from the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery.

SHARE

By Krista M. Torralva of the Caller-Times

A San Antonio man plans to drop a lawsuit filed against city officials who attended a groundbreaking for a Christian cross to be erected beside Interstate 37.

"I am sending a request to the Civil court today to dismiss the entire lawsuit," Patrick Greene wrote in an email to the Caller-Times. "My wife was just diagnosed with Chronic kidney disease and osteoporosis and I don't want this lawsuit to complicate our lives. As an atheist my moral standards put my wife first at all times."

When reached by phone, Greene said he and his 69-year-old wife received news from their doctor on Tuesday. Greene said he will mail notice of the dismissal Wednesday to the Nueces County District Clerk's Office.

Greene initially sued the Rev. Rick Milby of Abundant Life Fellowship, but amended his lawsuit last week to drop the pastor as a respondent. His amended action accused Mayor Nelda Martinez and city council members Carolyn Vaughn and Lucy Rubio of violating law when they attended the January groundbreaking for the cross.

Martinez said in a city news release that she is praying for Green's wife and didn't want to respond to his "frivolous and groundless lawsuit" in anger.

"However, Mr. Greene is on notice. Should he refile, we will have no other option but to utilize the legal system to defend our taxpayers from such a baseless suit," Martinez said in the news release.

Martinez added she planned to attend similar celebrations as mayor.

"I respect all faiths and beliefs and have the constitutional right to be afforded the same in my Christian faith," she said.

Rubio said she believes expressing her faith is worth fighting for and Vaughn, who is a member of the church planning the cross, said it is meant as a symbol of love and hope.

The 230-foot cross is planned to be the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. Church officials were inspired to build the cross after visiting one that stands about 170 feet tall outside Galveston. The Corpus Christi cross will be at Interstate 37 and Carbon Plant Road, across the highway from the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery. It will be visible from about 3 miles away.

Martinez has said the project was sentimental to her because her late father had hoped for a cross to be installed at the Corpus Christi bay. Milby could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In 2012, Greene dismissed a suit he filed against Henderson County over a nativity scene placed in front of the courthouse because he was diagnosed with an eye condition that would lead to blindness. Christians gave him money for medical treatment and Greene converted briefly to Christianity. A doctor later told him he was misdiagnosed and he returned to atheism, Greene told the Caller-Times.

Greene, a former taxi cabdriver, said Wednesday he would not consider Christianity again.

"Nothing on this earth would convince me to believe in God," he said.

Twitter: @CallerKMT
SHARE

The history-making sight of presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro together reminded us of how gratifying it is to see the United States and Cuba catching up to the Port of Corpus Christi and Cuba.

The port in 2003 became the first U.S. port to sign a trade agreement with the island nation. To say that the thawing of relations between the two countries would be good for Corpus Christi would be repetitive, having been said back then if not earlier, and countless times since.

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi also is years ahead of the two countries' governments in fostering mutually beneficial collaborations, having pursued them since 2007. The gulf ecosystem does not recognize the sovereignty of either nation, and the scientists who study it don't let their countries' differences distract them from their shared commitment to science and the health of the gulf.

The two presidents did a lot of the requisite posturing, pointing out their differing views on human rights and how to define democracy. It's expected. They are moving carefully after more than 50 years of animosity and economic embargo. Castro's brother Fidel nationalized private property and implemented communism at a time when the U.S. would interpret such actions by a Western Hemisphere nation as tantamount to an act of war. Of all recent U.S. presidents, Obama can least afford appearing soft on communism. That's his political reality.

But enough's enough. The Cold War prosecuted by the two nations was mutually detrimental. Our isolation of Cuba isolated U.S. companies from competing there and U.S. citizens from interacting there as tourists. They could have been the emissaries who showed the Cuban people that we are not the enemy that the Castros were free to make us out to be, unchallenged. The Cold War even in its current remnant form needs to halt.

The port has been doing its part since at least 2003, the Harte Institute since 2007. Other ports also have established working relationships and Gov. Greg Abbott paid a visit in December to promote Texas. There is no harsher critic than Abbott of Obama, who has pushed the needle on normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations. Consider Abbott visiting Cuba ahead of Obama a measure of how ready the American people are  not just to accept, but to embrace, normal relations with Cuba. On this issue, Abbott is with his president.

Abbott, like the ports ahead of him, smells money. It's the American way. The best way to rake it in is to help Cuba nation-build. The Corpus Christi port's first shipment to Cuba was a cargo of pinto beans. The country isn't ready for cargoes of a complex industrial nature. Yet.

Economic oppression is oppression. The better and faster that U.S. entrepreneurship can improve living conditions in Cuba, the sooner human rights will advance.

So, as the two presidents play their figurehead roles in treading carefully toward normalcy, it appears to be advancing farther and faster from the ground up by the various people already involved  the port officials and shippers, the scientists, the governor and so on. The foundation will be strong when the leaders are ready.
SHARE Smitherman Craddick Porter

For 40 years, Texas oil producers were locked out of the global market, their West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) instead stockpiled awaiting refinement as prices were artificially controlled. At the same time, foreign producers flourished as American refineries were built or modified to refine the heavy Brent crude the U.S. was importing. As a point of clarification, WTI is essentially the benchmark for oil produced in the U.S. and Brent is the benchmark for foreign oil.

The answer to this un-leveled playing field has in fact been the U.S. shale boom, led by Texas producers whose innovation and investment in revolutionary oil and gas production techniques made them cost-competitive with producers around the world. But with Texas and U.S. producers barred from international markets, domestic stockpiles grew.

Foreign producers, led by OPEC, responded by turning their artificial price controls upside down, flooding the world with oil. As an expected result, prices were sent crashing in an effort to punish increasingly efficient U.S. producers who were prohibited from selling their crude anywhere but at home. The long-term solution: Congress acted to lift the U.S. crude oil export ban late last year.

It has been almost three months since the Theo T, the first oil tanker carrying U.S. freely traded crude oil, left the Texas port of Corpus Christi in the final days of 2015. The cargo, named "liquid American freedom" by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, arrived on the shores of Europe three weeks later much to the delight of our allies and the shipments have steadily continued.

While the overall decline in oil prices has led to falling revenues for the energy sector and job loss in the oil fields, it seems we are touching the bottom of this market cycle on our way to a bigger upside. Now that Texas producers can truly compete and sell their product worldwide, economic forces have helped WTI garner better prices that are almost level with the Brent price. Historic market principles tell us that a mounting resurgence in the Texas energy industry is sure to follow in time.

History has also shown, repeatedly, that competition unleashes the very best in the Texas oil patch. These new market dynamics are driving the Texas energy sector to develop even greater efficiencies, more advanced technologies and slimmer production costs. At the same time, port cities like Corpus Christi are expanding their harbor and channel facilities to accommodate increased export volumes and larger tankers. Pipeline companies have built up their networks to connect new shale fields to these transshipment points. Huge investments in Texas infrastructure continue to be made.

The ability to sell crude worldwide alleviates existing domestic production-distribution constraints and improves our overall energy economy. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that total U.S. crude oil exports could increase by 2-3 million barrels per day over the next 10 years. Companies are holding strong to their investments in Texas oil fields knowing they will stand to benefit greatly.

In the meantime, we are seeing early hints of the shift now. Last month, OPEC leaders visited Houston and remarked they were scratching their heads in their miscalculation of the strength and resilience of U.S. shale producers. They have lost control of the world oil market and now, the financial and political repercussions of U.S. exports for OPEC members are crippling as it was recently reported that Saudi Arabia is seeking a $6-8 billion loan to support its economy.

The U.S. has also begun its first shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) onto world markets. It has been estimated that the two LNG facilities under construction in Texas now will export enough natural gas to supply entire countries in Europe for a year at a time. U.S. LNG cargoes will add about 43 percent of daily supply to global markets in the next few years. Across the board, energy exports are a win-win for Texas, the U.S. and our allies.

It has been 40 years since Texas crude could be sold around the world. Texas is now poised to lead the U.S. back into the global marketplace where our producers can compete with anyone, anywhere. The groundwork has been laid and Texas producers are ready for the competition and unleashing of true U.S. shale potential. In 40 years, historians will look back upon the decision to lift the ban on U.S. crude oil exports as a victory for free markets and a long overdue economic shot in the arm for Texas and our nation.
DIAGNOSIS 1

Peter Pek

Chief executive

World Branding Forum The issue that is stopping Jollibee from global success lies in its products, which suit local tastes very well but lack international appeal. The taste profile for Filipinos differs considerably from most other countries. To be successful outside the home country, Jollibee and other Filipino food brands need to adjust their recipes to suit international audiences. Lowering sugar content will be a first step. The dilemma in changing the recipe is that brand loyalists will feel that the product is no longer original. This shift in taste could alienate the core supporters. But without recipe adjustment, acceptance of the product in new markets may not be possible. One solution may be to launch a sub-brand that has products that cater to the global market. This will leave the original brand intact, while allowing the new sub-brand to appeal to a much wider audience. The QSR marketplace is highly competitive. We see a proliferation of gourmet outlets trying to close the gap by finding a niche in the upper segment of the market. Jollibee wont stand out from its competitors in its current form. A complete rethinking of its product offerings and brand differentiation is required if the brand is to find any success outside the Philippines. A sub-brand may just be the answer to this problem.

DIAGNOSIS 2

Stefano Augello

Chief strategy officer, Southeast Asia

Havas WW There are many variables that influence Jollibees coming of age as a global brand, from supply chain to local partnerships. But when it comes to marketing, I would urge them to follow uncommon sense, as, like many things in life, markets behave in counter-intuitive ways. For instance, the reason why theyre big at home is exactly why theyre small abroad: its easier to remain number one than to become one, even if you offer the very same product. This is due to a marketing pattern called double jeopardy, with the market leader enjoying both greater market share and greater purchase frequency due to its larger availability, both physical (number of stores) and mental (share of mind). This explains why McDonalds is still big, although no one really likes its burgers. (Seriously, who does?) The questions Jollibee should ask itself are not What do we sell? and How can we sell it here? but rather Does anyone need us? and What would they miss if we were gone? The bad news is that right now no one needs another chain selling burgers and fried chicken. But the good news is that mainstream fast food hasnt seen proper innovation in decades. There are lots of opportunities to reinvent the wheel and come up with new things people would like enough to miss if they were gone.
The latest muse to step into the spotlight as the face of Louis Vuitton is Korean actress Doona Bae.

Bae is the model for the French fashion houses new global campaign Series 4, featuring the 2016 spring/summer collection, shot by photographer Juergen Teller in Miami, Florida. Series is a global advertisement campaign that launched in 2014 after creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere joined the company.

A well-known personality in Koreas film and television industry since early 2000s, Bae has worked with influential directors such as Chan-wook Park, Joon-ho Bong and the Wachowskis.

Her film credits include Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (2002), The Host (2006), Cloud Atlas (2012) and Jupiter Ascending (2015). She currently stars in Sense8, a Netflix series thats now in its second season and is also her third collaboration with the Wachowskis.

Bae is no stranger to the world of fashion, having been discovered by a model scout while attending college in Seoul in 1998 before moving into acting. She is also an accomplished photographer and has published books dedicated to her landscape shots and self-portraits.

Ghesquiere says Bae had always mesmerised him, since her performance in The Host and has been public with his admiration for the actress.

In March last year, he shared via his Instagram account still cuts of her from movies, with messages like so inspiring Doona Bae and lovedoonabae.

Bae has reciprocated the admiration and takes her status as a Louis Vuitton ambassador seriously, sporting Ghesquieres designs almost exclusively as of late.

She is also active with Instagramming the latest Louis Vuitton bags and coordinating ensembles with Marie-Amelie Sauve, senior fashion editor at W and a long-time friend and collaborator of Ghesquiere.

A Vogue article notes that the ambassadors of Louis Vuitton have always been consistently accomplished, multidimensional and beautiful, but Baes genuine appreciation for Ghesquieres talent sets her apart from the typical celebrity spokeswomen.
The illegal wildlife trade is one of the greatest threats facing the planet, and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) wanted to challenge Singaporeans with a dont know, dont care attitude, to take action.

To call attention to the issue, bus stops around the island nation were fitted out with digital screens showing two animalsthe Yellow-Crested Cockatoo and the Sunda Pangolinbeing crushed against the screen and struggling feebly for freedom.

A call-to-action brings the public to a mobile, interactive experience, where they are shown the entire smuggling process, from capture to sale, and then back to the capture of new animals, highlighting this unending cycle of death.

Users are also given the option to end the horror, and take a stand by changing the animals fate, which switches the experience to showcase a brighter future.

This initiative is touted as Asias first-ever motion-enabled story using accelerometer and gyrometer. The campaign is set to run until 6 April.

You can also check out the microsite for more information.

Pei Pei Ng, executive creative director, Possible Singapore said the agency didnt want to deliver another beautiful campaign but instead tell the true story of the animal by capturing the helplessness and despair they feel, and the brutality that goes on unchecked every day.

CEO Paul Soon said since most animal products are so far removed from the poaching and smuggling process, the team decided to give the target audience a raw, unfettered look at the brutal behind-the-scenes with an empowering option to change the fate of these animals.

Were proud to join the fight against illegal animal trafficking and to support WRS mission to protect biodiversity for future generations, he added.

Ad Nut found it difficult to look at the images of animal-kin being chopped up just to serve the shallow desires of those who insist on following unsubstantiated superstitions of old.

Ad Nut is also confused: Is it wrong to think that the images and artwork for this campaign are ridiculously beautiful? In a haunting and disconcerting way of course. Great work by the agency here.

Ad Nut was completely torn up by this campaign, and hopes humans will step up and do something to help the plight of fellow creatures inhabiting this planet.
| BY Ricki Green |

Publicis Mojo Brisbane has launched a new brand identity and brand campaign for TAFE Queensland, to reignite pride in TAFE and its graduate professions by celebrating the practical skills that we often take for granted.

For too long its been about glorifying the white collar professions. This campaign celebrates the doers in life  the builders, the bakers, the landscapers, the nurturers, the entertainers  the people who make the world turn, the people who make great happen.

TAFE Queensland has the highest awareness of any further education provider in Queensland, but its rarely considered by people who also have the choice to go to university. The new brand campaign aims to make TAFE Queensland a brand that people are proud to choose first.

Says Rob Kent, Publicis Mojo Brisbane managing partner: Were proud to shine the spotlight on the doers in life.

Even in the advertising industry, TAFE has educated some of the finest directors, producers, cinematographers, VFX artists and photographers, so we involved those people in the creation of this campaign.

The Make Great Happen campaign is complemented by outdoor & transit, cinema, radio, digital and social all encouraging potential students to the new website www.tafeqld.edu.au. The media strategy and planning has been created by ZenithOptimedia Brisbane.

The new brand identity has been launched to unite the brand, make it more contemporary, attractive and distinctive in the category in Queensland and internationally.

The campaigns TVC was directed by TAFE-graduate Grant Marshall from Blacklab International with visual effects and post-production by Cutting Edge. The music is called Given The Chance by The Kite String Tangle and the read is by Australian Poetry Slam champion, Luka Lesson.

Agency: Publicis Mojo Brisbane

Client: TAFE Queensland; Jodi Schmidt, Aaron Smith

Group Account Director: Sue Collins

Strategy Planner: Simone Waugh

Copywriter: Ryan Petie

Art Director: Andy Geppert

Head of TV: Vicki Lee

Director: Grant Marshall

Producer: Karen Hayward

Production Company: Blacklab International

Post-Production: Cutting Edge

Editor: Kerry Farrell

VFX Supervisor: Jeff Gaunt

Sound Designer: Ross Batten
| BY Ricki Green |

Founder and CEO of VICE, Shane Smith, has been named as the Cannes Lions 2016 Media Person of the Year.

Introduced in 1999, the Media Person of the Year Award exists to recognise innovators who have shaped the future of media.

Says Philip Thomas, CEO, Lions Festivals: Shane is an influential figure in todays media landscape. Not only is he responsible for taking VICE, which started life as a punk magazine, and expanding it to become the worlds leading global youth media company, but also, beyond this, hes a critically acclaimed journalist.

Shane is a producer of Emmy, Peabody, and National Magazine Award-winning content, recognised not just for helping to reinvent news documentary but for helping to present complicated and urgent subjects like the environment and criminal justice in fresh, accessible terms. As a man of great talent, diversity and unstoppable drive, Shanes a very worthy recipient of this accolade.

One of the industrys most respected visionaries, Smith has transformed VICE from a print magazine into an international multimedia brand that operates a network of critically-acclaimed digital channels, linear television networks, a mobile content studio, a feature film division, and an in-house creative services agency.

Most recently, Smith has struck deals with leading platforms across mobile, digital and linear to syndicate VICEs award-winning video to viewers everywhere.

Smith is also a critically acclaimed journalist and the host and executive producer for the Emmy Award-winning news series, VICE, on HBO. Smith has reported from the worlds most isolated and difficult places, including North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Liberia and Greenland.

Says Smith: When I was a young man one of my great joys was to go to my local repertory theater and watch the feature film of the best of Cannes Lions awards. To see the funny, salacious and over the top commercials from around the world offered a window into a different and tantalizing dimension to a teenager living in snowy Canada. As such, to accept the award for Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year is simultaneously humbling and immensely pleasurable because although you dont get into the business to win hardware, it sure makes life a lot more fun when you do.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will honour Smith with his award during the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 22 June 2016.
| BY Ricki Green |

The AdFest session called Production Value Redefined was predicted to be the most talked about event at AdFest. It is a rare event in which a production company candidly talks about the benefits of reducing costs.

Says Peter Grasse, executive producer, Curious: This is an honest and engaging conversation that our industry needs to have, and is best initiated by the production companies themselves.

Grasse led the panel that included:

Takeshi Takada from Alt.VFX Brisbane

Chris Gurney from ADK Singapore

Richard Mayo-Smith from Google, Asia-Pacific

Matt Noonan from Curious Auckland

Timo from Cutters Studios Tokyo

And, as promised, the conversation revolved around some brutal truths about the value inherent in trust and the power in collaborating on inspiring ideas.

Film craft seems to be slowly dying, Grasse told AdFest. I often wonder if it will even feature in future commercial consideration. Producers once talked about a polished turd, meaning a bad idea dressed up to look good. But an overall apathy for the process has all but eliminated the polish. Companies naively say Heres your turd, no polish, without remorse

Adds Grasse: Simply monetizing production is a dangerous mistake for producers and clients alike. Finding motivated solutions are more important than cutting costs. Marketers should know that there is quantifiable value in ample time and trust. And, above all else, candor in honest relationships makes for the best results.

But as provocative as it was for production companies to question the need for cinematic quality in digital media, as controversial as it was advocate for more time over money, and as unexpected as it was for production companies to redefine production value in terms of its elevation of the idea, the real surprise came at the end.

Grasse closed his session by launching his new initiative in Japan, Dictionary Films Tokyo, with a pledge to give the four countries that have never won an Adfest Lotus the chance to do so.

To show the power of inspired production in bringing great ideas to glory, Grasse promised that Dictionary Films would produce a great script from one of the countries  Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Brunei  for free.
| BY Ricki Green |

Dentsu Aegis Network Australia today announced the formation of a new, creatively-led public relations group with strong strategic capabilities and the vision to be 100% digital by 2020.

The group has consolidated a number of business units into two national PR brands as part of BWM Dentsu.

Haystac will be BWM Dentsus consumer PR brand. Cox Inall will be BWM Dentsus specialist PR brand.

Dentsu Aegis Network Australia CEO Simon Ryan said the creation of the BWM Dentsu PR business aligned with his 100% digital 2020 Vision, giving clients access to scale, deep specialisation and the best creative minds in the business.

Says Ryan: What we have created is two businesses that are linked to a network brand and have greater access to full ecosystem planning as well as creative and digital production capabilities. This move will create efficiencies in our PR business, providing clients and staff a more streamlined operation.

The two agencies will have a total of 75 staff across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and significant representation in regional Australia.

BWM Dentsu Group CEO Paul Williams said locating the PR businesses within BWM Dentsu provided the PR teams with greater access to strategic, creative and digital capabilities.

Current managing director of Cox Inall Communications Tim Powell has been appointed to the new role of managing director of BWM Dentsu Public Relations Australia and will lead the two brands.

Says Powell: This initiative brings together two of the most credentialed and respected PR brands in Australia and re-invigorates them within the creative environment of BWM Dentsu.

Haystacs capacity is boosted by absorbing the talented teams from the Pop Agency and Spark, and having our content arm co-located with BWM Dentsus digital planning and creative teams in Melbourne and Sydney.

Cox Inall Communications enviable reputation within agribusiness, rural and regional Australia, Government and NGO clients is enhanced by taking on the capability and reach of the Haystac Community team, under the leadership of Cox Inall Communications managing director, Lucy Broad.

Both PR brands benefit from being part of a large and successful creative agency with excellent planning tools, including the Modern Masterbrand methodology.

Ryan said the culture of collaboration across Dentsu Aegis Network Australian agencies provided clients immense access to data, insights, strategic planning, agile production and innovation in product development.

Says Ryan: This re-alignment sends a strong signal to the market that we have a truly national, creatively- driven, digital-first PR offering.
| BY Ricki Green |

There are only five spots left for this years first Copy School, sponsored by The Newspaper Works, held in Melbourne.

Copy School Melbourne is seeking 20 young copywriters, or those wanting to become a copywriter, to attend the workshop series.

The workshop fee is just $250 per student. Copy School will donate fees to Frontyard Youth Services, which is run by Melbourne City Mission. The course fee is fully tax deductible.

For information visit thenewspaperworks.com.au/event/2016-copy-school. To register contact Kyle Hannah at kyliehannah@thenewspaperworks.com.au or 02 9692 6320.

Copy School is designed to encourage the best quality copywriting across all advertising media and engages some of Australias leading advertising creative writers and creative directors to pass on their knowledge and experience.

Melbourne Copy School will be held from 18 to 22 April at the Herald & Weekly Times offices, HWT Towers, 40 City Road, South Bank.

Hosted by Sharms Consultancys Mark Sharman, Copy School will provide participants with a real world brief that must be presented on the final morning of the course.

Some of the industrys most respected creatives and a senior newspaper editor will be guest tutors including:

 Paul Taylor, Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi Melbourne

 Nigel Dawson, Creative Partner, Three Wise Men

 Evan Roberts, Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO

 Sarah McGregor, Head of Copy, Leo Burnett

 Jill Baker, Executive Editor  Sundays, HWT, News Corp Australia

 Ron Mather, Director, Its the Thought that Counts

 Gawen Rudder, Founder, The Knowledge Consultancy

 Ted Horton, Chief Creative Officer, Big Red.

 Doogie Chapman, Creative Director, Cummins & Partners

Says Ray Black, convenor, Copy School: The success of Copy School in Melbourne and Sydney is due to the unhesitating support and enthusiasm of our tutors.

They are top creative directors and writers who want to put something back into the business. Copy School does not dwell in the world of academia, its focus is on creating highly successful advertising for clients.

Past students have come from a variety of backgrounds  junior writers from agencies, clients and marketing companies.
| BY Lynchy |

Australians travel further for business purposes than any other nation. Thats why M.J. Bale produce durable 100% Australian Merino Wool suits.

To prove this, Whybin\TBWA\Eleven, Sydney and M.J. Bale have conducted a real time travel torture test through Facebook and Instagram.

To shoot their 2016 Winter campaign, M.J. Bale dressed an unsuspecting model in Sydney for a fashion shoot that was happening in London. The route to London was fierce.

 5 days non-stop

 9 Countries

 10 modes of transport, including an overnight Ferry across the wild North Sea from Rotterdam to Harwich UK

 No Sleep

 1 Suit

As soon as the model and the small crew arrived in London, they began shooting the 2016 M.J. Bale Winter Campaign. Model Tom Bull was a broken man but the suit was impeccable, proving that you can crush the man, but you cant crush the M.J. Bale suit.

Says Matt Jensen, founder & CEO, M.J. Bale: With Australian men travelling longer and further for business than any other nation, arriving looking as good as when you left is a struggle. We want to help gents stay looking impeccable and ultimately professional for business, no matter how many miles theyve covered.

Our range of suits are constructed with 100% Australian Merino Wool, so men really can stay immaculate from cabin to boardroom. The images are raw and honest with no retouching to the model or suit, proving our claim you can crush the man but you cant crush the suit.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 9:06PM

The search giant Google is supposedly working on a third-party keyboard for iOS users. It will reportedly have things like gesture-based input and a built-in Web search feature. The gesture-based typing is said to follow in the vein of popular keyboard apps like Swype and SwiftKey. The keyboard will also sport a Google logo that when you tap executes a web search and dedicated search buttons for pictures and GIFs, which are believed to be routed through Google Image search. Whether that search happens within the keyboard interface or not is unknown. Apple is particularly strict with products it deems will affect the UI, which in turn could affect the iOS experience. The unnamed keyboard project has said to be in the work for months and is being tested by select Google employees. There isnt a specific timeline for release though.

Source: Apple Insider
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 11:40AM

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Toronto - MasterCard Canada showed off their enhanced two-factor authorization feature called Selfie Pay today which is being launched as a pilot for corporate card users and which is expected to be made available to customers of the Bank of Montreal and other participating banks in the Summer.

Previously called 'MasterCard Identity Check,' the service leverages existing smartphone technologies like the fingerprint sensors on Android devices as well as Touch ID on recent Apple iPhones as well as the front-facing cameras to help confirm a person's identity in the event of online purchases.

This is a spin on two-factor authentication, a security feature where if you buy something on your PC or sign into a service, the service will either send you an email with a code or send the code as a multiple digit text message. This ensures that you, the user, are indeed the person making the purchase at that point in time.

This offers far better security than a password or four digit code entered at the time of payment since hackers can steal this information easily and access your account or services remotely.

Using facial recognition (stored by MasterCard, so banks don't have access to it), Selfie Pay can biometrically scan and confirm you are who you say you are. A faster way to get verification is the fingerprint reader which takes merely a second to confirm (and the data here is stored on your phone).

MasterCard rebranded the service Selfie Pay to appeal to Millennial users who are already more than happy to shoot and post selfie photos on social media. I do find it curious that they're piloting the service with their more conservative and mature corporate card client holders who are less likely to respond to something that seems like a faddish solution.

To be able to use the service when it rolls out this summer, your bank or credit card provider will need to be affiliated with MasterCard and offer the service. You will need to enroll your facial profile to MasterCard as well as sign up for the service. It will be useful if you're perusing a product on an online store and want to make a purchase. Once you check out, the corresponding app on your iPhone or compatible Android device will prod you to scan your fingerprint or shoot a selfie and once this verification is approved the sale is completed.

While the fingerprint authorization remains the most straightforward and fastest way to ensure authorization, Selfie Pay does make sense to users who don't have smartphones with that feature (but it is looking more like mobile payments need fingerprint readers moving forward). What happens when your face changes dramatically (extreme weight loss, surgery, a new beard), simply re-enroll your biometrics to continue using the service.

Banks and credit institutions can really thank technology companies like Apple and Google who are making these features like fingerprint readers and verification siloes available in smartphones which can only result in more choice for consumers looking for new ways to authorize payments using devices they already own or are planning to buy.
Ms Ewing said she had no doubt the decision was connected to her criticism of the school, in which she said morale had hit new lows after the shock loss of former head Peter Tregear who was ostensibly forced out in August  18 months before his contract was due to expire.
"It's something I never expected when I first started doing it, I thought it was just this awesome thing where I could talk to an audience and express myself but now I can actually make money it's really mind-blowing," he said.
One of the great fowl's devotees and monitors, a member of the Canberra Ornithologists Group, reported to COG that "At about 8am this morning [earlier this month] a very large branch of a pin oak tree [next to the pin oak favoured by the Powl] broke off and dropped all over the power lines resulting in restricted power supplies for North Canberra all day. The whole area was been cordoned off, with noisy use of heavy machinery, wood chippers, cranes and chainsaws etc plus many other vehicles and workers in attendance."
"The recent improvement in the youth unemployment rate masks the reality that it is still more than the rate before the GFC. Rural and regional areas are doing it particularly tough," he said.
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Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

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You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
China, the most popular study abroad destinations is vast and hugely populated country. After UK, USA and Australia, China is one of the most sought after destinations for international students. The country has several reasons to its credit, which are also rated as key factors in increasing the international students graph in the country.

As per reports, over 3,20,000 students from over 180 countries had taken admissions in the universities of China during 2012. Abundant resource and renowned colleges with boundless educational opportunities, has played a significant role in leading China's educational system on the top list.

In the year 2012, China targeted of investing 4% of GDP on education to bring more and more developments in this sector.

The blend of ancient and modern culture prevalent in the country, innovations and contributions made in the field of scientific and technology, have been the major compelling aspects for anyone to look upon china as one of the favoured and prominent destinations among students to pursue higher education.

Education offered at an affordable price, scholarship benefits and promising job prospects, are added factors for overseas students to head towards the nation.

Thus, all the above mentioned factors have made remarkable contribution in transforming china's higher education sector as a popular education hub, which consequently, succeeded in reaching students beyond the boundaries.

Also Read: Why Study in Australia?

5 Reasons to Study in China:

CareerIndia has listed out few top reasons, for which the country is being preferred as study destination for students across worldwide.

1. Endless Exploration

Exploring country is an amazing experience, particularly in china since the country has blend of both ancient and modern culture. Being a most populated country, China has retained its scenic beauty and bustling nightlife

Variety of climates, cultures and landscapes form the best part form of China's territory. As you explore, you can unravel different perspectives in China.

Visiting new places with other students from around the world who you meet will not only introduce yourself to China, but to the whole world. Harbin's ice festival provides you the opportunity to ski slopes while tropical beach paradise of Hainan Island has warmth feel when you kick back in the sunshine.

Cities in the country, boast of modern architecture such as, towering skyscrapers of Shanghai to Beijing's Olympic Bird's Nest. The ancient and magnificent structure Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City, add seamless beauty with its existence.

China's nightlife made up of private karaoke rooms and extravagant mega-clubs are captivating and amusing for students.

Chinese culture has 5000-year history Taichi and Calligraphy, known after Chain. Taichi is one of the most well-known martial arts, around the world and calligraphy is a very important and appreciated art in China. All these varied and wide array of activities leaves you in the world of excitement.

2. Affordable Lifestyle

Compare to European countries studying and living in China is affordable. Be it tuition fees, food, accommodation and transport, everything is economical. Tuition fees per semester are generally not more than 1000 U.S. dollars, good pair of jeans sells for 10-20 U.S. dollars, the bus fare costs 15 cents, and a subway ticket in Beijing costs 30 cents. All in all cost of living in china is affordable.

3. Employment Opportunities

China has been the world's fastest growing country for the past 30 years, and even during the financial crisis China's economic growth maintained a level of 8%. China's GDP recently surpassed Japan's and listed as the world's second largest economy after the United States. China houses world's top 500 companies with many choosing their base in cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

The current rise of China has made it very clear that people who can speak Chinese, and have firsthand experience of living in China are going to have a great advantage in terms of employment.

Since China serves as a huge market for multinational corporations there are more chances to get employed in the country if you have firsthand experience of living in China (In terms of Chinese culture and Chinese people)
Runners & walkers dash around Delphi The Do It In Delphi Dash was Saturday morning with the 5K walk/run beginning downtown on the Courthouse Square. The...

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Delphi Council member Conner resigns post It has been an upward struggle for Delphi City Council member Gayle Conner to represent her constituents as witnessed at...
With just a couple of weeks left to go until the start of the epic 24-Hours of Le Mans, Porsche unveiled the three racing liveries that the 919 LMP1 cars will use in the prestigious race.



Porsche made history with its liveries at Le Mans. The Martini, Gulf and Rothmans branded cars became icons of motorsport. This year, it seems the German car manufacturer wants to honor the good old days. Or probably the liveries will bring a little bit of luck?

Unfortunately for Porsche, last years race didnt make a symbol out of the 919 Hybrid and its colors, but maybe this time the LMP1 car will get a place in motorsport history, next to the 917K.

Speaking of which, one of the paint schemes presented on the 919 commemorates the iconic racing car. The three main colors, red, black and white, represent tradition, technology and a return.

Tradition: No 17

The number 17 red prototype, driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Mark Webber, has the number and the color made to honor Porsches first victory. The 917k short tail that won the race 45 years ago and spawned the begining of Porsches 16 wins, is also painted red.

Technology: No 18

The number 18 black prototype, driven by Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani, represents the close technical relationship between the LMP1 cars and the 918 Spyder. Even if both cars seem worlds apart, they are pretty similar in concept. It also honors the black 918 that managed to complete a lap of the Nurburgring in 6 minutes and 57 seconds, setting a new world record for street-legal production, in 2013. The driver at the time was Marc Lieb who will also compete in the gruesome 24-hour race.

A Return: No 19

The number 19 white prototype, driven by Earl Bamber, Nico Hulkenberg and Nick Tandy, will compete in the color Porsche choose last year, symbolizing the return of the German manufacturer to Le Mans.

Porsche states that the livery of a race car is a science in itself and funny as it may sound, theyre absolutely right. For instance, a livery can cover a design secret, or highlights a design cue. But the most important thing is that, a livery must look good when the car is running at great speeds  and this is what Porsche stated, we swear.

PHOTO GALLERY
Thanks to a leaked set of patent images, we now know the upcoming Civic Hatchback wont look that much different from the concept first unveiled at Geneva and now displayed at New York.



Honda brought the sharp-looking prototype to North America  one of its biggest markets  making its debut at the 2016 New York International Auto Show.

With the upcoming Civic hatch, the Japanese car manufacturer promises a striking design and a sporty, European-inspired driving experience  to do this, Honda will mate the he all-new 1.5-liter turbo engine to its 6-speed manual transmission for a sportier dynamic performance (or an optional CVT).

Offered with the first application of the 1.5-liter turbo engine paired with a manual transmission, this sportiest Civic to date will attract a whole new set of enthusiast buyers to the model and Honda brand, said Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of the Honda Division of American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The 2017 Civic Hatchback will be launched later this year and will be built on the same platform as the 10th-gen Civic Sedan and Coupe. More importantly, Honda says the 10th generation Civic line-up will be rounded by the arrival of the Si and radical Type R variants.

Styling-wise, the hatch features a long wheelbase and short overhangs, and although the big rims wont make it into production, almost everything else will. The sleek and swept-back body lines, the front fascia governed by the big air intakes and the distinctive C-shaped rear lights.

The production variant will be exclusively manufactured at Hondas UK manufacturing plant in Swindon.

PHOTO GALLERY
Former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu lived the high life on the backs of common citizens.



Having been the Romanian head of state for over two decades, before his regime collapsed and he and his wife were shot by a firing squad in 1989, Ceausescu gathered an impressive amount of goods, some of which were auctioned by the Government in 1999, including this classic Mercedes-Benz SL 350, which was driven for just 4,038 km (2,509 miles).

Eight years later, in the possession of its new owner, the odometer indicated 17,500 km (10,874 miles), but since 2007, it hasnt been driven at all, even though its current condition allows it.

The car underwent a thorough service with original parts by a classic Mercedes-Benz specialist, and remarkably, it still has its original tires from 1973. Reminding its owner that this isnt an ordinary classic SL are the two radios, a Becker Mexico radio in the center console and a Becker short-wave in the glovebox, installed by the secret police of the time. Accompanying the roadster is an auction certificate, issued by the Romanian government and local registration papers.

At Bonhams Auctions last weekend, it sold for 49,450 (equal to $55,720). The car was bought by a collector who wished to remain anonymous. All proceeds will benefit a local charity, whose work has expanded further into Eastern Europe and West Africa.

PHOTO GALLERY
Some people like it simple; a V8 up front, a manual in the middle and power driving the rear axle.



Meet Gregg Hamilton, an experienced mechanic with years of experience working with some of the best WRC teams in the world, including Toyota and Prodrive. He now works for a guy named Ken Block.

Since moving to the US, Gregg realized that his dream of owning a manual V8 rear-wheel driven car can finally become reality and since he was a big fan of Smokey and the Bandit, the decision was already made.

Enter the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am: I needed something to do, so we found this car on eBay, and flew to Alabama, picked it up at the airport sight unseen[and] it sort of just evolved into what it is today, he says.

Wider bodywork, fully revised suspension and brakes, a new engine with two turbos slapped on it and a custom engine ECU later Hamilton reckons in the latest Petrolicious episode that his Firebird is about as quick as a Corvette Z06 but thats not the point for him.

Its not always about the drive for me. Its about the build of it. Its about tinkering with it

VIDEO
Having presented the redesigned GT 86 a few days ago, Toyota has shifted focus to a new addition to the Prius range, the plug-in hybrid Prime.



Making its world premiere at the 2016 New York International Auto Show, the new Prius Prime comes with an increased driving range, more power, a higher top speed in EV mode and a modified exterior over the regular Prius hybrid.

A significant upgrade compared to the previous version, it uses a larger 8.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which allows the Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain to remain in EV mode more frequently, for low periods of time, improving fuel consumption and ultimately the cars driving range.

With a claimed average fuel consumption figure of just 168 mpg (1.4 liters/100 km), the best rating of any PHEV, it emits 32 g/km of CO2 and allows a total driving range of 22 miles (35 km) in full electric mode at speeds up to 84 mph (135 km/h).

Compared to the new Prius Hybrid, the Prime adds a drag-reducing automatic grille shutter, different headlights, with a quad layout and LED technology, a new bumper incorporating vertical LEDs and redesigned fog lamps.

Its side profile remains pretty much unchanged, but the rear has been updated with LED taillights running across the boots entire width, a redesigned bumper and diffuser and a full-width aero glass panel over the rear spoiler to enhance visibility.

Its refreshed exterior isnt just eye-catching but also functional, as it improves its drag coefficient, expected to be among the lowest for production sedans. Its size is now more generous, being 2.4 inches (6 cm) longer, 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) wider and 1 inch (2.5 cm) lower than its predecessor, boosting cargo room.

Inside, it features a four-seat layout, a 11.6-inch multimedia screen with standard navigation and full color head-up display and a premium JBL audio with integrated Navigation and App Suite, Prius Prime Apps, Siri Eyes Free mode for iPhone users, wireless smartphone charging for Qi-compatible devices and a 4.2-inch full-color TFT.

Toyota also says its new PHEV has an intelligent climate control system, which uses an electric compressor and heat pump that cool or heat the cabin while driving in EV mode. The Safety Sense pack comprising of active and passive safety features is standard, along with the Intelligent Park Assit that uses wave sensors to automatically park the car into parallel and perpendicular spaces.

The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime will arrive in showrooms later this fall.

PHOTO GALLERY

Video
1. Research, observation, and thorough preparation

Theres no substitute for observational sketches to inspire gags or scenarios that one wouldnt normally conceive of from the imagination. For example, here is a drawing Searle made for a report on Provincetown for Holiday magazine in 1962.

The loose sketch made on location sparked the gag idea, which is developed further  adding and subtracting elements along the way (a third figure on the left, the items in the windows, the dog etc.)  and worked up into the final picture.

The chapter on Provincetown in Ronald Searles America reveals Searle sketched dozens of locals and buildings, and even kept clippings of amusing small ads in the local newspaper. He noted anything that amused him which might in turn trigger the idea for the gag. Searles drawings may give the appearance of looseness and spontaneity, but the artwork was more often than not the result of thorough exploration in thumbnail drawings, followed by several larger roughs, and sometimes multiple versions finished in ink.

Observations from life were key to Searles success. His assignments during the golden age of reportage illustration for magazines afforded him the opportunity to travel the world and meet people from all walks of life. His art school training had instilled in him the habit of keeping a sketchbook with him at all times.

When I visited him in his studio he had shelves of sketchbooks from his entire career, all dutifully hand lettered on their spines. He had invested decades of sketching from life  architecture and figures and animals  which became an invaluable mental resource when working from his imagination. He could recall details, or a field note would help spur a memory of a specific detail that he could then exaggerate. He constantly searched for the humor in situations and the absurdity of human behavior. His work is underpinned by so much observation and practice that when he distorts figures and architecture it still works.

2. Original compositions that draw attention and lead the eye

Searle was a magician when it came to arranging characters and elements within the frame. His complex compositions are underpinned by strong vertical and horizontal lines, and often a diagonal running through it. He used negative and positive space, and areas of dense detail are balanced by blank areas.

In Manhattan on the Rocks for Venture magazine (October 1966), Searle parodies the pitfalls of modern living in the big city. Look at the image to see how he layers information.

There are five scenarios occurring in the drawing:

The blind beggar about to tap the hands of the poor soul trapped in the sewer. The old lady being mugged. The armed robbery of what looks like a barber shop in the middle distance with a cop shot dead on the sidewalk. The suicidal figure on the rooftop. The Manhattan gentleman indifferently strolling through the scene, his blank indifference echoed by the irony of the giant, colorful billboard with the bikini clad model and her sunny gaze.

3. Strong underlying lines of action in posing

Searles posing is quite different to animation layout or storyboard posing. They dont have quite so much believable weight and momentum. He, of course, had to communicate in a single image, but his poses are always specific and unique to each character. He never used stock poses, but rather, clear and readable poses that draw the eye and are, above all, funny.

Theyre not instantly gettable like animation poses, but require a little work from the viewer to find the gag. The audience is expected to fill in a certain amount of the gap, which is rewarding for us. In terms of pure drawing, Searle was a master of graphic tricks  the fold of neck skin over a collar, the creases under a depressed chin, the wrinkle in a suit opposite a pointy elbow visual cues we see influenced everyone from Disney animators Milt Kahl and Andreas Deja to MAD magazines Mort Drucker and Jack Davis.

4. Line quality in drawing

We can observe Searle drawing in this YouTube clip (6:16 mark):

Note how he uses his fountain pen unconventionally, upturned with the nib bent. He has a thoroughly roughed in pencil sketch, then works quickly over that in ink, maintaining a spontaneity in the line  stitching as he moves his hand, creating that recognizable jagged quality.

In the finished drawing the pen lines are contrasted with much bolder lines most likely made with a brush. The dark wash of the night sky contrasts with the figures lit by firelight and makes the figures pop. The horse is subtly toned darker as he turns away from his annoying human partner. His drawings hang together with great appeal, creating a satisfying visual experience for the viewer.

5. Dedication and commitment

Searles prolific output was driven by a genuine love of drawing and a rigid work ethic. He kept a meticulous deadline chart on his studio wall detailing the multiple assignments he was juggling at any given time. Art directors attested to his unfailing ability to meet deadlines and thorough exploration of the brief. He often submitted multiple finished variations on a theme for them to choose from. Even in his late-eighties he continued to work diligently. His wife, Monica, complained that she never saw him as he spent up to 11 hours a day in his studio.

He also held an appreciation of the history of cartooning and caricature. The walls of his Provencal home were decorated with drawings and prints by George Cruikshank and James Gillray. He held many of his contemporaries in high regard especially the cartoonists of his adopted Franc  Roland Topor, Andre Francois, and Sempe among them. In his youth he was influenced by the Germans, Otto Dix and George Grosz. During my research for the book, I found a fan letter he wrote to Saul Steinberg professing his admiration of his work and appealing for a drawing swap. Cultivating a familiarity with the art of the past is a valuable learning tool. Searle combined all of these influences to develop his inimitable style.

6. Have fun

A drawing isnt funny and wont make the viewer laugh unless you laughed yourself while making it. Be silly; dont rely on drawing formulas. Think around a piece of business  explore ways to make it funnier. Think of humorous situations in life and channel that. Searle had a tough life early on, but laughing and drawing (and champagne) kept him going into his nineties!

Order Ronald Searles America from Amazon.
Photo: Contributed - BC Cancer Agency

Comfort is hard to come by when undergoing chemotherapy, but for those in Kelowna, its been extra uncomfortable the past 13 months.

Terry Mills has been receiving chemotherapy treatment at the BC Cancer Agency near Kelowna General Hospital for the past year and a half.

For the first few months, he was treated upstairs, where there was plenty of space and privacy.

Due to renovations to the nearby pharmacy area, chemo treatments were moved downstairs to the main floor in February 2015. The IV transfusions now take place where the two waiting rooms used to be.

Mills was told the renovations would take eight months. Thirteen months later, hes wondering when he can go back upstairs.

Its harming the patients, because were all squeezed in, Mills said. We have very little room for family to sit beside you while you sit there for sometimes two hours getting these infusions of chemotherapy, which isnt a pleasant experience, believe me.

Mills says he has been asking for several months when they will be moving back upstairs, but no one seems to know.

They said it could be two weeks or two months, they dont know, he said. It just seems like a freaking boondoggle.

The BC Cancer Agency says the renovations were supposed to have taken eight months, but a number of setbacks have pushed back the completion date.

There have been a couple delays in the renovation itself  weve had some deficiencies in items in our renovations that were outside of our control, said John Larmet, regional director for the agency. As an example, we had a piece of equipment that was supplied that was inadequately specd that needed to then be sent back to the manufacturer and then re-custom-made, which took another six to eight weeks.

Larmet says after announcing several extensions to the completion date that have since been extended, he has been reluctant to give a solid timeline for the renovations.

While the completion date has been up in the air for some time, he says he is 99 per cent sure chemo patients will be moved back upstairs by mid-April.

Larmet says when patients are finally able to do so, they will find increased capacity in the chemo room and improved standards in the pharmacy.

I feel bad for the nurses, Mills said. Theyre just so on top of everybody, but for the other patients, including myself, you have no privacy, but theyre doing the best they can.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

RCMP are seeing an ongoing problem with lead-footed drivers racing in the Sendero Canyon area of Penticton.

Cpl. Ted Manchulenko said just last week there was an incident in which young people were hurt after a car went off Carmi Avenue.

The occupants of the vehicle sustained bumps, bruises and broken ribs.

The driver, who failed a roadside alcohol test, was also slapped with a number of tickets.

Manchulenko said police have mostly had issues related to vehicles racing up and down Lawrence Avenue in the Sendero neighbourhood.
Theyre at it again.

The last time officials in Victoria got involved in B.C.s food industry, most meat-packing facilities throughout the province were driven out of business in spite of huge handouts to try to keep them afloat.

This time, Christie Clark and her minister of agriculture, Norm Letnick, plan to take control of the organic industry away from Ottawa. This could stand as the first time in Canadian history that jurisdiction flowed back to one of the provinces from the grip of the feds. The only problem is that before 2009 the provinces controlled organics, and B.C.s organic industry helped lobby the feds to take over. Why go backwards all of a sudden?

The B.C. Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan is sailing through Victoria right now as Bill 11. As is so often the case, the name reveals nothing about whats inside.

The only positive explanation for this reversal could be that Victoria plans to finally institute organic field testing, something not included in Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) organic standards. So, does Bill 11 include testing and analysis? Yes, but its just window dressing because theres no threshold by which to test, which is like having a speed limit with no limit, and which stands in stark contrast to the organic standards of all of our major trading partners.

Try to imagine the Olympics without athletes being tested. Would that qualify as a strategic growth plan? Well sure, if you believe in cheating.

Since Victoria doesnt plan to test organic crops to ensure theyre safe and genuine, heres what voters need to ask Letnick and Clark.

We already know Victoria plans to someday allow store-front marijuana sales. Even with Liberal Justin Trudeau in the PMO, officials at the CFIA are not likely to participate in such a plan. So, will Bill 11 be used so Victoria can grant organic marijuana licenses, and reap even greater tax revenues than from regular marijuana sales?

Next, will Victoria impose restrictions on where GMO crops can be grown vis-a-vis organic crops? And will GMO labelling also be imposed? The CFIA will never participate in either of these plans because GMOs pose no risk whatsoever to organic crops (or to any living thing). But organic activists have long believed that hobbling GMO farming will boost non-GMO organic sales, which would, in turn, generate even more tax and certification revenue for the province.

Then theres seafood, the only part of this bills name that might be above board. Its impossible to certify wild seafood under the CFIAs organic standards because an inspector cant inspect the ocean. Fish farming, on the other hand, can be organic, but the whole fish-farming industry is seriously frowned upon in environmental circles. So, do Clark and Letnik plan to use Bill 11 to certify wild fish, caught in B.C. waters, as organic? If so, why slap an additional label onto the fresh-and-natural daily catch? Wait dont tell me still more tax revenue?

There are the 18 instances in Bill 11 where The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations, which takes us all the way back to before Canadas Confederation in 1867. These clauses obviate any role elected officials might play in debating this legislation. Clark would be more honest to simply write orders-in-council for the LG to rubber-stamp, since that is precisely the effect these clauses will have. All power to the premier. All of it!

Then, once the LG conjures up whatever regulations Clark wants, the bill will henceforth confer a discretion on the minister, a reviewing officer or an inspector. (52 (5).) And the most egregious example of this discretion can be found in Part 6, (4) (b) concerning (v) genetic variations (i.e. GMO crops and foods). Hang on for this one

Not only are B.C. Liberals planning to label GMOs, and to limit where they can be grown. All of the discretion in this bill allows a political appointee (the minister) along with unelected officials (reviewing officer or an inspector), none of whom have scientific credentials, to go all the way and define GMO crops as contaminants of organic crops, essentially putting GMOs in the same category as pesticides, in spite of the fact that the majority of GMO crops have nothing whatsoever to do with pesticides.

This is something organic activists have dreamed of since the 1990s, and which they again believe will provide a boost to organic sales. Its also something no federal authority would ever grant them. So they have turned to Christie Clark to help them vilify the competition  through the power of a supposedly democratic government no less  and dont worry about what any scientists say.

Even under Justin Trudeaus control, the CFIA would never define GMOs as contaminants because every scientific body in the world  even in Europe  agrees that GMOs pose no threat whatsoever to any living thing. GMOs therefore cannot contaminate, unless the premier says they can, at the behest of her organic supporters.

Something similar is going on in California right now. It remains to be seen if President Obama will let the Sunshine State get away with wresting control of the multibillion dollar organic industry away from Washington DC. After all, as mentioned, it was organic stakeholders who petitioned the feds  begged them in fact  to regulate them. But, alas, the love of marijuana, combined with a hatred of GMOs, appears to have convinced these activists that the time has come to do an about-face.

And the premier appears ready to play along, all under the guise of a strategy for growth.

Mischa Popoff
Photo: Carmen Weld

Last October's popular Food Truck Rally is back  and taking over Leon Avenue again Thursday night.

You wanted it; youve got it! reads the Facebook event page.

The Leon Night Market and Awesome Okanagan are working together to put on Kelownas first Food Truck Culture Rally of 2016.

Kelownas hottest food and fashion trucks are back and better than ever, ready to serve the masses what they crave  amazing street food and one-of-a-kind shopping experiences.

Quinn Best and Emily Braun came up with the idea last year to use an empty lot on Leon Avenue to revitalize that block of downtown Kelowna.

The duo has spent a decade on Leon, operating the music venue Habitat. The neighbourhood means a lot to them. They know Leon is considered a less favourable street, and they're looking to change that perception.

"We got together with some of the local food trucks in town and we rallied them up. We told them: 'Rather than you all be positioned scattered around the city, why not come to one central location and we can make it a big community event where everyone can come celebrate local businesses in the Okanagan?' Braun said last fall.

The hope is the rally will evolve into a permanent night market, similar to large-scale ones in cities like Richmond.

We are working with the city to try to see if we can create something called the Leon Night Market. A combination of vendors that are small businesses without a brick and mortar storefront that are looking for a permanent home, said Quinn in October.

Most people are trying to move on or get out of downtown, and we actually want to see the downtown grow, said Quinn.

This is a personal passion. We want to see the street change, and we know it is possible.

This month's rally will run on March 24, from 4 to 9 p.m. at 264 Leon Ave.
Photo: Nicholas Johansen

UPDATE: 2:45 p.m.

Kelowna RCMP say the driver of the red Honda has been issued a $167 violation ticket for failing to stop at a red light.

Police have determined that a red Honda CRV was northbound on Pandosy Street when it did not stop for the red light at the Cadder Avenue intersection, says Const. Jesse O'Donaghey.

The driver of the Honda CRV, a 78-year-old Kelowna man, drove in front of, and collided with, a Toyota Camry which had been eastbound on Cadder Avenue.

The collision sent the Honda through the fence of a Pandosy Street property.

There were no apparent injuries as a result of this crash, adds O'Donaghey.

ORIGINAL: 12:15 p.m.

An SUV ran a red light and smashed through a residential fence late this morning in Kelownas Pandosy area.

Police at the scene said the driver of a red Honda CRV blew the red light on Cadder Avenue and was hit by a grey sedan travelling on Pandosy Street.

The impact sent the SUV through a wood fence and into a front yard.

The tenant living in the home said the drivers were both shaken up, but didn't seem hurt.

I just heard a huge boom and came running out, said the tenant.

The crash happened just before noon.
Photo: Angus Reid Institute

By Shachi Kurl and Ian Holliday

Canadians like deficits in the abstract, but not so much when theyre concrete.

The Liberal Party ran on promise of modest deficits, totalling less than $10 billion annually, and a return to balance by the end of the partys mandate.

The budget Finance Minister Bill Morneau released Tuesday not only breaks, but shatters both of these promises, with a $29.4 billion deficit projected for the coming fiscal year, and deficits over $10 billion in each of the next five years.

Angus Reid Institute research conducted during last years campaign found Canadians actually prefer deficit spending to austerity, when asked about the two concepts in general terms:

As the preceding graph shows, Canadians prefer deficits aimed at stimulating the economy over balanced budgets and the tax increases or program cuts they entail.

When faced with prospect of an actual government spending their actual tax dollars, however, Canadians are more circumspect.

In January, as the nations economy reeled from oil price and stock market shocks and the government began hinting more forcefully that the coming years deficit could exceed the $10 billion cap, another ARI poll found little appetite for such a change of plans:

Since the budget was released, some analysts have suggested that the government has used conservative estimates of economic growth in order to set itself up to come in with a lower deficit than projected. Whether that turns out to be the case remains to be seen.

Ahead of the budget, Canadians werent really noticing existing middle class tax cuts.

The title of the budget book is Growing the Middle Class, a call-back to some of the Liberals campaign messaging, and an intended mission statement for the partys economic policies.

One signature campaign promise  a tax cut on personal income between $44,700 and $89,400 and a hike on income over $200,000  took effect Jan. 1, but ARIs economic poll released in early February found most Canadians hadnt noticed much of a change:

Another campaign promise  to create a Canada Child Benefit that would provide more money per child for families with greater financial need (and less or none to wealthier families)  will come into effect under the new budget.

During the campaign, ARI found that this was the most popular child care proposal put forward by the three major parties, but it should be noted that fully one-in-four (25%) Canadians said they didnt like any of the options proposed:

The federal budget includes $120 billion in infrastructure investments over 10 years  though only about 10 per cent of that total ($11.9 billion) is scheduled to be spent in the next five years.

Key areas of investment, according to the governments budget summary, will be public transit, water, waste management, and housing. The focus on transit will be welcome news in the countrys largest cities, where ARI has previously found a large appetite for such an investment:

Notably absent from the governments list of highlights? Investment in roads and highways  an omission that may not sit well with residents of rural areas:

More money for First Nations was one of the most widely anticipated promises  and worst kept secrets  of this years budget process. The Liberal government has pledged more than $8.4 billion over the next five years to spend on education, on-reserve housing and water and family services. There is also $40 million toward a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls. Our Angus Reid Institute poll earlier this month found strong support for such an inquiry. The question respondents were asked did reflect the $40 million cost:

The budget finds a nearly $2 billion boost over the next five years for the Canada Council for the Arts, the CBC and the National Arts Centre, among other cultural and creative organizations. That mirrors a late-summer campaign stop in Montreal last September, which saw Justin Trudeau promise to spend $380 million dollars on the arts.

At the time, Canadians were milquetoast about this pledge.

Trudeaus promise last September appeared to be more of a one-off than the multi-year commitment made today.

Will stabilizing arts and creative funding grow a new community of government supporters? Or give the Conservative opposition cannon fodder for spending on what it has deemed in the past to be non-essential spending? Time will tell.

 The Angus Reid Institute
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
USA: GCC Dacotah unveils US$90m investment

ICR Newsroom By 23 March 2016

GCC Dacotah has announced a US$90m investment to upgrade and restart Kiln Line 6 at its cement plant in Rapid City, South Dakota. Mayor Steve Allender welcomed the news. "Construction is a major industry in Rapid City and the region, and this cement plant has a long history of providing cement for the state and region. It's very good for Rapid City. We are a growing community; the business community is growing. I think that's positive for all of us. There's consumer confidence, there's business confidence, and I hope this is a good sign that we are seeing an upturn," said Mayor Allender.



In addition to the growth in the Rapid City area, decisions are being made on a state level that are impacting the need for concrete and cement  particularly South Dakota's dedication to repairing crumbling infrastructure.



"South Dakota is investing in infrastructure, and by that we mean highways and roads that use concrete and cement, said Governor Dennis Daugaard. They know the demand is going up here as we use cement here in our roadways, and so that is part of the decision. Not only is the business climate good that makes it profitable to produce here, but they know the demand is also local."



Mr Daugaard was bullish about prospects for national cement consumption as well. "We know that at the national level the demand for cement is starting to outpace the ability to produce it. In fact, next year we expect demand will be greater than our national capacity to produce cement. So we're going to have to start importing cement if we don't have producers in America that step up their capacity, and that GCC is doing so and doing it here in South Dakota," said Mr Daugaard.

Published under
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Nanoscale imaging in liquids is critical for understanding key electrochemical processes and the design of rechargeable batteries. A novel approach using a combination of microwaves, a scanning probe and ultrathin membranes avoids the radiation damage caused by imaging methods employing highly energetic X-ray and electron beams.

When lots of energy hits an atom, it can knock off electrons, making the atom extremely chemically reactive and initiating further destruction. That's why radiation is so dangerous. It's also why high-resolution imaging techniques that use energetic electron beams and X-rays can alter, even obliterate, the samples they explore. For example, monitoring battery dynamics using electron microscopy can introduce artifacts that interfere with electrochemical processes. Another case in point: Employing X-ray spectroscopy to see inside a living cell annihilates that cell.

Now, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated a nondestructive way to observe nanoscale objects and processes in conditions simulating their normal operating environments. They start with an "environmental chamber" to encapsulate a sample in a liquid. The chamber has a window made of an ultrathin membrane (8 to 50 billionths of a meter, or nanometers, thick). The tip of a scanning probe microscope moves across the membrane, injecting microwaves into the chamber. The device records where the microwave signal was transmitted versus impeded and creates a high-resolution map of the sample.

Because the injected microwaves are 100 million times weaker than those of a home microwave oven, and they oscillate in opposite directions several billions of times each second so potentially destructive chemical reactions cannot proceed, the ORNL-NIST technique produces only negligible heat and does not destroy the sample. The scientists report their novel approach of combining ultrathin membranes with microwaves and a scanning probe--called scanning microwave impedance microscopy, or sMIM--in the journal ACS Nano.

"Our imaging is nondestructive and free from the damage frequently caused to samples, such a living cells or electrochemical processes, by imaging with X-ray or electron beams," said first author Alexander Tselev. With colleagues Anton Ievlev and Sergei Kalinin at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Office of Science User Facility at ORNL, he performed high-resolution microwave imaging and analysis. "Its spatial resolution is better than what is achievable with optical microscopes for similar in-liquid samples. The paradigm can become instrumental for gaining important insights into electrochemical phenomena, living objects and other nanoscale systems existing in fluids."

For example, microwave microscopy may provide a noninvasive way to explore important surface phenomena occurring on the scale of billionths of a meter, such as the formation of a thin coating that protects and stabilizes a new battery's electrode but cannibalizes its electrolyte to make the coating. Microwave microscopy, which allows scientists to watch processes as they're happening without stopping them cold, makes it possible to characterize ongoing chemical reactions at different stages.

"At NIST, we developed environmental chambers with ultra-thin membranes to perform electron microscopy and other analytical techniques in liquids," said senior author Andrei Kolmakov. He and colleague Jeyavel Velmurugan at NIST's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology made chambers to enclose objects and processes in liquid environments and performed preliminary characterizations to identify biologically interesting cells. "Conversations between the ORNL and NIST scientists resulted in the idea to try nondestructive microwaves so the environmental chambers could be used for broader studies. There are very few groups in the world that can image with high resolution using microwaves, and CNMS is among them. The design of the experiment and the adjustment of the technology for imaging required ORNL expertise."

The ORNL and NIST researchers combined existing technologies in new ways and came up with a unique approach that may prove useful in medical diagnostics, forensics and materials research.

"For the first time, we are able to image through a very thin membrane," Tselev said. "Microwaves and scanning probe microscopy allowed that."

The right tool for the job

To image highly ordered materials, such as crystals, researchers can employ techniques such as neutron scattering and X-ray diffraction. To image less ordered materials, such as living cell membranes, or processes, such as ongoing chemical reactions, the ORNL-NIST team collaborated closely to innovate the right tool for the job.

Once the scientists had combined the environmental chamber with a scanning microwave capability, they investigated a model system to see if their new technique would work and to set a baseline for future experiments. They used the sMIM system to map polystyrene particles self-assembling into densely packed structures in a liquid.

With that proof-of-principle achieved, they then asked if their system could discriminate between silver, which is an electrical conductor, and silver oxide, an insulator, during electroplating (an electrically induced reaction to deposit silver onto a surface). Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy are not good at distinguishing silver from silver oxide. Microwave microscopy, in contrast, unambiguously distinguished insulators from conductors. Next, the researchers needed to know that observation with sMIM would not introduce artifacts, such as silver precipitation, that scanning electron microscopy may cause--a problem that is not trivial. "One paper lists 79 chemical reactions induced by electrons in water," Tselev noted. Generally, scanning electron microscopy will not allow scientists to follow silver precipitation to form growing dendrites because that technique is destructive. "Dendrites behave very badly under an electron beam," Tselev said. With sMIM, electrochemical artifacts and process stoppage did not occur. "Whereas sMIM is not the only nondestructive technique, in many cases it may be the only one which can be used."

Next the researchers imaged living cells. Because healthy and sick cells differ in properties such as the ability to store electrical energy, intracellular mapping could provide a basis for diagnosis. "Tomographic imaging--resolution across the depths--is possible with microwaves as well," Tselev said.

"If you have microwaves, you can go variably in depth and get a lot of information about the living biological cell membrane itself--shape and properties that depend very much on the chemical composition and water content, which in turn depend on whether the cell is healthy or not." The researchers were able to detect properties distinguishing healthy from sick cells.

In the current experiments, the system allowed observation close to surfaces. "That doesn't mean we'll not be able to see deeper if we redesign the experiment," Tselev said. "Microwaves can penetrate very deeply. The depth is basically limited by the contact size between the probe and the environmental cell membrane."

Next the researchers will try to improve the sensitivity and spatial resolution of their system. Because thinning the walls of the environmental chamber would improve the resolution, the researchers will try making the walls with graphene or hexagonal boron nitride, both of which are only one atom thick. They will also use different probes and image-processing algorithms to improve resolution at different depths.
Parade steps off Audio Article For the first time since 2019, marching bands, classic cars, dance troupes, scouts and politicians made their way along Midlothian Turnpike for the annual Midlothian Day Parade on Saturday, Oct....
Realpolitik: Politics based on practical and material factors rather than on theoretical or ethical objectives. Meriam-Webster

SPRINGFIELD  Imagine a place where the allies of a free-market Republican governor spend millions of dollars to help a big-spending Democrat, and where government labor unions contribute a fortune to aid a self-described "Tea Party" Republican.

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Welcome to the bizarre world of Illinois politics.

Last week, the campaigns of two flawed men became proxy wars between Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan.

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Labor unions have spent more than $500,000 this year to help Republican Sen. Sam McCann, a downstate social conservative from Plainview who dared defy Rauner on a key vote that would have stripped the governor of much of his power in negotiating with state government's largest labor union.

Legislative Democrats cheered McCann on.

And Rauner fumed.

Meanwhile in the other legislative chamber, Rauner's allies spent nearly $3 million toward helping the campaign of Ken Dunkin, a liberal Chicago Democrat with a long history of spending taxpayer dollars with abandon. But, hey, he laid low when Madigan needed him the most to override the governor's veto of  you guessed it  the measure to strip the governor of his labor negotiating powers.

Rauner loved him for it.

And Madigan seethed.

The wrath of men like Rauner and Madigan is not to be taken lightly.

They both practice realpolitik, which more or less translates in Springfield to: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

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And that hand of fellowship can be extended no matter how flawed that new "friend" is. Neither Dunkin nor McCann are the kind of men folks from either party should feel comfortable snuggling up to.

The last time I spoke to Dunkin was last month in the Capitol rotunda moments after the governor delivered his budget address. He was trying to explain to me how his alliance with the governor was resulting in the state spending more to help people in his neighborhood. But it was hard to hear him because dozens of people were standing around him screaming, "traitor."

McCann claimed to be a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. The problem is he never went to boot camp or spent a day in uniform.

When pressed by a reporter with the State Journal-Register he claimed he signed up but got hurt in a construction accident before he was supposed to show up for boot camp.

But he hasn't produced any evidence that he did that much. Regardless, Sam, good intentions don't equate to actual service.

And it is the children of this nation's working class who far too often become casualties in its wars.

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I couldn't help but think of the union men and women who walked door-to-door for McCann. Too often, they or their sons and daughters fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, their fathers before them in Vietnam.

Were these union men and women holding their noses as they campaigned for this pretender?

Earlier this month I ran into a friend who is a union leader and I mentioned McCann's military claims.

He sputtered and finally said "Well, politics attracts people like that. You know that, don't you Scott?"

Yes, sadly I do.

But because of this rank-and-file union members became bit players in the grander scheme of realpolitik.

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Of course Republicans were no better in their backing of Dunkin.

I've watched Dunkin's antics for more than a decade. And I've cringed.

I once saw him extend his middle fingers to the entire House seconds after more than 100 of his colleagues voted against one of his bills.

When that many people vote "no," they aren't just showing contempt for the legislation but for the legislator.

And Dunkin has had it happen to him at least three times.

Madigan's political machine poured forth its wrath, bringing up decades-old allegations of domestic abuse. Though Dunkin was never convicted, the assertions are troubling. Oddly enough, those blemishes on Dunkin's record didn't bother Madigan  during the preceding decade  when, election after election, he supported Dunkin.

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And Republicans donors were lining up to help Dunkin's campaign.

They liked Dunkin not for his character or decade-long voting record. They embraced him for his willingness to deny Madigan a crucial vote on a veto override.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Did they hold their noses when they wrote their checks? It doesn't matter. They too became players in this game of realpolitik.

The most telling thing about both Dunkin and McCann is that I never heard one of their colleagues in their own caucuses come to their defense.

Not once.

Last week, McCann won and Dunkin lost.

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Battles have been waged, but the war is far from over.

These primary battles are just a foreshadowing of what portends to be a brutal November general election where voters will receive lessons of their own in realpolitik.

Scott Reeder is a veteran statehouse journalist, who has covered government for almost 30 years. He works as a freelance reporter in the Springfield area. He can be reached at ScottReeder1965@gmail.com.
Elgin Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andrew Grams leads the orchestra. The ESO recently was named the state's Professional Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras. (Elgin Symphony Orchestra / Handout)

Bang the kettle drums: The Illinois Council of Orchestras recently named the Elgin Symphony Orchestra the 2016 Professional Orchestra of the Year.

"This is a proud honor for the symphony," ESO CEO Dave Bearden said.

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Bearden said the award reflected not only on the quality of the ESO's performances, but more broadly on the quality of its board and on the orchestra's financial shape.

The ESO also took the top orchestra honor in 1988, 1999 and 2005, and Bearden noted that the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra is not among those vying for the council's honors.

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"The honor does represent a level of excellence across the state," Bearden said. "We have great community support, and a great board. This is an affirmation of everything we do and of how far we've come in the last few years."

A retired businessman, Bearden became ESO CEO in 2012 after some cacophonous times for the organization.

"The job has energized me," Bearden said. "I plan to stay here awhile longer. I'm enjoying it, and have a fantastic staff."

Members of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra get ready to rehearse at the Hemmens Cultural Center earlier this year. The Illinois Council of Orchestras recently named the ESO its Professional Orchestra of the Year. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

"That the symphony is stronger reflects well on Dave Bearden," Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain told The Courier-News earlier this year. "The symphony is an Elgin institution, much like our old neighborhoods with their Victorian homes, and we should protect it the best we can."

With Bearden as CEO, in June 2013 the ESO named Andrew Grams its fourth music director. Grams frequently guest conducts with symphonies across the United States and in Europe. He was one of 16 finalists for music director with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

A Juilliard graduate, Grams is under contract with the ESO through 2021. He was named the Illinois Council of Orchestras Professional Conductor of the Year in 2015.

"Andrew has been a joy to work with," Bearden said. "With his experiences he brings a lot to the table."

According to a release from the council, the ESO's recent honor was among eight it bestowed this year for either excellence in the field of musical performance or for support of musical organizations. A panel of judges drawn from the Illinois Council of Orchestras Board of Directors and of independent professional musicians reviewed nominations representing orchestras, youth orchestras and chamber ensembles from throughout Illinois.

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As for the 66-year-old Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Bearden said, "We are always making improvements. We take things one step at a time."

He noted the organization has taken government sources out of its equation for funding. The symphony does get subsidized rent from the city for its downtown Elgin rent and a good rate for using the Hemmens, for which the ESO is grateful, Bearden said.

The challenge for most cultural-related organizations is that about 40 percent of funding comes from attendance, while the rest of a budget has to be found from a variety of sources, Bearden noted.

"We're vigilant on the cost side," he said.

Beyond the stage, the ESO reaches out to the community with its music in several ways.

In recent years, the orchestra and Elgin's Advocate Sherman Hospital partnered to create the Musicians Care program with ESO musicians periodically stopping by to perform at the hospital. Music Heals, a collaboration between the symphony and AMITA Health System, brings musicians twice a month to play at one of the AMITA hospitals in the area.

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After its Saturday night concerts in Elgin, guests artists and ESO members head to the Elgin Public House for Mingle with the Musicians. The Orchestra also hosts an annual ESO Industry Night with the Elgin Development Group.

The symphony works to aid local social service organizations and projects including Food for Greater Elgin, the Rotary International End Polio Now initiative, Toys for Tots and a local VFW's poppy campaign.

Other outreach projects underway involve offering concerts for children and working with School District U46, particularly Lowrie Elementary School. The symphony also works with the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin to provide offerings and with The Greenfields in Geneva.

For those who wish to hear the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, WFMT-FM will broadcast its performance of Brahms' First Symphony on Friday at noon during its Music in Chicago show. The work was performed by the ESO as its 2015-16 season opening concerts Oct. 3 and 4, under the baton of Grams.

The next meeting of the Elgin Symphony League will be held March 31 at 5:30 p.m. at the Evangelical Covenant Church, 1565 Larkin Ave., Elgin. It will begin with a buffet dinner followed by a performance of Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra Maud Powell String Quartet, featuring Aditi Prakash violin, Emma Mueller, violin, Tracy Suppes, viola and Darcey Pittman, cello.

Elgin Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andrew Grams waits to rehearse with the group earlier this year. The ESO recently was named the state's Professional Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

Karen Shaffer and Pamela Blevins, co-founders of the Maud Powell Society, will be in attendance to share some insight into the life and legacy of Maud Powell who was the first native-born American violinist to achieve international recognition.

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The cost for the event is $15. Anyone who might want to join the league may attend as a guest at a first meeting. Reservations can be made by calling Jeanne Hebeisen at 847-741-6264 and are due by March 28.

The ESO's next live concerts are April 1 at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts and April 2 and 3 at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin. The bills feature violinist Rachel Barton Pine taking the stage in tribute to Maud Powell in an all-Dvoak program. The concerts end with Dvoak's most famous work, The New World Symphony

According to information provided by the ESO, Powell was America's first great master or the violin who pioneered the violin recital in this country. Powell was born in Peru, Illinois in 1867 and grew up in Aurora, where she learned piano and violin.

For more information on the symphony and the upcoming concerts go to www.elginsymphony.org.

MDanahey@tribpub.com
An argument broke out at the Waukegan City Council meeting March 21. The mayor used a vulgarity while accusing a resident of creating a scene and then called police to have him removed. Police refused to remove the resident. March 22, 2106. (Emily K. Coleman / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Wayne Motley used a vulgarity in delivering a rebuke to a local activist this week during a heated exchange over Waukegan's public comment policy during City Council meetings.

The argument between Motley and activist Ralph Peterson was the latest episode in an ongoing dispute between the city and some community members who are at odds over public comments at council meetings. Critics say the city's policy is too restrictive and stifles debate.

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"When you're done making an ass out of yourself, sit down," Motley said to Peterson as the police chief escorted him back to his seat.

Peterson responded: "The only ass is you."

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In 2012, Waukegan settled a lawsuit with a man who claimed his First Amendment rights were violated when then-Mayor Richard Hyde did not allow him to speak during a January 2004 council meeting. Motley changed the public comments policy in February for the second time during his administration.

Under the city's new policy, all comments will be heard at the end of council meetings, a move Motley claimed was made to avoid "disruptions at the beginning of the meeting."

Nevertheless, an argument erupted Monday when Peterson claimed Motley blocked him from speaking.

Peterson demanded to know why Motley would not let him comment. Motley said Peterson showed up late and had somebody else add his name to the list of commenters, which Motley said was not allowed.

When Peterson asked Motley if that policy was in writing, the mayor asked police Chief Wayne Walles to remove Peterson from the podium and escort him out of the meeting.

It is not the first time Motley has attempted to have Peterson removed from a meeting. In January, Motley ordered a police officer to remove Peterson from the podium when he began speaking about former police Chief Robert Kerkorian. Motley claimed Peterson was in violation of a city ordinance regarding "rules of decorum."

Tuesday's removal request prompted a heated exchange.

Walles did not remove Peterson from the meeting entirely, and instead guided him back to his seat.

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The dispute brought to light a new question about the public comment session, one that even has aldermen confused.

While Motley did not elaborate on the sign-in sheet policy, Ald. Larry TenPas, 6th, said the policy has always been that residents sign in at 7 p.m. when the meeting starts.

Ald. Lisa May, 7th, said the city had not set up an "exact protocol" on signing people up for public comment periods. She said she had been willing to sign up residents herself if they were unable to make the beginning of the meeting or simply didn't want to sit through "a zillion public works line items."

"I do think it's very, very important that this body let anyone and everyone address us," May said. "We have to give them that right. It's three minutes."

Peterson said Tuesday that he filed a disorderly conduct complaint with the Waukegan Police Department over Motley's swearing and plans to file additional complaints with the city's human resources department and the Illinois attorney general's office, which investigates complaints over violations of the state's public records and open meetings laws.

Peterson said he has six other pending complaints against the city with the AG's office, including one for stopping him from taking pictures and others for interfering with his ability to speak at meetings.

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Motley claimed Tuesday's argument with Peterson was part of the reason the council moved the public comment session to the end of meetings. The change was made "for sanity's sake," the mayor said.

Peterson says the new policy does not include language saying audience members had to be present at the beginning of the meeting in order to speak.

"That's making up rules as we go along," Peterson said afterward.

emcoleman@tribpub.com

Twitter @mekcoleman
This 4201 Lake-Cook Road building is the proposed home of a new Northbrook psychiatric hospital. Northbrook trustees on March 22 said the were uncomfortable with the location and the strain the hospital might put on local emergency services. (Irv Leavitt / Pioneer Press)

Northbrook trustees told representatives of a proposed psychiatric hospital on March 22 that they didn't want it in the village because it would put too much stress on Northbrook emergency services at a time when demand for them is increasing due to new development.

Some trustees also said they were uncomfortable with the location of the planned Northbrook Behavioral Hospital, at 4201 Lake-Cook Road, just north of the Northbrook Montessori School.

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"I can't see putting that right next to a school," Trustee James Karagianis said.

Every Village Board member said there was a need for a psychiatric hospital in the area to handle patients in crisis. But only one trustee said he favored the 75-bed hospital proposal by US HealthVest, a New York company.

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"I think on all of us it's something of a moral imperative to see how we can overcome these challenges," Trustee Bob Israel said. "I think a need is there, and to say 'not in my backyard' to something like this is not something that I can do."

Northbrook Fire Chief Jose Torres, in a Jan. 22 memo to trustees, had estimated there would be 69 to 78 annual service calls  mostly for ambulances  to the hospital, based on the experience of another US HealthVest facility, Des Plaines' Chicago Behavioral Hospital. Northbrook police reported that Des Plaines officers responded to 70 calls from that hospital in the second half of 2015.

Northbrook Trustee A.C. Buehler said that in about 30 years on the Village Board and Plan Commission, it was only about the fifth time that such memos actually indicated a significant impact by a proposed development. He added that the police contribution in Northbrook would likely be much higher than in Des Plaines, because Northbrook police accompany ambulances, unlike Des Plaines police.

Buehler, the head of the Board's Public Safety committee, said the location on the far northwest edge of Northbrook was a factor, because "you cannot find a more difficult or longer run for police or fire in the village."

He said that while US HealthVest had a right to submit formal applications for zoning variations to the Plan Commission, it would likely have a tough time seeking eventual Village Board approval.

"That's your right under the code, but those types of concerns I have, bear in mind when making that determination," Buehler said.

Current property owner Michael Nortman said he would be willing to discuss minimizing the need for emergency services and paying for some of their costs. US HealthVest Vice President Martina Sze told the Board that the hospital would bring Northbrook 15 full-time jobs.

"We look forward to having the opportunity to go through the process and address the concerns you have on the service calls, and we look forward to seeing how our services and our hospital can serve your community," Sze said.

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But that was before most of trustees' comments, and before Village Attorney Steve Elrod reminded them of the legal covenant put on the land when it was annexed in 1985, in the wake of a lawsuit that forced the village to allow the property to be developed, mostly for homes or offices. The covenant forbids several other uses, including medical, Elrod said.

Elrod told trustees that when altering the covenant, "you may exercise sole and absolute discretion.

"It's very different from zoning cases, in which you have to be reasonable."

In a straw poll of the board, only Israel and Trustee Todd Heller said they would consider altering the covenant, with Heller saying, "you're going to have to sell me on how this hospital is not going to tax Northbrook services."

After the meeting, Sze said "we'll have to see" what the company's next step will be."

If the project is submitted for Plan Commission review, US HealthVest might receive more challenges. Administrators of the Montessori school, and residents of townhouses west of the hospital site, said after the meeting that they planned to fight the project because of safety concerns and possible noise from sirens.

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Support for the hospital might be in evidence during public hearings, however. Nortman sent in 30 letters backing the facility from representatives of local agencies dealing with mental health issues.

ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter:@IrvLeavitt
Taltree Arboretum & Gardens trumpeter swan pair wait in their winter enclosure for their spring checkup. The swans will soon move to their spring and summer home in the wetlands, marking the beginning of the busy season. (Lauri Keagle)

Taltree Arboretum & Gardens' trumpeter swans received a clean bill of health at their spring checkup in preparation for their upcoming move to their spring and summer home in the non-profit's wetlands, representatives said.

While Taltree is open year-round, the march of the swans each spring is one of many events marking the beginning of the busy season at the non-profit's 330-acre property.

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The male and female pair came to Taltree spend the winter months in their enclosure near the Railway Garden.

The pair have yet to reproduce, but staff members are hoping this will be the year for new additions to Taltree's feathered family.

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"Last year, they started showing signs that they were ready, doing a mating dance and building a nest for the first time," said Chad Cronin, grounds and facilities manager at Taltree.

Taltree is taking steps to assist and encourage nesting by providing straw, hay, twigs and sticks at their spring and summer home in the wetlands. The nests can be as large as 4 or 5 feet in diameter.

"She's just reaching the age where she wants to be a mom," Dr. Larry McAfee, a retired Valparaiso veterinarian who donates his services to care for Taltree's animals, said during his wellness check of the birds Wednesday morning.

Any offspring produced will be relocated to Florida with the assistance of the Trumpter Swan Society, where they will be integrated into a migrating flock, Cronin said.

McAfee said trumpeter swans were on the federal endangered species but were delisted and are now a protected species. The protected status requires Taltree to maintain state and federal permits to house and care for the birds.

Both of the birds received physicals Wednesday morning as well as deworming agents. Both were found to be in exceptionally good health, McAfee said as he praised Cronin for his feeding regimen over the winter.

"Neither is too thin or too fat," McAfee said. "Their flesh is perfect."

The pair will move to their spring and summer home in Taltree's Window to the Wetlands within the next few weeks. Cronin and his staff will ensure there is plenty of duck weed on the pond on which the trumpeter swans can feed before the move is made.

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Community contribution
Residents opposed to the Illiana toll road have a new transportation project to consider  a freight rail line that will run from Wisconsin through Illinois, southern Lake County, Porter County and into LaPorte.

Victoria Rutson, director of the Office of Environmental Analysis in the Surface Transportation Board in Washington, D.C., sent a letter Friday to the Lake County Plan Commission, disclosing the plans and the start of the scoping process, which will include a handful of local public hearings.

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Great Lakes Basin Transportation Inc. plans to file under federal law either a petition for exemption or an application to construct and operate an approximately 278-mile rail line from LaPorte to near Milton, Wis., according to the document

"The construction and operation of the proposed GLBT rail line has the potential to result in significant environmental impacts," Rutson wrote. Due to the potential impacts the board's Office of Environmental Analysis determined the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement was necessary. The scoping period is the first step in that process.

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News of the plans caught Lake and Porter county officials by surprise.

Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-2nd, said he was unaware of the plan until the letter was received by Ned Kovacevich, Plan Commission director.

"We are just looking at the whole thing right now," Scheub said. "There are no benefits for the people in Lake County ... It's all negatives for the folks that live in Lowell."

Scheub said officials will begin working on an alternative proposal Wednesday to present that takes the rail line through a more northerly route. He said infrastructure already is in place including bridges and viaducts that would help keep traffic flowing.

"It would be a tragedy to Lowell if it went through downtown," Scheub said. A railroad crossing Indiana 2 would cause traffic delays and cut off access to emergency vehicles, he said. Constructing a viaduct could eliminate small businesses.

Scheub said the plan offers no economic development opportunities to the town and will produce no new jobs.

"There are really no benefits to Lowell," Scheub said.

Bob Thompson, planning director for Porter County, first got a heads-up about the rail line from a Boone County, Ill., official last week, but didn't receive official word of the proposal until Tuesday.

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"I would have liked to have a little more notice on it," he said, adding the developers are trying to get out of doing an environmental impact study, "which could be lengthy and very expensive," thought he doubts the Surface Transportation Board will exempt them.

He is unsure what the county's recourse will be in handling the proposed rail line.

"They're trying to relieve the bottleneck of all the railroads in Chicago," he said.

He said he didn't know what it would mean for Porter County, adding the proposed route would be just north of Hebron through the southern part of the county.

Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, also learned about the rail line Tuesday, and that it will go directly through her family's property in Porter Township.

"I have not finished all of my information gathering but of course I'm not too excited about having 110 trains come through my property every day," she said, adding her family built their home in the rural area because there was nothing nearby.

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Like other officials, she was surprised by the news and feels like Porter County has not been included in the process up to this point,

"So far, I don't see any benefit to Porter County but admittedly, I still have a lot to learn," she said.

While public meetings on the rail line will be held in Lowell and Wanatah, none are scheduled for Porter County, which Blaney sees as a red flag.

"I wonder if there are no meetings in Porter County because the people of Porter County have spoken up for themselves in the past. Remonstrance against projects that don't benefit us has been strong," she said, noting a proposal for a landfill also near where she lives and near Boone Grove Middle School; objections to the Illiana toll road; and a movement last year against an industrial hog farm just south of the Valparaiso city limits.

Lake County Councilman Eldon Strong, R-Crown Point, and state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-6th, said they did not know about the plans until they received a copy of the letter from Kovacevich.

Strong said he and Niemeyer were together Tuesday discussing the letter and trying to learn more about the plan. Strong said at this time details are vague.

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Kovacevich said he, too, was surprised.

"I knew nothing about it until I got the envelope from my desk when I came back from lunch (Monday)," Kovacevich said. He said it is difficult to determine from the information available at this time the exact route the rail line would take but it appears to go through south Lake County.

Meetings planned

Eight public scoping meetings are planned. The meetings will begin with an open house followed by a public comment period. Public comments will be transcribed by a court reporter and become part of the public record.

Three of the meetings will be in Indiana.

The first takes place from 5:30-8 p.m. April 12 at Lowell Town Hall, 501 E. Main St., Lowell; 5:30-8 p.m. April 13 at American Legion Banquet Hall, 203 S. Washington St., Wanatah; and 5:30-8 p.m. April 14 at the Civic Auditorium Banquet Room, 1001 Ridge St., LaPorte.

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Amy Lavalley and Carrie Napoleon are freelance reporters for the Post-Tribune.
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Editor: Alexander Chipman Koty

The Chinese government has recently instituted administrative reforms simplifying the countrys business establishment and registration procedures. As of October 1, 2015, newly established companies in China must apply for a single integrated business license in place of three separate certificates when registering with authorities.

The new integrated business license, sometimes referred to as the Three-in-One business license, combines the old business license, the organization code certificate, and the tax registration certificate into a single document with one social credit code. This reform is part of Beijings broader effort to develop a market-based economy by simplifying and streamlining administrative procedures and reducing bureaucratic hurdles.

Under the old system, companies had to submit similar sets of documents to all three of the Administration of Industry and Commerce Office (AIC), the Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision Office, and the Tax Bureau. This process sometimes required the submission of dozens of supporting documents, multiple trips to the three offices, and a turnaround time that could span several weeks. Now, companies only need to submit one set of approximately 13 documents to the AIC and can receive the license in three days, while paying administrative fees just once.

RELATED: Business Advisory Services from Dezan Shira & Associates

Companies established before October 1, 2015, have until the end of the transition period, namely December 31, 2017, to obtain the integrated business license. If a company applies for a change to any of its certificates during the transition period, they must be returned to the AIC and an integrated business license will be issued in their place. The new license is mandatory for all business entities including wholly foreign owned enterprises, branch offices, and representative offices, except for self-employed individuals.

Although mostly uniform, there are some regional discrepancies in registration practices. For example, the reform broadens to a Five-in-One business license in Shenzhen and Zhejiang Province, which also replaces the social security registration certificate and the statistics registration certificate in these areas. In Shanghai and Guangzhou, the statistics registration certificate has been eliminated altogether. In certain administrative regions, exceptions apply for what types of entities require registration. While it is generally obligatory for representative offices of foreign enterprises to apply for the new integrated business license, they are not expressly required to do so in Guangdong Province. Additionally, businesses established in Beijing and others operating in special industries enjoy a longer transitional period that extends to December 31, 2020. Due to the variety of regional practices, business owners should seek professional expertise when establishing and registering a business in China to ensure compliance with local authorities.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. 

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2015

Doing Business in China 2015 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies that already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

How to Restructure an Underperforming Business in China

In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we explore the options that are available to foreign firms looking to restructure or close their operations in China. We begin with an overview of what restructuring an unprofitable business in China might entail, and then take an in-depth look at the way in which a foreign company can go about the restructuring process. Finally, we highlight some of the key HR concerns associated with restructuring a China business.

Selling, Sourcing and E-Commerce in China 2016 (First Edition)

This guide, produced in collaboration with the experts at Dezan Shira & Associates, provides a comprehensive analysis of all these aspects of commerce in China. It discusses how foreign companies can best go about sourcing products from China; how foreign retailers can set up operations on the ground to sell directly to the countrys massive consumer class; and finally details how foreign enterprises can access Chinas lucrative yet ostensibly complex e-commerce market.
China's involvement in Scotland's infrastructure projects will help improve its ground commuting system and is expected to spur local employment, industry experts said on Tuesday.

Scotland signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday with Chinese investment group SinoFortone Group and China Railway No 3 Engineering Group, the largest construction company in the world, to bring about infrastructure projects with a potential value of 10 billion pounds ($14.3 billion).

"With high-speed trains traveling at a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour, it certainly will help Scotland change the situation in which its ground commuting systems long been dominated by automobiles. And related projects can generate a large number of jobs and construction materials supplying businesses," said Luo Renjian, a researcher at the Institute of Transport Research at the National Development and Reform Commission.

Luo said that even though China is a latecomer to the field in comparison with its German and French rivals, its railway infrastructure building ability and rail equipment companies have thrived thanks to cost advantages, reasonable delivery times and flexible financing models.

The latest agreement will pave the way for significant investment in fields such as clean energy, transport and affordable housing, analysts said.

At the agreement signing ceremony, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was joined at Bute House by Peter Zhang, the managing director of SinoFortone Group, Sir Richard Heygate, senior adviser for China Railway No 3 Engineering Group, and Chinese Consul General Pan Xinchun.

"We have been cooperating and engaging with China since 2007 and I further progressed Scotland's business credentials during my trip last year, and this Memorandum of Understanding will strengthen our economic links with China in a number of areas," Sturgeon said.

"We have high hopes for Scotland's economy and it is in a strong position, but if we can drive further growth by looking beyond our shores and building relationships with firms across the world then we will seek to make that happen."

"We are delighted to act as a bridge between Chinese infrastructure expertise and finance with Scotland, to provide a real example of the benefits of the Belt and Road Initiative in action," Zhang said.

Consul General Pan congratulated all sides on this agreement and said this project will benefit not only Chinese enterprises but also the Scottish people.

Sir Brian Souter from Souter Investments said SinoFortone's investment will be good for Scotland's economy, create jobs and enable growth.
Mr. Zhou Wenzhong, secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia, speaks at the BFA annual conference 2016 press conference on March 22, 2016. [Photo by Zhang Ruomeng/China.org.cn]

Many Asian economies' tourism sectors tend to have a high degree of dependence on China, says a report just released at the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, which kicked off on March 22 in the coastal town of Boao in southern China's Hainan Province.

As a high-end platform for dialogue between government leaders and industrial and business elites from Asia and beyond, the forum brings together 2,100 representatives from 62 countries and regions this year.

In 2014, Chinese travelers accounted for more than 10 percent of inbound tourists in five Asian countries, including 43.13 percent in South Korea, 17.96 percent in Japan, and 11.41 percent in Singapore.

The Asian-Pacific region saw remarkable growth in inbound tourism in 2014, with a growth rate of 5.4 percent and a total of 263 million incoming tourists, ranking first globally in terms of growth rate and second (behind the Americas) in total number of tourists.

This year's annual report on the progress of Asian economic integration edited by Lin Guijun, vice president of University of International Business and Economics, says that Asian-Pacific inbound tourism revenue in 2014 grew by 4.1 percent to US$377 billion, an increase of US$16 billion over the previous year.

Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan had attained the highest dependence on Asian tourist markets in 2014.

The dependence of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan on Chinese tourists reached a five-year high during the period from 2010 to 2014. For South Korea, growth in the Chinese tourism was 102.44 percent. Japan was able to recover in its tourist trade with China, partly due to the depreciation of the Japanese yen and partly due to new incentive policies for the tourism industry, including a new policy to refund taxes and a relaxation of visa regulations for Chinese tourists. Consequently, Japan's dependence on the Chinese tourists rose by 42 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Dependence on the Chinese tourists, selected Asian economies (percent)

Economy 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Hong Kong 58.14 67.03 71.81 75.04 77.66 South Korea 21.31 22.67 25.47 35.54 43.14 Japan 16.40 16.78 24.43 12.68 17.96 Taiwan 29.29 29.31 35.37 35.86 40.23

China has become a top supplier of global cross-border tourism, making extraordinary contributions to the growth of the Asian tourism trade. In 2014, overseas consumption of Chinese tourists grew by 27 percent to US$165 billion, and in 2014 its number of outbound tourists exceeded 100 million people for the first time. Sequentially, the top 10 destinations for Chinese tourists are South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Maldives, Singapore, the US, and Cambodia.

The core team of the report's authors was comprised of economists from China's University of International Business and Economics, the Capital University of Business and Economics, Beijing Union University and Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture.
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The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Tuesday announced it will directly oversee the "problematic vaccine" case, and urged prosecuting bodies at all levels to spare no efforts in their investigation.

The police recently discovered that improperly stored or expired vaccines, worth more than 570 million yuan (88 million U.S. dollars) had been allegedly sold in more than 20 provincial-level regions since 2011.

Prosecutors across the country will work closely with local police and drug administration to uncover the manufacturing source, circulation channels and buyers of the inferior products.

The SPP also order a quick response mechanism to be established to facilitate information sharing, case details and case transfers.
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Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that China will continue to open up and build a fair market environment.

Li made the remarks when meeting with foreign attendees of the China Development Forum 2016 on March 19-21.

Only if this policy is followed will China maintain a medium-high growth rate and achieve medium-high level of development, said Li.

He said China will develop its economy under the guidance of the new innovation, coordination, green, open and sharing development concepts, which were outlined in the country's roadmap for social and economic development covering 2016-2020.

China will implement "supply-side structural reform" over the next five years to stimulate the vitality of the market, he said.

Supply-side structural reform, proposed by policymakers in November, aims to advance economic restructuring by reducing ineffective and low-end supply, and boost productivity by expanding medium-to-high-end supply.

China is counting on mass innovation and entrepreneurship to foster new growth engines, said Li, adding that China will spare no effort when advancing technological and institutional innovation.

The foreign representatives at the event included Ford president and CEO Mark Fields, Yale University president Peter Salovey, and Nobel laureate Michael Spence.

The foreign representatives said that by attending the forum, they gained deeper understanding of China's economic prospects and China's determination of deepening reform and pushing forward economic restructuring and upgrading.

They voiced willingness of strengthening cooperation with China and providing support and assistance to China in their respective fields.

The China Development Forum is a state-level event sponsored by the Development Research Center of the State Council, which is committed to "engaging with the world for common prosperity."

The forum, with the theme "China in the New Five-Year Plan," aims to enhance mutual understanding and trust between China and the world through in-depth communication among representatives, and help chart the reform roadmap and contribute to the successful start of the new five-year period.
Hong Kong has long been regarded as the world's center for finance, trade, and shipping. But at the same time, some have labelled the city a "cultural desert."

The scene is rapidly changing now, as Hong Kong is in full gear to become an art hub with numerous prestigious art events going on throughout the year.

As CRI's Hong Kong correspondent Li Jing has found out, Hong Kong still has a way to go before it becomes a real arts center.

This week is beginning with world-class art fairs, like Art Basel, Art Central, and the Asia Contemporary Art Show.

Linda Lai from Taipei says she is impressed by the city's arts scene.

"I went to a gallery on Pedder Street in Central yesterday, and it was very nice. It is incredible that so many big art fairs are going on in the city in the same period. I can see how ambitious Hong Kong is in developing the arts sector."

Hong Kong's location and low tax rate makes the city an ideal place for trading art. It is now the world's third-largest art market by auction sales after New York and London.

Global Director of Art Basel Marc Spiegler says Hong Kong has already been recognized as an art hub, because more western galleries are participating here this year.

"We are part of the ecosystem here, on the one hand, you have a rapidly growing scene of galleries coming from Asia and from the West to actually open galleries here, you have other galleries who are not physically present but who have representatives here, you have the greatest fairs in Asia and in world taking place here every year, you also have non-profit sectors growing. In every single level you have growth, and what's great about it you have growth in a situation where people really work to collaborate together. It's not territorial, it's collaborate in collegial."

But Gina Wong, founder of a non-profit gallery called Experimenta located in Wan Chai, says more should be done to promote the cultural element in the city.

"Hong Kong seems to be very successful in the trading of arts, in the production of art, I think Hong Kong has a little bit catching up compared with major cities around the world. In terms of having more art space, more non-profit space and museums, again, obviously, Hong Kong has some way to go. But Hong Kong is a vibrant bustling city, and we will get there."

The local government is funding West Kowloon Cultural District to develop into one of the world's largest cultural quarters, with the highlight M+( Plus) Museum expected to be open in 2019 featuring contemporary visual art.

Tim Etchells, Managing Director of Art Central, which is held along Victoria harbor, says this will further upgrade Hong Kong's status as an art center.

"I think when West Kowloon comes on line, and you have an amazing museum, I think that will balance the kind of less commercial activities. So that certainly needs to happen, you know the government got a massive commitment to do it. Yes it is very commercial at the moment, but in long term, that will change."

At the same time, Joey Lau, manager of Sovereign Art Foundation, says her organization has been working since 2013 to make art more accessible to local kids.

"These kids are typically from poverty, new immigrants, or they have learning disabilities, like kids with ADHD or autism. Every Saturday we have art teachers going to community centers to give art workshops to give them more skills, and the kids can release their emotions. We are still quite fresh, we try to raise awareness."

The Hong Kong government is promoting March as "Arts Month," not only to play up Hong Kong's artistic atmosphere and cultural heritage, but also to boost cultural tourism, when tourists are less excited about shopping and eating.
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A giant panda breeding center in southwest China's Sichuan Province received a donation of 50,000 U.S. dollars from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday.

Yu Zaiqing, vice president of the IOC, attended the donation ceremony in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, home to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Both pandas and Olympics bear the meaning of peace and amity, said Zhang Zhihe, director of the base. In February, the IOC President Thomas Bach named a pair of panda cub twins "Olympia" and "Fuwa" in the base, Zhang added.

The donation will be used in the breeding and protection of giant pandas in the base, according to Zhang.
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Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Tuesday urged local authorities to intensify flood control and disaster relief work.

Wang, who is also the general director of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, told a conference that local authorities should not underestimate the urgency of flood control at present.

This year began with unfavorable weather conditions, and the rainy season arrived earlier than usual due to a super El Nino, Wang said, adding that some southern parts of the country were already seeing torrential rain.

Wang said local governments must put the people first, check for any weaknesses in flood control measures and allocate disaster relief in a timely manner to minimize losses.
A Chinese technician displays textile equipment at an international exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which attracted 125 companies from Vietnam, China, Japan and South Korea. [Photo/Xihua]

Soon after Chinese President Xi Jinping first mentioned the term "supply-side reform," it quickly caught on as a buzzword to describe China's ongoing economic restructuring.

This term has been heavily bandied about in the media, where it's used as shorthand for government efforts to reduce idle capacity, phase out polluting businesses, eliminate industrial inefficiencies and scale back inventories.

There's also been an outpouring of scholarly interest in this topic, as evidenced by a recent slew of seminars and research reports.

Among these reports is one recently published by Shanghai's Fudan University. Entitled "Annual Analysis Report on China's Industrial Development: 2015," it examines economic conditions from an industry-specific perspective, while also offering specific policy advice to guide efforts going forward.

"The report is very revealing about the biggest drain on the Chinese economy," said Professor Rui Mingjie of Fudan's School of Management, who led the study.

Speaking on the occasion of the report's official release last week, Rui argued that the heaviest weight on country's economy are the so-called "basic industries," which the report identifies as producers of coal, steel, cement and other basic commodities. These industries have taken some of the worst beatings amid the country's growth slowdown.

Take steel makers for example. From 2013 onwards, the country's steel inventory has increased at an annual rate of 20 percent, says the report.

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South Korea and the United States launch the largest military drill since 2010 on March 7 on the Korean Peninsula. The two-month drill consists of two parts: command post exercise Key Resolve and the Foal Eagle field training (XINHUA)

The UN Security Council's (UNSC) adoption of Resolution 2270 which imposes the strictest sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to date for its development of nuclear weapons, fueled speculation about the future of the relationship between China and North Korea.

China, perceived as a long-time "ally" of North Korea by many Western powers, supported the March 2 UNSC resolution on North Korea. But sanctions are not an end in and of themselves, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. China urges all parties to make concerted efforts to solve the issue through negotiations, as the resolution calls for.

A difficult task

The DPRK, also known as North Korea, was denounced for violating the September 19 Joint Statement reached by all six parties in 2005, in which the country promised to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing programs.

Its irresponsible behavior can also be partially attributed to the hardline policies the United States has adopted against it.

The DPRK's path toward nuclearization is complicated. While China understands its demand for safeguarding its national security, North Korea's way of confronting the United States is unwise and reckless. As far as national strength is concerned, the DPRK is too weak to challenge the United States, the world's only super power.

North Korea should have made efforts to win international support and sympathy through diplomatic means. But instead, it has fallen into isolation over the last few years due to its obsession with nuclear weapons. On the surface, the country's leadership has obtained more strength and shored up domestic support through recent nuclear tests. Regardless, its reputation abroad has been severely tarnished. It was then followed by the UN adoption of the strictest economic sanctions on the country in decades.

More importantly, North Korea's nuclear tests have inadvertently provided reasons for the United States to enhance its military presence in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has fallen into a vicious circle of nuclear tests, but its nuclear program will not be able to help the country improve its comprehensive security situation. On the contrary, it is worsening: Trying to get rid of a "U.S. threat" by enhancing their nuclear program would only trigger greater hostility in the region.

The latest hydrogen bomb test on January 6 is the fourth time North Korea has conducted a nuclear test. It implies a dangerous tendency in North Korea's security policy. That is to say, the country flaunts its capabilities regardless of the risky consequences, including widespread disapproval from the international community.

Some might urge China to influence North Korea directly, but that is barely possible. To understand the reality, people need to look back into history to learn about the evolution of bilateral relations between China and North Korea.

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Turkish military hit Islamic State (IS) targets on Tuesday as a group of IS militants tried to attack a military training camp in the Bashiqa region of Mosul province of Iraq, local NTV broadcaster reported.

Turkish military units in the camp destroyed the IS positions repelling the attack, which is the fourth assault since December against the military camp that is relatively close to IS-held Mosul, NTV quoted military sources.

The attempt came after an IS suicide bomber killed five people and wounded 36 others in Istanbul on Saturday.

The IS militants launched their first attack on the military camp on Dec. 16 just after Turkey deployed around additional 150 troops to the Bashiqa area in December earlier with aim of training an Iraqi Sunni militia to fight IS. In a second assault on Dec. 27, five Turkish soldiers were injured.

Turkish soldiers killed 17 Islamic State militants on Jan. 8 while the IS group tried to leak into the camp.

The deployment in Iraq however has caused a row between Turkey and Iraq as the latter claimed the presence of Turkish troops to the camp was violation of the country's sovereignty.
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Government forces in Nigeria have killed 58 Boko Haram fighters in the latest military operation in the country, spokesman of the Nigerian Army Sani Usman said on Tuesday.

Two hand grenades, 52 motorcycles, several bags of foodstuff were also recovered during the operation carried out by troops in Nigeria's northeast Borno State late Monday, said Usman, adding that the military also lost a soldier in the gunfight.

The announcement followed the killing of at least 27 Boko Haram terrorists in separate raids last weekend by the military.

With the latest development, the Nigerian government said it is winning the war against terrorism and has "technically defeated" Boko Haram.
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A Russian court in the southern city of Donetsk has sentenced Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda Savchenko to 22 years in prison after finding her guilty of complicity in killing two Russian journalists in 2014, RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Ukrainian female pilot will spend a total of 20 years and four months in a regular-security colony as she has been in custody for a year and eight month during the investigation and the trial.

Savchenko may be eligible for a pardon not earlier than in 12 years, according to the court ruling.

The court has also fined her for 30,000 rubles (443 U.S. dollars) for illegally crossing the Russian border.

The court withdrew the accusation of complicity in shelling Ukrainian civilians, saying this matter was outside the jurisdiction of the Russian court.

Savchenko was accused of directing artillery fire during hostilities between Kiev government troops and separatists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014, which resulted in the killing of two Russian reporters.

Savchenko, who is considered a national hero by many Ukrainians, has denied the charges and said she had been kidnapped in Ukraine and then handed over to Russian authorities.

The Kremlin has so far refused to yield to appeals of various leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to release Savchenko.
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The Kremlin on Tuesday confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during the latter's upcoming visit to Moscow this week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the crises in Syria and Ukraine would be on the top agenda, while the two sides are also expected to discuss a broad range of other issues.

However, Peskov did not give the specific time of their meeting and declined to comment on possible results of the visit.

Kerry will pay a working visit to Russia on Wednesday and Thursday to meet with Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov.
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China on Tuesday called on nations along the Lancang-Mekong River to make the upcoming leaders' meeting fruitful for future cooperation.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh pose for photos in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, March 22, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Premier Li Keqiang made the remarks while addressing a welcoming banquet prior to the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting to be held on Wednesday in Sanya, a coastal city in southern China's Hainan Province.

Li, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen; Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong; Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham; and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will attend the "shared river, shared future" themed meeting.

Li said institutionalized cooperation among the six countries will help maintain regional peace and stability, give full play to each country's resources, industries and market, and provide more support to the region's social and economic development.

The LMC will also supplement relations between China and ASEAN, the premier added.

The foreign ministers of China and Thailand also met on Tuesday evening in Sanya, pledging to make the leaders' meeting a success.

China was ready to work with all five countries to make the LMC mechanism a model of south-south cooperation, a platform of unity and cooperation, and a showcase of the mutual support between neighboring countries, Wang Yi said, during his meeting with Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai.

Wang also spoke highly of the contribution made by Thailand, who jointly initiated the LMC mechanism and will co-chair the leaders' meeting.

Don Pramudwinai echoed Wang, and said LMC played an important leading role in regional development. He pledged to work with China and other parties to make the first leaders' meeting a success.

He said the recent move by China to release water to aid countries in the lower reaches of the Lancang-Mekong River, who were suffering from drought, demonstrated its sincerity, and commitment to the LMC.

The LMC, proposed in 2014, will focus on security and development, as well as political, social and cultural fields. Interconnectivity, production capacity, cross-border economy, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation are five priority directions for cooperation.
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China strongly condemned the attacks on Brussels Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Policemen stand guard at a crossroad in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

China firmly opposes terrorism in all forms, said spokesperson Hua Chunying in a statement, offering deep condolences to the families of the victims.

China is willing to enhance cooperation with Belgium and the international community to jointly face the threats and challenges posed by terrorism to safeguard world peace and stability, said Hua.

She said the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Belgium are closely monitoring the latest developments to see if there were any Chinese nationals among the victims.

According to media reports, at least 34 people were killed in explosions at an airport and at a city metro station in Brussels.

There was still some uncertainty about the number of casualties.

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the terror attacks. A statement published by the A'maq news agency, which is said linked to the extremist group, said: "Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the center of the Belgian capital Brussels, a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State."

Officials at China's embassy in Belgium said that there had been no reports so far of Chinese killed or injured in the attacks. The emergency unit of University Hospital Saint-Luc, which is near the airport, said there were no Asians known to be among those sent there for treatment.

The embassy has asked Chinese to exercise caution if they plan to visit Belgium.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel canceled his visit to China. He had been scheduled to attend the Boao Forum this week.

The blasts at the airport and subway station occurred four days after the arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in November.

Belgium's security alert was raised to the highest level after the attacks. Police and troops on the streets were on alert for any further attacks.

Michel said he was sending up to 200 extra troops to the capital to join those already deployed.

Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands, all wary of spillover from the conflict in Syria, were among states announcing extra security measures.

All public transportation in Brussels was shut down.

Authorities appealed to citizens not to use overloaded telephone networks. Additionally, extra troops were sent into the city, and the Belgian Crisis Center, wary of a further incident, appealed to the population: "Stay where you are."

The Brussels airport said it had canceled all flights until at least 6 am local time on Wednesday, and the complex had been evacuated and trains to the airport halted.

Hainan Airlines' flight HU492, which was scheduled to take off at 12:20 pm, was delayed, the airline said, without disclosing a new flight schedule.

The carrier's Airbus 330 was parking at the airport as it was closed.

European governments moved swiftly to beef up security in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

In France, President Francois Hollande ordered an additional 1,600 police and paramilitary officers onto the streets of Paris.
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Kenyan police say they have stepped up surveillance across the country, warning that Al-Shabaab militants, fleeing military operations in southern Somalia, may sneak into the country.

Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinett, on Tuesday urged Kenyans to remain vigilant, saying the militants may stage attacks in Kenya.

"Al-Shabaab elements have been fleeing in different directions with some heading towards our border," Boinett said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

He asked the public to report any suspicious person or activity to police immediately.

The warning comes after Kenyan troops, part of the African Union (AU) force in Somalia, killed 34 Al-Shabaab militants and captured a middle-level commander in two operations in Somalia over the weekend.

Two Kenyan soldiers however died in the attacks, said army spokesman, David Obonyo.

Boinett also called on private security providers to tighten security.

"Hotel operators and their innkeepers as well as those offering their premises for short lets are advised to thoroughly scrutinize their prospective clients before admitting them," the army chief said.

He added all vehicles accessing public places must be subjected to thorough search.

Islamist group Al-Shabaab has carried out several bloody attacks in Kenya after Kenya sent its troops to Somalia in 2011 to battle the militants.

Kenya has more than 4,000 troops in the 22,000-strong AU force in Somalia, which has been helping the Somali government battle Al-Shabaab.
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The Saudi-led Arab coalition launched three airstrikes on a training camp of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch on Tuesday, leaving dozens killed and injured, a military official told Xinhua.

The airstrikes completely destroyed an al-Qaida training camp in a desert area in the province of Hadramout on Tuesday evening, the official said.

"Dozens of al-Qaida mid-level commanders, new recruits and explosives experts of the terrorist group were bombed while gathering for dinner inside the camp," the local military source said on condition of anonymity.

Local residents told Xinhua that warplanes hovered over the training base and fired several missiles. Huge flames and smokes were seen rising from the bombing site.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch group has yet to make comments.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The AQAP, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.

It took advantage of the current security vacuum and the ongoing civil war to expand its influence in Yemen's southern regions.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, half of them civilians.
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China and Zambia have agreed to enhance bilateral ties in various fields as Chinese top legislator visited the African country.

Zhang Dejiang (L), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), shakes hands with Zambian President Edgar Lungu in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, March 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, paid an official goodwill visit to Zambia on March 18-22.

Zhang's 10-day Africa tour, which will also take him to Rwanda and Kenya, is aimed at pushing forward implementation of the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in South Africa's Johannesburg in December.

The major plans to boost China-Africa win-win cooperation announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit demonstrated China's commitment to supporting Africa's independent and sustainable development, Zhang said during a meeting with Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Saturday afternoon.

The top legislator called on the two countries to enhance collaboration on implementing the consensus reached during the FOCAC summit and constantly deepen bilateral relations.

China will pay more attention to improving quality of bilateral pragmatic cooperation, Zhang said, proposing that the two sides should give priority to cooperation in areas such as industrial capacity, agriculture, infrastructure construction, finance and human resources development.

Zhang said China appreciates Zambia's role in safeguarding African unity and is willing to strengthen coordination with Zambia on the reform of the United Nations Security Council, climate change, Africa's peace and security as well as other global and regional affairs.

Lungu expressed willingness to expand pragmatic cooperation with China on industrial capacity, mining and agriculture among others, adding that Zambia welcomes more Chinese investment in the country.

When holding talks with Speaker of Zambian National Assembly Patrick Matibini on Saturday, Zhang called on the legislative bodies of both countries to upgrade cooperation and fully play their roles in promoting China-Zambia relations.

On Monday, Zhang visited Zambia's former President Kenneth Kaunda and spoke highly of the role the first president of Zambia has played in promoting the friendly relations between the two countries.

Zambia established diplomatic ties with China in October 1964, just after the Africa country gained independence from colonial rule.

Accompanied by Zambian Vice President Inonge Wina, Zhang visited a China-Zambia economic cooperation zone in Lusaka and a Confucius Institute in the University of Zambia on Monday.

During his stay in the Zambian capital, the Chinese top legislator also attended the 134th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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Turkey captured 10 suspected Islamic State (IS) militants, including a suicide bomber, near the Syrian border on Tuesday, the Turkish Armed Forces announced.

The IS militants who were allegedly trying to illegally cross into Turkey were captured in Gaziantep province at the Syrian frontier, the military said, adding the suicide bomber reportedly had a bomb setup on him ready to explode.

Earlier on Saturday, a powerful explosion hit central Istanbul killing five people and injuring 36 others. This is the fourth major blasts in Turkey since last October, after deadly bombings in the capital Ankara and Istanbul.
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Japan should take measures to respond to international concerns about its excessive stockpile of nuclear materials, a Chinese spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comment when asked to comment on the shipment of 331 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make about 50 nuclear weapons, from Japan to the United States for final disposal.

A ship believed to be carrying plutonium and other nuclear materials left a port in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo, on Tuesday, Kyodo reported. The shipment accounts for a tiny portion of the nearly 50 tonnes of plutonium Japan holds.

"Japan should deliver its commitment at an early date, as it promised to return the sensitive nuclear materials at the Nuclear Security Summit in 2014," Hua said at a regular news briefing.

Japan has a massive stockpile of separated plutonium and highly-enriched uranium (HEU), which has drawn international concerns, Hua said, calling for "necessary steps" from Japan to address such concerns.

Hua criticized Yusuke Yokobatake, director-general of Japanese Cabinet Legislation Bureau, who allegedly said last Friday that Japan' s Constitution does not necessarily ban the use of nuclear weapons.

Japan has clear-cut obligations as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, voices in favor of nuclear weapons continue emerging in Japan, raising international skepticism, Hua said.

"Pro-nuclear weapon remarks from a cabinet official will further deepen world skepticism. We demand the Japanese government explain its stance," Hua said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga flatly denied the possibility of Japan using a nuclear weapon at a press conference last Friday."The government does not think of such a thing at all."

Japan has 47.8 tonnes of highly sensitive separated plutonium and 1.2 tonnes of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) for research reactors, according to a joint study released in 2015 by China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the China Institute of Nuclear Information and Economics.

Japan pledged in a parliamentary resolution adopted in 1971, the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, that the country shall not produce, possess or allow the entry into its territory of nuclear weapons.
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Pakistan's Ambassador to China Masood Khalid hoisting the flag at the Pakistan Day ceremony held at the Embassy in Beijing China on 23rd March 2016.

The Pakistan Day was celebrated with patriotic zeal and national spirit here today at the Pakistan Embassy in an impressive ceremony held to mark the passing of the historic Pakistan resolution document, 76 years ago on 23rd March 1940. The resolution was passed by the Muslim League in its annual session at Lahore, which paved the way for the creation of Pakistan later in 1947.

The Pakistan Day ceremony commenced solemnly with the recitation of the verses from the Holy Quran followed by the national anthem. Pakistan Ambassador Masood Khalid unfurled the national flag and hoisted it gradually to the masts summit as the national anthem tune resounded across the Embassy compound. The participants of the ceremony from all walks of life stood by during the flag hoisting. Later, the Ambassador read out messages of the Pakistan President and Prime Minister of Pakistan meant for the occasion.

"23rd March is the Day to renew our commitment to develop the country in accordance with the principles of justice and equity, the real objective of the creation of Pakistan. On this auspicious occasion, we pay tribute to the Father of the Nation and other leaders of the Freedom Movement who facilitated the creation of Pakistan by uniting the nation through their earnestness, wisdom and unparalleled sacrifices," the Pakistan President had said.

The Pakistan Prime Minister in his message had said "The Pakistan resolution galvanized the nation and millions of people sacrificed their lives for the sake of independence. Pakistan was a reality within a short span of time. Today we are confronted with unprecedented threats and challenges in the form of extremism and terrorism, but we are resolved to defeat these evils. The menace of terrorism and extremism will be completely wiped-out from our soil.

On this occasion we reiterate our resolve to ensure freedom, equality and social justice for every citizen of Pakistan as enshrined in the teachings of Islam. Our government has taken landmark initiatives to safeguard the minorities living in Pakistan and empower Pakistani women. Our endeavours are aimed at mainstreaming the marginalized segments of our society as we believe that each and every Pakistani is an equal citizen of the land.

Let us pledge to offer equal opportunities for every Pakistani citizen to achieve a pluralistic society where each and every man and woman work collectively for the progress and prosperity of our country..."

Following the ceremony, the students from the Pakistan Embassy College in Beijing presented national songs on the occasion. While talking to the participants, the Ambassador urged the Pakistani community to unite to defeat the challenges as pointed out by the countrys highest leadership in their messages. He recounted the long and arduous struggle for Pakistan, and how the 23rd March resolution became a milestone in that struggle. He recalled the efforts and sacrifices for Pakistan of the great leader and founding father of the Muslims of the sub-continent Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that altered the course of history. The Ambassador also spoke about how Pakistan-China ties deepened over the years soon after independence and matured into a multi-dimensional, time-tested all-weather strategic partnership. He told the participants that both countries were working in consonance to pursue the common goals of economic development, well-being of their people, and peace and security of the region. He urged the Pakistani community to endeavour to meet the challenges of their times, to bring honour and win accolades for their country and uphold the best values so as to realize the dreams the founding fathers of the country had envisioned and scale heights for the glory of their country.

The participants included the Embassy staff, the Pakistani community members including students, entrepreneurs, women, children as well as Chinese media persons. Similar flag-hoisting ceremonies were also held at Pakistans Consulates in Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

As part of the Pakistan Day activities the Embassy will also hold a grand reception later in the evening at a local hotel to celebrate the occasion.

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Justin Yifu Lin (standing), a professor of economics at Peking University and former World Bank chief economist, attends a news conference at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Boao, Hainan province, on March 22, 2016. [Photo/China Daily]

Major emerging economies slowed, but they still fared better than G7 and European Union

Major emerging economies maintained their positive growth momentum under slow global economic conditions in 2015 and there is no need to be pessimistic about their long-term ability to develop, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Development of Emerging Economies Annual Report 2016, released at the annual Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province, said that the economic growth of the 11 major emerging economies, or E11, slowed in 2015, but less than developed economies.

The 11 economies, which are also members of the G20, are Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

Data from the International Monetary Fund said the E11's economic aggregate, based on the market conversion of market exchange rates, amounted to $22.28 trillion in 201530.3 percent of the global total and a 1 percentage point increase from 2014.

Even though the overall growth of the E11 slowed, growth remained impressive compared to the advanced economies in Group of Seven countries and the European Union, the report said.

In 2015, the average growth rate of both the G7 and the EU was 1.9 percent, far below the E11's 4.5 percent-though different dynamics were at play. The G7 and EU logged growth after a long period of stagnation, indicating a slow recovery, while the E11 economies slowed in the face of downside pressure.

Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the E11's slower economic growth is closely related to its deepening of internal reforms and structural adjustments, including a slight decline in private consumption, a weaker investment-driven force and a gradual decrease of net exports.

Annual event

The theme of this year's forum is "Asia's new future: New dynamics, new vision". The forum will run through March 25, with 88 sessions, including 51 forums, 14 roundtables, six themed dinners and 12 entrepreneur dialogues.

A total of 2,100 representatives, including 1,122 heads of global and domestic companies from 62 countries and regions are participating in this year's forum.

"For Asian countries, the economy is still growing, but at a slower pace. And it is facing more challenges," said Zhou Wenzhong, secretary-general of the BFA.

Zhou said China, Asia's largest economy, will experience more positive factors in its economy, including a soft landing featuring the shift from high growth to medium-to-high growth.

"Big-ticket railway, airport and water conservation projects, easing of monetary policy, the shifting of real estate sales in certain regions in the second half of last year and the ongoing supply-side reform all helped the country put its economy on a firmer footing in 2015," said Justin Yifu Lin, a professor of economics at Peking University and former World Bank chief economist.

Supply-side reform, which represents a profound change in China's economic model, was underlined by the central government late last year. It includes a series of policies to improve public service, environmental protection, quality of production and further opening-up to the global economic system.
People walk past a Wuliangye liquor store in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Photo/China Daily]

Zhang Jindong, the chairman and founder of Suning Holdings Group Ltd, said a new collaboration agreement with liquor brand Wuliangye Group Co Ltd will help ensure fewer counterfeit goods enter the marketplace, as well as cut transport costs for both firms.

Speaking at the official signing ceremony for the deal, Zhang said the tie-up will also help bolster the further development of Wuliangye's e-commerce distribution channels.

Under the agreement, China's largest electronic home appliance-turned-Internet retailer will be able to collect products directly from Wuliangye's factories and warehouses, and transport them to its own distribution centers, thus reducing the need for any middlemen, said Zhang.

Shipping goods direct from Wuliangye to its customers in this way, especially those in remote areas of the country, will reduce the risk of counterfeits, as well as cut costs, he said.

Wuliangye will also be given better representation in Suning's more than 2,000 stores, and a new Wuliangye store has already been opened on suning.com, which offers customers a range of tailor-made Wuliangye products developed exclusively for the retailer.

Zhang said Suning will also allow the liquor producer access to its huge big data resources to allow it to better understand the shopping habits of millions of Chinese consumers, which will help improve and adjust its portfolio, and improve the efficiency of its supply chain.

Liu Zhongguo, chairman of Wuliangye, said the agreement provides the group with another growth point, which will allow it to develop more new products, as well as promote its existing product lines.

Wuliangye had revenue of more than 6 billion yuan ($924 million) last year, and is hoping that will top 10 billion yuan, said Liu, without giving a specific timeline for that.

Key to achieving that, said Liu, is to revamp and better organize its 500-strong network of stores.

Xiao Zhuqing, an independent liquor industry expert, said the country's spirits market is becoming polarizing, with leading brands such as Kweichow Moutai and Wuliangye enjoying strong, continuous growth while medium brands continue to struggle.

Liang Mingxuan, a food researcher from Shenzhen-based CI Consulting, said the liquor industry is expecting a recovery this year after a reshuffle in recent years thanks to the anti-extravagance campaign. E-commerce platforms such as Suning has offered liquor producers an unconventional distribution channels that are not restricted by regions, where traditional retailers have a power balance issues with liquor makers.
Customers buy computers at a store of Lenovo in Shanghai. [Photo/IC]

Chinese brands, especially those from the technology sector, continue to earn an increasing proportion of their revenue from overseas, according to the newly released 2016 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands.

The top three brands with the greatest proportion of revenue from overseas business include Lenovo Group Ltd, with 68 percent of its revenue from international business, followed by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a newcomer to the ranking with 62 percent, and ZTE Corp with half of its revenue from business overseas, it said.

"With Chinese companies continuing to expand their operations overseas and a more positive perception of 'made in China', Chinese brands are deriving increasing overseas earnings," said Doreen Wang, global head of BrandZ, Millward Brown.

The expansion of international business is especially important as the growth of the domestic economy slows and Chinese companies attempt to raise awareness of Chinese brands, she said.

Wang said she believed that Chinese companies would see a steady growth in their revenue from abroad in the years to come.

Leading the top 20 Chinese brands with most revenue overseas, Lenovo, the world's largest PC maker, continued to grow its PC, mobile and enterprise businesses outside of China, helping balance the softening of the Chinese market.

It gained 68 percent of its total revenue from overseas business, up from 62 percent from the previous year.

Analysts said Chinese brands are increasingly gaining more revenue and market share not only in emerging markets but also from the developed markets.

Offering quality smartphone at a more affordable price, Huawei has successfully gained market share not only in emerging markets but also in Europe, while ZTE has also expanded its presence in the Android-based market in the United States.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has been aggressively investing in global growth with initiatives such as AliExpress, a platform to sell Chinese products to overseas customers, and establishment of a cloud-computing center in California.

"Western consumers used to view Chinese brands as makers of low-quality and cheaper items, but this perception has gradually changed as Chinese brands are coming up with more quality and value-added products under their own names," said Wang.

Wang said she was confident the Chinese brands will be better perceived on the global market in the same way as how the world came to see products made in Japan and South Korea.

According to the survey, 15 of the top 20 Chinese brands in terms of overseas revenue come mainly from three categories, including six from home appliances, five from airlines and four from technology.

With Chinese outbound travel growing 12 percent in 2015, according to the World Tourism Organization, increasing Chinese companies from the aviation sector are also seeing rising overseas revenue, with Spring Airlines Co Ltd, Air China Ltd and China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd continuing to add international routes.

Half of the top 20 brands are market-driven and half are State-owned enterprises, mostly in the oil, gas and banking sectors.

The average proportion of overseas revenues of competitive SOEs is higher than the market driven ones, which suggests the government support still remains important for Chinese brands trying to gain a global presence.
A baker holds a pet birthday cake made for her customer's dog in Changchun, Jilin province. It takes the baker about three hours to make the cake, priced around 100 yuan ($15). [Photo/China Daily]

Local brands and multinationals are out to tickle the tastebuds of cats and dogs, and make millions

Five years ago, dog-lover Song Yu decided to open her Paopao Pet Bakery in Beijing, claimed to be the first of its kind in China, to enable pet owners to pamper their furry companions with delicious and healthful treats.

"The idea was born because we wanted to get more dogs to eat fresh and healthful food," said Song. "Health is the most important thing for pet owners, so it's essential for them to buy high-quality food for their pets."

Despite the increasing consumer appetite for gourmet pet food products, it was not easy to get the business up and running at first. High costs forced Song to shutter the bricks-and-mortar store.

Now, though, the business is flourishing, thanks to its virtual storefront on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Taobao.com. Its focus is on personalized products designed for special occasions like pet birthdays.

Last year, the online pet food store netted more than 1 million yuan ($152,000) in sales.

"Online shopping is very convenient because we can reach any point in China with air deliveries," said Song. "This year, we will keep improving our online store and we will cooperate with more pet stores so that customers can order our products directly from pet stores' websites."
A Chinese technician displays textile equipment at an international exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which attracted 125 companies from Vietnam, China, Japan and South Korea. [Photo/Xihua]

Last week, Tianneng Group of Zhejiang province in East China, which makes lead-acid batteries for electric vehicles, said it will set up a new plant in Southeast Asia, closer to its clients, amid surging production costs in China.

Tianneng's decision wouldn't surprise China's auto industry and ancillary players, many of whom are based south of the Yangtze River. Hurt by rising costs like wages, they are eager to either set up new plants in ASEAN countries, mainly Vietnam, or relocate altogether, by coasting on the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement.

According to one expert, the trend should not alarm China. It is, nevertheless, strong enough to warrant PowerPoint-backed talks over executive breakfasts at five-star hotels in Beijing.

I recently attended one such talk organized by the German, British, French and Swedish chambers of commerce. The audience included executives from small and medium-sized foreign firms, a contrast to mega corporations that rely on in-house experts like economists to make sense of the Western media's gloom-and-doom discourse on China's economic slowdown.

The ACFTA, as part of a larger "mess" of ever increasing, overlapping FTAs, is a hot topic.

The audience wanted to know: Is it time to relocate from China to ASEAN countries?

A female official of the Liuzhou New and High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, bemoaned that in spite of preferential policies, auto supplier companies are leaving in droves for Vietnam. Why? Can something be done to stop the exodus?

The speaker, Fabian Knopf, head of the German Desk at Dezan Shira & Associates, a global business consulting and financial advisory firm, didn't proffer facile answers. But he is convinced the China-ASEAN dynamic may not be a bad thing for Chinese businesses.

Regional division of labor, he said, could help all as each market will get to specialize in one business functionR&D, components or logistics. Other positives include an opportunity for China to pressure Chinese and foreign companies alike to shift light manufacturing away and make way for high-end manufacturing.

This shift has already happened in textiles, he said. "Perhaps countries like Vietnam and Cambodia might be interested in taking some of the old manufacturing from China. And companies in China, hurt by rising labor costs, could also use it as an opportunity to invest in staff development and improve productivity to reduce costs."

The rise of ASEAN as a cheaper manufacturing and services alternative should not cause concern to China, he assured. ASEAN countries may have lower costs and consumer markets larger than Europe and parts of the United States, but their infrastructure is not comparable to China's, not only in terms of "bridges, roads and railways" but "supplier networks, consumer networks, logistics", individuals' skills and industry's skills.
A tourist poses for a photo on board a hot air balloon flying over the UNESCO World Heritage Rock Cave site of Cappadocia in Turkey, June 22, 2012. [Photo/IC]

Ninety-four percent of China's young people love sharing economy and seek real local experience when travelling abroad, said an Airbnb executive on Wednesday, as the lodging platform set sights on the country's booming outbound tourism.

Chinese tourists born in the 1980s prefer staying in local homes than traditional hotels, said Varsha Rao, Airbnb's vice-president of operation, said at the Boao forum citing industry findings.

In comparison, only 43 percent Americans said they would prefer such original experience when traveling abroad, Rao said.

Zhou Hang, CEO and founder of the car-hailing company Yidao Yongche, projected share economy to become an indispensible part of the society in the future, serving 30 percent of the transportation demand.

The percentage of private transportation will decrease from the current over 50 percent to 30 percent, while public transportation serving the rest 40 percent, said Zhou at a panel session titled "The Sharing Economy: What's Mine is Yours" at Boao Forum.
Chinese former Minister of Commerce Chen Deming speaks at the session "China-US Bilateral Investment Treaty: Where Are We Now" during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2016 in Boao, South China's Hainan province, March 23, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]

BOAO - Talks over the China-US bilateral investment treaty (BIT) are near completion with most key issues resolved, former Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said Wednesday.

Both sides have agreed in principle to take disputes between host country and investors to third party arbitration at the World Bank, Chen told the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province.

Investment is a factor behind the weak global economy as thousands of contradictory multi-lateral, regional and bilateral treaties lead to confusion, he added.

The treaty is vital for free and easy investment is a key aspect of economic vitality, Chen said. The BIT will help Chinese companies invest overseas and fit better in the global value chain, he added.

A total of 24 rounds of talks have been held since negotiations started in 2008.
Rupert Hoogewerf, also known as Hu Run, the Founder and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Rupert Hoogewerf, whose Chinese name is Hu Run, is the publisher of the Hurun Report, and he says if you understand the story of wealthy Chinese, then you will understand the story of modern China.

The Hurun Report, viewed as the voice of the Chinese entrepreneur, is best known for its "China Rich List" which has been published since 1999, and which ranks the wealthiest individuals in China.

"The key thing I do is try to encourage transparency, because if you can be transparent, that means you can take responsibilities. If you can take responsibility, that means you are probably good for society," Hoogewerf told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

He commended Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, saying even though his business is very complicated and large, he is very transparent. "Everybody knows what he is doing, which means he must be responsible, otherwise he will get into a lot of trouble," he added.

"What makes the Chinese entrepreneurs very interesting for me is that they are learning together and building the experience together, that makes a very fast-growing and dynamic group of people, which I think by comparison that the UK does not have," said Hoogewerf.

He is, he said, a little disappointed when he sees that most UK entrepreneurs only act on their own, adding "maybe because there are less of them, there does not seem to be the same level of 'let-us-build-together' sort of mentality."

Due to the economies of scale and market size, there is now an estimated number of 300 million middle class people in China, which is probably one of the largest middle class groups in the world, said Hoogewerf.

Dictionaries define middle class as a group of people, often salaried and educated, with disposable income.

"If you can build a brand, an image or a business for 300 million people in China, by definition you have the biggest market in the world. You will be the leader in that particular market and when you go overseas you can then build leadership using your foundation in China. And if you win in China, you will have a very good chance winning in the world," he added.

Sanpower Group, which now owns the British department store House of Fraser, is a successful example of Chinese enterprises going overseas, said Hoogewerf, adding "they are very specific about their management  they only have British management in Britain, not a whole lot of Chinese management. This is easy to say but very difficult to do."

For its contribution to the business relationship between the UK and China, Sanpower Group was awarded the Best Contribution Award in the business category at Hurun Report 2016 Chinese New Year Award Dinner in London. It is the largest Chinese employer in the UK, with 13,000 full-time employees.

In addition to the rich list, Hurun Report also produces "Hurun Philanthropy List" from 2004, a ranking of the most generous individuals in China. Nowadays the philanthropy list is more about impact investing than mere donation, according to Hoogewerf.

Impact investing is where you make a decision to reduce the time to achieve the goal, he said, adding, "for example Jack Ma and Ma Huateng; those two people have made China digital faster."

If it were not for Jack Ma and Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent Holdings, China would still be digital, but it would have come ten years later, Hoogewerf said. "Those two people sped up the digitalization in China, and then they became leaders not only in China but also the whole world."

"They changed the country and almost everyone in China uses WeChat, Alipay and Taobao. If they did not do it or did it five or ten years later, China would have lost the leadership in the world. To me, it is about impact," added Hoogewerf.

The Hurun Art foundation is another example, he said. "We wanted to find some KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to promote Chinese culture and art both domestically and internationally through research, exhibition, and promotion, making people more aware of and understand more about the Chinese art. That's impact investing, not just pure donation."

About 10 years ago, Hoogewerf found out that most successful and expensive Chinese art was bought by non-Chinese, so he created the Hurun Art List, which ranks the most successful artist alive today in China. The objective is to encourage non-collectors to be collectors. It's for people outside the art industry, he said.

The art list drew a lot of attention amongst artists because it was targeted at drawing in new collectors, and it became a benchmark for non-collectors to kick start their collections. The Hurun Art Foundation, not for profit, then started because Hoogewerf realized that more up and coming artists need support, over and above the well-known artists.

Every month the Hurun Art Foundation will promote one artist, using its media platform in China, and in addition a monthly event will be launched to promote the artist. This year the Hurun Art Foundation brought its exhibition to London for the first time.

These artists are not famous at all and the cost of their artworks ranges from 5,000 pounds up to 15,000 pounds, which is far less than that of famous artists, said Hoogewerf.

"But they are good and contemporary, and they tell the story of modern China through the eyes of the artists," said Hoogewerf, "the artists have one common thread, that is we hope these artists will be on the Hurun Art List in five years."

He is keen on taking the exhibition of Chinese artists to both London and New York next year, one month in each location.

"If you get recognized as a Chinese artist by the London or New York trade, it is very good for your sales in China, because the global art market is dominated by London and New York," Hoogewerf said, adding "if we can build the Hurun Art Foundation into a credible and serious platform, we will create more value for these artists."
A stevedore works at Qingdao port in Shandong province, July 1, 2015. [Photo/IC]

BOAO - Regional economic integration in Asia is expected to deepen further as China moves up the international value chain despite weakening trade growth, experts who follow China's ongoing economic transition said on Tuesday.

"China's growing importance in the value chain will inevitably influence its economic and trade structures with these major economies (in Asia)," said Chen Lan, director of Deloitte Research at Deloitte China, in a report for the ongoing Boao Foroum for Asia in Hainan, China.

The report said that China's future industrial upgrade through innovation will enhance its position in the global value chain as rising production costs and labor costs in the country may weaken its position as the "world's factory."

"Despite slowed economic growth during the 13th Five-Year Plan, China still remains one of the most important global consumer markets," Chen wrote.

China is now in the middle of a painstaking transition from growth driven by investment and exports to growth led by consumption and the services sector. The official economic forecast for this year is between 6.5 percent and 7 percent, much slower than the wildly high growth rates of over 10 percent per annum a few years ago. Last year the economy grew by 6.9 percent.

China aims to double its per capita gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020 compared to 2010, a target that will catapult the world' s most populous country to the status of a relatively well-off society.

Speaking at a press conference in Boao on Tuesday, Justin Yifu Lin, former chief economist of the World Bank, said that he expects China' s economic growth to average around 6.5 percent over the next five years. Coupled with the expected appreciation of the yuan, this would mean China' s per capita GDP is likely to cross the mark of $12,000 at around 2020.

Lin said the Chinese economy remains vigorous as China targets more sustainable and inclusive growth. According to a new index unveiled by his team to measure the inclusive structural transformation of different economies, China has a score that is among the highest worldwide. The index is based on the New Structural Economics advocated by Lin, who believes that structural changes are the foundation of sustained and inclusive growth along the path to development.

Experts at the forum highlighted the slowdown in world trade growth as a challenge for Asia. A report commissioned for the forum by a team led by Lin Guijun, a scholar from China's University of International Business and Economics, said that growth in Asia's merchandise trade has slowed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis since 2008 as world trade growth also slowed. Ditto for global GDP growth, a situation that has not been seen in decades, though trade growth in Asia remains far more robust than that of the rest of the world.

China is now the world's leading trader and occupies a key position in the international value chain as a manufacturing hub. It is a top trading partner for major economies including Japan, South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and has inked free trade agreements with the latter two.
Dongfeng Renault launched its first product, the Kadjar, at a ceremony in Beijing on March 18, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Dongfeng Renault launched its first product, the Kadjar, in the Chinese market on Friday, with the SUV's range of configurations tailored for local customers.

Built on Renault's Common Module Family architecture, the sport utility vehicle is powered by a two-liter Energy direct injection gasoline engine and seven-speed continuously variable transmission. The powertrain provides smooth gear shifting and maximizes fuel economy.

The Kadjar has a wind resistance coefficient as low as 0.3, which benefits from the French brand's racing technologies and aesthetics. Its front grille applies the family's R-Sport Design, and carries a Power Wave tail. It is also equipped with full LED headlights and 18-inch diamond cut alloy wheel rims.

Jacques Daniel, president of Dongfeng Renault, said: "The compact SUV market is the most promising segment in the country. After Kadjar, a bigger product is coming later this year."

Executive vice-president Hu Xindong said: "The team found Chinese customers have their preferences - sunroofs that can be opened, independent suspension, and so on."

The new model offers Chinese customers an extra configuration that is not available in its European edition - a large panoramic sunroof. Its sporty suspensions are also specially adjusted for Chinese road surface conditions.

The SUV, with 196 mm ground clearance, can be driven in three modes: two-wheel-drive, auto and lock. In the lock mode, the torque is split 50/50 between the front and rear wheels on surfaces such as sand, mud or snow.

Six airbags are installed as standard in every Kadjar, and 70 percent of the car body is forged in high-strength steel.
Visitors check out products at the ZTE stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Feb 24, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp will get temporary export license from the US Commerce Department after the agency decided to restrict the Chinese company's exports early this month.

According to a notice published by the Commerce Department Tuesday, it will give a three-month temporarily general license to the ZTE and ZTE Kangxun, one of ZTE's affiliates that are required to observe the export restrictions.

The temporary license will become effective from March 24 through June 30.

On March 7, the Commerce Department announced its decision to impose export restrictions on ZTE Corp and three affiliated entities for alleged violation of US export controls on Iran.

Experts from US and China have warned that the restrictions of the Commerce Department against the Chinese company over trade would hurt American suppliers severely.

ZTE, a provider of mobile devices and telecommunication systems, has been operating in the United States since 1998. It has become the fourth largest smartphone supplier in the country and has built partnerships with many US companies, including major chipmakers such as Qualcomm, Broadcom and Intel. Qualcomm alone could reportedly suffer a loss of nearly $40 million in its quarterly trade with ZTE because of the restrictions.

The ZTE on Tuesday said on its website that it will continue to work with the US government department to be fully removed from the Entity List after the temporary trade sanction relief was provided. The temporary license will help ZTE to continue to fulfill its commitments to stakeholders, said the ZTE.

In Tuesday's notice, the US Commerce Department said the temporary license can be renewed if ZTE Corp. and ZTE Kangxun cooperate with the US government department in resolving the matter.
BEIJING - China's drug regulator has identified nine vaccine wholesalers suspected of filing fraudulent reports of buyers' identities.

The China Food and Drug Administration has given local authorities until Friday to find out who the real buyers of the vaccines were. It said it will make the results public later this week.

The wholesalers, based in six provinces, came to light as police attempt to trace vaccines worth more than 570 million yuan ($88 million) allegedly sold illegally since 2011 by a mother and daughter.

Police in Shandong province announced last month that they had arrested the pair.

All the vaccines involved were produced by licensed manufacturers, but the authorities fear their quality may have been compromised if they were not transported and stored in appropriate conditions.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) shakes hands with Maurice R. Greenberg during a meeting with overseas delegates attending the China Development Forum in Beijing, capital of China, March 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

All enterprises registered in China, domestic and foreign, will get fair treatment, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday.

Li made the remarks while attending a seminar with more than 120 foreign participants at the annual China Development Forum.

"We will continue to expand the opening-up and welcome foreign investment to China," Li said, according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

"All companies registered in China  no matter if they are invested with local or foreign capital, no matter if they are of sole proprietorship or are joint ventures  will get equal treatment and an environment of fair competition," the premier said.

China will encourage more students to study abroad and learn advanced technology and management expertise and will welcome more foreign students to study in China, he added.

Li also said China will push forward supply-side economic structural reform, taking such measures as streamlining administrative procedures, cutting taxes on enterprises and encouraging innovation.

In the meantime, the government will pay extra attention to stable employment and increased income, the premier said.

The guests at the seminar were from world top 500 enterprises, academies, international organizations and media. They included Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; Peter Salovey, president of Yale University; Michael Spence, 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; and US television talk show host Charlie Rose.

Li answered questions that they raised at the meeting.

The China Development Forum, hosted by the State Council's Development Research Center, is a platform for business and academic leaders to interact with China's top decision-makers and economic planners.

Roland Krueger, president of Infiniti Motor Co Ltd, said that he was encouraged by Premier Li's words on equal treatment for foreign firms.

"We are committed to localization in China, our most important growth market, and are optimistic about the long-term, sustainable growth of China's economy, he said.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn
A Chinese medical worker prepares to vaccinate a young kid at a hospital in Shanghai, China, March 20, 2016. [Photo/IC]

JINAN - Police in East China's Shandong province have detained 37 suspects implicated in a vaccine scandal that has shocked the nation and raised questions over vaccine safety.

Shandong police announced last month that they had arrested a mother and daughter alleged to have illegally sold improperly stored or expired vaccines worth more than 570 million yuan ($88 million) across 20 provincial-level regions since 2011.

Three pharmaceutical companies are being investigated by police, according to the work group handling the case.

Of the three, Shandong Zhaoxin Bio-tech Co. has had its good supply practice (GSP) certificate for pharmaceutical products revoked and ordered to halt operations.

The investigation involves 12 vaccines, 2 immune globulin and one therapeutic product.

Meanwhile, the group has ordered a sweeping check-up of local vaccine makers, wholesalers and buyers.

China's drug regulator has identified nine vaccine wholesalers from six provinces suspected of filing fraudulent reports of buyers' identities.

The China Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it had given local authorities until Friday to find out who bought the vaccines.

China's top drug regulator, health authorities and police on Monday issued a circular ordering drug and health departments to trace the manufacturing source and to remove any of the substandard vaccines off the market as soon as possible.

It also called for efforts to identify and apprehend the suspects still at large, and a thorough investigation into the supply and sales chain of these inferior products.

Although produced by licensed manufacturers, the quality of the vaccines are questionable as they were not transported or stored properly.
File photo taken on July 2013 shows students, some with their parents, wait to enroll for the new semester at Tsinghua University. [Photo/China Daily]

China has 88 universities that have at least one subject ranking in the worlds' top 400, according to the latest report from London-headquartered education company Quacquarelli Symonds.

The report, QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016, was published on the company's website on Tuesday.

It looks at 42 individual subjects taught around the world and names the top 400 institutions in each of those subjects, based on the institutions' academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.

A total of 58 colleges and institutions from the Chinese mainland, eight from Hong Kong, 21 from Taiwan and one from Macao were included in the ranking for breaking into the top 400 in at least one subject. The good performance of the 88 educational institutions was second only to the US, which had 164 colleges and institutes ranked.

"This year, China has five subjects in the global top 10, 65 subjects taught at seven universities that are in the top 50 and 134 subjects from 24 universities in the top 100 ... these are internationally recognized achievements," Zhang Yan, China director at the QS Intelligence Unit, was quoted as saying by Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News.

"In the future, China will give more independent development space to universities, and both the central authorities and local governments will work closely to support the more than 2,000 local colleges in becoming world-class universities. This will increase China's voice in the global education system and make China a new education powerhouse."

However, despite the fact that China had surpassed the UK, France and Germany in reaching second place worldwide in terms of the number of universities with at least one world-class subject in 2015, most Chinese universities that made the list only had one world-leading subject.

In contrast, universities including Harvard and MIT were leaders in dozens of subjects.

"The number of universities with world-leading subjects now is limited and the number of world-class universities is even less in China," said Rao Zihe, a molecular biologist and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "In order to develop more world-class universities and first-class fields of discipline, we need to clearly understand the current situation in different universities in China and the gap between reality and our goals, so as to make a rational cost-benefit analysis and spend government funding more effectively."
A patient receives rabies vaccine injection at Hangzhou hospital, March 22. [Photo/VCG]

A circular released by Hangzhou Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on March 22 said 16 centers at the district and county levels and vaccination clinics did not buy vaccines from people involved in the Shandong scandal.

All vaccines were purchased from the provincial disease control and prevention center in Zhejiang.

Vaccines are required to be adequately refrigerated, transported and stored in appropriate conditions. Hangzhou related bodies have monitored and ensured that they stored in appropriate conditions.

A mother and daughter from East China's Shandong province have been arrested for allegedly selling improperly stored or expired vaccines worth 570 million yuan ($88 million) since 2010.

The police said they have already started to trace all the children and adults in 18 provinces that used the suspects' vaccines in order to give them the correct medications.
Shanghai plans to introduce an online appointment booking service for people wanting a divorce, in a bid to make the process more organized and convenient for the growing number of couples in the city looking to end their marriages.

Since the launch of the amended Marriage Registration Regulation on Feb 1, an added procedure involving inquiries and questions has increased the length of the process to register for a divorce from around 25 to 35 minutes to a new time of between 45 and 55 minutes.

The extra time is down to the fact that couples must now talk to staff at the registration office separately to independently confirm their willingness to proceed and statements they have made.

The additional work and slower process was part of the reason why Pudong district's civil affairs bureau chose to reduce the number of appointments it would handle each day. That, in turn, has led to crowded waiting rooms.

"We are discussing launching an online booking system for couples to select an appointment time in advance to shorten the waiting time and control the number of daily filings," said Sun Xiaohong, deputy director of the marriage management department at the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau. "We're still getting used to the new effects from the amended measures."

Shanghai is not the first place in China to introduce appointments for divorce registration.

For 13 months, couples in Yunnan province's Dali Bai autonomous prefecture had to wait at least seven days for an appointment to finalize a divorce after first registering with the local government.

According to Dali civil affairs bureau, they introduced the one-week waiting period to prevent impulsive divorces.

However, the policy had to be canceled on March 8 after the Ministry of Civil Affairs ruled it countered the nation's Marriage Law because it interfered with people's rights.

"The policy runs against the Marriage Law's rule of ensuring people can get married and divorced with freedom, which shouldn't be interfered with," said Zhang Liang, secretary-general of the Family Research Center with the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.

However, Sun from Shanghai said that the bureau in Pudong will be able to bring in appointments because the move is aimed at offering a better service, not because it seeks to delay couples seeking a divorce.

More than 3.6 million couples divorced across the country in 2014, 3.9 percent higher than in the previous year.

Shi Wenzhi contributed to this story.
The first names have been added to a nanny blacklist created by an alliance of 30 housekeeping service agencies in Shanghai to better regulate the market and deter unsuitable caregivers.

Agencies in the alliance will refuse to consider nannies placed on the list, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the city.

One of the blacklisted nannies presented a fake health certificate, while two others repeatedly failed to show up for interviews or scheduled jobs, said Xia Jun, president of the Shanghai Changning District Homemaking Service Association and an alliance founder.

"The 30 agencies in the alliance have roughly 1,000 nannies in Shanghai and nearly 10,000 all over the country, including some doing service for foreign families. Any nanny that is found by any of the agencies to encroach on the seven taboos will be blacklisted, and their information will be shared by the people in charge of the 30 agencies in a chat group on WeChat," Xia said.

In addition to nonattendance at job interviews and fabricating qualifications or resumes, the prohibited behaviors or "taboos" include refusing to pay a brokerage fee to the agency, borrowing money from employers, asking for more pay in the middle of a contract or leaving the job if a pay hike is not granted, Xia said.

"Some nannies exaggerated their experience or how many years they had worked and others borrowed money from their employer and didn't repay it. That's why we want to deter such people, and those with bad credit records, from the industry, thereby protecting the interest of our clients with our utmost efforts."

Nannies are in great demand in big cities. More than 20 percent of Shanghai families are using or plan to use nannies for at least a few hours every day, according to a poll conducted by the Family Development Research Center of Fudan University. The results of the poll, which surveyed nearly 2,300 households, were published in December.

"As aging quickly gathers pace and more couples plan to have another child, the nanny market will expand more rapidly," said Hu Zhan, an associate professor at the university's School of Social Development and Public Policy.
Medics from Ya'an People's Hospital in southwest China's Sichuan province have taken part in five disaster rescue and relief efforts since the 7.8-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake of 2008, which killed nearly 70,000 and injured almost half a million more.

This experience has convinced Zhang Deming, a neurologist and the hospital's director, that the key to reconstructing earthquake-stricken areas and restoring residents' confidence lies in rebuilding industries and public services, especially medical care.

On April 20, 2013, a 7-magnitude quake hit Ya'an city, killing around 200 people and injuring more than 11,000.

"We classified the wounded according to how serious their injuries were, and treated the brain trauma casualties before the others. It is very important to save lives and reduce the disability rate," said Zhang, adding that following the Ya'an quake his doctors performed craniotomy operations on 72 patients, all of whom survived.

To ensure the hospital can respond quickly and efficiently to earthquakes and other disasters, its emergency treatment department has been enlarged and redesigned.

The rehabilitation department is also much larger now, Zhang said, to help the injured recover from their wounds, both physical and mental.

A helipad and a number of advanced medical facilities were also added after 2008 with funds from the central government and doctors and nurses now have more opportunities to receive professional training throughout the year.

But it remains difficult for hospitals in the earthquake-prone mountainous regions in the west of Sichuan to attract high-level doctors. Zhang said his pediatrics, gynecology and emergency treatment departments all had a "serious" lack of doctors, with fewer than 50 percent of the staff required.

As a deputy of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, Zhang has suggested the government increase its subsidy to doctors working in remote poor regions.
Premier Li Keqiang answers media questions at the news conference after the closing meeting of the fourth session of China's 12th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 16, 2016. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed no leniency for anyone involved in the black market sales of problematic vaccines, after a case was made public involving $88 million worth of illegal vaccines that are suspected of being sold in dozens of provincial-level regions around the country.

Li also pledged to punish officials who are proved to have committed dereliction of duty in the spreading of the fake vaccines.

The police recently discovered that improperly stored or expired vaccines, worth more than 570 million yuan ($88 million ) have been allegedly sold in more than 20 provincial-level regions since 2011.

The case, which involves vaccines against meningitis, rabies and other illnesses, has shocked the nation and raised questions over vaccine safety. In response to the case, the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in China on Tuesday released a note that improperly stored or expired vaccines can lose potency and become less effective, but pose a very small risk of causing a toxic reaction. The organization also expressed willingness to provide support.

Police in East China's Shandong province announced last month that they had detained 37 suspects implicated in the vaccine scandal, including a mother and daughter alleged to have illegally sold the improperly stored or expired vaccines, and people from three pharmaceutical companies, according to the work group handling the case.

Meanwhile, the group has ordered a sweeping check-up of local vaccine makers, wholesalers and buyers.

China's drug regulator has identified nine vaccine wholesalers from six provinces suspected of filing fraudulent reports of buyers' identities.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Tuesday announced it will directly oversee the problematic vaccine case, and urged prosecuting bodies at all levels to spare no efforts in their investigation.

Prosecutors across the country will work closely with local police and drug administrations to uncover the manufacturing source, circulation channels and buyers of the inferior products.

The SPP also ordered a quick response mechanism to be established to facilitate information sharing, case details and case transfers.
Former World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin speaks Tuesday during the 2016 Boao Forum for Asia in Boao, South China's Hainan province. [Photo/IC]

The mainstream for the ties between Chinese mainland and Taiwan is unification, former World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin said Wednesday at a sub-forum during the 2016 Boao Forum for Asia in Boao, South China's Hainan province.

Answering a question on the cross-Straits ties, Lin said Chinese people have the wisdom to solve the disputes across the Taiwan Straits.

The rejuvenation of Chinese civilization is irresistible, he said. The history has proved that a long time division will lead to unification, and the unification will benefit both.

He said politicians across the Straits have the wisdom to pursue the rejuvenation of Chinese civilization together, and he also personally expected to return to Taiwan.
China's top court is considering a new judicial interpretation to better regulate online auctions of seized assets.

Over the past four years, more than 1,200 courts from 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have held upward of 190,000 auctions on shopping website Taobao for property worth around 120 billion yuan ($18.5 billion).

He Donning, an official from the law enforcement department of the Supreme People's Court, said on Wednesday that such auctions were becoming an important part of the judiciary's work.

"The upcoming interpretation will clarify that these auctions should be held on the Internet, not a local-area network," he said.

"It will note down the responsibilities of the courts and web operators, in a bid to keep the auction's procedures controlled and clear."

Such transparency will also ensure fairness and public oversight, He said at a seminar that was jointly held by Legal Daily and Taobao.

The popular shopping website is the largest host of online court auctions, with courts in Zhejiang province auctioned off 16,542 items on the platform last year alone, with a 90 percent success rate.

Rao Wenjun, an official of the provincial high people's court, said that online auctions had improved the effect and efficiency of the court's work.

In the past, the court took six months to deal with seized assets, but that response time had now been slashed by half, Rao said.

Chu Hongjun, vice-president of Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court, said that the online auction were also a good way to reduce judicial corruption.
A policeman attends an anti-terrorism drill named "One-minute Handling" at the commercial district of Xidan in Beijing, Aug 29, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing police have stepped up efforts to mobilize the masses and fight terrorism in the capital.

Two whistle-blowers were rewarded 3,000 yuan ($462) and 2,000 yuan for providing information on terrorism and reporting hazardous items on the subway, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said on Wednesday.

One of them reported a foreigner suspected of being involved in terrorist activities, but no detailed information was available on the case.

More than 500 people have been rewarded with upward of 600,000 yuan by Beijing police since the city announced rewards for terror informants in March 2014.

According to the incentive program, whistle-blowers are awarded between 1,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan for reporting information on terrorism.

To better cope with the risk posed by terrorist activities, the bureau has organized six rounds of anti-terrorism drills and provided professional training to more than 2,500 personnel over the past year.






Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prashad Oli has said that his country has "entered a new phase of development" and welcomes more investment, including funding from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Oli made the remarks during a group interview on Tuesday in Beijing. He will attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which is set to open on Thursday.

Nepal "wants to invite all the organizers, companies, friends, private groups, and government as well, to support and cooperate with Nepal and to invest in Nepal", he said.

He noted that as a member of the AIIB, the country wants to "utilize the capacity of the bank".

"On the question of infrastructure development, Nepal is not advanced," he said.

"So we want to invite the organizers, including the bank, to invest in the field of infrastructure development in Nepal," he added.

Premier Li Keqiang held talks with his Nepali counterpart Oli on Monday and they agreed to expand reciprocal cooperation between the two countries in pursuit of common development.

After their talks, Li and Oli witnessed the signing of a string of cooperation documents, involving areas such as transport, trade, energy and finance.
A woman from the Yi ethnic group wears traditional costume to collect roses in a garden belonging to Mythic Flora, a fragrance manufacturer in Yunnan province[Photo provided to China Daily]

Fragrance makers in the southwestern province are nosing ahead in their efforts to build local brands and gain global attention, report Yang Wanli and Li Yingqing in Kunming.

China's multibillion-dollar luxury goods market has just undergone a tumultuous year as a number of factors, including the plunging stock market and the national anti-corruption campaign, pushed sales lower and lower.

According to research released in January by Bain & Co, the United States management consultancy, spending on high-end goods in China fell by 2 percent to $17.26 billion last year.

However, despite the widespread decline, a small number of luxury items maintained steady growth, with cosmetics, perfume and personal care items registering annual growth rates of 5 to 10 percent.

For the leading brands among these mostly foreign exceptions, the strong consumer power of the country's 1.3 billion people not only represents promising profits, but also signals the threat posed by new local rivals.

Chinese perfume makers were once at the bottom of the industry chain, but they are now producing sought-after cosmetics from natural plant extracts, and trying to grow their share of the profitable domestic market.

"An increasing number of Chinese women are now becoming accustomed to world-famous cosmetics and perfume brands, such as Dior, Chanel and Estee Lauder, but few of them know that some of the essential ingredients used by these brands come from China, or rather, from Yunnan province," said Du Zhizhi, an associate researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Boasting 15,000 plant species, Yunnan, in China's southwestern subtropical zone, is the country's most biologically diverse province. It is home to more than 400 types of natural spices, accounting for nearly 80 percent of all the varieties found in China.

According to the provincial department of commerce, Yunnan's fragrance manufacturers exported more than $104 mill-ion worth of natural oils and fragrances made with synthetic chemicals last year. The annual output of two essential perfume ingredients dominated global trade, with local eucalyptus oil accounting for 90 percent of all sales, while geranium oil accounted for 50 percent.

"We've seen steady growth in the province's cosmetics, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, the key industries that use natural oils, fragrance extracts and synthetic chemicals," said Feng Rui, director of the China Association of the Fragrance, Flavors and Cosmetic Industries.

Raw materials

Although Yunnan's more than 30 fragrance companies employ about 2 million workers, almost all of them are essentially suppliers of raw materials, according to Feng.

"In recent decades, (profit) margins have been falling for these companies because of rampant price wars among domestic suppliers. That has resulted in some companies thinking about ways to avoid obstacles - by building local brands," he said.

That process started early for the pharmaceuticals giant Yunnan Baiyao Group in Kunming, the provincial capital. In 2008, Baiyao signed a technology transfer agreement with Maleave Cosmetics of Japan, and they started jointly developing cosmetics in 2011.

In 2014, the company's daily care products generated 3 billion yuan ($461 million), accounting for about 15 percent of the group's annual revenue, with 95 percent of the total coming from sales of Baiyao's star product - toothpaste.

"It's not easy to promote a new brand and make inroads in this profitable cosmetics market. It requires high levels of investment, but only generates low returns in the short term," said Qin Wanmin, vice-president and general manager of the group's department of healthcare products. According to Qin, it's common for overseas giants, such as L'Oreal Paris, to invest billions of dollars in the development of new products.

For the past five years, the company's cosmetics range has deliberately been limited to shampoos, face masks, soaps and hand creams.

"It will be some time before we plan a big expansion in the product range. The industry chain in Yunnan is still underdeveloped, so we're better off concentrating on producing medicines," Qin said.
The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) of Austria, a "flagship" of the classical music scene of Austria as well as Europe, announced the launch of its Live at Home program for China on March 17.

One of the largest platforms for live streamed music, Wiener Staatsoper's Live at Home brings opera performance to people all over the world, and enables users to watch live performances via Internet.

Subscribers to the program can toggle freely between the total view of the stage, and close-ups of the actors.

Program head Christopher Widauer was in China recently to participate in the 2016 China Theater Innovation Summit  and to introduce the Live at Home program to China. He says he hopes to work with a number of China's theaters and opera houses to help them, with our technology and consulting, to build similar programs as ours, to present live streaming of their performances.

Through partnerships and collaborations, outstanding contents from Chinas theaters could be able to go live-streaming on international platforms such as that of the Vienna State Opera.

The Live at Home program began in 2013, and has made nearly 100 opera and ballet performances from the opera house available online, payable in live as well as in on-demand streaming.

People can visit the website (www.staatsoperlive.com), and enjoy a free subscription to the live streaming for a month. After that, the monthly subscription will cost 15 euro net, and 150 euro for a year.

All the content has subtitles in German and English, and with the number of Chinese subscribers growing, Chinese subtitles will be available very soon, Widauer assures.

Related:

Primary school students pursue dream of Wuju opera
Two volunteers display a shadow puppetry program combining traditional and modern elements during a workshop.[Photo provided to China Daily]

It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world with a history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Here, Li Rong, who runs the Mini Shadowplay Festival, preparing for its second edition in Beijing and Shanghai next month, explains how she fell in love with it and what she is doing to give it a makeover. Chen Nan reports.

When an art form is seen as living heritage, it not only indicates its historical and cultural value but also means it is in decline. That's how Li Rong thought about Chinese shadow puppetry, one of the oldest performing arts in the world with a history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when it became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011.

However, after seeing a series of live shadow puppetry shows staged at theaters in Huaxian county, Shaanxi province, in 2009, she developed a different perspective about the ancient art form, which led the 25-year-old to embark on a journey of researching, promoting and reviving it.

"I was fascinated by the techniques of the puppeteers, such as improvisational singing, simultaneous manipulation of several puppets and their imagination. I did not want it to die," says Li, who graduated from the Beijing Language and Culture University in 2012.

In 2014, she decided to become a full-time promoter of the ancient art.

From 2009 to 2014, Li traveled to many places in China to watch shadow puppetry shows. She also visited Indonesia, Thailand and India, where shadow play has a long history, and where they are able to keep the tradition alive through religion.

Then, around two years ago, she read about Shadow Liberation, an interactive shadow theater ensemble directed by American drama therapist Evan Hastings, who uses shadow puppetry to talk about gender violence.

She contacted Hastings and over April 2-17, Hastings will be at Beijing's National Library and Shanghai's Theater of 1933 Old Millfun for the second edition of the Mini Shadowplay Festival. He'll be joined by five members of his theater group, including Rajeev Pulavar, an award-winning shadow puppeteer and educator from Kerala in southern India and Bengaluru-based theater artist, film actor Madhukar. They will deliver lectures, hold performances and conduct workshops.

They will use the Indian epic, the Ramayana, as an original text and will work on it with local artists to start a dialogue about gender equality.

"Last year, Hastings performed in Shanghai and Beijing as a solo artist," says Li, who founded Mini Shadowplay Festival in 2015. "Then, we opened up the backstage and let the audience get a taste of the shadow techniques. We will continue the interaction this year too."

In the festival's first year, with support from online funding, Li invited three veteran shadow puppetry artists from Xiangtan city in Hunan province. They not only performed at the event, but also interacted with the audience by displaying and teaching their craft of carving the puppets.

This year, the festival is partly funded by One Lab, a project under the charity organization One Foundation.

Li says that the performance last year was staged in the center of the venue, to enable the audience to see backstage.
A man comforts a woman outside Brussels Airport after explosions rocked the departure lounge, killing at least 14 people on Tuesday. [Photo/Agencies]

The death toll may not be the heaviest, yet the multiple blasts at the Brussels airport and a metro station were cause for serious concern.

Because they occurred in the heart of Europe, at a time when the European Union remains on high alert after the attacks in Paris on Nov 13 and when countries were preparing and prepared for further attacks.

Particularly so in Brussels where the police were being ultra-vigilant in anticipation of reprisals after a suspected participant in the Paris attacks was arrested in the city four days ago.

As Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Monday, his country was on high alert for a revenge attack.

And because of this, the fear and panic the blasts caused, as intended, which led to the airport being evacuated and the closure of the subway system, spread far beyond the bloodshed.

For while the Brussels attacks may be acts of despair by cornered terrorists as a result of the tireless manhunt closing in, there is the suspicion they may be evidence that terrorist cells remain both active and capable despite the efforts being made to track them down.

If that is the case, the fact that they can attack amid such vigilance means they can probably do so at any other time. Especially since no country can afford to remain on high alert indefinitely.

And if they can strike in Brussels, they can do so in other places, because not everywhere can afford the degree of preparedness the city had demonstrated.

The situation is even more worrisome considering the chaos recent refugee inflows have brought about. Not to mention the rumors that terrorist organizations are taking advantage of the crisis to infiltrate Europe.

The attacks in Paris, along with the sexual assaults in Germany, had already prompted calls for reevaluating the approach to refugees. What happened in Brussels will only amplify those calls.

While the attacks have again revealed Europe's vulnerability to terrorism, that is no excuse for complacency by other countries. We cannot afford to ignore the essential underlying message that no country is safe nowadays, as globalization makes it easier for terrorist groups to operate across borders.

The current anti-terror campaign has been less than effective, in part, because the international community has yet to come up with a meaningful alliance that is truly united in its efforts to combat terrorism. And a united front is out of the question if countries cannot even agree on what constitutes terrorism.
Homebuyers swarm into a hotel as a real estate company starts the sale of 388 apartments on Feb 27 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The sale attracted more than 2,000 people. [Photo/China Daily]

Since late 2015, real estate prices in metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have been rising steadily. Several department heads of the State Council, China's Cabinet, have said recently they will strengthen measures to control the markets in these cities. Beijing Times comments:

One of the main causes of this round of property price rises has been the easing of monetary policies over the past few months. The standards for obtaining loans have been rather loose and there has been increased speculation in real estate.

Moreover, some realty agencies even offer loans to those who do not have enough money for a down payment. This is similar to subprime credit, which caused the financial crisis in the US in 2008 that evolved into a global one. It is highly risky because in case the loaner gives up the realty by ceasing to pay the loans, the bad debt ratio might abruptly rise for banks.

It is time local governments better performed their role and eliminated such illegal, highly risky financial activities.

Local governments must not interfere in local housing markets. They may use financial tools and prohibit illegal financial activities, but they should not seek to affect people's decision to buy or not to buy a house.

Fundamentally, though, it is the abundant resources in metropolises that fuel the demand for property. Thus, only comprehensive reform will curb the demand, which in turn will cool speculation. That might take years, even decades, so local governments need to better perform their roles in preventing illegal or risky behavior in the realty market.
The inaugural Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) leaders' meeting will be held on March 23 in Sanya, South China's Hainan province. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will meet with the leaders from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

According to the media, the LMC will contribute to the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and help build the ASEAN Community through the three cooperation pillars of political and security issues, economic and sustainable development, and social, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the LMC mechanism will enhance ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership, as well as the Greater Mekong Sub-region, ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation, and synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and LMC activities and projects in five priority areas, namely connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation.

The Ministry said the current key challenges for the LMC are the downward trend of global and regional economic growth, poverty reduction, development gaps, water resources management, and non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, natural disasters, climate change, environmental problems, and pandemics.

The LMC aims to promote high-level exchanges, dialogue and cooperation to enhance mutual trust and understanding, and implement the Cooperation Initiative on Poverty Reduction in East Asia in order to deal with these challenges.

In this process, China will play the role of key partner to implement the vision of the LMC.
A woman consoles her children at a street memorial following the bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Belgium's capital Brussels always boasts of being the heart of European Union. First, geographically, it is an ideal European gateway and second, it serves as headquarters of European integration.

Normally, thousands of international journalists gather in the capital's zone where many European institutions are located, gathering stories on the bargaining processes of the project to maintain Europe peace.

But the atmosphere here is different today.

On the day after the explosive attacks at Maelbeek metro station, a stone's-throw away from the European Commission building, and Brussels airport at Zaventem, journalists assembled there to cover the one minute of silence for those victims of the bloody disasters.

Today, this area is gradually returning to normal. Shops, restaurants, coffee bars and office buildings are open after a day of closures. But the tunnel, where the European Commission and the European Council sit respectively on either side, remains closed.

And the main road beside the attacked metro station is not accessible. Police, journalists and rescue workers are busy working around it. It is grey this morning in Brussels and so it was yesterday. About one kilometer of the street leading downtown was blocked, with no access to traffic and people.

It reminds me of the seriousness of the explosions and in some way, this is a serious "heart attack" of European Union.

Near the European Council building, I found a bunch of flowers with "No Fear" written on the card. This is encouraging to find at a time when Belgians are in deep sorrow. And it is high time to spread courage, love, sympathy and share sorrow, instead of spreading fear.

However, suddenly, I realized this is my third time to report mourning in Europe since the beginning of last year.

On the night of 7th January 2015, when my newspaper was organizing a New Year seminar in Brussels, gunmen attacked the Charlie Hebdo magazine's building in Paris. We held a moment of mourning with seminar participants. Then in late November when the G20 summit was being held in Turkey, I was reporting the leaders' one-minute of act of silence for more than 130 people who lost their lives in another Paris terror attack.

Since then, European countries have tightened security measures while at the same time struggling against a stream of migrants from the Middle East heading across the EU's borders. Belgium has raised its security alert level and the soldiers and police patrol frequently in downtown Brussels and the European Union's buildings.

But they failed to prevent the attacks on Brussels on March 22. So Wednesday's period of mourning became the third one I covered in Europe in about a year. I really wish there will be no more and I really wish there will be no hatred and conflict, just peace and love.

However, if the European authorities don't take an iron-fist approach to illegal immigrants, find better ways to deal with relations with Middle East countries and fix the loopholes of security control, it is really hard to say what will happen.

This time, the terror attacks happened inside the airport's departure building and inside the metro. To be honest, when even this country was on the highest security alert level in November and December, everybody had free access, without security check, to come and go.

This is obviously a loophole. Some people say Europeans are not willing to sacrifice freedom of movement. But what happened on Tuesday was bloody and costly.

It had already happened before and the most important thing is what Europeans need to learn from such tragedy.

In the previous ten years, Union integration has suffered from the tremendous challenges of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, economic recession, the crisis in Ukraine, immigrants, policies towards North Africa and West Asia, rising terrorism attacks and various threatened exits by Greece and UK at least.

It is high time for European politicians to wake up and face squarely these problems, and they need to know that the ordinary people are not satisfied with the status quo.

One Chinese businessman sent me a message saying it is not only developing countries that have security risks, but also in the developed world. Chinese people need to be careful when investing overseas.

In front of European Commission building on Wednesday, I met a Belgian musician, with her lovely dog following her. When I asked her how she felt, she replied, in tears, "I am sad and very sad."

And asked if she fears that this will happen again, she said: "I don't know."

This is telling. And the politicians and governments in Europe should convince us: Belgium is safe and so is Europe. Only in this way, trust from the citizens can be gained.

To contact the reporter: fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
PHNOM PENH - With the inaugural Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) leaders' meeting scheduled to open next week in China, Cambodia said the LMC is important for all Lancang-Mekong countries to maintain regional peace and stability and to boost economic development.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is due to meet with the leaders from the Mekong River countries -- Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam -- on March 23 in Sanya in southern China's Hainan province.

In a written response to Xinhua's questions by the Cambodian Foreign Ministry's Mekong (River) Department recently, the department said the LMC would contribute to ASEAN integration and ASEAN Community building and achieve its objectives through three cooperation pillars, namely political and security issues, economic and sustainable development, and social, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

"The LMC mechanism will reinforce and enhance ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership, Greater Mekong Sub-region, ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation, and synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and LMC activities and projects in five priority areas," the foreign ministry said.

The five areas are connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, agriculture and poverty alleviation, it added.

The department said the current key challenges for the LMC are an increasing downward trend of the global and regional economy, poverty reduction, development gaps, water resources management, and non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, natural disasters, climate change, environmental problems, and pandemics.

"To deal with those challenges, the LMC shall promote high-level exchanges, dialogue and cooperation to enhance mutual trust and understanding and implement the Cooperation Initiative on Poverty Reduction in East Asia," it said.

The LMC needs to deepen law enforcement and security cooperation through information exchange, capacity building, and coordination of joint operations, establish a center in China for LMC water resources cooperation, and strengthen cooperation against non-traditional security threats, the department said.

According to the ministry, China is the key partner with the Mekong countries to implement the vision of the LMC.

Commenting on the upcoming LMC leaders' meeting, the ministry's department said the summit will be held under the theme: "Shared River-Shared Future", and Cambodia will focus on domestic and regional infrastructure and logistics for connectivity, growth and development, poverty reduction, climate change, as well as environmental problems.

Besides, Cambodia will concentrate on production capacity cooperation, ASEAN connectivity, as well as cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation.

It said that Cambodia will benefit greatly from the LMC mechanism since it will help Cambodia boost economic and social development, support Cambodia's Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025, enhance connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources, agriculture and poverty reduction.

The LMC mechanism will also help Cambodia strengthen cooperation in public health, particularly in the areas of epidemic monitoring, joint prevention, and increase cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation, it added.
NEW DELHI - India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said the upcoming BRICS summit will be held in its western state of Goa in October.

"The 8th BRICS summit would be organised in Goa on October 15-16 this year," Swaraj said.

A statement issued by India's foreign ministry said India assumed BRICS chairmanship from the Russian Federation for the year 2016.

"Over fifty meetings and events, at the ministerial, senior officials, working groups, technical, and track-II levels, are proposed to be organised during India's BRICS chairmanship through the year," the statement said.

Swaraj unveiled the BRICS logo for the duration of India's BRICS chairmanship and launched India's BRICS website.

The last BRICS summit was held in the Russian city of Ufa in July 2015.

BRICS is an association of five countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Two women wounded in explosions at the airport wait for help. [Photo/Agencies]

China condemns Brussels attacks

China strongly condemned the attacks on Brussels Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

China firmly opposes terrorism in all forms, said spokesperson Hua Chunying in a statement, offering deep condolences to the families of the victims.

"The Chinese people stand with the Belgians and the Europeans," she said.

China is willing to enhance cooperation with Belgium and the international community to jointly face the threats and challenges posed by terrorism to safeguard world peace and stability, said Hua.

She said the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Belgium are closely monitoring the latest developments to see if there were any Chinese nationals among the victims.

According to media reports, at least 34 people were killed in explosions at an airport and at a city metro station in Brussels.

Belgium on high alert after blasts

Bombings at Brussels Airport, subway kill more than 30 in country's 'black moment'

At least 34 people were killed in twin attacks on Brussels International Airport and a rush-hour subway train in the Belgian capital on Tuesday, triggering security alerts across Western Europe.
Premier Li Keqiang (third from right) poses with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chanocha (third from left), Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (second from right), Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong (second from left), Myanmar Vice President Sai Mauk Kham (right) and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (left) at a welcoming ceremony on Tuesday before the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, in Sanya, Hainan province. WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY

SANYA, Hainan - China on Tuesday called on countries along the Lancang-Mekong River to make the upcoming leaders' meeting fruitful for future cooperation.

Premier Li Keqiang made the remarks while addressing a welcoming banquet prior to the first Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting to be held on Wednesday in Sanya, a coastal city in southern China's Hainan Province.

Li, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen; Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong; Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham; and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will attend the "shared river, shared future" themed meeting.

Li said institutionalized cooperation among the six countries will help maintain regional peace and stability, give full play to each country's resources, industries and market, and provide more support to the region's social and economic development.

The LMC will also supplement relations between China and ASEAN, the premier added.
In 2011, two Chinese cargo ships refused to pay protection money to a drug-trafficking gang on the Mekong River.

Naw Kham, the leader of the gang, swore to take revenge.

On Oct 5, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, which had refused to pay for protection, were attacked and 13 Chinese fishermen aboard were murdered. Their bodies were found floating on the river, with the eyes and mouths covered with black tape and the hands bound.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, between 2008 and 2011, the gang launched 28 attacks against Chinese cargo ships on the river, killing 16 citizens and injuring three.

The gang was busted in early 2012 amid a joint law enforcement operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

In November 2012, a court in Yunnan province sentenced Naw Kham and three of his subordinates to death for the murders of the 13 Chinese sailors.

In February 2013, Naw Kham and the accomplices, identified as Hsang Kham, Yi Lai and Zha Xika, were executed by lethal injection in Kunming, Yunnan, according to Kunming Intermediate People's Court.
Premier Li Keqiang (third from right) poses with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chanocha (third from left), Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (second from right), Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong (second from left), Myanmar Vice President Sai Mauk Kham (right) and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (left) at a welcoming ceremony on Tuesday before the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, in Sanya, Hainan province. WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY

Security along the Lancang-Mekong River has improved greatly since China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand established a law enforcement cooperation mechanism to combat rampant cross-border crime.

Before this, the number of cross-border crimes on the river - including drug-trafficking, terror attacks, smuggling of firearms and humans, and illegal immigration-had risen sharply, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

"Such crimes tend to become severe and complex on the river, posing a serious threat to regional security and stability," said a senior official at the ministry, who declined to be named.

In October 2011, the four countries agreed in Beijing to set up a law enforcement cooperation mechanism, under which they conduct joint patrols to combat cross-border crimes along the river.

The decision was taken after 13 Chinese sailors were killed by a drug trafficking ring in the Golden Triangle area of the river, comprising parts of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

"The law enforcement mechanism has played an essential role in maintaining safety and promoting economic prosperity," the official said.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, between December 2011 and last year, the four countries conducted 41 joint law enforcement activities on the river. These greatly reduced cross-border crime.
The Delta Airlines plane in this January 2, 2013 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Delta Airlines Inc plans to begin daily non-stop service between Los Angeles and Beijing by the end of the year, pending US Department of Transportation and foreign government approval.

Delta will be the only carrier to offer service to both Beijing and Shanghai from Los Angeles. Delta said in a statement that Los Angeles is the largest market for service to Asia and drives 21 percent of all US-Asia demand.

"Delta's new nonstop service to Beijing continues our expansion in China, providing our business customers with access to Beijing and beyond through our partnerships with the market's leading carriers, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines," Ranjan Goswami, Delta's vice-president of sales-west, said in a statement.

In 2015, Delta said it would invest $450 million for a 3.6 percent stake in China Eastern Airlines, the mainland's second-largest airline. The investment made Delta the first major US airline to own part of a Chinese airline.

Delta's Los Angeles-Beijing flight will offer connections to more than 39 cities in China, including Chengdu, Shenyang, Qingdao, Xi'an and Hangzhou on SkyTeam partners China Eastern and China Southern, while the Los Angeles-bound Beijing flight will offer connections to Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, Oregon, Phoenix and San Diego, as well as 35 other markets in the US, Canada and Latin America.

Delta's expansion continues a trend that saw the addition of 75 weekly nonstop flights between China and the US last year, a more than 30 percent increase from 2014. Six of the eight airlines that provide direct US-China services opened new routes in 2015, adding to their fast-growing schedules while some expanded service to China's second-tier cities.

The new Delta service also coincides with the launch of the 2016 US-China Tourism Year in February. Throughout the year, the US Department of Commerce and the China National Tourism Administration, in collaboration with other partners, will host events and activities to promote travel between the two countries. An estimated 2 million Americans have visited China annually in recent years while 2.5 million Chinese traveled to the US in 2015.

The US-China Tourism Year came about after President Xi Jinping's state visit to the US last September.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com
Premier Li Keqiang speaks at the first Lancang-Mekong cooperation leaders' meeting in Sanya, Hainan province, on March 23, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn].

Lancang-Mekong cooperation is a new practice for South-South cooperation, Premier Li Keqiang said at the first Lancang-Mekong cooperation leaders' meeting in Sanya, Hainan province, on Wednesday.

The name "Sanya" means the junction of three rivers. In addition, "Sanya" in Southeast Asian countries means agreement and consensus. This shows that we are willing to make joint efforts to create a bright future for the region, Li said.

For Lancang-Mekong cooperation, he quoted a Southeast Asian proverb to express his wishes: When gentle breezes stick together, they can have the power of a typhoon.
Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives for a campaign rally at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Washington March 22, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - US Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton swept to victory in Arizona on Tuesday in contests that were overshadowed by deadly attacks in Brussels that raised security concerns in the United States.

Trump, who has riled establishment Republicans, easily defeated his two rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, US television networks projected.

On the Democratic side, Clinton stretched her advantage in the Democratic contest by winning Arizona, routing US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The contests in Arizona and Utah took place on the same day that attacks in Brussels killed at least 30 people, adding to Americans' concerns about the threat from Islamist militants.

"This is a time for America to lead, not cower," Clinton told supporters in Seattle in a victory speech she used to attack Trump and Cruz for views she said were out of step with most Americans.

Sanders was unbowed in defeat, saying national polls showed him gaining on former secretary of state Clinton.

"When we began this campaign about 10 months ago we were three percent in the polls, about 70 points behind secretary Clinton. As of today the last poll that I saw we are five points behind and we are gaining," he said.

Long lines of voters were reported in both states.

Trump, the New York billionaire and former reality TV star, has ridden an anti-Washington message to become the favorite for the nomination. This has left a flagging anti-Trump effort with faint hopes of stopping him at the Republican national convention in July.

"Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!" Trump said on Twitter. "Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court Justices!"
PRAGUE - Following the terrorist attacks in Brussels, the Czech Republic has in fact raised its terror threat alert level from zero to one, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said Tuesday.

Chovanec said Czech authorities have no information about any terrorist attack threatening the country at present. But they have deployed additional hundreds of police officers to reinforce the patrols and the military personnel will also be deployed.

According to Chovanec, the increased security measures apply to all international airports, cover selected buildings and metro. He said these measures may be further expanded, they will discuss the possibility to increase checks at Czech borders during Tuesday night's meeting.

Chovanec made the remarks at a press conference after talks with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, and representatives of intelligence services and police.

The deputies were informed about the situation in the afternoon, and an extraordinary government meeting to be held on Tuesday night to approve the increase of the alert degree. So far, the alert degree in Czech Republic is zero.

The terror threat alert system approved by Czech government earlier in 2016 has four degrees from zero to three. In emergency situations, the increase of alert degree could be announced by the interior minister but must be confirmed by the Cabinet within a week.
An image widely published by Belgian media is said to show three men who are believed to have carried out the attack at Zaventem Airport, BBC reports.

BRUSSELS - Belgian police identified two suspected Islamic State suicide bombers captured on security cameras before they struck Brussels Airport on Tuesday in the first of two attacks that also hit the city's metro, public broadcaster RTBF said on Wednesday.

The death toll in the attacks on the Belgian capital, home to the European Union institutions and NATO, rose to at least 31 with more than 200 wounded, Health Minister Maggie De Block said on VRT television.

The Syrian-based Islamist militant group claimed responsibility four days after the arrest in Brussels of a prime suspect in November's Paris attacks. If confirmed, the identifications would link the Brussels blasts directly to the jailed Paris suspect, Salah Abdeslam.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

RTBF, quoting a police source, named the suspected bombers as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, two brothers resident in Brussels and known to the security services for crime.

The newspaper DH said a third suspect seen with them before running away from the airport after the blasts was identified as Najim Laachraoui, 25, a man sought by police and directly linked to Abdeslam.

Khalid had rented under a false name the apartment in the city's Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

Brussels police searched a house in the north of the city late into the night, turning up another bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making chemicals in an apartment in the borough of Schaerbeek.

Local media said authorities had followed a tip from a taxi driver who may have driven the bombers to the airport.

Investigators said they were focusing on a man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden baggage trolley at the airport with two others they believed were the bombers. An unused explosive device was later found at the airport and the man, believed to be Laachraoui, was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions.

Belgium is observing three days of national mourning. A minute's silence for the victims will be held at midday.
Blocked from presidency, observers say she is likely to at least assume role of foreign minister

Aung San Suu Kyi was nominated as a Cabinet minister in Myanmar's civilian government on Tuesday, giving her a formal position despite being blocked from the presidency in a nation ruled for decades by the military.

Suu Kyi, who has vowed to rule above the next president U Htin Kyaw, was named first in a list of ministers read out to lawmakers by the parliament speaker U Mann Win Khaing Than, who did not specify which position she or others would hold.

A parliamentary vote to confirm the posts was expected later in the week.

The NLD only named 15 ministers for 18 posts chosen by the civilian government, sparking speculation that Suu Kyi will take on four portfolios.

Suu Kyi is the sole woman and one of only six NLD members in the Cabinet, which also includes members from the main army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in keeping with the NLD's pledge for a cabinet of national reconciliation.

Observers said Suu Kyi was likely to at least take the role of foreign minister, giving her a Cabinet post, international clout and a seat at the country's influential Security Council, which is dominated by the military.

Suu Kyi, 70, is blocked by the Constitution because her late husband was British, as are her two sons.

Under Myanmar's complex political rules, the Cabinet role means she will likely have to forego her formal position as head of her National League for Democracy, which she led to a stunning victory in historic November elections that were the freest in generations.

"I feel confident with this new government formation," said NLD upper house MP Myat Ngana Soe after the announcement, adding that Suu Kyi would continue to hold sway over the party.

'Heart of government'

Suu Kyi's ban from the presidency has been a thorn in the side of her party since it was allowed a space in parliament under the outgoing government led by President U Thein Sein.

She has held several rounds of talks with army chief U Min Aung Hlaing since the elections, but was unable to remove the constitutional barrier.

Taking a role in the Cabinet puts an end to speculation that she would opt for a position akin to India's Sonia Gandhi, who wielded huge influence despite having no official government role.

"She wants to be at the heart of government. She wants to do it properly, and formally, and, this is important to her, legally," said Trevor Wilson, an academic at the Australian National University and former ambassador to Myanmar.

AFP - AP - Xinhua
Laying bare a half-century of tensions, US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro prodded each other on Monday over human rights and the long-standing US economic embargo during an unprecedented joint news conference.

The exchanges underscored deep divisions that still exist between the two countries, despite rapidly improved relations.

Obama, standing in Havana's Palace of the Revolution on the second day of his historic visit to Cuba, repeatedly pushed Castro to take steps to address his country's human rights record.

"We continue ... to have some very serious differences, including on democracy and human rights," said Obama, who planned to meet with Cuban dissidents on Tuesday. Still, Obama heralded a "new day" in the US-Cuba relationship and said "part of normalizing relations means we discuss these differences directly".

Castro was blistering in his criticism of the US embargo, which he called "the most important obstacle" to his country's economic development. He also pressed Obama to return the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which is on the island of Cuba, to his government.

"There are profound differences between our countries that will not go away," Castro said.

When a US reporter asked about political prisoners in Cuba, he pushed back aggressively, saying that if the journalist could offer names of anyone improperly imprisoned, "they will be released before tonight ends".

"What political prisoners? Give me a name or names," Castro said.

Obama's and Castro's comments were broadcast live on Cuban state television.

At an outdoor cafe in Havana, about a dozen Cubans and tourists watched in silence. Ricardo Herrera, a 45-year-old street food vendor, said, "It's like a movie but based on real life."

After responding to a handful of questions, Castro ended the news conference, declaring, "I think this is enough."

Obama's visit to Cuba is a crowning moment in his and Raul Castro's bid to normalize bilateral relations. On Monday night, Castro honored his US guests with a state dinner at Havana's Palace of the Revolution.

A musician wearing a T-shirt, designed with an image of US President Barack Obama, performs at a gathering in Havana, Cuba. Desmond Boylan / Associated Press

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page12)
Yolanda Mauri's ancestors almost certainly came to Cuba in chains, laboring as slaves on an island of French coffee plantations and fields of Spanish sugarcane.

Her parents became their family's first professionals, graduating with engineering degrees after Cuba's 1959 revolution ended segregation.

Mauri, 26, graduated from an elite technical university with a degree in computer programming. Today, she struggles to patch together a living from poorly paid work and freelance jobs like building websites.

For Mauri and many other black Cubans, Barack Obama isn't just the first US leader to visit their country in nearly nine decades. He's a black man whose rise to the world's most powerful job is a source of pride and inspiration.

Obama's visit has raised Cubans' hopes that a new era in relations with the US will bring an end to the trade embargo and improve life for everyone on the island.

For Afro-Cubans, the trip carries a special charge, a hope that an African-American leader's near-universal popularity among Cubans of all races will help end lingering prejudice and inequality.

"He's black and in some moment of his life he must have realized that as an African-American he had to elevate his performance level because as a black person you have to work twice as hard to get the same result as a white," Mauri said. "I identity a lot with him because of that."

One of Fidel Castro's first acts after forming government was to declare an end to a regimen of segregation that mirrored unequal conditions for blacks in the US.

But nearly 60 years later, Afro-Cubans are underrepresented in the ranks of political and economic elites and make up a disproportionate number of the urban and rural poor. Black Cubans have benefited less than their white counterparts from closer relations with the US. Relatively few hold coveted, lucrative jobs serving foreign visitors.

(China Daily 03/23/2016 page12)




An image widely published by Belgian media is said to show three men who are believed to have carried out the attack at Zaventem Airport, BBC reports.

Belgium media has withdrawn earlier report that the terror attack suspect had been detained, BBC rerpots.

Previous BBC report said Najim Laachraoui, the man suspected of being the third attacker at Zaventem airport, has been arrested in the Brussels district of Anderlecht, Belgian media is reporting, quoting judicial sources.

The third suspect is still on the run after his suitcase bomb - containing the biggest charge at the airport - failed to explode, Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says.



Belgian police identified two suspected Islamic State suicide bombers captured on security cameras before they struck Brussels Airport on Tuesday in the first of two attacks that also hit the city's metro, public broadcaster RTBF said on Wednesday.

The death toll in the attacks on the Belgian capital, home to the European Union institutions and NATO, rose to at least 31 with more than 200 wounded, Health Minister Maggie De Block said on VRT television.

The Syrian-based Islamist militant group claimed responsibility four days after the arrest in Brussels of a prime suspect in November's Paris attacks. If confirmed, the identifications would link the Brussels blasts directly to the jailed Paris suspect, Salah Abdeslam.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

RTBF, quoting a police source, named the suspected bombers as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, two brothers resident in Brussels and known to the security services for crime.

The newspaper DH said a third suspect seen with them before running away from the airport after the blasts was identified as Najim Laachraoui, 25, a man sought by police and directly linked to Abdeslam.

Khalid had rented under a false name the apartment in the city's Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

Brussels police searched a house in the north of the city late into the night, turning up another bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making chemicals in an apartment in the borough of Schaerbeek.

Local media said authorities had followed a tip from a taxi driver who may have driven the bombers to the airport.

Investigators said they were focusing on a man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden baggage trolley at the airport with two others they believed were the bombers. An unused explosive device was later found at the airport and the man, believed to be Laachraoui, was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions.

Belgium is observing three days of national mourning. A minute's silence for the victims will be held at midday.
Lord Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards. [Photo by Wang Mingjie/chinadaily.com.cn]

Michael Dobbs, author of the successful "House of Cards" book and television series, says the West has spent too much time telling China how to run its politics and it's time for it to step back, adding that China never tells the West how to run its politics.

"I have never seen any indication that China wants to turn the rest of the world and remake the rest of the world in its own image," says the former Conservative Party Chief of Staff in an exclusive interview with China Daily. He now sits as a peer in Britain's House of Lords as Lord Michael Dobbs.

"House of Cards" was first published in 1989 and later turned into a UK television mini-series which received two BAFTA awards. Netflix made a US political drama based upon Dobbs's first novel and its BBC adaptation.

During President Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK last October, Dobbs presented the original copy of "House of Cards" as a gift to Xi, on which he wrote a note reading "where we agree, let us rejoice; where we disagree, let us discuss; where we cannot agree, let us do so as respected friends."

Dobbs is keen to help raise the level of mutual understanding between China and the UK, saying it is inevitable that there may be disagreement in important areas, because the world is changing, China is growing, and there are bound to be points of friction, just like tectonic plates.

"What you do with that is you analyse them and try to arrive at an understanding and conclusion," he adds.

China has become a major world player after a rollercoaster of change, says Dobbs, and the future of the West, whether the West likes it or not, is linked with what's going on in China.

Due to its geographic and economic size, Dobbs contends that anything that happens with China makes greater waves than almost any other country around the world and the ripple effect is far greater than almost any other country.

"China is a huge tanker and you do not turn a tanker around in a very short period. It takes time and it requires constant pressure on the tiller in order to turn that around," says Dobbs.

What inspires Dobbs about China is that it has a much more interesting time span and sense of perspective, particularly in tackling deep-rooted problems.

"We have become very short-term in the West and I would argue in some cases very short-sighted and that gets in our way. China is not like that," says Dobbs.

Admitting himself to be a huge fan of western culture, Dobbs says "that does not mean that I close my eyes to some of the weaknesses that we have, and stop looking for inspirations how some other cultures deal with these things. Sometimes some of the areas they deal with it better than we do."

Anti-corruption

Upon taking office in 2012, Xi vowed to crack down on "tigers and flies", both high-level officials and lower-level civil servants alike. By the end of 2014, 414,000 officials have been disciplined by the party for corruption, and 201,600 prosecuted for the infraction in court, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the government body spearheading the campaign.

Dobbs commends China's efforts in tackling corruption, saying one of the reasons that he wants to embrace so much of what China is doing is because the government seems to set out a series of steps and challenges, corruption being one of them, which seems to me to be very "sensible".

One of the underlying problems of corruption in China is the huge difference between the rich and poor, says Dobbs, and that is what helps encourage corruption.

"Putting pressures on all those areas in the long term should have a beneficial effect. It is the sort of language and the sort of objective, which I think is hugely helpful that is set out there very much in public," he adds.

Anti-graft cannot be achieved overnight, says Dobbs, and it is not a matter of passing laws but a matter of changing people's understanding, such as what is required at business and what it is in everybody's interest.

'House of Cards'

The Netflix's political drama "House of Cards" starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, which paints a dark and corrupt picture of American politics, has received a wide range of positive reviews all over the world, including China.

Set in present-day Washington, D.C., "House of Cards" is the story of Frank Underwood, a South Carolina Democrat and House Majority Whip who, after being passed over for appointment as Secretary of State, initiates an elaborate plan to get himself into a position of greater power. The series deals primarily with themes of ruthless pragmatism, corruption, manipulation, and power.

China's SohuTV which streams the show on its website, reported that the second season of 'House of Cards' was ranked No. 1 among the lists of their American programs.

Dobbs believes the success of the show lies in the fact that it is the examination of the human condition and the human soul.

"As human beings, we enjoy analysing theatrical terms, the condition of man and the vulnerability, the strengths as well as the weaknesses, and the 'House of Cards' concentrates very much on weaknesses,'' Dobbs says.

He thinks the timing of a successful political drama is often dependent as a counter point to the actuality of the politics at the time.

"For instance, the original 'House of Cards', dark and cynical, came out at a time when Ms Thatcher was just beginning to fall from power in very tragic and dramatic circumstances, so it sort of matched the cynicism of the time about politics and politicians," Dobbs continues.

In present day, Washington seems to have come grinding into a halt, nothing seems to get done right now, says Dobbs, "so what people want? They want someone like Frank Underwood who can get things done; it does not matter what it takes but he gets it done."

Dobbs thinks that Frank Underwood may become the next President of the US on a write-in vote, because "there is a balance in these things between the reality of the time in a way what people want to see and the drama of the time."
Travel professionals expect a dip in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Europe after the twin terrorist attacks on the Brussels International Airport and a rush-hour subway station on Tuesday.

Belgium's security alert was raised to the highest level after the attacks, and China's embassy in the capital city has told Chinese to exercise caution if they plan to visit.

Authorities in several European countries  including France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland  have tightened security at airports, transportation hubs and borders.

"For Chinese tourists, Belgium is not among the most popular tourism destinations of Europe. Thus we didn't see too many cancellations of coming trips to Belgium," said Ni Jiali, general manager of outbound tourism department at the online travel-service provider Lvmama.

"However, it will dampen the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists for visiting Europe in the short term," Ni said. "The attacks have raised extraordinary safety concerns among tourists."

Ni said the tourism industry likely will bounce back after a few months if such attacks do not happen too frequently within the same country or region.

"It will take a month or two months for the tourism industry to get back to the previous level. Based on past experiences in Spain, the United Kingdom and France, the negative impact will not continue to the next year," Ni said.

The tourism industry in Europe has long been challenged by political tension and security concerns, so travel agencies have introduced their own coping mechanisms.

Ctrip, China's leading online travel service provider, created a tourism risk warning center and released its first warning this week. The center aims to provide support during natural disasters and terrorism attacks.

Yan Xin, Ctrip's publicity manager, said the center expects to release security warnings to its clients in other countries within 15 minutes of a significant event and a more detailed plan within 30 minutes.

"For those who are willing to continue their trips, we will arrange safer routes," Yan said. "For those who want to go back home immediately, we will arrange the flights and accommodations."

Those who want to cancel future booked trips will receive help to get quick refunds, Yan said.

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
LONDON -- The British government said on Wednesday one British national was missing and four others had been wounded in the series of bombings in Brussels on Tuesday which killed more than 30 people in one of the most horrific terrorist attacks on European soil in recent years.

The casualties of British citizens were revealed in a press release following an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron to deal with the aftermath of the attacks.

"We are concerned about one missing British national and we are in close contact with the Belgian authorities. We are aware of four British nationals who were injured in the attacks -- three are being treated in hospital, one has already been discharged," a spokesperson was quoted as saying in the press release.

The British government has stepped up the security presence at a number of locations across Britain and will continue to do so in the coming days, while the national threat level remains at severe (an attack is highly likely) and the public are advised to be "alert but not alarmed," according to the press release.

The British government revised an earlier advice against travel to Brussels, but urged British nationals in Belgium to remain alert and vigilant, stay away from crowded places, and follow the instructions of the Belgian authorities.

Government departments in Britain observed a minute's silence at 11:00 am local time (1100 GMT).
People mourn for the victims in Brussels after terrorist attacks left at least 34 people dead and about 270 wounded on Tuesday in the Belgian capital. Martin Meissner / Associated Press

With Europe facing a fresh terror threat after three bomb blasts killed at least 34 people and injured about 270 in the Belgian capital on Tuesday, analysts agreed that sharing intelligence was at the heart of combating extremist groups such as Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks.

Anthony Glees, a professor at the University of Buckingham in London and director of its Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, told China Daily that Belgium's divided society made it easy for terror groups to slip into that country unnoticed.

He said the Brussels attacks on the main airport and a rush-hour subway train came as no surprise, given last week's arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

Security analysts said the perpetrators of the Paris attacks were traced back to Molenbeek, an area of Brussels with a heavy immigrant population  many from Syria, Iraq and North African countries. Abdeslam had fled from France to Molenbeek.

The ease with which Abdeslam and others were able to cross the border between France and Belgium  until now free of controls because of the Schengen Agreement, which established open borders  was also a factor, analysts said.

Glees said there were doubts about the effectiveness of communication between Belgian intelligence services and the police.

The terrorist attacks in Europe have refocused attention on the seemingly unchecked flow of migrants arriving in Europe via Turkey and Greece. Intelligence analysts said some of those involved in attacks over the past 18 months have used that route to infiltrate the European Union and take advantage of the Schengen Area.

More than 1 million migrants, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are now in Europe.

"The difficulty is that those who want to cause trouble are already in Europe, and the security services, especially in Belgium, struggle to keep track of them," said a British expert in asylum affairs who requested anonymity.

The attacks came at a particularly crucial time for the United Kingdom, which will vote on continued European Union membership in a national referendum on June 23.

Current polls indicate that people wanting to remain in the EU are leading. However, those in favor of leaving the EU said the attacks could swing the vote in their favor, citing increased security and less exposure to Europe-based terror attacks as reasons.

Meanwhile, in China, investors, academics, analysts and government officials attending the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province said the attacks would not deter Chinese investment in Europe.

He Jintong, a professor of global investment at Nankai University in Tianjin, said most Chinese companies were interested in either acquiring or partnering with manufacturers and technology companies in Europe, which are mainly located in business parks outside cities, where it would be difficult for terrorists to launch an attack.

"Great opportunities are still there for Chinese investments in Europe, particularly since they would be protected by Europe's relatively stable legal and governmental framework, especially in ... Germany or France," he said.

Yao Zhizhong, deputy director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the terrorist attacks won't change Chinese companies' decisions to invest in Europe because of its high-quality assets, which are "at a bargain price over time".

However, Ni Jiali, general manager of the outbound tourism department of Chinese online travel-service provider Lvmama, said the terrorist attacks "will dampen the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists to visit Europe over the short term. Before, security was the last issue you needed to worry about."

Zhong Nan in Boao, Su Zhou in Beijing and Wang Mingjie in London contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com
China, 5 other nations to boost connectivity, use of river resources

Premier Li Keqiang consults with Yuan Longping (left), known as "the father of hybrid rice", during an exhibition on Lancang-Mekong cooperation in Sanya, Hainan province, on Wednesday. WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY

China and five other countries along the 5,000-km Lancang-Mekong River agreed on Wednesday on a sweeping plan to deepen cooperation and build a comprehensive connectivity network covering railways, highways, waterways, ports and aviation.

China also promised 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) in preferential loans and a credit line of $10 billion to support infrastructure and production capacity projects in cooperation with the countries.

Premier Li Keqiang announced the loans and the agreement in Sanya, Hainan province, at the first meeting of the leaders from the six countries along the river.

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting also discussed the use of water resources, and China vowed to take measures to support improvement of living conditions in downstream areas along the river.

The Mekong River, whose upper part is known in China as the Lancang River, is an important water source for the five countries on the Indochinese Peninsula  Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam  and it nourishes a population of 326 million.

Beijing announced last week that it will provide an emergency water supply through April 10 to countries along the river to deal with drought.

"That demonstrates China's sincerity toward improving living conditions in countries along the Mekong River," Premier Li said at a joint news conference after the meeting.

He announced that China will use $200 million from its South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to help the five nations to realize the targets set in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China also will provide $300 million to support small and medium-sized cooperation projects proposed by the six countries.

Additionally, it will set up a Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation center and an environmental cooperation center to promote green development.

Li suggested holding leaders' meetings every two years, foreign ministers' meetings every year and occasional meetings of high-ranking officials and working teams.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who co-chaired the meeting with Li, called the gathering a "new chapter" in the Lancang-Mekong cooperation process.

Former Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng said, "The mechanism will not only benefit the six nations, but also boost the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations."

China is the biggest trading partner of Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, and the biggest source of investment in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. China's bilateral trade with the five nations reached $193.9 billion last year.

Contact the writers at zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn
VIENTIANE -- Six Chinese nationals were wounded in an attack on a cross-border passenger bus in northern Laos Wednesday night, the Chinese embassy said.

All the victims were drivers and passengers on the bus, which was travelling from Kunming in China's Southwestern Yunnan province to Vientiane, Chinese embassy officials told Xinhua early Thursday.

The bus, which was carrying 25 passengers and three drivers, was shot by unidentified gunmen at around 9:00 pm local time (1400 GMT) on a road in Kasi, Vientiane province.

The driver was also wounded but he managed to drive the vehicle to safety. All the injured Chinese men were sent to a local hospital for treatment.

The shooting is the latest violence occurred in Laos this year. A Chinese national was killed and three others wounded on March 1 in an attack on a Chinese-invested company by unidentified gunmen in Luang Prabang province.
(Photo : Reuters) HTC 10 will have a metal body, sporting flat, slim and minimalist device.

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HTC has announced that it will unveil its 2016 flagship smartphone HTC 10 on April 12.



The Taiwanese mobile maker will hold the event simultaneously in New York, London, and Taipei at 1 p.m. GMT. The date of launching is not a kind of surprise news for those who are waiting for the new device because of previous rumors that eventually came to be true after the official announcement of the company. The event will have the hashtag #powerof10, hinting that it is 100 percent about the HTC 10.



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However, it is worth noting that the event will be held online only. HTC did not provide details on where to watch just yet. The company also started sending out invites to press people.



The handset will sport a 5-2 inch Quad HD display with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. It will to feature Qualcomms Snapdragon 820 system-on-a-chip, whose quad-core CPU has proven to be most capable in initial benchmarking reports and it will run under Android Marshmallow 6.0. Interested buyers can expect a 4GB of RAM, and paired with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage with mircoSD slot for memory expansion.



It will have a 12MP rear camera with UltraPixel 2 sensor, alongside laser auto focus and an optically stabilized f/1.8 lens, and 5MP UltraPixel shooter on the front. The company said that HTC 10s camera will be world class. In addition, the device will have 00mah battery and USB Type C connector. HTC 10 will also have a fingerprint scanner for payment and security. It looks like the scanner from One A9, so it will likely act as a capacitive home button as well.



HTC 10 will have a metal body, sporting flat, slim and minimalist device. However, because of the metal body, it would not have any front-facing speakers but the Boomsound software audio enhancement remains.



The company is expected to confirm all the features of its new device as well as the official release date and price tag.



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TagsHTC 10, HTC 10 April 12, HTC 10 specs, HTC 10 price, HTC 10 release date
(Photo : Getty Images) The US military has long said that South Korea needs the THAAD missile system but Seoul has been reluctant to agree with the proposal.

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The United States has expressed hopes to talk to China and allay its fears about the possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korean soil.



China has consistently voiced its opposition to the possible THAAD deployment in Seoul, saying the missile system may be used against the mainland and could jeopardize its security interests in the Korean peninsula.



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A senior State Department official stressed that Washington and Seoul have just started discussions on the THAAD deployment issue and no decision have been made yet by the two allies.



China-US Talks



Rose Gottemoeller, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, emphasized that the possible deployment of THAAD focuses on Seoul's defense and aims to target Pyongyang and not China.



"THAAD is truly only capable of defending the territory on which it's deployed. It is not capable of the kind of reach that the Chinese seem to be afraid that it has," she told reporters in a press conference.



"We will be very glad and hope we'll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with China about those very technical limitations and facts about the system," she added.



Arrangements



The undersecretary said arrangements are being made for a meeting between Washington and Chinese officials to discuss the THAAD deployment.



Talks between Washington and Seoul have commenced last month following the latest long-range rocket fired by North Korea on February 7.



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had earlier underscored China's reluctance about a possible THAAD deployment and instead, told the media that the matter would be best resolved through diplomatic means.



Legitimate concerns



Wang reiterated that although Beijing understood Washington and Seoul's defensive move, the two nations should consdier the legitimate concerns of the mainland and address them.



The US military has long said that South Korea needs the THAAD missile system but Seoul has been reluctant to agree with the proposal.



It was only on February 7 when North Korea launched another long-range rocket that Seoul decided to start talks with the US at the risk of damaging ties with Beijing, its number one trade partner.



Huge increase



Army Lieutenant General David Mann, commander of the U.S. Army Space & Missile Command, said that should the THAAD deployment in South Korean's soil materialize, there would be a "huge increase" in defense missile systems in the Korean Peninsula.



Mann said Washington is very much abreast about the concerns of China and has expressed willingness to commence talks with Beijing regarding the issue.



"It's very, very important that we clarify that that radar, that system is not looking at China," he said. "If the decision is made to deploy it, that system would be oriented on North Korea and threats posed by the North Korean military," he added.



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TagsTHAAD deployment, Washington, Seoul, Chinese concerns, North Korea, rocket launch, missile tests
(Photo : Getty Images) Oli called on China to build the rail link to lessen Nepal's dependence on India.

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China and Nepal inked ten cooperation agreements on Monday, including a historic strategic railway link between the two countries to reduce landlocked Nepal's total dependence on India's sea ports for third-country trade.



Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli, who is in Beijing for a seven-day visit, was warmly welcomed by Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People last Sunday.



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Oli has earlier requested China for the rail link to avoid its total dependence on India.



Bilateral relations



Oli's high-profile visit comes on the heels of a recent six-month long crippling blockade when the Indians blocked Nepal's trade routes with India, disrupting normal life for the Nepalese.



The two prime ministers discussed the status of their bilateral relations and made a comprehensive review of their trade cooperation. Both nations have expressed satisfaction on their steadily growing relations.



"The two sides exchanged substantive views on further strengthening and consolidating mutual trust and understanding as well as promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields," a statement from the Nepalese Foreign Ministry said.



Extension



Reports said Oli had requested China for an extension of the strategic railway link, with Tibet further to Nepal.



"Nepal Prime Minister wanted to explore two rail lines," said Hou Yanqi, deputy head of China's Foreign Ministry.



Hou said the Chinese government will tap Chinese firms and encourage them to look into the internal rail plan. She added that Beijing is already planning to stretch the railway link from Tibet to Gyirong on the Nepal border



Ten Agreements



"Of course, a further extension from Gyirong is an even long-term plan. It's up to geographic and technical conditions and financing ability. We believe that far in the future,, the two countries will be connected by rail," she said.



Among the ten agreements sealed by both countries include a feasibility study on the establishment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), assistance to build infrastructure in Nepal such as a new airport and a border bridge, and an economic treaty and technical cooperation on building an international airport on Nepal's famous tourist site Pokhara.



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TagsNepal, china, transit treaty, railway extension, Premier Li Keqiang, trade cooperation, India, blockade
(Photo : Getty Images.) Chinese authorities have detained 37 suspects and are probing three pharmaceutical companies in connection with deadly vaccine scandal that was busted on last Friday.

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Chinese authorities arrested 37 suspects and are investigating three pharmaceutical companies in connection with the deadly vaccine scandal that broke out on last Friday, state media reported.



Most arrests took place in eastern Chinese province of Shandong, including a mother-daughter duo who were identified with their last name Pang. The duo is believed to be the kingpins of the vaccine trade ring.



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Authorities also revoked the license of Shandong Zhaoxin Bio-tech Co (one of the three pharmaceutical companies under investigation) and identified nine vaccine wholesalers from six provinces for playing active roles in the racket.



According to Xinhua, the multi dollar vaccine scandal busted last week allegedly sold poor quality and unrefrigerated vaccines to several hospitals across China for many years. The inferior vaccines had the potential to cause severe disability to patients and could even lead to death.



Experts have already called this scandal as one of the biggest vaccine scandals in country's history with a value of millions of dollars.



The deadly vaccine scandal has evoked strong remarks from Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. The PM said the incident had exposed many serious regulatory loopholes and authorities will undertake thorough investigation into the matter.



Meanwhile, angry parents and doctors across China are demanding serious explanation from Chinese authorities. They are furious over the fact that $90 million of potentially fatal vaccines were allowed to be distributed across China for five years.



The public have also taken to social media to vent their anger and frustration over the case. Several social media posts raised questions on how the older Pang was allowed to carry out the operation for all these years, after being convicted in the same case in 2009.



According to Thepaper.com, the online news portal that first broke the story, in 2009 the elder Pang was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for illegally selling vaccines worth Rs five million Yuan.



China's State Public Security Bureau has alleged that mother-daughter duo has making profit from vaccine trade ring since 2010.



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(Photo : Weibo : Mabel Yuan) Actress Mabel Yuan taking part in the A4 paper waist challenge, the latest social media trend in China.

Since February, Chinese social media has been flooded with pictures of women holding A4 paper in front of their waists. This is the latest social media fitness trend, the A4 paper waist challenge.



Women are posting these photos to prove that their waists can hide behind A4 paper. They hold the paper vertically - where it is only 8.3 inches (21 cm) across - to completely cover their waists.



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According to Tech Insider, a waist that can fit behind this paper is 25 inches (63.5 cm) or less in circumference. To put that number in perspective, the average waist size of American women is about 37.8 inches (96 cm), according to USA Today.



This isn't the first body image selfie trend to hit china. Last year there was the belly button challenge, where women would post pictures of themselves reaching behind their backs and touching their navels.



The belly button challenge spawned a similar trend involving pictures of women grabbing their breasts from the same behind-the-back position.



According to Popsugar, there are already millions of photos with the caption #a4waist #challenge, and the phenomenon is spreading to other social media sites such as Instagram and twitter. Many celebrities are participating.



But not everyone is going along with this most recent fad, as there has been plenty of negative reaction.



Xiao Meili, a women's rights activist, called the A4 waist craze "utterly boring," going on to criticize the notion that "beauty can be measured."



Feminist Zheng Churan posted a picture of herself holding A4 paper horizontally at her waist. She wrote on the paper, "bodies don't need eyes staring at them. I love my fat waist."



Others have resorted to humor. Weibo user Joe Wong posted a photo of with paper covering his face, saying "I have A4 face."


(Photo : Getty Image) Tibet is planning to open duty free outlets to boost trade and tourism

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The Tibet Autonomous Region is trying to boost trade and tourism as it submitted an application to set up duty free outlets on selected entry ports, Lhasa Customs revealed on Wednesday.



Both Lhasa Customs and the regional government are collaborating to apply and obtain approval from the central government to establish duty free shops, according to Wang Wenxi, Lhasa Customs' chief.



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Tibet has been a trading point between China and South Asian nations. Its foreign trade even reached up to 76 billion yuan (11.7 billion US dollars) from 2011 to 2015, this is 60 percent greater compared with those earned by other bordering locations.



However, Wang did not reveal which ports in particular these duty free outlets will be constructed. China Daily suggests that ports along the border of Nepal such as Jilong are likely candidates, given the fact that Nepal accounts a lion's share of Tibet's total foreign trade.



In 2015, Tibet's trading with Nepal significantly plummeted to nearly 60 percent following the strong quake in April that destroyed all the ports and trading centers. However, six months after the tragedy, Jilong port was once again opened to public, while other ports are still undergoing some major renovation.



According to Hong Wei, head of the tourism promotion committee of the region, putting up duty free shops will surely push Tibet's status among the world's major tourist destinations.



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ISIS militants murder Bangladeshi Christian on his morning walk 23 March, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

DHAKA, Bangladesh (Christian Examiner)  A Muslim convert to Christianity in Bangladesh has been hacked to death by Islamic militants, the country's English-language newspaper, The Independent, has reported.

According to the paper, Hossain Ali, 68, was on a morning walk when he was attacked by several men around 7 a.m. The men reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great" as they killed the man.

Ali was a former "freedom fighter," the news source claimed, but had converted to Christianity 15 years ago. Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, won an eight-month long war with its parent country in 1971. Muslims make up roughly 90 percent of the country, while Hindus account for another 9 percent. Christians make up less than 1 percent of the population.

A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able, by the grace of Allah the Almighty, to kill the apostate (Ali), who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity.

Witnesses to the crime said the attackers fell on Ali and slashed his throat. He died at the scene.

The attackers then threw a bomb to frighten local passersby. Two more unexploded bombs were also found at the scene.

The victim may have, in fact, known at least one of the attackers. According to the paper, Ruhul Amin Azad  the victim's son  said a room in their house had been rented by a young man identifying himself as Abul Bashir from Rangpur. Police later said his national ID card and mobile phone number were both fakes.

Police also said they had arrested several men suspected of involvement in the attack and are investigating their ties to militant groups.

The district's police chief, Tobarak Ullah, told the UK Daily Mail that Ali "was not a pastor or reputed Christian." He also suggested that a dispute over family property could have been a motive in the killing.

That theory, however, doesn't gel with eyewitness accounts of the attackers shouting "God is great," the rally cry of Islamic jihadists the world over. In recent months, militants aligned with the Islamic State (ISIS) have targeted converts to Christianity, Shia Islam and Hindus also. In the week prior to the attack on Ali, ISIS militants killed a Shiite convert in the southwestern portion of the country.

Also, on March 23, ISIS militants released a statement directly claiming responsibility for the attack. That statement was nearly identical to the statement released by ISIS after the attacks in Brussels yesterday. It also claimed Ali was, in fact, a well-known Christian.

"A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able, by the grace of Allah the Almighty, to kill the apostate (Ali), who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity," the statement said.

In the past two years, five Bangladeshi bloggers who criticized Islam and the Islamic State have also been killed by militants with ties to al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.
Surprise! America growing more conservative on divorce, poll shows Guest Reviewer | 23 March, 2016 by Michael Foust

WASHINGTON (Christian Examiner)  Support for same-sex marriage may be on the rise in America, but a major new survey shows that the nation's attitude toward divorce is growing  perhaps surprisingly  more conservative.

The report by the government's National Center for Health Statistics was based on thousands of interviews and showed that in the decade following 2002, the percentage of men and women who agreed that divorce "is usually the best option when a couple can't seem to work out their marriage problems" fell several percentages points, even as Americans' attitudes in the same survey on same-sex marriage, gay adoption and cohabitation grew more liberal.

Specifically, the report found:

The percentage of women who agreed with the statement on divorce fell from 46.7 percent in 2002, to 43.0 percent in 20062010, to 38.0 percent in 20112013. (The data in the report lumped the years together.)

The percentage of men who agreed with the statement fell from 44.3 percent in 2002, to 42.8 percent in 20062010, to 39.3 percent in 20112013.

The March 17 report, based on data from the National Survey of Family Growth, did not speculate as to the reasons behind the change in attitudes on divorce, although there was plenty of speculation in various media outlets.

"Marriage is becoming so selective that maybe people think if you achieve this status, you don't want to end it," Wendy Manning, a family and marriage researcher at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, told the Associated Press.

The latest survey, from 2011-13, involved 10,000 interviews.
Though students are out on spring break, the campus of Los Angeles High School has been anything but quiet. Noises of children shouting and singing worship songs filled the LA High campus this week, as some 380 children participated in New Life Vision Church (NLVC)s sixth annual Celebration for Easter at the school, where NLVC also holds its Sunday services.

Celebration for Easter, or CE as they call it, is NLVCs annual outreach event for the children, and is basically the churchs Vacation Bible School (VBS) but held in the springtime near Easter. Not only is it a way for the children to celebrate Easter, explained Pastor Jeehae Yang of the childrens ministry at NLVC, but its also a way through which the church hopes to plant in the children an urgency to share the gospel to their friends from a young age. Starting four to five weeks before CE, children at NLVC are encouraged by the childrens ministry staff to think of friends at other churches and particularly friends who have never gone to church before. Together, the staff help the children to pray for those friends and think of ways they can invite them to CE.

Ever since Pastor Sharon Suk started the CE program, she had this desire to plant a passion for the gospel in the children from a young age, Yang said. Suk is the director of NLVCs childrens ministry.

This years CE, which was titled Altitude and used hiking themes to convey gospel-related messages, focused on three lessons over the course of three evenings. The first night was centered on the lesson, I need Jesus, and included a gospel presentation during the worship service. The second day was focused on the lesson, As a follower of Christ, I will stand up for what is right, while the third day was focused on the lesson, As a follower of Christ, I will do what is right no matter what.

All of these lessons were conveyed through two main parts: a main worship service with music and dancing, a sermon, and prayer time; and then a rotation of three different activities including games, Bible stories / study, and arts and crafts.

A separate room was made available for parents and their infants or toddlers, where the families participated in activities together to impart these lessons unto their smaller children. And another room was prepared and filled with members of the church who came by to pray and intercede for the children during CE.

As the most amount of children tend to show up on the first day, we wanted to share the gospel on the first day so that as many children as possible can hear it, Yang explained of the lessons throughout the event. Then, after they have heard the gospel and hopefully committed to accept and follow Jesus, we wanted to help them discern what is right and wrong from a young age, and to be able to live that out as they grow older. As they become teenagers and college students, itll become harder to stand up for their faith. But our hope is that even when it is hard, even when their peers may mock them for what they believe, that they would choose to defend their faith until the end.

After the gospel presentation during the first night, the children were invited to raise their hands during the first night if they have never accepted Jesus before and would like to after having heard the good news. Those who raised their hands were noted by the small group leaders, who provided additional care throughout the course of CE and answer any questions the children may have. The small group leaders would also let the other staff know of who raised their hands. If the children who raised their hands did not already go to another church, and CE was his or her first time at a church event (information which was noted in each childs CE application form), the NLVC staff would contact the child after CE was finished to invite him or her to church. Many of the children who currently attend NLVC were connected through CE, Yang said.

Those childrens names are kept in mind by the staff, and we pray expectantly for each child, and we follow up with them and contact them, she shared.

Meanwhile, NLVC has another outreach event for children in the fall called Buddy Party, which is a one-day event that takes place on a Saturday. The church also has a mission trip opportunity for children each summer. On average, some 30 children participate each year, and they have traveled to places such as Mexico, South Korea, and Arizona.
Evan Moffic is one of the youngest rabbis in Reform Judaism to lead a congregation-- Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois. Of the three main branches of Judaism in the USOrthodox, Conservative, and Reformhis takes the most progressive approach to a Torah-honoring lifestyle. Reform Jews are theologically the most liberal of the branches, a branch of which Moffic believes is a Judaism at home in America.

As Moffic became involved in interfaith education and dialogue, he discovered the deep desire among some Christians to explore the Jewish roots of their own faith.

Several years ago, when I was a rabbi in Chicago, I was asked to teach a class on this topic at a nearby church. The class was at 8 on a Sunday morning so I wasnt expecting a big crowd, he said. The first week, 15 people showed up. By the end of the series, 80 people were attending the class.

He found himself speaking to Christians of every theological stripe who expressed deep hunger to know more about the Jewishness of their own faith. Their questionsand his ownled him to pen two books on the subject: What Every Christian Needs to Know about Passover: What It Means and Why Matters (Abingdon, 2015) and What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus: A New Way of Seeing the Most Influential Rabbi in History(Abingdon, 2016). Moffics graciousness, curiosity, and insight have caught the attention of evangelicals including Scot McKnight, Eugene Peterson, Lynn Cohick, and Ken Davis.

During Holy Week, we often reflect on Jesus own Jewish traditions as we commemorate the Last Supper and his death, burial, and resurrection. With Passover approaching, I spoke ...

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Update (Mar. 28): Bangladeshs highest court wont be resolving the current tension in the countrys constitution that makes it both a secular state and an Islamic one.

In less than two minutes, judges dismissed a 28-year-old challenge to Islams designation as the state religion. The original group of 15 petitioners, 10 of whom have since died, had no standing to raise the issue, justice Naima Haider ruled. The three-judge panel didnt allow any arguments or testimony.

Im very disappointed. This case was our baby, said Subrata Chowdhury, the attorney who filed the petition in 1988, according to The New York Times. Ive never seen anything like this. At least a proper hearing should have taken place. We had prepared so much.

About 7,000 Islamist activists took to the streets to protest the petition last week, and Bangladeshs largest Islamic party called for a nationwide strike to protest the petition, according ...

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home World Bible translators attacked in Middle East, Christian convert killed in Bangladesh

Four Bible translators were attacked and killed by unidentified assailants in the Middle East.

Mae Greenleaf, a prayer coordinator at Wycliffe Associates, an organization focused on translating the Bible, said in a statement: "Militants killed four national translators and injured several others in a raid on a translation office in the Middle East. They shot and destroyed all the equipment in the office including the Print On Demand (POD) equipment. The invaders burned all the books and other translation materials in the office."

Two of the workers died due to gunshot wounds, while two others were killed trying to save the life of the lead translater. They reportedly laid on top of him but were bludgeoned to death by the attackers using their weapons. There were others who were hurt because of the attack.

The other members of the translation team is looking for a safer and more secure location to continue their work as they intend to "re-double their efforts to translate, publish, and print God's Word for these eight language communities."

Wycliffe Associates will help in replacing the equipment and it is raising $50,000 through their Emergency 911 Fund to not only get the project going again but also to help the families of the translators who died.

Meanwhile, in Kurigram in Bangladesh, a 68-year-old man was attacked by at least two assailants while he was taking a walk. According to Agence France-Presse, Hossain Ali was stabbed in the neck.

"He died on the spot," police chief Tobarak Ullah of the Kurigram district said, as quoted by The Rappler. "The attackers exploded a molotov cocktail to create panic and left the scene on a motorcycle."

While it is still undertermined if Islamist militants are responsible for the killing or if there is another party involved, Ullah mentioned that Ali converted from Islam to Christianity in 1999. In the past, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deaths of Christian converts as well as minorities.
home Entertainment Christian hip hop artist Lecrae receives honorary doctorate degree

Christian hip hop artist Lecrae was given an Honorary Doctorate of Music degree by the Canada Christian College, making the 36-year-old performer the youngest recipient of the degree.

"His talents are amazing, as are his achievements," college president Dr. Charles McVety said, as quoted by The Toronto Sun. "But even more important is his outreach to troubled youth."

Lecrae was raised by a single mom, was reportedly molested by a baby sitter when he was seven, had gone on to taking and dealing drugs as a teenager, among others, but he was changed by God.

"God dramatically turned his life around from the ghetto to the pinnacle of success. Now Lecrae wants the same for others as he is taking his message of hope and fatherhood to inner city youth," McVety reportedly said in a letter to Mayor John Tory and police chief Mark Saunders.

According to the report, Lecrae always had his grandmother's Bible with him, even when he was out on the streets.

The rapper, real name Lecrae Devaughn Moore, co-owns Reach Records and is co-founder of ReachLife Ministries. He has released seven albums, the first one titled "Real Talk" released in 2004 and the latest one, "Anomaly," released in 2014. He also appeared in several shows, including Billy Graham's short documentary Web film "The Cross," the TV documentary special "Uprise Presents Word from the Street," and the comedy movie "Believe Me."

Lecrae has taken home many awards, including seven GMA Dove awards, three Stellar awards, two Soul Train Music awards, one Billboard Music award, and one BET award. He was nominated five times in the Grammys, getting the Best Gospel Album for "Gravity" in 2013 and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "Messengers" in 2015.

He is currently on his Higher Learning Tour, the next stop being Arizona. He will be Tucson on March 30 and Phoenix on March 31, then will start April by visiting California, Georgia, and Florida.
home World Pope, Church and goverment leaders decry Brussels ISIS bombings

Pope Francis decried the bombings that happpened in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, which killed at least 30 people and injured 230.

In a statement for Mechelen-Brussels archbishop Jozef De Kesel and the Roman Catholic dignitaries in Belgium, Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietero Parolin said that "His Holiness Pope Francis entrusts to God's mercy those who died and joined in prayer with their relatives." The Pope expresses his sympathies to those who were hurt, the families, and the people who are helping with the relief efforts.

"The Holy Father again condemns the blind violence that causes so much suffering and implores God for the gift of peace," Parolin said, as quoted by The New York Times. "He invokes God's blessings for the bereaved families and for the people of Belgium."

The first two attacks happened Tuesday at around 8 a.m. at the Brussels Zaventem international airport where two explosions took place. The bombs reportedly contained broken glass and nails. Another bomb was found, according to the New York Daily News, but did not go off. The third explosion happened about an hour later in the Maelbeek metro in Central Brussels about 6 miles away.

In reaction, Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury released a statement through a Facebook post.

COLOSSAL news! Funimation has acquired the rights to #AttackonTitan Season 2 -- premiere set for April 2017!



More: https://t.co/denOgUeJJt pic.twitter.com/36wuBmQu2b  Funimation (@FUNimation) December 9, 2016

He wrote. "Once again we see the contrast between the vain efforts to terrify through indiscriminate murder, and the call of God to be those who show mercy, who seek peace and pursue it."

Three men seen in a footage are suspected to be responsible for the bombings, two of which are believed to have been suicide bombers and one still at large. The Islamic State terror group said they are responsible for attacks.

"Islamic State fighters opened fire inside Zaventem airport before several of them detonated their explosive belts," a statement from the group given to the Amaq news agency said, as quoted by USA Today. A "martyrdom bomber detonated his explosive belt in the Maelbeek metro station."

Many country leaders have condemned the act, calling it "appalling" and "despicable." Also, the BBC reports that within hours, the word "Brussels" trended on social media, showing the support of people online to the city.

"We join with the Church in Belgium and the entire nation in this moment of intense pain," Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia said, as quoted by Spirit FM 90.5. "Each life lost was a precious gift from God that has been torn from all those whom it touched."
home Life Rising numbers of non-believers, unaffiliated: should Christians be worried?

In the past, majority of people in Norway believed in God, but according to a recent survey, this is no longer the case.

The latest results of the annual Norwegian Monitor socio-cultural study, conducted by Ipsos Norway, show that 39 percent of the 4,000 people questioned do not believe in God. This is higher than the 37 percent of respondents who said they do believe, while 23 percent are undecided.

The survey, however, did not specify any paticular religion, belief or affiliation.

"It could be the Christian god, an independent god or one from other faiths. But since we started asking the question 30 years ago, the percentage of those who said they aren't sure has been about the same," Ipsos Norway's Jan-Paul Brekke said, as quoted by The Local. "There are quite a few immigrants included [in the survey] but the majority of them come from Western religious traditions. We have only a few Muslims in our material."

This is the first time that the numbers were reversed. According to the report, 50 percent of respondents in 1985 when the annual survey was first conducted said they believed, while only around 20 percent claimed the did not. Two years ago, however, the numbers were equal.

In the latest survey, 44 percent of respondents in Vest-Agder are believers while the Norwegian capital of Oslo had only 29 percent, the lowest in the country.

The decline in the number of those who admit to believing in God is not only confined in Norway, however. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey last year, which shows that 22.8 percent of Americans do not identify with any religion, a significant rise from the 16.1 percent in 2007.

Arthur Brooks, author and president of the American Enterprise Institute, however, does not believe that the Christian church is at risk of collapsing. Citing scholar Rodney Stark, the author of "The Triumph of Faith," Brooks said that while there is an increase in "unaffiliated" people -- or "the rise of the nones" -- there is neither a significant decrease in the number of those who go to church nor of those who identify themselves as atheists.

"If Stark is right, the recent 'rise of the nones' may not imply anywhere near the cataclysmic collapse in the American practice of Christianity as has often been claimed," he said in an article on the AEI website.
After Brussels, we need to realise we can't 'destroy evil'

In the aftermath of a major terrorist attack there is now a well-rehearsed routine. There are rumours of other attacks and false alarms, shock is expressed, articles are penned about how we all should have seen it coming, social media profile pictures are superimposed with flags and we read moving and tragic stories of heroism amid the slaughter.

As surely as day follows night, there is another response which comes after an attack. Leading politicians from around the world will publicly state their re-doubled intention to "destroy this evil." Newspapers, opinion formers and community leaders won't be far behind. The outcry following yesterday's horrific attacks on the airport and metro system in Brussels in which at least 34 people died has followed this familiar pattern.

"Fighting this evil calls for the most active international cooperation," said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Strike at evil's heart or cancer will grow," shouted an Australian newspaper headline. A leading European rabbi said, "Evil can and will be destroyed only by recognising it, and fighting it."

The American presidential candidates weighed in and stayed on similar territory. Republican Ted Cruz said, "We can never hope to defeat this evil so long as we refuse to even name it." Rival John Kasich tweeted, "We must strengthen our alliances to root out evil."

In response to similarly heinous crimes over the last 15 years we have heard the same sentiments. In the wake of last year's attacks on Paris, British Prime Minister David Cameron declared that, "We have shown our firm resolve and together we will destroy this evil threat." French President Francois Hollande said at the time, "My first duty is to protect the French people... That means attacking the root of the evil."

This idea of destroying evil is shared by politicians on the left and the right. President Obama, while detailing actions against ISIS said, "There can be no reasoning  no negotiation  with this brand of evil. The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force." His predecessor, George W Bush, in the aftermath of 9/11, declared that, "My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers." Bush's comrade-in-arms, Tony Blair, said in the aftermath of the devastating 7/7 attacks on London that he was determined to "uproot this ideology of evil."

I could go on. This contemporary trope of 'uprooting,' or 'destroying' evil is now entrenched in almost every response a major leader makes to a terrorist atrocity. We need to stop and ask ourselves where that leaves us.

The first question to ask is, has it worked? When Bush said he would "rid the world of the evil-doers" was it just a turn of phrase, inserted by speechwriters to make him look like a tough war-time leader? Or was he so high on his own hubris that he genuinely believed this claim?

How could a president believe such a thing? Even if every last Islamist terrorist was captured or killed, that would make no dent on the evil perpetrated by regimes as diverse as North Korea, Zimbabwe, or our 'friends' in Saudi Arabia.

The chutzpah of neo-conservative Western leaders in claiming they were going to root out evil has been shown to be nothing more than a farce. Look at Iraq and Syria  they are in flames. Thirteen years after Bush and Blair's mission to rid Iraq of its evil dictator Saddam Hussein, the reign of terror propagated by his old ideological ally Bashar al-Assad and the death cult of ISIS shows no sign of abating.

Has evil been rooted out? No, of course it hasn't. The pronouncements of Western military leaders have been shown up  the Hydra was beheaded and now we face a far more potent form of the evil they claimed to want to destroy.

That very few in public life seem to have noticed this abject failure of the bid to destroy evil is unsurprising, given how theologically, philosophically and morally uninquisitive so many of our leaders seem to be. In an excoriating essay on evil, the iconoclastic philosopher John Gray recognises this problem. "Whatever their position on the political spectrum, almost all of those who govern us hold to some version of the melioristic liberalism that is the West's default creed, which teaches that human civilisation is advancing  however falteringly  to a point at which the worst forms of human destructiveness can be left behind" says Gray. "According to this view, evil, if any such thing exists, is not an inbuilt human flaw, but a product of defective social institutions, which can over time be permanently improved."

Gray asserts that all our leaders are 'progressives' in the widest sense. They believe that the human condition is improving, that life is generally getting better and, most fundamentally, that evil can be destroyed by human effort.

This is utterly alien to a Christian worldview. The doctrine of original sin shows us how flawed we all are. More than that, though, it shows how foolhardy it is to imagine we can 'destroy evil.' Christian faith urges us to recognise the deep problem in our own hearts and lives and not to "conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Would the world be better if ISIS was finished? Of course. But to suggest that the evil it represents can be 'destroyed' by military means is wishful thinking.

When the Allies defeated the Nazis  surely the ultimate personification of evil  that didn't mean evil had been destroyed. It meant a setback for evil and a victory for good, but evil has recurred in major global events in every generation since.

In this Holy Week, when our hearts break for the people of Brussels and the devastation caused to so many lives, we need to look again at Jesus. His answer to the evil he saw (and make no mistake, the Brussels attacks were acts of pure evil) was not to destroy that evil militarily. That was what his zealous disciples wanted more than anything, but Jesus didn't oblige them.

Instead he offered a different way. He faced the evil which surrounded Him, in the knowledge that victory would be won.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't keep ourselves safe, militarily, here in the West. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't find and put on trial those responsible for the Brussels attacks. It doesn't mean there aren't significant questions about how to keep our major cities safe. These are all essential measures.

But let's forget the hubristic proclamations that we're going to 'destroy evil.' It's an impossible task which would require a fundamental re-engineering of the human condition. Our role is to build societies, institutions and relationships that make outbreaks of evil less common, less effective and less attractive. The rest, we leave up to God.
Armed gang murders Catholic priest who campaigned against DRC 'genocide'

A prominent Catholic priest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been murdered by armed men thought to be government soldiers.

The attack on Fr Vincent Machozi is thought to be in connection with his high-profile advocacy for poor and dispossessed people in Congo and particularly of the Nande people, also known as the Yira. The region is rich in coltan, a mineral used in the manufacture of mobile phones, and armed groups  including the DRC army  exploit the local people to make huge profits from trading in it. Machozi denounced atrocities against them, which included beheadings, describing their treatment as 'genocide'.

According to benilubero.com, the website of which Machozi was editor-in-chief, soldiers stormed the social centre in the village of Butembo and targeted Machozi, who was heard to call out, "Why are you killing me?"

Machozi had previously been forced to flee to the US in 2003, and returned to DRC in 2012.

He was well aware of the risk to his life, having escaped seven previous assassination attempts since his return.

He was born in 1965 and was ordained a priest in Angers, France, in 1994. He taught at the seminary in DRC's capital Kinshasa and earned a doctorate at Boston University in conflict resolution.

According to Rev Emmanuel Kahindo, the vicar general of the Assumptionist order and a fellow Congolese, Machozi told him last October: "My days are numbered. I will be murdered, I feel it... but like Christ, for the sake of our people, I will not be silent."

Quoted on the Crux website, Kahindo said Machozi told him: "I will continue my fight to the end and continue to condemn all those who sow division and hatred between ethnic groups in the region to rule and continue to exploit the riches."
Bangladesh: Mosque bomb attack kills one, wounds dozen

A bomb attack on a Bangladeshi mosque during Friday prayers killed one person and wounded at least a dozen, the latest in a series of attacks in the Muslim-majority nation.

The bombing took place at a mosque run by the minority Ahmmadya Muslim community in Rajshahi in the northwest of the impoverished country, police official Motiar Rahman said.

"We are investigating whether it was a suicide attack or the attacker himself died in the blast when he tried to throw the bomb," he said.

Bangladesh has suffered a wave of Islamist violence, with two foreigners, four writers and a publisher killed this year.

A series of bomb attacks on masques and Hindu temples has also rocked the country of 160 million people. Some of the attacks have been claimed by Islamic State.

The government has denied that Islamic State has a presence in the country. Police have blamed earlier attacks on home-grown Islamist militants.
Bishop of Gloucester to spend Good Friday in women's prison

The Bishop of Gloucester, Rt Rev Rachel Treweek, is to go to prison for three days this week.

She will visit Eastwood Park Women's Prison in Falfield, Gloucestershire and spend time with the staff and women prisoners to learn more about the life of the prison and the realities of what it's like to be a female prisoner.

Treweek will shadow the prison chaplain, attend prison focus groups and also lead special services.

Among them will be a Maundy Thursday service at which she will wash the women's feet. She will also lead Good Friday reflections.

According to the institute for Criminal Policy Research, more than 700,000 women and girls are held in penal institutions throughout the world. The analysis indicates that the number of women and girls in prison has increased by 50 per cent in the past 15 years.

Across the UK, more than 13,500 women are imprisoned each year. The Prison Reform Trust says women entering prison are more likely to have been imprisoned for non-violent offences and are highly likely to be victims as well as offenders. More than half (53 per cent) report having experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child.

Treweek said: "In Holy Week, Christians recall Jesus Christ's death, the brokenness of the world and our part in it; and yet we celebrate God's immense love and new life revealed in Christ's resurrection. It will therefore be very poignant to spend time with the women in Eastwood Park in this special week in which the focus is one of hope and new possibility."
China: Christian lawyer who defended churches released from 'black jail'

A prominent Christian human rights lawyer in China has been released after being detained by authorities for nearly seven months.

Zhang Kai posted on social media on Wednesday to announce he had been freed and was at his home in Inner Mongolia. It is unclear whether there are any conditions to his release or whether Zhang's health is affected.

China Aid, a human rights and religious freedom charity which has worked alongside Zhang in the past, said relatives have confirmed the post which said: "I am thankful for all friends who were concerned about me during this time and who looked after and comforted my family members."

The Christian lawyer had represented over 100 churches that faced forced removal of their crosses in Zhejiang province on the east coast of China. He also gave advice on how churches could defend themselves and spoke up for pastors who faced charges over their right to free speech.

On 25 August 2015, shortly before he was due to meet the US ambassador for religious freedom, Zhang was arrested. He was sentenced to six months to "black jail", which means he was under constant surveillance at an unknown location.

After six months of his detention, Zhang was shown on state television appearing to give a confession. This prompted anger among activists as many suggested the confession was coerced.

Zhang was subsequently charged with "endangering state secrets" and "disturbing the public order".

Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid and a friend of Zhang, described him as a "bold human rights lawyer".

"I am very pleased to hear this good news, although further details about the conditions of his release are still unknown," said Fu.

"I appeal to Chinese authorities to release other arbitrarily imprisoned religious leaders, human rights lawyers and defenders, such as those arrested in July of 2015, including, attorneys Li Heping and Wang Yu, church leader Hu Shigen, and pastors Li Guozhi (Yang Hua), Bao Guohua and Gu Yuese."

Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide, also cautiously welcomed the news of Zhang's release, and called on authorities to allow "his freedom without condition".

Thomas continued: "We further express our concern that several of Zhang Kai's fellow lawyers, as well as a number of Zhejiang pastors, remain in detention. We urge the Chinese government to protect the rights and safety of those who defend freedom of religion of belief and other human rights in China."
ISIS claims killing of Christian in Bangladesh as a 'lesson to others'

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for stabbing a Christian to death in Bangladesh.

The group said Hussein Ali was killed as a "lesson to others", an online group that monitors extremist activity said.

Three attackers approached the 68-year-old on a motorbike while he was taking his regular morning walk in the town of Kurigram and then stabbed him in the neck. He had been aware of the dangers he faced, once telling a member of staff from Redcliffe College in Gloucester: "They don't know anything, they don't understand, forgive them." He prayed that God would "place me under Your control".

Bangladesh has seen a surge in Islamist violence in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted.

According to the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, Islamic State said on Twitter that a "security detachment" killed the "preacher" to be a "lesson to others".

Kurigram district police chief Tobarak Ullah said three men were picked up for questioning after the attack.

Over the last few months, Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, attacks on members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups, but police say domestic militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was behind the attacks.

At least five militants of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen have been killed in shootouts since November, as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on militants seeking to make the moderate Muslim nation of 160 million a Sharia-based state.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
More Christians in U.S. support Israel than Christians in Israel itself, survey shows

A new survey showed that more Christians in the United States are supporting Israel now more than ever and want the U.S. government to step up its support for the Jewish nation.

A 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 55 percent of white evangelicals in the U.S. believe America is not supporting Israel enough, while 36 percent say the support is just right and only 6 percent believe the U.S. is giving too much support, CBN News reported.

Another survey by LifeWay Research in the same year showed 80 percent of evangelical pastors agreed that Christians should support Israel.

In an earlier Pew survey conducted in 2013, a total of 82 percent of white evangelicals say they believe God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people.

However, the survey found that only 19 percent of Christians in Israel have the same opinion. A total of 66 percent say it is not true while 9 percent say they don't know what to think, according to CBN News.

Pew discovered that only 2 percent of Israel's population was Christian, divided between Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Protestants and Messianic Jews comprised less than .5 percent of the population of Israel.

The 2013 survey also showed that 86 percent of Israeli Christians believe the U.S. is supporting Israel too much with only 6 percent saying that the U.S. does not support Israel enough while 7 percent say the support is just right.

This is in contrast with American Christians, based on the 2013 Pew study, that showed that only 18 percent say the U.S. government supports Israel too much. A total of 29 percent of American Christians say the U.S. is not supporting Israel enough while 41 percent say the support is just right.

The 2015 Pew survey of Israeli Christians showed that 34 percent say they pray daily and 38 percent say they go to church at least weekly.

In contrast, 68 percent of American Christians and 79 percent of U.S. evangelicals say they pray every day.

A total of 47 percent of Christians and 58 percent of evangelicals in the U.S. also attend church at least once a week.
Pakistan: 'The anger of extremists is boiling over', church leader warns, as Christians on 'high alert' for Easter attacks

Christians in Pakistan are on high alert in the run-up to Easter following the execution of the man who murdered the reforming Punjab governor Salman Taseer, according to Release International.

Mumtaz Qadri shot Taseer 28 times near his home in Islamabad in 2011 because the governor had spoken out against Pakistan's blasphemy law, saying it was being misused and should be reformed.

After his arrest, Qadri told police he killed Taseer for championing the cause of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death in a blasphemy case that arose out of a personal dispute.

He told his lawyer he had no regrets about what he had done.

Street protests broke out hours after he was hanged and tens of thousands of supporters then gave him a martyr's funeral. He is considered a hero for defending the faith by Muslim hardliners.

A church leader in Pakistan told Release International: "The situation is still tense and we are concerned for our Easter services. Once again the situation is very alarming for all the Christian leadership in Pakistan and for the Muslim leaders who speak up for Christians. They are on high alert."

He added: "The anger of extremists is boiling over towards Christian communities across the country. Please pray for this very serious issue."

Release urged prayer for Christian communities and churches especially around Easter and for Muslim leaders who are speaking up for justice and for changes to the blasphemy laws.
Pope Francis rebutted: 'Contraception's immorality is unchangeable and no pope can change this teaching'

Pope Francis recently said compared to the dreaded Zika virus, the use of contraceptives is the lesser of two evils. Many Catholic theologians did not agree with his belief, and even said the pope made a mistake in that regard.

His own spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi even tried to interpret Pope Francis' statements in such a way that would be deemed acceptable by Catholic leaders. "The contraceptive or condom, in particular cases of emergency or gravity, could be the object of discernment in a serious case of conscience," he said.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider, the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, is one of the church leaders who disagreed with the pope's statements regarding contraceptives. He maintained that the use of contraception is "intrinsically evil," and is not supported by the Catholic Church.

"The teaching of the Church on the intrinsic immorality of contraception is unchangeable and no pope can change this teaching, because the Church through the Holy Spirit taught this truth always and everywhere in the same sense and in the same signification," he told Life Site News.

When asked how the faithful should respond to Pope Francis' statements, Schneider answered: "The faithful should react in the same way as did all the saint confessors of the faith in all times and as did our forefathers according to the words which the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of the holy Apostles: 'Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 3)."

Schneider added that Catholics should be wary "even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you."

He then quoted Galatians 1:9-10: "As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."
Pope Francis to wash feet of young refugees on Holy Thursday

Pope Francis will wash the feet of twelve young refugees on Holy Thursday, re-enacting a rite Jesus performed on his apostles before being crucified.

Francis will travel to the Centre for Asylum Seekers (CARA) in Castelnuovo di Porto, north of Rome, where he will deliver Mass and wash the feet of refugees, sending a message that we must respect each refugee as an individual.

The Vatican has not confirmed whether the refugees will be Catholic, however a Vatican official, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, noted that most of the centre's residents are not.

"We can understand the symbolic value intended by Pope Francis' visit to the CARA in Castelnuovo di Porto and his bending down to wash the feet of refugees," Fisichella said.

"His actions mean to tell us that it is important to pay due attention to the weakest in the historic moment; that we are all called to restore their dignity without resorting to subterfuge.

"We are urged to look forward to Easter with the eyes of those who make of their faith a life lived in service to those whose faces bear signs of suffering and violence."

That the refugees are likely not to be Catholic is particularly significant.

"It points to respect as the royal road to peace," Fisichella said. "Respect means being aware that there is another person beside me. A person who walks with me, suffers with me, rejoices with me. A person whom, one day, I may one day lean on for support.

"By washing the feet of refugees, Pope Francis implores respect for each one of them."

Just weeks after becoming pope, Francis broke tradition in washing the feet of women, Orthodox Christians and Muslims in a juvenile detention facilitiy. The Vatican previously restricted the feet washing ceremony to men, and popes have historically performed the rite on 12 Catholic men, recalling Jesus' twelve apostles. However, in January this year, Francis changed the regulations to explicitly allow women and girls to participate in the rite.
Prayer and faith in God helped Hollywood star Jesse Metcalfe overcome addiction

Prayer and faith in God helped Hollywood star Jesse Metcalfe get and stay sober, he has revealed.

The star of God's Not Dead 2, who is known worldwide for his roles in John Tucker Must Die, Desperate Housewives and Dallas, told Fox411 that faith had become really important to him.

"I really discovered a connection with a higher power and with God as I understand him probably five years ago when I got sober through the 12 steps of Alcoholic Anonymous," he said.

He went into rehab in 2007. He said: "A large part of that program is giving the will and character life over to God, or a God as you understand him, and prayer is also a big part of that program as well. I feel that that really helped me overcome a difficult time in my life and since then has really deepened and enriched my life in a lot of ways."

Metcalfe, 37, plays a lawyer in God's Not Dead 2, the sequel to God's Not Dead, about a teacher who finds herself under attack after she answers a student's question about Jesus by quoting Scripture.

Metcalfe said: "Discovering my own faith and my own connection with God, I brought some of that emotional foundation to the character so the character would be really connected and really fighting for something on a deeper level and that the emotion would come through. It was a lot of preparation."

The movie also stars Melissa Joan Hart, Robin Givens, and Pat Boone.

Givens told the same show: "I grew up without my dad. I think that role is so important and in many respects God has sort of been the only father I know. I can't imagine not having that belief in my life."

The film's producer David White recently defended the plot after it was criticised by atheist blogger Hemant Mehta who accused it of promoting a "fake" Christian persecution story.

White told The Blaze: "It's an interesting thing, because, if it wasn't real, why do they get so offended by it? I don't think it would annoy people if it wasn't true."
Purim 2016: All you need to know about the Jewish festival

The Jewish festival of Purim begins at sunset this evening, marking the start of two days of celebration, remembering God's providence in rescuing the Jewish people from the ancient Persian Empire. It has been celebrated each year on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar  which falls on March 23 this year  for over two millenia.

What's the story behind Purim?

The festival commemorates God saving the Jewish people from a Persian official named Haman.

The story is recorded in the book of Esther, named after the Jewish heroin of the story. In the Biblical account, Haman, the royal vizier to the Persian King Ahasuerus, plans to kill all the Jews in the empire. However his plans are thwarted by two Jews  Mordecai and Esther. Mordecai is the cousin and adoptive father of Esther, who has become Queen of Persia.

Haman's desire to destroy the Jewish people begins when he is insulted by Mordecai refusing to bow to him. He declares that all Jews should be killed, and the King agrees. Meanwhile, Esther  who is married to the King  asks all the Jews to fast for three days.

Esther then arranges a feast to celebrate the end of the fast, inviting both the King and Haman, finally revealing her identity as a Jew. The King  realising that Haman now wants to kill his wife  says he should be hanged, and the Jews are saved.

So, Esther saved the Jews?

Yes, in a way. God used Esther to thwart Haman's conspiracy. She was a simple, orphaned Jewish girl, but was raised up by God to rescue his people from death.

Isn't Esther the book in the Bible that doesn't mention God's name?

Well yes, if you're reading in English. The answer is not so simple when the book is read in its original Hebrew, however.

Though the name of God is not explicitly mentioned, it can be found in the book of Esther five times through the use of acrostics.

Why acrostics?

There are two potential reasons  one practical, and one more thematic.

1. God's name might not have been overtly mentioned because of the context in which in which Esther was written. Tradition holds that Mordecai wrote the book in Persia, where his direct mention of God would have meant he were persecuted. Instead, he disguised his references to the Lord in acrostics.

2. There are no miracles or obvious examples of God's intervention in the narrative of Esther, yet he is by no means absent from these events. The entire story points to God's sovereignty. The Lord redeems his people through the faith and courage of one strategically placed woman. The lack of direct reference to God or the miraculous teaches that God is present in the seemingly natural, sovereign over all.

OK, back to Purim. Why is it celebrated?

To commemorate the Jews' victory over Hamman. It is written in Esther "that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor."

So, how do Jews celebrate?

There are three main ways that Jews celebrate Purim.

Shouting in the Synagogue. During the festival the story of Esther is read out twice. During the reading, when Haman's name appears  54 times  the congregation starts shouting and using special wooden ratchets to drown out his name. This is practiced around the world, apart from by Spanish and Portuguese Jews (the Western Sephardim), who consider it a breach of decorum.

Giving food and money away. Even the poorest of the poor are to give  there are no exceptions  and anyone who is willing to accept charity may receive. Each adult gives two different foods to one person, and two different donations to two poor people.

Obligitory eating and drinking. Unless you have a good medical reason, every Jew is obliged to eat and drink on Purim. A rabbi named Rava said in the Talmud that one should drink until you can "no longer distinguish between arur Haman (cursed is Haman) and baruch Mordechai (blessed is Mordecai)". The drinking has been taken to different extremes throughout history, some saying it best to drink just a little more than usual and then go to bed, while others say there's no limit.
Supreme Court to hear Christian groups' challenge to Obamacare over religious freedom and birth control

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider appeals by Christian groups demanding full exemption on religious grounds from a requirement under President Barack Obama's healthcare law to provide health insurance covering contraceptives.

The court was set to hear a 90-minute oral argument on seven related cases focusing on whether nonprofit entities that oppose the requirement for religious reasons can object under a 1993 US law called the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to a compromise measure offered by the Obama administration.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, was passed by Congress over unified Republican opposition. It is considered Obama's signature legislative achievement. Conservatives have mounted numerous legal challenges to the law, with the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015 issuing high-profile rulings leaving it intact.

Among the groups challenging the requirement is a Colorado-based order of Roman Catholic nuns called the Little Sisters of the Poor that runs care homes for the elderly.

The case will be heard by eight justices, with the court one short following the February 13 death of Antonin Scalia. The court is now divided 4-4 between liberal and conservative justices without Scalia.

The Christian groups object to a compromise first offered by the Obama administration in 2013. It allows groups opposed to providing insurance covering contraception to comply with the law without actually paying for the required coverage.

Groups can certify they are opting out of the requirement by signing a form and submitting to the government. The government then asks insurers to pick up the tab for the contraception.

The challengers contend the accommodation violates their religious rights by forcing them to authorise the coverage for their employees even if they are not paying for it.

The case represents an uphill battle for the challengers, who lost all seven cases now before the Supreme Court in lower courts.

Scalia, a conservative Roman Catholic, was considered a reliable vote for the religious groups. In 2014, he was in the majority when the court ruled 5-4 that family-owned companies run on religious principles, including craft retailer Hobby Lobby Stores Inc, could object to the provision for religious reasons.

If the four conservatives who sided with Scalia in that case remain unified, the best result the challengers could get would be a 4-4 split. That would leave in place the lower-court rulings favoring the Obama administration.

Among other challengers are: Bishop David Zubik and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Washington, DC; Priests for Life; and East Texas Baptist University.
Trump says Muslims in Europe aren't doing enough to prevent terror attacks

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said Muslims were failing to report suspicious activity and they must do more to help prevent attacks such as those that killed at least 34 people in Belgium on Tuesday.

He said of Muslims in an interview with Piers Morgan on ITV's Good Morning Britain: "When they see trouble they have to report it, they are not reporting it, they are absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem."

He also promised to "hit ISIS so hard you wouldn't believe it".

Trump, whose controversial comments about Muslims  including a pledge to ban them from entering the US  have helped make him a hate figure to many, said yesterday's attacks were "retribution" for the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who helped plot November's Paris attacks. He described parts of Brussels as an "armed camp", saying: "What's going on there and what's going on in many other locations like Paris and others is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace that we allow it to happen."

He continued: "[Salah Abdeslam] was in his neighbourhood, where he grew up, and nobody even turned him in. Many people knew he was there and yet he was the number one wanted fugitive in the world. He was there and everybody from that area knew he was there, nobody turned him in. There's something going on and there's something wrong."

Trump said: ""A lot of people in the community knew they were going to do it because in their apartment they had bombs all over the floor... and they didn't report them."

However, Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, told ITV he could not speak for the rest of Europe but in London it is "not the case" that Muslims protected terrorists, adding that there is a "much more integrated society" in the UK.

Versi also warned that bigotry against Muslims is growing, describing it as a "serious concern".

Trump said last year that Britain had a "massive Muslim problem", tweeting: "Everyone is wise to what is happening, very sad! Be honest."
U.S. sending more troops to Iraq, bolstering 3,700 soldiers already on the ground, after 'lucky strike' kills Marine

Although U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged a number of times that there would be no American "boots on the ground" in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), the Pentagon appeared to have set this aside as it announced on Sunday that the U.S. is deploying more troops to Iraq.

The Pentagon announcement came after an ISIS rocket killed a Marine and seriously injuring others over the weekend, Fox News reported.

"It was a lucky strike by ISIS," a U.S. official said, adding that the attack took place in the northern Iraq town of Makhmur, about 75 miles southeast of the ISIS stronghold of Mosul.

The slain Marineidentified as Staff Sgt. Louis F.Cardin, of Temecula, Californiawas only the second American fatality in Iraq since combat operations began in August 2014, Fox News said.

The Pentagon declined to put a number on the additional troops to be deployed but said they will come from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and will support Iraqi forces and international ground operations.

About 3,700 U.S. troops are now stationed in Iraq, leading air strikes against ISIS forces, supplying arms to the Kurdish peshmerga, carrying out humanitarian air drops and providing intelligence and support to the Kurdish and Iraqi armies, The Independent reported.

U.S. special forces have made occasional raids into ISIS territory. In October, they freed 70 hostages during a raid where a U.S. sergeant was killed.

The latest U.S. deployment is a significant step towards the use of conventional warfare tactics, according to the Independent. Such a shift in policy is a politically divisive move in the U.S. in the aftermath of the protracted and bloody Iraq war.

Speaking in January, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said: "We're looking for opportunities to do more, and there will be boots on the ground. I want to be clear about that."

It was not made clear whether Obama's earlier "no boots on the ground" pledges have already been set aside.

A top-ranking U.S. general in Iraq even expounded on Carter's statement, saying, "We have shifted from a pure counterinsurgency focus and are now preparing the [Iraqi security forces] to conduct what we refer to as combined arms operations.

"There is a good potential that we will need additional forces to provide those capabilities. The ability to integrate infantry, armor, artillery, air power, engineers and other assets on the battlefield provides the Iraqis with a decisive advantage over a static enemy dug in behind complex obstacle belts."

Meanwhile, airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters struck Mosul and surrounding areas over the weekend, sources told CNN.

CNN could not immediately independently verify the specifics of the claims, as the strikes hit inside ISIS-held territory.

The reports said Mosul Universitywhich is considered a base for ISIS fighterswas hit.
Westminster Council rejects church's bid for 'Homeless Jesus' statue

Permission to erect a sculpture depicting Jesus as a homeless man outside one of Westminster's iconic churches has been refused by the city council.

Methodist Central Hall Westminster (MCHW), which stands next to Westminster Abbey, agreed to take the bronze sculpture of 'The Homeless Jesus' by internationally renowned sculpture Timothy Schmalz after it was controversially rejected by St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square.

However, MCHW's application, which received several hundred on-line endorsements on the Development Planning website from people all over the country, was refused because "the proposed sculpture would fail to maintain or improve the character or appearance of the... Parliament Square Conservation Area" owing to "its location within the City Council's Monument Saturation Zone".

The statue is of a life-sized figure sleeping on a park bench, covered with a blanket, his exposed feet bearing nail marks of crucifixion. Versions of the sculpture exist in Toronto, Washington DC, and Madrid, and the Vatican has given permission for a 'Homeless Jesus' statue to be erected there. It gained international fame in 2013 when Pope Francis blessed the model and stated that is was a "beautiful and excellent representation" of Jesus.

Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, Team Leader at MCHW, said: "Homelessness is increasingly a global issue, and we are witnessing what many say is the largest ever migration of people in Europe and North Africa. London is a leading world city and the positive symbolic effect of placing 'The Homeless Jesus' here in Westminster would be enormous.

"As a church we are extremely disappointed at the refusal of this application. We're led to the unfortunate conclusion that a sculpture of Jesus, depicted as homeless, isn't welcome in Westminster and so close to the Houses of Parliament. I imagine many people will find the Council suggestion that this particular piece of public art would somehow lower the tone of the neighbourhood insulting and ironic."

Atkins referred to a forthcoming Good Friday ecumenical march of witness through Westminster, noting that the wooden cross at the head of the procession would be carried by representatives of a homeless charity.

"In the context of the refusal of our application the irony is inescapable," he said.

He added that the church was considering appealing the refusal. "Our hope would be that the Council will take our views into consideration and overturn their decision," he said.

He invited supporters to sign an online petition.

A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: "We welcome public art and sculptures in Westminster. However, there are traditionally a large number of applications for monuments and memorials in Parliament Square and the surrounding area and it reached saturation point some years ago when the council introduced a policy of no further statues being allowed in this area. The council feels that in respect of this application an exception is not warranted. The applicants have been consistently advised that the statue needs to be located elsewhere.

"For example, there is no objection whatsoever to the sculpture being located within the Methodist Central Hall itself."
What 'turn the other cheek' means (and doesn't) in an age of terrorism

The horrific attacks in Brussels, claimed by ISIS, have left us once again shocked, saddened, grieving for the families who've lost loved ones, others who've had friends and family injured, and scrambling for solutions to jihadist terrorism. I believe Jesus has something powerful to say to the problem, but his words need to be carefully understood before being applied.

Two Ways to Respond to Mistreatment

When we're attacked or mistreated, there are two common ways to respond:

Option one is to get even. The Old Testament allowed for some degree of this, permitting someone to take 'eye-for-eye' and 'tooth-for-tooth' to get back exactly what was taken from them (Exodus 21:23-25). Option two is to give in  to let the perpetrator get away with what they've done. Jesus addresses both options in his famous Sermon on the Mount, saying:

"You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, do not resist an evil person!" (Matthew 5:38-39)

At first, it sounds like Jesus is affirming option two  that we should give up and let the bullies win. He's not. In fact, he's giving us an ingenious third option beyond getting even or giving in.

A Third Way

While writing Resilient, my book of reflections on the Sermon on the Mount, I wrestled long and hard with these words of Jesus. The key to their meaning comes in the illustrations Jesus goes on to give:

"If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow." (Matthew 5:39-42)

As scholars point out, in Jesus' day a slap to the cheek wasn't so much assault but insult. (In a humiliating gesture, it was done with the back of a hand to the right cheek.) To be sued for your shirt meant you were too poor to pay your bills and were now having your very clothes taken from you. And to carry a Roman soldier's pack was a demeaning task demanded of a Jew. Jesus uses these three humiliating experiences to describe a response to injustice that empowers a victim to respond without retaliating:

If you're insulted with a slap, don't slap back or accept the denigration  surprise the offender by offering your left cheek too. They won't know what to do, and you'll show that you're above repaying the insult.

If you're unjustly sued by someone greedy, don't take revenge or give in  expose their greed by offering them all your clothes!

And if you're asked to carry a soldier's pack, don't get violent or feel inferior  take charge by going even further than asked.

What Jesus is (and isn't) Saying

Jesus isn't saying evil should be rewarded, that self-defence is wrong, or that injustice should be tolerated. What he says is that evil shouldn't be resisted in equally evil ways. When we're insulted, humiliated, or face injustice:

Don't get even.

Don't give in.

Get creative.

As the apostle Paul puts it: "Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." (Romans 12:21)

In the Face of Terror

Sentimentality will not help us fight terrorism, and when would-be activist-types glibly declare on social media that 'nonviolence' is the solution to these problems (often while far from any violence themselves), it is sometimes sentimentality speaking. It's sobering to note that Andrew White, the vicar of Baghdad, who has paid heavily working for peace in Iraq, called for troops to be sent in to combat ISIS.

Few of us are sufficiently informed about the realities of terrorism to boldly state what should be done to counter it. The situation is a complex mess of ideology, culture, warped religion, retaliation over past events, and pure evil. I'm not going to join the chorus of 'solutions' being offered. But as a follower of Jesus, here's what I'm contemplating in light of his call to 'turn the other cheek' and not fight evil with evil.

1. If we are to be faithful to Jesus, we must deal with truth, not error. There is much fear mongering going around on the net, exaggerated for political ends. The facts are not always easy to confirm, but stick to reputable media reporting and not the propaganda of fringe alarmists on various sides of the issue.

2. If we are to be faithful to Jesus, we must renounce revenge. Any force used must be to save innocent lives and restrain evil, not to 'pay back' the terrorists, their country, or their religion.

3. If we are to be faithful to Jesus, prayerful, imaginative response is required. We are not to surrender or acquiesce, but do creative, surprising acts to interrupt the cycle of violence. Retaliation is easy. This is hard work requiring prayer, study and creativity.

4. If we are to be faithful to Jesus, we must be clear who the enemy is. In this case it is ISIS and other jihadist terrorists, not Syrian refugees (refusing asylum to these victims of war on the basis of ISIS is to mete out cruelty upon cruelty) or Muslims in general (blaming all Muslims for Islamic terrorism is like blaming all Christians for the hate rallies of Westboro Baptist). When we confuse this we can play into the terrorists' hands. As Australian peace activist Jarrod McKenna said after last year's attacks in Paris: "ISIS wants you to hate Muslims. It's their best tool for recruitment. Don't let ISIS win. Love your Muslim neighbour."

5. If we are to be faithful to Jesus, we are to love our enemy. This is where Jesus goes next with his 'turn the other cheek' idea, telling us to pray for them, meet their physical needs, and show them kindness (Matthew 5:43-48). We may think this naive but as the number of Muslims having visions of Jesus suggests, and stories like former KKK leader Johnny Lee Clary's transformation show (forward 22-minutes into the video), prayer and kindness are powerful weapons.

Some question whether Jesus' call for nonviolence can be applied to nation states. It's a good question. We need to keep in mind that Jesus originally gave these directives to people under Roman occupation, and the Romans could resort to terrorism (just look at the cruelty of crucifixion) to enforce their rule. Jesus was giving his followers tools to respond to organised evil. And both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr demonstrated what can happen when one applies them beyond interpersonal relationships.

***

We cannot be naive. Islamic terrorism is very real and western countries are its target. Scripture affirms the role of governments to enforce order for the safety of its citizens (Romans 13:1-7), and every support should be given to authorities to track down each culprit and those who support them. But the history of the world shows that violence begets violence, and Christians are called to live differently. "Bomb them!", "Kill them!", "Deport all Muslims and shut the door on refugees!" is not a Christian response. Remember:

Don't get even.

Don't give in.

Get creative.

Don't conquer evil with more evil. Conquer it with good.

Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker and broadcaster, frequently contributing to faith programs on BBC Radio 2. His books include Resilient: Your Invitation to a Jesus-Shaped Life and Resurrection Year: Turning Broken Dreams into New Beginnings. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and get his free ebook Five Practices for a Resilient Life.
Where Jesus Christ once walked: Israel is amazing and eye-opening, visitors say

How does it feel to be walking on the same land where Jesus Christ also once walked on more than two millennia ago?

CBN News interviewed first-time tourists to Israel to find out their impression on whether Jesus' place of origin is still as holy as the Bible narrates, or if it has really turned into the violent nation that the media has been portraying it to be.

Craig Harris and his wife, Kristine, admitted that their plan to visit Israel for the first time raised alarm among some of their friends and loved ones, primarily due to the perceived security threats in the area.

"That was a very common comment  'are you crazy,'" Kristine told CBN News reporter Chris Mitchell while in Israel. "And I said 'No, nothing was going to stop me.' People couldn't talk me out of it."

Craig said some people questioned their decision to choose Israel as a travel destination. "They said, 'Do you really want to do that? Is it safe?'" he said.

He, however, said their faith and excitement to see Jesus' land fuelled their determination to explore Israel, despite apprehensions from the people they know.

"You know, we just couldn't wait to see where Christ has walked. It was more than I expected. It was amazing," Craig said.

Tuvia Zaretsky, meanwhile, arrange a group tour of Israel, primarily to discover the culture and traditions of the country.

"You know, I told them I wanted to come over here and look at the world that's here and the people that are here, the places where the Bible events took place," Zaretsky also told CBN News. "And for them it has been an eye-opening experience. And it's in the context of Israel today."

Samuel Smadga, who has been leading tours of the place for 20 years now, meanwhile, highlighted how unique Israel is compared to more popular tourist destinations.

"Israel doesn't come in the category of tourist destination," Smadga told CBN News. "Israel is not the Bahamas. Israel is not even Paris. Israel is not even Rome. I believe Israel is the stage of your faith. And I believe coming to Israel will encourage you in your walking with the Lord."

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, meanwhile, sought to dispel the perception that his city and his country are not safe places to visit.

"We have the best police in the world," Barkat told CBN News. "We have the best security forces. And per capital, we're as safe as London when you really check the numbers.

"Actually, when I fly to America, I pray to come back home safe here to Jerusalem because the crime rates in America are six times more per capita than in Jerusalem," he added.
ASK THE FOOL

Mutual funds, not stocks?

Q: Can I avoid making dumb investing mistakes if I stick with mutual funds instead of stocks? - H.C., Salisbury, Md.

A: Not necessarily. You need to be sure to choose solid funds, with low fees and smart managers - or just opt for inexpensive broad-market index funds, such as ones that track the S&P 500. Once you're invested in some good funds for the long term, stay the course. Too many investors panic when the market heads south, selling not only stocks but also their mutual fund shares.

According to data from Dalbar and Lipper, the average stock-holding mutual fund delivered an annualized return of 9.1 percent from 1995 to 2014, but the average shareholder of such funds earned only 5.2 percent on average per year. Why the difference? Because investors succumbed to emotions such as fear instead of sticking with their investment plan and strategy.

Over 20 years, a $10,000 investment would grow to $27,500 at 5.2 percent annually, but at an annual growth rate of 9.1 percent, it would reach $57,000. Being impatient or fearful can be very costly.

Foolish Trivia

Name that company

I trace my roots back to a starch, soap and candle company founded in New York City in 1806. I introduced toothpaste in jars in 1873 and in collapsible tubes in 1896. Today I'm a global consumer product giant, selling brands such as Softsoap, Irish Spring, Speed Stick, Murphy Oil Soap, Hill's, Ajax, Afta, Suavitel, Tom's of Maine and Fabuloso in more than 200 countries and territories. I rake in $16 billion annually and employ more than 35,000 people, and my stock has grown by an annual average of 12 percent over the past 20 years. Who am I?

Last week's trivia answer: Danaher

the take

Emerson Electric is diversified

Investors seeking dividends and growth should consider the diversified industrial manufacturer Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR). Founded in 1890, the company makes everything from valves, actuators and regulators to entire alternators, motors and even drives - plus the software to run them all. In an economy that's continually becoming more electric (even our cars), its future is promising.

Its operations in the oil and gas industry (such as servicing reservoirs and refineries) have been hurt by low prices for both, with near-term prospects not exciting. Still, even in these challenging years, its profit margins have not shrunk much, and it's generating more than $1 billion in annual free cash flow. At a recent investor conference, management outlined plans to shed Emerson's network power segment and sell its motors and drives, power generation and storage businesses, in order to focus on faster-growing and higher-profit-margin businesses.

Then there's Emerson's dividend, which recently yielded 3.7 percent. It has been increased by an annual average of 7 percent over the past five years and has plenty of room for further hikes. The company has been rewarding shareholders via share buybacks, too. (The Motley Fool has recommended Emerson Electric.)

Universal Uclick
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Beyonce's beauty and talent have made the native Houstonian a force of nature.

And it appears that the superstar is the lucky recipient of good genes. Looks that stop traffic run in her family, and social media could not be happier.

Photos recently surfaced of the star attending an uncle's funeral, reportedly in Webster over the weekend, and posing with two beautiful women identified by Heavy.com as her cousins Kelsi Leggett and Kristin Douglas.

RARE EXCLUSIVE: Beyonce talks artistry and family in rare interview

Beyonce was reportedly in town to honor her uncle Lumis, known as "Skip." He is a brother of her mother, Galveston-born Tina Knowles-Lawson.

While all three women look great  Beyonce glamorous in black, and her two cousins rocking blue  it's Douglas (right) who is stealing the spotlight with her curvaceous figure.

Celebrating the life of Uncle Skip! #ripuncleskip A photo posted by Kristin Douglas (@simplykristinmd) on Mar 19, 2016 at 5:06pm PDT

Check out some of the headlines online after the photo went viral:

Vibe.com: "Beyonce's Gorgeous Cousin Has The Internet Thirsty AF"

US Weekly: "Meet Beyonce's Hot Cousin Kristin Douglas"

The Root: "Twitter Is Drooling Over Beyonce's Cousin in the Blue Dress"

TMZ says Douglas' Instagram followers went from 2,000 to more than 50,000 in a couple of days, thanks to the photo.

BLESSING OR CURSE: From social media, a new shame culture

Douglas is reportedly a nurse and mother of two.

No word on how she's handling her newfound fame, but at least she has a family member who can give her some advice if offers start rolling in. And if you can't get enough of Beyonce in general, click through the gallery above to see the best of Queen Bey through the years.
14 Pews

800 Aurora; 14pews.org

(T)ERROR: The first documentary to place filmmakers on the ground during an active FBI counterterrorism sting operation, this film gives viewers get an unfettered glimpse of the government's counterterrorism tactics and the murky justifications behind them. 7 p.m. Thursday

A COURTSHIP: Amy Kohn's fascinating documentary about Kelly, a 33-year-old virgin who renounces dating and seeks spiritual guidance in finding a husband. 7 p.m. Saturday

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

1001 Bissonnet; mfah.org

JACKELOPE: Fillmmaker Ken Harrison provides a look into the contemporary Texas art world of the mid-1970s. Focusing on three young artists - James Surls, George Green and Bob Wade - this fascinating time capsule captures each artist in the more casual moments of their lives, sharing their ideas about art, the artistic process and life in Texas. 7 p.m. Thursday

GOLDFINGER: Sean Connery is at his most debonair as James Bond investigates Auric Goldfinger's (Gert Frobe) gold-smuggling operation and uncovers a plot to rob the impenetrable Fort Knox in Kentucky. 7 p.m. Friday

CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR: Soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness are transferred to a temporary clinic where a volunteer explores the connection between the soldiers' enigmatic syndrome and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. (Thai with English subtitles) 7 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday

River Oaks Theatre

2009 W. Gray, landmarktheatres.com

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK: Outlaw Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) has only 24 hours to rescue the president, who has crash-landed inside the prison island of Manhattan. Midnight Friday and Saturday

Houston Museum of Natural Science

5555 Hermann Park; hmns.org

SECRET OCEAN: Jean-Michel Cousteau and marine biologist Holly Lohuis take viewers on a breathtaking underwater journey underwater. Filmed in the Bahamas, Fiji and Bimini.

DINOSAURS ALIVE: This 3-D adventure follows paleontologists around the world as they uncover evidence that the descendants of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. Multiple screenings daily.

NATIONAL PARKS ADVENTURE: Join world-class mountaineer Conrad Anker, adventure photographer Max Lowe and artist Rachel Pohl as they bike, hike and climb their way across America's most pristine parks.

MATCH

3400 Main, matchhouston.org

QUIETS STORMS OF REFORM: This documentary by Ben Tecumseh DeSoto examines the lives of two homeless Houstonians and juxtaposes 30 years of life on the streets and prison with the current reforms in the judicial, health care and foster care systems. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Paul Drinkwater/ NBC Universal, Inc -- FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY -- DO NOT ARCHIVE -- NOT FOR RESALE

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Imagine a reality TV show that mixes "Law & Order" with "Real Housewives."

That's how Juanita Jackson, a Harris County public defender, describes "Sisters in Law," a new Houston-based reality show on the WE tv network that premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday. Jackson stars with five other prominent African-American female attorneys: Jolanda Jones, Vivian King, Rhonda Wills, Monique Payne and Tiye Foley.

REALITY SHOW CHARITY SPINOFF: Locals strut their stuff on Houston's 'Dancing with the Stars'

All of the women are friends or acquaintances in real life; they range in age from 29 to 56.

More Information 'Sisters in Law' When: 9 p.m. Thursday Network: WE tv See More Collapse

Jackson said she had the idea for a reality show several years ago, but she wanted something inspiring that her daughter could watch and be proud of.

In "Sisters in Law," there's no pulling hair or throwing drinks in each others' faces.

"We aren't that kind of women," Jackson said. "It combines the drama we like in a reality show and the grit of reality. We have crazy and interesting lives."

The show's concept began in late 2013 when Jackson teamed up with friend and actress Kim Coles and producer Stacey McClain, of OWN's "Raising Whitley," and shot a trailer. It was eventually picked up by Collins Avenue Productions, which produces Lifetime's "Dance Moms."

They filmed eight episodes last summer, chronicling everything from their personal endeavors to their criminal cases in the courtroom.

An assortment of local judges and elected officials are featured, along with city council members Larry Green, Dwight Boykins, Ron Green and Houston's new mayor, Sylvester Turner. There's even an episode showing Jones, who also starred on CBS' "Survivor," running for her current Houston Independent School District school board position.

The show also was filmed at some of the city's hot spots, including the boutique of "Project Runway" winner Chloe Dao in Rice Village and the Davis St. at Hermann Park. Dao said Wills is now a frequent customer.

"I think people are going to be happy to see how great our city looks. It conveys that we are a hip, chic city," said Wills, the self-proclaimed "diva" of the group, who regularly wears Christian Louboutin heels and carries Chanel handbags. One episode reveals that Wills pampers her pups in an air-conditioned doghouse with a flat-screen television.

She said when Jackson contacted her about starring on the show, the former besties hadn't spoken in 10 years.

Their friendship is one of the show's major story lines.

"We are not stereotypical," Wills said. "We are successful attorneys. We didn't marry anyone to get where we are and, by and large, our parents didn't get us to where we are. We are self-made women. We are professional. We're moms, and we work hard. There's never been that type of (reality) show that really shows professional black women."

Will there be drama? You bet.

In fact, Donald Trump's spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who then worked on Ted Cruz's campaign, is shown the door at a campaign fundraiser for Jones held at Wills' swanky Sienna Plantation home.

The women hope viewers are inspired by their daily lives in and outside of the courtroom.

"We've all overcome stuff," Jones said. "We show people that it doesn't matter where you come from, you can achieve your goals. We show people that if you work long and hard enough and find the right support group, you can do whatever you want by your own definition."

Jones admitted there was apprehension about starring on this type of reality show.

"We had to overcome fear because if it weren't edited right, this could torpedo all of our careers. This is an example of stepping out on faith with positivity in mind with something beautiful evolving here."
A 20-year-old man was wounded in a shooting late Tuesday night in southeast Houston.

The man was found gunshot about 11:30 p.m. at an apartment complex in the 5700 block of Eskridge near Sunnyland, said Lt. Larry Crowson of the Houston Police Department.

Crowson said the man, whose name has not been released, had been shot in the chest. He was rushed to Ben Taub General Hospital. His condition was not released but Crowson said he was expected to survive.

Investigators interviewed the man's brother who was at the scene when the victim was found. The brother told investigators the shooting occurred elsewhere. The man got into an altercation with other men and one of them pulled out a gun and shot him.

So far, investigators have no suspect in the case. No information was released about what sparked the altercation or where the shooting happened.
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Over an unseasonably warm weekend in late January 1976, Houston would also host the first recorded tattoo convention, kicking off a multi-million dollar industry in which famous artists show off their handiwork and compete for cash prizes in front of tattoo enthusiasts of every stripe. Some 130 artists showed up to meet other artists and ply their craft.

The third annual Houston Tattoo Extravaganza kicks off Friday at the Crowne Plaza Houston, 8686 Kirby, and one of the artists who organized that first meet-up of misfits and bikers, Lyle Tuttle, will be the guest of honor.

Co-founder Dave Yurkew shuffled off to the big tattoo shop in the sky years ago. Yurkew, a Minnesota native, had taken over Bill Sanders' tattoo shop located somewhere north of downtown in 1973.

It was surrounded by strip clubs and taco joints just off Buffalo Bayou, Tuttle says.

By 1976, he and Tuttle partnered for the first tattoo convention, inviting guys with names like Sailor West, Mr. Tramp, Charlie Potter, and Crazy Ace to ply their trade.

There were tattoo parties before but nothing like the show that Tuttle and Yurkew had cooked up for Houston.

Tuttle, now 84, has said that the Houston convention itself altered the course of the tattooing industry forever, at a time when it was still mired in worries about hepatitis B and dirty needles.

RELATED: Houston fisherman gets awesome leg tattoo

Tattooing blew up like an aortic aneurysm after the convention, Tuttle says from his home in San Francisco. He was already tattooed from neck to ankle in 1976, years before most current tattoo artists even picked up a crayon. Even his dog was tattooed.

Plenty has changed since the first two-day World Convention of Tattoo Artists and Fans, which attracted people from places as diverse as Des Moines and New York City to a cramped Holiday Inn ballroom in Houston.

In 2016, tattoos are not unique and artists are not seen as outlaws with rusty machines inking in kitchens and garages, much to the chagrin of purists who sigh at every tattoo reality show. Coincidentally, tattoo removal specialists are also banking from the industrys popularity.

Any blank spot in the road it seems these days you will find a tattoo shop, Tuttle spits. It takes more than a few years in the industry to get Tuttles nod of approval.

Tuttle says that at the time of that first convention he felt like a has-been, tattooing since 1949 and less than a decade removed from his heyday in the pages of Rolling Stone and Esquire. He was the "Tattoo Artist to the Stars" for a brief period. Word is that he tattooed Janis Joplin, Cher, Peter Fonda and nearly all the members of The Allman Brothers.

Having tattoos was seen as another counter-culture, like hippies but more aligned with the biker set. Hippies could cut their hair and get good jobs. Tattooed bikers had few options in the so-called straight world.

It seems quaint that, 40 years ago, a congregation of tatted-up men and women could cause a stir when now even your doctor or lawyer might have a half-sleeve lurking under a designer suit or scrubs.

Reporter Marilynn Preston covered the Houston convention for the Chicago Tribune. She painted a picture of big, beefy killer gorilla types with their back and arms covered with skulls, panthers, and gross obscenities mingling with fascinated housewives.

RELATED: You can't get much more Texas than these tattoos

Preston spoke with a distinguished Midwestern surgeon, age 47, who began collecting tattoos of elaborate Oriental designs when he turned 40. He was on the scene to get tattoo work in discreet places since his wife didnt care for the artwork. To show off to the reporter and others, he had to pull down his pants.

A woman named The Shadow worked in a tattoo shop in a New York suburb that she said did a lot of genital tattoos on the upper crust from the city. One housewife got Death Before Dishwashing tattooed on her hip as an act of defiance.

Reporters from Esquire and Hustler also came to Houston to cover the 1976 show. Sam Kindrick of Action Magazine in San Antonio came to take photos and write his own dispatch.

I distinctly recall photographing an old grandma type who was a walking aquarium. She had fish tattoos all over her. She was a popular figure at the show for many of the tattoo people who knew her, Kindrick says.

Sam Kindrick / Action Magazine

The convention wasn't just about showing off tattoos. It was also a coming-out party of sorts for the pierced set, who were still on the fringe. Kindrick's coverage from 1976 went into graphic detail about the things that he saw pierced.

Of the 135 artists who bravely traveled to Houston for that convention, few are still in the industry or even still living for that matter. One artist in attendance, Don Ed Hardy, would go on to do plenty to further the positive image of tattoos decades later. The next year, the party moved on to Reno, Nev.

Don Patton is one of the organizers of this weekends convention. He works at Arc Angel Tattoo in San Antonio with Anthony Montemayor.

He has tattoo artist friends in Houston, including Dan Martin at Scorpion Tattoo in Montrose. After years of working on a convention in the Alamo City they decided to throw a convention in Houston.

RELATED: Hundreds turn up to show off ink at Tattoo Extravaganza (2015)

Patton himself started in the industry in 2002, working first as a shop attendant and doing body piercing, a change from the world of construction. He began tattooing later but he grew up around heavily-inked bikers so he was always exposed to the culture. Hes been taking clients for three years.

Our show is put on by tattoo artists, for tattoo artists. Were really choosy about the artists that exhibit. We want the best from all over the world, Patton says. All different styles of tattooing mingle at the convention, but its the traditional style that seems to dominate.

The spirit of those old-school artists is alive and well in Pattons scene. Keeping a connection to those old days, though, is hard, which is why guys like Tuttle and Charlie Potter from San Antonio will be at the show.

Having him there is a bridge to the guys who built this industry, the trailblazers and the pioneers who fought the system and changed the laws, Patton says of Tuttle.

Most of the people who were at that first one arent around anymore, Patton says. Those people just didnt live very long.

Potter was at the first show. Hes responsibly for plenty of inked bodies from Beaumont to Marfa.

Hes an old biker gangster that does great work, Patton says. Hes a real torch bearer in San Antonio to this day.

Potter, now 67, says that when he looks back at photos from the event he gets sad. He was the baby of the group then.

"There is a group shot of some of us artists and I am the only one still standing," Potter says. He remembers tattooing servicemen at a shop near Fort Sam Houston just before they shipped out to the Vietnam War. Many of them he never saw again.

"That first show almost didn't happen for many reasons, including clashes of personalities, money and the law," says Potter. Some artists didn't want a convention at all, seeing it as a mainstream act.

This weekend another old-timer, Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand, will also be at the Houston show. She worked with none other than Sailor Jerry Collins, the prickly father of traditional tattooing, who died in 1973. Most of the people who worked with him during his 62 years on Earth would go on to become influential in their own right.

The Houston show this coming weekend will feature 100 booths, with 90 percent of those tattoo artists tattooing on site. Artists from local shops like Richmond Avenue Tattoo, Flying Squid, Secret Tattoo, Scorpion Studios, Chariot Tattoo, Rose & Anchor, and more. A full list of shops and artists is on the conventions official site.

Its a chance to get good work from out-of-state artists, Patton says.

One of the more sought after artists is Cleen Rock One who has been tattooing since 1995 but is best-known for his appearances on the reality show Ink Master on Spike TV.

RELATED: Dear fellow tattooed people: Lighten up

Those wanting to get tattooed will need to inquire with an artist if they have time open over the weekend. Smaller tattoos, called bangers because you can bang them out in no time, will be easier to schedule. Pricing, as always, will vary. "Good work isn't cheap, cheap work isn't good," goes the refrain.

Just as there were in 1976, gawkers are welcome to come and watch but be warned, you might find yourself leaving newly tattooed. And just like in 1976 you will still see misfits and bikers, but these days there might be a few more strollers in the mix. Patton says he keeps the event family-friendly.

Tuttle, if he feels up to it, might also tattoo a few lucky guests, Patton says. Some people just want him to autograph their skin.

He will surely want to hold court and talk about tattoo history and, of course, give some of the new guys hell.

Tattoos are travel marks, stickers on your luggage. Tattoos are special, you have to go off and earn them," Tuttle has written on his official site. "You can go into a jewelry store and buy a big diamond and slip it on your finger and walk out. It's not like that when you go into a tattoo shop and pick a big tattoo and pay for it. You got to sit down and take it."
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He's down.

The bearded, ranting man who scaled a tree downtown and forced streets to close on Tuesday and Wednesday, came down after more than 24 hours in the upper branches of the 80-foot sequoia just outside Macy's.

Crowds of people on the sidewalks around the area cheered as he touched the ground, with some yelling "Man in tree!" in unison.

He hit the ground just before noon, but sat and ate a pear at the base of the tree before allowing police and fire officials to load him onto a gurney.

He was then driven away in an ambulance.

Police said the man, 28, will not face criminal charges but that authorities are seeing whether he needs medical help. Police said initially that he was thought to be having a mental health crisis.

The man had one prior contact with Seattle police, Detective Patrick Michaud said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Michaud declined to give the man's name and couldn't confirm if any family had been contacted.

More than 40 spectators had crowded the sidewalk along Fourth Avenue on Wednesday morning, watching to see if the man in the tree would do anything.

At one point, some men who said they knew him and skateboard with him started yelling back and forth with the man, whom they called Cody, though that name was not confirmed.

One spectator was worried the man would fall.

"The way he's sitting, that branch is going to break and he's going to be kissing pavement," said Andre Rosemond, who was waiting to go home. "It's really a no-win situation."

One man on the street said three kids scared the man and chased him up the tree, though police did not confirm that scenario.

"He's frightened to death right now, that's why he's up there," said Tony Stromdahl.

Stromdahl said he had seen the man from the tree around downtown and he was quiet and peaceful.

The man in the tree talked for a time to a police officer who was in an upper floor window of Macy's.

This weird, only-in-Seattle story began 11:21 a.m. Tuesday when firefighters went to a rope-rescue call to Fourth Avenue and Stewart Street. That's where the man was found near the canopy of the next to Macy's, typically decorated in Christmas lights during the holiday season.

Tuesday night he outlasted a Seattle Fire Department ladder crew that had to be swapped out for a shift change. He had appeared to be coming down at around 9 p.m. but scampered back up, breaking branches in the process, according to The Associated Press.

Shortly before 10 p.m., yet another ladder change was reported by a KOMO-TV cameraman and the man hunkered down in the tree as temperatures dipped into the 40s.

Overnight, the man in the tree bared his behind. Someone flew a drone by him. Seattle's self-proclaimed superhero Phoenix Jones stopped by. And, KIRO/7 reports, a woman promised to make out with him if he came down. That almost did the trick.

Seattle Police Department negotiators responded to the scene Tuesday midday and scaled a fire department ladder in an effort to coax the man out of the tree. The man allegedly refused to talk to police, threw an apple at medics and progressed to stripping branches and cones from the tree to use as missiles. A section of the trunk near the canopy was seen as bare because of the damage.

Police said the man claimed he was armed with a knife. He was also captured on video lighting a cigarette.

At various times, he climbed down several feet before returning to his perch near the canopy to sit and pull at branches.

No information was available on why the man climbed the tree, but police reported he appeared to be suffering a mental health crisis.

Michaud said police couldn't put a net or other way to catch the man under the tree because they worried about agitating him further. Michaud also said police had no plans to scale the tree in any event.

The incident inspired a parody Twitter account impersonating the man, as well as an account for the firefighter photographed on the ladder trying to talk to the man, the fire ladder and the tree itself.

There are no laws against climbing trees in Seattle, though some of the man's actions could have amounted to civil or criminal violations. Police are not charging the man at this time.

The historic tree -- reportedly replanted at its current site in 1972 from Aurora Avenue -- started declining in health about 10 years ago. In 2010, the SDOT urban forestry unit took on a "soil renovation" operation and other rehabilitation measures to keep the tree alive.

This is a breaking news story. We will update this post as we learn more.
Valerie James will portray her experience as a severe schizophrenic who joined the U.S. Army, once in 1985 and again after 9/11, in "Telling: Houston," March 25-April 3 at the Alley Theatre.

Julie Coan is director of The Telling Project Institute, which created the project.

The Telling Project, according to its website, is a "national performing arts nonprofit that employs theater to deepen our understanding of the military and veterans' experience."

James, who lives independently in Montrose, said one reason many veterans leave the military with problems is the baggage they had before going into the service.

More Information Want to go? What: "Telling: Houston" Where: Texas Room, Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Avenue When: 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, March 25-April 3 Details: Free admission; advance reservations required. 713-220-5700; www.alleytheatre.org See More Collapse

"It can help save us or it can exacerbate our issues," she said.

James and six other U.S. veterans, plus a military spouse, were cast in the production, following interviews in Houston in January.

The script for "Telling: Houston" was written (as told to) and directed by Max Rayneard, who is director of research and outcomes for The Telling Project Institute.

It marks the 37th time the Austin-based group has gone to a U.S. city, conducted interviews and then constructed a script interweaving the participants' stories into a three-act play.

James, who is 51, is "two classes away" from receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Houston-Downtown.

She said her mental problems stemmed from growing up in Jersey City, New Jersey, a violent neighborhood "where everyone had weapons. I saw dead bodies."

She was making good grades in high school when, she said, "I began hearing voices, and they were telling me to kill myself.

"They were command hallucinations, and I would cut my wrists. My parents were told to lock me up."

Instead, James said, she was put into a special school with only six students per class.

"I got better, and my old high school gave me a diploma.

"They said I earned it. It was a blessing.

"That was, wow, fantastic."

Beginning at age 20, James spent six years in the Army.

"You didn't know it was a war zone until you got out," she said.

"I started living in a storage unit. The dark felt really, really good."

Within a year, James rejoined society, she said.

"Life went on.

"I was working. But then came 9/11. I was in Maryland, 10 miles from (Washington, D.C.) and something triggered. I don't want to say 'triggered.'

"It 'happened again.'

"I had friends in Houston, so I grabbed my suitcase and came here with a little bit of money."

Again, James went homeless.

"The program that took me off the street was U.S. Veterans Initiative," she said.

Her second stint in the Army lasted from 2008-11.

Returning to Houston, James said, she moved into a housing community for low-income, homeless and disabled veterans.

James interviewed for "Telling: Houston" because "lots of my friends encouraged me to tell my story."

Other cast members live in Cypress, Galveston, Humble, Katy and Spring.

Their military experiences span the past 50 years as enlisted members and officers, three branches of service and tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, Somalia and Vietnam, said Coan.

For further information on this program, visit www.thetellingproject.org.
The owner of a century-old industrial complex in the Heights is redeveloping and reusing the property, utilizing much of its original walls, bricks and flooring to create mixed-use office and residential spaces.

Instead of tearing down the complex and constructing a new building, the owners, Heights Clock Tower LLC, took advantage of the architecture and fixtures already available in the building, which was built in phases between 1893 and 1900.

Located at 611 W. 22nd St., it is one of several Houston-area developments recently recognized for the ways in which their owners and architects made use of existing and often dense city spaces.

On Jan. 26, Urban Land Institute-Houston honored the projects and their owners with Development of Distinction Awards in eight categories. The owners of the former industrial complex, known for its five-story tall clock that towers above the Heights community, received the top honor in the award program's for-profit category.

"It is a real honor to receive the award," said Jonathan Grenader, manager and co-owner of the Heights Clock Tower.

The awards program is a centerpiece of UIL-Houston, a nonprofit that facilitates the exchange of best practices in metropolitan real estate development among its nearly 1,000 members. Each year, the organization recognizes Houston-area real estate developments and public open spaces that showcase best practices for design, construction and economic viability, among other criteria.

"The Heights Clock Tower caught the judge's attention for several reasons: the developer repurposed the old building with obvious love and care to detail and they did so successfully," said Misty Loocke, the Texas manager of UIL-Houston, in an email.

"Their vision was clear in the product. And for us in Houston, it is a terrific example of best practices (in urban land development)."

The Heights Clock Tower building complex is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places as the Oriental Textile Mill, which used to operate out of the industrial building.

"They made a product that was sort of a filtering product for pressing the cottonseed into cottonseed oil," Grenader, the building's co-owner. "They were sort of a chain of textile mills for that purpose across the South in cotton-growing areas. I used to think they made cotton materials like a conventional textile mill, but it was a specialized mill."

Grenader said the complete complex consists of several adjoining sections built out over a 20-year period. The oldest section, built in 1894 along an alley, was originally a mattress factory. By 1900, it had become the textile mill.

"When they would add to the building, they would build another section, take down a wall and connect it," Grenader said. "The structural system would be different. Then they'd do it again. You could see progress in (building materials used through the years)."

The Heights Clock Tower received the award after the second floor, approximately 23,000 square feet, was redeveloped into nine offices and an apartment. It was part of a four-phase redevelopment project that began about 10 years ago.

Since then, the complex's first floor was renovated. The idea was to rent the spaces as residential lofts. Tenants found other uses.

"A lot of people were wanting more creative offices," Grenader said.

One of the development's first tenants designed invitations. Another tenant was a software company. The redevelopment project attracted small businesses and companies in the creative and technology industry as tenants. A popular bakery and eatery, the Kraftsman Cafe, is among the building's tenants.

Last year, the Heights Clock Tower group completed renovation on a 23,000-square-foot second story section of the former industrial complex. Reconstruction efforts brought the building's original 13-inch brick walls to the forefront of office space designs; uncovered, sanded and original maple wood flooring; and repaired the tower clock.

The ULI-Houston award, Grenader said, was an affirmation of the real estate development group's project.

The purpose of the awards is to define the standard of excellence in the practice of real estate development in the Houston region, said Loocke, ULI-Houston's manager.

"The award recognized developments and public open spaces that exemplify best practices in design, construction, economic viability, healthy places, marketing and management," she said. "Highlighting best practices is one way we further our mission to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide."

ULI-Houston is a district of the much larger Urban Land Institute, an organization with council districts worldwide. The local district's membership includes Houston but also College Station, Madisonville, Conroe, Beaumont, Galveston, Victoria, Sealy, Brenham and everything in between, Loocke said.

The Navigation Esplanade on the East End of Houston also was honored by ULI-Houston and received the Development of Distinction award in the urban green space category. The esplanade is a land development project of the Greater East End Management District and the city of Houston. The three-block-long, 44-foot-wide park is in the middle of Navigation Boulevard and is used as a community gathering place and farmers market.

The Heights Clock Tower and the Navigation Esplanade are important to Houston because they highlight renovations and restoration, said Loocke, ULI-Houston's manager.

"The projects underscored a focus on the quality of life and green space," she said. "A 'romance with our hometown' as noted by nomination panel member Cassie Stinson. These particular projects are examples of Houstonians taking care of and focusing on their neighborhood through development/the built environment."

There were two honorable mentions in the not-for-profit category of the Development of Distinction awards. The KIPP Houston Public Charter School took an existing hospital in the Gulfton Community in West Houston and turned it into a three-story KIPP Connect Campus, a campus for students in prekindergarten through grade 12.

Also receiving honorable mention is the TMC Accelerator by the Texas Medical Center. According to ULI-Houston, the development made use of a former Nabisco cookie factory in the Texas Medical Center/Museum District and was formed to help companies in early-stage development launch. To learn more about ULI-Houston, visit www.houston.uli.org.
Representatives from the consultant firm contracted to search for the next superintendent of schools provided their report to the Humble ISD board of trustees.

The trustees and the consultant team will begin reviewing candidates in the next 30 to 90 days.

Superintendent Guy Sconzo announced his retirement on Dec. 8.

Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates team members, presented the Leadership Profile Assessment during the March 8 Humble ISD board meeting.

The assessment was derived from information gathered through interviews with board members, faculty, staff and students, as well as a number of public forums and an online survey.

The assessment found that the next superintendent of schools will exhibit a keen interest in the welfare of the students, faculty and staff.

He or she also will be a proactive presence in the district and the Humble ISD community.

The right candidate will also be ethical, compassionate, a visionary with a heart for education, honest, an effective recruiter of new teachers and staff, financially savvy, politically astute, confident, and highly organized.

"Things are all positive and going very well as we move along in the process," said Peter Flynn, senior associate with Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates.

Associates worked for more a month conducting parent, student and faculty interviews and surveys, having one-on-one discussions with trustees, and hosting three public forums as a way of determining key characteristics of the next superintendent.

Overall, more than 2,600 took part in the meetings, interviews and online survey, Flynn said.

"The thoroughness of this process is possible because Dr. Sconzo and the board began planning for the transition to a (new) superintendent, upon his retirement, about three years ago, so this has been carefully planned for by the board" said Jamie Mount, communications director for Humble ISD.

Flynn said Humble ISD is a district with a very good reputation and is attracting a number of inquiries from potential candidates.

Board members were impressed with the scope of the report and the amount of research the consultant team has dedicated to finding the next superintendent.

"We knew we hired the right firm, because when you came into town in February, the buzz was already going around and the response was very positive to the way you approached the individuals, the different community groups, and the civic organizations," said Humble ISD board of trustees president Robert Sitton. "I am extremely ecstatic with the amount of data you were able to gather, and the way you were able to break it back down into precisely what we are looking for as a community and a board."

15 years of service

Sconzo, who served the district for 15 years, has seen the district population increase from 25,344 students in 2001, to 40,547 this academic year.

Between 2009 thru 2011, Sconzo helped guide the district through one of the most difficult financial periods the district had seen in many years.

In recent years, the district has begun adding a number of new schools, and last year was honored as the best large district in Texas by H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards program.

"No community is more supportive of education than Humble ISD. It is because of this shared vision and commitment to our children's future that students succeed," Sconzo said.

Sconzo has vowed to remain on the job until a successor is found, and will also remain as a consultant until Dec. 31, 2016. To view the Leadership Profile Assessment, go to http://humbleisd.net/Domain/8921
"Telling: Houston," a three-act play about the experiences of seven local military veterans and a soldier's spouse, began with interviews in January in the Galleria/West Houston area.

From the interviews, a script was constructed for six performances that will be enacted by the actual people who were interviewed. Performances will be March 25 to April 3 at the Alley Theatre, said Julie Coan, director of The Telling Project Institute.

The Telling Project, according to its website, is a "national performing arts nonprofit that employs theater to deepen our understanding of the military and veterans' experience."

"The interviews were broad ranging, spanning the last 50 years of U.S. military history, featuring enlisted personnel and officers from the Army, Marines and Navy who had tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, Somalia and Vietnam, Coan said.

More Information Want to go? What: "Telling: Houston" Where: Texas Room, Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave. When: 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, March 25-April 3 Tickets: Free; advance reservations required Details: 713-220-5700; www.alleytheatre.org See More Collapse

For example, Humble attorney Reda Hicks told Max Rayneard, the Telling Institute's director of research and outcomes, about the challenges of being a "geo-batch," or geographical bachelor, living apart from her husband Jake for a year while she raised their 3-year-old son, Howard.

"How do you explain 300 hundred days to a child who can't count to 10?" Hicks recalled saying. "I made a paper chain with links in it and wrapped it around our banister. Every night before bed, Howie pulled a link off the chain so he could see it getting smaller. 'One less! One less!' And it worked."

Hicks said her interview lasted more than two hours, as she also related that her husband's "reintegration was complicated" when he returned home.

"I'd been doing everything on my own for 10 months, and Jake had spent 10 months focused on the safety of the people around him, getting the job done," said Hicks. "He hadn't dealt with bills or the lawn. We were very easily irritated with each other. It was rocky for a while, finding our groove again."

In addition to Hicks, local cast members live in Cypress, Galveston, Houston, Katy and Spring.

"Telling: Houston" marks the 37th time the Austin-based institute has gone to a U.S. city, conducted interviews and then presented the veterans and military family members in a play tailored to their stories, said Coan.

Each time, the process is the same, but the stories vary.

"The first act is more of an ensemble, with the cast acting out and talking about why they joined the military and their time in basic training. This part usually has some light-hearted moments," said Coan.

"The second act explores their time in the service and is conveyed through monologues, with their stories interwoven with each other.

"The third act is a combination of monologues and an ensemble," she added. "During this part of the show, the cast shares their experience transitioning back to civilian life and their reflections on their time in the military."

Coan said that two companies - Worklife Institute and S&R Resources - donated space for the interviews.

S&R's chief executive officer, Sandra Lowery, said, "We civilians read about these terrible wars and their casualties, but it seems so 'far away' and we go back to our daily lives at hand. I was delighted to offer my conference room to help get these highly personal accounts out to our community."

The Telling Project is made possible through a grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

"Telling: Houston" is underwritten by the Daily Court Review.

Another production

Also beginning March 25, the Alley will begin its three-week run of George Brant's "Grounded," which follows a pregnant F-16 fighter-pilot's struggle to adapt to a reassignment in the Nevada desert, where she flies a remote-controlled drone from an Air Force trailer. Her 12-hour shifts hunting terrorist targets in the Middle East are followed by 12 hours at home, struggling as a suburban wife and mother. For details about "Grounded" and military discounts at the Alley, visit www.alleytheatre.org.
The Tomball Independent School District is entering a new phase to complete projects funded by its $160 million 2013 bond with administrators taking a different approach to ongoing renovations for Lakewood Elementary and Decker Prairie Elementary.

Tomball ISD Finance Director Jim Ross provided an update on these projects to the board of trustees during a recent workshop and the plans moving forward with renovations.

In May 2013, voters approved a $160 million bond referendum to build two new elementary schools, an intermediate school, and a junior high school, as well as fund renovations to some of the older campuses in the district.

The bond was the result of a feasibility study, and steering committee recommendations, which initially proposed a $170 million bond.

Before the referendum was approved by the district, trustees discussed the possibility of cost overruns associated with construction and agreed to cap the bond amount at $160 million in an effort to maintain the current tax rate of $1.36 per $100 valuation.

Since the bond was passed, Ross has provided trustees with a number of updates on construction and planned renovations.

The last update was in July 2015, when Ross first shared the plan to extend the life of the older campuses, like Decker Prairie and Lakewood, which were both built in the 1980s.

"I assured you that we could build this; we could build everything we said, now we happen to have a contingency of over $2 million," Ross said. "I am very comfortable with this, and I have been all along."

The renovations are being done in three phases with the first phase completed last summer. It focused on rebuilding administrative office spaces and the creation of security vestibules.

Phase two, which the board approved recently, will focus on the renovation of the kitchens and cafeterias.

Both phases are projected at $5.5 million total for both campuses.

The third phase of the renovations is projected at $11.1 million and will involve virtually stripping the inside of the building and adding fire suppression equipment, which these campuses did not include.

The third phase will also include new carpet, doors and windows, electrical upgrades, a new roof, a new outdoor canopy, and furniture and equipment.

The total, including fees and taxes, is estimated at $20.4 million - $4.2 million less than was originally budgeted for under the bond.

"This will truly extend the lives of these buildings," Ross said.

Meanwhile, about half the projects under the bond have been completed, leaving the expected completion of Creekside Park Junior High this summer, parking additions to the district bus barn; the addition of a parent drive at Tomball Junior High School; improvements to the district agriculture barn; and technology upgrades throughout the district.

One of the projects that was previously being considered under the bond involved the division of band and choir rooms currently being used at the Creekside Forest and Timber Creek Elementary Schools in The Woodlands, which are the district's only two kindergarten through sixth-grade campuses.

With the transfer of the sixth grade teams to the new Creekside Park Junior High campus in August, those rooms would not be needed and to save money it's likely those projects will not be completed under this bond.

"Do we anticipate, at some point, that will need to be done?" asked Trustee Kathy Handler.

Chris Trotter, Tomball ISD's chief administrative officer, said those classrooms can be used as two large classrooms, but not right away.

"I don't see us needing those any time soon," he said.

Trustees approved bids for the remaining phase three projects at both schools, as well as the bids to add the parent drive and additions to the bus barn at the March 8 meeting.

Other projects left on the bond could be approved later this year, or early next year.
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The man who pleaded guilty to causing an alcohol-related wreck that killed a former Splendora firefighter and his wife and injured their two young daughters before fleeing the scene was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison, the maximum allowed by law.

Alejandro Guzman-Lopez, 23, a Houston laborer, will not be eligible for parole for 20 years based on his convictions for multiple counts of intoxication manslaughter, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and failure to stop and render aid, Montgomery County prosecutors said in a news release.

Ex-Splendora firefighter Brad Frazier and his wife, Shea, both 21, were killed and their daughters, a 2-year-old toddler and 5-week-old infant, were injured when their Ford Explorer flipped over after being struck from behind by the Buick driven by Guzman-Lopez on May 17, 2015 on northbound U.S. 59 near Ipes Road in eastern Montgomery County, authorities said.

Guzman-Lopez, who was uninjured, left his wrecked car and ran until a bystander tackled him behind a bar and held him for investigators. Lab tests showed he had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system and he also tested positive for cocaine and marijuana.

Sean Allison, a 22-year-old ranch hand, was praised for being the "good Samaritan" who saw Guzman-Lopez fleeing the scene and chasing him down. He said Lopez smelled of alcohol and kept yelling that he "didn't want to go to jail.'

"It's one of the worst cases I've seen," said prosecutor Tyler Dunman. "These kids have recovered but will never know their mom and dad."

After hearing a day of testimony, Guzman-Lopez decided to plead guilty and let the jury decide his punishment. He "pounded his chest and cried," telling the jurors, "I'm sorry. I'm guilty," said his attorney, Robert Bartlett of Conroe. "But the jurors had no sympathy for him and gave him the maximum punishment."

Another strike against Lopez was that he was in the U.S. illegally after overstaying a visitation visa that should have ended in 2009, authorities said. Upon his parole, prosecutors said, Guzman-Lopez will be deported to his native Mexico.

However, Bartlett noted that the Explorer driven by the Frazier family was an older model that had been involved in lawsuits because it was prone to flipping. Guzman-Lopez struck the vehicle right on the back corner, causing it to spin and flip like in these other cases, he said.

Dunman pointed out that Guzman-Lopez had acknowledged drinking earlier in the day and driving at speeds of 100 mph.

Brad Frazier came from a long line of firefighters. His father had been a former firefighter and his brother a former chief.
WASHINGTON - Inching closer to the presidential nomination in a divided Republican Party, front-runner Donald Trump extended his delegate lead over Ted Cruz in Tuesday's voting in Arizona and Utah.

In the first round of voting after Tuesday's terror attacks in Belgium, the Manhattan billionaire took the day's top prize, the winner-take-all Arizona primary. Cruz was strongly favored in the heavily Mormon Utah caucuses, a contest that was expected to reward the Texas senator's organizational strengths.

Democrat Hillary Clinton also appeared to be the victor in Arizona.

While both candidates emphasized a strong national defense on a day of heightened global security concerns, the split was expected to highlight the divisions in a party riven with factional disputes between Trump populists and Cruz's traditional base of tea partiers and religious conservatives.

Trump's Arizona victory gave him all of the state's 58 delegates, while Cruz would get the majority - if not all - of Utah's 40 delegates to the national convention in July.

Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe suggested in a tweet Tuesday night that his candidate would do better in later results and Election Day voting: "At the risk of going full Rove here, stay tuned to AZ. We will lose but not anywhere close to current margin and watch election day vote %."

More Information GOP candidates launch Twitter war Donald Trump apparently has no regrets about making a threat against rival Ted Cruz. The GOP front-runner on Tuesday night tweeted that the Texas senator needed to "be careful" or he would "spill the beans on your wife." Trump quickly deleted the tweet but then reposted an edited version a few minutes later. The change? This time, he called Cruz by the dismissive nickname he uses often: "Lyin' Ted." Trump appears to be upset about an ad in Utah that uses a photo of his wife, Melania, from a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago. The ad wasn't placed by Cruz's campaign, but rather an outside group that's opposed to Trump's candidacy. Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought." Trump's campaign didn't immediately return messages seeking comment about his tweet. Associated Press See More Collapse

In a crucial battle of the GOP delegate race, Cruz needed to win more than 50 percent required to take all of the Utah delegates under that state's proportional system of awarding delegates. Trump, running third behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Utah, hoped for at least 15 percent of the vote to avoid getting aced out of the Beehive State's delegate haul.

A delegate split in Tuesday's voting would continue a dynamic that has long played to Trump's advantage: a divided opposition that dilutes the strength of the well-funded anti-Trump movement.

Kasich a factor

Cruz, for his part, has sought to make it a two-way race where he says he can best Trump. Indeed, Kasich's expected strong showing in Utah was believed to hurt Cruz's hopes of winning all the state's delegates and slowing Trump's momentum.

But in Arizona, where Kasich was hardly a presence, Cruz still trailed badly to Trump. Cruz also did not seem able to fully exploit Arizona's closed primary rules, which prevented independents and Democrats from crossing over and voting for Trump.

Trump's likely third-place finish in Utah - one of the most conservative states in the country -would be his worst showing so far in the GOP race. It would also continue his weakness in Mormon regions, including parts of Nevada and Idaho.

Cruz also got some help from Mitt Romney, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee and a Mormon. Romney, who has come out strongly against Trump, recorded robocalls in Utah and Arizona in recent days urging voters to vote for Cruz, calling him "the only Republican candidate who can defeat Donald Trump"

Romney did the same for Kasich in Ohio, helping the governor win his home state and deny Trump the Buckeye State's 66 delegates, a large trove that could prove a significant setback for Trump's aim of securing the 1,237 delegates needed for the GOP nomination before the convention in Cleveland.

Going into Tuesday's contests in Arizona and Utah, Trump led the race with 681 delegates, to 425 for Cruz and 143 for Kasich.

Despite significant early voting in Arizona, Tuesday's primary occurred amid heightened security concerns across the U.S. and Europe in the wake of the ISIS terror attacks that killed more than 30 people in Brussels and wounded scores more.

Some lines in Phoenix were reported to take two hours or more, and some polling places were kept open late, suggesting another heavy turnout in the Republican primary. Polling places in some precincts were printing out additional provisional ballots to accommodate higher-than-expected numbers of voters.

Brussels 'a total mess'

All the top campaigns emphasized the brutality of the Brussels attacks, turning the contest into a challenge of their presidential leadership in confronting terrorism.

Trump called Brussels a "total mess" where the police seem to have little control. He also repeated his call to torture suspected terrorists and temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S. "I would close up our borders to people until we figure out what is going on," he said.

Cruz called for the U.S. to stop accepting Syrian Muslim refugees and suggested that police need more power to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

Cruz and Kasich also criticized Trump for suggesting on Monday that the U.S. should reconsider its participation in NATO.

Cruz's call for extra patrols targeting Muslim communities came under attack by liberal groups who said it would be counter-productive to efforts to assimilate Muslims into American society.

"Anti-Muslim bigotry is profoundly un-American and entirely unacceptable, whether it comes from a conspiracy theorist, a presidential candidate or anyone else," said People For the American Way President Michael Keegan in a statement.

Cruz responded to the criticism in an interview Tuesday on CNN. "That does not mean targeting Muslims," he said. "It means targeting radical Islamic terrorists."

Both Trump and Cruz faulted the Obama administration for what they called an excess of "political correctness" in combatting Islamic terrorists, now likely to be a more important theme in the 2016 presidential contest.
As Texas universities grapple with the state's new "campus carry" law, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer  part hospital, part educational facility  has crafted a plan that would limit weapons mostly to administrative areas and a hotel for patients' families.

Hospitals generally are exempt from the law, but the cancer care center and teaching hospital must comply because of its inclusion in a public university system.

The plan, announced Wednesday, recommends prohibiting concealed handguns in patient care areas, research laboratories, animal care facilities and enclosures, child care and other childrens' areas, worship spaces, and areas required to be excluded by state or federal law, contract or an accrediting authority.

Under the plan, concealed handgun license holders will be allowed to carry in all parts of the hotel  the Jesse H. Jones Rotary House at 1600 Holcombe Blvd.  and the Fannin Holcombe Building at 6900 Fannin, MD Anderson's administrative building. Most of the Mid Campus Building 1 at 7007 Bertner will be a carry area except in the offices of employee health and well-being and the employee assistance program.

"Our primary goal at MD Anderson is to ensure the safety of our patients, visitors, faculty, staff and students while complying with Texas law," Dr. Ronald DePinho, the institution's president, said in a statement.

Campus Carry will become effective Aug. 1 for four-year public universities. It will allow licensed concealed handgun owners to enter most school buildings with weapons. While the law gives campus presidents the discretion to designate limited gun-free zones on campus, debate is ongoing about whether they may ban concealed carry in broad areas such as all dormitories or classrooms.

The state law requires campuses to adopt rules before Aug. 1 and submit implementation reports to the Legislature by Sept. 1.

MD Anderson's plan was developed last year through a lead working group as well as town halls, department meetings, surveys and written communications from September through December.

"Our working group listened to many passionate opinions expressed about this issue and considered all feedback in putting together our plan. I am confident it addresses our goals," DePinho said in the statement.

Officials expect to install signs to mark firearm exclusion and carry areas at MD Anderson in August.

This month, the University of Houston released draft policies allowing guns in classrooms but not in most dorms. The guidelines, proposed by a group of faculty, students and administrators, must be approved by Chancellor Renu Khator and the board of regents.

Another UT institution in Houston, UTHealth, also released its campus carry recommendations Wednesday. They call for permitting concealed carry in classrooms and teaching areas, with certain designated exclusion zones. Details of the UTHealth policy are available here.
Arson officers are investigating a fatal house fire at a home in northeast Houston.

The blaze broke out at about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at a home in the 5500 block of Bunte. The house was ablaze when the Houston Fire Department arrived at the scene. They found a body after an initial search.

The fire was extinguished shortly after 10 a.m. The home had heavy fire, smoke and water damage.

The body was taken to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences for identification and an autopsy. HFD officials said they notified the Red Cross.
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Gene Locke and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner have announced a partnership to clean up several blighted properties in Houston.

Locke said Precinct 1 would put up $750,000 to $1 million to mow lawns, board up broken windows and clean up debris on properties all around sections of the city that are located in Precinct 1. Locke said he did not know how many such lots could be addressed because they vary in cost depending on the extent of dilapidation.

"It affects the quality of life for those in this community," Locke said.

Tuesday's announcement in front of a rundown property in Acres Homes came less than a month after Locke said he would put up more than $12 million to fix up roads around NRG Park ahead of the Super Bowl. Precinct 1 added another road to that project and Locke said more roadwork would come in the future.

Locke said he's also been working with the city, the Houston Independent School District, Spring ISD and Aldine ISD to put in sidewalks.

"It's part of my strategy to provide greater services to the people by coordinating efforts by government agencies," Locke said.

Turner said the city currently has about 600 such properties on its list. The properties are among hundreds identified through citizen complaints. Turner said 85 percent of those are resolved either voluntarily or after the city issues a notice of code violations.

The remaining 15 percent are put on a list, one that Locke said he and city officials would cull to identify which the county could tackle. A Precinct 1 spokeswoman said Locke will likely hire contractors to do the work, though she said that was still being finalized.

Turner said the city would not have been able to hit all 600 properties on its list. He said if the county can address half, the city should be able to address the other half. He could not provide an estimate of how many properties the city would be able to handle without county assistance.

"For people that live in this community, live next door, this is a tremendous advance," Turner said.

Locke said he would likely continue this program next year.
Inspired by voters in Chicago and Cleveland who booted top prosecutors last week with candidates who pledged more accountability in police shootings, Houston-area Black Lives Matter activists have started a #ByeDevon social media campaign to try to oust Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson.

#ByeDevon, which appears to have debuted on Twitter last week, was shared and retweeted by individuals involved in local Black Lives Matter efforts as well as people who questioned the handling of the Sandra Bland incident and Houston-area members of the National Black United Front.

Anderson has drawn criticism for her handling of police shooting cases and for the lack of indictments against police officers who injure civilians. And activists have demanded an apology from Anderson for comments she made the morning after Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth was killed last year.

Anderson won the Republican primary earlier this month and is facing a rematch with Democratic challenger Kim Ogg in November.

"We are going to respectfully decline to comment for now," said Sara Kinney, spokeswoman for the Anderson campaign, when asked to comment on the social media effort.

Ogg said she welcomed the support.

"I'm glad they're doing it," she said. "I want them to be involved and we've seen that the public  at least in Chicago and Cleveland  recognized that it's the district attorney's responsibility to ensure that corrupt police or overly aggressive police or lying police are brought to justice and are held accountable to the public. I think it's positive that young people are trying to raise their own community's awareness and I think this is bigger than the African American community. I think the #ByeDevon hashtag could be the beginning of a movement for reform in the criminal justice system."

Two 2014 police shootings of young black men captured on video are believed to have fueled the backlash at the ballot box in Chicago and Ohio last week - the deaths of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in Chicago and Tamir Rice, 12, in Cleveland.

"What you saw in Chicago and Cleveland showed the power of the Black Lives Matter movement and grassroots movement when we mobilize and organize," said Houston Black Lives Matter activist Jerry Ford Tuesday.

Ford said the movement is organizing beyond Twitter and Facebook in hopes of increasing turnout this fall for Ogg.

Anderson, a former judge, was appointed to fill the district attorney's post after her husband died in office. She won election in 2014 to finish out his unexpired term, and must run again this year for a full term in office.

She and Ogg each won their primary elections earlier this month. Anderson defeated Ogg in 2014 with 53 percent of the vote.

Ford contends that Ogg would be better able to "close the communication gap between communities of color and law enforcement" and could "mobilize young people and people of color on the Democratic side to come out to vote."

"We are going to mimic the strategy that took place up in Chicago," Ford said, noting that #ByeDevon is patterned after the #ByeAnita social media effort to unseat Cook County prosecutor Anita Alvarez in Chicago. "I'm reaching out to activists around the country about the best way to move forward with this so we can be a success in November."

Ashton P. Woods, a student sociologist at University of Houston-Downtown affiliated with Black Lives Matter, made and tweeted a #ByeDevon meme.

The activist said he said he supports the effort based on the treatment of Jesse Valdez, a 22-year-old who was riding a motorized scooter inside Willowbrook Mall last September when he was arrested by a Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constable. Portions of the apprehension were filmed. Valdez's relatives and supporters claimed the officer used excessive force.

Anderson's office accepted a charge of resisting arrest for Valdez. A Harris County jury returned a not guilty verdict on March 10.
A McLennan County grand jury on Wednesday indicted 42 more bikers for their alleged roles in a May melee at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that left nine people dead and nearly two dozen wounded.

All told, 148 bikers have now been indicted, according to court records. They are accused of engaging in organized criminal activity to commit murder and assault, and face 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna did not respond to a request for comment.

He had previously said that each of the 177 persons arrested that Sunday in May, as well as a few others who were later arrested, would have their cases presented to a grand jury to see if they should face trial.

Police and prosecutors have said the clash was the result of an ongoing turf war between the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and the Cossacks Motorcycle Club.

Defense lawyers, however, have said most of the violence was the result of bikers acting in self-defense, and they note that at least four of the people slain that day were shot by police bullets.

After the shooting in a commercial shopping center, investigators found 151 guns and hundreds of other weapons, including hatchets, machetes, pipes and hammers on the bikers and scattered around the scene, from vehicles in the parking lot to inside the toilet of the Twin Peaks bathroom.

It remains to be seen if prosecutors have completed their probe or will pursue indictments of other bikers. As of now, no case has made it to trial.

Houston lawyer Paul Looney said he was heartened but not surprised that two of his clients, Morgan and William English, may be on the verge of getting their lives back.

The couple, who live in Brenham, were among six members of the Distorted Motorcycle Club who were arrested in Waco, none of whom has been indicted so far.

"From the first time that I met these people, I told everybody that would listen they would never be indicted by any grand jury," Looney said.

"It was preposterous they were being held in the system because there was never a prosecutor anywhere that was going to want to indict these people," he said. "They were not just innocent but virginally innocent."

Looney said the Englishes, like many others charged in Waco, have had their lives turned upside down.

"The whole club, there was never even a hint of evidence that indicated criminality, but they have all had their lives destroyed," Looney said. "They have lost jobs, lost relationships, lost the respect of peers - lost family support groups - all over absolutely nothing."He noted that all of them spent at least two weeks in jail after they were ordered held on $1 million bond each. Even after the bonds were lowered, they had to come up with money they didn't have to spare.

"What I continue to be amazed by is the extreme cruelty of authorities in continuing to make them dangle when they know they have nothing on them."

He said that although his clients were not indicted, they still remain charged in the case and are free only on bond.
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Late Tuesday night, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Millers Facebook page posted a photo of President Barack Obama smiling, holding up a blue shirt emblazoned with the face of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Marxist revolutionary.

The caption states that Obama was holding the shirt during his historic trip to Cuba this week.

RELATED: President Obama comments on Brussels attacks at MLB exhibition in Cuba

President Obama refuses to return to the United States in order to meet with European leaders to discuss a response to today's terror attacks in Brussels--attacks that severely injured a number of Americans. Instead, he remains in Cuba holding a shirt depicting the image of Che Guevara--one of the most reviled terrorists of the modern age--a murdering thug who was responsible for thousands of innocent deaths. President Obama is laughing at us. He understands the symbolism of this picture and yet he doesn't care. I believe his actions are disgraceful. Do you agree?

Millers Facebook followers responded with much anger over the picture in the comments below the posting. A few, however, did some homework of their own and discovered the picture wasnt all that it seemed.

The problem is that the photo was taken in late 2009 as Obama toured a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. In the original, untouched photo the shirt actually shows a nerdy message, described here.

For those pressed for time, it's the Navier-Stokes equation coupled with the conservation-of-mass equation.

LEARN MORE: 7 things to know about Che Guevara

While it's true that Obamas trip to Cuba, which included a very real photo of him with other delegates and Cuban President Raul Castro posing in front of an old Guevara mural in Havana, has caused a stir on both sides of the aisle, it's not over a T-shirt.

So far the Miller camp hasnt responded to the commenters who have noticed that the photo is a hoax, nor has his office responded to phone calls or emails from the Houston Chronicle. Well keep you posted.

Millers Facebook page has been a flashpoint before, either for posting a light-hearted photo of rattlesnakes nursing which was quite funny, or equating refugees with poisonous snakes.

A Facebook post last August on Millers official page, featuring the detonation of an atomic bomb and a message suggesting "the Muslim world" should face the same fate, went viral on social media. It was removed nearly a day later.

RELATED: In Cuba, Obama calls for burying 'last remnant' of Cold War

"Japan has been at peace with the U.S. since August 9, 1945. It's time we made peace with the Muslim world," stated the original post, which features the hashtags #noislamknowpeace and #COMETAKE and what appears to be a photograph of the 1957 nuclear bomb tests in Nevada.

Miller's special assistant, Luke Bullock, later said the post was made without the commissioner's knowledge by a staffer in his campaign office who does not work for the state agency.

"It was an error by a staffer. The posting did not reflect the views of Commissioner Miller and, as a result, it's been removed," Bullock said.

Miller's latest controversy involves a taxpayer-funded trip to Oklahoma and a visit to a doctor who administers something called the "Jesus Shot" which is touted as a lifetime cure-all. Read more about the trip in Brian Rosenthal's investigation on HoustonChronicle.com.
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Former Army Sgt. Santiago Jesus Erevia, a longtime resident of San Antonio who received the Medal of Honor from President Obama only two years ago, died Tuesday morning.

He was 70.

Bexar County Veterans Service Officer Queta Marquez announced Erevias death, calling him an American hero from our community and a hero to our country and adding, He epitomized selfless service and bravery.

A radio operator born in Nordheim, a small town southeast of San Antonio, Erevia charged a series of enemy spider holes in a desperate battle near Tam Ky City, Vietnam, in 1969. His company was pinned down at the base of a hill when he picked up two M-16 rifles and rushed the first of the spider holes. Often facing close-quarter fire, he reloaded the weapons and pushed on until all of the enemy nests were cleared.

Initially given the Distinguished Service Cross, the nations second-highest award for valor, Erevia and fellow San Antonian retired Sgt. 1st Class Jose Rodela received the Medal of Honor from President Obama in a White House ceremony on March 18, 2014.

He was just a really nice gentleman, said Marquez, a veteran of Afghanistan. He was really humble. Obviously, he got a lot of attention after getting the Medal of Honor, but he was always very humble.

Read more about Santiago Erevias life and heroics on ExpressNews.com and in Wednesdays Express-News.

sigc@express-news.net
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The Trans-Pecos natural gas pipeline could cause the mysterious Marfa Lights to disappear, activists opposing the pipeline's construction claim.

SEE MORE: Video: UFO reportedly sighted in downtown San Antonio

Atlas Obscura reported that a new group called the Marfa Mystery Lights Brigade believes that the pipeline could rob Marfa of the attraction that has long befuddled conspiracy theorists and the scientific community.

The logic: the lights can't be protected because the lights' source and cause is not definitively known.

Additionally, the pipeline can be seen from the Marfa Lights Viewing Station, according to the publication.

RELATED: What to eat, see and do in Marfa, Texas

"It's the first tangible thing in this area that people will watch disappear," Alyce Santoro, also a member of an organization called Defend Big Bend, told Atlas Obscura.

The pipeline has cleared a preliminary approval for a portion of the overall construction by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but has been waylaid by property owners jostling with Energy Transfer Partners, the company slated to build it.

Activists also believe that energy companies could be tempted to begin fracking in Big Bend if the pipeline comes to fruition, bringing along new lights that would displace the Marfa lights, according to the publication.

READ MORE: Did Apollo 10 astronauts hear lunar music on the far side of the moon in 1969?

What causes the light phenomenon has been debated since their first reported sighting in 1883.

Conspiracy theorists have long thought them to be tied to UFOs and the like, but two studies in 2004 and 2008 conducted by students at the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas State University, respectively, concluded that the lights were caused by headlamps from passing automobiles and small fires.

RELATED: UFO hunters see 'spy plane' in Apollo 12 image

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
AUSTIN -- A Collin County grand jury has voted to not act on allegations regarding Ken Paxton's involvement in a decade-old land deal, clearing the Republican attorney general of one headache as he works to fight unrelated securities fraud charges.

Two special prosecutors appointed to lead the land deal case announced the news in a statement, saying the 12 grand jurors had voted after a long investigation.

"After reviewing voluminous documents, hearing the testimony of numerous witnesses and conducting an exhaustive examination of all relevant information, the grand jury concluded that no further action was warranted," said the special prosecutors, Fort Worth lawyers Bob Gill and David "Miles" Brissette.

The allegations concerned a deal in which a company called Eldorado-Collin bought a parcel of undeveloped land off Eldorado Parkway in McKinney and sold it to another company called Cornerstone, which then sold it to the Central Appraisal District of Collin County. Eventually, the appraisal district built its headquarters there.

Prior to selling the property, Eldorado-Collin obtained a key zoning change that paved the way for the appraisal district headquarters.

Paxton, who was then a state lawmaker, was a limited partner in the company, as was Greg Willis, who later became a judge and now serves as Collin County's district attorney.

The attorney general has said he was not involved in the property's re-zoning or the sale to the appraisal district.

In a statement, Dan Cogdell, a member of Paxton's legal team, applauded the grand jury's action and thanked Gill and Brisette "for their diligence in reviewing all aspects of this matter."

"From the beginning of their investigation, Ken Paxton and his legal team were confident that the grand jury would take no action regarding this Collin County real estate transaction and the referral of matters to the District Attorney's Office," Cogdell said.

The grand jury's decision does not affect the felony securities fraud case, which is ongoing.

A Collin County grand jury last July indicted Paxton for allegedly violating state securities laws by funneling clients to a friend's investment firm without being property registered with the state and encouraging others to invest in a technology start-up without disclosing that he was receiving money from the company.

Paxton has pleaded not guilty. His legal team is seeking to get the case dismissed.

Wednesday's news was first reported by the Dallas Morning News.
AUSTIN -- Signaling a new issue for the Legislature's 2017 session, members of a House committee are calling for major reforms in the state workers' compensation program that would change coverage rules that now leave thousands of workers uninsured.

In a Tuesday meeting, the House Committee on Business and Industry questioned state Insurance Department officials at length about employers who are now failing to provide coverage and continuing complaints about the state's designated-doctor program.

Texas does not require most private employers to have workers' compensation insurance coverage, and state Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, said these non-subscribers -- especially those in the construction industry who do not pay taxes -- get medical care treatment through indigent-care and state health care programs that cost taxpayers.

"What happens is that some good corporate citizens of Texas want to protect their workers, but we still have some unscrupulous groups that are getting away with this," Olivera told the committee.

Ryan Brannan, Texas' workers compensation commissioner, said the Texas program has the highest rate of subscribers since 1993 and is making sure the system is balanced and transparent along with compliance on state holders.

"We are doing our best to be more efficient and transparent," he said.

Facing increasing complaints, testimony indicated that participation by physicians in the Designated Doctor Program -- in which state-approved doctors examine injured workers to decide claims in disputed cases -- has dropped precipitously.

Stephen Norwood, from the Texas Orthopedic Association, said participation is down 67 percent, mostly because the state does not reimburse physicians enough for expenses to travel to remote locations.

"All this time away and expense often unexpectedly to remote locations doesn't make it feasible for physicians to participate," he testified. "If you allowed proper specialists to evaluate several workers during same travel, you increase access of workers to more appropriate exams and more efficiency to physicians."

He called for the Legislature to provide funding to reinstate no-show fees and compensate physicians.

Rene Lara, legislative political director of the Texas AFL-CIO, told the committee that the current workers' compensation law not only limits benefits to survivors but takes away death benefits from most widows or widowers if they remarry.

"A small amount of benefit coming into the household can be a huge loss to them in their perspective if they're not high-income earners, which is the situation of most families," he said.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has already declared unconstitutional that state's new law that eliminated mandatory workers' compensation.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
Increasing Number of U.S. Citizens Analyzing Options for Immigration to Canada CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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As Donald Trump waltzed to victory in no fewer than seven of the 11 state primaries on Super Tuesday last week, a familiar pattern re-emerged  many U.S. citizens proclaimed that if Trump was to become president, or even just the Republican nominee, they would pack up and move to Canada. While this has happened during previous election cycles, this time the proposition seems more serious. The deliberations come at a time of rising anxiety among Americans about Trump, who many fear is becoming unstoppable.

Now, people are moving from the why to the how with regard to Canadian immigration. It is not just a case of loading up the car, driving north, and finding a job right away in a safe neighbourhood. While there are many ways to immigrate to Canada from the United States or to reside in Canada temporarily, each pathway requires a plan.

Every year, thousands of Americans make the decision to move to Canada. Some are attracted by economic opportunity, others are sponsored by a spouse or partner, while many other Americans come to work or study in Canada on a temporary basis.

Immigrate to Canada

Individuals who view Canada as their potential new long-term home are encouraged to assess their options for obtaining Canadian permanent residence. In some cases, permanent resident status can be obtained within months, while other situations may necessitate a waiting period of over a year.

After living in Canada for a few years, permanent residents may be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship. This is a process known as naturalization, and Canada has one of the most liberal and welcoming naturalization processes in the world. According to both U.S. law, individuals can be a citizen of the U.S. and of another country. The same provision exists for Canadians who acquire a second citizenship.

Permanent resident status can be acquired in a number of ways. First, there is the Express Entry immigration selection system. A major advantage with this system is that applications are processed within six months.

Canada also has a number of Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs). Canadian provinces, which correlate roughly with states in the U.S., can nominate newcomers based on labour market needs. The PNPs may be a practical starting point for residents of the U.S. who know which province they wish to move to, as well as others who have specific skill sets and work experience that certain provinces are looking for. The province of Quebec has its own economic immigration program, which may prove attractive for U.S. residents who enjoy a more European style of living and want to live close to the Northeast U.S.

Another important portion of Canadas economic immigration policy focuses on attracting businesspeople and entrepreneurs, which the U.S. has in abundance. Candidates for one of these programs typically require a minimum net worth and the ability to invest a minimum sum in the Canadian economy. While the most well-known business immigration programs have criteria set by the federal government, over recent years many Canadian provinces have also jumped on board and established their own business immigration programs.

Lastly, for U.S. residents in a marriage or common-law relationship with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the prospect of immigrating to Canada is obviously appealing. Fortunately, the government of Canada offers a sponsorship program for these cases. Moreover, Canada recognizes same-sex marriage. Same-sex partners may be eligible to apply to reunite in Canada, provided they meet all eligibility requirements.

To view a full rundown of Canadian immigration options for U.S. citizens, click here.

Work in Canada

U.S. citizens may work in Canada temporarily, either as a temporary measure or as a transitory stage towards applying for permanent residence in Canada. There are many ways to begin working in Canada, including:

To learn more about each of these options for working in Canada, click here.

Study in Canada

At a time when young Americans are not only faced with unpalatable rhetoric from candidates for the highest office in the country, but also escalating tuition costs and debt, a growing number are considering Canadian colleges where the tuition is a fraction of what students pay in the U.S. Around six percent of all students at McGill University in Montreal, for example, are U.S. citizens.

Today, with an exchange rate that benefits U.S. citizens looking to study in Canada, there has never been a better time to head north for an affordable education that can lead to attractive career opportunities. Studying in Canada doesnt just make sense from an educational and economic point of view  it is also a pathway towards developing a professional career and immigrating to Canada permanently.

To learn more about studying in Canada, click here. You can also peruse the advantages of studying in particular provinces and locations in Canada on this dedicated landing page.

The true land of opportunity

Many Americans are going to bed at night these days asking themselves whatever happened to the American Dream? They see the potential of a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz presidency, and all that that may entail, and are looking for pastures new. Fortunately, they may not have to go too far, says Attorney David Cohen.

Much like their American counterparts, Canadians enjoy a free market economy, where individuals and enterprises are rewarded for their creativity, innovation and hard work. Compared to the U.S., however, Canadians work less, live longer, and enjoy better health. They also have less personal debt and enjoy more time off. While Americans have been busy pursuing happiness, Canadians have been living it. I would encourage Americans who are seriously thinking about moving to Canada to determine their options in short order.

To find out if you are eligible for any of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, please fill out a free online assessment today.

If you are planning on working in Canada temporarily, please send an email inquiry to wp@canadavisa.com

 2016 CICNews All Rights Reserved
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For the second time in just six months, the government of Nova Scotia has successfully lobbied for an increase in the allocation for the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP), one of Canadas Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs). These immigration programs allow Canadian provinces to select newcomers based on criteria set by the province.

On March 16, 2016, Nova Scotia was granted an additional 300 spaces for the NSNP, bringing the total annual allocation cap for this year to 1,350. This is nearly double the allocation allotted to Nova Scotia by the federal government just two years ago. Last September, Nova Scotia successfully lobbied the federal government for a similar increase for its 2015 allocation, which also ended up being set at 1,350. The new Liberal government in Ottawa had originally set the NSNP cap for 2016 at 1,050, but both parties have now agreed to a return to the 1,350 figure.

Nova Scotia is one of Canadas Maritime provinces, located in Eastern Canada on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Over recent years, governments in this region have been vocal about the need for newcomers who can integrate into the local labour market and help solve the demographic challenges faced by the region, which has an aging population.

Of all the provinces and territories in Canada, however, Nova Scotia has arguably been the most successful over recent months at securing from the federal government what it deems is required in order to revitalize the economy.

Commenting on the allocation increase, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil stated that Theres a commitment by them [the federal government] to recognize the work that Nova Scotians have been doing in and around retention and allowing us to lead in Atlantic Canada to make sure that immigrants who arrive in Atlantic Canada stay here, not just here but in our sister provinces . . . But theres no question we need more people . . . Its my fundamental belief the cap should be lifted and allow us as a region, as a province to go forward.

This news puts many prospective applicants and their families in a good position to pursue Canadian permanent residence through this program.

About the Nova Scotia Nominee Program

Through the NSNP, prospective immigrants with the skills and experience targeted by Nova Scotia may apply for and obtain a Nova Scotia Provincial Nomination Certificate, after which they may apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Nova Scotia has diversified its immigration program over recent months and years, to the point where it now offers multiple streams for candidates in the Express Entry pool, two streams that benefit international students who graduate from an education institution in Nova Scotia, and a couple of streams that are focused on business immigration and entrepreneurship. In certain cases, individuals with language proficiency lower than Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 may be in a position to make an application.

Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry

Nova Scotia uses the federal governments Express Entry immigration selection system in order to select candidates for Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry, which aims to attract skilled individuals with a post-secondary education and qualifications that will help them successfully settle in the province. The most recent criteria for this stream focused on candidates with experience in one of 29 eligible occupations.

Though Nova Scotia is currently not accepting new applications for this stream, it is expected to reopen for applications later in 2016. Potential applicants may begin to prepare an application in advance, in doing so maximizing their chances of successfully making an application before the allocation intake is reached. To learn more about eligibility requirements for Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry, click here.

Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry

This points-based immigration stream, which remains open for new applications at this time, targets skilled individuals who wish to settle in Nova Scotia permanently. Applicants must have at least one year of experience working in Nova Scotia in a skilled occupation. Additional adaptability points may be awarded to applicants and/or accompanying spouses/common-law partners who have completed a study program in Nova Scotia.

To learn more about eligibility requirements for Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry, click here.

Skilled Worker Stream

The Skilled Worker Stream helps employers in Nova Scotia recruit and hire foreign workers and recently graduated international students whose skills are in limited supply in Nova Scotia. The stream is segmented into three categories, depending on the skill level of the applicant. To learn more, click here.

Entrepreneur Stream

One of two new business immigration streams under the NSNP, the Entrepreneur Stream aims to attract experienced business owners or senior business managers who want to live in Nova Scotia. Candidates are required to have a net worth of at least $600,000 and be able to invest at least $150,000 in a Nova Scotia business.

This stream operates on an Expression of Interest (EOI) model, whereby candidates indicate their interest in operating a business and residing in Nova Scotia by completing an EOI in the form of a short online questionnaire. They are asked to provide information about their business ownership or management experience, language, education, investment, net worth, age, adaptability, and business proposal. Top scoring applicants are then notified that they are being invited to submit a formal application to the NSNP.

To learn more about eligibility requirements for the NSNP Entrepreneur stream, click here.

International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream

At the same time as it introduced the Entrepreneur Stream, Nova Scotia also announced the new International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream. This stream is open to graduates who have completed at least two years of full-time study from a recognized Nova Scotia university or college, have operated their own business in Nova Scotia for at least one year, and intend to settle permanently in Nova Scotia. The International Graduate Stream also operates on an EOI basis.

To learn more about the NSNP International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, click here.

Leading by example

One of the great initiatives that the federal government took a number of years ago was to allow provinces to select a portion of new immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Programs. Now, certain provinces are being increasingly proactive  and Nova Scotia is leading the way, says Attorney David Cohen.

What I particularly like about the Nova Scotia Nominee Program is that, in spite of having only a limited allocation, the program aims to attract a diverse range of potential immigrants. Nova Scotia, if you recall, was the first province to introduce two Express Entry streams. Moreover, it has two business-focused streams, as well as a base stream that provides a pathway to permanent residence for a wide range of individuals, including those who may not have advanced language ability.

Nova Scotia has shown that through targeting lobbying and innovative program criteria, Canadian provinces can make the most of their immigration programs. This is certainly good news for individuals and their families around the world who are looking to begin a new life in Canada.

Nova Scotia quick facts:

Capital and largest city: Halifax

Population: Approximately 946,000

Main language: English

Climate: Continental, moderated by the ocean. Warm summers and milder winters than most regions of Canada.

Learn more about Nova Scotia.

To find out if you are eligible for any of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, including immigration streams under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, please fill out a free online assessment today.

 2016 CICNews All Rights Reserved
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed changing the way Medicare Part B providers are compensated for administering drugs. CMS claims the new rule will lower costs by giving doctors an incentive to prescribe cheaper treatment. In fact, the proposal reveals the bureaucracys ignorance of medical practice. It will drive smaller practices out of business, increase health-care consolidation, raise costs, and make it harder for patients to receive the medicines they need.

In 2015, Medicare Part B paid $22 billion for drugs administered by infusion or injection in physicians offices or in hospital outpatient settings. Currently, doctors purchase and administer such drugs and are paid the drugs average sales price (ASP), plus 6 percent. CMS claims that this arrangement leads physicians to prescribe more expensive medicines6 percent of an expensive drug nets the physician more than 6 percent of a cheaper drug. Drug A, costing $1,000, produces $60 above cost, but Drug B, costing $50, only yields $3. CMS is proposing an experiment to decrease this incentive by cutting the markup in some geographic locations to 2.5 percent of ASP, plus a flat fee of $16.80.

Is there any evidence to support the notion that physicians choose to suspend their professional judgment about which treatment is best in order to gain extra payments from more expensive drugs? In a word, no.

A June 2015 report to Congress from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) found that it is difficult to know the extent to which the percentage add-on to ASP is influencing drug prescribing patterns because few studies have looked at this issue. Most physicians have neither the time nor the inclination to calculate which drug is more remunerative. Usually, they make a genuine effort to prescribe the medication that offers the best balance of effectiveness and side effects for their patient, regardless of the financial gain.

Diseases are not uniformthey come in different subgroups, severities, and forms. One drug is better for a subset of patients; another drug works better in different subset. And individual patients respond in idiosyncratic ways. A drug that is effective on average will be very effective in some patients and poorly effective in others. Patients have different preexisting conditions and co-morbidities, limiting use of recommended drugs.

The notion that physicians juggling these multiple factors would stop to consider the small extra payments for expensive drugs is not only offensive, it is wrong. CMS has it backward: physicians are far more concerned about getting stuck with the cost of expensive drugs than they are about profiting from them. Providers bear the opportunity cost of buying and storing drugs. When a patient cancels treatment, dies, or has a change in condition so that the drug shouldnt be administered, doctors often get stuck with a drug stockpile that they cant return or use for another patient. Moreover, under Medicare part B, patients are responsible for 20 percent of the payment and deductibles. If a patient doesnt pay his sharemore likely with expensive drugsthe doctor does.

The current 6 percent add-on doesnt represent profit to providers. ASP is the average sales price realized by the manufacturer. But the average price that providers pay is generally higher than the ASP. Wholesalers get discounts that lower the prices manufacturers receiveand, hence, the ASPbut that are not passed on to physicians and hospitals. In addition, wholesaler mark-up (not included in the ASP because it doesnt affect what manufacturers receive) increases what providers pay. Some states and localities charge sales tax that increases providers prices, but isnt reflected in the ASP.

These problems are particularly acute for solo practitioners and small group practices. Hospitals, on the other hand, receive volume rebates and discounts. Nearly half of Medicare acute-care hospitals participate in the plans 340B Drug Pricing program that entitles them to buy drugs at least 22.5 percent below ASP while receiving the same Medicare payment that other providers receive. This results in huge, guaranteed profits. High-volume, hospital-based providers are also more likely to have an alternate use for a drug if a patient cancels or dies.

Smaller providers already send many patients needing expensive medications to hospital outpatient departments. Medicare Part B drug spending spiked 167 percent between 2007 and 2015, much of it the result of increased payments in the hospital outpatient setting. Spending on drugs in doctors offices only increased 75 percent.

The new payment methodology will drive many smaller providers out of business or into hospital employment. This consolidation will reduce competition and increase costs. Chemotherapy delivered in a hospital outpatient facility is 15 percent more expensive than chemotherapy administered in private offices. The average annual difference per patient is $6,500.

Patients with serious diseases will no longer be able to obtain care from their long-term, community-based providers, and will be forced into hospital clinics, regardless of convenience or preference. Its bad enough that physicians are being unfairly maligned. Patients shouldnt be made to suffer too.

Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images
A report says New Hampshires coastal communities exposure to future flood risks is significant, and nows the time to plan to minimize that.

The New Hampshire Coastal Risk and Hazards Commission spent 2 1/2 years looking at areas vulnerable to extreme precipitation, projected storm surge and rising sea levels.

The report released Friday says the communities avoided the extreme impacts of Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy, but they have experienced other events, like a noreaster in February 2013 and the October snowstorm of 2011.

These types of storms will have even greater impacts as sea levels continue to rise, and floods will continue to worsen as extreme rain events intensify, the report said.

Based on available data, sea levels in New Hampshire have been rising by an average of 0.7 inches per decade since 1900. The rate of sea-level rise has increased to about 1.3 inches per decade since 1993. Using 1992 levels as a baseline, New Hampshire sea levels are expected to rise between 0.6 and 2 feet by 2050 and between 1.6 and 6.6 feet by 2100, the report said.

The data show that as of last year, the states 17 coastal communities were home to about 12 percent of the state population and host over 100,000 jobs. The report says the region is growing at nearly three times the rate of the state as a whole.

The commission established goals in the areas of science, assessment, implementation and legislation. For example, it recommends the Legislature authorize a state agency to convene a science and technical advisory panel to review and evaluate the current state of climate change science. It said the vulnerability of buildings, cultural, natural and historic resources should be assessed, with state agencies and communities developing long-term strategies to protect them.

The recommendations are primarily directed to the Legislature, state agencies, and municipalities, but successful implementation of the recommendations will require collaboration between the public and private sectors and among many stakeholder groups.

The report emphasizes that early and consistent collaboration between state and local governments can result in solutions which in turn increase our preparedness and resiliency, said Democratic State Sen. David Watters, one of the 36 members of the commission.

The report also brings attention to the efforts of individual communities, such as the town of Newmarket, which updated its vision statement in becoming more resilient against flooding through local land use policies and regulations.

Public comments are being accepted on the report through June 30. Public meetings on the report have been scheduled for May 26 in Greenland and June 1 in Rye.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Insuring clauses of many insurance policies obligate the insurance company to indemnify the insured for sums that the insured is legally obligated to pay as damages  Long ago, insurance company challenged covenants not to execute that were used as a part of consent settlement agreements against the insurer as not being covered because they released liability of the insured who was then no longer legally obligated to pay any part of the judgment damages. Over time, the overwhelming majority of courts that considered the issue came to the conclusion that covenants not to execute were not releases and therefore the insurance company was not excused on that basis alone from having to address the assignment and stipulated judgment that its insured entered into.

Forty-two years ago the Oregon Supreme Court found that covenants not to execute in the insurance context against insureds did constitute a release barring insurance coverage. In Stubblefield v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 267 Or. 397, 517 P.2d 262 (1973), the Oregon Supreme Court held that a covenant not to execute against an insured judgment debtor released the judgment debtor from any legal obligation to pay damages to the judgment creditor as a matter of law, and, as a result, eliminated any damages that the insurance company was legally obligated to pay under its insurance policy. Stubblefield remained good law until just recently.

In Brownstone Homes Condominium Assn v. Brownstone Forest Heights, LLC, 358 Or. 223, 363 P.3d 467 (2015), the Oregon Supreme Court abruptly changed the law in Oregon regarding covenants not to execute and overruled Stubblefield. In doing so, the Court harshly criticized its prior decision. The Court stated that the Stubblefield Courts reasoning was sparse to say the least. The entirety of the Courts analysis of the meaning of the insurance policy involved the effect on the insurers liability was set forth in four sentences without reference to the Courts usual approach to interpreting policies of insurance. The Court noted that the Stubblefield Court engaged in no examination of the wording of the policy, gave no consideration to the wording of the policy and context, made no determination of whether the policy was ambiguous, and set forth no discussion of what considerations weighed in favor of resolving any ambiguity that might be present in the policy one way or the other. The Court also found that the Stubblefield Court had paid inadequate attention to the Courts own prior case law. Citing, as an example, Groce v. Fidelity General Ins., 252 Or. 296, 448 P.2d 554 (1968). Apart from its prior precedent, the Court ignored the doctrinal question of whether a covenant not to executed constituted a release that, of its own force, extinguished any further liability. Of significance to the Court in Brownstone was the fact that other jurisdictions that had considered the question had concluded, almost uniformly, that covenants not to execute were not releases.

The Oregon Supreme Court in Brownstone took some comfort in the fact that Stubblefield had not been relied upon extensively in Oregon case law and that the Stubblefield decision did not establish the sort of rule that later became the basis for structuring common commercial transactions.

The Oregon Supreme Court in Brownstone concluded that it agreed with other courts that had found that the phrase legally obligated to payat least as the phrase is commonly used in liability insurance policieswas ambiguous thereby triggering the well-worn rule that ambiguities in insurance policies are to be construed against the insurer. The key focus needed to be upon the exact wording of the covenant not to execute and whether it had the effect of completely releasing the insured from liability. However, where the settlement agreement spelled out that the parties shared an intent that the claimant would be able to satisfy the judgment from the insureds insurance assets, the covenant would not act as a release without more.
RETRO: John Fitz Rogers, 'Transit' feat. Michael Nicollela (Gale Recordings)

Upon a cursory listening only, composer and decorated University of South Carolina professor John Fitz Rogers' Gale Recordings release Transit seems to owe more to Emerson, Lake and Palmer than Varese, Ligeti or Nancarrow. Nonetheless, after acquiring the composer's score, through-composed to near fault, it's quite obvious that Transit, as a completely notated work of art, does indeed exist in a state of impassioned, yet precise flux.

And what an incredible state of flux it is. Consisting of 11 sections arranged in two parts, the piece is a 44-minute cumulative push forward replete with airy flute patches, multiple mensuration cannons, biting sawtooth waves, dense contrapuntal scoring, convincingly synthesized Latin percussion, irrational tempi indications, and, of course, amazing guitar work - both written and improvised - by longtime JFR collaborator, Michael Nicollela.

And while it is certainly difficult to ascertain the musical milieu in which Transit best resides (a characteristic that has baffled and intrigued the likes of the New York Times, 20th Century Guitar and Home Theater HiFi), I doubt that JFR would want it any other way. Exquisitely mastered in the basement of that other USC's School of Music by local engineering and Grammy-winning treasure Jeff Francis, this record is a veritable essay in modern studio techniques. The sheer sonic experience itself, sans score, is quite the one to savor.

Three long years, numerous hours of compositional toil, and ridiculously massive strands of binary code later, JFR, MN and Gale have altogether produced an exciting, solid record that not only rewards repeated listenings, but remains a high-water mark in Prof. Rogers' ever-extending catalog. But perhaps more importantly, with the release of Transit, John Fitz Rogers certainly seems to have successfully shed the last remaining vestiges of his Ivy League musical upbringing - well, at least most of it, anyways.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsRETRO, John Fitz Rogers, Michael Nicollela, Gale Recordings
Frank Zappas Later Classical Works: Symphonies and Synclavier

Rock musician, avant garde composer and writer Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993). (Photo : Evening Standard/Getty Images)

Pioneering composer and performer Frank Zappa was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1990. In the last years of his life, the musician set about writing and performing some of the most challenging and rewarding works of his entire career.

Zappa, unknowingly, had been living with prostate cancer for a decade. When the disease was declared past the point of medical intervention by his doctors, the trailblazer thrust himself further into his orchestral and electronic compositional work, illness be damned.

Acknowledged here, for your consideration, are the last two albums that the instrumentalist completed in his lifetime and the divide between his antemortem and posthumously-released catalogs.

The Yellow Shark is an LP of Zappa's orchestral arrangements performed by Germany's Ensemble Modern, while Civilization Phaze III is the musician's most realized collection of electronic compositions, performed nearly exclusively on early digital synthesizer, the Synclavier.

The Yellow Shark

After releasing two albums of performances with the London Symphony Orchestra in the 1980s, Zappa delved deeper into the world of classically-structured writing and performance. Selected as a featured composer for the 1992 Frankfurt Festival, the songwriter was asked by Ensemble Modern to collaborate. Inviting the ensemble to Los Angeles, the musicians constructed several new Zappa compositions, as well as contemporary orchestral arrangements of his previous material.

Ensemble Modern's performances of the work transpired in September 1992. Due to his health, Zappa was only able to attend two of the concerts in Frankfurt, and only conducted four of the presented arrangements. The results were recorded and released as The Yellow Shark, issued in November 1993. This was the last Zappa album released in his lifetime, as the musician died that December.

Though unrecognized by most '90s mainstream media, Zappa's admiration and passion for classical music was well-documented. The composer, often at odds with the status quo, appreciated his ability to present original works with respected orchestras. In a 1992 interview with Matt Groening and Don Menn, Zappa pontificated on the plight of modern composers wishing to contribute more than just a retread of the classics:

"[T]hings are getting especially tough now because there are no budgets for the performances, no budgets for rehearsal. If a chamber group or an orchestra does a performance of something, it's probably something that's already been written for a hundred years, and the orchestra already knows it, which means that they don't have to spend money for rehearsal. They play only the hits. And some guy who decides he wants to write music in the United States, what does he do? He may be able to write it down, but he's never going to get it played. And it takes so long to do it, and the mechanics of preparing just the paperwork to hand it to an orchestra are quite expensive, so it's an exercise in futility."

Civilization Phaze III

Frank Zappa became familiar with the Synclavier in the early '80s. The Synclavier, a "polyphonic digital sampling system and music workstation", was the flagship instrument of now-defunct New England Digital Corporation. After decades of rotating bands and interchangeable musicians, the composer grew fond of the synthesizer's seemingly limitless compositional and performance attributes.

The Synclavier began cropping up in Zappa's work after the 1983 London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I album. First appearing as dialogue accompaniment on 1984's Thing-Fish, the synth received billing as "The Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Consort" on four tracks of that same year's Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger -- an album whose remaining selections were classical orchestrations conducted by French composer Pierre Boulez.

1986's Jazz from Hell, which won the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, was Zappa's first album entirely composed and produced with the Synclavier (with singular exception in the song "St. Etienne," a live guitar solo). After the 1990 diagnosis, the composer directed most of his remaining artistic energy toward creating his Synclavier magnum opus, 1994's Civilization Phaze III. This would be the first album he did not live to see released.

Civilization Phaze III, an electronically-orchestrated avant-garde masterpiece, remains overlooked by all but the most ardent Zappa fans. Not included in modern waves of remasters and reissues of the artist's work, the album received no publicity at the time of its release and was only available as a mail-order curio.

Inches from death, the musician accomplished his most distinguished composition and identified his most complete collaborative accomplice: an electronically-programmed super-instrument, expertly conducted by the man himself. As Zappa proclaimed in a 1986 interview with Electronic Musician, the Synclavier was his devoted, unwavering electronic orchestra:

"Forget about the orchestra. It's beyond the orchestra. Because what this enables me to do is the same thing a painter gets to do. You get to deal with the material in a real and instantaneous way. You go boop and it's there. You don't sit down and write it out painstakingly over a period of years and have the part copied and hope that some orchestra will have enough time to devote to a rehearsal so they come within the vicinity of what your original idea is. There is no doubt about it that if you can play on this thing and hear what you're playing, you have total control of your idea."

Both The Yellow Shark and Civilization Phaze III (as well as the London Symphony Orchestra volumes) are highly recommended. All but Civilization are available from most digital music outlets.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsFrank Zappa, Ensemble Modern, Synclavier
REVIEW: Ethan Hawke, Robert Budreau's 'Born to Be Blue' Makes Tragic Chet Baker Cool Again

Given the measure of biopics coming out this year about late jazz legends, one would think that the time has come for the genre to make a comeback. Zoe Saldana channels Nina Simone, Don Cheadle the late trumpeter Miles Davis and, brokenheartedly, Ethan Hawke does the heroin-driven Chet Baker. A narrative that wants to bring you low--way low--the story fails, however, to do much to remedy its self-imposed blues.

Born to Be Blue, of course, takes its name from, perhaps, the second most associated track to Baker (the first being My Funny Valentine) and takes plenty of liberties in recanting the Chet Baker saga, albeit seemingly out-of-sequence, too. But Canadian filmmaker Robert Budreau puts to rest the notion that this is all hyperbolic self-destruction, incanting yet another "troubled artist" story. But for some, that story never gets old.

In the first scene, we can see Baker (Hawke) stumbling through a drug-induced fugue, bringing into his hotel room a woman he just met after his performance at the legendary Birdland Jazz club. It's here that the film takes a brief look at itself and then changes its course altogether, something Budreau wittingly threaded into the storyline.

Actually, Budreau somewhat turns the lens inward too, and just as the mise-en-scene turns black and white and smokey, Hawke's version of Baker begins to laugh, his costar Jane (portrayed by Carmen Ejogo, and who is an amalgam of all of the Baker love interests) remarks that no one would stay with such a deranged, strung out fool.

And suddenly, we're in color, with Baker and his cool, barely audible rasp speaking voice. Talking to his longtime manager (played by Callum Keith Rennie) about how he failed to contact him when he was released from an Italian prison, this is where some of the true details about the Baker biography come to light.

On the set of the movie Baker was commissioned to star in (which helped bail him out of jail) we meet cute the love interest. The actress acting opposite Baker in this seemingly never-to-be-released movie helps nurse the trumpeter back to health after he is badly beaten by a group no-name thugs. In the period following, Jane helps Chet redevelop his skills and influence what would soon bring on a revival of Baker and induce an era that would mark some of Baker's most tragic and heartfelt performances.

The film altogether meanders around the love interest and their struggle to keep the flame going, even as the California wind tries to blow it out. But by the end, Chet chooses the trumpet, and with the trumpet he chooses dope. A lifelong addict cut down by his own vices, Hawke's Baker puts you down and never wants to bring you up. At times, also, you can feel yourself pressing your tongue against the back of your front teeth just to make sure they're still there.

The scene in dealing with Baker fervently trying to recapture his essence as a musician after his teeth are kicked loose is, at times, too painful to watch. Spitting blood in a bath and even trying to set his dentures while in the studio with Dick Bock's at Pacific Jazz recordings is not an idea most anyone can wrap their minds around. But it doesn't stop the film from making you feel it--a rare quality but one indicative of decent film making.

Until its release on March 25, Born to Be Blue sits in the balance waiting to premiere at your local cinema. A movie that feels like it was announced a decade ago, Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker was believable and brought with it a sense of cool.

When you leave the theater, and yes, that means this should be on your list of movies to see this season, try not to fall into the swing of California jazz in your every day stride. This Chet, while a mere fabrication, is something the James Dean-era will appreciate both in looks and in spirit.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsEthan Hawke, Born to Be Blue, Chet Baker, Carmen Ejogo, Robert Budreau, REVIEW
CLICK: Topless Charlotte Moorman Show, Jazz Fest Sched, Hamilton's Daveed Diggs, Juste Debout

Here at Classicalite -- be it classical music, jazz, theater or dance -- arts news gets made fresh every single day.

So, in a highly clickable manner befitting of the Internet, here, then, are Classicalite's top five stories for today...

Wednesday, March 23, 2016.

We think you'll find our clickage casts a rather wide 'Net, indeed.

Returning Topless Cellist Charlotte Moorman to Her Rightful Place in the Avant-Garde [Hyperallergic]

EVANSTON, Ill.  A Feast of Astonishments: Charlotte Moorman and the Avant-Garde, 1960s1980s, currently on view at the Northwestern Universitys Block Museum, is a masterful (if only slightly overwhelming) orchestration of original artworks and archival materials that examines the legacy of avant-garde performer Charlotte Moorman  perhaps most commonly known as the topless cellist  through two exhibitions, a catalogue, and a year of robust programming.

2016 New Orleans Jazz Fest cubes are out, with schedule of stage assignments, performance times [NOLA.com]

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival schedule cubes have finally tumbled into our possession. Now we have all of the exact times and location of the hundreds of scattered shows during the April 22 to May 1 event. Now we'll know if Stevie Wonder clashes with or coincides with Snoop Dogg. Now we'll know if Steely Dan will lead or be on top of Gov't Mule.

Founding Father: Hamilton Star Daveed Diggs on Being in the Room Where It Happens [Observer]

A few years ago, he was sleeping on the 2 train. Now he's rapping as Thomas Jefferson in the biggest Broadway hit in decade.

Juste Debout: the world's biggest street-dance competition  video [The Guardian]

Dancers from all over the world compete in the international tour of Juste Debout in the hope that they will get the chance to battle in the preliminary rounds in France and perform at the finals in Paris. This year, for the first time, the judges are all women who have previously won in the four main categories: popping, locking, hip-hop and house.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsCLICK, Charlotte Moorman, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Hamilton, Juste Debout
Watch Don Cheadle Talk High School Drama & 'Miles Ahead' on Jimmy Fallon

Actor Don Cheadle attends The Samsung Studio at SXSW 2016 on March 15, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo : Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Samsung)

Tuesday on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon saw Don Cheadle in rare form--that is, as a high school drama nerd. The Golden Globe-winning actor stopped by the show to promote his upcoming film as Miles Davis in the biopic Miles Ahead and premiered a special clip from the movie.

No one can escape their high school days and the same is true even for a superstar performer like Don Cheadle. While he may have achieved massive success as a dramatic actor for films like Hotel Rwanda, his high school and drama days are still accessible.

Cheadle even discussed how at one point, his passions came to a crossroads, of which he chose to pursue acting:

"I kind of knew that I didn't have the discipline to do what these guys over here did. I was also in Colorado, with lots of winters, so I think I made a weather choice. I said I'm going to go to L.A. and Cal Arts, and that's where I ended up going."

But mime trees and old decisions aside, Mr. Cheadle didn't sit in to discuss former days but instead wanted to promote Miles Ahead. The biopic takes a look at the 5-year period that Miles Davis abstained from performances. Having put down the trumpet, the film provides a unique insight into the struggles faced by Davis during a pivotal time in his career.

Miles Ahead comes during a season that has been inundated with jazz films. With controversy surrounding Zoe Saldana and her upcoming performance as Nina Simone in the biopic Nina, the lens is focused on Cheadle and how he will portray the jazz giant.

Have no fear, Mr. Cheadle, your performance will be resounding, we're sure.

Check out a clip from the movie below.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsDon Cheadle, Miles Ahead, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon, Miles Davis
Sofya Tsygankova, Wife of Vadym Kholodenko, Charged with Capital Murder

Police tape blows in the wind near the scene of a shooting ambush last night of 33-year-old Police Officer Jesse Hartnett, who was shot 13 times at close range on January 8, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Surveillance footage reveals the suspect was dressed in Muslim clothing and wearing a mask. Following his arrest, suspect Edward Archer stated, 'I follow Allah and pledge allegiance to the Islamic State and that is the reason I did what I did.' (Photo : Mark Makela/Getty Images)

UPDATE (2:23 p.m.): Sofya Tsygankova has pleaded not guilty in Texas to charges that she killed her two daughters.

Last week it was reported that 2013 Van Cliburn piano competition winner Vadym Kholodenko discovered the dead bodies of his two daughters inside the home of his estranged wife Sofya Tsygankova. Police have now charged Ms. Tsygankova with capital murder in an ongoing investigation in Texas.

On Tuesday, prosecutors lodged two charges of capital murder against Tsygankova, 31, who is believed to have smothered her children to death in their beds. It is noted that Ms. Tsygankova bore self-inflicted stab wounds as well as empty pill bottles with her name on the prescription.

According to a report, Mr. Kholodenko spoke with his oldest daughter and wife by phone on March 16 with the intention of taking his daughters to school the next morning. However, when he arrived at the Waterwood Trail home, he discovered his wife covered in blood with cuts on her wrists.

A 911 call from Kholodenko states that the woman was "going crazy." When police arrived at the musician's home, Ms. Tsygankova was seen kneeling on the floor in the master bedroom "rocking back and forth and making noises." The wife has been cited to have had a history with the Mental Health and Mental Retardation facility in Fort Worth. She has been prescribed Quetiapine for her mental illness.

The Tarrant County medical examiner's office has posited the children's death to be a homicide. The investigation is still pending.

If you don't know Kholodenko, the Ukrainian pianist is a Van Cliburn gold medalist, and won the title at a mere 26 years old. The Cliburn Competition is held every four years in Forth Worth with the next performance scheduled for 2017.

Kholodenko said:

"I feel the support of the Fort Worth community and all people who are sending me messages all over the world. Wherever I go after this tragedy, my heart will stay with the people here of Fort Worth, and my daughters will rest in this soil."

Our condolences to Mr. Kholodenko and his loved ones during this time.

Keep him in your thought by watching a video featuring Kholodenko below.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsVadym Kholodenko, Sofya Tsygankova
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man faces seven felony charges that accuse him of making meth in the same home where four kids lived.

Eric Lamb, 41, is charged with first-degree felony counts of meth making, second-degree felony meth possession, four third-degree felony child endangering counts and a fifth-degree felony drug possession charge.

He is expected in court Wednesday.

Lamb was arrested about 1 a.m. Wednesday after Akron police went to his home in the first block of Verdan Drive, between East Market Street and Mogadore Road.

A resident complained to police about a possible meth lab at the home.

Officers smelled a strong chemical smell coming from a shed. They found several items used to make meth, including bottles, pills, funnels and chemicals.

They found more chemicals and equipment inside a bedroom in the home, according to court records.

Four children -- ages 8, 10, 14 and 17 -- were inside the home. Their conditions are unknown. Summit County Children Services are in charge of placing the kids.

Lamb's criminal history includes one felony conviction for drug possession in 1995 and more than a dozen misdemeanor convictions for theft, selling fireworks, drunken driving and driving without a license.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As KeyCorp gears up to become the nation's 13th-largest bank, it has committed to spending $16.5 billion on a "community benefits plan" that includes home and small business lending in lower-income neighborhoods, as well as philanthropic contributions to help students and workers.

Key's plans are part of an agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which includes more than 600 community organizations that promote access to basic banking services, affordable housing and job development for working families.

Key has committed to spending the $16.5 billion over the next five years, broken down like this:

$5 billion in mortgage lending in low- to moderate-income communities and borrowers;

$2.5 billion in small business and farm lending, targeted to low- to moderate-income urban and rural communities;

$8.8 billion in community development lending and investment commitments;

$3 million in an "innovation fund" to support the development of banking services for underserved communities and populations to complement KeyBank's existing products and services in this area.

$175 million in philanthropic investments for education and workforce development. This will be through the KeyBank Foundation.

The commitment comes as Key plans later this year to buy First Niagara Bank of New York for $4.1 billion. First Niagara has $39 billion in assets and $29 billion in deposits and 394 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

After the purchase, Key will have about $135 billion in assets and nearly 1,400 branches. Key has about 13,500 employees; First Niagara has about 5,400. Analysts believe some jobs will be cut in New York. In addition, there's a 30 percent branch overlap in many of the markets where First Niagara operates.



Controversy over those job cuts and branch closures paved the way for Key working with the NCRC to help communities where it has branches in tangible ways, said Lou Tisler, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland. The pending deal with First Niagara "definitely opened up the conversation," he said.



KeyCorp Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney said the bank "proactively reached out to NCRC" to discuss pumping money into neighborhoods. "We believe it was good business and it was the right thing to do," she said in an interview.



The Key-First Niagara deal was approved Wednesday by more than 90 percent of shareholders of each company. It still needs approval from regulators and the U.S. Department of Justice. This $16.5 billion investment commitment is likely to quiet opponents of the deal, Tisler said, adding that certainly doesn't guarantee approval from regulators and the government.



Mooney said she believes Key's commitment can be "a blueprint" for other banks going through significant acquisitions. When it was announced last fall, the Key-First Niagara deal represented one of the first big bank mergers since the financial crisis of 2008. Banks in recent years shied away from large deals because of uncertainty about new regulations and requirements to cover potentially bad loans.



Bruce Murphy, executive vice president and head of corporate responsibility at KeyCorp, said it was critical for Key to connect with the different communities if it expects to be successful in the new markets where it doesn't currently operate.

Besides the new lending for homes and businesses in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, Key also wants to focus on homeownership counseling, small-business support, economic development and new services for lower-income consumers, Murphy said.

About one-third of the lending and investment will be in new markets and communities where there is overlap between Key and First Niagara, Mooney said. The overlap communities are the ones most likely to see branch closures.



While Key has a long history in Greater Cleveland and a strong track record of community commitment, the new lending and spending here "further strengthens" that and "solidifies this is our home," Mooney said.

The agreement addresses one of the biggest needs in low- and moderate income neighborhoods, and that's access to more capital, said Tisler of Neighborhood Housing.

Key hasn't had a big mortgage operation since it wisely got out of home loans just before the financial crisis. The First Niagara deal allows Key to jump back into all mortgages, Murphy said, and not just in lower-income neighborhoods. First Niagara has a strong operation with marketing and underwriting first mortgages.

With this community deal signed, Tisler added that community groups will expect a similar commitment from Huntington Bank of Columbus before it closes its purchase of FirstMerit Bank of Akron. "And so on with the next merger," Tisler said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man faces federal charges for selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to a woman who died in August, according to an indictment filed Wednesday.

Robert Johnson Jr., 26, is charged with two counts distribution of fentanyl, one of which contains a death specification that could yield a longer prison sentence if he is convicted.

He is charged with selling the drug on Aug. 25 and 27, and the dosage he sold on Aug. 25 caused somebody to die, according to an investigation by Cleveland police.

The person who died from taking fentanyl is not named in the indictment. However, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office said that the only person who died on Aug. 25 as a result of fentanyl is Kimberly Ferline, 46, of Cleveland.

Medical examiner's office administrator Hugh Shannon said that Ferline died of acute bronchopneumonia, which was directly caused by using fentanyl.

Johnson is not in custody, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

If convicted, he faces at least 20 years in federal prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office is asking for Johnson to forfeit any money or property he obtained by selling drugs.

Wednesday's indictment comes in the wake of a spike in deaths from heroin and fentanyl use in Cuyahoga County. The Medical Examiner's Office on Tuesday said that eight people died between Thursday and Sunday.

Acting U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon said that prosecuting drug death cases is one of several approaches that local officials are taking to address heroin and fentanyl use. She said it has proven to be a long-term problem and that "this is not something we're going to fix this year."

"We have to keep doing them, one case at a time," Rendon said. "That's the only way to affect this crisis."

She said that such cases are difficult to bring in federal court because case law states that prosecutors must prove that the specific drug a dealer sold is the reason a person died. She said she is confident that Johnson's case fits that profile.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man accused of making drunken threats toward President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.

Jonathan Smead, 35, faces charges for making threats against the president and against a presidential candidate.

He was arrested earlier this month after the U.S. Secret Service said he called the agency's Cleveland office and said he would do harm on Obama and Clinton, according to a criminal complaint.

He later admitted to a U.S. Secret Service agent that he called the agency's office after having a few drinks, the complaint says. During the phone call, he told the person on the other line that he "wants federal charges, not little state charges."

If convicted, Smead faces up to five years in federal prison on each count.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John Adams in Akron.
Recent actions by Russia in Syria have opened the door to what could be a diplomatic settlement for peace in Syria. Russia has withdrawn its troops and this is the best chance for peace in 5 years. The current cease fire is holding. This is the time to act for peace right now.

The United States should follow Russia's lead by pressuring its allies and the rebel armies it supports to adhere to the cease fire and focus on the negotiating table. Tens of billions of tax dollars are spent arming rebel groups and bombing. This could stop and instead send humanitarian relief for refugees. Then we would not see this swell of refugees around the world. Diplomacy works. It worked in the case of Iran and it can work in Syria.

Successful negotiations strengthen the case for those who support diplomacy, not war, as the best course to resolving conflict.



Sister Sandra LoPorto,



Garfield Heights
Cleveland police car stock

An argument over a girl at a Cleveland house party ended with one man stabbed, a second beaten and the assailants on the run, police said.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An argument over a girl at a Cleveland house party ended with a 22-year-old man stabbed several times, a 31-year-old man beaten and the assailants on the run, police said.

Several people were drinking about 11 p.m. Tuesday at a house on Thornhill Drive near Forest Hills Park. A man, known only as "ATL," and the 22-year-old man began arguing about a girl, according to police.

"ATL" pulled out a knife and stabbed the man several times, police said.

The 31-year-old man stepped in to break up the fight. "ATL" and two other men then jumped him, beat him and ran away, police said.

The 31-year-old man suffered a shattered eye socket, broken cheek bones and broken teeth, police said. Officers found him lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk when they showed up. Paramedics rushed him to MetroHealth Medical Center.

The man who was stabbed was driven to University Hospital in a private vehicle, police said.

Detectives are working to identify suspects.
Euclid Beach Carousel circles back to Cleveland Icon is restored and ready at new WRHS home for riders to climb aboard its majestic steeds CAROUSEL from A1

Emily Locke and her family stopped at the Cleveland History Center to take wedding photos at the Euclid Beach carousel when she was told she could not breastfeed in public.

(Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Emily Locke is stunned by the response to her Facebook post that took the Western Reserve Historical Society to task for admonishing her for breastfeeding in public.

"I am actually a little overwhelmed with it right now," she said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. "I thought some people might share it. I thought they (the Cleveland History Center) would see it and I wanted them to apologize."

Not only did officials from the historical society's Cleveland History Center apologize, they took to Facebook and online to explain the museum has no policy prohibiting breastfeeding.

Locke, 33, who lives in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, is from Perry Township. She spoke to cleveland.com about the experience.

Why were you at the center?

I was in my sister Kristina's wedding. She got married in Lakewood and the reception was in Mentor. We stopped at the museum because they rented the carousel for an hour to take pictures.

What led you to breastfeed there?

The time was crunched and it was tight schedule as far as sneaking a feed for the baby between getting in limos.

I sat down with 9-month-old Benjamin, who was a mini-tuxedo. My other two children, Colin, 5, and Andy, 3, were nearby.

Ironically I usually use a cover (so no one sees her nursing). But it is a little hard in a gown. I pulled his little tuxedo jacket over him.

How did she react when employees told her she couldn't breastfeed?

I was surprised and shocked. I breastfed all three kids in public and have never once had anyone say anything to be or be rude to me.

Although the women told me to stop or go in a private area, I did not.

She said "I guess there is nothing I can do then." I said, "I guess not" and she walked away while I finished.

Why did you post the incident on Facebook?

I thought about it a lot. It happened Saturday and I didn't post it until Monday. I didn't want to do it because I was mad.

(What happened) made me feel embarrassed and like I was doing something wrong.

While nothing anyone says affects me since I have breastfed all my kids, I think if someone would have done that to me the first time I breastfed then it really would have affected my confidence and willingness to do it.

I was thinking I did not want them to do that to someone like that in the future.

How does she feel about some of the anger expressed by commenters toward the museum?

I didn't want in any way to destroy the museum and I feel kind of bad. It is getting such a backlash, but I hope they use it for good.

Did you think about taking down the post?

I did. Some people are really angry.

I thought about taking my post down as soon as they apologized. But I was getting messages from women who were sharing their experiences with me. "I was crushed by someone doing this to me," they said.

The post is about women seeing what I did and thinking "I don't have to just say, I will go."

You have to stand up for yourself and say "No, this is my right."

Are you pleased the museum will train their employees?

I am. I think if I were them I would go even further in the other direction and say they are going to host a nurse-in and ask mothers to come in and nurse.

Maybe they should look into an exhibit about the history of breastfeeding in Cleveland.
Europe must improve the regional sharing of intelligence to successfully combat the rise of homegrown militants, policy experts told CNBC a day after deadly explosions hit Brussels.

Global terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks that killed at least 30 people, the latest episode in the group's campaign of large-scale violence on the international stage.

Recent offensives in Paris and Jakarta indicate ISIS is increasingly relying on local fundamentalists, typically trained in ISIS strongholds within the Middle East, to execute suicide bombings and shootings in busy metropolitan areas.

"The key question here is closing the intelligence gap," said Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

While ISIS is being defeated militarily in Syria and Iraq, foreign fighters who travel to the militant hotbed are returning to their home countries at a "disturbing" rate of about 30 percent, he noted, resulting in the spate of recent attacks. That calls for European governments to step up information gathering on radicalized individuals, which means channeling more funds and manpower to counter-terrorism operations, the 58-year old explained.

"When members of law enforcement approach us as members of parliament or political leaders, seeking more direct powers, I believe we have to be very attentive to their responses as long as we have judicial and parliamentary oversight."

Rudd's comments are at the crux of a hot-button discourse about the encroachment on civil liberties should governments ramp up surveillance and detainment tactics in the global war on terror.
Boeing Company Chairman of the Board Jim McNerney speaks at The Economic Club of Washington in Washington July 29, 2015. Gary Cameron | Reuters

Donald Trump's anti-trade stance has been blasted by a pillar of the corporate establishment in an attack reflecting growing alarm in business over the property mogul's dominance in the Republican presidential race. Jim McNerney, a former top executive at Boeing , 3M and General Electric , said on Tuesday that Mr Trump's hostility to international trade posed a serious threat to US prosperity. "The Trump discussion on trade . . . is a very dangerous discussion," he told a Washington conference, making his first comments on the election since stepping down as Boeing's chairman at the end of last month. "I'm not sure [about] putting up walls. The last time we did that was at the beginning of the Great Depression in the 1930s. So it should be done with a great deal of thought. I'm not sure that it's being that thoughtfully dealt with right now."

watch now

With a protectionist bent designed to woo angry blue-collar workers, Mr Trump has threatened to rip up trade deals, impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports and force companies such as Apple to bring manufacturing back to the US. Tom Donohue, head of the US Chamber of Commerce, was equally scathing about Mr Trump's proposals. "It's just pretty sort of stupid," he said, drawing laughs from a crowd of aviation executives as he spoke alongside Mr McNerney. Their comments point to the depth of concern among big business, which can traditionally depend on the Republican presidential nominee to defend its interests, but is instead being assailed by this year's frontrunner as part of a failing US establishment. While lobbyists in Washington are reluctant to express their worries publicly, Mr McNerney is newly liberated having left Boeing after 11 years at the top. He was previously chief executive of the manufacturer 3M and a senior executive at GE and is still a director of Procter & Gamble and IBM . This month he joined Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a buyout group, as a senior adviser.

watch now

"The precipitousness of the political debate is a little scary right now," Mr McNerney said. Global trade, he said, was "a critical part of this country's prosperity and the growth and wellbeing of not only our citizens but citizens around the world".

More from the Financial Times :

Corruption drama puts Brazil's judges in the spotlight

An assault on Brussels, and on European values

'Dangerous' Trump trade policies attacked by top businessman But Mr McNerney said things on the campaign trail could get better. "I ultimately have faith in the political process in this country, believe it or not. If you ever weren't going to have faith, now's the time. But I have a feeling that emerging from this in some form or fashion will be a more centrist point of view."

His comments came after Doug Parker, chief executive of American Airlines, poked fun at Mr Trump on stage  something a corporate leader would not typically do in the middle of a presidential campaign.
watch now

The high-frequency futures trader accused of being behind the May 2010 stock market "flash crash" will be extradited to the U.S., a British judge has ruled.

First arrested in April 2015, the U.S. Justice Department charged Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, of west London, has been charged with wire fraud, commodities fraud and manipulation, and one count of "spoofing"when a trader places a bid or offer with the intent of cancelling it before execution.

Sarao denies any wrongdoing and his defense team will appeal against Wednesday's decision, according to Reuters.

In September 2015, Sarao's lawyers argued against his extradition on the grounds of his recently diagnosed severe Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism which often affects people with high intelligence, and that his current "mental health was fragile. They also argued that Sarao's conduct, as it is described in U.S. court filings, does not amount to a criminal offence in the U.K. The latter was seen as a key focus for the hearing on Wednesday which decided on his extradition.

380 years in jail?

If forced to go to the U.S., he would face 22 counts of fraud and commodity manipulation, carrying a maximum of 380 years in jail. The U.S. is generally viewed as a harsher environment for white collar crime than the U.K.

"Sarao's ordeal has highlighted deep flaws within the regulation of the financial markets," Andrew Katzen, partner at Hickman & Rose, said in an emailed statement. He explained that a law against spoofing only came into force in the U.S. in 2010, and the first time it was used was in November of last year. In the U.K. meanwhile, the practice remains a purely regulatory issue, he said. "This goes some way to explaining why the usually hawkish U.S. authorities were so slow to act. It took them five years to bring any kind of formal sanction against Sarao, who was happily trading up until as recently as 2014. Small wonder that he is widely thought to be scapegoat," he said. At earlier pretrial hearings, prosecuting lawyers argued that Sarao persisted with his activities despite calls to cease from the U.S. authorities, and that the spoof trades could have made him 26 million ($40 million) over four years. Rather than snapping up a luxury Mayfair bachelor pad, the pretrial hearings also highlighted that Sarao still lived with his parents in a three-bedroom house on a nondescript street in suburban London.



A form of 'spoofing'

Navinder Singh Sarao leaves Westminster Magistrates Court on August 14, 2015 in London, England. Navinder Singh Sarao, a British financial trader accused of helping trigger a multibillion-dollar US stock market crash, has been granted bail while he fights extradition to America. Getty Images
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China doesn't understand the unpredictability of a dynamic economy, Edmund Phelps, winner of the 2006 Nobel prize for economics, told CNBC's Squawk Box. Phelps said he sympathized with Chinese policymakers who have had to deal with rapid changes in the world's second-largest economy in recent years, having been accustomed to rapid expansion in the past two decades. "An economy that's full of dynamism and people using their imagination and their creativity, such an economy is not predictable," said Phelps, who is currently the director of the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University. "Nobody knows exactly in what directions the economy is going to be moving and how fast it's going to be getting there. And this is something the Chinese are totally unfamiliar with," he said.

Concerns over China's slowing economic growth come as policy makers are trying to shift away from a focus on the industrial sector, much of which is state-owned, and toward a greater reliance on the service sector for growth. That economic transition is showing up in the data. The economic growth rate slowed to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent in 2015, official data showed. While secondary industry, or manufacturing, growth slowed to 6.0 percent in 2015 from 2014's 7.3 percent, tertiary industry, or the services sector, expanded by 8.3 percent last year, up from 2014's 7.8 percent. Further hiccups may be ahead: China expects to lay off as many as 6 million state workers over the next few years to curb overcapacity in the industrial sector, Reuters reported earlier this month, citing sources. That's likely to keep China watchers jittery.
Oil markets may be about to reach some stability after a torrid run that pushed prices to their lowest level in over a decade, the vice chairman and acting chief executive of Saudi petrochemicals giant, SABIC said Wednesday.

Yousef Al-Benyan told CNBC on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia that while this year and 2017 will be challenging for the industry, the outlook for 2018 and beyond is optimistic.

"Of course, prices are not really at levels where we wish (them to be) but that's normal in a cyclical market," Al-Benyan said, adding that he expects crude oil at $60 a barrel by the end of 2016.
Trader disclosure: On March 22, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures. Dan Nathan is long AAPL April Put Fly, long PFE buy-write, long TWTR, long UUP March calls, long GE May 28 puts, long JPM April puts, long XLP March put spread, long XRT March puts, long XLB March puts, long HD put butterfly, long QQQ puts, long INTC March/April put spread, long QCOM April put spreads, long HYG June puts, long IWM May and September puts, long XLE April/June put spread. David Seaburg: Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, EDC, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, INTC, NKE, SINA, T, TWTR, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, KO, MCD, MPEL, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, VALE, WMT,YHOO, short HYG, IWM.

BB&T's Corinna Freedman: Firm makes a market in the securities of NIKE, Inc..& expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from NIKE, Inc. in the next three months.
Refugees and migrants shout slogans during a protest demanding the opening of the Greek-Macedonian border, in a makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni, Greece, March 21, 2016. Alexandros Avramidis | Reuters

The terrorist attacks in Brussels is making it more difficult for the Greek government to manage the refugee crisis, as more and more EU countries become reluctant to allow the arrival of refugees into their territories. On Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to complain about the poor results of NATO's operation in the Aegean Sea, initiated last month to discourage the influx of refugees and immigrants in the Greek islands.

NATO has been tasked to do reconnaissance and surveillance and to collect information and share this information in real time with the Turkish coast guard, the Greek coast guard and with Frontex to help manage the migrant and refugee crisis and cut the lines of illegal trafficking and smugglers. NATO's widened mission in the Aegean Sea came after defense ministers of the 28-nation alliance on Feb. 11 ordered the immediate deployment of the three vessels in Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 to the Aegean, where smugglers have been bringing tens of thousands of migrants into Europe.

However, NATO's presence does not deter traffickers, and the only factor that discourages migrants from boarding boats on the Turkish coast and heading for the Greek islands are the high winds and rough seas.

The latest official estimates, publicized Wednesday by the coordinating body on the refugee crisis, claims there are a total of 49,085 refugees currently in Greece. According to this latest update, there are more than 3,800 refugees on the islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, most of whom are currently on Lesvos and Chios. After making their way to Piraeus, a total of 13,850 are currently in Attica and a further 2,933 in Central Greece. A total of 28,412 refugees have found their way to the north of Greece, with about 12,000 concentrated in Idomeni, at the border crossing into FYROM. The latest figure is lower than the previously published estimates on Tuesday, which suggested there were 52,206 refugees in Greece. As expected, this shortfall has caused some concern.

The conditions in the northern Greek town of Idomeni are becoming increasingly worse, as NGOs temporarily withdrew from the temporary camps on Tuesday over security concerns. "The situation is difficult. There is tension; the people are exhausted. They come to the infirmaries and shout they want to be first in line, they cannot wait," Antonis Rigas for Doctors Without Borders told CNBC. "There are groups of people shouting, 'We don't want food. We want the borders to open.' We are waiting for things to calm down to see what we will do. We have all reached our limits," he added. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson, Babar Baloch, who left Idomeni on Tuesday after two refugees attempted to set themselves on fire, said he was concerned about the situation growing worse, because people are losing patience and there is growing tension. Baloch commented that although Greek authorities are urging the refugees to leave the area, there are no places for them in the hospitality centers at Diavata and Cherso. Others want to return to Athens but have run out of money, he added.

Although the Greek Minister of Public Order, Nikos Toskas, has argued that there is no reason for concern in Greece following the terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday, people have begun to fear that extremists may be among the refugees coming in. Security at Athens International Airport and Piraeus Port, where thousands of refugees are stranded, was beefed up in the wake of the Brussels terrorist attack. "There is no reason for concern in Greece. For historic reasons, our country is not a target, but we must be vigilant, because many people come through our country and we cooperate with other governments. We have not located any cells or movements to cause concern," Toskas said on SKAI TV. Government spokesmperson Olga Gerovasili said on ALPHA 989 radio that the peoples of Europe should resist fear and respond with the values of solidarity and protection of fundamental rights. "Closing the borders, we will shut in our enemy," she said in an interview earlier today But the terrorist attacks in Brussels have started to build other types of reactions within Greece. Bishop Amvrosios, a leading cleric with nationalist positions, said on Wednesday that refugees are not welcome to stay in Greece, because their customs and religion are "incompatible" with the norms of the native population. "We are not compatible. Our customs are incompatible. We do not like their culture. We do not accept their religion," Amvrosios wrote on his blog. Greece will soon be facing even greater challenges. In order for the country not to turn into an endless ghetto of abandoned refugees and illegal migrants, decisive actions, a plan and common national front are needed. But the terrorist attacks in Brussels made it even more difficult for EU countries to make the relevant decisions.
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The do-it-yourself home improvement market is running hot again, although demand hasn't entirely recovered from pre-recession levels. Rising home turnover and price appreciation, along with job and wage growth, are driving demand and sales growth at the nation's two largest DIY retailers. Management at Home Depot and Lowe's recently offered upbeat outlooks for the next few years and each cited some of these macro factors.

"The customer is clearly investing in our space so we're in a good asset class as it relates to housing," Home Depot Chairman and CEO Craig Menear said last month during the company's earnings conference call. However, he also said "special order kitchens, countertops in all manner of millwork still remain below the 2006 peak."





A couple works on home renovations. HeroImages | Getty Images

There is some debate whether the current spending cycle may be losing steam due in part to softness showing up in consumer discretionary categories such as home furnishings. Also, the Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board fell in February and the proportion of consumers expecting a reduction in incomes rose. "Some investors have started to sour on the home improvement sector with the view that we may be approaching the 'end of the cycle,' especially in light of softening sales trends in the bigger-ticket categories such as autos and home furnishings," RBC Capital Markets analyst Scot Ciccarelli said in a note to clients this week. "This is not our view. Rather, we believe 'home-related' investment spending today is only reaching levels where the industry has historically 'bottomed out' during prior downturns/recession (at approximately 3.5 percent of total GDP)." Year-to-date, shares of Home Depot and Lowe's are slightly lower through Tuesday's close. By comparison, other big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores and Target are each up more than 10 percent in the same period and handily beating the . After several quarters of flagging growth in 2015, one forecast suggests home improvement spending will accelerate this year. According to Harvard University's Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, spending will rise from 4.3 percent in the first quarter to 7.6 percent in the third quarter. By then, the LIRA forecast is for annual spending in nominal terms to exceed levels from the previous peak set in 2006.

"Coming out of the Great Recession, we had small tickets do better and large tickets not do as well" at the major DIY retailers, said Raymond James analyst Budd Bugatch. "Now you're seeing people migrate to larger tickets that means you're getting more of the professional activity inside stores as well as the 'do-it-for-me' customer is back. That's likely to continue for a while." Both Lowe's and Home Depot have ramped up their residential home services, including offering bathroom and kitchen remodeling assistance as well as renovation help on such things as replacement windows. The big-box retailers both have slightly different approaches to the home services, although both tend to use third-party contractors for the actual installation work.

"The 'do-it-for-me' customer really needs a partner and needs somebody who will not only give them the product but is also going to be able to provide the service and planning assistance that they need to get a large project done," said Lowe's chief Omni-Channel officer Brent Kirby, whose responsibilities include customer programs such as the one dedicated to home interiors and exteriors.
Credit Suisse has struck a partnership with Palantir, one of Silicon Valley's most secretive start-ups, to stop rogue traders, the companies said this week.

The 50-50 joint venture, called Signac, will focus on catching unauthorized trading, with the aim of expanding the software and technology to monitor rogue behavior across the bank worldwide.

Palantir uses so-called big data  massive data sets that can be analyzed by computers to reveal trends and hopefully lead to better decision-making  and applies it to areas ranging from defense to fraud.

The company is valued at $20 billion after raising fresh funds last year, making it the fourth most highly-valued tech start-up in the world behind Uber, Xiaomi and Airbnb. Among its investors is In-Q-Tel, the CIA's not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in technology companies in order to support U.S. intelligence agencies. The start-up was co-founded by Peter Thiel, who was also a co-founder at PayPal.
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The U.S. lacks the will and leadership in the White House to do what it takes to stop terrorism at its source, a former undercover CIA officer who is now a Republican congressman said Wednesday, a day after the deadly attacks in Brussels. The nation's intelligence apparatus does not lack the ability to "solve the problem and put terrorists on the run," Texas Rep. Will Hurd told CNBC's "Squawk Box." Stressing the need to put more operatives on the ground in Iraq and Syria, he said: "The problem is abroad. The problem is our lack of strategy against ISIS in Iraq and Syria." "I spent 9 years as an undercover officer in the CIA. I was the guy the in the back alleys at 4 o'clock in the morning, collecting intelligence on threats to our homeland," Hurd said. "I know the men and women in the CIA are eager and willing to go in."



Airstrikes and diplomacy are not enough, said Jamil Jaffer, vice president for strategy and business development at IronNet Cybersecurity and former Department of Justice security expert. "We've got to address this cancer where the root is, and we haven't done that yet," Jaffer told CNBC's "Squawk Alley." "These people are being inspired from abroad. So do I think ... that we need to be patrolling neighborhoods at home? I think we need to take the fight to the terrorists where we know they live and operate." Though critics have argued that "boots on the ground" could cause violence to spread, Jaffer said waiting for attacks to come into Western countries is a failed policy.

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Pointing to the chaos in the Mideast, Hurd said Russia's role to protect Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's 5-year-old civil war has had a domino effect. "The reason that you have the humanitarian crisis in the region is because of Bashar al-Assad. His policies and his killing his own people indiscriminately has caused those 4 million refugees to go throughout Europe. It's created the environment in which ISIS has grown up."

Another factor contributing to the rise of terrorist ideology in European countries lies with how immigrants are treated, said George Mitchell, former special envoy for Middle East peace under President Barack Obama. "In the U.S., we've taken in many more immigrants overall, than any other country. But we have a policy of assimilation. We've encouraged them to become citizens," the Democratic former Senator majority leader said. "That has not been the case in most countries around the world."

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"As a result, there's been a huge ghettoization of unassimilated groups [in Europe]," said Mitchell, adding that that has created a subset of poor, disenfranchised, and in some cases desperate individuals. Mitchell believes European countries need to recognize these trends and change their approach "given the tremendous internal conflicts within Islam that are producing these kind of radical extremists." But former ambassador Frank Wisner said though the neighborhood of the suspects faces high unemployment, many countries have influence and power over the roots of ISIS and must all work together. "This is a small minority," Wisner told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "They are extremely well-organized and they're vicious. They have to be crushed, and the way you do it is through good police and good intelligence. And, good international cooperation. This is not only a Belgian problem," said Wisner, international affairs advisor at Squire Patton Boggs and former ambassador to Zambia, Egypt, the Philippines and India. Also on CNBC, Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said the task of combating terrorism is a two-step process, offensive measures such as developing human intelligence and deploying technology, and defensive measures like tighter airport security.


A woman fatally shot herself Tuesday at a sprawling Connecticut residential property owned by New York investment banker Michael Kramer of Ducera Partners, authorities said Wednesday. Neither the corporate restructuring expert Kramer, 47, nor his family was at the property at the time that a 41-year-old Queens, NY, woman shot herself in the head, according to police. The property has up to nine houses on it, according to sources who spoke with CNBC.



New Canaan Chief of Police Leon Krolikowski (File photo). Getty Images

On Wednesday, New Canaan police said they had received a call at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday that a woman  later identified as Heather Sturtz of Queens, New York  was "armed with a handgun and threatening suicide." "Sturtz was reported to be on the property of a private residence located at 721 North Wilton Road," said New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said. "Arriving officers located Sturtz and found that the she had a single gunshot wound. Sturtz was treated at the scene but did not survive." After performing an autopsy, the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner's office said Wednesday that Sturtz's death had been ruled to be a suicide.

A friend of Michael Kramer said Kramer and his immediate family had been out of the country when the shooting occurred and learned about it when they returned Tuesday night.

"No member of the Kramer family was involved or injured in the incident," the friend said. "It wasn't in Mike's house." "They had no idea" what had happened, the friend said. "They are obviously upset about the incident." The friend said that Kramer has two young children. A lawyer for Kramer, Lisa Solbakken, said, "I'm aware of it" when asked about the shooting but she declined to comment further. Kramer's 7.7-acre property is one of the most valuable in New Canaan, according to the New Canaan News. The newspaper noted that the property is assessed at $14.5 million and has a 41,000-square-foot main house.
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When Google hired VMware co-founder Diane Greene to run its cloud business late last year, the company was clearly indicating that third place isn't good enough. Amazon.com and Microsoft have built sizable leads in cloud infrastructure, capturing billions of dollars that businesses are spending to offload their computing and storage needs. IBM is third, followed by Google. Greene, who ran VMware from 1998 to 2008, will talk publicly about her progress versus the competition on Wednesday at the Google Cloud Platform user conference in San Francisco. It's Greene's first major appearance since taking the helm. One not-so-subtle participant at the conference is Netflix , which just happens to be one of Amazon Web Services' marquee customers.

Google enters the event with momentum, after reportedly winning some business from Apple , another big AWS customer. (The company is also set to announce Wednesday that it won some of Home Depot 's cloud business.) "This win helps Google Cloud Platform catch up to Amazon and Microsoft, at least in terms of perception, as a real third player in the space instead of a distant third," Evan Wilson, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, wrote in a March 16 report.

From a numbers standpoint, Google is actually a distant fourth in the $23 billion cloud infrastructure services market, according to Synergy Research Group. AWS ranks first with 31 percent, followed by Microsoft Azure at 9 percent, IBM at 7 percent and Google Cloud Platform at 4 percent, Synergy data show. That means of Google parent Alphabet's $75 billion in revenue, less than $1 billion came from cloud infrastructure. Gartner projects industry growth of greater than 30 percent annually through 2018 as more of the world's largest and data-heavy companies shift applications from their own data centers to the cloud to gain speed, efficiency and access across employees' devices.

Google faces a big challenge in finding its place in the market. Among start-ups and developers, AWS has set the standard. Its first product launched a decade ago and the service has become so transformative to the current generation of Internet companies that it's established a near-monopoly in venture capital portfolios. To show that it's not just for emerging businesses, AWS has signed deals with Pfizer , Comcast (parent company of CNBC) and even the CIA. Microsoft is the established name in the enterprise, having spent the past three-plus decades selling Windows software and servers and creating the world's biggest software business. Microsoft already has the sales force, client relationships and customer support systems in place, enabling it to sell to some companies that may be wary of Amazon's e-commerce roots. Read MoreMicrosoft cloud grows, but dwarfed by old stuff Google doesn't have enterprise support in its DNA or a lengthy history in the market. What it does have is a popular suite of cloud business apps like Gmail, word-processing documents, spreadsheets and calendars. "It's a huge asset," said Sacha Labourey, CEO of CloudBees, a developer of software that eases app deployment. "Creating a culture of enterprise sales and support is Diane's biggest challenge."

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Google also knows how to build data centers as well as any modern-day Internet company. Just consider the technical sophistication required for processing over 1 trillion searches per year and billions of YouTube views a day. "We are able to take that infrastructure and computing power and optimize it for all customers," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call. Pichai said that much of Google's increase in capital expenditures this year would be dedicated to bolstering computing capacity. The company has said it's adding cloud data centers in Oregon and Japan in 2016.
Google is bringing Android Pay, its contactless payment app, to the U.K. "in the next few months", the U.S. search giant said on Wednesday, putting it head-to-head with rivals Apple and Samsung.

Currently only available in the U.S., Android Pay allows users to tap their near field communication (NFC)-enabled smartphones on a reader to pay for items in store. Devices running Android 4.4 or higher will be able to use this feature.

Users will be able to use Android Pay "everywhere contactless payments are accepted", Google said, adding that the service can also be used on London's tube, bus and train services, much like rival Apple Pay.
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Donald Trump's madcap march toward the Republican nomination has confounded nearly every political professional. But it is doubly vexing for veterans of campaigns brought down by infamous gaffes. And so finds a man like Ray Sullivan, trying to make sense of it all.

Sullivan was the deputy campaign manager for Rick Perry's 2012 presidential run, which ended, suddenly and infamously, after the former Texas governor short-circuited on the debate stage while trying to remember the third of three federal agencies he intended to disband. (For those of you who also can't recall Perry's "oops moment," they were the Departments of Education, Commerce and ... Energy.)

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What if Perry had taken a more Trumpian tact in response to his embarrassment?

Sullivan is leery to even look down this rabbit hole when asked by CNBC.com. Nevertheless, he obliges: "Given the observations of this season, had that happened in (2016), we may have come out the next day and attacked someone in a completely over-the-top manner or dropped a public policy position that was so outrageously newsworthy that folks forgot about the night before."

But with 2012 not being 2016, and with Perry not being Trump, Perry's recourse at the time was far more repentant.

The recovery operation began in earnest right after the CNBC debate on Nov. 9, 2011. Perry showed up in the spin room, insisting his error was stylistic, not substantive. He and his advisers promptly beelined to the East Coast, where Perry made the rounds on the morning political talk shows the following day, finishing the evening with a self-effacing appearance on David Letterman (he blamed the gaffe on "El Nino"). This is how seriously presidential contenders have traditionally responded to gaffes. But with "Trumpism" has come a whole new way of looking at the political gaffe, its consequences, its cures, and ultimately its future. Has Trump merely suspended the laws of campaign physics, or has he changed them? Political science is waiting to find out.

Following the 2012 campaign, Steve Frantzich, a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, authored a book, "O.O.P.S.," which analyzed a series of case studies of how politicians successfully or unsuccessfully recovered from gaffes. Among his central theses was that apology served as the best remedy  a tact the Trumpian model ostentatiously flouts.



"In some ways I am glad I am not doing an update this year because it doesn't fit the pattern," Frantzich told CNBC.com. "Usually we have a situation where you have a series of gaffes that become 'character flaws.'  [But] being Trump is not having to say you're sorry. He seems to be able to get away with these things."

Consider the more ignominious political gaffes of the last two decades  the mistakes that ostensibly sunk campaigns or marred politicians: George Allen's "macaca", Todd Akin's "legitimate rape," John Kerry's flip-flop, Al Gore's yawn, Mitt Romney's "47 percent," among others. While each of these differed on the scale of wrong-headedness, it seems fair to say they all paled in comparison to Trump's weekly blunder. "You have a marriage of a gaffe with an egotist," Frantzich says of the 2016 race. Trump campaign officials did not respond to a request from CNBC for comment. To be fair, the gaffe is almost entirely a media conceit, and one even reporters find problematic.



Usually we have a situation where you have a series of gaffes that become 'character flaws'[But] being Trump is not having to say you're sorry. He seems to be able to get away with these things. Steve Frantzich, a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of a book on political gaffes.

"The centrality of the gaffe is an outgrowth of horse race coverage," New York magazine's Jonathan Chait wrote in 2012. "Political reporters have little interest in informing the public about the policies advocated by the two candidates. Their job is to tell us every day who is winning."

A Pew study that year, conducted after Romney's "47 percent" gaffe, found that the former governor's surreptitiously recorded remarks had been absorbed by a strong majority of voters, most of whom reacted negatively. A year later, in a post-election autopsy, Romney himself cited it as being particularly damaging.

Campaigns and media critics have, over the years, lamented the state of a gaffe-obsessed press stultifying the public (or even semi-private) candor of politicians. But in light of Trump, a candidate so manifestly unconcerned with saying the wrong thing, one can detect a certain wistfulness for the Good Ol' Days when "oops" mattered. Moreover, there is the growing worry that Trump's style of radical aloofness will inform the strategies of other politicians, however misguided that might be for them.

"One of the things I fear, or that I am deeply concerned about," said Sullivan, "is that maybe this is just Trump, maybe it is just his personality and his style and talents  if you want to put it that way  or perhaps it is a trend in national elections, in presidential elections, that I don't even want to think about for 2020, 2024 and beyond."

One experienced Republican operative, who advised Akin's star-crossed Senate run, said he expects others to try and replicate Trump approach.




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Chinese technology companies are just getting started in their quest to go global and the West should take it very seriously, a veteran Israeli entrepreneur and investor told CNBC.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in China's Hainan province, Yossi Vardi, chairman of International Technologies, said Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba and Huawei have developed strong presence in the West and more are following in their footsteps.

"Chinese companies are working very hard to develop [their] international footprint and by now you begin to see them all over the place," said Vardi , who is one of Israel's tech pioneers with involvement in more than 70 startups.

Visitors crowd the Huawei stand at the 2016 CeBIT digital technology trade fair on the fair's opening day. Sean Gallup | Getty Images

Smartphone makers Huawei and Xiaomi made headlines earlier this year with their prominent presence at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi5 smartphone at the MWC, while a top Huawei executive predicted his company will oust smartphone giant Samsung from its pole position in the industry by 2021.

Data from International Data Corporation (IDC) showed that in 2015, three Chinese companies - Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo - were among the top five global smartphone makers by shipment volume.

Vardi added abundance of foreign-educated talent returning to China are helping these Chinese tech companies to scale and approach markets better. The transfer of technical know-how, picked up from their Western peers, are making it possible for China to develop software and user experiences for their domestic market, which usually require advanced skills that have mostly been associated with the West.




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A Kentucky hospital is operating in an internal state of emergency following an attack by cybercriminals on its computer network, Krebs on Security reported. Methodist Hospital, based in Henderson, Kentucky, is the victim of a ransomware attack in which hackers infiltrated its computer network, encrypted files and are now holding the data hostage, Krebs reported Tuesday. The hospital has not responded to CNBC's requests for comment. The criminals reportedly used new strain of malware known as Locky to encrypt important files. The malware spread from the initial infected machine to the entire internal network and several other systems, the hospital's information systems director, Jamie Reid, told Krebs.



"We essentially shut our system down and reopened on a computer-by-computer basis," David Park, an attorney for the Kentucky healthcare center told Krebs. The hospital is reportedly considering paying hackers the ransom money of four bitcoins, about $1,600 at the current exchange rate, for the key to unlock the files. The FBI is reportedly investigating and declined to comment for this story.

This is just the latest hack attack by cybercriminals using ransomware to shut down critical infrastructure, a cyber threat that the FBI warns is on the rise. "Ransomware has been around for several years, but there's been a definite uptick lately in its use by cyber criminals," the FBI warned in a January report.

In February, a California hospital paid a $17,000 ransom to get its files back. In that case, hackers shut down the internal computer system for more than a week, initially demanding a ransom of almost $3.7 million.

The way ransomware infects computers has also become more effective. When ransomware first emerged, the most common way for computers to become infected was when users opened email attachments containing the malware, the FBI reported. "But more recently, we're seeing an increasing number of incidents involving so-called 'drive-by' ransomware, where users can infect their computers simply by clicking on a compromised website, often lured there by a deceptive e-mail or pop-up window," the FBI said in its report. According to the FBI, the way cybercriminals are demanding payment has also changed, from prepaid cards to bitcoin. Hackers prefer bitcoin because of the anonymity the decentralized virtual currency network offers.



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With U.S. stocks at year-to-date highs, Marc Faber is shedding some of his gloom and doom.

"Over the last 12 to 24 months, many sectors have had huge declines," the editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report told CNBC's "Fast Money" traders on Tuesday. "And I see here, there are some opportunities."

Faber points to the gold miner ETF GDX . After falling more than 67 percent to its low on Jan. 19 of $12.40, the ETF has rebounded up to $20.58 in the last month. Faber thinks it's going higher.



"[The U.S. dollar] is not a desirable currency," said Faber, perplexed why the world has been so "enthusiastic" about the greenback. "I think the most desirable currency will be gold, silver, platinum and palladium. I still think the mining sector has embarked on a new bull market."



Gold has surged 16 percent from its December low, but it is down sharply Wednesday.

Gold isn't the only space Faber finds hidden opportunity. He points to Asia where much of the economy and the market is still struggling.
Terrorist attacks in Brussels left at least 31 people dead, according to the latest figures, and hundreds injured. The terrorist group that calls itself Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the bombings that took place Tuesday in the capital city's airport and a metro station.

Civil liberties and human rights are key pillars of the European Union (EU) but after yet another terrorist attack in a European capital, questions are being asked over whether the bloc needs to restrict freedoms amid the heightened terrorist threat.

Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said on Wednesday morning that the airport suicide bombers were brothers Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui and were known to the police. A manhunt is now underway for a third suspect, named by media reports as 24 year old Najim Laachraoui.

The Belgian attacks come after more than a decade of Islamist-inspired suicide bombings, bomb attacks and shootings in Madrid, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Toulouse. As a result, questions are being asked over the strength of Europe's defenses against radicalization, terrorist networks and the apparent ease of movement of suspects throughout the continent.



Freedom of movement and travel within the continent is viewed as a basic freedom for European citizens - and there could be widespread protests if they were rolled back. Likewise, a right to privacy and freedom from surveillance is cherished too and there has been resistance to any moves to allow intelligence agencies more access to private communications.

Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, the Belgian Ambassador to the U.K. Guy Trouveroy said there was a danger of losing freedoms in the so-called "global war on terror."

"Let's see how the balance will be made there. But I would say that in Belgium at least it is up to our Prime Minister, our politicians, to present options (over how to tackle terrorism) but I would say that to transform our countries into police states, I am not sure that would be the right response. Also because if (we do that) then we start antagonizing communities again," he said.

"You have to realize that it's not always to protect every single place where human beings assemble and do you want to change your society to such an extent that you make your life much more difficult," he said. "By doing so, you're handing over a fantastic victory to these terrorists."
The Russian economy is adjusting to a new low oil price environment, the country's deputy prime minister told CNBC on Wednesday, adding that a weak ruble will help it to export more to China and Europe and stabilize the economy.

Arkady Dvorkovich said the chemical and pharmaceutical industries were growing and the agricultural sector was helping to drive the economy forward. Last year, Russia increased its agricultural exports to China by 25 percent, he said.

"We hope (oil) prices will be more or less around today's level," Dvorkovich said, adding he saw downsides as well as upsides. "The energy market is still volatile, oil is hard to predict." A lot would depend on how China would develop over the next few months and Europe's migration crisis was also a risk to the economy, he said.

Brent crude is currently trading at around $41 per barrel.

He warned demand was still low, but supply was going down.
"We find a lot of investment opportunities in the U.S.," he said. "A lot of exciting things are coming out of the private sector on a daily basis."

"The greatest strength of the U.S. is the private sector. If that continues to be the case, we are not concerned," said Lim Chow Kiat, GIC Private Ltd's chief investment officer.

GIC expects below-average returns from U.S. stocks over the next five to 10 years, but the Singapore sovereign wealth fund still sees the U.S. as an important source of investment opportunities.

Lim said U.S. equity returns in real terms have averaged 6 to 7 percent, and most likely for the next five to 10 years that will be 2 to 3 percent. The S&P 500 is basically flat on the year, after suffering a steep decline in January and February before reversing it in the last several weeks. The index was down 0.7 percent for 2015.



"The central banks in the last few years have brought future returns forward," he said.

"The problem is once that's done, what is there to look forward to  very little," he said. "They bought time for their economies to improve."

The economies of developed regions like Europe and Japan are still growing sluggishly.

"We are very much in the camp of saying you need supply-side reform," he said. That could mean tax reform, pension reform and labor reform.

"Around the world, we only see China, Mexico and India trying to do something to make a difference" for their countries, he said. "Just everyone else is really relying on their central banks."

Lim was speaking to a delegation from the Financial Women's Association of New York, visiting Singapore last week as part of its annual international trip.

GIC holds its long-term portfolio in six asset classes, which it views as funding sources, he said.

Sixty to 65 percent of its portfolio is in the equity asset class in developed markets, emerging markets and in private equity investments. GIC also invests in fixed income and real estate.

"The U.S. is 45 percent of our exposure  the biggest investment destination for us," he said. Bridgewater Associates has been an investment partner with GIC for more than 20 years, he noted.

GIC looks for long-term opportunities in the $1 billion to $3 billion range.

Lim said GIC owns over 1,000 U.S. listed companies in small positions.

Lim said GIC is constantly looking at new technologies, such as cloud computing, block chain, electronic cars, self-driving vehicles, machine learning and renewable energy. He said the U.S. is the largest source of innovation, but he is also looking at opportunities in Shenzhen, similar in spirit to Silicon Valley.

 Disclosure: CNBC's Patti Domm is a member of the board of the FWA.
Cuba's "knowledge economy"  a product of its wealth of skilled university graduates whose technical skills and abilities have been sharpened by material shortages and limitations  provides fertile ground to grow U.S.-Cuban cooperation and enterprise. For example, key opportunities exist not only in the island's still underdeveloped information and communication technology sector but also in its more established and advanced bio-tech industry.

Cuba's outdated technical infrastructure  including limited Internet access and connectivity and lagging cell phone and computer usage  offers a golden opportunity to "leapfrog" rapidly into a new generation of technology.

With a combination of the right know-how, high-tech equipment and financing, Cuba's languishing level of digital and telecom development can rapidly transform itself into the vanguard of the 21st century  vaulting from its current and nearly obsolete 2G technology to 5G and version 6 of the Internet protocol (IPv6), and beyond.
It's time for the Department of Homeland Security to focus and return to its primary mission: defending the homeland. Not from illegal immigrants, smugglers, or drug dealers. While all those are all important missions, DHS was established to defend the homeland  from terrorists, not from global warming. The future of the war on terror is not a cyber war, an intelligence war or a climate war. The attacks in Paris and Brussels prove that the war on terror is a good old fashioned shooting war with bad guys who simply want to kill us.

Once again, we are fighting last year's terrorist practice and not concentrating on the future evolution  or de-evolution of the terrorist threat. The attacks in Brussels were a throwback to the 1970s and 1980s when terrorism was simple, direct, and uncomplicated. Find a large group of unprotected victims and kill them using automatic weapons and explosives.

And while the TSA does a fine job protecting the airlines from potential bombers and little old ladies, strategically placed armed Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the lobbies and on the perimeters of airports will do more to prevent terrorism inside an airport lobby than confiscating a 4-ounce bottle of shampoo.
GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump would not be able to beat leading Democrat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head match-up, Republican political consultant Mike Murphy said Wednesday.



"Trump is not a strong general election candidate. He's showing surprising strength in the Republican primaries. But that's only 20 million people," said Murphy, who ran the $100 million Jeb Bush super PAC Right to Rise. "The regular election is 128 to 129 million people; different planet, not Trump friendly."

Murphy told CNBC's "Squawk Box" he would not support for Trump, even if the billionaire were to get the GOP nomination. "Personally, I'd never vote for Donald Trump. I'll write in somebody better. But that's just me. The party will support him if he's the nominee."

Acknowledging the revolt among grass-roots conservatives, Murphy said Trump won't unify the fractured GOP. "We're going to have to rebuild it. We've got problems. But Trump is not the answer. He's poison." Murphy has also advised Arizona Sen. John McCain, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney

Like former candidate Bush, who on Wednesday endorsed Ted Cruz, Murphy said the Texas senator stands the best chance of beating Trump for the nomination. But Murphy said Cruz would also have difficulty beating Clinton.

Trump and Cruz split Tuesday's nominating contests. Trump won 58 delegates in the winner-take-all Arizona primary, while Cruz won all 40 delegates from the Utah caucuses.

In the primaries and caucuses so far, Trump has secured 738 delegates to Cruz's 463. Ohio Gov.John Kasich, coming off his home state win last week, was not able Tuesday to add any delegates to his total of 143.
Sales of Toyota 's flagship hybrid, the Prius, have faltered recently, but Toyota North America CEO James Lentz said Wednesday they are due for a rise.

Prius sales fell 10.9 percent last year as gas prices in the U.S. dropped dramatically amid oversupply in the crude market.

"We saw a decline; fuel prices are obviously a part of that, but in the case of us, we're 60 percent of the marketplace," Lentz told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," but added that the Prius was at the end of its cycle at 5 years old, "so I think that had a lot to do with it."

He also said that gas prices are back on the rise, which will prompt more drivers to buy a hybrid.
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Crime Report Shelby County 911 - A Crime Report SHARE

By Yolanda Jones of The Commercial Appeal

A woman is in critical condition after she was hit by a car and thrown 75 feet as she crossed the street in South Memphis Tuesday night.

Police were called to the incident at 9:43 p.m. on Florida Street north of Happiland Alley.

Police said a car was headed north on Florida from McLemore when the driver changed lanes to pass another vehicle.

The driver hit the pedestrian who was thrown about 75 feet. She was taken to the Regional Medical Center where she remains in critical condition.

No charges have been filed against the driver as police continue to investigate.

About Yolanda Jones Yolanda Jones is a police reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She focuses on the Memphis Police Department.

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SHARE "The Family Circus" creator Jeff Keane is among attendees slated for the National Cartoonists Society convention in May.

By John Beifuss of The Commercial Appeal

Funny business will meet the serious business of tourism revenue and children's charities when the artists behind "The Family Circus," "Beetle Bailey," "Mutts," Mad magazine and hundreds of other favorites gather in Memphis this spring for the annual convention of the world's oldest, largest and most prestigious organization for professional cartoonists.

Now in its 70th year, the National Cartoonists Society, which typically convenes in such larger or more exotic locations as New York or the Bahamas, has chosen Memphis for its May 26-29 event, built around the annual "Oscars of cartooning," the Reuben Awards.

Why Memphis? "I love the idea of the Peabody ducks," said NCS president Bill Morrison, 57, an artist for "The Simpsons" and "Futurama." "That's just such a cartoonish thing. It sounds like something a cartoonist would have come up with, to have a ceremony twice a day where ducks march through a hotel lobby."

More crucially, the cartoonists have partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a May 26 campus visit and public fundraiser that will be the most ambitious project yet in the society's new "Cartooning for Kids" charity initiative.

The fundraiser is a follow-up to a 2015 convention "scouting trip" to Memphis. Several cartoonists made a visit to St. Jude, where patients and cartoonists drew funny pictures for each other. "It was such a rewarding experience, I think we got more out of it than the kids did," said Steve McGarry, 63, an artist on the "Despicable Me" and "Minions" movies, who is president of the NCS Foundation, the organization's charitable arm.

"I view their decision as a win-win for the patient families," said Richard Shadyac Jr., the president and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization of St. Jude. "Kids really relate to cartoons and cartoonists. Think about the fact that we were all kids once, and we all loved cartoons. And even as adults we love cartoons."

Regena Bearden, vice president of marketing and communications for the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Memphis was competing with Nashville for the cartoonists convention, but the visit to St. Jude  a facility that specializes in the treatment of cancer and other childhood deseases  "made the difference. What was scheduled to be a stop for an hour or two turned into an entire afternoon, they were such creative and caring people."

Representing newspaper comic-strip and panel cartoonists, comic-book artists, animators, greeting card illustrators, graphic-novel creators, editorial cartoonists and others, the National Cartoonists Society was founded in March 1946 with a roster that included such legends of the art form as Milton Caniff ("Terry and the Pirates"), Ernie Bushmiller ("Nancy") and Rube Goldberg (for whom the Reuben Awards are named).

The Memphis convention is expected to attract about 500 folks, Morrison said, including at least nine artists whose syndicated strips appear in The Commercial Appeal: Lynn Johnston ("For Better or Worse"), Jeff Keane ("The Family Circus"), Patrick McDonnell ("Mutts"), Greg Evans ("Luann"), Greg Walker ("Beetle Bailey"), Robb Armstrong ("Jumpstart"), Rick Kirkman ("Baby Blues"), Jerry Scott ("Zits," "Baby Blues") and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Peters ("Mother Goose & Grimm").

Other notable confirmed attendees include Sergio Aragones, 78, famous for the gag cartoons he has drawn for decades in the page margins of Mad magazine, and Paul Coker Jr., 87, production and character designer on such Rankin-Bass holiday specials as "Frosty the Snowman" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."

The convention's centerpiece is the May 28 black-tie Reuben Awards ceremony, which McGarry characterized as the "Oscars of cartooning." The highlight is the Reuben for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, which in the past has gone to such artists as Al Capp ("Li'l Abner"), Chester Gould ("Dick Tracy"), Charles M. Schulz ("Peanuts"), Gary Larson ("The Far Side") and Bill Waterson ("Calvin and Hobbes").

Although the cartoonists are a "zany" bunch, "We're not into vandalism," Morrison said. "We're not like rock stars where you're going to see people out of control."

However, "Most of us do carry something to draw with, so I'm sure once we get to that wall at Graceland, the pens are going to come out."

He said The Peabody had invited the cartoonists to choose someone to act as "honorary duck master" during the convention, but the Walt Disney Co. had denied permission for the use of a Donald Duck mascot. As a result, Morrison said, "We're in negotiations with Warner Bros. for Daffy Duck."

NATIONAL CARTOONIST SOCIETY CONVENTION AND REUBEN AWARDS WEEKEND

May 26-29, Memphis.

May 26: Cartoonists United for St. Jude Kids fundraiser. VIP meet and greet, 5:30 p.m.; dinner, silent auction, improv cartooning, and more, 7 p.m. Tickets start at $150. Call (901) 373-5051, or visit stjude.org/cartoonistsunited.

May 28: Reuben Awards banquet, The Peabody.

Visit reuben.org.
SHARE Raymond Surratt Jr. (courtesy of the family)

By Ann E. Marimow, The Washington Post

The judge who sentenced Raymond Surratt Jr. to life in prison didnt think he deserved that tough a penalty. His attorneys said it was based on bad math.

Even the government lawyers who prosecuted him say the sentence was a mistake.

Yet they all also agree Surratt might stay locked up forever.

How that came to be was at the heart of arguments heard Wednesday as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit took up Surratts case in Richmond, Virginia. The issue is how many times inmates can appeal a sentence, particularly if the law becomes more lenient after they are sent to prison.

Raymond Surratt will die in prison because of a sentence that the government and the district court agree is undeserved and unjust, a judge wrote last summer, siding with Surratt in a divided panel decision from the same court. The judges who ruled against him in the 2-to-1 decision are sympathetic. They just dont think the courts have the power to do anything about it.

The appeals court did not resolve the issue Wednesday and will issue its ruling later.

If Surratt were resentenced today, he would face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, likely making him eligible for immediate release. The North Carolina man is being held at a federal facility in Virginia after a 2005 cocaine conviction.

Courts throughout the country routinely revisit and revise past convictions and sentencing errors. But Surratts case poses the question of how the legal system should balance finality with evolving notions of fairness.

Advocates for criminal justice reform, including President Barack Obama and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, are working to roll back decades of prison sentences, set down during the nations war on drugs, that they see as harsh.

The president is expected to commute the sentences of a group of nonviolent drug offenders in the coming weeks, but there are still thousands of pending applications for early release.

Until the Surratt case, no federal appellate court has considered whether it has a way to fix a mistake of its own making when the error is as severe as a mandatory life sentence.

The issues in this case are basic to the fairness of federal criminal justice, the government said in its brief on behalf of Surratt, 41.
SHARE

By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal

A former probation officer pleaded guilty in a tax fraud scheme, the office of Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said Wednesday.

LaShear Poole, 41, of Memphis, operated Five Star Tax Professionals between January 2011 and April 2014.

"On at least 15 occasions for the tax years 20112013, the defendant prepared, and caused to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service, federal income tax returns containing false and fraudulent misrepresentations," Stanton's spokesman Louis Goggans said in a news release. "The majority of these misrepresentations pertained to the filing of false IRS Schedule C forms, which claimed income from businesses that either did not exist or were not actively engaged in business during the tax year as claimed."

Poole, who obtained more than $50,000, is scheduled for sentencing June 24, according to the news release.

The IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher E. Cotten.
SHARE Shanika Hayes

By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

Memphis police have arrested a 28-year-old woman who is accused of striking four people with a car during a large street fight in South Memphis Sunday.

Shanika Hayes has been charged with four counts of attempted second-degree murder. She is being held at Jail East.

According to police, this incident began about 12:50 p.m. Sunday at Walker Avenue and Orleans Street involving church members after church.

A caller told police that as many as 20 people were fighting in that area.

Responding officers found the fight and discovered that four victims  a 16-year-old boy and three females, ages 15, 16 and 21  had been struck by a car.

Although the driver fled, police issued three misdemeanor citations and three juvenile summonses on charges ranging from assault to disorderly conduct.

On Tuesday, police arrested Hayes after determining that she was the woman driving the car, officials said.

Hayes remains in jail on a $100,000 bond. She will be back in court March 30.
March 23, 2016; Annie Hulett is given a dandelion by her 1-year-old daughter Beatrice while they stroll across the greensward at Overton Park Wednesday morning as it begins to fill up with overflow parking from the Memphis Zoo. Hulett said that she would normally be spending spring break with her family at the zoo, but despite having an active membership she is boycotting until the parking issue is resolved. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE March 23, 2016  A Memphis Zoo employee who declined to be identified helps direct traffic across the Greensward as park users pass behind him. The overflow parking now extends the south end of Rainbow Lake. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal

With mediation set to resume Thursday on the use of the Overton Park greensward for parking, one development providing a backdrop to the talks is the much larger portion of the lawn occupied by the vehicles of Memphis Zoo patrons in recent days.

During some of the pleasant spring weather this week, up to two-thirds of the greensward has been filled with vehicles. The parking area now is about twice the area allotted for parking before the City Council adopted a March 1 resolution giving the zoo priority use of an expanded portion of the lawn.

"I was disappointed but not surprised" by the large area used for parking this week, said Tina Sullivan, executive director of the Overton Park Conservancy, the nonprofit group managing the park for the city of Memphis.

Although greensward parking has been authorized for more than 20 years, the issue has spawned lawsuits and controversy in recent months, with park-users saying the vehicles damage the lawn and prevent its use by the general public. After the zoo and conservancy filed suits and countersuits claiming control of the greensward, the council stepped in and granted the zoo first use of most of an area extending southward almost to the Rainbow Lake Playground.

The mediation process involving the conservancy and zoo began at the urging of Mayor Jim Strickland. Sullivan said she's "hopeful we can make progress" toward a long-term solution to the parking dispute.

Zoo spokeswoman Laura Doty said attendance has been especially heavy this week  9,100 people came on Tuesday alone  because public schools in Shelby County and throughout Arkansas and in many nearby West Tennessee counties are out for spring break. Additionally, visitors have shown up from as far away as Wisconsin and West Virginia. Zoo parking is free for members and $5 for nonmembers.

Attendance is also expected to surge with the opening in late April or early May of the zoo's newest exhibit, the $22.3 million Zambezi River Hippo Camp.

"People are coming to check out the Memphis Zoo because we're a world-class zoo," Doty said.

Still, the total number of cars parked each day on the greensward has not increased significantly, according to figures provided by the zoo. On Tuesday, a total of 615 vehicles parked there  a number only marginally above the maximum of 600 per day parked in the past, indicating there was little turnover of vehicles in the parking area.

Figures for Wednesday were not available, but with cloudy skies there appeared to be fewer vehicles on the lawn than on Tuesday. There also were no signs of conflict over the use of the grassy space. At around 2:30 p.m., the part of the greensward not used for parking was largely vacant, with one picnic blanket spread out and a table or two being used.

That could change this weekend. The group Get Off Our Lawn has posted invitations on social media for a Saturday event called "Greensward Play Date." It's billed as a day of "peaceful play and protest" on the lawn.
Ayres Hall at the University of Tennessee (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE

By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE  State and University of Tennessee employees told a Senate committee Tuesday that if Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to outsource the operation and maintenance of all state property and buildings sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The Senate State & Local Government Committee heard presentations from the Tennessee State Employees Association and from Tom Anderson, a buyer in UT's Facilities Services office  the first time that workers have testified formally in a legislative committee since the massive outsourcing initiative was publicly revealed last August.

Two weeks ago, the governor's outsourcing team presented to the same panel its "business justification" for outsourcing: that a private contractor could save up to $35.8 million when fully implemented, without cutting staff or benefits, primarily through volume purchasing, better trained staff and more work performed in-house directly by contractor's employees.

But TSEA spokesman Chris Dauphin told the committee that "essentially means" that when the state buys good and services, "we are being overcharged by $35.8 million." He said outsourcing everything is an overreaction to a small problem that can be corrected.

"Let's simply leverage our $30 billion plus enterprise (state government's annual budget) to negotiate better pricing on goods and services, cross train our current employees and let state employees continuing the great work they are doing," he said.

Dauphin also said private contractors often charge extra for services not specified in a contract. He read Texas media reports to the committee of "cost shifting" by the private vendor at Texas A&M University, which the governor's outsourcing team says is a model for facilities management outsourcing.

Randy Stamps, a former state legislator and legislative staffer who how heads TSEA, cited the legislature's experience with Jones Lang LaSalle's state contract to manage the Legislative Plaza, including having to file work orders to Chicago to obtain simple maintenance tasks.

Anderson, a 15-year employee of UT Knoxville, took issue with the Haslam team's claim that a private contractor "can do a cheaper job with no loss of service, no job cuts, no benefit cuts, no other cuts  (that) everything is going to be better and will cost less and there's no real evidence to back that. That is a sales job I won't buy. Usually when someone makes you a promise that sounds to good to be true, it probably is," he said.

Anderson said UT facilities services workers have years of knowledge, experience and expertise about buildings and grounds on campus and often work around the clock to make sure the campus is ready for students, faculty and staff. Private contractors, he said, "would be coming to a campus they know nothing about, having to support a set of buildings, a community of faculty, staff and students, a campus they know nothing about ... The transition itself is going to be, frankly, devastating to campus communities for a long term."

The committee chairman, Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said it's too early to say whether the committee will make a recommendation on the governor's outsourcing initiative.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, center, takes questions about a de-annexation bill during a Senate committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Strickland is joined by Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, left, and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero in opposing the bill that could wind up shrinking the size of several Tennessee cities. Strickland has said that if the bill passes it could be financially "devastating" to his city. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE  The mayors of Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga  backed by three Memphis business leaders  presented a united front against the de-annexation bill in a state Senate committee Wednesday, warning that it could destabilize cities' finances and hurt recruitment of new job-creating businesses.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke sat together at a witness table in the State and Local Government Committee to voice their objections to a bill that allows residents of areas annexed into cities since 1998 to call referendums for de-annexation  and then separate from their cities if approved by a majority of voters in that area.

Strickland reiterated his fears that the bill could result in up to 111,000 residents of Memphis leaving the city  17 percent of its population  and the loss of between $28 million and $79 million in tax revenue.

"Our population would fall from the 23rd largest city in the country to the 33rd. Our poverty rate is 30 percent. Our child poverty rate is 47 percent. If you take these areas out, both those numbers would drastically increase. Our crime, which is already a problem, would increase when you measure crimes per 100,000 residents, which they often do," Strickland said.

"These statistics would greatly harm our ability to create jobs. If that instability is part of the face of Memphis to potential employers, to businesses, to investors, how can we expect the robust economic development that we're all working so hard to obtain? Please  do not turn back the clock on our progress. I want to remind you that we are part of a promising new era in Memphis, turning things around with new leadership," Strickland told the committee.

Moments later, AutoZone founder J.R. "Pitt" Hyde, First Tennessee Bank President David Popwell and Executive Vice President Jim Vogel took the same table and made a similar case.

Popwell said the bill sends an indication to prospective businesses that Tennessee's state government doesn't stand behind its cities and that message will hurt economic development efforts statewide.

This bill is a gamble and the price will be paid by Memphis and its sister cities, Popwell says.  Rick Locker (@RickLocker) March 23, 2016

Hyde says this controversy could discourage companies looking at Memphis and Tennessee because it indicates cities not supported by state.  Rick Locker (@RickLocker) March 23, 2016

My overriding objective is always to make my city and my state more competitive economically, Hyde says.  Rick Locker (@RickLocker) March 23, 2016

The version of the bill approved by the House March 14 limits de-annexation to Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Kingsport and tiny Cornersville in Marshall County, where it says annexations over the last 20 years were "the most egregious."

"The language in the House bill indicates they were chosen because of 'egregious annexations' but it offers no detail or evidence of what constitutes 'egregious'," Rogero said.

The Knoxville mayor also cited a little-noticed impact of the bill, which she said makes it "fundamentally capricious legislation:" state-shared sales tax revenue flow to local governments on the basis of population, but de-annexations would mean a reduction in those taxes to the give cities and an increase for cities not listed in the bill.

All three mayors noted that cities annexed territory using state laws approved over decades by the state legislature.

But in his questioning of the mayors, Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, said some residents want to leave cities they were annexed into against their will, which he likened to forcible takeovers of one nation by another.

"When you think of a city going out and, just on its own, taking land from someone else  to me that's almost like Russia going in and taking Poland and adding it to the Soviet Union," Green said. "I really see those as pretty close. When people don't want to be brought into the city and are forcibly brought in so the city can have a better tax base, I find that egregious. And that's a big part of why this bill is so emotional for a lot of people right now," Green said.

The committee did not finish its work and is holding the bill over until at least next Tuesday when it will reconvene and hear testimony from supporters of the bill.

And that means the full Senate likely won't vote on the bill until at least March 31. The House approved its version of the bill March 14.

The Senate committee adopted amendments that would restore the bill's original application to municipalities across the state.

Afterward, the committee chairman, Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said it's not clear that a bill will win Senate approval.

Mayor Jim Strickland's original testimony to the Senate State & Local Government Committee on Wednesday, March 23, regarding the de-annexation bill:

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland:

Memphis is impacted by this bill far greater than any other city. I want to make three points: No. 1, the bills impact on Memphis, No. 2, a little review of Memphiss finances and No. 3, the impact on our pensions and OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits, mostly retiree health benefits) liabilities.

I met with most of you individually. You saw the map, you saw that 111,000 people, or 17 percent of our population, could de-annex. Its a potential loss of $28 million in residential property taxes, a potential loss of $64 million in property taxes if you include commercial and industrial, and its a potential loss of $15 million in sales tax. So the total potential loss is $28 million to $79 million, which is 12 percent of our budget.

Second, like many big cities we have a budget problem. Our budget is $658 million and its remaining fairly static. We still have another $15 to $20 million that we have to put into our pension plan. We have another $15 to $20 million we need to hire new police officers. And my plan was to try to do that without raising taxes, because as you may know our combined city and county tax rate is so much higher than the rest of the state. Its $7.77. By comparison Nashville is $4.52.

Third point: OPEB and pension. This bill does not provide for the de-annexed areas to pay toward the pension and OPEB liabilities. Our pension unfunded liability is $418 million. Our OPEB unfunded liability is $700 million. Thats a total debt of $1.1 billion. Some of these areas in this bill have been in the city for almost 20 years and the debt would not follow them.

In closing these annexations were done pursuant to the laws adopted by this legislature. And they were upheld in the courts where it was litigated.

Mass de-annexation could have drastic impacts on not just Memphis and not just Shelby County and not just West Tennessee but the entire state. Our population would fall from the 23rd largest city in the country to the 33rd. Our poverty rate is 30 percent. Our child poverty rate is 47 percent. If you take these areas out, both those numbers would drastically increase. Our crime, which is already a problem, would increase when you measure crimes per 100,000 residents, which they often do. These statistics would greatly harm our ability to create jobs. If that instability is part of the face of Memphis to potential employers, to businesses, to investors, how can we expect the robust economic development that were all working so hard to obtain?

Please  do not turn back the clock on our progress. Again I want to remind you that we are part of a promising new era in Memphis, turning things around with new leadership.

Excerpts of questions and answers with committee members:

Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville: Im mindful and troubled by the comment that this would disproportionately adversely affect the city of Memphis. That is disturbing if true. Were not voting here today or in this legislation to effect any de-annexation. It is to give people the right to vote on whether they wish to be de-annexed. Why do you jump to the conclusion, if you do, that everyone would de-annex if given the right to vote?

Mayor Strickland: Frankly, its from experience and being around Memphis. I think all these areas would jump at the chance of potentially lower taxes. They wouldnt have to pay city taxes, only county taxes. De-annexation, or annexation, has been an issue for 50 or 60 years in Memphis. I think any area in Memphis, given the opportunity to de-annex, would. And if they wouldnt, wed ask you to narrow the bill to include a smaller area.

Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro: Who would a de-annexed resident go to if their sewer backed up? Theyre not in the city anymore and the county might say its a city sewer. It creates a real dilemma.

Mayor Strickland: I think there are many questions with the bill that have not been answered and thats one of them. Before I got involved in city government, maybe back when I was in high school, Memphis would extend our sewer system out into the suburbs and the known plan was that Memphis would then annex those areas when they became urban and more dense. That happened a lot. These areas were created by Memphis extending that sewer system.

Sen. Ketron: With that anticipation?

Mayor Strickland: Yes sir.

Sen. Ketron: If all of a sudden that area is de-annexed, how do you see that affecting getting new businesses to move into the area?

Mayor Strickland: In all of my 2  months on the job, one thing Ive learned is that when we recruit business to come to Memphis or to stay in Memphis, our tax rate works against us. But its not the only thing. They look at quality of life, they look at these statistics that we talked about and all of these statistics, which are already a challenge for Memphis, become worse. You dont hear from a company until they narrow it down to four or five cities. Im worried that were not even going to make that four or five city (list) because these statistics become so much worse with this de-annexation bill.

Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville: In these possibly de-annexed areas of the city, did any of them ever vote to come in?

Mayor Strickland: None of them voted. One or two may have asked to be annexed but they were small, more commercial areas.

Sen. Green: So none of the folks had a vote and decided to come into Memphis on their own free will. Why did you guys go and annex them then. If they didnt want to be annexed, why did you go and annex them?

Mayor Strickland: I wasnt there. But the city of Memphis abided by the law of your predecessors. I know you werent here but the law allowed the annexation. We followed the law. There were many lawsuits involved in this process. Between the time of voting to annex and the actual annex  Im looking at these areas  it was 11 years, 8 years, 15 years, 9 years, 6 years, 9, 17 years. There was a long period of time that people saw it coming. And the sewers were extended to those areas with the idea that they would be annexed. It was not a surprise to anyone.

Sen. Green: How do you know they want to be de-annexed? I think its because they never wanted to be annexed in the first place.
March 23, 2016 Artist Rick Wienecke displays a scale model of his sculpture of the "Unknown Child" following Wednesday's launch event sponsored by the Unknown Child Foundation. The statue shows a child leaning against the inside of a crematorium door, totally abandoned, which visually connects the viewer to the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE March 23, 2016  Holocaust survivor Friderica Beck Saharovici takes part in a launch event for the "The Unknown Child" project in Horn Lake Wednesday morning. The Unknown Child Foundation announced plans for a completed sculpture placed in a park setting on the grounds of the Circle G. Ranch. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal) Related Coverage Development plan is latest proposal for Elvis ranch

By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal

Her aging voice is still strong, speaking across decades and generations to bring to life one of mankind's darkest periods.

"I was born in a small town in Romania, not unlike many small towns in Mississippi," Friderica Beck Saharovici told a crowd huddled against the chilling wind Wednesday on a ranch once owned by a rock-n-roll legend. "After a normal, happy childhood, things changed drastically when Romania became an ally of Germany. I was a first-grader when all the Jewish children were thrown out of the public schools for no other reason than being born Jewish."

Saharovici said she could easily have become one of the unknown children of the Holocaust whose memories were honored on an overcast March morning in Horn Lake. "Only by the grace of God did I survive. Now, I'm very impressed that in a Southern state, with a small Jewish population and with a history of discrimination, that it would be a place to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive."

Such is the vision taking shape as part of the redevelopment plans for the old Circle G Ranch in Horn Lake, once owned by Elvis and used as a honeymoon getaway after he and Priscilla married in 1967. On the surface, it's an unlikely pairing  a memorial to children of the Holocaust and a planned tourist draw for legions of Elvis fans.

But, organizers say, it makes sense if you accept that providence drives all things.

"This is where it's supposed to be," project organizer Kat Joslin said confidently as she discussed the relationship that has developed between the Florida-based owners of Circle G and the Unknown Child Foundation, the nonprofit entity behind plans to construct a memorial for children of the Holocaust.

The memorial, eventually envisioned as a complex housing a memorial park as well as educational programs and scholarships, has a price tag of $1.5 million  a number you'll see repeated several times in the unfolding of this tale. Joslin said Wednesday's launch of the Foundation is intended to give a boost to fundraising, with a goal of breaking ground on a complex within 18 months.

Rick Wienecke, a Canadian artist, was commissioned to do a sculpture that will be a part of the memorial park. A small model of the planned sculpture shows a child leaning against the inside of a crematorium door in a fetal position. The other side shows a replica of the oven doors at Auschwitz.

"I'm really happy to be standing on the piece of property that's going to house the project," Wienecke said. "I thank you for sticking with this because you have to, you really have to. It's an incredibly important project."

Wienecke added he was especially moved by the symbolism of 1.5 million pennies collected by area schoolchildren to represent each of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. The pennies show, Wienecke noted, the relatively worthless value attached to the lives of Jewish children.

The Penny Project, launched in 2009 at Horn Lake Middle School as a way to raise student awareness about the Holocaust, led to formation of the Unknown Child Foundation to keep the work alive, which led to the serendipitous relationship with Circle G owners as they sought ways to develop the sprawling ranch.

Call it a lucky series of inspirations that somehow found their way to one another, or call it  as many did Wednesday  the playing out of a divine mission.

Either way, Saharovici, the lost child who lived to tell her story, is gratified.

"By preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its moral lessons, we tell the world that such atrocities should never happen again to Jews or to any other people in the world," Saharovici said. "I don't want my past to become anyone else's future."
March 22, 2016  Horn Lake Intermediate School dedicated its new Principal's Pavilion on Tuesday morning. Homer Skelton donated the funds to build the structure, which will be used by students, faculty and the community as an outdoor classroom and activity area. The pavilion is behind the school, and it has benches for seating that convert to desks. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE March 22, 2016  Horn Lake Intermediate School dedicated its new Principal's Pavilion on Tuesday morning. Homer Skelton donated the funds to build the structure, which will be used by students, faculty and the community as an outdoor classroom and activity area. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)

By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal

At times during Tuesday morning's dedication of the Principal Pavilion at Horn Lake Intermediate School, Principal Rosie King's reference to being "blown away" nearly became a literal observation.

But, the strong wind gusts that buffeted the outdoor gathering notwithstanding, King's double entendre was primarily aimed at the newly constructed gathering area she and teachers hope will become a key addition to the learning experience.

King said she was blown away that a $32,000 grant from Homer Skelton, the area auto dealership maven and longtime benefactor of DeSoto schools, was making the open-air pavilion possible as a way to enhance education for the school's 1,100 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.

"We know students cannot reach their educational goals without strong relationships with teachers, principals and their classmates," King said, adding that the outdoor gathering area provides a way to forge those relationships in a more casual environment. "(This pavilion) is an anchor. It's a way to find sunshine in the midst of the testing stresses of school."

The simple structure  a concrete foundation with a roof and wooden benches that convert to tables by flipping down the bench's back  is behind the school and adjacent to a playground, a carry-over from the facility's past life as a middle school.

The lower grade-level intermediate school moved to the campus on Horn Lake Road 10 years ago after the middle school moved to a new location.

"This campus is beautiful and spacious, and we're thankful for it," King said. "But in many ways, it still looks like a middle school. We believe this pavilion is the beginning of making our school look more like an elementary school.

"As our parents drive past when they pick up their children, they see the pavilion. They're excited knowing their children are going to enjoy their day here. We want to grow successful readers and writers, and this outdoor area is a beautiful setting for doing that."

Uses planned for the pavilion include a reading area, hosting parent picnics and occasionally having an outdoor cafeteria.

School district Superintendent Cory Uselton said Skelton's gift to make the pavilion possible is just the latest example of the car dealer's support of DeSoto schools.

"We were able to do this without spending any taxpayer dollars," Uselton said. "Over the past 13 years, he (Skelton) has given $1.5 million to the district for technology, library and classroom grants, and other needs."

Most recently, Uselton said Skelton donated $150,000 to equip the district's new Career Technology Center in Horn Lake.

Skelton was in Florida for medical reasons, but spokeswoman Dot Maki said Skelton enjoys supporting the county and its schools.

"He just loves this county," Maki said, "and wants to do what he can for it."
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"There are some liberal socialists who won't be happy until they control every dollar in the state of Tennessee."

Really? Where is the proof?

That quote, however, was recently uttered by state Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, the sponsor of a resolution making its way through the legislature that could, through amending the state constitution, take away a judge's power to rule on the issue of how much money is adequate for schools.

Resolution advocates, surprisingly including Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican, contend the move to amend the constitution is an effort to prohibit "activist judges." We say surprisingly for White because he has been a strong proponent for quality public education. But maybe that does not include quality funding.

We concur, though, with opponents that the resolution is an unjustified pre-emptive effort to circumvent lawsuits challenging how public schools are funded. Shelby County Schools' lawsuit argues both inequity and inadequacy in the way the state funds schools. A lawsuit out of Hamilton County argues just the inadequacy part.

This also appears to be yet another attempt by conservative Republican legislators to control the state's judiciary under the pretense of protecting Tennesseans from overreaching activist judges.

Truth be told, the resolution is overreach, an effort to upset the long accepted balance between the three branches of state government  the administrative, legislative and judicial.

To become part of the Tennessee Constitution, the resolution must win approval of both houses of the General Assembly this year by simple majorities, then win approval by two-thirds majorities of both the House and Senate during the next two-year term  in either 2017 or 2018. It would then go on the November 2018 statewide ballot for voter ratification or rejection.

The amendment would keep wording that says the General Assembly "shall provide" funding for education, but adds the caveat "in such manner as the General Assembly may determine."

Dunn said the new language is to "clarify" that the legislature, not judges, sets policy and funding levels.

On the surface, that sounds great, but SCS and Hamilton County are making a legitimate argument that the state Basic Education Program (BEP), the funding formula through which state education dollars are generated and distributed to Tennessee schools, is short changing school districts.

SCS officials said that if the legislature fully funded BEP, it would produce $103 million more in funding per year for the cash-strapped district. Maybe that is what the resolution's supporters are trying to avoid.

Dunn's resolution is simply another example of the GOP, the party that promotes less government, in reality being the party of overreach  the party that has no trouble passing bills that usurp the reasonable prerogatives of local governments, private businesses and institutions of higher learning.

Now, they are trying to uncut the independence of the state's judiciary.
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Murphy Farley

Bartlett

De-annexation bill HB 779 passed 68 to 25 giving residents in gestapo-like annexations the right to vote to stay in the municipality or be de-annexed.

Unfortunately, it only pertains to Tennessees largest municipalities and does not address the smaller cities such as Bartlett that used the same tactics as these larger cities in tramping over the rights of its citizenry in not notifying and not giving these citizens the right to vote on their own destiny.

They have taken tax money and have not and do not intend to provide any services that were not available prior to these unethical and dishonest annexations.

This fight is not finished and overall is a big victory for de-annexation proponents.
SHARE Raul Lopez

By Raul Lopez, Special to Viewpoint

President Barack Obama made history this week by becoming the first sitting United States President in nearly nine decades to visit the communist island of Cuba.

As a Cuban that fled to the United States seeking refuge from Communism, it has been tough to watch images of the president shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro and legitimizing a government that has been systematically repressing its people for half a century.

My family and I were among the fortunate ones to have left Cuba once Fidel Castro took over. Still, it was tough for my family to leave all they ever knew, not knowing when they would see our extended family once again.

Because of this experience, I have made it a point in my life to fight and defend freedom. I am proud to call the United States and Tennessee my home.

Sadly, back in Cuba, little has changed for most of the Cuban people. When Castro took over, he promised the people prosperity and a high standard of living for all. Unfortunately, the only ones that have seen their incomes rise are those in the Castro regime, and those closest to it.

For the majority of the population, basic necessities, including groceries, are scarce. Many Cubans, as a result, must find additional work to make ends meet. In fact, many well-educated Cubans, including doctors choose to work as cabdrivers instead because the pay is better  the definition of an upside down economy.

To maintain their iron grip on the island, the Castro regime has little tolerance for dissenting voices. It frequently abuses and imprisons political dissidents, including Las Damas en Blanco (Ladies in White), an all-women human rights group in Cuba. Just a few months ago, the Castro government arrested more than 100 individuals peacefully protesting on Human Rights Day. And just before President Obama arrived in Havana, there was another round of arrests of critics of the despotic regime.

This is why well-respected organizations like the Human Rights Watch have found egregious human rights abuses in the island.

There are reports that the Castro regime has been escalating their attacks on people of faith and places of worship. In fact, according to the Cato Institute citing a report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, "there were 220 specific violations of religious liberties in 2014, but 2,300 last year," many of which "involved entire churches or, in the cases of arrests, dozens of victims."

The irony is that back when President Obama was first running for the White House he said that normalizing relations with Cuba could only occur after the Cuban government freed all political prisoners and took some basic steps toward freedom.

None of this has happened, which makes the president's visit to Cuba all the more surprising. It is sad that one of the lasting legacies of the Obama administration will be to help prop up a communist regime that embodies the opposite of all America holds dear, including human rights, religious freedom, democracy and economic freedom.

I hope I am proven wrong for the sake of the Cuban people and all that suffer under the communist regime, but there is nothing to indicate that things will change for the better as long as the Castro brothers are in charge. The people of Cuba deserve better.

Raul Lopez of Nashville is the executive director for Latinos for Tennessee, a nonprofit, non partisan organization dedicated to promoting faith, family, fiscal responsibility and freedom to the Latino community in Tennessee. For more information on Latinos for Tennessee, visit: http://latinosfortn.com.
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By Clarence Page

Thank you, Merrick Garland. Your stalled appointment to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama gives me another outrage to write about besides Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

This grateful pundit salutes you, although unfortunately the stubborn refusal of Republican leaders to grant you a proper hearing  and up-or-down confirmation vote  in the Senate comes straight out of the Trump school of single-finger social graces.

Judge Garland, 63, who grew up in the Chicago area and serves on the District of Columbia Circuit of the U. S. Court of Appeals, comes highly recommended by experts from both parties, including three of the 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I believe he is not only a fine nominee, but is as good as Republicans can expect from this administration," said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah about Garland in 1995, after President Bill Clinton nominated Garland for his current seat. "In fact, I would place him at the top of the list."

But now that President Obama has put Garland on the top of his list to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Garland's name joins dozens of other judicial and nonjudicial appointees stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The reasons for the stall are quite partisan. Republicans are horrified by the idea of a liberal Obama appointee replacing Scalia, who anchored the high court's conservative wing for three decades. As a result, they're giving Garland what I call "The Godfather" brushoff: It's business, your honor. Political business. Don't take it personally.

But rather than admit that out loud, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declared about an hour after Scalia's death was announced that Senate Republicans would not consider a replacement until after the next president is in office  next year.

Is that in the Constitution? No. It is in McConnell's head. The Constitution says the president is supposed to appoint and the Senate is supposed to advise and consent  vote up or down  on the nominee.

But the Constitution does not put a time limit on the process or even number how many justices sit on the court. The Framers of the Constitution apparently expected reasonable people to reason together in settling such technical issues. If so, the Framers did not anticipate leadership as unreasonable as the current crop.

"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice," said McConnell about an hour after Scalia's death as confirmed. Oh? So the voice of the people who elected Obama twice to a job that does not expire until early next year is no longer good enough? Since when does the voice of the people have an early expiration date?

Obama foiled many right-wing expectations when he chose a popular centrist and consensus builder who has fans in both parties. Do Senate Republicans really expect to do better if, say, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton wins in November?

Sen. Jeff Flake didn't think so. The Arizona Republican met with Garland last week and suggested a compromise: The judge might be considered in the traditional "lame-duck" period. That's the period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, before the newly elected Congress is seated.

It would be better for Republicans to lock in Obama's centrist choice, Flake reasoned, than take their chances with whomever a new President Clinton might appoint. "If we happen to lose the election," he said, "then I think we ought to push him through quickly, if we can."

That makes sense. But even the possibility of a President Hillary Clinton nominating, say, a radical lefty feminist out of a Rush Limbaugh nightmare did not move McConnell to budge off his No-Obama-Appointee position.

Gee, if I were President Obama, I might begin after a while to take some of this personally.

I'm reminded of McConnell's declaration in 2010 that "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Instead Obama became the first U.S. president since Ronald Reagan to win more than half of the popular vote in two elections.

But those apparently are not "the people" to whom McConnell cares to listen. Not while the president whom they elected is still in office.

Clarence Page is a columnist for the Tribune Content Agency. Contact him at cpage@tribune.com.
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By Gary Stein

Wow. That didn't take long.

With news of the Brussels airport attack filtering around the world in the morning, most people didn't even realize what had happened.

But that didn't stop Republican presidential candidates from politicizing the whole thing.

From Donald Gasbag: "I would close up our borders to people until we figure out what's going on.  We are taking people without real documentation. We don't learn. I will tell you I've been talking about this for a long time. This whole thing will get worse as time goes by."

Ted Cruz, the expert on everything, went on Twitter.

"Radical Islam is at war with us," he tweeted "For over 7 years we have had a president who refuses to acknowledge this reality."

All of this, of course, before anybody really had all the details.

In another tweet, Cruz said: "That ends on January 20, 2017, when I am sworn in as president."

Cruz then called a news conference, saying "This is a war." He called on the U.S. to use "full force and fury" against ISIS.

I assume Ted means carpet bombing. He loves sending people to war. As long as it's not him or a family member.

We have dozens dead. We have airports all over the world adding extra security. And now we have the GOP trying to score political points. Quickly.

Class. Real class. Amazing.

Gary Stein is a columnist for the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Contact him at gstein@sunsentinel.com.
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Who is helping the FBI crack the San Bernardino shooters phone? Its Israels Cellebrite, according to Reuters, which cited a report in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

And while the outside help is not coming from John McAfee, who was going to eat his shoe on live TV if his team could not crack the encryption, McAfee likened the method to a universal master key.

McAfee told CNBC, I promise you that [Apple CEO] Tim Cook and Apple are not going to be happy with the solution that the FBI has come up with because it is almost as bad as a universal master key. While he didnt say the exact method the FBI would use, he added, It's much, much easier to break into a phone using this technique. I'm not fond of it.

Not too many privacy advocates are fond of Cellebrite products. By at least 2011, Cellebrites Universal Forensic Extraction Devices (UFED) could reportedly extract and decrypt even deleted data from 95% of cellphones; thats the same year Michigan State Police were discovered to be using the devices which could snarf the data from phones in one-and-a-half minutes. This lickety-split method prompted concerns that police might suck the data from a phone during something as innocent as a traffic violation stop.

Three years ago, the ACLU warned, "Intrusive cell phone searches are becoming ever easier for law enforcement officers to conduct. Companies such as Cellebrite produce portable forensics machines that can download copies of an iPhones existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags in minutes. This type of equipment, which allows the government to conduct quick, easy phone searches, is widely available to law enforcement agenciesand not just to federal agents.

As for the passcode on the San Bernardino shooters phonepfft, no problem. Current promotional data (pdf) for Cellebrites UFED Touch solution says it includes the ability for the physical extraction and decoding while bypassing pattern lock / password on Android OS devices and more. The UFED Pro series (pdf) can still extract data from 95% of devices as well data from 59% of third-party apps, 45% of wireless cellular providers and 32% of cloud providers.

Cellebrite even claims it can decode messages sent via the Telegram app, which is supposedly a popular tool for ISIS terrorists to spread propaganda. And, as noted by The Next Web, Leeor Ben-Peretz, vice president of the companys forensics division, told Israeli news site Haaretz that the UFED is capable of unlocking Samsungs (brand new) Galaxy S7.

While Cellebrite has had a solution for unlocking iOS 8 devices with no risk of device wipe or hardware intervention, a Cellebrite tweet from October 2015 claimed it could extract data from iOS 9. If that was possible, then why didnt the FBI just jump on that opportunity? After all, the Yedioth Ahronoth article said the FBI signed a contract with Cellebrite in 2013. Many people have pointed to other ways the FBI could obtain the data without trying to force a backdoor in Apples products.

Documentation from Cellebrite claims that  from iOS devices  it can extract, decode and recover deleted data such as messages, apps data, calls history, contacts and much more.

Decoded data includes:

Call logs, Voicemails, Contact lists, Locations (WiFi, cell towers and GPS fixes), Images, Video files, Text messages (SMS), MMS, Emails, Notes, Installed applications and their usage, User dictionary, Calendar, Bluetooth devices pairing history, Maps cache.

It can scoop out browser data, bookmarks, history and cookies as well as decode data from the followings apps:

Skype, Whatsapp, Viber, Fring, MotionX, AIM, TigerText, Facebook Messenger, Twitterrific, Textfree, Google+, Facebook, Foursquare, Garmin, TomTom, Waze, TextNow, Dropbox, Yahoo Messenger, Ping Chat, Twitter, Touch (new ping chat), Find My iPhone, LinkedIn, iCQ, Kik Messenger, Google Maps, Kakaotalk, QIP, Evernote, Vkontakte, Mail.ru.

If Cellebrite successfully helps the FBI  and the company refuses to comment on if it is helping  then that should be the end of the FBI trying to twist Apples arm and force a backdoor. For now at least.
Jonathan Fahey 92 named APs global health editor

Jonathan Fahey 92

Jonathan Fahey 92, a veteran business reporter and editor, has been named global health editor for The Associated Press.

In his new role, Fahey will oversee a team of journalists covering medicine, public health, the health care industry and consumer health issues.

"We are fortunate to have such a talented editor as Jon to lead this team," Marjorie Miller, APs vice president of global news and enterprise, said in an announcement. "He is enthusiastic, driven and a creative thinker. He enjoys experimenting with new forms of story-telling for all platforms."

Fahey, who was an English major and theater minor at Connecticut College, started his career as a news clerk or "gopher" for the New York Times. He went on to write for the Concord Monitor in Concord, N.H., before spending the majority of his career covering energy for Forbes and The Associated Press.

"I was a curious person, and I've always loved papers," Fahey told a group of student journalists when he visited campus in 2012. "I sort of expected that this was where I'd end up."

March 23, 2016
Thank you Chancellor, for giving Suffolk monies for two vital infrastructure projects: new river crossings in Ipswich and Lowestoft. This investment will further revitalise the economy in both areas, by releasing vacant land for development and improving traffic congestion.



In return, Suffolk could save Osborne a few billions.



We have a perfectly serviceable military airbase at Mildenhall in Suffolk, which could be developed as a freight hub when it is shortly decommissioned, instead of clogging up either Heathrow or Gatwick and the surrounding areas to improve freight movement. It would be a cheaper option, delivered more quickly and easily, creating much-needed jobs. Instead, it is to be a housing development  what a waste. Of course we need more housing, but whats the point of plonking more homes in a jobs desert? Create the jobs and housing will follow.



Furthermore is a new Dartford crossing really essential for a reported 14 per cent benefit, when it will destroy peoples (brand new) homes and the environment? Why does all the freight- which creates the traffic jams round the M25 as it is distributed to other regions  have to go into Tilbury and the London Gateway, instead of being encouraged to use the excellent Harwich, Felixstowe, Ipswich, or other East Coast ports?



In case you werent aware, Harwich handles 40 per cent of UK freight; Felixstowe is Britains biggest and busiest container port, welcoming 3,000 ships a year and offering services to 400 ports around the globe. Ipswich is one of Associated British Portss 21 UK ports, which has 25 per cent of the UKs seaborne trade. All have access to the Midlands, London, and across the UK. They are also on the EUs doorstep  something which will continue to be important, whatever happens in the referendum.



So surely, the real question here is to analyse the freight industry and how it operates: what comes in and goes out as well as where, how and where it is then redistributed.



Without this information, and a long-term National Freight Strategy for the future, it is impossible to make major infrastructure decisions, and this carries serious implications for us all. Just because something has been done in a particular way for generations, doesnt mean that it is right for the 21st century, especially when advances in technology mean that purchasing habits are also changing.



There is no need to employ expensive consultants. With most freight companies frustrated by the UKs poor infrastructure, compared with the Continent, which adds to journey times and costs I guess the industry would be more than happy to proffer its views. Local authorities/Local Enterprise Partnerships could help to collate the information  perhaps as a joint research project with universities and a Parliamentary sub-committee to examine the options. But a time limit on delivering the report would be essential for co-ordinated decision-making!



The Treasury could offer grant funding to support this vital industry with new systems and facilities to make the whole business of freight distribution in, out and around the UK (and transfers into Europe and around the globe) more efficient.



Logistics companies could work together, developing joint warehousing / distribution centres in strategic locations, with shared back-office and computer systems, security, accounting and purchasing, personnel, payroll and legal services, making them more efficient; they could even pool drivers, vehicles and skilled maintenance. A quick win would be fewer trucks driving around empty when theyve dropped off their loads. Costs would be dramatically reduced in what is a fragmented but very competitive industry, and import/export businesses would undoubtedly welcome the increased professionalism, whilst communities would benefit from more quality employment, both directly and indirectly related to the sector. Start-ups would be encouraged, relieving pressure on existing contractors, whilst creating new jobs.



In East Anglia, for example, the ports alone employ thousands of skilled people, and their owners have invested millions in expanding their operations to meet growing international demand. Consequently, logistics is also a key employer, with both large world-class firms, as well as small operators, providing specialist services.



Yet, the local economy is held back from further capitalising on these advantages because of an inferior road and rail network increasingly struggling to link the East with the Midlands and North (as well as London) and the key regional conurbations as traffic volumes escalate. Currently manageable, this lack of capacity needs to be addressed and joined up solutions implemented.



The proposed enhancement of facilities at Heathrow or Gatwick, and Dartford, would not only add to the congestion on the M25, but also the A12/A14, M11, M1 and M6, exacerbating current problems.



Diverting more freight activity to the Eastern region, with relatively modest investment to improve the infrastructure, could revolutionise not just its economy, but bring huge benefits to the Midlands and, indirectly, the Northern Powerhouse. So please will the relevant authorities, both national and local, including the London Mayor, consider the wider picture. Please think and act strategically, to take pressure off the south east, reduce pollution and support economic growth elsewhere.
Tories fall to third in Welsh seat projections

Wales Online reports that according to the latest polls, Plaid Cymru are likely to overtake the Conservatives as the second-largest party in the Welsh Assembly. This is in a scenario where UKIP break into the chamber for the first time, with seven seats, down from earlier projections of nine.

This would be an unexpected fillip for the nationalists, who fell into third after the 2011 Assembly election and have seemed to have been struggling under Leanne Wood, their left-wing leader.

However Professor Roger Scully, the academic behind the analysis, does warn that the sampling for these polls was conducted in the aftermath of the partys successful conference.

Labour are significantly behind their position prior to the previous election and look set to lose at least three seats: one apiece to the Tories, Plaid, and Liberal Democrats.

The Conservatives reportedly have their eye on several more where they won the parallel Westminster constituency in 2015.

This comes in the same week that a former Plaid leader put his name to a report from the APPG on Reform, Decentralisation, and Devolution in the United Kingdom which argued that Britain should no longer be seen as a nation.

The authors apparently argue that it should instead be viewed merely as a resource-pooling alliance.

SNP shy away from 50p rate as Labour strike left on tax

As Iain Martin points out on CapX, there is a substantial section of the SNP which insists on ever-more powers for the Scottish Parliament in order, they say, to introduce red-blooded socialism.

Yet whilst the Nationalists have pledged not to match George Osbornes raising of the 40p income tax rate threshold if re-elected in May, they have failed to follow through on earlier suggestions that they would reintroduce the 50p rate.

This has led to much mirth on the part of centre-right commentators on Twitter, but does pose a serious question: how long will the partys Westminster wing be able to credibly maintain their radical poses in the face of an Edinburgh administration which preaches the virtues of the Laffer Curve?

Now as remote from power as the SNP are proximate, Labour have felt free to make bolder pledges: Kezia Dugdale claims her party would scrap Council Tax if elected, and replace it with a new property levy. John Swinney, the Nationalist finance minister, has used a long-term freeze in council tax to increase Edinburghs control over local government.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims that the British and Scottish governments are on another collision course over Holyroods new funding settlement, with three quarters of a billion pounds per annum in funding at stake.

Unionists and liberals refuse to commemorate 1916 Rising

Non-nationalist politicians in Northern Ireland are refusing to participate in events which commemorate the Easter Rising, the 1916 rebellion which, although opposed by the great majority of Irish people at the time, is now prt of the founding myth of the Republic of Ireland.

The Democratic Unionists have already ruled themselves out of a dinner with Michael D Higgins, the Irish President, in Belfast and the Ulster Unionists may follow. They point out that the rebellion was a virtual non-event in the Ulster capital.

David Ford, the NI Executives justice minister and leader of the liberal, cross-community Alliance Party, has also refused to take part in commemorations and has said hes uncomfortable about the Republic of Ireland marking the efforts of those who engaged in violence  especially given that several generations of IRA terrorists have found their justification in the Rising.

Nationalist MP in property row with Edinburgh magnate

Joanna Cherry, the Nationalist MP for Edinburgh South West, has found herself in a row with a Scottish businessman who claims that she pulled out of a property deal and left him thousands of pounds out of pocket.

According to the Scotsman, Paul Basford claims that Cherrys office entered into a verbal agreement to take over the lease of a vacant shop, on condition that work was done on it. After he had completed it, and incurred legal fees, they allegedly pulled out.

Meanwhile Michelle Thomson, the ex-SNP MP for Edinburgh West, is looking to net a 400,000 profit on the sale of her home, the Daily Record reports. She lost the Nationalist whip after coming under investigation for multiple instances of mortgage fraud.

McDonnell attacked in Commons for IRA links

Conservative MPs have attacked the Shadow Chancellor for his connexions to Republican terrorism after he questioned George Osbornes fitness for office.

The News Letter reports that they highlighted his 2003 comments about how the bombs and bullets of the IRA were responsible for the peace process, with Tom Tugendhat and James Cartlidge taking the lead.

In other Budget news Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East Antrim and former finance minister of the NI Executive, echoed Disraeli as he warned the Chancellor against creating two nations out of the rich and poor.
In one purblind, puritanical phrase, Jeremy Corbyn showed why he will never, except by accident, be any good at Prime Ministers Questions.

David Cameron had just tried to amuse the House by quoting from the wonderful list in todays Times which places Labour MPs in five groups: core group (the 19 who are most loyal to Corbyn), core group plus (56), neutral but not hostile (72), core group negative (49) and hostile (36).

A well-informed left-wing journalist this morning assured me these figures are too favourable to Corbyn: his MPs are actually even less loyal to him. But even without that adjustment, the list was sure to prove irresistible to Cameron.

How did Corbyn prepare himself against the mockery which was bound to fall on him? It is not the task of this column to attempt to improve his feeble performances.

But it shouldnt have been beyond the wit of man, or even the wit of Corbyn, to remark that Iain Duncan Smith was not on anyones list, but has shown what the Tories think of Cameron.

Cameron finished his sallies about the list  which had not come across quite as well as he hoped, for Labour backbenchers broke the flow a bit by shouting IDS and other insults across the Chamber  with the line, I thought I had problems.

Instead of assuring the Prime Minister that he does indeed have problems, Corbyn said in a starchy tone: If I could invite the Prime Minister to leave the theatre and return to reality.

What madness! The theatre is reality in heightened form. Great theatre tells the truth, and so does great political theatre.

Lincoln at Gettysburg told the truth, and told it so well that he made an imperishable impression on his listeners and on every later generation. For Lincoln the great moralist liked nothing better than to go and see a play, and was in love with words.

Corbyn no doubt considers the word theatre to be a synonym for frivolity, escapism, illicit pleasure, idle diversion and all the other things of which Puritans so disapprove that as soon as they could they banned it.

But theatre can be done in any number of different ways, from the most tragic to the most comic, or any combination. And PMQs only works if it is dramatic: if the issues of the hour are condensed into a very few words, and heightened for effect.

Some of us had hoped that like one of the kitchen sink dramatists of the 1950s, Corbyn might achieve great things, and force Cameron  for fear of being seen as a orotund relic of the past  to raise his game.

Corbyn could, as it were, become the new John Osborne: except that Corbyn himself didnt even want to try that, and was certainly not going to hire anyone who might help him to write the lines needed to get under Camerons skin.

It is perfectly true that the theatre of PMQs is often badly done, and can degenerate into a low-grade version of Punch and Judy.

But the answer to bad theatre is good theatre, not no theatre. Corbyn adds to all his other faults a self-righteous, narrow-minded determination to destroy the drama of politics. The sooner his comrades push him off a cliff, the better.
MetLife is the largest life insurance company in the United States. About 100 million consumers worldwide rely on it for life insurance, annuities, and other safety net products. But is it too big to fail?

A federal judge says it isn't and yesterday struck down the U.S. government's determination that MetLife needs to build up its capital reserves and submit to tight regulation to ensure its financial well-being.

"From the beginning, MetLife has said that its business model does not pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States," the company's chief executive, Steven Kandarian, said in a statement.

The decision is seen as a victory for big business, and it was quickly followed by a report that General Electric, which owns Genworth, might be next in line to challenge its designation as "systemically important" to the U.S. economy. Wall Street is also pressing AIG and Prudential to respond.

Dodd-Frank

The "too big to fail" test was created by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. Instituted after the financial crisis of 2008, it was initially aimed at banks but was later extended to other major companies who were so important to the economy that their collapse could trigger another crisis.

MetLife is one of the few financial powerhouses that did not receive any government assistance during the financial crisis.

Kandarian has argued that life insurance companies don't carry the same risks as other financial institutions, since in most cases, funds are not subject to immediate withdrawal. Most life insurance policies, for example, pay out only when the policyholder dies.

Kandarian also contends that insurance companies are adequately supervised at the state level. That argument may not sit well with consumer advocates, who just this week formed organizations in Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. They plan to pressure insurance commissioners, attorneys general, and state lawmakers to hold public hearings on the proposed mergers of health insurers, such as Aetna with Humana and Anthem with Cigna.

A U.S. Treasury spokesman took issue with the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer, saying regulators had conducted "a rigorous analysis of MetLife, including extensive engagement with the company, and determined that material financial distress at MetLife could pose ... a threat to the financial system."

Effect on consumers

What does all this mean for the consumers who buy insurance? To hear Wall Street tell it, it means that MetLife will be able to price its products more competitively, since it will not be held to tighter capital rules. It would also be more easily able to return more money to shareholders and sell off parts of the company, according to analysts quoted by Insurance Journal.

MetLife's Kandarian has indicated a desire to "separate" one or more retail units, most likely the variable annuity product line. Variable annuities are closely tied to stock market fluctuations and are thus more volatile.

The issue came up at Wednesday's White House briefing, where spokesman Josh Earnest declined to respond to the specific ruling but said that "one core component of Wall Street reform legislation that was passed early in President Obamas presidency included giving regulators the tools that they need to regulate non-bank financial institutions."

"This is one of the lessons that weve learned from the Great Recession  that its not just banks on Wall Street that could potentially shake the foundation of our financial system if they make a bunch of risky bets that go bad without proper oversight. Worse yet, it could also put taxpayers on the hook for bailing them out," Earnest said.
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Our Socioeconomic System Is Killing Us

By Lionel Anet

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Civilisations driving force is to dominate the maximum number of people and land area, as its for capitalism, but with fossil fuels; it attained that through violence and deceit. On the other hand, capitalism uses the socioeconomic power as the new supreme controller of oppression instead of relying solely on the sword and a spiritual belief. However, oppressing a section of peopled will oppress all, including nature; one cant be free if we deny freedom to others. Today the socioeconomic system is the overlord oppressor. It oppresses our mind by confining our thinking within the present day economic needs to exploit the planet and its life. This to satisfy those of us, who are seduced by the competition for power, through wealth, measured and with created money.

As everyone and nature are now oppressed and at the mercy of an economic system thats erratic and largely unpredictable, but worst still, is its dependence on population growth as an easy means to maintain a pretence of economic success. Thiss coupled with a persistent over exploitation of our forest, top soil, and water from rivers and ground water; they eventually wont be able to support us as the planet heats up. Military build-up and its use are counteracting economic difficulties for the time been, but exasperating the above difficulties.

We are valued, as nature is, by the part we take in growing of the economy; its our reason to live. Thiss unique for any life form, its one of many forms of insane positions that the latest method of civilisation has adopted to maximise its exploitation of people and the planet for the fewest. This economy is pervasive and ranges from the clear to the nebulose; we work, live and will die for it, soon, if we dont use the economy as a system to give us the best life possible as other life forms do.

But theres nothing as insane as changing the chemical composition of the biosphere thats known to heat the planet until it will have its own momentum, by producing more heating gases from the heat that those gases produced, (positive feedback). Life will gradually become unbearable in multitude of ways until we are doom. We do the insane to satisfy an insane economy, its the way our rulers force us to function and its the only reason we stayed with it.

We are now so close to an unliveable planet, that it has become in everyones interest to have an economy that function for us instead of working for an alien economy, as we are doing now. If we achieve that it will also automatically transform an exploitative economy to a cooperative economy that works within and as a part of nature. That means we will not only have cooperative social economy globally but cooperative with nature, which should save today young ones and give us all something worthwhile to achieve.

That turnaround will be the most difficult thing we ever need to do, therefore, we will need a united world to transform from that competitive ideology to a cooperative one quickly or die out. To survive this century we have no alternative but to fix social interactions and our relationship with the planet and its life. We can only have that if we have unity of purpose regardless of wealth or any other factors, and thatll generate a feeling of importance for all of us in our endeavour. It will be the most important engagement that people have to do to save themselves and maybe for all life. Survival is the prime drive for all life otherwise theres no life, so lets use it.

Its not possible to deal with that momentous task by fighting for it, but as its in everyones interest it should be possible to accomplish it. The 1%, have achieved what was on the whole what capitalism logical outcome would be, so its no use killing those wealthy ones and leaving the economy that can get out of control again. Its the economy thats the enemy not people, although we are to a certain extent what the economy has made us. However, it follows that an economy that centred its function as a part of nature and for our welfare will change the tone of societies and its people.

The situation we are up against has never occurred before, so theres no precedent, we must come up with a solution. The quality thats lacking in all civilisations is fairness; conversely, neoliberals have taken unfairness to its limit, whichs what may end life on earth. Its that competition to have more regardless of consequences that has created the unfairness and the depletion of vital resources thats may end all life. Therefore, if the purpose of that economy is to take advantage over others, then unfairness will be the outcome, but if due to our survival instinct kicking in, we change our ethos to cooperate and help one another then fairness should be the outcome and the way of life.

The difficulty is getting our wealthy and other controling people to see the dire danger they are facing and cant avoid with business as usual. Neoliberalism economic in particular encourages and demands growth in a competitive way on a world scale, which is now creating mounting stress for people, the ecosystem, aggravate by depleting resources. People are resilient but the ecosystem that we are a part of and dependant on to sustain ourselves is collapsing. This is due to our new god, a dysfunctional economy, that we are all working and living for. Economic systems that other lives have are to serve that particular life and thiss all we need its an economy that serves people. It will be easier to save ourselves and enhance our happiness than to destroy our life, let alone all life.

The only reason the 1% and their economist are demanding perpetual economic growth is due to an ignorance of physic and that is whats endangering them. Its a course thats grossly unsustainable in so many ways. Its understandable they dont see that danger as its obscured and distracted by pilling more money in front of themselves and protecting it from their competitors, or the demand that a little of it is taken from them. But instead, if we show concern for them and their descendants life, some of the 1% might see and understand the dire danger theyre facing. As well, the people who support them and depend on them might come to their senses, but those people may only investigate the state of the planet, if they dont feel threaten by the people they robbed, as they always been. The way we interact with one another will determent our survival, and it will also be so for the 1%. We all die this century or do our best to save everyone a task that will additionally enhance our self-esteem. We can have a common cause because we must to survive and that means we can change our lifestyle as we have a vital reason to do so. But if we continue to attack the wealthy, they will retaliate to protect their interest and no one will survive.

From bitter experience, we have no hope of overpowering those tycoons, but we never had such an all-encompassing threat to our and their survival, which gives us all a common need and viewpoint. So this opens up opportunity to discard many aspects of civilisation such as the glory of warfare, overfed people amongst starving fellows, palaces for a few and hovels for many. Those outcomes are due to a competitive spirit and its that spirit that is poisoning the way we interact with one another and nature.

Therefore, the most important thing we must do is to show our incredibly wealthy people, who are at present in charge of whats published that we are concerned for their life. So far weve tried to replace or kill those wealthy ones and in turn their fear has prevented many who could cooperate to think only of their fears of losing the wealth they took. Survival is our most powerful instinct and many of the wealthiest must have it to be alive, they also can look after themselves well and maintain such power. So if they know the desperate straight theyre in and can see that we are all in the same boat, cooperation will be seen as obvious.

Our gross dishonesty and incredible unfairness will kill us all. We cant keep taking increasing amount of energy and vital minerals as the effort used to get more energy and stuff will soon not be greater than whats use to get them. Returns from the diminishing non-renewable resources and also from the renewables are losing their margin of profit to expenditure to acquire those resources. That is people are living well beyond natures ability to sustain that life style. This is unfair as we are taking the lion share of renewable at the expense of other life and to be renewables they must get their energy from the sun and the earths spin. Those sources, power all our renewables so they will last as long as the earth spins and the sun produces the energy; its that energy that maintains life, which recycles all the substances that it needs. Pre-civilisation, the energy and life sustaining matter was in many ways shared roughly interchanging the use of sun light energy and minerals in unimaginable ways.

Lionel Anet is a member of Sydney U3A University of the Third Age, of 20 years standing and now a life member








Nationalism Is An Obstacle To Reason Like Dirt In A Clogged Drain

By Pratap Antony

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority. Arthur Schopenhauer - the artists philosopher - 17881860

Nationalism separates. It does not integrate. Nationalism is a tool - for fascists to divide and rule.

India began its treacherous journey into the dark from 1966 onwards, though the journey was gradual, it was inexorable, and reached a bleak extreme from 1975 to 1977. After this terrible and troubling time for India as a nation, successive governments have determinedly taken India onward on this perilous journey into the dark.

Since May 2014, the country is plunging headlong into a deeper and darker abyss than the cramping darkness of the emergency. We are now journeying through a merciless, destructive and terrifying darkness - and we have no perception of its depth.

We, the citizens of India, and our citizenship, is being threatened by the government in power, with words like nationalism and patriotism. And nationalism, though a simple word is a dangerous one. And naturally its antonym, anti-national, even more dangerous, comes into play to suppress free expression and dissent. Dissidents, whose views differ from that of the government in power are branded anti-national.

I had written in an earlier essay that: Nationalism is a political ideology. A social belief concerned with power and the balance of power. Paraphrasing George Orwell, I had said that Nationalism is an aggressive concept, an exaggerated and belligerent belief in national and religious superiority and glory. I had also written that religious nationalism is unthinking faith and intolerance; a convoluted muddle of religious conviction and political expediency overtaking critical reasoning.

And nationalism, as a word, has come into public consciousness with a big bang since May 2104, and has assumed dangerous levels of seepage, staining public discourse, especially amongst the television watching public, and has become a word to fear along with its antonym, anti-national. The words nationalist and anti-national are so fraught that they have become words of evil and are synonymous with anger, outrage and fear.

When the Government, or the party in power in a country, or a nation state, makes its reason for being the propagation of nationalistic fervour, and when this pernicious form of nationalism is used to rally the majority against minorities, it is unjust and dangerous to democracy.

Bigotry, in case we have forgotten, is intolerance towards those who hold different opinions from oneself. Xenophobia is hatred or fear of foreigners or of their politics or culture. And ethnocentricity is ones own preconceptions of cultural superiority while evaluating other cultures. Religious xenophobia as we all know, is being spread with a new-to-ancient-India, national political ideology called Hindutva.

The perverse nationalism that is being practiced in India today, in reality, aggressively feeds the flames of ethnocentricity, xenophobia, bigotry and religious xenophobia. None of which are the aspirational goals of the sane!

Hindutva is far removed from the ancient spiritual way of life and that has been practiced for the three or four thousand years in the sub-continent and has been called Hinduism for the last two hundred years or so. And the ideology of Hindutva, a form of political nationalism coined in 1923, is slyly being substituted as a national and cultural philosophy. Both, the idea of nationalism and Hindutva are unnecessary, and dangerous to the unity of the country.

Here is what Rabindranath Tagore wrote in 1917, in his book, Nationalism. ...this nationalism is a cruel epidemic of evil that is sweeping over the human world of the present age, and eating into its moral vitality.

"Where the spirit of Western nationalism prevails, the whole people are being taught from boyhood to foster hatred and ambitions by all kinds of means - by the manufacture of half-truths and untruths in history, by persistent misrepresentation of other races and their culture; unfavourable sentiments towards them, by setting up memorials of events, very often false, thus continually brewing evil menace towards neighbours and nations other that its own. This is poisoning the very fountainhead of humanity. Nationalism is holding up gigantic selfishness as the one universal religion for all nations of the world."

" the idea of the nation is one of the most powerful anaesthetics that man has ever invented. Under the influence of its fumes the whole people can carry out its systematic program of the most virulent self-seeking without being in the least aware of its moral perversion, in fact, feeling dangerously resentful when it is pointed out." Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore wrote this as a critique of nationalism and how destructive and divisive nationalist sentiment could be. It is more an essay than an academic work. But Tagore, being Tagore, just couldnt help being poetic.

Tagore's vision of unity and humanism and pluralism was truly ahead of his time. Remember that this was written in 1917, when we were under British subjugation. And he considered Nationalism to be a western import to India after he had observed the rise of nationalism in Europe - Russia, Germany and Italy.

He felt that nationalism was not intrinsically an Indian characteristic. India, he probably felt, was, too spiritual, too universal, too pluralistic and had a too great an appreciation of shared values to fall into the trap of nationalistic fervour. But if you remove the words Western Nationalism from the quoted passage, it very aptly applies to the atmosphere that prevails in India today.

Nationalism as a tool, or weapon of public consciousness had been used for short periods in the past by fascists; dictators like Mussolini in Italy, and Hitlers Nazis in Germany, but now in those countries, and perhaps in most countries in the world, nationalist and nationalism are bad words, and are not used any more.

In India today, warriors of conscience, defenders of human rights, conscientious journalists and right thinking citizens fight their way through narrowing and closing walls while aggressive misinformation about Indias cultural values are being spread.

Indias cultural values and centuries of pluralism are being torn apart as separatist

Hindutva forces divide the country, while state-approved guerrilla skirmishes take place with various branches of civil society, and with conscientious objectors all over the country - all the time! Strangling dissent. Plunging and sucking us into a darkness of primordial slime.

Warriors of conscience are meeting new enemies and fighting new and unexpected battles and are finding new and unexpected battlegrounds, while guerrilla attacks and ambushes are conducted at various places throughout the country. Political guerrillas are laying minefields, infiltrating institutions and establishments; choreographing scuffles and pitched battles; all the while using the language of nationalist propaganda to stamp down and stomp on our (Indian citizens) freedoms to express ourselves, expose basic injustices, and to disagree and criticise.

Imagine a government conducting an unending guerrilla war against its own people, especially against thoughtful people and people of conscience who think and speak and write!

Right now, the path followed by the government is Live and let die. People of all communities who do not follow their ideology of religious nationalism are killed and students are persecuted.

What India needs is less nationalism and more unification. More pluralism, more cohesion and more national integration. What we need is a policy of live and let live. A policy that lights up our path to unification and integration of communities, religions, regions, classes and castes. We need politicians who would kindle incandescent lights of reason - of wisdom and understanding, and banish this darkness. We need to awaken everyday and live in a country envisioned by Tagore:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake Rabindranath Tagore

Pratap Antony,Passive activist.Active pacifist

Blogs

pratapantony.blogspot.in

reformcommunications.blogspot.in








Mumbai To Bastar : People's Struggles Against State Repression And Dictatorship

By Bastar Solidarity Network, Mumbai

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural resources are being exploited by a handful of parasites..." - Bhagat Singh

Though Bhagat Singh said this quote almost a century back, the relevance for it could be understood in these times when the Indian state has unleashed a war of the most brutal nature on its own people. The Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh has seen intense militarization ever since counter-insurgency operations were unleashed against the Maoists under the purview of the State. Villages have been plundered, houses burnt and countless locals have been killed, encountered or otherwise driven away from their homesteads into crowded and roadside cabins-(ill)maintained by the State. As a part of the ongoing and severe escalation of state-sponsored violence, it was declared on February 2016 that a team of local-fighters mostly renegade and surrendered Maoists shall be armed and trained rapidly and deployed for counter-insurgency, which shows how a Salwa-Judum like situation is in continuation, in direct mockery of the Supreme Court of Indias order. Another alarming trend has been noted in recent times, where mass gang-rapes are being committed on tribal women from several villages in different parts of the Bastar Subdivision. It is almost impossible to lodge an FIR,because of the absolute impunity enjoyed by the police, paramilitary, district administration and all other counter-insurgency agents in such areas.

One of the fearless voices against these atrocities has been that of activist Soni Sori. In 2012 she was brutally raped and tortured while in police custody and her nephew Lingaram Kodopi, who had documented many instances of plunder, pillage and house-burning carried out by SalwaJudum and Green Hunt forces, was also badly tortured. The police officer who committed these crimes has since been bestowed with a Presidents Gold Medal for his valour. The present Inspector General of Bastar-SRP Kalluri, is also alleged to have committed such custodial rapes.As part of Soni Soris work to bring all these injustices to light, while attempting to file an FIR under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act against Kalluri she was attacked with a strong chemical substance on the evening of 20th February 2016, for which she had to undergo intensive treatment in New Delhi. Consequently back home, Kalluri and his men began threatening, harassing and assaulting her family members in an attempt to make them depose before the Special Investigating Tribunal (SIT) which was formed to investigate the attack on Soni. They harassed Linga Kodopi to an extent wherein now he feels that there is a threat to his life and hence announced 23rd March as the day he will end his life himself rather than getting killed in an encounter.

Meanwhile, journalists and researchers who were reporting on these atrocities and advocates representing many tribal people have been forced to leave Bastar because of immense pressure put on them and people close to them by the police as well as certain private vigilante groups. They were harassed and heckled through various measures such as burning of effigies, loud slogans and processions close to their place of residence, direct threats and stones pelted on private property. Fact Finding teams and human rights defenders have documented at least three cases of mass sexual violence in the past few months itself, where security forces have run amok in the villages, stripping women, playing with their naked bodies, indulging in gang-rape, looting their precious food supplies, and destroying their homes and granaries. The women were trying to pursue their complaints when their lawyers, journalists and other activists who supported them were forced out of the area. Their eviction was followed immediately by the chemical attack on Soni.

Given the well-known mineral-richness of the region and reports of all the upcoming mining and industrial projects, the real reason behind such large scale violence and plunder aimed at mass-displacement of tribal people can certainly be seen as not merely suppressing the Maoists.

In light of this terrible situation in Bastar Division, Chhattisgarh and Lingaram Kodopi's impending decision to take his own life after coming under various encounter threats from IG Kalluri, concerned citizens under the umbrella of Bastar Solidarity Network's Mumbai chapter, staged a demonstration at the very busy VT terminus of Mumbai , today 22nd March 2016 at 6pm. Around 60 people from different walks of life particiapted in it.The protsters distributed leaflets, after which they gathered at the entrance of the outstation side of VT to demonstrate and shout slogans. This created huge amount of interest int he crowd gathered around and they stopped by to understand the issue. The police got alarmed by the growing crowd and increasing number of people and hence started pushing the protesters. After a while,the protesters were asked to move towards Azad Maidan and they moved in the form of a march crossing the bus stand, station, subway and ultimately reaching outside Azad Maidan, shouting slogans etc. The police looked clearly agitated as the interest in the protest grew and started jotting down the protesters names. Protesters were only let off after all of them had given their names.

The protesters demanded the following :

1. Immediately stop all the physical and mental threats to Linga Kodopi and SoniSori and their family as well as harassment and forceful eviction of local and national journalists, activists and lawyers who take up cases for tribal people in militarized tribal regions such as the Bastar Division. 2. Create transparent fast-track courts to investigate and try all the rapes, tortures, false encounters, threats, murder and abductions perpetrated by various state forces and other vigilante groups in the entire Bastar division. 3. Immediately disband all the currently operative vigilante groups such as SamajikEktaManch, NaxalPeeditSangharshSamiti and armed militia comprising of renegade Maoists to prevent repetition of SalwaJudum-like situations. 4. Ensure proper implementation of the various laws which give control of indigenous and natural resources to the local community and prevent the corporate loot of such resources through mining and other projects. 5. Scrap sedition laws such as UAPA, CSPSA etc. where the criminal system has been seen to operate on a presumption-of-guilt premise for the accused and which have been regularly used to harass activists and keep innocent tribal people languishing as under-trials in district prisons for many years.

Bastar Solidarity Network, Mumbai

About Bastar Solidarity Network : Bastar Solidarity network was formed in the wake of increasing state repression in Bastar in the name of counter insurgency operations against Maoists. Bastar solidarity network is a group of concerned citizens connected through web and has expanded to many cities since its formation. Protests are currently taking place across the country against this repression








Condemn The Police Action On UoH, Release The students And Withdraw Police Forces From The Campus

By Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee strongly condemns the re-joining of the Vice-Chancellor P.Appa Rao who is facing the grave charges of killing Rohith Vemula, a research scholar of HCU. The same Vice-Chancellor after joining the duty, once again started targeting the students who are fighting to get justice for Rohith Vemula. Actually what happened in these two days is nothing but a planned conspiracy by high level policy makers of Indian government with the collaboration of Telangana government to suppress the students movement which emerged as a huge political and democratic force against the RSS and BJP and became a challenge to Modi government. When the governments at the central and state level failed to tackle the movement of the students, they turned it back to the starting point which is HCU. Indian government policy makers are thinking that the Telangana police is more suitable to tackle the movements, because the state has the forces such as Grey Hounds, Special Task Force which are familiar to suppress any kind of movement by using the force and tactics.

This committee received information that large numbers of students are missing, many are injured severely and several students and a few faculty members are detained by the police. The police even threatened the female students of sexual assault, passed sexist and racial comments apart from dragging them. VC Appa Rao with the nexus of police stopped the supply of water, closed the messes, cut off the electricity and internet services. In this second phase of HCU fight of justice for Rohith Vemula, there is clear indication that this time the Telangana government is providing all logistic support to the central government and VC Appa Rao, so that this movement cannot spread all over Telangana state. Now the situation at HCU is dangerous and the lives of students and faculty are under threat. All the fundamental rights of the students are snatched away; there is no space for democratic rights.

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee believes that the Hyderabad Central University is passing through tough time. One side is the notorious Telangana police and the other side is the fascist Hindutva state with the collaboration of the policy makers playing with the lives of the students and doing their maximum to brand them anti-social and anti-national. In fact it is greater conspiracy of the Hindutva forces to implement their fascist agenda at the universities of India by suppressing the democratic forces.

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee appeals to the people of India to stand with the students of University of Hyderabad in the greater interest of social justice and democratic rights.



1. Demand to sack and arrest VC Appa Rao immediately.

2. CLMC demands to release all the students and faculty who are detained and arrested by the police

3. Demand to withdraw the police force from the campus.

4. Restore the democratic rights of the students of University of Hyderabad.

Lateef Mohammed Khan

Gen. Secretary

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee. India

Amberpet, Hyderabad, A.P, India - 500013








A History Of Silencing Israeli Army Whistleblowers  From 1948 Until Today



By Jonathan Cook

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Nazareth: One might expect that only historians would care to revisit the 1948 war that created Israel. And yet the debate about what constitutes truth and myth from that period still provokes raw emotions.

Much rests on how those events are reconstructed, not least because the shock waves have yet to subside. Israelis fear, and Palestinians crave, a clearer picture of the past because it would powerfully illuminate the present. It might also influence the international communitys proposed solutions for the conflict.



That is why the unearthing of an Israeli soldiers letter from 1948 detailing what was probably the wars worst massacre  one long buried by Israel  is of more than historical significance.



It comes as Moshe Yaalon, the defence minister, this week accused Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organisation that exposes military abuses, of treason for collecting evidence from the armys current whistle-blowers.

Western understandings of the 1948 war  what Palestinians term their Nakba, or catastrophe  are dominated by an enduring Israeli narrative. Israels army, it is said, abided by a strict moral code. Palestinians left not because of Israels actions but on the orders of Arab leaders.



In this rendering, the Palestinians mass dispossession was the fault of the Arab world  and a solution for the millions of todays refugees lies with their host countries.



For decades Israels chief concession to the truth was an admission that a massacre took place just outside Jerusalem, at Deir Yassin.

Israel claimed the atrocity was the exception that proved the rule: a rogue militia killed more than 100 villagers, violating Israels ethical codes in the chaotic weeks before statehood was declared.

Palestinians have always known of dozens of other large massacres of civilians from 1948 carried out by the Israeli army. The barbarity, they say, was intended to terrorise the native population into flight. This account puts responsibility on Israel for taking the refugees back.



But history is written by the victor.



In recent decades a few brave Israeli scholars have chipped away at the official facade. In the late 1990s a Haifa University student collected testimonies from former soldiers confirming that over 200 Palestinians had been massacred at Tantura, south of Haifa. After the findings were made public, he was pilloried and stripped of his degree.



A decade ago, the historian Ilan Pappe wrote a groundbreaking book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, arguing that massacres like the one at Tantura were exploited to drive out Palestinians. He and others noted the suggestive titles of military operations such as Broom and soldiers orders to clean areas.

Pappe now lives in academic exile in the UK.

The biggest obstacle to shifting Israeli and western perceptions of 1948 has been the lack of a clear paper trail connecting the political leadership to the massacres. Israel locked away bundles of documentation precisely not to jeopardise the official narrative.

But things are changing slowly.

Last year a key deception was punctured: that Israel urged many of the wars 750,000 Palestinian refugees to return. In a letter to Haifas leaders shortly after the citys Palestinians were expelled, David Ben Gurion, Israels first prime minister, demanded that any return be barred.



Now another letter, located by Israeli historian Yair Auron and published last week for the first time in English by the Haaretz newspaper, trashes the idea of an ethical Israel army.



Written by Shabtai Kaplan, a soldier and journalist, the letter confirms long-held suspicions of a massacre  one that dwarfs Deir Yassin  at Dawaymeh, near Hebron. Soldiers executed hundreds of men, women and children who offered no resistance.



The massacre, near the end of the war, was carried out by elite troops under the command of Yitzhak Sadeh. He developed the Israeli armys famous doctrine of purity of arms.



Kaplan argues that the Dawaymeh massacre was part of a system of expulsion and destruction, with a clear goal: The fewer Arabs who remain, the better.

Kaplans letter was consigned to the vaults, as were so many other documents from 1948 that officials considered too damaging.

Nearly seven decades later, in an age of 24-hour news and social media, Israel is still desperately trying to conceal its darkest episodes by bullying the armys current whistle-blowers.



Last week Benjamin Netanyahus government launched an investigation into Breaking the Silence. On Sunday Netanyau called the collection of soldiers testimonies intolerable, indicating that he may try to ban the group.



It is hard not to see parallels between the cover-ups of 1948 and those of today. Breaking the Silences disclosures, especially those relating to Israels series of attacks on Gaza, each of which has left hundreds of civilians dead, similarly give the lie to the armys continuing claims of ethical behaviour.



In his 1948 letter, Kaplan observed of the failure by the political leadership to hold anyone to account for the massacres: Inaction is in itself encouragement.



Israels politicians hoped then that the Palestinians could be quickly terrorised from their lands. Decades later, the atrocities continue  and to the same end. But Israel must face facts: the days when such systematic brutality could be kept under wraps are now over.

Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israels Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). His website is www.jonathan-cook.net.

A version of this article first appeared in the National, Abu Dhabi.








CPDR Condemns The Brutal Police Attack On The Dalit Students And Faculty At Hyderabad Central University

By Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR)

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Yesterday, on 22 March 2016, the Hyderabad Police brutally attacked the students and faculty of the Hyderabad Central University who protested against resumption of Appa Rao Poddile, Vice Chancellor. Many students and two faculty members were badly injured in the police attack. Some 36 students along with two professors, K Y Ratnam and Tathagat Sengupta were taken into custody, the whereabouts of them remains unknown till today.

Appa Rao Poddile, the Vice Chancellor, who was sent on leave in the wake of students agitation that broke out over the suicide of a Dalit scholar, Rohith Vemula, joined back the University. Appa Raos prejudiced actions against the Dalit scholars were exposed to the world during the flare up over Rohiths death. He, along with Bandaru Dattatreya, and Smriti Irani are clearly responsible for his institutional murder. Hyderabad Police had accordingly booked him along with the union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, N Sushil Kumar, the HCU Unit of the ABVP and one Vishnu for abetment of suicide and also for violations of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. The cases under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code and also the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act were filed in Gachibowli police station under Cyberabad police commissionerate limits. In its characteristic obstinacy the HRD Ministry sent him back to take charge of the university.

While the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) were protesting with sit-in in front of the VCs lodge some elements indulged in stone throwing and causing damage to it in order to provide an alibi for the police to crack down. This has been the pet strategy of the Hindutva camp as the JNU slogan shouting and subsequent crack down on the innocent students revealed. The authorities should investigate and identify the culprit instead of charging the ASA students (and even faculty) for these acts without any proof.

Appa Rao had a history of anti-Dalit actions in the university. Rohith had written him a note insinuating how casteist environment in the university was alienating Dalit students. Any Vice Chancellor worth his salt would have been alarmed and counseled with him. However, Appa Rao has been so callous and incompetent that he never bothered to comprehend the consequences of his abominable punishment to the five Dalit scholars. It was an apt case for summary dismissal for the HRD Ministry but the latter chose to persist with such characters that carry out its saffron agenda. For the Hyderabad Police, there was a prima facie case to arrest Appa Rao, instead they cracked down on the students and faculty who protested against his reinstatement.

CPDR demands

 Release all students and faculty unconditionally.

 Withdraw cases against them.

 Investigate who indulged in vandalism and book them for the crime

 Remove Appa Rao from the post of Vice Chancellor

 Bring a person with proven competence to restore the academic climate of the University.

Dr Anand Teltumbde

General Secretary

Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR), Maharashtra








Remembering Sukhdev, Rajguru And Bhagat Singh

By Maanvender Singh

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

It is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled, while the ideas survived- Bhagat Singh (1929)

The mainstream historiography of Indian freedom struggle has been selective in its narration, where on one hand undue importance is accorded to certain events on the other, few events are either distorted or neglected, and one such example being the depiction of revolutionary nationalist as an aberration to an otherwise non- violent struggle. Such understanding totally undermines the fact that it was not through the terror of their guns but through the dissent that these young men encouraged had left British scared. Infact it was to suppress this dissent, that on 23 March, 1931 three men Sukhdev, Rajguru and Bhagat Singh were hanged to death. Among them Bhagat Singh still remains the most celebrated and respected figure for the current generation. However the figure itself is deliberately distorted and mostly misrepresented. It has been erected in a manner that seems more convenient and digestible to the popular narrative of nationalist history. So much so that the episode of Bhagat Singh in Indian independence struggle is reduced to the story of heroic sacrifice that he made for the nation and very little effort has been made to unravel his revolutionary ideas and motives. Similarly his treatment in popular media has been mostly dramatic, and creates a persona of a macho man with hat on his head and pistol in his hand, who unlike Gandhi responds British with violence. However what is most ironical is the recent claim laid by the BJP-RSS over the legacy of Bhagat Singh. This comes from an organization that has not produced even a single freedom fighter. Therefore there is a need to liberate Bhagat Singh from these different versions that political parties and historians have produced conveniently to suite their own kind of nationalism.

The Idea of Bhagat Singh

The most important question is that whether we are going to celebrate the legacy of Bhagat Singh as the idol of sacrifice or as a reasoned young man who contributed in various different ways to the idea of revolution? It is very true that it started with killing of John Saunders as then it was felt necessary to send a message to the British for the brutal killing of Lala Lajpat Rai. However with the peaceful bombing of parliament in 1929, the tactics of revolutionary nationalists completely changed. It is a fact that bombs were only meant to make a noise to those who refused to hear the voices of suffering masses. The more immediate context being two bills that were proposed by the parliament- the Trade Dispute bill and the Public Safety bill- both these bills were meant to curtail the rights of workers to strike and protest. And after throwing the bombs that meant no harm, both Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt willfully courted their arrest. Then, the courtroom was used by Bhagat Singh and his comrades to carry out their revolutionary propaganda one of the best the nation would ever see again.

His actions continued even inside the prison, as he along with his fellow comrades sat on hunger strike that lasted for 112 days, demanding the status of political prisoners. This was a different Bhagat Singh from one who idolized Kartar Singh Saraba and the revolutionary means adopted by the Gadar movement to one who accepted the tenants of non-violence by rejecting the path of individual terrorism. The philosophical evolution of Bhagat Singh has started, something he acknowledged himself and wrote:

I began to study, my previous faith and convictions underwent a remarkable modification. The romance of the violent methods, alone which was so prominent among our predecessors, was replaced by serious ideas. No more mysticism, no more blind faith. Realism became our cult. Use of force justifiable when resorted to as a matter of terrible necessity: non- violence as policy is indispensable for all mass movements (Why I am an Atheist: 1930).

Therefore it is more of a construct than reality that his differences with Gandhi were due to his disliking of Gandhain principles of non- violence. His disagreement was with the mainstream nationalist movement, which according to him by far has remained aloof of revolutionary class. These concerns are reflected in his letter addressed to Young Political Workers in 1931, where he has vehemently opposed the idea to make any compromise with the British, which according to him will result in the establishment of the old exploitive system. It was for this reason he thought that the Congress and Gandhain utopia would only produce changes in the political power, without any alteration in the socio- economic condition of the masses. To substantiate his point he has argued that what difference does it make to them (peasants) whether Lord Reading is the head of the Indian government or Sir Purshotamdas Thakordas? What difference for a peasant if Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru replaces Lord Irwin! It is useless to appeal to his national sentiment. It is to be reminded that he was just 23 and still had a great sense of history, proposing a goal beyond the elimination of the colonial ruler.

Further not to forget that at times when religious fervour was on rise, he rejected the very existence of God, which was strongly condemned by his comrades. To which he wrote the following in the Why I am an Atheist.

I deny the very existence of that Almighty Supreme being My grandfather under whose influence I was brought up is an orthodox Arya Samajist. An Arya Samajist is anything but an atheist. After finishing my primary education I joined the DAV. School of Lahore and stayed in its Boarding House for one full year Later on, I joined the revolutionary party My previous faith and convictions underwent a remarkable modification I had become a pronounced atheist.

It is this version of Bhagat Singh that most of the political parties are reluctant to associate with. What makes it more uncomfortable is his ideological inclination towards likes of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky. Since such revolutionary ideas cannot brew alongside the celebration of capitalism, therefore it is convenient to dilute it in principle. However lets hope this time as the democracy is butchered by the current BJP government we will find more reason to celebrate the ideas of Bhagat Singh, because people like him would not have submitted to the fascist tendencies that deny the basic tenets of free speech. Further to remind ourselves that he died for a dream that the future nation will attain Azadi from the various forces of imperialism, fascism and religious fundamentalism, to establish a nation where people will live free from all kind of bondage. In contrary to that most of these tendencies have survived and more recently imposed in the name of nationalism. Therefore as nationalism become monopoly of chosen few, chants for Azadi seem more appropriate, similar in their tone which were once raised by Bhagat Singh and his comrades.

Maanvender Singh, PhD Scholar, Department of History, Sikkim University, Gangtok.








Condemn Police Brutality On Students And Teachers In University of Hyderabad

By Peoples Union For Democratic Rights

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org



PUDR strongly condemns the brutal police action unleashed on students and teachers at the University of Hyderabad campus on 22nd March 2016. This took place when students were protesting against the return of the Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Poddile to the campus after he had gone on leave following the suicide of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula in January. Prof. Appa Rao, along with Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and others, is one of the main accused in the case for abetment of Rohiths suicide and has also been criticised in the past for his anti-Dalit attitudes. His return to official duties at a time when no action has yet been taken against anyone for this crime angered the student community and they began a peaceful protest outside the Vice Chancellors Lodge where an Executive Committee meeting was in progress.

There was massive deployment of CRPF and RAF personnel who lathi charged and beat up students. Female protestors were also brutally beaten, grabbed and molested by the police forces. Protesting students were rounded up, chased and dragged into police vans. It is estimated that around 36 students and at least three faculty members were also arrested and taken to undisclosed locations. There was no information of their whereabouts overnight though it is now being suggested that they have been taken to Miyapur and Chandanagar police stations. Apart from this, over fifty students have been injured in the attacks.

The police also raided hostels in what seemed like a search for a predetermined list of students and teachers. It is suggested that the VC and other complicit elements in the faculty have chosen to crack down upon those students who have been vocal and active in the resistance following the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. Dontha Prashanth, one of the students who was suspended along with Rohith and has been a frontrunner in the students movement for justice, was also brutally thrashed and dragged in to the police van yesterday. Some of the teachers who were arrested, like K Y Ratnam and Tathagat Sengupta were also quite prominent in siding with the students on this issue.

Following the violent crackdown on students, a strike has been called by the non-teaching staff, apparently on instructions from the VC, resulting in the shutting down of hostel messes. Students have also reported lack of water for drinking and other purposes and cutting off of internet facilities in the campus. The media has also been prevented entry in the campus as the administration seems to be on an all out offensive to prevent any information from the campus getting wider coverage.

Notably, activists belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had barricaded the VCs Lodge in a move to prevent the protestors from reaching the VC. They also locked the gate from inside and were in fact responsible for much of the vandalism and property damage which the media and authorities have blamed on the protesting students. It is shameful that media reports till now have focused only on the vandalism and hooliganism of students and completely ignored the violent police action on students in the University Campus.

PUDR reiterates that using violent force on students and deploying armed personnel on university campuses is an unacceptable use of state power. The nexus between university authorities, Ministry of Human Resource Development and students wing of BJP is especially significant in the increasingly fascist nature of our universities. It is also condemnable that basic necessities of food and water have been denied to the students in an effort to weaken their resistance.

PUDR demands that:

1. All students and faculty be released from police custody and charges against them removed

2. Restore normalcy in the campus and ensure dialogue with the students on their demands

3. Remove Appa Rao from the position of Vice Chancellor to ensure justice for the death of Rohith Vemula.



Moushumi Basu, Deepika Tandon

Secretaries, PUDR (pudr@pudr.org)








Printer Friendly Version Bhagat Singh, Martyrdom Tradition And The Hindutva Gang By Shamsul Islam 23 March , 2016

Countercurrents.org This 23rd March (2016) is the 85th anniversary of the martyrdom of three great revolutionaries, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were hanged at Lahore for working to overthrow the Firangee government. The British government thought that with the physical elimination of these freedom fighters their ideas and dreams of a secular and egalitarian independent India would also dissipate. The rulers were patently wrong as these revolutionaries and heir ideals continue to be an integral part of the peoples memory till date. However, on 85th anniversary of their martyrdom we should not overlook the fact, that though these were the British, who hanged them but there were organizations like Hindu Mahasabha, RSS and Muslim League in pre-1947 India which not only remained alien to the ideals of these revolutionaries but also maintained a criminal silence on their hanging. Shockingly, out of these three communal organizations, the RSS which consciously kept aloof completely from the anti-colonial struggle, lately, has been churning out literature to claim that it had linkages with these revolutionaries. During the NDA regime when its two senior swayamsewaks, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani ruled the country, it made the astonishing claim that Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, founder of the RSS met Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev in 1925 and continued attending meetings with these revolutionaries and even provided shelter to Rajguru in 1927 when he was underground after killing Sanders. And in 2007 first time in history, the Hindi organ of the RSS, Panchjanya came out with a special issue on Bhagat Singh. It is to be noted that in the whole pre-Partition literature of RSS we do not find even a single reference to these martyrs. In fact the RSS literature is full of anecdotes showing its indifference to revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. Madhukar Dattatreya Deoras, known as Balasahab Deoras, the third chief of the RSS, narrated an incident when Hedgewar saved him and others from following the path of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. Interestingly, this appeared in a publication of RSS itself: While studying in college (we) youth were generally attracted towards the ideals of revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. Emulating Bhagat Singh we should do some or other act of bravery, this came to our mind often. We were less attracted towards Sangh (RSS) since current politics, revolution etc. that attracted the hearts of youth were generally less discussed in the Sangh. When Bhagat Singh and his companions were awarded death sentence, at that time our hearts were so excited that some friends together [we] vowed to do something directly and planned something terrible and in order to make it succeed decided to run away from homes. But to run away without informing our Doctorji [Hedgewar] will not be proper, considering it we decided to inform Doctorji about our decision. To inform this fact to Doctorji was assigned to me by the group of friends. We together went to Doctorji and with great courage I explained my feelings before him. After listening to our plan Doctorji took a meeting of ours for discarding this foolish plan and making us to realize the superiority of the work of Sangh. This meeting continued for seven days and in the night from ten to three. The brilliant ideas of Doctorji and his valuable leadership brought fundamental change in our ideas and ideals of life. Since that day we took leave of mindlessly made plans and our lives got new direction and our mind got stabilized in the work of Sangh. Moreover there is ample proof available in the documents of the RSS that establish that the RSS denounced movements led by revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekar Azad and their associates. There are passages in theBunch of Thoughts [collection of speeches and writings of Golwalkar treated as a holy book by the RSS cadres] decrying the whole tradition of martyrs: There is no doubt that such men who embrace martyrdom are great heroes and their philosophy too is pre-eminently manly. They are far above the average men who meekly submit to fate and remain in fear and inaction. All the same, such persons are not held up as ideals in our society. We have not looked upon their martyrdom as the highest point of greatness to which men should aspire. For, after all, they failed in achieving their ideal, and failure implies some fatal flaw in them. Golwalkar goes on to tell the RSS cadres that only those people should be adored who have been successful in their lives: It is obvious that those who were failures in life must have had some serious drawback in them. How can one, who is defeated, give light and lead others to success? In fact, Golwalkar's book has a chapter titled 'Worshippers of Victory' in which he openly commits to the fact that he and RSS worship only those who are victorious. Let us now see what type of great lives have been worshipped in this land. Have we ever idealised those who were a failure in achieving life's goal? No, never. Our tradition has taught us to adore and worship only those who have proved fully successful in their life-mission. A slave of circumstances has never been our ideal. The hero who becomes the master of the situation, changes it by sheer dint of his calibre[sic] and character and wholly succeeds in achieving his life's aspirations, has been our ideal. It is such great souls, who by their self-effulgence, lit up the dismal darkness surrounding all round, inspired confidence in frustrated hearts, breathed life into the near-dead and held aloft the living vision of success and inspiration, that our culture commands us to worship. Golwalkar did not name Bhagat Singh but according to his philosophy of life since Bhagat Singh and his companions did not succeed in achieving their goal they did not deserve any respect. According to his formula the British rulers would be the natural object of worship as they were able to kill revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. It is difficult to find a statement more insulting and denigrating to the martyrs of the Indian Freedom Movement than this. It will be shocking for any Indian who loves and respects the martyrs of the Freedom Movement to know what Dr. Hedgewar and the RSS felt about the revolutionaries fighting against the British. According to his biography published by the RSS, Patriotism is not only going to prison. It is not correct to be carried away by such superficial patriotism. He used to urge that while remaining prepared to die for the country when the time came, it is very necessary to have a desire to live while organizing for the freedom of the country. Even the word shameful is not appropriate to describe the attitude of the RSS leadership towards those who had sacrificed everything in the struggle against the British rulers. The last Mughal ruler of India, Bahadurshah Zafar, had emerged as the rallying point and symbol of the Great War of Independence of 1857. Golwalkar while making fun of him said: In 1857, the so-called last emperor of India had given the clarion callGhazio mein bu rahegi jub talak eeman ki/Takhte London tak chalegi tegh Hindustan ki (As long as there remains the least trace of love of faith in the hearts of our heroes, so long, the sword of Hindustan will reach the throne of London.) But ultimately what happened? Everybody knows that. What Golwalkar thought of the people sacrificing their lot for the country is obvious from the following statement as well. He had the temerity to ask the great revolutionaries who wished to lay down their lives for the freedom of the motherland the following question as if he was representing the British masters: But one should think whether complete national interest is accomplished by that? Sacrifice does not lead to increase in the thinking of the society of giving all for the interest of the nation. It is borne by the experience up to now that this fire in the heart is unbearable to the common people. Perhaps this was the reason that RSS produced no freedom fighter what to talk of a martyr against the colonial rule. Unfortunately, there is not a single line challenging, exposing, criticizing or confronting the inhuman rule of the British masters in the entire literature of the RSS from 1925 to 1947. Those who are familiar with the glorious Freedom Struggle of India and sacrifices of martyrs like Bhagat Singh must challenge this evil appropriation of our heroes by the Hindutva camp which betrayed the liberation struggle. We should not allow these communal stooges of the British rulers to kill Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev once again. Shamsul Islam is a former professor of Delhi University

Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com







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US Presidential Candidates Bow Before AIPAC

By Dr. Ludwig Watzal

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Every year, it's the same beat-up story. The pro-Israel Zionist lobby AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) invites to its annual convention and all the top knobs in Washington show up. This year, President Obama had more important things to do and made a historical visit to Cuba. Eighty-eight years ago, the last sitting US President, Calvin Coolidge, paid a visit to this island nation that is still embargoed by the US because it didn't give way to US pressure.

This year, it was the turn of the American presidential candidates to go on the AIPAC pilgrimage, except for Bernie Sanders. Trump, Clinton, Cruz and Kasich were all thrilled to bits about Israel. They outbid each other in their subservience to Israel. Sanders, the only Jew in the race, did not show up and scathingly criticized the Israeli government for its occupation and its "disproportionate responses to being attacked". He criticized the bombing of hospitals, schools and refugee camps in the 2014 war with Hamas and demanded an end of the blockade on Gaza. He, at least, was honest and did not pay rhetorical lip service to an occupation regime that apparently shares the same values as the US.

Donald Trump, the front-runner of the Republican Party, welcomed without any marked enthusiasm by 18 000 Israel fans, turned to upstage Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, not to speak of John Kasich. Trump got standing ovations even when he castigated Hillary Clinton "as a total disaster, by the way". The audience was thrilled by Trump when he called US President Barack Obama "the worst thing that ever happened to Israel". Obama and Clinton "treated Israel very badly". Trump also wants to cancel the Iran deal. Although Trumps appearance lasted only 25 minutes, he won the audience over by his simple pro-Israel rhetoric. The following statement opened the hearts of the crowd; "I speak to you today as a lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel. Im a newcomer to politics but not to backing the Jewish state." Suddenly, all his racist and xenophobic ramblings seemed forgotten, although the leadership of AIPAC had a sore head about Trump's appearance.

Hillary Clinton spoke before Trump and she did everything to outdo him by not only lambasting him but also by calling to elevate the US-Israel alliance to "the next level". That she wants to see Benyamin Netanyahu right away after becoming President does not speak in her favor. She supports a memorandum that would boost military aid to Israel. She reiterated her tough stance on Iran, calling for sanctioning any Iranian violation of the nuclear deal not excluding military force. Years ago, Clinton threatened Iran with total annihilation if the country would attack Israel. No Iranian leader has ever called for an attack on Israel. She appealed to the emotions by mentioning the wave of stabbings by Palestinians and blamed the Palestinian leadership for inciting violence, celebrating terrorists and rewarding the families of murderers. She denounced again the BDS campaign.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich tried even to outdo Hillary Clinton. Cruz wants to rip-up the Iran deal and block federal funding to BDS supporters. Cruz announced not to be "neutral" but stand "unapologetically with Israel". He wasn't even ashamed of drawing an analogy between the nuclear agreement with Iran and the Munich Agreement of 1938. Before him, Netanyahu has also drawn such an absurd analogy.

Ohios governor, John Kasich, promised to defend Israel from an imagined Iranian nuclear threat, and said the US should suspend the deal. He also called for the US to recognize Jerusalem as the "eternal capital of Israel".

From this adulation of the State of Israel, one might get the impression that the candidates are competing for the highest office in Israel and not in the US. It seems as if the presidential candidates do not care about their own country and the American people.

Dr. Ludwig Watzal works as a journalist and editor in Bonn, Germany. Her runs the bilingual blog "between the lines" http://between-the-lines-ludwig-watzal.blogspot.de








"Telangana Police Spearheaded The Brutal Attack In University Of Hyderabad"

Open Letter By Sitaram Yechury

23 March, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Full text of the letter addressed by CPI(M) General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury addressed to the Telangana Chief Minister, Shri K Chandrasekar Rao today on the brutal attack on students and faculty members of Hyderabad Central University.

Shri Chandrasekar Rao Garu,

I have tried in vain to contact you over telephone the whole day today. Several messages have been left with your staff, but there has been no response. Having thus failed, I am writing this letter.

I am writing this letter with a sense of anguish and anger. I am particularly agonized at writing this letter to you on the martyrdom day of Shahid Bhagat Singh.

The brutal police attack against students and other sections of the academic community in the Hyderabad Central University yesterday has been followed up by another round of attack today. Continuing the manner with which the students were dealt with by the Telangana police yesterday, the police today have reportedly mounted yet another attack inside the campus. The manner in which the girl students were attacked by the male police with the liberal usage of foul language against them is reprehensible.

Following the stoppage of water connection, access to wifi, food supplies to the hostel messes, the students themselves organized the preparation of food for the hostel inmates. Today, all these facilities were attacked by the police and the Vice Chancellor has reportedly shut down the hostels.

Most of us in the country are aghast at the manner in which such brutal assault is mounted on the university community by the Telangana police in one of the premier Central universities of our country.

The Vice Chancellor who proceeded on leave following the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula was booked under charges of aiding and abetting this suicide by creating the circumstances leading to this tragedy. Instead of proceeding against the Vice Chancellor on this case, the Telangana police has resorted to such brutality against the students.

The students were protesting against the return of this Vice Chancellor and demanding that the case against him must be proceeded with. It is clear that the police action under the sanction of the state government was to facilitate the return of this Vice Chancellor.

Further, we are informed that the first decision taken by the Vice Chancellor upon the return was to defer the meeting of the Academic Council on Thursday (March 24), which was convened by the in-charge Vice Chancellor to discuss the setting up of an anti-discrimination committee on the campus, to ensure adequate representation of SCs and STs on various committees of the university and to consider the proposal to increase the non-NET fellowship from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 25,000 per month on parity with the Junior Research Fellowship in the country. The in-charge Vice Chancellor has reportedly pleaded that he had no knowledge of the Vice Chancellor returning to assume charge of the university.

The Telangana government, under your stewardship, has been vocal in announcing that it champions the interests of the overwhelming bulk of the states population that comes from SC/ST and various Other Backward Classes and the marginalized sections. Surely, your government and administration cannot concur with these latest decisions of this Vice Chancellor. Yet, it is the Telangana police, under the remit of your government, that has spearheaded this brutal attack against the university and the students. This has happened as the university community continues to remain traumatized over the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula and the circumstances created on the campus leading to such a tragedy.

Instead of proceeding, I repeat, against the Vice Chancellor on the basis of the case registered against him, your government has discharged this responsibility of mounting this attack against this university community. It is being reported in the media that 28 students, who are victims of this brutal lathicharge, have now been remanded into custody and lodged at the Central Jail.

In the fitness of living up to your own proclamations and assurances, the arrested students must be released immediately and the cases against them must be dropped. The Telangana police must immediately proceed on the registered cases against the Vice Chancellor. As this is a Central University, we are demanding of the Central Government that their appointed Vice Chancellor be removed forthwith.

Yours sincerely

(Sitaram Yechury)

General Secretary, CPI(M)
SHARE Sheila Austin

By Special To The Courier & Press

Sheila Austin, manager of the Houchens Food Group-owned Buehler's IGA in Darmstadt, was named the Independent Grocers Alliance and Associated Wholesale Grocers' Store Manager of the Year.

Austin was chosen over more than 3,000 store managers from across 30 states. She received the award last Monday in Overland Park, Kansas, at a shareholder's meeting.

According to a news release, the AWG Store Manager Award, first presented in 2015, is open to associates of AWG member stores who have been managing the same store for at least one year.

Entries are scored based on overall content and the store manager's demonstrated ability to:

Generate sales growth and positively impact the overall business of the store.

Go above and beyond the ordinary in customer service and/or community relations.

Execute innovative in-store programs and/or special events that improved overall customer service and community relations.

Show a balance between people skills and operations skills.

Execute and achieve goals with the store team.

Lead and/or mentor team members from their store.

Austin has been working in the grocery industry for 45 years. She is currently with Bowling Green, Kentucky-based Houchens Food Group and leads a team of 60-plus employees at the Darmstadt location. She previously was awarded IGA International Retailer of the Year in 2014.

"Having seen Sheila in action when I visited her store for the 2014 International Retailer of the Year judging, I'm not surprised to once again see her being recognized as among the best of the best in independent retailing," IGA CEO Mark Batenic said. "Her relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction, attention to detail, and dedication to taking care of the communities in which she operates is second to none.

"AWG, Houchens, and IGA are so very proud to have the opportunity to work together as Sheila's wholesaler, retailer and brand. We couldn't ask for a more progressive and innovative leader to guide this store  and our IGA brand  into the future."
Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press The eggs six hours later  colored a bright brown by the onion skins, tea and coffee.

SHARE Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Gently lower eggs into the cooking liquid with onion skins, black tea, coffee grounds, pepper, salt, and a splash of vinegar and oil. We used our Crock-Pot to cook the eggs, although they may also be baked or simmered on the stove top. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press The cooked Huevos Haminados have a beige brown color more to do with the Maillard reaction than with the coloring agents added to the cooking liquid, which tint the shell. The flavor is distinctly meaty and nutty.

By Aimee Blume

Easter and Passover are approaching, so we're sharing a recipe for a unique hard-cooked egg from Michael Sackett, formerly owner with his wife Shelly of Kitchen Affairs in Evansville, now of Las Cruces New Mexico  but still interested in the Evansville food scene.

Sackett suggested we try Huevos Haminados, a Jewish dish of eggs long-simmered in a rich, colored broth. If you think the name sounds Spanish rather than Hebrew or Yiddish, it is, but this dish has nothing whatsoever to do with Huevos Rancheros or any other Hispanic food. The eggs are a specialty of Sephardic Jews, people descended from a group that moved from the area where Israel is located today, along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and into Spain and Portugal over 1,000 years ago.

Most cooking resources suggest cooking in-shell eggs gently and until only just done to avoid rubberiness or a green ring around the yolk. As it turns out, however, eggs cooked for six to seven hours or more at a consistent low temperature take on a whole new, delicious flavor.

According to an article on Four Pounds Flour Historic Gastronomy, these eggs, along with other long-simmered dishes, were born out of the Jewish prohibition against lighting a fire on Saturday, the Sabbath. Hot meals were thus hard to come by on these days, unless you kept something simmering over the very low heat of a fire started before sundown on Friday night, or in a big stone oven heated on Friday and allowed to cool slowly overnight  or in modern days, in a Crock-Pot. Eggs added to the Sephardic stew hamin were called eggs (huevos) haminados, but they are often cooked on their own, without the stew.

Most recipes for Huevos Haminados instruct the cook to gently simmer or bake the eggs in water with salt and pepper, oil, a splash of vinegar, and lots of yellow onion skins for color. A sprinkle of coffee, tea or both for color and flavor might be added, or a bit of garlic. Sackett likes to begin with eggs already hard cooked. This would work well as a way to use up hard-boiled eggs left over after Easter. Other recipes call for the eggs to be added without precooking. After the eggs have cooked long enough to lightly color the shell and firmly set the interior, the shells may be lightly cracked to form a marbled effect and admit more of the flavor of the cooking water to the interior.

What happens to the eggs is kind of amazing. If you've ever made "caramel" by cooking an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in simmering water for a few hours, you'll understand how the technique works with eggs. Scientifically, it's called the Maillard reaction, and is akin to caramelization. Caramelization happens at higher temperatures to sugars, while the Maillard reaction causes browning and a caramel flavor in amino acids at a lower temperature. The shell protects the egg whites from contact with the water while this change is taking place.

When you cool and crack the eggs, the whites have become a beautiful marbled tan color. The texture is soft, with a distinctly meaty, "browned" flavor that lies somewhere between an egg fried in pork fat and a good seared steak. The yolks do indeed have a dark outer edge, but the interior is super-creamy.

These eggs may be served warm, room temperature, or chilled, and can be chilled and reheated. They are excellent with stew or pot roast, as an appetizer, or sliced on a hearty salad.

Author's note: Easter is this Sunday, March 26. Passover begins at sundown April 22 and continues through April 30.

Michael Sackett's Huevos Haminados, "Sephardi-style eggs"

(Serves 6 whole or 12 halves)

INGREDIENTS

6 hard-cooked eggs, in their shells

1 teaspoon kosher salt

6 grinds fresh black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried black tea leaves

1/2 teaspoon espresso granules or ground coffee

3 or 4 onion skins for color

1 teaspoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon kosher for Passover vinegar

Water to cover the eggs

DIRECTIONS

1 Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, using enough water to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 5 to 6 hours. Check occasionally, and add water as necessary.

2 When cooked for 5 to 6 hours, remove from the heat and drain the water. Let the eggs cool, then refrigerate until serving time. Shell the eggs before serving.

3 The eggs will be brown and very tasty! B'tayavon!

*This recipe can easily be doubled, and doubled again. It's easy to make as many as 2 dozen at once, just keep the eggs covered with water while simmering for the 5 hours.
Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Cheesemaker Dakota Banks stretches mozzarella curd to make fresh cheese for Pangea's pizzas and other dishes. The well-salted cheese is far more flavorful than you might expect after eating the average American fresh mozzarella.

SHARE Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Pangea owner Randy Hobson, left, talks with pastry chef (and gelato maker and barrista) Sarah Bruggeman at Pangea Kitchen. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Members of the Evansville Italian American Club gathered at Pangea for their March meeting, and feasted on cured meats such as prosciutto crudo, sopresatta, and speck (smoked prosciutto); housebaked flat bread, cheeses, and a never-ending plethora of Neapolitan pizza pies. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Pizza maker Alessio Lacco, originally from Naples, Italy, rotates a pizza in Pangea's wood-fired oven. The menu contains "white pies" without tomato but with fresh mozzarella and sometimes ricotta, and "red pies" with a sauce made with only San Marzano tomatoes and sea salt. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Check the deli case at Pangea for housemade fresh pasta, cured meats, olives and other antipasti, and cheeses from around the world, including from Capriole near Louisville and Kenny's Cheese near Bowling Green. Related Coverage Vanderburgh County restaurant inspections

By Aimee Blume

It was a year and a half in the making, but as they say, the devil's in the details, and no detail was spared as Randy Hobson and his staff created Pangea Kitchen, a completely new style of eatery for Evansville.

Pangea is a restaurant, but it is more. Part gelato parlor, part cafe, part pizzeria, part deli. "Pangea" means "the whole earth," and the space in Brinker Plaza has been turned into a mecca for those who enjoy bold flavors, authentic food, and worldly ingredients, especially those from Italy and Asia.

Hobson, who worked for Berry Plastics for 25 years, used a three-pronged approach to create his dream eatery. He found the right people, the right equipment, and the right ingredients. Stir those things together with time, real passion and a lot of fun, and you get something ... different.

As you enter Pangea, to your right is the pastry, gelato, and espresso counter. Pastry chef Sarah Bruggeman graduated from Sullivan University in Louisville and has been the pastry chef at Lorenzo's Bistro and Vecchio's Italian Market and Deli. She churns out gelato in a rainbow of flavors from large gelato makers imported straight from the boot.

Gelato is Italian-style ice cream. It has less fat and less air than regular ice cream, but is served at a higher temperature so it is soft yet dense and silky on the tongue. Bruggeman's flavors range from the classic pistachio to chocolate chunk and French toast, presented in perfect Italian style with swirled tops and pretty decorations. She also makes sorbetto, Italy's version of sorbet, using fresh fruit.

In the pastry case, find a selection of sweets from custard and fruit tarts to frozen gelato cakes to be enjoyed with your favorite espresso drink. The perfect meal-ender or afternoon pick-me-up could be the affogato, a scoop of gelato (we suggest the French toast) topped with a double shot of thick, black espresso.

On the east wall of Pangea you'll find the restaurant space. Look for chef Wanphen McDonald, now of Henderson, but originally of Bangkok, Thailand. McDonald holds two culinary degrees  one from the Suan Dusit International Culinary School, where she completed the Intensive Thai Cookery Course. Next, she qualified to enter the elite Royal Thai College of Culinary Arts, where she received the most authentic and intensive Thai culinary training in Thailand. She graduated first in her class, has been an ambassador for Thai culture and cuisine around the United States, and these days is cooking for you at Pangea.

She's manning the stove, an enormous rotisserie, and possibly the largest dumpling steamer you've ever seen. Her part of Pangea is where the fusion comes in. She combines house-made fusilli (yes, they actually have a fresh pasta extruder in there) with wild ginger, brined green peppercorns, bok choy and a lightly sweet and savory sauce in her special pad kee mao, or Thai drunken noodles. Rotisserie meats change daily, but be prepared for an Asian-spiced pork that makes the most savory Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches, turkey breast so moist it falls apart, prime rib available on a sandwich or just on your plate, fresh spring rolls, dumplings, and much more.

Moving on around the space, you'll find Neapolitan pizzaiolo Alessio Lacco manning the wood-fired oven, which like Lacco was made in Naples. Lacco studied pizza making under Gaetano Esposito, the grandson of Raffaele Esposito, who according to Lacco created the famous pizza Margherita for Queen Consort Margherita of Italy.

Lacco became a certified Neapolitan pizzaiolo at the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association in Naples, and has worked in New York City, Dallas, and the San Francisco Bay Area before coming to Evansville to work at Pangea.

Neapolitan pizza is different from any other style. The dough is soft, made of a special low-protein flour called tipo 00 imported from Italy. The sauce contains only crushed San Marzano tomatoes and sea salt, and the cheese is fresh mozzarella made in-house. The pies are thin in the middle with a scattering of high-quality toppings and take only minutes to puff around the edges and bake to a brown and bubbly chewiness in the superheated oven. They are just the right size to serve two people, although one hungry diner could probably finish one with little effort.

You might choose a red pie, with tomato sauce  we recommend the Margherita to begin, the most famous of Neapolitan pizzas, with fresh mozzarella and a scattering of fresh basil leaves  or choose something a little more intricate such as the capricciosa, which adds cooked prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms and kalamata olives.

A selection of white pies do not include tomato sauce, and instead are coated with mozzarella cheese, ricotta, or both. One unusual and delicious example is the pistachio, which is topped with cheese, ground pistachio nuts, a sprinkling of Italian sausage and a drizzle of spiced honey. The pancetta features Italian unsmoked bacon and brussels sprouts.

For lovers of a more substantial crust, Pangea's Sicilian pizzas are baked in pans and serve about four people. There are classic variations suggested, or you can choose your own toppings.

Finally, passing the fresh pasta-making machine and the mozzarella-stretching vat, the customer comes to the deli counter, where one may purchase fresh house-made pasta, cheeses from around the world, sliced salumi and charcuterie, olives and marinated Calabrian peppers.

Things not to miss: cheeses from Capriole in Greenville, Ind., just north of Louisville. Capriole is tiny, yet one of most appreciated goat cheese dairies in the country. The Wabash Cannonball cheeses are divine and very seldom seen in our area. Also look for Kenny's cheeses from Kentucky, and of course imported cheeses from all over Europe. Other must-tries are the speck, a spiced and smoked prosciutto from northern Italy; prosciutto cotto, a cooked version of prosciutto more like what we would call "ham;" enormous mild green cerignola olives, and imported buffalo milk mozzarella.

Each area (gelato/coffe, cafe/pizza, and deli) has its own cash register where you walk up, order, and pay, so if you're stopping in for a quick cappuccino or wanting to grab some cheese, you can get in and out fairly quickly.

There are so many fun details to be found in Pangea Kitchen that this overview article will be surely the first of many, delving into traditional dishes and ingredients new to local diners. In the meantime eat up, and see the recipes below for ways to use those unique deli items.

Pangea Kitchen is located at 111 S. Green River Road, Ste E, in Brinker Plaza.

Phone: 812-401-2404

Hours: TuesdaySaturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Spicy fusilli with Tuna, Capers and Olives

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

3 5-ounce cans oil-packed tuna, drained, oil reserved

1 garlic clove, minced

18-ounce can imported Italian tomatoes

1 tablespoon capers

20 black olives, pitted and sliced

1 pound fusilli (spiral macaroni)

1 handful finely chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

1 Place the oil from the tuna into a casserole or a deep-sided pan that will go on top of the stove. Add the garlic, place over medium heat and fry gently. When it starts to sizzle, add the tuna and break it up with a fork. Let cook just for a minute to warm the tuna through.

2 Add tomatoes with their juice to the pan, breaking them up with a fork. Turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

3 Approximately 5 minutes before sauce is done, bring 4 quarts of water to a rapid rolling boil. Add fusilli, stir with a long-handled wooden fork or spoon and boil as rapidly as possible until the fusilli are done.

4 Just before the sauce is done, add capers and black olives, mixing well. Cook just long enough to heat thoroughly.

5 Drain pasta and turn into a warm bowl. Dress with the sauce and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.

Source: New York Times, from the article Italians State The Case For Authentic Pasta.

The Classic Panino (Italian Train Station Sandwich)

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

1 6" rectangular piece focaccia or ciabatta roll

2 thin slices speck

2 thin slices Fontina cheese (substitute Gruyere or another mountain cheese if necessary)

1/2 cup arugula

2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1 If the bread is not perfectly fresh, spritz with water and heat in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes to refresh the crust and moisten interior. Let cool.

2 Split bread in half and place speck, fontina, and arugula on bottom half. Drizzle with vinegar and season with salt and pepper, and cover with top half.

Source: Adapted from Saveur

Lamb Chops Calabria-Style with Tomatoes, Peppers, and Olives

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 large red bell pepper or 2 small ones

2 marinated Calabrian peppers, more or less to adjust heat level, chopped

8 rib lamb chops, each about 1" thick

Fine sea salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups peeled, ripe, fresh plum tomatoes, cut up with their juice, or canned imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes

3 tablespoons chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup green olives in brine, pitted and coarsely cut up

Black pepper ground fresh from the mill

DIRECTIONS

1 Cut each sweet red pepper lengthwise along the creases, remove the stem, seeds, and pithy core, and skin with a swivel-blade vegetable peeler. Cut into approximately 1 1/2" squares.

2 Sprinkle the chops on both sides with a little salt.

3 Put the olive oil into a 12" skillet and turn on the heat to high. When hot, slide in the lamb chops. Brown them thoroughly on one side, turn them, and brown them thoroughly on other side. Remove them from the pan to a plate.

4 Put the chopped onion into the pan and cook it over lively heat, stirring frequently, until it becomes colored a rich gold. Add the tomatoes with their juice, turning them over in the pan once or twice, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cutup peppers and Calabrian peppers, parsley, olives, salt, and generous grindings of black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until the peppers are tender but firm.

5 Sprinkle the chops with pepper and put them into the pan with the sauce. Turn the chops over several times to coat them well and after a minute or so empty the full contents of the skillet onto a warm serving platter and promptly bring to the table.

Source: Saveur Italian Comfort Food
SHARE

By Staff Report

A former German Township clerk has been arrested and preliminarily charged with fraud and forgery.

Virginia Massey, 45, of Evansville, was booked into Vanderburgh County jail on Tuesday after an eight-month joint investigation by the Indiana State Police Organized crime and Corruption Unit and the Indiana State Board of Accounts, according to a state police news release.

She was arrested without incident just after 6 p.m., according to the release.

Investigators allege that mileage documentation provided by Massey for 2010 and 2013 were identical except for two entries. Several entries made during 2010 for visits to financial institutions and the City-County Building were recorded for days that fell on weekends, when the facilities were closed, according to the release.

The documentation included mileage for 145 trips to financial institutions, of which only nine coincided with recorded transactions.

"Additionally, for every mileage entry during 2010 and 2012-2014, there was a 15-mile variance between the ending odometer reading on the previous trip and the beginning odometer reading for the next recorded trip. Each entry made within the 2011 log revealed a 10 mile variance between trips," the release states.

She is preliminarily charged with multiple counts of forgery, theft, and misconduct, all felonies.
SHARE

By Richard Gootee of the Courier and Press

A family trying to enjoy a hike on a spring day in Western Indiana got credit from state police for alerting authorities to a suspected meth producing operation housed inside a camouflage tent.

The discovery was made Wednesday afternoon, according to a state police news release.

That agency and other law enforcement went to the Terre Haute walking path known as the Heritage Trail and dismantled the spotted operation, which was located in a wooded area. No suspects have been arrested in the case.

On scene, law enforcement discovered "all required chemicals, apparatuses and anhydrous ammonia" needed to make the drug. There was no active lab or meth discovered.

Anyone with information about the case  or any other meth production in the Terre Haute area  is asked to call state police at the Putmanville post at 765-653-4114. State police also urged everyone to do what the unnamed family in Wednesday's case did  call law enforcement if they think they see a meth lab.

"Citizens are reminded to not approach suspected meth sites or handle any meth related trash items, such as plastic bottles, tubing, battery wrappers, propane tanks, etc. ... as those items can be dangerous," state police wrote in their release. "Simply call law enforcement and report such items."
SHARE Mathew McCallister

By Shannon Hall of the Courier and Press

The jury trial for the last person charged in the shooting death of Joseph Nelson in Warrick County will proceed April 4.

Warrick County Superior Court Judge Zach Winsett denied the defense's motion to dismiss Mathew McCallister's case. The defense submitted a motion to dismiss last week with an affidavit containing information from Shawn Grigsby, who is already serving a 20-year sentence for his role in the case, stating that McCallister wasn't the shooter.

Prosecutor Mike Perry said the motion to dismiss was premature.

He said the prosecutor's office offered two plea deals to McCallister, but McCallister refused them. No other plea agreements will be offered, Perry said.

The court did dismiss an enhancement charge for use of a firearm as well as unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Perry said those charges would have to go to trial separately because the nature of the charges would imply to the jury that McCallister a convicted felon, which is evidence that is not being used at trial.

McCallister, 33, of Indianapolis, is one of four people arrested in connection to the February 2014, shooting death of Nelson. He is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and a habitual offender.

The Warrick County Prosecutor's Office has given notice it will seek a life-without-parole sentence for McCallister if he is convicted.

Grigsby pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and received a 20-year-sentence in September 2014.

McCallister and Grigsby were two of four people charged with murder and conspiracy in connection to Nelson's shooting. Also charged were David J. Lackey Jr. and Jade Stigall, both of Boonville.

Lackey and Stigall received four-year sentences after pleading guilty to charges of assisting a criminal in return for their cooperation in the investigation.

A fifth defendant, Kelli Wyrick of Indianapolis, was sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to assisting a criminal, as well as to three drug-related charges. However, she was never charged with murder or conspiracy in the case.

Investigators believe the four met Nelson at a Fairfield Inn hotel in Evansville and then drove with him to a location in northern Warrick County. There, according to probable cause affidavits, Nelson was made to kneel with his hands behind his back near a railroad track and shot once in the head. His body was then believed to have been dumped into a coal car.

His body was found Feb. 17 by employees at Alcoa's Warrick Operations after it arrived there in a coal shipment.
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By Staff Report

Kentucky State Police have released the name of a trooper involved in deadly shooting in Hopkins County over the weekend.

Curtis Crick, a five-year veteran of the force, reportedly shot and killed a man Saturday afternoon after a short chase involving an all-terrain vehicle.

Dylan R. Whitaker, 23, of White Plains, Kentucky, died of gunshot wounds after allegedly brandishing a handgun and firing at Crick after the chase. Crick has been placed on paid administrative leave, per KSP policy.

The chase began just before 3 p.m. Saturday on Dragline Road in Hopkins County, according to a state police news release. Crick was involved in a pursuit with an ATV reportedly driven by Whitaker, who eventually lost control of the vehicle. Whitaker reportedly fired shots at Crick, who returned fire. Whitaker was pronounced dead at the scene by the Hopkins County coroner. Crick wasn't injured.

The incident remains under investigation.
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By Shannon Hall of the Courier and Press

The Evansville Police Department is still investigating the death of the the man who was shot and killed by police officers last week.

Daniel Wooters, 38, reportedly threatened to kill people at TGI Friday's about 8:30 p.m. March 15, according to police and 911 audio obtained by the Courier & Press. Wooters later stole a police vehicle after he advanced toward an officer with a knife. He then led police on a short chase west on Morgan Avenue when the front axel broke, police said. Wooters got out of the vehicle with a knife and advanced toward officers again before three officers shot Wooters. He died at a hospital.

Police aren't releasing how many shots were fired by the three officers involved  Jason Thomas, Zach Elfreich and Dexter Wolf.

"It's a death investigation so a case file gets put together and sent the prosecutor for review," spokesman Sgt. Jason Cullum said. "So there are certain things that won't be made public until that's done."

Chili's, off Green River Road, reported a suspicious circumstance a few hours before TGI Friday's workers called 911. Police are investigating whether the two incidents are connected.
DARRON CUMMINGS / VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS Gov. Mike Pence delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Indianapolis.

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By Zach Osowski, zach.osowski@courierpress.com

INDIANAPOLIS  Calling the two bills dealing with road funding an "historic investment in local infrastructure," Gov. Mike Pence signed House Bill 1001 and Senate Bill 67 into law, giving about $600 million to local roads and funding all three Regional Cities winners.

After five road plans were proposed and vetted during the 2016 session, lawmakers managed to hash out an agreement in HB 1001 that gives local governments and the state road funds for the next two years. The compromise also pushed off any long-term solutions until next year, when lawmakers will incorporate road funding into the 2017-18.

The extra year gives a specially designated task force time to go over several options for a sustainable road funding revenue stream.

"Today, we're going to make one more installment in the Crossroads of America," Pence said.

Most of the funding for local roads comes from SB 67, which gives $430 million in excess local income tax to counties, cities and towns. The municipalities have to use 75 percent of the money on infrastructure projects, but can use all of it if they wish. While every civil city and town got some money in Southwest Indiana, the larger amounts went to the biggest areas, since they have more people earning an income.

Evansville will get $3.4 million while Vanderburgh County will get about $3.1 million. Warrick County is set to get $2.6 million, $1.7 million will go to Posey County and Gibson County will receive $905,000.

Most important to the local counties is the Regional Cities money. Pence's signature meant $42 million will help fund various projects in the Southwest Indiana area. Pence said the Regional Cities program was a big success, not just for the three winners, but for all the regions that participated, because it facilitated cooperation.

"I've been very encouraged by the collaboration across regions that we're seeing," Pence said. "I really think the states that are going to prosper are states that think regionally and grow regionally."

For the Southwest region, Greg Wathen, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Southwest Indiana and one of the leaders of the Regional Cities proposal, said the signing brought a sigh of relief.

"There's been some uncertainty with the funding," Wathen said. "But now we know we can move forward."

Wathen said all of the projects getting some of the money have been slowly developing behind the scenes as the funding was debated in Indianapolis but are now ready to start ramping up.

Wathen said the next step will be to finalize a contract between the region and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the funds can start being doled out as needed.
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By Thomas B. Langhorne of the Courier and Press

It is billed as a discussion about "civility in American politics," and former Sen. Richard Lugar can be counted on to urge the kinder, gentler approach during Wednesday night's forum at the University of Southern Indiana.

After all, civility  respectful, dignified political speech among elected and appointed officials  was a central theme of Lugar's 36-year career representing Indiana in the U.S. Senate. In a similar forum in July with former Rep. Lee Hamilton  also his partner Wednesday  Lugar decried political ads that "crucify the opponent."

But Lugar was tough enough on re-election opponent Richard Mourdock in 2012 that Roll Call, a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper covering Congress and American politics, wrote that he "lost the high ground  his congenial reputation as a statesman  by running millions of dollars in attack ads for the first time in his career."

FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit website that monitors factual accuracy of political advertising, accused Lugar's unsuccessful campaign  he lost the Republican Senate nomination to Mourdock  of running ads that "strain the facts to make Mourdock look like a tax cheat."

After the GOP primary, which Mourdock won with 61 percent of the vote, Lugar said he hoped Mourdock would be elected to his Senate seat. But he accused Mourdock of "an unrelenting partisan mindset" and of pledging his support to "groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it."

Lugar did not campaign for Mourdock in the fall campaign against Democrat Joe Donnelly, who ultimately won the Senate seat.

Lugar is now president of The Lugar Center, a Washington-based nonprofit that describes its focus as "global food security, WMD (weapons of mass destruction) nonproliferation, aid effectiveness, and bipartisan governance." A spokesman for the organization said his schedule would not allow him to comment before Wednesday's 6:30 p.m. forum at USI's Carter Hall. The event, for which doors open at 5:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.

At the height of the 2012 GOP primary election, Lugar's campaign daily pumped out news releases blasting Mourdock, sending them to the Courier & Press and other news outlets in Indiana.

In a reference to Mourdock's support from conservative political action committees located outside Indiana, one Lugar ad said Mourdock had "sold out to D.C. outsiders."

In a report published days before the GOP primary, Washington, D.C. area-based news outlet Politico reported that, "Of the 12 television ads Lugar has run so far, eight have included negative messaging on Mourdock."

Mourdock went after Lugar too. The one-time Vanderburgh County commissioner called Lugar "Obama's favorite Republican" and accused him of partnering with "left-wing Democrats" on key issues.

The GOP internecine war had been brewing for years, even as Lugar grew accustomed to being re-elected with ease.

By 2012, Lugar's willingness to compromise with Democrats was no longer a prized political asset among Indiana Republicans. Mourdock and his conservative supporters in and outside of Indiana said Lugar's "civility" too often saw him unnecessarily ceding ground to political opponents who had no intention of playing nice in return.

"Lugar did what he could to defend himself. Some of that, I think, he would probably tell you today would not necessarily be his proudest moments," said Ed Feigenbaum, an Indianapolis-based political analyst.

But Feigenbaum said Lugar's attacks on Mourdock were relatively tame by 2016 standards, when American politics has become even more polarizing and contentious.

"If you look at what (Lugar) did in comparison to what Mourdock did or what he did in comparison to what literally any other candidate around the country did, you'd probably  I don't want to say laugh, but maybe break a wry smile and say, 'Gosh, this guy's being a little bit tough on himself,'" Feigenbaum said.

Lugar wouldn't play very well as a candidate in today's conservative Indiana GOP, Feigenbaum said.

"Given his predilection for working with Democrats, his more moderate views on social issues than many Republicans in this state and his general philosophical predilection," the analyst said.
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KOKOMO, Ind. (AP)  Howard County deputies had no reason to believe a man who shot two of them, fatally wounding one, was any more dangerous than anybody else they would encounter that night, the sheriff said Monday.

The suspect, Evan T. Dorsey, 25, was wanted on a warrant out of neighboring Clinton County for failing to appear for a court hearing on a charge of possession of a syringe, and Deputy Carl Koontz learned Saturday night that Dorsey was at a mobile home in Russiaville, Sheriff Steven Rogers said during a news conference.

"The warrant was really for a minor offense," Rogers said.

Koontz, 27, died Sunday morning hours after being shot in the pelvis and Sgt. Jordan Buckley was wounded in the gunfight inside the mobile home. Other officers later found Dorsey dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

"Deputy Koontz voluntarily worked past his normal shift to further the investigation. He also wanted to be there to assist the other officers in the service of this warrant. That's who Deputy Koontz was," Rogers said.

Cpl. Justin Markley read a statement from the Koontz family at the news conference.

"Today we want to thank you, thank you everyone who has prayed, sent messages, flowers and shown their love to the Koontz family," the statement said.

Koontz's funeral is scheduled for March 29.

Buckley, who was released an Indianapolis hospital on Monday, also read a statement.

"Yesterday, after being released from the hospital, I walked into my house to my wife and kids, and Carl will not be doing that. Deputy Koontz sacrificed his life beside me, which is the reason I stand here today," Buckley said, pausing to maintain his composure at times.

The visitation and funeral for Koontz will be held next week at the high school where he was assigned part-time for the past two years.

The visitation will start at 1 p.m. Monday at Northwestern High School near Kokomo. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. March 29. Burial will be at Albright Cemetery in Kokomo.

Koontz worked twice a week at Northwestern School Corp. as a school resource officer.
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The attacks on the Belgian capital of Brussels Tuesday morning, which killed dozens and wounded more than 200, were obviously meant to strike terror into the hearts of free people everywhere by suggesting that they could be targeted next. But we must not succumb to fear. The civilized world must rally to Belgium's aid, unite against those who carried out these reprehensible acts and send a clear message that we won't tolerate terrorism.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks on Brussels' main international airport and a popular subway station. Indeed, they bear hallmarks of the coordinated attacks the group carried out in Paris last year, which killed 130 people at several public locations, including a music venue and several eateries. Some of the Paris attackers were traced back to terrorist networks in Brussels, and Belgian authorities have known since at least then their country was vulnerable. Last week, the sole surviving suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was apprehended in Brussels.

Still, the bombings came as a shock to many, as doubtless the perpetrators intended. By attacking Brussels, where the headquarters of the European Union is located, the terrorists proclaim they mean to make war not only on Belgium but on all of Europe and the West.

Amateur video from the airport attack in Brussels showed streams of frightened passengers fleeing the site where two explosions went off in quick succession at around 8 a.m. Brussels time. Behind them clouds of smoke could be seen belching from the shattered windows of a terminal building. An hour and 15 minutes later another explosion rocked the Maelbeek metro station in the city's crowded downtown, filling the platforms with smoke as dazed morning rush hour commuters streamed out into the streets. Belgian authorities initially reported that more than 30 people had been killed and many more wounded at the two locations.

President Barack Obama was right to strongly condemn the Brussels attackers in the preface to his speech in Havana Tuesday morning. He also appealed to the Cuban people to demand from their own leaders the same basic freedoms of expression, assembly, association and religion that the terrorists who attacked Brussels would deny to those living in territories they control. The implied comparison was that despotism takes many forms and they are all less desirable than democracy.

World leaders and senior officials quickly joined Obama in condemning the Brussels attacks and expressed condolences for the victims. French President Francois Hollande called the attack a blow against Europe as a whole, and the mayor of Paris said the Eiffel Tower would be lit up in the colors of the Belgian flag. British Prime Minister David Cameron posted on Twitter "I am shocked and concerned by the events in Brussels. We will do everything we can to help." And Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement that the attacks "show once more that terrorism knows no borders and threatens people all over the world." Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff tweeted simply: "Terrorists will never win."

It's been evident for some time that the U.S. needs to step up its game as a leader of the anti-Islamic State coalition on both the military and diplomatic fronts. It's a responsibility we cannot avoid, nor can we afford to wait until we are attacked at home before we act. The Islamic State must be convinced we will never sacrifice our principles or our values to appease them. As Paris and now Brussels have stood strong despite the Islamic State' cowardly tactics, so should we.

This editorial appeared in The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday
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By Suzanne Crouch, Special to the Courier & Press

To my fellow public servants:

March 13-19 was Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

During Sunshine Week, but especially in the weeks that follow, it is important for us to embrace the idea of increasing government transparency as a means of securing freedom.

Founding Father Patrick Henry said, "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them  to cover with the veil of secrecy the common routine of business, is an abomination in the eyes of every intelligent man, and every friend to his country."

If we truly believe that our government is one of, by, and for the people, then we must also believe in the notion that as public servants we are merely extensions of those whom we serve.

So when the people send their money to us  to be spent to benefit the greater good  that money does not magically become ours. It remains theirs. We simply assume the most important fiduciary duty ever known.

But we must always remember, as Gov. Mitch Daniels used to say, when we take a dollar away from a private citizen through taxation, we make them a dollar less free. No longer do the people get to decide what to do with their dollars.

That's why it's essential for us to conduct the people's business in the open.

With all the technology and connectedness the 21st Century has to offer, we ought to embrace it. We must communicate, interact, and share with the people in real time to build trust and prove to them we're spending their money wisely and effectively.

Additionally, it is important for us to understand that when folks advocate for greater transparency, their motives are not to politicize or sensationalize the numbers and data.

On the contrary, these folks are driven to solve problems with us. They advocate for transparency because it is a fundamental principle of a free society. They believe, as I do, that greater transparency allows them a greater opportunity to hold their government more accountable so that we all may benefit from a freer and more prosperous state.

The good news is, we're already well on our way to having a more open government.

For example, this session, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 126 which urges the Legislative Council to study the expansion of open data in Indiana.

And last week, the Indy Chamber announced winners of its #INCapitolHack Hackathon. My office asked the hackers to develop a solution which enables us to better track state credit card spending. In just 24 hours, Team Shake & Bake developed interactive dashboards and analytics which allow us to trace spending down to the location, penny and spender.

In addition to these great developments for a more open Indiana, my office recently kicked off a 21st Century Government Transparency tour. On this tour, we are traveling to different areas of the state to promote the Indiana Transparency Portal and find ways that we can make the state's financial data more useful and user friendly.

And in the coming months, I will be taking those ideas from everyday Hoosiers and collaborating with a small working group of public and private sector individuals who can apply those solutions and make our state more open than it has ever been.

In conclusion, it is my hope that as public servants we will embrace our roles and act in good faith on behalf of the people by opening the doors and conducting their business in the light. If we commit to this principle, I believe we will be able to solve more problems and secure more freedoms for Hoosiers everywhere.

Suzanne Crouch is auditor for the State of Indiana.
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Apple on Monday unveiled a smaller, cheaper iPhone aimed at new buyers, especially in emerging markets and China, as the technology company looks to reverse a decline in worldwide sales of its most important product.

The new device, called the iPhone SE, has a 4-inch screen and starts at A$679 for the 16GB model. It represents Apple's second bid for the crowded mid-tier market after an unsuccessful foray three years ago.

The A$679 (US$399) starting price is well below the A$929 for the entry-level iPhone 6. The new phone, with Apple's vaunted A9 chip, is much faster than Apple's previous attempt at an entry-level phone, launched in 2013. It also runs Apple Pay and comes in the wildly popular rose gold color.

Analysts had said before the event that a phone priced below US$450 could be competitive with other mid-tier rivals, mostly running Google's Android system, and make an impact in emerging markets and China, the world's biggest buyer of smartphones.

Apple is hoping the cheaper model will stimulate overall iPhone sales, which it expects to decline this quarter for the first time since it essentially created the smartphone market nine years ago.

"There are people who want that smaller screen size," said Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research, but he warned that it may not be a sure-fire hit.

"It's a more attractive price point, but I don't think it moves the needle in emerging markets," he said. "You do a price cut when you need to drive the market a bit more."

The company showed off new wristbands for the Apple Watch and a new iPad Pro tablet at Monday's event.

The more compact phone design comes after it expanded the size of the screens in its high-end iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in 2014 to as large as 5.5 inches. That was broadly seen as an attempt to match rival Samsung Electronics with its large-screen Galaxy phones.

Before the launch at Apple's Cupertino, California headquarters, chief executive Tim Cook defended the company's refusal to comply with a US court order to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in a December attack in San Bernardino, California.

Apple has a responsibility to protect customers' data and privacy, Cook said, adding that Apple "will not shrink from that responsibility." His statement was greeted by applause from the audience.

The tech company's dispute with the US government has become a lightning rod for a broader debate on data privacy in the United States. The company is set to square off against the US government at a court hearing on Tuesday, likely the first round in a long legal fight to avoid being forced to decrypt the iPhone.

Apple also announced a new scheme it called 'Liam' to take apart old iPhones and reuse the materials.

Apple shares fell in the afternoon and were down about US$0.15 at US$105.77. The stock is down 20 percent from its all-time high closing price of US$133 in February 2015, as Wall Street worries that the company does not have any blockbuster products in the pipeline.
Andy Grove, the Silicon Valley elder statesman who made Intel into the world's top chipmaker and helped usher in the personal computer age, died on Tuesday at age 79, Intel said.

The company did not describe the circumstances of his death but Grove, who endured the Nazi occupation of Hungary during World War Two, living under a fake name, and came to the United States to escape the chaos of Soviet rule, had suffered from Parkinson's Disease.

Grove was Intels first hire after it was founded in 1968 and became the practical-minded member of a triumvirate that eventually led Intel Inside processors to be used in more than 80 percent of the worlds personal computers.

With his motto "only the paranoid survive", which became the title of his best-selling management book, Grove championed an innovative environment within Intel that became a blueprint for successful California startups.

Grove, who was named man of the year by Time magazine in 1997, encouraged disagreement and insisted employees be vigilant of disruptions in industry and technology that could be major dangers - or opportunities - for Intel.

In doing so, he could be mercurial and demanding with employees who he thought were not doing enough and in 1981 required the staff to work two extra hours a day with no extra pay.

Grove's overhaul of Intels business - switching from digital memory to processors - was an early example of his obsession with detecting major shifts in business and technology and staying flexible enough to move quickly and make the most of them.

"It's not that you shouldn't plan but you should not regard your plans to be anything more than a baseline model of what might happen, Grove said.

While Intel founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore proposed much of the chip technology that helped created the semiconductor industry, Grove was the stickler for detail who turned their ideas into actual products. He was responsible for driving growth in Intels profits and stock price through the 1980s and 1990s.

Nazis, Communists

Grove, who was Jewish, was born Andras Grof in Budapest in 1936. Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in his youth, and after the Soviets followed, Grove sneaked into Austria in 1956 and then emigrated to the United States, where he learned English and earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

Grove went to work in 1963 at Fairchild Semiconductor, where he researched technology that would eventually be used to make microchips. At Fairchild, he also met chip visionaries Noyce and Moore, who left to found Intel in 1968. Grove quickly joined them, running research and manufacturing.

He became Intels president in 1979, CEO in 1987 and chairman and CEO in 1997. He gave up his CEO title in 1998 and stayed on as chairman until 2004.

In its early years, Intel focused on making DRAM memory chips. When Japanese competition soared, Grove made the fateful decision to reinvent Intel as a manufacturer of microprocessors  the brains at the centre of personal computers and other electronic devices.

As the personal computer industry took off in the 1980s, Intel supplied its processors to IBM and then to Compaq and other manufacturers making "IBM clone" PCs.

Intel's chips, along with Microsofts Windows operating system, quickly became an industry standard in the exploding PC industry, with Grove funneling profits into research and development to create faster and faster processors. Under his stewardship, the Pentium brand and Intel Inside logo became widely recognised by consumers.

Intel remains one of the world's leading semiconductor companies but the PC chipmaker is wrestling to adapt to trends toward smaller gadgets like smartphones and tablets.

Grove also was a champion of keeping manufacturing within the United States, arguing outsourcing the manufacturing of electronics products - like batteries or televisions - meant US companies missed out on gaining experience necessary to make technology breakthroughs.

Intel still makes most of its chips in US plants.

During his time at Intel in the 1990s Grove was treated for prostate cancer and later wrote an influential cover story in Fortune magazine, criticising the medical establishment's treatment of the disease as inefficient compared to scientific standards applied in semiconductor research.

In later life, Grove donated tens of millions of dollars for research on Parkinson's disease, a condition he suffered from. He also regularly criticised government and medical researchers for making slow and inefficient progress beating that disease compared to accomplishments made in the chip industry.

Grove and his wife, Eva, who married a year after meeting while working at a resort in New Hampshire in 1957, had two daughters.

(Reporting By Noel Randewich; Editing by Bill Trott, Peter Henderson and Bernard Orr)
Channel programs News

IT Distributor ScanSource Adds HPE Networking Products

Jimmy Sheridan

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Specialty technology distributor ScanSource is boosting its networking portfolio after reaching a distribution agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise for its networking products.

ScanSource, based in Greenville, S.C., will now distribute networking solutions from both HPE and Cisco.

The deal with HPE, announced Tuesday, will add wired, wireless, campus and data center networking solutions as well as routing switching, and network management security products to ScanSource's portfolio.

[Related: Partners: HP's $3 Billion Acquisition Of Aruba Networks Will Put Pressure On Cisco]

"This deal does two things," said Brent Busha, director of merchandising for ScanSources Networking and Security division: allow the distributor to sell the back-end infrastructure for its Aruba networking products - which ScanSource has been selling for about eight years - and maintain a partnership between a very good switch-and-routing manufacturer and one of the best wireless manufacturers, Busha said.

If you look at the competitive landscape, he said, after HP acquired Aruba last year (months before the company split into HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise), HPE gained a synergy between the front- and back-end technologies that nearly all other companies dont have.

"Other businesses only own a piece of that technology; they dont own the back-end. No one has that full solution besides Cisco and HP," Busha said.

And now, ScanSource will distribute both.

Christie Hamberis, senior vice president of ScanSource Networking and Security, said she believes that the fact that ScanSource is now distributing both Cisco and HPE products positions Scansource well to leverage many niche products it sells with top brand names like Cisco and HPE. "That is what differentiates us," she said.

Hamberis added that the deal will benefit ScanSource's partners because many already buy solutions from ScanSource, which will push the company closer to becoming a one-stop-shop for its partners.

One solution provider welcomed the announcement.

Adaptive Technology Solutions has purchased a lot of Aruba networking equipment from ScanSource for use in university settings, said Gregg DuBois, owner of the New Braunfels, Texas-based solution provider. Adaptive doesnt carry HPE equipment today, and is still trying to evaluate what the addition of HPE networking products means for traditional Aruba resellers.

Im glad to hear this [news], DuBois told CRN. ScanSource is really a top-notch organization.

According to a statement from ScanSource, the terms of the agreement give all of the distributor's business units access to both routing and switching products from HPE Aruba that complement the security cameras, point-of-sale systems, unified communications products and other IP devices ScanSource has built its reputation on.

In the new deal, resellers will be able to leverage the new offerings and provide a complete end-to-end solution that will run from the networking closet to the endpoint device.

In May 2015, HP acquired Aruba for $3 billion, stating that it would leverage its brand to deliver next-generation converged campus networking.

Michael Novinson contributed reporting to this story.
Cloud News

How A Dozen New Data Centers Will Benefit Google Partners

Joseph Tsidulko

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The ambitious data center expansion plan Google revealed Tuesday will be a boon for partners selling Google Cloud Platform, not only by putting cloud servers closer to large swaths of potential customers, but also by reinforcing a powerful narrative of rapid growth in the hyper-competitive market.

The build-out -- which will take Google from its current four regions to 16 when completed -- will improve the platform's availability, deliver far greater geographic reach and give partners an effective marketing pitch to win discerning customers, according to Google partners.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud vendor, a subsidiary of Alphabet, revealed the expansion strategy a day before welcoming its cloud-focused partners to its annual Next conference in San Francisco.

[Related: CRN Exclusive: These Are The Changes Coming To Google's Partner Program]

"Microsoft touts the number of data centers and clusters as a competitive advantage," Allen Falcon, CEO of Cumulus Global, a Google and Microsoft partner based in Westborough, Mass, told CRN.

"As Google opens more data centers, the capacity and economies of scale will grow," Falcon said.

For Google's partners, that means they can advertise improved services with greater availability. They can also leverage a stronger competitive position in the market to close deals, Falcon said.

Each region is a self-contained data center that offers multiple availability zones. Google Cloud facilities in operation now are in South Carolina, Iowa, Belgium and Taiwan.

Later this year, Google is set to open new regions in Oregon and Japan.

But Google surprised many by revealing Tuesday that those were the first two of a dozen on the horizon -- with 10 regions planned to light up on the network through 2017.

Rajesh Abhyankar, CEO of MediaAgility, a Google partner based in Princeton, N.J., that specializes in advanced data projects, told CRN the build-out, after the hire of Diane Greene to lead the cloud business, gives partners confidence that Google is competing to win.

"What continues to attract us to Google as a partner is their focus on what's next," Abhyankar said. "We rely on the power of this platform to build amazing experiences for our customers, especially around big data and the new machine learning capabilities."

Google's been on a roll since hiring Greene, VMware's co-founder and former CEO, in November.

The Internet giant recently notched a big win in signing music-streaming service Spotify as a customer, and last week CRN reported that Apple had shifted hundreds of millions in spending from AWS to Google.

Google product manager Varun Sakalkar, in a blog post setting forth the expansion, said the regions are intended to help Google Cloud users deploy services and applications closer to where their customers reside, delivering lower latency and a more responsive experience.

That proximity to a larger base of end-users means more applications will be suited to run on Cloud Platform in the future, according to Sakalkar.

Synergy Research noted in a report released Monday, the day before Google's announcement, that Google was trailing other hyper-scale providers in overall footprint -- a liability in the blood sport that has become the cloud market.

"Google lags far behind AWS and Microsoft in the cloud infrastructure market, and at least part of that was down to having a cloud data center network that wasn't as extensive," said John Dinsdale, Synergy's research director.

Amazon Web Services, IBM and Microsoft have established the broadest footprint, each with more than 40 data centers, with multiple facilities in several regions.

That Synergy report said more than half of the world's major data centers are in the U.S.
Cloud News

Google Cloud Chief Diane Greene: 'We're Dead Serious About This Business'

Kevin McLaughlin

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Diane Greene, the VMware co-founder who's now leading Google's cloud business, says the search giant is now ready to make its mark in a public cloud market where it's trailing Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure by a wide margin.

"We are dead serious about this business," Greene said in press conference Wednesday at Google's GCP Next conference in San Francisco. "We've spent billions on data centers and are going to use them as much as we can. This is a long-term, forever event."

[Related: Cloud Makes For Strange Bedfellows: Apple Signs On With Google, Cuts Spending With AWS ]

Google has been in the public cloud space for several years now, with modest results so far. Google has around 4 percent of the market compared to 31 percent for cloud services kingpin Amazon Web Services, 9 percent for Microsoft and 7 percent for IBM SoftLayer, according to Synergy Research.

Google may be playing catch-up in the cloud platform services market, but it has an edge in areas like machine learning, open-source software and security, Greene said in the press conference.

Greene said Google also offers better pricing and performance than the competition. "We have extraordinarily efficient data center systems and these operations let us offer lower prices," she said.

Morgan Stanley recently estimated that Google's cloud infrastructure business generated around $500 million in revenue during 2015, while AWS said in January that its business was on a $9.6 billion annualized run rate. Microsoft doesn't break out Azure revenue.

Google lags when it comes to attracting large enterprise customers to its cloud, and Greene -- who sold to large companies during her time at VMware -- has been brought in to get the ball rolling. To further reinforce Google's commitment to cloud, Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt and Google CEO Sundar Pichai also took the stage to talk up the progress being made on this front.

At the conference, Google revealed that Home Depot, Disney and Coca Cola are now Google Cloud Platform customers. Google also said BMC, Pivotal, Red Hat, SAP, Splunk, Tenable Network Security, Veritas and several other enterprise software vendors are working to integrate their offerings with Google Cloud Platform.

The big enterprise customer wins come on the heels of a blockbuster Google deal to provide Google Cloud Platform services to Apple, which was first reported by CRN last week.

Since inking the Google deal late last year, Apple has also significantly reduced its reliance on Amazon Web Services, whose infrastructure it uses to run parts of iCloud and other services, according to CRN's sources.

Earlier this week, Google announced that it's building new data centers in Oregon and Tokyo, both of which will begin operations later this year. Google said it's also planning to open an additional 10 data center facilities by the end of 2017.

Google, which unveiled enhancements to its cloud channel program earlier this week, is planning to put partners front and center in its public cloud push.

"Partners are a critical piece of our strategy to helping customers run their applications on Google Cloud," Brian Stevens, vice president of product management for Google Cloud Platform, said in a blog post.

"What Google and Diane Greene are doing with GCP is now landing in earnest, and it now feels maintstream," Tony Safoian, president and CEO of SADA Systems, a Los Angeles-based Google partner, told CRN. "The future is now, and I can finally see why Google's cloud business can surpass the advertising business."
Networking News

Verizon Taps Partners To Aid Global Expansion, Announces APAC Partner Program

Gina Narcisi

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Verizon Enterprise Solutions has unveiled plans to expand its chief partner program beyond the U.S. Following its channel program for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), the telecom provider on Monday announced a new program for channel partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Verizon's channel business today is made up of its global systems integrator partnerships and its Verizon Partner Program (VPP), which consists of about 1,300 North American-based agent partners. In an effort to expand globally, Verizon needs a global agent channel. The new Asia/Pacific (APAC) channel program will target reseller and agent partners in Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Verizon channel chief Adam Famularo told CRN.

"My goal since Day One at Verizon was always to build up a very large channel business in new product sales. Further away from the U.S., the Verizon brand isn't as well-known, so we are in deeper need of channels to grow our foothold in the marketplace," Famularo said. "We need to have a presence overseas, and the channel is the way to do that."

[Related: CRN Exclusive: Verizon Launches First-Ever Distributor Program, Helps Partners Deepen Security Offerings ]

APAC agent partners will have access to Verizon's Partner Portal and can take advantage of the carrier's co-marketing resources, online training tools and global certifications. Partners can progress through the four membership tiers: Member, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Verizon's full portfolio of network, managed security, and cloud offerings will be rolled out little by little to EMEA and APAC channel partners, Famularo said. He didn't specify when that would begin or when it would be completed.

Verizon has been focusing its efforts on expanding its channel program globally over the past year, Famularo said. Now that the EMEA channel program is up and running, Verizon's next step is to turn its attention to APAC, and lastly, Latin America.

"EMEA is by far our biggest investment so far. We have a lot of people and marketing funds invested in it  this is the big year for EMEA to break out," he said.

Master agent Intelisys, of Petaluma, Calif., is one Verizon partner that has been supporting the carrier with its international efforts, having Verizon expand into EMEA.

Intelisys is excited about the prospect of International expansion, said Rick Ribas, senior vice president, East Region, for the master agent.

"Verizon has been a huge assert for us to get off the ground internationally," Ribas said.

Many carriers have international partners, and some even have channel programs that often aren't structured as well as U.S. channel programs are, Ribas said.

"That's how we can help  we can help add structure, processes, and procedures," he said. "There's a lot that goes into being a global company. There are a lot of rules and regulations, taxation and currency issues that have to be dealt with."

The latest channel program in the APAC region is about six months behind EMEA, Verizon's Famularo said. Verizon has a channel account management team and channel team leader in place, and marketing campaigns are being built. The APAC region's channel program already has a handful of agent partners, he said.

"My expectation is that by the end of the year, EMEA (will be) fully running, and APAC should be starting to hit its stride so that in (2017), APAC is a major contributor," he said.

Verizon is seeing interest from the partner community in overseas expansion, Famularo said. While the carrier isn't putting a cap on the number of partners, the channel strategy in each country will vary slightly. For example, a smaller country might be led by one master agent with a base of sub-agents, he said.

The technology channel is especially strong overseas, which was a factor in Verizon's decision to establish a technology channel  its freshly-minted distributor program  here in the U.S., Famularo said.

"In EMEA and APAC, there is a much bigger footprint for technology partners  much bigger than (in) the U.S.," he said.

Establishing channel programs in other countries is a benefit for solution providers located there, but it's also a plus for Verizon. Some of the partners will have brands that are more well-known than Verizon's, so partners will be able to get Verizon in to more accounts, Famularo said.

"Partners might have better local brands, but we have a better global brand, so it's really a good combination," he said.
FireEye CEO Discusses Evolving Industry

Since the beginning of the year, FireEye has been investing big in threat intelligence, acquiring Dallas-based iSight Partners in January, and adding new features to its platform. CEO Dave DeWalt sat down with CRN at the RSA Conference, held in San Francisco a few weeks ago, to talk about why those investments are so critical in today's climate of emerging critical infrastructure attacks and growing complexity in security that threatens to cripple customers. DeWalt also addressed the ongoing debate between Apple and the FBI. Facing evolving attitudes and conditions around privacy and security, as well as changing demands from customers, DeWalt said the industry is at "the most interesting inflection point in mankind's history." That's a shift that FireEye plans to be in front of, he said. Here's how.
Have you ever thought about how many people tried to stop Jesus life, death and resurrection, whether for good or bad? Some wanted Jesus dead, and they thought His words were blasphemous. Others looked out for their own interest and rule, but there were some who wanted to protect Jesusand they were distraught at His death. But God is sovereign over all, and He knew the path that His Son must follow in order to save mankind once and for all.

Here are 5 who tried to stop Jesus life, death, or resurrection and failed according to Gods plan:

1. King Herod: The Paranoid Manipulator

King Herod and many of the people he governed did not want to welcome a new King. Herod feared for his throne, and his people feared his vengeance. Once Herod learned information about the Messiah from the Magi, he asked them to return with a location so that he too could worship the King.

But being warned in a dream, the Magi traveled home a different way. Then Herod in his anger and paranoia decided to take matters into his own hands and tried to kill every Hebrew baby boy that fit the age range of the Messiah.

When Herod realized that he has been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Matthew 2:16

But God sent an angel to warn Joseph in a dream, and he took Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt. Herod failed to stop the Messiah, and Gods sovereign plan for His Son continued.

2. Satan: The Evil Deceiver

Satan tried to stop Gods plan by tempting Jesus with empty promises and bribes that he could not fulfill. Jesus, both fully divine and fully human, experienced temptation as a man the same way that we do, but He did not yield or sin.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him Matthew 4:8-11

Can you imagine the fury Satan felt when Jesus remained strong in His choice to choose useven to death? Though the Bible does not tell us, I think it is plausible to think that Satan was there at the crucifixion. We know he entered Judas Iscariot; Luke 22:3 says, Then Satan, entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.

If he couldnt stop Gods ultimate plan, he surely wanted to cause as much pain and havoc as he could while the Messiah suffered on earth. Satan failed, and not only did he lose the battlehe lost the war. Gods plan prevailed unhindered as prophesied.

3. The Sanhedrin/Chief Priests: Wickedly Insecure Men

The Sanhedrin was the supreme council of the Jewish people in the time of Christ and earlier. You can find out more information about the Sanhedrin at BibleStudyTools.com. Matthew 26:59 tells us,

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.

They really didnt like Jesusand their desire was to trap Him into what they considered blasphemy. They already had it set in their minds that they would find a way to execute Him.

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. Matthew 27:1

And they didnt stop there

But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. -Matthew 27:20

They wanted Jesus dead, and they succeeded as God had planned. But they failed in thinking that they were in control; they had no power when it came to Jesus life, death, or resurrectionthe power and plan was Gods alone. They could not stop the resurrection, nor could they stop the news of it. The tomb was found empty; death could not hold Him. He is risen indeed.

4. Simon Peter: The Brave Defender

Peter tried to stop Jesus from being taken by the Roman guards. He succeeded in cutting off the ear of the high priests servant before Jesus stopped him. John 18:10-11 says,

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priests servant, cutting off his right ear (The servants name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? Matthew 26:53-54

Can you imagine how hard it must have been for the disciples to accept that Jesus must die to fulfill His plan as Messiahand that there was nothing they could do to help or stop it? They did not fully understand yet why Jesus must die, and they doubted before they saw Him again. Peter failed to protect the Messiah and save Him from the cross, but later he understood that it wasnt Jesus who needed saving. Oh what grace God bestows on us.

5. Pontius Pilate: The Reluctant Judge

Even Pilates wife tried to dissuade him from crucifying Jesus: When Pilate was sitting on the judges seat, his wife sent him this message: Dont have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him. Matthew 27:19

Crosswalk.com Contributor Dr. Pritchard shares,

All four gospels make it clear that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent of any crime. If you put the gospel accounts together, it appears that Pilate tried four times to avoid sentencing Jesus to death:"

He told the Jews to try the case themselves:

Pilate said, Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. John 18:31

Pilate said, Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. John 18:31 He sent the case to Herod:

When he learned that Jesus was under Herods jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. -Luke 23:6

When he learned that Jesus was under Herods jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. -Luke 23:6 He tried to placate the Jews by scourging Jesus instead of crucifying him:

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him. John 19:1,4

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him. John 19:1,4 He tried to make a deal but the people chose Barabbas instead:

Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? Asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. Mark 15:9-11

What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah? Pilate asked. They all answered, Crucify him! When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. I am innocent of this mans blood, he said. It is your responsibility! Matthew 27:22-24

Pilate did not understand Jesus completely, but he knew that He was innocent. Rather than standing up for Jesus at great personal cost, he faltered to blackmail from high-ranking Jewish officials and mob mentality letting the people choose Jesus fate as God had planned.

Pilates crime in many ways was worse than the sin of the chief priests. They thought Jesus was guilty and wanted him dead; Pilate knew he was innocent and sent him to die anyway. He stalled and hesitated and tried to pass the buck. He wouldnt decide so the mob decided for him, writes Dr. Pritchard.

As believers, we can be thankful that God did not let any man or spirit stop His plan to send His Son to die on a cross and rise from the dead. Gods plan for salvation could not be stopped, and because He paid the only price that could be paid there is hope for all who believe.

Photo credit: iStock/Getty Images/TanyaSid

Publication date: March 23, 2016

This article is part of our larger Holy Week and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ!

What Lent and Why is it Celebrated?

What is the Holy Week?

What Is Palm Sunday?

What is Maundy Thursday?

What Is Good Friday?

What Is Easter?

Easter Prayers

At Easter, the Son of God took on the worlds sin and defeated the devil, death, and the grave. How is it, then, that historys most glorious moment is surrounded by fearful fishermen, despised tax collectors, marginalized women, feeble politicians, and traitorous friends?

In The Characters of Easter, youll become acquainted with the unlikely collection of ordinary people who witnessed the miracle of Christs death and resurrection. This FREE podcast provides a fresh approach to the Lenten season and can be used as a devotional or study for both individuals and groups.




Captain Claus Andersen and his crew aboard the Anthem of the Seas received praise from the U.S. Coast Guard for their capable and professional handling of the storm that the ship ran into last month.

Meanwhile, and for unrelated reasons, cruise managements have received less praise by Wall Street as cruise stocks have nosedived.

It only took a dip in the earnings guidance before investors started to bail, concerned about softening markets in Latin America and Southern Europe, pricing pressures in China and Australia, and a general wariness about the global economy and geo-political developments.

The events serve to demonstrate the ever present potential force of nature that can put a ship in harms way despite all the modern forecasting equipment and route planning, and the complexities of the markets and world events that management must cope with.

It is an interesting parallel: how the cruise industry needs competent captains and crew not only at sea but also ashore in management and in the boardrooms.

And how weather forecasting and route (business) planning are equally important whether at sea or on land.

As Captain Andersen rode out the storm, we are also confident that shoreside management will get their companies and stock prices back on course.

Nevertheless there is a lesson to be learned: always respect the sea (and the market).

Bon Voyage!

Angela Reale Mathisen & Oivind Mathisen

Publishers



Excerpt from Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine: Spring 2016
The Alaska cruise market remains relatively stable from 2015 to 2016, led by the Princess and Holland America brands, with the entire market growing 1 percent year-over-year, according to the 2016-2017 Cruise Industry News Annual Report. By comparison, in 2015, the Alaska markets passenger capacity grew by 3 percent from 2014.

The market has rebounded nicely from a drop off following a record year in 2008 and the implementation of the famous Alaska head-tax. 2016 numbers are just 7 percent below 2008s record setting mark.

Ships coming and going to Alaska also play into West Coast sailings. After dropping off significantly due to the economy and perception issues surrounding Mexico, the West Coast market bounced back in 2014 to the tune of a 66 percent rise in passenger capacity, adding another 22 percent in 2015. For 2016, the market is relatively flat, down 4 percent from 2015 which can be attributed to a handful of shoulder-season sailings being replaced by required drydockings.

About the Annual Report:

The Cruise Industry News Annual Report is the only book of its kind, presenting the worldwide cruise industry through 2025 in 350+ pages. Statistics are independently researched. Learn more by clicking here.

The report covers everything from new ships on order to supply-and-demand scenarios from 1987 through 2021+. Plus there is a future outlook, complete growth projections for each cruise line, regional market reports, and detailed ship deployment by region and market, covering all the cruise lines. New for 2016-2017 based on customer feedback are detailed Chinese market statistics and projections.

Order the 2016-2017 edition today.
Earlier this year, the University of Connecticut has made a controversial move by introducing housing targeted toward African-American males at its Storrs campus.

Now, the housing community has caught the attention of the founders of the New American Civil Rights Project and members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Gail Heriot and Peter Kirsanow. The two have asked the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education to look into the legality of the dorm.

Members of the group say the dorm is "promoting the 'ghettoization of Black males on campus. Not only that, they say the practice of segregating students in this way is a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination on the basis of race at federally-funded universities," Education Dive reports.

UConn spokeswoman, Stephanie Reitz, says there is no real legal threat.

"The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has not initiated an inquiry into UConn or the Scholars House program." Reitz said. "[A] letter was sent by two commission members acting in their individual capacity, not on behalf of the commission."

In fact, UConn received a letter on March 23 from one of the members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights named Dave Kladney discrediting Heriot and Kirsanow's claims. In the letter Kladney claims that the letter Heriot and Kirsanow sent the the university was also brought before the commission for a vote and was defeated.

"Their letter does not represent the position of the Commission or the views of the majority of the Commission's members," Kladney writes.

Kladney also commends UConn for its actions to improve education among African-Americans.

Reitz said the misconception is that the house will be segregated or separate from the rest of the school. While the site for The ScHOLARS House, which stands for "Scholastic House Of Leaders who are African-American Researchers & Scholars," does state that African-American males are given preference, all races are invited to apply.

Opening in the fall, it will be part of one floor of the seven-floor NextGen Hall, and it will house 40 to 50 male students, primarily studying the STEM fields.

Read more about the ScHOLA2RS House

"We don't even have enough black men to fill up a dorm," Dr. Erik Hines, director of UConn's ScHOLA2RS House, told Education Dive.

Both Reitz and Hines have stressed that this is not a new concept, stating that other schools including the University of Minnesota, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Davis, Harris-Stowe State in St. Louis and Texas A & M have similar programs in place.

This is not UConn's first learning community with a focus on a specific race or gender either, Reitz said. La Comunidad is a learning community that caters to students of Hispanic or Latin heritage and WiMSE is a housing community for women in math, science and engineering.
At least one victim of Tuesdays terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium came from Connecticut.

The office of U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., confirmed Tuesday evening that one of Congressman Himes constituents received non-life-threatening injuries in the attack.
The number of influenza cases in Montana continues to be lower for the season than in years past, even as state health officials anticipate a possible spike this spring.

"This season really got off to a slow start," said Stacy Anderson, an epidemiologist with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. "But statewide, we don't feel that we've hit the peak of the season yet."

Flu season in Montana typically runs from October until June. DPHHS began recording cases in September. Through March 12, the most recent numbers available, the department reported 1,458 confirmed cases and 134 hospitalizations, along with five deaths.

The H1N1 influenza A strain is the most common this year.

By comparison, Montana saw nearly 450 flu-related hospitalizations by mid-February of the 2014-15 season.

In Yellowstone County, RiverStone Health reports 177 confirmed cases for the season as of March 19, with the number of cases confirmed each week steadily decreasing since the beginning of March.

However, Anderson also noted that the number of flu cases reported weekly has been increasing across the state recently.

"For the last three weeks or so, we've been at widespread activity," she said. "... The trends we're seeing here are very similar to the rest of the country."

Widespread flu activity means outbreaks or increases in laboratory-confirmed flu cases in at least half of the state's regions. Across the U.S., only 11 states and Guam are listed as having flu activity lower than widespread.

Effective vaccine

While it's difficult to pinpoint exactly why the flu season has been so slow to start, Anderson said the flu vaccine issued this year might be playing a role.

Seasonal flu vaccines typically contain either three or four strains of the flu that research indicates will be the most common in a given season, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If a virus changes or a different strain becomes widespread, the vaccine might not be as effective, but that doesn't appear to be the case this year.

"It's a very good match," Anderson said.

According to the CDC, the vaccine reduces the risk of flu by 50 to 60 percent in the overall population in years when the vaccine viruses and circulating viruses match up.

The vaccine for the 2014-2015 season reduced the risk of flu by only 23 percent, one of the worst effectiveness rates in a decade, according to a CDC report.

Anderson said that even with lower numbers this year so far, confirmed cases are on the rise through much of Montana. Taking precautions, including vaccination and regularly washing hands to avoid the flu will help people stay healthy, she said.
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Tuition appears headed up again in the Connecticut State College and University system.

Along with it, students can expect larger class sizes and fewer services.

Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State College and University system, announced the proposed tuition increases for the 2016-17 academic year on Wednesday  during the middle of spring break.

Ojakian will recommend a 5 percent increase for the regional universities, including Western Connecticut State University in Danbury and Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

The increase will send annual tuition for full-time, in-state undergraduates to $10,089 a year.

At the states dozen community colleges, tuition would go up 3.5 percent to $4,173 under Ojakians plan, which will be considered by the Board of Regents when it meets Tuesday.

More Information Tuition increases Current Tuition Increase New Tuition Universities $9,609 5.0% or $480 $10,089 Community Colleges $4,032 3.5% or $141 $4,173 Charter Oak State College $8,666 4.0% or $347 $9,013 See More Collapse

This would mark the second year in a row for that level of increase.

In a letter to students issued at noon Wednesday, Ojakian laid out several reasons for the proposed increase, largely blaming the states deficit.

This next fiscal year the state of Connecticut, one of our largest funding sources is experiencing an enormous budget deficit of almost $1 billion dollars, he said. Our system is expected to be hit with a cut of at least $26 million.

Even with the tuition increase, Ojakian said it will not close the deficit. That, he said, would take an increase of more than 7 percent at the universities and 11 percent at the community colleges.

To cover the balance, Ojakian is recommending raises not be implemented and a hiring freeze remain in effect.

A staff analysis of the proposed hike, prepared by the Board of Regents system office, recognizes the increase as unwelcome but calls it the minimum needed to defray some of the fiscal hurdles expected in the upcoming year.

Reduced student services and larger class sizes are predicted, according to the analysis.

I am fully aware that this is not the news you wanted to receive, Ojakian said in his email to students. Still, he called the proposed increase fair given our current environment.

At Western Connecticut State Universitys Midtown campus, students said while presidential candidates are talking about loan forgiveness and making college affordable, local politicians are doing the opposite.

It is definitely something I worry about  its hard not to, said Ian Boisvert, 20, of New Milford, who will begin his fourth year in the fall, when tuition would top $10,000.

You watch the numbers pile up and you get the emails saying how much your payment will be when you get out every month, but you stick it in the back of your mind because we are here to work on school work, said Boisvert, an American studies major with a minor in professional writing. To think about the numbers is a little overwhelming, so it wears on me a little bit.

Jessie Plouffe, 18, a psychology major with a minor in conflict resolution who commutes from Newtown, said she was just as concerned about tuition increases as fellow students, even though she is on scholarship.

I have to stay in school and get my masters degree because I want to be a therapist someday, she said. I have a scholarship which is a fixed amount of money, so I dont know if it is going to cover this tuition increase.

Maribel La Luz, director of communication for the system, said spring break had zero bearing on the timing of the announcement.

The universities and colleges need to send out their enrollment packages for next semester, La Luz said. In fact, we are somewhat behind because we're waiting to get as much information about the current budget as possible.

The increase is less than the one proposed for University of Connecticut students. In December, the UConn Board of Trustees set in motion a four-year tuition hike plan, including a 6.7 percent increase in the fall of 2016 for full-time undergraduates.

A number of students and parents left comments decrying the proposed increase on the Facebook site for Southern Connecticut State University.

Seriously, I wouldn't have as big of a problem with this if they were actually proposing positive changes throughout the campus, wrote Garrett Jacobowitz, a Southern student.

Another poster said $480 may not seem like a lot, but to a student trying to commute and keep student loans to a minimum, it is a lot.

The state Board of Regents meeting next week is slated for 10 a.m. at Manchester Community College.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; @lclambeck
BRIDGEPORT  Returned Mayor Joe Ganim has tweaked his proposal for a good-government watchdog office in City Hall to make a commission overseeing it more diverse and independent.

But Ganims revised plan does not address the biggest criticism  that the head of this new Office of Government Accountability, who could conceivably screen criminal or ethics complaints against the mayor, will be hired by the mayor.

When you get to the world of potential criminal complaints and ethics complaints and vetting of those, I think independence is of the utmost importance, Council President Thomas McCarthy said.

Tom Gaudett, a Ganim adviser, said, The mayors open to working with the council on the issue.

The draft regulations creating the accountability office landed before members of the City Councils Ordinance Committee on Tuesday. The group will be reviewing it over the coming weeks.

Team Ganim sought to address one initial complaint, previously reported by the Connecticut Post, that the three-person accountability board would be stacked in his favor. Now it is to have two mayoral appointments, two council appointments and a fifth member chosen by area university presidents or other people not considered as having a personal or political interest.

We agreed it was too small, Gaudett told council members Tuesday.

Ganim, who was convicted in 2003, when he was last Bridgeports mayor, of public corruption, began talking about this good-government initiative while on the comeback trail last year against incumbent Bill Finch.

But the Post, after interviewing some ethics experts, identified flaws in Ganims accountability office, especially when compared with the Office of State Ethics.

That agency is overseen by a nine-person board chosen by the governor, the Legislature and non-political clean-government organizations. And that commission hires a director to ensure its ability to probe into all levels of government. Currently Ganim will hand pick his accountability chief.

If the mayor holds the key to my paycheck, its going to be a lot more difficult for me to investigate matters involving the mayor, Carol Carson, who helms the state ethics office, told The Post last week.

Though not confirmed by the administration, the assumption has been the mayor wants the power to give Ed Adams, a retired FBI agent who helped put him away in 2003, then campaigned for his return to office, the job. Adams is currently a $90,000 mayoral adviser and helped draft the accountability ordinance.

Robert Wechsler, of North Haven, with CityEthics.org, said Adams should be out of the running because he campaigned for Ganim. Wechsler said Adams would have a conflict of interest.

On Tuesday, Gaudett handed council members a prepared response from the administration which claimed the accountability office was focused on efficiency and improving services. As such, the director should report to the mayor, who is the person ultimately responsible for ensuring good governance.

But another document Gaudett provided showed the accountability directors duties included assessing criminal and ethics complaints to forward to the authorities or a the citys existing ethics commission.

Gaudett said all of the directors decisions would be reviewed by the five-person commission.
Griffin Hospital and the Connecticut Council of Parish Nurse Coordinators will host Aging with Grace, an informational workshop for parish nurses, clergy, seniors and caregivers on Saturday, April 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the dining room of the hospital, 130 Division St., Derby.

The workshop will feature presentations from area senior care support organizations and information tables on area resources. Maria Tomasetti, South Central regional director of the Alzheimers Association CT Chapter, will present, Healing Your Grieving Heart for Caregivers and People with Dementia. Dr. Beverly Kidder, director of the Aging Resource Center at the Agency on Aging of South Central CT, will present, Gift of Caregiving. Suzanne Reilly, director of Elderly Services at TEAM Inc., will present, Resources 101 for Seniors and Caregivers. Tracy Parks, coordinator of Community Education and Training at the Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services, will present, The Many Faces of Elder Abuse.
We received this note from Ohio State University:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The dumb blonde stereotype is simply wrong, according to a new national study of young baby boomers.

The study of 10,878 Americans found that white women who said their natural hair color was blonde had an average IQ score within 3 points of brunettes and those with red or black hair.

While jokes about blondes may seem harmless to some, it can have real-world implications, said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research scientist at The Ohio State University.

Research shows that stereotypes often have an impact on hiring, promotions and other social experiences, Zagorsky said.

This study provides compelling evidence that there shouldnt be any discrimination against blondes based on their intelligence.

The study found that the average IQ of blondes was actually slightly higher than those with other hair colors, but that finding isnt statistically significant, said Zagorsky, who works in the universitys Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR).

I dont think you can say with certainty that blondes are smarter than others, but you can definitely say they are not any dumber.

The results for blond white men were similar - they also had IQs roughly equal to men with other hair colors.

The study was published last week in the journal Economics Bulletin .

Data from the study came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), a national survey of people who were between 14 and 21 years old when they were first interviewed in 1979.

The NLSY79 is conducted by CHRR for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 1980, participants in the NLSY79 took the Armed Forces Qualification Test, or AFQT, which is used by the Pentagon to determine the intelligence of all recruits. The overall AFQT score is based on word knowledge, paragraph comprehension, math knowledge and arithmetic reasoning.

In 1985, all participants were asked, What is your natural hair color?

To eliminate any bias in the IQ tests caused by ethnic and racial differences, Zagorsky dropped all African Americans and Hispanics from the analysis.

The resulting findings showed that blonde-haired white women had an average IQ of 103.2, compared to 102.7 for those with brown hair, 101.2 for those with red hair and 100.5 for those with black hair.

Blonde women were slightly more likely to be in the highest IQ category than those with other hair colors, and slightly less likely to be in the lowest IQ category.

The study cant say whether there are any genetic relationships between hair color and intelligence, but Zagorsky did find one fact that could at least partially explain why blondes showed slightly higher intelligence: They grew up in homes with more reading material than did those with any other hair color.

If blondes have any slight advantage, it may simply be that they were more likely to grow up in homes with more intellectual stimulation, he said.

Zagorsky noted that more women than expected in the NLSY79 reported that they were blonde. In the survey, 20.7 percent of white women reported being blonde, compared to only 17.1 percent of men. Assuming that hair color is not related to gender and that men were less likely to color their hair, Zagorsky said the results suggest that about 3.5 percent of women reported their natural hair color as blonde when it was not.

Zagorsky said he couldnt say for sure how that may have affected the results, but he said the major finding was almost certainly still true: Blondes could hold their own intellectually with those of any other hair color.
Tom Morse knows something about launching products that explode into national best-sellers. The savvy marketer is the co-founder and former president of Living Essentials, the company that put 5-Hour Energy on store shelves everywhere.

Before helping to springboard the popular pocket-sized caffeine jolt to a staggering $1.25 billion in estimated yearly sales, Morse worked his product marketing magic on a different kind of pick me up -- Chaser, a homeopathic hangover-helper. It, too, sold exceptionally well.

Image credit: Instavit

Now the Detroit native is the CEO of Instavit, maker of a new line of oral spray health supplements. The flavored supplements, priced at $15.99 per bottle, are designed to enhance sleep, boost energy and fulfill daily multivitamin needs.

Related: 3 Essential Stories You Need on Your Website to Attract Customers

Morse says the products are off to a promising start. Launched in the U.S. this past January, he says sales of the supplements at national drugstore chains were up 51 percent during the first two months of this year, month over month in same-store sales. He did not, however, provide specific sales dollar amounts.

Here are the veteran marketing wizards four top tips for successfully launching a new product:

1. Schmooze with retail product buyers at industry trade shows.

The first step to getting your product in front of consumers is to put it directly in the hands of retailers' buyers. Theyre typically the people who have the power to sell it at big-box stores throughout the country. One of the best ways to chat your wares up with these key players is to exhibit your product at leading merchandising industry trade shows.

Its always worth it because you never know who youre going to meet pacing the expo aisles, he says. Talk to everyone because, soon enough, youll connect with the right people.

He should know. Soon after 5-Hour Energys launch, Morse attracted buyers for the buzzy drink from Walmart and a host of other major multinational retailers while rubbing elbows at back-to-back industry conferences.

To find an expo that best fits your product, check out the World Alliance For Retail Excellence and Standards list of annual international retail trade shows.

Related: 7 Ways to Get the Most Out of Exhibiting at a Trade Show

2. Be sure your product solves a common, highly relatable problem.

Generally speaking, products that sell like gangbusters simply make consumers' lives easier. To create a sales phenomenon, make sure your product fits easily into peoples lives and fixes a problem that a lot of us have, Morse says. Make a connection that runs deep with them.

As an example, he points to the original inspiration for Instavit. British surgeon Dr. Jatin Joshi created the product line after he was diagnosed with Crohns disease. To combat the digestive tract disorder, Joshi had a large portion of his colon removed. Unable to absorb nutrients from food properly post-surgery and fast losing feeling in his fingertips, the doctor was forced to endure routine vitamin injections.

Fed up with his painful needle regiment and sick of popping vitamin pills, he invented the micronutrient spray as an alternative. A common problem was solved and a highly marketable product was born.

Image credit: Instavit

Related: The 5 Best Pitch Tactics I Heard as an Angel Investor

3. Publicize your products inspiration story for free.

Joshis real-life product creation backstory is something his target customers -- anyone who takes vitamin supplements but doesnt like swallowing them -- can easily relate to. One way the doctor strategically shared that highly relatable story with potential customers, Morse says, was to strategically broadcast it through a myriad of publications they likely read.

The most brilliant entrepreneurs seek out ways to create demand for product, he says, and the most efficient and cost-effective way is to earn coverage from premiere magazines and media outlets. You dont have to spend any money like you would on ads, yet youll still have a big impact.

Related: 4 Ways to Get Publicity on a Budget

4. Be ready for sales to take off.

Its not enough to just create a big buzz around your product, in the media and amongst potential retailers and customers. When that buzz catches fire and your product takes off, you have to be prepared to start selling to the masses and hard.

When you have the opportunity to go big, you have to be able to act on it right away, Morse says. That means having the resources and know-how to scale up production and having the team to execute. That way you can hit the ground running and sell, sell, sell.

Related:

How Grant Cardone Evolved From People-Pleaser to Empowered Multimillionaire

The Dozen Difficult Steps Necessary to Succeed at Entrepreneurship

What's Behind a 10-Year 'Overnight' Success?



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Facing a bit of a rough patch, McDonalds and other fast food chains are rethinking how they take on India.

After a flood of outlets including McDonalds, KFC, Domino's and Pizza Hut rushed to the country expecting a surge of the middle class, the market is slowing for these big players, oversaturated with India-based competitors and newcomers such as Starbucks and Burger King, according to The Wall Street Journal. Many Indians are simply no longer excited by what these companies offer.

Related: The 4 Things You Need to Know About McDonald's Turnaround Plan

India, with a population of 1.2 billion, holds huge potential for businesses looking to expand overseas. But many of its people live on $1.90 or less a day, below the international poverty line, so fast food is something of a luxury.

As franchises struggle to find a way to capture customers interest, theyre beginning to revamp options on the menu. For example, for the first time in years, McDonalds is changing one of its bestsellers, the Big Mac (known in India as the Maharaja Mac). Beginning in January, it came with thicker chicken patties, jalapenos and habanero sauce. With it came a vegetarian option as well, using two corn and cheese patties. It also added a slew of other products, such as chili flakes and an ice cream dish.

Like McDonalds, the Indian company that oversees Dominos is trying every trick in the book, says a local executive.

Related: Pizza Hut Launches a Line of Pizza-Themed Apparel

The pizza chain is offering huge discounts and adding more variety for its consumers. To design more pies, it even hired a Michelin-starred Indian chef.

Pizza Hut is taking it one step further with its discounts. Take the mini chickpea pizza, for instance, available for less than $1. The restaurant is also considering the possibility of allowing customers in the kitchen to make their own pizzas.

These are difficult times, Pizza Hut's Indian head Unnat Varma told The Wall Street Journal. People with staying power will withstand the short-term pressures. The ones who dont will have to shut shop.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

Related:

Facing Slumping Sales in India, McDonald's Makes Rare Change to Big Mac

The Key to Working Well With Your Franchisees

Franchise of the Day: This Company Was Founded and Franchised the Same Day



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Cynthia Guy stared toward the ground, wrists handcuffed, ears poking through her curly silver hair as she listened to the soft voice of a man speaking at the court podium.

His name was Terry Thomas, her ex-husband, the man she sought to have murdered in May 2014.

Thomas spoke quietly. Judge Catherine Wilking stared into his heavy eyes.

"Its still hard to imagine someone I shared my life with ...," he said, fighting back tears Tuesday at his ex-wife's sentencing hearing in Casper.

Guy was once a therapist at Central Wyoming Counseling Center. In May 2014, she asked one of her patients, whom she believed to have gang affiliations, to arrange for Thomas' murder. She wanted to make it look like a robbery or a suicide.

The patient contacted police, prompting a weeklong investigation. Casper authorities arranged for the patient to have a recorded conversation with Guy, during which the informant gave her a phone number for a Division of Criminal Investigation agent posing as a hit man named "Frankie." The informant said "Frankie" was her cousin and would kill the therapist's ex-husband as a favor to her.
The Northern Cheyenne tribal president has called for the banishment of nontribal members involved in drug-related activity on the reservation following a Saturday shootout.

Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Llevando Fisher has declared a state of emergency on the reservation. Fisher said after the Saturday shootout between two known drug users, the reservation's "tremendous" problem with drugs and drug violence has reached its peak.

The shooting occurred at the Cheyenne Depot Gas Station and Convenience Store in Lame Deer. Not only were the two shooters hit, but a female bystander was injured by a ricocheting bullet. One of the shooters was involved in a shooting last summer in which one person was injured, Fisher confirmed.

Tribal police have one person in custody from the Saturday shooting, said Federal Bureau of Investigations Agent Todd Palmer.

Neither shooter was injured critically, and the bystander has been released from the hospital.

Drug crimes

The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council has hired Dion Killsback to update tribal legal codes to include laws pertaining to drug use, Fisher said. The tribe wants to begin working on the new drug codes immediately and present them to the Northern Cheyenne people in the fall. After that, the council plans to adopt the laws and begin prosecuting tribal members for crimes related to methamphetamine and other drugs.

Existing tribal codes address marijuana, alcohol and intoxication, but not other drugs.

"People look at our numbers and say we don't have a drug problem because we're arresting people for intoxication," Fisher said. "But we have a tremendous drug problem."

Northern Cheyenne is at least the second reservation to explore banning drug dealers from coming on to the reservation. Last September, the Blackfeet Nation's tribal council began exploring banishment.

Blackfeet Nation Chairman Harry Barnes said his reservation needs the ability to ban drug dealers. Tribal courts only have the ability to prosecute misdemeanor crimes and cannot define their own misdemeanor and felony laws because they are subject to federal definitions, Barnes said. The Tribal Council used language written in the 1870s to declare that tribes had a right to expel undesirable people from the reservation, Barnes said.

The federal government has told Barnes this will only move the problem off the reservation, not stop drug dealing. Barnes has argued this is the best solution for now because the reservation doesnt have jurisdiction over these crimes.

Minor drug crimes aren't a priority for the federal government, which has jurisdiction over all felony crimes committed on the reservation, Barnes said.

"If you don't prosecute them, what are we supposed to do?" Barnes said.

'Patchwork quilt'

Drug dealers know about the "patchwork quilt of prosecution" Barnes said. There is a better chance that a drug crime will be ignored on the reservation than in one of the neighboring counties, which have the ability to prosecute felony crimes. So the reservation will arrest a drug dealer, turn the case over to federal prosecutors, and begin a game of "catch and release" Barnes said.

"It's fine for fish, but not so good with drug dealers," Barnes said.

Barnes said tribal lawyers are still trying to determine if they can ban people from the reservation.

Maylinn Smith, a law professor at the University of Montana, said this is a common problem for tribes that have struggled with defining their criminal jurisdiction.

"Tribes are frustrated by the limitations put on the justice systems in Indian Country," Smith said.

Banning drug dealers is the only option they have to address the problem, she said.

The hope is that a tribal hearing would have nothing to do with the judicial branch of the Blackfeet Nation. It would be a tribal right to hold a hearing to determine if someone were no longer allowed on the reservation.

Once that is established, Tribal or Bureau of Indian Affairs agents would then have the right to escort known drug dealers off the reservation without having to arrest them. Ultimately, banned dealers would operate remotely and be subject to the district courts of neighboring counties, Barnes said.

It's not that the Blackfeet Nation doesn't want to deal with their drug problem, it's that they can't, Barnes said.

Barnes makes it clear, this is not a banishment in the traditional tribal sense. A tribal member might be precluded from returning to the tribe for a term of five years if they are found to be involved with drug activity, but they won't lose their membership.

The Northern Cheyenne have a similar mentality and do not intend to banish enrolled tribal members. Tribal members involved in drug activity should be charged for their drug activity and then placed in long-term treatment, Fisher said. The tribe would have to contract out for treatment services until it could build its own facility, Fisher said.
Somerset jury finds two of three defendants guilty of murder

Now in its fifth day of testimony and seventh day overall, the double murder trial taking place in Somerset County is now over. The jury decided.
CASPER, Wyo.  A Casper man who allegedly caused up to $1 million worth of damage at a local bentonite mine pleaded not guilty to related charges Tuesday in Natrona County District Court.

Mark Faulcon faces one count of felony property destruction, one count of conspiracy to commit property destruction, five counts of burglary and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary.

Prosecutors say Faulcon, 20, and another man, Adam Melikian, burglarized and damaged several buildings and vehicles at the mine, which is at the intersection of Poison Spider and Gas Hills roads. The damage appeared to have been caused using large machinery, according to court documents.

Melikian recently pleaded not guilty to the same charges as Faulcon.

Both men have bonded out of jail as their cases proceed.

The Natrona County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.
Leesburg Electric: With prices soaring, late fees are being waived

Prices are up, so Leesburg Electric has decided that, as of Oct. 1, late fees will be waived.
HELENA  The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Republican Party appeal seeking to close Montana's primary elections in June, meaning any registered voter will be able to select a GOP ballot.

The Montana Republican Party and eight central county committees want to require primary voters to register as Republicans before being allowed to participate in the June 7 elections. Two lower courts had denied their request for an emergency injunction, resulting in the long-shot appeal to the nation's high court.

The court takes up very few petitions it receives, but in this case, Justice Anthony Kennedy had requested more information about the issue. That had given GOP attorney Matthew Monforton a glimmer of hope that the court would intervene, but it denied the appeal without comment a day after all the arguments had been filed.

"We're going to just continue on and seek relief with regard to crossover voting in the 2018 primaries," Monforton said.

The Republican plaintiffs' lawsuit, which is still pending in a lower court, argues the system violates their First Amendment right to associate. They contend the state's open-primary system allows Democratic, independent or third-party voters to affect the outcome of their elections and Republican candidates must alter their message to appeal to those crossover voters.

Senate Majority Leader Matthew Rosendale and House Majority Leader Keith Regier testified last year that a closed-primary system would help conservative Republicans keep party moderates out of the Legislature.

Attorneys for the state have argued that the Republican plaintiffs have failed to provide evidence of their claims of crossover voting and the century-old primary system should not be changed based on the party's assumptions that it happens.

Only in very rare circumstances has an election's outcome been changed by voters aligned with another party deliberately trying to affect it, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said.

"I think it's a myth," McCulloch, a Democrat, said of crossover voting. "I think it's really a matter of independent voters sometimes voting Republican, sometimes for Democrats."

Changing the system so close to the elections would have been problematic, she added. It would require many months to properly contact all 635,000 voters in the state about the change, she said.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris initially ruled against the Republicans in December, saying they have too many unproven claims about crossover voting to issue an injunction but allowed the case to proceed to trial. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was next to reject the request for an injunction, saying the Republican plaintiffs had not shown their case is likely to succeed or that they would be irreparably harmed if the primaries remained open.
More than 25 percent of the University of Memphis students are undecided, undeclared, prenursing or nursing, according to an analysis by The Daily Helmsman. (Photo/graph by Jonathan Capriel)

Jonathan A. Capriel More than 25 percent of the University of Memphis students are undecided, undeclared, prenursing or nursing, according to an analysis by The Daily Helmsman. (Photo/graph by Jonathan Capriel)

Sixteen-year-old Philip Deaton, a high schoolA junior at Memphis University School, is more than a year away from college.

And yet on an almost weekly basis, adults ask him what heas going to do with his life.

aI usually just say Iam thinking about pre-med or business,a Deaton said. aBut I really donat know.a

Deaton is one of thousands of adolescents undecided on a career path, as 80 percent of college-bound students have yet to pick a major, according to NBC news.

This wide-spread indecision and hesitance often leads to pressure to pick a degree and stress for the students.

aThereas a little bit,a Deaton said. aI feel like I should have some idea, because my sister did at this point. She knew what she wanted to do.a

Colleges often bring in programs to inform students on different careers to aid students in the decision making process.

In elementary school, career days are hosted. While in middle school, students take personality tests that place them within a certain profession.

Results can be almost anything, from hotel management to bricklaying. These programs can be a help for some and a hindrance for others.

Quinn Mulroy, 17, is a White Station High School senior whoas had his heart set on filmmaking for years.

He doesnat want a test telling him what to do with his life.

aComing from somebody who knows what theyave wanted to do since they were six or seven, I think itas stupid that in second grade they have these career days,a Mulroy said. aThen you get to 7th or 8th grade andtheyare telling you what your career should be.a

If high schoolers are concerned about their future, one can only wonder how undecided college students must feel.

Nearly 16 percent of entering University of Memphis students are undecided or undeclared when they start college, according to the University of Memphisa Office of Institutional Research.

Hannah Jones, 19, is a freshman at the University of Memphis. As a teaching all learners major, she realized halfway through her first semester she wanted to change her major to middle school education.

Unfortunately, sheas worried sheall be playing catch-up.

aI think about that every day,a Jones said of potentially falling behind. aI know some of the courses specifically for your major are vastly different in different educational programs. And with my minor, I donat know if Iall be able to handle the workload.a

Switching majors isnat the end of the world. Vanessa Brocks, an academic counselor at the University of Memphis, said that switching majors, especially if done early on, isnat a big deal.

aI tell people that a lot of students change their majors,a Brocks said. aI was one of those students. Iam probably on career number whatever.a

And if they are still stressed about a major change, students can simply look to Ruth Hull, 20, a University of Memphis senior who will graduate in December.

Unhappy with her nursing major, she switched to communications halfway through her junior year and benefited from the change.

aI had a lot of upper elective classes because of nursing,a Hull said. aAnd I actually cut a semester off.a

And Hull has advice for students who are considering a new major.

aI would ultimately weigh your options and find what makes you happy,a Hull said. aAnd donat be afraid to seek advice from the counselors. Theyare here for our help.a
WASHINGTON  What accounted for Vladimir Putin's surprise decision to start pulling Russian forces from Syria? Is it possible that he spent last weekend reading Jeffrey Goldberg's piece in The Atlantic and decided that President Obama was right about the Syria mess, and that he should quit before he got any deeper in the quagmire?

Goldberg's piece is authoritative and compelling. But it illustrates why presidents usually save such explanations for their memoirs. Such candor is destabilizing: Friends and foes discover what the president really thinks, a matter usually shrouded by constructive ambiguity. We may have imagined Obama's growing disdain for the Arabs, his skepticism bordering on contempt for the foreign policy establishment and his "fatalistic" view about the limits of U.S. power. Now, in "The Obama Doctrine," we have chapter and verse.

When Obama visits Saudi Arabia this spring, will it help that we now know that Obama sardonically told the Australian prime minister "it's complicated" when asked whether the Saudis are America's friends? Ditto Goldberg's revelation that "in private" (ha!) Obama said of the Saudis' suppression of women's rights that "a country cannot function in the modern world when it is repressing half its population."

Mutual hypocrisy

Maybe it will be beneficial for Obama to have been so open. Mutual hypocrisy has been one of the historic weaknesses of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. But this is the opposite of the Brent Scowcroft-style quiet diplomacy that Obama supposedly values.

Obama's tone throughout the article is supremely self-confident and also weirdly defensive; a reader senses that he has been waiting to tell off the foreign policy establishment since 2009, when he feels he got pushed into adding 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan despite his better judgment. His message, basically, is: I'm right, and you're not listening.

You might think, with a metastasizing Syria crisis that has claimed 300,000 lives, has wrecked that country and threatens European stability, that Obama might have second thoughts about the wisdom of his policy. Not so. Goldberg writes: "As he comes to the end of his presidency, Obama believes he has done his country a large favor by keeping it out of the [Syria] maelstrom -- and he believes, I suspect, that historians will one day judge him wise for having done so."

It's hard to know what would have been the right decisions in Syria. But how can this be an outcome in which the president takes such pride?

In such a comprehensive piece, there were two topics that were oddly minimized, since both were priorities for Obama from the day he took office.

Obama's Iran goal

The first was Obama's drive to achieve the nuclear agreement with Iran, a goal to which he subordinated many other Middle East objectives. In online postings about the Goldberg article, Jay Solomon of The Wall Street Journal and Dennis Ross, a former senior administration official, have both argued that Obama didn't militarily enforce his "red line" against Syrian use of chemical weapons in part because he didn't want to derail the Iran talks.

Obama low-keys his expectations for the Iran deal these days, beyond its specific limits on Iran's nuclear program. But I suspect he views it as a fundamentally important strategic opening in the Middle East that could lead to eventual balance between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Sunni and Shiite, mending the feud that is ripping the Middle East apart. Personally, I think he's right to see this as the potential start of a new security architecture. Maybe he's saving that theme for his memoirs.

The second missing element is what I've described as Obama's "cosmic bet" in 2011 on Islamist democratic parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a Muslim Brotherhood clone, in Turkey. Obama treated Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the instruments of democratic change. That was an understandable decision, but we can see now that it was a very bad mistake. It spun the Arab Spring in a dangerous direction from which it never recovered.

Whatever else might be said about the coup that installed Abdel Fatah al-Sissi as president in Egypt, it probably prevented an Egyptian-Turkish Muslim Brotherhood alliance that would have been catastrophic. Goldberg doesn't really address this strand of policy.
Heard a lot about the war on coal? How about the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative?

President Barack Obama proposed it in recognition of the fact that public policy is not the only factor driving waning coal use. Booming natural gas production, declining costs of renewable energy, increases in energy efficiency, flattening electricity demand, updated clean air standards and Chinese cutbacks on metallurgical coal imports also change the way electricity is generated and coal is used worldwide. These trends produce cleaner air, healthier communities, and spur new jobs. Unfortunately, they also impact communities relying on the coal industry for their economic prosperity.

To assist impacted communities in adapting to this change, the POWER Initiative helps move workers to new jobs, addresses legacy costs in coal country and drives coal technology development. Help is also available to assist communities requiring pre-planning assistance to effectively apply for either planning or implementation grants.

We urge affected communities to apply for POWER grants.

The POWER Initiative awards grants to help communities develop comprehensive strategic plans to restore the economic future of affected workers and businesses. They execute economic and workforce development based on their plans. They can seek to: diversify economies; create jobs in new or existing industries; attract new sources of job-creating investment; and provide a range of workforce services and skills training, including work-based learning opportunities, resulting in industry-recognized credentials for high-quality, in-demand jobs.

The Presidents FY 2016 Budget includes $55 million for economic and workforce development, which would be used to continue the POWER initiative.

The Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration and Department of Labors Employment and Training Administration will award planning grants to communities that have been or will be impacted by coal mining and coal power plant employment loss (or layoffs in the manufacturing or transportation logistics supply chains of either) and that do not have robust, recent comprehensive and integrated economic development strategies in place. Grants also go to state workforce agencies for in-depth labor market analysis, workforce development and dislocated worker planning.

POWER encourages partnership participation from government, economic development organizations, workforce development boards, community and technical colleges, businesses, labor unions and community groups.

Implementation grants to communities that have already done strategic planning are available through a POWER Federal Funding Opportunity announcement. Other federal agencies also participate in the POWER initiative. See www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/27/fact-sheet-partnerships-opportunity-and-workforce-and-economic-revitaliz.

EDA will coordinate the joint funding opportunity announcement and overall competitive solicitation, provide a single staff point of federal contact (with staffing from other agencies when needed) for the selected partnerships, and coordinate regional-level, cross-agency activities.

A second proposed initiative is Montanas I-180 to require more electricity from the wind and sun. It, also will, if enacted, provide up to two years of retraining for displaced fossil fuel workers, increase their lengthened unemployment benefits by 20 percent during retraining, and make good on pension promises evaded by bankrupt coal companies. Learn more at www.MTCARES.org.
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More jihadis have travelled from Belgium to fight for IS in Syria and Iraq than from any other European country.

Yet, though Brussels is clearly a hotbed of young radical Islamists, the Belgian authorities still failed to prevent the atrocities.

The French media have been particularly critical of those intelligence services since Novembers attacks in Paris, which were masterminded in Belgium  with the respected Le Monde newspaper calling the country a clearing house for jihadism.

Scroll down for video

Pictured are the chaotic scenes at Brussels Airport after two explosions inside the terminal earlier today

A soldier walks through debris after two explosions rocked a terminal building at Brussels Airport

First picture: These three men, pretending to be air passengers, are believed to the terrorists who have carried out the Brussels airport. The two suspected suicide bombers on the left were both wearing black gloves - which the Belgian media says would have hidden the triggers for their explosive vests. The third suspect in the hat is believed to still be on the run after dropping his nail bomb

The bungles were highlighted last week with the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the Paris outrages, during a raid on an apartment in Brussels months after hed gone to ground in a seedy quarter of the capital.

Although the Belgian national had been known to law enforcement agencies before the November outrages, hed managed to travel across the border to France, where he bought detonators using his driving licence as proof of identity.

Also, hours after the Paris attack, he was stopped in a hire car on the French-Belgian border and questioned by police  but then released.

This was unforgivable considering that the Belgian state broadcaster, RTBF, said Abdeslam had been on the intelligence services watch-list since July 2014.

Like many terror suspects, he had links with an area of Brussels that was once described by its mayor as a terrorists den because of the number of jihadists.

Discussing Abdeslams eventual capture last week, a French anti-terrorism judge said: Either he is very clever or the Belgian services are rubbish  which seems more likely.

Suspects: Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam (left) is believed to have been holed up in an apartment in Schaerbeek for three weeks after the massacre in France. Najim Laachraoui (right), a newly-identified ISIS suspect whose DNA was found on bombs used in the Paris attacks, rented a suspected hideout in Schaarbeek

A Belgian police officer in protective clothing is seen preparing to enter a property during raids on Tuesday

A masked officer is seen searching one apartments during the raids in the city's terror district

Armed Belgian police officers gather outside a building as they conduct searches at a number of addresses

Also, Louis Caprioli, formerly of Frances counter-terrorism agency, complained: Belgian authorities could have signalled to the French that these attackers would threaten Frances security. And Alain Chouet, ex-head of the French secret service, criticised Belgian security as lax  singling out inadequate checks at Brussels airport.

These security failings are a damning indictment of a nation whose capital is home to both the European Commission and Nato HQ.

How ironic, considering recent events, that the city prides itself on having the nickname Spy Central.

A key problem is a failure to invest in enough officers  with some experts saying they are 150 intelligence officers short of the recommended number of 750.

Money shortages are an issue. The former head of the Belgian intelligence agency said hed warned many times that his budget was overstretched.

Carnage: At least eleven people have died and several injured after two explosions rocked Brussels Airport in a suspected terror attack

Bravery: People injured are treated, comforted and given water by the emergency services as they help the wounded

Witnesses described horrific scenes inside the terminal in the wake of the suspected suicide blast

Alain Winants, boss of the Surete de lEtat until 2014, said he repeatedly complained we were at the bottom line and that we couldnt go lower, adding: Its only a pity that you need events like those that happened in Paris and Brussels to make politicians aware of the necessity.

Security has a price, and one has to be willing to pay that price, and if one doesnt, things could go wrong.

This was compounded by officers failure to learn languages spoken by suspected terrorists. For example, of the 2,600 policemen in Antwerp, only 22 are non-white, and the vast majority have little understanding of either Arabic or Turkish.

But there is a more fundamental problem which has hamstrung the Belgian security services  which is how the nations administrative and law enforcement systems are divided along linguistic and regional lines.

Walloon, the local variant of French, is used by 33 per cent of the population, with Flemish used by more than 60 per cent.

Most shamefully, the Belgian authorities routinely fail to co-operate with sister services abroad such as Britains MI5. The UKs authorities work much better

Co-operation between the two different language groups is poor, and hampered by counter-terrorism laws that give much less freedom to the authorities than are enjoyed by their counterparts in Britain and France.

Indeed, foreign investigators have complained, for instance, that when asking the Belgian authorities for the names of car-owners suspected of crimes, instead of a computer search quickly identifying the drivers through their registration plates, they are told to send a letter of request. Also, Brussels has six different police departments covering 19 separate municipalities, each with their own mayor.

This fractured set-up means the police cant operate as efficiently as the unified Met Police in London, or New Yorks NYPD.

The countrys interior minister, Jan Jambon, has conceded this is one reason the Belgian capital has an Islamist terrorist problem which has been allowed to spiral out of control. Most shamefully, the Belgian authorities routinely fail to co-operate with sister services abroad such as Britains MI5. The UKs authorities work much better.

The UKs head of counter-terrorism policing, Mark Rowley, values highly the eyes and ears of officers on the street, who co-ordinate with specialist teams, who, in turn, communicate with GCHQ, MI5 and MI6. But in Belgium the sclerotic intelligence system does not operate in such a structured way.

Equally perverse, the Belgian intelligence services dont always share information with their police colleagues.

Often, the latter only find out information from their British counterparts, who have been told by MI5  who have got the details from Belgian security officers!

Perhaps the last word, though, should go to the ring-leader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was killed five days after the terror outrages in which 130 people were slaughtered.

Photos and messages from the Belgian-born terrorists phone had been obtained by anti-IS activists after he had been involved in an attack in Belgium earlier last year.

He had boasted of travelling back from Syria the previous year and setting up a safe house in Belgium.

The property, he said, was raided by the police, who figured out that hed been planning terror attacks.

My name and picture were all over the news, yet I was able to stay in their homeland, plan operations against them, and leave safely.
Yet another series of closely co-ordinated Islamist suicide bombings have, in a terrifying flash, transformed a major European capital into a war zone  leaving dozens of innocents dead and hundreds more injured.

As security is ratcheted up both here and across the Continent, there is a growing realisation that even worse atrocities are now almost inevitable  a sense of deep foreboding that we are mired in what is escalating into a seemingly unstoppable wave of violence.

Just weeks before this outrage, Britains intelligence services issued a stark warning that a series of such bombings was highly likely in the near future.

Bravery: People injured are treated, comforted and given water by the emergency services as they help the wounded

Witnesses described horrific scenes inside the terminal in the wake of the suspected suicide blast

Carnage: At least eleven people have died and several injured after two explosions rocked Brussels Airport in a suspected terror attack

Small wonder there is widespread anger at the inability or unwillingness of our emasculated politicians to confront the biggest migrant crisis to engulf Europe since World War II.

With every month that passes, thousands more mainly young Muslim Arab men continue to pour into Europe  with Islamic State making determined efforts to smuggle as many of their jihadi fighters across our borders as possible.

Indeed, yesterday, in a series of characteristically triumphant tweets, ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the atrocity.

What is surely beyond doubt now is that those who argued there was an overreaction to the Paris attacks on the part of the media were terribly naive and short-sighted in their assessment of the long-term threat posed to our peace and security by the jihadist menace.

Believe me, the Islamists are clever, they are numerous and they are determined.

And while their bloodshed has the short-term goal of spreading panic and fear, their long-term goal is far more ambitious: no less than a new holy war that will turn Europe into a modern caliphate.

There was a cruel and calculated political strategy behind yesterdays attacks.

We should remember how, when Islamic State downed a Russian passenger airliner over Egypt last year, they simultaneously targeted two of their main adversaries: the ruthlessly anti-ISIS governments in Cairo and Moscow.

In Paris, too, it was the audience at the concert of a U.S. rock band that was selected for cold-blooded massacre.

Terrified passengers at Brussels Airport have told how there 'just blood' everywhere and likened scenes after the bomb blast to the 'apocalypse'

A person is carried to safety as troops helped the injured and secured the area after the explosions in the terminal building

This time, by homing in on an American Airlines check-in counter at Brussels airport, the jihadis have again dealt a spectacular blow against U.S. as well as European interests  in addition to heightening anxieties among international travellers on the eve of the Easter holiday.

Above all, yesterdays tragic events raise deeply unsettling questions about how prepared our leaders are to eradicate the jihadist scourge.

Remember that the cowards who blew up women and children were able to reach their targets and detonate their explosives despite the fact that Belgium was on a state of high security alert.

Moreover, after the alleged Paris ringleader Salah Abdeslam was captured in Brussels last week, European authorities announced that another key player in the Paris attacks had emerged  who, in turn, suddenly became Europes most wanted terrorist.

No one even commented on the fact that this was an admission that the intelligence services had been completely unaware of the new individuals existence  despite conducting what was trumpeted as the biggest anti-terror investigation in European history.

It is a shambolic state of affairs, and we can only conclude that our elected officials and intelligence services have failed to tackle the threat from jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq.

Alphonse Youla (pictured), who was working on a stand putting security wrapping around suitcases, said he heard 'a man shout some Arabic words then an explosion'

In London: Armed officers make their way through the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station. There was an increased security presence at transport hubs across the city

Indeed, apart from the thousands of European jihadis slipping back into Europe, there are still hundreds more emerging from the indigenous Muslim populations of Britain and Europe. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, as a result, we are facing a full-blown, internal Islamist insurgency  and one that is exacerbated in tangible ways by the migrant crisis.

For instance, just this week it emerged that, in the run-up to the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam had travelled to a migrant camp in Germany to meet three ISIS terrorists posing as refugees.

Unsurprisingly, all three have subsequently gone missing and are now thought to be planning attacks in Germany.

Meanwhile, Europol chief Rob Wainwright said last month that up to 5,000 ISIS jihadis who were trained in Syria and Iraq are thought to be inside Europe, having likewise slipped in pretending to be destitute and impoverished refugees.

If all that were not chilling enough, there is also Libyas descent into Islamist chaos  a country from which, this year alone, half a million refugees are expected to arrive in Europe.

Islamic State has long since boasted about how there will be thousands of its jihadist foot-soldiers arriving among the throngs demanding asylum.

First picture: These three men, pretending to be air passengers, are believed to the terrorists who have carried out the Brussels airport. The two suspected suicide bombers on the left were both wearing black gloves - which the Belgian media says would have hidden the triggers for their explosive vests. The third suspect in the hat is believed to still be on the run after dropping his nail bomb

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels this morning. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media.

These immigrant jihadis will ensure the cycle of extreme Islamist violence inside Europe will continue for generations.

It is more than 70 years since war in Europe came to an end, but I believe we now face the dawn of a new conflict that will gather in pace and ferocity.

No doubt the declarations of steely resolve on the part of our political leaders in the wake of the Brussels attacks are heartfelt. But they also sound hackneyed and increasingly irrelevant.

Instead, what ordinary people now crave, more than ever, is strong and decisive leadership.

They certainly wont get it from the hand-wringing bureaucrats who run the European Union. An Islamist bomb blew apart civilians on the metro just yards from the heart of the EU in Brussels yesterday, but will that inspire any change to the limp response we have seen so far to the migrant crisis? Dont hold your breath.

Two capital cities have been torn apart in a welter of bloodshed, anguish and fear in just four months by men who care nothing for our continents liberal values and our promotion of multi-culturalism.

They are driven only by hate, and they  and those who come after them  will not stop on their murderous path until they are confronted and destroyed.

Quite simply, our way of life is under threat, and hollow words are not enough.

Surrounded: Two men on their knees with hands on their head are held in Brussels as the authorities

Drama: Two men were pinned to the ground by armed police and special forces as the hunt for members of the terror cell behind today's bombings in Brussels started

Interventions: The arrests came as the authorities start to round up any people deemed a risk to the public, including here at Brussels North station - a mile from the Maelbeek bombing

Across the border: A suspect with his hands up is arrested as he is taken off a train because of suspicious activity at Hoofddorp Station in Amsterdam

Europes leaders must unite behind a decisive plan to shore up the EUs borders, deport those who come here illegally, and root out without mercy those in our midst whose sole purpose is to do us harm.

Does such political will exist? The one strong leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is still saying that more migrants should come to Germany, even though the fear is that scores of jihadis are even now taking her up on her offer.

Our own Prime Minister, David Cameron, condemned yesterdays murders as savage and said that they could just as well be attacks in Britain.

Well, hes right about that.

But he also knows the Brussels outrage could hardly have come at a worse time for him politically, with the EU referendum only a few weeks away.

After each new terror atrocity, ever-more British voters will have a gut instinct that we must decouple from Europe in a last effort to try to re-impose our own much stronger border controls.

Tragically, it is difficult not to conclude that Europe itself is lost  that mass migration and relentless jihadi attacks on the continent will shatter the morale of citizens and the political will of leaders.

Yes, what happened in Brussels yesterday was a terrible tragedy.

But thankfully, the people of Britain have one great chance to force the Westminster elite to steer this country in a new direction by voting to reclaim our borders in a referendum whose significance is surely now greater than ever.
Bubbles in alcohol can turn any event into a special celebration.

But there are so many different sparkling wines around that it can be hard to choose the right one, especially now English fizz has become fashionable.

Here, we give the low down on Cava, Prosecco, Champagne and sparkling wine. Charlie Martin, CEO of new wine app Mr Vine (mrvine.co.uk), which helps you to select and buy wines from all over the world, gives his recommendations for fizz and food pairings. Cheers!

Everybody loves raising a glass of bubbly! But knowing which type to choose can be difficult unless you understand the differences between Champagne, English sparkling wine, Cava and Prosecco

THE FAMOUS FIZZ: CHAMPAGNE

WHY NOT TRY: Comte de Senneval Champagne, 9.95 at Lidl

It will come as no surprise to learn that from the ninth century onwards, all French kings were crowned in the Champagne region of France, which lies just north west of Paris, and their succession celebrated with local wines.

And rightly so, as its utterly delicious.

Although many aristocrats were beheaded during the French Revolution, the royal drink is thankfully still quaffed.

The climate in Champagne is slightly cooler than in most grape growing regions, and only wine from this specific area can be called Champagne, though other fizzy wines can be made using what used called the methode champenoise, now called the methode traditionnelle.

This includes the wine being fermented twice, on the second occasion actually in the bottle.

Yeast and sugar are added and then it's left for at least fifteen months to develop the flavour. Vintage Champagne must be left for at least three years.

Champagne uses three varieties of grape; Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay which are picked by hand, and the higher price of the drink is justified by the fact that there is a limited supply from the region.

There are around 49 million bubbles in a standard bottle - the smaller the bubbles, the higher quality it is said to be. If youve ever wondered what creates that magical popping sound, remember that just before you uncork the bottle, the pressure inside the bottle is five to six times as great as the pressure in the room!

CHARLIE SAYS: The most versatile of the sparkling wines, with an intense flavour and plenty of depth. Theres no specific food which pairs with Champagne, but classically it works well with delicate fish dishes as well as the delicious saltiness of smoked salmon. An off dry rose Champagne can be excellent with puddings.'

Bubbles in alcohol can turn any event into a special celebration, and Champagne- which contains around 49 million bubbles in each bottle - is the traditional way to mark an occasion

WHY NOT TRY: Comte de Senneval Champagne, 9.95 at Lidl

THE ENGLISH ROSE (OR GRAPE!)

Drink Broadwoods Folly Sparkling Wine, which is grown in Surrey, at a special celebration

English sparkling wine may well be the new kid on the block, but it is certainly delivering on flavour and quality. English wine production is on the way up at great speed, with homegrown fizz finally taking a proud and award-winning place on the world wine stage.

Vineyards are springing up all over the UK - there are currently 470. The wines are made with a wide variety of grapes, and using different methods - the methode traditionnelle being one.

In last years harvest, enough grapes were picked to make 6.3 million bottles of wine. Between 2007 to 2014 the area covered in vines doubled, to around 2,000 hectares and is forecast to double again in the next seven years. Its no wonder the French are buying up vineyards in southern England!

CHARLIE SAYS: 'English sparkling wine is new as part of the accepted genre. Its much more like Champagne in terms of the soil in which its grown and the grape varieties and the producers are now getting a great deal of well deserved credit. Excitingly, as the vines mature, the quality is likely to improve. Again, Id recommend drinking on its own during a celebration. But it's very versatile and would work brilliantly with a light creamy fish dish - such as fish pie. It would also be excellent with the saltiness of fish and chips.'

WHY NOT TRY: Broadwood's Folly Sparkling White Brut, 14.99 at Lidl.

THE FASHIONABLE FIZZ: PROSECCO

Lighter, sweeter and frothier than Champagne, the sparkling white wine Prosecco was originally just an Italian sparkling wine made in the Venice region and used as the basis for bellinis cocktails when mixed with white peach puree. There are reports of Prosecco as far back as the 17th Century.

Over the last few years there has been an extraordinary boom in demand, leading to fears that it may actually run out. This dreadful prospect has not, thankfully, come to fruition, though in 2013 it outsold Champagne globally. Still made in the Veneto region, the grapes used are known as Glera.

Lighter, sweeter and frothier than Champagne, the sparkling white wine Prosecco was originally just used as a base for Bellinis

The bubbles in Prosecco are bigger than those in Champagne, which makes it very easy to drink, and it's now the must-have tipple for a girls night out. While Champagne is fermented in the bottle, Prosecco is generally fermented in tanks.

CHARLIE SAYS: This is the classic aperitif. Best served as a light and delicate pre-dinner drink, which is delicious on its own or perfect with canapes. Traditionally it is mingled with fresh peach puree and served as a bellini, but these days its acceptable on its own and increasingly used for toasts at weddings and celebrations.

WHY NOT TRY: Prosecco Spumante, 4.99 at Lidl

Both Cava Brut (left, 4.49 at Lidl) and Prosecco Spumante (right, 4.99 at Lidl) are great choices for bubbly. Why not try the Prosecco as an aperitif before serving the Cava with some tapas?

THE SPANISH SISTER: CAVA

Along with Prosecco, Cava is another crisp and dry style of sparkling wine, easy-drinking and full of citrus fruit flavours. This delicious dry fizz is produced from the Spanish grapes Macabeu, Parellada and Xarello. It can be either white or rose and is usually drier than Prosecco, as well as being made in a similar way to Champagne - going through a second fermentation in the bottle.

Cava is only produced in certain areas of Spain, in particular Catalonia - which is in the North West. The first reports of Cava were in 1850s and these days Spain is the second highest producer of sparkling wines in the world. Around 240 million bottles of Cava a year are produced. (2014 stats)The most famous brands are Freixenet and Codorniu, both produced near Barcelona.

CHARLIE SAYS: A less crisp drink and with more fruit flavours, Cava goes brilliantly with light tapas such as calamari and cold meats, as it doesnt overwhelm the strong flavours of these traditional and varied Spanish starters.
They are currently raising money towards dance lessons and a holiday

Nicole Jamieson, 32, created an Instagram account over a year ago for her little girl Ivy to show off her outfits of the day and her daily adventures.

But in October 2015, the account went from light-hearted snaps, outfit pictures and playful photos, to a place where Ms Jamieson, from the Central Coast, New South Wales, shared updates about her three-year-old's leukaemia journey.

'Ivy was sick for around six weeks before she was diagnosed... she was very lethargic, pale and always wanted to sleep even though she was a very active and playful little girl,' Ms Jamieson told Daily Mail Australia.

Shining star: Ivy, three, was diagnosed with leukaemia in October and her mother has been sharing their journey on Instagram ever since

Heartbreaking: 'Ivy was sick for around six weeks before she was diagnosed... she was very lethargic, pale and always wanted to sleep even though she was a very active and playful little girl,' Ms Jamieson said

Life changing: 'I got a call hours later and the doctor told me to sit down and that Ivy might have leukaemia,' Ms Jamieson said

'The doctor said it was the flu but we decided to take her to another for a second opinion and he found that Ivy's liver was 10 times the size it should be and she was sent for tests and an ultrasound.'

Just hours later, Ms Jamieson received the news that would change her life.

'I got a call hours later and the doctor told me to sit down and that Ivy might have leukaemia,' Ms Jamieson said.

Too much: 'I just started crying and my boyfriend, Ivy's father, was there with me and I said he had to take the phone because I just couldn't handle it,' she said

High spirits: Ms Jamieson and her partner Jeff took Ivy to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle that night and she was admitted straight to emergency

Positivity: 'It was the scariest thing of my life and so overwhelming... I just couldn't get past all of the information and I never left her side,' Ms Jamieson said

'I just started crying and my boyfriend, Ivy's father, was there with me and I said he had to take the phone because I just couldn't handle it.'

Ms Jamieson and her partner Jeff took Ivy to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle that night and she was admitted straight to emergency.

'It was the scariest thing of my life and so overwhelming... I just couldn't get past all of the information and I never left her side,' Ms Jamieson said.

'The next day on October 8th Ivy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia - but in a way, it was a relief to finally know what was wrong.'

High risk: Ivy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

Scary: Ivy was labelled as a high-risk patient, her parents were told that over 90 per cent of her blood was leukaemia and her blood cell count was very out of balance

Slowly but surely: 'She has a long way to go but Ivy's last test showed just two per cent of her blood was leukaemia which was so exciting,' Ms Jamieson said

Ivy was labelled as a high-risk patient, her parents were told that over 90 per cent of her blood was leukaemia and her blood cell count was very out of balance.

Ivy has had chemotherapy every week or every fortnight ever since, as well as various surgeries and lumbar punctures.

'She has a long way to go but Ivy's last test showed just two per cent of her blood was leukaemia which was so exciting,' Ms Jamieson said.

Not all smooth sailing: 'She has had a couple of hiccups along the way and was in ICU for a while because her body decided to shut down,' Ms Jamieson said

Always smiling: 'Ivy has her ups and her downs but she has never whinged - she knows she is sick and has to take medicine but doesn't know what kind of sickness she has,' Ms Jamieson said

'She has had a couple of hiccups along the way and was in ICU for a while because her body decided to shut down and she was on morphine and even our doctor was broken as he didn't know how it would work out.'

'Ivy has her ups and her downs but she has never whinged - she knows she is sick and has to take medicine but doesn't know what kind of sickness she has.'

Ivy, who was very active and loved shopping, is now unable to visit anywhere with air conditioning like the shops and the playground and hasn't walked since October... but last week she took her first steps in months.

Heartbreaking: Ivy, who was very active and loved shopping, is now unable to visit anywhere with air conditioning like the shops and the playground and hasn't walked since October

Sharing it with the world: Ms Jamieson has been sharing her daughter's journey on Instagram and has received a lot of support through the platform

Ms Jamieson has been sharing her daughter's journey on Instagram and has received a lot of support through the platform.

'I started sharing updates so I wouldn't have to keep repeating the story and re-telling it to family and friends and eventually I had companies messaging me and offering to host fundraisers,' Ms Jamieson said, adding that the support has been overwhelming.

'And when Ivy was putting her name down she decided she would be Ivy Rainbow - we still don't know why - and we just went with it and that's why her Instagram handle is Ivy Rainbow.'

Happy distraction: Ms Jamieson said Ivy loves it too and that it provides a fantastic distraction from everything

Popular: The little girl has close to 1,000 followers and is constantly receiving support, well wishes and praise online

Ms Jamieson said Ivy loves it too and that it provides a fantastic distraction from everything.

'She loves posing for photos and is constantly asking for photos and videos to be taken. I show her everything beforehand and she chooses what she likes and then when she sees the comments she always says "wow Mummy" and is so excited,' Ms Jamieson said.

The little girl has close to 1,000 followers and is constantly receiving support, well wishes and praise online.

Social star: The little girl has close to 1,000 followers and is constantly receiving support, well wishes and praise online

Isolation: Ivy will start treatment again on the 30th of March and will have treatment for nine weeks before the next stage of the treatment will be revealed

Ivy will start treatment again on the 30th of March and will have treatment for nine weeks before the next stage of the treatment will be revealed.

'Protocols' last for on average 50-90 days. We have been lucky to stay at the Ronald McDonald House at Newcastle,' Ms Jamieson said.

'Most of her stays at hospital have only been three to four days (this year), her next protocol will only be day visits unless she is sick/needs bloods or platelets.'

Ivy's aunt Renee Jamieson created a GoFundMe page for Ivy where friends, family and members of the public can donate and help the family out.

Helping out: Ivy's aunt Renee Jamieson created a GoFundMe page for Ivy where friends, family and members of the public can donate and help the family out

Support: The family has raised $22,019 of their $25,000 goal

'It helps with so much,' Ms Jamieson said.

'Ivy was half toilet-trained when she was diagnosed and now she is back in nappies so the money helps with that and will go towards private dance lessons in the future too as she won't be allowed to join a class with others and she just loves to dance.'

'We also hope to take her to Disneyland once she is better which would just be unbelievable... the amazing support and kindness has been incredible and I am so grateful.'
HELENA  A federal appeals court has overturned a pair of drug convictions and a 30-year prison sentence for a Minot, N.D., man, ruling a federal judge in Montana made critical mistakes.

The three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon erred in rejecting a plea agreement and did not allow defendant Lloyd Nickle to cross examine co-defendants about plea agreements that could have meant reduced sentences for them.

The panel remanded Nickle's case to a judge other than Haddon.

The circuit judges found Haddon erred in rejecting the plea agreement after finding Nickle would not, in his own words, describe his role in a drug conspiracy.

Nickle had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute involving 50 grams of the drug. In exchange, prosecutors would recommend he be sentenced on the low end of the federal guidelines of between five and 40 years.

"He admitted to all of the elements of the offense for purposes of taking the guilty plea," defense attorney Palmer Hoovestal said during oral arguments on the case in Seattle in October 2015. Hoovestal added that he thought Nickle was reserving his right to contest the amount of drugs he would be held responsible for at sentencing.

Still Haddon said he wanted to hear the information from Nickle himself.

"That is not the law," appeals court judge Alex Kozinski said during oral arguments. "That's the district judge making it up as he goes along."

The District Court's error made Nickle significantly worse off, the panel wrote.

Nickle was convicted in June 2014 of conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine  convictions that carried sentences of 10 years to life. He has been in prison since his conviction, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Because Nickle may want to seek a re-trial, the judges also addressed his inability to question his co-defendants about their plea agreements  an issue the appeals court noted it had already addressed in 2013, in a prior case before Haddon.

"Undaunted ... the district judge this time didn't merely shut down defense counsel's valid efforts to vindicate his client's right to confrontation, he threatened sanctions, saying: 'Your effort to inject this issue into the case is ... entirely inappropriate, borders on being reprehensible, and I am cautioning you not to repeat it in this courtroom again,'" the judges wrote.

During oral arguments, Justice William Fletcher asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Lahr why he didn't challenge Haddon's ruling disallowing defense questions about the plea agreements, adding, "You know darn well that the district judge just made a mistake."

"Why didn't you stand up, or one of your team stand up and say, 'Your honor, I think this cross examination should be allowed,'" Fletcher asked.

Lahr said he was concerned that he might "be next placed in the line of fire."

Nickle was arrested as part of Project Safe Bakken, an effort to reduce drug trafficking in the oil patches of North Dakota and

Eastern Montana.
When Yassmin Abdel-Magied was growing up, she never imagined she'd end up working on oil rigs in the middle of the ocean.

The young Muslim-Australian, who grew up in Brisbane, graduated from university with a bachelor in mechanical engineering, with plans to get into the motorsport industry.

She was 21 and planning further study when the lure of adventure drew her to the dangerous work carried out on oil rigs.

Rig life: Young Muslim-Australian woman Yassmin Abdel-Magied (above) found herself working on remote oil rigs when she was 21

Tough slog: Now 25, Ms Abdel-Magied has been working on the rigs for five years as a field operator and drilling engineer

'I wanted to work in motorsport and I got into a masters in motorsport in the UK,' Ms Abdel-Magied told Daily Mail Australia. 'I needed money to pay for my masters and looking for a bit of an adventure so I decided to work on the rigs.'

Starting off as a field operator, and now a drilling engineer, it's a dirty, tough job.

She said she had no idea what it would be like on the rigs, and her family and friends were surprised, but that she feel in love with the work.

'I was drawn to this world that was so different from what I knew,' she said. 'I got to see a part of the world that not many people see, and be a part of a community not many people get to be part of.'

'I was drawn to this world': Initially working on the rigs to raise money for her masters degree in motorsports, the young woman fell in love with the work and the people

'Who do you think I am?': The 26-year-old has now written a book about her life called Yassmin's Story

Not only is work on rigs demanding and tough, often Ms Abdel-Magied was the first woman to have worked in some of the places she was sent.

'Some of the rigs I was on had never had a woman working out there, let alone a Muslim brown woman who laughs really loudly,' she said.

She ended up loving the work so much that she decided to leave motorsport, and has just celebrated her fifth year as a fly-in fly-out worker on the rigs.

Trailblaser: Ms Abdel-Magied said that she was the first 'Muslim brown woman' who had worked on many of the rigs she was placed

'Muslim chicks are rendered voiceless': The engineer and author said she wrote her book because women, let alone women of colour, are rarely heard

The 25-year-old said the human connection found in the community on the rigs has been one of the best parts of the job.

'One of my favourite stories is that I ended up bonding with one of the boys on the rig over motorbikes,' she explained.

'A little while later a friend, who knew his sister, messaged me saying that he had met this Muslim chick on the rigs and changed completely. Before he was a racist before and now he was defending Muslims all the time.'

The young woman said it proves that sometimes just meeting and talking to the people you are scared of or don't understand can make a big difference.

Mkaing a difference: The young woman moved to Australia from Sudan with her family when she was two. At 16 she started an organisation called Youth Without Borders

'Familiarity breeds acceptance': Ms Abdel-Madied believes that many people aren't accepting only because they aren't familiar with other cultures

This isn't the first time Ms Abdel-Magied has made a difference in the world. After moving to Australia from Sudan with her family just before she turned two, she became very involved in her community as she got older.

At 16 she founded the organisation Youth Without Borders, a youth led group about making positive change. Now the incredible young woman has written a book about her life, titled Yassmin's Story. She said she wrote it to try and highlight marginalised voices.

'Muslim chicks are rendered voiceless, you just dont hear those stories,' she said. 'I'm just a regular old Muslim chick who has had some adventures, but familiarity breeds acceptance.'
When Seve Gat's boarded the plane for her dream holiday to China, she actually did so in the comfort of her own home.

The Kenyan resident had her friends Photoshop her on to the tarmac, and she proceeded to take a virtual tour of the country, fulfilling one of her life dreams.

Their crude editing skills saw Seve plonked on to the Great Wall of China, placed bare-foot on the world's most dangerous hiking trail, and stand awkwardly with a group of tourists in front of a temple.

The hilariously bad photo-edits saw Seve skyrocket to Internet fame, but it also attracted the attention of a generous entrepreneur.

'Wow enjoying everything here': Kenyan woman Seve Gat's had her friends Photoshop her in China

'I have left the country to China': The hilariously bad photo-edits saw her standing on the tarmac in front of a Kenya Airways plane

'China... Nice place indeed': One photo saw her plonked barefoot on to the would's most dangerous hiking trail on Mount Huashan

Sam Gichuru, who described himself as a 'dreamer', saw Seve's plight and decided to make her travel dream a reality.

By 'harassing' his friends Sam was able to arrange travel, four-star accommodation, insurance and pocket money for a holiday to China, before contacting Seve to tell her the news.

'Talked to Sevelyn (Gat's), she is a nice ambitious humble farmers daughter, who asked her friends to photoshop her in China because she felt like she was there on those photos,' he wrote on Facebook.

'Trip being planned for summer 2016. So, now it's all up to you Seve Gat's.'

'Last day of visit. Bye China': A Kenyan man saw Seve's photos and arranged an all-expenses paid trip for her to fulfill her dream of visiting the country

Seve had shared the Photoshopped photos on her Facebook page, alongside a series of tongue-in-cheek captions.

'I have left the country to China,' she wrote as her Photoshopped figure boarded the virtual plane.

'Woow enjoying everything here,' [sic] she continued, from atop the Great Wall.

'Last day of visit. Bye China,' she finished, from a Photoshopped group shot of a temple visit.

The epic Photoshop fails has prompted the Internet to join in, with the hashtag #WhereIsSeveGatsNow active on Twitter.

World traveller: The Internet has picked up the bad photo edits and placed Seve in a series of remarkable places

The Big Apple: One person Photoshopped Seve in to Time Square, New York

Photoshop fails: One person even went as far as to place her next to Donald Trump

People have taken Seve's photo and stuck it on to various travel scenes, including a skydiving shot and New York's Time Square.

One Internet user even went as far as to place Seve alongside a photo of Donald Trump making a speech.

But while the Internet made Seve's travel dreams come true, Sam Gichuru made it clear he would not do the same for anyone else.

'To the rest, please don't photoshop yourself,' he said.
However, it was also found that women do better when they wear make up

It was found that men prefer women who wear 40 per cent fewer cosmetics

There has been controversial research surrounding women and make up

The overwhelming feeling is that women don't care

Hundreds of women have commented on the tweet since it was posted

The tweet said that men prefer women who don't wear much make up

When Google Facts tweeted: Studies show that men like women who wear less makeup they couldnt have predicted the reaction they received.

While the tweet seemed harmless enough, straight after it was sent to the 1.4 million Twitter users who follow the parody account which is not affiliated with Google on March 15, it was met with a torrent of hilarious, witty abuse.

So if I cake on my make up stupid a** men will leave me alone?, one woman retorted.

Controversial statement: Google Facts recently posted on Twitter that studies show that men prefer women who wear less make up

Hilarious backlash: The tweet has since resulted in a huge backlash from women on Twitter, who have had some funny responses

Whelp, time to put on more makeup, someone else also replied.

Another woman put it totally succinctly: 'Studies show that women don't care.'

The post has since been met with over 1,000 retweets, 2,000 likes and hundreds of enraged, clever comments.

Huge readership: Google Facts has some 1.4 million followers on Twitter

Clever comments: The post has been met with 1,000 retweets, 2,000 likes and hundreds of enraged comments

Important debate: It also re-surfaced people's feelings surrounding women and their make up application

But, more importantly, it re-surfaced the entire debate surrounding women and their make up application.

It was found in 2014 by researchers at Bangor University and Aberdeen University that women like other women who wear slightly more make up, while men like women who wear less.

In the test, women were given different types of foundation, lipstick, blush and mascara and then told to put on their make up as if they were going out on a night out.

Different times: These pictures of Cameron Diaz show the singer with and without make up

Recent studies: In 2014 it was found by researchers at Bangor University and Aberdeen University that women like other women who wear slightly more make up, while men like women who wear less

The researchers afterwards altered the photographs so they had a range of 21 images of the women wearing various amounts of makeup, and asked the women and men to pick the photo they thought was most attractive.

Lo and behold, the men preferred the models with less make up on their faces  40 per cent fewer cosmetics to be precise  while women preferred heavier application.

This may be true, but conversely, the make up tax, so dubbed by Hillary Clinton in a Q&A session with Libby Brittain from Facebook in 2015, decreed that women who wear a normal, not-too-over-the-top amount of make up at work earn more and are treated better in an office environment.

Put to the test: In one recent test, it was found that men preferred models with less make up on their faces  40 per cent fewer cosmetics to be precise

Differing opinions: Women, meanwhile, preferred heavier application

Devotee of selfie face: Gwyneth Paltrow is one devotee of a make up free face

Hollywood glamour: However, the A-list actress still likes to rock a dramatic sparkly look

Beauty tax: The make up tax, so dubbed in 2015, decreed that women who wear a normal, not-too-over-the-top amount of make up at work earn more and are treated better in an office environment

Doesn't work both ways: For those who don't always make time for make up, they will earn less

Meanwhile, the cosmetics industry makes some 78 million Australian dollars every year and outrage ensues as soon as a celebrity publishes a make up free selfie.

Whether women put make up on to feel more confident, as a hobby or a habit, the response to this Google Facts tweet is obvious.

Women wear make up for their own reasons; not because they seek mens approval.

Huge industry: The cosmetics industry makes some 78 million Australian dollars every year

Public outrage: Often, when a celebrity posts a picture of themselves on Instagram, such as this one by Sam Frost, there can be outrage on social media
BBC1s The Night Manager, based on John le Carres novel, has changed everything

Sunday night television is meant to send a chap off to bed in a state of calm before the rigours of the week ahead, not assailed with doubts about his sexual prowess.

But BBC1s The Night Manager, based on John le Carres novel, has changed everything.

Up and down the land, men are questioning whether theyre doing it right. And more to the point, whether theyre doing it upright.

Its distinctly troubling watching our wives and girlfriends watching these blokes at it on the telly.

When Tom Hiddlestons title character, Jonathan Pine, pinned the baddies girlfriend to the bedroom wall with more than just his direct blue-eyed gaze, my wife, Jane  on the sofa on which she routinely slumps  gave a violent start, as if jabbed by a cattle prod.

That was last week. She sat down for this weeks episode plainly hoping for more of the same, but had to be content merely with a discreet shot of the naked Hiddleston having a shower.

Jane comes from a world in which the biggest imaginable Sunday night treat is a bag of Revels. Thats my world, too. This is new territory for both of us, and I find it unsettling.

Am I, after giving the dogs a night-time biscuit and before setting the Monday morning alarm, expected to hoik her up against the bedroom wall and have Olympian sex, standing up?

And never mind am I? The more painful question must be could I? Even assuming I could get everything into position, what if I pulled something or got cramp?

Naturally, I passed her the Revels in an attempt to drag her back to reality after the naked derriere scene, but the damage had been done.

It was a small mercy we only got to watch the manoeuvre from behind. Its still BBC1, not an adults-only cable channel (even if its increasingly difficult to tell the difference). But all the same, what a behind.

For me, and I suppose men across the land, it offered a taste of what women have suffered for years.

Its not normally blokes who are left with limp self-esteem by a sex scene on TV. After all, such scenes are invariably written by men and the flesh on show is usually female, with women the ones looking on in envy at the gorgeous tousled hair, the firm breasts, the thunderous orgasms.

But this time its different. The physical and sexual inadequacy generated by The Night Manager is overwhelmingly male. The credits should end with a helpline for those who are suffering from flagging sexual confidence.

Hiddleston has made us all look to our laurels. And not just our laurels.

It must be said, as 35-year-old male posteriors go, it was impressively pert. Its probably something to do with my age, but the image I still prefer, when I think of Le Carre adaptations on TV, is Alec Guinness in a raincoat.

And it is not just The Night Manager we men have to worry about. These days, every man who takes his shirt off on prime-time television has an amazing, sculpted torso, like a Greek god. It never used to be like that, not even in the raunchiest dramas.

And now theyre taking their britches off, too. Remember how excited everyone got when Aidan Turner went topless in the BBCs Poldark? That will be the least of it in the next series of tupping among the tin mines, mark my words.

The men in suits, and increasingly, it seems, female TV executives, who commission all this nudity and sex  and whose own bodies probably do not look as though they belong on Corinthian plinths either  really should be called to account for making us feel rubbish about ourselves.

Tuppence Middleton plays Helene Kuragina having sex on the dining room table with husband's friend Dolokhov played by Tom Burke

For its not just how these sex gods look that leaves us feeling rather limp  its how they perform the deed that makes us feel so inadequate.

Standing up like Tom Hiddleston  more often than not, with the womans thighs wrapped around the mans waist, like a pair of circus acrobats waiting for applause  is not, Id wager, a position many middle-aged men can relate to.

The only time I ever stand that close to a wall late at night is when Im at a cashpoint, trying not to let anyone see my PIN.

But its no joking matter. Prime-time sex on television is not only here to stay, but seems certain to get more and more explicit. The forthcoming BBC2 drama Versailles has already caused a stir, even before a transmission date has been fixed, for content said to verge on the pornographic.

Yet why cant TV sex also be realistic? Why must a raised eyebrow or flared nostril be all thats needed for both parties to get their pants off, whereupon they look as though theyre at it with the Kama Sutra in one hand?

Because if theyre not juddering up against a wall or a tree (see also Dominic Wests almost psychotically priapic Noah in Sky Atlantics The Affair, in which he pushed his love interest, face-first, up against the trunk of a tree and had his wicked way), theyre shuddering on a dining-room table, as in the case of Tuppence Middletons shamelessly adulterous Helene and one of her lovers, Fedya (Tom Burke), in the recent BBC Sunday night hit, War And Peace.

Quickly nicknamed Phwoar And Peace for its steamy sex scenes, in the hands of script writer Andrew Davies Tolstoys epic novel was largely seen through a prism of sex in surprising venues.

The forthcoming BBC2 drama Versailles has already caused a stir, even before a transmission date has been fixed, for content said to verge on the pornographic

In addition to Helenes tabletop scene  a frantic, cutlery-scattering encounter that had social media wags commenting Thats one way to lay a table  we were treated early on to a spot of incest between Helene and her brother, which Davies claimed to have found in a fleeting, well-disguised allusion buried in Tolstoys solemn prose, and a lusty arousal in a cloakroom.

All this is the televisual equivalent of the trashiest erotic paperback, in which no one acts as they do in real life.

This is not to say that adultery, rampant promiscuity and sex in public places do not happen in real life. We all know that they do.

But whats the point of working so hard to make the dialogue sound plausible when the ensuing sex scene looks as if its been lifted from a third-rate novel?

Like every aspect of drama, sex should reflect the world we live in, not some souped-up, idealised version.

I grant you, like most men, my friends and I dont talk about our sex lives. So there is a chance that maybe theyre all at it vertically, or on tables and to hell with the crockery.

But I expect that, like me, theyre happy to do it entirely in the horizontal, probably with the lights out, and possibly only once a week . . . as long as no other activity has sapped their energy, such as putting the bins out.

And as for the timing of that weekly canoodle, Sunday is out, at least until The Night Manager has finished. The comparison for middle-aged men like me are far too stressful.
Catwalk star Kendall appeared at a Sephora store on Fifth Avenue in New York on Tuesday afternoon to officially launch the brand

Kendall's palette, which includes two glow-in-the-dark shades, is part of Estee Lauder's new sister brand The Estee Edit

The 20-year-old model has been an ambassador for the beauty brand since November 2014, however she has now created her own eyeshadow palette

As one of the world's most in-demand models, Kendall Jenner is no stranger to posing up a storm for the cameras, however on Tuesday afternoon, the 20-year-old catwalk star proved that she can happily balance her success on the catwalk with other projects, by launching her very own make-up products as part of a new Estee Lauder beauty range.

Kendall, who has been an ambassador for the company since November 2014, appeared at the official launch of its new sister brand, The Estee Edit, for which she has created a limited edition eyeshadow palette.

Donning a risque Balmain jumpsuit, which, from the front, appeared as a two piece ensemble comprised of a plunging crop top paired with some tailored black trousers.

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Posing up a storm: Kendall Jenner was the epitome of style in a plunging black Balmain jumpsuit as she celebrated the launch of Estee Lauder's newest beauty range in New York on Tuesday

Total pro: The 20-year-old fashion star looked cool, calm and confident as she posed for the cameras

Popular: According to WWD, fans began lining up outside the Fifth Avenue venue at 11pm on Monday night in order to ensure they would be in with a chance of meeting Kendall face-to-face

Posing confidently with her hand on her hip, Kendall beamed at the cameras, popping one silver high heel-clad foot out in front of her as she happily showed off her sultry look for the evening.

Finishing off her ensemble, Kendall added two choker necklaces, one a chunky silver chain, while the other was a simple strip of black fabric.

Her hair was left in loose, glossy waves which fell down below her shoulders, while make-up artist Victor Henao created a sexy smokey eye for the starlet, accentuating the glamorous look with just a hint of shimmer, courtesy of Kendall's newly-released The Estee Edit eyeshadow palette.

Speaking to WWD about the entire collection, which is available online or in Sephora stores, Kendall said: 'Its a fresh, fun line. Of course, I love my palette, and I love the Lip Flips  you can change the color of your lipstick darker or brighter immediately.'

Showing it off: Kendall opted for a smokey eye, adding a hint of silver shimmer to the look, courtesy of her own Estee Edit eyeshadow palette

The range: During her appearance, Kendall also posed up alongside the Estee Edit collection, which she also helped to model alongside several other Estee Lauder ambassadors

Pleased as punch: Kendall was unable to wipe the smile off her face as she prepared to meet and greet her fans, many of whom had purchased beauty products from the collection for her to sign

That's dedication! One eager fan actually wore a 'Kendall's my fave' T-shirt to the event

Kendall unveiled her eyeshadow palette in a video campaign last month, sharing her overwhelming excitement at the product launch, while revealing to her fans why she chose each of the colors including in the palette.

'You guys, so this is my palette, I have my own Estee Edit palette,' she said in the clip, which debuted on Refinery 29, while patting some of the product onto her eyelid. 'I'm low-key freaking out inside and I think my head is exploding.'

And it seems her fans shared the same excitement; according to WWD, eager people started lining up outside the Fifth Avenue location at 11pm on Monday night ahead of Kendall's appearance, in order to ensure they would be in with a chance of meeting the reality star in person.

But while Kendall admitted that some of her fans can be a bit too enthusiastic when meeting her, she explained that she has learned to take their excitement in her stride, saying: 'There are always one or two fans who are really ballsy and spit out some things.

Saying hello: Kendall ensured that her fans who were waiting outside were able to catch a glimpse of her as she waved and smiled down at them from a balcony window

Making faces: The cheeky fashion star also poked her tongue out at the crowds

Taking it in her stride: Speaking about her more zealous fans, Kendall said, 'There are always one or two fans who are really ballsy and spit out some things'

'You can find your way around it. They definitely have a lot of confidence to ask some of those things.'

The catwalk star made sure that all of her fans were able to catch a glimpse of her however, as she gamely waved and smiled down to the waiting crowds from a balcony window before the event officially began.

And once the launch actually got underway, Kendall happily signed autographs for her waiting fans who were eager to get their Estee Edit products personalized by the star, who also snapped several hundred selfies with eager attendees, including one girl who donned a special 'Kendall's my fave' T-shirt for the occasion.

The event comes just a few weeks after the video campaign in which Kendall officially announced the news of her eyeshadow palette, before eagerly showing it off to fans explaining exactly how she would use each shade in the product and why they were all included.

'This palette is super me, obviously because I created it. I'm very simple, so a lot of the colors are super simple,' she explains, while holding the white-packaged product up for the cameras.

In the business of beauty: Kendall unveiled her eye shadow palette in a video campaign last month

Shout it from the rooftops! 'I'm low-key freaking out inside and I think my head is exploding,' Kendall said of the exciting launch

Competition? Kendall's younger sister Kylie has a very popular range of lipsticks

'I mean, I wouldn't go super black, but I would make it kind of grey, so I have the black there.

'Then I have my signature browns, then I've got some sparkles. And then purple is my favorite color so I had to add it in there. And then these ones are my favorite because they work in blacklight and that's really cool.'

And in order to prove that the palette really is her very own, Kendall even put her name on it, signing the mirror with her signature 'Kendall J'.

'My name is even on it, I signed it to make it official, and so that you guys know that it's mine and this isn't a joke,' she said in the clip, before pointing at the neon sign behind her and adding: 'This is legit, beauty is an attitude and this palette has tons of attitude.'

The palette launch came just weeks after Kendall's younger sister Kylie celebrated another sell-out launch of her Lip Kits.

Looking good: Kendall made sure she looked her best on the red carpet, at one point pausing to tousle her hair

Chic: The fashion star accessorized with a simple black choker and a chunky silver chain necklace

Rock chic: Kendall stuck to an all-black palette, but injected some added glamour into her look with metallic accents courtesy of her shoes and the silver detailing on her jacket

Covering up: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians draped her Giuseppe Zanotti leather jacket around her shoulders to keep warm against the New York chill

The 18-year-old has added numerous new shades of the coveted product to her range in recent weeks, and has seen every single color - new and old - sell out on her website in mere minutes following every new release.

Last month, Kylie also announced a collaboration with nail polish brand Sinful Colors, revealing that she will be launching three collections of limited edition polishes, with the first, King Kylie, being released later this month.

'I love getting my nails done and nails in general,' Kylie told WWD of the launch. 'I wanted to do something innovative and accessible to my young fans.'

But the new eye shadow palette is not Kendall's first beauty launch - in June, seven months after she was named as Estee Lauder's newest brand ambassador, the Calvin Klein model launched a limited edition lipstick.
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Prince Harry once again proved that he had his mother's touch today when he visited a hospital unit for children suffering from appalling burns injuries on his final day in Nepal.

Visibly moved, the royal, 31, made the children he met laugh by playing with their dolls and posing for photographs with staff and parents...and even high-fiving one youngster.

Harry was at the Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu, where he met 16 children aged between 11 months and 11 years, many of whom had been injured after being displaced by the earthquake that devastated parts of the country in 2015.

It marks the final day of his official tour; this afternoon Harry revealed that he will stay in the country for another week to help rebuild a school that was badly damaged when an earthquake struck Nepal in 2015 saying he hoped to 'shine a light on the country's resilience.'

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High-five! The Prince offers his palm to Pemba Sherpa, a five-year-old burns victim, while visiting the Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu. Many of the youngsters being treated at the hospital attained their injuries following the earthquake which caused devastation in Nepal in 2015

I'm looking at you! Harry points a regal finger at Pemba, who attained injuries to his legs and feet including the loss of six toes after falling into a fire while his family, including mum Doma Sherpa, 31, (pictured centre), were overcome with carbon monoxide fumes

Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu treats children up to the age of 14 and was established in 1963. Harry spent time touring the hospital's facilities and meeting with staff and patients

The Prince visited the burns unit to see the work of British charity BVS (Burns Violence Survivors) Nepal.

Founded by Wendy Marston, it provides free medication, food and money to the children and their parents. Harry has spent the last five days on a official royal tour of the country, which comes to an end today.

This afternoon Harry announced that he will extend his stay in the Far East to help with the re-construction of a school that was destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the country in April last year.

Working with the charity Team Rubicon on the re-build, Harry said he was happy to be staying on: 'The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave. Thankfully however, Im not leaving just yet! I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.'

He added: 'At the start of this visit I said that I hoped to shine a spotlight on the resilience and resolve of the people of Nepal.

'Nearly a year on from the earthquakes that took so many lives, I wanted to pay my respects; but also I wanted to show that this country was open for business and has so much to offer. The people I have met on this journey have made this goal so easy.'

Arriving at the hospital to meet some of the people affected first-hand by the disaster, Harry had to take his shoes off and wear a blue doctor's gown to prevent spreading any infection on the ward.

The children, doctors and nurses were clearly delighted to meet him - at one point he was mobbed for pictures and selfies.

Many of the patients at the Kanti Children's Hospital were injured living in temporary accommodation following the disaster, where families have been forced to cook on open fires, often inside tents.

Among the children that Harry met was Pemba Sherpa, five, who suffered horrific burns in one such incident in January.

His mother, Doma Sherpa, 31, whose husband works in Malaysia, had been trying to keep her house warm with an open fire when she and the children were overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning.

On the day of his accident his other had closed the windows and doors of their temporary home while she lit a fire to cook due to the cold.

Hero worship: Hundreds of Nepalese people gathered outside the hospital to catch a glimpse of Harry, who completes his five-day tour of Nepal today

The prince spent time chatting and shaking hands with well-wishers, many of whom took photos of him on their phones

Harry smiles for a photo with a little girl ahead of entering the Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu

She said: 'I fainted for four hours - I don't remember anything - and Pemba fell in the fire. l was unconscious so I didn't wake up, but fortunately my landlord saw through the window and broke down the door.

Sadly, the family couldn't see help for 18 days and the five-year-old had to have six of his ten toes amputated and several skin grafts as a result.

'He's very brave,' said Harry, who appeared delighted by the lively boy, despite both his feet being swathed in bandages.

'I assume he can't walk,' the prince said.

'Of course he can, nothing will stop him,' he was told by staff.

Added his mother: 'I'm worried about Pemba's future - whenever I think about what happened I feel so bad about him and his future.

'It was very nice to meet Prince Harry and I found him very handsome. He came from so far and he has seen so much and he understood so many things. He talked to Pemba and it was very lively!'

Dr RP Chaudary, a paediatric and burns surgeon who took the prince round, said: The majority of the children come in with burns as a result of scalding. In rural areas they operate on a open cooking system, often inside, which cause injuries as a result of boiling oil or water.

Among the worst injured of the children was five-year-old Roshani Tolenga who was severely burnt when her dress caught fire.

Seeng the little girl lying on a bed totally covered in bandages, Harry asked how badly she was burnt.

Dr RP Chaudary, the paediatric surgeon showing Harry around, told him her right hand, torso, bottom and thighs were all seriously damaged.

When he told Harry the severity of her injuries, he exclaimed in shock: '35% burns. Awful.'

Harry was particularly taken with the knitted dolls that each child is given while they're in-patients.

When he asked Wendy Marston where they were from she told him that ladies in Kent, who'd never been to Nepal, made them for the children.

The royal was also told that most of the patients were from rural poor communities who have no training in fire safety.

The prince was greeted by large welcome signs at the unit's door

After walking through the hospital doors, Harry is quickly offered a blue gown...but needs a little help tying it up at the back

Harry respectfully clasps his hands together to greet nurses and reception staff at the hospital

The prince took time to pass by the young patients beds, stopping to chat with them and hear about their injuries

Harry hears the story of a boy with burns to his arms and face as his mother cradles him

Staff selfie! Harry crouches down as the doctors and staff at the Kanti Children Hospital gather for a group photograph

Namaste! Harry practices the traditional Nepalese greeting with one young patient. The prince said he loved the little knitted dolls that the children had been given

He's pointing again! The little boy, dressed in a colourful yellow t-shirt eyes Harry with a smidgen of suspicion

Wendy said: 'Most of the child cases who come here are accidents. Some have been badly scalded, others burnt by boiling oil or in a cooking fire.

'Nearly everyone in Nepal cooks on the floor on open flames and due to the earthquake more people are cooking in temporary shelters which make accidents more likely.

'There are 16 children in the unit at the moment-the oldest is 11 and the youngest 11 months. Last month we lost one of our children - she'd survived being severely burnt but died a long time later from smoke inhalation injuries.'

'We also treat a great deal of injures caused by flames and, to a lesser extent, burns caused by the children touching high voltage wires, when they catch their kites in them.

'Part of the problem is that due to the social structure here and the poverty parents find themselves unable to seek help straight away. They are poor, can't afford not to work, cannot get transport to the hospital and have no oxygen or medicine. The result is that infection can set in and by the time we see the children they often lose toes, hands, feet, fingers and even limbs.'

Dr Chaudry explained that of the children he sees, more than 70 per cent of their injures are avoidable and with the help of the of the government and organisations on the ground, is trying to better inform parents of the risks.

After the colourful chaos of celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi earlier this week, Prince Harry has used the final day of his royal tour of Nepal to address more emotive issues.

Earlier, the 31-year-old spoke out passionately to support the country's fight against child marriage while opening the Nepal Girl Summit in Kathmandu.

The royal, sporting a smart blue suit with pale blue patterned tie, told the audience that education was the key to breaking the negative cycle of illiteracy, poverty and ill health that is caused by forcing young girls around the world to wed too soon.

On the final day of his Nepal trip, Prince Harry spoke about his support for stopping child marriages at the Nepal Girl's Summit in Kathmandu. Later, the 31-year-old royal, who's spent the last five days in the mountainous Far East country, visited the Samo Thimi Technical School, Bhaktapur, where he was greeted with an orange garland, and met young Nepalis

Prince Harry poses with smiling Nepalese youngsters after opening the Nepal Girl Summit in Kathmandu. The prince, like the Duchess of Cornwall, is a long-term supporter of women's rights

A warm welcome: Prince Harry shakes the hand of President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who became the country's first female president in 2015

Harry spoke out against the practice, which condemns young girls to a life with few opportunities, as he opened the Nepal Girl Summit with the nation's first woman president, Bidya Devi Bhandari, who has campaigned for women's rights.

The Nepalese government event has brought together activists, experts, community leaders and young women from across the country, to share knowledge and best practice and encourage their society to move away from child marriages.

Speaking at the Kathmandu summit, the Prince said: 'Here in Nepal, nearly half of all women who are today in their 20s, 30s and 40s were married before their 18th birthdays. And a little under half gave birth while still in their teens.

'It may be obvious to say it, but girls who marry young stay at home. They don't finish school. And they soon become locked in a cycle of illiteracy, poverty, ill health and, ultimately, powerlessness.

'How can this cycle be broken? We all know what the answer is - education.'

He's really got it now! Harry performs the traditional Nepalese greeting, clasping both hands together and bowing his head

Harry made an impassioned plea for improved women's rights in Nepal, saying: 'It cannot just be women who speak up for girls

Harry addressed the 'complex social challenges' faced by Nepal and other countries, which sees some 250 million girls married before the age of 15

Harry applauds as President Bhandari lights a symbolic flame to mark the opening of the Nepal Girl Summit

The opening ceremony saw Prince Harry, President Bhandari, and Nepalese girls dressed in traditional costumes stand for the country's national anthem

How's your Nepalese Harry? The prince listens in to a translation as the opening ceremony speeches are made

He added: 'When girls finish their schooling, they gain skills, knowledge and confidence - in short; they are empowered to improve their lives and the lives of everyone around them.'

Nepal has the third highest prevalence of child marriage in south Asia after Bangladesh, which holds the top spot, and then India.

Alongside using Nepal's own president Mrs Bhandari as an inspiration for women around the world, he also referenced other key figures in the fight for improved global rights including Michelle Obama and Malala.

'I AM PROUD TO STAND YOU WITH TODAY' HARRY'S SPEECH AT THE NEPAL GIRL SUMMIT IN FULL Harry referenced key global women's rights figures in his speech including Malala, Michelle Obama and the Nepalese President Bhandari 'I am delighted to have the opportunity of opening this event alongside President Bhandari. Madam President, you have championed the opportunities for women and girls in Nepal for many years and it is a privilege to share this stage with you today. Over the last decade, I have been hugely inspired by working alongside those striving to help young people achieve their full potential, sometimes in very difficult circumstances. My charity Sentebale has helped thousands of children access education and healthcare in Lesotho, Southern Africa. Closer to home, in Nottingham, England, I have seen first-hand the transformational effect of even the smallest opportunity in keeping a child away from gangs, keeping them in school, and on track to a more fulfilling and prosperous life. While the unique challenges faced by girls is not a topic I have spoken much about in the past, I think it's important to acknowledge something that has become obvious to me and is already known to everyone in this room: there are way too many obstacles between girls and the opportunities they deserve. Whether it's a girl in Lesotho living with HIV; or the talented young woman in Britain who doesn't get taken seriously because of where she grew up; or the 14 year old girl forced out of school so she can get married here in Nepal; we need to acknowledge that so many countries and cultures are failing to protect the opportunities of young women and girls in the way they do for boys. Harry poses with young Nepalese students after announcing the Nepal Girl Summit open. He told them: 'We won't unlock these opportunities for young women and girls unless we can change the mind-set of every family and community' I believe it is vitally important for men like me to acknowledge this as loudly and openly as role models do like President Bhandari, the US First Lady Michelle Obama and activists like Malala. As the First Lady has said, change needs to come from the bottom up. We won't unlock these opportunities for young women and girls unless we can change the mind-set of every family and community. To achieve this, it cannot just be women who speak up for girls. So let's be open about some of the challenges facing young women.Globally, 62 million girls are not getting the education they deserve. Two thirds of the nearly 800 million people who were never taught to read and write are women. Around the world, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children and nearly 250 million of them were married before the age of 15. Here in Nepal, nearly half of all women who are today in their twenties, thirties and forties were married before their eighteenth birthdays. And a little under half gave birth while still in their teens. Harry inspects a traditional Nepalese bed while touring the Summit which is being used as an artwork to highlight women's rights It may be obvious to say it, but girls who marry young stay at home. They don't finish school. And they soon become locked in a cycle of illiteracy, poverty, ill health and, ultimately, powerlessness. How can this cycle be broken? We all know what the answer is - education. Improved access to education can transform lives, families, communities and ultimately entire countries. When girls finish their schooling, they gain skills, knowledge and confidence - in short; they are empowered to improve their lives and the lives of everyone around them. I recognise that each country must find its own path; and that here in Nepal, this is a complex social challenge. But it is one that the Government is tackling and is making progress in its hope of ending child marriage by 2030; it has fallen by 10% over the last decade and the practice is now banned by law. Therefore the focus can now turn toward enforcement and education. Female leadership in Nepal now sets a powerful example, with women occupying the roles of President and Speaker. But the biggest reason for our optimism are the inspiring girls and boys in this room who care so much about changing attitudes towards young women in this country. I am proud to stand with you today.' Advertisement

Harry acknowledged the problem was a global one, telling his audience that more than 700 million women were married as children and nearly 250 million of them were married before the age of 15.

He added: 'I recognise that each country must find its own path, and that here in Nepal this is a complex social challenge.

'But it is one that the government is tackling and is making progress in its hope of ending child marriage by 2030.

It has fallen by 10 per cent over the last decade and the practice is now banned by law; therefore the focus can now turn toward enforcement and education.'

Later in the day, the prince, losing his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves, arrived to meet trainees at the Samo Thimi Technical School in Bhaktapur

A relaxed Harry, wearing his orange garland, chatted with students at the school, which aims to equip underprivileged youngsters with technical skills

Although the action-man royal didn't get to drive the JCB, he did watch it dig a hole in the ground

Whoa there! A surprised-looking Harry stands back as the digger whirrs into motion

We didn't do this in the army! Harry listens attentively as a teacher at the school explains some of the work that the students do

Sparks flew! Harry, on the final day of his Nepal tour, watched as a student performed a welding task...wearing a mask to protect himself from the sparking machinery

The structural welding class sent the Nepalese temperatures soaring, with Harry having ditched his smart suit earlier

Try this for size: Harry holds a welder's mask, used by one of the students up to his face

Nobody got singed! Harry smiles with relief as the welding class comes to an end...

Harry inspects the task list for the young students, who come from some of Nepal's poorest areas

Time for mechanics class: Harry smiles as he watches students take an engine apart

Motorcycle-fan Harry discusses the speed-o-meter on a Suzuki motorbike with one of the college's students

Later the Prince travelled to Bhaktapur, where he visited the Samo Thimi Technical School, which provides training for young people with many young women benefiting.

The light-hearted tour of the college's facilities saw him laughing and joking with students and even trying on a welder's mask for size.

Meeting the underprivileged youngsters that the school strives to help, he watched as they undertook various technical jobs including welding, which saw a flurry of sparks fly, seeing a JCB dig a giant hole and joining a mechanics class where an engine had been stripped down.

He will also tour the Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu, where he will meet young people being treated in the hospital's burns unit. Many of the child patients were injured in accidents at camps for families displaced by the 2015 earthquake.

With support from the British-led charity Burns Violence Survivors, the medical unit is promoting greater awareness of fire safety.

The five-day tour will end with a reception at the British embassy in Kathmandu, hosted by ambassador Richard Morris. Harry will deliver a speech to the guests and meet some of the many individuals and groups who work closely with UK representatives in Nepal.

HARRY'S TASTE OF LIFE IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE HIMALAYAS As the sun climbed its rays picked out peaks and as the minutes passed more of the impressive range was revealed Two nights ago the prince slept in a modest home-stay with a Nepalese family up on the mountain, an experience he described as 'amazing'. Harry tasted rural life in a village in the foothills of the Himalayas, sitting down to dinner with an elderly widow and her family and then bedding down in a sleeping bag in her sparsely furnished communal room. Reflecting on his short period with Mangali Tamang, 86, a widow of a former Gurkha rifleman: 'It was amazing really, peaceful actually.' Harry added: 'Lots of dogs barking, but it didn't seem to bother them, apparently the locals, they're happy if the dogs are barking, but they're not happy if they dogs are not barking.' He added: 'The family were fantastic we had a proper feast of a meal and then they vanished, that was it, never saw them again. 'We all went to be early so we were tucked up by half past eight, then everything started to come to life at quarter past, half past five.' Advertisement

It's been an eventful trip for the royal with a volleyball match, paint-throwing at the Holi Hindu festival and even bedding down with a local Gurkha family all featuring.

Yesterday Harry was reunited with a Gurkha fighter he first met 26 years ago on a visit to Salisbury Plain in Wilthisre with his father Prince Charles, as he attended an engagement at the Gurkha headquarters in Pokhara.

Retired Major Bishnukumar Pun, 57, was famously pictured with the then six-year-old Harry during the visit and shared the photo with the Prince today, joking that they both looked somewhat different now.

He told the prince: 'That's the photo. That was me, young and handsome. You were clean shaven then!'

The day before he'd trekked to Okhari, a remote hillside community, to experience reconstruction of the Gauda secondary school which was largely destroyed in the country's devastating 2015 earthquake.
An official Queen's 90th birthday tea towel has gone on sale to mark the Monarch's milestone.

The cotton cloth, which costs 9.95, has been added to the Royal Collection's celebratory range.

It features a gold royal coat of arms in the centrepiece, surrounded with a pale blue border and garlands of spring flowers, including forget-me-nots, which bloom in April - the month of the Queen's actual birthday - and cornflowers, which flower in June at the time of her official birthday.

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An official Queen's 90th birthday tea towel has gone on sale to mark the Monarch's milestone. The cotton cloth, which costs 9.95, has been added to the Royal Collection's celebratory range

The national emblem flowers of the United Kingdom also feature, along with blue ribbon ties and a three-loop birthday bow.

There was an official tea towel for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding in April 2011, which incorporated the entwined initials of the happy couple - C and W for Catherine and William - and William's coronet.

Other new items in the range include a ballpoint pen for 6.95 - decorated with a pale blue partridge-eye 'oeil-de-perdrix' pattern - and a metal tea caddy tin for 8.95 which comes with 50 English Breakfast tea bags.

There is also a velvet embroidered gold tree decoration for 15.95 with '90th Birthday HM Queen Elizabeth II' sewn on the back.

A metal tea caddy tin for 8.95 comes with 50 English Breakfast tea bags

There is also a velvet embroidered gold tree decoration for 15.95 with '90th Birthday HM Queen Elizabeth II' sewn on the back (pictured right)

Other new items in the range include a ballpoint pen for 6.95 - decorated with a pale blue partridge-eye 'oeil-de-perdrix' pattern

The new pieces will go on sale alongside an official range of china, which hit the shelves last month.

Prices for the pieces start at 25 for a mug, with pillboxes costing 29, teacups and saucers 55, side plates 39, tankards 39, and plates 89.

The production process involved the traditional skills of more than 50 people from several factories in Stoke, chosen because of their individual expertise.

All profits from the sales will go towards the upkeep of The Royal Collection, which looks after the Queens art collection and arranges exhibitions.

An official commemorative plate, part of a collection of china featuring pale blue British wild flowers, is finished in 22 carat gold and costs 89

Decorations on this 39 side plate include forget-me-nots, which flower in April, and cornflowers, which bloom in June  the months of the Queens actual and official birthdays

The china is on sale through the Royal Collection website and its shops at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Ian Grant, of the Royal Collection Trust, which made the fine bone china pieces, said they wanted to create something much more personal than previous royal ranges.

Some items have the words I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service  from a speech she made on her 21st birthday in 1947. The handmade pieces also feature 22-carat gold detailing.

Mr Grant said: Whenever we develop any range of commemorative china we always show it to that member of the royal family before it goes into production because its very personal.

The production process of the china, including this 25 mug, involved the traditional skills of more than 50 people from several factories in Stoke, chosen because of their individual expertise

All profits from the sales will go towards the upkeep of The Royal Collection, which looks after the Queens art collection and arranges exhibitions. This tankard costs 39

They have made comments in the past. Its very, very rare that they say, no, we dont like that. When we have received comments, we have always acted on them. The Queen was very pleased.

Mr Grant said work on designing the range began 12 months ago, with the aim being to create something much more personal and with a lighter touch than such commemorative china, including that previously produced for the Queens 80th birthday, often has.

The Queen celebrates her 90th on April 21. Her official birthday is this year on June 11. To celebrate the milestone, she will carry out a short tour of the UK.

In a scaled-down version of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, Her Majesty will visit cities around the country to meet as many of her subjects as possible.

Prices for the china pieces start at 25 for a mug, with a pillbox (pictured) costing 29

Her Majesty personally approved the set and is said to be very pleased. The teacup and saucer costs 55

The Queen will also be conducting engagements on her actual birthday, April 21, including a walkabout in Windsor.

She will then light the Principal Beacon at Windsor Castle  the first of 564 birthday beacons that officially mark the beginning of the celebrations.

For the first time members of the Army Cadet Force will light beacons on Ben Nevis in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales, Scafell Pike in England and Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland.

The Queen will then attend a private birthday party at Windsor Castle, hosted by Prince Charles.

The monarch appears to be getting into the festive mood already as she stepped out for a rare night on the town this week with her daughter Princess Anne and cousin Princess Alexandra.

On Monday night, the trio went for dinner at Bellamy's restaurant in Mayfair - said to be the only London restaurant where the Queen has ever dined.

Her majesty was getting into the festive mood this week as she stepped out for a rare private dinner at Bellamy's brasserie in Mayfair with Princess Anne and Princess Alexandra

Serving a menu of Franco Belgian cuisine, the brasserie and oyster bar focuses on meat, fish and game dishes which change seasonally.

However, favourites such as smoked eel mousse, Dover sole and Entrecote of beef are always on offer.
An undergraduate student suffers from a rare illness that makes every hangover last for three days.

Shannon Birse, 19, from Hertfordshire, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year, a painful joint condition that means the after-effects of a night out last for 72 hours.

Shannon, who studies at the Royal Holloway University in Surrey, can't take her medication if she's planning on drinking with her friends - meaning she suffers a lot more for it the next day, and the two days after that.

Shannon Birse, 19, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year - a painful joint condition that will affect her for the rest of her life

Shannon, pictured before a night out, suffers from three-day hangovers when she drinks and experiences extreme pain from the condition which has no cure

She said: 'At first I found it difficult because you grieve for the life you thought you could have.

'But I'm more positive now, although I still have bad days where I feel fed up.'

There is no cure for the debilitating illness which has more than 200 symptoms including chronic fatigue, intense migraines and crippling pain.

It means the condition is likely to affect Shannon for the rest of her life.

Fitting into student social life is troublesome for Shannon, who usually takes 30 tablets every day to cope with her condition.

Speaking to student newspaper, The Tab, Shannon said: 'Everything started in February last year.

'I came down with a virus called labyrinthitis which causes vertigo and sickness and this was treated by doctors.

'But I started getting severe joint pain and muscle pain and I was only getting two or three hours sleep a night.

Shannon stays positive despite her debilitating illness which has over 200 symptoms including chronic fatigue, intense migraines and crippling pain

Shannon came down with a virus in February last year which triggered the fibromyalgia and gave her severe joint and muscle pain

Shannon usually takes 30 tablets every day to cope with her condition but when she wants to go out drinking she has to skip her medication for a day - which means she suffers for it

'It's not even restorative sleep because my body doesn't enter into REM.'

Eventually, Shannon was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the summer, a condition which affects about 70 million people worldwide.

Despite finally getting a diagnosis for her problems, Shannon, who is in her second year at university, discovered there was no cure.

She said: 'Lots of people don't even get diagnosed because their doctors either don't think the illness is real or misdiagnose them.

'It was a shock to be diagnosed and find out it was incurable. I'd been suffering for six months before getting the diagnosis so in some ways it was nice to have a name to it.

'But it's a lifelong condition with no cure - so it was also a bad thing finding out as well.'

To help ease her pain, the criminology and psychology student has physiotherapy and hydrotherapy.

Shannon is frustrated that her illness is invisible despite the life-changing effects and believes it's difficult for other people to understand - sometimes even doctors

Shannon said her university have been supportive and she's able to take longer in exams and use a laptop so her hands don't get sore

She also has to take painkillers, vitamins, sleeping tablets and other tablets every day, to try to improve her quality of life.

Shannon said: 'All of these treatments cost a lot of money so my friends and family are doing an abseil for me to try and raise money for treatment, and also to research a cure.'

WHAT IS FIBROMYALGIA? Fibromyalgia, also called fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), is a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body. As well as widespread pain, people with fibromyalgia may also have: Increased sensitivity to pain Fatigue (extreme tiredness) Muscle stiffness Difficulty sleeping Problems with mental processes (known as 'fibro-fog')  such as problems with memory and concentration Headaches Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)  a digestive condition that causes stomach pain and bloating Advertisement

They are aiming to reach a target of 2,500 to go towards research into the disease and have so far raised more than 600 on the GoFundMe page.

Although 2.6 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with the illness, Shannon said the worst thing about it is that it's invisible.

She said: 'You can't see it in people and it hasn't been recognised by some doctors until very recently.

'It is such a difficult illness to understand.'

Despite this, she said her university has been great at adapting to her needs and she's recently got a blue disabled badge for her car.

She said: 'Royal Holloway has been really helpful, especially with exams and coursework.

'If I need extra time to do work, I just let them know - I have extra time to stretch in exams and I use a laptop so my hands don't get sore.'

However Shannon has high hopes for the future.
She's just weeks away from welcoming her first child with Prince Carl Philip, but it seems Princess Sofia of Sweden isn't ready to put her feet up just yet.

The royal, 31, stepped out in style for a fundraiser for her charity Project Playground which she set up to help underprivileged children in South Africa.

Sofia arrived at the event with the charity's general-secretary Daniel Madhani, as her husband Prince Carl Philip, 36, was running a fever and was too ill to attend.

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Princess Sofia arrives at a fundraiser for her charity Project Playground with general-secretary Daniel Madhani. The royal told reporters on the red carpet that she's 'very excited' about the birth of her first child, due next month

Former glamour model Sofia wore a black and white silk gown, which is not maternity wear, but it skimmed perfectly over her bump

The glowing mother-to-be who is due to give birth in April paused to chat to reporters on the red carpet about her pregnancy, according to Hello magazine.

'I feel very excited,' she revealed at the event, believed to be her final engagement before giving birth.

However she wouldn't be drawn on any potential baby names, saying: 'We are keeping that to ourselves.'

It's believed that the royal couple have chosen not to find out the sex of the baby in advance.

The Princess declined to reveal any potential baby names and is believed not to have found out whether she's expecting a boy or a girl

Sofia attended the event with the charity's general secretary Daniel Madhani as her husband Prince Carl Philip was ill with a fever

The Princess arrived at the Auktionsverket Kulturarena in Gothenburg wearing a flowing, full length silk gown from Swedish brand Greta.

The 470 dress, which is not maternity wear, skimmed over the former model's bump perfectly.

SWEDISH ROYAL FAMILY TREE King Carl XVI Gustaf, 69, who has reigned since 1973, is married to Queen Silvia, 66. Crown Princess Victoria is their elder daughter. She married Prince Daniel in 2010 and the couple have two children, four-year-old Princess Estelle and new arrival Prince Oscar. The King and Queen's only son is Prince Carl Philip, who is married to Princess Sofia - a former model and reality TV contestant. Princess Madeleine is their youngest daughter and is wed to Christopher O'Neill, an American stockbroker. The pair have two children Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas. Advertisement

She covered up in a faux fur jacket from Morris Stockholm and wore a pair of Prada black leather pumps. A black tasseled clutch bag completed the monochrome ensemble.

Prince Carl-Philip and Princess Sofia shared they happy news of the pregnancy last year via an official statement released on Facebook.

'We are so happy and excited to announce that we are expecting our first child. We are very much looking forward to it,' the statement read.

The couple's baby will fifth in line to the Swedish throne, and it's an exciting time for the royal family who have just welcomed a new baby Prince Oscar Carl Olof.

Sofia's sister-in-law Crown Princess Victoria, sister of Prince Carl Philip, gave birth to her second child earlier this month.

Former glamour model Sofia Hellqvist married the prince last June.

The elegant brunette is known for her infectious gap-toothed smile and easygoing ways, in June.

The couple, who married last June, announced Sofia's pregnancy on Facebook in October

Sofia and Carl-Philip dated for five years before walking down the aisle and live together in the upmarket Djurgarden district of Stockholm.

Carl Philip and Sofia married in the royal palace's chapel, with the bride wearing a lace wedding dress created by local designer Ida Sjostedt.

But thanks to Princess Sofia's reality TV and glamour modelling past, Carl-Philip's choice of wife initially proved controversial.

The now Duchess of Varmland's first shoot came at the age of 20 and saw her posing topless in a pair of camouflage print bikini bottoms and clutching a snake to preserve her modesty.

Unsurprisingly, when news of Carl-Philip's new relationship emerged in 2010, the Swedish Royal Family were initially put 'on the defensive' as sources put it at the time.

Since then, however, Sofia has gone out of her way to tone down her image.
SANTA FE, N.M.  The television series Longmire will return to northern New Mexico for a fifth season.

The New Mexico Film Office announced Tuesday that the Netflix series' production will begin at the end of March and run through the end of June.

The office said filming locations will include Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Los Alamos, Espanola, Glorieta and Pecos.

Set in Wyoming, Longmire is a contemporary crime drama based on the "Walt Longmire" mystery novels authored by Craig Johnson.

The series stars Robert Taylor, Lou Diamond Phillips and Katee Sackhoff and is produced by The Shepherd/Robin Co. in association with Warner Horizon Television.
Prince Harry has been so moved by his trip to Nepal that he has decided to stay on in the country to work on a charity project, it can be revealed.

The royal, who tonight concluded a hugely successful five-day tour of the country, will spend a further six days helping to rebuild a school destroyed by last year's earthquake in the Himalayas.

The disaster last April claimed 9,000 lives, largely in rural areas, and left many tens of thousands of Nepalese displaced.

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Prince Harry has announced that he intends to stay a further six days in Nepal to work on a charity project

Harry, 31, will be working with Team Rubicon UK, a disaster response charity which uses the skills and experience of military veterans alongside first responders to deploy emergency response teams.

For the next week, the Queen's grandson will be embedded with a group of Team Rubicon volunteers in a remote village to help with the reconstruction of a new school destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake of April 2015.

The team will trek into the mountains to an unidentified earthquake-affected area in Central Nepal, with their own equipment to assist the local community in all aspects of repairing and rebuilding their school.

Since the earthquake struck, students have been taking their classes in makeshift classrooms made of poles, tarpaulins and tin. These temporary facilities will provide little defense against the difficult weather conditions in the rainy season to come.

The royal (pictured here outside Kanti Children's hospital) concluded a hugely successful five-day tour of the country, today announced he will spend a further six days helping to rebuild a school

Over the last few days Harry has seen numerous initiatives that have supported the people of Nepal in returning to normality following the huge destruction from the earthquakes almost a year ago.

He will spend the next week camping in the mountains with his fellow volunteers and will play a full role in the support project, returning to the UK at the end of the month.

Commenting on his decision, Harry said: 'The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave.

'Thankfully however, Im not leaving just yet. I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.

'The team Im joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake.

'I'm so grateful to have this opportunity at the end of my official tour to do my small bit to help this beautiful country.'

Many of the youngsters Harry visited that being treated at the hospital attained their injuries following the earthquake which caused devastation in Nepal in 2015. Pictured: Harry with a mother and baby in the hospital

The Queen's grandson (pictured with patients in a hospital today) will be embedded with a group of Team Rubicon volunteers to help with the reconstruction of a new school destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake of April 2015

Team Rubicon UK was formed in response to the Nepal earthquake almost a year ago. General Sir Nick Parker, former Commander in Chief of the UK Land Forces and now Chairman of Team Rubicon UK, put out a call to action asking UK veterans to volunteer their time and skills to provide aid in the immediate aftermath of the natural disaster.

It is now a registered charity in its own right and has already responded to calls for assistance following the Cumbrian floods in December at home in UK as well as the Philippines.

Following an assessment visit to the school in January, Simon Clarke, Director of Field Operations for Team Rubicon UK, said: 'It is heartrending to see how much work still needs to be done nearly a year after the earthquake.

Commenting on his decision to stay, the Prince said: 'The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave'

'By providing a proper school for the children of this remote village, and repairing basic services such as a hydroelectric turbine we will be able to make a real difference. We can restore these essential resources from a practical perspective, but perhaps also provide hope for this resilient community.'

In a speech tonight at the British Embassy in Kathmandu, Harry made clear how much his first tour of Nepal had meant to him.

He said: 'At the start of this visit I said that I hoped to shine a spotlight on the resilience and resolve of the people of Nepal.

'Nearly a year on from the earthquakes that took so many lives, I wanted to pay my respects; but also I wanted to show that this country was open for business and has so much to offer.

Two nights ago the prince slept in a modest home-stay with a Nepalese family up on the mountain, an experience he described as 'amazing'

'The people I have met on this journey have made this goal so easy. '

His spoke of how moved he was to meet families displaced by the earthquake at a Red Cross camp and their 'inspiring energy and optimism'.

And he made clear he would never forget his visit to Gauda School, which has been completely destroyed by the disaster, saying; 'Yesterday morning I visited the site of a school that was destroyed in Gauda and is now being rebuilt.

'The community was one of the most vibrant and joyous I have ever had the privilege to meet; there was no sense of defeatism.

'I saw a lesson in a makeshift classroom and even played a game of volleyball against the backdrop of the Himalayas before being covered in red paint to mark Holi - clearly not your standard day!'

He added: 'What happened in this country a year ago was a tragic disaster. But the people I met showed me that everyone is focused on the work ahead.

'I am tremendously proud that my country - through the Department for International Development and the generosity of so many people and organisations in the UK - are doing so much to support the Government and people of Nepal in your recovery.
A breastfeeding mother from Ohio says she was disappointed and saddened when museum employees called her out for nursing in public  and demanded that she 'do that' somewhere else.

Emily Locke, 33, was at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland celebrating her sister's wedding this past weekend when her nine-month-old son wanted to eat. So the obliging mom plopped herself down on a bench and started to nurse, which is when an employee demanded that she stop.

A manager from the museum even came over to make the same request, insisting that she was 'protect the innocent children'. Despite being treated so disrespectfully, though, Emily stood her ground  and eventually earned a public apology.

Feeding time! Proud mother Emily Locke, 33, stopped to breastfeed her son at the Western Reserve Historical Society this weekend

Indignant: She took to Facebook afterward to detail how several employees told her she had to stop

Standing up: The manager said she was protecting 'innocent children' and needed Emily to move to a private room, but she refused

Emily took to Facebook to share the details of the incident, racking up support from more than 38,000 other outraged people.

'It was a beautiful day darkened by one situation,' the new mom said of the incident. She had been taking pictures at the venue, dressed in an elegant purple gown and pearls, when she needed to take a break to feed her baby.

'[The manager] then told it was a family museum. I explained this is a family moment.

'Not long after I began, I was approached by a woman who told me, "You aren't allowed to do that here." I responded that I was actually legally allowed to nurse my child,' she recalled. 'She said it was against the museum policy and I had to stop. I refused, and she said she would have to get her manager.'

The manager then came over, repeating the same instructions to Emily  she would need to stop nursing her child out in the open, but they could move her to a private area where she could 'do that'. Emily did not want to move  not just because she shouldn't have had to, but because she didn't want to leave her other two children, who were posing for family pictures.

The museum staff, in addition to dismissing Emily's legal right to nurse in public, also seemed to ignore the fact that interrupting a child while he's nursing would likely result in crying  which would have been a lot more disruptive than Emily's nursing.

'[The manager] then told it was a family museum. I explained this is a family moment. She then told me she was just trying to protect the innocent children,' Emily went on.

Perspective: Emily said she was shocked to be treated like feeding her child was a disgusting thing

Downer: She said that the incident cast a dark shadow on an otherwise beautiful day

'I was pretty shocked. I think I responded with a blank stare, considering the place was nearly empty and the only innocent children around were my children, and also, I was nursing a child, not walking around topless.

'[The manager then] stared at me for a moment and said, "I guess there is nothing I can do then". I said, "I guess not", and she walked away while I finished nursing my son.

'I was so disappointed and saddened by this. I was treated as if I was doing something disgusting and inappropriate. That I was in some way hurting the innocence of children. I was treated this way by women in a museum which actually has exhibits celebrating the civil rights movement, and women's rights.

In fact, the museum even has nude female forms on display as art, but the employees there didn't seem to think other patrons  who included Emily's family  would be able to handle her breastfeeding.

'It concerned me that they believe it is okay to have a policy against nursing. That they would so aggressively try to stop me,' she said. '[And if] they approached me, I am fairly certain they have or would approached other nursing mothers. Perhaps mothers getting out in public for the first time. Perhaps mothers struggling with figuring out how nursing will fit into their lives. To be treated with such disgust and disrespect could hurt their chances of being successful at breastfeeding. That is wrong.'

Huh? She also pointed out that there was nude artwork on display in that very museum  yet for some reason, it was her nudity  which was for a practical use  that was considered objectionable

Sorry! The Center Director has since apologized and released a statement that staff would be better trained not to raise the same objections in the future

She signed off with an expression of hope that the Cleveland History Center would learn from their mistake  and luckily for Emily, it seems they already have.

Speaking to Cleveland.com, Center Director Angie Lowrie said on Tuesday that the museum doesn't prohibit breastfeeding and that the employees have been disciplined.

'We were made aware that, last weekend, a breastfeeding mother was asked to move to a private space by members of our Cleveland History Center staff,' she said. 'This reflects poor judgment on our part, for which we are truly sorry.

'We have formally apologized to the mother, and are immediately implementing additional training for our entire team in order to ensure that an incident like this does not happen in the future.
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece is far from your average college student so it's no surprise that the European royal does spring break a little differently from her fellow teens.

While thousands of college students across the country have descended on popular spring break destinations like Cancun and Palm Beach, Olympia, 19, has jetted off for a rather more luxurious vacation with her family on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

Just like every other young woman her age, however, the New York University student couldn't wait to show off the exotic location on social media, sharing a stunning image of herself over the weekend in which she is clad in a black swimsuit, while standing against a beautiful beachside backdrop.

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Laidback: Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece is currently enjoying a luxury spring break getaway on Harbour Island in the Bahamas with her family

Picturesque: The 19-year-old royal has been busy sharing envy-inducing pictures from her trip, including this image of herself staring out over the turquoise ocean

With her back to the camera as she looks out at the ocean, Olympia's wet blonde hair, which is seen slicked back from her face, and damp swimsuit suggest she had just been for a dip in the turquoise-blue waters.

Making sure to tag the location, so that her 65,000 followers would know the exact enviable setting of her picture-perfect snap, Olympia then captioned the envy-inducing image with a sun and a fish emoji.

Then, on Wednesday, the college student returned with another post sure to strike a feeling of jealousy into the hearts of all her followers - except, perhaps, those who are lucky enough or affluent enough to be enjoying their own sun-soaked trip abroad - this time capturing herself perched on a cushioned sunlounger next to a swimming pool.

For the latest snap, Olympia traded her black suit for a blue and green strapless bikini, showing off her toned tummy and long legs while staring off into the distance. She completed the look with a pair of sunglasses, while her blonde locks were tied back in two boxer-style braids.

'Future heart breaker': Olympia is spending time with her younger brothers Odysseus (pictured) and Aristidis, as well as her mother Marie-Chantal

Smile! Marie-Chantal shared this image of her youngest sons on her own Instagram account earlier this week

Surveying his kingdom: In this picture, posted to his mother's account, Prince Aristidis can be seen looking out over the beautiful blue waters from the balcony of the family's beachside property

But it's not just Olympia, who was rumored to be dating Prince Harry earlier this year, sharing images from the lavish trip.

Her mother Marie-Chantal has also been busy updating her Instagram account with snaps from the vacation, sharing images of her youngest sons, Olympia's brothers, Aristidis, and Odysseus.

In one image, the two boys can be seen perched atop a giant turtle statue, against a green backdrop of grass and palm trees, while in another image young Aristidis is seen standing with his back to the camera, his arms wide open as he gazes out onto the ocean from a balcony.

Olympia also took the time to share an image of her brother Odysseus standing on some beachside decking, his towel draped around his shoulders while blowing out behind him in the wind like a cape.

Favorite spot: In August, Olympia (left) was joined in the Bahamas by cousin Talita von Furstenberg (center), with both girls posing topless with a friend for this picture taken by Elle Macperson's son Flynn Busson

Merry Christmas! Olympia and her brothers also spent the festive season with their parents soaking up the sun in the idyllic location

Picture-perfect: During her Christmas trip, Olympia posed for a very similar swimsuit image as the one she posted on her most recent trip

'Future heart breaker,' the princess captioned the snap.

The family no doubt feel happily at home on Harbour Island by now, having spent many a fun-filled vacation there.

Olympia, her siblings and her parents celebrated Christmas in the Bahamas, before the princess jetted off to join her friends for a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado, just in time to ring in the New Year.

They also spent time on Harbour Island during the summer, when they were joined by Olympia's cousin, Talita von Furstenberg, granddaughter of designer Diane, and Elle Macpherson's son Flynn Busson.

New day job? Shortly before jetting off to the Bahamas, Olympia shared this picture, in which she can be seen 'helping' out at a New York pizza parlour

Room with a view: Although Olympia's family is based in London, she is currently living in Manhattan while she is a student at NYU

Talita's mother, Alexandra von Furstenberg, and Olympia's mother are two thirds of the Miller sisters trio. Daughters of billionaire and Duty Free Shops co-founder Robert Warren Miller, Alexandra and Marie-Chantal both married European royalty while their eldest sister, Pia, was once married to Christopher Ronald Getty of the Getty Oil Company family.

During their summer getaway, Talita and Olympia were also joined by another tall, slim friend and the trio actually posed topless in a moment that was snapped by Flynn, 17, the son of supermodel Elle and financier Arpad Busson.

Though Flynn tagged Olympia in the picture - along with Talita and their friend - Olympia quickly untagged herself, no doubt eager that her saucy snap should remain as anonymous as possible.
But now, both immediate- and extended-release drugs will have warnings

Commonly prescribed drugs, like Vicodin and Percocet, will get warnings

The boxed warnings will highlight the risks of

US health regulators will add their strongest warning labels to prescription painkillers, such as Vicodin and Percocet, to stem the epidemic of opioid abuse.

The Food and Drug Administration revealed plans to add a 'black box' warning to all immediate-release prescription opioid painkillers - which includes nearly 175 branded and generic drugs.

Those medications are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the US - accounting for 90 per cent of all opioid painkillers.

The FDA added similar warnings to long-acting drugs - such as OxyContin, which release their dosage slowly, over 12 hours or more - nearly three years ago.

But now, both immediate and extended-release formulations will contain warnings that detail the risks of addiction, abuse, overdose and death.

The FDA will add its strongest warning labels to the most commonly prescribed painkillers, including Percocet, to highlight the risks of addiction, abuse, overdose and death - in an attempt to curb the ongoing opioid epidemic. Pictured here, hydrocodone and acetaminophen tablets - which are also known as Vicodin

The warning label changes come as US officials struggle to curb a surge in overdoses, which stem from the overprescribing of medications and readily available, inexpensive heroin.

Dr Robert Califf, commissioner of the FDA, told the Associated Press: 'We're at a time when the unfathomable tragedies resulting from addiction, overdose and death have become one of the most urgent and devastating public health crises facing our country.

'I can't stress enough how critical it is for prescribers to have the most current information.'

NEW CDC PAINKILLER GUIDELINES The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued new guidelines to limit the prescribing of painkillers. The recommendations seek to reverse almost two decades of rising painkiller use - which has been linked to a more than four-fold increase in overdose deaths tied to the drugs. Under the new guidelines, doctors are advised to avoid prescribing painkillers as a first-choice for common ailments, such as back pain and arthritis. Instead, primary care doctors are urged to try physical therapy, exercise and over-the-counter medications before turning to opioids for chronic pain. But if doctors feel prescription opioids are the best option, the CDC asked doctors to prescribe the lowest effective dose possible. The guidelines are voluntary, so individual doctors are not obligated to follow them. Yet, they could be widely adopted by hospitals, insurers and state and federal guideline systems. However, the guidelines do not apply to doctors who specialize in treating severe pain, stemming from cancer or other debilitating diseases. Advertisement

Opioids include both prescription drugs, including codeine and hydrocodone, as well as illegal narcotics, such as heroin.

They are a class of powerful and highly addictive drugs.

Prescription opioids often combine oxycodone with lower-grade medications.

Deaths from misuse and abuse of prescription opioids reached 19,000 in 2014 - the highest figure on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Furthermore, heroin and opioid painkillers combined caused 28,650 overdose deaths that year.

Physicians are not required to adhere to the FDA's instructions on drug labels - but they are typically used as prescribing guidelines by hospitals, medical groups and insurers.

However, critics of the FDA - such as the group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing - called on the agency to add the warnings years ago.

The group's founder, Dr Andrew Kolodny, said: 'The main driver of our opioid epidemic is addiction, and the immediate-release products are just as addictive.'

The new label will specify that drugs - such as Percocet - can only be used after other medications and alternative therapies have been unable to control patients' pain.

The FDA had already added such warning labels to long-acting painkillers, including OxyConton, which slowly release their doses over the course of 12 hours. But now, both immediate- and extended-release painkillers will contain the warnings - a move that comes one week after CDC issued new prescription guidelines

Dr Doug Throckmorton, a deputy director in the FDA's drug center, said: 'This new indication, once finalized, will remind prescribers that immediate-release opioids are also powerful drugs with important safety concerns.'

The doctor added that the agency's 2013 labeling change only focused on long-acting drugs because they represented a 'disproportionate risk' to patients, as they contain higher opioid levels.

In recent years, government officials have tried several different approaches to tackle painkiller abuse.

This new indication, once finalized, will remind prescribers that immediate-release opioids are also powerful drugs with important safety concerns Dr Doug Throckmorton, of the FDA

The FDA previously restricted combination pills, such as Vicodin, to limit refills and the doctors who can prescribe them.

And, Florida and New York have cracked down on 'pill mills' by using databases to monitor what doctors are prescribing.

The Obama administration has requested $1.1 billion from Congress to curb opioid addiciton.

The White House on Tuesday sent letters to governors of all 50 states, with steps for reducing opioid overprescribing and improving addiction treatment.

The FDA is also planning to add new information about the risks of opioid use for pregnant women and newborns, in addition to the boxed warning.

The label will further include information about drug interactions with antidepressants and other medications.

The FDA's announcement comes less than a week after the CDC issued its first-ever national prescribing guidelines for opioids.
The World Health Organization has warned that the current Zika virus outbreak has grown to be far worse than health officials originally anticipated.

The virus has already ravaged Latin America and the Caribbean - causing a slew of birth defects and neurological problems - and an outbreak is expected to pop up in the US by summer.

Millions of people have already been exposed to the virus - and millions more will be infected as it spreads to the entirety of the Americas, said WHO experts.

Director-general Dr Margaret Chan, said: 'The more we know, the worse things look.

'In less than a year, the status of Zika has changed has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications.'

And so, the organization urged its member nations to stump up another $4million (2.8million) to tackle the growing threat from the Zika virus.

The World Health Organization has requested its member nations to stump up another $4million (2.8million) to tackle the growing threat of the Zika virus, which has been linked to neurological disorders and birth defects, such as microcephaly (pictured)

The WHO had originally asked for a total $25million (17.6million) to fight Zika - but has only received $3million (2.1million) thus far.

Dr Chan called the funding situation 'pretty serious' - and said the WHO is currently in discussions to receive additional funds - $4million in total.

The virus has been linked to thousands of suspected cases of a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and development problems.

It has also been linked to a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which causes temporary paralysis.

MICROCEPHALY CASES LINKED TO ZIKA PASS 5,000 MARK IN BRAZIL Brazil has announced that the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly linked to the Zika virus in the country rose to 5,200 in the week through March 19. That figure is an increase from only 5,131 a week earlier, the Brazilian health ministry said. Of those, the number of confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 907 - up from 863 the previous week. Meanwhile, suspected microcephaly cases increased to 4,293 from 4,268 during that period. Health officials noted that they had ruled out 1,471 suspected cases in the week through March 19. Brazil has considered most of the babies born with abnormally small heads to be related to Zika. However, the association between the virus and birth defects has not yet been scientifically proven. Source: Reuters Advertisement

Dr Chan noted that a pattern has emerged in outbreaks of Zika virus.

It begins with initial virus circulation in affected areas, followed nearly three weeks later by an unusual increase in Guillain-Barre cases.

Next comes fetal malformation as pregnancies of infected women come to term, the global health chief said.

Zika has not yet been proven to cause Guillain-Barre or microcephaly - but there is growing evidence suggesting a link to both disorders.

The WHO and its American arm - Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) - requested $25million (17.6million) to fight Zika.

Dr Chan said she would shift money across the WHO budget as much as possible.

But, 80 per cent of the organization's money was earmarked for specific causes, she noted.

Dr Chris Dye, director of strategy for WHO, said that millions of people have been exposed to the mosquito-borne virus, for it has spread through most of the Americans over the past six months.

The latest medical studies suggested that nearly one per cent of infections would cause severe neurological disorders, he said.

'If we just take that as an approximation, we know already that there are thousands of cases in just one part of Brazil, so the expectation across the Americas as a whole is many more thousands of cases,' Dr Dye said.
Scribbling notes on an arm or hand before an exam is something most of us have been tempted to do.

But a schoolgirl has a rare condition which means she can use her arm as a human notepad without needing a pen.

Lucy Pearce, 16, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, has such sensitive skin that even the lightest scratch causes large red hives to appear within minutes.

The reaction is so prominent, she has been using her bizarre condition as a revision aid to memorise important formulae and test her memory once it has vanished - half an hour later.

Lucy Pearce has dermatographia, a condition, a histamine release to the surface of the skin that causes an allergic reaction and allows her to 'write' on it

AS-level student Miss Pearce was diagnosed with dermatographia three years ago - which is a histamine release to the surface of the skin that causes an allergic reaction - causing irritating, swelling and itching.

'At first I was really freaked out by what was happening to my body but now I've learned to love it because there are so many advantages,' she said.

'It's really useful for learning important information, while revising for exams I write on my skin and find that I remember my notes much easier.

'If I revised from books or my notepads the answers are right there in front of me but with my condition I can just jot down some keywords and carry on with my day, to see what I remember from that.

'I only have a few weeks left before my exams, but I'm confident that my unusual revision technique will help me.'

It's really useful for learning important information, while revising for exams I write on my skin and find that I remember my notes much easier Lucy Pearce, 16

Miss Pearce, who hopes to go to university to study dentistry, said the condition allows her to draw and write using her fingers, leaving a long lasting imprint.

'It's also quite handy if I need to pick something up from the shops, if I write it on my skin it's there for half an hour so I don't forget and then it fades away.

'Anything can give me a reaction - from a hug to even putting on make-up, so to avoid people staring as much I used to wear long sleeved tops.

'I can get the marks anywhere on my body apart from my feet, the palms of my hands and my lips, the areas with the most severe reactions are the hotter parts of my body like my torso.

'Sometimes the flare-ups will happen without me even knowing, whenever I scratch an itch on my face the red welts will appear so it can be quite embarrassing.

'My friends were really shocked by it at first and some of them would scratch my arms on purpose to see what happened.

The reaction is so prominent, Miss Pearce has been using her bizarre condition as a revision aid to memorise important formulae and test her memory once it has vanished - half an hour later

Miss Pearce can write shopping lists and revision tools onto her arm using her finger. The messages disappear around 30 minutes later

Miss Pearce, who hopes to go to university to study dentistry, said: 'At first I was really freaked out by what was happening to my body but now I've learned to love it because there are so many advantages'

'At first I felt very self-conscious about my condition, but now I've learned to deal with people staring and feel less worried about it.

'Sometimes I'll draw things on my arms just to see people's reactions and it's become a bit of a fun thing to show people because hardly anyone knows about it.'

Her unusual symptoms started when unusual marks began to appear after doing everyday activities like getting dressed and putting on make-up.

Worried parents Jackie and John, both 50, took their daughter to the doctors but medics were baffled - until tests revealed she had a rare form of urticaria that currently has no cure.

Lucy said: 'I was really worried at first because I didn't understand what was happening and why any pressure on my skin was causing such an extreme reaction.

WHAT IS DERMATOGRAPHIA? Dermographism or 'skin writing' is a type of urticaria, or hives - where a raised, itchy rash appears on the skin. Dermatographia is thought to be caused when the cells under the surface of the skin release histamines under the slightest pressure. Histamines are chemicals released in the body as part of an allergic reaction, causing the skin to swell. In this type of urticaria, itchy weals occur after friction such as rubbing or stroking the skin. This itching may be aggravated by heat. Weals and red marks also often appear as lines at the sites of scratching, and generally last for less than one hour.' Antihistamines block the effect of histamine, and reduce itching and the rash in most people, but may not relieve urticaria completely. If urticaria occurs frequently, it is best to take antihistamines regularly every day. Advertisement

'Even if I scratched an itch on my arm it would start - first it would go white then gradually rise up while getting redder before it's fully raised up from my skin.

'Since knowing I have dermatographia I've been able to learn some of my triggers like stress, hot environments or eating foods with histamine in them like chocolate - so I tend to avoid them.'

After discovering her condition she started talking to other sufferers on Facebook and believes their support has allowed her to feel less concerned about the appearance of her hives.

Lucy said: 'Before I used to worry about the appearance of my hives and it used to prevent me from doing normal things like shopping and wearing tops where people could see my arms.

'But after talking to other sufferers online I've realised I've got nothing to hide and that it makes me really unique.

'Currently there isn't a cure for this so for the time being I can only hope developments are made but until then I want as many people to know about this condition as possible.'

Allergy UK recommend anyone who believes they have dermatographia to make a diary with information about possible triggers and document pictures in order to help doctors diagnose the rare condition.

Holly Shaw, Nurse Adviser for Allergy UK, said: 'Dermatographia can be triggered by environmental factors such as pressure from clothing, for example a waist band on trousers, emotional upsets like stress or medications such as penicillin.

'Symptoms can include hives, which appear as itchy, raised lumps that can vary in position from hour to hour or day to day - and may also appear as lines or shapes.
A young mother who believed she had nearly beaten cancer was horrified to discover doctors had treated her for the wrong type of the disease.

Gemma Wood, 27, had been initially diagnosed with a rare type of cancer after developing agonising toothache - and began chemotherapy and radiotherapy immediately.

After four months, she was told the cancer cells appeared to be dying, and was looking forward to returning to normal life with her husband Karl, 25, and children Mason-Lee, seven, and Sophia-Louise, two.

But then, she was dealt a devastating blow  as she learned she had been diagnosed with the wrong type of cancer, and would require a completely different form of chemotherapy.

To her horror, the cancer had now spread to her lungs, making it more difficult to treat.

Now, undergoing yet more treatment but not knowing 'if she will have a long or a short life' she is fundraising to throw a party so she can forget about being ill for at least one night.

Gemma Wood, 27, pictured with believed she had nearly beaten cancer but was horrified to discover doctors had treated her for the wrong type of the disease

Mrs Wood was first diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour (NET) - a tumour of the body's hormone-releasing system - in her mouth in October 2014, a month after her wedding to Karl, 25

Mrs Wood, of Warminster in Wiltshire, said: 'I'd just started to get my hair back, and with it my confidence.

'I'd just gotten a job and felt content with life, then I was told I had been diagnosed with the wrong type of cancer and would need a different form of chemo.

'It was absolutely heartbreaking. I was back at square one, it was like I was fighting twice.'

Mrs Wood first started experiencing toothache in March of 2014.

She visited her dentist, who told her it could be due to her biting down on her cheek, or a possible infection.

Over the coming months, she underwent a string of treatments including taking courses of antibiotics and having procedures to file down her teeth and remove a wisdom tooth  but nothing helped.

Eventually, a worrying lump formed in her cheek, protruding past her teeth.

Mrs Wood and her husband Karl tied the knot in August 2014  but even their special day was plagued by her toothache.

The new bride was in so much pain that she had to leave her own wedding at 11pm.

The next month, the pain came too much to bear and she was taken to Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire, where medics performed a biopsy.

After four months, Mrs Wood was told the cancer cells appeared to be dying, and was looking forward to returning to normal life with her husband Karl, 25, and children Mason-Lee, seven, and Sophia-Louise, two

In July 2015 doctors told Mrs Wood she had been diagnosed with the wrong type of cancer. She actually had a rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive and extremely rare form of cancer of the body's soft tissues

At this point, she began to suspect she was dealing with something serious.

'It was just a gut instinct that something was wrong,' she said.

Then, a month later, in October 2014, she received the results  and was told the terrifying news she had cancer.

At just 26, doctors said she had a neuroendocrine tumour (NET) lodged in her mouth behind her cheekbone.

The rare form of cancer affects the neuroendocrine system, which is made up of nerve and gland cells and responsible for producing hormones then releasing them into the blood stream.

I couldn't look at my babies or husband without thinking about dying and leaving them Gemma Wood, 27

According to Macmillan, NETs often grow slowly and it may be several years before symptoms begin to present themselves.

Mrs Wood said her 'world fell apart' the moment she was diagnosed.

She said: 'My head was full of questions I couldn't answer.

'I couldn't look at my babies or husband without thinking about dying and leaving them.'

Mrs Wood soon began treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

After four months in January 2015 she finished chemotherapy and her hair started growing back.

She was given a shred of hope when it appeared the cancer cells were shrinking.

But just as she believed her ordeal was over she was told that she had been diagnosed with the wrong type of cancer.

In July 2015 she was told she was told she did not have an NET, but rather a rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive and extremely rare form of cancer of the body's soft tissues.

Rhabdomyosarcoma requires a different form of chemotherapy, and had spread to her lungs, making it more difficult to treat. Mrs Wood is pictured with her cousin, before being diagnosed with cancer

It requires a different type of chemotherapy to the one she had been receiving.

And to her horror, while she had been receiving the first type of chemotherapy, the rhabdomyosarcoma had spread to her lungs.

'This has destroyed all my faith in doctors,' said Mrs Wood. 'Whenever we're in the car on the way to hospital, I'll feel really anxious.

'I've even had to have counselling just to help me continue with chemotherapy because I get so scared about going back to hospital now.

'My son has had to have counselling too to help him cope. My daughter is so young that me being bald and poorly is all she's ever known, so we haven't had to explain things to her as much.'

Now, undergoing yet more treatment but not knowing 'if she will have a long or a short life' she is fundraising to throw a party so she can forget about being ill for at least one night

Now, facing an uncertain future, Mrs Wood is fundraising to create as many special memories as she can.

She has set up a fundraising called 'Sod you cancer' aimed at gathering 500 for a special party.

Due to take place in May this year, Mrs Wood wants the party to be a way for 150 of her loved ones to 'forget cancer for a night.'

There's a chance I won't have a very long life. I don't know how long I'll be here for, so I want to make memories with my family while I can Gemma Wood, 27

'There's a chance I won't have a very long life. I don't know how long I'll be here for, so I want to make memories with my family while I can,' she said.

'My friends and family have been so supportive, but this is really hard on them.

'It's affected my husband as he's had to care for me, and our children as they're watching me change, seeing me sad and hearing me cry.

'I want to throw a massive party so we can all just forget cancer for a night, and celebrate life, whatever my outcome.'

A spokesman for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said: 'Gemma's medical history is complicated and testing of her initial biopsy did not indicate rhabdomyosarcoma.

'Her treatment is ongoing and we would urge her to raise any questions or concerns she has with us so we can address them with her directly.'
A 91-year-old British man has walked into the record books with the world's longest lasting hip replacement.

Retired engineer Norman Sharp was the first person to undergo a hip operation under the newly-formed NHS in December 1948.

He was fitted with two alloy hip cups aged just 23 - which are still working more than 67 years later.

The pioneering operation, performed by orthopaedic surgeon Philip Newman, is thought to have been the first procedure of its kind by the NHS.

Norman Sharp was the first person to undergo a hip operation under the newly-formed NHS in December 1948

Mr Sharp, left, is pictured recovering in his hospital bed in 1948 after becoming the first person to undergo hip replacement surgery on the NHS

Mr Sharp said it was amazing the implants have survived for almost seven decades - especially given modern alternatives can last just 10 to 15 years.

He has now been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as having the world's longest lasting hip replacement.

The great-granddad, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, said: 'It's incredible. It's fantastic. Even to reach this old age is an amazing thing. It's all just wonderful.

'The last doctor to inspect my legs was Mr Newman, the surgeon himself, the year after the operation. I haven't had any problems or pain since then.

'They discovered this new treatment in America and brought it back to me. Mr Newman said, ''I think I can help this young man.''

Mr Sharp underwent the pioneering surgery after spending almost 20 years waddling around with little movement in his hips.

It began when he developed an ear infection in 1930 as a five-year-old boy which led to septic arthritis, leaving him unable to walk and in excruciating pain.

It's incredible. It's fantastic. Even to reach this old age is an amazing thing. It's all just wonderful Norman Sharp, 91

Staff at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in Stanmore, London, fused his hips together to reduce the movement and started helping him to learn how to walk again.

But Mr Sharp's treatment grounded to a halt in 1939 when World War Two broke out - and he was left with a limp until nearly a decade later.

It wasn't until three years after the fighting was over that he heard back from the hospital once again - and was earmarked for experimental surgery.

The first operation was carried out on December 1, five months after the NHS formed on July 5 1948, on his left hip.

Mr Sharp, pictured far right, in the late 1940s was soon back on his feet after having the operation

The hip replacement, pictured in an X-ray, has lasted for over 67 years after Mr Sharp underwent surgery shortly after the NHS was formed

Mr Sharp is pictured in a wheelchair in 1948, prior to his surgery, which has now put him in the record books

His right hip was operated on 12 days later, on December 22, with both sureries taking place at the same hospital where he was treated as a little boy.

Mr Sharp, who worked as an apprentice toolmaker during the war and went on to build his own company before retiring in 1980, said: 'It changed my life.

After the operation, I was eventually able to walk more normally. I have been lucky enough to lead a full life - I made good use of them

'My hips had been fused since I was five and though I could walk, I was waddling. I could only walk from the knees down and I couldn't move my hips at all.

'I still went out dancing and boozing and whatever else young kids do. If the boys climbed trees I climbed the trees - like a monkey, but I still climbed them.

'After the operation, I was eventually able to walk more normally. I have been lucky enough to lead a full life - I made good use of them.

'It was the first hip replacement to be carried out by the NHS. That's quite something.

'But the icing on the cake is that I've gone one Guinness World Record for that single hip, while in actual fact I have had both for more than 67 years now.'

Mr Sharp, who has about 20 great-grandchildren, 16 grandchildren and four sons - though he can't remember the exact numbers - said they all think it's amazing too.

The retired engineer and great-grandad poses with an x-ray of his record breaking hips. He said: 'The last doctor to inspect my legs was Mr Newman, the surgeon himself, the year after the operation. I haven't had any problems or pain since then'

He added: 'It was a brand spanking new job. I was the first patient of Mr Newman to get these and he had the courage to try them out on me.

'A lot of the other doctors were critical of him. I'm thrilled to think I was part of that initial pioneering work.

John Skinner, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the RNOH where Mr Sharp was treated, described his story as 'remarkable.'

'He's still active and still happy with his hips after all this time.

'The vitallium implants are an alloy of cobalt and chrome first developed in 1932 and were very new at the time.

'Modern hip replacements have evolved through the years and are now one of the most successful operations that we have.

'In fact, it was termed the operation of the twentieth century. The aim is to relieve pain and it is the best treatment for any pain caused by arthritis.'

Mr Sharp will revisit the RNOH in June this year as a special guest - 85 years after he was first admitted.
It is a thought that may make you drop your hot-buttered toast and splutter into your coffee.

Claims that breakfast is the most important meal of the day have little scientific basis, a study suggests.

The NHS even champions the idea we should go to work on an egg, scoff porridge or as a weekend treat, tuck into a full English on its Choices website.

But it seems it does not make much difference  and the idea that skipping breakfast makes you overeat later in the day isn't completely true, researchers say.

Claims that breakfast is the most important meal of the day have little scientific basis, a study suggests

The idea the meal is inherently good for us may stem from marketing campaigns to sell us cornflakes, eggs and bacon, they argue.

The first meal of the day has been suggested to boost your metabolism, make you less likely to put on weight and give you more energy.

Dr James Betts, a senior lecturer in nutrition at the University of Bath, said that these benefits do not stand up to scrutiny.

The problem is that these benefits although logical sounding, are largely assumptions based on observational studies and had never actually been tested.

I was amazed when I started looking for evidence  I thought there would be a lot, he told New Scientist magazine.

Studies that seem to show benefits of breakfast have been based on observational studies, he said.

This means it is difficult to disentangle whether people who are healthy tend to have breakfast, rather than that they are healthy because they have breakfast.

Dr Betts added: As soon as a doctors find out that an overweight patient skips breakfast theyll often tell them to make sure they eat it every day.

But should we not know more about the health effects?

We try not to give other health advice without evidence, so why are we more lax with breakfast?

To test whether breakfast boosts our health, Dr Betts asked one group of subjects to eat a breakfast of 700 calories or more, while the others had to drink just water until lunch.

Skipping breakfast leads to people eating more at lunch - but it does not affect fat levels or make people gain weight, researchers found (file photo)

He found that those who skipped breakfast ate more at lunch  but not enough to make up the 700 calorie deficit.

The results also disproved the view that eating breakfast will lead to people becoming hungrier later in the day.

This may be because tests showed that levels of ghrelin, the hormone that makes us hungry, were similar in both breakfasters and abstainers at lunchtime.

But in those who fasted, the ghrelin levels dropped after lunch, but remained high among the breakfasters.

He also found skipping breakfast did not affect fat levels or make people gain weight.

However, he did find that people who ate breakfast burnt off the extra calories they ate  mainly through greater physical activity such as fidgeting or light exercise than those who did not.

The research did not look at whether eating breakfast improves our mood, or thinking skills, or the effects of caffeine from tea or coffee.

Children who skip breakfast tend to perform worse at school than children who eat it - but that might be because they tend to come from wealthier homes

Research that shows children who skip breakfast tend to perform worse at school than children who eat it.

But this may be because children who eat breakfast tend come from wealthier homes, the magazine suggests.

Most of us could do with eating less. Given that its probably the easiest meal to skip, maybe skipping breakfast occasionally could be that opportunity Professor Peter Rogers, of Bristol University

Professor Peter Rogers, a psychology professor at Bristol University specialising in nutrition, said: Most of us could do with eating less. Given that its probably the easiest meal to skip, maybe skipping breakfast occasionally could be that opportunity.

Dr James Kellogg, the cornflake maker, led a marketing campaign encouraging people that it was healthy to eat breakfast in the morning in the 19th century and his cornflakes in particular.

A similar marketing campaign was carried out on behalf of bacon by Dr Edward Bernays, a pioneer in public relations in the early 20 th century on behalf of a pork packing firm, Beech-Nut.

Kaori OConnor, a social anthropologist at University College London said:  Lets not trash the benefits of breakfast all together, but its safe to say that the idea that it is healthy in its own right was laid on a plate for us by marketing companies. And, by and large, weve gobbled it up.
Scientists found that printing warning messages onto individual cigarette sticks (such as a graphic depicting the 'minutes of life lost' from smoking, pictured) reduces the appeal of smoking

Most cigarette packages across the globe contain some form of labeling to warn of the health risks associated with smoking.

In the US, the packages are required to warnings  such as Cigarettes cause cancer or Tobacco smoke can harm your children'.

And in the UK, tobacco products must adhere to EU regulations, which require warning messages and images.

But now, a group of experts believes these cigarette warnings should be taken a step further, in an attempt to stop people from smoking.

Printing health warnings directly on to cigarette sticks could reduce the appeal of smoking, revealed New Zealand scientists.

A group of scientists from University of Otago found that cigarette sticks in unattractive colors or with printed health warnings  also known as dissuasive sticks  enhance the effects of health warnings on packaging, in helping to reduce smoking.

The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, noted that the government of New Zealand is currently moving towards legislation for plain packets of cigarettes.

They would prevent brand names from appearing on the packaging.

Instead, the packaging would include pictorial warning labels to warn of the risks of smoking.

And so, the scientists conducted an online survey of 313 smokers.

Requiring cigarette sticks and rolling paper to feature such a graphic, or to be produced in dissuasive colors, would likely increase the impact plain packaging will have on those who smoke, while also deterring others from taking up smoking Professor Janet Hoek, of University of Otago

They analyzed the participants reactions to images of four cigarette sticks that either featured printed warnings  or had unattractive colors, including yellow-brown and green.

Professor Janet Hoek said: We found that smokers were significantly less likely to choose the test sticks and found all significantly less appealing than the status quo  a white cigarette with a brown filter tip.

A graphic that depicted the minutes of life lost from smoking a cigarette has the strongest dissuasive effect, the scientists noted.

That graphic started with one minute near the tip, up to 15 minutes near the butt.

Professor Hoek said: Requiring cigarette sticks and rolling paper to feature such a graphic, or to be produced in dissuasive colors, would likely increase the impact plain packaging will have on those who smoke, while also deterring others from taking up smoking.

The scientists noted that the dissuasive sticks could enhance the effects of standardized packaging.

That would especially aid older smokers, who are often more heavily addicted and resistant to change, according to the study.

But for some people, quitting smoking can be more difficult, according to another recent study.

Scientists say cigarette sticks with warning messages - or those in unattractive colors - could help enhance the anti-smoking effects of plain packaging (far right) - which prohibits branding from tobacco companies

Smokers are less or more able to give up cigarettes, depending on the form of the specific 'pleasure gene' protein they carry, new research suggests.

The gene in question, dubbed Taq1A, plays a role in processing dopamine, a hormone in the brain which is associated with pleasure and reward, and is released when a person smokes.

Scientists at Zhejiang University in China found those people with variation of the gene known as A2/A2 found it easier to give up cigarettes.

That was compared with individuals who carried other variations, called A1/A1 or A1/A2.

Dr Yunlong Ma, of Zhejiang University, said: 'Cigarette smoking is the most common preventable cause of many diseases that contribute to about six million deaths worldwide each year.

'Twin and family studies indicate smoking behaviors are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.

'There exists a considerable interest in identifying genetic factors encouraging smoking cessation, of which the heritability is estimated to be about 50 per cent.'

Scientists found people were less likely to smoke when cigarette sticks were yellow-brown and green. Pictured here, a package of cigarettes with a US warning label
Delhi University will celebrate freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's Martyrdom Day on 23 March

Delhi University will celebrate Bhagat Singh's Martyrdom Day with a programme planned to take students through the story of his life.

A guided tour of the cellar in which Singh was reportedly imprisoned, now turned into a mini library, has been organised for the day.

The main attraction will be a collection of books on his life, and a display of his scholarly works.

Earlier, there was no access to this area. On Wednesday, it will be specially opened for the students. Whether it will be accessible later or not, is a decision that we will think upon. It is a restricted place and it is physically impossible for everyone to get access to that area, a senior university official told Mail Today.

According to sources, the students will also get to learn the details of Bhagat Singhs life through this guided tour.

The cellar is located at the Viceregal lodge.

Recently, Chaman Lal, author of the book, 'Understanding Bhagat Singh', was abused by alleged ABVP activists at Delhi University, where he was delivering a lecture on the freedom fighter.

The retired teacher of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was invited by the students group, Ahwan, to speak on the writings of Bhagat Singh.

On Monday, two days before his 85th death anniversary, Bhagat Singh - the Marxist revolutionary hanged by the British at 23 - was trending on Twitter, as people lashed out against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for comparing Singh with the latest Left-liberal sensation, JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

According to Tharoor, Kumar spoke about azaadi from people who are looting the country.

Singh too had said in one of his last messages, on March 3, 1931, that the struggle in India would continue as long as: a handful of exploiters go on exploiting the labour of common people to meet their own ends. It matters little whether these exploiters are purely British capitalists, or British and Indians in alliance, or even purely Indians.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor (left) caused controversy by comparing Bhagat Singh to JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar (right)
Millions of lives will be put at risk by plans to offer all families cheaper energy during the night, firefighters say.

To help people cut their energy bills, the Government is working with power companies to fit a 'smart meter' in every home.

As well as recording how much energy you use every half-hour, smart meters will help gas suppliers to charge different rates at different times of day.

Scroll down for video

Disaster: A burnt-out washing machine in Cheshunt, Herts. The Chief Fire Officers Association says it was never consulted on plans to offer all families cheaper energy during the night

Families will see prices fall when demand drops and rise at peak times. This could make it cheaper to run appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers at night.

However, Money Mail has learned fire experts have serious concerns about the idea. The Chief Fire Officers Association says it was never consulted on whether it is safe to do so.

It warns that running electrical appliances while you are asleep will put your family at greater risk of being trapped by fire.

Andy Reynolds, electrical safety expert for the association, says: 'Never leave a tumble dryer, washing machine or dishwasher running when you have gone to bed or have left the house unoccupied.

'If it is absolutely necessary to run one of these appliances during sleeping hours, then there should be sufficient working smoke alarms correctly sited to alert sleeping occupants.

'Everyone in the household should know what the escape plan is in the event a fire breaks out.'

Energy experts also reacted with horror at the idea. Mark Todd, marketing director at price comparison site Energyhelpline, says: 'It's unbelievable customers are being told to run appliances at night to save money.

'No one appears to have consulted the fire service.

'Everyone in the energy industry advises it and the Government likes it as it spreads out usage meaning we need fewer power stations, but running appliances at night puts you at an increased risk of being trapped in a burning building as you sleep.'

As well as recording how much energy you use every half-hour, smart meters will help gas suppliers to charge different rates at different times of day

About two million people are signed up for a tariff called Economy 7, which offers cheap overnight energy. Prices are typically slashed for seven hours from 11pm, midnight or 1am.

For decades, people using Economy 7 have been advised to take advantage of this by running washing machines and dishwashers when they are in bed. Now this sort of pricing could be rolled out to millions of families nationwide.

More than a million smart meters have been installed and the Government wants them to be in every household by 2020.

The scheme will cost taxpayers 11 billion, but its backers hope to generate savings of 17 billion by encouraging people to be more energy-efficient.

Smart Energy GB, the national campaign for the devices, says they 'are paving the way for a more energy-efficient future'.

Earlier this month, the National Infrastructure Commission, which advises the Government, said the meters would allow families to 'manage demand for electricity in response to price signals'.

'They might do this themselves or use automated systems to ensure their appliances operate at the most cost-effective times of day,' it continued.

The country's biggest energy suppliers are united in wanting to charge different prices throughout the day. In industry jargon, this is called a time-of-use tariff. British Gas has already tested a scheme that charges more in the day and less at night.

It raised electricity prices by 99 per cent between 4pm and 8pm in the trial with Northern Powergrid and the University of Durham and cut them by 31 per cent at night.

British Gas says on its website that time-of-use tariffs will mean you being charged less for electricity 'if you can wait a few hours' to do your washing.

The accompanying video promises that moving the time of one load of washing a week 'can make a difference to your electricity bill'.

EDF has tested its version of the tariffs, Economy Alert. A study by university Imperial College said it should be 'offered to everyone' if it helps to improve efficiency.

A trial by Npower found that time-of-use charges persuaded nearly 90 per cent of people to run their washing machine at a different time of day.

Experts warn that running electrical appliances at night will put you at greater risk of being trapped by fire

Claire Maugham, director of policy and communications at Smart Energy GB, says: 'Time-of-use tariffs will be an essential part of managing our future national energy supply by enabling energy use at off-peak times.

'It will be every consumer's choice whether they use one of these tariffs, and we should all carry on following fire safety advice in our homes, whatever energy tariff we're on.

'Britain's smart meter roll-out has been designed with the consumers at its heart, including safety measures such as a carbon monoxide check on all gas appliances in your home as part of the installation.'

A British Gas spokesman says: 'We have no plans to trial or launch any time-of-use tariffs that offer cheaper electricity at night.'
Kicking the Chancellor while he is down is easy. At least he had the good grace to come to the Commons and say 'sorry' to his colleague Iain Duncan Smith.

There is much to criticise about Osborne's sojourn at the Treasury but we shouldn't underestimate the gains.

He has put Britain back to work  an achievement that cannot be underestimated when one looks at the horrendous unemployment levels in the eurozone.

Gains: George Osborne has put Britain back to work  an achievement that cannot be underestimated when one looks at the horrendous unemployment levels in the eurozone

He has taken a million people off in-work benefits and encouraged 300,000 on disability benefits to get into the workforce.

He may miss his deficit target this year but has managed to cut the budget red ink in half.

The speed of deficit and debt reduction should have been faster but caution in implementing cuts may well have contributed to the robust recovery.

That said, Osborne's liking for rules, locks and pledges has narrowed his options as Chancellor. Moreover, his early decision to outsource economic and fiscal forecasting to the independent Office for Budget Responsibility means that the Treasury lacks in-house expertise.

There is a contrast between the quality of the analysis at the Bank of England and that being done inside the Treasury.

Large chunks of Government spending have been ring-fenced from cuts. The list includes the 145billion set aside for the NHS, the 0.7 per cent or 11.2billion in 2016-17 for international development, 2 per cent of GDP for defence and much more.

Of the 240billion for social protection, the 'triple lock' on the basic state pension means that is untouchable too.

Political push back together with industry lobbying rendered the tax relief on pensions out of bounds, as well as free bus passes and other benefits for older Britons.

On the revenue front, Osborne finds himself boxed. The pledge to leave the three big tax groups alone  income tax, national insurance and VAT  means he must grub around with secondary taxes such as the insurance premium levy. No one wants higher taxes but removing optionality is daft.

Similarly, balanced budget legislation and other gimmickry is wholly unnecessary.

It is reassuring that the forecasts in the Budget are the work of the OBR, although it might be better if they were more accurate. A lack of real challenge from within the Treasury is alarming.

The bulk of the pressure for reducing spending has focused on welfare. But it is also worth noting that in both real and cash terms the welfare costs to the Exchequer has risen since Osborne arrived at Number 11 in 2010.

Among the big Western democracies only Britain treats the Budget as if it were tablets of stone handed down from Mount Sinai.

In the US, the White House would count itself lucky if it managed to get a fraction of the president's proposals through Congress.

Clearly, not all the 77 tax and fiscal changes proposed in the 2016 UK Budget are as well formed as they ought to be.

The process should allow for more change without defeat being seen by the Westminster chatterati as a ticket to the Foreign Office.

Shock tactics

As the Chancellor reminded us in that Budget speech, there is a toxic cocktail of global forces out there.

These include a slowing China, falling commodity prices, eurozone stagnation and geopolitical tensions.

After a turbulent start to the year, financial markets have steadied and oil recovered to above $40 a barrel. Not enough to make Shell's takeover of BG Group cash-flow positive, but a big improvement.

Geo-political tensions refuse to go away. The botched EU immigration deal with Turkey is one aspect of this and the Brussels terror attacks another.

When there is so much carnage it seems almost sacrilege to focus on markets, but significant movements are taking place.

The travel industry already has been shaken by violence across North Africa. The spectacle of immigrants arriving in the tens of thousands tarnishes the image of Greek islands, and now city breaks to Paris and Brussels add a new layer of uncertainty.

The FTSE 350 travel and leisure index took a big tumble, and as important are the knock-on effects on other markets.

The pound takes a hit because traders think that Brussels will assist the Brexit camp. Money also flows back into the safe-havens of the US, Switzerland and gold. Trumpism may be a threat to America's reputation but not apparently to its safety.

Terrorism does have a capacity to shock markets and confidence. It is especially potent when international conditions are so fragile.

Same old...

Goldman Sachs has worked hard to clean up its image since the financial crisis.

But it never quite escapes the image of being too clever by half. In the latest manifestation it is reported the bank transferred the proceeds of a $3billion Malaysian sovereign bond issue 1Malaysian Development Berhad into a small Swiss private bank.

Details emerged as part of a probe into a corruption allegations involving prime minister Najib Razak.
I am 24 and set to graduate from university this summer. I have no debt and 20,000 in savings, what should I do with it?

R. J., by email

Not your ordinary student: No debt and 20k in savings, what a fantastic way to finish your education

It is fantastic that you are finishing education in such great financial shape. What you do with your savings largely depends on your plans in life.

If you aspire to own a home soon then it may be a good idea to open a Help to Buy Isa.

This is a type of tax-free savings account that the Government will top up if you use the cash to buy your first home. You can put in an initial deposit of 1,200 and then a further 200 a month.

You can save up to 12,000 in this Isa and the Government will give you another 25 per cent  3,000 if you save the maximum.

On top of that you will also earn interest from the provider with whom you take the account.

Halifax has the top paying account at 4 per cent , and Virgin Money is next best at 3 per cent.

If you think you may need your savings in the near future, perhaps to pay for further education or as a rental deposit, then you may prefer to keep it in an easy-access account so it is not tied up.

The best easy-access Isas are currently from Coventry Building Society and the Post Office, both of which pay interest of 1.4 per cent.

You could also earn interest by keeping your money in a current account. The Santander 123 account pays interest of 3 per cent on balances between 3,000 and 20,000.

If you were to put your entire savings pot in this account, after the 5 monthly fee, you would have annual interest of 480.

If you are willing to leave your money tied up for a minimum of five years, you might consider investing it in funds.

As a young investor, you could opt for a riskier fund because you have time for your money to recover from any ups and downs.

It is worth spreading your cash over at least a few funds and making sure they are not all risky choices, so you dont have all of your eggs in one basket.

Sam Lees, head of research at Fund Expert, likes the Newton Asia Income fund for a risky choice.

It invests in companies across Asia including Australian packaging firm Amcor, tech company Taiwan Semiconductors and resort operator Sands China.

For a steadier choice, he likes the Old Mutual Global Equity fund, which invests in companies across the globe.
Private equity group 3i offered a glimmer of bid interest in a session otherwise overshadowed by the events in Brussels.

It was up 9.2p at 457.5p on gathering speculation it is about to unload its Mayborn business  best known as the parent company of Tommee Tippee baby essentials  to CDH, a Chinese private equity group.

Sources close to the deal said it is expected to close in the next couple of weeks and is likely to see the 50-year-old UK brand valued at between 280million and 300million.

Feeding time: Baby bottle maker Mayborn business  best known as the parent company of Tommee Tippee baby essentials could be snapped up by a Chinese private equity group

3i appointed Baird, the boutique investment bank, to undertake a review of the business early in the autumn.

3i took Mayborn private in 2006 and has since overseen rapid international expansion of the brand, and a launch in the US.

Among the interested parties reported to have come forward so far are Mattel, the US owner of Barbie dolls, Carlyle, Cinven and Montagu.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Chinas Goodbaby International Holdings is also considering a bid. 3i and Baird refused to comment when contacted by the Mail.

The blue-chip index was awash with red in early trading as investors fled travel, hotel and leisure stocks following the terrorist attacks in Brussels, and sought out traditional safe havens.

Still, the FTSE 100 index managed to claw its way back into positive territory by the end of the session, closing 8.16 points up at 6192.74 as investors switched into the relative safety of defensive stocks.

Star fund manager Neil Woodford gave a boost to start-up healthcare stocks when he ditched plans to raise more capital and instead vowed to increase his focus on early-stage companies.

His investment trust, The Woodford Patient Capital Trust, which raised 800million last year when it listed, said the change in strategy will now allow up to 70 per cent of investment for early stage companies  even those not listed  up from around 50 per cent previously.

It will also reduce its investment in mid and large-cap stocks. Shares rose 3.05p to 91.55p.

Woodfords trust has a holding in technology firm Allied Minds which rose 22.4p to 450.5p. And such is Woodfords influence in the markets that it gave a kick to other heathcare funds, with Worldwide Healthcare Trust climbing 60p to 1720p.

Technology firm Micro Focus International has snapped up US-based Serena Software in a 380m deal and placed new shares to fund the deal. Shares climbed 71p to 1537p.

Chemicals group Johnson Matthey led the advance with gains of 77p to 2676p, while pharmaceutical group Shire continued to rebound, with gains of 100p to 3942p.

Financial spread-betting company IG Group (up 47.5p to 803p) was boosted by increased volatility in global markets during the third quarter, which pushed its results 18pc higher and sparked a price target increase to 850p from 780p by analysts at Barclays.

Among small caps stocks, Johnston Press jumped 14.63 per cent or 6p to 47p after announcing its first set of results since acquiring the i newspaper.

The media group  owner of regional newspapers including The Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman  reported a 22.6 per cent rise in adjusted pretax profits thanks to rigorous cost-cutting.

Shares in drug discovery and development company e-Therapeutics soared more than 11 per cent as its boss hailed potential game-changers in cancer treatment.

Investors brushed off a widening of losses  from 10.2million to 11.6million last year  to send the stock up 1.38p to 13.75p.

But shares remain well down on a year ago when they were changing hands for more than 40p.
Shares in Premier Foods, the group behind Mr Kipling cakes, jumped more than 50 per cent today after it rejected two US takeover bids and announced a tie-up with an instant noodle giant.

Britain's biggest branded food producer, which also makes Sharwood's Asian food range, Bisto gravy and OXO cubes, said the latest bid by US spices and herbs group McCormick & Company significantly undervalued its growth prospects.

Shares in Premier Foods leapt 54 per cent, or 17p higher to 48.5p in late morning trading. At its current share price, Premier Foods has a market capitalisation of about 400.5million.

Slice of Britain: Mr Kipling maker Premier Foods has rejected two takeover offers by US group McCormick

In February, McCormicks made an 'highly conditional' offer of 52p per share for Premier, valuing the UK firm at around 429.4million. The second cash offer of 60p per share, made earlier this month, valued Premier at 495.5million.

But Premier has rejected both offers, saying they undervalue the company. Under takeover rules, McCormick now has until 5pm on April 20 to make a firm offer for the business or pull out of its pursuit.

Premier's chairman David Beever said today: McCormick's Proposal represents an attempt to capture the upside value embedded in Premier's business that rightfully belongs to Premier's shareholders. The Proposal fails to recognise the value of Premier's performance to date and prospects for the future, including the strategic plans we have to accelerate growth.

McCormick's Proposal significantly undervalues the business and the Board has unanimously decided to reject it.

Despite being rebuffed, McCormick said it still believed in the rationale for a combination of the two firms.

The group added it believed its revised 60p-a-share proposal should be 'well received by Premier Foods' shareholders, employees, pensioners and other stakeholders'.

It had hoped the sweetened approach would lead to 'prompt and full engagement from Premier Foods', the firm added.

The news comes as the group also announced a tie-up with Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin Foods in a bid to bolster growth overseas and introduce new products in the UK.

Nissin, which invented the world's first instant noodles in 1958, operates in 19 different countries across the world. Its products include Cup Noodle and Top Ramen.

Premier's chief executive Gavin Darby said this was an exceptional opportunity for the group.

We look forward to working with Nissin to explore ways our two businesses can cooperate to better serve both our customers and our shareholders.

Tasty loaf: Premier said it was on track to write off all of its remaining investment in bread maker Hovis

Premier, which will publish its full year results on May 17, also said trading for the 52 weeks to the beginning of April has been in line with its expectations.
George Osborne looks set to miss the Budget targets he outlined only last week as he struggles to get the nation's finances under control.

The Office for National Statistics said the Government borrowed 70.7billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year as spending on public services and welfare continued to outstrip tax receipts.

In a further embarrassment for the Chancellor, the ONS revealed that the national debt has soared by 555billion since he took office in 2010, and now stands at 1.58trillion.

Pressure: George Osborne looks set to miss the Budget targets he outlined only last week as national debt has soared by 555billion since he took office in 2010, and now stands at 1.58trillion

The figures left the forecasts published in the Budget in tatters  piling yet more pressure on the under-fire Chancellor.

Borrowing this year now looks set to be higher than the 72.2billion planned while experts warned that Osborne will fail to deliver the surplus he has promised by the end of the decade.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research predicted a deficit of 30billion in 2019-20 rather than the 10.4billion surplus planned by the Chancellor.

It came as the Chancellor was forced to defend the Budget and his handling of the economy following a U-turn on cuts to disability benefits and the resignation of Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the latest borrowing figures were 'another headache' for Osborne.

The ONS said the Government borrowed 7.1billion in February  just 452million less than in the same month last year.

The higher than expected figure means that the state borrowed 70.7billion between April 2015 and February 2016.

That was down from 84.7billion in the same 11-month period last year but only just below the full-year deficit target of 72.2billion Osborne set out in the Budget. It left the Chancellor on course to miss one of his key goals almost immediately.

'Borrowing in March will have to come in at just 1.5billion for the full-year forecast to be met,' said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.

'Given borrowing last March was 7.4billion, that seems very unlikely. We think the full-year figures when they are published next month will show borrowing of about 76billion.'

The OBR slashed its forecasts for economic growth over the next five years in the Budget  blowing a 56billion black hole in the Chancellor's plans.

It forced Mr Osborne to outline a string of policies to ensure there would still be a surplus by the end of the decade.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that turning a deficit of 21.4billion in 2018-19 into a surplus of 10.4billion the following year would require the ninth largest reduction in borrowing since 1949. 'There's only about a 50-50 shot that he's going to get there,' said IFS director Paul Johnson.

In yet another blow to the Chancellor, one of the world's biggest rating agencies said that the Budget posed a threat to Britain's credit rating.
As 85-year-old Jack Newton climbs the stairs into the small blue van, it rocks slightly. In front of him is a tiny two-seater couch and on either side of the van are two small workspaces with a laptop on each. There is also an iPad.

Three smiling NatWest staff shuffle back to make room for him, causing a giant, purple helium balloon to sway behind them - its there to promote the banks new current account.

Call this infrastructure? Jack snorts as he looks around. I mean its ridiculous isnt it?

Welcome to the NatWest mobile bank. It travels around the country to towns and villages that no longer have a bank branch.

Money machine: Welcome to the NatWest mobile bank. It travels around the country to towns and villages that no longer have a bank branch

It is the Royal Bank of Scotland - which owns NatWest - answer to the furious pace at which Britains bank branches are shutting.

Last year 650 closed. Of these, 177 were the last branch left in town, according to the Campaign for Community Banking.

Many of the towns affected are in rural areas, meaning their nearest bank is miles away.

Barnham in West Sussex - where the mobile bank is parked when I visit - is one of these villages after NatWest closed its branchs doors at the end of last year.

It means residents such as Jack and his wife, Jean, who have lived in Barnham for 50 years, have to drive 20 minutes to the neighbouring towns of Bognor Regis, Chichester or Littlehampton to do their banking. Like millions of other Britons, neither banks online.

Jack spotted the van emblazoned with NatWest. Your Bank On Wheels in the car park of their local supermarket and has popped in to see what it offers.

Its his first time in a mobile bank, and hes not impressed. In a desperate attempt to win over Jack, an embarrassed member of staff thrusts a free purple bag for life into his hand. Jack takes it and walks out of the van shaking his head.

This is the battle NatWest faces as it tries to convince customers that a mobile bank is the solution to the demise of the traditional branch.

NatWest and RBS have shut 380 branches in the past two years - more than any other High Street bank. Of these, 150 were the last bank in town.

The bank, 73 per cent of which is owned by the taxpayer, claims customers arent using the branches enough to warrant keeping them open.

The boom in internet banking means people are preferring to go online or use their mobile phone.

In Barnham, just 47 customers used the branch each week before it closed, according to NatWest. It says the number of transactions had dropped by 19 per cent since 2011.

Before it left, NatWest struck a deal with Barnhams Post Office to allow customers to check their balance and withdraw cash. Local businesses can also get change.

But if customers want to print bank statements or take out a mortgage, they must travel to another town or wait for the mobile bank to roll in.

Peter Edgeler, 55, lives a mile away from where the van is parked. So far he has used it twice to bank foreign currency cheques because the Post Office wont accept them.

Peter, who has lived in Barnham for 25 years, says: Its not as convenient as having a normal branch, but it is better than nothing - and its definitely easier than driving to another town.

But then I work from home a lot of the time as a finance controller so I can nip out when I want.

The van visits Barnham twice a week - on Mondays from 10am until 11.30am and Thursdays from 10am until 12pm. But this is when most people are busy at work.

Kevin Agate, 60, is a mechanic and works just around the corner from where the van is parked - but he still struggles to get there in time before it drives off to its next stop.

Convenient: The boom in internet banking means people are preferring to go online or use their mobile phone

Kevin, who lives in town with his wife Nicole and two children David, 16, and Coralie, 13, moved his business and personal accounts to NatWest after Lloyds closed its Barnham branch in December 1998. Before that he was with Barclays, but that shut in July 1996.

It was much easier to do my banking when there was a proper branch as I didnt have to turn up at a set time, he says.

Its not easy to get out of work and I missed them last week. But Id still rather make the effort to come down here than use the Post Office.

Hopefully it will help make sure it keeps coming around for the elderly residents.

Around 50 to 60 customers use the mobile bank in Barnham each week - more than NatWest says used the branch when it was open.

Seven miles down the road in Arundel, where the van is parked in the town square on Thursdays between 12.50pm and 2.50pm, there is a constant stream of customers.

There is only room for one or two people inside at a time, so the rest have to queue outside. Fortunately, though cold and windy, it isnt raining. But there are three large NatWest umbrellas tucked away by the entrance ready for people to use if it does get wet.

Standing next to the heater in a little nook between the table and seats in the van, Im almost sweating. But Julie Ball, who works on the NatWest van, is wrapped up warm in a black, padded jacket.

She tells me that when the weather gets really bad, the van - which is called Hilly because it works all over the South Downs - cant go to certain stops.

It recently had to abort a trip to the coastal town of Selsey, which is on a peninsula.

The 70mph winds meant the van - essentially an empty box on wheels when its on the move - was at risk of overturning.

When the van is delayed or has to miss a stop, staff will call customers who use the branch regularly to let them know.

Helen Bower, 38, runs a coffee shop called Grounds just over the road from where the van is parked in Arundel town centre.

She has been with NatWest for years and is thrilled the bank is making an effort to continue offering Arundel some sort of service.

Its excellent - very useful for elderly customers who need a bank nearby and for local businesses like us, she says.

The nearest permanent NatWest branch is Chichester, but its not easy to find parking and you have to pay 1.50 a time.

But for some of your banking you just cant escape journeying to a proper branch. The mobile bank branch is not able to process chip and pin card payments. So if you need to withdraw a large amount of money, you may be turned away.

Closed: The former Nationwide Building Society in Brightlingsea, one of many branches that have been closing down in record numbers

I overhear one woman who is trying to help her son deposit some money to pay a tax bill as quickly as possible, only to be told the money cant be paid in until the van returns to the branch at the end of the day.

The pair decide to drive to Chichester to see if they can get the job done faster.

The van has a large satellite dish on top of it to ensure it has a strong internet connection even when it is in the remote countryside.

Customers who struggle to get a signal in their home can use the iPad on the van to do their banking online. Staff are on hand to help anyone who is new to computers, but residents are worried this wont help elderly customers who dont want to bank online at all.

Sarah Campbell is almost embarrassed to go into the van. Sarah, a customer who has lived in Arundel for 40 years, says: Banks are almost always in an important building to give you confidence they are taking you and your money seriously. This doesnt command respect, and theres no privacy.

People need to stop taking their bank branches for granted because you dont realise how important they are until you lose them.

Arundel still has a Lloyds branch. But this is closing in April and then residents will be reliant on the mobile bank. Mark Phillips, 55, has lived in the town since he was 18 and is the local historian.

What about the elderly? Im concerned for those who arent online. We only have this mobile bank once a week, he says.

But Julie says it is the vulnerable customers who are most appreciative of the mobile bank.

We have a number of elderly customers who are just so grateful that there is a service still available to them. We stop in some locations that have never had a branch, she says.

There is a real community feel. If a vulnerable customer doesnt turn up as normal, we will call to make sure everythings OK - as we did when we worked in the branch.

Julies van is one of 39 mobile branches. Twenty-two are in Scotland, ten in England, five in Wales, one on the Isle of Man and one in Northern Ireland. Between them they cover 13,000 miles and serve 642 communities.

NatWest and RBS really believe mobile banking can be the answer for towns left without a branch - and in the past 12 to 18 months they have invested 3 million and introduced 13 new routes.

But experts, as well as customers, remain unconvinced. Derek French, director of the Campaign for Community Banking, says: This gesture, which is all it is, accounts for only 6 per cent of communities now rendered bankless. This leaves 94 per cent of the problem untackled.

And once the novelty of a mobile bank has worn off, only around ten people use it per stop.

There is no future in single brand mobile bank vans in England and Wales, which continues to be a distraction. The future lies in neutral branches shared by lots of different banks.

These neutral banks have already taken off in the U.S., where its usual for customers of different banks to be able to pay in and withdraw money and check their balances from the same premises.

James Daley, founder of consumer website Fairer Finance, says: Having bank branches in smaller communities is just not sustainable, but some people really do value and rely on their local branch.
Tax grab: RBS staff will have to pay 2 per cent more of their salary into their pensions

Royal Bank of Scotland is to force 27,000 workers to pay hundreds of pounds extra into their pensions each year to cover the cost of a Government tax grab.

Staff will have to pay 2 per cent more of their salary into their pensions than they do at present.

The first 1 per cent increase will take effect this October, followed by another next year.

RBS is the latest in a line of companies to ask workers to pay more as a result of the new 155.65 state pension, which is being introduced next month.

Companies offering final-salary schemes are currently allowed to pay lower National Insurance premiums, as are employees, in a process known as contracting out.

In exchange workers agree to opt out of the state second pension, a top-up to the basic state pension, worth up to an extra 164.36 a week.

However, from next month workers and companies who pay lower contributions will have to pay the same as everyone else.

The state second pension will be scrapped and replaced with the new flat-rate pension. Companies affected will see the rate of National Insurance they pay for workers increase from 10.4 per cent to 13.8 per cent.

Firms such as RBS are passing this cost on to their staff.

Last year, Money Mail revealed that British Airways was considering cutting back its generous final salary pension.
This is the man who will give young Australians hopeful of buying their dream home many sleepless nights.

Chinese billionaire-in-waiting Jin Lin is just 27 but he's just paid a record $52.5 million for Villa Igiea, an exclusive harbour front estate at Vaucluse.

The property mogul also bought his first home at 21, a 40 hectare estate in rural Mittagong on Sydney's southern outskirts worth $7.15 million.

He disputes claims by real estate analysts that there's a property bubble about to burst in Australia - claiming there's plenty of investors just like him in China who will continue to go 'back and forth' to buy more properties.

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Jin Lin is managing director of property development company Aqualand who said he bought the historic $52m Villa Igiea mansion at Vaucluse for his baby daughter. He disputes there's a property bubble about to burst

The five-bedroom Vaucluse mansion built in the 1920s, known as Villa Igiea, overlooks Sydney Harbour

The 1920s mansion in Vaucluse is second only Sydney's recent record sales list behind the $70 million sale of James and Erica Packer's nearby home. New owner Jin Lin says Chinese investors will continue to come to Australia to buy up and go home

The 27-year-old bought the waterfront trophy home Villa Igiea after six months of property hunting in Sydney's exclusive suburbs

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stayed at the harbour-side mansion with their six children in 2013 while she was in Sydney directing her film Unbroken. The manor has played host to many celebrities as a short stay venue

Villa Igiea is set above Hermit Bay, boasts five bedrooms and has unrivalled views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House

Mr Lin and his young family cannot move into the five bedroom home as it is booked up with holiday rentals

The baby-faced billionaire also revealed he bought the Sydney harbourside mansion primarily for his baby daughter to grow up in a nice home.

'I don't see a bubble, because the thing is last weekend we had 92 per cent clearance rates in some areas, I wouldn't say that's a bubble, it's just very, very strong at the moment,' he said.

'The market of course, is always up and down.

'I bought the [Vaucluse] home because my daughter was born, she is my first kid, about four months old.'

Mr Lin, 27, is a very private man who rarely gives much away about his business or personal life but on return from his latest trip to China and France he spoke candidly with Daily Mail Australia.

'I think because of several [other] reasons I intended to move to Vaucluse and the reason was I loved the heritage characteristics of that house,' he said.

'We haven't moved in, it will take time to move in there.'

And he refutes suggestions Sydney is over-priced and even suggested he was 'happy' with the $52.5 million deal struck with entrepreneur Dr Wayne Burt for the Villa Igiea manor.

'Quite subjective that Sydney is over-priced, the price is predicated by a whole list of economic conditions, ultimately the price is driven by the market so I couldn't say it is over-the-top,' he said.

'I was happy to pay that price, the owner agreed to the price I offered.'

That makes it the second highest price paid for an Australian property in recent times behind only the $70 million sale of the former Packer Estate, La Mer.

Mr Lin, 27, insists Chinese investment in the Australian property market is not on the wane. 'The Chinese investors are back and forth, they come in, they buy the property and then some time in the same month they are gone,' he said.

Part of the reason he and his wife and new-born have not been able to move in is the home is a popular short stay rental for the rich and famous.

It played host to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who rented the property when they arrived in Sydney with their children in 2013, while she directed the film Unbroken.

Katy Perry, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks and Beyonce and JayZ have also been guests paying up to $70,00 a week in rent.

'[I wanted it] for the heritage probably, it's personal and for the family and that kind of house is built in 1910 I think and I appreciate the kind of heritage and architecture.'

His personal property portfolio is not restricted to harbour views however, with Mr Lin also spent more than $7 million five years ago for a farm at Mittagong in Sydney's outer south-west.

But he has no intention of following other Chinese property moguls by investing and returning to his homeland.

'I am an Australian citizen, but I was born in China, which is my background, which I accept that,' he said.

He is equally certain the local market is not at risk of diminishing property investment in Australia because of tighter foreign investment regulations in China.

Chinese investment in Australian real estate has increased five-fold in recent years to top $12 billion in the past year and Mr Lin says it shows signs of a significant slow-down.

'The Chinese investors are back and forth, they come in, they buy the property and then some time in the same month they are gone,' Mr Lin added.

The sprawling Mittagong property known as Gleneagle was bought in 2011 by Mr Lin for $7.15m

Mr Lin recently graduated from Macquarie University and is managing director of Aqualand, a property development and investment group. His personal portfolio includes this Mittagong farm on Sydney's outskirts

'Jin gets every bit as excited just buying a phone cover as he does a million dollar property, he's the most immaterial man I have ever met,' one employee told Daily Mail Australia

But he has no plans to return home and work alongside his father, Chinese property tycoon Yi Lin, once more.

'We are looking for the medium to long-term investment, we are the long-time player, we have the balance between investment and development and we are not worried about the market falling,' he said.

'The markets we go into we are always looking for long-term investments.'

They now include the US and UK with offices open in Los Angeles and London.

His Australian developments include refurbishment of the heritage listed 'The Revy' apartment block in Pyrmont, the Lindfield village and a recently started development at Turramurra.

One of his developments was at North Ryde, just a short drive to where he studied finance at Macquarie University.

'Macquarie is obviously a very good university it was very important to me, more important for business is to surround yourself with people,' he added.

The Aqualand company is a subsidiary of China-based developer Shenglong, which is owned by Mr Lin's father, Yi Lin, who was named as China's 92nd richest person last year

'There are a lot of different skills around me, I am just one of the people in this team. It's not aobut me, it's more about my staff.'

He constantly deflects praise to his staff and they in turn have his back.

'Jin gets every bit as excited just buying a phone cover as he does a million dollar property, he's the most immaterial man I have ever met,' one employee said.

He would not be drawn on the differences in education between the two countries.

'I was at primary in China a long time ago and high school, and to tell the difference I couldn't identify that, I was young I wasn't that mature to judge or make an assessment of there.'

Jin Lin is heir to a fortune - his father Yi heads up the parent company Shenlong in Shanghai.

He is considered one of China's richest men with a personal fortune approaching $5 billion - his son grew up on building sites alongside him learning the secrets to success.

Mr Lin started working for Shenglong in 2007 before creating Aqualand in 2014. Since then, he has headed up close to $1 billion of redevelopment purchases.

'I speak to my father almost every single day,' he revealed.

'But I am not yet to be a success, I am still trying to make it happen. What is success? But I am telling you I am not [successful] yet.

'We started the [Aqualand] business in March, 2014 with a young guy over here to start a business, we still are a very young company but still in the process of growth.

'We literally measure the success through our reputation in the market and the client's satisfaction is very important, a big part of our business.'

Despite his family having been linked to Labor Party funding support, he insists has no future political aspirations.

'I don't have real interest in the political.'












Business Secretary Sajid Javid received three donations from his former banking colleagues worth a total of 16,000

Sajid Javid has accepted 16,000 in donations from former colleagues at Deutsche Bank prompting new questions today over what he knew about tax avoidance at the bank.

Supreme Court judges ruled against Deutsche Bank earlier this month and said its complex arrangements, created in 2004, around bankers' bonuses were only designed to avoid tax.

The Business Secretary, who was a senior executive at the bank from 2000 to 2009, has insisted he always paid his taxes and did not take advantage of the schemes.

Mr Javid has admitted 'everybody' at the bank knew about the tax schemes that were on offer.

Labour today said Mr Javid had to explain what he knew about the schemes and whether he had discussed them with the three ex-colleagues who gave him political donations.

The Business Secretary, a close ally of Chancellor George Osborne, registered the three donations last year. All three were handed to Mr Javid's Bromsgrove constituency association and registered on his Commons declaration as 'linked to' the MP.

Labour MP Caroline Flint told MailOnline: 'The public are rightly concerned about the Tory Governments failure to tackle tax avoidance and cases like this do nothing to reassure them.

'Sajid Javid urgently needs to clarify whether he was aware of this scheme while a senior banker at Deutsche Bank and whether he has discussed it with former colleagues, including those he has received donations from.'

The biggest donation on Mr Javid's register was 6,000 from Rajeev Misra - the Business Secretary's boss at Deutsche Bank ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.

Electoral Commission records reveal Mr Misra also donated to Mr Javid in 2010 and has contributed almost 60,000 to Tory central office since January 2014.

Mr Javid also registered 5,000 donations from Dalinc Ariburnu and Theo Constantinidis.

Rajeev Misra, pictured in 2008, gave Mr Javid a 6,000 donation last year. The Business Secretary 'answered to' Mr Misra for part of his time at Deutsche Bank

Mr Ariburnu worked at Deutsche from 1999 and was Global Head of Emerging Markets until he left for Goldman Sachs in 2009.

He is currently a partner at Goldman Sachs and is head of Fixed-income and Currency Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Mr Constantinidis was a managing director at Deutsche Bank between 1999 and 2005, working as Global Head of Structured Credit Trading and Global Head of Emerging Markets.

Mr Javid was promoted to replace him in 2005.

His LinkedIn profile now lists him as 'co-founder' of the 'dry bulk shipping company' Blue Wall Shipping Limited based in the Marshall Islands - considered a tax haven by EU officials.

Mr Javid defended his tax payments while a Deutsche Bank employee in a Channel 4 interview last week.

Asked if he knew the bank had systems to avoid tax, he said: 'What Ive said on this and Im happy to repeat because theres nothing to hide is that Ive never benefited from such a scheme.

'I always paid my taxes.'

Pressed repeatedly, Mr Javid said: 'Everybody at Deutsche Bank knows about all the schemes that are offered to all employees at that time and I was employed there at that time but I did not benefit from the scheme.'

MailOnline has contacted Mr Javid's office for comment but has not received a reply.
The ADF had a culture that 'bastardised' victims of mental health

Alex Kaczmarek says the ADF failed to support him after developing PTSD

An Iraq veteran who developed a severe case of trauma watching on helplessly as a car full of children died while serving in Iraq has spoken about how the Australian Defence Force failed him.

Alex Kaczmarek, 33, told Daily Mail Australia the rules of engagement as a soldier serving in Iraq meant he was prevented from running to assist the children as they lay dying in the car during his eight-month tour of Iraq.

Mr Kaczmarek has chosen to speak out following the release of a Senate inquiry into the mental health of Australian Defence Force members and veterans which recommended annual psychological screening for all members.

Alex Kaczmarek (pictured), 33, who developed a severe case of trauma watching on helplessly as a car full of children died while serving in Iraq has spoken about how the Australian Defence Force failed him

The incident happened when he was returning to Tallil airbase, near Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq, after a patrol.

The incident happened when he was returning to Tallil airbase, near Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq, after a patrol. A truck swerved into the path of a station wagon, and Mr Kaczmarek cannot forget the image of the car flipping 'end over end' down a hill at least a dozen times before coming to a halt.

This was one of several incidents that instilled 'survivors guilt' in Mr Kaczmarek and subsequently led to a severe case of PTSD which initially went untreated by the ADF.

'I had an undesirable will to shoot myself every day for eight years,' he said.

'Definitely as far as survivors guilt goes, the most relevant for me was a motor vehicle crash. (There was) a station wagon full of children and I was unable to help them and give them first aid due to the hostile environment we were in.

During the Iraq tour, Mr Kaczmarek (pictured left in southern Iraq) was exposed to roadside bombs, shot at by rockets and mortars and was on edge walking among civilians without being able to identify his enemies

'Seeing people exposed to violence who weren't able to defend themselves' - Alex Kaczmarek (pictured left in southern Iraq) has spoken about the survivors guilt that led to post-traumatic stress disorder

'Seeing people exposed to violence who weren't able to defend themselves - and having rules of engagement that prevented you from helping those people, that's what affected me the most.'

During the tour he was exposed to roadside bombs, shot at by rockets and mortars and was on edge walking among civilians without being able to identify his enemies.

Mr Kaczmarek said he joined the ADF in 2002 at the age of 19 when there was a culture that belittled soldiers who spoke out about their mental injuries.

He admits fueling this culture by 'bastardising' soldiers for seeking help.

'As horrible as it is, I acknowledge that and I take responsibility for my actions - we just weren't trained to deal with that stuff,' the veteran said.

'If anyone did (speak out) you'd pretty much bastardise them unfortunately.'

Years later, Mr Kaczmarek found himself facing the same terrible mental health problems he had lambasted his colleagues for openly speaking out about.

The ADF failed him and more than a dozen of his colleagues after Iraq by refusing to provide aid for mental injuries, he said.

Mr Kaczmarek (pictured right) found himself facing the sane mental health problems he had lambasted his colleagues for openly speaking out about

Mr Kaczmarek sought help from a third party psychiatrist who said he had early signs of PTSD. But an ADF doctor dismissed this as 'situational stress' and would not elaborate on its meaning. he said.

'As a combat soldier you don't question your chain of command and I accepted it,' he said.

'I thought I was going mentally insane at the time.'

Mr Kaczmarek (pictured) now works as a volunteer at Darwin RSL, as a compensation and claims officer, but due to his injuries he is currently unemployable in a paid role, until his rehabilitation for PTSD is completed in October

And so started Mr Kaczmarek's eight year battle with depression, anxiety and PTSD - while he tried to rehabilitate from a multitude of physical injuries at the same time.

'I didn't understand what I was reacting to,' he said.

'Panic attacks, adrenaline, not being able to drive, be in crowds, getting hostile for no apparent reason.

The release of the Senate inquiry into the mental health of Australian Defence Force members and veterans recommended annual psychological screening for all members

The release of the Senate inquiry into the mental health ++for all members.

Of 17 recommendations presented to the federal government one calls for the introduction of a universal identification card and number for all ADF personnel.

According to the Australian Veterans Suicide Register which was started last year by an Iraq veteran to increase awareness of the issue, 81 ADF members have committed suicide since 2010.

Following the release of the report, Mr Kaczmarek now looks toward a brighter future for today's ADF members as improved mental health education gradually enters the organisation.

According to the Australian Veterans Suicide Register which was started last year by an Iraq veteran to increase awareness of the issue, 81 ADF members have committed suicide since 2010

'Education is coming in, very slowly but surely,' he said.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Mr Kaczmarek considers himself one of the lucky people and says he does not point blame at any single person for his situation.

He now works as an volunteer at Darwin RSL, as a compensation and claims officer, but due to his injuries he is currently unemployable in a paid role, until his rehabilitation for PTSD is completed in October.

'As far as my PTSD stuff goes, I'm going to be in a pretty good place.'

The ADF said in a statement that the Senate committee concluded the ADF members' access to mental health services is adequate, provided the member is willing to seek treatment.

'We also recognise that mental health stigma is a significant factor that interferes with some ADF members willingness to seek help, as is also the case in the broader Australian community,' the statement read.

Since 2009, the Department of Defence has spent $176 million on mental health treatment and education.
A South African archaeologist has found a piece of debris stamped with a Rolls Royce logo that could be from doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Malaysia's transport minister said on Tuesday that authorities will examine the object to see if it is from the plane, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

'Based on early reports, there is a possibility of the piece originating from an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine,' said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, adding further examination and analysis was needed.

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The piece of debris was found by Neels Kruger in South Africa and is suspected to be from the MH370 flight

The Rolls Royce logo item was found by Mr Kruger while he was wandering through a lagoon near Mossel Bay (pictured) on South Africa's southern coast

A team will be dispatched to retrieve the debris, Liow said in a statement.

Neels Kruger was walking along a lagoon on Monday afternoon near the town of Mossel Bay on South Africa's southern coast when he spotted something that did not seem to suit the natural surroundings.

'Being an archaeologist I'm always looking for things with my nose to the ground,' said the 35-year-old.

He recognized the brown honeycomb structure from photos of other pieces of debris believed to be part of the missing aircraft.

'When I flipped it around, I didn't know immediately what it was but just thought, 'Oh my word!' he said.

On the other side, Kruger said he recognized what remained of the black Rolls Royce logo, the manufacturer of aircraft engines.

The piece is about 70 centimetres by 70 centimetres 'with chunks gone from the side,' said Kruger.

The white surface, with the partial logo, has peeled away to reveal a dark metallic grey covering, a photograph showed.

Kruger took photos and sent it to a friend who is a pilot, who passed it on to other pilots, who all quickly became convinced that this was part of an airplane engine.

Kruger alerted the South African Civil Aviation Authority who told him to sit tight until further instruction.

Wondering what to do next, he sent a message via Facebook to Liam Lotter, the South African teenager who also found a piece of aircraft debris.

In December last year, the 18-year-old found what he believes could be the wing of the missing plane on a beach in neighbouring in Mozambique.

Lotter, who announced his discovery earlier this month, passed along the contact details of the Australian authorities tasked with leading the investigation into the missing plane.

Missing flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing

This piece of aircraft wing was found washed ashore on Reunion Island, a French enclave located on the east coast of Africa, in July 2015

Authorities believe the wing came from the doomed airliner, though it has not shed any light on why the plane went down

'They said it was a very interesting piece and they need it sent to them,' said Kruger, adding that the Australian aviation authorities would not confirm if it was a piece of the missing plane.

Kruger was instructed to bubble-wrap the piece and keep it safe until aviation authorities collect it.

The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet remains one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation.

An Australian-led underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have crashed, has found no trace of it so far.

A piece from one of the plane's wings was found washed ashore on France's Reunion Island last July.

Two more possible pieces of debris that were discovered recently in Mozambique, by the South African teen and an American adventurer, arrive in Australia on Sunday to be examined by an international investigation team.

Meanwhile, an underwater sonar device used by the Australian-led search team has been lost for a second time this year.

The 'towfish' was lost on March 21 after a tow cable connecting it to the Dong Hai Jiu 101 search ship failed, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in its weekly statement.

The Chinese-flagged ship is en route to Western Australia's Fremantle Port while a team assesses recovery options for the sonar device.

Another towfish was temporarily lost in January after it crashed into a 2200-metre mud volcano.

Investigators have said the search will end by June unless fresh clues are found.
American Crime Story: The People V OJ Simpson told the story of the jury on Tuesday night's episode, the 24 mean and women who were sequestered in a Los Angeles hotel during the trial of the century - though only 14 made it through the entire 265 days.

The episode starts halfway through the trial with the jurors angry about the conditions and time away from their family and friends before going back in time to show how happy they were at the start of the trial.

That changed quickly however when they realized they could not watch television in their rooms, drink alcohol, leave their floor or spend time with other jurors in their rooms.

American Crime Story: The People V OJ Simpson told the story of the jury on Tuesday night's episode, the 24 mean and women who were sequestered in a Los Angeles hotel during the trial of the century - though only 14 made it through the entire 265 days

The men and women felt like hostages - and were treated that way by some of the deputies.

Of the 24 individuals selected by the lawyers, 10 were dismissed over the course of the Simpson case.

None of the alternates were ever removed, meaning that only two of the jurors stayed on through the entire case.

One juror lied about a kidnapping charge while another failed to acknowledge she had accused her husband of rape.

The men and women felt like hostages at the hotel - and were treated that way by some of the deputies

Another man on the jury had met Simpson and had a photo of the two shaking hands.

The show also suggests there was a good amount of racial tension between the 15 African-Americans, six were whites, and three Hispanics.

The jurors did eventually come together however when they staged their iTonnfamous revolt during the case.

In April of 1995, 13 of the then 18 sequestered individuals refused to board the bus that was taking them to the courthouse.

The episode depicted this revolt, during which the jurors demanded Judge Lance Ito meet with them to discuss the problems they were having with the decision to replace three of the deputies who had been guarding the group for months at that point.

When Judge Ito then ordered them to the courthouse most showed up dressed entirely in black - who cancelled testimony for that day and soon after began to speak with the jurors.

The episode depicted a revolt, during which the jurors demanded Judge Lance Ito meet with them to discuss the problems they were having with the decision to replace three of the deputies who had been guarding the group for months at that point

Some left in tears after Judge Ito said he had dismissed the deputies following complaints from a juror who claimed they had been going through things in her hotel rooms and giving preferential treatment to some men and women in the group.

That was the same dismissed juror who had a breakdown reportedly and was rushed to the hospital after suffering an anxiety attack on the same day they were dismissed from the jury.

That juror was Tonya Hampton, who would give an interview to CNN after the case about her struggles while being sequestered on the case.

In the episode she is seen reaching a breaking point and ripping off her jacket and rushing at guards to get dismissed, which did not seem to be the case in real life.

The jurors demands were smoothed over by Judge Ito eventually after some concern the trial might end in a hung jury as a result of the revolt.

Two episodes remain the Ryan Murphy series, including the jury's revealing of their verdict.
Dakota Meyer has met his three-month-old daughter for the first time after hashing out a custody agreement with ex-fiancee Bristol Palin, Daily Mail Online can exclusively reveal.

The 27-year-old, first-time father spent time with Sailor Grace over four days of scheduled visits in Alaska.

The decorated Marine veteran was seen proudly carrying his baby girl, bundled up warmly under a pink blanket in a car seat, and later gently rocking her to sleep in his arms.

Dakota made his first 3,600-mile round trip to Anchorage from his Kentucky home to visit Sailor as part of a custody agreement hammered out between his and Bristol's lawyers.

Dakota Meyer met his three-month-old daughter for the first time last weekend after hashing out a custody agreement with ex-fiancee Bristol Palin, Daily Mail Online can exclusively reveal

Dakota made his first 3,600-mile round trip to Anchorage from his Kentucky home to visit Sailor as part of a custody agreement hammered out between his and Bristol's lawyers

Dakota Meyer and a relative flew into Anchorage at the end of last week and checked into a comfortable, downtown hotel. One hotel guest told Daily Mail Online he had seen Dakota carefully cradling his little girl in his arms by the lobby's fountain

The new father had brought along an older woman, believed to be his aunt Cindy Meyer, to help on the first trip.

They flew into Anchorage at the end of last week and checked into a comfortable, downtown hotel.

One hotel guest told Daily Mail Online he had seen Dakota carefully cradling his little girl in his arms by the lobby's fountain.

'He appeared to be trying to get the baby to sleep to the sound of the water,' the onlooker said.

'I smiled at him as I came out of the elevator and he asked me, "Is she asleep?" It was a really sweet scene.'

'Looks exactly like daddy,' Bristol wrote of Sailor Grace on her Instagram

Dakota appeared to have brought his own car seat and diaper bag for Sailor, and rented a pick-up truck to drive her to and from her mother's new home in Wasilla, an hour north of Anchorage.

Custody papers filed earlier this month detailed specific pick-up and drop-off points for Bristol and Dakota to adhere to during the visits from Saturday until Tuesday.

Over the weekend, Dakota made the two-hour round trip to Wasilla twice each day in heavy snowfall to collect and drop off his daughter.

On Saturday, Bristol, 25, was left with time to herself after her seven-year-old son Tripp, from her relationship with ex-fiance Levi Johnston, was also taken out for the day.

It has been a stressful week for the Palin family after patriarch Todd Palin was seriously injured in a snowmobile crash on March 13.

He is currently in intensive care at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center where he has been on a ventilator following surgery to repair 14 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung.

But the family appeared to be in good spirits on Saturday as they celebrated Piper Palin's 15th birthday.

Bristol posted a picture of her youngest sister holding a vase of tulips with herself and sister Willow in the family's back yard during a heavy snowfall.

'Happy birthday Piper, we love you so much!!' Bristol wrote alongside the snap.

Sarah Palin also took to her Facebook page that day to wish her daughter a happy birthday.

'Happy, Happy Birthday Piper Indi Grace Palin! We [love] you more than life itself!' she wrote. 'Thank you for the joy you bring to our home. You really are the best. God blessed you with this gorgeous fresh snow today - all for you.'

The former Alaskan governor had been in Florida campaigning for Donald Trump when she learned of Todd's accident.

She cancelled one appearance but spoke at a town hall on Trump's behalf last Monday before flying back to Alaska to be with her husband.

The new father had brought along an older woman, believed to be his aunt Cindy Meyer, to help on the first trip

Dakota and his aunt appeared to have brought his own car seat and diaper bag for Sailor, and rented a sturdy, pick-up truck to drive her to and from her mother's new home in Wasilla, an hour north of Anchorage

After the birthday snaps were taken, Bristol and Willow went to a busy vintage market at the Alaska State Fair on Saturday afternoon.

The sisters and a male friend spent less than an hour inside perusing the stalls of reclaimed furniture, clothes and beauty products.

They then picked up balloons and a cake at a store before dropping them off at a Mexican restaurant, presumably ahead of celebrations for their teenage sibling on Saturday night.

Bristol welcomed Sailor home at 6pm on Saturday and Sunday after she had spent the day with her father.

During one drop off, Bristol's son Tripp was left to answer the door to Dakota and his aunt.

Dakota brought baby Sailor inside and less than five minutes later, left with the empty car seat.

There appeared to be minimal interaction between the former couple who called off their wedding last May after Bristol learned that Dakota had been married before.

Neither Bristol nor Dakota, both avid social media users, have commented on the visit.

Instead, on Sunday, Dakota shared an inspirational quote to his Instagram: 'Do things that feed your soul, not your ego and you will be happy.'

An Alaska Superior Court Judge ruled earlier this month that Bristol and Dakota must share both legal and physical custody of the child.

Judge Herman G. Walker Jr. decided that it was in the best interests of Sailor Grace, born last December, to remain in Alaska for the time being.

On Saturday, Bristol, 25, was left with time to herself after her seven-year-old son Tripp, from her relationship with ex-fiance Levi Johnston, was also taken out for the day. , Bristol and Willow went to a busy vintage market at the Alaska State Fair with a male friend spent less than an hour inside perusing the stalls of reclaimed furniture, clothes and beauty products

The trio spent less than an hour inside perusing the stalls of reclaimed furniture, clothes and beauty products

They then picked up balloons and a cake at a store before dropping them off at a Mexican restaurant, presumably ahead of celebrations for their teenage sibling on Saturday night

Dakota, who runs his own construction business, will return to Alaska for his next visit in April after the judge gave him custody twice a month.

'The mother objects to overnight visitation because the child is currently breastfeeding nightly,' said the Judge.

'However the court finds it in the best interests of the child that overnight visitation [with the father] occur. Mother is to provide father with an adequate supply of milk or formula for overnight visitation.'

Dakota's overnight visits with his daughter will begin in May.

The battle over Sailor began even before the baby was born last December 23.

As they tried to hash out a schedule whereby Dakota could come to visit his daughter, Bristol claimed her ex-fiance couldn't spend more than four hours a day with Sailor because of her rigorous breastfeeding schedule.

He fired back - with an explosive text message from Bristol herself - that revealed Sailor is only being breastfed at night.

Court documents obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Online showed the Medal of Honor recipient asked the court to order full day visits, not overnights, to be mindful of Bristol's breastfeeding.

Bristol was initially fine with that arrangement as seen in a text message exchange but the court papers state she changed her mind after Dakota told her he wanted limited time in Bristol's company.

Dakota's attorney argued that since Sailor is already used to being in the company of a babysitter for eight to ten hours a day - she should be fine in her father's company for that long as well.

Meyer wanted a court ruling over visitation because he feared he may make the long journey to Alaska and then have Bristol change her mind 'if she gets upset with him'.

The former Alaskan governor had been in Florida campaigning for Donald Trump when she learned of Todd's accident. She cancelled one appearance but spoke at a town hall on Trump's behalf last Monday before flying back to Alaska to be with her husband

Furthermore, Dakota shared a text in which Bristol stated: 'didn't think about her when I called off the wedding, and I didn't think about her when I left.'

The papers then state: 'Her decision to move back to Alaska, a decision in which Mr. Meyer had no say, is why there is a need for something other than a traditional visitation schedule.

'She must now accommodate visitation between Mr. Meyer and Sailor and the fact that the visitation may inconvenience her or occur on weekends is simply a direct consequence of her own decisions.'

Following a court order Dakota completed a parenting course, something he points out Bristol has not yet completed, and has received certification for infant CPR.

The two have been in an increasingly bitter custody battle over baby Sailor.

A first series of text messages obtained by Daily Mail Online last month showed an emotional exchange in which Palin told her baby's father, 'I want you to be a part of her life, from the bottom of my heart I do.'

But Bristol also wanted to make sure Dakota did not interfere with her breastfeeding schedule.

She told him: 'There's nothing on my end holding you back Dakota.'

She continued: 'I want you (and your family) to be in her life as much as possible. It's not about us, and I don't care if you hate me, put it aside and put her first.

'She grows everyday and everyday I literally just think about how much you're missing by not seeing her, so realize I'm not bs'ing you'

Dakota responded: 'I don't hate you Bristol I have no reason too [sic] but my hands are tied when I legally have no right to a child that is mine.'

Bristol recently settled another long-running legal battle with Levi Johnston, the father of her son Tripp, seven years after his birth.

Levi announced the news on Facebook, writing: 'I'm so happy to have my son in my life, and to put all of this back and forth in the courts behind me.

'It might have taken me 7 years and cost me around $100,000 in lawyer fees spread out among three different lawyers, as well as a lot of patience, but it was all worth it.

'I'm happy now to be successfully co-parenting.'

Bristol posted a picture of her youngest sister holding a vase of tulips with herself and sister Willow in the family's back yard during a heavy snowfall. 'Happy birthday Piper, we love you so much!!' Bristol wrote alongside the snap

Bristol has yet to reach a final agreement with her youngest child's father and, in the past, has rejected Dakota's bid for joint physical custody as 'impracticable' given that he lives in Kentucky and she lives in Alaska.

Instead she has asked that she receive a 'decree for primary physical custody,' with visitation adjusted consistent with the child's age and Dakota's out-of-state residence.

She has also asked for interim and permanent child support and that Dakota pay Sailor's delivery and medical expenses.

Dakota, the youngest person ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor, met Bristol in May 2014 during Sarah Palin's Sportsman Channel show, Amazing America.

The pair got engaged during a Rascal Flatt's concert in Las Vegas in early 2015, planning a wedding in his native Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend.

But less than a week before the ceremony, Bristol announced the wedding was off when it emerged that Dakota had failed to tell her he had been married before.

Instead of tying the knot, Bristol set off on an RV trip in Alaska with a friend who was an exotic model.

A month later she announced her pregnancy, though she initially refused to say whether Dakota was the father.

She admitted that her second out-of-wedlock pregnancy was, 'a huge disappointment to my family.'

'I do not want any lectures,' she said, 'and I do not want any sympathy.
The phrase was used during Selina Meyer's campaign for US presidency

'Continuity and change' was the slogan for a fictional

Malcolm Turnbull has come under fire after using a 'meaningless' slogan that was dreamt up by producers for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' fictional presidency campaign in the US television show Veep.

The Prime Minister was forced to defend his policies after Mr Turnbull's predecessor Tony Abbott claimed the Liberal leader was entering the election 'on the Abbott government's record'.

But the words he chose to distance himself from the former administration, spruiking 'continuity' within the party but 'change' as they move toward economic reform, doesn't appear to be that original.

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Malcolm Turnbull has come under fire after using a 'meaningless' slogan that was dreamt up by producers for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' fictional presidency campaign in the US television show Veep

Unfortunately for Mr Turnbull, the politician he seems to have ripped his new slogan from is the fictional character Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the popular comedy Veep.

Ms Meyer adopted the satirical catchphrase 'continuity and change', two clearly contradictory terms, during her campaign for US presidency in the show's fourth season.

While Mr Turnbull, and at least two of his ministers, have been readily using the saying as a legitimate slogan ahead of July's impending election.

On Monday, he told ABC's 7.30 program that 'as you go from one Liberal prime minister to another, you have continuity and you have change'.

Then again on Tuesday he told ABC radio that 'the bottom line is there is continuity and there is change

Ms Meyer adopted the satirical catchphrase 'continuity and change', two clearly contradictory terms, in the show's fourth season

The slogan was used in marketing material for the show which featured heavily on social media

It was even emblazoned on a bus on the show's fourth season as Ms Meyer campaigned for President

Then again on Tuesday he told ABC radio that 'the bottom line is there is continuity and there is change'.

According to BuzzFeed, Mr Turnbull went on to use the catchphrase four times in less than two minutes during an interview with Neil Mitchell on 3AW.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and Finance Minster Mathias Cormann have also been caught out using the 'meaningless slogan' in recent days, as twitter users - including the show's producers and star- call out the Australian politicians for their interesting choice of expression.

Simon Blackwell, a producer on the Emmy award winning show, mocked the prime minister for pedalling their empty slogan, while Ms Louis-Dreyfus said she was 'dumbstruck'.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and Finance Minster Mathias Cormann have also been caught out using the 'meaningless slogan' in recent days

Mr Turnbull used the catch phrase in an attempt to distance himself from the former administration

Twitter users used social media to highlight that Mr Turnbull's slogan was not that original

'In S4 of Veep we came up with the most meaningless election slogan we could think of. Now adopted by Australian PM,' Mr Blackwell wrote on Tuesday.

The comment was quickly retweeted by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's media team, who said the comparison was 'amazing'.

They tweeted that it was first 'Hollowmen, then House of Cards, now VEEP' as Mr Shorten told reporters that his competition was 'all continuity and no change'.

Many others made light of the situation on social media, some even claiming Mr Turnbull would be better equip to run a television show than the nation.

'I'd be so happy if Malcolm Turnbull realised his TV executive producer potential instead of pretending to be Australia's PM.'

The show's producers called out the politicians for their interesting choice of expression

While the show's star Ms Louis-Dreyfus tweeted that she was 'dumbstruck'

Many others made light of the situation on social media, some even claiming Mr Turnbull would be better equip to run a television show than the nation

This isn't the first time Mr Turnbull has been likened to a television show character, with many claiming there are a number of similarities between the Prime Minister and fictional puppet-master Frank Underwood.

After Tony Abbott's 'grand political assassination', a satirical video emerged which likened Mr Turnbull's ascension to power with the murderous journey House of Card's character Francis Underwood took on his unrelenting quest for control.

However, after the show's producers invited him to 'stop by anytime', the Prime Minster quickly assured reporters that the only thing the pair have in common is that they both work out on a rowing machine.

This isn't the first time Mr Turnbull has been likened to a television show character, with many claiming there are a number of similarities between the Prime Minister and fictional puppet-master Frank Underwood
The television used to be a cornerstone of British family life  something that parents would gather around with their children.

But a change in habits means that one in 20 households has now given up their television set altogether.

A major report by BARB, the official body which collects television audience figures, found that 4.7 percent of British homes do not own a television  equivalent to 1.3million households.

Many of them watch TV programmes on catch-up services like the BBC iPlayer, viewing them on laptops, desktop computers and tablets.

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The television used to be a cornerstone of British family life. But a change in habits means that one in 20 households has now given up their television set

However, a surprising number have simply opted out of watching television altogether, deciding that their lives are richer without it.

One theory is that non-TV households are online pioneers who are keen on TV but prefer to use computer devices to access it, BARB said.

However, the figures suggest that those without TV sets are generally less interested in the TV experience.

BARBs findings will come as a major blow to the BBC, which had been expecting a fresh influx of money when the Government closes the so-called iPlayer loophole.

Earlier this month, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale vowed to rush through legislation to close a technical get-out clause, which allows freeloaders to watch as much BBC content as they like without paying a penny.

At the moment, it is perfectly legal for these dodgers to watch major series like War and Peace and Great British Bake Off on the iPlayer, as long as they do so with a tiny delay after broadcast.

However, Mr Whittingdale wanted to change the rules so that people would have to pay the 145.50 television licence to use the catch up service, regardless of whether the programme has already gone out.

The BBC expected the change to bring in around 150million in new licence fee funding. But its hopes are likely to be dashed if hundreds of thousands of families without a television sidestep the iPlayer altogether.

BARBs study found that households without televisions are less likely to sign up for broadband services, and significantly less likely to take a subscription for a so-called video-on-demand service, such as Amazon Instant Video or Netflix.

Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of British households pay for one of these online streaming services, where they can access hundreds of thousands of hours of programming, at any time of day.

Many people now watch TV programmes on catch-up services like the BBC iPlayer, viewing them on laptops, desktop computers and tablets

But that figure falls to just 19 per cent of households amongst non-television households.

People who have given up their TV sets are also more likely to unplug from other technology. Households with at least one television are nearly twice as likely to own a tablet device, and a fifth more likely to have a laptop or desktop computer, the study found.

Meanwhile, there was a striking split across age groups.

Young people are much more likely than older generations to eschew TV sets  presumably because they are out and about much more, and do not rely on TV so heavily to relax after work or entertain their children.

Nearly half of households without television sets were headed by people aged between 16 and 44 without any offspring of their own.
OBR chairman Robert Chote yesterday accused the Chancellor of selectively quoting from its neutral assessment

Leaving the EU is unlikely to have a major impact on the economy for at least five years, the head of Britains independent economic watchdog said yesterday.

The Office for Budget Responsibility was dragged into the Brexit debate last week after George Osborne claimed the watchdog was in favour of Britain remaining in the EU.

OBR chairman Robert Chote yesterday accused the Chancellor of selectively quoting from its neutral assessment  and said Mr Osborne had not asked the OBR to analyse the likely impact of Brexit.

Mr Chote suggested any short-term impact was likely to be modest.

He told MPs: We made the point that lots of other people have done analysis of these things, and some are positive and some are negative  in both cases people dont expect those effects to show up overnight.

They would take quite a long time to show up  probably well beyond the five-year horizon we would be looking at.

If we did assume we were leaving, it might not have as much effect, positive or negative, as people think. Mr Chote said there is a fairly widespread consensus that Brexit would produce a period of uncertainty as Britains relationship with Europe is redefined.

But his suggestion that a Leave vote would have little lasting impact on the UK economy in the short term threatens to undermine doom-laden warnings from the Chancellor that it would cause a profound economic shock.

Mr Chote played down the row, saying: As people listened to the Chancellors speech they picked up one impression [of the OBRs view]. But once people had read what we said, most people realised what the score was.

Downing Street will today issue a warning that leaving the EU could hurt the drinks trade, which had 1.8billion worth of EU exports last year. No 10 last night claimed 600,000 jobs in the industry would be safer in a reformed EU.

The Prime Minister will warn there is no guarantee that drink exports would continue at the same level after Brexit.

Those who want to leave Europe cant tell you if British businesses would be able to access Europes free trade area; or if your job is safe, how much your prices would rise, how much your mortgage would be at risk, or if the funding for your local school or hospital is secure, he will say.

They are offering you risk at a time of uncertainty. It is a leap in the dark.

The Office for Budget Responsibility was dragged into the Brexit debate last week after George Osborne claimed the watchdog was in favour of Britain remaining in the EU

LABOUR'S ED MILIBAND ADMITS VOTERS DO WORRY ABOUT IMMIGRATION During his disastrous election campaign, Ed Milibands candidates were advised to focus on moving the conversation on from immigration if it was raised on the doorstep. Now, in his first major speech since last May, it seems the former Labour leader has finally woken up to the issue. Mr Miliband, the MP for Doncaster North, admitted his constituents have complained to him about EU migrants undercutting wages. Some Labour voters worry about free movement of workers and in particular what it means for them, he said. But he still claimed they should support the Remain cause. In a speech for the Labour In campaign, he admitted European institutions were not perfect. He added: What about the second set of concerns, which I hear as a constituency MP  workers brought in and used to try and undercut wages, the loopholes in rules which seem to mean unfair treatment, the exploitation of migrant workers that undermine terms and conditions. The answer is not to leave the EU because just think how much our workers would lose from the end of the single market. He said it was a fantasy to think the problems of the 21st century could be solved by countries acting alone. Advertisement

The Remain campaign yesterday made the extraordinary claim that Brexit could lead to Welsh independence. Former home secretary Alan Johnson, who is leading Labours campaign to stay in the EU, warned that a leave vote in June could prompt Wales, as well as Scotland, to demand a referendum on secession from the UK.
Currently, no Americans have been confirmed dead

State Department said Wednesday that at least 12 Americans were injured in the attacks, but that number could change as more victims are identified

Husband and wife Stephanie and Justin Shults from Kentucky, who are working in Brussels as accountants, are also missing

They have not been seen or heard from since the incidents

A brother and sister living in New York and an American expat couple from Kentucky are among those reported missing following Tuesday's terror attacks in Belgium.

The State Department said Wednesday that at least 12 Americans have been injured in the attacks, but that number could change as more victims are identified. So far, no Americans have been confirmed dead.

Siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

According to Dutch media reports, the pair were on the phone to their family when the blasts took place and then the line went dead.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the blasts at Brussels Airport and a metro station, which have killed 34 in total and injured close to 200 others.

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Sascha Pinczowski (left and right) and her brother Alexander were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal

Alex is described as being about 6ft 1ins, with short brown hair. He has a beard, brown eyes and is diabetic

Alex is described as being about 6-foot-1, with short brown hair. He has a beard, brown eyes and is diabetic.

Sascha is 5-foot-2 with long, dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Her Facebook profile page states that she is originally from the seaside town of Vouliagmeni in Greece.

Sascha is a former student at Marymount Manhattan College - and is a production intern at a design company in Chelsea, according to her LinkedIn. She previously studied hospitality management in Holland and can speak five languages.

It is understood the pair were due to fly back to the U.S. when the blasts took place.

Dutch media report that their father lives in the Netherlands and is now travelling to Brussels to help with the search.

The Pinczowskis were reported missing by their Facebook friend Karen Van Suijdam.

'We are still looking for Alexander Pinczowski and his sister Sascha,' Suijdam wrote on the web site. 'They are missing in the Brussels airport attack since this morning. Please contact if you have seen them or know about their whereabouts. Please share!!!'

Sascha's best friend, Alex Kneeshaw, spoke with the New York Daily News and said news of her disappearance 'breaks my heart beyond belief'.

'I have known the Pinczowskis for over 15 years,' Kneeshaw told the Daily News. 'We lived in Germany together where I met the whole family and have been a part of it ever since. She is the kindest, goofiest, and down-to-Earth girl I have ever met.'

While the total death count remains unconfirmed, many Americans are still recorded as missing.

Among those are Stephanie and Justin Shults from Lexington Kentucky, who are currently living in Brussels and working as accountants.

Among those missing are Stephanie and Justin Shults from Lexington Kentucky, who are currently living in Brussels

The couple had just dropped Stephanie's mother off at the airport when the first explosion happened. Stephanie's mother survived the blast, but the couple hasn't been heard from since

Stephanie's mother Carolyn Moore was visiting her daughter and son-in-law and was at the airport to catch her flight home when the attacks occurred. She is pictured above in the aftermath

The couple had just dropped Stephanie's mother Carolyn Moore at the airport when the first blasts went off.

While Moore survived the attack and has been in contact with family back home, her daughter and son-in-law have not been seen or heard from since and their phones keep going to voicemail.

'I was waiting in line to check in, and she was sitting in the seats with her husband waiting for me to finish... I have no idea where she is,' Moore told NewsChannel5.

'She had said goodbye to them in the terminal and had turned to go toward security and the blast happened,' Moore's sister Betty Newsom told the Lexington Herald Leader. 'She does not know if they stood there to watch her go to security or if they had turned to leave the terminal. She does not know.'

I was waiting in line to check in, and she was sitting in the seats with her husband waiting for me to finish... I have no idea where she is. Carolyn Moore, whose daughter and son-in-law are missing after Brussels airport attack

Newson says her sister is 'stressed' but sounds 'hopefuly and strong'.

Some of her daughter's coworkers got her a cellphone charger so she can keep in contact with family.

She is currently staying at a hotel near the airport in hopes of learning more news about her daughter and son-in-law.

'They are keeping her at the hotel because that seems to be where the information is coming when they find people,' Newsom said.

The State Department told the couple's family that the pair are currently not on any casualty lists, but the lists are not complete and more could be added once remains are identified.

Mars, the company where Stephanie works as an accountant, is also helping in the search for the couple. According to his LinkedIn page, her husband worked in Brussels for Franklin, Tennessee-based manufacturing company Clarcor

'All they can really do is go from hospital to hospital looking at the list of people that have been identified as injured,' Newsom said.

Justin's mother Sheila Shell was similarly distraught over the lack of information on her son and daughter-in-law's fate.

Shell told WATE that her son was actually just home for a visit, and flew back to Brussels on Saturday.

Justin Shults met his wife Stephanie when they were both graduate students at Vanderbilt University

She woke up to news of the attack on Monday, and a missed call from Stephanie's father who said the couple had been at the airport to see her mother off.

Shell says she's upset with the Belgian government for withholding information and that she's called all the hospitals but none are allowed to release information - even if the couple are patients or not.

'They've gone to their apartment, they've gone to the airport parking lot to look for the vehicle and you know they're basically coming up with the same things that we are.

'There's effort there but we just can't get answers. It's just so frustrating because they're just such great kids. It's just so unfair,' Shell said.

Shell added that her son had been in Paris the day of the last terrorist attacks. She was able to get through to his phone that time though and he was already on a flight out of the city.

Justin Shults, 30, is originally from Gatlinburg, Tennessee while his wife, 29, is from Lexington, Kentucky. They met while attending graduate school at Vanderbilt University and moved to the Belgian capital in 2014. Both received a master's degree in accounting from the school.

Shults was valedictorian of high school class, a former high school counseler told WKYT.

'He was a tall, lean young man and he was easy to spot in the hallways. And when you would spot him, he had a smile on his face,' said Gatlinburg-Pittman High School counselor, Kristi Cantrell.

The families of Stephanie and Justin Shults and the Pinczowski siblings can take comfort though in the fact that survivors are still turning up in Belgian hospitals.

Karen Northshield, an American personal trainer living and working in Brussels, was reported missing after the attack on the Brussels airport on Tuesday.

But on Wednesday, colleagues broke the happy news that Northshield had been found at a local hospital.

Paul Tucker, a personal trainer from the UK who works with Northshield in Brussels, told the Telegraph: 'I have been told this morning that Karen is in hospital in intensive care. She is alive but we don't know her condition or her injuries.

'I think she was flying back to the U.S. for the Easter holidays. She has a sister in Brussels who is with her in hospital. It's very upsetting but that's all I know. I don't know what state she is in in intensive care.'

Karen Northshield (left and right), an American personal trainer living in Brussels, is being treated for injuries at the hospital

The State Department said Wednesday that at least 12 Americans have been injured in the attacks. No Americans have been confirmed dead, but that number could change as more victims are identified.

'At this time, we are not aware of any U.S. citizen deaths. We must emphasize that a number of U.S. citizens remain unaccounted for and the Kingdom of Belgium has not yet released nationality information for reported fatalities,' State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.

Toner added that the government is 'making every effort to account for the welfare of both Chief of Mission personnel and U.S. citizens in the city'.

Toner did not identify the Americans who were injured.

Families of those missing in the Brussels massacre have taken to social media to appeal for information.

In the wake of the attacks, Facebook has launched a check-in service for survivors to tell friends and family they are alive.

Several American survivors have been telling their stories of the horror they experienced.

Among them is NBA Hall of Fame star Dikembe Mutombo.

The 49-year-old Congolese legend told CNN how he had been asleep in a passenger lounge when the airport was attacked.

The Pinczowskis were reported missing by their Facebook friend Karen Van Suijdam

He said: 'I heard people start screaming and everyone start running. I was napping and I was, like, what's going on? I thought it was a joke.

And a lady said, 'Everybody out, everybody out. We have to go. We have to go. A lot of people are bleeding downstairs. A lot of people are hurt'.'

The basketball star said there was 'no hesitation' after that and he then grabbed his bag and started running as well.

He recalled being ushered through the terminal to the airport tarmac where he saw fellow travelers paralyzed with shock.

Mutombo added: 'I just feel bad for the family of the loved ones that lost their lives. They couldn't run, they couldn't move.'

He said: 'I feel very bad. A mom trying to push her two kids. You have everybody running. It was very sad.'

Meanwhile a pair of Alabaman friends, one of whom now lives in Brussels, were in the drop-off lane at the airport when the first explosion went off and described the graphic scenes moments after, as people emerged from the building 'bleeding with all their hair burned off.'

Laura Watts Harper (left) had been visiting close friend Laura Wang Billiet (right) and her son and described how all three were in the car when the bomb went of

NBA Hall of Fame star Dikembe Mutombo had been asleep in a passenger lounge when the airport was attacked (left). And American student, Alex Dobrenen (right) - who is studying abroad in Brussels - was on his way to his internship at EY in the city when the attacks happened

Laura Watts Harper had been visiting close friend Laura Wang Billiet and her son and described how all three were in the car when the bomb went off.

The impact of the explosion blew out the glass windows of the vehicle.

She told Al.com: 'If we had arrived one minute earlier, we would have been right inside, right where it happened.'

After the second blast the trio began running and made it to a police station across the street from the drop off.

Harper said they were all hiding under a desk at the station - praying for their lives - as they feared gunmen might still attack.

But soon after, injured people started arriving, they were 'bleeding and burned' some with all their hair burned off, she says.

Arizona residents Andrew and Denise Brandt were also at the airport and said they were 'overwhelmed with horror and shock  and feel lucky to have survived the bloodbath'

Her friend Billiet is a trained physician and began triage on the injured, which included two girls - aged around six and eight - who were badly burned, shaking with terror and had no clue where their parents were.

Billiet told Al.com she treated as many as 40 wounded people, mainly for shrapnel wounds but a lot of people also had 'hearing loss or singed hair'.

Anne Goldman from Burlington, Vermont was with her daughter Hannah in the airport at the time of the explosion.

She told WPTZ people started running towards them: 'There were what looked like dust particles falling from the ceiling and I said to my daughter, "What the heck is that?" And I said, "Oh, it must be construction."

'But then minutes - no not minutes - seconds later, we heard an explosion.'

She said they saw smoke coming from the gate area and ran out of the airport.

First attack: At least 14 people have died and dozens injured after two explosions rocked Brussels Airport in a terror attack this morning

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels this morning. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media.

Arizona residents Andrew and Denise Brandt were also at the airport and said they were 'overwhelmed with horror and shock  and feel lucky to have survived the bloodbath'.

Denise said it was similar to standing near a lion roaring, where 'every hair on your body stands up'.

She said she and her husband felt a shock wave go through them and they both knew it was an explosion.

They had both just left the duty-free store in Terminal B, which was some distance from where the bombing happened.

Denise said a few people were running and crying but most were relatively calm - she said it was a different story closer to where the attacks happened.

They were evacuated and the boarded a bus to a cargo area where they sat for hours.

Andrew says that while they waited: 'A man walked past us who was all bloodied.

'It looked like he had shrapnel and glass in his legs. I saw people put a few bloodied women into an ambulance.'

And American student, Alex Dobrenen - who is studying abroad in Brussels - was on his way to his internship at EY in the city when the attacks happened.

He told ABC News that when he arrived at the office he could 'feel the tension in the air'.

He said 'people were running around and seemed distressed' and that is the point when he found out about the bomb blasts that destroyed the airport.

Dobrenen said: 'We went up to the roof, and we could actually see the smoke from the airport, from the bombings there and so it became this surreal moment where everything became really real.'

The young student said he was thankful that he went into work early that day, because the next bombing was one that targeted the subway and exploded on the same train he would have taken to work.

Speaking later that day, Dobrenen said that he was now thinking about the families of the people who lost loved ones today.
A Utah mother is suing A&E Networks after she said the company tries to persuade her daughter to leave her polygamist home in exchange for a show deal.

Susan Nelson, a member of the polygamous Kingston group, filed the suit against production company RIVR Media and A&E, saying they inflicted emotional distress on her family.

Nelson said the company offered her daughter $5,000 per episode to appear on 'Escaping Polygamy'.

In the show 'Escaping Polygamy' Jessica Christensen and Shanell DeRieuxas work to get young people out of polygamous homes if they want to leave. They also help those who have recently left.

Christensen and DeRieuxas both left the Kingston group, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Jessica Christensen (left) and Shanell DeRieuxas (right) are named as trespassing and forcing a 'young adult' to leave her polygamist home in an episode of 'Escaping Polygamy'

Nelson also accuses a film crew of trespassing when it entered her home in Taylorsville, Utah, in 2014.

RIVR Media and A&E Networks are the only defendants named in the lawsuit.

On Tuesday Nelson's attorney Dan Baczynski said the daughter was pressured into leaving her family.

'This is a young girl. They tell her she has the opportunity to be on TV,' Baczynski told The Salt Lake Tribune. 'What young girl wouldn't say yes to that?'

According to the lawsuit, RIVR Media wanted Nelson's daughter, who was living with her in Taylorsville, to appear on the show 'as an individual who has been convinced to leave her home'.

Nelson's daughter told her 'that although she did not want to move out, she had already committed to RIVR Media that she would move in with some friends so she could participate in the television filming' on Dec. 13, 2014, according to the complaint.

The women are accused of offering the girl $5,000 per episode in order to lure her to leave her polygamist home

The daughter 'disclosed to Susan that RIVR Media was pressuring her to move out of her home'.

Nelson feared the people her daughter would move in with were doing something illegal.

The family was at their home when DeRieux and Christensen arrived to take the daughter away.

The lawsuit accuses them of 'reaching through a doggie door at the rear of the home' to unlock a door and enter the house, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

'One uninvited male then put his arm around the daughter's waist to remove her from the room', the lawsuit says.

The male began to drag the girl out of the house, according to the lawsuit.

While this was going on a cameraman from RIVR Media entered through the back door and began filming the home, according to Nelson.

Nelson was able to get everyone out of the house but they continued filming the property through the windows, then entered the home again while waiting for police, the lawsuit also says.

The episode was aired in July 2015 and showed Nelson as 'physically preventing the daughter from leaving, and had DeRieux and Christensen saying the home smelled of rotten vegetables', the lawsuit says.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made an even clearer demarcation between his policies and those of Tony Abbots by the creation of a new $1 billion clean energy innovation fund.

The Sydney Morning Herald also reports that just to reinforce this Mr Turnbull will bolster it with a formal commitment to keep the Clean Energy Finance Corporation - a $10 billion scheme that Tony Abbott vowed to scrap.

Mr Turnbull will announce that the $1 billion clean energy innovation fund will be set up in July, jointly managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

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Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull has distanced himself further from Tony Abbott by backing renewable energy programs

The Prime Minister has long been an advocate for clean energy, and that it is a vital part of his plan to boost innovation and create new jobs now that the prosperous mining boom is dying down.

'Clean energy is central to the government's strategy to address climate change and meet our emissions reduction targets,' Mr Turnbull said in a statement.

'We are promoting innovation and new economic opportunities, enhancing our productivity, protecting our environment and reducing emissions to tackle climate change.

'By offering innovative equity and debt products, the Clean Energy Innovation Fund can accelerate the availability of new technologies to transform the energy market, and deliver better value for taxpayers.'

It looked like Mr Turnbull was upping the ante after Mr Abbott declared on Tuesday his successor was running on the Abbott government's record.

Mr Turnbull will announce the creation of a new $1 billion clean energy innovation fund

On Tuesday former prime minister Tony Abbott has declared his successor Turnbull was running on his government's record during interview with Sky News

Mr Turnbull reinforced his stance by committing to a formal commitment to keep the Clean Energy Finance Corporation - a $10 billion scheme that Tony Abbott vowed to scrap

Mr Abbott highlighted his government's three free trade deals, efforts to stop asylum seeker boats and strong national security credentials.

'It's very easy for me to campaign for the election for Turnbull government because... the Turnbull government is running on the Abbott government's record and it's a very strong record,' Mr Abbott told Sky News from London.

'The Turnbull government is seeking election fundamentally on the record of the Abbott government - stopping the boats, finalising the free trade agreements, out strong national security policy.'

Mr Turnbull has given Senate crossbenchers a final chance to pass trade union corruption laws or face a wipeout at a July 2 election.

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen encouraged Mr Abbott to contribute to the election campaign during the coming weeks.

'We're very happy for him to go out and campaign,' Mr Bowen told Radio 2UE.

'And he's right, the Turnbull government is doing very little. [Mr Turnbull] has announced his election plan, but where's his plan for the nation?

'Mr Turnbull had a plan to knock off Tony Abbott but he has very little vision for the nation.

Mr Turnbull will announce that the $1 billion clean energy innovation fund will be set up in July

'Clean energy is central to the government's strategy,' Mr Turnbull said in a statement

The green shift marks a big policy change from the climate policy of the Abbott government

'I believe the election is winnable for both sides. I believe if Mr Turnbull thinks he has this election in the bag he's [mistaken].'

Independent senator Nick Xenophon described the surprise move as 'decisive and bold' and a circuit breaker after the prime minister had been languishing a bit.

'It is a twin edged sword,' he told ABC radio, referring to crossbenchers having the option of trying their luck at a double dissolution election when the voting quotas are halved from the usual 14.3 per cent.

Senator Xenophon doesn't expect the industrial relations bills to pass, let alone get to a second reading stage.

Mr Abbott highlighted his government's three free trade deals, efforts to stop asylum seeker boats and strong national security credentials

Mr Turnbull has given Senate crossbenchers a final chance to pass trade union corruption laws or face a wipeout at a July 2 election

On Monday, Mr Turnbull threatened a double dissolution election on July 2 during a surprise press conference.

He gave parliament an ultimatum to pass two bills cracking down on the construction industry and trade unions.

He said he will take the country to an election if the House and the Senate cannot pass the bills in the three weeks following April 18.
Criticism: Former home secretary Lord Howard

Former home secretary Lord Howard last night warned the EU is a flawed project failing to keep its people safe.

He gave a devastating verdict on the Schengen free travel area, likening it to hanging a sign welcoming terrorists to Europe.

The Tory peer  who is campaigning for Britain to quit the EU  said he had written his speech before yesterdays atrocity in Brussels, and offered his thoughts and prayers to those affected.

But he added: I do not believe that this mornings callous and cowardly acts should prevent us from discussing the broader issue you have invited me to address, so I will deliver my speech as intended.

Speaking to centre-Right think-tank Politeia, Lord Howard said: The European Union, in its current form, is a flawed and failing project which is making many of its inhabitants poorer than they should or need be and is failing to keep its people safe.

The first is a consequence of the euro which has an exchange rate far too high for the crippled economies of southern Europe  though, because it is lower than the Deutschmark would have been, [it] helps to make Germanys exports competitive.

The second is a consequence of the Schengen agreement which, according to the former head of Interpol, is like hanging a sign welcoming terrorists to Europe.

These two projects  are seen by many leaders of the EU as the crown jewels of the new Europe. But both are creaking. The cracks are widening. The very future of the EU is uncertain. So staying in is as much a leap in the dark as leaving. Lord Howard rubbished claims that the EU has helped keep the peace in Europe for decades, saying they had no basis in fact.

David Cameron (pictured in Downing Street yesterday afternoon) sent his sympathies and condolences to the Belgium Prime Minister and said: 'We need to stand together against these appalling terrorists'

Pictured are the chaotic scenes at Brussels Airport after two explosions inside the terminal earlier today

In London: Armed officers make their way through the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station. There was an increased security presence at transport hubs across the city

He said fear of the Soviet Union had prevented European countries from fighting each other, adding: I just cant understand how the EU is entitled to any of the credit.

The peer also warned that EU membership had left the Government unable to keep its promises on immigration. He said failure to reassert national sovereignty would cause further disillusionment about politics in Britain.

No 10 had yesterday said it was not the time for broader debates about whether EU membership enhances Britains security.

The Belgian flag was flown at half-mast in Downing Street and the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: Today is a day for focusing our support on the Belgian people.

But she said Mr Cameron believes EU membership has security benefits, such as sharing passenger data and tackling the proliferation of firearms. The PM signed a declaration by EU leaders saying the atrocity strengthens our resolve to defend European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant.

A soldier walks through debris after two explosions rocked a terminal building at Brussels Airport

First picture: These three men, pretending to be air passengers, are believed to the terrorists who have carried out the Brussels airport. The two suspected suicide bombers on the left were both wearing black gloves - which the Belgian media says would have hidden the triggers for their explosive vests. The third suspect in the hat is believed to still be on the run after dropping his nail bomb

Terrified passengers at Brussels Airport have told how there 'just blood' everywhere and likened scenes after the bomb blast to the 'apocalypse'

Mr Cameron offered his condolences by phone to Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, who accepted an offer of police support. Specialist officers will travel to Brussels to assist with evidence gathering.

Yesterday, the PM led an emergency Cobra meeting to determine the UKs response to the bombings. He will hold a second meeting this morning before Prime Ministers Questions. Home Secretary Theresa May could also update MPs.
With blood dripping from her injured forehead and her clothes in tatters, Nidhi Chaphekar paused for a moment after emerging from the rubble of the decimated Brussels Airport.

The photograph of Ms Chaphekar, an Indian air stewardess from Mumbai, lying injured at the airport, epitomises the horrors of the terror attack in Brussels.

Like many of the people injured at the check-in, Ms Chaphekar had just arrived at the terminal ahead of meeting up with her colleagues for a flight to Newark, US, when a series of explosions tore through the building, killing and maiming dozens of people.

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The photograph of Ms Chaphekar, (right) an Indian air stewardess from Mumbai, lying injured at the airport, epitomises the horrors of the terror attack in Brussels

Like many of the people injured at the check-in, Ms Chaphekar (pictured) had just arrived at the terminal ahead of meeting up with her colleagues for a flight to Newark

An hour later, a third explosion occurred in a metro carriage, leaving a total of 34 people dead in the Belgian capital.

Ms Chapekar, a mother of two children, was one of two Indian cabin crew members flying with Jet Airways and had been working for the airline for the past 15 years, according to The Sun.

Her photograph rapidly gained attention on social media, with #PrayForNidhi trending on social media.

A source close to her family confirmed that she is now in hospital recovering from her injuries.

Around 90 minutes later, 10 were killed when an explosion hit a Metro station near the EU headquarters in the city centre in another suspected terror attack

Cabin crew member Amit Motwani, from Mumbai, was caught up in the blasts but checked in as 'safe' on Facebook

First aid: A private security guard helps a wounded women outside the terror-struck Maalbeek metro station in Brussels

Appalling scenes: An injured man lies bleeding on the floor of Zaventem airport in Brussels

'She was waiting to board a flight from Brussels to Newark at 10.15am local time. She is a cabin crew member. We don't have full information on the extent of her injuries,' Jet Airways said of her situation.

We know her location - she is in hospital and receiving medical care,' they confirmed.

Nidhi's colleague, male cabin crew member Amit Motwani, is said to have checked in as 'safe' using the Facebook feature set up to help those in Brussels ease their loved ones' fears. However, reports suggest he may have suffered an eye injury.

The airline said in a statement on Tuesday: 'Two staff have sustained injuries in the explosion at Brussels airport. Both of them are receiving medical care at hospitals.

Two blasts detonated near check-in desks at Brussels Airport at 7am in a suspected suicide bombing

Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels, Belgium,

Shouts in Arabic were reportedly heard before the explosions which sent shockwaves through the terminal building, shattering windows

Passengers described seeing 'dismembered bodies everywhere' and the ceiling collapsing after two blasts rocked the building

An injured bombing survivor covered in bandages holds her hand to her face in the aftermath of the attacks

'We are working very closely with the Indian Embassy and are in touch with the ambassador to plan the next steps for evacuation of our guests from Brussels.

'Jet Airways has cancelled flights operating to/from and via Brussels.'

The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed in New Delhi that all Indians were safe.
The body of an 18-year-old high school senior was found behind a trash bin in Indianapolis Monday morning.

Renia Woods had been missing since Friday night and her mother filed a missing persons report with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on Saturday.

Woods had been babysitting her younger siblings on the night she went missing. She stepped outside and never returned, according to WISH TV.

Renia Woods (left and right) had been missing since Friday night and her mother filed a missing persons report with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on Saturday

On Monday, a man collecting trash found her body beside the dumpster.

Police said Woods was found unresponsive near a trash bin on the city's east side and was later pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities said that Woods' death is an 'active and on-going investigation that we will proceed cautiously with any additional release of information', according to the Indy Star.

A toxicology report is being conducted by Marion County Coroner's Office and the results are still pending.

It's unclear what caused Woods' death but chief deputy coroner, Alfie Ballew, told the IndyStar that there were no signs of trauma 'in terms of penetrating injuries', like gunshots or stab wounds, found on her body.

The coroner is also unsure how long Woods had been behind the trash bin before she was found.

The Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township released a statement: 'We are deeply saddened by the death of Ben Davis High School senior Renia Woods, and are cooperating fully with law enforcement officers investigating her death.'

In the statement, Dr Jeff Butts said the school is still closed for spring break, but 'counselors are available' to students and staff who wish to utilize them.
'Are we handing over control to the Germans?' asked Labour MP John Mann in relation to a planned takeover of the London Stock Exchange by a German rival

Bosses of the historic London Stock Exchange could be hauled in front of MPs to answer key questions about a planned takeover by a German rival.

Senior MPs on Tuesday said the deal with in Frankfurt-based Deutsche Boerse must not slip through unchallenged.

A city grandee also warned British taxpayers could be left to foot the bill if the institution collapsed.

Deutsche Boerse is seeking to take over the LSE in a deal worth 21billion.

Both sides claim it is a merger of equals but the new business would report profits in Euros and the Germans would have a 54.4 per cent controlling stake.

Deutsche chief executive Carsten Kengeter would head up the new company, which would be headquartered in London.

But Labour MP John Mann, a member of the Treasury Select Committee said exchange executives should be called before a hearing to answer questions about the deal.

Mr Mann said: This deal might not be in our national interest. Are we handing over control to the Germans? We need to just get up and get them in, and thats a chance to explore all avenues.

And Conservative committee member Mark Garnier said: Something like this does deserve a hearing, even if its just to ask them some pretty basic questions.

There are big questions  people want to understand what this means. A hearing would give the general public a bit of reassurance.

As the implications of the deal sink in, senior city figures are also starting to warn the takeover should not be allowed to slip through without proper scrutiny.

Lord Paul Myners, a former Treasury minister who has served on the board of several major companies, is the latest to raise fears about what it could mean.

He has demanded to know more about how financially secure the new business would be, and warned a collapse would be devastating.

I dont think regulators have fully thought through how they would handle a failing central clearing house, he said.

Central clearing houses are potentially one of the largest concentrations of risk in our financial system and they deserve more attention.

Although he is not against the takeover in principle, the crossbench peer called on Chancellor George Osborne to watch it more closely.

He said failure to do so could leave British families stranded with a bill for a crisis they did not cause.

What would happen if a central clearing house failed? The answer is we dont know, Lord Myners said.

Deutsche Boerse is seeking to take over the LSE in a deal worth 21billion, with both sides claiming it is a merger of equals

Clearly someone would step in to avoid systemic risk and panic. In practice it would be the taxpayer who would step in. But British taxpayers or German taxpayers?

From my experience as a Treasury minister I know what questions should be asked. Whats not clear to me is whether the Government has begun to ask those questions.

Former Conservative minister Lord Norman Tebbit has added his voice to the chorus of dissent, saying Margaret Thatcher would never have allowed the London Stock Exchange to be sold off.

The peer, who served during her premiership as Conservative chairman, said the move was against our national interest and designed to tie us into the European project.

In a swipe at the current government which has so far refused to intervene, he told the Mail that the former Prime Minister would have stepped in at an early stage to make it clear that the sell-off was not acceptable.

Former Conservative minister Lord Norman Tebbit has added his voice to the chorus of dissent, saying Margaret Thatcher would never have allowed the London Stock Exchange to be sold off

And he contrasted this to the position of David Cameron, who he said was keen to keep us subservient to Brussels.

Despite assurances from the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche, there are fears that business and jobs could eventually move from London to Frankfurt - particularly if the British public votes to leave the EU.

Mr Tebbitt questioned why ministers have so far failed to intervene.

He said: I believe it is very much against our national interest for the German stock exchange to take over the British one.

As a country we rely quite heavily on the financial services industry, and to hand over control to a significant part of that to a foreign power is not a sensible idea.

I think Margaret Thatcher would have intervened at a very early stage and offered confidential guidance to the people in control of the Stock Exchange that this was not acceptable.

The deal could trigger a 14.5million windfall for London Stock Exchanges French boss Xavier Rolet from share schemes built up during his seven years at the helm.

But it still needs to be approved by shareholders of both the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse. It also needs to receive the green light from competition authorities in the UK and Brussels.

And the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority will have to approve the deal before it goes ahead.

The battle for the London Stock Exchange could also heat up soon, with the Americans preparing to make a counter-bid.

The owner of the New York Stock Exchange - Intercontinental Exchange - is combing through the 110 page document outlining the terms of the proposed tie-up between London and Frankfurt.

It has already made it clear that it is considering a bid, but had been waiting until Frankfurt has had laid its cards on the table.
This is the shocking moment a woman threw two cups of coffee at a man after he filmed her parking in a handicapped spot despite not being disabled.

Ryan Favro, from Toronto, Canada, captured the footage on Monday outside a coffee store as the woman walked back to her Jeep carrying a hot coffee and an iced drink.

Favro can be heard asking the woman if she is disabled, to which she replies 'no', before he adds: 'What makes you so special that you can park in a handicapped spot?'

Ryan Favro, from Toronto, Canada, accosted this woman outside a Tim Hortons after she opted to park in a handicapped spot despite not being disabled, leading to her throwing coffee at him (right)

The black-haired woman, who has not been identified, can be heard telling Favro that 'if you film me I'll break your f***ing nose.'

She initially climbs into her vehicle as if to drive away, but after he records her licence plate she climbs back out telling him to 'back the f*** up before hurling one of the drinks in his direction.

As Favro continues to challenge her on her behavior, walking around to the driver's door, she throws another cup of coffee which appears to hit him.

Favro then threatens to send the footage to the police, claiming the woman assaulted him, to which she replies 'good for you.'

She then reverses her car and pulls around close to Favro before driving away.

The woman becomes aggressive with Favro after he repeatedly asks her 'what makes you so special' before threatening to take the footage to the police after she hurls a second cup of coffee (right)

Favro posted the video to Reddit and YouTube, saying: 'This morning I approached a woman outside of a Tim Hortons in Toronto to ask her why she was illegally parked in a designated handicapped space.

'As soon as she realized I was filming her she flipped out and threaten me, assaulted me twice by throwing hot coffee at me and finally tries to intimidate me by running her car at me to run me over.'
Joe Acquaro's family arrived in a convoy of Rolls Royces at the funeral service for the slain gangland lawyer on Wednesday.

A thousand people gathered at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Melbourne to mourn the 54-year-old who was gunned down in an execution-style hit in East Brunswick last Tuesday.

Mr Acquaro's three estranged sons spoke during the service while his brother shared some words of remembrance.

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Hundreds of people have gathered at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in West Melbourne for the funeral service of slain gangland lawyer Joe Acquaro who was gunned down last Tuesday

Close to a thousand people gathered at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in West Melbourne on Wednesday to mourn the 54-year-old

Joseph 'Pino' Acquaro was gunned down in an execution-style hit as he walked to his car near the corner of Lygon Street after closing his Gelobar cafe in East Brunswick early last Tuesday

Joe Acquaro's family arrived in a convoy of Rolls Royces at the funeral service

The criminal lawyer had represented a raft of prominent gangland figures in Victoria and had been warned by police there may be a contract on his head before he was killed

A mourner who arrived as part of a large contingent moments before the the funeral wiped tears from his face

It was a standing-room-only at the Catholic Church, with floral tributes being laid and mourners spilling onto the front steps.

Joe Acquaro's girlfriend Marisa Di Lisio wore a black dress as she was comforted by friends, family and members of the Italian community at the funeral.

Over a decade earlier, former Melbourne gangland identities Alphonse Gangitano, Jason Moran and Mark Moran were farewelled at the very same church.

Joseph 'Pino' Acquaro was killed as he walked to his car near the corner of Lygon Street after closing his Gelobar cafe.

His body was later found by a rubbish truck driver.

The criminal lawyer had represented a raft of prominent gangland figures in Victoria and had been warned by police there may be a contract on his head.

The bounty had increased to half-a-million dollars in the months before he was murdered.

Alleged gangland boss Rocco Arico leaves the funeral service for Joseph 'Pino' Acquaro at St Mary's Star of Sea Catholic Church in Melbourne

Men dressed in fashionable pin stripe suits concealed their eyes with slick designer sunglasses

Mr Acquaro was buried in Yarraville after the service at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church

Family and friends of Joseph Acquaro embraced and kissed before the funeral service for the gangland lawyer

Joe Acquaro's family arrived in a convoy of Rolls Royces at the funeral service for the slain gangland lawyer

It was standing-room-only at the Catholic Church, with floral tributes being laid and mourners spilling onto the front steps

Family, friends, members of the Italian community and legal colleagues comforted each other as they celebrated the life of Joseph Acquaro

A mourning woman is comforted by a man dressed in a pin stripe suit. Two younger boys stand somberly behind her

A mourner has his collar adjusted by a woman at the funeral for Joseph Acquaro at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Melbourne on Wednesday

Members of the Italian community gathered in numbers to pay their respects to the slain lawyer

Mr Acquaro had been president of Melbourne's Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Reggio Calabria Club.

Police are seeking a light-coloured ute-like vehicle in their hunt for the killer.

It was seen driving on Barkly Street in Brunswick East about the time of the shooting, which happened just before 1am.

The lights were off and another vehicle, possibly a taxi, drove past it.

The murder is being investigated by Victoria Police's gangland squad, Purana Taskforce, which was set up in 2003 in response to the city's underworld war.

Mr Acquaro was buried in Yarraville after the service.

It was standing-room-only at the Catholic Church, with floral tributes being laid and mourners spilling onto the front steps

It was standing-room-only at the Catholic Church, with floral tributes being laid and mourners spilling onto the front steps

Over a decade earlier, former Melbourne gangland identities Alphonse Gangitano, Jason Moran and Mark Moran were farewelled at the very same church

Close to a thousand people gathered at St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in West Melbourne to mourn the 54-year-old on Wednesday

Mourners were pictured arriving at Mr Acquaro's funeral on Wednesday as police continue to investigate his murder
A man who killed his friend's 18-month-old son as he reversed out of the driveway did not stop to look back because he was unaware he had injured the toddler.

It wasn't until the 35-year-old driver returned to the property at Cannonvale, near Airlie Beach, just after 3pm on Tuesday to see emergency services at the scene did he realise something was wrong, reported Brisbane Times.

The driver who was accompanied by another male passenger at the time is assisting police with their inquiries.

The toddler was struck on the driveway by a vehicle leaving the property. Local police say the car was driven by a family friend visiting the house

An 18-month-old boy was rushed to Prosperine Hospital on the Whitsundays (pictured) after being hit by a car, but he later died

The toddler believed to have been playing near the gutter, according to Police, was taken to Proserpine Hospital in critical condition but died a short time later.

Whitsunday Police Station officer in charge Senior Sergeant Nathan Blain told the Whitsunday Times that the person behind the wheel was tragically a family friend visiting the property.

'The Forensic Crash Investigation Unit are investigating and we'll be liaising with the coroners offices in relation to it,' he said.

Police will prepare a report for a coroner.

The driver was unaware he had driven over the toddler and was only aware something was wrong when he returned to the property to see emergency vehicles
order for allegations about the boy's background was denied

An 11-year-old boy charged with murder over the fatal stabbing of a man has broken down in tears when his bail application was delayed in court for the third time.

The boy, believed to be the youngest Australian person ever charged with murder, was part of a mob that attacked 26-year-old Patrick Slater with steel stakes, screwdrivers, bottles and rocks near Esplanade train station in Perth.

Appearing at Perth's Children's Court via video link from Banksia Hill Detention Centre, where he has been held in custody since the January 27, the boy appeared to wipe away tears and seek comfort in the arms of his mother.

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The 11-year-old boy (pictured), thought to be the youngest Australian ever charged with murder, has cried in court

He was part of a mob that fatally attacked 26-year-old Patrick Slater with steel stakes, screwdrivers, bottles and rocks near Esplanade train station in Perth (pictured: footage of the brawl)

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is among five people charged with the murder after Mr Slater died in hospital from his injuries.

A suppression order surrounding allegations about the boy's parents and their background was denied and this information may be revealed at the next court appearance.

The court previously heard the boy was already on bail over an aggravated robbery at the time of Mr Slater's death. .

An image the boy uploaded to Facebook prior to the attack showed him presenting a wad of $100 bills and making hand gestures to the camera.

Prosecutor Sean Stocks said Mr Slater died from a 'penetrating injury' to his chest and also suffered bruises and cuts to his body.

He alleged the boy and seven others played a role in inflicting injuries on the victim.

The boy appeared at Perth's Children's Court via video link from Banksia Hill Detention Centre (pictured) where he is being held in custody

The mob of eight people, including the 11-year-old, allegedly threw rocks at Mr Slater and attacked him in an alcove, causing him to fall unconscious and then fled the scene

The boy was charged after Patrick Slater (pictured left and right) was stabbed to death in Perth's CBD

Defence lawyer Helen Prince said that at the time of the alleged murder the boy's parents were with a dying relative in hospital and left their son under the supervision of a sister and aunt.

On Tuesday, Children's Court President Denis Reynolds said he needed more information from the prosecution and defence before he could make a determination on the boy's bail.

He previously indicated he needed details about the boy's living, supervision and education arrangements.

A suppression order surrounding allegations about the boy's background was denied and this information may be revealed at the next court appearance

The boy will remain in detention to appear in court again on April 26.

Meanwhile, the fifth person charged over Mr Slater's murder, 19-year-old Robert Christopher James Pickett, made his first appearance in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Immigration and boarder protection staff have cancelled a strike at Australian airports following horrific terrorist attacks in Brussels that claimed the lives of 34 people.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said security presence at Australian airports would be in full force over the Easter weekend despite immigration and border protection staff taking strike action.

However, the Community and Public Sector Union tweeted on Wednesday morning that the strike would be suspended amid security concerns following two ISIS bombing attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning.

The Prime Minister had called on border force workers to cease strike action in the wake of the horrifying terrorist attacks.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says security presence at Australian airports will be in full force over the Easter weekend despite immigration and border protection staff threatening to take strike action

However, the Community and Public Sector Union tweeted on Wednesday morning that the strike would be suspended amid security concerns following two ISIS bombing attacks in Brussels

'We strongly encourage them, to rethink their call for industrial action and stay at work and pursue their complaints, their disagreements with the government through other means,' he told Seven Network on Wednesday.

CPSU National Secretary Nadine Flood said the decision was made in direct response to Mr Turnbull's statement.

'The decision has been made after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in response to the terrorist attacks overnight in Brussels, called on union members in Immigration and Border Force officers not to strike tomorrow,' she said in a statement.

Mr Turnbull had previously reassured the travelling public that federal police would be patrolling airports as border protection officers commenced stoppages at international airports with a 24 hour strike planned from Thursday.

His comments come after he faced questions about Australia's response to the deadly terror attacks in Brussels where two bombs were detonated inside the main airport terminal.

At least 34 people have died in the twin blasts the rocked both Brussels Airport (pictured) and a nearby metro station

A a blast hit a Metro station just 400 metres from the EU headquarters in the city centre after the airport

'There will be obviously a strike affecting the immigration personnel, the border force personnel, but the Australian Federal Police, who are of course primarily responsible for the security at airports... will be there in force in the - operating at full- strength,' Mr Turnbull told the Nine Network.

'I can assure you the AFP has that in hand and the AFP's security levels at the airport, the commitment of personnel, their operational awareness and so forth is consistent.'

Mr Turnbull said he had spoken with the federal police commissioner, ASIO chief and Attorney General following the deadly Brussels attacks.

Their advice was there was no requirement to increase Australia's national terrorism threat advisory from its current level of probable.

There was already a high level of security at airports.

Mr Turnbull reassured the travelling public that federal police would patrol airports as border protection officers were expected to commence stoppages at international airports with a 24 hour strike planned from Thursday

His comments come after he faced questions about Australia's response to the deadly terror attacks in Brussels where two bombs were detonated inside the main airport terminal

AFP STATEMENT ON 'FULL FORCE' SECURITY MEASURES OVER EASTER AFP have increased security operations at Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports in the wake of the Brussels attack. 'Security measures at these airports are multi layered and may involve armed mobile, canine and foot patrols, static guarding as well as specialist response armed capability. These measures are supplemented by targeted security activities in all areas of the airport environment. A range of technical measures such as extensive CCTV also support these security measures,' an AFP spokesperson said. The AFP are currently working with Australian Border Force, Department of Immigration & Border Protection, State and Territory Police, the Office of Transport Security, airline operators and airport corporations. The analysis will continue as they assess the current level of threat and response required. Advertisement

'We are in a much stronger position from a security point of view (compared to) Brussels,' Mr Turnbull said.

'The reality is, of course, that we have the benefits of geography.'

The AFP told Daily Mail Australia the heightened security measures mean armed officers will be patrolling Australia's nine main airports, with canine and specialist response teams also on hand.

Targeted security activities and extensive CCTV monitoring will also be in operation.

Travellers were warned their Easter plans could be disrupted by strike action by Department of Immigration and Border Protection workers at Australian international airports this weekend.

Immigration and Border Protection officers planned stoppages at international airports from Tuesday, with a 24-hour strike planned for Thursday.

The strikes did not concern domestic airlines, as boarder protection only operates at international terminals, but it will affect all international carriers.

Sharna Rhys-Jones, Senior Manager of Corporate Affairs and Communications at Qantas told Daily Mail Australia that there are a number of international flights leaving from Sydney over the weekend and that it will affect different airlines at different times.

'We are encouraging international travelers to get to the airport much earlier than normal,' she said.

Work stoppages were held by the Australian Border Force and Immigration staff in September last year at airports (pictured) in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns, and the Gold Coast

Travellers were warned their Easter plans could be disrupted by strike action by Department of Immigration and Border Protection workers at Australian international airports this weekend

Immigration and Border Protection officers will begin stoppages at international airports from Tuesday, with a 24-hour strike planned for Thursday

'This is a matter between the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and its employees, however we have been advised that the Department has put in place contingency plans to ensure there is minimal disruption,' Qantas said in a statement issued on Monday.

The campaign is part of a long-running industrial dispute with the federal government over work conditions.

The Community and Public Sector Union says thousands of public servants at Medicare, Centrelink, the Tax Office, Defence, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Bureau of Statistics will strike for 24 hours on Monday.

CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ignored the union's offer of talks to discuss the issue and that industrial action could continue at airports for several weeks.

Work stoppages were held by the Australian Border Force and Immigration staff in September last year at airports in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns, and the Gold Coast.
This week, Twitter celebrates ten years. I say celebrate because really there is nothing to applaud. Not unless you enjoy having a giant open sewer flowing into your computer.

I first joined in 2009 because the online networking site, which allows users to send and read short 140-character messages called tweets, seemed an exciting platform for sharing experiences, from the General Election to The X Factor.

But as the number of users grew, Twitter changed. It went from somewhere you could happily exchange civilised views to a place dominated by trolls and trollops intent only on unpleasantness or self-promotion.

Hence the rise of glorified nonentities such as Kim Kardashian and other vacuous wannabes joining a spiral of attention-seeking vulgarity. Ms Kardashians 42 million Twitter followers are not logging in for her wit, I assure you.

As well as being rather attractive, Labour MP Luciana Berger is Jewish  something that has stirred up the most astonishingly vitriolic and shamelessly open anti-Semitism on Twitter, writes SARAH VINE

Twitter also became a magnet for bullies  especially those on the self-righteous Left screaming down any opinion that doesnt mirror their half-baked philosophies.

And, oh yes, lets not forget that it also happily functions as a network for terrorists, racists and pornographers  in fact, pretty much anything that in normal life is considered disgusting.

And so it is that on its tenth birthday, Twitter, an enchanting baby born with such hope, has grown into the most vicious of juvenile thugs.

Even yesterday, with Brussels in the grip of an atrocity, Twitter was awash with ugliness from vile apologists for Islamism to the usual cloyingly empty sentiment that social media does so well  all blurring into a cacophony of voices shouting to be heard but with nothing useful or constructive to say.

Twitter is the intellectual equivalent of fast food, devoid of nutrition and packed with poison, a dystopian vision of what happens to civilisation when you remove all social, cultural and legal barriers.

There are so many examples of this, but the most recent is the case of the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Luciana Berger. As well as being rather attractive, she is Jewish  something that has stirred up the most astonishingly vitriolic and shamelessly open anti-Semitism on Twitter.

Most of it is too vile to reprint, but some of the milder insults include being compared to a pig and having a yellow Star of David superimposed on her face. As for me, Im guilty of something almost as unforgivable: Im married to a Conservative politician.

Ive had people wishing me, my husband and my children dead  and, on one occasion, expressing the hope that I be raped with a rusty nail. After something Ive written, flurries of abuse would spring out of nowhere.

Theyre whats known as Twitter storms  the virtual equivalent of medieval mobs brandishing pitchforks and torches, immune to all reason in a frenzy of blind fury.

Being at the centre of it is like being in a sack full of knives: you never know where the next stab is coming from.

I have attempted to reason with people or fight back. Sometimes Id stay up late at night conducting dozens of mini-debates. My husband used to find me staring feverishly at my screen, sigh and say: Stop feeding the trolls. No good ever comes of it.

However, there is one chink of light: Twitter is dying. The number of tweets per day has fallen by more than half since 2014. At this rate itll be lucky to see its 16th birthday.

But for now, the world Twitters on. Only it will do so without me. Because Im celebrating its tenth year by deleting my account.

To all my 13,592 followers out there, my thanks and apologies. But Im lifting my head out of the sewer  once and for all.

THE COOLEST WOMAN ON TV The person Id give my right kidney to look like is Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Jed in The Night Manager You can keep your Kates and your Caras. The person Id give my right kidney to look like is Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Jed, the baddies girlfriend, in The Night Manager. Its not just the willowy frame, the chic crop or her luminous skin and ethereal gaze; its the old-world glamour she has, that elegant Twenties face with its strong yet feminine features. Plus the fact that shes just so cool. She reminds me of Uma Thurman, before she started taking herself ever-so-seriously. Advertisement

Madge's sensible son

In the case of Madonnas rather tragic attempts to have her 15-year-old son with Guy Ritchie, Rocco, returned to her custody in America, the judge, Alistair MacDonald, makes a wise point.

It would be a great tragedy, he said, if any more of the boys young life were to be taken up by legal dispute. For his part, Rocco seems like a remarkable teenager. Given a choice between jet-setting round the world on his mums tours, while being paraded for the cameras, or conducting a less glamorous existence with his father and step-family, he has opted for the latter.

The boy clearly has his head screwed on.

Leaving aside the question of why Rupert Pemsel, the baby ward doctor caught enjoying the services of a prostitute while on duty, will be free to practise again after serving a paltry ten-month suspension, what I really want to know is this: how on earth did he manage to find a free hospital bed?

Theres something deeply unedifying about watching two multi-millionaires  Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic  arguing over money.

So what if one earns marginally less than the other  neither is exactly short of a bob or two.

Williams earned 5.46 million in 2015; Djokovic 6.5 million. Doesnt it break your heart?

JOHNNY ROTTEN PRONOUNCED NATIONAL TREASURE Who would have thought anyone at Historic England would possess such a perverse sense of humour as to designate the scrawlings of Johnny Rotten at his former squat in Londons Denmark Street heritage. Surely there can be no greater humiliation for an ageing punk than to be pronounced a national treasure. Advertisement

New woman? said Timothy West to his wife Prunella Scales after she emerged from their first Swedish sauna together in Sunday nights Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4.

Why  dyou want one? Prunella quipped.

She may be suffering from Alzheimers, but it clearly hasnt yet blunted her wit.

It was that, as well as their extraordinary bond, that made this simple travelogue starring two octogenarians utterly gripping.

Do catch it next week if you can. Its an amazing testament to the power of the human heart.

Even before details emerged of yesterdays atrocities in Brussels, the virtue-signallers  those desperate to show off their own goodness  were out in force.

The internet was awash with solidarity cartoons, pictures of Tintin in tears and assorted other tributes, including the news that the Eiffel Tower was to be lit up in the colours of the Belgium flag.

All very heartfelt, Im sure, but not a damn bit of it will do anything to help those poor souls who died, or stop this maniacal death cult from spreading misery and terror.

Its action we need, not hand-wringing.

A cynical way to make a fast buck from drivers

Bowling along the A40 the other day, I spotted a patrol car on a bridge up ahead. I eased off the accelerator, but too late.

A few days later, the inevitable penalty charge dropped through the door.

Its the first speeding fine Ive had in years  normally, Im quite good at respecting the limit.

But these days thats becoming increasingly hard, what with the endless roadworks and seemingly random speeding restrictions that pop up out of nowhere, just because some council official has decided we must all do 40 miles an hour in order for three men to stand around smoking while a fourth scratches his bottom and thinks about maybe digging a hole in the road. Next week.

No wonder the number of speeding offences has risen by a fifth in the past two years. And no wonder so many people suspect authorities of using motorists as cash cows to top up their coffers.

I must remember to ask my instructor about this when I attend my speed awareness course next month.
George Osborne yesterday became the first Chancellor of the Exchequer in 20 years to speak in the closing parliamentary debate on the Budget

George Osborne yesterday became the first Chancellor of the Exchequer in 20 years to speak in the closing parliamentary debate on the Budget.

While he succeeded in mollifying highly critical Tory backbenchers, he did not solve the mess created by scrapping his plan to cut disability payments.

As a result of that decision, he is left with a hugely embarrassing 4.4billion hole in Britains finances.

This hole cannot be filled because the Prime Minister insists that the vast ring-fenced areas in state spending may not be touched. These areas include health, much of education and foreign aid.

Now money for disabilities  16billion a year and rising  has joined that list.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research is predicting a deficit of around 30billion in 2019/20. If we are to avoid that fate, something has to give.

And it is obvious to everyone outside Mr Camerons Notting Hill set (and their friends in holier-than-thou pressure groups) which tap must be turned off.

Unbelievably, Britain spends 12billion a year on foreign aid. Of that, a significant proportion goes to corrupt regimes.

Britain can do much good with targeted help. Unfortunately, DfID, the Left-leaning department responsible for our largesse, has a long record of extravagance.

The ring-fencing of its budget is not humanitarian. Far from it.

Our so-called One Nation Government hands 0.7 per cent of our GDP to other nations, including despotic regimes.

Moreover, some of them nurture the poisonous Islamist ideology that inspired yesterdays atrocities in Brussels.

The PM proclaims, with quasi-religious zeal, that this 0.7 per cent is sacrosanct.

Nonsense. The Government has already reneged on other manifesto commitments  for example, on capping charges on care for the elderly. Now it must perform a long-overdue U-turn on foreign aid.

That way, we can look after our own disabled people rather than sending it abroad in a dubious manner.

An attack on Europe

OUR hearts go out to the victims of the bombings in Brussels, slaughtered by the Islamist fanatics behind last years carnage in Paris.

Some commentators used the tragedy to argue for and against Britain staying in the EU. That was inappropriate. However, it would also be stupid to ignore the political context of these attacks.

President Hollande described them as an attack on Europe. That is fair enough as Brussels houses the European Commission and Parliament.

Witnesses described horrific scenes inside the terminal in the wake of the suspected suicide blast

Terrified passengers at Brussels Airport have told how there 'just blood' everywhere and likened scenes after the bomb blast to the 'apocalypse'

Carnage: At least eleven people have died and several injured after two explosions rocked Brussels Airport in a suspected terror attack

But the city is also the capital of Belgium, a country that has difficulty governing itself and, by common consent, a very poor intelligence service.

Also, the killers appear to have taken advantage of the lunatic ease with which terrorists can pose as refugees and cross EU borders unchallenged.

As Europe moves closer towards political chaos, it seems inevitable that there will be more such outrages.

It is all the more vital, therefore, that Great Britain takes advantage of the fact it is an island, reclaims its borders and ensures they are as tight as possible.

Dont keep mum

THE Equality and Human Rights Commission  one of many politically correct bodies funded at public expense  has found that 70 per cent of employers think pregnant women should reveal this fact in job interviews. Surprise, surprise!
Arizona was a blow to Sanders who spent $1.3m in the state, Clinton spent $600,000 but has history of success there. She beat Obama in AZ in 2008

She used victory speech to pitch vision of her tackling ISIS as POTUS

But Clinton's Arizona win means she will end up with more delegates

Sanders also won Idaho with an impressive 78% to 21%

Hillary Clinton used her crushing victory over Bernie Sanders in Arizona to pitch a vision of how she would tackle terrorism as President.

The former First Lady, as expected, slammed rival Bernie Sanders in the Latino-heavy state's primary on Tuesday night, taking a 59 per cent majority.

Sanders kept his oar in the race with a staggering 79 per cent victory in Utah over Clinton's 20 per cent, while he also won an impressive 78-21 in the Idaho caucus.

But Clinton's win in Arizona means she will likely end the night with more delegates.

Her success was marred by outrage from Sanders' camp that voters struggled to reach the few and far-between ballot boxes - one per 21,000 people - and Sanders' campaign manager said he thought something was 'wrong' with the numbers.

Nonetheless, Clinton celebrated her win with a defiant victory speech, making reference to the Belgium terrorist attacks which overshadowed voting day and vowing to dismantle ISIS if she gets elected in November.

'We have to dismantle the global terror pipeline. We have to strengthen our defenses here at home and we need to work closely with our allies ... This election really matters,' Clinton told a rally in Seattle, Washington.

She added: 'What Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it's dangerous. It will not keep us safe. This is a time for America to lead, not cower, and we will lead.

'I am the most ready of everybody running to take that job.'

On the Republican side, voters gave Trump a victory in Arizona but Cruz kept his presidential hopes alive with a win in Utah. Republicans voted in Idaho on March 8, handing the victory to Cruz.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Hillary Clinton used her strong Arizona victory over Bernie Sanders to pitch a vision of how she would tackle terrorism as President. She told a rally in Seattle (pictured, left) on Tuesday that she plans to dismantle ISIS. Bernie Sanders is pictured (right) at a rally in San Diego after conceding Arizona on Tuesday night

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CLINTON VICTORY IN ARIZONA: The western state, with a large Latino population, is safe ground for the former First Lady, who celebrated a win there over Obama in 2008, and has recently polled well with Hispanics

Sanders kept his oar in the race with a staggering 74.2 per cent victory in Utah over Clinton's 25 per cent

More impressive: Sanders also won a crushing 78-21 per cent win in Idaho, although Clinton actually increased her delegate vote on Tuesday night

Taking aim at her Republican rivals, Clinton told the Seattle rally: 'The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear.

'In the face of terror, America doesn't panic. We don't build walls or turn our backs on our allies. We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people.'

Sanders also addressed the Belgium attacks in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday night, and like Hillary he took aim at Donald Trump.

'In times when we are under attack or our allies are under attack, it seems that Americans gravitate toward the candidate who talks the toughest,' he said, adding that Trump 'shot up' in the polls after the Paris attacks in November.

'At the end of the day, we cannot allow the Trumps of the world to use these incidents to attack all of the Muslim people in the world. That is unfair. To imply that if somebody is a Muslim theyre a terrorist, that is an outrageous statement.'

The result in Arizona dealt a blow to Sanders' campaign, since he spent more than double Clinton on ads to win over the state - $1.3 million to his rival's $600,000.

The western state, with a large Latino population, is safe ground for the former First Lady, who celebrated a win there over Obama in 2008, and has recently polled well with Hispanics.

But after conceding the first state of the night, Sanders made a speech at a rally in San Diego, claiming 'we are gaining'. With a croaky throat, he gasped: '10 months ago we were at 3 per cent now we're 5 per cent behind and gaining.'

And his campaign manager Jeff Weaver insisted he thought there was 'something wrong' with the Arizona results.

'I'm not predicting victory, but I'm not predicting defeat, either,' Weaver told CNN from San Diego.

'We have to wait and see until the votes are counted. There's obviously something wrong with the numbers, and I think once we see where they come down, it may end up being a split of delegates basically in Arizona.'

Overall, the two Democrat nominees were competing for 159 Democratic delegates in the three states, while Arizona and Utah also hosted Republican primaries.

Instead of rallying in the voting states, Hillary chose to spend day at an Indian reservation in Washington - however that could have worked in her favor as Native American concerns are key in Arizona and Utah.

Meanwhile Bernie Sanders headed to California. He was seen arriving at Jimmy Kimmel's studio in Los Angeles on Tuesday, surrounded by fawning Hollywood-based fans trying to snap selfies.

The voting gave the candidates another opportunity to pile up delegates on the way to the Republican and Democratic conventions, but is not expected to alter the basic outlines of the race.

Overshadowing the primaries were the deadly attacks in Brussels, which changed the tone of voting day to focus on counter-terrorism, immigration, and Barack Obama's handling of the situation.

Sanders and his wife Jane arrive at the San Diego Convention center for a rally after he conceded Arizona. But Utah gave Sanders a 74.8 per cent victory over Clinton and a more impressive 78 per cent in Idaho

Still feeling the Bern: Sanders supporters hold up signs as he takes to the podium to give a rallying speech

Democrat voters in Salt Lake City find any space they can to fill out their ballots as Sanders' camp complains there aren't enough polling stations to cater to Utah, Idaho and Arizona voters

People wait in line to vote in the primary at the Environmental Education Center in Chandler, Arizona

People fill out ballots at a Democratic caucus site in Salt Lake City before Sanders was declared the winner

IDAHO: Thousands of people wait in line for the county-wide Democratic caucus in Boise, Idaho, on Tuesday

UTAH: A long line builds up as voters line up to attend a Democratic U.S. presidential caucus in Salt Lake City

ARIZONA: Voters pictured waiting in Phoenix, Arizona, ahead of Clinton's expected win in the Tuesday primary

IDAHO: Caucus-goers at CenturyLink Arena listen to speeches simulcast from the full Boise Center on the Grove next door during the Democratic caucus

A man in a Bernie Sanders shirt waits to vote at a Democratic caucus site in Salt Lake City on Tuesday

Adam Diamond, right, votes as he holds his son Oliver at a Democratic caucus site in Salt Lake City

A voter wears a Dump Trump '16 shirt at a Democratic U.S. presidential caucus in Salt Lake City on Tuesday

The voting hall was buzzing in Salt Lake City as Democrats look set to hand a victory to Bernie Sanders

Though voters in Utah (pictured) are expected to side with Sanders, Clinton's win in Arizona means she will likely end the night with more delegates

Clinton is dogged by an unyielding opponent in Bernie Sanders, whose well-funded grass-roots campaign is going strong despite a string of losses and the former secretary of state's growing pile of delegates 1656 to his 877, including super-delegates, according to CNN.

To win the Democratic nomination, 2,383 delegates are needed.

Pre-election polls show the former first lady with a double-digit lead in Arizona going into Tuesday's voting, boosted by Hispanic support and a closed primary system that may not favor Sanders and his independent supporters.

Clinton won all five races a week ago, almost doubling Sanders' delegate haul in Florida in the process.

She campaigned in Arizona on Monday for the first time, but has sent her husband Bill and other surrogates to work the state, which has 75 delegates in play.

Sanders is expected to do better in Utah and Idaho, states with predominantly white populations. But there has been little polling in either state, making the outcome uncertain.

The state tests Clinton's appeal with Latinos in the Southwest, who appeared to favor Sanders in Nevada. She won the 2006 Arizona primary against Barack Obama.

Marie Howard, a 57-year-old Navajo Nation resident, supported Hillary Clinton in Arizona's presidential primary. She believes as president, Clinton would be sympathetic to tribal members.

Howard keeps postcards, an autographed photo and newspaper clippings that remind her of when Clinton visited her reservation and the Grand Canyon long before becoming a presidential contender.

'She's the only one who's been out here trying to make a difference,' Howard said.

The Tonalea, Arizona, woman was among thousands of Navajos who were moved off Hopi land in a long-standing property dispute between the tribes. She believes Clinton would work to ensure that all families who were relocated get federal benefits that were offered for moving off their homeland.

Howard also said she hopes Clinton will get on board with Bernie Sanders' plan to provide free college tuition.

In Idaho, the ingredients were in a place for a good night for Sanders: thousands of supporters at a rally Monday, no campaign visits by Clinton, a caucus system that plays to his strengths, a largely white population and an election open to anyone, not just Democrats.

Obama defeated Clinton in overwhelming fashion in 2008.

Celebrating her win, Clinton (pictured earlier in Washington on Tuesday) made reference to the Belgium terrorist attacks which overshadowed voting day, saying she vows to dismantle ISIS if she gets elected

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton listens to Puyallup Tribe Chairman Bill Sterud during a roundtable discussion with Washington tribal leaders at Chief Leschi school in Puyallup, Washington

Earlier on Tuesday Sanders was seen arriving at Jimmy Kimmel's studio in Los Angeles

The floundering Democratic nominee was swarmed by fawning fans trying to take photos with him

Ted Cruz looked set to keep Republican hopes of an open convention alive after early results suggest he may win all of the delegates in the Utah caucus following Donald Trump's resounding win in the Arizona primary.

Trump took a 46 per cent majority in the Grand Canyon state, winning 58 Republican delegates on Tuesday evening - Texas Senator Ted Cruz achieved 21 per cent of the votes.

But Cruz fired back later and now looks set to win a 58 per cent majority in Utah, gaining a vital 40 delegates.

Victory is important as if Cruz doesn't get more than 50 percent, the state will split its delegates.

Shortly after the results emerged Trump tweeted: 'Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!'

'Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court Justices!'

At this point in the Republican race, Trump's main objective is to amass the 1,237 delegates needed to win his party's nomination outright, and thwart a bid by the party establishment to stop him.

The GOP rivals spent their day focusing on foreign policy issues in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

Anyone who tries to attack the United States will 'suffer greatly,' Trump said, in typically blunt tones that have shaped his populist run for the White House, propelling him from outsider to firm favorite for the Republican ticket.

'Belgium is a horror show right now. Terrible things are happening,' he said. 'We have to be very careful in the United States. We have to be very, very vigilant as to who we allow into this country.'

Asking voters via Twitter to come out for him today Trump boasted, 'I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody  and it's not even close.'

Cruz for his part said he wanted authorities to 'patrol and secure' Muslim neighborhoods in the US.

'We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant Al Qaeda or ISIS presence. We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

'We need to secure the southern border to prevent terrorist infiltration. And we need to execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS.'

John Kasich, the governor of Ohio and third Republican in the race, condemned Cruz's comments, saying: 'In our country, we don't want to create divisions, where we say, 'You're a Muslim, we want to keep an eye on you'. Just because you're a Muslim, it doesn't mean you're a radicalized Muslim who wants to destroy someone.'

At stake on Tuesday were 98 delegates in the Republican contests in Arizona and Utah.

Trump won in Arizona, the biggest prize with 58 delegates.

Cruz, speaking to the media in Washington about events in Brussels, has been endorsed by Mitt Romney, the losing 2012 Republican candidate who has led the charge to stop Trump

Donald Trump put out this boast today on social media using the Brussels attacks to showcase his message on immigration policy and terrorism

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A border state, Arizona has long been roiled by passions over immigration, an issue that Trump has seized on since launching his campaign with inflammatory accusations that Mexico was sending rapists and criminals across the border and promises to build a wall that he says he will force Mexico to fund.

Trump touted endorsements from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a magnet of controversy for policing practices that target immigrants, and former governor Jan Brewer, who championed a state crackdown on undocumented migrants.

Anti-Trump protesters blocked a major road near Phoenix on Saturday and Trump supporters at a rally in Tucson kicked and punched a protester.

When images showed Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in the middle of the Tucson melee, appearing to collar a protester, Trump defended him.

'I give him credit for having spirit,' he said Sunday on ABC's This Week.

The dynamics are different in neighboring Utah, a predominantly Mormon state which favors Cruz.

Cruz has been endorsed by Mitt Romney, the losing 2012 Republican candidate who has led the charge to stop Trump. Utah is home turf for Romney, a Mormon from a prominent family.
Children suffering from horrific skin lesions have been evacuated from an Aboriginal town in Canada for treatment a month after officials declared a health emergency.

Ministers moved to act this week after images went viral of toddlers and infants from the Kashechewan First Nation in Ontario covered in scabs, sores and open wounds.

Around 16 children were evacuated so the mystery condition could be treated on Tuesday, the Canadian government said, while doctors were sent door-to-door in order to look for more cases.

However, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler told CTV News in a conference call on Monday that efforts have only just begun a month after a crisis was declared.

Sixteen children have been evacuated from a Canadian Aboriginal town and doctors have been send to conduct door-to-door checks after an outbreak of a mysterious skin infection

While Aboriginal leaders thanked ministers for the assistance many said it had come too late after a health emergency was declared in the region a month ago and went largely ignored

He said: 'Here we are a month after our declaration was issued and we are still trying to confirm meetings with the federal health minister. Meanwhile, things are deteriorating.

Courtesy: CTV News Ottawa

'It was good to hear government officials commit to getting these children out for an assessment and hopefully treatment.

Images of children afflicted with the mystery illness went viral at the weekend, prompting action, with patients evacuated earlier today

'[But] we also need to look at the longer term determinants of health: housing, water, and education, everything else that contributes to the health and well-being of our families.'

The cause of the lesions is currently unknown, with community leaders suggesting that dirty water or mold spores in homes could be to blame.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said on Monday that water was unlikely to be behind the outbreak after test samples showed it met all the appropriate standards.

However, Fiddle disagreed, saying there is a need for independent analysis after community members reported being afraid to use the water to bathe or wash clothes amid health scares.

Charlie Angus, the NDP indigenous affairs critic, said the suffering children were just the public face of a much wider issue affecting all indigenous people.

He added: 'The pictures of those children were so shocking and so heartbreaking that it woke Canadians up across the country.

'They were saying "what the hell is happening in our country that children are getting sick like this?"

'These children really are the face of a much larger systemic crisis that is facing northern First Nation communities.'

The source of the skin condition is so far unknown with officials blaming unclean water and mold spores in homes as possible causes, though Canadian ministers have denied drinking water in unsafe

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (right) has made Aboriginal issues the cornerstone of his budget presented earlier today by Finance Minister Bill Morneau (left) who promised $8.4billion in funding for communities

Newly appointed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made the treatment of Aboriginal and indigenous people one of the cornerstones of his administration.

In a budget released earlier on Tuesday, Trudeau promised $8.4billion in spending for First Nation education programs and to improve services such as water and healthcare in communities.
Sandra Bland's mother said she wants the former Texas trooper who pulled her daughter over last summer to be held accountable for his actions.

Geneva Reed-Veal said she's still seeking answers as to how her daughter could have killed herself in a jail cell in Waller County, northwest of Houston.

'I want an opportunity to allow accountability to be shown,' said Reed-Veal, a Chicago-area resident.

'I want answers as to what happened to my daughter, but I still want it to happen in God's way.'

She spoke following an arraignment for Brian Encinia on Tuesday, who pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge.

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Geneva Reed-Veal (center), mother of Sandra Bland, said she wants the former Texas trooper who pulled her daughter over last summer to be held accountable for his actions

Former Texas state trooper Brian Encinia (center) leaves the courtroom after an arraignment hearing, where he plead not guilty to perjury charge

Encinia (right) stopped Bland (left) for a minor traffic infraction last July and arrested her after their confrontation escalated. Bland, who was in the process of moving to Texas from the Chicago area, was found hanging in her cell days later

Encinia stopped Bland for a minor traffic infraction last July and arrested her after their confrontation escalated.

Bland, who was in the process of moving to Texas from the Chicago area, was found hanging in her cell days later. A medical examiner ruled it a suicide.

Protesters yelled 'Tell the truth' and 'Sandra still speaks' Tuesday outside the court building.

Encinia entered his plea during a brief appearance before a judge as protesters gathered outside the courthouse. One held a sign that read: 'What happened to Sandra Bland?'

Bland's arrest captured on a police dash-camera video provoked national outrage and drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Encinia's attorney, Larkin Eakin, said after Tuesday's arraignment that the perjury charge 'represents a fundamental misunderstanding of law enforcement procedures.'

He said Encinia acted properly during the July 2015 traffic stop and Bland's subsequent arrest.

A grand jury indicted Encinia in January for saying in an affidavit that he removed a combative Bland from her car after stopping her near Houston for a minor traffic violation so he could conduct a safer traffic investigation.

Video of the stop shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland, 'I will light you up!' She can later be heard off-camera screaming that he's about to break her wrists and complaining that he knocked her head into the ground

Bland (pictured in custody) was found hanging from a jail cell partition three days after her arrest. A plastic garbage bag was around her neck

Video of the stop shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland, 'I will light you up!' She can later be heard off-camera screaming that he's about to break her wrists and complaining that he knocked her head into the ground.

Encinia's affidavit stated he 'removed her from her vehicle to further conduct a safer traffic investigation,' but grand jurors found that statement to be false.

Bland, who was in the process of moving to Texas from the Chicago area, was found hanging from a jail cell partition three days after her arrest. A plastic garbage bag was around her neck.

A medical examiner ruled it a suicide. A grand jury declined to charge any sheriff's officials or jailers in the death.

Bland's relatives have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and members of her family were in the courtroom Tuesday.

Encinia's next court hearing is scheduled for May 17. The perjury charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The Texas Department of Public Safety early this month formally fired Encinia over the stop. He can appeal the decision.

Demonstrators protest outside the courthouse after former Texas state trooper Encinia's arraignment hearing
Australian travellers have been granted free entry into Indonesia after the country decided to remove a $46 visa fee.

The free entry for Australians is valid for visits to Indonesia for up to 30 days and comes after more than a year of backflips from the government.

Previously, Australia has been included on the list of countries to be given free entry but it has always been withdrawn at the last minute.

Australian travellers can now go to Bali (pictured) for free after Indonesia decided to remove a $46 visa fee

But President Joko Widodo has signed a presidential decree that allows 79 countries, including Australia, on a list of 169 countries with 'visa exemptions'.

Travellers will no longer have to pay $US35 ($46) for a visa on arrival.

'Indonesia's decision to add Australia to the list of countries visa-free is smart and timely,' ambassador Paul Grigson told Fairfax Media.

'We expect it to add approximately 3.4 trillion Rupiah ($239 million) into the economy of Indonesia.'

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has not yet been given a date for when the visa fee will be waived.

The free entry for Australians is valid for visits to Indonesia for up to 30 days and comes after more than a year of backflips from the government (pictured Bali airport)

Australian travellers will no longer have to pay $US35 ($46) for a visa on arrival

It is expected to come with the next week or so.

Australia was left off the list of countries entitled to visa exemptions in March last year when tensions between the two countries were high because of the execution of Bali Nine drug smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

Indonesia's tourism minister left Australia off the list again in September.

The Ukraine, Bangladesh, Albania, Nepal, Paraguay, Samoa and Sri Lanka are among those to join Australia on the list of visa exemptions.

Countries including New Zealand, Chine, the UK, America and Russia are already on the list.
He said she should be released to undertake her high school exams

Her barrister claimed she 'just does what her cousin tells her to do'

The schoolgirl, 16, applied for the bail at Parramatta Children's Court

A 16-year-old schoolgirl who wants to be a teacher allegedly claimed she was collecting $5,000 to send to Islamic State because she 'just does what her cousin tells her to do', a court has heard.

The Year 12 student was arrested by police at her Guildford home in western Sydney on Tuesday morning and charged with collecting money to send to a terrorist organisation.

During her bail application at Parramatta Children's Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Imad Abdul-Karim said police opposed it due to the serious nature of the allegations and the strong nature of the prosecution case.

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Western Sydney man Milad Atai, 20, was arrested by counter-terrorism investigators on Tuesday morning and his alleged co-accused, a 16-year-old schoolgirl (right), has applied for bail

Friends of a 16-year-old schoolgirl arrested by counter-terrorism police leave a Children's Court on Wednesday after her bail application

Atai pictured in a post on social media - he was arrested along with a co-accused 16-year-old girl on Tuesday and both sought bail in court on Wednesday

Mr Abdul-Karim read out text conversations which he said was evidence the girl knowingly collected the money to send to her cousin, an alleged Islamic State fighter.

In one text message on 21 March, prosecutors alleged the girl told a man named 'Abdul' that she knew the money would end up going to the terrorist organisation.

'Yes, I just do what (he) tells me to do,' the court heard she said.

Her plan was to transfer the $5,000 through Western Union, the prosecutor said, however she would need an adult's help as she was under-age.

The court heard the schoolgirl collected the money on 21 March and was arrested the next day.

Her defence lawyer told the court investigators found the $5,000 in her home in an envelope wrapped in elastic bands.

Other text messages between the girl's cousin and her co-accused, Milad Atai, 20, were also read out by prosecutors.

In one, the IS militant told Atai: 'There are a lot of rewards from aiding the mujahideen'.

Atai and the girl allegedly met to discuss her handing on the $5,000 by telling each other by text that they were going to have 'dinner' together', the prosecutor said.

Mr Abdul-Karim told the court the cousin had texted Atai the girls number.

On 7 March, he then asked Atai: Can you go and see her today?

What do you want me to say? Atai replied.

The cousin said: Can you pick her up and go to dinner?

The girl later messaged Atai saying: 'Hey how are you I was just told you were going to meet me for dinner.'

The girl's barrister, Michael Pickin, told the court she should be granted bail because she is about to sit her Year 12 exams and has never faced criminal charges before.

Mr Pickin said the girl was not a flight risk because she didn't have a passport.

He also argued that she was at a 'vulnerable' time in her life, had depressive and anxiety disorders and was a health risk.

NSW police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn (right) and AFP deputy commissioner Michael Phelan on Tuesday made the announcement that Milad Atai, 20, and the schoolgirl, 16, had been arrested

Her barrister also told the Children's Court on Wednesday the teenager had never shown any signs of radicalisation and was about to sit her HSC exams - a time in her life 'when she is at her most vulnerable in terms of having educative needs and her future becomes mapped'.

Mr Pickin also claimed 'Abdul', who she allegedly told the reason why she was collecting the money, could be a 'police informant or agent provocateur'.

He added the only evidence that suggests she knew she was giving the money to the Islamic State was when she said she 'just does' what her cousin says.

'The only reference to Islamic State - the only time it seems to have been mentioned (was when the girl said to Abdul) 'yes. I just do what (he) tells me',' Mr Pickin told the court.

The defence barrister said he did not know if she was admitting guilt or just saying 'yes, I don't know I just do what he says'.

Magistrate Russell held over the bail application until Tuesday.

The girl will remain at a juvenile detention centre in western Sydney. She could face a maximum 25 years behind bars.

14 people have now charged under Operation Appleby since September 2014.
Homeland Security says there is 'no credible threat' but advises vigilance

Boston, New York, Chicago and LA among those deploying extra units

Meanwhile security has been stepped up in cities across the U.S.

Many tourists are expected to travel to Europe for Easter this weekend

The State Department has warned Americans travelling to Europe to be vigilant and stay away from large crowds during the Easter celebrations following the Brussels suicide bombings.

Officials issued a Europe-wide travel alert on transport networks and at tourist sites after the triple-bombing in Belgium on Tuesday that left 34 people dead.

'Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation,' it said in a statement.

U.S. citizens have also been urged to take precautions in public places, avoid crowded areas and to use extra caution during religious holidays and at large events - hinting at Easter this weekend.

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Americans traveling in Europe have been warned to avoid crowds and be alert to the possibility of more terror attacks in the build-up to the Easter weekend as security is stepped up in cities including New York (pictured) following the bombings in Belgium

Tourist sites, sport venues, transport hubs and restaurants have all been listed as potential targets for an attack (pictured, heightened security at Grand Central station, New York)

While Homeland Security says it is not aware of any 'credible' threat against the U.S. major cities announced an increase of security personnel to deter copy-cat attackers (pictured, New York City)

At least 34 people were killed during a triple suicide bombing attack in Brussels on Tuesday, prompting fears of more attacks in Europe and the U.S. (pictured, security in New York)

Hundreds of people were also wounded during the atrocity, including nine Americans who were visiting or working in the Belgian capital (pictured, additional security in New York)

Meanwhile security has been beefed up across America over fears the suicide bombings in Brussels could prompt copy-cat killings or inspire lone wolf-style attacks, such as the one in San Bernardino.

Security has been ramped up at major airports and transit hubs around the country including in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia.

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, said there is an increased police presence at airports and transport hubs around the city, but also on bridges and major tunnels.

He said: 'Public safety is paramount, and I want the people of this state to know that we are working with all local and federal partners, remaining vigilant and taking all necessary measures to keep New Yorkers safe.'

Officials were also considering extra checks on inbound flights from Belgium, currently one of 38 countries whose citizens generally do not require a visa to enter.

AIRPORTS, POLICE FORCES AND TRANSIT AUTHORITIES STEPPING UP SECURITY IN WAKE OF ATTACKS Atlanta Hartsield-Jackson International Airport Amtrak - Working with state, local and federal officials. Have also increased passengers Charlotte Mecklenburg Airport - North Carolina Chicago Police (CPD) Chicago Transit Authority - Airports and major train stations Los Angeles International Airport Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) - Boston and surrounding areas Massachusetts State Police Nashville International Airport Nassau County (NCPD) - Long Island NYPD Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) - Buffalo and Niagara Falls Transit Police controlling airports and trains Port Authroity - New York and New Jersey transit police in charge of aiports and PATH train stations Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - Philadelphia and suburbs Toronto - Metrolinx and TTC Advertisement

Other measures being discussed included an extra layer of security before entering airport check-in lounges after two of the Brussels bombers detonated their vests in the entrance of the city's airport.

Despite the extra measure Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned of 'no credible or immediate threat' to the United States.

Meanwhile the State Department sent out a month-long warning to Americans in Europe, saying attacks are likely being planned 'targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transport'.

Travelers have been told to 'be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid crowded places. Exercise particular caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events.'

The warning comes after an attack on the airport in Brussels that left at least 14 people dead and another bombing at the train station in the neighborhood of Molenbeek which killed another 20.

Hundreds more, including nine Americans, were left wounded as suicide vests packed with blots and other metal objects ripped through crowds on Tuesday morning.

Forces including the NYPD, DC police and Chicago PD have moved to increase their presence at key locations while others have urged residents to be more vigilant and report anything suspicious.

Amtrak also confirmed more officers would be visible at their train stations around the nation.

The Port Authority announced early on Tuesday morning they would be stepping up precautions at New York and New Jersey's three major airports - La Guardia, JFK and Newark - and will deploy heavy-weapon officers throughout terminal buildings.

Anti-terrorist units will also be stationed at the World Trade Center and Grand Central Terminal - America's busiest train station.

Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the increases in security across New York on Tuesday morning.

He also sent 400 more National Guardsmen to be stationed in the Big Apple.

In a strongly-worded statement, he said: 'The senseless attacks that struck the people of Belgium earlier today have left us all stunned and heartbroken.

'These were acts of pure evil that have claimed the lives of people who were doing nothing more than going about their days.

'My heart grieves for all those who have been impacted, and as we learn more about these attacks, New York will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the international community against terrorism  as the world has done for us in the past.

Major cities across the U.S. announced an increased security presence following the attack, including in Virginia (pictured), Boston, Chicago and Washington D.C.

Heavily armed police patrol the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, following the Brussels terror attack which killed at least 34 people

Sheriff's deputies carrying heavy machine guns were pictured inside Union Station in Los Angeles amid fears of more attacks like the one in San Bernardino, California, last year

Across Canada there was also an increased police presence on Tuesday following the latest terrorist attack to hit Europe amid fears the carnage will spread abroad (pictured, Vancouver International Airport)

Extra security measures being discussed at airports include another ring of security in the entrance hall before passengers board (pictured, armed guards at Vancouver International)

Extra patrols were also seen in the entrance hall of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago after bombers attacked the same area of the airport in Brussels earlier on Tuesday

'And as we have seen time and again, when we are united, terror has never prevailed and never will. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I offer my thoughts and prayers to the people of Belgium on this tragic day.

'I have directed state law enforcement officials to step up security at high-profile locations around the state, including our airports, bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems.

'Public safety is paramount, and I want the people of this state to know that we are working with all local and federal partners, remaining vigilant and taking all necessary measures to keep New Yorkers safe.'

Cuomo also directed One World Trade Center to be lit up in Red, Yellow and Black in solidarity with Belgium.

Washington DC's Metro Transit police confirmed there would be more officers stationed across the subway system.

There are also plans are underway to roll out a major show of police force at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport, in the Washington area.

Atlanta Hartsield-Jackson International Airport is now operating on heightened security alert.

A spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport says at this time there are 'no specific threats' but as a precaution they have increased police visibility.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio announced new security measures for his city following the attacks in Brussels today amid fears that the city is high on the target list for terrorists

He also tweeted his support for Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and added: 'We will not live in fear'

A NYPD officer stands guard inside the Times Square subway station in New York amid increased security

Heavily armed police patrol the streets in lower Manhattan following a heightened terror alert

A member of the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force prepares a weapon in Times Square as authorities attempt to keep citizens safe following the attacks in Brussels

More heavily armed counter-terror officers were seen inside New York's Grand Central Station yesterday

Massachusetts State Police also said they were increasing their presence near transportation sites in the state, while the MBTA in Boston said more patrols will be stationed across the city.

Chicago police said there is no indication the city is a target, but Interim Police Supt. John Escalante has ordered stepped up presence at airports and transportation sites within Chicago,' according to an email sent to CBS.

SEPTA, the operators of Philadelphia's transport system, reminded passengers: 'See Something, Say Something.'

In Canada, extra security was put in place at Toronto's major transit hubs, including Union Station.

None of the forces said they had received a credible threat in the wake of the terrorists attacks.

Brussels airport was shut down completely after this morning's blasts, with flights into Belgium being diverted elsewhere, and Eurostar services in and out of Brussels were suspended.

The Thalys train service - which travels between France, Belgium and the Netherlands - has been halted in the wake of the explosions, the operator said.

Eurostar said no trains are currently running to or from Brussels Midi station. Passengers were being advised to postpone their journeys.

Services had been terminating at Lille in France, before the entire route was suspended - and the train company was looking into instead running a train service between London and Lille

Bag searches were also being conducted on parts of the subway network in Manhattan following the attacks

Manhattan was filled with armed police officers amid fears that New York is a potential terrorist target

Cops stand around in the Subway as New Yorkers go about their daily commute. More officers have been stationed at transport hubs to increase 'visibility'

Officers huddle together as passengers watch on amidst the heightened security

A heavily-armed patrolman stands outside the Armed Forces recruiting center in Times Square

NYPD transit were under high alert along with police dogs at the 42nd street Times Square Subway station

Witnesses in Belgium described seeing 'dismembered bodies everywhere' after the blasts hit the American Airlines check-in desk at around 8am (7am GMT).

There were reports that shouts in Arabic were heard before the explosions and shots fired in the aftermath.

Around 90 minutes later, 10 people were killed when an explosion hit a Metro station near the EU headquarters in the city center in another suspected terror attack.

American Airlines confirmed that its planned flight from Brussels to Philadelphia in the US, which had been scheduled to depart at 9.40am had been cancelled in the wake of the blasts.

A spokesman said: 'We are aware of an incident at the Brussels airport departure hall and are taking care of our customers, employees and contractors. At this time, all of our employees and contractors are accounted for with no reported injuries.

'American Airlines flight 751 has been cancelled for today. When operations at the airport resume, we will re-accommodate our customers.'

A spokesman said: 'We have suspended all services to and from Brussels until further notice. We are looking at running a shuttle service between Lille and Brussels.'

The Department of Homeland Security said they were 'closely monitoring the unfolding events' on Tuesday morning and would 'not hesitate' to up security levels

Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the increases in security across New York on Tuesday morning along with a strongly-worded statement. He also sent 400 more National Guardsmen to be stationed in the Big Apple

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh also posted in solidarity with the people of Brussels
John Cleese has slammed an Australian 'rip-off' of his legendary BBC show Fawlty Towers and has threatened to take legal action against the theatre company involved.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Cleese was angered when he was told about The Faulty Towers Dining Experience, which is due to perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from April 12 - and he didnt feel that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.

I had absolutely no idea this was going on until about a year ago, Cleese told Fairfax. I think people will find that very hard to believe, but if people don't tell you, how do you know?

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John Cleese has slammed an Australian rip off of his legendary BBC show Fawlty Towers

'These people are completely brazen, utterly shameless. The awful thing about our society is that shameless people get away with things  look at [Donald] Trump.

'They take our concepts, they take our characters, they take our characters' names and then they change the W to a U and say it's got nothing to do with our show.'

This is just one of nine versions of the show being staged around the world by Interactive Theatre International (ITI).

Cleese said ITI and its associates around the world never tried to get permission to use the characters, situations and name from him, although 'Fawlty' had been changed to Faulty' in the ITI production.

The Faulty Towers Dining Experience by Interactive Theatre International's has angered Cleese

Cleese said he had 'absolutely no idea' the Australian company were doing their own version of Fawlty Towers 'until about a year ago'

The former member of Monty Phyton said ITI and its associates around the world never tried to get permission to use any of the characters from the original Fawlty Towers

Cleese and Andrew Sachs star in a classic scene from the original Fawlty Towers

'These people are completely brazen, utterly shameless,' an angry Cleese said

However, the three characters in the Australian company's live show are even called Basil, Manuel and Sybil - all unmistakably from the TV series Fawlty Towers that was first aired on the BBC in 1975 and 1979 for two seasons.

Despite this Cleese and his co-writer on the Fawlty Towers series, his ex-wife Connie Booth, have not received anything in royalties or compensation.

Cleese also wanted to protect the interests of his investors in the stage version of his show, Fawlty Towers Live. The show is set to have its world premiere in Sydney in August.

In a statement, ITI founder, New Zealander Alison Pollard-Mansergh, defended the theatre company, saying that the shows had been 'running for nearly 20 years' and that Cleese's comments were 'misleading and inaccurate'.

Cleese also wanted to protect the interests of his investors in the stage version of his show, Fawlty Towers Live

Fawlty Towers Live is set to have its world premiere in Sydney in August. It's based on Cleese's TV classic

On Monday Cleese introduced to the media to Stephen Hall, who will play the role of Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers Live




Charges will not be dropped, opening up the possibility of a retrial

Father-of-two, now 40, was released today after district attorney found he did not receive a fair trial

Rosario was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life in 1996

A 20-year-old man who was a suspect in a New York City murder case thought he had more than enough to clear his name when he gave police a list of 13 people who could vouch he was in Florida at the time.

But Richard Rosario was found guilty of killing 17-year-old Jorge Collazo in 1996, and sentenced to 25 years to life.

Rosario was released today after 20 years by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Torres, who overturned his murder conviction after a district attorney found Rosario did not receive a fair trial.

The father-of-two said: 'I've been in prison for 20 years for a crime I didn't commit. My family didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve this, and nor did the family of the victim.'

Richard Rosario (pictured center at a hearing today) was released for the killing of 17-year-old Jorge Collazo after spending 20 years in prison. The district attorney found he had not been given a fair trial

Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Torres overturned his conviction today, and Rosario (pictured giving his attorney a hug) said: 'My family didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve this, and nor did the family of the victim'

Richard Rosario, (pictured with his handcuffs being taken off) had given police a list of 13 people who could confirm he was in Florida at the time of the New York City killing. Police did not contact them, his attorneys said

Two witnesses picked him out from a police photo book, but no forensic or physical evidence tied Rosario to the crime. Pictured, Rosario leaving court (with daughter, left, and wife, right) a free man

The family reunited: Rosario's wife Minerva beams as he is accompanied by his daughter Amanda and Richard Jr. (left). They were just toddlers when their father was jailed in 1996

A spokeswoman for the DA told Dateline Clark asked for Rosario's conviction to be vacated because 'a review by her office determined he did not receive a fair trial'.

But the charges have not been dropped as prosecutors reopen an investigation, leaving the possibility of a retrial.

'It's a great result. It just should have happened a lot earlier,' said one of Rosario's lawyers, Chip Loewenson.

His attorneys call Rosario's case an illustration of unreliable eyewitness testimony, bungled defense and the difficulty of fighting a guilty verdict.

'It really is a case study in a wrongful conviction,' said one of his lawyers, Glenn Garber of the Exoneration Initiative. 'But he hung in there ... and finally he's getting some level of justice.'

The decision came two months after Clark succeeded 27-year DA Robert Johnson and days ahead of the release of a new Dateline digital documentary series on Rosario's case.

The charges have not been dropped as prosecutors reopen an investigation, leaving the possibility of a retrial. His attorney said: 'It's a great result. It just should have happened a lot earlier'

Rosario, whose children Richard Jr. and Amanda were just two and three when he was jailed, previously told Dateline: 'I still don't understand what I'm doing in prison. I'm innocent.'

Rosario was arrested after two witnesses identified him from a police photo book as the man who had shot Jorge Collazo in the head after an exchange of words on a Bronx street on June 19, 1996.

No forensic or physical evidence tied Rosario to the crime.

He said he'd been more than 1,000 miles away, staying with friends in Deltona, Florida.

Rosario returned to New York after his mother told him the NYPD were looking for him, thinking he would clear up the misunderstanding by listing more than a dozen people who'd seen him in Florida.

According to the Inquisitr, he said: 'I didnt expect to be in jail for another day. I figure theyd make a few calls and Id be released that evening.'

In Dateline's new documentary series covering Rosario's case, the father-of-two said: 'I still don't understand what I'm doing in prison. I'm innocent' (pictured with his wife and two kids months before sentence)

Police didn't contact those people, according to Rosario's current lawyers. And his own court-appointed attorneys at the time didn't fully explore the alibi witnesses, either.

His initial attorney got a judge to pay to send a private investigator to Florida, but the attorney later acknowledged she never did it.

Another lawyer who took over before Rosario's trial mistakenly thought the court had nixed funding for the investigator's Florida trip and didn't pursue it further, according to a 2010 appeals court decision.

The couple who said they'd hosted Rosario testified at his trial and said they had good reason to remember his presence and other details from the day of Collazo's killing: Their first child was born the next day.

But the trial prosecutor urged jurors to discount them because of their friendship with Rosario.

During Rosario's appeal, a judge said additional alibi witnesses wouldn't have added significantly to his defense.

Rosario's lawyers argue otherwise, noting that some of the witnesses weren't close with Rosario and so might have been more difficult to discredit.

His own court-appointed attorneys at the time didn't fully explore the alibi witnesses, and one attorney got a judge to pay for a private investigator to go to Florida, but she never followed through
Angel of Death: Nazi doctor Josef Mengele will be picked apart in scientific experiments in Brazil

In a bizarre twist of fate, the remains of the Angel of Death Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor responsible for torturing and killing thousands of concentration camp inmates, will be picked apart in scientific experiments that millions will agree have come 70 years too late.

The Brazilian doctor responsible for carrying out the exhumation and forensic examination - which positively identified the German war criminal was the man buried in an anonymous Sao Paulo grave in 1985 - won the right this month to keep the Auschwitz killers abandoned bones for medical research.

In a televised report on Brazilian TV last weekend, Dr Daniel Romero Muniz cut open the plastic sack containing Mengeles parts and took out the executioners skull and bones for the first time in 30 years.

Dr Muniz, a professor of medicine at the University of Sao Paulo now plans to donate the ruthless killers skeleton to student doctors for use as part of their medical education.

He explained: (Mengeles) bones will be a really good example for our students to learn from. They will be used to help train new doctors and will be particularly good for those students who are studying post mortem examinations.

Observers said there was at least a modicum of satisfaction the infamous German physician, who performed hundreds of thousands of cruel experiments on adults and children, will now be experimented upon in death.

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Investigation: In a televised report on Brazilian TV last weekend, Dr Daniel Romero Muniz cut open the plastic sack containing Mengeles parts and took out the executioners skull and bones for the first time in 30 years

Despite repeatedly offering Mengeles family the opportunity to collect his remains, Brazils Federal police hit a brick wall as no one from the Second World War fugitives family ever came forward to claim his bones after they were exhumed from a coffin bearing the false name of Wolfgang Gerhard.

Mengele assumed the name of a German friend who had lived temporarily in Brazil in the latter years of his life to hide his true identity.

He drowned in 1979 off a Sao Paulo coast in the small town of Bertioga after suffering a stroke while swimming. Retired policeman Expedito Dias Romao was the officer who found Mengeles body.

He said: I didnt know it was Mengele at the time. He was dead when I found him and his identity card said his name was Wolfgang Gerhard. I didnt realise that he was one of the most wanted and hated men in the world.

Mengele was buried anonymously for six years until German authorities linked a letter sent from the couple he had been living with in Brazil to his family announcing his death. They alerted the Brazilian government who exhumed Mengeles remains in 1985.

The forensic examination proved his identity but Mengeles bones were never reburied. Instead they were thrown unceremoniously into a blue plastic sack and kept under lock and key on a shelf in the Sao Paulo Police Legal Medical Institute (IML) morgue for more than 30 years.

Storage: Mengeles bones were thrown unceremoniously into a blue plastic sack and kept under lock and key on a shelf in the Sao Paulo Police Legal Medical Institute (IML) morgue for more than 30 years

Eduardo de Menezes Gomes, a criminal forensic investigator with the IML confirmed to Globo TV Mengeles bones stayed here (in the Institute) under our responsibility and no one has ever shown any interest.

(Mengeles) bones will be a really good example for our students to learn from. They will be used to help train new doctors and will be particularly good for those students who are studying post mortem examinations Dr Daniel Romero Muniz, University of Sao Paulo

Slicing open the sack containing the German executioners remains in front of TV cameras, Dr Muniz took out Mengeles scapula and laid out his ribs, the bones from the arms, humerus, ulna and radius, on a medical table. Then carefully, Muniz pulled out Mengeles skull which has been kept wrapped in another piece of plastic for extra protection.

The cranium shows the Nazi war criminal wore a set of dentures.

Holding Mengeles head, Dr Muniz who described the exhumation as one of the most important forensic investigations ever carried out in Brazil, pointed to a small hole in the left cheek bone.

He said: This hole showed Mengele suffered from sinusitis which over the years created an infection and left a small hole in the bone. This helped to identify him.

The doctor also revealed Mengeles pelvic bone helped confirm who he was. He had a motorbike accident when he was in Auschwitz camp and the pelvis shows a fracture, he said.

Brought up: German authorities, who linked a letter sent from the couple Mengele had been living with in Brazil to his family announcing his death, alerted the Brazilian government who exhumed Mengeles remains in 1985

Mengele eluded capture from Nazi hunters after the Second World War with the help of his family in Germany who sent him funds regularly. In 1949 he escaped to Austria, crossing the border to Italy.

Fled: Mengele eluded capture from Nazi hunters after the Second World War with the help of his family in Germany who sent him funds regularly

With the help of a network of SS sympathisers he sailed to Argentina the same year. There he lived openly under his real name in Buenos Aires for a decade. He went on the run again when Israeli secret police captured German war fugitive and accomplice Adolf Eichmann who was also living in the city at the time.

Mengele fled to Paraguay in 1959 and ended up in Brazil in 1960 living in various cities in Sao Paulo state for nearly two decades.

Confident he wouldnt be found, he kept his true identity for many years. In an interview in 1986 on The Phil Donahue Show, an American TV chat show, Mengeles son Rolf, who works as a lawyer in Munich, Germany, revealed he had visited his father in Brazil in 1977, two years before he died. A photo of them together was shown in the Globo TV report.

But despite admitting he could never have betrayed his fathers whereabouts at the time, Rolf - who changed his surname to Jenckel, distancing himself from his fathers horrific past - has repeatedly refused to give his parents remains a final resting place.

Hiding out in Brazil, Mengele stayed with expat German families who gave him a roof over his head allowing him to live a near normal life with barbeques, holidays and social parties.

Photos show him posing with a fixed smile with the couples he stayed with. The truth was the German runaway hated Brazil, describing his South American hosts as a breed of half monkeys and a sub-human race in copious diaries.

In letters dedicated to his son he talked about committing suicide and his depression about living in a country he despised.

Family: Mengeles son Rolf, who works as a lawyer in Munich, Germany, revealed he had visited his father in Brazil in 1977, two years before he died. A photo of them together (above) was shown in the Globo TV report

It was while he was in one of the many secret Sao Paulo hideouts that a former victim discovered he was alive and living in Brazil.

He was dead when I found him and his identity card said his name was Wolfgang Gerhard. I didnt realise that he was one of the most wanted and hated men in the world Expedito Dias Romao, retired policeman who found Mengele's body

While holidaying in the small Sao Paulo city of Serra Negra in the 1960s Cyrla Gewertz, a Jewish Polish survivor of Auschwitz, who was tortured by Mengele, discovered to her horror that Mengele, who was using his real name at the time, was living in the neighbourhood.

She recalled: Someone said to me they had a German called Mengele in the city. As soon as I heard I said: Oh my God, I cant stay here. She abandoned her trip straight away.

Mrs Gewertz came face to face with Mengele 76 years ago in Auschwitz. She lost her five brothers and sisters, mother and father and numerous relatives to the gas chambers.

The only one to survive in her family, Mrs Gewertz talked of the horrors meted out to her at the hands of the German sadist.

She said: He made me shower in scalding water that stripped off my hair and skin. When I complained it was too hot he said if I didnt stay in the water he would kill me.

Auschwitz: Mengele was a notorious member of the team of doctors responsible for choosing who would be selected for the gas chambers and who would suffer deadly experiments

This perverse torture was not even enough for him. After the hot water he put me in cold water. Ill never forget this for my whole life, said the elderly concentration camp survivor, adding that she saw him throw a newborn baby off a roof in a rage.

He made me shower in scalding water that stripped off my hair and skin. When I complained it was too hot he said if I didnt stay in the water he would kill me Cyrla Gewertz, Auschwitz survivor who was tortured by Mengele

Mengele was a notorious member of the team of doctors responsible for choosing who would be selected for the gas chambers and who would suffer deadly experiments.

He had an obsession with twins, killing the majority of his victims in macabre experiments he claimed where meant to test the limits of human endurance.

He injected blue dye into the eyes of children, starved babies to death to see how long they could live without food, amputated body parts and transplanted organs without anaesthetic.

In all he was responsible for millions of Jewish deaths, more than any other concentration camp officer, which was why he was nicknamed the Angel of Death.

Over 1.3million people died in Auschwitz and while Mrs Gewertz survived she is grateful Mengeles bones will never be used to eulogise or ritualise his memory.
He said it was unnerving to watch as all the memories came flooding back

The new film, The Preppie Connection, is based on his school operation

When he turned 18, his record was wiped, and he is now an attorney

He was arrested and found guilty, but was only given probation by a judge

Was taken into custody after flying from

An attorney has recounted how he sold $300,000 worth of cocaine to his rich friends and smuggled drugs from Venezuela while studying at one of the country's most prestigious prep schools 30 years ago.

In 1984, Derek Oatis was busted at a New York airport with $5,00 worth of cocaine he intended to sell to classmates at the $56,000-a-year Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut - which boasts John F. Kennedy, Ivanka Trump and Michael Douglas among their alumni.

By then he had already sold $300,000 worth of cocaine on the streets, and most of it was purchased by his fellow students. The scandal led to the expulsion of a dozen students and dented the prestigious institution's reputation.

Oatis was found guilty on drug charges, but was only given probation by a judge. When he turned 18, his record was erased.

Now an attorney in the Hartford suburbs, Oatis said it was unnerving to relive the ordeal as he watched 'The Preppie Connection,' an independent movie inspired by his story.

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Derek Oatis (pictured now aged 49) was arrested at a New York Airport in 1984 after trying to smuggle $5,000 worth of cocaine back from Venezuela to sell to his rich friends at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. Now a film has been made about his life

Oatis (pictured in 1990) was arrested for trying to bring cocaine into the United States from South America in 1984 with his girlfriend. He didn't receive any jail time, but prompted one of the biggest scandals in the prestigious school's history

'Surreal is a good word,' Oatis said. 'It all came flooding back.'

The film, starring Thomas Mann and Lucy Fry, debuted at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October and was released last week on Amazon, iTunes and other online services. The names of the people involved in the real-life drama have been changed.

The film's director, Joseph Castelo, said he was drawn to Oatis' tale because he, like Oatis, attended a prestigious prep school in the 1980s and considered himself an outsider because he came from a working-class family.

'There was so much about it that symbolized the early '80s,' said Castelo, who runs Coalition Films in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Oatis, 49, grew up in Meriden, Connecticut, and attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford as a day student on a scholarship. He remembers Choate parents arriving in helicopters on the first Parents Day he attended, while his mother and father drove a Dodge Dart.

'I didn't have a lot of friends, and I didn't fit in,' Oatis said.

One of his friends was Matt Holmes, whose parents lived in Venezuela. Holmes would bring back small amounts of marijuana for himself when returning from visiting them, Oatis said. Word spread, and soon a dozen or so students were giving Holmes money to buy pot and cocaine for them in Venezuela, Oatis said.

The $56,000-a-year school (pictured) boasts the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ivanka Trump and Michael Douglas among their alumni. They have slammed the film, The Preppie Connection, as a 'a highly fictionalized account of a difficult moment in the school's history'

'Everybody knew what was going on,' Oatis said.

In 1984, Oatis and his girlfriend, Cathy Cowan, traveled to Venezuela to buy $5,000 worth of cocaine, about three-quarters of a pound, using Holmes' drug contacts and money from classmates. When they got off the plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport on their return, they were immediately taken into custody.

Officials found the cocaine in a talcum powder bottle in Oatis' suitcase and in some baggies in his pockets. On Cowan, authorities found a handwritten list of Choate students who were buying the drugs.

Choate officials had learned about the trip beforehand and called police.

None of the students received prison time. Oatis said he believes it helped the defendants that many came from wealthy families.

Oatis, who had faced up to 15 years in prison, was charged by federal authorities as a youthful offender and was sentenced to five years of probation and 5,000 hours of community service, the same sentence Holmes received. Under a youthful offender prosecution, the charges against Oatis  then 17  were erased.

Seeing the movie was somewhat cathartic for Oatis.

'I never really had come to grips with it,' Oatis said about the cocaine bust. 'I had a huge amount of guilt. I still have a huge amount of guilt from what I put my family through.'

Choate said in a statement that the movie, called the Preppie Connection, is 'a highly fictionalized account of a difficult moment in the school's history' and Oatis' case led to the 'zero-tolerance, one-strike' policy for student drug use that remains in effect.

Now an attorney in the Hartford suburbs, Oatis said it was unnerving to relive the ordeal as he watched the independent movie inspired by his story

In 1984, Oatis (court sketch left) and his girlfriend, Cathy Cowan (right at trial), traveled to Venezuela to buy $5,000 worth of cocaine, about three-quarters of a pound, using Holmes' drug contacts and money from classmates. They were both given probation during their trials
He deleted the blunder but not before social media users saved the post

It seems to direct him to post the message to his Facebook and Twitter

The Premier was caught out when tweeting support for Brussel's victims

revealed that his social media charm is somewhat

Mike Baird, often praised for his social media grace, may have inadvertently revealed that his social media charm is somewhat constructed by his PR team after a copy and paste bungle on Twitter.

The New South Wales Premier posted a message of support on Twitter for those affected by the horrific terrorist attacks in Brussels, but in his haste it seems he forgot to remove a note directing him to use the statement on his social media accounts.

'Tweet/FB option. Sydney, and all of NSW, stands with you Brussels,' the original tweet read.

Spot the difference: Mike Baird fotgot to remove a note directing him to use a statement of support for those affected by the Brussel's terror attacks on social media which appears to be advice from a media adviser

Within the hour Mr Baird, who forked out $30,000 for 51 days of social media training, deleted the tweet and reposted without the note, which appears to be advice from his media adviser.

But the usually Twitter savvy premier was not able to remove the tweet before before a number of social media users saved it, with many reposting the blunder to his account.

'How do I show the world I'm a 'compassionate' man to win votes? Do I use Twitter or FB,' one social media user joked.

'#awks,' wrote another.

One man labelled him an 'absolute crook', calling him out for directly 'copied and pasted it from an email'.

Within the hour Mr Baird, who forked out $30,000 for 51 days of social media training, deleted the tweet and reposted without the note, which appears to be advice from his media adviser

But the usually Twitter savvy premier was not able to remove the tweet before before a number of social media users saved it, with many reposting the blunder to his account

Mr Baird, who has never shied away from a selfie, is quite active on social media and often posts anecdotes or insights into his personal life, along with messages about NSW's progress under his leadership.

He has not made any public comments about the Twitter blunder.

However, a spokesperson for Mr Baird, whose Twitter account has accumulated more than 55,000 followers, said that everything you see online has been constructed by the Premier himself.

'Social media is handled in the same way as all other media.

'Everything you see online is the Premier's words,' he said on Wednesday.

Mr Baird, who is quite active on social media, has not made any comments about the Twitter bungle

This is not the first time Mr Baird felt the heat on social media, with the premier facing considerable criticism in February after a post defending his stance on Sydney's lock out laws went down like a lead balloon.

Mr Baird responded to claims that he had 'destroyed the soul of the city' with a strongly-worded Facebook post that said the city was 'more vibrant than ever' and that his new measures had seen violence in central Sydney had decreased by 42.2 per cent.

However Sydneysiders were quick to mock 'Casino Mike', stating the laws had destroyed the nightlife while establishments like The Star Casino were conveniently exempt from the laws.
A massage business that fined its therapists for being 'too noisy' or 'lacking passion' has been ordered to pay $100,000 for fraudulently penalising and grossly underpaying staff.

Lu's Healthcare Pty Ltd, which has parlours in Melbourne's CBD and Richmond, was fined $118,800 by a federal judge for gross underpayment of two staff members, both Chinese nationals.

An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman, revealed the massage business had an in-house code of conduct where workers were fined $20 for 'noise making and playing around' and sleeping or lying on massage tables.

An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman, revealed the massage business had an in-house code of conduct where workers were fined $20 for 'noise making and playing around' and sleeping or lying on massage tables (stock photo)

Lu's Healthcare Pty Ltd, which has parlours in Melbourne's CBD and Richmond, was fined $118,800 by a federal judge for gross underpayment of two staff members, both Chinese nationals (stock photo)

A 'lack of passion or good hospitality' would see therapists pay $50 in fines and arriving late to work was the highest penalty - $100 per offence.

Speaking on the phone during a massage would result in job termination and a 'resistance to hard work' would see the therapist demoted to 'apprentice'.

The businesses illegal practices were exposed when a man, owed $33,000 and a 19-year-old female therapist, owed $19,000 went to the Fair Work Ombudsman with their concerns. Both have since been repaid following the court ruling.

The bizarre business model is widespread in Australia among massage parlours that exploit foreign students and workers visiting Australia on the 417 backpacker working holiday visa, Fair Work Ombudsman intelligence suggests.

Findings included underpayment of wages, non-payment of wages, failure by employers to issue-pay slips or keep proper employment records and possible sham contracting arrangements.

Workers are typically paid 50 per cent of the cost of the massage, with no remuneration for periods they spend at the business without clients (stock photo)

Workers are typically paid 50 per cent of the cost of the massage, with no remuneration for periods they spend at the business without clients.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the financial penalties handed down by the federal court to Lu's Healthcare sent a strong deterrence to parlours exploiting workers in Australia.

Since 2009, the ombudsman has investigated massage shops in Adelaide, Darwin, Newcastle,Coffs Harbour, Hobart and on the Gold Coast.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the financial penalties handed down by the federal court to Lu's Healthcare sent a strong deterrence to parlours exploiting workers in Australia (stock photo)
A 23-year-old woman died over the weekend after she was shot by an eight-year-old child in her East Texas home.

Carmen Danielle Morris of Elkhart, Texas was killed after the boy picked up a rifle around 4:30pm Saturday and fired a shot that pierced a door and struck her in the head, police said.

The child was in another room with the woman's husband, who was cleaning weapons, Anderson County sheriff Greg Taylor said.

The boy was the little brother of the woman's husband, family members told the Palestine Herald-Press.

Carmen Danielle Morris, 23, was shot by an 8-year-old relative Saturday. Pictured left with a different child, and pictured right with her husband, who was cleaning guns at the time of the shooting

The couple's sons, aged two and five, were in the home at the time of the shooting, according to the Herald-Press. Child protective services were called to investigate.

The incident happened on the 300 block of Anderson County Road 1370.

Morris was transported to hospital in nearby Palestine, and later by helicopter to a Tyler hospital, where she died Sunday.

'It appeared she was an amazing mother and loved her husband and children very much,' said a friend of the woman, Aerial Rios, according to the Herald-Press.

According to CBS 19, it appears no charges will be filed, although the investigation is not closed.

An online fundraiser was set up to help pay for funeral costs.

Morris, 23 (right) with her husband and two children. She died Sunday in hospital from a gunshot wound to the head
A grandmother accused of shooting at her son-in-law and daughter allegedly told police she needed to get her 'eyes fixed' so she could finish the job.

The grandmother, 51, is accused of firing five shots at her daughter and the 37-year-old man at a Nerang home in Queensland's Gold Coast on Tuesday around 11.15am.

The grandmother was granted bail when she faced Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday on a number of charges including three acts intending to cause grievous bodily harm and discharge a weapon in a public place.

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A grandmother (pictured), 51, is accused of firing five shots at her daughter and her 37-year-old son-in-law on Tuesday at about 11.15am

It's claimed allegations of abuse were behind the domestic disturbance, the court heard.

No-one was injured in the incident but two shots narrowly missed the son-in-law, the court heard.

She left the Riverview Road home by car after the incident, police allege, before she was detained a short time later in Mudgeeraba.

The 51-year-old then told police she wanted to see an optometrist to get her 'eyes fixed' and return to the home to do the job properly, the court heard.

She then told officers she'd been annoyed her shots had missed, Senior Constable Donna Minns told the court.

No-one was injured in the incident but two shots narrowly missed the son-in-law, the court heard (police pictured at the Nerang, Gold Coast home)

She left the Riverview Road home by car after the incident, police allege, before she was detained a short time later in Mudgeeraba (police pictured at the place of the incident)

The grandmother was granted bail on Wednesday

'She said she can't believe she missed her shots,' Const Minns said.

'She said she'll get her eyes fixed ... find the gun and go back to do the job properly.'

In opposing bail, Const Minns told the court the grandmother had only given a vague indication of where she had disposed of the firearm and police were concerned she would retrieve it upon release.

Police later found a gun, believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, under a bridge over the Nerang River on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite 'grave concerns' over the possibility of her attempting to return to the home, Magistrate Joan White granted the grandmother bail.

She must reside at her daughter's home in Alexandra Hills in Brisbane under her conditions of bail. She can only travel to the Gold Coast for court matters if her daughter or partner.

She must also undergo a mental health assessment.

The matter has been adjourned until April 19.

Police later found a gun, believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, under a bridge over the Nerang River on Wednesday afternoon
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One of the Brussels bombers was arrested in Turkey and deported back to Belgium in June with a warning that he was a militant, it has sensationally been revealed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who blew himself up at Brussels Airport on Tuesday, was arrested in Gaziantep in southern Turkey close to the Syrian border last summer. Officials said he was deported to Holland before being passed back over to Belgium.

The president said Belgian authorities had failed to confirm the suspect's links to terrorism 'despite our warnings that he was a foreign fighter'.

The revelation came as it was dramatically revealed last night that the identity of the 'Man in White', who was previously thought to be explosives expert Najim Laachraoui, remains a mystery. He is now Europe's most wanted man and a major international manhunt to find him remains ongoing.

It emerged as it was revealed that Laachraoui was actually the other airport suicide bomber, who was pictured on the left-hand side on CCTV footage showing the three ISIS suspects wheeling their suitcases into the terminal prior to the deadly bombing which occurred at 8am local time on Tuesday.

Ibrahim and Laachraoui killed 14 people and injured dozens of others when they set off suicide vests and explosives-packed suitcases at the airport. They were accompanied by the 'Man in White' who abandoned his suicide mission and fled the terminal when his nail-shrouded bomb failed to explode.

Just 79 minutes later, Ibrahim's brother - Khalid El Bakraoui - detonated his suicide vest on a Brussels Metro train at Maelbeek station killing 20 people.

Earlier yesterday, it emerged that Ibrahim left a suicide note telling how he was desperate to blow himself up because he did not want to go to prison like his friend, the Paris logistics chief Salah Abdeslam.

The typed note, found next to 15kg of homemade explosives, an AK-47 and an ISIS flag during a raid at a property in the Schaerbeek area of the city, said: 'I don't know what to do. I'm in a hurry. I'm on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up then I'll end up in a cell.'

The latest twist came after it was revealed the Belgian El Bakraoui brothers escaped police in a gunfight during an anti-terror raid just eight days ago.

Carnage: There were scenes of devastation at the main terminal at Brussels national airport yesterday as rescue workers and officials continued to pick through the rubble following the two bomb blasts on Tuesday morning which killed 14 people and injured scores more

Devastating: Workers continued to pick through the debris at Brussels airport yesterday as the windows of the terminal remained heavily shattered from the twin attacks on the Belgian capital which has rocked Europe. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the horrific bombings

Brussels bombers: Khalid El Bakraoui (left) detonated his suicide vest on a Brussels Metro train at Maelbeek station just 79 minutes after his brother Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) blew himself up with an explosives-packed suitcase at Brussels airport. Ibrahim was accompanied by another suicide bomber, who was dramatically identified last night as explosives expert and bombmaker Najim Laachraou (right)

First picture: Belgian bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) and explosives expert Najim Laachraou (left), both wearing black gloves to hide their suicide bomb triggers, killed 14 at Brussels airport. Their accomplice - the 'Man in White' (right) fled the airport and remains on the run

Web of terror: MailOnline can reveal how an ISIS terror network from across Brussels first took murder to the streets of Paris killing 130 before members of the cell who survived returned to the Belgian capital. In the past week, as police closed in, some members including Salah Abdeslam were either arrested or killed before the team of four bombers launched twin attacks, killing 34

Laachraoui - now revealed as the second airport suicide bomber - was already one of the world's most wanted men, having built the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks and went on the run with Salah Abdeslam, one of the other Paris massacre masterminds, before hiding in Brussels for four months.

He is suspected of rigging up the suicide vests that helped kill 34 in twin attacks on Tuesday and is believed to have done the same for the Paris attacks.

Yesterday it emerged there could have been another suitcase bomb set off in the airport but the ISIS fanatics couldn't fit all their explosive-packed bags into a taxi outside their safehouse. They refused to let the driver touch the bags - prompting him to later contact the police about their suspicious behaviour.

Investigators are now desperate to track down the 'Man in White' - the third ISIS suspect pictured at the airport - as well as Mohamed Abrini, who was thought to be a close friend of the 'Man in White' and Abdeslam, for his possible involvement in the mass slaughter in the Belgium capital on Tuesday.

The British Defence Secretary said last night that it is far too early to criticise the Belgian intelligence agencies over alleged failings in the run-up to the Brussels attacks, as he warned ISIS extremists wanted to create mayhem in European cities including London.

Michael Fallon said ISIS's external attack-planning operation was one of the reasons why it was important to strike at the militant group in Iraq and Syria. He insisted that the UK was prepared for a terror attack, with thousands of troops on stand-by to assist the police in the event of an assault.

And he told BBC2's Newsnight: I honestly think it is far too early to start criticising the Belgian authorities until the investigation is complete, until we know exactly the movements of these particular people.'

Tuesday's twin terror attacks on the Belgian capital left at least 34 people dead and are believed to have been revenge for Saleh Abdeslam's capture. Experts believe the jihadists launched the Brussels attacks because the net was closing in on their terror cell.

Belgium's prosecutor said this afternoon that Ibrahim El Bakraoui's suicide note, found in a bin, said he was 'on the run' and did not 'know what to do' - but added he was 'in a hurry' and 'didn't want to end up in a cell like him' - a reference to his friend Abdeslam.

All of the men named as bombers yesterday were 'well known' to detectives because of their links to ISIS and all had significant criminal records. The El Bakraoui brothers had been in jail recently for gun smuggling, burglary and car crime.

Most recently they had been on the run since March 15 following a shoot-out in a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital's Forest suburb. They opened fire on police and fled.

The raid carried out last Tuesday on a flat in the suburb of Forest saw a sniper kill terror suspect Mohamed Belkaid while the El Bakraoui brothers managed to escape police.

There was initial speculation that the raid had aimed to capture Paris-terrorist Abdeslam, but he escaped through a loft window, but this was later denied by a police spokesman.

New raid: Special forces stormed a pizzeria in Anderlecht at just after dawn yesterday - with some Belgian media wrongly claiming Najim Laachraoui was inside. Forensics officers took away evidence in brown bags after a man and two women were taken into custody

Collecting evidence: Forensic police leave a house in the district of Anderlecht-Brussels, while others carry evidence found during a raid

Anti-terror raid: Police stormed a property in the district of Anderlecht-Brussels and were seen collecting bags of possible evidence

Aftermath: Emergency service workers were continuing their efforts at Brussels airport yesterday as the city entered three days of mourning

In memory: King Philippe of Belgium (centre) lays a wreath as he visits the damaged departure hall at Brussels Airport in Zaventem

Gathering evidence and clues: Forensic researchers pictured at work outside Brussels Airport as efforts continue to solve the terror effort

Rubble and debris: Security officials, engineers and emergency service workers were all hard at work at Brussels airport this afternoon

Shattered to a million pieces: The terminal windows at Brussels airport were all blown out yesterday following the terror attack

Officers had been acting on a tip-off in connection to the Paris terror attacks, and carried out the raid in Forest, which is close to Molenbeek, where several jihadis behind the Paris attacks lived and is known as the cradle of terrorism in Europe.

Yet the group still managed to find another address to stay, where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesday's attacks.

Police also confirmed yesterday that those who carried it out have were part of a larger cell who carried out the Paris attacks four months ago.

Khalid El Bakraoui also rented the apartment where Paris terror attacker Salah Abdeslam was captured by anti-terror police last Friday, according to respected Belgium news organisation RTL.

Belgium started three days of mourning yesterday after the bombings claimed the lives of 34 and left more than 250 injured in 79 minutes of rush hour carnage. The dead and injured have 40 different nationalities, including two Britons.

Despite a Government warning to stay at home thousands have gathered in the centre of the city to light candles, leave flowers and write messages of hope on the ground in defiance of the terrorists who carried out the the worst terror attacks in Belgium's history.

Hundreds also gathered outside Brussels airport yesterday evening for a candlelit vigil, with airport workers leading the tributes to those who were killed.

Terminal staff were joined by relatives as they lit candles, laid flowers and notes and embraced one another outside the city's Zaventem airport.

In mourning: Airport workers and their relatives lit candles outside Brussels main airport yesterday in honour of those who were killed

Seeking comfort in one another: Two women embraced outside Brussels airport as they attended a vigil in mourning of those who died

Tears and sorrow: Mourners gathered outside Brussels airport where 14 people were killed when two suicide bombers acted

Candles for the victims: A group of airport workers pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks during a vigil held yesterday

Grieving: Mourners blew kisses to those who died in the terror attacks as they attended a vigil yesterday outside the country's airport

United in mourning: Grief-stricken airport staff, relatives of the victims and members of the public gather outside the airport to pay tribute

Light up: Dozens of candles were lit outside Brussels main airport tonight as the country began three days of mourning for the victims

London: The Belgian flag was projected on two sides of the National Portrait Gallery and the fountain in Trafalgar Square glowed red

Manchester: The Town Hall was also lit up tonight, 24 hours after landmarks around the world were covered in the flag's colours

Belfast: The imposing City Hall was illuminated in the black, yellow and red of the Belgian flag in memory of the victims of the attacks

Liverpool: St George's Hall was also involved in the commemorations. Questions were raised after few UK landmarks were lit up on Tuesday

The pillars of Tower Bridge in London were lit up in a sequence of red, yellow (pictured) and black in a mark of respect to the victims

Respect: The arches of Wembley Stadium in London were also illuminated in the red, yellow and black of the Belgian flag tonght

Mother-of-two Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, was the first named victim of the Brussels terror attacks so far. The Peruvian national had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her twin daughters when she died in the double suicide bombing at the airport.

Ms Tapia's three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived the explosion on Tuesday morning.

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries.

The third victim whose identity has been released was also killed in the metro bomb. Olivier Delespesse was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the second bombing.

The girlfriend of a British father missing after the Brussels attacks is among desperate relatives searching the city's hospitals in the hope of finding their loved ones.

David Dixon has not been in contact with his partner, Charlotte Sutcliffe, since the bombs went off and may have been on the Brussels Metro at the time of Tuesday's explosion at the Maalbeck underground station.

The IT programmer, who lives in Brussels but is originally from Hartlepool, County Durham, was travelling to work on Tuesday morning but did not arrive at his office.

The 53-year-old would have travelled through Maelbeek station, where the attack happened.

Friends have been appealing for information on his whereabouts on social media and asking anyone with information to contact his Ms Sutcliffe.

United in grief: The people of Brussels stand together during a minute of silence around a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse

Gripped by grief: A heartbroken mother is comforted by her two children as she pays her respects to the 34 terror attack victims in Brussels this afternoon

Sombre: A woman weeps after people observed a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of Tuesday's terror attacks

Anger: An overwhelmed mourner yells to the skies in Place De La Bourse as he and thousands of other met to show their defiance to the ISIS bombers who brought terror to their city

Tragic: One of the 20 people killed in the Maelbeek metro is taken from the station in a body bag yesterday as Belgium started three days of mourning after the worst terror attacks in its history

American siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

According to Dutch media reports, the pair were on the phone to their family when the blasts took place and then the line went dead.

The Pinczowskis, both from New York, were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

American Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, was injured in the horrifying Brussels airport terrorist attack after having previously survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, injuries from shrapnel and second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing.

Chad Wells, Mason's father, told ABC News: 'This is his third terrorist attack' adding he and Mason were a block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the bombing took place in 2013. The teen was also in Paris last year during the attacks.

A haunting image of Nidhi Chaphekar, a married mother of two, went viral on social media in the aftermath of the attack, with #PrayForNidhi trending on social media. Covered in dust and blood, Nidhi is pictured amid the chaos in the tattered remains of her yellow Jet Airways jacket.

Victim: Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, died in the terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday, while her three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, left, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries. Belgian Olivier Delespesse, right, was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the blast on the metro train

David Dixon, from Hartlepool, has not been in contact with his partner Charlotte Louise Sutcliffe since leaving for work on Tuesday

New York siblings Sascha (pictured) and Alexander Pinczowski (right) were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal - they haven't been seen since

Traumatic: Air hostess and mother of two Nidhi Chapekar (right) pictured covered in dust and with her yellow uniform in tatters

BROTHERS IN ARMS: GANGLAND EL BAKRAOUI SIBLINGS JAILED FOR WIELDING AK-47S... BUT STILL EVADED SPOOKS Khalid El Bakraoui Khalid, 27, (pictured, right) was well-known to police thanks to his long history of organised crime in the Belgian capital. In early 2011, he was jailed for five years for possessing AK-47s and committing a series of car-jackings. It is not clear when he was let out or, if believing he had nothing to lose, whether he fled to Syria to train with ISIS. But at some point he linked up with the terror cell behind the Paris terror attacks and used a false name to rent a property in nearby Charleroi which was used as a hideout. In the hours before the November massacre, logistics chief Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim are believed to have stopped at the apartment to pick up weapons. Khalid later rented out a flat under an alias in the Brussels suburb of Forest which was stormed last week by police hunting Salah Abdeslam. Khalid and his brother, Ibrahim, are believed to have escaped during a shoot-out with police. Ibrahim El Bakraoui Like his brother, Ibrahim (pictured right)had a long list previous offences to his name, but apparently none that aroused suspicion that he might be part of a terror cell. That is despite him being sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during a robbery. Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by security services. It is also not known when the 30-year-old was released from prison or whether he went to fight in Syria. But he is also believed to have linked up with the Paris terror squad in the run-up to November's massacre. It is not clear, however, when intelligence service made the link between the brothers and those behind the attacks that killed 130 in France. Security services will be under intense pressure to explain how they slipped through the net. Advertisement

Belkaid, an Algerian national who was illegally in Belgium, was found with an ISIS flag, AK-47 assault rifle and a book of jihadist literature next to his body.

At the time police said: 'Two persons [the El Bakraoui brothers] who were probably in the flat fled the scene and are being tracked down'.

Less than one week later, Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui carried out the terrorist attack at Brussels airport and as passengers queued to check in for flights at around 8am local time (7am GMT) the first blast rang out.

People fled towards the entrance of Brussels Zaventem Airport, a second much bigger blast in front of them brought down much of the ceiling and sent razor-sharp shrapnel, body parts and clouds of thick dust and smoke billowing through the building.

According to Belgian news website 7sur7, Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for firing at police with an AK-47 assault rifle during a robbery.

Khalid was also given a five-year jail term in early 2011 for possessing AK-47s and committing a series of car-jackings, it was reported. It is not clear when they were released from prison.

Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by security services.

Belgian terror expert Pieter Van Ostaeyen says French prosecutor indicating that Abdeslam had started talking to police may have triggered the attack.s

'The three terrorists thought their network would be exposed and carried out their terror plan before this happened as a pre-emptive move,' he told Aftonbladet.

'It happened today [Tuesday], maybe weeks or months before the planned date.

'The French prosecutor should not have talked so much. He sent out the wrong signals to the ISIS network still intact in Europe, so it was high time for them to act and that's exactly what happened.

'The Belgian police investigation was leaking, and that's why it happened now,' he adds.

Belgian intelligence services are already under intense pressure to explain a number of failures that have allowed members of the ISIS cell to operate under their noses in the capital.

FUGITIVE PARIS 'BOMB MAKER' WAS BEHIND THE BRUSSELS BLASTS: TERROR EXPERT CLAIMS USE OF 'MULTIPLE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES' BEARS ALL THE HALLMARKS OF THE ISIS CELL THAT TARGETED THE FRENCH CAPITAL Cover: Belgian police were 'actively searching for' Europe's most-wanted man, who had been wearing a white coat, glasses and a hat The suspected bombmaker responsible for the Paris massacre was very likely behind the Brussels blasts, a top terror expert has claimed. Investigators are desperate to track down Mohamed Abrini (pictured) for his possible involvement in the mass slaughter in the Belgium capital on Tuesday Rafaello Pantucci, the Director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said the use of 'multiple, viable explosive devices' bore all the hallmarks of the co-ordinated bomb attacks that killed 130 in the French capital. It also indicated that possibly more than one experienced bombmaker was involved, he added. Najim Laachraoui, who is believed to have gone on the run after Paris logistics chief Salah Abdeslam's capture. Laachraoui reportedly travelled to Syria in February 2013 and was stopped by guards at the Austria-Hungary border on September 9 last year while driving a rented Mercedes he shared with Salah Abdesalam, according to the Belgian Federal Prosecutor. The pair were also travelling with Mohamed Belkaid, 35, the man shot and killed during the raid to capture Abdelslam on Friday. It is thought Laachraoui was not stopped as he was using a drivers licence under a different name and traveled to Budapest twice in September 2015. On this instance, the three men had posed as tourists heading to Vienna on holiday and did not raise suspicions when they were stopped by police. Laachraoui was also captured on CCTV with Belkaid four days after the attacks during a money transfer in a Western Union bank in the Brussels area. 'The investigation showed that Soufiane Kayal can be identified as Najim Laachraoui, born on May 18, 1991 and who travelled to Syria in February 2013,' prosecutors said in a statement in Brussels. It is also using this alias that authorities have said he was in contact via phone with Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and gave him guidance in the lead-up to the November attacks. He has been identified as using the alias Soufiane Kayal - the name he used to rent the safe house used by the Paris bombers to plan the Paris attack, where his DNA has also been found as well as in their hideout in Schaerbeek. At the house on Rue Henri Berge, investigators found traces of TATP - a signature explosive of ISIS in Europe, and was found in the suicide vests used by the Paris attackers. To evade captue he also used documents under the name Soufiane Kayal, left, to travel to Syria, across Europe with his terrorist friends and also to rent safehouses ahead of the Brussels bombings Mr Pantucci said: 'We don't know much about him at this point. This individual is being identified as a bomb maker but we have concerns whether that is 100 per cent true or if he's one of a number of bomb makers. 'This terrorist group in Brussels had multiple, viable explosive devices. It suggests they were dealing with someone with substantial experience. 'That could be the same person responsible for the bomb devices in the Paris attacks but it could be someone else, part of a larger cell. 'Given the location and the nature and the use of explosives and guns the thought process goes down the page of assuming it's linked to the organised network around Abdeslam. 'We can't be sure but it would be surprising if it wasn't the same group.' A friend of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who masterminded the November 2015 Paris attacks, told police that the jihadi claimed he was among 90 'kamikaze' terrorists who smuggled themselves across the Mediterranean with migrants and refugees. Double life: Najim Laachraoui, right, also used documents under the name Soufiane Kayal, left, to travel to Syria, across Europe with his terrorist friends and also to rent safehouses ahead of the Brussels bombings. He has now been confirmed as the airport suicide bomber Advertisement

Escape: The body of jihadi is removed from the scene where shots were fired during a police anti-terror raid in Brussels linked to the Paris massacre suspects - but the brothers who blew up Brussels airport escaped

Battle: Police officers take positions on a roof as they surrounded the building - the El Bakraoui brothers are said to have opened fire and fled

Paris links: The terror cell in Brussels that killed 34 appear to have helped in Paris where 130 died - and Khalid El Bakraoui rented the apartment in white where Paris terror attacker Salah Abdeslam was captured by anti-terror police last Friday

The taxi driver who drove the bombers to the airport led police to their hideout after the men refused to let him touch their luggage. After the explosions he contacted the authorities.

Armed police in vans and helicopters then flooded in the district of Shaerbeek, north-east Brussels and a nail bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag in a flat.

The disturbing discoveries were made as officers searched properties in the district of Shaerbeek, north-east Brussels, where two Paris suspects are believed to have lived in the wake of the attacks.

Photographs taken overnight show teams of armed officers preparing to enter a building in the area as helicopters flew over the scene, providing light and firearm cover for those on the ground.

Forensic teams later used laser lights to search for clues and left the heavily guarded premises with evidence bags.

Najim Laachraoui, the airport bomber whose DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris terror attacks, had rented a hideout in Schaarbeek.

And Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam is believed to have been holed up in an apartment in Schaerbeek for three weeks after the massacre in France.

'The searches that took place in the Schaerbeek (district) found an explosive device containing among other things nails,' the federal prosecutor said in a statement.

'Investigators also discovered chemicals and a flag of the Islamic State,' the statement added.

Incredibly, Abdeslam - arrested on Friday, may have been hiding in nearby Molenbeek for four months since the deadly Paris terror attacks.

And there another suspect - named as Amine Choukri - was arrested by Belgian anti-terror police when he was found living with Abdeslam having entered Europe via Greece.

Najim Laachraoui - the second airport suicide bomber who killed 14 alongside Ibrahim El Bakraoui - is the younger brother Mourad Laachraoui, a medal-winning athlete who represents Belgium in Taekwondo.

Mourad has distanced himself from his terrorist younger brother Najim, and the family, who are of Moroccan descent, are deeply ashamed of his fanatical opinions and murderous activities.

Brothers: Airport suicide bomber Najim Laachraoui (left) is the brother of Mourad (right), who represents Belgium in Taekwondo

THIRD BRUSH WITH TERROR: AMERICAN MORMON, 19, LEFT WITH BURNS AND SHRAPNEL INJURIES IN BRUSSELS ATTACK ALSO SURVIVED THE BOSTON AND PARISH BOMBINGS Miracle: Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, pictured, was injured in Brussels airport and also survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks An American Mormon missionary was injured in the horrifying Brussels airport terrorist attack after having previously survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks. Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, was injured along with his two colleagues and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, injuries from shrapnel and second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing. 'This is his third terrorist attack,' Chad Wells, Mason's father, told ABC News. 'This is the third time that sadly in our society that we have a connection to a bomb blast 'We live in a dangerous world and not everyone is kind and loving.' Chad said he and Mason were a block away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the bombing took place, waiting for Mason's mother, Kymberly Wells, who was a runner. 'It had shaken their bodies and he had taken Mason to our hotel and said to stay there. 'Mason was very calm and composed,' Kymberly told ABC News. Mason is currently in a Belgian hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, he told his parents. He was at 'ground zero' of the blast zone when the bombs went off. Chad said a Mormon official relayed to the Wells family that Mason, 'despite being on the ground and bleeding actually had a sense of humor and remained calm through the situation'. 'Mason has always assured us that he is safe and careful. 'I told him first and foremost always be aware of your surroundings, please be very careful when you're traveling be very observant to people around you,' Kymberly said. The teen was also in Paris last year during the attacks. He shared with us that he was extremely close to the blast where he was burned by it,' Chad said. 'It's a blessing from God he's alive.' Joseph Empey, who was with Mason, was also injured in the attack. The 20-year-old was treated for second-degree burns to his hands, face and head. Advertisement

Collection: Forensic teams left the heavily guarded premises with evidence bags late into the night

Discoveries: Police in Brussels were seen searching the top floor flat in the suburb of Schaerbeek

Investigation: Forensic teams used laser lights to search for clues in the Brussels suburb of Schaerbeek

A masked officer is seen searching one apartment during the raids in the city's terror district

Armed Belgian police officers gather outside a building as they conduct searches at a number of addresses

A police sharpshooter takes aim from a helicopter hovering over Brussels' rooftops following the attacks

The blasts, which detonated near a Starbucks branch and several check-in desks, sent shockwaves through the terminal, shattering windows and knocking roof tiles off the ceiling as terrified passengers ran for their lives.

Initial reports suggested at least one of the explosions was the result of a suicide bombing. The other device may have been in a suitcase packed with nails and bolts placed at a check-in desk.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens more injured as Islamic State killers struck in Belgium four months after the Paris terror attacks that cost 130 lives. Eyewitnesses spoke of chaos as injured passengers staggered around or cowered under check-in desks as scattered suitcases and choking smoke filled the terminal.

Others ran for their lives, their clothes torn and bloodied, dodging numerous nails flying through the air, small fires and stepping over dismembered bodies, fallen ceiling tiles and shards of glass.

Later police reportedly found two Kalashnikov assault rifles next to the body of an attacker. An unused explosive belt was also discovered in the ruins of the airport, public broadcaster VRT said.

Dries Valaert, 30, who had been waiting to get his boarding pass for a business trip to Berlin, said: 'There was a first blast and then ten seconds later a second explosion. It was a big big blast.

'The ceiling tiles came down. It was just 30 metres from where I was. I saw people down on the ground and I just ran. I saw two people dead. I looked around as I ran away and saw them lying there. I jumped over the security barriers towards the departure gates as I thought it would be safer. My first intuition was to get out in case there were attackers with guns.

'I saw a woman aged around 18 with a hole in her hand and blood pouring out. There was a man with an injured ankle. There was lots of panic. People were running all over the place.'

Mr Valaert said he believed one of the bombs may have been hidden in suitcases that had just been checked in. He said: 'The explosions were just behind the service desks, they were blown towards us. To me it is the most realistic possibility.'

Poignant: A banner for the victims of the bombings reads ' I am Brussels' as it is unfurled at the Place de la Bourse alongside flowers, cards, balloons and candles for the dead and injured

Respect: A minute of silence is observed by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, King Philippe of Belgium, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Belgian Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (front row left to right) in Brussels yesterday

Message: Queen Letizia of Spain signs the book of condolence at Belgium's embassy in Madrid yesterday with her husband King Felipe Belgian ambassador Pierre Labouverie

Message: Letizia and Felipe said that the thoughts of all of Spain were with those caught up in the Brussels atrocities

Ghost town: The deserted street Maelbeek metro station as the EU district around it lies empty as police continue to investigate the terror attack in the underground station below

Stranded: Hundreds of air passengers unable to leave Brussels after the airport bombing have been sleeping on camp beds at a crisis centre at the Brabanthal sport complex in Leuven

Security: Soldiers have been searching the bags of commuters for bombs and weapons yesterday, pictured here at the entrance of De Brouckere subway station in Brussels

Disbelief: Belgium has started three days of official mourning after Tuesday's twin terror attacks as devastated residents. A mother and two children sob in Place de la Bourse, left, as emergency services, pictured right after leaving the Maalbeek metro station yesterday, try to come to terms with their grief

Terrible journey: Medical staff pushing a stretcher and a folded body bag were carrying the dead from the remains of the train destroyed at Maalbeek metro station all day yeserday

Lockdown: Belgium police stand guard during an investigation in a house in the Anderlecht neighborhood in Brussels - the latest area raided yesterday

Samir Derrouich, who works at a cafe in the airport, said: 'The two explosions were almost simultaneous. They were both at the check-in desk. One was close to the Starbucks cafe just inside the airport entrance. It was awful, there was just blood. It was like the apocalypse.'

Alphonse Youla, 40, who had been working on a stand in the check-in hall wrapping people's bags in plastic for security since 4am, said: 'I heard a man shout some words in Arabic before an explosion, then a second explosion  a massive explosion, much bigger.

'I did not see the man who shouted in Arabic as he was behind me. I just heard the words.'

Speaking with his hands and clothes covered in blood from helping to carry five bodies out of the terminal, and struggling to hold back tears, he added: 'It was a horror. I saw at least seven people dead.

'There was blood. People had lost legs. You could see their bodies but no legs. I saw two men face down with blood pouring out of their heads. The injuries were so awful, you cannot imagine.'

Just 79 minutes later a bomb blew up an underground train killing 20.

Shocking images from Maelbeek station show the mangled remains of the train, smoke pouring out of the building and casualties littered on the pavement outside - just 400metres from the EU's headquarters.

The bomb went off at 9.19am - just over an hour after the two explosions killed at least 14 in a suicide attack on the Belgian capital's main airport.

Possibly packed with nails and bolts, they produced catastrophic damage, as the crowded middle carriage was filled with deadly shards of flying metal and glass. Along with the dead, up to 130 were wounded, according to official estimates.

Panic: A fire caused by one of the explosions in the terminal is tackled by airport staff with extinguishers surrounded by baggage and falling roof tiles

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media.

Survivors: Commuters on the Metro at the time described hearing a loud bang before they were evacuated from trains (pictured)

Aftermath: A man lies stricken on the pavement as survivors kiss in relief after surviving the bombing, which has killed at least ten

Victim: A bloodied commuter is given oxygen and treated for a head injury on the kerb outside the Metro station where a train was bombed

As the whole Brussels Metro system was evacuated, shell-shocked passengers in a following train were then forced to stumble through a smoke-filled tunnel to safety as the passageway echoed with the screams of terrified children.

At street level, shattered glass caused further casualties as the blast wave turned windows into deadly shrapnel. Smoke billowed out of the station as casualties littered the pavement waiting for help to arrive.

Summing up the surreal blend of terror and relief, one image showed a blood-stained man lying outside the station as a pair of stunned survivors embraced before turning their attention to the injured man.

The death toll was expected to rise after a spokesman for the Brussels Metro said ten of the injured were 'very seriously' wounded. Survivors described hearing a loud bang before they were evacuated from trains and forced to walk along darkened tracks to the closest safe station. Wiping blood from his face, Alexandre Brans, 32, said: 'It was panic everywhere.'

Brussels resident Shigeo Sugimoto, who was one Metro stop from the explosion, described the scene as an 'apocalypse'.

Another passenger, Evan Lamos, who was two stops away from Maelbeek, said: 'There was a dull thud. We felt a blast of air and my ears popped shortly afterwards.'

Briton Ian McCafferty, another passenger, told Sky News: 'Panic set in and people rushed off the train. We ran to the stairs and were met by soldiers who quickly evacuated the station.' Svetlin Lukarov, 26, said he would have been on the fateful train had he not stopped 'to have a cigarette and a coffee'. The banker, from Bulgaria, said: 'That cigarette saved my life.'

Passengers on Tuesday night also described their trek to safety after their train came to a sudden halt between the Maelbeek and Arts-Loi stations.

After 30 minutes trapped underground behind the train targeted by terrorists, a stream of people including mothers with children in pushchairs had no choice but to clamber on to the tracks and brave the 650-yard walk through the darkness to the next station.

A passenger tweeted a video of the traumatised passengers making their way out. Thomas Bignal, a Briton living in Brussels, said it took 15 minutes to evacuate the train. 'After a minute or two, there was lots of smoke and a plasticy smell and it became increasingly warm and difficult to breathe,' he told The Guardian.

Passenger Evan Lamos tweeted a picture of a child in a pushchair with his mother outside the station, adding: 'Was able to carry this brave little guy out from the Metro line to Arts-Loi.'

Five European Commission officials were also unaccounted for on Tuesday night. Maelbeek is the station that most EU workers use daily and they were yesterday urged to 'stay home or inside buildings'.

The station is close to the Commission's Berlaymont headquarters, the European Parliament and the European Council's Justus Lipsius building.

Experts believe the bombs were loaded with metal shrapnel to inflict maximum casualties.

An X-ray image of a bolt inside the chest on one patient at a military hospital showed how they came with inches of death. Doctors at the Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven, east of Brussels, which treated 13 victims, said all the bombs contained metal objects.

Blast zone: The two bombs are believed to have gone off in these areas of the arrivals hall, as thousands were checking in for flights

A soldier walks through debris after two explosion rocked a terminal building at Brussels Airport - but security sources say Belgian police already have CCTV of at least one bomber and the explosion

Passengers shield themselves under bags as smoke and debris fill the terminal in the moments after the twin blast at Brussels Airport

Patients taken there suffered fractures, burns and deep cuts thought to have been caused by bolts or nails. Five of them were seriously injured.

At the nearby KU Leuven hospital, Dr Marc Decremer said 11 casualties were treated for serious injuries including three or four children. 'We have seen deep flesh wounds,' he said. 'That can be caused by flying glass thrown by the explosion, or by the bomb, or by particles in the bomb.'

The British Foreign Office confirmed two Britons were injured in the explosions, while three American missionaries from Utah were also seriously hurt.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'Embassy staff are providing consular assistance to two injured Britons and are ready to support any further British nationals that have been affected. British nationals should follow the advice of local security authorities and check our travel advice for updates.'

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

Prime Minister Charles Michel cancelled a trip to China and convened his inner cabinet to discuss security. Belgium was to observe a nationwide minute's silence at noon, with King Philippe, the premier and leaders of European Union institutions attending an outdoor memorial event in Brussels' European district.

The Brussels blasts fuelled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants.

'We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world,' said U.S. President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks.

The US Republican presidential candidate also said it was 'a disgrace' that a suspect behind last year's Paris attacks had been found after a long manhunt by police in an area of Brussels where he lived.

Mr Trump, who wants a ban on Muslims entering the US, condemned the 'outrageous' attacks on the Brussels airport and metro and said he would 'hit ISIS so hard you wouldn't believe it'.

But Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May hit back this afternoon, declaring that Mr Trump was 'absolutely plain wrong' to blame Muslims for failing to report extremists.

Israel's intelligence minister accused Belgian leaders of laxity - and concentrating too much on chocolate not security.

Yisrael Katz said: 'If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them'.

Islamic State said in a statement that 'caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns' struck Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station.

About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities.

Reviving arguments over Belgian policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of 'naivete' on the part of 'certain leaders' in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalised.

Revealed: Bomber brothers were gangland criminals and wanted by Interpol  but were STILL able to provide ammunition for Paris attacks and rent flat for Brussels mastermind

Two brothers who blew themselves up in Brussels were able to evade security services despite being notorious gangland criminals and placed on a worldwide terror watchlist, it emerged yesterday.

Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui were yesterday named as two of the ISIS suicide bombers who rocked the Belgian capital on Tuesday, killing 34 people and wounding more than 270 others.

Their involvement provides for the first time a direct link between the Brussels attacks and the ISIS massacre in Paris that killed 130 people in November.

It has since emerged that they each extensive criminal record and were both jailed several years ago for shocking crimes involving Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Khalid was also listed on an Interpol 'red notice'  an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges.

Yet they were still allowed to play a major for ISIS, providing ammunition and renting out a number of safe houses where the Brussels and Paris attacks were plotted before martyring themselves.

On the terror watch list: Khalid was on an Interpol 'red notice'  an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges

Ibrahim blew himself up in the check-in hall of Zaventem airport while Khalid attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, Frederic van Leeuw told a news conference.

Ibrahim, 30, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during a robbery.

He has been on the run since breaching parole terms last year.

Khalid, 27, was jailed for five years in 2011 for possessing AK-47 machine guns and committing a series of car-jackings.

Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by intelligence services.

The revelations are the latest in a series of failures by security chiefs facing damaging questions about why the siblings and other members of the cell were able to slip through the net.

The safe house rented by the El Bakraoui brothers in the Brussels district of Molenbeek where Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam was arrested in a police raid last Friday after four months on the run

Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam (left) was arrested (right) while trying to flee his safehouse in the suburb of Molenbeek close to his family home and near the district's police station

Both were released early from prison  although it is not clear when.

But at some point Khalid linked up with the terror cell behind the Paris attacks and used a false name to rent a property in the city of Charleroi as a hideout.

In the hours before the November massacre, logistics chief Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim are believed to have stopped at the apartment to pick up weapons before going on to unleash hell on the French capital.

Khalid later rented out a flat, also under an alias, in the Brussels suburb of Forest which was stormed last week by police hunting Salah Abdeslam.

Khalid and his brother, Ibrahim, are believed to have escaped during a shoot-out with police in which another militant, Mohamed Belkaid, was killed.

Continuing to act with impunity, the brothers are also understood to have rented out a flat in the suburb of Schaerbeek where they made final preparations before storming the airport and Metro.

Yesterday, prosecutors said Ibrahim left a suicide note at that apartment, telling how he was desperate to blow himself up because he did not want to go to prison like his friend, Salah Abdeslam.

Prosecutors said the confirmed toll from the two attacks was 31 dead and 270 wounded.

Van Leeuw said Bakraoui's 'will' said he was 'in a rush', and 'I don't know what to do... hunted everywhere... no longer safe', adding that 'I don't want to end up in a cell next to him'.

That appeared to be a reference to Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is reportedly linked to Bakraoui, and who is in custody in Belgium after being captured last week.

The computer on which Ibrahim wrote the will was dumped in a trash can in the same street in the Brussels district of Schaarbeek where investigators found an unexploded bomb, an Islamic State group flag and bomb-making materials on Tuesday night.

Prosecutors confirmed that they had found 15 kilos (33lb) of TATP high explosive in the flat.

They also found chemicals including 150 litres of acetone, 30 litres of liquid oxygen, detonators, a suitcase full of nails and other bomb-making equipment including plastic trays, tools and ventilator.

A third man, who was filmed with Ibrahim and a second unidentified suicide bomber and who fled the scene without detonating his device, remains on the run, prosecutors said.

'The third man is on the run. He left his bag with the biggest bomb in it, which exploded later because it was so unstable.
Donald Trump condemned Muslims today for failing to report suspicious activity within their own communities - insisting they must do more to help prevent attacks such as those in Belgium.

The US Republican presidential candidate said it was a disgrace that a suspect behind last years Paris attacks had been found after a long manhunt by police in an area of Brussels where he lived.

Mr Trump, who wants a ban on Muslims entering the US, condemned the outrageous attacks on the Brussels airport and metro yesterday and said he would hit ISIS so hard you wouldn't believe it.

But Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May hit back this afternoon, declaring that Mr Trump was 'absolutely plain wrong' to blame Muslims for failing to report extremists.

Presidential candidate: Donald Trump (pictured today) said it was a disgrace that a suspect behind last years Paris attacks had been found after a long manhunt by police in an area of Brussels where he lived

Ms May said police must work with Muslim communities - as they do in Britain - to 'ensure that everything we do is about uniting our communities and not about dividing them'.

When he made his controversial pledge to ban Muslims from the US in December Mr Trump caused uproar in Britain by claiming that parts of London were so radicalised that they were 'no-go areas' for police because they were 'scared for their lives'.

Speaking to DailyMail.com U.S. Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan onITVs Good Morning Britain, Mr Trump said: When they see trouble they have to report it, they are not reporting it, they are absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem.

Mr Trump told of his fury that Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam had been living in his local area of Brussels for four months.

He was in his neighbourhood where he grew up and nobody even turned him in and supposedly this is retribution for that. It's a disgrace, he said.

I don't know what it is. It's like they're protecting each other but they're really doing very bad damage. They have to open up to society, they have to report the bad ones Donald Trump, on Muslim communities

But Ms May rejected Mr Trump's criticism, telling MPs in the House of Commons today: I understand he has said that Muslims were not coming forward in the United Kingdom to report matters of concern. This is absolutely not the case.

'He is just plain wrong and that has  as I understand it  been confirmed by Neil Basu from the Metropolitan Police this morning.

'We do see people in Muslim communities around the United Kingdom who are as concerned as everybody else is in the UK  both about the attacks that have taken place but also about the perversion of Islam that has underlined the ideology that has led to violence and we work with them and will continue to work with them to ensure that everything we do is about uniting our communities and not about dividing them.

Mr Trump is the front-runner in the race to be the Republican candidate in November's presidential election despite making a series of hugely controversial statements during his campaign.

Interview: Mr Trump, who wants a ban on Muslims entering the US, spoke to DailyMail.com U.S. Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan on ITV's Good Morning Britain, condemned the outrageous attacks on Brussels yesterday

These have boosted his popularity with supporters who see him as someone who speaks uncomfortable truths, but have outraged millions both in the US and around the world.

Mr Trump said there were signs that an attack by suspected Muslim extremists in California in December, which killed 14 people, could have been stopped.

A lot of people in the community knew they were going to do it because in their apartment they had bombs all over the floor... and they didn't report them, he said.

I don't know what it is. It's like they're protecting each other but they're really doing very bad damage. They have to open up to society, they have to report the bad ones.

Found: Mr Trump told of his fury that Paris bombings Salah Abdeslam had been living in a Brussels neighbourhood for four months

When asked what he would do to stop such attacks in the future, Mr Trump told the programme: 'I would hit ISIS so hard you wouldn't believe it, and I'd get the people over there to put up their soldiers because it's about time somebody did it.

'But I'd have such backup like you've never seen before in terms of air power, airstrikes etc, and you've got to take them out - and you've got to take them out harshly, and you've got to take them out fast.

'You have no choice. These people, you know, we're now in the age of chopping off heads, nobody would have believed this was possible. I would hit them very hard, very fast.

He said Abdeslam was really coddled and taken care of by people that like in the neighbourhood, and many people knew he was there, and yet he was the number one wanted fugitive in the world.

Mr Trump added: Everybody from that area knew he was there and nobody turned him in. There's something going on, and there's something wrong - you know it Piers, and so do I.

Mr Trump's promise to ban Muslims from entering the US triggered a campaign to block him from coming to the UK.

The petition was signed by more than half a million people in Britain and led to a three-hour debate by MPs in the House of Commons.

Responding to his comments this morning, Neil Basu, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, told the BBC: 'Trump is wrong. There is a generational problem here.

'We need more reporting from the Muslim community and all communities. If we demonise one section of society thats the worst thing we can do.

'We do see a spike in hate crimes [after attacks] but we do deal with it very forcibly and we work closely with communities to try and prevent it.

Mr Trump told Mr Morgan - who said he considered the billionaire a good friend he had known for a decade - that he did not believe many Britons were scared of the idea of him in the White House.

He said: I don't think too many are. Honestly, I'm a very normal person. I happen to be intelligent, very intelligent, I guess, based on certain results that I get in doing things.

Mr Trump's statements are just not true, said Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain.

He told Good Morning Britain: What we have to recognise is when some of these statements are made that fuel this idea of bigotry and really fuel the thing that terrorists themselves want - that Muslims are apart from the West and cannot be seen as equal citizens - these things are not good for our society.

On a roll: Mr Trump is the front-runner in the race to be the Republican candidate in November's presidential election despite making a series of hugely controversial statements during his campaign

Mr Versi said he cannot speak for the rest of Europe but said in London it is not the case that Muslims are not reporting people they suspect to be extremists, adding that there is a much more integrated society in the UK.

He said: In the UK British Muslims have been very outspoken on this issue.

Mr Versi said research had shown that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Britain would report suspicious activity.

I'd have such backup like you've never seen before in terms of air power, airstrikes etc, and you've got to take them out - and you've got to take them out harshly, and you've got to take them out fast Donald Trump, on ISIS

He warned it was concerning that people are confusing criminality and religion.

He said: We have to understand how much of this is due to them being Muslim communities or just a community of criminality which people are working within? And we have to try and not conflate the two together.

Mr Versi warned that bigotry against Muslims is growing, describing it as a serious concern. That's dangerous for the cohesiveness of our society.

Mr Basu said police had received increasing volumes of calls to the dedicated anti-terror hotline since it was set up, which he described as a measure of success.

He told Good Morning Britain: We know we are getting more referrals into our Prevent programmes which are aimed to dissuade people from radicalisation. So I think it's working but this is a generation of work.

Asked whether an attack in the UK is inevitable he said he would not patronise the public by saying that we are going to be capable of stopping every attack but highlighted that police had prevented seven attacks in a period of 12 months.

Yesterday, Mr Trump commented on the bombings hours after they happened, saying: 'This is going to happen in the United States.'

He then said in an interview on Fox News that the US needs to 'shut the borders' - a statement he repeated later in the morning while appearing on NBCs The Today Show.

In that appearance he also told presenter Matt Lauer that he is a firm believer in using torture to get information from people behind attacks like the one in Brussels, stating: 'Waterboarding is fine.'

Mr Trumps Democrat rival Hillary Clinton also called into The Today Show - and criticised Mr Trump's comments about waterboarding, saying: 'We don't need to resort to torture.'

Mr Trump also called into Fox Business Network's Mornings with Maria Bartiromo saying that the US must have surveillance of Muslims in this country, particularly at mosques.

The series of bombings in the Belgian capital - which occurred in the city's airport and at a Metro station close to the headquarters of the European Union - have claimed the lives of at least 34 individuals. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement.

Mr Trump previously called Brussels a 'hellhole' in January when asked about the city during a Fox Business interview.
Syrian pro-government forces have advanced to the edge of the famed ancient city of Palmyra today, a monitor said.

The move is a major symbolic victory over the Islamic State jihadist group, who seized control of the city in May last year.

The takeover sent shock waves around the world as the group demolished some of the most treasured monuments of its Unesco-listed World Heritage Site.

Islamic State fighters seized Palmyra, dubbed the 'Pearl of the Desert', in May 2015. Syrian pro-government forces are said to have now advanced to the edge of the city

'The regime forces are now a little more than a mile away on the south side and three miles away on the west side,' Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahmans said.

Regime forces launched an offensive to retake the city at the start of the month backed by heavy Russian air strikes.

Moscow said last week that it was flying up to 25 sorties a day to help government forces liberate what President Vladimir Putin described as a 'pearl of world civilisation'.

But ISIS has fiercely resisted the advance, killing at least 26 pro-government fighters on Monday alone, the Observatory said.

Aamaq, an ISIS-linked news agency, claimed that 30 troops were killed in an attack by a jihadist suicide bomber.

ISIS has also claimed to have killed five Russian soldiers as well as fighters of Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah in the battle for Palmyra.

The Islamic State group sent shock waves around the world as it demolished some of the most treasured monuments in Palmyra

A map showing the power struggle of different groups in Syria (correct as of early 2016)

But there has been no confirmation from Moscow of the deaths of any soldiers or even of the presence of any military advisers on the ground.

The Kremlin has said that the offensive is being carried out by the Syrian army.

The recapture of Palmyra would be a strategic as well as symbolic prize for the regime.

Whoever controls the oasis city also controls the surrounding desert -an area of some 12,000 square miles extending to the Iraqi border.

That would cut ISIS's area of control from some 40 per cent of Syrian territory to 30 per cent, according to the Observatory.

Global concern for Palmyra's magnificent ancient ruins spiked in September 2015, when satellite images confirmed that ISIS had demolished the famed Temple of Bel as part of its campaign to destroy pre-Islamic monuments it considers idolatrous.

ISIS has already destroyed the shrine of Baalshamin and the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel, regarded as Palmyra's masterpiece, as part of an ongoing campaign to destroy pre-Islamic monuments (pictured)

The Arch of Triumph, one of the most recognisable sites in the Syrian city of Palmyra (pictured before it was destroyed), has been blown up by ISIS extremists

Unesco described the temple as one of the best preserved and most important religious edifices of the first century in the Middle East.

In October, the jihadists blew up the Arch of Triumph, dating from between 193 and 211 AD, as they pressed a campaign of destruction that Unesco has said constitutes a war crime punishable by the International Criminal Court.

The jihadists have waged a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas they control in Syria and Iraq and in August last year beheaded Palmyra's 82-year-old former antiquities chief.

The city was a major centre of the ancient world as it lay on the caravan route linking the Roman Empire with Persia and the east.

Situated about 130 miles northeast of Damascus, it drew 150,000 tourists a year before it became engulfed by Syria's devastating civil war.
Thousands of commuters in Melbourne have been hit by major delays after a signal fault sent the train network into a peak-hour meltdown.

Metro Trains said there were major delays to all City Loop services from about 6pm following a loss of signalling power near Southern Cross station.

Hundreds have taken to social media to vent their frustration at the 'huge delays, queues and overcrowding'.

BT tweeted: 'Hectic scenes at Southern Cross Station as passengers for lines affected by the City Loop disruption.'

Thousands of commuters in Melbourne have been hit by major delays after a signal fault sent the train network into a peak-hour meltdown

Metro Trains said there were major delays to all City Loop services from about 6pm following a loss of signalling power near Southern Cross station (pictured)

Aaron said: 'Stuck at Southern Cross Train Station... Get me out of here!'

Another man said: '@metrotrains thanks for not warning me I shouldn't get on at Southern Cross. WHY WEREN'T THERE ANY WARNINGS @ THE PLATFORM?????????

'@metrotrains now I'm stuck on a not moving train between Southern Cross and Flinders - I could have walked. Your service is so terrible....'

Commuters at City Loop stations have been advised to travel to Flinders Street to connect with outbound services until further notice.

A Metro spokeswoman said fitters were on site fixing the problem - but she did not know when the issue would be fixed.

'There will be some delays but we are working very hard to rectify the problem,' she said.

'We are still experiencing major delays to all services due to a signalling issue.'

Outbound trains have been diverted to Flinders Street Station.

Commuters at City Loop stations have been advised to travel to Flinders Street to connect with outbound services until further notice

Outbound services to Alamein, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sandringham are running direct from Flinders Street to Richmond.

Werribee, Williamstown and Sunbury services are running direct from Flinders Street station to North Melbourne via Southern Cross.

All Hurstbridge and South Morang services are running direct between Flinders Street and Jolimont stations.

Stony Point is the only line on Metros network with good service.
Boy told he would next appear before a youth court in Tameside in June

He denies charge of rape and inciting three more children to engage in sexual activity

A schoolboy has appeared in court accused of committing sex attacks against four children, one who was just eight-years-old.

Manchester Youth Court was told the boy, then aged 11-and-a-half, had been playing 'jungle games' with his alleged victims, with the abuse said to have been carried out over the following six months.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies eight sex offences with boys under 13, including the rape of one nine-year-old and inciting three more children to engage in sexual activity.

A schoolboy has appeared at Manchester Youth Court (pictured) accused of committing sex attacks against four children, one who was just eight-years-old

The court was told he had coaxed four boys into removing their clothes, before allegedly abusing them, according to The Sun.

'The defendant says they had been playing "jungle games",' said Caroline Wilbraham, defending. 'There was no sexual motive.'

Appearing in court in his school uniform alongside his mother, the youngster spoke only to confirm his name and birth date.

He was told he would next appear at the youth court in Tameside in June.

If he is convicted it is likely he will become one of Britain's youngest sex offenders.

The case comes just months after another Manchester boy was charged with raping a seven-year-old girl just three days after his 11th birthday.
A mother-of-two has been named as the first victim of the Brussels terror attacks, which killed at least 34 people and injured nearly 200 on Tuesday.

Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, a Peruvian national who had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her daughters when she in the blasts at Zaventem airport.

Ms Tapia's three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived the attack, as the young girls had run off to play, followed by their father, just moments before the bombs went off.

Victim: Adelma Tapia Ruiz died in the attack. Her three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived. This photo was provided by Ms Ruiz's brother Fernando Tapia Ruiz

Ms Tapia Ruiz, who had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her twin daughters when she died in the bombing at Brussels airport

One of the twins, Maureen suffered shrapnel wounds in one arm, while Mr Delcambe, who was seeing off his wife and daughters at the check-in desk, was also injured.

Ms Tapia's brother, Fernando Tapia Coral, said she was travelling alone with the twins to meet their mother and sister in New York.

'The girls had been playing, and Christopher followed them out of the gate area when the explosion occurred suddenly. Christopher couldn't find Adelma,' Mr Tapia Coral told the New York Times.

Ms Tapia, originally from Pucallpa in Peru, was working as a chef and had planned on opening a Peruvian restaurant in Brussels after studying marketing in the city.

Her brother, who still lives in Peru, wrote on his Facebook page: 'It is very hard to describe this pain that we feel in our home, but, as an older brother, I know that I must do so.

'It is even harder understanding the way in which destiny snatched away the life of a loved one, but what is even more incomprehensible is not being able to be close to her in this family tragedy which today knocked on the door of our family, where, this morning in Brussels airport, my sister Adelma Tapai, died in a terrorist atrocity, unable to resist the Jihadist attack which we will never comprehend.

'Rest in peace little sister, and strength to all of us who we know it will cost so much.'

Ms Tapia comes from Pucallpa, a small jungle town in the remote Peruvian Amazon. It is a two-day bus ride over the Andes from the Peruvian capital Lima.

Ms Tapia was the first named victim of the terror attack on Tuesday morning, which reportedly killed at least 34 people and injured more than 200

Broken dreams: Trained chef Ms Tapia, originally from Pucallpa in Peru, was planning on opening a Peruvian restaurant in Brussels

She was the first named victim of the attacks on the Belgian capital, home to the European Union institutions and NATO, which reportedly killed at least 34 people.

BRUSSELS TERRORIST ATTACKS: VICTIMS IN BOMBINGS So far, at least 34 people have been reported dead as a result of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning. At least 11 people died in the twin blasts at Zaventem airport at about 7am GMT. At least 20 people were killed in a third explosion on a train at Maelbeek metro station near EU headquarters around 8am. Nationalities of victims: Belgium: 2 Peru: 1 Italy: 1 Morocco: 1 Advertisement

The name of the second victim was released at midday Wednesday, as Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht.

The 20-year-old was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries.

His death was announced by Saint-Louis-Brussels University on the institution's Facebook page.

A post signed Chancellor Pierre Jadoul read: 'Dear students, I have the immense sadness to inform you of the death of Leopold Hecht, second year BA Law student .

'He is one of the unfortunate victims of barbaric acts perpetrated this Tuesday, 22 March, at the subway station Maelbeek.

'There are no words to describe our dismay in the face of this news. All our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.'

A second Belgian man, Olivier Delespesse has also been named on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Delespesse worked for the Federation Wallonia-Brussels - a government organisation representing French speakers in Wallonia and the Brussels region.

Mr Delespesse reportedly died in the second attack on Maelbeek Metro Station, and his death was confirmed in a Facebook post by his place of work.

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries

Belgian Olivier Delespesse was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the blast on the metro train

The Italian Foreign Ministry has reported one dead Italian national, but has not yet released the identity of the victim.

A Moroccan woman has also reportedly been confirmed among the victims of the blast at Maelbeek, Moroccan diplomatic sources told Belgian media on Wednesday.

The number of injured in the twin bombings at Zaventem Airport and the explosion at Maelbeek Metro station rose to 270 wounded on Wednesday.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings,which appear to have close connection to November's attack in Paris.

Some 40 different nationalities are believed to be represented among those injured or killed the bombings, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said.

The number of injured in the twin bombings at Zaventem Airport (pictured) and the explosion at Maelbeek Metro station rose to more than 200 wounded yesterday

Blasts: This graphic shows where the two suicide bombs went off at Zaventem Airport on Tuesday

Two American students and a British man are believed to be among the missing in Brussels following the deadly explosions at the city's main airport and Metro system.

Siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

According to Dutch media reports, the pair were on the phone to their family when the blasts took place and then the line went dead.

David Dixon, originally from Hartlepool, is thought to have been on the Metro and has not been in contact with his partner Charlotte Louise Sutcliffe since leaving for work on Tuesday morning.
An experienced 21-year-old British surfing teacher has drowned in an accident while on holiday in Bali.

Cameron Munro, from Patcham, Brighton, Sussex, died on Saturday while he was visiting the Indonesian island.

The full circumstances of how he died are currently unknown and a post mortem is due to take place.

Experienced surfing teacher Cameron Munro drowned in an accident while on the holiday isle of Bali, Indonesia

Tributes have been paid to Mr Munro, who taught surfing in Portugal, where he was remembered fondly.

Zara Mata, from the Algarve Surf School and Camp where he taught, said: 'He was the loveliest, loveliest person that you will ever meet.

'There has been such an outpouring of sadness. He was one of the best people you will ever meet.

'He was always smiling, always in a good mood. And he was very professional as well; the clients just adored him. No-one would have a single negative thing to say about him.

'Everybody is just in shock because we were expecting him to come back.

The full circumstances of how Mr Munro died are currently unknown and a post mortem is due to take place

'He died doing what he loved.'

She said all they knew was that he had drowned, adding: 'But he was such an experienced surfer, we are all trying to figure out what happened.'

It is believed Cameron regularly visited Bali and had been a passionate surfer from a young age.

Pure Spirit Surf School in Brighton described him on Facebook as 'one of the best people you could ever meet'.

It added: 'Humble, mellow, talented and fun, you touched people all over the world with your mellow soul.'

Zara Mata, from the Algarve Surf School and Camp, said Mr Munro 'was the loveliest person that you will ever meet'

Tributes were also paid by friends including Amirul Rusdy, who wrote: 'You had the warmest, most beautiful soul and it truly saddens me that you have been taken away from us.

'But I'm happy you were doing what you loved most.'

A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed it was aware of the death, adding: 'We are providing support to the family of a British national following their death in Bali on March 19.
German border police have racked up 2.7million hours in overtime last year while dealing with the refugee crisis.

Police union DPolG calculated that if every officer in the country were to take time off in lieu of pay in one go there would be no police on duty in the country for a whole week.

And in North Rhine-Westphalia - the state in which Cologne sits, the scene of a mass sex-and-robbery frenzy by refugees against women on New sear's Eve - officers have worked so many extra hours they would be missing from the streets for 18 days if they wanted time off instead of money.

German police guide migrants through Munich train station. Federal police, who patrol Germany's borders and transport hubs, have done 2.7million hours in overtime due to the refugee crisis

The Federal Police admitted the overspend on Tuesday at the same time as the country's finance minister insisted that taxes will not rise as a result of the migrant numbers.

This is despite another warning from the country's main jail union which says 2,000 extra prison officers are needed immediately to cope with a growing overcrowding problem caused by refugee criminal suspects on remand.

The Federal Police - separate from the forces in every one of the 16 states which make up the German republic - have responsibility for securing borders and policing train stations and airports - overtime numbers were revealed in a parliamentary question in Berlin.

Part of the overtime stems from the decision in September 2015 to reinstate border checks at the Austrian frontier.

But by far the largest amount of overtime - 880,000 extra hours amounting to 185 hours for every police man and woman - was by riot police called out to break up demonstrations against refugees or to protect their accommodation from right-wing mobs.

The largest amount of overtime was carried out by riot police, pictured in Hamburg in September, who have been called to break up demonstrations against refugees

Bavarian authorities also revealed that its police force had notched up over two million hours in overtime last year to cope with the influx of an estimate 1.2 million migrants

Bavarian authorities also revealed that its police force had notched up over two million hours in overtime last year to cope with the influx of an estimate 1.2 million migrants. Bavaria was the hardest hit as most refugee came through the state.

'The government has been pursuing policies for years which fail to support the ordinary police office', said Irene Mihalic, security spokesman for the Green Party.

'This attitude is coming back to haunt them now - but the ones who are paying are the ordinary officers who have to carry round this huge weight of overtime.'

Ms Mihalic warned of health implications for police personnel and appealed to the government to swap some of the overtime for time off.

She added: 'Time spent with family and friends isnt something you can replace with money.'

Police officers survey the area in front of the main train station in Cologne, where dozens of women were sexually assaulted on New Year's Eve

Federal police are now being moved around the country like chessboard pieces to fill in the gaps left by officer colleagues taking time off.

This has led to the partial closures of many police stations. Jorg Radek from the Police Trade Union GdP said this was a result of 'chronic underfunding.'

'After the assaults in Cologne, train stations which dont have the necessary police personnel could become increasingly insecure', he added.

But Wolfgang Schaeuble, the finance minister in charge of German purse strings, insists he will be able to balance the books until 2020 at least.
A man has shot a Walmart employee then turned the gun on himself in a horrific murder-suicide in Texas.

Police say Donald Ray Coleman, 55, entered the Walmart in Kaufman and gunned down John Morgan, a man with whom he had been feuding.

Local media reported the store went into lockdown while police and emergency services assessed the scene.

Police say Donald Ray Coleman (pictured) entered the Walmart in Kaufman and gunned down John Morgan

Police officers stand guard at the scene of the killing at the outdoor Walmart centre in Kaufman, Texas

Although there were other staff and customers present at the time, no one else was injured in the shooting.

Kaufman police captain Ed Black said: 'Upon arrival, officers entered the garden area of the store and discovered two males with gunshot wounds,' Athens Daily Review reported.

'Witnesses are reporting that the gunman, identified as 55-year-old Donald Ray Coleman, entered the store, and without provocation of any kind, shot the victim multiple times.

'The victim is identified as 59-year-old John D. Morgan, an employee of Wal-Mart.'

Following the shooting, Walmart released a statement saying it was 'deeply saddened' by the situation, CBSDFW.com reported.

'Were assisting law enforcement however we can and our thoughts are with the families and our associates at this time.'

It also emerged Coleman was the man at the centre of a police hunt in Gun Barrel City in January after he fled police following the assault of a family member.

According to The Monitor, he tied up, pistol whipped and threatened to kill the 50-year-old woman because she had been out with a friend.

However, after she escaped he fled police for several days before eventually turning himself in.
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The seeds of the terror blasts that shook Europe were planted by a brotherhood of childhood friends who grew up just a few doors away from each other in a part of Brussels dubbed the 'crucible of terror'.

Police following the trail of the terrorist murderers behind the atrocities in France and Belgium have repeatedly arrived at a single block of housing in Molenbeek, a district of Brussels known as a hotbed of jihadism.

The centre of the deadly network is the Abdeslam family home, a first floor apartment on Gemeenteplaats, behind the local police station  and just round the corner from the home of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the brains behind the Paris attacks.

City of Jihad: How the tentacles of terror spread through Brussels and jihadis who lived close to each other in the suburbs of Molenbeek and Schaerbeek plotted the Paris and Brussels bloodshed

Abaaoud, the linchpin of the terror cell, was killed in a furious shootout with police in Saint-Denis, Paris, in the aftermath of the November massacres. He has emerged as the group's ringleader, along with Salah Abdeslam.

Brothers Salah and Brahim Abdeslam were involved in the carnage in Paris, in which Brahim, 31, was killed in a suicide attack on the Comptoir Voltaire restaurant.

It is understood that Salah, 26, went on the run without detonating his suicide vest.

Salah, who is accused of making the bombs used in the attacks, was arrested last week round the corner from the family home in a frantic police raid after four months on the run. He is also thought to have been involved in the Brussels attacks with a 'new network' of fanatics.

Just a few doors down from the Abdeslam and Abaaoud apartments is the family home of Mohamed Abrini, 30, who drove the Abdeslam brothers to Paris to carry out the attacks and is accused of being involved with the Brussels plot. He remains at large, and police are desperately trying to track him down.

Bombers: Brothers Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 30, the Zaventem airport bomber, and his younger brother Khalid, 27, who blew himself up at Maelbeek Metro, rented a flat at 60 Rue du Dries in Forest suburb of Brussels

Raid: Police raided the El Bakrauoi brothers' apartment on Tuesday and shot dead Algerian Mohamed Belkaid as two men, believed to be the brothers, fled

Abrini is a childhood friend of Salah Abdeslam, and it is thought that the two became radicalised together. Moreover, Abrinis younger brother Souleymane, 20, died in 2014 in Syria while fighting in the same ISIS military unit as Abaaoud,

Yesterday, a family member at the Abrini property told MailOnline she was 'in a state of shock' in the aftermath of the latest atrocities, and feared that Abrini may have once again been involved.

The tight-knit network doesn't end there. A short distance from the Abdeslam and Abrini residences is the home of Ayoub El Khazzani, the terrorist who launched the botched gun and bomb attack on the Amsterdam-to-Paris express train in August last year.

The close bond shared by the band of brothers sheds new light on the dangers threatening Europe, where the efforts of a small number of childhood friends can bring the continent to its knees.

It also allows police to piece together the process by which they were radicalised, and identify which members of the cell were the linchpins and which were under their spell.

Search: The El Bakraoui brothers fled the flat in Forest and moved to this 'safehouse' in Rue Max Roos Street, Schaerbeek (left). From here Ibrahim, Najim Laachraoui, and a fourth bomber left in a taxi for the airport in Zaventem. Officers found a bomb and an ISIS flag at the flat. Right: Najim Laachraoui, a newly-identified ISIS suspect, rented this apartment in Schaerbeek before he blew himself up at Brussels airport. His father declined to comment when asked about his son's terror links

CCTV: Ibrahim (centre) was captured on airport security footage along with Najim Laachraoui, the master bombmaker (left), and an unnamed suspect - dubbed the 'Man in White' (right), before they detonated their explosives, killing 14 people. The 'Man in White' fled

Arrested: Salah Abdeslam (left), who fled the Paris bombings has been hold up in Brussels where he grew up under the noses of police since November's atrocity. His arrest on Friday is believed to have brought forward plans to bomb the airport and Metro station. Right: Mohamed Abrini, 30, allegedly drove the brothers to Paris to carry out the attacks and is accused of being involved with the plot. He remains at large

Network: Abdelhamid Abaaoud (left), was the brains behind the Paris attacks and was killed in a furious shootout with police in Saint-Denis, Paris, in the aftermath of the November massacres. Brahim Abdeslam (right) was involved in the carnage in Paris and was killed in a suicide attack on the Comptoir Voltaire restaurant

Raid: Salah Abdeslam, 26, is accused of manufacturing the bombs for the Paris killers and accompanying them to the sites of the attacks. He is also thought to have been involved in the Brussels attacks

Also still being sought is Mohamed Abrini, who was filmed at petrol stations with Salah Abdeslam in a black Renault Cleo two days before the Paris attacks

Questions remain about how the gang of young men, all of whom were Belgian citizens, can have transformed into death-loving monsters, showing loyalty to each other but a profound hatred of their country and fellow citizens.

Although Molenbeek is the gang's centre of gravity, last night it emerged that Salah Abdeslam had moved his operations to Schaerbeek, a district of Brussels three miles away.

It was there that the notorious bomb factory was located, where the El Bakraoui brothers prepared for Tuesdays attacks.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 30, carried out the airport bombing, and his younger brother Khalid, 27, blew himself up at Maelbeek Metro on Tuesday morning.

The terror den, on the fifth floor of a dilapidated apartment block, was found to contain explosive materials and an ISIS flag.

The killer brothers took a taxi to the scene of the attacks with a fourth ISIS suspect - dubbed the 'Man in White' - who remains at large.

Also involved with the Brussels plot was Najim Laachraoui, who blew himself up at the airport alongside Ibrahim. He too lived in Schaerbeek.

The twisted Bakraoui brothers rented a flat in the Forest suburb of Brussels. Armed police raided the address on Tuesday and shot dead Algerian Mohamed Belkaid.

MailOnline spoke to Mohammed Abdeslam, the prime suspect's brother, outside the family home.

'I can't tell you if my brother was supposed to be involved in today's attack because if I told you I knew, I'd be in very big trouble right now,' he said before driving off in his black BMW 4X4.

Bomber: Najim Laachraoui, a master bombmaker whose DNA was found on some of the Paris suicide vests, was the second suicide bomber at Brussels airport

Close: The Abdeslam family including Salah, 26, and his older brother Brahim lived in Molenbeek with their friend Mohamed Abrini just around the corner. In the next street along was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the brains behind the Paris attacks

'Very big trouble: Mohammed Abdeslam, Brahim and Salah's brother, told MailOnline: 'I can't tell you if my brother was supposed to be involved in today's attack because if I told you I knew, I'd be in very big trouble'

Funeral: Police moved in to arrest Salah Abdeslam days after his older brother Brahim, 31, was buried in Belgium with friends and family. Their brother Mohammed is pictured wearing sunglasses carrying Brahim's coffin

Meanwhile, Police working in the part of Brussels where terror raids were carried out last night spoke out about how their pleas for help were ignored.

Belgian authorities were so focused on nearby Molenbeek, known as a hotbed of jihadism, that they were unaware that Europes most wanted man was forming a new terror network in Schaerbeek, another Muslim-dominated area just three miles down the road, they said.

The local community there views police with contempt, they added, and are unlikely to report terrorists to the authorities even if they do not have jihadi sympathies themselves.

Frankly I wasnt surprised, a policewoman who wished to remain anonymous told MailOnline. Nobody takes what happens in this district seriously. Every day we arrest well-known criminals and the next day they are back on the streets.

It is frustrating that we are doing our work but the justice system doesnt back us up.

These people are not being prosecuted or fined, they are just being released. We arrest them and nothing happens to them.

One or two hours later they smile and mock us, believing they are on the winning side.

The lack of respect for police and for Belgium in the local multicultural community meant that the terror cell could operate without fear of being reported, she added.

This made Schaerbeek  which has been off the radar for terror police  the ideal place for a deadly jihadi to hide out.

We have been asking for the higher authorities to take this district more seriously but it hasnt happened, she said.

Her commanding officer, who also did not want to be named, agreed. We have not been blind to the fact that something serious has been going on here, he said.

We have several people under surveillance but there are others that are unknown and blending in with the wall.

They are deeply embedded in the local community. They know each other and have family here, but nobody says anything.

On the surface it can seem like there are no problems, but deeper down there are big problems.

The officers spoke at the scene of one of the police raids that took place in the district last night, near the Ahl Allah mosque.

A thick plume of white smoke billowed into the sky as multiple police vans, ambulances and fire engines screamed past.

As police tried to control the throngs of young men of Middle Eastern and north African descent who had gathered to watch, they were mocked with hoots and chicken noises.

Frankly I wasnt surprised. Nobody takes what happens in this district seriously. Every day we arrest well-known criminals and the next day they are back on the streets. Policewoman

Masked officers arrested at least three young men before order was restored.

There is no terrorist on this street. The police are making it up to make Muslims look bad, said 27-year-old Mohammed, surrounded by several other young men. It is a set-up.

But Sofian, 27, said he was worried that the terror investigation in the district would give it a bad name.

It was just one or two people who happened to be living here, he said. There are terror cells all over Brussels, not just in Schaerbeek.

Although Molenbeek has long had a reputation for radical Islamism, it is Schaerbeek that has been thrown into the spotlight in the latest stages of the investigation into the Brussels attacks.

Just hours after a series of blasts killed 34 people in the capital and injured hundreds more, police found a nail bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag in a raid on an apartment in the district.

The discoveries were made as officers followed up information that two suspected terrorists involved in the Paris attacks were holed up in the area.

Najim Laachraoui, a newly-identified ISIS suspect whose DNA was found on bombs used in the Paris attacks, rented an apartment in Schaerbeek, and Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam is believed to have been holed up in an apartment there for three weeks after the massacres in France.

Speculation has surrounded the relationship between the alleged brains behind the Paris attacks and the Brussels atrocities.

There have been suggestions that the attacks were launched as revenge for his arrest, or that they were brought forward in case Abdeslam revealed details under interrogation.

But yesterday a senior Belgian official revealed that Abdeslam would have taken part in today's deadly attacks in Brussels if he hadn't been arrested.

The terror suspect was arrested on Friday after a dramatic shootout with police in which he was wounded in the leg.

Suspicions that Abdeslam also masterminded the Brussels atrocities arose when Belgian police found his fingerprints on detonators intended for use in the attacks, according to an anonymous source quoted by Politico.

The latest revelations come after Belgium's Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, told a conference the day after Abdeslams arrest that the jihadi was 'ready to restart something from Brussels' using a new terror cell he had formed.

'We found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations, and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels,' he said.

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels this morning. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media

Obliterated: Ceiling tiles and debris are littered across the floor of the terminal building after twins blast rocked the check-in area of the airport

Today, MailOnline spoke to Mohammed Abdeslam, the prime suspect's brother, outside the family home.

'I can't tell you if my brother was supposed to be involved in today's attack because if I told you I knew, I'd be in very big trouble right now,' he said before driving off in his black BMW 4X4.

The apartment where his brother was found hiding out and arrested in a dramatic shootout with police is just a short walk from the Abdeslam flat.
US counterterrorism officials have blasted Belgian security chiefs for their inability to prevent jihadi strikes in Brussels.

In an astounding outburst, one senior intelligence officer claimed his Belgian counterparts were like 'children'.

The officer was commenting in the aftermath of suicide attacks on Brussels' main airport and their subway system which killed 34 people and injured a further 230.

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Ibrahim El Bakraoui (center) and an unidentified terrorist (left) were the two airport suicide bombers - Najim Laachaoui white (right) remains at large having walked out of the airport

US intelligence sources have criticised Belgian authorities for their failure to counter the threat posed by the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek which is constantly liked to a range of jihadi plots across Europe

The Brussels bombers have been named as, from left, brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui while master bomb maker Najim Laachaoui, right, who also made the Paris attack bombs is on the run

Police identified two of those involved in the bombings at Zaventem Airport and the Brussels metro as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui.

Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment in Brussels which was used as a safehouse for Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam.

Both El Bakraoui brothers were known to Belgian authorities for previous crimes, although they had not been linked to Islamic extremism before yesterday's attacks.

The third man photographed, known as the man in white, is believed to be the ISIS bomb maker responsible for manufacturing the explosives used in the attacks in Paris and now in Brussels.

He has been named by local media as Najim Laachraoui. His DNA is believed to have been found on the suicide vests used in Paris as well as the Brussels apartment which had been used as the bomb factory.

One intelligence source commenting on the Belgian security efforts told The Daily Beast: 'It's really s***** tradecraft.'

US intelligence operatives are incredibly concerned about the failure of Belgian authorities to police areas such as Molenbeek, which is seen as the jihadi hotbed of Europe.

The Brussels suburb, which is heavily populated by migrants from north Africa, has been repeatedly linked to extremist Islamic terrorist plots.

US officials had warned Belgium was likely to be hit by a terror attack before yesterday's atrocity.

Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, pictured, was shot and wounded during his arrest in Molenbeek on Friday

Belgian authorities have increased the level of security around government buildings and transport hubs in case of any further attacks by jihadi cells still operating in Brussels following yesterday's attack

There were even fears the country would be hit following the arrest of Paris terror suspect Salah Abdelsam.

One US source said: 'There was only so much we could do to help.'

French terror expert Gilles Kepel added: 'Jihadists think that Europe is the soft underbelly of the West and Belgium is the soft underbelly of Europe.'

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remain closed on Wednesday. Security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned of more strikes against governments opposed to the terror organisation.

It issued a communique promising 'dark days' for countries taking part in the coalition against the terror group.

Meanwhile, the US military said it had launched an air strike in Yemen against the branch of al Qaida responsible for the attacks in France that killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in January.

Several terror attacks across Europe over the past two years have been linked to the Molenbeek area

A tribal member at the site said about 40 people were killed or wounded in the Brom Maifa district.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the mountain training camp was being used by more than 70 terrorists belonging to al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemeni security officials and a witness said the air strike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al Qaida militants about 47 miles west of the terror group's stronghold city of Mukalla.

'We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield,' Mr Cook said.

'This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al Qaida and denying it safe haven.'

Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally-recognised government.

Many of the major recent attacks in Europe have clear links to Belgium. In May 2014, French ex-Syria jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche came to the Belgian capital to attack the Jewish museum in Brussels.

There are Brussels links to the weapons used by Amedy Coulibaly in his attack on a Jewish supermarket, on January 9, 2015, shortly after the January 7 attacks on Charlie Hebdo, and the Paris attack in November last year has clear ties the Molenbeek neighborhood specifically. Many of its attackers either resided or grew up in the borough.

It is estimated that 534 Belgians have gone to Syria for jihadi training with ISIS with 200 returning to Europe

Jean-Charles Brisard, the author of a biography of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of ISISs earlier incarnation al-Qaeda in Iraq, said its more useful to think about the ISIS phenomenon in Western Europe as a Francophone network because the operatives in Brussels are a mix of French and Belgian nationals.

Brisard calculates that 534 Belgians have gone to Syria and about 200 have returned; he believes the French-Belgian ISIS apparatus is much greater than European security officials initially thought.

Tracking the individuals is a mammoth task.

He said: 'For now, the networks comprise basically 20 individuals around the 10 [Paris] terrorists. So its least 30. Its still looking like four or five connected but there might be more that we dont know yet.'

For every terror suspect being surveilled it takes between 20 and 25 counterterrorism officials to track him. Coulibaly, for example, was using 20 different phones, according to Brisard, and each required a different officer to monitor the incoming and outgoing calls.

The Belgians are unwilling or unable to commit that kind of manpower, one of the countrys counterterrorism officials told BuzzFeed a week before the attack.

'Frankly, we dont have the infrastructure to properly investigate or monitor hundreds of individuals suspected of terror links,' he said.

The problem is exacerbated in Brussels because the local police force is divided into six police corps spread over 19 boroughs (particularly odd since the population is only 1.3 million). Sharing intelligence is complicated by the silos.

Robin Simcox, a British-born specialist on European terror networks who now works at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says the Paris and Brussels attacks prove that European intelligence agencies have been comforting themselvesand their constituencieswith a fallacy for a decade.

'What have they been saying since 7/7?' Simcox asked, referring to the al-Qaeda bombings in London in July 2005. '"Oh, those kinds of attacks are not possible anymore. Any time a network gets too big, we find out about it. Anyone tries to construct a suicide vest, well get it. The attacks will be knives and guns." Well, its the emperor has no clothes, isnt it? It happened in Paris, now Brussels; it nearly happened in Verviers back in January [2015]. All kinds of assumptions about the kind of threat we were going to be facing in coming years. And we were all too complacent about it.'

The Belgian field commander, if not quite the 'mastermind' of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had previously been linked to four separate terror plots in Europe. He got away each time.

He was thought to have 'guided' Nemmouche, the Frenchman who shot up the Jewish Museum in Brussels. In the attack planned but later aborted in Verviers, Abaaoud had remotely instructed two Belgian nationals, Sofiane Amghar and Khalid Ben Larbi, who fought with ISISs elite Battar Brigade.

Belgian authorities have increased security in the aftermath of yesterday's terror attacsk

The attacks in Brussels have prompted authorities to increase security in the United States with LA County Sheriff's office deploying deputies to Union Station train hub

Abaaoud had been in Greece at the time, and subsequently returned to Syria after Belgian commandos raided Amghar and Ben Larbis safe house in Verviers. (The operation constituted the largest firefight in Belgium since the end of World War II.) Abaaoud was also involved in the failed attack on a high-speed train from Paris to Amsterdam in August 2015. It failed only because three American tourists, two of them in the Oregon National Guard, wrestled the AK-47-wielding gunman to the ground before he could kill anyone.

In a February 2015 issue of ISISs propaganda magazine Dabiq, Abaaoud boasts about being able to slip a continent-wide dragnet for him, despite the fact that European security services all had a recent photograph of him, which had been published by a Western journalist.

'I suddenly saw my picture all over the media, but the kuffar were blinded by Allah. I was even stopped by an officer who contemplated me so as to compare me to the picture, but he let me go, as he did not see the resemblance! This was nothing but a gift from Allah!'

Abaaouds turn from first-generation Belgian into international terrorist follows an all-too-familiar script to those who monitor European jihadism. Although he was once enrolled in the Catholic college Saint-Pierre, an elite school in a suburb of Brussels, he dropped out and took to a life of gangsterism and petty crime.

He met Salah Abdeslam and Abdeslams brother Brahim (another one of the Paris attackers) when all three were in their late teens or early 20s, hanging about Molenbeek. In 2010, Abaaoud and Salah Abdeslam were convicted of armed robbery after they tried to break into a garage in Ottingnes, a town southeast of Brussels. In 2012, Abaaoud went to jail again for hitting someone in the town of Dendermonde.

Abaaoud apparently radicalized in prison and upon his release, he fell in with a crowd of Islamists, including a veteran of the Afghan jihad against the Soviets in the 1980s, a Moroccan called Khalid Zerkani. The man went by the sobriquet Papa Noel (Santa Claus), owing to his generosity with money: hed disburse as much as 4,500 euros for aspiring mujahidin seeking to travel to Syria.

Many of those wandering mujahidin have now returned to Brussels; and there is little confidence that the Belgian authorities will be able to stop their murderous plots against the West.

Several Americans were injured, including an Air Force officer and his wife and four children who were at the airport. The service member is stationed at Joint Force Command Brunssum, in the Netherlands, but the military wouldn't identify him by name. Officials said he was a lieutenant colonel.

Mormon church officials, meanwhile, said three of its missionaries from Utah were seriously injured in the blasts and were hospitalized. They were identified as Richard Norby, 66, of Lehi; Joseph Empey, 20, of Santa Clara; and Mason Wells, 19, of Sandy. They had been serving in Paris and were at the airport with a fourth missionary who was on her way to an assignment in Ohio.

Following the attacks, U.S. European Command announced new prohibitions on unofficial military and Defense Department employee travel to Brussels 'until further notice'. Official travel to the NATO hub in the city now requires approval.

Representative Adam Schiff of California, the House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said the threat of copycat or lone-wolf attackers may get worse as the Islamic State faces increased military pressure by the U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria.

'In terms of targets, this may be one of the most dangerous phases,' Schiff told The Associated Press shortly after being briefed on the attacks. 'ISIS is facing pressure on the battlefield and they are suffering defeats. To enhance their prestige ... they feel the need to lash out at Western targets.'
A gay couple have opened a high-profile custody battle in Thailand, where they have been trapped for more than a year in a fight for the right to take home a baby girl born to a surrogate mother.

American Gordon Lake and his Spanish husband Manuel Santos, both 41, were denied daughter Carmen's passport documents after the woman claimed they were not an 'ordinary couple' and refused to give up her parental rights.

Lake is the biological father of baby Carmen, who is now 14 months old. The egg came from an anonymous donor and not Patidta Kusolsang, the Thai surrogate.

But the case has been complicated by the fact that Thai law does not recognize same-sex marriages and that, as of July 2015, commercial surrogacy has been banned in the country.

American Gordon Lake and his Spaniard husband Manuel Santos, both 41, have opened a high-profile custody battle in Thailand in a fight for the right to take home a baby girl born to a surrogate mother

The couple, pictured with Carmen at the Central Juvenile and Family Court in Bangkok on Wednesday, have been trapped in the country for more than a year after the mother refused to waive her parental rights

Patidta handed Carmen over to Lake and Santos after the baby girl's birth.

The happy parents thought they were soon on their way to join their son Alvaro, born through a surrogate in India, at their home in Spain.

But Patidta claims she only found out the couple were gay after giving birth to Carmen - claiming she could not understand the English contract - and says that's when her mind changed.

'They are not natural parents in Thai society,' she told NPR through an interpreter. 'They are same-sex, not like male and female that can take care of babies.'

Under Thailand law, the woman who gives birth to a child is considered it's legal mother. Thus, Patidta would have to cede her parental rights in order for Carmen to leave the country.

Verutai Maneenuchanert, Patidta's legal adviser, said she suspected that the couple were 'human traffickers', an accusation the couple calls absurd.

Lake said he was clear about the couple's sexual orientation from the start with their surrogacy agency, called New Life, which has branches in several countries.

The Bangkok-based New Life office has closed since commercial surrogacy was outlawed in Thailand last summer, following several high-profile scandals.

Mariam Kukunashvili, a co-founder of New Life's global network, said the surrogate was aware Lake and Santos were gay from the beginning and that the contract was bilingual, she told The Guardian.

Lake is the biological father of baby Carmen, who is now 14 months old. The egg came from an anonymous donor and not surrogate Patidta Kusolsang, who claims she did not know the couple was gay

The couple have since been moving apartments every month, living in fear that someone will take Carmen after Patidta formally accused the couple of child abduction

The couple have since been moving apartments every month, living in fear that someone will take Carmen after Patidta formally accused the couple of child abduction.

Lake said the Thai police and child protection officials decided the girl should stay with him and Santos pending the court hearing, he told The Straits Times.

Carmen appeared with the couple at Bangkok's Juvenile and Family Court on Wednesday. Testimony from both sides is scheduled to end March 31.

Lake said the Thai police and child protection officials decided the girl should stay with him and Santos pending the court hearing

'It's the day we've been waiting for - for a long, long time,' Bell said. 'Today is one of the most important days of our lives.'

'It was always known it was a surrogacy agreement. We're the intended parents. We're the people that wanted to have a child,' he continued.

'We just want to go home and we just want to be a family. A normal boring family.'

The couple's lawyer, Rachapol Sirikulchit, says he is confident they will be awarded custody.

'Baby Carmen has the right to be with her biological father, who supports her financially and has cared for her since she was born,' Rachapol said.

'The priority is to consider the benefit for children and that they have the right to live with their biological parent.'

Commercial surrogacy was banned in Thailand last year following two high-profile scandals, one involving a Japanese man that had fathered 16 children, mainly through Thai surrogates.

Then came news of an Australian couple who allegedly abandoned a boy named Gammy, born with Down syndrome, with his surrogate mother - but took home his twin sister.

It was then discovered the father was a convicted child sex offender.

A provision in the law has given a grace period for parents whose babies were already born or on the way, but Thailand law only recognizes a legal marriage as between a man and a woman - further complicating matters.

The case has been complicated by the fact that commercial surrogacy was banned in Thailand last year. There is a grace period for babies already born or on the way, but the country does not recognize same-sex marriage

The US State Department is also powerless to do anything, as citizens in Thailand are subject to Thai law, leaving the Department unable to issue Carmen the passport she needs to leave.

Lake and Santos said they have the support of the Thai people behind them, receiving donations in the form of money for legal bills, clothes and toys and even apartment offers.

And the men said they will continue to fight for Carmen, even if it means leaving everything behind and moving to Thailand permanently.

'She's our daughter,' Lake said. 'By heart and genetically. If we have to move here and leave our families and work, we will do.'
A pensioner who called 999 after his wife fell downstairs and suffered a bloody head injury said he was stunned to hear a recorded message instead of speaking to a call operator.

Eddie Corley, 78, had called for an ambulance for his wife Jean, 77, who was bleeding heavily after toppling down the stairs at their home in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

However, when he dialled 999 at 2am on Sunday morning he was put through to a recorded message explaining that the North West Ambulance Service was 'experiencing a heavy demand' and he was placed on hold.

Eddie Corley, 78, (left) had called 999 after his wife Jean, 77, fell down the stairs at their home in Bolton, but was stunned to hear a recorded message instead of speaking to an operator

Worried that his wife might be seriously hurt, Mr Corley waited on hold for around a minute before hanging up and waking up a neighbour to take the couple to hospital.

Health chiefs have apologised for the delay in taking Mr Corley's call, and said they had received a high volume of 'life-threatening calls' that night.

'It has been engraved into people of my generation to ring 999,' Mr Corley said.

Mrs Corley was bleeding heavily from her head, and her husband was desperate to get her to hospital

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL 999... AND WHEN MIGHT YOU HEAR A RECORDED MESSAGE? When someone calls 999 in an emergency they will initially speak to a BT call handler who will ask which service they require, and put them through to the appropriate service - police, ambulance, fire or coastguard. BT operators answer more than 98 per cent of the 31 million calls made annually from fixed and mobile phones within five seconds, and of the calls 52 per cent go to the police, 41 per cent to the ambulance service, six per cent to the fire and rescue service and one per cent to the coastguard and cave and mountain rescue services. During an extremely busy period a caller wanting to speak to an ambulance service may hear an automated message from a national system, telling them to stay on the line and that their call will be answered as soon as possible. A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Service told MailOnline that the automated message was played when there was a high volume of calls - and that it was extremely rare for it to be heard by a caller. 'It's very very rarely used,' she said. 'When someone rings 999 it's BT who answers the calls and if they have got a huge volume of calls coming through that message comes on. 'It means there are more calls coming in than they are able to take, but if people stay on the line then the next available call handler will be able to help them.' Advertisement

'That is the first time I have had to use it and it didn't work. It doesn't give you a lot of confidence in it.

'I didn't know how good or bad the situation was at the point of ringing. My wife could have been bleeding to death or lying there with two broken legs, I didn't know.

'But I didn't even get to explain the situation to anyone - I was just put on hold the minute I said ambulance and told I was on a waiting list.'

Mrs Corley (pictured) suffered a head injury following the fall and was taken by her neighbour to the Royal Bolton Hospital

Mrs Corley suffered a head injury following the fall and was taken by her neighbour to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

'What if someone was having a heart attack and got put through to an automated message? They would be dead,' she said.

'I know they have made cuts but this is ridiculous. Everything about the health service is wrong.'

A North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokesman said it was extremely rare that a caller would hear the automated message, but that it was used when a call handler was not immediately available.

'When the Trust experiences an extremely high volume of calls we use a national automated system to assist our call handlers,' the spokesman said.

'We would advise anyone who hears this message to stay on the line and their call will be answered as soon as a call handler is free.

'The number of calls the trust received on Sunday increased compared to the same date last year, with the number of life-threatening red calls up by 57 per cent.'

The spokesman also apologised to the couple and said that if they contacted the trust, someone would look into their concerns further.

David Crausby MP for Bolton North East said the delay experienced by Mr and Mrs Corley was 'completely unacceptable'.

'If the government are going to make cuts in health spending then this is the result and it is not good enough,' he said.

'People work hard and pay their taxes and are entitled to these types of services when they need them.
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This is the moment a rare Sumatran tiger had the time of his life splashing around and frolicking in the mud.

One of just 400 left alive on our planet, the beautiful creature showcases his tremendous power as he leaps through the water to retrieve a chicken drumstick treat.

The joyful instant was captured at feeding time by manager, Tanto Yensen, 36, at the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, Indonesia.

A rare Sumatran tiger has been snapped having a frolicking good time in muddy waters. One of just 400 left alive on our planet, Sumatran tiger, Lano is pictured covered in mud and full of the joys of spring

The beautiful creature can be seen showcasing his tremendous power as he leapt through the water

It is no surprise that the tiger, who has been named Lano, looks right at home in the water.

Sumatran tigers in the Indonesian wild are excellent swimmers and can pursue prey in swamps, rivers and forests with ease.

Typically they would capture and consume a variety of prey, ranging in size from termites to elephant calves.

Most of their meals would be larger offerings than drumstick-sized portions, with large-bodied prey weighing about 20 kg or larger such as moose, deer species, pigs, cows, horses, buffalos and goats making up much of their diet.

Tragically the species are extremely rare and and classed as 'critically endangered' due to their scarcity in the wild.

Manager Tanto Yensen, 36, from Jakarta Indonesia was lucky enough to captures these images on a trip to his local Ragunan Zoo

It is no wonder that Lano looks right at home in the water, as Sumatran tigers in the Indonesian wild are excellent swimmers and can pursue prey in swamps, rivers and forests with ease

Typically in the wild Sumatran tigers capture and consume a variety of prey, ranging in size from termites to elephant calves

Conservationists blame dwindling numbers on increased deforestation as well as continued poaching and the twin threats have sparked fears they could end up extinct.

According to the WWF, most of the wild Sumatran tigers are found in protected areas of the Leuser ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Tigapuluh, Berbak, Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas.

However the market demand for tiger parts in Indonesia, with exports (for supplying traditional Chinese Medicine) and the domestic market (for skin and teeth), remains a constant threat.

In the last 50 years, Indonesia has lost both the Bali tiger and Java tiger.

A DWINDLING POPULATION AND NO DECLINE IN POACHING: HOW THE SUMATRAN TIGER IS FIGHTING FOR ITS FUTURE According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are now fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. The tiger subspecies is classed as 'critically endangered' and they are holding on for survival in remaining patches of forest on the island of Sumatra. Conservationists blame dwindling numbers on increased deforestation as well as continued poaching and the twin threats have sparked fears they could end up extinct. Although they are protected by law in Indonesia, with tough sentences handed out for poaching and heavy fines, there is still a 'substantial' market for tiger parts and products within Sumatra and wider Asia. Sumatran tigers weigh between 156 and 308 pounds and typically live in tropical areas of forest as well as peat swamp and freshwater swamp habitats. Advertisement

According to the WWF, most of the wild Sumatran tigers are found in protected areas of the Leuser ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Tigapuluh, Berbak, Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas

Most of the tiger's meals in the wild would be larger offerings than drumstick-sized portions, with large-bodied prey weighing about 20 kg or larger
Former candidate Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, saying the U.S. senator from Texas represents the party's best chance of winning the White House.

In a statement, the former Florida governor called Cruz a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated an ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.

'Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential,' Bush said.

Bush resumed his sharp criticism of Donald Trump, saying Republican voters must move to overcome 'the divisiveness and vulgarity' that Trump has brought into the political arena 'or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obama's failed policies.'

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Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, saying the U.S. senator from Texas represents the party's best chance of winning the White House

Ted Cruz has run in second place behind Trump and could conceivably win enough Republican delegates to take the nomination

The 63-year-old Bush, whose father and brother served as president, dropped out of the presidential nomination fight after losing badly in South Carolina on Feb. 20.

The endorsement comes as establishment Republicans scramble to stop front-runner Donald Trump from winning the nomination because of his divisive proposals like a plan to deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

Cruz has run in second place behind Trump and could conceivably win enough Republican delegates to take the nomination.

Ohio Governor John Kasich's lone path to the nomination is to extend the nomination race until the party's national convention in July.

The idea is to deny Trump the required 1,237 delegates needed and force party leaders to consider someone else.

A source close to Bush said Bush picked Cruz because he has the most viable path to the nomination and has shown that he can win states.

The source said Bush considers a push for a contested convention to be a 'hail-Mary strategy at best.'

Cruz, on a victory lap of sorts appearing on a handful of morning shows today, reiterated that point saying that Kasich's role 'is really being a spoiler,' Cruz said on CNN.

Sen. Ted Cruz appeared on several of the morning shows today touting yesterday's victory in Utah and thanking Jeb Bush for his support

The Texas senator had a decisive victory last night in Utah, winning 69 percent of the vote to Kasich's 17 percent and Trump's 14 percent.

'Well last night was a terrific victory, as you know we were hoping to break 50 percent in Utah. We ended up with a landslide of 69 percent, nearly 70 percent,' Cruz said on Fox & Friends.

However, one of the hosts pointed out that while Cruz won Utah, Trump easily bypassed the Texan in Arizona, a winner-take-all state where the results also came in last night.

Trump nabbed Arizona with 47 percent of the vote.

Cruz received around 25 percent, while Kasich just got 10 percent support.

Cruz ignored the Trump victory and continued to make his point about Kasich being a spoiler instead.

'Kasich went 0-27, then he won his home state, last night he got walloped in both Utah and Arizona, in two weeks he's going to lose Wisconsin,' Cruz said, suggesting that he could indeed beat Trump if the two candidates went one-on-one.

On the morning shows, Cruz gave props to Bush too.

'It's fantastic,' he gushed on Fox & Friends. 'I'm very grateful to have Jeb's support.'

On CBS This Morning, Cruz suggested the endorsement proved that he was a palatable candidate for all types of Republican voters.

'It's interesting, in the last 10 days we've been endorsed by Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Mike Lee and Mark Levin,' he told the show's Charlie rose. 'Now you want to talk about the broad spectrum of the Republican party, that is the entire ideological spectrum and what we're seeing is Republicans uniting behind this as the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump over and over again and can and will beat Donald Trump.'

In the weeks after he withdrew, Bush met in Miami with former rivals Cruz, Kasich and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Rubio dropped out of the race after losing Florida last week. Bush spoke by phone to Cruz on Monday.

'To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that,' Bush said.
Voters in Arizona were left angry after many were still waiting in line to cast their ballots when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were declared winners of the state primary.

Huge lines had formed throughout the day in Maricopa County after a decision to cut the number of polling stations.

But four hours after the polls were due to close at 7pm some voters were still waiting, when several TV stations and the Associated Press declared Clinton and Trump had won the vote.

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A huge line stretches around the block at a polling station in Maricopa County in Arizona after many voters were still in line when Clinton and Trump were declared winners

Huge lines had formed throughout the day in Maricopa County after a decision to cut the number of polling stations

AZ Central reported that some people were turned away from polling stations after the vote had closed.

However, others who were already in line, were allowed to stay to cast their ballots where some lines were more than half a mile long.

At a polling site in Glendale Avenue, Phoenix, some voters said they had waited almost four hours to vote.

Joe Oddo, 62, who says he has never waited more than 15 minutes to vote in the past, added: 'This is unconscionable. Somebody must be accountable for this.'

Despite the long wait for voters, volunteers handed out bottles of water and snacks, as waits lasted up to four hours

People wait to vote in the Arizona primary election. Some polling stations reportedly ran out of ballot papers and quickly had to get more

However, despite the long wait, he added that volunteers handed out water and snacks to those in line.

Meanwhile the campaign manager of Bernie Sanders, who was defeated by Clinton has insisted there was 'something wrong' with the Arizona results.

He told CNN from San Diego: 'I'm not predicting victory, but I'm not predicting defeat, either.'

'We have to wait and see until the votes are counted. There's obviously something wrong with the numbers, and I think once we see where they come down, it may end up being a split of delegates basically in Arizona.

'Weve seen lines in Arizona for five hours long literally. So based on CNNs calculations and what we know about how many people early-voted, that would mean only 100,000 people came out and live-voted, Democrats in Arizona. I think that thats just wrong. So I think this race is gonna to close up substantially between now and the morning.'

After the results were announced, the campaign manager of Bernie Sanders, pictured, who was defeated by Clinton has insisted there was 'something wrong' with the Arizona results

In her victory speech, Hillary Clinton made reference to the Belgium terrorist attacks which overshadowed voting day and vowed to dismantle ISIS if she gets elected in November

Overall, the two Democrat nominees were competing for 159 Democratic delegates in the three states voting yesterday, which also included Utah and Idaho.

After she was declared the winner, Hillary Clinton celebrated with a defiant victory speech, making reference to the Belgium terrorist attacks which overshadowed voting day and vowing to dismantle ISIS if she gets elected in November.

'We have to dismantle the global terror pipeline. We have to strengthen our defenses here at home and we need to work closely with our allies ... This election really matters,' Clinton told a rally in Seattle, Washington.

She added: 'What Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it's dangerous. It will not keep us safe. This is a time for America to lead, not cower, and we will lead.

Shortly after the Arizona results emerged Donald Trump tweeted: 'Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!'

'I am the most ready of everybody running to take that job.'

Meanwhile in the Republican race, Trump's main objective is to amass the 1,237 delegates needed to win his party's nomination outright, and thwart a bid by the party establishment to stop him.

Shortly after the Arizona results emerged Trump tweeted: 'Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!'

'Hopefully the Republican Party can come together and have a big WIN in November, paving the way for many great Supreme Court Justices!'
Judge said: 'He almost needs to wear a placard to warn who he is'

Joshua Walmsley, 40, concocted a string of lies to dupe vulnerable women

A love rat who was on the Sex Offenders Register duped a string of besotted single mothers by falsely claiming he was a former bodyguard for Princess Diana.

Joshua Walmsley, 40, concocted a string of lies including boasts he helped the late Princess of Wales inspect the minefields of Angola during her famous visit to the civil war ravaged region in 1997.

Walmsley also said he was a former Royal Marine Commando, served in the SAS, was a deep sea diver, spoke six languages, had up to six university degrees.

He even claimed to have a Michelin star for his gourmet cooking and said he was due to become the next Dean of Blackburn Cathedral in Lancs.

A string of women were taken in by Walmsley's claims and had affairs with him and gave him money.

But unbeknown to them Walmsley was a jobless ex-con who was on the Sex Offender Register. He was found out after one of the women discovered a blog created by previous victims of Walmsley who told how he used his tall tales to charm them into bed.

It emerged he had used a false CV to get an interview and work trial as a chef in the kitchen of a luxury hotel and spa - but he was unmasked as a fraud when it was discovered he couldn't even bake a tray of brownies.

Yesterday Walmsley - who went under a string of 30 aliases to avoid being tracked on internet search engines - admitted fraud offences involving two women at Preston Crown COurt.

Prosecuting, Mr Francis McEntee told the hearing: 'He was an inaccurate historian and a deliberate liar. Over the period of September, October and into November and December the defendant was engaged in relationships with women giving a false name and very quickly moving in to their homes, taking advantage of them.

Walmsley told his victims he was in the Royal Marines, a scuba diver, an ex-bodyguard of Princess Diana and a Michelin-starred chef

'He was using the name Joshua which remained consistent but he used the surname Faulkner. The lies that he was telling each of these two ladies, he was repeating. He also manifested an elaborate CV which part of a continuing lie - a man with a military background, with a number of impressive qualifications and presenting himself as a chef.'

The first victim, a single mother of one met Walmsley in September last year at Blackburn Cathedral where he falsely claimed he was called Joshua Faulkner and was to become the next Dean.

Mr McEntee added: 'He was using a Canadian accent and much of his back story related to his family in Canada. She was embarrassed to admit she was overwhelmed and described him as being charismatic.

'She was asked for her telephone number and she thought she had nothing to lose. They met up for coffee and he introduced himself more as a man of 38 years. He told her he had lived in Germany for the past ten years and it is apparent that he has been to Germany. He told her that he had two children with an ex partner, and said he was originally from Vancouver.

'When she started to chat to him about Vancouver she noticed that he immediately changed the subject. She described him as a nice guy but said that within five or ten minutes he leaned in for a kiss which took her off guard.

'He told her he had been in the marines and the special forces, a medic in the army, an engineer, a deep sea diver and a chef. He even went so far as to say that she could trust him because he had been the person to take a Princess Diana across a minefield.

'He said he could speak six languages, had four degrees whilst in the military. She did question these claims but she says he "had an answer for everything".

'She described the defendant as being extremely persuasive. She let him use her car to go to job interviews but he started to drain the petrol and not replace it.

'He obtained parking tickets on the vehicle which she was required to pay. Four weeks after meeting him she gave him money for haircuts, taxis, food and even gave him money for his rent.

He shared pictures of him in chef's garb with the unsuspecting women - but a judge said in court that he couldn't even make a plate of brownies

'She did check his details on Google using Joshua Faulkner and was finding nothing that concerned her. She was told he had a Michelin restaurant in Canada and then she said things were not adding up but admits that she was still drawn in.'

Walmsley eventually began staying over the woman's house the following October but she became suspicious when she took him to a job interview and noticed his name on the CV was Joshua Walmsley.

Mr McEntee said: 'He said it was his mother's maiden name but didn't expand on that. She had become wary and made a check on Google under the name Walmsley which brought up a blog. She gathered from that, the defendant was a sex offender.'

But whilst his past was being uncovered, Walmsley had already met the second unsuspecting victim - a single mother of three - on a dating website. The prosecutor said: 'He told this woman he was a qualified chef, served in the marines and had six degrees.

'She was in contact with him while she was in a playground and she told him that was where she was and the next thing he turned up said it was his birthday that day and persuaded her to take him to her house.

He claimed to have accompanied the late Princess on her famous trip to the Angola landmines in 1997

'The following day they went together to the seaside in Lytham where she paid for lunch. She went home alone and gave the defendant 20 to make his own way home. Later he told her he had gone for a job interview and she collected him from Preston train station and went to the children's school that evening to watch one of the children in a play - but he insisted he went with her.

'They returned home for the evening meal and again, no doubt with some embarrassment for her, he stayed the night sleeping with her - with her three children present in the house. She asked him to collect the winnings from a scratch card - but she never saw that.

'Shortly afterwards this lady was contacted by a friend after someone posted a comment about a Joshua Walmsley Faulkner, expressing clearly that everything he had said to her was a lie and revealing his criminal conviction.

'It was at that stage she contacted the police because he was using her car. She contacted the defendant because she wanted some answers. He told her that the things the police told her were not true and the police were trying to ruin his life.'

And he even claimed to another victim that he was lined up to be the next Dean of Blackburn Cathedral

Walmsley, of Blackburn, admitted failing to comply with Sex Offender Register rules, fraudulently attempting to obtain employment and unrelated offence of shoplifting.

The court heard he had a 2013 conviction for a sexual assault on a 20-year old woman with Down's syndrome plus 39 other undisclosed previous offences. None of the children were harmed.

In mitigation defence lawyer Isobel Thomas claimed her client was still in a relationship with the second victim. She said: 'He is very sorry for what he did. He says he told those lies because of a blog that was set up about him. It was set up by his ex fiancee and is a forum for people to write negative things about him.

'He didn't want these women to find out about him so he gave them false names and made up a few lies. This blog had had a huge effect on him, he's lost jobs because of it. He does have cooking qualifications and was employed.'

Walmsley lured women in with his dating profile on Badoo, where he described himself as a 'combat medic at Royal Marines'

But the judge Mr Recorder Nick Clarke QC said: 'A fundamental problem is what he says is wholly unreliable. He can't even make a tray of brownies which most children can do.

'Women should be warned if he wants to form proper relationships he needs to tell them about his background. What caused the blog to be written in the first place? His actions did. Anything that he had self reported had to be treated with a degree of scepticism.

'How do we know he's even 40 - there are three different dates of birth for him that we have had in the past. He almost needs to wear a placard to warn who he is and what his background is - but I don't think I can do that.'

Sentencing was adjourned until April 28 on Walmsley - who has already served four months on remand - whilst probation officers check if there are any beds available in a hostel.
A Labour MP described his party as a ****ing disaster after a list ranking MPs according to loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn was revealed.

John Woodcock, MP for Barrow in Cumbria, made the outburst after David Cameron referred to the list during Prime Ministers Questions.

****ing disaster, Mr Woodcock wrote on Twitter. Worse [sic] week for Cameron since he came in and that stupid ****ing list makes us into a laughing stock.

He had intended it to be a private message but accidentally published it to thousands of followers before deleting it.

Labour MP John Woodcock launched a foul-mouthed rant about the list on Twitter, saying it made the party look like a 'laughing stock' in one of the worst weeks for David Cameron after he suffered the damaging resignation of Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith

Surprisingly, Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn wearing Arsenal scraves) is ranked in the most disloyal group - listed as 'hostile'

Labour was plunged into a fresh bout of infighting after details of the list, ranking MPs from core group to hostile, emerged in the Times.

Mr Woodcock, Rosie Winterton, Labours chief whip, and Sadiq Khan, its London mayoral candidate, were among 36 MPs labelled hostile.

Mr Cameron repeatedly mocked Mr Corbyn at the despatch box over the leaked list.

You can include me in the core support group, he joked.

The list appears to show Mr Corbyn has more enemies in the parliamentary Labour party than friends, although 17 MPs are not included.

Aides in Mr Corbyns office denied they had anything to do with drawing up the rankings, which were reportedly found in a Westminster pub.

It has fuelled comparisons with the former US President Richard Nixon, who kept a list of people he did not like, but many Labour MPs reacted with disbelief.

One senior Labour source said it was the latest example of the partys slow dissent into insanity.

There are 17 names absent from any of the lists, which attracted ridicule from Labour MPs on Twitter today

Michael Dugher, who Mr Corbyn sacked as Shadow Culture Secretary earlier this year, is on the most hostile list and took to Twitter this morning to mock the list

Surprisingly, Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan is ranked in the most disloyal group - listed as 'hostile' - despite him nominating Mr Corbyn for the leadership race last summer.

Even Rosie Winterton, Mr Corbyn's chief whip who is in charge of party discipline, is ranked as 'hostile'.

Labour MPs said the list is organised by Mr Corbyn's political secretary Katy Clark and was started in January.

It was reported this morning that she had left the list in a House of Commons bar.

It categorises MPs into five groups: Core group; core group plus, neutral but not hostile, core group negative and hostile group.

The most loyal group contains just 19 names and includes Michael Meacher, who died in October, according to the document that was leaked to The Times.

The most loyal list of 19 names includes Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow International Development Secretary Diane Abbott (pictured left alongside Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions)

Even Rosie Winterton (pictured left), Jeremy Corbyn's chief whip who is in charge of party discipline, is ranked as 'hostile' while former leader Ed Miliband (right) sits in the second most disloyal group despite never having publicly criticsed Mr Corbyn since his election as leader last September

The list shows Mr Corbyn has many more enemies than supporters among Labour's 230 MPs.

However there are 17 names absent from any of the lists, which attracted ridicule from Labour MPs on Twitter this morning.

Conor McGinn, a Labour whip, joked: 'I'm one of the 17 Labour MPs not on 'the list'. Can't work out whether that means a first class ticket to Havana or the train to Siberia...'

Former leader Ed Miliband sits in the second most disloyal group despite never having publicly criticsed Mr Corbyn since his election as leader last September.

The list fuelled comparisons with the former US President Richard Nixon (pictured in 1968), who kept a list of people he did not like

And Harriet Harman, who served as interim leader after Mr Miliband stood down at the election, is in the 'hostile' group.

But the most surprising name is Mr Khan, who nominated Mr Corbyn for the leadership race last summer, although he has sought to distance himself from the Labour leader's radical left-wing policies as he campaigns to beat Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith in May's election for London Mayor.

John Woodcock, one of the most outspoken critics of Mr Corbyn's leadership told MailOnline that the list was yet another example of how the leadership was distracted from its main task of scrutinising the Government.

'It is sad the public calls for unity and a new politics from Jeremy's advisers seem to be a front for this kind of divisive internal attack operation, particularly when we are trying to take the fight to the Tories,' he said.

A Labour MP told the Times that drawing comparisons to President Nixon's infamous list was ominous for Labour.

'The last politician to draw up a list of enemies was Richard Nixon; it didnt end well for him or his party,' an MP told the newspaper.

The list was drawn up by President Nixon's aides and became public knowledge during Senate hearings into the Watergate investigation in 1972.

It was compiled by aides, who listed Mr Nixon's biggest political opponents and became known as the 'Opponents List'.

The most loyal list of 19 names includes Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow International Development Secretary Diane Abbott - two close friends of Mr Corbyn.

The second category includes Andy Burnham and Lisa Nandy - two figures tipped as potential successors of Mr Corbyn as leader.

Dan Jarvis, who has been the subject of speculation of a leadership challenge this summer, is in the second most disloyal grouping while two other potential leadership contenders - Chuka Umunna and Rachel Reeves - are in the 'hostile' category.

Michael Dugher, who Mr Corbyn sacked as Shadow Culture Secretary earlier this year, is on the most hostile list and took to Twitter this morning to mock the list.

'That 'list' is particularly stupid. It could not possibly have come from the leader's office. Absolutely not. No way,' he tweeted, sarcastically.

A spokesman for the Labour leader insisted the list did not come from his office and said they had 'no knowledge of it'.
Television star Val Lehman has broken on her silence on the murder of her elderly neighbour who was bludgeoned to death by a junk-mail delivery man.

Steven Fennell, 56, was last week sentenced to life in prison for stealing $24,000 from grandmother and widow Liselotte Watson, 85, before bludgeoning her to death with a hammer in 2012.

Val Lehman, 73, has shared the ways the brutal murder has rocked the tight-knit community on Macleay Island, off the coast of Brisbane, speaking with A Current Affair.

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Val Lehman, 73, has shared the ways the brutal murder has rocked the tight-knit community on Macleay Island, off the coast of Brisbane

She starred in Prisoner, an Australian soap drama of the 1970s and '80s and recently featured on Network Ten's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.

I refuse to let creatures like that frighten me, Ms Lehman told the Nine Network program.

However, the actress and director conceded Ms Watson and herself were vulnerable.

Unfortunately women of her age, and Im not far from it, can be very vulnerable and there are a lot of people very willing to prey on them.

The television star described Fennell and the murder as evil and disgusting.

She said she had not met anyone in the community who believed his claim of innocence.

Fennell had been entrusted with her finances and withdrew tens-of-thousands from her account in the three months before her death, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard.

Steven Mark John Fennell, 56, has been found guilty of bludgeoning Liselotte Watson, 85, (pictured) to death with a hammer

He was accused of callously killing the grandmother to cover his financial misdeeds after using her money to fund his gambling habit.

'It is bad enough that, as appears to have been the case, you were betraying her trust by using her money to fund your gambling habit,' Justice Martin Daubney told the court last Monday.

'But to have killed her in such a cruel and callous way bespeaks a base wickedness which is fully deserving of the sentence I am about to impose.'

Defence lawyer Adrian Donaldson previously argued it made no sense for Fennell to murder Ms Watson, who he dubbed the 'golden goose', if he was stealing money from her.

'Why kill the golden goose?' he said, according to the Courier Mail.

'Why kill Mrs Watson when she still had plenty of funds in her account?'

But the jury rejected this argument after the prosecution said the list of coincidences implicating Fennell was too long to ignore.

The court heard that Fennell often did odd jobs for Mrs Watson such as mowing the lawn, picking up her medicine from the chemist, paying telephone bills at the post office and grocery shopping.

He also did Mrs Watson's banking for her on the mainland and withdrew money, with her permission.

His trial also heard he was regularly seen gambling at the local pub, coming in two to three times a week.

Ms Watson was found dead on the floor of her bedroom with a doona partially wrapped around her

The jury was told that Fennell went to the Macleay Island police station and requested someone check on his elderly friend on 13 November 2012.

They found her dead on the floor of her bedroom with a doona partially wrapped around her.

A pathologist found she had been struck in the back of the head six times with a hammer-like object.

The court heard evidence from a handwriting expert that one of Mrs Watson's banking withdrawal slips appeared to have been altered - with the nominated amount jumping from $3,000 to $8,000 with a few extra strokes.

But Mr Donaldson argued that this didn't rule out the elderly woman changing her mind herself.

He also told the jury there was no DNA evidence linking Fennell to the murder scene.

Fennel was sentenced to life in prison and the judge said the three years he has already spent in custody would be declared time already served.

Fennell's lawyer Michael Gatenby said an appeal would be lodged against the conviction.

'The jury obviously listened to the evidence but unfortunately we say they drew conclusions that they shouldn't have in that circumstantial case,' he said.

It has been claimed that Fennell (pictured) callously murdered Ms Watson after she discovered he was stealing thousands from her account
The widow of the Home Shopping Network's co-founder Roy Speer has been awarded $34million in a suit against her late husband's mistress.

Lynnda Speer, 75, of Pasco County, Florida, sued Morgan Stanley financial adviser Ami Forte and branch manager Terry McCoy over claims her husband's finances had been mismanaged.

Mrs Speer had accused 58-year-old Forte of having a 12-year affair with her late husband.

The widow of the Home Shopping Network's co-founder Roy Speer (left) has been awarded $34million in a suit against her late husband's mistress Ami Forte (right)

An arbitration panel appointed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Morgan Stanley to pay her more than $34million in damages after a 13 month legal battle.

Speer's health had deteriorated years before his death in 2012 at the age of 80. Twelve years earlier his wealth was estimated at $1billion - a fortune that placed him on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that the panel found Morgan Stanley, Forte and McCoy guilty of elder exploitation, negligence, constructive fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning and unauthorized trading.

It reports that Mr Speer's accounts, which ranged from $150million to $200million, were managed by Morgan Stanley.

Lawyers for Mrs Speer said her husband's trading activity had taken off long after his health had started to deteriorate.

Mr Speer, co founder of HSN (pictured) died in 2012 at the age of 80. Twelve years earlier his wealth was estimated at $1billion - a fortune that placed him on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans

They said In the last five years of Mr Speer's life, Forte - a high profile stockbroker - and her Morgan Stanley colleagues put through more than 12,000 unauthorized trades in the HSN tycoon's accounts.

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley said the firm 'does not believe the award is justified. While disappointing, it is a small fraction of the more than $476 million sought by the claimants.

'Even so, the award is inconsistent with substantial evidence showing that the accounts were profitable for the client and managed in accordance with his wishes. It is also notable that the arbitration panel rejected in its entirety claimants' demand for punitive damages.'

Lynnda Speer, who was married to Roy Speer for more than 50 years said she hoped the outcome would 'prevent other elderly investors from being taken advantage of by their stockbrokers.'
The woman who was victimized by police after being accused of orchestrating her own kidnapping - mirroring the film Gone Girl - sued the City of Vallejo yesterday.

Denise Huskins and boyfriend Aaron Quinn filed a defamation lawsuit in US District Court for Eastern California, in Sacramento, claiming police inflicted emotional distress on them.

The suit was also filed against police officers, including department spokesman Lieutenant Kenny Park, who referred to the kidnap of Huskins as a 'wild goose chase' at a news conference last year.

Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn filed a defamation lawsuit claiming police inflicted emotional distress on them

The suit was also filed against police officers, including department spokesman Lieutenant Kenny Park, who referred to the kidnap of Huskins as a 'wild goose chase'

Park added that Huskins and Quinn owed the city an apology for having wasted resources, reported Reuters.

The complaint claimed that police 'created a destructive nationwide media frenzy through public statements accusing Plaintiffs of faking Denise's kidnapping and rape.'

And instead of investigating the crime, police were accused of 'rubbing salt in Plaintiffs' fresh wounds in the days and weeks following the attacks'.

Huskins was taken from her home in Vallejo, California on March 23, 2015 after a group of individuals entered the house and tied up the couple.

Huskins (second right) was taken from her home in Vallejo on March 23, 2015 after a group of individuals entered the house and tied up the couple

According to the complaint, the couple were both blindfolded and drugged and Quinn was told that if he went to the police, Huskins would be harmed.

Quinn also reported that the group demanded a ransom of $8,500.

Huskins said she was forced into the trunk of a car before being sexually assaulted twice during the kidnap, according to federal documents.

Three months after the incident a man named Mattew Muller was charged in the kidnapping

The victim was also told the act had been filmed and the footage would be used against her if she went to the police, according to the complaint.

The complaint said that while this was going on Quinn contacted police but was treated like a suspect and interrogated for hours.

'While (the Vallejo Police Department) focused on unsubstantiated theories and ignored evidence, Huskins endured unimaginable terror and a violent assault,' the complaint said.

Huskins was later released two days later in Huntington Beach.

The Vallejo Police Department released a statement that evening claiming the case 'appears to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping'.

Three months after the incident a man named Mattew Muller was charged in the kidnapping.

Harvard-educated attorney and former Marine, Muller, 38 was linked to the case after the discovery of a water pistol equipped with a flashlight and laser pointer.

The water pistol was believed to be used during the kidnapping of Denise Huskins, authorities said at the time.

According to the complaint, Muller was suspected in at least three other home invasions in the Bay Area similar to Huskins' around that time.

A news crew reports from the house in Vallejo, California, where Denise Huskins was kidnapped in March 2015
The wife of a slain county deputy has shared heartbreaking photographs of their son wearing his late father's sheriff badges.

Deputy Carl Koontz was fatally wounded during a gunfight inside a home in Russiaville, Indiana on Sunday while carrying out search and arrest warrants.

The gunman, 25-year-old Evan T. Dorsey, was found dead inside the mobile home about two hours after the gunfight ended, Howard County Sheriff Steve Rogers said.

Slain deputy Carl Koontz's wife Kassandra posted these photographs of their son Noah wearing his father's badges and stated the 'handsome little man' was wearing them 'with pride'

Deputy Koontz (pictured with his wife Kassandra and Noah) was fatally wounded while serving search and arrest warrants on Sunday in Russiaville, Indiana

Deputy Koontz left behind his wife Kassandra, and their 8-month-old son Noah, who is pictured in the photographs posted online.

Mrs Koontz captioned the images: 'Maybe to lighten the mood a little with this handsome little man! He is wearing his daddy's badge with pride.'

It comes just days after Deputy Koontz was remembered during a moment of silence Monday before a procession left Indianapolis to return his body to the community he served.

Dozens of police officers surrounded his police car during the ceremony outside the Howard County Criminal Justice Center in Kokomo.

The ceremony requested by Deputy Koontz's widow, Kassandra, was held 24 hours after he was pronounced dead at an Indianapolis hospital where he was rushed after Sunday's shooting.

A procession with a hearse escorted by police motorcycles and trailed by several dozen police cars left the Marion County Coroner's office in Indianapolis for the 60-mile journey to return his body to Kokomo.

Sergeant Jordan Buckley, who was wounded in the gunfight, was hospitalized after the shooting but was released from an Indianapolis hospital Monday in time to take part in his colleague's procession.

Preliminary autopsy reports show Deputy Koontz died of a single gunshot wound to his pelvis and that Dorsey died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. His death was ruled a homicide.

Floral tributes cover Deputy Carl Koontz's patrol car in front of the Kokomo County Sheriff's Department

Sergeant Jordan Buckley, who was also shot during the incident, talks about his slain colleague

Dozens of police officers line up in front of the funeral home during yesterday's funeral procession

Hundreds of mourners also lined the streets to pay their respects to the slain police officer in Indiana

Deputy Carl Koontz's casket is brought into Shirley and Stout Funeral Home after a procession from Indianapolis to Kokomo - the city he served

Thousands lined the route along Dixon Road on Monday as his body was returned to Kokomo after he died at a hospital in Indianapolis

Officers had been trying to serve search and arrest warrants on Dorsey, who was wanted in adjacent Clinton County for failing to appear for a court hearing on a syringe possession charge.

Dorsey had already served time in state prison on drug-related charges.

Rogers said the killing of Deputy Koontz had left his department shaken and in mourning.

'You can only imagine the loss here, a wife with a small child,' he said. 'It's just what you can imagine, as far as the stress and the sadness we're dealing with right now.'

Governor Mike Pence on Monday called the 27-year-old Deputy Koontz a 'courageous young man'.

Deputy Koontz was also remembered during a vigil Monday held by students and staff at Northwestern School Corp, the Kokomo school where he worked twice a week as a school resource officer.

Principal Kristen Bilkey said she was amazed by the number of people at the school who sent her emails saying how much Deputy Koontz meant to them.

'They counted on him, because they knew he would be there for them,' she told the Kokomo Tribune.

Deputy Koontz was remembered during a vigil Monday held by students and staff at Northwestern School Corp
a rare form of child abuse whereby a parent or guardian fakes or exaggerates a child's illness for attention

The woman was suffering from Munchausen by proxy syndrome

She underwent a needless procedure where biopsy was taken from kidney

A mother-of-four with an attention seeking disorder faked her daughter's kidney illness by placing her own blood in the six-year-old's urine - leading her to needlessly undergo a painful operation.

Cambridge Crown Court heard the 32-year-old heroin addict mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for 28 months for child neglect on Tuesday, after nurses discovered syringes of blood she left at the hospital.

The child, who is now eight, needlessly underwent a painful procedure where a biopsy was taken from her kidney with a large needle after the little girl's mother exaggerated her symptoms purely for attention.

The court heard that the defendant suffers from Munchausen by proxy syndrome - a rare mental condition where a primary caretaker fakes or exaggerates a child's illness.

A mother-of-four with an attention seeking disorder faked her daughter's kidney illness by placing her own blood in the six-year-old's urine - leading her to needlessly undergo a painful operation

Judge Gareth Hawkesworth told the mother, a heroin and cocaine addict, that she put her child through unnecessary suffering.

He said: 'Between February and July 2013 to a number of doctors and two hospitals you sought to exaggerate symptoms to which you said your daughter was suffering.

'You did so after all by giving false oral accounts to her doctors and then following this on a number of occasions by extracting your own blood by a syringe and adding this to her urine samples.

'This eventually pressed a doctor to carry out a biopsy. This involved a substantial needle through her abdomen into her kidney.

'This procedure was wholly unnecessary and it revealed to you there was nothing in fact wrong but you persisted in your claims and continued to put your blood in her urine samples.'

Judge Hawkesworth added how the defendant was supposed to 'protect' her daughter which she had the opportunity to do so when the results showed nothing was wrong.

He added: 'In a sense you did not know what you were doing because you were in the grip of a syndrome.

'This court accepts that you had difficulty in coming to terms with what you have done.

Cambridge Crown Court heard the 32-year-old crack heroin mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for 28 months for child neglect on Tuesday. The judge said: 'You caused unnecessary suffering to your own daughter and no doubt disrupted the treatment of other ill children'

'It is clear you have remained in denial. However you knew what you had done.

'I accept that the child is now blooming and safe as she is with her father.

'You caused unnecessary suffering to your own daughter and no doubt disrupted the treatment of other ill children.'

The mother-of-four was jailed for 28 months which she has to serve half of and once released will be on licence.

She had been living alone and since being charged in 2014 she appeared in court six other times for different offences.

Some of her children are with their father and another child is being looked after by their paternal grandmother.

Prosecuting Samantha Cohen told the court how the mother on numerous occasions provided urine samples contaminated with her own blood.

The court heard how the victim was ill with a kidney infection in February 2013 and she spent a week at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Herts.

Two days after she was discharged the mother took her child back to Lister Hospital.

Ms Cohen said: 'Ms X told the hospital staff that her daughter was in pain, had vomited and had blood in her urine.

'When the hospital staff asked the child where the pain was, she pointed not to her kidneys but to the abdomen.'

The youngster was re-admitted to hospital but discharged the same evening but the following month she was sent to see a specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

The baffled medics decided a painful procedure had to take place as they were concerned for the victim's health as they were given numerous contaminated samples.

On July 18 the six-year-old had the procedure and the results came back showing there was nothing wrong.

Nurses became concerned and started taking their own urine samples after the mother was overheard on a phone conversation saying her daughter was 'critically ill'.

The test results at Great Ormond Street Hospital later revealed how there were two sets of DNA in the urine samples from people who were related.

And just three hours after being discharged, the mother readmitted her child back at the Lister Hospital on July 24.

But two days later a nurse found a white plastic cup with blood in it along with two syringes in the parent's toilet and the defendant was arrested the same day.

Defending John Fairhead told the court the mother had suffered from emotional, drug and alcohol problems.

He then said for unknown reasons the mother exaggerated the illness but she herself was suffering from a condition.

Mr Fairhead added: 'It would seem the victim has come through this without serious psychological or physical repercussions.'

Since the mother's actions came to light the court heard bricks had been thrown through her window as she struggled to get 'back to normality'.

An impact statement from her father, read partly aloud in court, said the girl was now a 'flourishing and happy' eight year old.

The mother from Stevenage, Herts., was originally due to go on trial in January but changed her plea to guilty at the last minute.

She admitted wilfully assaulting, ill-treating and neglecting a child in a manner likely to cause suffering or injury.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in a case from religious nonprofit groups challenging the federal governments contraceptive/abortifacient mandate. Here is what you should know about that case.

What is this case, and whats it about?



The case the Supreme Court will hear, Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Burwell, combines seven challenges to the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraceptive/abortifacient mandate.

To fulfill the requirements of the Affordable Healthcare Act (aka ObamaCare) the federal government passed a regulation (often called the HHS Mandate) that attempts to force groups into providing insurance coverage for contraceptives, sterilization, and abortifacients. Some religious groups, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, objected on the ground that the requirement violates their religious liberty as protected by the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). HHS offered an accommodation that the Little Sisters found to be insufficient.

The Supreme Court will decide, as SCOTUS Blog explains, whether the government has offered nonprofit religious employers a means to comply and whether the whether HHS satisfies RFRAs test for overriding sincerely held religious objections in circumstances where HHS itself insists that overriding the religious objection will not fulfill HHSs regulatory objectivenamely, the provision of no-cost contraceptives to the objectors employees.

What was the accommodation, and why was it rejected?

The proposed accommodation would require the Little Sisters to find an insurer who will cover all of the things they oppose: sterilization, contraceptive, abortifacients, etc. They would also be required to sign a form that triggers the start of that coverage of those items and procedures that they find objectionable. They believe that the accommodation does not prevent them from violating their religious beliefs.

Who are the Little Sisters of the Poor?



The Little Sisters of the Poor is an international Roman Catholic Congregation of Religious Sisters that serves more than 13,000 elderly poor in 31 countries around the world. The first home opened in America in 1868, and now there are nearly 30 homes in the United States where the elderly and dying are cared for.

Doesnt the religious employer exemption cover the Little Sisters and similar non-profits?



No, the general exemption the HHS provides applies only to churches and certain types of church-like organizations. Most religious non-profits do not qualify.

Doesnt the mandate apply to everyone equally?



No: 1 in 3 Americans do not have a plan that is subject to the mandate HHS is attempting to force on the Little Sisters. Many large corporationssuch as Exxon, Chevron, and Pepsiare already exempt from the mandate because they never changed their plans and are grandfathered. The government does not even require the nations largest employerthe U.S. militaryto provide these services through their family insurance.

What if the Little Sisters simply refuse to comply?



If the Little Sisters do not provide coverage for contraceptives, sterilization, and abortifacients, the government is threatening to fine them with $70 million in fines per year.

Didnt the Hobby Lobby case already resolve this issue?



Last year the Court agreed some owners of closely held for-profit corporations, like Hobby Lobby, have sincere Christian beliefs that life begins at conception and that it would violate their religion to facilitate access to contraceptive drugs or devices that operate after that point.

The Court found that the HHS mandate violated RFRA because it imposed a substantial burden (i.e., if the companies refused to violate their beliefs, they would face severe economic consequences: about $475 million per year for Hobby Lobby, $33 million per year for Conestoga, and $15 million per year for Mardel). The government also failed to satisfy RFRAs least-restrictive-means standard, since the government could assume the cost of providing the four contraceptives to women unable to obtain coverage due to their employers religious objections or extend the accommodation that HHS has already established for religious nonprofit organizations to non-profit employers with religious objections to the contraceptive mandate.

In that case, the companies can qualify for an exemption by fill out a form and submitting it to the government. This type of accommodation was already available to religious non-profits. But this is a procedure the Little Sisters and others find insufficient to resolve their religious objections.

Isnt this merely a Catholic issue?



No. Many Protestant non-profits have similar objections. The current case combines the cases that were brought by East Texas Baptist University, Southern Nazarene University, and Geneva College. Other groups who have brought similar lawsuits, such as Wheaton College, will also be affected by the outcome of this ruling.

Addendum: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the non-profit, public interest law firm that is defending the Little Sisters, created this comic to illustrate the Obama administrations peculiar reasoning on this case:
The biological father of a child seized from the only foster parents she has known because they are not Native American is a serial criminal, Daily Mail Online can disclose.

The six-year-old girl, Lexi, was taken from Rusty and Summer Page so she can be given to new foster parents chosen by the Choctaw nation. Her biological father is enrolled as a member.

The real father, Jay Ellerfobes, can be named for the first time. He has spoken on the case to describe it on social media as '#1 story in the nation'.

But crucial new details about his lengthy criminal history, which includes at least felonies, can be disclosed.

He has spent time in prison for, among other offenses, drugs and grand theft, and boasted that he has white supremacist friends. A former girlfriend told Daily Mail Online that he abused her.

Real father: Jay Ellerforbes can be named as the biological father of Lexi, the girl taken from her foster parents after a court order. He has lost custody of both the children he is seen with

Lost their child: Rusty and Summer Page fostered Lexi from the age of two. They have fought a court battle to keep their foster daughter in the only family she can remember, but lost

Loss: Six-year-old Lexi (in pink) was removed from her foster parents, Summer and Rusty because she is Native American and they are not, on Monday

Handed over: Lexi clutched a teddy bear as she was forced to enter a black government car with social workers on Monday

The convictions were disclosed as a family services worker involved in the case spoke out to Daily Mail Online to reveal concerns over the handling of the case.

Lauren Axline said that the Native American unit of Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had been 'deceptive' and 'crooked' in their handling of Lexi's case.

The case centers around laws which designate children as Native American and mean that their welfare is the responsibility of their tribe if they have proven tribal ancestry.

But Lexi - and her biological father - have never lived on a reservation or been subject to tribal law before.

He even denied that he was Native American when his mother raised the issue with Los Angeles County DCFS, and told them that he was an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation, of Oklahoma.

The biological father is at the center of the case, although Lexi is not going to be returned to him.

TWENTY YEARS OF CRIME - LEXI'S FATHER'S RAP SHEET November 2014 Ellerforbes is currently facing charges of possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. The case is currently 'pending' at Pasadena Courthouse August 2006 He was arrested by the LAPD gang and narcotics division in August 2006 November 2004 Sentenced to three years in state prison for two felonies: grand theft auto and owning or operating a vehicle 'chop shop' August 2001 Charged with six felony offenses including grand theft, receiving stolen property and forgery. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense for stealing a vehicle and sentenced to four years in state prison June 2001 Sentenced to 210 days county jail for domestic battery. March 2001 Sentenced to 30 days county jail for driving while suspended October 1996 Charged with possession of meth but case dismissed. September 1994 Charged with three felonies receiving stolen property, unlawful taking of a vehicle and reckless evading of police officer. Pleaded guilty to at least one count - sentence unknown. January 1993 Charged with possession of a controlled substance, sentenced to 24 months probation. September 1992 Charged with three offenses under the vehicle code including driving while suspended. Sentenced to five days jail and 36 month probation. July 1992 Charged with five offenses under the vehicle code including driving while suspended and failure to appear in court - sentence unknown. Advertisement

He has lost custody of at least one other child, court records show, and Lexi is to be sent to a foster family in Utah which the tribe see as related to her.

She is to be looked after by a woman called Ginger, whose uncle is Lexi's step-grandfather, having been in a relationship with her father's mother. Her grandmother is now dead.

However a series of concerns over her father can now be disclosed.

Daily Mail Online can reveal he is currently facing charges of possession of meth and drug paraphernalia from March 2014, according to court records.

The case is currently 'pending' at Pasadena Courthouse.

He was also arrested by the LAPD gang and narcotics division in August 2006.

In January 2004, Forbes was sentenced to three years in state prison for grand theft auto, receiving stolen property and owning or operating a vehicle 'chop shop'.

He was charged with these crimes shortly after being released from a four-year jail term for grand theft, stealing a vehicle, forgery and counterfeiting and various other vehicle-related crimes.

Forbes was sentenced to four years in state prison in Sept 2001 for these crimes.

Just months earlier he had also been found guilty of domestic battery, false identification and possessing burglary tools.

His criminal history stretches back to 1992 when he was jailed for various during offenses including driving while suspended and failure to appear in court.

A year later he was placed under probation after being found in possession of drugs.

In 1994 he was charged with unlawful taking of a vehicle, receiving stolen property and the reckless evading of a police officer.

Separately, a former girlfriend of Forbes, told of her concerns.

Tammy Kuhn, 46, from San Fernando, California was in a relationship with him from 1999 until 2003 and they have a daughter together, who is now a teenager.

The teen was raised by her grandfather but now lives with the same family in Utah where Lexi is staying.

She was sent away after Forbes and Tammy lost custody due to substance abuse.

'Jay and I did not have a good relationship, he never resolved problems with women and he had a drug problem, he took Meth, as did I,' said Tammy.

'He would never hurt his kids, he tried to be a good dad, but the problem was the relationship part, he would argue and fight with his women in front of the kids.

'He would get violent, he hit me numerous times, mainly when we were under the influence of drugs, Meth, but he wanted to be in control of me.

'He's getting older and getting better, but I think he still has that violent streak in him.'

Tammy, who is now clean of drugs and works at an insurance brokerage, said it was hard to get away from Forbes at first.

'We both went to prison and both got sober but it didn't work out even then,' she said.

Tammy says that ever since losing contact with Lexi, Forbes doesn't work and has become depressed.

'I've not seen him for a year, he's been living with his father and doesn't leave the house.'

However concerns were also raised over the conduct of the Native American unit of Los Angeles DCFS by a former worker for another arm of DCFS.

Speaking out: Lauren Axline, who was the foster social care worker of four years for the Page family, tells Daily Mail Online of her concerns about the way the case was dealt with

Lauren Axline, 34, who worked for the foster agency handling Lexi's case for four years said she believed it 'hid' key-facts, 'overlooked' damning visitation reports and 'refused' to put the child's best interests first.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online she said: 'They are supposed to do what is in the best interests of the child and what will cause her the least amount of trauma, but over and over they chose not to do that.

'Even at the very end, the way they went to the house and took her, it was wrong, Lexi will be traumatized.'

Axline says the way Lexi was taken from her home is a 'disgrace'.

She said: 'A transition process was talked about with the DCFS and they still said no, instead they snatched her, it's a disgrace.

'That is the worst possible way, that child is going to be traumatized by what happened.'

Former case worker Axline, who worked closely with Lexi and the Page family for four years until she quit the role in October last year, says the Native American unit of the DCFS have behaved terribly and wants to expose their 'lies' and 'cover-ups'.

'As a foster agency we report what we find in each child's case to the county and the county is supposed to take that information to the courts,' she explained.

'But we were reporting the different instances in Lexi's case that were really concerning us, things that were concerning me as the social worker working the case, but they weren't passed on.

'I'm talking visitations with the Utah family during which Lexi was an absolute mess, the DCFS would tell her that she would have to have a visit and she would go ballistic and she would go crying and crying and when she would come back from a visit it would take her days and days to get back into her normal routine and behaviors.

'Once they started overnight visitations that was even worse, it was taking her weeks to get back to normal.'

She added: 'I was monitoring a visitation with him and Lexi, it was early on when he was just released from jail and he was talking about his time inside, he was sharing with me about how tough it was to be there and said that he had to stick around with his white buddies, my white supremacist friends he said.

'He said they had to protect each other from the other gangs in jail.'

Axline said that what was worse was that when Lexi's biological father Forbes was released from prison on good behavior after serving around nine months, he was allowed four hour unmonitored visits with Lexi just a month later.

Protesters gathered to try and prevent Santa Clarita officials from removing the girl but could only watch as the child was removed

'Lexi would come back and report these odd things, she told us she would hide behind furniture because she was scared because her father was yelling and making her cry, whether he was shouting at her or at someone else I don't know.

'She once came back and said she took a shower with her father in the middle of the day during a four hour visit. She never said anything bad happened, but these are things are red flags that should be passed on.

'So we were hearing these things from Lexi, she was coming back and reporting it to us, we'd report it to the DCFS and they were ignoring it. They were crooked, her father got longer visitations.

'They were refusing to put the information in their report which was then going to the court.'

Axline added that Lexi would 'hysterically cry' during visits with the family she now lives with in Utah.

The family was brought in after, according to court papers, Lexi's father decided to no longer pursue visitation rights to his daughter, even though he was getting closer to having her full time.

But according to Axline the DCFS continued to ignore her reports.

'Instead of writing she was 'hysterically crying', as I told them, they would put, 'Lexi had such a fun time at Disneyland when they went, she was smiling and laughing'. It was completely deceptive.

'It doesn't make sense, because over and over and over, we informed them that it was detrimental to this child.

'What you're seeing now is a culmination of all the stuff they have been doing this last four years.'

Axline said things got so bad that her agency began reporting things directly to the court so they could at least see both sides.

Ironically, while Lexi has been sent to a non-Native American family, Axline reveals that foster mom Summer has Native American heritage - she is connected to the Tuscarora Tribe.

'It doesn't make any sense, Summer Page is native non-blood but the family in Utah is non-native, non-blood,' she said.

What's worse Axline fears the family in Utah are somehow in cahoots with Lexi's father.

She recalls: 'I remember after one visitation with the family in Utah Lexi came home and said that Jay was at the restaurant with them, the Utah family had obviously invited him along. How could we trust Lexi was safe if that was true. Again we told the county this.'

INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT - POLICIES AND REGULATIONS ICWA gives tribal governments a strong voice concerning child custody proceedings that involve Indian children, by allocating tribes exclusive jurisdiction over the case when a child is a ward of the tribe. The tribe also has jurisdiction over non-reservation Native Americans foster care placement proceedings It was enacted in 1978 because of the high removal rate of Indian children from their traditional homes and therefore from Indian culture as a whole. Before enactment, as many as 25 to 35 percent of all Indian children were being removed from their Indian homes and placed in non-Indian homes. The tribe and parents or Indian custodian of the Indian child have an unqualified right to intervene in a case involving foster care placement or the termination of parental rights. Source: Cornell University Law School Advertisement

For the Page family's part in this whole saga, Axline says they have been 'amazing'.

'They have loved on Lexi from day one and truly made her a part of their family.

'None of what was happening made sense to them and that's why the Page family were fighting so hard. The county was lying and they said they would not stand idly by and watch these things happen.'

Philip Browning, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services said: 'The law does not allow me to comment on details regarding specific children who are receiving DCFS services.

'I am aware that there are questions whether my department will comply with a court order to replace a child in accordance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act.

'I want to assure the public that my Department will continue to act in the best interest of the children we serve and remain in compliance with the court orders and laws governing our work.

'I am also aware that sometimes the court must make orders that involve resolving competing priorities and interests.
They were supposed to be the deadliest of enemies, fighting on opposing sides during the darkest days of the First World War.

But this remarkable photograph shows a chivalrous German flying ace posing next to the British fighter pilot he had just shot down in the skies above the battlefields of the Somme.

And in a further display of unexpected gallantry, Oswald Boelcke - who is regarded as the father of the German Luftwaffe - then invited British rival Robert Wilson for a cup of coffee.

Oswald Boelcke, (right) who is regarded as the father of the German fighter air force, shot down Robert Wilson (left), of the 32 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, before inviting him to join him for coffee

The black and white photograph highlights the remarkable chivalry that existed between the rival air forces in the First World War, and has emerged 100 years after it was taken in 1916.

Captain Wilson, of the 32 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, had been flying over northern France when he was shot down by Boelcke and forced to crash land his biplane behind enemy lines.

Leaping from the burning plane, he had to beat out the flames on his arms and legs before he was tracked down by Boelcke - the legendary aviator who trained the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen.

But rather than hold Capt Wilson at gunpoint and send him away for interrogation, Boelcke shook his hand, took him for coffee in the mess and gave him a tour of his aerodrome.

The black and white picture was found in an album of 105 First World War photographs found in an old album amassed by an unknown German airman, which also includes this shot of a tank

An Imperial German aircraft with the pilot and gunner sitting inside. Capt Boelcke (not pictured) was legendary on both sides of No Man's Land for his chivalry

The German later wrote: 'When he went down, his machine was wobbling badly, but that, as he told me afterwards was not his fault, because I had shot his elevator to pieces.

'It landed near Thiepval - it was burning when the pilot jumped out, and he beat his arms and legs about because he was on fire too.

'I fetched the Englishman I had forced to land - a certain Captain Wilson - from the prisoners clearing depot, took him to coffee in the mess and showed him our aerodrome, whereby I had a very interesting conversation with him.'

Capt Wilson was shot down in September 1916 and was Capt Boelcke's 20th 'kill' of the war.

By that stage the German's legendary status had already been secured on both sides of No Man's Land.

Seven months earlier he had risked his life to fly over British lines and drop a letter informing them one of their missing airmen, Lieutenant Geoffrey Formilli, was alive and safe after he had personally visited him in hospital.

After being released at the end of the war, Capt Wilson described his encounter with Boelcke as 'the greatest memory of my life, even though it turned out badly for me.'

A destroyed German plane, as seen in the photo album, which is on sale for 1,000

The photo that has now emerged 100 years later was one of the last taken of Capt Boelcke as he was killed in action a month later after his plane had a mid-air collision with another German aircraft.

Although his crash-landing was survivable, he died from head injuries on impact because he never wore a helmet.

The picture is one of 105 First World War photographs found in an old album amassed by an unknown German airman.

Other images depict German aircraft, battle damage and aerial photos of Verdun, the scene of one of the biggest battles of the conflict that took place between February to December 1916.

Matthew Tredwin, of C&T Auctions of Ashford, Kent, said: 'Flying in the First World War was almost like a gentleman's club no matter which side you were on.

'An unspoken camaraderie existed between Allied and German pilots.

'A lot of these men were celebrities of their time because what they did had a certain romance about it, even though it was deadly.

'It is unlikely that the original owner of the album actually took this photograph. It is more likely this picture was mass-produced for fellow airmen and fans to keep.

'It is a lovely album and has come from a British-based collector. He bought it some years ago from a dealer on the German/Belgian border.'

Boelcke was by far the most important and famous of the German aces of the early years of WWI, and is credited with formalising the fundamental aerial manoeuvres and rules of combat.

The photo album is being sold on March 30 with a pre-sale estimate of 1,000.
Tragic: Zara Alam (pictured) died of meningitis five hours after being sent home from hospital following a series of blunders, an inquest into her death heard

A 13-month-old girl died of meningitis five hours after being sent home from hospital without a doctor carrying out a full examination, an inquest has heard.

Had Zara Alam undergone basic tests, as set out by national guidelines, there is a chance she could have received more urgent treatment.

But a coroner ruled that it was not possible to say whether this would have saved the little girl's life.

She was pronounced dead less than 12 hours after falling ill with a temperature as a result of overwhelming sepsis caused by meningococcal meningitis B.

Zara began to suffer from a high temperature at around 11pm on September 4, 2014, prompting her worried parents to put her back to bed with some Calpol.

But at around 2am, the little girl woke at her family home in Redbridge, east London, with an even higher temperature, which measured 38.7C.

Her mother, Nazia, was unable to get Zara's temperature down - even after giving her paracetamol, stripping her and using cold compresses, the inquest heard.

Zara was taken by her parents to the A&E department of King George Hospital in nearby Goodmayes at about 5.30am when her temperature climbed to 40C.

On arrival, nurses carried out a broad range of tests which revealed Zara's temperature was high, along with a slightly high heart rate and respiration rate. She was then given ibuprofen, the inquest at Walthamstow Coroner's Court was told.

Zara was seen by Dr Oladipupo Okotore at around 7am before he sent her home after being satisfied that her temperature had returned to normal.

Dr Okotore told the inquest he had asked for a full set of tests on Zara's vital signs to be carried out.

But, after missing out several which would have been recommended under NICE guidelines, he made a 'presumptive diagnosis' of 'viral induced pyrexia (high temperature), secondary to teething,' the inquest heard.

Dr Okotore failed to write down in his notes that he had carried out a basic Capillary Refill Time test, where a capillary is pushed down and timed how long it takes to fill up again, prompting coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe to suggest the test was never carried out.

While Dr Okotore claimed he had asked for vital signs checks before the little girl was discharged, he said he had not received all of the results.

Dr Okotore said: 'The temperatures were back to normal at the time of discharge.

'I did ask for vital signs.'

He claimed the earlier results of the vital sign checks conducted on admission were 'normal.'

Dr Okotore added: 'If the temperature was persistently higher despite ibuprofen they would need to bring the child back. This is something I mentioned and reassured them with.'

Zara was discharged and sent home at 7.15am, but less than two hours later she collapsed and her mother saw blue patches on her face.

After suffering respiratory and cardiac arrest, Zara was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 11am.

Blunder: The 13-month-old girl (pictured) was discharged without a doctor carrying out a full examination

Expert witness Dr Ian Maconochie said: 'On the balance of probabilities these signs would probably have been abnormal.

'If these results were found to be abnormal, the child should have then been kept in for further tests.'

Coroner Dr Radcliffe said: 'I'm not persuaded that a CRT was undertaken.

'It wasn't documented and I take the view that if it wasn't documented, it wasn't done.

'Having found no clear focus of infection full observations were not undertaken.

'He discharged Zara without the benefit of those observations.

WHAT IS MENINGITIS B AND WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE VACCINE? Meningitis B is a bacterial infection, most often striking in children under one year old. Symptoms include a high temperature with cold hands and feet, confusion, vomiting and headaches. If caught early and treated with antibiotics, most people will make a full recovery. There are about 1,200 cases each year in the UK. In 2014, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the expert body which advises the government on vaccinations, recommended that babies be given the meningitis B vaccine, from two months of age. The committee had previously ruled that the vaccine should not be introduced - because, it said, it was not cost-effective. It was announced in June that the vaccine would be given to all babies when they reached two months of age. Booster jabs are also given at four months and 12 months as part of the childhood immunisation programme from September 2015. The idea was to protect those most at risk - with cases of meningitis B peaking in infants at around five or six months of age. The JCVI did advise a catch-up programme for slightly older babies who were three or four months old in September 2015 - but not for any other age group. Advertisement

'It's possible that these results would have been normal. It's more likely that not that the observations would have been abnormal.

'Had they been abnormal, Zara would have remained in accident and emergency for further observations and review.

'As it was, she was sent home and collapsed at 9.55am with evidence of a rash.'

The coroner added: 'There was a failure to undertake observations prior to discharge, and there was a failure to discuss with a more senior colleague.

'There was a missed opportunity to see those observations and the general demeanour of the child and administer treatments appropriately.'

She asked the King George Hospital Trust to review its serious incident report and send it back to her and the family.

In a narrative verdict, Dr Radcliffe said: 'A set of observations at discharge was not undertaken contrary to the NICE guidelines nor was a senior review undertaken prior to discharge.

'She collapsed at home and was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital.

'Despite all possible attempts at resuscitation she died as a result of overwhelming sepsis. It is not possible to say whether earlier treatment would have changed the outcome.'

Speaking after the hearing, Zara's mother Nazia said: 'I think that the hospital should have carried out more tests.'

She added: 'My beautiful daughter Zara died of meningococcal meningitis shortly after she was discharged from hospital as suffering from teething and a viral infection.

'The inquest has not been about allocating blame. We are however anxious that lessons are learned for the future.

'I think the hospital should have carried out some tests or at least kept Zara in for observation for a while.

'A diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis is not just about a rash or a temperature.

'The rash that is commonly associated with meningitis doesn't appear in all cases, so it is vital that people are aware of the other symptoms and trust their instincts.

'With prompt antibiotics Zara might well have survived.
A giant cross and love heart has been etched in the sands at Bondi Beach as Australia continues to show its support to Belgium in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks.

The message of hope was captured on a drone by Sydney man Michael Wilkins and uploaded to Instagram with the caption: '#BondiBeach showing #love for #Brussels #brusselsattacks.'

At least 34 people were killed and roughly 250 others injured in Belgium's capital after a series of blasts struck the city's airport and a metro station near the Australian Embassy on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia stood 'absolutely shoulder to shoulder with Belgium.'

Scroll down for video

A giant cross and love heart has been etched in the sands at Sydney's Bondi Beach as Australia continues to show its support to Belgium in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia stood 'absolutely shoulder to shoulder with Belgium.' Pictured is the devastation at Brussels airport

Julie Bishop has condemned the series of 'coordinated terror attacks' in Brussels and said authorities are 'urgently' trying to find out if any Australians have been killed or injured

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also tweeted saying: 'Deeply concerned by the attacks in Brussels. Australians' thoughts, prayers & solidarity are with the people of Belgium'

'Belgian people, have our thoughts, our prayers and our resolute solidarity in this battle against terrorism,' Mr Turnbull said in an interview with ABC on Wednesday.

'We are all united in this battle against terrorism. We cooperate. We exchange information and intelligence. We are allies in this battle.'

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the bomb attacks in Brussels show that no country is immune to terrorist atrocities.

The Australian government has offered its support to the Belgian government to help in any way to track down those responsible for the 'atrocious attacks' that have killed at least 30 people.

At least 34 people were killed and roughly 250 others injured in Belgium's capital after a series of blasts struck the city's airport and a metro station near the Australian Embassy on Tuesday

The blown out windows of Zaventem airport are seen after the deadly attack in Brussels

Ms Bishop said they have no information at this stage to suggest that any Australians had been involved or caught up in the attacks.

She urged Australians in the country to stay calm and continue to follow travel advice.

'The lessons continue to be the same after every attack. No country is immune. This is why we are assisting the coalition fight of terrorism at the source in Syria and Iraq,' she told reporters in Bali.

If required she said she would make herself available to take part in any national security talks from Bali.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he was grateful that there would be no strike in Australia's international airports and that the government was working hard to keep its facility's safe.

'There has been a lot of contact between our intelligence and law enforcement agencies and Australian border force to make sure that we can keep Australian airports secure and that is obviously an ongoing job,' he told reporters in Bali.

'This threat has been around for a long time and will continue to be around for a long time.'

A soldier walks through debris after two explosion rocked a terminal building at Brussels Airport
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As co-pilot with the air ambulance Prince William is usually seen waiting in the helicopter cock-pit while his colleagues carry out the medical tasks.

But today the Duke of Cambridge was seen breaking with his usual role to quickly jump out of the helicopter and pull an injured man out on a stretcher after landing at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

William was then seen climbing into a waiting ambulance with the patient, who was in his 30s and had been injured by a falling branch, to comfort him as it drove the stricken man the short distance to the emergency department. He was seen working together with the paramedics to carefully move the patient, who had a suspected pelvis fracture and had his injury splinted, onto the waiting ambulance trolley.

It comes after William who has recently been criticised for being work-shy, was seen for the first time back at work since February on Monday, after taking time out for a family ski holiday in France and attending a number of official engagements.

He appeared to be accompanied by Dr Sarah McNeilly, who starred in BBC One's popular TV series Helicopter Heroes Down Under during her year as a flying doctor in Australia, who has recently joined the royal at the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

The anaesthetist, who is originally from London, is expected to spend the next six months with the the prince's helicopter crew in Cambridge, helping to save lives across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.

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Prince William is usually seen waiting in the helicopter cock-pit while his colleagues carry out the medical tasks. But today the Duke of Cambridge was seen breaking with his usual role to quickly jump out of the helicopter and pull an injured man out of the air ambulance

He was seen working together with the paramedics to carefully move the patient, who had a suspected pelvis fracture

The man, who had his injury splinted, was then pulled carefully onto the waiting ambulance trolley by Prince Williams and his colleagues

The Prince was seen reassuring and comforting the man, believed to be in his 30s, as he lay on a stretcher strapped to a board

The seven-strong medical team then wheeled the man, who was injured at work, to a waiting ambulance

The Duke was driven back to the helicopter in the ambulance around 30 minutes later and looked more relaxed having completed his mission.

He was seen chatting to his colleagues as they wheeled the stretcher back into the helicopter, then waved goodbye to the two female ambulance drivers.

William then returned to his duty as co-pilot, checking over the helicopter, before climbing aboard and setting off on his next emergency mission.

It is the first time William, who has been working for the charity for the last eight months, has been seen directly helping with medical tasks.

In the first three months of the year he is believed to have only worked 15 shifts, whilst air ambulance pilots usually work nine and a half shifts on a four-on, four-off rota.

It is the first time William, who has been working for the charity for the last eight months, has been seen directly helping with medical tasks

The Duke was the first to jump out of the helicopter and pull the patient out on a stretcher according to onlookers

William was then seen climbing into a waiting ambulance with the patient, who was in his 30s and had been injured by a falling branch, to comfort him as it drove the stricken man the short distance to the emergency department

He was seen chatting to his colleagues as they wheeled the stretcher back into the helicopter, then waved goodbye to the two female ambulance drivers

William checked over the air craft, ready for his next call out. The charity regularly completes more than 150 missions each month, responding to emergencies in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, ranging from road accidents to heart attacks

He appeared to be accompanied by Dr Sarah McNeilly, who starred in BBC One's popular TV series Helicopter Heroes Down Under during her year as a flying doctor in Australia, who has recently joined the royal at the East Anglian Air Ambulance

Last week he stepped in for wife Kate by handing out shamrocks to the troops at the St Patrick's Day parade, an engagement believed to have brought his total days at work this year at the time to 24.

The sudden onrush of highly visible engagements for William is likely to be seen as a response to recent criticism of his workload, although Palace sources insisted that the timing was just a coincidence.

Before last week, he had carried out just three official engagements since the start of 2016. Royal aides claimed that red tape prevented him from carrying out duties during his legally mandated 'rest days' between air ambulance shifts.

However, the Civil Aviation Authority insisted that this was not the case, saying that pilots are free to work on rest days as long as they are not flying aircraft.

Last week the Duke gave a major interview to ITV News, talking about his efforts to help save the rhino and other endangered animals.

He is based at Cambridge Airport and flies an EC145 T2 aircraft.

The charity regularly completes more than 150 missions each month, responding to emergencies in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, ranging from road accidents to heart attacks.
Britain's pubs will be allowed to open longer for two days in June as the nation marks the Queen's 90th birthday, David Cameron has announced.

The Prime Minister revealed the commemorations during his weekly session with MPs in the Commons.

Mr Cameron said: 'We will be extending pub opening hours on the 10th and 11th of June to mark Her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday.'

The national party will coincide with the first two days of the Euro 2016 football tournament in France - despite a similar proposal ahead of the last world cup sparking a ferocious row as the police warned about booze-fuelled violence.

David Cameron announced today pubs would get extended opening hours in June to mark the Queen's official birthday

Subject to a consultation and a vote in both Houses of Parliament, the announcement means 11pm closures on Friday June 10 and Saturday June 11 will be postponed by two hours.

England's first Euro 2016 match against Russia kicks off at 8pm on June 11.

The Queen celebrates her 90th on April 21. Her official birthday is this year on June 11. To celebrate the milestone, she will carry out a short tour of the UK.

In a scaled-down version of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, Her Majesty will visit cities around the country to meet as many of her subjects as possible.

US President Barack Obama is due to visit the UK next month as another part of the celebrations.

The Queen will also be conducting engagements on her actual birthday, April 21, including a walkabout in Windsor.

She will then light the Principal Beacon at Windsor Castle  the first of 564 birthday beacons that officially mark the beginning of the celebrations.

For the first time members of the Army Cadet Force will light beacons on Ben Nevis in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales, Scafell Pike in England and Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland.

The Queen will then attend a private birthday party at Windsor Castle, hosted by Prince Charles.

The monarch appears to be getting into the festive mood already as she stepped out for a rare night on the town this week with her daughter Princess Anne and cousin Princess Alexandra.

On Monday night, the trio went for dinner at Bellamy's restaurant in Mayfair - said to be the only London restaurant where the Queen has ever dined.

The Queen, pictured yesterday making Barbara Windsor a Dame at Buckingham Palace, will mark her 90th birthday next month before embarking on official celebrations in June

Mr Cameron backed moves to extend all pub opening during the last major football tournament - the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Brazil's timezone meant matches ran on until 1am - potentially leaving pubs out of pocket as fans stayed home.

No 10 moved to apply the blanket exemption - used for Royal Wedding 2011 and the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012 - to a sporting event for the first time.
Leon Brittans widow broke her silence today to attack police and MPs over their handling of groundless child abuse and murder allegations made against her late husband.

Two days after Scotland Yard confirmed it had found no evidence against the Tory peer, Lady Brittan issued a statement expressing her relief that his reputation had been restored.

She said: We are pleased that the rest of the world now knows for sure what I, my family and Leons friends have always known  that he was a dedicated public servant, a devoted family man - and innocent. We would like to thank the many hundreds of his friends and colleagues who have supported us during this most difficult two years. It is just sad for us that he is not alive to see his good name restored and that he died with these allegations hanging over him.

Lady Brittan (left), the widow of the late Lord Brittan (right), has today slammed the Met Police after they let her politician husband die with sex abuse allegations still hanging over him

Lady Brittan said she believes that the Met and its leadership, including Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe (pictured) have many outstanding questions to answer over Operation Midland

But she went onto make a thinly veiled attack on Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and his officers on Operation Midland, the shambolic Met investigation into alleged VIP child abuse and serial murder.

Lady Brittan, 75, also criticised MPs for abusing parliamentary privilege to make false claims against her husband in the House of Commons. Her comments appeared to be aimed at Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson, who made a number of allegations about Lord Brittan, who died of cancer aged 75 in January last year.

She said: I understand that the MPS had a duty to investigate these allegations. However, I believe that the MPS and its leadership have many outstanding questions to answer with regard to the conduct and strategic direction of Midland and indeed the earlier investigation. We note that Commissioner Hogan-Howe has launched an inquiry into the conduct of these investigations and I hope that its findings will be full, frank and open to the public.'

Lord Brittan and his wife at the funeral service for Margaret Thatcher in 2013. He died in January 2015

Lady Brittan said that her family believed that any inquiry into Operation Midland needed to answer questions over how the names of the accused made their way into the public domain, why the homes of people who had already died were searched, and why the investigations took so long.

She also queried why 'facts that were easy to establish were not followed through swiftly and robustly', and why the 'so called VIP accused' were subjected to a 'tougher, longer and more stringent test than other people'.

She added: I would urge, too, the House of Commons to consider examining the use of parliamentary privilege in these sorts of cases. It was extremely painful for me and my family to witness Leons good name dragged into the public domain and I feel that using parliamentary privilege to publicise opinions that are not based on fact is a serious abuse of public office.'

On Monday, the Met finally admitted it had found no evidence to support astonishing claims that a string of Establishment figures was responsible for killing three boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

The forces embarrassing admission, after a 16 month inquiry which cost more than 2million and ruined the lives and reputations of several distinguished public figures including ex Home Secretary Lord Brittan, came as it closed the investigation

Lady Brittan confirmed in her statement today: On 21st March I received a letter from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) confirming that my late husband and companion of 35 years - Leon Brittan - would have had no case to answer with regard to allegations made against him and subsequently investigated by Operation Midland.

This comes after the failure by the MPS to inform my late husband that he had no case to answer with regard to an earlier allegation, even though the MPS had already established this before Leon died. The MPS subsequently apologised to us for this delay.

Last month, Met boss Sir Bernard finally caved into pressure and made a full, personal apology to Lady Brittan for pursuing a separate baseless rape claim against the late former Home Secretary.

Lady Brittan also criticised MPs for abusing parliamentary privilege to make false claims against her husband in the House of Commons. Her comments appeared to be aimed at Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson (pictured), who made a number of allegations about Lord Brittan

Last month, Met boss Sir Bernard finally caved into pressure yesterday and made a full, personal apology to Lady Brittan for pursuing a separate baseless rape claim against the late former Home Secretary (pictured)

The embattled Scotland Yard chief said sorry for how his force had handled the false sex allegation, which was hanging over the Tory peers head when he died from cancer 14 months ago.

His apology is understood to have surprised Lady Brittan, who was seeking retrospective justice for her husband over the bogus rape claim and separate allegations of murder and abuse made by a suspected serial fantasist known as Nick.

She accepted Sir Bernards apology but asked the Met Commissioner to answer 30 key questions she put him at an 80-minute meeting in central London.

Today, in a move which will pile pressure on Sir Bernard, she went public with her concerns about Operation Midland.

Her intervention came as it emerged the fantasist whose wild claims prompted Scotland Yards bungled VIP paedophile murder inquiry could be investigated for wasting police time after a genuine abuse victim accused him of deliberately making up the allegations.

The abuse victim lodged a formal complaint with the Metropolitan Police alleging the man  known by his pseudonym Nick  had stolen parts of his story of abuse from him and other people and should face criminal proceedings.

Then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with Lord Brittan in 1986, when he was her Trade and Industry secretary
Mr Hays, 37, is an engineer in Scotland and

Anthony Hays, with his Brazilian wife Aline, who was killed in a car crash in Brazil on Saturday, Mrs Hays is fighting for her life in hospital

A baby boy has survived a horror car crash in Brazil that has killed his British engineer father and left his mother fighting for her life.

Anthony Hays, 37, from Morecambe, Lancashire, was heading to his sister-in-law's gradation ceremony in Central Brazil with relatives when their car collided with another which was overtaking them on a dangerous stretch of road.

His mother-in-law Maria, 54, and a nine-year-old niece were also killed in the smash.

Aline, Mr Hay's Brazilian wife of nearly two years, remained in a hospital intensive care unit today.

Their son Luiz, thought to have been born last September, is being cared for by relatives after being freed from the wreckage of their car.

Mr Hays had travelled to Brazil with his wife and child to prepare a possible move abroad and introduce Luiz to his wife's family.

The accident happened on Saturday night in Terra Nova do Norte, 400 miles north of Mato Grosso's capital city Cuiaba in central Brazil.

The Fiat Strada pickup the British father-of-one was travelling in along with five family members collided with a Toyota Hilux driven by local farmer Sergio Bacon, 68.

Mr Hays' sister-in-law Pamela, who had just finished an accountancy degree at a private university, was driving. Her nine-year-old daughter Emily was among the four dead, who included Mr Bacon.

Police say they believe the farmer may have caused the accident after overtaking on a stretch of the BR-163 road where there was a continuous white line, although they are still awaiting a full accident report which will take up to a month to complete.

Mr Hays' body was flown to Sao Paulo yesterday so it could be repatriated.

The funerals of his niece and mother-in-law took place on Sunday in Peixoto de Acevedo near the accident scene.

Aeliton Pereira, Mr Hays' brother-in-law, said: 'Anthony and my sisters left a little earlier because I was waiting for another relative to follow them to the graduation ceremony.

'Shortly after they started their journey we received a phone call saying there'd been a fatal accident. We were horrified.

'Everyone's devastated. We're praying my sisters survive.'

The couple's baby son Luiz survived the horror crash and was cut free from the wreckage after the accident happened in Central Brazil

He also revealed Mr Hays and his wife had met two years ago in the States and although they had been living in the UK, were considering moving to Brazil.

Mr Hays, who was believed to work in Fife, Scotland for a Rosyth-based marine engineering firm, posted pictures of his son last month on Facebook.

A friend of his wife's, revealing her sadness over the tragedy, pictured the youngster on her Facebook page and said: 'You were a miracle. Your mum Aline Hays will be out of hospital soon to care for you.'

Tributes have poured in for the Brit engineer, who had the nickname 'Tids' on social media.

His brother Mark wrote on Facebook: 'I miss my bro so much xxx.'

While his friend Karl Mulliner posted: 'I'm torn apart. He was part of my family. My best mate gone, completely heartbroken xxx.'

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'We are offering assistance after a British national died in a car accident in central Brazil.
A 20-year-old Belgian student has been named as a victim of the Brussels massacre after succumbing to his injuries.

Leopold Hecht, who studied law at the Universite Saint-Louis in Belgian capital, was at the metro station when a bomb was detonated.

Yesterday, Leopold's desperate brother and a friend took to social media to appeal for information about his whereabouts.

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Victim: Leopold Hecht, who studied law at the Universite of Saint-Louis in Belgian capital, died from his injuries

His brother tweeted: '#Bruxelles If you've seen my brother Leopold Hecht, let me know.'

He later confirmed Leopold had been found, but did not elaborate on his condition.

Today his university announced he had died in the terror attacks, writing: 'I am very sad to inform you of the death of Leopold Hecht... There are no words to describe our dismay at the news. All our thoughts are with his family and relatives.'

Fellow student Thibault Claes-Ingeveld replied to the post, writign: 'How sad, it chills my blood. How is this possible in our time to be killed on his way to the university/work... Condolences...'

Killed: Leopold Hecht, a 20-year-old Belgian student, has been named as a victim of the Brussels massacre

Explosion: The bomb blasts at Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek Metro Station (pictured) killed 34 people

Serge Di Michele added: 'No words... It's unfair... My condolences to his family and loved ones.'

His mother confirmed to MailOnline that her son had died, but did not wish to comment further.

Leopold is the second victim of the Brussels terror attacks to be named. The massacre at Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek Metro Station killed 34 people.

Mother-of-two Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, was the first - she was on the way to visit relatives in New York with her daughters when she died in the blasts at Zaventem airport.

Family: Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, died in the terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday, while her three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived

Ms Tapia Ruiz, who had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her twin daughters when she died in the bombing at Brussels airport

Ms Tapia's three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived the attack, as the young girls had run off to play, followed by their father, just moments before the bombs went off.

One of the twins, Maureen, suffered shrapnel wounds in one arm, while Mr Delcambe, who was seeing off his wife and daughters at the check-in desk, was also injured.

Ms Tapia's brother, Fernando Tapia Coral, said she was travelling alone with the twins to meet their mother and sister in New York.

A second Belgian man, Olivier Delespesse has also been named on today.

Mr Delespesse worked for the Federation Wallonia-Brussels - a government organisation representing French speakers in Wallonia and the Brussels region.

Belgian Olivier Delespesse was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the blast on the metro train

Mr Delespesse reportedly died in the second attack on Maelbeek Metro Station, and his death was confirmed in a Facebook post by his place of work.

The Italian Foreign Ministry has reported one dead Italian national, but has not yet released the identity of the victim.

A Moroccan woman has also reportedly been confirmed among the victims of the blast at Maelbeek, Moroccan diplomatic sources told Belgian media on Wednesday.
 American Veteran Killed by Palestinian Terrorist, Washington Post Drops Print Coverage | Main | Washington Post Lays Out the Cards Correctly and Calls a Terrorist, a Terrorist 

March 23, 2016

Analyst: New Hamas Leadership is Emerging



Hamas, the U.S.-designated Palestinian Arab terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, has a new leader, writes Avi Issacharoff, a Middle East analyst and journalist (Inside Hamas, a bitter and very personal battle for control,? The Times of Israel, March 19, 2016).

Yahya Sinwar has emerged? as a new leader? of the terror group. Sinwar is based in the Strip and lives in the Khan Younis refugee camp. By contrast, Khaled Mashaalfrequently described by press and policymakers as head of Hamas military wing?lives in reported opulence in the Gulf country of Qatar. Terrorist organizations, of course, while not exempt from fissures and factions and engaging in division of labor, do not have discrete military? or political? wings? as sovereign nations dotheir complementary segments all support their terrorist strategies.

Sinwar spent 22 years in Israels prisons for terrorist activities. He was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who was kidnapped in 2006 by Hamas and held hostage for five years. Issacharoff characterizes Sinwar as a man who avoids the limelight? and is considered a radical hardliner who inspires the loyalty of the leadership of Hamass military wing.?

Sinwar, one of the founders of the Izz a-Din al-Qassam brigades, Hamas armed units, opposed the exchange for Shalit, despite its leading to his release.

Issacharoff says that Sinwars release in 2011 wrought a change in the structure of the entire leadership? of Hamas. The journalist claims that change is related to different priorities between Sinwar and Mashaal; Sinwar believes that Gaza is not a stepping-stone in a wider strategy of taking over the West Bank and the PLO, as it is for Mashaal. Rather, Gaza is a separate and sanctified goal; the first and only entity where the Muslim Brotherhoods doctrine holds sway.? This means that while Mashaal is willing to make temporary compromises regarding Hamas position in the Gaza Strip with the goal of making gains for the terrorist group in areas controlled by Fatah, the rival movement that dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA), Sinwar is perhaps less likely to do so.

Issacharoff reports that Sinwar differs from Mashaal in other respects as well.



As CAMERA has noted, (Journalist Profiles New Iranian-backed Palestinian Terror Group,? Oct. 29, 2015), Hamas, including Mashaal, failed to support publically the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syrias ongoing civil warangering the terror groups chief financial backer, Iran, which has been working to ensure that Assad stays in power. By contrast, Sinwar and his allies refused to part ways with their friends in Tehran and Damascus? and have kept in close contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al-Quds Force.? As a result, Sinwar has continued to receive Iranian funds although Mashaals attempts to gain support from Saudi Arabia and his opposition to Iranian proxies in Yemen led to a cutback in financial assistance from the Islamic Republic.

Hamas leadership also differs on policy regarding Egypt and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Mashaal and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, have been seeking to improve ties with Egypt by visiting Cairo and meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials. Issacharoff believes this is to counter the influence of Sinwar, who has been cooperated with and assisted Islamic State in the Sinaia branch of ISIS, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Isaacharoff is careful to note that Hamas is not about to fall apart, and the rifts are not unbridgeable.? Still, he believes that in Hamas elections this year, Sinwar is likely to gain influence and greater power within the Gaza Strip, perhaps at the expense of Mashaal and/or Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader who lives in Gaza.





Posted by SD at March 23, 2016 09:59 AM

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Witness: Speaking to MailOnline in the Places des Boules last night, journalist Ketevan Kardava said she feels 'there is no secure place in Europe'

A journalist who was just feet away from death at Brussels airport said last night that 'everything in her life has changed' and she now feels no part of Europe is safe.

Ketevan Kardava, who was knocked to the floor by the explosion, took the iconic picture of two female survivors in the moments after the twin blasts in the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old special correspondent for the Georgian Public Broadcaster network had been on her way to Geneva when the attack took place, killing more than 30 people.

Speaking to MailOnline in the Places des Boules last night, surrounded by tributes to those who were injured or lost their lives, she said: 'I didn't realise what happened in that moment.

'Then there was the second bomb. It was very close to me. Then everything was in dust and smoke, and my shelter was on my left side, a passport photo booth, and everything was flying around.'

Another woman took cover in the same spot. 'We had the perception there would be a third bomb,' she said. 'Then we came out, and in that very place we took the photos.'

The next moment, armed soldiers told them to run. She spent the rest of the day at the airport, and then helped the police with their investigation.

But it was only yesterday that the full horror of Tuesday's events sank in. She said: 'It was very terrible. It is only today I realised. I tell my friends that everything in my life has changed.

'I realise there is no secure place in Europe and terrorism has no boundaries. Maybe someday it will happen again and we have to be prepared.'

In the hours after the terrorist attacks in Brussels, which killed at least 31 people and injured more than 260, Ms Kardava's image was cabled out all over the globe.

Iconic: The photograph of Nidhi Chaphekar (right), an Indian air stewardess from Mumbai, lying injured at the airport, epitomises the horrors of the terror attack in Brussels. It was taken by Ms Kardava on Tuesday

Ms Chapekar, a mother of two children, was one of two Indian cabin crew members flying with Jet Airways and had been working for the airline for the past 15 years

She told Time that while she wanted to run from the scene, her journalistic instinct told her to document the devastation inside Zaventem airport, where at least 11 people lost their lives.

She took the photograph of the two women, one who has since been identified as Indian air stewardess Nidhi Chaphekar, which has come to symbolise the terror attack at the airport.

Describing Ms Chaphekar, Ms Kardava said: 'She was in shock, speechless. There was no crying, no shooting. She was only looking around with fear.'

'I was shouting "Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!" And no one was there,' she told USA Today. 'When no one came, she took her camera back out and snapped the photo of the "woman in the yellow jacket."

Shock: Ms Kardava, a 36-year-old special correspondent for the Georgian Public Broadcaster network, had been on her way to Geneva when the attack took place, killing more than 30 people

Like many of the people injured at the check-in, Ms Chaphekar had just arrived at the terminal ahead of meeting up with her colleagues for a flight to Newark, when a series of explosions tore through the building, killing and maiming dozens of people.

Ms Chapekar, a mother of two children, was one of two Indian cabin crew members flying with Jet Airways and had been working for the airline for the past 15 years.

Her photograph rapidly gained attention on social media, with #PrayForNidhi trending on social media.

A source close to her family confirmed that she is now in hospital recovering from her injuries.
The pilot of the FlyDubai jet which crashed in Russia on Saturday, killing all 62 people on board, had resigned due to an unbearable schedule, according to a Russian media outlet.

Fight FZ981 was one of the last flights Cypriot Aristos Sokratous, 37, was due to fly for the low cost airline.

He is said to have been hired by Ryanair and was set to return to Cyprus within the next few weeks.

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The pilot of the FlyDubai jet which crashed in Russia on Saturday, killing all 62 people on board, had resigned due to an unbearable schedule, according to a Russian media outlet

Russian Emergency Ministry employees investigate the wreckage of a crashed plane at the Rostov-on-Don airport, about 600 miles south of Moscow, Russia on Sunday

'The reason that the captain was resigning is because of the schedules, he just couldn't do it anymore,' an anonymous former FlyDubai captain revealed to RT.

'He was too tired, going to work fatigued, and that is actually why he had resigned.'

The whistleblower said he personally had been 'worked to death' by the airline and fellow pilots are not given enough time to sleep between flights.

According to the Cyprus Mail, he blamed sleep deprivation as a contributing cause of the FZ981 crash in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

Junior pilots in particular are regularly given multiple flight shifts in a row with little time for sleep readjustment, he is reported as saying.

Referring to an internal survey conducted by FlyDubai, the informant said that 80 per cent of his colleagues had predicted the possibility of a crash due to exhaustion.

'It's unbelievable, I mean they knew this was coming, they absolutely knew it and of course they will blame it on the pilots,' he said.

Emergencies Ministry members work at the crash site of a Boeing 737-800 Flight FZ981 operated by Dubai-based budget carrier FlyDubai

The news outlet said they had obtained the flight log of co-captain, Alejandro Cruz Alava, which showed he had worked 11 days straight with only one day off prior to the crash.

Sokratous had 5,900 hours experience as a pilot and it is understood he was at the controls of the aircraft, while is Spanish first officer Alejandro Alava, 37, who had 5,700 hours flight time, was in charge of keeping in contact with Air Traffic Control.

Sokratous was promoted to captain 18 months ago, according to the friend.

He had previously worked for Helios Airways, the Cypriot airline that shut down following a crash in 2005 that killed 121 people.

A view of the runway at the Rostov-on-Don airport where a FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 crashed

The cause of the crash is not known but several planes had trouble landing at the airport due to strong winds at the time of the crash.

Most of the passengers were Russian holiday-makers.

The budget carrier FlyDubai launched in 2009, with a network of up to 90 destinations. They operate more than 1,700 flights each week.

Its Facebook page says: 'From our hub in Dubai, we strive to remove barriers to travel and enhance connectivity between different cultures across our ever-expanding network.

'Our agility and flexibility as a young airline has enhanced Dubai's economic development, in line with the Government of Dubai's vision, by creating trade and tourism flows in previously under-served markets.'
So that's it then, is it?

We lit up the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain in the colours of the Belgian flag.

The usual suspects from Obama to Cameron to Hollande trotted out well-practised lines about showing solidarity with our Belgian neighbours.

Then the President of the United States, a keen advocate of the UK staying within the safety (*cough*) of the European Union, went off to watch the baseball with his new Cuban pals in the Castro regime.

The Managing Editor of Channel 4 News tweeted me, asking if I would share a picture of the people of Belgium chalking words of defiance in the public square as if they were all suddenly infantilised by their impotence

Panic: A fire caused by one of the explosions in the terminal at Zaventem Airport in Brussels is tackled by airport staff with extinguishers surrounded by baggage and falling roof tiles

Terror is no longer something which shakes us into silence, cowers us into defeat. It is no longer surprising. We have given it appropriate responses, images, even its own vocabulary, enabling us to deal with it as if it were commonplace, something of the everyday.

We have normalised horror.

Whilst someone races to design a graphic to share online, others rush to own a hashtag, and a public space is designated for candles and tears, colouring or celebration.

People will talk about still taking the Underground home every day because otherwise the 'terrorists will win'.

I remember asking listeners of my radio show whether I should take my children to London's fireworks in light of the terror threats in Europe and the increase in armed forces on the streets. Many said I should go. That I should not give in.

And I admire their stoicism, of course. I don't believe in sick days and consider myself a fighter. After all, if you give in and lose your bravado, what is there left to defend yourself with?

But you know, I never took my children to see the sky light up that night.

I realised that if something happened to my children, my world would end. Given the choice of 'standing up to terror' or keeping my children safe, the argument was lost before it began.

And the people who say we must carry on as normal or the terrorists win are talking nonsense. Because the terrorists are winning. They won in Paris, they won in Brussels, they won on 7/7 and 9/11 and they will win again.

Whilst someone races to design a graphic to share online, others rush to own a hashtag (pictured), and a public space is designated for candles and tears, colouring or celebration

Terror is no longer something which shakes us into silence, cowers us into defeat. It is no longer surprising. We have given it appropriate responses. People are pictured gathering at the Place de la Bourse for a vigil

Airports today bear no resemblance to what was considered 'normal' 20 years ago. And after this they will no doubt feel even more locked-down, unfriendly and inconvenient.

You are not fighting back. You are just taking extraordinary risks and hoping for the best because no one else seems to be doing anything but sharing pictures and hashtags and solidarity  which are meaningless gestures.

People even used images of Belgium's famous peeing-boy urinating on ISIS to demonstrate their resilience, despite 34 dead, over 200 wounded and a nation hiding in their homes in fear.

Normalising terror has all been part of the ISIS agenda.

Their tentacles of power have reached out across Europe, making it normal for gay men to be thrown from buildings, encouraging us to watch as heads are sliced from bodies and small boys shoot grown men in the back of the head.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris is lit up in the colours of the Belgian flag in solidarity with victims of the terror attack in Brussels

Men drowning in cages, women being stoned for being raped and dead men emptying into rivers of blood is something we can access on any news channel any day of the week.

And it is a thirst we now look to quench with the terror they wreak here on home soil. Minutes after the attacks on the airport at Brussels the first images appeared. The BBC was actively encouraging others to send in their footage so we could see people suffer, watch men bleed to death, see women terrified for their children.

And I questioned how belonging to these neighbouring nations made us safer. How we were better off in the European Union.

The sanctimonious said it was too early to politicise human suffering. But it was not too early for them to sit gawping at the pictures, to scramble to be the first to come up with a cartoon, to rush to own the drama, to find a public square to be part of the action.

The idea of fighting back, of resilience, of a nation being brought closer together is a popular one in the media. It plays to our desire for a happy ending, where boy gets girl and it's all happy ever after.

And perhaps I wanted to buy into that after Paris.

But this time I am sceptical. All I see is we have become so used to ISIS winning small battles and destroying life that we aren't going to open our eyes and notice when they storm over in greater numbers and win a war we never had the courage to fight.

Belgium is a sink hole for terror. It breeds extremists in Muslim enclaves, fuelled by imported imams with the most hellish interpretation of Islam.

It welcomed back jihadis from Syria to continue their fight within Europe, to colonise, take-over not integrate.

Muslims make up 26 per cent of metropolitan Brussels. The self-styled capital of Europe is now one of the most Islamic cities in Europe.

But on June 23 we really do have the opportunity - probably our last - to say never again. To get out, once and for all.

Tears: A woman weeps after people observed a minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of yesterday's terror attacks in Brussels

After the Dutch floods of 1953 which killed 2,551 people, the country stood up and declared never again.

Never Again.

And since that day a nation which lies mostly below sea level has never been allowed to flood again, thanks to this real determination to find solutions to the problem.

It strikes me, instead of normalising terror, instead of accepting that an attack on the UK is inevitable, and instead of the Belgian president announcing 'What we knew would happen has happened', we need leaders who when they stand up and say 'Never again' actually mean it and come up with solutions.

Instead of increasing police presence to reassure us, we need action on the root causes.

We must not accept this terror as part of our everyday. We must look for strong leadership and implement obvious solutions

Typically, the only man talking tough after yesterday's attacks was Donald Trump - who 'mainstream' politicians abhor and ignore.

We need to stop allowing jihadis to return to Europe, prevent extremist imams accessing young minds and spreading their religious brand of hate, and stop communities colonising parts of Europe where former generations of immigrants used to integrate.

Until then you can draw cartoons, light up the Eiffel Tower, start a hashtag and carry on catching the Underground all you want. You can even pretend you are standing up to the suicide bombers. You can even make out Islam is the religion of peace, as Channel 4 do on a nightly basis.

The Managing Editor of Channel 4 News tweeted me last night, asking if I would share a picture of the people of Belgium chalking words of defiance in the public square as if they were all suddenly infantilised by their impotence.

I refused.

Because, you see, you are not standing up to terror. You are normalising it. Giving it a shiny coat. Pretending it's all going to be OK because we know what to do when bad stuff happens.

We must not accept this terror as part of our everyday. We must look for strong leadership and implement obvious solutions.
A man who accidentally caught a huge turtle turned down more than $AUD2000 for the sea creature, instead opting to return it to the sea - and under folklore, earn himself a long life.

The fisherman, believed to be from the Fujian region of China, unexpectedly hauled in the turtle earlier this week, much to his - and his fellow fishermens' - surprise.

After getting their helping to pull in a heavy net, the man, thought to be called Li Awei, found the beautifully coloured turtle, more than a metre long, 73cm wide and weighing 67.5kg, Shanghaiist reported.

Li Awei with the spectacular turtle he and other fishermen hauled in after it became caught in a net. Despite being offered the equivalent of $AUD2000 for the creature, he decided to release it back into the ocean

The large turtle is said to be 107cm long, 73cm wide and weigh nearly 70kg

With striking orange, red and yellow colourings and its large size, the turtle has a striking appearance

But no sooner than had he brought the creature ashore, interest began to grow, with people from his town offering him large sums of money for it.

Despite the offers, he decided to return it to the sea.

According to Shanghaiist, seeing such large sea turtles is sign of good luck.

Li Awei and other men carry the huge turtle back towards the water where it was released into the ocean

Mr Awei (left) helps return the turtle to the sea. Doing so is said to help pray for longevity in China, according to reports

So rather than tempt fate, the decision was made to return it to the sea.

According to the report, releasing animals to the wild earns moral credit and is a form of prayer.

Releasing turtles is said to aid longevity, so perhaps Mr Awei will live to an old age, much like the creature he released.

However, Shanghaiist also reported that some businesses had begun illegally breeding animals for the purpose of such releases.

Although the exact location where the turtle was caught is unknown, it is thought to have been in the South China Sea near the Fujian area of China.

The turtle as it its dumped back into the ocean from whence it came, so that it did not become a meal
Federal investigators started an investigation into three George Mason University students who were arrested last week after the school's police department discovered drugs and bomb-making materials during a dorm search.

After a 'small amount' of bomb-making material was found in the Fairfax, Virginia, dorm room on March 16, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced this week that it would take part in an investigation.

The identities of the adult students are not being released until investigators confirm 'these individuals aren't linked to something else', Capt Brian Cozby of George Mason University's Department of Police and Public Safety told Fox News on Tuesday.

A 'small amount' of bomb-making material was found in a dorm room in Jefferson Hall at George Mason University on March 16. Federal officials announced this week that it would take part in an investigation

George Mason University Police searched the doom room on March 16 after it was reported that flames were shooting out of the window (pictured)

Video courtesy Fox 5 DC

'There was no threat ever to that building or to the university as a whole,' he said. 'We are working with local and federal agencies, including the joint task force and ATF.'

George Mason University Police searched the room on March 16 after it was reported that flames were shooting out of the dorm's window, according to court documents.

Police found a leafy green substance, match books, shaved match heads, a mortar and pestle, lighter fluid, hand sanitizer, candles and a PVC pipe, search warrants said.

The documents say investigators reported the items could be combined to make explosives.

Two students were arrested on drug and alcohol-related charges, and a third student was charged with possession of bomb-making materials, according to a police statement.

There is no evidence that more people were involved with the bomb-making materials that were found, bit Cozby said names will still be withheld until the investigation is complete.

Following the incident, two students were arrested on drug and alcohol-related charges, and a third student was charged with possession of bomb-making materials

Police found a leafy green substance, match books, shaved match heads, a mortar and pestle, lighter fluid, hand sanitizer, candles and a PVC pipe in the Jefferson Hall dorm

'If they are connected to something else, we don't want the names out there because those people could stop what they're doing and go someplace else,' he told Fox News.

The students were arrested on March 17 and had a hearing at Fairfax County Courthouse. They have since been released.

Students used social media to discuss the concern about the arrests. George Mason University has approximately 33,700 students.

'As a Mason student (albeit not an undergrad or on the Fairfax campus) I find this disturbing and troubling to say the least,' one student wrote on Facebook. 'I await further clarification on the bomb-making paraphenalia.

'This is definitely something we should have been made aware of whether it was an actionable threat or not. Not even an email,' wrote another student.
Her daughter is in protective custody and Lewis has been charged with endangering welfare of a child among other charges

She also told police the picture was a month old and indicated it was her smoking meth in the picture

Police located Lewis at a motel where she was living and found eight glass smoking pipes, which tested positive for meth residue

Now-deleted post was captioned: 'Please help my friend Ashley Lewis and I stop using meth. We can't even stop with a baby around'

Photo was posted on Facebook page of a friend of Ashley Ann Lewis, 28, who appears to light a pipe while her baby lies next to her

A Missouri mother has been arrested after she was captured in a photo allegedly smoking meth in the presence of her six-month-old baby girl.

The photo began circulating after it was posted on the Facebook page of a friend of Ashley Ann Lewis, 28, who appears to light a glass pipe while her daughter lies next to her on a couch.

The original post, which has been deleted, was captioned, 'Please help my friend Ashley Lewis and I stop using meth. We can't even stop with a baby around. We need help,' according to FOX 4.

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Ashley Ann Lewis, 28, of Missouri (right) has been arrested after she was captured in a photo while smoking meth in the presence of her six-month-old baby girl (left), police said

After becoming aware of the photo, police located Lewis on Friday at a motel where she was living with her daughter and mother, and found eight glass smoking pipes and other drug paraphernalia.

Authorities said the pipes tested positive for methamphetamine residue and that she also admitted they belonged to her.

'She said the picture was about a month old and she did indicate that it was her smoking meth in the picture,' Richmond Police Department Det. Scott Bagley told FOX 4.

He added that she was 'obviously very upset, believing that life was over, that she was going to no longer get to see her kid.'

Police located Lewis at a motel (pictured) where she was living, and found eight glass smoking pipes and other drug paraphernalia. Authorities said the pipes tested positive for methamphetamine residue

Her baby girl is now in the custody of child protective services and Lewis has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and first degree endangering the welfare of a child.

She is being held on a $15,000 bond and is set to appear in court next week. If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison.

Lewis' mother declined to comment but told FOX 4 that her daughter made a big mistake and needs rehabilitation for her drug use.
Celebrity barrister Henry Hendron has admitted supplying party drugs that killed his teenage boyfriend

A celebrity barrister has admitted supplying party drugs that killed his teenage boyfriend.

Henry Hendron, 35, bought 1,000 of designer drugs from BBC producer Alexander Parkin, 41, to sell on to revellers for a 'chemsex' party.

The drugs killed Hendron's waiter boyfriend Miguel Jimenez, 18, whose body was found by the sobbing lawyer on the morning of 20 January.

Police found Methodrone, known as meow meow, and GBL at the flat in the Temple, the collection of chambers where Britain's top lawyers and judges are based.

The 'chemsex' phenomena sweeping the gay community has been identified as a major health hazard by the NHS and the BMA. Participants take drugs for up at a week at a time and have sex with multiple partners often summoned to the orgy on the internet.

Hendron, wearing glasses, a smart blue suit, striped shirt and blue and red patterned tie, appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey today.

He had previously denied a string of drugs charges, but pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing drugs with intent to supply.

The confession could end the career of the Tory lawyer, whose famous clients include MP Nadine Dorries, the Earl of Cardigan and The Apprentice winner Stella English.

Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer said: 'It is accepted this defendant bought in bulk for use in what is known as the gay chemsex scene.

'He would be making them available for friends at cost price.'

Mr Bowyer continued: 'The drugs found at the flat were purchased by him for his own and others' use, others including his then partner, who tragically died as the result of taking those drugs.

'Text messages taken from his iPhone are consistent with him purchasing those drugs for around 1,000.'

Hendron, who charges up to 1,750 per day for his services, could now face jail when he is sentenced on 3 May.

Judge Richard Marks QC told him: 'You know, I am sure if you fail to attend that in itself would be an offence punishable by imprisonment and in all likelihood the court would sentence you in your absence.

Hendron, 35, (left) bought 1,000 of designer drugs to sell on to revellers for a 'chemsex' party. The drugs killed Hendron's waiter boyfriend Miguel Jimenez, 18, (both pictured right). His body was found by the sobbing lawyer

'The fact I am adjourning this matter for a report is no indication.

'This is obviously a serious matter and all options remain open to the court.'

Parkin also faces jail after admitting two counts of supplying controlled drugs earlier this month.

His barrister, Dominic Bell, said after the pleas: 'He is 40-years-old, he's an executive producer at the BBC, he has one caution for possession of Mephedrone - there's clearly a background to the abuse of narcotics.'

Hendron, who was represented by his brother Richard Hendron, acted for Tory MP Nadine Dorries when she was accused of smearing a rival during the 2015 election campaign.

As a 17-year-old schoolboy Hendron addressed the 1998 Conservative Party conference calling for the re-introduction of corporal punishment.

Prosecutor Nathan Miebai said at an earlier hearing at City of London Magistrates' Court: 'The defendant, Mr Hendron, and his partner Mr Jimenez were present at their flat on the evening of January 19 through to January 20, 2015.

He bought 1,000 of designer drugs from BBC producer Alexander Parkin, 41. Parkin also faces jail after admitting two counts of supplying controlled drugs earlier this month

'Mr Jimenez was found unresponsive by Mr Hendron on January 20.

'There has been a toxicology analysis which found that Mr Jimenez died of a drug overdose.'

Hendron, of Temple, City of London, pleaded guilty to possession of the Class B drug Methedrone and the Class C drug Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) with intent to supply.

Parkin, of Westminster, admitted supplying the Class B drug Methedrone and the Class C drug Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL).
David Cameron today refused to apologise for threatening to slash a further 4.4billion from disability benefits - plans that were ditched just 48 hours after last week's Budget.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded the Prime Minister say sorry to more than 600,000 disabled people who 'went through such anguish and upset' after George Osborne announced he was cutting benefits to people who need help dressing, undressing or using the bathroom.

As the two leaders clashed in the Commons, disabled people were staging a protest outside the chamber and parliamentary authorities caused fury by telling demonstrators not to take photos.

Stewards even locked the doors to the Commons chamber to stop disabled protesters storming in as they chanted: 'No more deaths from benefit cuts'.

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David Cameron (pictured at Prime Minister's Questions today) refused to apologise for threatening to slash a further 4.4billion from disability benefits - plans that were ditched just 48 hours after last week's Budget

As the two leaders clashed in the Commons, disabled people were staging a protest outside the chamber and parliamentary authorities caused fury by telling demonstrators not to take photos

Mr Cameron admitted the Government does 'not always get every decision right' and pledged to 'learn the lessons' from the embarrassing U-turn, but repeated Mr Osborne's defiant response to calls to apologise by insisting the Treasury was increasing spending on disability benefits.

He also refused to say how the Chancellor will make up the 4.4billion shortfall created by ditching the planned disability benefits cuts.

The plans to reduce personal independence payments (PIP) - which are paid to 640,000 disabled people in Britain - triggered the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary and sent the Tories into its worst infighting in two decades.

After scores of Tory MPs threatened to inflict an embarrassing rebellion on the Government over the plans, ministers backed down and on Monday announced there were no plans to make any further welfare plans before 2020.

At Prime Minister's Questions today Mr Corbyn read out a letter he had received from a disabled person named 'Adrian'.

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at Prime Minister's Questions today) read out a letter he had received from a PIP claimant named 'Adrian' who said he lived in 'constant fear of my benefits being reassessed and stopped and being forced onto the streets'

Mr Corbyn read out a letter he had received from a PIP claimant named 'Adrian' who said he lived in 'constant fear of my benefits being reassessed and stopped and being forced onto the streets'.

The Labour leader asked: 'Could the Prime Minister do what the Chancellor failed to do yesterday and apologise to those that went through such anguish and upset during the threats of the cuts in their personal independence payments?

Mr Cameron replied: 'When you are faced with having to take very many very difficult decisions including very many spending reductions as we were after becoming the Government after 2010, you do not always get every decision right.

'Im the first to accept that, to admit that and on every occasion that happens its very important you learn the lessons.

'As we do so we will continue to increase spending on disability benefits which will be more than 46billion a year by the end of this Parliament compared to 42billion when I became the Prime Minister.'

As the protest outside grew louder, Commons authorities decided to lock the doors to the Commons chamber to avoid a repeat of scenes from last summer when disabled protesters tried to storm into the chamber during Prime Minister's Questions.

Locking the doors caused a delay for MPs trying to exit the chamber after Prime Minister's Questions.

Stewards even locked the doors to the Commons chamber to stop disabled protesters storming in as they chanted: 'No more deaths from benefit cuts'

Yesterday Mr Osborne fought his corner over the U-turn, insisting he would 'listen and learn' from Budget mistakes but struck an aggressive tone as he addressed MPs on his 'botched' plans.

He said he would not break the Tory manifesto pledge by targeting benefits handed to wealthy pensioners to plug the shortfall.

Mr Osborne blasted Labour for ruining the public finances but dodged repeated calls for him to apologise for the about-turn on plans to slash personal independence payments (PIP) handed to more than 600,000 disabled people who need help dressing, undressing or using the bathroom.

The policy prompted the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith as work and pensions secretary and triggered days of bitter Tory infighting about the direction of the Government.

Chancellor George Osborne struck an aggressive tone yesterday as he faced MPs for the first time since dropping a major part of his Budget

Alternative cuts have not been identified - beyond a promise not to find them in the welfare budget - meaning MPs were asked to pass a Budget missing its biggest revenue raiser.

Mr Osborne had faced calls from Tory MPs to make up the 4.4billion shortfall in the welfare bill by cutting the free bus passes, TV licences and winter fuel allowance given to all pensioners regardless of their income, but Mr Osborne ruled this out today.

Labour has demanded Mr Osborne quit as Chancellor over the row.

Mr Osborne conceded the debate over his eighth Budget had been 'lively' but insisted: 'Let's be clear: The key principles behind this Budget are if we are going to deliver a strong and compassionate society for the next generation we have to live within our means, we have to back business to create jobs.

'And we have to make sure work pays by putting more money into the pockets of working people.

'That is what we committed to in our manifesto, that is what the British people elected us to deliver, that is what this Budget does.'

The Chancellor, seen yesterday leaving Downing Street, took the rare step of leading a Budget debate amid claims he 'botched' the plans

Mr Osborne said he was 'sorry' Mr Duncan Smith had resigned over the Budget measures and praised his 'achievements' in office.

He said: 'The decisions we made to keep our economy secure are always difficult and where we don't get them right I have always been prepared to listen and learn.'

As he attempted to get back on the front foot, Mr Osborne claimed his Budget did mean 'we are all in it together'.

Mr Duncan Smith used the phrase in his explosive resignation letter last week in a furious attack on the Government for undermining social justice in Britain.

Challenged to apologise by former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie, Mr Osborne said: 'Where we have made a mistake, where we have got things wrong, we listen and we learn - that's precisely what we have done.

'But where is the apology from the Labour Party?'

Corbyn ally Diane Abbott dismissed noisy support for Mr Osborne on the Conservative benches as 'Tory boys' who want to get 'into NO 10 good books'

Mr Osborne's speech was praised by Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames who reserved harsh criticism for shadow chancellor John McDonnell

Mr Osborne refused to spell out where he would find alternative savings, insisting the Government would take its time and revise its welfare cap in light of the new forecasts at the autumn statement.

In his reply, shadow chancellor John McDonnell blasted: 'Don't tell us we are all in this together'.

He slammed the Chancellor's actions as those of 'the grubby, incompetent manipulations of a political chancer'.

And turning to Mr Duncan Smith - ignored by Labour leader yesterday - Mr McDonnell said: 'I do not agree with a single policy he pursued - but I do not doubt his sincerity.'

The exchanges turned angry as two Tory MPs linked Mr McDonnell's alleged support for the IRA to the Brussels attacks - prompting the Speaker to intervene.

Tom Tugendhat, the Tory MP for Tonbridge, said: 'He stands with bombers who murdered my friends in N Ireland.'

Earlier, Robert Chote, the head of the Officer for Budget Responsibility, said that following the decision to cancel the PIP cuts, the Government was now set to exceed its own welfare cap by 4 billion a year.

Stephen Crabb, left, the new work and pensions secretary, arrived in Downing Street yesterday for the first Cabinet meeting since Iain Duncan Smith resigned. Also seen today was Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond

He told the Commons Treasury committee: 'Taking into account the loss of the money from PIP, you breach by about 4 billion in most years.

'It bobs up and down, but it is essentially 4 billion a year.'

Mr Osborne faced charges yesterday that he was 'hiding' from MPs questions about his 'botched Budget' when he sent junior minister David Gauke to answer a Commons urgent question.

His appearance today comes a day after Stephen Crabb, the new work and pensions secretary, confirmed the Government would not replace controversial cuts to the personal independence payment (PIP) with other welfare savings.

Boris Johnson last night piled on the pressure by describing the policy as a 'mistake'.

The policy, which would have raised 1.3billion a year by 2019/20, prompted the explosive resignation of Mr Duncan Smith on Friday night and its cancellation leaves a black hole in Mr Osborne's plans.

The Cabinet met this morning for the first time since Mr Duncan Smith's resignation.

The Chancellor praised the former work and pensions secretary, echoing David Cameron's attempt yesterday to call a truce on the Tory infighting.

Environment Secretary Liz Truss, left, Home Secretary Theresa May, centre, and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, right, were all seen in Downing Street yesterday ahead of the Cabinet

Mr Osborne said: 'As Conservatives, we know that those who suffer most when Britain loses control of its public finances and the economy crashes aren't the best off but the poorest and the most vulnerable.

'That's what's informed all we have done over the last six years and was at the heart of the manifesto we were elected to deliver.

'I'm sorry Iain Duncan Smith chose to leave the Government last week, and want to recognise his achievements in helping to make sure work pays, breaking the old cycles of welfare dependency and ensuring the most vulnerable in our society are protected.

'That's work this government will go on doing.'

Mr Osborne added: 'We were elected by the British people a year ago on a manifesto that committed to economic security, controlling public spending and lower taxes for working people and business, precisely because we know that is how we deliver more opportunity in our society.

That is the commitment we are delivering in this Budget.

'It is a Budget of a compassionate, one nation Conservative Government determined to deliver both social justice and economic security.

'It's a Budget that puts the next generation first.'

Shadow chief secretary Seema Malhotra said Mr Osborne had to answer questions about what would fill the blackhole in his plans.

She said: 'The Tories are in disarray over their unfair Budget.

'Vague promises of 'no plans' to make further welfare cuts are not good enough. Given the Tories' record of unfairness we need clear answers from George Osborne on who will pick up the bill for his failure and what this mess means for his already discredited fiscal rule.'

Ministers have been asked 17 times how to fill the gap in the Budget left by the U-turn on personal independence payments.

Boris Johnson appeared in Downing Street yesterday as he was due to attend a meeting of the political cabinet in Downing Street

London Mayor Mr Johnson last night piled the pressure on Mr Osborne by describing the PIP plans as a 'mistake'.

He told ITV's The Agenda: 'I think I have already said very clearly that the Government has decided collectively and quite rightly to take the PIP aspect of it [the Budget] and try to sort it out.

'It's obvious from what's happened that it's admitted that it was a mistake.'

Mr Osborne presented his Budget, pictured, less than a week ago but yesterday explained to MPs how to defend his plans

Former Chancellor Ken Clarke today played down the row and told the BBC it was 'absurd' to reduce the Budget to right between Mr Osborne and Mr Duncan Smith.

Mr Clarke said it was 'quite right' for spending to be higher now than it was when he was in No 11.

But he said: 'I mean we have reached the astonishing position where we're paying out more to disabled people by benefits than the entire budget of the Ministry of Defence.'

Mr Clarke added: 'What (Mr Osborne) should do is explain the underlying strategy about why we need to tackle the deficit.

'Creeping into the debate about policy is somehow we don't need to bother, that money is cheap, let's just borrow it, tax should be things that only go down and spending that only goes up and we don't challenge any of the powerful lobbies that exist nowadays.'

Former Tory leader William Hague today slammed Mr Duncan Smith's resignation.

Writing in the Telegraph, he said: 'Iain's resignation was very much the wrong thing to do, for himself, his work, his party and his country.

'It was wrong for him because whatever the outcome of the EU referendum in June, he could have moved to another department, leaving behind a distinguished record on welfare reform, and applied himself to new tasks in a government that needed him.

'It was wrong for his work because many of his essential changes, such as the hugely popular cap on welfare payments that had grown out of control, will now be defined in the minds of many by his parting attack on the Government's policies, rather than by his advocacy of those same policies for the last six years.'
The love letter (pictured), was found inside a bottle on the Spanish coast. Inside, the author pens a heart breaking message to a deceased loved one in which she describes how she still loves and misses him

A mystery woman's heartbreaking letter to a lost love named Craig has been discovered by a schoolgirl inside a bottle on a Spanish beach.

Her two page message describes how he once filled her life with joy, and despite a long time passing since his death, she continues to miss and love him dearly.

The sad tale is penned by a woman named 'Katie', who reveals her feelings towards 'Craig' in the form of a letter, which she writes will be thrown from a sailing boat into the Atlantic Ocean.

The bottle apparently floated across the ocean before reaching the shores of Baldaio beach, in La Coruna, where nine-year-old Noelia found it during a school trip on March 17.

It states: 'My dearest friend Craig. It has been more than a long time since I've seen you and it still isn't easy. I miss you all the time.

'Your death has taught me about life, and how we all ought to live. I appreciated my experiences so much more, because I know you never got to. There is so much beauty and wonder in the world, and you never got to see it.

'Please accept my eyes and my experiences as your own. I'm currently in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing ship, headed towards Spain. You probably wouldn't have enjoyed it but would have appreciated the idea.

'I've seen so many amazing things already, I only wish you were here to share in my adventure.

'I hope there is beauty and awe whereever you are, because you deserve to have beauty in your life after bringing so much to other people's lives.'

The letter continues: 'I hope you know that wherever you are, you are loved by so many people. By me. By your parents, by your brother, and by all your friends.

'I want you to know that no matter how long ago I last saw you, I will always love you. I will always miss you, and I will never forget you.

'I'm going to put this message in a bottle. A bottle of beer that I drank for you. This is your little bit of legacy here over the other side of the world.

'This letter is solely for you, to let you know how much I love you and how much I still care. I hope that one day someone finds this note, and some more joy and excitement is brought into the world because of you.

'I love you Craig, and I miss you all the time. I hope you're in a beautiful place. Rest forever peacefully, Katie xxxx.'

The young schoolgirl who found the bottle was on a school trip with Senda Nova, an environmental organisation.

Jose Manuel Menendez, the organisation's president, told La Voz de Galicia: 'I was telling the kids to look out for bottles with their lids still on, because they might contain messages and ten seconds later, Noelia shouted: "Like this one!"'

The youngster said she planned to keep the message in a bottle as a keepsake, The Local reported.
The children of one Georgia elementary school will namaste no more during yoga practice after their parents complained to officials that it pushed the Hindu religion onto students.

Bullard Elementary School principal Patricia Moore promised parents this week that students would no longer say 'Namaste' or put their hands at heart center, part of the gesture, during yoga.

'I am truly sorry that the mindfulness/de-stressing practices here at Bullard caused many misconceptions that in turn created a distraction in our school and community,' she said in a letter to parents.

Bullard Elementary School in Kennesaw, Georgia will no longer allow children to say 'Namaste' or put their hands at heart center, part of the gesture, during the school's yoga practice (file photo)

'While we have been practicing de-stressing techniques in many classrooms for years, there have been some recent practices associated with mindfulness that are offensive to some.'

The word Namaste literally translates to 'I bow to you' but has also been interpreted to mean 'The divine light in me honors the divine light in you,' according to The Chopra Center.

In the Namaste gesture, one places their hands together at the heart, closes their eyes and bows. It is used to conclude a yoga practice and in the Hindu custom is a respectful and common way to say hello.

But some parents at the Kennesaw elementary school saw it as the equivalent of prayer in the classroom.

'They're pushing ideology on our students,' Cobb County mother Susan Jaramillo told 11 Alive.

'Some of those things are religious practices that we don't want our children doing in our schools.'

Bullard held a 'Coffee and Conversations' with parents to discuss their concerns before Moore announced the removal of the word from the students' yoga practice.

The school will also no longer all students to color Mandalas (pictured in file photo) during breaks. A mandala is a Hindu and Buddhist symbol for the universe that has become a popular pattern for coloring books

The principal added that the students would also stop using Mandala coloring pages during their 'brain breaks'.

A mandala, loosely translated to mean 'circle' in Sanskrit, is a Hindu and Buddhist symbol for the universe.

It has since become a generic term for any diagram or pattern that represents the cosmos and, thanks to its intricate design, has become a popular pattern for both children and adult coloring books.

Moore said teachers would also continue not teaching students about the possible healing powers of crystals.

'Although teachers have never used nor taught about crystals having healing powers during these breaks, we understand it has become a belief,' she wrote.

'Therefore we will ensure that nothing resembling this will be done in the future.'

Moore said the school also plans to form a committee of parents that will explore 'research-based techniques and ideas for the classroom', including when it comes to 'mindfulness'.
 Analyst: New Hamas Leadership is Emerging | Main | U.S. and EU-Trained Palestinian Official Blames West for Brussels Terror Attack 

March 23, 2016

Washington Post Lays Out the Cards Correctly and Calls a Terrorist, a Terrorist



Unlike some news outlets and in contrast to some of its previous articles, in a March 20, 2016 article, The Washington Post eschewed improper terminology in reporting the capture in Belgium of a key Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) memberproperly calling a terrorist a terrorist (Terror suspects capture in Brussels came after several watchful days?).

Washington Post reporters James McAuley, Michael Birnbaum and Souad Mekhennet detailed the process that led to the March 18 capture of alleged ISIS member Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam was described as the last known surviving participant? in the Nov. 15, 2015 terrorist attacks that murdered 130 people in Paris. He is suspected of being the logistics chief behind the worst terrorist attack in the French capitol in decades.?

In their coverage, The Post reporters noted that a March 15 police raid on a suspected terrorist safe house?during which an Algerian with suspected ISIS ties was killed while resisting arrestyielded information that led Belgian and French authorities to Abdeslam.

The Post reported that Abdeslam, a French citizen, was apprehended three days later in in the citys predominantly Muslim Molenbeek quarter.? The paper, in its own words, the paper noted that after receiving treatment for wounds suffered while resisting arrest, he was charged on March 19 with participation in terrorist murder? and for terrorist activities.?

CAMERA has previously pointed out (see, for example, Martyrsthe New Militantsand Other Washington Post Word-Play,? March 10, 2016) the tendency of some print news mediaincluding The Postto use misleading adjectives, such as militant? and gunmen,? in substitute for the more accurate terrorist.? CAMERA also has noted that the closer terrorists get to Israel, the more likely they are to be transformed linguistically? to a fighter? or some word that is less descriptive than the reality (News Media MakeoversTerrorists Are Militants Are Fighters,? March 11, 2009).

In the papers March 23 coverage of the previous days ISIS terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium, The Post used militant? on occasion, but still overwhelmingly employed terrorist? to describe the murderers (for example Bombings at Airport, on Subway,? Obama faces new pressure to forsake his instincts? and Bombs underline citys status as a center of Islamist extremism?).

In his 1946 essay, Politics and the English Language,? British author George Orwell wrote:

Political languageand with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservative to Anarchistsis designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.?

The crimes of Islamic terrorists are unworthy of respectability, and The Post deserves recognition for not providing them with much of it in these cases.









Posted by SD at March 23, 2016 02:01 PM

The UN complains that a wounded Israeli soldier was treated by Israeli medics before the medics treated the terrorist that stab the soldier. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53571

Posted by: Mabbas at March 30, 2016 01:16 PM

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Two brothers who blew themselves up in Brussels were able to evade security services despite being notorious gangland criminals and placed on a worldwide terror watch list, it emerged today.

Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui were today named as two of the ISIS suicide bombers who rocked the Belgian capital yesterday, killing 34 people and wounding more than 270 others.

Their involvement provides for the first time a direct link between the Brussels attacks and the Paris massacre that killed 130 people in November.

It has since emerged that they each have extensive criminal records and were both jailed for shocking crimes involving Kalashnikov machine guns.

Ibrahim was also arrested in Turkey last summer and deported to Holland before being passed back over to Belgium despite warnings that he was a militant.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the suicide bomber was arrested in Gaziantep in southern Turkey close to the Syrian border last summer but deported after Belgian authorities failed to confirm the suspect's links to terrorism 'despite our warnings that he was a foreign fighter'.

Khalid was also listed on an Interpol 'red notice'  an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges.

Yet they were still allowed to play a major role for ISIS before martyring themselves by providing ammunition and renting out safe houses where the Brussels and Paris attacks were plotted.

Brussels bombers: Brothers Khalid (left) and Ibrahim El Bakraoui (right) were able to evade security services despite being notorious gangland criminals who were well known to police, it emerged

On the terror watch list: Khalid was on an Interpol 'red notice'  an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges

Khalid, 27, was jailed for five years in 2011 for possessing AK-47 machine guns and committing a series of car-jackings.

Excerpts from the Interpol notice says he spoke French and Arabic and had dual Belgian and Bahamian nationality.

He has been wanted since last August.

Ibrahim blew himself up in the check-in hall of Brussels Zaventem Airport while Khalid attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, prosecutors said today.

Ibrahim, 30, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during a robbery.

There does not appear to be a red notice posted on the Interpol website for his brother, Ibrahim, but he has been on the run since breaching his parole terms last year.

Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by intelligence services.

The revelations are the latest in a series of failures by security chiefs who face damaging questions about why the siblings and other members of the ISIS cell were able to slip through the net.

The safe house rented by the El Bakraoui brothers in the Brussels district of Molenbeek where Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam was arrested in a police raid last Friday after four months on the run

Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam (left) was arrested (right) while trying to flee his safehouse in the suburb of Molenbeek close to his family home and near the district's police station

Investigation: Forensic teams comb another safe house used by the El Bakraoui brothers and Paris bomb maker Najim Laachraoui to plot the string of terror attacks that killed 34 people in Brussels on Tuesday. They found a suicide note from Ibrahim along with chemicals including 150l of acetone, 30l of liquid oxygen, detonators, a suitcase full of nails and other bomb equipment including plastic trays, tools and ventilator

At some point after leaving prison, Khalid linked up with the terror cell behind the Paris attacks and used a false name to rent a property in the Belgian city of Charleroi as a hideout.

In the hours before the November massacre, logistics chief Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim are believed to have stopped at the apartment to pick up weapons before going on to unleash hell in the French capital.

Khalid later rented out a flat, also under an alias, in the Brussels suburb of Forest which was stormed last week by police hunting Salah Abdeslam.

Khalid and his brother, Ibrahim, are believed to have escaped during a shoot-out with police in which another militant, Mohamed Belkaid, was killed.

Continuing to act with impunity, the brothers are also understood to have rented out a flat in the suburb of Schaerbeek where they made final preparations before storming the airport and Metro.

First picture: Belgian bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) and explosives expert Najim Laachraou (left), both wearing black gloves to hide their suicide bomb triggers, killed 14 at Brussels airport. Their accomplice - the 'Man in White' - (right) walked out of the airport after leaving a suitcase bomb that never went off

Panic: A fire caused by one of the explosions in the terminal is tackled by airport staff with extinguishers surrounded by baggage and falling roof tiles

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels this morning. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media.

Today, prosecutors said Ibrahim left a suicide note at that apartment, telling how he was desperate to blow himself up because he did not want to go to prison like his friend, Salah Abdeslam.

Federal prosecutor Frederic Van LeeuwVan Leeuw said Bakraoui's 'will' said he was 'in a rush', and added: 'I don't know what to do... hunted everywhere... no longer safe.'

He said: 'I don't want to end up in a cell next to him.'

That appeared to be a reference to Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is reportedly linked to Bakraoui, and who is in custody in Belgium after being captured last week.

The computer on which Ibrahim wrote the will was dumped in a trash can in the same street in the Brussels district of Schaarbeek where investigators found an unexploded bomb, an Islamic State group flag and bomb-making materials on Tuesday night.

Web of terror: MailOnline can reveal how an ISIS terror network from across Brussels first took murder to the streets of Paris killing 130 before members of the cell who survived returned to the Belgian capital. In the past week, as police closed in, some members including Salah Abdeslam were either arrested or killed before the team of four bombers launched twin attacks yesterday, killing 34

79 minutes of terror: How three suicide bomb blasts rocked Brussels during the morning rush-hour

Prosecutors confirmed that they had found 15 kilos (33lb) of TATP high explosive in the flat.

They also found chemicals including 150 litres of acetone, 30 litres of liquid oxygen, detonators, a suitcase full of nails and other bomb-making equipment including plastic trays, tools and ventilator.

A third man, who was filmed with Ibrahim and a second unidentified suicide bomber and who fled the scene without detonating his device, remains on the run, prosecutors said.

'The third man is on the run. He left his bag with the biggest bomb in it, which exploded later because it was so unstable.

'This third person remains unidentified and is still being looked for,' he said.
Malcolm Turnbull has blamed the Belgian atrocities on political errors and intelligence failures which he said led to a perfect storm.

In a hard hitting speech, the Prime Minister said European governments were confronted by a perfect storm of failed or neglected integration, foreign fighters returned from Iraq and Syria and porous borders.

He also cited intelligence and security apparatus struggling to keep pace with the scope and breadth of the threat.

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Speaking to a conference of foreign relations specialists in Sydney, Malcolm Turnbull said European governments were confronted by 'a perfect storm of failed or neglected integration, foreign fighters returned from Iraq and Syria' and porous borders

Speaking to a conference of foreign relations specialists in Sydney, Mr Turnbull dramatically changed his prepared speech when he learned of events in Brussels and turned its focus on European security compared to safeguards in Australia.

He spoke of a difference between terrorist-conducive conditions in Australia and those in Europe where violent Islamist extremism appears to have reached a crisis point'.

He went on: Bernard Squarcini, a former head of Frances internal intelligence, described these factors in Belgium as creating a favourable ecosystem for an Islamist milieu.

For all intents and purposes, there are no internal borders in Europe and their external borders are difficult to manage.

The aftermath of explosions at Brussels airport in Belgium on Tuesday morning

The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels this morning. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media

These three men are believed to the terrorists who have carried out the attacks at Brussels airport. The two suspected suicide bombers on the left were both wearing black gloves - which the Belgian media says would have hidden the triggers for their explosive vests. The third suspect in the hat is believed to still be on the run after dropping his nail bomb

Recent intelligence indicates that ISIL is using the refugees crisis to send its operatives into Europe.

ISILs brand of terrorism, he said, differed from that of Al-Qaeda, which was behind the 9/11 attacks on New York, because it promotes opportunistic, relative unsophisticated random killings, such as the use of automatic weapons on a tourist beach in Tunisia or downtown San Bernardino.

It seeks to amplify the impact online.

Mr Turnbull added: The recent attacks in Paris, Jakarta and now Brussels are evidence of the emerging trend in ISILs terrorism - inspiring unsophisticated attacks in multiple locations aimed at maximising casualties.

Most importantly, they are multi-jurisdictional in their scope.

ISIL is intent on demonstrating a growing operational reach, but this is because they are hurting in Syria and Iraq, losing 22 per cent of its total territory and 40 per cent of revenues from its peak in 2014.

He spoke of a difference between terrorist-conducive conditions in Australia and those in Europe where violent Islamist extremism appears to have reached a crisis point'

People gather at Bourse square to pay tribute to the victims of the terror attacks that occurred on Tuesday in Brussels

He said the strike on Belgium would have been planned from ISIS headquarters in Syria and he underlined the importance of allied operations to seek a military and political situation.

He added: Defeating ISIL at its source will significantly constrain ISILs reach into the West.

Turning to his own country, he urged Australians to reject the propaganda of the deed - a violent act designed to frighten and intimidate people away from their normal lives.

Terrorism is designed to make us turn on each other, he said.

At least 34 people were killed and roughly 250 others injured in Belgium's capital after a series of blasts struck the city's airport and a metro station near the Australian Embassy on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Mr Turnbull said in an interview that Australia stood 'absolutely shoulder to shoulder with Belgium.'

Former Prime Minister John Howard arrives at the Lowy Institute lecture in Sydney on Wednesday

A fire caused by one of the explosions in the terminal is tackled by airport staff with extinguishers surrounded by baggage and falling roof tiles
These two women  one barefoot and carrying her high heels  might look like theyre on a run-of-the-mill walk of shame, but police say they were caught on camera shortly after drugging a pair of men before stealing luxury watches worth $60,000, including the ones on their wrists.

CCTV footage shows the women  Alexandria Nicholas, 22, and Kelsey Hough, 23  leaving a home in the Harbor Islands gated community in Hollywood, Florida, on January 7.

Nicholas has been arrested and faces grand theft charges, the Sun-Sentinel reports, while Hough remains wanted in connection with the incident.

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Alexandria Nicholas (left, in her mugshot, and right, on CCTV) was caught on camera after drugging a pair of men and stealing the luxury watches off their wrists, police said

Nicholas (right) and Kelsey Hough (left) on CCTV leaving a home in the Harbor Islands gated community in Hollywood, Florida, on January 7

Police said Nicholas and Hough met the men, both in their 50s, at the Porterhouse Bar & Grill in Sunny Isles Beach.

The foursome later returned to the home of one of the men in Spinnaker Drive.

One of the men told authorities that he poured drinks into shot glasses before leaving to get a bottle of champagne from the garage.

Hough brought him the glass he drank from when he returned. The other man also had a shot and the pair fell asleep.

Tipsters identified the women and told investigators they worked at a strip club in Miami. Nicholas (right) has been arrested and faces grand theft charges, while Hough (left) remains at large

When they woke up, at around 5.30am, one told officers he felt druggy and stumbled as he walked.

He only noticed his watch from missing when he checked for the time. He woke his friend up, who realized the $16,000 Rolex was no longer on his wrist.

They also discovered that a safe in the home had been cleared of a number of expensive watches, including ones by Rolex, Cartier and Hublot, along with two passports, worth a total of $60,000.

Investigators found the surveillance footage showed Nicholas and Hough, wearing a low-cut outfit and her hair in buns, running from the home shortly before 2am.

The pair then called an Uber and met the driver outside the gated community at 2.18am, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Police said the pair met the men, both in their 50s, at the Porterhouse Bar & Grill (pictured) in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida

After police released the images and launched an appeal seeking help to identify the pair, tipsters named the women and told investigators they worked in a Miami strip club.

This led investigators to the pairs social media accounts where a selfie showed the women wearing the same clothes and hairdos on the night in question.
Junior doctors will carry out all-out strikes between 8am and 5pm on April 26 and April 27, the British Medical Association said today.

Another 48-hour strike, withdrawing non-emergency care, will also go ahead from 8am on Wednesday April 6

At all previous strikes emergency care has been provided but after the imposition of a controversial new contract, the BMA announced today its industrial action would go further.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned in January that an all-out strike might mean A&E departments have to close. No 10 today slammed the move as 'desperate and irresponsible'.

Dr Johann Malawana, BMA junior doctor committee chair, said: 'No junior doctor wants to take this action but the government has left us with no choice.'

The all out strike will last for 48 hours and will begin on Tuesday April 26. Pictured: Junior doctors on strike earlier this month at St George's Hospital in Tooting

He continued: 'In refusing to lift imposition and listen to junior doctors' outstanding concerns, the government will bear direct responsibility for the first full walkout of doctors in this country.

'The government is refusing to get back around the table and is ploughing ahead with plans to impose a contract junior doctors have no confidence in and have roundly rejected.

'We want to end this dispute through talks but the government is making this impossible, it is flatly refusing to engage with junior doctors, has done nothing to halt industrial action and is wilfully ignoring the mounting chorus of concerns over its plans to impose coming from doctors, patients and senior NHS managers.

'Faced with this reality what else can junior doctors do?'

Following strikes in February, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt decided there was no prospect of progress in further talks over the outstanding issues relating to Saturday pay and told MPs he would impose the deal.

Dr Malawana said his members 'deeply regret the disruption to patients' but insisted the Government must choose 'talks over imposition'.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt, seen yesterday, warned in January an all-out strike might force the closure of A&E departments

He added: 'The fact that tens of thousands of junior doctors have taken industrial action and 98 per cent of those who voted support action including a full withdrawal of labour, demonstrates the continued strength of feeling amongst junior doctors about this politically driven imposition.

'Junior doctors are committed to ensuring the best possible care for their patients and already work seven days a week, around the clock under the existing contract.

'In focusing on junior doctors, the government is seeking, yet again, to gloss over the fact that the biggest barrier to a seven-day NHS is not doctors' contracts, but a chronic lack of investment and a shortage of staff.'

The Prime Minister's official spokeswoman said: 'This is an escalation that is desperate and irresponsible and will inevitably impact on patients.'

The Department of Health condemned the move in a statement, saying: 'If the BMA had agreed to negotiate on Saturday pay, as they promised to do through Acas in November, we'd have a negotiated agreement by now.

'Instead, we had no choice but to proceed with proposals recommended and supported by NHS leaders.'

Shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander said: 'Nobody wants to see an escalation of industrial action  not least the junior doctors  which is why this announcement is worrying.

'It demonstrates just how badly the Tories have handled these negotiations.

'The past few months have been distressing for staff and distressing for patients who rely on the NHS. However, Jeremy Hunt's decision to impose a new contract has left junior doctors feeling angry and demoralised.

'This action is avoidable and the Government now has four weeks to avert this walkout. Failure to act will be an abrogation of responsibility on the part of Jeremy Hunt. He must find a way to get back round the negotiating table and find a resolution which brings an end to this sorry saga once and for all.'

Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of National Voices, a coalition of 160 health and care charities, said: ''The Government and the BMA seem unable to get around the negotiating table, and the only people who will suffer are patients.

'We are calling on government to drop the imposition of a new contract, the BMA to call off planned strikes, and both sides to get back around the negotiating table as quickly as possible.'

Junior doctors have already walked out on three previous occasions during the long running dispute with Jeremy Hunt

Medics insist the new contract is unfair to them and dangerous for patients as it will lead to junior doctors treating patients while exhausted

Overall, 19,000 operations have already been cancelled due to the walkouts, which began January, and thousands of patients have missed out on check-ups.

More than 5,000 were cancelled for the most recent action, a 48-hour withdrawal of non-emergency care earlier this month.

The February strike led to the cancellation of 2,884 operations, on top of 4,112 cancellations following action in January.

The NHS cancelled 7,152 as it planned for a strike in December - despite that action being called off.

Asked in January whether an all-out strike could force A&E departments to close, Mr Hunt said: 'I can't give an absolute guarantee, but we are busting a gut to make sure that every A&E department is able to function.'

He added: 'We are going through, hospital by hospital, we are doing detailed work to see whether we can fill the shifts that are not going to be filled by junior doctors and, obviously, our absolute priority is to keep patients safe.'

Junior doctors have called an all out strike between April 26 and April 28

The major sticking point has been over weekend pay and whether Saturdays should attract extra 'unsocial' payments.

Currently, 7pm to 7am Monday to Friday and the whole of Saturday and Sunday attract a premium rate of pay for junior doctors.

The Government wanted the Saturday day shift to be paid at a normal rate in return for a hike in basic pay.

The BMA rejected this and urged Mr Hunt to reduce the offer of basic pay and instead have better premium rates on Saturdays.

The imposed contract, which is due to come into force in August, has an increase in basic salary of 13.5 per cent.

Under the new arrangements, Mr Hunt said no doctor working contracted hours would see a pay cut, while night shifts and long shifts would be limited.

But 7am to 5pm on Saturdays will be regarded as a normal working day.
Convicted: John McLarney who was found guilty of assaulting a woman in a road rage row is cleared

A solicitor has been banned from the roads after he dragged a mother 30ft down the street in his car after a road-rage row during the school run.

John McLarney, 64, grabbed hold of Lyndsey Gunning and drove off after shouting and swearing at her and her sister Jane Green because they were blocking his car as they did a three-point turn.

The experienced lawyer was convicted of assault and other offences following the furious argument outside St Olave's Preparatory School in Eltham, South-East London.

Bromley magistrates' court heard that McLarney, from Sevenoaks in Kent, accused the two women of blocking his car while they tried to do a three-point turn with their three young children in March last year.

He shouted abuse at the sisters and held up his middle finger, prompting Ms Green to get out of her car and remonstrate with him.

But at that point, McLarney grabbed her by the jacket and drove down the road, dragging her along with him.

Mrs Gunning, a taxi driver, told the court: 'This car came from nowhere, racing up the road. It was so quick we could not get out of the way.

'It came to a stop within a feet of our vehicle. Everyone was gasping, we all thought, "This is going to be a crash." Everything got a bit heated.

'My sister was motioning to him and he was quite aggressive. There were some choice words and some finger gestures as well. I remember the gentleman putting one finger up and I think it was a response to my sister putting two fingers up.

'My children were going crazy in the back, they thought the car was going to hit us. They were screaming. I got out of the car and did swear.

Victims: Sisters Jane Green and Lyndsey Gunning were subjected to a furious tirade from the lawyer

'He was very angry, very angry towards me. He got hold of my fleece and his wheels started screeching, it was so loud and he was staring at me.

'I was thinking, "What's going to happen?" and he just put his foot down. I and tried to run to keep up with the car.

'He let go of me and sped off up the road. I was in a lot of shock. I went to the doctor and had a mild whiplash injury.'

Her sister Mrs Green said that McLarney called her a 'f****** idiot' and a 'c***' as she described the confrontation between the lawyer and Mrs Gunning.

'I thought he was going to hit her,' she said. 'He sort of lunged forward and I realised he grabbed her coat up high.

'I just heard the screech of the wheels and she was dragged along and was running alongside the car.

'There was a noise and it just sped. She was trying to keep up with the vehicle so she didn't fall over.'

School: The argument took place near St Olave's Preparatory School in Eltham, South-East London

McLarney was found guilty of assault, driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop after an accident.

Edward Henry, mitigating, described McLarney as 'self-effacing and mild-mannered', adding that his furious outburst was 'bewildering'.

He added: 'He's been in practice 38 years without even a warning and has now lost his good character, his reputation and maybe his job.'

District Judge Louise Balmain said: 'I regard this as a particularly serious incident and it is only sheer luck this lady, who was dragged alongside a moving vehicle, did not suffer severe injuries.

'I take into account this was a moment of madness on your part.'

The lawyer, who is a partner at London firm Dodd Lewis, was banned from driving for six months and ordered to observe a curfew which will be monitored with an ankle tag.

He must also pay a 500 fine, 200 in compensation to his victim and 680 of costs.

McLarney could now face a misconduct hearing from the solicitors' regulator which could lead to his being struck off.
The Army has apologised to a major's wife who claims they killed her unborn baby - after she suffered a miscarriage 'because she was ordered to fly against medical advice'.

Katherine Howe, 40, was living as a military ex-pat in Kenya, where her husband David, 38, was stationed, when she fell pregnant with her second child.

During the pregnancy she suffered a bleed and was advised by Kenyan doctors to get some rest and not fly.

Katherine Howe with her two sons, Johnny, three, and William, seven

But, despite the warning, the family claim they were forced to take an eight-hour flight home because the army feared a possible lawsuit should Mrs Howe miscarry in Kenya.

And they believe the stress resulted in Mrs Howe suffering a stillbirth in 2011 - and hold the British Army responsible for the death of the baby girl they longed for.

Now, after a five year battle for answers, the army has apologised unreservedly for its part - despite the official time limit for complaints to be resolved being 24 weeks.

Mrs Howe, of Calne, Wiltshire, said: 'The army has blood on its hands, but it just marched away, closed ranks and washed its hands of us.

'It would have meant the world to us to have a little girl. She was so longed-for, but I never got to hold my daughter.

'Through all of this I haven't had the opportunity to grieve for my child.'

She believes the apology is worthless because it is faceless, and is now considering suing for damages.

She said: 'The Army needs to be held accountable.

'They have "marked their own homework" and in our case awarded themselves top marks.'

On the day of the flight, 22 weeks into her pregnancy, Katherine had a third bleed and was admitted to hospital where her waters later broke.

After a gruelling 12-hours in labour, at 1am on August 29 2011, she gave birth to a lifeless child.

The couple named the little girl Harriet.

Mrs Howe said: 'I remember the nurse holding up this tiny, fully formed little girl to me. I touched her forehead and said goodbye.'

The baby's body was put in a plastic orange waste bag and placed on a metal trolley. It was later dumped in hospital waste.

Katherine Howe with her husband David, and sons William, seven, and Johnny, three

The couple have said an apology from the Army is not enough and are considering suing for damages

Staff at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), had been anxious that the pregnancy could go wrong and were 'very cleverly trying to cover their own backs', the Howes said.

The family had previously been told that pregnancy and child-birth in Kenya was problem-free and that healthcare was good.

But a list of worst-case scenarios was presented to the couple at a meeting - risks they had never been made aware of before - to frighten them into returning home.

When they objected, civilian medic Dr John Ross, of BATUK, allegedly threatened to have David removed from his post so he would have no choice.

However the following day, a senior staff officer ordered the couple to take an eight-hour flight home.

They had no choice but to obey under military law.

Mrs Howe said: 'The officer said my risk was high, but the risk to the Army was higher.'

The couple and their son William, now seven, were forced to abandon their lives in Nanyuki within 48 hours.

A few days after Mrs Howe gave birth, the couple received a brief text message from BATUK doctor, Dr Ross, to say he was sorry for their loss.

But Kenyan practitioner Dr Dhadialla said that, in his opinion, had the army not interfered, Katherine would have gone on to have a full-term pregnancy.

Katherine Howe claims she was ordered on a flight with husband David (above) despite medical warnings

Devastated Katherine, who has since had a second son, Johnny, now three, said: 'They ignored the real medical problem of me being so stressed and anxious over it all.

'They kept insisting that stress had no bearing on pregnancy, but it did. My stress levels went through the roof.

'I suffered bleeds when I was pregnant with Johnny, but he is here now and he's perfectly healthy.

'It keeps me awake at night.

'It was clear the army was putting its interests ahead of ours. We didn't feel as though our needs as a family or that of the baby mattered.'

A report by the army Board of the Defence Council, the Army found that the support the Howes received 'lacked compassion' and was 'not at the standard it should have been'.

It concluded that the family had been 'wronged' and as a result issued an 'unreserved apology' in response to the 'tragic events'.

David Howe has said his wife Katherine was like a 'tickling time bomb' in the eyes of the Army

For Mr Howe, an Afghanistan veteran, speaking out against the Army is against protocol and threatens his career - but he is desperate to expose what has happened.

He said: 'Kate was like a ticking time bomb to them.'

Mrs Howe added: 'Throughout this, I have had no voice. I feel absolutely scared stiff to be standing up to the establishement.

'My husband is petrified. But we feel that we have got to do this. Our quest now is to give military wives a voice.

'They have learnt absolutely diddly squat from what I have endured. Their policy leaves this wide open for this exact same thing to happen all over again.'

She added: 'I'm screaming for the army to listen and take this seriously. I want it to listen to how this has affected my family.'

An Army spokesman said: 'While we cannot comment on individual cases, we can be clear that soldiers and their families continue to receive outstanding medical care both in the UK and when deployed overseas.

'As this case could be subject to further action, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.'




Teresa Giudice was seen arriving back home after her husband Joe reported to prison, marking the beginning of her new life for the next 41 months as a single mother.

She was photographed quickly making her way from her car into her home soon after Joe began his almost four years of time behind bars.

Teresa said goodbye to Joe earlier that morning as he left their mansion in Montville, New Jersey to begin his prison sentence 90 miles away at the Federal Correction Institute in Fort Dix.

The couple were seen kissing before Joe was driven off to officially report to prison, all while Bravo cameras filmed the their final farewell.

Joe was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in October 2014 and will be facing the possibility of deportation back to Italy when he is released from prison.

Teresa was convicted on similar charge and began serving her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut in January of last year, being released two days before Christmas.

The judge ruled that the couple did not have to report at the same time for the well being of their four daughters - Gia, Gabriella, Milania, and Audriana.

Also photographed at the home on Wednesday was Teresa's brother Joe Gorga and his wife Melissa.

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New life: Teresa Giudice was photographed arriving back to her New Jersey mansion after her husband Joe reported to prison Wednesday

Difficult time: Teresa was photographed as she said goodbye to her husband Joe on Wednesday morning

Fond farewell: The couple were seen kissing before Joe was driven off to officially report to prison to start a 41-month sentence

Sad girls: The couple's four daughter Milania (left) and her best friends were photographed at the home with Teresa's mother Antonia Tuesday night

Brother: Joe Gorga and wife Melissa looked somber at the house Wednesday morning

In an interview with InTouch, Teresa shared the advice she had given her husband before he heads off to serve time, and how difficult it will be without him at their home.

'Hes my life - Im going to miss him tremendously,' said Teresa.

'Just him not being around - looking at him, kissing him, touching him. Hes the love of my life.

'He was there for me and Im going to be there for him.'

As for the what she told Joe as he prepared to for prison, she said; 'Pretty much just to be careful and dont trust anyone. We both learned that the hard way. Hes a strong guy and I think hell be fine - its just going to make him a stronger person than he already is.'

She then added that she was lucky to have her four daughters with her, saying; 'We will all help each other get through this.'

Teresa also spoke about her time in prison, and if it changed her, to which she said; 'I'm the same person. I've always been humble and I still am.

'One thing that surprised me was that I met some wonderful women in there. Just because you're in prison doesn't mean you're a bad person.

'Especially for white collar [crimes].'

Teresa also revealed she has started work on a second book detailing the time between her return home from prison and her husband Joe heading off to start his sentence.

Teresa tweeted this message to her supporters on Wednesday saying it had been a 'difficult time'

Joe's attorneys are already attempting to fight the possibility of deportation after his sentence, and argued back during the trial that because their client came to the US as an infant from Italy he was not aware that he was not an American citizen.

The judge in that trial also recommended Joe participate in an alcohol program, this after his lawyer, Miles Feinstein said he had a drinking problem and should be sent to rehab rather than prison.

Joe read a letter to the court before he was sentenced, saying, 'I stand here humiliated before the court and my family and society.

I disgraced many people, including my wife and four daughters. I take full responsibility for my actions. I promise to be a better person.'

Joe, 43, also pleaded guilty to failing to file a tax return for 2004 and acknowledged he didn't file taxes on income of approximately $1 million between 2004 and 2008.

For that he was given a 12-month sentence, but one that will run concurrently with the 41 months he had already received for his other crimes.

There is a chance that Joe's sentence could be shorter, with his wife not serving her full term behind bars.

Support: Joe Gorga (left) was seen talking on his cell phone wensdesday while Milania rode around on a hoverboard (right) Tuesday night

Family: The Giudices had a party for Joe on Monday and Teresa posted photos on Instagram Wednesday

Close friends: Joining Teresa and Joe as they said goodbye was a Bravo film crew

Teresa's 15-month sentence was ultimately cut short and she was released from prison two days before Christmas after a little less than a year behind bars.

As part of her parole, a portion of the remaining time of her 15-month sentence was served on home detention, during which time she was only allowed to leave for things like pre-approved trips to see the doctor and dentist or attend church services.

She was also allowed to go to see family whenever she wanted, meaning that her house and her brother Joe Gorga's home were two of the few places she could be filmed without running the risk of getting in trouble while starting work on the new season of Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Teresa's parole period ended on February 5, at which time she was able to remove her ankle monitor and began the next phase of her punishment, two years of supervised release.

She will also be left to sort out the couple's ongoing financial problems, which are much brighter now that she is out of prison and able to work again on her hit Bravo show.

They still owe the state of New Jersey $414,588 in court-ordered restitution on charges of conspiracy and fraud.

And in October, the IRS filed a tax lien against the couple for $551, 563.00 after nine years of unpaid taxes.

Emotional : 'Hes my life - Im going to miss him tremendously,' said Teresa. 'Just him not being around - looking at him, kissing him, touching him. Hes the love of my life.

Daddy's girls: Daughter Milania posted photos earlier in the week and wrote about how much she loved her father

Teresa said she was lucky to have her four daughters with her (Milanbia above with Joe). 'We will all help each other get through this.'

'Hes a strong guy and I think hell be fine - its just going to make him a stronger person than he already is,' said Teresa of Joe

Teresa is certainly doing her part to bring in money, having begun a promotional tour for her autobiographical book Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again almost as soon as she finished her parole period and was free to travel.

The popular, and polarizing, reality star is so important to Bravo that the network featured her in a special three-episode spin-off series Teresa Checks In that followed her before she prepared to head off to prison.

Bravo has never confirmed the salaries of any Housewives cast members, but there are reports that Teresa is receiving $1million for the upcoming seventh season of the show.

A large chunk of that salary goes straight to the government however, with Teresa working out an agreement to hand over 25% of her Bravo pay to satisfy the judgment made against her in court.

She has also found success in the world of cookbooks, release three volumes of Italian recipes that all landed on the New York Times Bestsellers list - Skinny Italian, Fabulicious and Fabulicious!: Fast & Fit.
The former chief psychologist with the South Australian police has been banned from practising for life, after being found guilty of professional misconduct.

The South Australian Health Practitioners Tribunal has ruled that Douglas Knuckey engaged in an intimate relationship with a serving police officer he was treating between March 2011 and March 2012, contrary to the Australian Psychological Society's code of ethics.

In details published by the Psychology Board of Australia on Wednesday, it was also revealed that Mr Knuckey twice helped his patient deliver her two children into the custody of her violent, estranged husband.

Douglas Knuckey, the former chief psychologist with the South Australian police, has been banned from practising for life after having an intimate relationship with an officer he was treating (stock)

The tribunal found that Mr Knuckey knew or should have known that to take such action might not be safe and was not in the best interests of his patient and her children.

The psychology board first took action against Mr Knuckey in April 2012 when it accepted an undertaking from him that he would no longer practise.

He subsequently surrendered his registration in February last year.

Last month the SA Health Practitioners Tribunal ruled that Mr Knuckey's actions in relation to his patient and her children amounted to professional misconduct.

It ordered Mr Knuckey be permanently prohibited from providing, undertaking or carrying out the services of a psychologist.

Mr Knuckey surrendered his registration in February last year and was banned from practicing psychology for life last month (stock photo)
A haul of stolen cars worth more than 1 million have arrived back on UK soil after they were discovered in Uganda.

Thousands of keyless cars are being stolen in Britain each year by international gangs who reprogramme blank keys which fool the vehicle's security systems and drive off.

Many of the cars are packed into shipping containers and exported overseas making the job of recovering them very difficult.

The car thieves stole the vehicles in the UK using reprogrammed blank keys which fooled the secuirty sysetms before loading them into shipping containers and transporting them across the globe to Africa

Investigators were able to track this stolen Lexus which had been stolen in the UK and taken to Africa

The car's owner had fitted his car with a tracking device which allowed authorities to follow it

The Lexus was tracked from London to Le Havre, then down to Salalah in Oman before it sailed down past Somalia into Mombassa, Kenya until it finally ended up in a car park in Kampala, Uganda three months later

However, last year, one Lexus SUV which had been stolen by a gang was fitted with a GPS tracking device, which allowed police to follow the car on a computer screen.

Investigators traced it to Le Havre, in France, where it was shipped across the Mediterranean, through the Suez canal to Oman.

It was then shipped to Mombasa in Kenya before being transported by road to Kampala - where they drive on the left-hand side - in a steel container.

When they eventually reached the Lexus in Uganda investigators discovered it was parked with 23 other cars which had also been stolen from the UK.

The operation was the culmination of a unique public-private partnership between the National Crime Agency (NCA), National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), Interpol and anti-motor fraud specialist, APU Ltd.

Investigators were able to track the Lexus until it finished its journey in Uganda where they found other cars

Officers were only expecting to recover one car when they arrived in Uganda but discovered 23 other vehicles

The gang concentrated on stealing high-powered prestige vehicles such as this pair of Audis

The gang smuggled the cars out of the country using shipping containers on board massive cargo vessels

HOW THEY TRACKED DOWN THE STOLEN CARS TO UGANDA The Lexus was stolen in London in April 2015 by a gang using a blank key reprogrammed with the cars security details. It was loaded into a shipping container and transported to Le Havre. The car was fitted with a satellite tracker which provided constant updates on its location. The insurance company were able to track the car as was transported across the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal to Oman on May 19. From there, the car was moved onto another vessel and headed south, down past the Horn of Africa and Somalia. The ship docked in Kenya where the car was transported by road to Kampala in Uganda where police managed to intercept it and the other cars. Advertisement

APU used leading-edge technology and forensic intelligence which allowed authorities to not only discover the stolen vehicles in the first place, but safely repatriate them back to the UK.

The cars have now arrived back on British soil following a 20,000 MILE round trip.

Neil Thomas, director of investigative services at APU Ltd, said: 'This case is a feather in the cap for APU and its forensic capabilities.

'But it's also very pleasing that all parties involved were able to achieve some tangible success despite being led thousands of miles across the world in what was considered an impossible task by the police. One of the insurers involved had simply given up.

'This is the first time such an operation has been run involving this level of International and cross agency cooperation and it is a real example of how private industry, leading edge technology and expertise can assist law enforcement.

'It sets the template for future operations targeting organised criminals intent on stealing mobile assets.'

The 24 cars were all returned to the UK and are in Southampton where they will either be returned to their owners or possibly sold on by the insurance companies in cases they they have settled the claim

This is the first time insurers and the police have worked together to retrieve a stolen car from abroad

Twelve insurers, including Admiral, Allianz, Aviva and Zenith, were victims of the Ugandan car ring.

The joint public-private operation is a first as the chances of a luxury vehicle being returned if shipped abroad are traditionally very slim.

There were ten Range Rovers, six Audis, three BMWs, one Volkswagen, one Ford, a Nissan, Honda and the Lexus.

The cars, some of which were still covered in dust when they arrived at Southampton port, will now be returned to their owners or sold on by the insurance companies.
He was weaned off a breathing tube aged four and allegedly responded

Aiden Stein (pictured) was shaken as a baby in 2004. He died on Sunday after spending his life in a vegetative state

A 12-year-old boy who was shaken as a baby by his father and remained in a vegetative state for the rest of his life has died, authorities said.

Aiden Stein was four months when he was rushed to a hospital in Mansfield, Ohio, on March 15, 2004.

His father Matthew Stein, then 21, reported the baby had lost consciousness.

The case drew national attention when his parents waged a successful legal fight to prevent a court-appointed guardian from having him taken off from life support.

Three doctors had testified that Aiden would never recover.

He had suffered severe brain damage and was blind and deaf.

Aiden died at a hospital in Columbus on Sunday, his maternal grandmother said, who offered no further details.

A private funeral is being planned.

His father was convicted of felonious assault and child endangerment in 2005 and spent eight years in prison despite his assertions that he never injured his son, who he says choked on milk.

Subsequent motions for a new trial, including one from 2013 after he was freed, were denied by appellate courts.

Aiden's father Matthew Stein, right, kisses the boy's mother Arica Heimlich, after she testified during a hearing in Summit County Probate Court in Akron, Ohio, in 2004. She testified on his behalf and said she didn't' believe he would hurt their son

Matt's mother Dawn Mansfield became his guardian in June 2005 as part of an agreement in which Arica and Matthew relinquished their parental rights.

At the time family said in court filings the boy could open his eyes and may further recover.

Ms Mansfield also opposed removing life support and supported keeping him on a ventilator.

In a 2009 interview the family's lawyer claimed the boy had been weaned off his breathing tube and responded to light and people.

He could not talk or feed or himself but they insisted he could show emotion.

Matt had wanted to go live with Mansfield when he got out of prison in August 2013 but the judge refused.

Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it was 'unlikely' she'd pursue further charges against Stein.

'I would have to look at the reason (Aiden) died,' Couch Page said. 'But there would probably be a stretch in jurors' minds that he died as the result of what the dad did.'

It's unclear if a cause of death has been determined. Messages left with the Franklin County coroner weren't immediately returned Wednesday.

Matthew Stein is handcuffed and led away to jail after being found guilty of child endangerment and felonious assault, at the end of his trial in Mansfield, Ohio, in 2005. He served his full eight year sentence

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a probate court lacked the authority to allow a guardian to stop the care keeping Aiden alive when his parents hadn't permanently lost their parenting rights.

Aiden's mother, Arica Heimlich, joined her fiance in fighting Aiden's removal from life support and told authorities she didn't believe Stein injured their son.

A doctor at a children's hospital in Akron diagnosed Aiden with a traumatic brain injury that he said was consistent with child abuse.

The Akron hospital's ethics committee recommended that a guardian be appointed to oversee his care because of suspicions about Stein and Heimlich's support for him.

The panel also recommended that Aiden be removed from life support.

Richland County, Ohio, assistant prosecutor Bambi Couch Page shows a portrait of Aiden to the jury during opening arguments of the trial of the boy's father in 2005. Couch says the child was cared for by his paternal grandmother after his injuries

Three doctors testified at a Summit County Probate Court hearing in April 2004 that Aiden was in a permanent vegetative state and that his injuries were consistent with being shaken.

But a doctor representing Aiden's parents said it would be inappropriate to withdraw that care.

The judge hearing the case appointed a guardian and gave her authority to stop life-sustaining medical treatment. An appellate court upheld that ruling, which the Ohio Supreme Court overturned in December 2004.

Neither Stein nor Heimlich have publicly listed telephone numbers.
Fighting: American trainer Karen Northshield is reportedly in intensive care after terror attacks

An American personal trainer is currently fighting for her life after she was caught up in the Brussels terrorist attacks on Tuesday morning.

Karen Northshield, who has been living and working in Belgium for almost a decade, was reportedly on her way home to visit her family in the U.S. for Easter when the attack took place.

The former elite swimmer is now in intensive care after suffering severe injuries in the double suicide bombing at Zaventem airport in Brussels yesterday.

A British personal trainer working with Miss Northshield said while friends and family have located her, her condition is not yet known.

'I have been told this morning that Karen is in hospital in intensive care. She is alive but we don't know her condition or her injuries,' Paul Tucker, from Bristol, told The Telegraph.

'I think she was flying back to the US for the Easter holidays. She has a sister in Brussels who is with her in hospital. It's very upsetting but that's all I know. I don't know what state she is in in intensive care.'

According to her own website, Ms Northshield is an ex-pro elite and semi-professional swimmer, having competed at international level. She is now a fitness enthusiast, stays abreast of the latest fitness trends, incorporates yoga, Pilates and massage to her practice.

Ms Northshield has been working in fitness for the past ten years, and holds a double Master's degree in multilingual communications and in international relations.

Dozens of people are still unaccounted for in the wake of two terror bombings in Brussels on Tuesday morning, including several American citizens.

Justin and Stephanie Shults, a couple who moved to Brussels from Nashville in the US in 2014, have been reported missing by family members.

Justin Shults, 30, is originally from Gatlinburg, Tennessee while his wife, 29, is from Lexington, Kentucky.

The couple had accompanied Stephanie's mother, Carolyn, to the airport so she could catch a flight back to the US. Carolyn was walking towards security when the blasts happened.

Although family members were able to contact Carolyn, nothing has yet been heard from Justin and Stephanie.

Ms Northshield was reportedly on her way to the U.S. to visit her family for Easter when she was caught in the double suicide bombing at Zaventem airport in Brussels

According to friends, Ms Northshield has a sister who also lives in Belgium who is with her in hospital wheree she is being treated for serious injuries

Still missing are New York siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, believed to have been at the airport at the time of the bombings,

At least 34 people have died, and 270 people have been reported injured in a double-bombing at Zaventem airport, and a second attack at Maelbeek metro station near EU headquarters.

Three of the victims of Tuesday's terror attacks have been named as a Peruvian chef whose children survived the blast as they ran off to play in the airport terminal, and two Belgian men.

Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, a Peruvian national who had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her daughters when she in the blasts at Zaventem airport.

Her three-year-old twins and her Belgian husband survived the attacks, as the young girls had run off to play, followed by their father, just moments before the bombs went off.

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries.

The third victim whose identity has been released was also killed in the metro bomb.
A PR boss who asked a Muslim woman to 'explain Brussels' has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.

Matthew Doyle, an LSE alumnus and partner at a south London-based talent agency, sparked outrage on social media after he 'confronted' a Muslim woman about the Brussels attacks which killed 34 people.

He wrote on Twitter: 'I confronted a Muslim woman in Croydon yesterday. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said "nothing to do with me". A mealy mouthed reply.'

His initial post was followed by a number of like-minded tweets such as 'no more Muslim migration' and 'Trump for president'.

On the Twitter account of Matthew Doyle (pictured) there was a post saying: 'I confronted a Muslim woman in Croydon yesterday. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said 'nothing to do with me'. A mealy mouthed reply'

The comment went viral, being retweeted hundreds of times before it was eventually removed from Twitter.

The Metropolitan Police issued a statement confirming that a man had been arrested.

'A 46-year-old man was this evening arrested at his home in Croydon on suspicion of inciting racial hatred on social media, said the Metropolitan Police.

He has been taken to a south London police station and enquiries continue.

'Croydon' became a trending topic following Mr Doyle's tweet, as people flooded the social network with both furious and witty put-downs.

But Mr Doyle, who attended private Wellington College, defended his post telling MailOnline: 'I am not out of sync...I think people who are criticising me are out of sync.'

He said: 'I am having a hard time about this. I am not a fall guy in all of this.

'The incident did happen. I didn't confront the Muslim woman, I just saw her coming towards me and I was emotionally fuelled.

'She said "it was nothing to do with me". I said "have a good day" and then turned around and said "bye". It's not like I'm a guy with tattoos who pushed her against a wall.

'I don't think it's stereotyping. Would you be afraid of me on the Tube? Any Londoner has to be vigilant and alert as the Islamic threat is a big one. It could happen here and it probably will. There was 7/7 and then look what happened with Lee Rigby, that was horrific.

'I never meant for the post to go viral. Bonnie Greer, whom I don't particularly like, has been passing judgement on it.'

Referring to some of the accusations levelled against him, he replied: 'The Norway attack was an isolated incident with one madman. What we are facing is a collective group of terrorists operating under the umbrella name of ISIS.'

When asked about his later posts, the history graduate responded: 'I didn't have a thousand followers on Twitter until today. I don't care anymore. I am just making a point. I am not out of sync. I think people who are criticising me are out of sync.'

The 46-year-old added: 'I have the right in a democratic society to speak my own mind.'

It comes after yesterday's bomb attacks on the Belgian capital's main airport and Metro system left at least 34 people dead and 198 injured.

His post on Twitter was met with a flurry of responses, with some joking about 'confronting a white man' and asking them to explain atrocities such as Dunblane and the 2011 Norway attacks when mass murderer Anders Breivik murdered 77 people.

In a similar vein, others likened it to asking a 'random white man' for an explanation for 'colonialism', 'slavery' and 'British imperialism'.

Another quipped: 'I confronted a German about bombing my Grandad's shed in WW2. "Nothing to do with me". A mealy mouthed reply.'

Elsewhere, social media users mocked the 'mealy mouthed reply' part of the post with one joking: 'Confronted a self-service machine in Tesco, Asked it to explain Brussels. It said "Please place items in bagging area". Mealy mouthed reply.'

Others focused on the picture of Mr Doyle saying: 'I'd confront the bloke who sold you them sunglasses first' [sic].
Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has pleaded not guilty to stalking and intimidating Bruce Herat, father of Lindt Cafe siege survivor Joel Herat.

The charges stem from an incident which allegedly took place last September at a gym in Burwood, Sydney, where Mr Herat is a personal trainer.

Mr Herat testified during a hearing in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday, saying that during the incident, Mr Mehajer 'said words to me like "this is not the end of the matter, I'm going to take it further, I'm going to find where you live motherf***er and I'm going to kidnap your children",' the ABC reported.

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Suspended Auburn Deputy Mayor Salim Mehajer arrives at Burwood Local Court in Sydney on Wednesday

Bruce Herat, the father of Lindt Cafe siege victim Joel Herat arrives at Burwood Local Court in Sydney, Wednesday

Salim Mehajher allegedly told Bruce Herat (pictured) he would find out where he lived and have his children kidnapped

Joel Herat (pictured) is the son of Bruce Herat and a survivor of the Lindt Cafe siege

He said Mr Mehajer had already said to him 'don't you know who I am?'.

The alleged incident began after Mr Herat approached a man - Mr Mehajer - using equipment at Anytime Fitness on the evening of September 16 and asked him to stop slamming weights down.

Mr Herat said the man responded saying: 'Who the f*** are you to talk to me? What gives you the right to tell me how to use this machine?'

After telling him he was just explaining the rules, Mr Mehajer continued, Mr Herat said.

Mr Mehajer is expected to take the witness box and testify on Thursday

Mr Herat (left) and Mr Mehajer (right) arrive at Burwood Local Court on Wednesday

'F*** you, f*** Anytime Fitness. Don't you know who I am? I pay my fees,' were allegedly Mr Mehajer's words.

Despite then asking for his name, Mr Herat said the response he got was: 'I'm not telling you my name. F*** you, you piece of s***,' the ABC reported.

After the initial exchange, Mr Herat left, but upon going outside the gym, Mr Mehajer allegedly approached him again, getting within 'six inches' of Mr Herat's face, the court heard.

It was then that Mr Mehajer allegedly threatened to kidnap his children, Mr Herat said.

He reportedly alerted police immediately.

He also said he had to google Mr Mehajer's name to find out who he was.

Mr Mehajer is expected to testify on Thursday, on the second day of the two-day hearing.

Joel Herat (far right) is one of the survivors photographed escaping on the night of the Lindt Cafe siege

Salim Mehajer (left) and his wife, Aysha (left), came to public attention last year with their lavish wedding
Henderson is held on $1m bail and will be charged today in homicide case

Straalsund died on Tuesday after she was put on life support in hospital

He said he repeatedly punched and kicked her using taekwondo moves

Henderson said he grew paranoid, thinking she was 'plotting against him'

A University of Washington student, 22, died after her boyfriend took LSD and attacked her, Seattle police said.

Katy Straalsund, 22, took the hallucinogenic drug on Saturday with Casey S. Henderson, her boyfriend of six months, the Tri-City Herald reported.

He became paranoid and thought Straalsund was plotting against him, so he repeatedly punched and kicked her utilizing moves he learned in taekwondo, a probable cause document stated.

Police arrived at her apartment after someone reported a disturbance on Sunday and saw Henderson choking Straalsund, who was found without a pulse.

She died in the hospital on Tuesday afternoon after being put on life support.

Casey S. Henderson (left) is accused of beating and strangling his girlfriend Katy Straalsund (right) after they took LSD together on Saturday

Straalsund, 22, and Henderson, 21, (left and right) were both students at the University of Washington. They had been dating for about six months

Henderson, 21, who is also a student at UW, is being held on $1million bail. He is due to be charged on Wednesday, and the case is being investigated as a homicide, according to the Seattle Times.

Henderson told police they purchased LSD from someone on the street on Saturday afternoon, and returned to her apartment in the evening.

Henderson said things 'started to get weird' and he began thinking Straalsund was 'plotting against him' so he repeatedly used taekwondo moves to punch and kick her, according to the police.

He said the two didn't sleep, and someone told a 911 dispatcher at 2.10pm on Sunday that he heard a man yelling 'You wanna die?' and 'I will kill you'.

Police arrived and heard shouts and groans, but when they knocked a second time, the noises stopped.

They saw Henderson choking Straalsund through a glass door when they went around the building, and she was found without a pulse.

There were abrasions and bruises on her neck and face from severe head and facial trauma, according to reports cited by Seattlepi.com.

Straalsund, who was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and had no brain function and needed a life support ventilator to help her breathe, court records stated.

When Henderson was questioned by the police, he asked them several times whether his girlfriend was still alive, and said: 'I thought I killed her.'

He also admitted the fracture to his wrist was caused by attacking his girlfriend, Seattlepi.com reported.

Henderson (right, with Straalsund), told police he was convinced his girlfriend was 'plotting against him', so he punched and kicked her repeatedly using taekwondo moves, causing severe head and facial trauma

Police saw Henderson choking Straalsund (left and right), who was found with no pulse. She died on Tuesday after being placed on life support

Straalsund died on Tuesday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

On her Facebook page, she posted just four days before her death: 'Life is good! It's all about the journey and experiences that you collect as you go through life.

'Take solace in the fact that things will never be exactly the same as the are now-- whether that's in career, health and fitness, relationships, etc.

'Everything is evolving constantly in this crazy, fast beautiful life.'
This is the unbelievable moment a woman narrowly avoids death after a car flings her across in the road in a horror crash.

42-year-old Kelly Ribeiro Miranda is seen walking across a busy crossroad in Brazil before being wiped out by a car crash in the intersection.

One vehicle smashes into another and pushes the car into the woman who is launched backwards into the air.

Horror crash: One car plunges into another at a busy crossroads sending the vehicle towards a woman

Out of nowhere: 42-year-old Kelly Ribeiro Miranda is seen walking in Brazil before being wiped out by the car crash

Bystanders expected to find her dead when they rushed to her aid after the incredible collision.

But astonishingly the woman suffered only minor injuries after she was rushed to hospital.

The accident occurred on Tuesday in the centre of Santa Rita do Sapucai in the state of Minas Gerais in south-east Brazil.

Kelly's husband Valdeci Vilela Miranda, 45, told local media: 'Her brother works near to where the accident occurred and thought she had died because she fainted and there was a lot of blood.

'Thanks God she's okay. She's a bit sore, she has some scratches, she's lost a tooth and she's got to have a small op on her arm.

'But given what happened to her, she's okay and she's talking.'

One of the car drivers involved was also taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Miraculous recovery: Astonishingly Kelly suffered only minor injuries after she was rushed to hospital

Footage of the crash was posted to Latin American news site globo.com on Wednesday.

Similar incidents have happened in the country before. In January a man cheated death near Jatai in the state of Goias in south-central Brazil despite being flung several feet into the air out of the open window of a van.

He suffered injuries including a broken leg but relatives said afterwards his life was not in danger.

Similar scenes: In January a passenger survived being flung more than 10ft in the air out of a truck window

And the driver of the van who lost control of his vehicle and overturned several times before ending up on a grass verge was miraculously unhurt in the drama.

In December two pedestrians in the city of Campinha Grande cheated death in an amazing lucky escape after a car hit by a lorry overturned at an accident blackspot and missed them by inches.
A refugee teenager who went to Syria to join ISIS has been killed after he sent a message back to his brothers in Hamburg telling them that the 'dream was a lie'.

The teenager, identified only by his first name Bilal, came to Germany with his family from Africa when he was just two years old.

The family had settled in Hamburg, and he was educated in the German school system and spoke fluent German, but was radicalised and had decided to head Raqqa in Syria.

The teenager, named only as Bilal (pictured), moved to Germany as a two-year-old but became radicalised and joined ISIS when he was 17

Here he is pictured with friends campaigning at the main train station in Hamburg, his adopted home

According to insiders, most of the information that persuaded him to leave Germany came from watching online videos.

He had then met other believers while taking part in a project handing out copies of the Koran on the street in Germany.

He was 17 when he left and he believed in the ISIS ideal, and was told that as a western recruit he would be eligible for his own house, a good income and a wife.

However when he got there, the reality was that he ended up being locked up in a house with other Western recruits, and when they realised he was not prepared to return as a suicide bomber, he had been told he was to be sent to fight on the front line.

Security services in Germany managed to intercept a message he had managed to get back home, warning his friends that had also been thinking of joining, saying that the ISIS promises are lies.

He described how his bloodthirsty bosses were only interested in sending their men to their deaths on the battlefield.

After a short period of time, the messages reveals his desire to remain in the self-declared Islamic state had vanished.

He went on to explain that ISIS chiefs kept promising to send him to a training camp, but instead locked him and other recruits without food inside a building that was 'like a jail', Bild reported.

Bilal said: 'Eventually they told us what they wanted us to do, they told us there was a place where there was fighting and they wanted us to go there. They told us we had to fight.

In a message Bilal sent to friends back home, he said the ISIS 'dream is a lie' and warned that his bloodthirsty bosses only wanted to send him to die in battle. Pictured are a group of jihadis in Raqqa, Syria

'I asked him if there were any tactics and they said just go there and fight. They might just as well have put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. If I go there it will be a death sentence. I didn't come here just to die.

'They are sending brothers to the death, people who protest just vanish. The military chiefs here don't do anything, they just send other people to their deaths.

'One guy from France, he wanted to go home. He told them he wanted to go home, they said it was okay, and then they threw him in jail.

'They even took away our suitcases. I don't know what's going to happen to me now. I don't know what they're going to do. I can put my faith in Allah, what he wants is what will happen.'
A French appeals court has overturned a landmark decision to recognise a third gender for a person born with both male and female genitalia, court documents showed Tuesday.

A lower court ruled in August last year that a hermaphrodite plaintiff who was designated male at birth, could use the term 'neutral gender' on personal official documents.

However, magistrates at the Orleans appeals court southwest of Paris ruled that to accept the plaintiff's request 'would require recognising, in the guise of a simple rectification of his personal records, the existence of another sexual category'.

A French court overturned a landmark ruling where a hermaphrodite won the right to designate himself as 'gender neutral' as he does not classify himself as either a man or a woman

Mila Petkova, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said her client was 'very disappointed' with the court's decision.

'This is an additional violence inflicted on my client,' she said, adding she would take the case to France's court of last resort and if necessary to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

According to his doctor the plaintiff, 64, was born with a 'rudimentary vagina' and a 'micropenis' but no testicles.

He approached the courts as he did not want such an 'unequivocal' designation as male or female.

The prosecutor who appealed the initial decision said he did so not because he fiercely opposed it but because he felt a higher ruling was necessary in a case that has 'collided with current laws'.

The plaintiff, who has not been named has indicted he intends appealing the decision to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if French authorities do not reconsider their ruling

The appeals court said it was necessary to find 'a fair balance between the protection of the state of persons, which is a public issue, and respect for the private lives of people with a variation of sexual development.'

'This fair balance would allow either for personal records which mention no sexual category, or the modification of the gender which has been assigned to them when it is not in line with their physical appearance and social behaviour.'

The magistrates said that as the plaintiff was married and he and his wife had adopted a child, a request to change his civil status 'contradicted his physical appearance and social behaviour.'

In an interview with the daily newspaper 20 Minutes last year, the plaintiff said he felt he was 'neither a man nor a woman.'

Several countries including Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal officially recognise a third gender on official forms.
Ministers have been told to crack down on the super rich building luxury basement extensions to stop the 'horrific' disturbance they cause neighbourhoods.

The underground extensions - known as 'iceberg basements' - allow the rich and famous to expand their homes to accommodate private gyms, swimming pools and cinemas.

But Labour's Lord Dubs urged the Government to give local authorities greater power to block applications and said the developments do not just impact on rich areas.

He insisted the basements were not just being built in rich areas such as Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster but also in poorer neighbourhoods in Wandsworth, Southwark and Camden.

Britain's richest woman Kirsty Bertarelli and her family had their application to extend their Belgravia home with a mega-basement approved 18 months ago. The plans are pictured above

He said ministers could change the law with a 'stroke of the pen' by amending the current Housing and Planning Bill going through Parliament.

But ministers rejected the calls, insisting councils already had the power to deal with disturbances.

In a debate in the House of Lords today Lord Dubs insisted that 'basement blight' was causing unacceptable levels of distress to neighbours.

'People have told me they have suffered years of noise and distress,' he told the upper house.

'People working at night can't sleep in the day if a basement is being excavated, there is dust and vibration, people who work from home say "I can't carry on, I have to find somewhere else to work".

On the outside, Tycoon David Graham's Knightsbridge home looks modest, but it hides the enormous underground development

The house plan reveals a lavish mansion underground at the tycoon David Graham's home in Knightsbridge

Building work taking place at the back of a house in central London to create a mega-basement. The extensions several storeys below the ground have become increasingly popular

'And we are not just talking about Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster, we are talking about Wandsworth, Southwark, Camden, Richmond, and if it has not got to the local area where you live ... they're coming.

'I guarantee if we don't do something these basements are coming. So please don't say this is not for me, this is just for those people in Kensington.'

Earlier this year Rachel Johnson, the Mail On Sunday columnist and sister of London Mayor Boris Johnson, launched a campaign to stop her Notting Hill neighbours building an iceberg basement in their 7million home.

Labour's Lord Dubs (pictured) urged the Government to give local authorities greater power to block applications and said the developments do not just impact on rich areas

She complained that the plans by Igor and Christina Kryca to get their basement extended were 'potentially hazardous' and would cause 'major disruption' to the local area.

Lord Dubs added: 'It is fine for the owner, but horrific for anyone not too far away. We need to give local authorities the powers that they need.

'The residents of many parts of London are entitled to peace and quiet and not to have the disturbance.

'There should be a presumption against subterranean development. Very few basements bring benefits to the local community.

'It may be fine for the owners to have pool rooms, and banqueting halls, and all this stuff, but they don't provide any housing benefit,' the peer said.

Lord Dubs rejected Government claims that controls were already in place to deal with the situation as he insisted a new code of practice was needed to limit disturbance.

'Powers don't already exist, codes are in place but they are not enforceable,' he said. 'It is not easy to enforce noise standards through existing legislation.

'Local authorities are reluctant to refuse planning permission because of the cost to them of appeals,' Lord Dubs said.

Tory Lord Horam said the situation was impacting 'not just on rich areas' and needed to be dealt with.

Conservative peer Baroness Gardner of Parkes called for a ban on all weekend building work in such circumstances.

Communities and local government minister Baroness Williams of Trafford rejected the amendments to the Bill as she said they only replicated powers that councils already had.

However, Lady Williams agreed that the situation regarding basement developments was spreading across London.

'It is not an issue in most local authorities, although I accept what the noble Lord says - it is coming to an authority near you,' she said.

'It is for individual local planning authorities to determine if developments are within the scope of national permitted development rights.

'We feel that existing powers are in place which enable a local authority to adopt an appropriate local approach to mitigate the impact of such developments where necessary.

'Similarly, existing legislation protects adjoining property owners from the potential impact of such development,' Lady Williams added.
Israel's intelligence minister Yisrael Katz (pictured left next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) sparked fury by suggesting Belgian leaders should spend less time eating chocolate and more dealing with radicalism

Israel's intelligence minister has sparked fury for saying Belgium should worry more less about eating chocolate and more about its homegrown radicals.

Accusing it of laxity over the threat of extremist Muslims, MP Yisrael Katz lashed out at the country's leaders who he claims 'parade' themselves as 'great liberals'.

He is now the second Israel minister from Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Lukid to accuse the country of taking too soft an approach towards the problem.

Katz is known for his hawkish position on the wave of violence that has rocked Israel and the Palestinian territories since October, calling for the families of Palestinians implicated in attacks to be sent to Hamas-ruled Gaza as a deterrent.

Told he told Israeli public radio: 'If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them'.

He charged that not only European leaders but also U.S. President Barack Obama had undermined the battle against jihadist violence with their unwillingness to define it as 'Islamic terrorism'.

'When you don't define your enemy, you can't lead a worldwide campaign.'

Katz, who is widely seen as Netanyahu's principal rival within the party, is also the country's transport minister.

However, his comments sparked a sharp rebuke from the Israeli opposition, the Times of Israel reported.

MK Shelley Yachimovich sarcastically wrote on Twitter: 'The government has devised a system to eradicate terrorism: Stop eating chocolate.'

Yesterday another Likud member - Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis - lashed out at Europe after the Brussels bombings, accusing it of ignoring the danger of 'Islamic terror cells' and focusing on criticising Israel instead.

'Many in Europe have preferred to occupy themselves with the folly of condemning Israel, labelling products, and boycotts,' Akunis said on his Facebook page.

'In this time, underneath the nose of the continent's citizens, thousands of extremist Islamic terror cells have grown.'

Those comments drew a rebuke from Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who accused Akunis - a Netanyahu ally - of 'miserable cynicism'.

The Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, where Abdeslam was arrested last week (pictured) is considered the cradle of European jihadism

It was in Molenbeek that several members of the ISIS cell responsible for the Brussels and Paris attacks hid for many months. Pictured is a suspect being arrested during raids on the district last week
Hoaxer: Vincent Rudland (pictured) has been jailed for planting a fake explosive labelled 'Watch out: Bomb by Taliban' in a busy shop on Christmas Eve

A hoaxer has been jailed for planting a fake explosive labelled 'Watch out: Bomb by Taliban' in a busy shop on Christmas Eve.

Vincent Rudland, 45, stashed the suspicious package amongst a chocolate display and forced the shop to close while it was investigated. It was made using a battery, shaving gel and masking tape.

Terrified shoppers fled the store, which was estimated to have suffered around 4,000 in lost sales.

Police were called to the Bargain Buys shop in West Bromwich, near Birmingham, on December 24 last year after the package was spotted by a member of staff.

Rudland was arrested after shop workers recognised him on CCTV footage.

He admitted placing an article with intent and has now been jailed for 27 months.

Sentencing him at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Webb told Rudland that 'because of the world we are living in' he had put people in fear that the package had been placed there by terrorists.

Judge Webb, who also made a restraining order banning him from going to Bargain Buys, said: 'This was a particularly worrying hoax bomb for which there is still no explanation.'

Rudland, of no fixed address but previously from West Bromwich, was recognised by staff as having previously offered them sweets.

He was also recognised by police officers in the area.

Prosecutor Mark Phillips told the court West Midlands Police were called and found the suspect package contained a battery, a fuse and some shaving gel which had leaked, packed with shredded paper and bound with masking tape.

He said: 'Some effort had been given to make it look like it could be a viable explosive device.

Terrified shoppers: The 45-year-old stashed the suspicious package amongst a chocolate display and forced the Bargain Buys shop in West Bromwich (pictured) to close while the incident was investigated

'Some of the staff broke down in tears because people couldn't help thinking the worst.

'It was more pressure on them on what was already a busy day. The manager described it as a "silly and unnecessary" event.'
Heidi Cruz came out to attack Donald Trump after he threatened to 'spill the beans' on her after a conservative super PAC backing Ted Cruz used an advert that slut-shamed his wife Melania.

The ad, circulated on social media, shows the Trump's wife, a former model, in a nude 2000 GQ photo shoot captioned: 'Meet Melania Trump, your next First Lady. Or you could vote for Ted Cruz on Tuesday.'

The GOP frontrunner responded in characteristic bombastic fashion on Twitter, misidentifying Cruz's campaign as the ad's source.

He wrote: 'Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!'

Trump did not indicate what he intended to divulge about Heidi Cruz, who is on leave from an executive job at Goldman Sachs while campaigning, but her husband quickly came to her defense on Twitter.

Cruz wrote: 'Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless.'

In a campaign appearance for her husband in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Heidi Cruz addressed the uproar briefly.

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Heidi Cruz (pictured) came out to attack Donald Trump after he threatened to 'spill the beans' on her after a conservative super PAC backing Ted Cruz used an advert that slut-shamed his wife Melania. Cruz is pictured above today campaigning

On the campaign trail: Heidi Cruz, the wife of Texas Senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz (L) greets people as she campaigns for her husband at a Culver's restaurant in Stutervant, Wisconsin, today

The super PAC Make America Awesome, which describes itself as an independent group focused on 'unconventional and cost-effective tactics' created this ad attacking Donald Trump through his wife Melania (pictured, in a GQ photo shoot in 2000)

'You probably know by now that most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality,' she told reporters. 'So we are not worried in the least.'

She added: 'I have one job in this campaign and that is to help Ted win this race. I think it is the easiest job in the world.

'All I have to do is speak the truth about what I know about my husband and our family.'

Speaking at a rally at Women's National Republican Club in New York on Wednesday, Cruz further defended his wife, saying Trump's threat was 'gutter politics' and that he had 'reached a new low.'

The Texas senator said Trump tries to 'attack and bully people' but should know that spouses and children are off-limits.

He also said that Trump launches personal attacks when he wants to change the subject, suggesting the billionaire wanted to divert attention from Utah, where he lost to Cruz on Tuesday night.

Cruz also addressed the conflict in television interviews, using a misquoted line from 1995 film The American President starring Michael Douglas.

'If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he's better off sticking with me 'cause Heidi is way out of his league,' Cruz told CNN.

Cruz's comeback is strikingly similar to a line uttered by Douglas in the film. 'You want a character debate, Bob?' he says. 'You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.'

Meanwhile, it was unclear what exactly Trump was threatening to reveal regarding Cruz's wife.

However, it is well documented that she suffered from depression a decade ago, culminating in a 2005 incident when police found her with her heads in her hands beside a Texas expressway.

A police report said she was a 'danger to herself'.

Furious: Trump hit out at Ted Cruz for the advert, saying he would 'spill the beans' on his wife Heidi Cruz. It was unclear exactly what he meant although she has a history of depression

Careful Donald: Cruz quickly responded, saying if he tried to attack Heidi, he would be 'more of a coward than I thought'. He also called it 'classless'

Heidi Cruz (C), the wife of Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), greets guests during a campaign stop at a Culver's restaurant on March 23, 2016 in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. Voters in Wisconsin will vote in the state's primary election on April 5

Cruz said Trump's threat was 'gutter politics' and that he had 'reached a new low' at a rally (pictured) in New York on Wednesday

The Texas senator said Trump tries to 'attack and bully people' but should know that spouses and children are off-limits during a speech at the Women's National Republican Club (pictured) in New York

Meanwhile, Cruz clung to the hope of catching up to Trump after winning the Utah caucuses and receiving further backing from the party establishment which is desperate to stop the outspoken billionaire.

Often shunned by party moderates because of his hawkish stance on fiscal issues, Cruz picked up an endorsement from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, an establishment Republican who was a candidate for the party's nomination for the November 8 presidential election until he dropped out last month.

Cruz won all of the 40 Republican delegates from Tuesday's Utah contest, although Trump won the 58 delegates up for grabs in Arizona, partly due to his tough message on illegal immigration.

Republican strategist Liz Mair, who founded the super PAC Make America Awesome, told Buzzfeed that their ads have been targeting Mormons, who have been shown in previous election results to dislike The Donald.

The Make America Awesome campaign also includes an ad highlighting Romney, a devout Mormon, and his public condemnation of Trump.

A third ad quotes the Donald on his previous pro-choice stance, although the candidate has now flip-flopped in the abortion debate and declared himself pro-life.

Mair told Buzzfeed the online campaign, which is the group's first endorsement of a specific candidate, is expected to reach 10,000 Mormons a day.

Ted Cruz literally lifted a line from The American President pic.twitter.com/BdG7Qcr4Ye  Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 23, 2016

Ted Cruz lifted a line uttered by Michael Douglas (right) in The American President to defend his wife

HOW HEIDI MET TED: FROM YOUNG POLICY AIDES ON GEORGE W. BUSH'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN TO A BATTLE WITH DEPRESSION Ted Cruz and wife Heidi wave to supporters during a campaign stop earlier this month in Concord, NC Heidi Cruz, 43, is a vice president at Goldman Sachs with an MBA from Harvard Business School. She has also studied at Claremont McKenna College and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. She grew up in California in a family of Seventh-Day Adventists, who took her on mission trips to Africa from the age of four. However, she now shares her husband's Southern Baptist affiliation. Heidi has taken leave from her executive job in Houston, Texas, where the couple live with their daughters, to help her husband on his presidential campaign. The couple met in Austin, Texas, in 2000, when they were both policy aides on George W. Bushs presidential campaign. Their first date was at a bar called the Bitter End. It lasted for hours because Cruz asked his future wife 'a lot of questions about my background, my goals in life, my 10-year plan, my 20-year plan,' she told the New York Times. He has said he was 'embarrassed' because it had taken him two days to ask her out.' They married the following year and have two daughters: Caroline, seven, and Catherine, five. From 2003 until 2004, she was the director of the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council reporting directly to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. While Cruz's wife has mostly kept a low profile during the presidential campaign, an incident in 2005 is now well-documented. A police report that was uncovered last year recalls how Heidi Cruz was taken in by a police officer after she was found sitting just feet away from a major roadway in Austin, Texas. On August 22, Cruz left her home shortly after 10pm and walked for miles before sitting down by the MoPac Expressway. Officer Joel Davidson was dispatched after reports came in of a woman sitting dangerously close to the side of the road with her head in her hands. When Davidson arrived on the scene Cruz identified herself and revealed she was not on any medication and had just two sips of a margarita that night, something Davidson confirmed saying she was not intoxicated at the time. Davidson 'believed she was a danger to herself' and eventually Cruz left with him in his patrol car. At the time, Cruz had recently left her job working for the National Security Council to be with her husband, who was serving as Solicitor General. Cruz had been commuting between Washington, D.C. and Texas for an entire year as the couple's jobs kept them 1,500 miles apart. After the police report was released, an advisor to Senator Cruz put out statement saying: 'About a decade ago, when Mrs. Cruz returned from D.C. to Texas and faced a significant professional transition, she experienced a brief bout of depression. 'Like millions of Americans, she came through that struggle with prayer, Christian counseling, and the love and support of her husband and family.' Advertisement

She also said the Melania ad will be promoted on Instagram specifically targeting LDS women.

Election results in Wyoming and Idaho, where there are significant Mormon populations, show the religious group favor Cruz and Kasich over Trump.

History professor Matt Bowman told ThinkProgress.com that Mormons, who have historically experienced religious persecution, dislike the Republican frontrunner for his Islamophobic comments.

He added: 'Mormons place a high premium on being nice, and Trump is not nice.'

Make America Awesome is described on its website as 'a SuperPAC dedicated to blocking and reversing Donald Trump's political ascent'.

It adds: 'We are an independent group, and are not authorized by any presidential candidate or candidate committee. Our focus is on using unconventional and cost-effective tactics, as opposed to stereotypical high-cost, limited-yield methods with the objective of providing maximum donor value.'

In reference to an anti-Trump ad they ran in January criticizing his business methods, the super PAC tweeted: 'If Trump's opponents are serious about defeating him, they need to start running attacks that work with his voters now...'

The Make America Awesome campaign also includes an ad highlighting Romney, a devout Mormon, and his public condemnation of Trump

A third ad quotes the Donald on his previous pro-choice stance, although the candidate has now flip-flopped in the abortion debate and declared himself pro-life

But the photo slut-shaming Melania has attracted criticism from across the political spectrum.

In an article on Mic.com, Anna Swartz wrote there were plenty of other reasons to attack Trump, from his 'racist tirades' to his 'extreme anti-immigration rhetoric'.

Others defended Melania and pointed out the fact that she is fluent in five languages and studied architecture and design before working as a model and running her own businesses.

Conservative news websites called the ad 'despicable' while others have pointed out the PAC's strategies could backfire.
Orange Is the New Black star Taryn Manning won't be seeing the millions she's asking for anytime soon if the City of New York has its way.

The 37-year-old actress, who plays Tiffany 'Pennsatucky' Doggett in the hit Netflix series, filed a lawsuit against the city last month asking for $10 million for 'false arrest'.

Now the city is firing back in new court documents obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Online saying police officers had every right to arrest her on November 18, 2014 and it wants the lawsuit thrown out.

Lawsuit: Actress Taryn Manning filed a $10 million suit against New York City last month for what she calls a false arrest, but city wants it thrown out now saying arresting detective had probable cause

Frenemies: Jeanine Heller (pictured with Manning in October 2014) told police Manning sent her text messages that read 'I will kill you, b****' and 'Go f*** yourself and die'

Manning was arrested for making criminal threats against her former friend and stalker Jeanine Heller after Heller told police Manning sent her text messages that read: 'I will kill you, b****' and 'Go f*** yourself and die'.

The actress explained in her complaint against the city that she was accused of violating a restraining order by Heller.

She said she went to the police with her lawyer to discuss the allegations against her and informed them of previous issues she had with Heller and it was actually Jeanine stalking her.

The police didn't see her side of things and placed her in a holding cell for four hours despite the District Attorney's Office telling officers they would not be prosecuting the actress.

Time frame: Manning, best known for her role as Tiffany 'Pennsatucky' Doggett in Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, made her complaint passed the 90 day statutory period

Manning said the arrest was eventually voided, but that didn't stop the cops from allegedly leaking details to the media about the situation.

She is suing for the $10 million for damages to her reputation, emotional distress, hours of detention and attorney fees.

However, New York City fired back at the multi-million dollar lawsuit - blasting Manning's allegations.

Court papers reveal the city feels the entire suit should be tossed because 'the actress' claims lack any merit'.

The city maintains the arresting detective had probable cause to make the arrest.

The city blasts Manning for crying about being held by police despite the DA's Office saying they wouldn't be prosecuting her - explaining that it doesn't need the DA's permission to arrest someone on probable cause.

The city adds that even if the arresting officer knew of the complainant's history with the actress that would not by itself make the allegations against Manning so far-fetched.

Another reason the city wants the 'false arrest' lawsuit thrown out is because Manning filed it after the 90 day statutory period.

The document states: 'Petitioner waited 14 months and 21 days to seek leave to file a late notice and has failed to offer any authority as to why such a delay would not substantially prejudice the City.'

The city wants Manning to be awarded nothing from her $10 million complaint.

James Franzetti, Manning's attorney, provided this statement to Daily Mail Online, 'It is standard operating procedure for the City of New York to oppose petitions in false arrest cases, such as this one.

'The City's opposition, the arguments raised therein, shall be thoroughly refuted via [formal] Reply filed in Court.'
Poland today abandoned its promise to the EU to take in 7,000 migrants because of the jihadist attacks in Brussels that killed 34 people.

The country's previous government had agreed to take the migrants in, but today Prime Minister Beata Szydlo declared she would not be honoring the agreement.

Speaking at the Belgian Embassy in Warsaw where she laid flowers to honor the victims, she appealed for urgent talks to allow Europe to counter the 'plague' of radicalisation.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo (pictured) today said she was 'not OK' with allowing migrants to settle in her country following the attacks in Brussels

She has now abandoned a pledge to take in 7,000 migrants because of the deadly suicide bombings (pictured)

Many of the attackers responsible for both Paris and Brussels (pictured) are believed to have travelled between the two cities, while some travelled as far as Hungary to pick up men who arrived as migrants

Survivors of the blasts at the airport in Brussels take shelter and help one another during the chaos following the explosions

She said: 'We must put an end to terrorism in Europe. We must not be afraid.

'After what happened in Brussels yesterday, it's not possible right now to say that we're OK with accepting any number of migrants at all,' she told local broadcaster Superstacja. 'I will be very clear: at the moment, I dont see a possibility for migrants to come to Poland.'

Her spokesman later said the Polish government would not 'allow for events in Western Europe to happen in Poland', Bloomberg reported.

Fears have grown since the Paris terror attacks on November 13 that jihadis carrying forged Syrian passports are posing as migrants in order to enter Europe and launch attacks on the West.

Szydlo's defiant comments come as it emerged the suspected bombmaker behind both the Paris and Brussels attacks is believed to have travelled with Salah Abdeslam to Hungary in September.

Najim Laachraoui - known as 'the Man in White' - is though to have accompanied Abdeslam to the country's train station where they met with a group of men posing as migrants.

The unnamed men - who had refused to sign asylum seekers' documents - then left the country with the future jihadis.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, it emerged several of the ISIS suicide bombers who struck the Stade de France had entered Europe via Greece.

Authorities there took fingerprints of two of the three suicide bombers when they entered the country. These were reported to have matched those of the Paris bombers.

Meanwhile, several European leaders today expressed a desire to see more cooperative anti-terror measures enacted throughout the EU bloc.

First picture: Belgian bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui, centre, and a mystery fourth bomber, left, both wearing black gloves to hide their suicide bomb triggers, killed 14 at Brussels airport - their accomplice the 'Man in White' Laachraoui, right, walked out of the airport after leaving a suitcase bomb that never went off

Abdelhamid Abaaoud (pictured) was the mastermind of the Paris terror attacks. He was killed in a shootout in St Denis a few days after the atrocity and was known to have previously travelled to fight for ISIS in Syria

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says one of the lessons learned from yet another attack in a EU nation is that the 28 member nations must increase their investments in anti-terror measures.

Valls told reporters 'in the coming years, EU nations will have to invest massively in their security system'.

He spoke after meeting with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.

Valls mentioned specifically that more funds will be needed for 'manpower, technology - to face the types of threats that we will have to face'.

And Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU commissioner for migration and citizenship, said member nations must improve at sharing counter-terrorism intelligence.

A day after three bombings in Brussels killed 34 people including three suicide bombers and wounded 270 others, he said 'it's a moment for all member states to start working together'.

He added: 'To foster mutual trust, exchange information and intelligence, because this is the only way to go ahead.'

He said the EU's police cooperation agency, Europol, is the place to share intelligence in an attempt to foil attacks.
Former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove has insisted far from damaging security, quitting the EU would have benefits for Britain

Former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove today backed Brexit as he insisted it would not damage the nation's security.

Sir Richard was Britain's top spook until 2004 and said getting out of the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU's free movement could boost security.

Home Secretary Theresa May surprised some in Westminster when she backed David Cameron's EU In campaign on the grounds of security.

But Sir Richard insisted the only benefits related to crime - adding on the European Arrest Warrant that 'few would notice its passing'.

In an article for Prospect Magazine, Sir Richard said national security was served by international cooperation but only with trusted allies and not the entire EU as this leaked information like a 'colander'.

He said: 'Though the UK participates in various European and Brussels-based security bodies, they are of little consequence.

'The Club de Berne, made up of European Security Services; the Club de Madrid, made up of European Intelligence Services; Europol; and the Situation Centre in the European Commission are generally speaking little more than forums for the exchange of analysis and views.

'With the exception of Europol, these bodies have no operational capacity and with 28 members of vastly varying levels of professionalism in intelligence and security, the convoy must accommodate the slowest and leakiest of the ships of state.'

Sir Richard warned: 'The larger powers cannot put their best intelligence material into such colanders.'

Sir Richard said counter terrorism work was usually conducted bilaterally or occasionally trilaterally.

He said: 'Brussels has little or nothing to do with them, in large part due to what is known as the ''Third Party Rule,'' a notion that is little understood outside the intelligence fraternity but which is essential to intelligence liaison worldwide.

'This rule states that the recipient of intelligence from one nation cannot pass it on to a third without the originator's agreement.'

Sir Richard insisted this meant security cooperation with the United States would not be damaged by a Brexit.

Home Secretary Theresa May has insisted the EU is vital for Britain's security and based her decision to back continued membership on this basis

And Sir Richard concluded: 'In short, Europe would be the potential losers in national security.

'But if Brexit happened, the UK would almost certainly show the magnanimity not to make its European partners pay the cost.'

Mrs May has repeated her warnings against Brexit.

In an interview with The Times, conducted before yesterday's Brussels attacks, Mrs May said EU membership was 'of benefit' to Britain's security.

She said: 'I think this is an issue people should look at more broadly, but on the security front there are good reasons for us to be members of the European Union.

'The UK threat level is at severe, which means a terrorist attack is highly likely. We know that since November 2014 seven terrorist plots have been disrupted in the UK.
All Marines will be going through 'unconscious bias' training as women get the opportunity to enter all combat roles for the first time.

Through the mandatory training, the Marine Corps aims to challenge presuppositions and set conditions for a smooth transition ahead of the change.

Mobile training teams will be dispatched across the Corps in May and June to offer two-day seminars to majors and lieutenant colonels.

All Marines will be going through mandatory training as women get the opportunity to enter all combat roles for the first time

The mandatory training will feature lessons on institutional change and will also focus on unconscious bias, which addresses the idea that people prejudge others based on race, gender and other factors

The majors and lieutenant colonels will then train the Marines under them, Col Anne Weinberg, deputy director of the Marine Corps Force Innovation Office, said.

Seminar topics include principles of institutional change and unconscious bias, which addresses the idea that people prejudge others based on race, gender and other factors.

The seminar will also show officers the challenges units might encounter when ground combat jobs open to women and will feature vignettes of potential situations.

'You're in the field, you only have this certain amount of space for billeting and you've got three women and six guys. How are you going to billet?' Weinberg told Military.com, describing a potential vignette.

She added: 'Just some of these common sense things that these units probably haven't had to deal with so that ground combat units haven't had to deal with, but we've been dealing with in the rest of the Marine Corps for generations.'

Weinberg said that the mobile training teams include her and other Marine officers who participated in the Corps' planning toward putting women in combat roles.

They will go to all units of the Corps, not just the ones affected by combat integration.

Through the training, the Corps is aiming to challenge presuppositions and set conditions for a smooth transition ahead of the change

Mobile training teams will be dispatched across the Corps in May and June. The teams will offer two-day seminars to majors and lieutenant colonels who will then train the Marines under them

'It's a means of getting out an understanding across the force, men and women,' she said.

The Marine Corps released optional online classes on similar topics in late 2014, but a Center for Naval Analyses survey of 54,000 Marines obtained by The Washington Post showed that there is a need for training on cultural and institutional resistance in the Corps.

The report found that most male Marines at every rank opposed the decision to allow women to take on ground combat jobs.

A third of female Marines at every rank also opposed the decision.

The Marine Corps was also the only military branch to request some combat units to remain closed to woman, Military.com reported.

The request came after a study found that teams with female members were less lethal and slower than all-male groups.
A gang of four men has been handed 21 years behind bars after snatching their victim off the streets, beating him, forcing him to strip and abandoning him in a Norfolk forest.

The victim, who was Polish, was only discovered walking naked and alone when he flagged down two police officers to tell them of the night time attack in Thetford Forest.

His attackers - Mariusz Winiarski, 34, Rafal Schmidla, 32, Piotr Suchocki, 26, and Daniel Jasinski, 28  each received sentences for false imprisonment today at Norwich Crown Court.

In sentencing them, Judge Stephen Holt said it must have been a terrifying ordeal for the victim, who has not been named.

A gang of four men has been jailed for a total of 21 years, after they snatched their victim off the streets of Thetford, drove him to Thetford Forest, forced him to strip naked and beat him. Pictured, Rafal Schmidla (left) who was jailed for six years and Daniel Jasinski who was jailed for two years

The fact he has left this country and well away from you speaks for itself, he said.

The judge said the gang grabbed the victim off the streets and took him to the forest as revenge for a deal which went wrong and said they aimed to inflict punishment and humiliation.

The victim was walking alone on the night of February 25 last year, around 10.30pm, when he was approached by Schmidla, Suchocki and Jasinski in a car.

After stopping the car, the gang threatened the victim with violence before imprisoning him in the car and driving away.

Jasinski was then dropped at a Thetford house before the gang drove on to another address, where Winiarski got into the car, reported the Eastern Daily Press.

The gang then drove their victim to the woods, pulled him out the car, and Schmidla and Winiarski began punching and kicking him.

After ordering their victim to strip, the gang continued the violent attack, which Schmidla also videoed.

After snatching the victims clothes, phone and wallet, the gang abandoned him naked and beaten in the woods.

The unnamed victim was only discovered, walking naked and abandoned, after he flagged down two police officers to report the attack. Pictured, Piotr Suchocki (left) who was handed five years in jail and Mariusz Winiarski (right) who received eight years in jail

They then returned to the scene, dumped some of his possessions on the ground, and told their victim that he had learnt his lesson.

I am pleased with todays sentence, said DC Lisa Cook.

The victim in this case has shown great strength in coming forward and giving evidence. His trust in police has ensured that these men have been prosecuted and jailed.

Norfolk Constabulary will continue to work with our local communities and partner agencies in order to identify victims and seek prosecution against anyone found breaking the law.
Tim Varchmin, 42, appeared in court today to deny six counts of possessing indecent photographs of children and one of possessing a class A drug

A high-flying City lawyer today denied possessing more than 100 indecent images of children.

Tim Varchmin, 42, a corporate lawyer formerly employed by JP Morgan, had his iPhone and two laptops seized from his home address in Lancaster Gate, west London, on October 17 2014.

Officers also seized a quantity of crystal meth, a class A drug.

Varchmin appeared at Southwark Crown Court today to deny six counts of possessing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children and one of possessing a controlled class A drug.

Wearing a tailored suit, Varchmin spoke only to confirm his name and to enter not guilty pleas.

He denied charges relating to 28 images listed in the most serious category, 66 images in the second highest category and 18 in the lowest category.

Varchmin also denied possession of 830mg of crystal meth.

Judge Andrew Goymer set a trial date of December 19 for Varchmin and outlined a schedule for the prosecution and defence to complete their preparations.

Addressing Varchmin, Judge Goymer said: Your trial will be fixed for December 19.

The judge granted Varchmin unconditional bail until his trial begins at Southwark Crown Court (pictured) on December 19

You must attend court on that day - if you fail to attend that is an offence under the bail act.

If you are deliberately absent without good reason the court has the power to start the trial in your absence.
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Guru: Khalid Zerkani, known as 'Father Christmas', has been linked to the terror cells which carried out the Paris and Brussels attacks

A pot-bellied jihadi 'guru' who is known as 'Father Christmas' was today exposed as one of the inspirations behind the terror network which planned the devastating attacks on both Paris and Brussels.

Khalid Zerkani - who is currently in jail after recruiting Islamist fighters and petty criminals - had links with bombmaker Najim Laachraoui, one of the suicide bombers who attacked Brussels airport this week.

He was previously said to have recruited Abdelhamid Abaaoud, mastermind of the Paris attacks, to the jihadist cause, funding terror by training youths to be pickpockets and shoplifters.

The revelations came as police continued to hunt six or more terror suspects believed to be on the run after their involvement in Tuesday's attacks on the airport and Brussels Metro, including the 'Man in White' who apparently wheeled explosives into Brussels airport before fleeing the scene, and a man suspected of being the second Metro bomber.

Police are rushing to hunt down the new suspect, who was caught on camera with a large bag shortly before the blast, following reports that he did not get on the train where Khalid El Bakraoui detonated a bomb and killed 20 commuters.

The jihadists who killed a total of 34 people in Tuesday morning's attacks were also hoping to target nuclear facilities and may have attempted to kidnap the boss of a nuclear power plant, it emerged today.

Four unidentified men were allegedly seen shadowing the blasts from inside an Audi S4 car registered to a known extremist on a watch list, according to reports today.

The Audi and a Renault Clio were seen close to the airport and both are feared to have come with the attackers who arrived in a taxi, according to The Sun.

Zerkani, 42, was jailed for 12 years last summer after he was convicted of being the leader of a terrorist operation based in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels.

His trial had heard that he was called 'Father Christmas' by the youths who were under his influence because he used to hand out money and other gifts in order to keep them on side.

He deployed members of his gang to raise money by stealing, and spent the proceeds on funding jihad in the ISIS heartland of Syria and Iraq.

Whenever his recruits questioned the morality of jihadist attacks, Zerkani told them that they were justified because Belgium is an 'enemy of Islam'.

Sources within the judiciary told the Belgian media that the radical recruiter, who influenced both Laachraoui and Abaaoud, was an indisputable link between the previous attacks in Paris and this week's bombings.

'To begin with, the Schaerbeek network did not have a link with the Paris attacks,' a source told Derniere Heure today. 'And now, a link is made between the attacks in Paris and in Belgium.'

Security: Heavily armed police were seen on the streets of Brussels in the wake of the attacks

Watchful: Police officers outside the Brussels council headquarters today as the authorities continue their investigation

Search: Armed police were pictured checking cars in central Brussels today as the city continued in a state of high alert

Grinning: Bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui, left, is shown in a mugshot picture taken by Turkish police last summer; Najim Laachraoui, right, who killed himself during the attacks was known as a master bombmaker

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde today joined the country's prime minister and thousands of local residents for a memorial service in the centre of Brussels.

Many of those present were visibly distraught in the wake of the terror atrocities, while the 55-year-old King apparently wiped away a tear during the solemn commemoration ceremony.

Prime minister Charles Michel said on Twitter: 'Our country is in shock, but we are strong and confident. The cries of distress and grief, the sirens and the apocalyptic images will remain forever engraved in us.'

Yesterday, the second suicide bomber who blew himself up at Brussels airport was identified as master bombmaker Najim Laachraoui. Laachraoui is believed to be the bomber on the left of the CCTV footage, having previously been thought to be the mystery man in white.

Like Ibrahim El Bakraoui, pictured in the middle, he wears a single black glove on his hand to hide the trigger to his deadly device. The third suspect, dressed in the white coat and dark hat, is still being hunted by police.

Ibrahim's brother Khalid carried out a suicide attack at Maelbeek metro station. One of the theories is that the mystery man in white could possibly be Khalid, who Belgian authorities have confirmed was the metro bomber.

In this scenario, he would have dropped his explosive devices off at the airport before boarding a metro train to Maelbeek and detonating another device 79 minutes later.

It was reported today that Khalid was caught on camera alongside another man dragging a heavy bag shortly before the bomber detonated the metro explosions, raising the possibility that the second man could also have been a suicide bomber or could be on the run.

Police in France this week sent arrest warrants to other forces around Europe appealing for help in tracking down Laachraoui and other suspected terrorists from the cell which carried out last year's Paris attacks.

One of those sought was Syrian-born Naim Al Hamed, 28, who is said to be armed and 'suspected of being involved in the Belgian attacks'.

It also emerged today that Ibrahim was twice deported from Turkey last year, but was set free by European authorities even though they were told by their Turkish counterparts that he could present a terror threat.

Chilling: This CCTV image shows the Brussels airport terminal less than a minute before the bomb went off

Transfer: A car believed to be carrying arrested terror suspect Salah Abdeslam from prison in Bruges to a court hearing in Brussels today

Security: Police driving Abdeslam away from the prison were wearing balaclavas to protect their identities

In the wake of the disaster, the worst terror attack ever to hit Belgium, the country's interior and justice ministers both offered to resign today. Jan Jambon and Koen Geens handed their resignations to prime minister Charles Michel, but the premier asked to two men to continue in their posts.

The ministers' offer to quit is believed to be linked to the apparent security failings which allowed the bombers to stay on the streets despite evidence linking them to violent extremism.

The Brussels terrorist gang were also preparing an attack on a nuclear power plant, according to newspaper Derniere Heure. The ISIS cell were spying on the Belgians nuclear power chief, possibly as part of a kidnap plan to force him to let them into an atomic facility.

Hours of film of the home of the Research and Development Director of the Belgian Nuclear Programme were discovered in an apartment in Brussels raided by anti-terrorist police following the attack in Paris.

The footage confounded investigators at first  as it showed the entrance to the directors home in Flanders, an area outside the capital.

But detectives made the chilling deduction that the group was attempting to gain entry to an atomic facility after watching all 12 hours of footage, which included images of a local bus.

Derniere Heure reported: The investigation took a chilling turn when it emerged that the man being spied upon was none other than the Research and Development Director of the Belgian Nuclear Programme!

Armed troops were sent to defend French and Belgian nuclear facilities following the discovery and both countries nuclear programmes were put on the highest state of alert.

Gathering: Thousands of Brussels residents gathered in the city to pay tribute to the dead today

Emotion: A woman wearing a headscarf broke down in tears during the solemn commemoration ceremony

Consolation: A mother holds her young child as they observe a minute's silence outside the targeted Metro station

Overcome: King Philippe, pictured with his wife Mathilde, appeared to wipe away a tear during the ceremony

Salah Abdeslam, the Paris terror suspect whose arrest last week is thought to have prompted the Brussels atrocities, appeared in front of judges in a city court today.

Following the hearing, his lawyer insisted that Abdeslam had no knowledge of the imminent attacks on Brussels despite the suggestion that they were carried out as revenge for his arrest.

The lawyer also said that the prisoner had refused to help Belgian police when they questioned him about the whereabouts of the missing suspects believed to have carried out this week's bombings.

Abdeslam says that he does not object to being extradited to France to face trial over November's mass murder in Paris, and was remanded in custody until a new hearing in two weeks' time.

EU security ministers were meeting in the terror-hit city later today for a summit intended to demonstrate 'solidarity' with Belgium and discuss new measures to defeat extremism.

A spokesman for the EU said that ministers - including Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May - would 'show solidarity with Belgium, discuss the actual state of play in the fight against terrorism and pursue swift completion and implementation of legislation'.

As the hunt for the Brussels terrorists continued, it was confirmed that the search for November's Paris attackers is still ongoing with at least seven suspects at large four months after the atrocity.

'More than 30 people have been identified as linked to the Paris attacks,' French prime minister Manuel Valls told the Financial Times. 'Eleven are dead, 12 are under lock and key and the rest are being sought.'

The Belgian authorities were warned one of the Brussels killers was a terrorist - but he was allowed to walk free, Turkish officials said yesterday.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui was caught in June at the Turkish-Syrian border and was deported to the Netherlands. The Turkish authorities said it warned Belgium and the Netherlands he was a 'foreign terrorist fighter', but Dutch officials allowed him to go free because the Belgian authorities could not link him to terrorism.

Defence: Soldiers took to the streets in armed vehicles in a bid to help secure Brussels following the attacks

Procedure: Masked police directing traffic around the centre of the Belgian capital during the period of high security

Keeping watch: A police officer with a pistol and machine gun on the Brussels street today

Road: Security forces blocked off the entrance to the airport which was hit by the ISIS terrorists

Meeting: Theresa May in Brussels with the Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon, who today offered to resign but was refused

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 'despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism'.

Today one Turkish official revealed that El Bakraoui returned to the country for a second time after being deported, and was once again returned to Belgium where he was allowed to walk free.

At least 34 people were killed, including the attackers themselves, and 270 injured in the three suicide bomb attacks at an airport and metro station in Brussels on Tuesday morning, and the death toll could rise.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who is also known as Brahim, and Najim Laachraoui died in the coordinated blasts while Ibrahim's brother Khalid detonated his explosive device on the metro an hour later.

In a sign of the continuing state of alert, Belgian officials evacuated a train station in Mons, some 40 miles south of Brussels, after a security scare this morning. Trains were prevented from stopping at the station, but some 30 minutes later, traffic was allowed to resume, Belgian rail operator SNCB said.

A massive international manhunt has been launched to find the 'man in white', pictured with two of the men at Zaventem Airport shortly before the blast. He is thought to have left a bomb carrying the 'biggest charge' which failed to explode.

French media said he is also linked to the Paris terror attacks last November which saw 130 people killed and many more injured in strikes across the capital.

Reports said his DNA was found on explosive belts found at the Bataclan theatre and the Stade de France following the killings.

As security services continue to comb the country hunting for the mystery man in white, it emerged that Ibrahim El Bakraoui left a note in a bin. In the testament, found on a computer dumped in a bin in the Schaerbeek area in Brussels, he told how he was 'on the run' and did not 'know what to do'.

The second suicide bomber (left) who blew himself up at Brussels airport has been identified as master bombmaker Najim Laachraoui as police search for the mystery man in white. The bomber in the middle is believed to be Ibrahim al-Bakraoui

Brussels bombers: Brothers Khalid (left) and Ibrahim El Bakraoui (right) were able to evade security services despite being notorious gangland criminals who were well known to police, it emerged

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media

Panic: A fire caused by one of the explosions in the terminal is tackled by airport staff with extinguishers surrounded by baggage and falling roof tiles

Devastating: Workers continued to pick through the debris at Brussels airport yesterday as the windows of the terminal remained heavily shattered from the twin attacks on the Belgian capital which has rocked Europe. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the horrific bombings

Appalling scenes: An injured man lies bleeding on the floor of Zaventem airport in Brussels

Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a press conference: 'We have found a written testament by Brahim El Bakraoui in which he said: "I don't know what to do. I'm in a hurry. I'm on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up then I'll end up in a cell."'

The latest twist came after it was revealed the Belgian El Bakraoui brothers escaped police in a gunfight during an anti-terror raid just eight days ago.

Laachraoui - now revealed as the second airport suicide bomber - was already one of the world's most wanted men, having built the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks and went on the run with Salah Abdeslam, one of the other Paris massacre masterminds, before hiding in Brussels for four months.

He is suspected of rigging up the suicide vests that helped kill 34 in twin attacks on Tuesday and is believed to have done the same for the Paris attacks.

Yesterday it emerged there could have been another suitcase bomb set off in the airport but the ISIS fanatics couldn't fit all their explosive-packed bags into a taxi outside their safehouse. They refused to let the driver touch the bags - prompting him to later contact the police about their suspicious behaviour.

Investigators are now desperate to track down the 'Man in White' - the third ISIS suspect pictured at the airport - as well as Mohamed Abrini, who was thought to be a close friend of the 'Man in White' and Abdeslam, for his possible involvement in the mass slaughter in the Belgium capital on Tuesday.

Tuesday's twin terror attacks on the Belgian capital are believed to have been revenge for Saleh Abdeslam's capture. Experts say the jihadists launched the Brussels attacks because the net was closing in on their terror cell.

BLOOD-SPATTERED BABY SCREAMS NEXT TO 'DEAD MOTHER': DISTURBING FOOTAGE INSIDE BRUSSELS AIRPORT This harrowing footage shows the moment a crying baby girl was found sitting on the body of what appears to be her dead mother in the chaotic aftermath of the Brussels airport bombing. As the terminal lies burning and covered in debris, the distressed child sits alone and wailing as the first rescuers make their way through the rubble. Tragically, police told taxi driver Francisco Izquierdo, who recorded the footage, not to help the girl - as she would be easier to identify if she was next to her mother. Mr Izquierdo was making his way through the wreckage in the hopes of finding his son who worked at the airport's food hall. Warning: distressing content Shocking: A young girl was filmed sitting on the body of a woman believed to be her dead mother by taxi driver Francisco Izquierdo The traumatised driver says he has been haunted by the young girl's cries: 'Those images stayed with me in my mind, and I keep seeing the girl crying, crying, crying. She is just a girl,' he told CNN. The lengthy footage recorded by Mr Izquierdo offers a glimpse into the immediate aftermath of the airport bombing in which 10 people died. Thousands of ceiling tiles lie scattered across the terminal floor, while early emergency responders can be seen dousing fires with extinguishers. It shows him making his way through the terminal to the takeaway outlet where his son worked, only to find it deserted. Eventually, he helps an elderly woman suffering from a cut to make her way outdoors, where the injured lie in pools of blood on the pavement. Advertisement

United in grief: The people of Brussels stand together during a minute of silence around a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse at midday yesterday

Gripped by grief: A heartbroken mother is comforted by her two children as she pays her respects to the 34 terror attack victims in Brussels this afternoon

Sombre: A woman weeps after people observed a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of the terror attacks

Anger: An overwhelmed mourner yells to the skies in Place De La Bourse as he and thousands of other met to show their defiance to the ISIS bombers who brought terror to their city

Most recently they had been on the run since March 15 following a shoot-out in a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital's Forest suburb. They opened fire on police and fled.

The raid carried out last Tuesday on a flat in the suburb of Forest saw a sniper kill terror suspect Mohamed Belkaid while the El Bakraoui brothers managed to escape police.

There was initial speculation that the raid had aimed to capture Paris terrorist Abdeslam, but he escaped through a loft window, but this was later denied by a police spokesman.

Officers had been acting on a tip-off in connection to the Paris terror attacks, and carried out the raid in Forest, which is close to Molenbeek, where several jihadis behind the Paris attacks lived and is known as the cradle of terrorism in Europe.

Yet the group still managed to find another address to stay, where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesday's attacks.

Police also confirmed yesterday that those who carried it out have were part of a larger cell who carried out the Paris attacks four months ago.

Khalid El Bakraoui also rented the apartment where Paris terror attacker Salah Abdeslam was captured by anti-terror police last Friday, according to respected Belgium news organisation RTL.

Belgium started three days of mourning yesterday after the bombings claimed the lives of 34 and left more than 250 injured in 79 minutes of rush hour carnage. The dead and injured have 40 different nationalities, including two Britons.

Despite a Government warning to stay at home thousands have gathered in the centre of the city to light candles, leave flowers and write messages of hope on the ground in defiance of the terrorists who carried out the the worst terror attacks in Belgium's history.

Mother-of-two Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, was the first named victim of the Brussels terror attacks so far. The Peruvian national had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her twin daughters when she died in the double suicide bombing at Zaventem Airport.

Ms Tapia's three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived the explosion on Tuesday morning.

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries.

The third victim whose identity has been released was also killed in the metro bomb. Olivier Delespesse was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the second bombing.

The girlfriend of a British father missing after the Brussels attacks is among desperate relatives searching the city's hospitals in the hope of finding their loved ones.

Victim: Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, died in the terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday, while her three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, left, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries. Belgian Olivier Delespesse, right, was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the blast on the metro train

David Dixon, from Hartlepool, has not been in contact with his partner Charlotte Louise Sutcliffe since leaving for work on Tuesday

New York siblings Sascha (pictured) and Alexander Pinczowski (right) were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal - they haven't been seen since

David Dixon has not been in contact with his partner, Charlotte Sutcliffe, since the bombs went off and may have been on the Brussels Metro at the time of Tuesday's explosion at the Maalbeck underground station.

The IT programmer, who lives in Brussels but is originally from Hartlepool, County Durham, was travelling to work on Tuesday morning but did not arrive at his office.

The 53-year-old would have travelled through Maelbeek station, where the attack happened.

Friends have been appealing for information on his whereabouts on social media and asking anyone with information to contact his Ms Sutcliffe.

American siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

According to Dutch media reports, the pair were on the phone to their family when the blasts took place and then the line went dead.

The Pinczowskis, both from New York, were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

American Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, was injured in the horrifying Brussels airport terrorist attack after having previously survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks . He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, injuries from shrapnel and second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing.

Chad Wells, Mason's father, told ABC News: 'This is his third terrorist attack' adding he and Mason were a block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the bombing took place in 2013. The teen was also in Paris last year during the attacks.

A haunting image of Nidhi Chaphekar, a married mother of two, went viral on social media in the aftermath of the attack, with #PrayForNidhi trending on social media. Covered in dust and blood, Nidhi is pictured amid the chaos in the tattered remains of her yellow Jet Airways jacket.

THIRD BRUSH WITH TERROR: AMERICAN MORMON, 19, LEFT WITH BURNS AND SHRAPNEL INJURIES IN BRUSSELS ATTACK ALSO SURVIVED THE BOSTON AND PARISH BOMBINGS Miracle: Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, pictured, was injured in Brussels airport and also survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks An American Mormon missionary was injured in the horrifying Brussels airport terrorist attack after having previously survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks. Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, was injured along with his two colleagues and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, injuries from shrapnel and second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing. 'This is his third terrorist attack,' Chad Wells, Mason's father, told ABC News. 'This is the third time that sadly in our society that we have a connection to a bomb blast 'We live in a dangerous world and not everyone is kind and loving.' Chad said he and Mason were a block away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the bombing took place, waiting for Mason's mother, Kymberly Wells, who was a runner. 'It had shaken their bodies and he had taken Mason to our hotel and said to stay there. 'Mason was very calm and composed,' Kymberly told ABC News. Mason is currently in a Belgian hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, he told his parents. He was at 'ground zero' of the blast zone when the bombs went off. Chad said a Mormon official relayed to the Wells family that Mason, 'despite being on the ground and bleeding actually had a sense of humor and remained calm through the situation'. 'Mason has always assured us that he is safe and careful. 'I told him first and foremost always be aware of your surroundings, please be very careful when you're traveling be very observant to people around you,' Kymberly said. The teen was also in Paris last year during the attacks. He shared with us that he was extremely close to the blast where he was burned by it,' Chad said. 'It's a blessing from God he's alive.' Joseph Empey, who was with Mason, was also injured in the attack. The 20-year-old was treated for second-degree burns to his hands, face and head. Advertisement

A police sharpshooter takes aim from a helicopter hovering over Brussels' rooftops following the attacks

Armed Belgian police officers gather outside a building as they conduct searches at a number of addresses

It has since emerged that the El Bakraoui brothers each had extensive criminal records and were both jailed several years ago for shocking crimes involving Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Khalid was also listed on an Interpol 'red notice'  an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges.

Yet they were still allowed to play a major for ISIS, providing ammunition and renting out a number of safe houses where the Brussels and Paris attacks were plotted before martyring themselves.

Ibrahim blew himself up in the check-in hall of Zaventem airport while Khalid attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, Frederic van Leeuw told a news conference.

According to Belgian news website 7sur7, Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for firing at police with an AK-47 assault rifle during a robbery.

Khalid was also given a five-year jail term in early 2011 for possessing AK-47s and committing a series of car-jackings, it was reported. It is not clear when they were released from prison.

Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by security services.

The revelations are the latest in a series of failures by security chiefs facing damaging questions about why the siblings and other members of the cell were able to slip through the net.

Passengers shield themselves under bags as smoke and debris fill the terminal in the moments after the twin blast at Brussels Airport

Blast zone: The two bombs are believed to have gone off in these areas of the arrivals hall, as thousands were checking in for flights

The safe house rented by the El Bakraoui brothers in the Brussels district of Molenbeek where Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam was arrested in a police raid last Friday after four months on the run

Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam (left) was arrested (right) while trying to flee his safehouse in the suburb of Molenbeek close to his family home and near the district's police station

Both were released early from prison  although it is not clear when.

But at some point Khalid linked up with the terror cell behind the Paris attacks and used a false name to rent a property in the city of Charleroi as a hideout.

In the hours before the November massacre, logistics chief Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim are believed to have stopped at the apartment to pick up weapons before going on to unleash hell on the French capital.

Khalid later rented out a flat, also under an alias, in the Brussels suburb of Forest which was stormed last week by police hunting Salah Abdeslam.

Khalid and his brother, Ibrahim, are believed to have escaped during a shoot-out with police in which another militant, Mohamed Belkaid, was killed.

Belkaid, an Algerian national who was illegally in Belgium, was found with an ISIS flag, AK-47 assault rifle and a book of jihadist literature next to his body.

At the time police said: 'two persons [the El Bakraoui brothers] who were probably in the flat fled the scene and are being tracked down'.

Less than one week later, Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui carried out the terrorist attack at Brussels airport and as passengers queued to check in for flights at around 8am local time (7am GMT) the first blast rang out.

People fled towards the entrance of Brussels Zaventem Airport, a second much bigger blast in front of them brought down much of the ceiling and sent razor-sharp shrapnel, body parts and clouds of thick dust and smoke billowing through the building.

Belgian terror expert Pieter Van Ostaeyen says French prosecutor indicating that Abdeslam had started talking to police may have triggered the attack.s

'The three terrorists thought their network would be exposed and carried out their terror plan before this happened as a pre-emptive move,' he told Aftonbladet.

'It happened today [Tuesday], maybe weeks or months before the planned date.

'The French prosecutor should not have talked so much. He sent out the wrong signals to the ISIS network still intact in Europe, so it was high time for them to act and that's exactly what happened.

'The Belgian police investigation was leaking, and that's why it happened now,' he adds.

Belgian intelligence services are already under intense pressure to explain a number of failures that have allowed members of the ISIS cell to operate under their noses in the capital.

On the terror watch list: Khalid was on an Interpol 'red notice'  an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges




Two men and a woman have been arrested after they allegedly injected a 16-year-old with methamphetamine and forced her to engage in sex acts with them at a Missouri home.

Christopher Bove, 29, Erika Oppeau, 33, and William Hope, 42, have all been charged in the horrific crime that police said occurred when the victim stayed with a family acquaintance in Wentzville over the weekend.

Police said all three adults injected the girl, who was from Florida, with meth at the home where Bove lived over the course of several days, incapacitating her with enough of the drug that she was unable to leave the home.

Christopher Bove, 29, (left) and Erika Oppeau, 33 (right) have been charged with injecting a 16-year-old girl with meth and forcing her to have sex with them and another man at Bove's home in Wentzville, Missouri

The victim said Bove forced her to have sex with him, Oppeau and Hope, who also molested her, police told the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Oppeau also repeatedly injected the teen and performed unwanted oral sex on her and encouraged her to have sex with the men, authorities said.

Police said William Hope, 42, also repeatedly injected the girl and molested her

She is also accused of forcing the girl to perform oral sex on her, according to WSMV.

'These are disgusting people,' said Lincoln County Sheriff's Lt. Andy Binder.

'They do disgusting acts on children and they need to be held accountable.'

Police said the victim revealed what had happened after her mother picked her up on March 20.

Bove has been charged with statutory sodomy, statutory rape and endangering the welfare of a child involving drugs. He is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bail.

Oppeau was charged with statutory sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child involving drugs and is being held on a $50,000 cash-only bail.

Hope is charged with child molestation and endangering the welfare of a child involving drugs and is being held on a $25,000 cash-only bail.

The three adults, who police said are friends and meth addicts, are not allowed to have contact with one another or the victim and her family.

In 2014 Oppeau was accused of driving drunk twice in two weeks, with two children inside her vehicle.

Police said that, in one of the incidents, Oppeau threatened to kill and officer and his family and then offered him sex to get off arrest.
A four-year-old boy died after an elderly woman accidentally reversed over him in her SUV when she arrived to pick him and her grandson up from school.

Anthony Craft, who was due to celebrate his fifth birthday next week, was struck on Tuesday outside KD Learning Center in Houston, according to the Harris County sheriff's office.

Mabel George, 80, was unaware that Anthony was still attempting to climb into her Lincoln Navigator when she put it in reverse, KTRK reported.

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A four-year-old Texas boy, identified by family members as Anthony Craft (pictured), has died after a woman who was picking him up from day care did not realize he was not in her SUV and he was run over by the car

Mabel George, 80, (pictured) had thought both her grandchild and Anthony were inside her Lincoln Navigator when she put it in reverse to leave, but Anthony was still trying to get in and was near a rear wheel of the car

When she got out of the moving vehicle to try to help the boy she fell out of the car (pictured), and the vehicle continued in reverse, before the open car door struck the boy and he was pushed under the vehicle

She jumped out of the moving vehicle to try and help the boy but then fell herself as the vehicle continued in reverse.

The open car door then struck the boy and pushed him under the vehicle.

The car continued to roll backwards, sideswiping another vehicle before slamming into the day care. No one inside the day care was hurt nor was George's grandchild.

'The Navigator itself had no one driving it, made a full circle and came to a stop at the entrance to the K.D. Learning Center,' Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland told Channel 2.

Anthony was set to celebrate his fifth birthday next week, according to his family

Authorities said when George out of the car to help the boy, she did not put the car in park.

Anthony was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital by helicopter where he was pronounced dead. Deputies said he died from head trauma, according to Channel 2.

Gilliland said George was picking up her grandchild and Anthony, something she did regularly and had permission from his family to do.

However the boy's father, Charles Craft, told Channel 2 his family does not know the elderly woman does she have authorization to pick his son up.

'I don't know why he was outside the day care when this lady is not supposed to pick up my child,' Charles Craft told the station.

He also said that he nor his son's mother have ever seen the elderly woman before.

The family said the boy spent mornings at the day care and a bus would take him to school in the afternoon before taking him back to the day care after school.

One of his parents would then pick him up once they got off work.

'No one knows her,' Dominique Howard, Anthony's aunt, told Channel 2. 'We just want answers and we don't have any.'

George told KHOU she is devastated by the incident and that her heart aches for Anthony and his parents.

'I would have preferred to lost my own life to save that child. I've had my life,' George told KHOU.

She added: 'My prayers goes out to his family as if it was my own child. God knows my heart, he knows it was an accident.'

Anthony's family said they were told he had been transported to hospital and by the time they arrived there, he had passed away.

Deputies said George was picking up her grandchild and Anthony, something she did regularly and had permission from his family to do. However Anthony's father, Charles Craft (pictured) said she did not

During the accident, the car rolled backwards, sideswiping another vehicle before slamming into the day care (pictured). No one inside the day care was hurt nor was George's grandchild

His father described him as always smiling, keen to learn new things and full of life.

'He was my little man, he stayed on my leg and wherever I went, he went,' Craft told Channel 2.

'We used to sit outside and throw the football at each other and play football. He liked playing, he was just a happy kid.'

George has since been questioned and released, according to deputies, and the day care is closed until further notice.

A grand jury will decide if George should face charges, according to KHOU.

George has since been questioned and released, according to deputies, and the day care is closed until further notice

The Galen Park ISD released a statement on Wednesday saying they were deeply saddened by the tragic event that occurred at the daycare involving one of their pre-k students, Channel 2 reported.

'At this time we are offering support to students and staff at the campus as needed,' the statement read.
A mother and her son have been arrested and charged in Alabama, along with another man, for the alleged vicious assault of a man they claim tried to plant drugs on their property.

The male victim, who has not been identified, claims that Justin Goode, his mother Vickie Goode and her partner Timothy Gordon took him to their Limestone County home and beat him with a brick and shovel, held his head under water, slammed him against a concrete floor and then shot him.

The man survived and was taken to hospital in a serious condition, WHNT 19 News reported.

However the three accused claim it was a 'revenge attack' after the man tried to set them up.

Trio: Vickie Goode (left), her son Justin Goode (center) and her boyfriend Timothy Gordon (right) are accused of viciously assaulting an Alabama man, but claim they were getting him back for setting up Justin Goode

Earlier in the day, police responded to reports of shots fired at a location on Mooresville Road.

Upon arrival they found Justin Goode in a car with two people.

Officers searched the car for a gun or bullet casings, but instead found three syringes scattered throughout the vehicle, marijuana, a set of scales with marijuana residue, and some brass knuckles.

The three were charged with with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Goode was released on Sunday afternoon.

However, a few hours later, cops were called to his house at 16891 Brownsferry Road in Athens, amid reports of a savage beating.

Justin Goode (left) was arrested on Sunday morning on drug charges. According to reports, he was set up by the male victim, and he, his mother and her boyfriend (right) decided '(messed) with the wrong family'

Deputies arrived to find a man drenched and bleeding.

The victim said that Justin Goode punched and kicked him in the head, beat him with a brick and shovel, threw him into a wheelbarrow and swimming pool, then tried to hold his head under water from the edge of the pool, WHNT reported.

The man said Vickie Goode slapped and punched him, saying he '[messed] with the wrong family'.

The victim also claimed that Gordon slammed his head on the concrete and fired shots at him.

Investigation: Stephen Young from the Limestone County Sheriff's Office says they are looking into reports that the assault was a revenge attack

The victim was taken to Athens Limestone Hospital with a broken arm and multiple cuts and scratches. He had not been shot.

Police are still investigating the alleged assault and the motive.

Vickie Goode was released on $5,000 bond. Gordon was released on $6,000 bond.
Clinton also condemned both candidates' remarks about Muslims and said her administration would not support torturing terrorism suspects

She mocked Cruz for suggesting 'carpet bombing' the Middle East and Trump for his plans to build a wall

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton named both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in her speech today about

No matter if Donald Trump grabs the Republican nomination or Ted Cruz comes to take it from behind, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton had harsh words for both Republicans today on the topic of terrorism.

'When other candidates talk about building walls around America, I want to ask them, how high does the wall have to be to keep the internet out?' Clinton said this afternoon speaking at Stanford University, jabbing at Trump's trademark line and catering her remarks to a Silicon Valley crowd.

Moving on to Cruz, Clinton noted that 'it would also be a serious mistake to begin carpet bombing populated areas into oblivion,' something the Texas senator has said he supported doing to take out ISIS in the Middle East.

'Proposing that doesn't make you sound tough, it makes you sound like you're in over your head,' the former secretary of state said.

'Slogans aren't a strategy, loose cannons tend to misfire,' she added.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about her counterterrorism plans today at Stanford University and used the opportunity to hit GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and his rival Sen. Ted Cruz

Hillary Clinton said the country should not be 'reckless' in the wake of the terrorist threat - seen play out this week in Brussels, Belgium - condemning comments made by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz

The Democratic candidate sprinkled condemnation of the duo throughout her counterterrorism speech, delivered in light of yesterday's ISIS attacks in Brussels.

'You know this is a very personal issue for me having served as a senator fro New York on 9/11,' she stated. 'Having seen the horrors that were produced by a well planned and executed attack on our country, [I know] how important it is that we stay ahead of those who wish to do us great harm.'

'Without panic, without paranoia, but with resolve,' she continued. 'Not to give into the very behaviors that the terrorists are hoping to engender.'

Clinton said the country's leaders shouldn't be 'reckless' before pinpointing a number of statements made by Trump and Cruz she thought fit the bill.

Beyond carpet bombing, Clinton advised that it was not smart for the country to engage in another ground war in the Middle East.

'If we've learned anything from Iraq and Afghanistan it's that people and nations have to secure their own communities,' she said.

She discussed quotes both Republican candidates have made about Muslims.

Trump shocked the political establishment in December when he called for a complete ban of Muslims entering the United States, saying he wanted to put a temporary hold on letting in people of the religion in the aftermath of the ISIS-inspired attacks in San Bernardino, California.

'In our fight against radical Jihadism, we have to do what works,' Clinton said. 'One thing we know that does not work is offensive, inflammatory rhetoric that demonizes all Muslims.'

Hillary Clinton greeted attendees of today's national security address at Stanford University, which she catered to the Silicon Valley audience by mentioning technology several times

'They are most likely to recognize the warning signs of radicalization before it's too late. And the best positioned to block it,' she added.

She also took Cruz to task for saying this week that law enforcement should target Muslim-American neighborhoods to combat a growing 'radical Islamic terror' threat at home.

'So when Republican candidates like Ted Cruz call for treating American Muslims like criminals and for racial profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, it's wrong, it's counter-productive, it's dangerous,' Clinton said.

On a broader scale, Clinton suggested that these comments on Muslims could impact alliances around the world.

'Having actually done this I can tell you insulting allies and partners is not a good way to start,' she said, touting her previous role as secretary of state.

While a number of Republicans, and some Democrats too, said they wanted to stop the flow of Syrian refugees into the United States, Clinton cautiously took the opposite stance.

'It would be doubly cruel if ISIS can not only force families from their homes, but also prevent them from finding new ones,' she noted.

Trump's stance on NATO, which he suggested the United States should spend less money on, instead having other allies pick up the bill, Clinton called 'dangerous' and a 'protection racket.'

'NATO, in particular, is one of the best investments America has ever made,' she said.

'Putin already hopes to divide Europe,' she said of the Russian leader. 'If Mr. Trump gets his way it will be like Christmas in the Kremlin  it will make America less safe and the world more dangerous.'

Finally, she blasted the Republican frontrunner on torture.

Trump, directly after yesterday's attacks, suggested that he would want to waterboard and more terrorism suspects apprehended in the United States.

'Another thing we know that does not work, based on lots of empirical evidence is torture,' Clinton remarked.

'I'm proud of being part of the administration that banned torture after too many years in which we had lost our way,' she said, alluding to President George W. Bush's administration and the CIA's admission to waterboarding.

She quoted Republican Sen. John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam that Trump once insulted, who is adamantly anti-torture after his own horrific experience.

Coming full circle, Clinton again mentioned Trump's favorite project.
Nigg got 15 years for selling guns on Craigslist, according to court records

Fogle is serving 15 years and 8 months for child pornography and having sex with underage prostitutes

He also thought he received an excessive sentence in comparison to Fogle

Niggs wrote to his family that pedophiles were coddled in prison

The inmate who gave Jared Fogle a prison yard beating was enraged the disgraced Subway pitchman had hired bodyguards to protect himself, according to his family members.

Steve Nigg, who is serving 15 years for gun charges, punched Fogle several times in January, leaving him with a bloody nose, scratched neck and a swollen face at the Englewood Federal Corrections Institute in Colorado.

Nigg was reportedly angry that he was serving the same sentence as Fogle, who received 15 years and eight months for trading child pornography and having sex with underage prostitutes.

Nigg also told his family members he thought child molesters, or 'chomos' as he calls them, were being coddled in prison, so Fogle didn't win him over with paid protection.

The former Subway spokesman, 38 (left) was attacked by a fellow inmate Steve Niggs, 60, (right) in the prison yard at Englewood FCI in Colorado

Steve detailed his aversion towards pedophiles and claimed they were being coddled at the minimum-security prison.

According to the Denver Post, he wrote to his family saying: 'The public believes these sick predators are being punished when they are sent to prison. The administration treats them like they are on the endangered species list.'

His 59-year-old brother Jimmy told the Post: 'Now they send in a celebrity chomo. He's flashing his money around. He hired two big convicts to protect him. He was paying for commissary.'

Jimmy told Radar Online that Jared's paid protection is what 'set Steve off'.

Steve, who was apparently pleased the beating became national news, also 'wanted people to know he was given an excessive sentence' in comparison to Fogle, his nephew Jimmy Niggs Jr. said.

Steve was convicted in 2012 for selling unregistered guns on Craigslist, according to court documents cited by the Post.

His nephew defended his uncle by saying: 'He's serving 15 years in prison for a non-violent crime and Fogle is serving the same sentence for raping kids.'

Steve was previously jailed for three armed robberies, stealing $670 between 1976 and 1990.

Steve Niggs punched Fogle several times in January, leaving him with a bloody nose, scratched neck and a swollen face. Pictured, the prison incident report for the January 29 assault

According to the official report filed at the prison, the inmate 'assaulted Fogle by pushing him to the ground and striking Fogle multiple times in the face with a closed fist.'

'Fogle sustained a small cut on his hand and an abrasion on his left knee from the concrete during the assault.'

Steve is reportedly serving solitary confinement for the beating, and claims the bodyguards didn't do much to stop him.

Jimmy Nigg Jnr, previously told the New York Daily News: 'Jared's lucky he's still alive. My uncle was in a position to kill him.

'He got him down, then walked away. Hes not a violent guy, he doesnt have a violent history. Hes sending a message is what hes doing.

'A guy walks in with all this money and celebrity and instead of flying under the radar, hes going into the yard, walking around with big guys, saying no one can mess with me, flashing his money around and that's what (my uncle) is p****d off about.'

Jimmy Jr also added that his uncle attacked Fogle to get back at him for his crimes.

He added: 'He said these kids (the victims) got dads and uncles and they'd love to do what I just did. I'm doing it for the families. I couldn't help it.'

Fogle rose to fame when he appeared in the fast-food chain's adverts, after shedding more than 200lbs, in part by eating Subway sandwiches

Fogle rose to fame when he appeared in the fast-food chain's adverts, after shedding more than 200lbs (91kg), in part by eating Subway sandwiches.

But a raid on his suburban Indianapolis home and the resulting criminal case destroyed his lucrative career with the sandwich restaurant chain.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of travelling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and distribution and receipt of child pornography.

Fogle, a father-of-two, also admitted having sex with two prostitutes aged under 18 at hotels in New York City.

His earliest possible release date is July 11, 2029 - just a month before his 52nd birthday.
ISIS has trained more than 400 fighters to unleash more deadly terror attacks across Europe with extremists ordered to wait for the 'right time and place' to cause maximum carnage, it has emerged.

Officials believe hundreds of extremists have been trained specifically for external attacks on European cities, like the ones which have brought death and devastation to Brussels and Paris.

Depraved Islamic State chiefs are said to have encouraged fighters to choose the time, place and method of a terror attack wisely in a bid to cause maximum casualties and destruction.

Security officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, say there are camps in Syria and Iraq designed specifically to train for attacks against the West.

Officials believe hundreds of extremists have been trained specifically by ISIS for external attacks on European cities, with extremists ordered to wait for the 'right time and place' to cause maximum carnage

This graphic displays the 'global strategy' being rolled out by ISIS, and shows how it is trying to establish cells across much of Europe (orange). It currently has strongholds in both Iraq and Syria (shown above in red)

The network of interlocking, agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria.

Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the November Paris massacres claimed he had entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered 'more or less everywhere.'

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation - the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam- did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and around 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities are now searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks - this time for the 'Man in White' who was seen on airport security footage with the two suicide attackers.

The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek in Brussels - long known as a haven for jihadis and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

'Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organise another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: `So what if he was arrested? We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,'' said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Depraved ISIS chiefs are said to have encouraged fighters to choose the time, place and method of a terror attack wisely in a bid to cause maximum casualties and destruction. Pictured: The Brussels airport aftermath

Fires burns among bags and debris as passengers flee the terminal at Brussels airport in the immediate aftermath of two explosions at the check-in desks yesterday morning. More European terror plots are feared

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

'The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening,' she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in yesterday's Brussels attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week.

Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden - but he'd signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Paris massacre plot.

In claiming responsibility, ISIS described a 'secret cell of soldiers' dispatched to Brussels for the purpose.

The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol - the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had 'developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks.'

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak about briefing material.

The objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible Anti-terror security official

He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving ISIS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

'The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training,' he said. 'Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now.'

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaeda but ISIS has taken it to a new level, he said.

Another difference with these 'external operation' units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators - not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, or elsewhere.

In the case of yesterday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

'This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution,' said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. 'I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria.'

Jihadists are being ordered to carry out attacks at a time which will cause the maximum number of casualties and destruction. Pictured: The aftermath of the Paris massacres which saw 130 people killed last November

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

'To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape,' said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research centre, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

'Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days,' Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorised to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials.

Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals. DNA evidence indicates he died in the suicide attack on the airport.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material.
A Texas woman is accused of shooting through the front fender of her ex-boyfriend's 2016 Rolls Royce in an early Wednesday morning incident in Uptown Houston.

Police said the woman rolled up alongside her ex's car in a white Chrysler 300 shortly after 3am and fired a single shot after both vehicles pulled into a parking lot of the Doubletree Suites hotel at 5353 Westheimer Road.

The gun used in the attack was a .380 caliber pistol with a mounted laser sight, a law enforcement source told Daily Mail Online.

According to police, the bullet pierced the front right fender of the Rolls Royce sedan and struck the oil pan, disabling the car.

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Police said the victim's Rolls Royce (pictured) was struck by a bullet that pierced the front right fender

Quindolyn Kauffman, 23, allegedly shot at her ex-boyfriends luxury car Wednesday morning. Pictured left in a mugshot taken Wednesday afternoon, and right in police custody after the alleged attack

No one was injured in the attack.

The woman then fled the scene, but was followed by a witness who reported her to police.

The suspect, identified as Houston resident Quindolyn Kauffman, was arrested in her car near the 9100 block of Commerce Park Road and had her gun confiscated by Houston Police officers.

Kauffman, 23, allegedly harassed her ex-boyfriend, whom she dated for eight years, since the couple's breakup last year, Houston Police spokesman John Cannon told Daily Mail Online.

The woman was charged Wednesday afternoon with aggravated assault of a family member in the 263rd State District Court, according to the Harris County District Attorney's office.

Kauffman is currently held without bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
The Governor of Alabama has been accused of having an affair with his chief adviser by a top cop he fired just hours earlier.

Spencer Collier, who was let go as Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary on Tuesday, said he has seen text messages and heard recordings 'of a sexual nature' between Gov. Robert Bentley and Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

The former senior officer, who was accused of misusing funds, claimed he first knew about the illicit relationship in 2014, while the governor was still married to wife of 50 years Dianne.

However he only chose to disclose the information after he was sacked.

The Governor of Alabama Robert Bentley (left) has been accused of having an affair with his chief adviser by former Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary, Spencer Collier, (far right) just hours after he fired him

Collier, who was let go as Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary on Tuesday, said he has seen text messages and heard recordings 'of a sexual nature' between Bentley (left) and Rebekah Caldwell Mason (right)

According to AL.com, Collier claims he approached the governor - who he considered a father figure - and confronted him with the allegations.

He said the governor confirmed the relationship and said he would end it quickly.

'It's a horrible, ugly episode and I am ashamed to have been around it,' Collier said on Tuesday. 'But I told him I would never lie for him.'

Jennifer Ardis, the governor's spokeswoman, said the governor denied Collier's allegations. Attempts to reach Mason tonight were unsuccessful.

The governor has denied an improper relationship since rumors began the Capitol last year.

Collier said the first evidence of an affair arose August 2014, AL.com reported, when he was still married to his ex-wife Dianne.

Stan Stabler  who replaced Collier  reportedly saw a text message from Mason on Bentley's cell phone after the governor dropped it.

He then got his hands on a recording of a conversation between Bentley and Mason of an allegedly sexual nature.

It was said to have been recorded by a family member so they could stage an 'intervention'.

Collier reportedly told the governor he could be committing a felony if he carried out the relationship, but Bentley denied it.

Collier claims he approached the governor - who he considered a father figure - and confronted him with the allegations. He said the governor confirmed the relationship and said he would end it quickly

It was unclear if his dismissal came before or after Coller told his story. His statement on Tuesday however is the first time it has been made public.

He had been placed on medical leave in 2014 to have back surgery. Bentley had also indicated he was also being punished for failing to follow an order.

Stabler said in a statement: 'The allegation and implication from Mr. Collier is completely false and without merit.

'ALEA is focused on the future and my priority remains the same  to carry out the mission of the agency and ensure our law enforcement officers and support staff honorably provide service, protection, and safety for all of our citizens.'

Bentley and first lady Dianne Bentley agreed to a divorce settlement in November, ending their 50-year marriage.

The governor's office says they agreed to a settlement and filed it Monday. The governor has also asked a judge to unseal the case file so the public can see it.

Bentley said in a statement that the last four weeks has been a difficult for his family and the state. He says he is grateful for people's encouragement and prayers.

The settlement was reached about four weeks after the first lady filed divorce papers.

Dianne Bentley filed for divorce Aug. 28 saying their marriage had suffered an 'irretrievable breakdown.' The couple, both 72, marked their 50th wedding anniversary in July.

Bentley argued staunchly against legalizing gay marriage because heterosexual unions are more 'stable'.

In statements made before the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land, Bentley said: 'Alabamians should work together to protect traditional marriage.

'The two-parent family provides the best environment of stability, discipline, responsibility, and character.'
A terrifying peak-hour road rage attack that saw a man flung from the bonnet of a car on to the middle of the road has been caught on camera.

About 9am on Wednesday two men became embroiled in an argument, stopping traffic in the busy intersection of Greenhill and Fullarton Road in Adelaide.

As the dispute became more heated, one of the men jumped onto the bonnet of the other driver's car, appearing to yell at him through the windscreen.

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A man has been flung from the bonnet of a car during a peak-hour road rage incident in Adelaide

Footage, aired on Today on Thursday morning, shows the driver still inside his car speeding down the road, flinging his opponent onto the road in peak hour.

The man the laid sprawled on the street as witnessed rushed to help him

The man, aged 24, was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with minor head injuries, South Australian police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia.

Police are speaking to the man who was injured and the one driving the blue sedan, and appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

He was sprawled on the road in the middle of a busy intersection on Thursday (pictured)
A mix-up by a Brussels taxi dispatcher may have prevented more carnage at the city's airport on today, Belgium's DH newspaper reported, saying the cab firm sent a smaller car to pick up the bombers than the one ordered.

Citing unidentified sources, DH said Ibrahim El Bakraoui and two other men suspected of carrying out the attack had called for a minivan to take them to Zaventem airport, laden with bags, early on Tuesday from an apartment in the north of the city.

When the driver turned up in a saloon, the three found they could not fit all four heavy holdalls into the trunk. They left one behind.

New raid: Special forces stormed a pizzeria in Anderlecht at just after dawn this morning - with some Belgian media wrongly claiming Najim Laachraoui was inside. Forensics officers took away evidence in brown bags after a man and two women were taken into custody

Collecting evidence: Forensic police leave a house in the district of Anderlecht-Brussels, while others carry evidence found during a raid

Anti-terror raid: Police stormed a property in the district of Anderlecht-Brussels today and were seen collecting bags of possible evidence

Two men blew themselves up in the airport's departure hall and the third ran off, leaving the heaviest explosive device which security services later detonated.

After investigators released CCTV footage of the suspects hours after the attacks, the man realised he had driven them in his car and alerted police.

As he picked the three men up on Tuesday morning from an address in the north of the city, they complained that the vehicle was 'not big enough' for all their luggage.

The men expressed anger at having to leave one case behind at the house in Schaerbeek.

Police were able to find the property with the taxi driver's help and when they raided it on Tuesday evening found another explosive device packed with nails.

Belgium's chief prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw yesterday revealed how they also discovered 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of explosive TATP that was also used in the Paris attacks.

Brussels bombers: Khalid El Bakraoui (left) detonated his suicide vest on a Brussels Metro train at Maelbeek station just 79 minutes after his brother Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) blew himself up with an explosives-packed suitcase at Brussels airport. Ibrahim was accompanied by another suicide bomber, who was dramatically identified this evening as explosives expert and bombmaker Najim Laachraou (right)

First picture: Belgian bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui, centre, and bombmaker Najim Laachraou, (left) both wearing black gloves to hide their suicide bomb triggers, killed 14 at Brussels airport - their accomplice the 'Man in White' right, walked out of the airport after leaving a suitcase bomb that never went off

Web of terror: MailOnline can reveal how an ISIS terror network from across Brussels first took murder to the streets of Paris killing 130 before members of the cell who survived returned to the Belgian capital. In the past week, as police closed in, some members including Salah Abdeslam were either arrested or killed before the team of four bombers launched twin attacks yesterday, killing 34

Devastating: Workers continued to pick through the debris at Brussels airport today as the windows of the terminal remained heavily shattered from the twin attacks on the Belgian capital which has rocked Europe. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the horrific bombings

Carnage: There were scenes of devastation at the main terminal at Brussels national airport today as rescue workers and officials continued to pick through the rubble following the two bomb blasts yesterday morning which killed 14 people and injured scores more

It has been nicknamed 'Mother of Satan' for its high susceptibility to accidental detonation and can be made with common household products.

Alongside it the officers discovered 150 litres of acetone, bags filled with nails, detonators and an Islamic State flag.

The taxi driver had apparently been suspicious as the men had not allowed him to help carry their bags  that were packed with explosives and nails, for them into the car.

The prosecutor confirmed yesterday that officers had been approached by the man who said he had given 'a lift to three persons who had big bags'.

He was last night thought to be being protected under armed guard after providing the vital evidence.

Investigators yesterday revealed that luckily the biggest of the three suitcase bombs taken to the airport did not detonate as planned meaning that dozens of people that it could have potentially killed were saved.

Mr Van Leeuw said: 'The third suspect, in a hat, is still on the run and his bomb did not explode. It contained the biggest explosive charge and there was great instability of the explosives.'

Local media reported that a black Audi S4 belonging to a Belgian on a terror watch list was driven to the airport around the same time as the attack, but investigators yesterday made no appeal for information about any getaway car.

The vehicle, which was reportedly seen with three or four people in it just after the explosions, is registered to a 22-year-old man from the town of Limburg who is of Turkish origin.
nternet giant pounced on Buy Sell Loan to seize the leaked tech before their competitors could do the same

Google has swooped in on a Californian pawn shop selling a new top-secret version of their Glass.

The internet giant is rumored to be developing a new version of the Google Glass, dubbed the 'Enterprise Edition' for business users.

So when a leaked copy of the new technology wound up in a San Jose pawn shop, the firm was quick to seize the eye wear before its competitors could do the same.

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Google has swooped on a Californian pawn shop selling a new top-secret version of their Glass

Bids had reached as high as $20,000 by Saturday on Buy Sell Loan's eBay auction before a member of Google got in touch with the store and asked them to pull the item, Mercury News reports.

But shop manager Frank Romero said he was happy to hand over the un-released version of the technology.

'They came and talked to us and then we returned them to them,' he said. 'We were happy to give them back.'

Buy Sell Loan removed their eBay ad on Monday with a message which said: 'This listing was ended by the seller because there was an error in the listing.'

Google have remained high secretive about the development of the latest version of the much-maligned wearable tech.

Bids had reached as high as $20,000 by Saturday on Buy Sell Loan's (pictured) eBay auction before a member of Google got in touch with the store and asked them to pull the item

Shop manager Frank Romero said he was happy to hand over the un-released version of the technology

Leaked images last December revealed the 'Enterprise Edition' which was expected to be officially released within weeks.

But the announcement never came and by January, Google had shut down all social media accounts connected to its Google Glass consumer product.

The move to call time on the gadget's Twitter, Instagram and Google+ accounts came a year after the end of the public Explorer program, which let ordinary people trial Glass.

Google may be right to be cautious. It's original consumer device, launched in a beta version to give software developers the chance to buy Glass for $1,500 (990), failed to take off.

Consumers had concerns over privacy and a steep price tag, with wearers of Glass even branded 'Glassholes'.

However, it is rumored that the firm is now working on a similar, yet redesigned, gadget for business customers.

Yet, while the Federal Communication Commission revealed its new design in December, Google has yet to formally announce the Enterprise Edition of Glass.

It is believed Google is experimenting with three new versions of its ill-fated Glass wearable computer - one on which dumps the screen.

Google have remained very secretive over their latest Glass product, despite the FCC leaking what's thought to be images of the Google Glass Enterprise Edition (pictured) in December

Rumours suggest Google is working on a new, clip-on version of Google Glass (pictured) called The Enterprise Edition, which will be aimed at businesses in the healthcare, manufacturing and energy industries

The original headset (pictured) was launched in a beta version and gave software developers the chance to buy Glass for $1,500 (990)

Instead, the gadget will use a 'bone conduction' speaker to tell users key information, and is likely to be aimed at athletes.

'We've learned that Google's revamped Google Glass project, dubbed Project Aura, is working on a wearable with a screenand at least one without,' Jessica Lessin, the founder of the site recerntly claimed.

THE RISE OF THE GLASSHOLE The previous Google Glass headset was launched in a beta version under the firm's Explorer programme. This programme gave software developers the chance to buy Glass for $1,500 (990), and was launched in the US in 2013, and the UK last summer. But, as the Explorers hit the streets, they drew stares and jokes. Some people viewed the device, capable of surreptitious video recording, as an obnoxious privacy intrusion, deriding the once-proud Explorers as 'Glassholes.' 'It looks super nerdy,' said Shevetank Shah, a Washington, DC-based consultant, whose Google Glass now gathers dust in a drawer. 'I'm a card carrying nerd, but this was one card too many.' Advertisement

'People tell us there have been three versions of the head-mounted device in development, although the three may be consolidated into two.'

Previous reports claimed Google has already secretly released a new clip-on version of Google Glass, and hopes to have a version ready to sell to businesses in the Fall.

However, sources claim Glass' new boss Tony Fadell wants to redesign the headset from 'scratch' and won't release it until 'it's perfect'.

Electronic devices need to receive the FCC Declaration of Conformity, or FCC label, before they can be sold and manufactured in the US.

The new version of the wearable device will not be mounted on a head set like the original but will be attachable to any set of glasses or goggles.

The search giant has also developed a new battery pack for the device that reportedly boosts the battery life to two hours.

The new version of Google Glass will be aimed at businesses in the healthcare, manufacturing and energy industries.

Other improvements include increasing the size of the prism that projects images into the user's vision, effectively giving it a bigger display, while at the same time making it thinner and more compact.

A version will not be available to buy until the middle of 2016 at the earliest, according to the report.
The baristas gave her a free drink and then Peirce asked if he could pray for her

Two Dutch Bros workers who were photographed praying with a customer at the drive-through window have revealed they were comforting a grieving widow.

The photo of Peirce Dunn, 19, and Evan Freeman, 21, clutching the woman's hand and bowing their heads in prayer has been shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook.

But Peirce and Evan called it a normal day at work, knowing they had to do something when they saw the woman drive up in tears on Friday at the coffee chain's store in Vancouver, Washington.

The woman had told the baristas' coworker that she was having a bad day, revealing that her husband, who was only 37, had died just the night before.

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This is the touching moment three Dutch Bros employees, including Peirce Dunn and Evan Freeman, took a grieving widow's hand and prayed after they saw her in tears at the drive-through window

'As soon as she said that, I was like, "There's nothing more you need to say. We got this"', Evan told KPTV.

'We're going to do what we do every time we get someone whos in pain or hurt. We're going to give them our love.'

Peirce told Daily Mail Online he could tell the woman was clearly upset when she drove up to the window.

The baristas talked to the woman about what she was going through, and gave her a free drink as well as coupons for extra so she could come back and grieve with them.

Then Peirce asked the woman if he could pray for her. Another coworker named Jacob grabbed her hand, and Peirce and Evan joined in.

'It just kind of became a moment outside the window,' he said.

Peirce said he wished peace on the family of the woman and her husband and peace on the situation, so that 'she could go on and hopefully find some solid ground'.

Evan, who is not religious, said he prayed the woman would know that brighter days will come, he told OregonLive.com.

'She could have said she wanted an apple, and I would have gone and planted a tree and grown her an apple,' he said. 'It just happened to be religion that she wanted.'

Peirce said the woman was 'extremely grateful' they had taken the time to consider her, but the moment also deeply touched both of the men.

Peirce Dunn, 19, (left) and Evan Freeman, 21 (right) called it a normal day at work, knowing they had to do something when they saw the woman drive up in tears on Saturday at the Vancouver, Washington coffee shop

'She was crying. I shed a few tears,' Peirce told OregonLive.com. 'We've cried since as well. When something that real happens, it hits close to home.'

The moment also touched the heart of Barbara Danner, who was behind the woman in line at the drive-through and snapped a picture of the scene before sharing it on Facebook.

'When the DB guys & gals noticed she was falling apart, they stopped everything and prayed with her for several minutes,' Danner revealed in the post.

'[They] invited her to come back for prayer and support, as well as anything else that she might need. Prayers for the young family, and you know where to stop for coffee!'

Evan and Peirce had no idea they were being photographed and were surprised it went viral, saying it simply showed them doing 'what we do every day'.

But Peirce said he hopes the picture's popularity doesn't take away from what the moment meant to the woman not seen in the photograph.
This is the shocking moment a Mercedes travelling at 150mph hit a car driving slowly down an empty road - causing two people to die.

The dash cam footage shows a Ford Fiesta travelling through Ayutthaya province, near Bangkok, when a black Mercedes-Benz suddenly zooms into the frame and collides with it at tremendous speed.

Within a split second, a cloud of smoke appears and debris fill the video screen.

A Ford Fiesta burns after it was slammed into by a black Mercedes killing on a Thai highway on March 15, 2016

The car then burst into flames and the couple inside, who were both graduate students in their 30s, died at the scene.

However, the Mercedes driver, who is the son of a wealthy Thai business man, survived the crash with minor injuries and refused to take both alcohol and drugs tests.

His wishes were respected.

Since the video was widely shared on social media last week, the fatal crash, which happened on 15 March has reignited a debate about the impunity of the rich and well-connected in Thailand.

The Mercedes driver, Janepob Verraporn, 37, now tops a list of 'Bangkok's deadly rich kids,' a group created by Thai newspapers to describe children of privilege who have killed with their fancy cars.

However, police have rushed to defend themselves against criticism for initially mishandling the case and acting to shield Janepob, whose father owns a luxury car import company.

On Monday, Songpol Watanachai, a national police spokesman, said: 'The law is the law  whether you are rich or poor you have to pay for what you've done.

'Justice will be served. Just because he is rich doesn't mean he won't go to jail. I'm asking people not to think that way.'

Police who initially handled the case in Ayutthaya province, about 30 miles north of Bangkok, were quickly sidelined after failing to test Janepob for alcohol and drug use  and then defending the blunder.

Speaking on TV, a police commander said the suspect had the right to refuse breath and blood tests, adding that both police and rescue workers did not smell any alcohol on Janepob's breath.

The moment the black Mercedes crashed into the slow moving car was captured by a dash cam

The fast moving black vehicle is seen to move into the screen (above) at a speed of around 150mph

The car shows no signs of slowing down as it heads into the path of the midsize vehicle in front of it

Within a split second, a cloud of smoke appears and debris fill the video screen. The car then bursts into flames

However, amid public uproar, police filed a charge last week against Janepob for driving while unfit or intoxicated, which carries a prison sentence of three to 10 years, said Ayutthaya's deputy police chief, Col. Surin Thappanbupha.

Under Thai law, he said, a refusal to be tested is tantamount to driving under the influence.

Janepob also faces another charge of reckless driving causing death and property damage, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

However, he was spared provisional detention after posting 200,000 baht (4,039) bail and is currently at one of Bangkok's private hospitals.

The video of the crash was taken by a nearby car's dashboard camera, and quickly went viral.

A few days later, another video was uploaded and widely shared showing Janepob's Mercedes smashing through an Easy Pass toll gate about an hour before the crash.

The couple inside the Fod Fiests were both graduate students in their 30s and both died at the scene

However, the Mercedes driver, who is the son of a wealthy Thai business man, survived the crash with minor injuries and refused to take both alcohol and drugs tests

Since the video was widely shared on social media last week, the fatal crash, which happened on 15 March has reignited a debate about the impunity of the rich and well-connected in Thailand

A Bangkok resident, Nant Thananan, 35, was among many who expressed their exasperation on Facebook.

Nant said: 'It's so frustrating because there's nothing we can do. We know this case will go away. We've seen it before.

'We keep asking ourselves, when are the police going to be ashamed enough to do the right thing?'

The Nation newspaper also said in an editorial on Sunday that the case had hit a nerve in Thailand because of 'the sense that there is one set of rules for the rich and influential and another for everyone else.'

This was shown in 2012 by one of Thailand's most famous untouchables - the heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune.

The black Mercedes lies overturned however it's owner escaped unharmed. Janepob Verraporn, 37, now tops a list of 'Bangkok's deadly rich kids,'

Fire fighters extinguish the burning car. Police filed a charge last week against Janepob for driving while unfit or intoxicated, which carries a prison sentence of three to 10 years

Vorayuth Yoovidhya, a grandson of Red Bull founder Chaleo Yoovidhya, slammed his Ferrari into a policeman and dragged the officer's dead body along a Bangkok street before driving away.

Police initially attempted to cover up his involvement by arresting a bogus suspect and Vorayuth, who was then 27, has yet to be charged.

Again, in 2010, Orachorn Devahastin Na Ayudhya was 16 and driving without a license when she crashed her sedan into a van on a Bangkok highway, killing nine people.

Orachon, the daughter of a former military officer, was given a two-year suspended sentence.
Frankie, a sad French bulldog, is at the centre of a police appeal to find his brothers and sisters after thieves snatched them all in a raid on their breeder's home.

The litter of five pedigree pups - which can command as much as 4,000 each - was taken from the house in Royton, Greater Manchester.

Owner Victoria Hollingsworth was reunited with Frankie after she launched a social media campaign, which led police to a nearby house following a tip-off. But the four other puppies remain missing.

French bulldog Frankie (pictured) was snatched with his four siblings from the home of Victoria and Robert Hollingsworth (pictured)

Renowned for their distinctive wrinkled noises and huge, soulful eyes, 'Frenchies' are popular with celebrities

Frankie's mum Talulah (left) lost her pups when they were just six weeks' old and taken from the Hollingsworth's house in Oldham

Mrs Hollingsworth and teacher husband Robert have said they plan to keep Frankie, as they could not not bear to part with him.

Now the lonely puppy has joined the couple at a highly unusual media appeal in a desperate bid to find out what has happened to the rest of his litter.

At the minute, Frankie is keeping us going and were determined to keep looking for the others and not give up, said Mrs Hollingsworth, 28.

She revealed that the puppies mother, Talulah, started licking him as soon as she saw him.

THE FRENCH BULLDOG BREED A compactly built dog, the French Bulldog, in spite of his name, is believed to be at least partly of British origin. He is a descendant of the Toy Bulldog, which was bred during the nineteenth century and exported to France, where the breed became popular. In fact, English lacemakers from the Midlands who went to work in France took small Bulldogs with them. This stock is believed to have mixed with short-faced bull-baiting dogs from other European countries. This new breed was brought to England and first shown around 1900, with a French Bulldog club being formed in 1903. The bat ear is a distinctive feature of this breed and adds to the droll expression. He is medium-to-small-sized dog and bred in three colours  brindle, pied and fawn  with a short, easy-to-keep-clean coat. Very intelligent and always ready for fun, the French Bulldog has an affectionate disposition. But although he has a jolly, engaging personality and is very vivacious, he is not a boisterous or a noisy dog. Comfort means a lot to him and he will happily live in house or flat as an integral part of the family. Source: The Kennel Club Advertisement

She knew straight away it was him, so thats been really nice watching them play again together.

But that feeling quickly turns to sadness because the other four are still missing.

Frankie would love nothing more than to see his brothers and sisters again.

The litter were just six weeks old when they were snatched from the couples home in the evening of March 5 while they were out for a Mothers Day meal.

Puppies should ideally remain with their mother until they are eight weeks old, and the litter had yet to be immunised.

None had been named as the couple were planning to sell them all  potentially for up to 20,000  and were differentiated by coloured collars.

Mrs Hollingsworth launched a social media campaign which was spread around the world by thousands of dog lovers in an effort to trace the puppies, and reported the theft to police.

They believe the pups were targeted deliberately as the thieves forced a back door, snatched them from their pen then walked out, ignoring the television and other valuables.

Several people had visited to inquire about buying one of the litter, all a rare blue-grey colour, with the two bitches earmarked for potential owners.

At the time, Mr Hollingsworth said: Whoever took them knew exactly what they were doing. They must have known they were there and how much theyre worth.

Speaking at a police press conference with Frankie sitting obediently in front of the cameras dressed in a stylish sweater, Mr Hollingsworth said: They were just over six weeks' old at the time - they werent able to be away from mum.

Owner Victoria Hollingsworth was reunited with Frankie after she launched a social media campaign, which led police to a nearby house following a tip-off

Pedigree pups such as Frankie can be sold for up to 4,000 and the Hollingsworth's litter could have been sold for around 20,000

It is believed the pups were targeted deliberately as the thieves forced a back door, snatched them from their pen then walked out, ignoring the television and other valuables

None of the puppies had been named as the couple were planning to sell them all and were differentiated by coloured collars

Getting them back would mean everything to us.

Were not lucky enough to have children yet. The puppies were genuinely like babies to us.

To think that someone could just snatch them and take them somewhere unsafe, where theyre not being looked after and not being given the care and attention mum can provide and we can provide, is really distressing.

Det Sgt Jason Byrne, of Greater Manchester Police, said: The pups were stolen from their mother at such a young, vulnerable age, before they were ready to leave her.

Two weeks on, they are at an age where they require their vaccinations to keep them healthy.

Thankfully, little Frankie is safe and well, but we are now appealing for information about the other four pups.

A 23-year-old woman and two men, aged 20 and 32, have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and bailed until April 16 pending further enquiries.

Created in the 19th century by breeders as a miniature version of traditional British bulldogs, the French variants popularity now far exceeds the original, with Kennel Club registrations up ten-fold in a decade.
A grandmother accused of shooting at her son-in-law and daughter allegedly told police she needed to get her 'eyes fixed' so she could finish the job.

Miriam Eason, 51, is accused of firing five shots at her daughter and her son-in-law Michael Howarth, 37, at a Nerang home in Queensland's Gold Coast on Tuesday around 11.15am.

Eason was granted bail when she faced Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday despite Magistrate Joan White having 'grave concerns' over the possibility of her attempting to return to the home.

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Mirian Eason (pictured), 51, is accused of firing five shots at her daughter and her 37-year-old son-in-law on Tuesday at about 11.15am

Eason told police she needed to get her 'eyes fixed' so she could finish the job

She was charged with three acts intending to cause grievous bodily harm and discharging a weapon in a public place.

No-one was injured in the incident but two shots narrowly missed the son-in-law, the court heard.

Eason left the Riverview Road home by car after the incident, police allege, before she was detained a short time later in Mudgeeraba.

The 51-year-old then told police she wanted to see an optometrist to get her 'eyes fixed' and return to the home to do the job properly, the court heard.

She then told officers she'd been annoyed her shots had missed, Senior Constable Donna Minns told the court.

No-one was injured in the incident but two shots narrowly missed the son-in-law, the court heard (police pictured at the Nerang, Gold Coast home)

She left the Riverview Road home by car after the incident, police allege, before she was detained a short time later in Mudgeeraba (police pictured at the place of the incident)

'She said she can't believe she missed her shots,' Const Minns said

She was charged with three acts intending to cause grievous bodily harm and discharging a weapon in a public place

'She said she can't believe she missed her shots,' Const Minns said.

'She said she'll get her eyes fixed ... find the gun and go back to do the job properly.'

In opposing bail, Const Minns told the court Eason had only given a vague indication of where she had disposed of the firearm and police were concerned she would retrieve it upon release.

Police later found a gun, believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, under a bridge over the Nerang River on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite 'grave concerns' over the possibility of her attempting to return to the home, Magistrate Joan White granted Eason bail.

She must reside at her daughter's home in Alexandra Hills in Brisbane under her conditions of bail. She can only travel to the Gold Coast for court matters if her daughter or partner.

She must also undergo a mental health assessment.

The matter has been adjourned until April 19.

Police found a gun, believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, under a bridge over the Nerang River on Wednesday afternoon
A Qantas pilot who is believed to have taken his own life by deliberately crashing his light plane into the ocean had been flying passenger jets before his death.

Paul Whyte rented a light aircraft from a company at Lismore in northern NSW on Monday afternoon before later crashing it six nautical miles offshore from Byron Bay.

Mr Whyte, who was dealing with a broken marriage, spoke to his daughters prior to boarding the plane and sent a final text message to his family before crashing at 'high speed' into the water, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Qantas pilot Paul Whyte (pictured with his family) was struggling to deal with his broken marriage

Qantas pilot Paul Whyte rented a light aircraft from a company at Lismore in northern NSW on Monday afternoon before later deliberately crashing it 11 kilometres offshore from Byron Bay in northern NSW

His rented Cessna 172 aircraft left Lismore at about 4.20pm and radar information shows all contact with the plan was lost 11 kilometres north-east of Byron Bay just 30 minutes later.

Police and rescue teams launched a search for the missing pilot and his plane after he failed to return to Lismore later that night.

The search was scaled back and police confirmed Mr Whyte's disappearance was 'not suspicious' on Wednesday afternoon.

Qantas has confirmed Mr Whyte worked for them as a first officer.

'It is with great sadness that I confirm that an off-duty Qantas pilot was flying a light aircraft which went missing off the northern coast of New South Wales on Monday evening,' Qantas Chief Pilot, Captain Richard Tobiano told Daily Mail Australia.

'As you can imagine this is a very upsetting time for his family, friends and colleagues, and we're providing them with as much support as we can. I ask you to respect their privacy at this time.'

Qantas has confirmed Paul Whyte worked for them as a first officer

Police and rescue teams launched a wide-scale search for the missing pilot after he failed to return to Lismore on Monday night after renting a light plane that afternoon

Northern Rivers Aero Club president Bill Kiernan, who rented the plane to Mr Whyte, told Daily Mail Australia he knew him and didn't ask questions when he rented the plane on Monday.

'We own and have access to quite a few aeroplanes. As long as the pilots are qualified and meet CAA requirements, that's our business. Mr Whyte cert met the criteria,' he said.

'Mr Whyte rang me and said can I have a plane, I rang my colleague and said Paul was good to go.'

Investigators are now preparing a report for the coroner following his death.
Three children are 'relieved' they will now be able to bury their mother

On Monday a farmer found remains in a field that police matched to Debbie

In 2009 he was convicted of murder with financial gain and given life in jail

Ex David Hawk was charged with murder despite no body being found

The skeletal remains of a mother-of-three have been discovered buried in a farmer's field ten years after she disappeared and seven years after her ex-husband was found guilty of her murder.

Debbie Hawk, 46, vanished from her home in Hanford, California, in June 2006 while her three children were away on a custodial visit with their father and her former husband David Hawk.

Three years later, in August 2009, Hawk was sentenced to life in jail after being found guilty of her murder and embezzling $300,000 from a trust fund set up for their children.

Hawk's lawyers claimed the absence of a body meant Debbie was still alive, but on Monday a farm worker found remains that police say are a '100 per cent match' for her, the Fresno Bee reports.

Police in California say they have found the remains of Debbie Hawk, 46, who disappeared in 2006 while her three children were away on a custodial visit with their father and her ex-husband

Detectives said the remains were buried under three feet of soil at the edge of a field that was largely out of use until 2010, when the owners began leveling it and digging furrows.

The churning of the soil eventually exposed a jawbone which was spotted by a farm worker on Monday who called his boss, who in turn alerted the sheriff's department.

David Hawk was found guilty of murdering Debbie in 2009 after a jury ruled he killed her to cover up embezzling money from their children's trust fund

Detectives immediately identified the bones as belonging to a middle-aged woman before a dental expert matched the jaw to records already on file for Debbie. Acrylic nails also found alongside the bones further confirmed the match.

Hanford Capt. Karl Anderson said Debbie's family were relieved to learn of the discovery, and said the discovery proves what he already knew - that Hawk killed her and buried the body.

He said: 'We are just as convinced today as the day we arrested him, took him to trial and the day he was convicted that Dave Hawk is guilty of the murder of Debbie Hawk.'

The remains will now be handed over to the family so they can carry out a burial.

The disappearance of Debbie Hawk began on June 13, 2006, when her three children Chelsa, Conrad and Savannah, returned from a custodial visit with father David, a 20 minute drive away.

According to police reports from the time, the trio discovered the house in disarray, blood in the kitchen, and their mother's car missing from the driveway.

Two days later the vehicle was discovered parked on a downtown street in Fresno with blood inside, the windows down, the key in the ignition, and a stolen licence plate on the back.

After weeks of intense searches, on July 11, police reclassified the case from a missing persons investigation to a murder probe.

In October Hawk was named as the prime suspect in his wife's murder, and the lead detective announced police are working to build an 'airtight' case against him.

A farm worker found a jawbone buried at the edge of a field on Monday and alerted the police, who later used dental records from Debbie in order to identify the remains, which they say are a '100 per cent match'

The couple's children Chelsa (left), Conrad (right) and Savannah are 'relieved' their mother's remains have finally been found and are planning a burial for her, according to police

In June the following year Hawk was arrested on fraud charges relating to his children's trust fund, and in May 2008 he was arrested for the murder of his wife.

Following a ten-day trial in 2009, Hawk was convicted of first-degree murder for financial gain and nine other charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors argued that Hawk had embezzled money from a $300,000 trust fund set up by his parents in order to help their children.

Debbie had discovered the illegal activity, lawyers argued, and so Hawk killed her in order to stop himself being exposed.
Two skydivers were rushed to a Tampa, Florida, hospital after a midair collision, officials said.

Both skydivers were able to deploy their chutes after crashing into each other during Tuesday's jump, according to Pasco County Fire Rescue.

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Two skydivers were rushed to a Tampa, Florida, hospital after a midair collision, officials said. Officials say one skydiver made it to the drop zone at Skydive City. Skydive City is seen here

Skydive City president and general manager David Hayes told WFTS they'd jumped out of a 14,500 feet-high plane.

Officials say one skydiver made it to the drop zone at Skydive City in Zephyrhills.

He was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital in serious but stable condition.

The second skydiver landed on a county road about 4 miles from the drop zone.

He was flown to the hospital in critical condition.

The second skydiver landed on a county road about 4 miles from the drop zone. He was flown to the hospital in critical condition

Skydive City president and general manager David Hayes has said 'Shortly after the exit of the airplane in their wing suits, they had a free-fall collision of some kind, pretty high speed impact by the sound of it'

Russell Workman came to the man's aid and told Fox 13: 'I checked his airways, breathing, circulation and that was fine, so I knew he was alive.'

Workman recalled to the TV station: 'Just saw him laying on the ground.

'I thought it was a bicycle, he was hit by a car, and until I got over there and I could see his parachute laying just above his head.'

Officials weren't immediately naming the injured skydivers. Skydive City revealed to Bay New 9 there was a South Floridian skydiver and a Canadian skydiver involved in the incident.

Hayes told the TV station: 'One of them was most likely incapacitated or knocked unconscious.

'He wasn't able to activate his main parachute, but he has an automatic activation device on his reserve which deployed his parachute at a pretty low altitude.'

Hayes explained to Bay News 9: 'These guys were doing a fun jump, four of them.
A primary school principal has come under fire after he reportedly banned the use of the word 'Easter' from its Easter Hat Parade.

Bondi Public School principal Michael Jones has reportedly made the decision to dump the word without warning, leaving some parents too afraid to speak out over fears they will attract backlash.

In 2011, Mr Jones found himself in hot water having previously removing the word from the parade by penning a newsletter to parents to inform them he wanted the school to be more 'inclusive'.

Bondi Public School principal Michael Jones (pictured) has banned the word 'Easter' from the hat parade

In 2011, Mr Jones found himself in hot water having previously removing the word from the parade by penning a newsletter to parents to inform them he wanted the school to be more 'inclusive'

A Sydney parent, who wished to remain anonymous, has told The Australian the principal's decision to dissociate Easter from the parade was 'a shame for the little kids'.

'All the hats have eggs on them. I wanted to speak out because this is ridiculous  but I can't make a scene,' one parent said.

Another parent claimed: 'I know what happened to the previous people who came out and spoke against it last time.'

Mr Jones' move to ban the word 'Easter' from the event came to light about five years ago after he reportedly wrote a newsletter to parents about his controversial decision.

'As we are an inclusive community which celebrates our diverse range of cultures and beliefs, I have not called it an Easter Hat parade,' Mr Jones wrote in the school's newsletter in 2011.

'Many religious celebrations occur at this time of year but we want to include all students in any celebration at school. Teachers will talk to students about the different celebrations and the emphasis will be on tolerance and understanding.'

A parent said the principal's decision to ban the word 'Easter' was 'a shame for the little kids' (stock image)

A NSW Department of Education spokesman has told Daily Mail Australia the school will be holding its annual hat-parade on Thursday morning.

'Holding and naming such events is a local management decision made at the school level,' the spokesman said.

'Bondi Public School strongly encourages parents to raise any concerns directly with the principal or a member of staff.
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An elephant sanctuary has found a novel way of advertising its new design exhibition - by painting three of its animals with the markings of pandas.

Elephantstay at the Royal Elephant Kraal & Village in Ayutthaya, south Thailand, was hosting the international exhibition '1600 Pandas' last week when it decided to drum up interest by staging the unique stunt, according to People's Daily Online.

Three of the elephants from the resort were hand-painted by staff using acrylic paint - black for their trunks, eyes, ears and legs and white for the rest.

Cruel or fun? The elephants at Elephantstay, Royal Elephant Kraal & Village in Ayutthaya, south Thailand, hosted the unusual exhibition

Odd showing: Three of the elephants were doused with acrylic paint - black for their trunks, eyes, ears and legs and white for the rest

On the edge: A sanctuary consultant told MailOnline the paint was non-toxic and that it was removed the next day so no damage was done

The '1600 Pandas' exhibit - which was created by French artist Paulo Grangeon and has travelled to Paris, Hong Kong and all across China since 2008 - features thousands of papier mache creations to raise awareness of the minuscule number of pandas left living in the wild.

Ewa Narkiewicz, who works at Elephantstay, told MailOnline: 'The panda display was just for one day, our elephants were there a couple of hours.'

'The paint is non toxic acrylic. Elephants do not have skin like ours, their sweat glands are between their toes so painting them is not harmful in anyway.'

'They were scrubbed the next day to remove paint and no damage was done.'

Groups of tourists were pictured hugging and playing with the huge creatures, which they wore their unusual 'disguises'.

Elephantstay is a not-for-profit conservation programme, which states its mission as being 'to give old elephants a long and happy retirement; to conserve, help and protect Thailand's elephants; and encourage the culture of nurturing all elephants.'

The resort claims to be one of the world's most successful elephant breeding programmes, with 66 successful births since 2000.

Conserve: The resort claims to be one of the world's most successful elephant breeding programmes, with 66 successful births since 2000

Divisive: The stunt was popular with some and criticised by others on social media, and created a lot of attention for the odd appearance

While the rare stunt - intended by the sanctuary to be a bit of harmless fun - appeared to be popular with the majority of Facebook users, many others chose to react with angry or crying face reactions.

It's not the first time the zoo has chosen to decorate their elephants in such a way, and has in fact become something of a novelty trend.

In 2009, keepers from the sanctuary pulled a similar stunt to make a point about the ever-popular pandas taking attention and affection away from Thailand's national creature.

However, at the time, the 'working village' resort was criticised for doing precisely that, and accused of detracting from the identity of the noble elephants by painting them to look like another animal.
Politics really is showbusiness for ugly people, a scientific study suggests.

Research into voters' attitudes found there was no electoral disadvantage to being a plain or unattractive British MP as opposed to a sexy one.

UK voters, it seems, are not swayed by looks and may prefer to assess politicians on whether they are good or bad.

David Cameron's (pictured left) win in the last general election over former Labour leader Ed Miliband (right) likely had little to do with looks. A study has found there is no electoral disadvantage to being an unattractive British MP as opposed to a 'sexy' one. Miliband's army of female admirers weren't enough to swing the vote

The finding lends support for the perhaps rather cynical view that politics attracts people who could never hope for a career as a romantic lead on the screen or stage.

However, the same cannot be said for American voters, who have been found to favour attractive politicians over those who are less easy on the eye.

Researchers from Stockholm University looked at a sample of 484 members of the House of Commons from England and Wales.

They used 'publicly available sexiness ratings' taken from a website called sexymp.co.uk

Researchers from Stockholm University looked at 484 members of the House of Commons from England and Wales, based on 'sexiness ratings' from sexymp.co.uk (screenshot pictured)

SEXY MPS? NO THANKS Researchers from looked at 484 members of the House of Commons from England and Wales, based on 'sexiness ratings' from sexymp.co.uk The sexiness rating was based on the ratio of 'yes' votes the MP got, compared to 'no' votes. Taken into account, the researchers found that UK voters are not swayed by looks and may prefer to assess politicians on whether they are good or bad. Advertisement

The assessments on the site are based on responses to the question, 'Which MP would you rather have sex with', and offers the viewer a choice of two randomly-matched MPs.

The sexiness rating was based on the ratio of 'yes' votes the MP got, compared to 'no' votes.

The researchers argue the reason we consider 'attractiveness' important is because it indicates people are healthier.

We avoid people who might transmit infections - and when the threat of disease is higher, the theory is that we would shun people who might make us ill.

Writing in a Royal Society journal, the authors state: 'These results did not replicate those of earlier studies from the USA concerning the relationship between attractiveness, disease threat and voter preference.'

The previous American research - which looked at candidates from major parties from the 2010 US congressional elections - found that physical attractiveness did predict electoral success, but only in areas with a high disease threat.

Conservative MPs Eric Pickles (pictured left) and Boris Johnson ranked as number 342 and 168 respectively

The website ranks MPs by 'sexiness rating' and is based on the ratio of 'yes' votes to 'no' votes from users based on the simple question :'Which MP would you rather have sex with.' The top 9 MPs, at the time of writing, are pictured

Another study found that in areas of the US with a higher disease threat, people said they would be more likely to vote for 'sexier' pictures of British MPs taken from the same website.

US VOTERS GO FOR LOOKS A previous study carried out in the US - which looked at candidates from major parties from the 2010 congressional elections  found physical attractiveness did predict electoral success, but only in areas with a high disease threat. The Swedish team argue that the reason we consider 'attractiveness' important is because it indicates people are healthier. We avoid people who might transmit infections - and when the threat of disease is higher, the theory is that we would shun people who might make us ill. Advertisement

On average each MP on the site had 5,883 ratings from the public, so the researchers were confident that the rating of attractiveness had a reasonably broad basis.

At the time the research was carried out, the sexiest MP in the UK was Owen Paterson, the Conservative MP for Shropshire, followed by Eleanor Laing, Conservative MP for Epping Forest.

Elizabeth Truss, the Conservative MP for South West Norfolk and Environment Secretary was in third place.

Labour/Co-operative MP Luciana Berger was the highest ranked female MP, while Conservative MP for Richmond and London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith topped the male list.

The least sexy MP was Angus Robertson, SNP MP for Moray, with Steve McCabe, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, second bottom in the poll.

A search today shows Richard Drax and Daniel Poulter, both Conservative MPs for South Dorset and Central Suffolk and North Ipswich respectively, at the top of the pile.

The website, created by Made in Chelsea star Francis Boulle, caused a storm in the corridors of power in 2011.
Nasa's Dawn spacecraft has dipped closer than ever to Ceres, capturing the most detailed images yet of the mysterious bright spots on the dwarf planet.

Taken from just 240 miles above the surface, these close-up images may be the most precise view the craft achieves before its mission comes to an end.

After orbiting the dwarf planet for just over a year, the craft has now revealed an unprecedented look inside a massive crater to reveal what lies at its bright centre.

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Nasa's Dawn spacecraft has dipped closer than ever to Ceres, capturing the most detailed images yet of the mysterious bright spots on the dwarf planet. Taken from just 240 miles above the surface, these close-up images may be the most precise view the craft achieves before its mission comes to an end

WHAT'S CAUSING THE SPOTS? Spectral measurements made last year suggest these bright areas are likely to be composed of hydrated magnesium sulphates. These are an inorganic salt containing magnesium, sulphur and oxygen, which is an ingredient in Epsom salt on Earth. Examining the floor of the crater Occator, which is about 57 miles (92km) wide and 2.5 miles-deep (4km), astronomers found it contains a pit covered by bright material. This material displays evidence for water-ice sublimation - when a material changes from a solid to a gas - resulting in haze clouds, which are probably made up of ice or dust particles and originate from inside the crater. The results imply Ceres is the first known large body in the asteroid belt to 'display comet-like sublimation activity - or creating jets of icy particles. It marks a U-turn, since scientists said in April, the spots were likely not ice. Experts previously said the bright spots could be ice, salt deposits, volcanic flows or geysers Advertisement

The new images reveal a rare, detailed look at the 57-mile-wide Occator Crater, and its intricate features suggest there has been recent geologic activity.

Additional data collected by the spacecraft reveal evidence to support the presence of ice and volatiles below the surface, researchers say.

The Occator Crater was once thought to be one large, bright area.

Data captured by the spacecraft reveal a more complex makeup, containing the brightest area on Ceres.

At the bright centre of the 2.5-mile-deep crater, the new images reveal a dome sitting inside a smooth-walled pit.

The top and sides of the dome are marked with fractures and other linear features, along with similar fractures seen surrounding.

These also run thorough smaller bright areas inside of the crater.

'The intricate geometry of the crater interior suggests geologic activity in the recent past, but we will need to complete detailed geologic mapping of the crater in order to test hypotheses for its formation,' said Ralf Jaumann, planetary scientist and Dawn co-investigator at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin.

Along with the images, the researchers also released an enhanced colour map of the dwarf planet's surface.

Jaumann explains that colour differences on Ceres revealed by the data are the result of complex interactions, providing evidence for ice and volatiles below the surface.

The bright spots of Occator Crater shown in enhanced color. The Occator Crater is the brightest region on Ceres, and it was once thought to be one large, bright area. Now, data captured by the spacecraft reveal a more complex makeup

Along with the images, the researchers also released an enhanced colour map of the dwarf planet's surface, pictured above. Jaumann explains that colour differences on Ceres revealed by the data are the result of complex interactions, providing evidence for ice and volatiles below the surface

This is supported by data from Dawn's Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector, which found fewer neutrons near the poles than at the equator.

Variation indicates a higher concentration of hydrogen near the poles, meaning water ice could be present close to the surface in these areas.

'Our analyses will test a longstanding prediction that water ice can survive just beneath Ceres' cold, high-latitude surface for billions of years,' said Tom Prettyman, the lead for GRaND and Dawn co-investigator at the Planetary Science Institute, Tuscon, Arizona.

New data from the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) also revealed variations in Ceres' subsurface composition.

From 240 miles above the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres, Nasa's Dawn spacecraft has captured images of mysterious bright spots within a massive crater. The new images reveal a rare, detailed look at the 57-mile-wide Occator Crater, pictured above, and its intricate features suggest there has been recent geologic activity

A portion of the northern hemisphere of Ceres with neutron counting data acquired by the gamma ray and neutron detector (GRaND) instrument. Variation indicates a higher concentration of hydrogen near the poles, meaning water ice could be present close to the surface in these areas

Tracking the reflections of various wavelengths of sunlight off the surface, the researchers are able to identify the particular minerals in the region.

At Haulani Crater, scientists noticed a different proportion of surface materials than its surroundings, suggesting there may be a layer of mixed materials underneath.

The new data, in particular the detailed view of the Occator Crater, has given scientists a deeper look into the makeup of Ceres, allowing them to further the investigation of its origins.

'We're excited to unveil these beautiful new images, especially Occator, which illustrate the complexity of the processes shaping Ceres' surface,' said Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator for the Dawn mission, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

'Now that we can see Ceres' enigmatic bright spots, surface minerals and morphology in high resolution, we're busy working to figure out what processes shaped this unique dwarf planet.

'By comparing Ceres with Vesta, we'll glean new insights about the early solar system.'
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Attorneys are arguing about whether a federal court has the power to decide if the Confederate battle emblem should be removed from the Mississippi flag.

The state attorney general's office, arguing on behalf of Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, said flag design should be decided through the political process, not by a judge.

Moss Point native Carlos Moore, now a Grenada private attorney who sued the governor over the flag, said the federal court has standing to decide questions his suit raises. Moore is asking U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to declare the flag an unconstitutional vestige of slavery.

Reeves ordered both sides to file arguments over whether the federal court is the proper place to consider arguments about design of the last state flag with the rebel emblem -- a red field with a blue X topped by 13 white stars. The judge has not said when he will rule.

If Reeves rules that the court lacks standing to decide questions about the flag, he could dismiss the lawsuit. If he decides the court has standing, he could hold a hearing for attorneys to make more arguments.

The Mississippi flag and the public display of other Confederate symbols have been debated since June, when nine black worshippers were massacred at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The man charged in the slayings had previously posed in online photos holding a rebel flag.

Since the Charleston attack, several Mississippi cities and counties, and some universities, have stopped flying the state flag. However, leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature said they couldn't get consensus this year on bills that would have either redesigned the flag or taken state money away from public entities that refuse to fly the current banner. Moore filed his lawsuit days after bills died.

In arguments Monday, Moore wrote: "The question before the court is whether the inclusion of a symbol of the Confederate States of America in the official state flag of Mississippi is a badge, incident, or vestige of slavery that operates to deprive plaintiff (Moore) of the equal protection of state law, by suggesting that he is a second-class citizen when he enters public property on personal or professional business."

Douglas Miracle, a special assistant attorney general, wrote that Reeves should follow the political question doctrine, "the admonition that courts not adjudicate matters of generalized grievances more appropriately addressed in the representative branches."

Miracle also wrote that the lawsuit fails to show Moore has suffered a particular harm because of the flag.

"Plaintiff's alleged injury -- fear for his safety -- is precisely the type of speculation and conjecture the Supreme Court has rejected," Miracle wrote.

Moore wrote that the flag creates a hostile work environment for him in courthouses where it flies, and that "anxiety has created more stress in my life and has probably contributed to or caused the exacerbation of medical ailments, including but not limited to hypertension, insomnia and abnormal EKGs."
Experts say it is the most significant archaeological find in a generation

A water company carrying out works in Glasgow has uncovered what has been described as 'the most significant archaeological find in a generation'.

Remains of two Scottish castles were unearthed during a project to upgrade the city's waste water infrastructure.

The team of archaeologists working at the site believes the two structures are an unknown 12th or medieval castle, and the ruins of Partick Castle built on the same site 400 years later.

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Remains of two Scottish castles have been unearthed in Glasgow (pictured) which may date back as early as the 12th century. The finding was made during a project to upgrade the city's waste water infrastructure

The castles were uncovered during preparatory work by Scottish Water on the land off the North banks of the River Clyde, at the confluence of the River Kelvin.

Experts are surprised the ruins have managed to survive the intensive industrial activity in the area over the centuries.

A video shows a panoramic view of the site in Glasgow.

The remains of the castles have lain beneath ground used for an engine works, an industrial laundry, the old Partick Central Railway Station, a metal scrapyard and a foundry, which were built and operated in the area in the 19th and 20th centuries.

As part of the discovery, archaeologists unearthed a series of features, including ditches, a well and several stone walls.

The castles were uncovered during preparatory work by Scottish Water on the land off the North banks of the River Clyde, at the confluence of the River Kelvin, near Castlebank Street (marked on the map)

The remains are believed to be those of Partick Castle, which stood in the area in the 17th-century. A number of artefacts have been found at the site (pictured), including fragments of pottery, metalwork, leather, glass and animal bones

THE REMAINS OF PARTICK CASTLES Archaeologists uncovered the remains of two Scottish castles in Glasgow during a project to upgrade the city's waste water infrastructure. Experts were surprised to find the structural remains had survived intensive industrial activity in the area over the centuries. The remains have lain beneath ground used for an engine works, an industrial laundry, the old Partick Central Railway Station, a metal scrapyard and a foundry, which were built and operated in the area in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the structures is believed to be that of the 17th century Partick Castle. But the other may be a medieval structure dating back to the 12th century. This may have been a fortified structure used by bishops in the area, after the land was handed to Glasgow Cathedral by King David. Advertisement

In addition, they have revealed fragments of pottery, metalwork, leather, glass and animal bones.

The remains are believed to be those of Partick Castle, which stood in the area in the 17th-century.

While the other structural remains may be those of an earlier castle used by the bishops of Glasgow, which may date back as far as the 12th century.

Although historical documents feature references about Partick Castle, and reports suggest bishops of Glasgow spent time in what was then rural Partick in the 12th century, these archaeological discoveries are being described by experts as the first tangible evidence that either castle existed.

According to Guard Archaeology, the land was handed to Glasgow Cathedral in the early 12th century by King David.

It was used by bishops in the area and fortified with an early stone structure.

Warren Bailie, project manager with Guard Archaeology, working on behalf of Scottish Water, said: 'These findings are of national significance and provide a rare glimpse into the medieval beginnings of Partick and Glasgow.

The remains (pictured) have lain beneath ground used for an engine works, an industrial laundry, the old Partick Central Railway Station, a metal scrapyard and a foundry, which were built and operated in the area in the 19th and 20th centuries

As part of the discovery, archaeologists unearthed a series of features, including ditches, a well and several stone walls (pictured). Pictured (left to right) is Warren Bailie of Guard Archaeology, Simon Brassey of Scottish Water, Hugh McBrian of West of Scotland Archaeology Service

Remains on the site of the castle can be seen on the banks of the River Kelvin in this 1855 painting. Although historical documents feature references about Partick Castle these archaeological discoveries are being described by experts as the first tangible evidence that either castle existed

'The survival of these medieval remains is especially remarkable given that the site, not unlike many industrial river banks across Britain, has witnessed such large-scale destructive development over the centuries.'

Construction plans dating back to 1611 outline the demolition of a pre-existing structure on the land in order to clear the way for a tower house, which stood until the mid 1800's, when the ruins were cleared.

THE SITE AT PARTICK Archaeologists believe that Partick Castle stood in the area in the 17th-century. The land was initially handed over to Glasgow Cathedral by King David in the early 1136, before becoming the seat of the bishops of Glasgow, and an early stone structure was built to fortify the site. Construction plans dating back to 1611 outline the demolition of a pre-existing structure on the land in order to clear the way for a tower house, built by George Hutcheson, which stood until the mid 1837. Advertisement

Hugh McBrien, of West of Scotland Archaeology Service (WOSAS), added: 'No-one knew anything about the 12th century castle in Partick.

'There was documentary evidence that the bishops of Glasgow spent time in Partick and there have been historical references to 'charters signed at Partick'.

'But that's all.

'It has been known that there was a tower house or castle in the 17th century but all we had were antiquarian drawings and documents that refer to Partick Castle.

'So we expected there was archaeology in this area, because of historical records, but this discovery is the first hard, tangible evidence that both castles existed.

'This is the most significant archaeological discovery in Glasgow in a generation.'

The discoveries will be recorded, analysed and removed and, like all archaeological finds, will be claimed by the Crown.

A 1654 map of Scotland shows the River Kelvin joining with the River Clyde in the top left of the map (pictured). An un-labelled structure on the banks of the two rivers may be Partick Castle
An Australian scientist who designed a machine that can 'unboil' an egg, has claimed the approach used in his technology could also help in the fight against cancer.

Professor Colin Raston, who created the method for unravelling tangled proteins in cooked egg whites, has said his method could help to develop medical technologies for a wide range of uses.

The scientist was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2015 for his work into the vortex fluidic device (VFD).

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Professor Colin Raston (pictured) from Flinders University was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2015 for creating a way to unboil an egg. He now claims the approach can also be used to precisely cut carbon nanotubes, paving the way for their use in biomedical and electronic devices, including those that could treat cancer

Professor Raston's now famous 'unboiling egg' process is based on the concept of reversing the structural changes to proteins which occur during the heating process.

Egg whites were boiled for 20 minutes at 90C (194F), before a urea substance was added to 'chew away' at the whites, liquefying the solid material and breaking down proteins.

However, at this stage the protein 'bits' are still tangled and unusable at this point, so the scientists poured the liquid solution into the VFD.

HOW DOES PROFESSOR RASTON'S VORTEX FLUIDIC DEVICE WORK? The machine harnesses mechanical energy (spinning) to undo the work of thermal energy (cooking). When an egg is boiled, proteins in the egg white begin to unravel then re-fold in a tight, tangled structure that gives the boiled egg its white, rubbery look. The machine works by unfolding the proteins in egg whites back to their natural state. Heat breaks up the bonds of proteins, which settle back into a more tightly bound mass. Professor Raston's idea is to spin those bound proteins so fast that they fly apart again  but this time, without heat, they snap back to their original shapes. He said the device allowed more tightly controlled chemical processes to be performed, saving researchers time and reducing their materials wastage. Advertisement

The machine applies stress to the tiny pieces, forcing them back to their untangled, original form, but it is not known whether the egg is edible after being 'unboiled'.

Now, Professor Raston from Flinders University in Adelaide, has said a similar process can be used to chop tiny tubes of carbon that could ultimately pave the way for more targeted drug therapies.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been hailed as a source of untapped potential in medicine.

They could be used as the basis for sensors, and as 'vehicles' to accurately deliver drugs to specific sites in the body, such as tumours.

But one of the hurdles holding the technology back has been an inability to reliably produce them to exactly the same length, with the tubes produced in a tangle of different lengths.

Professor Raston has said the VFD could solve both problems at once, precisely chopping them to the desired specification.

Speaking to BBC News, Professor Raston explained: 'When you make CNTs normally, they're entangled - it's like a bowl of spaghetti. They're all stuck together and they're different lengths.'

'What our device does is untangle the carbon nanotubes and then slices them, so you overcome two problems in one go.'

Professor Raston's now famous 'unboiling egg' process is based on the concept of reversing the structural changes to proteins which occur during the heating process. The vortex fluidic device (VFD) works by unfolding the proteins, such as in boiled egg whites, back to their natural state

A similar process can be used to chop tiny tubes of carbon, which could ultimately pave the way for more targeted drug therapies. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (illustrated) have been hailed as a source of untapped potential in medical therapies but they have proved difficult to reliably produce in bulk

By adding the nanotubes to the machine, along with water and a liquid solvent, the method can reportedly trim the tubes with a laser, reliably producing lengths of around 170 nanometers.

'It's one of highest tensile strength materials, and yet you put it in a liquid, and you spin it in a special way and with a laser you can cut it down,' he told the BBC.

Commenting on last year's Ig Nobel prize, Professor Raston said he had his 'Eureka' moment when he fed a boiled hen egg into the machine and it came back uncooked.

The machine has been hailed as a potential game-changer for the targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment.

Producing CNTs to set lengths means they could be used as vehicles to accurately deliver drugs to specific sites in the body, such as to cancerous cells (illustrated)

CUTTING CARBON NANOTUBES Professor Colin Raston from Flinders University in Adelaide, created a device which unravels tangled proteins, has said that the same method could be be used in medicine to effectively deliver treatments. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been hailed as a source of untapped potential in medical therapies, but they are produced in a knot of different lengths. But by adding the CNTs to the Raston's machine, along with water and a liquid solvent, the method can reportedly trim them with a laser, reliably producing lengths of around 170 nanometers. This reliable method to produce set lengths mean they could be used in drug delivery for cancer, or find uses in electronics as biomedical sensors and even in solar panels. Advertisement

Professor Raston said: 'It's living the dream.

'All scientists want to do something that is significant, but this has the wow factor.

'It's not what we set out to do, to unboil an egg, but it's the way of explaining the science involved and helping the wider world realise the momentousness of it.'

'The sheer scale of this is mind boggling. The global pharmaceutical industry alone is worth $160 billion annually and the processing of proteins is central to it.

'The VFD is completely changing it  and is set to do the same for the fuel and food industries. It's impossible to place a price on the value of this device.

'Winning an Ig is both humbling and amazing.'
It has a rather lofty goal - completing an entire round-the-world flight using just the power of the sun.

But the Solar Impulse 2 solar-powered aircraft was left stranded on the ground in Hawaii last summer after suffering battery problems.

Now its pilots have announced they hope to get airborne again next month after repairing damage caused to the aircraft by high temperatures in the tropics.

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Solar Impulse 2 (pictured coming into land in Hawaii) is due to restart its round-the-world flight next month following a series of tests after it was grounded for repairs. Problems with the batteries overheating while in the air had forced the team to delay their journey over the winter

The flight was halted around 12,400 miles (1,955km) into the epic 21,747 mile (34,998km) journey.

With spring bringing longer hours of sunlight in the northern Hemisphere, the team will take off from close to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu to head towards Phoenix.

Three test flights from Oahu's Kalaeloa Airport on 14 March showed the aircraft was now ready to make the journey.

Swiss aviator Bertrant Piccard conducted a series of low-altitude training procedures following several months of repairs and maintenance.

Swiss pilot Bertrant Piccard (pictured preparing for a test flight in Hawaii) has conducted three low altitude flights aimed at testing the aircraft following its months on the ground and allowing the pilots to re-familiarise themselves with the controls. They are due to conduct two further test flights before flying to Phoenix in the US

According to the Solar Impulse blog, the three test flights were aimed at allowing Mr Piccard to re-familiarise himself with the aircraft's systems and handling.

HOW DOES SOLAR IMPULSE WORK? Solar Impulse 2 is powered by 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. Its wingspan is longer than a jumbo jet but its light construction keeps its weight to about as much as a car. Solar Impulse 2 relies on getting enough solar power during the day to survive the night. It is also extremely light - about the weight of a car - and as wide as a passenger jet. Both of these combined means it is extremely susceptible to the weather. In high winds or turbulent it can struggle to stay aloft at the altitudes necessary to gather sunlight. It's maximum altitude is 27,900ft (8,500m), before dropping to 3,280ft (1,000m), when the pilot is able to take short 20-minute catnaps. Advertisement

His last flight was the sixth leg from Chogquing to Nanjing in China.

However, both he and his co-pilot Andre Borschberg have continued training over the past months using a simulator.

Mr Piccard said: 'I was very happy with this flight day, all the tests that had to be performed with Solar Impulse Two were done.

'I loved the approach coming from 6,000ft straight in, as I had the airplane on the glide all the time.'

The Solar Impulse team said the aircraft had handled well during the flights, during which they tested the airbrakes and emergency procedures.

They also practiced flying at slower speeds while the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 7,800 feet and an average speed of 30mph (25 knots).

The team were also able to trial new 360-degree cameras that have been installed on the aircraft during the repairs.

A spokesman said a further training flight would be conducted to simulate the night and day conditions the team will experience as they cross the Pacific to the west coast of the US.

The team is hoping to send the aircraft up again tomorrow and on Sunday, depending on the weather.

If successful, the round-the-world attempt will continue later in April.

Solar Impulse 2 is currently in Hawaii (shown on the map) after flying more than 12,000 miles since it set off from Abu Dhabi in March last year. It took a five-day flight to cross the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii and it now will make the journey to the west coast of the US before a series of further stops before the Atlantic

The Solar Impulse 2 team have been conducting test flights following the repairs before they embark on the rest of their round-the-world mission

Solar Impulse 2 was grounded in July last year after 'irreversible damage to certain parts of the batteries'.

Following its record-breaking, five-day flight across the Pacific last month, battery temperatures surged.

In particular, there was too much insulation which caused the plane's battery temperature to spike on the first day of the flight across the Pacific.

The crew struggled to find ways of cooling the batteries once the aircraft was in the air.

BREAKING NEWS: irreversible damage to overheated batteries in #Si2 pushes the second half of the #RTW to April 2016 pic.twitter.com/VuInioo9fG  SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) July 15, 2015

We will get back on track and continue @solarimpulse's Round-The-World next year. The adventure continues pic.twitter.com/IPvvMTfSUl  Bertrand PICCARD (@bertrandpiccard) July 15, 2015

The solar impulse team announced they would be grounding their aircraft last July after suffering problems with the batteries overheating. Pilot Bertran Piccard tweeted: 'The adventure continues' (pictured)

Upon arriving in Hawaii the team decided to delay the rest of the trip until spring this year when the weather is likely to be more favourable for flying.

Solar Impulse 2 and its pilots Mr Borschberg and Mr Piccard set off from Abu Dhabi in March with the hope of returning within five or six months.

It was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Nagoya in Japan after bad weather stopped it taking off on its Pacific leg, but it successfully touched down in Hawaii on 3 July.

Mr Borschberg's 118-hour journey across the Pacific at the end of June and into July smashed the previous record of 76 hours and 45 minutes set by US adventurer Steve Fossett in 2006 when he circumnavigated the world in a jet, travelling 26,389 miles (42,468km).

Solar Impulse 2 is powered by 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night.

The solar-powered plane was grounded at Kalaeloa airport (pictured) while maintenance work was carried out. The pilots are conducting a series of test flights before taking off for the West coast of America in April

Its wingspan is longer than a jumbo jet but its light construction keeps its weight to about as much as a car.

This slow speed and light weight means it can only travel in certain weather conditions.

For example, in high winds or turbulence it can struggle to stay aloft at the altitudes necessary to gather sunlight.

The plane has a top speed of just 50mph (80km/h), and can support only one pilot at a time.

For this reason, the pilots are taking alternating turns to fly legs between countries and the Atlantic stint will be flown by Mr Piccard.

Too much insulation caused the plane's battery temperature to spike on the first day of the flight. The pilots said the problem was a failure to fully anticipate the quick rate at which battery temperatures can rise in tropical climates. Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg is shown in the cramped cockpit of the plane

The battery damage is the latest in a series of hitches.

Mr Borschberg experienced a problem with one of his eyes, which forced him to cut short his flight over Asia and return to Switzerland for several days.

After the unscheduled stop in Japan, Solar Impulse 2 was stranded for nearly a month with the crew scouring long-range forecasts for a favourable weather window.

Solar Impulse 2 is powered by 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. The plane is shown approaching Kalaeloa Airport near Honolulu after a 118-hour voyage from Nagoya, Japan at the end of June

LIFE ON BOARD SOLAR IMPULSE The two pilots have to contend with some testing conditions aboard the plane as they fly alone for up to five days at a time. 'It's a flying home in some ways,' Mr Borschberg told MailOnline previously. The cockpit has no heating, and the pilots are not able to stand up or walk around. Instead, they can only recline in their seats to get a bit of exercise, such as yoga, or rest. A 'visit' to the toilet is pretty uncomfortable too - they simply use a hole in their seat. The pilots trained hard for the mission, during which they have faced temperatures dropping to -40C (-40F) in their cramped cockpit and have had to breathe oxygen from a tank to cope with the extreme altitudes. Advertisement

The plane's maximum altitude is 27,900ft (8,500m) but this drops to 3,280ft (1,000m), when the pilot is able to take short 20-minute catnaps.

The goal of the project is to show the possibilities of renewable energy such as solar power.

To help break up the long periods in the cramped cockpit, the pilots planned to land Solar Impulse 2 in 12 locations around the world.

After taking off in Abu Dhabi on 9 March 2015, it stopped in Muscat in Oman before heading to Ahmedabad in India on 10 March and Varanasi, also in India, on 18 March.

On the same day it flew to Mandalay, Burma, before making a pit stop in Chongqing, China on 29 March - for three weeks, rather than the one planned.

After Nanjing in China, the next was a five-day flight to Honolulu in Hawaii, before its unscheduled stop in Japan.

A landing site in the south west of the US will be chosen depending on weather conditions next year, before the Solar Impulse 2 stops off at Phoenix and at JFK airport in New York City.

Solar Impulse 2 suffered 'irreversible' battery damage on its flight from Japan to Hawaii and was grounded. Its Swiss pilots, Bertrand Piccard (left) and Andre Borschberg have continued training on simulators over the winter ahead of restarting their round-the-world attempt

Solar Impulse 2 began its 22,000-mile (35,400km) trip on 9 March, taking off from Abu Dhabi and landing safely in Oman 12 hours and 250 miles (400km) later. The route is pictured. When the pilots set off they were hoping to complete the mission within six months, or at least by the end of 2015

After crossing the Atlantic Ocean in five days, it will make a stop somewhere in southern Europe, before undertaking the final leg of its journey to land back in Abu Dhabi in July.

The 22,000-mile (35,000km) trip will span 25 flight days, spread over five months.
Research also suggests that religious people are less intelligent

Study argues science vs religion has its origins in structure of brain

are more likely psychopaths and believers less clever

If you don't believe in God or a universal spirit, you're more likely to be callous and manipulative, according to a controversial new study.

Atheists exhibit more traits commonly seen among psychopaths than people who consider themselves to be religious.

However, believers aren't spared criticism - the study also found that religious people are less intelligent than their non-believing counterparts.

Atheists are more likely to be psychopaths, but religious people are less intelligent, a controversial study has found. Stock images of famous atheists Richard Dawkins (left) and Sigmund Freud (right) are shown, although neither have been diagnosed as psychopaths or as having psychopathic traits

Religious people were found to be more caring towards their fellow humans and the researchers believe their findings may help explain why women - who tend to be more empathetic - are also likely to be more religious.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and Babson College in Massachusetts, argue that the conflict between science and religion may have its origins in the structure of our brains.

Brain scans, and experiments, demonstrate the brain has two 'networks' that are activated when we think - one analytical and critical, the other social and emotional.

To believe in a supernatural god or universal spirit, people appear to suppress the brain network used for analytical thinking and engage the empathetic network, the scientists said.

In a series of eight experiments, each involving between 159 and 527 adults, the researchers examined the relationship between a belief in God or a spirit, with measures of analytic thinking and moral concern.

In all eight, they consistently found the more religious the person, the more moral concern they showed.

The experts believe their finding may help explain why women - who tend to be more empathetic - are also likely to be more religious. A stock image of a woman praying is shown

WHY ARE WOMEN MORE RELIGIOUS? Women are more religious than men and are more likely to pray every day - and they may even be born that way. A study has found British women are nine per cent more likely than their male counterparts to give thanks to God every day. Women are five per cent more likely to go to church every week and are more likely to say that religion is 'very important' to them. Experts said there was strong evidence that the difference between the genders was because women were born more religious. Scientists have yet to discover a 'God gene' but said differences at a genetic level appeared to play a big role. The results were part of a report called 'The Gender Gap in Religion' from Pew, a respected US-based research institute. Advertisement

They discovered that both spiritual belief and empathetic concern were positively associated with frequency of prayer, meditations and other spiritual or religious practices.

The main finding offers a new explanation for past research showing women tend to hold more religious or spiritual worldviews than men, so this gap may arise because women tend to be more empathetic than men.

In contrast, the researchers said there are some similarities between atheists and psychopaths in that they both lack empathy for others.

The typical psychopath demonstrates 'an absence of emotional response to pain and suffering in others' the authors said, who also found this to be the case among people in a series of personality tests.

The research is based on the hypothesis that the human brain has two opposing domains in constant tension.

In earlier research, Dr Tony Jack, associate professor of philosophy at Case Western used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show the brain has an analytical network of neurons that enables us to think critically and a social network that enables us to empathise.

The researchers discovered that both spiritual belief and empathetic concern were positively associated with frequency of prayer, meditations and other spiritual or religious practices

The research is based on the hypothesis that the human brain has two opposing domains in constant tension. A stock image of a brain being sliced in two is shown above

When presented with a physics problem or ethical dilemma, a healthy brain fires up the appropriate network while suppressing the other.

'Because of the tension between networks, pushing aside a naturalistic world view enables you to delve deeper into the social or emotional side,' he explained.

'And that may be the key to why beliefs in the supernatural exist throughout the history of cultures.

'It appeals to an essentially non-material way of understanding the world and our place in it.'

He continued: 'When there's a question of faith, from the analytic point of view, it may seem absurd.

'Because of the tension between networks, pushing aside a naturalistic world view enables you to delve deeper into the social or emotional side,' Dr Tony Jack explained. 'And that may be the key to why beliefs in the supernatural exist throughout the history of cultures'. A stock image of Hindu God Ganesha is shown

'But, from what we understand about the brain, the leap of faith to belief in the supernatural amounts to pushing aside the critical or analytical way of thinking to help us achieve greater social and emotional insight.'

His colleague Professor Richard Boyatzis added: 'A stream of research in cognitive psychology has shown that people who have faith (who are religious or spiritual) are not as smart as others.

'They actually might claim they are less intelligent.'

'Our studies confirmed that statistical relationship, but at the same time showed that people with faith are more prosocial and empathic.'

The new study is published in the online journal PLOS ONE.

The researchers said that while having empathy does not necessarily mean a person has anti-scientific beliefs, it may 'compromise' an individual's ability to cultivate social and moral insight.

However, they point out research that shows between 1901 and 2000, 90 per cent of Nobel Prize winners in science were religious, while the rest were atheists, agnostics or freethinkers.
Scientists say the remaining water may date back to early solar system

This movement is recorded in the ice 'painted' on the surface at each pole

They are among the coldest places in the solar system, covered in deposits of ice that are thought to be billions of years old.

But the moon's north and south poles may have shifted during its 4.53 billion-year history, according to evidence uncovered in a new study.

A team of astrophysicists claims to have found distinct matching patches of ice at either pole that indicate the tilt of the Earth's satellite has changed as it has aged.

Scientists said they have discovered evidence that the moon's axis of spin wandered around three billion years ago painted on the surface in ice at the poles. They claim changes in the interior caused the moon to become unbalanced and saw the polar regions wander by around 125 miles over a billion years (illustrated)

They said this may have occurred as the interior of the moon cooled and solidified, while other areas bubbled upwards, altering the spin of the rocky world.

The authors explained that volcanic activity in an area known as the Procellarum region around three billion years ago threw the entire moon off balance, causing it to shift its axis by around six degrees.

WHY THE MOON'S TILT GIVES US IRREGULAR SOLAR ECLIPSES? They have often been seen as a sign of an impending apocalypse or the anger of the gods, but the real reason for the erratic occurrence of solar eclipses on Earth may have been solved. Astrophysicists have long been baffled by the peculiar incline of the moon's orbit relative to the Earth's own orbital plane. The satellites of most other planets tend to orbit in a path that is in line with the parent planet's equator. If the Moon orbited our own planet in a similar way, we would likely experience monthly solar eclipses as it passes between the Earth and the sun. However, the moon orbits at an angle of 5 degrees off the Earth's own orbital plane around the sun and spins on an axis that is actually tilted towards our own planet. This results in a far less regular solar eclipses. Researchers recently claimed to have unravelled the mystery of why our moon has a strange orbital tilt which causes it to pass between our planet and the Sun to cause an eclipse only occasionally. They claim it was jostled into its position through a series of close encounters with large lumps of debris left over from the formation of the inner planets 4.5 billion years ago. Advertisement

This caused the moon's poles to move by around 125 miles (201km) over the course of a billion years.

Dr Matt Siegler, a planetary scientist at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who was part of the team to make the discovery, said: 'Billions of years ago, heating within the Moon's interior caused the face we see to shift upward as the pole physically changed positions.

'It would be as if Earth's axis relocated from Antarctica to Australia.

'As the pole moved, the Man on the Moon turned his nose up at the Earth.'

Dr Siegler and his colleagues used data gathered by Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbitor which has mapped the hydrogen deposits around the moon's poles.

They found the polar hydrogen reserves, which are thought to be in the form of water ice in craters, are spread over distinct but matching patterns on either side of the moon.

The researchers said this suggests the lunar spin axis must have shifted, causing the polar regions to become displaced.

This left a permanent record painted out on the surface in ice.

Relatively few planetary bodies are thought to have shifted their axis after forming.

The Earth, Mars, Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa are the only others known to have done so.

On Earth, polar wander is thought to have happened as the continental plates have shifted the mass of the planet while on Mars it occurred due to heavy volcanic region.

Researchers believe a bubble of mantle burst upwards to the surface due to an increase in volcanic activity under the Procellarium region (illustrated), throwing the moon off balance and causing its poles to move

Over the past 4.5 billion years, the moon has changed its orientation with respect to the Earth, which was driven by changes deep inside the lunar interior as a large volcanic area formed in the Procellarum. A record of this reorientation is preserved in lunar polar ice (illustrated above), according to the new study

The animation above shows how the moon's tilt changed around one billion years after it formed due to changes in the volcanic activity from deep inside the mantle on one side of the Moon (credit: James Keane/University of Arizona)

HOW DID THE MOON FORM? According to the leading theory, the moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago, from a hot cloud of debris knocked into space when a proto-planet the size of Mars slammed into Earth. The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, after the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon. Over time this debris clumped into the Moon and cooled. Astronomers have carried out numerous simulations of the impact event, and many believe it to be the most likely explanation. Advertisement

Dr Siegler and his colleagues say the Moon appears to have undergone internal changes as a large mantle plume bubbled upwards towards the surface around 3.5 billion years ago.

Dr Siegler said: 'The moon has a single region of the crust, a large basaltic plain called Procellarum, where radioactive elements ended up as the moon was forming.

'This radioactive crust acted like an oven broiler heating the mantle below.

'This giant blob of hot mantle was lighter than cold mantle elsewhere. This change in mass caused Procellarum - and the whole moon - to move.'

The scientists, whose study is published in the journal Nature, said this wandering of the polar regions may also explain why the moon appears to have lost much more of its ice than would be expected.

Data sent back by Nasa spacecraft have revealed the presence of hydrogen, presumed to be in the form of water ice, on the surface of the moon at the poles. They reveal how the polar hydrogen appears to form an antipodal pattern, left as the poles wandered as the Moon's axis shifted

The researchers say the poles moved by six degrees, around 125 miles, over a billion-year period, causing the entire area of the surface facing the Earth to shift (illustrated by the red lines in the image above)

DID EARLY EARTH STEAL WATER FROM THE MOON? Life on Earth may owe the moon far more than has been thought for its existence. A recent study suggested our planet stole water, in the form of vapour, from its satellite. The theory comes after data showed rocks on the moon were similar to those on Earth, but without water, zinc, sodium and potassium. Their study shows the volatiles were lost during the formation of the the two after a massive collision. It is thought a volatile-rich proto-planet wandered into what is now Earth's orbit and collided with another object, called Theia. During the collision the proto-planet was shattered and formed Earth and the moon. Researchers believe the moon would have collected some of the lighter volatile material, a process that could have led to a volatile-rich core for the satellite. But it would have quickly lost the ability to collect water and other light volatile materials from the ring around the Earth. Then the Earth would have gathered more of the volatile mass than its younger sibling did. Advertisement

As it wobbled, much of the ice on the lunar surface was exposed to the sun and was lost.

However, the scientists argue that the ice that has remained is extremely ancient and may be as old as the solar system itself.

Writing in the journal, the researchers said: 'The Procellarum region was most geologically active early in lunar history, which implies that polar wander initiated billions of years ago and that a large portion of the measured polar hydrogen is ancient, recording early delivery of water to the inner Solar System.'

Dr Siegler added studying this ice could hold clues about were water on Earth may have come from.

'We don't know where the Earth's water came from. It appears to have come from the outer solar system well after the Earth and Moon formed.

'Ice on other bodies, like the Moon or Mercury, might give us a clue to its origin.

'The ice may be a time capsule from the same source that supplied the original water to Earth.

'This is a record we don't have on Earth. Earth has reworked itself so many times, there's nothing that old left here.
Scientists at the Ministry of Defence claim they have made a breakthrough in creating a new 'quantum gravity detector'.

They say this can lead to military scanners that use gravity fluctuations to see through walls and underground could soon become a reality.

The gravity scanner can detect tiny changes in gravity, by using lasers to freeze atoms in position, a BBC Horizon documentary has revealed.

Scientists at the Ministry of Defence claim they have made a breakthrough in creating a new 'quantum gravity detector'. They say this can lead to military scanners that use gravity fluctuations (pictured) to see through walls and underground could soon become a reality

It then measures how these atoms are affected by the gravitational pull of objects to see if there is anything behind a solid wall or deep underground.

HOW DOES IT WORK? The gravity scanner can detect tiny changes in gravity, by using lasers to freeze atoms in position. It then measures how these atoms are affected by the gravitational pull of objects to see if there is anything behind a solid wall or deep underground. Advertisement

The system could lead to sensors that are impossible to hack or detect, researchers claim.

Neil Stansfield, of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, explained how scientists can create a 3D map of density changes nearby, according to the Telegraph.

'Seeing underground is an obvious one. From a national security perspective, the potential is obvious if you can see caves and tunnels,' he said.

'There is also huge potential for civilian applications.'

This can include its use by engineering firms to detect buried pipes when doing road works.

He said: 'We are not sending out a wave of any form, we are detecting the gravitational influence on an object.

'There's nothing that we are sending out that can be interfered with.'

Research into detecting and controlling gravity has been going on for decades.

Similar quantum research into detecting and controlling gravity has been going on for decades. In the late 1980s, aerospace engineer Dr Ron Evans (pictured) went to his bosses at BAE Systems and asked if they'd let him attempt to control gravity

Until recently many had believed there would be no practical applications from similar quantum research for decades, he said.

'I think until about five years ago, this was seen as laboratory stuff and it will be 20 or 30 years before we can harness this. My view is that it's much closer.'

Similar quantum research into detecting and controlling gravity has been going on for decades.

The documentary also discusses how in the late 1980s, aerospace engineer Dr Ron Evans went to his bosses at BAE Systems and asked if they'd let him attempt to control gravity.

The BBC reports that Evans wanted to make gravity push instead of pull in order to get an infinite, and free, source of propulsion.

Dubbed Project Greenglow, it was wound up in 2005, with no form of gravity control to show for the researcher's efforts.

The concept of an EmDrive engine is relatively simple. It provides thrust to a spacecraft by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container. Solar energy provides the electricity to power the microwaves, which means that no propellant is needed

One device that did survive was a propellant-less electromagnetic or EmDrive, created by British aerospace engineer Roger Shawyer.

The concept of an EmDrive engine is relatively simple. It provides thrust to a spacecraft by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container.

Solar energy provides the electricity to power the microwaves, which means that no propellant is needed.

Shawyer said: 'We're no longer looking to control gravity itself. We're beating gravity the smart way.'

The EMDrive propulsion system would permit travel at speeds until now only seen in science fiction.

When the concept was first proposed it was considered impossible because it went against the laws of physics.

But subsequent tests - further backed up by this announcement - have shown that the idea could revolutionise space travel.
Women are more religious than men and are more likely to pray every day - and they may even be born that way.

A study has found British women are nine per cent more likely than their male counterparts to give thanks to God every day.

Women are five per cent more likely to go to church every week and are more likely to say that religion is 'very important' to them.

A study has found that British women are nine per cent more likely than their male counterparts to give thanks to God every day. Women are five per cent more likely to go to church ever week more likely to say that religion is 'very important' to them

Experts said there was strong evidence that the difference between the genders was because women were born more religious.

Scientists have yet to discover a 'God gene' but said differences at a genetic level appeared to play a big role.

The results were part of a report called 'The Gender Gap in Religion' from Pew, a respected US-based research institute.

The researchers carried out surveys and used existing data on of countries around the world to compare how men and women see faith.

The figures from the UK showed 23 per cent of women said they prayed every day compared to 14 per cent of men.

The results were part of a report called 'The Gender Gap in Religion' from Pew. The figures from the UK showed 23 per cent of women said they prayed every day compared to 14 per cent of men. When asked if religion was 'very important' to them, 25 per cent of women said yes compared to 18 per cent of men

When asked if religion was 'very important' to them, 25 per cent of women said yes compared to 18 per cent of men.

Some 15 per cent of women said they went to church every week versus 10 per cent of men.

Pew also asked about atheism and found that 56 per cent of men did not believe in God compared to 46 per cent of women.

David Voas, head of the Department of Social Science at University College London, who was consulted for the paper, said that societal factors alone did not explain the difference.

He said: 'There appears to be some fairly compelling evidence (for example from studies of twins) that genes do affect our disposition to be religious.

'And if that's the case, it's at least plausible that the gender gap in religiosity is partly a matter of biology.

WHY WOMEN ARE MORE RELIGIOUS THAN MEN - IS THERE A 'GOD GENE'? Scientists have yet to discover a 'God gene' but said differences at a genetic level appear to play a role Experts said there was strong evidence that the difference between the genders was because women were born more religious. Scientists have yet to discover a 'God gene' but said differences at a genetic level appeared to play a big role. David Voas, head of the Department of Social Science at University College London, who was consulted for the paper, said that societal factors alone did not explain the difference. But he said that it is unlikely there is a 'God gene' that women are more likely to have than men. He said: 'There appears to be some fairly compelling evidence (for example from studies of twins) that genes do affect our disposition to be religious. 'And if that's the case, it's at least plausible that the gender gap in religiosity is partly a matter of biology. 'If true, though, I doubt that it's because there's a 'God gene' and women are more likely to have it than men. 'It seems easier to believe that physiological or hormonal differences could influence personality, which may in turn be linked to variations in 'spirituality' or religious thinking'. Professor Voas said that women could be drawn to Christianity over other religions because it 'presents itself as a religion of the powerless'. Advertisement

'If true, though, I doubt that it's because there's a 'God gene' and women are more likely to have it than men.

'It seems easier to believe that physiological or hormonal differences could influence personality, which may in turn be linked to variations in 'spirituality' or religious thinking'.

The trend in Britain was echoed around the world.

Out of 81 countries surveyed in one part of the research, women reported greater levels of weekly prayer attendance in 30 places, most of which have Christian majorities or large Christian populations.

In 28 countries, mostly places with Muslim majorities or large Muslim populations, men reported greater weekly attendance than women, which was mostly due to cultural reasons.

The study found that in 63 countries around the world - Britain was not included in this part of the survey - men and women were just as likely to believe in heaven and hell.

Professor Voas said that women could be drawn to Christianity over other religions because it 'presents itself as a religion of the powerless'.

He said that for some that makes it 'appealingly feminine' but for others that makes it 'appallingly effeminate'.
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A US firm hopes to make supersonic travel normal with a new lost cost plane.

Called Boom, the 40 seater aircraft would be able to fly from London to New York in 3.5 hours - with a ticket costing just $5,000.

The Denver firm behind it say they have already begun building prototype engines

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Called Boom, the 40 seater aircraft would be able to fly from London to New York in 3.5 hours - with a ticket costing just $5,000.

SUPERSONIC SPECS The plane will be built using a carbon-fiber composite instead of aluminum to save weight. 40 seats will be split into two single-seat rows, so everybody has a window and an aisle Boom's plane will cruise at 60,000 feet, where passengers will be able to see the curvature of the earth Advertisement

'The idea is for a plane that goes faster than any other passenger plane built before, but for the same price as business class,' 35 year old founder and ex Amazon employee Blake Scholl told Bloomberg.

The plane will be built using a carbon-fiber composite instead of aluminum, and the firm says it simulates millions of designs each day.

According to the simulations, Boom's design is quieter and 30 percent more efficient than the Concorde was.

Its 40 seats will be split into two single-seat rows, so everybody has a window and an aisle.

To reduce weight, the seats are of the standard domestic first-class variety, so no laydown beds.

To cut flight time, Boom's plane will cruise at 60,000 feet, where passengers will be able to see the curvature of the earth, while going 2.6 times faster than other passenger planes.

Scholl says about 500 routes fit the craft's market, including a five-hour trip from San Francisco to Tokyo and a six-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney.

'Boom was founded on the philosophy that we need to overcome the challenges to supersonic passenger flight, not surrender to them,' the firm says.

The firm hopes London to New York could be one of its most popular routes, with a 3.6 hour saving on a normal flight.

It also hopes to fly from LA to Sydney, and Tokyo to San Francisco.

'We're making a supersonic aircraft affordable for business travel.

'Our ultimate goal is routine supersonic flight for everyone.'

The firm even has record breaking US Astronaut Scott Kelly as an advisor

A mockup of the craft at Heathrow - its founders hope it will use existing airports once tests are complete.

Scholl says about 500 routes fit the craft's market, including a five-hour trip from San Francisco to Tokyo and a six-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney.

The craft will be built using carbon fibre, with standard jet engines.

'At our hangar in Denver, we're combining jet engines and carbon fiber, advanced design software and wind tunnel tests.

'We're building our prototype nowand will fly late next year.'

The first test flights will occur at Centennial Airport in Denver, with supersonic testing near Edwards Air Force Base in California.

'Today, international travel means jet-lag and days of lost productivity and family time. But imagine leaving New York in the morning, making afternoon meetings in London, and being home to tuck your kids into bed.

'Unlike Concorde, flying Boom is affordablethe same price as business class.'

The firm even has record breaking US Astronaut Scott Kelly as an advisor.
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With its rugged coastline, rolling hills and picturesque waterfalls, Britains Isle of Man has been named one of the best places in the world to observe nature - and it's not hard to see why.

Unesco, the United Nations cultural body, has designated the entire island a protected biosphere nature reserve thanks to its stunning beauty, wildlife and sea creatures.

The self-governing British Crown dependency was one of 20 new sites added to the world biosphere reserve network, joining 11 other locations in the UK as special places for people and nature.

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Unesco has designated the entire jurisdiction of Isle of Man a protected biosphere nature reserve thanks to its stunning beauty

Unesco celebrated the Isle of Man's rugged coastline, which features cliffs, stacks, islets, long beaches and pretty villages

Isle of Man is now one of 669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, joining iconic sites such as Ayers Rock and Yellowstone National Park

The island was celebrated for its rugged coastline, picturesque waterfalls, coastal plain, wooded glens and marine environment

Many people don't know that the Isle of Man is home to a population of wallabies, which frequent the northern plain near Ballaugh

Located in the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man is home to more than 80,000 people and has been a popular tourist destination since the late 19th century.

It has become the first entire jurisdiction in the world to be added to the network, said the islands government.

Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture Richard Ronan said: This reflects our exceptional quality of life and will help spread the message to the world that the island is a great place to visit, live, work and do business.

Crucially, this is not about imposing new restrictions. It is about embracing and enhancing our relationship with our environment.

Isle of Man has joined 11 locations in the United Kingdom as special places for people and nature (pictured: Cregneash village)

Located in the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man is home to more than 80,000 and has been a popular tourist destination since the late 19th century

Unesco celebrated the islands coastline, which features cliffs, stacks, islets and long beaches, and the hills that hold peat reserves.

It also cited the islands wooded glens in the east and its coastal plain in the north, which is covered by grasslands, pools and wetlands.

Unesco said the islands marine environment is rich in biodiversity with important populations of eel, cod and basking sharks.

Unesco said the islands marine environment is rich in biodiversity with important populations of eel, cod and basking sharks in the sea

Isle of Mans Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture led the nomination, which was confirmed at a conference in Peru

The island's Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture Richard Ronan said the recognition 'reflects our exceptional quality of life'

Isle of Mans Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture led the nomination, and two years worth of work went into providing enough detailed evidence needed to gain the accolade, said officials.

In addition to Isle of Man being added to the network, the existing reserve at Wester Ross, in the North West Highlands of Scotland, was extended.

There are 669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, including iconic sites such as Ayers Rock in Australia and Yellowstone National Park in the US.
It's their first ever trip to Australia, so you could forgive Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone for wanting to do it in style.

The comedic couple stepped off a private jet as they arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday looking every inch the Hollywood stars.

They had previously been in Sydney where they'd attended the Australian premiere of their latest film The Boss, in which she stars and he directs.

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Travelling in style! Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone (left) stepped off a private jet in Melbourne on Tuesday as they tour Australia promoting The Boss

Melissa, 45, looked glamorous as she made her way down the stairs in a black peplum top and mid-length burgundy printed skirt.

She opted for a pair of black lace-up stilettos and channelled a touch of Jackie Onassis style in the form of over-sized rounded sunglasses.

Ben, 42, meanwhile watched as his wife made her way carefully down the steep steps dressed in a printed bomber jacket, maroon jeans and a blue collared shirt.

Channelling Jackie O: Melissa added a touch of Jackie Onassis style in the form of over-sized rounded sunglasses

He then clutched her hand once she'd touched the ground and they walked toward a black Range Rover that was awaiting them on the tarmac.

Appearing on The Project on Tuesday night, the couple, who have been married for ten years, said their daughters had never seen the scene in Bridesmaids that played after the credits had rolled.

'I think they would take my kids away if I let them!' laughed Melissa.

The panel and the audience were in hysterics as the scene played out with Melissa in character as Megan, feeding Air Marshal Jon, played by Ben, a sandwich in a very erotic way.

Hold on tight: The couple held hands as they made their way to a black Range Rover that was awaiting them on the tarmac

Doing the rounds: The hilarious couple made an appearance on The Project on Tuesday night

'That was not supposed to be in the movie': Melissa revealed the famous scene after the credits on Bridesmaids rolled was done very last minute

'That was not supposed to be in the movie,' she declared.

She added: 'At the last minute Judd Apatow [the producer] said like "Oh let's do something fun and put it on the internet maybe",

'Then we shot it and he called and was like "Haha it's at the end of the movie" and we were like "WHAT?"''

The couple are in Australia promoting The Boss, which hits Australian cinemas on April 14.
MOSS POINT, Mississippi -- Some Moss Point educators will trade in their lesson plans for dollar menus as they serve as McDonald employees for a good cause this week.

Kreole Primary Elementary School is hosting a "McTeacher's Night" at McDonald's Restaurant located at 6724 Highway 63 in Moss Point Thursday.

For each person purchasing a value meal at any time Thursday and presenting a McTeacher's card, McDonald's will donate one dollar. Those who come between the hours of 4-6 p.m. will have an opportunity to be served at the drive-thru or in the dining area by a Kreole Primary teacher or other staff member.

"It's all for a good cause," said Cecilia Ballard, counselor at Kreole Primary Elementary and district Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) representative. "The money raised will be used to support Kreole's PBIS program."

Ballard says PBIS is a system used throughout the district and the state to reinforce positive behaviors through incentives. Teachers and staff members are conscious about giving students verbal praise for positive behaviors. Each school also offers small, tangible rewards on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, but the program needs funding and support from the community.

Ballard says the small incentives go a long way in the lives of children.

"The program goes beyond reinforcing good behavior, it's also about building positive relationships and encouraging students to engage in the community," she said. "It's also a good opportunity for the community to support our children and youth.

"We should always support and encourage our children when they are doing positive things, which then has a reflection on the entire community."

A McTeacher card must be presented at the time of purchase in order for the school to receive a donation. Some cards were sent home to parents, but everyone in the community is encouraged to get a card at no charge. The only cost is that of the value meal purchased at McDonald's.

The McTeacher cards can be picked up at Kreole Primary Elementary School located at 6312 Martin Luther King Boulevard or the district's central office building located at 4924 Church Street. For more information, call Kreole at (228) 475-3719.

This particular event will help buy more incentives for the students at Kreole Primary and give special recognition at the end of the school year. Ballard says she wants to see all the PBIS programs in the district be a great success.

"As the district coordinator, I want to support every school having an adequately funded and adequately running program for every child at every grade level," she said.
Former child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were spotted leaving their office in New York's West Village looking tired and a little glum on Monday.

The 29-year-old identical twins, who have stood back from their acting careers to become fashion entrepreneurs, were similarly dressed in long, black coats and black trousers.

Ashley left her long blonde hair to cascade over her shoulders while her sister twisted her tresses into a high bun.

Working women: Former child stars Mary-Kate, left, and Ashley Olsen were spotted leaving their office in New York's West Village looking tired and a little glum on Monday

Both seemed to be less than happy although it wasn't clear why.

Mary-Kate is a bride of just four months but she didn't look overjoyed to be going home to banker husband Olivier Sarkozy, 46.

The couple tied the knot in an intimate private ceremony in front of 50 guests in Manhattan on November 27.

Ashley is rumoured to have the debilitating tick-borne Lyme disease, which causes extreme tiredness and might explain why she looked down.

Fashionista sisters: The twins have pulled back from their acting careers to concentrate on their fashion design business, which encompasses four brands - Row, Elizabeth & James, Olsenboye and StyleMint

In fact, there are rumours that it was Ashley's Lyme disease that kept the twins from taking part in Fuller House, the Netflix reboot of ABC's hit family show Full House, which ran from 1987 to 1995.

Fuller House began streaming on February 26 and reunited the cast of the original hit - including Candace Cameron Bure, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Jodie Sweetin and Bob Saget.

The only ones missing were the twins, who played sassy toddler Michelle Tanner.

Looking weary: Ashley is reported to have Lyme disease, the tic-borne illness that causes extreme tiredness, with some speculating that that was the reason the twins declined a role in the Full House reboot, Fuller House

The show's writers explained Michelle's absence by saying she's 'too busy' building her fashion career in New York - a sly nod to the twins' four brands, Row, Elizabeth & James, Olsenboye and StyleMint.

However, Full House creator Jeff Franklin told E! News earlier this year he still hopes to tempt them back for an appearance in season two.

'I am still hopeful that Mary-Kate or Ashley or both of them will come back and be a part of it, even if it's just for an hour,' he said. 'We miss that. Everybody does feel that hole in the family. But it's like, all family reunions, there's always somebody that doesn't show up.'
It's been almost a year since she came out to the world as a trans woman.

And despite calls for equality for the LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, trans) community, Caitlyn Jenner is a Republican, aligning herself with a political party that typically opposes marriage equality.

Speaking with Rove McManus and Sam Frost on Hit 104.1 2DayFM breakfast on Wednesday, the 66-year-old hinted she may be voting for Donald Trump come Presidential election time.

'Whoever is the Republican candidate obviously Im going to vote that direction,' she said.

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'I'm going to vote that direction': Caitlyn Jenner hinted she could vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming Presidential election

'I have my ones that I like more than others but those are for me personally.'

Jenner added that her political allegiance has mixed reviews from the public: 'I get more criticism for being a Republican than I have for being trans!'

On Friday, Jenner took to Instagram to express her staunch support for the Transgender Bill in Massachusetts.

The anti-discrimination legislation would allow trans people to use public bathrooms and restrooms associated with their gender identity rather than their anatomical sex.

'I get more criticism for being a Republican than I have for being trans!' The 66-year-old said the reaction to her political allegiance has been mixed

'Everyone should be welcome': Jenner expressed her staunch support of the Transgender Bill in Massachusetts on Friday

Competitive: As of mid-March, Trump is the front-runner for the Republican party

'Everyone should be welcome in the great state of Massachusetts,' she said.

As perhaps one of the most controversial candidates, Trump has often spoken about his 'traditional' views on marriage and as of mid-March is the clear Republican front-runner having won 18 states.

As it stands, same-sex marriage has been legal in the US since June 2015 when a ruling in the matter of Obergefell v. Hodges stated state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

But in January, Trump said he would 'strongly consider' appointing Supreme Court justices to overrule the decision on same-sex marriage.

Front-runner: He has won 18 states thus far

'She's a f***ing liar!' Jenner has expressed her disdain for Democrat Hillary Clinton

Chance meeting: Jenner bumped into Clinton in a chance meeting at a hotel last week

Jenner it would seem is not a fan of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, despite taking a snap with her during a chance meeting at a hotel last week.

'She's a f***ing liar!' exclaimed Jenner on an episode of her reality series I Am Cait, blaming Clinton's actions as Secretary of State for troubles in the Middle East.

In the same episode however, Jenner said she wasn't completely sold on Trump for 'his macho attitude', but: 'It doesnt mean he wouldnt be good for womens issues.

'I think he would be very good for womens issues,' she said.
Colourful businessman Geoffrey Edelsten has had a pacemaker fitted at the age of 72 after suffering heart problems on a flight home.

The 72-year-old former medic had the cardiovascular device installed three weeks ago - a day after needing oxygen on a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles bound for Melbourne.

Since undergoing surgery, Geoffrey, who has been convalescing at home, suffered complications and slipped and broke his left forearm.

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Recovering: Geoffrey Edelsten has had a pacemaker installed at the age of 72 after suffering heart problems on a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles bound for Melbourne three weeks ago

He told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday: 'I was scared, I felt unwell on the plane coming back from LA and needed oxygen all the way home, an American doctor on board gave it to me.

'It was scary, really scary, as I thought the pain was an indication of angina, symptoms I have suffered twice previously.

'I'm feeling fine now and am on the road to recovery.'

Upon learning news that her estranged husband was unwell, Gabi Grecko, 26, a model now living in New York, said: 'I hope he has friends to see him because I'm not there any more.

The way it was: Geoffrey and estranged wife Gabi Grecko, 26, pictured at the Brownlows in Melbourne in 2014, split last year. She says she hopes friends are taking care of him

'I was in hospital myself when I was with him last year and it was a horrible time.'

Cardiologists have been left baffled, Geoffrey says, over what caused the heart problem but believe it could be a conduction defect - a rare inherited heart rhythm disturbance where electrical impulses are conducted slowly.

The entrepreneur revealed he had suffered two previous bouts of angina - attacks where chest pain is caused when the heart can't get enough blood and oxygen, normally during physical activity or extreme emotion.

Concerned: The 26-year-old model split with the businessman late last year and the pair are no longer on speaking terms

In 2001, he underwent a heart bypass when angina symptoms first surfaced and five years ago another operation saw coronary arteries fitted with three small tubes called a stents.

Geoffrey said test results carried out by his cardiologist failed to shed light on the problem but reveal risk of collapsing.

A day after returning home from America he underwent surgery to have the bypass device fitted.

But ten days later, a post operative complication saw him slip at home and break a forearm.

'It's very sore but I'm getting better,' he insisted.

Happier times: Gabi called time on her marriage to Geoffrey five months after they married in Melbourne in June last year

Gabi called time on her marriage to Geoffrey five months after they married in June last year.

She jetted off to New York claiming she was jealous he had fallen in love with his long-term secretary, claims Geoffrey strongly refutes, and hasn't returned to Australia since.

When they were together she was hospitalised for several weeks, a day after they married.

Geoffrey since went on to claim Gabi had faked a pregnancy and then a subsequent miscarriage, following a reported fall which she revealed she had soon after announcing she was pregnant.

Her time in hospital: Gabi was hospitalised for weeks at a trauma centre at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, following a reported fall down a flight of steps which she said left her with broken ribs and a collapsed lung

'I'm done, we're divorcing, the whole pregnancy thing was false,' he told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

Gabi was hospitalised for weeks at a trauma centre at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, following a reported fall down a flight of steps which she said left her with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

She posted a series of snaps of her cut and bruised legs and four days later announced she had suffered a miscarriage in a lengthy Instagram post she later deleted.

'Pray for what has been lost': Gabi suggested that she has lost her baby with Geoffrey after a reported fall in June

It read: 'I've been getting comments on why I'm getting X-rays and doing certain things and after such a bad and hard fall they couldn't believe I was alive,' she wrote.

'I think you all know what I'm about to say so I'm not going to say it. Pray for what's been lost x.'

The Maxim model from Miami has remained resolute the pregnancy was real and at the time shot down claims her fall was a stunt to hide a false pregnancy announcement.

'I would never do this for a stunt, that's a horrible thing to say,' she insisted at the time.

Announcement: She shared this lengthy post on her Instagram page at the time which she later deleted

Pregnancy test: Gabi shared this Google image of a positive pregnancy reading, announcing she was expecting on her Instagram account

Gabi previously told Daily Mail Australia on June 14 she was pregnant, shortly after announcing the news by posting a Google Image of a positive pregnancy test on Instagram.

Asked why she didn't post her own picture, she later told A Current Affair she wasn't looking her usual best and so preferred to take another snap.

'When I took my pregnancy test I wasn't dressed up. I wasn't looking that great,' she said.

She insists Geoffrey's claim she was never pregnant are false and she stands by her story.

The pair met in March 2014 and have endured a roller coaster ride, marrying in a Chinese registry office in Melbourne.

When they appeared in Celebrity Apprentice in October weeks before splitting and with both parties since claiming they will divorce.
American indie band Bon Iver are set to play highly anticipated shows in Sydney this May as part of Vivid LIVE.

But fans of the group were left in meltdown this week, when they complained that they struggled to buy tickets.

And some aren't too impressed after some punters decided to sell their tickets - that started from $89.00 - through Ticketmaster Resale, pricing them at a hefty $255.55, to more than $400.00.

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The group: Band Bon Iver are playing Vivid LIVE in Sydney but fans were in meltdown as they struggled to buy tickets and scalpers offered them at inflated prices (seen is frontman Justin Vernon in 2012)

Posting on the Vivid LIVE public event Facebook page for the Bon Iver shows - that take place between May 27 and May 30 - disgruntled fans complained.

One user, Andreia Vieira Passos, shared on a screenshot of the inflated ticket prices that were on Ticketmaster Resale.

She captioned the shot: 'This is disgusting Ticketmaster Resale - Australia.'

Tickets were listed in the grab at $396.11 and $401.35.

Not happy: One user, Andreia Vieira Passos, shared on Wednesday, a screenshot of the inflated ticket prices that were on Ticketmaster Resale

They were first advertised on the Sydney Opera House's Vivid Live website as starting at $89.00, for all dates, with a link clicking through to the Ticketmaster Australia website.

General public tickets went on sale at 9am on Wednesday, while presale occurred on Tuesday from 11am and finished up on Wednesday, 9am.

Ticketmaster Australia listed the tickets as starting from $92.60, ranging to $140.60.

Ready to go? Tickets were first advertised on the Sydney Opera House's Vivid Live website as starting at $89.00, for all dates, with a link clicking through to the Ticketmaster Australia website

Meanwhile, another user shared a link to a Ticketmaster Vivid LIVE priority presale site, writing: 'I just bought tickets using this link. Get on it everyone and f**k those dirty scalpers.'

Facebook user Andreia, - who shared the snap shot of the scalper tickets on the event's online page - further commented that she eventually got tickets through Ticketmaster priority presale.

However, a pop up message comes up and says that the seats are Interstate Members Tickets.

It appears all four shows are completely sold out, as when clicking for tickets on Ticketmaster, a notice pops up on the website saying 'no tickets are available right now.'

Meanwhile, the Sydney Opera House site also says the allocations are 'exhausted.'

They've got a good following! Fans were trying desperately to get their hands on tickets to see the group, who are seen here performing in 2012

They're gone! It appears all four shows are completely sold out

Other fans also complained on the Facebook page on Wednesday, saying they were struggling to get tickets and said there was a confusion of sale times for Ticketmaster.

One wrote: 'I was on the phone at just after 9am this morning and the guy reassured me that there's still tickets available, but to call back at general sale time - 10am. Then, when speaking to another operator at like 10:01am, she told me ALL tickets for ALL days are sold out. plez (sic) explain how that works.'

Another added: 'I am currently in Japan and very disappointed by Ticketmaster for giving misleading information about the time the tickets went on sale!!! I made sure I had the time differences correct and was on my laptop in the hostel at quarter to 10 (Syd time) (sic) and shocked to see no tickets left.

'Headed onto the FB (sic) page to see all of these comments about no one getting tickets!! $500 resale is such a joke!!!! This was organised terribly.'

Fans were left wondering if tickets had sold out and another appeared to ask if Ticketmaster had crashed, saying 'Ticketmaster is cooked.'

Venting: Other fans also complained on the Facebook page on Wednesday, saying they were struggling to get tickets and said there was a confusion of sale times

Another fan commented she was a fan for eight years of the band and now can't see them live.

'Been fans of Bon Iver for 8 (sic) years, but now my friends and I can't go because Ticketmaster can't simply run their business properly.'

She later said she got tickets through the priority presale link.

Others urged fans to try and get tickets through the Ticketmaster site and not the app, as they got some remaining tickets through the website.

Dishing advice to one another: Others urged fans to try and get tickets through the Ticketmaster site and not the app, as they got some remaining tickets through the website

Devastated: Another fan commented she was a fan for eight years of the band and now can't see them live

Another user slammed Vivid LIVE and told them to 'be accountable to your GROSS unprofessionalism, miscommunication and lack of organisation and infrastructure to support the sale of these tickets...To say this was a farce is an understatement to say the least. It is TOTALLY unacceptable that SO many genuine ans have been left without tickets because YOU can't get the SIMPLE THINGS right.'

Posts from Tuesday also suggest fans had trouble buying tickets that day, with Vivid LIVE confirming their site crashed on Tuesday.

Blasting them: Another user slammed Vivid LIVE and told them to 'be accountable to your GROSS unprofessionalism'

Indeed, Vivid LIVE wrote on the page on Tuesday morning, that there was a 'technical issue with the Sydney Opera House website.'

'The site is currently down and we will update you as soon as this has been resolved.'

'We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and frustration caused.'

One fan posted: 'Can I ask you why you've royally f**ked me? Ive been on since 10am, trying to get in for hours only to find out tickets are gone across the board and that they're being scalped elsewhere. Cheers.'

In a comment to Daily Mail Australia, Vivid Live apologised to fans.

'The Sydney Opera House experienced technical issues that affected yesterdays pre-sale for Vivid LIVE. The website is now functioning and customers are transacting normally,' they said.

'This years program has generated extraordinary interest from music fans around Australia and the world. Our team worked hard to serve pre-sale customers and to resolve the website issues as quickly as possible.'

'Both our ticketing and social media teams have been responding directly to those customers who have contacted us. We would like to apologise to everyone who has experienced problems.'

'The Opera House will continue to update customers via our Facebook and Twitter feeds.'

Carrying on: The band is seen here in 2012

A Ticketmaster Australia spokesperson meanwhile addressed the tickets being sold off at higher prices on Ticketmaster Resale.

'There was an extraordinary level of demand for tickets for these events. Ticketmasters available allocation of tickets was exhausted very quickly. However Ticketmasters website did not crash.

'We certainly understand the disappointment when fans miss out on tickets in the primary market and we work very hard to make sure that as many tickets as possible are available to fans.'

'However when demand for tickets exceeds availability, it is inevitable that a resale market will exist.'

'Ticketmaster Resale is a ticket marketplace that responds to what fans want; the ability to buy and resell tickets when they are no longer available on the primary market. Ticket holders, not Ticketmaster Resale, control the inventory and the price of the tickets, which can be listed above or below the original face value.'
He's been taken for a ride by some of his former partners.

So Paul McCartney was firmly staying in the driver's seat when he took his wife Nancy Shevell for a spin on Tuesday.

The 73-year-old and his 56-year-old missus of five-and-a-half years were headed to meet a friend at a studio in Burbank.

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In the driver's seat: Paul McCartney gave wife Nancy Shevell a ride in his corvette on Tuesday as it emerged he has launched bid to reclaim publishing rights to his songs

As they stepped out of his blue Corvette, the former Beatle grabbed a couple of bags from the car - both of which bore his full name.

This week it emerged that Sir Paul has launched a bit to reclaim the publishing rights to the songs he co-wrote with John Lennon, which have not been in his possession since the very start of his career.

Although the rocker has amassed a considerable personal fortune of around $1billion and has always been entitled to royalties earned on his countless hits, he does not own the publishing rights - which say when and where the songs can be used commercially.

Lennon and McCartney were persuaded in the early 60s by their manager Brian Epstein to set up a publishing company - Northern Songs - with him and music publisher Dick James, before anyone predicted just how successful the band would be.

The missing piece: Although the 73-year-old rocker has amassed a considerable personal fortune of around $1billion and has always been entitled to royalties earned on his countless hits, he does not own the publishing rights - which say when and where the songs can be used commercially

But When Epstein died in 1967, James sold his share of the company without telling the Beatles, and McCartney has been trying to regain control of the rights ever since.

He even told Michael Jackson about the value of music publishing, who then went and acquired the rights to the Beatles back catalogue before McCartney could, which forever soured their friendship.

However due to the US copyright act of 1976, writers can reclaim the rights to their songs after 56 years - and the earliest songs in the Lennon-McCartney back catalogue will turn that age in 2018.

According to Billboard, McCartney has already processed the necessary legal paperwork to start the procedure, filing a termination notice of 32 of his songs with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Most of the songs, which were written later in his career, carry a termination date of 2025.

As for Lennon's half of the rights, these were already sold to current owners Sony/ATV Music by his widow Yoko Ono in 2009, for the full life of the copyright: 70 years after the artist's death... which for Lennon is December 8, 2050
She is a doting mother-of-three.

And on Tuesday, Jennifer Garner was every inch the multi-tasking parent as she picked up her daughter Violet Affleck from school.

The 43-year-old guided her ten-year-old across the street in Brentwood while chatting on her phone and holding a notepad beside her chest.

Multi-tasking mama! Jennifer Garner held her daughter Violet's hand while keeping busy with a phone call after school in Brentwood on Tuesday

As the Alias star crossed the street with her little one, she ensured the coast was clear by giving the road a glance.

While Jennifer kept it sporty in a pair of black leggings and bright orange trainers, Violet donned a light pink skirt and a matching pair of sunglasses.

The daughter of Jennifer and Ben Affleck also wore a playful blue backpack, pink socks, and a collared white top.

Her actress mother had her brunette hair slicked back into a ponytail, and she kept her eyesight protected with a pair of large sunglasses.

Keeping it casual: Violet's actress mother had her brunette hair slicked back into a ponytail, and she kept her eyesight protected with a pair of large sunglasses

There was no sight of Jennifer's other children Seraphina, seven, and Samuel, four, whose father is her estranged husband Ben.

Last June, Jennifer and Ben announced they had amicably split after 10 years of marriage.

At the time they pledged that they would stay friends forever - not merely because of their fondness for each other, but also because they sought to give their children a stable and secure foundation.

Paying her dues: The 13 Going On 30 actress appeared to be paying her fare at the meter

They've stayed true to their word.

In January they put on a united front while attending the funeral of a mutual friend in Los Angeles, and in February they enjoyed a family vacation in Montana.

On Sunday evening, Ben praised Jen as a 'superhero mom' while attending the premiere of his latest film 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' in New York.

Family matters: Last June, Jennifer and her estranged husband Ben Affleck announced they had amicably split after 10 years of marriage

The actor told E! that he feels 'really lucky' to have his estranged wife as his 'partner' in raising their children.

He gushed to website: 'You know, I just marvel at my mother who did a great job of raising my brother and I. Parenting is hard work but it's so rewarding and I certainly do my best.

'Jen is a superhero mom. She is an amazing mother and I'm really lucky to have her as a partner to co-parent these kids with. We try our best, we put them first and that's what we do.'
It was an episode which saw four best friends battle it out in a bid to save themselves from elimination.

But after sweat and tears on Wednesday night, My Kitchen Rules' lovebirds JP and Nelly found themselves packing their bags after receiving a low score of 27 out of 60.

While competing against Queenslanders Alex and Gareth, the married couple fell low after serving the show's judges below average meals.

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Going home: My Kitchen Rules' lovebirds JP and Nelly found themselves packing their bags on Wednesday after receiving a low score of 27 out of 60

For entree JP and Nelly dished a polish borscht with caraway flat bread and sill yoghurt.

With an hour and a half to serve their first course, the pair ran out of time after they directed most of their attention towards their dessert.

As three-quarters of their time quickly escaped, the couple found themselves breaking out into a panic after discovering they had forgotten to create the dough for their flat bread.

With only a short 10 minutes to go until time ticked over, Nelly discovered her bread hadn't cooked while in the oven which resulted in her to quickly fry it over the stove top.

Head to head: The married couple competed against best pals and Queenslanders Alex (L) and Gareth (R) during the sudden death round

First up: The pair kicked off the evening with a polish borscht with caraway flat bread and sill yoghurt for entree

Mixed reactions: While some viewers were thrilled that Gareth and Alex made it through almost everyone agreed they needed to up their game. Others commented on JP & Nelly's romance

'We can't serve the soup without the bread,' she said in a panic.

But as the clock ticked, the couple were forced to serve the unusual choice of dish to the judges.

'I really love the flavour of beetroot but it should have been cooked a bit more because it was pureed it was left with a graining texture which is letting the soup down a little,' celebrity chef Guy Grossi said.

Chef Liz Egan echoed his thoughts while complaining that the homemade strand of bread was 'undercooked'.

Liz added: 'The soup didn't really work,. It needed texture it was just a puree'.

Second attempt: The pair later re-entered the kitchen in a bid to win over the judging table with their main course of roast duck maryland with potato and leak mash and red wine jus

Not pleased: Upon serving Pete criticised their smooth side dish after discovering they had mashed the vegetable with an electric hand beater

Moments later, they re-entered the kitchen in a bid to win over the judging table with their main course of roast duck maryland with potato and leak mash and red wine jus.

Nelly and JP found themselves in front during the second round as they focused on creating a 'fluffy' mash potato.

Upon serving, Pete criticised their smooth side dish after discovering they had mashed the vegetable with an electric hand beater.

'If you look at the potato and leak mash, it is gluey,' he said, before adding: 'And the sauce is the biggest disappointment.'

Colin Fassnidge went on to add that he felt disappointed and let down by the dish.

Not to standards: He added, 'If you look at the potato and leak mash, it is gluey...And the sauce is the biggest disappointment'

Unimpressed: Colin Fassnidge went on to add that he felt disappointed and let down by the dish, 'I think the best part of the duck was its skin, everything else was dry'

Last chance: For their last course, Nelly and JP redeemed themselves with the judges after dishing up a white chocolate mascarpone tart with caramelised figs and hints of early grey

'It looked like a tender piece of duck but while tasting it, it was dry,' he explained.

'I think the best part of the duck was its skin, everything else was dry and the broccoli was three times cooked, it was nearly soup.

'I am a bit disheartened today. We have come very far and have had some great dishes so wake up,' he aggressively stated.

For their last course, Nelly and JP redeemed themselves with the judges after dishing up a white chocolate mascarpone tart with caramelised figs and hints of early grey.

'Look at the skill in that pastry, it is thin and it just breaks away so easily. I really like the flavour of the tart. I think this is a really successful dessert,' Guy commented.

Liz added: 'The dessert surprised me. It was such a lovely dish. You restored my fate with the dessert.'

Lifting their game: Guy (far left) praised the couple's dish saying, 'Look at the skill in that pastry, it is thin and it just breaks away so easily. I really like the flavour of the tart. I think this is a really successful dessert'

Not enough: After facing the harsh criticism, the duo received a low score of 27 out of 60, falling two points behind Alex and Gareth

Lowering their game: The two pals were lucky to secure the top spot, saving them from elimination, after being slammed by all judges for their poor presentation and meal options

After facing the harsh criticism, the duo received a low score of 27 out of 60, falling two points behind Alex and Gareth.

The two pals were lucky to secure the top spot, saving them from elimination, after being slammed by all judges for their poor presentation and meal options.

For their entree of salmon sashimi with avocado puree and rice crackers, Colin hit out at the lads for attempting to play it safe during the sudden death round.

'I think the only thing Japanese about this dish is the chopsticks,' he stated, before adding: 'This is a competition, they made a cracker well done.

'What were they doing for all of that time? I don't know, when you see some of the other dishes that the other teams have put up. If this is the road you are going to go down don't bother.'

Pete went on to suggest that the dish needed a 'dressing or sauce to tie it all together'.

First course: For their entree of salmon sashimi with avocado puree and rice crackers, Colin hit out at the lads for attempting to play it safe during the sudden death round

Not to restaurant standard: He said, 'I think the only thing Japanese about this dish is the chopsticks...This is a competition, they made a cracker well done'

Raw: Colin was at it again with his harsh remarks after he dug into his main of eye fillet with butter bean mash and red wine jus

Colin was at it again with his harsh remarks after he dug into his main of eye fillet with butter bean mash and red wine jus.

'The way I feel about this competition now is that we have two teams who are at neck and neck and not in a good way,' he said as he complained his steak for 'too raw'.

'I might not even come back I am that angry'.

Manu sent shock waves through the table after he commented that he would be preferred no sauce over the miner's attempt at red wine jus.

'The jus is the same as team two, it is just red wine. I prefer to have no sauce at all instead of having this.'

Harsh: He criticised: 'The way I feel about this competition now is that we have two teams who are at neck and neck and not in a good way...I might not even come back I am that angry'

Winner: Despite the harsh comments by all judges, Gareth and Alex found themselves back at the top of their game with their chocolate mousse dome with cherry sorbet

Finally happy: Pete commented, 'That little chocolate dome is beautiful and the cheery sorbet is amazing. It looks simple on the plate but a lot of technique has gone into it'

Despite the harsh comments by all judges, Gareth and Alex found themselves back at the top of their game with their chocolate mousse dome with cherry sorbet.

'Fate has been restored. After the first two courses, I am going to forgive all that because this is a good dessert and I am glad they brought this out because otherwise I was going to go home depressed,' Colin said.

Pete continued: 'That little chocolate dome is beautiful and the cheery sorbet is amazing. It looks simple on the plate but a lot of technique has gone into it.'
Yolanda Foster broke down on Tuesday night's episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after a touching tribute by daughter Gigi Hadid.

The 52-year-old former model has faced ongoing tension on the Bravo reality show with some of her co-stars doubting her illness and Lisa Rinna even raising the possibility she has Munchausen Syndrome and has been making it up.

Yolanda invited all of her friends to New York to see her honored at the annual Global Lyme Alliance Gala in a bid to give them key insights into her journey.

Public speaker: Gigi Hadid delivered a heartfelt tribute to her mother Yolanda Foster on Tuesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills

Gigi, 20, took to the stage at the swanky gala and struggled to maintain her composure as she introduced her mom to collect her honor.

The Victoria's Secret model called her the person who more than anyone I know is hope for Lyme Disease awareness and saying the honor was for your fight, for your passion, and for making your journey one that will help so many.

Kyle Richards was the only doubter to make it to the event and was seen dabbing tears from her eyes during the ceremony and admitting to pain and guilt at her earlier behavior.

I feel so bad now, Kyle told Yolanda when she returned to the table after her moving speech at the event, with Kyle also admitting she felt dirty and weird for not having defended her friend earlier when Munchausen had been discussed.

See the latest Gigi Hadid updates as she pays touching tribute to mother Yolanda Foster

Tough time: Yolanda received an honor for raising awareness of Lyme disease

Kyle was not the only one to have tears at the experience - with Yolanda crying herself when talking later about Kyles reversal.

Thats all I wanted, for them to understand, Yolanda said, adding of Kyle: She gets it, on a deeper level. When it hit her emotions I knew.

After Yolandas speech made her see the truth of her experience, Kyle had also turned to Erika Girardi - who said Lisa Vanderpump was also guilty of not believing their friend - and admitted: I cant even deal, I am so upset right now, you have no idea.

Getting emotional: Bella Hadid and her mother cried during Gigi's emotional introduction speech

Tough to hear: Kyle Richards felt horrible after learning more about Lyme disease at the gala

Candid conversation: Yolanda listened as Kyle relayed how bad she felt

Later, Kyle insisted: If I had known what I know now about Lyme Disease I would never have allowed that conversation to continue with Lisa Rinna. I would have shut it down right away.

I wish so much that the rest of the women could be here and hear all this.

Later the event was brought up while they enjoyed their first night at a girls' trip to Dubai - and Lisa Rinna stuck to her guns in bashing Yolanda.

Stuck to it: Lisa Rinna stuck to her guns about Yolanda during their first night in Dubai

Ive never doubted that shes sick, Lisa insisted, adding: I question not her sickness but how she uses it, how she displays it, and when she chooses to show up and when she doesnt.

She added later to camera: I do think that Yolanda uses her illness as a shield. And as a pass. And to not be held accountable for things.

Erika attacked her for her claims, while Eileen Davidson told Lisa: I dont understand why you question it still, why its still a thing.

Solid friend: Erika Girardi stood up for Yolanda and told Lisa Rinna she was doing as much as she could

But that was nothing compared to the response Brandi Glanville gave when Yolanda previously told her about Lisas actions and words.

What the f*** - what is wrong with her? Brandi asked, saying to camera: Dear Lisa Rinna, get a f***ing life, eat some food and stop talking about my friend.

Hashtag straightjacket, hashtag real friends - get some help, motherf***er,' Brandi said in her usual blunt manner.

Catching up: Brandi Glanville finally returned to the series and was shown hanging out with Yolanda

Hashtag factory: The blonde beauty went off on Lisa Rinna for questioning Yolanda's sickness

Telling Yolanda that Lisa is mad, she also claimed: I think that wig glue is going to her brain and she needs to check herself.

When Yolanda sounded surprised, Brandi insisted: One wig and one style. Im not lying - she wears wigs!

Yolanda had admitted being nervous as she got ready for the gala, insisting: I havent worn any makeup in 11 months. I havent done any botox or anything now for three years. Its funny to see how your face changes.

Getting ready: Yolanda admitted being nervous before the gala

She also insisted: Ive been in a bathrobe for the past 14 months. But its for my cause so I am going to show up and do it.

As guests arrived - including Joe Jonas, daughter Gigi Hadids boyfriend at the time - Yolanda said proudly: Everybody that played a big role in my recovery is here tonight. That means so much to me because those are the people I want to share this moment with.

She was moved by Gigi's heartfelt introduction.

Former boyfriend: Gigi's ex boyfriend Joe Jonas showed support and attended the gala

Hearing Gigi speak - her words were just so beautiful, Yolanda said later, having thanked Gigi from the stage for exceeding every hope, every dream and every expectation I had for you.

Yolanda then revealed that her youngest children Bella, 19, and Anwar, 16, also had Lyme Disease - and gave thanks to husband David Foster in a speech given just two months before they announced their separation.

Thank you to my courageous husband for making actions speak louder than words and standing by me during this very painful and unromantic journey, she told the audience.

Great speech: Gigi showed her skill as a public speaker during her tender tribute to Yolanda

Top honor: Yolanda was honoured by the Global Lyme Alliance

Later, Yolanda said on camera: This has been hard for all of us - this has not been a walk in the park.

I dont know if its heartbreaking or heartwarming, its kind of in-between I guess.

During her visit to her home, Brandi later asked Yolanda about David, with her insisting he was good, but admitting: Its been a challenge.

I said to him, You married a lemon baby. But were making lemonade, so hopefully well, you know. Its a challenge - its hard on him not having a wife.

Been a challenge: The former model admitted her Lyme disease was a challenge for then-husband David Foster

Famous fridge: Yolanda and David were shown sharing a last kiss inside their famous see-through walk-in refrigerator

They also spoke about Yolandas model daughter Bella and her boyfriend the Weeknd - who Brandi admitted having a crush on - with Yolanda laughing about him asking her to listen to his album.

I like the sound of the music. Not that crazy about the words, she admitted.

Elsewhere, Lisa Vanderpump was seen giving son Max Todd a new Jeep, saying later: I gave my children something that I didnt have - I told my children I love them every single day. My parents didnt tell me that.

Surprise present: Lisa Vanderpump surprised her son Max with keys to a new Jeep

Cute kid: The restaurateur said her British parents never told her they loved her

Maybe its very British, but I never heard that. They didnt think they had to. I went the complete opposite way.

But that was nothing compared to the decadence of the womens trip to Dubai, where their rooms at Atlantis, The Palm included an underwater suite with sharks swimming in tanks and a giant, opulent $40,000-a-night royal suite.

I know youre not supposed to cuss in Dubai, but this is f***ing amazing! Lisa Rinna said.

Underwater suite: Eileen Davidson and Lisa Rinna settled into the Underwater Suite in Dubai

Luxury hotel: The ladies were staying in one suite that cost $40,000 per night

Opulent display: The hotel featured a colourful art installation by US glass artist Dale Chihuly

The women all dressed up in long flowing dresses for dinner - with Lisa saying she wanted to be known as Muumuu Vanderpump because she loved letting everything hang out - but the amazing surroundings failed to stop the usual arguing.

As well as rehashing Lisa Rinnas complaints about Yolanda - who was the only one missing - they also went into the row that ruined a dinner party at Erikas house.

Night one and were really getting it going, Erika complained on camera of their evening.

Why cant we have fun? Always fighting,' she added.

Flowing dresses: Kyle and Lisa Vanderpump rocked flowing dresses to dinner
He's got pie on his face, quite literally.

But it's all for a worthy cause as Hugh Sheridan let good friend Rebel Wilson do the honours and smash a cream pie into his face.

In a video posted to Instagram, the Australians are seen standing on a busy Los Angeles street while the 30-year-old speaks about the Ultimate Pie Challenge saying, 'I've asked my friend Rebel to help...'

Worthy cause: In the video posted to social media Hugh Sheridan and good friend Rebel Wilson appear together with the 30-year-old first heard speaking about the charity challenge

Pie face! Before the actor could finish his sentence, the Bridesmaids actress had already launched the cream pie into his face

But before the Packed To The Rafters star could finish his sentence, the Bridesmaid actress has already launched the pie, covering his face in whipped cream.

Delicious: Trying to speak through the layers of cream, Hugh then goes on to nominate friends Zoe Ventoura, Daniel MacPherson along with AFL player Travis Boak for the challenge

Victory: At the end of the video Rebel is seen laughing and holding her arms up in victory as Hugh is left to clean himself up

As he struggles to lick the cream off, Hugh then nominates newlyweds Zoe Ventoura and Daniel MacPherson along with AFL player Travis Boak for the challenge, before licking more cream off his fingers as Rebel laughs in the background.

Captioning the amusing video, the actor wrote, '@childhoodcancer #UltimatePieChallenge from USA. Thank you @rebelwilson for helping bring light & awareness to this great cause! DONATE AT ultimatepiechallenge.org.au #childhoodcancerawareness #pieintheface #nevergetsold'.

Good friends: The two Australians have been seen regularly hanging out together in Los Angeles

The charity initiative aims to raise money for the Childhood Cancer Association, with participants encouraged to raise awareness by taking part in the sticky act.

Hugh has only recently returned to Hollywood after spending time in Australia at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, showing off his singing talents with his newly formed band The California Crooners Club.

Last week he shared a flashback video featuring him and Rebel putting on a show in LA.

Talented bunch: The actor and singer looked dapper as the band made their first public appearance at the event last year in Los Angeles

The performance took place at the launch of the comedian's fashion line launch last October and features Hugh belting out the tune One Fine Day.

Looking handsome as the band made their first public appearance at the event, he hit all of the right notes during his performance.

Hugh looked stylish in a classic black tuxedo and wowed the audience as he sung the hit song, originally released by The Chiffons in 1962, at the top of his lungs.

Debut: Hugh Sheridan shared the throwback video to Instagram as he performed alongside Rebel Wilson at the launch of her fashion line last October

Stylish: Hugh looked stylish in a classic black tuxedo while Rebel stunned in a vibrant frock from her fashion line

Rebel bopped along in the short video and while the Pitch Perfect star has previously showed off her vocal prowess she does not sing in the clip.

In the background his fellow band members Emile Welman and Gabe Roland kept in time and clicked their fingers while joining in on the song.

Captioning the video he wrote: '@rebelwilson and I rocking it out @californiacroonersclub first ever public appearance for the launch of her awesome clothing line launch in LA!

'So happy to be at the tail end of our first Australian tour!! It's been so bloody amazing!! #dontmissout'
She enjoyed a sun-soaked holiday in Barbados a few weeks ago.

And Michelle Mone was still boasting a deep orange glow from her exotic travels as she enjoyed an evening of fine dining at Scott's restaurant in London on Monday night.

The bronzed 44-year-old lingerie entrepreneur - who is still sporting a sizable cast after falling down a manhole and breaking her foot - flashed a beaming smile as she hopped into a taxi at the end of the night.

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Bronzed: Lingerie mogul Michelle Mone was sporting a healthy tan as she dined out at Scott's restaurant in London on Monday

Michelle looked like she'd had a great night, appearing in high spirits as she left the upmarket eatery.

The former Ultimo bra tycoon was smartly clad in a plunging blue jumpsuit, displaying some cleavage by leaving several buttons unopened.

The blonde covered up in a smart camel coat with loose lapels, and accessorising with a few choice pieces of silver jewellery.

Battle wounds: Michelle is still sporting a sizable cast after falling down a manhole and breaking her foot

Michelle announced the injury to her thousands of Twitter followers earlier this month by posting a picture of her resting at home with her foot in a protective boot up on a chair.

She said: 'Home from hospital, thanks to the great team. Fell down a man hole yesterday & broken my foot. Biz as norm.'

Twitter followers wished her a speedy recovery but Lady Mone seemed resolutely positive and added: 'It's only a foot, people go through a lot worse. Business schedule won't change.'

Stylish attire: Michelle kept covered up in a camel covered coat and a plunging navy jumpsuit

Hobbling about: The 44-year-old star is believed to have injured herself during a night out with friends near her home city of Glasgow

The mishap is believed to have happened near her Glasgow home following a night out with friends after she returned from a Caribbean holiday.

She tweeted the day before: 'Landed... no time for jetlag... weekend with the girls... all 10 of us.'

Michelle founded bra and underwear business Ultimo in 1996 but announced in August that she had left to concentrate on politics and other business interests.

She was controversially appointed to the House of Lords in October and has not spoken in any debates since.
Cook Street homicide 2 007.jpg

Two people have been charged with capital murder in the death of 29-year-old Donta Lashawn Banks, whose body was found Tuesday morning on a dirt road (at right) running off of Cook Street in the Ocean Beach Estates subdivision southeast of Ocean Springs.

(Warren Kulo/Gulflive.com)

Hubert Anderson (top) and Rita Johnston

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Two Harrison County residents with prior criminal records have been arrested and charged with capital murder in the death of a Biloxi man whose body was found on a dirt road southeast of Ocean Springs.

According to Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell, Hubert Patrick Anderson, 35, and Rita Olivia Johnson, 36, were arrested Tuesday and charged with murdering 29-year-old Biloxi man Donta Lashawn Banks.

Banks' body was found by a sheriff's deputy on patrol Tuesday morning laying on a dirt road running off of Cook Street in the Ocean Springs Estates subdivision -- a sprawling development adjacent to the St. Andrews community.

Investigators have not commented on a probable cause of death. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.

During the investigation, it was learned Banks had recently purchased a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica and a description of the vehicle was sent out to surrounding agencies.

A short time later, a Biloxi police officer spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it, but the vehicle sped away and later crashed into a house on Lackland Drive in Biloxi. The female passenger -- Johnston -- was injured in the crash and taken into custody, while the driver -- Anderson -- fled on foot.

Biloxi K-9 units arrived in pursuit of Anderson and a perimeter was established. During the search, Anderson was found hiding in an enclosed area of a carport on Popps Ferry Road.

Johnston was treated and released into police custody at Biloxi Regional Hospital.

Both Anderson and Johnston have been charged by the JCSO with capital murder, with Anderson facing additional charges from Biloxi police of felony fleeing, possession of stolen property and residential burglary.

Johnston was transported to the Jackson County Adult Detention Center, while Anderson remains in the Harrison County Adult Detention Center, with holds for both the JCSO on the murder charge and the Mississippi Department of Corrections for prior convictions.

Both face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted of capital murder.

Neither Anderson nor Johnston are strangers to law enforcement in Harrison County.

Anderson has multiple prior arrests for burglary, both residential and commercial, as well as resisting arrest, escape and numerous traffic violations.

Johnston, meanwhile, was arrested in 2012 for aggravated assault with a knife.
Shes a regular on the social scene circuit, often pulling out all the stops with her sartorial choices.

So its hardly surprising Real Housewives of Melbourne star Gina Liano looked nothing short of glamorous at the Sony Foundation River4Ward charity event on Wednesday.

Stealing the limelight, the 48-year-old TV star turned heads in a plunging blue gown, which drew heaps of attention to her ample assets and tanned complexion.

Daring to bare: Real Housewives of Melbourne star Gina Liano looked nothing short of glamorous at the Sony Foundation River4Ward charity event on Wednesday

The sizzling number, complete with a heart-shaped bodice and silver embellishment, was styled further with designer shades, a metallic clutch and a jewelled earrings.

She wore her golden-tinted tresses in voluminous curls, while her facial features were highlighted with bold makeup.

Other guests at the exclusive party included talk show host Carrie Bickmore, Australian actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte and singer Jessica Mauboy.

Stealing the limelight: The 48-year-old TV star turned heads in a plunging blue gown, which drew heaps of attention to her ample assets and tanned complexion

City chic: Carrie Bickmore oozed heaps of style and elegance in a chic royal blue jumpsuit

Doing her thing: The TV star, who lost her husband Greg to cancer in 2010, took to the stage to talk to the crowd

Jessica, 26, looked phenomenal in a figure-hugging pastel blue dress, which clung perfectly to her slender curves.

With her ombre locks left loose above her shoulders, the songstress looked absolutely incredible as she mingled with fellow stars before hitting the stage.

Elsewhere, in keeping with the theme, Carrie oozed heaps of style and elegance in a chic royal blue jumpsuit.

Her peroxide blonde hair was worn loose over her shoulders in sleeve waves, while rose-tinted cheeks and smokey eyewear rounded off the proceedings.

Keeping in with the theme: Australian actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte looked great in a sleeveless two-piece

Popular: She happily stopped and posed for pictures during the proceedings

Bright move: Jessica Mauboy looked phenomenal in a figure-hugging pastel blue dress, which clung perfectly to her slender curves

She later took to her social media sites to post: What a great event and incredible cause. So delighted so be involved.

The foundation, Sony Foundation Australia, raises funds to assist young Australians and fostering their talents through our fundraising and activities.

Music bosses and business leaders as well as TV stars hosted the event in order to build a care centre for teenagers with cancer.

Bickmore, who lost her husband Greg to cancer in 2010, told Confidential: Its such a tricky thing have cancer in your 20s.'

I watched it first-hand,' she added. 'I know how hard it was to find a place where you can be with like-minded people, a place to be with others who were going through similar things.

Wow thing: With her ombre locks left loose above her shoulders, the songstress looked absolutely incredible as she mingled with fellow stars before hitting the stage
She can normally be seen glammed up on the red carpet or showing some skin in her skimpy swimwear collection.

But Kimberley Garner, 26, showed off a very different side to her style as she stepped out for a low-key day in London on Wednesday.

The former Made In Chelsea star went makeup-free for the trip, flaunting her natural beauty.

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Makeup-free: Kimberley Garner, 26, showed off a very different side to her style as she stepped out for a low-key day in London on Wednesday

As well as stripping off her makeup, Kimberley pulled her blonde locks back into a simply ponytail.

She dressed down too, teaming purple leggings which highlighted her long slim legs, with a cosy shearling jacket.

She ditched the heels for a chic pair of ballet pumps as she hit the local shops.

The former Made In Chelsea star is gearing up to launch the Island Collection of her Kimberley London swimwear line.

She recently shared the incredible behind the scenes shots of the exquisite Anguilla photoshoot where she modelled the bikinis and one pieces herself.

Ditching the glam: She dressed down too, teaming purple leggings which highlighted her long slim legs, with a cosy shearling jacket

Natural: Kimberley looked a world away from her dressed up style at the Eddie The Eagle premiere last week

Kimberley also let her 47.9k Instagram followers in on a secret of her enviable form when she shared details of her regular workouts.

This month she wrote: 'First work out in weeks, doing everything to try and get well again. thank you @barre_core for teaching me stretches that I can do anywhere!'

She credits barre and ballet with keeping her in shape as she continues work on her swimwear business.

Kimberley first shot to fame on E4 show Made In Chelsea but she left in 2012 after just one series as an official castmember.
She is never one to shy away from showing her slender frame in all its glory.

And Alessandra Ambrosio was more than happy to flash the flesh in a racy new shoot with photographer David Bellemere.

The 34-year-old Victorias Secret angel cast her sultry gaze on the camera as she sat naked in the sand whilst crossing her legs and arms in order to protect her modesty.

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Ended  #teamBellemere @davidbellemere #davidbellemere A photo posted by @alessandraambrosio on Mar 22, 2016 at 11:00pm PDT

The mother-of-two showcased her trim figure in another shot which saw her sitting naked a tree stump with the stunning glow of a setting sun in the background.

With her locks tied up into a bun, she later posed standing up to perfectly highlight her slim silhouette.

The model later shared a black and white photo to Instagram which showed her placing her leg over photographer David Bellemere's shoulder.

Referencing Olivia Newton-John's 1981 single, she captioned it: 'Let's get physical, physical @davidbellemere #malibu #bodytalk.'

Ended  ''golden hour'' Alessandra @alessandraambrosio #teamBellemere #alessandraambrosio #davidbellemere A photo posted by David Bellemere (@davidbellemere) on Mar 22, 2016 at 4:25pm PDT

 Golden hour in Malibu with @davidbellemere #teambellemere A photo posted by @alessandraambrosio on Mar 21, 2016 at 9:32pm PDT

The Brazilian bombshell recently spoke to Vogue UK about how she stays in shape, saying that she is currently enjoying barre classes.

'You'll see 20-year-old girls and 70-year-old women doing it, so it feels like something I'll stick with until I'm old,' Alessandra explained.

'It's very feminine and you work all kinds of areas - it's really good, so that's my favourite right now. When I'm travelling I do yoga.'

And the mother-of-two also revealed what beauty tips she will pass down to her seven-year-old daughter Anja.

'Let's get physical': The model later shared a black and white photo to Instagram which showed her placing her leg over photographer David Bellemere's shoulder

'I think keep it simple,' Alessandra, who also has three-year-old son Noah with fiance Jamie Mazur, said.

'Washing your face in the morning, moisturising, taking care of your hair.

'She loves make-up and she does her lips really well - like, better than me. I don't know how to do red lipstick but she knows exactly how to do it! She's really good.'

Alessandra added: 'I like taking her to Brazil and putting coconut oil all over her skin, and showing her how to eat fresh. I think that's very important.'
She famously not shy about showing off her generous curves.

But reality star Ashley James proved she also has a naughty side as she pranked a pal in a racy snap.

Taking her along to a photoshoot, Ashley cosied up to Charlotte while wearing a sexy cut-out yellow top, which risked revealing a tad too much.

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Not so mellow yellow: Ashley James proved she also has a naughty side as she pranked a pal in a racy snap

Obviously getting a tad restless on the job, Ashley decided to fling her knickers on Charlotte's head.

She caption the fun snap: 'Bring your wife to work day @charlottedecarle #pantyhoe'

The fun snap certainly showed the reality star's former flame David Walliams what he was missing as it was reported he was spotted getting close to Holly Valance's sister Olympia.

The Sun claimed that Olympia was seen with her arms 'draped over' the Britain's Got Talent star at the Empire Awards in London on Sunday night.

Getting close? According to a report David Walliams, 44, was seen getting close to Aussie model Olympia Valance, 23, at Sunday's Empire Awards in London

Both stars were at the event held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, with David hosting the ceremony, while Olympia stunned in a sheer J'Aton Couture gown on the red carpet.

The Sun report that 'David had initially reacted angrily after being pictured chatting away to Olympia'.

But the comedian 'managed to put a smile back on his face as she was seen draped all over him at his table'.

Stunning: Both stars were at the event held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, with David hosting the ceremony, while Olympia stunned in a sheer J'Aton Couture gown on the red carpet

Representatives for David and Olympia have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.

The reported flirting came as comedienne Katherine Ryan mocked David during the awards ceremony for his penchant for dating models.

While David had earlier ribbed Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio and Hollywood stars for 's****ing Victoria's Secret models', Katherine hit back when it was her turn to take the stage to present a gong.

According to The Mirror, the Canadian comedian quipped: 'I like your joke. Imagine a man that only dates models?'

Host: David quipped about Hollywood stars' penchant for dating Victoria's Secret models during the ceremony

She added: 'That's me trying to f*** him,' to which David replied: 'I'm available.'

After the ceremony Katherine told 3am: 'You can't make that joke if you do that too. He needs to date a real woman. You have to be 6ft tall to date David Walliams.'

David and his wife of five years, model Lara Stone, 32, divorced last September, while he has previously been linked to Lisa Snowdon and Abi Titmuss.

Olympia has played Paige Smith in Neighbours since 2014 as well as juggling a successful modelling career which has seen her become the face and body of UK lingerie brand Gossard.
Sophie Monk had all eyes on her as she hosted the launch of on-demand subscription Hayu in Australia.

The Australia's Got Talent judge looked the epitome of perfection as she stepped out in Sydney for the event recently.

The 36-year-old wowed in a stylish white jumpsuit which featured a high neck and loose fitting trousers.

All eyes on her! Sophie Monk looked chic in a stylish whitte jumpsuit as she hosted the launch of on-demand subscription Hayu in Australia recently

Dazzling in the chic ensemble, the former Bardot singer put her most fashionable foot forward on the day.

The streamlined look which was belted at the waist, highlighted the blonde bombshell's lithe figure, and also flashing a cheeky glimpse of her bra on the side.

Sophie added a pop of colour to proceedings with a pair of bright orange strappy heels.

Allowing her ensemble to do all the talking, the Aussie stunner kept her beauty look simple, sporting a natural application of makeup, except for a dark smokey eye, and wearing her luscious golden locks down in loose waves.

She capped the glamourous ensemble off with a coat of shiny black polish on her lengthy talons.

All-white! Dazzling in the chic ensemble, the former Bardot singer put her most fashionable foot forward on the day as she flashed a cheeky glimpse of her bra on the side

Fashion forward: Following Sophie in the style stakes was fellow reality stars Sam Frost (right) and Aisha McKinnon (left) who also dazzled in equally stylish ensembles

Following Sophie in the style stakes was fellow reality stars Sam Frost and Aisha McKinnon who also dazzled in equally stylish ensembles.

Sam - who was Australia's inaugural Bachelorette, opted for a chic beige leather skirt which she teamed with a black singlet.

Meanwhile, Big Brother star Aisha dazzled in a silver matching pants and top which featured a low-cut neck.

Coordinating: Big Brother star Aisha dazzled in a silver matching pants and top which featured a low-cut neck
Her marriage to Noel Gallagher earned her the reputation of being one of the original rock chicks.

But it looks like Meg Mathews' hard partying days are well behind her as she celebrated her 50th birthday with an upscale lunch at Mews of Mayfair in London on Wednesday afternoon.

Surrounded by some of the original 'Primrose Hill' set, the British socialite was joined at the event by Sadie Frost, celebrity party planner, and Kate Moss' go-to girl, Fran Cutler, as well as new man Damon Williams.

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Party time! It looks like Meg Mathews' hard partying days are well behind her as she celebrated her 50th birthday with an upscale lunch at Mews of Mayfair in London on Wednesday afternoon [From left: Sadie Frost, Meg and Jeanette Calliva)

Fitting in with the trendy crowd, Meg showcased her daring sense of style in a clashing ensemble.

The mother-of-one was sure to be the centre of attention in her loud style, comprised of a simple billowing camisole, layered beneath a silk bomber jacket emblazoned with a black palm trees.

She paired the look with turned-up boyfriend jeans which were adorned with a multitude of rips, with Meg casually placing her hands in the pockets of her denims as she smiled for pictures inside of the exclusive dinner.

Smitten kittens: Meg cosied up for a snap with boyfriend Damon Williams inside the event

Fashionista: Fitting in with the trendy crowd, Meg showcased her daring sense of style in a clashing ensemble

Time for cake! The mother-of-one was sure to be the centre of attention in her loud style, comprised of a simple billowing camisole, layered beneath a silk bomber jacket emblazoned with a black palm trees

Can she eat it all? She looked slightly flabbergasted at the size of the lit-up cake in front of her

She elongated her legs in blue platform wedges which were enamored with white stars, a trilby hat sitting atop her tousled blonde locks.

The blonde was clearly feeling her birthday look as she posted a selfie on social media, alongside which she gushed about the work of make-up brand Bare Minerals.

'On my way ..... To birthday lunch @sj_bareuk @bareminerals @baremineralsuk thank you for making me feel beautiful,' she captioned the Instagram snap.

Looking the part: Sadie also showed off her fashion prowess in a black trouser suit, with which she teamed a pink scarf for a splash of colour

The life and soul! Sadie looked to be having the time of her life as she posed for a snap with fashion designer pal Jess Morris

Birthday hugs! Celebrity party planner, and Kate Moss' go-to girl, Fran Cutler was also at the event

Altogether now: Meg's large group of pals - including Liv Tyler's partner Dave Gardner (left) - joined together for a group shot

But Meg wasn't the only star who pulled out all of the stops for the birthday dinner, as long-time friend Sadie also showed off her fashion prowess in a black trouser suit, with which she teamed a pink scarf for a splash of colour.

The ex-wife of actor Jude Law mingled with some of the most influential names in fashion and PR, including Pip Gill, Jeanette Calliva and Jess Morris.

The animal activist - who shares her model daughter Anais Gallagher with her Oasis star ex - was also seen cosying up to her new flame Damon inside of her bash, with the couple wrapping their arms around one another as they posed for a snap together.

Meg's dinner comes just a day after she returned from a Los Angeles getaway with her man, with the beauty sharing countless snaps from their romantic break on social media.

Trendy: Scarf designer Jess modelled one of her own styles inside the event, while PR guru Jeanette paired tweed flares with trainers

Feeling good! Meg appeared in sprightly spirits as she posed with long-time friend and celebrity publicist Pip Gill

Jet-setter: Meg's dinner comes just a day after she returned from a Los Angeles getaway with her man, with the beauty sharing countless snaps from their romantic break on social media

Proud papa! Meg was joined by her dad Stanley at the bash, and he couldn't have looked happier

Plenty of love to go around: Birthday girl Meg was joined by man friends, including Keri Platt
Ellen Barkin has been rushed to hospital after choking on her lunch on the set of Animal Kingdom.

The 61-year-old was on a break from filming when the food got lodged in her windpipe, according to TMZ.

Struggling to breathe, Barkin panicked and became distressed - eventually passing out.

The actress was rushed to hospital and checked over, with doctors performing a series of tests.

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Scary: Ellen Barkin has been rushed to hospital after choking on her lunch and passing out on Animal Kingdom set, according to reports on Wednesday

However the food was safely dislodged and luckily Barkin suffered no ill effects from the scary experience.

The mother-of-two was released from hospital a few hours later on Tuesday night and according to the website returned to the TNT set as normal on Wednesday morning.

An Emmy Award and Tony winner, Barking is perhaps best known for her 80s thrillers such as Sea of Love with Al Pacino and The Big easy opposite Denis Quaid.

Big role: In Animal Kingdom she plays Janine 'Smurf' Cody, the vicious crime boss mother of an armed robber played by Scott Speedman

In Animal Kingdom she plays Janine 'Smurf' Cody, the vicious crime boss mother of an armed robber played by Scott Speedman.

The show - set to premiere this summer - is an adaptation from the 2010 Australian film of the same name.

Silver Linings Playbook star Jacki Weaver, who played Smurf Cody in the original, received a Best Supporting Actress nomination Academy Award nomination for the role.
Tamara Ecclestone and Jay Rutland have been pictured together again following reports that their marriage is on the rocks.

The 31-year-old Formula One heiress had seemingly put her wedding ring back on again on Wednesday morning, before reuniting with her husband, also 31, for a stroll in London that afternoon.

A smiling Tamara and Jay put on a united front to take their two-year-old daughter Sophia for a family outing.

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Reunited: Tamara Ecclestone and Jay Rutland were pictured back together again on Wednesday, as they appeared to quash rumours of a divorce

Tamara's marriage was said to be at crisis point earlier this week when it was claimed she had called in lawyers to discuss divorce.

She had also stopped wearing her wedding ring on Monday, raising speculation that she was acting on the reported marriage breakdown.

But the brunette kept onlookers guessing on Wednesday morning when she stepped out with her wedding ring firmly in place.

The Formula One heiress went without make-up while on a stroll with Sophia in the British capital, and it's now known that she was due to rejoin Sophia's father later that day.

Happy families: It proved to be a very happy family outing for the trio, just days after reports emerged that the marriage is 'effectively over'

Strained? On Tuesday morning, it was claimed that Tamara had called in lawyers to start discussions on how to end her marriage to Jay (pictured here together in May 2014)

Family unit: The duo made Sophia their priority and avoided a solemn atmosphere

Gleeful: Sophia was certainly far from affected by the reports and was shown a lovely time

Back on? But Tamara kept onlookers guessing on Wednesday morning when she stepped out with her wedding ring - just 24 hours after raising suspicion by taking it off

Back in place: The heiress' huge diamond rings were back on her finger just 24 hours after she was seen without them

Reports that their almost three-year marriage is 'effectively over' appeared to be taking their toll on the 31-year-old, who looked tired as she left her 70million London home.

On Tuesday morning, The Sun claimed that the socialite, who wed the trader in 2013 has told her inner circle their marriage is on the rocks.

It is alleged that things are so strained that the pair are sleeping in separate rooms at her huge London home.

A source tells newspaper: 'The relationship was strained before Jays court case but this has been the final straw. They live in the same house but are no longer in the same bedroom. She has been open that their marriage is effectively over.

'Her first priority is protecting Sophia and upholding the familys reputation so she wont make any announcements in a hurry.'

A spokesperson for Ecclestone had no comment when contacted about the claims.

Tamara is said to swap between a large pear-shaped diamond and a jagged-cut option for various nights on the town.

Her huge, pear-shaped diamond was given to her by then-boyfriend Jay just a month after they met.

All smiles: Sophia was positively giddy as she was swung around by her parents

One big happy family: Sophia and her mother had been wearing matching trilby hats

Back on again: Daddy helped the little one to her hat fixed back on correctly

All smiles: Jay certainly didn't seem distracted by his legal woes and made sure the family had fun

Too cite: The three piece were spotted in Notting Hill, London during a busy lunchtime

They were on holiday in Dubai when the businessman popped the question and presented her with the incredible diamond, which she is now said to alternate with the wedding rock.

She is now demonstrably choosing neither, since the heiress was not wearing either one of the rings on Monday, either.

Jay was in court last week facing charges of assisting a cocaine trafficker who was on the run from police, though she did not seem to show up to support him.

Things on her mind: The Formula One heiress went without make-up while on a stroll with her two-year-old

Sleepless night? The usually highly polished beauty looked a tad tired as she ditched her war paint to take Sophia out for a walk

Ringing in the changes: Tamara is said to alternate between two very expensive rocks: one (pictured left in February 2013) is a pear-shaped diamond and the other (pictured right in July 2013) is a jagged-cut option

No bling: The outing came just a day after the socialite was spotted without her rings during a stroll in London

Cute twosome: The mother-daughter duo have been positively inseparable since the couple welcomed their first child in 2014

Meanwhile, Tamara appears to have turned to her sister Petra Stunt for support in the wake of the reported marriage break down and has been pictured on numerous occasions with Sophia, Petra and Petra's daughter Lavinia.

Jay and Tamara, famed for their almost continual exotic holidays, have spent more and more time apart in recent months.

Tamara has jetted off on two ski breaks without her partner in 2016 alone.

The City Trader was also not spotted arriving for their daughter's second birthday party in central London on Sunday.

Enjoying a walk: Tamara chatted away to her little one, who was stylish in her expensive UGG boots

Over? The Sun claims that the socialiate, who wed the banker in 2013 and has a daughter, Sophia, with him, has told her inner circle that their relationship is 'effectively over'

Big day: The couple made things official at Kensington and Chelsea Registry Office in July 2013, after a three-day boozy wedding extravaganza in the South of France

The socialite was said to be devastated when Jay was accused of helping cocaine trafficker James Tarrant, 66, escape from the UK while he was awaiting trial for drug and gun charges in 2010.

She did not accompany him to court when he appeared at Thames Magistrates earlier this month.

According to The Mail On Sunday, Tamara jetted to Gstaad without Jay earlier this month to meet with her billionaire father Bernie for crisis talks over the situation.

A source said: Shes taking advice from some very serious lawyers. She was terribly confused and upset at first, but things are becoming a little clearer now.'

Jay, who did not enter a plea during his first hearing, is due back in court on April 6.

Trouble: The reported tension comes as Jay (pictured above heading to Thames Magistates Court on March 16) is facing charges of assisting a cocaine trafficker who was on the run from police

No united front: The City Trader was also not spotted arriving for their daughter's second birthday party in central London on Sunday

Meeting with dad: Tamara reportedly jetted to Gstaad without Jay earlier this month to meet with her billionaire father Bernie for crisis talks over the situation

The pair married in June, 2013 after a whirlwind romance and famously shocked London society with her vulgar 7million nuptials in the South of France.

Over 150 guests were invited to the lavish three-day event, with the couple famously downing shots and jumping in the sea at the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat as they laid on a free bar for their partying pals.

Tamara welcomed Sophia in March, 2014, and has relished being a mother, taking her daughter almost everywhere with her.

Gushing about her tot to Hello! magazine, she explained: 'I'm sorry, but I'm completely obsessed with Sophia. I love her so much I'm like a crazy woman.

'I've never felt like this before and I'm so much happier. I've never been this happy in my life.'
Cara Delevingne may have deliberately skipped the London-New York-Milan-Paris circuit during Fashion Month, but she's recreating the route for business this week.

The supermodel, who explained her decision to step back from modelling last month, jetted to the States via Paris on Wednesday, after little more than 24 hours in the French capital from London.

Cara was flying solo, for once separated from her beloved girlfriend St Vincent, but stood out in her characteristic tomboy-meets-rock-star style when she walked through departures.

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Looking cool: Cara Delevingne cut a casual figure as she arrived at Orly airport in Paris for a flight to New York

Cutting a glum figure beneath round shades, the superstar wore her hands in the coat pockets on a masculine blazer.

And to offset the tailored look, Cara chose comfort in a pair of jogging bottoms with trainers and a basic white T-shirt.

Cara's look continued a low-fuss theme when she chose to pull back her messy tresses with a head scarf.

Casual combination: The supermodel teamed a long blazer jacket with jogging bottoms and trainers

Have you got everything? The Enchantress actress looked to be having a final check of her purse before she headed inside to catch her flight

Packed in Paris: The model looked to have a sizable amount of luggage for her trip to NYC

She was racking up yet more air miles with British Airways, as she addressed New York on her schedule following only a short stay in Paris.

Cara left France alone and even though she'd been accompanied at London's Eurostar departures by girlfriend St Vincent, the musician didn't seem to have accompanied her.

St Vincent - real name Annie Clark - and Cara were spotted leaving the model-turned-actress' London home before heading off with suitcases.

Stripped back look: The model and actress allowed her naturally striking features to come to the fore - opting to wear minimal make-up for her transatlantic jaunt

Cool customer: Cara made sure that she had a touch of an A-List look about her, as she donned a pair of over-sized oval shades for her jaunt through the terminal

Racking up the air miles: It's been only a short trip in Paris before travelling to the States

Busy bee: The star seemed to leave the French city alone, demonstrably not with girlfriend St Vincent

Short stop: She has kept her cards close to her chest on forthcoming work projects

Model turned actress: Cara has taken a step back from the fashion world in recent months

Girlfriend out alone: Cara left France alone and even though she'd been accompanied at London's Eurostar departures by girlfriend St Vincent, the musician didn't seem to have accompanied her

Cara has kept relatively quiet on the projects she has in the pipeline, aside from penning an explanation as to why she's taken a step back from the fashion world.

After bagging parts in Paper Towns, Suicide Squad and Pan in 2015, the star told TIME: 'I was nearly 20 and had been modeling for several years.

'My vantage point had changedand I had changed. I knew I had to reevaluate my life and my goals for my future.

'I didnt want to resent fashion or my success. The process didnt happen overnight, but it was imperative for me to preserve my integrity.'

Stylish couple: St. Vincent looked as chic as her model girlfriend as she headed on her way

One final check: Helped by an attendant Cara's transition through arrivals appeared to run smoothly

A wheelie chilled time: The Paper Towns star looked completely at ease as she wheeled a small piece of hand luggage along, expertly balancing a quilted Chanel bag on top of it

Off she goes: Cara strode through the airport looking ever so stylish

Busy lady: The model turned actress will continue working on her various projects in the Big Apple

Stunner: St. Vincent added a slick of red lipstick to her ensemble to help make the blue jacket pop

Pointing things out: St Vincent gave a bold point of her finger as she headed through the airport
Michelle Heaton certainly set the bar high on glamour on Wednesday night.

The television personality slipped into a chic fishtail floor-sweeper to attend the UK Charity Gala of Despite The Falling Snow at London's May Fair Hotel.

With a simple monochrome palette, the brunette let her striking crimson lipstick do the talking as she hit the red carpet alone.

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Flying solo: Michelle Heaton looked especially elegant as she hit the red carpet for the UK Charity Gala of Despite The Falling Snow at London's May Fair Hotel on Wednesday night

The stunning former Liberty X singer accentuated her curves with a narrow white waistband and volume at the bottom of her dress to balance out her slimline shape.

Michelle's neckline was high for the night, leaving her slender shoulders bare and her hair in a mass of glossy curls at the nape.

A short and subtle train followed the mum-of-two into the venue, while a super-sexy side split on the black and white number gave a subtle edge to her photocall look.

Monochrome: The brunette looked incredible in a black and white fishtail frock

Liberty X Factor: Her slim build had curves added with a fishtail skirt and a narrow white waistband

Red-lipped and sultry: The one colour that she added was in her striking beauty look

Bold beauty: Chloe Sims was also in attendance, looking bold in a scarlet red dress

Bardot-style: The red frock sat off her shoulders to leave her shoulders bare

Hot on the heels of the glamorous gala attendee was reality TV star Chloe Sims, who couldn't be missed in scarlet red.

The TOWIE star offset her platinum locks, which were twisted up into an elegant chignon, with a Bardot-style neckline that draped at the back to add detail to the dress.

Chloe cleverly colour-matched her clutch bag to the frock and carried a claret box clutch that pulled the elegant ensemble together superbly.

Sinitta, meanwhile, seemed to opt for a similar shade of red with her slinky negligee-style garment that hung off her frame.

Also in red: Sinitta also opted for a striking shade, which was a sunset red-orange

Party girl: The television personality looked fiery in a satin number with silver shoes

Something in common: Simon Cowell's close confidante would also have something in common with fellow attendee Jackie St Clair, who similarly used to date music mogul Simon

The 52-year-old was looking in impeccable shape, as always, and fluttered large lashes with a contrasting red shade on her lips to ramp up the glamour in the beauty department.

Simon Cowell's close confidante would also have something in common with fellow attendee Jackie St Clair, who similarly used to date music mogul Simon.

With something of a colourful flair about her, Jackie wore a patterned dress with perspex shoes tipped in neon orange.

The duo were part of an eclectic guestlist that night, because Monica Lewinsky was among the stars in attendance.

Unexpected guest: Monica Lewinsky added to an ecclectic guestlist at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund gala

Glamorous: She teamed cobalt shoes with a little black lace dress and a broad smile

The former White House intern was there with others for a fundraising premiere of book-to-big-screen title Despite The Falling Snow.

Shamim Sharif's film - who was the original author of the 2004 thriller - is a love story about a female spy who falls for the idealistic politician she's stealing secrets from during the Cold War in Moscow.

The April 2016 release stars Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation actress Rebecca Ferguson as well as Charles Dance and Antje Traue.

Wednesday night's event was held in aid of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

Teaming up: On the red carpet, Monica teamed up with Heather Kerzner for photographs

Gal posse: (From left) Heather, Lisa Tchenguiz and Monica were having a giggle

Handsome couple: Ambassador of Brazil to the UK Eduardo dos Santos and a friend hit the red carpet

Dazzling: Lady Tina Green was looking dazzling in a black sequinned trouser suit

Cute duo: Michelle caught up with old friend Lizzie Cundy (left) at the do

Cheers! Former Apprentice star Margaret Mountworth raised a glass to the charity
Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure.

WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more.
She's the home-grown Aussie star who made it big in Hollywood.

But Nicole Kidman hasn't forgotten her roots and has returned to her hometown of Sydney this week for the Easter holidays - joined by her two adorable daughters Sunday Rose, seven, and Faith Margaret, four.

The Moulin Rouge! star, 48, looked stunning in minimal make-up as she wrapped up in a stylish navy blue blazer over a polo neck jumper while arriving at the airport on Thursday.

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Homecoming: Australian actress Nicole Kidman was spotted arriving at Sydney Airport with her daughters Sunday Rose, seven, (R) and Faith Margaret, four, (L) on Thursday - as she returns Down Under to celebrate the Easter holiday with her family

The actress - who was born in Hawaii but raised in New South Wales - put on an age-defying display as she walked through arrivals with her young family.

Concealing her gaze behind aviator-style sunglasses, Nicole looked in happy and youthful spirits as she protectively held her two daughters' hands.

Smiling for the cameras, she finished off her everyday chic style with a pair of skinny denim jeans and dark blue high heels.

High flyer: Opting for minimal makeup in a blue blazer, Nicole held hands with daughters Sunday Rose and Faith while making her way through arrivals - as her husband Keith Urban is expected to join them on Friday

Back home! Concealing her gaze behind aviator-style sunglasses, Nicole looked in happy and youthful spirits as she protectively held her two daughters' hands upon her arrival in New South Wales

However, she was not joined by her husband, country star Keith Urban - as he is expected to reunite with Nicole and their children on Friday after wrapping his American Idol judging duties.

Meanwhile, Nicole looked every inch the confident mum as she led her smartly dressed, lookalike girls Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret through the crowds.

The trio were later seen stepping out of the busy airport, climbing into a waiting black Range Rover and driving away.

Family reunion: Nicole, Keith and their two children are visiting Sydney to spend the Easter break with the actress' mother Janelle, who lives on the city's North Shore

Looking great at 48! Dressed in skinny jeans and high heels, Nicole put on an age-defying display as she walked through arrivals with her young family

Before setting off, however, Nicole gave one final wave to the photographers as a member of airport staff accompanied her and the kids to the vehicle.

While her main reason for coming to Sydney is to spend the Easter break with her mother Janelle, it has been rumoured the Oscar-winner is also in talks to star the new series of Foxtel crime drama Top Of The Lake: China Doll, The Daily Telegraph reports.

While still unconfirmed, if all goes to plan this would be her first appearance in an Australian TV drama since her breakthrough performance in Network Ten's 1989 mini-series Bangkok Hilton.

How does she do it? Concealing her gaze behind aviator-style sunglasses, Nicole looked remarkably youthful and fresh-faced following the long-haul flight

From a land Down Under: Nicole was born in Hawaii to Australian parents Janelle and Antony Kidman - who were both in the States on educational visas - but was raised in Sydney from age four onwards

Catching up: Nicole's main reason for coming to Sydney is to spend the Easter break with her mother Janelle; her father Antony died in a Singapore hotel in 2014

But it was also claimed that Nicole's family reunion will likely be brief - as she is due to jet out again on Tuesday to continue filming HBO comedy series Big Little Lies in Los Angeles.

The show is an adaptation of the best-selling book by Australian author Liane Moriaty, and also co-stars Reese Witherspoon.

Nicole has previously told how she loves returning to Australia because her biological daughters get to spend time with their grandparents.

Double duties? It has been rumoured the Oscar-winner is also in talks to star in the new series of Foxtel crime drama Top Of The Lake: China Doll while in Sydney, The Daily Telegraph reports

Leading the way: Clutching a stylish, black handbag, Nicole put on a leggy display as she walked to her waiting Range Rover before being whisked away

See you later! Before setting off, Nicole gave one final wave to the photographers as a member of airport staff accompanied her and the kids to the vehicle

Leaving so soon? It was also claimed that Nicole's family reunion will likely be brief - as she is due to jet out again on Tuesday to continue filming HBO comedy series Big Little Lies in Los Angeles
Obama condemns 'outrageous' Brussels attacks

President Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous" attacks Tuesday in Brussels that killed about 35 people, saying the United States would do everything in its power to hunt down those responsible.

"We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world," he said, speaking in the Cuban capital Havana.

A series of explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, also injuring more than 200 in the latest attacks to rock Europe.

A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows damage to the front of Brussels airport in Zaventem Dirk Waem (BELGA/AFP)

Obama, on a landmark trip to communist-run Cuba, spoke by telephone to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to express his condolences and America's full support, the White House said.

"The thoughts and the prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium and we stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people," said Obama.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible, and this is yet another reminder that the world must unite."

Security was tightened across Europe after the attacks and there were similar moves in New York and Washington, where US authorities deployed counterterrorism reinforcements and the National Guard to airports and stations.
US 'reassessing' China's part in naval drill

The United States said it is "reassessing" China's participation in a large naval drill in the Pacific this year, amid tensions with Beijing over maritime claims.

China took part in RIMPAC -- the largest international naval exercises in the Pacific involving some 20 countries every two years under US leadership -- for the first time in 2014.

But soon after China's initial participation, aimed at reducing distrust, renewed incidents caused tensions to flare up anew.

China took part in RIMPAC -- the largest international naval exercises in the Pacific involving some 20 countries every two years under US leadership -- for the first time in 2014 MC1 Shannon E. Renfroe (US NAVY/AFP/File)

China's land reclamation and military buildup in the South China Sea have drawn international condemnation, including from the United States.

The Chinese "have an invitation for RIMPAC and we will continue to review that," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee.

"Our strategy in the Asia Pacific is not to exclude anyone, but to keep the security architecture going there, in which everyone participates," he testified at a hearing.

"China is, however, self-isolating... that's why all these partners are coming to us."

"We are constantly reassessing" the opportunity to have China participate in the exercise, Carter added.

US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris has warned lawmakers that Beijing was "clearly militarizing" the South China Sea.

Washington recently struck an accord with the Philippines, making it possible for US forces to rotate through five bases there -- including those close to the South China Sea.

China claims virtually all the South China Sea, despite conflicting partial claims by Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

It has been asserting its claim by occupying more reefs and outcrops in these waters, and building artificial islands, including airstrips on some of them.
From Cuba, history-laden trip takes Obama to Argentina

After bidding to turn the page on the Cold War in Cuba, President Barack Obama arrived early Wednesday in Argentina, where campaigners hope he will acknowledge US backing for its former dictatorship.

After calling for freedom and democracy as he stood alongside the Cuba's Communist leaders, Obama has touched down in another Latin American nation with a history of delicate relations with Washington.

After a series of historic but at times awkward public appearances with Cuba's Communist leader Raul Castro, Obama will on Wednesday meet Argentina's new free market-friendly President Mauricio Macri.

US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha walk off Air Force One upon arrival in Buenos Aires Nicholas Kamm (AFP)

Tuesday's deadly bomb blasts in Brussels prompted Argentina to put its security forces on high alert as it prepared for Obama's visit.

Macri has reached out to Washington and other foreign powers since taking office in December after years of combative relations under his leftist predecessors.

But the delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America's violent history will rear its head during his visit to Buenos Aires -- after the Havana visit touched on sensitivities over human rights in Cuba.

On Thursday morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the "dirty war" by Argentina's dictators against dissidents.

Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that started the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Declassified documents have shown that top US officials backed the coup.

Obama arrived in the wee hours of Wednesday with First Lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters and his mother in law and were received by Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra.

Later in the day he holds talks with Macri, lays a wreath at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and meets with local people before attending a state dinner.

- US and the 'dirty war' -

As well as becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in almost a century, Obama hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America, tarnished by involvement in coups and death squads.

Obama's administration said last week it would declassify military and intelligence records linked to Argentina's "dirty war."

"We're determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

The documents may shed more light on US involvement in "Operation Condor," a plan among secret police agencies across South America to target leftists and dissidents.

The sensitive date of the Argentina visit angered some victims' groups. Several groups have called on Obama to apologize for US support of the military regime.

But four opinion polls showed a majority of Argentines approved of Obama's visit.

Obama "believes that part of moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past," said Ben Rhodes, one of the president's top advisers.

"He will be more than willing to speak to what took place 40 years ago, to the suffering that took place after the coup and to the complicated history between the United States and Argentina as it relates to those events."

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, 84, an Argentine human rights activist who like Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recalled that US military academies trained troops from Argentina and other Latin American regimes in torture techniques.

"It would be good to have a public recognition of United States interventionism," he said.

- US 'vulture' funds -

Some small leftist groups planned demonstrations against Obama's visit in Buenos Aires and in the Andean lake country resort town of Bariloche, where the Obamas are due to head on Thursday afternoon for a few hours' leisure time.

Some vowed to protest in anger at the treatment of Argentina by its US creditors.

Macri's government has reached a settlement with US hedge funds that his predecessor Cristina Kirchner branded "vultures."

The Obamas are scheduled to leave Argentina on Thursday night.

The delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America's violent history will rear its head during US President Barack Obama's visit to Buenos Aires Yamil Lage (AFP)

As well as becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in almost a century, Barack Obama hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America Yuri Cortez (AFP)
German president criticises communism on China visit

Germany's president on Wednesday condemned the illegitimacy of Communist rule in East Germany and lauded the benefits of human rights in a provocative speech to Shanghai university students.

China has been ruled by the Communist Party as a one-party state since 1949. Under the current administration of President Xi Jinping, authorities have tightened control over academics, lawyers and the media, activists say.

Drawing on Germany's history and his own life in the former East Germany, President Joachim Gauck, whose role is largely ceremonial, condemned "dictatorship" to students at Shanghai's prestigious Tongji University.

German President Joachim Gauck gives a speech at Tongji University in Shanghai on March 23, 2016 Johannes Eisele (AFP)

"Most people were neither happy nor liberated," he said of East Germany under Communist rule. "And the entire system lacked proper legitimacy.

"Free, equal and secret public elections were not held. The result was a lack of credibility, which went hand in hand with a culture of distrust between the rulers and those they ruled," he added, according to an official English translation of his speech.

"It was a state that, as part of the union of Communist countries dependent on the Soviet Union, silenced its own people, locked them up and humiliated those who refused to comply with the will of the leaders."

His outspoken comments are a marked contrast to most diplomatic visitors to China, who prefer to focus in public on the benefits of trade ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Gauck, who was in the commercial hub Shanghai as part of an official visit, said Germany was "concerned" about recent news regarding China's civil society though he gave no specific examples.

"Vibrant and active civil society always means an innovative and flexible society," he said.

He also told the students that academic freedom could benefit society.

"A university has to be a place of unhampered research and free and frank discussion," he said, speaking in German with translation into Chinese to an audience of around 100 students and professors.

"This freedom is a precious commodity."

Gauck dismissed the notion that human rights as outlined under a United Nations declaration were a "Western product".

"Even if the universal applicability of human rights does not yet mean that every person can de facto enjoy those rights... they can nonetheless lay claim to them," he said.

Last month, China rejected as "irresponsible" comments by UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein calling for the immediate release of rights lawyers and activists detained by Beijing.

Zeid had raised concerns about the arrests of an estimated 250 lawyers and activists in a crackdown since July.

A day before Gauck's speech in Shanghai, the English-language edition of the Global Times newspaper said that human rights were not a priority and were only a "trivial matter" for his visit.
'Veep' star dumbstruck as Australian PM imitates US comedy

The writers of American political comedy "Veep" thought it was the most meaningless slogan they could conjure up, but in Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull looks to have adopted it with relish.

In a strange case of life apparently imitating art, Turnbull has taken to explaining his government as providing "continuity" and "change".

The line is eerily close to the "Continuity with Change" slogan used by the fictional politician Selina Meyer in the political satire "Veep".

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus attends the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles in January Alberto E. Rodriguez (Getty/AFP/File)

"I am dumbstruck," the star of the show, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, tweeted in response on Tuesday.

"Veep" writer Simon Blackwell was more severe.

"In S4 of Veep we came up with the most meaningless election slogan we could think of. Now adopted by Australian PM," he tweeted.

Australian politicians are usually known for more colourful language, whether it's a lawmaker threatening to kill Johnny Depp's pet dogs, aggressively "shirtfront" Vladimir Putin over the downing of MH17, or get the PM in a testicle-grabbing "squirrel grip".

But Turnbull is trying to convince voters how his government is different to that of his conservative Liberal Party colleague Tony Abbott who he removed from office in an internal party room coup last September.

"There is continuity," he admitted on Monday to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"So, as you go from one Liberal prime minister to another, you have continuity and you have change and there has been a lot of change," he said.

He followed up the next day with a radio interview in which he said: "There is continuity and there is change and there are many areas of change."

And he repeated it again Tuesday to reporters: "The bottom line is there is continuity and there is change."

It's not the first time multi-millionaire Turnbull has been connected with a American political show, following the tongue-in-cheek suggestion after his ascension to power that he and his high-powered wife Lucy could be compared to the ruthless characters of Frank and Claire Underwood from "House of Cards".

"I have nothing in common with Frank Underwood other than that we both use a rowing machine," Turnbull joked at the time.
US strike kills 40 Qaeda militants at Yemen camp

A US air strike on an Al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen has killed at least 40 fighters in a major blow to the jihadists who have been expanding their territory in the war-torn country.

The extremists have exploited a security vacuum in the Arabian Peninsula nation since Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels seized the capital in September 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee.

Tuesday's strike in Hajr in the vast southeastern province of Hadramawt killed at least 40 militants and wounded 25 more, a provincial official told AFP.

The US has launched several drone attacks on Al Qaeda fighter based in Yemen

A tribal source, who confirmed the toll, said the casualties were new Al-Qaeda recruits training at the camp, adding that "other fighters survived the strike."

Dozens of Al-Qaeda militants were seen rushing to hospital to donate blood, according to residents.

Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, and has carried out deadly attacks on the West in the past.

It has taken advantage of the war between the Huthis and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition to expand in the south, seizing parts of Hadramawt including its provincial capital Mukalla in April last year.

- 'Unacceptable' expansion -

The United States has waged a long-standing drone war against AQAP militants, killing several of its leaders.

But Tuesday's raid by American military planes was unusual because US strikes usually target a small number of suspected Al-Qaeda members while they are travelling in a vehicle.

"The Americans felt that Al-Qaeda has started to expand its influence in an unacceptable manner after it established fixed camps to train its supporters," said Mustafa al-Ani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Centre.

He said Tuesday's strike was the first by Washington in nearly a year against a fixed Al-Qaeda position in Hadramawt.

The Pentagon said the camp was used by more than 70 fighters.

The raid "deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks" that threaten US citizens, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," he added.

"It demonstrates our commitment to defeating Al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven."

Formed in 2009 when Al-Qaeda in Yemen merged with its Saudi counterpart, AQAP was behind the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbour that killed 17 American sailors.

The group also has a record of abducting foreigners, including US journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie who died during a failed rescue bid by US commandos in 2014.

More recently, AQAP claimed responsibility for the deadly January 7, 2015 attack in Paris on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, targeted for its cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

- 'Qaeda could strike back' -

The group could strike back "if the human losses were as big as the Americans say," Ani warned.

AQAP, which often attacks both Yemeni loyalists and rebels, has expanded its presence in the country's south in recent months while the Saudi-led coalition was focused on fighting the Huthis and their allies.

In the past few weeks, Al-Qaeda and the rival Islamic State group have tightened their grip on parts of the main southern city of Aden where the government has set up its temporary base.

The Arab coalition, which has waged a nearly year-long bombing campaign against the Huthis, began targeting jihadists for the first time last week in Aden.

In Abyan, another southern province, tribesmen captured a suspected local Al-Qaeda chief identified as Hilmi al-Zinji before handing him over to authorities in the government-held region, security officials said.

Fearing further strikes, Al-Qaeda militants on Wednesday evacuated public buildings they had occupied in Mukalla, and deployed five military vehicles around a hospital in the city where wounded militants were taken.

The World Health Organization says fighting in Yemen since March 2015 has claimed the lives of almost 6,300 people.

Yemen Jean Michel CORNU, Vincent LEFAI (AFP)

The extremists have exploited a security vacuum in the Arabian Peninsula nation since Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels seized the capital in September 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee Ahmad al-Basha (AFP)
Cruz scores Bush endorsement, Clinton blasts Republicans

Jeb Bush endorsed fellow Republican Ted Cruz for president Wednesday while Democrat Hillary Clinton thrashed her GOP rivals for "counterproductive" rhetoric that alienates global allies.

Cruz's support from Bush -- the most prominent Republican establishment figure to back the ultra-conservative Texas senator -- is the latest bid by party heavyweights to stop Donald Trump's nomination march.

It comes after Cruz's blow-out win in Mormon-dominated Utah's primary offset Trump's victory in Arizona on Tuesday, underscoring once again the deep divisions the presidential race has opened in the Republican Party.

Jeb Bush (R) described Ted Cruz as a "principled conservative" Robyn Beck (AFP/File)

Bush, whose own White House hopes were crushed under the Trump wave, dipped back into the race to give Cruz a boost and take a shot at the frontrunner.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee, most likely Hillary Clinton, this fall," said Bush, who quit the race last month.

"That is the only way we can reverse President Obama's failed domestic and foreign policy agenda and turn our country around."

The former Florida governor is Republican royalty, the son and brother of presidents. But it is unclear how much sway his endorsement has with an angry, anti-establishment electorate in a topsy-turvy election year.

As Tuesday's contests played out, Trump and Cruz deepened their bitter feud by publicly clashing over their wives after an anti-Trump group unveiled a controversial campaign ad that shows Trump's wife Melania in a photo from a magazine shoot in 2000, provocatively lying naked and handcuffed to a briefcase.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Trump posted to his seven million Twitter followers.

It was unclear to what he was alluding.

Cruz shot back that if Trump tried to "attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."

Amid the sniping, Clinton presented herself as stately and serious at a counter-terrorism speech at Stanford University in the wake of Tuesday's bombings in Brussels that killed 31 people.

The former secretary of state laid out a comprehensive outline for improving intelligence-sharing and border controls in Europe, and called for strengthening America's global network of allies.

It was a marked contrast with Trump and Cruz, who seized the moment to talk tough once more on immigration.

Cruz called for US law enforcement to be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," a plan Trump called "a good idea."

- 'Christmas in the Kremlin' -

Clinton on Wednesday denounced the strident talk.

"Slogans aren't a strategy. Loose cannons tend to misfire," she said at Stanford in apparent reference to her rivals' sometimes overheated rhetoric about refugees, Muslims and combatting Islamic State group extremists.

"When Republican candidates like Ted Cruz call for treating American Muslims like criminals, and for racially profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, it's wrong, it's counterproductive, it's dangerous."

Clinton also berated Trump for suggesting NATO is obsolete. Turning America's back on the alliance, she warned, "would reverse decades of bipartisan American leadership and send a dangerous signal to friend and foe alike."

Russia's President Vladimir Putin "already hopes to divide Europe," she said.

"If Mr. Trump gets his way, it will be like Christmas in the Kremlin. It will make America less safe and the world more dangerous."

Tuesday's voting gave the candidates another opportunity to pile up delegates on the way to their party nominating conventions, but it did not dramatically alter the basic outlines of what has been the most divisive race in a generation.

Trump's main objective is to amass the 1,237 delegates needed to win his party's nomination outright and thwart the party establishment's bid to stop him.

Following Tuesday's votes, he stood at 741 delegates, compared to 461 for Cruz and 145 for third-place candidate Ohio Governor John Kasich, according to a CNN tally.

On the Democratic side, Clinton easily defeated Democratic rival Bernie Sanders in Arizona. But her victory was tempered by Sanders's impressive wins in Idaho and Utah, which enabled the Vermont senator to cut into Clinton's delegate lead, if only slightly.

Next up are Democratic votes Saturday in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state, and primaries for both parties in Wisconsin on April 5.

US presidential election

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump insisted that Muslims were "not reporting" suspected attackers Rhona Wise (AFP/File)

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders had much-needed victories in Utah and Idaho
IS claims murder of Christian convert in Bangladesh

The Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the murder of a Christian convert in northern Bangladesh, according to a US-based monitoring group.

Police said at least two attackers with sharp weapons on Tuesday killed 68-year-old Hossain Ali, who converted to Christianity from Islam in 1999.

In a communique posted on Twitter, IS said the murder was "a lesson to others", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity on the Internet.

In recent months militants claiming to be soldiers of the Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on converts and minorities including Shiite, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus Munir Uz Zaman (AFP/File)

"A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able, by the grace of Allah the Almighty, to kill the apostate (Ali), who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity," the statement said.

In recent months IS has said it was behind a series of attacks on religious converts and minorities in Bangladesh including Shiite, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus.

The Bangladesh government denies IS is present in the country and police on Wednesday rejected the group's claim of responsibility for the latest killing, insisting it was "bogus".

"We're investigating the killing. A case has been filed and we've arrested five men for questioning," Tobarak Ullah, police chief in the northern district of Kurigram where the killing took place, told AFP.

Last week IS said it had killed a Shiite convert from Sunni Islam in the southwestern town of Kaliganj.

At least five secular bloggers and publishers have also been hacked to death since January last year, with those killings claimed by Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, another jihadist group.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has blamed the banned domestic militant group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh for the upsurge in deadly violence.
HSUS law enforcement training helped Creek County, Oklahoma, Deputy Sherriff Dru Davis identify signs of abuse and neglect at a property with 28 dogs. Photo by Gina Gardner/Humane Society of Tulsa

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Ive written recently about two outrageous and closely related maneuvers in Oklahoma: the first, an effort by the farm lobby and its allies in the puppy mill and cockfighting domains to pass a sweeping and overreaching constitutional amendment by referendum to establish a right to farm, and the second, an effort in the state legislature to bar national animal protection groups with a policy-making agenda from raising money in the state.

The Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the pork and cattle lobbies opposed an anti-cockfighting ballot measure in that state more than a decade ago, and in the years since theyve worked to overturn the states ban on horse slaughter and to gut anti-puppy mill rules established not too long ago. Now they want to create a freeze-frame of the current legal standards for animals used in agriculture  no meaningful rules on puppy mills, no rules in the state on extreme confinement of farm animals, no meaningful restrictions on dumping animal waste into the environment  and they want to forbid us and a host of other organizations and stakeholders from changing those standards from this point forward.

If their right to farm measure wasnt absurdly bold and overreaching enough, theyve gone to their key allies in the state legislature to try to prevent us from raising money to fight them or to advance our broad animal protection agenda. They want to bar fundraising by groups who care for animals and about animals  a legislative affront so offensive that even the bills author conceded to Tulsa World reporter Barbara Hoberock that it probably is unconstitutional.

Yet while all of this anti-democratic, anti-First Amemdment activity is going on, The HSUS is not only working with just about every food retailer in the nation to eliminate extreme confinement practices everywhere, we are also working in Oklahoma itself on a wide range of lifesaving programs for other animals.

We recently conducted anti-cruelty training programs for more than 700 law enforcement personnel throughout the state. And the training is already saving lives on the ground.

Last week, after receiving training from The HSUS on how to properly investigate animal cruelty, Pottawatomie County Sheriffs deputies served a search warrant at a home and rescued eight starving horses. Unfortunately, they were too late for three horses who had already perished. A portion of the training by The HSUS dealt with equine investigations, specifically how to body-score a horse and address malnourished equines. The training also provided resources for handling a large animal seizure and helped the sheriffs department connect with Blazes Tribute Equine Rescue who helped transport and house the horses.

In Creek County, Oklahoma, Deputy Sheriff Dru Davis found himself on a property with 28 dogs. Davis had undergone HSUS law enforcement training just days before, and with that knowledge at the top of his mind, he could readily identify signs of neglect and abuse. Most of the dogs at the private home were severely emaciated, including several malnourished nursing mothers. There were dead puppies among the living. Davis said he found contact information for Gina Gardner of the Humane Society of Tulsa, one of our Emergency Placement Partners, from his folder of HSUS resources and an evidence kit given to him at the training, and called for help. Gardner and her team helped him remove the dogs from the property: the owners relinquished 21 and the remaining were spayed and neutered and received medical treatment before being returned to the owners, with the agreement that Davis would check in regularly on their welfare. Davis said that had it not been for the HSUS training he would not have known what to do.

The folks who want to halt progress for animal welfare  whether for companion animals or horses or farm animals or any other creature in need and deserving mercy  are standing against the tide of history. When they try to push us out, we just work to become more rooted in the state. Were focused more and more on Oklahoma, and for all the right reasons. Animals there need us, and so many people in the state really care. They wont be intimidated by folks who want to choke off the debate about animal welfare, in order to get free rein to abuse as they please.
Sri Lanka's airline unable to repay $1 bn debt: PM

Sri Lanka's loss-making national carrier will not be able to repay its debt of nearly $1 billion, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament Wednesday.

With its own finances in a rocky state, the government will decide within six weeks whether it can afford to take over SriLankan Airlines' debt repayments, the premier said.

State enterprise development minister Kabir Hashim, who oversees the carrier, earlier this month put its debt at $933 million but on Wednesday it emerged the figure could be higher.

SriLankan Airlines has debts of nearly $1 billion Lakruwan Wanniarachchi (AFP/File)

"The minister says the actual debt is likely to be much more than what we initially feared," Wickremesinghe said during a parliamentary debate on the economy.

"SriLankan Airlines will not be able to repay this debt. We will have to take a decision on this."

A mounting debt crisis of its own has forced the government to request a bailout of its own from the International Monetary Fund.

The beleaguered national carrier has drawn controversy in recent years after an independent investigator last year found evidence of serious corruption in a $2.3 billion deal to buy Airbus aircraft.

Wickremesinghe said Wednesday he was still reviewing the deal, reached under the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapakse despite huge losses at the airline.

The deal is also being probed by the police Financial Crime Investigation Division.

Last month ratings agency Fitch cut Sri Lanka's credit rating by one notch to B+ with a negative outlook over its debt crisis.
Syria army retakes Palmyra citadel, IS number two 'dead'

The Islamic State group suffered a double setback in Syria Friday as army troops recaptured half of the ancient city of Palmyra and the Pentagon said the jihadists' second-in-command was killed in a US raid.

The seizure by Russian-backed Syrian troops of half of Palmyra including the hilltop citadel and the airport came nearly a year after IS overran the UNESCO world heritage site.

The Syrian regime's gains came after US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed to intensify the drive for a political settlement in the war-torn nation.

The seizure by Russian-backed Syrian troops of half of Palmyra including the hilltop citadel and the airport came nearly a year after IS overran the UNESCO world heritage site

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said the death this week of Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, described as IS's number two, would hamper the jihadists' ability to conduct operations in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

He said the US was "systematically eliminating" IS's cabinet, referring also to the killing earlier this month of "Omar the Chechen", described by Washington as the jihadists' defence minister.

"The momentum of this campaign is now clearly on our side," said Carter.

However, separate attacks by IS in Iraq and Yemen Friday claimed over 50 lives, with observers warning that as their self-proclaimed "caliphate" shrinks towards extinction, its fighters are likely to ramp up suicide attacks on civilian targets.

A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people at a local football tournament south of Baghdad, while in Aden three suicide bombings at security checkpoints killed 22 people, including 10 civilians.

- 'An ancient treasure' -

Syrian state television said loyalist troops seized the Palmyra citadel "after inflicting many losses in the ranks of the terrorist group Daesh," using another name for IS.

It said the army had also cut off the main Palmyra-Deir Ezzor highway leading to the Iraqi border.

"Pro-government forces, which have the support in Palmyra of the Russian air force, took control of half of the city as well as the airport," a military source said.

IS has blown up UNESCO-listed temples and looted relics that dated back thousands of years. Built in the 13th century, the citadel is Palmyra's main Islamic-era monument.

Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdelkarim said the army had also "liberated the district of hotels and restaurants as well as the Valley of the Tombs".

He said troops were 600 metres (yards) from the site of the Temple of Bel, which IS destroyed in September, "but it is advancing slowly because of mines and above all to protect the city, which is an ancient treasure."

- Assad still a sticking point -

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 soldiers were killed in fighting and by mines planted by retreating jihadists, while 24 IS militants died in air strikes and clashes.

In Moscow, the defence ministry said Russian warplanes carried out 146 air strikes against "terrorist" targets in Palmyra from March 22 to 24.

Its full recapture would be a major strategic and symbolic victory for President Bashar al-Assad, since whoever holds Palmyra also controls the vast desert extending from central Syria to the Iraqi border.

Despite the football tournament bombing, IS faces mounting pressure in Iraq where the army said on Thursday it had launched a long-awaited offensive to retake second city of Mosul, a key IS hub since 2014.

Iraqi forces cleared roadside bombs and booby traps Friday in villages from which they ousted jihadists a day earlier south of Mosul, officials said.

Friday's fighting for Palmyra came as the latest round of peace talks aimed at ending Syria's five-year war, which has left more than 270,000 people dead, came to a close.

Kerry and Putin, who back different sides in Syria's war, agreed at a rare meeting in Moscow to push for a political settlement, but the future of Assad remains a sticking point.

In Beirut, UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged a speedy end to the war and other Middle East conflicts saying "this is a critical time for the region".

But unless Assad agrees to step down, there are concerns the Syrian opposition could drop out of UN-brokered peace negotiations, which UN envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to restart on April 9.

- 'Jihadists celebrating Brussels' -

The focus of Syria's war appears to have shifted to the battle against IS in Palmyra, nearly a month after a truce between the army and non-jihadist rebels brokered by the United States and Russia came into force.

Global concern over the jihadist threat was further heightened this week by a deadly attack in Brussels that was claimed by IS.

In IS's de facto capital Raqa in northern Syria, "jihadists have been celebrating the Brussels attack all week," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

The group's top religious figure in the city, Abu Ali al-Sharii, led the Friday prayer with a pledge to commit more violence.

"We vow new operations by jihadists in the West," he said, according to the Observatory.

Smoke billows from the Palmyra citadel during a military operation by Syrian troops to retake the ancient city from the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group

Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was the finance minister for the Islamic State group

Islamic States group in Syria and Iraq Jean Michel CORNU, Jonathan JACOBSEN (AFP)
Tomb of Jesus set for restoration work after Easter

The tomb where Jesus is said to have been buried before his resurrection in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is to undergo major restoration, church officials said Wednesday.

The work could begin soon after Orthodox Easter on May 1. Western Christians mark Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, this coming Sunday.

The restoration, entrusted to a Greek team, is expected to be completed in early 2017 and the site will remain open to visitors in the meantime.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City was built in the early 19th century over the site of the cave where Jesus is believed to have been buried Gali Tibbon (AFP/File)

The shrine, several metres tall and wide standing under the church's dome, has for decades been held together by a metal frame.

Its marble slabs have been weakened over the years in part by daily visits by thousands of pilgrims and tourists.

It will be painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt during eight months of restoration work, said the Custody of the Holy Land, which oversees Roman Catholic properties in the area.

Broken or fragile parts will be replaced while marble slabs that can be preserved will be cleaned, and the structure supporting them will be reinforced.

The work is to be funded by the three main Christian denominations of the Holy Sepulchre -- Greek Orthodox, Franciscans and Armenians -- as well as public and private contributions.
Niger leader proposes unity govt after re-election

Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, re-elected for a second term in a controversial weekend poll, on Wednesday proposed forming a unity government with the opposition which boycotted the vote.

"I am ready to put in place a government of national unity with the opposition in order to face the threats facing the people of Niger," he said in an interview with AFP.

"There is not just a security challenge, there are other challenges including economic and social development. All these challenges need a sacred union."

Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou has been in power since 2011 Issouf Sanogo (AFP)

Issoufou won 92 percent of the vote in Sunday's run-off election in the impoverished but uranium-rich West African country, which was marred by low turnout in the face of the opposition boycott.

His sole challenger Hama Amadou, imprisoned since November on shadowy baby trafficking charges, was flown to France for medical treatment just days before the second round.

The electoral commission said Amadou won just seven percent of the ballots cast.

- 'Jolt of energy' -

Issoufou, who took office in 2011, campaigned on pledges to bring prosperity to the country and vowed to prevent further attacks by jihadists in its vast remote north, and Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists to the south.

"The security challenge requires a national jolt of energy and needs all Nigeriens to pull together, including those from the opposition," Issoufou told AFP.

"We need a broad front so we can respond to the concerns and aspirations of our people," he said.

"I am prepared to discuss and debate with everyone, with political parties -- from the majority or the opposition -- and with civil society."

Issoufou, who is due to be sworn in early next month, warned that nations such as Niger were "fragile" and faced serious threats to their security.

"It's an historic moment. We must not underestimate the grave threat against our country's very existence as a nation.

"We are determined to organise ourselves, to unite, to equip our security forces, to pool our resources with neighbouring countries and beyond.... This is a global threat that requires a global response."

He said there was nothing "contradictory" about pursuing security at the same time as development in a country where 76 percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.

"Experience has proved that the three things are linked -- security, development and democracy."

- 'Nothing without security' -

Issoufou said it had been a mistake to "disengage" from security issues as part of structural programmes by organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"That was an mistake. The proof today -- our countries are too weak to defend themselves, any development is impossible.

"Because if there is no security, there is no agriculture, no infrastructure. Nothing can be achieved without security. Investing in security is not throwing money out of the window as one might have thought in the 1980s and 1990s."

Referring to Niger's latest ranking in the Human Development Index, he also pledged to continue efforts to improve agriculture, food, education, health and access to water.

Niger holds the lowest place on the comprehensive Human Development Index drawn up each year by the UN Development Programme.

"We are making progress with a six percent average growth rate over the past five years. My goal is to reach seven percent during my term in office.

And he pledged to double from five to 10 years the average time Nigeriens attend school, ensuring that the "maximum number of Nigeriens go to school and stay there for the maximum length of time".
Kerry in Moscow to sound out Putin on Assad rule

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Wednesday seeking to gauge whether Vladimir Putin is ready to discuss ways to ease Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.

American officials see movement on Assad's future as key to giving momentum to the peace talks being led by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva to end Syria's civil war.

Moscow agreed to bring its ally's representatives to the table for talks with rebel delegates, but the Russian president insists that only Syrian voters can decide Assad's fate.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport on March 23, 2016 Alexander Nemenov (AFP)

Any UN-backed elections would be at least 18 months away -- even if the talks go well -- and, without guarantees of Assad's exit, Syrian opposition leaders may yet baulk.

So Kerry touched down outside Moscow hoping for a sign that Russia -- which has just withdrawn some of the forces it sent to shore up Assad's regime -- may be more flexible.

"What we're looking for, and what weve been looking for for a long time is how are we going to transition away from Assad's leadership," a senior US official told reporters.

Kerry is in regular contact with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, but the top US diplomat knows any change in the Kremlin's posture will only come from Putin himself.

"On the Russian side, there's only one decision maker and you need to be in the room with him to evaluate what's possible," the State Department official said.

- An opening for change? -

The official said a shaky ceasefire between regime and rebel forces and Russia's partial withdrawal could mark an opening for Putin to shift his stance on Assad.

"The question is whether we can get down to brass tacks with the Russians on how to get from here to there in terms of transitioning the government," the official said.

But the American delegation is cautious about predicting a breakthrough, insisting the visit is as much about judging Putin's true stance as convincing him to change it.

Kerry is to meet both Lavrov and Putin on Thursday at the Kremlin. Later on Wednesday he was to meet in Moscow with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Aside from Syria's five-year civil war, Kerry and his hosts were also to address the crisis in Ukraine.

Kerry is to give his support to German and French efforts to convince Putin to rein in pro-Russian separatist rebels and allow the full application of the 2014 Minsk Protocol.
Obama urges unity against terror, vows to wipe out IS

US President Barack Obama urged nations Wednesday to unite against terrorism after the deadly attacks in Brussels and said wiping out the Islamic State extremist group was his "top priority."

The Islamic State claimed responsibility after bombers killed 31 people and wounded 270 at Brussels airport and a metro station on Tuesday, leaving European and world leaders once more grappling for ways to tackle the jihadist threat.

"Groups like ISIL can't destroy us. They can't produce anything. They're not an existential threat to us. They are vicious killers and murderers," Obama said during a visit to Argentina.

US President Barack Obama, pictured on March 23, 2016, urged nations to unite against terrorism David Fernandez (Pool/AFP)

"The United States will continue to offer any assistance that we can to help investigate these attacks and bring attackers to justice. We will also continue to go after ISIL aggressively until it is removed from Syria and removed from Iraq and is finally destroyed," he said.

"The world has to be united against terrorism and we can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security not only of our own people but of people all around the world. So that is the top priority of ours."

Obama spoke alongside his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri at the start of the US president's stop in Argentina, where he arrived following a landmark visit to Cuba.

The two sides in Buenos Aires signed agreements to boost trade and also cooperate on counterterrorism, peacekeeping and health threats such as the Zika virus that has struck Latin America.

- Working to destroy IS -

Belgian prosecutors said two brothers with links to November's major attacks in Paris were among the suicide bombers who struck Brussels.

Prosecutors identified Ibrahim El Bakraoui as one of two men who blew themselves up in the Zaventem airport departure hall while his brother Khalid struck at the Maalbeek metro station in the attacks on the symbolic heart of Europe.

Police stepped up a manhunt for a third airport assailant whose bomb failed to go off.

Ahead of Obama's meeting with Macri, a man claiming to have a bomb threatened to blow up a building six blocks from the presidency in Buenos Aires, witnesses told media.

Police arrested the man, aged in his fifties, and evacuated the building housing a state radio station. No one was reported hurt.

Obama said US airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and operations against their bases in Iraq were "working" to weaken the extremist group.

"We are going to continue to press on them until we have driven them out of their strongholds and until they're destroyed," Obama said.

"While we are doing that, we're also extraordinarily vigilant about preventing attacks in the homeland and working with our allies to prevent attacks in places like Europe, but as I said before, this is difficult work."

US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Argentine President Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires on March 23, 2016 David Fernandez (Pool/AFP)
Yemen warring parties agree April 10 ceasefire

Yemen's warring parties have agreed on a ceasefire from April 10 followed by peace talks, a UN envoy said Wednesday, raising hopes of a breakthrough in a conflict that has devastated the country.

On another front, a US air strike on an Al-Qaeda training camp killed at least 40 fighters in a major blow to the jihadists who have been expanding their territory in the impoverished Arab state.

Violence has escalated in Yemen since September 2014, when Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels stormed the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally recognised government to flee south to the second city of Aden.

Yemeni fighters loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, hold a position during clashes with Shiite Huthi rebels west of the city of Taez, on March 21, 2016 Ahmad Al-Basha (AFP/File)

"The parties to the conflict have agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities beginning April 10 at midnight in advance of the upcoming round of the peace talks, which will take place on April 18 in Kuwait," UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a news conference in New York.

More than 6,300 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition -- which includes Kuwait -- began an air war in March last year to push back the Huthi offensive.

Previous UN-sponsored negotiations between the Huthis and government officials failed to reach a breakthrough, while a ceasefire went into force on December 15 but it was repeatedly violated and the Saudi-led coalition announced an end to the truce on January 2.

Only last month the UN envoy warned that the warring parties were unable to agree on terms for a new round of peace talks, but those divisions appear to have been overcome.

"The aim is to reach an agreement which will end the conflict and allow the resumption of an inclusive political dialogue," Cheikh Ahmed said Wednesday, telling reporters that he had held intense discussions with both the government and the rebels.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216 calls for the rebels to withdraw from seized territories and disarm.

The envoy said he hoped the cessation of hostilities would allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access to millions of suffering Yemenis.

The year-long coalition campaign has faced criticism over civilian casualties.

The UN said earlier this month that Saudi-led raids were responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 3,200 civilian deaths in the Yemen war.

- Dozens 'removed from battlefield' -

Jihadists have exploited the security vacuum to expand in the south of Yemen, seizing parts of Hadramawt including its provincial capital Mukalla in April last year.

The US air strike on Tuesday in Hajr in the vast southeastern province of Hadramawt killed at least 40 militants and wounded 25 more, a provincial official told AFP.

A tribal source, who confirmed the toll, said the casualties were new Al-Qaeda recruits training at the camp.

Dozens of Al-Qaeda militants were seen rushing to hospital to donate blood, according to residents.

Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, and has carried out deadly attacks on the West in the past.

The United States has waged a long-standing drone war against AQAP militants, killing several of its leaders.

But Tuesday's raid by American warplanes was unusual because US strikes usually target a small number of suspected Al-Qaeda members while they are travelling in a vehicle.

The raid "deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks" that threaten US citizens, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield."

In the past few weeks, Al-Qaeda and the rival Islamic State group have tightened their grip on parts of the main southern city of Aden where the government has set up its temporary base.

The Arab coalition began targeting jihadists for the first time last week in Aden.

In Abyan, another southern province, tribesmen captured a suspected local Al-Qaeda chief identified as Hilmi al-Zinji and handed him over to authorities in the government-held region, security officials said.

Fearing further strikes, Al-Qaeda militants on Wednesday evacuated public buildings they had occupied in Mukalla, and deployed five military vehicles around a hospital in the city.

Yemenis check the damage following reported air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in the capital Sanaa on March 23, 2016 Mohammed Huwais (AFP)

Yemeni members of a family stand outside their house which was damaged several months ago in an air-strike by the Saudi-led coalition at a slum in the capital Sanaa, on March 12, 2016 Mohammed Huwais (AFP/File)
Dozen Americans injured in Brussels attacks: US official

A dozen Americans were wounded in the Brussels attacks and "a number" remain unaccounted for including US government employees, the State Department said Wednesday.

No Americans were immediately known to have been among the 31 killed in Tuesday's bomb blasts at Brussels airport and a metro train, but State deputy spokesman Mark Toner cautioned the situation remained "very fluid" and there were growing fears about those who had not been heard from.

Three Mormon missionaries from the United States and a US Air Force member were reported among the 270 people wounded.

Flowers outside the Embassy of Belgium in Washington, DC, March 23, 2016 Saul Loeb (AFP)

His statement came as US Vice President Joe Biden declared that Belgium will prevail over terrorism -- the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the triple bomb attack -- hailing the "incredible courage" of its people.

"At this time we are aware of approximately a dozen US citizens injured in the attacks," Toner said, adding: "We are not aware of any US citizen deaths.

"We must emphasize that a number of US citizens remain unaccounted for and the Kingdom of Belgium has not yet released nationality information for reported fatalities."

He said that Washington was making its own efforts to account for American citizens in Brussels, which hosts the headquarters of NATO and the European Union.

Toner separately told reporters that there were so many Americans either working in Belgium or visiting that it was impossible to give an accurate figure for the number unaccounted for.

"We try to go through that list to try and identify the whereabouts of folks but we're constantly adding to that list as loved ones or family call in to say that they haven't reached or been able to contact someone," he said.

The United States has three diplomatic missions in the city -- its embassy, another for NATO, and one to the EU.

US government personnel or their family members were among the Americans in Belgium unaccounted for, Toner said.

Signing a book of condolence at the Belgian embassy in Washington, Biden paid tribute to the people of Brussels.

"They have backbones like ramrods. Look at them: they're going to school, they're not letting terrorism win.
UN, NGOs express fear for rights groups in Egypt

The United Nations and global rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty urged Egypt on Wednesday to drop a renewed investigation of rights activists that has also strained ties with Washington.

Since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the authorities have led a crackdown on all forms of dissent -- not just Morsi's supporters but also liberal and rights activists.

Rights groups have regularly accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and torture of detainees.

Members of the Egyptian police special forces patrol streets in al-Haram neighbourhood in the southern Cairo Giza district on January 25, 2016 in order to head off potential protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government Mahmoud Khaled (AFP/File)

"NGOs who have played a valuable role in documenting violations and supporting victims will see their activities completely crippled if this continues," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"This will stifle the voices of those who advocate for victims," he said.

Rights group also raised the alarm.

"Egypts civil society is being treated like an enemy of the state, rather than a partner for reform and progress," Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa programme, said in a joint statement issued by 13 global rights groups.

It said that in recent weeks the Egyptian authorities have questioned several human rights workers, barred them from travel and also attempted to freeze their assets.

"The authorities should halt their persecution of these groups and drop the investigation," the statement said.

Five months after the fall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egyptian authorities began an investigation into the funding of local and foreign groups that led to the closure of five international groups, the statement said.

The United States and other European countries condemned the move and evacuated several citizens who were threatened with arrest.

Under Egyptian law, human rights groups operating without legal registration or accepting foreign funding could be jailed for life. Life imprisonment in Egypt amounts to 25 years.

"The Egyptian authorities have moved beyond scaremongering and are now rapidly taking concrete steps to shut down the last critical voices in the countrys human rights community," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that there was a "deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt in recent weeks and months".

His Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry brushed off the criticism, saying the authorities supported civil society in the country.
Wives dragged into fray as Trump-Cruz spat heats up

Donald Trump and his main challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, Ted Cruz, have escalated their bitter feud, taking to social media to clash over two unlikely figures: their wives.

An anti-Trump political group unveiled a controversial campaign ad ahead of Tuesday's votes in Arizona and Utah that uses a photograph of Trump's wife Melania lying provocatively in his custom-fitted jet, naked and handcuffed to a briefcase.

"Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady," read the online ad, posted on Facebook by the group Make America Awesome.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and his wife Melania, pictured on March 3, 2016 Chip Somodevilla (Getty/AFP/File)

"Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

Melania Trump, 45, is a Slovenian-American jewelry designer and former model.

The use of the image, from a GQ magazine photo shoot in 2000 when she was Melania Knauss and not yet married to Trump, angered the billionaire real estate magnate, who made his own veiled threat about Cruz's wife Heidi in a tweet late Tuesday.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Trump posted to his seven million Twitter followers.

Cruz wasted no time firing back.

"Pic of your wife not from us," Cruz tweeted. "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless."

The suggestive ad was apparently part of an effort to sway voters in predominantly Mormon Utah by appealing to the morality of the state's socially conservative population, according to The New York Times.

Cruz comfortably won Utah and Trump finished third behind Ohio Governor John Kasich. Trump easily won Arizona in the day's other Republican contest.

Heidi Cruz, 43, is an investment manager who has taken a leave of absence from her position at Goldman Sachs to hit the campaign trail with her husband.

She swatted away Trump's threat, saying she was "not worried" about his bluster.

"You probably know that most of the things that Donald Trump says has no basis in reality," she told reporters in Wisconsin, which votes April 5.

"We have run our campaign with the principles that Ted and I believe in and a lot of the things that are done from time to time are not from our campaign."
7 dead in clashes west of Libyan capital

At least seven people were killed in clashes Wednesday west of Tripoli between tribesmen and forces loyal to Libya's unrecognised government, an army officer said.

The violence in the village of Touebiya, 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the capital, stemmed from a failed burglary.

Tribesmen attacked the village and burnt down homes, said Colonel Abderrazaq al-Kharmani, an officer with forces that support the unrecognised government in Tripoli.

Libya has descended into political chaos, with two rival governments seeking control, and insecurity since its 2011 revolution which ousted longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File)

"We seized one of their vehicles, destroyed another and killed seven of their fighters," he told AFP.

Kharmani said the confrontation broke out a day after a member of the tribal forces had been beaten to death with a stick by a woman in Touebiya as he tried to rob her home.

The tribesmen had attacked the village seeking to avenge his death, according to the officer.
Equatorial Guinea opposition calls for poll boycott

Equatorial Guinea's Democratic Opposition Front (FOD) Wednesday urged a boycott of next month's presidential election, saying it would be rigged.

"The FOD calls on its supporters and the population not to vote as this election is anti-constitutional," the group's Guillermo Nguema Ela told a news conference in the capital Malabo.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his government "do not respect either the constitution or the law," Ela said.

The Democratic Opposition Front said in a statement that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his government "do not respect either the constitution or the law" after he decreed polling take place in April instead of November Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP/File)

A poll initially slated for November is due to go ahead on April 24 following a presidential decree to that effect. No reason was given for the postponement.

The FOD comprises the main opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), the Popular Union (UP), the Republican Democratic Force (FDR) and a movement seeking autonomy for Bioko, an island with some 300,000 inhabitants off the coast of Cameroon in the Gulf of Guinea.

CPDS secretary general Andres Essono Ondo said numerous "irregularities" surrounded a poll he said would ensure that "President Obiang wins with a big score as a result of fraud."

The CPDS, the only opposition party represented in the former Spanish colony's parliament, said it "will not recognise the president elected in the poll."

Obiang Nguema, 73, has ruled the country with an iron fist for 36 years.

But his regime has regularly come under fire from rights groups for violent suppression of opposition as well as for rampant corruption.

He was re-elected in 2009 with 95.37 of the vote.

The opposition says it abhors the lack of an independent electoral commission as well as the regime's grip on the media.

Interior Minister Clemente Engonga Nguema Onguene, who is also first deputy prime minister, was Monday named head of a government-dominated electoral commission.
Tinder looks to 'swipe' into presidential campaign

Tinder made a name for itself by getting users to "swipe" right or left to find a date. Now it wants to use that idea in the US presidential campaign.

The mobile dating app on Wednesday launched a feature called "Swipe the Vote" that allows users to respond to questions and find a political "match."

Questions include "Keep same-sex marriage legal?" and "Drill for oil and gas in the US?" and users are asked to swipe right or left depending on their answer.

A new Tinder feature called "Swipe the Vote" asks users questions such as "Keep same-sex marriage legal?" and "Drill for oil and gas in the US?" and matches users based on their answers Lionel Bonaventure (AFP/File)

The feature, developed with the nonprofit group Rock the Vote, aims to boost political engagement among young Americans and help them learn more about key issues. Those who want more information can tap on a question and see the details.

"Once you've swiped through ten of the hottest issues, you'll be matched with the candidate who best matches your views," Tinder said on its blog.

"We'll also show you how you compare with other candidates, too! From there, you can share who you matched with on social and -- most importantly -- easily register to vote with Rock the Vote."

The launch comes as some grassroots political activists, notably young women, are reportedly using Tinder to send messages to their matches promoting candidates such as Democrat Bernie Sanders or Republican Marco Rubio, who has now suspended his campaign.

"We've been amazed by the amount of users expressing their political views with matches during this presidential campaign," Tinder said on its blog.
Squash star Ashour saves match point, into British Open last-eight

Ramy Ashour, the most charismatic player of the modern era, produced one of his most extraordinary performances in surviving a 3-9 final game deficit, and saving a match point to reach the quarter-finals of the British Open.

The three-time World Open champion from Egypt eventually needed an hour and three-quarters to win 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 13-11 against Ryan Cuskelly, a very unlucky 15th-ranked Australian.

Ashour was within sight of a routine victory at two games up and 3-2 in the third game, after which his dominance was eroded so continuously during prodigiously long rallies that he was plunging towards the exit at 3-9 down in the fifth game.

Ramy Ashour of Egypt, pictured in Canberra in August 19, 2012, is the most charismatic squash player of the modern era Mark Graham (AFP/File)

In between these giddying extremes of fortunes Cuskelly suffered a cut hand which brought a 12-minute delay, and altered the entire mood and momentum of the contest.

Ashour has never lost from two games up, but he was within an inch or two of that at match point down at 10-11 in the decider, when he produced a flicked backhand volley winner of outrageous quality.

Perhaps even more important to Ashour, whose career has been under prolonged threat from so many injuries, is that he lasted an hour and three-quarters of ferocious action, apparently without harm.

From his perspective that may have been the most encouraging thing of all.

His first match, against Cesar Salazar on Monday, had been "scary", he said.

At any moment he felt he was at risk of another, perhaps career-terminating injury.

"But today I was always moving, back and forth, back and forth - and it didnt hurt my body too much," he added.

"I am just grateful for that, and grateful still to be playing."

On the three match points, two of his own and one against him, he strove to keep his tactics simple. It was a good policy.

Eventually Cuskelly, having played so many fine long rallies and returned so many difficult balls, put a forehand drive down.

The Aussie had been tenacious and mobile and moved the ball around well, and despite his immense disappointment there was very little more that he could have done.

Ashour kissed the floor before leaving.

"I am just pushing a mountain, and it's hard. If the injury has told me anything about myself, it is that I a very strong mentally," he said.

He next plays compatriot Ali Farag, won also won a five-gamer, by 4-11, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4 against Nick Matthew, the third-seeded three-time former champion.

This was less of a surprise than it seems.

Farag has risen to seven in the world after beating three top ten players, including Matthew, en route to winning the Motor City Open title in Detroit in February, and he moved too sharply and fluently in cool conditions against his less than fully fit 35-year-old opponent.

He may even have ended Matthew's career. Afterwards the Englishman said: "I don't think I have been fully fit for a year now, and I have to go away and consider my future.

"I can't go on like this  one wrong movement and my ankle goes again. I have had a great career and I have to work out whether I can come back from this.
Chinese national admits hacking US defense firms

A Chinese national pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from the hacking of trade secrets from US defense contractors, including plans for transport and fighter jets, officials said.

Su Bin, 50, had been charged in a 2014 indictment with hacking into the computer networks of Boeing and other contractors, as part of a scheme to steal plans for the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and C-17 transport aircraft.

In a plea agreement filed in a California federal court, Su admitted to conspiring with two unnamed persons in China from October 2008 to March 2014 to gain unauthorized access to the computer networks of defense firms to obtain "sensitive military information and to export that information illegally from the United States to China," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Su Bin had been charged in a 2014 indictment with hacking into the computer networks of Boeing and other contractors, as part of a scheme to steal plans for the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and C-17 transport aircraft Jung Yeon-Je (AFP/File)

Court documents did not indicate to whom Su was sending the plans, but the case highlighted growing concerns in the United States about Chinese hacking of American trade secrets, a topic which has been addressed by President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

"Su Bin admitted to playing an important role in a conspiracy, originating in China, to illegally access sensitive military data, including data relating to military aircraft that are indispensable in keeping our military personnel safe," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said.

"This plea sends a strong message that stealing from the United States and our companies has a significant cost; we can and will find these criminals and bring them to justice."

- Arrested in Canada -

Su was initially arrested in Canada in July 2014 on a warrant based on a US request. He waived extradition and was sent to the United States in February 2016.

Su Bin, also known as Stephen Su and Stephen Subin, was a China-based businessman in the aviation and aerospace fields.

According to prosecutors, Su would e-mail the co-conspirators pictures and other documents, with guidance regarding what persons, companies and technologies to target for hacking.

After the data was stolen, Su translated the information from English into Chinese.

Su and his co-conspirators each wrote, revised and emailed reports about the information and technology they had acquired "to the final beneficiaries of their hacking activities," the Justice Department said.

Sentencing was set for July 13. Su faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain from the offense.

Last September, Obama and Xi addressed the issue of cybertheft at their Washington meeting, and both leaders agreed it was unacceptable.

Obama said after the talks that "we've agreed that neither the US or the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property."

Xi said "China strongly opposes and combats the theft of commercial secrets and other kinds of hacking attacks."

Analysts have been cautious, warning that it remained to be seen if Beijing would live up to its agreement to crack down on hacking.
EU's Mogherini demands progress at Syria talks

The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini met with Syria's regime and opposition on Wednesday to underscore the urgency of a political solution in the country, especially in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

Mogherini came to Geneva, where peace talks are under way, following a request from United Nations peace talks mediator Staffan de Mistura, making an EU call to both sides that the flagging negotiations move forward.

"It is important not only for the Syrians, but for the Europeans that this process starts, works and delivers," Mogherini told journalists.

EU Foreign Affairs head Federica Mogherini (R) and UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura give a press conference following a meeting with the regime's lead negotiator Bashar al-Assad in Geneva on March 23, 2016 Fabrice Coffrini (AFP)

She added that Tuesday's bombings in Brussels, claimed by the Islamic State group, had put renewed focus on global efforts to combat the jihadists.

"If we want to tackle this threat, we need to accelerate and consolidate our common work to put an end to the war in Syria, and concentrate our forces on (IS)," she said.

The regime's lead negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari described his talks with Mogherini as "the first direct meeting with (a) high representative of the European Union... since the crisis began."

The EU official stressed that the Jaafari meeting did not imply a change in Europe's stance towards President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Asked if the EU still insisted on Assad's departure as part of any peace deal, Mogherini said, "the European Union sticks to the common position it has... on the need for a political transition in Damascus.

"I think I'm clear enough," she added. "There is no change in policy."

Mogherini also met with the main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which is supported by the EU.

The HNC has demanded that Assad leave power before any transitional government can formed.

Damascus has ruled out any discussion of Assad's fate and described his departure as a "red line" for the talks.
New Zealand awaits flag vote decision

New Zealanders will learn on Thursday whether a proposal to ditch Britain's Union Jack from the national flag has been successful, with opinion polls indicating they will stick with the existing banner.

Prime Minister John Key has been the main advocate for change, organising a referendum on the issue he describes as a once-in-a-generation chance to update the flag after more than a century.

"It's fundamentally about taking the Union Jack off and putting the silver fern on," Key said this week.

The current New Zealand flag (R) flutters next to the alternative flag (L) in Wellington on March 4, 2016 Marty Melville (AFP/File)

He has called the existing flag a relic of British colonial days, saying the silver fern used by the All Blacks "screams New Zealand" in the same way the maple leaf identifies Canadians.

But after an 18-month process costing NZ$26 million (US$17.5 million) it appears New Zealanders are overwhelmingly against change.

About three million ballot papers have been distributed in the South Pacific nation of 4.5 million people for the vote, conducted only by post and which closes at 7.00pm Thursday (0600 GMT).

Preliminary results will be released about 90 minutes later and polling has consistently indicated about two-thirds of the electorate support the status quo.

On one side of the ballot is the existing flag, a dark blue ensign with the Union Jack in the top left corner and four red stars representing the Southern Cross constellation.

On the other is the proposed alternative -- a silver fern on a black-and-blue background, which retains the four stars.

Created by designer Kyle Lockwood, it beat four other proposed flags in a preliminary referendum last December.

- 'Special symbol' -

Veterans' group the Returned and Services Association argues that to change the flag disrespects previous generations who fought and died under the banner.

Others criticise the design's aesthetics, with actor Sam Neill saying: "This ugly beach towel is no alternative. It's hideous."

But there are high-profile advocates for change, including ex-All Black skipper Richie McCaw, who says the existing flag is too similar to Australia's.

"The silver fern has always been the special symbol on the All Black jersey... so the new flag with a silver fern as a part of it would be a great option," he posted on Facebook earlier this month.

The flag debate has also become mired in political controversy, with many seeing it as Key's pet project.

The conservative leader's popularity ratings remain stubbornly high, even after eight years in power, and political opponents have seized on the chance to deal him a rare electoral defeat.

The centre-left Labour Party, normally a reformist organisation, has condemned the entire debate as Key's "hugely expensive and highly unpopular vanity project".

But the often-heated debate has also had its lighter moments, particularly when the original 10,000-plus submissions for new flags were publicly released.

One of the most popular designs with online users was a flag featuring a kiwi bird shooting green lasers from its eyes.

Another had a sheep alongside a cone of ice cream, with designer Jesse Gibbs saying he had selected two of New Zealand's favourite things to create a combination that was "Kiwi as bro".

Key said he remained hopeful for change but felt the referendum had succeeded regardless by stirring debate on national identity.

"I don't hate the current New Zealand flag. I just think a new one would be better because it's more reflective of us," he told reporters on Thursday.

New Zealand flag referendum - (AFP Graphic)

After an 18-month process costing NZ$26 million ($17.5 mln), it appears New Zealanders are overwhelmingly against change Marty Melville (AFP/File)
UN rights team will seek to hold North Korea laders to account

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday voted to create an expert group to explore legal pathways to hold North Korea's leadership accountable for widespread and horrific rights abuses in the country.

The UN's top rights body adopted a resolution voicing deep concern at the findings in a landmark 2014 report that North Korea is wracked by "widespread and gross human rights violations ... that in many instances, constitute crimes against humanity," and which are "pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the State for decades."

Condemning the "impunity of perpetrators", the resolution, which passed by consensus, called on the office of UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to "designate, for a period of six months, a maximum of two existing independent experts" to help the UN's main rights expert on North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (2nd L) inspects the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces in Pyongyang on January 10, 2016

The new expert group, the resolution said, should "focus on issues of accountability for human rights violations in the country, in particular where such violations amount to crimes against humanity."

It will be tasked with recommending "practical mechanisms of accountability to secure truth and justice for the victims," including referral to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Last month, the outgoing UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, issued a report calling for Pyongyang's leadership to be held criminally responsible for egregious abuses.

In the report, he called for "an official communication" from the UN to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un about the prospect of investigations and prosecutions.

The report said the UN should advise Kim "and other senior leaders that they may be investigated and, if found to be responsible, held accountable for crimes against humanity committed under their leadership."

He decried that the vast array of horrifying crimes documented in the 2014 report "appear to continue".

"Political prison camps remain in operation. Reports of torture and other violations against prisoners in political and ordinary prisons continue," the report said.
Voices from voters choosing candidates in 3 Western states

PHOENIX (AP)  Arizona, Utah and Idaho voters made their choices on presidential candidates Tuesday, saying issues that matter most to them include the minimum wage, medical care for veterans and Native American affairs.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had overwhelming delegate leads heading into the contests, while Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and John Kasich hoped to reverse the sense of inevitability taking hold around the two front-runners.

Here's a look at what voters had to say:

Marie Howard, flips through scrapbooks Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Cameron, Ariz. Howard says the clippings remind her of when Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited the Navajo Nation and the Grand Canyon long before she became a presidential contender. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca)

Marie Howard, a 57-year-old Navajo Nation resident, supported Hillary Clinton in Arizona's presidential primary. She believes as president, Clinton would be sympathetic to tribal members.

Howard keeps postcards, an autographed photo and newspaper clippings that remind her of when Clinton visited her reservation and the Grand Canyon long before becoming a presidential contender.

"She's the only one who's been out here trying to make a difference," Howard said.

The Tonalea, Arizona, woman was among thousands of Navajos who were moved off Hopi land in a long-standing property dispute between the tribes. She believes Clinton would work to ensure that all families who were relocated get federal benefits that were offered for moving off their homeland.

Howard also said she hopes Clinton will get on board with Bernie Sanders' plan to provide free college tuition.

___

Justin Pallister, a 17-year-old from Meridian, Idaho, was eager to participate in his first election Tuesday.

Seventeen-year-olds can caucus in Idaho and several other states as long as they'll turn 18 before the Nov. 8 general election.

Pallister and 10 friends were rooting for a little-known candidate, San Diego businessman Rocky De La Fuente, in Idaho's Democratic presidential caucus.

"He has a low chance of winning so we want to see if we can get him somewhere," Pallister said. "We have to go there and make people change their minds."

If De La Fuente quits the race, Pallister likely will support Bernie Sanders. Pallister's parents, like many of Idaho's established Democrats, are vying for Hillary Clinton. But Pallister likes what Sanders says about raising the minimum wage.

"He seeks equalization for everyone  for men, women and children and for gay people," Pallister said. "His morals seem to be in the right place, I guess."

____

Becoming a Trump supporter took some convincing for Daniel Ramirez.

The 28-year-old Phoenix resident said he initially considered the businessman a "sideshow." But eventually, the potential of having a president elected without the help of outside money became Ramirez's priority.

"I had to put my big boy pants on and say, 'There's more to this guy,'" Ramirez said.

But if Trump becomes president, his anti-establishment moxie could come in handy if things go wrong, Ramirez said.

"If we need to impeach him, I suspect it would be a fairly short process," he said.

___

Brandon Perry of South Jordan, Utah, says he's caucusing for Ted Cruz because he thinks the Texas senator can stop Donald Trump from becoming the Republican nominee.

Perry, a 35-year-old real estate developer, says he started out supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker but became a Cruz supporter as the field narrowed.

Perry said he thinks Trump is an untrustworthy TV persona who will say whatever it takes to get elected. He said the billionaire tries to stir up people's hate and anger.

"My perception of Trump is that he's morally bankrupt," Perry said.

Perry said he likes John Kasich but the Ohio governor has no chance of winning. He added stopping Trump is the most important issue to him as a voter.

___

Lorraine and Donald Maloney of Cameron, Arizona, voted for Ted Cruz at a Navajo Nation polling site.

The longtime Republicans said their beliefs most closely align with Cruz, although they haven't heard him specifically mention American Indian affairs.

"You don't hear anyone mention the Natives," said Lorraine Maloney, 60. "All these different candidates say they're going to do this or that for certain people  the Hispanics, the whites. That's the sad part."

The couple said they liked Donald Trump's business sense but were turned off by his treatment of other candidates.

They hoped Cruz would make it easier for veterans to get medical care. Donald Maloney, a Vietnam vet, has problems hearing but said his ears never got tested when he returned from the war.

He said other Navajo veterans struggle too but often give up seeking help from the federal government after encountering difficulties.

___

Donald Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, said he's proof that not all millennials are behind Bernie Sanders.

He acknowledged Trump doesn't play as well in Utah as other parts of the country, despite the state's solidly conservative bent. That's partly because people are loyal to Republican establishment leaders like Mitt Romney, who's well-loved in the state, Brady said.

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brady was a big Romney supporter  until the former presidential candidate made a speech sharply critical of Trump. Now he wants to tear up his Romney T-shirts.

Brady thinks Utah residents are afraid to be public about supporting Trump. But he thinks the billionaire, with his brash style, is more authentic than other politicians.

"I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but he's human," Brady said. "I don't care."

___

Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Cameron, Arizona; Adam Kealoha Causey in Phoenix; Kate Haake in Boise, Idaho; Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City; and Michelle Price in Orem, Utah, contributed to this report.

Voters come and go near a polling station at sunrise in Arizona's presidential primary election, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A voter leaves after casting her ballot in Arizona's presidential primary election, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

An example of an early ballot collection box and demonstration of voting areas is set up at the Maricopa County Recorders office in Phoenix on Monday, March 21, 2016, ahead of the states Presidential Primary Election on Tuesday. After a frenzied weekend of raucous campaign rallies across Arizona, election day is here. Voters go to the polls Tuesday for the presidential preference election. (AP Photo/Ryan Van Velzer)

People wait in a line to vote at a Democratic caucus site Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Traffic disrupted as man climbs 80-foot tree in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP)  Police have been trying to coax a man out of an 80-foot tall sequoia tree in downtown Seattle after he climbed nearly to the top Tuesday morning, disrupting traffic.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, the unidentified man remained in the tree. He scrambled down toward the bottom just before 9 p.m. but soon made his way back up, snapping branches along the way.

Seattle police say someone called 911 after 11 a.m. Tuesday to report a man in the conifer next to Macy's department store. Police say when authorities arrived, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics.

A man stands in an 80-foot tall tree in downtown Seattle, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after he climbed nearly to the top, disrupting traffic. Police say when authorities arrived, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics. (Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times via AP) SEATTLE OUT; USA TODAY OUT; MAGS OUT; TELEVISION OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT TO BOTH THE SEATTLE TIMES AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER

"Issue appears to be between the man and the tree," Seattle police tweeted.

By Tuesday afternoon, police said traffic was being tied up as officials closed nearby roads as a precaution.

"It is quite a spectacle, honestly," police spokesman Patrick Michaud told The Seattle Times.

Michaud said police want to make sure the man can get down without hurting himself or someone else and added that rushing it could create a dangerous situation. Police have said he appears to be suffering from a crisis and has been yelling intermittently.

The incident has attracted onlookers and a local TV station has had shown the incident live all day. It's also grown in popularity on social media with new Twitter accounts dedicated to it and the hashtag #manintree trending on Twitter and Facebook.

Negotiators with assistance from the Seattle Fire Department were on a fire truck ladder still trying to talk the man down from the tree at 6 p.m.

The man, appearing disheveled with a large beard, longer hair and a red knit hat he dropped during the day, has also ripped multiple branches from the tree and tossed them at the ground and at negotiators, who caught many of them.

Seattle Department of Transportation officials will review the health of the tree, believed to have been there since the 1970s, once the incident is resolved, police said.

Police try to coax a man out of an 80-foot tall tree in downtown Seattle, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after he climbed nearly to the top, disrupting traffic. Police say when authorities arrived, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics. (Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times via AP) SEATTLE OUT; USA TODAY OUT; MAGS OUT; TELEVISION OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT TO BOTH THE SEATTLE TIMES AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER

A Seattle Police negotiator tries to coax tries to coax a man out of an 80-foot tall tree in downtown Seattle, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after he climbed nearly to the top, disrupting traffic. Police say when authorities arrived, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics. (Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times via AP) SEATTLE OUT; USA TODAY OUT; MAGS OUT; TELEVISION OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT TO BOTH THE SEATTLE TIMES AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Police try to coax a man out of an 80-foot tall tree in downtown Seattle, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after he climbed nearly to the top, disrupting traffic. Police say when authorities arrived, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics. (Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com via AP) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLE TIMES OUT; TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

A man stands in an 80-foot tall tree in downtown Seattle, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, after he climbed nearly to the top, disrupting traffic. Police say when authorities arrived, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics. (Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com via AP) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLE TIMES OUT; TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
VA suspends top official in relocation scam

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Department of Veterans Affairs is suspending the head of the Veterans Benefits Administration for allowing two lower-ranking officials to manipulate the agency's hiring system for their own gain.

Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson says acting VBA chief Danny Pummill will be suspended without pay for 15 days for his role in a relocation scam that has roiled the agency for months.

Pummill failed to exercise proper oversight as Kimberly Graves and Diana Rubens forced lower-ranking managers to accept job transfers and then stepped into the vacant positions themselves, keeping their senior-level pay while reducing their responsibilities, Gibson said Tuesday.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2015, file photo, Department of Veterans Affairs, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits Danny Pummill, testifies at a Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Department of Veterans Affairs is suspending Pummill for allowing two lower-ranking officials to manipulate the agency's hiring system for their own gain. Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson says Pummill will be suspended without pay for 15 days for his role in a relocation scam that has roiled the agency for months. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

Pummill is one of VA's five highest-ranking officials and leads VBA's employees across 56 regional offices nationwide that provide compensation and pension benefits, life insurance, home loans and other services to millions of veterans.

Under VA rules, Pummill can appeal his suspension to an independent arbiter.

Pummill was the VBA's deputy chief when Rubens and Graves implemented the job relocations, which put both of them closer to their families. Pummill replaced former VBA chief Allison Hickey, who retired as allegations against Rubens and Graves were made public.

Rubens earns $181,497 as director of the VBA's Philadelphia regional office, while Graves receives $173,949 as head of the St. Paul, Minnesota, benefits office.

Graves and Rubens were reprimanded Tuesday and had their pay cut by 10 percent. The two women were reinstated to their positions last month after administrative judges overturned their demotions.

The judges based their rulings, in part, on the fact that more senior officials such as Pummill had not been disciplined in the case. In a related action, the VA said it has reprimanded Beth McCoy, director of field operations for the VBA. Gibson said McCoy did not exercise proper judgment in taking over for Rubens as heads of field operations.

Gibson said the disciplinary actions were in the best interests of veterans and taxpayers. "Ultimately, that is what these decisions are about: getting back to the work of serving America's veterans," he said.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called the actions "a weak slap on the wrist."

Accountability at the VA "is almost non-existent," Miller said. "One thing is clear: this dysfunctional status quo will never change until we eliminate arcane civil service rules that put the job security of VA bureaucrats ahead of the veterans they are charged with serving."

___
Australian prime minister announces greener policies

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia's prime minister on Wednesday distanced himself from the man he replaced by announcing a new fund to promote clean energy innovation as the country heads toward a likely early election in July.

The announcement by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of the 1 billion Australian dollar ($760 million) Clean Energy Innovation Fund comes after his predecessor Tony Abbott accused him this week of seeking re-election on the Abbott government's record.

Among Abbott's biggest achievements of his two years in power was repealing a carbon tax that had been paid by the worst industrial polluters in a bid to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, listens to Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt, as they attend a press conference in Sydney, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Prime Minister Turnbull assured Australians that they were in a stronger security position than Europeans because of Australias greater border control. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Turnbull, who has long advocated that polluters should pay for their carbon emissions, also announced the center-right government's support for two agencies that finance and promote clean energy in Australia.

Abbott had gone in an election in 2013 promising to abolish both government agencies  the Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency  which had been established by the former Labor Party government.

"This is a very good day for innovation, it is a very good day for technology and for taking on the big challenge of global warming," Turnbull told reporters.

"This reflects a very big change in the way the government ... is now approaching this type of investment," he said.

The green policy shift makes it more difficult for Labor to campaign against the government's climate change record. Abbott had been accused of taking a minimalist approach to reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, which are among the world's highest on a per capita basis because of the country's heavy reliance on abundant reserves of cheap coal.

Turnbull announced Monday that he will call an early election on July 2 unless the Senate agrees to pass contentious legislation next month, effectively kicking off a 15-week de facto election campaign.

The government trailed the opposition in opinion polls until Turnbull replaced Abbott as prime minister in September, although Turnbull's popularity has waned as observers have criticized his slow pace of reform.
Heroin overdose antidote offers hope for vulnerable inmates

DENVER (AP)  When he was a teenager, Lee Gonzales could not save his uncle from a heroin overdose. Now he worries that the same drug could kill him after he gets out of jail.

As Gonzales remembers, he had rousted his uncle from previous heroin stupors by propping him up and splashing water on his face. But there was no one around to help that day. And there was nothing available like the bright orange prescription bottle the 32-year-old heroin addict held in his hand on a recent morning.

"This is enough medicine to save somebody, huh?" Gonzales said, fiddling with the nasal inhaler as a doctor sat with him in a cinderblock interview room in Denver's downtown jail.

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, Dr. Josh Blum demonstrates how to administer a dose of naloxone while conferring with the inmate at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Similar scenes are unfolding in a growing number of jails and prisons across the country as health officials train soon-to-be-released inmates to use the overdose-reversal drug naloxone to save others and sometimes themselves.

Dr. Joshua Blum teaches inmates about the nasal spray, which can undo the effects of an opiate overdose almost instantly. Blum told Gonzales, who was jailed on theft warrants, he could take the antidote with him when he is freed.

"I think it's a great idea," Gonzales said.

Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, has become a key tool in curbing overdoes resulting from the nation's opioid abuse epidemic. The class of drug that includes prescription painkillers and heroin was involved in a record 28,648 deaths in 2014, and opioid overdoses have more than quadrupled since 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recently released inmates are particularly vulnerable.

Naloxone supporters say the opportunity to save potentially thousands of lives outweighs any fears that the promise of a nearby antidote would only encourage drug abuse. Officials already widely distribute the drug to police, paramedics, drug users and their families.

The push to equip inmates is new, fueled by research showing former prisoners in Washington state were nearly 13 times more likely to die of an overdose in the two weeks after their release than other people. Heroin tolerance goes down while users abstain behind bars, but they often return to their previous dose when they get out, putting them at greater risk.

"They're very anxious. They are released to environments where they have a lot of exposure to drugs. They are triggered to use, and they may not have support systems to help them," said Dr. Ingrid Binswanger, senior investigator for Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research, who worked on the study.

Researchers also found that 8 percent of overdose deaths in Washington state were former prisoners.

Inmates set to be released from San Francisco's county jail have been offered naloxone kits since the program started there in March 2013. More than 1,700 inmates in six New York state prisons have been trained to use the antidote, and at least 600 have taken kits with them on their way out.

And in Colorado, several county jails began giving certain inmates rescue kits in January, funded in part by the state's recreational marijuana taxes.

It's hard to say what happens to the inmates given the drug after they're released, partly because reporting overdoses or reversals is voluntary.

A study of 100 Rhode Island inmates who received naloxone found they were able to successfully administer the drug after being released. A few used it to reverse their own overdoses, said Dr. Jody Rich, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights. The research did not track what happened to the inmates over time.

"I wouldn't predict that it would stop people from using, and conversely it wouldn't encourage them to use," Rich said.

In New York, two former prisoners have come forward to report three overdose reversals, said Sharon Stancliff, medical director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, which runs the training. One of those former inmates now helps train other prisoners to use naloxone.

The King County jail in Washington state has trained 221 inmates, 10 of whom reported lifesaving reversals. Officials only learned of those successes when inmates returned to jail, public health spokesman James Apa said.

Blum, a doctor at Denver Health Medical Center, took inmates' phone numbers so doctors could reach out to each of them six months after their release. The Colorado program is too new to have yielded quantifiable results.

"We're telling this group of people that is highly stigmatized and not well-liked that they're good enough citizens that they might be able to go out and save a life," Stancliff said. "It's empowering."

Naloxone is not addictive and does not cause a high. Big pharmacy chains like Walgreens and CVS now sell the antidote, also available as an injection, over the counter. And the Obama administration in February proposed $90 million more in federal spending for programs that help states and local governments to, among other aims, improve access to naloxone.

Critics say it provides only temporary relief without combatting drug use. Maine Gov. Paul LePage, for example, has consistently opposed efforts to make the drug more accessible, saying that giving the antidote to family members of drug users would discourage people from seeking treatment.

Blum acknowledged that naloxone isn't a cure. But overdose reversals can offer a chance to seek more comprehensive treatment, he said.

"Dead addicts don't recover," Blum said.

Gonzales agreed to let his cellmates know about the drug and pledged to give it to friends and family when he gets out. And he recalled his own efforts to revive his uncle.

"I wish I had that at the time when that all happened," he said. "I sure wish I did."

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, inmate Lee Gonzalez, back, confers with Dr. Josh Blum at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, inmate Lee Gonzales gestures after conferring with Dr. Josh Blum at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, inmate Eric Burton examines a naloxone kit while conferring with a doctor at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, Dr. Josh Blum, left, confers with inmate Lee Gonzales at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The wife of a renowned pianist, found by police in a nightgown 'covered in blood', has denied smothering her two young children.

Sofya Tsygankova appeared at a court in Fort Worth today where she pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of her children Nika Kholodenko, 5, and one-year-old baby Michela Kholodenko.

The children's bodies were discovered at the family's Benbrook, Texas, home last Thursday by Tsygankova's award-winning musician husband, Vadym Kholodenko when he arrived to take them to school.

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Tsygankova, 31, pleaded not guilty to murder when she appeared at a Fort Worth court with bandages on her chest and injuries to her arms, on Wednesday

Cut marks were visible on Tsygankova's arms at court, who had told police that she had been 'cutting herself with a knife and taking pills' when they arrived at her home

After entering her not guilty plea today, she was returned to custody at the prison where she is being held on $1 million bond for each of the murder charges

The children's bodies were discovered at the family's Benbrook, Texas, home last Thursday by Tsygankova's award-winning musician husband, Vadym Kholodenko when he arrived to take them to school (the family is pictured together in 2014)

The acclaimed pianist had called 911 and reported that his wife 'was going crazy', according to an affidavit seen by the DailyMail.com.

When Tsygankova was arrested she told officers she recalled 'cutting herself with a knife and taking pills' but had no memory of harming her children.

When she appeared at court, cut marks were clearly visible on her arms and bandages could be seen on her chest.

Hours after the bodies of her children were found she asked investigators: 'Did I do anything bad to my kids?'.

Prosecutors Tuesday filed two charges of capital murder against Tsygankova, 31 before she was transferred to the Tarrant County Jail later that afternoon.

After entering her not guilty plea today, she was returned to custody at the prison where she is being held on $1 million bond for each of the murder charges.

The medical examiner's office had originally ruled the children's deaths as 'homicidal violence pending investigation', but new evidence disclosed in arrest warrant affidavits released Tuesday indicates that the children may have been smothered with pillows, reported the Telegram.

Vadym Kholodenko (left) called 911 and reported that his wife (right) 'was going crazy' after discovering the bodies

Sofya Tsygankova (mugshot left and with her youngest daughter, right) was found by police in a nightgown 'covered in blood' and 'rocking back and forth making noises'

Both children were found in bed while a pillow partially covered the head of the youngest child.

Tarrant County medical examiner's office have not yet confirmed an official cause of death.

Tsygankova had a history of mental illness and had visited a Mental Health and Mental Retardation facility in Fort Worth on the day before her daughters were discovered, says the affidavit.

She was found kneeling on the floor wearing a blood-stained nightgown and 'rocking back and forth,' the affidavits say. She had wounds on her wrist and chest, and a butcher knife was found near the home's patio.

An empty prescription bottle of anti-psychotic drug Quetiapine - used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia - were also found inside the home.

Police also found bloodied linens inside her Ford Focus and blood in and around the car, according to the affidavit.

Tsygankova's attorney, Joetta Keene, declined to comment on the specific allegations of the affidavit.

'This is, no doubt, a very heartbreaking case for everyone involved,' she said.

Her husband - who was a gold medalist at the 2013 Cliburn piano competition - had been staying at a hotel outside of Benbrook that fatal night.

Sofya Tsygankova denied the capital murder of her children Nika Kholodenko, 5, and one-year-old baby Michela Kholodenko

He had arranged with his wife to pick up the girls for a regular visit at 9.20am on Thursday. Police received his 911 call just seven minutes later.

After finding the bodies of the children - that showed signs that rigor mortis had already set in - police discovered two knives, a blood-covered butcher's knife and a cleaver style knife.

More prescription bottles were also found including Sertraline, an anti-depressant, and hyrdoxyzine pamoate, an antihistamine that is also used as a sedative to treat anxiety and tension, says the Telegram.

The mother also described to police what she believes to be the sequence of events leading up to the bloody incident.

She said that she had arrived home that night and recalled that Michaela was already asleep and the babysitter was putting pajamas on the older girl.

When asked where she thought her children were, she replied that she hoped they were with their father.

She made several references to a 'bad dream' that she had that night but was unable to fully elaborate.

Kholodenko filed for divorce from Tsygankova in November 2015 after the couple arrived to the US from Russia in 2014.

He cited discord or conflict of personalities. He had not been living with his estranged wife or daughters since last August. The pair had been married for five years.

Kholodenko (left), had filed for divorce from Tsygankova (right) in November and they hadn't lived together since August (pictured front, one-year-old daughter Michela)

The two arranged for Kholodenko pick up the girls for a regular visit at 9.20am on Thursday. According to the police, he called 911 at 9.27am. Pictured, five-year-old Nika left and right, with her father

On Tuesday evening, mourners gathered at Arlington Heights United Methodist Church to remember the girls

On Friday he issued a statement through the Ciburn Foundation saying: 'The loss of my children will be with me forever.

'But I would like to say that I feel the support of the Fort Worth community and all people who are sending me messages all over the world.

'Wherever I go after this tragedy my heart will stay with the people here of Fort Worth and my daughters will rest in this soil.'

He was educated in Russia. The couple had been living in Moscow while they also travelled the world as his fame grew.

However Ukranian citizen Khodolenko began to be harassed by the Russian authorities when war broke out in his homeland between Russian-separatist forces and the Ukranian government.

They came to the US in 2014 and settled in the Fort Worth area because of Khodolenko's close ties the city's symphony orchestra.

His girls were buried on Monday at a private service.

On Tuesday evening, mourners gathered at Arlington Heights United Methodist Church to remember the girls.

'In times like this, we seek answers for how something so terrible could happen,' the Rev. Mary Spradlin said. 'It is profoundly unsatisfying to know there are no clear answers. There are some questions we will never be able to answer.'

Near the end of the church gathering, Kholodenko played a movement from Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 with three string players from the Fort Worth Symphony.
University of California approves anti-Semitism statement

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A University of California committee agreed Wednesday to single out anti-Semitism as a form of intolerance that campus leaders should challenge but rejected a more far-reaching denouncement of arguments against Israel's right to exist.

A year in the making, the formal position opposing anti-Semitic behavior comes amid a wave of impassioned campus activism that has sparked tensions between Palestinian rights supporters and strong allies of Israel.

The committee of the university's governing Board of Regents voted unanimously to send what is being called a "Statement of Principles Against Intolerance" to the full board for consideration on Thursday.

FILE- In this Oct. 26, 2015, file photo, University of California regents Norman Pattiz, left, and Eddie Island, right, flank board secretary and chief of staff Anne Shawn during a public forum on how best to deal with intolerance at the university, on the campus at UCLA in Los Angeles. A UC Board of Regents panel is scheduled to vote Wednesday, March 23, 2016, on the declaration drafted by a committee after an earlier version by UC President Janet Napolitano's office did not explicitly condemn prejudice against Jewish people. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

"Anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination have no place in the university," it reads.

The 10-paragraph declaration seeks to spell out the difference between the vigorous intellectual debates the university says it exists to promote and the "acts of hatred and other intolerant behavior" campus leaders have a duty to combat.

One section, for example, states that candidates for leadership positions should not be discredited based on bias or stereotyping. The principle was an apparent reference to a UCLA student seeking a seat on the student government's judicial council being asked whether she would be able to remain impartial given her Jewish heritage.

"Intellectual and creative expression that is intended to shock has a place in our community," the document reads. "Nevertheless, mutual respect and civility within debate and dialogue advance the mission of the university."

The statement was drafted in response to pro-Israel groups that demanded more be done to protect Jewish students amid heightened activism on behalf of Palestinian rights.

When a draft of the statement was released last week, critics expressed alarm over an accompanying report that listed "anti-Zionism"  the rejection of Israel's right to exist  as another kind of discrimination that didn't belong at the university.

Faculty and student groups said the report, if endorsed along with the principles themselves, could be used to stifle free speech and scholarship.

"Anti-Zionism names a political viewpoint that individuals have a right to express under the First Amendment," Judith Butler, a UC Berkeley comparative literature professor, told the board.

The regents' Educational Policy Committee softened the disputed wording on Wednesday.

Regent Norman Pattiz, who served on the task force that drafted the statement and report, suggested amending it to read, "Anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California."

Pattiz said the change would make clear the university recognizes a distinction between legitimate criticism of Israel and actions that cross the line into inappropriate demonization of Jewish people.

The system-wide principles are meant to be "aspirational rather than prohibitory," said Charles Robinson, the UC system's general counsel,

As such, they do not bar particular acts or proscribe sanctions but serve to remind administrators of their duty to combat bias and to impose discipline in cases that violate existing anti-discrimination policies, Robinson said.

The principles "express a viewpoint on conduct that promotes and conduct that undermines the purposes and mission of the university," he said. "Intolerance, discrimination and bias fall into the latter category."

Student Regent Avi Oved, a UCLA student who is active in Jewish affairs and served on the advisory group, said it was important that the statement make key distinctions.

"Anti-Zionism should not be conflated with criticism of Israel, or the Israeli government," he said. "When voices veer from criticism of Israeli policy to an unjust denial of Israel's right to exist or Jews' right to self-determination is when the distinction between robust discussions and anti-Zionism become clear."

Oved added, though, that students with strong ties to Israel are sometimes subject to slurs that would not be tolerated if they were directed at other minority groups.

If adopted on Thursday, the declaration would make the University of California the first public university system to reaffirm its opposition to anti-Semitic behavior since campaigns for academic and economic boycotts of Israel have taken root on many U.S. college campuses.

Pro-Palestinian groups and faculty members with research specialties in the Middle East were upset that anti-Semitism was the only type of intolerance specifically mentioned in the principles at a time when Muslims in the U.S. increasingly face discrimination.

They remained concerned that the slight change to the introductory report made Wednesday did not go far enough.

"The regents' new policy offers no clarity on how to determine when criticism of Israel or anti-Zionism crosses a line into anti-Semitism, and was predicated on the erroneous assumption that support for Palestinian rights is inherently anti-Semitic," said Tallie Ben Daniel, a coordinator for the pro-Palestinian group Jewish Voice for Peace.

On Thursday, the full board could further amend the document, approve it in its entirety or reject some or all of it.

Norman J. Pattiz, right, speaks as Eloy Ortiz Oakley, left, looks on during a University of California Board of Regents meeting Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in San Francisco. A committee of the University of California's governing board unanimously approved a statement Wednesday that cites anti-Semitism as a form of intolerance that campus leaders have a duty to challenge. The committee of the university's Board of Regents voted to send what is being called a "Statement of Principles Against Intolerance" on to the full board for final consideration on Thursday. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
2 Palestinian clowns offer relief to kids in Gaza hospitals

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  A pair of Palestinian clowns is offering some laughs and relief to children with chronic illnesses at pediatric wards in hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

With no circus or fair in Gaza to offer employment, Majed Kaloub and Alaa Miqdad began reaching out to kids in kindergartens and schools. Now, thanks to the aid of CISS, an Italian non-profit organization, they have found a niche for their work in hospitals, bringing some much needed cheer to sick children.

Neither is formally trained in medical clowning, a profession popularized by American doctor Patch Adams and in which Israel's University of Haifa offers a bachelor's degree, but their goal is the same  to raise the spirit of young patients in an already sad part of the world.

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctors 24-year-old Majed Kaloub, top right, and 33-year-old Alaa Miqdad, right, perform for children during their visit at the waiting room at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Majed and Alaa were not trained in hospital clowning, but they grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. Both visit three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spend two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

"The clown is a supporting tool for the medical doctor," said Kaloub, 24. "As much as we can, we try to let the child respond to us to reach his heart."

For Miqdad, a 33-year-old dwarf, the experience has been far more personal. When he was younger, he said he was bullied and teased and for a long time after that, he resisted children.

"The children are all my life now. I do most of the work with them," he said.

Both started clowning in hospitals in 2014. That summer, they worked with children traumatized by incessant airstrikes during a deadly 50-war with Israel. They performed in damaged neighborhoods and temporary shelters. The experience inspired the clowns to take their act to hospitals where there were children with chronic illnesses.

Hardships remain in the Gaza Strip, an isolated coastal Palestinian territory ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas group and operating under a joint blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt. According to UNICEF, some 300,000 of its 1.8 million residents are in need of emotional and psychological support.

The clowns typically visit three medical centers a week. On a recent visit to al-Rantisi hospital, children jumped from their parents' laps to greet Miqdad, even before he put on his clown costume.

In a tiny locker room, Kaloub and Miqdad put on colorful loose outfits over their casual street clothes and applied makeup and a red clown's nose. Miqdad put on a bright Mohawk wig. They then set off giggles with dancing, magic tricks and bubble-blowing.

"They are beautiful," said Mohammed al-Baz, 11, who suffers from a disorder of the brain that can cause epileptic seizures. "They make me laugh every time I come here."

In the artificial kidney ward, some kids who were hooked up to dialysis machines nearly jumped out of their beds to grab bubbles. Mohammed Shawaf said his three-year-old daughter asks for the clowns even when she is back home from the hospital.

Yousef Al-Muqayyad, a doctor at al-Rantisi, said the clowns help the staff connect with the young patients. The clowns "break the barrier of fear of the white coat," he said. "When they would see the white (coat), the children used to scream."

It's easy to get attached to the children and the work has taken its toll on both clowns, said Kaloub, adding that they have needed psychological support.

"One of the greatest difficulties is that most of the children we see die after we cherish them," he said. "If we despair, we won't continue our work."

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, 33-year-old Palestinian clown doctor Alaa Miqdad, left, entertains 3-year-old patient Yaqin Shawaf, who suffers from dialysis, in the department of kidney diseases at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Miqdad was not trained in hospital clowning, but he grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, 33-year-old Palestinian clown doctor Alaa Miqdad, prepares himself before performing for children at Al-Rantisi hospital in Gaza City. Miqdad visits three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spends two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctors, 24-year-old Majed Kaloub, right, and 33-year-old Alaa Miqdad, center, entertain children at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Majed and Alaa were not trained in hospital clowning, but they grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. Both visit three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spend two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctors, 24-year-old Majed Kaloub, top center, and 33-year-old Alaa Miqdad, bottom center, perform for children during their visit at the Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Majed and Alaa were not trained in hospital clowning, but they grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. Both visit three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spend two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctor Alaa Miqdad, center, gives 3-year-old Abdallah Saleem a balloon, in the department of kidney diseases at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Miqdad and his partner visit three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spend two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. As much as we can, we try to let the child respond to us to reach his heart; his insides, Majed said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctor Alaa Miqdad, left, entertains 13-year-old Mohammed Al-Qunfod who suffers from dialysis, in the department of kidney diseases at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Miqdad and his partner visit three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spend two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. As much as we can, we try to let the child respond to us to reach his heart; his insides, Majed said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, a child laughs during the visit of Palestinian clown doctors, Majed Kaloub, and Alaa Miqdad, at the Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Majed and Alaa were not trained in hospital clowning, but they grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. Both visit three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spend two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctor, 24-year-old Majed Kaloub, entertains children at the Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Kaloub visits three medical centers in the Gaza Strip a week and spends two days at Al-Rantisi, a specialized hospital for children with chronic illnesses. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, 33-year-old Palestinian clown doctor Alaa Miqdad, left, entertains 3-year-old patient Yaqin Shawaf, who suffers from dialysis, in the department of kidney diseases at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Miqdad was not trained in hospital clowning, but he grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, 33-year-old Palestinian clown doctor Alaa Miqdad, left, entertains children at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Miqdad was not trained in hospital clowning, but he grew up in a place that saw three large-scale military conflicts between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers in the past decade, let alone dozens of smaller rounds of violence. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo, Palestinian clown doctors entertain children in the department of kidney diseases at Al-Rantisi childrens hospital in Gaza City. Clown doctors Majed Kaloub, 24, and Alaa Miqdad, a 33-year-old dwarf, are employed by an international NGO into unusual places: hospitals, especially the pediatric ones; a game-changing shift that granted them steady work at best, but rendered them in need for psychosocial support as a side effect of the job. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Obama, new Argentine leader work to break from past tensions

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)  On a fence-mending mission, President Barack Obama held up Argentina on Wednesday as an emerging world leader worthy of U.S. support, as he and Argentine President Mauricio Macri broke with years of tensions between their countries.

Obama's state visit to Buenos Aires quickly turned into a love-fest between him and Macri, who in December replaced Cristina Fernandez, long a thorn in Obama's side. Obama lavished praise on Macri and said his visit was "so personally important," and even danced the tango at a state dinner in his honor.

"President Macri is a man in a hurry," Obama said in Casa Rosada, the pink-hued presidential palace made famous in the U.S. by the movie "Evita." ''I'm impressed because he has moved rapidly on so many of the reforms that he promised."

President Barack Obama and Argentinian President Mauricio Macri toast during the State Dinner at the Centro Cultural Kirchner, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Macri, who has committed Argentina to a pro-business approach, was equally effusive about Obama, who leaves office in less than a year.

"You emerged proposing major changes and you showed they were possible  that by being bold and with conviction, you could challenge the status quo," Macri said. He added, "That was also a path of inspiration for what our dear country is now going through."

The feel-good visit continued in the evening at an event center overlooking the Buenos Aires riverfront, where Obama was taking in a tango performance when a dancer in a shimmering gold dress beckoned him to the floor. At first, he declined  multiple times  but eventually relented, joining her for a few spins. First lady Michelle Obama joined in the action, too.

Toasting his host, Obama said the world had noticed Macri's "eagerness to re-engage Argentina with the world community."

"This is a new beginning," he said.

Obama has made no secret of his preference for Macri over the left-leaning Fernandez, whose meandering invectives against the U.S. were a source of frequent eye-rolling in the White House. Fernandez was close with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's famously anti-American late president, and openly admired Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. She was quick to blame the U.S. for Argentina's problems and was accused of helping Iran hide its role in bombing a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, a claim she denied.

So Obama was all too glad to see Fernandez replaced by Macri, who has started pushing Argentina back toward the political center after years of flirting with the extreme left. To that end, Obama's visit was a reward of sorts to keep that promising trajectory on track.

It's a theme of Obama's Latin America policy that was on vivid display a day earlier in Cuba, where Obama paid a history-making visit aimed at spurring further reforms in the communist country. Obama's administration has also been heartened by the Venezuelan opposition's recent success in legislative elections and Bolivian President Evo Morales' defeat in a referendum on term limits.

Those developments have fueled optimism in Washington "that Latin America is moving toward more rational economic and political policies," said Gabriel Salvia of the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America, an Argentina-based think tank.

Yet Obama conceded that America's history backing repressive regimes in the region had clouded its ability to take the moral high-ground. His visit, the first for a U.S. president in nearly 20 years, coincides with the 40th anniversary this week of Argentina's 1976 coup, stirring up lingering questions about America's role supporting the military dictatorship that followed.

At Macri's request, Obama has agreed to declassify U.S. intelligence and military records about the period known as the "Dirty War," a gesture Macri said would help Argentinians "know what the truth is." Before closing his visit on Thursday, Obama planned to pay homage to the dictatorship's victims at Remembrance Park in Buenos Aires.

"I don't want to go through the list of every activity of the United States in Latin America," Obama said. But he said one of the "great things about America" is that "we engage in a lot of self-criticism."

Still, there were detractors. Some prominent rights groups threatened to boycott Obama's visit to Remembrance Park. And a few hundred people gathered at a McDonald's in protest.

"We reject Obama's presence because the United States is most responsible for the dictatorship," said Victoria Remesa, a 25-year-old teacher-in-training.

It was the opposite sentiment at a factory-turned-concert hall where Obama fielded questions from young Argentinians at a town hall meeting. He called on one fawning woman who said she was "going to have a heart attack," adding that "you are my hero." It turned out she didn't actually have a question.

___

Associated Press writers Vicente Panetta, Luis Andres Henao and Almudena Calatrava contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Peter Prengaman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/peterprengaman

U.S. President Barack Obama stands next to Argentine President Mauricio Macri, left, during a joint news conference at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two day official visit to Argentina. (David Fernandez/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri at the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two day official visit to Argentina. (Martin Zabala/Pool Photo via AP)

President Barack Obama meets with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at the Casa Rasada in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama meets with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at the Casa Rasada in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama and Argentine President Mauricio Macri, along with members of their staff, meet, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at the Casa Rasada in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama meets with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at the Casa Rasada in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

U. S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with attendees at a town hall meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two day official visit to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

President Barack Obama talks during a town hall meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two day official visit to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
American Muslims defy Sen. Ted Cruz's call for surveillance

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)  A few miles from Disneyland is a place most tourists never see. The signs along the thoroughfare suddenly switch to Arabic script advertising hookah shops, Middle Eastern sweets and halal meat.

At a run-down strip mall in the neighborhood known as Little Arabia, flags from a half-dozen Muslim countries flap in a stiff breeze. Flying above them is a giant American flag.

After Sen. Ted Cruz called for increased surveillance of Muslims in the U.S., many people in this community and others like it either challenged the Republican presidential candidate or dismissed his comments as mostly meaningless rhetoric.

A woman wearing a traditional Muslim head covering exits a Lebanese eatery in Orange County's "Little Arabia" neighborhood just miles from Disneyland.Orange County's "Little Arabia" neighborhood in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, March 23, 2016. After Sen. Ted Cruz called for increased surveillance of Muslims in the U.S., this Muslim community and others like it defied the Republican presidential candidate and defended their commitment to the United States. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

Majd Takriti, 43, stopped to discuss Cruz's remarks as he picked his mother up from a butcher shop. He said he took Cruz and rival Donald Trump with a grain of salt.

"A lot of what they say is to attract attention," Takriti said.

A block down the street, Jordanian native and 44-year U.S. resident Wathiq Bilbeisi slurped on lentil soup during his break at a Jordanian restaurant. He seemed mystified by the concern among some non-Muslim Americans about the candidates' comments.

"The politicians, they want to say whatever the constituents want to hear. I don't think they mean what they say, and in the end, they'll have to come to terms with themselves," he said.

Bilbeisi wasn't worried about the GOP seeking major changes to U.S. law.

"When they go to Congress to get laws to watch the Muslims, nobody's going to do anything about it," he said. "It's against American values."

At a nearby hookah shop displaying pipes in a rainbow of colors, employee Guss Zayat questioned whether IS members were true Muslims.

"They are killing more Muslims than anyone else in this world. They are killing children. They are killing Christians and Muslims in our home countries," said Zayat, who came to America from Beirut about three years ago. Politicians "should know the difference between ISIS and Islam."

Cruz's statement on Tuesday came hours after the deadly attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens of people and wounded many more. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility.

He said law enforcement should be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." Echoing earlier statements from Trump, Cruz also said the U.S. should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State has a significant presence.

In Washington, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates was asked Wednesday at a news conference about calls to step up patrols of Muslim communities. She said the Muslim community "is one of our greatest partners in our fight against terrorism and public safety generally."

Ahmad Tarek Rashid Alam, publisher of the weekly Arabic-language Arab World newspaper and one of the immigrants who helped build Little Arabia, said anti-Muslim statements are familiar.

"This has been going on in every Islamic neighborhood for years," he said. "But now our kids are in the police, in the Army. Are they going to watch us?"

He said Cruz's remarks seemed aimed at exploiting prejudice to get votes.

"The way he talks, it could work maybe 40 years ago. But now, it's too late. Islam is part of the country. . We are already in the country. We're part of the country whether he likes it or not."

Sam Chashku, a Syrian immigrant who arrived in 1996 and married an American-born Christian woman, said Cruz's comments simply made him sad.

"We love this country. We came from nothing. They gave us everything. It's crazy. This country is built on immigrants."

Sometimes, he said, he doesn't want to tell anyone that he's Muslim because "people get offended, and I'm scared of hate crimes."

Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S., said in a CNN interview that he supported Cruz's plan.

Speaking Tuesday in New York, Cruz praised the city's former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods. He called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

After the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to cultivate informants in Muslim communities. In a series of articles, The Associated Press revealed that authorities had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups.

The program was later disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

Kamel Haddouche is overseeing the rebuilding of the Al-Tawheed Islamic Center in Jersey City, N.J. It was destroyed in a fire in 2014.

He said he's met people he's sure were working for law enforcement. They would show up, talk to people and get involved in activities.

The surveillance, he said, makes Muslims feel like they are being watched and they "don't feel free."

"This is what you call a free country? It's not a free country. Especially when you are doing nothing wrong."

The Detroit suburb of Dearborn is widely known as the hometown of Henry Ford, who hired Arabs and Muslims in the early days of the Ford Motor Co. It is now one of the nation's largest and most concentrated communities of people who trace their roots to the Middle East.

Ali Najaf, a senior at the Dearborn campus of the University of Michigan, said the campaign rhetoric is concerning but also motivating. He hopes one day to run for office and tackle some of the issues separating Muslims and non-Muslims.

"Brussels has done one thing: It's made the Muslim community stand on its heel. Even innocent Muslims now feel, 'I need to fight back,'" said Najaf, an Iraqi native who came to the U.S. when he was 9.

"Nobody," he added, "wants to be on the fence anymore."

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Karoub in Dearborn, Michigan; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C.; and Deepti Hajela in Jersey City, N.J.; also contributed to this report.

Majd Takriti, center, and his mother, name not given, visiting from Lebanon, pick up Halal meat at a butcher shop in Orange County's "Little Arabia" neighborhood just miles from Disneyland, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Takriti and other Muslim-Americans reacted Wednesday to comments by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz that called for stricter surveillance of Muslims in the U.S. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

Wathiq Bilbeisi enjoys a lentil soup in Orange County's "Little Arabia" neighborhood in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, March 23, 2016. He discussed remarks by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz that advocated for increased surveillance of Muslims in the U.S. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas shakes hands before his speech at the Women's National Republican Club in New York Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

CORRECTS DATE IN SECOND SENTENCE - FILE - In this March 21, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Washington. Republican and Democratic presidential candidates clashed over the role of government, and its limitations, in enforcing U.S. national security Tuesday, March 22, 2016, following deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and metro system. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Ahmad Tarek Rashid Alam, publisher of the Arabic-language weekly community newspaper The Arab World, drinks tea at Forn Al Hara restaurant in Orange County's Little Arabia in Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. He comments on remarks made by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz about Muslim Americans in the wake of terrorist attacks in Belgium. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. must be intensified following the deadly bombings at Brussels, while rival Donald Trump suggested torturing a suspect in last year's Paris attacks would have prevented the carnage. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

Nas Juma, 22, left, and Omar Ghanim, 23, enjoy Lebanese pizza at Forn Al Hara restaurant in Orange County's Little Arabia in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, March 22, 2016. They discussed remarks made by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz about Muslim Americans in the wake of terrorist attacks in Belgium. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. must be intensified following the deadly bombings at Brussels, while rival Donald Trump suggested torturing a suspect in last year's Paris attacks would have prevented the carnage. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
Officials: Brussels bombers may have rushed attack

BRUSSELS (AP)  As police hunted for the surviving Brussels bomber, evidence mounted Wednesday that the same Islamic State cell carried out the attacks in both Paris and Brussels, and that the militants may have launched this week's slaughter in haste because they feared authorities were closing in on them.

On a day of mourning across Belgium following Tuesday's bombings of the Brussels airport and subway that killed 31 people and wounded more than 270, new information emerged about the four attackers:

 European security officials said one of the suicide bombers was Najim Laachraoui, a Moroccan-born Belgian whom police have hunted as the suspected bombmaker in the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris by the Islamic State that killed 130 people.

A sign reads "Why?" in English, French and Flemish behind candles and flowers near the Maelbeek metro station, in Brussels on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded Tuesday at Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

 The other two suicide bombers were Belgian-born brothers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, and his younger brother, Khalid, both known to the police as common criminals, not anti-Western radicals.

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ibrahim El Bakraoui was caught in June 2015 near Turkey's border with Syria and deported, at his own request, to the Netherlands, with Ankara warning Dutch and Belgian officials that he was a "foreign terrorist fighter." But other Turkish officials said he was released from Dutch custody due to lack of evidence of involvement in extremism.

Details of the investigation from chief prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw pointed to a rising sense of panic among the three bombers who blew themselves up. An unidentified fourth man who was shown in airport video surveillance footage remains at large after Van Leeuw said his suitcase bomb failed to detonate properly. Authorities say he was the man in a light jacket and hat on the far right of the video footage.

Van Leeuw said the bomb did partially explode after police had already evacuated the terminal, injuring nobody.

The prosecutor said a laptop seized from a garbage can on a street outside the brothers' last known address contained a message purportedly from Ibrahim El Bakraoui that indicated he was expecting to be arrested imminently following Friday's capture in Brussels of the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam.

"I don't know what to do, I'm in a hurry, people are looking for me everywhere," Van Leeuw quoted the message as saying. "If I give myself up I'll end up in a cell next to him,"  an apparent reference to the just-arrested Abdeslam.

Police were drawn to the brothers' apartment Tuesday night thanks to a tip from a taxi driver who had unwittingly delivered them to the airport, Van Leeuw said. Inside the northeast Brussels residence they found an apparent bomb-making factory, including 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of homemade explosives and nails for use as shrapnel.

Neighbors told The Associated Press they had no idea of the brothers' activities and barely saw them until the taxi collected them and their visibly heavy bags Tuesday morning.

One neighbor, who was willing to give only his first name of Erdine, said he was about to drive his son to school when he saw the two men carrying their bags out of the building.

"The taxi driver tried to get the luggage. And the other guy reached for it like he was saying: No, I'll take it," the neighbor said.

At the core of the Belgian investigation is a photo taken from the airport's surveillance cameras showing three attackers walking side by side as they push luggage carts. Van Leeuw said the middle figure has been identified as Ibrahim El Bakraoui, while the two men flanking him remained unidentified.

But two security officials told the AP that Laachraoui's DNA was verified as that of one of Tuesday's suicide bombers after samples were taken from remains found at the airport. One European official and one French police official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to divulge details of the Belgian investigation. Both officials were briefed on the investigation.

Belgian officials have not publicly linked any of the remains to Laachraoui; nor have they said he was involved in the Brussels attack.

Since prosecutors said Khalid El Bakraoui was killed in the subway bombing, that would make Laachraoui the remaining unidentified figure on the far left of the airport video footage.

Belgian authorities have been looking for Laachraoui since last week, suspecting him of being an accomplice to Abdeslam, who was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in Paris, a French police official told the AP, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. Seven of the Paris attackers blew themselves up or were slain by police.

French and Belgian authorities have said the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought  and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged the violence both in Paris and Brussels.

"It's the same team," said a French senator, Nathalie Goulet, who is co-leader of a parliamentary commission on studying jihadi networks.

She said Abdeslam should have had little difficulty organizing more recruits following his November escape from France.

"He probably had 10 more at hand who would be ready to do the same thing tomorrow morning," she said, describing his Brussels acolytes as "like a scout troop ... a troop of death."

A Belgian official working on the investigation told AP it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was helping to organize the Brussels attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

The comments by the Turkish president that Ibrahim El Bakraoui was determined by his country to be a militant fighter and then deported to Europe could raise embarrassing questions for Western security officials.

But a Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly said the bomber was allowed to go free because Belgian authorities could not establish any ties to extremism.

Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said authorities would have no reason to have detained Ibrahim El Bakraoui last year as an Islamic State suspect because he was "not known for terrorist acts but as a common law criminal who was on conditional release."

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, received a nine-year prison sentence in 2010 for shooting at police following an attempted robbery of a currency exchange, while Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, served a brief sentence for attempted carjacking.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing sources it did not identify, said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that police raided last week in an operation that directly led to Abdeslam's arrest at another apartment just a few streets away from his parents' home.

Wednesday was the first of three official days of mourning, and thousands gathered at the Place de la Bourse, a central square in Brussels, to remember the victims.

"Long live Belgium!" some declared.

The attacks badly rattled Brussels' transportation links. Several subway stations in the city center and at the airport remained closed. Officials at the airport, which typically handles 600 flights daily, said it would remain shut down until at least Saturday.

Many of the dead remained unidentified, partly because of the severity of devastation caused by the nail-packed bombs detonated in crowds. Eleven people were confirmed dead at the airport, 20 inside the Maelbeek subway station.

In a second claim of responsibility Wednesday, the Islamic State group warned of further attacks and what it called "dark days" for countries involved in attacking IS positions in Syria and Iraq.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said major cultural and sports events should not be postponed for fear of attack. He said that includes the monthlong European soccer tournament being staged throughout France in June.

A planned soccer match between Belgium and Portugal, originally scheduled for March 29 in Brussels, was moved to Portugal.

___

Associated Press reporters Raphael Satter, Danica Kirka and Lorne Cook in Brussels, Lori Hinnant and Elaine Ganley in Paris, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Jill Lawless in London and Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin contributed to this report.

People mourn for the victims of the bombings at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Bombs exploded yesterday at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Armed British police stand guard outside the Belgian Embassy in London, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities searched Wednesday for a man pictured at the Brussels airport with two apparent suicide bombers, amid growing suggestions that the bombings of the Brussels airport and subway were the work of the same Islamic State cell that attacked Paris last year. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A forensics officer works in front of the damaged Zaventem Airport terminal in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, Pool)

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, center,, stands with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, right, and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, left, during a ceremony to lay flowers at the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (Etienne Ansotte, Pool Photo via AP)

In this image provided by the Belgian Federal Police in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 of three men who are suspected of taking part in the attacks at Belgium's Zaventem Airport. The man at right is still being sought by the police and two others in the photo that the police issued were according to a the Belgian Prosecutors 'probably' suicide bombers. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (Belgian Federal Police via AP)

People holding a banner reading "I am Brussels" behind flowers and candles to mourn for the victims at Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing and wounding scores of people, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Police carry out searches near a metro station in Brussels Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
10 Things to Know for Thursday - 24 March 2016

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday:

1. ISLAMIC STATE GROUP DEPLOYING TERROR CELLS IN EUROPE

The group has sent at least 400 attackers to the continent with orders to find the right time, place and method to carry out their missions, officials tell the AP.

Pedestrians struggle to climb the hill south of the State Capitol as a spring storm packing high winds and wet, heavy snow blanketed Denver Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The wet, heavy snow and strong winds have crippled travel in north central Colorado, shutting down some highways and schools and even Denver's airport. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

2. HOW BRUSSELS SUICIDE BOMBER SLIPPED THROUGH AUTHORITIES' GRASP

One of the attackers, named months ago by Turkey as a foreign terrorist fighter, was apparently allowed to go free after Belgian authorities failed to establish any ties to extremism.

3. AUSTRALIA: MOZAMBIQUE DEBRIS 'HIGHLY LIKELY' FROM FLIGHT 370

The two pieces believed to be from the missing Malaysian jetliner were found separately in the Indian Ocean by an American adventurer and a South African teenager.

4. SPRING BLIZZARD FRUSTRATES TRAVELERS

Snow blown by gusts up to 50 mph closes the Denver airport and shuts down hundreds of miles of highway in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.

5. WHERE GOP NOMINEE COULD BE CROWNED

The June 7 primary in California  which awards 172 delegates, the most of any state  could prove decisive in the Republican presidential race.

6. SYRIAN TROOPS POISED TO RETAKE HISTORIC TOWN

Government forces seize high ground around Palmyra, home to impressive Roman-era ruins that have been under assault by the Islamic State group.

7. FORMER POLITICIAN'S ALLEGED VICTIM COULD GO PUBLIC

A man who says he was sexually abused by Dennis Hastert is leaning toward testifying at the ex-House speaker's sentencing, prosecutors say.

8. WHAT'S ON HORIZON IN FIELD OF ENCRYPTION

It's almost certain that tech companies will keep increasing the security of their products  perhaps making it impossible for them to answer government demands for customer data.

9. US SCHOOLS ACCUSED OF OVERREACH

Colleges trying to crack down on campus sexual assault are finding themselves slammed with lawsuits from men who say they were unfairly expelled or otherwise punished.

10. JOE GARAGIOLA DIES AT 90

The former big league catcher thrived post-retirement as a glib baseball broadcaster and fixture on the "Today" show.

The 2017 Acura NSX GT3 is shown at the New York International Auto Show, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
UK police condemn Trump's complaint about British Muslims

LONDON (AP)  A senior British counter-terrorism police officer has condemned Donald Trump's assertion that British Muslims are not reporting extremists in their communities to police.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told BBC Radio on Wednesday that Trump's comments are wrong and could spark hate crimes.

He says "if we demonize one section of the community, that is the worst thing we can do. We are absolutely playing into the terrorists' hands of making people feel hate."

FILE - In this March 21, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Washington. Republican and Democratic presidential candidates clashed over the role of government, and its limitations, in enforcing U.S. national security Tuesday, March 21, 2016, following deadly attacks on the Brussels airport and metro system. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Basu admitted British police have to do more to encourage Muslims and other Britons to report suspicious activity to police.
Pope leads crowd in silent prayer for Brussels attacks dead

VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis on Wednesday called for "unanimous condemnation" of extremist attacks in Brussels and elsewhere and urged prayers to convert hearts "blinded by cruel fundamentalism."

At the end of his weekly public audience, the pontiff led thousands of people in St. Peter's Square in silent prayer for the victims of the airport and metro attacks a day earlier in the Belgian capital.

He told the crowd that he assured the "dear Belgian people" of his prayers and closeness.

Pope Francis arrives on his pope-mobile, surrounded by his security guards, for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

"I yet again appeal to all persons of good will to unite in unanimous condemnation of these cruel abominations that are causing only death, terror or horror," the pope said.

He asked people to keep praying, to comfort those suffering, as well as to "convert the hearts of these people blinded by cruel fundamentalism."

Security was very tight, and police examined bags of tourists as they walked down the boulevard leading to the square. Those entering the square passed through metal detectors.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome Wednesday issued a travel alert advising "particular caution during religious holidays" as well as at large gatherings.

Holy Week ceremonies over the next few days are expected to draw large crowds. On Friday night, Francis will preside over a Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum. On Sunday, he will celebrate Easter Mass in the square and give a blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, an event which in the past has drawn some 100,000 faithful.

___

Frances D'Emilio is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fdemilio.

Pope Francis arrives on his pope-mobile, surrounded by his security guards, for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful display a flag of the United States as Pope Francis caresses an infant from his pope-mobile during his tour through the crowd for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
The Latest: Poland won't take refugees after Brussels

IDOMENI, Greece (AP)  The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local):

5:25 p.m.

Poland's government says it is not prepared to accept any refugees following the deadly attacks in Brussels.

Migrant children stand in front of tents in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The U.N. refugee agency pulled out staff Tuesday from facilities on Lesbos and other Greek islands being used to detain refugees and migrants as an international deal with Turkey came under further strain. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

The ruling party, Law and Justice, is staunchly anti-migrant, but had previously indicated it would respect a commitment by the previous government to resettle around 7,000 refugees.

But government spokesman Rafal Bochenek indicated Wednesday that Prime Minister Beata Szydlo's government is reversing that position.

He said that "at the moment Poland is not able to accept immigrants."

He said the government fears that Europe is not able to eliminate security risks connected to the mass influx of migrants, adding: "for us the most important thing is the safety of Poles."

___

2:50 p.m.

The relief agency Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, says it is no longer staffing the main refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, after police began arresting refugees and detaining them there under a new international agreement.

The action announced Wednesday for the camp at Moria on the island follows a similar move by the United Nations refugee agency.

"We took the extremely difficult decision to end our activities in Moria because continuing to work there would make us complicit in a system we consider to be both unfair and inhumane," said MSF's head of mission in Greece, Marie Elisabeth Ingres.

More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have been arrested since Sunday and are being detained at European Union-supervised registration centers on Greek islands near the Turkish coast.

The agreement reached last week between the EU and Turkey is aimed at cracking down on migration, after more than a million people fled to the EU last year.

___

2:30 p.m.

Human rights groups and refugee advocates say Hungary is unnecessarily holding hundreds of asylum-seekers in detention and hindering the treatment and recovery of traumatized survivors of torture.

Gabor Gyulai, head of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee's refugee program, said Wednesday that Hungary's practice of detaining asylum-seekers is "not an exceptional measure, it is a widespread practice" which last year led, for example, to having more asylum-seekers in prison-like conditions than in open reception centers.

A report presented jointly by the Helsinki Committee and the Cordelia Foundation, which offers psychiatric counseling to asylum-seekers, found that legal safeguards for torture victims seeking asylum are ineffective, that the detention of torture victims or those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder fuels re-traumatization and that there are no trained mental health workers in the detention centers.

___

11:50 a.m.

Refugees and migrants in Greece have staged protests at the country's border with Macedonia and on islands near the Turkish coast, as officials still are unsure when an international agreement to reduce migration would take full effect.

Several hundred protesters camped out at the border disrupted food distribution by charities on Wednesday, and demanded the border be reopened.

Small protests have also occurred at three detention camps on three Greek islands, where arrested migrants and refugees are waiting to be deported back to Turkey.

All refugees and migrants arriving in Greece are being arrested since Sunday, when the agreement between Turkey and the European Union took effect.

Greek officials could not say when the deportations would start, with outstanding legal and practical issues still to be resolved.

A migrant boy shows a banner saying he wants to travel to Germany rather than camps set up by Turkish President Erdogan, during a protest demanding the opening of the border between Greece and Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The U.N. refugee agency pulled out staff Tuesday from facilities on Lesbos and other Greek islands being used to detain refugees and migrants as an international deal with Turkey came under further strain. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A migrant man with a child on his shoulders looks on during a protest demanding the opening of the border between Greece and Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Greece detained hundreds of refugees and migrants on its islands Monday, as officials in Athens and the European Union conceded a much-heralded agreement to send thousands of asylum-seekers back to Turkey is facing delays. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A migrant boy plays with a balloon during a protest demanding the opening of the border between Greece and Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Greece detained hundreds of refugees and migrants on its islands Monday, as officials in Athens and the European Union conceded a much-heralded agreement to send thousands of asylum-seekers back to Turkey is facing delays. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A migrant prepares a banner depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right and Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a protest demanding the opening of the border between Greece and Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Greece detained hundreds of refugees and migrants on its islands Monday, as officials in Athens and the European Union conceded a much-heralded agreement to send thousands of asylum-seekers back to Turkey is facing delays. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
New York Fed questioned after hack on Bangladesh account

WASHINGTON (AP)  A U.S. lawmaker is seeking answers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over the theft by cyber criminals of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank's account at the New York Fed.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, the senior Democrat on a key subcommittee of the House Financial Services panel, asked the New York Fed in a letter why it blocked 30 of the 35 fraudulent orders to transfer funds out of the account but failed to block the first five orders.

Bangladesh Central Bank Gov. Atiur Rahman resigned last week over the scandal. Attention increasingly has focused on suspected weaknesses in the Bangladesh central bank's cybersecurity.

Maloney is asking for a confidential briefing by the New York Fed's staff on the Feb. 4 cyber theft.

Her inquiry comes as a Sri Lankan court banned foreign travel by six directors of a foundation that police say was supposed to have received some of the money stolen from Bangladesh central bank's account. The court order will be enforced by Sri Lanka's Immigration Department, spokesman Lakshan Zoysa said.

The chief magistrate in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, Gihan Pilapitiya, issued the order Monday based on a police investigation of a complaint made by the financial intelligence unit of Sri Lanka's central bank.

The Sri Lankan police told the court that the Shalika Foundation had opened an account at a private bank in Colombo on Jan. 28 and that six days later, nearly $20 million was sent to the account. The bank alerted the Bangladesh Bank about the transaction and returned the money.

Sri Lanka police said the foundation was set up to help low-income families. The address of its office appears to be a boarded-up house in Colombo, and there is no other known contact information for the foundation.

The $81 million in stolen Bangladesh Bank funds was successfully transferred to private accounts in the Philippines.

"This brazen heist ... threatens to undermine the confidence that foreign central banks have in the Federal Reserve, and in the safety and soundness of international monetary transactions," Maloney said in her letter Tuesday to New York Fed President William Dudley.

"We need a thorough investigation to determine how these criminals were able to manipulate the system" to prevent it from happening again, she said.

Maloney also is asking why the New York Fed requested that Bangladesh Bank reconfirm all 35 transfer orders, but failed to wait until it received reconfirmation before executing the first five orders.

"We fully intend to reach out to the congresswoman and will endeavor to address her questions," the New York Fed said in a statement Wednesday.

The New York Fed, which acts as a banker to the major U.S. financial institutions based in New York and foreign central banks, has said it found no evidence that its own systems were compromised in the hack. The New York Fed also has said it has been working with Bangladesh Bank since the incident occurred and will continue to provide assistance.
2nd man charged in attempted break-in at US Arab newspaper

DEARBORN, Michigan (AP)  A second man has been charged in connection with an attempted break-in this month at the Detroit-area offices of The Arab American News.

Dearborn police say 22-year-old Kawayne Powell turned himself in Monday and was arraigned on charges that included attempted breaking and entering and possession of burglary tools. The court says he'll get a court-appointed attorney.

Police Chief Ronald Haddad tells The Associated Press that theft appeared to be the motive.

In this undated photo released by the Dearborn Police Department, Deandre Bey, 20, is shown in a booking mugshot. Bey has been charged in connection with an attempted break-in this month at the Detroit-area offices of The Arab American News. (Dearborn Police Department via AP)

Surveillance video showed two men apparently using a hammer to try to smash a rear glass door March 11 at the office in Dearborn, a city with large Arab and Muslim populations. Employees were working inside.

Twenty-year-old Deandre Bey also was charged. The AP left a message Wednesday for his lawyer.
The Latest: Obamas tango at Argentina state dinner

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)  The Latest on President Barack Obama's visit to Argentina (all times local):

9:35 p.m.

President Barack Obama is giving Argentina's famed tango dancers a run for their money.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama do the tango with dancers during the State Dinner at the Centro Cultural Kirchner, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama was taking in a tango performance during a state dinner in his honor when a female dancer in a shimmering gold dress beckoned him to the floor. At first, Obama declined  multiple times.

Eventually, Obama relented, joining the dancer for a few turns on the dance floor.

First lady Michelle Obama got in on the action, too, pairing up with a male tango dancer.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri hosted the Obamas for.

__

8:25 p.m.

President Barack Obama says his trip to Buenos Aires "is a new beginning" between the United States and Argentina.

Obama is being honored at a state dinner in Argentina by President Mauricio Macri. He says the world has noticed Macri's eagerness to re-engage Argentina with the world community.

Macri says Argentina recognizes Obama's visit as a gesture of friendship. He says Argentina developed with the same values as the U.S.

The dinner is taking place at Latin America's biggest cultural center, overlooking the Buenos Aires waterfront.

__

6 p.m.

Argentina's leader is offering President Barack Obama a ride. On a folding electric bicycle.

The government says President Mauricio Macri gave the bicycle to Obama on Wednesday. Obama is on a two-day, state visit to Argentina.

The CMYK 4.0 model bicycle was designed by Argentine Manuel Saez, who also spent several years in New York.

The bike's website says its 250-watt motor can travel 30 miles on one charge. The bike is expected to cost $1,600 when it goes on sale.

___

4:40 p.m.

President Barack Obama says a solution for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn't going to happen during his tenure.

He says the conflict has been going for 60 years. It's not going to be resolved in the next nine months.

Obama's comments come as he was asked at a town hall with young Argentinians whether it's possible to create a "bi-national state" containing leadership from both sides.

Obama says he doesn't believe a "one-state solution" or divided government would be stable because there is so much distrust between the Jewish people and Palestinians.

Obama says he believes the only way to resolve the issue is to have a two-state solution.

He says Israelis and Palestinians both have legitimate fears, but when it comes to making peace, "we can't do it for them."

___

4:10 p.m.

President Barack Obama says he's "quite optimistic" that researchers will develop a tool to diagnose the Zika virus and a vaccine to treat anyone afflicted with it.

He says countries have to work together, and not in isolation, on the issue because everyone travels these days and diseases are no longer restricted to certain areas.

The Zika virus is transmitted by a particular mosquito and has been linked to a birth defect known as microcephaly, in which babies are born with small heads.

Obama is speaking at a town hall meeting with Argentine youth. He was asked about the potential for scientific collaboration between Argentina and the U.S., and he cites fighting Zika as an example of an opportunity where nations can pool their resources.

___

3:50 p.m.

President Barack Obama is telling an audience of young Argentines that he's always wanted to visit their country since he was young like they are.

Obama, who is 54 years old, is holding a youth town hall at the Usina del Arte concert hall in Buenos Aires.

Visiting with and taking questions from young people has become a hallmark of Obama's trips abroad.

___

2:30 p.m.

President Barack Obama has participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, the city's main Roman Catholic church.

It's also best known as the place where Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio celebrated Mass before he became Pope Francis in 2013. Obama speaks fondly of Francis and warmly welcomed him to the White House last fall. Obama and the pope share an interest in climate change and improving relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

Obama entered the cathedral, greeted church officials and walked with Cardinal Mario Aurielio Poli to the altar, where the cardinal said a short prayer in Spanish. Obama then walked to the base of San Martin's tomb, where it is customary to lay a wreath.

Jose de San Martin was an Argentine general and the chief leader of South America's fight for independence from the Spanish Empire.

___

2:10 p.m.

President Barack Obama says he's "a big fan of Argentinian culture." And that now extends even to the country's favorite beverage: yerba mate (MAH-te) tea.

Speaking at a news conference with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Obama said he read Argentine literature as a university student and wondered about the mate tea the writers mentioned.

So he says that when he got to Buenos Aires, he tried some and "it was quite good."

Obama joked that he "may take some home." In his words, "I don't know what kind of import and exports controls I may be violating. On Air Force One, I can usually do what I want."

___

1:15 p.m.

President Barack Obama says the United States wants to rebuild trust that may have been lost with Argentina after the country's military coup 40 years ago.

He reiterated a pledge to declassify U.S. military and intelligence documents about America's role in the military dictatorship from what he called "that dark period."

The president said he would also visit a memorial to the victims of the dictatorship.

Argentina's government estimates some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared under force during the crackdown on leftist dissidents, though activists say the number is as high as 30,000.

___

11:10 a.m.

A military band played as President Barack Obama arrived at the Casa Rosada, the pink-tinged building that is Argentina's equivalent of the White House.

An honor guard with swords and red epaulets saluted with white-gloved hands as they waited for Obama on red carpets laid out on the black-and-white marble floors.

Obama and Macri sat together in Macri's office, joined by their delegations. Macri sat in front of a U.S. flag and Obama sat in front of the Argentine flag. They made no comments to reporters who were allowed a brief glimpse at the start of the meeting.

___

11 a.m.

President Barack Obama has arrived at the Casa Rosada for his meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Thousands of Argentines lined the streets of Buenos Aires and the Avenida del Libertador, a main thoroughfare through the city, to catch a glimpse of Obama's motorcade on a crisp, sunny morning.

After the meeting and a news conference with Macri, Obama plans to hold a town hall with Argentine youth.

In the evening, he'll attend a state dinner in his honor.

___

10:30 a.m.

The Argentine government says it's increasing security for the visit of President Barack Obama in light of the terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Obama arrived in Buenos Aires early Wednesday, less than 24 hours after multiple attacks in Brussels left 34 dead and hundreds injured.

Obama plans to meet with Argentine President Mauricio Macri later this morning, and has several events planned over the next two days.

Security measures include completely shutting down several subway lines, along with cordoning off streets where Obama will travel and around events at which he and First Lady Michelle Obama will participate. While some closures were initially announced, the number jumped after the attacks. Authorities also say they are raising the level of alert along the borders.

The closures snarled traffic in Buenos Aires. Many residents of Argentina's largest city decided to take the day off or work from home.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri waves as he poses with President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, left, and Argentine first lady Juliana Awada for a state dinner in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

President Barack Obama and Argentinean President Mauricio Macri toast during the State Dinner at the Centro Cultural Kirchner, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

First lady Michelle Obama with Argentine President Mauricio Macri at the State Dinner at the Centro Cultural Kirchner, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri at the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two day official visit to Argentina. (Martin Zabala/Pool Photo via AP)

President Barack Obama walks with Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli as he tours the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama, with Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Susana Malcorra, pause during a wreath laying ceremony at the in Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Karadzic's verdict is nearing but his legacy stays in Bosnia

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP)  Mirsada Malagic won't be celebrating if former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is convicted and sentenced to life Thursday in his genocide and war crimes trial at a U.N. tribunal.

Whatever the outcome of the case, Malagic says Karadzic has already sentenced her to a life of mourning. Bosnian Serbs forces killed her husband and two sons during the brutal 1992-1995 war. And now, more than two decades later, she says Karadzic's legacy makes it virtually impossible for Muslim Bosniaks like herself to return permanently to their homes in the part of the country now under Serb control.

Karadzic is still treated as a hero there despite being charged with orchestrating atrocities by his forces throughout the Bosnian war. He is blamed for a deadly campaign of sniping and shelling in the capital, Sarajevo, and the 1995 murders of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. The conflict left 100,000 dead and forced more than 2 million from their homes.

FILE - In this Friday, July 10, 2015 file photo, a woman touches the tombstone of a relative at the Potocari, memorial complex near Srebrenica, 150 kilometers northeast of Sarajevo, Bosnia. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)

Malagic, 57, testified against Karadzic during his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague, Netherlands.

"He felt no pain. No remorse. He was actually trying to blame us," Malagic said recently, looking back at her questioning by Karadzic, who defended himself.

During her questioning, she said, Karadzic claimed she was lying and that thousands of other Srebrenica widows and mothers had buried empty coffins just to make him look bad.

The U.S. brokered a peace agreement to end the war divided Bosnia into two ministates  one shared by Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, and the other run by Christian Orthodox Serbs, which Karadzic named "Republika Srpska." Malagic's village of Voljavica ended up in the latter.

Although the peace agreement guaranteed refugees the right to return, Republika Srpska authorities put measures in place so going home became nearly impossible, or at least unpalatable, she said.

"If you wanted to reclaim your own house, you had to 'legalize' it, whatever that means. The procedure cost over 300 euros," she said, stressing that it was an amount few people could afford to pay.

"They would fix the water pipelines to the village, but those would stop at the street sign saying Voljavica. They wouldn't go all the way to the houses."

Of the 1,375 Muslim residents of the village, only about 100 returned. The others were either dead or fled abroad. Those who did return couldn't find jobs, and their children were taught about the heroic deeds of Karadzic and his comrades in schools. Malagic lives at her sister's apartment in Sarajevo, often visiting her house in Republika Srpska to check on its condition. But she's too uncomfortable to stay for long periods.

More than 20 years after the end of Bosnia's war, Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his trial at The Hague, Netherlands. Judges have taken more than a year to deliberate and reach verdicts on the 11-count indictment. Prosecutors have requested life imprisonment.

In the Bosnian Serb ministate carved out after the war ended, his trial is seen by his supporters as an international plot against Serbs and their hero.

Last weekend, current Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik opened a student dormitory named after Karadzic and had Karadzic's daughter and wife unveil the plaque.

Speaking at the opening, Dodik called the trial "humiliating" and said those who fail to understand why Karadzic is hailed this way are "shallow-minded." His words were followed by resounding applause.

Karadzic's forces kept Sarajevo besieged for 44 months, starving and terrorizing it with random bombardment and sniping that took the lives of over 11,000 residents. He was tried on numerous charges, including two counts of genocide related to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of non-Serbs from seven Bosnian towns and villages and the Srebrenica massacre, as well as, the kidnapping of 284 U.N. peacekeepers who were used as human shields to prevent NATO bombings of his troops.

His goal was to remove non-Serbs from as much of Bosnia's territory as possible and make it part of a "Greater Serbia." His successors to this day are still promising Bosnian Serb secession.

Karadzic was indicted in 1995 but evaded arrest until he was captured in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2008. His trial in The Hague started in October 2009 and three years into it Malagic received two phone calls within a few days.

The first was an invitation from the tribunal to testify against Karadzic. The second came from a DNA lab, informing her that her 19-year-old son Elvir was identified among the skeletons of a Srebrenica mass grave. In the courtroom, she felt surprisingly good.

Malagic said she has been on sedatives every day since 1995, noting "the only time I felt I did not need the pills was when I testified."

In her testimony, she detailed how the family fled to nearby Srebrenica as Karadzic's troops expelled them from her village in 1992. In July 1995, her family had to flee again when Serb troops overran the town. Malagic described the screams and the chaos in which her family members lost each other and how  although pregnant and injured by bombs the troops sent after the fleeing civilians  she still managed to hold on to her 10-year-old son Adnan and escape to the government-held town of Tuzla.

She delivered her fourth child, daughter Amela, the next January when the war was over and kept searching for her husband and two sons she lost in the melee.

In 2009 forensic experts found the skeletons of her 15-year-old son Admir and her husband Salko in mass graves. She buried them in 2010.

After the war, Muslim Bosniaks tried returning to their villages controlled by Bosnian Serbs. Many eventually left again after finding jobs or sending their children to study abroad. They decided to keep their addresses in Republika Srpska, come home for holidays and wait for better times to return for good.

"Radovan Karadzic was tried, (but) not his project called Republika Srpska. That stays and hampers every progress of this country," said Fadila Memisevic, a human rights activist and head of the Bosnian branch of the German Society for Threatened Peoples.

As an example, she points to a current problem with a 2013 census in the country. The results are still not published because the Serbs demand that those who are registered at addresses in Bosnia but work or go to school abroad be stripped of their residency status.

Effectively, this would administratively erase more than 400,000 mostly Muslim Bosniaks from the region.

Karadzic insisted after the war that no more than 5 percent of non-Serbs should be allowed to return to Republika Srpska, Memisevic claims.

"So what else is this demand about than implementing Karadzic's plan?" she asked. "There is no reason to celebrate this verdict, even if he is locked up for life."

FILE - In this Thursday July 31, 2008 file photo, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic stands in the courtroom during his initial appearance at the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (Jerry Lampen/Pool via AP, File)

FILE - In this Thursday June 1, 1995 file photo, TV staff prepare Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic for a live TV appearance in Pale, Bosnia Herzegovina. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 6, 1995 file photo, Sarajevo residents take cover behind a French armored personnel carrier as a Bosnian Serb sniper fires upon them on a main street in the center of Sarajevo. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/David Brauchli, File)

FILE - A July 14, 1995 file photo shows refugees from the overrun U.N. safe haven enclave of Srebrenica who had spent the night outdoors, gathering outside the U.N. base at Tuzla airport. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday Nov. 28, 1995 file photo, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic takes part in an interview in Pale, Bosnia-Herzegovina. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Sava Radovanovic, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 18, 1994 file photo, seven year old Nermin Divovic lies mortally wounded in a pool of blood as unidentified U.S and British U.N. firefighters arrive to assist after he was shot in the head in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Enric Marti, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 1996 file photo shows International War Crimes Tribunal investigators clearing away soil and debris from dozens of Srebrenica victims buried in a mass grave near the village of Pilica, some 55 kms (32 miles) north east of Tuzla, Boisnia-Herzegovina. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Staton R. Winter, File)

FILE - In this March 25, 1993 file photo, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic talks to reporters at United Nations headquarters. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)

FILE - In this Thursday April 1, 2010 file photo, Bosnian pathologist Vedo Tuco inspects the remains of victims, during the process to re-associate body remains, at the Tuzla Identification center for victims exhumed from numerous mass graves, in northern Bosnian town of Tuzla. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Amel Emric, File)

FILE - In this May 1993 file photo, the bodies of Bosko Brkic, a Serb, and his Muslim girlfriend Admira Ismic, lie together in "no-man's land" between Bosnian Serb and government front lines in Sarajevo, after they were killed by a Serb sniper about six days earlier while trying to slip out of Sarajevo. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

FILE - In this July 14, 1995 photo, refugee Ferida Osmanovic from Srebrenica is found hanged in a forest outside the U.N. base at Tuzla airport. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 4, 1996 file photo, skeletal remains of victims of the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica lie on a hilltop just west of Srebrenica, Bosnia. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 9, 2014 file photo, Ema Hasanovic, 5, a Bosnian Muslim girl, pays her respects near the coffin of her uncle, in the Memorial center in Potocari, 200 kms northeast of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. More than 20 years after Bosnia's war, Radovan Karadzic will learn his fate on Thursday when U.N. judges deliver verdicts in his genocide and war crimes trial. (AP Photo/Amel Emric, File)
Honduran man on Texas death row loses federal appeal

HOUSTON (AP)  A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal from a Honduran man on Texas death row for beating and strangling a Houston woman during a robbery at her home more than 20 years ago.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday ruled against 46-year-old Carlos Ayestas.

His attorneys argued that his trial lawyers in 1997 were deficient for failing to bring his relatives from Honduras to testify for him. They also argued lawyers missed a memo in the prosecution file they considered improper that said prosecutors should use the fact Ayestas was not a U.S. citizen as a reason for seeking the death penalty against him.
City's PR firm must turn over documents in police shooting

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A public relations firm hired by a South Carolina city after one of its officers shot an unarmed teen to death has to turn over documents pertaining to the case, a federal judge presiding over a wrongful death lawsuit ruled on Tuesday.

In his order, U.S. Magistrate Kevin McDonald ruled that Complete Public Relations must share unredacted documents with the family of Zachary Hammond by March 26. The city hired the firm to handle the crush of media attention after the July shooting. The firm communicated with attorneys but not to seek legal advice  something that would be considered privileged  instead monitoring media coverage, drafting news releases and answering reporters' questions.

All of those tasks, McDonald wrote, "are standard public relations services."

The 19-year-old's parents are suing the city of Seneca, its police chief and the officer involved, saying that their son's civil rights were violated. According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed last year, Lt. Mark Tiller threatened to blow Hammond's head off before shooting him and that another officer gave the dead teen's body a high-five.

Dashcam video of the shooting shows Tiller yelling at Hammond to put up his hands and stop his car, but he instead drives away before being fatally shot. In the video, the officer grabs the left front fender of the gray sedan as the car keeps moving away in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. The officer shoots as the car drives by.

The car then moves out of view of the camera, but the audio picks up the sounds of crying, and an officer telling someone to again put their hands up.

Tiller has previously said through his attorney that he thought Hammond was threatening to run him over and fired to protect himself. Local prosecutors have said that Tiller's actions didn't meet the standard for criminal prosecution on the state level, nothing that the officer was forced to decide in less than three seconds whether to fire his gun and that evidence supports his position.

Federal authorities are continuing to investigate the case. The public relations firm did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The officers in the case are white as was the teen who was shot.

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4-legged healers soothe hospital's stressed-out docs, nurses

CHICAGO (AP)  Patients who delay getting treatment and insurers who balk at paying for it are among job stresses that Chicago nurse Ben Gerling faces on a semi-regular basis. So there was no tail-dragging when his employer offered a few four-legged workplace remedies.

Gerling and dozens of other nurses, doctors, students and staffers flocked to a spacious entrance hall at Rush University Medical Center after learning about special animal therapy sessions the hospital has organized.

Three huggable pups named Rocco, Minnie and Dallis greeted almost 100 white-coat and scrubs-clad visitors at a recent session, happily accepting cuddles, ear rubs and treats. Big grins on the human faces suggested the feelings were mutual.

In this Feb. 18, 2016 photo, medical assistant Ann Davidson, from Canine Therapy Corps, speaks as a medical center employee pets Rocco at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The medical center has offered monthly sessions animal therapy for over a year as an employee health and satisfaction program, using dogs from a local shelter and an animal therapy group. Recently, Rush nurses launched a study to see if the program has tangible effects on employee stress and morale. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)

Minnie, a fluffy white and gray Labradoodle mix, had "the softest fur I'd ever felt, like a little cloud," Gerling said dreamily as he headed back to work.

Many hospitals use animal therapy for patients  Rush has even brought in miniature horses. And many workplaces allow pets on site to boost employee satisfaction, but heelers for healers offers a different twist.

The medical center has held the monthly Pet Pause sessions for over a year, using dogs from a local shelter and an animal therapy group. Recently, Rush nurses launched a study to see if the program has tangible effects on employee stress.

Research in other settings has shown benefits from interacting with animals, including lowering stress hormone levels, blood pressure and heart rate. Early indications are that it may have similar benefits for hospital workers.

In the study, the human visitors get blood pressure measurements and fill out questionnaires rating their stress levels before and after the canine cuddle sessions.

Gerling's results were promising.

"My blood pressure was kind of high when I came in, and it was lower when I left by about 10 points, so that was good," he said.

Melissa Browning, a Rush nursing director involved in the study, rattles off a long list when asked about what makes hospital work particularly stressful: constant beeping from medical device alarms, dealing with gravely ill patients and worried families, triple checking the accuracy of patients' medicines and doses  it can all add up, Browning said.

For Benjamin Gonzales, a graduate student in health systems management at Rush, the heavy course workload can be taxing and he called the dog session a welcome break  even if his blood pressure was a little higher afterward.

"I could feel the big sighs coming out of me when I was with the dogs, so I know that just coming to this has made my day less stressful," Gonzales said. "This is amazing. I wish it could be every day."

A management professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University is among researchers who have found improvements in employee stress, satisfaction and productivity when dogs are allowed in the workplace. His name is Randolph Barker and he laughs that maybe he was destined to study the topic.

His research was at a dinnerware company but Barker said there's no reason to think hospital workers wouldn't gain similar benefits.

Dogs can potentially serve as a "low-cost wellness intervention," Barker said.

The "pet a pooch" program for staffers at University of Pennsylvania's hospital inspired the Chicago program. Emergency room nurse Heather Matthew started the Penn program three years ago, bringing in dogs from local animal shelters. Besides boosting morale, Matthew said there's an added bonus  Penn hospital workers have adopted more than a dozen shelter dogs involved in the program.

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Online:

Animal-assisted therapy: http://tinyurl.com/zocrfuf

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Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner. Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/lindsey-tanner

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In this Feb. 18, 2016 photo, medical assistant Loren White pets Minnie, a Labradoodle mix at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The medical center has offered monthly sessions animal therapy for over a year as an employee health and satisfaction program, using dogs from a local shelter and an animal therapy group. Recently, Rush nurses launched a study to see if the program has tangible effects on employee stress and morale. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
Group accuses US prison of illegal anti-gay mail ban

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP)  The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging a ban on letters, magazines and other mail sent to inmates at a Kentucky prison that contains material with gay-related content, news reports said Wednesday.

The Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/1VEidjZ ) reports that Kentucky ACLU legal director William Sharp has written to the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex to object to a policy that prohibits prisoners from receiving items that "promote homosexuality."

Sharp was quoted as saying that the prison rejected mail for that reason on at least 13 occasions since August. He said the action is a violation of prisoners' First Amendment rights.

"Kentucky prisoners cannot constitutionally be denied the right to receive mail just because the content relates to gay people or issues of interest to gay people ... Doing so singles out particular individuals for unequal treatment on the basis of their sexual orientation, thus denying them the fundamental right to receive information protected by the First Amendment," Sharp wrote in a letter to warden Kathy Litteral.

Sharp said safety concerns aren't valid arguments for withholding items that mention homosexuality.

Rodney Ballard, the state's newly appointed corrections commissioner, said he wasn't familiar with the policy, but would investigate the matter.

"We are going to review all of the policies, both institutionally and system-wide," Corrections Department spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said.

The facility is a medium-security prison for 1,706 men in West Liberty, Kentucky.

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Spain police say driver in bus crash may have fallen asleep

MADRID (AP)  The driver of a bus that crashed Sunday, killing 13 exchange students, may have fallen asleep or become distracted moments before the tragedy occurred in northeastern Spain, police said Wednesday.

Regional police commissioner Miquel Esquius told reporters that although investigations are continuing, police believe the driver may have dozed off or become distracted by a mobile phone or by talking to someone.

He said many of the nearly 60 students on the bus, including the 13 who died, were not wearing seat belts at the time of the early-morning crash south of Barcelona.

Emergency services personnel stand at the scene of a bus accident crashed on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona early Sunday, March 20, 2016. A bus carrying university students back from a fireworks festival crashed Sunday on a main highway in northeastern Spain, killing 14 passengers and injuring 30 others, a Catalonian official said. (AP Photo)

Seven of those killed were from Italy. The other six were two Germans, an Austrian, a French woman, a Romanian and an Uzbek.

The driver is the only one of 19 people still being treated in local hospitals who is said to be in critical condition. He has yet to give testimony regarding the accident. Authorities say he is being investigated for possible negligent homicide.

The students were returning from a firework festival in the eastern coastal city of Valencia.

They were studying in Barcelona as part of the European Union*s Erasmus exchange program.

Emergency services personnel stand at the scene of a bus accident crashed on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona early Sunday, March 20, 2016. A bus carrying university students back from a fireworks festival crashed Sunday on a main highway in northeastern Spain, killing 14 passengers and injuring 30 others, a Catalonian official said. (AP Photo)

Emergency services personnel stand at the scene of a bus accident crashed on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona early Sunday, March 20, 2016. A bus carrying university students back from a fireworks festival crashed Sunday on a main highway in northeastern Spain, killing 14 passengers and injuring 30 others, a Catalonian official said. (AP Photo)

Emergency services personnel stand at the scene of a bus accident crashed on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona early Sunday, March 20, 2016. The bus was reportedly hired out to carry students to and from a fireworks festival in Valencia and was on the return leg of its journey when the accident happened. (AP Photo)

Emergency services personnel stand at the scene of a bus accident crashed on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona early Sunday, Spain, March 20, 2016. The bus was reportedly hired out to carry students to and from a fireworks festival in Valencia and was on the return leg of its journey when the accident happened. (AP Photo)

Undertaker workers carry the body of a person killed during a bus accident on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona, Sunday, March 20, 2016. A bus carrying university students back from a fireworks festival crashed Sunday on a main highway in northeastern Spain, killing 14 passengers and injuring 30 others, a Catalonian official said. (AP Photo)

Undertaker workers carry the body of a person killed during a bus accident on the AP7 highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals halfway between Valencia and Barcelona, Sunday, March 20, 2016. A bus carrying university students back from a fireworks festival crashed Sunday on a main highway in northeastern Spain, killing 14 passengers and injuring 30 others, a Catalonian official said. (AP Photo)
The Latest: Man who served 20 years for NY killing is freed

NEW YORK (AP)  The Latest on a man who spent 20 years in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit (all times local):

Noon

A judge has freed a man who spent 20 years in prison for a New York City murder that he says happened while he was in Florida.

This July 2015 photo provided by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision shows Richard Rosario who has served 20 years in prison for a shooting despite the fact that he gave police the names of 13 people who could vouch he was in Florida when the shooting happened. Prosecutors now plan to ask a judge Wednesday, March 23, 2016, to overturn Rosario's murder conviction and free him as they reinvestigate his case. His attorneys call it an illustration of unreliable eyewitness testimony and ineffective defense. (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision via AP)

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark asked a court Wednesday to overturn Richard Rosario's murder conviction and release him as her office reinvestigates the case. Rosario gave authorities the names of 13 people who saw him there.

The district attorney isn't seeking to dismiss the charges, at least for now, in the 1996 killing of George Collazo.

Rosario's attorneys say his initial lawyers didn't do enough to explore all his alibi witnesses.

Two testified at his trial. His lawyers didn't send an investigator to Florida speak to others, though a court had approved money for the trip.

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8 a.m.

Prosecutors plan to ask a judge to free a man who has spent 20 years in prison for a New York City murder that he says happened while he was in Florida. He gave authorities the names of 13 people who saw him there.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark's office says prosecutors plan to ask a court Wednesday to overturn Richard Rosario's murder conviction and release him as they reinvestigate his case.

They aren't seeking to dismiss the charges, at least for now, in the 1996 killing of George Collazo.

Rosario's attorneys say his initial lawyers didn't do enough to explore all his alibi witnesses.
Obama: US will go after the IS group aggressively

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)  A day after bombs ripped through Brussels, President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that fighting the Islamic State is his "No. 1 priority" and blasted Republican calls for surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods as counterproductive and contrary to U.S. values.

Obama took on presidential candidate Ted Cruz directly, comparing his proposal for a crackdown on Muslims to the restrictions on religion and free speech in communist Cuba, the nation Cruz's father fled and Obama visited Tuesday.

"I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance, which by the way the father of Sen. Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free," Obama said. "The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense. It's contrary to who we are."

U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions during a joint news conference with Argentine President Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Obama is on a two day official visit to Argentina. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Obama showed no signs of altering his policies in the battle against the Islamic State group, which has claimed credit for the Brussels bombings. He described calls for more aggressive action as ill-conceived and said Republican talk of carpet bombing in Iraq and Syria is "inhumane."

"That would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more people willing to die and explode bombs in an airport or in a metro station. That's not a smart strategy," Obama said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group.

The president spoke at a news conference in Buenos Aires, where he flew from Havana to meet with Argentina's new president, Mauricio Macri. Obama's historic trip, the first for a sitting president to Cuba in 90 years, was jarred but not interrupted by the bombings that killed at least 34 people and left some 270 injured. The president didn't change his schedule, attending a baseball game Tuesday and continuing on to the second leg of this trip.

Obama argued that shifting his plans would show weakness to the terrorists, and he sought to show he was unfazed by the campaign-season blitz of criticism at home. He vowed to stick to the strategy in Iraq and Syria.

"I've got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat ISIL and to eliminate the scourge of this barbaric terrorism that's been taking place around the world," Obama said. "There's no more important item on my agenda than going after them and defeating them. The issue is how do we do it in an intelligent way?"

As Obama traveled, Republican candidates put forward their own alternatives. Cruz said Tuesday that law enforcement should be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

He also echoed similar statements from GOP front-runner Donald Trump, calling for an end to the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence.

Obama said the strategy of a U.S.-led air campaign and special operations missions was evolving, but only in response to results on the ground, not GOP rhetoric.

"We are approaching this in a way that has a chance of working. And it will work," he said. "And we're not going to do things that are counterproductive simply because it's political season. We're going to be steady. We're going to be resolute, and ultimately we're going to be successful."

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Hennessey reported from Washington.

CORRECTS SPELLING OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE TO CASA ROSADA, INSTEAD OF CASA RASADA - President Barack Obama and Argentine President Mauricio Macri participate in a joint news conference at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
$3M settlement reached in police sexual assault case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  A New Mexico city has agreed to a $3 million settlement in the case of a high school police intern who was sexually assaulted by an officer during a ride-along.

Attorneys for the city of Las Cruces and the victim confirmed Wednesday that the agreement was reached and the process of settling and dismissing the case were underway in state district court.

Michael Garcia of the Las Cruces Police Department was sentenced in 2014 to nine years in federal prison for the sexual assault. The victim, Diana Guerrero, sued the city saying the department allowed for a culture of sexism and inappropriate behavior and that Garcia was never disciplined for a history of misconduct.

FILE - This Oct. 12, 2015 file photo Diana Guerrero poses for a photo in Las Cruces, N.M. The city of Las Cruces has agreed to a $3 million settlement in Guerrero's case, a high school police intern who was sexually assaulted by an officer during a ride-along. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan,File)

"I am most happy and satisfied that this lawsuit brought to light a cesspool of sexual violence and harassment that exists in police departments across this country. I'm living proof that you can speak out against sexual violence and win justice," said Guerrero, who is now 21. The Associated Press does not generally name the victims of sexual assault, but Guerrero agreed to her name being published.

Guerrero's case was among many that reflected a betrayal of the badge that has been repeated across the country.

In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, the AP uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse.

The number is unquestionably an undercount because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action. California and New York  with several of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies  offered no records because they have no statewide system to decertify officers for misconduct. And even among states that provided records, some reported no officers removed for sexual misdeeds even though cases were identified via news stories or court records.

The settlement in New Mexico represents the largest of its kind in the state's history, according to Guerrero's attorney, Shannon Kennedy of Albuquerque.

Kennedy had argued that since male detectives on the force were allowed to degrade women within the department, Garcia felt free to assault her client.

Las Cruces Police Chief Jaime Montoya, who took over in December 2013, indicated earlier this year that the department had done training related to hostile work environments and reviewed and updated policies. A spokesman for the department did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

During the former officer's trial, Guerrero told the court that the assault left her feeling "like a piece of trash," dashed her dreams of becoming a police officer and triggered depression, nightmares and flashbacks.

"It had never occurred to me that a person who had earned a badge would do this to me or anybody else," she said. "I lost my faith in everything, everyone, even in myself."
13 alibi witnesses, 20 years in prison _ and now, freedom

NEW YORK (AP)  When questioned about a murder, Richard Rosario named 13 people he said could back an alibi 1,000 miles long. But he spent 20 years in prison before the conviction was overturned, freeing him  at least for now.

Rosario wiped at his face and smiled Wednesday as a judge threw out his conviction in a 1996 New York City shooting that happened while Rosario says he was in Florida. Both his lawyers and prosecutors now agree his then-attorneys didn't do enough to track down Rosario's alibi witnesses and enlist them in his defense.

"I've been in prison for 20 years for a crime I didn't commit," said Rosario, who had lost multiple appeals. "My family didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve this, and nor did the family of the victim."

Richard Rosario, center, is hugged by his lawyers Rebecca Freedman, left, and Glenn Garber, of the Exoneration Initiative, after a judge overturns his conviction, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in New York. The judge overturned Rosario's murder conviction and freed him while prosecutors reinvestigate his 1996 case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Rosario hasn't been cleared: Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark agreed to recommend dismissing his conviction, but not the charges themselves, while she reinvestigates the killing of 17-year-old Jorge Collazo, also called George Collazo. Prosecutors could ultimately decide to retry Rosario or to drop the charges.

"A modicum of justice has occurred today," said one of his lawyers, Glenn Garber of the Exoneration Initiatve. But "he's not been fully vindicated, and we hope he will be soon."

Rosario's release came two months after Clark succeeded 27-year DA Robert Johnson and days ahead of a planned released of a "Dateline" digital series on NBCNews.com on the case. It adds to a roster of over 25 convictions from New York City's high-crime 1980s and '90s that prosecutors have disavowed in the last five years.

Rosario's attorneys called his case an illustration of unreliable eyewitness testimony, bungled defense and the difficulty of fighting a guilty verdict.

Collazo's sister, however, said her family was stunned at Rosario's release and remains convinced of his guilt.

"All we want is the truth, and it is time that Richard give up the cries of innocence and confess," Guanica Collazo said by email.

Rosario, now 40, was arrested after two witnesses identified him from a police photo book as the man who'd shot Collazo in the head after an exchange of words on a Bronx street on June 19, 1996. No forensic or physical evidence tied Rosario to the crime.

He said he'd been staying with friends in Deltona, Florida, and he listed over a dozen people he said had seen him there.

Police didn't contact those people, according to Rosario's current lawyers. And his own court-appointed attorneys at the time didn't fully explore the alibi witnesses, either.

After phoning the witnesses proved difficult, his initial attorney, Joyce Hartsfield, got a judge's OK to pay to send a private investigator to Florida but then never dispatched the investigator, according to a 2010 appeals court decision. Another lawyer, Steven Kaiser, took over before Rosario's trial, mistakenly thought the court had nixed funding for the investigator's Florida trip and didn't pursue it further.

Kaiser said Wednesday that he was "absolutely thrilled" at Rosario's release but declined to comment further. Hartsfield didn't immediately respond to phone and email messages.

The couple who said they'd hosted Rosario testified at his trial and said they had good reason to remember his presence and other details from the day of Collazo's killing: Their first child was born the next day. But the trial prosecutor urged jurors to discount them because of their friendship with Rosario.

During Rosario's appeal, a judge said additional alibi witnesses wouldn't have added significantly to his defense. Rosario's lawyers argue otherwise, noting that some of the witnesses weren't close with Rosario and so might have been more difficult to discredit. Several of them did ultimately participate in the case, testifying at an appellate hearing in 2004.

For now, Rosario headed home Wednesday with his wife and their two children, both born before he was arrested. He declined to talk about his case as he left court.

Instead, he called for freeing other people who are fighting their own convictions.

___

This story has been revised to show the Bronx district attorney's corrected age for George Collazo of 17, not 16.

___

Associated Press researcher Monika Mathur contributed to this story. Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter @ jennpeltz.

Richard Rosario, center, is joined by his lawyer Rebecca Freedman as he smiles while his handcuffs are removed in court before his conviction is overturned, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in New York. The judge overturned Rosario's murder conviction and freed him while prosecutors reinvestigate his 1996 case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Richard Rosario, center, and his lawyers Glenn Garber, right, and Rebecca Freedman, of the Exoneration Initiative, listen as a judge overturns Rosario's conviction, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in New York. The judge overturned Rosario's murder conviction and freed him while prosecutors reinvestigate his 1996 case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Richard Rosario, center, is joined by his daughter Amanda, right, son Richard Jr., left, and wife Minerva as he leaves Bronx state Supreme Court after his conviction was overturned, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in New York. The judge overturned Rosario's murder conviction and freed him while prosecutors reinvestigate his 1996 case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Richard Rosario, center, is joined by his daughter Amanda, right, and wife Minerva as he leaves Bronx state Supreme Court after his conviction was overturned, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in New York. The judge overturned Rosario's murder conviction and freed him while prosecutors reinvestigate his 1996 case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
House leader slams 'ugliness' in US politics

WASHINGTON (AP)  The leader of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday decried ugliness and divisiveness in American politics, delivering a veiled but passionate rebuke to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and the nasty tone of his campaign.

"When passions flair, ugliness is sometimes inevitable. But we shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm," Republican Speaker Paul Ryan told an invited audience of congressional interns on Capitol Hill.

"If someone has a bad idea, we tell them why our idea is better. We don't insult them into agreeing with us," he said.

Ryan, his party's 2012 vice presidential nominee, has said he is not interested in running for president should the current Republican candidates falter. He said the same thing last fall about becoming speaker but was eventually drafted into the job after John Boehner, a Republican, was pushed out by conservative hard-liners.

Ryan never mentioned Trump's name or that of any other candidate, Republican or Democratic. But his target was clear in a sometimes frightful campaign season that's featured insults, sucker-punches and near-riots more often than substantive policy debates.

"It did not used to be this bad, and it does not have to be this way," Ryan said.

"We are slipping into being a divisive country," he said. "If we're going to keep this beautiful American experiment going we're going to have to stay unified."

The speaker has remained officially neutral in his party's presidential contest so far, even as other Republican leaders have openly searched for ways to prevent Trump from clinching the nomination before the party's July convention in Cleveland.

He has tried to avoid commenting on Trump's candidacy, while saying repeatedly that he intends to support the eventual Republican nominee.

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UN envoy announces cease-fire in Yemen on April 10

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a cease-fire at midnight on April 10 ahead of a new round of peace talks starting April 18 in Kuwait, the U.N. envoy to Yemen announced Wednesday.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed made the announcement following extensive consultations with Yemen's internationally recognized government and Houthi Shiite rebels as well as regional countries, the United States and France.

Previous attempts to implement a cease-fire in Yemen have failed to take hold on the ground, with each side accusing the other of immediately violating the terms. A first round of talks was held in Switzerland in December.

People stand around damages made by a Saudi-led airstrike on a bridge in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Cheikh Ahmed said he is "more optimistic" about the upcoming talks because they have the support of all parties who have underlined the importance of finding a political solution as soon as possible to end "the extremely high level of humanitarian suffering."

"The war in Yemen must be brought to an end, and before it does irreparable damage to the future of Yemen and to the region," he said. "If we fail this time, it's probably one of our last chances to get an end to this war."

Yemen's conflict pits the government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against the Houthis, allied with a former president. The Houthis took over the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, and the U.S.-backed coalition began airstrikes against them in March 2015. The government is now largely confined to the southern city of Aden.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in fighting, millions are displaced and the Arab world's poorest country has been pushed to the brink of famine. In the chaos, a powerful al-Qaida affiliate has seized a large swath of territory across the country's south and east, while an upstart Islamic State branch has carried out a series of attacks targeting government forces and the Houthis.

Yemeni officials said Wednesday that at least 40 militants were killed and more than 20 wounded in U.S. strikes on an al-Qaida training camp on Tuesday, the largest single attack on the militant group in three years.

Cheikh Ahmed said the Yemeni people have suffered "an unspeakable tragedy," calling the civilian casualties "an affront to humanity."

The U.N. envoy said the talks, which he will lead, aim to reach an agreement to end the conflict and allow the resumption of political dialogue leading to a peaceful transition based on a regional peace initiative, a national dialogue and U.N. Security Council resolutions.

He said the parties have committed to reinforcing a committee overseeing the cease-fire with prominent Yemeni figures who will report on progress and security incidents.

The Yemeni talks will focus on five areas: the withdrawal of militia and armed groups, the handover of heavy weaponry to the state, interim security arrangements, restoration of state institutions and resumption of an inclusive political dialogue, he said. It A special committee will be created to deal with prisoners and detainees.

Cheikh Ahmed said the cessation of hostilities must also seek to ensure "safe, rapid and unhindered" humanitarian access everywhere in the country as well as an increase in commercial shipments in the coming weeks. These are crucial because Yemen imports almost all its food.

Cheikh Ahmed said he has also pursued agreements that would preserve the functioning of the state bank and other state institutions during the cease-fire.

Yemen's conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, which supports the Houthis. The Houthis have denied receiving weapons from Iran and have recently expressed anger with Tehran, accusing it of exploiting the conflict for its own ends.

Amnesty International called this week for arms suppliers including the United States and Britain to halt all weapons transfers to combatants in Yemen. Human Rights Watch demanded a halt to all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia "until it not only curtails its unlawful airstrikes in Yemen but also credibly investigates alleged violations."

___

Associated Press writer Ahmed Al-Haj, in Sanaa, Yemen, contributed.
News Guide: Panel cites state errors, intransigence on Flint

LANSING, Mich. (AP)  The lead contamination of Flint's water is "a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice," according to a task force created by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the crisis.

In their final report Wednesday, investigators also chided Snyder for his refrain that the situation represents a failure of local, state and federal government, saying that suggests all three were equally culpable when the state was "fundamentally accountable." It listed decisions made by state environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city.

The unsparing report also cited "intransigence and belligerence" by state officials unwilling to admit they had erred, and their dismissal of news reports and complaints from residents about the water's smell, taste and color.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder addresses media on the Flint Water Advisory Task Force final report findings on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich. The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force appointed by Snyder concluded Wednesday. (Conor Ralph/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

A look at the panel's findings and recommendations:

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'UNIMAGINABLE' DECISION

Primary responsibility was unsurprisingly directed toward the state Department of Environmental Quality, whose director resigned in December after the panel's initial report. Before Flint switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in April 2014, the DEQ misinterpreted federal regulations and advised the Flint Water Treatment Plant that anti-corrosive chemicals were not needed  which let lead leach from aging pipes into the drinking water. Task force co-chairman Chris Kolb called the decision "unimaginable," particularly since the river water was more corrosive than Detroit's Lake Huron water, which had corrosion controls.

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NUMBER EXPOSED?

Lead can be especially harmful to young children, causing problems that include developmental delays. About 200 children in Flint are known to have had elevated levels in their blood since the water switch. But the report called that likely a "profound underestimate." Flint has about 11,900 children under age 6, based on Census estimates and Medicaid records, necessitating long-term spending on education, mental health, juvenile justice and nutrition.

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HEALTH DEPARTMENT FAILURES

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was faulted for misunderstanding its own data on childhood blood lead levels and being reluctant to share it with outside experts, prolonging the crisis. The report says it also failed in its role as the main agency to protect kids from lead poisoning.

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GOVERNOR'S ROLE

Snyder, who has apologized repeatedly for his administration's role in the disaster, and his office were directly involved in some aspects of the crisis and briefed on some of the major decisions surrounding Flint water, the report says. He appointed emergency managers who made key decisions that led to and prolonged the crisis. He also hired the directors of three state departments that bear differing degrees of responsibility. The governor's office itself received citizen complaints and was aware of press reports about water problems as early as May 2014, it said.

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EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

State managers appointed by Snyder to oversee the city  not locally elected officials  decided to use the Flint River and stick with it, partly based on guidance from the DEQ, Flint employees and consultants. Some local officials supported and even embraced the choices, but the "decisions were not theirs to make." ''Who is accountable for the decisions made by the EMs in Flint?" the investigators said. "We believe the state must assume that accountability." The report called for revising the emergency manager law to compensate for the "loss of checks and balances by representative government."

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ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE

The report labeled the crisis "a case of environmental injustice," saying the impoverished, majority-black city "did not enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards as that provided to other communities." It added that because Flint was being ruled by a state emergency manager, its citizens didn't have the same opportunity to influence government decisions as people elsewhere. Environmental injustice doesn't necessarily involve "malevolent intent" or blatant violations of civil rights, the report said. "It's about equal treatment," task force co-chairman Ken Sikkema said, "in this case equal environmental protection and public health protection, regardless of race, national origin or income."

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FUNDING

While accusing DEQ personnel of repeated bungling, the report noted another problem: too little money. An EPA audit and other evidence suggests the Michigan drinking water program has one of the lowest funding levels among six states overseen by the EPA's regional office in Chicago, despite having "one of the largest, if not the largest, number of community water systems to regulate." The DEQ's share of the state's general fund has plummeted since the 2000-01 fiscal year, when it was just under $100 million, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency. It bottomed out at $24.3 million in 2010-11 before rebounding and is nearly $47 million this year. The department has relied increasingly on federal funds and other sources. During the same 16-year period, the department's full-time staff has fallen 25 percent. "If you want better oversight, you're going to have to have more staff," said James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council.

___

Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder addresses questions by the media after release of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force final report at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich., on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force concluded Wednesday. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP)

Ken Sikkema, public sector consultant and co-chair of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force, speaks during a news conference about the Flint Water Advisory Task Forcd final report at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich., on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force concluded Wednesday in a withering report. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP)

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and members of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force listen as Public Sector Consultant Ken Sikkema, left, addresses media on the final report findings on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at Mott Community College. in Flint, Mich. The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force appointed by Snyder concluded Wednesday. (Conor Ralph/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder listens as members of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force address media on their final report findings, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich. The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force appointed by Snyder concluded Wednesday. (Conor Ralph/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder addresses media on the Flint Water Advisory Task Force final report findings on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich. The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force appointed by Snyder concluded Wednesday. (Conor Ralph/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

Michigan Gov.Rick Snyder and members of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force listen as Public Sector Consultant Ken Sikkema addresses media on the final report findings on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich. The state of Michigan is "fundamentally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force appointed by Snyder concluded Wednesday. (Conor Ralph/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)
PA's Toomey latest GOP senator to agree to meet Garland

WASHINGTON (AP)  Sen. Pat Toomey on Wednesday became the latest Republican senator to say he'll meet with President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, but said he'll tell him the Senate won't fill the vacancy until a new president is elected.

Toomey, R-Pa., is at least the ninth GOP senator to say they will meet with Merrick Garland or have indicated an openness to it. Six of them face re-election in November, including Toomey.

Led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, most Republicans say the late Justice Antonin Scalia won't be replaced until the next president picks a nominee.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, the committee that considers judicial nominations, meets with Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Some including McConnell have said they won't even meet with Garland, though the two men spoke by telephone last week. Garland is chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Democrats say they believe Republicans will have to succumb to public pressure and agree to hold Judiciary committee hearings and a full Senate vote on Garland or face election losses that would cost them majority control of the chamber.

Toomey's statement came after a day after his Democratic colleague from Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey, met with Garland and told reporters that the fight over Senate consideration of the nominee "is a substantial issue for people across the country."

In a written statement, Toomey said he'd agreed to a White House request to meet Garland "out of courtesy and respect for both the president and the judge."

Toomey said he will tell Garland that Scalia's seat will remain unfilled "until after the American people weigh in and select a new president, and I believe that is the best approach for deciding whether to alter the balance of the Supreme Court."

Scalia's death left four liberal-leaning justices and four conservative ones.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network on Wednesday that she would meet with Garland when the Senate returns from recess in early April.

Collins is one of a small number of Republicans who want the Judiciary committee to hold its customary hearings on the nominee, which Grassley has said he will not do. Collins said she hopes that after GOP senators meet with Garland, "perhaps there will be a shift" in Grassley's position.

Garland met Wednesday with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the fifth Senate Democrat he's seen since his nomination.

Though Garland's quest for confirmation seems uphill, Klobuchar said she doesn't think he would go through the process "if he didn't want the job and didn't think it was a reality that he could get the job."

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Brussels attacks expose vulnerability of Europe's cities

JERUSALEM (AP)  Despite the high death toll and dramatic scenes of destruction, this week's attacks in Brussels appear to have been surprisingly easy to carry out, requiring little more than some careful preparation, a handful of motivated militants and ingredients that are readily available on store shelves.

Security experts say Europe's major cities  filled with soft targets and home to hundreds of Islamic militants who have fought or trained in Syria, Iraq and Libya  will remain vulnerable to similar attacks without changes in their security procedures.

The assailants in Brussels were well-prepared for the suicide bombings in the airport and subway, which killed more than 30 people. They chose crowded, easy-to-reach targets that were poorly secured in a country whose forces have already been stretched by a string of crackdowns on suspected Islamic militants. Belgium's chief prosecutor said the investigators found 15 kilograms of TATP  an inexpensive and hard-to-detect explosive material  at an apartment where the attackers had stayed, but it wasn't immediately clear whether it was used in the blasts.

Police and soldiers from the Belgian Army stand in front of blown out windows at Zaventem Airport in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Yorick Jansens, Pool photo via AP)

"It doesn't require sophistication, but it requires preparation and planning," said Yoram Schweitzer, a former head of the Israeli military's counter-terrorism desk. "There is a need for suicide belts, a safe house, or perhaps baggage with explosives."

Schweitzer, an expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, estimated that an attack like the one in Brussels would take weeks, perhaps several months, to plan.

Israel faced a wave of suicide bombings during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s before taking a series of measures that halted the attacks. These included construction of a massive separation barrier to block attackers from the West Bank, a military crackdown and stepped up intelligence, including the use of Palestinian informants, that allows Israel to nab suspects before they carry out their operations.

Equally critically, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who took office in late 2004, has maintained a system of security cooperation with Israel, even during times of heightened tensions. This cooperation has been motivated by shared concerns over the Islamic militant Hamas group.

Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport has not experienced an attack in decades, thanks to a sophisticated multilayered system of security checks that include inspections of every vehicle entering the site and armed guards both inside and outside the terminals. Schools, supermarkets and shopping malls all have security guards who check visitors' bags. Racial profiling is common, and Arab travelers and visitors are often frisked or aggressively questioned.

While Israelis have become accustomed to these inconveniences, bringing such measures to continental Europe, with its larger territory and diverse population, would be difficult.

Citizens can pass freely across European borders without stringent identity checks, and transport hubs contain very few security checks. Profiling suspects is challenging in Europe due to its racial diversity, and extremist groups like IS actively recruit people of European descent.

Armed guards patrol many of Europe's train stations, airports and landmarks, but their presence is significantly less onerous than similar hubs in the U.S. and Israel. There is also direct train access with little to no security into many European airports. The Belgium attackers appear to have entered the Brussels airport posing as travelers with suitcases.

"Getting a bomb on a plane or through the security at the airport is tough, but getting one into the airport or a train station is relatively simple," said Matthew Henman, managing editor at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in the U.K. "But imagine if you had everyone's bags searched before they entered at train stations during peak rush-hours. Soon, there would be long lines and those gathered crowds would become the new target."

The United Kingdom is better protected because of its physical separation from continental Europe, allowing for better border controls and greater difficulty smuggling weapons into the country.

Still, homegrown suicide bombers struck London in simultaneous attacks that killed 56 people in 2005. Since then, Britain has invested in placing protective barriers around buildings, improved communications systems in the London subway system and an extensive network of security cameras around transport hubs and landmarks.

Recently, British counter-terrorism teams have been planning for an even scarier scenario: a chemical or biological attack.

"Groups like IS learn on their feet," Henman said. "Once one set of additional measures are introduced, they'll learn from the changes and will soon alter their operations."

One of the biggest challenges for European authorities will be improving intelligence gathering. Security experts estimate hundreds of militants who have fought in Syria are now in Europe, many of them in Brussels. They tend to live in insular immigrant communities that have been difficult for law enforcement agencies to penetrate.

Authorities will have to learn how to foil these attacks as they are being planned, said Elias Hanna, a former Lebanese brigadier general who is a lecturer at the American University of Beirut. "You have to be ahead of them in time and preparation," he said.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered Israeli intelligence assistance to Belgium.

Shlomo Harnoy, a former senior official at Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency, said that global airport security remains focused on preventing attacks on airplanes, a remnant of the 9/11 attacks, while ignoring security inside and outside terminals.

It was a 2006 trans-Atlantic bomb plot which introduced bans on liquids being carried through airport security and onto planes. He said authorities must do a better job detecting bombers, not just bombs.

"When you are busy taking a bottle of mineral water away from an old woman, you miss the big picture," said Harnoy, a founder of Sdema Group, a homeland security consulting firm. "They are too busy with the routine checks instead of scanning for suspects."

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Boy shaken as a baby dies after 12 years on life support

CLEVELAND (AP)  A 12-year-old boy who was shaken as a baby and remained in a vegetative state for the rest of his life has died, authorities said Wednesday.

Aiden Stein died Sunday at a Columbus hospital. The case drew national attention when his parents waged a successful legal fight to prevent a court-appointed guardian from having him removed from life support. Three doctors had testified that Aiden would never recover.

The Ohio Supreme Court eventually ruled that a probate court lacked the authority to allow a guardian to stop the care keeping Aiden alive when his parents hadn't permanently lost their parenting rights.

FILE - In this April 16, 2004 file photo, Matthew Stein, right, father of Aiden Stein, kisses Arica Heimlich, the hospitalized boy's mother, after she testified during a hearing in Summit County Probate Court in Akron, Ohio. Aiden Stein died Sunday, March 20, 2016, at age 12 at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, after spending more than a decade in a vegetative state and on life support. Aiden Stein was hospitalized March 14, 2004, as a 4-month-old infant, and a jury found Matthew Stein guilty in September 2005 of child endangering and felonious assault, based on testimony that attributed the boy's injuries to shaken baby syndrome. (AP Photo/Jamie-Andrea Yanak, File)

Four-month-old Aiden was rushed to a Mansfield hospital in March 2004 after his father, 21-year-old Matthew Stein, reported the baby had lost consciousness. Stein was later convicted of felonious assault and child endangerment and spent eight years in prison despite his assertions that he never injured his son.

Subsequent motions for a new trial, including one from 2013, were denied by appellate courts.

Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it was "unlikely" she'd pursue further charges against Stein.

"I would have to look at the reason (Aiden) died," Couch Page said. "But there would probably be a stretch in jurors' minds that he died as the result of what the dad did."

It's unclear if a cause of death has been determined. Messages left with the Franklin County coroner weren't immediately returned Wednesday.

Aiden's mother, Arica Heimlich, joined her fiance in fighting Aiden's removal from life support and told authorities she didn't believe Stein injured their son. A doctor at a children's hospital in Akron diagnosed Aiden with a traumatic brain injury that he said was consistent with child abuse.

The Akron hospital's ethics committee recommended that a guardian be appointed to oversee his care because of suspicions about Stein and Heimlich's support for him. The panel also recommended that Aiden be removed from life support.

Three doctors testified at a Summit County Probate Court hearing in April 2004 that Aiden was in a permanent vegetative state and that his injuries were consistent with being shaken. A doctor representing Aiden's parents said it would be inappropriate to withdraw that care.

The judge hearing the case appointed a guardian and gave her authority to stop life-sustaining medical treatment. An appellate court upheld that ruling, which the Ohio Supreme Court overturned in December 2004.

Neither Stein nor Heimlich have publicly listed telephone numbers. They couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the guardian was appointed by a probate judge, not a hospital.

FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2005 file photo, Richland County, Ohio, assistant prosecutor Bambi Couch Page shows a portrait of Aiden Stein to the jury during opening arguments of a trial where the boy's father, Matthew Stein, was found guilty of child endangering and felonious assault in Mansfield, Ohio. The portrait was taken eight days before the boy was hospitalized March 14, 2004, as a 4-month-old infant, and trial testimony attributed the boy's injuries to shaken baby syndrome. Aiden Stein died Sunday, March 20, 2016, at age 12 at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, after spending more than a decade in a vegetative state and on life support. (Dave Polcyn/News Journal via AP, File)
Wife of famed pianist pleads not guilty in daughters' deaths

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  The estranged wife of an internationally known pianist pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that she killed the couple's young daughters at their Texas home.

Sofya Tsygankova entered her plea during a brief court appearance in Fort Worth. Her arraignment came one day after she was charged with capital murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko.

Vadym Kholodenko, a winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, discovered his daughters' bodies March 17 when he arrived at the home to take them to school. Arrest affidavits say the girls were found dead on beds.

FILE - In this 2014 file photo, award-winning concert pianist Vadym Kholodenko, poses with his wife Sofya Tsygankova and daughters Nika, 4, and Michela, at their home in Fort Worth, Texas. Benbrook Police Cmdr. David Babcock said Monday, March 21, 2016, that police have served an arrest warrant on Tsygankova, the estranged wife of the Ukranian pianist Kholodenko for capital murder in the deaths of the couple's two young children. (Joyce Marshall/Star-Telegram via AP, File) MAGS OUT; (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST); INTERNET OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

A pillow partially covered the head of the youngest child, but police Cmdr. David Babcock said Wednesday that investigators haven't determined whether the children had been smothered. He said that determination would be made by the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

Online records for the office indicated Wednesday only that the children died of "homicidal violence" and that autopsies are pending.

Tsygankova was kneeling on the floor wearing a blood-stained nightgown and "rocking back and forth," the affidavits say. She had wounds on her wrist and chest, and a butcher knife was found near the home's patio.

At one point she asked investigators, "Did I do anything bad to my kids?"

An empty bottle labeled with her name and the anti-psychotic drug quetiapine was found on the kitchen counter, police said. Authorities later learned she had visited a mental health facility the day before.

Tsygankova was first taken to a Fort Worth hospital, where, according to affidavits, she told police she remembered putting her 5-year-old daughter to sleep and seeing her 1-year-old daughter asleep in her crib. She also told police she remembered taking pills and believed she hurt herself with a knife.

Tsygankova was booked Tuesday into the Tarrant County jail.

In a written statement, her attorney, Joetta Keene, declined to comment on the specific allegations of the affidavit. "This is, no doubt, a very heartbreaking case for everyone involved," she said.

The Ukrainian-born Kholodenko beat nearly 30 finalists from 12 countries to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth in 2013. He and Tsygankova were married in 2010 and filed for divorce last year. Kholodenko no longer lived at the home with Tsygankova and their daughters, but routinely picked up the children from the home in the mornings.

The girls were buried Monday at a private service.

On Tuesday evening, mourners gathered at Arlington Heights United Methodist Church to remember the girls.

"In times like this, we seek answers for how something so terrible could happen," the Rev. Mary Spradlin said. "It is profoundly unsatisfying to know there are no clear answers. There are some questions we will never be able to answer."

Near the end of the church gathering, Kholodenko played a movement from Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 with three string players from the Fort Worth Symphony.

This handout photo provided by the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office shows Sofya Tsygankova. The estranged wife of internationally renowned pianist Vadym Kholodenko sought mental treatment the day before their two young daughters were found dead in the family's North Texas home, police said Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Tarrant County Sheriffs Office via AP)
Man gets 3 years, burned cross at neighbor's home

TAMPA, Florida (AP)  Authorities say a Tampa Bay area man has been sentenced to just over three years in prison for burning a cross in front of a black neighbor's home.

Cross burning in the U.S. has historically been used by hate groups to intimidate black people.

Local news outlets report a federal judge in Tampa sentenced 54-year-old Pascual Pietri to 37 months on Wednesday for a civil rights violation. A day earlier, Pietri was sentenced to 51 months for a May 2014 bank robbery. The sentences will be served concurrently.
EU foreign policy chief meets Syrian gov't envoy for talks

GENEVA (AP)  The European Union's foreign policy chief held a rare meeting Wednesday with a top Syrian official to help achieve a political transition in the country where the Islamic State group holds vast territory.

Federica Mogherini said she only discussed "support to the U.N.-led process" in the talks with Bashar Ja'afari in Geneva aimed at ending the Syrian civil war. The war has led to a refugee crisis in Europe and given an opening to IS.

"Not all exchanges were consensual," Mogherini said, adding that she didn't discuss the terrorism fight or a possible end to EU sanctions against Syrian officials.

Bashar al-Jaafari, Syrian chief negotiator and Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Syria to UN New York, briefs to the media after a round of negotiations between the Syrian government and UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland,Wednesday March 23, 2016. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

She declined to reiterate the EU's previous insistence that Syrian President Bashar Assad leave power, but said its policy hadn't changed.

Ja'afari, the Syrian government's U.N. ambassador, said afterward that it was his first meeting with Mogherini. He said the Brussels attacks had "opened the eyes of the Europeans for the necessity of reading the map again carefully, and giving priority to countering terrorism."

Mogherini came to Geneva following an invitation from U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is hosting the peace talks, now in their second week.

The indirect talks between government and opposition representatives are expected to take a break Thursday, before resuming next month.

De Mistura said: "The message that Federica and I are giving is ... terrorism is a priority, but the priority of the priorities is that to win the terrorism, you have to find a political solution in Syria. So the ball goes back to those who have been complaining about terrorism, and saying, 'What about all of you helping us to solve politically the crisis in Syria?'"

"And you will see that suddenly we will all be able to focus on Daesh, and by doing so, helping both Syria and Europe," he added, using an alternative acronym for IS.
Kansas man guilty of capital murder in quadruple homicide

OTTAWA, Kan. (AP)  Jurors convicted an eastern Kansas man on Wednesday in the fatal 2013 shootings of three adults and an 18-month-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase in a rural creek.

Kyle Flack, 30, was found guilty of capital murder in the deaths of Kaylie Bailey and her toddler daughter, Lana, meaning he could face the death penalty when sentenced next week, according to Franklin County District Court Administrator John Steelman.

Flack also was convicted in the deaths of Bailey's boyfriend, Andrew Stout, and his roommate, Steven White, who lived in a rural farmhouse where Flack sometimes stayed in Ottawa, about 50 miles southwest of Kansas City.

It's unclear what led to the shootings, which detectives believe happened on separate days in the spring of 2013. Investigators said Flack told detectives that two drug dealers may have been involved, but detectives determined those people didn't exist. Authorities also say he indicated Stout killed White during a dispute over rent, but that the interview ended after Flack asked for an attorney.

The defense called no witnesses during the trial. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors said investigators believe White was killed first, around April 20, 2013. The 31-year-old's body was later found under a tarp in an outbuilding near the farmhouse. Authorities believe Stout, 30, was shot on April 29; his body was found in his bedroom under a pile of clothes, the Kansas City Star reported.

Investigators said Bailey's body also was found in a bedroom, partially clothed with her hands bound behind her back. Investigators believe the 21-year-old mother and her daughter were killed on May 1, 2013.

The adults' bodies were found about a week later at the farm. Search crews found the child's body in a suitcase floating in the Tequa Creek about a week later, the newspaper reported.
California man faces sex trafficking charge in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Federal authorities in Puerto Rico have arrested a California man who allegedly traveled to Puerto Rico to have sex with a minor.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday that 38-year-old Shane Yoder of Fairfield told an undercover agent he was going to the U.S. territory to have sex with a 9-year-old girl. He has been charged with attempted sexual trafficking of minors. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
Why a future Apple-FBI case may go very differently

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Although it fiercely opposes the FBI's demand for help unlocking a San Bernardino shooter's encrypted iPhone, Apple has never argued that it simply can't do what the government wants. That might not be true for long.

At the moment, the San Bernardino case is on hold while the FBI evaluates an alternative method of getting into that phone. But experts say it's almost certain that Apple and other tech companies will keep increasing the security of their products, making it harder or perhaps even impossible for them to answer government demands for customer data.

"If I were them, I would use any means possible to avoid having to answer these information requests," said Anna Lysyanskaya, a computer scientist and cryptography expert at Brown University. "It's bad for their business, and not just in the United States but in other countries where law enforcement cannot be trusted to follow the law."

FILE - In this Dec. 23, 2013, file photo, a woman using a phone walks past Apple's logo near its retail outlet in Beijing. Even while it fiercely opposes the FBIs demand for help unlocking an encrypted iPhone used in the San Bernardino mass shootings, Apple has never argued that it isnt capable of doing what the government wants. While the FBI may have found an alternative solution in the San Bernardino case, experts say its almost certain that Apple and other tech companies will keep increasing the security of their products, making it harder or perhaps even impossible for them to answer government demands for customers data. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Smartphones and Internet services increasingly store a vast trove of personal information  everything from messages and photos to banking details to records of your movements. Apple won't comment on specific future plans, although it says it's constantly increasing security to protect that data from hackers and criminals. That's why, for example, its latest mobile operating system won't let anyone read files on an encrypted iPhone without knowing the user's passcode.

Its intent, Apple says, isn't to foil legitimate government investigations, but to protect its users against criminal hacking. In the San Bernardino case, the FBI wanted Apple to create a software tool that would override a "self-destruct" security feature that would activate after too many incorrect passcode attempts. Apple argued that creating such a tool would make all iPhones more vulnerable.

The magistrate judge in the San Bernardino case canceled a hearing on the dispute this week after the government said an unnamed "third party" had come forward with a possible alternative to Apple's assistance. That method, which the government hasn't described, is under testing.

Apple, however, could design future iPhone hardware and software security that would be much more difficult to circumvent. It could also lock up its iCloud backup service so that only its users would hold the keys necessary to unscramble data they store online. Apple currently retains iCloud keys so it can provide access for customers who lose their passwords. That means Apple can  as it did in the San Bernardino case  provide unscrambled iCloud files to authorities with a valid search warrant

Some commercial data-storage firms already promote services that let business customers hold the keys to their own encrypted data.

"It's the new reality," said Yorgen Edholm, CEO of Palo Alto-based file-sharing company Accellion. If a service doesn't offer that feature, he said, "they are scrambling to add that in." The first requests for his firm's encrypted service came from overseas businesses that worried about losing control of their data, he said, but demand has also been growing in the United States.

And when the police come knocking, Edholm added, "we tell them, 'We'd like to help,' but because the customer controls the decryption key, they have to go to the customer directly."

Such security comes with trade-offs, and they could be serious for consumers. Many iPhone owners, for instance, don't even bother to set a passcode on their phone. And the convenience of getting Apple's help if you lose your phone or password could be hard to give up, particularly when weighed against an abstract value like privacy.

Tech companies have reported a steady increase in government requests for customer information around the world. It can be invaluable for prosecuting known suspects and for uncovering new plots and perpetrators, said Ed McAndrew, a former federal cybercrimes prosecutor now in private practice.

Of course, those information requests complicate life for tech companies, he acknowledged. "Some companies are saying, 'We can get out of this game, because we can make it so that, technologically, we're not in a position to provide access to customer data,'" he said.

Apple and other leading tech firms say they routinely answer thousands of legal data requests every year. Microsoft president Brad Smith noted in a recent speech that his company supplied customer information to authorities investigating an extremist attack in Paris while the suspects were still at large.

Justice Department officials are alarmed by any possibility that those digital information troves might move farther out of reach. But many in the industry say that's where things seem to be heading. "You could see a world where the companies don't hold the keys," said Denelle Dixon-Thayer, chief legal and business officer at Mozilla, which makes the Firefox web browser.
5 plead guilty to bribery scheme with Venezuelan oil company

HOUSTON (AP)  A Venezuelan national living in Florida and four other people have pleaded guilty to federal charges for a bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in contracts between U.S.-based energy firms and Venezuela's state-run oil company, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Officials responsible for procurement at the company, known by its initials PDVSA, were wined, dined and treated to swanky hotel stays and a home mortgage in Texas was even paid off, according to court documents.

The case is being closely watched in Venezuela, where the opposition accuses the governing socialists of looting PDVSA and bankrupting the nation. Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves and crude accounts for more than 95 percent of its exports.

Abraham Shiera, 52, of Coral Gables, Florida, entered his guilty plea to foreign bribery and fraud charges Tuesday before a federal judge in Houston. He is to be sentenced in July.

Shiera was named in December in an 18-count indictment with Robert Rincon, 55, of The Woodlands, Texas, when both were arrested. They are accused of money laundering and violating the Federal Corrupt Practices Act, which bars payments to officials of foreign governments to assist business deals.

Rincon's trial is scheduled for next month in Houston.

Four other men, including three PDVSA officials, pleaded guilty earlier to charges related to the bribery scheme, according to documents unsealed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller.

Prosecutors said Wednesday the three PDVSA officials acknowledged accepting bribes from Shiera or Rincon to help the two men's Florida and Texas energy companies win contracts, and conspired with Shiera and Rincon to launder the proceeds.

The three, Jose Ramos, 38, Christian Maldonado, 39, and Alfonzo Gravina, 53, all from the Houston suburb of Katy, pleaded guilty in December under seal to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Another man, Moises Millan, 32, of Katy, pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to violate the Corrupt Practices Act for his role in the bribery scheme, according to the unsealed documents. Millan had worked for Shiera, prosecutors said.

"These five convictions announced today hold to account bribe payers as well as the corrupt foreign officials who laundered the bribe money through the United States," Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said Wednesday.

Houston-based U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson called bribery "a serious federal crime that undermines commercial and political relations around the world."

Shiera, who was arrested in Florida, said in his plea agreement that he worked with Rincon to submit bids to provide equipment and services to the Venezuelan energy company through their companies. Court documents show he had at least six firms, three in Florida. Rincon ran four energy companies, at least two in Texas and one in Florida.

Federal prosecutors said the scheme began in 2009 and was intended to ensure their firms won lucrative energy contracts with PDVSA. Shiera also told prosecutors he bribed PDVSA officials to get his companies on the energy company's approved vendor lists so he could get paid ahead of other vendors.

The December indictment said the bribes consisted of money, recreational travel, meals and entertainment. It said a bank in Panama was used to transfer money from the United States and that among the payments was nearly $165,000 to pay off the Texas home mortgage of one of the men who once worked as a PDVSA purchasing manager.

The indictment also showed another Venezuelan official received a $15,000 reservation at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, and a hotel stay and rental car in Barcelona, Venezuela. It said that Shiera authorized a whiskey purchase for another PDVSA official.

Two of Rincon's companies were involved in transferring more than $25 million from a Texas bank to accounts in Switzerland in 2011 and 2012, according to the indictment.

In December, PDVSA denounced what it said was an "international campaign to discredit" the oil company by linking it to alleged criminal acts by Venezuelan individuals and other companies.

And Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's U.N. ambassador and PDVSA's president for a decade until 2014, said in February he wasn't worried about being indicted as part of bribery investigations. He also dismissed the possibility of cooperating with U.S. investigations of bribery schemes.

Ramirez said he did not know Shiera or Rincon.

He has characterized allegations of corruption and U.S. investigations of those allegations as an attempt to undermine Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, which has had tense relations with Washington.
Phoenix official backtracks after blaming voters for lines

PHOENIX (AP)  Bruce Weiss stewed after waiting 2 hours in line outside a downtown Phoenix polling place, where juice drinks, snacks and circus animal cookies were handed out by citizens hoping to pacify thousands who turned out to cast ballots in Arizona's presidential primary.

The scene was repeated Tuesday as thousands stood in lines that wrapped around sidewalks at churches, community centers and government buildings after the number of places to vote were cut back as a cost-savings measure. Some voters took shelter from the sun under umbrellas. Others brought lawn chairs. Still others gave up and went home. The last voters entered polling spots after midnight.

"It's like a complete, total failure of government," Weiss said.

People wait in line to vote in the Arizona Presidential Primary Election at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Ariz., Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Waits dragged on as long as five hours in Maricopa County  home to metro Phoenix and 1.2 million voters eligible to cast ballots  but where only 60 polling places were open.

By Wednesday, the mayor of Phoenix said the cutbacks were about more than saving money. Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, called for a federal investigation into whether election officials illegally put fewer polling locations in poor or minority-heavy areas.

Stanton in a letter to the Justice Department also cited examples of other policies adopted by elections officials and the state Legislature that have created "a culture of voter disenfranchisement."

Arizona's Republican governor called the primary day foul-ups "unacceptable," and others demanded the resignation of the county's top elections official, Recorder Helen Purcell.

Purcell initially put the blame on voters, stirring a clamor on the Internet. Her name was a trending topic on Twitter. But Wednesday she backtracked, saying she failed to anticipate the effect of intense voter interest on primary turnout.

"I made bad decisions based on the information I had, obviously, or we wouldn't have had long lines," Purcell told The Associated Press.

In the 2012 presidential primary, there were 200 places for voters to cast ballots in the county, which is heavily Republican. By comparison, Pima County  home to more liberal Tucson, Arizona, and a quarter of Maricopa County's population  had 124 voting locations Tuesday.

Ramped-up interest in the presidential primary was also seen Tuesday in Idaho and Utah, where results were delayed as throngs of voters packed caucus sites. Republican and Democratic party officials predicted record turnouts but still underestimated the crowds.

Three-fourths of the Democratic caucus sites in Utah ran out of ballots, sending workers to nearby stores to print more ballots or voters home to bring back reams of paper or even a home printer at one site.

But the biggest outcry was from Arizona.

Shrinking the number of voting spots in the Phoenix area was meant to save $1.5 million, officials said. But other factors that contributed to the fiasco  which saw Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump breeze to victories in Arizona  were the growing number of mail-in ballots the county recorder has seen in the last decade.

When Phoenix news station Fox 10 asked Purcell who to blame for Tuesday's problems, she said, "Well, the voters for getting in line. Maybe us for not having enough polling places or as many as we usually have."

On Wednesday, she complimented voters.

"I don't ever want to deny a voter the ability to vote. I think it's great they turned out in large numbers."

In addition to drawing the ire of fellow Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, Purcell was slammed by Democrats and civil rights proponents, who called the lines the latest sign that the state was making voting for minorities and the poor more difficult.

Teresa Jimenez said she waited in line for nearly two hours in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood on the west side of Phoenix, only to have election officials close the site around 7 p.m. with people still waiting. She went home without voting.

Jimenez said the mood in the line was upbeat as voters  many of them Latino  were excited to cast ballots, but that enthusiasm was crushed when the site was closed.

"It was kind of a depressing site," said Jimenez, a medical assistant and single mother who wanted to vote for Clinton. "Everyone was so happy. Some were first voters. We're all happy and glad we're here. We're going to make a change, but for what?"

State Rep. Reginald Bolding, a Democrat and the only black member of the Legislature, said he visited four county polling places and said what he saw "was disheartening."

"You saw individuals who were seniors, handicapped, you also saw individuals who had to spend their entire workday waiting in line to cast a vote," Bolding said. "And this was directly due to the county recorder's negligence in cutting the polling locations in Maricopa County from 200 to 60 locations."

He said while he didn't suspect the efforts were intended to suppress turnout, combined with cuts in election funding and new laws passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature, he sees a pattern.

"When you start to put all of these different voter-suppression mechanisms in a line, it's hard to believe that this is all coincidental," Bolding said.

Candidates crisscrossed the state with campaign rallies in the days leading up to the election, which intensified voter interest. Added to the mix were independent voters ineligible because they weren't registered with a party, some of whom who lined up anyway and were eventually issued "provisional" ballots.

Ducey suggested one way to fix the problem is by allowing independents who make up the largest voting bloc in the state to vote in presidential primaries.

"A big part of yesterday's problem was registered voters showing up, and being told they couldn't vote," Ducey said. "That's just wrong."

The messy elections also added to a debate in Arizona and Utah about the costs of holding presidential nominating contests. Arizona leaders want to do away with their primary and make parties pay for the nominating contest. Utah lawmakers decide every four years whether they want to pay for a presidential primary and let the state run elections, or leave the cost_and operations_to the parties.

___

Associated Press reporters Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City and Josh Hoffner and Ryan Van Velzer in Phoenix contributed.

 This story has been corrected to show Pima County had 124 polling locations Tuesday, not 134.

In this March 21, 2016 photo, Maricopa County recorder Helen Purcell speaks at a news conference on Arizonas presidential primary election in Phoenix. State lawmakers are weighing in on the long wait times many Maricopa County voters experienced during the state's presidential primary. House Elections Committee chairwoman Michelle Ugenti-Rita announced Wednesday, March 23, 2016 she would call a special meeting next week to try to understand what led to the problems. She's invited Purcell to testify about the low number of polling spots that led to lines as long as five hours.(AP Photo/Ryan VanVelzer)

People wait in line to vote in the primary at the Environmental Education Center, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Chandler, Ariz. (David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic via AP) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT

People assemble at a Republican caucus site Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/John Locher)

In this March 21, 2016 photo, Maricopa County recorder Helen Purcell smiles after a press conference on Arizonas Presidential Primary Election in Phoenix, Ariz. State lawmakers are weighing in on the long wait times many Maricopa County voters experienced during the state's presidential primary. House Elections Committee chairwoman Michelle Ugenti-Rita announced Wednesday, March 23, 2016 she would call a special meeting next week to try to understand what led to the problems. She's invited Purcell to testify about the low number of polling spots that led to lines as long as five hours.(AP Photo/Ryan VanVelzer)
Old boys' network still keeping women out of the boardroom, report claims

An old boys' network is still in place in company boardrooms, holding back the number of women in senior posts, according to a new report.

A study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) showed that headline progress in achieving a target of 25% of company boards made up of women was "masking" the reality.

Three out of five firms in the FTSE 350 were failing to meet the target and fewer than half increased female board representation in recent years.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission says women are still being excluded from the boardroom

A third of companies relied on the personal networks of current board members to find new candidates, so the old boys' network was still being widely used, said the report.

The diversity of candidates was also being limited by virtually no open advertising of board positions, said the Commission.

Progress has been made on the 25% target for top firms set last year by Lord Davies in his Government-backed report into gender diversity in boardrooms, but the Commission said there was "inexcusable and unacceptable" variation within companies.

The position was worse for executive posts, with almost three out of four FTSE 100 companies and 90% of FTSE 250 firms having no women in the positions.

Laura Carstensen, Equality and Human Rights Commissioner, said: "Despite welcome progress and vital work by Lord Davies, our top boards still remain blatantly male and white, with inexcusable and unacceptable discrepancies between companies.

"The good work of a forward thinking minority masks that many top businesses are still only paying lip service to improving the representation of women on boards.

"The best companies are showing that having talented women on their boards is boosting both performance and fairness.

"Unfortunately, the recruitment practices of too many businesses still remain trapped in permafrost and that's holding back women and ultimately the companies themselves.

"The recruitment process to the boards of Britain's top companies remains shadowy and opaque and is acting as a barrier to unleashing female talent."

The commission has made a series of recommendations, including stopping the use of personal networks to make appointments.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "These figures make for depressing reading.

"Despite the hard work of Lord Davies, it is clear that voluntary measures have not led to meaningful change in company boardrooms.

"The only way we will end the old boys' network is if ministers act to ensure all board posts are advertised publicly and move towards compulsory quotas for women. Without this, female board members will continue to be a rarity."

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: " It is unacceptable that almost half of FTSE 100 companies and over half of FTSE 350s have not achieved the 25% target.

"This is extremely worrying and suggests the more stretching target of 33% will require an additional intervention.

"In our view the time-limited use of quotas needs to be part of the solution.

"International evidence suggests that this approach works. What we need is more representative and more effective boards. It's time to speed up the pace of change. The voluntary approach just isn't going to work for many of these companies."

A Government spokesman said: " It is always helpful to have new research, but this report rather hides the fact that significant progress has been made towards the objectives originally set.
Appeal to find Briton missing after Brussels attacks

A Briton missing in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks has not been in contact with his partner since the bombs went off and may have been on the Metro at the time.

David Dixon, who lives in Brussels but is originally from Hartlepool, County Durham, was travelling to work on Tuesday morning but did not arrive at his office.

Friends on social media have been appealing for information on his whereabouts and asking anyone with information to contact his partner Charlotte Sutcliffe.

A woman is evacuated in an ambulance by emergency services after a explosion in a main metro station in Brussels (AP)

Simon Hartley-Jones, who described himself as a "very good friend" of Mr Dixon, said he was missing and asked his followers to retweet the appeal to find him.

He tweeted a photo of Mr Dixon, who wears glasses and has been pictured with short grey hair, captioned: "He was in the metro system, he didn't arrive to his office and we still haven't reached him."

Photos of Mr Dixon, including one of him with a little boy, were also circulated on social media.
Harry to stay on in Nepal to help charity rebuild school

Prince Harry has extended his tour of Nepal to do his "small bit" to help a disaster response charity rebuild an earthquake destroyed school.

Harry will spend six days eating, sleeping and working with Team Rubicon UK volunteers in a remote village whose makeshift classrooms will not stand the coming rainy season.

More than 100 pupils are being taught in a temporary school made of poles, tarpaulins and tin after the devastating earthquake struck the country last April killing almost 9,000 and damaging almost a million houses and buildings.

Harry watches a student in the welding shop at the Samo Thimi technical school

At a reception hosted by Britain's Ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris at his official residence in Kathmandu, Harry said: " The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave.

"Thankfully however, I'm not leaving just yet. I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.

"The team I'm joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake. I'm so grateful to have this opportunity at the end of my official tour to do my small bit to help this beautiful country."

Harry joked that the tika dot - a symbol of welcome - placed on his forehead many times during his five-day visit, had become a permanent symbol: "If anything I may have been a bit too welcome. This tika is here to stay."

And in a sombre moment the Ambassador called for silence to mark the terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Prince Harry reads an instruction leaflet, printed in English, at the school

He was given a carved wooden ornament

Prince Harry inspects parts from a land Rover Defender engine in the auto shop

Students also learn how to operate a JCB digger

The students are also restoring old motorbikes

The traditional Nepalese greeting is given, even in welding gloves

Harry inspects a land Rover Defender engine block at the school in Bhaktapur
England survive Afghanistan World Twenty20 scare

England rallied from a dreadful start against Afghanistan to claim a 15-run win in Delhi and keep alive their hopes of a World Twenty20 semi-final.

After opting to bat first against the first-round qualifiers England reached the halfway stage in disarray at 64 for six, having lost James Vince, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root for no runs in the space of five calamitous deliveries.

But Moeen Ali, who top-scored with 41no, and David Willey (20no) shifted the momentum by adding 57 runs in five-and-a-half overs to close the innings on 142 for seven.

Moeen Ali hit 41 runs for England on Wednesday

Afghanistan lost wickets at regular intervals but still reached the last over needing 24 to win.

Ben Stokes took the ball and conceded just eight, ending a disappointing England display with a much-needed show of control as the scoreboard stopped on 127 for nine.

There were two wickets apiece for Willey and Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett, returning to the side in place of Reece Topley, showed great control in conceding just 12 runs from his allocation.

But England will know they got out of jail here and must look hard at their shortcomings, not least their batting against spinners Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, whose eight overs yielded four wickets for 34.

After five overs England were progressing nicely on 41 for five - Jason Roy having lost his leg stump to an ill-advised charge at Amir Hamza.

Then came a slapstick sixth over, bowled by the wily Nabi.

Having beaten Vince once on the outside edge, Nabi tossed the next one up, gathering the gentle return catch that sailed back down the track.

That brought an off-form Morgan to the crease and he simply froze, shouldering arms to his first delivery, which carried straight on to flatten his off stump.

An enthusiastic lbw appeal against Stokes was not enough to earn a hat-trick but the over ended with a farcical run-out.

Root was left stranded after sprinting for a single that Stokes rejected but was given a hint of a reprieve when Nabi broke the bails with his body.

Root flung himself towards the crease but Nabi composed himself, lifted a stump and completed the run out in time.

England had somehow moved from 41 for one to 42 for four in six balls.

Afghanistan would still have been wary of Stokes and Jos Buttler, a pair of fearsome hitters, but their counter-attack went with a whimper.

Buttler eked six from 10 balls before hitting an uppish drive off Samiullah Shenwari and being brilliantly caught by Nabi, while Stokes managed just seven.

He departed in embarrassing fashion, swivelling to pull Khan's googly but landing on his backside after under-edging into his stumps. An image that eloquently summed up England's innings so far.

By now a score of even 100 was in doubt but, after Khan added the scalp of Chris Jordan, Moeen and Willey finally unleashed some clean hitting to finish the innings.

Forty-four flowed off the last two three overs, massaging the total towards respectability, pushed along by three sixes and 25 runs off Hamza in the 19th.

The portly opener Mohammad Shahzad has been Afghanistan's danger man in the tournament, and would have eyed the chase eagerly, but he managed the briefest of cameos this time.

He edged the first ball of the innings for four but fell to the third, Willey swinging one in and trapping him lbw.

England struck in each of the next two overs too, captain Asghar Stanikzai wafting Jordan to Root at slip and Gulbadin Naib giving Willey a second success with a ugly chip to cover.

At the end of the six-over powerplay they had just 28 for three, with England already back in control.

A Plunkett maiden turned the screw tighter and the introduction of spin brought further gains.

Khan punched Moeen to cover and Noor Ali gave away a promising knock by gifting Rashid a return catch.

Afghanistan struck a few decent blows as the game advanced to its conclusion, but they were too regularly interrupted by wickets.
Manchester United and Manchester City set for ICC clash in China this summer

Manchester United and Manchester City are to face each other in China this summer as part of the International Champions Cup (ICC), the clubs have announced.

The match will take place in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing on July 25 and will be one of City's first under Pep Guardiola, who is set to succeed Manuel Pellegrini at the start of that month.

The ICC tournament will also see United play Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on July 22, and City take on the German side in Shenzhen on July 28.

Manchester City and Manchester United will clash in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing on July 25

Former United defender Nemanja Vidic said on MUTV: "I think it's great news we're coming on tour to China.

"We have so many followers in the country, over 100 million fans and it's good to visit them and spend some time with them. They're really passionate about United.

"I was in China in 2007 and I have to say the amount of energy we got from the fans there was unbelievable."

Former United midfielder Bryan Robson said: "They're great games to look forward to.

"Dortmund are just behind Bayern Munich as the biggest team in Germany and have some fabulous players.

"It'll be a treat for the fans to experience a derby game. People have said it'll be one of (Pep) Guardiola's first games as City manager but that doesn't matter as much as it's a derby and you have to go out there and try to win."

Other English clubs who will be taking part in ICC pre-season games this summer are Barclays Premier League leaders Leicester along with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Leicester will take on Celtic in Glasgow on July 23, Paris St Germain in Los Angeles on July 31 and then Barcelona in Stockholm on August 3.

Liverpool and Chelsea will go head-to-head on July 27, with the former then playing AC Milan on July 30 - both games occurring at California venues.

The Reds then face Barca on August 6 at a venue that is yet to be confirmed.

Chelsea's other ICC games are against Real Madrid on July 30 (venue to be confirmed) and Milan in Minneapolis on August 3.
Families of Alps crash victims take legal action against US flight school

Lawyers for the families of British victims killed in the Germanwings air crash have marked its one-year anniversary by announcing plans to take legal action against the flight school where the co-pilot was trained.

Some 150 people died when Andrea Lubitz crashed the plane into a mountain after locking the captain out of the cockpit on March 24 last year.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell is planning to start legal proceedings against the flight school in Arizona, US, where Lubitz, 27, was trained because it believes he should have been prevented from qualifying as an airline pilot.

Paul Bramley was one of those killed in the crash (FCO)

According to reports Lubitz was seen by 41 doctors in the years before the crash.

Clive Garner, head of aviation law at Irwin Mitchell, said the victims' families "deserve answers" as to how Lubitz was given clearance to qualify to fly.

He went on: " While nothing can bring their loved ones back, they want those who were responsible for allowing Lubitz to qualify as a pilot and fly commercial airliners to be brought to justice.

"To that end we have joined forces with other specialist law firms representing a large number of families from across the world as we prepare a group action against the US flight school in Arizona, who trained Lubitz and deemed him fit to fly airliners for Germanwings."

Lubitz crashed Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf into the French Alps.

Paul Bramley, a 28-year-old from Hull, was one of three British victims. He was studying hospitality and hotel management at Cesar Ritz College in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The other Britons killed were Martyn Matthews, a 50-year-old father-of-two from Wolverhampton who worked as a senior quality manager, and seven-month-old Julian Pracz-Bandres, from Manchester, who had been travelling with his mother, Spanish-born Marina Bandres Lopez-Belio, 37.

Traces of anti-depressants and sleeping medication were found in Lubitz's body .

Voice recordings revealed that he locked the captain out of the cockpit and put the Airbus A320 into a continual descent.

Evidence shows there were attempts to break down the door.
David Cameron admits 'tough week' in end-of-term address to Tory MPs

David Cameron admitted it had been a "tough week" as he addressed Tory MPs following the Budget U-turns and Iain Duncan Smith's resignation.

In his end-of-term address to the party's MPs in Westminster he said he could "do with more time to think" as he tried to cope with the fast-paced 24-hour news cycle.

The issue of Europe - which has bitterly divided the Tory party - barely came up during the meeting, although the Prime Minister told his MPs to remind constituents that the referendum was only happening because of the Conservatives.

Prime Minister David Cameron admitted it had been a tough week

According to sources at the behind-closed-doors gathering ahead of Parliament's Easter recess, Mr Cameron said: "It's been a tough week but let's not lose sight of what we are here to do."

Mr Cameron's comment that he "could do with more time to think" was "in relation to the ultra-fast news cycle", one Tory MP said.

Asked what issues were raised, the source said: "It wasn't introspective, it was very much the forward agenda."

Key Eurosceptics including former cabinet minister Owen Paterson and Sir Bill Cash were not at the meeting and the PM was not asked questions about the EU, sources said.

"It comes up less often than you guys think," an MP said. "Other topic areas are available."

The atmosphere inside the meeting was "so different" from the average meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee, partly due to the number of MPs elected in 2010 and 2015, another source said.
Paris bomb maker was one of Brussels airport suicide attackers

The second Brussels airport suicide bomber, Najim Laachraoui, was a suspected bomb maker for Islamic State's massacre in Paris and was already being hunted by police before the latest attack.

The 24-year- old was previously believed to be on the run after dumping a bag containing a bomb that failed to detonate and fleeing the airport on Tuesday.

But officials confirmed his DNA matched with that of one of two men who blew themselves up inside the terminal, as part of coordinated bombings that killed at least 31 people in the Belgian capital.

Najim Laachraoui was one of the Brussels airport suicide bombers

Laachraoui is believed to be pictured on the left, wearing a black top and a black glove on his left hand and pushing a baggage trolley, in a CCTV image taken at Brussels airport moments before the attacks, according to Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure.

Authorities had already been searching for the Belgian national in connection with suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested just four days before the Brussels bombings.

Earlier this week, Belgian prosecutors said that DNA evidence had identified Moroccan-born Laachraoui as being one of the accomplices of Abdeslam in the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people at sites including the Bataclan Theatre and Stade de France.

Laachraoui's DNA was said to have been found on "several explosive belts", as well as at hideouts in Auvelais and Schaerbeek which was used to prepare explosives and hide Abdeslam, French media reported.

He is suspected of making the explosive TATP, which can be made with household products and has been used by terrorists in improvised explosive devices and suicide vests, including in Paris.

He is also believed to have travelled to Hungary last year with Abdeslam and one other person in a Mercedes, which was checked by guards at the Austria-Hungary border and allowed to go on.

The federal prosecutor's office said on Monday they were seeking details about Laachraoui, who was undestood to have travelled to Syria in February 2013.

They believed he had used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayal to rent the safe house in Auvelais, a small town in the south of Belgium, and cross the Austria-Hungary border.

In an appeal for information in December, Belgian police said: "Salah Abdeslam has travelled twice during the month of September to the Hungarian capital Budapest using a rental car.

"On September 9 2015 he was subject to a check at the border between Hungary and Austria in a Mercedes.

"He was accompanied by two people using fake Belgian identity cards with the names Samir Bouzid and Soufiane Kayal.

"The same false identity of Soufiane Kayal was used to rent the house in Auvelais which was searched on November 26. "
Benin Prime Minister Zinsou concedes defeat in presidential elections

COTONOU, March 21 (Reuters) - Benin Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou on Monday conceded defeat to businessman Patrice Talon in presidential elections.

"I called Patrice Talon tonight to congratulate him on his victory and wish him luck," Zinsou said in a statement on his Facebook page.

Zinsou and Talon were competing in a second-round run-off vote after neither won an outright majority in the first round of voting on March 6. He conceded after early results overnight gave Talon 64.8 percent of the vote to Talon, against 35.2 for Zinsou
U.S. top court rules against Tyson Foods in class action case

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday handed a loss to Tyson Foods Inc over the company's challenge to an almost $5.8 million class action judgment in a case won by workers at an Iowa pork-processing facility who contended they were underpaid.

The court, in a 6-2 ruling written by conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, upheld a 2014 appeals court decision in favor of the workers.

It was one of three closely watched class action cases to come before the court during its current term, with business interests urging the justices to rein in such litigation.

Of the three cases, the court has now ruled in two, with businesses losing both times. In January, the court ruled 6-3 against advertising firm Campbell-Ewald, saying a lawsuit could proceed over claims the company violated a federal consumer law by sending unsolicited text messages on behalf of the U.S. Navy.

In the Tyson case, the court was considering an objection to the use of statistics to determine liability and damages. Critics in the business community have described such use of statistics as "trial by formula" that violates defendants' due process rights, instead of assessing each claim individually for the more than 3,000 current and former employees who are suing.

The narrow ruling turned in part on a 1946 Supreme Court precedent that said plaintiffs can rely on averages in such situations to determine claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Kennedy said while corporate defendants "may urge adoption of broad and categorical rules governing the use of representative and statistical evidence in class actions, this case provides no occasion to do so."

Kennedy said the ruling does not undercut the court's major 2011 ruling in favor of Wal Mart Stores Inc, which made it harder to bring class action cases.

The court did not address a broader question of whether a class action lawsuit should move forward if the group of plaintiffs includes people who were not injured.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

Workers at the meat-processing facility, which employs around 1,300 people, sued in 2007, claiming they were entitled to overtime pay and damages because they were not paid for time spent putting on and taking off protective equipment and walking to work stations.

The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs following a federal district court trial in Iowa in 2011. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgment in 2014.
Tight security as Congo awaits presidential election results

By Roch Bouka

BRAZZAVILLE, March 22 (Reuters) - Police and soldiers patrolled Congo Republic's capital and cellphone networks remained cut on Tuesday as authorities took action to stem possible unrest before announcing partial results from a presidential election.

Veteran President Denis Sassou Nguesso is widely tipped to have won Sunday's vote, whose credibility the country's opposition and the United States have questioned.

Hundreds of police guarded major roads and troops were deployed near the presidential palace, the defence ministry and the main traffic circle, witnesses said, as the government extended the telecommunications blackout into a third day.

Sassou Nguesso, 72, pushed through constitutional changes at a referendum in October to remove term and age limits that would have prevented him from running again.

He has ruled the oil-producing state for 32 of the last 37 years and must win a majority against eight opposition candidates to secure a third consecutive term without a run-off.

The electoral commission said on Monday it expected to publish initial results on Tuesday. Votes from remote areas of the country are expected to take at least another day to collate.

Many residents of opposition strongholds in southern Brazzaville left the city fearing violent protests and most shops remained closed.

Voting was peaceful on Sunday but later police fired tear gas at crowds who had gathered to follow the count in the southern Bacongo neighbourhood.

At least 18 people were killed by security forces in protests ahead of October's referendum.

The government had announced a shutdown of mobile phone and internet services for Sunday and Monday, which it extended into Tuesday without explanation.

The blackout was designed to prevent unofficial results circulating, Evan O'Connell, a consultant to the electoral commission, said by email.

"Rumours of landslide victories of one camp or another are already circulating online, mainly driven by the diaspora - which are the easiest way to create tensions," he said.

The opposition says the vote was marred by fraud and plans to publish its own results, an action the government says would be illegal.

The U.S. State Department said it had "received numerous reports of irregularities that have raised concerns about the credibility of the process", urging authorities in a statement to restore communications.

Congo's election is also being watched closely across Africa, where several long-ruling presidents are seeking to stay on beyond constitutionally mandated term limits.
Belgium bombings raise security alerts at U.S. airports

By Barbara Goldberg and Joseph Ax

NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Major U.S. transportation hubs were placed on alert on Tuesday and Denver International Airport briefly evacuated part of its main terminal in a false alarm there hours after suicide bombings in Brussels killed at least 30 people.

Despite public safety concerns unleashed by the violence in Belgium's capital, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the agency had no intelligence that would point to a similar attack being plotted against the United States.

But the State Department issued a travel alert warning U.S. citizens in Europe to avoid crowded places, to be vigilant when in public or using mass transit and to exercise extra caution during religious holidays and at large festivals and events.

"Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation," it said in a statement.

The Brussels bombings reverberated on the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign trail, with Democratic contender Hillary Clinton declaring that more needed to be done to confront the Islamic State militants who claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Republican front-runner in the White House race, Donald Trump, called again for tighter border security and suggested U.S. intelligence services could use torture to head off future attacks.

Some of the country's busiest airports and other transportation facilities were placed on heightened security status, as illustrated by a greater law enforcement presence.

Large numbers of uniformed police officers and National Guard troops dressed in battle fatigues and carrying rifles patrolled New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Several U.S. carriers - Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc - said they canceled or rerouted flights as a result of the Brussels attacks.

At midafternoon, authorities at the Denver airport evacuated two levels on the west side of the main terminal after several packages that appeared suspicious were spotted near ticket counters, airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

Denver police, FBI and U.S. Transportation Security Administration officers converged on the airport, but the packages were ultimately deemed to pose no threat, and the terminal was fully reopened within two hours.

Several airlines were affected by the scare, including American Airlines, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways, the airport said.

'WORLD MUST UNITE'

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff in memory of the victims in the Belgium attacks.

The State Department said an undetermined number of U.S. citizens had been injured in Brussels but none were killed. Three Mormon missionaries and a U.S. Air Force member and his family were among those hurt.

The Obama administration also was expected to impose tighter security measures at U.S. airports following the Brussels Airport bombings, which occurred in a public hall outside of the security check area.

U.S. Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, senior Democrat on a House subcommittee on terrorism, said the suicide bombings illustrated the difficulty of protecting "soft targets" outside tightly controlled security cordons.

"The targets aren't going to be just getting on the plane itself, but the airport in general," he said in a phone interview.

Obama addressed the attacks briefly in a speech in Havana on his historic visit to Cuba, vowing to support Belgium as it hunts for those responsible.

"This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism," Obama said.

Candidates seeking their party's nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election immediately weighed in, with Clinton, a former secretary of state, vowing to strengthen her drive to "defeat terrorism and radical jihadism."

Trump, a billionaire businessman, told NBC's "Today" program: "If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from these people."

His Republican rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, strengthened his call for Obama to clip the flow of refugees from "countries with significant al Qaida or ISIS presence," and called for heightened police scrutiny of neighborhoods with large Muslim populations.

The attack raised worries among some U.S. Muslims that they could face more hostility, although mainstream Muslims have repeatedly denounced violence.

"The media hype and political manipulation heightens our concerns," said Sheikh Shaker Elsayed, imam of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia.

Some travelers expressed concern that new security measures at airports, which had already imposed extensive restrictions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, would increase inconvenience without improving safety.

"It already takes all day," said Hans Vermulst, 66, who was at New York's Kennedy airport trying to get home to the Netherlands after his connecting flight to Brussels was canceled. "We have to take it as it comes, but I'm not happy with it."
Google's cloud business nabs Home Depot as client

By Sarah McBride

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22 (Reuters) - Google Inc, long an also-ran in cloud services, has scored an important victory in its effort to win corporate clients: Home Depot is moving some of its data to Google's cloud.

The deal, flagged Tuesday by Google executive Greg DeMichillie in a briefing and expected to be announced formally on Wednesday, highlights the momentum Google Cloud Platform has gained under the leadership of Diane Greene, a co-founder of VMWare who joined Google late last year.

VMWare sells its "virtualization" technology for improving the efficiency of data centers to many of the same customers that Google Cloud is targeting.

Many of Google Cloud's more prominent customers, including message service Snapchat, are new Internet-based companies - not always the best references for chief information officers at more traditional companies.

Landing Home Depot, the Atlanta-based construction and home-improvement retailer with over 2,000 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, bolsters Google Cloud's standing among bricks and mortar businesses. Home Depot declined to provide any details on its deal with Google.

Google's cloud business generated about $500 million in revenues last year, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. That compares to $74.5 billion overall for parent company Alphabet Inc, but the cloud business is one of its fastest-growing business areas.

Overall, Google is the No.4 player in cloud infrastructure services, according to Synergy Research, with 4 percent market share last year. Amazon's AWS took 31 percent of the market, Microsoft's Azure 9 percent, and IBM, 7 percent.

But there are signs Google is gaining ground. Apple, long a user of Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure, has started using Google's cloud for its iCloud, the service that allows Apple customers to store music, photos, and documents, according to an industry executive.

And last month, music service Spotify, a high-profile customer of Amazon's AWS, said it would use Google's cloud for some computing infrastructure.

Google is also building up its data centers across the world, launching two new regional centers in Japan and Oregon to bring the number of regions it serves to five.
Asia most exposed to disaster risk but Africa likely to suffer more

By Laurie Goering

LONDON, March 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Asia has the largest number of people exposed to natural disasters, but African countries are the most vulnerable to them, largely because of political instability, corruption, poverty and inequality, a new global assessment shows.

India has a billion people at risk, with China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Pakistan also ranked among the 10 countries with the most people exposed to natural hazards, according to data compiled by Verisk Maplecroft, a UK-based risk management company.

In all, 1.4 billion people in South Asia are exposed to at least one major natural hazard, from severe storms to flooding and earthquakes, researchers said.

But the list of countries most vulnerable to disasters - in terms of their ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from them - is topped by African nations, particularly conflict-plagued South Sudan, Burundi and Eritrea.

"Recent or prolonged conflict can erode societal resilience," warned Richard Hewston, an analyst with Verisk Maplecroft who led the development of the natural hazards data.

Much vulnerability in Africa and elsewhere is the result of poor governance - including corruption - and an inability to implement policies to reduce disaster risk, Hewston said.

"For example, in India and Pakistan, to some extent, there are building codes in place but they are very weakly implemented. You see construction going on, on the sides of landslide-prone mountains or in flood plains," he said.

"In theory, there's urban planning," he added. "So clearly corruption is an issue."

In Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, more than 85 percent of people are exposed to at least one kind of natural hazard, researchers noted. But all three countries are classed as having low vulnerability, and together recorded less than 32,000 deaths from natural disasters since 1990.

Haiti, on the other hand, is not as exposed to potential disasters but is considered highly vulnerable, having suffered over 230,000 deaths since 1990, many in a major 2010 earthquake.

CITY RANKING

Data on cities shows that Manila is the most exposed city, with almost all of its 23 million people in the path of cyclones and many also facing tsunamis or earthquakes, researchers said.

Seven other major cities in Japan, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh and India - particularly Tokyo, Jakarta and Dongguan in China - also have large populations at risk, they found.

The fast pace of development in Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and the Philippines has done little to cut that region's disaster risk, researchers noted.

Some of the most vulnerable countries have shown strong economic growth, but infrastructure and welfare systems that could protect people remain weak, as does governance, they said.

In Nepal, for instance, a massive 2015 earthquake not only caused widespread damage and deaths, but cut off communications and transport from many outlying communities to the capital.

"People who survived and were injured were left to cope on their own, with no emergency services and no food," Hewston said.

Most crucially, reducing vulnerability to disasters, particularly in places with large exposure to natural hazards, will depend on tackling poverty and inequality, he said.

Providing education and healthcare and giving more people access to services can improve their incomes and knowledge, and help them move from precarious places to safer ones, which are typically more expensive to live, he added.

GOOD BUSINESS

With losses from natural disasters now averaging more than $100 billion a year worldwide, many businesses are looking into ways to minimise the threats to their factories, workers and supply chains, the Verisk Maplecroft report said.

Already private investment accounts for 70 percent to 85 percent of investment in disaster risk reduction worldwide, it said.

That suggests private spending could help supplement government efforts in many places, particularly as businesses are trying to protect not only their facilities and supply chains but their workers and customers too.

"You can have really (strong) infrastructure at your site and you might be untouched, but if there's no power and no one can get to work, you've got no workers," Hewston noted. "There needs to be a holistic approach."
China vaccine scandal stokes anger as regulators come under fire

By Adam Jourdan and Brenda Goh

SHANGHAI, March 23 (Reuters) - A widening scandal over illegal vaccine sales in China has sparked anger and drawn criticism from the government over glaring loopholes in the regulation of the world's second-largest medicine market.

Police detained 37 people in Shandong province, official news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday, after a nearly $90 million black market vaccine ring was exposed over the last week.

The vaccines, including ones against meningitis, rabies and other illnesses, are suspected of being sold in dozens of provinces around China since 2011.

The scandal has stirred angry debate, casting a shadow over government ambitions to bolster the domestic drug industry and underlining the challenge it faces to regulate a widespread and fragmented medicine supply chain.

"We don't know if our children have properly had the vaccine or whether it is ineffective or even if they are at risk," said Zhang Jieqi, 32, who works at a tourism company in the city of Chengdu and has a child under two years -old.

She said she was angry that the case, which started early last year, had not been made public widely until now.

The government has said the vaccines themselves were real, although traded illegally.

The issue of regulation, from food and drugs to online sales, has become increasingly contentious in China as it looks to cast off a reputation for poor quality and safety.

However, regulators such as a Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) have pointed to a lack of resources and personnel to adequately regulate their sectors.

The vaccine case drew ire from Premier Li Keqiang, who said regulatory bodies - including the CFDA, health ministry and police - needed to work more in tandem, and that "dereliction of duty" would not be tolerated.

"This vaccine safety case has drawn close attention, and shows there are many gaps in terms of regulation," Li said in a statement posted on the central government's website late on Tuesday.

'SWINDLED EVERY DAY'

Some people said the case echoed a scandal in 2008 when milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine led to the deaths of six infants and made thousands sick.

Xinhua cited the health ministry as saying it had not found any spike in abnormal reactions to inoculations.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement that improperly stored or expired vaccines rarely cause a toxic reaction and the most common risk is that they are ineffective.

Nonetheless, the case - centred on a mother and daughter illegally selling vaccines to re-sellers around the country - raises questions about regulators, even as China vows to boost its domestic market and raise exports.

Some parents also went online to vent their anger. One mother said she wanted to take her child out of China to escape "poisoned milk, gutter oil and ineffective vaccines". Gutter oil refers to sub-standard, recycled cooking oil.

"It seems every day we are being swindled with something," she wrote on China's the Sina Weibo site, using the handle "Sunziyue".
Malaysia's former PM Mahathir sues Najib, alleging corruption

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Reuters) - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad has filed a suit against Prime Minister Najib Razak, alleging corruption and "misfeasance and breach of fiduciaries" in public office, his law firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

Najib has come under criticism over allegations of corruption linked to the debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and deposits into his private accounts worth around $680 million.

He has denied any wrongdoing, maintains that he did not use the funds for personal gain and this year he was cleared of any criminal offence or corruption.

The law firm's statement accused Najib of "carrying out various steps that were actively and deliberately taken in bad faith ... to obstruct, interfere, impede and derail the various investigations and inquiries which were being conducted by various legal enforcement agencies".

Mahathir joined several opposition leaders this month to sign a "Citizen's Declaration", calling for Najib's resignation.
Poland - Factors to Watch March 23

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 1 hour):

PGE

Supervisory board at Poland's largest utility, state-run PGE, picked former deputy treasury minister Henryk Baranowski as its new chief executive.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Poland's stats office will publish unemployment data for February at 0900 GMT.

KGHM

Poland's treasury minister will consider increasing the government stake in copper producer KGHM to around 40 percent from the current 31.8 percent if it has the funds needed, he told Gazeta Polska daily.

SWISS-FRANC MORTGAGES

Polish president's office asked the financial regulator KNF for further clarification regarding Swiss-franc mortgages portfolios at local banks, including data on how much lenders earned on these portfolios through the years, daily Rzeczpospolita reported.

****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
Malaysia's Mahathir sues PM Najib, alleging abuse of power

By Emily Chow

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Reuters) - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad filed a suit against scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday, alleging corruption and abuse of power, his lawyers said, the latest salvo in his efforts to remove Najib from office.

But it is unlikely to have any immediate impact as it will take months before any case is heard.

Najib has come under criticism over allegations of corruption linked to the debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and deposits into his private accounts worth around $680 million.

He has denied any wrongdoing, maintains that he did not use the funds for personal gain and this year he was cleared of any criminal offence or corruption.

Mahathir accused Najib in the lawsuit of the "corrupt practice of carrying out various steps that were actively and deliberately taken in bad faith ... to obstruct, interfere, impede and derail the various investigations and inquiries which were being conducted by various legal enforcement agencies".

He also accused Najib of destroying "the rule of law and the sanctity of the provision of our federal constitution."

Najib's office did not immediately reply to requests seeking comment. But the minister of communications in Najib's government said Mahathir's accusations were false.

"He is clutching at straws... Mahathir has run out of options," the minister said. 

Mahathir was joined in the lawsuit by Khairuddin bin Abu Hassan and Anina binti Saadudin, former members of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) which Najib heads.

Mahathir has repeatedly called for Najib to quit. He joined an anti-government protest last year, where he called for a "people's power" movement to topple Najib.

On March 4, he joined hands with long-standing foes, including the party of the jailed Anwar Ibrahim, to crank up pressure on Najib to stand down.

The plaintiffs in Wednesday's suit are seeking exemplary damages from Najib to the government of 2.6 billion ringgit ($650 million) and aggravated damages of 42 million ringgit - equal to the amounts that were allegedly deposited into Najib's bank account.

Mahathir's lawyer, Haniff Khatri, told Reuters it would take three months for the court to decide if the case would be heard.

"We don't go with empty hands, (we) have material, witnesses and we are confident of the outcome," he said.

But political analysts weren't optimistic.
PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - March 23

SOFIA, March 23 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Bulgaria responded to terrorist attacks in Brussels by heightening security measures across the country and holding a large-scale anti-terrorism training, planned two months ago, in Sofia downtown in order to assess the capacity of different state structures to react in the event of crises, Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova said (Trud, Standart, 24 Chasa, Monitor, Sega)

-- Sofia airport stepped up security following Brussels attacks, Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said, adding An additional number of police officers have been deployed to the two terminals at the airport (Trud, Standart, Monitor)

-- Nationalist Attack party's leader Volen Siderov and lawmaker Desislav Chukolov have been sentenced to two years of probation in relation to an incident in front of an alcohol and cigarettes shop in October. The two deputies will also have their salaries deduced by 25 percent for two years after pleading guilty (Trud, Monitor, Telegraf, Standart)
Slovak Republic - Factors To Watch on March 23

BRATISLAVA, March 23 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 1 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases................... Previous stories on Slovak data............ Overview of economic data and forecasts......... ===========================EVENTS============================== BRATISLAVA - New four-party government led by incumbent Robert Fico will be sworn in. Related news: ===========================NEWS================================ COALITION AGREEMENT: Slovakia's ruling leftist party Smer and three small centrist and nationalist partners signed a coalition agreement on Tuesday, paving the way for a new government to be sworn in later this week. Story: Related news: CEE POWER: Czech and Slovak day-ahead power prices were steady on Tuesday due to stable fundamentals while forecasts for a big jump in Balkan wind generation drove Hungarian and Romanian spot prices lower, traders said. Story: Related news: For Instant Views of key economic data click on For summary of economic data and forecasts For diary of forthcoming Slovak events For calendar of east European economic indicators TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX News editor of the day: Jan Lopatka on +420 224 190 474 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
Strikes kill at least 50 at Qaeda Yemen camp- medics, official

ADEN, March 23 (Reuters) - At least 50 militants were killed in a U.S. air strike on an al Qaeda training camp in the mountains of southern Yemen, medics and a local official said on Wednesday.

The attack took place as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) recruits queued for dinner at the camp, west of the port city of Mukalla on Yemen's south coast.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that a U.S. air strike on an AQAP training camp had killed dozens of fighters but it gave gave no further details.

The Yemeni sources said that at least 50 people were killed and 30 wounded. The air strikes set off huge fires inside the camp, residents said.

"The planes struck as al Qaeda people stood in line to receive their dinner meal," a local official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters by telephone.

Yemeni residents had earlier said the attack on the base was carried out by war planes from a Saudi-led coalition which over the past year had been trying to stop the Iran-allied Houthi group from completing its takeover of the country.

AQAP has exploited the war to expand its control in Yemen, seizing control of Mukalla, capital of Hadramout province, last year and recruiting more followers.

The United States regards AQAP, formed by the merger of the Saudi and Yemeni wings of the group in 2009, as one of the deadliest branches of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.

The group had used Yemen to plot attacks against Western targets, including an attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner in 2009.

It also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that killed 12 people last year, although some analysts suspect its role was more inspirational than direct.
Zimbabwe to ban foreign firms in breach of local ownership law

HARARE, March 23 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will from April 1 cancel licences for foreign firms, including those operating mines and banks, that have not complied with a law to sell majority shares to locals, Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe had given foreign-owned firms a March 2016 deadline to submit plans on how to comply with a law requiring them to sell at least 51 percent shares to locals.

"Businesses have continued to disregard Zimbabwe's indigenisation laws as if daring our President and his government to do something about their contemptuous behaviour," Zhuwao told reporters.

"It's either you comply or you close shop."

The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act was passed in 2008 under President Robert Mugabe's black empowerment drive but implementation has been slow.

Some foreign companies say the law will hinder much-needed investment.

The world's two largest platinum producers Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum and banking groups Standard Chartered Plc and Barclays Plc are some of the foreign-owned firms with operations in Zimbabwe.

Amplats and Implats have previously submitted empowerment plans to be considered by Mugabe's government.
Turkish military says launched air strikes against PKK in Iraq, Turkey

ANKARA, March 23 (Reuters) - Turkey's military carried out air strikes against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey on Tuesday, the armed forces said.
China offers $11.5 billions in loans, credit to Southeast Asia

BEIJING, March 23 (Reuters) - China will offer $11.5 billion in loans and credit lines to five Southeast Asian countries for infrastructure and other projects, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday.

In 2014, Li offered $20 billion in loans to Southeast Asia, while visiting Myanmar to attend an East Asian summit, an attractive proposition for a region struggling to fund the roads, ports and railways needed for growth.

Li made the new offer, which includes 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) in preferential loans and a $10 billion credit line, to the leaders of five countries along the Mekong River.

He was speaking at a summit with leaders from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in the southern Chinese resort town of Sanya on Hainan island.

His comments were carried on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website and by the official Xinhua news agency.

Such offers of financial aid are not unusual at such get-togethers.

He did not give a timeframe for when the funds may be dispersed.

Li added that he would push China's new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and its Silk Road fund to also fund projects in the region, and ensure a greater use for China's yuan currency in dealings with the five countries.

"There are six countries on one river. The Lancang-Mekong sub-region is our joint home," Li said, referring to the Chinese name for the upper part of the river which runs through China.

"Over the many years of being neighbours we have become family," he added.

Despite the proffers of friendship and money, China has a strained relationship with two of the countries whose leaders Li met - Vietnam and Myanmar.

Vietnam and China are involved in an increasingly ugly dispute in the South China Sea over competing territorial claims.

In Myanmar, China has been angered by a decision in 2011 by suspending the $3.6 billion, Chinese-invested Myitsone dam project, and is also nervous at the prospect of Myanmar's new government lead by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
PRESS DIGEST- Canada-March 23

March 23 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** The Liberal government has frozen the small business tax rate, despite an election promise to reduce it over the next three years. In the budget Tuesday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau indicated the tax rate on businesses earning less than C$500,000 ($382,263) a year will remain at 10.5 percent. (http://bit.ly/1WHDVlH)

** The federal Liberals say they will inject more than C$2.3-billion into a series of affordable-housing measures, including a new program to offer low-cost loans to developers to build as many as 10,000 rental units. (http://bit.ly/1q1Jcdi)

** The Canadian Broadcasting Corp will get a C$150-million boost to its bottom line after enduring years of deep cuts, as Tuesday's federal budget earmarked cash to help drive the public broadcaster's continuing shift to digital platforms. (http://bit.ly/1RkhwHn)

NATIONAL POST

** The Liberal government claims its new two-phase infrastructure spending program will boost Canada's GDP by 0.2 percent this year and 0.4 percent next year. Phase one consists of C$11.9 billion for a mix of "green," social and transit projects over the next two years. Phase two will focus on the construction of projects over the next eight years that will go "hand in hand with the transition to a low-carbon economy," the government said. (http://bit.ly/1RySKso)

** Facebook, the world's most popular mobile app, is dropping its support of the BlackBerry and BBOS platforms. BlackBerry App Ecosystem lead Lou Gazzola announced the change in a blog post, saying Facebook would discontinue support of their essential APIs for BlackBerry. (http://bit.ly/1VDDg6h)

** The makers of French's ketchup is getting ready to announce plans to begin bottling some of it in Ontario. The announcement follows an uproar over the past two weeks that triggered a consumer movement to buy French's ketchup, which contains tomatoes grown and processed in Leamington. That forced one of the largest grocery chains in the country to backtrack on an announcement it would stop stocking the product, after claiming low sales. (http://bit.ly/1U7YauL)
Nigerian Iwobi out of hospital after food poisoning

ABUJA, March 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria forward Alex Iwobi has been released from hospital and is fit to play to play in the key African Nations Cup qualifier against Egypt on Friday following a bout of food poisoning.

The 19-year-old Iwobi, who scored on his full debut for Arsenal at Everton last weekend, was taken to hospital in Ajuba on Monday but has since travelled with the squad to Kaduna, where the match will be played.

"Had The Maddest Food Poisoning But I Am Good Now & Feeling Ready For The Egyptian Match," Iwobi Tweeted.

He trained on Wednesday for the first time, team officials said.
Kerry seeks answers on Assad's future in Kremlin talks

By Lesley Wroughton

MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Wednesday seeking answers from President Vladimir Putin on how Russia views a political transition unfolding in Syria, in particular the fate of President Bashar al-Assad.

Now that a fragile truce in Syria is in place and warring sides have begun peace talks in Geneva, Kerry wants to "get down to brass tacks" on the question of Assad, a State Department official said before the meeting at the Kremlin on Thursday.

The meeting was arranged after Putin's surprise announcement on March 14 that he was partially withdrawing Russian forces from Syria.

The attacks in Brussels on Tuesday further underscored the need to tackle the threat posed by Islamic State militants, the official said.

"The Secretary would like to now really hear where President Putin is in his thinking ... on a political transition" in Syria, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They have had quite a bit of contact with (President) Assad in recent weeks and obviously if the cessation of hostilities is going to transform into a true transition for Syria, it is going to have to involve getting down to brass tacks on what that political transition looks like," the official added.

Russia has repeatedly said that only the Syrian people can decide Assad's fate at the ballot box and has bristled at any talk of regime change.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that peace negotiations on the Syria conflict taking place in Geneva were always set to be long and difficult, and that it was too early to talk about patience running out on any side of the negotiations.

After five years of conflict that has killed over 250,000 people and caused the world's worst refugee crisis, Washington and Moscow engineered a deal three weeks ago for a cessation of hostilities and crucial humanitarian aid to besieged areas.

The State Department official said the meetings with Putin and Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would evaluate the status of the ceasefire "which was going better than a lot of people expected, albeit with significant violations every day."

It will also try to "get on the same page" about ending violations and increasing humanitarian assistance, the official added. Russia this week threatened to act unilaterally against those who violate the Syrian ceasefire unless the United States and Moscow reached a deal on measures for detecting and preventing truce breaches.

The Syrian opposition has accused government forces of renewing sieges and stepping up a campaign of barrel-bombing across the country.

In Geneva, where warring sides are a week into talks on ending the conflict, government officials have rejected any discussion on the fate of Assad, who opposition leaders say must go as part of any transition.

U.S. Special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday he hoped the U.S-Russia meeting would give an impetus to the peace talks where the divisive issue of a political transition is stalling progress.

But the State Department official played down expectations that the meeting would have an immediate impact on the peace talks, saying: "I would not be looking for a big headline in that regard."

"Obviously what we are looking for, and what we have been looking for, is how we are going to transition Syria away from Assad's leadership," the official said.

Kerry will also use the Kremlin meeting to raise concerns over a Russian court decision on Tuesday to jail Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko for 22 years.

The U.S. has said the sentence showed a "blatant disregard for the principles of justice" and contravened Russia's commitment to the Minsk peace accords in Ukraine.

The State Department official said Kerry would also discuss the implementation of the Minsk peace accords and concerns over an increase in violations of the deal.
EU joins Syria peace talks as sides remain at odds

By Tom Miles and John Irish

GENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - The EU sent its foreign policy chief to Geneva on Wednesday to breathe new life into Syrian peace talks, as the two sides remained at odds over the country's political future.

Federica Mogherini spoke to negotiators on both sides, and the head of the government delegation, Bashar Ja'afari, said after his meeting that he believed an impasse in the talks had been broken.

But he was told by the EU and U.N. that accelerating a political transition in Syria -- a major sticking point given fundamental disagreements between the warring parties over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad -- was the only way to defeat groups like Islamic State.

Mogherini arrived unexpectedly on what was the penultimate day of the round of negotiations, possibly highlighting EU concerns that the talks risk getting deadlocked.

"She came to support us to engage positively in the talks that would lead to an end to the Syrian crisis," Ja'afari said after the rare meeting with a senior Western official.

"For the first time, I can tell you that we were able to break the impasse, maybe in the form and a little bit in substance."

The five-year-old conflict between the government and insurgents has killed more than 250,000 people, allowed Islamic State to take control of some eastern areas and caused the world's worst refugee crisis.

With a fragile truce in place in Syria, warring sides are more than a week into talks on ending the conflict, but government officials have rejected any discussion on a political transition or the fate of Assad, who opposition leaders say must go as part of any such plan.

After the attacks in Brussels claimed by Islamic State, Ja'afari again insisted on Wednesday that fighting terrorism had to come before any discussion of political transition.

"My main message especially in meeting with that (Syrian government) delegation is the need to start a political transition in Damascus," Mogherini told reporters, stressing that there had been no change in the EU's position on the "Syrian regime".

"This in our opinion is the only way create conditions in the country to first find peace and security and secondly defeat Daesh (Islamic State)."

U.N. special envoy Staffan De Mistura echoed her comments.

"So the ball goes back to those who have been complaining about terrorism and (we're) saying what about all of you helping us to solve politically the crisis in Syria," he said.

Mogherini's visit coincided with high-level meetings in Moscow between Russian and U.S. officials, which de Mistura has said he hopes will give an impetus to the talks, just as they did by engineering a cessation of hostilities that came into effect almost three weeks ago.

COMMON GROUND DOCUMENT

Activists and diplomats said de Mistura was finalising a document to present to delegates on Thursday that will synthesise common points of convergence, but is likely to stay clear of the divisive political transition issue.

Ja'afari said he had received a document from de Mistura that his delegation would respond to at the beginning of the next round, though the government could not return before Syrian parliamentary elections on April 13.

De Mistura said on Tuesday that he aimed to establish if there were any points held in common by the different parties. If successful, he would announce these on Thursday.

Randa Kassis, representing a Moscow-backed opposition group, said de Mistura would distribute a document of common points gathered from the various delegates.

Points included creating a future unified Syrian army to fight terrorism or ensuring a democratic and non-sectarian based Syria.

"We're waiting for a U.S.-Russian accord to solve the (key) issue once and for all. Until they resolve it this process will drag on," Kassis told Reuters.
Japanese man detained in Turkey for trying to join Islamic State -sources

DIYARBAKIR, March 23 (Reuters) - A Japanese man who had attempted to join the Islamic State militant group has been detained by Turkish security forces near the Syrian border early on Wednesday, security sources said.

The 24-year-old was on his way to Syria to join the ranks of the radical group when he was detained in the Karkamis district of Gaziantep province, just across the border from the Islamic State-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus, the sources said.

The man, who Turkish media are calling "M.M.", made contact with the militants through social media, the sources said. He is due to be deported once authorities finish with his interrogation, the sources said.

He said he was persuaded to join the group by a Syrian he spoke to on the telephones, Dogan news agency said.

A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Ankara said it was aware of media reports, but had not yet confirmed the information.
Kyrgyz security service accuse opposition of planning mass riots

BISHKEK, March 23 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's state security body said on Wednesday it had audio recordings that showed several opposition politicians planned mass riots to oust President Almazbek Atambayev, but two of the accused politicians denounced the recordings as fakes.

Violent protests brought down two of the last four presidents in the central Asian former Soviet republic - Askar Akayev in 2005 and Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2010.

"Audio recordings that have appeared on the Internet ... are confirmed (as authentic) by audio recordings in the possession of the State National Security Committee," the security body said in a statement.

The committee said it had obtained its own recordings as part of a criminal investigation and with court approval.

"The investigation continues," it said without naming the people in the recordings.

Local media named the politicians in edited versions of the audio tapes and two of them, former prosecutor general Azimbek Beknazarov and former diplomat Mambetzhunus Abylov, denied any wrongdoing.

"That is not even my voice. It is a fake," Abylov told reporters. "This is absurd," said Beknazarov.

At the same time, Beknazarov and Abylov, who are both leaders of the opposition El Unu (People's Voice) movement, said they had cancelled a planned rally in the city of Osh on March 24 because of Kyrgyzstan's border standoff with Uzbekistan.

The Bishkek government this week called an urgent meeting in Moscow of a Russia-led security bloc in order to draw attention to a standoff with bigger neighbour Uzbekistan in an area where the border between the two has not been officially defined.

Both sides briefly stationed dozens of troops and several armoured personnel carriers in the disputed area but have since withdrawn most of their servicemen.
United States to press Russia on Syria's Assad

By Lesley Wroughton and John Irish

MOSCOW/GENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to press President Vladimir Putin over a political transition for Syria on Thursday, after Europe's foreign policy chief turned up unexpectedly in Geneva to try to reinvigorate peace talks.

With a fragile truce in place and Europe pressing the warring sides to keep going with negotiations, a state department official said Kerry wants to "get down to brass tacks" on the question of President Bashar al-Assad's future.

The head of Syria's delegation in Geneva sounded positive after meeting European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, a rare encounter with a senior Western figure.

"For the first time, I can tell you that we were able to break the impasse, maybe in the form and a little bit in substance," he said, adding that the government would attend the next round of talks after legislative elections in government-held areas on April 13.

He did not give any details and Mogherini said the EU had not changed its position on the need to start a political transition in Damascus. The Saudi-backed opposition, whose chief delegate also met Mogherini, has said there are no points of convergence.

The negotiations have been bogged down on a series of issues and one delegate said it was up to Kerry and Putin to create a breakthrough.

"We're waiting for a U.S.-Russian accord to solve the (key) issue once and for all. Until they resolve it this process will drag on," Randa Kassis, who heads up a Moscow-backed opposition group, said.

While the United States want Assad to step aside, Russia says only the Syrian people can decide his fate at the ballot box and has bristled at any talk of regime change.

Kerry is holding talks with Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday, in a meeting arranged after the Russian leader's surprise announcement on March 14 that he was partially withdrawing his forces from Syria.

"The Secretary would like to now really hear where President Putin is in his thinking ... on a political transition" in Syria, the official said as Kerry arrived in Moscow.

"Obviously what we are looking for, and what we have been looking for, is how we are going to transition Syria away from Assad's leadership," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

UNILATERAL THREAT

After five years of conflict that has killed over 250,000 people and caused the world's worst refugee crisis, Washington and Moscow reached a deal three weeks ago for a cessation of hostilities and delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas.

The State Department official said meetings with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would evaluate the status of the ceasefire and try to "get on the same page" about ending violations and increasing humanitarian assistance.

Russia this week threatened to act unilaterally against those who violate the ceasefire unless it reached a deal with the United States on ways to detect and prevent truce breaches.

The Syrian opposition has accused government forces of renewing sieges and stepping up a campaign of barrel-bombing across the country.

Government officials have rejected any discussion on the fate of Assad.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the peace talks were always going to be long and difficult, and it was too early to talk about patience running out on any side.

U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday he hoped the U.S-Russia meeting would give an impetus to the peace talks where the divisive issue of a political transition is stalling progress.

But the State Department official played down expectations the meeting would have an immediate impact on the talks, which adjourn on Thursday.

A Syrian activist at the talks, Jihad Makdissi, said de Mistura was planning to issue a paper on a "potential common vision".

The Syrian government delegation said the U.N. envoy had handed them a document which they would study on their return to Damascus. No details of either paper were disclosed.

However, the United Nations said the Syrian government had given verbal assurances that aid convoys can go into three or four areas that its forces are besieging.

U.N. humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said the United Nations had been allowed to enter eight or nine of the 11 areas it had asked to supply with aid, including three or four besieged areas.

But it had not been allowed to go into the town of Daraya, where the World Food Programme has said some people have been reduced to eating grass.

PALMYRA OFFENSIVE

On the battlefield, Syrian government forces and their allies were reported to have pushed forward against Islamic State fighters to reach the outskirts of the historic city of Palmyra on Wednesday.

State news agency SANA quoted a military source who said the army and allied militia advanced in the hills outside Palmyra and towards a road junction "after eliminating the last terrorist Daesh groups there", referring to Islamic State fighters. Islamic State is not covered by the truce agreement.

The Syrian army is trying to recapture Palmyra, which Islamic State seized in May, to open a road to the mostly IS-held eastern province of Deir al-Zor.

Clashes raged around Palmyra after government forces took control of most of a nearby hill with air cover from Syrian and Russian warplanes, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Russia has withdrawn around half of its air force in Syria, according to Reuters calculations based on state TV footage, some of which was not broadcast.

But Moscow has maintained a group of Su-24 bombers at its Latakia air base and deployed a number of advanced attack helicopters, meaning it is able to continue a reduced number of air strikes in the country.
Hemingway play on love and intrigue in war-time Madrid makes London debut

By Angus MacSwan

London, March 23 (Reuters) - A hard-drinking American posing as a correspondent while up to dirty tricks and a beautiful blonde trying to make her name in besieged Madrid during the Spanish Civil War are the main characters of Ernest Hemingway's only play, "The Fifth Column".

The pair will be familiar to fans of the writer and of journalist Martha Gelhorn as they fall in love and feud in their rooms in the Hotel Florida while Franco's forces shell the city.

The play received a cool reception when it was published in 1938 and has rarely been performed since. Now, 80 years from the start of the conflict that defined an era, it is making its London debut with a three-week run at the Southwark Playhouse.

The production is staged by Two's Company, which specialises in resurrecting forgotten works of the 20th century.

"Hemingway was writing it in the middle of the civil war, in his hotel room. He had no idea how the war would finish. There was no hindsight involved. That was what attracted us," producer Graham Cowley said.

It also has a particular resonance today in its depiction of war, repression, foreign intervention and civilian suffering.

Hemingway was already a celebrated novelist when he showed up in Spain to cover the conflict and he put his reputation behind the Republican cause in its fight against the fascists.

Gelhorn was a young journalist when she met him in Madrid, where they embarked on an affair despite him being married. They were later to wed but split acrimoniously after several years.

She became a legendary war correspondent, revered by new generations of reporters, and always refused to discuss her relationship with the literary lion.

As the play's love affair between Philip Rawlings and Dorothy Bridges unfolds, the action contrasts the idealism of foreign volunteers and the ruthlessness of the rival factions.

Rawlings is actually a Republican counter-espionage agent, involved in the arrest, torture and execution of fascist infiltrators. (The phrase "The Fifth Column" comes from a Francoist general's boast that he had four columns outside the city and a fifth inside.)

In his introduction, Hemingway acknowledged that writing of Republican misdeeds would earn him criticism from the left.

WOMANISING AND DRINKING

Actor Simon Darwen, as Rawlings, said he was playing the fictional character rather than Hemingway himself.

"The role is written how Hemingway would have liked to have been seen. The womanising and drinking, that's true, but the action, the military stuff it's a 'Boy's Own' portrayal," he told Reuters during a break in rehearsal.

"Rawlings is a guy who is very jaded and very tired and his job is taking a toll on him. But there is love for Dorothy. He convinces himself he can't have her and his work, so he makes the choice. To be so awful to her so that she pushes him away."

Dorothy resembles Gelhorn in looks, but not in character.

"Gelhorn was one of a kind," said Alix Dunmore, who plays Dorothy. "Absolutely fearless and a junkie for war...and not that interested in sex. She was always going off to war."

"The 'Fifth Column' has a version of her that was clingy and needy and flippant and fluffy and it seems it was the other way round. Hemingway has written a fantasy version of himself."

Stephen Ventura, who plays the hotel manager, had more than just a professional interest in the play.

His grandfather was a Spanish union activist in Barcelona who fled over the Pyrenees to escape Franco's victorious forces in 1939. After spending time in internment camps in France and Britain, he settled in Manchester and worked for the council.

"He couldn't go back. Franco was busy enacting reprisals against the remmants of the opposition," Ventura said.

It was important to show the local experience of the war, he said. While the foreigners are eating delicacies brought in by diplomats and drinking at Chicote's bar, the Madrilenos are, in the words of the prostitute Anita, "eating water soup".
Russian major was killed in Syria last month: former subordinates

By Maria Tsvetkova

BALASHIKHA, Russia, March 23 (Reuters) - A major with an elite unit from Russia's interior ministry was killed in Syria last month, several of his former comrades told Reuters on Wednesday, though Russian officials have not acknowledged his death.

The death would bring to six the number of Russian servicemen known to have been killed in Syria during the Kremlin's five-month military campaign, which it said last week it was winding down.

The death of Sergei Chupov, 51, was first reported by the Conflict Intelligence Team, a group of Russian bloggers who use social media to track Russian military engagements abroad.

Reuters spoke independently to several former colleagues of Chupov, who confirmed that he was killed in fighting in Syria. Reuters also visited the cemetery outside Moscow where Chupov is buried.

Funeral wreaths and a modest iron cross with a wooden crucifix adorn the fresh grave, with a picture of Chupov wearing uniform and medals. The date of his death marked on the grave, Feb. 8, matches the date in other accounts of his death.

"I know Chupov was a negotiator in Syria and was killed by a direct hit from a mortar shell," Radik Belov, who said he served under Chupov's command in a reconnaissance platoon in the 1990s, told Reuters.

The Russian defence ministry, which oversees the Russian operation in Syria, and the interior ministry, did not respond to Reuters questions about Chupov. A Kremlin spokesman said he had not heard about the case.

There were no details about what Chupov was doing in Syria. His former comrades said he was a long-standing officer with experience of combat. He served with the Interior Ministry troops, an elite force who have in the past been involved in fighting in Russia's restive Chechnya region.

SPECIAL FORCES

Russia has for months said its role in Syria is restricted to air strikes, advising and training Syrian government forces, search and rescue missions for downed aircrew, and protecting Russia's bases.

However, Russia's Interfax news agency on Wednesday quoted the commander of Russia's contingent in Syria, Alexander Dvornikov, as saying that Russia had special forces in Syria who were involved in reconnaissance of targets for air strikes and "other special tasks".

At the cemetery in the town of Balashikha, four men in their thirties and forties, who said they had served under his command, left a glass of brandy and a slice of bread at his grave, a Russian tradition.

They said they were all ex-servicemen but declined to give their names. They referred to Chupov as their commander and mentor. He was "a true Russian officer" said one of the men. Another described him as someone "who deserved to be a hero".

They said they did not want to go into details because Russia has many enemies and the death of a Russian soldier in Syria could be used against Moscow.

Asked about the bloggers' report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a teleconference with journalists: "I have heard nothing about it. I don't know ... on what sort of information it's based."

President Vladimir Putin last week ordered the withdrawal of the bulk of Russian forces in Syria, saying they had achieved most of their objectives.

At a Kremlin ceremony a few days later to decorate officers for the Syria mission, Putin broke four months of official silence about the death of a Russian soldier, Fyodor Zhuravlyov, bringing the official death toll Syria to five.
Nepal looks to lessen dependence on India with China port deal

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, March 23 (Reuters) - China will allow landlocked Nepal to use its ports for trading goods with third countries, a senior official in Kathmandu said on Wednesday, potentially ending India's decades-long monopoly over the impoverished country's trading routes.

A prolonged blockade of its border crossings with India last year by protesters demanding changes to a new constitution left Nepal desperately short of fuel and goods, throwing into sharp relief its dependence on routes into its southern neighbour.

Nepal's prime minister K. P. Oli signed an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during a visit to Beijing this week to give Nepalese traders access to land routes and ports in China, commerce ministry official Rabi Shankar Sainju said.

"This is a historic agreement for Nepal," Sainju told Reuters. "This cannot be an alternative to the Indian port but it is an additional route to boost our trade."

The routes and ports that Nepal, sandwiched between China and India, can use would be decided by officials from Kathmandu and Beijing soon, he said.

China is vying to increase its influence in Nepal, challenging India's long-held position as the dominant outside power.

Beijing this week also agreed to consider building a railway into Nepal, supply petroleum products and to start a feasibility study for a free trade agreement.

Nepal, still trying to recover from two devastating earthquakes last year, adopted its first post-monarchy constitution in September hoping this would usher in peace and stability after years of conflict.

But protesters blocked trucks coming in from India, leading to acute shortages. Nepal blamed New Delhi for siding with the protesters, a charge India denied.

Nepal currently uses the eastern Indian port at Kolkata for trade but officials said this is has become congested. India has offered to allow Nepal use of a second port.

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry said Nepal lacked the roads and railways to reach Chinese ports located more than 3,000 kilometers (1,875 miles) from its border.
Amnesty says 30 Afghans forcibly returned from Turkey

ANKARA, March 23 (Reuters) - Amnesty International accused Turkey on Wednesday of forcibly returning some thirty Afghan asylum-seekers to Afghanistan despite them fearing Taliban attacks, soon after a migration agreement was reached with the European Union.

Last week, the European Union sealed a deal with Turkey, criticised by human rights groups, that was intended to halt illegal migration flows to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara.

"Turkey's forcible return of around 30 Afghan asylum seekers just hours after the European Union-Turkey refugee deal came into force shows that implementing the deal would risk refugees' lives from the word go," the human rights group said.

The Turkish foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Amnesty said it had credible information indicating that Turkey violated European and international law by forcibly returning the asylum-seekers, who fear attacks by the Taliban, to Kabul without granting them access to an asylum procedure.

"This latest episode highlights the risks of returning asylum seekers to Turkey - and the knock-on effects the deal is likely to have for refugees transiting through Turkey. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia.

One of the Afghans in the group told Amnesty he had been part of a group trying to reach Greece by boat. They were apprehended by the Turkish coastguard and then detained in the western coastal city of Izmir.

When contacted by Amnesty International about the returns, the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management acknowledged the return of 27 Afghans, but insisted that all were returned voluntarily and that none had requested asylum.

A December 2015 report by the Amnesty had claimed that refugees and asylum-seekers were apprehended at the western border, detained without access to lawyers, and then forcibly returned to Syria and Iraq after being forced to sign "voluntary return" papers.

"Returns to Turkey cannot proceed on the basis that Turkey is a safe country for refugees. The EU should adopt an independent resettlement plan and work with its partner Turkey to end the abuse of refugee rights," said Dalhuisen. tr
In India, we dream big. Or rather, daydream big. One day we hope to have our own Silicon Valley (Bangalore's dream), our own Google, our own Amazon (Flipkart is trying hard) and our own Apple.

But we, almost certainly, will never get there, unless we change something drastically within the country. This is one lesson Apple's fight with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should teach India.

The problem with India is an absence, often, of the rule of law, at least in practice. There have been instances where we have not had any rule of law, instances that are increasing. All we have, in fact, are emotions and actions that justify reactions. The rule of law is either missing or comes in only when the damage is done.

Apple's fight with the FBI is one that you can call passionate. It is related to national security and terrorism, a topic about which it is hard not to get emotional.

Apple is refusing to unlock an iPhone used by the San Bernardino terrorist, who killed 14 people. The company is saying that privacy of users trumps the need of the government's overarching surveillance.

Now, it is not implying that the government should not get into the phones of terrorists. But it is saying that the FBI should do it on its own, instead of asking Apple to spy on its own users.

Imagine a company, let's say ABC, doing in India what Apple did in the US. Here is what will happen the day the ABC CEO publicly launches an attack on the government's unjustified demands, the way Apple's Tim Cook did:

1. A vicious campaign will be launched against ABC on Twitter and Facebook. The company will be called anti-national and there will be personal attacks on the CEO.

2. Some groups will take out ABC products and start to burn them on roads.

3. Some other groups will lead mobs and attack ABC stores, break property, vandalise. Cops will not intervene.

4. Some people may try to physically harm ABC employees. There will be no protection from cops, or the government.

FBI director James Comey at a court hearing for the case.

5. The government will make an emotive plea, branding ABC anti-national. ABC won't be told what laws it is flouting. It will be simply declared an enemy of the nation.

6. The tax department will swing into action. There will be charges that ABC violated tax rules, forex rules and so on.

7. The ABC CEO will be called to the court (which is fine), but then he will also be thrashed by goons in the court while cops look away.

8. There will be a campaign to boycott ABC products. Anyone using an ABC phone will be branded "desh drohi", and may be even thrashed in public for using the product of an "anti-national" company.

9. The government will threaten to cancel ABC's licence, registration.

10. The government will probably arrest senior ABC executives, put them in jail to "teach" them lessons.

All this will happen in the middle of a shrill debate and depending on how ABC reacts, it will be either destroyed by the government or pardoned. But once the dust settles, we won't be any wiser about why all of it happened, there won't be any smart lawyers slugging it out in the court, arguing on the basis of laws.

There will be just emotional shouting and posturing all around, and ABC will either end up destroyed or will compromise to create a product that will not put the consumers first.

Contrast this with how Apple's fight with the FBI has unfolded. The fight has been mostly limited to the court, where both the FBI and Apple have cited laws that defend their positions.

There has been no burning of iPhones, no death threats to Tim Cook, no tax notices against Apple. Apple has challenged the US government in the court and yet it continues to enjoy the same shield of law that it did before it decided to turn, what many will call, anti-national.

And yes, after sparring in court for several weeks, the FBI has also decided to withdraw, at least for now, from the fight. It has said that it doesn't anymore need Apple to hack into the terrorists iPhone.

Now, this is not to say Apple always gets its way. The company, most likely, cooperates with the US National Security Agency (NSA), the largest spy agency in the world.

It also probably cooperates with the US government in a number of other cases. But irrespective of what happens, the key difference between the US and India is that in the Silicon Valley it all happens, mostly, according to the rule of law, even if on many occasions the laws seem too broad and court orders ridiculous.

In contrast, in India it gets ugly. And so ugly that it kills businesses and destroys people's careers. The rule of law and a logical debate seem to be missing when it comes to negotiating tricky situations like encryption versus national security.

This missing rule of law also creates a sense where people have a fear that whatever they build can be taken away at any time. Such an environment neither helps those who want to build big things, nor is conducive for the creation of innovative products and solutions.
BRUSSELS - Belgium - How many Je Suis cities are we going to see before something is done? The only way to stop the EU terror is for the weak EU leaders to actually do something instead of sitting on their fat behinds twiddling their thumbs.

Closing the Schengen area does not mean closing borders, all it means is that there are border checks so that the free movement of terrorists and weapons from Syria may be halted. It makes common sense.

There need not be some kind of ridiculous Americanized Trump reaction like banning whole swathes of people or closing borders, but border checks is a reasonable request.

The hard truth is that the deaths of the innocent people are on the heads of the weak lilly-livered socialist policy makers of the EU and their communistic ideals of fast mass migration. The blood of innocent commuters spilled on Tuesday drips on the EU leaders who stood by after Paris and did nothing, a shameful disgrace to the people of Europe.

In the UK, the ugly bleating face of Tony Blair rears its hypocritical head every time an atrocity graces the continent. Here is a man who had no qualms about destroying and destabilising vast areas of the Middle East thus creating a power vacuum for ISISs creation.

We must address the failure of leadership for your disgraceful policies of apathy and laziness are a direct cause of the events that now occur on a regular basis.

Until the next pathetic Je Suis gathering at whichever city it may be
Washington

English-language learners took center stage during Day 3 of negotiated rulemaking on the Every Student Succeeds Act (or neg reg). And while Wednesdays discussion remained civil, collegial, and wonky, its clear there was a lot of passion for this population.

(Quick tutorial: Neg reg is shorthand for when a bunch of policy experts and advocates get in a room and try to hash out agreement on regulations. In this case the negotiators are talking about tests and a spending provision known as supplement-not-supplant. Those are important, but they are really side issues compared to accountability, which will go through the typical rulemaking process.)

One of the biggest issues under discussion: Making sure that tests are valid and reliable for ELLs, a population thats growing exponentially but is notoriously difficult to assess.

ESSA, like its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, calls for states to assess newcomers in their native language, to get a sense of what they know and can do. Specifically states must make every effort to have native-language tests for any language that a significant number of students speak.

But even though that requirement had been in the NCLB law for years, most states dont actually do it. In fact, less than a dozen states have native-language tests, according to materials compiled by the U.S. Department of Education and distributed at Wednesdays session.

So how far should the regulators go in defining those terms? And what could be done to improve tests for ELLs in regulations (which are binding) vs. guidance (which is not binding, but can help shape policy)?

Delia Pompa, of the Migration Policy Institute, said she doesnt think the regulations should necessarily define significant number"but she would like the department to provide some parameters to help states come up with a high-quality definition. For instance, she suggested states could consider whether they have enough students who speak a particular language to develop a valid native-language test.

Pompa also noted that good practice dictates that tests should be given in the language the student is being instructed in. (So, if a student is an ELL, but is taking a chemistry class in English, the test should be in English, too.)

And Tony Evers, the superintendent of Wisconsin, noted that there should be federal resources for improving tests for English-language learners. The federal Education Department is seeking more money for state assessments in its budgetpartly to help states consider more-innovative assessments. Evers wishes some of that money could be used to improve tests for ELLs.

Alvin Wilbanks, the superintendent of Gwinnet County schools, in Georgia, agreed.

Some of the things were talking about do cost money, he said. I just flipped to the federal budget; they are not flush with money.

Another key point of discussion: Should tests for English Language Proficiency be peer-reviewed? Many of the regulators seem to agree, that yes, they should be.

Housekeeping point: There is going to be a subcommittee on dealing with tests for students with severe cognitive disabilities, which might be the toughest issue the regulators have to tackle.
UPDATED

The nations investment in public school facilities falls short by a whopping $46 billion annually, according to a new report out today on the state of Americas K-12 infrastructure.

American school districts should be spending at least $145 billion each year to keep their buildings in good working order and to upgrade their existing building stock, according to the report titled 2016 State of Our Schools: Americas K-12 Facilities. It was written by the 21st Century School Fund, the National Council on School Facilities, and the Center for Green Schools.

While the physical conditions of the schools are known to have some effects on how students do in the classrooms, the issue has not garnered as much attention as other factors that affect student learning.

But that may be changing.

Since last year, Detroit teachers have been staging a series of sickouts, in part, to draw attention to the dilapidated conditions of some of the citys school buildings. And with concern over lead-tainted water in some schools, more attention is being paid to the age of school buildings and the plumbing in those buildings.

The last in-depth federal-level examination of the conditions of Americas school facilities was released more 20 years ago in 1995 by the Government Accountability Office. According to the GAO then, schools needed to spend $112 billion to repair or upgrade their facilities to good condition. About 14 million students were attending schools in need of extensive repairs, the GAO said.

The National Center for Educational Statistics also conducted a limited survey on public school infrastructure in the 2012-13 school year. According to that report, the average age of the main school building was 44 years old.

One out of every six people in the U.S. spends each day in a K-12 public school classroom, yet there is very little oversight over Americas public school buildings, Rick Fedrizzi, the CEO and the founding chairman of the U.S. Green Business Council.

It is totally unacceptable that there are millions of students across the country who are learning in dilapidated, obsolete and unhealthy facilities that pose obstacles to their learning and overall wellbeing. U.S. public school infrastructure is funded through a system that is inequitably affecting our nations students and this has to change.

With projected enrollment growth, school districts would need to spend another $10 billion a year on new construction over the next decade to accommodate those students, according to the report.

The groups also found that spending on school infrastructure varied from state to state. And the information on school facilities spending was also not easily available.

In some states, including Hawaii, Massachusetts, Wyoming, and Connecticut, the state pays for all or the majority of the capital costs for school facilities. In a dozen states, including Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota, there is no direct state support for capital facilities expenditures. In the other states, the share of contributions toward K-12 facilities varies.

In areas where districts rely heavily or completely on local investments (primarily bond measures), the wealth of the community plays a factor. Schools in wealthier zip codes tended to make capital investments in their schools, while those in less affluent zip codes tended to spend more of their operational moneythe same bucket of money used for teacher salaries, instructional materials, and day-to-day expenses,for repairs and maintenance than did wealthier zip codes, the report notes, citing previous studies.

In an interview with Education Week, Mary Filardo, the executive director of the Washington-based 21 Century School Fund, said that strategic planning was necessary to ensure equity.

We have to be able to plan; we have to set priorities to make sure we are doing whats most important first, Filardo said last week. And what we know is that you dont get equity without planning. The people who have access and power will get things for their communities that they need, and those without access to power will not.

In addition, she said, more money was needed.

We do need new public dollars; there arent enough public dollars out there, she said, adding that it was not just a matter of shifting things around. The pie itself needs to be bigger.

Districts are also carrying heavy debt loads incurred from capital projects. At the end of 2013, districts were saddled with $409 billion in long-term debt that was primarily due to capital facilities projects, and they were paying $17 billion in interest, the report said. The debt amounted to about $8,465, on average, per school child.

The report uses two decades worth of state and federal data on public facilities spending for fiscal years 1994 through 2013, and it used data from the U.S. Census, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and school districts. It also noted that capital construction investment data in18 states might have been underreported.

From 1994-2013, only three states met or exceeded the minimum industry standard for capital construction investment, the report said. Those states were Texas, Florida, and Georgia. Vermont, Montana, and Rhode Island, were among the states that, on average, spent the least on capital construction during those years.

States and districts spent $925 billion in 2014 dollars on maintenance and operations, which includes cleaning, grounds, security, and utilitiesan average of about $46 billion annually over 20 years.

The states with the lowest share of spending on maintenance and operation were Georgia, Minnesota, and North Carolina. The highest were in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Alaska.

The report calls for better, more accurate, and accessible data on school infrastructure spending to help both citizens and local officials; strategic planning that encompasses both maintenance and operations and capital outlays; and new public funding to support school facilities.

You can find the report here, along with state-by-state spending breakdowns.

Image source: 2016 State of Our Schools: Americas K-12 Facilities
Washington

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sharply divided on Wednesday in a major showdown over whether religious schools, colleges, and other organizations must take action if they seek to opt out of providing contraceptive care to their female employees or students under the Affordable Care Act.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. repeatedly referred to the federal government as hijacking the insurance plans of religious employers to force them to be complicit in the contraceptive coverage.

It seems to me that thats an accurate description of what the government wants to do, Roberts said.

When Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, late in the argument, picked up on the idea of a government hijack of religious employers health plans, it appeared the court was headed for a 4-4 tie in the cases known as Zubik v. Burwell (No. 14-1418).

That would leave lower court rulings in place. All but one of the nine federal appeals courts to have ruled on the issue have sided with President Barack Obamas administration by holding that an accommodation offered to religious employers does not violate their religious-freedom rights.

The case stems from the Affordable Care Acts requirement that most large employers must offer group health plans with minimum essential coverage, which has been interpreted by the Department of Health and Human Services to include coverage of contraception.

Churches and some other religious organizations (church auxiliaries and the religious activities of religious orders) are exempt from the contraceptive mandate, but HHS declined to exempt many other religious employers, including schools, colleges, nursing facilities, and other charitable groups.

Under the disputed accommodation, those organizations must opt out of the program by informing the federal government in writing of their religious objections or else face fines.

The groups, which raise moral objections to offering certain forms of contraception, contend that the governments accommodation would make them complicit in providing such care.

The problem is we have to fill out a form, and the consequence of filling out that form is that we are being treated differently from the churches and other groups that are categorically exempt, Paul D. Clement, the lawyer representing the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged, one of the religious employers that is not exempt.

Eight members of the Little Sisters order were present in the courtroom for the 90-minute argument, and hundreds more nuns demonstrated outside the court building, along with a smaller number of supporters of the administration.

Noel J. Francisco, the lawyer representing Roman Catholic schools in dioceses of Washington, Pittsburgh, and Erie, Pa., sought to point out an inconsistency in how the government treats such schools for the purposes of either the exemption or the accommodation.

There is a Catholic school on the west side of town that has to comply with the mandate, he said. But before he could finish his point, he was cut off by a question from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The point, as explained in his brief and my preview story , is that some Catholic schools have to comply with the mandate and some dont, based on how they are organized within the Archdiocese of Washington.

Chief Justice Roberts returned to that point later by noting that the Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh had to comply with the contraceptive mandate, while the Catholic Charities of Erie was exempt.

U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., defending the mandate, said, The government made a judgment that as a categorical matter, it wasnt willing to extend the exemption to all religious nonprofits, as was requested, but it, instead, would use this accommodation, which we thought was the best way that we could ... protect their religious liberty.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. also was sympathetic to the religious employers. Justice Clarence Thomas didnt ask any questions, but his past positions on the Affordable Care Act in the 2014 decision known as Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. , which allowed closely held companies to opt out of the contraceptive mandate, suggest he would side with the religious employers as well.

The courts liberal bloc, which dissented in Hobby Lobby, appeared to side with the government.

I thought there was a very strong tradition in this country, which is that when it comes to religious exercises, churches are special, Justice Elena Kagan told Francisco. And if youre saying that every time Congress gives an exemption to churches and synagogues and mosques, that they have to open that up to all religious people, then the effect of that is that Congress just decides not to give an exemption at all.

Ginsburg said the government has another interest at stake.

As you know, the original health-care plan did not provide these covered services for women, and [the government] saw a compelling interest there, a need that was marginally ignored up until then, she said.

A ruling in the case is expected by late June, though the vacancy on the court resulting from Justice Antonin Scalias death last month could prompt the court to order reargument if the justices are deadlocked.

But that, of course, depends on having the vacancy filled, the timing of which remains uncertain when Senate Republicans say they will not consider President Obamas nomination of Merrick Garland to the empty seat.
An eight-month budget stalemate in Pennsylvania ended Wednesday when Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, backed off his threat to veto a spending plan passed by Republican lawmakers, freeing up millions of dollars in education funding to districts.

But the plan, which will go into effect Monday, provides school districts with just half of the $400 million funding increase Wolf originally sought, according to the Associated Press . It will will distribute $6.6 billiona 3 percent increase in statewide spending without raising taxes.

Its the last piece of a $30 billion spending plan, of which more than $9 billion will be spent on the states K-12 system.

The standoff, which started in July, had pitted the legislature against Wolf and led school districts to borrow up to $900 million to stay afloat as of last December and to threaten to shut their doors. Later that month, Wolf signed an emergency reprieve that released money to districts. In January, the states school boards association sued the state , arguing that Pennsylvania had failed to uphold its constitutional fiduciary duty to adequately fund schools.

At the center of the debate was a proposal by Wolf to provide hundreds of millions of more dollars to public schools and pay down a ballooning public employee pension fund liability by raising taxes.

The plan approved Wednesday does not resolve those issues, and Wolf insisted that the state will still need to raise taxes in the coming years to avoid a crisis. Wolf refused to sign the document.

What I did do is bring attention to the fact that we have this big structural deficit, we have this train wreck coming at us July 1 ... and I believe that everybody in [the state capital of] Harrisburg now understands that, Wolf told the AP.

With the 2015-16 budget passed, the legislature now will attempt to create a budget for the next fiscal year.

Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
One of the federal governments top economic officials arrived at Dal Wednesday morning to answer questions from students, staff and faculty about the new federal budget.



The Honourable Scott Brison, president of the Treasury Board and a Dal alumnus, was on campus to discuss details of the Liberal governments first budget, released Tuesday. The budget includes several new investments aimed at helping universities and colleges play a bigger part in driving global competitiveness for the Canadian economy.



Students, faculty, and others sat and stood in the atrium of the Steele Ocean Sciences Building to listen to and participate in a discussion forum with Brison. He kicked off his appearance with remarks on a variety of topics, including how the budget will help support new research discoveries and opportunities for students at post-secondary institutions.





Brison pointed to a new $2-billion infrastructure investment fund being created to help universities and colleges modernize on-campus research, commercialization and training facilities over the next three years.



"This is critically important to the future of the Canadian economy because there is no area of investment that's more important to creating the jobs of tomorrow than the direct investments we make in research and development capacity at Canadian universities," said Brison of the fund, $500 million of which will flow out to institutions over the next year.



The importance of universities



Brison said universities in Nova Scotia are particularly well-placed to contribute in globally important areas such sustainable aquaculture and ocean research, noting the latter would be a key focus for the government as it rolls out its infrastructure investment program.



The budget also contains the largest increase in annual funding for research in more than a decade, with Canadas top research granting councils receiving an additional $95 million per year, starting immediately.



Brison, a long-time Member of Parliament for Nova Scotias Kings-Hants riding, said one of this provinces great economic advantages is its network of universities and their research potential.



"We recognize that as a government, and that's why we are investing in Canadian universities and in our research capacity," he said.



Brison also highlighted investments in the budget aimed at helping students and other young people, including a significant increase in grants to low- and middle-income students across the country by as much as a $1,000 a year. He said the measure would help over 360,000 Canadian students.

Dal President Richard Florizone, who moderated Wednesdays event, called the governments new investments in higher education very impressive.

Read also: President Florizone on federal budget's post-secondary investments

Following his prepared remarks, Brison took questions from those in attendance on a range of issues  from new education funding for First Nations individuals to the importance of immigrant entrepreneurs to the regional and national economy.



We view immigration as a source of economic growth for all Canadians and for all Atlantic Canadians, and when you talk about the demographic challenge we face there is no area of public policy more important to that than immigration, said Brison, noting that just last week the government created a new advisory council aimed at helping attract more new immigrants to the region.



Connecting with student entrepreneurs



Brison also had a chance to learn about some of the entrepreneurial activity happening at Dal. Following the Q&A, he took part in a showcase of some of the student projects from the three Dal-hosted innovation sandboxes and the Launch Dal entrepreneurship programming.





Holly Fisher, a third-year Animal Science student who takes part in the Cultiv8 innovation sandbox on the Agricultural Campus, was on-hand to discuss her research on the nutritional characteristics of mealworms, the larval form of the mealworm beetle. When exposed to low levels of insecticide, they have the potential to be a reliable and cost-efficient source of protein.



Fisher offered Brison a chocolate chip cookie she had baked using flour derived from mealworms, which he ate as he learned more about her project.



News of the new support for research was a treat of its own for Fisher, who said she was thrilled to hear the details of the governments plan and its support for research and innovation such as hers.



It was fantastic to hear that somebody in government was actually on board with this, she said.
You, an educator/parent/student/citizen of the world, work hard every day at what you do, and when that day ends, you read a book or watch TV or do something that does not involve being on Twitter.

Thats great, except for 10 years people have been cajoling you to join Twitter. Perhaps this is because of its potential instructional benefits. You remain unconvinced.

Twitter bloomed into a global behemoth since being launched in 2006, but while many educators extol its virtues as a tool for communication and professional development, many others continue to wonder if its worthwhile.

Whats the point of Twitter? How do you know where to start? How do you find good people to follow? Is it worth the time?

Twitter veterans may look at these questions and ask: Are you kidding? Dont people know this by now? This post is probably not for you.

Instead, we will try to answer some of the central questions that those who are still reluctant to join Twitter may have, and demonstrate how educators and others have addressed some of these concerns.

What is the point of Twitter?

Twitter is, for the average person, a breaking news source , forum , cultural staple , and/or humor repository , among many other things. Joanna Stern, a tech columnist for The Wall Street Journal, says that at its core, Twitter is a straight-up newsfeed :

I spend 75 percent of my time in the app getting news on everything from politics to technology to, yes, the Kardashians. Twitter is one of the few places where you can get direct access to the newsmakers, too, and eavesdrop on conversations between people you'll never meet in real life.

At the Finding Common Ground blog, Peter DeWitt suggests that Twitter works better if you know your purpose for being there:

You get out of Twitter what you put into it. If you get on for a few minutes and you're unclear what you are looking for, then you're probably not going to get the full experience. However, if you get on during a great chat session like #edchat on Tuesdays or #Satchat on Saturday mornings you will get so much more out of it.

Educators will often point to two major school uses for Twitter: As a source of professional learning, and as a tool that improves instruction for students.

How is Twitter used for professional development?

Professional development can be used in an informal sense here. In an article I wrote this past fall on Twitters role in PD , I asked teacher Jose Vilson how the Twitter community he founded, #educolor , ties into the various kinds of online professional-development chats. He responded: Cultural competence is professional competence. Being enlightened about an issue, in a way that informs pedagogy or school climate or interactions with students, is a form of PD.

Put another way: If most of your media consumption is based on the people around you (colleagues, friends, and the 6 oclock news), then the viewpoints you hear may be homogeneous. Twitter opens you up to a flood of perspectives you might not otherwise cross, for good or ill.

A lot of teachers do use Twitter for weekly or monthly conversations around whatever education topic they want: English, math, STEM, high school, state policy, leadership, etc. Those chats offer personal connection to other educators , teacher voice, as well as resources and instructional ideas.

Another use: If you attend any professional conferences (or wish that you could attend some), many attendees recap the choicest bits of knowledge on Twitter. Following the events Twitter hashtag can steer users toward a hot-ticket panel discussion or help them coordinate with other attendees.

Finally: Many teachers embrace Twitter as a social-justice platform, too. Teachers in Detroit, for example, used the service to highlight poor working conditions in their citys school district:

I could post pictures like this all day from DPS schools. #supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/hoQ6qKFrG9  Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 14, 2016

What are the instructional uses of Twitter?

If youre a journalism teacher, the advantages are straightforward: Twitter is a vital part of modern journalism. Starr Sackstein, over at the Work in Progress blog, offers advice for teaching students about how to cover live events using Twitter. And Mallary Jean Tenore, of Poynter, argues that Twitter can improve students writing .

In a comprehensive list of Twitter uses, TeachHubs Samantha Miller says students in all subjects can use Twitter to follow current events, cover a field trip, aid other students with homework, or develop their own voices, among many other possibilities.

An important thing to consider, of course, is student privacy and safety. Twitter outlines tips for Twitter literacy (ignoring the obvious portmanteau Twitteracy, props to them) that educators should consult before getting students engaged with the online platform.

Its not all good, right?

No.

First: Twitter can be little more than a diversionempty calories that fritter away your time. This might be an issue with who a user decides to follow , though, which means some refining might be in order. Like with most any new community, finding valuable connections takes time. Twitter chats offer a good way to get exposed to a lot of new people all at once.

Second: The teaching profession is three-quarters women (and half of students are girls). As many social activists will point out, women may receive a lot of harassment and abuse on Twitter (like with all social media). As video game developer Brianna Wu has told The New York Times :

The beauty of Twitter is that it has connected me to some of the smartest women I have ever known in my life. It also organizes this harassment against us in a way that is unparalleled.

Twitter allows users to mute or block people, if so desired, and has mechanisms to report abuse, but problems persist:

twitter actually took a reported threat/TOS violation seriously

feeling a little like i just saw a unicorn pic.twitter.com/T9rjLVoWiF  Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) March 21, 2016

Bringing Twitter into the classroom may need to be accompanied by a primer on digital ethics .

Third: Like with all social media platforms, users might need to be mindful of what would get them in hot water at work. Everything is public. Nevertheless:

Other ppl: Arent you worried about what your students will see if they follow you on Twitter? *sees edu-debates & nerd convos* Me: Nope.  Christina Torres (@biblio_phile) December 30, 2015

Fourth: Twitter can just be exhausting. But it wont kill you to take a break from it whenever you want, either. Twitter is not a liver. Twitter is not a requirement for continued existence.

Who would be a good person or company to follow?

This section is going to be filled with bias.

To start:



For all Education Week news: @educationweek

news: @educationweek For all teacher-related news and commentary: @edweekteacher

For tidbits from the Education Week archives: @edweeklibrary

Heres a list of the entire Education Week newsroom



You can also follow all of Education Week Teachers opinion bloggers:

Do teachers need to use Twitter for education?

There are plenty of other good things on there.

You say tomato. I say tomato. Our eyes meet. Weve decided on the perfect name for our baby   Good Account  (@SortaBad) March 16, 2016

What if I dont like Twitters online interface?

Consider TweetDeck (my personal favorite) or HootSuite .

What are the actual mechanics of Twitter?

Twitter itself offers a comprehensive overview of how the service works, as well as a glossary of terms , in case I lost you at the word hashtag.

More on social media:

Follow Ross Brenneman on Twitter for more news and analysis of the teaching profession.
Ranveer Singh spotted in a light conversation with Deepika Padukone and her family at a friend's wedding in Sri Lanka. Photo: Ranveer's Cafe

Mumbai: Ranveer Singh has gone to great lengths to declare his love in several little gestures for Deepika Padukone, who is now trying to find her feet in Hollywood.

Deepika, who was shooting for her Hollywood debut 'xXx: The Return of Xander Cage' in LA and Montreal, recently took out time to attend a friend's wedding and headed to Sri Lanka.

Read: This actress checked into Ranbir Kapoors house last night and it was not Katrina

Now, in an interesting turn of events, it has surfaced that Ranveer has also accompanied Deepika and her family to Sri Lanka. Excited fans clicked pictures and also shared them on their social networking handles. Fans shared, "He is there! He is in srilanka!!! Ranveer is in srilanka. One of my friend's aunt have seen him!"

Ranveer Singh spotted at Sri Lanka airport.

Ranveer Singh spotted interacting with a guest at his friend's wedding in Sri Lanka.
Ohio May Give Botched Execution Another Try

In 2009, the state of Ohio attempted to execute convicted murderer Romell Broom. Over the course of 95 minutes a medical team tried fruitlessly to find a suitable vein through which to administer a lethal dose of drugs. As The Washington Post reported, "they jabbed, poked and stuck the man at least 18 times, twisting and turning catheters this way and that ... They made holes in his arms, legs and elbows, his wrists, the backs of his hands and his ankles ... They took breaks, leaving the man on the gurney, and then came back to try again ... And at one point, a physician came in and inserted a needle until 'she struck bone.'"

In the end, the medical team gave up and Broom, in pain throughout the botched execution, was given a temporary reprieve. But that reprieve may be over. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the state can try to execute Broom a second time.

Not Cruel and Unusual

While the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, the Supreme Court has found that lethal injection does not rise to that level, even when certain drugs have been associated with botched executions.

In Mr. Broom's case, the Ohio Supreme Court looked at the aspirational intent of the state, rather than the actual injury the failed execution attempt had. "The state's intention in carrying out the execution is not to cause unnecessary physical pain or psychological harm, and the pain and emotional trauma Broom already experienced do not equate with the type of torture prohibited" by the Eighth Amendment.

From the court's own opinion:

"By this time, Broom was in a great deal of pain from the puncture wounds, which made it difficult for him to move or stretch his arms. The second session commenced with three medical team members--9, 17, and 21--examining Broom's arms and hands for possible injection sites. For the first time, they also began examining areas around and above his elbow as well as his legs. They also reused previous insertion sites, and as they continued inserting catheter needles into already swollen and bruised sites, Broom covered his eyes and began to cry from the pain. Director Voorhies remarked that he had never before seen an inmate cry during the process of venous access."

Regardless of the state's intention, it is hard to imagine the type of torture prohibited by the Eighth Amendment if this is not it.

Not Double Jeopardy

Broom's attorneys also argued that subjecting him to another attempted execution would violate the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on double jeopardy: "No person shall ... be subject for the same offence [sic] to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." But the court reasoned that, actually, this wouldn't be a second attempt at execution. As Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger wrote, "Because the lethal-injection drugs were never introduced into the IV lines, the execution was never commenced."

What, if not the execution, was commenced when the medical team was inserting catheter needles repeatedly into "already swollen and bruised sites?"

Whatever it was, Ohio has been given the chance to do it again, though no date has been set and a spokesman for Ohio Governor John Kasich said last week the Republican presidential candidate had yet to see a petition calling for Broom's sentence to be commuted. As Justice William M. O'Neill put it in his dissent of the opinion:

"Any fair reading of the record of the first execution attempt shows that Broom was actually tortured the first time. Now we embark on the task of doing it again ... It is not only the rights of the defendant that are in play here. There are state employees who have tragically endured the personal trauma of unsuccessfully attempting to execute a fellow human being. And now we, as a society, are telling them, 'Do it again.' I can only imagine the apprehension Broom and his executioners must be feeling now as they prepare for and await a second attempt."

Related Resources:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif upon his arrival in Lahore. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted the people of Pakistan on their national day, close on the heels of President Pranab Mukherjee stating that India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with the neighbouring country.

"Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their national day," Modi said on twitter.

Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their National Day.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2016

Modi greeted his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and asserted that India remains committed to resolving bilateral disputes through peaceful dialogue.

According to Dawn, Modi in his message reiterated India's desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.

"India remains firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through a peaceful bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terrorism and violence," he said.

The message comes as a development with both the nations taking steps to move ahead after the major seatback to bilateral ties caused by the Pathankot attack.

A team of Pakistani investigators is set to visit India from Sunday for collecting evidence related to the attack.

Read: Pakistan looking to have 'normal' ties with India: Basit

Pakistan High Commission in Delhi has organised a series of events to mark the day, including a reception, which is expected to be attended among others by Kashmiri separatist leaders.

On who will represent the government at the Pakistan national day celebrations at their High Commission, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said a senior Minister will attend.

Mukherjee had on Tuesday said, "India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan. I am of the firm conviction that our cooperation will lead to progress and prosperity in our region. I take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for your good health and well-being," he had said in his message on Pakistan's national day.

Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit, who invited Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and Asiya Andrabi among others to attend 'Pakistan Day' function, said that this was not an issue at all as Hurriyat leaders had been attending the reception for years.

"Hurriyat leaders have been coming to our reception for years now, so we do not see this as an issue as far as Pakistan is concerned," Basit said.

Eyebrows have always been raised whenever Pakistan has invited separatist leaders for different events sparking controversies.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh had represented the government at the Pakistan National Day reception last year causing uproar.
New Delhi: Pakistan has decided to opt out of the Saarc satellite project which was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all member countries.

Modi, during last Saarc summit in Nepal in November 2014, had announced Indias decision to develop the satellite to benefit all member countries in various fields including telecommunication and tele-medicine.

Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project. So it cannot be called a Saarc satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

In June 2014, Modi had asked Isro to develop the satellite, which can be dedicated as a gift to the neighbouring countries.

India had held deliberations with experts from other Saarc countries to finalise modalities for the satellite exclusively for the regional grouping.

Asked about last weeks Saarc foreign ministers meeting in Nepals Pokhra, Swarup said India pursued connectivity issues which it has been pushing strongly. Two agreements were close to finalisation which could not be finalised in the last summit, he said, terming the discussions as very positive.

Pakistan will host the next Saarc summit from November 9-10. Swarup said the outcome of the next summit should be positive going by tone and tenor of discussions in Pokhra. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj attended the Pokhra meeting.
Chennai: With barely a few days left for the March 31 deadline to avail solar tariff of Rs 7.01 per unit, solar companies that have signed memorandum of understanding with Tangedco are in a hurry to commission their projects on date.

According to Tangedco sources, as on date, 600 MW out of 1484 MW solar power projects across the state had been commissioned. Of the commissioned projects, about 290 MW comes from Adanis 648 MW solar power plant at Ramanathapuram alone. We are expecting commissioning of another 20 MW to 30 MW of solar power projects before March 31, said a senior Tangedco

official.

Only those projects that are commissioned before March 31 deadline would be able to avail themselves of solar tariff of Rs 7.01 per unit, the official said adding that beyond which new tariff fixed by TNERC would come into effect. TNERC has released a draft proposing solar tariff of Rs 5.10 per unit while Tangedco has suggested a much lower tariff of Rs 4.66 per unit. However, the Commission would fix a tariff based on views of all stakeholders.

Even the new tariff will be only applicable for companies that already signed PPA with us. In future, PPAs will be signed through competitive bidding route after June, said the official. Tangedco has signed power purchase agreement with over 50 companies for setting up 1,484 MW solar plants across the state.

Three companies  Adanis 648 MW plant at Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district, Welspuns 200 MW plant in Tiruchi and Karur districts and 190 MW plant of Sun Edison in Virudhunagar alone account for two-third of total PPA signed capacity. Rest of the companies are small players supplying 2 MW to 50 MW.

The commissioning of the solar projects are being closely watched by political parties as they sense an opportunity to take on the ruling AIADMK over the purchase of solar power at a relatively higher tariff. In particular, Tangedcos signing of PPA with Adani snowballed into a major controversy and recent revelation by the groups own lawyer who threatened to expose alleged regulatory and land-purchase violations by the Adani group has added fuel.
Police personnel are pelted with stones as they carry the body (in blue bag) out of OU campus on Wednesday. Some of the students were taken into custody

Hyderabad: Osmania University came to a boil on Wednesday as there was a stand-off between 800-1000 university students and around 30 cops in riot control gear after a body was fished out of a water tank near the Arts College.

Some students who were studying near the tank informed the police that they could smell something foul. After the body was fished out, the police tried to take it away, which angered the students.

The students suspected that the body was that of a university student who might have committed suicide in the tank and demanded an inquiry into the issue. Some students even said that they had seen a university identity card in the victim's pocket.

However, the police personnel claimed that the body was not of a student but that of one Bathula Silari Babu, a labourer from Manikeshwar Nagar who had been missing since March 21.

As the police informed the students about the identity of the victim and tried to take it away, the students started pelting stone. In the process 13 police officers, a few relatives of the victim and others were injured. Addl. DCP East Zone L.T. Chandrasekar suffered a fractured ankle.

Some students were taken into custody and accpording to the students, one of them was thrashed by the police at the station.Alampur MLA Sampath Kumar, who had visited the area, sat on a dharna along with the students demanding an inquiry into the issue.

However, after the stone pelting started, he was taken away by the police. The stand off between the students and cops continued for long as both parties kept provoking each other verbally.

The entrance of OU, the NCC Gate, was shut down following the incident.

Police said that up to five cases were registered against those involved in the violence and action would be taken as per law after identifying those responsible for the stone pelting, causing obstruction and injuries to police officers and relatives of the deceased.
The mand had a Japanese passport on him and told interrogators that he wanted to join IS.

Ankara: A Turkish interior ministry official says police have detained a Japanese national as he tried to cross the border to Syria with the intention of joining Islamic State extremists.

The man was intercepted on his way to the IS-held Syrian town of Jarablus and is now in custody. The official told the AP he had a Japanese passport on him and told interrogators that he wanted to join IS.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government practice.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the man is 24 and has the initials M.M. It said he contacted the group over social media.

Separately, five foreigners were arrested near the border as they tried to cross into Syria, according to a security source cited by Anadolu.
Jan Muhammad said he requires around 100,000 rupees a month to manage the expenses of his wives and children. (Photo: Twitter, Representtaional Image)

Karachi: A 43-year-old doctor in Pakistan's remote Baluchistan province, who has already fathered 35 children, is unfazed by the troubles of providing for his big family and is aiming to have 100 children.

Jan Muhammad, who lives with his three wives, 21 daughters and 14 sons in a poor locality of province's capital city - Quetta, said he has never faced problems providing for his large family.

"Last week, my second and third wives gave birth to two daughters and I am now proud to be the father of 35 kids. If possible I would want to marry a fourth time and have 100 children," he said.

Jan Muhammad said he requires around 100,000 rupees a month to manage the expenses of his wives and children. "I manage, as I am a qualified doctor and also run a small business," he added.

Jan Muhammad is also keen to provide quality education to his children.

"There is no life without education nowadays and I want top education for my daughters and sons," he said. The extended family shot to fame after it was first seen on the Dawn News channel.

The video was watched by over 3.3 million people on Facebook, who shared it over 175,000 times and commented on it over 4,000 times.
Belgium pressed a huge manhunt today after Islamic State bombers attacked Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people and wounding hundreds as jihadists once again struck at the heart of Europe.





Two massive suicide blasts by men with bombs in their bags hit Zaventem Airport, leaving blood and mangled bodies strewn across the check-in hall and sending terrified travellers fleeing.



Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were "actively searching" for a third man whose explosives did not to go off.



Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.



The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, capital of the European Union, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent's ability to prevent terrorism.



It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam following four months on the run.



Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag, while on social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.



"This is a day of tragedy, a black day," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the "deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium".

But as Belgium began three days of national mourning today, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the "blind, violent and cowardly" attacks.



"People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity," Michel said. "We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life."

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attacks against "the crusader state" of Belgium.



Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism "with all means necessary" on a continent that has been on high alert for months.

"The whole of Europe has been hit," said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from November's attacks.



Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgium's national flag in solidarity.



US President Barack Obama vowed to stand with Belgium in the face of the "outrageous" attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while the FBI and New York police said they would send investigators to help.



UN chief Ban Ki-moon said those responsible for the "despicable" bombings should face justice, while Belgian King Philippe condemned the "cowardly and odious" attacks.

Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled as Europe tightened security, while the US warned citizens about the "potential risks" of travelling in Europe and New York and Washington stepped up security.



There were chaotic scenes at Brussels airport after the bombers struck around at around 8:00 am (1230 IST), as plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising from holes punched through the roof of the building by the blasts.



"A lot of people lost limbs. One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg," airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.



About an hour after the airport blasts, a third explosion rocked Maalbeek metro station, in the heart of the city's EU quarter, just as commuters were making their way to work.

Paramedics tended to commuters with bloodied faces as the city's normally peaceful streets filled with the wailing of sirens.



Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 14 people had been killed at the airport, while Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said "around 20" died in the metro.



Among them was Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, a Peruvian woman who had been living in Brussels for six years and was with her family in the airport when the blast went off, according to the foreign ministry.



More than 200 people were wounded in the two attacks, including four Mormon missionaries -- three Americans and one French -- two Britons, two Colombians and an Ecuadoran. France said eight of its nationals were hurt, though it was unclear if this included the Mormon.



Belgian authorities published surveillance images showing the three male suspects of the airport attack. Two had dark hair and were wearing a glove on only one hand, and a third, who is being hunted by Belgian police, was wearing a hat and a white coat.

"They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags," Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said.



"They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode."



Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europe's most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels.



Last Tuesday an Algerian IS-linked militant was killed in a shoot-out in the south of the city.



Investigators believe Abdeslam slipped out of the apartment as the gun battle erupted. He was arrested three days later in Brussels' gritty Molenbeek district, just around the corner from his family home.
Belgian police today found a bomb and an Islamic State flag during a search of a Brussels apartment carried out hours after deadly attacks in the Belgian capital that killed around 35 people, prosecutors said.





"The searches that took place in the Schaerbeek (district) found an explosive device containing among other things nails," the federal prosecutor said in a statement.



"Investigators also discovered chemicals and a flag of the Islamic State," the statement added.
Security at major American cities along with public places like airports, train stations and shopping malls was today enhanced with additional layers of screening, in the aftermath of the horrific terrorist attack in Brussels that killed about 35 people.





Security has been in particularly beefed up here in the US Capital, which would host Nuclear Security Summit later this month that would bring in heads of States from over 40 countries.



Officials said there was no specific security threat to any major US cities, but as a matter of precautionary measure security agencies began performing additional sweeps and patrols.



In a statement, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said the Reagan National and Dulles International have robust security, both visible and behind-the-scenes and the authority's priority is the safety and security of passengers and employees.



New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he has directed state law enforcement officials to step up security at high-profile locations around the state, including airports, bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems.



However, he insisted, there is no known credible threat to the state at this time and the federal threat level has not been elevated now.



The New York Police Department (NYPD) said it has deployed additional counterterrorism resources across the city.



"Teams have been deployed to crowded areas and transit locations around the city out of an abundance of caution to provide police presence and public reassurance as we closely follow the developing situation overseas," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Stephen P Davis.



New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city residents should expect to see extraordinary NYPD presence out over the coming days as a sign of its readiness to protect people at all times.



In a statement, Los Angeles International airport said it has increased visibility of police officers.



Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said while there is no immediate threat to Chicago, the city will be on alert to keep residents safe.



Amtrak, which runs the largest passenger train network in the country, said it is partnering with local law enforcement to keep the railroad and train stations safe.

Officials have asked riders to tell authorities about any unattended items or suspicious behaviour.



Several US airlines including United and American airlines announced to have suspended it flights to Brussels.



"While there are no credible threats at this time in our area, we are asking all officers to pay close attention to transit locations throughout the city," the police said in a statement.


A 51-year-old Right to Information activist was hacked to death near his residence here by unidentified assailants, police said on Tuesday.





They said two men who came on a bike attacked Vinayak Baliga with sharp weapons as he was about to leave for his routine morning walk yesterday.



He had more than 17 stab injuries on his body,police said.

The attackers escaped before one of his neighbours could come to his rescue hearing the screams.



A CCTV camera in a nearby office captured the image of two men entering the lane on a two-wheeler, but the visuals were not clear, police said.



Baliga, an electrical contractor, had successfully sought out more than 90 RTIs, particularly helping the government in tracing electricity theft in the city.



He had also helped several poor families in the city, who were deprived of their rights.

Baliga, who was a bachelor, was living with his parents and three sisters.
When Is Sexting a Crime?

You've probably heard of sexting by now. The word is a mashup between sex and texting and the act amounts to electronically conveying lewd and suggestive images with a smartphone or other technology.

Just as we now have new vocabulary associated with technologies that have infiltrated our lives, so do we have new crimes. But little legislation directly addresses sexting per se. Instead, prosecutors charge people using existing laws.

Applying Old Laws

Perhaps surprisingly, much sexting is charged as child pornography. That makes sense if an adult is sexting with a child, but it also happens when two teens consent to exchange nude or suggestive images. The problem of teen sexting is growing, and late last year a school in Colorado was faced with a major scandal. It seems that dozens of young people were exchanging unsavory texts and some of the pictures appeared to have been taken on the school campus. The students were using a fake calculator app to mask their activities.

Canon City Schools Superintendent George Welsh told reporters last November when the story broke that the problem was not unique to his district. "There isn't a school in the United States probably at this point that hasn't at some point dealt with the issue of sexting," Welsh said.

The reason that teen sexting is such tricky business is that child pornography laws were designed to protect children from adults, and not to protect teenagers from each other necessarily. The issue gets very thorny, for example, when two teens consensually exchange lewd images and are both charged as adults for endangering children. Thus we criminalize behavior that is acceptable between adults, using laws meant to protect kids.

Adult Sexting

When two adults agree to sexual activity or exchange images voluntarily that is not a crime. But if one adult starts sexting another and the behavior is unwanted, there are also ways to charge this behavior criminally under existing laws for harassment and the like.

Criminality arises when there is a victim. If two people agree to a lewd or sexual act -- and both have the legal capacity to understand the agreement -- then there is no problem. But in the teen sexting cases especially, there is an issue as both parties are charged as perpetrators and named as the victims.

David Ball, a law professor at Santa Clara University in California, told Ars Technica, "It's a canon of criminal law, you can't be an accomplice to an act that has you as the victim." He was referring to a case in which two teens were both charged with criminally endangering a child and were the victims in each others' criminal cases.

Accused?

If you or someone you know -- whether a teenager or an adult -- is charged for a crime associated with sexting, talk to a lawyer. Many criminal defense attorneys consult for free or a minimal fee and will be happy to assess your case in light of the relevant details.

Related Resources
A car was snatched at gunpoint by three youths on Tuesday near Sujanpur, months after a similar act was carried out by suspected Pakistani terrorists before they attacked the air force base here.





According to SSP RK Bakshi, three youths, two of them reportedly Sikh, snatched a car at gunpoint from a person on the highway near Sujanpur here.



Barricades have been put and a search is on to nab the miscreants, he said.



Six terrorists, suspected to belong to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed outfit, had attacked the air force base on January 2. The strike had left seven security personnel dead with all six terrorists, too, being killed.



The terrorists had hijacked the vehicle of Punjab Police SP Salwinder Singh as they headed to the air force base.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today said Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).





Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began this morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.



When Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."

The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, further said Rana had objected to his association with LeT.



"Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.



However, Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia.

"Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazia's location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia," he said.

He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.



"Shazia never visited India. Originally she's from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I don't remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately."



When Khan asked Headley what was Shazia's reaction to this disclosure, he said, "Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife."



However, Headley said his wife knew about his plans to change his name.

"She knew that I was going to change my name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley," he said.



When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.



Headley had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.



Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his earlier deposition how Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI provides "financial, military and moral support" to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.



He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.


After bidding to turn the page on the Cold War in Cuba, President Barack Obama arrived early today in Argentina, where campaigners hope he will acknowledge US backing for its former dictatorship.



After calling for freedom and democracy as he stood alongside the Cuba's Communist leaders, Obama has touched down in another Latin American nation with a history of delicate relations with Washington.



After a series of historic but at times awkward public appearances with Cuba's Communist leader Raul Castro, Obama will meet Argentina's new free market-friendly President Mauricio Macri.



Yesterday's deadly bomb blasts in Brussels prompted Argentina to put its security forces on high alert as it prepared for Obama's visit.



Macri has reached out to Washington and other foreign powers since taking office in December after years of combative relations under his leftist predecessors.



But the delicate issue of US involvement in Latin America's violent history will rear its head during his visit to Buenos Aires -- after the Havana visit touched on sensitivities over human rights in Cuba.



Tomorrow morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the "dirty war" by Argentina's dictators against dissidents.



Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that started the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Declassified documents have shown that top US officials backed the coup.

Obama arrived in the wee hours of today with First Lady Michelle Obama, their two daughters and his mother in law and were received by Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra.



Later in the day he holds talks with Macri, lays a wreath at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and meets with local people before attending a state dinner.



As well as becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in almost a century, Obama hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America, tarnished by involvement in coups and death squads.



Obama's administration said last week it would declassify military and intelligence records linked to Argentina's "dirty war."



"We're determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice.



The documents may shed more light on US involvement in "Operation Condor," a plan among secret police agencies across South America to target leftists and dissidents.

The sensitive date of the Argentina visit angered some victims' groups. Several groups have called on Obama to apologise for US support of the military regime.



But four opinion polls showed a majority of Argentines approved of Obama's visit.

Obama "believes that part of moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past," said Ben Rhodes, one of the president's top advisers.
A severed cow's head was dumped at the home of a Hindu man, who owns a cow sanctuary, in a town in the US state of Pennsylvania, prompting authorities to launch a probe into what they say is "ethnic intimidation".





Sankar Shastri owns and manages the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary near Tannersville and state police are investigating the incident in which a cow's head was dumped at his home over the weekend, according to a report in the WNEP news website.



While none of the about 20 cows at the sanctuary was hurt, the severed head was left where Shastri could find it. Shastri is, however, not letting the incident affect his work, the report said.



"If you like cows and show love and compassion then there's more love and compassion and you don't need war," he said.



Shastri expressed shock at the incident but added that he hopes the incident does not "magnify anymore".



"I don't want to take it to the next side. I hope it is just a prank," he said.

He added that he cannot think of anyone who would do something like this on purpose.



The Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary had been a safe haven in the Bangor area for nearly 20 years before moving to the larger piece of land in Monroe County. Now the sanctuary has a chance to educate folks about Hindu beliefs in spite of a disturbing deed, the report said.



"They (the persons who dumped the severed head) probably didn't realise. People are unaware of what we're about," said Shastri.



The cow sanctuary is considering installing cameras, but hopes this story helps people become more aware of the importance of these animals to Hindus, according to the report.


Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley today said that the US had once financed his trip to Pakistan and also claimed that he had "donated" about Rs.70 lakh to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) till 2006, two years before the Mumbai attacks.





The 55-year-old terrorist, who was cross-examined via a video link from the US, told the court that after his arrest in 1998, "The Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the US financed my trip. I was in contact with DEA then, but it is not true that between 1988 and 1998 I was providing information or assisting DEA".



Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US and has turned approver in the 26/11 case, contradicted reports that he had received money from the LeT.



"I never received money from LeT...this is complete nonsense. I gave funds to LeT myself. I had donated more than 60 to 70 lakh Pakistani Rupees to LeT throughout the period I was associated with them. My last donation was in 2006", Headley told the court.



He clarified that the money given was not for any specific operation of LeT, but was a general donation primarily for many things. "These donations were from my business in New York and from the income that I earned by selling and purchasing some properties in Pakistan. I don't remember if I informed US authorities about my donations to LeT," he said.



Picking holes in the credibility of Headley's evidence, 26/11 attack plotter Abu Jundal's lawyer today argued that the terrorist, who faced conviction twice in the past before the Mumbai strikes, had indulged in criminal activities and violated his plea bargain agreements with the US government.



Headley was convicted in 1988 and 1998 by a court in the US for alleged drug smuggling, Jundal's lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan said. However, on both the occasions, Headley had entered into a plea bargain with the American government and got off with a lighter sentence.



"One of the conditions of my plea agreement was that I should not take part in any criminal activity. I violated this condition by going to Pakistan and joining the LeT," Headley told special judge G A Sanap, who is hearing the 26/11 terror case against Jundal in a sessions court here.

Headley told the court that after completing his four year sentence in 1988, he was involved in drug smuggling from 1992 to 1998 and had visited Pakistan during this period.



Headley was examined by the prosecution in February this year for five days and the court later adjourned the case for his cross-examination, which started from today.



Testifying from an undisclosed location in the US, Headley told the court that it was not possible that his donations were used for the 26/11 terror attacks.

"My last donation was made in 2006 and at that time 26/11 plan was not in place," he said.



When Khan kept implying in his questions that he had received money from LeT, an irked Headley said, "I have repeated it several times. I did not receive any money from LeT...if you don't understand this language I can say it in Urdu." Seeing Khan smile, Headley said, "Your client's life is relying on this case. You should be serious about that...don't joke."



Headley also told the court that Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit LeT.



On being asked by Khan about Rana, Headley said, "Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks."



He said Rana had objected to his association with LeT, and added that Rana was not in "constant touch" with any LeT operatives. "Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008," he said.



Headley also told the court that Rana had once come to Mumbai just prior to the 26/11 attacks, and that the latter continued his association with him till his arrest.

"I was working on Denmark conspiracy project (Mickey Mouse project) on my own and not with Rana. Rana offered me assistance on some occasions. He was a 'small part' of it," he said.
An Infosys employee from Bengaluru has been missing in Brussels since the deadly terror attacks and the Indian Embassy in the Belgian capital was making efforts to locate him.The missing employee has been identified as Raghavendran Ganesh.



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Brussels was trying to trace Ganesh.



"We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh," Swaraj tweeted.

Official sources said Ganesh is an Infosys employee and hails from Bengaluru.



Two Jet Airways crew members -- Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanai -- were injured in yesterday's explosions at Brussels' Zaventem airport and Swaraj said they are recovering well. Both Nidhi and Amit are from Mumbai.



"I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well," she said.



Swaraj said government was coordinating with Jet airways to evacuate Indian citizens.

"The airport is still not open. This may take some time. We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens," she said.



The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till tomorrow in view of the closure of the airport following yesterday's blasts, also said its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations.



Brussels airport serves as the Mumbai-based airline's European hub for its international operations, which is now being relocated to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.



Infosys spokesperson said following the attacks, Infosys reached out to all its employees in Brussels to ascertain their whereabouts and safety.



"With the exception of one employee who we are trying to reach, we have been able to connect with all other employees. We are in touch with the missing employee's family and are working with the Indian Embassy and local authorities in Brussels to locate our employee on priority," the spokesperson said in reply to an email query.



Swaraj also spoke to Ganesh's mother.

"I have spoken to Raghavendran's mother Mrs Annapoorni. I assured her that we will spare no effort to locate her son in Brussels," she tweeted.



The minister said he had spoken to his mother an hour before the blasts in Brussels.

"He spoke to his mother an hour before the blasts in Brussels. Please help us locate Raghavendran," Swaraj said in another tweet.


India and France have signed an MoU for the construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, two months after the two countries decided to conclude the techno-commercial negotiations for the project by the year end.





The pact was inked yesterday at the end of the two-day visit of a high-level delegation of Electricite de France (EDF - French public utility) to Mumbai for holding discussions with National Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on the construction of the plants, diplomatic sources said.



French Ambassador to India Francois Richier, who was present on the occasion, reiterated his country's commitment to working seamlessly with India through a collaborative approach to enable both sides to contribute collectively to the development of nuclear energy in India in the most economical manner.



The EDF visit was a follow-up on the State Visit of French President Francois Hollande to India in January, during which France and India drew up a cooperation roadmap for concluding techno-commercial negotiations for the Jaitapur project by the end of 2016.



"It may be recalled that, on this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Hollande welcomed the initialising of an updated MoU between EDF and NPCIL for the construction of six EPR units at Jaitapur. This updated MoU was formally signed by EDF and NPCIL on 22nd of March," the sources said.



Asserting that both industrial parties were working on the "Make in India" aspect of the Jaitapur project, they said this will be carried out through industrial partnerships, and joint ventures between Indo-French manufacturers for cost- effective and time-bound localisation in India.



In this regard, it will also include the transfer of rights on technology to be mutually agreed on by the parties.



EDF is France's public electricity producer and supplier and has been designated by the French government for taking over AREVA NP.



EDF is now leading the negotiations for the French side, with the support of AREVA NP, for the Jaitapur nuclear park and supply of all equipment under EDF's scope.



"The project will thus benefit from EDF's recognised expertise and extensive experience in the development and construction of nuclear fleets and ensuring their safe and reliable operation," the sources said.



The Jaitapur nuclear power project, proposing a nuclear power plant of 9900 MW, consists of 6 European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) of 1650 MW each.
Can Blockchain Technology Revolutionize the Land Registry System?

If you wanted to transfer real property in England a thousand years ago, you would have to publicly present the buyer with a clod of dirt from the land, symbolizing the transfer of title, and record the exchange in the local shire-book or church-book. One thousand years later and the clod is gone, but the rest of the process is very much the same: transfers of real property are still recorded with the local county's recorder of deeds, the modern equivalent of the shire-book. It's an effective, but not a terribly efficient, system.

Blockchain technology, some propose, can bring that antiquated system into the contemporary age. Blockchain technology could create a widely distributed, indecently verifiable, and largely incorruptible record of property ownership that bypasses the centralized system of county offices and recorders of deeds, or so the thinking goes. It's as though everyone could have their own personal, inscrutable Domesday Book.

Taking Blockchain Technology Beyond Bitcoin

Blockchains are most closely associated with "cryptocurrencies" like Bitcoin, but they have exciting legal applications that are just beginning to be explored. We've talked about smart, self-executing, and self-verifying contracts based on blockchains before, but the technology isn't limited to cryptocurrency and contract applications.

There's plenty of complex explanations of blockchains, but we'll go with this simple one, from the Bitcoin Wiki: "A block chain is a transaction database shared by all nodes participating in a system ..." Each block contains a record of the previous block and that registry is distributed to anyone participating in the system. Since the registry is widely distributed and controlled by no single person, altering transaction histories is virtually impossible. And none of that recording or verification requires a centralized system or node.

Blockchain Takes Over Title Recording?

Enter land recording. If title transfers and exchanges are recorded and distributed via blockchain technology, land fraud becomes more difficult and authenticating title more easy and efficient. (Or so the theory goes.)

This can be particularly important in areas where ownership of real property can be questionable and title fraud is common.

One such country, Honduras, considered testing out blockchain's promises. Last May, Honduras entered into a partnership to create a blockchain-based land title registry with Factom, a blockchain company based out of Austin, Texas.

The move was an attempt to deal with widespread title fraud in the country, according to Factom's CEO and co-founder, Peter Kirby. "The country's database was basically hacked," Kirby told Reuters last May. "So bureaucrats could get in there and they could get themselves beachfront properties."

In a country where the majority of land is still not registered, the new registry is intended to help encouraging more landowners to record their title with the state, by removing the risk that recording will result in fraud.

It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing, so far. In December, Factom announced that the project had stalled because of political obstacles. (Others have laid the blame on Factom itself.)

It's too soon to tell if a blockchain-based registry will ever become a reality in Honduras and, if it does, whether it will work. But should the project succeed, its blockchain-based land registries might become just one feature in our increasingly likely blockchain future.

Related Resources:
As China plans to extend its Tibet railway network to Nepal, Chinese experts say the USD four billion project passing through seismic zones in the Himalayas could be extended to India to improve Tibet's connectivity with South Asia.





"Building the rail line may encounter many difficulties as it will pass the seismic zone and the Himalayan Mountains. However, given the current technologies, it will not be a big problem," Wang Dehua, director of the Institute for Southern and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies said.



At least USD four billion is needed for the project and is expected to be completed within five years, Wang told state- run Global Times.



"The rail link could be a very good opportunity for the country to connect to India and would enhance bilateral relations," he added.



The Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli in his meeting with Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang on Monday has asked for Chinese help to build a monorail in Kathmandu and a railway line from the Tibetan border town Gyirong to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, Oli's foreign affairs advisor, Gopal Khanal has been quoted as saying by Japan's Kyodo news agency.



"The two sides have also agreed on building railways in Nepal," he said.

Hou Yanqi, deputy head of the Chinese foreign ministry's Asia Division, told the media after Li-Oli meeting that the government would encourage Chinese firms to look at the internal rail plan to extend the rail network to Nepal.



China was already planning to extend the railway from the Tibetan city of Xigaze to Gyirong on the Nepali border, she said.



Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies told Global Times that the railway may lessen Nepal's dependence on India but does not mean that China is trying to compete with India for influence on Nepal.



After Oli-Li meeting the two countries signed 10 agreements including the transit treaty which would provide an additional avenue for land-locked Nepal for import and export of materials which are currently conducted through Kolkata port.
There was a major security scare across several airports in the country, including the national capital, following a phone call from the US that 11 aircraft of private carrier IndiGo could be in the danger of being blown up.





Airline sources said the caller, who identified himself only as Smith from the US, said at least 11 flights of IndiGo, which were either ready for take off or had already departed from around 10 airports, were facing bomb threat from a woman flyer.



The threat was for flights emanating from major airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati, Goa and Kochi, sources said.



"As many as 11 IndiGo flights were grounded today after the airline's call centre at Chennai recieved a message about bomb threat. The caller, who identified himself as one Smith from the US, said that a woman passenger allegedly belonging to the ISI of Pakistan was carrying a bomb and could blow up one of the aircraft," a source said.



In a statement, IndiGo said its call centre at Chennai received a bomb threat call at 1113 hours and within minutes the security agencies were informed.

IndiGo said, "All our passengers are safe".



According to sources, security agencies were carrying out extensive search on these planes across nine airports.



Soon after the call was made, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committees (BTAC) at different airports swung into action. The planes, which were mentioned by the caller, were isolated and subject to vigorous checks.



The 11 fligts are Vadodara-Delhi (6E 591), Kochi-Delhi (516), Delhi-Srinagar (853), Delhi-Chennai (443), Ahmedabad-Kolkata (135), Delhi-Mumbai (223), Chennai-Mumbai (612), Delhi-Goa (329), Guwahati-Delhi (571), Delhi-Ahmedabad (161) and Delhi-Vadodara (734).



"We are actively engaged in working very closely with the concerned agencies. We can assure you that our operations are safe...," IndiGo said.



According to the airline, there are certain laid down procedures to be followed by the airlines, airports and other government authorities and "all such procedures were followed and are being followed".



"We have commenced additional security measures as per our laid down procedures," it added.



Yesterday, a call was received about bomb threat to five Jet Airways flights from Delhi, barely hours after the explosions at Brussels airport, but it turned out to be a hoax.
Karnataka Governor and former Gujarat minister Vajubhai Vala's son Bhavdeep today wrote to city police commissioner seeking registration of a cheating case against an oil mill owner and eight others.





Bhavdeep, who was a sleeping partner in Rajmoti Oil Mill owned by Samer Shah, wrote an application to police commissioner Anopamsinh Gehlot accusing Shah and eight others of issuing a fake cheque in his name.



Shah, also the president of Saurashtra Oil Millers' Association (SOMA) and the Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), is wanted by police in connection with a murder case.



"I was a sleeping partner in Rajmoti Oil Mill from year 2006 to 2014. However, I ended the partnership in March 2014," Vala stated in the application. In business terminology, sleeping partner is the one who does not play an active role in business, especially the one who supplies capital.



"I was cheated by Sameer and eight others when I got a legal notice from an edible oil mills from Jamnagar and asking me to that a cheque of Rs 21.74 lakh issued by me has been returned and therefore I should pay the amount within 15 days or face legal action," Vala said.



He said Shah and others could have issued the fake cheque in his name to defame him. "Though I am no longer a partner with Rajmoti Oil Mill, I came to know that Sameer Shah and eight others may have issued fake cheque in my name to defame me," Vala wrote.



He demanded a case under them under various sections of IPC for forgery, cheating and conspiracy. Shah is accused in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Amedabad branch manager of his firm, Dinesh Daxini over some financial issues earlier this month.



Police already issued a look out notice for Shah who is untraceable. When contacted, the police commissioner said he has not yet received Vala's application.



"The application may have been submitted to the concerned police station, but I have not received it yet. But once I get the application, and after reading it the action would be taken accordingly," Gehlot added.
There is a need to use resources gained from higher growth rates for uplift of minorities and "Muslims in particular" and the government is working on bringing uniformity to the growth of all sections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said.



Speaking at a lecture organised by the National Commission of Minorities (NCM), he also said the country experiences "policy diversions" from time to time, but maturity would be to ignore them and move towards growth in a "harmonious" way.



He referred to data on poverty related to various communities and said "there is a need, amongst minorities, amongst certain groups, Muslims in particular, that this advantage of the resource of the state, benefits them in more than one way."



He said the government is working on the premise that all sections including minorities "need to grow and grow uniformly and is striving to bring uniformity to the extent possible".



"We also have our fair share of our policy diversions. We are a functional and a reasonably noisy democracy. And therefore whereas the principal agenda really has to be to ensure the welfare of all, diversions do come up and some of them are extremely unpleasant diversions," Jaitley said.



The "maturity of Indian society would be its ability to ignore these diversions and take us into a path where we can ensure a harmonious relationship in the society and a growth process which benefits to us all", he said.



"The extent of maturity we display in marginalising these kind of policy diversions, would eventually determine the environment which we can create for a more prosperous India in which every segment of society gets its due," he added.



During the lecture, Jaitley also raised questions over the plight of minorities in poll-bound West Bengal despite "political stability", saying according to a report released by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, their living conditions were "extremely inadequate".



He said the model followed by the state where growth levels were not fast enough to raise standards of all sections could be a factor for the condition of the minorities.



"One of the reasons that struck my mind is that is it in terms of growth of economy, the state followed a model, where growth levels were not fast enough and I think it is a question which should be discussed," he said.



After Jaitley, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla too said that it was well known that the living conditions of Muslims in Gujarat are better than those in West Bengal.



In his speech, Jaitley also referred to 2011 census report and said the literacy rate among Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs was 73.3 per cent, 68.5 per cent, 84.5 per cent and 75.4 per cent respectively.



The poverty rate for the similar period, he added, among Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs was 21.9 per cent, 25.4 per cent, 16.4 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively.



"Even among Muslims, progress has been made on reducing poverty. This community saw biggest percentage decline in poverty rates between 1993-94 and 2011-12, from 51.2 per cent to 25.4 per cent. The comparable decline for Hindus was 23.7 per cent (during the same period)," he said.



Jaitley further said that education remains "a key" to social and economic advancement of the communities.



"In 2009-10 among Muslims, the poverty rate was 31.9 per cent among the non-literates. But only 7.1 per cent among them had a graduation. Government is committed to advancing the minorities and other disadvantaged groups," he said.



"Philosophy of the government is to increase targeted assistance by special programme, but also to provide generalised opportunities so that all communities are benefited," he added.



Jaitley also spoke of a number of government schemes for uplifting various sections including Mudra Bank. In the current budget, the amount sanctioned for many of the schemes is 25 per cent higher than it was in the 2014-15 budget, he said.



"So, the gradual increase which has taken place due to availability of higher taxation revenue with the government itself has significantly improved," he added.


Serial bomb explosions that ripped through Brussels airport and the metro station on Tuesday morning have claimed the lives of 35 people and injured hundreds of others. The bombings come close on the heels of the shootings in Paris four months ago that left over 130 people dead. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings. It has been losing ground heavily in West Asia and is carrying out spectacular attacks abroad to keep up the morale of its fighters. Since January 2015, it has lost 22% of the territory it held in Iraq and Syria. Under severe pressure at home, it is lashing out abroad. Brussels was targeted not only because it is the Belgian capital but also, it is home to the headquarters of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The attacks were striking at the heart of European unity and trans-Atlantic military cooperation.

Brussels has emerged a key centre of jihadist recruitment in Europe. Most of those who carried out the attacks in Paris were from a Molenbeek, a neighbourhood in the Belgian capital and one of them  the sole survivor  was taken into custody by the Belgian Police last week. The police believe that Belgium has the largest number of terrorist sleeper cells in Europe. Additionally, between 2012 and 2015, over 400 people  many of the Belgian citizens left Belgium to fight alongside the IS in Iraq and Syria, making its per capita contribution of foreign jihadi fighters the highest in the EU. Officials say that at least a quarter of these fighters returned home. An attack was thus waiting to happen in Belgium. Inadequate cooperation between various agencies and poor sharing of intelligence undermined Belgiums capacity to prevent the attack.

The Brussels bombings will have enormous impact on the fate of asylum seekers. Islamophobic and migrant unfriendly governments and people in Europe are likely to become even more hostile to migrants who are fleeing from war zones in Iraq and Syria. Tuesdays bombings have triggered an avalanche of irrational and ill-informed discussions in Europe and America that are conflating refugees with terrorists. This is just the kind of discourse that the IS wants the West to engage in as it facilitates recruitment of fighters from among the growing number of people who feel alienated and isolated by western hostility. By calling for halting immigration of Muslims into their countries, western governments and leaders are playing into the IS hands. Such approaches are only making Europe more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.


Social activist Prof K Phaneeraj has said that Mahad Day should be commemorated every year as it marked the great changes in the course of political and social movements held in the country.



Speaking at the Mahad Day celebrations at Hindi Bhavan, he said that the day was also instrumental in symbolically expressing disloyalty towards the ideologies preached in the Manusmriti. The outrageous act of upper caste men was strongly condemned by the Dalits, who made their first attempt to fight for the civil rights, he reminisced.



He said that the occasion saw the first incident of bloodshed that took place against Dalits. The Dalits were punished and victimised for raising their voice against the general notion of being believers to get the privileges of food and water. Dr Ambedkar, who stood firm and opted for justifiable means to establish the civil rights, can be proclaimed as the revolutionary who upheld the concept of civil rights for the first time in the country. He was firm on ending the Manusmriti culture. His ideologies always echoed these two goals. The Dalits agitated against the dominance of the upper caste people, who were very few in number. They demanded social equality and not divine equality, he explained.



Stating that Bhakti movement was instrumental in questioning the inequality during 16th century, Phaneeraj said the movement tried to bring in social changes.



Dalit leader Jayan Malpe said that Ambedkar should not be a topic for mere talks. Rather, he should be a role model for life. Dalits should understand the ideologies of Ambedkar in depth and through which they should build their self-confidence. Dalits should not be the commodity, he advised.



Thinker Rajashekhar said that the upper caste people should treat Dalits as humans for the well-being of the society. Social outcast system still prevails, he lamented.


Tokyo-based Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) on Wednesday announced its plans of making an additional investment of $35 million in India, in a bid to expand its business here.





In line with the said investment, the company plans to address the rapid expansion of new orders for PV inverters, in particular. TMEIC Industrial Systems India (TMIND) Managing Director Hemant Joshi said, In terms of PV inverters, TMIND has received a large volume of new orders in India. Additionally, as the global leader capturing the top share of PV inverters, TMEIC will supply PV inverters made in India not only locally, but also globally. The new factory will genuinely be designated as the core of TMEICs renewable energy business.TMEIC has already invested $65 million in India earlier, for strategically growing its business operations here, including the construction of a new motor factory at the Vasanthanarasapura Industrial Area, Tumakuru, which was inaugurated on Wednesday. With the addition of the new investment, TMEICs total investment in India is to the tune of $100 million on a cumulative basis, which during the past three years is the largest investment made by the company in any country worldwide, including Japan.



The planned construction of the new plant  which will produce power electronics products, specifically PV inverters, motor drive inverters and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units  will start from this spring with the aim of commencing operations from the summer of 2017. Around 250 people are expected to be employed at the new production site, TMEIC Japan President Kiyotaka Machida said, adding that the new plant, which will be built on newly acquired land situated adjacent to the new motor factory, will cover around 10,000 square metres in area.



While the PV inverters business is geared towards renewable energy and Make in India, the UPS business is bullish on Digital India.



There is demand for UPS units in the IT space. While UPS units made in Japan currently are being sold in India and new orders are steadily being received, TMEIC plans to produce products locally at the new factory, directed towards making full-fledged inroads into the Indian market, Joshi said.
The BJP will continue its fight in the legislature session against the governments move to form an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), after discussing the drought situation for two days, partys national vice president B S Yeddyurappa said.





Addressing media persons during his visit to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office here on Wednesday, Yeddyurappa said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tried to weaken the institution of Lokayukta by forming the ACB out of fear of losing power and to save himself and his Cabinet colleagues from corruption cases. When I was the chief minister, the Lokayukta was strengthened by giving it police powers. Even Congress leader S M Krishna and Justice Santosh Hegde lauded the move, he said.



Though the Union government has provided funds, the State government has not done anything for drought relief. The Centre is ready to extend more help, but the State government is not serious about the drought situation, he said.



BJP State president Pralhad Joshi said a massive protest would be staged in Bengaluru on March 28 over ACB, energy crisis and drinking water scarcity. From April 8, four teams of BJP leaders will tour the State to study the drought situation, he said.


A panel of eminent persons on Wednesday termed the creation of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) by diluting the powers of Lokayukta police as a conspiracy by politicians to save their skin.





Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde, retired High Court judge Justice M F Saldanha, retired bureaucrats V Balasubramaniam, T R Raghunandan, former Vigilance Commissioner R Sri Kumar and social activist S R Hiremath, condemned the State governments move of creating ACB under the control of politicians. The panel discussion on ACB or Lokayukta..what do the people want, was organised by the Aam Aadmi Party.



Former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde said that the chief minister had justified the move by saying that the ACB exists in 12 other states. The people must ask him whether he has considered the statistics about cases booked by these ACBs in other states. The Lokayukta police wing is one of the best anti-corruption wings in the country, he noted.



Yes, there was a bad phase because of a judge with poor track record heading the institution. Going by that justification, we have had chief ministers who faced allegations and some allegations were proved as well. Shall we have a government without a chief minister then?. I have no doubt the State government is trying to abolish the institute of Lokayukta, Justice Hegde said.



Former IAS officer T R Raghunandan said that the State was passing through a hyper corruption phase which needs a powerful and independent Lokayukta. There has to be a war against corruption and the 1998 Supreme Court order which the government is quoting, in fact, speaks about strengthening the Lokayukta. We need to take the case history from various countries which have implemented independent ombudsman.



Former Director General of Police Sri Kumar said that the system to combat corruption should move at the same pace with which corruption is spreading. We have an in-built mechanism to delay the procedure. We did a study in CBI wherein cases registered in five years were taken into consideration. In 839 FIRs registered in five years, only 50% could be charge-sheeted and after prolonged stages of trial and appeal only 3.9% of cases ended in conviction.



On a question about role of bureaucrats, Balasubramaniam said corruption had become the system and not part of the system. I have the experience of how ACB under the State government functions. At that time, three officials, including two IAS officers, were supposed to be raided for disproportionate assets. A good person was the chief minister then and he accorded permission. However, within a few days the situation turned and he was asked to step down by the prime minister from the airport. The next chief minister turned down the request and one of the IAS officers went on to become the chief secretary, he added.
The State government has set up a special court headed by retired High Court judge Justice H N Nar-ayan for speedy trial of cases pertaining to land encroachments.





Retired district judges Rayappa Hanumanthappa and B Balakrishna (judicial members), Commissioner for Survey, Settlement and Land Records Munish Moudgil and Special Deputy Commissioner, Bengal-uru Urban Hephsiba Rani Korlapati (revenue members) are part of the the special court.



The order setting up the court was issued on March 22. Chairman and members of the special court will serve a 3-year term. The court is set up as per the provisions of Karnataka Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2011. The Act will help in putting a curb on grabbing of government land, including properties coming under Wakf or religious institutions, charitable endowments, local authorities or other statutory or non-statutory bodies owned, controlled or managed by government.




Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad on Wednesday said the State was facing such worse drought in the last 40 years.





Replying to charges against the government that it had failed to take measures to mitigate sufferings of the people, the minister said top-most priority had been given to drinking water supply in the wake of severe drought. Not a single village has shortage of drinking water, he claimed.



He said that water was being supplied through tankers to 385 villages in the State and there was shortage of funds for providing water. A sum of Rs 214 crore had been released for ensuring water and fodder supply. Every DC has a minimum of Rs 2 crore at his or her disposal.



Prasad said that the State had faced six natural calamities after the Congress came to power. The present drought has led to a loss of Rs 15,636 crore. The Centre should have sanctioned its share of Rs 3,860 crore, but parted with only Rs 1,540 towards input subsidy for agricultural activities. The money is being paid directly to 21 lakh farmers, he added.



With the northeast monsoon failing in 2015-16, 62 taluks have been declared drought-hit. This has led to a loss of Rs 6,733 crore. The Centres share should be Rs 1,416.93 crore for which a memorandum has been submitted, the minister said.



Basavanagouda Patil Yatnal (Ind) said, While south Karnataka districts are getting funds, the north has been neglected. Problems being faced by Vijayapura is no different from that of Kolar, which is facing huge water shortage.




The State government has set up web-based centres in Karnataka for a scientific study of farm input costs.





Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission chairman Dr Prakash Kammaradi said here on Wednesday that farm production costs varies with geography and a 10-member team had been formed to gather this information.



The team The team comprises officials, traders and farmers. Henceforth, such teams would work at Production Cost and Market Information Centres.



Kammaradi said that the web-based centres had been set up at the agricultural universities in Dharwad, Bengaluru and Raichur and they would be set up at two more varsities soon.



Replying to a question, he said that the State government alone cant fix support price for farm produce and it could do so with the co-operation of the Centre.
In a major jailbreak in recent years, four inmates escaped from the medium-security Central Prison situated on the Humnabad-Vijayapura national highway in the Sirnoor village limits, about 10 km from here, on Wednesday.





The four undertrials, in a meticulously executed midnight operation, climbed the prison outer wall and lowered themselves down from the roof of the administrative office using bedsheets.



Braving the electric fencing and alarm wires, the prisoners broke a portion of the wall and made a small passage wide enough for a man to pass through.



The fugitives have been identified as Shivakumar, Sunilkumar, Tajuddin and Laxman, all natives of Kalaburagi. One of them is a murder accused and the rest are accused in three separate rape cases. They were lodged in the prison about a year ago.



Inspector General of Police, North East Range, B Shivakumar, after visiting the prison, said there was a clear security lapse on the part of the prison staff.



He said stricter measures could have been followed to keep vigil on prisoners.



An alert has been sounded in the neighbouring districts and also in Solapur district, Maharashtra, he said. The police are confident of apprehending them at the earliest, he said.



The Farahatabad police have registered a case.
Punjab has an inseparable connect with the Deras (sects), the reason behind politicians making a beeline at these prominent sects as election fever catches up in the state.



Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi spent a night last week at the Amritsar-based Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and even attended a spiritual session.



The sect is home to Fortis executive vice-chairman Shivinder Mohan Singh, who stepped down to serve the Dera some time ago.



Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the Dera Sachkhand Ballan, a sect that has mass Dalit following. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was quick to jump on to the bandwagon by queuing up at the Deras.



A day after Rahul visited the Radha Soami Dera, Sukhbir descended at the sect. Congress state unit president Capt Amarinder Singh, too, has been visiting the Deras and says he has no qualms in visiting such places.



The myriads that follow these sects, some espousing an egalitarian philosophy with unflinching faithfulness, at times bordering on irrationality, form the core strength of the Deras.



Political parties eye this vote bank. Visits by politicians, no matter how fruitful it may eventually turn out to be, tend to send a message across to followers of the bonhomie that exists. Some Deras have unambiguous following of a particular community, which in fact, serve political parties well.



The Dera Sach Khand Ballan Ravidassias sect in Jalandhar distances itself from mainstream Sikhism and leverages its strength on Dalit followers. Punjab has the highest Dalit population in the country, over 31%, and the AAP was arguably working on securing this huge vote bank when Kejriwal last Tuesday talked about his party as the custodian of Dalits at BSP founder Kansi Rams birthplace in Punjab.


The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday issued orders for attachment of assets of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh worth Rs 7.93 crore, including a flat in a posh locality here, in connection with a money laundering case.



ED attaches properties worth Rs 7.93 crores in money laundering case against Shri Virbhadra Singh, the agency tweeted.



The provisional attachment order include seizure of properties like LIC policies, bank fixed deposits and two storeys of a building in south Delhis Greater Kailash-I. These assets are being considered by the ED as proceeds of crime.



Singh dubbed the ED order as a Holi gift and that it was a dirty political conspiracy of the BJP. On Twitter, the chief minister wrote, It is one more dirty political conspiracy by the BJP. Like the ED raid on the day of my daughters marriage, this is a gift on the occasion of Holi.



Singh said he is a fighter and that he will continue to fight such politically motivated battles. I have full faith in the judiciary of the country. Satyamev Jayate.



The ED had filed a money laundering case on the basis of CBI FIR that accused Singh and his family members of amassing wealth of Rs 6.1 crore between 2009-11, disproportionate to their known sources of income, while serving as the Union minister of steel. The CBI had in September named Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and Chauhans brother C L Chauhan in money laundering case.



Singh had approached Delhi High Court but it refused to grant any interim stay on money laundering proceedings.


The state CID on Tuesday arrested the two founders of a Kolkata-based BPO for duping thousands of computer users in Europe for more than five months.





The arrests were made with the help of the German Police, who traced the technical support company to Kolkata. Acknowledging the arrest of Rajat Koyal and Subrata Ganguly, directors of the BPO at Salt Lake Sector V, the citys IT hub, an investigating officer said the company cheated around 14,000 computers users across Germany and Denmark, claiming to be an authorised technical support company for Microsoft.
An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more.

But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be  and shouldnt be  bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre.

Have an interest in what youre writing about

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If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words  within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating.

Include fascinating details

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Borrow some creative writing techniques

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consider your own opinion

Take the time to figure out what its that you think instead of regurgitating the opinions of others.

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Editing is a vital part of the essay-writing process, so edit the waffle once youve done a primary draft. Read through your essay objectively and eliminate the bits that arent relevant to the argument or labor the purpose.

employing a thesaurus isnt always a decent thing

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As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts  mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy.

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One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration.

Proofread

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The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry on Wednesday refused to take any action for the removal of University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile.



This came after a delegation of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union, led by its vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora, met Higher Education Secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi with their demands at his office.



Visitor (President Pranab Mukherjee) is the appointing authority of the vice-chancellor, a ministry official quoted the Higher Education Secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi as telling the JNU student union delegation when they demanded Raos removal.



With the HRD Ministry refusing to take no action against the Hyderabad university vice chancellor, the JNU students have decided to meet President Pranab Mukherjee with their demands.



We will soon seek an appointment with the Visitor (President), Shora told Deccan Herald. Over 150 students from JNU, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia staged a protest near Shastri Bhavan, which houses the HRD Ministry, condemning the police crackdown on the Hyderabad university students and teachers, demanding immediate sacking of Rao.



They accused the police and university administration of acting hand in glove and levelling false charges against the students and teachers of Hyderabad university.



A Delhi police personnel was seen taking video shots of the students as they delivered speeches and raised Azadi slogans at the protest site.



Later, a JNU student union delegation was taken to the secretarys office by a police team. This is matter of law and order which comes under the jurisdiction of the state government, Oberoi told the student delegation as they requested for Ministrys intervention for withdrawal of charges against Hyderabad university students and removal of police from the varsity campus.



JNU students said Raos return on Tuesday was nothing but a meticulous design of the university administration and a section of teachers.
Pakistani investigators coming to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack are likely to be allowed restricted access to the Indian Air Force base.



The five-member Special Investigation Team of Pakistan will reach New Delhi on March 27 and they will hold meeting with officials of the National Investigation Agency of India in the capital on March 28.



The Pakistani SIT may visit Pathankot in Punjab on March 29 and examine the scene of terror attack, apart from questioning the witnesses. They will, however, not be allowed full access to the airbase and their visit to the IAF facility will remain limited to the areas where the security personnel had fire-exchanges with the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, sources told Deccan Herald in New Delhi.



A section within the Government of India had reservation over granting access to the military facility, given the fact that the forward airbase had several strategic assets of the IAF. Islamabad, however, conveyed to New Delhi that a visit to the airbase would help its investigators analyse the weapons used by the terrorists to attack the military facility, vehicles they used to reach the scene and the communication devices that kept them in touch with the JeM operatives, who were coordinating the strike from Pakistan.
Canadian-Pakistani cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said those killing innocent people for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (IS) will go to hell as their ideology is anti-Islam.





It is not jihad, but 'fasad' (expression or activity that creates disorder in Muslim community), Qadri, recently in Delhi to attend World Sufi Forum, told the India Today group.



People dying in the IS are not going to heaven; they are going to hell because they are killing mankind, they are killing the innocent, the civilians, he said, adding that capturing land, killing and looting are not part of any religious ideology.



IS ideology is Kufr (disbelief in Islam), Qadri said, seeing no concept of jihad in the terror outfits "character, performance, behaviour or ideology".



It is anti-Islam; against the teachings of the prophet of Islam and those of Quran, noted Qadri, who spearheaded the Long March against the Nawaz Sharif government on corruption in 2013.


Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU leader who was arrested on sedition charges, was not allowed to enter the University of Hyderabad here on Wednesday.



He was scheduled to address a meeting arranged by Joint Action Committee for Social Justice demanding justice for Dalit research Scholar Rohith Vemula who committed suicide on January 17.



The university authorities have barred entry of any outsiders following clashes on Tuesday. Addressing the media at the gates of the university, Kanhaiya said that he came to the university seeking justice for Rohith. Today is the day we commemorate the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. I also want to commemorate the sacrifice of Rohith, he said adding that the Union government is trying to gag the voice of the oppressed. Expressing solidarity with the students of UoH who were hurt in Tuesday cane charge, he said that the fight will continue till the government brings Rohith Act.



Describing the fight in the UoH as an effort to save the Constitution and democracy, Kanhaiya said that the fight for freedom from casteism, untouchability and freedom for many Ekalavyas from the hands of gurus like Dronacharyas will continue. He then shouted slogans Jai Bheem Rohith Act Lagoo karo Jateevad Murdabad and returned. Kanhaiya, who arrived here at the Shamshabad Airport on Wednesday morning, was received by state CPI and AISF leaders. Making his intensions clear, he said that he was here to address a public meeting on the university campus. If the police allow me inside the campus I will address the student gathering. If they stop me at the gate, I will speak outside the gate, he said.



Later addressing a press conference, Kanhaiya said that the government has created the JNU sedition issue to keep Rohith Vemulas issue under carpet. To save justice, I thought I would go to Hyderabad immediately after coming out from the jail. he said. On Wednesday afternoon, Kanhaiya met Rohiths mother Radhika and younger brother Raja Chaitanya at the Chandra Rajeswara Rao Old Age home in Kondapur maintained by the CPI.


Eleven IndiGo flights were delayed on Wednesday after the airline received threat call from a man claiming to be from the United States.



The caller who identified himself as Smith said at least 11 IndiGo flights could be the target of a woman flier. The call was made to the airlines call centre in Chennai at 11:13 am and anti-sabotage checks were immediately conducted after that. The threat was for flights from airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati, Goa and Kochi. In a statement, IndiGo said, all our passengers are safe.



The caller said that the woman flier who has links with Pakistani spy agency ISI, was carrying a bomb and could blow up one of the aircraft, officials said. The caller also claimed that the targeted flight could be either ready for take off or had already departed from nine airports.



Soon after the airline received the call, the security establishment was informed about the threat. On Tuesday, five Jet Airways flights had to be grounded following similar threat calls. Security agencies said extensive searches were carried out on planes across nine airports but no explosives were found till Wednesday evening. The 11 flights mentioned by the caller are Vadodara-Delhi (6E 591), Kochi-Delhi (516), Delhi-Srinagar (853), Delhi-Chennai (443), Ahmedabad-Kolkata (135), Delhi-Mumbai (223), Chennai-Mumbai (612), Delhi-Goa (329), Guwahati-Delhi (571), Delhi-Ahmedabad (161) and Delhi-Vadodara (734).
The recent terror strikes in Brussels have put a huge question mark over Prime Minister Narendra Modis proposed interaction with the Indian diaspora.



New Delhi formally announced Modis visit to Brussels on March 30 just a few hours after the series of explosions rocked the capital of Belgium on Tuesday. But one of the prime ministers engagements in Brussels  his interactions with Indian community in Belgium  now appears to be uncertain, given the prevailing security situation in the city.



Belgium government issued the highest security alert following the terror attacks at Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek Metro Station in Brussels on Tuesday.



Over 30 people were killed and many others injured in the terror strikes. The prime minister, like most of his foreign tours in 2014 and 2015, was expected to reach out to Indian diaspora in Belgium in a community reception being hosted in his honour.



Nearly 20,000 people with origins in India live in Belgium and around 10,000 of them are citizens of India.



The community reception is scheduled to be held at Brussels Expo  a large convention and exhibition centre  at the heart of the capital city.



Nearly 10,000-12,000 people were expected to turn up for the event. Officials told Deccan Herald that the Indian embassy in Brussels was in touch with Belgian government to review security for the event.



New Delhi is likely to take a final decision after receiving inputs from the advance team of the Special Protection Group, which has already reached Brussels and is coordinating with Belgian Police to make security arrangements.



One of the options is to scale down the event and shift it to a more secure and closed venue with a lesser number of invitees, one official said in New Delhi.



A large number of Indians in Belgium already registered on the website of the organisers expressing their desire to attend the event.



Meanwhile, the Embassy of India in Brussels has issued a travel advisory, asking all members of the Indian community in Belgium, including travellers, to exercise caution and alertness, while leading their normal lives and carrying out their ordinary work outdoors.


Fearing escalation of trouble, the University of Hyderabad declared holiday till Saturday, and students were forced to leave the campus as the non-teaching staff cut off supply of water, electricity, internet and even refused to cook food.



The non-teaching staff have refused to cooperate with the students after the vice-chancellors lodge was ransacked by members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, an umbrella organisation of several student groups, on Tuesday.



The decision came on a day when JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was scheduled to address a meeting arranged by the JAC, demanding justice for Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula who committed suicide on January 17.



With no water, students were seen filling buckets near a sump close to the hostels. While many students have left the campus, those who stayed back were seen cooking in the open.



This campus is far away from the city, so we have decided to cook on our own, said a student from New Research Scholars hostel. They say closing down the campus with the semester slated to end in 10 days is a cruel joke.Registrar M Sudhakar said: In view of the prevailing extraordinary situation, it has been decided not to allow entry of outside persons viz print, electronic media and political, social and student groups and individuals into the campus until further notice.



The residences of vice-chancellor, deans and other teaching staff were cordoned off by the police. The university is now virtually out of bounds for an outsider. All gates have been sealed and students, teaching and non-teaching staff were allowed only after a through check of their ID cards. The OB vans of various channels have been moved outside the campus. Cyberabad Jt Commissioner of Police T V Sasidhar Reddy and Madapur DCP Kartikeya are camping on the campus. Congress MP V Hanumantha Rao tried to enter the campus in the morning, but was asked to return.


This one wasnt for the faint-hearted. The India-Bangladesh encounter hardly had any signs of a thriller it eventually turned out to be, as the hosts pulled off a dramatic one-run win here on Wednesday to stay in contention for a semifinal spot in the World T20 tournament.



After being put into bat first, India struggled their way to 146 while losing seven wickets on a sluggish Chinnaswamy surface. The total appeared a competitive one given Indias slow-bowling resources and the conditions, but Bangladesh, despite losing wickets at regular intervals, stayed firmly in sight of the chase. India helped Bangladeshs cause in no small way by dropping as many as three eminently catchable offers. Their ground fielding wasnt up to the mark either.



With 11 needed off the last over it was anybodys game, though you had to favour Bangladesh at the start of the over. Three balls into the over, it was Bangladeshs game to lose and they did as well.



Having scored nine runs off the first three balls by Hardik Pandya, Bangladesh lost two wickets in the next two balls. With Bangladesh needing two runs off the last ball, MS Dhoni ran out Mustafizur Rahman to trigger wild celebrations. Bangladesh eventually finished at 145 for nine.



Before India fought their back into the side to bring the equation to 11 off the last over, Bangladesh were cruising to victory. At 87 for three in 12 overs, they were rocked by man of the match R Ashwin (2/20).



He dismissed the dangerous Shakib Al Hasan and gave away just one run to sow seeds of doubt in Bangladesh batsmens minds. After this, the fortunes swung back and forth before the drama unfolded in the final over. The win kept India firmly in race for a semifinal berth, and in all probability, their match against Australia on Sunday in Mohali may turn out to be a direct shootout between the two sides for the knockouts.
by Linda Curda

This years Cama-i (Yupik for a warm welcoming hello) Dance Festival is almost here and the Bethel Council on the Arts is once again proud to be the sponsor of what promises to be the best yet!

The festival starts Friday, March 16th with doors opening at 5pm, and ending Sunday March 18th at 9pm. There will be local crafts, a native foods dinner, Heart of the Drum drumming circle, Miss Cama-i pageant, free dental check ups on Saturday by the YKHC dental programs Smile Alaska Style, and traditional dancers will share their history through dance and music. The theme for this years festival is Cauyat Tupagtelarait Nauviput ~ Drums Awaken Our Roots and reflects our roots in our culture during our Cama-i weekend celebration, as we share our Yupik traditional drums, songs, and dance with our guests.

There will be local groups: the Bethel Traditional Dancers, Upallret, Yurartet Dancers, Kuskokwim Campus Dancers, the Kuskokwim Learning Academy, the Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat, Ayaprun Elitnaurvik, Gladys Jung schools and two Bethel High School dance groups  the Warriors and the Wrestler Dancers.

We are also pleased that the Delta Illusion Dancers will once again perform  we have watched these young people become an incredible contemporary dance company winning national awards.

The JROTC Rifle Team is also performing again!

The Yukon-Kuskokwim region communities of Chefornak, Kasigluk and Kotlik will also be joining us.

This years guests from around the state are the Shageluk Dancers (first time at Cama-i), Polynesian Pacific Bloom Dancers, and the crowd favorite Ossie Kairaiuaks group, Acilquq.

Other highlights include: Nanda, a remarkable acrobaticalists group; Mike Stevens, world re-known harmonica player and pied piper who has shared his passion in the Y-K delta with the Yupik youth (who in turn will join him on stage); the Running Thunder Cree Dancers, all the way from Edmonton, Canada; and, the Underground Dance Company-Hip Hop, including a performance of the original song Any Mountain by Joanie Hope.

We are excited to have these groups join us and include them in the Up Close & Personal sessions where you can meet with the performers and learn how to do their dances. There will also be Fur Fashion Show that will model both new and old traditional parkas and regalia.

Native artwork, crafts and other handiwork also add to the Cama-i festival spirit. You will find some of the most beautiful beadwork, leather craft, woodworking and sewing from around the Yukon Delta region  these master craft persons bring their work for viewing and sale. From jewelry to yo-yos, parkas and masks, their owners time, energy and dedication is evident in the craftsmanship that is passed from generation to generation.

We dedicate Cama-i 2018 to the elder drummers who have passed and are the roots of the continuation of dance in Kasigluk and our living treasure Raymond Dutchman of Shageluk  in remembrance of their contributions in keeping the Yupik tradition and dance alive and passing it on to future generations. We invite you to come celebrate with us as we take the time to say thank you for the impact they have made on our lives through their own life examples.

Mark your calendar and plan on joining us this year, as we celebrate the drums that awaken our roots.

Linda Curda is the Cama-i Dance Festival Co-Coordinator.

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The Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program is currently hosting 47 middle school students from more than 20 schools in the Kenai Peninsula Borough and Lower Kuskokwim school districts for its February Middle School Academy at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

During the two-week component, students live like college students while participating in hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities designed to foster enthusiasm for pursing an education and career in these areas.

Thanks to the generous support of ANSEPs strategic partners, the February session is one of eight Middle School Academies planned for 2017.

On Friday, Feb. 17, students received a special visit from Vivian Korthuis, CEO of Association of Village Council Presidents. AVCP joined ANSEP last year as a strategic partner, by way of a three-year $1.5 million grant. AVCP supports students from the region through ANSEPs suite of components. Korthuis stopped by as students were finishing up the computers they built this week as part of an innovative curriculum designed immerse students in hands-on STEM learning activities.

It was an honor to have Vivian on campus to experience an integral part of our program  the computer build  and visit with students who are directly benefiting from AVCPs generosity. The funds awarded last year allowed us to expand our reach in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, meaning more students from this area will arrive academically and socially prepared for college and for their careers, said ANSEP Founder and Vice Provost Dr. Herb Ilisaurri Schroeder.

Throughout Middle School Academy, students participate in a number of team-based STEM learning activities centered around real-world problem solving, such as Arctic wall and bridge builds as well as earthquake engineering and science exploration sessions led by industry professionals and ANSEP staff. The students chosen to participate in the all-expenses-paid, residential component include:

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

Homer Middle School: Hannah Hatfield

McNeil Cangon Elementary (Homer): Jenna Lapp

Nanwalek School: Lavenya Hetrick and Abigail Kvasnikoff

Nikiski Middle/High School: Dwyght Mullins

Skyview Middle School (Soldotna): Rhys Cannava, Harley Johnson and Ayden See

Tebughna School (Tyonek): Alicia Smoke

Tustumena Elementary School (Soldotna): Trinity Donovan and Evan Veihdeffer

Lower Kuskokwim School District

Akiuk Memorial School (Kasigluk): Katie Dementieff

Akula Elitnaurvik School (Kasigluk): Victoria Beaver, Kaylila Johnston and Korben Martin

Anna Tobeluk Memorial School (Nunapitchuk): Eliza Enoch, Wassilie Tobeluk and Alexandra Watson

Ayaprun Elitnaurvik School (Bethel): Atsaruaq Bill, Hayden Carlson, Anson Jimmie and Alyssa Motgin

Gladys Jung (Bethel): Hannah Colvin, Rosey Chakuchin, and one more

Bethel Regional High School: Cheyenne Murphy and Carmen Wasuli

Ketacik Aapalluk Memorial School (Kwethluk): Bradley Jackson and Dustin Jackson

Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat: Kody Cleveland

Kwigillingok School: Jelsa Beaver, Reagan Evon, Kyra John, Jerome Paul and Sean Snyder

Nelson Island School (Toksook Bay): Summer Cartier

Nuniwarmiut School (Mekoryuk): Kaylee King

Kasigluk School: Daniel Slim

Z.J. Williams Memorial School (Napaskiak): John Amik

The ANSEP model begins at the middle school level and continues through high school and into college undergraduate, graduate and doctorate programs. A recent study released by ANSEP in conjunction with the University of Alaska and State Department of Education and Early Development revealed that more than 60 percent of Alaskas college-bound students require remediation upon entering the university. Students who start with ANSEP in middle school do not need remediation, and 77 percent complete algebra 1 before entering high school. Nationally, that number is 26 percent. ANSEP saves families years of college tuition because high school students earn college credit, and ANSEP saves the state millions of dollars as students move through the education system faster. To learn more about ANSEP and its components, visit www.ANSEP.net.

About ANSEP

The Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program, founded by Herb Ilisaurri Schroeder, Ph.D., is part of the University of Alaska system. The program strives to effect systemic change in the hiring patterns of Alaska Natives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics career fields by placing its students on a path to leadership. Beginning at the middle school level, ANSEPs longitudinal model continues through high school and into undergraduate, graduate and doctorate programs, allowing students to succeed at rates far exceeding national numbers. In 2015, the organization launched ANSEP STEM Teacher to further remedy Alaskas rural education issues by supporting students pursuing STEM-related teaching certificates. ANSEP plans to place one ANSEP STEM Teacher in every Alaska village by 2025.

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Feb. 4th, 2020: Zoe Nelles, age 17, of Palmer and Caleb Song, age 13, of Anchorage today were named Alaskas top two youth volunteers of 2020 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.

As State Honorees, Zoe and Caleb each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named Americas top youth volunteers of 2020.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Alaskas top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Zoe Nelles

Nominated by Palmer High School

Zoe, a senior at Palmer High School, provides bags of nonperishable food every Friday to 60 students in need who receive free meals at school during the week, but who may have little to eat on the weekends. She came up with the idea for The Sandwich Project in the fall of 2018 after hearing that another school had a similar program that fed 20 children.

I was surprised by the number and wondered if we had this large of a need at Palmer, Zoe said.

To begin, she asked her school nurse to identify students who were at risk of weekend hunger and persuaded a teacher to be her advisor. She then started assembling bags of nonperishable food items in her own kitchen for seven students.

As the need became more apparent, Zoes program began to grow with the help of donations from community members, a food drive at her school and appeals on social media. When she received a grant from a local foundation, she expanded her project to two local elementary schools.

Zoe then arranged additional assistance from a local food bank, which contributes ingredients for her food bags; from her schools culinary arts teacher, who offers space in her classroom to store food and make the meals; and from her schools National Honor Society members, who help assemble the food bags.

Being a kid is hard enough, said Zoe, but not knowing if you are going to eat over the weekend is unimaginable.

Middle Level State Honoree: Caleb Song

Nominated by Northern Lights ABC School

Caleb, an eighth-grader at Northern Lights ABC School, plays an active role in the efforts of his parents church ministry to aid people experiencing homelessness in his community.

I have been assisting the homeless since I can remember, said Caleb. As a toddler, Caleb accompanied his parents to a homeless shelter, and then gradually began helping with various aspects of the shelters operation. As Caleb got older, the jobs he was tasked with grew more complex.

Helping the homeless, he discovered, is neither simple nor easy. It requires passion, confidence and sacrifice.

Currently, Caleb sets up the shelters sound system, greets people and assists at an information desk. He also makes lemonade, prepares and serves dinner trays, plays the violin and cleans up after meals.

At Christmastime, he has helped raise money to buy gifts for people at the shelter. In addition, he visits other local shelters, a soup kitchen, an assisted-living home and a hospital, where he hands out snacks and fliers.

He finds time to do all this on both weekends and weekdays, coordinating his volunteer activities with school and other responsibilities.

I have seen hardened souls transform because of the work I do, even though it may be small, said Caleb.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized two other Alaska students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Alaskas Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Anna Devolld, 14, of Soldotna, Alaska, a freshman at Connections Alaska Homeschool Program, is the founder of Promote Our Pollinators (P.O.P.), through which she gives presentations about the environmental importance of pollinators, distributes informational materials and hands out pollinator packs to encourage habitat creation. Anna works with businesses, schools, senior centers and Rotary clubs to spread awareness, and is collaborating with her local government to install permanent pollinator garden signs in community spaces.

Natalie Fraser, 18, of Anchorage, Alaska, a senior at West High School, is the founder and co-chair of Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling (MHATS), a student group that promotes mental health awareness through personal storytelling. Along with participating in group sessions, Natalie and other MHAT members hosted a live storytelling show, appeared on Alaska public radio, presented at youth leadership conferences and spoke in front of state lawmakers to support related healthcare legislation.

In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world, said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on societys challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too.

Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges, said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees  its an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change.

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Craft beer sales continued to bubble over in 2015, another year of double-digit increases that added up to a 12 percent stake of the U.S. beer market, according to Brewers Association data released Tuesday.

Craft brewers  independent producers that brew 6 million or fewer barrels annually  churned out 24.5 million barrels of beer last year, representing a 13 percent jump in production volume.

The craft segment has seen double-digit growth for eight of the past 10 years, Brewers Association statistics show.

Retail dollar sales climbed 16 percent to $22.3 billion, according to the Brewers Association, a Boulder-based trade group for craft brewers.

I do think theres a ceiling, but I dont think theres anything in the data that was released today to show that were anywhere near it, said Bart Watson, the trade groups chief economist.

The production growth is starting to slow in some craft-beer markets such as Colorado, where it accounts for 26 percent of suds sales.

Certainly, it becomes harder to grow at the same percentage rate when that base gets larger, Watson said.

U.S. brewing operations hit a record 4,269 in 2015, up 15 percent from the year before. Small and independent breweries represent 99 percent of the total in operation, the Brewers Association said.

And even more brewery openings could be on the horizon, Watson said, noting that 6,000 licenses are on file with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

The Brewers Association expects to release state-specific sales and operation data this month. In 2014, the craft-beer industry contributed $1.15 billion to Colorados economy, according to the Colorado Brewers Guild.

Craft brewers are defined by the trade association as small, independent and traditional, with annual production of no more than 6 million barrels; an ownership structure in which less than 25 percent of the operation is controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer; and a beverage alcohol volume that consists mostly of traditional ingredients.

As craft brewing has grown, so has consolidation. Multinational brewing conglomerates such as Anheuser-Busch InBev are snapping up regional craft brewers across the U.S.  including Colorados Breckenridge Brewery. Venture-backed craft brewers, such as Oskar Blues, are acquiring smaller players.

The buyouts are occurring in the shadow of AB InBevs colossal acquisition of SABMiller and Molson Coors related $12 billion deal for the half of MillerCoors it does not already own.

I think the market advantages these formerly independent brewers will have now will create new competitive challenges for independent brewers in the marketplace, Watson said. I think its worrisome the worlds largest brewing company is going to get even larger.

Additionally, craft brewers have expressed concern about the potential ripple effects of AB InBevs growing control of beer distribution as well as a potential Colorado ballot measure that would allow supermarkets and convenience stores to carry full-strength beer and wine. The latter, they argue, would benefit large brewers and put mom-and-pop liquor stores out of business.

Alicia Wallace: 303-954-1939, awallace@denverpost.com or @aliciawallace
Colorado universities have confirmed that no registered students from their campuses were harmed during the Brussels terrorist attacks Tuesday.

One University of Colorado Boulder student studying abroad in Brussels has been accounted for, according to the university.

The CU Boulder family extends condolences to all affected by todays Brussels attack, the university said in a tweet.

Colorado State University had no registered students in Belgium at this time, said university spokesman Mike Hooker.

The University of Denver also did not have registered students studying abroad in Brussels, spokesman Ben Gerig confirmed. The university is investigating whether alumni living in the area are safe.

Denver International Airport has not been directed by the Department of Homeland Security to amp up security, said airport spokesman Heath Montgomery.

We do have a heightened sense of awareness today, Montgomery said.

Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and in the citys subway, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or @ehernandez
A group of Colorado sheriffs who contend that two controversial state gun laws are unconstitutional vowed Tuesday to file a new lawsuit after a federal appeals court rejected its first one.

In a 33-page ruling on the laws and lawsuits that emerged after mass shootings in Aurora and Connecticut, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the sheriffs and other plaintiffs didnt show they were sufficiently harmed by the new gun restrictions to bring a lawsuit. The ruling means that two laws passed in 2013  one that expanded background checks on firearms purchases and another that limited the capacity of ammunition magazines  remain in effect.

Im proud of the team in my office that fulfilled our legal role of defending state laws, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said in a statement.

This is the second loss for the lawsuit, which was filed in 2013 and names Gov. John Hickenlooper as the sole defendant. But, paradoxically, supporters and opponents of the new laws cheered Tuesdays ruling as a victory for their sides.

The reason for that optimism has to do with the lawsuits convoluted legal path.

After a nine-day trial in 2014, a federal district judge in Denver ruled against the lawsuit and upheld the contested laws as constitutional. The sheriffs and the other groups involved in the lawsuit appealed and asked the 10th Circuit, which is one rung in authority below the U.S. Supreme Court, to reverse the trial judges ruling.

The ruling Tuesday did toss out the trial judges analysis, but that was because the 10th Circuit judges concluded the lawsuit never should have made it all the way to trial. The appeals court judges did not decide whether the laws are constitutional.

Instead, the 10th Circuit judges ruled that all the plaintiffs  who include sheriffs of 54 of the states 64 counties, plus numerous nonprofit organizations and businesses  hadnt shown they were harmed enough by the laws to have the authority to sue over them. In legal terms, the 10th Circuit ruled the plaintiffs didnt have standing.

The plaintiffs argued the laws violated the Second Amendment, which protects gun rights, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In one part of their argument, for instance, some of the plaintiffs said the laws created a fear that they might be prosecuted for doing things such as loaning a gun to someone during a target shooting charity event.

But the 10th Circuit said that kind of speculative fear isnt enough to bring a lawsuit.

Such some day speculations are insufficient to establish an injury-in-fact for purposes of  standing, 10th Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel.

At an afternoon news conference, lawsuit backers cast the ruling as an opportunity to try again. David Kopel, an attorney who works for the Independence Institute and who represented the sheriffs in the lawsuit, said he is happy the 10th Circuit voided the lower courts finding, even if it still resulted in his lawsuit being dismissed.

Kopel said the 10th Circuit ruling now provides a road map for the sheriffs and other plaintiffs to file a new lawsuit alleging new harms. He declined to say what those new complaints might be or how plaintiffs might solve the standing issue.

Thats an intricate matter of law, he said.

But Kopel also said no one has yet been prosecuted under the laws.

The laws are unenforceable, and they havent been enforced, he said.

Eileen McCarron of Colorado Ceasefire, an organization that supports the laws, said the 10th Circuits ruling was a significant blow to the laws opponents.

Theyve got to go refigure out their case, she said. Theyre back at square one, and our laws still stand.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or @johningold
A state water judge has signed off on a deal between Denver Water and Grand County to leave 651 million gallons of water a year that otherwise would be diverted in headwaters of the Colorado River.

That water would be left each year for the purpose of improving stream health  habitat for fish and other wildlife  once Denver completes its Moffat Project to divert more water under the Continental Divide to the heavily populated Front Range.

Denver Water officials said the water, at least 2,000-acre feet, is enough to sustain 5,000 metro households each year.

State water judge James Boyd signed the decree last week.

The deal was done under the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement, finalized in 2013 between Denver and western slope communities, to try to balance growing urban demands with environmental needs.

Colorados Water Conservation Board would protect the water left in streams and use it to preserve natural conditions.

Denver Water manager Jim Lochhead said the deal shows Denver is prepared to fully implement the agreement.

Grand County authorities could not be reached for comment.

Under the agreement, Denver Water must conserve and recycle water and transfer up to 45,000 acre-feet a year in treated wastewater to suburbs on the condition that the suburbs agree not to pursue their own diversion projects and pay a surcharge. Western Slope communities, not including Grand County, would drop opposition to Denvers Moffat Project.

The agreement also obligates Denver to contribute $25 million for projects including some designed to save mountain ecosystems.

Denver Water is awaiting federal approval on its diversion of an additional 10,000 acre-feet of water a year on average out of Colorado River headwaters, through the Moffat Tunnel, to an expanded Gross Reservoir southwest of Boulder.

Once that reservoir receives water, Denver Water would release 1,000 acre feet from its Williams Fork Reservoir into the Colorado River and 1,000 acre feet from various diversion points along the Fraser River. The decree also provides 375 acre-feet to Grand County users for municipal supplies and artificial snow-making.

Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, bfinley@denverpost.com or @finleybruce
Akshay Kumar's New Look In 2.0 Will Scare You!
Pakistans antitrust watchdog has given its provisional approval to the proposed merger of Mobilink and Warid.

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis of the proposal and granted conditional approval, although it notes that there remain persisting concerns in areas of spectrum concentration, infrastructure sharing, non-compete obligations, and joint control.

Invoking the authority of the countrys regulator The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the CCP stated that spectrum sharing should be obligatory upon determination of inefficiently/underutilised capacity by PTA.

It went on to state that with regard to infrastructure sharing, the operators must provide guest operators on their cell sites a first option to buy the site, directly or through an auction if there is more than one guest operator. MVNOs must also be provided with wholesale access to the network.

CCP added that it has place limits on the term and scope of the non-compete obligations, noting that to this end a firewall has been set up between Mobilink and the other telecom operations of Warids owner, the Abu Dhabi Group.

Mobilink controller VimpelCom and Pakistani number two Telenor were both subjected to the imposition of remedies in March 2011 which, according to the CCP, have now been further strengthened through appointment of a third party reviewer who will report independent assessment of compliance to the Commission.

While VimpelCom CEO Jean-Yves Charlier welcomed the CCPs conditional approval of the merger, he noted that a further three regulatory bodies must also give the green light for the deal to go ahead. Along with the PTA, approval is also required from the Securities & Exchange Commission Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan. If the deal receives full approval, it will be the first merger in Pakistans telecoms sector.

Charlier described the Mobilink-Warid merger as a positive step for the development of technology and communications services in the country, adding that the resulting unit would provide services to over 45 million customers, boosting Mobilinks current market-leading share of 29% up to 37%. The operator currently has around 36 million connections.

Currently, Warid places fifth out of Pakistans nine operators, with 10.7 million connections giving it an 8% market share. Telenors 33.8 million connections put it in second place with a 27% market share.
Ericsson has signed a Business Support Systems (BSS) transformation contract with Bhutan Telecom, Bhutan's largest telecom service provider.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bhutan Telecom's complete billing systems will be transformed into a convergent environment supporting mobile, fixed line and DSL broadband subscribers.

As a result, the operator will be able to launch promotions and notifications, product and service cross-bundling, cost-control for postpaid subscriptions and service personalisation. The operator will be able to design and offer promotions and campaigns in real time and in accordance with subscribers' interests, while monetising ongoing growth in data traffic.

Ericsson will be responsible for design, deployment and systems integration of the solution. The convergent charging solution, based on Ericsson's BSCS iXR4 offering together with data monetization features such as PCRF will be integrated with Bhutan Telecom's existing infrastructure. Bhutan Telecom will migrate its subscribers onto the new platform by the third quarter of 2016.

Tshewang Gyeltshen, CEO, Bhutan Telecom, says: "This transformation will help us to standardise and modernise our billing systems. We will be able to introduce innovative offers for our customers, and at the same time manage differential charging options effectively. "

Paolo Colella, Head of Region India, Ericsson, says: "Bhutan Telecom will now be able to introduce new and innovative charging mechanisms quickly and flexibly for its subscribers, while keeping control of any revenue leakages at the same time. This will ensure greater customer satisfaction."
A new technique that can bind together proteins could have implications for a range of medical applications, including diabetes.

In order to treat nerve tissue damage, scientists are currently limited to using proteins and binding partners that occur naturally.

This type of damage can lead to the formation of scar tissue, but a protein called chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) can break down these scars, allowing damaged nerve tissue to heal.

Dr. Malgosia Pakulska, University of Toronto, explained: Right now, the way researchers use chondroitinase ABC is to do long-term infusions with a catheter into the spinal cord, or administer multiple injections.

However, ChABC needs to be able to work around the scar tissue site over a longer period of time in order to be effective, and for damaged nerves to regrow.

If we could design a system to release ChABC over a longer period of time, we could deliver a more effective one-time treatment, said Pakulska.

Affinity-controlled release

Pakulskas team have been exploring a new technique called affinity-controlled release. They mixed ChABC into a hydrogel which can be injected at an injury site. This material also includes a molecule that can reversibly bind to ChABC, slowing its release.

Think of the hydrogel as a hallway with a Velcro carpet, said Pakulska. Youre the protein, and youre wearing Velcro socks. You can still walk away down the hall, but you go more slowly, because with every step you have to bind and unbind from the floor.

The University of Toronto have outlined the best techniques for discovering molecules that will bind to promising therapeutic proteins.

Pakulska said: In the future, I hope this will allow us to design much more tailored treatments  for example, we could say, I want a seven-day release profile, so Ill use this particular binding partner.

If these proteins can be tailored to bind to proteins such as ChABC, they could be beneficial in treating medical conditions. Research is currently investigating protein therapies across several medical applications, including diabetes, and scientists are also evaluating how proteins can be used to treat macular degeneration to heart disease.

The review is published in the journal Science.
Google may be working on a third-party keyboard for iPhones, which might be equipped with additional features like gesture-based typing and a dedicated button for Google search

Google may be working on creating a third-party keyboard for iPhones. According to a report by The Verge, the new keyboard might be equipped with some additional features to help it stand out from the default iOS keyboard. The keyboard has been tipped to come with gesture-based typing and a dedicated button for Google search. Additionally, the keyboard may also allow search by images and GIFs. The keyboard has apparently been in circulation among Googles employees for months. As per the report, the reason behind the keyboard may be to drive additional traffic to Google search via iOS. However, it is not yet known if or when Google will release the keyboard.

Google may not be the only company planning to release a third-party keyboard for iOS. Back in January, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to release its Word Flow keyboard for iOS. The keyboard also has a one-handed mode in which the keys are laid out like a fan. The ability to add third party keyboards to iOS was introduced with iOS 8 and keyboards such as Swype are available for purchase from the App Store.
The addition of TheaterMax will allow the Lenovo K3 Note will allow the device to be used with the Ant VR headset

Lenovo has updated its K3 Note to Android Marshmallow v6.0, and besides the new features that come with the OS, the company also added support for TheaterMax. This allows the smartphone to be used with Lenovos Ant VR headset that was launched alongside the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note. According to Lenovo, TheaterMax makes any multimedia content immersive and gives the user an experience equivalent to a large cinematic screen when viewed through the headset. The headset can be purchased from Amazon for a price of Rs. 1,299.

The Android Marshmallow v6.0 update will also introduce other features such as revamped app permissions, Google Now on Tap, Doze, adoptable storage, and more. To check and see if your Lenovo K3 Note has received the update, go to Settings, select About Phone, and then tap on System Update.
All was quiet on the Asian front on Wednesday, with trading quiet and stocks mostly lower, but showing resilience in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.28% to close at 17,000.98.

The yen let go of its stranglehold on the 111 mark against the greenback in late trading, and was last 0.28% weaker at JPY 112.68 per dollar.

Japans exporters were mixed, with Toyota up 0.13%, while Nissan and Honda were down by 1.06% and 1.26% respectively.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index managed to claw back above the psychologically important 3,000 mark, closing up 0.35% at 3,009.96. The smaller Shenzhen Composite finished up 1.16% to 1,902.53, while the ChiNext rose 1.68% to 2,259.11.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index lost 0.25% to close at 20,615.23. Koreas Kospi slipped 0.08% to 1,995.12.

Like their European mates, Asian markets largely brushed off the series of deadly explosions in Brussels on Tuesday. The bombings at Belgiums largest airport and at the Maalbeek metro station killed at least 31 people and left hundreds injured.

Analysts noted that risk appetite was initially muted by the attacks, with safe havens such as the Japanese yen rallying, while equities and emerging currencies lost out.

"However, many of these moves were later reversed, showing investor sentiment to be relatively unflappable given support from central bank easing," said Mizuho Bank FX stategist Wei Liang Chang.

Oil was back from earlier highs, but still firmly at the $41 mark after Asian trading. Brent crude was last down 0.34% to $41.65, while West Texas Intermediate lost 0.49% to $41.25.

A report from American Petroleum Institute suggested US crude stockpiles rose by almost nine million barrels last week to reach 532 million.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.47% to finish at 5,142.30, weighed down by losses in financials and energy, down 0.4% and 1.08% respectively.

Of the energy stocks, Santos was off 0.76% and Woodside Petroleum lost 0.88%. Mining stocks were also mostly lower on the Sydney bourse, with BHP Billiton down 1.68%, Fortescue slipping 4.36% and Rio Tinto closing flat.

New Zealands run as Asias golden child continued, with the S&P/NZX 50 rising 0.1% to a fresh record high of 6,668.87. The benchmark had gained 7% in March, more than regaining the losses it saw at the beginning of 2016 amid a global new year slowdown.

In currencies, the Aussie spent most of late Asian trading pulling back from the greenback, and was last 0.38% weaker at AUD 1.3171 per USD. The Kiwi dipped into stronger territory for a brief period, but spent much of the day pulling back from its US counterpart and was last off 0.71% to NZD 1.4913.
The UK Supreme Court has rejected Trinity Mirror s challenge to reduce the 1.2m damages that were awarded to eight phone-hacking victims.

Trinity  whose titles include the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People  brought the appeals against the orders dated 11 June 2015 of Mr Justice Mann, who awarded sums ranging from 72,500 to 260,250 to celebrities such as actress Sadie Frost, soap star and presenter Shane Richie and TV producer Robert Ashworth.

The Mirror Group wanted to appeal on the grounds the awards should have been limited to damages for distress. It said the awards were disproportionate when compared with personal injury awards and the less generous approach adopted by the European Court of Human Rights.

But the appeal was rejected as the Supreme Court said the application did not raise an arguable point of law.

In his ruling back in May, Mr Justice Mann said: It will be apparent that my awards of damages in this case are very substantial  far more substantial than in any hitherto reported privacy case.

The fact that they are greater than any other publicly available award results from the fact that the invasions of privacy involved were so serious and so prolonged."

He added: The length, degree and frequency of all this conduct explains why the sums I have awarded are so much greater than historical awards. People whose private voicemail messages were hacked so often and for so long, and had very significant parts of their private lives exposed, and then reported on, are entitled to significant compensation.

At 1102 GMT, Trinity Mirror shares were down 0.8% to 132p.
Fast food giant Yum Brands was said to be considering selling a chunk of its Chinese operation on Wednesday, as part of a plan to spin-off the once rocketing division in a country infatuated with American-style takeaways.

The New York-listed operator of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchises was reported to have entered talks with a number of financial firms about selling a stake of as much as 20% in its China division.

Yums operation in the Peoples Republic could be worth as much as $10bn (7.1bn), the Wall Street Journal said.

The company was planning to spin off and list Yum China by the end of the year, with the shares trading in New York and possibly in Hong Kong. Its 6,900-strong Chinese estate contributed around half of Yum's total sales.

Food scandals and mistakes in marketing hit the division hard in 2014 and 2015, though it had since recovered and had EBITDA of $1bn (0.71bn) last year.

Its understood KKR & Co and Baring Private Equity Asia were looking into a possible investment, as well as a number of Chinese funds. The WSJ said Yum appeared focused on selling a 19.9% stake, to avoid a hefty tax obligation from any deal.

At 1650 GMT, shares in Yum Brands were up 1.84% in New York to $80.43.
A barrage of new initiatives from Tesco has helped steady the ship, but it will be some time before they yield fatter margins and the return of the dividend, the Financial Timess Lex column said.

The grocers recent launch of a new own-brand product range - mimicking those of the discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, including on pricing  appeared to have the desired effect.

Tescos sales in the 12 weeks to 27 February registered the smallest decline since the end of 2013.

In turn, analysts are turning more positive, helping to lift the share price by a third this year, level-pegging with peer Wm Morrison.

Nonetheless, operating margins were still below 1.0% in the first half of the current year, versus the over 5.0% seen in 2011, with not even the biggest optimists expecting a return to past levels.

Management is right to cut prices, sell assets, slash overheads and slim-down its product ranges, the tipster added.

However, there is less margin than at Morrison for improving its performance by shrinking its footprint because most of its establishments are leased.

Share prices gains with a commensurate recovery in profits makes for a heady valuation.

The company will have to deliver when it presents its full-year results on 13 April, Lex concluded.

Micro Focus pulled off another coup with the acquisition of US outfit Serena Software from its private equity owners, a transaction which has been on the drawing board since 2008, The Timess Tempus said.

The American outfits systems allow large corporations such as banks and insurance companies to run old, legacy computer systems.

Acquisition targets such as Serena do not need large investment, enjoy margins of around 50% and throw off large amounts of cash.

Revenues are very reliable too.

Whereas giving cash back to investors would provide it with approximately a 6.0% return, the purchase of Serena would increase its combined profits by 10.0% or more, before any synergies

Indeed, a 158m placing to help part-fund the deal went through the market without difficulty at 14.55.

Micro Focus is among the more reliable ways to invest in the UK technology sector, not prone to some of the heart-lurching price movements elsewhere, and the graph bears this out. [] worth tucking away.
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Ohio State uses six takeaways to pull away from Iowa for 54-10 win
Integrus Architecture

Ricketts

Kane

Luedeman

Helland

Ford

Young

Vincent

In Seattle, Integrus Architecture hired Kayla Ford, Kelsey Helland and Jeff Luedeman as intern architects, Ian Kane as an engineer-in-training, Chad Ricketts as an IT team member, Kate Vincent as an architect and Kim Young as a project manager. Ford holds a bachelor's of design in architecture from the University of Florida and is working on the K-12 team. Helland holds a masters of architecture degree from Kansas State University. Luedeman has a bachelor's of architecture and a master's in architecture from Washington State University. Kane in on the structural engineering team. He holds a master's in civil engineering from the University of Washington and a bachelor's in civil engineering from the University of Arizona. Ricketts does software and hardware support, and worked in IT for UW, Microsoft and Vulcan as well as teaching and administration. Vincent is working on a Catholic school in Billings, Montana. She holds a bachelor's of architecture degree from Catholic University of America and a masters of architecture from University of Oregon. Young has over 20 years of experience on K-12, civic, workplace and hospitality projects.




Nepal on Monday signed a transit and transportation treaty with China for its third-country commerce, in a move to help Katmandu end is overdependence on Kolkata's Haldia port for international trade.

The two countries signed the agreement along with nine other treaties in Beijing, a day after Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli began a week-long trip to China.

Oli's move is likely to end New Delhi's hold on the landlocked Himalayan nation's trade and perhaps help avoid another Madhesi blockade of India trade points that caused acute fuel shortage in Nepal a few months ago.

Oli's maiden visit as the Nepal prime minister comes at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.

The visit is significant in the light of Nepal's efforts to reduce its decades old dependence on India after Madhesi protestors in southern plains blocked supply trucks coming in from the southern neighbour.

The five-month long blockade caused a huge crisis as fuel and medicine supplies dried up. The blockade halted for months Nepal's third-country trade, apparently prompting the Nepalese government to look for an alternative to the Haldia port.

Kathmandu blamed New Delhi for supporting the protestors who were agitated over a new Constitution that denied them their due through a realignment of constituencies. India has denied any involvement in the agitation.

The transit agreement with China gives Nepal an option to use the next nearest Tianjin port in China that is 3,000 km from Nepal border. India's Haldia port is 1,000 km away.

However, there are concerns that Nepal cannot immediately use the Chinese port as infrastructure in the tiny country is poor and transit points from Chinese are located at a higher altitude.

The two countries also signed an agreement for construction of a bridge in Hilsa, far west Nepal that will connect the republic with Tibet. Hilsa was a traditional trade route to Nepal.

China has also pledged $216-million soft loan to Nepal for construction of a regional airport in the second largest city of Pokhara, some 200 km from Kathmandu.

China also got Nepal to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost bilateral trade. China has also agreed to explore oil and gas resources in Nepal and will provide all technical and economic support for it.

One of the commercial banks in China has also agreed to open its office in Nepal. Similarly, Nepalese banks can also open their branches in China.

China has also agreed to help in installation of solar panels in 32,000 Nepalese households.

Besides, the two countries signed agreements in the fields of science and technology, sister-city relations between various Nepalese and Chinese cities, and establishment of Nepal's Consular General Office in Chengdu, China.
India among 5 countries working on Zika vaccine: WHO

More than 30 companies in five countries, including India, the US, France, Brazil and Austria, are working on the development of a new vaccine to fight the zica virus that is fast spreading and currently circulating in 38 countries, the World Health Organisation has said.

Zika virus is posing severe public health implications and is linked to neonatal malformations and neurological disorders affecting newborns, WHO noted.

Many of these companies have developed or are carrying out potential new diagnostic tests on the zica virus, WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan said, adding that a reliable, point-of-care diagnostic test is the most urgent priority.

For vaccines, 23 projects are being worked on by 14 vaccine developers in the US, France, Brazil, India, and Austria. As the vaccine will be used to protect pregnant women or women of child-bearing age, it must meet an extremely high standard of safety, WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan, pointed out.

WHO estimates that at least some of the projects will move into clinical trials before the end of this year, but several years may be needed before a fully tested and licensed vaccine is ready for use.

Several scientists have warned that the first explosive wave of spread may be over before a vaccine is available. However, all agree that development of a vaccine is imperative since more than half of the world's population lives in an area where the Aedes aegypti mosquito is present.

During the meeting on mosquito control, WHO experts concluded that well-implemented control programmes using existing tools and strategies are effective in reducing the transmission of Aedes-borne diseases, including Zika. However, they also identified a number or challenges in implementing these tools.

The experts evaluated the potential impact of five new tools for mosquito control, although none was judged ready for full-scale implementation.

While investigations of all five should continue, the experts recommended carefully planned pilot deployment of two: namely, microbial control, using Wolbachia bacteria, of human pathogens in adult mosquitoes, and the use of genetic manipulation to reduce mosquito populations.

Since the first cases were reported from Brazil in July, WHO said every reported increase in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (zica viral infection) was followed by an unusual increase in microcephaly among newborns, reported to WHO in late October.

The association with Guillain-Barre syndrome and other severe disorders of the central nervous system has expanded the risk group well beyond women of child-bearing age, Chan pointed out.

We now know that sexual transmission of the virus occurs.

In less than a year, the status of Zika has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications.

WHO said a pattern has now emerged in which initial detection of virus circulation is followed, within about three weeks, by an unusual increase in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Detection of microcephaly and other fetal malformations comes later, as pregnancies of infected women come to term.

In the current outbreak, Brazil and Panama have reported microcephaly. Colombia is investigating several cases of microcephaly for a possible link to Zika. In other countries and territories, the virus has not been circulating long enough for pregnancies to come to term. A WHO team is currently in Cabo Verde to investigate the country's first reported case of microcephaly.

To date, 12 countries and territories have now reported an increased incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome or laboratory confirmation of Zika infection among GBS cases.

Additional effects on the central nervous system have been documented, notably inflammation of the spinal cord and inflammation of the brain and its membranes.

The virus is currently circulating in 38 countries and territories. On present knowledge, no one can predict whether the virus will spread to other parts of the world and cause a similar pattern of fetal malformations and neurological disorders.

If this pattern is confirmed beyond Latin America and the Caribbean, the world will face a severe public health crisis.
Halloween creatures  owls, crows and bats  all live at Crossroads, and that makes us very happy, for these scary animals make a positive contribution to the habitats of the preserve. We don't even mind black cats, IF they are kept indoors. Feral and outdoor cats are exceedingly harmful to wildlife ... and that's not a superstition! But to tamp down superstitions, we at Crossroads will spend the week demystifying Halloween creatures.

On October 28, 2022, at 6 p.m. will be our Evening with Owls. The Open Door Bird Sanctuary will be at Crossroads, offering a one-hour presentation followed by the opportunity to meet and greet live birds. Learn all about owls and the other incredible birds in the care of the Sanctuary!

Down through the centuries, in many cultures throughout the world, owls have been associated with evil and death. Truth is, owls probably are not smart enough to be evil. But researchers agree that owls are about as dim as the nighttime forests in which they hunt.

Owls don't need to be smart. They have everything else going for them. They are muscular. They fly silently. Their huge eyes enable them to see in the dark. Their beaks and talons are strong and wickedly sharp. But their sensitive ears are what make owls extraordinary hunters.

Most people assume that the plumicorns (a.k.a. "horns) of an owl are its ears. Not so.

The actual ears lie under feathers on the sides of the head, and they aren't symmetrical. Because one ear is higher than the other and the ears are unequal in size, sound is different from different directions, helping owls locate prey, which they do almost unfailingly, even in total darkness.

Owls do not smell their prey. As with most birds, the sense of smell is insignificant, if it exists are all. Great Horned Owls frequently prey on skunks. Enough said.

But well-developed intelligence? Researchers have observed owls beating their wings on bushes to try to flush out little birds. Is this learned behavior? Is it problem-solving?

Maybe.

For the most part, owls do not have a lot of problems to solve. They appropriate abandoned nests of other birds, so they don't need building skills. They are stealthy by nature, and they pounce on and usually catch anything they hear, so they don't need hunting techniques.

In spite of ghost stories, legends of American First People, and superstitions from Europe and India, hooting owls do not foretell impending death, although their nocturnal calls are spooky. We hear them now and then this time of year, but we will regularly hear those eerie calls at Crossroads in January or February.

In contrast to owls, crows are noisy all year round and they are amazingly intelligent. They can learn. They can remember. They can solve problems. They can even identify individual humans. And they detest owls, though whether this is innate or learned behavior is not clear.

Those curious about crows will want to attend the Crossroads Book Club on Wednesday, October 26, at 10:00 a.m. This month, the book Crow Planet, Essential Wisdom for the Urban Wilderness by Lyanda Lynn Haupt will explore the fascinating world of these remarkable birds. The program is free and open to all, whether or not they have read the book.

So bring the family to our program on owls, learn about crows at the Crossroads Book Club, or learn about bats at our pre-school Junior Nature Club on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. or our Family Science Saturday program at 2:00 p.m. Costumes are encouraged but not required at Junior Nature Club and Science Saturday, and adult visitors are welcome.
Parks Chapel AME Church, 1053 E. Selma St., Dothan, will hold Good Friday services at the church on March 25 at 12 p.m. Messages on The Seven Last Words of Christ will be delivered by ministers from the Wiregrass. For information, call 334-794-4811 or email parkschapelame@graceba.net.

New Hope Baptist Church, 5711 County Road 114, Brundidge, will host the gospel singing group 11th Hour on March 25 at 7 p.m. No admission fee. An offering will be received. For information, call 334-894-5892.

The Carrying of the Cross will be held on Good Friday, March 25. Participants will gather at the First United Methodist Church on West Main Street in Dothan at 10 a.m. The procession will leave at 10:30 a.m. and end at the Dothan Civic Center, where there will be a service featuring Walter Wilson in song and the Rev. Tom Anderson with the message. Every Christian of all denominations is invited to come and participate in the event.

Dothan Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, 2867 Fortner St., Dothan, will hold a Good Friday Service on March 25 at 7 p.m. Guest speaker will be Evangelist Dorothy Brown of Eufaula. Call 334-791-2347 for information.

The congregations of Westview Heights United Methodist Church, St. Michaels Episcopal Church, and St. Johns Catholic Church in Ozark are sponsoring the outdoor service Way of the Cross on Good Friday, March 25, beginning at 12:30 p.m. in front of Westview Heights United Methodist Church on Camilla Avenue. Participants in the service will share in carrying the cross around the three churches through the 14 Stations of the Cross. They will walk four stations at Westview, and then go across Camilla Avenue to St. Johns for five stations, and then next door to St. Michaels for five more stations. The last station will be in front of St. Michaels, and the cross will be veiled in black. In case of rain, the service will be held inside Westview Heights United Methodist Church. Camilla Avenue is off of U.S. 231 in Ozark (the blinking light just south of the Wal-Mart stop light).

Klondyke Gospel Music Center, located between Newton and Ozark at 3885 Highway 123 S., will host the following groups: Redemption Calling from Fort Wayne, Indiana, March 25; Hart to Hart from Knoxville, Tennessee, March 26; Tony Griffith Family and Adam Crabb of the Crabb Family from Nashville, Tennessee, April 1; Steven Conrad from Chattahoochee, Florida, April 2. For more information, call 334-405-1500.

Grimes Gospel Lighthouse, 1512 County Road 25, Grimes, will host local talent on March 26 at 7 p.m. An offering will be taken. Call 334-983-4654 or 334-714-4658 for more information.

Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Ozark will host Ozark's Annual Egglympics at Police Memorial Park on March 26 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Games, food, fellowship, a devotional and an Easter egg hunt will be featured. Attendees are asked to bring a covered dish to share. For more information, call the church office at 334-774-5610.

Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 104 Grimsley Drive, Ashford, will host an Easter egg hunt with games and food on March 26 at 10 a.m. The church will host a Sunrise Service on March 27 at 7 a.m. with Pastor Jonathan Carmichael Sr.

New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2627 Kinsey Road, Dothan, will celebrate the fifth pastoral anniversary for the Rev. Norman Fryer and Sister Wanda Fryer on March 27. The Rev. Michael Thomas of St. Mathis Missionary Baptist Church in Cowarts will speak during an 11 a.m. service and Dr. Vincent T. Owens of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Dothan will speak at 2:30 p.m. Lunch will be served.

New Hope Freewill Baptist Church, 3819 County Road 31, Abbeville, will celebrate its annual Womens Day on Sunday, March 27, beginning at 2 p.m. Pastor Lasagne Smith of Freemount AME Church, Bakerhill, will be the guest speaker. Worship music by Dynamic Praise of Abbeville. All churches are invited to attend. Dinner will be served. For more information, contact Catherine Long at 334-689-1092 or CathyLong72@yahoo.com.

An Easter Sunrise Service in Slocomb will be held at the gazebo at Centennial Park on Easter morning, March 27. Music will start at 6 a.m. with a short message to follow. All congregations are invited to attend. Chairs are recommended for comfort. Churches that would like to participate in the music or liturgy should call Brother Brian Cowley at Slocomb First United Methodist Church at 334-655-7649 or 334-886-2897 or Agnes Windsor at 334-886-2205.

An Easter Sunrise Service will be held at Landmark Park. The gates will open at 6 a.m., and the service will start at 6:30 a.m. Walter Wilson will be singing. The Rev. George Ellison will have the message for the Sunrise Service. Everyone is invited.

Harvest Church will hold a community-wide Easter service on Sunday, March 27, with service times at 7:50 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Child care will be provided for all services. Harvest Church is located on Fortner Street between Honeysuckle Road and the Ross Clark Circle. For more information, call the church office at 334-702-6555, or go to www.HarvestDothan.com.

Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Ozark will host an Easter Sunrise Service on March 27 at 6:30 a.m. followed by breakfast, Sunday school at 9:15 a.m. and morning worship at 10:30 a.m. A nursery is provided for all worship services. Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located at 1971 Deese Road. For more information, call 334-774-5610.

Divine Deliverance Fellowship Ministries, 1518-C Andrews Ave., Ozark, will hold an Easter service and program on March 27. Sunday school will be 9:15-10:15 a.m. and the worship service will be at 10:30 a.m. For information, call 334-774-0544.

Glory to Him Church will hold an Easter service on March 27 at 10 a.m. with special activities for children. The church is at 6193 Andrews Ave. in Ozark. For more information, call 334-774-7677.

Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 5 Piney Grove Church Road, Webb, will hold its annual spring revival March 28-30 with services at 7 p.m. Guest speaker will be Pastor Eric Griffin of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Abbeville.

A Ladies Power Lunch will be held March 31 in the fellowship hall of First Baptist Church Enterprise from 12 to 1 p.m. The guest will be Kristy Mazariegos, who was on the mission field in Guatemala with her parents from ages 3 to 18. She came back to the United States to go to Judson College but returned to Guatemala after graduation to marry her high school sweetheart, Jorge, and they have been married for 22 years. The lunch is $6 and includes a meal and free child care. Make a reservation by calling Michele in the church office at 334-393-5683 by March 29.

New Life Church, 964 N. Park Ave., Dothan, will host a weekend conference with British Evangelists Matthew and Becky Murray on April 1 at 7 p.m., April 2 at 6 p.m. and April 3 at 10 a.m. The Murrays have preached around the world and in cities throughout the United States. The Murrays are directors of One by One and pastors of Uttoxeter Pentecostal Church in Staffordshire, England. For more information, email newlifedothan@yahoo.com or call 334-792-5433.

The Women's Ministry of Greater Beulah Baptist Church will sponsor its second Walk in Unity event on April 2 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The walk will begin at Pioneer Park at the corner of North Foster and East Troy streets. After a prayer, a welcome from Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz, and a balloon release, the walk will go down to St. Andrews Street and to the churchs Family Life Center. The walk will conclude with a praise rally and lunch. All women from the tri-state area are invited to join in.

Cool Springs Baptist Church, 3004 County Road 708, Enterprise, will host Danny Funderburk (formally with The Cathedral Quartet) on April 2 at 6 p.m. No admission fee. An offering will be received. For more information, call 334-447-9114.

Victory Tabernacle, 10005 E. State Highway 52, Hartford, will hold a gospel sing on April 2 at 6 p.m. Special guest will be the Lighthouse String Ensemble with host band Straight & Narrow Bluegrass.

Smithville Missionary Baptist Church, 160 W. Smithville Road, Dothan will host a Presiding Pastor Appreciation Program on April 3 at 2:30 p.m. Guest pastor will be the Rev. Thomas Dawsey Sr. of Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Cottonwood. Call 334-405-2818 for information.

Faith Tabernacle Community Church, 1665 Coe Dairy Road, Dothan, will hold a Homecoming service on April 3 with Sunday school at 10 a.m. and morning worship at 11 a.m. Speaker will be the Rev. T.P. Martin, founder. Lunch will be served after morning service, and no night service will be held. The church will hold a spring revival April 4-6 with services at 7 p.m. Speakers will be the Rev. E.H. Haddock on Monday, the Rev. Marcus Ramer on Tuesday and the Rev. Shirley Hatcher on Wednesday. Special singing each night. For more information, call 334-350-7605 or 334-258-0009.

Women Made Whole Dothan will meet April 4 at 7 p.m. at Comfort Suites, 1650 Westgate Parkway, Dothan. A ministry designed to encourage women to become whole in Christ, the group meets every other Monday. There is no charge to attend, and Women Made Whole is open to females of all ages, races and denominations. For more information, email WMWDothan@womenmadewhole.com, visit www.WomenMadeWhole.com or search Women Made Whole Dothan on Facebook.

Maple Avenue Baptist Church, 1009 W. Maple Ave., Geneva, will host the monthly luncheon of the 39ers C.L.U.B. on April 12 at 11 a.m. If you have been involved in the 39ers C.L.U.B., please contact your table hostess by Tuesday, April 5, to make or cancel your reservation. If you would like to be a part of the 39ers C.L.U.B. and have never been before, call the church office at 334-684-9617 by April 5. The 39ers C.L.U.B. (Christians Living Under the Blood) is a non-denominational group. The cost for the luncheon is $5 per person. The Rev. Dicky McAllister will present the April program. He is the director of missions for the Geneva County Baptist Association.
Last year during spring break, the hordes of young people that flooded into Panama City Beach seemed a bit more rowdy than usual. One night, gunfire broke out at a beach house where a party was going on, and several people were shot. In an unrelated incident, a sexual assault took place on the beach, and someone captured the act on video, which later went viral on social media.

Panama City officials decided enough was enough, and passed a raft of new laws, including a restriction of hours of operation for bars and banning alcohol on the beaches in an attempt to curb the youths' bacchanalia of the vernal equinox.

This year, spring break arrived as usual. But the hordes of students didnt show. After news of the new laws got out, many beachgoers from across the country took to social media once again, sharing the information with the hashtag #RIP PCB.

On one hand, its a tourism nightmare. Instead of the estimated 250,000 to 300,000 spring breakers who have turned up each year recently, a small fraction have chosen Panama City Beach this year. The loss of revenue for many Panama City Beach businesses this year will be palpable.

However, theres a good argument to be made that the move to distance the town from the spring break crowd makes sense. After an unusually rowdy start to its spring break activities, Gulf Shores on the Alabama coast last week recently enacted similar laws for the same reason.

And Daytona Beach, once known as the spring break capital? That East Coast beach town rebranded itself as family friendly after taking steps to repel the rowdy Spring break crowd.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, #RIP PCB is greatly exaggerated. The beach town, through ordinances and enforcement, can maintain order and attract more well-behaved beach-goers with economic power equal or greater than that of the spring break masses.
Eleanor Mullins Downing, 90, a resident of Ozark, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 21, 2016 at Flowers Hospital. She is preceded in death by her parents, John R Mullins and Florence B Mullins and her sister Lorraine M Dwyer. She is survived by her beloved husband of sixty-nine years, Arthur Covington Downing, Jr.; her three daughters, Sue Kolar (Robert), Holly Dahl (John) and Jamielee Ralph (Mike) and her two cats Benji and Sparky. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 25, 2016 at Evergreen Presbyterian Church with Pastors Joe Johnson and Ashley Drake Mertz officiating. The family will receive friends from 10-10:45 a.m. Flowers are being accepted or memorial gifts may be made to Evergreen Presbyterian Church, 1103 N. Pontiac Avenue, Dothan, AL 36303. At 21 years old she married her high school sweetheart. She worked as a Traveling Secretary to Edgar Fosburgh Kaiser, Sr. while her husband attended graduate school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She raised three daughters and then opened her own travel agency, Carrousel Travel in Richfield, Minnesota. She and her husband loved to travel. She has long been a member of the Presbyterian Church and enjoyed the fellowship she found at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Bluemont and Mayberry Presbyterian Churches in Virginia and Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Dothan, Alabama. She had a heart of gold and was always an inspiration to others. She was loved by all that knew her and will be sorely missed until that wonderful day when we will see her again. Robert Byrd of Sunset Memorial Park Funeral Home 334-983-6604 www.SunsetMemorialPark.com. Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com.
Jeanette Cain Griffin was healed and entered into the presence of her Lord on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Celebration of Life services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at the Sunset Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Coley Holloway and Rev. Scott Cox officiating. The family will receive visitors one hour prior to the service. Jeanette was born in Coffee County, AL on February 13, 1931 to Lafayette Monroe Cain and Nancy Smith Cain. She married Arnold Jones Griffin on May 10, 1947. Arnold and Jeanette celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May 1997 with a family beach trip. Arnold passed away suddenly on July 2, 1997. After raising their three children to school age, Jeanette began a 25-year career at Sears in Dothan, retiring in 1994. She was a member of Bay Springs Baptist Church. Jeanette was a true believer in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and a faithful prayer warrior. She was a devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who instilled her faith in her family. Her strength and wisdom always left others feeling encouraged and inspired by her presence. Jeanette was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Arnold, sister Nadine Byrd, her brothers Milton, Harvey, Bill and Donald Cain. Her survivors include children Nancy (Ben) Baker of Ozark, Celeste (Tommy) Horne, and Jerry (Alexia) Griffin of Dothan; four grandsons, Clark Harris, Griffin Harris, A.J. Griffin (Morgan), and Alex Griffin; two great-granddaughters, Katie Anne Harris and C.J. Griffin; her brother, Charles (Lillian) Cain; sisters-in-law, Lucille Cain, Helen Griffin, Martha Kennon, Alec Brackin, Marie Davis, and Bea Davis; along with a host of beloved nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to Alacare Hospice, 3379 W. Main Street, Dothan, AL 36305. The family wishes to thank Dr. Nancy Turnham, DNP, and the entire staff of Westside Terrace for their loving care of our mother. Robert Byrd of Sunset Memorial Park Funeral Home 334-983-6604 www.SunsetMemorialPark.com. Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com.
dpa ElectionsData

With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc.

The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties.
While applause continues for the new Mazda MX-5's return to traditional values, the Hiroshima-based car-maker has moved to counter any claims that the sexy little roadster is resting on its laurels.

Proof of that came at the New York Motor Show this week where Mazda dropped the bombshell that is the MX-5 RF.

RF stands for Retractable Fastback and the pictures clearly show that, despite the folding metal roof that has blighted so many other designs, in the MX-5 the end result is super swoopy.

In the flesh it's even better: There's a little bit of Ferrari in it (particularly around the rump) and despite the tiny overall dimensions, the RF refuses to look cartoonish or dumpy.

Significantly, the option of a hard-top gives Mazda the weapon to go hunting Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ scalps.

Even though it will doubtless be more expensive than the Toyota/Subaru twins, the option of going topless in the Mazda is something the others simply can't offer.

Although it's not quite that simple.

In the up position, the new roofline is a genuine fastback with sloping rear glass and the look of a true hardtop, rather than a convertible with a metal roof shaped like the soft-top.

But it's not the whole turret that disappears when you press the button, instead, only the roof panel and rear window fold away, leaving the fastback buttresses in place.

Effectively, it's more of a targa top than a convertible, but either way, it looks stunning in either form.

And since only the flat roof panel and window that needs to fold away, there's the same amount of bootspace in the RF as there is in the roadster.

Interestingly, you can't have the rear window up and the roof down, or vice-versa.

Mazda's North American president and global marketing office, Masa Moro, told Drive this was mainly a packaging result stemming from the MX-5 being so small overall.

"It's a practicality issue," Moro-San explained, "the new MX-5 is shorter, so how can you store the roof any other way?"

"But if you sit in the car and look up at the sky, you still get a completely open-air experience, so it's still a proper open-top car."

Mazda also clearly figures that most buyers looking for a convertible first and foremost would buy the roadster anyway, so the targa arrangement of the RF reflects the notion that hardtop buyers would only use the drop-top function now and then, making the targa more than enough open-top for them.

The model is definitely slated for Australia and we can reveal that the RF will only be available with the larger, two-litre engine with the 1.5-litre variant being reserved for the lighter roadster.

Price is rumoured to be about $5000 or $6000 above that of the soft-top version which would make the car somewhere around the $40,000 mark.

Deliveries will start within the next 12 months, but since the first production models are yet to roll off the Mazda production line, that 12-month window is as close as Mazda Australia will predict for now.

Mazda has offered detachable hardtops for the MX-5 since the original model of 1989.

Both the first and second-gen MX-5s could be had with the detachable lid, but it wasn't until the third-gen roadster that a folding metal roof was offered.

But what you may not know is that Mazda did actually build an MX-5 hardtop back in 2003.

It was a Japanese domestic-market-only model and it's been suggested that only between 500 and 1000 examples were ever built.

But it looked good and may have been part of the inspiration for the new MX-5 RF.
Proclamation Day was celebrated last week. The day was one of the major highlights of the the Easter Rising centenary programme.

It was a day of song, music, drama, poetry and art in the country's 4,000 schools and third-level colleges.

They celebrated Proclamation Day, commemorating events of Ireland in 1916 and creating a vision for the country in the future.

Events included the raising of the Tricolour, the reading of the 1916 Proclamation by a student, past pupil or special guest, and a reading of the school's own Proclamation for a new generation. Students then showcased their own contributions in the form of music, theatre, poetry, art or other displays.

Arts Minister Heather Humphreys described Proclamation Day as a once in a generation occasion and a culmination of months of work by teachers, parents and pupils, who had "so eagerly embraced the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme".

She believes Proclamation Day will leave a lasting and positive legacy for the present generation and was delighted to see how students across the country have engaged with this event and the entire centenary programme.

Among the schools taking part was Monastery National School Ardee.

The school hosted a series of special events. The day was also a source of great pride for the school as former pupil Eamonn Ceannt was one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising and was a signatory of the 1916 Proclamation.

Eamonn Ceannt, one of the signatories of the Easter Rising 1916, had lived in Ardee for a short time and on the first anniversary of his death, word came from France that his brother William Kent been killed in action. This was a classic example of a divided family in a divided country.

The school started the day by hosting a Proclamation Day Assembly. The school and its hall were beautifully decorated for the occasion in green, white and orange bunting. Principal Jim McGee spoke to the pupils of the importance of the day and of the events of 1916 in our countrys path to independence. He also spoke about commemorating and celebrating the birth of our state with pride in a way that is embracing and inclusive of all.

The Proclamation Day Assembly then opened with a rendition of Amhran na bhFiann which was followed by an excellent pageant by fifth class entitled, The Story of the 1916 Easter Rising. The school choir then sang, The Foggy Dew which was followed by a short presentation by first class on the history and origins of our national flag, the Tricolour.

Fourth class then presented us with a proclamation for a new generation that they have been working on for some months.

Their new proclamation acknowledged the sacrifices made by past generations to create a free and democratic country to grow up in and also emphasised equality for the most vulnerable in our society.

It also emphasised the right of every citizen to a home, the protection of the rights of rural Ireland, equality for all citizens irrespective of race or religion and the importance of our neutrality. The pupils also declared that more attention should be paid to the physical and mental health of our children, our Irish culture and language and our environment.

Finally they declared that our citizens need to work together to secure a prosperous, peaceful, safe and harmonious Ireland for the next one hundred years.

The Proclamation Day Assembly then concluded with some wonderful traditional tunes by Master Woods and his tin whistle pupils.

A flag party then assembled and Father Peter Murphy Parish Priest,

Mrs Joan McCarthy chairperson of the Parents Association and Mr McGee proceed to the outside of the school where parents were assembled.

Cillian McCrohan from sixth class raised the tricolour to a rendition of Amhran na bhFiann being played on the fiddle by Master Woods.

A tree was then planted to commemorate this special day in the history of the school.

Which they hope grows well.

Indeed it will for this is a school with a proud tradition, a tradition that is maintained by the the staff and pupils and parents of today.

Congratulations to all.
Foods of fall: Sweet potatoes

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A visit to Lake Kolomoki

Ranger Lauren Bryant couldnt help but notice young Khalil's casting skills while making rounds Saturday morning. When visiting from Atlanta his grandparents say this is...

Fall weather brings unwanted guests

We welcome the cooler temperatures of fall, but the unwanted house guests that often appear are not so welcomed. Insects including roaches and other types...


Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.



BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres today announced the team has signed defenseman Casey Nelson to an entry-level contract.Weve been consistently impressed with Caseys play for the last two years, General Manager Tim Murray said. We identified him as one of the top college free agents available and were excited to have him join the organization.Nelson (62, 182 lbs., 7/18/1992), who recently finished his junior season at Minnesota State University (WCHA), led a Mavericks defense that allowed the fewest shots per game among all NCAA teams this season. His play earned him WCHA Defensive Player of the Year honors and a spot on the All-WCHA First Team.The Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin native amassed 60 total points (14+46) and a plus-28 rating in 99 games during his collegiate career, leading the team in plus/minus rating and leading Minnesota State defensemen in scoring in both his sophomore and junior seasons.In 2015-16, Nelson led all Minnesota State defensemen and ranked in the top five in team scoring in goals (6), assists (16) and points (22), and led all Mavericks skaters with a plus-15 rating.
Republicans are very upset that President Obama continued on with his trip in Cuba after the disgusting terror attacks in Brussels today. They are also upset that hes in Cuba, that he is president and that he exists.

Of course, the majority of Republicans will prefer Donald Trump and Ted Cruzs immediate gut reaction, which is to abandon the Constitution and embrace rank religious discrimination and then, likely, invade the wrong country.

When Republicans reacted to the Paris attacks with the worst kind of demagoguery  or as Republicans call it, the best kind of demagoguery  the president remained steadfast and principled, which confused the media and heightened the attention focused on the right cowering at the prospect of child refugees standing in line next to them at Chipotle.

Later, the president would say that he had failed to fully appreciate the fear many Americans were experiencing about the possibility of a Paris-style attack in the U.S. Great distance, a frantic schedule, and the jet-lag haze that envelops a globe-spanning presidential trip were working against him, The Atlantics Jeffery Goldberg wrote. But he has never believed that terrorism poses a threat to America commensurate with the fear it generates.

The presidents foreign policy has been summed up by Politicos Michael Grunwald as Dont Do the Fucking Iraq War, which I translate to mean also as Dont Let ISIS Force Us Into Doing the Kind of Dumb Shit That Created ISIS.

But there is a broader mission to Obamas presidency that gets minimized with this reductiveness: Hes absolutely fixated on doing what he can to stop climate change and he has a genuine interest in using diplomacy to help give people oppressed by brutal regimes a chance to engage with the world.

Thats why he has done more than every president combined to fight climate change, which wasnt hard, and why he went to Paris in the aftermath of that horrid attack and stuck an agreement thats our best hope of saving billions from untold misery. And thats why he carried out his day in Havana in the wake of the carnage in Brussels knowing that Republicans would scream about optics.

President Obama rose to national prominence by speaking about erasing the perception of red and blue states. But its his tolerance for dissension, especially when its constructive dissension, that shows him to be a true patriot  someone who understands the virtue and wisdom of a free society.

From the presidents speech in Havana on Tuesday (this part begins around minute 18):

As Marti said, Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy. So, let me tell you what I believe. I cant force you to agree. But you should know what I think. I believe that every person should be equal, you should under the law. Every child deserves the dignity that comes with education, health care and food on the table, and a roof over their heads. I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear. To organize and to criticize their government and to protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faiths peacefully and publicly. And yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections. Not everybody agrees with me on this, not everybody agrees with the American people on this. But I believe those human rights are universal. I believe they are the rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world. Now, theres no secret that our governments disagree on many of these issues. Ive had frank conversations with President Castro. For many years hes pointed out the flaws in the American system. Economic inequality, the death penalty, racial discrimination, wars abroad. Thats just a sample. He has a much longer list. But heres what the Cuban people need to understand. I welcome this open debate and dialogue. Its good. Its healthy. Im not afraid of it. We do have too much money in American politics, but in America, its still possible for somebody like me, a child who was raised by single mom, a child of mixed race who did not have a lot of money to pursue and achieve the highest office in the land.

I dont know how you could say this with any more clarity, or who could say this better.

Hes far from perfect  and Im presently concerned about the growing numbers of ground troops Iraq, among other things  but his vehemence in pursuing diplomacy with Iran, a global climate change agreement and openness with Cuba speak to the truth in the hope he inspired, a hope that Republicans still mock.

They can mock all they want and pull back the hand he has reached out once hes gone. That hope for creating the life you wish to live is what we deserve as Americans, though its too often reserved for those born into privilege.

Now the people of Cuba know what that hope looks like in the flesh.
Amazon has carved another notch in its belt, adding one more customer to what it has called a tiny fraction of cases of people guilty of making too many returns.

The company banned Greg Nelson, a computer programmer, from shopping at the site because he returned 37 of 343 items purchased, The Guardian reported last week.

The returned products were damaged, faulty or not as described, Nelson asserted, but Amazon demanded a more detailed justification for the returns before it would consider lifting the ban.

On top of having his account closed, Nelson lost access to unspent funds trapped on gift cards, he said, which struck him as questionable from a legal perspective.

The computer programmer had been a fervently loyal fan of Amazon since 2002, he told the paper.

Although he acknowledged that Amazon must protect its business, he found the companys actions in banning him to be totally egregious.

A Matter of Policy

From fine art and collectibles to game downloads and gift cards, Amazon offers specific return policies depending on the category. However, nowhere in its return policies does the company mention limits.

This isnt the first time Amazon has closed an account on the grounds that an unspecified limit on returns had been reached. Katy Kilmarton lost unused balances on her gift cards and had her Amazon Prime membership canceled early this year after she returned 30 items out of 112, The Guardian pointed out.

While these cases appear to be rare, they might do more harm to Amazon than good, sugested Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

By almost any measure, the cost of absorbing returned items is minimal compared to the Internets ability to transform bad publicity into brand damage, especially if a mere tiny fraction of Amazon customers is involved, King told the E-Commerce Times.

Head On

More brand damage may be one of the last things Amazon needs right now.

The company already has been running on a brand deficit as a result of the 2015 New York Times piece that told of long hours and a brutally competitive work environment for Amazon employees, noted Trish McDermott, cofounder of Panic Media Training.

Customers, like employees, are Amazon stakeholders, and their perception of the Amazon brand is important to the companys overall success, she told the E-Commerce Times. Care must be taken to weigh any forward-facing practices against the potential brand buzz, positive or negative, they may generate.

Regardless of how much truth there is to the claims of Amazon banning customers over excessive returns, such reports could cause high-volume consumers to loose faith in the company, noted McDermott  and that is where messaging becomes critical.

Amazons reluctance to speak to the press can contribute to the negative buzz a policy like this generates, she said. What is the definition of excess? Is the company more or less favorable to certain types of returns? Will I be banned if my daughters bathing suit doesnt fit correctly?

If there truly are legitimate reasons and hard metrics on discerning bad luck from abuse, then Amazon needs to offer customers transparency.

Address the reasonableness of your customer base. Be frank and unapologetic, said McDermott.

If there is a problem with the return policy, its best to address it as soon as possible, she said, and Amazon has to remember that no comment is indeed a comment.

I would like to see the company getting in front of communications like this, McDermott added. I think Amazons customers would too.

Rate Your Experience

Many consumers already feel that theyve been wronged by a retailer at sometime or another, observed Pund-ITs King. Those feelings arise from cases ranging from the receipt of poorly crafted products to policies that marginalize customers.

The move to e-commerce has exacerbated that situation, with some online retailers making it difficult or impossible for clients to engage directly with a company representative to clarify or settle disagreements, he pointed out. In short, I expect most consumers would side with the customer in this case, rather than Amazon.
High-profile Silicon Valley executives last week attended a secret summit with GOP leaders at the American Enterprise Institutes World Forum in a bid to put the brakes on the political campaign of Donald Trump, according to a report published Monday in The Huffington Post.

Trump has dominated the Republican presidential race with highly charged rhetoric and out-of-the-box campaign promises.

Participants in the AEI meeting reportedly included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google cofounder Larry Page, Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and Napster cofounder Sean Parker.

Major Republican congressional leaders also were in attendance, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wis., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., and Sens. Tim Scott, S.C., Rob Portman, Ohio, and Ben Sasse, Neb.

The meeting reportedly included a presentation by political consultant Karl Rove on focus group findings that indicated Trump was not seen as presidential.

Off the Record

Since the AEI tends to back conventional, mainstream conservatives like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, parsing the dwindling opportunities to stop Trump was probably the subject of numerous discussions, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

AEI declined to offer any specifics on the confab, noting that it does not take positions on issues and therefore is open to various ideologies and points of view.

To maintain intellectual freedom and free discourse, the event is private and off the record; therefore, we dont comment further on the content or attendees, spokesperson Judy Mayka told the E-Commerce Times.

The agenda of the forum will be available in the coming weeks via House and Senate ethics filings, she added.

Political Agenda

Tech leaders have a variety of political concerns, including immigration, trade and security issues.

Apple has been facing off with the FBI, which wants to access data locked in an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack.

Trump has called out Apple for refusing to cooperate with the agency, and told Fox & Friends that assisting with the investigation was a matter of common sense. He followed that up with a call for a boycott of Apple products during a campaign rally in South Carolina.

Trump also has called out Apple for the outsourcing of its computer products, many of which are assembled in pieces overseas and returned to the U.S. for final assembly.

Immigration and Trade

Besides his threats of cracking down on Chinese trade imbalances, Trumps anti-immigration rhetoric has raised a lot of fear in Silicon Valley, as many of those companies are dependent on importing engineers and other high-tech specialists using H-1B visas, noted Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Trump has positioned job and trade issues as USA vs. the world, while most tech companies look at trade as a global win-win, he told the E-Commerce Times.

There is fear in Silicon Valley that offshore cash may be repatriated forcibly, Pund-ITs King told the E-Commerce Times. Apple may have US$190 billion in assets overseas, and Google may have more than $30 billion.

Repatriating it would require the companies to pay around 30 percent in taxes, so they have long argued for a special tax holiday that would allow them to bring the cash back home at a far reduced rate, he said.

The Obama administration has opposed that, because the last time a tax holiday was granted at the request of the tech industry, companies used the repatriated money to pay dividends and buy back stock rather than to create jobs, King pointed out.

Musk, one of the leading developers of alternative-fuel cars, has expressed concerns about tax credits for alternative vehicles and clean energy products, according to King. In December, Musk called on world leaders to pass a revenue-neutral carbon tax.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigations efforts to compel Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the slain San Bernardino terrorists could threaten national security, charged Craig Federighi, Apples SVP of engineering, in an op-ed piece published Monday in The Washington Post.

Terrorists and criminals could launch attacks on vital infrastructure through access to just one persons smartphone and cryptographic protections on smartphones are a critical line of defense, he maintained.

Law enforcement officials have suggested that Apple return to the safeguards of iOS 7, which have since been breached by hackers, Federighi wrote. Further, hacker kits to attack iOS 7 weaknesses are available to less-skilled attackers.

The FBIs desire for Apple to create a backdoor also poses a threat, he argued, noting that security is an endless race and that yesterdays best defenses cannot fend off the attacks of today or tomorrow.

A Focus for Discord

More than 800 responses ro the Post article showed support for both sides of the controversy.

Arguing that only bad actors need worry about government intrusions is specious since the data analytics that sifts through metadata and associated content to establish networks of associations  is hardly foolproof, wrote Code Ferret.

The FBI could abuse the power obtained under a favorable court ruling, suggested Joan Ashley.

Rbobbin disagreed, noting that encryption is too sweeping.

Craig Lawson responded by posting a link to a letter from Salihin Kondoker, husband of one of the slain victims, who expressed support for encryption despite his personal tragedy.

A Community Split

Members of the security committee also are divided in their views on the issue.

Compelling Apple to build a backdoor for its own product actually undermines the security and personal safety of millions of Americans and others around the world, especially those living under authoritarian regimes, said Sophia Cope, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

It does so by creating the legal precedent, by weakening the trust users have in software updates supposedly authorized by companies, and by building the technology itself, she told TechNewsWorld.

Walking backwards into the future is never a clever way, remarked Ebba Blitz, CEO of Alertsec.

Its not only weakening encryption for individuals and companies  its also weakening encryption for the American government, she told TechNewsWorld. By creating the possibility of brute force [attacks], we are paving the way for anyone, including terrorists, to hack into our data easily.

If Apple should lose this court battle, we may need to take a look at, and revise the purpose of, the law, Blitz continued, warning that in the long run, it would drive the U.S. tech industry overseas.

Everything from health data to financial data to conversations with and about our kids is protected because of encryption, contended Jake Ward, president and CEO of the Application Developers Alliance. Why would we want to go back to iOS 7?

Deliberately weakening encryption just for the good guys is not possible, he told TechNewsWorld. You cant secure your home while leaving a window open for the police, hoping bad guys dont find it and use it.

With a court order, law enforcement agents should be able to unlock any cellphone or device, countered Philip Lieberman, president of Lieberman Software.

This doesnt put security or privacy at risk, because theres a one-to-one capability that would allow for limited access to single devices only via cryptographic techniques, he argued.

There is no win or loss in the court battle  only clarity in the governments overall position toward law enforcements immediate right to access systems, Lieberman told TechNewsWorld.

Apple is trying hard to answer some important questions about the role technology plays in our lives and its relationship with the law and our rights guaranteed under it, suggested ADAs Ward.

These are existential questions in the digital age that arent new to law enforcement, lawmakers or technology companies, he pointed out. That they are being talked about in a broader form may ultimately bring about a solution.
IBM last week announced its acquisition of Optevia, a Software as a Service systems integrator specializing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions. It will become part of IBM Global Business Services.

Optevia specializes in the public sector market in the UK, where it is based. Its focus is on emergency services, central and local government, health authorities, and housing and social enterprises.

As a part of our ongoing strategy to establish IBM GBS as a premier global digital consultancy and accelerate GBS leadership in the next generation cloud CRM solutions space, Microsoft solution implementations will increasingly require transformational consulting services based on unique client industry insight, said Peter Rousseau, an associate partner in IBM Global Business Services UK public sector practice.

IBM GBS has been successful in this area and needs to continue the expansion of its position with global reach, deep industry expertise and industry-specific assets, he told CRM Buyer. Optevias expertise and assets deliver this step change for IBM GBS.

Where IBM Is Taking Optevia

IBM has a broad portfolio of CRM vendors we partner with and support, Rosseau said. This will continue.

Notably, it has a strategic alliance with SugarCRM.

Optevia is a systems integrator, and I see this more as IBM increasing its bench in CRM implementation rather than moving away from Sugar, noted Rebecca Wettemann, VP of research at Nucleus Research.

Optevias strong reputation in the UK public sector will provide immediate access to a pool of specialty sales and delivery experts in the rapidly evolving cloud CRM space, Rosseau said. It will increase the GBS Dynamics practice in Europe.

Further, the acquisition will provide immediate access differentiating code-based assets that are scalable into the broader Europe and North America regions to help drive increased win rates and accelerated time to value for our clients.

The purchase gives IBM more bench strength in implementing CRM, particularly in the public sector, Wettemann told CRM Buyer. CRM in government is a special case, not just in the way its implemented  citizens instead of customers  but [also] in the way its purchased.

Stretching Could Hurt

Optevias focus on the UK public sector makes it likely there will be some challenges in expanding that model beyond Europe with different public sector buying cycles, Wettemann said, but IBM has government clients all over the world that could be targets for Optevia services.

It may not be a cakewalk for IBM, though, because this isnt the old days when [it] could show up and dominate, noted Denis Pombriant, principal at Beagle Research. Public sector CRM is a crowded market.

How IBM Can Make It Work

That said, theres no need to overhaul Optevias technology for integration, Pombriant observed.

The secret to success will be building very specific applications that slide in and work. Government cant handle long delays and cost overruns, so IBM needs to throw fastballs over the plate, he told CRM Buyer.

Scaling shouldnt be a problem, as Optevia offers a SaaS app, unless [IBM does] something dumb like offering single-tenant hosted services, Pombriant said. That would be more of a facilities management approach, which would crash and burn.

Impact on Microsoft Dynamics

SugarCRM and Microsoft Dynamics are competing solutions with different strengths, so its not inconceivable that Optevia could become part of [IBMs] SugarCRM implementation plan, Nucleus Researchs Wettemann surmised.

IBM GBS is a Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner itself, and I wouldnt see this [purchase] necessarily as bad news for Microsoft, but evidence of the increasing competition in the CRM market and IBMs desire to play a growing role in it, she added.

This is a maturing market, and other companies, like Oracle and Salesforce, have very good solutions, Pombriant pointed out. Each of them has a better-built-out suite of in-house and partner-developed platform apps for the public sector, so its going to be a fight.
Google this week launched a section of its transparency report to track the progress of efforts to encrypt the Web, by both the company and third-party sites estimated to account for about 25 percent of Web traffic.

The report will be updated weekly with information about progress the company has made toward implementing HTTPS by default across its services.

Gmail, Drive and Search have long been secured with HTTPS, and traffic from products such as ads and Blogger were added over the past year, Google said. It plans to bring other products under HTTPS protection over time.

Implementing HTTPS can be difficult.

There are a lot of details that you have to get right  the right version of TLS certificates, HFS with Mozilla, said Peter Eckersley, technology projects director at theElectronic Frontier Foundation.

Were trying to change the situation, he told TechNewsWorld.

Obstacles to implementing HTTPS include older hardware and software, which dont support modern encryption technologies; governments and organizations that may block or degrade HTTPS traffic; and some organizations unwillingness or lack of resources to implement HTTPS, Google said.

The Encryption State of Play

As of January, just over 75 percent of requests to Googles servers used encrypted connections, excluding YouTube traffic, Googlesstatistics show.

Maps was the most encrypted Google product, with 83 percent of Maps traffic being encrypted. Advertising came next with 75 percent, and News and Finance tied at 59 percent.

Among the top 10 countries with encrypted traffic, Mexico led with 86 percent, Brazil was second with 84 percent, and the United States was ninth with 72 percent of request encrypted.

Mobile traffic accounted for 95.5 percent of unencrypted traffic to Googles servers.

Dangers Inherent in Mobility

Mobile devices account for one-third of all Web pages served worldwide, according toStatista.

Most of the unencrypted traffic originates from devices that may no longer be updated and may never support encryption, Google said.

Only 10 percent of Android phones are encrypted, because Google does not control this, said David Jevans, VP of mobile security atProofpoint. Its controlled by the handset maker [and] cannot be fixed because the phone carriers wont take on the burden of validating new Android releases on old phones.

Google is forcing handset manufacturers to turn on encryption by default in the next version of Android, known as Marshmallow, he told TechNewsWorld.

Possible Solutions to the Mobile Problem

Mobile device insecurity is a transient condition [because] the replacement cycle for mobile devices Is 24 to 36 months, pointed out Frank Dickson, a research director atFrost & Sullivan. The issue gets solved simply with the passage of time.

Google is responsible for this problem because they obviously control the Android platform, he told TechNewsWorld.

For the really long tail of websites, we need them to ignore the Android 2 series and Windows XP user bases because theres this important security feature inside TLS called SNI that they dont support, the EFFs Eckersley said, referring to the clair, Froyo and Gingerbread releases of Android.

SNI makes virtual hosting easier on HTTPS because it adds to the Transport Layer Security handshake the domain name of the host the requester wants to connect to, he said.

There are workarounds. The EFFsLets Encrypt certificate authority gives people up to 100 domain names in one certificate, but not everyone wants to do that because it slows things down, Eckersley noted.

Making a Virtue Out of Necessity

Googles revenues depend on commerce being transacted on the Internet, Dickson asserted. The companys revenues will suffer if the Internet is viewed as unsafe for commerce.

Encryption efforts now better protect people against bulk dragnet surveillance and against hackers on their WiFi connections, but thats still only maybe 40 percent of traffic, Eckersley noted.

Weve made progress with the big sites  Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, he said, but there still are millions more that need to be protected.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Samsung regarding its patent dispute with Apple.

The case stems from a 2011 lawsuit by Apple that alleged Samsung copied certain design elements and features from the iPhone and iPad and used them in Samsung Galaxy phones and tablet computers.

A jury in 2012 awarded US$1 billion to Apple, finding that Samsung had used some of Apples tap-to-zoom technology. The award was later reduced.

The companies reached a partial agreement in December under whichSamsung agreed to pay Apple $548 million. Samsung insisted at the time that it reserved the right to seek a partial refund, called the award to Apple excessive, and denied that it actually infringed the patents.

Arguments Limited to Scope

The high court will listen only to arguments over the scope of the award, not to arguments Samsung made about some of the larger questions concerning patent law.

We welcome the courts decision to hear our case. We thank the many large technology companies, 37 intellectual property professors and several groups representing small businesses, which have supported our position, said Samsung spokesperson Danielle Meister Cohen.

The courts review of this case can lead to a fair interpretation of patent law that will support creativity and reward innovation, she told E-Commerce Times.

Stifling Innovation

We hope the Supreme Courts agreement to hear this important case will result in design patent law finally getting some much needed oversight and an infusion of common sense, said Ed Black, CEO of theComputer & Communications Industry Association, which in January filed an amicus brief urging the high court to take up the issue.

These laws were written to protect the central design of products like carpets  not the outer case of tech gadgets. Misinterpretation and overreach in patent law could have a chilling effect on innovation  the opposite intention of the patent system when it was created, he said.

The lower court misinterpreted a statute by expanding a patent on ornamental features of a smartphone to include all the innovations that make up a complicated device like a smartphone, according to the amicus brief. For example, Apple has 199 active patent designs called electronic device, and if Samsung were held liable for all of those, it could face the loss of billions of dollars.

The potential cost of infringing a single patent design in a case like this would make other smartphone manufacturers decide to stay out of the market to avoid liability, according to the filing.

Important Ruling

The ruling in this case, while limited to the question of damages, is critically important to the future of design patents in general, said Alexander Poltorak, CEO ofGeneral Patent.

The last design patent case that the Supreme Court took up was in 1877, Poltorak told the E-Commerce Times. The Supreme Court has been very interested and active in looking at utility patent cases.

The scope of design patent damages law has been criticized as too broad, according to Christopher Rourk, a partner atJackson Walker.

Theyve indicated theyre going to give us some guidance on that. Presumably that would be a relief granted on the relief granted to Apple. But in any event, its anyones guess how they will actually rule, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Generally the U.S. Supreme Court does not understand patent technology, so rulings are not very predictable, said Peter S. Vogel, a partner atGardere.

Most complex technology disputes are confusing to the Supreme Court, and this will be no exception, he told the E-Commerce Times. The main reason is that justices on the Supreme Court are not trained in computer and patent technology, and freely admit they dont understanding texting and emails, so can one expect any more?

Virtually every award is being reduced on appeal, General Patents Poltorak said. The case that may provide guidance on the outcome of this is Georgia Pacific v. United States Plywood, which set the modern standard over patent disputes.
Prosecutors for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of California on Tuesday announced they had reached a plea agreement with Ryan Collins, a Pennsylvania resident, over charges that he hacked Apple and Google email accounts of more than 100 people back in 2014.

The allegations stemmed from the official investigation into the hacking case dubbed Celebgate, because most of the victims were celebrities whose nude photos were leaked to the Internet. However, the investigators were unable to secure evidence linking Collins to the actual leaks, and found no proof that he uploaded the information to the Web or otherwise shared it.

Collins agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The prosecutors agreed to recommend an 18-month prison term, but the sentencing judge has leeway to impose a statutory maximum of five years.

Collins was charged in Los Angeles, but the parties agreed to transfer the case to Harrisburg, hear Collins home, for the entry of his plea and sentencing.

A Case of Celebrity Fever?

Is it me, or is the legal system worried about the wrong thing? asked Mark Sangster, VP of marketing at eSentire. Why protect the economy when some compromising pictures of celebs have been stolen?

There should be convictions on major cases attacking companies and stealing valuable data, Sangster told TechNewsWorld. Has anyone been convicted on Sony or Target? Or biopharma, tech, or business email compromise fraud? These attacks cost us trillions.

Target will pay out US$10 million to compensate the 40 million people whose credit and debit card records were exposed when it was hacked in 2013.

No Deterrent at All

I doubt the plea will have any significant effect on discouraging phishing attacks, commented Chenxi Wang, chief strategy officer at Twistlock.

Cybercriminals are behind many phishing campaigns, she noted, but this particular case is an individual acting on his own.

It therefore will have very little, if any, impact on the extent of those campaigns or attacks, Wang told TechNewsWorld.

We see murderers being put to death for their crimes, but that hasnt stopped people, observed Dodi Glenn, VP of cybersecurity at PC Pitstop. Hackers want the notoriety and their 15 minutes of fame.

Collins actually might come out ahead after his conviction, judging from previous cases, he said.

More than likely, once his term is served, hell get a job in the security industry, Glenn told TechNewsWorld.

Still, the plea bargain is a good move, Wang contended, because the victims private information would be disclosed and discussed in court proceedings if the case had gone to jury trial.

More Teeth Needed

I think they should make an example out of [Collins], remarked Daniel Castro, vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Weve seen a number of celebrities making public statements about how this was more of a sex crime than anything else, and the law should reflect that, he told TechNewsWorld. Look at what they were trying to get Aaron Swartz on for downloading documents from MIT. They were going after him a lot harder.

Swartz, a computer programmer and Internet activist, was hit with two counts of wire fraud and 11 violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for downloading academic journals from MITs JSTOR digital repository. Facing potential penalties including $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison and asset forfeiture, as well as other pressures, he committed suicide.

Federal judges are required to consult the U.S. sentencing guidelines prior to sentencing a defendant, pointed out Thom Mrozek, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys office.

The guidelines in this, as we view them, call for a sentence of six to 12 months. Mr. Collins has agreed to an 18-month sentence, Mrozek told TechNewsWorld.

The ITIF has called for a stronger law on data breaches, Castro said.

You need a law that makes this type of activity criminal and makes it easier to prosecute based on those images being shared without permission, Castro suggested.

Prosecution is possible under the CFAA, but they have to prove how you access the data, Castro said. If you take an image, the act of sharing it without permission and with the intent to cause harm would be better.
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(Reuters / NANCY WIECHEC)Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks about the primary election results

Immigration reform is the word of mouth by Democratic presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders in his trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. In a report by NBC and HAARETZ, the senator explained how it is better to expand on the current immigration policies rather than a brute force sanction.

"We need comprehensive immigration reform. We need to take 11 million undocumented people out of the shadows, out of fear, and we need to provide them with legal protection."

He also bashed at the comment of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump who called illegal immigrants "rapists" and are those who brought the crime rate up in the United States. He called Trump a bigot and xenophobic for such an offensive comment and typecasting a race. The policies that the senator vowed to expand are the programs set by President Barack Obama. The first is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a policy that protects children who are brought to the United States illegally. The second policy is the Deferred Action for Parents of America, a policy that protects immigrant's parents whose children are already U.S. citizens.

The senator also commented over the controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for cracking down on illegal undocumented immigrants.

"It's easy for bullies like Sheriff Arpaio to pick on people who have no power, if I am elected president-the president of the United States does have power. So watch out, Joe."

It is clear that Senator Sanders values family and pushes toward making bridges as opposed to making walls, again trying to send a jab toward Trump since he is known to push for building a higher wall at the border to keep immigrants out.

"Build more bridges not more walls," said Sanders.

On a side note, the campaign around the U.S.Mexico border is an important target for Senator Sanders since his defeat against Clinton last week, wherein Clinton won in five states.
(Photo: LWF/ Rodrick Beiler)Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dances with Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of South Africa to celebrate some 1.8 million signatures on an interfaith petition for climate justice during the COP21 climate summit in Paris, France.

A powerful family from India closely connected to the ruling African National Congress and particularly to President Jacob Zumba has drawn the ire of many South Africans accused of having an undue influence in affairs of State.

It has been accused of "State capture"  the new buzzword in South Africa - that its proponents says refers to a type of general political corruption in which private interests significantly influence decision-making.

It is a nationally encompassing controversy that has seen former top officials and aides turn on Zuma as well as the main opposition Democratic Alliance and the smaller Economic Freedom Fighters.

The former General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions Zwelinzima Vavi has described the Gupta family as a "shadow government" and even comments made by the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa have been viewed as critical.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan refused to speak at a breakfast briefing hosted by the Gupta-owned New Age newspaper, a strong supporter of Zuma. The breakfast was regularly supported by government ministers.

It is such a big issue that church leaders have now entered the fray.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town, a successor of renowned anti-apartheid critic Desmond Tutu, on March 17 called on people at all levels of government "to talk and tell the truth" in response to new revelations about the influence of "a non-governmental family in matters of State."

In an audio message recorded at Bishopscourt in Cape Town, he also urged the ANC NEC's forthcoming meeting to "please be bold, be courageous, tell the truth, because the truth will set you free."

http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/03/17/Listen-as-Makgoba-urges-ANC-to-tell-the-truth-about-the-Guptas-iLIVE

The Gupta family migrated from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to South Africa in 1993. That was shortly before the country's first democratic elections for all races, to establish Sahara Computers and the start of its economic empire in South Africa.

The former General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions Zwelinzima Vavi has described the Gupta family as a "shadow government" and even comments made by the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa have been viewed as critical.

In his message Makgoba, who was also prominent in the Church's fight against apartheid, urged the ANC's National Executive Committee upcoming meeting to "please be bold, be courageous, tell the truth, because the truth will set you free."

The Dominican Order of Southern Africa has written Public Protector Thuli Madonsela' and her office has said it will launch a preliminary probe into whether she had the jurisdiction and the grounds to conduct a full investigation into the family's activities.

The Catholic religious organization group pleaded with Madonsela to investigate claims against the controversial Gupta family says it did so in the interest of poor and marginalized South Africans.

Father Brian Mhlanga' the order's communications head' said the request was made "in the light of transparency and accountability."
(CCTV image from Belgian Federal Police)Belgian Police released this photo from CCTV of three suspects from the March 22, 2016 bomb attacks in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

Pope Francis and the head of the World Council of Churches have both strongly condemned the blind violence in two terror attacks in Brussels that killed at least 34 people and left around 200 injured.

Soon after the blasts during the early morning rush in the Belgian capital, the Pope in a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, prayed for the victims, the injured and their families.

He again condemned "blind violence which causes so much suffering" after two bomb attacks at the international airport in Brussels and a later bomb at a subway station.

"The Holy Father again condemns the blind violence which causes so much suffering and imploring from God the gift of peace, he entrusts on the bereaved families and the Belgians the benefit of divine blessings," said the cardinal.

The World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, strongly condemned the series of lethal terror attacks carried out in Brussels as "wicked and indiscriminate," calling for prayers for those affected.

More than 34 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the March 22 attacks at Brussels Zaventem international airport and a city metro station near buildings belonging to the European Union and the Ecumenical Centre in Brussels.

""I grieve such a wicked and indiscriminate attacks on ordinary human beings has taken place in Brussels, in a way that suggests a deliberate targeting of the heart of Europe," said Tveit. in a statement.

He noted, "Apart from the loss and suffering this act of violence has directly caused, it creates wider tensions.

These "make it more difficult for Europe and Europeans to play the constructive role they need to in support of those who are seeking to escape the ongoing agony which is being experienced in several parts of the Middle East."

The WCC encouraged prayer for and solidarity with the victims and those close to them.
The federal Investing in Innovation program, or i3, test-drives and scales up promising ideas in education. Heres an introduction to the program.

What is Investing in Innovation?

The Investing in Innovation, or i3, program was created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the financial stimulus. The program was intended to help test-drive, investigate, and scale up promising ideas in school districts working with their nonprofit partners. To date, i3 has received more than $1.3 billion in federal funding for 157 projects. After the initial investment of nearly $650 million, the program has received smaller sums each year and dropped to about $120 million for fiscal 2016. Recipients ranged from well-known players, such as Teach For America and KIPP, to small school districts, such as Virginias Albemarle County schools.

What are the grants?

There are three basic types of grants that vary in size based on how much evidence a program has to back up its approach. Some granteessuch as the Building Assets-Reducing Risks programhave changed tiers in multiple grants.

From year to year, the U.S. Department of Education also prioritized different special areas for grants, including science, technology, engineering, and math education; and teacher effectiveness.

Development: The smallestand at 105 to date, the most prevalentgrants test promising practices with minimal formal research evidence. Single grants have ranged from about $2 million in recent years to about $5 million when i3 was first created. These grants require the lowest level of evidence, and may even include a strong correlational study.

Validation: These are the midrange grants, to further investigate programs backed by a moderate level of evidence. In the early rounds of i3, single grants could be as large as $30 million, but more recently, theyve hovered around $12 million. To qualify, a program has to have at least one experimental or quasi-experimental study that meets the federal What Works Clearinghouse standardsalthough it could have had a small sample size, compared groups that were not entirely equivalent, or for some other reason could not be able to be generalized to other schools or studentsor have high-quality correlational research that controlled for selection bias and other factors. So far, there have been 43 validation grants.

Scale Up: The largest and most rigorous grants are intended to help proven programs expand quickly. As in the other grant levels, the biggest scale-up grantsas large as $50 millioncame early, when the i3 program was flush with cash. Since then, scale-up awards have shrunk, with the most recent round of grants averaging $20 million. To qualify for a scale-up grant, a program has to have the highest level of research evidence, including multiple experimental or quasi-experimental studies, or one large, multisite randomized controlled trial study, that meets federal What Works Clearinghouse standards. That evidence level has proven to be a high bar: There have been only nine scale-up grantees so far.

What were the initial goals of i3?

Investing in Innovation was initially designed to create an innovation pipeline in K-12 education, said Jim Shelton, a former deputy secretary in the Obama administration and an architect of i3. Thats something other sectorslike technologytake for granted. The Education Department required grantees to match the grant with contributions from private sources.

Another not so subtle goal, Shelton says: to fill the What Works Clearinghouse, a federal treasure trove of strategies backed by strong evidence of effectiveness.

For the Obama administration, i3 was one of the first of a group of six federal programs designed to experiment with ways to bring more evidence into social programs. Variations on the i3 evidence model are also part of the Education Departments First in the World grants to improve higher education. Innovation looks different in different sectors and evidence looks different, said Nadya Chinoy Dabby, the assistant deputy secretary for the Education Departments office of innovation and improvement.

How has i3 changed under the Every Student Succeeds Act?

i3 is the only one of the big competitive education grants that the Obama administration launched during the stimulus to be mostly sustained in ESSA, the latest edition of the federal governments centerpiece education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Signed into law late last year, ESSA includes a successor to i3 called the Education Innovation and Research program.

EIR is similar to i3 in that it includes three different types of grants for proposals with successively more evidence to back them up. There are some new twists, however. For instance, under i3, school districts could partner only with nonprofit groups, but EIR will allow schools to collaborate with for-profit businesses. And under EIR, statesnot just districtswill be eligible to receive the grants, said congressional aides who worked on creating the program. EIR places a greater emphasis on the research priorities of the field in setting priorities for grants, as opposed to i3s annual changing priorities. Theres also a greater focus on development and other early-stage grants. EIR also puts more of a premium on programs proceeding through the grant phasesas BARR and North Carolina New Schools/Breakthrough Learning have in i3although thats not required.

i3 Grants at a Glance Grants awarded to date: 157 Initial money awarded: Nearly $650 million Total federal money awarded: More than $1.3 billion Total private matching contributions: More than $200 million Source: U.S. Department of Education

What are i3s greatest successes?

i3or the basic idea of a program aimed at exploring evidence-based practices and driving innovationis probably one of the most politically popular of the Obama administrations K-12 initiatives. Interest in the program was high from the get-go, with nearly 1,700 applications for the first round of grants and more than 4,000 applications total.

Weve built an infrastructure that supports educators innovating, and educators are instinctively innovative and want to solve challenges.  This program at its core is about helping people learn about their work, said the Education Departments Chinoy Dabby.

The initiative also ignited a burst of private and philanthropic interest in direct partnerships with districts. A dozen large national education philanthropies developed a registry of funding opportunities worth more than a half billion dollars to help applicants find matching money, and private venture capitalists met with runners-up to the first i3 winners. In its fiscal 2016 budget request, the Education Department said the evaluations of all its validation and scale-up grants and a majority of its development grants were on track to meet What Works Clearinghouse standards, so that the largest investments are based on the highest level of rigor regarding efficacy.

The final evaluations of the first cohort of i3 programs have started to roll out. And the Education Department expects to release a cross-cutting analysis of the findings across all the completed i3 grants by the end of 2016.

Its really important for us as a sector to be comfortable about taking on risks, Chinoy Dabby said. On average, venture capitalists expect about 1 in 4 investments to produce significant results, she said, and, by our counts, we are scheduled to far exceed that benchmark.

In the end, survival may be the programs most important success. While two other programs that were developed through the stimulusthe School Improvement Grant program and Race to the Tophave gone by the wayside, i3 has endured, and a version of the program has been enshrined in the Every Student Succeeds Act.

What have been the programs biggest challenges?

In the first year, the Federal Education department required grantees to get a 20 percent private sector match for their federal grants, but many winners were scrambling right up until the deadline to secure those funds.

And scoring anomalies in the program have been questioned; different peer reviewers can have very different rating systems, particularly if they are examining proposals from different topic areas.

Whats more, prospective applicants didnt always have a firm grasp of the evidence levels needed to apply. The department did a lot of outreachincluding a series of webinarsand ultimately did a preliminary review of grants.

What have been some of the criticisms of i3?

When the first round of grantees was rolled out, some in the education community questioned whether i3 had actually found innovation, since some of the biggest recipientsincluding the Knowledge Is Power Program charter network and Teach For Americahad been around for a decade or more.

But Chinoy Dabby and Shelton said the department wanted to help the most-effective programs have a bigger impact. Programs got a lot of money for a lot of evidence, that was the whole point, Shelton said in an interview.

Some districts have complained that the application takes a lot of time and a skilled grant writer to complete. Thats particularly tough on rural applicants, advocates have said. And its unclear if the departments efforts to alleviate this problem helped matters. At least when i3 first launched, it gave a competitive edge to rural projects. But a 2011 report from the Rural Trust, an advocacy group, noted that many of the organizations that won werent, in their view, authentically rural, even though they served rural districts.

When i3 was first rolled out, the department accepted applications addressing a range of areasfrom teacher quality to special education. But in subsequent years, the department sought to put its own emphasis on different iterations of the program, asking for applications that addressed college-readiness, for instance, or STEM education.

That made scoring easier, since peer reviewers were looking at applications along a similar theme, but it also spurred pushback from some quarters, said Michele McLaughlin, the president of the Knowledge Alliance, which advocates for education research groups. There was this feeling that the administration started getting too heavy-handed with the priorities, she said.

What could be i3s impact going forward?

Knowledge gained from i3 could have a new life, now that ESSA is the law of the land. The new law shies away from federally dictated models for improving schools that are strugglingeither with a certain group of kids, such as students in special educationor the student population as a whole. But states, districts, and schools must employ evidence-based strategies to fix persistent problems. Shelton, for one, wants to see states and districts consider using their federal funds for strategies that have a proven track record thanks to i3.

A version of i3s tiered-evidence framework also became the formal definition of evidence for programs under ESSA as a whole, and certain types of programs, such as those intended to improve teacher effectiveness or turn around the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools.
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
In October 2021, the EIB Board of Directors approved a new framework for the EIBs cohesion action for the period 2021-2027. The new Cohesion Orientation lays the foundation for increasing climate action and environmental lending in poorer regions, fostering innovation and financing for the private sector and ensuring that EIB financing complements EU cohesion policy funds in the new seven-year EU budget.
During this years European Economic Congress held in Katowice, Poland, delegates of the European Investment Bank will participate in various panel sessions. The EIB will also organise a panel discussion dedicated to the Investment Plan for Europe.

Recent studies have revealed an investment gap in Europe: with investment levels of 15% lower than pre-crisis levels, the situation needs to be analysed and re-assessed. This investment gap points to a market failure and a reduced capacity of investors to take risks. In order to remedy this investment gap, to recover from the crisis and to strengthen its global competitiveness, the European Union developed a three pronged strategy known as the Investment Plan for Europe.

Under the EFSI, with EUR 16 billion guarantee from the European Commission and EUR 5 billion from EIBs own resources, the EIB can take on more risk and support not only more projects but also smaller projects hence unlocking often higher-risk investments.

The format of the EIB panel session will be an open discussion on the new financial instruments that are available to corporates to support their growth and investments. Panelists will focus on topics such as quasi-equity, subordinated debt, mezzanine, bond structures and senior loans. We are open to suggestions from panelists regarding their speaking points. The discussion will be preceded by a short EIB presentation and introduction to the Investment Plan for Europe.

Speakers on this panel session will include a delegate from the European Investment Bank, finance executives from different types of top Polish corporates as well as renowned financial advisory and the national development bank, private equity and/or mezzanine fund i.a. BGK, Tauron SA, ZF Polpharma SA, Cyfrowy Polsat SA, KPMG Advisory, Enterprise Investors.

All participants to the EEC are welcome to attend the panel session. Participation to the congress is free of charge but necessitates prior online registration. To register or to consult the full agenda of the Congress: http://www.eecpoland.eu/en/.

For more information on or if you wish to receive an invitation for the EIB panel session, please send an email to events@eib.org mentioning EEC Katowice in the subject line.
La Paz, Mar 23 (EFE).- A joint venture of Bolivian state-owned energy firm YPFB and Venezuelan counterpart PDVSA has come up empty in its search for crude and natural gas in drilling at the Lliquimuni block, a project that Bolivian President Evo Morales has said is highly promising.

YPFB CEO Guillermo Acha confirmed in a statement Tuesday that the Lliquimuni C X-1 well at the Lliquimuni block in the western Bolivian province of La Paz had failed to yield commercially viable quantities of hydrocarbons.

The YPFB Petroandina joint venture, in which YPFB has a majority 60 percent stake and PDVSA the remaining 40 percent interest, drilled that well to a depth of 4,562 meters (14,960 feet), 1,000 meters more than initially scheduled.

The work conducted for more than a year at Lliquimuni, however, yielded results of "great technical value because they verify the existence of an active petroleum system in the block," Acha said, adding that new studies will be conducted and another well could be drilled in the future.

Morales has repeatedly expressed optimism about exploratory work in that remote area, saying he hoped sufficient crude would be discovered to spur the development of the La Paz region.

Those expectations were fueled by initial studies in 2011 indicating the block might hold around 50 million barrels of crude and 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

YPFB Petroandina, a joint venture established in 2007 by close allies Bolivia and Venezuela, recognizes investment in Lliquimuni through 2013 of $151 million, although the press on Tuesday reported significantly higher investment outlays in that block.

The JV says on its Web site that it also carried out exploration work in the southern Bolivian region of Tarija between September 2013 and September 2014, drilling the Timboy X2 well to a depth of 3,970 meters.

Although Tarija is rich in natural gas, the Timboy X2 well also failed to yield commercially viable quantities of oil and natural gas, Hydrocarbons Minister Luis Alberto Sanchez told the Nuevo Sur daily in March 2015.

Bolivia's government assigned YPFB Petroandina a dozen blocks in the Subandino Norte and Subandino Sur basins when the joint venture was formed, but most are no longer being referred to as potential targets for exploration.
La Paz, Mar 23 (EFE).- President Evo Morales on Wednesday announced that his government will sue Chile in the "appropriate international bodies" over water from the Silala springs in southwestern Bolivia.

"Each day, Chile illegally and slyly takes advantage of that natural resources without paying a cent. This abusive and arbitrary act that harms our assets cannot continue," said Morales in a message to the country for the Day of the Sea, which commemorates the 137 years since the loss of Bolivia's Pacific coast in a war with Chile.

The president made the announcement after reviewing the history of the suit that Bolivia filed against Chile in 2013 before the International Court of Justice at The Hague calling for negotiations to allow it to recover its sovereign access to the sea, which was lost in 1879.

Bolivia says that the Silala region, located in Potosi province, contains natural springs whose waters flow into Chile via artificial canals built more than 100 years ago, adding that La Paz several times has demanded compensation from the Chilean government for the water the neighboring country is using.

Chile says that it is drawing the water from an international river, and as such the water does not belong exclusively to Bolivia.

La Paz and Santiago in 2009-2010 negotiated an agreement whereby northern Chilean businesses would begin to pay for the use of the water, but the document was not signed because the Potosi provincial administration also demanded payment for what it called the "historic debt" resulting from using the water for more than a century.

Morales also said that, with the results achieved in the ICJ regarding its demand for an outlet to the sea, Bolivia has demonstrated that "it is highly prepared to undertake the legal defense of its rights in any scenario for a peaceful solution."

The president once again emphasized the September 2015 ruling of the ICJ justices rejecting a Chilean objection and declaring themselves authorized to analyze Bolivia's long-standing maritime dispute.

In the 1879 war, Chilean troops captured 400 km (250 mi.) of Bolivian coastline and 120,000 square km (more than 46,000 square mi.) of territory.
Brussels, Belgium

Explosions have hit Brussels airport and a main metro station, Belgian officials say, and, according to news reports and the transit agency, at least 26 people have been killed. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to the SITE intelligence group and others who monitor terrorist activity.

"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said during a televised news conference. "We were hit by blind attacks."

There were two explosions at Zaventem airport at about 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) near the check-in desks at the departure terminal. VTM, a Belgian broadcaster, reported at least 11 people were killed at the airport. VRT, another broadcaster, put the toll at the airport at 14 people killed.

An hour later, a blast hit Maelbeek station. STIB-MIVB, the Brussels Metro operator, said 15 people were killed at Maelbeek and 55 wounded. But Yvan Mayeur, the Brussels mayor, told a news conference that at least 20 people had been killed at the station, but it is "too early to say exactly what the number of victims will be." More than 100 people were injured there, he said.

The numbers are provisional and are likely to increase.

Michel said the airport explosion was caused by a suicide bomber. At the news conference, Fredere Van Leeuw, the Belgian federal prosecutor, said the explosions were terrorist attacks. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through its through its Amaq News Agency.

In response to the attacks, Zaventem airport was closed and 200 flights in and out of the city were canceled. The city's public transportation and main train stations were also closed. Belgium raised its terror-threat level from three to four, the maximum level, and Van Leeuw's office said federal prosecutor's anti-terrorism unit has opened a criminal investigation into the explosions. Police were searching for suspects in the Schaerbeek district, RTBF reported.

Michel, the prime minister, asked residents of Brussels to stay in place. Education Minister Hilde Crevits told VTM that parents should wait to collect their children from school at the normal time.

"Your children are secure and safe at school," she said.

Tuesday's attacks come four days after the capture of Salah Abdeslam, the accused logistical planner of the Paris attacks, in Brussels. Belgium's capital has been on edge since the November 15, 2015, attack that killed 130 people in Paris, an operation organized by the Islamic State. Many of the attackers were Belgian nationals or residents. As my colleague David Graham has previously noted, Belgium has become Europe's hub for Islamist radicals. Belgian officials warned their country's citizens of a serious, imminent threat of terrorism, and later cancelled the New Year's Eve fireworks in the capital. Those fears now appear realized.

Cities across Europe tightened security in the wake of the attacks.

In Britain and in France, officials deployed thousands more police across cities.

"As a precaution forces across the UK have increased policing presence at key locations, including transports hubs, to protect the public, and provide reassurance," said Mark Rowley, the top British Metropolitan police officer in charge of special operations.

Britain was on alert for a follow-up attack, and left its terrorism warning level at severe, deeming London one of the most likely areas for potential attack. Rowley said the additional officers will "carry out highly visible patrols" around the city and its transport system to deter a follow up.

France deployed an additional 1,600 officers to reinforce security at its borders. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said another 400 officers will patrol Paris, and military will guard public transport areas.

Condemnation of the attacks was swift. Statements were issued by Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, who said the attacks "mark another low by the terrorists." Margaritis Schinas, a spokesman for the European Commission, said: "We stand together, united against terror and in full solidarity with the people of Brussels."

French President Francois Hollande, who just days ago had reveled in the capture in Belgium of the man who planned the Paris attacks last November, said Tuesday that though the attack was on Brussels, all of Europe had been hit.

Anne Hidalgo, the Paris mayor, said the Eiffel Tower would be illuminated Tuesday night with the Belgian flag.

NATO called the attack "cowardly," Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attacks "barbaric," German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman called it "vile," and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "outraged."

THE U.S. RESPONSE

President Obama, who is visiting Cuba, addressed the attacks moments before he spoke to the Cuban people.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium," the president said. "This is yet another reminder that the world must unite in fighting against the scourge of terrorism."

He added: "We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people around the world."

Obama also spoke to Michel to offer his condolences and assistance.

The U.S. Embassy in Brussels asked American citizens to shelter in place and avoid public transportation.
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London.

08:11, 22 OCT 2022
ZIS Wadenswil? Hi all,



I currently live in New York City and I am looking to take a 2 year assignment in Zurich. My wife and I have 3 boys (ages 8, 5, and 2). I have some questions about applying to international schools, particularly ZIS Wadenswil. Any help is greatly appreciated. My basic questions are:



1) Where do most people who attend ZIS Wadenswil live? I am not yet familiar with the neighborhoods. My office would be located in Sihlcity Centre.



2) Do most expats own a car, or can you easily get around on public transportation?



3) Are there other international schools we should be considering? Our boys only speak English, which is our main reason for looking at International schools.



Thank you in advance.



Jim
Nintendo's Wii U is on its way out.

The Mario imprint launched its duel-screen tablet/console system back in 2012, and as of Tuesday, it looks as if the gaming giant is winding down production for the Wii's offspring.

Nintendo has yet to confirm the rumors, but according to Japan's tech insider Nikkei, the company has already stopped supplying certain accessories. The Wii U never quite took off like its incredibly popular predecessor, and it will soon be replaced by a potential 2017 consol.

Unlike another systems at the time, the Wii U featured a handheld controller with an embedded touch screen. Designed to either stand on its own or work in tandem with the classic television set up, the tablet-esque hybrid gave gamers a fresh breath of versatility. Unfortunately, the system undersold the original Wii by nearly 90 million units.

The duel nature of the consol, however, appears to be something Nintendo is willing to build upon with its next release. Set to drop in 2016 and 2017, the two-piece NX system is expected to have a portable component in addition to the traditional home consol (2017), according to IGN.

Nintendo is also currently edging its way into the world of mobile gaming. Although initial speculation panned the company's upcoming Miitomi app as merely another social app, the release has soared to the top of the charts following its late March release in Japan. Set to hit US phones by the end of the month, Miitomi is just the tip of the iceberg for Nintendo's foray into the mobile world.

Are you sad to see the Wii U era come to an end, or are you hoping the NX will be everything you've been waiting for since the original Wii? Sound off in the poll below!
Amandla Stenberg spent the Hunger Games fighting back against a murderous government, but when the actress appears in The Hate U Give, she will be battling a very different type of injustice.

Angela Thomas' YA novel has yet to hit the bookstores, but Fox 2000 has already scooped up the rights to the story. Stenberg stole our hearts as the innocent Rue back in 2012, and in Fox's adaptation of The Hate U Give, the 17-year-old actress will take on the role of Starr.

The Hate U Give is a timely tale set to the backdrop of the Black Lives Matters movement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The story revolves around Starr, a 16-year-old girl from the inner city who finds her life turned upside down when she sees her unarmed friend shot by police. Currently attending a suburban prep school, Starr will quickly find herself torn between her two very different worlds.

The film will be directed by George Tillman Jr. (Men of Honor, The Longest Ride) and adapted by Audrey Wells (Under the Tuscan Sun).

Thomas took to Twitter to celebrate the good news on Tuesday afternoon.

Guys, I'm in tears. This is a dream come true. And I have an AMAZING team who is going to make this happen. I'm forever grateful.  Angela Thomas (@acthomaswrites) March 23, 2016

The best part of all of this? Kids in my neighborhood and kids who look like me will know that their dreams CAN come true. I'm crying, man.  Angela Thomas (@acthomaswrites) March 23, 2016

And of course @amandlastenberg. I'm thrilled beyond words that such a talented & intelligent person will be bringing Starr to life on screen  Angela Thomas (@acthomaswrites) March 23, 2016

Outside of the Hunger Games, Stenberg has stared in Mr. Robinson and Rio 2.

The Hate U Give does not currently have a projected release date.
While many South African consumers have started to feel the economic pinch in recent months, the demand for accommodation in the greater Johannesburg area has continued unabated, and this has ensured that the residential rental property market in much of the region has remained robust.

The letting market in certain centres also continues to be stimulated by multi-national corporates seeking upmarket homes for their employees.

So says Rupert Finnemore, the regional head of Pam Golding Properties in Gauteng. According to Finnemore, Johannesburg, the economic powerhouse of South Africa, is continuing to attract visitors from all over the world, as well as multinational companies seeking to create a presence for themselves on the continent. He points out that the executives and representatives of these companies require suitable, upmarket accommodation while working in the country.

Over the last 10 years there has been an increasing demand from corporates from all over the world to rent residential properties for their employees and their families in Johannesburg, Sandton and the northern suburbs. Many of these organisations rent homes on behalf of their staff, while others provide a rental allowance which enables their executives to find their own accommodation.

Whatever the case, there is little doubt that the demand from corporates and their employees is assisting to drive the upmarket segment of the rental property in certain desirable suburbs of Johannesburg, and investors have been able to take advantage of the excellent buy-to-rent opportunities that have been available in such areas.

According to Finnemore, corporate rental clients of Pam Golding Properties are from leading companies from a range of sectors. The corporates are for the most part multinational companies that in some cases are seeking to accommodate hundreds of employees.
MINNEAPOLIS - Exercise in older people is associated with a slower rate of decline in thinking skills that occurs with aging. People who reported light to no exercise experienced a decline equal to 10 more years of aging as compared to people who reported moderate to intense exercise, according to a population-based observational study published in the March 23, 2016, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"The number of people over the age of 65 in the United States is on the rise, meaning the public health burden of thinking and memory problems will likely grow," said study author Clinton B. Wright, MD, MS, of the University of Miami in Miami, Fla., and member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our study showed that for older people, getting regular exercise may be protective, helping them keep their cognitive abilities longer."

For the study, researchers looked at data on 876 people enrolled in the Northern Manhattan Study who were asked how long and how often they exercised during the two weeks prior to that date. An average of seven years later, each person was given tests of memory and thinking skills and a brain MRI, and five years after that they took the memory and thinking tests again.

Of the group, 90 percent reported light exercise or no exercise. Light exercise could include activities such as walking and yoga. They were placed in the low activity group. The remaining 10 percent reported moderate to high intensity exercise, which could include activities such as running, aerobics, or calisthenics. They were placed in the high activity group.

When looking at people who had no signs of memory and thinking problems at the start of the study, researchers found that those reporting low activity levels showed a greater decline over five years compared to those with high activity levels on tests of how fast they could perform simple tasks and how many words they could remember from a list. The difference was equal to that of 10 years of aging. The difference also remained after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect brain health, such as smoking, alcohol use, high blood pressure and body mass index.

"Physical activity is an attractive option to reduce the burden of cognitive impairment in public health because it is low cost and doesn't interfere with medications," said Wright. "Our results suggest that moderate to intense exercise may help older people delay aging of the brain, but more research from randomized clinical trials comparing exercise programs to more sedentary activity is needed to confirm these results."

###

The study was a collaboration between the University of Miami and Columbia University and was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

To learn more about brain health, please visit http://www.aan.com/patients.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of 30,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.
New research shows patients with a history of chest discomfort due to coronary artery disease -- a build up of plaque in the heart's arteries -- who are subsequently diagnosed with depression are much more likely to suffer a heart attack or die compared with those who are not depressed. The study, scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

These results are in line with previous research showing that depression is associated with worse outcomes after a heart attack or bypass surgery. But this is the first large population study to look at how a new diagnosis of depression might affect people with coronary heart disease, according to researchers.

The study included 22,917 patients from 19 medical centers in Ontario, Canada, who received a diagnosis of stable coronary artery disease following coronary angiogram for chest pain (chronic stable angina) between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2013. Individuals with CAD who were found to be depressed were 83 percent more likely to die of any cause compared with those with the same condition who were not depressed during follow-up (average of three years). They were also 36 percent more likely to present at a hospital having a heart attack during the same time period. Depression did not, however, impact the likelihood of needing bypass surgery or coronary stent placements.

"Patients who develop depression after being diagnosed with heart disease have a much worse prognosis," said Natalie Szpakowski, M.D., an internal medicine resident at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study. "Our findings suggest that these patients may need to be screened for mood disorders, whether it's by their family doctor or cardiologist."

She said that because there was no interval of time within which these patients were more likely to develop depression, any screening should be done at regular intervals of time to avoid missed opportunities to intervene.

Patients diagnosed with depression were more likely to be women and report more severe chest pain based on a validated angina scale. Other factors that predicted depression included smoking, diabetes or having a greater number of co-existing medical conditions.

"This is consistent with the literature in that women are more prone to depression, whether it's due to sex hormones or social roles we don't fully know," Szpakowski said. "Other studies have also found that more severe chest pain has been linked to depression, and we know people with more medical illnesses are more susceptible to being depressed."

To be included in this study, patients had to show evidence of more than 70 percent narrowing in the arteries of the heart and more than 50 percent in the left main coronary artery. Researchers excluded patients if they had a history of depression or ever had a heart attack, other cardiac event requiring hospitalization, bypass surgery or a stent placed. Physician billing codes and hospital admissions were used to determine new diagnoses of major depression. Data was collected for all-cause mortality and time to readmission for heart attack and revascularization, and analyses controlled for other cardiovascular risk factors.

"Based on these findings, there may be an opportunity to improve outcomes in people with coronary heart disease by screening for and treating mood disorders, but this needs to be further studied," Szpakowski said. "Stable chronic angina due to narrowing of the coronary arteries is common, and our findings show that many of these patients struggle with depression. Our follow-up was at most five years, so many more might be affected."

Szpakowski said she cautions that the study design may have captured patients with psychosocial distress in addition to major depressive disorder. She said this could have diluted the findings, meaning that the impact of depression on outcomes could be even stronger in patients with true depression. The research is also restricted to patients who had a coronary angiogram, who may have had more severe disease or symptoms.

Additional studies are needed to evaluate the utility of screening for and treating depression in this population. The study was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

###

The study, "Clinical Consequences Of A New Diagnosis Of Major Depressive Disorder In Patients With Stable Ischemic Heart Disease," will be presented on April 4, 2016, at 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. ET/4:15 p.m. UTC at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago. The meeting runs April 2-4.

The ACC's Annual Scientific Session, which in 2016 will be April 2-4 in Chicago, brings together cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists from around the world to share the newest discoveries in treatment and prevention. Follow @ACCMediaCenter and #ACC16 for the latest news from the meeting.

The American College of Cardiology is a 52,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications.

###

Szpakowski will present the study, "Clinical Consequences Of A New Diagnosis Of Major Depressive Disorder In Patients With Stable Ischemic Heart Disease," on Monday, April 4, 2016, at 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. ET/4:15 p.m. UTC at the Stable Ischemic Heart Disease Moderated Poster Theater, Poster Area, South Hall A1.

An additional study of interest on this topic, "Impact of Depression on Mortality Following Myocardial Infarction," will be presented by Dr. Jens Sundboll on Saturday, April 2, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. UTC at the Acute Coronary Syndromes Moderated Poster Theater, Poster Area, South Hall A1.
Chest pain and shortness of breath are the most common symptoms reported by both women and men with suspected heart disease, a finding that is in contrast to prior data, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

The study, which includes one of the largest cohorts of women ever enrolled in a heart disease study, also found that women had a greater number of risk factors for heart disease than men, yet these women were more likely to be characterized as lower risk not only by their health care providers, but also by scores that objectively measure and predict heart disease risk.

"The most important take-home message for women from this study is that their risk factors for heart disease are different from men's, but in most cases symptoms of possible blockages in the heart's arteries are the same as those seen in men," said Kshipra Hemal of the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, and lead author of the study.

The finding that women have more risk factors for heart disease than men means measures to reduce risk need to be a priority for women, as well as men, Hemal said.

Some previous studies have suggested that women having a heart attack are less likely to have classic symptoms such as chest pain and more likely to have atypical symptoms such as back pain, abdominal pain and fatigue that may be less readily recognized as heart attack symptoms. Hemal and her colleagues sought to shed light on a different group of patients--those without a prior heart disease diagnosis who were being evaluated for symptoms suggestive of heart disease. Few studies, mostly several decades old, have examined sex differences in this group of patients.

The Prospective Multicenter Imaging Study for Evaluation of Chest Pain (PROMISE), a randomized trial conducted at 193 centers in the United States and Canada, enrolled 10,003 patients, of whom more than 5,200 were women. Half of the patients were randomly selected to receive a heart CT scan, which generates 3-D images of the heart's arteries that doctors can use to noninvasively assess the degree of narrowing. The rest received a functional or stress test--an exercise electrocardiogram, stress echocardiography or nuclear stress test--used to track the heart's response to stress. Hemal and her colleagues examined patient data to assess differences between women and men in age, race or ethnicity, risk factors, symptoms, evaluation and test results.

The study found that, compared with men, women were older (average age 62 vs. 59 for men), more often non-white, less likely to smoke or be overweight, and more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a history of stroke, a sedentary lifestyle, a family history of early-onset heart disease and a history of depression. Chest pain was the primary symptom for 73.2 percent of women and 72.3 percent of men. The two sexes, however, described this pain differently--women were more likely to describe it as "crushing," "pressure," "squeezing" or "tightness, " whereas men were more likely to describe it as "aching," "dull," "burning" or "pins and needles." Equal proportions of women and men (15 percent) reported shortness of breath as a symptom.

Although women were more likely than men to have back pain, neck or jaw pain, or palpitations as their primary symptom, the percentage of patients of both sexes reporting these symptoms was very small (1 percent of women vs. 0.6 percent of men for back pain, 1.4 percent of women vs. 0.7 percent of men for neck or jaw pain, 2.7 percent of women vs. 2 percent of men for palpitations).

Women had lower scores than men on heart disease risk-assessment scores, suggesting a lower risk of heart disease, and before any diagnostic tests were conducted, health care providers were more likely to consider that women probably did not have heart disease. Nontraditional risk factors such as depression, sedentary lifestyle and family history of early-onset heart disease--risk factors that in this study were more commonly found in women than in men--are excluded from most risk-assessment questionnaires, however.

"For health care providers, this study shows the importance of taking into account the differences between women and men throughout the entire diagnostic process for suspected heart disease," Hemal said. "Providers also need to know that, in the vast majority of cases, women and men with suspected heart disease have the same symptoms."

Women were more likely than men to be referred for a stress echocardiography or nuclear stress test and less likely than men (9.7 percent vs. 15.1 percent) to have a positive test. Factors predicting a positive test differed for women compared with men. In women, body mass index and score on one of five risk-assessment questionnaires (the Framingham risk score) predicted a positive test, whereas in men scores on two risk-assessment questionnaires (the Framingham and modified Diamond-Forrester risk scores) predicted a positive test.

"The fact that this is one of the largest cohorts of women ever evaluated in a heart disease study lends validity to our findings," Hemal said. A limitation of the study is that it looks only at the diagnostic process and not at whether there are differences between women and men in numbers of heart attacks or in outcomes from heart attacks, she said.

"The next step in this research will be to examine whether and how the differences we have identified between women and men influence outcomes," she said.

###

The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Pamela S. Douglas, M.D., led the study team.

The study, "Sex Differences in Demographics, Risk Factors and Presentation in Stable Contemporary Outpatients With Suspected Coronary Artery Disease: Insights From the PROMISE Trial," will be presented on Sunday, April 3, 2016, at 12:45 p.m. CT/1:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. UTC at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago. The meeting runs April 2-4.

The study is being published simultaneously in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.

The same research team will present "Sex Differences in Noninvasive Diagnostic Testing Results and Prognosis in Symptomatic Patients With Suspected Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): Insights From the PROMISE Trial" on Monday, April 4, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. CT/3:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. UTC in the Grand Ballroom S100bc. This study looks at the prognostic value of CTA versus stress tests in evaluating suspected heart disease in men and women.

The ACC's Annual Scientific Session, which in 2016 will be April 2-4 in Chicago, brings together cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists from around the world to share the newest discoveries in treatment and prevention. Follow @ACCMediaCenter and #ACC16 for the latest news from the meeting.

The American College of Cardiology is a 52,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications.

Hemal will present the study, "Sex Differences in Demographics, Risk Factors and Presentation in Stable Contemporary Outpatients With Suspected Coronary Artery Disease: Insights From the PROMISE Trial," on Sunday, April 3, 2016, at 12:45 p.m. CT/1:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. UTC at the Stable Ischemic Heart Disease Moderated Poster Theater, Poster Area, South Hall A1.

Several other studies being presented at ACC.16 highlight the differences in women and men, including:
Bethesda, MD (March 22, 2016) -- While early antibiotic use has been associated with a number of rare long-term health consequences, new research links antibiotics to one of the most important and growing public health problems worldwide -- obesity. A study1 published online in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, found that administration of three or more courses of antibiotics before children reach an age of 2 years is associated with an increased risk of early childhood obesity.

"Antibiotics have been used to promote weight gain in livestock for several decades, and our research confirms that antibiotics have the same effect in humans," said Frank Irving Scott, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of medicine at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, and adjunct scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. "Our results do not imply that antibiotics should not be used when necessary, but rather encourage both physicians and parents to think twice about antibiotic usage in infants in the absence of well-established indications."

The researchers performed a large population-representative cohort study in the United Kingdom to assess the association between antibiotic exposure before age 2 years and obesity at age 4 years. Children with antibiotic exposure had a 1.2 percent absolute and 25 percent relative increase in the risk of early childhood obesity. Risk is strongest when considering repeat exposures to antibiotics, particularly with three or more courses.

"Our work supports the theory that antibiotics may progressively alter the composition and function of the gut microbiome, thereby predisposing children to obesity as is seen in livestock and animal models," added Dr. Scott.

Antibiotics are prescribed during an estimated 49 million pediatric outpatient visits per year in the U.S. A large portion of these prescriptions (more than 10 million annually) are written for children without clear indication, despite increased awareness of the societal risks of antibiotic resistance, as well as other tangible risks, including dermatologic, allergic and infectious complications; inflammatory bowel disease; and autoimmune conditions.

Further research is required to assess whether these findings remain into adolescence and young adulthood, as well as to determine if early antibiotic usage leads to later-onset obesity. Research should also examine whether specific classes of antibiotics are more strongly associated with subsequent obesity.

The American Gastroenterological Association, through its Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education, will continue to promote and share research related to antibiotics and obesity, and their relation to the gut microbiome.

###

To speak with a member of the center's strategic advisory board, contact media@gastro.org.

1 Scott FI, Horton DB, Mamtani R, Haynes K, Goldberg DS, Lee DY, Lewis JD, Administration of Antibiotics to Children Before Age 2 Years Increases Risk for Childhood Obesity, Gastroenterology (2016), doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.03.006. http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(16)00352-8/abstract

About the AGA Institute

The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include more than 16,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization. http://www.gastro.org.

About Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology, the official journal of the AGA Institute, is the most prominent scientific journal in the specialty and is in the top 1 percent of indexed medical journals internationally. The journal publishes clinical and basic science studies of all aspects of the digestive system, including the liver and pancreas, as well as nutrition. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Chemical Abstracts, Current Contents, Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus, Nutrition Abstracts and Science Citation Index. For more information, visit http://www.gastrojournal.org.

Like AGA and Gastroenterology on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @AmerGastroAssn. Check out our videos on YouTube.
Rather like an uncontacted tribe living deep in the Amazon rainforest or on an island in Oceania, WLM offers a rare insight into the primordial nature of galaxies that have been little disturbed by their environment.

WLM was discovered in 1909 by German astronomer Max Wolf, and identified as a galaxy some fifteen years later by astronomers Knut Lundmark and Philibert Jacques Melotte -- explaining the galaxy's unusual moniker. The dim galaxy is located in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster) about three million light-years away from the Milky Way, which is one of the three dominant spiral galaxies in the Local Group.

WLM is quite small and lacks structure, hence its classification as a dwarf irregular galaxy. WLM spans about 8000 light-years at its greatest extent, a measurement that includes a halo of extremely old stars discovered in 1996 eso9633.

Astronomers think that comparatively small primeval galaxies gravitationally interacted with each other and in many cases merged, building up into larger composite galaxies. Over billions of years, this merging process assembled the large spiral and elliptical galaxies that now appear to be common in the modern Universe. Galaxies congregating in this manner is similar to the way in which human populations have shifted over thousands of years and intermixed into larger settlements, eventually giving rise to today's megacities.

WLM has instead developed on its own, away from the influence of other galaxies and their stellar populations. Accordingly, like a hidden human population with limited contact with outsiders, WLM represents a relatively unperturbed "state of nature", where any changes occurring over its lifetime have taken place largely independent of activity elsewhere.

This small galaxy features an extended halo of very dim red stars, which stretches out into the inky blackness of the surrounding space. This reddish hue is indicative of advanced stellar age. It is likely that the halo dates back to the original formation of the galaxy itself, helpfully offering clues about the mechanisms that spawned the very first galaxies.

The stars at the centre of WLM, meanwhile, appear younger and bluer in colour. In this image, pinkish clouds highlight areas where the intense light from young stars has ionised ambient hydrogen gas, making it glow in a characteristic shade of red.

This detailed image was captured by the OmegaCAM wide-field imager, a huge camera mounted on ESO's VLT Survey Telescope ( in Chile -- a 2.6-metre telescope exclusively designed to survey the night sky in visible light. OmegaCAM's 32 CCD detectors create 256-megapixel images, offering a very detailed wide-field view of the cosmos.

###

More information

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Links

Photos of the VST -- http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/?adv=&subject_name=VLT%20Survey%20Telescope

Other images from the VST -- http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/?adv=&facility=62

Contacts

Richard Hook

ESO education and Public Outreach Department

Garching bei Munchen, Germany

Tel: +49 89 3200 6655

Cell: +49 151 1537 3591

Email: rhook@eso.org
The internal movements of proteins can be important for their functionality; researchers are discovering more and more examples of this. With the aid of neutron spectroscopy, dynamic processes have now also been detected in so-called 'LOV photoreceptors'

This news release is available in German.

The internal movements of proteins can be important for their functionality; researchers are discovering more and more examples of this. Now, with the aid of neutron spectroscopy, dynamic processes have also been detected in so-called "LOV photoreceptors" by scientists from Julich, Aachen, Dusseldorf and Garching near Munich. These proteins are widely distributed throughout nature and are of biotechnological relevance. The results highlight the immense potential of neutron scattering experiments for the analysis of cellular processes. The research has recently been published in Biophysical Journal (DOI:10.1016/j.bpj.2016.01.021).

LOV proteins are very popular with molecular biologists; with their help, it is possible to turn biological processes on and off almost at the flick of a switch. When coupled with other proteins, it is possible to control these proteins with light, and to study the metabolic processes in the modified cells. The rather emotional-sounding name of this biological switch has a mundane origin; it is merely an acronym for light, oxygen and voltage -- its full name being "flavin-binding light, oxygen, voltage photoreceptor".

In nature, light-sensitive protein molecules stimulate biological processes, for example, the growth of plants towards light and the production of photosynthesis pigments in bacteria, when light falls on them. Their wide distribution in nature and their technological usefulness result partly from the fact that they function in a modular way: the switching function can be combined with many other processes.

The first experiments on LOV proteins using neutron scattering at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching have now shown the importance of the internal movements of these biomolecules for their functionality. The scientists analysed one such receptor from the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida with a temporal resolution on the nano- and picosecond timescales. "We found more intense movements in unexposed proteins than in those exposed to light", explained Dr. Andreas Stadler of the Institute of Complex Systems and Julich Centre for Neutron Science at Forschungszentrum Julich. "The exposed version is stiffer, especially in certain specific areas."

In order to find out which areas of the protein are in motion, the researchers compared their neutron analyses with structural information already obtained from X-ray experiments with crystallized LOV proteins, and then simulated possible movements on a computer. This was necessary because neutrons are not able to register the movements of individual parts of protein molecules, but only the averaged movements of all proteins in the sample. For this reason, further experiments are always needed to ensure the correct interpretation of results. "If used appropriately, as in this case, neutrons can demonstrate their full capabilities and provide unique insights into the functions of biological processes," enthused Stadler.

In the case of the LOV proteins analysed, it was already understood that two protein molecules would together form a functional unit. Their shape, in an active exposed state, looks a little like a rabbit's head with pointed ears. In their non-active, non-exposed state, the "rabbit ears" hang downwards. The movements which the researchers have now discovered in the non-exposed proteins coincide exactly with the idea that this state is more flexible and mobile, whereas the upright "ears" are indeed stiffer and more rigid.

From earlier experiments, it was also already clear that the light-active centre was located in the "cheek" area of the protein's "rabbit head". On exposure to light, a chemical bond results between the light-active centre and a particular position on the protein backbone. The scientists now assume that the creation of this bond leads to structural alterations, which spread through the protein up to the "ears", triggering their stiffening and simultaneous twisting. The "ears" presumably constitute the actual switch, which can activate or deactivate the interconnected proteins.

Neutrons offer numerous advantages over other methods in the analysis of proteins, and can provide significant complementary information. Proteins do not have to be dyed, crystallized, or altered in any way in order to perform experiments on them. Moreover, the process is very gentle on the samples, which can then be observed for longer time periods. Last but not least, light atoms in molecules such as hydrogen, for instance, can be detected more easily, even in the natural environment of proteins -- aqueous solutions.

###

Image: Stages of the movement of a LOV protein Superimposed stages of the movement of a LOV protein (foreground), generated by molecular dynamic simulation. The red areas show the initial position; the blue indicates the final position. A functional unit is made up of two LOV domains - the second can be seen in the background as the semi-transparent image. The light-absorbing centres of the protein are depicted in both subunits as ball-and-stick models. Copyright: Forschungszentrum Julich/M. Bocola, RWTH Aachen

Original publication: Photoactivation reduces side-chain dynamics of a LOV photoreceptor; A. Stadler et al.; Biophysical Journal, Volume 10, March 2016, 1061-1074, DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.01.021

Further information:

http://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/ - Forschungszentrum Julich

http://www.fz-juelich.de/ics/EN/ - Institute of Complex Systems

http://www.fz-juelich.de/jcns/EN/ - Julich Centre for Neutron Science

http://www.iet.uni-duesseldorf.de/en.html - Institute of Molecular Enzymtechnology

http://www.biotec.rwth-aachen.de/index.php?page=home - Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen

http://mlz-garching.de/englisch - Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum

Contact:

Dr. Andreas Stadler

Forschungszentrum Julich

Julich Centre for Neutron Science - Neutron Scattering (ICS-1/JCNS-1)

Tel. +49 2461 61-4502

E-Mail: a.stadler@fz-juelich.de

Press contact:

Angela Wenzik

Science Journalist

Forschungszentrum Julich,

Tel. +49 2461 61-6048

E-Mail: a.wenzik@fz-juelich.de
Research led by Johns Hopkins University scientists has found new persuasive evidence that could help solve a longstanding mystery in astrophysics: Why did the pace of star formation in the universe slow down some 11 billion years ago?

A paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society finds evidence supporting the argument that the answer was energy feedback from quasars within the galaxies where stars are born. That is, intense radiation and galaxy-scale winds emitted by the quasars - the most luminous objects in the universe - heats up clouds of dust and gas. The heat prevents that material from cooling and forming more dense clouds, and eventually stars.

"I would argue that this is the first convincing observational evidence of the presence of quasar feedback when the universe was only a quarter of its present age, when the cosmic star formation was most vigorous," said Tobias Marriage, an assistant professor in the university's Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy. While the findings appearing in the journal published by the Oxford University Press are not conclusive, Marriage said, the evidence is very compelling and has scientists excited.

"It's like finding a smoking gun with fingerprints near the body, but not finding the bullet to match the gun," Marriage said.

Specifically, investigators looked at information on 17,468 galaxies and found a tracer of energy known as the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect. The phenomenon, named for two Russian physicists who predicted it nearly 50 years ago, appears when high-energy electrons disturb the Cosmic Microwave Background. The CMB is a pervasive sea of microwave radiation, a remnant from the superheated birth of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago.

Devin Crichton, a Johns Hopkins graduate student and the paper's lead author, said the thermal energy levels were analyzed to see if they rise above predictions for what it would take to stop star formation. A large number of galaxies were studied to give the study statistical heft, he said.

"For feedback to turn off star formation, it must be occurring broadly," said Crichton, one of five Johns Hopkins scientists who led the work conducted by a total of 23 investigators from 18 institutions. Most of the scientists are members of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration, named for one of the three instruments used in the study.

To take the faint temperature measurements that would show the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect, the scientists used information gathered by two ground-based telescopes and one receiver mounted on a space observatory. Using several instruments with different strengths in search of the SZ Effect is relatively new, Marriage said.

"It's a pretty wild sort of thermometer," he said.

Information gathered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by an optical telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico was used to find the quasars. Thermal energy and evidence of the SZ Effect were found using information from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, an instrument designed to study the CMB that stands in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. To focus on the dust, investigators used data from the SPIRE, or Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver, on the Herschel Space Observatory.

Galaxies reached their busiest star-making pace about 11 billion years ago, then slowed down. A team of astronomers more than three years ago estimated that the pace of star formation is one-thirtieth as fast as when it peaked. Scientists have puzzled for years over the question of what happened. The chief suspect has been the feedback process, Marriage said.

Nadia L. Zakamska, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins and one of the report's co-authors, said it is only in the last few years that evidence of this phenomenon from direct observation has been compiled. The SZ Effect, she said, is a novel approach to the subject, making clearer the full effect of galactic wind on the surrounding galaxy.

"Unlike all other methods that are probing small clumps within the wind, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect is sensitive to the bulk of the wind, the extremely hot plasma that's filling the volume of the wind and is completely undetectable using any other technique," she said.

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The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, awards AST-0408698 and AST-0965625, PHY-0855887 and PHY-1214379. Funding also provided by Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania and a Canada Foundation for Innovation award.
The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), has named 10 finalists for the second annual Community College Innovation Challenge, which fosters the development of crucial innovation skills among students.

The Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) calls on students enrolled in community colleges to propose innovative solutions based in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in order to address perplexing, real-world problems. All of the finalists submitted videos describing their proposals.

"Community colleges provide a unique avenue for developing our STEM workforce and broadening participation, and the CCIC is a platform that highlights the innovative efforts of students and professors to enhance their knowledge and contribute to solving challenging issues," said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, NSF's assistant director for Education and Human Resources.

Community colleges play an important part in developing America's technical workforce. They do so in part by involving underrepresented groups in science and recognizing the importance of mentoring students for STEM careers. Many graduates become highly valued employees in a variety of fields, supporting industry's need for an educated and technologically proficient workforce.

"AACC is proud to partner with NSF on the Community College Innovation Challenge in recognizing the exemplary efforts of community college students in developing STEM solutions to real-world problems around the nexus of food, energy and water systems," said Walter G. Bumphus, President and CEO of AACC. "The 10 CCIC finalist teams are implementing thoughtful and innovative STEM research that contributes to scientific discovery, progress and a more sustainable future."

This year's CCIC focused on a priority area of research for NSF: the Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems (INFEWS) program, which seeks new ways to help society deal with growing resource demands. Through INFEWS, NSF has invested nearly $75 million in multidisciplinary research. Many of this year's finalist projects focused on sustainable water resources, an area of research that NSF and other federal agencies pledged to support this week at the White House Water Summit.

Students who participate in CCIC will contribute to this national effort, and benefit from prizes and professional development opportunities.

The 10 finalists are:

Northeast Community College, Nebraska: CROP-IT Solution to Regulate Irrigation Equipment

This multi-year effort will collect and compare data on water management from Northeast Community College's farm to optimize crop yield and minimize water and energy usage.

Tulsa Community College, Oklahoma: Automated Microfluidic Colorimetry Lab for Aquaponic Monitoring (AMCLAM)

Team AMCLAM is developing an inexpensive, fast means to monitor water chemistry and quality, which has the potential to assist with large-scale aquaponic food production.

Normandale Community College, Minnesota: Wastewater Hydrokinetic Turbine

A team of engineering students from Normandale Community College propose to install and implement hydrokinetic turbines in wastewater treatment plants to generate renewable energy.

Perimeter College at Georgia State University, Georgia: Autonomous Technology Lake Algae Skimmer

A team of Perimeter College students seeks to address the problem of algal blooms that threaten water ecosystems through the development of an autonomous algal skimmer.

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Wisconsin: Junk Yard Generator

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College's Junk Yard Generator project explores the creation and use of a zero carbon emission source of energy that will not pollute air or water.

Forsyth Technical Community College, North Carolina: Energy Efficient Nanotech Solar Greenhouse

The Forsyth Technical Community College team proposes a way to modernize today's greenhouses to fit individual customer needs by incorporating the use of renewable energy sources.

Henry Ford College, Michigan: Rescue Restaurant Food Waste to Address Hunger

In the U.S., 40 percent of food goes uneaten -- and restaurants account for 37 percent of that food waste. The Henry Ford College team proposes to develop a compact, easy-to-use, self-automated food preserving machine for restaurants.

Red Rocks Community College, Colorado: Cooling Tower Blow Down Water Conservation

The Cooling Tower Blow Down Water Conservation design provides a method to substantially reduce the amount of water used by air conditioning for large buildings.

Bucks County Community College, Pennsylvania: The Wind Catcher Max Wind Tower

The Wind Catcher Max Wind Tower offers an alternative energy solution that recycles water. Its construction is lighter and more transportable than standard wind towers and takes up less land than solar panels.

Virginia Western Community College, Virginia: Efficient Mechanical Collection Method of Recovering Waste Apples

The team proposes a mechanical collection method of recovering apples that otherwise could not be sold to produce an environmentally-friendly biofuel, allowing more efficient use of U.S. orchards and new economic opportunities for apple producers.

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A store's decision to sell organic food depends on its neighborhood demographics, and the range of organic foods offered for sale is linked to the size of the store, finds research by NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

The study, which focuses on New York City stores and is published in the Journal of Food Products Marketing, is among the first to provide an understanding of the factors that influence the range of organic food products offered by retailers.

Retail sales of organic food products have been increasing faster than any other category of food, reaching $37 billion in 2015, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. Organic foods are no longer just available in specialty stores, but have penetrated mainstream grocery stores and convenience stores.

While the market for organic food continues to grow, access to it remains a stumbling block for many potential buyers. In addition, the majority of research on organic markets has looked at the characteristics of consumers and what factors, such as level of education, affect their likelihood of buying organic food.

"The amount and variety of organic foods purchased are affected by both consumer preferences and the availability and affordability of organic foods," said study author Carolyn Dimitri, associate professor of food studies at NYU Steinhardt.

In this study, the researchers focus on the retailer's decision to stock and sell organic food. They approached this decision as two-stage process: whether to offer organic food, and how many different organic products to sell.

Rather than gathering data using supermarket scanners or sales records, the researchers and a group of NYU Steinhardt food studies students paid visits to a total of 1,256 food stores in Manhattan. They looked for a list of 24 organic food items - including apples, carrots, potatoes, eggs, chicken, and milk - to track how many of the items were available at each store.

Dimitri and her colleagues then created an Organic Food Products Index to calculate the availability of organic foods at the stores. Overall, 60 percent of the stores (746 stores) had an Organic Food Product Index of zero, as they did not sell any organic food products. About a third of the stores (405 stores) sold at least one but less than half of the organic foods on the list, and around 5 percent of stores (66 stores) sold at least half of the 24 organic foods.

The researchers then created a map of their findings and compared the availability of organic food with data on Manhattan's neighborhood characteristics. They found a relationship between a store's decision to offer organic food and the local residents' median income, age, and education. The bulk of stores with more than half of the organic foods on the list were in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side, neighborhoods with higher median incomes and education levels.

"By finding that the decision to carry organic food in a store is related to the education and income of a neighborhood, our research aligns with the existing literature on the characteristics of organic food consumers. It lends support to the notion that consumers with greater access to organic food are more likely to buy organic food," said Dimitri.

While demographic factors seemed to influence whether a store carried organic food, they did not influence the amount of organic food products. However, the size of a store - measured by how many registers each had - was linked to the number of organic food items offered. In other words, the more registers a store has, the higher the Organic Food Products Index.

Future research will assess both the supply and demand sides of the market to shed light on the importance of consumer income, education, and retailer access in the decisions behind both buying and selling organic food.

###

In addition to Dimitri, study authors include NYU Steinhardt doctoral student Stephanie Rogus and Jacqueline Geoghegan of the Department of Economics at Clark University.

About the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (@nyusteinhardt)

Located in the heart of Greenwich Village, NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development prepares students for careers in the arts, education, health, media, and psychology. Since its founding in 1890, the Steinhardt School's mission has been to expand human capacity through public service, global collaboration, research, scholarship, and practice. To learn more about NYU Steinhardt, visit steinhardt.nyu.edu.
Whether the call to action is to support an important cause, save a life, or offer monetary support, new research shows it's the personal connection of giving that makes the giver feel more generous. This giving of oneself, from a signature to blood, increases feelings of generosity and in turn, increases the likelihood of continued support of a cause, according to research published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

In a series of five studies, psychologists Minjung Koo (SKK Graduate School of Business) and Ayelet Fishbach (University of Chicago Booth School of Business) examined the impact of various types of giving on the giver, including donating an endowment, anonymous vs personalized notes to people with disabilities, donating blood vs money, and signing a petition for future giving.

"Giving something that represents the self, such as giving one's own blood, signature, or possessions, will lead the giver to perceive herself as a more generous and committed person, compared to giving that is less associated with the self, like monetary giving," says lead author Koo. "This change in self-perception has an important implication: the giver is more likely to give again in the future."

The Power of Possession

In their first study, the researchers explored how giving an item that a person owned for a while versus only for a brief time influences givers. Half the participants, 50 South Korean students, were told at the start of the study they could keep the pen, the other half only told they could keep it at the end of session. All participants were then asked to donate the pen. Those who possessed the pen the longest before donating it to a cause reported feeling more generous and committed, as well as seeing the pen as more valuable, than the short-term owners.

Donating Blood vs Money

The researchers conducted two studies comparing donating blood and money; In both scenarios, participants imagined giving blood or not. The studies utilized 80 US workers who previously donated blood. Those who imagined donating blood reported higher generosity than those who imagined donating an equal value of money. The former group also reported stronger feelings of commitment. They followed this study with a similar one, this time allowing the participants to choose the option - donating blood or money - they felt was "easiest." Similar results were seen in this study.

The Power of the Name

In two other studies, the use of a person's signature on form letters and charity donations also showed participants reporting themselves as more generous and committed than those who provided an anonymous note or donation. Those who provided their names also promised to donate again in the future.

"Across these studies, we find self-giving does not need to be public, effortful, or tangible; the only requirement is that giving is associated with the self," says Koo.

###

Minjung Koo and Ayelet Fishbach, Giving the Self: Increasing Commitment and Generosity Through Giving Something That Represents One's Essence. Social Psychological and Personality Science 1948550616628607, first published online February 2, 2016 as doi:10.1177/1948550616628607

Social Psychological and Personality Science (SPPS) is an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), the Association for Research in Personality (ARP), the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP), and the Society for Experimental Social Psychology (SESP). Social Psychological and Personality Science publishes innovative and rigorous short reports of empirical research on the latest advances in personality and social psychology.
ST. LOUIS - Ultragenyx, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases, is funding the efforts of a team of Saint Louis scientists led by Fran Sverdrup, Ph.D., to develop a treatment for his daughter's muscular dystrophy.

SLU's Center for World Health and Medicine, has entered into a three-year collaboration to advance a potential treatment identified by Sverdrup for Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD), a disease that causes muscle degeneration in 15,000 or more people in the U.S.

Sverdrup's daughter was diagnosed with FSHD in 2011, one year after he joined the Center for World Health and Medicine, an initiative launched by SLU to develop new therapies for rare and neglected diseases.

Sverdrup immediately began a relentless search for treatments, and learned that no therapies were available. However, as a scientist at a drug discovery center, he had access to the tools and skills needed to make a difference.

"When my daughter was diagnosed with FSHD, I realized I had the opportunity to jump in and do something about it. The very mission of the center allowed me to start a new research project, a project aimed at finding a therapy for my own daughter," said Sverdrup, a research fellow at the center.

"I was in the right place, with a talented group of researchers, very passionate individuals, who wanted to take up that cause with me."

In 2012, Sverdrup discovered a class of compounds that appears to turn off the toxic gene that is inappropriately expressed in FSHD muscle cells, which could correct the defect.

Four years later, SLU and Ultragenyx inked an agreement that has the potential of taking Sverdrup's discoveries to the next level - the development of a treatment for FSHD.

"My daughter is a very smart, very beautiful girl with a rewarding life in front of her. I want to do everything I can to make certain that happens," Sverdrup said.

Emil Kakkis, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and president of Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals, said his San Francisco Bay Area company is motivated to help those who have FSHD.

"SLU has a great start scientifically and we're excited to begin a robust collaboration to bring forward what we hope will be the first treatment for this debilitating and progressive disease," Kakkis said.

Ultragenyx will fund the process of turning SLU's initial discoveries into a drug that could demonstrate proof of concept. If successful, Ultragenyx will then conduct human clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of the new therapy.

"By combining our center's specialized drug development capabilities with the rare disease expertise of Ultragenyx, I'm optimistic our collaboration will increase the chances of delivering an effective therapy to patients with FSHD," said Pete Ruminski, executive director for SLU's Center for World Health and Medicine.

Because a therapy for FSHD would be considered an orphan drug, a designation of medications developed for rare diseases, it could be eligible for expedited reviews and potentially fast-tracked through the clinical trial process by the Food and Drug Administration, which approves all new medications, he added.

Sverdrup is eager to take the next steps on his project.

"I'm thrilled that we have a committed partner who is intent on driving this forward as quickly as possible, to get this into the clinic," Sverdrup said.

"Our goal is to develop the first therapy for all patients with this disease, including my daughter. This is an important step in a long, often difficult process, certainly a great milestone in our efforts to bring a therapy forward."

About Saint Louis University's Center for World Health and Medicine:

###

The Center for World Health and Medicine at Saint Louis University is dedicated to the discovery and development of new therapies for rare and neglected diseases, many of which afflict children, the poor and the underserved. The Center is comprised of a multi-disciplined team of skilled drug development scientists, formerly employed in the pharmaceutical industry, with extensive expertise in translating discoveries made in basic science laboratories into safe and effective drugs for the patients in need of them. The Center has launched the dancendonate.org social media campaign to support research on FSHD.

Saint Louis University is a Catholic, Jesuit institution that values academic excellence, life-changing research, compassionate health care, and a strong commitment to faith and service. Founded in 1818, the University fosters the intellectual and character development of nearly 13,000 students on campuses in St. Louis and Madrid, Spain. Building on a legacy of nearly 200 years, Saint Louis University continues to move forward with an unwavering commitment to a higher purpose, a greater good.

About Ultragenyx:

Ultragenyx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to bringing to market novel products for the treatment of rare and ultra-rare diseases, with a focus on serious, debilitating genetic diseases. Founded in 2010, the company has rapidly built a diverse portfolio of product candidates with the potential to address diseases for which the unmet medical need is high, the biology for treatment is clear, and for which there are no approved therapies.

The company is led by a management team experienced in the development and commercialization of rare disease therapeutics. Ultragenyx's strategy is predicated upon time and cost-efficient drug development, with the goal of delivering safe and effective therapies to patients with the utmost urgency.

For more information on Ultragenyx, please visit the company's website at http://www.ultragenyx.com.
A new drug to treat the muscle wasting disease inclusion body myositis (IBM) reverses key symptoms in mice and is safe and well-tolerated in patients, finds a new study led by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases at University College London (UCL) and the University of Kansas Medical Center.

The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, found that the new drug Arimoclomol reversed the disease's effects at the cellular level and improved muscle strength in mice. A safety trial in 24 IBM patients conducted in London and Kansas found that the drug was safe and well-tolerated.

IBM is the most common muscle disease in people over 45. It is incurable and causes progressive muscle degeneration leading to severe disability, paralysis and dependency. The precise cause is unknown and there are currently no effective treatments.

In this study, the research team pursued a new treatment approach based on observations that muscle tissue from IBM patients contains many misfolded proteins. The research team reported results using an integrated investigational plan of the new drug, Arimoclomol, to clear these proteins out by either refolding or eliminating them.

The team started by creating cells in a petri dish that mimic the muscle tissue of IBM patients, and successfully tested Arimoclomol on these cells. They then used genetically modified mice whose muscle cells and symptoms closely resembled the human disease. An Arimoclomol trial in these mice found that it was well-tolerated, reversed key features of the disease, and importantly, improved muscle strength.

Following a successful patient safety trial, the team have now secured $1.6M from the United States Food and Drug Administration -- Orphan Products Division to begin a full-scale randomized controlled clinical trial to formally assess if the drug is effective in slowing disease progression in people with IBM.

Director of the MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases and the UCL Institute of Neurology Professor Michael Hanna, co-senior author of the paper, said: "This is an excellent example of interdisciplinary collaborative translational research that spans discovery, preclinical science and experimental medicine by a group of academic investigators supported by the MRC Centre. Targeting proteostasis has important potential benefit for patients with this disabling degenerative muscle disease. I want to congratulate the entire team and especially the MRC Centre-supported PhD students Mhoriam Ahmed, Pedro Machado, Adrian Miller and Charlotte Spicer. This work was underpinned by our critical collaboration with Linda Greensmith."

Lead basic scientist and co-senior author Professor Linda Greensmith, Head of the Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders at the UCL Institute of Neurology, said: "Through this collaboration and the support of the MRC Centre we have been able to take our fundamental observations in cell and animal models right through to a proof-of-concept trial in patients. We are actively pursuing this promising approach of manipulation of the heat shock response in IBM as well as other neurodegenerative diseases such as motor neurone disease, in collaboration with the MRC Centre and Danish biotech company Orphazyme ApS."

Professor Richard Barohn, Vice Chancellor for Research and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and co-senior author said: "Translation of science into therapies in neuromuscular diseases is a major aim of the KU neurology research program. This is an outstanding example of collaborative translational research with our partners in England. This work has been a sustained effort that has taken 10 years to move from cell models, through animal efficacy studies to patients. It is remarkable that all this work is entirely investigator led. It holds significant potential to develop a therapy for patients with IBM."

Professor Mazen M. Dimachkie, Director of the Neuromuscular Division and Vice Chairman for Research in the Department of Neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center and co-senior author said: "I am delighted that this successful transatlantic collaborative research has now led directly to our FDA-funded large-scale multicentre efficacy trial in North America and England. Targeting protein homeostasis is an important new way to try and tackle this debilitating disease. There is a groundswell of interest -- both from clinicians and patients -- in our unique and novel approach."

###

Funding support for different elements of this study over 10 years was provided by the UK Medical Research Council through two MRC Centre grants, Arthritis Research UK, Action Research Rheumatology, The Rosetress Trust, Stoneygate Trust, Brain Research Trust, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCL Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, the NIHR Rare Diseases Translational Research Collaboration and the Myositis Support Group. Support also was provided at the University of Kansas Medical Center by the Neurology Department's Ziegler Grant and the US National Institutes of Health (through the General Clinical Research Center CReFF grant program and the Clinical and Translational Science Award program, which funds Frontiers: the Heartland Institute for Clinical and Translational Research).
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - A research study that followed children from birth up to age 38 has found that people who smoked cannabis four or more days of the week over many years ended up in a lower social class than their parents, with lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than those who were not regular cannabis smokers. These regular and persistent users also experienced more financial, work-related and relationship difficulties, which worsened as the number of years of regular cannabis use progressed.

The study, conducted by an international team of researchers led by Magdalena Cerda at the University of California, Davis, Health System, and Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffitt at Duke University, appears online in the journal Clinical Psychological Science March 23.

"Our research does not support arguments for or against cannabis legalization," said Cerda, first author of the study and an epidemiologist at the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. "But it does show that cannabis was not safe for the long-term users tracked in our study."

"Our study found that regular cannabis users experienced downward social mobility and more financial problems such as troubles with debt and cash flow than those who did not report such persistent use," she said. "Regular long-term users also had more antisocial behaviors at work, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, and experienced more relationship problems, such as intimate partner violence and controlling abuse."

The comprehensive study is important because it addresses an array of potentially confounding factors not included in past studies assessing cannabis' long-term effects on users, and it raises awareness of the consequences that persistent cannabis use poses to families, communities and national social welfare systems.

Economic and social problems persisted in long-term, regular users of pot even after the authors accounted for other potential differences between regular cannabis users and other study participants, including socioeconomic problems in childhood, lower IQ, antisocial behavior and depression in adolescence, higher levels of impulsivity, lower motivation to achieve, criminal conviction of cannabis users, and abuse of alcohol and hard drugs.

"These findings did not arise because cannabis users were prosecuted and had a criminal record," said Caspi, a psychologist with dual appointments at Duke University and the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. "Even among cannabis users who were never convicted for a cannabis offense, we found that persistent and regular cannabis use was linked to economic and social problems."

Heavy alcohol vs. cannabis use

While both heavy alcohol and cannabis use were similarly associated with declines in social class, antisocial behaviors in the work place and relationship problems, the authors found that those dependent on cannabis experienced more financial difficulties, such as paying for basic living expenses and food, than those who were alcohol dependent.

"Cannabis may be safer than alcohol for your health, but not for your finances," said Moffitt, a psychologist with dual appointments at Duke University and the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.

The study only addressed the economic and social consequences of cannabis use. In this domain, they found that cannabis did not appear to be safe and may be just as harmful as alcohol.

"Alcohol is still a bigger problem than cannabis because alcohol use is more prevalent than cannabis use," Cerda said. "But, as the legalization of cannabis increases around the world, the economic and social burden posed by regular cannabis use could increase as well."

The authors assessed the frequency and duration of cannabis use among participants in the long-term Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study - a four-decade project maintained by the University of Otago that has been following the development of a group of 1,037 children born in 1972-1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand from birth to age 38. The Dunedin study includes participants who represent the full range of socioeconomic status and health in the general population and have had follow-up examinations at ages 3, 5, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 26, 32 and, most recently, at 38.

For the current study, the authors included 947 participants who had completed at least three of the five adult cannabis assessments from ages 18 through 38. They measured both persistence of cannabis dependence, as defined by the total number of study periods out of five that the participant met criteria for cannabis dependence, and persistence of regular cannabis use as the total number of study periods out of five that a participant used cannabis for four or more days per week.

Eighteen percent, or 173 participants, were considered marijuana dependent in at least one wave of the study, and 15 percent (140 participants) fell into the regular cannabis use categories, in at least one wave of the study. Results were similar for persistent cannabis dependence and persistent regular cannabis use. (See attached summary of research methodology or the paper for more details.)

###

Other universities involved in the research study include the University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ; Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, UK; Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

The research was supported by the New Zealand Health Research Council, the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, the US National Institute on Aging (NIH AG032282), the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH DA030449), the UK Medical Research Council (MRC MR/K00381X), and the Jacobs Foundation.

Citation: "Persistent cannabis dependence and alcohol dependence represent risks for midlife economic and social problems: A longitudinal cohort study," Magdalena Cerda, et al. Clinical Psychological Science, online, March 23.
Illuminating fishing nets is a cost-effective means of dramatically reducing the number of sea turtles getting caught and dying unnecessarily, conservation biologists at the University of Exeter have found.

Dr Jeffrey Mangel, a Darwin Initiative research fellow based in Peru, and Professor Brendan Godley, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University's Penryn Campus, were part of a team of researchers who found that attaching green battery powered light-emitting diodes (LED) to gillnets used by a small-scale fishery reduced the number of green turtle deaths by 64 per cent, without reducing the intended catch of fish.

The innovative study, carried out in Sechura Bay in northern Peru was supported by ProDelphinus, the UK Government's Darwin Initiative, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published in Marine Ecology Progress Series. It is the first time that lighting technology has been trialled in a working fishery. At a cost of 1.40 ($2) for each LED light, the research showed that the cost of saving one turtle was 24 ($34) -- a sum which would be reduced if the method was rolled out at larger scale.

Multiple populations of sea turtle species use Peruvian coastal waters as foraging grounds including green, olive ridley and hawksbill, loggerhead and leatherback. Peru's gillnet fleet comprises the largest component of the nation's small-scale fleet and is conservatively estimated to set 100,000 km of net per year in which thousands of turtles will die as 'bycatch' or unintentionally.

The researchers used 114 pairs of nets, each typically around 500-metres in length. In each pair, one was illuminated with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) placed every ten metres along the gillnet floatline. The other net in the pair was the control and not illuminated. The control nets caught 125 green turtles while illuminated nets caught 62. The target catch of guitarfish was unaffected by the net illumination. They are now working with larger fisheries in Peru and with different coloured lights to see if the results can be repeated and applied with more critically endangered species.

"This is very exciting because it is an example of something that can work in a small-scale fishery which for a number of reasons can be very difficult to work with. These lights are also one of very few options available for reducing turtle bycatch in nets," said Dr Mangel, who is one of the lead authors on the paper and ProDelphinus Research Co-ordinator.

"The turtle populations in the eastern Pacific are among the world's most vulnerable and we are hoping that by reducing bycatch, particularly in gillnets, will help with the management and eventual recovery of these populations."

Thousands of endangered turtles die as bycatch in gillnet fisheries around the world and it is hoped that this study will help to provide a solution. Professor Brendan Godley notes, "It is exciting to be part of research that is highlighting innovative methods that may assist the move towards sustainability in these fisheries. Understanding costings will help emphasize the need for institutional support from national ministries, international non-governmental organizations and the broader fisheries industry to make possible widespread implementation of net illumination as a sea turtle bycatch reduction strategy."

"Bycatch is a complex, global issue that threatens the sustainability and resilience of our fishing communities, economies and ocean ecosystems," said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries. "Funding research like this is key to NOAA's efforts to reduce bycatch. Through this work, we can better protect our natural resources."

Reducing green turtle bycatch in small-scale fisheries using illuminated gillnets: the cost of saving a sea turtle by N. Ortiz, J.C. Mangel, J. Wang, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, S. Pingo, A. Jimenez, T. Suarez, Y. Swimmer, F. Carvalho and B. J. Godley is published in Marine Ecology Progress Series Vol. 545, pages 251-259 doi:10.3354/meps11610

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HOUSTON, March 23, 2016 - In today's hyper-connected world, cybersecurity is always top of mind for University of Houston computer scientist Larry Shi. He says when it comes to data breaches, it's not a question of if, but when.

Shi is the recipient of a $369,803 NATO award through its Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme to keep big data secure on the cloud. He will be designing a new framework to protect big data processing and solve some related problems, such as efficiency, untrusted system administrators and side-channel threats. He and his team have observed that certain computing devices have special features that may help address these cloud-based security concerns.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, 169 million personal records were compromised in 2015 through security breaches among business, medical, financial, government and education entities. From enterprise resource planning that helps organizations manage business to customer relationship management to applications monitored via the Web, data is exponentially increasing all over the globe.

"To put it in perspective, in just three years, data growth is expected to reach zettabytes, which is one billion terabytes," said Shi, referring to a recent presentation done by one of his cybersecurity colleagues. "That means it would take one billion one-terabyte hard drives to store one zettabyte of data."

Consisting of billions to trillions of records of millions of entities from consumers to retailers to government agencies, big data is the process of collecting, organizing and analyzing massive amounts of facts and statistics to discover patterns and other useful information. Normal data progresses to big data when it becomes too large and complex for processing by traditional database management tools.

From consumer data tracked by companies to individuals posting content on social media to governmental and military agencies storing highly sensitive information and even the metadata sent from sensors embedded in cars, energy meters and smartphones, big data has become part and parcel of daily living. As a result, the need for cloud computing has become ubiquitous.

"Since big data usually requires huge amounts of computation and storage resources, the cloud becomes the natural choice for those tasks," said Shi, who is an assistant professor of computer science in UH's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. "However, cloud infrastructure is usually managed by a third party, which makes security and privacy of the big data processing a big concern, presenting new security challenges."

Without solving this challenge, Shi said, it's hard for some industries to adopt big data technology. While big data has the potential to help companies improve operations and make faster, more intelligent decisions, such as increasing profits or improving operations, the inherent vulnerabilities are a concern and security is the main obstacle to deploying the technology.

"Our proposal is about using specialized computing devices for secure and private big data processing," Shi said. "NATO expects us to design a new way to protect and safeguard big data processing procedures in the cloud environment. We will be setting up a testbed to use special computing hardware for big data processing. We already have some preliminary results and plan to finish the framework design and deploy a test system in our lab before the end of 2016."

Looking at the big picture, Shi says all areas employing big data technology will benefit from their research results. Although the technology his team is developing aims at protecting defense sector big data applications, it also will be applicable to other service providers, such as Google and Amazon. Ultimately, they will be developing a new kind of computing technology that minimizes risks of data breaches by securing the computation itself.

"The research also potentially has huge commercial value, because of the growing market in data analytics and related services," Shi said. "According to some predictions, the big data and analytics market will reach $125 billion worldwide. Security and privacy are the major concerns for running data analytics over third-party infrastructure, and every player wants to provide adequate protection for their customers."

The SPS Programme provides funding, expert advice and support to security-relevant research, innovation and knowledge-exchange activities jointly developed by a NATO member and partner country. Shi's project is a joint effort with Korea University. Working with Shi at UH are Lei Xu, a research associate in computer science, and Ph.D. student Kelvin Gao. They will be collaborating with Taeweon Suh, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Korea University. Suh is an expert on hardware design and will focus with his team on the engineering part of the project.

###

About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 42,700 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country. For more information about UH, visit the university's newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.

About the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

The UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, with 193 ranked faculty and nearly 6,000 students, offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in the natural sciences, computational sciences and mathematics. Faculty members in the departments of biology and biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, mathematics and physics conduct internationally recognized research in collaboration with industry, Texas Medical Center institutions, NASA and others worldwide.

To receive UH science news via email, sign up for UH-SciNews at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/mailing-lists/sciencelistserv/index.php.

For additional news alerts about UH, follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UHNewsEvents and Twitter at http://twitter.com/UH_News.
Despite the fact that the Australian Dollar is considered significantly overvalued by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Westpac analysts do not expect the central bank to cut rates further.

The Australian Dollar exchange rate had a hard time of appealing to investors after the Federal Reserve turned hawkish this week.

On the back of this, today will bring further US economic news in the form of the positively-predicted GDP and personal consumption stats for the fourth quarter.

With the Australian Dollar continuing to trend lower on the back of Fed rate hike rumours and sliding base metal prices this has seen the GBP/AUD exchange rate making some strong gains on Thursday morning.

The British Pound looks set to end the week on a slightly stronger footing after the latest UK Retail Sales figures proved stronger than forecast, shoring up some confidence in the resilience of the domestic economy.

For your reference, here are the latest FX rates:

On Saturday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1

The live inter-bank GBP-GBP spot rate is quoted as 1 today.

The live inter-bank GBP-USD spot rate is quoted as 1.13 today.

FX markets see the pound vs new zealand dollar exchange rate converting at 1.966.

NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 22nd Oct 2022, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks.

The appeal of the Australian Dollar exchange rates has been low today, mainly on account of outside influences.

These have primarily taken the form of the US Federal Reserve, which could be gearing up for an interest rate hike as early as April.

The US Dollar has continued to attract investors after Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker expressed the opinion that interest rates should be raised imminently.

While Harker is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year the increasing hawkish dissent amongst Fed policymakers has encouraged markets, denting the risk-sensitive Australian Dollar as a result.

Although the recent tragic attacks in Brussels caused traders to withdraw from high-yielding assets, the Australian Dollar advanced versus most of its major peers.

AUD exchange rate appreciation was linked to a combination of positive domestic data results, hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) outlook and market intervention from the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC).

The rapid AUD appreciation is not enough to concern Westpac analysts, however, who still believe that central bank will avoid easing policy further.

Australian Dollar Cools from Yesterdays Highs after Februarys Skilled Vacancies Declined

On Wednesday morning the Australian Dollar cooled from recent highs but is still holding a competitively high trade weighting. The slight depreciation can be linked to a combination of US Dollar strength and less-than-ideal domestic data.

On the month, Februarys Skilled Vacancies declined by -0.9%.

Despite the high trade weighting, analysts at Westpac do not expect the RBA to counter with a rate cut, stating:

We must always be aware that the RBA considers the value of the AUD in terms of the Trade Weighted Index. Even though since the March Board meeting the AUD has risen by 7% from USD 0.715 to USD 0.765 the Trade Weighted Index has risen by only 3.4%. That increase can be partly explained by the 9% rise in the iron ore price and the 17% increase in the oil price, (while Australia is a net importer of oil the close relationship between the oil price and LNG price will make the oil price increasingly important for Australias terms of trade as LNG exports gather momentum). For these reasons we do not expect that the current move in the AUD will be laying the foundation for an RBA rate cut.

Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates Continue to Struggle on Brexit Uncertainty

The terrorist attacks in Brussels weighed heavily on the UK Pound yesterday amid concern that pro-Brexit campaigners will use the tragic events to bolster claims that the UK is safer outside of the European Union.

As Mayor of London Boris Johnson answers questions regarding his pro-Brexit stance, and with the Bank of England (BoE) meeting to discuss the potential impact of a leave victory in the EU referendum, trader uncertainty continues to negatively impact the Pound.

With the exception of the antipodean assets, which have softened thanks to safe-haven demand, the Pound continues to extend losses versus its major peers.

US Dollar Extends Rally on Safe-Haven Demand

In the immediate aftermath of the Brussels attacks the US Dollar strengthened versus its major peers as traders flocked towards safe-haven assets.

Comparative Euro weakness also supported demand for the North American asset, with mixed results from domestic data having minimal impact.

One particularly disappointing domestic ecostat, however, was Marchs US Manufacturing PMI which failed to meet with expectations of a rise from 51.3 to 51.9, with the result actually only reaching 51.4.

Traders will be looking ahead to Thursdays US Durable Goods Orders data which is likely to provoke significant volatility.


The cliche of older British expats retiring to warmer countries and living the lifestyle of their dreams may be changing with new research revealing how many actually end up returning.It is still true that those who retire abroad want better weather with 93% seeking warmer climes and some 99% seek financial security, research suggests that their new life abroad does not always live up to expectations.Indeed, the latest data from the eighth annual NatWest International Personal Banking (IPB) Quality of Life Index shows that 32% of British people who have retired abroad intend to return to the UK.The Quality of Life Index also reveals that the number of younger expats is increasing and those aged 25 to 35 now make up 27% of all British people living overseas.Retirees' motivations for moving abroad are dominated by a better life but despite these aspirations a quarter of retirees, 25%, admit their new home has not met their expectations.Some 25% said they feel that their new life abroad does not live up to expectations and 97% are concerned about the increasing cost of living abroad while 99% have financial worries. Also, 92% of retirees feel they don't belong in their new country."It is inevitably disappointing for expats who do not feel their expectations are fulfilled by their new life overseas," said Dave Isley, head of NatWest International Personal Banking."It is important for anyone planning a move abroad that they make an informed decision which factors in both the financial realities of living abroad and considers the impact of living in a new environment. It is important that people do not expect an extended holiday when they plan their new life away from the UK," he added.Retired expats dissatisfied with their experience overseas cited an increasing cost of living and other financial worries as the main causes for concern. The global economic downturn has particularly affected retired expats living in European countries, such as falling property prices on the continent affecting the value of expat homes.However, sentimental reasons could also be contributing to the fact that more than a quarter of expat retirees, some 28%, admit that they rarely feel happy. Almost all retired expats, 94%, miss family and friends who are still based in the UK, despite advances in technology which have improved communication.The research survey also found that 85% also miss British culture and 92% admit that they do not feel like they belong in their new home. In fact, retired expats feel that their loyalty lies exclusively with the UK with 100% saying so despite the fact that they live overseas and admit they see their identity as a British national as a useful asset.
This is a question for me and my wife. I'm from the UK, my wife is from Albania.



I'm a UK citizen by birth and work for a global hotel brand, currently in Ireland, and can apply for a job in one of their hotels in America.



I can go to the US for 90 days without a visa. But, for the work and in order to stay longer, do I need to get an E3 visa before I go, or can a visa be arranged after I arrive if I'm employed?



Does the E3 visa grant permanent residency? If so, can my wife then join me based on my status?



Thank you.
Without knowing what the role is, it's impossible to predict what URSSAF would make of it, but basically the criteria include the degree of supervision - so being able to set your own hours is good - but also, do you have a deliverable to deliver and you can decide how you achieve it? if you make a mistake, do you suffer the financial consequences or do you get paid the same and your employer suffers the loss? do you get paid per hour, or for delivering the completed assignment; do you invest in and use your own equipment; in essence, are you putting your efforts into building up your own business or are you working to make somebody else rich.



Look at it another way: a self employed person has a business idea, sets up a business, works out his pricing structure, advertises his services and looks for for clients, sends out devis for jobs, and when a devis is accepted, does the job and sends in the invoice. That's not at all how it sounded from your first post, it sounded as if you had been recruited and told to set up a business in order to work for the person who recruited you.



But if as a minimum you can work what hours you like, and if your earnings are going to vary from month to month, and if you don't work on the 'employer's' premises, you might decide to go with it.
COLUMBUS  Liquid livestock manure can be a great option as a spring topdress fertilizer for wheat fields if applied during the appropriate window of time and if it has the right amount of nitrogen. In a report published in the latest issue of the Crop Observation and Recommendation Network (C.O.R.N) newsletter, experts said there is a window of time, usually around the last week of March or the first week of April, when wheat fields are firm enough to support manure-application equipment.

Additionally, by that time wheat fields have broken dormancy and are actively pulling nutrients from the soil. Glen Arnold, a field specialist in manure nutrient management systems with Ohio State Extension, said farmers thinking about a spring liquid manure application must first consider its nitrogen content.

Nitrogen varies

Most manure tests reveal total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen and organic nitrogen amounts, Arnold wrote in the C.O.R.N. newsletter, published through the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University and available here.

The ammonia nitrogen portion is readily available for plant growth. The organic nitrogen portion takes considerably longer to mineralize and generally will not be available when wheat uptakes the majority of its nitrogen in the months of April and May. Nitrogen content varies depending on the type of manure used and the finishing buildings where its stored, Arnold said.

Wheat closeup

According to the report, most deep-pit swine finishing manure contains between 32 and 45 pounds of ammonia nitrogen per 1,000 gallons. Manure in finishing buildings with bowl waters and other water conservation systems has an ammonia nitrogen content closer to the higher end of this range, while manure in finishing buildings with fixed nipple waters and surface water occasionally entering the pit has less.

Dairy manure has also been tested for topdressing wheat fields as part of on-farm research trials. However, dairy manure contains far less ammonia nitrogen per 1,000 gallons than swine finishing manure and does not consistently produce wheat yields similar to commercial fertilizer, Arnold said. According to the trials, adding 28 percent urea ammonium nitrate to the dairy manure to increase its fertilizer value results in wheat yields similar to those achieved using commercial nitrogen.

Topdressing trials

In Ohio States wheat topdressing trials, manure ammonia nitrogen was applied at a rate similar to the nitrogen present in urea fertilizer, or about 100 pounds per acre. The manure was applied using a 4,800-gallon tanker with a Peecon toolbar 13.5 feet in width. This toolbar cuts the soil surface with a straight coulter, while a boot applies the manure over the soil opening. Researchers also made applications using Veenhuizen and Aerway toolbars. Results from three years of trials are summarized here.

Application standard

While all toolbars cutting through the soil used in manure application cause some disruption to the growing wheat, side-by-side comparisons with conventional surface-applied fertilizer have rarely shown any difference in yields, Arnold said. According to the report, another practice that is gaining acceptance is the application of manure to wheat by commercial dragline operators. This practice is faster and more efficient than tanker application and reduces the risk of soil compaction.

Arnold reminded growers and applicators that following the Natural Resources Conservation Services #633 Waste Utilization Standard is recommended when applying livestock manure to wheat to reduce potential environmental impacts. These standards include a 35-foot-wide vegetative filter strip setback from ditches and streams, Arnold wrote in the report.

Applicators also need to look at the weather forecast to be certain there is not greater than a 50 percent chance of a half-inch of rain in the following 24 hours. Print this forecast out so you have proof in the event of a surprise downpour, he said.

More information

Additional information regarding on-farm manure topdressing of wheat research trials can be found on the OSU Extension Agronomic Crops teams website.
Scotland will remain at the forefront of ground-breaking advances in farming and food production as a result of continued Scottish Government funding for scientific research, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has said.

More than 48 million is being invested during Scotlands Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.

Developments in knowledge and technology previously funded by the Scottish Government include:

 Revolutionary research into methane from cattle, which paves the way for breeding lower-emission livestock and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

 A breakthrough in the global fight against parasitic diseases in sheep with the development of a vaccine for the potentially deadly parasite, Barbers Pole Worm, which is common in warmer climates.

 Effective new techniques to prevent soil erosion following the harvest of potato crops using sediment fences, which has generated international interest from New Zealand, Poland and China and resulted in large scale trial in Chinas Hunan Province.

 Working with national and international food companies on the ingredients used in recipes including reformulating existing products so they are lower in salt, fat and sugar.

 A mobile phone app that helps farmers and land managers improve soil by assessing its carbon content within seconds from a photo.

Mr Lochhead said: Scotland is globally renowned as a land of science and innovation, and this funding will ensure we maintain our position at the very cutting edge of advances in agriculture, food and the environment.

The Scottish Government continues to be a major funder of research in these fields, investing almost 50 million a year in research into crop science, animal health and welfare, human health and wellbeing and global challenges like food security and climate change.

Our continued support will ensure Scotland will remain at the forefront of ground-breaking advances that have the potential to transform farming and food production in this country and across the world  building on the successes already achieved.

Professor Louise Heathwaite, Chief Scientific Adviser for Rural Affairs & Environment said: The Scottish Government continues to prioritise and fund strategic science that delivers the evidence base to support policy needs in the rural affairs, food and environment portfolio.

Much of this research is delivered through the Scottish research institutes, and has allowed Scotland to build an enviable and unrivalled national capability in land-based science in terms of research platforms, critical infrastructures and skilled people.

This national capability benefits the whole Scotland, adding value through partnerships with other research funders such as the UK Research Councils and the EU; with other areas of scientific expertise in Universities; and with users of science such as the farming community.
Safety watchdog issues half-term call to keep kids safe on farms
"That is where the (recommended) commission comes in, because the access arrangements only apply to the guy who is actually getting drilled upon - not the guy next door who feels his place is at some risk of being devalued because it basically has an industrial development next door.
"While any outbreak would be of concern, it would be especially so if it were to happen while we were short staffed in these key positions because the Treasurer was unwilling to consider this as an urgent priority, so we implore Mr Nahan to make an exemption to the job freeze."
In an effort to stop terrorism financing at its source, the New York Department of Financial Services proposed new requirements for economic sanctions and anti-money laundering programs maintained by financial firms.

The proposed rule arises from the states own crackdown on violations of the federal Anti-Money Laundering and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) regulations.

Compliance with OFAC regulations and transaction monitoring are important requirements for financial institutions. Although New Yorks proposed rule purports to clarify these federal requirements, it appears to place tougher standards on financial institutions.

Moreover, it places criminal liability on the chief compliance officers of New York financial firms, who would be required to vouch for the programs compliance with the rule and attest to the veracity of its certification.

Under OFAC regulations, individuals and companies are prohibited from doing business with sanctioned geographies and restricted persons appearing on government watchlists that compromise U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. Violations of the regulations can result in criminal and civil penalties; for these reasons, banks must monitor transactions for suspicious activity and watchlist matches.

Often, during the course of watchlist screening, false positives occur when fairly common names trigger hits against the lists, even where there is no link between a customer and the sanctioned entity.

When this occurs, OFAC allows banks to take risk-based measures to reduce the likelihood of false positives, recognizing it is not reasonably possible to prevent every illicit transaction. Thus, the depth and frequency of typical watchlist screening is based on risk factors.

Conversely, New Yorks proposed rule requires financial institutions to maintain a watchlist-screening program to find and prevent unlawful transactions before their execution. And it specifically states that the screening technology must be adequate to capture prohibited transactions.

This undermines risk-based approaches permitted under federal rules, making businesses responsible for new screening techniques that may or may not be adequate under the rule, depending on how that term is ultimately defined.

The annual certification by chief compliance officers is burdensome as well.

This would be the first time a firm would seemingly be required to interdict each illicit transaction in real-time, as opposed to taking a risk-based, batch-screening approach permitted under federal regulations. The chief compliance officer would have to certify the programs ability to meet this standard. This, together with new criminal liability under the New York rule, places chief compliance officers in the hot seat.

The new rule could also require review of a larger volume of false hits, creating a backlog.

Given the wider universe of false hits that would come under the purview of the compliance department, quality control may become more challenging. Since compliance departments rely heavily on third-party screening technology and analysts, chief compliance officer certification over attenuated chains-of-command may prove difficult. The individual liability enforcement climate further exacerbates this concern.

Public comments are due by March 31, and the proposed rule is available here (pdf).

_______

Laura Martino is the General Counsel of a legal and consulting services organization. Previously, Laura served as the global compliance officer at CPA Global, where she helped design FCPA compliance programs and advised on global sanctions matters. She can be contacted here.


The owner of multiple U.S.-based oil and gas services companies pleaded guilty Tuesday to FCPA and fraud charges for bribing officials to win contracts from Venezuelas state-owned energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).

Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, 52, of Coral Gables, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and commit wire fraud and one count of violating the FCPA.

He appeared before Judge Gray Miller in Houston.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 8.

Four others charged in the case have pleaded guilty. They include a former employee of Shiera and three foreign officials who worked for PDVSA, the DOJ said Wednesday.

Judge Miller unsealed their guilty pleas Tuesday.

Shiera was arrested in Miami on December 16. A federal grand jury indicted him on 18-counts.

Charged wth him was Roberto Enrique Rincon Fernandez, 55, of The Woodlands, Texas.

Shiera said he and Rincon submitted joint bids to provide equipment and services to PDVSA through their various companies.

Shiera admitted in his plea that beginning in 2009, he and Rincon agreed to bribe PDVSA purchasing analysts to make sure their companies were on PDVSA bid slates.

Rincon supplied PDVSA with $500 million in oil equipment a year, becoming one of the state oil firms most important contractors, according to former senior executives of the oil firm, the Wall Street Journal said in December.

Shiera said he also bribed PDVSA officials so his companies would have payment priority on their outstanding invoices.

The charges against Rincon are still pending. Hes facing one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, seven counts of money laundering and four counts of violating the FCPA.

At a hearing on December 18, federal judge Nancy Johnson in Houston ordered Rincon detained pending trial.

* * *

One of the four other guilty pleas Judge Miller unsealed Tuesday was entered in January 2016.

Moises Abraham Millan Escobar, 32, of Katy, Texas, pleaded guilty under seal to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA for bribing PDVSA officials. He was Shieras former employee.

And in December 2015, three former PDVSA employees  Jose Luis Ramos Castillo, 38, Christian Javier Maldonado Barillas, 39, and Alfonzo Eliezer Gravina Munoz, 53, all from Katy  pleaded guilty under seal to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

When they worked for PDVSA, Ramos, Maldonado, and Gravina took bribes from Shiera and Rincon in exchange for helping them win contracts from the energy company.

The three admitted they conspired with Shiera and Rincon to launder the bribe money.

Gravina also pleaded guilty to making false statements on his 2010 U.S. federal income tax return. He failed to report the bribe payments he received from Shiera, Rincon, and others.

As part of their pleas, Shiera, Millan, Ramos, Maldonado, and Gravina agreed to forfeit the proceeds of their criminal activity. The DOJ hasnt said how much theyll forfeit.

Leslie Caldwell, chief of the DOJs criminal division, said, The five convictions announced today hold to account bribe payors as well as the corrupt foreign officials who laundered the bribe money through the United States.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
Gal Gadot is going through a "minor identity crisis".

Gal Gadot

The 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' actress has joked that she is so focused on her starring role as Diana Prince and Wonder Woman in the hotly-anticipated film and its various spin-offs that she sometimes forgets who she is as a person.

Speaking from the red carpet at the 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' European premiere tonight (22.03.16), she quipped: "I'm going through a minor identity crisis. I say my name is Diana but it's great."

Meanwhile, the 30-year-old star previously revealed she never considered becoming an actress and was training to be a lawyer.

She shared: "[After the army] I started studying law at university. While I was there, a casting director for 'Quantum of Solace' saw my modeling card on my agency's wall, and I auditioned to be a Bond Girl.

"If things had gone according to my plans, I'd be a lawyer. I never dreamed of being an actress. At 18, I was approached to compete in Miss Israel. I thought, that would be a nice experience. I never thought I would win! I was shocked when they crowned me; when I went to Miss Universe, I rebelled."
Overwatch has this week unveiled their first animated short film, 'Recall', telling the story of genetically engineered gorilla and brilliant scientist, Winston.

Longing for the days of heroism to return, we see in the first episode just how Winston is thinking and what some of his memories are, as he wrestles with the decision to recall the agents of Overwatch.

Meanwhile, the forces of Talon stage an attack on the gorilla's laboratory in the abandoned Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

Now available for pre-order, Overwatch is being sold in different versions, which you can learn more about at www.buyoverwatch.com.

Those who do pre-order digitally or at GAME in the UK will also unlock early access to the upcoming Open Beta for themselves and a friend, starting May 3.

Overwatch officially arrives to PC, Xbox One and PS4 on May 24.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Britain's Prince Harry watched an "amazing" sunrise with the widow of a Gurkha rifleman yesterday (22.03.16).

Prince Harry

The 31-year-old royal - the grandson of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip - was blown away by the stunning view as he got up extra early to watch day break with Mangali Tamang and her family in the village of Leurani, Nepal.

Reflecting on the beautiful sight, he said: "It was amazing really, peaceful actually.

"Lots of dogs barking, but it didn't seem to bother them, apparently the locals, they're happy if the dogs are barking, but they're not happy if they dogs are not barking."

The night before, the flame-haired hunk tucked into a meal of rice, chicken curry, mixed vegetables, dahl and pickles and followed the locals' habits by eating with his fingers.

According to the Daily Express newspaper, he added: "The family were fantastic, we had a proper feast of a meal and then they vanished, that was it, never saw them again.

"We all went to bed early so we were tucked up by half past eight, then everything started to come to life at quarter past, half past five."

The Prince's visit was part of his five-day trip to Nepal.
Thanks to a strong operational performance in 2015, Austria based speciality fibres producer Lenzing Group has proposed to pay a dividend of 2 per share, double the payout in 2014.The Lenzing Group significantly improved just about all relevant economic and balance sheet indicators in 2015 compared to its business results in 2014, a Lenzing press release stated.

Thanks to a strong operational performance in 2015, Austria based speciality fibres producer Lenzing Group has proposed to pay a dividend of 2 per#

Consolidated revenue climbed by 6.0 per cent year over year to 1.98 billion, driven by higher fibre selling prices, the growing share of specialty fibres in its product mix and positive exchange rate effects.In 2015, EBITDA improved to 290.1 million, up 20.7 per cent from the prior-year figure of 240.3 million, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 14.7 per cent as against 12.9 per cent in 2014.EBIT for the reporting year increased to 151.1 million from 21.9 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 7.6 per cent vis-a-vis 1.2 per cent in the prior year.Earnings per share in the 2015 financial year rose to 4.63, up from a negative 0.51 per share in 2014.On the basis of this good financial performance, the management board will propose distribution of a dividend of 2.00 per share for 2015, double the dividend for 2014.We made substantial progress in 2015, and delivered the promised improvements to our business operations, CEO Stefan Doboczky said.We strategically realigned the company, improved the earnings and cost structure and enhanced our financial strength, he added.We also expect a considerable rise in earnings once again in 2016 provided that the underlying business framework does not significantly change, Doboczky stated.Lenzing further added that it boasts a solid balance sheet structure which was further optimised in the course of the 2015 financial year.Adjusted equity climbed 15 per cent to 1.23 billion in the reporting year as against 1.07 billion in 2014 and adjusted equity ratio amounted to 50.6 per cent, the highest level since 2006.As on December 31, 2015, net financial debt was sharply reduced 27.0 per cent to 327.9 million versus 449.5 million as on December 31, 2014.Accordingly, the ratio of net financial debt to EBITDA declined from 1.9 at the end of 2014 to 1.1 at the end of 2015.The return on capital generated by the Lenzing group improved thanks to the positive earnings development, the Austrian company informed.As a result, the return on capital employed (ROCE) grew to 8.0 per cent, compared to a negative 0.1 per cent in the previous year, while return on equity (ROE) rose to 13.0 per cent, up from 0.7 per cent.In its outlook for 2016, Lenzing informed that the volatile development prevailing in the global fibre market is expected to continue.Assuming unchanged conditions in the fibre market and currency exchange rates, Lenzing expects further improvements in earnings in 2016 compared to 2015. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Kaante, was one of the most unique films ever made in Bollywood with a touch of the dark side. The film saw a gang of men planning, executing and successfully looting a bank in America shocking the bank officials and the police. Kaante, was a wonderfully crafted film and went on to be a success at the box office.

Check out the 20 best pictures from the movie Kaante!

The first thing that comes into one's mind while thinking about the movie Kaante, is the 'walk' of the actors. All the six thugs Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav walk the stretch of Los Angeles in the most grandest and memorable style ever.

Good Lord! Priyanka Chopra Looks So Hot For The Shoot Of Esquire

When the movie released in 2002, the 'walk' scene got the highest number of whistles and claps from the audiences in the theatre, as that particular scene, was never seen before in Bollywood.

Directed by Sanjay Gupta, Kaante was consistently grey and portrayed the characters as mean, commited to crime and would do anything for money. The six men, plan to loot Bank of America from the prison cell, and once they're out from the jail, end up looting the bank in grand style.

Absolutely Funny! 15 Pics Of Deepika Padukone Clicked When She Was Not Ready

However, little did they know that an undercover police was one among them. The six thugs end up fighting amongst themselves and finally realize that Lucky Ali, is an undercover police. Tragedy occurs when they end up killing each other at the end.

Kaante, has a few comedy scenes from the stammery Mahesh Manjrekar, where he talks to the police about his girlfriend 'big b**bs Rosy' and his funny stance about the 'difference between software & underwear' is remembered till date.

We hope Sanjay Gupta would plan for a Kaante 2, as the movie has a lot of fan following!

Nargis Fakhri & Mini Mathur Share Weird Bikini Pictures!
Yay! Holi fever has begun and to make your Holi litttle more special, guess what we have stored for you? Well, 20 rare unseen holi pictures of B-town top celebs including Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan and others.

We bet, you haven't seen these pictures earlier and it will surely make you go nostalgic. From Shahrukh-Salman playing holi together to Aishwarya celebrating holi with the entire Bachchan family, from SRK-Gauri's romantic moments to Hrithik's Holi time with kids, our rare collection have it all.

Click On 'View Photos' To See 20 Rare Holi Pics Of Celebs:

Recently, at the HT's Most Stylish Awards event, which happened in Mumbai, SRK also revealed his Holi plans and said, "Main to kaam pe hunga, toh wahin celebrate karunga. I will celebrate it on the sets of Raees." He also added, "Amit ji ke ghar jaunga, agar who party kar rahe honge toh. Unke yaha jayenge."

On the other side, like every year, Salman Khan will celebrate Holi along with his family members.

New B'ful Pics! Aaradhya & Aishwarya Rai Pose With Entire Bachchan Family

Work wise, Shahrukh & Salman, both are busy with the shoot of their upcoming film, Raees and Sultan respectively. For the first time, Shahrukh Khan will be seen sharing screen space with Mahira Khan, who is the popular actress from Pakistan while Salman will share screen space with Anushka Sharma in Sultan.

As far as, the upcoming films of Aishwarya Rai bachchan , Hrithik Roshan & Amitab Bachchan is concerned, they will be next seen in Sarbjit, Mohenjo Daro and Te3n, respectively.

HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY HOLI PEEPS!
It's a wrap for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer Sarbjit, which also casts Randeep Hooda and Richa Chadda in the lead roles and the social media is inundated with the last pictures of Aishwarya, from the sets of Sarbjit.

Flashback! SRK-Gauri, Salman, Aishwarya, Big B, Hrithik & Others' Rare Holi Pics!

After a successful third schedule wrapped up in Punjab and Delhi, the Sarbjit team commenced their fourth and last schedule recently in Mumbai, after which the film will go into post-production. In these pictures, Aishwarya can be seen getting little emotional while posing for the selfie.

Check Out All The Pictures Here:

Recently, a source close to the project revealed the fun moments on the sets of Sarbjit and told, "Randeep Hooda, who is playing the role of Sarbjit and Richa Chadha, who is playing Sarbjit's wife, Sukhpreet were seen having some fun moments in a mud pit. The duo that have previously worked together in 'Main Aur Charles', share a very special bond with each other and were seen playing mud holi. Richa even went ahead and applied some mud on her director Omung Kumar and in no time entire crew got into playing mud holi."

FACE OFF! Deepika Padukone & Kangana Ranaut's Ravishing Photoshoot For Melange; Who Looks Better?

The film is a biopic on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan and was sentenced to death. In the movie, Randeep plays Sarabjit, and Aishwarya plays his sister Dalbir Kaur while, Richa Chadha will play Sarabjit's wife.

The first poster of Omung Kumar's directorial was recently launched at BJP president Amit Shah's residence in his presence along with union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. The poster features Aishwarya as Dalbir Kaur in the film. It garnered a lot of appreciation from the industry, critics and audiences for its impactful design.
Technological development will not lead to the extinction of finance because it can't replace human-to-human communication in financial services, according to Levin Zhu, former chief executive of China International Capital Corporation.

If you want to manage peoples wealth, you have to talk to them about their needs...You can [of course] send an email to everyone in the world in one second but many things cannot be easily solved through an email. It requires a lot of communication and dialogue, the son of former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji said on Tuesday at the Boao Forum in Hainan.

The veteran investment banker Zhu was talking during a panel discussion about internet banking, where he also questioned the use of big-data, which Chinese fintech companies are rushing to develop in an effort to aid credit decisions and enhance risk management capabilities.

Can big data really tell you this persons credit records without human beings judgement? he asked. You [might] know hes able to buy this but you dont know where his money comes from. Is it from his father, his own, or his friend?

The key is whether you can verify the data after you gain it. The process is very time-consuming, Zhu added. To avoid one single error, you need humans to monitor [things]. Then you can never enter an era without humans.

Unlike Zhu, other panelists came from the fast-growing peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry and voiced more confidence in big-data and technological innovations.

Zhang Jun, former engineer at Microsoft and CEO of PPDai, one of Chinas largest P2P lending platforms, said his firm mainly relied on big-data in terms of individual creditworthiness and default probability.

We dont need to meet our clients at all for judging their creditworthiness and [calculating] default probability. Alibaba and Tencent are also using big-data to do this, Zhang said, while admitting the process cannot be "100% automatic" without the need for humans.

Meanwhile, heads of the countrys leading P2P firms also called for more consistent regulation across the industry in the wake of the Ponzi scheme at Chinese P2P lender Ezubao, which took more than Rmb50 billion ($7.7 billion) through fake investment projects from 900,000 investors, the official Xinhua News agency reported in January.

Now when people talk about P2P [companies], they [tend to] think negatively of them. In order to change this view, we have to regulate ourselves and we need [proper] regulation, said Yang Fan, CEO of Beijing-based P2P lender Iqianjin.

He said the industry called for the regulator to draw a bottom line. The P2P industry is like a kid. When he grows up, he is bound to trip and fallYou have to tell him [that] he cannot go somewhere dangerous or climb too high [rather than forbidding him from doing anything].

Zhang Shishi, Renrendai CEO Zhang Shishi, CEO of Renrendai, another big P2P firm, agreed. The industry doesnt have the power to decide what cannot be done. Only the government can draw the bottom line, he said.

In December 2015, Chinese regulators, including the China Banking Regulatory Commission, released draft rules that aimed to tighten regulation of P2P lending. Under the new rules, P2P lenders are banned from carrying out 12 kinds of businesses, ranging from selling bank wealth management products, taking in public deposits and providing any kind of guarantee to lenders.

They can serve only as intermediaries between borrowers and lenders, and have to leave the latters money in the custody of qualified banking institutions.

Separately, in a group interview earlier in the day, Zhang of Renrendai said the firm had recently teamed up with Minsheng Bank, Chinas largest private lender by assets, to be in the first batch of P2P lenders to provide custodian services to protect customer funds.

The Beijing-based firm has set up individual banking accounts for each of its clients that allows the tracking of capital inflow and outflow, which requires Renrendai to keep Minsheng Bank updated on a daily basis.

Such a system can let the government and the bank see clearly the fund flows of all clients. There are no grey areas, he said.

When asked about the biggest hurdle during the co-operation with Minsheng, Zhang said it was the lack of clear template and regulatory framework.

Banks tend to be conservative on this [business]We didnt know what to do and how to meet the regulatory requirements.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Responding to Apple's (AAPL) announcement, Imagination Technologies Group plc (IMG.L) said that it reiterated its confidence in its strategy of reinforcing and building on the current strengths of its three core businesses and in further progress with its restructuring programme as communicated in its update on 17 March 2016. The Board remains focussed on delivering the best value possible to its shareholders. Imagination Technologies noted that its Board valued Apple very highly as an important ongoing partner of the Company. Earlier today, Apple, in a response to media speculation, said that it had some discussions with Imagination Technologies, but it did not plan to make an offer for Imagination Technologies at this time. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Secures $3.7 Million in Financing to Support Operations and Fund Growth

Jumio Inc., the fast growing online and mobile credentials authentication company, today announced that it has agreed to sell substantially all its assets to Jumio Acquisition, LLC ("Jumio Acquisition"), an entity formed by Eduardo Saverin. An early backer of Jumio, Mr. Saverin remains a significant stockholder and secured debt holder of the company. The sale will be subject to other bids that may be received.

Jumio is confident that a sale is the single best path to provide the company with the necessary resources to continue to fund and scale the business as it enters its next phase of growth. Jumio is well positioned to build on its strong momentum through increased customer wins and new vertical entry.

Stephen Stuut, Jumio's CEO said, "Jumio created the online ID verification industry, and we are thriving from an operational standpoint as we continue to see robust bookings and build strong relationships with some of the most recognizable brands and companies in the world. After thoroughly evaluating all available options, we determined that an asset sale is in the best interests of Jumio and our stakeholders. We expect this process to be seamless for our customers with no disruption to our operations."

Certain legacy issues combined with related government investigations and proceedings have made it difficult for Jumio to secure necessary funding for its operations. As a result, Jumio intends to implement the sale as an asset sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. To that end, Jumio's U.S. business has commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to facilitate the process. This action is expected to allow the company to provide for an orderly sale of its assets in a court-supervised environment. The company's subsidiaries located outside the U.S. are not included in the court filings but are included in the sale. Jumio expects all of its operations to continue without disruption during the sale process. Customers and employees should see no interruption as a result of this process.

Stuut continued, "Despite some of the challenges Jumio's leadership team inherited, our underlying business remains exceptionally strong. The court-supervised sale and restructuring process will allow us to strengthen the Company's financial structure and extend our leadership position in ID verification."

Mr. Saverin stated, "The fair and orderly process announced today will allow Jumio's new management and its employees to continue to serve its top tier customers and to realize the company's potential. With the company's future operations in good hands, Jumio Acquisition is pleased to make this stalking horse bid to facilitate an orderly transition to a promising future for Jumio."

In conjunction with the proposed transaction, Jumio Acquisition or its affiliates have committed to provide Jumio with $3.7 million in "debtor-in-possession" financing at a rate of 4% per annum, which the company believes to be an attractive and below-market rate, to support the company's continued operations during the sale process. In addition, the company has filed a number of customary motions to facilitate ongoing operations.

Jumio Acquisition will serve as the "stalking horse bidder" in a court-supervised auction process. Accordingly, the asset purchase agreement is subject to higher and otherwise better offers, among other conditions. If Jumio Acquisition prevails, it intends to make employment offers to Jumio's existing team to enable the business to run in a seamless manner for the benefit of customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders.

Landis Rath Cobb LLP is serving as legal advisor, Sagent Advisors LLC is serving as financial advisor and Ernst Young Capital Advisors LLC is serving as restructuring advisor to Jumio.

About Jumio

Jumio is a leading identity management and credentials company that helps businesses reduce fraud and increase revenue while providing a fast, seamless customer experience. The company utilizes proprietary computer vision technology to reduce customer sign-up and checkout friction and verify credentials issued from over 120 countries in real-time web and mobile transactions. Jumio's products are leveraged by a wide range of clients; from the leading internet companies to start-ups, Fortune 500 and FTSE 350 organizations in the financial services, sharing economy, retail, travel and online gaming sectors. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Jumio operates globally, with offices in the US and Europe, and has been the recipient of numerous awards for innovation from leading industry associations.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding Jumio's products and solutions, demand for its products and future growth, and its ability to obtain the approval of the Bankruptcy Court with respect to motions filed in the bankruptcy proceedings, including with respect to the asset sale and "debtor-in-possession" financing transactions. These forward-looking statements are based on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results might differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement due to various factors, including the terms and conditions of any reorganization plan that is ultimately approved by the Bankruptcy Court, and the actions and decisions of creditors, regulators and other third parties that have an interest in the bankruptcy proceedings. Jumio assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release, to revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160322006665/en/

Contacts:

For Jumio, Inc.

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

Jed Repko Monica Chang, +1 415-869-3950

Andrew Squire, +1 212-355-4449

or

Skyparlour UK

Michael Scanlan

Michael@skyparlour.com

or

For Jumio Acquisition, LLC

Abernathy MacGregor Group

Sydney Isaacs: +1 (713) 343-0427 SRI@AbMac.com

Heather Wilson: +1 (415) 926-7961 HAW@AbMac.com

Ian Campbell: +1 (213) 630-6550 IDC@AbMac.com
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Grafoid Inc., a privately held developer of industrial scale graphene applications is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Xiamen Tungsten CO. Ltd., of Xiamen, China, for the establishment of a strategic joint venture partnership.

The MOU establishes terms for Xiamen's acquisition of up to a 20% equity position in Grafoid through the purchase of common shares - including Grafoid common shares currently held by Grafoid's affiliate, Focus Graphite Inc. (TSX VENTURE: FMS)(OTCQX: FCSMF)(FRANKFURT: FKC), an advanced Canadian graphite mining exploration and development company.

More, the agreement in principle sets out parameters for actions that meet both parties' immediate and long-term business objectives through a joint venture arrangement. They include:

-- Xiamen's desire to build a clean energy technology platform and introduce those technologies to the China market -- Grafoid's goals for developing industrial applications to open the China market for the commercialization of its suite of Mesograf and Amphioxide  graphene based products -- The fulfillment of Focus Graphite's desire to move forward with the development of the company's Lac Knife, Quebec graphite project, and supply global markets with high purity, value-added, cost-competitive products while supporting the next generation battery development platform of Grafoid, Focus Graphite, Stria Lithium Inc., and Braille Battery -- The establishment of Xiamen's business office at the Grafoid Global Technology Center in Kingston, Ontario to provide Xiamen with a North American base for future business expansion, and; the establishment of a Grafoid business office in China

A publicly traded company listed on the Shanghai Exchange, Xiamen Tungsten is China's leader in smelting, processing and export of tungsten and other non-ferrous metal products; the operation of rare earth business interests, and; the supply of battery materials.

The Joint Venture

The parties are agreed to establish their joint venture in China for the production of Grafoid's marketed suite of Mesograf and Amphioxide based products to be used in the development of commercial graphene applications for the China market, specifically, for the production of lightweight, high strength polymers; GrafeneX coatings for glass, aluminum and other materials; solar energy creation, low-loss wiring cable, lithium based batteries, ultra capacitors, fuel cells for the energy storage market, and; catalyst materials.

Application Development

The parties are further agreed to jointly develop graphene applications for the China market. They include, but are not limited to:

-- Next generation lithium-ion batteries (for EVs and energy storage) -- Graphene coatings (solar panels and glass, silicone, mylar, copper, aluminum and other materials) -- Graphene enhanced polymers (for the automotive and aerospace sectors) -- Water treatment (purification and desalination) -- Intelligent fibers -- Tungsten/graphene alloy

Management of the joint venture will be guided by a Strategy Committee meeting alternately in Canada and China on a quarterly basis and, a China-based Operations Committee co-chaired by a Grafoid senior manager and a Xiamen senior manager.

Mr. York said the achievement of the MOU marked the beginning of a turning point in Grafoid's global technology enterprise platform expansion.

"This future alliance bodes well for Grafoid and Xiamen, our affiliates and our shareholders," said Mr. York. We feel very fortunate indeed to have taken our first expansionary step into China with a formidable and well-established technology materials producer.

Mr. Economo said the Company's expansion into the world's largest consumer market underscores management's global technology ambitions.

"This agreement represents our long-held corporate vision of developing a global platform of critical materials for the green economy including next generation energy applications, graphene coatings and polymers," Mr. Economo said.

There are three key components to the agreement, namely: Xiamen's equity investment in Grafoid; the JV plan and CAPEX for the Mesograf and Amphioxide production facilities, and; the plan and CAPEX for graphene applications development. Xiamen will provide funding for both the JV and applications development and Grafoid will provide the technology and technical expertise.

The funding method is to be determined through negotiations for both the JV and application development components. Those applications could be spun out as JVs and eventual IPOs.

Investment details of the multimillion dollar agreement will be determined by a due diligence process to be concluded by May 22, 2016.

About Xiamen Tungsten

Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd. is China's largest producer and exporter of tungsten products. Its investment in technology upgrades and metallurgical innovation have narrowed the East-West gap in product quality compared to foreign enterprises and, the company is currently expanding its investments in clean energy technologies to move in lockstep with China's march toward a low carbon economy. It has annual revenues in excess of 10.143B CNY ($1.55B US).

During the last decade, with a view to upgrading its competitive position in global markets, Xiamen, through acquisition and investment has expanded its business from a tungsten company to a technology oriented conglomerate in control of its complete manufacturing chains.

Xiamen Tungsten is listed on the Shanghai Exchange under the numericalsymbol: 600549.

For more information about Xiamen Tungsten, please visit http://www.cxtc.com/

About Grafoid Inc.

Grafoid is a complete solutions graphene company. The company provides expertise as well as product and processes for transformative, industrial-scale graphene applications in partnership with leading corporations and institutions around the world.

A privately held Canadian corporation, Grafoid invests in graphene applications and economically scalable production processes for graphene and graphene derivatives from raw, unprocessed graphite ore. Focus Graphite Inc. holds a significant interest in Grafoid Inc.

Incorporated in 2011, Grafoid's global enterprise platform includes 17 subsidiary companies engaged in the development of Mesograf materials and products, and development services. They include, but are not limited to: Mesograf lithium batteries for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and industrial energy storage; additive manufacturing materials including metal alloy and graphene polymer powders for 3D printing; polymers, plastics, rubber, elastomers, and composite materials; fibre science including aluminum alloys; coatings and lubricants; fire retardant materials; thermal management solutions; EMI/RFI/EMP shielding; solar solutions, and analytical testing; and laboratory services.

Grafoid's research is supported through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the National Research Council of Canada, and, on February 20, 2015, Grafoid received an $8.1 million investment from the SD Tech Fund of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to develop a technology that will automate Mesograf graphene production and end-product development. SDTC is mandated by the Government of Canada to support clean technology companies as they move their technologies to market.

For more information about Grafoid, please visit http://www.grafoid.com

Contacts:

Grafoid Inc.

Mr. Jeffrey York

Chairman and Founding Partner

+1 613-238-7417

jyork@grafoid.com



Mr. Gary Economo

Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner CEO

+1 613-238-7417

geconomo@grafoid.com

www.grafoid.com




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Focus Graphite Inc., (Focus Graphite or "the Company") (TSX VENTURE: FMS)(OTCQX: FCSMF)(FRANKFURT: FKC) is pleased to announce its affiliate, Grafoid Inc., and Xiamen Tungsten Co. Ltd. (Xiamen), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the establishment of a strategic joint venture partnership.

The MOU establishes terms for Xiamen's acquisition of up to a 20% equity position in Grafoid through the purchase of common shares - including up to 7,000,000 Grafoid common shares currently held by Focus Graphite and; it provides Focus Graphite with a portal in China for the future sale of value added graphite products through its strategic partnership with Xiamen. Focus Graphite, with 7.9 million shares, is the largest shareholder in Grafoid.

In summary, the MOU between Grafoid and Xiamen sets out parameters for actions that meet both parties' immediate and long-term business objectives through a joint venture arrangement. They include:

-- Xiamen's desire to build a clean energy technology platform and introduce those technologies to the China market -- Grafoid's goals for developing industrial applications to open the China market for the commercialization of its suite of Mesograf and Amphioxide  graphene based products -- The fulfillment of Focus Graphite's desire to move forward with the development of the company's Lac Knife, Quebec natural flake graphite project, and supply global markets with high purity, value-added, cost- competitive graphite products while supporting the next generation battery development platform of Grafoid, Focus Graphite, Stria Lithium Inc., and Braille Battery Inc. -- The establishment of Xiamen's business office at the Grafoid Global Technology Center in Kingston, Ontario to provide Xiamen with a North American base for future business expansion, and; the establishment of a Grafoid business office in China

A due diligence process will be concluded by May 22, 2016.

A publicly traded company listed on the Shanghai Exchange, Xiamen Tungsten is China's leader in smelting, processing and export of tungsten and other non-ferrous metal products; the operation of rare earth business interests, and; the supply of battery materials. It has annual revenues in excess of 10.143B CNY ($1.55B US).

Advancing the Lac Knife Graphite Project

Focus Graphite CEO and Director Gary Economo said the proceeds from the pending sale of Grafoid shares held by Focus Graphite will be applied to the company's continuing efforts to bring the Lac Knife Project into production.

"In addition to providing Grafoid with a strategic partner, Grafoid's MOU with Xiamen, has benefits for Focus Graphite. When finalized, it will provide additional funding to allow us to advance our overall mine and transformation plant financing, and potentially open the China market to Focus Graphite for additional offtake partners and the sale of value added graphite products," Mr. Economo said.

"Specifically, this injection of funding could enable Focus Graphite to advance our Lac Knife detailed engineering and finalize the environmental permitting process" said Mr. Economo. "And, it enables us to move to the next stage in assembling our mine CAPEX financing."

Focus Graphite continues its graphite testing. Customer requirements will come from battery manufacturers and from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers in North America, Asia and Europe associated with the 2015 Focus-Grafoid "Energy" and "Polymer Offtakes."

"The agreement leaves us potentially well positioned to provide a secure and reliable source of graphite feedstock for the Grafoid-Xiamen joint venture," Mr. Economo said.

"With regard to our green energy development focus," said Mr. Economo, "Grafoid's agreement with Xiamen Tungsten encourages our continued collaborative efforts with Grafoid, Stria Lithium Inc., and Braille Battery Inc. to expand our efforts in China and Asia for next generation battery development."

On September 25, 2015, Focus Graphite announced it had concluded two definitive, 10-year offtake agreements in a related party transaction with Grafoid for the purchase of Lac Knife graphite concentrate.

The first offtake agreement (the "Graphene Offtake," commits Grafoid to acquire, at its discretion, up to an annual maximum of 1,000 tonnes of high-purity (98.3% total carbon "Ct")(1) large flake (+80 mesh) graphite concentrate annually from the Lac Knife Project for 10 years, representing up to 6.8% of the projected annual production of 14,606 tonnes of high-purity large flake concentrate. (Taken from Technical Report on The Lac Knife Graphite Feasibility Study, available at www.sedar.com under Focus Graphite Inc)

(1) 98.3% Ct purity is the average of 6 pilot plant runs. The pilot plant program was completed in 2013 by SGS Canada Inc., located in Lakefield, Ontario. See news release dated August 21, 2013.

The second offtake agreement (the "Polymer Offtake") commits Grafoid to acquire, at its discretion, up to 25,000 tonnes of 97.8% Ct (average concentrate grade for all flake sizes) graphite concentrate annually from the Lac Knife Project for 10 years, representing up to 56.4% of the projected total annual production of 44,300 tonnes (all flake sizes). (Taken from Technical Report on The Lac Knife Graphite Feasibility Study.)

About Xiamen Tungsten

Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd. is China's largest producer and exporter of tungsten products. Its investment in technology upgrades and metallurgical innovation have narrowed the East-West gap in product quality compared to foreign enterprises and, the company is currently expanding its investments in clean energy technologies to move in lockstep with China's march toward a low carbon economy.

It has annual revenues in excess of 10.143B CNY ($1.55B US).

During the last decade, with a view to upgrading its competitive position in global markets, Xiamen, through acquisition and investment has expanded its business from a tungsten company to a technology oriented conglomerate in control of its complete manufacturing chains.

Xiamen Tungsten is listed on the Shanghai Exchange under the numerical symbol: 600549.

For more information about Xiamen Tungsten, please visit http://www.cxtc.com/

About Grafoid Inc.

Grafoid is a complete solutions graphene company. The company provides expertise as well as product and processes for transformative, industrial-scale graphene applications in partnership with leading corporations and institutions around the world.

A privately held Canadian corporation, Grafoid invests in graphene applications and economically scalable production processes for graphene and graphene derivatives from raw, unprocessed graphite ore. Focus Graphite holds a significant interest in Grafoid.

Incorporated in 2011, Grafoid's global enterprise platform includes 17 subsidiary companies engaged in the development of Mesograf, Amphioxide and GrafeneX materials and products, and development services. They include, but are not limited to: Mesograf lithium batteries for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and industrial energy storage; additive manufacturing materials including metal alloy and graphene polymer powders for 3D printing; polymers, plastics, rubber, elastomers, and composite materials; fibre science including aluminum alloys; coatings and lubricants; fire retardant materials; thermal management solutions; EMI/RFI/EMP shielding; solar solutions, and analytical testing; and laboratory services.

Grafoid's research is supported through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the National Research Council of Canada, and, on February 20, 2015, Grafoid received an $8.1 million investment from the SD Tech Fund of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to develop a technology that will automate Mesograf graphene production and end-product development. SDTC is mandated by the Government of Canada to support clean technology companies as they move their technologies to market.

About Focus Graphite Inc.

Focus Graphite is an advanced exploration and development mining company with an objective of producing graphite concentrate at its Lac Knife deposit located south west of Fermont, Quebec. In a second stage, to meet Quebec stakeholder interests for transformation within the province and to add shareholder value, Focus Graphite is evaluating the feasibility of producing value added graphite products including battery-grade spherical graphite.

The Lac Knife project hosts a Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource Estimate(i) of 9.58 million tonnes grading 14.77% graphitic carbon (Cg) (432,000 tonnes Measured @ 23.66% Cg and 9,144,000 tonnes Indicated @ 14.35% Cg) as natural flake graphite with an additional Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate(i) of 3.1 million tonnes grading 13.25% Cg. Focus' goal is to assume an industry leadership position by becoming a low-cost producer of technology-grade graphite concentrate.

The Feasibility Study filed with SEDAR on August 8, 2014 for the Lac Knife Project indicates the project is economically viable and has the potential to become a low cost graphite concentrate producer based on 7.86 million tonnes of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves(ii) grading 15.13% Cg included in the Mineral Resource (429,000 tonnes Proven @ 23.61% Cg and 7,428,000 tonnes Probable @ 14.64% Cg).

On May 27, 2014 the Company announced the potential for high value added sales in the Li-ion battery sector following battery coin cell tests performed on Spherical Graphite ("SPG") produced from the Lac Knife graphite concentrate. Testing measured the performance metrics and confirmed Focus Graphite's capability to tailor lithium ion battery-anode-grade graphite and value added products to meet the most stringent customer specifications.

Focus Graphite is a technology-oriented graphite mining development company with a vision for building long-term, sustainable shareholder value. Focus also holds an 18% equity position in graphene applications developer Grafoid Inc.

(i) Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability

(ii) The Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are inclusive of those Mineral Resources modified to produce the Mineral Reserve. The reference point for the Mineral Reserve Estimate is the mill feed.

For more information about Focus Graphite, please visit www.focusgraphite.com.

Qualified Person

Mr. Marc-Andre Bernier, M.Sc, P.Geo (Quebec and Ontario), a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

Forward Looking Statement

This News Release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All information contained herein that is not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. Generally, such forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: (i) volatile stock price; (ii) the general global markets and economic conditions; (iii) the possibility of write-downs and impairments; (iv) the risk associated with exploration, development and operations of mineral deposits; (v) the risk associated with establishing title to mineral properties and assets; (vi) the risks associated with entering into joint ventures; (vii) fluctuations in commodity prices; (viii) the risks associated with uninsurable risks arising during the course of exploration, development and production; (ix) competition faced by the Company in securing experienced personnel and financing; (x) access to adequate infrastructure to support mining, processing, development and exploration activities; (xi) the risks associated with changes in the mining regulatory regime governing the Company; (xii) the risks associated with the various environmental regulations the Company is subject to; (xiii) risks related to regulatory and permitting delays; (xiv) risks related to potential conflicts of interest; (xv) the reliance on key personnel; (xvi) liquidity risks; and (xvii) the risk of potential dilution through the issue of common shares. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made, including but not limited to, continued exploration activities, no material adverse change in metal prices, exploration and development plans proceeding in accordance with plans and such plans achieving their stated expected outcomes, receipt of required regulatory approvals, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information has been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's business, operations and exploration plans and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is made as of the date of this News Release, and the Company does not undertake to update such forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Focus Graphite Inc.

Mr. Gary Economo

Chief Executive Officer and Director

+1 613-238-7417

geconomo@focusgraphite.com

www.focusgraphite.com




Mariehamn, 2016-03-23 08:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Viking Line Abp NOTICE TO CONVENE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 23.3.2016, 9.00 AMINVITATION TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGThe shareholders in Viking Line Abp are invited to the Annual General Meeting, which will be held at 12.00 noon on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at the Alandica Kultur & Kongress auditorium, Strandgatan 33, Mariehamn, Aland, Finland.The reception of persons who have registered for the meeting and the distribution of voting tickets will begin at 11.00 a.m.A. The items on the agenda of the Annual General MeetingThe Annual General Meeting will deal with the following items of business:1. Opening of the Meeting2. Calling the Meeting to order3. Election of persons to confirm the minutes and to supervise the counting of votes4. Recording the legality of the Meeting5. Recording of attendance at the Meeting and adoption of the voting list6. Presentation of the financial statements, the Report of the Directors and the Auditors' Report for the financial year January 1 - December 31, 20157. Adoption of the financial statements and consolidated financial statements8. Discharge of the Company's Board of Directors and President and CEO from liability for the financial year9. Resolution on the distribution of the earnings shown in the balance sheet and on the payment of the dividend- The Board of Directors of Viking Line Abp proposes that a dividend of  0.95 per share be paid for the financial year January 1 - December 31, 2015. The Board further proposes that the record date for dividend payment be Friday, April 22, 2016 and that the payment date be Friday, April 29, 2016.10. Resolution on the number of Auditors and Deputy Auditors- The Board of Directors proposes that the Company set the number of Auditors for the financial year 2016 at two and that one Deputy Auditor be appointed.11. Resolution on the fees payable to the members of the Board of Directors and the Auditors12. Election of members of the Board of DirectorsThe Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting the re-election of the incumbent Board members and deputy members. If the Meeting approves the proposal, the Board of Directors would have the following composition: Ben Lundqvist, Chairman; Nils-Erik Eklund, Trygve Eriksson, Erik Gronberg, Agneta Karlsson, Dick Lundqvist and Lars G Nordstrom, members; and Ulrica Danielsson, Stefan Lundqvist and Johnny Rosenholm, deputy members.13. Election of AuditorsThe Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that Ylva Eriksson, Authorized Public Accountant (CGR) be re-elected and Petter Lindeman, Authorized Public Accountant (CGR) be new-elected as auditors for 2016 and that that the firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy, Authorized Public Accountants, be re-elected as deputy auditor.14. Closing of the MeetingB. Annual General Meeting documentsThe proposals of the Board of Directors that refer to the above list of agenda items and this notice of invitation to the Annual General Meeting will be available on Viking Line Abp's website at www.vikingline.com. The Annual Report of Viking Line Abp, which includes the Company's financial statements, the Report of the Directors and the Auditors' Report, is available on the above-mentioned website.The Board's proposals and the financial statements will also be available at the Annual General Meeting. Copies of the financial statements will also be sent to shareholders, and other documents and a copy of this notice of invitation to the Annual General Meeting will be sent to shareholders upon request.The minutes of the Meeting will be available on the above-mentioned website from May 4, 2016 onward.C. Instructions for participants in the Annual General Meeting1. Right to participate and registrationEach shareholder who has been registered no later than Friday, April 8, 2016 (the record date of the Meeting) in the shareholders' register maintained by Euroclear Finland Ltd has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder whose shares are registered in his/her personal Finnish book-entry account is registered in the shareholders' register of the Company.A shareholder who wishes to participate in the Annual General Meeting must register for the Meeting no later than 12.00 noon on Monday, April 18, 2016. Registration for the Annual General Meeting can be made:a) by e-mail to bolagsstamma@vikingline.comb) by telephone to +358 18 270 00c) by fax to +358 18 169 77d) or in writing to Viking Line Abp, Pb 166, AX-22101 Mariehamn, Aland, Finland.When registering for the Meeting, the shareholder shall state his/her name and personal identification number, as well as the name of any assistant or proxy representative and the personal identification number of this proxy representative.The personal data that shareholders provide to Viking Line Abp will be used only for purposes connected to the Annual General Meeting and for the processing of related registrations.A shareholder who is present at the Annual General Meeting is entitled to ask questions regarding the items on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting, pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act.2. Proxy representatives and proxy documentsA shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights through a proxy representative. The shareholder's proxy representative shall present a dated proxy document (power of attorney) or, in some other reliable manner, demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder.3. Holders of nominee registered sharesA holder of nominee registered shares is advised to request without delay from the custodian of his/her assets the necessary instructions regarding registration of the shareholder in the shareholders' register, the issuance of proxy documents and registration for the Annual General Meeting. The account management organization of the custodian will register a holder of nominee registered shares who wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting in the temporary shareholders' register of the Company no later than 10.00 a.m. on April 15, 2016.4. Other instructions and informationOn the date of this notice, March 23, 2016, the total number of shares in Viking Line Abp is 10,800,000 shares and the total number of votes in Viking Line Abp is 10,800,000.Mariehamn, March 23, 2016Viking Line Abp BOARD OF DIRECTORSJan Hanses President and CEOThe text above is a translation of the Swedish official invitation to the Annual General Meeting.CEO Jan Hanses, jan.hanses@vikingline.com, +358-18-27000
Financiere de Tubize SA/NV

Allee de la Recherche 60

1070 Brussels

BE 0403.216.429

www.financiere-tubize.be (http://www.financiere-tubize.be)

CONVENING OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS OF 27 APRIL 2016

The shareholders are invited to attend the ordinary and extraordinary general meeting, which will take place on Wednesday 27 April 2016 at respectively 11:00h and 12:00h at the registered seat in 1070 Brussel (Anderlecht), Allee de la Recherche 60.

Agenda of the ordinary general meeting



1. Report of the board of directors on the financial year ended 31 December 2015

Commentary: this report combines in a single document the board report referred to in article 95 et seq. of the Company code and the board report on the consolidated financial statements referred to in article 119 of the Company code. It discusses in a structured way the different legal requirements applicable to the report. 2. Remuneration report on the financial year ended 31 December 2015

Proposed decision: approve the remuneration report on the financial year ended 31 December 2015. 3. Independent auditor's report on the annual accounts as at 31 December 2015

Commentary: this report has been drawn up in accordance with articles 143 and 144 of the Company Code. 4. Annual accounts as at 31 December 2015 - Result appropriation

Proposed decision: approve the annual accounts as at 31 December 2015, including the distribution of a gross dividend of  0.50 per share. 5. Consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2015

Commentary: in accordance with articles 118 and 120 of the Company code, the consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the board and communicated to the general meeting. As required by article 114 3 of the royal decree of 30 January 2001 concerning execution of the Company code, they have been prepared by applying the entire set of IAS/IFRS standards as adopted by the European Union. 6. Independent auditor's report on the consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2015

Commentary: this report has been drawn up in accordance with article 148 of the Company code. 7. Discharge of the directors for the financial year ended 31 December 2015

Proposed decision: by special vote, discharge each of the directors for the execution of their respective mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2015. 8. Discharge of the independent auditor for the financial year ended 31 December 2015

Proposed decision: discharge the independent auditor for the execution of his mandate during the financial year ended 31 December 2015. 9. Renewal of a director's mandate

Proposed decision: renew the director's mandate of Francois Tesch for a period of four years ending at the ordinary general meeting of 2020.

Agenda of the extraordinary general meeting

1. Amendment of the Articles of Association: Renewal of the authorisation given to the board of directors to acquire and dispose of own shares to avoid imminent serious damage

Proposed decision: replace article 11, paragraphs 7 and 8, by the following text:

 L'autorisation de l'assemblee generale n'est, de plus, pas requise lorsque l'acquisition d'actions propres est necessaire pour eviter A la societe un dommage grave et imminent. Cette habilitation statutaire n'est valable que pour une periode de trois ans A dater de la publication de l'assemblee generale du 27 avril 2016 modifiant les statuts en ce sens, et peut etre prorogee pour des termes identiques conformement aux dispositions du Code des societes.

L'assemblee generale du 27 avril 2016 a octroye au conseil d'administration l'autorisation d'acquerir des actions de la societe afin d'eviter un dommage grave et imminent, pour une duree de trois ans A dater de la publication de la modification des presents statuts decidee par l'assemblee precitee. 2. Amendment of the Articles of Association, in particular to bring them in line with the provisions of the Company code

Proposed decision: amend the articles of association as follows: Article 2: add the words  arrondissement judiciaire de Bruxelles  at the end of the first paragraph of this article

Article 6: this article concerning the history of the capital is deleted and the Articles of Association are renumbered accordingly

Article 7 (new article 6): replace the words  au taux d'escompte de la Banque Nationale augmente de deux pourcent  by  au taux legal 

Article 8 (new article 7): replace this article by the following text:

 Les actions restent nominatives jusqu'A leur entiere liberation.

Les actions entierement liberees sont nominatives ou dematerialisees au choix de l'actionnaire.

Les titulaires d'actions liberees peuvent A toute epoque demander la conversion de leurs actions d'une forme en l'autre forme. 

Article 10 (new article 9): add the word  rendre  between  qui ne devra  and  aucun compte de son refus 

Article 11 (new article 10): replace the words  aux articles 6 et 7 by  A l'article 6

Article 17 (new article 16): the following paragraphs are added at the end of this article:

 Les convocations sont faites par ecrit A chacun des administrateurs huit jours avant la reunion, sauf cas d'urgence, avec communication de l'ordre du jour.

Le conseil d'administration se reunit valablement sans convocation si tous les administrateurs sont presents ou representes et ont marque leur accord sur l'ordre du jour 

Article 22 (new article 21): add the words  parmi les reviseurs d'entreprises, inscrits au registre public de l'Institut des Reviseurs d'Entreprises,  beteen  l'assemblee generale  and  selon les dispositions legales 

Article 26 (new article 25): add the following words at the end of the first sentence of this article:  et repondent aux questions qui leur sont posees par les actionnaires au sujet de leur rapport, dans la mesure oA la communication de donnees ou de faits n'est pas de nature A porter prejudice aux interets commerciaux de la societe ou aux engagements de confidentialite souscrits par la societe, ses administrateurs ou les commissaires 

Article 30 (new article 29): replace this article by the following text:  Les convocations pour toute assemblee generale contiennent les mentions prescrites par le Code des Societes et sont faites conformement aux dispositions legales 

Article 36 (new article 35): delete this article and renumber the Articles of Association accordingly

Article 37 (new article 35): replace this article by the following text:  Lorsque l'assemblee a A decider d'une augmentation ou d'une reduction du capital social, de la fusion de la societe avec une autre, de la scission ou de la dissolution de la societe ou de toute autre d'une modification aux statuts, elle ne peut deliberer que si l'objet des modifications proposees est specialement indique dans les convocations et si ceux qui assistent A l'assemblee representent la moitie au moins du capital social.

Si cette derniere condition n'est pas remplie, une nouvelle assemblee deliberera valablement quelle que soit la portion du capital representee.

Aucune modification n'est admise que si elle reunit les trois quarts des voix, au moins, sauf dans les cas oA la loi prevoit une majorite plus stricte. 

Article 40 (new article 38): replace the words  un mois  by the words  quarante-cinq jours . 3. Assign the powers to execute the above mentioned decisions:

Proposed decision: assign powers, with possibility of sub-delegation, to the board of directors for the execution of the above mentioned decisions, and to Madame Stephanie Ernaelsteen and Madame Anne-Catherine Guiot, each acting separately, to prepare the consolidated text of the Articles of Association.



Formalities to attend the general meetings

To attend or be represented at the general meetings and exercise her/his voting right, a shareholder must have carried out the accounting registration of his/her shares on the fourteenth day before the general meetings at 24:00h Belgian time (being Wednesday 13 April 2016, the "Registration Date"), either by registering them in the Company's register of nominative shares, or by registering them in the accounts of a licensed account holder or a settlement institution, the number of shares held on the day of the meetings being disregarded.

The shareholder must also inform the Company of her/his desire to attend the general meetings. A holder of nominative shares should send to the Company the duly signed attendance notices, these forms (please note that there are separate forms for the ordinary and for the extraordinary meeting) being appended to the invitation to attend. A holder of dematerialized shares should send to the Company the attestations (please note that there are separate forms for the ordinary and for the extraordinary meeting), issued by the licensed account holder or by the settlement institution, certifying the number of shares that are registered in the accounts of the account holder or settlement institution on the name of the shareholder at the Registration Date and for which the shareholder has declared he/she wants to participate in the general meetings. The attendance notices or the attestations should reach the Company, at the e-mail address marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com (mailto:marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com), no later than six days before the date of the general meeting (being Thursday 21 April 2016).

Voting by proxy

Shareholders may be represented by a proxy, in conformity with the articles 547 to 549 of the Company code.

The proxies (please note that there are separate proxies for the ordinary and for the extraordinary meeting) must be executed in writing on the basis of the forms drawn up by the board of directors, and must be signed by the shareholder. For the nominative shareholders the forms are appended to their invitation to attend. Holders of dematerialized shares can retrieve the forms from the Company's website www.financiere-tubize.be (http://www.financiere-tubize.be). The proxy must reach the Company, at the e-mail address marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com (mailto:marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com), no later than six days before the date of the meeting (being Thursday 21 April 2016).

Adding items to the agenda and submitting proposed decisions

One or more shareholders collectively holding at least 3% of the share capital may request that items be added to the agenda of the meetings and submit proposed decisions concerning original and/or added matters on the agenda.

Requests should be made in writing and include the text of items to be added with corresponding proposed decisions or of proposed decisions relating to original agenda items. They should state the e-mail address to which the Company can send an acknowledgement of receipt within 48 hours. Requests should reach the Company no later than twenty-two days before the date of the general meeting (being Tuesday 5 April 2016) by e-mail sent to marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com (mailto:marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com).

Shareholders intending to exercise this right should prove, on the date of their request, that they hold at least 3 % of the share capital, either through a certificate stating that the corresponding shares are registered in the Company's register of nominative shares, or through a certificate drawn up by a licensed account holder or settlement institution certifying the number of corresponding dematerialised shares registered in accounts on the name of the shareholders. They should also perform the accounting registration for at least 3 % of the capital.

If shareholders exercise this right, the Company shall publish a supplemented agenda for the general meetings according to the same terms as the original agenda and no later than fifteen days before the date of the general meetings (being Tuesday 12 April 2016). Simultaneously, the Company will make amended forms for voting by proxy available to its shareholders through its website.

Right to ask questions to the directors and the auditor

Each shareholder who has satisfied the formalities for admission to the meeting has the right, as from the publication of the invitation to attend, to ask questions in writing about the directors' and the auditor's reports, as well as about any other items indicated on the agenda of the general meeting, to which will be responded, as the case may be, by the directors or the auditor, as long as the disclosure of data or facts does not harm the Company's commercial interests and does not violate the confidentiality agreements binding the Company, its directors or the auditor. These questions should be sent electronically to marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com (mailto:marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com), no later than the sixth day before the date of the meeting (being Thursday 21 April 2016).

Information on the website

The following information can be consulted on the Company's website www.financiere-tubize.be (http://www.financiere-tubize.be/).:

Present convening

Proxy forms

Total number of shares and voting rights at the date of the present convening

Documents to be presented at the general meeting: Annual accounts Consolidated financial statements Report of the board of directors Remuneration report Report of the independent auditor on the annual accounts Report of the independent auditor on the consolidated financial statements Annual financial report Profile of the director whose mandate is proposed for renewal.



Holders of nominative shares receive a copy of all documents together with the invitation to attend. Other shareholders may obtain a free copy of the documents by sending a request to marc.van.steenvoort @gmail.com (mailto:marc.van.steenvoort@gmail.com).

Please note that, on the day of the meetings, shareholders and proxy holders will be invited to prove their identity, and representatives of legal entities must prove their representation power. For this reason and for a smooth functioning of the meeting, participants are invited to arrive as from 10h00 onwards.

Brussels, 23 March 2016

The Board of Directors

Press Release (PDF) (http://hugin.info/137325/R/1996704/735863.pdf)



This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Financiere de Tubize SA via Globenewswire



HUG#1996704




HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Shopping center investor Deutsche EuroShop AG (DUSCF.PK) Wednesday reported that its fiscal 2015 Funds from operations or FFO improved 2.4 percent to 123.4 million euros, which represents FFO per share of 2.29 euros, compared to 2.23 euros in the previous year.



Consolidated profit rose 74.3 percent to 309.3 million euros from 177.4 million euros last year, thanks to measurement gains



Earnings per share came to 5.73 euros, compared with 3.29 euros in the previous year.



The Group's measurement gains improved substantially to 220.6 million euros from 77.0 million euros.



At 394.7 million euros, earnings before taxes were up 83.9 percent. Earnings before interest and taxes or EBIT decreased 0.7 percent to 176.3 million euros.



Net asset value or EPRA NAV as at 31 December 2015 was 2.11 billion euros or 39.12 euros per share.



Consolidated revenue was up 1.0 percent to 202.9 million euros from 200.8 million euros last year. Like-for-like revenue was up 0.4 percent.



Further, the company said its Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in Hamburg on 15 June 2016 that a dividend of EUR1.35 per share, 3.8 percent higher than the previous year, be distributed for the successful 2015 financial year.



Looking ahead, Deutsche EuroShop expects stable revenue of between 200 million euros and 204 million euros for financial year 2016. It then expects to record 201 million euros to 205 million euros in 2017, with rents rising slightly.



The Company forecasts that EBIT will remain at current levels in 2016 and 2017, coming in within a range of 175 million euros to 179 million euros.



FFO of between 2.26 euros and 2.30 euros per share are anticipated for the current financial year. The Company is then projecting a 3.5 percent increase for 2017, taking the figure to 2.34 euros to 2.38 euros per share.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
H.I.G.Capital ("H.I.G."), a leading global private equity firm, announced today that it has completed the sale of Looping Group to the Ergon Capital Partners III SA investment fund ("Ergon").

The theme park operator was created in 2011 following H.I.G.'s acquisition of 7 amusement parks from Compagnie des Alpes. Since then, the Group has further expanded via subsequent build-ups in France and Spain.

Looping is currently one of the leading operators of regional amusement parks in Europe with 11 parks, including 7 in France (Planete Sauvage, Mer de Sable, Bagatelle, Mini Chateaux, Grand Aquarium de Touraine, Cobac Parc and Grand Aquarium de Saint-Malo) and 4 in other European countries (Aquaparc du Bouveret in Switzerland, Hellendoorn in the Netherlands, Pleasurewood Hills in the UK and Isla Magica in Spain).

The management team led by Laurent Bruloy will remain at the helm of the company and has reinvested in the transaction alongside Ergon.

Looping Group Managing Director Laurent Bruloy commented: "We thank H.I.G. for their contribution to our company's growth over the past years. Our partnership, founded on trust and sharing, has been a resounding success and has played a crucial role in the creation and development of our Group. We look forward to working with Ergon to further implement our growth strategy."

Olivier Boyadjian, Managing Director of H.I.G. France, added: "We are delighted to have worked alongside Looping and to have driven its growth over the last 5 years. Throughout this time the company, steered by a highly skilled management team, has expanded its international footprint and diversified its offering. This transaction is a success for both management and H.I.G. We wish Looping and its teams the best of success in the coming years alongside Ergon."

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with $19 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

1) H.I.G.'s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

2) H.I.G.'s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

3) H.I.G.'s real estate funds invest in equity and debt opportunities across property types and geographies.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

About Ergon

Ergon is a mid-market private equity investment company with around 500 million under management, backed by Sienna Capital, a subsidiary of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. Ergon makes equity investments in leading companies with a sustainable competitive position in niche markets located in the Benelux countries, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Switzerland. Since its inception in 2005, Ergon has invested in 13 companies (including 4 in the Benelux countries, 6 in Italy, 1 in France, 1 in Spain and 1 in Germany) and has completed 19 add-on acquisitions for a total aggregate transaction value of over 2.5 billion. Read more about Ergon at www.ergoncapital.com.

Based on total capital commitments to funds managed by H.I.G. Capital and its affiliates

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005022/en/

Contacts:

H.I.G. Capital

Olivier Boyadjian, T +33 1 53 57 50 60, F +33 1 53 57 50 89

Managing Director

www.higcapital.com
LONDON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

ANS (http://www.ans.co.uk ), an award winning datacentre, Infrastructure and Enterprise Networking provider has partnered with Perkbox (http://www.perkbox.co.uk), a leading employee perks and benefits scheme, to launch an exciting new incentives, rewards and engagement programme for its staff.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160317/345383 )



As part of its continuing commitment to enhance the company's work culture and recognise the hard work of its 240 employees, ANS now provides its staff with access to over a hundred practical, recreational and salary-sacrifice benefits and perks - from free spa days, tastecards and mobile phone insurance to discounted gym memberships, savings on childcare, cinema tickets, groceries and travel. New perks and benefits will also be added to the platform regularly. All employees will be able to simply redeem these via their own dedicated account using Perkbox's online platform and smartphone app.

As well as easy online redemption of perks and benefits, ANS staff will also be gifted with an occasional surprise 'Perkbox' filled with treats and free goodies - from snacks and beers to accessories and stress balls - for the whole team to enjoy.



Current benefits available to ANS staff include up to 6% off at supermarkets including Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, money off in 50 high street stores and 20,000 shops nationwide, two for one and 50% off in more than 6,500 restaurants, money off in pubs, bars and coffee shops, heavily discounted theatre tickets and attraction day passes, corporate rates in top gym chains, half price MOTs, money off Apple products and other tech, a free month's travel in London on an Oyster Card and free mobile phone insurance amongst thousands of other benefits.

Paul Shannon, COO of ANS, commented: "Rewarding our hardworking staff is hugely important to us. We have a competitive benefits list in place already, but we are always looking at exciting, innovative ways to say 'thank you' to our team. Our new partnership with Perkbox aligns perfectly with our 'work hard, play hard' culture and will help us to give something back to our team, something they can enjoy in their personal lives. 2016 marked our third appearance in the 'Sunday Times Top 100 Best Small Companies to work for' list and we are hoping that Perkbox will help us to maintain our great reputation."

NOTES TO EDITOR

About ANS Group

ANS is an award winning datacentre, Infrastructure and Enterprise Networking provider and an expert in designing, delivering and managing IT services that help businesses increase productivity, drive efficiency and achieve business value IT.



Founded in 1996, staff of 250, offices in Manchester and London.

Customers include Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Skipton Building Society, Opus Energy, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and The University of Nottingham.

ABOUT PERKBOX

Perkbox is a cloud-based employee engagement platform for business of all sizes, giving employers and employees a range of great perks, social reward and recognition tools, and a health and wellness platform.

Perkbox is the employee benefits brand of Huddlebuy Ltd (http://www.huddlebuy.co.uk), the UK's largest benefits provider for startups and small businesses. The Huddlebuy service helps businesses grow by offering handpicked business deals from trusted brands with offers covering financial, marketing, business, technology and telecoms, education and e-learning products, alongside personal and recreational perks.

Perkbox was set up after Huddlebuy's business customers expressed an interest in passing on these business and personal perks onto their employees. Perkbox is therefore the definitive and dedicated employee benefits service for all businesses big and small.

As well as easy online redemption of perks on desktop and via smartphone app, Perkbox members also receive a seasonal surprise 'Perkbox' box stuffed with treats and free goodies delivered straight to offices.

Perkbox was set up with the belief that the best companies to work for look after their teams. The most successful businesses are comprised of people who are engaged, satisfied and loyal. Providing perks helps build stronger teams and incentivises workers to aspire to greatness.

Until recently, only large corporations could afford to pay for employee perks. Perkbox's easy and wholly customised offering allows SMEs to reward and incentivise their growing team with perks that help build a happy work culture with an investment in line with their budgets.

Perkbox is a new platform created by Huddlebuy, a parent venture that helps small businesses grow by offering handpicked business deals across financial, marketing, business, technology, telecoms, education and e-learning products.

For more information on pricing and packages available, contact:help@perkbox.co.uk , tel: +44(0)20-8396-6812

For more information about Perkbox, or for interviews with Perkbox founders Saurav Chopra and Chieu Cao, contact: Hannah Sims, PR: +44(0)7891625928
LUGANO, Switzerland, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Helsinn Group is pleased to present its first group sustainability report, Quality of Life, demonstrating that being a good corporate citizen is at the heart of everything we do.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160322/346940LOGO )





(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160322/346939 )



Quality of Life was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. GRI provides a Sustainability Reporting framework which is universally recognized as the most comprehensive global standard for sustainability reporting, allowing companies to set goals, measure performance and manage change. A sustainability report discloses the full range of an organization's impacts on society, the environment and the economy.

Quality of Life provides detailed assessments of how the group's operations, from R&D to supply chain to management, impacts on these stakeholders, including patients, staff, the wider community and the environment. It covers all of Helsinn's operating subsidiaries.

Helsinn this year celebrates its 40th anniversary, reflecting on its core values of quality, integrity and respect. Since its foundation in 1976, Helsinn has always believed that long-term, sustainable commercial success is linked to operating in a way which benefits the needs of our stakeholders, the wider community and the environment. Now, for the first time, we are able to measure our success against these guiding principles as we strive to improve them.

Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn Group Vice Chairman and CEO, comments: "Helsinn is a family company and respect, integrity and quality are at the heart of everything we do. We believe that our obligations to our stakeholders, employees and the community we operate in, and stewardship of our environment, are as important as our commercial and financial success."

Giorgio Calderari, Group General Manager, comments: "Quality of Life was a challenging, but fascinating and very rewarding document to produce. It has given us a foundation upon which to build a sustainability strategy.

"We have got very valuable feedback through this process: we now have a thorough understanding of what our goals are and how we can achieve them. We have been delighted at the positive response from our staff and their engagement with the need for sustainability, and wish to thank everyone who participated in the production of this report.

"As we move forward towards our goal of making our organization ever more responsive to the need for accountability to all stakeholders, we urge all at Helsinn to embrace this progress."

For a full copy of the report, please visit: http://www.helsinn.com/responsibility/sustainability/

About the Helsinn Group

Helsinn is a privately owned cancer supportive care pharmaceutical group with an extensive portfolio of marketed products and a broad development pipeline. Since 1976, Helsinn has been improving the everyday lives of patients, guided by core family values of respect, integrity and quality, through a unique integrated licensing business model working with long standing partners in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and nutritional supplement products. Helsinn is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, with operating subsidiaries in Ireland and the US, a representative office in China, as well as a product presence in about 90 countries globally.

In 2016, our 40th anniversary year, you can meet representatives from Helsinn at:

NCCN Annual Conference ( Hollywood, FL , USA, 31 March-2 April)

, USA, 31 March-2 April) ASCO Annual Meeting ( Chicago , USA , 3-7 June)

, , 3-7 June) MAASC Annual Meeting ( Adelaide, Australia , 23-25 June)

, 23-25 June) ChemOutsourcing Conference ( Parsippany, New Jersey , 19-21 September)

, 19-21 September) CPhI Worldwide ( Barcelona, Spain , 4-6 October)

, 4-6 October) ESMO Congress ( Copenhagen, Denmark , 7-11 October)

, 7-11 October) BioEurope (Koln, Germany , 4-6 November)

For more information, please visit http://www.helsinn.com.
ALBANY, New York, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research entitled "Metal Cleaning Equipment Market - Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2024," the Europe metal cleaning equipment market was valued at US$ 731.7 Mn in 2015 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% during the period 2016 to 2024. High industrial activity driving the metal cleaning equipment market in the automotive, aerospace, and process industry segments, and the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the world are the key factors driving the development of the metal cleaning equipment market. In addition, enhanced security needs of customers are driving the adoption of security solutions in the residential sector and managed security solutions at affordable rates is further expected to drive the growth of this market over the forecast period.

Full Research Report on Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment Market with detailed figures and segmentation at:http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/europe-metal-cleaning-equipment-market.html

In the metal cleaning equipment market by technology, the open tanks multistage equipment segment was the largest in 2015, accounting for 39.2% of the overall market. This technology is generally used for the metal cleaning process, which includes various stages of cleaning. In this technology, the whole metal cleaning goes by a batch cleaning procedures to provide the most effective cleaning, which would add more flexibility to meet the demands of various disparate components in one machine. This technology is adopted for the calibrated washing of serial and complex mechanical parts of metals.

In the metal cleaning equipment market by movement type, the conveyor belt segment was the largest in 2015, accounting for 62.1% of the overall market. The programmable segment is anticipated to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period. Growing deployment of technologies such as artificial intelligence across various industrial sectors is expected to drive the demand for programmable movement of metal cleaning equipment for better efficiency and automation. Among the types of conveyor belts, belt conveyors was the largest segment in 2015, accounting for 71.8% of the overall market. The caroused conveyors segment is anticipated to be the fastest-growing segment.

Get Industry Research Sample with ToC & Free Analysis: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=9896

The metal cleaning equipment are highly complex systems designed for metal degreasing and cleaning activities. These metals are further deployed in high-end applications. These systems are designed in accordance with EU regulations pertaining to environment safety and protection. The product lifecycle generally ranges from 5 to 10 years and as such the number of installation units of metal cleaning equipment in Europe may witness a moderate growth rate. The requirement for metal cleaning equipment may arise from various sources such as the opening of new manufacturing plants, the expansion of existing manufacturing plants, and the replacement of existing metal cleaning equipment and application-specific customized metal cleaning equipment.

Customized solution for your market research needs:http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=9896

Some of the major industry players profiled in the study include Durr Ecoclean GmbH, Pero AG, Hockh Metall-Reinigungsanlagen GmbH, Metalwash Ltd., Rippert Anlagentechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Metalas Cleaning Systems, MecWash Systems Ltd., Sturm Holding GmbH, and Rosler Oberflachentechnik GmbH.

The Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment market has been segmented as follows:

Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment market, by Chemical Type

Solvent Metal Cleaning

Aqueous Metal Cleaning

Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment market, by Washing Type

Pickling/Immersion Cleaning Equipment

Spray Metal Cleaning Equipment

Vapor Phase Metal Cleaning Equipment

Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment market, by Technology

Open Tank Single Stage Equipment

Open Tanks Multistage Equipment

Tunnel Metal Equipment

Cabin Metal Equipment

Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment market, by Movement

Conveyer Belt

- Belt Conveyers

- Carousel Conveyers

- Overhead Conveyers

- Belt Conveyers - Carousel Conveyers - Overhead Conveyers Rotating Cylinder

Programmable

Europe Metal Cleaning Equipment market, by Region

The U.K.

Italy

France

Germany

Russia

Rest of Europe

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.

Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.

Contact

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Regulatory News:

Vattenfall's Annual and Sustainability Report for 2015 was published today and is now available on corporate.vattenfall.com

The Annual and Sustainability Report for 2015 has Vattenfall's new vision "Energy You Want" as its theme and describes, among other things, the company's strategy to become more customer-centric, to provide its customers with more sustainable energy solutions, and to transform towards a sustainable energy portfolio.

"In 2015 we further refined our strategy with the goal to be a leader in the transformation towards an entirely renewable energy system. This is a shift that we support to the highest degree, but which is also a challenge to achieve with today's overcapacity and low energy prices," writes Magnus Hall, President and CEO of Vattenfall.

In the end of 2015 Vattenfall's Board of Directors adopted six new strategic long-term targets in order to better reflect the strategy and its four strategic objectives: Leading towards Sustainable Consumption; Leading towards Sustainable Production; High Performing Operations as well as an Empowered and Engaged Organisation. One of these new targets is continuous focus on wind power, where the commissioned new capacity should amount to at least 2,300 MW until 2020. 

Vattenfall discloses this information pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act 

From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: +46 8 739 5010, e-mail: press@vattenfall.com

Facebook: facebook.com/vattenfallpressrum

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Vattenfall_Se

Vattenfall is a Swedish-owned energy company with operations in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, UK and Finland. "Energy You Want" Vattenfall's vision is to be a dedicated partner to its customers and society at large, providing convenient and innovative energy solutions. Vattenfall aims to be a leader in sustainable production, ensuring reliable and cost-efficient energy supply.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005619/en/

Contacts:

Vattenfall

Johan Sahlqvist, Head of Investor Relations

tel: +46 8 739 72 51

or

Robert Pletzin, Media Relations Manager EU and Corporate

tel: +46 725 16 86 06
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - German shares traded higher on Wednesday, a day after at least 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three separate explosions hit Brussels. Investors seemed to have been relieved by the degree of resilience displayed by financial markets in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The benchmark DAX was up 84 points or 0.84 percent at 10,075 in early trade as Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble prepares to outline his 2017 budget. Automaker Daimler rose 1.2 percent and rival Volkswagen added half a percent. Europe's commercial vehicle registrations grew 17.8 percent from last year to 160,062 units in February, with all segments seeing sustained growth, industry data showed. Airline Deutsche Lufthansa gained 0.8 percent while retailer Adidas rose 0.7 percent. Deutsche EuroShop shares gained 1.2 percent. The shopping center investor lifted dividend after posting 74 percent growth in consolidated profit for fiscal 2015. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - French shares rose modestly on Wednesday, a day after at least 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three separate explosions hit Brussels. Investors seemed to have been relieved by the degree of resilience displayed by financial markets in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The benchmark CAC 40 was up 27 points or 0.62 percent at 4,459 in early trade after closing marginally higher on Tuesday. Hotel group Accor gained half a percent, retailer Carrefour rose 1.4 percent and cosmetics company L'Oreal advanced 1.8 percent. Sanofi shares traded half a percent higher. The drugmaker and its U.S. partner Regeneron have announced positive results from the Phase 3 study of their Praluent injection in patients with an inherited form of high cholesterol. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - U.K. shares gained ground on Wednesday, a day after at least 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three separate explosions hit Brussels. Investors seemed to have been relieved by the degree of resilience displayed by financial markets in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 10 points or 0.17 percent at 6,203 after closing marginally higher the previous day. Tour operator Thomas Cook climbed 2.5 percent, airline Easyjet gained 1 percent and Intercontinental Hotels Group advanced 1.2 percent. Food manufacturer Premier Foods soared 42 percent after rejecting a revised bid approach from US spices and herbs maker McCormick. Kingfisher shares rallied 3.5 percent. The home-improvement retailer beat estimates with a 0.3 percent rise in annual profit. Imagination Technologies fell over 1 percent, a day after Apple confirmed it held talks to buy the struggling chipmaker. AstraZeneca traded flat. The company said its Brilinta drug proved less effective than aspirin during a trial in stroke patients. Gambling group William Hill slumped 14 percent after issuing a profit warning. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
U.S. Army Orders Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Installed Kits and Related Support

Oshkosh Defense, LLC, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) company, announced today that the U.S. Army has placed an order for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program including 657 vehicles, 2,977 installed kits and related support. The order, which will serve both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, is valued at more than $243 million.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005688/en/

The next generation Oshkosh JLTV is a 'network on wheels', able to serve as a mobile command center in future missions. (Photo: Business Wire)

"The JLTV program is providing our Soldiers and Marines with the world's most capable light tactical vehicle," said Wilson R. Jones, Oshkosh Corporation president and chief executive officer. "The Oshkosh JLTV will be the platform our troops depend on to keep them safe as they perform future military operations outside-the-wire."

The JLTV program remains a top priority for the Department of Defense, filling a critical capability gap for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps by replacing a large portion of the legacy uparmored HMMWV fleet with a modern light protected vehicle. The JLTV provides unprecedented protection and off-road mobility, as well as transportability via air, land and sea. The JLTV production contract calls for Oshkosh to deliver a total of nearly 17,000 vehicles, as well as kits and services over an eight-year period with first vehicle delivery in October 2016. The vehicles, trailers and installed kits for this order will be delivered by first quarter FY18.

The Oshkosh JLTV

The Oshkosh JLTV delivers the latest in automotive technologies, the Oshkosh Core1080 crew protection system, and the Oshkosh TAK-4i intelligent independent suspension system to provide the ultimate combination of protection and mobility. The JLTV Family of Vehicles is comprised of two variants, a two seat and a four seat variant, as well as a companion trailer (JLTV-T). The two seat variant has one base vehicle platform, the Utility (JLTV-UTL). The four seat variant has two base vehicle platforms, the General Purpose (JLTV-GP) and the Close Combat Weapons Carrier (JLTV-CCWC). The Oshkosh JLTV is scalable and adaptable to future missions and unknown threats for decades to come.

U.S. Soldiers and Marines can expect:

A vehicle 1/3 smaller and 1/3 lighter than the Oshkosh MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle,

or M-ATV

or M-ATV Off-road speeds 70 percent faster than today's gold standard, the Oshkosh M-ATV

A modular design that can be quickly and efficiently outfitted for a full range of missions

Banks 866T, 6.6 Liter Turbo Diesel Engine, based on GM Duramax architecture

866T, 6.6 Liter Turbo Diesel Engine, based on GM Duramax architecture Fully transportable by air or sea, such as C130, CH-53 and CH-47

Network ready and VICTORY compliant

Superior ride quality

About Oshkosh Defense

Oshkosh Defense is a leading provider of tactical wheeled vehicles and life cycle sustainment services. For decades Oshkosh has been mobilizing military and security forces around the globe by offering a full portfolio of heavy, medium, light and highly protected military vehicles to support our customers' missions. In addition, Oshkosh offers advanced technologies and vehicle components such as TAK-4 independent suspension systems, TerraMax unmanned ground vehicle solutions, Command Zone integrated control and diagnostics system, and ProPulse diesel electric and on-board vehicle power solutions, to provide our customers with a technical edge as they fulfill their missions. Every Oshkosh vehicle is backed by a team of defense industry experts and complete range of sustainment and training services to optimize fleet readiness and performance. Oshkosh Defense, LLC is an Oshkosh Corporation company [NYSE: OSK].

To learn more about Oshkosh Defense, please visit us at www.oshkoshdefense.com.

About Oshkosh Corporation

Oshkosh Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of access equipment, commercial, fire emergency, military and specialty vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corporation manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh, JLG, Pierce,McNeilus, Jerr-Dan, Frontline, CON-E-CO, London and IMT. Oshkosh products are valued worldwide by rental companies, concrete placement and refuse collection businesses, fire emergency departments, municipal and airport services and defense forces, where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, please visit www.oshkoshcorporation.com

GM and DURAMAX are registered trademarks owned by General Motors, LLC. Banks is a registered mark owned by Gale Banks. All other trademarks are owned by Oshkosh Corporation or its subsidiary companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "project" or "plan" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the cyclical nature of the Company's access equipment, commercial and fire emergency markets, which are particularly impacted by the strength of U.S. and European economies and construction seasons; the Company's estimates of access equipment demand which, among other factors, is influenced by customer historical buying patterns and rental company fleet replacement strategies; the strength of the U.S. dollar and its impact on Company exports, translation of foreign sales and purchased materials; the expected level and timing of U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD") and international defense customer procurement of products and services and funding thereof; the Company's ability to utilize material and components which it has committed to purchase from suppliers; risks related to reductions in government expenditures in light of U.S. defense budget pressures, sequestration and an uncertain DoD tactical wheeled vehicle strategy; the Company's ability to increase prices to raise margins or offset higher input costs; increasing commodity and other raw material costs, particularly in a sustained economic recovery; risks related to facilities expansion, consolidation and alignment, including the amounts of related costs and charges and that anticipated cost savings may not be achieved; global economic uncertainty, which could lead to additional impairment charges related to many of the Company's intangible assets and/or a slower recovery in the Company's cyclical businesses than Company or equity market expectations; projected adoption rates of work at height machinery in emerging markets; the impact of severe weather or natural disasters that may affect the Company, its suppliers or its customers; risks related to the collectability of receivables, particularly for those businesses with exposure to construction markets; the cost of any warranty campaigns related to the Company's products; risks related to production or shipment delays arising from quality or production issues; risks associated with international operations and sales, including compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the Company's ability to comply with complex laws and regulations applicable to U.S. government contractors; cybersecurity risks and costs of defending against, mitigating and responding to a data security breach; and risks related to the Company's ability to successfully execute on its strategic road map and meet its long-term financial goals. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update information contained in this press release. Investors should be aware that the Company may not update such information until the Company's next quarterly earnings conference call, if at all.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005688/en/

Contacts:

For more information, contact:

Financial:

Oshkosh Corporation

Patrick Davidson

Vice President of Investor Relations

920.966.5939

or

National Media:

Oshkosh Corporation

John Daggett

Vice President of Corporate Communications

920.233.9247

or

Defense Media:

Oshkosh Defense

Jennifer Christiansen

Vice President of Business Development

920.966.5635
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 --



WHO:

Greenhouse Software, the leading recruiting and onboarding platform; Formlabs, a Boston-based 3D printing startup; and HackerRank, the world's fastest growing developer platform

WHAT:

Will present the complimentary webinar, "Hiring Hacks: How Formlabs Designed a Growth-Centered Internship Program."

WHEN:

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. EDT (12:00 p.m. CDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT)

WHERE:

Registration for the webinar is available at: http://bit.ly/1RwaGO6

DETAILS:

With an influx of younger talent prepared to enter the workforce in the coming years, today's employers are in need of new, innovative channels to engage these individuals and hire the best and brightest among the new generation of workers. A robust internship program can be highly effective in attracting new talent, and those interns provide a talent pool of pre-vetted individuals who can become full-time employees. However, understanding the components of an effective internship program continues to be a challenge for many organizations.

During this webinar, Greenhouse and HackerRank will partner with Virginia White, head of People Operations at Formlabs, to discuss how her startup company grew from 10 employees to 140 in a matter of three years and how its internship program contributed to this growth. White will explain how at Formlabs, each and every employee plays a role in sourcing, hiring and managing the company's interns, a unique concept that helped convert interns to employees at a 50 percent rate during the program's first two years while improving its employer brand. Attendees will also learn how to structure an effective program, inventive methods for sourcing intern candidates and strategies for aligning the program with a company's business goals and growth plan.

Human resource professionals, recruiters and hiring managers who are interested in learning more about the positive impact of initiating and maintaining an internship program are encouraged to attend. More information can be accessed at: http://bit.ly/1RwaGO6.



About Formlabs

Formlabs designs and manufactures powerful and accessible 3D printing systems for engineers, designers and artists. Their flagship product, the Form 2 3D Printer, uses stereolithography (SLA) to create high-resolution physical objects from digital designs. The company was founded in 2012 by a team of engineers and designers from the MIT Media Lab and Center for Bits and Atoms.

With its powerful, intuitive and affordable machines, Formlabs is establishing a new benchmark in professional desktop 3D printing. Formlabs also develops its own suite of high-performance materials for 3D printing, as well as best-in-class 3D-printing software.

About HackerRank

HackerRank is a technical talent community for developers to hone their skills, and for companies to hire the best tech talent. With 1M+ developers, 35+ languages and 8+ programming domains, HackerRank gives companies recruiting tools such as codesprints and code challenges to make sourcing, screening and interviewing more effective. 1,000+ companies are revolutionizing tech recruiting with HackerRank.

About Greenhouse

Greenhouse Software designs tools that help companies source, interview, hire and onboard the right talent. Headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco, Greenhouse was founded by Daniel Chait and Jon Stross. Recognized as a 2015 Best Place to Work in New York City by Crain's New York Business, the Greenhouse team currently works with over 1,500 of the world's most innovative people-driven companies, including Airbnb, Slack, Oscar Health and more. To learn more or request a demo, visit greenhouse.io.
Ron Paul Issues Dire WarningFormer member of the U.S. House of Representatives and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul warned that government spending must be reduced if America is going to avoid a major economic collapse."Budgets that merely tinker around the edges of the welfare-warfare state, or only reduce the rate of spending increases, merely postpone the day of reckoning," Paul wrote in his weekly column posted on the Ron Paul Institute web site on Sunday."Only a budget that brings the troops home, shuts down unconstitutional agencies, ends all.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - European shares traded higher in early trade on Wednesday, a day after at least 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded when three separate explosions hit Brussels. While commodities slipped on a firmer dollar, investors seemed to have been relieved by the degree of resilience displayed by financial markets in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up half a percent after finishing 0.1 percent lower on Tuesday. Elsewhere, the German DAX was rallying 1.1 percent, France's CAC 40 index was moving up half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent. Hotel and travel-related stocks traded mostly higher, with Accor, Deutsche Lufthansa, EasyJet, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Thomas Cook climbing 1-3 percent. Credit Suisse shares climbed almost 3 percent. The Swiss banking giant has unveiled plans to eliminate an additional 2,000 jobs this year and deepen cuts at its investment bank as part of efforts to reduce annual costs by 800 million Swiss francs ($821 million). Food manufacturer Premier Foods soared 48 percent in London after rejecting a revised bid approach from US spices and herbs maker McCormick. Kingfisher rallied 3 percent. The home-improvement retailer beat estimates with a 0.3 percent rise in annual profit. Gambling group William Hill slumped 11 percent after issuing a profit warning. Automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen rose 1-2 percent in Frankfurt. Europe's commercial vehicle registrations grew 17.8 percent from last year to 160,062 units in February, with all segments seeing sustained growth, industry data showed. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) and Padlock Therapeutics, Inc. signed a definitive agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Padlock, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company dedicated to creating new medicines to treat destructive autoimmune diseases. The deal includes upfront and near term contingent milestone payments of up to $225 million and additional contingent consideration of up to $375 million upon the achievement by Bristol-Myers Squibb of certain development and regulatory events. Bristol-Myers said the acquisition will give the company full rights to Padlock's Protein/Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase inhibitor discovery program focused on the development of potentially transformational treatment approaches for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - March 23, 2016) - Balmoral Resources Ltd. ("Balmoral" or the "Company") (TSX: BAR)(OTCQX: BALMF) reported today that drilling and geophysical work has resumed on the Company's wholly owned Martiniere Gold Property, part of the Detour Trend Project, in Quebec. Initial drilling will focus on the delineation and expansion of the sparsely tested southern two-thirds of the Bug Lake Gold Trend and, weather conditions permitting, will also look to expand on other recent gold discoveries within the broader Martiniere gold system.

An extensive I.P. (Induced Polarization) survey is also underway targeting the recently discovered, gold-bearing, Lac du Doigt ("LD") fault zone. This is the first ground geophysical work focused on the LD fault where reconnaissance drilling in 2015 successfully traced three sub-parallel gold zones for approximately 180 metres along strike (see Figure 1). All three zones remain open in all directions. The I.P. survey will cover a 5,000 metre long segment of the LD fault, as well as several other potential structural zones in the area. The goal is to provide targets for summer drill testing. The LD fault parallel's the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone which hosts the Detour Lake Gold Mine 45 kilometres to the west. It represents a new environment for gold mineralization on the Martiniere Property and across the broader land package held by Balmoral.

"As always, it is an exciting time for our shareholders when we have drills turning on the Martiniere Property, and in particular in the Bug Lake area which has produced some of the highest grade gold intercepts to date from the entire Detour Trend," said Darin Wagner, President and CEO of Balmoral Resources. "We continue to expand both the known zones of gold mineralization on the Property and, with discoveries like those along the LD fault, the overall size of the gold mineralized system in the Martiniere area."

Bug Lake Gold Trend and Martiniere Gold System

Drilling to date has traced the Bug Lake Gold Trend south from where it intersects the LD fault for over 1,800 metres. North of the LD fault it remains open and untested, as it does to the south toward the Sunday Lake deformation zone. Gold mineralization within the Bug Lake Trend is centered around a quartz porphyry filled fault corridor with high-grade (+3 g/t, with individual intercepts to over 9,000 g/t) gold mineralization occurring in several sub-parallel zones within, and in both the hanging wall and footwall to, the fault corridor. These high-grade zones are typically surrounded by broader haloes of anomalous to low-grade gold mineralization which can range from 10's to over 130 metres in width.

Drilling to date along the Bug Lake Trend has intersected gold mineralization to vertical depths of approximately 400 metres. 97% of the drilling to date has focused on the shallow portion of the Trend, between surface and 250 vertical metres. The known gold mineralization remains open to depth on all sections.

In addition to Bug Lake, the Martiniere Property hosts the 1,000 metre long Martiniere West Gold Trend. This trend features multiple zones and occurrences of gold mineralization located along a northwest oriented shear corridor centered approximately 600 metres west of the heart of the Bug Lake Trend. High-grade gold mineralization within the Martiniere West Zone has been traced from surface to 325 vertical metres. It, and several sub-parallel gold zones along the trend, remain open for expansion.

The Martiniere East area, 300 to 500 metres east of the Bug Lake Trend, also hosts a number of high-grade, vein style gold occurrences. For further maps and information on the Martiniere gold system and the individual mineralized zones please visit our website at www.balmoralresources.com.

Mr. Darin Wagner (P.Geo.), President and CEO of the Company, is the non-independent qualified person who has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Wagner has supervised the work programs on the Martiniere Property, visited the property on multiple occasions, reviewed the results with senior on-site geological staff and reviewed the available analytical and quality control results.

About Balmoral Resources Ltd. - www.balmoralresources.com

Balmoral is a well-funded, Canadian-based company actively delineating and expanding both high-grade gold and nickel-copper-PGE discoveries on its wholly owned, 700 square kilometre Detour Trend Project in Quebec, Canada. Employing an award winning exploration team, Balmoral has a philosophy of creating value through the drill bit. By focusing our efforts in proven productive precious/base metal belts in one of the world's pre-eminent mining jurisdictions, Balmoral is following an established formula with a goal of maximizing shareholder value through discovery and definition of high-grade, Canadian gold and base metal assets.

On behalf of the board of directors of

BALMORAL RESOURCES LTD.

"Darin Wagner"

President and CEO

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, duration and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration programs and expenditures, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the timing of the receipt of assay results, the prospective nature of the Company's land holdings, the nature and style of the mineralization discussed and its interpreted continuity, interest of investors in the results generated by the Company's exploration activities and business and financing plans and trends, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include those related to weather, equipment and staff availability; performance of third parties; risks related to the exploration stage of the Company's projects; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies and in commodity prices; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing; risks related to the Company's ability to identify one or more economic deposits on the properties, and variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located on the properties; risks related to the uncertain nature and interpretation of geological and geophysical models, risks related to the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities on the properties; and risks related to the Company's ability to produce minerals from the properties successfully or profitably. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties and any production therefrom or economics with respect thereto, are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties or of the potential production from, or cost or economics of, any future mining of, or production from, and of the Company's properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/3/22/11G088804/Images/Martiniere_Discoveries_Oct_2015-01-1bb7b45ec4d3857abf12cd1383a9895c.jpg

For further information contact:

John Foulkes

Vice-President, Corporate Development

Tel: (604) 638-5815

Toll Free: (877) 838-3664

E-mail: info@balmoralresources.com
Qualcomm Incorporated Joins Latest Investment Round for Next Generation Software Defined Data Center Solution That Enables Businesses to Embrace New Technologies at Unparalleled Pace with Greater Ease and Control

Stratoscale, a software company revolutionizing the data center, today announced it has secured $27 million in Series C financing. Qualcomm Incorporated, through its venture investment group, Qualcomm Ventures, joined the Series C financing round with participation from all existing investors. Transforming cloud computing capabilities within the data center by enabling businesses to embrace new technologies at a faster pace, Stratoscale has raised over $70 million in funding over the past three years that is dedicated to support global expansion of the company.

To help customers keep up with business agility mandates that include rapid development and new age applications, Stratoscale provides a hardware-agnostic Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) solution that offers a holistic data center experience. Stratoscale's solution enables IT to scale and respond to real-time needs with greater ease and assured control.

"Today's data center managers are looking to Stratoscale to help them more effectively manage their technology infrastructure. To help us scale globally, we are proud to have the support and investment from Qualcomm Ventures," said Ariel Maislos, CEO of Stratoscale. "This investment enables us to accelerate our adoption in the market and expand operations more quickly to meet the demand for an all-inclusive data center cloud offering that is scalable and efficient. We continue to deliver on the promise of what data centers should be without the burden of being locked into legacy infrastructure that doesn't grow with your business."

"Qualcomm sees large growth opportunities in the data center space, and Stratoscale is positioned to become a seminal and transformative player, particularly in the midst of a current technology revolution," said Mony Hassid, senior director, Qualcomm Ventures. "Their accelerated growth and global expansion indicate that Stratoscale is capable of leading the competition, and we look forward to working closely with the Stratoscale team as they continue to progress."

As companies have moved critical business processes to the cloud over the years, Stratoscale has brought the control back to IT by providing unparalleled cloud computing capabilities in the data center in a way that's faster and doesn't require specific expertise or expensive services. Stratoscale's hardware-agnostic, self-optimizing software solution, Stratoscale Symphony, automatically distributes all physical and virtual assets and workloads in real time, delivering "rack-scale economics" to data centers of all sizes with efficiency and operational simplicity. By enabling anyone within an organization to be a data center manager, IT departments can focus on developing and running business applications while scaling out easily in a pay as you grow model.

Since its $32 million Series B investment in 2014, Stratoscale has experienced significant growth and continued product innovation. The company also began expansion throughout North America and Europe with PartnerFirst, its 360 degree partner program. Through this program, Stratoscale is building an ecosystem of technology and distribution partners, expanding coverage and customer service to meet market demand for next generation data centers.

About Stratoscale

Stratoscale is revolutionizing the data center with a zero-to-cloud-in-minutes solution. With Stratoscale's hardware-agnostic, software-only hyperconverged platform to store everything, run anything and scale everywhere, IT is empowered to take control of their data centers. Led by an experienced management team that brings a proven track record in the field of startups, Stratoscale was named a "Cool Vendor in Servers and Virtualization" by Gartner. Stratoscale is backed by leading investors including: Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco, Intel and SanDisk. For more information, visit http://www.stratoscale.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005126/en/

Contacts:

Racepoint Global for Stratoscale

Jenna Caswell, +1 617-624-3252

Stratoscale@racepointglobal.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Coventry Resources Inc. (ASX: CYY)

1. HIGHLIGHTS

-- Encouraging interim results returned from first phase of ongoing metallurgical testwork on samples from the Caribou Dome Copper Project -- Recoveries of greater than 85% copper returned from rougher flotation tests -- Concentrate grades up to 24.5% copper achieved -- Second phase of metallurgical testwork commenced to continue to optimise recoveries and concentrate grades -- Results provide further confidence for a conventional flotation processing plant as a viable low-CAPEX development alternative

2. INITIAL INTERIM RESULTS FROM ONGOING METALLURGICAL TESTWORK

Coventry Resources Inc. (ASX: CYY) ("Coventry" or "the Company") is pleased to advise it has received the first interim results from an ongoing metallurgical testwork program being undertaken on samples from the high-grade Caribou Dome Copper Deposit in Alaska, USA ("the Project" and "the Caribou Dome Project").

In late 2015 approximately 70kg of representative drill core, comprising quarter core recovered during the Company's 2015 drilling program at the Project, were submitted to an independent metallurgical laboratory Arnofio Flotation Services for flotation testwork. Approximately 50kg of the sample material was from Lenses 4, 5 and 6; with the other 20kg from the Lense 7/8 area.

The first phase of metallurgical testwork has to date focused on conventional flotation of copper sulphides from only the Lense 4, 5 and 6 area. This sample averaged 5.03% copper.

Rougher recoveries of greater than 85% copper into rougher flotation concentrates have been achieved. This exceeds recoveries achieved in the most recent historical testwork (2009).

Equally significant, cleaner concentrates grading as high as 24.5% copper have also been produced, which provides further confidence in the potential to produce a saleable copper concentrate using conventional flotation methods.

Although testwork parameters are yet to be optimised, these interim results are considered very encouraging and provide further confidence that a conventional flotation processing plant may provide a viable low-CAPEX pathway for the development of the Caribou Dome Project.

3. FURTHER METALLURGICAL TESTWORK

Having assessed the results of the testwork to date, consultant metallurgists have identified numerous conditions whereby higher copper recoveries might be achievable whilst maintaining a high copper concentrate grade.

Accordingly a second phase of testwork on samples from the Lense 4, 5 and 6 area has commenced (approximately 10kg of sample from this area remains, unused, to date). Results from this work are expected in late April.

On completion of this work, optimal parameters for initial metallurgical testwork on the samples from the Lense 7/8 area will be defined and utilised to assess whether the metallurgical properties of mineralisation in that area are similar to those in the Lense 4, 5 and 6 area.

4. ONGOING MINING STUDIES

Only 12,662 metres of drilling have been completed at the Caribou Dome Project to date. Significant thicknesses of shallow, high-grade mineralisation have been intersected along the entire initial 700m-long corridor drilled to date, with results including:

-- 51.1m(i) at 5.3% Cu from 4.4m -- 18.1m at 9.3% Cu from 22.7m -- 14.1m at 9.9% Cu from 134.6m -- 18.4m at 6.3% Cu from 31.4m -- 15.4m at 7.0% Cu (U/G drill hole) -- 10.4m at 7.9% Cu from 14.0m -- 12.8m at 5.8% Cu (U/G drill hole) -- 13.0m at 4.9% Cu (U/G drill hole) -- 10.1m at 7.1% Cu from 39.0m -- 9.1m at 7.0% Cu from 28.7m -- 10.2m at 6.2% Cu from 46.6m -- 12.2m at 5.0% Cu from 27.1m

(i) True width estimated to be approximately 25m

Mineralisation remains open in all directions, hence it is highly likely additional mineralisation will be discovered with further exploration. Notwithstanding this, the Company has recently been undertaking preliminary mining studies to help target and optimise further exploration and resource expansion drilling at the Project.

The preliminary mining studies referred to in this report are based on high-level technical and economic assessments and are as yet insufficient to support Ore Reserves or to provide assurance of an economic development at this stage, or to provide certainty that the conclusions of the preliminary mining studies will be realised.

4.1 Preliminary Open Pit Mining Studies

The geological model for the mineralisation has recently been refined. This confirms there is considerable:

i. shallow; ii. high-grade; and iii.thick mineralisation at the Project. An independent mining engineer was subsequently engaged to undertake initial open pit mining studies.

This work has confirmed that it should be possible to initially recover a considerable amount of mineralisation by way of open pit mining. This offers a low-capital-cost start-up development opportunity. Furthermore the thick and high-grade nature of the shallow mineralisation should have a positive impact on initial operating costs in the event the Company undertakes open pit mining operations at the Project.

Initial open pit modelling indicates two separate pits may be optimal, one to recover the shallow mineralisation in the Lense 2, 4, 5 and 6 area and the other to recover the shallow mineralisation in the Lense 7/8 area (see Figures 1 and 2). This appears to be primarily because there is very little drilling between these two areas. Indeed, delineation of additional shallow mineralisation between these two areas should have a positive effect on open pit mining costs. Further exploration in this immediate corridor is therefore a priority.

The open pit designed to potentially recover mineralisation from the Lense 7/8 area is also constrained by the lack of drilling to the north east (see Figure 1). Significantly, multiple geophysical (IP and mise-a-la-masse) and geochemical targets are evident in this immediate vicinity. These too are high-priority targets for further exploration

To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1047865_Fig1.pdf

To view Figure 2, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1047865_Fig2.pdf

4.2 Preliminary Underground Mining Studies

Following completion of the first phase of open pit mining studies, an underground mining engineer was recently engaged to commence assessing potential recovery of deeper mineralisation. This work is progressing well, and has already highlighted multiple areas where further extensional drilling may delineate significant additional mineralisation.

4.3 Evaluation of Possible Capital Costs

While the Company is very confident further exploration will lead to the discovery of additional mineralisation at the Project, the Company has, as a base-case, been contemplating initial development of a reasonably small mining/conventional flotation processing operation to produce a typical copper concentrate.

In order to benchmark potential capital costs for development of such an operation, the Company has reviewed recent cost estimates for development of other operations. In particular it has assessed cost estimates for the potential development of (i) IDM Mining Inc's Red Mountain Gold Project in British Columbia, Canada, (ii) Avanco Resources Limited's Antas North Copper Project in Brazil, and (iii) Doray Minerals Limited's Deflector Copper-Gold Project in Western Australia. Development cost estimates for these projects ranged from US$55million to US$70million. Development of similar-sized operations at the Caribou Dome Project could potentially cost similar amounts.

Given the potential to initially develop a low-CAPEX, high-grade open pit mining operation at the Project before transitioning to underground mining, it is anticipated that there is scope to rapidly pay back any capital development costs.

Further exploration success would likely justify reoptimisation of the scale of development of a mining operation at the Project (and hence the capital development costs). Furthermore there are nuances in developing all mining projects and possible capital costs will have to be considerably refined further as Coventry advances the development of the Caribou Dome Project.

5. FURTHER EXPLORATION

To date only 12,662 metres of drilling have been completed at the Caribou Dome Project. Multiple undrilled induced polarisation ("IP") and copper-in-soil anomaly targets are evident both within and outside the initial 700m long corridor that has been subject to drilling to date. Indeed the 700m long corridor that has been drilled to date lies at the western end of a strong, contiguous, 2,000m long copper in soil anomaly, with the 1,300m long extension of this anomaly to the east completely untested by drilling to date (see Figure 3).

To view Figure 3, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1047865_Fig3.pdf

Very significantly, although only part of this 2,000m long soil anomaly has been covered with ground geophysical surveying to date, 4 very high priority, strong IP anomalies are located immediately north east of the known mineralisation (see Figure 4), namely the:

i. Menel Target; ii. Guardian Target; iii.Lense 9 IP Target; and iv. Lense 3 IP Target.

Testing of all of these very-high priority targets will commence early in the Company's next drilling program.

To view Figure 4, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1047865_Fig4.pdf

With exploration only just commencing on the greater than 15km of prospective strike yet to be drill tested, there is considerable potential to continue to increase the resource base, and thereby enhance the economics of developing a mining operation at the Project.

Plans are well advanced to extend the coverage of ground-geophysical surveying, which has proven instrumental in the discovery of three new zones of mineralisation at the Project during 2015. Such surveying is expected to be undertaken in conjunction with further diamond drilling to commence evaluation of the Menel, Guardian, Lense 9 and Lense 3 Targets. Additional targets delineated during ground geophysical surveying could be drill-tested immediately thereafter.

Mike Haynes, Managing Director and CEO

Qualified and Competent Person

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results and metallurgical testwork for the Project is based on information compiled by Mr Ben Vallerine, who is a consultant to the Company and holds an indirect shareholding in the Company. Mr Vallerine is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Vallerine has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and the activity he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results (JORC Code). Mr Vallerine is also a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr Vallerine consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" and/or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities regulations in Canada and the United States (collectively, forward-looking information"). Any forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Coventry Resources Inc. ("Coventry") does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to resource project identification and evaluation, exploration and development activities and expected outcomes. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects, "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Any forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain assumptions that Coventry believes are reasonable, including, that the current price of and demand for mineral commodities will be sustained or will improve, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed on reasonable terms, that supplies, equipment, personnel, permits and local community approval required to conduct Coventry's planned exploration and development activities will be available on reasonable terms and that Coventry will not experience any material accident, labour dispute, or failure of equipment.

However, forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Coventry to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to the actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, cost of labour increasing more than expected, cost of equipment or materials increasing more than expected, fluctuations in the commodity prices, currency fluctuations, risk of accidents, labour disputes and other risks generally associated with mineral exploration and unanticipated delays in obtaining or failing to obtain governmental or community approvals or financing. Although Coventry has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

Contacts:

Coventry Resources Inc.

+61 8 9226 1356

+61 8 9226 2027 (FAX)

info@coventryres.com

www.coventryres.com




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Prime Minister's Office

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the occasion of Holi:

"This week, Canadians of Hindu faith will join their communities and loved ones in celebration of the fun-filled festival of colours.

"Holi marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. To usher in the new season, families will sing and dance, eat delicacies, light bonfires, and paint each other with brightly coloured powders and dyes.

"This happy holiday is an opportunity to renew friendships and celebrate peace, but it is also a time to reflect on traditional notions of good and evil, and the ultimate triumph of light over darkness. It is a festival that is celebrated by Hindus and non-Hindus alike across Canada, South Asia, and around the world.

"As friends and families come together for this joyous occasion, we must take a moment to recognize the tremendous contributions Canadians of Hindu faith have made to our country. Our diversity is our greatest strength.

"On behalf of our family, Sophie and I wish all those marking this occasion a fun, happy and colourful Holi."

"Holi Hai!"

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

Contacts:

PMO Media Relations:

613-957-5555




DUBLIN, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Amazon has organized an invitation-only conference this week for experts in artificial intelligence, robotics and space exploration. The MARS conference is being held at a resort in Palm Springs, with invitations extended to industry leaders and academics from universities like MIT and ETH Zurich.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/600769 )

Amazon has held exclusive events in the past, but generally shies away from publishing papers or giving talks about its technology. But the world's biggest online retailer has been investing in areas like robotics and artificial intelligence.

Industries worldwide are demanding better precision and efficiency in order to meet the growing end-user demand. This has led to high demand for machines that are capable of increasing industrial efficiency by handling multiple tasks while remaining uncompromising on overall accuracy. Amazon currently has tens of thousands of "Kiva" robots in its delivery warehouses, according to reports. The global robotics market is projected to grow at a rate of 29.11% by 2019.

Smart homes is another topic being discussed at the conference. A smart home comprises of an internal network, home automation, and intelligent control. It offers a wide variety of applications such as home security, energy management, home cloud, and e-health services. It is a market that is expected to grow 38% in the U.S. alone over the next few years.

One of Amazon's best-selling products is its Amazon Echo device, which uses a voice-enabled artificial intelligence platform to perform tasks such as dimming lights or adjust room temperature. Artificial intelligence is growing in popularity due to factors such as diversified application areas, improved productivity, and increased customer satisfaction. The market is expected to be worth $5.05 billion by 2020.

For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Robotics

section at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/NJLK.

About Research and Markets

Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-23/amazon-hosts-exclusive-robotics-conference-in-palm-springs

Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood,Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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- Missing child protection may lead to life-threatening injuries with improper use of socket outlets

- Free replacements for end customers

- Hotline established for those seeking advice

- Only a limited number of socket outlets with increased contact protection ("child protection") are affected

In the interests of consumer protection, Gira Giersiepen GmbH Co. KG (Gira), one of the leading full-range suppliers of electrical installation technology and building systems technology worldwide, recalls a part of their socket outlets with increased contact protection ("child protection"). Customer complaints, followed by an internal investigation, showed that socket outlet covers with increased contact protection distributed in the period between 01.01.2015 and 26.01.2016 may have a manufacturing defect. In some cases, the mechanical device in the cover the shutter of the affected socket outlets may not automatically close as intended. With improper use of the socket outlet - e.g. when a child inserts conductive materials into the socket outlet - this fault may lead to an electric shock which can potentially result in serious or even life-threatening injuries. To reduce any potential risk, parents and adults should ensure that children stay away from the socket outlets and inform all persons in the household that the increased contact protection of the covers may not function.

Safety is top priority

So far there has been no event of injury caused by socket outlet covers with increased contact protection ("child protection") which have been sold by Gira without complaint in their millions in numerous countries. As Gira places top priority in the safety of all products, the long-established company, headquartered in Radevormwald, Germany, acted immediately, and in close cooperation with the regulatory authorities decided on a public recall of the affected socket outlet covers. In the process of the product recall, all measures are implemented step by step and the affected batches already distributed to electrical wholesalers, electrical contractors and end customers are being collected to eliminate any potential risk. For this purpose, Gira is reaching out to the public in newspaper advertisements, posters at retailers as well as providing information online and in social networks.

Free replacements by electrical contractors

End customers are to approach their electrician or electrical equipment dealer if they have purchased affected products in the specified time period and/or such products have been installed in their building. Electrical equipment dealers and numerous electrical contractors can inform end customers whether their covers are affected and need to be replaced. In such cases, the electrician will replace the cover free of charge with a new plastic cover offering fully functional increased contact protection ("child protection"). As an alternative he can install a socket outlet protector ("plugin") to ensure increased contact protection. Changing the socket outlet covers can be carried out quickly and easily, but can only be done by a professional electrician. Gira expressly advises that end customers should under no circumstances attempt to change the socket covers themselves.

Free hotline

In order to quickly answer customer's questions, Gira has established a free hotline depending on the country. Further information can be found on the Gira website

Only a limited number of socket outlets with increased contact protection ("child protection") is affected

The company Gira stresses that by no means all Gira socket outlets with increased contact protection ("child protection") are affected. The potential fault occurs only in batches manufactured during clearly defined production periods, accounting for less than 4 percent of the annual production of covers with increased contact protection. Furthermore, the socket outlets themselves are not affected, but only the "shutter" inside the covers. This means: The power supply from the sockets is not affected. The socket outlets are fully functional and, with correct use, offer the same standard contact protection as in any other conventional socket outlet. They can therefore be used as before. Merely the increased contact protection ("child protection") is potentially non-functional. In previous years, the socket outlets with increased contact protection have repeatedly been tested and certified by independent testing institutes as to their compliance with the applicable standards and safety regulations.

About Gira

Gira Giersiepen GmbH Co. KG (www.gira.de) is one of the leading full-range suppliers of intelligent system solutions for electronic and networked digital building management. Founded in 1905, the family-run company, headquartered in Radevormwald, Germany, has shaped and influenced the world of electrical installations and intelligent building control with numerous inventions for 111 years. Right from the start, Gira with its many innovations, such as the Gira HomeServer, has been one of the most influential players in the development of the networked "smart home" and in the digitalisation of buildings. Gira products and solutions stand for German engineering skills, for reliable "Made in Germany" quality, for sustainable production and operation, for perfection of form and function but above all they stand for making people's lives a little easier, more comfortable and safer. It is no coincidence that Gira switches, control, communication, multimedia and safety systems are now used in more than 40 countries, such as in Berlin's central train station, in Kiev's Olympic Stadium and in the Banyan Tree Hotel in Shanghai. Thanks to its extensive expertise in the field of plastics technology, Gira has also become an internationally sought-after manufacturer of complex plastic systems products in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. With more than 1,200 employees, the technology company is one of the largest employers in the German Bergische Land region.

More information about the company and intelligent building technology by Gira can also be found at:

www.gira.de

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005595/en/

Contacts:

Gira Corporate Communications

Jan Bottcher

Manager Corporate Communications

Phone: +49-2195-602-588

Jan.Boettcher@gira.de
TAIPEI (dpa-AFX) - Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (ASX) Wednesday said it is extremely baffled by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission or TFTC's decision to suspend its review of the proposed combination between ASE and Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd. or SPIL. The company said it deeply regret the decision and it is completely without legal basis and violates the TFTC's own administrative precedents. The company said it will continue with the plan to acquire 100 percent equity interest in SPIL through all legally permissible means and avenues. Separately Advanced Semiconductor said it hosted the ASE Group 2015 Best Supplier Awards event and awards were presented to 24 suppliers who had demonstrated extraordinary performance in their support to ASE during 2015. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Northcote Energy Ltd / Index: AIM / Epic: NCT / ISIN: VGG6622A1057 / Sector: Oil & Gas

23 March 2016

Northcote Energy Ltd

('Northcote' or 'the Company')

Placing of 450,000

Northcote Energy is pleased to announce that it has raised 450,000 via the issue of 1,428,571,429 new ordinary shares of no par value each (the 'Ordinary Shares') in the capital of the Company ('the Placing Shares') at a placing price of 0.0315 pence per Ordinary Share. The proceeds of the Placing will be used for general working capital purposes and to fund certain growth initiatives including the potential participation in opportunities arising from the participation agreements Northcote has in place with MX Oil in Mexico and Andalas Energy & Power in Indonesia.

Northcote Managing Director Randall J Connally said, "We are encouraged by the support of the market at this key time in the development of our Company. With continued development activities at the Shoats Creek Field being funded from proceeds of the recently announced transactions, this placing will give the Company a strong liquidity position and flexibility to further other initiatives or potentially participate in opportunities available to Northcote pursuant to the participation agreements we have with MX Oil in Mexico and/or Andalas Energy & Power in Indonesia."

Details of the Placing

Application will be made for the Placing Shares, which will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading on AIM ('Admission'). It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings will commence on or around 8 April 2016.

Share Capital

Following the issue of the Placing Shares the issued share capital of the Company will consist of 8,510,952,017 Ordinary Shares. No shares were held in treasury at the date of this announcement. The total current voting rights in the Company are therefore 8,510,952,017.

**ENDS**

For further information visit www.northcoteenergy.com or contact the following:

Randy Connally Northcote Energy Ltd +1 214 550 5082 Ross Warner Northcote Energy Ltd +44 7760 487 769 Roland Cornish Beaumont Cornish Ltd +44 20 7628 3396 James Biddle Beaumont Cornish Ltd +44 20 7628 3396 Elliot Hance Beaufort Securities Ltd +44 20 7382 8300 Nick Bealer Cornhill Capital Limited +44 20 7710 9612 Elisabeth Cowell St Brides Partners Limited +44 20 7236 1177

Notes:

Northcote Energy Limited is an entrepreneurial energy company with diverse interests. The Company combines a portfolio of US exploration and production assets in Louisiana and Oklahoma with the development of new business opportunities in the US and also in Mexico as well as Indonesia via a strategic relationship with Andalas Energy & Power Plc.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Tinka Resources Limited ("Tinka" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: TK)(OTC PINK: TKRFF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Mary L. Little to Tinka's Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Ms. Little is a founder of and former president, chief executive officer and director of Mirasol Resources Ltd., a TSXV-listed exploration company, leading Mirasol's growth as a successful prospect generator and its corporate development activities from 2003 until 2014. Ms. Little has over twenty-five years of experience in the exploration and evaluation of epithermal precious metals deposits, porphyry and sediment-hosted mineral environments, including fifteen years based in Latin America. She has held management positions including business development manager and country manager with major mining corporations Newmont, Cyprus Amax and WMC Ltd. Ms. Little holds a M.Sc. degree in Earth Sciences from the University of California and an MBA from the University of Colorado. Ms. Little also serves on the boards of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and Pure Energy Minerals Ltd.

In addition to being appointed as an independent director of Tinka, Ms. Little has been appointed as a member of Tinka's Audit Committee.

Tinka's President and CEO, Dr. Graham Carman, stated, "I am very pleased to welcome Mary to the Tinka team. Mary's extensive exploration experience and expertise in Latin America is an excellent addition to our current Board composition. I look forward to working with Mary as we continue to execute the Company's exploration plans in Peru."

On behalf of the Board,

Dr. Graham Carman, President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts:

Tinka Resources Limited

Investor Information:

Mariana Bermudez

1.604.699.0202

info@tinkaresources.com

www.tinkaresources.com




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Prime Minister's Office

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Purim:

"Today at sunset, Jewish people in Canada and around the world will join their loved ones to celebrate Purim.

"On this joyous occasion, friends and families will come together to wear costumes, play games, feast on Hamantaschen, and exchange gifts.

"Traditionally, Purim recounts the story of Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai, who saved the Jewish people of ancient Persia. On this occasion, we are reminded of the strength of the Jewish people, who have survived and triumphed over unspeakable persecution.

"As we read the Megillah Esther, we reaffirm our ongoing responsibility to take action and stand against acts of anti-Semitism, and other expressions of hatred and discrimination, both here in Canada and around the world.

"On behalf of Canadians and our family, Sophie and I wish all those celebrating a joyous Purim.

"Chag Purim Sameach!"

Contacts:

PMO Media Relations:

(613) 957-5555




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 23, 2016) - NetCents Technology Inc. (CSE: NC) ("NetCents" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its integration with the DigitalXDirect platform with DigitalX Limited ("Digital X").

This integration allows our users to fill orders anywhere, anytime - regardless of transaction size and is further to the announcement made on March 17, 2016, in which NetCents entered into a Master Purchase Agreement with DigitalX, an ASX listed company.

DigitalX is an innovative software solutions company that develops services to leverage blockchain technology in order to make payments accessible on a global scale. The completion of this integration with DigitalX provides our consumers with real-time and secure ordering for Bitcoin liquidity.

"This move streamlines the process in purchasing digital currency. Our users can comfortably transition towards using digital currency in their daily life through our simple and secure platform. Built on the latest and best security practices, consumers have complete peace of mind when purchasing their digital currency," commented Clayton Moore, CEO and Founder of NetCents. "Thanks to our dedicated team of developers, we were able to expedite the integration of the DigitalXDirect software, and our users can now complete their blockchain-backed digital currencies today."

Further information about the Company it is available under its profile on the SEDAR website, www.sedar.com, on the CSE website www.thecse.com, on our website www.netcents.biz or contact Robert Meister, Capital Markets at Ph: 604.676.5248 or email: Robert.meister@net-cents.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

NetCents Technology Inc.

Clayton Moore, Founder/CEO

NetCents Technology Inc.

Suite 1500, 885 West Georgia Street

Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3E8

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
PUNE, India, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market by Product (Consumables, Equipment), Technology (Immunoassays, Proteomic Technologies), Class of Drug (Antiepileptics, Antibiotics, Immunosuppressants), End User (Hospital Labs, Private Labs) - Global Forecast to 2020", The market is projected to reach USD 2.55 Billion by 2020 from USD 1.78 Billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period (2015-2020).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 80 Tables and 55 Figures spread through 142 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/therapeutic-drug-monitoring-market-155350443.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market provides a detailed overview of the major drivers, restraints, challenges, opportunities, current market trends, and strategies impacting the therapeutic drug monitoring market along with the estimates and forecasts of the revenue.

The technological advances in tests used to monitor therapeutic drugs, increased knowledge of pharmacogenetics and pharmacokinetics of drugs, need for better healthcare in developing countries, and rising prevalence of psychiatric diseases and cancer are the major drivers for the therapeutic drug monitoring market. Adjunct technologies such as biomarker identification using proteomics to accurately identify clinical outcomes and genetic testing are expected to benefit the growth of the therapeutic drug monitoring market. However, high infrastructure costs and dearth of skilled resources may restrain the market growth.

In this report, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is broadly segmented by product, technology, class of drug, end user, and region. On the basis of product, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is divided into consumables and equipment. The equipment segment is further segmented into immunoassay analyzers, proteomic equipment, and other equipment.

On the basis of technology, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is categorized into three segments namely, immunoassays, proteomic technologies, and others. The immunoassays segment is classified into chemiluminescent assay (CLIA), cloned enzyme donor immunoassay (CEDIA), fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA), particle-enhanced turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (PETINIA), and others. The proteomic technologies segment is further split into liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Speak to our Analyst @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=155350443

On the basis of class of drug, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented into antiepileptics, antibiotics, immunosuppressants, antiarrhythmic drugs, bronchodilators, psychoactive drugs, and others. By end user, the therapeutic drug monitoring market is segmented into hospital labs, commercial/private labs, and other end users.

North America is expected to account for more than half the therapeutic drug monitoring market share in 2015. It is the prime market for therapeutic drug monitoring due to the high awareness and acceptance of the benefits of therapeutic drug monitoring and growing healthcare expenditure. The market in Europe on the other hand is growing at a slower rate as the healthcare sector is recovering from the economic downturn and healthcare facilities are trying to minimize healthcare delivery costs. Growth in the APAC therapeutic drug monitoring market is comparatively slower due to dearth of skilled healthcare personnel performing therapeutic drug monitoring tests with minimal errors.

Major players in the therapeutic drug monitoring market include F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Switzerland), Siemens Healthcare (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (U.S.), and Danaher Corporation (U.S.).

Browse Related Reports:

Immunoassay Market by Technology (ELISA, Fluorescence, Colorimetric, Chemiluminescence, Rapid Test, Western Blot, ELISPOT, PCR), Application (Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, Cardiology, Oncology, Hematology), & End User - Global Forecast to 2019

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/immunoassay-market-436.html

Proteomics Market by Technology (Protein Microarray, Mass Spectrometry, NMR Spectroscopy, Chromatography, Electrophoresis, Surface Plasmon Resonance, X-ray Crystallography) - Instruments, Reagents & Services - Global Forecast to 2018

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/proteomics-market-731.html

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PERTH, AUSTRALIA and GREER, SC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 --



Highlights:

Alexium receives first purchase order in the floor covering market;

This purchase order validates the entry into a new market for Alexium;

Customer is one of the world's top four carpet suppliers located in Dalton, GA;

Eighty percent (80%) of the US carpet market supplies 45% of the world's carpet and is milled in Dalton, GA, which is located less than 200 miles from Alexium's operations.

Alexium International Group Limited (Alexium) (ASX: AJX) (OTCQX: AXXIY) is pleased to announce that Alexium's green chemistry has been selected as a flame retardant "FR" solution for one of the top four carpet suppliers in the world, with receipt of its first purchase order in the floor covering market. This is the first commercial purchase order following completion of customer validation.

According to Georgia Trend, eighty percent (80%) of the US carpet market supplies 45% of the world's carpet and is all controlled by mills located within a 65-mile radius of Dalton, GA. This region is less than 200 miles from Alexium's operations in Greer, SC.

Of the entire flooring industry, carpet accounts for 64.6% of the total market share by volume and 47.4% by dollar. To read the full article, please follow the link.

"The Alexium sales team made a committed approach to target the Dalton, GA region for our Alexiflam FR solution designed for carpet applications," Steve Gravlee, VP of Alexium Sales said. "The time and dedication spent in the region has paid off. This is a significant win for Alexium and validates our growing presence in the carpet industry."

"I am very pleased with the recent entry into this new and significant market," said Nicholas Clark, CEO and Executive Director. "Having material client wins such as this further demonstrates that Alexium is an industry leader in environmentally friendly FR chemistries. Achievements such as this provide further support to our calendar year target and our quarter on quarter growth," stated Nick Clark.

About Alexium

Alexium International Group Limited (ASX: AJX) (OTCQX: AXXIY) holds proprietary patent applications for a process developed initially by the U.S. Department of Defense, which allows for the surface modification and attachment of nano-particles or multiple chemical functional groups to surfaces or substrates to provide functions such as fire retardancy, water proofing, oil proofing, and anti-microbial treatments. Applications under development include but are not limited to textiles, paints, and packaging, glass and building materials. Alexium's fire retardant chemical treatments are currently marketed for different fabric markets under the Alexiflam, Ascalon, Nycolon, Nuvalon, and Polytron, Omnitron and Bactron trademarks.

U.S Contact:

Nick Clark

Chief Executive Officer

nclark@alexiuminternational.com

U.S.: +1 864.991.6687



U.S. R&D Center:

8 Distribution Court

Greer, SC 29650

T: +1 864.416.1060

F: +1 864.752.6465



U.S. Corporate Office:

148 Milestone Way

Greenville, SC 29615

T: +1 864.603.1165

F: +1 864.752.6465

ABN: 91 064 820 408

ASX: AJX




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- More than 50 organizations have issued an Open Letter to Ontario's Premier Kathleen Wynne. The Ontario Health Coalition and Alliance of Seniors/Older Canadians' Network held a press conference today at Queen's Park to formally release the letter. The letter is calling on Premier Wynne to cancel her government's plan in the 2016 Ontario Budget to nearly double the deductible that seniors will have to pay for their drugs and the increase in co-pays.

Until now, the letter has not been released publicly, it is expected that over the next couple of days many more organizations will sign-on.

The group is asking for Premier Wynne not to respond by merely slightly increasing the user threshold at which the higher deductible will be charged but to cancel the fee increase entirely and uphold the principle of universality. The elderly should not face an ever-growing array of user fees when they are sick and in need. Health care should be funded through our public taxes and provided equally without user fees when needed.

Open Letter

The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M7A 1A1

Dear Premier Wynne,

As presented, the 2016 Ontario Budget contains a plan to have many seniors pay substantially more for prescription drugs, based on their incomes. In addition, the government is planning to increase the co-payment for filling prescriptions. Under this plan, seniors with incomes over $19,300 for a single person or $32,300 for a couple, will have to pay nearly double the deductible before their drugs are covered. Deductible costs will increase from $100 to as much as $170. In addition, all seniors, regardless of income, will see their co-payment rise when they go in to get prescriptions filled.

Premier, we are asking you to cancel the fee increases for seniors and uphold the principle of universality for our health care system. As Ontario pays down its deficit, the fundamental values that underlie our public health care programs should not be abandoned.

Universal publicly-funded health care is understood as a fundamental value in Canada. The idea that the wealthy and the poor share the same health services and therefore have a common interest in its quality and success, is cornerstone to our health system.

This is the foundational belief for our public health care system, supported unanimously by all political parties when the Canada Health Act was passed, and it is the foundational value upon which we are calling for an expansion of public health care in Canada to cover a national prescription medicine program for all Canadians. Ontario has, in many ways, led that call. We are asking you not to break now with the principles that underlie that vision.

Public health care is about taking care of one another. We pay through our taxes for care when we are of working age and healthy --and we share the cost across society -- so that the burden for care is not shouldered by the sick, the elderly and the dying. This is a point of pride for most of us.

Already seniors face mounting out-of-pocket costs for long-term care, respite and medical supplies. As local hospital services are closed in more and more towns, seniors face significant new costs for rehabilitation, lab tests, and travel costs. Unofficially, home care is already subject to means-testing, forcing families to shoulder ever more of the expense. When one adds to these existing user costs to the planned higher deductibles and co-payments for drugs, the burden for middle income seniors is becoming unbearable.

In fact, Premier, as you know, across Canada, the progressive public interest organizations that work on health care are advocating for the principles of the Canada Health Act not only to be safeguarded in hospitals and clinics, but also extended to cover home care and drugs in a bid to protect equity and reduce suffering as health care is reformed. It is distressing to see the Ontario government moving in the opposite direction.

That our public services should enhance social cohesion and improve equity is a quintessentially liberal idea. Indeed, the universality and equity principles were written into the Canada Health Act under the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau and Health Minister Monique Begin. They have been upheld by governments of all stripes since. They should not be abandoned lightly.

Ontario already has a means-tested method to provide income for needed health care services. It is called the tax system. Through the rebuilding of a progressive tax system that asks the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share, funding can be raised for needed care and services. Premier, there is no reason to increase user fees on people when they are elderly, sick, dying and least able to pay. Respectfully, we ask you to reconsider the policy direction of dismantling universality and subjecting more health care services to user fees at point of need.

Sincerely,

Derrell R. Dular, Managing Director Alliance of Seniors/ Older Canadians Network Roslyn Harris, Chair Association of Jewish Seniors Wanda Tucker, Chair Campbellford Health Coalition John Meguerian, Vice Chair Canadian Association of Retired Persons - Niagara Chapter Fred Hahn, President & Candace Rennick, Secretary-Treasurer Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario Josephine Grayson, Chair Care Watch Shirley Roebuck, Chair Chatham-Kent Health Coalition Andrew Lee, President Chinese Golden Age Club of Mississauga Barry Stevens, President Congress of Union Retirees - Toronto Area Council Treena Hollingworth, Chair Concerned Citizens - Stratford Area Georgie Clarke, President Concerned Friends of Ontario Citizens in Care Facilities Michael Butler, National Health Care Campaigner Council of Canadians Roy Brady, Chapter Chair Council of Canadians - Peterborough - Kawarthas Chapter Fiona McMurran, Chapter Chair Council of Canadians - South Niagara Chapter Lyle Hargrove,President Congress of Union Retirees - South Central Council Charlie Courneyea & Trish McAuliffe, Co-Chairs Durham Health Coalition Kimberly DeYong, Chair Essex County Health Coalition Kevin Smith, President Grey Bruce Labour Council Dr. Ted Haines, member & Rolf Gerstenberger, Co-Chair Hamilton Health Coalition Harold Pickering, Co-Chair Kingston Health Coalition Jo-anne M. Boulding, Barrister, Solicitor and Executive Director Lake Country Community Legal Clinic Peter Bergmanis, Co-Chair London Health Coalition Susan Doyle, Executive Director Lumacare Bob Harrick, Chair Mississauga Seniors' Council Dr. Amarjit Banwatt, President Mississauga Seniors Club Zul Kassamali, President Multicultural Council for Ontario Seniors Herb John, President National Pensioners Federation Sue Hotte, Chair Niagara Health Coalition Sue McIntyre, Co-Chair North Bay Health Coalition Erin Harris, Past-President Older Women's Network Michael Hurley, President Ontario Council of Hospital Unions Suzanne Clancy, President Ontario Federation of Union Retirees Natalie Mehra, Executive Director Ontario Health Coalition Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President Ontario Public Services Employees Union Mike Donaldson, President Ontario Public Services Employees Union - Local 464 Tara Maszczakiewicz, President Ontario Public Services Employees Union - Local 684 Paul Elliott, President Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation Manfred Netzel, President Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation - Active Retirees Members Chapter 12 Toronto Stuart Ryan, Co-Chair Ottawa Health Coalition Bryan J. Smith, Chair Oxford Coalition for Social Justice Marion Burton, President Peterborough and District Labour Council Charlene Avon & Roy Brady, Co-Chairs Peterborough Health Coalition Len Hope, Chair Port Elgin Health Coalition Shirley Roebuck, Chair Sarnia Lambton Health Coalition Margo Dale, Chair Sault Ste. Marie Health Coalition Ron Sim, General Manager Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen Community Centre Sue Hotte, Chair Save the Welland Hospital Group Doug Macpherson, National Coordinator Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees Karu Navarajnarajah, Sri Lankan Tamil Seniors Group of Etobicoke Jules Tupker, Co-Chair Thunder Bay Health Coalition Mary Hellin & Malcolm Stewart, Co-Presidents Toronto Council on Aging Phyllis Creighton, Toronto Raging Grannies Jerry Dias, President Unifor Len Hope, Executive Board Member Unifor Retired Workers Council Les MacDonald, Chairperson Unifor - Local 222 Retired Workers Chapter - Oshawa Roxie Baker, Chairperson Unifor - Local 1325 Retired Workers Chapter- Stratford Gerry Graham, President United Seniors of Ontario Phuoc Tran, President Vietnamese Cambodian Laotian Services Association

Contacts:

Ontario Health Coalition

Natalie Mehra

Executive Director

416-441-2502 (office)

416-230-6402 (cell)



Ontario Health Coalition

Kim Johnston

Campaign Director

416-441-2502 (office)

647-381-7025 (cell)




ROUYN-NORANDA, CANADA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Explor Resources Inc. ("Explor" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: EXS)(OTCQX: EXSFF)(FRANKFURT: E1H1)(BERLIN: E1H1) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Matachewan First Nation of Matachewan, Ontario and the Mattagami First Nation of Gogama, Ontario (the "First Nations"), with respect to the Kidd Township Property.

The MOU will serve as a framework to govern the relationship between Explor and the First Nations in accordance with their intention of further building a relationship characterized by cooperation and mutual respect, in connection with the development of the Kidd Township Property. This represents an important milestone in moving the project forward and we welcome our new partners.

The MOU sets out the areas in which Explor and the First Nations have agreed to work together notably on mutual key interests such as environmental protection, employment and business opportunities, education and training for the First Nations communities.

Chris Dupont, President and CEO of Explor Resources, stated that "Explor is committed to working in partnership with the First Nations in the development of the Kidd Township Property. Explor looks forward to building a strong relationship with the First Nations that will be beneficial to both parties."

In order to instill a relationship with the First Nations, Explor will issue 500,000 common shares to both the Matachewan and the Mattagami First Nations. This issuance of equity enables the Matachewan and the Mattagami First Nations to become shareholders and participate in the success of Explor Resources as Explor moves the Kidd Township Project to the next phase in the development of the property. This issuance of shares is subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.

The Kidd Township consists of 222 unpatented mining units and 5 patented claims located in the Kidd, Wark, Carnegie and Prosser Townships in the Timmins-Porcupine Mining Camp for a total 3,593 hectares. The property is contiguous and to the west, south, north and east of the Glencore Kidd Creek Mine. The property is located 20 kilometers north of the city of Timmins on Highway 655.

The most obvious topographical feature in the area is the Glencore Kidd Creek open pit mine, located in the central portion of Explor's Kidd Township group of Properties. The Glencore Kidd Creek Mine has produced over 140,000,000 tons of copper/Zinc ore since it discovery in 1964. Explor believes in the cluster effect of base metal deposits and believes there are several other deposits located in the vicinity of the Glencore Kidd Creek mine.

Explor Resources Inc. is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture (EXS), on the OTCQX (EXSFF) and on the Frankfurt and Berlin Stock Exchanges (E1H1).

This Press Release was prepared by Explor. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Explor Resources Inc.

Explor Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based natural resources company with mineral holdings in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Explor is currently focused on exploration in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The belt is found in both provinces of Ontario and Quebec with approximately 33% in Ontario and 67% in Quebec. The Belt has produced in excess of 180,000,000 ounces of gold and 450,000,000 tonnes of cu-zn ore over the last 100 years. The Corporation was continued under the laws of Alberta in 1986 and has had its main office in Quebec since 2006.

Explor Resources Flagship project is the Timmins Porcupine West (TPW) Project located in the Porcupine mining camp, in the Province of Ontario. Teck Resources Ltd. is currently conducting an exploration program as part of an earn-in on the TPW property. The TPW mineral resource (Press Release dated August 27, 2013) includes the following:

Open Pit Mineral Resources at a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off grade are as follows: Indicated: 213,000 oz (4,283,000 tonnes at 1.55 g/t Au) Inferred: 77,000 oz (1,140,000 tonnes at 2.09 g/t Au) Underground Mineral Resources at a 1.70 g/t Au cut-off grade are as follows: Indicated: 396,000 oz (4,420,000 tonnes at 2.79 g/t Au) Inferred: 393,000 oz (5,185,000 tonnes at 2.36 g/t Au)

This document may contain forward-looking statements relating to Explor's operations or to the environment in which it operates. Such statements are based on operations, estimates, forecasts and projections. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and may be beyond Explor's control. A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements, including those set forth in other public filling. In addition, such statements relate to the date on which they are made. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. Explor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Explor Resources Inc.

Christian Dupont

President

888-997-4630 or 819-797-4630

819-797-6050 (FAX)

info@explorresources.com

www.explorresources.com




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, will deliver remarks about key elements of Budget 2016 and how the government plans to deliver on its agenda.

Date: Thursday, March 24, 2016 Time: 10:30 a.m. Location: BMO Centre 295 Rectory Street London, Ontario Time: 2:30 p.m. Location: Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre 102 King Street West Kitchener, Ontario

Follow the Minister on Twitter and Instagram: @MinofSBT

Contacts:

James Fitz-Morris

Director of Communications

Office of the Minister of Small Business and Tourism

343-291-2700



Media Relations

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

343-291-1777

ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar weakened against its major rivals in New York deals on Wednesday. The aussie slipped to a 6-day low of 0.7541 against the greenback, off its early 5-day high of 0.7649. The aussie fell to 1.4828 against the euro, 84.96 against the yen and 1.1275 against the kiwi, from its early near 2-week high of 1.4663, 6-day high of 85.87 and more than a 6-month high of 1.1333, respectively. The next possible support for the aussie is seen around 0.74 against the greenback, 84.00 against the yen, 1.10 against the kiwi and 1.49 against the euro. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced his support for Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tex., in the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday and took the opportunity to bash frontrunner Donald Trump.



In a statement announcing his endorsement, Bush described Cruz as a 'consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.'



'Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential,' he added.



Bush dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination last month after a disappointing showing in the South Carolina primary.



The former Florida governor repeatedly clashed with Trump during his failed campaign and took a shot at the billionaire in his statement endorsing Cruz.



'For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obama's failed policies,' Bush said.



He added, 'To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that.'



Bush's suggestion that Cruz will overcome Trump's divisiveness comes even though the senator has drawn considerable criticism for recently suggesting law enforcement needs to 'patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods.'



Trump's previous call for the creation of a database to track American Muslims was then described by Bush as 'abhorrent.'



For his part, Cruz said he was truly honored to earn support from Bush, who he described as an extraordinary governor of Florida.



'His endorsement today is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, take back the White House, and ensure a freer and more prosperous America for future generations,' Cruz said.



Cruz scored a big victory in the Utah caucuses on Tuesday and will get all 40 of the state's delegates, but he continues to trail Trump by a sizable margin in terms of total delegates.



(Photo Credit: Michael Vadon)



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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DUBLIN, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4fxjk9/global_mobile) has announced the addition of the "Global Mobile Health Market Analysis & Trends - Industry Forecast to 2025" report to their offering.

The Global Mobile Health Market is poised to grow at a CAGR of around 27.3% over the next decade to reach approximately $115.8 billion by 2025.

This industry report analyzes the global markets for Mobile Health across all the given segments on global as well as regional levels presented in the research scope. It presents historical market data for 2013, 2014 revenue estimations are presented for 2015 and forecasts from 2016 till 2025. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies. The report provides comprehensive market assessment across the major geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Latin America and Rest of the world.



The study presents detailed market analysis with inputs derived from industry professionals across the value chain. A special focus has been made on 23 countries such as U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, Spain, France, Italy, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, etc. The market size is calculated based on the revenue generated through sales from all the given segments and sub segments in the research scope. The market sizing analysis includes both top-down and bottom-up approaches for data validation and accuracy measures.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Market Outline



2 Executive Summary



3 Market Overview



4 Mobile health Market, By Participants



5 Mobile health Market, By Services



6 Mobile health Market, By Device



7 Mobile health Market, By Specality



8 Mobile health Market, By Geography



9 Leading Companies



- AT&T Inc.

- Apple, Inc.

- Bayer Healthcare

- Boston Scientific Corporation

- Cardionet Inc.

- JOHNSON & JOHNSON

- LifeWatch

- Omron HealthCare Inc.

- Philips healthcare

- Qualcomm Inc.

- Samsung Electronics Corporation

- Sanofi

- Vodafone



For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4fxjk9/global_mobile



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716






LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Pipeliner CRM today announced its new, market-redefining release Automata. Central to this release is Pipeliner Navigator, which brings a level of real-time intelligence and proactive guidance never before seen in a CRM. Designed to deliver instant focus and clarity, Navigator is the answer to the increasingly complex world in which sales professionals operate.

The name Automata comes from a book written by Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria (c10-c70 A.D.) which is considered some of the first formal research into cybernetics, the science of effective organization in relation to understanding and dealing with complex systems. Pipeliner has uniquely applied cybernetics to sales and created a new, ground-breaking featured called Navigator.

Navigator draws upon all the different and complex data sources in the system to deliver proactive insights, advice and guidance to the sales professional in one visual, easily understood screen. This provides the kind of instant, actionable intelligence that separates Pipeliner CRM from other CRM systems that are in essence, passive repositories of information.

"Everyone agrees that sales is getting harder and the selling environment more complex and Pipeliner has risen to this challenge by applying cybernetics to the problem. With Pipeliner Automata and its central feature, Navigator, we are once again showing that if you approach complexity skillfully, you can extract insight, guidance and intelligence from it and then deliver it in a way that sales professionals can easily consume and use," stated Nikolaus Kimla, CEO of Pipeliner CRM. "Now a sales professional or indeed any user of Pipeliner can start their day with the Navigator screen where they will immediately be shown where they need to focus and what they need to address. This is a huge step forward in efficiency, effectiveness and time management which will quickly translate into more time spent selling and growing pipelines."

Navigator consists of 5 basic components, all visible on the same page:

Activity Stream - On the right-hand side of the Navigator users will see the Activity Stream -- a list of activities, tasks, and opportunities in date order, beginning with the closest to the present.

Target Overview - Combined with a Target Trend graph that allows the user to see progress, over a specified time period, through three different metrics, toward a sales goal.

Notifications - In the Notifications section users will see 3 different boxes: Tasks, Missed Close Date, and Velocity Issues. Users can click into any of these to drill down to specifics.

Suggestions - Under suggestions users will see other areas in which actions should possibly be taken. These include Cold Accounts, Inactive Accounts, Inactive Leads, Stuck Opportunities, New Leads and more.

Business Overview - The Business Overview section graphically displays Open Opportunities, Open Sum, Won Sum, and Lost Sum -- for the user-defined date range for which Navigator is currently set.

In addition to Navigator, this new Pipeliner Automata release also delivers:

New Forecast Report - Allows a sales manager to set forecasts for each member of a sales team, and track forecast achievement through a sales period for each forecast set. the Forecast Report is fully customizable, can be filtered with profiles, and shared with team members.

New Dynamic Dropdowns - Allows user-defined dropdown menus to dynamically relate to one another. For example, if a particular sales territory is selected, then another dropdown menu of "sales reps" would only be those reps for that territory.

User Rights Management - Greatly Simplified: In Pipeliner Automata, Administrators gain an increased ease of use to manage users rights, in several different areas.

For more on Pipeliner CRM software or to download a 14-day free trial, please visit: http://www.pipelinersales.com

About Pipeliner CRM

Pipeliner CRM is a software system that enables salespeople and teams to understand their sales process and accelerate opportunities toward a close, while saving time and maintaining focus. Pipeliner CRM overlays organizational features atop a visual interface, creating a worktool that adapts to and grows with the organization.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California and Vienna, Austria, Pipeliner CRM has offices in the UK, Sweden, Slovakia, and India. Engage with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and @PipelinerCRM or visit us at www.PipelinerCRM.com

Embedded Video Available

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Embedded Video Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2982557



Colleen Toumayan

Email Contact

818-800-8836




CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - March 23, 2016) - marcus evans will host the 2016 Edition: Third Party Risk Management for Banks Conference on June 7-8, 2016 in Chicago. This year's edition provides small, medium and large-sized banks with answers to fourth party identification, how to minimize major service interruptions, ensure sensitive data is safeguarded, and comply with regulatory guidelines.

Our speaker panel of vendor risk/oversight, procurement and supplier management experts will address key topics such as leading practices in the overarching TPRM framework, subcontractor management, strategies to comply with regulatory guidelines, resource allocation, proper documentation, securing strong partnerships in the contract phase, and boosting organizational maturity.

Attending this advanced conference will enable you to:

Build healthy vendor partnerships by engineering thorough contract management processes and data management systems

Identify and classify third parties and subcontractors with guiding principles to address tougher regulations

Establish a sound risk appetite framework by implementing a holistic approach to third party risk management

Monitor and review third parties through due diligence assessments and accountability protocols

Fortify cyber security protocols with third parties and learn strategies to cope with breaches

Hear What Our Attendees Think! Click Here for Video Testimonials

Testimonials:

"Nice balance of information for large and small organizations, well organized and well expected conference." AIG

"Enjoyed the conference...great mix of bankers, bank regulators, and vendors in a workable size." Federal Reserve Bank of New York

For more information, take a look at the conference agenda or please contact Tyler Kelch, Digital Marketing Manager at tylerke@marcusevansch.com

marcus evans annually produces 2,000 high quality conferences designed to provide strategic business information and networking opportunities for industry leaders

Featuring Case Studies from Leading Third Party Experts, including:

Gayle Woodbury

SVP, Operational Risk

Management Third

Party & eGRC

U.S. Bank

James Moise

SVP and Chief Sourcing Officer

Fifth Third Bank

Pamela Wagner

Executive Director,

Compliance

JPMorgan Chase

Craig Morgan

Managing Director,

Corporate Vendor

Management

Charles Schwab

Mary Lay Merkt

SVP, Director, Vendor

Management &

Procurement

Johnson Bank

Deb Mitchell

Large Bank Lead Expert for Operational Risk

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Carolyn Jungclas

SVP, Manager-

Procurement &

Vendor Management

First Citizens Bank

For more information

Tyler Kelch

Digital Marketing Manager

tylerke@marcusevansch.com
OYSTER BAY, New York, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tablet shipment volumes are tumbling, with ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, attributing the general decline over the past two years to two culprits. Demand for branded tablets in advanced market economies is decreasing due to saturation, slow replacement cycles, greater influence of business purchases, and substitution. China and other Asian markets are also seeing decreased demand for white box tablets due to shifts to branded tablets, as well as reliance on smartphones and phablets. While the total tablet volume in 2015 was more than 207 million, ABI Research expects this to sink below 140 million global shipments in 2021.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/276887LOGO

"China is evolving, moving away from white box products to support local and global brand manufacturers," says Jeff Orr, Research Director at ABI Research. "As this behavior continues across other markets in Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America, the potential for white box tablets to remain viable will all but go away."

Global Weighting of Total Tablet Shipments (%)

2015 2016 2021 Branded 67.8% 70.6% 88.5% White Box 32.2% 29.4% 11.5%

Future tablet shipments show an interesting shift in market dynamic, with major advanced economies taking a back seat in shipment totals. "The major, advanced economies of the world represented close to 63% of branded tablet shipments in 2015," concludes Orr. "This will soon flip. We predict that, by 2021, 57% of branded tablet shipments will come from emerging and developing economies."

These findings are part of ABI Research's Tablets and Pervasive Computing Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/tablets-and-pervasive-computing/), which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: Christine Gallen Tel: +1.516.624.2542

pr@abiresearch.com
PUNE, India, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC) Telemedicine Market Delivery Mode (Web-Based, Cloud-based, On-premise), Application (Teleconsultation, Teleradiology, Teledermatology, Telepathology), Component (Services (Store-and-forward), Software (Integrated), Hardware (Monitors)) - Forecast to 2020" published by MarketsandMarkets, the BRIC Telemedicine Market is expected to reach USD 1.20 Billion by 2020 from USD 498.7 Million in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 19.2% during the forecast period (2015-2020).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse more than 45 market data Tables with 38 Figures spread through 107 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC) Telemedicine Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/telemedicine-market-237.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The need for better healthcare in rural areas, tremendous growth in telecommunication, rising prevalence of chronic diseases in BRIC nations, and low cost of telemedicine are the major drivers for the BRIC Telemedicine Market. However, high infrastructural costs and lack of skilled resources may restrain the market growth to a certain extent. On the other hand, favorable government initiatives present a huge growth potential for telemedicine in the BRIC nations. Lack of telemedicine standards in the BRIC countries may however pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

In this report, the BRIC Telemedicine Market is broadly segmented by component, application, delivery mode, and country. On the basis of component, the BRIC Telemedicine Market is divided into services, software, and hardware. The services segment accounted for the largest share of the BRIC Telemedicine Market in 2015. Factors such as rising adoption of remote monitoring solutions and technological advancements in telecommunications are contributing to the growth of this segment.

On the basis of deployment mode, the BRIC telemedicine system market is categorized into three segments, namely, on-premise, web-based, and cloud-based. The web-based segment accounted for the largest share of the BRIC telemedicine delivery mode market in 2015. Factors such as huge customer base and remote data accessibility are driving the growth of this segment.

On the basis of application, the BRIC Telemedicine Market is segmented into teleconsultation, teleradiology, telecardiology, telepathology, teledermatology, and other applications. The teleconsultation segment accounted for the largest share in 2015.

Talk To Our Research Analyst: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=237

China accounted for more than half of the share of the BRIC Telemedicine Market in 2015. It is a major market for telemedicine due to factors such as widespread awareness and acceptance of telemedicine, rising incidences of chronic and lifestyle diseases, and growing healthcare expenditure. In addition, major local companies have easy access to this market, which makes it the largest and most significant market for suppliers. Brazil, on the other hand, is expected to grow at the highest CAGR over the next five years. Growth in the Brazilian telemedicine market is mainly driven by the increased purchasing power, emerging mindset towards wellness, and rising healthcare expenditure in the country.

Major players in this market include Apollo Hospitals (India), AMD Telemedicine Technologies (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K.), Neosoft (China), and SnapMD (U.S.).

About MarketsandMarkets:

MarketsandMarkets is world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.

M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.

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OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Prime Minister's Office

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued the following statement today on the death of Jim Hillyer, Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner:

"It was with great sorrow that I learned today of the death of Jim Hillyer, the Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner.

"On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I would like to express our deepest condolences to his wife Livi, their four children, and his friends and colleagues.

"The parliamentary community is a tight-knit one, and I want to say how much of a privilege it has been to serve with Jim. I know he will be greatly missed on the Hill and in his constituency.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones as they grieve this very sudden loss. We will provide any support they need during this incredibly difficult time."

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

Contacts:

PMO Media Relations:

613-957-5555




Technavio's latest report on the global antivirus software package market provides an analysis of the key trends expected to impact the market through 2015-2019. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.

The global antivirus software package market is likely to exceed USD 36 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of over 9%. The market is predicted to grow significantly during the forecast period because of increased use of the Internet, which is giving rise to malware threats such as viruses, Trojans, and worms.

"Malware threats have also become more complex and have found more channels for propagation in computer systems. Therefore, the adoption of antivirus software for protection against such threats has become important and will gain popularity in the future," says Amrita Choudhury, lead analyst at Technavio for enterprise applicationresearch.

The top three emerging trends influencing the global antivirus software package market according to Technavio's ICT researchanalysts are:

Popularity of cloud-based antivirus software

As the cloud is proving to be a convenient and cost-effective way of storing critical business data, its adoption is increasing among SMBs worldwide. This increases the need for cloud security solutions such as cloud antiviruses. Cloud-based antiviruses do not require any hardware or software and are controlled remotely, making them cost-effective for end-users.

Cloud-based antivirus software provides quicker response to new threats or malicious activities. Cloud-based antiviruses are updated on the central server in the cloud and immediately available to all end-users. The Internet is required for automatic updates to the virus signatures.

Some antivirus vendors like Panda Security, F-Secure, Sophos, ESET, and Kaspersky are increasingly incorporating cloud-based capabilities in their products.

"Although, cloud-based antiviruses are beneficial for end-users, they are not recommended as a full replacement for desktop antivirus protection. It is safer to adopt the cloud-based antivirus along with a traditional desktop antivirus to mitigate the deceleration of the computer's performance and provide the best protection," says Amrita.

Partnerships between antivirus software vendors and telecom vendors

There is an increasing number of partnerships among antivirus software vendors, smartphone manufacturers, and telecom services providers, which is supporting the growth of the global antivirus software package market.

Increasing number of applications, make mobile devices more vulnerable to virus attacks, which necessitates the need for antivirus software.

Antivirus software vendors such as Symantec and Kaspersky are entering into partnerships with smartphone manufacturers and telecom service providers to boost the sales of antivirus software and increase their customer base and geographical reach. These vendors are looking to incorporate antivirus software into smartphones and have planned to provide a subscription-based model through telecom companies.

According to Technavio, smartphone users are willing to pay for antiviruses, especially high-end smartphone users who prefer online banking payment transfers, mobile banking, and mobile commerce. Online transactions, therefore require a high level of security because they involve a customer's monetary and confidential financial data. Therefore, the demand for antivirus software is likely to increase significantly with the increased adoption of mobile commerce.

Increased adoption of BYOD

The introduction of mobile devices into the workplace is changing the way users access enterprise resources. With the adoption of bring your own device (BYOD) policies worldwide, employees are using their personal mobile devices for work. This has increased the demand for uninterrupted connectivity between a corporate network and its employees' mobile devices. Employees need to access and store confidential information on their mobile devices, which has increased the need to protect data.

However, these devices are not secure, and it is easy for hackers to gain unauthorized access to firewalls, VPNs, and corporate networks. This can lead to fraudulent activities with the misuse of business-critical data. As personal mobile devices are being used for professional purposes, it has become extremely important to protect the data being transmitted in order to reduce the chances of unauthorized access to data.

"Therefore anti-virus software providers have a huge potential market in reducing the security risks in the BYOD model and making it more sustainable for enterprises," adds Amrita.

Some of the top six vendors in the global antivirus software package market, as researched by Technavio analysts are:

AVAST Software

AVG

Avira

Symantec

McAfee

Microsoft

Browse Related Reports:

Global Industrial Cyber Security Market 2015-2019

Global Security Software Market in the Telecom Industry 2015-2019

Global Container Security and Tracking Market 2015-2019

Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323005040/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Lara Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: LRA) ("Lara" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has signed an Option Agreement ("the Agreement") to acquire the Serrita Gold Project in Pernambuco State, northeast Brazil.

The property comprises three exploration licenses, totalling 5,998 hectares, covering a wide area of artisanal workings that follow narrow gold-bearing veins generally less than half a metre thick, but which can extend up to a kilometre in length. The host geology comprises schists of the Proterozoic-age Salgueiro Group.

Previous exploration work includes geological mapping, regional soil/rock sampling and 109 channel samples that focused on exposed mineralization in the artisanal workings. The channels samples ranged from 10 centimetres to 2.3 metres in length (average 44 centimetres), though most of the mineralized veins are less than 50 centimetres thick. Forty of the samples reported over 1 gram per ton ("g/t") gold, with 19 reporting over 5g/t gold. The channel samples were targeting the quartz veins, but several that sampled adjacent ferruginous schists also reported significant gold values.

The exploration database suggests the potential to host multiple high-grade vein deposits, though these have not been drill tested and there remains also the possibility of outlining a larger body of mineralization including multiple vein systems that could be amenable to bulk mining and heap leach processing.

Serrita Purchase Option

Under the terms of the Agreement, Lara has agreed to make staged and bonus cash payments totalling up to US$1,650,000 as follows in Table 2.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Milestone/Date Payment US$ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon signing the Definitive Agreement 10,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon transfer of the Exploration License to Lara 10,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 months from transfer of the Exploration License 20,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 months from transfer of the Exploration License 20,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 months from transfer of the Exploration License 40,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 months from transfer of the Exploration License 50,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonus at Bankable Feasibility if the reserve is greater 500,000 than 1Moz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonus at Commercial Production if rate is greater than 1,000,000 50,000oz/year ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vendor will also be entitled to a 1.25% net smelter return royalty on any production, but Lara retains the right to purchase this royalty for a cash payment of US$1.5 million. The Company has also agreed to pay finders fee of staged (mostly success-based) payments totalling US$100,000.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Soil samples were analyzed chemically by ICPMS for gold and 50 other trace elements at ALS do Brasil Ltda. The rock and channel samples were analyzed for gold at the SGS Geosol laboratory in Belo Horizonte, using a 50-gram fire assay, with an atomic absorption finish. Both laboratories insert duplicate, standard and blank samples in each fire assay or ICPMS batch.

Qualified Person

Michael Bennell, Lara's Vice President Exploration and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has approved the technical disclosure and verified the technical information in this news release.

About Lara

Lara is an exploration company following the Prospect Generator business model, which aims to minimize shareholder dilution and financial risk by generating prospects and then exploring them in joint ventures funded by partners. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of prospects and deposits in Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Chile. Lara's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "LRA".

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Lara Exploration Ltd.

Chris MacIntyre

VP Corporate Development

+1 416 703 0010

www.laraexploration.com




IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Burnham Benefits Insurance Services -- one of California's most dynamic employee benefits brokerage firms -- today announced the promotion of three new vice presidents: Ann Marie Estrada, Debra Farmer and Catherine Seitz. Burnham maintains a 95 percent client retention rate and has shown consistent growth throughout its 20-year history. The firm gained 83 new clients in 2015 and ranked #43 on the list of top 50 benefits brokerages in the U.S. by Employee Benefit Advisor. Burnham Benefits holds national recognition as Business Insurance's #1 Best Places to Work in Insurance 2013 and 2014 and has been ranked a Best Place to Work by the Orange County Business Journal for five years running.

"The passion and expertise of our forward-thinking talent drive our success," said Kristen Allison, president and CEO of Burnham Benefits. "These promotions are another example of how we harness the dedication of our team members to advance their careers and provide greater service to our clients."

Ann Marie Estrada, vice president, has been a part of the Burnham team for six years and has been instrumental in accelerating Burnham's growth in the public sector. With 20 years of industry experience, Estrada leads and supports public sector accounts for the firm with a humble approach, which makes her a team player both internally at Burnham and externally with clients and carriers.

Debra Farmer, vice president, has worked with Burnham for seven years and has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Farmer has worked on several large self-funded clients, as well as built her own book of business during her tenure with Burnham. She works on large national accounts and regional accounts.

Catherine Seitz, vice president, has 14 years with Burnham and more than 26 years in the insurance industry, Seitz's expertise and thought-leadership help drive new business development, as well as manage current clients. Her expertise includes developing tailored wellness programs and value-based plans.

"Burnham prides itself on its unique environment that furthers the professional development of individuals as we seek to provide clients with superior knowledge and exceptional service," said Allison. "Our culture empowers employees to not only drive their career paths but also rewards them for contributing to the team."

About Burnham Benefits Insurance Services: Burnham Benefits is a privately held, full-service employee benefits consulting and brokerage firm headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with five locations throughout California. The firm is among the largest in the state specializing in strategic employee benefits consulting and brokerage services. With a comprehensive offering of in-house resources from client-first health, risk assessment, technology integration and wellness programs, Burnham effectively serves over 400 mid- to large-sized employer groups. A certified Benefits Corporation (B Corp), the firm maintains a 95 percent client retention rate and has shown consistent growth over the firm's 20 year history. Burnham easily adapts and creates customized solutions that fit clients' best interests by investing in leading edge technology, tools and resources to provide the specialized level of service that today's challenging climate demands. Its team of more than 80 skilled industry professionals includes in-house underwriters, compliance officers, healthcare reform consultants, communications specialists and wellness experts. Through a strategic partnership with Burnham Gibson Wealth Advisors, Burnham provides retirement planning and wealth management services. Burnham Benefits holds national recognition as Business Insurance's #1 Best Places to Work in Insurance 2013 and 2014 and has been ranked a Best Place to Work by the Orange County Business Journal for five years.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2982926

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2982931

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2982929



MEDIA CONTACT:

Leslie Licano

Beyond Fifteen Communications, Inc.

949.733.8679

leslie@beyondfifteen.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- BMO Financial Group (BMO) and MasterCard today marked the beginning of a phased launch of the first biometric corporate credit card program in Canada and the U.S. that will enable cardholders to verify transactions using facial recognition and fingerprint biometrics when making online purchases.

The introduction of this technology will increase security when making payments that don't include a face-to-face interaction, and will be integrated seamlessly for easy use in reducing the likelihood of a card being used by anyone who is not the cardholder.

Beginning with corporate cards issued to BMO employees in Canada and the U.S., the MasterCard Identity Check mobile app will prompt participants to:

-- Scan fingerprints or snap selfies to validate their identities via biometrics; and -- When verified, return to the merchant site to complete the online purchase

"The use of biometric technology has become more common for consumers looking for convenient and secure ways to make purchases using their smartphones, so this was the natural next step for us as innovators in the payment security space," said Steve Pedersen, Vice President, Head, North American Corporate Card Products, BMO Financial Group. "Mitigating the risk of fraud is always our top priority, and the inclusion of this technology is going to make payment authentication easier, and strengthen the security of the entire payments ecosystem."

Mr. Pedersen added that the first phase will test the potential of delivering greater security and convenience using BMO employee corporate cardholders in the U.S. and Canada, including establishing and improving best practices in corporate environments, developing better protection against potential fraud and continually minimizing the need for customer service inquiries. Once complete, the next phase will be to make the technology available to customers more broadly beginning in the summer of 2016.

"With BMO, MasterCard is hosting our first Canadian and U.S. corporate card biometric user engagement. It's always exciting to introduce biometrics to new cardholders.They quickly realize that they don't have to sacrifice convenience for security. By snapping a selfie or scanning a fingerprint, the person becomes the password," said Catherine Murchie, Senior Vice President of North America Processing, Enterprise Security & Network Solutions for MasterCard.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $699 billion as of January 31, 2016, and close to 47,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

About MasterCard

MasterCard, www.MasterCard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard's products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

Contacts:

BMO Contact:

Matthew Duffin

416-867-5394

Matthew.Duffin@bmo.com



Corporate Ink Contact:

Erin D. Caldwell

617-969-9192

ecaldwell@corporateink.com



MasterCard Media Contact:

Beth Kitchener

914-249-2058

beth_kitchener@mastercard.com



Ketchum Contact:

Miriam Sherkey

416-355-7410

miriam.sherkey@ketchum.com




Highlights:

Multi-year contract includes current fleet and pending new builds

Includes installation of Harris CapRock One system on all vessels

Technology more than doubles Transocean's available bandwidth

Harris CapRock Communications will install its Harris CapRock One system on Transocean's entire fleet as part of a multi-year contract renewal for complete managed communications services. The contract provides satellite communications services and includes the industry's most intelligent communications service on all current vessels, as well as pending new builds.

"Harris CapRock is providing us with a complete communications solution founded on breakthrough technology that delivers robust, always-on service anywhere in the world," said Steve Fraser, IT director, Transocean. "They offered us the flexibility to control our costs and the ability to be more agile in responding to the market."

The managed end-to-end communications solution includes teleport and satellite services, backhaul, dedicated bandwidth for crew internet, traffic optimization and cyber security services. The upgrade to Harris CapRock One will provide improved system performance while reducing downtime and maintenance costs. The new solution will more than double available bandwidth for the Transocean fleet, while providing a single worldwide bandwidth price. The pricing model simplifies forecasting and planning for the fleet situated in locations such as the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, Brazil, Asia Pacific, Africa's West Coast and United Arab Emirates.

"We are delighted with Transocean's decision to upgrade to the Harris CapRock One solution as part of their contract renewal," said Tracey Haslam, president, Harris CapRock. "Harris CapRock One will not only improve reliability and lower costs, but provide future-proof technology for Transocean's operations moving forward."

About Harris CapRock One

Harris CapRock One, launched in 2015, is the industry's most intelligent communications service. It monitors for and adopts the best-fit satellite, wireless or terrestrial network. This industry-first solution is enabled by Harris CapRock's proprietary multi-band antenna and intelligent communications director (ICD). Harris CapRock One should not be compared to traditional satellite communications services as it includes unique elements such as embedded network intelligence, a multi-band stabilized antenna, high-throughput satellites, location sensing and mapping as well as automatic beam and band switching. http://www.harriscaprock.com/hcr-one/

About Harris CapRock Communications

Harris CapRock Communications is a premier global provider of managed satellite, terrestrial and wireless communications solutions for primarily the maritime and energy markets. Harris CapRock owns and operates a robust global infrastructure that includes teleports on six continents, five 24/7 customer support centers, a local presence in 24 countries and hundreds of global field service personnel supporting customer locations across North America, Central and South America, Europe, West Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Learn more at harriscaprock.com.

About Harris Corporation

Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving our customers' toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports customers in more than 125 countries, has approximately $8 billion in annual revenue and 22,000 employees worldwide. The company is organized into four business segments: Communication Systems, Space and Intelligence Systems, Electronic Systems, and Critical Networks. Learn more at harris.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the value or expected value of orders, contracts or programs are forward-looking and involve risk and uncertainties. Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323006292/en/

Contacts:

Harris CapRock

Phillip Parker, 832-668-2377

Phillip.Parker@harris.com

or

Harris Corporation

Jim Burke, 321-727-9131

jim.burke@harris.com
DUBLIN, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9frhb9/asiapacific_b2c) has announced the addition of the "Asia-Pacific B2C E-Commerce Market 2015" report to their offering.

Asia-Pacific is the global leader in B2C E-Commerce's share of total retail sales, ahead of regions such as Western Europe and North America. Asia-Pacific is home to three of the top seven countries with the largest B2C E-Commerce sales worldwide. The largest of them, China, vies with the USA for global leadership as the biggest B2C E-Commerce market. In the next five years, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to account for a still more significant part of the global B2C E-Commerce market, with this growth attributed primarily to emerging markets, such as China and India, while the global share of advanced markets including Japan and South Korea is predicted to decline.

Investors have acknowledged this growth trend by funding various E-Commerce merchants in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2014, Indian companies, including Flipkart and Snapdeal, and Chinese platforms like Meituan and Dianping accounted for nine out of the top ten E-Commerce investment deals in the region.

Questions Answered:

What is the size of the Asia-Pacific B2C E-Commerce market in terms of sales?

B2C E-Commerce market in terms of sales? Which countries stand out in terms of growth and other relevant metrics?

What are the main characteristics of the region's major advanced and emerging online markets?

Who are the main international and local players in online retail in Asia-Pacific ?

? Which B2C E-Commerce trends are prominent in this region?

Companies Mentioned Include:

11street.my

123Mua.vn

5giay.vn

701Search

Air New Zealand

Alibaba Group

aliexpress

Amazon

Askmebazaar.com

Aucfan.com

BankBazaar

Berniaga

Big C Supercenter

BigBasket

Bunnings Warehouse

CP Fresh Mart

Grofers

Groupe Casino

Senheng

Shopclues

Shopping.pchome.com.tw

Shopping.und.com

Singapore Post

Singtelshop.com

Snapdeal

Xiaomi.com

Yahoo Japan

Yodobashi

Zalora

Zomato Media

Report Structure:

1. Management Summary

2. Regional

3. Advanced Markets

4. Emerging Markets

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9frhb9/asiapacific_b2c

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Wednesday's session in the green, adding to yesterday's slight increase. The market pared some of its early gains in the afternoon and finished off the session highs. However, considering yesterday's multiple terrorist attacks in Belgium, the market displayed impressive resilience.



Markets in Europe ended the session with mixed results. There was little economic data to drive trading on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming Easter holiday. There was a rebound in U.S. new home sales data in the afternoon, but weakness in commodity prices hampered the European markets.



Switzerland's economy is likely to grow less than previously estimated this year due to the global economic weakness and the structural adjustments in the region, the KOF Swiss Economic Institute said Wednesday. According to Spring Forecast, the economy will grow 1 percent in 2016 and, in line with the global recovery, by 2 percent in 2017.



The Swiss Market Index increased 0.53 percent Wednesday and finished at 7,894.36. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.39 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.44 percent.



Shares of Credit Suisse were in focus Wednesday. The stock ended the session with a gain of 0.9 percent. The bank unveiled plans to eliminate an additional 2,000 jobs this year and deepen cuts at its investment bank as part of efforts to reduce annual costs by 800 million Swiss francs.



Givaudan was the top gainer of the session, with an increase of 2.8 percent. LafargeHolcim climbed 2.2 percent after Exane BNP confirmed its 'Neutral' rating on the stock.



Actelion ended the session with a gain of 1.9 percent. Galenica advanced 1.7 percent and Sika added 1.5 percent. In an interview, Saint-Gobain CFO Guillaume Texier expressed a readiness to talk with the management team of Sika in the event of future cooperation.



The index heavyweights all finished in the green. Nestle led the way with a gain of 1.3 percent, while Roche rose 0.5 percent and Novartis added 0.3 percent.



Baloise dropped 2.7 percent Wednesday, adding to yesterday's losses following the release of its full year report. Investors were disappointed that the insurer did not increase its dividend. Swiss Life fell 0.7 percent and Zurich lost 0.1 percent. Meanwhile Swiss Re increased 0.4 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
BOAO, China, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

On March 23, 2016 the St. Petersburg International Economic Form held a panel session entitled "New approaches in the Russian economy: localization and innovations" organized by the Roscongress Foundation jointly with the Boao Forum for Asia, as part of a programme of events abroad.

The session focused on aspects of the development of bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. China is a leading trade and economic partner for Russia. Trade between the countries from January to September 2015 amounted to USD 50.03756 billion, with Russian exports to China accounting for USD 24.82461 billion, and imports at USD 25.21295 billion. Russia's key exports are mineral fuels, oil and oil products, timber, non-ferrous metals, chemical products and crude ore.[1]

Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation pointed out that, "In order to be able to compete with foreign products inside Russia, we need to do so outside Russia as well; otherwise this would not be open competition, as our business is constrained by barriers raised on other markets. For example, the cost of some merchandise groups is lower here than in China. Apart from openness and competition, investment and better management are also needed."

During the event, which was attended by government representatives and members of the business and expert communities, issues concerning the development of domestic production were extensively discussed. Participants evaluated business opportunities at a time of digital revolution, and examined new approaches to organizing joint projects. Special attention was given to developing potential for collaborating in Russia and China's innovative and entrepreneurial sectors. The dialogue on bilateral partnership will continue at the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is to be held on June 16-18, 2016.

Commenting on the outcome of the event, Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation and Executive Secretary of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum Organizing Committee, noted that the event was constructive, having led to a number of agreements on further fostering partnership with the Chinese representatives during Russia's leading economic forums, SPIEF and the EEF. "We expect the Chinese delegation to be widely represented at our country's major economic forums. Our Chinese colleagues are showing a great deal of activity and interest in these events. On our part, we are also aiming for a continued and steady expansion of our bilateral partnership and the progression of Russian-Chinese relations, in light of new market conditions," Kobyakov concluded.

--------------------------------------------------

1. http://www.ved.gov.ru/exportcountries/cn/cn_ru_relations/cn_ru_trade/ (Russian)
EVANSTON, IL--(Marketwired - March 23, 2016) - Rhode Island manufacturing employment was little changed over the past year, reports the 2016 Rhode Island Manufacturers Register  , an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers' News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. According to MNI's database of manufacturers, Rhode Island lost 279 manufacturing jobs from December 2014 to December 2015, a half percent decline -- the first decline MNI has recorded since the 2011-2012 survey period.

Rhode Island is now home to 1,634 manufacturers employing 58,278 workers, reports MNI.

"High business costs, aging infrastructure, and limited capital funding have put a dent in Rhode Island's manufacturing growth," says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. "However, the state still holds much appeal for manufacturers, including a highly-educated workforce, and a variety of competitive incentive packages."

For the full report, including specific company news, click here or visit http://www.manufacturersnews.com/news.

According to MNI's database, losses were led by the state's industrial machinery sector, which suffered a 3.5% decline. Industrial machinery ranks fourth in the state for manufacturing employment, employing 5,174, reports MNI. Employment in the second-ranked fabricated metals industry held steady at 5,700 jobs, and jobs in first-ranked miscellaneous manufacturing, which includes jewelry manufacturing, were unchanged at 6,638.

Additional losses were reported in stone/clay/glass, down 13%; rubber/plastics, down 5.5%; lumber/wood, down 4.4%; primary metals, down 2.1%; and electronics, down 1.1%.

Losses were offset by gains in the state's transportation equipment industry, with jobs up 5.6%. Transportation equipment manufacturing ranks third in the state for industrial employment, employing 5,422.

City data collected by MNI shows Providence remains Rhode Island's top city by number of manufacturing jobs, accounting for 7,452 workers, down 6% in 2015. Second-ranked Pawtucket accounts for 7,067 workers, with no significant change reported. Industrial employment in North Kingstown climbed 6.3% to 6,684 workers, and held steady at 5,390 jobs in fourth-ranked Cranston. Warwick ranks fifth with 4,228 jobs, up 4.2% over the year.

Established in 1912, Manufacturers' News, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest publisher of industrial information. MNI offers a variety of tailored solutions to help customers connect with 430,000 manufacturers and suppliers. MNI's industrial database subscription service EZ Select (www.ezselect.com) allows users to tap into a live interactive database of manufacturers, while its industrial search engine IndustryNet (www.industrynet.com) connects buyers and suppliers and allows users to view profiles and obtain competitive quotes. For more information, contact Manufacturers' News, Inc. 847-864-7000. http://www.mni.net or follow MNI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mfrsnews.

Contact:

Jennifer Ratcliff

Manufacturers' News, Inc.

(847) 864-9440 ext. 241

jratcliff@manufacturersnews.com
AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - March 23, 2016) - CubeSmart, a leading national owner and operator of self-storage facilities, has opened Austin's first "net zero" commercial building -- meaning it generates more solar energy than it consumes. The self-storage facility opened for business on March 22 and is located at 6130 E. Ben White Blvd., at the corner of East Ben White Boulevard and Montopolis Boulevard.

The property developer, Farragut Investments, Inc., worked closely with Austin Energy Green Building to implement innovative energy, water, and material conservation strategies for the 77,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, climate-controlled self-storage facility. Its features combine to create net zero energy status, including one of the largest solar PV arrays on any storage facility in the state, geothermal heating and cooling, geothermal wells, three rainwater towers and a regenerative drive elevator, which generates electricity from elevator movement. Initially, the building is energy positive, producing more energy than the site needs. A second storage building on the site is expected to be completed in 2017, making the complex net zero energy in balance with production and demand.

The property is operated on Farragut's behalf through CubeSmart's third-party self-storage management program. With this addition to its portfolio, CubeSmart owns or operates a total of 20 facilities in the Austin area.

"This building is a valuable addition to our third party management program and our Austin self-storage portfolio," said Guy Middlebrooks, Vice President of Third Party Management for CubeSmart. "This new state-of-the-art facility allows us to serve environmentally conscious Austin customers with a convenient location that is easily accessible to most downtown and South and East Austin residents."

Farragut is working to achieve a four-star rating from Austin Energy Green Building. In addition, the building is subscribed to Austin Energy's GreenChoice Program, which ensures that if the site needs to purchase additional power, Austin Energy will provide 100 percent Texas wind-generated energy rather than fossil fuel-generated power. The program supports Texas-sourced energy and local jobs, and allows the facility to support Austin's renewable energy goals.

"We've worked diligently to ensure our facility is a positive addition to Austin by providing efficient features that serve the local community in many ways," said Robert Ruggles, Vice President of Development for Farragut Investments, Inc. "Every inch of this project, from energy management to the preservation of green space for conservation, natural resources, native trees, and landscaping, has been designed to give back to Austin and the environment."

Located just a ten-minute drive from the South Lamar, South Congress, and downtown Austin neighborhoods, the fully fenced and gated facility features a 24-hour digital security monitoring system, high-definition security cameras and secure keypad entry. The building is also carpeted to enhance the customer experience.

About Farragut Investments, Inc.

Illinois-based Farragut Investments, Inc., is a privately owned firm that invests in real estate and other alternative investments on behalf of the principals of the firm and a group of long-standing investment partners. Since the firm's inception in 1990, the principals of Farragut have personally been involved in 87 distinct transactions valued at $8 billion with an average size of more than $90 million.

About CubeSmart

CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. CubeSmart owns or manages 703 self-storage facilities across the United States. According to the 2016 Self Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top four owners and operators of self-storage facilities in the U.S.

The Company's mission is to simplify the organizational and logistical challenges created by the many life events and business needs of its Customers -- through innovative solutions, unparalleled service, and genuine care. The Company's self-storage facilities are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible, secure, and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers.

CubeSmart Management currently provides all-inclusive third-party self-storage property management services for 247 locations across the United States. To learn more about CubeSmart Management third-party self-storage property management services, visit www.CubeSmart.com/manager or call one of CubeSmart's knowledgeable experts at 877-245-1614.

For more information about business and personal storage or to learn more about the Company and find a nearby storage facility, visit www.CubeSmart.com or call CubeSmart toll-free at 800-800-1717.

Company Contact:

CubeSmart

Charles Place

Director, Investor Relations

(610) 535-5700
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/23/16 -- Golden Arrow Resources Corporation (TSX VENTURE: GRG)(FRANKFURT: GAC)(WKN: A0B6XQ), "Golden Arrow") Golden Arrow and Grosso Group Management Ltd. ("Grosso Group") congratulate the Government of Argentina on the visit of the President of the United States whose significant speech highlighted a common path of co-operation on several fronts, including national security and the development of Argentina's vast natural resources.

The pledge of partnership on many fronts, particularly the development of natural resources is especially gratifying. Argentina is demonstrating that it can be a strong global partner on a range of matters.

Golden Arrow and Grosso Group have been active in Argentina over the last 23 years with a firm belief of being focused on one of the best investment and mining world destinations for discoveries.

Golden Arrow is currently focused on its Chinchillas Silver Project with a pre-feasibility level study underway and is in a partnership option with growth and production potential. Additional results from this ongoing program are expected to be published soon.

The Company, because of the recent fiscal developments in Argentina, continues to pursue advanced projects capable of generating a fourth major discovery with shareholder value growth potential.

About Golden Arrow:

Golden Arrow Resources is a Vancouver-based exploration company focused on creating value by making precious and base metal discoveries and advancing them into exceptional deposits. The Company is currently focused on its Chinchillas Silver Project located in the mining-friendly Province of Jujuy, Argentina. Exploration has progressed rapidly since the acquisition of the project in late 2011. The innovative transaction announced October 1st 2015, positions the Company to maximize shareholder value by fast-tracking Chinchillas to production and becoming a 25% owner of the world-class Pirquitas silver mine.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Mr. Joseph Grosso

Executive Chairman, President, CEO and Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements concern the Company's anticipated results and developments in the Company's operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of the Chinchillas project, plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. Statements concerning mineral resource estimates and the interpretation of drill results may also constitute forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the Chinchillas project is developed. These statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the following: assumptions made in the Chinchillas Mineral Resource Estimate, including geological interpretation, grade, recovery rates, silver, zinc and lead price assumptions and operating costs; the availability of financing for exploration and development activities, including Silver Standard Resources Inc. ("SSRI") meeting certain milestones and exercising its election to proceed with the transactions contemplated under the Business Combination Agreement dated September 30, 2015 among the Company, SSRI and certain other parties; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; the Chinchillas project development schedule; the exchange rates of the Canadian dollar and United States dollar to the Argentina peso; market competition; ongoing relations with impacted communities; and general business and economic conditions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to precious and base metal price fluctuations; risks related to the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement; risks related to fluctuations in the currency markets (particularly the Argentinean peso, Canadian dollar and United States dollar); risks related to the inherently dangerous activity of mining, including conditions or events beyond our control, and operating or technical difficulties in mineral exploration, development and mining activities; uncertainty in the Company's ability to raise financing and fund the development of the Chinchillas project, including as recommended in the Chinchillas Mineral Resource Estimate; uncertainty as to actual capital costs, operating costs, production and economic returns, and uncertainty that development activities will result in a profitable mining operation at Chinchillas; risks related to mineral resource figures being estimates based on interpretations and assumptions which may result in less mineral production under actual conditions than is currently estimated and to diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources as properties are mined; risks related to governmental regulations and obtaining necessary licenses and permits; risks related to the business being subject to environmental laws and regulations which may increase costs of doing business and restrict our operations; risks related to the Chinchillas project being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance; risks related to potential litigation; risks related to the global economy; and risks related to the Chinchillas project being located in Argentina, including political, economic, social and regulatory instability. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The information provided in this news release addresses the drill results from the Chinchillas project and is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all matters and developments concerning the Company. It should be read in conjunction with all other disclosure documents of the Company. The information contained herein is not a substitute for detailed investigation or analysis. No securities commission or regulatory authority has reviewed the accuracy or adequacy of the information presented. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements other than as required under applicable law.

We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties.

Contacts:

Golden Arrow Resources Corporation

Corporate Communications

Tel: 1-604-687-1828

Toll-Free: 1-800-901-0058

Email: info@goldenarrowresources.com




Smartmatic's i-voting technology expands participation in Republican Presidential Preference Caucus. Utahns of all ages and from across the world vote via the internet

Utah Republicans cast their ballots on Tuesday in one of the largest Internet voting experiences in U.S. election history.

By leveraging Smartmatic's custom-built i-voting solution, the State Republican Party of Utah brought a new, secure and convenient option to participants in its Presidential Preference Caucus.

Nearly 90% of voters registered to vote online participated in Tuesday's caucus, marking an extremely high turnout rate. Voters of all ages, from millennials right through to people in their 80s, chose to cast their vote online. Participation was strongest amongst voters aged 56-65.

The online system also made the election more inclusive as Utah Republicans voted online from over 45 countries, including places as far away as French Polynesia, South Africa and Japan. In addition to strong demand among those voting online, thousands called Smartmatic and Utah GOP helplines on Election Day seeking to register to vote online.

Commenting on the online voting experience in this first-ever Caucus held in Utah, James Evans, Chairman of the Utah Republican Party stated: "We are proud to have taken a leading role in election modernization. By offering online voting, we expanded the number of options citizens have to participate and made voting as convenient as possible. Technology proved key in engaging citizens and bolstering democracy."

After making their selections, online voting participants were asked to provide feedback on their experience:

94% of respondents described the online voting experience as good.

97% would consider voting online in future elections.

82% wanted to see online voting implemented nationwide.

The vote comes on the heels of new research suggesting that 81% of American voters felt changes needed to be made to the US voter experience and voting system.

"We know old systems and long lines reduce participation and hurt the democratic process," said Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic's CEO. "Voter feedback is clear. Online voting in the Utah GOP caucus demonstrates how efficient, cutting-edge technology-based solutions help make elections more inclusive and the voting experience easier and more accessible."

About Smartmatic

Founded in the USA in 2000, Smartmatic is the leading provider of voting technologies and solutions worldwide. Today, out of the eight countries pioneering election automation Smartmatic provides technology and services to six of them: Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, the Philippines, USA and Venezuela.

The company has managed elections across five continents, processing over 2.5 billion votes. It serves customers through an organization comprising over 600 employees across 12 offices around the world.

Smartmatic is headquartered in London, UK. For more information, visit www.smartmatic.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160323006612/en/

Contacts:

Smartmatic

Mrs. Samira Saba, +1-561-862-0747

Marketing and Communications Director

Communications@smartmatic.com
TORONTO, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX-V: JAG) is pleased to announce it has acquired a new, highly strategic Mineral Exploration License area adjacent to its 100% owned Pilar Mining Concession Block ("Pilar Concession" or the "Concession") where the Company is currently producing gold from its Pilar Gold Mine ("Pilar" or "Pilar Mine") in Brazil.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160323/347603

Highlights

A new concession, totalling 1,237 hectares, expands the Company's existing Pilar Concession by 79% by adding to the previous staked area of 1,561 hectares. The new concession is located in a prospective position adjacent to the Pilar Concession and contains high priority gold exploration targets on the Pilar Mine orebodies.

The new concession, adjacent to the northeast portion of the Pilar Concession, ensures the security of the down-plunge continuity of the high priority Pacheca gold target and the Cubas gold target which is located in the immediate southern continuity of the Pilar Mine (see Figures #1 and #2).

The expanded land position adds significant value to the current Concession as it is proximal to Corrego do Sitio I and Corrego do Sitio II (Sao Bento) AngloGold Ashanti's multi-million ounce gold deposits in the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais.

Following the successful exploration results and a significant increase in Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources previously announced at Pilar Mine (refer to the Company's news release dated March 4, 2016 ), new exploration programs on the Pacheca and Cubas gold targets are expected to potentially extend the current Pilar Mine Mineral Resource laterally.

Rodney Lamond, President and CEO of Jaguar stated, "The award of this new concession is an outstanding achievement by the operations team that further consolidates and increases our land position at Pilar in the Minas Gerais district. This expanded land position is an important milestone for the future of Pilar Gold Mine and a key step in adding significant value to the property given the proximity to a multi-million ounce gold producer, such as the Sao Bento Mine (AngloGold Ashanti), that has been traced plunging towards Pilar less than 10 kilometres away."

"With this new concession adjacent to our current land holdings, on the northeast and southwest portions of the Pilar Concession, we will continue the exploration of two high priority gold targets, Pacheca and Cuba, that could potentially add to the mine life of Pilar. Furthermore, we will continue to actively review and identify any new target areas within our land positions that have the potential to host additional gold mineralization near our existing resources."

The Concession, staked in February 2, 2016, was stated as a Mineral Exploration License in the Brazilian Official Gazette on March 17, 2016 under number 830.402/2016, by the Departamento Nacional de Producao Mineral ("DNPM").

Pilar Concession 2016 Exploration Program

By way of this acquisition, the Company has identified two major exploration targets in the Pilar Concession; the Pacheca gold target ("Pacheca"), situated in the northeast portion of the Concession and the Cubas target ("Cubas") located in the immediate southern continuity of the Pilar Mine (see Figure #2 below).

Pacheca is positioned on the northeast continuity of the Pilar Mine ore bodies including SW, BA, BF, BFII (see Figures #1 and #2 below). It is characterized by numerous, hundred-metre open-pit excavations, which are attributed to early Portuguese miners and explorers who searched for precious metals and gems in the Iron Quadrangle region in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Company has carried out several exploration campaigns, which have resulted in a series of soil geochemistry and electromagnetic geophysical anomalies, some of which relate directly to the historical Pacheca excavations described above.

Cubas is located in the immediate southern continuity of the Pilar Mine (see Figures #1 and #2 below). The Cubas anomaly was discovered by using an induced polarization and 3-D electrical imaging survey carried out in 2014. Cubas is a "blind" target constituted by several continuous conductors situated from 200m to 600m depth along the Pilar Mine shear zone.

Additional geological and structural mapping and topographic surveying are currently in progress and will be integrated with the existing Pilar Mine 3-D geological models which will be used for an exploration drilling campaign scheduled for the second quarter of 2016.

Following the recent progress made to the geological model of the Pilar Mine (refer to the Company's news release dated March 4, 2016), the planned exploration campaigns for Cubas and Pacheca are expected to laterally extend the current Pilar Mine mineral resource.

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Marcos Dias Alvim, BSc Geo., MAusIMM (CP), Project Development Manager, who is an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc., and is a 'qualified person' as defined by National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI43-101").

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes, and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 191,000 hectares. The Company's principle operating assets are located in a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex ("Mineracao Turmalina Ltda" or "MTL") and Caete Gold Mine Complex ("Mineracao Serras do Oeste Ltda" or "MSOL") which combined produce more than 90,000 ounces of gold annually. The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information contained in forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "are expected", "is forecast", "is targeted", "approximately", "plans", "anticipates" "projects", "anticipates", "continue", "estimate", "believe" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. This news release contains forward-looking information regarding the expansion and development of the Pilar Gold Mine and anticipated gold production. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking information contained herein, including, among other things, assumptions about the availability of financing for exploration and development activities; the estimated timeline for the development of the Pilar Gold Mine; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; the receipt of necessary permits; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities; and general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking information involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including among others the uncertainties with respect to the price of gold, labor disruptions, mechanical failures, increase in costs, environmental compliance and change in environmental legislation and regulation, procurement and delivery of parts and supplies to the operations, uncertainties inherent to capital markets in general and other risks inherent to the gold exploration, development and production industry, which, if incorrect, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described herein. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Company's most recent annual information form and management's discussion and analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents that can be accessed under the issuer profile of "Jaguar Mining Inc." on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Company's reasonable expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

TSX-V: JAG



Contact: Rodney Lamond, President & CEO, Jaguar Mining Inc., rodney.lamond@jaguarmining.com
WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Governance Committee for the Arctic Economic Council (AEC) is pleased to announce it has approved the Arctic Economic Council's foundational documents for ratification at its annual meeting in Tromsoe, Norway in April.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150910/265586LOGO

These documents include its rules of procedure, strategic plan, membership dues, as well as membership terms and conditions. This milestone was reached through participation and/or input from the following countries and organizations:

Finland

Russia

Canada

Iceland

Denmark

United States

Norway

Inuit Circumpolar Council

Gwichi'in Council International

Aleut International Association

Tara Sweeney, AEC Chair commented, "I am proud to stand with the members of the Governance Committee to present the recommended documents at the annual meeting. Our recommendations demonstrate a strong commitment to responsible economic growth in the Arctic. The Governance Committee members showed diverse and impressive expertise in reaching agreement on this important foundational step."

AEC Vice-Chair from Finland, Tero Vauraste, remarked, "This landmark accomplishment was only possible through remarkable pan-Arctic collaboration, and through cooperation we have strengthened the AEC."

"This inaugural meeting has set a high standard for doing business in the Arctic. We have a pathway to a corporate governance structure that will establish the AEC as an effective partner for, and facilitator of, business development in the Arctic," said Evgeny Ambrosov, AEC Vice-Chair from Russia.

ABOUT THE AEC

The AEC is a business forum established to facilitate Arctic business-to-business activities, promote responsible economic development and provide a circumpolar business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council. The inaugural meeting was held in September 2014 in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada. It has a 42-member board from eight Arctic states and six permanent participant organizations. Finland will assume the chairmanship from the U.S. in 2017. For more information, visit www.arcticeconomiccouncil.com.

CONTACT: ANU FREDRIKSON

Director, AEC Secretariat

anu@arcticeconomiccouncil.com
Orix USA, a diversified financial services company, has launched a new investment initiative of its majority-owned subsidiary, Mariner Investment Group LLC.

Led by President and CEO Yoshiteru Terry Suzuki, and along with Managing Director Christopher Suan, IX Capital Partners  Private Equity makes direct equity investments to support growth and special situations of established middle-market companies throughout North America, spanning a variety of industries including business services, retail, consumer, industrials, telecommunications and technology in North America. Its target equity size per deal is $100m with a range of $50m to $150m.

The team is based in Mariners New York City office, with an office also in Dallas.

Partnering with New York private equity sponsor Aperion Management and the investee entitys management team, IX Capital Partners recently sponsored its first private equity investmentthe acquisition of Chicago-based RoadSafe Traffic Systems, a national provider of pavement marking, sign installation and traffic control services and equipment to the roadway construction, and railroad and utility industries in the United States.

The company operates from 31 branch and satellite locations, enabling it to serve projects of any size in over 40 states.

The management team at RoadSafe  including CEO and President David Meirick and Chief Financial Officer Brendan Kissane  will continue leading the 1,000-plus employee company.
Grocery delivery chain BigBasket has raised $150 million (Rs 997.91 crore) in fresh funding from UAE's Abraaj Group and other investors to help expand into smaller cities.

In a statement, Abraaj announced that it led a $150 million round of fundraising for BigBasket, the online grocery delivery service company. "The capital raise saw the entry of new investors such as the International Finance Corporation and Sands Capital and participation from existing investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital," it said.

Abraaj has been present in India since 2006 and the partnership with BigBasket marks its third investment in India over the past five months, with previous transactions including Care Hospitals and the development of a gigawatt scale renewable energy platform in partnership with the Aditya Birla Group.

Founded in 2011, Bengaluru-based BigBasket currently operates in eight metro cities and 10 tier-II cities. The company sells over 19,000 products across 1,000 brands, including fruits, vegetables, meat, beverages and personal care products.

"BigBasket.com averages five million monthly unique visitors and executes over one million orders per month. The company's mobile application has been downloaded by more than a million users," the statement said.

Abraaj also said BigBasket is continuing to deliver strong growth, with a five-fold increase in monthly revenues over the last 18 months, supported by supply chain optimisation and an increased proportion of high margin private label products.

Own brand products currently account for 33% of revenue and are projected to reach 40% by the end of this year. "The proceeds of this round of fundraising will be used to finance BigBasket's growth through further penetration into existing markets, expansion into tier-II cities across India, scaling-up of its recently launched express delivery and specialty store business that caters to top-up and emergency purchases, and increasing the product range offered to customers," the statement said.

Commenting on the investment, Omar Lodhi, Partner and Head of Asia for The Abraaj Group, said the Group "will leverage its strong experience in the consumer sector to enable BigBasket to further enhance its strong domestic position."

The Abraaj Group has been present in Asia for over a decade and deployed $1.4 billion in the region to date in a range of sectors including healthcare, financial services, logistics, consumer goods, and food and beverage.

PTI
Srinagar: Activists of radical women's outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) on Wednesday hoisted Pakistani flags at several places in Srinagar on the occasion of Pakistan Day.

Activists of DeM hoisted Pakistani flags at many places in the city including Lal Chowk early on Wednesday, officials said.

They said flags were hoisted in Downtown and Civil Lines areas of the city as well.

The flags were later removed by police.

DeM, led by Asiya Andrabi, has been hoisting Pakistani flags every year on the occasion of Pakistan Day and Pakistan Independence Day on 14 August.

Andrabi was booked last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for unfurling the Pakistani flag. Meanwhile, DeM activists celebrated Pakistan Day in Buchpora area of the city, the officials said.

They said the activists sang Pakistan's national anthem at the event.

Addressing the activists, Andrabi said Kashmir is the "jugular vein of Pakistan and its freedom is an obligation of Pakistan".

"Kashmiri Muslims have been celebrating Pakistan Day for seven decades because it has historical and religious significance... Jammu and Kashmir is a part of Pakistan and will practically become a part of Pakistan," she said.

A documentary, released by Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa, was also screened on the occasion.

PTI
New Delhi: An Infosys employee from Bengaluru has been missing in Brussels since the deadly terror attacks and the Indian Embassy in the Belgian capital was making efforts to locate him.

The missing employee has been identified as Raghavendran Ganesh.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Brussels was trying to trace Ganesh.

"We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh," Swaraj tweeted.

Official sources said Ganesh is an Infosys employee and hails from Bengaluru.

Two Jet Airways crew members  Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanai  were injured in Tuesday's explosions at Brussels' Zaventem airport and Swaraj said they are recovering well. Both Nidhi and Amit are from Mumbai.

"I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both

recovering well," she said.

Swaraj said government was coordinating with Jet airways to evacuate Indian citizens.

"The airport is still not open. This may take some time. We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to

evacuate our citizens," she said.

The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till Thursday in view of the closure of the airport following Tuesday's blasts, also said its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations.

Brussels airport serves as the Mumbai-based airline's European hub for its international operations, which is now

being relocated to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday.

PTI
Prabhat Singh, a journalist based in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada, was arrested on Monday at Jagdalpur for allegedly sending an "obscene message" about a senior Bastar police officer on the WhatsApp group called Bastar News, reports The Indian Express. He was booked under Section 67 and Section 67 (A) of the IT Act (publishing and transmitting obscene content in electronic form) as well as Section 292 ofthe IPC (publication of obscene or scurrilous matter). He has been remanded to judicial custody till 31 March.

According to The Indian Express, Singh sent this message on WhatsApp: Patrakaar suraksha kanoon se keval unhen parhez hai jo already mama ki ***** mein baithe hai (Only those who are already sitting in mamas ***** have a problem with the journalists protection law). A top Bastar cop is commonly referred to as 'mama' in local parlance.

Singh began working for ETV a couple of months ago but his employment was terminated on 19 March, reported Hindustan Times. Singh claimed on WhatsApp that this was the result of police coercion and this claim led to his arrest.

Meanwhile, Singh's brother Vishnu has claimed that his sibling faced the police wrath for reporting on alleged fake encounter in Pakhnar area (of Bastar), in which an innocent tribal was recently killed by Bastar police.

Besides, on 1 March, Prabhat had also filed a complaint against Santosh Tiwari, Mahesh Rao (local journalists) and members of Samajik Ekta Manch, a social organisation which conducts anti-Naxal mass events along with police, and accused them of defaming him on a WhatsApp group named 'Bastar News' using abusive language, Vishnu said.

He alleged that despite the complaint, no action was taken against them by Dantewada police and now his brother was being dragged in false cases. The opposition Congress in the state has also opposed the arrest of Singh, alleging that police are continuously trying to silence journalists in Bastar.

"The fourth pillar of democracy is not safe in Bastar. Journalists are being continuously targeted. Bastar is burning and people are suffering from tyranny of administration and security forces. Democracy is being murdered there," party's state general secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told PTI.

In view of the scribe's arrest, the main opposition Congress accused the state government of suppressing the voice of journalists.

Singhs arrest comes at a time when journalists, lawyers and activists, who are trying to bring to light fraudulent arrests by cops in Bastar, are increasingly facing death threats. The Hindustan Times quoted Kamal Shukla, editor of Bhumkaal Samaachar as saying that Singh is one of the few journalists who was not intimidated and continued to report on the fake arrests in Bastar. One of the organisations allegedly threatening him was Samajik Ekta Manch and Singh had even filed a complaint against it a few days ago.

Recently, Malini Subramanium, a journalist with Scroll.in had to leave her home in Jagdalpur allegedly due to pressure from the Manch, reported DNA. Two other journalists, Santosh Yadav and Samaru Nag, were arrested in July 2015 and are yet to be released from custody.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Accusing Congress of "using" Kanhaiya Kumar, the BJP on Wednesday termed the JNU student leader's visit to Hyderabad over Rohith Vemula's suicide as a "conspiracy" to deflect public attention from UPA government's policies which were "responsible" for his death.

BJP accused Congress of joining hands with those accused of anti-national acts, a reference to Kanhaiya, and asked it to not make universities a place for its politics.

"It is the policies of Congress government which led to so many suicides in Hyderabad Central University, including that of Vemula. Our government has taken measures to ensure that corrective action is taken. Now Congress is trying to deflect attention from its failure by allying with a person accused of anti-national acts," party National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Nine students before Vemula had also ended their lives at the university, he said.

The Modi government is working to ensure that no student suffers discrimination at unversities, he said.

Accusing Congress of using "proxies" to fight political battles "it cannot win directly", Sharma alleged it earlier used NGOs and activists like Teesta Sitalvad and now the students.

When Congress was in power, it was anti-poor and anti-students and it remains so even in opposition, he alleged.

JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya had held an hour-long meeting with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi yesterday.

While Kanhaiya did not interact with the media after the meeting, NSUI Chief Roji M John described it as a courtesy call to thank Gandhi for his support during the ongoing row at the university.

In Hyderabad, Kanhaiya today alleged the government flared up the issue of JNU to divert people's attention from Vemula's suicide and subsequent developments.

PTI
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Hyderabad University has sought extra police force at the campus as Kanhaiya told the media that he is determined to speak to the students.

Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, an umbrella grouping of various student bodies, has given a call for boycott of classes to protest the arrest of students and police baton charge on them on Tuesday.

The Hyderabad Central University remained tense on Wednesday as police imposed clampdown on the campus and student groups called for boycott of classes for four days to protest "police brutality".

Kanhaiya, while addressing the students, batted for Rohith Act and said the government is turning deaf ear to students' problems.

Targetting the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Kanhaiya said we want freedom from caste-discrimination. "We will not tolerate it if you clamp down on students or clamp down on our democratic rights."

Tum kitne Rohith maroge? asked JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar at Hyderabad Central University after the police allowed him inside the campus on Wednesday.

Want to tell HCU admin & police who've prohibited us from entering Univ that you can't suppress our voice: #Kanhaiya pic.twitter.com/MHEplUzp9D

Kumar was meant to meet this evening with Mr Vemula's friends and supporters whose list of demands includes the dismissal of the university's top official, Vice Chancellor Appa Rao.

The university said no permission had been granted for Mr Kumar's appearance on campus which was meant to include a speech.

Denied permission to deliver a speech on campus, Kanhaiya spoke at the gates of the university and criticised the administration and police for refusing entry to him. He met Vemula's mother on Wednesday afternoon and pledged "to get justice" for the 26-year-old who hanged himself in his hostel a month after alleging caste discrimination.

We've come here for justice for #RohithVemula . Unfortunate that Govt is not listening to voice of students: #Kanhaiya outside Hyderabad Uni

Want to tell HCU admin & police who've prohibited us from entering Univ that you can't suppress our voice: #Kanhaiya pic.twitter.com/MHEplUzp9D

Roji M John, National President, NSUI: We have demanded removal of Hyderabad Central University (HCU) vice chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile. Protests will continue at HCU till those responsible for Rohith's death are punished and a Rohith Act is enacted. The government with the help of Telenaga Police and the University administration is creating a sense of terror in the University. It was a highly atrocious act on the part of police to brutally laticharge the students. They have been badly injured and some are even hospitalised. Female students and professors too have not been spared. We are here to help the students. The government should understand that the protesters are young citizens, this is not how you deal with a student protest. By denying drinking water, food, and cutting internet and keeping the media out, the government is playing dirty politics in the campus.

Vinay Bidre, National General Secretary, ABVP: We've opposed to Kanhaiya Kumar's demonstration at HCU but Vidyarthi Parishad physically won't do anything to prevent him from entering the campus or addressing the students because, it'll lead to violence, which we don't want. Our foremost objective is to maintain peaceful academic atmosphere at HCU. We may go for some peaceful activities after Kanhaiya Kumar's address. I appeal to students to not believe rumours. Not a single ABVP member or student is involved in any kind of violence. It's the strategy of NSUI and the Left-backed students' unions to malign ABVP, but let them come up with proof.

N Susheel Kumar, President of ABVP: Though efforts are all afoot to make Kanhaiya Kumar a hero, the ABVP is not doing anything to prevent his entry. We want to maintain peace.

Shehla Rashid, vice-president, JNUSU : We strongly condemn the police action on students in Hyderabad Central University. Police have thrashed students, women, professors and detained a few students. We will fight shoulder to shoulder with HCU students until Rohith gets justice.

On Wednesday, as authorities and police denied entry to Kanhaiya inside the Hyderabad University, Firstpost's Debobrat Ghose spoke to students' leader and activisits at JNU.

The fresh protests over the issue, come in wake of resumption of office by HC Vice Chancellor two-months after going on leave amid the storm following the suicide of Vemula.

"The top official told us that ministry cannot do anything about removal of the VC as it comes under the purview of the Visitor. He also said that they can't intervene on issue of police presence as interventions are not being taken in good manner," she added.

A five-member delegation led by JNU students union Vice President Shehla Rashid Shora met MHRD Secretary VS Oberoi and submitted a memorandum in this regard. "Our major demands include immediate removal of police presence in Hyderabad university campus, removal of Vice Chancellor and dropping of false charges against students unconditionally," Shehla said.

The students, who were stopped by police as they tried to march towards the ministry, have been raising three demands in connection with the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula who was found hanging at the Hyderabad Central University's hostel room on January 17.

Stepping up their agitation over the suicide of Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula, students of JNU today protested outside the HRD Ministry demanding removal of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile and withdrawal of police presence from the campus.

When Congress was in power, it was anti-poor and anti-students and it remains so even in opposition, he alleged.

Accusing Congress of using "proxies" to fight political battles "it cannot win directly", Sharma alleged it earlier used NGOs and activists like Teesta Sitalvad and now the students.

The Modi government is working to ensure that no student suffers discrimination at unversities, he said.

Nine students before Vemula had also ended their lives at the university, he said.

"It is the policies of Congress government which led to so many suicides in Hyderabad Central University, including that of Vemula. Our government has taken measures to ensure that corrective action is taken. Now Congress is trying to deflect attention from its failure by allying with a person accused of anti-national acts," party National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

BJP accused Congress of joining hands with those accused of anti-national acts, a reference to Kanhaiya, and asked it to not make universities a place for its politics.

Accusing Congress of "using" Kanhaiya Kumar, the BJP termed the JNU student leader's visit to Hyderabad over Rohith Vemula's suicide as a "conspiracy" to deflect public attention from UPA government's policies which were "responsible" for his death.

Hyderabad Central University has not granted any permission to JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar to address a meeting on the campus, Vice Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile told reporters on Wednesday.

"No body has approached for permission. Definitely, there is no permission," he told PTI here.

Asked if he gets a feeling that the suicide issue is being politicised, Podile said he did not think so, adding, that he did not attach any significance to Kumar's visit as "we have nothing to do with that boy".

"As far as our campus is concerned, I don't see same kind of polarisation. We are all one. We are going to work towards solution. There is no politicisation at this time," said Podile, who resumed duty amid protests yesterday after a two-month leave.

On whether he believed a small group of students were holding the university for ransom, he said, "Anybody who moves around the campus will get that same feeling."

As for what action was proposed to be taken against the group of students who vandalised his official residence yesterday, Podile said, "Procedures and whatever systems are in place, they will take care of it. Whatever is there with the police, they will take care of it."

Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday said the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice of Hyderabad Central University will continue with its struggle until the Centre brings out 'Rohith Act'.

Kanhaiya, who landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad at around 11 am, also said that he will participate and address a public meeting organised by the JAC on the HCU campus this evening, "if the police permits".

"Today, I will first meet Rohith Vemula's mother Radhika and his brother Raja. JAC has invited me to address a public meeting on HCU campus...If police allows me then I will definitely go to HCU and address the students," Kanhaiya told reporters at RGIA.

"We have experience with JAC for various struggles and we will take this fight forward...this struggle will continue until 'Rohith Act' is implemented...to fulfil his (Rohith) dreams of social justice on the campus," he said.

Notably, the mother and brother of Dalit research scholar Rohith, who had allegedly committed suicide in a hostel room on the campus on January 17, had last month met political leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri and KC Tyagi, seeking their support for enactment of a 'Rohith Act' against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

Earlier, the HCU authorities categorically said they would not allow outsiders, including media and political party leaders, on the campus in view of the prevailing situation.

Tension mounted in Hyderabad Central University following the resumption of duty by controversial Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile with authorities on Wednesday barring outsiders from entering the campus and classes being suspended for four days.

"In view of the situation, classes are suspended from 23 to 26 March. We have taken a decision not to allow any outsider, including mediapersons and political parties, on the campus," Registrar M Sudhakar told PTI when asked about the proposed visit of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar to the university.

Police said additional forces have been deployed on the campus as a precautionary measure and pickets set up around Podile's official residence.

Appa Rao's official residence was on Tuesday vandalised by students and police had to lathicharge another group during their protest against him resuming charge after a two-month leave in the wake of suicide by Vemula.

Meanwhile, the police, who made elaborate security arrangements in and around the university, prevented Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao from entering the campus.

The Congress MP demanded that President Pranab Mukherjee should immediately recall the VC, holding him responsible for the state of affairs on the campus.

Senior CPI leader K Narayana had earlier told PTI that Kanhaiya Kumar will address a meeting at the university this evening and attend a meeting on 'Constitutional Rights' at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Baghligampally here tomorrow, besides visiting Vijayawada.

With inputs from PTI
Tension mounted in Hyderabad Central University following the resumption of duty by controversial Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile with authorities on Wednesday barring outsiders from entering the campus and classes being suspended for four days.

"In view of the situation, classes are suspended from 23 to 26 March. We have taken a decision not to allow any outsider, including mediapersons and political parties, on the campus," Registrar M Sudhakar told PTI when asked about the proposed visit of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar to the university.

Police said additional forces have been deployed on the campus as a precautionary measure and pickets set up around Podile's official residence.

Few of the hostels in the university do not have drinking water; the mess was closed and some of the hostels even experienced power cut, according to students at the university.

On Tuesday, The University of Hyderabad issued an order to deny entry to all media personnel, political groups, external student organisations and politicians inside the campus.

The move comes after the VC sought protection following yesterday's incidents when his residence was vandalised allegedly by a group of students who were opposing his return as the Vice Chancellor after a two-month leave.

"The situation is peaceful. Forces have been deployed to maintain law and order," Joint Commissioner of Cyberabad Police TV Sashidhar Reddy said. Police resorted to lathi-charge on the students who were protesting outside the VC's official residence.

The students had raised slogans against the Vice Chancellor, barged into his residence, broken window panes, smashed doors and television set among other items.

The students demanded that the VC be arrested immediately as he was one of the accused in Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's alleged suicide case on 17 January.

Podile, who is in the eye of a storm over Vemula's suicide, had proceeded on leave on 24 January as the agitating students demanded his resignation and held vigorous protests seeking "justice" for the Dalit student.

Here is the letter the university wrote to the police, requesting for 'adequate personnel' as a precautionary measure:

With inputs from PTI
Hyderabad: Student groups at University of Hyderabad on Wednesday condemned police 'brutality' and 'sexual assault' on students protesting against Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao.

Uday Bhanu, a PhD scholar was allegedly brutally beaten unconscious by the police. Reports from the university students suggested that the scholar was chased and kicked while trying to cook.

The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, an umbrella grouping of 14 student bodies, said an emergency like situation has been imposed on the campus with the authorities shutting down mess, water and internet connection.

The JAC, in a statement on Wednesday, alleged that police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other security personnel unleashed brutal physical and sexual assault on students and teachers on Tuesday.

It alleged that the security personnel not only beat up men and women students but hurled abuses, branded them "anti-nationals" and threatened to file sedition charges.

"Women students were beaten and grabbed by male police officers. After the forcible eviction from the lodge compound, police chased us for another 2 km, and grabbed and arrested students. Students suffered grievous injuries and were taken to hospitals," it said.

According to the JAC, the phones of several students were confiscated while they were videorecording the brutality.

It said 36 students including three professors were picked up, brutally beaten in a police van, and detained in unknown locations all night.

The JAC claimed that Appa Rao had provided the list of students and professors to be picked up.

It alleged that Appa Rao conspired with ABVP students, a section of faculty and non-teaching staff to return to the university and resume duties as the vice chancellor.

The JAC said it was opposing Appa Rao's return from leave because he was the "main accused" in the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula. It also claimed that Rao returned as vice chancellor to influence the ongoing judicial inquiry into the suicide.

The JAC vowed to continue its fight for justice, saying the police brutality only increased strengthened their resolve.

with inputs from IANS
Has the return of Prof Appa Rao Podile, Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, aggravated the situation on the already-simmering campus?

The slew of events that unfolded in quick succession in the last two days clearly indicates that the BJP government at the Centre wanted to assert its position by ensuring the return of Professor Rao to resume work.

Why has Appa Rao returned now? The timing of Raos return to the campus appears to be pre-meditated and premature. Of course, he doesnt agree with this. "There are several reasons for my resuming duty. Some of them I have explained yesterday in the press release. Thank you."

This was Rao's terse reply to Firspost when he was asked whether his return wasnt too early when the dust hasnt settled yet on Rohith Vemula's suicide. Rao was, however, cagey to prolong the dialogue.

Interestingly, it would have been extremely difficult for Rao to fight the case registered against him under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act following Rohiths suicide if he was still not on the top job. He must have perceived that this was the apt moment to return as the vice-chancellor.

If the government changes its mind, it becomes an uphill task for him to endure the process of fighting the case. His term of office ends in 2020.

Rao, who has superseded 35 others to scale to the coveted position, has strong political connections, especially with Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu. This was widely discussed among the students and also in the media in the aftermath of the suicide of Rohith Vemula on 17 January. Rao proceeded on an indefinite leave on 24 January.

What role did Venkaiah Naidu play in Appa Raos return?

Even though the Union Minister had reacted against the agitations a few days after the incident, Naidu did not involve himself directly in the controversy. The Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) leader Venkatesh Chowhan has alleged that Rao mustered courage to get back to the university only at the behest of Venkaiah Naidu, who is described as the "villain of the piece" in the latest turn of events.

Prof Lakshminarayana, former president of UoH Teachers Association, sought to know if the government was really unaware of the situation and why weren't they suspending the vice-chancellor? He strongly felt that his return would vitiate the academic atmosphere on the campus. He clearly sees the hand of Venkaiah Naidu and the HRD Ministry in Raos return.

How can a prime accused in a case, which is under judicial probe, can return to resume the post of vice-chancellor? Had he come back as a professor, we wouldnt have had any problem? Lakshminarayana said.

While the controversy surrounding Rohith Vemula's suicide had drawn national attention, the stakeholders on the campus polarised into pro-and-anti-BJP groups.

The anti-BJP protesters vociferously began gunning for the head of the vice-chancellor. Against this background, the BJP, which was caught in a bind over the incidents in the University of Hyderabad and the subsequent JNU controversy, wanted to prove its one-upmanship by asserting its authority, surreptitiously, though.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya were caught in the eye of the storm for their respective roles in the sordid episode that unfolded. The BJP and the Centre government are fully aware that Raos resumption of work would take the situation back to square one, as the embers of anger and anguish on the campus are still simmering.

Instead of taking measures to placate the frayed tempers of all groups and ensure academic continuity after a protracted unrest on the campus, the behind-the-scene managers and lickspittle apparently ensured that the people at the helm demonstrated their one-upmanship.

Revolutionary writer and popular maoist sympathiser P Varavara Rao and secretary of the revolutionary writers association P Varalakshmi, in a statement alleged that Rao was brought back to the university to resume duties at the instance of the BJP and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The VC's return has caused an unexpected split between the faculty and deans of different departments on the campus.

Most deans, activists of the ABVP and students of life sciences backed the VC, while most teachers and non-teaching staff have demanded that Rao must go.

Lakshminarayana alleged that the return of Rao as the V-C would surely enable those accused in the Rohith Vemulas case to tamper with records to fight the legal case against them.

Two faculty members and 25 students were arrested in the cases related to the attack on Rao's lodge on Tuesday. While the non-ABVP students and faculty members who had been opposed to Rao alleged that the vandalism was the handiwork of ABVP workers, the police registered cases against the protesting students based on a complaint from the University authorities.

However, Varavara Rao and Varalakshmi of the revolutionary writers association alleged that it was ABVP which was responsible for the vandalism in the VCs lodge. They said that it was a premeditated destruction with an intent to shift the blame on those who were protesting the return of Rao.

General Secretary of the CPM Sitaram Yechury in his letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said that the students were precisely opposed to the return of Prof Appa Rao as the Vice-Chancellor. He vehemently condemned the brutal attack on the students by the police and strongly opposed the arrest of students and demanded their immediate release.

However, Rao has been trying to give tongue-in-cheek responses in his desperate bid to be "politically correct". His offer to call on the bereaved family of Rohith as soon as he had committed suicide and the refusal of the family to see him is a clear contradiction of what Rohiths family had said then.

Rao's pouring of "bleeding heart sympathy" to the departed soul and the dash of sentiment he had added to Rohiths suicide that the boy was his student in Microbiology and the need to show respect to the points Rohith had written in his life-ending notes only aggravated the situation, wittingly or unwittingly.

The reasons Rao cited for his return were, recruitment, promotions and choice-based credit systems, which could not be taken up by in-charge VCs. Any delay in his resuming charge would damage the reputation of the university, he said.

Raos return had a ripple effect. Several student groups posted on Facebook that the university authorities had cut off the supply of water and electricity to hostels. In another Facebook group, the post read:

 Seriously !!! Blocking debit cards issued from UOH SBI Branch??!!!!

Come on Appa rao!! Which all method will you make possible to provoke us?! Testing our patience?!

Though Our struggle will remain democratic by all means!!

Try your level best. (sic).

Rao told Firstpost, We are nobody to block Bank Accounts of any students. We cannot answer to everything that is posted in social media, Facebook and Twitter. As regards the mess, there was an incident between students and some non-teaching staff. One of the non-teaching staff members was injured. As a result, the non-teaching staff are protesting and we are trying to resolve the issue.

Asked if his return wasnt well-choreographed and planned to the tee, as the students released the copies of minute-to-minute task-sheet he had issued to different people, Rao said: Some planning had to be done, right?
By Janaki Murali

While the many delays plaguing our legal system have been well documented and several legal experts have bemoaned the large pendency of cases, a recent report by the Times of India showed exactly why the situation is so grave. Reporting on a study carried out by Bangalore-based NGO Daksh, the newspaper said the average pendency of a case at the Allahabad High Court is over three-and-a-half years, easily the worst in the country. Bombay High Court, at 1,245 days, came second. The study, which looked at 21 high courts across India, also said the oldest case still to be disposed of was registered on 1 January, 1959.

Firstpost talked to Daksh co-founders Kishore Mandhyam and Harish Narasappa about the legal system in India and their organisation's purpose.

The Daksh study about high courts taking over three years to decide cases is alarming. Did the law ministry order this survey?

The law ministry has not ordered any survey. This is a Daksh initiative. The department of justice has funded a number of studies. One such study funded by the department is a Daksh project called Canonical reason for pendency.

Tell us more about this project?

We have four stages in this project: Collect data; analyse it to identify the problem; find solutions; and go back and back up the solution with data.

The basic idea was to find out whether our solutions will work on the field. For example, say we find a solution that might reduce pendency. It involves sending all government-to-government cases to one court. But what if these take up only 3 per cent of a judges time? The solution may not be the right one.

Our project started about a year ago, and we have finished the first stage of data collection. Now we are in the second stage and hope to complete this by end of 2016. We will move to the third stage in 2017 and we should come up with solutions that work by end of 2017 or in early 2018.

Tell us why you set up Daksh and what do you hope to achieve? Also, what is the rule of law project that we keep reading about?

Daksh was set up to improve accountability in the functioning of institutions. We embarked on the rule of law project in 2014 in order to evaluate judicial performance, and in particular, to study the problem of pendency of cases in the Indian legal system. This project is based on quantitative research that will map the administration of justice in India.

What is the goal of Daksh?

Our goal is to help develop sustainable solutions based on data analysis, so as to address the issue of judicial delays. We are doing this of our own accord. We have met both the government and senior judiciary to discuss our work. We are also looking at whether we can achieve the objective of cases being resolved in a reasonable time frame as defined by litigants in relation to pendency. Our objective is to identify causes of pendency and recommend changes.

Why is it that Sikkim has the lowest pendency rate in the country, with the Sikkim high court taking just 281 days to clear a case on average?

Sikkim High Court is fairly new and was set up only in 1975. Moreover, there are fewer cases being heard at the Sikkim High Court and this could be another reason.

Conversely, why do the Allahabad High Court (1,337 days) and Bombay High Court (1,245 days) take so long to clear cases? What causes such large pendency in courts?

Although judges work hard, there are oft-cited reasons like procedural inefficiencies, lack of focus on the part of the court administration, easy adjournment culture, etc. Daksh is currently conducting a study to identify factors specific to the different courts and the different factors causing pendency.

The pendency is even higher at district courts (1,953 days as against 1,128 days in high courts). Why is so?

The process at district courts is longer as they deal with the original trial and there are many more stages at that level.

What is the norm around the world regarding pendency in courts?

Our study is still ongoing.
Mumbai: Shreehari Aney, who resigned as Maharashtra advocate general after a furore over his remarks on a separate Marathwada, has cautioned the government on "legislating morality" on the dance bars issue.

"As far as these dance bars are concerned, the problem of women working there should be considered, along with men working, as a right to livelihood," he said.

"In an industry where work is of a hazardous nature, laws are required to ensure that these hazards are mitigated," Aney told PTI in an interview. "In dance bars, where women perform before a predominantly male audience, there are built-in occupational hazards. But merely because there are hazards, you can't stop the industry. The correct way would be to ensure that those hazards are

minimised," he said.

"The lawmaking process is getting confused in a moral dimension. To legislate morality is an extremely difficult thing," Aney said.

On the other hand, to legislate protection (of women) is easy, he added. "If framing of laws is done for the purpose of security of women at the workplace and to stop such anti-social activities as prostitution, it would not be a difficult law to frame," Aney said. "But if consideration of moral policing enters the picture, framing of such laws becomes problematic and it is extremely difficult to frame laws legislating morality," he said.

Aney's remarks come against the backdrop of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' recent statement that the government will bring a comprehensive new legislation on the dance bar ban in the ongoing budget session of the state legislature.

The Supreme Court recently cleared the decks for the issuance of dance bar licences to hotels and restaurants in Mumbai as it modified the conditions for the permit and excluded installation of CCTV cameras from restaurants and dance performance area.

The state government had in 2005 banned dance bars in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra. Nearly 1,500 bars across the state had employed more than 75,000 women dancers.

PTI
New Delhi: Pakistan is looking to have "normal" ties with India on the basis of "mutual respect and

interest," its envoy Abdul Basit said today even as he called for resolution of all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute, to ensure "peace and prosperity."

Talking to reporters here, he described the proposed visit of a five-member investigation team of Pakistan to probe the Pathankot terror attack as a "positive development" and hoped they will be able to do their work "productively."

On Pakistan High Commission inviting Hurriyat Conference leaders to 76th anniversary of Pakistan Day celebrations this evening, Basit said, "They have been attending the reception for years and Pakistan did not see any issue in it."

He said, "It is also necessary to resolve all our problems, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, so as to put our relations on the irreversible trajectory of peace and prosperity. Cooperative relations are also required to address many common challenges including climate change and poverty."

A five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team had yesterday applied for visa to come to India to carry forward the probe into the Pathankot terror attack, days after the announcement by Foreign Ministers of the two countries that it will come here on March 27.

Referring to it, Basit said, "Let the team come. We will see. It's a positive development, I think. We hope the team would be able to do its work productively."

Asked about progress towards holding Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, Basit said

that "no date" has been finalised yet but hoped the parleys will take place "sooner than later".

To another question on Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington next week, Basit said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend it. He said Pakistan "being a nuclear power" has an "important" role to play and expressed the hope that international community will work together and ensure nuclear

security in all its aspects and "without any discrimination".

Basit also condemned Brussels explosions and said there can't be any justification for actions of terrorists.

PTI
Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley claimed on Wednesday that his associate Tahawwur Rana was opposed to Headley's links with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Headley, 56, said that Pakistani national Rana, who ran an immigration consultancy in Chicago had knowledge that he worked as an operative of the LeT.

The revelation came during Headley's cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of another alleged LeT operative Abu Jundal, before the Special Court of Judge GA Sanap, via video-conferencing from a US jail, where he his serving a 35-year sentence.

"Rana was aware of my association with LeT and I informed him about the training imparted to me by LeT operatives. I also told Rana that I was spying for LeT. That must be around four-five months before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Headley told Khan.

"Rana had objected to my association with LeT. He asked me to stop using his office in Mumbai. I conceded to his objections and took steps to close down the office in July 2008," Headley added.

When asked by Khan about his business activities and the income from it, Headley said he had invested in it by buying four-five shops in the United Arab Emirates.

To a question on whether the LeT funded him for his various activities, Headley countered by revealing that actually it was he (Headley) who donated money to the terror group.

"It was for various things and I have donated round Pakistani rupees six-seven million, the last being in 2010," Headley informed the court when asked whether his funding was used for terror acts.

However, Headley declined to answer questions posed about his wife Shazia, with whom he continues to be legally wedded. "She never visited India. I had informed her about my association with the LeT. Originally, she is from Pakistan, I don't want to disclose Shazia's present location. I will not answer any questions about her," he made it clear to Khan.

On her reaction to his disclosures, Headley said he did not want to speak about it. "It (reaction) is between me and her. It's our personal relation and I don't want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said," Headley said, adding that she was aware of his plans to change his name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley.

When Khan persisted on questions about Shazia, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam objected and pointed out that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.

Headley's cross-examination, which was due to start on Tuesday, was taken up on Wednesday after his week-long deposition was conducted in February.

IANS
By Sanghamitra Baruah

How long can a revolution last?

A few weeks ago when a very ordinary looking young boy from Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University captured the imagination of the nation with his azadi slogans, many truly believed and cheered the arrival of a hero. Even though an equal, if not more, number of people dismissed Kanhaiya Kumar's "freedom in India" sentiments, no one could deny it was a stellar start. When all that was happening in Delhi, almost 2,000 km away from the National Capital, Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was closely following everything on TV at his Guwahati home. He didn't have much to say though. It's a different story that nobody cares about his opinion much either these days.

But 30 years ago, things were different.

In 1985, when Mahanta took oath as chief minister of Assam, the student leader had emerged fresh out a movement  the Assam Agitation (1979-1985)  that had instilled new hopes in the minds of the people that a better tomorrow awaited Assam. A university student then, Mahanta was the president of the All-Assam students' Union (AASU) in 1979 when it launched the agitation against the illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi immigrants, which the Assamese people feared was altering the demography, economy and social fabric of the state. AASU began its fight demanding the detection and deportation of illegal immigrants living in the state.

The six-year-old struggle came to an end with the historical Assam Accord in 1985 signed by the AASU, state government and the Centre. By the end of that year, the leader of the agitation, who by now had become a people's hero, took over as the president of Asom Gana Parishad, a political party that came into being as a direct result of the agitation's success.

On 24 December, 1985, 32-year-old Mahanta and his friends formed the government in Assam, the country's youngest-ever ministry. Even as the euphoria continued, Mahanta's journey to the CM bungalow straight out of his university hostel room became a popular legend among enamoured journalists who still share it with their junior colleagues.

No one could deny the charisma of Mahanta in those heady days. So much so that a section of the local media and the civil society almost started to believe that that Assam would soon be free of all its ills. As the young and feisty bunch that appeared totally in control, vowed to wipe out the legacy of corruption that they had inherited from the Hiteshwar Saikia-led Congress government, many believed with conviction that the AGP would usher in real change. However, it didn't take long for the people to realise that their faith was misplaced and their dreams shattered.

Within three-and-a-half years in power, the AGP government looked in deep trouble. The same government that had decided to take strict action even against officials taking a bribe of as little as Rs 10, was battling allegations of corruption and high-handedness. Mahanta and his government soon got embroiled in deeper scandals.

"There is a lesson in this for all those in positions of power. What makes reformists forget their cause so easily once they get power? This is not the lone instance in the history of Indian politics. Popular leaders often veer off into different directions and lose their main focus. The same is true for Mahanta and many others before and after him," says senior Assam-based jounalist Dipankar Roy.

In a scenario that looked absolutely impossible five years ago, the people of Assam voted back the Congress to power in the 1991 electons, forcing Mahanta to serve as the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. But just like a true soldier never gives up easily, Mahanta too made a comeback as the chief minister of Assam in 1996. It, however, seemed he failed to learn any lessons from the past. Mahanta's second tenure proved to be even more controversial, which included allegations of secret killing of relatives, friends and sympathisers of Ulfa militants  an issue that has been raked up by the Congress in this election once again.

According to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, "Mahanta is responsible for the secret killings and it could not have been possible without the support of the Central government where the NDA was then in power."

By 2001, Mahanta was forced to step down as the president of the party he had once founded after the Congress routed the AGP in the Assembly elections that year. His image hit an all-time low when a junior employee of the state Assembly gave an interview to a local weekly that a "much-married" Mahanta had tied the knot with her in a secret ceremony. Cornered by party members from all sides, he went into political hibernation after quitting the post of party chief. On his return, he tried his best to take over the party reins but was eventually expelled in 2005 for "anti-party activities".

Left with no options, Mahanta floated AGP (Progressive), which was later reunited with the main party in 2008.

Things slowly improved for him as he was made the legislature party chief in 2010 and was subsequently chosen as party president. But time and tide, as they say, wait for none. By this point, the Congress government under Tarun Gogoi's leadership in Assam had already served two terms and was gearing up for a third. As Gogoi and his team retained power in 2011 with a thumping majority, a completely diminished Mahanta was again forced to step down as the party chief.

"There's is no doubt Mahanta was the face of AGP but he has let us down time and again. There was nothing personal in the decisions taken by the party against him," says former AGP president Brindaban Goswami.

A hero, a people's leader, a corrupt politician, a bigamist, Prafulla Mahanta has been called all these and more.

On 18 March, when Mahanta, along with a visibly thinning line of supporters, came out of the deputy commissioner's office after filing his nomination papers from the Badampur Assembly constituency in Nagaon district, those who were a witness to the historic December 1985 couldn't help but recall the frenzied popularity of the student leader 30 years back. Not very far away on the streets of Guwahati, Congress party volunteers were trying to whip up similar support for the party with the help of another student leader.

As Kanhaiya stared down from giant hoardings put up by the Congress, it was not very difficult to read the expression on Mahanta's face. Just like any revolution, its heroes don't last forever either.
Vadodara: BJP and Congress workers on Wednesday engaged in a verbal duel here on the martyrdom day of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh after a BJP leader took objection to the recent remarks of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, comparing JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar with Bhagat Singh.

BJP MP Ranjan Bhatt, mayor Bharat Dangar, city MLAs and party workers along with Congress leaders and workers gathered at the statue of Bhagat Singh in Nyaymandi area to pay tribute to the martyr.

Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed on this day in 1931, a few hours ahead of schedule, after the trio was sentenced to death by the British in the Lahore conspiracy case.

Tharoor had on Monday stirred a controversy after he compared JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charges with freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, while addressing students on the JNU campus.

After BJP leaders garlanded Bhagat Singh's statue, former mayor MV Patel attacked Congress and asked, "How can Tharoor compare Kanhaiya Kumar, one who is facing sedition charges, with a freedom fighter like Bhagat Singh?"

Congress leader Shailesh Amin, who was present at the spot along with other workers, then interrupted Patel and said, "Who are you to say this? You were working in a private liquor firm...how can you talk like this? This is a day where both the parties have gathered to pay tribute to the martyrs...don't create any political issue here."

Later, Amin alleged some Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha workers pushed him. He said they then started raising slogans, "Bharat Mata ki Jai" to which Congress workers chanted "Inquilab Zindabaad".

PTI
Jammu/Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra on Wednesday called PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and state BJP unit chief Sat Pal Sharma for separate meetings on Friday to discuss government formation even as the regional party is set to hold its crucial legislature party meeting on Thursday.

"Through separate communications, the governor has intimated the president of PDP and the State President of the BJP to meet him on Friday, 25 March, 2016", a Raj Bhawan spokesman said in Jammu, as signs emerged for return of the PDP-BJP coalition government after a prolonged deadlock.

The meetings with the two leaders in Jammu have been scheduled to be held separately, he said. J&K has been under Governor's Rule since 8 January.

A PDP leader said a meeting of the legislature party will be held in Srinagar at 4 pm on Thursday.

He said Mehbooba will preside over the meet which comes against the backdrop of her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Tuesday.

The leader said a final decision is expected after Mehbooba will take the opinion of the legislators on the formation of the government.

The party will likely make an announcement on the future of alliance with the BJP after the meeting, he said.

The BJP, meanwhile, asserted that it has not accepted any new conditions from PDP and threw the ball in Mehbooba's court, saying her party has to make the next move for government formation.

Party General Secretary Ram Madhav's assertion came a day after Mehbooba's meeting with Modi which she had termed as "very positive and good", triggering speculation that their talks over government formation was back on track following months of impasse.

"We have not accepted any new condition from the PDP," Madhav, a party's pointsman in the state, told PTI in Delhi.

The talks between Modi and Mehbooba were cordial during which specific issues were not discussed, he said, adding that she also did not put up any condition during the meeting.

The PDP-BJP coalition, after 10 months rule from March 2015 to January this year, ran into rough weather following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Sayeed breathed his last in a hospital in Delhi on 7 January, following which the state came under Governor's Rule the next day.

Since then, the PDP leadership sought Confidence Building Measures and assurances on the implementation of the already agreed Agenda for Alliance from the Centre for forming the government again.

PTI
by G Pramod Kumar

When Kanhaiya Kumar captured the nations imagination with his televised speech at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus after his release from police custody, it appeared to be nothing more than a storm in a tea-cup because the grounds for his arrest were silly. In the subsequent days, Kanhaiya, however, gained considerable eyeballs and heavyweight fans across the country.

Still, JNU didnt become Sorbonne.

But, when he met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, along with a delegation from the JNU Students Union and the All India Students Federation (AISF), much to the chagrin of the BJP and its proxies, it indeed signalled something really significant - the possibility of the expansion of the secular, socialist, democratic political space in the country, spearheaded by the youth. BJP sympathiser Madhu Kishwar thought that Rahuls and Kanhaiyas coming together betrayed the desperation felt by the left and the Congress in taking on the BJP.

Obviously, the BJP proxies didnt like it.

Some of Kishwars points such as the decline of the communist ideology and how it failed the poor and the downtrodden across the world seem valid, but terming Rahul and Kanhaiya finding each other as opportunism is a prejudiced view because their ideologies and politics do overlap. The convergence of the left and the Congress  which incidentally had a strong socialist past except for the Manmohan Singh interregnum  is good for the country. The secular, socialist, democratic space that they can create together is more critical to the existence of India  as our constitution wants it to be  than ever before.

What we often forget is that in the overall history of the Congress, the neoliberal phase governed by the Manmohan Singh doctrine, had been rather short. Most of the Congress rule of independent India had been dominated by Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Nehru was a card-carrying socialist, or rather a democratic socialist; and Indira Gandhi, a socialist created by circumstances. Nehru worked towards establishing Indias political economy on a clearly socialistic path, while Indira Gandhi embraced it to trump the powerful syndicate with the help of the socialist block of young Turks within her party. In fact, in comparison, Indira Gandhi appeared more radical than her father, particularly given their circumstances.

Indira Gandhi nationalised banks, insurance, mines and oil and stopped the privy purse to erstwhile royals. She emphasised on labour intensive small scale industries, curbed foreign investment through Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), restricted land-ownership through the Land Ceilings Act, brought strongest measures to protect workers rights and so on.

Its certainly debatable whether the Nehru-Indira doctrine helped India or not; but undeniably both were socialists. Frankly, in terms of socialist policies and state intervention, Indira Gandhi did more than what the first communist government did in Kerala in 1957.

By aligning with the left and joining the rightful agitations of students, peasants and workers, Rahul is only reclaiming a slice of his personal and political legacy, and rising up to the current socio-political and economic challenges faced by the country. The rot in the Congress, beginning to set in during its socialist regime that during the course of time doubled as a conduit to crony capitalism, became worse since the economic liberalisation in 1991. During UPA 1 and UPA 2 it became a free-for-all, not only for the Congress, but also for the allies. The only way the party can come back to relevance now is by stemming this rot, which means that it has to change tracks and look for answers within.

Thats what Rahul, although intermittently, has been trying to do and whenever he does it, he certainly looks left, rational and humane.

Going back to a bloated state and soviet style socialism is rather impossible, but strengthening social protection of the poor and the weaker sections of society  including those who are marginalised, disabled, sick and less capable  alongside wealth generation is inevitable. Indians need their welfare state. The country also needs stronger rule of law and a credible human rights environment to ensure that the capitalists dont ravage the country, and the state doesnt tyrannies its subjects.

Sans their habitual reference to Marx and Lenin, these are also the values of the Indian left. In fact, its these values along with its commitment to secularism that made the the left parties support Indira Gandhis socialist policies and nationalisation efforts and the UPA I. In hindsight, the left-Congress reconciliation in 2004 was a progressive step because the former indeed had a decisive correctional influence on many of the UPA 1s economic policies. Unfortunately, the stubbornness of Manmohan Singh over the nuclear deal and the lefts inability to see the larger picture, including the emergence of communal forces, stopped further exploration of common grounds. Had the left stayed with the UPA, it wouldnt have fallen into the morass that it did over time and the communal forces wouldnt have had an easy run.

Therefore Kanhaiya and Rahul joining hands is a great sign of a third coming together. Unlike the CPM, the CPI had been less doctrinaire vis-a-vis its relations with the Congress. In fact, CPI, Kanhaiyas parent party, had been with the Congress during the emergency and it had no problem justifying Indira Gandhi. During the same period, it was the CPI chief minister C Achutha Menon who shone like a star for his progressive policies and institution building in the public sector.

The mutual influence Kanhaiya (along with his left block) and Rahul may have on each other can lead to a common ground where communists and laissez-faire economists give up ideological territories to more humane and practical ideas of social democracy, personal liberty and human rights. Its a hugely promising premise because Rahul, and even Sonia Gandhi to some extent, had long since been converted to left politics. The big challenge before Rahul, however, is dismantling the old block, a challenge that Indira Gandhi too faced and successfully overcame in the late 1960s.
Washington: A Congressional resolution aiming to bring India on par with America's Nato allies in terms of trade and technology transfer besides elevating its status in export of defence articles from the US has been introduced ahead of Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India.

Introduced by Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, the US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act (HR 4825) proposes to amends the Arms Export Control Action so as to formalise India's status for the purpose of congressional notifications as a major partner of equal status as America's treaty allies and closest partners.

"This legislation will cement the process that has already been made and will lay a foundation for future cooperation and growth," Holding told the US House of Representatives.

"This legislation will elevate India's status by shortening the time required for the notification of sale or export of defence articles from the United States to India. It will encourage more joint contingency planning and require the US government review and assess India's ability to execute military operations of mutual interest," Holding said.

Welcoming the resolution, introduced ahead of US Defence Secretary Carter's visit to India early next month, the US India Business Council (USIBC) said that it sent an important signal to the Indian defence establishment that today's political conditions are different from the past.

"This bill not only puts India on par with other Nato allies in terms of the notification period, it sends a clear signal to Washington and Delhi that defence cooperation should be a top priority for both governments," Holding said.

Defence trade between the US and India is one of the strongest areas of the bilateral economic relationship and has risen from some $300 million to over $14 billion over the last 10 years, said Mukesh Aghi, USIBC president.

Noting that together the US and India face a range of shared security challenges, Holding underlined the need to encourage deeper bilateral defence ties and closer cooperation.

"The US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act will build upon the recent progress made to strengthen our strategic partnership by facilitating closer collaboration, promoting greater defence trade, and by elevating India's status," he said.

In his remarks, Holding also questioned the decision of the Obama Administration to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

"What, I ask, is the benefit of the sale to our national security and the security of the region and our partners? This is one question, but the request to use taxpayer dollars to finance the sale of these F-16s to Pakistan is entirely another question," he asked.

"What has Pakistan actually done to deserve these fighter jets let alone financing from the United States taxpayers? Certainly not enough, in my view, as I firmly oppose the sale from start to finish," Holding said.

PTI
NEW YORK Major U.S. transportation hubs were placed on alert on Tuesday, with police out in force, and part of Denver International Airport's main terminal was evacuated in response to a possible security threat after suicide bombings in Brussels killed at least 30 people.

The evacuation area at Denver encompassed the west side of the terminal, levels five and six, but flight operations were able to go on while the potential threat, described by police as a "suspicious package," was investigated, the airport said.

Vehicle traffic was halted on the west side of the Denver terminal, but the east side remained open to passengers, the airport said.

Major U.S. airports and other transportation facilities were put on alert following attacks at Brussels Airport and a subway station on Tuesday for which Islamic State, the militant group that has seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility.

Large numbers of uniformed police officers and National Guard members in fatigues and carrying long weapons patrolled New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Denver airport said on its Twitter feed that airline ticket counters affected by the incident there included American Airlines, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways. "Flight delays are possible," it said.

A Denver airport spokesman, Heath Montgomery, said earlier in the day that no additional security measures were being taken there, although he added that airport officials remained in contact with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration.

Especially in light of the events today, we share a heightened sense of awareness, Montgomery said.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential election contender Hillary Clinton vowed to do more to confront militants, while Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called for tighter border security and suggested U.S. intelligence services could use torture to head off future attacks.

The Obama administration was expected to impose tighter security measures at U.S. airports following the Brussels airport attack, which occurred in a public hall outside of the security check area.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the agency has no intelligence that would point to a similar attack being plotted against the United States.

U.S. Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, the senior Democrat on a House of Representatives subcommittee on terrorism, said the suicide bombings in the Belgian capital illustrated the difficulty of protecting "soft targets" outside tightly controlled security cordons.

"We should learn from this that the targets aren't going to be just getting on the plane itself, but the airport in general," Keating said in a phone interview.

Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N) and American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) cancelled or rerouted flights as a result of the Brussels attacks.

(Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Idrees Ali, Julia Edwards, Mark Hosenball, Ian Simpson and Susan Heavey in Washington and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
London: A British family said their missing son could be the suicide bomber of the Islamic State (IS), who is responsible for an attack in Iraq, BBC reported.

IS announced on Monday that the attack on Iraqi forces was carried out by a militant named as Abu Musa al-Britani, saying the militant used a car bomb to target a convoy of Iraqi army after it had left a military air base.

IS claimed that about 30 people were killed in the attack, however, the Iraqi authorities believed only the bomber died.

The Awan family, from West Yorkshire, said the photo of the suicide bomber released by IS on a social media account was their 27-year-old son, Mohammed Rizwan Awan, BBC reported.

The British family members recognised the photograph instantly and said they "knew in their hearts" it was him, according to BBC.

The young man left Britain last year, telling his family that he was going to visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia, but contact with him was lost since then. His family said letters he left indicated that he had no plan to return to Britain and planed to say in Saudi Arabia.

British government and Iraqi authorities have not confirmed his identity so far. BBC said the young man would be the latest suicide bomber to have come from West Yorkshire if his identity is authenticated.

A 17-year-old suicide bomber, Talha Asmal, who took part in attacks near an oil refinery south of Baiji in Iraq last year, was from West Yorkshire. While four men who carried out the 7 July London bombings in 2005, which killed 52 people, was also linked to this region.

IANS
By Anshu Chhibber

At times, while being a part of a newsroom chaos when a terror story breaks -- it isnt easy. Not because it is BIG BREAKING but there is more to every story. When someone really close to you is impacted and living the horror of terror far away.

It was that kind of sinking feeling on Tuesday day when the Brussels story broke at 1 pm, the first thought that came to my mind was my sisters family living at a locality close to Molenbeek. Many Belgian Muslims live together in Molenbeek, a heavily Muslim dominated suburb that counts 22 mosques within its city limits.

The population is increasingly isolated from the rest of the country and some reports suggest Belgium has the highest number of foreign fighters in Syria of any Western European nation. In Tuesdays attack more than a dozen were killed when bombs exploded -- two at the main International airport and one at a downtown subway train near European Union Headquarters.

Even as I made calls to find out if all was well with her and her family there were chaotic scenes of blood, dust and flying glass that started coming in from the agencies and international news channels into our news feeds. Finally relieved to hear her voice and my new born nephew in the backdrop only to hear her say all is well but she was concerned as my niece was still at school and its all locked down. She immediately started describing how it has been for the last four months since the city came in focus post Paris attacks and the recent arrest of of Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect in the 13 November attacks in Paris. How it is been harrowing to be living so close to a locality which has been the focus of all investigations in Paris attacks, hearing police sirens, gun shots and helicopters hovering above.

Calls were pouring from friends and relatives to check how my sister was and if she is safe. I was still on phone with her when she confirmed the metro blast that we were here still trying to confirm. I could gather the fear in her voice of a possibility of them getting closer and unpredictable danger that hangs on each and every resident in the city every single day since Paris happened. She keeps telling us that she would want to come back and settle in India, even more now. I saw a very worried look on my mums face all of last evening even though she wouldnt say a word.

It was very difficult for me to disconnect myself from what was happening with my sisters family and be my best at work. We as journalists are generally thick skinned (expected to be) and get used to seeing blood and gory images. Some of these stories that we do, the images that we see even though not of our own always stay in our heads. Some of these incidents make us very angry, we always put up brave faces and try and not allow any story personally affecting us.

I recall visiting my sister in 2005 to a very peaceful Brussels that celebrated its original beer, chocolate, waffles, fries and cheese. It pains to see how the city converted to now popularly known for Europes most notorious breeding ground of terrorists. Brussels is a about 3-4 hours away from Europes major cities including Paris and Amsterdam. Of course we experienced no city-to-city checks then and not sure if things have changed. But may be they should now. I can only say Europes innocence and humanity is at its worst test.

Just two days before the attacks hit Brussels a Belgian minister made a statement a possibility of Abdeslam planning a Brussels attack. The fear for Brussels residents also is how four months on since Paris attacks, the Islamic State is able to dodge any type of crackdown. It is as blatant as them having explosives, Kalashnikovs, and a of course a team ready to attack. They hit the airport and the metro just in a few minutes and send the cops in a tizzy.

My sister is on leave and had she not been home, she would be at the airport on Tuesday where the terror strike hit. My brother-in-law completed his studies in Brussels is too attached to the city to consider moving away. Even though he agrees and keeps getting timely reminders of just how weak Belgian security has proven to be. On Tuesday, he had all his official meetings on phone and chat, he just went out once to pick up my niece from school.

As I write this piece I hope for peace and wish the city, which is just eight miles away from Waterloo where a resurgent Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815, defeats the fear of IS in their minds as the administration figures out their fight back.

The author is Planning Editor, CNN-IBN. She tweets @anshuchhibber.
A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday killing at least 26 people according to media reports. Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level.

The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on Friday of Salah Abdeslam  prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November 2015, after four months on the run. Soon after the explosions hit the Belgian capital, reports suggested that it was a revenge strike. However, the rumours have not been confirmed; but it is a logical extrapolation.

The reports are suggestive of the fact that the network of Salah Abdeslam is still functioning. Abdeslam's arrest has been touted as one of the key arrests. Despite Abdeslam's arrest, who was touted as one of the key arrests from the Islamic State network, the group continues to terrorise, mobilise and polarise with violence.

Belgiums foreign minister, Didier Reynders, on Sunday said that Abdeslam had told investigators he was planning fresh attacks in Brussels. "He was ready to restart something in Brussels, and it may be the reality because we have found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons, in the first investigations and we have found a new network around him in Brussels," Reynders was quoted as saying by AFP.

It is clear that Abdeslam was not the lone operative behind last year's Paris attack. Childhood friend of Abdeslam, Mohammad Abrini, a man of Belgian and Moroccon origin, who also played a crucial role in planning the November attacks. It is possible that the network acted even before the security services rolled them up. Abdeslam couldn't have acted alone or for that matter couldn't have escaped the security forces on his own. He was on the run for a long time and during this time was looked after by dozens. The terror attack on Brussels is not about a revenge strike, but about the intense radicalisation deeply entrenched in broader communities and neighbourhoods. Take Molenbeek for example, the neighbourhood which housed most of the Paris attackers.

November's attacks and today's attack in Brussels have thrust Molenbeek into the international spotlight. Belgian authorities carried out a series of raids searching for key suspects believed to have lived in the area. Two people arrested have been charged with terrorist offences.

It's led to Molenbeek being widely labelled as a jihadi haven, but for some residents that's an unfair description.

Paris attacks were but the latest in a litany of jihadist incidents over the last two years involving people with ties to Molenbeek, including the 2014 shooting at the Jewish museum in Brussels, the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January and the failed attack in August on a Thalys train. According to Politico, long before the emergence of jihadism, Molenbeek had acquired a reputation for lawlessness.

"But the more painful question that should be asked is: What do Molenbeeks failures reveal about the deep dysfunction in the Belgian state? That Molenbeek has been allowed to become a breeding-ground for jihadism says some damning things about formal and informal structures in Belgium, and in particular Brussels."

The report further added that despite being in the heart of Brussels, what is remarkable about Molenbeek is its proximity to poverty and lawlessness. Molenbeek, by comparison, is tiny. It is one of the most densely populated parts of Brussels, but its population is only 95,000. And it is not that the entire borough is a no-go zone. The problems of lawlessness are concentrated in much smaller areas.

But, according to experts, the problem may not be about places, but people. Research from Oxford University confirms the importance of social networks, showing friends or peers played the primary role in the recruitment of three-quarters of foreign fighters to Islamic State; family members accounted for a fifth, the mosques for just one in 20.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, part of Kings College London, has estimated Belgium supplies some 40 fighters for every million inhabitants  a figure more than four times that of Britain, and twice that of France.

And Molenbeek has been linked to spectacular attacks round the globe going as far back as the 2001 assassination of the Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. It is estimated that Muslims make up six percent of the Belgian population, but that figure is 25 percent in Brussels and 40 percent in Molenbeek. The unemployment rate in the district is 30 percent, but it is believed to be even higher among immigrants.

But many in the city, from ordinary residents to the officials who run Molenbeek, are frustrated that there is not more support for integration, and monitoring young people who are at risk from radicalisation both through friends and online, The Guardian reported.

Speaking to Brussels-based journalist Mehmet Koksal, Spiegel Online International said, "Most of the Muslims are moderate, but there are also sharply radicalized groups with connections, for example, to the Salafists. They tell young people that they aren't European or Belgium and that it's 'us against the others.'" Koksal has been covering the Islamist scene for years.



This apart, terrorists are drawn to Belgium more than any other country in Europe. And one of the major reason is its strategic location. Placed strategically between France, Germany, UK and Netherlands. Belgium is part of the Schengen area, which means its outside borders are open, making it extremely easy for terrorists to enter and leave the country quickly.

Kristof Clerix in this article in The Guardian said that the anonymity of Brussels "appears to offer an ideal hiding place", for terrorists and their sympathisers. And the young population, most of them with Muslim backgrounds, do not get the same opportunity in jobs and education and are confronted with racism on a daily basis. They have the perfect profile to be prone to radicalisation.

Buying illegal firearms in Brussels is not a big deal. The city has less than six different police zones making the fight against illegal arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime cumbersome and inefficient.

According to the BBC, security apparatus of Belgium is extremely small as well. Belgian state security only has some 600 employees (the exact figure is classified information). Its military counterpart, Adiv, has a similar number. That makes just over a thousand intelligence officers to secure a country that hosts not only Nato and the EU institutions but also the World Customs Organisation, the European Economic Area, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), another 2,500 international agencies, 2,000 international companies and 150 international law firms.

Ironically, Brussels is the diplomatic capital of the world. It's a problem that is bigger in Belgium than anywhere else in Europe. No other European nation has seen as many jihadists travel to Syria relative to the overall population. Officials in Belgium estimated that out of a population of 11 million residents, around 500 have so far made the journey to jihad in Syria. Comparatively, it is estimated that 800 people from Germany, a country with a population of 81 million, have travelled to Syria.

In this sense, Belgium's problem is a European problem.
U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the attack in Brussels that killed more than 30 people is the "latest brutal reminder" that more must be done to defeat Islamic State militants, including by European Union member countries.

In an address at Stanford University in California, Clinton said the United States and Europe should take a "harder look" at protocols at airports and other "soft sites" that are outside security perimeters.

Clinton also said "there is much we can do to support our European partners" but "there is also more they can do to share the burden with us."

Clinton said she would like to see more European countries investing in defence and security in the way Germany has during the Obama administration.

"The most urgent task is stopping the flow of foreign fighters to and from the Middle East" who are citizens of France, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom with European passports that make it easier for them to cross into Syria and return radicalized, Clinton said.

Clinton said that many European nations do not currently alert their neighbours when they turn away a "suspected jihadist" at their border or when a citizen's passport is stolen. European Union countries also need to share traveller information more readily, Clinton said.

"It's actually easier for the United States to get flight manifests from EU nations than it is for EU nations to get them from their own neighbours, thanks to an agreement that the United States negotiated when I was secretary of state," Clinton said.

Additional steps that could be taken in Europe are the creation of a "new, unified, European border and coast guard" to strengthen the external borders of a continent that is under "unprecedented pressure from refugees and migrants," Clinton said.

Clinton also praised past partnerships between the United States and Europe, calling the NATO alliance between North American and European countries one of the best investments that America has made.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump has in recent days said that the United States should rethink its involvement in the decades-old alliance.

Clinton also took aim at Trump, along with presidential rival U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, when she slammed "offensive, inflammatory rhetoric that demonizes all Muslims," including those who could be partners in the fight against terrorism.

(Reporting by Amanda Becker in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech and Andrew Hay)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
WASHINGTON U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz won the backing of former rival Jeb Bush on Wednesday as prominent Republicans overcome their aversion to the conservative senator to try to force a standoff with insurgent Donald Trump at their party's convention in July.

The endorsement by Bush, part of a Republican dynasty, is the latest sign of how keen the party's establishment is to stop Trump, fearing that his rhetoric on illegal immigration and national security will cost the party votes at the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, is a staunch social conservative and a divisive figure in the party due to his willingness to criticize the leadership and his prominent role in bringing about a 2013 government shutdown.

But he is still seen by party grandees and many Republicans in Congress as preferable to Trump, a real-estate billionaire viewed as straying even further from party orthodoxy.

"Republicans across the spectrum are realizing that to nominate Donald Trump brings chaos to our party and potentially to our country," U.S. Representative Trent Franks of Arizona told Reuters, "and that any differences they might have had with Ted Cruz are far less important than the danger of nominating Mr. Trump."

Cruz won the Republican caucuses in Utah on Tuesday but time is running out for him to defeat Trump before the Republican convention in July, and for Republican establishment figures to reassert control of a party that is being wrested away from it by rank-and-file voters.

Cruz looked on track to win all of the 40 Republican delegates from Utah, although Trump won the 58 delegates up for grabs in Arizona, partly due to his tough message on illegal immigration.

After Tuesday, Trump had 738 of the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination, according to The New York Times. Cruz had 463.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont won in two out of three states that voted for the party's nominee on Tuesday, but this made only a small dent in the lead held by Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state, who won Arizona.

The Bush endorsement put pressure on Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is struggling in third place in the Republican race, to drop out.

"Kasich was viewed as the only establishment candidate left," said U.S. Representative Matt Salmon of Arizona, a Cruz supporter. "With the quintessential establishment candidate now endorsing Cruz, it makes Kasich irrelevant."

People in Kasich's campaign suggested the candidate was paying no more attention to party elites than voters were, saying he planned to survive to the convention and wrestle the nomination there.

In interviews, some Republican lawmakers and wealthy party donors who had supported Bush thought the endorsement would do little to dampen voters' enthusiasm for Trump.

"I'm surprised," Gaylord Hughey, a prominent party fundraiser from Texas who worked on Bush's finance team until the campaign ended last month, said, adding that donors were given no notice of the endorsement.

U.S. Representative John Duncan of Tennessee said the endorsement would "make a miniscule difference at most."

CRUZ UNDAUNTED

Cruz remains undaunted, and added Bush's name to a list of prominent Republicans who had belatedly rallied to his cause, including Mitt Romney, the party's unsuccessful 2012 candidate.

"Across the spectrum Republicans are uniting," he told the crowd at a New York City campaign event. "Independents are uniting. Libertarians are uniting. Democrats who are tired of what we're doing are uniting."

But Cruz is far from united with his rival Trump, and their feud spilled on to social media in a spat drawing in the candidates' wives.

Make America Awesome, an anti-Trump political group, featured a scantily clad photo of Trump's wife Melania, a former model, in an ad. Trump hit back on Twitter, saying "Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!"

Cruz on Wednesday said he considered Trump's words a threat and said Trump was "a bully."

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Susan Heavey, Susan Cornwell, Jim Oliphant and David Morgan in Washington, Luciana Lopez, Michelle Conlin, Grant Smith and Emily Flitter in New York; Editing by Alistair Bell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
GENEVA The EU sent its foreign policy chief to Geneva on Wednesday to breathe new life into Syrian peace talks, as the two sides remained at odds over the country's political future.

Federica Mogherini spoke to negotiators on both sides, and the head of the government delegation, Bashar Ja'afari, said after his meeting that he believed an impasse in the talks had been broken.

But he was told by the EU and U.N. that accelerating a political transition in Syria -- a major sticking point given fundamental disagreements between the warring parties over the fate of President Bashar al-Assad -- was the only way to defeat groups like Islamic State.

Mogherini arrived unexpectedly on what was the penultimate day of the round of negotiations, possibly highlighting EU concerns that the talks risk getting deadlocked.

"She came to support us to engage positively in the talks that would lead to an end to the Syrian crisis," Ja'afari said after the rare meeting with a senior Western official.

"For the first time, I can tell you that we were able to break the impasse, maybe in the form and a little bit in substance."

The five-year-old conflict between the government and insurgents has killed more than 250,000 people, allowed Islamic State to take control of some eastern areas and caused the world's worst refugee crisis.

With a fragile truce in place in Syria, warring sides are more than a week into talks on ending the conflict, but government officials have rejected any discussion on a political transition or the fate of Assad, who opposition leaders say must go as part of any such plan.

After the attacks in Brussels claimed by Islamic State, Ja'afari again insisted on Wednesday that fighting terrorism had to come before any discussion of political transition.

"My main message especially in meeting with that (Syrian government) delegation is the need to start a political transition in Damascus," Mogherini told reporters, stressing that there had been no change in the EU's position on the "Syrian regime".

"This in our opinion is the only way create conditions in the country to first find peace and security and secondly defeat Daesh (Islamic State)."

U.N. special envoy Staffan De Mistura echoed her comments.

"So the ball goes back to those who have been complaining about terrorism and (we're) saying what about all of you helping us to solve politically the crisis in Syria," he said.

Mogherini's visit coincided with high-level meetings in Moscow between Russian and U.S. officials, which de Mistura has said he hopes will give an impetus to the talks, just as they did by engineering a cessation of hostilities that came into effect almost three weeks ago. [ID:nL2N16V0LH]

COMMON GROUND DOCUMENT

Activists and diplomats said de Mistura was finalising a document to present to delegates on Thursday that will synthesise common points of convergence, but is likely to stay clear of the divisive political transition issue.

Ja'afari said he had received a document from de Mistura that his delegation would respond to at the beginning of the next round, though the government could not return before Syrian parliamentary elections on April 13.

De Mistura said on Tuesday that he aimed to establish if there were any points held in common by the different parties. If successful, he would announce these on Thursday.

Randa Kassis, representing a Moscow-backed opposition group, said de Mistura would distribute a document of common points gathered from the various delegates.

Points included creating a future unified Syrian army to fight terrorism or ensuring a democratic and non-sectarian based Syria.

"We're waiting for a U.S.-Russian accord to solve the (key) issue once and for all. Until they resolve it this process will drag on," Kassis told Reuters.

Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the HNC's delegation, whose chief coordinator Riad Hijab met de Mistura and Mogherini on Wednesday, said on Tuesday it was "obvious" there were no points of convergence with the Syrian government and accused it of renewing sieges and barrel bombing campaigns against civilians.

(Additional reporting By Stephanie Nebehay and Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Ruth Pitchford and John Stonestreet)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: Former Florida governor Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz on Wednesday for the Republican presidential nomination.

"Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, including yesterday's Utah caucus," Bush said, referring to one of three votes held on Tuesday.

"Republicans can win back the White House and put our nation on a path to security and prosperity if we support a nominee who can unite our party and articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential."

Bush said the Republican Party has to unite or face certain defeat in the election, probably to Hillary Clinton.

In doing so he took a pot shot at front runner Donald Trump, who leads Cruz comfortably in the polls.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee, most likely Hillary Clinton, this fall," the statement said.

"That is the only way we can reverse President Obama's failed domestic and foreign policy agenda and turn our country around."

After dropping out of the presidential race last month following a disappointing campaign, Bush, whose brother and father are both former presidents, urged voters to contribute and volunteer for Cruz's campaign.

"As I said from the moment I launched my presidential campaign, the stakes in 2016 couldn't be higher," Bush added.

"Washington is broken, too many families are stuck in poverty and Western civilization is under attack from radical Islamic terrorists, as evidenced by the horrific attack in Brussels, which was preceded by attacks in Paris and California."

AFP
Washington: India would be "very, very worried" if Donald Trump were to be elected as the next US President, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has said, joining the growing global anxiety on the prospect of the controversial real estate tycoon winning the 8 November polls.

"I would think, India would be very, very worried if Mr Donald Trump is to be your president," Khurshid, former external affairs minister, told students of the prestigious Georgetown University during an interaction in Washington on Tuesday.

Khurshid's response to a question from a student on his take on US President Barack Obama and the current presidential election was preceded by a disclaimer.

"Well, I should not interfere in the future choice of American democrats. By democrats, I mean those who are involved in democracy rather than the political party. I should not influence our choice or push you to any particular corner," he said.

Leaders around the world have condemned Trump, the 69-year-old reality TV star, for his anti-Muslims and anti-immigrants rhetoric. He has also came under attack from his Republican and Democratic rivals for his controversial remarks.

Obama, he said, would go down in history as a "good friend" of India.

"...as someone with whom India was comfortable about. India trusted Obama and his words meant a lot over the years. So I hope whoever comes to White House follows his path closely," he said.

Former US president John F Kennedy continues to be the most popular American president in India, Khurshid noted.

Obama comes a close second to Kennedy, said the 63-year-old leader.

"Let me tell you honestly, when Mr Obama won the election for the very first time, some in India felt that, although they have not voted for him, the person they were looking for has won the election," Khurshid said, adding that Obama's election was widely celebrated in India.

PTI
New York: The severed head of cow has been placed at a Hindu cow sanctuary in Pennsylvania and the state police are investigating the crime as a case of "ethnic intimidation."

The cow's head was dumped at over the weekend at the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary in Monroe County, according to media reports.

The Express Times newspaper reported Tuesday that Pennsylvania State Police are calling the incident which happened between Saturday night and Sunday morning "ethnic intimidation, criminal trespass and harassment."

State Trooper Carrie A Gula, who was quoted by the newspaper, said explaining the intimidation description, "The victim's religion is Hinduism. In this religion, the cow is (a) symbol of life and may never be killed."

None of the 20 cows at the sanctuary were hurt, local TV station WNEP reported on its web site. The severed head was left where Sankar Sastri, who runs the sanctuary could find it, "but he's not letting this taint what the sanctuary is all about," reporter Jim Hamill said. "Now the sanctuary has a chance to educate folks about Hindu beliefs in spite of a disturbing deed."

Sastri told the station, "I hope this doesn't magnify anymore. I don't want to take it to the next side. I hope just a prank. They probably didn't realise. People are unaware of what we're about." Sastri would use the incident to inform the local people about Hinduism, Hamill said.

The Express Times reported that the cow sanctuary was founded about 20 years ago by Sastri, a retired professor and dean at the New York City College of Technology, and relocated to the area around Jackson Township from another location in the state only about about a month ago.

He told the newspaper's web site, lehighvalleylive.com, that finding the cow's head was like the scene from The Godfather movie where a severed horse head is left on a man's bed as a warning from the mob boss. But "they didn't leave it in my bed." Sastri said.

Rajan Zed, the president of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism, said that "Hindus are highly concerned" over the incident and asked Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Monroe County Chairperson John R Moyer to reassure the community.

"It was shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful US Hindu community numbering about three million, who had made lot of contributions to the nation and society, to receive such signals of hatred and intimidation," he said in a statement.

IANS
Washington: Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Moscow for talks on Ukraine and Syria as the terrorist attacks in Brussels underscored the urgency of fighting the Islamic State group.

Kerry was to depart Washington late Tuesday after accompanying President Barack Obama to Cuba and speaking by phone from Havana with the Belgian foreign minister to offer condolences for the victims of the attacks and any assistance Brussels might need. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group and have highlighted the threat the group poses outside of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, Kerry is to discuss the fragile truce in Syria that is hoped will spark UN-brokered peace talks amid disagreements over how to verify and respond to alleged violations, the State Department said. His visit was arranged following Putin's surprise announcement last week of Russia's partial military withdrawal from Syria.

Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the US refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The State Department, however, insisted that Moscow and Washington are working constructively to monitor the truce. The department also warned Russia against taking unilateral action in response to alleged violations.

The Russian military has accused the US of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow's proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria cease-fire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.

Kerry also will call on Russia to do more to press pro-Russian separatists to comply with a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He is expected to raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia on Tuesday on charges the US says are false. Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The US has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again on Tuesday.

"For nearly two years, Russia has unjustly detained Savchenko on charges that have no basis in fact and has denied her the basic protections of the rule of law," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "She has reportedly endured interrogation, solitary confinement, and forced 'psychiatric evaluation'. (She) deserves to go home to her family and friends and to join her colleagues in the Rada in building a better future for their country. We reiterate our call on Russia to immediately release Savchenko and other unlawfully detained persons."

AP
Buenos Aires: After years of anti-American posturing by its leader, Argentina has a new president whose outstretched hand has been eagerly accepted by the United States. President Barack Obama on Wednesday rewarded the South American nation with a state visit aimed at keeping that promising trajectory on track.

Obama has made no secret of his preference for Argentine President Mauricio Macri over his left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez, whose meandering missives were a source of frequent frustration and eye-rolling in the White House. So Obama was all too glad to see her replaced in December by Macri, who has affably accepted US help with his mission to modernise Argentina's struggling economy.

"President Macri recognises that we're in a new era, and we have to look forward," Obama said before the visit.

After arriving in Buenos Aires in the wee hours Wednesday, Obama opened his two-day visit at Casa Rosada, the Argentine president's pink-hued offices, where an honour guard donned white gloves and swords to welcome him. Seated side by side in front of US and Argentine flags, Obama and Macri made no comments to reporters at the start of their meeting.

The two planned to hold a joint news conference later Wednesday before Obama lays a wreath at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral.

Obama planned to hear from young Argentinians at a town hall meeting, in what's become a hallmark of his trips abroad. Joined by first lady Michelle Obama, the president was to be feted by Macri at a state dinner in the evening, marking the first such visit by a US president in nearly two decades.

Despite best efforts to keep the focus on the future, Obama's visit has been clouded by a renewed look at painful chapters in Argentina's past, returned to the forefront by the 40th anniversary this week of Argentina's 1976 coup. Questions about America's role in the military dictatorship that followed are a reminder of what many see as a shameful US history of backing repressive Latin American regimes.

It was unclear whether Obama would use his visit to apologise or acknowledge decades-old US mistakes. But as controversy about the timing of his visit grew last week, Obama's administration announced plans to declassify secret intelligence and military documents from the period, potentially shedding more light on a story left partially untold until now.

"He will be more than willing to speak to what took place 40 years ago, to the suffering that took place after the coup," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser.

In another gesture directed toward the victims of Argentina's "Dirty War," Obama planned to visit Remembrance Park in Buenos Aires on Thursday. Argentina's government estimates some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared under force during the crackdown on leftist dissidents, though activists say the number is as high as 30,000.

Obama's visit to Argentina, like his visit this week to Cuba, aims to bolster his efforts to keep the US focused on economically important regions like Latin America and Asia, even while dealing with pressing security concerns in the Middle East and elsewhere. Overshadowing his trip were terror attacks Tuesday in Brussels that killed more than 30 people and triggered fresh panic in Europe about the spread of violent extremism.

Those distractions notwithstanding, Obama is hoping his final year as president will be one of critical progress for the US and Latin America.

Even as Obama continues to struggle with refugees fleeing insecurity and instability in Central America, his administration is working toward a historic truce between Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The US was heartened by the opposition's success in Venezuela's recent legislative elections.

No nation has become a more potent symbol of Obama's efforts to turn a page in Latin American than Cuba. The president flew to Argentina from Havana, where he made history as the first US chief executive to visit in nearly 90 years, a significant boost for his efforts to normalise ties with the longtime US foe.

To show that the US and Argentina are on a better path, Obama and Macri planned to announce new joint efforts on climate change, energy, and fighting drugs and crime, the White House said.

The last US president to set foot in Argentina was George W. Bush, who attended a regional summit here in 2005 but didn't conduct a formal state visit. Bill Clinton came to meet with his Argentinian counterpart in 1997.

Before returning to Washington, Obama, his wife and daughters planned a leisurely daytrip to Bariloche, a picturesque city in southern Argentina.

AP
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted the people of Pakistan on their national day, close on the heels of President Pranab Mukherjee stating that India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with the neighbouring country.

"Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their national day," Modi said on Twitter.

Greetings to the people of Pakistan on their National Day.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2016

Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has organised a series of events to mark the day, including a reception which is expected to be attended among others by Kashmiri separatist leaders.

On who will represent the government at the Pakistan national day celebrations at their High Commission, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said a senior Minister will attend.

Mukherjee had on Tuesday said, "India remains committed to peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan. I am of the firm conviction that our cooperation will lead to progress and prosperity in our region. I take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for your good health and well-being."

PTI
JOHANNESBURG South Africa has launched a corruption probe into President Jacob Zuma's son Duduzane and the Guptas, a family of businessmen accused of wielding improper political influence, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the elite 'Hawks' police unit said it would investigate the graft allegations after a complaint was made by the Democratic Alliance, South Africa's main opposition party.

"We have received the docket in the matter between the DA and the Guptas and we are to investigate it," the spokesman told Talk Radio 702.

Although the Gupta's relationship with Zuma has been a source of controversy for years, it burst into the open last week when senior figures went public to say the family had exerted undue sway, including offering cabinet positions.

The Guptas, whose businesses stretch from media to mining, have denied the allegations and say they are pawns in a plot to oust Zuma.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Sunday it had full confidence in Zuma but would investigate the allegations by senior politicians - including Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas - that they were offered positions by the Guptas.

Zuma has acknowledged the Guptas are his friends but denies anything improper. Zuma's son, Duduzane, is a director - along with Gupta family members - of at least six companies, documents show.

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a powerful figure in the ruling party, was reported on Wednesday as saying that the "ANC is not for sale."

"The ANC refuses to be captured. Those who might want to capture the ANC and make it their own and influence it to advance personal or corporate interests, you have come to the wrong address," he was quoted by the Rand Daily Mail website as saying at an academic summit in Johannesburg.

This is going to be a defining moment," he said. "What is good is that the Gupta family has said that they are willing to cooperate."

"It is not only the Gupta family. There are a number of others as well who have tried to capture the state, he said.

(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Ed Cropley and Tom Heneghan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
GENEVA EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini arrived unexpectedly in Geneva on Wednesday, possibly highlighting concerns that talks on Syria risk getting deadlocked unless headway on the matter of political transition is made soon.

The U.N. Syria special envoy is finalising a document for delegates at peace talks that will synthesise common points of convergence, but is likely to stay clear of the divisive issue of political transition, activists and diplomats said.

With a fragile truce in place in Syria, warring sides are more than a week into talks on ending the conflict, but government officials have rejected any discussion on a political transition or the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, who opposition leaders say must go as part of any such plan.

Mogherini met the head of the Syrian government delegation Bashar Ja'afari, a rare meeting with a senior Western official. She also held talks with chief coordinator for the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) Riad Hijab.

Speaking before the negotiations adjourn on Thursday, Ja'afari said he had received a document from envoy Staffan de Mistura.

"We will respond to it at the beginning of the next round," he said, declining to take any questions.

The five-year-old conflict between the government and insurgents has killed more than 250,000 people, allowed Islamic State to take control of some eastern areas and caused the world's worst refugee crisis.

The U.N. envoy said on Tuesday that he aimed to establish if there were any points held in common by the different parties. If successful, he would announce these on Thursday.

Randa Kassis, who heads up a Moscow-backed opposition group, said de Mistura would distribute a document of common points gathered from the various delegates.

Points included creating a future unified Syrian army to fight terrorism or ensuring a democratic and non-sectarian based Syria.

"I don't think much has happened in this round," Kassis told Reuters. "We're waiting for a U.S.-Russian accord to solve the (key) issue once and for all. Until they resolve it this process will drag on."

Jihad Makdissi, head of the Cairo opposition group, confirmed he was also expecting de Mistura to issue a paper on a potential "common vision" for Syria that he believed was on the right path.

"It covers many points important to the Riyadh platform, the Cairo platform, and the Moscow platforms," he said, referring to the different opposition groups.

A Western diplomat said he believed de Mistura's new document was an attempt to synthesise views he had heard from his various interlocutors during the round of talks.

The cessation of hostilities deal, engineered by Washington and Moscow three weeks ago, but not signed by any of the warring parties, remains fragile.

Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the HNC's delegation, said on Tuesday it was "obvious" there were no points of convergence with the Syrian government and accused it of renewing sieges and barrel bombing campaigns against civilians.

Mogherini, who has never previously visibly been involved in the talks, was also set to meet U.N. envoy de Mistura, but her visit coincides with high-level meetings in Moscow between Russian and U.S. officials.

They aim to give fresh impetus to the talks and assess how Russia envisages a political transition in Syria, in particular the fate of Assad.

(Additional reporting By John Irish and Stephanie Nebehay; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky/Ruth Pitchford)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's Prince Harry, on a four-day tour of Nepal, told a national summit that education and changing people's way of thinking are crucial to ending child marriage and empowering girls.

The 31-year-old prince, fifth in line to the British throne, spoke on Wednesday at the Nepal Girl Summit in the capital Kathmandu, a gathering focusing on the Himalayan country's commitment to ending child marriage by 2030.

Child marriage deprives girls of education and opportunities and puts them at risk of injury or death if they have children before their bodies are ready. It also makes them more vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence.

"How can this cycle be broken? We all know what the answer is - education," Harry said.

"Improved access to education can transform lives, families, communities and ultimately entire countries. When girls finish their schooling, they gain skills, knowledge and confidence - in short, they are empowered to improve their lives and the lives of everyone around them."

Worldwide, 720 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday. One-third of all girls in the developing world are married before they turn 18, one-ninth by the age of 15. [nL5N0YA4BB]

In Nepal, 41 percent of girls are married before the age of 18, one of the highest rates in the world, according to campaign group Girls Not Brides.

Harry said there were too many obstacles between girls and opportunities that they deserve, and in many countries girls were denied opportunities available to boys.

"We won't unlock these opportunities for young women and girls unless we can change the mind-set of every family and community. To achieve this, it cannot just be women who speak up for girls."

Since arriving on Saturday, Harry has met Nepal's first woman president, Vidhya Devi Bhandari, and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. He also visited centuries-old heritage sites devastated by earthquakes last year and met some survivors, many of whom are still living in makeshift shelters. [nL3N16S08W]

(Reporting by Magdalena Mis, editing by Tim Pearce. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: An Indian woman who was pictured covered in dust and blood after the Brussels attacks and made newspaper front pages around the world has been identified as an Indian Jet Airways employee.

The brother-in-law of the woman, Nidhi Chaphekar, told AFP Wednesday that he and his brother were set to fly out from Mumbai to join her in Brussels where she was hospitalised

A haunting photograph of a dazed Chaphekar covered in debris, that surfaced soon after two massive suicide blasts hit Zaventem Airport, became one of the most widely published images of the bombings.

The attacks, which also targeted a metro train in the city, left 31 people dead and 270 wounded.

In the photo, shared by millions on social media, the mother of two is seen in the tattered remains of her yellow Jet Airways jacket, missing a shoe and with blood running down her face.

"Depending on when the next earliest flight out of the country is, my brother and I will be leaving by tonight or tomorrow morning," the 40-year-old flight attendant's brother-in-law, Nilesh Chaphekar, told AFP by telephone.

"We haven't been able to speak to her directly yet. All we know is that she is in stable condition now. We have been kept informed by Jet (Airways)," he said, adding that "it has been a very traumatic experience".

Local media citing unnamed Jet Airways sources on Tuesday identified Chaphekar and another employee who was also hurt in the blasts as Amit Motwani.

The airlines in an official statement confirmed Tuesday that "two Jet Airways staff have sustained injuries in the explosion at Brussels airport", refraining to identify them with their full names.

"Based on latest updates from #Brussels, our colleagues Nidhi and Amit are recovering well. We look forward to welcome them home soon," the airline posted on Twitter Wednesday.

Many online have criticised the publishing and sharing of Chaphekar's photo, saying that her privacy should be respected.

"It's sad how insensitive media & SM (social media) is being, in broadcasting @jetairways's injured crew member's photo. Respect her privacy please!!!," tweeted Indian actress Gul Panag.

Separately, an Indian employee of Infosys is said to be missing in the aftermath of the attacks, the Bangalore-based software firm said Wednesday.

"We are trying to reach one employee with whom we have not been able to connect," the IT outsourcing firm said in a statement.

Infosys said it was in touch with the missing worker's family and authorities in the Belgian capital in an attempt to locate the employee.

AFP
Google is developing a third party keyboard for the iPhone, according to a latest report from The Verge. As per the report, the keyboard uses the same gesture-based typing as the stock keyboard app on Android.

Google has been reportedly testing an iOS keyboard app for months in a bid to help increase search traffic on iOS devices. The keyboard is said to be visually distinct from the standard keyboard available on Android devices. It is expected to feature gesture-based typing like Swype, allowing users to slide their fingers across the keyboard to enter letters. Tapping on a built-in Google logo will bring up a web search bar. There are also options for searching for pictures and GIFs on the keyboard.

Apple introduced support for third-party keyboards in iOS 8, which resulted in several offerings from Android developers such as Swype, Flesky and Swiftkey. Currently, the iOS keyboard is being tested internally by Google and it is not clear when it will be made available for all users.
Spotify, the popular US based music streaming service is exploring entry in Indian markets, as per a latest report from TechCrunch. The move comes from the service as part of its expansion plans for Asia.

Spotify is all set to launch in Indonesia by the end of this month while it is already present in other Asian markets like Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. India currently has international services like Australian based Guvera and Apple Music. Mix Radio was also present in India but it was shut down on March 21. In addition, Rdio had launched in India last year but was shut down in December.

Meanwhile, big players like Saavn and Gaana are already leading the music streaming space in the country. Hungama also has a good position in this market. Spotify will face a touch competition from these services if it enters India. The service has 30 million paid users and more than 75 million users from around 58 countries. Earlier in January this year, the company rolled out Spotify Video service on Android and iOS.

India is seeing a surge in availability of affordable smartphones and expanding 4G service. This is one of the reasons music and video streaming services are targeting the country. US based streaming service Netflix has already entered India this year.
Twitter India has created a dashboard for Bengaluru Police to monitor complaints in real time. The specially designed dashboard will help Bengaluru City Police to effectively manage complaints and optimize operations.

Bengaluru Police was welcomed with open arms on Twitter about a year ago with two accounts. The new dashboard will serve as an important platform for all 146 police stations in the city that comprises of 104 law-and-order and 42 traffic police stations. All these stations now have their own twitter handles. Twitter India has provided a three day training to the officers and personnel from these police stations last week.

The Twitter dashboard allows real-time monitoring by giving details of number of tweet petitions registered in a day, closed and the outcome. Raheel Kursheed, head of News, Politics and Governance, Twitter India, said the project, running on a pilot basis, will be operational in a few days.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Command Control) MG Nagendra Kumar told Economic Times,

So far, complaints came to us like any other post on Twitter. Now that we have our own dashboard, we no longer have to manually forward complaints to the jurisdictional police stations. Everything is automated now . When a person files a complaint, it directly goes to the concerned police station. We monitor each complaint at the command centre, including the time of complaint and time taken to respond and act upon it.

Twitter which recently celebrated its 10th birthday has become an important tool that has changed the way people communicate online. This is definitely a welcome move from the micro blogging site and let us expect such initiatives from other metro cities as well.

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Huawei is all set to announce the P9 flagship on April 6. We have already seen a number of press images of the phone and now the company is teasing few more shots on its official website.

One of the official images offer a glimpse of the much expected dual rear camera set up on the phone. Live images that were leaked earlier this month had also shown the camera set up along with a slim metal body. Other images show a square fingerprint sensor at the back and it has rounded edges. Also seen are the chamfered edges on the phone

Huawei P9 specifications

5.2-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS display

Octa-Core Kirin 950 / 955 processor with Mali T880MP4 GPU

3GB / 4GB RAM, 32GB/ 64GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD

Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Huawei Emotion UI

12MP dual rear camera with Leica lenses, dual-tone LED flash

8MP front-facing camera

Dual SIM

Fingeprint sensor

4G LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1, GPS and NFC, USB Type-C

3900mAh battery

The Huawei P9 is rumored to come in gold, white, pink and grey colors and as per reports the base version will cost 1888 yuan (US$ 289 / Rs. 19,450 approx.).
Finally, booze made it on Burger King's menu in selected locations in UK. In the last quarter of 2015, Burger King launched a bid to become the first fast food chain to sell alcohol in its UK restaurants.

Burger King, an American global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States was successful on its bid because booze is now very much available in Waterloo East Station in UK.

Originally, Burger King has applied for drinks licenses at four UK branches - Newcastle-under-Lyme, Blackpool, Hull and Bury St Edmunds - from 10 am to 11 pm seven days a week as reported by Daily Mail.

With the approval of the UK local council, the Lambeth Council, beer will be the only alcoholic beverage allowed at Burger King, and it will be served between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m according to Metro UK.

This is not something that loyal booze drinkers will be happy about especially since the approval seemed to be just for "Happy Hour," meaning no late drinking allowed in Burger King premises!

The other rules that Burger King must abide is that the draft beer served at the fast food chain must only have a five percent alcohol content or lower. Furthermore, the restaurant chain wants to sell plastic bottles of American beer to be drunk on the premises only.

Just last month, Burger King lost its bid to sell beer at two of London's busiest stations, the Victoria and Paddington train stations. The reason why it was disallowed to sell booze is obvious.

The Drink Business quoted PC Bryan Lewis telling the Westminster council's licensing sub-committee, "It's fast food, fast service, fast alcohol and fast drunkenness, as a result of that. People consume alcohol and have a desire to eat fast food on the way home. At this point, they have had enough to drink but then they will be offered more alcohol at the station."

This explains why the serving of beer in Burger King in UK ends at 8 PM, only for happy hour.
Do you swear by your favorite Fitness tracker gadgets? Sorry to burst your bubble, but a study recently found out that these modern weight loss aid is not doing its job well. A new study suggests that the results recorded and displayed by these fitness devices may not be as truthful, compared to manual calorie counting, etc.

As reported by Reuters, though these devices greatly innovated exercise and working out, a study suggests that these modern tool are actually "pretty bad at keeping tabs on how much energy we burn".

A total of 19 healthy participants were made to wear various fitness trackers all at the same time on different areas on their bodies-waist, arms, chest and wrists.

Testing 12 fitness tracker devices, the study measured the reliability and truthfulness of the results displayed through two sets of experiments and then comparing data measured and recorded by the device with actual and manual monitoring though two proven ways of monitoring exercise expenditure, "locking people in a room to assess every calorie consumed and burned, or asking people at home to drink specially treated water that makes it possible to detect energy output with a urine test".

"These studies demonstrate that even the most popular applications and devices may be inaccurate or highly variable," Motohiko Miyachi said, senior author of the study from of the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Tokyo.

The study claimed that results are alarming, illustrating a notable discrepancy with the results of manual health evaluation and the results shown by the said devices.

A noteworthy amount of discrepancy was illustrated by the results of the experiments. Measurements recorded by the devices showed notable differences with the actual lab results.

Findings of the study discussed that the fitness gadgets underestimate energy expenditure by as much as 278 calories, and tends to overestimate it by up to 204 calories. Through the second method, the devices recorded results 69-590 calories lower than actual lab tests.

"The results are troubling because when fitness trackers overestimate exercise, people who need more exercise to maintain or lose weight might get too little activity, increasing their risk for obesity and other chronic health problems," Miyachi said.

Although, the researchers still consider some extraneous factors that might have affected the results of their study. Factors such as differences in how often the devices record data, and how well they detect postures like sitting and standing, Live Science reports.

According to The Guardian, 25 million pieces of fitness trackers from different brands such as Jawbone, Fitbit or Nike+ FuelBand are expected to be sold this year. Would the results of the recent study affect the advanced fitness gear industry?
Darwin Aerospace was the first company to successfully create a one-of-a-kind drone which sole purpose is to deliver burritos, they call it the Burrito Bomber. They paved the way for more drone delivery services to be developed. Food delivery giant, Foodpanda, just announced that they will be delivering food via drones in the next few months.

Burrito Bomber's drone delivery system is very simple, people can order through the app and the drone will drop their burrito in the exact coordinates of their location. Darwin Aerospace shared the science of how this drone delivery service works:

1. You connect to the Burrito Bomber web-app and order a burrito. Your smartphone sends your current location to our server, which generates a waypoint file compatible with the drone's autopilot.

2. We upload the waypoint file to the drone and load your burrito into our custom made Burrito Delivery Tube.

3. The drone flies to your location and releases the Burrito Delivery Tube. The burrito parachutes down to you, the drone flies itself home, and you enjoy your carne asada.

Due to aerospace regulations, the Burrito Bomber aka unmanned aircraft not was not allowed to do its job when it was first launched. Not until regulations have been set. It is supposed to fly by the end of 2015 or early 2016. The birth of the Burrito Bomber paved the way for more drone delivery services.

It looks like food delivery giant, FoodPanda will be the first company to successfully use drones to deliver food. According to Forbes, Ralf Wenzel, CEO of Foodpanda announced that they are almost ready to deliver food using a drone, "The technical solutions [of drone delivery] will be available over the next months,". The report also said that Foodpanda plans to utilize drone delivery services throughout all 24 markets covered by Foodpanda, including Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

If Foodpanda will be able to launch this service in the next few months, as they have initially announced, they will hold the title for the first drone delivery service in the world.

This technology will soon take over more industries as it is also reported that other companies are building their own drone delivery systems like Amazon.
Easter is coming in a few days and if you have no idea what to cook, you've come to the right place.

Like most holidays, Easter has its own set of traditional food. For those observing their respective religions, they may not be allowed to eat meat, while those who aren't may enjoy it. Regardless, there is definitely something for everyone. As the designated cook (or chef, depending on what you want to be called) here are some must-try recipes taken from various food blogs you would want to try out:

One Pan Lemon Roasted Salmon, Potatoes, and Asparagus

Presented by Half Baked Harvest, this recipe is tailor-made for salmon fans or those craving for seafood this Easter. Though the whole recipe may appear rather complicated at first, it is actually simple to make.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Smores

Do you want to sate your sweet tooth this Easter? If yes, then the How Sweet It Is blog has something for you. All you have to do is gather a bunch of marshmallows, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and several packs of graham crackers. This is a perfect dessert to top off Easter!

Raspberry Buttermilk Pie

The best thing about desserts is that even if you can't or don't eat meat, you can still enjoy them. One of which is the Raspberry Buttermilk Pie, a colorful and tasty dessert both kids and adults would love.

Shrimp Carbonara

Woe to the people suffering shrimp allergies, for they do not know what they are missing. There are many ways to cook carbonara - you can use beef, tuna, or even chicken to do it. Shrimp may not be a mainstream choice, but it's surely a delicious one.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Skillet

In terms of bringing comfort and mild-flavored goodness, nothing beats cream and mushroom - pair it up with chicken and you have a tantalizing trio of flavors. This The Comfort of Cooking recipe is definitely a must-cook for the main course.

Do you have your own recipe recommendations for Easter? If yes, please tell us in the comments!
During weekends in Indiana, backpacks are being filled food not books to provide for children whose families don't have the means to buy meals for the weekend.

The weekend backpack project is initiated by fifth graders at Franklin Elementary School. Their task is to prepare bags of food every Friday so that the needy and less fortunate will have food to eat during the weekend, they call themselves the "Backpack Council".

The council is made of up about 300 students who aims to provide 190 food bags each week. Daily Herald said, teacher Susan Mills and her students were able to assemble 120 packs this week already and are needing more. "We need about 70 bags today," Mills stated. Not only did they prepare and provide the food, the kids are also learning to be responsible citizens. Different departments in their food drive are handled by the students as well, like the assembly, food packing even the delivery department. Mills also make sure they only pack healthy food "Each bag was filled with two servings of macaroni and cheese; one applesauce; three small packages each of jelly, peanut butter, and crackers; and bread or boxes of crackers."

The Weekend Backpack Program is not limited to Franklin Elementary School. FeedMore organization also supports this project which aims to collect more food backpacks every week. According to FeedMore organization, they initiated the Weekend Backpack Program because they have seen children who go to school on Mondays lacking a complete meal from the weekend. This has been the driving force behind their project which is now receiving support from everywhere.

The group shared, "The BackPack Program is one of FeedMore's major initiatives to ensure that children in need have balanced, nutritious food they need to learn and grow. The concept is simple: children at risk of weekend hunger receive a bag of food that is child-friendly, nutritious, nonpreshable, and easy to prepare/eat. Each BackPack offers enough food that children can easily assemble into six healthy meals over the weekend when schools are unable to provide breakfasts of lunches".

FoodMore food bank are still accepting groups who would want to donate and join the weekend backpack project. Interested to be a partner? Find the details here.
The Mexican-themed restaurant has been hugging the press limelight lately with series of E.Coli and Norovirus scares as well it's highly popular promotional campaigns like the Guac Hunter Game and Free burritos promo. This time, Chipotle is back at the headlines with yet another scandal but this time, it has nothing to do with its food.

NBC San Diego reports that a former female employee is suing Chipotle alleging that she, along with other female co-employees were sexually harassed by four managers.

Ariana Castaneda who worked at Chipotle's Woodland Hills outlet from December 2013 until her termination last February 10, is seeking unspecified damages for alleged wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

According to NBC, the lawsuit alleges that "All four managers created a sexually charged atmosphere directed at female employees and customers."

Apparently, Castaneda's company uniform size is too small for her. Asking for a larger shirt, a manager allegedly made this inappropriate reply, "Is it because your tits are too big?" according to an Elite Daily article.

Castaneda also claimed that a manager would hug her without her consent and even reached under her shirt after putting his hands on the ice. Managers would allegedly make unsolicited comments if she coughed at work saying that she was "giving [her] husband too much head."

According to Castaneda, other females were likewise targeted by these managers' inappropriate attitude. Castaneda claims that the managers openly discussed a former female employee's breast size referring to her as "big boob Sabrina." The lawsuit further claims that the managers even made sexual comments about female customers and had allegedly used the security cameras to look at female customers' cleavages.

A Chipotle spokesman declined to make a comment on the allegations, saying that the company has a policy of not commenting on pending legal cases according to a Delish article.
Cuba has seen some bad times in the past but no one should be denied of developments and admittedly they need modernization to keep up with the changing world. They are way behind other areas in terms of infrastructure, trading and the food industry. Due to economic sanctions, until today, Cuba doesn't have a single McDonalds branch.

The famous food chain and home to the well-known burgers, nuggets and fries, is one of the largest food chains whose presence is undeniably huge around the world. According to McDonald's website they are "the world's leading foodservice retailers with more than 36,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries".

But due to economic sanctions against Cuba, they still don't have a McDonald's branch and Cubans are still deprived of the tastes many nations have learned to love. According to CIA "The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4-6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source of its difficulties.". This sanction has reflected in many Cuban's ways of life today,

Cuba also doesn't have Starbucks and coke, another effect of the economic embargo given to them. However, Obama's recent visit to Havana might just change that. His historic tour of the island also opened the possibility of lifting the embargo for further economic reform in Cuba which could possibly allow business ventures to grown in Cuba, including the well-loved fast food chain.

But the number of McDonald's-deprived nations are surprisingly large. According to report, there're about 105 countries who also do not have a McDonalds. And it includes the Vatican. So tourists who wanted to visit the Vatican, prepare you because you won't be able to find a Big Mac in the course of your trip.

Other countries without McDonalds include North Korea, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan and Syria
Believe it or not, the world's most expensive coffee does not come from Brazil, but from south Asia. It is called kopi luwak, also referred to as the specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, and sells for about $3,000 per kg.

What is interesting is that people relish kopi luwak even after knowing that it is brewed from coffee beans that are swallowed and excreted by a cat-like creature called civets. Wild civets are small mammals whose appearance is similar to that a cross between cats and weasels, Grub Street reported.

While this may seem to be repelling to many and they would prefer to stay away from this boutique coffee, a cup of this special coffee sells for about $100 in New York and London! It is also marketed as weasel, fox or cat-poop coffee and has been labeled as the costliest coffee in the world.

Unfortunately for animal lovers and wildlife conservationists, as kopi luwak is gaining in popularity, it is calling for the capture of an increased number of civets from their natural habitats in Asia. This has led Wildlife Alliance, a conservation group working in alliance with Cambodian officials to reduce civet poaching, to launch a campaign to remind people of the moral reasons for avoiding this costly beverage.

According to reports, kopi luwak is prepared by a "natural fermentation" process that takes place when the coffee beans pass through the digestive tract of civets, supposedly improving their flavor. Suppliers of kopi luwak assert that the digestive enzymes of the animal possibly lend a "musky" flavor coupled with traces of chocolate and caramel to each brew. However, what the coffee actually offers is a feeling of enjoying a rare luxury, according to USA Today.

The bizarre coffee was trendy in the West for a while, but, according to the Wildlife Alliance, of late the beverage has started getting crazily popular in malls in various regions of Asia. Consumers are willing to pay exorbitant prices for a cup of kopi luwak because they believe that the drink offers special powers, something like the supposed benefits of ginseng, rhino horn, or shark fin.

Nevertheless, the kopi luwak beans are obtained in a very cruel manner. They are often foraged from civets in the wild, a process that seems to be extremely painstaking. However, most desperate producers simply capture the civets using metal traps. Subsequently, the captured civets are force-fed beans employing a technique akin to the one used for foie gras. Civets that receive an overdose of caffeine this way, tend to pace their cages and nibble at stuff, including their own limbs, resulting in their lifespan being very brief.

Watch the video "People trying the world's most expensive coffee" below:
Following several years of inspections, warnings as well as notices by the Food and Drug Administration Federal, federal attorneys led by the Consumer Protection Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil complaint on Monday seeking to immediately stop the Native American Enterprises LLC from distributing adulterated food.

The action comes in the wake of positive results on Listeria tests as well as continued warnings from the federal officials to the Wichita-based food manufacturing company producing refried beans and sauces and instant taco meat products, Food Safety News reported quoting the complaint lodged with the U.S. District Court in Kansas. Aside from the company, the complaint also names part-owner William N. McGreevy as well as production manager Robert C. Connor.

The Native American Enterprise supplies foods to public schools in Kansas, the U.S. military and several restaurants. The family-owned food company was established in 1930, and its present owners include brothers William and Scott McGreevy, who belong to the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

During an inspection by FDA inspectors in April 2015, it was found that unhygienic conditions prevailed in the company's facility. The inspectors also detected Listeria Monocytogenes, or L. mono, as well as unhealthy practices by employees. A few months later, in August 2015, the inspectors gathered 100 environmental samples at company premises and 39 of these tested positive for Listeria. Another 34 samples tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, five others were positive for various other Listeria species.

Since Listeria monocytogenes possess the aptitude to survive and thrive even in refrigerated and high-salt environments, it is considered to be a major public health hazard in ready-to-eat refined beans and sauces, the complaint stated.

Aside from the FDA, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is also regulating the Native American Enterprise facility since it produces a taco filling with meat products. Now, the federal food safety agencies are seeking that the district court in Wichita permanently restrain as well as instruct the company to issue an order ceasing the receipt, processing, manufacturing, preparing, packaging, holding or distributing any food till the facility complies with the law.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Constance Georgostathis, the daughter of an Ohio woman, who is currently recovering from a coma following consumption of listeria-tainted Dole salad in January, which claimed one life and made 18 others sick prompting the company to recall bagged greens in 23 states, has filed a federal lawsuit last week accusing the food manufacturer of neglect in failing to fulfill the federal as well as state food safety laws, Food World News reported.

Georgostathis has sought unspecified damages for her mother Angeliki "Kiki" Christofield. Christofield. "Testing by the Ohio Department of Health on the same bag of Dole prepackaged salad mix that Mrs. Christofield had consumed showed that it was positive for Listeria," her civil complaint states.
A six-year-old girl has been taken from her California foster home and placed with relatives in Utah for being 1.5% Choctaw Native American, and Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano says its unconstitutional for the government to make decisions based on race.

I have difficulty discussing percentage of racial stock. This is America in 2016, this is the worst part of our history and its being revived because of this statute and its enforcement by federal and state authorities in California, he told the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney.

The child was initially removed from her biological Native American family and placed in custody of the California foster family because her father had a criminal record of violence and her mother was a drug user. However, a law that went into effect in 1978 states that when a child is placed in foster care of a non-Native American, it is presumed that its in the best interest of the child to be back with the Native Americans.

The state has all the presumptions and all the benefits because of the way this horrific racially orientated agitated law has been written. Now theyve got to appeal this but youre telling me thats in the best interest of a child?

Judge Nap says the chance of the foster family winning the child back is very slim.

Youd have to have a judge with the courage to declare that statue unconstitutional, he said.
Lincoln pulled out all the stops at the New York International Auto Show to introduce its concept for the next Navigator. After a band played the Jazz standard All of Me, the Ford (F) luxury brand brought actor and spokesman Matthew McConaughey on stage with the Navigator, the large SUV that hasnt seen a major overhaul in a decade. The concept car featured head-turning features including gullwing doors, custom interior storage and three steps that automatically unfold on each side of the vehicle. The shifter is made to resemble piano keys.

Lincoln billed the Navigator as another example of quiet luxury, as the brand aims to attract buyers looking for a so-called couch on wheels. The interior is spacious, the seats are large, and the dashboard cuts down on clutter. Video screens are behind the headrests, and theyre not just for watching movies. Drivers can have their faces shown on the screens to communicate with passengers in the back. Under the hood is a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 that provides more than 400 horsepower. Lincoln says new technologies give the Navigator better handling in changing weather conditions.

The revamped Navigator is penciled in for 2017, the 20th anniversary of the SUVs debut. Even though some features like the gullwing doors wont make it to production, Lincolns vision for the three-row Navigator impressed the crowd in New York. Its a beautiful vehicle, Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said in an interview. The SUV market is growing fast and furiously, even in those larger vehicles. The Navigator is the latest revamped utility from Lincoln, which has made an aggressive push into the global luxury market with a focus on hot-selling crossovers. The MKC and MKX were Lincolns second- and third-best selling vehicles in the U.S. last year, respectively. The compact MKC posted sales of 24,590 units. But Lincoln sold just 12,000 Navigators, while General Motors (GM) sold triple the number of Cadillac Escalades. Lincoln expects a fresh Navigator to gain traction by attracting premium buyers both here and abroad, especially China and the Middle East. Lincoln announced on Wednesday it will launch a pickup and delivery service across the U.S. Ford CEO Mark Fields said Lincoln customers will be able to request the service at the time of purchase of when their vehicles are scheduled for service. One of the groups that I dont think gets enough attention is the domestically oriented luxury buyer, Lindland said. These are people that it doesnt matter if they win the lottery, they are never going to buy a Japanese or German luxury car. They want the most beautiful F-150, or the most beautiful Lincoln. Thats where I think Lincoln has a real opportunity.

In China, Lincoln continues to expand its footprint. The brand plans to have 60 dealers in 50 cities by the end of 2016. Despite sluggish economic growth in China, the luxury market is still seen as a big opportunity for high-end automakers like Lincoln and GMs Buick brand. Lindland noted the concerns over Chinas slow growth, but luxury buyers dont feel the effects as much as consumers looking at mainstream brands. She added that Ford and Lincoln are popular in Saudi Arabia and other areas in the Middle East.
When it comes to the impact of terrorism on the travel industry, Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) President Adam Goldstein doesnt seem too concerned. Although Royal Caribbean recently made the decision to cancel a port call in Bali, Goldstein says most places in the world are very safe.

We are calling on about 500 ports around the world annually and we make judgments about the information that we're receiving and occasionally we decide based on what we know that it would not be in the best interest of the line or the guests to go to a place, he said during an interview on Mornings with Maria.

Shares in airlines and other travel companies declined Tuesday after the Brussels attacks, but Goldstein said people still want to vacation.

We might see some impact from the people living in the environment of Northern Europe but I think we saw that briefly after the Paris attacks unfortunately, he said.

Goldstein said business continues to get better.
Tesla owns the sales and service experiences, building a relationship with the customer. Image source: Tesla.

When was the last time you called your car company?

It's a deceptively simple question, but it also underscores an important benefit of Tesla's direct sales and service model. Unlike most incumbent automakers, Tesla has a very direct relationship with its customers since the company has vertically integrated distribution and service, much to the dismay of car dealer associations around the country.

Stuck in the middle with youMost automakers are entrenched in the dealer model, and all sales are required by law in most states to go through franchised dealers. That also includes service, although dealers get reimbursements for warranty-related maintenance and repairs.

But since dealers act as an intermediary for both sales and service, which are the two primary contact points, it can lead to fragmented experiences. It goes without saying that poor experiences hurt the customer relationship, and I think most people will agree that today's car-buying experience probably ranks somewhere between getting a colonoscopy and sitting through your cousin's nephew's 4-hour toddler violin recital.

In the worst-case scenario, a company could lose a customer due to poor experiences, and automakers have very little direct influence on these experiences beyond guides and service manuals, due to the inherently indirect nature of the customer relationship. Since dealers generally operate on a very local level, there's not a whole lot of consistency that customers can expect across the board.

In other words, the customer feedback loop is very long and open under the dealer model.

Tweeting at the CEOOn the other hand, since Tesla handles sales and service directly, it's able to better control the customer experience while quickly factoring in customer feedback for future improvements to products and services. Tesla's adaptability and ability to move quickly is often touted as an advantage that the company has over its larger rivals.

However, agility and size are inherently a trade-off, and Tesla will need to work hard to maintain this adaptability as it grows as an organization. That's doubly true since it's extremely expensive to build and maintain a network of showrooms and service centers, in addition to ongoing Supercharger network expansion. As if making the cars themselves wasn't going to be capital intensive enough.

Tesla uses a custom enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that it built in-house years ago. In 2012, Elon Musk had CIO Jay Vijayan ditch ERP vendor SAP and build it from scratch, according to The Wall Street Journal. In a 2014 interview with CIO Insight, Vijayan added:

Last month, Electrek reported that Tesla was preparing to roll out a new "Tesla 3DX" workflow system in order to accommodate the higher volume expectations of Model 3 and the new Tesla Energy business.

Meanwhile, it's not unheard of for Musk to solicit feedback directly from customers.

Some of the feature requests that customers tweeted directly to Musk were actually implemented.

Who you gonna call?The closest approximation of a customer contacting an automaker directly and maintaining a relationship is General Motors' OnStar service. But OnStar is a subsidiary, and only available as a paid subscription service (over 7 million subscribers). This probably wouldn't be the most effective channel for product feedback related to the vehicle itself or vehicle service. Especially since OnStar briefly supported a wider range of vehicles beyond GM with its For My Vehicle kit a few years back (since discontinued).

To be clear, traditional automakers do have customer service phone numbers. I called a few out of curiosity and was placed in convoluted phone trees asking for specific extensions. I doubt many customers are calling the manufacturer directly. If you have an issue with your car, chances are that you're calling your local dealer for service -- not the manufacturer.

The point is that traditional automakers don't have a very strong or direct relationship with their customers, and that's a huge missed opportunity for a product that you likely interact with on a daily basis. Those are missed opportunities to reinforce the relationship, bolster engagement, and boost brand loyalty.

You can call Tesla 24/7.

The article Another Important Benefit of Tesla's Direct Sales Model originally appeared on Fool.com.

Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Tesla Motors. Evan Niu, CFA has the following options: long January 2018 $180 calls on Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Getty Images.

With the stock market in nearly nonstop rally mode over the past six years, investors haven't needed to look far to uncover an abundance of growth stocks. But not all growth stocks are created equal: While some could still deliver extraordinary gains, others appear considerably overvalued, and might instead burden investors with hefty losses.

What exactlyisa growth stock? Though it's arbitrary, I'll define a growth stock as any company forecast to grow profits by 10% or more annually during the next five years. To decide what's "cheap," I'll use the PEG ratio, which compares a company's price-to-earnings ratio to its future growth rate. Any figure around or below one could signal a cheap stock.

Here are three companies that fit the bill.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV

Generally, automakers aren't viewed as "growth stocks," but most investors probably haven't taken a good look at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU), which offers incredible growth potential in 2017 and beyond.

Like most automakers, Fiat Chrysler has been plagued by industry analyst predictions that U.S. auto sales are peaking. With China's recent slowdown in GDP growth and Europe's ongoing growth concerns, the U.S. has been propping up some of the world's largest automakers. If growth in the U.S. were to slow, Fiat Chrysler would certainly feel it. And, as the company's third-quarter earnings results showed, vehicle sales have been a bit light in Latin America, with revenue down $24 million on a year-over-year basis in Q3.

2017 Jeep Renegade. Image source: FCA Group.

Despite these concerns, it's mostly pedal to the metal for Fiat Chrysler. The company's Jeep brand is still leading the charge, with sales rising by 6% in fiscal 2016. Aside from redesigning some of the mainstays within the Jeep lineup, two aspects of the Jeep line have been hitting on all cylinders. First, Fiat Chrysler now has production facilities in China and Brazil that are helping reduce its production and transportation costs to the desired end market. Secondly, Fiat Chrysler's focus on smaller SUVs (e.g,, the Jeep Renegade) is hitting home with cost-conscious consumers around the globe.

Beyond Jeep, we're seeing a noticeable uptick in sales of SUVs, trucks, and yes, minivans. The Ram brand witnessed an 11% uptick in units sold in 2016, likely a reaction to an improving U.S. economy, as well as lower global crude prices, which lead to lower prices at the pump. Stable pump prices can entice consumers to buy trucks, SUVs, and minivans, which is great news for Fiat Chrysler since these vehicles have juicier margins.

Sporting a PEG ratio that's well below one and a forward P/E of just five, Fiat Chrysler looks to be a growth stock to consider buying.

Boyd Gaming Corporation

Another cheap growth stock that could be worth a proverbial roll of the dice is gaming entertainment property owner Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD).

As you might have rightly surmised, the biggest constraint to Boyd Gaming's growth in the U.S. is consumer spending. Gaming is a cyclical industry, and it relies on strong GDP growth to entice consumers to open their wallets and head to the casino. Weaker-than-expected GDP growth in 2015 and much of 2016, compounded with the uncertainties of the transition to the Trump presidency, are all reasons why consumers may be a bit shy about their discretional spending.

Image source: Getty Images.

While I wouldn't deny these challenges, there are reasons to believe that Boyd's fortunes are going to keep improving. One of the prime pathways to growth for Boyd Gaming involves acquisitions. An ongoing low-rate environment has been conducive to borrowing, which has allowed Boyd to be aggressive with M&A. In April, Boyd purchased Cannery Cassino Resorts' Las Vegas operations for $230 million, and also gobbled up the Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa for $380 million. All three properties are located in fast-growing North Las Vegas and position Boyd for superior growth in the years that lie ahead.

When applicable, Boyd has also been working to meld technology and innovation to drive customer experience and profitability higher. A 2014 deal with Bally Technologies allowed Boyd the opportunity to introduce new slot machine monitoring, marketing, player tracking, and accounting to a good number of its slot machines. Bally's technology also allows Boyd to offer players downloadable promotional slot machine credits, which could keep them engaged longer and boost brand loyalty. This isn't a technology that's implemented overnight, so it should generate continually improved returns throughout the remainder of the decade.

Looking ahead, Boyd Gaming's EPS is expected to grow from $0.79 in 2016 to an estimated $1.75 by 2019. With a PEG that's also below one, Boyd Gaming is certainly worth a look.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

A final cheap growth stock worthy of investors' attention is specialty biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS).

The biggest concern right now for specialty drugmakers is what might happen with pricing in the intermediate term. Donald Trump has, on multiple occasions, suggested that he would lower drug prices during his presidency, and even went so far as to suggest that drugmakers are "getting away with murder" in regard to their pricing power. More specifically, Emergent BioSolutions was recently hit after announcing its preliminary 2016 full-year sales, which assume a $20 million year-over-year decline at the midpoint as a result of lower BioThrax sales.

Image source: Getty Images.

But as with the other candidates above, Emergent BioSolutions remains intriguing despite its challenges. Whereas specialty drugmakers could find their pricing power handicapped given Trump's comments, Emergent is in a prime position as a biodefense company for the military. The aforementioned BioThrax vaccine is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine for pre-exposure protection against Anthrax. It currently makes up around half of the company's annual sales. Given its niche position, I would contend that pricing power won't be a concern for Emergent.

Even more so, Trump could wind up being an ally to Emergent. During his campaign, Trump suggested spending more on defense, which included boosting the manpower of all branches of the military. More military members probably means a higher number of vaccines needed.

There's also a really good chance that Emergent makes some serious administrative cost cuts in 2017. In its preliminary results press release, the company cautions that restructuring charges are likely. While that could provide a short-term drag on earnings, the result should be improved margins by as soon as 2018.

Emergent BioSolution's PEG of 1.3 isn't as low as Fiat Chrysler's or Boyd Gaming's, but the expected growth from $1.05 in full-year EPS in 2016 to an estimated $2.44 by 2019 can't be overlooked. Investors targeting cheap growth stocks should know the name Emergent BioSolutions.

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Sean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool recommends Emergent BioSolutions. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Photo: www.401kcalculator.org

If you're like most Americans, you'd love to lower your tax bill in 2016. Fortunately, there are several ways you could do just that, and many of these ways have other benefits as well. For example, if you save more money for retirement, not only do you get a nice tax break now, but you'll have a larger nest egg later on. With that in mind, here are five suggestions that could save you big bucks on your 2016 taxes.

Going green can get you big tax creditsOne of the most lucrative tax breaks available is for clean energy. For example, if you buy a plug-in electric car (including plug-in hybrids), you can qualify for a tax credit of up to $7,500 depending on the car's battery size. Note that this is a credit, not a deduction. In other words, if you buy a qualifying electric car, it could take $7,500 off your tax bill, or add it to your refund.

Another type of credit is for energy-efficient home improvements. The first is called the Residential Energy Efficiency Property Tax Credit, which is worth 30% of the cost of a solar energy system, solar-powered water heater, wind turbine, geothermal heat pump, or a fuel cell that generates power for your home. So, if you install a $25,000 solar power system, it can get you a $7,500 tax credit.

Finally, the Nonbusiness Energy Property Tax Credit is worth a maximum of $500 toward certain energy efficiency improvements you make on your home. To name a few things, the credit can be claimed for 10% of the cost of energy efficient windows, doors, roofing, air conditioning systems, water heaters, and more.

Save more for your futureRetirement savings is perhaps the best tax break available. I say this because not only can contributing to your retirement accounts get you a nice tax break now, but you'll end up with a bigger nest egg down the road.

For 2016, you can save up to $5,500 in a traditional or Roth IRA, with an additional $1,000 "catch up" contribution allowed if you're over 50. Keep in mind that Roth contributions won't save you any money on your 2016 taxes, but you'll pay no taxes when you withdraw the money in retirement. 401(k) limits are even more generous. You can choose to have up to $18,000 of your salary deferred into your employer's plan ($24,000 if over 50), and this is in addition to any matching contributions from your employer.

While it's usually not necessary (or practical) to completely max out your retirement savings, you might be surprised about the benefits of more aggressive retirement saving, both now and in the future.

Let's say that you manage to save a total of $10,000 between your 401(k) and traditional IRA every year. If you're in the 25% tax bracket, this translates to $2,500 in tax savings per year. What's more, based on the stock market's historical average performance, this could build up a $1.5 million nest egg after 30 years.

Unload your bad investmentsMany people don't realize that if you sell investments at a loss, you can use it to offset any capital gains taxes. Known as tax-loss harvesting, this can make a big difference in your tax bill in 2016 if you have some losing stocks sitting in your portfolio. For example, if you sell some of your stocks at a $5,000 profit, but sell another at a $2,000 loss, you'll only pay capital gains taxes on the $3,000 net gain.

Even if you don't have any profitable investment sales, you can use up to $3,000 worth of losses to reduce your taxable income. And, if you have more than this amount of losses, the excess can carry over until next year.

So, if you're sitting on some stocks that just didn't work out the way you had hoped, maybe now is the right time to finally cut your losses and put that money to work elsewhere.

Small donations can add upThe charitable contribution deduction is no secret -- most people who donate considerable amounts of money or property are well aware of the tax benefits. However, too many people underestimate the tax-saving power of their smaller donations and don't even keep track of them.

As a personal example, I generally hit the "donate $1.00" button when I'm checking out at the grocery store. And, while these donations may seem insignificant all by themselves, I gave a dollar nearly 70 times last year. Most people I know wouldn't pass up a $70 tax deduction, and you shouldn't either. Throw these receipts in an envelope, and you may be surprised at how much they add up to at the end of the year.

There are other donations many people make along the way. For example, if you go to a charity car wash or similar fundraiser and donate $10, pay with a check, so there's a record of the contribution. Many people can get a pretty nice deduction just for keeping track of small donations, so save your receipts and watch it add up.

Become a homeownerWe've written before about the tax breaks available to homeowners, and I believe it is one of the most compelling reasons to consider buying. Just for owning a home, you can save thousands of dollars each year on your taxes through a combination of tax deduction.

First off, most people know about the mortgage interest deduction. The IRS lets you deduct any interest you pay on a mortgage on a first or second home, on up to $1 million in original mortgage balances.

In addition, you can deduct any "points" you paid to obtain the mortgage, as well as any mortgage insurance premiums you pay on an ongoing basis (subject to income limitations). This can be a big benefit, especially for first-time homebuyers who take advantage of low down payment mortgage programs and have to pay PMI.

As if this wasn't enough, you can also deduct your property taxes each year. This benefit can vary dramatically based on the area of the U.S. you live in, but for residents of high-tax areas like my home state of New Jersey, this tax break alone can be worth thousands.

How much could you save?Now, I understand that it's probably not practical for you to do all five of these things in 2016. Maybe you don't have any bad investments to sell, or your current life situation doesn't allow for homeownership.

However, if you incorporate just one or two of these suggestions into your 2016 financial planning, it could save you thousands in taxes. Just as an example, if you're in the 25% tax bracket, and you set aside $5,000 in a traditional IRA and sell some stock at a $2,000 loss, you're looking at $1,750 in tax savings -- and that's in addition to the other long-term benefits that come with doing these things.

The article 5 Ways to Save On Taxes in 2016 originally appeared on Fool.com.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Belgian police have identified a prime suspect in Tuesday's Brussels blasts and two suspected suicide bombers, linking them directly to Islamic State militants behind last November's Paris attacks, Belgian media reported on Wednesday.

Najim Laachraoui, 25, is believed to be the man seen on CCTV pushing a baggage trolley alongside the bombers and then running out of the Brussels airport terminal.

Earlier some media reported that he had been captured in the Brussels borough of Anderlecht, but they later said the person detained was not Laachraoui.

Police and prosecutors refused immediate comment but the federal prosecutor was due to hold a news conference at 1200 GMT.

The death toll in the attacks on the Belgian capital, home to the European Union and NATO, rose to at least 31 with some 260 wounded, Health Minister Maggie De Block said on VRT television. It could rise further because some of the bomb victims at Maelbeek metro station were blown to pieces and victims are hard to identify.

One of the suspects seen on CCTV pushing baggage trolleys at Brussels airport just before the explosions was identified as Brahim El Bakraoui, public broadcaster RTBF reported. It said his brother, Khalid, blew himself up on the metro train.

Both had criminal records for armed robbery but had not previously been linked by investigators to Islamist militants.

Laachraoui is wanted in connection with the Paris attacks. His DNA was found on at least two explosives belts used in those attacks and at a Brussels hideout used last week by prime Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last Friday after a shoot-out with police.

RTBF said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented under a false name the apartment in the city's Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week. He is also believed to have rented a safe house in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi used to mount last November's Paris attacks.

The Syrian-based Islamist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, four days after Abdeslam's arrest in Brussels, warning of "black days" for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a centre of Islamist militancy.

SECURITY REVIEW

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

Prime Minister Charles Michel cancelled a trip to China and convened his inner cabinet to discuss security. Belgium observed a nationwide minute's silence at noon (1100 GMT). King Philippe, the premier and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker attended a memorial event at Commission headquarters.

More than 1,000 people gathered around an improvised shrine with candles and street paintings outside the Brussels bourse.

The Brussels blasts fuelled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants.

"We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world," said U.S. President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to succeed Obama in November's U.S. election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks.

Police searched an apartment in the northern Brussels borough of Schaerbeek late into the night, finding another bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making chemicals.

Local media said authorities had followed a tip from a taxi driver who may have driven the bombers to the airport.

An unused explosive device was later found at the airport and a man wearing a light-coloured jacket and a hat, believed to be Laachraoui, was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions.

CLOSING IN

Security experts believed the blasts, which killed about 20 people on a metro train running through the area that houses EU institutions, were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks.

He was caught and has been speaking to investigators after a shootout at an apartment in the south of the city a week ago, after which another Islamic State flag and explosives were found. It was unclear whether he had knowledge of the new attack or whether accomplices may have feared police were closing in.

Islamic State said in a statement that "caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns" struck Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station.

It was not clear, however, that the attackers used vests. The suspects were photographed pushing bags on trolleys, and witnesses said many of the airport dead and wounded were hit mostly in the legs, possibly indicating blasts at floor level.

The two men in dark clothes wore gloves on their left hands only. One security expert speculated they might have concealed detonators. The man in the hat was not wearing gloves.

About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities.

Reviving arguments over Belgian policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of "naivete" on the part of "certain leaders" in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalised.

Life began to return to normal in Brussels on Wednesday, with some public transport working and cars returning to the European district, but the metro system remained closed and the airport was still shut to travellers.

(Editing by Paul Taylor and Janet Lawrence)
Paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams is looking to cover the globe with a deal for rival Valspar that gives it a bigger worldwide footprint. Photo source: Mike Mozart.

Paint maker Sherwin-Williams took a big step toward covering the world with a debt-included $11.3 billion bid for rival Valspar .

Although its logo is a can of red paint pouring over the globe, Sherwin-Williams is primarily a U.S.-based coverings manufacturer realizing some 84% of its revenues from domestic markets.Yet the pitch could mean the paint maker thinks growth prospects here in the U.S. are drying up.

After an attempt to diversify its geographic footprint by purchasing Mexico's Comex a few years ago failed over antitrust concerns south of the border, this acquisition could give Sherwin-Williams the international exposure it needs.

Valspar derived 46% of its $4.4 billion in annual revenues last year from foreign markets, primarily from China, where it realizes 12% of its sales, and Australia, which accounts for another 7%. The rest of the world added almost another 27% to the total.

Despite its global perspective, the merger also gives Sherwin-Williams additional exposure to the retail market. While its Dutch Boy and Minwax brands can be found in many retail outlets, the paint maker's primary target market has been the paint professional who shops at its nearly 4,100 company-owned stores. The paint stores division rang up $7.2 billion in sales last year, a 5% increase from the prior period and representing 64% of total revenues.

While Sherwin-Williams consumer division enjoyed a bigger 11% increase in sales, almost two-thirds (some 63%) of the $1.6 billion revenues it contributed were to the paint maker's other segments, mostly the paint stores.

The deal with Valspar will catapult Sherwin-Williams from the third largest coverings company to first place, with combined revenues of $15.7 billion in annual sales That puts it just ahead of No. 2 PPG Industries , which had $15.3 billion in revenues last year, and comfortably in front of third placeAzkoNobel , which generated just under $13 billion last year.

Other players like Dow Chemical, which makes architectural paint and coatings, and RPM International, which owns consumer brands like Rust-Oleum, DAP, Zinsser, Varathane, and Testors, trail much further behind, which could create some antitrust concerns that the deal will reduce the major retail players from four to three, perhaps giving regulators pause about its impact on pricing.

Although the joint statement from the two companies said it didn't foresee they would have to complete any major divestitures, the $113 per share merger agreement (a 35% premium over Valspar's pre-offer closing price) included some curious caveats.

For instance, if Sherwin-Williams has to sell businesses valued at more than $650 million of Valspar's revenues, the purchase price will be lowered by $8 per share. If the total divestitures are more than $1.5 billion, Sherwin-Williams can back out of the deal. It's clear they realize the potential their tie up will have on reducing competition.

While Sherwin-Williams has some retail exposure through brands like Minwax, Valspar will give it greater reach into the consumer market.

The industry has gone through some consolidation over the past few years. PPG, for example, ended up buying Comex, though Sherwin-Williams got the Mexican paint company's U.S. and Canadian division. PPG also bought Homax Group immediately afterwards. It purchased the North American architectural coatings business of Akzo Nobel; the Deft's specialty coatings business; and the protective and marine coatings business from Hi-Temp Coatings Technology.

AzkoNobel, for its part, announced just last month it was acquiring BASF'sindustrial coatings business.

Still, the real hope for Sherwin-Williams purchase seems to be in the broader global footprint it will be afforded, which suggests the paint maker may believe opportunities for further growth in the U.S. are limited. The National Association of Realtors just reported existing home sales tumbled 7.1% in February to an annual rate of 5.08 million units, the lowest level since November.

That doesn't mean the paint company can't succeed. During the last economy downturn, it proved resilient as renovating a remodeling a home proved just as popular rather than buying new.

And international growth may not be easy to come by anyway. China's economy is slowing, despite the regime's indication it was willing to keep the spending spigots open to maintain lofty growth goals. And though Australia did see 3% growth last year, with an economy dependent on mining, which is now in retreat, that may not last much longer.

Ultimately, the antitrust hurdles should be low enough for Sherwin-Williams to get over so that it's able to attain the global aspirations it's held for so long now. Whether that growth plan remains paint-by-numbers simple, however, is not so clear cut.

The article Does Valspar Buy Mean Sherwin-Williams Sees Slow Growth Ahead? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends RPM International and Sherwin-Williams. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Whoa, as they say. The Lincoln Navigator Concept's gull-wing doors are huge and striking -- but they're strictly for show, Lincoln chief Kumar Galhotra said. The next Navigator will look a lot like this one, but it'll have conventional doors when it arrives at dealers as a 2018 model. Image source: Ford Motor Company.

Ford's luxury Lincoln brand has begun the process of remaking its biggest vehicle, the truck-based Navigator SUV.

The company showed off what it's calling the Navigator Concept on Wednesday in New York. Ford officials say that -- aside from the doors, which are a strictly show-car touch -- it's a "very strong indication" of what the upcoming all-new 2018 Lincoln Navigator will look like.

A big new sibling for the 2017 Lincoln ContinentalThe original Lincoln Navigator, launched in 1997, was a brash "statement vehicle" along the same lines as General Motors' Cadillac Escalade. But while the Escalade has maintained its brash looks even as it has moved upscale, the new Navigator looks to be staking out somewhat different territory.

The doors aside, the 2018 Navigator will look a lot like the Navigator Concept, Ford CEO Mark Fields told me. Image source: Ford Motor Company.

The Navigator Concept's lines are softened, elegant rather than opulent. Inside, six large chair-like seats offer comfortable and roomy accommodations for six adults. The concept's interior lines, light-colored "nautical teak" wood trim, and polished aluminum brightwork seem inspired more by luxury yachts than by traditional premium SUVs.

The production version should get better fuel economy than the Navigators of old, too. The Concept is powered by the latest version of Ford's 3.5 liter turbocharged "EcoBoost" V6, which, in this form, is said to make "more than" 400 horsepower.

The new Lincoln Continental is offered with just one engine; it's a fair bet Ford will follow the same strategy with the 2018 Navigator.

An "elegant" truck-based SUV, not an "aggressive" oneThe 2018 Navigator will still be a big, truck-based SUV. But if it follows the lines of the Navigator Concept, it'll be a toned-down one, in keeping with Lincoln president Kumar Galhotra's vision of "quiet luxury."

The new Navigator, like other recent Lincolns, is supposed to be an elegant and effortless vehicle, not an aggressive ones, Galhotra said. That thinking shows up in some surprising ways in the new Navigator Concept.

The Navigator Concept's dashboard is deliberately uncluttered. Image source: Ford Motor Company.

For instance, dashboards in other current luxury vehicles are often cluttered with buttons and knobs, but the Lincoln's dash is relatively clean. The goal of the designers was to keep things as simple as possible, to avoid "bombarding" the driver and passengers with information.

An alternative to the German vision of luxury carsThis different, quieter approach to the idea of "luxury" appears to be playing well in China, where Lincoln has established a toehold by deliberately striking a different note than the big German luxury brands. Lincoln's tiny (but fast-growing) network of dealers in China sold over 11,000 vehicles last year. That number should grow significantly in 2016, particularly once the new Continental sedan joins the lineup later this year.

And here in the U.S.? Well, Lincoln's sales in its home market were up a little over 7% last year. That's not bad, given that Lincoln is very much a work in progress. But I think Galhotra and his boss, Ford CEO Mark Fields, are hoping for bigger gains in coming years, as Ford continues to build on its "quiet luxury" vision.

The article Ford Previews a Very Different 2018 Lincoln Navigator SUV originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Former candidate Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, saying the U.S. senator from Texas represents the party's best chance of winning the White House.

In a statement, the former Florida governor called Cruz a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated an ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.

"Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential," Bush said.

The 63-year-old Bush, whose father and brother served as president, dropped out of the presidential nomination fight after losing badly in South Carolina on Feb. 20.

The endorsement comes as establishment Republicans scramble to stop front-runner Donald Trump from winning the nomination because of his divisive proposals like a plan to deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

Cruz has run in second place behind Trump and could conceivably win enough Republican delegates to take the nomination.

Ohio Governor John Kasich's lone path to the nomination is to extend the nomination race until the party's national convention in July. The idea is to deny Trump the required 1,237 delegates needed and force party leaders to consider someone else.

A source close to Bush said Bush picked Cruz because he has the most viable path to the nomination and has shown that he can win states. The source said Bush considers a push for a contested convention to be a "hail-Mary strategy at best."

In the weeks after he withdrew, Bush met in Miami with former rivals Cruz, Kasich and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Rubio dropped out of the race after losing Florida last week. Bush spoke by phone to Cruz on Monday.

In his statement, Bush resumed his sharp criticism of Trump, saying Republican voters must move to overcome "the divisiveness and vulgarity" that Trump has brought into the political arena "or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President (Barack) Obama's failed policies."

"To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted as he will do just that," Bush said.

In a statement, Cruz said Bush's endorsement "is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative" to defeat Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Michael Perry)
With its stock down 26% in 52 weeks, German pharmaceutical giant Novartis is looking cheap and winning fans on Wall Street. But Leerink Partners is not one of them.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, 16 out of 34 analysts polled rate Novartis a buy, while only three analysts recommend selling the stock. This morning, however, Leerink Partners moved one step closer to joining the sell camp.

The newsIn a note released Wednesday, Leerink announced it is removing its outperform rating from Novartis stock, and downgrading the shares to market perform. The analyst also slashed $13 off of its price target for the stock, cutting its estimate for Novartis to $85.

Novartis reported strong profits in 2015 -- but Leerink is no longer a fan. Image source: Novartis.

Here are three reasons why.

Thing No. 1: Survey says...According to the ratings watchers at StreetInsider.com, the catalyst for Leerink's move today was a "59 physician MEDACorp Heart Failure (HF) survey" that Leerink conducted, the results of which convinced the analyst that there are "multiple adoption barriers" that could prevent the success Novartis's twice-daily Entrestodrug, which is designed to prevent heart failure. (One imagines that the drug's cost -- about $4,500 a year -- is one such barrier).

Thing No. 2: Irrational exuberanceNovartis fans have high hopes for Entresto. With analysts projecting sales of as much as $6 billion annually by 2023, the drug could turn out to be a blockbuster -- or not. According to Leerink, the results of its MEDACorp survey, combined with what the analyst is seeing in "the drug's early trajectory" in the market, and certain "clinical issues," has Leerink thinking Entresto won't be nearly as big a deal as everyone else seems to believe it will be.

In fact, Leerink goes so far as to call the consensus estimates for Entresto sales "unrealistic."

Thing No. 3: Bad news for the stock priceLeerink is accordingly projecting "overall EPS forecasts ... well below consensus" levels of $8.60 per share earnings in 2023, on sales of $65.7 billion.

We don't know precisely what Leerink is projecting -- and to be honest, we wouldn't have much confidence in any estimates anyone posited for a stock's earnings seven years into the future. But whatever the magic numbers are, Leerink doesn't see them being good enough for Novartis stock to either "beat the market or its large pharma peers."

And one more thing...Unfortunately for owners of Novartis stock, the numbers we see today support that thesis. Consider: If we put guesses about "2023" aside for the moment, and focus just on the facts on the ground, Novartis stock currently sells for 10.2 times earnings, pays a 3.8% dividend yield, and is projected to grow earnings at 7.1% annually over the next five years. That all adds up to a total return of 10.9% on the 10.2 P/E stock -- not a bad bargain at first glance.

There are two problems with that analysis, though. First, it doesn't take account of Novartis's large debt load -- currently $16.6 billion net of cash. Second, it overlooks the fact that Novartis's relatively low P/E ratio is based on a net income number that vastly overstates the stock's true cash profitability.

Last year, Novartis reported net income of $17.8 billion. But as the company's cash flow statement reveals, actual free cash flow production was only $9.5 billion. Put another way, for every $1 in "profit" that Novartis reported, the company actually generated only $0.53 in real cash profits.

Put even simpler: Novartis isn't as cheap as it looks.

What to do now?So how can an investor sidestep these issues, and perhaps buy a pharmaceutical stock that's a bit cheaper? One possibility is to look for stocks than generate more free cash flow than they report as net income. With a P/E ratio of 27.5, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), for example, looks more expensive than Novartis at first glance. But S&P Globaldata show that Pfizer generated $13.1 billion in positive free cash flow last year -- nearly twice its reported $7 billion "net income."

On the other hand, just like Novartis, Pfizer carries a large debt load. Is it possible we can find a better stock, that generates superior free cash flow, and does it without taking on a boatload of debt? It is: At 19.8 times earnings, Johnson & Johnson is cheaper than Pfizer, and unlike either Pfizer or Novartis, Johnson & Johnson carries net cash -- $18.5 billion worth -- on its balance sheet. Johnson & Johnson also generates more free cash flow ($15.8 billion) than it reports as net income on its income statement ($15.4 billion). Both these factors make Johnson & Johnson cheaper than it looks.

Now, to be clear, I'm not recommending that you rush right out and buy Pfizer stock, or Johnson & Johnson, either -- or even that you sell your Novartis shares. I'm just highlighting the dangers of looking at Novartis' low P/E ratio, its good growth rate, and strong dividend yield, and concluding the stock is automatically a buy. As Leerink has pointed out, the obvious answer isn't always the right one.

And Novartis isn't an obvious buy anymore.

The article Novartis Stock Downgraded: 3 Things You Need to Know originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributorRich Smithdoes not own shares of, nor is he short, any company named above. You can find him onMotley Fool CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handleTMFDitty, where he's currently ranked No. 288 out of more than 75,000 rated members.The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Johnson & Johnson. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Costco remains determined to keep its competitive advantages over rival Wal-Mart even as it faces the prospect of slowing growth. Image source: Mike Mozart.

With the latest leg in Wal-Mart's minimum wage pay raise taking effect last month, rival Costco has said it too will raise the pay of employees on the lowest rung of its economic ladder. It will increase their starting pay from a range of $11.50 to $12 per hour up to $13 to $13.50 per hour.

Already well compensated when they reach the top rungs -- about $22.50 per hour, which can be attained after around four years with the company -- the pay hike keeps Costco competitively ahead of Wal-Mart and its warehouse store Sam's Club, whose employees just saw their minimum rate rise to at least $10 per hour.

It's not just Costco and Wal-Mart battling it out for entry level workers; the restaurant industry is seeing the same game play out. McDonald's raised the pay of its new hires from $9 to $10 an hour last year and says it's leading to a better customer experience, which is translating into higher sales. While that's a dubious claim since there were many factors involved in the burger joint posting back-to-back quarters of higher comparable sales -- the first time in three years they were up, in fact -- it is causing competitors to raise their employees' pay, too.

Better burger shop Shake Shack also sees the need to offer a premium to the competition, whether it's on its burgers, its pricing, or the wages it pays its employees. Image source: m01229.

Shake Shack , for example, raised its workers' pay at the start of 2016 from $10.50 to $12 per hour as it, like Costco in its own particular industry, felt it important to keep its wages at a premium relative to the competition. It raised its prices, too, as a result -- the third time in a year and a half it had done so.

Because Costco and Shake Shack are seen as higher-end outlets compared to their more pedestrian rivals, it would seem to make sense that working there should also result in a better pay rate. But do they really need to always stay at the forefront, or are they unnecessarily hurting their bottom lines?

Although the unemployment rate has fallen to about 5% nationally, suggesting the labor market is tightening and higher wages to continue attracting better employees may be required, the non-participation rate -- or the number of people who have dropped out of the labor force and aren't even counted in employment statistics anymore -- remains at a historically high level. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says around 93 million Americans, or more than 37% of the civilian labor force, are now out of the picture.

That means there are likely qualified workers ready and willing to fill positions without businesses unnecessarily incurring higher expenses. Yet if a company can increase sales fast enough, wages, even higher ones, represent a smaller percentage of those sales.

Shake Shack, for instance, grew revenues 63% in 2015 so that labor costs, even though greater on an absolute basis, represented 25% of its sales, down from 26.3% in 2014.But last year was a special year for the better burger shop: It had an IPO, which attracted a lot of media attention, and management admits the surge it saw in 2015 can't be maintained. Same-Shack sales were at a high of around 7% or so a few years ago, and they have been falling steadily ever since. Management expects them to, at best, grow 3% this year.

Costco is also experiencing slowing sales growth. Revenues for the six-month period ending in mid-February were up less than 2% compared to near-6% growth a year ago. Similarly, comps absent fuel were up 5% compared to 7% last year.

Both Costco and Shake Shack may be proud they can pay their workers more than Wal-Mart or McDonald's can, but investors may start questioning the need if labor costs start eating up a larger percentage of sales -- and profits.

The article Will Pay Hikes at Costco and Shake Shack Needlessly Hurt Their Stocks? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Costco Wholesale. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Following a big win in the Arizona primary for his father Donald Trump, Trump Organization Executive V.P. Eric Trump weighed in on the latest in the 2016 presidential race, U.S. foreign policy and immigration.

Well, listen, Arizona has been a great state. Obviously they care about border security  thats kind of my fathers biggest message  and obviously it hit home when you see what happened in Brussels yesterday. Border security is something that is obviously going to be on everybodys mind, this is truly front and center, Trump told the FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo.

Trump then weighed in on the delegate math that is increasingly adding up in his fathers favor toward a potential Republican nomination.

But the math is becoming very hard for the candidates; Kasich is obviously, the math is impossible at this point, obviously Cruz would need about 90% of the remaining delegates and were coming home now, were coming back here to New York. And after a little New York values statement I dont think hes going to do to well around here.

More on this... Eric Trump: The math is becoming very hard for the other candidates

On Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs hopes of a potentially contested convention, Trump said, Weve been fighting from afar the entire time, right. Weve won states like Florida, Mississippi, Arizona and Nevada and all these other states, right; those were never home-turf advantage. These guys have already had their home-turf advantage, now we come back to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and California which is kind of a second home to my father.

Trump discussed the potential political fallout if there did end up being a contested Republican convention.

If he got to 1,250 or he got to 1,220 and he was 10 million votes ahead of the next candidate, thats not democracy. What is the Republican Party? A party is made up of people. If he had five million more people vote for him, or 10 million more people, and you have this boys club in Washington, D.C. who said, you know what, youre not our guy anymore, I do think there would be little r riots in the street. Trump continued, The Republican Party would probably lose again, I mean that. My father has brought a sense of winning into the Republican Party, we lost the last two contests.

Trump also talked about why immigration reform is an important issue on the campaign trail, especially in the aftermath of the attacks in Brussels.

His whole message is make America great again, make America safe again, lets secure our borders, lets know whos in our country. Trump continued, My mom is an immigrant, my mom came from Czechoslovakia, she came here legally, we are a melting pot, we are a country that believes in immigration, right. But you need to come to this country legally, we need to know who you are

More on this... Cruz: Political Correctness is Dangerous for America

Trump then weighed in on former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneys comments on Donald Trumps wives and a Cruz Super PAC using Melania Trump in an ad.

I think its disgusting. You leave family out of it right, especially quite frankly wives. Come after me, come after anybody else, you leave wives out of it. We happen to know Heidi [Cruz] very well who is his wife, they know her [Melania] very well, its kind of below the belt. I was surprised he did that; Heres a guy that goes around preaching morality and this and that.

Eric Trump also talked about Melania Trump potentially becoming the First Lady.

By the way, she happens to be an amazing person, she would make an incredible First Lady. She is solid as a rock, she has been like an amazing mother to Barron through this whole process which is not easy when you are trying to raise a young child, going through a presidential race like this.
AstraZeneca's heart drug Brilinta failed to help stroke patients as hoped in a big clinical trial, dealing a blow to company expectations that the medicine could rack up annual sales of $3.5 billion by 2023.

The trial found the blood-thinner was not significantly better than aspirin, the current standard of care, in preventing recurrent attacks in the 90 days after patients suffer a stroke, the British drugmaker said on Wednesday.

The outcome of the study will disappoint investors who had thought there was a good chance of success, since Sanofi's now off-patent drug Plavix previously showed limited benefit in stroke and Brilinta is more potent.

In the event, fewer patients taking AstraZeneca's drug in the trial had a recurrent stroke, suffered a heart attack or died than those on aspirin, but the difference was not statistically significant.

A positive result would have boosted consensus forecasts for Brilinta, which currently stand at an annual $1.87 billion for 2020, according to Thomson Reuters Cortellis.

AstraZeneca's own projection is that Brilinta could reach sales of $3.5 billion by 2023, making it an important part of a $45 billion revenue target announced by the company as part of its defense against a takeover bid from Pfizer in 2014.

"It's a setback but at this stage we are not providing any new guidance on the overall ($3.5 billion) number," Ludovic Helfgott, head of AstraZeneca's Brilinta business, told Reuters.

Full trial results from the so-called SOCRATES trial will be presented at the May 10-12 European Stroke Organisation conference in Barcelona, he said.

The drugmaker, whose shares bucked a stronger market to trade 0.1 percent lower by 0845 GMT, said preliminary analyzes showed that the safety data from the study was consistent with the known safety profile of Brilinta.

Brilinta is currently approved to reduce the rate of adverse cardiovascular events in patients who have previously suffered a heart attack but AstraZeneca is hoping to expand its use into new areas.

Results from another trial evaluating the medicine in peripheral arterial disease are expected in the second half of 2016.

"The result in SOCRATES has no bearing whatsoever for the rest of the program," said Elisabeth Bjork, AstraZeneca's head of medicines development for cardiovascular and metabolic disease. "We are still very excited about the potential." (Editing by Jane Merriman)

AstraZeneca's heart drug Brilinta failed to help stroke patients as hoped in a big clinical trial, dealing a blow to company expectations that the medicine could rack up annual sales of $3.5 billion by 2023.

The trial found the blood-thinner was not significantly better than aspirin, the current standard of care, in preventing recurrent attacks in the 90 days after patients suffer a stroke, the British drugmaker said on Wednesday.

The outcome of the study will disappoint investors who had thought there was a good chance of success, since Sanofi's now off-patent drug Plavix previously showed limited benefit in stroke and Brilinta is more potent.

In the event, fewer patients taking AstraZeneca's drug in the trial had a recurrent stroke, suffered a heart attack or died than those on aspirin, but the difference was not statistically significant.

A positive result would have boosted consensus forecasts for Brilinta, which currently stand at an annual $1.87 billion for 2020, according to Thomson Reuters Cortellis.

AstraZeneca's own projection is that Brilinta could reach sales of $3.5 billion by 2023, making it an important part of a $45 billion revenue target announced by the company as part of its defense against a takeover bid from Pfizer in 2014.

"It's a setback but at this stage we are not providing any new guidance on the overall ($3.5 billion) number," Ludovic Helfgott, head of AstraZeneca's Brilinta business, told Reuters.

Full trial results from the so-called SOCRATES trial will be presented at the May 10-12 European Stroke Organisation conference in Barcelona, he said.

The drugmaker, whose shares bucked a stronger market to trade 0.1 percent lower by 0845 GMT, said preliminary analyzes showed that the safety data from the study was consistent with the known safety profile of Brilinta.

Brilinta is currently approved to reduce the rate of adverse cardiovascular events in patients who have previously suffered a heart attack but AstraZeneca is hoping to expand its use into new areas.

Results from another trial evaluating the medicine in peripheral arterial disease are expected in the second half of 2016.

"The result in SOCRATES has no bearing whatsoever for the rest of the program," said Elisabeth Bjork, AstraZeneca's head of medicines development for cardiovascular and metabolic disease. "We are still very excited about the potential." (Editing by Jane Merriman)
Scientists have deduced the possible reason humans tend to close their eyes while kissing. The research, published March 15 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, did not specifically study kissing but rather analyzed how visual stimuli can interfere with the senses.

Researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHU) had 16 volunteers simultaneously perform a letter search task of varying levels of difficulty. At the same time, they were tasked with reacting to the presence or absence of a short vibration to their right or left hand. Participants sensitivity to the tactile stimulus was more reduced among those who had the more taxing visual search task.

It was already known that increasing the demands of a visual task could reduce noticing of visual and auditory stimuli, study author Dr. Sandra Murphy, a postdoctoral psychology research associate at RHU, said in a news release. Our research extends this finding to the sense of touch.

Study author Polly Dalton, a senior lecturer in cognitive psychology at RHU, told Medical Daily that her teams findings could also explain why people like to close their eyes while kissing.

Our research found that engaging in a more demanding visual task reduced people's sensitivity to tactile sensations, Dalton told the website. This does imply that reducing visual demands (for example, by shutting your eyes) can improve tactile awareness, and this could be one of the reasons that people shut their eyes when kissing.

Dalton added to the Independent that shutting ones eyes may leave the brain with more resources to experience the main task at hand in this case, kissing.
The World Health Organization is still waiting for its members to stump up another $4 million to tackle the growing threat from the Zika virus, WHO chief Margaret Chan said on Tuesday.

"The more we know, the worse things look," Chan told a news conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva. "In less than a year the status of Zika has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications."

Zika has been linked to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect, in Brazil, and a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

A pattern had emerged with initial virus circulation followed about three weeks later by an unusual increase in Guillain-Barre cases, then fetal malformations as pregnancies of infected women come to term, Chan said.

Zika has not been proven to cause Guillain-Barre or microcephaly, a condition characterized by unusually small heads in babies and linked with developmental problems. However, there is growing evidence that suggests a link to both disorders.

The WHO and its American arm PAHO have asked for $25 million to fight Zika and have received $3 million, and are now in an "active discussion" over the next $4 million, said Chan, who called the funding situation "pretty serious".

She said she would shift money across the WHO budget as far as possible, but 80 percent of WHO's money was earmarked for specific causes.

WHO's strategy director Chris Dye said many, many millions of people had been exposed to the mosquito-borne virus, which has spread through most of the Americas in the past six months.

The latest medical studies suggested that perhaps 1 percent of infections would lead to severe neurological disorders, he said.

"If we just take that as an approximation, we know already that there are thousands of cases in just one part of Brazil, so the expectation across the Americas as a whole is many more thousands of cases."

Brazil has confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. It is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.
Wednesday marks the 33rd anniversary of Ronald Reagans historic Star Wars speech, in which he introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to the American people. The intent was to protect the U.S. from nuclear attack.

Today, when a ballistic missile fired from anywhere in the world can reach the United States within 33 minutes, Reagans bold vision for a multi-layered missile defense system is more necessary than ever.

SDI was intended to counter the Soviet nuclear threat. Unified ground- and space-based platforms would detect and destroy ballistic missiles after launch. It was a forceful rejection of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), a strategy which relied on the specter of mass casualties on both sides to deter nuclear war.

Reagans victory-based approach was mocked by the political Left, which favored MAD rather than trying to beat the Soviet Union in the arms race. But thats exactly what Reagan did; six years later, the Berlin wall came down.

Unfortunately, cavalier attitudes toward missile defense remained among much of the political class. They had first dismissed SDI as Star Wars sci-fiuntil the technology actually existed. Then, they condemned it as too provocativeuntil the USSR collapsed.

Finally, came the excuse that America no longer had a major global adversary to justify the exercise.

The last surviving piece of Reagans SDI vision, Brilliant Pebbles, was a satellite-based platform which would have relied on kinetic projectiles to intercept missiles in low orbit. President Bill Clinton killed the program via budget cuts, even though subsequent experiments by NASA and leaps in technology made such a system eminently feasible.

Indeed, technologies developed under SDI contributed to ballistic missile capabilities the United States has today. Moreover, SDI research produced innumerable benefits beyond missile defense: cheaper and more capable computer chips, optics equipment, and specialized materials that businesses and consumers now take for granted.

But despite the progress made, SDI was never fully realized. The United States still lacks a unified missile defense plan, while the world remains a very dangerous place.

Although the Soviet bloc has been relegated to the ash heap of history, we face a new litany of global threats. Ballistic missiles are becoming more accessible to countries like North Korea and Iran. North Korea has repeatedly threatened the United States and its alliesSouth Korea and Japanwith attacks using its nuclear- ipped ballistic missiles. Iran continues to improve the range and sophistication of its missiles, while Russia aggressively modernizes its nuclear weapon arsenal and threatens U.S. NATO allies.



Our conflicts with these nations have thankfully not escalated to shooting wars. Yet. But that makes it all the more important to develop a new SDI for the 21st century while we still have the time.

Even if it remains in its silo or submarine, a missile targeted at an American or allied city with a madman at the controls could effectively hold U.S. foreign policy hostage.

The unconventional aspect of Americas current enemiessome driven by ideologies yet more reckless and bloodthirsty than Communismmeans that mere deterrence and guarantee of reprisal will be insufficient to protect our people. Americans should be able to live secure in the knowledge that we can shoot down any weapon launched at them by another country or faction.

They will only do so when the political will exists to build a comprehensive missile defense. Many lawmakers are simply ignorant of Americas current vulnerability to attack. Some conflate missile defense with their understandable wariness of military adventurism. Others, like our current Commander in Chief, seem motivated by a desire to reduce Americas leadership role in the world generally.

Reagan realized that weapons of mass destruction, like evil men, would never be completely eliminated from the world stage. The

greatest insurance against nuclear arms and their proliferation is technology which renders them uselessa far better guarantor of world peace than fragile treaties with rogue nations. As he told Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, The genie is already out of the bottle. Offensive weapons can be built again. Therefore I propose creating protection for the world for future generations, when you and I will no longer be here.

For the sake of those future generations, our leaders should take a page from Reagan and embrace a strong missile defense.
Hundreds of illegal immigrants from terror hotspots are using what critics describe as loopholes in U.S. immigration policy to try to remain in the country indefinitely, according to data obtained by Congress.

Taking a page from the playbook used by Central American women and children to gain U.S. entry, hundreds of immigrants from Egypt, Somalia, Pakistan, Iran and Syria caught entering the U.S. last year made asylum claims to avoid deportation  and, in doing so, asserted they had a credible fear of persecution.

This phrase is important because it allows them to be released and work in the U.S. Prior to 2009, the U.S. held in custody many asylum seekers entering the U.S. illegally until their cases were resolved in court -- but an Obama administration policy change allowed those fearing persecution to be released.

The finding that asylum seekers from turbulent Middle Eastern and African countries are now using this phrase to gain entry and remain on U.S. soil has raised security concerns on Capitol Hill.

"These numbers illustrate vulnerabilities throughout our immigration system," Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said Tuesday. "Dangerous criminals and potential terrorists are gaming the system without consequence. The Obama administration is compromising our national security and safety for its political agenda."

DeSantis, chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on the potential threat posed by these individuals in light of the Paris and Brussels attacks. His subcommittee obtained the findings on the methods being using to remain in the U.S. Witnesses set to appear at the hearing Wednesday are Ronald Vitiello, acting chief of the U.S. Border Patrol; and Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.

Stats obtained by the subcommittee from October 2014 to September 2015 show that the bulk of the credible fear claims still are coming from Central American and Mexican immigrants. But 80 were from Syrian nationals, 191 were from Pakistani nationals, and 776 were from Somalian nationals.

"They are coming through the backdoor," Judd said. "Do I believe they have a credible fear? In a small percentage, maybe. But the vast majority we arrest are telling our agents that they are coming because they know they will be released. That's why they are coming."

Judd said illegal immigrants have found a second loophole as well. By claiming they arrived in the U.S. before 2014, immigrants are able to avoid detention and deportation.

Here's why:

In January 2014, President Obama announced his priorities program, which ordered agents to worry chiefly about criminals, national security risks and illegal immigrants who came into the U.S. after that date. Judd claims supervisors at the Mexican and Canadian borders have told agents not to bother turning other immigrants over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement since "they won't be deported anyway."

"President Obama said we need to take these people out of the shadows. The fact is we took them out, and now we are releasing them right back into the shadows. What was the point? he said. The court system is so backlogged, we're told they are never going to see a judge anyway. So just let them go."

In the past, illegal immigrants from outside Mexico were subject to expedited removal. The process allowed agents to deport non-citizens without going through a formal and lengthy removal proceeding before an immigration judge.

Now, however, Judd said anyone who claims they've been living in the U.S. continuously from prior to 2014 is not even being turned over to ICE and given a Notice to Appear in court. Fox News confirmed the practice with sources in two border sectors.

"At least a NTA required them to show up in court. What we have now is amnesty through policy," Judd said. "We are flat-out letting them go."

Requests for comment from the Department of Homeland Security were not returned.
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer told viewers Tuesday on Special Report with Bret Baier that, at a news conference in Cuba, President Obama devoted almost no time to addressing the terror attacks that transpired in Belgium instead focusing on a trip that matters very little by comparison.

Obama gave the terror bombing 51 seconds of his speech today in Havana. I thought the whole story of his presidency and its foreign policy was seen in the split screen, Krauthammer said. On one side, you had the video footage of the attack in Belgium. This is the real world. And on the other side was Obama, in the fantasy world he inhabits, where Cuba is of some geopolitical significance in his mind.

Krauthammer argued that Obama made the trip to knock a legacy item off his list before he leaves office, settling the Cold War arguments of the academic left.

If Cuba disappeared tomorrow in a volcanic eruption like Santorini, nobody would notice geopolitically, he said.

On the other hand, he reiterated that the events in Brussels pose a grave threat.

The Belgians are completely outmanned, the Europeans have no way of tracking, and we are completely in the blind. We don't know what we don't know, Krauthammer said, adding, Obama calls it the JV team. He pretends it's contained and controlled. It is not. Instead, he does this sort of ideological holiday trip in Cuba while the world burns.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton padded their delegate totals with convincing wins in the valuable Arizona primary Tuesday night  but their respective rivals, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, kept the race alive with victories in the Utah and Idaho caucuses.

The Associated Press projected Sanders and Cruz the winners of the Utah contest early Wednesday morning. Idahos Democratic-only caucuses were called for Sanders.

Though Arizona was the biggest prize on the map in Tuesday's Western contests, Sanders and Cruz won their states by huge, double-digit margins. Cruz took all of Utah's delegates by finishing with more than 50 percent of the vote.

Together, the Western contests seemed to leave the race in a familiar place: with the front-runners building their tallies and trying to shift to a general election mindset, yet unable to shake underdog rivals buoyed by their own victories and finding reason to press on.

With Sanders' two wins, he roughly split Tuesday's delegate haul with Clinton. And Cruzs victory in Utah indeed slows Trumps march toward the nomination on the GOP side.

Yet both candidates continue to trail significantly, and Trump still will walk away from Tuesdays Western state races with more delegates. Thats because Arizona, as the largest remaining winner-take-all contest on the map, will allocate all 58 of its delegates to the billionaire businessman.

In Utah, 40 were at stake.

On both sides, the contests were being held in the shadow of the deadly terror attack in Brussels, a tragedy that brought national security and foreign policy hurtling back to the forefront of the campaign trail debate.

Clinton, at an event in Seattle ahead of Saturdays Democratic contest there, touted her Arizona win -- before pivoting to take shots at the Republican candidates for their response.

Citing hardline proposals from Trump and Cruz in the aftermath of the Brussels attack, she said: The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear.

Sanders, though, showed no signs of slowing down even as Clinton seemed to look past him. He rallied a crowd of cheering supporters in San Diego just minutes earlier, railing against his usual targets: a rigged economy and corrupt campaign finance system.

We are doing something very unusual in modern American politics. We are telling the truth, Sanders said.

At stake on the Democratic side Tuesday were 75 delegates in Arizona; 33 delegates in Utah; and 23 in Idaho.

Meanwhile, a frenzy of activity and turnout snarled polling places earlier Tuesday across the Western contests, leading to waits of over two hours at some locations in Arizona. In Utah, the state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic. And Democratic leaders kept locations open longer than planned in Idaho.

The Western state contests, for Republicans in particular, marked one of the last chances to set the tone of the race before a lull in the primary calendar. Democrats have another round of contests this weekend, but Republicans will compete in only one state over the course of the next four weeks.

Amid efforts by his rivals to force an open convention in July, Trump has voiced confidence in recent days that he can clinch the GOP nomination by winning 1,237 delegates before then. Both Trump and Clinton have been eager to turn to a general election battle, each expecting to face the other in November.

But Trump likely will have to wait at least until late April, when the next round of major contests is held, to have a chance at driving his remaining rivals out of the race.

On the Democratic side, Sanders is clinging to hope that as the race turns from Clintons Southern stronghold to Western and other states, he can start to make up his gaping delegate deficit. His road to victory remains incredibly narrow.

The underdogs goal on the Republican side may be more attainable: Win just enough delegates to hold Trump under the requisite 1,237 delegates and trigger a contested convention in Cleveland.

As of early Wednesday morning, Trump had 739 delegates to Cruzs 465. Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailed with 143.

From the start, Arizona's primary seemed custom-made for a Trump victory. The state has long dealt with illegal immigration problems, and the Republican front-runner's central campaign promise is to build a wall across the entire southern U.S. border. Trump also enjoyed the backing of former Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, two of the most outspoken voices on illegal immigration.

Yet Cruz was poised to do well in Utah. Mormons are a large voting bloc there, and Trump lost to Cruz in Mormon-heavy Idaho earlier this month. Fellow Mormon and outspoken Trump critic Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, also pushed to get out the vote for Cruz in recent days.

As voters went to the polls Tuesday, national security once again was front and center, in the aftermath of the Brussels terror bombings for which the Islamic State has taken responsibility.

Earlier, Trump called for an end to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program and told Fox News, Ive been talking about this for a long time.

Cruz went more directly at President Obama and his immigration policies, including his plan to allow tens of thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States.

The time for the presidents political correctness has passed, Cruz said. We absolutely have to revisit our immigration policy across the board to prevent Islamic terrorists from coming in.

On the Democratic side, Sanders desperately was looking for a win after getting swept in five March 15 contests.

As of early Wednesday, Clinton had 1,681 delegates to Sanders 927. It takes 2,383 to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Sanders invested a lot of time in the Western contests. He was the only 2016 presidential candidate to skip speaking Monday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington to stay on the campaign trail.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
When the awful news broke about the terrorist attacks in Belgium, the Today show asked Donald Trump to call in, which he promptly did.

Matt Lauer said the NBC show also asked for a phoner with Hillary Clinton, and she declined. Later, though, she apparently had a change of heart and phoned in as well.

A small thing, to be sure, and I hesitate to inject presidential politics into a tragic event that left more than 30 people dead at the Brussels airport and a subway station.

But terrorism is a central issue in this campaign, and the news came on a day when Utah, Arizona and Idaho were voting in primaries and caucuses.

The fact that Today and Fox & Friends had Trump call in underscores how hes now thought of as a potential commander-in-chief. When he told Lauer that I would be very, very tough on the borders, it was a reminder that Trumps terror talkbomb the S out of ISIS, temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S.has boosted his popularity among Republican voters.

Trumps aggressive stancehe called Brussels a total mess and also talked about the need to waterboard terror suspectsset up a stark contrast with the former secretary of State. She said that torture is not effective and would put our own citizens and soldiers at risk. And, Clinton said, It's unrealistic to say we're going to completely shut down our borders to everyone. That would stop commerce, for example, and that's not in anybody's interest. She also phoned in to Good Morning America.

The death toll in Belgium is going to change the tenor of the campaign for some time to come, even though it is difficult to hold the Obama administration accountable for every attack around the world. The president was out of position, going through the planned activities on his historic visit to Cuba. He asked his Cuban hosts to please indulge me as he devoted a total of six sentences to condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people.

That is reminiscent of Obamas tepid reaction to the Paris attacks, which caused him to try several more times to appear more empathetic. The Paris massacre, followed by the mass killing in San Bernardino, also transformed the campaign and, in my view, helped Trump. But given the medias notoriously short attention span, coverage of those two calamities eventually faded as the campaign turned into a festival of insults.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich also responded aggressively to the Belgian bloodbath yesterday, but the twin Today invitations to the front-runners tells you something about how the media view the race.

While Clinton can draw on her diplomatic experience in talking about terror, she is to some degree hamstrung by the need not to break openly with the president she served.

The violence in Brussels took place hours after Trump, Clinton, Cruz and Kasichbut not Bernie Sandersaddressed AIPAC and spoke of the U.S. role in protecting Israel. The attack on a NATO ally also happened the day after Trump told the Washington Post that the U.S. should diminish its role in NATO and is bearing too much of the financial burdensomething were likely to hear more about in the coming days.

Indeed, Clinton later told MSNBC that some candidates don't understand the importance of NATO.

The media have been obsessed lately with delegate math and the skirmishes that have broken out at Trump rallies. Unfortunately, it took far more damaging violence to remind everyone of the stakes in this campaign.
The Brussels terror attacks that killed at least 31 people Tuesday have reignited the debate on Capitol Hill over the Obama administrations plans to let in thousands more Syrian refugees, amid fears the Islamic State could use the opening to enter and threaten the homeland.

Though none of those involved in the attacks are believed to be refugees from Syria, ISIS took responsibility -- and GOP lawmakers say ISIS aims to exploit the crisis to send jihadists into Europe and the U.S. In Washington, those same critics immediately renewed calls to limit the U.S. refugee program after bombs ripped through the Brussels airport and subway.

We need to immediately halt the presidents ill-advised plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees, presidential candidate and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a press conference Tuesday. Our vetting programs are woefully insufficient, and this administration has no means of preventing those refugees from being ISIS terrorists.

The calls extended well beyond the campaign trail.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said in a statement: We must not ignore shortfalls in our refugee process that provide opportunity for terrorist organizations, and these senseless terror attacks only reaffirm the urgent need to reverse our countrys lax policies so that we prevent dangerous terrorists from stepping onto U.S. soil under the guise of seeking refuge.

The U.S. so far has admitted just over 3,000 refugees from the war-torn nation, and the Obama administration plans to admit 10,000 Syrians in the 2016 budget year -- a move long criticized by Republicans, who repeatedly have sought to restrict the program and tighten security and screening measures.

The Obama administration counters that the U.S. has much stricter vetting procedures than Europe, and that the process takes up to two years to complete.

President Obama has scolded Republicans for their stance on the issue, while urging compassion for the civilians trying to escape the war-torn region. At a naturalization ceremony in December, he said: In the Syrian seeking refuge today, we should see the Jewish refugee of World War II.

On Tuesday, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla, blamed Europes porous borders as one of the reasons for the growth of radical Islam within European countries, and called for the U.S. to tighten security measures and vetting procedures of migrants.

Dir. Clapper has testified ISIL is taking advantage of the torrent of migrants to insert operatives," & are "skilled in phony passports."  Jim Inhofe (@jiminhofe) March 22, 2016 U.S. must continue to reassess & tighten our own security measures and vetting process of individuals looking to enter the country.  Jim Inhofe (@jiminhofe) March 22, 2016

Senator Inhofe has said, and continues to stand by his comments, that we need to be closely scrutinizing our process for bringing refugees into the U.S. that are coming from Syria or heavily ISIS impacted areas, Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman for Inhofe, told FoxNews.com.

Such measures would likely face significant pushback from Democrats. Lawmakers clashed over the Syrian refugee policy in November in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, where at least one attacker was confirmed to have entered France as a refugee.

Lawmakers in the House in November overwhelmingly approved a bill boosting screening for Iraqi and Syrian refugees. The bill would require comprehensive background checks of every refugee from Iraq or Syria before they can be admitted into the United States and certification that each does not pose a threat.

The bill was slammed by many House Democrats, with Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., calling it despicable and cowardly. The legislation later stalled in the Senate amid a concerted effort from Senate Democrats.

This month, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act in an 18-9 vote. The bill would cap the number of refugees coming into the U.S. and give states the right to decide whether they wish to resettle refugees.

The Obama administration wrote to states in November, telling local resettlement officials that they do not have legal authority to refuse the refugees, and states that do not comply may be penalized.

FoxNews.com's Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
160316 Chinese Potential Investors arrive in Bougainville.

By Joe Elijah

A High powered Chinese Potential Investors are in the Region. The Chinese delegation are here following an invitation from the Chinese Government, who invited the ABG President, Hon Chief Dr. John Momis to address a Business Conference in China last year.

In accepting an invitation by the ABG President to find an economical recovery to try and help bail out Bougainville of its economical status, the Chinese delegation under the Gungdon Foreign Economic Cooperation agreement, will be in the Region for a week.

While in the Region the Chinese delegation will visit potential project sites, like the Panguna mine, Manetai lime Stone quarry, cocoa and copra plantation rehabilitation site, schools and hospitals from starting from the North to South Bougainville Region.

Today the delegation met with the ABG Ministers and their Departmental Heads in the morning and later had the opportunity to meet with the Bougainville Business Association Executives.

The Chinese delegation will travel to Haku to see the projects untaken there and on Friday the travel to Central and South Bougainville before returning back to Buka on Monday next week.



Ends


Top GOP "establishment" figures keep lining up behind self-described outsider Ted Cruz in what appears to be a concerted bid to keep front-runner Donald Trump from running away with the nomination -- yet raising the question of whether they've ruled out John Kasich entirely.

Jeb Bushs Wednesday endorsement of the Texas senator is the latest backing that would have been almost unthinkable even six months ago.

Bushs thumbs-up for the firebrand conservative follows similar support from 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and, perhaps even more surprising, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham -- who once remarked that if someone shot Cruz in the Senate, no senator would convict the shooter.

The endorsements have all been carefully tailored to show they are uniting behind Cruz as the best bet to thwart Trump.

For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies, Bush said in a statement Wednesday.

The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention, said Romney in backing Cruz last week. At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible.

While it seems apparent that the endorsements are more anti-Trump than pro-Cruz, it is notable that the so-called establishment appears to be ignoring the more moderate Ohio Gov. Kasich.

The most obvious reason for this is the sheer delegate count. Behind Trumps 739 delegates, Cruz has 465 and Kasich has 143. While Cruzs path is slim to an outright majority, Kasich has no path to clinching the nomination without a contested convention in Cleveland in July.

Cruz's performance to date, as Romney suggests, also could make him the best vehicle for drawing delegates away from Trump in the remaining contests and holding him under the 1,237 delegate threshold to clinch the nomination.

GOP strategist Ron Bonjean says the logic makes sense.

Establishment Republicans are now gravitating towards Cruz because of the simple delegate math that shows there is absolutely no way Kasich can win unless there is a brokered convention, he told FoxNews.com.

Yet, Bonjean notes that should a contested convention arise, things could change, and these same Republicans might move to back Kasich.

Of course, this support for Cruz could change the very minute there is a brokered convention to Kasich or someone else," Bonjean said.

Team Kasich has a powerful argument in its pocket.

While Kasich is significantly behind Cruz in terms of delegates, his head-to-head polling numbers against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton blow Cruzs out of the water. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday gives Kasich an eight-point lead against Clinton in a general election matchup, while finding Trump loses to Clinton by six and Cruz by three.

The Kasich camp is hammering this point, perhaps hoping those siding with Cruz now might indeed reconsider at a contested convention.

In a campaign memo released Wednesday, chief strategist John Weaver cited a number of polls showing Kasich to be the best bet against Clinton, and called him the key to stopping Trump.

Moving forward, Gov. Kasich is the key to our partys hope of stopping Donald Trump and the potential disastrous consequences of his nomination, Weaver wrote. Assertions to the contrary are misleading. They are disingenuous attempts to mislead Republicans and hand the nomination to Donald Trump.

Weaver went on to write that Kasich is the best candidate to have for candidates down the ballot, and to unite the party.

That argument appears to have been ineffective with many senior Republicans. Romney, in his statement endorsing Cruz, recognized how he has campaigned with Kasich, but suggested backing Kasich is a non-starter.

I like Governor John Kasich. I have campaigned with him. He has a solid record as governor. I would have voted for him in Ohio. But a vote for Governor Kasich in future contests makes it extremely likely that Trumpism would prevail, Romney said.

Kasichs campaign memo seems to indicate something similar. Perhaps recognizing that Kasichs best path to the nomination lies in a contested convention, Weaver calls Kasich the best choice at the Convention.

Trump, meanwhile, is keeping busy taunting those Republicans suddenly endorsing Cruz. He tweeted Wednesday:

FoxNews.com's Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
The Republican field has narrowed and so has the race for the partys nomination: front-runner Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are within the margin of error in a new Fox News national poll on the 2016 election.

Trump remains in the top spot with 41 percent support among GOP primary voters, while Cruz has 38 percent. John Kasich gets 17 percent.

Since mid-February, support for both Cruz and Kasich has doubled, and support for Trump is up five points. Of course in the meantime, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and Marco Rubio dropped out of the race.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS

The poll finds that by a 48-35 percent margin, Cruz bests Trump among very conservative voters.

White evangelical Christians give the edge to Trump: 43 percent vs. Cruzs 39 percent.

Republicans ages 55+ prefer Trump (50 percent) over Cruz (30 percent) and Kasich (15 percent).

By a 59-35 percent margin, Republican primary voters prefer the nomination go to the candidate with the most votes (delegates) rather than allowing the party some flexibility if there is no majority winner. Even Cruz supporters are slightly more likely to agree with this (47-44 percent).

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton receives 55 percent support for the nomination among Democratic primary voters, while Bernie Sanders gets 42 percent. Thats a change from last month when Sanders held a three-point edge nationally after his dominant New Hampshire primary win.

Fifty-six percent of GOP primary voters are extremely interested in the presidential election. Just 43 percent of Democratic primary voters feel that way.

Interviews for the poll were conducted Sunday through Tuesday evenings. Election contests were held Tuesday in Arizona, Idaho, and Utah. In addition, the Islamic extremist group ISIS claimed responsibility for deadly attacks Tuesday in Brussels.

The poll shows a 54-percent majority favors temporarily banning non-U.S. Muslims from entering the United States. That includes 69 percent of Republicans, 55 percent of independents, and 39 percent of Democrats.

Campaign-event Violence

Voters are most likely to blame anti-Trump protesters for violence at the candidates rallies.

Overall, 70 percent feel the protesters are very (41 percent) or somewhat (29 percent) responsible for the violence. Sixty-three percent of voters think Trump supporters are at least somewhat responsible, while 61 percent say the candidate himself is.

Less than half of GOP primary voters blame Trump personally (45 percent) or his supporters (48 percent). Fully 78 percent blame the protesters.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,016 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 20-22, 2016. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters and five points for both the Democratic (410) and Republican (388) primary voter samples.
Republicans are eager to win back the White House in 2016. A new Fox News national poll finds both John Kasich and Ted Cruz ahead of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in hypothetical matchups, while Donald Trump trails her.

Kasich does best against Clinton. He has a double-digit advantage and also comes in above the 50 percent mark: 51 percent to Clintons 40 percent.

Cruz is preferred over Clinton by three percentage points (47-44 percent).

Clinton tops GOP front-runner Donald Trump by 11 points (49-38 percent).

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS

The Ohio governors advantage comes mostly from independents; they support him over Clinton by 36 points. Plus, Kasich steals the largest number of Democrats (17 percent).

Kasich and Cruz also outperform Trump against Bernie Sanders. The Democrat leads Trump by 14 points -- and tops Cruz by a narrower four-point margin. Kasich has a one-point edge over Sanders (44-43 percent).

Slightly more voters would be satisfied if the presidential race is ultimately a Clinton-Cruz matchup (72 percent satisfied with their candidate choices) than if it ends up being Clinton and Trump (67 percent satisfied).

If it is Clinton-Trump in November, more than four in 10 Cruz supporters say they would seriously consider voting for a third party candidate (34 percent) or just stay home (10 percent). (There are too few Kasich supporters to facilitate a comparable breakout.)

Overall, only 16 percent of voters would feel enthusiastic if Clinton were to become the next president. Even so, thats enough for a win on this measure. Fourteen percent would feel enthusiastic about a Sanders win, and 13 percent each about a Cruz or Trump win.

Almost half of all voters would feel scared if Trump (49 percent) were to win the White House, while 33 percent say the same about Clinton. Trump has the largest number of Republicans saying they would feel scared if he wins (25 percent), while Kasich has the smallest (7 percent).

More Republicans would feel enthusiastic or pleased with a Cruz win (57 percent), than with a Kasich (48 percent) or Trump (51 percent) victory.

By comparison, 72 percent of Democrats would feel enthusiastic or pleased if Clinton won. And Sanders is close behind at 61 percent.

Kasich is the only candidate who receives more positive reactions (enthusiastic/pleased) to him winning than negative ones (displeased/scared). In addition, more voters -- some 37 percent -- would feel neutral about him becoming president than say the same of any other candidate.

When it comes to picking justices for the U.S. Supreme Court, majorities of Americans feel confident with Kasich (62 percent), Cruz (55 percent), and Sanders (54 percent). Half feel confident about Clinton (50 percent) making those decisions, and fewer than 4 in 10 say the same about Trump (38 percent).

Honest & Trustworthy

The two current front-runners are also battling for the worst honesty ratings: 64 percent of voters say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, while 65 percent feel that way about Trump.

Some 34 percent say Clinton is honest (a new low) and 64 percent say shes not (a new high) -- for a net negative honesty rating of 30 points. Trumps net rating is about the same (-32 points).

Cruz (+2 points), Kasich (+38 points), and Sanders (+39 points) each get positive honesty scores.

Sanders (+71 points) dwarfs Clinton (+39 points) on net honesty among self-identified Democrats.

Among self-identified Republicans, each of the GOP candidates has a net positive honesty score, yet there is significant range in the scores: Kasich (+58 points), Cruz (+40 points), and Trump (+14 points).

Pollpourri

When the two leading major party candidates are distrusted by a majority of voters, its no wonder 82 percent of voters say they are nervous about American politics, while 11 percent are feeling confident.

Nearly three times as many are confident about the economy today (30 percent).

To be sure, people still have economic jitters: 61 percent are nervous about the economy, up a bit from 55 percent a year ago (March 2015). Nervousness hit a high of 70 percent in 2010.

Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats to feel nervous about the economy, however roughly 8 in 10 Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike are worried about American politics.

Some 49 percent of Democrats are confident about the economy, down from 61 percent last year.

Most Republicans continue to feel uneasy: 81 percent now compared to 75 percent in 2015.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,016 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 20-22, 2016. The full sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
A project to build a long-delayed second rail tunnel under the Hudson River will get $70 million to start preliminary engineering work and will benefit from accelerated federal environmental reviews, officials announced Wednesday.

The money will come from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak, with each contributing $35 million. Other partners are the federal Department of Transportation and New Jersey Transit, which provides transportation services in the state, including rail and bus service to New York City.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx also announced his department would accelerate environmental reviews and permitting to push the project forward.

It isn't known precisely how much that would shorten the time needed to complete the massive tunnel project, which is estimated to cost about $10 billion and take about 10 years to complete. The environmental work alone is expected to take two to three years before construction can begin.

The existing century-old tunnel already is operating at peak capacity and is the site of regular delays due to electrical problems that spread along Amtrak's 457-mile Northeast Corridor, between Washington, D.C. and Boston. About 750,000 people ride the corridor each day on Amtrak or several commuter lines, according toAmtrak.

The tunnel suffered saltwater damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and Amtrak officials have said that will force them to take both of its tubes out service for repairs within the next 15 to 20 years.

"We hear the chorus of frustration coming from New Jersey residents," said Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a key backer of the project. "This is a hurry-up offense situation and we're going to move as quickly as we can."

The tunnel is part of Amtrak's larger Gateway project that encompasses other large-scale infrastructure improvements such as an expanded Penn Station in New York; a new Portal Bridge over New Jersey's Hackensack River to replace a century-old bridge that is a regular source of delays and an expansion from two tracks to four between Newark and New York.

Gateway is estimated to cost more than $20 billion and take about 15 years to complete.

Plans to build a second Hudson River tunnel date back more than 20 years. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pulled the plug on a project in 2010, after years of planning and financing efforts by politicians including late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, over fears of cost overruns.

The current project's partners announced Wednesday's they will apply for federal grants in the next few months to support Gateway projects including the Portal Bridge and a right-of-way tunneling project on Manhattan's west side that is already in progress.

Environmental and engineering work on the Portal Bridge has been completed, and New Jersey Transit said it expects to solicit contract proposals this spring for early construction work on the bridge.

The federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, passed late in 2015, made changes to a $35 billion federal loan program and a mass-transit grant program to make them easier to access.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who abandoned last month his bid for the White House, announced Wednesday that hes endorsing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.



As I said from the moment I launched my presidential campaign, the stakes in 2016 couldnt be higher, Bush wrote in a Facebook posting.

Bush, the son of one former president and the brother of another, was an early favorite to win the nomination after announcing his candidacy last summer. However, he struggled to break through in the early Republican contests and quit the race after last month's South Carolina primary.

In a statement to Fox News, Bush said Cruz was "a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests."

Bush also warned Republicans against nominating Donald Trump, who picked up 58 more delegates Tuesday with a convincing win in Arizona's winner-take-all primary.

"For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies, Bush said.

Bush also took aim at the political gridlock in the nations capital.

Washington is broken, too many families are stuck in poverty and Western civilization is under attack from radical Islamic terrorists, as evidenced by the horrific attack in Brussels, which was preceded by attacks in Paris and California, he said on Facebook.

Cruz, who defeated Trump in Utah's Republican caucuses Tuesday, said he was "truly honored" to have Bush's endorsement, calling it "further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat Hillary Clinton in November."
The Obama administration has spent three years engaged in secret talks with Iran that resulted in the payment of nearly $2 billion in taxpayer funds to the Islamic Republic, with more payouts likely to come in the future, according to a recent letter issued by the State Department and obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon.

The administrations disclosure came in response to an inquiry launched in January by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), who was seeking further information about the Obama administrations payment of $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to Iran, which many viewed as a ransom payment for Irans release that month of several U.S. hostages.

The administrations official response to Pompeo was sent earlier this week, just days after a Free Beacon report detailing a months-long State Department effort to stall the lawmakers inquiry.

We apologize for the delay in responding, Julia Frifield, an assistant secretary for legislative affairs, states in the letters opening.

Obama administration officials first began talks to settle a number of outstanding legal claims leveled against the United States by Iran in 2014. The administration predicts that more taxpayer-funded payments are likely to be granted to the Islamic Republic in the future, according to the letter.

Frifield in her letter goes on to defend the $1.7 billion payment to Iran and discloses that the administration is open to providing Tehran with more money if it is willing to settle these decades-old legal disputes with the United States.

Click here for more from The Washington Free Beacon.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, in a sweeping speech about the state of modern politics, called Wednesday for more civility and respect amid a presidential campaign marked by name-calling and personal attacks.

It did not used to be this bad, and it does not have to be this way, Ryan told a group of congressional interns on Capitol Hill, adding that it is easy to get disheartened.

But he said, "We shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm." Ryan also said lawmakers can start making positive changes by how they conduct ourselves personally -- set an example and lead by example.

While not naming names, Ryan added that politics can be a battle of ideas, not a battle of insults.

The speech marked Ryan's latest commentary on the tone of the current campaign battle. In the weeks leading up to Wednesdays remarks, Ryan has denounced some of Republican front-runner Donald Trumps actions. Hes spoken out about Trumps proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States as well as his response after ex-Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke backed his candidacy.

Looking around at whats taking place in politics today, it is easy to get disheartened, he added Wednesday. How many of you find yourself just shaking your head at what you see from both sides? Now, a little skepticism is healthy.

The speaker has remained officially neutral in his party's presidential contest so far, even as other GOP leaders have openly searched for ways to prevent Trump from clinching the nomination before the party's July convention in Cleveland.

He has tried to avoid commenting on Trump's candidacy, while saying repeatedly that he intends to support the eventual GOP nominee.

Ryan, his party's 2012 vice presidential nominee, has said he is not interested in running for president should the current candidates falter. He said the same thing last fall about becoming speaker but was eventually drafted into the job after John Boehner, R-Ohio, was pushed out by conservative hard-liners.

Ryan delivered his remarks Wednesday in the lofty hearing room of the Ways and Means Committee, which he previously chaired. The speech came on the final day of congressional work ahead of a two-week spring recess.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
**Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**

Buzz Cuts:

 Q Poll blows a hole in GOP convention fantasies

 Trump threatens Cruzs wife

 Power Play: Likeable enough?

 Hillary wins big in Arizona, Bernie gets small prizes

 Never too late

Q POLL BLOWS A HOLE IN GOP CONVENTION FANTASIES

The argument that somehow Donald Trump can be denied the Republican nomination has gotten thinner than the ham in a sandwich at the state penitentiary.



A new Quinnipiac University poll out today says not only that Donald Trump has a 14-point lead on Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but that without Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the race, Cruz still trails by 9-points. Prior polling showed that in head-to-head matchups, other candidates trumped Trump, so this is something new.



At the same time, however, Trump continues to struggle where it matters most. While Trump can certainly celebrate his 23-point margin of victory in Arizona, the fact that he could only muster 14 percent of the vote in ultra-conservative Utah is not a good sign.



Heres the new reality for the Republican Party: As of now, you have a presumptive nominee whether you like it or not.



One thing that is not different in this Q poll is Trump runs the worst against his Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton. Last month, the survey found Trump trailing Clinton by a single point, now it is six. That reflects the judgment of every other national survey taken this month that shows Trump getting creamed by margins ranging from 5 points to 13 points.



It may not matter.



Looking ahead in the primary calendar, it is hard to see how Trump could be denied. While, the remaining third of the delegates arent guaranteed to Trump, there is a lot of good terrain ahead for the frontrunner: New York, New Jersey, and most of all, California. All promise good things for Trump.



But its not a lock just yet.



There are belated signs that the Republican Party is taking action. Consider that Jeb Bushs full and unconditional endorsement of Cruz would have been unimaginable even three months ago. It is unsurprising today.



Presumably, still more endorsements will come in for Cruz, but what chance does that movement have if the Q poll is right? If Cruz gets only half of Kasichs 16 percent without the long-shot Ohio governor in the race maybe that means Republicans are falling in line behind Trump.



Those members of the party who are living in an alternate reality in which there will be a brokered convention that will produce some magical unicorn of a candidate need to take a long hard look at this poll.



Thats not to say that there is no chance. But without forceful action to support Cruz and swing the remaining anti-Trump holdouts to his side, its not going to happen.



Trump threatens Cruzs wife - NYT: For a moment, it seemed Donald J. Trump thought he had gone too far. The moment passed. Shortly after publishing, then deleting, a menacing Twitter post about the wife of Senator Ted Cruz, Mr. Trump quickly corrected himself late Tuesday  by adding more colorful language and punctuation to his threat.Lyin Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from G.Q. shoot in his ad, Mr. Trump wrote in the slightly revised message. Be careful, Lyin Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife! Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to a recent ad from the super PAC Make America Awesome, which showed Mr. Trumps wife Melania, a former model, posing nude. The ad, which was targeted to Mormon voters, has no ties to Mr. Cruzs campaign.



NR hammers Kasich - National Reviews Jeremy Carl explains why he doesnt take Kasichs campaign seriously: The campaign of John Kasich is a joke, and not a particularly funny one, unless you like humor at the expense of the GOP and conservatism. Yet the media and GOP establishment has largely failed to call Kasich out. But with his embarrassing losses in Utah and Arizona yesterday (incredibly, it appears he lost the latter even to Rubio, who has been out of the race for a week now), it is long past time to throw Kasichs campaign into the ash heap of history.



What just happened? - If youre struggling to understand the shape of politics today, FiveThirtyEight has an insightful explanation.



POWER PLAY: LIKEABLE ENOUGH?

As the primaries continue, its looking more and more like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be their parties respective nominees. But despite a successful primary season, Trump and Clinton dont seem to connect as well with the general electorate theyll face come November. Chris Stirewalt explains it all in just 60 seconds. WATCH HERE.



[GOP delegate count: Trump 739; Cruz 465; Kasich 143 (1,237 needed to win)]



WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE

Why do you like certain flavors? Thats the question one researcher at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science decided to unravel. Denver Post has the details: [Nicole] Garneaus current project explores how people experience sweet taste and how bacteria in the mouth affect perceptions and healthTo explain how our taste preferences evolve, she often starts at the beginning when survival meant finding foodThe crowdtasting study will ask participants who buy tickets to try four craft beers and three food bites, as well as pair them together, before answering questions about their preferences. It may lead to additional studies that delve deeper into how a persons experiences influence their palate.



Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM



POLL CHECK

Real Clear Politics Averages

National GOP nomination: Trump 44 percent; Cruz 28.6 percent; Kasich 18.4 percent

National Dem nomination: Clinton 53.1 percent; Sanders 41.7 percent

General Election: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +9.8 points

Generic Congressional Vote: Democrats +1



HILLARY WINS BIG IN ARIZONA, BERNIE SMALL PRIZES

LAT: Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton won the Arizona primary, the biggest prize in Tuesdays presidential nominating contests, while rival Bernie Sanders notched wins in the Utah and Idaho caucuses. Claiming victory Tuesday night, Clinton slashed at the Republican fields reaction to the terrorist attacks in BelgiumArizona offered more delegates up for grabs than Utah and Idaho combined. All three states saw long lines, with some Phoenix-area polls staying open late to accommodate voters who waited more than two hours to cast ballots.



Bernies big burn rate - USA Today: Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator and self-proclaimed democratic socialist, is spending $1.8 million on ads this week in states with nominating contests Tuesday, NBC News reports. Thats nearly three times the ad spending of front-runner Hillary Clinton, who is buying only $600,000 worth. Its also more than Republican contenders Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas ($989,000) and Donald Trump ($520,000).



[Dem delegate count: Clinton 1681; Sanders 937 (2,383 needed to win)]



NEVER TOO LATE

AP: A library book overdue by nearly 50 years has been returned to a university library in southwest Ohio. The University of Dayton says a former student who borrowed the History of the Crusades in 1967 has sent it back with an apology for the late return. The university says James Phillips, of Minnesota, apparently checked out the book as a freshman before leaving school to join the U.S. Marines. Phillips says the book and other belongings must have been gathered from his dormitory room and sent to his parents' house where they remained until his parents' died. Phillips recently found the book in a box of belongings forwarded to him by his brother. University officials say they won't be charging Phillips the late fee that would have been about $350.



Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton appears eager to finish her battle with primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders -- but continues to benefit from his enduring campaign that keeps at least part of the national spotlight on her, and not Donald Trump.

After winning the Arizona primary Tuesday, just hours after the deadly Brussels terror bombings, Clinton made only an oblique reference to her esteemed rival, despite Sanders winning two of three races that night.

The former secretary of state instead ripped into Trump and fellow GOP White House candidate Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for their campaign rhetoric and post-Brussels remarks -- including Trumps suggestions about using torture techniques to interrogate terror suspects and Cruzs call for more policing of Muslim neighborhoods.

The last thing we need are leaders who incite fear, Clinton said at a rally outside of Seattle. What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, its dangerous.

Yet even as Clinton moves to push past Sanders and build her delegate lead, Sanders arguably is playing a useful role for her campaign.

The still-competitive Democratic primary keeps Clinton in the headlines, in a cycle otherwise dominated by Trump's battle with fellow Republicans. Sanders also provides a useful foil for Clinton, allowing her to showcase her foreign policy credentials while contrasting Sanders as soft in an increasingly complex and dangerous world. In a sense, his campaign completes hers.

In the aftermath of the Brussels terror attacks, Sanders was fighting to demonstrate the same resolve as Clinton on confronting terror.

We will crush and destroy ISIS, [but] we will destroy ISIS through a coalition, Sanders said in California, ahead of the states June primary.

But Sanders generally is less hawkish than Clinton. He calls for the relentless pursuit of terrorists, but only as part of an international coalition, not as policeman of the world.

Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, has focused instead on appealing to voters on the issues of economic and social equality.

The campaign insists, though, that they're in it to win it -- while acknowledging a drawn-out contest could help either candidate.

Sanders senior strategist Tad Devine on Wednesday told FoxNew.com, "Were not staying in the race to tune up Hillary Clinton. We think we have a path to victory but a hard one. And we think we can win. Whether thats good or bad for Hillary Clinton depends on how she does.

Devine, who was a senior adviser to Al Gore's 2000 and John Kerry's 2004 Democratic presidential campaigns, said the conventional wisdom holds that the best way to get to the general election is to quickly vanquish primary rivals.

However, he argues that history proves otherwise, particularly Clinton staying in the 2008 race against eventual winner Barack Obama. Thats the single best case study, Devine said. Clinton could use this same opportunity. But shell have to do well. Well see who wins.

Sanders gave every public indication that he remains in the race to win, saying he does better against Trump than Clinton "in every national poll."

Sanders victories, of course, also have the effect of highlighting Clinton's polling problems. After Sanders won the Utah and Idaho caucuses Tuesday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the results prove a significant segment of Democrat primary voters are desperate for anyone but Hillary Clinton.

Clinton over the past several weeks has undercut Sanders' momentum dating back to his New Hampshire win. She pocketed seven victories on Super Tuesday and swept last week's Super Tuesday II contests. Still, Sanders kept his campaign alive with an upset win in Michigan earlier this month, and two more caucus victories on Tuesday.

Clinton again tried to project a presidential image on security, while delivering a speech on counterterrorism in Stanford, Calif., on Wednesday. She said the country needs "strong, smart, steady leadership."

But Sanders has used one issue in particular to challenge Clinton's argument about her foreign policy judgment and readiness -- her 2002 vote for use of force in Iraq, which he opposed.

He has repeatedly revisited the issue in debates and on the campaign trail, pointing out that the U.S.-led intervention led to further Middle East destabilization and chaos.

The war in Iraq was one of worst foreign policy mistakes in U.S. history, Sanders said Tuesday. I voted against that war.
The Supreme Court appeared deadlocked Wednesday along ideological lines as justices weighed another legal challenge to ObamaCare -- this one, brought by a religious nonprofit that objects to paying for insurance covering birth control.

The case before the court is a hot-button trifecta  health care, abortion and religious freedom  and concerns ObamaCare's controversial contraception mandate.

The eight justices will decide whether religious-affiliated institutions like the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity of nuns, can be exempt from having to pay for -- or indirectly allow -- birth control and other reproductive health coverage in their health plans.

But the First Amendment challenge coming amid an election-year vacancy at the Supreme Court leaves this legal fight very much up in the air, and may not be fully resolved until the vacancy is filled. A 4-4 split could leave the provision in place for now.

The 90 minutes of debate grew tense at times, highlighting the split on the current court. The justices drew ideological differences over the moral and administrative implications of the law, President Obama's signature domestic policy accomplishment.

"It can't be all my way. There has to be an accommodation, and that's what the government tried to do," said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She said creating an exception for the nuns would open the "floodgates" to make the law unworkable.

But Chief Justice John Roberts repeated the nuns' rhetoric when saying the plaintiff "has used the phrase 'hijacking,' and it seems to me that that's an accurate description of what the government wants to do." He said, "They want to use the mechanism that the Little Sisters and the other petitioners have set up to provide services because they want the coverage to be seamless."

Members of the Little Sisters of the Poor rallied along with their supporters in front of the court Wednesday, many carrying signs and buttons with "I'll Have Nun of It." Nearby were supporters of abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.

While the LSP leaders are nuns, the charity employs hundreds of lay workers who otherwise may be eligible for the insurance service. Similar non-profits would include certain hospitals, parochial schools, and private faith-based universities.

Churches and other houses of worship themselves are already separately exempt outright under rules established by the Obama administration.

The high court two years ago said the Little Sisters and its third-party insurance administrator could remain temporarily exempt from the mandates, while lower courts continued to wrangle with the merits of the primary challenge to the federal health law provisions on contraception.

After ObamaCare was passed in 2010, the White House negotiated what it called a compromise aimed at allowing the medical coverage but also providing an administrative workaround for those opposing it. The central dispute revolves around a requirement these groups self-certify -- and sign a form authorizing an outside administrator to provide contraceptives without the employers' direct involvement.

In the early stages of the litigation, the Supreme Court issued a temporary order in January 2014, saying the administration could not enforce the mandates, at least temporarily.

The rules were designed by the administration to give women employed at nonprofit, religious-based organizations the ability to receive contraception through separate health policies with no co-pay.

Lawyers for the nuns and related plaintiffs, told the court Wednesday their clients faced a "moral dilemma" -- refuse to comply and face millions in crippling fines, or violate what all sides agree are the nuns' "sincerely held" religious beliefs.

Fox News' Shannon Bream contributed to this report.
170316 Former Public Servants still awaiting their Final entitlements

By Tom Katoa

While the Autonomous Bougainville Government is yet to pay its former Public Servants and their families their final entitlements, many former public servants have been turned away from the Finance and Treasury Department without success.

Speaking on behalf of the silent majority of the former public servants and their families who have been silent for quite a long period of time now, Mr. Uziah Toukes who was the former Executive Officer for the Leitana Council of Elders said, If the Government serious and keeps on preaching about looking after the welfare of its employees, then why is it taking such a long delay in paying off their final entitlements owed to them.

Mr Toukes added that, it is no surprise that the former public servants and the former Government Ministers are still residing in the Government allocated accommodation, they are still awaiting their final entitlements to be settled so that they can move on in life.

The former public servants and the former Government Ministers told New Dawn FM station that they are not asking for a pay rise but they just want what the ABG to settle what is owed to them and their families as soon as possible.

Ends


In a Republican primary race already full of insults and mud-slinging, the battle between front-runner Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz got even uglier Wednesday -- as the candidates started by clashing over attacks on each other's wives, then went Hollywood.

The Texas senator came out swinging Wednesday, telling CNN, If Donald wants to get in a character fight hes better off sticking with me, because Heidi is way out of his league.

Then the rivals got into a Twitter exchange that by late afternoon had Trump accusing Cruz of stealing the line from Michael Douglas as the star of the 1995 movie The President.

Lyin Ted Cruz steals foreign policy from me, and lines from Michael Douglas -- just another dishonest politician, Trump tweeted.

The Douglas character says in the movie, referring to his girlfriend, "If you want a character debate Bob, you better stick with me because Sydney Ellen Waid is way out of your league."

The social media battle took another turn late Wednesday after Trump retweeted a picture of his wife alongside an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz. Ted Cruz responded by tweeting, "Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life."

Cruz was originally responding to threats made by Trump after a super PAC produced a Facebook ad showing Trumps wife, Melania, posing nude.

Trump took to Twitter Tuesday  making a not-so-thinly veiled threat regarding Cruzs wife Heidi Cruz.

The real estate mogul tweeted that the Texas senator should "be careful" or he would "spill the beans on your wife.

"Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!" Trump tweeted Tuesday evening, just minutes before polls closed in Arizona. Trump tweeted and deleted a similar version of the tweet about 10 minutes earlier.

Trump appeared to be referring to a Facebook advertisement targeted to Mormons that shows Trump's wife, Melania, posing nude. That ad was produced by an anti-Trump super PAC, Make America Awesome, which has no known connection to the Cruz campaign.

Cruz responded on Twitter by saying that the ad was not from him and if he went after his wife, then Trump is a "coward."

"Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless," Cruz tweeted.

On Wednesday, Cruz reiterated he had no affiliation with the super PAC but added that Trumps bad behavior may have been the result of a bad night in Utah.

Cruz won the Republican contest in Utah Tuesday, capturing more than 50 percent of the vote and all 40 of the states delegates. Trump won the night's Arizona primary.

"When Donald gets scared, when he gets angry, when he gets threatened ... So last night Donald threatened my wife, he went directly after my wife, Cruz said.

Heidi Cruz is a senior executive for Goldman Sachs, and took a leave from work in order to help her husband's campaign. She has become one of the campaign's most accomplished fundraisers.
Police in Indonesia have arrested two suspects for alleged poaching and selling of endangered Sumatran tiger parts.

The arrests were made by the Aceh Provincial police with assistance from the Wildlife Conservation Societys Wildlife Crimes Unit. One suspect, who was arrested in Bireun, Sumatra, on March 18, allegedly traded tiger parts after buying them from a supplier in the town of Takengon.

The police operation involved a transaction for two fresh Sumatran tiger cub skins and 8.8 pounds of tiger bones, including one tiger skull, according to a statement released by WCS. After making the arrest, police used the suspects phone to track the alleged supplier to his hometown of Takengon. The second suspects family convinced him to turn himself in on March 22.

Related: Rare Sumatran rhino sighted in Indonesian Borneo

Police say that the alleged supplier claimed a connection to national tiger syndicate networks, particularly in Indonesias Leuser Landscape area.

WCS says that the man had previously been arrested in January 2014 in possession of stuffed tigers, a stuffed clouded leopard, bear fangs, helmeted hornbill casques, and a stuffed Sumatran serow, which is a species of goat-antelope. He had recently been released after serving 12 months in prison and paying a fine of $759, according to the WCS statement.

The suspects could face up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Related: Cute zoo babies

The Sumatran tiger is critically endangered and can only be found in Indonesia. According to the Redlist published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last year, the Sumatran tiger population has declined to just 300.

However, conservationists received some good news earlier this month when a rare Sumatran rhino was spotted in Indonesian Borneo. The sighting marked humans' first physical contact with the species in the area for over 40 years.
Nearly 100 years ago, a Navy tugboat with 56 officers and sailors aboard was heading from California to the American Samoa when it disappeared without a trace.

A massive air and sea search around the Hawaiian islands for the USS Conestoga turned up nothing and two months later, a battered lifeboat was spotted with the C on its bow off the Mexican coast. It was the last U.S. Navy ship to be lost without a trace in peacetime and became one of the top maritime mysteries in Navy history.

Now, that mystery has been solved.

Related: Researchers recover bronze bell once housed on Japanese WWII sub

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy announced Wednesday that they had found the Conestoga in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary off San Francisco  some 95 years after it disappeared.

After nearly a century of ambiguity and a profound sense of loss, the Conestogas disappearance no longer is a mystery, Manson Brown, assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction and deputy NOAA administrator, said in a statement. We hope that this discovery brings the families of its lost crew some measure of closure and we look forward to working with the Navy to protect this historic shipwreck and honor the crew who paid the ultimate price for their service to the country.

The first breakthrough came in 2009 when the NOAA Office of Coast Survey, as part of a hydrographic survey near the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, spotted a possible, uncharted shipwreck. Five years later, they confirmed it was indeed the Conestoga.

Related: Site of 1503 shipwreck tied to Vasco da Gama found off Oman

Thanks to modern science and to cooperation between agencies, the fate of Conestoga is no longer a mystery, Dennis McGinn, the assistant secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, said. In remembering the loss of the Conestoga, we pay tribute to her crew and their families, and remember that, even in peacetime, the sea is an unforgiving environment.

Originally built to tow coal barges for the railroad, the Navy purchased Conestoga in 1917 for World War I service. The tug operated on the Atlantic coast and off the Azores, performing convoy and other duties before being assigned to harbor service in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1919.

Ordered to duty in American Samoa, Conestoga steamed from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California at 3:25 p.m. on March 25, 1921, headed for Pearl Harbor. After leaving the Golden Gate, the tug, possibly towing a barge, disappeared.

While the cause of the disaster remains unresolved, weather appears to be a critical factor.

Weather logs around the time of Conestogas departure indicated that wind in the Golden Gate area almost doubled to 40 miles per hour, and the seas were rough. A garbled radio transmission from Conestoga relayed later by another ship stated the tug was battling a storm and that the barge she was towing had been torn adrift by heavy seas.

Based on the location and orientation of the wreck in 189-foot-deep water, NOAA believes Conestoga sank as officers and crew attempted to reach a protected cove on the island.

Related: Civil War-era shipwreck found off North Carolina coast

This would have been a desperate act, as the approach is difficult and the area was the setting for five shipwrecks between 1858 and 1907, according to NOAAs report on the Conestoga discovery. However, as Conestoga was in trouble and filling with water, it seemingly was the only choice to make.

Video, from cameras mounted on remotely operated vehicles used to explore the wreck site, shows the wreck lying on the seabed and largely intact. The size of the wreck and many of its features - the four-bladed, 12-foot 3-inch diameter propeller; the steam engine and boilers a large steam towing winch with twisted wire on the drum; two porcelain marine heads; and a single, 3-inch, 50-caliber gun that was mounted on the main deck in front of the pilot house  helped NOAA confirm this was the Conestoga.

No human remains, however, were discovered at the site.
The New Kingdom Pharaoh Ramesses III was assassinated by multiple assailants  and given postmortem cosmetic surgery to improve his mummy's appearance.

Those are some of the new tidbits on ancient Egyptian royalty detailed in a new book by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and Cairo University radiologist Sahar Saleem, "Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies" (American University in Cairo Press, 2016).

Hawass and Saleem studied royal mummies from the 18th to 20th dynasties of Egypt, spanning from about 1543 B.C. to 1064 B.C. Rulers during this period included famous names like Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Tutankhamun, Seti I and the murdered Ramesses III. Previously, Hawass and colleagues had reported that Ramesses III's throat was slit, likely killing him instantly. Now, Saleem, one of the authors of that study, has found that the pharaoh's toe was hacked off, likely with an ax, suggesting he was set upon by multiple assailants with different weapons. [In Photos: The Mummy of King Ramesses III]

"The site of foot injury is anatomically far from the neck-cut wound; also the shape of the fractured toe bones indicate that it was induced by a different weapon than that used to induce the neck cut," Saleem wrote in an email to Live Science. "So there must have been an assailant with an ax/sword attacking the king from the front, and another one with a knife or a dagger attacking the king from his back, both attacking at the same time."

A murderous plot

Ancient papyrus documents refer to a plot to assassinate Ramesses III, who ruled Egypt from 1186 B.C. to 1155 B.C. But until researchers studied the pharaoh's mummy with computed tomography (CT) scanning, they didn't have any evidence that the plot had succeeded. Then, in 2012, researchers reported the discovery that Ramesses III's throat had been cut with a sharp knife, severing his trachea and esophagus. He would have died immediately, the team wrote in The BMJ.

Court documents outline the tale of a harem conspiracy to take Ramesses III's life, hatched by one of his wives, Tiye. Her son Pentawere was in line for the throne after his half-brother, Ramesses IV (who was named Amun-her-khepeshef before assuming the throne). Tiye and other members of the royal household, including servants and administrators, meant to kill Ramesses III and then oust Ramesses IV to install Pentawere as ruler. [Bones with Names: Long-Dead Bodies Archaeologists Have ID'ed]

They seem to have succeeded in killing Ramesses III, but were brought to trial for that murder under the rule of Ramesses IV. Tiye, Pentawere and their conspirators were convicted and executed. A mummy thought to be Pentawere's has been studied, and Egyptologists believe he died of suffocation or strangulation. Ancient documents show that Pentawere took his own life after his conviction.

The new book adds detail to this lurid tale, suggesting that Ramesses III's attackers outnumbered him. Part of his big toe had been hacked off and had not healed, meaning the injury happened around the time of death, Saleem said. Embalmers had fashioned a sort of postmortem prosthesis out of linen to replace it when they mummified him.

In fact, the embalmers may have gone the extra mile to try to hide the toe injury. In the late 1800s, an authority at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo tried to unwrap Ramesses III's mummy, but was unable to penetrate the thick layers of resin that covered the bandages around the feet.

"This hid the big secret beneath the wrappings," Saleem said. "It seems to me that this was the intention of the ancient Egyptian embalmers, to deliberately pour large amounts of resin to glue the layers of linen wrappings to the body and feet."

Plastic surgery for mummies

Ramesses III's mummy also underwent the ancient Egyptian version of cosmetic surgery, Saleem and Hawass reported. Packing materials were placed under his skin to "plump out" the corpse and make him look more attractive for his journey to the afterlife. The boy-king Tutankhamun, famous for his lavish burial goods, also got this treatment. Both King Tut's face and limbs were beautified with subcutaneous fillers.

CT scanning has enabled researchers to look at mummies in more detail than ever before, without damaging the fragile wrappings. A 2014 CT study by Saleem and her colleagues found that three pharaohs thought to have a painful back disorder based on X-rays actually had a mild, age-related condition. CT scans have revealed mummy tooth cavities, mummy hairstyles and even errors by ancient embalmers.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The FBI has turned to Israeli mobile forensics specialist Cellebrite to help it open the encrypted iPhone used by one of the shooters in December's deadly attack in San Bernardino, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

Apple is fighting a judges order to help the feds hack the iPhone 5c phone of Syed Rizwan Farook.

Citing unnamed experts familiar with the case, Yedioth reports that the FBI is using the services of Cellebrite. Based in Petah Tikva, Israel, Cellebrite offers a number of products for extracting and analyzing data from mobile devices, as well as advanced investigative services.

Related: FBI may have found way to unlock San Bernardino attacker's iPhone

Cellebrites website says that it can support more than 19,000 device profiles and cites more than 15,000 law enforcement and military users of its technology.

Yedioth reports that Cellebrite provides the FBI with decryption technology as part of a contract signed in 2013.

A federal judge canceled a hearing Tuesday in the legal battle to force Apple to break into an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernadino attackers, after federal officials said in a court filing they may have found another way to access the device.

Related: Here's how the FBI might crack the San Bernardino iPhone

In a filing late Monday, federal prosecutors said "an outside party" has come forward and shown the FBI a possible method for unlocking the phone used by one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 terror attack.

An FBI spokesman told FoxNews.com that the agency is not able to comment on the identity of the outside party helping its investigation.

Cellebrite declined to comment when contacted by FoxNews.com.

Related: Apple unveils new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro

In a statement released earlier this week, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said the government is "cautiously optimistic" that the unnamed outside partys possible method for unlocking the phone will work.

Newman added that the method was demonstrated this past weekend.

"We must first test this method to ensure that it doesnt destroy the data on the phone, but we remain cautiously optimistic," she said. "That is why we asked the court to give us some time to explore this option."

If the method works, the government said in the filing, "it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple."

Related: Apple extends its reach with new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro

For more than a month, the government and Apple have waged a very public debate over whether breaking into one phone would jeopardize the security of all encrypted devices.

Apple CEO Tim Cook briefly mentioned the companys ongoing iPhone battle with the FBI during the tech giants product launch event Monday.

"We built the iPhone for you, our customers, and we know that its a deeply personal device, he said. We need to decide, as a nation, how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy.

Cook, who said that Apple did not expect to be in this position, added that Apple will remain steadfast in its opposition to the court order. This is an issue that affects all of us, and we will not shirk from this responsibility, he explained.

Fox News' Matt Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jesus' time on earth before his resurrection was anything but a failure, the Rev. Billy Graham said in a recent post.

Responding to a question posted to the "My Answers" portion of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's website, the 97-year-old religious leader said that only Jesus' enemies would have seen His time on earth as unsuccesful.

The question asked if Jesus' mission on earth was a failure, as he had hoped to be made king on earth but was rather killed.

Graham responds by saying that "Jesus had no desire to become an earthly king  as He repeatedly made clear. Instead, He came into the world to establish another type of kingdom  a spiritual kingdom, drawing together all who put their faith and trust in Him as their Savior, and committed themselves to follow Him as their Lord."

The evangelical leader indicates that this spiritual kingdom was far better than any earthly kingdom, because this Kingdom of God "would never end, for it was part of God's eternal plan for the human race."

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
The Texas man convicted of killing a city worker in 2005, whose sentence was appealed to and ultimately upheld by U.S. Supreme Court, was executed Tuesday evening.

Adam Ward, 33, received a lethal injection for shooting and killing Michael Walker in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas. Walker was a code enforcement officer who had been taking photos of junk piled outside the Ward family home.

Ward insisted the shooting was in self-defense, but the 44-year-old Walker only had a camera and a cellphone.

The execution came after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal that argued Ward's mental illness, including delusions, should have disqualified him from the death penalty.

Ward's attorneys say he's delusional and should not be put to death because of his mental illness.

Ward insisted he was defending himself when he killed code enforcement officer Michael Walker, who was taking photos of junk piled outside the Ward family home in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas.

"Only time any shots were fired on my behalf was when I was matching force with force," Ward told The Associated Press last month from a visiting cage outside death row. "I wish it never happened but it did, and I have to live with what it is."

In a videotaped statement to police following his arrest, Ward said he believed Commerce officials long conspired against him and his father, described in court filings as a hoarder who had been in conflict with the city for years. Evidence showed the Ward family had been cited repeatedly for violating housing and zoning codes.

In their appeal to the high court, Ward's attorneys renewed arguments that he is mentally ill and contended his execution would be unconstitutional because of evolving sentiment against executing the mentally ill.

The justices have ruled that mentally impaired people, generally those with an IQ below 70, may not be executed. However, the court has said mentally ill prisoners may be executed if they understand they are about to be put to death and why they face the punishment.

State attorneys, who said evidence showed Ward's IQ as high as 123, said the late appeal did not raise a new issue, meaning it was improper and without merit. They also disputed claims of changing attitudes about executing the mentally ill.

Evidence of Ward's delusions, paranoia and bipolar disorder was presented at his 2007 trial and resurfaced in earlier unsuccessful appeals. The Supreme Court last October refused to review Ward's case.

"It's frustrating, tormenting, it's depressing," Dick Walker, the father of the man killed, said Monday. "I believe in appeals. I really do. ... It shouldn't drag on for almost 11 years."

Witnesses said Walker was taking photos of the Ward property on June 13, 2005, when he and Ward got into an argument.

Walker told Ward he was calling for assistance. Ward thought that meant police were on their way to kill him, Ward's lead trial attorney, Dennis Davis, said last week.

"Mr. Walker walked into a hornet's nest and didn't know it," Davis said.

Walker made the call and waited near the back of his truck. Ward went inside the house, emerged with a .45-caliber pistol and started firing. Walker was shot nine times.

"I think the only thing he was there for was harassment," Ward said from prison.

Dick Walker, an emergency medical technician when the shooting happened, was the first medic to arrive at the Ward property. He said he "had to intubate my own son on scene to save his life."

He said he's spent years "getting rid of my anger" and in the last year prayed to forgive Ward for the slaying. Still, he believes the punishment is justified.

"I do want him to get the sentence he was given by the jury, and he definitely deserves it," said Dick Walker, who planned to witness Ward's execution.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The estranged wife of internationally renowned pianist Vadym Kholodenko sought mental treatment the day before their two young daughters were found dead in the family's North Texas home, police said Tuesday.

Sofya Tsygankova is accused of capital murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko.

Vadym Kholodenko called police Thursday after arriving at the family's home in Benbrook, Texas, and finding the two girls, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday.

Tsygankova was kneeling on the floor wearing a blood-stained nightgown and "rocking back and forth," the affidavit says. She had wounds on her wrist and chest, and a butcher knife was found near the home's patio.

An empty bottle labeled with her name and the anti-psychotic drug Quetiapine was found on the kitchen counter, police said. Authorities later learned she had visited a mental health facility the day before.

Tsygankova was first taken to a Fort Worth hospital, where, according to the affidavit, she told police she remembered putting her 5-year-old daughter to sleep and seeing her 1-year-old daughter asleep in her crib. Autopsies are still pending for both girls.

She also told police she remembered taking pills and believed she hurt herself with a knife, but asked the officers if she had done "anything bad" to the girls.

Tsygankova was booked Tuesday into the Tarrant County jail.

Her attorney, Joetta Keene, said she plans to plead not guilty on behalf of Tsygankova at an arraignment hearing Wednesday. Keene declined to comment on the specific allegations of the affidavit.

"This is, no doubt, a very heartbreaking case for everyone involved," she said.

The Ukranian-born Kholodenko won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth in 2013, beating nearly 30 finalists from 12 countries. He and Tsygankova were married in 2010 and filed for divorce last year. Kholodenko no longer lived at the home with Tsygankova and their daughters, but routinely picked up the children from the home in the mornings.

According to the affidavit, Kholodenko had called Wednesday night and spoken to 5-year-old Nika. He and Tsygankova agreed he would pick Nika up the next morning and take her to school.

The girls were buried Monday at a private service. A memorial service was scheduled for Tuesday night.
Leadership in the United Methodist Church are calling upon the denomination to adopt $12 million in cuts for the upcoming budget planned for the next four years.

The UMC General Secretaries Table met Monday in Nashville and announced Tuesday that they supported a reduction in the proposed budget from $611 million to $599 million.

According to the statement released by the general secretaries, if adopted the $599 million quadrennial budget would be the lowest in 16 years.

"The formula would roll back the general church apportionments to the lowest percentage since the current apportionment formula was introduced in 2001 and represents a $4.1 million cut from the budget General Conference adopted for the current quadrennium," added the leadership.

Representing various general boards and general commissions, the secretaries at the Monday meeting acknowledged in their announcement that the "reduction to $599 million will impose hardships and require reworking ministry plans."

"But with appreciation for the creative strategies undertaken by annual conferences and congregations, and in accord with churchwide efforts to reach and serve more people in more places, they agreed that reducing the base rate percentage used to determine annual conference apportionments is timely and appropriate," continued the statement by the leadership.

Moses Kumar, general secretary and treasurer for the UMC General Council on Finance and Administration, told The Christian Post that proposal was unaimously endorsed by those at the meeting.

"The General Council on Finance and Administration and Connectional Table will meet in the near future to determine whether to adopt the recommendation of the General Secretaries and make it their own proposal to the General Conference," said Kumar.

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
210316 PARENTS CONCERN OVER EDUCATION

BY Tom Kathoa

A good number of parents in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville have expressed concern over the delays in dealing with their children education by certain secondary schools.

One such parent who asked that her name be withheld said she told by the Provincial Education Board(PEB) to enrol her child at Mabiri Technical High School in Central Bougainville.

But, since then her child is still at home, because the school says there is no space at the school.

The concern mother says it seems there is a break-down of communication between the schools and the education department.

Such action by the education department and those involved in the education of the young should not be allowed to continue, because it is denying the children right to be educated.

Ends.


Police who dismissed a California womans kidnapping as a hoax akin to the Hollywood movie, Gone Girl, damaged her and her boyfriends reputations and forced them to move, a lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.

The suit by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, accuses Vallejo police of defamation and infliction of emotional distress and seeks unspecified damages. It names the City of Vallejo and two police officers as defendants.

"News outlets across the world likened Huskins to the lead character in the film Gone Girl, and placed Huskinss picture next to that of the lead character, including one depicting the character naked and covered in blood"  Lawsuit

Calls to police and the city attorneys office were not immediately returned. The city has apologized to Huskins and Quinn.

Police waged a campaign of disparagement against Huskins and Quinn following Huskins abduction last March and created a media frenzy with their Gone Girl theory, according to the lawsuit.

News outlets across the world likened Huskins to the lead character in the film Gone Girl, and placed Huskinss picture next to that of the lead character, including one depicting the character naked and covered in blood, the lawsuit says.

Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Matthew Muller - a disbarred Harvard University-trained attorney - with kidnapping Huskins from her Vallejo home.

Muller has pleaded not guilty.

Huskins boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, reported that kidnappers broke into the couples home, abducted Huskins and demanded money.

Huskins turned up safe two days later in her hometown of Huntington Beach, where she says she was dropped off. She showed up hours before the ransom was due.

After Huskins reappeared, Vallejo police said at a news conference the kidnapping was a hoax.

Police held and interrogated Quinn as if he had already been convicted of murdering Huskins after he reported the abduction instead of pursuing Huskins kidnapper, according to the lawsuit. While they were questioning Quinn, they put his phone in airplane mode and did not receive calls from Huskins abductor, the lawsuit says.

Muller was arrested in South Lake Tahoe in connection with an attempted robbery in Dublin, California, in June. Investigators say they found evidence that linked him to Huskins abduction.
DaVorius Gray thought it was all a game, holding his breath and tying a scarf tightly around his neck until he passed out. He was playing Passout Challenge last Monday night, upstairs in his Lyman, South Carolina, home.

But something happened and the game went horribly wrong  and Darius died the next day. He was just 11.

This is just a guess, but he and his sister were playing, and his sister left the room, and he may have stumbled or fallen, and choked himself, Mark Pangel, a a family friend and the pastor of 4 Points Church in Greer, South Carolina, told LifeZette.

He wanted to make it look like he was hanging himself as a game  and it cost him his life.

Pangel is the one who baptized DaVorius, nicknamed Chi Chi.

Passout Challenge, Hangman and other online games of asphyxia are not games at all, but deadly challenges that kids participate in and then post on the Internet. The aim is to go the farthest and shock viewers, passing out on purpose  sometimes even with friends pushing on their friends chests as they lose consciousness, sometimes also strangling themselves  and recording it all, for fleeting Internet glory.

Grays mom, Latrice Rice Hurst, wants parents to monitor their childrens online habits and know exactly what theyre doing, so that no one has to suffer as she is suffering, said Mark Pangel.

Ive been with the family, I was there in the hospital when Darius passed, the pastor told LifeZette. We all prayed for a miracle, but God saw fit to bring Chi Chi home.

Through Pangel, Hurst released a statement about her sons death, and what she wants other parents to know about the dangers of unsupervised time online.

"If I could rewind time, I would go back and monitor heavily his use of social media, YouTube and the Internet," she said in her statement. "He (Darius) was on a sight called Kick and had been playing games called Hangman and 'Pass-out Challenge,' where kids choke themselves to the point of passing out and it is apparently a widely popular game."

She added, "He showed no signs of depression or destructive behavior, but Davorius was a prankster and loved to play tricks. He talked about how much he loved his family and people and never showed us any sign otherwise. I would just say I dont believe young people should be on social media and it should be limited to adults, or at the very least with extreme adult supervision where the parents can see everything that takes place on the sites. (This) should be a requirement."

She went on to say: "Chi Chi loved people and loved life. I hate (that) this happened and I feel part of me died but I feel Chi Chi has been given a platform to help others in his passing to realize the dangers of playing with fire. This tragic loss of my son has opened up dialogue between students and teachers, students praying and our community coming together, understanding the only healing is through a relationship with Jesus Christ."

Said Mark Pangel, "If we arent going to parent our kids, then someone else will, and its not going to be anyone we want doing that job. We are so hoping that (this child's) passing helps save lives; thats why his mother is reaching beyond her own pain and suffering and reaching out to say something about these games and social media use in general for kids."

The death of DaVorius Gray death has caused the community, black and white alike, to pull together through their shared Christian faith.

"Heres our hope," said Pangel. "That God will use our pain  particularly the familys pain  as a platform. The problem is that we think we can always buy our way out of things. But then something like this tragedy happens, and we see that we are all lost, all hopeless, and we need to meet the Savior."

Pangel paused, then added quietly, "The shortest passage in the Bible is, Jesus wept. He didnt weep because Lazarus was dead  he knew Lazarus was just fine, he was with the Lord. Jesus wept because Lazarus family was hurting."

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Seven hackers tied to the Iranian government were charged Thursday in a series of punishing cyberattacks on a small dam outside New York City and on dozens of banks -- intrusions that reached into American infrastructure and disrupted the financial system, federal law enforcement officials said.

The hackers were charged in indictments unsealed and announced at a Justice Department news conference in Washington.

All seven worked for Iranian computer companies that did work on behalf of the Iranian government, the U.S. said.

It's unclear exactly why the suspects may have targeted this particular dam, but the attacks from 2011 to 2013 disabled bank websites and caused tens of millions of dollars in losses, the charges say.

One of the seven is accused of gaining access to the control system of the Bowman Avenue Dam, a small flood-control structure in Rye Brook, about 20 miles north of New York City.

The seven accused hackers worked for a pair of Iranian computer companies linked to the Iranian government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the U.S. said.

None of the individuals is in American custody, and it's not clear whether they will ever be arrested or whether criminal indictments in absentia can be effective in combatting such crimes. Officials said the goal of such cases is to put cybercriminals on notice that their mouse clicks can be traced, even if they're on the other side of the globe.

"The message of this case is that we will work together to shrink the world and impose costs on these people so that no matter where they are, we will reach them," said FBI Director James Comey.

The Iranian connection first came to light in December.

Thursday's announcement is the latest instance of the Obama administration publicly blaming foreign nations for damaging cyber intrusions.

The Justice Department in May 2014 indicted five Chinese military officials suspected of hacking into several major American companies and stealing trade secrets.

And that December, the federal government linked a damaging attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment to North Koreans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Police say a man delivered a doughnut stuffed with Xanax pills to a New Jersey high school.

Police say 21-year-old Brian Perry of Mount Holly told the main office at Bordentown Regional High School that the bag contained lunch for 18-year-old senior Ilker Ceylan of Bordentown Township.

Police say school officials on Mar. 16 became suspicious and discovered a small plastic bag containing six prescription pills placed in the doughnut's hole.

Perry faces drug possession and distribution charges. Ceylan also faces drug possession and distribution charges along with an additional charge of marijuana possession.

It is not known if they have lawyers who can comment.
A California family appealed Tuesday to the state's highest court in their fight to keep a 6-year-old foster child who was removed from their home after a lower court said her 1/64th Native American bloodline requires that she live with relatives.

The family's lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the request for the California Supreme Court to hear the appeal.

McGill also requested that custody of the child named Lexi be returned to Rusty and Summer Page until the appeal is decided.

The Pages have fought efforts under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act to place Lexi with relatives of her father, who is part Choctaw. The Pages argued that Lexi has lived with them since the age of 2 and considers them her family.

However, a court found that the Pages have not proven Lexi would suffer emotional harm by the transfer.

The Pages have three children and want to adopt Lexi, who was 17 months old when she was removed from the custody of her birth parents. Her mother had substance abuse problems, and her father had a criminal history, according to court records.

Dozens of cases involving foster families have gone to court around the country after the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in the late 1970s.

Lawmakers found that Native American families were broken up at disproportionately high rates, and that cultural ignorance and biases within the child welfare system were largely to blame.

Lexi cried and clutched a stuffed bear on Monday as Rusty Page carried her out of his home near Los Angeles and Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away in a waiting car.

"How is it that a screaming child, saying, 'I want to stay, I'm scared,' how is it in her best interest to pull her from the girl she was before that doorbell rang?" Rusty Page told KNX-AM radio.

A crowd of friends and neighbors wept, prayed or sang hymns.

Under the transfer, Lexi will live with a Utah couple who are not Native Americans but are related by marriage to her father.

The girl's sister is living with the couple, and another sister will be living down the street, said Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center of California, Lexi's court-appointed legal representatives.

"The law is very clear that siblings should be kept together whenever they can be, and they should be placed together even if they were not initially together," Heimov told the Los Angeles Daily News (http://bit.ly/1pYtXlg ).

She said Lexi and the Utah family had traded messages and had monthly visits during the past three years.

"She has a loving relationship with them," Heimov said. "They are not strangers in any way, shape or form."

The National Indian Child Welfare Association said in a statement that the Pages were aware for years that the girl was an American Indian but chose to "drag out litigation as long as possible, creating instability for the child."

The Choctaw Nation said it "desires the best for this Choctaw child."

In 2015, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued guidance on implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act  clarifying that tribes alone are responsible for determining who is a member.

Wenona Singel, a law professor at Michigan State University, said membership requirements vary among tribes, with some being more restrictive than others.

"The issue is not what degree of Choctaw ancestry a child has," Singel said. "Rather the issue is whether the child is a citizen of the tribe in question or eligible for citizenship."

Singel is a member of a tribe in Michigan.

There is still considerable disagreement over the application of the law and whether it serves children's best interest, said Ralph Richard Banks, a professor at Stanford Law School.

Once a child is placed with a Native American family, it is highly unlikely that the decision would be reversed, he added.

"It would be fairly extraordinary for an appeals court to reverse that," he said.
The nanny state is hard at work in Rhode Island, telling parents how long they can leave their children unattended, or if they can leave them alone at all.

A bill is being debated there right now that would make it a crime for a child younger than age 7 to be alone in a car, while additional legislation proposes that kids under age 10 could legally not stay home alone. If the legislation passes, even older kids could no longer be home alone at night.

Private preschools wont be left out of the scrutiny of the law, either: If the temperature drops below freezing, it would be illegal for kids to be permitted to play outside.

Lenore Skenazy, an author and public speaker who runs the popular parenting blog Free Range Parenting, says on her blog of the legislation, At last, our precious children, from pre-K through elementary school, will be safe from outdoor recess during the long winter months. The kids can rest inside quietly, like invalids.

Boston-area mom Sharon Finberg argues for a return to the days of good old parenting when it comes to little kids playing outside, telling LifeZette, Whatever happened to common sense, and dressing for the weather?

Rhode Island legislators say they're just catching up to other states that have enacted similar laws to keep kids safe. Illinois put tough laws on its books in the 1990s about kids being home alone, and other states followed.

"We have kids constantly home alone. Its a danger," Rhode Island state senator William Walaska, who introduced the home-alone legislation, told Yahoo News. "Imagine they open up a cupboard and theres some chemicals in there."

Nineteen states currently have laws against leaving kids alone in cars.

Sen. Leonidis Raptakis, a Democrat, originally wanted to impose a fine of up to $1,000 if a parent or guardian is caught leaving a child alone in a car, or stripping the offender of a drivers license. After a public outcry, the senator amended his proposed legislation to copy a Texas law that still makes it a misdemeanor to leave a child alone in a car  but gives a grace period of 5 minutes.

"If you have a child under 7, they can usually get themselves out of a vehicle," Sen. Raptakis told LifeZette. "If a parent needs to run into a CVS, a drugstore, for 5 minutes, thats usually okay. But longer than that, 10 minutes, is not. An animal isnt allowed to stay in a hot car. Why should a child?"

"There are a lot of very, very careless parents out there  they just dont care," Raptakis continued. "In many states there is a fine for leaving unattended young children in a car."

Melissa Smith Synott of Reading, Massachusetts, told LifeZette, "This legislation feels way too intrusive to me [the being home alone part, more than the car part]. It completely depends on the kid. My older son was fine to be alone for short periods of time when he was 9, but I didn't do the same with my younger son because he was just not as mature and responsible at the same age."

The new Rhode Island legislation seeks to take away that discretion, mandating a one-size-fits-all prescriptive for child safety  and no matter what socioeconomic bracket citizens are in. If you are lower income and cant afford a sitter, be prepared to drag your children everywhere. Also, be prepared to tell your boss you cant work a night shift because your 13-year-old would be home alone.

"Basically we are punishing people who dont have the resources to be helicopter parents, as if helicopter parenting is essential, which its not," Skenazy pointed out on her blog.

Boston-area mom Rachel Gray echoed that point. "This brings up the quandary over a two-parent working household. The intent is understandable, but potentially discriminates against the socioeconomic reality of many families."

Skenazy is firm on the ludicrous nature of legislating parental decisions. "These laws are preposterous," she wrote on freerangeparenting.com. "They assume its the governments job to dictate family life. They criminalize maturity in children and common sense in parents and turn mundane decisions  like running out to do an errand  into legal minefields."

Child welfare agencies may quickly become overwhelmed by new cases if the legislation passes, stressing an already burdened system.

Boston mom Marianne McLaughlin Downing weighed in on the difficulty of making legislation match real-world situations: "There probably is a difference between being alone in the car where the car is out of sight of the parent, and alone in a car that you have in view, or are monitoring. No matter how 'common sense' you want legislation to be, there will be common sense exceptions to it, idiots who will ignore it and do worse  and rare, tragic things that happen in spite of it."

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One Maine couple wants you to survive the apocalypse in style.

Dave and Sue Prentiss, of the bucolic town of Limestone, are looking to sell their near-20 acre property, which comes complete with an underground missile silo -- the kind that are favored by the prepping community to be retrofitted into livable bunkers in case the end of the world is upon us.

[D]on't worry about your home glowing in the dark, Dave Prentiss told the Bangor Daily News. The warheads that used to be stored there weren't nuclear. If they had been nukes, I wouldnt have touched this place on a bet.

It's not easy to find comps for a converted missile silo, but 20th Century Castles, which is brokering the sale, estimates the value of the property at somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000.

It was three decades ago when Prentiss and his wife, who lived in New Hampshire at the time, were house-hunting in northern Maine for a place where they could not only live, but operate his car restoration business. They found this former Nike missile launch site -- just a stones throw from the former Loring Air Force Base.

Prentiss said he and his wife were drawn to the property because the missile assembly and testing building on the 17-acre property was perfect for a workshop. But after 25 years, he said they want a smaller -- and more othodox --- home.

We are looking to downsize a bit, Prentiss told FoxNews.com. Retirement is in sight.

Prentiss added that he enjoyed living on the property, which was originally used as part of Project Nike (Greek for the word victory), a U.S. Army program enacted in 1944 after it was proposed by Bell Labs as a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system within our borders.

Its been great. A cool place to live, he said. Very quiet. Very peaceful.Its been heaven.

The Nike defense program was the first of its kind and led to the development of the first operational anti-aircraft missile system in the U.S., the Nike Ajax, in 1953. The development of the Ajax led to other missiles being developed and the same technology was used by NASA in the creation of the Nike Smoke Rocket, which was used for upper atmosphere research.

Prentiss' property also contained barracks, which housed, at any given time, 100 military members that operated the facility when it was an active missile base.

Weve had people who were stationed here come back, Dave recalls. We even had a previous base commander come back.

We didnt know a lot about the original use of this place when we moved in, but we learned all about it over the years.

The Nike missile sites were eventually decommissioned and the missiles were removed by the military. After the site at Limestone was shut down in the early 1960s, it went through a few private owners before the Prentisses purchased the property in 1985.

It was really in deplorable shape, Prentiss told the newspaper, adding that the property was overrun with weeds and scrub brush and that the buildings were in various states of disrepair.

Instead of turning one of the buildings on the property into living quarters, the couple decided to build a new two-bedroom home there between the assembly shop and the former barracks.

Beneath the surface is the massive magazine, or storehouse, for the missiles, with electrical connections and nearly 10,000 square feet of usable space.

When we first moved in, we were always going down there to check it out, Prentiss tells FoxNews.com about having a missile silo as his basement. Its commonplace now. We dont go down for months on end.

The underground silos were used to prep and store missiles for a possible launch during the height of the cold war. The structures, below and above ground, were reinforced to withstand direct hits during a military attack.

Its got some of the hardest and most durable structures ever made by man, Edward Peden, owner of 20th Century Castles, which specializes in the private sales of decommissioned missile bases, told FoxNews.com. These old Nike sites were made of very heavy and durable concrete. It is some of the best to resist a nuclear blast.

And Im sure the government put millions into retrofitting the property," he added.
An Indiana sheriff's deputy fatally wounded in a gunfight was remembered during a moment of silence Monday before a procession left Indianapolis to return his body to the community he served.

Dozens of police officers surrounded Deputy Carl Koontz's police car during Monday's ceremony outside the Howard County Criminal Justice Center in Kokomo. The ceremony requested by Koontz's widow, Kassandra, was held 24 hours after he was pronounced dead at an Indianapolis hospital where he was rushed after Sunday's shooting.

"You can only imagine the loss here, a wife with a small child... It's just what you can imagine, as far as the stress and the sadness we're dealing with right now."  Sheriff

A procession with a hearse escorted by police motorcycles and trailed by several dozen police cars left the Marion County Coroner's office in Indianapolis for the 60-mile journey to return Koontz's body to Kokomo.

Koontz was fatally wounded early Sunday during a gunfight inside a mobile home in Russiaville while he was helping serve arrest and search warrants.

Sgt. Jordan Buckley, who was wounded in the gunfight, was hospitalized after the shooting but was released from an Indianapolis hospital Monday in time to take part in Koontz's procession.

The gunman, 25-year-old Evan T. Dorsey, was found dead inside the mobile home about two hours after the gunfight ended, Howard County Sheriff Steve Rogers said Monday.

Preliminary autopsy reports show Koontz died of a single gunshot wound to his pelvis and that Dorsey died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Coroners ruled Koontz's dead a homicide.

Officers had been trying to serve search and arrest warrants on Dorsey, who was wanted in adjacent Clinton County for failing to appear for a court hearing on a syringe possession charge. Dorsey had already served time in state prison on drug-related charges.

Rogers said the killing of Koontz, the father an 8-month-old son, had left his department shaken and in mourning.

"You can only imagine the loss here, a wife with a small child," he said. "... It's just what you can imagine, as far as the stress and the sadness we're dealing with right now."

Gov. Mike Pence on Monday called the 27-year-old Koontz a "courageous young man."

Koontz was also remembered during a vigil Monday held by students and staff at Northwestern School Corp., the Kokomo school where he worked twice a week as a school resource officer.

Principal Kristen Bilkey said she was amazed by the number of people at the school who sent her emails saying how much Koontz meant to them.

"They counted on him, because they knew he would be there for them," she told the Kokomo Tribune.
The unidentified man who climbed an 80-foot sequoia tree in Seattle came down Wednesday after an unusual standoff with police that drew national attention.

Despite hours of police coaxing, the man refused to leave his perch near the top of the tree in downtown Seattle. It is unclear why the man climbed the tree or his mental state, but he was taken away by authorities on a stretcher.

The man, appeared disheveled with a large beard, longer hair and a red knit hat he dropped during the day, has also ripped multiple branches from the tree and tossed them at the ground and at negotiators, who caught many of them.

The standoff prompted a trendin Twitter hashtag #ManInTree.

The man's treetop sitting has also attracted onlookers on the street below and a local TV station livestreamed video of the man online as he dozed, shouted and knocked around a stick.

"It is quite a spectacle, honestly," police spokesman Patrick Michaud told The Seattle Times. Hillary Clinton was staying at a nearby hotel, Q13Fox.com reported.

Michaud said police want to make sure the man can get down without hurting himself or someone else and added that rushing it could create a dangerous situation. Police have said he appears to be suffering from a crisis and has been yelling intermittently.

Seattle police say when authorities arrived at the base of the lofty conifer next to Macy's department store, the man refused to speak with them and threw an apple at medics.

The man, appearing disheveled with a large beard, longer hair and a red knit hat he dropped during the day, has also ripped multiple branches from the tree and tossed them at the ground and at negotiators, who caught many of them.

The man scrambled down toward the bottom just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, but soon made his way back up, snapping branches along the way.

Seattle Department of Transportation officials will review the health of the tree, believed to have been there since the 1970s, once the incident is resolved, police said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
The owners of a duplex in Texas said Tuesday that a demolition company mistakenly tore down their building after it barely survived a tornado the day after Christmas.

WFAA.com reported that the duplexs owners were waiting for possible FEMA assistance due to the damage from the storm. The report said Billy L. Nabors Demolition was supposed to tear down a home on the next block.

How do you make a mistake like this? Lindsay Diaz, one of the duplex owners, asked the station. I mean, this is just the worst.

The demolition company unltimately told WFAA it was "not a big deal." Diaz filed an information report with police to document the incident.

Thats what their job is -- to wreck it in demo, and they really wrecked my life, Diaz said.
210316 POWER TO CLOSE SERVICE

By Tom Kathoa

ABG Health Secretary, Clement Totavun issue a strong appeal to the people of Haku on Buka Island to take ownership of the redeveloped Lemanmanu Health Centre.

Mr Totavan while asking the people to look after the centre must not also harass hospital staff adding that he has the power to close the facility and relocate staff to another location.

Secretary Totavun says, staff are there to provide service to the community and their safety must be guaranteed by the local community.

The health workers also go through a lot of hard work in attending to the sick and therefore should be respected.

Ends.


Even the most casual fan of Superman has got to wonder: Why didnt Lois Lane ever put two and two together and realize Superman and Clark Kent were one in the same?

Sure, they were never in the same place at the same time. And Clark had those glasses. But still  wouldnt someone as smart as Lois Lane have made the connection?

Then I start to think of my very own superhero, Super Mom. Shes brilliant and articulate about current events. Her kids are well-behaved. Her house is spotless. She serves balanced meals, made from scratch  probably organic, too. And her whole family is ridiculously cute.

This is in stark contrast to my life. My most brilliant ramblings have to do with reality television. My four-year-old daughter likes to run away from me at the grocery store. My house is messy. Pop-Tarts and frozen pizza are considered dinner. And ridiculously cute  well, I guess we are.

Except in the mornings, when were all crabby and unbathed.

Some days, I manage to pull it together. The kids get to school on time. I impress my boss at work. We sit down for a family dinner when we get home. No one whines. No one yells. Were the quintessential suburban American family in the middle of the country  Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to be exact.

Then there are days when everything falls apart. One of the kids gets sick, so I have to skip an important work meeting to play nurse. Dinner is cold cereal. The kids argue. And I pick a fight with my husband to try to make myself feel better. Im not able to give anything 100 percent of my attention, and all I want to do is run away. Its rough.

But its also totally normal.

Still, I cant help but wonder what Im doing wrong. If Super Mom can do it all, why cant I? Do I need glasses I can whisk off?

Sure, from the outside, Super Mom may look like she has it together. In reality, shes just an ordinary mom. As outsiders, we only see the fabulous dinner party that the mom of three was able to pull off. We dont see that, behind the scenes, she got in a fight with her husband because he forgot to take out the garbage, that she yelled at her kids for getting underfoot, and that she actually had the whole shindig catered. (Come on, you've been to those dinners, right?)

But by the time we arrived, this mom was calm, cool, collected, and coiffed.

"Oh, this? This is nothing," she says. "Hardly took any time at all."

Why dont more moms make the connection? It would sure save a lot of heartache to realize early on that the secret behind Super Mom is that she doesnt exist at all  or that, rather, she doesnt exist all the time. No one person can do it all every minute of the day.

We all think other moms are doing it better, but really, were all doing the same thing  trying to do our best. I know I am.

Lets drop the act. Lets admit when we fail. Let's help each other up when we can.

I didnt make the beds this morning (or yesterday, or the day before, for that matter). I dont wash my floors unless I absolutely have to. And forget about flashcards  my daughter would rather watch YouTube videos.

But the kids and I make cookies together all the time. We dance in the living room. We always read before bed. In short, we have fun.

Oh, and when I know Im having guests over, Ill go into a cleaning frenzy. (Please avert your eyes from the mess in the living room should you stop over when Im not expecting you.)

There will be time later to do the dishes. The time will come too quickly when the kids will be grown.

So while I might not consider myself Super Mom today, Im hopeful that, someday, my kids might remember me as one.

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DEVELOPING: Brussels airport bomb suspect Najim Laachraoui has been captured, according to multiple Belgian media reports. The 25-year-old reportedly was arrested in Brussels' Anderlecht district, adjacent to the Molenbeek district that has become synonymous with homegrown jihadism in Belgium.

Laachraoui had been identified as the third man seen in CCTV footage alongside two other suspected bombers, both of whom killed themselves in the Tuesday morning attacks.

At least 14 others were also killed when the blasts ripped through the airport's departure hall. Laachraoui reportedly fled the scene after his bomb failed to detonate.

Laachraoui is thought to have built the suicide vests used by the attackers who killed 130 people in Paris last Nov. 13, according to a police official who told the Associated Press that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of them and in a Brussels apartment where they were made.

READ AN EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORY BELOW

Two brothers who had ties to the ISIS cell that carried out last November's attacks in Paris reportedly carried out Tuesday's suicide bombings that rocked Brussels.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing a police source, reported that Khalid and Ibrahim El-Bakraoui blew themselves up in a subway train and in the departure hall at the city's international airport respectively, killing at least 34 people and injuring at least 250 others.

The broadcaster had previously reported that both brothers had attacked the Zaventem airport. In light of the corrected report, the identity of a second black-clad airport suicide bomber was not immediately clear.

RTBF reported that Khalid El-Bakraoui, 27, rented an apartment in the Forest section of the city that was raided by authorities March 15. In that raid, a police sniper killed a man identified as Mohamed Belkaid, 35, an Algerian with links to ISIS. Authorities also reportedly found an ISIS flag and a Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition, as well as several detonators that may have been meant to be used in Tuesday's attacks.

The March 15 raid led to Friday's arrest of Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam after one of his fingerprints was discovered in the apartment. Politico Europe, citing a senior Belgian official, reported that Abdeslam was supposed to take part in Tuesday's attacks. The report did not specify what role Abdeslam would have played.

Over the weekend, Belgium's Foreign Minister disclosed that Abdeslam had been preparing further attacks, saying the suspect was "ready to restart something from Brussels."

The Guardian also reported that one of the El-Bakraoui brothers had rented a safe house in Charleroi, Belgium, that was used by Paris attackers Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Bilal Hadfi as a rendezvous point prior to the assaults that killed 130 people in the French capital. The paper also reported that one of the brothers had provided weapons and ammunition to the terrorists who attacked the Bataclan concert hall on that deadly night.

DH reported that in October 2010, Ibrahim El-Bakraoui, 30, was convicted of shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during an attempted robbery. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. In February 2011, the paper reported, Khalid El-Bakraoui was sentenced to five years' probation in connection with a string of carjackings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull criticized security in Europe Wednesday, a little over a day after explosions rocked an airport and Metro station in Brussels killing at least 34 people.

Turnbull told the ABC in Australia that he believed security in Europe was allowed to slip. He also called Europes borders relatively porous, according to Sky News Australia.

The prime minister also took the opportunity to praise Australias border security, but said he couldnt guarantee that there wouldnt be another terrorist attack domestically.

You cannot guarantee that there will be no terrorist incident, Turnbull told the ABC. But I can assure Australians that our security system, our border protection, our domestic security arrangements, are much stronger than they are in Europe where regrettably they allowed security to slip.

Turnbull told Sky News Australia that security officials will have a meeting to review the terror attacks and see how the country could learn from them.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the attacks in Belgium prove that no country is immune to terror attacks. Bishop said there was no information to suggest that any Australians were hurt or involved in any of the attacks.

Belgium police are continuing their nationwide manhunt for the third man seen with the two suspected bombers at the Zaventem Airport before the explosions.

Click for more from ABC News.
The shadowy explosives expert believed to have made bombs for the Belgian terror cell behind Tuesday's carnage in Brussels and the November Paris massacre is now the world's most-wanted man, but strikingly little is known about him.

Officials are hunting Najim Laachraoui, 24, who may also be the elusive man in white seen in a surveillance photo next to two men identified by authorities as suicide bombers at Zaventem Airport. Laachraoui is believed to have built the nail-packed suitcase bombs used in Tuesday's attack at the airport and explosives used in a blast 79 minutes later at a Brussels Metro station. The two attacks killed at least 31 and injured at least 270.

He has also been identified as the bomb-maker who fashioned several suicide belts used in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, where 130 people were killed.



Overnight raids turned up bomb-making materials in a Schaerbeek apartment, including detonators, nails and 15 kilos of acetone peroxide, a highly unstable chemical which is favored by Islamists because it's easy to make. The chemical also was found in the explosives used in the Paris attack.

Born in Morocco, Laachraoui was raised in Brussels' Schaerbeek neighborhood, a predominantly Muslim area, according to The Washington Post. He's believed to have attended a local Catholic high school where he studied electromechanical engineering.

Laachraoui traveled to Syria in February 2013, prosecutors said, and it was not clear when he returned to Europe.

Prosecutors have said Laachraoui played a key role in recruiting and training attackers for ISIS, The Wall Street Journal reported.



He had been linked to Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested Friday in Brussels.

Laachraoui was checked by guards at the Austria-Hungary border on Sept. 9 while driving in a Mercedes with Abdeslam and one other person, Belgium's federal prosecutors said in a statement.



Using a false identity, Laachraoui also rented a house under the name of Soufiane Kayal in the Belgian town of Auvelais. That residence was allegedly used as a safe house, where prosecutors said traces of his DNA were found. That same DNA was later found on explosives used in the Paris attacks. The house was searched Nov. 26.

On Monday, Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said officials wanted to interview Laachraoui, who was "someone who must explain himself."

On Tuesday, coordinated terror attacks ripped through Brussels. Investigators reportedly believe attacks already being plotted were expedited in light of Abdeslam's arrest -- and word that he is cooperating with authorities.
The FBI has sent a "fly team" from its New York field office to assist Belgian authorities in their investigation of the terror attacks in Brussels, a law enforcement source told Fox News Wednesday.

The team consists of agents who will be on the ground conducting interviews to gain any and all intelligence they can on the bombings, the source said.

The FBI is also sending an Evidence Response Team from the FBI Lab in Quantico, Va. to Brussels, according to a law enforcement source.

The special teams are generally looked upon as some of the best forensics teams in the world.

The FBIs Legal Attache Office in Brussels has been working with Belgian authorities since the Tuesday attacks.

Part of that work includes facilitating intelligence sharing between Belgian authorities and U.S. intelligence databases, according to a law enforcement official.

Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday that the Justice Department has been in touch with its Belgian counterparts and stands ready to offer any and all assistance it can.

Fox News Matt Dean has contributed to this report.
A mother from Peru was the first victim of Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels to be identified.

The South American country's Foreign Ministry gave the woman's name as Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37, who was killed in the two suicide blasts at the Belgian capital's airport.

Fernando Tapia, the woman's brother, told Peruvian radio station RPP that his sister was at the airport with her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin 4-year-old daughters Maureen and Alondra, who also have Belgian nationality.

Tapia said his sister planned to catch a flight to New York, where she would meet her sisters. Her husband and daughters were unhurt because they had left the area where the explosions occurred just before the blasts.

At least 34 people were killed in the rush hour attacks at the airport and a central Brussels subway station. Belgium's Health Minister said that 250 others had been wounded in the explosions.

Nine Americans are confirmed to be among the wounded, including a U.S. serviceman and five members of his family and three Mormon missionaries from Utah. The missionaries have been identified as 19-year-old Mason Wells, Joseph Empey, 20, and 66-year-old Richard Norby

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Four men torched an Uber car in Kenyas capital of Nairobi Wednesday, the same day the ride-hailing service launched in the countrys second largest city of Mombasa, police said.

Nairobi Police chief Japheth Koome told The Associated Press a man hired the Uber car to take him to the outskirts of the capital and led the driver to a dark alley.

The driver told police he saw four men approach the car and managed to escape when they tried to restrain him, Koome said, adding that the car was completely burned.

In a statement from Ubers office in South Africa, the company said it is in open dialogue with police regarding the incident, Reuters reports.

In late February an Uber car was burned in Kenya by unknown assailants, according to The Associated Press. Taxi operators last month asked the government to stop the operations of Uber, which has become popular because of its cheaper fares.

The government responded by saying it was drafting new laws on the regulations of online taxi operators, Reuters reports.

The company now operates in nine sub-Saharan African cities, in countries such as South Africa and Nigeria.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, officials have told The Associated Press.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed he had entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks  this time for a man wearing a white jacket who was seen on airport security footage with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

"Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: 'So what if he was arrested? We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,'" said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

"The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening," she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but he'd signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a "secret cell of soldiers" dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks."

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving IS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

"The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training," he said. "Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now."

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but IS has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these "external operation" units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

"This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria."

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

"To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape," said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

"Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days," Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals. DNA evidence indicates he died on Tuesday in the suicide attack on the airport, two officials briefed on the investigation told AP.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material.

The unidentified man seen on security footage wearing a white jacket and black hat at the Brussels airport on Tuesday remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.
Secretary of State John Kerry is traveling to Brussels on Friday to discuss the deadly attacks with top Belgian and European officials.

State Department spokesman John Kirby says Kerry will visit the Belgian capital to "formally express the condolences of the United States for the loss of life" in Tuesday's bombings at the Brussels airport and subway.

He also will voice support for Belgian efforts to investigate the attacks and combat violent extremism.

At least 34 people were killed, including three suicide bombers, and more than 270 were wounded in the attacks claimed by Islamic State extremists.

Kerry is currently in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin and other officials on Syria and Ukraine.
News Articles from 21st March 2016 to 24th March 2014

210316 Nicks UNI GRADUATES

By Tom Kathoa

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr NICK PENIAI has challenged the ABG Government to look into assisting Bougainville students studying overseas.

Mr Peniai issued the challenge when congratulating four Bougainville students who graduated with degrees in Phillipines at the weekend

The five graduates are part of the program initiated by Mr Peniai in 2012.

A happy Mr Peniai told New Dawn FM that he is happy his program initiated in 2012 is achieving result.

Ends


The shadowy terrorist believed to have made the explosives used in Tuesday's attacks in Brussels and the November massacre in Paris was one of two suicide bombers who died at Zaventem Airport, sources told Fox News.

Morrocan-born Najim Laachraoui, 24, was identified by law enforcement sources as one of two Islamic terrorists seen pushing suitcase bombs and wearing single "dead man's hand" black gloves - in a surveillance photo. The gloves are believed to have hidden detonators. A third man seen in the photo is believed to have escaped the scene and is being hunted.



Laachraoui is suspected of also making the bomb used in a blast 79 minutes later at a Brussels Metro station, as well as the explosives used to kill 130 in the the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks in Paris.

ISIS has claimed credit for Tuesday's carnage in Brussels.

The announcement came following a day of uncertainty regarding the explosives mastermind. At a midday news conference, Belgian authorities appeared not to know of his fate and he was believed to be the subject of a nationwide dragnet.

Raids on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning uncovered his suspected factory, turning up bomb-making materials in a Schaerbeek apartment, including detonators, nails and 15 kilos of acetone peroxide, a highly unstable chemical which is favored by Islamists because it's easy to make. The chemical also was found in the explosives used in the Paris attack.

Laachraoui was raised in Brussels' Schaerbeek neighborhood, a predominantly Muslim area, according to The Washington Post. He's believed to have attended a local Catholic high school where he studied electro-mechanical engineering.

Laachraoui traveled to Syria in February 2013, prosecutors said, and it was not clear when he returned to Europe.

Prosecutors have said Laachraoui played a key role in recruiting and training attackers for ISIS, according to The Wall Street Journal. He was checked by guards at the Austria-Hungary border on Sept. 9 while driving in a Mercedes with Abdeslam and one other person, Belgium's federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Using a false identity, Laachraoui also rented a house under the name of Soufiane Kayal in the Belgian town of Auvelais. That residence was allegedly used as a safe house, where prosecutors said traces of his DNA were found. That same DNA was later found on the Paris explosives. The house was searched Nov. 26.

On Monday, Van Leeuw said officials wanted to interview Laachraoui, who was "someone who must explain himself."

On Tuesday, coordinated terror attacks ripped through Brussels. Investigators reportedly believe attacks already being plotted were expedited in light of Abdeslam's arrest -- and word that he is cooperating with authorities.

Earlier Wednesday, two men suspected of taking part in Tuesdays bombings were identified as Khalid and Ibrahim El-Bakraoui.

Khalid is believed to have blown himself up on the Metro, an attack which killed at least 20 and injured more than 100, while Ibrahim is believed to have been the other airport bomber. The fourth bomber, the man in the far left of the airport photo pushing a cart next to Ibrahim, has not yet been identified.

The brothers were well-known to police. In a raid Tuesday at Ibrahim's address, Van Leeuw said "there was a paper where he described that he is insecure, that he is lost and he does not know what to do and he might end up in jail."

Both Ibrahim and his brother were Belgian citizens and born in Brussels, authorities said.

A March 15 raid on an apartment rented by Khalid, 27, led to Friday's arrest of Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam after one of Abdeslam's fingerprints was discovered in the apartment. Politico Europe, citing a senior Belgian official, reported that Abdeslam was supposed to take part in Tuesday's attacks. The report did not specify what role Abdeslam would have played.

DH reported that in October 2010, Ibrahim, 30, was convicted of shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during an attempted robbery. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. In February 2011, the paper reported, Khalid was sentenced to five years' probation in connection with a string of carjackings.

Turkey said Wednesday that Ibrahim had been detained on the Syrian border last summer, and that Ankara warned Brussels officials that he was a militant before sending him home.


Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday accused Ukrainian's government of dragging its feet on implementing last year's cease-fire agreement as Moscow sought to press its point in a new round of high-level diplomacy.

Fighting in Ukraine's industrial heartland, which has close ties to Russia, has killed more than 9,100 people and left large swaths of land under rebel control. Germany, France and Russia mediated talks between representatives of the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists at talks in Minsk, Belarus, which resulted in a broad cease-fire agreement.

That has largely held, but none of the political elements, including calling a local election, has been implemented.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was hosting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow, told reporters that Kiev's inaction is the main stumbling block to a peace settlement in the east. Lavrov said Germany had floated the idea of holding an election in the rebel-occupied territories this summer but Kiev said no.

"Minsk-2 cannot be reviewed, and we should resist attempts to undermine it," Lavrov said.

Kiev insists it can't hold the vote because it cannot guarantee security for election officials. Rebels in their turn have said they won't allow Ukrainian right-wing parties to run, which the Ukrainian government says makes the election impossible.

Steinmeier on Wednesday urged both sides to comply with the partial withdrawal and warned of a possible escalation.

He and Lavrov appeared to be in a jovial mood, with Steinmeier saying they both pledged to "look for ways to overcome the differences that stand in our way to find a solution" for eastern Ukraine.

Steinmeier also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said at the start of the talks that they should discuss "horrible, tragic events in Belgium" along with other issues. Steinmeier noted the progress achieved in Syria and emphasized the need for joint action against terrorism.

Steinmeier's visit to Moscow opens a day of top diplomacy at the Russian capital, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arriving later for talks on Ukraine and Syria. Steinmeier and Kerry are to have a private dinner late Wednesday before Kerry meets with Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

U.S. officials said Kerry wanted to raise concerns about a recent sharp increase in cease-fire violations and press Russia to do more to get the separatists in line. Unless there is "true quiet" and full access for cease-fire monitors, the officials said it would be difficult to get progress on other parts of the Minsk deal.

Kerry will also raise the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in Russia on Tuesday on charges the U.S. says are false. Savchenko was convicted of complicity to murder in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine, opening a door to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.

The U.S. has repeatedly called for Savchenko, who is also a member of parliament, to be released and did so again on Tuesday. Ukraine has suggested trading two Russian prisoners for Savchenko and the U.S. officials said Kerry would encourage Russia to accept the proposal.

On Syria, Kerry will be seeking clarity from Putin and Lavrov as to where Russia stands on a political transition for Syria, particularly on the future of President Bashar Assad, the officials said.


At least four U.S. citizens remain unaccounted for in the aftermath of the Belgium blasts that killed at least 31 people and injured at least 270.

New York siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were calling home from Zaventem Airport when relatives said they heard a loud explosion and the phone line suddenly went dead, according to The New York Post.

My bf & his sis are still missing since this morning, a woman who said she was Alexanders girlfriend tweeted. They were in the departure hall at the time.

Sascha, who lived in Manhattan, was born in Greece and raised in Holland, according to a friend interviewed by The Post.

She liked to have a good time  and had a lot of friends Florecia Sadler said. She was very determined and fun. She was a pleasure to have around.

Relatives and friends have also been unable to locate a couple originally from Kentucky and Tennessee who had been living in Belgium, WTVQ reported.

Stephanie and Justin Shults were dropping off Stephanies mother, Carolyn Moore, at the airport when the attacks occurred. Stephanie, 29, was born in Kentucky. Justin, 30, hailed from Tennessee.

She doesnt knowif Justin and Stephanie watched her as she headed towards security or if they turned to leave the terminal. She doesnt know, Carolyns sister, Betty Newsom, told WLEX. We dont know for sure if [they] had been able to get out of the airport or if they were still in the airport.

Justins brother, Levi Sutton, told NBC News the State Department informed the family that Justin and Stephanie were not on any casualty lists.

Her mom is fine but no one has been able to contact Justin or Stephanie, said Sutton, who added that both the couples phones have been going directly to voicemail.

Late Wednesday, the brother of Justin said his family was mistakenly informed that the missing couple had been found.

Levi Sutton told WKRN-TV the State Department initially told them Justin and Stephanie Shults, both graduates of Vanderbilt Universiy, had been found in a hospital with unknown injuries, but a social worker in Belgium has now said the family was given incorrect information.

The office of U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. released a statement late Wednesday from the families of Justin and Stephanie Shults which said, At this time, neither Belgium nor U.S. officials have confirmed that Justin and Stephanie Shults have been located. We are thankful for the outpouring of love and support we have received at this difficult time and ask for prayers for Justin and Stephanie.

Three Mormon missionaries who hailed from Utah and a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and his five family members are the only Americans confirmed to have been injured in the attacks. All nine were hurt in the airport bombing.

But State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said about a dozen Americans were injured during the bloody morning. Toner couldnt confirm if any citizens were killed.

"It's a very fluid situation on the ground there," Toner told CNN on Wednesday. "We're still getting information, we're still trying to seek out the whereabouts of American citizens ... Obviously, Brussels on any given day, is chock full of American citizens."

Click for more from The New York Post.
Belgian officials ignored warnings last June that one of the brothers suspected of blowing himself up in Tuesdays deadly Brussels attacks was a terrorist, Turkey's president said Wednesday.



Ibrahim El-Bakraoui, a petty criminal born and raised in Brussels and suspected of being the bomber who blew himself up at Zaventem Airport, killing at least 11, was nabbed crossing into Turkey from Syria nine months ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Turkish officials said they told their counterparts in Brussels of his likely involvement with ISIS, which has claimed credit for Tuesdays attacks.

A Turkish official said Dutch authorities allowed Bakraoui to go free because Belgian authorities could not establish any ties to terrorism.

The development came a day after twin terror attacks involving as many as four bombers killed 31 people and injured 270 in a Metro station and at the airport. If true, the ignored warning could prove to have been a costly security lapse.

Bakraoui was reportedly deported back to Europe, choosing to go to The Netherlands before making his way back to Brussels. Police who raided his apartment Tuesday found a note left by the Islamic fanatic in which he said he wrote of his desperation.

"I don't know what to do. I'm looked for everywhere and I might even find myself in a jail cell," read a portion of the letter, recited by Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw at a Wednesday news conference.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday that Belgian security services, as well as other Western intelligence agencies, had advance and precise intelligence of the pending terror attacks prior to Tuesday. The newspaper said authorities had specific warning the attacks were coming soon and would take place at the airport and in the subway system.

It was not clear how authorities were allegedly warned of the attacks in advance, but they came four days after the arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, who took part in the Nov. 13 attack in Paris that killed 130. Abdeslam was reportedly cooperating with authorities, and there has been widespread speculation that the situation could have prompted the Brussels ISIS cell to fast-track its deadly plot.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told reporters Sunday, two days before the attacks, that Abdeslam told Belgian authorities "he was ready to restart something from Brussels."

Belgian intelligence determined that Abdeslam had established a new terror cell in Brussels after the Paris attacks, Reynders said.

The potential security lapse came to light as authorities in Belgium continued to hunt for Najim Laachraoui, who is believed to have made the explosives used in both Tuesdays and last Novembers terror attacks. Laachroui is believed to have been one of three men caught on a surveillance photo pushing suitcase bombs just minutes before at least two explosions ripped through the busy airport just after 8 a.m. Tuesday.

"[He] left a bag and his bag contained the most important explosive charge," Van Leeuw said at the news conference. "His bag exploded right after the arrival of federal police. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Bakraouis brother, Khalid El-Bakraoui, has been identified as the bomber at the Metro station, which killed at least 20. Like his brother, he was a Belgian citizen with a long criminal record.

The Guardian also reported that one of the El-Bakraoui brothers had rented a safe house in Charleroi, Belgium, that was used by Paris attackers Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Bilal Hadfi as a rendezvous point prior to the assaults that killed 130 people in the French capital. The paper also reported that one of the brothers had provided weapons and ammunition to the terrorists who attacked the Bataclan concert hall on that deadly night.

DH reported that in October 2010, Ibrahim, 30, was convicted of shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during an attempted robbery. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. In February 2011, the paper reported, Khalid was sentenced to five years' probation in connection with a string of carjackings.

At least 86 countries have seen citizens leave to join ISIS, but Brussels is a particular hotbed for terrorist recruiting, according to a 2015 analysis by the Soufan Group. Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the majority of the country's foreign fighters came from Brussels, and most of those from the Molenbeek neighborhood.

More than 470 people have left the tiny European country to become foreign fighters as of Octber 2015. That's fourth in Western Europe overall, but first in fighters per capita. At least 118 of those 470 have returned, according to the Soufan Group analysis.


Danny Farrar, CEO and founder of SoldierFit Fitness Company, testified last week on behalf of the Coalition to Save Local Businesses before the U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations. He asked the committee to take action to reverse the NLRB's decision to alter the "joint employer" standard for all small businesses.

In his testimony, Farrar--who served eight years in the military, including a combat tour in Iraq, 700 missions, and tasked with leading the first Army team into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, stated that small business owners around the country are being forced to try to grow under great uncertainty because of this new standard.

"When the National Labor Relations Board decided to change the joint employer liability standard last fall, it was a scary moment for local business owners like me," said Farrar. "Any legal doctrine that is based on 'indirect' and even unexercised, 'reserved' control such as this one is so unclear and unpredictable that no one can assure small businesses that their operations are not in violation."

Farrar cited that the new joint employer standard rules could dampen economic growth and ultimately have a devastating impact on the franchising industry, entrepreneurship and jobs. "H.R. 3459, the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act, is the solution that can protect small businesses like mine and give us certainty that federal agencies are not going to threaten our businesses in the future. I urge every member to support the bill," Farrar explained.

SoldierFit is a Frederick, Maryland-based company that offers a fitness program through four company-owned locations and two franchisees that combines basic training drills from the U.S. military with functional fitness techniques.

The Coalition to Save Local Businesses, is a diverse group of locally owned, independent small businesses, associations, and organizations, dedicated to protecting and strengthening all sectors of small business, which are now under attack by the NLRB.
Applebee's Introduces America's Chef, Cammie Spillyards-Schaefer

Casual Dining Leader Appoints New Chef to Cook up Transformative Culinary Vision

GLENDALE, Calif. - March 22, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar today announced the appointment of Cammie Spillyards-Schaefer as executive chef and vice president, culinary and menu strategy. With more than two decades of culinary experience, Spillyards-Schaefer joins a talented team in a dedicated effort to improve the Applebee's dining experience across America, making great food more accessible. She will lead the charge in revolutionizing the brand's culinary vision with a focus on real, honest cooking that is deliciously simple and vibrantly American.

"This is a pivotal moment for the Applebee's brand as we look to make important enhancements, and Cammie is essential to driving menu innovation," said Darin Dugan, senior vice president, marketing and culinary, Applebee's. "With her creativity and deep understanding of consumer palates, she will ensure we are delivering incredible food prepared with care to our current guests and creating a reason for new guests to give us a try."

This year marks a key transition for Applebee's, with major kitchen and menu changes at the center of it all. In partnership with her team of chefs  who possess a combined 120 years of culinary experience  Spillyards-Schaefer is committed to enhancing kitchen operations and streamlining the current menu by developing modern American cuisine that incorporates even more fresh, real ingredients. While impressed by the amount of cooking already taking place in Applebee's kitchens, Spillyards-Schaefer will develop a culinary strategy that enables thousands of Applebee's cooks across the nation to better serve each guest.

"Joining the Applebee's family is a tremendous opportunity," states Spillyards-Schaefer. "One of the most amazing things about this brand is the ability to cook for and serve millions of people  we are feeding America! We not only have an opportunity to change the way guests feel about dining at Applebee's, but we also have the opportunity to influence the palate of the entire country. Knowing our work can impact so many people on that level is a huge motivation for me to ensure we're delivering the best food we can, from our culinary center to every Applebee's kitchen around the world."

Spillyards-Schaefer has extensive experience in culinary innovation, beginning with her first apprenticeship assisting Chef Michael Bernard Platz of L'Entrecote. After graduating with honors from the Culinary Institute of America, she served as a private chef, owned two restaurants and oversaw menu innovation as director of product development for Chili's Grill and Bar. Most recently, she served as vice president of research & development and innovation for Bloomin' Brands International, which includes Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse.

About Applebee's

Applebee's Grill & Bar brings together a lively bar & grill experience offering hand-crafted drinks and cravable, simple, American food with flare featuring vibrant flavors and real, fresh ingredients. All Applebee's restaurants are owned and operated by entrepreneurs dedicated to serving their communities and offering the best in food and drinks with neighborly, genuine service. With more than 2,000 locations in 49 states, Guam, Puerto Ricoand 15 countries, Applebee's is one of the world's largest casual dining brands. Applebee's restaurants are franchised by DineEquity Inc.'s (NYSE:DIN) subsidiary, Applebee's Franchisor LLC and its affiliates.

Visit us: www.applebees.com

Follow us: www.twitter.com/applebees

Become a fan: www.facebook.com/applebees

Share your photos: www.instagram.com/applebees

SOURCE Applebee's

Media Contacts:

Madison LaRoche

Cohn & Wolfe

On behalf of Applebee's

512.542.2842

madison.laroche@cohnwolfe.com

Steve Coe

Applebee's

818.637.3606

steven.coe@dineequity.com

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The digital economy relies on us being able to exchange data securely and link it efficiently. At the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft press briefing on Monday, Fraunhofer President Prof. Reimund Neugebauer said: The Industrial Data Space is opening up smart services and new and innovative business models and processes. Now we can continuously monitor goods in transit, for instance, share production facilities, and even connect sensitive medical data to make more effective use of it.

Prof Heinz Jorg Fuhrmann, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG as well as Senate Chairman of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, explained the advantages from an industry perspective: Take the many different forms of steel production: an incredibly complex process that generates huge quantities of digital information. Using this data effectively is a significant challenge  not just in terms of ongoing internal optimization but also increasingly in terms of ensuring the rapid exchange of data with our customers. This is why we consider the Industrial Data Space such an important step in Salzgitter AGs future as a capable partner to demanding international customers. Industrial Data Space e.V. Chairman Dr. Reinhold Achatz, Chief Technology Officer at thyssenkrupp, added: A key part of industrys digital transformation is ensuring that companies can exchange data securely. This adds value by unlocking new products, smart services and new, digital business models. The Industrial Data Space ensures that industrial enterprises remain competitive and independent of IT companies. The association already counts eighteen notable members that are working together to aggregate the interests of user companies and drive forward standardization. Further applications for membership are in progress, and the organization welcomes international members, too.

First sample application: air freight logistic

Some 70 application scenarios have been conceived to date, one being a smart air freight container. It was in front of this exhibit that Prof. Neugebauer handed over the white paper outlining the Industrial Data Spaces key ideas, applications and recommendations for action ahead of the press briefing to Prof. Johanna Wanka, Germanys Federal Minister of Education and Research. At CeBIT, Fraunhofer is demonstrating whats possible in the realm of logistics when you can use digital data from a range of sources without having to worry about security or forgery. Its a good example of what the Industrial Data Space can do, said the minister during her visit to the Fraunhofer booth.

The exhibit showcases how companies and objects can connect securely with one another to exchange freight papers, monitor deliveries or flexibly organize transport routes. For instance, a container could book itself a new flight if it happened to miss its scheduled transport at the airport; this delay would then immediately be conveyed to the other points affected within the network. What are known as connectors ensure that data is sent only to the intended recipient.
Jedediah Smith, famous mountain man, trapper, explorer and map maker, may not have been the first white man to enter the Nevada area  some Spanish conquistadors most likely had crossed the same deserts and mountains before him  but Smith certainly was the first to spend any significant time exploring the region. He made two trips across Southern Nevada and one across sections of the central part of the state when all of it was just a blank area on any maps of the day.
The father of a man who died Tuesday after being shot during an altercation with a Fredericksburg policeman said he has no animosity toward the officer.

My sons dead, and I hope to God he rests in peace, Steven Blair said over the telephone Wednesday from his home in Pensacola, Fla. And I do not hold ... animosity toward the police officer. I pray for him and his family.

He declined to comment further, saying my son and our life is private.

Travis J. Blair, 33, of Fredericksburg was transported to Mary Washington Hospital with a serious injury after an altercation with an officer, police said. He died at the hospital shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday, or about five hours after he was shot in the leg by the officers gun.

Virginia State Police confirmed his name on Wednesday, and the Fredericksburg Police Department identified the officer involved in the shooting as Christopher Brossmer, 31.

Brossmer, who has been with the police department since July 2013, has been placed on paid leave pending a criminal investigation by the state police.

Fredericksburg Police Chief David Nye said the officer was dragged about 600 feet by a fleeing vehicle driven by Blair.

A foot pursuit ended with the shooting, he said.

But a woman who identified herself as Blairs girlfriend wrote on Facebook that the shooting was not justified. Treasure LaShawn Turner acknowledged in a Facebook post that her boyfriend tried to run from the officer, but wrote that there was no reason to shoot him.

He is a good guy who was scared, she wrote.

Turner declined to comment when reached by phone. I will not say anything, other than I loved him, she said.

Police have said that a woman was a passenger in Blairs car, but did not identify her.

Lori Gano, who said she is Blairs sister, said in a Facebook message that the family needs time to grieve.

Fredericksburg police spokeswoman Sarah Kirkpatrick declined to respond to Turners allegation, writing that it would be inappropriate to comment while the investigation is ongoing.

Nye said he asked state police to investigate the incident in the interest of full transparency.

The officer pulled over Blairs vehicle because he was wanted in Spotsylvania County for missing a court date on a felony drug charge, according to a news release from the Fredericksburg Police Department.

Blair stopped his car for the officer on Braehead Drive, off Lafayette Boulevard, but tried to drive away after refusing to obey Brossmers orders, the release stated. The car dragged the officer before crashing in a ditch in the Braehead Woods subdivision.

Blair then fled on foot for about 300 feet before Brossmer caught up with him, according to the release. The officers gun discharged when an altercation ensued, and Blair was shot in the leg, the release stated.

Police would not describe the nature of the altercation or whether Blair was armed.

An official with the chief medical examiners office in Richmond declined to release Blairs cause of death late Wednesday afternoon.

Brossmer, who graduated from the Rappahannock Regional Justice Academy in November 2013, was not injured.

The Fredericksburg Police Department denied The Free LanceStars Freedom of Information Act request for footage from the officers body camera, in addition to recordings of 911 calls related to the incident. State law does not require police departments to release evidence from a criminal investigation, but agencies can do so at their discretion.

Please note that this is an active and ongoing criminal investigation being handled by Virginia State Police, Kirkpatrick, the city police spokeswoman, wrote in an email.

Blair, who moved to the area from Alabama, has faced a range of charges for nonviolent crimes.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of felony embezzlement in Stafford County in 2014. Last year, Fredericksburg police arrested him on a public intoxication charge.

Blair had no recent fixed address, according to the Fredericksburg police report.
PARIS  The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, officials have told The Associated Press.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed he had entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks  this time for a man wearing a white jacket who was seen on airport security footage with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

"Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: 'So what if he was arrested? We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,'" said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

"The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening," she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but he'd signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a "secret cell of soldiers" dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks."

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving IS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

"The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training," he said. "Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now."

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but IS has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these "external operation" units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

"This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria."

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

"To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape," said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

"Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days," Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals. DNA evidence indicates he died on Tuesday in the suicide attack on the airport, two officials briefed on the investigation told AP.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material.

The unidentified man seen on security footage wearing a white jacket and black hat at the Brussels airport on Tuesday remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.
James F. Spicer Jr., 68, born Oct. 26, 1947, lost his battle with cancer after a long struggle. He died in his home surrounded by family and loved ones on Saturday, March 19, 2016.

Jim was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend and colleague. All who knew him would say his presence in their lives, whether personal or professional, inspired them to become better versions of themselves. Generosity, compassion, drive, perseverance and humanity were just a few of his many virtues.

Those who preceded Jim in death were James F. Spicer, his father; and Mark Spicer, his brother. Jim is survived by his loving wife, Margaret Spicer; his mother, Anita Spicer; brothers Michael and Stephen Spicer; children Aaron Spicer and spouse Christine and Ashlee Loughan and spouse Adam; as well as seven grandchildren.

As a family, we will miss him deeply, but we will also celebrate the amazing life we spent with him. A viewing and memorial eulogy will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 28, at Johnson Funeral Home, Locust Grove.

A funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 29, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Spotsylvania. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery, Culpeper.

Online guest book is available at johnsoncares.com.
Joel R. Schlueter, 45, died unexpectedly on Friday, March 18, 2016, at his home in Madison, Wis.

Joel is survived by his wife, Tanya ONeil; his mother, Janet Schlueter; his brother, Ron Schlueter (Laurie Searing); his mother-in-law, Aino Levajarvi; his father-in-law, Herb ONeil (Agnes); his sister-in-laws, Tiina Rodrigue (Brian), Tara ONeil (Chris), Tyriina ONeil and Tiia Plath (Daniel); his brother-in-laws Timothy ONeil, Thomas ONeil and Alin Pop; six nieces; and three nephews.

Joel was born in Wausau, Wis., on Dec. 19, 1970. He moved to Madison, Wis., in August 1989 to attend UW-Madison. On Nov. 4, 2001, he married Tanya ONeil.

Joel had a famous alter ego published by The Onion. Online, his image was known as Larry Groznic. Unlike Joels reality as a devoted husband, brother and son, Larry was a noted fan-community luminary and sought-after expert on the topics of British television, spy-fi memorabilia, cosplay, role-playing game adventuring and limited-edition collectible maquettes.

Joel enjoyed board, card, role play and video games. He loved the Green Bay Packers. He was an animal lover and had many pets over the years. He was quick-witted, generous and fun loving. He will be deeply missed by his friends, family and all who knew him. His cats Grackle, Pixie, Harpy and Baby Kitty will also miss him.

A visitation is scheduled for 10 a.m. followed by a funeral at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 23, at Cress Funeral Home, 3325 E. Washington Ave., Madison, Wis.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent in care of Aino Levajarvi, 3413 Portage Road, Madison, WI 53704.
William Austin Billy Onks, 45, of Fredericksburg, was born on July 25, 1970, and passed away on Sunday, March 20, 2016.

Full of life and love, Billy brought smiles to the faces of everyone who knew him. He had a rare talent for recounting hilarious memories from his youth, many of which his mother had been completely unaware. He wasnt afraid to let his sister put make-up on him or to throw on his wifes bath robe and run to 7-11 for donuts. God blessed him with the ability to make people happy, and laughter always followed him wherever he went. Billy enjoyed hunting, fishing, a good after-dinner nap and snuggling his grandson. He was a devoted family man who was grounded in his faith. Heaven will be a happier place with him there.

He is survived by his wife Betty; his four children, Jenna (fiance Ryan McQuoid), Justin (Brianna), Tommy (mother Christina Jenkins) and Jessie; his grandsons, Wesley, Cordell and Joseph; his parents, David Onks Jr. and Cynthia Onks of Stafford County; his sister, Lynn Pates (Mike Pates); his brother David Onks III (Caren Onks); his grandmother, Marie Blevins of Vienna; his grandfather David Onks Sr. of Stafford; and many nieces and nephews who adored him.

The family will receive friends and relatives from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at Covenant Funeral Service in Fredericksburg.

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 24, in Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery at Owens in King George County.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (Thes. 4:13-14 NIV) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matt. 5:4 NIV)

Online guest book is available at covenantfuneralservice.com.
Fort Worth Movers Launch New Website Offering Amazing Moving Service Deals

Fort Worth Movers is a moving company based in Fort Worth TX that services the Fort Worth and surrounding areas. Some of these services include: long distance or short distance moving, packing and unpacking, storage and concierge services. Their new website is launching today!

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http://fortworthmovers.net/ Fort Worth, TX: Today, Fort Worth Movers, a company with years of experience in moving the Fort Worth Area, has announced the launching of their brand new website. This website is tailored for the Fort Worth and surrounding areas so it ensures a more personable approach than some of the large moving companies. Upon launching this website, they are also offering a 5% off discount incentive to all military families. This is a large stepping stone in offering the expertise of this company to all customers in the Fort Worth and surrounding area at a competitive price point. The website showcases the many services that Fort Worth Movers offer with professionalism and years of skill.

Upon the launch of this website, Fort Worth Movers CEO Luke Grace said, "It's absolutely thrilling to finally launch this new website. It's taken years of experience to finally be able to offer the Fort Worth Area a reliable moving service and it's exciting to provide professional and customer service driven moving options to everyone now searching for it. The staff are motivated to make your move enjoyable and smooth from start to finish. Current and future customers can now book their moving services all online with a click of a button!"

This website will provide a number of unique benefits for Fort Worth and area customers. The main feature the website is aiming to do is deliver everyone access to pertinent news and information about the city of Fort Worth and it's surrounding communities. Visitors of the site who are looking to move to Fort Worth will have the ability to not only learn about what's involved and to be expected with their move to the city, but also the ability to book their move right online. This will be a huge step forward for the company in their endeavour to keep customer service as their biggest focus. The content of the site is devoted to customers and potential customers that enjoy having access to all Fort Worth information at their fingertips.

For residents in Fort Worth's surrounding communities, the website will also be a tremendous resource. The company has decided to also focus much of it's content on the smaller communities of Benbrook, Haltom City, Forest Hill and White Settlement. The convenience of the website gives the residents of these smaller areas access to information about their move and these communities as well.

About Fort Worth Movers: Fort Worth Movers is a moving company based in Fort Worth TX that services the Fort Worth and surrounding areas. Some of these services include: long distance or short distance moving, packing and unpacking, storage and concierge services. Founded by Luke Grace, Fort Worth Movers brings professional experience and pristine customer service to every customer they handle. By focusing heavily on those two aspects, they have become a leading company in the moving industry. The staff at Fort Worth Movers are among the highest compensated in the industry which ensures they provide absolute satisfaction to their clients.

For more information about us, please visit http://fortworthmovers.net/

Contact Info:

Name: Luke Grace

Organization: Fort Worth Movers

Address: 3701 Galvez Ave Fort Worth, TX 76111

Phone: 817-369-8539

Release ID: 107949

For more information visit r



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Melbourne International Comedy Festival Announces Discounted Sneak Preview Show

With Melbourne International Comedy Festival celebrating its 30th birthday, a special discounted preview show has been announced to kick-start its run. Fans will be able to see Bugle Boys - A Salute to the Andrews Sisters for just $15 on March 25.

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On March 25, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary by offering a special sneak preview of the show Bugle Boys - A Salute to the Andrews Sisters. Tickets will cost just $15 for this first show, with the price rising for the remaining dates. The show will be running from March 25 to April 17.

More information can be found on the Bugle Boys show's official website at: http://www.bugleboys.com.au.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has grown considerably since its inception. The first show hosted 56 events, but by last year's offering that had increased to 550. To celebrate the landmark occasion of its 30th birthday, hotspots across the city will be playing host to comedy events for a month. The festival has garnered high praise for its wide variety of shows, with events for children and adults alike scheduled across the month long celebration.

The Bugle Boys comedy comedy/cabaret show sees three drag queens singing Andrew Sisters songs, dressed in costume throughout the performance. The Andrews Sisters were a popular close harmony singing trio who sold over 75 million records in the first half of the twentieth century. Their biggest hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", from which the comedy show takes its name, was considered an early example of rhythm and blues music.

Bugle Boys pays homage to the Andrews Sisters with its own brand of comedy flair, as Michael Dalton, Jon Jackson, Andrew Dessmann sing and dance their way through the bands most popular hits. Tickets are available to be bought online, alongside videos of previous shows so customers can see what to expect before they buy: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=BUGLEBOY16&eg=MMBR&ep=bugleboys.

Other popular events gathering attention in the media include Al Murray, the famous pub landlord from England, and the Russell Howard World Tour that sees the stand up comic heading to Australia in 2017. Tom Green, the famous USA comedian whose show was called a "masterpiece of stand up brilliance" by AXS, is also returning to Australia for the comedy festival.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.bugleboys.com.au

Contact Info:

Name: Moira Bennett

Email: moira@bugleboys.com.au

Organization: Bugle Boys Pty Ltd

Address: 35 Henry Street, Kensington VIC 3031

Phone: +61417048347

Release ID: 107750

For more information visit r



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New Book To Be Launched at a Private Event and Nationwide Public Online Event

In this second book of the series "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt", Dr. Becky Slabaugh shares insights in a simple, step-by-step format to help readers unlock their destiny.

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International Conference Speaker and #1 Amazon Bestselling author, Dr. Becky Slabaugh, a resident of a northwest suburb of Phoenix, will be launching her new book, "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt" -- the second in a series, at a private webinar on March 31, 2016, and at a nationwide public online book launch event to be held on April 2, 2016.

According to Dr. Slabaugh, "being uncomfortable or in pain on this earth is part of the process of living. A broken heart, a harsh circumstance or a closed door places a heavenly demand to enter into The Ultimate Treasure Hunt."

The Ultimate Treasure Hunt consists of discovering God's treasure deposits from heaven to earth in each person. Dr. Slabaugh's second book of the series: "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt: 7 Keys to Unlocking Your Destiny", seeks to unlock and release a divine clarity towards reaching one's full destiny.

In this book, the author claims that "the greatest Spiritual discoveries arrive with quiet confidence and a knowing nod. They do not come charging through the door, tossing things to and fro and screaming direction at mega volume."

The author shares her personal stories of miracles and how the reader can activate a miracle. The Ultimate Treasure Hunt hopes to help readers unlock the pathway to the purposes and promises of God.

With eye-opening insights in a simple, step-by-step format, the discoveries and exploration outlined, seek to help the reader's journey become a smooth and thorough process of developing a more refined dialogue with God.

These lessons come from discoveries Dr. Slabaugh learned through her own life's experience. This book will guide the reader to walk into a deeper understanding of life's unique purpose by discovering divine treasures through The Ultimate Treasure Hunt.

About Dr. Becky Slabaugh:

Dr. Becky is the Amazon #1 Best Selling Author of "When Dreams and Destiny Collide - God Is Messaging You!" She is a radio co-host for "Going Deeper With God" with Pastor Barbara Moore on www.810KLVZ.com every Saturday at 1:00 pm MST. For more information on radio shows, www.GoingDeeperWithGod.org

Dr. Becky works with the Holy Spirit releasing Prophetic Wisdom and the Word of God to bring people to renewal, wholeness and joy!

Her professional credentials include a B.A. in Practical Ministry, Master's Degree in Christian Counseling, Ph.D. in Clinical Pastoral Counseling and Ordained Minister. She also has many additional Board Certifications and Associations.

Dr. Becky's experiences include International Conference Speaker, Women's Therapy Groups, Women's Retreats, Individual Counseling, Prophetic Training and as an Ordained Minister officiates Wedding Ceremonies.

You may contact and subscribe to Dr. Becky's Weekly Inspirational Messages at Dr.Becky@InnerTreasuresMinistries.com or visit www.innertreasuresministries.com for more info.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.innertreasuresministries.com

Contact Info:

Name: Dr. Becky Slabaugh

Email: Dr.Becky@InnerTreasuresMinistries.com

Organization: Inner Treasures Ministries

Address: 7034 W Taro Ln Glendale, Az 85308



Source: http://marketersmedia.com/new-book-to-be-launched-at-a-private-event-and-nationwide-public-online-event/106034

Release ID: 106034

For more information visit r



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Vancouver BC Limo Service Launches New Company Website

KJ Limousine Services Inc. launches a new website for its ongoing and growing limo services in Greater Vancouver BC. The new website features a clean, modern design, improved performance, redesigned layout for optimal conversion rates and an easy "tap to call" button on mobile devices.

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KJ Limousine Services Inc. has launched a brand new website at http://kjlimousine.com to represent its growing chauffeured limousine services, serving a wide variety of occasions in the Greater Vancouver area and as far as Seattle, Washington. Having just acquired a new vehicle to its growing fleet of luxury limousines, KJ Limousine Services Inc.'s new website launch comes at a timely manner to better serve its increasing customer base.

Vancouver, British Columbia has become an increasingly popular world destination for tourists, travellers and a place to conduct business. Tourism alone, in British Columbia, generated $13.9 billion in revenue in 2013 with Vancouver being one of the top tourist destinations and a major contributor to that figure. Visitors to Vancouver fly in from all over the world, requiring ground transportation from Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Bellingham International Airport (BLI) and even Seattle International Airport (SEA).

Despite being in service since 2004, it wasn't until the beginning of 2010 that KJ Limousine Services Inc.'s first website was built. The first website was operational for over 3 years until it was replaced by the second website in the middle of 2013. Finally, the new website which has just been launched replaced the second website which has been active for just under 3 years. Coincidentally, KJ Limousine revised its logo just a month earlier in mid February.

Along with a fresh, clean, modern design, KJ Limousine's new website releases with many new improvements and features over the previous versions. The new website now utilizes a Content Distribution Network (CDN) which serves the website's content to users with high availability and high performance, while also improving security for the website. The increased page loading speed will provide a better user experience and contribute to improved search engine visibility, due to website performance being a key ranking factor by search engines.

The homepage of the website features one-page navigation which allows users to access a wide selection of content easily and quickly without leaving the homepage. Links on the home page go to separate pages with more in depth information about its specific services and vehicles.

The entire website structure has been redesigned to reduce the number of pages with sparse content with the goal of having higher quality content on fewer pages. Again, this strategy aims to increase conversions, improve user experience and aid in search engine visibility.

Efforts were made to make it easier for website visitors to take action, increasing conversions rates on the website. When viewed on devices with larger displays, a limo rental quote form is always present on all pages, fixed to the right-hand sidebar so that visitors can easily fill out the form and submit a quote request. A click-able phone number is always visible regardless of screen size. On larger screens, the phone number is fixed above the quote form in the sidebar. On mobile devices, an attractive "tap to call" button is fixed to the bottom left of the screen. Tapping on that button automatically brings up the phone app with KJ Limousine's phone number already entered in, ready to dial. Scattered throughout the content, eye-catching "calls to action" are placed at appropriate locations making it very easy for visitors to take action.

To see examples of some of the improvements, please visit: http://kjlimousine.com/wedding-limo-vancouver-bc/

With the many improvements this new website launch offers, KJ Limousine in anticipating an improved user experience, increasing conversion rates, better search engine visibility and a more appropriate representation of its brand and services.

For more information about us, please visit http://kjlimousine.com

Contact Info:

Name: Hing Jong

Organization: KJ Limousine Services

Address: 7871 Westminster Highway, Richmond BC V6X8H3

Phone: (604) 377-1618

Release ID: 108019

For more information visit r



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BASI To Host Global Pilates Teacher Training and Continuing Education Weekend

BASI Pilates, organizer of the new Learn From The Leaders 2016, announced their Pilates Training event will be held in Newport Beach, CA on April 16th and 17th.

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BASI Pilates, a leading international Pilates education company, will be hosting its 5th "Learn from the Leaders" Pilates Conference. With a line-up of highly respected and sought after industry professionals, this event is geared to appeal to all levels of Pilates practitioners.

Rael Isacowitz, world-renowned Pilates teacher, author, innovator and founder of Body Arts & Science, the International Pilates teacher training academy, also known as BASI Pilates, is the lead presenter for this conference.

When asked about the reasons behind creating this kind of conference, Rael said, "My hope is that attendees will grasp the spirit of the event, which is a celebration of Pilates. We should not allow our community to be splintered by politics, egos or different approaches, but rather embrace the differences that make our industry exciting."

"We want all of our guests to go away with a great deal of new information, knowledge and insight. These takeaways do not necessarily come solely from exercise and repetition, they come from the wealth of knowledge and experience the presenters will be providing. We aim to bring together vastly different presenters with versatile experiences in the Pilates world."

Other featured presenters include Karen Clippinger, Deborah Lessen and for the first time BASI Faculty; filling the two days with a wide variety of workshop topics.

Learn from the Leaders will serve as the North America launch of BASI Systems Pilates equipment. This will support BASI Education, well known for joining the art and science of Pilates.

On Saturday night (April 16), Celebrate the Night, a dinner and concert will planned to be an unforgettable evening celebrating the Pilates community. Special guests include flamingo dancer, Deborah Taddei, Shaolin Monk, Master Wang Bo and award winning artist, indie rocker, Maya Isacowitz.

Contact: Stella Hull-Lampkin by phone 949-574-1343 ext 101 or email: stella@basipilates.com for more information.

BASI Pilates website, www.basipilates.com, has full details about the conference workshops.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.basipilates.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Stella Hull-Lamkin

Email: stella@basipilates.com

Organization: BASI Pilates

Address: 3080 Bristol Street, Suite 500, Costa Mesa, California, 92626 USA

Phone: 1 (949) 574-1343

Release ID: 108025

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Drake Exteriors Joins Greenville, SC BBB as Accredited Roofing Contractor

Drake Exteriors, a preferred roofing and General Contractor service provider, has announced their accreditation with the Greenville, South Carolina Better Business Bureau. Drake Exteriors has been serving South Carolina homeowners and commercial business owners for years with countless happy customers.

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This month, Drake Exteriors LLC, a prominent roofing contractor in the Atlanta GA area since 2009, is pleased to announce their accreditation with the the Greenville/ Upstate South Carolina Better Business Bureau.

Drake Exteriors offers multiple General Contractor services to both residential homeowners and commercial customers including roof storm damage repair, water damage, roofing services, new construction, remodeling and additions, water damage repair (both interior and exterior), hail damage repair, as well as siding and gutter repair.

https://youtu.be/K5Zto6P2MKE

Travis Turner, owner of Drake Exteriors says, "The entire Drake Exteriors team is thrilled to join as a roofing repair/ General Contractor services provider and be accredited by the Better Business Bureau of Greenville, South Carolina. It's important for South Carolina home owners to KNOW they can trust the services Drake Exteriors provides for them. We've been helping homeowners and business owners in the upstate South Carolina area for years now and have countless happy customers that have given us very positive feedback and reviews ".

Drake Exteriors has been featured as one of the few trusted roofing contractors serving storm victims in South Carolina in a June news article on The State after the company provided emergency roof repair services to South Carolina storm-affected residents.

Drake Exteriors is an Insurance Claims Specialist and does all dealings with insurance companies for home owners in the case of storm damage, hail damage, and other insurance claims. Most Drake Exteriors customers are thrilled to have that extra perk so they don't have to deal with insurance red tape on their own.

Turner continues by saying, "Too many home owners are taken advantage of by fly-by-night workers claiming to be insured, licensed, and credible - when they're not. We feel that in addition to our exceptional track record serving South Carolina, that it is important to re-enforce our credibility by joining the BBB. The people of South Carolina are worth the extra step to Drake Exteriors. Our motto is 'Where Quality and Integrity Meet' and we work hard to prove that everyday".

Drake Exteriors currently is accredited and has an A+ rating with the Atlanta Better Business Bureau and will be proud to provide the same security and confidence when hiring Drake Exteriors to Greenville South Carolina consumers.

With a combined 55 years of experience, Drake Exteriors is also proud to be a preferred installer for CertainTeed, North America's leading brand of sustainable building products such as roofing shingles. To find Drake Exteriors on the CertainTeed website, just click "Find a Pro" at the top of the page.

For more information, feel free to visit DrakeExteriors.com and use the "Contact Us" button with any questions.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.drakeexteriors.com

Contact Info:

Name: Travis Turner

Organization: Drake Exteriors LLC

Address: 152 Milestone Way Suite D Greenville South Carolina 29615

Phone: 1-803-403-1122

Release ID: 108047

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Cost Of A Nose Job Within Reach Of Increasing Number Of Patients

Cost of a nose job is a limiting factor less often, as the price comes down. Finding a high quality plastic surgeon is easy and convenient at the new website.

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Cost of a nose job, or rhinoplasty procedures, is only one aspect of selecting a cosmetic surgeon professional. Even more important than the cost is the quality of the service which is provided. The cost of the surgical procedure will further depend on the type of rhinoplasty which is received, the doctor's level of expertise, the surgical facilities where the procedure is performed, the expected results and the geographical location of the surgery. The website identifies average cost of a nose job in a range of $4,000 to $12,000, according to the American Board of Plastic Surgeons. The figures are from 2015.

When identifying costs associated with the procedures, bear in mind that the fees include hospital surgical facility costs, anesthesia fees, medical tests and surgeon's fees. Regardless of the procedure which is desired, patients are cautioned to always choose a board-certified plastic surgeon. The experience of the selected surgeon and the comfort of the patient are as important as the cost of the surgery.

A nose job can consist of repair work to reshape the nose, or to correct issues with nasal passages. The best surgeons will spend time to ensure that the patient has a realistic understanding of the procedure and the results. Follow-up care is another component of the cost charged by a specific professional.

The selection of a cosmetic surgeon can begin with a review of the doctors listed on the website. Those considering a cosmetic surgery procedure are encouraged to obtain a minimum of three opinions from three different professionals. Checking other sources of information, including medical accreditation boards and government agencies will help to identify potential areas of concern. Surgeons should be board-certified and should be in good standing with the State medical board. Cosmetic surgery should not be done outside of the United States, irrespective of the cost.

For more information about us, please visit http://californiarhinoplastyfinder.net/nose-job-costs

Contact Info:

Name: Judy Miller

Organization: California Rhinoplasty Finder

Address: 2572 Sunny Day Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90017

Phone: (714) 820-3575

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/cost-of-a-nose-job-within-reach-of-increasing-number-of-patients/108106

Release ID: 108106

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Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car Acquires Elite Luxury Services Out Of Miami Florida

Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car acquires Elite Luxury Services to become largest exotic rental car company in the world and expand their offerings, reports https://www.bhrentacar.com.

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Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car is announcing that they have officially acquired Elite Luxury Services, a luxury car rental company based in Miami, Florida. This recent acquisition has made Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car the largest exotic car rentals company in the world and will allow them to expand the services they are able to provide to clients. Those who would like to read more about the vehicles and services the company currently has to offer should visit https://www.bhrentacar.com.

Laurie Linkiewicz, a representative of Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car, commented "We are beyond excited about our acquisition of Elite Luxury Services. This not only allows us to expand our market, it officially makes us the largest Luxury Car Rental company in the world. However, being a large company isn't all about numbers. The best thing about it is being able to better serve our clients and having the opportunity to offer them more than we ever have before."

Fortunately, the acquisition is allowing Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car to do just that. Along with the exotic car rentals that the company has been offering for more than 32 years, they have now been able to expand their luxury rentals to mansions and yachts as well. With spring on the horizon and the summer months just around the corner, this corporate move comes just in time to help make holidays, vacations, and other events even more enjoyable for clients. It gives them more choices and more ways to have fun.

As Linkiewicz goes on to say, "For the team at Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car, our main goal has always been to please our clients and give them the best possible experience. We have always taken pride in the unparalleled variety of luxury and exotic vehicles available in our fleet, and we are even more proud of our new mansion and yacht offerings as well."

About Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car:

Beverly Hills Rent-a-Car has been in business for over 32 years and is the market leader for exotic and luxury car rentals not only in the US, but all over the world. They can provide specialty vehicles for business meetings, weddings, proms, graduations, and many other types of special events. They can also provide "Dream Car Tours" for groups or companies where individuals can experience driving several different exotic cars during a 3-hour driving tour they will never forget.

For more information about us, please visit https://www.bhrentacar.com

Contact Info:

Name: Laurie Linkiewicz

Organization: Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car

Phone: (310) 923-7833

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/beverly-hills-rent-a-car-acquires-elite-luxury-services-out-of-miami-florida/108141

Release ID: 108141

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Creedmoor, NC Based Stay Online Corp Joins Largest Ever U.S. Business Delegation to 2016 Hanover Messe

Stay Online is pleased to announce it's collaboration in the largest-ever U.S. delegation to Hannover Messe, the world's foremost event for Industrial Technology. Stay Online is taking advantage of the United States' Partner Country status and participating in the USA Energy Pavilion

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STAY ONLINE today announced it is part of the largest-ever U.S. delegation to Hannover Messe, the world's foremost trade fair for industrial technology, taking place April 25-29, in Hannover, Germany. For the first time in the Fair's history, the United States will be the Partner Country, a status that provides the more than 390 businesses and organizations in the U.S. delegation an unprecedented opportunity to be prominently featured throughout the event. President Obama will also participate in this year's event, themed "Integrated Industry-Discover Solutions."

Stay Online will exhibit in the USA Energy Pavilion, Hall 13 C09.

"The U.S. business community and the Department of Commerce have a clear message for the world: the United States is open for business. We will demonstrate and deliver on that message at the 2016 Hannover Messe," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. "We are proud to have some of America's most innovative and forward-thinking companies joining the U.S. delegation at this year's fair."

Established in 1987, Stay Online manufactures and distributes the largest selection of power connectivity products in the world. As a 2015 CRN Top Infrastructure Technology Vendor, Stay Online continues to expand its offerings and capabilities to better serve our customers.

Stay Online's General Manager, Jim Higgins, responded to the CRN recognition by saying "We are gratified to have earned this honor two years in a row. With the world's largest in-stock inventory, we're able to solve problem installations painlessly. This has been an exciting year for us as we opened our Czech Republic distribution location to better service Europe, We're also excited to be bringing manufacturing back to the USA."

Hannover Messe typically hosts more than 200,000 attendees from more than 70 countries, including global investors, buyers, distributors, resellers and government officials.

About Stay Online

Stay Online maintains the world's largest stock of power cords and plug adapters. They provide custom in-house manufacturing of power cords, PDU whips and other power connectivity products. Custom and in-stock products have no minimum order. Stay Online is the only USA manufacturer of molded power cords that offers custom molding with no minimum order. Operating since 1987, Stay Online manufactures and distributes quality, hard-to-find products. Operating from a 150,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Creedmoor, North Carolina, as well as a 2,000 sq/mt (21,000 sq/ft) warehouse in Prague, Czech Republic.

For more information about us, please visit http://stayonline.com

Contact Info:

Name: Gordon Harris

Email: gordon.harris@stayonline.com

Organization: Stay Online

Address: 1506 Ivac Way, Creedmoor NC 27522

Phone: 919-529-3133 ext 147

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9d51f_P7gA

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/creedmoor-nc-based-stay-online-corp-joins-largest-ever-u-s-business-delegation-to-2016-hanover-messe/108017

Release ID: 108017

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One of the founders of Hargreaves Lansdown has told investors not to worry about the potential volatility of Britain leaving the EU.

Speaking to FTAdviser, Peter Hargreaves said there will be short-term volatility whichever option voters choose on 23 June. I believe this is a long-term decision and I believe leaving the EU is the right thing for the country to do.

Anything can cause short-term volatility in the stock market and whatever happens it will return to equilibrium in due course.

Whatever happens I believe the UK will prosper, I just believe the UK will prosper more if we dont have the bureaucracy of the EU around our necks.

Mr Hargreaves was speaking after he signed a letter which was sent to 15m households across the UK by the Leave.EU campaign group.

In the letter, which is already in the post, he appealed to voters to use this chance to take Britain out of the EU.

This is the first attempt made by the Brexit campaign to contact voters directly.

Mr Hargreaves said he has given financial support to the Leave.EU campaign, but declined to say how much he has donated.

He said he was spurred into writing the letter by the lack of balance in campaigning so far, citing comments made by figures such as Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, which have been interpreted as being supportive of remaining in the EU.

Mr Hargreaves said: I have been a little bit cross over how the government has behaved over this. They offered a referendum and they are reluctant to allow it to be a free vote.

I am 69 and I voted in the last referendum on the Common Market and at that time it was an absolutely free vote. All the political parties now feel they need to direct their MPs and the country.

He said he voted in favour of staying in the Common Market in 1975 because it was a free trade area, adding that he objected to the political union of the EU.

Mr Hargreaves founded the Bristol-based FTSE 100 company which bears his name in 1981, along with Stephen Lansdown.

Earlier this month he told The Today programme that European capitals do not have the expertise of London, among various other arguments for a Brexit vote.
Baring Asset Management is to soft close its 1.5bn Europe Select fund, which has tripled in size over the past five years.

Barings is to add limited issue powers to the European equity fund, run by Nicholas Williams, from May 23, which will prevent new investors from entering.

Rod Aldridge, the firms head of Emea wholesale distribution, said: Its a key product for us and one where we have had some significant success in terms of growing the assets, which have tripled in the last five years.

We regularly review capacity across our whole product range, and we thought it was prudent to manage the inflows as assets rise.

He noted that the size of the fund would continue to be monitored, with the possibility of it reopening under certain circumstances.

The changes give us ample ability to grow the fund with existing investors, he said. We will continue to review capacity going forward. If markets become more liquid, theres the chance that we could open up the fund.

That decision [whether to reopen the fund] could be driven by a number of different factors. The fund could reduce in assets, markets could change or clients appetite for European equities could change. Liquidity could play a big role.

However, he noted there was no fixed metric that could prompt a reopening.

According to FE Analytics the fund has returned 39.8 per cent over three years, compared with 35.1 per cent from its peer group, the Investment Association European Smaller Companies sector.
Closed book life company Phoenix Life is poised to snap up rivals hit by last years pension reforms, its chief executive has said, as the business posts a 159m fall in profits.

Operating profits dropped 30 per cent last year, from 483m to 324m, according to its 2015 annual results, out today (23 March).

The company blamed the fall on the lower impact of management actions, but an 11 per cent drop in its annuity business from 545m in 2014 to 485m last year also weighed on the bottom line.

Pension freedoms introduced by the government last year gave people unfettered access to their retirement pots from age 55, scrapping the need for retirees to buy an annuity.

UK annuity sales have subsequently plummeted, making deep dents in many life companies profits, and Phoenix, which provides annuities for its own vesting policyholders, has not been immune to the change.

But group chief executive Clive Bannister said he believes the hit providers have taken because of pension freedoms have cleared the way for Phoenix to hit the acquisition trail.

The impact of regulatory developments will change the landscape of the UK life insurance industry, providing Phoenix with a number of acquisition opportunities, he said in the results.

The group is well positioned to take advantage of these industry changes, he said, adding there are already several potential acquisition and consolidation opportunities in the UK closed life sector, which it will continue to review.

Mr Bannister added: We continue to believe that the life-long certainty of income provided by annuities will remain an attractive option for certain customers.

During 2015, around 43,000 customers requested full encashment of their pension savings, with an average pot size of 13,000, the results reported.

Closed book life companies like Phoenix are under particular regulatory scrutiny at the moment, after an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority, published 3 March, revealed a lack of transparency around the fees they charge customers.

Six well known names in the closed book business  Abbey Life, Countrywide, Old Mutual, Police Mutual, Prudential and Scottish Widows  already face enforcement investigations into their behaviour on charges, following a thematic review by the FCA of 11 firms.

Two of the six firms, Abbey Life and Old Mutual, will be investigated to see whether they broke regulatory requirements across a number of other areas assessed in the thematic review.

Mr Bannister said he welcomed the FCA review. We continue to seek ways to improve and we look forward to working with the FCA and industry as part of the subsequent consultation process, he said.
Fintech companies in Britain and Australia will get more support to enter each others markets, as part of a deal reached between the countries respective regulators.

The Financial Conduct Authority has signed a deal with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission - which it claims is a world-first - that will see the regulators referring to one another any innovative business seeking to enter the others market.

The deal could make it easier for Australian robo-advisers to enter the UK market.

The agreement follows the creation of Innovation Hubs at the FCA and Asic to help businesses navigate financial regulation and support them through the authorisation process.

To date, the FCAs Innovation Hub has supported more than 200 businesses and the authorisation of 18 of them.

Meanwhile Asic has dealt with more than 75 innovative start-ups including the granting of 10 licences.

Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: Innovation in financial services isnt limited by national borders and so its important that we support overseas businesses that have new ideas that could benefit British consumers.

We also know that many British firms wish to use the UK as a springboard to launch their businesses or products internationally, making them potentially more sustainable challengers.

To qualify for the support offered by the agreement, businesses will need to meet the eligibility criteria of their home regulators Innovation Hub.

In the case of the FCA, this means the business will have to be genuinely innovative, offer a good prospect of an identifiable benefit to consumers and have invested resources in understanding the regulations.

Greg Medcraft, chairman of Asic, said that since it launched its hub last year, there has been a surge in requests by fintech startups seeking assistance. In particular we have dealt with robo or digital advice, crowd sourced equity funding, payments, marketplace lending and blockchain business models.

Adviser view

Robin Melley, a chartered financial planner with Shropshire-based Matrix Capital, said: I suppose in principle you cannot fault this but I would imagine it is quite a low priority compared with other things the FCA should be looking at.
MILLER Please accept my sincere thanks for the ones who sent cards for my 90th birthday and also the ones who planned the party at the Tower. Also, thank to...
An upland suckler beef producers two-step approach to weaning is resulting in less stress on his calves.

Stress at weaning can cause a calf to lose up to 10kg/day, resulting in a significant effect on productivity.

Richard Tudor, who farms 292ha at Llysun, near Llanerfyl, Montgomeryshire, took part in a weaning trial with Farming Connect, a Wales-wide service funded by the Rural Development Programme and Welsh government.

The trials aim was to establish if calf distress could be reduced by eliminating suckling before weaning calves from their mothers.

See also: How a Welsh dairy farm has managed turnout after heavy rain

To do this, Mr Tudor attached anti-suckling nose-plates to half his Charolais-cross and Simmental-cross calves one week before weaning.

The nose-plate prevents suckling because it hangs down over the calfs nose.

To test the efficacy of this approach, Mr Tudor allowed the remaining 50 calves to continue suckling.

Both groups had access to a 2-3kg ration of a cereal, sugar beet and soya blend daily.

Lisa Roberts, red meat technical officer at Farming Connect, says calves should be offered additional feed at least four weeks prior to weaning to minimise weaning check.

The feed must be palatable, dust-free and contain high levels of digestible fibre.

Mr Tudor left the nose-plates on the calves for six days. He blanket-weaned all the calves on the same day.

Marked difference

The trial, which was also supported by the Asda Beeflink scheme, showed a marked difference in the behaviour of the two groups at weaning.

The calves with nose-plates were much calmer. You could easily pick them out; they didnt bawl and adapted very quickly to being away from their mothers, says Mr Tudor.

He observed that the cows were also less unsettled by the two-step weaning process. They were much quieter than the other group when separated from their calves.

The calves were able to readjust gradually to being separated from their mothers because they hadnt been suckling.

Out of 50 who had the plates, six came out during the course of weaning but they worked well on the rest.

When the plates were removed, the calves from the original groups were kept together for a period to allow some continuity.

Once they were settled, they were grouped according to breed and size.

Mr Tudor says because these calves were already used to a diet that didnt contain milk, they adapted well to the feed ration.

Tight margins in suckler production mean that any improvements to cattle performance must be captured, says Mr Tudor.

I am a big believer in marginal gains through attention to detail. Those little things that can be done to gain a few kilogrammes before sale will inevitably add value and improve returns.

The nose-plates were not expensive at 2 each  and they can be reused. They are a good management tool and are easy enough to fit.

See also: Get weaning right to avoid calf disruption

Mr Tudor, whose herd calves in a nine-week block from 15 April, plans to use the nose plates on his calves again.

Mrs Roberts says the advantages of the two-step weaning approach are likely to be enhanced further in weaning systems where calves are not housed.

Research has shown that calves walk around less when the weaning process has been gradual, so if the calves are in a less confined space they are likely to spend more time walking around aimlessly and less time eating, she says.

Farm facts

The herd of 140 suckler cows is housed on rubber mats in a cubicle system, with slatted flooring

The herds health status maintains BVD accreditation and they vaccinate against BVD, leptospirosis and IBR

Calves are sold as 10-month-old stores at Welshpool livestock market

The land includes 167ha of hill, much of which has been improved

The farm runs from 160-375m

Calves are weaned in January, with the strongest steers and Charolais heifers sold at 10 months old

Twenty-five Simmental cross Saler heifers are retained as replacements.

Farming Connect

Farming Connect is a Wales-wide service funded by the Rural Development Programme and Welsh government. As part of a series, Farmers Weekly is visiting Farming Connect demonstration farms regularly to find out what projects have been undertaken and how it benefits performance.
Cattle farmers are being urged to make sure their public liability insurance is up to date in case a walker gets injured while crossing their land.

In recent years there have been frequent reports in the spring and summer of people being attacked and trampled by cattle while out walking.

On average, four to five workers and members of the public are killed in accidents involving cattle each year.

See also: Dogs present in two-thirds of cattle attacks, study finds

With Easter approaching and cattle and calves increasingly out in fields, there is concern that cows could become aggressive if they feel threatened.

Matthew Peters of Bruton Knowles said farmers should double-check their insurance policies and make sure signs are in place, especially on public footpaths, warning the public of dangers.

Farmers are becoming increasingly concerned about walkers and members of the public, who should be very wary when crossing a field that is occupied by cows and calves, he said.

If a public footpath does cross a farmers land, placing clear signs is a good way to inform the public of the dangers and will help mitigate any potential issues. Those walking dogs should also be told to keep them on a lead and under control.

HSE advice is that, if possible, farmers should use fields or areas not used by the public when cattle are calving or have calves at foot, especially during periods of greater public use such as public or school holidays.

It also suggests considering whether it is reasonably practicable to temporarily fence alongside a public right of way so that the cattle and people are kept separate.

The warning about the risks comes as a farmer from Wiltshire prepares to face a Crown Court trial over the death of a walker who was trampled by cattle in 2013.

Brian Godwin of Timothy Rise Farm, Winsley Hill, has been charged by the Health and Safety Executive under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

This legislation covers the need to protect people other than those at work from risks to their health and safety arising out of the activities of people at work.

Mr Godwin attended a magistrates court hearing on 7 March where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 8 April at Swindon Crown Court.

In Scotland, where the public have a right of access across the countryside, people are being urged to remember the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, which stipulates that walkers with dogs should not access fields where there are young lambs or calves.

NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie said: In particular, dogs should always be kept well away from sheep and cattle because even if no lambs or calves are visible, they could be present but well hidden by the herd or flock. Cattle in particular can react aggressively, and their natural instinct to protect their young is strong at this time of year.
Defra has extended its winter flood recovery fund to cover farmers in Greater Manchester  almost three months after the floods.

A series of powerful storms swept across the UK in December, resulting in hundreds of livestock being swept away, swathes of farmland being inundated and widespread damage to the infrastructure of farm businesses.

Farm minister George Eustice said a small number of farmers in the Greater Manchester area had come forward and declared their businesses were damaged in the December floods.

See also: Princes fund offers 700,000 for winter flood recovery

These payments to help farmers get back on their feet are part of a wider 200m package of government support set up to help communities affected by the devastating floods in northern England, added the minister.

Defra has reviewed the situation and decided that farmers in that area who suffered losses as a result of flooding caused by storms Desmond and Eva were now eligible to apply for support grants of up to 20,000.

The grant is available to help with uninsurable losses including removal of gravel and debris from farmland, to reinstate boundaries and gates and recultivate grass and arable land.

Farmers from Greater Manchester have an extended deadline of 15 April to submit an application via the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Farm businesses from flood-affected areas in Cumbria, Northumberland, Lancashire, Yorkshire and parts of County Durham have submitted more than 400 applications worth 4.4m, with more than 1.5m already approved.

Farmers from these areas that have not yet submitted an application are urged to do so as soon as possible before the 1 April deadline.

Farm businesses affected by flooding are able to claim grants of between 500 and 20,000 to contribute to the cost of restoring farmland.

This includes restoration of productive stock-proof grassland, productive arable and horticultural land, field access or track ways, fencing or gates or water troughs and drainage on flood-damaged holdings.

Farmers who want to apply for the Farming Recovery Fund can find the form and guidance at Gov.UK

They can also contact the RPA helpline on 03000 200 301.

Guidance for farmers who have lost livestock as a result of the floods can be found on the website of the National Fallen Stock Company.
Farm minister George Eustice has spelled out his vision for UK agriculture outside the EU and insisted: We wont regret making a Brexit.

Mr Eustice has faced criticism for a lack of detail on the effect that a possible exit from the EU would have on UK agriculture.

But in a speech made in London on Wednesday (23 March) at the launch of Farmers for Britain, a new campaign led by farmers who believe that the UK would be better off outside the EU, the minister set out his ideas.

See also: Defra ministers divided over EU exit referendum

He highlighted four key themes to a future UK agriculture policy outside the EU: science and technology; how to cope with weather and price volatility; replacing current chaotic schemes for farm payments; and environmental stewardship.

We must invest more in science and technology if we want our farms to make the next step forward, said Mr Eustice, outlining his views on agricultural science.

New genetic breeding techniques such as gene editing could reduce our reliance on pesticides so we should support their development and put in place a new UK regulatory regime based on evidence and science, rather than the politics of the EU.

Insurance schemes

Mr Eustice said farming had always been a risky business because of the weather and price volatility. Farmers want to earn their profit from the market but they need a helping hand when things go wrong, he added.

I want us to explore the potential for government-backed insurance schemes like they have in Canada and futures markets like they have in the US to help mitigate risk.

Mr Eustice argued that the CAP, which accounts for almost 40% of the EU budget, was a centralised and bureaucratic policy.

I believe that if this country votes to leave, then in five years time the only question people will ask themselves is why we didnt do it sooner

George Eustice, farm minister

But an exit from the EU would allow the UK to replace the system of cross-compliance, which costs Defra about 100m each year in penalties, as well as the chaos caused by an annual application process.

Mr Eustice said the UK would put in place a scheme similar to environmental stewardship to promote improved wildlife habitats and higher animal welfare standards.

But the scheme would be made simpler and with a broader remit of schemes to include measures that improve animal welfare.

Mr Eustice said he was interested in exploring a new farm area payment that rewards any farmer who signs up to privately operated, UKAS-accredited schemes that promote basic measures to deliver environmentally sensitive farming.

The minister also moved to allay fears that the UK government would scrap farm payments in the event of an EU exit.

Prime minister David Cameron had already given him assurances that the government will continue to support farming and the environment financially.

Mr Eustice said: Lets get one thing straight. The UK government will continue to support farming and the environment financially.

The prime minister has made that clear and I agree with him. After all, non-EU countries such as Switzerland and Norway actually give more support to their farmers than we do.

In the scheme of things, the amount of money spent on our countryside and wildlife is very modest when compared with spending on other departments. But we could spend our money more effectively if we had control.

Market access

Mr Eustice also hit back at claims from Mr Cameron that UK livestock farmers outside the EU would face more than 300m in export tariffs.

We will also maintain a free-trade agreement, he insisted. Last year, we exported 7.5bn worth of food to the EU but we imported food worth 18bn. We have an annual trade deficit with the EU in food alone of 10bn so they need a free-trade deal.

Finally, Mr Eustice said a UK free from the shackles of the EU would pilot new ways of doing things to deliver the changes that British farming craves.

I believe that if this country votes to leave, then in five years time the only question people will ask themselves is why we didnt do it sooner, he concluded.
More than 40 Gaffney High students will compete for titles in the 2023 Miss Cherokeean Pageant being held this Saturday, Oct. 22. The pageant will begin at 6 p.m. in ...

How should you pay for short-term financial goals?

As you go through life, you will likely have longand short-term financial goals. But how will your strategies for meeting your long-term goals differ from those needed for your short-term...
Story Highlights Before Brussels, 48% worried "a great deal" about future attacks

Percent worried "a great deal" similar to 2015, up from 2004-2014

Americans more concerned about healthcare, the economy and crime

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Before the terrorist attacks Tuesday that killed at least 30 in Brussels, 48% of Americans worried "a great deal" about the possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S. While this percentage is higher than in most years since 2004, a possible terrorist attack was not Americans' top concern. More Americans expressed "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of worry about domestic problems such as healthcare, the economy and crime than about terrorism among a list of 13 different issues.

Americans' Concerns for Problems Facing the U.S. Next, I'm going to read a list of problems facing the country. For each one, please tell me if you personally worry about this problem a great deal, a fair amount, only a little or not at all? First, how much do you personally worry about -- ? Great deal % Fair amount % Only a little/Not at all % The availability and affordability of healthcare 55 27 17 The economy 55 28 18 Crime and violence 53 26 22 The possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S. 48 23 29 Hunger and homelessness 47 29 24 The Social Security system 46 25 28 Drug use 44 23 33 The quality of the environment 42 31 26 Unemployment 39 29 31 Illegal immigration 37 23 39 Race relations 35 27 37 Climate change 33 27 40 The availability and affordability of energy 27 34 38 March 2-6, 2016 Gallup Poll Social Series: Environment

Worries about terrorism generally take a back seat to at least a few domestic problems, but concerns about the issue increased in 2002 and 2003 after 9/11.

The latest attacks, which took place at an airport and metro station in Brussels, could affect Americans' level of concern about terrorism. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, terrorism climbed to the top of Americans' list of the most important problems facing the U.S. in December. But by early March, mentions of terrorism declined significantly.

Before the attacks in Brussels, Americans already reported a heightened state of worry because of the increasing worldwide threat of terrorism, in particular from the Islamic State group, which has already claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks. Both last year and in Gallup's latest poll, conducted March 2-6, about half of Americans say they have "a great deal" of worry about another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, up from percentages mostly around or less than 40% in the previous 11 years.

Gallup's longer-term trend on terrorism concerns, first asked in 1995 and last updated in December, also found about half of Americans saying they are "very" or "somewhat" worried about personally becoming a victim of terrorism. And a January poll also found a decrease in Americans' satisfaction with the nation's security from terrorism.

Worries About Future Terrorist Attacks Higher Among Seniors, Republicans

Older Americans appear to worry more than younger Americans about potential terrorist attacks in the U.S. Less than half of Americans under the age of 50 say they worry "a great deal" about the issue. Meanwhile, about half of those between the ages of 50 and 64 (49%) and the majority of seniors aged 65 and older (58%) report worrying "a great deal."

Concern about possible terrorist attacks also differs by party. Republicans (64%) are much more likely than Democrats (36%) to say they worry "a great deal" about the possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S. About half of independents (48%) share this degree of worry on the issue.

Americans' Concerns About the Possibility of Future Terrorist Attacks in the U.S., by Party ID and Age Next, I'm going to read a list of problems facing the country. For each one, please tell me if you personally worry about this problem a great deal, a fair amount, only a little or not at all? How much do you personally worry about the possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S.? Great deal % Republicans 64 Independents 48 Democrats 36 18 to 29 42 30 to 49 46 50 to 64 49 65+ 58 March 2-6, 2016 Gallup Poll Social Series: Environment

Bottom Line

Because Gallup has found an increase in Americans' worries about terrorism in the aftermath of past high-profile attacks, worry might increase after the attacks in Brussels, at least in the short term. Even before the latest attacks occurred, the level of concern was relatively high by post-9/11 standards. However, Americans are overall more likely to voice concern about pressing domestic matters such as the economy and healthcare.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted March 2-6, 2016, with a random sample of 1,019 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

View survey methodology, complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
Fans who attended the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2022 can renew their ticket orders for next year beginning Monday, Oct. 24.
We didnt think we had heard the last of the battle in Oregon to raise the minimum wage, even though Gov. Kate Brown had signed a bill doing exactly that. Recent developments support one of our basic arguments about this issue: It was too complex to be handled in this years shorter legislative session.

Now, two legislative leaders, House Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, say theyll push for changes to the new law, and likely will bring their proposals to next years session.

If the new law runs its course, the Portland area will have a minimum wage of $14.75 an hour in 2022; urban counties such as Benton will have a minimum wage of $13.50 and rural areas will have a minimum wage of $12.50. The runup to 2022 begins in July, when the wage increases to $9.75 an hour.

But now, Kotek and Burdick, both Portland-area Democrats, want to revisit the issue of a lower wage for younger workers  for example, high school students working at their first jobs to get some spending money and buttress their resumes. Its unclear whether they also have in mind work-study students at Oregon public universities, but we bet officials at Oregon State University are interested in finding out.

According to a story in The Oregonian, Kotek and Burdick understand that threading the needle on the younger-worker issue could be tricky: Any policy change allowing students to make a lesser wage would have to not penalize older workers. The trick with a training wage is to make it so tightly written that employers cant use it to get around the minimum wage, Burdick said.

In the meantime, Kotek said shes working with Rep. Cliff Bentz, an Ontario Republican, to try to create a policy to protect businesses on the Oregon side of the border with Idaho. By 2022, wages will be $5 higher there than on the Idaho side, with potentially ruinous effects on Oregon communities. Kotek said she doesnt know what that policy would look like, but it could involve yet another wage region to go along with the three already in place.

All this suggests that the wage increase was such a complicated enough bit of business that it deserved more attention than it received during the short session. We know the Legislature acted in part to pre-empt ballot measures on the issue, but it would have been better to throw this decision to voters.

In the meantime, the fledgling opposition to the minimum wage law among local governments may be picking up steam. Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist has argued that the increase is unconstitutional in that it represents an unfunded mandate from the state. Nyquist is talking about filing a lawsuit, and other local governments (notably Lane County) are considering joining the effort.

Browns signature on the bill ended the first act in Oregons wage debate. But the curtain is about to open for the next act.
PRE-ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP FOR MUTUAL EVALUATION OF SENEGAL

The Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), in collaboration with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Senegal, organized AML/CFT Mutual Evaluation Pre-assessment Workshop for stakeholders in Senegal, in Saly, Senegal, from 15th to 18th March 2016.

The objective of the Workshop was to prepare stakeholders for conducting Mutual Evaluations of national AML/CFT regimes. Mutual evaluation exercises are undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the AML/CFT measures adopted by Member States, particularly their compliance with accepted international AML/CFT standards.

The workshop brought together staff from the following Senegalese institutions: the FIU, regulatory agencies, the Central Bank, law enforcement agencies, GIABA line ministries (Finance, Justice and the Interior), financial institutions, and Designated Non-financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs),

During the opening ceremony, the Director General of GIABA, Colonel Adama COULIBALY, pointed out that the pre-assessment exercise is a technical and complex process, which requires robust mobilization of expertise and huge financial resources. In this regard, he launched an appeal to the Senegalese high authorities and, through them, to GIABA Member States to demonstrate stronger commitment and support to the FIU, by providing the latter with adequate resources achieving its mandate. This would entail a huge investment inthrough which Senegal is committed to developing its economy and support the transformation of West Africa into an emerging region with higher growth rates, and an environment more conducive to business, greater investment, more jobs and wealth

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Development, Finance and Planning, Mr. Cheikh Tidiane DIOP, indicated that the fight against financial crime in Senegal forms part and parcel of the countrys good governance policy, one of the three major components of the Emerging Senegal Scheme (PSE) strategy. He also noted that Since the first round of mutual evaluation of Senegal, the country has been working hard to resolve its deficiencies with the support of GIABA and believes the country will be successful in the second round.

During the closing ceremony of the Workshop, the President of the Senegal-FIU, Mr. Waly NDOUR, thanked GIABA for its support and technical assistance to Senegal in conducting AML/CFT. He also observed that the Workshop provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to assess the full range of their respective responsibilities. Finally, he entreated participants to meet the challenge involved in ensuring the successful organization of the Mutual Evaluation of Senegal.

In his closing address, the Director General of GIABA, Colonel Adama COULIBALY, opined that the massive turnout and assiduity of the trainees demonstrated their level of dedication and commitment to the process. According to him, the workshop provided a convergence point for the two main components of the Senegal Mutual Evaluation, namely, the assessed and the assessors

Furthermore, the workshop Modules stressed the assessment of Technical Compliance in relation to the FATF 40 Recommendations, the effectiveness of the AML/CFT regime, and the Mutual Evaluation processes itself.

At the end of the training and group mock exercises, various recommendations were made, including the following:
Intel Marines mold future of Marine Corps

US Marine Corps News

By Lance Cpl. Julien Rodarte | March 22, 2016

Intelligence Marines from throughout the Marine Corps presented software they created to leaders of the Marine Corps Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Enterprise accelerator program in Stafford, Virginia, March 4, 2016.

The accelerator program is a 12-week course that brings Marines back into the development process of the gear they will use in the future. One of the things that spawned from this course was the C-ME program which allows Marines from anywhere to quickly and easily communicate with each other through a virtual map.

This accelerator program is helping Marines get exactly what they need to do their jobs.

"When a product gets kicked out, it's not exactly what the Marines wanted," said Buddy Steshka, a technical support specialist at ManTech International

Corporation. "A way to correct that is by having the users drive the design. They tell you what they want and how they want it, and you let the engineers figure out how to put it together and make it work."

The 12-week course allows Marines to work closely with these engineers to make their solution a reality.

"The accelerator program is more important now than ever because it puts Marines right with the developer," said Steshka. "Working with them week in and week out, constantly double checking the progress and overviewing what they have created to make sure that it stays in line with their desires."

The first week of the program revolves around concept design. Marines are trained to think outside of the military mindset and discover the main problem they are trying to solve throughout the week.

"One of the most difficult parts about the program is trying to define a problem that will address both intelligence and operations, and working together to make sure that problem can be fixed," said Master Sgt. Tiffany Winfrey, a geospatial chief at II Marine Expeditionary Force, and a participant in the accelerator program.

Marines learn to be more open-minded and are even encouraged to draw out their ideas to get both sides of the brain working.

"By Thursday of week one, everything comes together. They've broken that initial way of thinking and have started to get their problem down to a granular level," said Steshka.

They start a design cycle to create a minimum viable product or prototype of their solution during weeks two and three.

For the remainder of the course, the Marines and engineers constantly evaluate the product to make sure it is fast, easy to use and effective.

At the end of the program, the accelerator teams are asked to present their product to MCISRE leaders. This is the final step to see how useful the product is going to be.

This course brings Marines from all over the intelligence community to make change where they feel it is needed.

"I think this program is great because it lets Marines know no matter your rank you have a voice to implement change," said Winfrey.

The MCISRE accelerator program is looking for more Marines to help develop the future of the Marine Corps.

"Send us more Marines," said Steshka. "The more Marines, the bigger cohort we have, and the younger they are, the greater these products are going to be.

"It is important that they are younger because we are building these things for the next generation."

Any intelligence Marines that are interested in being part of the program are encouraged to contact Jennifer Edgin, the HQMC Intelligence Department Chief Technology Officer at jennifer.edgin@usmc.mil or (703) 614-2522.

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AF Research Lab seeks to turn waste into energy

By Holly Jordan, AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate / Published March 22, 2016

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) -- It may seem like a scene from "Back to the Future," but the Air Force Research Laboratory is looking to turn fiction into reality with a nearly $7 million waste-to-energy project.

The AFRL Advanced Power Technology Office has embarked on the waste-to-energy demonstration at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to convert waste products such as wood, plastics, biomass, and other materials into alternative fuel that can be used in a variety of military base applications.

The project involves a gasification process, developed by Biomass Energy Systems, Inc., to convert wastes into synthesis gas (syngas), which can then be used to produce electricity.

The demo runs through this summer and plans to show a system capable of converting up to 10 tons of waste per day into 300 kilowatts of continuous electric power, or the equivalent of the total electrical load for about 100 U.S. homes.

This project is sponsored by the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies and is part of a larger microgrid effort demonstrating alternative energy technologies that could allow military bases to operate independently of the power grid for extended periods of time. This capability would be critical in the event of a break in power operations due to a public-grid outage, cyberattack, or other interruption of service.

Through the project, AFRL aims to use this technology in an operationally representative environment. In doing so, lab researchers collect data that will help determine the best use for the technology and how to most efficiently incorporate it in future applications.

"From an Air Force perspective, mission assurance is paramount," said Lt. Col. Scott Fitzner, chief of AFRL's Acquisition Systems Support Branch, which leads the Advanced Power Technology Office. "If a technology can provide mission assurance through energy assurance, it can then be considered for more widespread implementation."

Waste-to-energy technology offers a number of benefits beyond energy production. Fitzner adds that the data collected through this effort helps researchers evaluate the technology to reduce the use of landfills and toxic burn pits on bases. Reducing landfill waste helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by the decomposition process.

The 154th Air National Guard Wing complex on JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam was chosen as an alternative energy demo site because it represents a Pacific region environment where energy costs are high but the environment is conducive for various renewable energy technologies.

Additionally, it demonstrates integration into an operational mission and addresses the need to explore independent means of energy production. Hawaii Governor David Ige recently committed the state to a 100 percent renewable energy standard by 2045.

Following this initial demo, AFRL plans to implement the gasification process into the first phase of the base microgrid project. Longer-term efforts may explore the expanded use of the technology to produce fuel for vehicles and ground support equipment.

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Indonesian vessel fires 12 bullets into Taiwanese fishing boat

ROC Central News Agency

2016/03/22 22:18:38

Taipei, March 22 (CNA) An Indonesian government vessel that fired upon a Taiwanese fishing boat Monday left the boat with 12 bullet holes, with two bullets passing through the cabin, the Liuchiu Fishermen's Association said Tuesday.

In what it called "a detailed investigation report," the association in Pingtung -- where the two Taiwanese fishing boats involved in the latest incident are registered -- said the two fishing boats were not fishing illegally and were fired at without warning.

Both the Sheng Te Tsai and the Lien I Hsing No. 116 had full loads of fish and were on their way to Singapore at 6 degrees 15 minutes north latitude and 97 degrees 40 minutes east longitude, at the northern entrance of the Strait of Malacca, just over 100 kilometers from the northeastern coast of Sumatra, at around 3 a.m. Monday, according to the report.

It was dark at the time, but the Lien I Hsing No. 116 was suddenly fired at four or five times while being lit up by a spotlight aboard the Indonesian patrol vessel, said the report, adding that the vessel did not appear to have been hit.

The Indonesian vessel chased the Lien I Hsing No. 116 for about half an hour before turning its attention to the Sheng Te Tsai. The patrol vessel spotlighted the Sheng Te Tsai and fired a total of 12 shots. It chased the fishing boat for about an hour before leaving, said the report.

The captain of the Sheng Te Tsai checked his vessel and found the bullet holes, said the fishermen's association.

Both captains told the association that they were not fishing when the incident occurred. Their national flags were not displayed because they had earlier been broken by the wind, but their boats' codes were clearly painted.

The two fishing boats were scheduled to arrive in Singapore to unload their catches at 6 a.m. Thursday and to get resupplied by March 31. The Sheng Te Tsai will then proceed to another fishing area, while the Lien I Hsing No. 116 will return to Taiwan.

Indonesian authorities claimed that the two Taiwanese boats were poaching in its territorial waters and that they tried to ram the patrol vessel before being fired at.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) demanded that Indonesia provide evidence to support its claims.

(By Kuo Chih-hsuan and S.C. Chang)

ENDITEM/J

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-102-16 March 22, 2016

Readout of Deputy Secretary Work's Meeting with Danish Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Thomas Ahrenkiel

Deputy Secretary of Defense Spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson provided the following readout:

Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work met with Danish Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Defense Thomas Ahrenkiel at the Pentagon today.

During their meeting, Work and Ahrenkiel exchanged insights on the counter-ISIL campaign, with the deputy secretary expressing strong appreciation for Denmark's contributions. They also discussed the European security environment, the importance of maintaining robust military capabilities, and future prospects for defense cooperation.

The two leaders stressed the value of partnerships and continuing to work with friends and allies around the world to confront emerging challenges.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/700438/

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30th NCR Wraps Up Foal Eagle 2016

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160322-05

Release Date: 3/22/2016 9:32:00 AM

From 30th Naval Construction Regiment Public Affairs

JINHAE, Republic of Korea (NNS) -- The 30th Naval Construction Regiment completed construction with Republic of Korea navy Seabees for exercise Foal Eagle 2016, March 18.

The regiment provided command and control for numerous projects between ROK engineers and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4, NMCB 133, Underwater Construction Team 2, and Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303 during the exercise.

"It has been impressive to see the interoperability and exchange of tactics and procedures across all levels, as capabilities were demonstrated and readiness was confirmed," said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ross Campbell, 30 NCR operations officer. "We had ROK navy and U.S. Seabee crews working side-by-side on projects. This was not one nation leading another, but a true partnership to learn together as we jointly built our projects."

NMCB 133, working hand-in-hand with its ROK counterparts, constructed a temporary forward-operating base in Busan using ROK design modifications. The structures included a wooden bunker, a Southwest Asia hut, timber watch tower, head facilities, and various tent structures.

The lead for the different projects was undertaken jointly. Although communication was an initial struggle, a rhythm of daily objectives, safety briefs, and aggressive communication between the U.S. and ROK Seabees brought the camp to completion ahead of schedule, according to Lt. Van Nguyen, NMCB 133 Det. Busan officer-in-charge.

UCT 2 completed expeditionary wharf construction, crane operations and underwater topography at Commander-in-Chief ROK Fleet base, as well as underwater welding and cutting for pier repair training with their ROK counterparts at the ROK engineering school, continuing their close relationship with the ROK Seabee dive team.

Further cooperative efforts brought together NMCB 4, CBMU 303 and their ROK counterparts in repairing collapsed wharf walls, piers, and airfields, demonstrating their capabilities during major combat operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, theater security cooperation, and construction readiness operations.

NMCB 3, also participating in the exercise, provided support to Naval Special Warfare.

For the regiment, the exercise tested the unit's operational abilities to include embark, logistics, communications, and engineering and construction outside of a stateside training environment.

"The close relationship between our U.S. and Korean Seabees creates great synergies, improving our interoperability and readiness to respond to any crisis," said Capt. James Meyer, 30 NCR's commodore. "They continue to amaze me with their professionalism, 'Can Do' spirit and execution success. I have no doubt our Seabees will be ready when our nation calls upon them."

Foal Eagle 2016 is a combined field-training exercise conducted annually by the ROK armed forces and the U.S. armed forces with the support of the Combined Forces Command. One of the largest military exercises in the world, it is defensive in nature and provides tactical level units the opportunity to confirm force deployment readiness, capabilities, validate interoperability and familiarize forces with the environment.

30 NCR provides operational control over naval engineering forces throughout the Pacific, Southwest Asia and the western U.S. in response to combat commander and naval component commander requirements. They serve an integral part of the Naval Construction Force and accomplish major combat operations, theater security cooperation, humanitarian assistance, disaster recovery and Phase Zero requirements across the Pacific area of responsibility.

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USS Ross Completes 3rd FDNF Patrol

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160322-12

Release Date: 3/22/2016 3:24:00 PM

From U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing its third forward-deployed patrol in U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations March 21.

The ship deployed from Naval Station Rota Nov. 21 and conducted three port visits, two international exercises, one international passing exercise (PASSEX), and numerous ballistic missile defense exercises.

QUOTE:

"Ross is proud to complete our third ballistic missile defense patrol, which contributed to U.S. national security interests by operating forward in support of the U.S.'s commitment to the defense of Europe. We enjoy the opportunity to work alongside our NATO allies and partners in promoting international security and stability." - Cmdr. Russell Caldwell, USS Ross (DDG 71), commanding officer

"I am proud of the high level of focus and dedication to the mission the crew exhibited throughout the patrol, and we look forward to returning home to Rota to reunite with families and loved ones." - Cmdr. Bryan Gallo, USS Ross (DDG 71), executive officer

QUICK FACTS:

While on patrol, Ross performed ballistic missile defense and theater security cooperation missions, and conducted anti-submarine warfare exercises.

Ross entered the Black Sea Dec. 3 in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and to demonstrate the United States' commitment to the collective security of its NATO allies and regional partners. Ross exited the Black Sea on Dec. 17, 2015.

Ross pulled into Varna, Bulgaria, Dec. 4 for a one-day port visit in an effort to strengthen ties while working toward mutual goals of promoting national security.

Ross participated in a passing exercise (PASSEX) Dec. 6 and Dec. 15 with ships from the Ukrainian, Romanian, and Turkish navies.

The PASSEX was conducted in order to strengthen maritime capabilities and increase war-fighting proficiency when operating in the Black Sea with allies' and partner nations' naval forces.

Many embarked Sailors achieved career milestones during the patrol. Among the accomplishments 42 Sailors advanced to the next rank and pay grade, 38 Sailors earned their Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist qualification, and two officers earned their Surface Warfare Officer qualifications.

Ross, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, conducted a routine patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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US commander apologizes for Afghan hospital bombing

Iran Press TV

Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:36PM

US General John W. Nicholson, the new commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has apologized for last year's US bombing of a hospital that killed dozens of Afghan civilians.

The now-closed hospital, run by the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, was attacked by a US Air Force AC-130 gunship on October 3, one of the most lethal military aircraft in the world. The bombing killed 42 people and left 37 others injured.

The Geneva-based charity said the incident "constitutes a war crime" and demanded an international investigation, but none has been undertaken.

On Tuesday, General Nicholson met family members of victims and the staff of the hospital in Kunduz to express his condolences.

"As commander, I wanted to come to Kunduz personally and stand before the families, and people of Kunduz, to deeply apologize for the events" that led to the bombing, Nicholson said.

"I grieve with you for your loss and suffering; and humbly and respectfully ask for your forgiveness," added Nicholson.

According to US military officials, more than a dozen American military personnel have been punished for bombing the MSF hospital, but they face no criminal charges.

The military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said last week the punishments are largely administrative, such as letters of reprimand and ending chances for further promotion.

The officials, who were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the disciplinary process is nearly complete.

The Pentagon has previously said some personnel were suspended from their duties but has given no further details.

US Army General John Campbell, who was the top American commander in Afghanistan at the time of the bombing, has since relinquished command. Campbell has called the attack a "tragic but avoidable accident caused primarily by human error."

Medecins Sans Frontieres, known as Doctors Without Borders in English, has publicly questioned the argument that the US strike was a mistake.

The merciless strike, which lasted for more than an hour, led to the closure of the hospital, depriving tens of thousands of Afghans of vital medical care.

According to an investigation by the medical charity, US military commanders continue to attack the hospital for 17 minutes after being warned that their aircraft was firing on a medical center full of doctors and civilians.

In November 2015, the US military claimed the crew of the AC-130 gunship had been dispatched to hit a Taliban command center in a different building, 411 meters away from the hospital.

However, the crew was hampered by problems with their targeting sensors that led them to begin firing at the hospital even though they saw no hostile activity there.

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ICC Convicts Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity

Press Statement

John Kirby

Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs

Washington, DC

March 22, 2016



The United States welcomes yesterday's verdict at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the case against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, a former vice president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and previously a leader of a Congolese rebel group that committed widespread atrocities in the Central African Republic (CAR) from 2002 to 2003. His conviction for rape, murder, and pillaging as war crimes and crimes against humanity while a rebel leader brings an important measure of justice to the victims of these crimes and in particular advances the fight against impunity for sexual violence in conflict.

Those who are responsible for such heinous acts must be held accountable. Yesterday's verdict, which recognizes Bemba's command responsibility for atrocities committed by his forces, demonstrates that those responsible for such crimeseven those at the highest levelscannot expect to escape justice. Secretary Kerry has reinforced this important principle, stating at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict that "responsibility goes straight to the top, even to the military commanders who knew or should have known about sexual violence and failed to act."

The United States supports the ICC's investigations in the Central African Republic, and we commend CAR's commitment to ensuring accountability for serious crimes, including through its cooperation with the ICC in this matter as well as through domestic efforts to pursue justice. Yesterday's decision follows other important recent efforts through both national and international judicial processes to begin to change the culture of impunity in the region. Recognizing the importance of this decision to many in Central Africa, we urge all stakeholders to respond in a measured and non-violent manner to this landmark judgment.

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UN welcomes ICC's first conviction for rape as war crime

22 March 2016  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the judgement issued by the International Criminal Court in the case of former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba.

"The judgment of the Court reaffirms that impunity will not be tolerated and sends a strong signal that commanders will be held responsible for international crimes committed by those under their authority," the Secretary-General said in a statement.

Mr. Bemba had been the commander-in-chief of the former Congolese rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, as well as a vice president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the 2003-2006 transition.

In a ruling issued yesterday, the ICC found him guilty on five charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including rape, murder and pillage, committed in 2002-2003 in neighbouring Central African Republic. More than 5,000 victims were granted the right to participate in the proceedings.

The case was the first before the ICC to focus on sexual violence as a weapon of war, as well as on a senior military official whose forces carried out the atrocities  even if he had not directly ordered them to do so.

In his statement, Mr. Ban called the judgement "a significant step towards bringing justice to the victims of these horrendous crimes in the Central African Republic."

He also highlighted the critical need to eradicate sexual- and gender-based violence by addressing their widespread and systematic use as a weapon of war.

Mr. Ban's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, today said that the conviction of Mr. Bemba "sends a message to all that irrespective of your position in society, you will face the wrath of law."

Her office has been working with the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central Africa Republic, among other countries, to eliminate the scourge of sexual violence in conflict.

The head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, also welcomed the landmark conviction as "a clear message that the international community will hold accountable those who fail to exercise their responsibilities as commanders to prevent and punish the use of sexual and gender-based crimes as weapons of war."

In a statement yesterday, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said that he hoped "this judgement will act as a powerful deterrent against future serious human rights violations and abuses not just in CAR, but everywhere they are committed."

He added that it should also help make perpetrators understand that many victims and their supporters will never abandon their search for justice and accountability.

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'Terrible year' in war-torn Yemen leaves majority of country's people in need of aid - UN

22 March 2016  One year on into the conflict in Yemen, tens of thousands of Yemenis have been killed or injured, one in 10 are displaced and nearly the entire population is in urgent need of aid, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country said.

"It has been a terrible year for Yemen, during which a war peppered with airstrikes, shelling and violence had raged on in the already very impoverished country," Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen told journalists in Geneva.

Shelling of ports and airports, resulting in blockades and congestion, is one of the drivers of the humanitarian crisis, Mr. McGoldrick said, noting that health workers cannot reach patients and some 90 per cent of the food has to be imported.

"The country had had extremely high levels of poverty before the war, and currently, the war has escalated, in an already fragile environment," said the aid official.

Some 6,400 people have been killed in the past year, half of them civilians, and more than 30,000 are injured, with 2.5 million people displaced, according to figures from the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, more than 20 million people, or 80 per cent of the population, require some form of aid  about 14 million people in need of food and even more in need of water or sanitation.

The UN has appealed for $1.8 billion for food, water, health care and shelter and protection issues, but only 12 per cent has been funded so far.

Also speaking in Geneva, Bettina Luescher for the World Food Programme (WFP) said that shortages forced the agency to cut rations to 75 per cent of a full ratio so that enough people could eat. She also highlighted the problems with movement and inability of workers to safely reach all the areas in need.

"Yemen should not be forgotten, with all the attention focused on the Syria crisis," she said.

UN action on the ground

The UN human rights chief last week condemned the repeated failure of the Coalition to effectively prevent civilian coalition airstrikes after two deadly strikes  just weeks apart  killed nearly 150 people, including children.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said incidents that have hit markets, hospitals, clinics, schools and other civilian structures occur "with unacceptable regularity."

The National Oncology Centre in Sana'a announced that it was on the brink of shutting down, with more than 100 other hospitals, blood banks and other health facilities impacted by the violence.

There is now a localized ceasefire along the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia, but the airstrikes continue.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq in New York today said that UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who leads the political process, has been meeting with the parties to the conflict, but no date has yet been announced for direct talks.

In the meantime, the UN is also preparing for longer-term reconstruction and providing some urgently needed jobs.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is focusing on mine clearance, public service restoration and emergency employment, spokesperson Sarah Bel said. One of the public services being restored is waste collection, part of the cash-for-work schemes under UNDP's umbrella.

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Senior UN official warns Burundi's tensions could fuel violence throughout Great Lakes region

22 March 2016  A climate for inclusive dialogue is urgently required to eradicate the polarization and fragmentation of Burundian society, resulting from the increasing poverty and ongoing political crisis, a senior United Nations human rights official today urged.

"The situation in Burundi is of great concern," Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovi, told the Human Rights Council in its interactive dialogue on Burundi. He warned the human rights violations occurring in Burundi could affect not only the future of the country's population, but also the wider Great Lakes region.

"Continued political tensions in the country threaten to escalate into a spiral of violence. The humanitarian, economic and social toll on the population is equally worrisome," he added.

Mr. Simonovi noted that since the crisis began in April 2015, at least 474 people have been killed, and there are 36 cases of alleged enforced disappearances.

In addition, at least some 5,000 people have been detained  of whom at least 1,834 remain in detention, some reportedly tortured and ill-treated.

The UN official noted some effort by the Government to re-establish the rule of law, with 41 out of 125 political detainees suggested for release being provisionally freed last week.

"I strongly urge the Government to release all others included in our list, as well as all others detained for political reasons only," Mr. Simonovi underscored.

He noted also the need to ensure freedom of expression, and to allow media, civil society and opposition to operate freely.

"There must be an end to disappearances, arbitrary arrests, extra-judicial killings and torture, and clear and public moves to hold to account perpetrators  including agents of the State and members of armed groups," said Mr. Simonovi.

He singled out in particular the case of Marie Claudette Kwizera, and accountant of the NGO, Ligue Iteka, who was reportedly taken away on 10 December 2015 by unidentified perpetrators, and whose whereabouts continue to be unknown.

Earlier this month, a team of independent experts completed its first mission to Burundi, mandated by the Council to probe potential human rights abuses, including extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and sexual and gender-based violence against civilians.

In today's briefing, Mr. Simonovi urged Burundi's Government to authorize and similarly cooperate with support staff who the UN seeks to deploy to Burundi from April through July, to conduct in-depth investigation and report to the Council.

He noted also the importance of economic and social rights of the Burundian population, in addition to protecting civil and political rights.

Also today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Alain Aime Nyamitwe, Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi.

According to a note from his Spokesperson on the meeting, Mr. Ban encouraged the Government to redouble its efforts to find a political solution to the current crisis through an inclusive dialogue, to protect all civilians and ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations are held to account.

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Widodo Orders Probe of Deadly Chopper Crash

by Andy Lala March 22, 2016

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday called for a full investigation of a deadly helicopter crash that occurred during counterterror operations along the northeastern coast of Central Sulawesi province.

Military and civilian eyewitness accounts say the Bell 412-EP helicopter, one of two deployed in a special mission to hunt Santoso terrorists, went down in foul weather some 35 minutes after taking off from Watutau village, killing all 13 soldiers and crew.

Indonesia's third deadly aviation catastrophe in as many months, Sunday's crash prompted numerous high-level officials to issue statements speculating about the cause.

"Initial reports [indicate] the helicopter crashed because it was struck by lightning, not human error and not because of mechanical failure," presidential spokesman Johan Budi told VOA, contradicting claims by local police that the helicopter may have been overloaded.

"When the helicopter was over the area, based on the agency weather monitoring system, we relayed information that cumulonimbus clouds were affecting weather, with the potential of heavy rain, high winds, tornado, lightning and hail," said meteorologist Kukuh Ribuduyanto.

Indonesian Police Chief Badrodin Haiti confidently ruled out a terror attack, telling reporters the site of the crash "is not a vulnerable area, [but] a residential area near the airport."

Budget blamed

Parliamentarian Mahfud Sidiq, who chairs the security and foreign affairs commission, cited maintenance funding shortfalls as a possible culprit.

"With our current budget we could only buy modern equipment, but we could not allocate a budget for their maintenance and service," he told VOA. "That's what caused some of the accidents in the weaponry systems."

Minimal budgetary allocations for military weaponry systems were blamed as a cause of a prior military plane crash. The Bell-412 EP that crashed in Poso was built by an Indonesian company with a license from U.S.-based Bell Helicopter.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu urged all parties to refrain from further speculating on the cause of the crash, calling it "the responsibility of the defense department to investigate the case thoroughly."

"We'll have to wait and see. Was it engine failure or the weather? Those questions have not been answered," Ryamizard said. "I'm astonished, why do they crash so often?"

Witness to crash

A 60-year-old farmer told VOA he saw the chopper going in circles over his house before diving suddenly among coconut trees.

"We saw the chopper, but we didn't hear it too clearly," said Hassan, describing the weather at the time of the crash as dark and cloudy. "We saw when it was circling over our house. A neighbor was wondering why the chopper was flying that low and then it nosedived  we heard a loud explosion and it disappeared."

One victim of the crash, Army Colonel Sinful Anwar, was a deputy commander of counterterror operations in Poso, where more than 2,500 security forces  including elite army troops  have intensified search efforts throughout the mountainous district, which is considered an extremist hotbed.

Anwar's troops had been aggressively pursuing Abu Wardah Santoso, Indonesia's most wanted militant and leader of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (EIM) network, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

At least five members of the EIM network were killed by security forces this past week. Members of the group are thought to be hiding in Poso, where more than 1,000 people died in 2001 and 2002 in violence between Christians and Muslims.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation of about 250 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, including plane and train crashes and ferry sinkings. On Feb. 10, an Indonesia Air Force Super Tucano fighter plane crashed in a densely populated area in Malang, killing 4 people. In December 2015, a military T-50 fighter plane crashed during the Gebyar Jogja Airshow in Jogjakarta.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Indonesia Service.

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Belgian Police Launch Searches After Deadly Attacks In Brussels

March 22, 2016

by RFE/RL

BRUSSELS -- Belgian officials have increased security and launched searches around the country after powerful bomb blasts at the main airport and a subway station in Brussels killed at least 34 people in attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

Belgium raised its terror alert to its highest level and dispatched 225 extra troops to Brussels following what Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called "violent, cowardly" terrorist attacks."

More than 180 people were reported wounded in the attacks, with Health Minister Maggie de Block saying many were in serious condition.

Belgian security forces conducted raids in the Schaerbeek area of the Belgian capital and reportedly found explosives and an Islamic State (IS) flag.

Belgian media published a security camera picture showing three young men pushing trolleys laden with luggage at the airport.

According to the reports, two of then men are suspected of having blown themselves up while officials said they are "actively searching" for the third man as a suspected attacker.

An Islamic State website said its "soldiers of the caliphate" had carried out the attack.

AMAQ, a news agency affiliated with Islamic State extremists, carried the claim of responsibility.

"Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital Brussels," it said.

U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous attacks against innocent people, and EU leaders expressed anger over what Sweden's prime minister called an "attack against democratic Europe."

Public transport was shut down in Brussels, incoming planes and trains were diverted, and authorities urged residents to "stay where you are." EU personnel were instructed to remain indoors, and flags outside the European Commission flew at half-staff.

EU President Donald Tusk said, "These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence..

Photos posted on the Internet showed gruesome scenes of damage and destruction at the airport.

A security worker who helped carry the bodies of victims outside told Reuters that some of them had "their legs destroyed, as if the bomb came from a piece of luggage" on the floor.

Belgium has been in the spotlight since militants living there helped carry out coordinated attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on November 13.

The March 22 blasts came four days after Salah Abdeslam, the chief surviving suspect in the Paris attacks, was captured following after a shoot-out in Brussels. Belgian security forces had been on alert for any reprisal action.

Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur reported that 14 people were killed and 81 wounded at the airport, while others put the death toll there at 11.

One witness said the blasts sparked panic as parts of the building collapsed onto travelers.

"When I reached the arrivals hall downstairs, an entire side with glass panes collapsed, downstairs where the taxis are," he told Belgian television channel RTBF. "It was complete chaos, some women were falling to the ground and crying. It was hell."

Another witness, Zach Mouzoun, told France's BFM television that the second explosion brought down ceilings and "there was blood everywhere."

A doctor who treated 11 of the victims at the Gasthuisberg hospital in Leuven was quoted by Flemish-language broadcaster VTM as saying their wounds suggested at least one of the bombs contained nails.

Police said a Kalashnikov rifle and an unused explosive were also found at the airport.

The Belga news agency reported that the assailants fired shots and shouted words in Arabic before the explosions.

Passengers were led onto the tarmac and the Belgian crisis center urged people not to approach the airport.

#JeSuisBruxelles -- The Reaction To The Attacks On Social Media

Another explosion then struck the Maalbeek subway station, close to the EU institutions, during the morning rush hour.

Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said at least 20 people died in the blast and 106 others were wounded, including 17 people with critical injuries.

A survivor fought tears as she told RTBF television about her ordeal.

"There was a big flash of light and the whole carriage exploded, the windows came down on us," she said. "Everyone threw themselves on the ground."

Brussels resident Joe Cook, who arrived at the station shortly after the blast, told RFE/RL that he saw commuters "in various states of shock."



"Some were stumbling, some were lying down, some were being tended to by passersby and other folk," he said.

EU Budget Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who also handles employee and security issues, wrote on Twitter that EU institutions were working together to ensure the security of their staff and urged all EU personnel to "stay home or inside buildings."

The new attacks sparked outrage and an outpouring of solidarity from world leaders.

French President Francois Hollande said "the whole of Europe has been hit," urging the continent to take "vital steps in the face of the seriousness of the threat."



"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by Hollande. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the blasts were an "attack against democratic Europe."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the "despicable attacks" should be met with "determination toward the terrorists."

British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed: "We will never let these terrorists win."

Obama, who was visiting Cuba, said the United States stood "in solidarity" with Belgium.

He pledged that Washington will do "whatever is necessary" to help Belgium bring the perpetrators to justice, adding that the attacks were another reminder that "the world must unite" against the "scourge of terrorism."

In Egypt, Sunni Islam's main seat of learning, Al-Azhar, said the attacks "violate the tolerant teachings of Islam." It also urged the world community to confront terrorism.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "strongly condemned these barbaric crimes."

However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that what she claimed were the West's "double standards" toward terrorists had led to terrorist attacks in Europe.

Russian Officials Fault The West Over Brussels Blasts

EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, tearing up at a joint news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman, said it was a "very sad day" for Europe.

She said it was clear the blasts were attacks that resulted from "radicalization," and urged leaders in Europe and the Middle East to work together to tackle the problem.

Airports across Europe have tightened security.

France, which remains in a state of emergency after the November 13 attacks, has also reinforced security on its border with Belgium.

Several landmarks around the world -- including Paris's Eiffel Tower, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, and New York's World Trade Center -- were illuminated in the black, yellow, and red colors of the Belgian flag.

Thousands of people also gathered in Brussels' historic city square, Place de la Bourse, to show support and mourn the victims in the attacks. People surrounded a large chalk message saying, "Brussels I Love You."

With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, Ron Synovitz in Prague, Reuters, AFP, VRT, RTBF, Standard.be, and Hln.be

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/explosions- brussels-airport/27627663.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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British Spy Agency GCHQ Moves Fast to Prevent Mass Energy Hack Attack

Sputnik News

19:56 22.03.2016

The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has stepped in to prevent a massive hack attack on Britain's energy networks after discovering so-called "smart meters" - designed to replace 53 million gas and electricity meters can be easily hacked.

So new smart meters  being rolled out to replace older devices used in every household to measure gas and electricity consumption  are intelligent electricity meters that enable two-way communications between businesses and homes and the energy suppliers. Using electronic communications technology, similar to SIM cards in mobile phones, the meter sends accurate meter readings and electricity usage details and allows for better management of energy flows.

However, GCHQ has discovered that the encryption being used in the meters is incredibly simplistic  using only a single decryption key. This would mean that it would be possible for hackers to take over every smart meter in the country, cut the electricity or gas, causing catastrophic blackouts and major surges in the supply networks with devastating effects.

'Too Many Cooks'

Nick Hunn, director of WiFore Consulting, told Computing magazine in January 2014, that the system designed by the utilities and metering industries was "fiendishly complicated."

"Too many cooks have ratcheted up the technical complexity to the point where it is no longer fit for purpose. As a result, it's lining up to be the next major government IT disaster," he said.

Dr Ian Levy, technical director of GCHQ's communications security group, told the Financial Times:

"The guys making the meters are really good at making meters, but they might not know a lot about making them secure. The guys making head-end systems know a lot about making them secure, but not about what vulnerabilities might be built into them."

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change told Energy Live News: "Smart meters will operate on a secure system that only authorized parties, such as energy suppliers and network companies, can access. Working with experts across industry and across government, we have put in place robust security controls which are based on international standards and industry good practices."

 Sputnik

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US Indicts 'Syrian Electronic Army' for Computer Hacking

by VOA News March 22, 2016

The U.S. Justice Department has indicted three members of the so-called "Syrian Electronic Army," a group it says was dedicated to compromising the computer systems of the U.S. government, international groups and media organizations it regarded as being antagonistic towards the Syrian regime.

The Justice Department says Ahmad Agha, 22, Firas Dardar, 27, and Peter Romar, 36, were charged with criminal conspiracy. None are in custody.

Their alleged crimes include: engaging in a hoax regarding a terrorist attack; attempting to cause mutiny of the U.S. armed forces; illicit possession of authentication features; access device fraud; unauthorized access to, and damage of, computers; and unlawful access to stored communications.

Dardar and Romar were separately charged with multiple counts of conspiracy for extortion, money laundering, wire fraud and violating Syrian regime sanctions.

"The Syrian Electronic Army publicly claims that its hacking activities are conducted in support of the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," said Assistant Attorney for National Security General John Carlin.

"While some of the activity sought to harm the economic and national security of the United States in the name of Syria, these detailed allegations reveal that the members also used extortion to try to line their own pockets at the expense of law-abiding people all over the world."

The DOJ says that starting in 2011, Agha and Dardar allegedly used stolen usernames and passwords to deface websites, redirect domains to sites under their control, and steal email and hijack social media accounts.

Some of the most notorious of these hacks included the twitter accounts of The Associated Press, the BBC, al-Jazeera and the French News Agency's photo department.

It says, however, that by 2013, Dardar and Romar began hacking online businesses in the United States for personal profit.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations has added Agha and Dardar to its list of Cyber Most Wanted and offered $100,000 for information leading to their arrest.

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Readout of the President's Call with Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 22, 2016



President Obama spoke today by phone with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to offer his condolences on behalf of the American people following today's horrific terrorist attacks in Brussels. The President reaffirmed the steadfast support of the United States for Belgium, and offered any assistance necessary in investigating these attacks and bringing those responsible to justice. The President reiterated that the United States stands together with the people of Belgium, as well as NATO and the European Union, and once again pledged the full cooperation and support of the United States in our shared commitment to defeat the scourge of terrorism.

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Obama to Cuba: I'm here to 'bury' Cold War rivalry

Iran Press TV

Tue Mar 22, 2016 4:57PM

US President Barack Obama has told Cubans in an unprecedented live television address that he came to their country to open a new chapter in the relations between Washington and Havana.

"I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas," Obama said on Tuesday during the speech, delivered at the Great Theater in Havana and broadcast on the island nation's state-run television.

"Creo en el pueblo cubano," he said, then repeating himself in English: "I believe in the Cuban people."

"I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people," he added, earning cheers and applause from the audience, which included Cuban President Raul Castro.

On the last day of his historic visit to Cuba, Obama called for a new direction of peace and friendship between the United States and Cuba.

The US president was in Cuba for a historic three-day visit along with his wife, two daughters, mother-in-law as well as a group of cabinet members, lawmakers and business leaders.

In his live address, Obama called for Congress to lift the US economic embargo that has been in place for more than five decades against Cuba.

"It is an outdated burden on the Cuban people. It's a burden on the Americans who want to work and do business or invest here in Cuba," he said. "It's time to lift the embargo."

The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and placed an official embargo against the country in 1962.

The two countries became ideological foes soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power and their ties remained hostile even after the end of the Cold War.

The Republican-controlled US Congress has been a major opponent of normalization of ties as well as the embargo lift.

In order for the US embargo to be lifted, the Cuban government should continue to change its policies and rethink its handling of human rights issues, Obama said on Monday, speaking at a joint press conference with President Castro following their meeting in Havana.

"The embargo's going to end," Obama said, noting even though "I can't be entirely sure the path is going to continue beyond my administration."

In December 2014, Obama announced the US would normalize relations with Cuba.

The two countries have reopened embassies in Washington and Havana, and restored commercial air travel.

President Castro said on Monday full normalization of relations between America and Cuba depends on the US Congress lifting the embargo and shutting down a US military prison in Guantanamo Bay. He also said that the US needs to return Guantanamo Bay to Cuba.

In addition, Castro advised the United States not to criticize Cuba's human rights record since the US has its own long history of racial, economic inequality and human rights abuses.

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US, Cuba Continue to Have Deep Differences on Human Rights  Obama

Sputnik News

20:29 22.03.2016(updated 20:33 22.03.2016)

US President Barack Obama stated that United States and Cuba continue to have serious disagreements on the issue of human rights amid the Cuban normalization process.

HAVANA (Sputnik)  The United States and Cuba continue to have serious disagreements on the issue of human rights amid the Cuban normalization process, US President Barack Obama stated at the meeting with the Cuban dissidents in Havana on Tuesday.

"It requires often times great courage to be active in civic life here in Cuba," Obama said. "This is an area where we continue to have deep differences with the Cuban government."

Obama met with Cuban dissidents on the grounds of the US embassy in Havana as part of his historic visit to the island nation.

"My hope is that by listening and hearing from them that we can continue to refine our policy in such a way that ultimately the Cuban people are able to live freely and prosperously," the president added.

The meeting was attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Charge d'affaires ad interim in Havana Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, and White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.

According to a fact sheet released during Obama's visit to Cuba, the United States will continue to call out the Cuban government's violations of human rights and will advocate for the respect of universal human rights, including freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

On Monday, Obama announced that Havana would host the 2016 US-Cuba Human Rights Dialogue.

 Sputnik

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Japan ships weapons-grade plutonium to U.S., Three Non-Nuclear Principles in focus

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 18:51, March 22, 2016

TOKYO, March 22 -- A ship carrying 331 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium left a port in Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Tuesday en route to the United States.

The transportation of the highly pure plutonium, which has been confirmed as enough to make as many as 50 nuclear bombs, follows a bilateral deal struck between Japan and the United States in 2014.

Originally, the plutonium was provided to Japan by Britain, France and the United States in the 1970s and was purportedly to be used for research purposes and was being stored by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Tokaimura, in Ibaraki.

Specifically, the United States provided 93 kg, Britain 236 kg and France 2kg. The total amount is enough to create between 40 to 50 atomic bombs, experts have maintained.

Japan agreed to return the plutonium at the request of U.S. President Barack Obama following a nuclear summit held in 2014, at which Obama asserted the United States wanted to more strictly control nuclear materials and prevent the possibility of them falling into the hands of terrorists.

Under maximum security and following an undisclosed route, a British transport ship, called the Pacific Egret, left the port in Tokaimura where the plutonium will be shipped to the Savannah River Site nuclear facility in South Carolina, which is a U.S. government-run plant, where it will be disposed of to prevent its illicit use.

The shipment is the largest amount of plutonium to be moved by sea since 1993, when one ton of plutonium was shipped from France, again headed for Japan, to be used at a nuclear reactor here in Fukui Prefecture, located on Japan's Honshu island, which borders the Sea of Japan.

According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, Japan currently has 47 tons of plutonium, both in and outside the country, created, apparently, as a by-product of reprocessing spent fuel from nuclear plants.

Japan has stated that it was planning to use its stockpile in a fast-breeder reactor that burns plutonium. However, the reactor is still in developmental stages and will not be online in the near future.

Japan's stockpiles of plutonium have been criticized by the international community as being in violation of its own Three Non-Nuclear Principles in place since the end of WWII, which state that Japan will not possess, produce or introduce nuclear weapons.

The stockpiles of plutonium, technically, contravene all three of its long-standing nuclear policy clauses.

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Japan to Continue Efforts to Deter North Korean Missile Threat

Sputnik News

09:09 22.03.2016(updated 09:54 22.03.2016)

Japan will further promore its efforts to constrain possible nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

TOKYO (Sputnik)  Japan will continue its efforts to curb the nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday, a day after the latest test missile launch by Pyongyang.

On Monday, North Korea launched five short-range missiles, which landed in the Sea of Japan. Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea's state media reported that Monday's test was the latest before the country's capabilities being brought to combat readiness.

"Japan will continue to coordinate efforts with the concerned countries to urge North Korea to exercise restraint and to implement UN Security Council resolutions," Kishida told reporters.

According to the minister, "it is necessary to take all possible measures to respond to any potential situation [caused by Pyongyang]."

On Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani ordered the country's defense forces to intercept any missiles entering its territory.

The leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea are planning to meet in Washington on March 31 to enhance trilateral cooperation in the face of North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests. In January, Pyongyang said it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

 Sputnik

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Project Kalina: Russia's Fifth-Generation Diesel-Electric Submarine

Sputnik News

16:11 22.03.2016(updated 16:16 22.03.2016)

Russia is set to start construction of its new fifth-generation Kalina-class diesel-electric submarine in the "imminent future," earlier than previously announced, according to Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov; here is what the new project is all about.

The construction of new fifth-generation non-nuclear submarines dubbed Project Kalina, equipped with air-independent propulsion systems, will apparently begin earlier than planned, in the "imminent future."

The Central Construction Bureau of Maritime Technology (TsKB) 'Rubin' that was commissioned by the Defense Ministry, has developed a draft new non-nuclear submarine, Alexander Fedotenkov said in an interview with the Strategy program on Rossiya 24 news channel on Friday.

"These are new-generation submarines. They are currently being developed," Fedotenkov said. "The construction of these submarines will start in the imminent future."

Earlier reports suggested that the construction would only start after 2020.

The new submarine will combine the best characteristics of Project 636 (Varshavyanka) and Project 677 (Lada) submarines and is set to be equipped with an air independent propulsion (AIP) system.

The system offers significant advantages over diesel-electric submarines, which need to surface regularly to recharge batteries, and nuclear submarines, which must constantly run noisy pumps to cool their reactors.

Submarines with such systems can stay submerged for weeks at a time and are potentially stealthier, the system is already in operation with a number of navies around the world.

According to some estimates, with the new AIP system installed, the Kalina would be able to stay underwater for about twenty-five days.

Earlier reports suggested that Russia's Rubin Design Bureau expected the Kalina design to be completed by 2017 and the first Kalina to be fitted with AIP by 2018.

New AIP system could be initially tested on the operational Lada-class diesel-electric submarine in service with the Russian Navy, the Sankt Peterburg (St. Petersburg).

Meanwhile, the two last Lada-class Project 677 submarines will be delivered as scheduled  in 2018 and 2019. Afterwards Moscow will terminate the Project 677 Lada-class in favor of Project Kalina.

The Lada-class, or Project 677, is a fourth-generation diesel-electric submarine based on the older Kilo-class submarine and does not currently incorporate an AIP.

China has been negotiating with Russia to purchase four Lada-class submarines from the Rubin Design Bureau based in St Petersburg. Beijing hoped those submarines could be refitted with Chinese engines and an electronic fire-control system.

Reports suggest that variants of the fifth-generation submarines may also be sold to India and China.

 Sputnik

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Over 20 PKK Members Killed in Southeastern Turkey Within 24 Hours

Sputnik News

17:10 22.03.2016

Eight members of the separatist organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in Sirnak, three in Nusaybin and 12 in Yuksekova, according to the Turkish general staff.

ANKARA (Sputnik)  As many as 23 militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in armed clashes in southeastern Turkey over the past 24 hours, the country's general staff said in a statement on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala announced a round-the-clock curfew across seven southeastern regions. Earlier in March, Ala announced the launch of a new counterterrorism campaign against the PKK in the country's southeast, especially in the districts of Yuksekova, Nusaybin and Sirnak.

"Eight members of the separatist terrorist organization PKK were killed in Sirnak, three in Nusaybin and 12 in Yuksekova," the statement reads.

As many as 12 homemade bombs, as well as a number of hand grenades, grenade launchers, machine guns and a large amount of ammunition have been seized from PKK militants.

The standoff between the Turkish government and the PKK has claimed the lives of 300 troops and police officers since it erupted anew in July 2015. The Turkish general staff estimates that over 1,000 Kurdish militants have been killed in its anti-terror campaign since mid-December, a figure that pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party officials argue includes hundreds of civilians.

The PKK, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist organization, seeks to create a Kurdish state in parts of Turkey and Iraq.

 Sputnik

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US Providing Ukraine 'Most Effective' Hybrid, Conventional Warfare Training

Sputnik News

19:49 22.03.2016

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter explained that the United States is providing to Ukraine training "both against what you might call symmetrical, or traditional kinds of combat operations, and also helping them with this unique brand... of hybrid warfare."

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The United States is concluding its most effective round of training to Ukrainian armed forces in hybrid and conventional warfare, top Department of Defense leaders told the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

"We recently received an update [that] assessed that it is some of the best, most effective training we have provided to the Ukrainiansfrom a US perspective," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said of the latest round of US training to Ukrainian defense forces.

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter explained that the United States is providing training "both against what you might call symmetrical, or traditional kinds of combat operations, and also helping them with this unique brand of hybrid warfare."

Dunford further explained that the symmetric and unconventional warfare training provided to Ukraine "is informed by Russian behavior over the last few years."

The training integrates techniques to counter unconventional or hybrid warfare, as well as information operations and cyber capabilities, Dunford added.

 Sputnik

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Ukraine: UN experts urge accountability for human rights violations by foreign fighters

22 March 2016  Today in Geneva, the United Nations Working Group on mercenaries called on the Government of Ukraine to ensure accountability for human rights violations committed by foreign armed actors during the conflict that has plagued the country since 2014.

"What is particularly concerning is that with the diverse array of foreign armed actors who joined the conflict, reports on human rights violations by these individuals have not been properly investigated or brought to justice," said Patricia Arias, who formed the Group with co-human rights expert Saeed Mokbil.

The Group's delegation expressed deep concern about allegations of mercenaries joining all sides to the conflict, which they stressed was clearly prohibited under international law.

"To date, foreign fighters have been prosecuted for various crimes including terrorist-related offences, but no prosecutions have been in relation to the human rights violations that took place," Ms. Arias said.

At the end of an official five-day visit to the country, the experts revealed that human rights violations had reportedly been committed at the hands of not only mercenaries, but also other foreign fighters, ranging from volunteers to paid service men and women, and independent militia members to professional military.

The Ukraine authorities informed the expert group that at least 176 identified foreigners were serving in armed groups of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, which reportedly include large numbers from Russia, Serbia, Belarus, France and Italy, among others. Women were also among the combatants, though in a significantly smaller extent.

"Although we received much information pointing to several levels of foreigner engagement in the armed conflict in Ukraine, the lack of coherent information on payments and the motivations of fighters make it difficult for us to ascertain which fighters are mercenaries," noted Mr. Mokbil.

In 2015, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted legal amendments permitting the inclusion of foreigners and stateless persons to serve in its regular armed forces and its National Guard, including those who fought in the volunteer battalions during the conflict.

"However, impunity for human rights violations remains largely unquestioned, paving the way for a murky zone with negligible accountability," Mr. Mokbil said. "We urge the Government of Ukraine to ensure accountability for violations that have been instigated by all parties to the conflict, to ensure justice for victims."

Working Group's Recommendations

The Working Group reiterated the need to draw up a strategy on foreign engagement in the conflict, within the framework of the Minsk Protocol  the 2014 agreement to halt armed hostilities in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

Highlighting provision 10, which obliges all sides of the conflict to withdraw illegal armed formations, military equipment and mercenaries, the experts also requested its full implementation by the Government.

They further urged "all parties to the conflict to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law and ensure respect for all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights with respect to the activities of foreigners in armed groups."

According to the press release, the 2014 Maidan protests in Kyiv and the 16 March 2014 referendum in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea  determined by the UN General Assembly on the territorial integrity of Ukraine  were followed by the outbreak of armed hostilities in eastern Ukraine that brought an influx of fighters from abroad, significantly influencing human rights in the country.

From 14 to 18 March, the delegation met Government authorities, parliamentarians, judicial officials, civil society organizations and members of the diplomatic corps along with representatives of the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk people's republic.'

The lack of concrete information on the profile of foreign armed actors was a challenge for the fact-finding visit. While the expert group did not discover any particular data on private military companies  currently prohibited by Ukrainian law  it called for this sector to be regulated to prevent potential human rights violations.

The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries will present its visit report to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2016.

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WILMINGTON, Del., March 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - DuPont Senior Scientist Philippe Horvath has been honored with the prestigious Canada Gairdner International Award, Canada's leading science prize, for his groundbreaking work on CRISPR-Cas. Horvath shares the award with Jennifer Doudna, University of California, Berkeley; Emmanuelle Charpentier, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin; Rodolphe Barrangou, North Carolina State University; and Feng Zhang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Eighty-three of Gairdner Award recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

Horvath, based at DuPont's site in Dange-Saint-Romain, France, is the first DuPont scientist to receive the Canada Gairdner International Award. Earlier this month, he was announced as a 2016 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize winner. He received the 2015 Massry Prize in October.

Horvath's initial article, published in Science in 2007, (Barrangou et al., 2007, Science 315, pp. 1709-1712), provided the first biological evidence that CRISPR-Cas constitutes an immunity system against viruses in bacteria. Beginning in the early 2000s, Horvath and colleagues initially utilized CRISPR for bacterial identification, then for its ability to improve the resistance of starter culture strains against bacteriophage attack. The discoveries opened new research avenues, laying the groundwork and inspiring numerous scientists to pursue the CRISPR field.

"Scientific discovery is the basis of innovation. It provides knowledge, enables new inventions and inspires learning in new directions that lead to solutions for the world's most difficult challenges," said DuPont Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Douglas Muzyka. "Philippe's early discoveries were foundational to the potential for CRISPR-Cas to address challenges in a range of scientific fields. The magnitude of his contributions epitomizes what it means to innovate at DuPont, and we are very proud to be associated with his receiving the Gairdner Award."

"I am honored to receive the Canada Gairdner International Award on behalf of DuPont and my colleagues," said Horvath. "Our work has and will continue to have a significant impact, notably in the fight against viral infections during food fermentations. It is obvious that the biotechnological tools for genome editing, derived from the natural CRISPR-Cas system, provide the greatest opportunities in fields such as plant improvement and gene therapy."

DuPont is a leader in the CRISPR area, with about 60 patents and applications and more than 30 published scientific articles and book chapters. The company leverages CRISPR in at least two distinct ways:

DuPont Nutrition & Health takes advantage of the native CRISPR-Cas system to select, through a fully natural process, bacteria that are immunized against bacteriophages. The natural immunization process does not involve gene editing technologies. The use of starter cultures containing such immunized bacteria ultimately improves the quality and safety of fermented dairy foods.

DuPont Pioneer utilizes CRISPR-derived tools for genome editing applications, and recently announced collaborations with Caribou Biosciences, a leading developer of CRISPR-Cas technologies for genome editing, and Vilnius University, a research leader in the field. The genome editing technology is capable of making exact changes to the DNA of many organisms. In plants, this editing capability can be applied to promote drought tolerance and disease resistance to protect plant health and increase crop yields. It also can eliminate food allergens and improve the nutrient composition of plant-derived oils.

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a feature naturally existing in bacteria, providing protection against viruses. DuPont scientists were among the first to understand how the CRISPR system works in bacteria. The RNA-guided Cas9 protein is one of several CRISPR-derived tools and differs from the natural CRISPR process used to identify and immunize bacteria.

The Canada Gairdner Awards will be presented on Oct. 27, 2016, at the Royal Ontario Museum. The Canada Gairdner Awards were created in 1959 to recognize and reward the achievements of medical researchers whose work contributes significantly to improving the quality of human life. They are Canada's only globally known and respected international science awards, and Gairdner is the only national organization that consistently brings the world's best biomedical researchers to Canada to share their ideas and work with scientists across the country. In so doing, it enlarges networks and enhances Canada's international reputation, while providing a realistic and unbiased benchmark for Canada's leading scientists. All winners are chosen by an international adjudication committee and all choices are deemed final.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com.

This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/dupont-science/horvath-gairdner-prize/prweb13284650.htm
Pittsylvania County officials are considering whether to draw up regulations on commercial solar farms.

The county currently has no rules concerning solar energy operations, said County Administrator Clarence Monday. Commercial solar panel installation requires a special use permit in all zoning districts in the county, except in M-1 (light industry) or M-2 (heavy industry)  where its permitted by right, Monday said.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors legislative committee directed the county attorney to review regulations in other counties  including Warren County, North Carolina, and others in Virginia  during its meeting last week in Chatham.

The idea of the exercise was to be open-minded as to what other localities do and anything that may work in Pittsylvania County, Monday said Wednesday.

Committee members also asked the county attorney to give his thoughts on the regulations at the next committee meeting. Committee Chair Joe Davis wants to get input from other committee members and county staff including the economic development director before draft regulations are drawn up and proposed.

The next committee meeting has not yet been scheduled.

With solar energy coming to the region, the county needs to have regulations in place, said Davis, who represents the Dan River Magisterial District on the board.

The county has to protect itself, Davis said. Issues such as property access points, safety issues, commissioning and de-commissioning must be addressed, he said.

Davis added that solar power looks good for Pittsylvania County; its green energy and its renewable, he said.

Last month, Danville City Council unanimously approved a 25-year contract to purchase six megawatts of power from a planned solar farm in southern Pittsylvania County.

Councilman Fred Shanks said the agreement will provide Danville Utilities with lower cost power because there will not be congestion or transmission costs incurred when crossing between service areas. Shanks also pointed out that Danville Utilities will not own the solar farm or be responsible for its maintenance.

Danville Utility Director Jason Grey told council members the solar farm would be built and maintained by a private company, while Danville Utilities would enter into a 25-year agreement to buy all the power generated by the solar farm.

The solar farm will be located at 2048 Kentuck Church Road, a former soybean farm, and would stretch from behind Kentuck Elementary School almost to Dan River Middle School.
Interested in growing grapes in Southside Virginia? Could an introductory class on operating a vineyard lead to more grape production in the Dan River Region?

The Southside Viticulture Primer will provide an introduction to the basic components of a vineyard operation in Virginia, according to a news release from the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

An $811,526 Virginia Tobacco Commission grant to Pittsylvania County made the program possible, said Freddie Wydner, the countys director of agribusiness development. The grant, approved by the commission in January, was for the project, SoVA Vineyard Development and Expansion to Support Virginias Wine Industry.

We want people to understand the risks and benefits involved, Wydner said of the workshop. Its a good way for farming families to diversify some of their farm income.

The workshop will include classroom time indoors and time outside in the vineyard  rain or shine.

Wydner will discuss the SoVA Vineyard Development program, and viticulture expert Tremain Hatch will give an overview of the industry, site selection, varieties and canopy management, as well as the projected costs/returns and labor demands of a vineyard.

We dont want people going into establishing these vineyards blind, Wydner said.

Jesse Williams, whose family owns the vineyard, will exhibit training systems, site design and varieties, and extension specialist Jamie Stowe will share resources the extension has for growers.

Of the $811,000 grant administered by the county, about $50,000 was to be used for extension uses including the workshop, Wydner said. Another $50,000 was allocated for research at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, he said.

Grant funds are being dispersed throughout the Southside Virginia Region that stretches east to Greensville County, west to Patrick County and north to Buckingham and Cumberland counties, Wydner said.

Virginia is in such critical need for grapes, Wydner said. Thats why the program was designed, to alleviate that need.

Lots of grapes are coming in from other states to be crushed, fermented into wine and bottled and sold in Virginia, Wydner said.

Theres a huge shortfall of grapes in this state, Wydner said. The goal is to expand by up to 200 acres in Southside Virginia, he added.

As part of the grant, a cost-share program is available to provide financial assistance for new grape growers and vineyard owners who wish to expand, Wydner said. New growers would need to grow at least five acres of grapes and existing vineyards would need to have at least three acres to qualify for the cost-share program, he said.

According to a 2012 economic impact study, the Virginia wine industry employs more than 4,700 people and contributes almost $750 million to the Virginia economy on an annual basis.

Nationwide, Virginia is in the top five states in number of wineries and wine grape production. In 2015, Virginia wine sales reached an all-time high of more than 524,000 cases or nearly 6.3 million bottles. More than 1.6 million tourists visited Virginia wineries in 2015, according to the governors office.
MARTINSVILLE  On April 1, The Racing College of Virginia at Patrick Henry Community College will host an open house. The event is free and open to anyone who wants a firsthand look at the Motorsports program.

The open house will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Motorsports building which is located behind Arrington Performance on 67 Motorsports Drive in Martinsville. It will feature equipment demonstrations and tours of the 104,000-square-foot training facility. Attendees will also get to meet Racing College faculty and to speak with an Old Dominion University representative about the transfer options that PHCCs motorsports students have.

According to motorsports instructor, Denver Smith, the event will be a great opportunity for both potential students and community members to learn about one of PHCCs greatest assets.

The Racing College of Virginia provides hands-on education in high performance racing engines and chassis fabrication, giving students the chance to build race cars in the same way that crews do so on the NASCAR circuit.

Several of our graduates have gone on to work for NASCAR, said Smith. We have state of the art, multimillion dollar equipment and an ideal, fast-pace learning environment that simulates the workplace. Anyone who loves racing and cars would want to see this.

Jeff Fields, Dean of Professional Technologies and Health Sciences, said The Racing College degree program is tuned for graduates to have an exciting career in motorsports. Our facilities and studies simulate real world professional race environments.

Fields encourages students who are racing fans, and those who are unsure of what major to choose  or even unsure whether college is right for them  to come to the open house.

Get out of the stands and into the pits! Our program is unparalleled in Southern Virginia. We believe in quality, performance and success as a competitive pit crew and as a starting point for your career, said Fields.
NEW YORK  Starbucks says it will introduce a prepaid card by the end of the year that lets people earn points for its rewards program.

The Seattle-based company plans to offer the card through Chase and says people would be able to use it wherever Visa is accepted.

It's the latest move by Starbucks Corp. to convince people to sign up for its loyalty program by giving them more ways to earn rewards stars outside of its cafes. The company also previously announced deals that entail selling its stars to The New York Times, Spotify and Lyft. Those companies would then distribute the stars as incentives to their own customers, Starbucks has said.

Starbucks said Wednesday it already has more than 12 million active members for its loyalty program in the U.S., and that people who sign up tend to spend more.

Last month, Starbucks announced an overhaul of its rewards program that hinted at plans to further expand the universe for its stars. Previously, people earned a star for each visit, and got a free drink or food item after 12 visits. Starting April 12, people will earn two stars for every dollar they spend, and get a free drink or food item after earning 125 stars.

By diminishing the unit value of a star, Starbucks Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ryan has said the company would have more flexibility to award stars for very small transactions.

Kevin Johnson, chief operating officer for Starbucks, said people would not earn stars on the company's prepaid card at the same rate that they do for purchases at cafes. He said the rate of rewards for the prepaid card would be announced at a later date.

A representative for Chase said the Starbucks prepaid card will not have a monthly service or reloading fee that often come with prepaid cards. Chase said the card will have just three fees; a $5 fee for a rush card replacement, a 3 percent foreign transaction fee, and a $75 legal processing fee, which would be triggered if the bank was required to hold or pay out funds from the account as a result of a legal action.

Chase declined to disclose the terms of its financial arrangement with Starbucks for the prepaid card, but noted it has a larger strategic partnership with the coffee chain.

Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com, said prepaid cards have been known in the past for having a variety of fees, but that the landscape has changed dramatically for the better for consumers. He said the biggest market for the cards is still people without bank accounts, but that families also use prepaid card as a way to control spending on vacations, or to give to their children.
Vancouver, Canada / TheNewswire / March 23, 2016 - Nexus Gold Corp.. ("Nexus" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NXS) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent with Bureau D'Tude des Geosciences et de L'Enviroment (the "Optionor"), pursuant to which Nexus will acquire the right to earn up to 100% interest in the Bouboulou Gold concession located in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Nexus will have an option to acquire up to a 75% interest in the Bouboulou concession, in consideration for cash payments of Cdn$500,000 and the issuance of 900,000 common shares of Nexus, over a period of three years. Following acquisition of a 75% interest in the concession, Nexus will have the option to acquire the remaining 25% interest through a cash payment of Cdn$1,000,000 with a 1% net smelter return royalty remaining with the Optionor.

With the Bouboulou concession, the Company is establishing a portfolio of advance stage exploration gold projects for development. Bouboulou joins the Company's flagship Walker Ridge Gold Project which is located in Nevada, USA where work is ongoing. The Company will also continue to fully utilize leading-edge technologies, such as Element Detection Technology (EDT) in its exploration work. EDT was successfully used at Walker Ridge in further defining drill targets.

"Bouboulou is an excellent property with four zones of gold mineralization identified to date from previous exploration work. Prior drilling has defined high-grade intercepts giving the property exceptional resource potential. Warren Robb, P.Geo, and director of Nexus, is familiar with the project having reviewed the property in 2010 and later in 2012 while employed in Burkina Faso. We are extremely pleased to have negotiated the terms with the vendors and look forward to executing the definitive agreement in the coming weeks," stated President and CEO, Peter Berdusco.

Historical Data

The Bouboulou property covers an area of 38.3 square kilometers and is located approximately 100 kilometers north by northwest of the capital city of Ouagadougou. Exploration on the permit area has been conducted by Boliden (1997 - 1999), Riverstone Resources (2005- 2011) and Roxgold (2011 to 2012). Exploration has consisted of Rotary Air Blast Drilling, trenching, geological mapping, Airborne EM and magnetometer and Radiometrics and reverse circulation and diamond drilling.

Highlights of the previous exploration programs include; surface rock sampling and trenching returning gold grades from 1.09 to 19.16 g/t gold. Four zones of gold mineralization have been identified on the property termed Koala, Rawema, Bouboulou 2 and Pelgtanga.

Significant Reverse Circulation drilling results include:

Hole azimuth dip depth (m) From To (metres) (g/t Au) Zone BBL-11-RC-006 120 -67 115 70 110 40 1.52 Bouboulou2 includes 70 90 20 2.26 BBL-11-RC-013 300 -50 109 74 109 35 2.29 Rawema includes 74 86 12 5.46 BBL-11-RC-020 270 -55 103 40 50 10 2.84 Koala includes 42 44 2 12.45 BBL-11-RC-027 120 -45 120 90 114 24 1.36 Bouboulou2 BBL-11-RC-042 320 -55 114 52 54 2 3.80 Pelgtanga

Significant Diamond drilling results include:

Hole azimuth dip depth (m) From To (metres) (g/t Au) Zone BBL-11-DD-002 315 -45 127 42 44 2 5.43 Rawema BBL-11-DD-003 135 -45 142 56 58 2 5.33 Bouboulou2 78 82 4 12.53 BBL-11-DD-005 300 -50 179 74 80 6 4.62 Rawema includes 77.7 78 0.3 81.32

All results reported are over intercepts lengths and are not true widths.

The property is situated at the north end of the Boromo greenstone belt underlain by an alternating sedimentary-basalt-sedimentary-volcanic progression which strikes generally northeast-southwest, and is bisected by the Sabce Shear Zone, which hosts numerous artisanal gold zones over its 120 kilometre length plus the Bissa Mine operated by Norgold.

All securities issued in connection with the property option will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. The property option remains subject to a number of conditions, including negotiation of definitive agreements, approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and such other conditions as are customary in transactions of this nature.

About Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation located in West Africa between Ghana and Mali, the second and third largest gold producing countries on the continent. It is underlain by rocks of the same age and history as its neighbors but it is still relatively under-explored compared to its neighbors. It covers an area of roughly 274,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of more than 16 million people. The country is pro-mining and has a favorable foreign investment stance.

The country is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa. It is ranked 4th in the continent and 23rd worldwide in Current Mineral Potential Index in the "Survey of Mining Companies 2014" conducted by The Fraser Institute of Canada. Since 2013, there are seven gold mines in production. Other mining resources include manganese, bauxite, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, and limestone/marble.

The country has excellent geological potential. The Greenstone Belts that host all of the major deposits in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire continue northward into Burkina Faso. Some of the world's most productive mines are located in West African greenstone belts. These belts cover approximately 3, 000, 000 km?, making the area's exploration potential enormous. Burkina Faso currently accounts for 21% of West Africa's greenstone belt exposure. Burkina Faso has undergone less than 15 years of modern mineral exploration, remaining under explored in comparison to neighbouring Ghana and Mali; both of which host world class gold mines in the same belts of Birimian rocks.

About the Company

Nexus Gold Corp. is a Vancouver-based mineral resource company that develops precious metal mineral assets in the world's premier mining districts. The company is currently concentrating its efforts on the Walker Ridge Gold Project, a drill-ready, multiple-target, Carlin-type gold project located in the Independence/Jerritt Canyon Gold Trend, Nevada, USA. For more information on the Walker Ridge Gold Project, including specific survey results, please visit the company website at www.nexusgoldcorp.com.

The technical content of this release was reviewed and approved by Warren Robb, P.Geo. a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

Nexus Gold Corp.

Peter Berdusco

President and Chief Executive Officer

604-558-1920

www.nexusgoldcorp.com



Suite 720 - 700 West Pender Street

Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
A classic zoo cake from the cult cookbook. Photo: Elesa Kurtz

It's a cult cookbook with a pleasingly daggy feel - where Australian parents can learn to make a birthday cake in the shape of a duck, cover it in popcorn for feathers and stick two Smith's potato chips into its face for beaks.

The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cakes cookbook has been a staple of many childhoods - all those hours spent leafing through the book as a kid, picking out the one you'd like mum (or dad) to make for your birthday. Debating the merits of the headlining train cake vs the piano cake with the tiny candelabra on top vs the princess doll with cascading pink icing for a gown.

Christine Spicer with one of the birthday cakes. Photo: Elesa Kurtz

The 103 cakes in the book are so embedded in the memories of people who grew up in the 80s and 90s that in comedian Josh Earl developed an entire comedy show based around the cookbook, baking the typewriter cake for each performance.

But a Canberra mums group wants to have every single cake from the cookbook in one room on May 7 - and they need the city's home bakers to rise to the occasion and bring in their best duck cake, to be judged by a panel at the Hyatt Hotel.

Christine Spicer is the president of PANDSI, a support group for Canberra families suffering from post- and ante-natal maternal depression. She hopes the children's birthday cake challenge will be a major fundraiser for the group which supports 250 families in the capital and region.

"We need 103 Canberrans to bake a cake from the cookbook and bring them along and we'll sell these through a silent auction," she says.

"It's not done on professionalism, we just want people who love the cakes, love the books. The cakes will be judged on love and flair. We'll have a professional category, which will be 10 cakes and these will be stunning. These will be sold via live auction."

The idea came from the group's patron, journalist Ginger Gorman, who has long had a love for the cookbook and suggested that all 103 cakes had never been seen in one place before.

Advertisement

If you want to sign up and bake one of those 103 cakes, you've got to be quick. Registrations open on the PANDSI website on March 24 and it's first in, best dressed to put your name down beside your favourite cake.

"People will be able to log on to the website and go to the website and pick their cake," Spicer says. "We'll get them to join our Facebook group and get baking."

On May 7, all the bakers will converge on the Hyatt Hotel in Yarralumla and the cakes will go on display before a winner is announced and the cakes are sold in a charity auction.

But what's Spicer's favourite cake? "I loved the duck cake, that's the one where's it's got popcorn hair," she says with a laugh.

She particularly loves "the retro joy" of the cake book. "These days you can go online and get recipes and get all the tips, go to Youtube," she says. "But these cakes... they don't have to be Pinterest ready."

Her advice to bakers? "Just to have fun, try and relive some of the memories from when they were younger, maybe understand what their parents went through when they were making the cake. And just to bring back the love of home baking and make sure their kids know it too," she says.

Registrations for the birthday cake challenge open on March 24 at pandsi.org
Inside Bar Rochford in Civic. Photo: Supplied

The bars are coming back to Civic - and the latest venue to open is Bar Rochford, a chilled out watering hole in a lofty upstairs spot in the Melbourne Building.

Look for the little R on a door next to Lemongrass Thai restaurant and go up the stairs to a breezy little bar decorated in soft greens, gold and white.

A huge semi-circular panelled window overlooks London Circuit. There are tables in little nooks and crannies around a central bar with tall booths lining one wall. A big sofa, potted plants, lamps and stacks of vinyl records, a bit like wandering into a friend's ever-so-slightly retro living room for a drink.

Owner Nick Smith says that's kind of the point - there's no theme to Bar Rochford, just a casual feel. "A lot of the interior is from our house, the records, the artwork, the sofa, they're all things we eventually wanted to put into the bar," he says.

Smith was inspired by travelling in Europe and six years in the small bar scene in Melbourne. "I want a place with a good vibe and the records I've collected over the years are going to be part of the music," he says.

Expect plenty of instagrams from that panelled window - "You get a classic Canberra sunset," he says. "The light is something that's beautiful during the day and at night it will be a more cosy place."

There's a tiny balcony out the back where you can perch with a drink.

Smith will focus the wine list on a mixture of old world, rustic reds from Spain, Portugal and Italy and minerally whites. Australian wines will be drawn from up and comers such as local wineries Ravensworth, and Nick O'Leary, and plenty of Adelaide Hills biodynamic and natural wines. The funky stuff, he says.

In the very compact kitchen is chef Ian Poy, who has previously worked in the kitchens of eightysix in Braddon and Sixpenny in Sydney.

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"The menu is loosely inspired by modern Parisian bistros with a simple bar menu of snacks and a short changing menu of dinner dishes, mostly seasonal," he says.

The dishes will be written up on a blackboard above the booths - chicken wings, bowls of olives and little things to snack on with a glass of wine, and more substantial plates for dinner. There are also plans to open for Friday lunches.

The bar opens officially on Tuesday, March 22 at 4pm.

Bar Rochford is at 65 London Circuit, Civic.
Marc Polese and father Beppi Polese at their landmark Sydney restaurant Beppi's in 2014. Photo: Lisa Maree Williams

Beppi Polese, who helped stoke Sydney's long love affair with Italian food, has died on the eve of his Yurong Street restaurant's 60th anniversary.

He passed away on Tuesday, aged 90, after a short illness.

Trained in the grand restaurants of Venice, Milan, Florence and Rome, Polese migrated after working among Italian partisans during World War II.

He was one of about 400,000 Italians who arrived between the late 1940s and late '60s, leading Australia into a multicultural era.

Polese, along with Lucio Galletto and Armando Percuoco became the primi, secondi and dolciof Italian restaurateurs and changed Sydney's eating habits forever.

On June 12, 1956, Polese and his wife Norma opened Beppi's and continued serving his signature angel-hair pasta and vitello tonnato to four generations of Sydney diners.

In a statement, his family said what mattered to Polese was food, family and friends, and his restaurant was his gift to Sydney.

"At the restaurant he so lovingly built and the clientele he so loyally served, Beppi Polese was a great man; exceptional yet humble, traditional yet refined," the statement said.

"He has served everyone from sitting prime ministers to Hollywood and rock royalty."

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His son Marc will step into his father's shoes at Beppi's.

Fellow countryman Lucio Galletto arrived in Sydney in 1976, a time when Beppi's was acknowledged as the best Italian restaurant in Sydney, if not Australia.

Galletto, who opened his own restaurant, Lucio's, in 1981, paid tribute to Polese, saying: "A true professional and innovator of our industry who was respected and admired by Italians and non-Italians. We will miss him greatly and thank him for what he did for Italian hospitality in Sydney."

Food author John Newton co-authored Beppi: A Life in Three Courses, receiving a favourable review in the Herald for its depiction of a colourful life: "The dramatic wartime adventures are riveting. Equally engaging are Polese's accounts of village meals, food rituals, the occasional feast and a collection of personal, waste-nothing recipes, including several peasant methods of preparing polenta, his staple childhood meal."

Journalist David Dale won the 1983 Walkley Award for feature writing with his story The Italian Waiter Conspiracy, which portrayed Beppi as the prime mover in the rise of Italian food in Sydney.

"He was a true pioneer," Dale said. "A hard task-master, a perfectionist. When I interviewed him, the first thing he wanted to know was what other restaurateurs thought about him: 'Did they say I was a bastard?'. I could but agree."

Years later, Beppi told Dale about his younger days in a restaurant in Florence, around 1949, when he sliced up a whole fish at a customer's table.

"I cut it across instead of along," Beppi said. "The head waiter came up and said, in front of everyone, 'Who did this?' I felt like a little boy in school. I said it was me. He said: 'This is not the work of a waiter. This is the work of a bricklayer'."

Some bricklayer.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story has been amended to correctly name the co-author of Beppi: A Life in Three Courses, and give some additional details about the book.


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By Staff Report

A 29-year-old San Angelo man was convicted Tuesday for sexual assault of 12-year-old girl, an offense that came to light because the girl became pregnant.

After a two-day trial, a jury deliberated for more than an hour and gave the verdict in Judge Tom Gossett's 391st District Court.

The perpetrator, who is the victim's paternal uncle, was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.

He has been booked into the Tom Green County jail, and a punishment hearing is set Wednesday morning. Gossett will determine the punishment.

The Standard-Times does not identify victims of sexual assault. To protect the privacy of the girl, the Standard-Times will not identify her uncle.

The sex assault happened July 15, 2013, according to court documents.

On Feb. 24, 2014, Child Protective Services contacted the San Angelo Police Department reporting that a 13-year-old was pregnant, according to court documents.

The girl was about 30 weeks pregnant at the time and was due to give birth about April 15, the documents stated.

Authorities found text messages in the girl's phone indicating that she and her uncle "had been sleeping in the same bed together."

The child and her uncle were living in the same house, defense attorney James E. Millan said in court Tuesday.

On April 16, the child gave birth to a baby girl, according to court documents.

When the girl gave birth at the hospital, according to court documents, authorities saw a handwritten letter in the girl's bag, written by the girl and addressed to her uncle.

The letter stated that the girl had told her attorney "that she had not been forced to have a sexual relationship," according to court documents. The letter also stated that the girl indicated that her uncle was the father of the newborn baby, according to court documents.

The girl's father is the perpetrator's brother. Her father was convicted Nov. 14, 2000, of sexual assault of a child. The victim of that sex assault is the mother of the girl in this week's trial. The mother testified in court Tuesday saying that she gave birth to the girl when she was 13.

The father was 18 when he was convicted.

Prosecutors argued in closing arguments that DNA evidence showed a 99.9 percent likelihood that the uncle is the father of the victim's baby.
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By Staff Report

Angelo State University's chapter of the Alpha Chi national honor society inducted 40 members in a ceremony Tuesday.

Alpha Chi is open to students majoring in any academic discipline and has more than 300 chapters nationwide with more than 400,000 members. To be eligible, students must rank in the top 10 percent of seniors at their college or university, or in the top 7.5 percent of juniors.

ASU's spring 2016 inductees in San Angelo include: Krissa Hughes, nursing; Bonnie Kennedy, English; Christopher McKowen, physics; Brandon Mitchell, computer science; Vikash Ramnanan, psychology; Gary Turner, intelligence, security studies and analysis; Sydney Wade, psychology; and Katherine Walsh, English

For a full list of inductees by hometown and major, visit angelo.edu/content/news/11311-alpha-chi-honor-society-spring-2016-inductees.
Back some 40 years or more, West Texas sheep raisers scheduled their breeding season to coincide with their lambs being ready for market at Easter.

In the mid-1960s, when I worked at the Livestock Weekly, publisher Stanley Frank had me calling auction rings and country traders throughout the Southwest trying to get an impact on the traditional Easter lamb market.

Benny Cox, sheep sales manager at Producers Livestock Auction in San Angelo, says the Easter lamb market is no more.

He has told me many times the West Texas markets are driven by the ethnic demand on all classes of sheep and goats and have been since the first of the year. Buyers for Muslim customers are spotted regularly from fall until a few weeks before Easter.

"The ethnic market generally demands a smaller carcass on both goats and lambs," Cox said. "They buy young goats, mainly Boer and Spanish mixed-bloodline kids weighing from 40 to 60 pounds, and they buy the whole carcass."

Cox said the highest marketing months for the kid goats and light lambs  kids weighing 70 pounds or less and lambs about 80 pounds  has been March and April for many years.

This year, the Western Roman Easter will be observed Sunday.

According to the holiday feast calendar, the type of goat they desire is fleshy, milk fed kids with relatively light colored meat, three months old or younger. As for lambs, they want a 30-45 pound live weight, milk fed and fat lamb.

The Greek Easter celebration on May 1 desires a goat similar to Western Easter kids. A slightly larger milk fed kid (i.e. averaging 35 pounds). They prefer a 40-55 pound live lamb, milk fed and fat.

"Being fresh is a big factor, so the goats are slaughtered on arrival. It is important for the ethnic customer," Benny told me. "It takes 35 hours to truck the goats to the East Coast."

Actually, there is a steady year-round demand with the nation's growing ethnic population. Starting with Islamic holy months of Ramadan in October, the ethnic trade rules the lightweight lamb and goat market.

Other holidays when goat meat is commonly consumed include Christmas, New Year's, Cinco De Mayo on May 5, the July Fourth weekend, and numerous Caribbean holidays in August  Carnival, Carifest and Jamaican Independence Day.

At Producers regular sheep sale Tuesday, choice and prime slaughter lambs, 40-60 pounds brought from $210 to $228; 60-70 pounds $208 to $230; 70-80 pounds $206 to $216; 80-90 pounds $185 to $198; 90-100 pounds $180 to $194.

Compared to last week slaughter lambs were weak, instances $5 lower with total receipts 4,600 head. Trading and demand was moderate. Supply included 45 percent slaughter lambs, 5 percent slaughter ewes, 10 percent feeder lambs, and the balance goats. All sheep and goats sold per hundred weights.

There is an all-time high of lamb in cold storage (30 days or longer in refrigerated warehouses, consisting of all lamb, not just American lamb), but that is also the current state with other livestock meats, David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University, told members of the American Sheep Industry Association.

He said lamb and yearling dressed weights at federally inspected slaughter facilities are reduced from a year ago, with an average dressed weight of 75 pounds, getting away from the over finishing issue that plagued the industry last year.

Anderson said he expects to see an increase in American lamb production in the next two years. With the largest frozen stocks in history, combined with a large increase in imports, the industry has to work off the burdensome level of stocks available to the market. "It remains to be seen how that will work it out," he said.

Peaches survive quick freeze

Meanwhile, last weekend's low temperatures was perhaps a close call for orchard growers, particularly the peach farmers in West and Central Texas.

Temperatures dipped near or just below freezing Monday in the Hill Country peach orchards, but it was not enough to cause any significant damage, according to the Hill Country Fruit Council at Fredericksburg.

"The peach trees are completing their bloom and small peaches are beginning to emerge abundantly. If all continues well and we are don't have any more hard freezes, the Hill Country peach crop should be another good one," reports a spokesman for the organization. "We are currently expecting to begin harvesting a little early this year with some peaches possibly available as soon as the first week of May."

Jerry Lackey is the agriculture editor emeritus. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291.
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Here are two movies that you're unlikely to find playing at your local multiplex, but if you can somehow manage to put them together in a double feature, as I did on Saint Patrick's Day, you'll see in several hours a poignant depiction of the best and the worst that humankind has to offer.

These aren't films that you would ordinarily think of as any sort of pair. The first is "Son of Saul," a Hungarian movie about the Holocaust, which won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the recent Academy Awards.

The other is "Where to Invade Next," Michael Moore's new documentary about his "invasion" of various countries to appropriate not their oil, as usual, but their best ideas and practices for our own use.

First, the worst of humankind: "Son of Saul" is the story of Saul Auslander, a Hungarian Jew serving with the Auschwitz Sonderkommando, a squad of prisoners who, in exchange for certain privileges and a brief reprieve from the gas chambers, facilitates the deaths of other Jews by ushering them into the deadly shower chambers and collecting their clothes and valuables afterward.

Saul's moral standing is complicated. His story is told mostly in his face, which from the beginning of the film is depicted, often in close-up, as emotionless and almost oblivious to the horrors taking place around him in soft focus.

The Holocaust wasn't the first genocide and won't be the last. But the Nazis' vile genius was the application of efficient industrial methods to the systematic annihilation of a group of people based on their religion.

Now, for some of the best that humanity has to offer: Michael Moore finds it in "Where to Invade Next."

In Italy, he explores a culture that guarantees all workers five weeks of paid vacation a year, as well as paid holidays and paid maternal (and paternal) leave. He shows factory workers taking two-hour lunch breaks, which give them time to go home every day for a delicious home-cooked meal. Newlyweds get 15 days off for a honeymoon.

In France, public-school children dine daily on meticulously prepared cuisine, and they're mildly appalled when they see pictures of what American schoolchildren have for lunch. In Finland, schoolchildren never have homework or take standardized tests. Finland's teachers believe that an essential goal of all education is the happiness and well-being of the child. In Slovenia, all students graduate from college without any debt whatsoever.

In Norway, the maximum penalty for any crime is 21 years in prison, and Moore takes his audience inside a maximum security facility, where the emphasis is on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Prisoners carry the keys to their own "cells," which are outfitted with flat-screen TVs and private showers.

Oh, what a paradise, almost too good to be true. In fact, one should remember that Michael Moore freely admits that his films always have an agenda, and sometimes he's careless with facts.

On the other hand, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the recidivism rate for American prisons is pushing 80 percent, while Norway, the land of cushy prisons that focus on rehabilitation, has one of the lowest rates in the world, around 20 percent.

And homework-free Finland often outranks the U.S. by significant margins in terms of student achievement.

So what links these two seemingly disparate films? The proposition that nearly all worldly conditions  from Holocaust to socialist paradise  are driven by the extent to which we exercise empathy for other humans.

Genocide is impossible without the complete death of empathy. And the best conditions that humankind can produce depend on our willingness to place the well-being and happiness of those who are not like us on an equal plane with our own.

And this is why current trends in American politics should make us all uneasy.

John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, teaches in the English Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. Contact him at jcrisp@delmar.edu.
While the primary season isn't over yet, it's increasingly looking like the 2016 presidential election will come down to a contest between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. That means it's time for us to update our Electoral College handicapping for the first time since December Before we start, we'll make the necessary caveats. First and foremost, the primaries are still ongoing, which means a lot could happen before Election Day. State-by-state polling at this point is scattershot. The identities of the nominees may change. There could even be a third-party candidacy that would scramble the race.Still, Clinton and Trump are currently the frontrunners, and the fact that they're well-known by voters makes it possible to take a preliminary look at what the map of battleground states may look like come November.Based on polling data and consultations with nearly three dozen political experts in the battleground states, we've changed the ratings of nine states. Eight are moving in the Democrats' direction, and one state is moving in the Republicans' direction.The shift toward the Democrats stems from voter antagonism toward Trump in certain states, particularly those with large minority populations. A reverse shift to the GOP in states with above-average numbers of noncollege-educated whites -- a core Trump constituency -- may also occur, but our sources aren't seeing such a shift just yet.As always, we're categorizing states as safe Republican, likely Republican, lean Republican, tossup, lean Democratic, likely Democratic and safe Democratic. Within each category, the states run from most likely to vote Republican to most likely to vote Democratic.For this handicapping, we're shifting one state, Arizona, from likely Republican to lean Republican, and two states -- Missouri and North Carolina -- from lean Republican to tossup. We're also shifting four states from tossup to lean Democratic: Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and Virginia.Perhaps the most fascinating shift comes in Utah, where a Deseret News/KSL poll released on March 20 found Clinton slightly ahead of Trump, 38 percent to 36 percent. This is a stunner, since Utah is one of the most solidly Republican states in the nation and hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1964. But as BuzzFeed's McKay Coppins notes , Mormon voters are among the "most stubbornly anti-Trump constituencies in the Republican Party."Since this is just one poll, we're only shifting Utah from safe Republican to likely Republican at this point. But if further polls confirm this trend, we could shift Utah in the Democrats' direction again. In addition, we're waiting to see polls from other strongly Republican states that have large Mormon populations, such as Idaho and Wyoming, to see whether shifts are warranted in these places as well.Meanwhile, we're shifting just one state in the Republicans' direction -- Minnesota, which moves from likely Democratic to lean Democratic. We're also moving the more rural and conservative congressional 2nd district in Maine, one of only two states where electoral votes are allocated based on congressional districts, from lean Democratic to tossup.Taken in their entirety, these changes tilt a modestly Democratic-leaning playing field to a more strongly Democratic-leaning playing field. The GOP starts with 170 electoral votes either in the safe or likely category, down from 181 in our last handicapping. The Democrats start with 182 electoral votes considered safe or likely, down from 192.But the big shifts appear once you add in the seats that lean toward one party or the other. Counting states that are safe, likely or leaning toward one party, the Democrats hold a 280-181 lead in our analysis. That's enough for Clinton to win the election without having to take any of the five tossup states -- Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Ohio. Together, these tossups (including the Maine congressional district) have a collective 77 electoral votes.To get a sense of how big an edge this is for Clinton, we compared the current map to our previous efforts at handicapping the 2008 and 2012 presidential races. We looked at our final pre-election handicapping in both elections and found that in neither 2008 nor 2012 did the Democratic candidate (or the Republican, for that matter) have enough states in the safe, likely and lean categories to reach the winning 270 electoral vote threshold without needing to win some tossup states.To break it down: In our 2008 pre-election handicapping, Republican candidate John McCain had 163 electoral votes in the lean, likely and safe categories to Democrat Barack Obama's 263. To win the election, Obama had to pick up a few tossup states (which had 112 electoral votes). Similarly, in our 2012 pre-election handicapping, Republican candidate Mitt Romney had 191 electoral votes in the lean, likely and safe categories to Obama's 237. Again, Obama had to win some of the 110 electoral votes in the tossup category.If our analysis is accurate -- that Clinton has 280 electoral votes in the lean, likely and safe categories to Trump's 181 -- this makes Clinton's path to victory easier than either of Obama's, at least numerically.That said, neither a narrow Trump victory nor a Clinton blowout can be ruled out."What is fascinating about a Clinton-Trump race is that both are highly disliked by their opposing bases and by swing voters," said David Schultz, a Hamline University political scientist and co-editor of the 2015 book, Presidential Swing States. "Their negatives almost cancel each another out. While right now the received wisdom is that Clinton beats Trump, I am one who thinks Trump might actually win. In a year of anti-establishment politics and a time when media skills are important, Trump has an advantage."Each of the states we shifted in the Democrats' direction has at least one of the following demographic factors favorable to Clinton: higher-than-average percentages of college-educated whites, lower-than-average percentages of noncollege-educated whites, higher-than-average percentages of African-Americans and higher-than-average percentages of Latinos.Meanwhile, the opposite demographic pattern -- which is more favorable to Trump's chances -- holds for several Democratic-leaning states. One of these states, Minnesota, has higher-than-average levels of noncollege-educated whites and lower-than-average percentages of either blacks or Latinos.Several other battleground states check several of these Trump-friendly boxes -- Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- but political observers agreed that we should keep these states at lean Democratic for now. If Trump is to gain ground in the coming months, it will probably be seen first in these states.In the meantime, we're keeping two states with characteristics potentially favorable to Clinton -- Georgia and Indiana -- in the likely Republican category. However, if a Democratic landslide gathers steam, these two states could come into play.And one final note, our discussions with state experts confirmed something also seen in national polls: A Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or, especially, Ohio Gov. John Kasich nomination would hurt Clinton in this handicapping.Here is our handicapping of the states for the 2016 presidential election. States listed in bold have shifted since our December analysis, and there are currently no states rated "likely Democratic."Alabama (9), Alaska (3), Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (6), Montana (3), Nebraska (4 of 5 electoral votes), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Carolina (9), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Texas (38), West Virginia (5) and Wyoming (3)Georgia (16), Indiana (11), Nebraska (1 of 5 electoral votes),, Ohio (18), Florida (29),, New Hampshire (4), Pennsylvania (20), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (16), Maine (3 of 4 electoral votes),, New Mexico (5)California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), District of Columbia (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4) Vermont (3), and Washington state (12)
When voters head to the polls, theyre often confronted with a long list of downballot races they don't know anything about. Even moderately informed voters may find themselves staring blankly at names of candidates for school board seats, judgeships, neighborhood commissions and so on.Some voters might make guesses or vote based on candidates names. Others may choose to leave part of their ballot blank. It can be a frustrating process, leaving some voters to skip elections altogether.One new startup aims to change that and bridge the gap of voter awareness of downballot races. BallotReady , which is affiliated with the University of Chicago, offers comprehensive nonpartisan voter guides on local elections in addition to state and national races.The data-driven project, run by two Chicago-area women, earned the top prize Sunday at the National Public Policy Challenge in Philadelphia. Teams from 10 different schools presented policy proposals at the event, hosted by the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania andThe BallotReady website , which launched last year, covered the recent Illinois primary election and will soon expand to include all races in Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire and Virginia for the November general election. This year, BallotReadys founders have set an ambitious target: inform a million voters.We want to make it easy to vote in every race in every election, said Alex Niemczewski, BallotReadys CEO. We also see opportunity for people to become more engaged in local politics in between elections.Niemczewski co-founded the site with Aviva Rosman, a University of Chicago graduate student, after the two of them had voted in an election and realized how little voter information existed.A BallotReady user enters his street address and then is presented with a list of all the elections that will appear on his ballot, along with candidate names, biographies, endorsements and their views on prominent issues. A key feature allows for quick comparisons of candidates on issues ranging from gun control to the environment. Users save their list of selected candidates, which they can then print out or pull up on their smartphones when they go vote.In a few instances, BallotReady has already led candidates to promote their views on issues more openly. While most candidates maintain websites or Facebook pages, some fail to publish their policy positions, particularly on more controversial issues. Niemczewski said theyve experienced success in influencing candidates behaviors, with some updating their campaign websites after seeing their positions were missing on BallotReady. BallotReady aggregates information from other websites and links each candidates stance or endorsement to a published source; the group does not interview candidates.The most important thing for us is that voters know were a trustworthy source, said Rosman, BallotReadys chief operating officer. Every piece of information is gathered in the exact same way to ensure that no bias enters into the content collection process.Other online voter guides publish similar information but typically dont cover all downballot races, or they often lack detailed information on candidates.Early results -- although limited -- suggest voters are interested in learning about more than just high-profile contests. The day before the Illinois primary, BallotReady users spent an average of 8 minutes and 40 seconds on the website researching an average of 12 races, according to Niemczewski. Last year, following an initial pilot program covering the Chicago mayoral runoff, a subsequent analysis of voter data estimated that 72 percent of Chicagoans visiting the website voted.Officials in jurisdictions across the country have long lamented the low levels of voter engagement in local elections, an issue BallotReady seeks to help address. Nationally, voter turnout for local races in off-cycle election years has steadily declined over the past several decades. Mayoral elections in places like Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia have seen turnout drop by more than half since the 1970s.Niemczewski and Rosman further hope to increase voter interest among millennials, a demographic that often stays home during nonpresidential election years. BallotReady provides a way for younger voters to research candidates on their phones, a platform theyre familiar with. Niemczewski and Rosman partnered with the League of Women Voters and other civic groups to market BallotReady, while also relying on highly targeted social media advertisements.Niemczewski says she has received a lot of emails from older voters, too, who print out their saved ballots before voting.To scale up the website, Niemczewski and Rosman incorporated BallotReady as a for-profit entity, a move they say will raise capital more quickly than a nonprofit. They eventually plan to add additional candidate information -- such as voting records and campaign donations -- and build out the website to cover all 50 states.Watch Niemczewski and Rosman discuss their startup website:
Gov. Tom Wolf said this afternoon he will allow an appropriations bill to complete this year's state budget to become law without his signature.The Democratic governor said he does not believe the final budget is in balance, and so will not sign his name to it. But he said he will allow it to become law so the state can "move on to face the budget challenges" of next year."This means that schools will stay open through the end of the year," Mr. Wolf said. "But unless Harrisburg changes its ways, they won't have adequate funds for next year."The budget bill will become law Monday, after Mr. Wolf does not act on it Sunday, his spokesman said.Mr. Wolf said he would also allow appropriations for the state-related universities, which include the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University, to become law without his signature."Grateful," was the word Kenn Marshall used to describe the reaction of the State System of Higher Education to news of what amounts to a 5 percent funding increase contained in the new state budget."We're grateful for the new investment in the system -- basically, the new investment in our students," said Mr. Marshall, media relations manager for SSHS.The allocation amounts to $20.6 million, which represents the first increase in seven years, Mr.Marshall said.It will go two-thirds the distance toward covering what had been a mounting budget deficit.House and Senate Republican leaders praised the governor's decision. House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said they want to begin work at once on the budget for the year beginning July 1."Obviously, the last year's been a struggle," Mr. Reed said. "It's had its ups and downs. But we are very happy to see a budget become law that has a record increase for education, record spending for higher education, early childhood education."Pennsylvania has gone without a complete state budget for nearly nine months, as Mr. Wolf and the Republican legislative majorities negotiated over the spending plan and related issues.Mr. Wolf has pressed for tax increases to boost education funding and close a structural deficit. Republicans have resisted tax hikes and pushed for changes to the retirement systems for state and school workers and to the system of wine and liquor sales.State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Cranberry, one of the House's most conservative Republicans, hailed the governor's decision as a "victory for taxpayers.""It's good news that the governor said he wasn't going to veto yet another budget bill we've placed on his desk. We've been pushing for a budget with responsible spending and no tax increase," he said.Rep. Metcalfe said the best feature of the spending plan that will take become law on Monday is that "it funds state government operations without a tax increase. There's no increasing the tax burden on the people of Pennsylvania. We've been fighting the governor on this for nine months," he said.When the General Assembly last week sent him the new appropriations bill, 13 House Democrats joined Republicans in voting yes.In December, Mr. Wolf signed most of a Republican-crafted budget, but used a line-item veto to reduce the main K-12 education line to about half a year of funding, part of an effort to draw legislators back to negotiations. Cash-starved schools at all levels are celebrating the release of funds.Mr. Marshall said the system, which has an annual budget of about $1.6 million, was facing a $60 million budget deficit as of the start of this fiscal year, July 1, 2015. About half of that amount was covered by a 3.5 percent tuition increase, leaving about a $30 million deficit."We were looking to handle that ($30 million deficit) with cuts. This $20.6 million will help erase most of that. We'll still have $10 million to make up for but it's not $30 million," he said.This allocation was included in the budget that the governor vetoed in December. It represents a 5 percent increase over the 2014-15 allocation to the SSHS. "We had had the same level of funding for four years and the year before that (2011-12) we had had a 20 percent cut," Mr. Marshall said.Jerry Oleksiak, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, was more reserved."This isn't the kind of budget that our schools need or that our students deserve," he said in a statement, "but it keeps our schools open and ensures that Pennsylvania's students can finish the school year without the threat of their schools shutting down."
An Unbanked Industry

Not Much States Can Do

Finding a Way

DENVER  Tim Cullens marijuana business brought in millions of dollars last year, but hes had a hard time finding a bank to take the money. Hes cycled through 14 checking accounts in six years. Recently, he said, a bank shut down all his personal accounts, including college savings for his 3-year-old daughter.Federal law prohibits banks and credit unions from taking marijuana money. So here in Colorado, everyone involved with the states legal cannabis industry has a banking problem. Businesses cant get loans, customers have to pay in cash, and state tax collectors are processing bags of bills.Some community financial institutions have become more open to serving the cannabis industry since the U.S. Treasury and Justice departments said they wont go after institutions that keep a close eye on their clients and report suspected wrongdoing, such as funding gang activity.But the big banks refuse to touch the industry, and banking challenges are only going to grow as legal marijuana expands. Nationwide, sales hit $5.4 billion in 2015, according to The ArcView Group , an analysis and investment firm that specializes in the legal cannabis industry.Twenty-three states allow medical use of marijuana and four also allow recreational use. Voters in Arizona Massachusetts and Nevada may legalize adult use this fall, and Vermonts Senate recently approved a bill that would do so.States are looking to Colorado  which legalized medical marijuana in 2000, and adult use in 2012  for answers to the banking problem, but the state has few to offer. We dont truly think well see a solution unless theres a federal solution, said Andrew Freedman, Colorados director of marijuana coordination, whos also known as the states pot czar.Cullen has been an unofficial spokesman for Colorados cannabis industry ever since he bumped into a CNN camera crew while picking up one of the states first retail marijuana licenses, he said. It helps that hes a clean-cut former high school biology teacher who designed his stores with his mom in mind.We wanted to look like Restoration Hardware, he said while walking through the main Denver location of Colorado Harvest Company, the marijuana growing and retail business he founded in 2009 and co-owns. That means wood paneling, edibles laid out in glass cases like chocolates, and a scent in the air thats more reminiscent of a day spa than a college dorm.But even Cullens squeaky-clean operation makes banks uneasy. The companys current account, with a credit union, only covers basic services such as direct deposit for the companys 70-odd employees and sending tax payments to the state, Cullen said.An ATM sits in the corner of each of his three stores, because his business cant process credit or debit card payments (credit card companies, like banks, may refuse to touch marijuana money). Every day an armored car swings by to pick up the days revenue  all cash  and takes it away to be deposited.About 40 percent of Colorado cannabis businesses lack bank accounts altogether, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat who has pushed to improve banking for the cannabis industry. State officials would not comment on that number.Freedman said a growing number of marijuana businesses seem to be obtaining bank accounts, judging by the declining share of tax revenue that businesses are paying in cash. But the services theyre able to access are limited and costly  which means a lot of people prefer to keep as much as they can in cash, he said.All the cash floating around makes cannabis businesses targets for crime, Freedman says. Since Colorado fully legalized marijuana in January 2014, the Denver Police Department has logged over 200 burglaries at marijuana businesses, as well as shoplifting and other crimes.The loose cash also makes it harder for the state to track businesses finances to make sure they are obeying the law and paying their taxes. And in order to get a bank account, some businesses will funnel their cash through a shell company, Cullen said. It starts to look a lot like money laundering.As Cullens experience shows, accounts can also be tenuous. Sometimes, a financial institution will change its mind about taking marijuana money. Or it might learn of a clients ties to the marijuana industry. Mark Goldfogel, a consultant, said his bank closed accounts hed held for 14 years after he revealed who his marijuana clients were.Colorados attempts to solve the problem have shown other states how few options they have.In May 2014, lawmakers authorized a new class of financial institution called a cannabis credit co-operative , which wouldnt have to acquire and maintain deposit insurance. But no such institutions have been formed so far, partly because the Federal Reserve isnt likely to approve them.Later that year, lawmakers authorized a credit union for the cannabis industry. But the Fed denied the credit union access to a master account, which is necessary for transferring money, and the National Credit Union Administration refused to insure its deposits.Even transporting or transmitting funds known to have been derived from the distribution of marijuana is illegal, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said during a court case the credit union brought and recently lost Without a master account, the credit union cant fully function, said Mike Elliott, head of the Marijuana Industry Group, a trade association in Colorado. It can be a vault. But we dont need a vault, he said.Officials in other states that allow marijuana have run up against the same barriers. Tax officials in California have floated the idea of a state-run bank, for instance, as have officials in Alaska . But such an institution would still have to use federal wiring services, said George Runner of the California State Board of Equalization.California already has trouble collecting taxes on medical marijuana, Runner said. Weve had folks come in with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to make a payment. Other than increasing security at tax collection offices, theres not much his office can do about it.The cannabis industrys banking problems would vanish if Congress were to take marijuana off the federal governments list of most dangerous drugs. Last November, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, became the latest lawmaker to propose the change.But thats a remote possibility. Perlmutter has introduced a bill  twice  that would take a smaller step, and stop federal regulators from penalizing financial institutions for serving the cannabis industry. He hasnt been able to get a hearing, let alone move the bill out of committee.Perlmutter and his allies in Congress are now trying to cut off funding for federal enforcement actions against banks and credit unions that serve cannabis businesses.The Fed and other regulatory agencies have made it clear that states cant create new financial institutions for the cannabis industry. But because the Obama administration has indicated that it will look the other way when existing institutions serve cannabis clients, businesses like Cullens do have some options.Vermonts Department of Financial Regulation has researched the services available to the states four medical marijuana dispensaries and found some good news. The states largest credit union serves one dispensary and says it would serve more. Although the credit union doesnt offer marijuana businesses much more than depository accounts, federal regulators confirmed the accounts are insured.Vermont state Sen. Joe Benning, a Republican who co-sponsored the Senate proposal to legalize marijuana for adult use, said the states financial institutions should be able to handle the cannabis industrys expansion  at least initially. Youre not going to have to be bringing in wheelbarrows full of cash to make deposits, he said.In other states, new services have emerged to eliminate cash transactions. In Washington and Oregon, an intermediary company called PayQwick electronically transfers money between marijuana growers, sellers, customers and their financial institutions. PayQwick also files all the paperwork the Treasury Department requires, taking a burden off banks.Tax collection offices are doing what they can to manage cash collections. Offices in Oregon and Colorado have invested in extra security, such as safety glass and security cameras; businesses are also hiring security guards to help them make their deposits safely.Auditing cash-only cannabis businesses is tough, but not impossible. In Colorado, the Department of Revenue relies on the states system for tracking legally grown and sold marijuana plants, Freedman said.Still, the situation is far from ideal for businesses or for states. Its temporary, too; nobody knows how the next president will enforce federal marijuana policies.While Colorado waits for Congress to act, state officials will keep meeting with bank and credit union boards and explaining the nuances of federal law, Freedman said. That slow, institution-by-institution campaign may be states best hope for getting marijuana money off the streets.I think its going to get better. It certainly couldnt be worse, Cullen said of the cannabis industrys banking problem. He takes the sunny view that as more states legalize the drug, it will become something federal lawmakers will no longer be able to ignore.
(TNS)  The Kentucky Senate's budget proposal includes a complex funding formula for higher education that would eventually provide most state funding to colleges and universities based on their progress with key measurements, such as retention and graduation rates.Senate President Pro Tempore David Givens, R-Greensburg, presented the plan to the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Tuesday morning. Senate Republicans are expected to release and vote on their full budget proposal Wednesday.Gov. Matt Bevin also proposed eventually switching all state funding for higher education to a performance-based model but House Democrats removed that language from their version of the state budget.Starting in 2018, the Senate plan calls for 25 percent of state funding for universities to be based on the number of degrees produced, retention rates, graduation rates, smaller achievement gaps and other metrics. For example, the two research universities, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville, would be judged on research expenditures, the regional universities on the number of science and technology degrees and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System on workforce training.Goals would be individually set for each school. Within each sector  research universities, regional universities and KCTCS  the first school to achieve its goal would get 100 percent of their funding and the others would be ranked below. The percentage of funding based on performance would increase each year.KCTCS would work under a slightly different system. Each individual college would get 75 percent of its base funding, but the 16 campuses would compete for the remaining 25 percent.The proposal "can drive better outcomes for students, better investment for taxpayers," Givens said.Givens said the plan also includes a provision that would allow the governor to continue funding a school even if it doesn't meet its goals.Kentucky State University is excluded from the formula because of severe financial problems right now, Givens said, but it would be expected to create a plan for improvement.Givens said at least 30 other states already use some form of performance-based funding. The Council on Postsecondary Education has been working with state schools on the issue for at least the past four years, but like many other states, the council's proposals have always focused on creating performance criteria for state money provided in excess of existing appropriations.It's not clear how much funding the Senate will propose for higher education. Bevin's budget would cut 4.5 percent from colleges and universities this year, and 9 percent the next year, but the House's version erased those cuts.Kentucky State University President Raymond Burse said if the cuts were enacted it might have to shut down; Morehead State University's employees are on an unpaid furlough this week because of declining enrollment and possible decreased state funding.KSU officials had no comment Tuesday."KSU can right the ship," said budget committee chairman Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill. "Our budget will reflect confidence of this body."Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, echoed the skepticism voiced by several Senate Democrats on the budget committee about making universities compete against one another for funding."They all have different missions and different populations," Rand said. "I think we would agree with what many university presidents have said  if you're going to use that much of our base funding, we cannot support that."KCTCS President Jay Box was guarded in his comment on the plan: "We look forward to seeing the Senate's budget and working with the entire legislature on the development of an equitable state appropriation for our 16 colleges."Robert King, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, said the council appreciates Givens' interest in performance-based funding."While we have not yet seen the details, we look forward to working with Senator Givens, his colleagues in the House and Senate and the governor in developing a model that will meet the needs of our campuses, and most importantly, our students," King said.
(TNS)  The White House on Tuesday unveiled several billion dollars worth of corporate commitments to water research and development during a high-level summit.Pegged to World Water Day, the summit was intended to draw attention to specific state and corporate pledges as well as new Obama administration initiatives prompted in part by Western states drought and the Flint, Mich., drinking water scandal.The corporate promises include a commitment by GE to invest $500 million over the next decade on water and reuse technologies, and a pledge by San Francisco-based Ultra Capital to invest $1.5 billion in decentralized water management solutions.Its an investment opportunity that has the potential for great returns, said Ali Zaidi, associate director for natural resources at the White Houses Office of Management and Budget.The roughly four-hour summit, convened in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House, also allowed administration officials to tout their 20-page drought resilience action plan.The plan includes calls for better data collection and improved coordination among government agencies. It also suggested specific projects, such as a new prize for water innovations and initiating a study of the broad implications of a prolonged drought in California.We need to start looking ahead and investing in our water infrastructure, said Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif.. We need to conserve, capture and recycle water as well as fund infrastructure repair.Other officials attending the summit included Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Felicia Marcus, chair of Californias State Water Resources Control Board. Private-section attendees included Cynthia Koehler, executive director of the San Francisco-based Waternow Alliance, and Peter H. Gleick, president of the Oakland, Calif.-based Pacific Institute.The discussions centered far more on tech-related 21st-century investments than on farmers familiar complaints that their water supplies are limited by regulations that protect endangered species protections or inflexible bureaucrats.In California, as were struggling with drought and water scarcity, data has enabled us to find solutions, said Joya Banerjee, a senior program officer with the San Francisco-based S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation.Banerjee used the summit to announce Project Water Data, which she described as an effort to modernize our data systems. In a similar vein, the administration unveiled an improved new national water model for forecasting river flows.The San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts that have been pressing hard in recent years for new rules and more water deliveries did not appear to be represented, and at least one Valley lawmaker declined to attend.I find it extremely disappointing that Californias San Joaquin Valley is not at the forefront of discussions, after four years of drought, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., said in a House floor speech Tuesday, adding, We need short-term solutions now.A Bureau of Reclamation report issued Tuesday suggests, moreover, that climate change will aggravate the Valleys problems, with predicted impacts, including reduced reservoir storage and irrigation deliveries.Costa and Californias House Republicans, who were also conspicuously absent Tuesday, back an ambitious water bill currently stuck on Capitol Hill. A Senate version, introduced by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Feb. 10, is still being assessed by Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, according to Boxers staff.While its loomed large among Valley lawmakers, the California water bill was effectively ignored by summit participants Tuesday. Instead, the summit illuminated a number of new, forward-looking undertakings that include:Establishment of a new water center at the California Institute of Technologys Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for using satellites and airborne observations to aid water planning.A commitment by the city of Los Angeles to capture an additional 12 billion gallons of stormwater a year by 2025, more than doubling the current amount.Three universities in Southern California are forming a consortium to work on ocean desalination.
(TNS)  Reopening a volatile topic, a Senate panel Tuesday approved a bill that would allow Louisiana motorists to get a drivers license that meets federal travel and other identification rules, and this time it is backed by the governor.A similar measure cleared the Legislature in 2014 but was vetoed by then Gov. Bobby Jindal.The latest proposal, Senate Bill 227, is backed by Gov. John Bel Edwards.After nearly two hours of discussion, including complaints that Social Security numbers of Louisiana motorists would be shared nationally, the bill won approval in the Senate Transportation Committee without objection.It next faces action in the full Senate and, if approved there, would face debate in the state House.Under the measure, motorists could request a drivers license that meets what are known as Real ID requirements spelled out by a 2005 federal law.The measure was recommended by the 9/11 Commission in 2004 as a way to ensure that drivers license applicants and others are who they say they are.Those who opt not to apply for a Real ID because of privacy or other concerns could seek a traditional drivers license. Backers said a Real ID drivers license will ensure that residents have easy access to commercial airlines, federal courthouses and military bases.Sen. Yvonne Colomb, D-Baton Rouge, repeatedly told the committee that personal privacy will be protected and, unlike passports, does not include a chip.It does not know where you are, Colomb said of a Real ID compliant drivers license. It cannot follow you.Critics repeatedly expressed skepticism that officials of the Office of Motor Vehicles, which issues licenses, would not share sensitive documents with their counterparts nationally.This is being shared with every Office of Motor Vehicles, said Lisa Arceri, who lives in Metairie and criticized the bill.As of January, 23 states had met all the rules of the Real ID Act.Louisiana is one of more than two dozen that got an extension f rom the federal government to meet the requirements.By Jan. 22, 2018, domestic commercial airline passengers with a drivers license issued by a state that is not Real ID compliant would have to show an alternative form of identification, such as a passport.The new drivers license is also aimed at ensuring access to federal courthouses and military bases.The committee added an amendment aimed at soothing concerns that even motorists who renew a traditional drivers license are required to produce birth certificates and other documents that are then scanned by OMV officials.It is just adding some extra comfort, said Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Baton Rouge, sponsor of the amendment.Arceri said she and her son made seven trips to the Office of Motor Vehicles for his drivers license because she declined to turn over certain documents.OMV officials said that, under current rules, first-time drivers license applicants submit birth certificates and other documents that are typically scanned.Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, said that issue may be addressed during Senate floor debate.Colombs bill would require OMV offices to post signs that spell out what the license does, what information is collected and kept, who has access to the data and how it will be utilized.
(TNS)  The U.S. governments announcement that it might be able to unlock a San Bernardino shooters iPhone without Apples help is not likely to end the debate over encryption, privacy and national security.Law enforcement has complained for many months that data encryption creates a major investigative hurdle in the hunt for killers, human traffickers, child pornographers and other offenders.The latest fight over the issue arose after the Dec. 2 attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left 14 dead and 22 wounded. Justice officials have concluded that the assault by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife was an act of terrorism.After the couple were killed in a shootout with police, investigators found an iPhone 5c that Farook was issued for his job as a county health inspector. Although FBI agents have managed to learn much about Farook and his wife, they wanted to access the phone in hopes it would help answer outstanding questions, such as whether the killers had accomplices.In a call with reporters, Apple attorneys underscored the bind the company finds itself in. If the government does drop its demand for help, the firm will probably remain in the dark on what prosecutors learned and who taught it to them.The attorneys, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified, said Apple would ask the government to share what vulnerability it had recently discovered as a result of Sundays new information. They stressed that they remained uncertain whether there is in fact a way to bypass the security measures.Q: What do we know about why the FBI halted a planned court hearing designed to compel Apple to help unlock the phone?A: An outside party came forward Sunday and showed investigators a way to circumvent the iPhone security features that had previously flummoxed the FBIs computer experts, federal authorities said Monday.With the eleventh-hour announcement, prosecutors sought, and quickly received, an indefinite postponement of a court hearing that had been scheduled in Riverside, Calif., on Tuesday. Prosecutors had planned to use the hearing to make their case for why a judge should force Apple to cooperate in hacking into the phone.In a court filing, and on a conference call with reporters, Department of Justice officials did not provide details about who had approached them or the technique that was suggested for breaking into the phone. They said, however, they were cautiously optimistic the idea would succeed.If the method is viable, prosecutors wrote, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple.Q: What does the possible breakthrough mean in the larger effort by U.S. officials to tap into the electronic devices of suspected terrorists?A: Even if the FBI is able to crack the iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino assailant without Apples help, the larger issue isnt going to go away.Brian Levin, a Cal State San Bernardino professor and terrorism expert, said terror groups are even developing their own encryption and operating systems to no longer rely on corporate systems.This is a situation where technology can outrun any legal decision, Levin said. While the FBI might be able to crack this iPhone, what is going to happen to the latest iPhone and other advancing technology?Levin said counterterrorism agencies face constant and new encryption efforts by Apple and other commercial technology providers. But intelligence shows that terrorists are doing their own work in this area, he said.Terrorism groups, including ISIS and al-Qaida, are doing an end-run around commercial systems and they are developing their own encrypted systems. They are getting their own programmers, Levin said.Q: What does the delay in the court hearing mean for Apple?A: Apple has at least a temporary reprieve in what had become a risky and possibly damaging legal face-off with the U.S. government. But the announcement that the FBI might have another way into the phone presented the worlds most valuable company with another troubling scenario: that some unknown group has devised a way to break into iPhones despite the companys efforts to protect customers privacy with new encryption and security buffers.
Eyes will now turn to the F1 Commission, after team bosses voted unanimously to scrap the new 'musical chairs' qualifying format before Bahrain.

"I think the F1 Commission will listen to our opinion, especially as it was unanimous," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said.

Approval by the Commission, comprised of F1's other stakeholders like suppliers and circuits, as well as the World Motor Sport Council is necessary before the rules can be changed so suddenly.

But not everyone is convinced that simply scrapping 'musical chairs' in its entirety is the right thing to do.

"We are yet to hear the arguments," Pirelli's Paul Hembery is quoted by the Finnish broadcaster MTV, referring to the half-hour meeting of the team bosses last Sunday.

"There were positive and negative aspects. Q3 needs improvement and everyone agrees with that," he said, but he also thinks 'musical chairs' succeeded in having "an impact" on the race.

"And that was the original idea," said Hembery.

Force India's Bob Fernley is also critical of the decision to scrap 'musical chairs' on the Sunday morning after its debut.

"When the purpose (of the new qualifying) was to influence the race, how on earth could we make a decision before the race was even run? That was my argument," he said.

Fernley said he ultimately agreed with his colleagues, but added: "It is a pity that we're throwing it away without ever analysing it properly."

Wolff, however, said the idea could be revisited in the future.

"I am sure there is a way to optimise it, but I think it needs time and structure, process and analysis in order to have the right decisions," he said.

(GMM)
A new battery storage solution for offshore wind energy will be piloted in the worlds first floating wind farm, the Hywind pilot park off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Statoil will install a 1MWh Lithium battery based storage pilot system in late 2018.

Hywind Scotland, located 25 km offshore Peterhead, will consist of five floating wind turbines. The 30 MW wind park is currently under construction and start of electricity production is expected in late 2017.

Batwind will be developed in co-operation with Scottish universities and suppliers, under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Edinburgh on 18 March between Statoil, the Scottish Government, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and Scottish Enterprise.

Battery storage has the potential to mitigate intermittency and optimize output. This can improve efficiency and lower costs for offshore wind. The pilot in Scotland will provide a technological and commercial foundation for the implementation of Batwind in full-scale offshore wind farms, opening new commercial opportunities in a growing market.

Statoil has a strong position in offshore wind. By developing innovative battery storage solutions, we can improve the value of wind energy for both Statoil and customers. With Batwind, we can optimize the energy system from wind park to grid. Battery storage represents a new application in our offshore wind portfolio, contributing to realising our ambition of profitable growth in this area. Stephen Bull, Statoils senior vice president for offshore wind

A structured programme is now being established under the MoU to support and fund innovation in the battery storage area between Statoil and Scottish industry and academia. This program will be managed by ORE Catapult and Scottish Enterprise.
Toyota also expects the Prius Prime, equipped with an 8.8 kWh battery pack, to offer an estimated 22 miles (35.4 km) of all-electric rangetwice the electric range of the previous model with its 4.4 kWh packand to drive at speeds up to 84 mph (135 km/h).

Toyota unveiled the new Prius Prime plug-in hybrid (PHEV) at the 2016 New York International Auto Show. Toyota expects the Prius Primes manufacturer-estimated 120 or above MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) to be the highest MPGe rating of any current plug-in hybrid. It also represents a substantial 26-percent enhancement over its predecessor, the Prius PHV, a result of greater battery capacity and an improved hybrid system. In hybrid mode, the Prius Prime is targeting a hybrid MPG equal to or better than the Prius liftback.

Both the standard Prius hybrid and the Prius Prime are powered by Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain, which combines the output of the gasoline engine and electric motor through a planetary-type continuously variable transmission. The biggest difference is that the Prius Prime can be plugged in at home to recharge its larger 8.8kWh battery pack.

In Hybrid mode, the Prius Prime can run on the gasoline engine or electric motor alone or a combination of both. Even when not running in EV mode, the Prius Prime will automatically rely more on its electric capability in situations where it is more efficient than running the gasoline engine, especially in urban and suburban driving and during shorter trips.

The Prius Prime will also feature a Toyota-first dual motor generator drive system, using both the electric motor and the generator for drive force, helping to boost acceleration performance. Regenerative braking recaptures electrical energy under deceleration and braking and stores it in the battery, which helps to reduce fuel consumption.

The 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle, 4-cylinder enginethe same as in all 2016 Prius hybrid modelsearns a 40%-plus thermal efficiency. Numerous details throughout the hybrid powertrain contribute to the efficiency, including an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system with a cooler, smaller, lighter, quieter hybrid system water pump and an exhaust heat recirculation system that speeds engine warm-up.

Available Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA) uses ultrasonic wave sensors to size up a parallel parking space and then, when activated by the driver, can steer the car into it. The system can also reverse the Prius Prime into perpendicular spaces and automatically steer it out of a parallel space.

When the way forward gets narrow, such as in a parking garage, the systems Intelligent Clearance Sonar provides visible and audible warnings if the driver gets too close to obstacles on the vehicles sides.

The vehicle also offers Toyotas advanced safety technology, Toyota Safety Sense P. This multi-feature advanced active safety suite bundles the Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection and Automatic Braking; Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist; Full-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with full stop technology and Automatic High Beams. Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert are also available for additional peace of mind.

All 2017 Prius hybrid models come standard with eight supplemental restraint system airbags, including multi-stage driver and front passenger front airbags; driver and front passenger side airbags; full-length curtain airbags; a driver knee airbag, and a front passenger seat cushion airbag.

On one 11.3-gallon tank of regular-grade gasoline and a full electric charge, the 2017 Prius Prime anticipates a class-leading estimated total driving range of over 600 miles (966 km). The 2017 Prius Prime will begin arriving in Toyota showrooms in late fall.
Volkswagen Group IT uses agile workstyles and intensive cooperation with universities, technology partners and Volkswagen Group departments to develop digital solutions. At the new Volkswagen Digital:Lab in Berlin, the Group is working on this in a strategic partnership with software developer Pivotal. IT experts from Volkswagen and Pivotal are jointly developing innovative software and mobility solutions for networked customers together with specialists from Technical Development and Sales.

In our Digital:Lab we are working on a digital ecosystem that offers our customers a new user experience, new mobility services and a raft of networked vehicle services, Volkswagen Group CIO Dr. Martin Hofmann said. We are creating completely new products for our customers, and are therefore turning Volkswagen from a car manufacturer into a mobility provider.

Hofmann commented that at the same time Volkswagen was establishing new workstyles which are being further developed.

Our IT experts in our labs in Berlin and Munich work the Silicon Valley way, we have brought the Valley to Volkswagen. Pivotal is supporting our experts with over 20 experts from San Francisco and Boulder, Colorado, and is training them in new software development methods. Our aim is to firmly anchor these skills and workstyles in the Group and in Germany. In the medium term, there will be more than 600 programmers, data scientists, design thinking experts and cloud architects working in our labs in Berlin, Munich and San Francisco. Dr. Hofmann

Volkswagen and Pivotal are focusing on innovative workstyles for software development. These are based on agile programming techniques such as extreme programming. Extreme programming stresses customer satisfaction, enabling software developers to developers to respond to changing customer requirements, even late in the life cycle.

Extreme Programming improves a software project in five essential ways; communication, simplicity, feedback, respect, and courage. Extreme Programmers constantly communicate with their customers and fellow programmers. They keep their design simple and clean. They get feedback by testing their software starting on day one. They deliver the system to the customers as early as possible and implement changes as suggested. Every small success deepens their respect for the unique contributions of each and every team member. With this foundation Extreme Programmers are able to courageously respond to changing requirements and technology.  Extreme Programming: A gentle introduction

For example, software developers work systematically in changing pairs with daily stand-up meetings, regular weekly training sessions and continuous in-team optimization. This partnership fosters exchange and creativity within the teams, reduces the error rate, shortens development processes and allows swifter adjustment in the event of short-term changes in customer wishes.

The Digital:Lab in Berlin is the Volkswagen Groups advanced software developer. The lab supports projects that go beyond the boundaries of Volkswagens existing core business and are designed to open up new business opportunities. The Digital:Lab is developing a digital mobility platform where external partners can dock on to jointly develop software solutions. The lab is also working on a new vehicle control center which collects data on weather, surroundings and traffic from networked vehicles and uses this data to generate early hazard warnings. The Digital:Labs first software projects include digital sales support for dealers and a data hub for digital products.
A man who originally pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges openly admitted in court to having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl.

TJ Luna, 32, Green River, appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Nena James a change of plea hearing to six counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

During the change of plea hearing, Luna pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. In exchange for his guilty plea, all other charges will be dismissed during a sentencing hearing, which will take place at...
Pete Leodes, 43, of Rock Springs, passed away March 9, 2016 at the Utah Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City. A lifelong resident of Rock Springs, Leodes died following a sudden illness.

He was born on Dec. 29, 1972 in Rock Springs, the son of the late Pete and Katina Leodes.

Leodes attended schools in Rock Springs and was a 1990 graduate of the Rock Springs High School. He also attended ITT Technical College and obtained his certificate for electronics.

He married the former Michaelyn Gipson and they later divorced. She preceded him in death March 18, 2006.

Leodes was a CDL driver for McJunkin Redman for the past 13 years.

His interests included spending time with his family especially his daughter. He liked to play video games, guitar, music and he was a car and truck enthusiast.

Survivors include his daughter Katina Leodes of Rock Springs; one brother, Nick Leodes and wife April of Rock Springs; several nieces and nephews including Stephanie Leodes, Andrea Perez and husband Walmer and great-niece Zamaya; two aunts, six uncles and several cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Friday at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 405 N Street, Rock Springs. Father John Cusulos will officiate. The Trisagion will take place at 7 p.m.. on Thursday at Vase Funeral Chapel, 154 Elk Street, Rock Springs. Interment will be in the Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery. Friends may call at the Vase Chapel on Thursday one hour prior to the Trisagion and on Friday, one hour prior to funeral services at Vase Chapel.

Condolences may be left at http://www.vasefuneralhomes.com.
Rose C. Maestas, 87, of Superior, died Sunday, March 6, 2016 at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.

She was born on Aug. 19, 1928 in El Rito, N.M., to the late Luis and Eufemia Avila. Maestas attended schools in El Rito, N.M. She married Ray A. Maestas in Santa Fe, N.M., in 1951. Their marriage was the first marriage to be blessed at the new St. Vivian's Church Dec. 28, 1952.

She was a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Community and St. Vivian's Parish in Superior.

Her interests included camping, fishing, arrowhead hunting, attending horseshoe tournaments, sewing, cooking and caring for her husband and family. She also enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, great-grand children and all of her friends.

Survivors include her husband of 64 years, Ray Maestas, of Superior; three sons, Bino Maestas and wife Diane of Rock Springs; Ray Maestas Jr. of Pensacola, Fla., and Steve Maestas and wife Mary of Green River; three daughters, Lourdes Abram and husband Patrick, Loretta Abram and husband Bobby Abram, all of Rock Springs, and daughter Lisa Nussbaum and husband Mark of Green River; sister Maria Burrows and partner Dave Thompson, of Topock, Ariz .; 13 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, daughter Mary Maestas, two brothers Matias and Visente Avila, and three sisters, Luguadita Gonzales, Mary Martinez and Margaret Friani.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 116 Broadway, Rock Springs. A vigil service with rosary will be recited at 5 p.m. Sunday at Vase Funeral Chapel, 154 Elk Street, Rock Springs. Interment will be in the Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery. Friends may call at Vase Chapel on Sunday one hour prior to the rosary and on Monday one hour prior to services.

Condolences may be left at http://www.vasefuneralhomes.com.
Rose Uhren, 97, passed away March 12, 2016, in Suprise, Ariz.

A long time resident of Reliance, Uhren died following a brief illness.

She was born on Nov. 26, 1918, in Rock Springs, the daughter of the late Tom and Mary Elliott Baker.

Uhren attended schools in Rock Springs, and was a Rock Springs High School graduate with the class of 1937.

She married Robert Joseph Uhren, Sr. in Manila, Utah, Oct. 15, 1940 and he preceded her in death on Feb. 13, 1994.

Uhren was employed as a clerk at Union Merchantile for 20 years and retired in about 1980.

Survivors include two sons Robert Uhren of Ashville, N.C., and Bruce Uhren and wife Elaine, of Sun City West, Ariz.; daughter Marsha Caldwell and husband Jon, of Thayne; four grandchildren, Robert Uhren, Kevin Caldwell, Shannon Sarbona and Scott Caldwell; one great-grandchild, Ryan Sarbona and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Robert.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Thursday at Vase Funeral Chapel, 154 Elk Street, Rock Springs. Interment will be in the Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Vase Chapel on Thursday, one hour prior to services.
Two Green River High School students were recently named as candidates for an impressive scholars program.

Amber Nelson and Kayla Gibson, who will both graduate this year, were two out of 4,000 candidates selected in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

According to a press release from the program, "The candidates were selected from nearly 3.3 million students expected to graduate from U.S. high schools in the year of 2016. Inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, now in its 52nd year, is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high-school seniors."

The relea...
Reedy Fork Elementary School may produce some of our nations future meteorologists, thanks to a grant from Toshiba America Foundation.

The school was awarded a $650 grant to buy a weather station for the school, and ESL teacher Thomas Gray, who wrote the grant, hopes the new equipment spurs student interest in science.

The ultimate goal of education, in my view, is to increase student understanding of the world they live in so they can be successful in it and help improve it, Gray said. Learning about the fundamentals of weather and climate is essential to enhancing that world knowledge.

Gray said the grant helps Reedy Fork students learn about the factors that affect weather. Students will discover through weather observations and measurements how to track daily and seasonal weather conditions using a quality wireless weather station installed at the school, Gray said.

I would hope students will become more aware of how climate is changing, how it is impacting planet Earth and actions that can be taken to mitigate or reverse the impact of these changes, Gray said.

The grant paid for a Davis Instruments Vantage Vue, WeatherLink software and mounting pole. The weather station is near the roof above the media center.

It is south facing to maximize the solar panel that powers the station, Gray said. This technically advanced data collection tool will permit students to experience first-hand the essential factors that govern weather, the application of weather data to making accurate forecasts and the specific tools used to collect weather data.

Davis Instruments Vantage Vue is an integrated weather data collector that measures air temperature, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, humidity and rainfall. The data is then transmitted wirelessly to a console in the schools science room. The console is connected to a computer, which links the data to Reedy Forks personalized webpage on the Weather Underground website.

Current weather conditions, as well as daily, weekly and yearly weather information, are displayed in the form of numerical data and graphs.

The webpage makes it possible for any student at Reedy Fork to easily access weather information, Gray said.

The primary challenge for staff is learning what Vantage Vue does and integrating that into meaningful learning activities.

Students have initially interacted with the station by becoming familiar with the data the station collects, tracking weather changes and seeing how the graphs can be used to make weather predictions, Gray said.

Fifth-graders Brittany Ramirez Rojas and Samantha Trevino like having the ability to track the weather where they are.

What I enjoy most about the weather station is that my school gets to see the air pressure and wind speed for just Reedy Fork, Brittany said.

Samantha also appreciates the systems flexibility.

We are able to view the weather on our classroom computer at any time during the day, she said.

Fifth-grader Keana Cook likes learning about and using the weather equipment.

Im learning the importance of weather tools to help my class find things like low and high pressure, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed and rain measurements, Keana said.

For fifth-grader Caleb Dixon, the weather station also offers some practical help.

Now I know how to dress and be ready for the weather, Caleb said.

While any Reedy Fork student has access to the weather station, Gray said it will be especially useful as a hands-on learning tool for kindergarten, second grade and fifth grade because of the North Carolina Essential Standards for science:

Kindergarten: Summarize daily weather conditions, noting changes that occur from day to day and throughout the year. Compare weather patterns that occur from season to season.

Second grade: Compare weather patterns that occur over time and relate observable patterns to time of day and time of year. Recognize the tools that scientists use for observing, recording and predicting weather changes from day to day and during the seasons.

Fifth grade: Compare daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions (including wind speed and direction, precipitation and temperature) and patterns. Predict upcoming weather events from weather data collected through observation and measurements.

We plan to use the weather station to enhance the science curriculum for many years to come, Gray said. The Vantage Vue is a quality, reliable weather station that will be available to years of future meteorologists that pass through Reedy Fork Elementary.
NEW YORK  Phife Dawg, a masterful lyricist whose witty wordplay was a linchpin of the groundbreaking hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, died Tuesday from complications resulting from diabetes, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. He was 45.

Born Malik Isaac Taylor, he was known as the "Five Foot Assassin" because he was 5 feet 3 inches tall.

"Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend. We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of God and family," the statement read.

The family did not disclose any other details.

Taylor, who earned respect for his skillful and thoughtful rhymes, was part of number of rap classics with Tribe, including "Scenario," ''Bonita Applebum," ''Can I Kick It?" and "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo," among others.

"I like 'em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian, name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu Nation," he famously rapped on "Electric Relaxation."

Taylor grew up in Queens, New York, with fellow Tribe member Q-Tip. In high school, the two met Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who is from Brooklyn, to form Tribe. Jarobi White later joined the group. The collective  known for its artistic songs and lyrics  recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of their debut album, "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm."

They were pioneers of rap, blending genres like jazz into hip-hop and offering rap fans a different sound and style than the gangsta rap that dominated airwaves at the time.

Taylor and Q-Tip were known for trading words on songs and playing off one another.

"I was just learning," Taylor said in a recent interview with The Associated Press when asked about recording the group's 1990 debut album. "I was just watching Q-Tip."

In the November interview, he was just as passionate about rap as he was when the Tribe launched its career. The group had some tense moments  seen in the 2011 documentary "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest"  but thoughts of re-grouping were being considered. To celebrate the group's 25th anniversary, they performed together on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."

Taylor said he was ready to tour again with his band mates.

"I'm going to speak for myself  that's always the case for me, whether we're together or not. These are my brothers. I know nothing but them. I only wanna work with them," he told the AP. "In terms of going on tour, I wanna go on tour with them."

Tribe proved influential to rappers, from Pharrell to Busta Rhymes. The music world and other celebrities mourned Taylor on Wednesday, including actors Chris Rock and Don Cheadle, DJ-producer Mark Ronson, musician Sean Lennon, country singer Darius Rucker, R&B singer Jill Scott as well as rappers Chuck D, Big Sean, Macklemore and Swizz Beatz.

"Today is a dark day in hiphop," rapper Talib Kweli tweeted.

At his Wednesday concert in Sydney, Australia, Kendrick Lamar spoke about Taylor's influence on him and had the audience of 18,000 chant the late rapper's name.

"We lost one of the pioneers in hip-hop today by the name of Phife Dawg," Lamar said. "We're gonna give it up for him, for allowing me to do what I'm doing on this stage right here, right now, today."

Questlove posted a lengthy memoriam on Instagram and wrote about how epic Dawg's verse was on "Buggin' Out," from 1991's "The Low End Theory."

"Malik "Phife" Taylor's verse was such a gauntlet/flag planting moment in hip hop. Every hip hop head was just...stunned HE. CAME. FOR. BLOOD & was taking NO prisoners on this album (or ever again)," Questlove wrote.

As a rapper who took time to craft his skills and come up with clever and intellectual lyrics, Taylor expected the same from others and was critical of contemporary hip-hop.

"Back when we were doing it everybody had their own lane, nowadays it's one on top of the other. 'Oh, this sold 3 million with that style let me duplicate that style and run with it,'" he said.

"In order for (us) to see the future everybody can't sound like Future. Like, everybody sounds like Future," he added, referring to the popular rapper-singer-producer Future. "Like, I don't know even know who's who outside of Future. It's the same thing. You watch the hip-hop awards, and I watch it religiously because I'm hip-hop ...and it's like, 'Oh! I thought that was ...wait a minute.' Because everybody sounds so much alike. I think we honored our craft a little bit more compared to now."

He added that "there's a few who still honor their craft, the Kendricks, the J. Coles, that whole Pro-Era crew ... but there's not enough."

In 2000, Taylor released his solo album, "Ventilation: Da LP." His manager, Dion Liverpool, called Taylor his "best friend and brother."

"I also will celebrate his incredible life and contribution to many people's ears across the world. Even with all his success, I have never met a person as humble as he," Liverpool said. "He taught me that maintaining a positive attitude and outlook can conquer anything. Now my brother is resting in greatness. I'm honored to have crossed paths with him. Riddim Kidz 4eva."
Updated at 6:13 p.m.

BRUSSELS  Islamic extremists struck Tuesday in the heart of Europe, killing at least 31 people and wounding scores of others in back-to-back bombings of the Brussels airport and subway that again laid bare the continent's vulnerability to suicide squads.

Bloodied and dazed travelers staggered from the airport after two explosions  at least one blamed on a suicide attacker and another reportedly on a suitcase bomb  tore through crowds checking in for morning flights. About 40 minutes later, another blast struck subway commuters in central Brussels near the Maelbeek station, which sits amid the European Commission headquarters.

Authorities released a photo taken from closed-circuit TV footage of three men pushing luggage carts, saying two of them apparently were the suicide bombers and that the third  dressed in a light-colored coat, black hat and glasses  was at large. They urged the public to contact them if they recognized him. The two men believed to be the suicide attackers apparently were wearing dark gloves on their left hands.

In police raids across Brussels, authorities later found a nail-filled bomb, chemical products and an Islamic State flag in a house in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, the state prosecutors' office said in a statement.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion in a train pulling away from the platform.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that IS was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some are still on the loose.

"In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who announced three days of mourning in his country's deadliest terror strike.

"Last year it was Paris. Today it is Brussels. It's the same attacks," said French President Francois Hollande.

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, shut the airport through Wednesday and ordered a city-wide lockdown, deploying about 500 soldiers onto Brussels' largely empty streets to bolster police checkpoints. France and Belgium both reinforced border security.

Medical officials treating the wounded said some victims lost limbs, while others suffered burns or deep gashes from shattered glass or suspected nails packed in with explosives. Among the most seriously wounded were several children.

The bombings came barely four months after suicide attackers based in Brussels' Molenbeek district slaughtered 130 people at Paris nightspots, and intelligence agencies had warned for months a follow-up strike was inevitable. Those fears increased following Abdeslam's arrest in Molenbeek, along with police admissions that others suspected of links to the Paris attacks were at large.

A high-level Belgian judicial official said a connection by Abdeslam to Tuesday's attacks is "a lead to pursue." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

Abdeslam has told investigators he was planning to "restart something" from Brussels, said Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. He said Sunday that authorities took the claim seriously because "we found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels."

While they knew that some kind of extremist act was being prepared in Europe, they were surprised by the size of Tuesday's attacks, said Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon.

"It was always possible that more attacks could happen, but we never could have imagined something of this scale," he said.

Officials at the airport in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem said police had discovered a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an explosives-packed vest abandoned at the facility, offering one potential lead for forensic evidence. Bomb disposal experts safely dismantled that explosive device.

Shockwaves from the attacks crossed the Atlantic, where city and airport officials at several U.S. cities increased security force deployments and raised security levels. A U.S. administration official said American intelligence officers were working with European counterparts to try to identify the apparently skilled bomb-maker or makers involved in the Brussels attacks and to identify any links to bombs used in Paris.

The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the investigations and demanded anonymity, told The Associated Press that at least one of the bombs at the airport was suspected to have been packed into a suitcase left in the departures hall.

Three intelligence officials in Iraq told the AP that they had warned European colleagues last month of IS plans to attack airports and trains, although Belgium wasn't specified as a likely target. The officials, who monitor activities in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, said Brussels may have become a target because of the arrest of Abdeslam.

One of the officials  all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about their knowledge of IS operations  said Iraqi intelligence officials believe that three other IS activists remain at large in Brussels and are plotting other suicide-bomb attacks.

European leaders already struggling to cope with a wave of migration from the war-torn Middle East said they must rely on better anti-terrorist intelligence work to identify an enemy that wears no uniform and seeks the softest of targets. They emphasized that Europe must remain tolerant to Muslims as they seek to identify the Islamic State needles in that ever-growing haystack.

Leaders of the 28-nation bloc said in a joint statement that Tuesday's assault on Brussels "only strengthens our resolve to defend European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant."

The United Nations' lead official for Middle East refugees, Amin Awad, warned that Europe faced an increasing risk of racist retaliation against Muslim immigrant communities. "Any sort of hostilities because of the Brussels attack or Paris attack is misplaced," Awad said.

Reflecting the trauma of the moment, Belgian officials offered uncertain casualty totals at both the airport and subway, where police conducted controlled explosions on suspicious abandoned packages that ultimately were found to contain no explosives.

Belgium's health minister, Maggie de Block, said 11 people were killed and 81 injured at the airport, where thousands of passengers were waiting to check luggage and collect boarding cards.

Video posted on social media showed people cowering on the ground in the wake of the blasts, the air acrid with smoke, windows of shops and the terminal entrance shattered, and fallen ceiling tiles littering the blood-streaked floor.

Some witnesses described hearing two distinct blasts, with shouts apparently in Arabic from at least one attacker before the second, bigger explosion.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the airport blasts, told BFM television that pipes ruptured, sending a cascade of water mixing with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed. There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere," he said. "We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene."

Marc Noel was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta. The Belgian native, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, said the first blast happened about 50 yards (meters) from him. "People were crying, shouting, children. ... It was a horrible experience," he said.

A random decision to pause in a shop to buy a magazine may have saved his life. Otherwise, he said, "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first blast took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight bags. He and a colleague said the second blast struck near a Starbucks cafe.

Deloos said a colleague shouted at him to run as the blast sent clouds of shredded paper billowing through the air, and "I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe."

Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said 20 people died and more than 100 were wounded in the subway blast. Rescue workers set up makeshift first aid centers in a nearby pub and hotel.

Passengers on other trains said many commuters were reading about the airport attacks on their smartphones when they heard the subway blast. Hundreds fled from stopped trains down tunnel tracks to adjacent stations. Many told stories of having missed the bomb by minutes or seconds.

"It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro," said commuter Alexandre Brans, wiping blood from his face.

Political leaders and others around the world expressed their shock at the attacks.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible," U.S. President Barack Obama said.

Belgium's king and queen said they were "devastated" by the violence, describing the attacks as "odious and cowardly."

After nightfall, Europe's best-known monuments  the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain  were illuminated with Belgium's national colors in a show of solidarity.

Update at 1:37 p.m.

BRUSSELS  Federal police in Belgium issue wanted notice for suspect in Brussels airport bombing.

Updated at 1:32 p.m.

BRUSSELS  Bombs exploded Tuesday at the Brussels airport and in the city's subway, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The two airport blasts, at least one of them blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and travelers streamed out of the smoky building.

About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate through darkened tunnels to safety.

"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were for most of the workday. Airports across Europe  and in the New York area  tightened security.

"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting in Paris. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

Added French President Francois Hollande: "Terrorists struck Brussels, but it was Europe that was targeted, and it is all the world which is concerned by this."

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some are still on the loose.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks, saying in a post on the group's Amaq news agency that its extremists opened fire in the airport and "several of them" detonated suicide belts. It said another suicide attacker struck in the subway. The post claimed the attack was in response to Belgium's support of the international coalition arrayed against the group.

Authorities found and neutralized a third bomb at the airport once the chaos after the two initial blasts had eased, said Florence Muls, a spokeswoman for the airport told The Associated Press. Bomb squads also detonated suspicious objects found in at least two locations elsewhere in the capital, but neither contained explosives, authorities said.

Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking the attacks with Abdeslam. After his arrest, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to "do whatever is necessary" to help Belgian authorities seek justice.

"We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people," Obama said in Havana, where he was closing a three-day visit.

Western Europe has lived for decades under the threat of violence from homegrown nationalist and revolutionary movements. Muslim extremists from North Africa and the Middle East have attacked civilian targets without warning, ranging from France's 1960s war in Algeria through Libya's 1988 downing of an airline over Scotland to the 2004-05 attacks on the public transportation systems of London and Madrid.

Certain neighborhoods in Brussels, like the Molenbeek quarter, have bred extremists and supplied foreign fighters. Plotters linked to the Paris attacks and others have either moved through or lived in parts of the city.

Tuesday's explosions at the airport in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem came shortly after 8 a.m., one of its busiest periods when thousands of people were inside. Belgian Health Minister Maggie de Block said 11 people were killed and 81 wounded. Eleven people had serious injuries, Marc Decramer of the Gasthuisberg hospital in Leuven told broadcaster VTM. The nails apparently came from one of the bombs.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Video from moments after the blasts showed travelers huddled next to check-in counters and lying near luggage and trolleys as dust and the cries of the wounded filled the air. Dazed people stumbled from the scene, some with clothes and shoes blown off.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the counters where customers pay for overweight bags. He and a colleague said the second blast hit near a Starbucks cafe.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," Deloos said.

The subway bombing came after 9 a.m., killing 20 people and wounding more than 100, Mayor Yvan Majeur said.

"The metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro."

Near the entrance to the station, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

The airport was ordered closed for the rest of the day and CEO Arnaud Feist said the facility would be closed at least through Wednesday. About 600 flights in or out of Brussels were diverted or canceled, Muls said.

The metro also was ordered closed as the city was locked down. By the end of the workday, city officials said residents could begin moving around on the streets of the capital and train stations were reopening. But Peter Mertens of the Belgian crisis center said the threat of more attacks "is still real and serious."

At least one and possibly two Kalashnikovs were found in the departure lounge at the airport, according to a European security official in contact with a Belgian police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the ongoing investigation. It was not immediately clear whether the firearms were used in the attacks.

Travelers fled the airport as quickly as they could. In video shown on France's i-Tele television, men, women and children dashed from the terminal in different directions. Security officers patrolled a hall with blown-out paneling and ceiling panels covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel said he was in an airport shop buying automotive magazines when the first blast struck about 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting  children. It was a horrible experience," he said, adding that his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

Updated at 11:17 p.m.

BRUSSELS  Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats.

The two airport blasts, at least one of them blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and travelers streamed out of the smoky building.

About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate through darkened tunnels to safety.

"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security.

"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting in Paris. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

Added French President Francois Hollande: "Terrorists struck Brussels, but it was Europe that was targeted."

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking them with Abdeslam. After his arrest, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to "do whatever is necessary" to help Belgian authorities seek justice.

"We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people," Obama said in Havana, where he was closing a three-day visit.

Western Europe has lived for decades under the threat of violence from homegrown nationalist and revolutionary movements. Muslim extremists from North Africa and the Middle East have attacked civilian targets without warning, ranging from France's 1960s war in Algeria through Libya's 1988 downing of an airline over Scotland to the 2004-05 attacks on the public transportation systems of London and Madrid.

Certain neighborhoods in Brussels, like the Molenbeek quarter, have bred extremists and supplied foreign fighters. Plotters linked to the Paris attacks, and other strikes over at least the last several decades, have either moved through or lived in parts of the city.

Tuesday's explosions at the airport in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem came shortly after 8 a.m., one of its busiest periods. Belgian Health Minister Maggie de Block said 11 people were killed and 81 wounded. Eleven people had serious injuries, Marc Decramer of the Gasthuisberg hospital in Leuven told broadcaster VTM. The nails apparently came from one of the bombs.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Video taken moments after the explosions showed travelers huddled next to airport check-in counters and lying near luggage and trolleys as dust and the cries of the wounded filled the air. Dazed people stumbled from the scene, some with clothes and shoes blown off.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and a colleague said the second blast hit near a Starbucks cafe.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," Deloos said.

The bomb on the subway train came after 9 a.m., killing 20 people and wounding more than 100, Mayor Yvan Majeur said.

"The metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro."

Near the entrance to the station, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

The metro shut down after the attacks, as did the airport. More than 200 flights to Brussels were diverted or canceled, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.

At least one and possibly two Kalashnikovs were found in the departure lounge at the airport, according to a European security official in contact with a Belgian police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the ongoing investigation. It was not immediately clear whether the firearms were used in the attacks.

Travelers fled the airport as quickly as they could. In video shown on France's i-Tele television, men, women and children dashed from the terminal in different directions. Security officers patrolled a hall with blown-out paneling and ceiling panels covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel said he was in an airport shop buying automotive magazines when the first blast struck about 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting  children. It was a horrible experience," he said, adding that his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

Updated at 10:24 a.m.

BRUSSELS  Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats.

The two airport blasts, at least one of which was blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and travelers streamed out of the smoky building.

About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate through darkened tunnels to safety.

"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security.

"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

At Brussels' Zaventem airport, the two explosions hit the departures area during the busy morning rush. Belgian Health Minister Maggie de Block told Belgian media that 11 people were killed and 81 injured.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and a colleague said the second blast hit near the Starbucks cafe.

"We heard a big explosion. It's like when you're in a party and suddenly your hearing goes out, from like a big noise," Deloos said, adding that shredded paper floated through the air as a colleague told him to run.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," he said.

The bomb that went off an hour later on the subway train killed 20 people and injured more than 100, Brussels Mayor Yvan Majeur said.

"The metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro."

Near the entrance to the station, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

The metro shut down after the attacks, as did the airport. More than 200 flights to Brussels were diverted or canceled, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.

At least one and possibly two Kalashnikovs were found in the departure lounge at the airport, according to a European security official in contact with Belgian police who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation.

It was not immediately clear whether the firearms were used in the attacks.

Amateur video showed passengers fleeing as quickly as they could.

In a video shown on France's i-Tele television, passengers, including a child running with a backpack, dashed out of the terminal in different directions as they tugged luggage. Another image showed a security officer patrolling inside a hall with blown-out paneling and what appeared to be ceiling insulation covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel says he was in an airport shop buying automobile magazines when the first explosion occurred 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting, children. It was a horrible experience," he told AP. He said his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

Updated 9:42 a.m.

BRUSSELS  Bombs struck the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats.

The two airport blasts, at least one of which was blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and travelers streamed out of the smoky building.

About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate through darkened tunnels to safety.

"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security.

"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

At Brussels' Zaventem airport, the two explosions hit the departures area during the busy morning rush. Belgian Health Minister Maggie de Block told Belgian media that 11 people were killed and 81 injured.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and a colleague said the second blast hit near the Starbucks cafe.

"We heard a big explosion. It's like when you're in a party and suddenly your hearing goes out, from like a big noise," Deloos said, adding that shredded paper floated through the air as a colleague told him to run.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," he said.

The bomb that went off an hour later on the subway train killed 20 people and injured more than 100, Brussels Mayor Yvan Majeur said.

"The metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro."

Near the entrance to the station, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

The metro shut down after the attacks, as did the airport. More than 200 flights to Brussels were diverted or canceled, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.

At least one and possibly two Kalashnikovs were found in the departure lounge at the airport, according to a European security official in contact with Belgian police who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation.

It was not immediately clear whether the firearms were used in the attacks.

Amateur video showed passengers fleeing as quickly as they could.

In a video shown on France's i-Tele television, passengers, including a child running with a backpack, dashed out of the terminal in different directions as they tugged luggage. Another image showed a security officer patrolling inside a hall with blown-out paneling and what appeared to be ceiling insulation covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel says he was in an airport shop buying automobile magazines when the first explosion occurred 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting, children. It was a horrible experience," he told AP. He said his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

Associated Press Writers Raf Casert in Brussels and Angela Charlton and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.

Updated at 8:49 a.m.

BRUSSELS  Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 26 people were reported dead and dozens of others injured.

A spokesman for the Brussels Metro said 15 people were killed and 55 injured, 10 very seriously, in an explosion on a train. Belgian media initially reported at least 13 dead in two explosions in the airport's departures area, but later decreased that to 11, citing information from Belgian Health Minister Maggie de Block, who also said 81 people were injured.

"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

Belgian media reported that 11 people were killed at the airport, where two explosions splattered blood across the departure lounge and collapsed the ceiling. The explosions hit during the busy morning rush. Smoke was seen billowing out of the terminal.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and a colleague said the second blast hit near the Starbucks cafe.

"We heard a big explosion. It's like when you're in a party and suddenly your hearing goes out, from like a big noise," Deloos said, adding that shredded paper floated through the air as a colleague told him to run.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," he said.

Tom De Doncker, 21, check-in agent intern, was near the site of the second explosion.

"I saw a soldier pulling away a body," he said. "It felt like I was hit too" from the concussion of the blast.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Near the entrance to Brussels' Maelbeek subway station, not far from the headquarters of the European Union, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

"The Metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the Metro."

Francoise Ledune, a spokeswoman for the Brussels Metro, said on BFM television there appeared to have been just one explosion on the subway in a car that was stopped at Maelbeek. Spokesman Guy Sablon said 15 were killed and 55 injured in that attack.

At the airport, passengers fled as quickly as they could.

Amateur video shown on France's i-Tele television showed passengers including a child running with a backpack dashing out of the terminal in different directions as they tugged luggage. Another image showed a security officer patrolling inside a hall with blown-out paneling and what appeared to be ceiling insulation covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel says he was in an airport shop buying automobile magazines when the first explosion occurred 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting, children. It was a horrible experience," he told AP. He said his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

With three runways in the shape of a "Z," the airport connects Europe's capital to 226 destinations around the world and handled nearly 23.5 million passengers in 2015.

Passengers were led onto the tarmac and the crisis center urged people not to come to the airport. More than 200 flights to Brussels were diverted or canceled, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24

Authorities told people in Brussels to stay where they were, bringing the city to a standstill. Airport security was also tightened in Paris, London and other European cities.

In Paris, France's top security official said the country was immediately reinforcing security at airports, train stations and metros.

Updated at 8:34 a.m.

BRUSSELS  The U.S. Embassy in Brussels is recommending that Americans in Belgium stay where they are and avoid public transportation.

The embassy noted Tuesday that with the threat rating in Brussels at its highest alert, attacks can take place with little or no notice. It urged U.S. citizens to monitor media reports, follow instructions from the authorities, and "take the appropriate steps to bolster your personal security."

Updated 7:50 a.m.

BRUSSELS  Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 28 people were reported dead.

A spokesman for the Brussels Metro said 15 people were killed and 55 injured in an explosion on a train, and Belgian media reported at least 13 dead in two explosions at the airport, with many others injured.

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security.

"We are at war," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. "We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

Belgian media reported that 13 people were killed at the airport, where two explosions splattered blood across the departure lounge and collapsed the ceiling. The explosions hit during the busy morning rush. Smoke was seen billowing out of the terminal.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and a colleague said the second blast hit near the Starbucks cafe.

"We heard a big explosion. It's like when you're in a party and suddenly your hearing goes out, from like a big noise," Deloos said, adding that shredded paper floated through the air as a colleague told him to run.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," he said.

Tom De Doncker, 21, check-in agent intern, was near the site of the second explosion.

"I saw a soldier pulling away a body," he said. "It felt like I was hit too" from the concussion of the blast.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Near the entrance to Brussels' Maelbeek subway station, not far from the headquarters of the European Union, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

"The Metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the Metro."

Francoise Ledune, a spokeswoman for the Brussels Metro, said on BFM television there appeared to have been just one explosion on the subway in a car that was stopped at Maelbeek. Spokesman Guy Sablon said 15 were killed and 55 injured in that attack.

At the airport, passengers fled as quickly as they could.

Amateur video shown on France's i-Tele television showed passengers including a child running with a backpack dashing out of the terminal in different directions as they tugged luggage. Another image showed a security officer patrolling inside a hall with blown-out paneling and what appeared to be ceiling insulation covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel says he was in an airport shop buying automobile magazines when the first explosion occurred 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting, children. It was a horrible experience," he told AP. He said his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

With three runways in the shape of a "Z," the airport connects Europe's capital to 226 destinations around the world and handled nearly 23.5 million passengers in 2015.

Passengers were led onto the tarmac and the crisis center urged people not to come to the airport.

Authorities told people in Brussels to stay where they were, bringing the city to a standstill. Airport security was also tightened in Paris, London and other European cities.

In Paris, France's top security official said the country was immediately reinforcing security at airports, train stations and metros.

Associated Press Writers Raf Casert in Brussels and Angela Charlton and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.

Posted 6:51 a.m.

BRUSSELS  Explosions rocked the Brussels airport and its subway system Tuesday, killing at least 13 people according to Belgian media, injuring scores more and prompting authorities to lock down the Belgian capital.

Belgium raised its terror alert to its highest level, diverting arriving planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security as a fleet of emergency vehicles roared in to handle the carnage at the Brussels airport.

The explosions, which the Brussels prosecutor's office called terror attacks, came just days after the main suspect in the deadly Nov. 13 Paris attacks was arrested Friday in Brussels. After his arrest, 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks.

Belgian media reported that 13 people were killed at the airport. Brussels police spokesman Christian De Coninck said some people also died at the subway station but he had no exact numbers yet on the dead or injured.

At the airport, two explosions splattered blood across the departure lounge and collapsed the ceiling. The explosions hit during the busy morning rush. Smoke was seen billowing out of the terminal.

Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and colleague said second blast hit near the Starbucks cafe.

"We heard a big explosion. It's like when you're in a party and suddenly your hearing goes out, from like a big noise," Deloos said, adding that shredded paper floated through the air as a colleague told him to run.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," he said.

Tom De Doncker, 21, check-in agent intern, was near the site of the second explosion.

"I saw a soldier pulling away a body," he said. "It felt like I was hit too" from the concussion of the blast.

All flights from Brussels were canceled, arriving planes and trains were diverted. Authorities told people in Brussels to stay where they were, bringing the city to a standstill. Airport security was also tightened in Paris, London and other European cities.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. Abdeslam's arrest on Friday heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved in the Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims' blood.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," he said.

Near the entrance to Brussels' Maelbeek subway station, not far from the headquarters of the European Union, rescue workers set up a makeshift medical treatment center in a pub. Dazed and shocked morning commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

"The Metro was leaving Maelbeek station for Schuman when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face. "It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro."

Francoise Ledune, a spokeswoman for the Brussels Metro, said on BFM television there appeared to have been just one explosion on the subway in a car that was stopped at Maelbeek.

At the airport, passengers fled as quickly as they could.

Amateur video shown on France's i-Tele television showed passengers including a child running with a backpack dashing out of the terminal in different directions as they tugged luggage, Another image showed a security officer patrolling inside a hall with blown-out paneling and what appeared to be ceiling insulation covering the floor.

Marc Noel, 63, was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta, to return to his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A Belgian native, Noel says he was in an airport shop buying automobile magazines when the first explosion occurred 50 yards away.

"People were crying, shouting, children. It was a horrible experience," he told AP. He said his decision to shop might have saved his life. "I would probably have been in that place when the bomb went off."

With three runways in the shape of a "Z," the airport connects Europe's capital to 226 destinations around the world and handled nearly 23.5 million passengers in 2015.

Passengers were led onto the tarmac and the crisis center urged people not to come to the airport.

In Paris, France's top security official said the country was immediately reinforcing security at airports, train stations and metros.

Associated Press Writers Raf Casert in Brussels and Angela Charlton and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.

Federal police in Belgium issue wanted notice for suspect in Brussels airport bombing

BRUSSELS (AP)  Federal police in Belgium issue wanted notice for suspect in Brussels airport bombing.
Updated 5:19 p.m.

GREENSBORO  Duke Energy crews planned to dig up part of Washington Street tonight to get a better look at conduits that are suspected of being the source of Sunday nights explosions in downtown Greensboro, according to company spokeswoman Meghan Miles.

We are excavating some of the pavement, she said, to look at the conduit underground and pull it out for better inspection.

The street will be closed between Greene and Elm streets through 7 a.m. Wednesday. Greensboro officials said Duke Energy will be doing, "emergency work," related to the explosions in front of The Biltmore Hotel, at 111 W. Washington St.

Traffic will be detoured around the repairs.

The city inspected the water and sewer lines along West Washington Street earlier today and the lines looked sound, said Jake Keys, Greensboro communications manager.

Underground electrical wiring is suspected of being a cause of the explosions in front of the hotel. The concussions blasted two manhole covers into the air. The first blast occurred about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. The second one happened about 10 minutes later. The blasts broke about four dozen windows in the hotel and damaged several vehicles.

Police evacuated the hotel and a nearby theater. Hotel customers returned to their rooms about three hours later.

Investigators this evening still did not know what caused the explosions.

As we move throughout the investigation, well be better able to understand the incident, Miles said. Were all working together to prevent it from happening again.

Staff writer Joe Gamm contributed to this report.

Updated 2:15 p.m.

GREENSBORO  A portion of Washington Street will close beginning at 3 p.m. today while Duke Energy does work connected to Sunday night's explosions, city officials said.

The street will be closed between Greene and Elm streets through 7 a.m. Wednesday. The city said Duke Energy will be doing, "emergency work," related to the explosions in front of The Biltmore Hotel, at 111 W. Washington St.

What Duke Energy will be doing wasn't clear. A call to the company wasn't immediately returned.

Traffic will be detoured from Washington Street to Greene Street to McGee Street to Elm Street.

The city inspected the water and sewer lines along West Washington Street earlier today and they looked sound, said Jake Keys, communications manager with Greensboro.

Posted 9:31 a.m.

GREENSBORO  Part of West Washington Street is closed in front of The Biltmore Hotel following Sunday's explosions.

City officials are investigating the water and sewer systems underground to ensure they're OK, said Susan Danielsen, police spokeswoman. One lane of West Washington Street is blocked and part of the right turn lane on Elm Street is blocked.

It's unclear how long the lanes will be blocked.

Underground electrical wiring caused the explosion in front of the hotel at 111 W. Washington St. Two manhole covers were blown into the air Sunday night as a result of the blasts. Nearly four dozen windows were blown out of the hotel as well.

Duke Energy is still investigating.
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Nicholas Cognetta grew up around death. His parents opened Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory in Stamford in 1953, and after being born in 1960, Cognettas childhood memories included seeing coffin displays in his home where his parents ran their business and the occasional limousine ride to school.

For his own funeral in the distant future, Cognetta wants to be buried in a formal suit but next to two leather motorcycle jackets so I can change later. Cognetta worked alongside his father for 25 years and took over in 2005. His sister, Barbara, took over their mothers 50-year tradition of baking a cake for every family served at their funeral parlors in Stamford and Norwalk and baked 350 cakes last year.

Fairfield Countys death care business will increase steadily as baby boomers age. While funerals remain largely traditional, funeral directors in southwestern Connecticut said clients seek to personalize services and want remembrance tokens. Cremations are becoming more popular, matching the overall U.S. trend that is expected to rise from about 48.5 percent in 2015 to 71 percent in 2030, according to the Brookfield, Wis.-based National Funeral Directors Association. Families select cremation over burial because of cost, the environment, family mobility, fewer families buying family plots, fewer religious prohibitions and scarcer cemetery plots in congested Fairfield County.

Funeral directors said unusual industry services for the cremated include ashes being made into a coral reef or synthetic diamond, but local demand remains low.

Connecticut is a land of steady habits, said John Cascio, executive director of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association in Wethersfield. But he noted, People are personalizing a lot more.

Regionally, a lot of families are doing fingerprinting of loved ones and, for instance, having a locket made of a thumbprint, Cascio said. Other keepsakes include small urns that allow the splitting and sharing of ashes and ashes embedded or stored in jewelry, paperweights, wind chimes and clocks. Biodegradable water urns allow ashes to be dispersed into the sea.

Technological advances, funeral directors said, include webcasting funerals, online registry books and video montages.

Ten years ago, most families had traditional services  the wake, open casket and church service. Theres been a jump in the cremation number, but the biggest change in services is the services themselves, said Tania (Bordeau) Porta, owner of Cornell Memorial in Danbury. She said more clients are opting for cremation, followed by a service with or without an urn present.

An offering that hasnt taken off in Fairfield County is green burials. Six years ago, we started to educate ourselves on green burials before others. We thought it would take off as in the Northwest, where it is very common. The challenge here is every cemetery except (Wooster Cemetery in Danbury) requires a concrete vault under the ground of the coffin and that defeats the purpose of green burials, said Rebecca Lautenslager, a funeral director at Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home in Fairfield.

As for personalization, Lautenslager said her funeral home helped one family honor the passing of a farmer by transporting his casket in a pickup truck. Cognetta recalled one beach lovers service. Instead of a procession past the family home, we drove the procession through Greenwich Point after getting town approval. The person used to spend a lot of time there. That ride meant more to the family than the wake could. It gave them peace.
Worried about the impact of health insurance company mergers on patients and their pocketbooks, three healthcare groups are forming a coalition to push for greater transparency regarding such consolidations.

In a conference call Wednesday morning, members of the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group and the Connecticut State Medical Society announced they were forming the Campaign for Consumer Choice, which would work to allow greater public input and consumer safeguards on any planned mergers.

The Universal Health Care Foundation believes that bigger does not necessarily mean better, when it comes to insurance mergers, said Jill Zorn, senior policy officer of the health care foundation. .

The move was sparked by the proposed acquisition of Cigna Health Insurance, based in Bloomfield, by Athem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and of the Humana insurance company by Harford-based Aetna.

Zorn said a merger of these insurers will lead, among other things, to higher health insurance premiums and less patient choice

Anthems acquisition of Cigna was approved by shareholders late last year; Aetnas and Humanas shareholders approved that deal a few months earlier.

Neither merger is final yet, and the Anthem-Cigna is likely to go to a public hearing before the Connecticut Insurance Department in the near future.

Though Aetna, like Cigna, is based in Connecticut, the public hearing on that merger wont take place here because Humana doesnt participate in the states insurance market.

Potential conflict of interest

In addition to forming the coalition, the agencies also sent a letter to state insurance commissioner Katherine Wade this week asking that the hearing take place at a time and location that allow for maximum public participation; that the insurance department grant interested parties intervenor status allowing for adequate review of the proposed merger and that a study be commissioned analyzing the mergers potential impact on cost, access and the state economy.

In a state that for decades was known as the insurance capital, the repercussions of the $54 billion merger between Cigna and Anthem are far and wide.

Wade was previously a Cigna vice president and her husband is now an associate chief counsel of the Bloomfield-based insurance giant.

Wades Cigna ties have led government watchdogs and Republicans to call for the Democratic appointee of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to recuse herself from ruling on the merger application. Wade continues to participate in the oversight process.

Anthem spokeswoman Sarah Yeager said in a statement that the merger with Cigna will ultimately benefit consumers.

Expanding access to affordable health coverage is the foundation of our combination with Cigna and will remain Anthems top priority, she said in an email. Anthem and Cigna have limited overlap in a highly competitive industry, and together will be in a better position to improve consumer choice and quality. Additionally, we will be better able to manage the cost drivers that negatively impact affordability for consumers.

Mergers create powerhouses

However, Zorn and others on the conference call said they were opposed to the merger and felt a more transparent review process would make the drawbacks of these arrangements more readily apparent.

Were convinced that if there is a fair and open process it would very difficult, if not impossible, to conclude that this is a good deal for consumers, Zorn said.

Matthew Katz, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Connecticut State Medical Society, agreed that the deals are potentially harmful to consumers and physicians alike.

The market power of these insurers could be damaging to the already-struggling private practices in Connecticut, he said.

In their letter, the coalition members stated that a transparent process is doubly important, as Wade also chairs the National Association of Insurance Commissioners working group on the Anthem-Cigna merger.

Since that groups proceedings arent open to the public, the letter argues it is even more important to ensure an open, transparent hearing process in Connecticut, where the public, policy holders, physicians and other interested parties are given maximum opportunity to share their views about this merger.

Insurance department spokeswoman Donna Tommelleo said it could be several months before a hearing is scheduled.

After the application is fully reviewed and deemed complete by the Department there will be public hearing held within 30 days, she said in an email statement. The public will be given ample opportunity to provide both written and oral comment. The department respects the coalitions interest in the matter.

Staff Writer Neil Vigdor contributed to this report.
Contributed / Contributed photo

GREENWICH  Some 73,000 people in Connecticut and more than 5 million nationwide are living with Alzheimers disease, a terrifying and fatal brain disorder with no cure.

The diseases tightening grip  researchers estimate 16 million Americans could have Alzheimers by 2050  has led to a growing group of advocates in Connecticut.
Lilias grape-and-fennel focaccia. Photo: Paul Wagtouicz

Considering how passionate New Yorkers are about breakfast, its rare that people actually sit down and fully savor the meal. Given that most typically only ever eat it in a rush on the street or over a sink, theres a good chance you and your friends deserve to treat yourselves to a special morning meal once in a while. (Besides, you need to eat it.) And thats probably true even if its a solo meal, which isnt so bad after all. Thankfully, a number of New Yorks more exciting new openings are trading in all-day service, high-caliber brunches, or simply tossing locals a bone by offering a few pastries in the morning. Here are ten for you to check out right now.

Egg-in-a-Hole

Where: Tekoa

Price: $8

At their new Cobble Hill cafe, tapas masters Alex Raij and Eder Montero are tweaking breakfast classics ever so slightly. For their version of egg-in-a-hole, the usual toast is swapped out for a griddled spinach pie from the longtime local Middle Eastern bakery Damascus. Its one dish that should become a trend.

Huevos Divorceados

Where: El Atoradero Brooklyn

Price: $10

Mexican food may be the ultimate brunch cuisine. For the first time ever, Denisse Lina Chavez, described by the Underground Gourmet as an aspiring Lidia Bastianich of home-style Mexican cooking, has turned her attention to the meal. Her wonderful chilaquiles and restorative consomme de pollo will certainly do the trick, but if you want eggs consider the huevos divorceados. Its served with both red and green salsa, as well as beans, making it perfect for those who just cant make up their minds.

Grape-and-Fennel Focaccia

Where: Lilia

Price: $3.75

Starting at 7 a.m., a side nook of Missy Robbinss big, sunny Williamsburg restaurant operates as a makeshift cafe, doling out pastries that lean toward the light and Italianate. That means theres an excellent grape-and-fennel focaccia and another with cheese, as well as orange-flavored brioche with cream  not to mention specials like airy frittelle di Giuseppe. The coffee is solid, too, so post up at one of the few counter seats and linger for a while.

Harissa Baked Bean

Where: Two Hands Restaurant & Bar

Price: $14

Theres avocado toast on the menu at the new Australian cafe, obviously, but thats not all. Theyre also spicing up baked beans with a dose of harissa, and serving with them with chorizo, goat cheese, and toasted buckwheat and ciabatta.

La Sirenas sebadas. Photo: Konstantin Sergeyev

Sebadas

Where: La Sirena

Price: $17

Served three to an order, this rightfully famous Sardinian pastry is definitely the most alluring item on the menu at Mario Batalis new hotel restaurant. The fritter is made by sandwiching sheeps-milk Pecorino between semolina dough, then frying it in olive oil, and, after cooking, drizzling it with hot corbezzolo honey. Why waste your time on eggs?



Steak and Eggs

Where: The Four Horsemen

Price: $25

Need an excuse to drink a few glasses of natural wine in the morning? Head to the Williamsburg wine bar for their new brunch service, where you can indulge your inner child with a plate of steak and eggs. The cut of beef is the bistro-style bavette, which they serve with sunny-side-up eggs and spruce up with the nontraditional addition of tomatillo.

Ramen

Where: Kingsley

Price: 12

Sometimes you just want some noodles for breakfast. At this French-American restaurant in the East Village, the staff indulges that desire with a spin on ramen made with egg noodles, consomme, nori, pork, enoki, miso, and egg. Sounds about right for when you need to recover from a long night but dont want to pass out immediately after eating an ultra-heavy bowl of milky tonkotsu.

A new arrival to Russ & Daughters legendary breakfast canon. Photo: Paul Wagtouicz

Shakshouka

Where: Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum

Price: $22

Along with the familiar fish and bagels, fans of the storied appetizing giant will find some brand-new dishes on the menu here. Going beyond their Eastern European roots, theyre serving the Tunisian favorite shakshouka. Their version has poached eggs served in a chunky tomato sauce with caramelized onions and roasted peppers. For good measure, it comes with a couple of slices of toasted challah.

Italian Baked Eggs

Where: Ludlow Coffee Supply

Price: $10

Start with a couple of pastries at this new cafe from the Sweet Chick team, then make it a real meal with their Italian baked eggs. Cooked in a bed of marinara sauce thats topped with nutty Parmesan cheese, theyre served with a side of toast for sopping up the red sauce.

Pulled-Goat, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

Where: The Cecil

Price: $16

Chef Joseph JJ Johnson has turned underutilized goat into a signature of his, earning praise for dishes like goat dumplings and udon noodles with braised goat. He may have recently reworked the menu at his Afro-Asian-American restaurant, but the goat is here to stay. For his brunch menus breakfast sandwich, pulled goat subs for bacon or sausage, the egg comes fried, the cheese is Gruyere, and theres mesclun microgreens for good measure.


All fair game. Photo: Starbucks

Starbucks has officially joined the fight against Americas monumental food waste. Its announced a new plan to donate all unsold pastries, sandwiches, salads, and other food boxes to charity, combining the industrys push to curb waste with a brilliant way to feed hungry Americans. The company says 100 percent of each days leftovers at its 7,600 U.S. locations will be given to Feeding America, a nonprofit that runs a network of food banks. Like any place that sells food, Starbucks has always erred on the side of overcaution when it comes to discarding products  nothing sits in the pastry or cold case for more than a couple of days, even though it could probably last twice as long before actually expiring. (In reality, store employees often save unsold stuff for their own meal breaks.) Its probably no surprise that CEO Howard Schultz says baristas actually suggested they donate the extras because its their job to throw expired items out each night. Our people just felt so badly, he told CNN. And this has been going on for quite some time.

The more Starbucks turns into a fast-food chain, the more perishable food ends up requiring refrigeration in stores (like this steak wrap it released Tuesday). Unlike bagels and coffee cakes, these things cant just go into a bag, so for this program, refrigerated vans will pick up cafes leftovers every day and deliver them to Feeding America food banks. Its always been fine for individual locations to donate food to local charities, but a corporate-wide program like this run with a single national charity cuts out all the red tape. Under this program, Starbucks says it will hand out 5 million ready-to-eat meals by the end of 2016, and predicts the number will hit 50 million by 2021. Coincidentally, the government says 14 percent of U.S. households  or roughly 48 million Americans  dont know where their next meal is coming from .

[CNN]
According to a latest report from The Verge, search giant Google is developing a third-party keyboard for rival Apple's iOS platform. The project has been going on for months now, the report notes, however adding that there's currently no clarity on if and when Google plans to launch the product.

As for the features, the keyboard is said to incorporate gesture-based typing as well as picture and GIF searches through dedicated buttons. In addition, there'll also be a Google logo tapping on which will give you access to traditional web search.

The keyboard - which the report says is visually different from Google's offering on Android - is said to be already being internally tested by the Mountain View, California-based company's employees.

Via




Haiti - Telecoms : Selorm Adadevoh appointed new CEO of Digicel Haiti





Tuesday, March 22, Digicel announced that Selorm Adadevoh, Chief Operations Officer in Haiti, was appointed CEO of Digicel Haiti. Selorm succeeds Carlos Caceres who will assume the role of COO of the Group, Chief Operations Officer for Digicel Caribbean and Central America.



Selorm has over 17 years of experience in the industry in the countries of Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, the United States and the United Kingdom. He joined Digicel as Global Director for Mobile Financial Services before accepting the promotion of Chief Operations Officer (COO) in Haiti in May 2015, where he was responsible for the departments Commercial, Marketing, Customer Service, Sales and Distributions.



Maarten Boute, the Chairman of Digicel Haiti, said "I am pleased to announce the appointment of Selorm Adadevoh as new CEO. Selorm brings strong leadership in people, innovation and customer orientation. These, combined with his experience in the Telecommunications and Financial Services makes him the right person to bring Digicel to its next stage of expansion."



In his remarks for the occasion Selorm Adadevoh declared "I am pleased and honored to have been chosen to lead such a distinguished company. As an African, Haiti holds a special place in my heart and I am looking forward to bringing the best products and services to meet the needs of my family, the Haitian people. Also, I take this opportunity to thank all employees of the Digicel and partners for their immense support since my arrival in Haiti last year.



Selorm holds an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, USA and a Bachelor in Engineering from KNUST, Ghana. Selorm is a member of the Board of Women's World Banking (Bank of Savings and Loans) and Sahel Grains (Agro-Processing Company) in West Africa.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





The lower house seems acquired to the PM named

All blocks in the Chamber of Deputies promise to ratify the Statement of General Policy of the new Prime Minister Enex J. Jean-Charles https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16952-haiti-flash-enex-j-jean-charles-new-prime-minister-named.html



The Chamber of Deputies only awaits his record to confirm his eligibility. The Deputy Cholzer Chancy, President of the Lower House said he would request the benefit of urgency to the Commission in the treatment of his documents.



Gary Bodeau, one of the leaders of the APH, the majority group (G48) majority in the House of Deputies, announced that he and his colleagues had met President Privert and promised to vote the General Policy of Jean-Charles. Moreover, Enex Jean-Charles can rely on the votes of the other two minority blocs in the Chamber of Deputies. "The GPEP will ratify the statement of general policy," said Deputy Jerry Tardieu, President of G33, stressing that there is a consensus around the new PM. For his part the Deputy Antoine Rodon Bien-Aime, one of the leaders of the GPI (G11), said that his bloc would also vote in favor of the General Policy of Jean-Charles.



Elections on April 24, Mission Impossible...

Cholzer Chancy, the President of the Lower House, acknowledged that holding elections was impossible for April 24. But, he said, there is still enough time within 120 days of the agreement of February 5 to achieve them. Same viewpoint for Senator Francisco Delacruz. Recall that according to Haitian law, as part of the electoral process, the Head of State should convene the people in these elections 30 days before the election, what gives tomorrow Thursday, March 24...



Moise Jean Charles and the OPL dream of a new agreement

According to the interpretation of ex-presidential candidates : Moise Jean Charles of "Pitit Dessalin" and Sauveur Pierre Etienne of the OPL, he agreement of 6 February is invalid due to the rejection of the general policy of Prime Minister Fritz Jean by the Lower House.



Moise Jean Charles considers that the agreement no longer holds, because one of the parties has not honored its commitments. He recommends urgent political negotiations between President Privert and leaders of political opposition parties to sign a new agreement, without the Parliament, which will restore legitimacy to President Privert. As for Sauveur Pierre Etienne, he recommends the installation of the President of the Court of Cassation as provisional President.



Message from Fritz Jean Alphonse

"I want to thank all my fellow countrymen in Haiti and abroad, all those who followed the daily evolution of this professional step and my commitment to serve my country. This period was for me the opportunity to confirm how our beloved Haiti thirsts for change, skills and new visions. As demonstrated so far my professional and political career, I'll stay to listen to the needs of the people and I will always bring my contribution to the resolution of institutional and socio-economic problems that affect us all. Vive Haiti," Fritz-Alphonse Jean.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.

20:37, 21 OCT 2022
Employers across Australias truck industry are set to be hit with extra costs with the introduction of mandatory minimum payments later this year.



In December, the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal approved national minimum payments for long-distance drivers, including those involved in carrying goods destined for sale or hire by supermarket chains.



The ruling has been met with resistance from business and trucking groups, who warn the new payment system could cause widespread job losses and financially impact on employers.



Nonetheless, unions have hailed the ruling as a world first.



The tribunals order, due to come into operation from April 4, requires employers to pay drivers for loading and unloading times, as well as time spent cleaning, inspecting, servicing and repairing trucks and trailers.



The tribunal has also put requirements on the hirers of contractor drivers and participants in the supply chain, potentially subjecting them to annual audits, the AFR reported.



The compulsory hourly and kilometre payments are designed to provide contractor drivers involved in supermarket work and line-haul operations with more security.



The intention is to prevent major clients, particularly supermarket chains, from compelling owner-operator truck drivers to take on small contracts that barely cover costs and result in unsafe practices.



National Road Transport Association industrial relations officer Arthur Spottiswood told HC Online that order could impact 35,000 owner drivers  around 75 percent of the industry.



Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association national president Kevin Keenan, told the ABC the new regulations would make it different for owner-operator truck drivers to compete against major transport companies.



Companies in the supermarket and line-haul supply chain, including the likes of major retailers Coles and Woolworths, will be legally bound by the RSRTs road safety remuneration order (RSRO) on contractor payments.



However, the RSRT says the ruling will not apply to contractors engaged in operations currently being investigated by the tribunal, namely those involved in the cash-in-transit, waste management, port and wharf, and oil, fuel and gas sectors.



The order is due to run until at least April 3, 2020 and includes annual rate increases of 2 per cent.



"The 2016 RSRO is a significant new development for the road transport industry in Australia, including for the contractor drivers falling within its scope, and we anticipate that the 2016 RSRO will be reviewed and amended over time based upon experience and new evidence," the RSRT says in a statement.






By Bailey Faulkner

Looking for some feel-good vibes this weekend? Dont miss out on Wilmington rock-reggae band Signal Fire this Saturday, March 26 at The Local.

The relatively new and increasingly popular group is filled out by:

Sean Gregory (lead vocals, guitar)

Ken Forrest (drums)

Cullen Seward (bass, vocals)

Carl Blackmon (keyboards)

Signal Fire

The conscientious reggae-rockers formed back in the fall of 2012. Before then, several of the members had played in various bands together, but every member had at least some background in touring with reggae groups.

In 2013, the band released its first studio album, Ignite. The album was an immediate hit, climbing to #8 on the iTunes U.S. reggae charts. The self-produced album was praised as an uplifting mix of reggae, rock and blues with socially conscious lyrics and danceable rhythms.

The members did not hesitate to dive head-first into the East Coasts music scene, playing over 150 shows in the bands first two years. Rolling with the momentum, the band even had the chance to open for reggae legends The Wailers at the House of Blues and share two sold out gigs with Collie Buddz. The band also had the opportunity to perform at the first California Roots: The Carolina Sessions in Wilmington.

Currently, the band is working on its second studio album, Lift Up, which is set for release sometime in August or September.

We are touring the East Coast and beyond in support of our new album, Lift Up. The first single off the record will be released alongside a new music video in the next few weeks, Gregory said.

You can check out the bands music, videos and merchandise on Signal Fires website.

The Local

Saturdays show at The Local will be the bands first High Country performance. During the show, the group will give away two free tickets to the next California Roots: The Carolina Sessions event in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on April 9.

Opening act Of Good Nature will start off Saturdays show. The Charlotte reggae-rock and funk band will surely kick off the night with some feel-good vibes.

So if you want a night of groovy rhythms and highly-danceable reggae, dont forget to make it out to The Local on Saturday! The show will start at about 10 p.m.

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(Hedgetracker.com) With 20 hedge funds on the list, the State of Texas is now home to the most funds on the Top Central U.S. Hedge Fund List. Despite Energy sector troubles, the Lone Star States hedge funds saw their assets grow by 3.2% year-over-year, aided by a diverse range of investment strategies. The DallasFort Worth area now houses 14 of Texas top funds, while Houston is home to four. With 19 hedge funds on the list, Chicago again has the most funds of any metro area in the Central U.S. The top funds from Chicago also oversee the most assets, reporting more than $103B, up 13.9% year-over-year.

To read this article:
Could the creation of jobs through foreign investments in Finland be spurred on even more? The answer is yes, if we compare our own operations in this respect with those of Holland, for example.

The significance of foreign investments for job creation and achieving tax revenue is undeniable. Several countries and city regions support the work done for attracting foreign investments in their regions in many ways. This is also the case for Finland: Invest in Finland does this work at the national level and Helsinki Business Hub in the Helsinki region.

The discussion surrounding the Finnish economy at the moment has a lot of people sighing. Companies are announcing layoffs and exports are lagging. Regardless of the negative atmosphere, foreign companies continue to be interested in Finland, and especially the Helsinki region, as an investment location. For example, the foreign direct investments, brought to the region by the regional development agency Helsinki Business Hub, created double the amount of jobs in 2015 compared to the previous year.

In Holland, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) as well as 13 regional organisations market the Netherlands and their own city regions to foreign companies under the joint banner of Invest in Holland. The majority of the NFIAs employees work abroad.

The NFIA and the regional organisations work together to create a strategy and operational plan as well as manage customer information through a joint, shared customer information system. In addition to these, the NFIA and the regional organisations have established thematic working groups in order to better identify local strengths and distinguishing features, as well as to develop cooperation and the division of work between regions. In addition, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, for example, which are located one hour train ride from each other, are aiming to develop these two city areas, home to just over four million inhabitants, into a single investment location for foreign companies.

The Dutch report that new foreign investments have led to the development of 7,779 new jobs and EUR 1.76 billion in investments during 2015.

Compared to the Dutch operational and cooperation models, the cooperation in Finland between Invest in Finland and the regional organisations is not as thoroughly developed, nor does it produce as much revenue relative to the size of the economy. For 2015, Invest in Finland reports that it has contributed together with the regional organisations to creating 750 jobs as well as securing EUR 550 million in investments. In addition, the majority of the employees of Invest in Finland worked in Finland.

In order to reach the level of Holland, Invest in Finland and the regional organisations would have had to create nearly 2,600 jobs and secure around EUR 600 million in investments over the course of 2015. In terms of the euro amount, Finland has achieved reasonable success compared to Holland, but in terms of the impact on jobs, the outlooks are very different.

What should Finland do differently, then, so that we can improve the rate and profitability of attracting foreign investments in order to create jobs in Finland? In some ways, the answers are very clear.

First of all, the number of sales representatives working in the target markets should absolutely be increased.

Secondly, the cooperation between Invest in Finland and the regional organisations must be developed in order to attract foreign investments the way it has been done in Holland.

Thirdly, in city areas, the perspective must be shifted away from discussions of municipal boundaries and and autonomous regions, and should focus outward. Alongside the TallinnHelsinki twin city idea, we should establish the concept of Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn as triplet cities. The high-speed train, Hyperloop, from Helsinki to Stockholm proposed by the Swedes, which would make the trip in under two hours in the future, as well as the planned tunnel between Helsinki and Tallinn, present a splendid opportunity for this cooperation.

The transformational journey toward creating new jobs for Finland through foreign investments, compared to the Dutch operational models, can be summed up as follows: Invest in Finland must internationalise, meaning it must go to the customer. The regional organisations must engage in better cooperation with Invest in Finland, and Invest in Finland must lead this cooperation with a clear sense of direction. Customer information must be shared better than before between Invest in Finland and the regional organisations. We must forget about small-city busy work and the Helsinki region must develop together not only with Tallinn but also with Stockholm into a single city region. By shifting our operational model and the focus of our resources, we can at least triple the number of jobs created in Finland through foreign investments!

Helsinki Business Hub
He says security authorities will step up their intelligence collection activities and target their measures to locations such as airports on the basis of a risk assessment.

The Police of Finland has raised its level of alertness in the wake of yesterday morning's terror attacks in Brussels, Seppo Kolehmainen, the National Police Commissioner, reveals in an interview with Uusi Suomi.

Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of the Interior, confirmed earlier yesterday that security measures will be stepped up at Helsinki Airport.

Kolehmainen refrained from commenting on the details of the measures associated with the level of alertness but indicated that ordinary citizens may notice a greater presence of law enforcement officers at public places such as airports. He added that the law enforcement authorities do not have the resources to deploy additional manpower to such places.

He also reminded that a risk assessment carried out by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) last autumn suggests the likelihood of a terror attack in Finland is low but cannot be ruled out completely.

More than 30 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured after explosive devices were detonated at Brussels International Airport and Maelbeek Metro Station shortly after 8am local time. The Islamic State (Isis) has claimed responsibility for the attacks on social media.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The Dublin County BMX Club is on track to get world-class facilities at Jobstown Park.

The club, which caters for cyclists of all ages and skill levels, was first established in Cherry Orchard in an indoor facility. However, it was forced to give that up due to high rents.

The group are now working on a plan with South Dublin County Council to install an Olympic-standard BMX Track near the Tallaght Leisure Centre.

Lost

"We've lost a lot of members because of not having a track, so we only have about 25 members at the minute. However, we have people banging on the door now that the track is going up - so I'd say we'll have a huge amount of members," chairman Keith Steacy said.

"We hope to be able to take riders from ground level all the way to elite for the first time - and maybe even find a few Olympians and world champs along the way. We're on the verge of getting it going now."

A number of youth clubs and other organisations are keen to get involved.

"The club is not just for people who are already into the sport and want to go to the Olympics, it will be all inclusive. So if you just want to go out and have fun riding your bike you can," Mr Steacy said.

"This is a hugely positive addition to the area and the support of South Dublin County Council in every way has been second to none. All the councillors we have met with have supported the project, as they can see the benefit this will bring to the local community and further afield," he added.

The club has racers competing in Ireland and the UK. Both boys and girls are welcome.

Members as young as five are already racing in competitions according to the chairman.

Sinn Fein councillor Cathal King has been working with the group to secure funding for the project. He said the new track would be a "huge boost" for the area.

The council approved funding to build the track and designs have been drawn up. It is hoped work will begin on the facility shortly.

Meanwhile, Lucan Sarsfields GAA club is on the lookout for new grounds to accommodate their growing numbers.

The club - which expects to have 2,700 members on the books this year - has published a comprehensive plan for its development over the next four years.

Vision

The 2020 Vision for the club outlines short and long-term goals to help them cope with their growing numbers, which has led to a "pressing need" for facilities.

Lands for the development of new facilities, possibly alongside other sports clubs will be sought by the club which is due to set up a facilities development committee.

Further proposals include upgrading facilities, such as the development of an indoor pitch at the 12th Lock and the addition of catering facilities there. A number of improvements - such as a ball wall and portable goals - have already been funded under the sports capital grant scheme.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has moved against several properties owned by the wife of slain gangland boss 'Fat' Andy Connors.

The assets include a five-bedroom mansion with an indoor swimming pool once valued at 3m.

The bureau has registered judgment mortgages against nine properties in southwest Dublin, including houses and farmland.

Land Registry records show the judgment mortgages were registered in recent weeks.

Gang

It means any proceeds from Ann Connors's interest in the properties would go to the CAB should they be sold.

Burglary gang boss Connors, a father-of-six and a member of the Travelling Community, was shot dead by a masked man at his home in Saggart, Co Dublin in August 2014.

The properties where judgment mortgages were secured include a mansion known as 'The Villa' on the Blessington Road near Citywest and three parcels of land totalling 11.5 acres in size off the Slade Road near Saggart.

Judgment mortgages were also secured by the CAB against three properties on 3.4 acres of land at Boherboy, Saggart, including one known as 'The Ranch'.

Further judgment mortgages were secured on a house in Cloonmore Park, Tallaght and a cottage in Cookstown Park, Tallaght.

Meanwhile, a separate garda operation targeting one of the country's most notorious burglary gangs led to the seizure of 75,000 worth of stolen property and the arrest of two women aged in their 40s yesterday.

Over 80 gardai were involved in nine searches in Co Wexford and Co Waterford.

The targeted gang are suspected of being behind a spate of nationwide burglaries including incidents of "nasty" attacks on elderly people.

Sources have revealed that the gang have a "matriarchal structure" which means that women have always have had an important role in the organised crime network which has been in existence for decades.

Sources said that yesterday's raids are linked to a series of raids in 2005 when CAB seized five high-end vehicles owned by Patrick 'Rubber' Reilly and his extended family.
Maria Aioanei with Anna Arbanasu and her nephew Jason Rusu (3) at the protest (Tom Burke)

The parents of a child with autism have appealed to Taoiseach Enda Kenny "not to let us become homeless".

Gillian Murphy and her partner Damien Moore are parents to three children - one of whom has autism.

"We would tell the Taoiseach not to let us become homeless. We would tell him 'Help us. Change the law'," Ms Murphy said.

"We're supposed to leave our home on May 27. We're not leaving. There's nowhere else for us to go," she said.

"There's no houses for rent, especially in Dublin 15. We have a child with autism so we have to stay in Dublin 15 for him to be looked after. If we move out, then all his services are gone and we'd be back at the bottom of the list again," said Mr Moore.

They are among the 40 families in Cruise Park Drive in Tyrrelstown in west Dublin who received notification from the Twinlite company to vacate their home.

The company informed them their rental lease will not be renewed over the next 12 months.

The company reportedly plans to sell the properties.

They were among a number of families who held a protest outside the Dail.

Obliged

The Tyrrelstown Tenants Action Group wants a change in the law that would prevent tenants from being obliged to move out of their homes if the landlord is selling the properties.

The family was among the group of protesters who were later admitted to the public gallery in the Dail prior to a scheduled debate on homelessness.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Ruth Coppinger said she would be raising the tenants' cases in the Dail.

"We've been warning for ages that selling a property is a legal and legitimate way to get rid of people. There is no way that 100 families in Tyrrelstown should have to move out of the area."
Constituency sweeteners will not be offered to independents in an effort to secure their backing for Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, Fine Gael TDs have been assured.

Mr Kenny and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney conceded at a meeting of the party last night that there would be no 'Dart to Dingle' type deals with individuals during the negotiations aimed at building a minority government.

Instead they will make a series of policy promises in five key areas: health, housing, homelessness, rural affairs and disabilities.

"They made the point that there are too many independent TDs to be engaging in auction politics and that the talks will be more policy driven from here on," said a source.

Mr Kenny's office was last night drawing up official invitations that will be sent out to up to 16 TDs to invite them to "structured discussions".

The first meeting is scheduled for 10am today after five rural independent TDs said they want to "intensify discussions" with Fine Gael in the hope of forming a government "in the national interest".

Michael Collins, Noel Grealish, Michael Harty, Mattie McGrath and Denis Naughten issued a joint statement saying that having met with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail over the last 12 days, they believe Mr Kenny is "seriously determined to form a government" and his party "is in the driving seat".

The announcement is a serious blow to Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who faced criticism at a meeting of his parliamentary party yesterday.

Communications

A number of newly-elected TDs, including Lisa Chambers and Anne Rabbitte, hit out at what they described as the lack of communications within the party.

It was noted that most TDs learned of the Fianna Fail team which is leading the negotiations for government through the media.

It was claimed that the party leadership had gone to ground while Fine Gael was allowed to repeatedly attack them in the media for engaging on government talks.

Mr Martin was also criticised for not appointing a female voice to the new all-party committee on Dail reform. The party has put forward Darragh O'Brien, Thomas Byrne and Eamon O Cuiv.

Sligo TD Marc MacSharry complained that "unelected people" in party HQ were making too many decisions.

Environment spokesman Barry Cowen was also forced to defend the controversy which erupted in the days after the election surrounding the party's position on water charges.

Shortly after his party meeting, Mr Martin met with Tanaiste Joan Burton to discuss the Labour Party's position.

A source said the meeting was cordial but no assurances were sought and none were given.
Many more new Gardai have also threatened to quit with one saying they would be better off "stacking shelves in Tesco"

Newly-qualified gardai have claimed they have been "recruited into poverty".

Three new gardai have already resigned from the force due to low wages, a survey has revealed.

More than 24,000 people applied for the garda posts when they were announced in January 2014.

But the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has revealed that three of the elite 685 officers who qualified from Templemore have already quit.

The new officers have a starting wage of 23,171 - significantly lower than their colleagues who qualified before the recruitment freeze.

Many more new members have also threatened to quit with one saying they would be better off "stacking shelves in Tesco".

GRA vice president Ciaran O'Neill said: "The new question is now whether these members will remain within an Garda Siochana with many contending the two-tier pay structure has recruited them into poverty.

"From the new entrants, three have resigned so far. All are citing financial reasons - it is unprecedented. They have all gone to better-paid jobs."

Mr O'Neill, who regularly liaises with the new entrants, asked them to submit feedback of personal circumstances and financial pressures.

This month's Garda Review magazine carries 15 first-person accounts of the daily struggles of a new recruit.

The stories are anonymous to protect the identities of the gardai.

One 25-year-old officer told the magazine that he had applied for family income supplement from the Social Welfare "as we earn so little".

"I cannot afford medical aid or any other health insurance, and we need some kind of insurance in this job."

Another newly-qualified officer told how he dreamed of being a garda most of his life but is now considering leaving.

The Dublin-based officer said he has been forced to live on just 100 a week for food and savings after paying all his bills.

"I may have to abandon my dream job and find another job due to the circumstances that have arisen from pay-scale, rent allowance and taxation issues."

Many of the officers told how they were stationed many miles from their homes and now struggle to pay for transport.

Frozen

One wrote: "I live in Clonmel and commute 220km in total everyday to Wexford. It's an hour-and-a-half journey each way; so on top of a 10 hour shift I'm driving for three hours.

"This is costing over 100 per week in diesel. Also being away from home for 13 hours a day means that during the six working days I barely see my son."

One officer explained that he will have no option but to quit if pay increments are frozen.

"It is rewarding when you make a difference to some people's lives. It's just sad now that I will probably have to go back to working in Tesco, stacking shelves and making very little difference to anyone - and unfortunately I'd be better off too."
There are some unsolved mysteries from Easter 1916 that historians still argue about today - and probably always will. Here are five of the most contentious questions.

1. Were the rebels planning to make a German prince King of Ireland?

The Proclamation declared an 'Irish Republic', but it may not have been a republic as we understand it today.

During Easter Week in the GPO, Patrick Pearse and Joseph Plunkett were heard discussing this very issue - apparently suggesting that Germany's Prince Joachim (son of Kaiser Wilhelm II) might be offered the throne of an independent Ireland.

Joachim ended up shooting himself in 1920, apparently unaware of any plan.

Another disputed question is which of the Proclamation's signatories was supposed to be in charge afterwards. Tom Clarke's widow Kathleen was furious that Pearse would have been head of the government, complaining that he "knew as much about commanding as my dog".

2. Did the Pope have advance knowledge of the Rising?

George Noble Plunkett, a papal count and father of Joseph, had a private audience with Pope Benedict XV in Rome two weeks before the Rising.

According to him, he told the Pope about what was being planned in Dublin. Benedict reportedly cried, "Those poor men!" and gave the rebels his blessing.

Most historians find this hard to believe, since the Papacy was neutral during World War I and the Rising was a blow against the British Empire. But did Count Plunkett lie or was something lost in translation? Is the answer awaiting discovery in a Vatican filing cabinet?

3. Who wrote the 'Castle Document'?

On the Wednesday before the Rising, a sensational document was read out at a meeting of Dublin Corporation. It had allegedly come from Dublin Castle and contained plans to arrest the Volunteer leaders as well as other prominent nationalists.

Eoin MacNeill, the Volunteers' chief-of-staff, at first thought this was justification for a rebellion and declared: "The Lord has delivered them into our hands!"

By the weekend, however, he had decided that the document was a forgery by the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

Was MacNeill right? Sean McDermott swore to a priest shortly before his execution that the document had been real, while Joseph Plunkett's fiancee Grace remembered sitting on his bed while he deciphered it with a codebook.

One possible theory is that Plunkett 'sexed up' an original document to make the threat seem more immediate than it really was - but nobody will ever know for sure.

4. Why did the rebels not seize Dublin Castle?

As the headquarters of British rule in Ireland, Dublin Castle was an obvious target.

It was also extremely vulnerable on Easter Monday, since almost everyone had gone to the races at Fairyhouse and only 25 soldiers were on duty.

Thirty Irish Citizen Army members marched to the Castle and shot an unarmed policeman outside. After entering the courtyard, however, they seemed to have no idea what to do and quickly retreated inside City Hall next door.

Whatever the reason, this was typical of a rebellion that seemed more interested in dramatic gestures than practical achievements.

5. How did Eamon de Valera escape the firing squad?

The future Taoiseach and President was condemned to die and wrote farewell letters to his closest friends.

In the end, however, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment - even though as commandant at Boland's Mill he had been more senior than many rebels who were shot.

For a long time, the standard explanation was that New York-born Dev cheated death because he was an American citizen and Britain needed US support in the First World War. This was certainly what de Valera told a fascinated President John F Kennedy in 1963.

However, being a US citizen did not do Tom Clarke any good, and Dev himself admitted in private notes that there must have been another reason.

The truth was probably more simple. By the time de Valera's turn came, Britain had started to realise that the executions were having a terrible effect on public opinion. Also, General Maxwell made inquiries and became convinced that Dev was just an obscure maths teacher.

So he became the great survivor of 1916 - which from Britain's point of view was probably their biggest mistake.
ABINGDON, Va. - The Council of the Town of Abingdon, Virginia is accepting nominations for the annual Arthur Campbell Community Service Award, the highest honor given by the council.

This award is given to recognize either those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the Town of Abingdon and Southwest Virginia or to residents or business leaders or persons from Abingdon who have made a unique contribution on a local, regional, state, national or international level. The areas of service include but are not limited to include: arts (performing and visual arts), literature, music, science

and more.

Nomination applications can be found online at www.abingdon-va.gov or by contacting the Office of the Assistant Town Manager/Clerk at 276-628-3167. Applications are due on June 24 and should be returned to Cecile M. Rosenbaum, Assistant Town Manger/Clerk, P. O. Box 789, Abingdon, VA 24212.

The Council will select the recipients at the regular August meeting and a banquet in their honor will be held in Oct. 2016.
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Today, YWCA Bristol TechGYRLS and Emory & Henry College students are joining forces to empower and educate women and girls in the community. The two organizations have assembled a panel of local and regional female political leaders to answer questions and have an open discussion regarding the female role in government.

The YWCA TechGYRLS program seeks to provide opportunities for at-risk girls to gain life experience through afterschool STEM education, cultural excursion and positive mentoring. The Women in Politics event will further the mission of the YWCA by empowering these young girls and girls of all ages to get involved in politics.

A panel of female political leaders are coming to YWCA Bristol on March 23, to have a discussion with women and girls about leadership and government. The purpose of this event is to offer participants the chance to ask questions, have discussions and learn from other women in an encouraging and uplifting environment.

For more information on the event, contact Tonja Leonard at YWCA Bristol, t_leonard@ywcabristol.org or 423-968-9444.
WASHINGTON - The horrible Islamic terrorist attacks in Brussels make clear that this president has failed to protect the West from the growing threat from the Islamic State, which under President Barack Obama has spread throughout the Middle East and strikes at Western cities with sickening regularity. The Washington Post reports:

The Islamic State asserted responsibility for the attacks, according to a statement posted on the Amaq Agency, a website believed to be close to the extremist group. The message said Belgium was targeted for its participation in the international coalition battling the Islamic State.

If the Islamic State link is confirmed, it would mark other deadly strike less than a week after a suicide blast in Istanbul that killed five people, two them with dual American Israel citizenship.

And yet the president, as recently as his Atlantic interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, insists we can walk away from the Middle East. Obama has failed to learn the lessons of not only 9/11, but Paris, San Bernardino, Istanbul and now Belgium.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the day after speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, told a scrum of reporters Tuesday morning that these attacks will continue until ISIS is defeated. He castigated the president for political correctness, in refusing to recognize the nature of the threat we face and again called for measures such as halting entrance of Syrian refugees and reexamination of the visa waiver program. While his own plans to defeat the Islamic State include stepped up bombing and arming the Kurds, he now, as he has begun to do regularly, includes in his policy prescriptions the need to embed forces on the ground. He also asserted that Obama should return from Cuba or go to Brussels, rather than continue to grovel at Castros feet.

He seized the opportunity to bash Donald Trump. It is striking that the day after Donald Trump called for weakening NATO, withdrawing from NATO, we see Brussels, where NATO is headquartered, the subject of a radical Islamic terror attack, he said. Donald Trump is wrong that America should withdraw from the world and abandon our allies. Donald Trump is wrong that America should retreat from Europe, retreat from NATO, hand Putin a major victory and while hes at it hand ISIS a major victory.

In a sit-down afterward that The Washington Post and a number of other journalists attended, Cruz picked up on his criticisms of Trump. He asserted that Trumps worldview is similar to that of left-wing politicians from Jimmy Carter to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, to whom Trump has given money. Trump, he argued, in calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, echoes the rhetoric of the fever swamps of the left. Asked if Trump is intent on rewriting Republicans foreign policy, Cruz said dismissively, I dont think he has enough knowledge to be rewriting [conservative foreign policy]. And in some of his harshest criticism of Trump, Cruz said that while Trump sounds angry and tough, on substance he is weak and he believes in isolationism. He further mocked Trump for claiming at AIPAC that he had studied the Iran deal more than anyone else. The reaction, he recalled, was unrestrained laughter.

While the tragedy in Brussels is one more reminder for the country at large of the dangers of Islamic terrorism and the Obama-Kerry-Clinton foreign policy failure, it is also Cruzs chance, maybe the best one yet, to point out that Trump would be worse as commander in chief than Obama, who has, Cruz noted, not gone as far as Trump in suggesting we bug out of NATO. Cruz is on firm ground both in arguing that Trump is entirely clueless on the specifics of foreign policy and in emphasizing that rather than Make America great, Trumps policies would double down on the Obama approach of retreat and retrenchment, making the United States and our allies that much more vulnerable.

Will GOP voters perk up? If they dont, Hillary Clinton will be able to run to the right of Trump in the general election as the tougher, savvier candidate to become commander in chief. The large majority of voters is likely to agree.
Hubs top Warriors for CMC title as both teams aim for deep playoff runs

After facing off for the CMC volleyball title, North Hagerstown and Boonsboro now are focused on the upcoming playoffs.
What you need to know about Powerball and the $580 million jackpot

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MORGANTON  Whippoorwill Dairy Farm, a historic Burke County farm, will soon be permanently protected thanks to a unique partnership between Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and Fonta Flora Brewery.

With funding from private donors and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Foothills Conservancy has purchased the majority of the scenic farm, approximately 40 acres which border Paddys Creek, and will donate the land to the adjoining Lake James State Park later this year, according to a press release.

Fonta Flora Brewery, a local craft brewery in Morganton, has purchased 8 acres of the former dairy farm fronting N.C. Highway 126, including most of the old stacked-stone barns and structures, to expand and create a farmhouse brewery and will convey a permanent conservation easement on the property to Foothills Conservancy, the release said.

Andrew Kota, Foothills Conservancy stewardship director, said theyve already made the acquisition and are working to finalize their donation.

Anytime anyone donates to the state, there is a process to have it approved, he said.

While Kota said there was still some red tape to cross, he said the Conservancy was very pleased with the partnership.

It just made sense, he said. That property comes with buildings, and normally we deal with land that hasnt been built upon. With those buildings close to a road, it couldve become a liability, and the future of the site was uncertain. Those beautiful buildings couldve even been raised.

Kota said working with Fonta Flora was a much better option for the Conservancy and the farm.

Now, the character of the place will be preserved, he said.

Fonta Flora plans to restore the buildings, with a priority of keeping the old stone walls intact. The walls are built of river stones from Paddys Creek, which flows along the back of the property before draining into Lake James. The new 15-barrel brewhouse will have 30-barrel fermentation and conditioning tanks which will allow Fonta Flora to brew approximately 2,500 barrels during the first year of production. This will roughly quadruple their current production capacity, according to the release.

The farms backdrop is the beautiful scenery of Shortoff Mountain, the Linville Gorge and Pisgah National Forest. The parcel that will be added to Lake James State Park also contains an important piece of American history: a segment of the National Park Services Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, the release said.

Permanent protection of the Whippoorwill Dairy Farm is a wonderful success story  its one of the most historic and scenic sections of the landscape around Lake James, said Kota. Adding most of the farm to Lake James State Park will extend protection and public access along Paddys Creek. This acquisition effort is a great example of the creative collaborations that can form around protecting our regions special places. Fonta Floras mission is focused on agriculture and sustainability and depends upon clean water, so having their brewery expand to this historic land is a natural fit.

Mike Murphy, state parks director, also said the partnership itself also is an asset to the area.

This property will be a valuable addition to Lake James State Park, and just as valuable are the community partnerships weve been able to forge in developing this park, Murphy said. The collaboration of Foothills Conservancy and Fonta Flora Brewery is a great example of creative thinking for conservation.

Fonta Flora brewer and co-owner Todd Boera refers to the project as a dream come true.

(Fonta Flora co-owner) Mark Bennett and I spend a lot of time roaming around Morganton on bicycles, he said. I kept riding past the Whippoorwill Dairy property and thinking it was so gorgeous  a dream for anyone interested in historic buildings and agriculture. We knew we wanted to build our second brewery out in the country, but Whippoorwill always seemed like an unattainable dream. Thanks to our partnership with Foothills Conservancy it has become a reality.

Establishing its new brewing operation at Whippoorwill Dairy is especially meaningful for Fonta Flora because of its namesake  the Fonta Flora sharecropping community that existed along the banks of the Linville River in the late 1800s, before being flooded to create Lake James, according to the release.

We adopted this name to honor and revive this part of our regions history, notes Boera. Now we have an opportunity to put our second brewery right near where the original Fonta Flora settlement existed more than a century ago.

Kota said that in addition to the settlement, soils in a particular area also are named.

The soil unit on that property is also named Fonta Flora, he said. It really brings everything full circle.

Fonta Floras brewing, bottling and packaging will take place in the main barn, and barrel conditioning will eventually be housed within the former milking parlor building. In keeping with its commitment to using local Appalachian flora in its brews, the brewery has plans for gardens and orchards on the property to cultivate harder-to-find ingredients like pawpaw and persimmons, as well as herbs, vegetables and berries, the release said.

"The addition of a farmhouse brewery at Whippoorwill dovetails well with Fonta Flora's overall focus on local and sustainable ingredients," said Fonta Flora co-owner David Bennett.

Funding for Foothills Conservancys Whippoorwill purchase included a challenge contribution of $172,000 from Fred and Alice Stanback, which required a two-to-one match. The match was met with a generous leadership gift from George and Ann Costello combined with individual donations from Mike and Betsy Blair, Javier and Yngrid Chacon, Andy and Bridgette Davis, Joseph and Katharine Lagedrost, Dan and Lisa Oberer, and Charles and Jerelen Ohrt. Grants from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund and Conservation Trust for North Carolinas Mountain Mini-Grant Program completed the projects matching funding, according to the release.

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, a nationally accredited regional land trust based in Morganton, works cooperatively with landowners and public and private conservation partners to preserve and protect significant natural areas and open spaces, including watersheds, forests and farmland, across the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains and their foothills in eight counties: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell, and Rutherford.

Since 1995, Foothills Conservancy has protected more than 49,500 acres, including lands added to South Mountains, Lake James and Chimney Rock state parks; Wilson Creek, South Mountains and the Johns River state game lands; Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The land trust also assists landowners who wish to permanently conserve privately owned farm and forest lands with conservation agreements.

Founded in 2012, Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, NC integrates the soul of agriculture with the artisanship of zymurgy to create a menagerie of rustic and savory libations. With an emphasis on seasonal flora, Fonta Flora brings English tradition and Belgian inspiration to the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. Fonta Flora utilizes local artists to help conceptualize the notion that fermentation is yet another medium for creating art. This artisan approach to beer yields a sustainable product filled with culture from the local community.

Information about Foothills Conservancy, including ways to support the nonprofit regional land trust, can be found online at www.foothillsconservancy.org or by calling 828-437-9930.

For more information about the brewerys mission, visit www.fontaflora.com.
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Centuries ago, British poet William Blake finished his poignant poem The Chimney Sweep, with biting irony: So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

But the question is, who decides our duty, and who will deliver the harm?

Today, perhaps the most talked-about crime in the country is being anti-national. But it is a crime without a law, because our criminal justice system has no legal provisions defining either nationalism, or the nation or the anti-nation. So the crime of being anti-national is decided to a large extent by the public imagination of the nation, which is why this crime is tried and decided almost entirely by the media.

Read | Pune college principal retracts statement on anti-national students

Increasingly, the criminal justice system is moving from innocent until proven guilty to guilty until proven innocent, opting for custodial detention of legal innocents. The institutions and personnel who commit these crimes do so with the full protection of the law, under the full authority of being representatives of the law.

There is no cost to them whatsoever, and no accountability for what they do, so that, not only are they unaffected by the consequences of their actions, they are free to continue committing such crimes unchecked, and may even be celebrated for doing so. They are bound by nothing more than the weight of a conscience made increasingly flimsy by virtue of being a mere extension of the conscience of the nation. But this national conscience  like the nation itself  is an imagined and flimsy one, as was evident when the Supreme Court upheld a death sentence on those grounds. If that can happen, then it is clear that criminality  especially in cases of the monumental delusion of national security  is going to be proved not on forensic evidence, but by the fit between accused persons and a manufactured national imagination of the anti-national crime and the anti-national criminal.

The loose baggy monster of anti-national/ism has been, and continues to be, imagined and invoked, especially by influential TV channels that persistently seek to tailor the national imagination on the subject. Increasingly, the anti-national that is being profiled is constituted of social and demographic categories that are being seen as unacceptable or problematic to the mainstream imagination of the nation.

Read | The lunatic fringe is now the Hindutva mainstream

The serendipitous profile of the mainstream  Hindu, urban and mofussil, upper-caste, middle-to-upper-class, mostly north Indian, mostly male, and perhaps most importantly, liberal-to-Right in ideological persuasion  matches that of the majority of persons in the legislature, bureaucracy, judiciary, police and paramilitary force, the business and trading communities, white-collar corporate employees, teachers, and, tellingly, media workers (especially in the electronic media). It is through this media that this nation of a privileged minority sees itself, and only itself, as the true nation  the true India (or Bharat, depending on linguistic and other ideological preferences).

But the vast majority of the population of India lies outside this profile. They dont belong to this India, this Bharat. They live in the gutters and ghettoes, the fields and forests, the roadsides and ravines, the backyards and brothels of this nation. They are the rejects and the failures, the ones who didnt or couldnt acquire this profile. They are India, but they will always remain outside this India, and become anti-national the moment they question their exclusion.

So would anyone else who questions their exclusion, or who supports them, or speaks up on their behalf. In other words, anyone who does not participate willingly and actively in the production and reproduction of this India  politicised students, factory workers demanding their rights, adivasis resisting predatory corporates, Dalits speaking up against oppression and humiliation, farmers committing suicides or demanding loan-waivers, women speaking out against sexual violence and harassment by the armed forces, social activists, civil and democratic rights activists, lawyers who represent them, Muslims, Christians, ethnic minorities  all of these, and more, stand as potential criminals in the terms of the unstated law of anti-nationalism.

Read | Kanhaiya barred from entering Hyderabad univ, will struggle for Rohith

But precisely because it is a crime without a law to criminalise it, these anti-nationals are increasingly being thrown into jail to languish there till such time that they can prove their innocence  a process that can take 14 years of a persons life, as happened with Mohammad Aamir Khan, the main accused in a Delhi blast case.

It is happening with Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, SAR Geelani, GN Saibaba, and innumerable others, who are remanded as under-trials. It is not surprising that prison demographics anywhere in the country will rarely yield anyone with the social profile of the national drawn above. It is also not surprising that by far the largest category of prisoners in Indian prisons is under-trials.

Meanwhile, the real criminals  the ones who can be charged with and proven to be guilty under the provisions of the existing criminal justice system and its forensic requirements  roam free or occupy unassailable positions in Parliament, and are also aided in looting and scooting. Their victims constitute the vast majority that is excluded from their nation.

The masterminds of Gujarat 2002 are another case in point  or the recent shameful case of the Delhi police refusing to take action against the men who assaulted students, teachers and journalists on the premises of the court, despite having incontrovertible proof against them.

Read | BJP says wont tolerate criticism of the nation

Today, duty to the nation essentially means being dutiful to this privileged minority, and it is this minority that threatens to wreak terrible vengeance against all who reject it, challenge it or even question it. Its privilege gives it enormous power, and it is demonstrating that enormous power through irresponsibility and unaccountability.

Today, India is re-living the profoundly ironical truth of the old adage patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Today, it is the very idea of India that is being contested in the debates over the crime of being anti-national.

Karen Gabriel is associate professor, St Stephens College, New Delhi and PK Vijayan is assistant professor, Hindu College, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.
Legendary artist SH Raza says he lives to paint and paints to live. The 94-year-old artists latest creations stay true to his passion for geometric motifs

SH Razas latest exhibition is titled Nirantar, a term denoting that which is incessant or ceaseless. Its an apt term to describe Razas creative oeuvre as well. The 25 works currently on display in the city were made between 2011 and 2016. More of his works will also be simultaneously showcased in Delhi and Kolkata.

Raza, who grew up in a small village in Madhya Pradesh, went on to study at the Sir JJ School of Art and founded the Bombay Progressive Artists Group (1947), which challenged the existing art establishment. I grew up as an artist in Bombay before going to Paris. I lived there for 60 years. I have been living in Delhi since 2011. Theyve all been my homes, he says, adding, It has been a long journey, full of anxieties and exhilarations. I started as a landscape painter, a colourist. But soon, I turned to metaphysical ideas and the essence of life.

Hai Abhi Kuch Aur, SH Raza, Acrylic on canvas

His work is instantly recognisable thanks to the geometric motifs that feature in it. He has explored themes of prakriti (nature), kundalini (primal energy), tribhuj (triangle) and bindu (circle/dot).

His paintings have sold for record prices  Saurashtra, which sold for Rs 15.9 crore, and La Terre, which sold for Rs 18.8 crore  count among the most expensive paintings sold at an auction. But the artist remains unfazed by the attention. What matters is value, not price, he states.

Read: After a nine-year gap, artist Anjolie Ela Menon returns to Mumbai

For Raza, the process of painting is one of perennial search, almost akin to a spiritual quest: Art is meditation; it meditates through colours. The bindu provides you with a focus, a locus (position) to concentrate on.

Nagas, SH Raza, Acrylic on canvas

Interestingly, Razas interest in the bindu stems from his childhood days. His primary school teacher asked him to stare at a dot on the wall to calm his distracted mind; the dot would go on to influence the course of his life. Bindu is a source of energy, a still centre, a point of radiation. It has immense visual possibilities, he explains.

About his latest body of work, Raza says that Nirantar happened to him almost spontaneously. Going strong at 94, the artist has no plans to slow down: I paint almost every day, health permitting. I continue to explore the world and colours constantly. I wish to remain a painter  to be able to express the love and lure of life and art through colours. I, as my friend and poet Ashok Vajpeyi says, live to paint and paint to live.

Must-attend

Nirantar by SH Raza is on display till April 30.

At Art Musings, Admiralty Building, Colaba Cross Lane

Call 2216 3339

Along with the exhibition, the gallery is also releasing a coffee table book, titled Nirantar. It is co-authored by Ranjit Hoskote and Ashok Vajpeyi and published by Afterimage Publishing. Its available at the gallery. Cost: Rs 2,500

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Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked web portal naradanews.com to submit raw footage of the sting operation carried out by it showing Trinamool Congress ministers, MPs and leaders allegedly accepting bribes for favouring a fictitious firm floated by it.

A division bench of the high court comprising chief justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Arijit Banerjee was hearing a clutch of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by the Congress, BJP and an independent advocate praying for a CBI probe into the scandal. The court asked the web portal authorities to file an affidavit regarding the sting operation and details of the company that owned naradanews.com by April 5. The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 8.

Naradas sting operation was posted online on March 14 in which 11 Trinamool Congress leaders, including ministers, MPs and MLAs, were shown accepting cash from a fictitious company called Impex. This was followed by another video featuring one MP and a youth leader of the party. The first video featured MPs Prasun Banerjee, Saugata Roy, Mukul Roy, Subhendu Adhikari, Sultan Ahmed, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, ministers Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra and Subrata Mukherjee.

A senior police officer was also seen accepting cash allegedly on behalf of Mukul Roy.

On March 21, the second footage was posted online showing Trinamool Congress youth leader Shankudeb Panda demanding stake in a TV company. The video also showed party MP Aparupa Poddar with wads of notes. Party MP Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the TMC, claimed that the footage was doctored, posted with the sole motive of maligning the TMC on the eve of the assembly poll. He also urged the court to defer the hearing.

Read: Narada sting operation delivers poetic justice to former MLA

Read: Trinamool stung again, new videos of sting operation out
Vijayakanths DMDK joined hands with Vaiko-led Peoples Welfare Front (PWF) on Wednesday to take on J Jayalalithaas AIADMK and Karunanidhis DMK in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

The alliance also chose actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth as its chief ministerial candidate.

While DMDK will contest on 124 seats, the PWF - a combination of pro-Tamil Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam of Vaiko, Vidhuthalai Chirutaigal Katchi, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) - will contest on 110 seats.

The announcement was made by senior leaders of the combine - Vaiko, G Ramakrishnan, Thol Tirumlavalanan, Muttharasan (CPI) and Vijayakanth, who held a signed document for the cameras at the DMDK party headquarters.

Without going to any other party, I have gone to the peoples party - PWF. Also, my cadres and people at large wanted me to be the king. All the alliance partners have asked me to be the chief ministerial candidate, Vijayakant told reporters.

I am bowing to the wishes of the people, he said.

The agreement to contest the assembly elections together was reached after several rounds of talks between the leaders of the political formations.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko, CPM state secretary G Ramakrishnan and VCK leader Thol Tirumavalanan met Vijayakanth at his residence for final talks during they decided to contest the polls together.

Vijayakanth, who is called Captain by his fans, has been at the forefront of a campaign to oust both the Dravidian parties, which he has described as corrupt and wanted to emerge as the third viable alternative.

Vaiko had previously made it clear that the PWF had no objections to Vijayakanth as the chief ministerial face of the alliance during campaigning.

The announcement came hours before Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah is set to arrive in Chennai to deliberate on his partys election strategy.

Multi-cornered contest

The formation of the DMDK-PWF alliance has made the elections more interesting by turning the contest into a multi-cornered one with AIADMK, DMK-Congress, BJPs NDA and even the PMK in the fray.

The BJP is expected to tie up with PMK, whose leader Anbumani Ramadoss is already projecting himself as the chief ministerial candidate.

Read | Advantage Amma as Captain goes solo in TN polls

The BJP was in talks with Vijayakanth for continuing the alliance that the two parties formed during the 2014 general elections, but Vijayakanth had played hard to get.

The saffron party criticised the development, with senior party leader and Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan saying it is an anti-people alliance and one that will be of no consequence in the polls.

Our state president had announced yesterday (Tuesday) that we will contest all the 234 seats.

The BJP too maintains it is against the AIADMK and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam that it alleges has ruined Tamil Nadu and declared that it would present an alternative, along with other regional parties.

But so far, no regional party has joined the NDA, including its own former allies Pattali Makkal Katchi, leaving the BJP high and dry.

The DMK too was wooing the DMDK, and at one point of time, the party had been confident of forming an alliance with Vijayakanths party. DMK president M Karunanidhi had said on Monday that he was still hopeful of a DMK-DMDK tie-up to take on the AIADMK.

Karunanidhis remark came a day after the DMDK president took to Facebook to appeal to voters not to vote for the AIADMK or the DMK and end the close to 50-year rule of the Dravidian parties.

The DMKs treasurer and former deputy chief minister MK Stalin said that the alliance will make no difference to the DMK.

We are going ahead with our campaign and the DMDK-PWF alliance will not have any impact on our party. We are concentrating on our work, he said.

The AIADMK dismissed the alliance as an internal decision of the parties and said it was not bothered about what the other parties were doing. Party spokesperson CR Saraswathi said the percentage of votes the alliance would get would be seen after the elections.

She said it must be remembered that Vijayakanth got whatever votes he got only due to his alliance with Amma, adding the AIADMK will win comfortably.

Also read | Political blockbuster: 10 times Vijayakanth bashed up rivals alone
Actor Dia Mirza found herself in a big mess after she took to Twitter urging everyone to celebrate a dry Holi this year.

The irony of the times we live in: farmers commit suicide due to drought and people waste water to 'play' #Holi.Go ahead call me anti-Hindu.  Dia Mirza (@deespeak) March 16, 2016

Dia was slammed on social media and became a victim of social media abuse, which saw her trend across various platforms, after her tweet on Tuesday.

Read: Kriti Sanon has played Holi with mud. Whats your story?

Following the backlash, Dia took to Facebook to issue a statement and apologised to the public for hurting anyones sentiments.

Let me start by saying to all those who have taken strong offense to my tweet - The irony of the times we live in: farmers commit suicide due to drought and people waste water to play #Holi. Go ahead call me anti-Hindu - that as a citizen of India, I have an equal respect for all religions, festivals and customs that are celebrated in our country. It has never been my intention to hurt the sentiments of any individual or community. If in the event that my tweet has done so, I apologize unequivocally, she wrote.

Let me start by saying to all those who have taken strong offense to my tweet - "The irony of the times we live in:... Posted by Dia Mirza on Monday, 21 March 2016

She wrote further: That said, the fact remains that various parts of our country are experiencing a severe water shortage. According to a report I read in April last year, the drought in Maharashtra has hit over 90 lakh farmers and counting. In October last year, the Maharashtra government officially declared a drought-like condition in 14,708 of the states 43,000 villages. Water Conservation is the absolute need of the hour and my request for us to indulge in a Dry Holi was in keeping only with this sentiment of conservation and nothing else.

In a far more innocent time, when the child in me was still playing Holi with water balloons and buckets full of gulal water, it was hard to foresee that one day drought would not be just a picture of cracked earth in a school notebook but a tragedy closer home. As an individual who continues to live and learn, I concede that I may not have always benefited from an awareness that urged me to question the wastage of our resources at all occasions in the past. But I also know that with time, just like any one of us, I too have the continuous opportunity to grow and make more informed and responsible choices in all spheres of life.

We may not have all the solutions to the water scarcity problem or any other problem for that matter, but I believe that empathy for those most affected, acknowledging and understanding the challenges we face and taking the steps WE CAN as citizens, will only help.

Lastly, the exchange of opinions, thoughts and ideas is what makes interacting with people on Twitter and other platforms of Social Media as engaging as it is. Lets remain receptive to one another even when we choose to disagree.

Have a colorful, safe and happy Holi!!!
Kriti Sanon enjoys the festival of Holi, and that was evident from the enthusiasm with which she participated in an exclusive photo shoot for us. I have always loved Holi, says the actor, as she throws a handful of gulaal up in the air. But ever since I shifted to Mumbai [from Delhi], I havent played much. I dont have the kind of friends circle here, like I had in Delhi. Plus, being an actor, I need to take care of my skin. Even though I dont play Holi the way I used to back home, its still my favourite festival, she adds.

Back in Delhi, Kriti says her friends and family members used to gather in a park in Patparganj, to celebrate the festival of colours. Before starting, my sister and I would oil each others hair. Then hit Holi songs would be played loudly all day, she recalls, adding, There would be pakoras and thandai for everyone. It used to be a lot of fun. My sister and I also played the dirty version of Holi by throwing each other in the mud. It used to take us an hour to wash the colours off.

More than anything, it is the food that is an essential part of the festival for Kriti. Eating gujiyas is a must for me every Holi. This year, my parents are in Mumbai, and my sister has also moved to the city. So, I am excited because we will all celebrate together, she says.

Kriti Sanon at an exclusive Holi shoot at Bandra Fort, Bandra, Mumbai. (Vidya Subramanian/Hindustan Times)

Read more: This is how you can protect yourself from toxic colours on Holi

Bollywood celebrities share their Holi memories and plans for this year:

Sonakshi Sinha

I love playing Holi with my friends. Its my favourite festival. My most memorable Holi was a few years back, when I had a blast at a close friends house. She has a lovely lawn, and we demolished it by being super rowdy.

Parineeti Chopra

I used to hide inside my room because I hated getting colour on my face. Strangely, thats what I have to put every day on my face now. Have a safe Holi everyone. I will have a working Holi this year.

Nimrat Kaur

As a kid, I used to hate Holi. I would cry and hit people who would play with colours, because I thought they were hitting my parents. Now, I really enjoy the festival. But I am upset that I wont be able to celebrate the festival this year, as Im not in India. I remember this one time, when I was in college, I didnt want to play Holi that year, but my friends tricked me. They barged into my bedroom and ruined an entire wall. My mother got really angry.

Athiya Shetty

As a child, I would always enjoy playing Holi in my building compound, with my friends and family. But before we would go out to play, my brother and I would throw mashed tomatoes at people from our balcony.

Bhumi Pednekar

My most memorable Holi was in Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh). The energy there was contagious, and we played Holi in the main temple with people screaming, Hare Krishna! It was a surreal experience. This year, I will have a dry Holi with my family and friends.

Ayushmann Khurrana

When I was in college, I would go to a friends farmhouse to have fun on the day. I remember when I went there for the first time, I thought it would be really clean and Bollywood-ish. I had worn a crisp white kurta-pyjama only to be straightaway thrown into some gooey muck. All my friends looked like unrecognisable hooligans. But those were fun times. Holi has become more civilised for me now. This year, Ill go to Khandala with my family and friends.

Yami Gautam

My best Holi memories are from my childhood. I would have a blast with my friends. Playing with colours and getting dirty was fun back then. This year, I dont plan to have any elaborate celebrations. I will have fun at home with my family, as I am in Chandigarh. Heres wishing everyone a happy and safe Holi.

Sidharth Malhotra

As a child, I would wake up early in the morning and make water balloons with my cousins to throw at people on the streets.

Kangana Ranaut

My most memorable Holi was when I was in the eighth standard. My friends and I decided to play Holi with our teachers. So, I led the group and visited all our teachers houses. We caught them doing different household chores like washing clothes, etc. They were really embarrassed.

- Team HT Cafe

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Farah Khan will choreograph steps in a song in Jackie Chans film Kung Fu Yoga. The special Bollywood song in Jackie Chans Indo-Chinese production also stars Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur. It will be shot on a lavish set in Rajasthan and later in Beijing, a statement said.

It was actor Sonu Sood, who has worked with Farah in Happy New Year, who persuaded him (Chan) to do a song by explaining how much Indians love music in their films. Kung Fu Yoga is a part of the three-film agreement signed between India and China during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to India last year.

Read: Jackie Chan blew up a bus on a bridge in London and shocked many

Read: Jackie Chan to shoot Bollywood style song & dance number in Jodhpur

The action-adventure film is set for release this October.

Follow @htshowbiz for more.
The cough syrup market is gearing up for a shake-up.

With the ban imposed on 350 fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs set to phase out popular codeine-based cough syrup brands from pharmacies across India, a new line of non-codeine cough syrups, both herbal and allopathic, are likely to hit the market.

FDCs combine two or more drugs in a single pill.

The list of brands set to go off shelf include household names Grilinctus, Corex, DCold, Glycodin Plus, Zedex and Phensedyl.

In a well-timed move, ayurveda major Dabur splashed big advertisements of popular cough syrup brand, Honitus. The budget for a days advertisement was `1.5 crore, sources said. It is an opportunity for us to drive awareness about our brand, which is non-codeine, said Rana Banerjee, marketing head, healthcare, Dabur India.

Delhi-based Mankind Pharma has also pushed its team to promote non-codeine syrups. We have started pushing our other prescription brands, which includes unbanned product, Ambroxol(Plain), said RC Juneja, CEO, Mankind Pharma.

While most companies did not officially clarify their plans as the cases are still sub-judice, doctors confirmed that firms have started promoting unbanned variants.

Companies are promoting variants, which are non-codeine, but come under the same brand names, said RK Singhal, internal medicine at BLK Hospital.

For example, Abbotts Phensedyls variant Phensedyl LR is not banned.

New players are also looking to cash in.

Alchem International, which operates in the field of phytochemicals  the science of using plant molecules for medicinal purposes  has introduced a cough and flu remedy under a brand name PhytoRelief CC. The idea is to promote our product across doctors and chemists. We plan to double our strength of medical representatives (MRs) in the next three years, said Raman Mehta, founder, Alchem International, which has around 200 MRs.

Himalaya has recently introduced a sugar-free variant of its cough remedy, Koflet. We are currently working on an exciting new offering, which will be launched sometime this year, said Suresh, business head, pharmaceuticals, The Himalaya Drug Company.

We are sending our sales team to make doctors understand Ascoril is not under the drug ban list and could be prescribed, said an official from Glenmark. Glenmarks Ascoril and Alex are not banned, however, another cough remedy, Mucaryl, is banned.

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After offering special schemes and other freebies to woo customers, the war between taxi aggregators Uber and Ola has now turned into a legal battle.

San Francisco-based Uber on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against ANI Technologies, which owns Ola Cabs, accusing it of making bogus bookings with Uber drivers. Uber is seeking Rs 49 crore in damages from Ola for unfair practices, a lawyer representing Uber told AFP.

The lawsuit alleges Ola of deliberately, unlawfully, wrongfully, maliciously, falsely, and otherwise tortuously interfering in Ubers business.

According to the court notice, Ola is charged with having created 93,859 false rider accounts on Ubers platform using fake names, email IDs, and phone numbers, and of having made 405,649 false bookings of taxi rides that were later cancelled , causing frustration to drivers.

Uber said it figured out about the false accounts using latitude-longitude of the sign-up location of the rider accounts.

All this has caused it financial, business and goodwill loss, the company added in the statement. These fake riders never turn up, and cannot even be contacted through their registered phone numbers, since these are untraceable phones.

Ola, however, denied all the allegations.

All the allegations made by Uber in the plaint listed for hearing before the High Court of Delhi are denied in entirety, and we have appraised the Court accordingly that the allegations by Uber are frivolous and false to its own knowledge.

Ola also said that Uber through the notice is trying to divert attention from the current realities of the market, where Uber has faced major setbacks, including the recent incidents of its vehicles being seized by government authorities.

Ola has filed a contempt petition that Uber has been adding new diesel vehicles, going against the Delhi governments rule that taxis should only run on CNG.

Ola, which is backed by Japans SoftBank, is in a tussle with Uber for a greater share of Indias growing taxi apps market, which is expected to be worth $7 billion by 2020. Ola currently has more than 400,000 taxis on its platform, while Uber has around half the number.

In 2014, US-based ride-hailing firm Lyft accused Uber of using similar tactics to hurt its business, saying it had booked and cancelled more than 5,000 bogus cab rides.

(with agency inputs)

Read: Odd-even policy has Uber and Ola pitted in a price war

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Investor interest in commercial real estate has shown small improvement in the past few months and may be a harbinger of an economic turnaround, analysts have said.

The demand is likely to give a boost to the still-struggling residential sector and also help developers address the problem of already existing inventories. And with most job portals, including Naukri.com, expecting companies to hire more this year, rising incomes are likely to aid the sectors growth.

Around 38 million square feet of office space was leased out in 2015 against 33 million square feet in 2014. an 18% growth year-on-year, said Ram Chandnani, managing director, transaction services, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd.

Information technology (IT), banking, financial services, engineering, FMCG, and new-age sectors like e-commerce took up most of the office space leased.

The commercial office space is gaining momentum as companies are looking to expand due to improving business sentiment, said Rajeev Talwar, CEO, DLF. In 2015-16, we witnessed demand for commercial space in our properties. Samsung has leased a large area from us this fiscal. Overall, across the country, particularly Hyderabad and Chennai saw healthy absorption of commercial space.

National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad are seeing the maximum demand in commercial real estate.

Companies such as Google, Uber and Apple that have taken large office spaces in Hyderabad. E-commerce firms, including Amazon and Snapdeal, have also taken significant amounts of space in Bangalore and Gurgaon.

Among the biggest office space deals last year, financial giant Wells Fargo leased around 860,000 sq ft at Embassy Tech Village, Bengaluru, at an annual rent of 75 per square feet or R72 crore. IBM leased around 500,000 sq ft of office space in Bhartiya City, in Bengaluru, at an annual rent of R45 a square feet or R27 crore.

Large companies held back office expansions in metro and smaller towns, in the middle of an uncertain economic environment, said Arvind Subramanian, president, strategy and alliances, Lodha Group. Such decisions, which were deferred until a couple of years back, are now becoming more pressing. On the other side, supply of prime office space has been constricted with very few new developments over the past two years, particularly in cities like Mumbai. With new sources of patient capital now accessible, we expect commercial development to accelerate, which will serve the pent-up demand.

Developers are adding capacity to cater to the growing demand. Lodha Group has already delivered more than 4 million square feet of commercial office space till date and has another 3 million square feet under development, which is slated for completion over the next two years. Similarly, DLF is adding 2 million square feet of office space in Gurgaon and another 1.4 million square feet in Chennai.

The demand for commercial real estate has also given rise to sub-urban clusters in cities. Examples include ORR in Bangalore, Cyber City in Gurgaon and Hinjewadi in Pune.

Companies are taking advantage of low rents and ample quality space available in peripheral locations of most leading cities. Indias status as a global back-office destination has also resulted in a lot of companies from the US and the EU outsourcing their operations to India, Chandnani added.

According to industry analysts, commercial office development will be an attractive growth opportunity over the next one or two years. More hiring means more space requirement and vacant office spaces across the country are now getting picked up, said Ashutosh Limaye, head of research at JLL India.
Indias plans to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in food retail may come with a rider: mandatory investment by overseas companies of at least 15% in local back-end infrastructure such as cold chains.

The food processing ministry feels that a separate clause specifying this would reduce wastage, help diversification and raise income to fit into the governments target of doubling farm income by 2020.

Food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal told HT that such a clause will give farmers better price realisation and greater job opportunities, apart from reducing wastages.

Inter-ministerial consultations are on for writing the finer policy rules to fully open up the food sector to overseas investors.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which pilots all FDI policy rules, is examining whether such a clause would be perceived as restrictive by foreign food companies, affecting investment decisions.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had in his budget speech last month announced the governments intent to allow 100% FDI in food retail.

Read: Harsimrat pitches for 100% FDI in multi-brand retail of food items

Sources told HT that the FDI in multi-brand retail for food products will also likely come bundled with the condition that these items are completely produced in India.

100% FDI will be allowed through FIPB route in marketing of food products produced and manufactured in India. This will benefit farmers, give impetus to food processing industry and create vast employment opportunities, Jaitley had said in the budget speech.

Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is the nodal authority that vets all proposals from overseas investors.

Allowing 100% FDI in food retail is a major step given the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys persistent opposition to foreign giants setting up stores in India. European mega chain Tesco, which set up a joint venture with the Tata group in 2013, is the only foreign multi-brand retail outfit operating in India currently.

Read: Farmers, industry back FDI in food but local traders opposed to move
In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union was breaking up, I travelled on assignment from Paris to Moscow. When I called my interpreter to ask what I could bring him from France, he said, Food. Loads of it. Cheeses. Tinned sardines, tuna. As much as you can.

I was rather startled for I had expected him to ask for Moet et Chandon or some Beaujolais typical to France. I did take a bottle of champagne but my bags had less clothes and more food  when he met me in my hotel room, he was furtive. Dont leave your bags open at any time, he said. And I shall take those cans a few at a time every day.

Much later I learnt that secrecy was because food riots had been happening all over Russia and any foreign traveler with access to food and wine was not safe anywhere in the country. As I set about reporting on those food shortages, I thanked my stars that I came from a land of plenty and believed that even if there were poor in India who could not afford the best in food, they would never have to riot to get any morsel.

More than two decades later, I am horrified that a potential riot-like situation is developing in one corner of India for something even more basic  water. Marathwada, in Maharashtra, is facing severe drought and the situation is such that many districts get water after days. People gathering at nearly dried-up wells and water tankers have got into scuffles, minor violence during water collection has become the norm. Understandable as this month Laturs water supply came after 48 days. Beed got water after 28 days. Jalna received supplies after 25 days. Water tables have sunk and you can see miles of pots and pans queued up before water tankers  people are storing water in every cup and tumbler and, dare I say, even thimbles, whenever they get water supply.

No wonder then that for the first time that I know of Section 144 has been clamped in Latur district to prevent a water riot  no more than three persons can gather around a well or a tanker at one time and the authorities will strictly monitor how much water each person can carry away.

Atul Deulgaonkar, a writer and environmental activist, tells me the water that they are now drawing from wells is far below the surface and about 1000 years old. It has tested positive for toxins and avoidable chemicals, he says but when I spoke to the vice chancellor of the Vasantrao Naik Agricultural University in Parbhani, B Venkateswarlu, he said wryly, When water itself is in short supply, you cannot be thinking of toxins. There will be health hazards but they will come later. At the moment drinking water is the priority.

Climatic changes and the vagaries of monsoon are responsible in large measure for the situation Marathwada is facing but it is also the politics of the state that has caused an ecological imbalance in the region. Maharashtras politics is entirely sugar based and sugar cane is a water intensive crop. Yet, Marathwada has 70 sugar factories and the government has sanctioned around 30 more this year. Next year none of these factories will be working, Jayant Patil, former minister for rural development told me. There will be no water for growing cane and no water for the factories.

So how do people survive? For the rich, bottled water is the solution. But according to Praveen Purandare, who has filed two PILs in the Bombay High Court for the formulation of water laws, that is also the major problem. A large number of politicians set up such bottled water plants and they have thus no stake in solving the issue for all times.

But no amount of bottled water can stretch to all people in the region. Hence, Marathwada is facing not just the migration of rural labour but even professionals like doctors, lawyers etc are moving away in large numbers to Bombay, Pune and Hyderabad to escape the situation.

The water ecology is so disturbed that Marathwada is on the edge of turning into a large desert, says Deulgaonkar.

Only a good monsoon in the coming season will help. But then economist and former member of the State Planning Commission HM Desarda, is afraid that the governments efforts at dredging the river beds have damaged the acquifers, so all the water will run away without lending itself to storage.

If that runs true, Marathwadas cities are likely to turn into the ghost towns of Maharashtra very soon.

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Five thousand police personnel will be deployed across Delhi on Thursday to prevent any incident of hooliganism during Holi celebrations, officials said.

Quick Response Teams (QRTs) have also been deployed at strategic points in the Capital to deal with any untoward incident, DCP (Crime) Rajan Bhagat said.

Officers up to the rank of deputy commissioner have been instructed to conduct patrolling throughout the day and ensure that no hooliganism takes place, with heightened vigil on instances of harassment of women on the pretext of celebrations, a senior police official said.

The PCR wing is also on its toes to take distress calls throughout the day.

The police issued an advisory on Wednesday, warning people against causing harassment by throwing water balloons on people, forcing them to indulge in the revelries, drunken driving and causing any kind of nuisance in any public space.

Officials out on Holi arrangement will be divided into groups of anything between 4 and 10 and deployed at barricades across the city. Each group will have a mix of local police and traffic officials.

On Tuesday, security was stepped up in the national capital hours after a series of explosions ripped through the Brussels airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital, killing over 30 people and injuring more than 200.

Delhi Police ramped up security at railway stations, bus terminuses, the airport, popular markets and places around vital installations.

Delhi Polices counter-terrorism unit and crime branch have been put into loop and instructed to heighten their vigil during Holi.
On Sunday night, as the police fanned across south Delhi in search of a gang of robbers who had shot a 19-year-old girl a night ago, the group of five were scouring the streets for another hit.

Fearless, they even went back to the Moti Bagh neighbourhood theyd left in a hurry after shooting the teenager, whod raised an alarm after catching them robbing an electronics store. The girl is recovering.

Arrested on Tuesday, the men told the police they left Moti Bagh after finding heavy police presence there and headed for Mehrauli, where they robbed two men of Rs 2,000 in a failed attempt to take their car. Cases have been registered in both incidents and some others, said the police.

The five men, between 19 and 26 years old, were picked up from Ghaziabad. The leader, is involved in 60 cases, 31 of which were committed after he was released from jail in November, officials said.

With their arrest, the police claimed to have cracked 30 cases.

The gang was also involved in stealing cars, using a motorcycle key to break into them. They had a preference for the Honda City due to its sturdy body, and used this model during their robberies too.

They attached one end of an iron chain with hooks to the Honda City and the other to the handle of the shops shutter. They then used the force of the car to break open the shutter, said joint commissioner of police (southeast) RS Krishnia.

Six stolen Honda City cars were recovered from them. The police expect to get more as the gang claimed to have stolen 10 such cars from one area  Malviya Nagar  alone.

Theyd drive from Ghaziabad to Saket and wait at a 24X7 outlet of PVR Saket till late at night, keeping an eye on the polices night patrol team. The moment they sensed lowered police presence, theyd sneak into neighbouring Malviya Nagar and steal Honda City cars, said Krishnia.
Delhi University marked the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh as Martyrs Day on Wednesday by opening the doors of a room in the Viceregal Lodge, where the freedom fighter was reportedly imprisoned for a day during a court trial.

The Viceregal Lodge Estate, which now houses the office of the DU vice-chancellor, was given over to the university in 1933.

The university invited 100 school students from five schools for the first guided tour of the resource materials and a visit to the room, which housed works on and by Bhagat Singh.

The resource centre on Bhagat Singh displays compilations of handwritten letters by the freedom fighter and will be later developed as a museum.

The resource centre aspires to make everyone learn from the lives of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his associates, DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi said.

However, the VC said the university has no plans to open it for the public.

But this is definitely a beginning where students of our university and research scholars and even school children will get an opportunity to learn from the writings of the martyr and the scholarly works on him, Tyagi said.

It was on this day in 1931 that freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed, a few hours ahead of schedule after the trio was sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case.

Asked to comment on the comparisons between Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Bhagat Singh, Tyagi -- an alumni of JNU -- said he believes anyone fighting for a just cause is inspired by the legendary freedom fighter.

This is not the right occasion (to comment). Its a solemn occasion where we are commemorating the death of a martyr who spent one day in this room. But I believe that anyone who is fighting for a just cause is inspired by Bhagat Singh, Tyagi said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to redistribute portfolios among his cabinet ministers when the budget session ends on March 31.

Sources said the chief minister, who does not hold any portfolio himself but has been monitoring the cabinets work, may induct a new minister into his team.

Over the past year, two ministers have been changed in Kejriwals cabinet  Jitender Singh Tomar is embroiled in a fake degree controversy while Asim Ahmed Khan was accused of corruption.

This reshuffle though will be based on work performance, party sources said.

After completing one year, a cabinet rejig cannot be ruled out. But media speculations in terms of scale at which it could be done could be well off the mark, a senior AAP leader said.

Speculations have been afloat about social welfare minister Sandeep Kumar being dropped from the cabinet after he was pulled up by the chief minister for alleged impropriety. Kumar had reportedly forced a government school principal to put his wifes name on an inaugural plaque at the school.

A section within the party, however, said it was more likely Kumars portfolios could be tweaked. He is one of the Dalit faces of the party. There are other faces like former minister Rakhi Bidlan under that category, but such faces are unlikely to make the cut.

More responsibility could also be given to Kapil Mishra, who holds water, tourism and the art and culture departments, sources said. Home minister Satyendra Jain currently holds the maximum number of departments, followed by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and transport minister Gopal Rai.
There has been an increase in the number of MPhil and PhD students, who received fellowships as part of schemes by the University Grants Commission and All-India Council for Technical Education, since 2013.

The schemes include Junior Research Fellowships and Non-National Eligibility Test (Non-NET) Fellowships. In 2013-14, 41,970 students were awarded fellowships which increased to 56,024 in 2014-15. Till March this year, this figure has gone up to 69,435. The UGCs fellowship amount, under some of its prominent schemes, for students pursuing research degrees is Rs 25,000 per month for the initial two years and Rs 28,000 for the remaining tenure. Students are also eligible for allowances, as per the fellowship scheme. The fellowships awarded under the Non-NET schemes, through the UGC grants, are Rs 8,000 per month for PhD and Rs 5,000 per month for MPhil students.

There is no fixed allocation for fellowships and scholarships in UGCs fund. The Central government releases block grants to the UGC for promotion, determination and maintenance of standards of education. In 2013-14, the fellowship amount released by the UGC and AICTE on fellowship schemes for students pursuing research degrees, was Rs 439.40 crore.

This almost doubled the next year (2014-15) to Rs 874.53 crore. This year, it has increased to Rs 1,013.23 crore. More than 30,000 students are selected annually for the fellowship schemes.

Read more: Is plan to equate research time with teaching experience justified?

These include Post-Doctoral Fellowships for Students in Professional Courses, Post-Doctoral Fellowships for Women, Dr S Radhakrishnan Post-Doctoral Fellowships for Women in Humanities and Social Sciences, Including Languages, Dr DS Kothari Post-Doctoral Fellowships, Emeritus Fellowship, Junior/ Senior Research Fellowships, Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Students Belonging to Minorities, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for SC Students, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowships for Students with Disabilities and Non-NET Fellowships.

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Romeo romances Juliet, Caliban is as malevolent as ever, and Julius Cesar  well, there is still a conspiracy afoot to assassinate him. Shakespeares characters were brought to life recently to commemorate 400 years since The Bard of Avons death. And at Birmingham City University (UK) students just celebrated his life in a unique way. A life-size art installation featuring more than a dozen of Shakespeares most famous creations handcrafted from paper and cardboard caused much ado about something recently.

On display were scale models of over six feet tall, a three-metre-high balcony and even a walk-in tavern.

Each piece in the installation was individually crafted by 22 first year students from the Universitys Design for Theatre, Performance and Events degree course.

They used techniques learned on the course to sculpt 780 meters of corrugated cardboard and nearly 5,000 meters of brown paper into the entire setting and characters.

Among the figures on show were a likeness of William Shakespeare writing at his desk and full size replicas of some of theatres most famous names  including Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and Caliban.

The exhibition took nearly three weeks to create, with students working day and night to make each setting, character and item from scratch, as well as selecting music and lighting to complement each element.

For Hollie Wright, module leader for the project, the project was a simple yet extremely effective approach to experiential learning. We want the first year students to engage with fundamental principles associated with performance design including scale, narrative, space, light, sound, audience and collaboration; as well as abilities that are difficult to teach like tenacity and determination.

The project began with students researching and responding individually to a given theme  which this year was Shakespeare. Ideas were pitched and a final one chosen to realise to full scale out of these basic materials.

The tavern in the installation was intended to replicate Londons historic Gorge Inn, where historys most famous playwright is believed to have penned many of his works.

Traditional Elizabethan music played throughout the exhibition hall alongside words taken from Two Noble Kinsmen  Shakespeares final play  as a poignant tribute to his lasting legacy.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust helped students research the project and visited the installation to select a number of characters and settings  which are to be finally displayed across Shakespeares hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon when the project ends.

Marie Brennan, creative programmes manager for The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: The remit of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is to help the worlds understanding of the life and works of Shakespeare.

Its very rare that you get an art installation that really looks at the times that Shakespeare was writing in as well as looking at new interpretations of his own work, so its really an unusual and creative concept to bring those two together into one installation.

Were delighted with this collaboration and were really excited, that in this important year, weve got something we can show our guests from all over the world.
Psychology students of Delhi University colleges have come together to help fellow students fight mental stress. Realising the need for mental health professionals in colleges, these students plan to help their classmates who are stressed out, through a drive called Initiative for Mental Health Awareness India: A Youth Initiative (IMHAI).

The department of psychology, Gargi College, and Expressions India, a school- based outreach programme for promotion of life skills, values education, school health and well-being, have launched IMHAI. The idea of the initiative is to spread awareness among the masses and to fight the stigma attached to mental illness. Student members hope they will be able to initiate a dialogue and discussion on mental health policy.

Talking about problems helps one feel better. We all need friends who can listen to our problems and suggest solutions. As a crusader, I will encourage stressed students to talk to me, says Varnika Rastogi, a first-year student at Gargi College.

Youth in a phase of transition from school to college are in the mode of adjusting to an environment where there is much more freedom than the structured environment of school. Their bodies undergo strong physiological changes which have a direct impact on their psychological health too. They definitely need the help and guidance of a mental health expert, says Dr Jitendra Nagpal, senior psychiatrist and incharge, Institute of Life Skills and Mental Health Promotion, Moolchand Medcity, New Delhi and programme director, Expressions India. The government should consider the presence of a trained mental health expert in every college as the challenges these youth face are immense. It is of great importance to consider having a counseling cell/centre at every college.

As a part of the initiative, crusaders (a group of psychology students), across Delhi University colleges, will create awareness of mental illness at their own colleges. They plan to have a fixed room in their college where students can come to consult them. Some plan to set up empathy boxes on campus and encourage students to write notes with problems anonymously. These will then be discussed in open house sessions. Some also plan to screen films on themes like broken relationships and conduct a general discussion among students on dealing with relationship issues. The crusaders will talk to students on mental health illness, and assess their needs for expert advice and share their recommendations and feedback with experts in the youth parliaments on April 12.

Read more: You are not alone, says Deepika Padukone to school students

Our youth faces problems due to relationships, academic work pressure, career prospects, body image issues and so on. All these things can lead to depression, anxiety, mood disorders and in extreme cases suicidal tendencies, says Dr Shashi Tyagi, principal, Gargi College. We want to take the voice of the youth to policymakers through a youth parliament. Our ultimate aim is that the national level policies should be tailored according to the pressing needs of the youth. We are looking at a future where the educational institutes and the millions of students of this country are supported by a robust and easily available network of mental health services.

Students, too, stressed on the need for professional counsellors in colleges. As Arunima Poricha, a third-year student at Gargi College, says, I could not connect well with my batchmates at college during my second year. That led to severe depression. Though my parents and teachers have been very supportive throughout, I wanted to talk to someone apart from them to get an objective view on my behaviour.

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The Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi, has built a smartphone-based application that can help one measure how one sleeps.

The application enables one to detect how much one has slept and what kind of sleep one has had using a smartphone, with the help of the phones inbuilt accelerometer sensor and attached heart rate sensor. This easy- to-use app will diagnose of sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder, marked by snoring and pause in breathing during sleep. The application has been designed by Shuchita Gupta and Yashovardhan Sharma, third-year students of the computer science and engineering department of IIIT Delhi, under the mentorship of Vinayak Naik, an associate professor in the department.

Our aim was to build a low-cost portable device controlled by patients Android Smartphone, to measure sleep. The device is easy to use and consists of airflow (rate of respiration), pulse oximeter (heart rate and Spo2), accelerometer (PLM), and EEG (brain waves) sensors. The data storage is cloud based. Summarised results can be seen on phones of doctors as well as patients, says Naik.

Read more: 400 innovative projects showcased by IIT Delhi students

The team plans to launch the application on Google play store by end of April this year.

The innovation won the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award 2016 on March 13 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Its given by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions to students for innovations that uses considerably less material and energy to create sustainable solutions.

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Researchers have reasons to cheer. The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently announced that the time spent by a student in doing research for a PhD degree without leave will be counted as teaching experience when they apply for direct recruitment to vacant faculty positions in colleges and universities.

Experts, however, say that though the announcement will help candidates, the focus on research should not shift.

B Thimme Gowda, vice chancellor, Bangalore University, says, I concur with the UGC proposal of counting the time spent on research as teaching experience. In universities, teaching and research should go hand in hand. The research experience should not be more than 50% of the service required for higher teaching positions.

Good move, but challenges galore

Calling the UGC move a welcome step, Meenakshi Gopinath, former member, UGC, says, The artificial divide between teaching and research must be overcome and both activities must complement one another. This looks like an enabling step so that young scholars can avail greater opportunities for mobility within the teaching profession. The UGC clarification does not address the issue of years of experience requirements.

Experts say a large number of PhD holders will benefit from the announcement. Official recognition of the research period as equivalent to teaching experience will open up employment avenues for many unemployed meritorious students and also address the issue of vacant teaching posts in universities.

Research scholars feel relieved and think UGC has made their life easier. Hoshiyar Singh, who is a pursuing a PhD in physical sciences from Himachal Pradesh University, says, Currently, junior research fellows have to devote time to teaching and the notification has made this official. However, the purpose of research should not be defeated by shifting focus on gaining teaching experience. We, as scholars, need funds to make significant contribution to research and the UGC and HRD ministry should take steps to make that happen. Most higher education institutions seek at least two years teaching experience during faculty recruitment. However, scholars also say that the number of years of teaching experience should be clearly defined. Vikash Swarup, a humanities scholar at Allahabad University, says, Before the notification, it was up to the university to consider the time spent by junior research fellows in taking classes as work experience. There is still confusion about how many years of research work or teaching will be considered for PhD or jobs.

Read more: UGC told to clear scholars dues

MM Ansari, former member, UGC, says, As teaching and research are closely related and have significant bearing on quality of education, the total work experience as teacher or researcher is counted for determining eligibility of an aspirant. I cant understand why the need has arisen for issuing such a clarification when the issue has been resolved in academic circles.

Scenario abroad

Some Western countries require a PhD for faculty roles. As a part of the doctoral education training, some programmes in the US offer teaching assistantships, which give students a chance to gain teaching experience. Rahul Choudaha, principal researcher at DrEducation, US-based global higher education research firm, says, However, the focus of PhD programmes continue to be research as compared to teaching. One of the critiques of PhD education is that it is not necessarily a predictor of good teaching skills. The incentives for faculty is to get more publications rather than more teaching experience. There are few examples of how parallel scenario duration of PhD programme is to be counted as teaching experience.

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The legislature party of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is all set to elect its new leader on Thursday, and it may not be Mehbooba Mufti. The 56-year-old PDP chief is a Lok Sabha MP from Anantnag, and not a member of either house of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

Sources in the PDP said the position may go to four-time legislator Abdul Rehman Veeri, after which he would propose Mehboobas name for the chief ministers post. The PDP chief has to get elected to one of the houses within six months.

Veeri, a Mufti family loyalist, represents Mehboobas native constituency Bijbehara in south Kashmir.

Mehbooba will also brief the legislature party on the outcome of the meeting she had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, and announce their future course of action. She, however, refused to explain her stand on government formation to the media. As I said, I will talk to my legislators because that is the forum to do so. This is not the place. There is a particular place to make such announcements. I will go back to Srinagar and take the next step, the PDP chief said.

The election of the new legislature party leader will be followed by a discussion on coordinating with the BJP on governance. The BJP will then inform governor NN Vohra about its support to the PDP, paving the way for Mehbooba to stake claim as the head of the next government. Once sworn in, she will be the first woman chief minister of Indias only Muslim-majority state.

Read: Mehbooba, Modi meet raises hopes of new J-K govt by March-end

This will also bring the nearly three-month-long governors rule in the state to an end. The central rule was imposed in J&K on January 8, a day after the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. His daughter had then decided against taking over the reins of the coalition government.

PDP leaders expressed confidence that some of their partys demands would be fulfilled.

An expert committee may be set up to review the situation on the ground and examine the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The NDA government had last year rejected the Justice Jeevan Reddy committees report  submitted to the UPA in 2005  that the controversial legislation be repealed.

The army has already decided to vacate four places in the state by March-end, one of the key demands of the PDP. These places are the 212-acre Tatoo ground in Srinagar, 16.30 acres adjoining Jammu University, 456.60 kanals in Anantnag and the land at lower Khurba Thang in Kargil.

The government may initiate a dialogue with all internal stakeholders, including the Hurriyat and other groups, to build a broad-based consensus on resolving all outstanding issues, a PDP leader said. Speaking on the transfer of power projects, he said options such as buying out shares in state-owned utilities (NHPC and NTPC) and revising all loyalty agreements are being explored.

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A day after a bomb hoax grounded five Jet Airways flights, 11 IndiGo jets were searched on Wednesday after a caller informed its Chennai call centre about the presence of bombs.

Sources said the caller, who identified himself only as Smith from the US, said the flights were facing bomb threat from a woman flyer from Pakistan. The threat was for flights originating from major airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati, Goa, and Kochi.

The call was treated as specific and extensive searches were conducted.

All our passengers are safe, IndiGo said in a statement. We are actively engaged in working very closely with the concerned agencies.

The IndiGo call centre received the call at 11:13 am, but initial reports suggest the airline delayed in informing security agencies. The Delhi airport was informed at 2:45 pm.

At Delhi, we were informed post the landing of the flight, said a CISF official. This needs to be probed why the airline delayed the process of passing on the information.

A majority of the flights, most of which took off between 10 and 11:30 am, had allegedly landed by the time information reached the airports.

IndiGo, however, denied the allegation.

IndiGo call centre at Chennai received a bomb threat call at 1113 hours and within minutes all the security agencies were informed, it said. There are certain laid down procedures to be followed by the airlines, airports, and other government authorities... All such procedures were followed and are being followed.

The airlines said the safety of its customers, crew and aircraft was its top priority.
The Congress and the BJP engaged in a slugfest on Wednesday over commemorating the martyrdom of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, with both parties accusing each other of appropriating national icons for political gains.

Competitive politics over claiming the legacies of national leaders has turned bitter since the NDA government assumed power at the Centre.

While the BJP has sought to appropriate Dalit stalwart BR Ambedkar, Vallabhbhai Patel and now Bhagat Singh, the Congress often questions the role of leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the BJPs ideological mentor, in the freedom struggle.

The BJP has drawn up a three-day plan to commemorate the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who were hanged on March 23, 1931 in the Lahore jail.

The ruling party has also decided to celebrate Holi on Thursday by organising public receptions, where homage will be paid to Bhagat Singh by singing Range De Basanti Chola, a song associated with his martyrdom.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis pays tribute to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru on their martyrdom day in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

To keep up the attack on Congress, the ruling party has asked its workers to burn the effigy of former Union minister Shashi Tharoor for allegedly equating JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar with Bhagat Singh.

The Congress was quick to hit back. Party spokesperson Shobha Oza pointed out to a decision by the Congress government in Haryana to name the Chandigarh international airport after Bhagat Singh. But that was overturned by the BJP government, she said. The state government has demanded the airport be named after RSS pracharak Mangal Sein.

Oza said Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the international airport in 2015 but remained silent on the issue. This is true face and nationalism of BJP. Replace the name of a martyr with that of an RSS pracharak, she said.

In another development, a tweet on the opposition partys Twitter handle called RSS ideologue VD Savarkar a traitor.

Juxtaposing a picture of Bhagat Singh and Savarkar, titled Martyrs and Traitors, another tweet cited the excerpt of the petitions Savarkar and Bhagat Singh wrote to the British authorities from jail. Bhagat Singh dared the British Raj to send the executioners. BJP-RSS ideologue Savarkar begged for his own release, said another tweet.

The BJPs ally in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), demanded Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian honour, for Bhagat Singh. Punjabs deputy chief minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said he will soon write to the Centre in this regard.
The mother of deceased Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula sat on a dharna on Wednesday in front of the main entrance of Hyderabad Central University (HCU) after she was denied entry inside the campus to meet students who were injured in a police lathicharge on Tuesday.

Radhika Vemula wanted to hold a protest demonstration inside, but was prevented from entering the university campus, HCU chief security officer TV Rao said.

She wanted to hold a dharna inside the campus. We stopped her from entering. She and around 20 students then sat on a dharna in front of the HCU gate, Rao said.

Raja Vemula, the younger brother of Rohith, said his mother wanted to meet the students who were injured in a police lathicharge. The protesting students raised slogans against HCU vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, demanding his immediate removal from the post.

They also sought the release of students and faculty members arrested in connection with the vandalism of the VCs lodge and stone-pelting.
Four engineering students have been arrested by Kolkata Police for duping a private bank of crores by using fake mobile wallet transactions over the last few months, officials said.

Police said the gang leader has been identified as Jewel Rana, an engineering student and a resident of Murshidabad. They said Rana started the operation and later engaged three of his friends. A SIM card dealer was also an accomplice in the crime.

Rana was the mastermind of the entire crime. By opening accounts for wallet transaction of a private bank, he and his three friends have duped the outfit of more than Rs 8 crore. One of the arrested persons is Habibur Rahman, who is a dealer of cellphone SIM cards and a resident of Murshidabad, Debashis Baral, joint commissioner of police (crime), said.

A wallet transaction is done through a computer or a smartphone connected to the internet and it enables the user to make e-commerce transactions. An individuals bank account can also be linked with this wallet system.

The gang managed to open nearly 1000 accounts with this bank using the SIM cards provided by Rahman. The accounts were opened mainly by residents of Murshidabad district. A cash incentive was promised for those registering for the scheme.

The private bank in the city lodged a complaint with the police in February saying that someone was withdrawing money from their accounts by using their newly-launched mobile wallet service. The entire transaction was done within three days.

The transactions were done through the prepaid SIM cards that were given to them without any valid document. Rahman supplied these SIM cards, Baral said.

The bank fraud section of the detective department has arrested eight people so far.

The entire operation took place through net banking system. Through the IP address, we have collected the cell phone numbers, and accordingly, nabbed Rana first in last week. Then acting on the information he coughed up, we arrested the other three students and the cellphone SIM dealer and three other residents of Hariharpara of Murshidabad, the police officer said.

Baral said they are also questioning the cell phone service provider as to how they allowed Rahman to sell pre-activated SIM cards without any valid documents.
A multi-state alert was sounded on Wednesday after an intelligence report claimed that a former Pakistani soldier has entered India through Punjab with six associates from terror outfits to carry out attacks on Holi.

According to the input, a former Pakistani soldier named Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir crossed over to India from Pakistan through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terror operatives.

The input claimed that the group wants to target hotels and hospitals in Delhi.

The intelligence input said Alam had visited a madrasa in Barpeta district of Assam in September 2015 where he stayed for five days and then left for Chirang district bordering Bhutan.

The intelligence inputs generated across the country are shared on the platform of the multi-agency centre (MAC), a practice adopted after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and strengthened over the years so that no information slips through the gap.

Representatives from all intelligence agencies and state police participate in the MAC meetings daily.

The input about the former Pakistani solider has also been shared through the MAC platform and state police in Punjab, Assam and Delhi have been specifically asked to remain alert.

In the past nine months, there have been two major terror attacks in the country  one, on a police station building at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur, and another on the Pathankot air base.

.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has mooted an image-correction exercise by reaching out to political parties that are opposed to it.

The Sangh, which recently changed its uniform after nine decades, now also wants to revamp its social-media management.

The organisation carries out periodic interaction programmes with students and professionals to acquaint them with its ideology and is contemplating a know-the-RSS programme for political parties.

A senior functionary told HT that leaders of parties at the opposite end of the political spectrum will be invited to interact with the Sangh brass. It is strange that our political opponents have dialogue with political leaders across the borders, but when it comes to the Sangh, we are treated as pariahs. Leaders of political parties shy away from meeting Sangh brass openly and confess that it would lead to ripples in political circles, the functionary said.

Programmes for introduction to the Sangh are being undertaken on campuses of universities and educational institutions with the twin purpose of wooing youngsters and presenting the organisations ideology to them.

As part of its public contact programmes, senior RSS ideologues have been visiting Indian Institutes of Management to specify details of the work being carried out by the Sangh in the social sector. According to the functionary, these meetings are part of the jan sampark initiative and similar visits have been made to state universities and institutes of excellence like IITs in the past.

The polarisation over the ongoing debate on nationalism has become a trigger for the RSS to undertake a social-media management exercise for its cadres. It wants its members active on social media to be equipped with facts and knowledge so as to fight prejudices and negative perceptions about the outfit.

In the works is a plan to educate and groom Sangh supporters to fight propaganda without resorting to abuse and banality, RSS sources said.

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Kanhaiya Kumar alleged on Wednesday the NDA government turned the February event at JNU, where seditious slogans were allegedly shouted, into a row to divert peoples attention from Hyderabad university PhD student Rohith Vemulas suicide.

He also underscored the growing demand for a Rohith Act  a law against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

The JNU students union president, charged with sedition for anti-national slogans, was not allowed to enter the University of Hyderabad, where outsiders and media-people were barred after Tuesdays violent protests against vice-chancellor Podile Appa Rao.

The Centre smartly made up the JNU issue to keep the Rohith issue under the carpet ... Thats why as soon as I came out of jail, I thought my first visit outside Delhi would be Hyderabad, he said.

He compared Dalit rights campaigner Vemulas mother, Radhika, with freedom fighter Bhagat Singhs mother.

I will first meet Rohiths mother and brother. If police allow me, I will certainly go to the campus to speak to the students, Kumar said at the airport where a clutch of Leftist leaders received him.

Later in the evening, the 29-year-old leader spoke to a small gathering of students outside the university gates. I came here in solidarity with the students. Our fight is to protect the Constitution and democracy. We will continue our fight for social justice without disrupting peace.

Protests continued in the university after vice-chancellor Podile resumed office on Tuesday following two months of leave. The students have accused him of pushing 26-year-old Vemula to suicide on January 17 after his scholarship was cancelled allegedly at the behest of Hindu right-wing groups.

The vice-chancellors office and his official residence were vandalised while many students were wounded as police cane-charged and took 25 protesters into custody.

Classes were suspended till March 26 in view of the violence. Additional forces were deployed and pickets put up around the campus, where power supply and Internet service were reportedly stopped.

Students posted images of cooking meals as hostel kitchen staff refused to work because of the vandalism in the university. Some non-teaching staff alleged students had abused and attacked them.

Podile did not attach any significance to Kumars visit, saying we have nothing to do with that boy.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury demanded the release of the arrested students while Union minister Venkaiah Naidu asked political parties to stop politicising campuses.

Let there be student politics, not divisive politics on campuses. Universities have the autonomy and mechanism to resolve issues with the students, Naidu said.

With agency inputs
Opening a new chapter in bilateral relations, India on Wednesday began supplying electricity to Bangladesh in return for Internet bandwidth that will help connect its North Eastern states, a move that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as historic.

India will supply 100 megawatt of electricity in return for 10 Gigabits per second Internet bandwidth.

Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina launched the twin links through video conference.

In my opinion this is an historic occasion, Modi said as he nudged Dhaka to join the space cooperation with India.

India, he said, is marching shoulder-to-shoulder with Bangladesh in its progress and today is the opening of a new chapter, he said.

In an era of inter-dependent world, the two nations have further strengthened their ties, he said.

Hasina said: The relation between the countries has further consolidated through the supply of power and Internet bandwidth.

As much as 100 MW of power will be supplied to Bangladesh from Tripua. PowerGrid Corporation of India Ltd has erected 400 KV d/c line from Suryamaninagar (Agartala) to the Indian border while its Bangladeshi counterpart, PowerGrid Corporation of Bangladesh Ltd has laid a line from there to Comilla.

Simultaneously, a new gateway to give broadband connectivity to North-East states via Bangladesh was also opened.

We have gateways in west and south but entire east was untouched. As part of my Act East policy, this gateway in the east is very important. The opening of eastern gateway in association with Bangladesh will bring connectivity to eastern region particularly Assam, Tripura and Sikkim, Modi said.

Prime Minister said previously road connectivity between Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Bhutan had been initiated. Today we are doing electricity and digital connectivity... we have to cooperate in space too. It is our desire that Bangladesh joins India in space satellite mission too, he said.

Modi, while speaking on the occasion, said, The two countries have set an example (before the world) that how to maintain relations with the neighbours and what could be the path for establishing an interdependent world.

The supply of 100 MW power from Tripura is in line with the decision taken at the 7th Joint Working Group meeting on Power in April in response to Bangladeshs goodwill gesture of allowing transport of over-oversized cargo during the construction of the Palatana power plant in Tripura in 2011.

Discussions on the pricing were finalised at the joint technical committee meeting held during the visit of Tripuras Power Minister to Dhaka on January 9, 2015.

Indias state-run Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) erected 400 KV d/c line from Agartalas Suryamaninagar to the Indian border while Powergrid Corporation of Bangladesh Ltd built the transmission line from the border point to Comilla.

On the other hand, the bandwidth connection came as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) signed an agreement for leasing of international bandwidth for Internet at Akhaura during Modis 2015 Dhaka visit, officials said.

BSCCL has laid the optical fibre cable for the 30 km distance from Brahmanbaria to Akhaura, which adjoins Agartala, while BSNL has set up international long distance (ILD) gateway at Agartala along with associated equipment.

India is already supplying 500 MW of power to Bangladesh through the Bahrampur-Bheramara inter-connection and supply of another 500 MW through the same interconnection was also announced during Modis 2015 visit.

In addition, Indias NTPC and Bangladesh BPDB has entered into a Joint venture (BIFPCL) for commissioning of the 1320 MW Rampal power project for which Indias BHEL has been recently identified as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor.

The Internet bandwidth export will enable reliable and fast Internet connectivity for the people of Tripura as well as other parts of Indias northeastern region.

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla and senior officials of the concerned ministries were among those present.

Hasina, in her speech, said, We always remember Indias cooperation during the liberation movement in 1971.

On power supply, she said during her visit to Tripura in 2012, she discussed the matter of getting power from the states Palatana project.

Hasina said her country was getting 500 MW power from India now and both the countries made considerable development in the field of cooperation through roads, railways and power.

She also thanked Prime Minister Modi and Tripura Chief Minister Sarkar for their cooperation.
The Jammu and Kashmir coalition partners, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP, have not apparently foisted on or accepted from each other any new conditions to end the long-drawn logjam over forming a new government.

BJPs point man for the state, Ram Madhav, said on Wednesday the party has not accepted new terms from the PDP but is open to discuss any issues after government formation in the state, which is under governors rule since chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds death on January 7.

No special demand was raised by the PDP. The PDP legislature party meeting will be held on Thursday and we will take action after that, said Madhav, a BJP national general secretary.

His remarks came a day after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had a positive and satisfactory meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, raising hopes of a new government in the state by March-end after months of uncertainty.

Read: Mehbooba, Modi meet raises hopes of new J-K govt by March-end

Modi and Mehbooba didnt discuss specific issues during their 30-minute one-to-one, Madhav said, referring to the 56-year-old PDP chiefs demand for assurances from the Centre on political and economic packages close to her partys agenda.

The allies have been trying to negotiate new terms without success ever since governors rule was imposed.

Mehbooba, tipped to be the first woman chief minister of the Muslim-majority state after her fathers death, remained reluctant to take over the reins, apparently upset that Sayeed died a sad man, regretting the unfulfilled promises made by the Centre.

For its part, the BJP maintained that it remains committed to the agenda of alliance, a document for the coalition government agreed between the two parties.

The central government cannot give assurances to political parties, BJP sources said.

When it appeared that talks for government formation had fallen through after her unsuccessful meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah last week, her positive comments following the meeting with Modi were seen as a breakthrough.

She did not put any conditions during the meeting with Modi, Madhav said.

Whatever Mufti sahab left behind should be taken forward and we are willing to take it forward in the same form, he said.

The BJP wants its partner to make the next move, hinting at the PDPs legislature party meeting in which a new leader will be elected. PDP sources said the position may go to four-time legislator Abdul Rehman Veeri, who will later propose Mehboobas name for the chief ministers post.

Mehbooba is a Lok Sabha MP for Anantnag and not a member of either Houses of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. She has to get elected to one of the houses within six months.

Read: AR Veeri, not Mehbooba, may be elected PDP legislature party leader
Jammu and Kashmir is likely to have a new government by March-end, an outcome of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Muftis positive and satisfactory meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

The politically-sensitive state has been under governors rule since chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds death on January 7 as the PDP and alliance partner BJP were dithering on new terms of engagement to form a government.

It was a very positive and good meeting, the 56-year-old Mehbooba, tipped to be the states first woman chief minister, said after her 30-minute one-to-one with Modi at his 7, Race Course Road home.

Read | Picture abhi baki hai dost: Omar on PDP-BJP alliance

When you meet the Prime Minister, naturally the solution to problems faced by the people is clearer, she said, reviving the reconciliation process three days after talks between the two ideologically-opposite parties broke down.

Sources said if everything falls in line, a new government will be sworn in by March-end.

The optimism stems from Mehboobas comments after meeting Modi. We are seeing a stalemate for the past two to three months over government formation but today I am satisfied  I am very satisfied, he said.

Mehbooba has called a meeting of the PDP legislature party in Srinagar on Thursday to elect a new leader, a first step towards government formation.

Read | Tuesdays meeting with PM Modi was positive, says Mehbooba

Party sources said four-time legislator and family loyalist Abdul Rehman Bhat, popularly known as Veeri, will be elected legislature party leader because Mehbooba is a Lok Sabha MP for Anantnag and not a member of either Houses of the state assembly.

Veeri, who represents her native constituency Bijbehara, may propose Mehboobas name for the chief ministers post. She has to get elected to one of the Houses within six months.

Sayeeds death rocked the coalition after 10 months in power as Mehbooba remained reluctant to take up the reins, apparently upset that her father died a sad man because of the BJP-led Centres unfulfilled promises.

She sought assurances from the NDA government on time-bound implementation of the agenda for alliance and transfer of central power projects to the state. But the BJP was in no mood to concede more ground, which showed as her talks with ally party president Amit Shah failed to break the impasse last week.

Mehboobas meeting with Modi was a final push, though she dropped hints on March 7 in north Kashmirs Kupwara about her commitment to her fathers wish to form a government with the BJP. His move enabled the BJP to be in power for the first time in the Muslim-majority state.

Read | Hope Mehbooba forms J-K govt, National Conference takes role of Opposition: Omar Abdullah

Mehbooba is also pushed to shed her reluctance to form a government by the PDPs declining popularity in the Kashmir Valley, demonstrated by the thin attendance at her fathers funeral, apparently because of Sayeeds alliance with a Hindu nationalist party.

The PDP chief knows she can ill-afford a snap poll now because of the public mood and her own party legislators. Rumblings of discontent within the party were heard as some legislators felt the rival National Conference (NC) has gained ground because of the PDPs alliance with the BJP.

NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah rubbed it in, saying the PDP was heading for a split. She rushed to Delhi in a last-ditch effort to save her party, he said on Monday.

The Congress has an unconditional offer of friendship but Mehbboba did not consider the option as the stability factor and the numbers game in the assembly weighed heavily.

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A Pakistani joint investigation team (JIT) will first meet officials from the National Investigative Agency (NIA) before being flown to the Pathankot airbase when it arrives in India to investigate the January attack.

The Pakistani probe will cross over to India from Wagah border on March 27 and then will be flown to Delhi first for discussions with the NIA officials probing the case here. They will taken to the airbase on March 29, said a senior government official involved in the preparation of the visit on the condition of anonymity.

The five-member JIT has been granted a 15-day Indian visa as per standard practice, but an NIA official said the team may return on March 30.

Our discussions with the Pakistan team will depend on the seriousness of approach shown by them. If we get the sense during our interactions that Pakistan is serious about taking forward (the) investigation, we will also be transparent in our dealings, said the official.

Read more| Special team from Pakistan to visit Pathankot on March 29

India is likely to ask for a letter rogatory, a court approved request for assistance in the probe from Pakistan so the NIA may formally share evidence.

Without a court approved request... the status of interactions between the Pakistan team and NIA officials will remain informal. Any formal interaction of sharing evidence cannot happen without a court mandated request, like the one sent by NIA to Pakistan, said a government official involved in the matter.

The NIA is also planning to host a formal media briefing on all three days the Pakistani JIT team is expected to be here, sources added.

The decision to allow the Pakistani investigative team was taken at a high-level meeting in the Prime Ministers Office on March 19.

Read more | When terror checked in: Reconstructing the Pathankot air base attack

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The Uttarakhand Congress on Wednesday alleged yoga guru Ramdev was behind the ongoing political crisis in state. Party president Kishore Upadhyay blamed Ramdev for defections in the ruling partys legislative wing.

Chief minister Harish Rawats government in Uttarakhand is in trouble, not just over rebels MLAs who want to join hands with BJP, but also over the expulsion of former chief minister Vijay Bahugunas son Saket Bahuguna and party joint secretary Anil Gupta for six years, for anti-party activities.

On Monday evening, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya and his party colleagues marched from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and request him to dismiss the Rawat government and also give the BJP time to prove their majority.

Read: Uttarakhand crisis: Cong expels ex-CM Bahugunas son for rebellion

The state Congress president said he had enough evidence to show Ramdev was in touch with the nine Congress MLAs much before March 18, when they rebelled against the party.

Ramdev was in touch with the Congress rebels and one of the key hands in hatching rebellion conspiracy in the ruling party. He worked like a BJP agent with other sadhus to bring down Congress govern, Upadhyay said.

He added that the yoga guru was instrumental in persuading the party MLAs from Haridwar.

The Congress leader also expressed anger against a section of the media.

Not only Ramdev but media persons also were involved in the conspiracy against the state government. The names will be out subsequently said Upadhyay.

Read: Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly is acting like CMs agent: BJP

Expressing confidence that Harish Rawats Government would be able to steer through the crisis, Upadhya stressed that rebels would not be able to harm the chief minister since he had numbers on his side.

Upadhyay attacked Vijay Bahuguna and questioned the former CMs integrity. He led the defection despite having himself stated that everything thing was fine and agreed to all the decisions taken in the last meeting of the state coordination committee in Delhi, he said.

Central leadership and CM had assured to redress all his grievances in the coordination committee meeting assured Bahguna his concerns would be taken care of immediately after the budget session but he did not honour his own words for the reasons best known to him he added.

Balkrishna, Ramdevs second-in-command and SK Tejariwala, spokesperson for Ramdev, were unavailable for comments.
Stepping up their agitation over the suicide of Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula, students of JNU on Wednesday protested outside the HRD ministry demanding the removal of vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile and withdrawal of police presence from the campus.

The students, who were stopped by police as they tried to march towards the ministry, have been raising three demands in connection with the suicide of Dalit research scholar, Rohith Vemula, who was found hanging at the Hyderabad Central Universitys hostel room on January 17.

A five-member delegation led by JNU students union vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora met MHRD secretary VS Oberoi and submitted a memorandum.

Our major demands include immediate removal of police presence in Hyderabad university campus, removal of vice-chancellor and dropping of false charges against students unconditionally, Shehla said.

The top official told us that ministry cannot do anything about removal of the VC as it comes under the purview of the Visitor. He also said that they cant intervene on issue of police presence as interventions are not being taken in good manner, she added.

The fresh protests over the issue, in the wake of resumption of office by HCU vice-chancellor two-months after going on leave after the suicide of Vemula.

The VCs residence was vandalised by students on Tuesday and police had to baton charge another group during their protest against him resuming charge.

JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is out on bail in a sedition case, reached Hyderabad this morning where he was scheduled to address a meeting on the campus at the invitation of the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, which had spearheaded an agitation earlier demanding justice for Vemula.

He was denied permission by the university.

The authorities also barred outsiders including political leaders and media persons from entering the campus and suspended classes for four days.

JNU students are embroiled in controversy over an event held on campus against the hanging of Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru. It is alleged that anti-national slogans were raised during the protest.

The students have been protesting in the national capital since Vemulas death, demanding resignation of HRD minister Smriti Irani over the issue.

The students have also been demanding enactment of a Rohith Act to end caste-based discrimination in educational institutions.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley said on Wednesday that the US had sponsored his trip to Pakistan and he had donated Rs 60-70 lakh to Lashkar-e-Taiba, till 2006, two years before the Mumbai attacks.

During the first day of his cross-examination via video conference, Headley told the sessions court that he was arrested by the US Drug Enforcement Agency in 1997. The Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) of the US financed my trip. I was in contact with DEA then, but it is not true that between 1988 and 1998 I was providing information or assisting DEA.

Headley told the court that in the 1997 drug smuggling case, he had visited Pakistan for the DEA. The purpose of the visit however, was not clarified.

He also clarified his association with Tahawwur Rana, who operated an immigration business in Chicago, and said Rana was aware that he was an operative of LeT. The defence had alleged that Rana, and Headleys wife Shazia, were part of the conspiracy of Mumbai terror attacks and had moved an application to make them an accused last week.

When lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks.

Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008, he said.

About his wife, Headley said, Shazia is still my wife. I do not want to disclose Shazias location due to security reasons. I do not want to answer any question about my wife. He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.
A 44-year-old woman caught for travelling without a ticket has chosen to go to jail for seven days instead of paying a fine of Rs 260, saying the authorities should first arrest and recover the loan dues from liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Premlata Bhansali, a mother of two who lives in a high-rise in plush Bhuleshwar area in south Mumbai, was caught by a ticket-checker on Sunday at the Mahalaxmi station.

Asked to pay the fine, Bhansali, according to the Railway Police, said they should first arrest Mallya who owes the banks more than Rs 9,000 crore.

She was produced in the magistrates court and asked to pay the fine. But she declined and chose to go to jail for seven days, said Anand Vijay Jha, senior divisional security commissioner of Mumbai division, Western Railway.

A Railway Protection Force officer said that a lady police constable tried to persuade the woman to pay the paltry fine. But she spent nearly 12 hours arguing with railway officials, demanding to know why the authorities were going soft on Mallya and harassing the common man.

The police even summoned her husband Ramesh Bhansali but she refused to pay the fine and insisted on serving the seven-day jail term, the officer said.
The Lok Sabha secretariat rushed a special messenger to Africa on Tuesday to get speaker Sumitra Mahajans signature on expenditure documents so that the government can fulfil additional financial obligations of Rs 1 lakh crore before March 31.

The expenses include Rs 15,000 crore for the national food security programme, Rs 5,000 crore to fund public sector banks and Rs 2,000 crore for military hardware. The additional budgetary proposals or the third supplementary demand for grants were approved by both Houses of Parliament by March 16 but the Lok Sabha secretariat could not get the speakers signature on the file delayed by the law ministry.

By the time the file came from the law ministry, the speaker left for Zambias Lusaka for the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly to return on March 25. An additional secretary of the Lok Sabha flew to Lusaka on Tuesday to get her signature to save time.

Without the speakers signature, the file could not be sent for President Pranab Mukherjees assent to complete the legislative process.

A section of the government felt there was no need to rush a messenger to Africa, but Lok Sabha secretariat sources maintained they did not want to take chances and avoided a delay.

The process (of getting approval) is still underway. The papers have not yet reached the President. As per the process, the Lok Sabha secretariat sends it to the law ministry and then the law ministry sends it to the President for his consent, a senior finance ministry official said.

Sources said the government asked the secretariat if deputy speaker M Thambidurai could sign the file or if Mahajans approval could come through fax. The secretariat turned down both options, citing issues of precedence, a government official said.

The demand for grants contains Indias Rs 69,000 crore subscription to the International Monetary Fund. The government also sought funds to pay Rs 77.55 crore towards settlement of pending dues to Pakistan Telecom Company Limited.

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A day after police and students violently clashed at the University of Hyderabad, police clamped down on security, barring entry of news media and outsiders, even as Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar landed in the city to reach the campus.

Kumar reached Hyderabad on Wednesday morning, and is expected to join the protests later in the day.

I would first go and meet Rohiths mother and brother. I came to Hyderabad on invitation of the Joint Action Committee, to ensure social justice on the campus. If police allows me, I would certainly go to the campus for the meeting in the evening to address the students, he said as soon as he arrived at the Hyderabad airport where several Left party leaders gathered to welcome him.

Vemulas mother Radhika is also expected to sit on the protest.

Violence broke out on Tuesday when vice-chancellor Appa Rao resumed office after a two-month leave following the row over the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar. Students demanded that Rao be arrested immediately as he was one of the accused in Vemulas suicide on January 17.

Television channels showed visuals of a ransacked office of the vice-chancellor and police lathi-charging protesting students. About 25 students were taken into custody. The university suspended classes till Monday due to the unusual situation prevailing in the University.

In view of the situation... We have taken a decision not to allow any outsider, including mediapersons and political parties, on the campus, registrar M Sudhakar said.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed on campus to keep protests at bay. Calling it a black day in the history of the university, Rao made it clear that the university would seek police help to ensure normalcy on the campus, after his official residence was ransacked.

However, CPI leader K Narayana accused the authorities of turning the university into a police camp.

A section of students alleged that Rao was sent back to prevent Kumars visit to the university. The JNU student, who was booked and arrested for an event where anti-national slogans were allegedly shouted, arrived in Hyderabad on a day his bail plea comes up for hearing in the Delhi high court.

With inputs from agencies
The Shiv Sena on Wednesday warned it will not allow Shreehari Aney to enter Marathwada, a day after he quit as Maharashtra advocate general following a row over his remarks on separate Marathwada.

We wont allow Aney to step in Aurangabad, in Marathwada, Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire told reporters. Aney keeps coming here in the high court bench. We wont let him set foot inside Aurangabad. We will continue our opposition to those who betray Shivaji Maharajs dream of a united Maharashtra, he said.

Referring to RSS MG Vaidyas views on division of Maharashtra into smaller states, Khaire said, Vaidya has grown old and what he said are senile thoughts.

Meanwhile, reacting to Shiv Senas demand that he be prosecuted for treason, Aney said, Unfortunately, they (Shiv Sena) would need a good lawyer to tell them what sedition is. The creation of a state is a constitutional process that will be followed. I am not talking about destroying the country, only asking for a separate state.
The government on Wednesday approved 1.5 billion dollar (about Rs 9,000 crore) World Bank support for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas.

The project basically provides for incentivising states on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM-Gramin. Incentivisation of states was approved by the Cabinet while approving the SBM-Gramin on September 24, 2014, minister of communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said after a cabinet meeting in Delhi.

The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through World Bank credit, he said, adding that under the approved project, the performance of the states will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs).

The states will pass on a substantial portion of more than 95% of the Performance Incentive Grant Funds received from the MOWS, to the appropriate implementing levels of districts, Blocks, GPs etc, he said.

The end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the sanitation sector, he added.

The project will accelerate efforts to achieve sustained outcomes in sanitation by 2019. The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of states towards the SBM(G) outcomes such as reduction in open defecation, sustainable achievement of open defecation-free (ODF) villages and improvement in solid and liquid waste management (SLWM), Prasad said.
A 35-year-old Lokayukta constable and his aide were arrested on Tuesday for planting the explosives and detonators at a private hostel in Ujjains Nanakheda area to implicate some colleagues in the case.

On March 19 police recovered over 2.7 kg nitrate-based explosives, 25 detonators, wires and a cell phone from room number 212 of Atishay Sheel Jain hostel in Nanakhera area. Madhya Pradesh anti-terror squad had sprung into action after the haul and were investigating possible terror plot ahead of the month-long Simhastha fair, slated to start in the holy town from April 22.

Constable Ashish Chandel, posted at Indores Lokayukta special police establishment, hatched the plan and planted the explosives at the hostel with the help of his private security guard Sushil Mishra on March 18, MP anti-terror squad (ATS) chief Sanjiv Shami said told reporters.

The ATS chief did not reveal the name of the policemen whom the duo wanted to implicate in the case.

Several lives and reputations are at stake, hence we are not revealing the names of the people whom the duo wanted to implicate, he said.

Mishra, who was earlier engaged in stone quarrying activities in Ashok Nagar district380 km from Ujjain, helped Chandel obtain the explosives and also dumped it at the hostel, Shami said, adding that Chandel was shifted to Lokayuktas Indore wing from Ujjain just a few months ago. He was inducted in the 7th SAF Battalion in Bhopal a few years ago.

Both Chandel and Mishra have been arrested. However, no evidence has been found against the third suspect in the case due to which he has not been arrested, Shami added.

On Monday, the ATS chief had told reporters in Bhopal that cops had gathered vital leads about three suspects and were close to cracking the case.

The revelation and the arrests lifted the lid off the security preparation of Ujjain police and administration ahead of the Simhastha fair. Over five crore people are expected to visit the holy town for royal bathes during the religious congregation.

The government has spent crores on security -- from specially-trained commandos to helicopters and drone cameras.

Cell phone helps cop track accused

Tracking call records of a cell phone left behind by Sazish Khan--the fictitious name under which Mishra checked into the hostelalong with 2.7 kg nitrate-based Class II explosives, 25 detonators and wires, helped police nab Chandel and Mishra.

According to police sources, the accused deliberately left behind the cell phone from which they had called the people they wanted to implicate in the case. The SIM card used to make the call was secured in the name Sazish Khan by providing a fake Aadhaar card. The same identity card was used by the accused to check into the hostel.

During analysis of call records and subsequent questioning of the people to whom calls were made ultimately helped the police bust the plot.

CRIME FILE

On March 19, police recovered over 2.7 kg nitrate-based explosives, 25 detonators, wires and a cell phone from room number 212 of Atishay Sheel Jain hostel in Nanakhera area of Ujjain

Madhya Pradesh anti-terror squad (ATS) sprung into action after the haul and were investigating possible terror plot ahead of the month-long Simhastha fair

Constable Ashish Chandel, posted at Indores Lokayukta special police establishment, hatched the plan and planted the explosives at the hostel with the help of his private security guard, Sushil Mishra, on March 18, Madhya Pradesh ATS chief Sanjiv Shami has said

The ATS chief, however, did not reveal the name of the policemen whom the duo wanted to implicate in the case

Mishra, who was earlier engaged in stone quarrying activities in Ashok Nagar district, 380 km from Ujjain, helped Chandel obtain the explosives

Chandel was shifted to Lokayuktas Indore wing from Ujjain just a few months ago.
An FIR was registered against Ringing Bells company, which advertised its smart phone for Rs 251, following a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya, police said.

A case under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (cheating) and the IT Act was registered on Tuesday night, police said.

After primary investigation of the complaint, we found that its fit for an FIR. A case was lodged and a team was constituted to investigate the case, said Kiran Sivakumar, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Gautam Budh Nagar.

The FIR was lodged against promoter of the company Mohit Goel and its president Ashok Chaddha. We will ask the company to submit the documents required for the investigation. Also, the company will have to show the manufacturing units of the phone which they promised to sell, said Anup Singh, deputy superintendent of police (Circle Officer 2), Noida.

We remain committed to cooperate with any government agency that may require to inquire our organization for any reason or suspicion. I do maintain that we will deliver the most affordable quality products to our customers through our various range of smart phones, including the Freedom 251, said Mohit Goel, director, Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd. Chaddha, however, refused to comment on the issue.

In February, the company offered an online booking of its smart phone. Till February 21, seven crore people booked the phone online with nearly 30,000 paying the amount.
As a ban on production and sale of spiked liquor comes into force on April 1 in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar sought cooperation from the public to enforce it, and said his government was considering introducing the death penalty for those found guilty of manufacturing hooch.

Kumar especially appealed to women in implementing the phased ban, stating that it was not an easy decision to enforce.

Once successful in enforcing ban, including plugging of home delivery, it will not only increase Bihars credibility but also trigger similar demand for ban in other states, he said, adding the government had considered all aspects of the ban.

Other measures like introducing e-locks for containers transporting liquor through the state to check pilferage will also be put in place. However, the home delivery aspect of the problem can only be tackled with public support, Kumar said, saying the government would bring in tougher laws, launch awareness campaigns and bolster public participation.

IMFL (Indian manufactured foreign liquor) sale is being taken over by Bihar State Beverages Corporation to ensure quick and effective imposition of complete ban in the next phase, he said.

In order to make it a public campaign, students are getting signed pledges from parents. Women are already taking men to de-addiction centres in various districts for counselling and getting medicines prescribed, if need be, to deal with the habit.

Kumar was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Bihar Diwas where he also called on the Bihari pride for a better future. Talking about the rich heritage of the state, he said Bihars present day achievements were no less inspiring. (The) whole of Bihar is a live archaeological site. If proper excavations are carried out it would add many new chapters to history of the country Its time to unearth Bihars heritage and legacy, he said.

With plans to christen the upcoming International Convention Centre after King Ashoka, the chief minister said the government was planning for a developed Bihar through seven actionable key resolves.

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After 12 years of live-in relationship, a 52-year-old woman set herself ablaze on Tuesday, following a feud with her partner on March 15.

In her statement recorded to a magistrate on March 15, Veena Rani of Joshi Nagar had alleged that her partner Ashok Kumar used to thrash her in inebriated condition. She set herself ablaze after pouring kerosene on Tuesday.

The police have registered a case under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of IPC against Ashok, 65, who is a labourer.

After death of her husband, Veena had started living with Ashok around 12 years ago.

Assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) Iqbal Singh, who is investigating the matter, said the woman was handicapped from one leg.

He added, According to the victims statement, the accused is an alcoholic and used to thrash her in inebriated condition. On March 15, when she was having dinner, the accused thrashed her, following which, she set herself ablaze.

She was admitted to Civil Hospital and was later referred to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), where she succumbed to injuries on Tuesday.

The police has launched a manhunt to arrest the accused.
Taking a cue from last years bitter experience, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) opted to keep the kisan mela a low key affair this year.

On September 22 last year, the PAU officials and Rajya Sabha MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder faced the wrath of the farmers, who were enraged by the whitefly attack. The farmers created ruckus at the mela and disallowed the PAU vice-chancellor (V-C) BS Dhillon and Bhunder to address gathering.

This year, the PAU management neither invited any politicians nor held any seminars at the mela. Even, the PAU officials and scientists restricted themselves to addressing the farmers regarding the upcoming kharif season. It may be mentioned that the seminar on kharif crops is a key feature of these seminars.

The farmers, however, attended the mela in huge number.

When asked about not holding any seminar this year, PAU V-C Baldev Singh Dhillon said Though we hold seminars every year, this time we only met farmers and listened to their grievances and suggestions.

Dhillon added the university may hold seminars in the upcoming fairs since many farmers found it informative and demanded to include it as a regular feature.Meanwhile, PAU set up several help desks for farmers so as to provide adequate information regarding different crops.

Farmers come up with cotton-related queries

As the whitefly pest damaged a major chunk of cotton cultivation last year, the farmers came up with cotton related queries, especially those about preventing pest attack.

Huge rush was witnessed at PAUs cotton informative stall as the farmers primarily asked about availability of any university recommended BT cotton seed in the market, besides getting information regarding the cotton sowing practices.

Though there was no BT cotton seed available, the PAU recommended American cotton varieties including F-2383 and F-222, besides promoted desi cotton varieties FDR 124 and LDR 949.

The farmers were also provided with special pamphlets which had full-fledged information about cotton crop.

PAU V-C, BS Dhillon, said the theme of the fair was the use of improved seeds, optimal use of farm machinery and reading of farm literature for updating the farm knowledge.

A team of PAU experts was making all-out efforts to control whitefly in cotton, by spreading awareness through university farm literature, CDs and media. The timely management of whitefly is more important to check its further spread to other fields, he said.

Dhillon appealed to the farmers to avoid using un-recommended cotton varieties and pesticides and follow PAU recommendations from time to time for getting good yield and better returns.

The PAU will give demonstrations of its recommended varieties to farmers in cotton belt, Dhillon said.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included PAU board member Karamjit Kaur Danewalia, director of research Balwinder Singh, director of extension education RS Sidhu and PAU director (Bathinda region) Paramjit Singh.

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After a war of wits during the budget session, its time for a WhatsApp war between the ruling and opposition MLAs in Punjab. From inside the assembly, a video of Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi answering questions posed by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, and another one of Indian Youth Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring repeatedly saying sorry to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, have gone viral on the messaging app, despite no television channels being allowed to cover the House proceedings.

An embarrassed Congress is claiming that the clips are tampered with, and also accusing the speaker, Charanjit Singh Atwal, of being behind the shoot-and-leak. The speaker has leaked the videos in connivance with the government. They have been tampered with in a studio, Channi says, adding, Our supporters are also now circulating videos on what we said in the assembly. He expressed ignorance as to how the videos were recorded and by whom.

In the first video, Sukhbir is seen trumpeting his governments achievements and prompting Channi to list any significant project that the previous Congress government (2002-07) under Captain Amarinder Singh had started, to which Channi replies, Bhakra Dam. Sukhbir then pointedly asks Channi to tell him what the Amarinder government had done. To this, Channi says, Patchwork on all roads of Punjab, and so it goes on.

Also read: When Sukhbir Badal trolled Congs Channi with 3 questions!

In the Warring video, Valtoha, who has courted many a controversy during the sessions and outside, is seen taking a moral high ground and demanding an apology to a remark by Warring. And the Gidderbaha MLA is shown repeating, Main maafi mangda haan (I seek your forgiveness) several times.

Punjab assembly secretary Shashi Mishra, on her part, denies any leak, saying the assemblys system is foolproof. The leaked videos could have been made on mobile phones, she said. Officially, the proceedings are recorded on a hard disc and not individual CDs, and it is sealed the same day. It is not possible to make video clips out of that.

Earlier, two private channels, including Badal-owned PTC, were allowed to cover the proceedings. But after expletives hurled by Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia went viral on YouTube, the other channel, Day and Night News, was denied the rights; later the speaker had to debar PTC too as the opposition alleged selective and biased telecast.

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It has been over two decades that their near and dear ones were killed in a terrorist attack that took place on the festive occasion of Holi. Even 24 years after the tragedy struck their homes, the families of Field Gunj, one of the busiest markets of the city, have not celebrated the festival and the memories of the attack continue to haunt them.

Their kin were killed in a terrorist attack on March 18, 1992 on the day of colors. The aggrieved families said the day brings happiness for others, but for them it is a day of painful memories.

Terrorist attack derailed life

Jeet Rani of Field Gunj had lost her husband Mohinder Pal and father-in-law Sri Ramji Das, who were present at their shop in Kucha Number 5 of Field Gunj area.

It was the evening of Holi and there was huge rush in the market. I can recollect the whole incident. My husband had left the house in the evening after having tea. After 5 minutes, when I came out of the house after hearing the commotion, I witnessed total chaos in the street. People were scared to death, they told me that terrorists have killed many persons in the kutch number 5, she said.

I rushed to the shop bare footed. I was shocked to see the lifeless bodies of my husband and father-in-law lying in the shop. People were running here and there, I witnessed many other dead in the street, she sobbed.

She felt that her life had been completely derailed. One out of her five daughters was married around 2 months prior to the incident. The government had started monthly pension of Rs 1,500 to her, but it was not enough for livelihood of a family.

I had to live and earn for my daughters, so I braved the situation and opened a shop with help of my nephew Rakesh Kumar six months after the incident. Government had given a job to one of my daughters as compensation besides `1 lakh in cash. I struggled and solemnised the marriage of all children, added Jeet Rani.

I never celebrated holi after the incident. It reminds me the horrifying day that had ruined my life, said Jeet Rani with choked voice.

Sweetshop owner saved the lives of 50

Mathura Das, 67, owner of a sweetmeat shop in the area fell prey to a string of bullets from terrorists. Satpal, son of the deceased said he along with his father was present at the shop, when terrorists opened their fire at innocent people.

When they opened fire, I thought someone is firing crackers but all of sudden I noticed people rushed to our shop to take shelter. My father Mathura Das, who was sitting on the counter of the shop, gave them shelter to people. Meanwhile, a bullet pierced through the head of my father, said Satpal.

Ashok Kumar, the younger son of Mathura Das said watching people playing colours on the festival turns them nostalgic.

They lost their 11-year-old daughter

Vimla Devi and her husband Ramesh Kumar lost their 11-years-old daughter Rajni in the attack. Rajni had gone to the to sweetmeat shop to buy milk, when a bullet hit her in the head. Vimla Rani, who helps her husband in their shoe shop, said the hospital did not give proper treatment to her daughter; otherwise her life could be saved.

I saw two terrorists dressed in black. They had loaded their guns in front of my eyes. I had overheard their conversations. They were asking each other from where they should start killing people. After firing, someone from the area had taken injured Rajni home. I rushed her to Christian Medical college and Hospital, where she succumbed to injuries on March 19, said Vimla Devi.

Rajni was student of Class 5 and the youngest of five siblings.

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Panic gripped passengers at the Chandigarh international airport on Tuesday evening, hours after blasts rocked the airport at Belgian capital Brussels, as security officials and the police did a thorough check of the Jet Airways plane bound for Delhi after a call that a bomb was planted on it. The plane had landed at the airport at around 4.30pm and was to depart for Delhi at 5pm with around 50 passengers on board.

There was a call at Jet Airways call centre in Delhi that bombs had been planted in five of its flights originating from the capital. This plane had left Delhi for Chandigarh by then. We were alerted. All security agencies were called in to search the plane, said Sunil Dutt, chief executive officer (CEO) of the airport.

Sources added that when the call was received at the companys call centre in Delhi, three flights  to Gorakhpur, Chandigarh and Dehradun  had already left the capital.

When the plane arrived, it was kept at a separate bay and a bomb disposal squad of SAS Nagar police along with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Air Force personnel searched plane.

After completing all the formalities and a thorough check, the plane was allowed to go back to Delhi at around 8pm, said Dutt.

He added that the search took time due to the size of aircraft and the number of passengers travelling on the aircraft. Finally, the plane left for Delhi at around 8pm. The operation to search the plane took around two-and-a-half hours, said inspector HS Bal, in-charge of the police post at the airport.

We regret the inconvenience caused to our guests. The safety and security of our guests and the crew is always our priority, Jet Airways said.
The Punjab assembly on Tuesday passed the Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Bill, 2016. The long-awaited bill, which sailed through smoothly without much discussion, seeks to provide a framework for determination and settlement of non-institutional agricultural debt. The bill, though loosely construed as a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for debt-related disputes of farmers with arhtiyas (commission agents), is much more than that. HT takes a close look at the bill:

Objective of the bill?

The aim is to reduce stress on farmers and agriculture labour through fair settlement of debt-related disputes and reduce litigation in courts. Once the Act is notified, the most immediate benefit will be in cases where the debtor has paid an amount equal to double of the principal amount.

The forums/tribunal set up under the new Act will have the powers to declare the debt as having been discharged and waive the entire loan amount with interest as well as order the release of any property pledged or mortgaged by a debtor whose debt is decided as having been discharged.

However, its provisions are limited to only non-institutional agricultural debts upto Rs 15 lakh  mainly loans given out by arhtiyas. The bill does not cover rural indebtedness  in other words, loans taken by villagers for activities other than agriculture or institutional loans.

All disputes of loan amount upto Rs 15 lakh pending in civil courts will be transferred to these Forums from the date the Act is notified and jurisdiction of Civil Courts has been barred in such cases. The forums will have to decide disputes within three months. In case the forum or tribunal needs more time, a clear reason will have to be cited.

What does the bill entail?

Once the Act is notified, district level agricultural debt settlement forums and a state level agricultural debt settlement tribunal will be set up to alleviate difficulties of farmers in getting their non-institutional debts agriculture reconciled and settled. The district forums, headed by a retired/serving district or additional district session judge, will comprise two more members  one representative of farming community and another representative of money lenders.

The tribunal, headed by a retired Judge of the high court, will have two more members. Their term will be three years. Any debtor or creditor of agricultural loan will be able to file a petition before the district forum for settlement of their debt. If aggrieved with the order, he or she can file an appeal before the tribunal.

As per the bill, the orders of the tribunal can be challenged in high court. It also empowers the government to prescribe a maximum rate of interest which can be charged by the creditors on non-institutional loans provided by them. Each creditor will be requir-ed issue an authenticated passbook to the debtor.

Is Punjab the first state?

No. The legislation in another form was adopted by Haryana in 1989. A central act of 1934 also gives similar powers of settlement of such loan to deputy commissioners. Whats the quantum of non-institutional agriculture indebtedness in Punjab? How does it compare with institutional indebtedness?

Agriculture indebtedness in Punjab is estimated to be over Rs 36,000 crore, including Rs 12,000 crore of non-institutional loans advance given by arhtiyas. The rest is institutional loans. Then, there is non-agriculture rural indebtedness of another Rs 27,000 crore.

What necessitated this bill?

With crop failures, falling productivity and shrinking margins, farmers, especially small and marginal ones, have been reeling under debt. The exploitation by arhtiyas has only made the situation grim, leading to increase in farmer suicides. There have been demands from time to time for government intervention. The legislation was first envisaged in 2001 and then again in 2006 to reduce the possibility of exploitation of farmers at the hands of moneylenders. But it has finally close to becoming an Act.

What next for the bill?

The bill passed by the state assembly will now be sent to the governor for his assent. Once the assent is given, the rules under the Act will be framed and notified. The Act comes into being once the rules are notified. The department of agriculture under the financial commissioner development will enforce the Act. But there is a major challenge ahead. The loans from private moneylenders usually do not have proper paperwork and their reconciliation will be difficult.

What is politics in the bill?

With assembly polls round the corner, the SAD-BJP alliance is on a spree to announce sops for all sections. The government, in its budget for 2016-17 last week, had come up with multiple schemes, including insurance cover, interest-free crop loan and a provident fund-cum-pension policy, for farmers. The Akalis, who have been in power for nine years, kept sitting on it all along. While they would deny any political motives, the timing suggests otherwise.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by Simranjit Singh Mann on Wednesday passed a resolution seeking a separate state of Jat-land by increasing the size of Punjab. This came two days after Mann, a vocal seeker of a separate Sikh nation Khalistan, declared that Sikhs could not chant Bharat Mata ki Jai (Hail, Mother India) as they do not worship women in any form.

The resolution also comes weeks after a violent agitation by Jats for job reservation in Haryana left at least 30 people dead.

During his partys Hola Mohalla conference here, Mann also accused Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of destroying the Panthic traditions. In other resolutions passed on the occasion, the SAD (A) demanded that the Sikh detainees who had completed the normal length of life sentence be released.

Badal got the Akal Takht to pardon Dera Sacha Sauda chief, forcing Sikh organisations to appoint new jathedars at Sarbat Khalsa, Mann said. He stressed the need for voting out the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the next assembly elections and punishing those involved in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

Also read: Sikhs cannot chant Bharat Mata ki Jai, declares Simranjit Mann
Punjabs Class-10 certificate will also be mandatory for admission to undergraduate medical courses in the state, but only from the session 2019-20.

Already, candidates must have passed Classes 11 and 12 from Punjab to claim these seats. The rule doesnt change for even the natives in boarding schools outside.

Only the next three batches of Class 12 will enjoy the exemption. Beyond that, you wont be eligible for our medical colleges without passing Class 10 from Punjab, state medical education secretary Hussan Lal told HT here on Tuesday. If outside students want to join medical colleges in Punjab three years on, they must enter Class 10 in the state in the session 2016-17. Both parents and students have enough time to make up their mind, he added.

HC directions led to 3-year window

Officials said the three-year window was based on the Punjab and Haryana high court directions of July 2, 2014. That year, the state government had brought in the Class-10 rule with immediate effect, rendering hundreds of aspirants ineligible because they hadnt done matriculation from Punjab. The high court had turned down the rule.

PMT trainers satisfied

Welcoming the new move, Chandigarh-based PMT (pre-medical test) trainer Arvind Goyal said students now had time to adjust. Punjab attracts so many students from outside because it has more than 10 medical colleges with nearly 800 MBBS (bachelor of medicine and bachelor or surgery) and more than 1,000 BDS (bachelor of dental science) seats, he added.

UT aspirants need Punjab domicile

The latest notification of the Punjab government again allows medical seats in the upcoming session to only those students from Classes 11 and 12 in Chandigarh who are bona-fide residents of Punjab.

In 2014, the Punjab and Haryana high court while disposing of a petition by UT student Harleen Cheema had ruled that Chandigarh being the capital of Punjab, its students had right to 85 state quota in medical college seats. Since then, the UT students have been asking for relief but the Punjab government still insists on state domicile, even though the high court judgment doesnt make this segregation.

Justifying the stand, Punjab medical education secretary Hussan Lal said: Allowing the UT candidates in will be giving a backdoor to students from the other states, which will harm the interests of our students.

Fee unchanged, for now

A year after threefold increase in the MBBS/BDS tuition fee in the state-run colleges, the Punjab medical education department has not proposed further hike in the upcoming session. Even then, any increase in future cant be ruled out. There was no hike proposed even in last sessions notification, but before the beginning of it, the charges were raised in July. Asked whether any surprise was in store for the next session as well, medical education secretary Hussan Lal said so far none, but these decisions are taken at the highest level.

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Six years after seven primary schools were transferred from the UT administration to the municipal corporation in July 2010, mayor Arun Sood has proposed that these be handed over to the education department for proper coordination and to avoid mismanagement.

The management of the schools should either be completely under the MC or the education department should take full charge, the mayor said at the meeting of the district-level committee formed two months back to look into school-related issues, on Tuesday. Chandigarh Member of Parliament Kirron Kher chaired the meet.

At the sidelines of the meeting, the mayor told HT, The MC has been made responsible only for the buildings, while the department looks after the operational work.

Crumbling buildings hard to explain

Incidentally, 90% of the primary education budget that the MC has allocated in its budget since the schools were transferred to it has remained unspent. Even the buildings, which the mayor admits are under the MC, have not been renovated and remain in a shambles Although the MC managed to get two or three schools partially renovated, the lack of chairs, tables, proper blackboards is a serious hindrance to proper functioning of these schools.

An education department official said since senior operational decisions like staff and other infrastructure remained in the departments hands, differences did crop up between the MC and the administration.

School education deputy director Chanchal Singh said, In the present arrangement, if we wanted to upgrade a government primary school to a middle school, we could not do so. Now, we will be able to do so.

Director school education Rubinderjit Singh Brar, however, said he was comfortable with any decision that was passed in the MC House.

The final call on the transfer of schools will be taken only after consultations with the UT adviser, the education secretary and other officials.

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Has the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) decided to tamper with some vital court evidence related to Operation Bluestar by deciding to carry out renovation of Teja Singh Samundri Hall inside the Golden Temple complex?

We will not be tampering with any evidence as before renovating the historical building we will hire experts to preserve the bullet marks on Teja Singh Samundri Hall building that houses the Sikh Parliament. It is for the first time that renovation of this important building will be carried out, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar stated here on Tuesday.

This decision was taken at the meeting of the SGPC executive. The meeting was chaired by Makkar. Though Makkar did make it clear that the renovation did not tantamount to tampering with evidence but this act of the religious body could invite sharp criticism from the Sikh community leaders, particularly the hardliners and the Akali groups that are opposed to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). This is due to the fact that Teja Singh Samundri Hall has been kept as an important evidence in Rs 1,000 crore damages case filed by the SGPC against the central government after June 1984 operation of the army to flush out armed militants from the Golden Temple complex led to the Akal Takht being demolished and a number of buildings within the shrine complex, including Samundri Hall suffering heavy damages.

The case was filed around 1998 when late Gurcharan Singh Tohra was the SGPC president. The case was initially filed in a local Amritsar court but after the demise of Tohra the SGPC withdrew the case here and filed it before the Supreme Court. For this a court fee of Rs 10 crore was deposited by the SGPC before the Registrar of the apex court about three years back and thereafter the hearing commenced. The case is currently being heard by the Registrar of the apex court.

While demanding compensation the SGPC has presented several evidences before the Registrars court including photographs and news articles about Operation Bluestar and the destruction of some of its buildings including the demolished Akal Takht building/ photographs of the bullet marks on some of the buildings in the main shrine complex, including the Darshani Deori, the library and several others have also been given as evidence in the case.

A majority of these bullet marks have been preserved and can still be seen.

However, while a majority of the buildings were renovated later but Teja Singh Samundri Hall was left totally untouched, so much so that it was not even given a white wash. This was due to fact that the building itself has been kept as evidence in the damages case against the central government.

Building cannot be touched

Reacting to the decision, former SGPC secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta said, Teja Singh Samundri Hall cannot be touched as the entire structure has been kept as evidence in the case. No doubt other buildings were renovated after the 84 operation but as Samundri Hall as a whole structure had been kept as evidence so Tohra sahib left it untouched.

Calcutta was the secretary of the SGPC when Tohra filed the damages case. He himself attended some of the court hearings that took place in a local court.

Teja Singh Samundri Hall houses the offices of the SGPC office bearers including its chief secretary. Initially the office of the SGPC president was also in this building but it was shifted to an adjacent structure a couple of years back. The hall on the first floor of the building is important as all general house meetings of the gurdwara body are held here.

Makkar said the experts would videograph and photogarph each and every bullet mark on the building before the structure undergoes renovation.These photographs would be evidence that the building suffered damages in 84, he added.

Other than Teja Singh Samundri Hall, Makkar also announced that the bullet marks on Darshani Deori would not be destroyed and would be preserved.

Though these marks have been left untouched but there was apprehension that these could be done away with as currently some preservation work is going on at the Darshan Deori, where devotees bow while going towards the sanctum sanctorum for paying obeisance.
Theft of power transformers installed at tubewells in fields by farmers is common in villages of the district. The farmers either have to bring the transformers home or weld them on electricity poles. However, even that is a solution and there is always a risk of the transformers being stolen.

Four power transformers were stolen from Sirsari village on Tuesday night. Pargat Singh, a farmer of the village reported the matter to the police. The police have registered a case.

However, most cases of theft of transformers go unreported as farmers do not report the theft to the police because of harassment.

Most power connections released for tubewells during the past years are under the own your tubewell (OYT) scheme and farmers themselves are responsible for any kind of loss.

Farmers are not compensated for the theft of a transformer and any farmer, whose transformer is stolen, has no alternative but to buy a new one. A 10 KVA transformer costs from Rs 20,000 to Rs 45,000. The police are also reluctant to register a case in this regard. So, in most cases, the farmers choose to bear the loss silently, said Jagjeet Singh Dallewal, district president of the Bhartia Kisan Union (Sidhupore-Ekta), Faridkot.

My 10 KVA transformer was stolen in October from the fields. However, I did not approach the police because of a lot of harassment and getting nothing at the end. It cost me about Rs 35,000 around three years ago. In the first attempt, thieves failed to take away the transformer. I noticed the attempt and then I got it welded with a frame on the pole. But, even then the thieves stole it after cutting it from the frame. The thieves steal copper and oil from it and leave behind an empty broken box, said Gurmeet Singh, a farmer from Bukkan Singh Nagar near Kotkpaura.

My transformer was also stolen and I had to buy a new one. Some farmers have now started using transformers with aluminum coils as the they do not steal this kind of transformer as the metal is cheap, but it is not efficient like the transformer made of copper. Copper is main attraction for thieves, said Harman, a farmer from Faridkot.

As transformers are installed at tubewells in fields and are required to operate tubewells year round, farmers are helpless to protect them continuously. It is very difficult to bring transformers home after paddy season is over as during wheat season too, we need it. It is also a time-consuming process to detach it from the pole and bring it home. Even welding them with iron frames on poles do not make them secure, said Harman.

WHAT POWERCOM SAYS

In case the transformer is owned by us, we provide the farmer with a new transformer after its theft and also get an FIR registered. But, if it is owned by the farmer, he has to bear the loss and we do not compensate them, said Inderjeet Bansal, executive engineer, powercom, Kotkpaura.
India take on Bangladesh in their third match of the World T20 at Bengalurus M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday.

India came back well from the loss to New Zealand in the opener to beat Pakistan on Saturday and need to beat Bangladesh and Australia to confirm their place in the semifinals. The Kiwis, with 3 wins out of 3 games, have already booked the first semis spot from Group 2.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, are virtually out of the competition after losing both their games. Weakened by the suspension of bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny, they will look to determined to get their first win.

Heres HTs top five clashes to watch out for:

1. Rohit Sharma vs Mustafizur Rahman

After a couple of poor scores, Rohit Sharma will be gearing up for a big one and he will be up against pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who made a fine comeback from injury by taking two wickets against Australia.

2. Virat Kohli vs Shakib Al Hasan

Virat Kohli is in top form and will be hoping to carry the momentum of his half-century against Pakistan into this match.

Bangladesh will turn to their most experienced player, Shakib Al Hasan, to get Indias batting mainstay out of the way.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin vs Tamim Iqbal

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has always performed well against India and he will look to help his team get their first win.

India will look to get the southpaw out early and MS Dhoni will turn to his strike bowler Ashwin to do the job.

4. Yuvraj Singh vs Mahmudullah

Unlike a batsmen vs bowler contest, this one pits two middle-order batsmen against each other. Mahmudullahs 29-ball 49 powered his team to a competitive 156/5 against Australia, while Yuvrajs 23-ball 24 was a useful knock in a tense chase against Pakistan.

Knocks from these batsmen could prove the difference between an average total and a challenging one.

5. MS Dhoni vs Mashrafe Mortaza

The match will also be a clash between captains MS Dhoni and Mashrafe Mortaza.

After the emotionally-draining win against Pakistan, Dhoni knows the job is far from over for India. Not only do they need to register wins against Bangladesh and Australia, but they also need to try and boost their run rate in the process.The skipper was spot-on with his tactics against Pakistan and will look to repeat the same against a dangerous Bangladesh.

Mortaza has a point to prove. His side has lost two games, had Ahmed and Sunny suspended, and lost their previous two games to India. He will be keen to salvage some pride with a win.

(With inputs from Manoj Bhagavatula)

Read:

WT20: Pitch in focus as India look to strangle Bangladesh with spin

Virat key but cant write off others: Bangladeshs Shakib on WT20 clash
At least 11 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes and police firing in Bangladesh as the country held the first phase of local government elections on Tuesday.

Major violence broke out in Pirojpur district on Tuesday night after supporters of the ruling Awami League intercepted a presiding officer and allegedly attempted to snatch ballot boxes.

The melee prompted security officials to open fire, leaving five people dead and scores injured, said magistrate Kazi Ziaul Baset.

Security officials were ordered to fire after the situation went out of control when the mob attacked the presiding officer after holding him hostage, he said.

Pirojpurs superintendent of police Walid Hossain too said authorities had no choice but to act.

Six more people were killed in clashes in some other districts on Tuesday, officials said.

Elections to 712 Union Parishads were held in the first phase on Tuesday. Polls will be held to 4,275 parishads in six phases, with the last phase scheduled for June 4.

According to the Election Commission, the turnout for the first phase was 74%, though some observers were unhappy with the violence and alleged intimidation by members of the ruling party.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed said the polls were acceptable and peaceful barring some stray incidents.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas Awami League swept the results as an initial count showed it had bagged 521 posts of chairmen.

But the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia described the polls as a farce.

Union Parishads comprise the lowest tier of governance in rural Bangladesh, and each body is headed by a chairman. This is the first time such elections are being held with party symbols.

Badiul Alam Majumdar, an analyst, told Hindustan Times he was shocked by the extent of intimidation and violence during the elections.

This is nothing but an attempt to establish further control over power. Such naked attempts to establish supremacy in the name of democracy are shameful, he said.
Belgian police identified two suspected Islamic State suicide bombers captured on security cameras before they struck Brussels Airport on Tuesday in the first of two attacks that also hit the citys metro, public broadcaster RTBF said on Wednesday.

The death toll in the attacks on the Belgian capital, home to the European Union institutions and NATO, rose to at least 31 with more than 200 wounded, Health Minister Maggie De Block said on VRT television.

The Syrian-based Islamist militant group claimed responsibility four days after the arrest in Brussels of a prime suspect in Novembers Paris attacks. If confirmed, the identifications would link the Brussels blasts directly to the jailed Paris suspect, Salah Abdeslam.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

RTBF, quoting a police source, named the suspected bombers as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, two brothers resident in Brussels and known to the security services for crime.

The newspaper DH said a third suspect seen with them before running away from the airport after the blasts was identified as Najim Laachraoui, 25, a man sought by police and directly linked to Abdeslam.

Khalid had rented under a false name the apartment in the citys Forest borough, where police hunting Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

Read | Brussels attacks: Manhunt on for IS suspect, police issue wanted notice

The Brussels blasts fuelled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants.

We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world, said US President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to succeed Obama in Novembers U.S. election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks.

Brussels police searched a house in the north of the city late into the night, turning up another bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making chemicals in an apartment in the borough ofSchaerbeek.

Local media said authorities had followed a tip from a taxi driver who may have driven the bombers to the airport.

Investigators said they were focusing on a man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden baggage trolley at the airport with two others they believed were the bombers. Anun used explosive device was later found at the airport and the man, believed to be Laachraoui, was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions.

CLOSING IN

Security experts believed the blasts, which killed about 20 people on a metro train running through the area that houses EU institutions, were probably in preparation before Fridays arrest of locally based French national Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks.

He was caught and has been speaking to investigators after a shootout at an apartment in the south of the city a week ago, after which another Islamic State flag and explosives were found. It was unclear whether he had knowledge of the new attack or whether accomplices may have feared police were closing in.

Islamic State said in a statement that caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns struck Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station.

It was not clear, however, that the attackers used vests. The suspects were photographed pushing bags on trolleys, and witnesses said many of the airport dead and wounded were hit mostly in the legs, possibly indicating blasts at floor level.

Officials said the final death tolls remained uncertain from the carnage in the morning rush hour, around 8am (0700 GMT) at the airport and shortly after 9am on the metro.

A photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks. The third, wearing a light-coloured jacket and a hat, is actively being sought, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a news conference.

The two men in dark clothes wore gloves on their left handsonly. One security expert speculated they might have concealeddetonators. The man in the hat was not wearing any gloves.

If you recognise this individual or if you have information on this attack, please contact the investigators, a police wanted notice for the third man read. Discretion assured.

Islamic State warned of black days for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a centre of Islamist militancy.

About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities.

What we had feared has come to pass, said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, vowing to face down the threat.

On Wednesday, he will host a prearranged visit by French Premier Manuel Valls, who declared: We are at war.

Reviving arguments over Belgian policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of naivete on the part of certain leaders in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying that France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalised.

Life began to return to normal in Brussels on Wednesday, with some public transport working and cars returning to the European district, but the metro system remained closed and the airport was still shut to travellers.

Read | Ukraine leader says cant rule out Russias role in Brussels attacks

Read | Children thought fireworks as blood, smoke covered Brussels victims
Off we go! Life goes on! said the Brussels subway driver, slamming the cabin door and pulling away from the station.

Barely 24 hours after Belgiums worst-ever terror attacks, underground metro services resumed in the capital as life began to return to normal on Wednesday.

Part of the line where a suicide bomber killed around 20 passengers Tuesday remained closed, but most trains, trams and buses ran to schedule -- even if some commuters seemed reluctant to use public transport.

Im a bit afraid, especially for my little brothers, said Dominique Salazar, 18, as he took his siblings, aged three and six, to school. But we dont have any other choice to get around.

Soldiers checked passenger bags at entrances to the subway stations in Europes symbolic capital, where some entry points had been closed to enable tighter security.

The usual morning rush hour crowds on underground train platforms were noticeably thinner, however, and there were fewer cyclists on the streets above.

People gather on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels. (AFP Photo)

As workers headed for work in the city centre many stopped off to leave flowers at the historic Place de la Bourse square in the heart of Brussels, which has become a centre for public outpouring of grief.

Read | A Brussels hero: This airport worker pulled seven people to safety

By midday, a huge crowd had gathered there to observe a national minute of silence in memory of the around 30 people killed and the 270 hurt, some seriously.

With Belgium unusually clear of rain Wednesday, chalk messages scrawled on the pavements testified to a people coming together in mourning.

Solidarity, We are one, Love Brussels, said messages left beside candles, flowers and notes to the families of victims.

Last night I came to leave a candle and Im back this morning out of solidarity, said Latifa Charaf, 50, a teacher. We thought it couldnt happen here, but it did and its terrible.

Jokes amid the fear

At Schuman metro station at the foot of the European Unions headquarters and just one station from the Maalbeek stop where the attack took place, travellers seemed more confused by changes to the usual schedule than fearful.

One passenger who stepped onto a train and then off again, asking: Wheres that one headed?

I havent yet fully realised whats happening, Im still stuck in my daily problems but perhaps its better that way, said Pierre Pardon, a social worker.

But he said fear was at the back of everyones minds.

Read | Brussels airport bomber left will saying I dont know what to do

Obviously! We heard that the son of one of my wifes colleagues died during the night. I myself was only 20 minutes away from the Maalbeek attack, said Pardon, 43.

I guess my time hadnt yet come.

A 40-year-old secretary who gave her name only as Valerie said she had no time to worry. Im too busy figuring whats working and whats not, what stations are open, what trains are running, she said.

And I dont want to be paranoid. People here are looking out for our security, she added, pointing to the three soldiers armed with assault rifles on patrol nearby.

Rescuers attend a ceremony outside the terminal at Brussels airport following bomb attacks in Brussels. (Reuterrs Photo)

Cries of long live Belgium and defiant applause broke out after the symbolic display of solidarity at noon at the central Place de la Bourse.

But the mood remained sombre at EU headquarters where Belgiums King Philippe and his wife and Prime Minister Charles Michel, joined officials led by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for the minutes silence.

We are showing our compassion, said Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur. We need to reach out today to all those who were hurt.

Stepping off a train from Enghien, some 30 kilometres away, a supermarket employee who gave his name only as Vasco said people are not as calm as they like to seem.

But were still smiling and making jokes, even about what happened yesterday. The Belgian spirit lives on.

Read | Tintins tears become symbol of solidarity after Brussels attacks
Brussels had no alarm, but it became one for many other international hot-spots across the globe.

Following the twin explosions at Brussels Airport on Tuesday in which more than 30 were killed, several countries have tightened or reviewed airport security.

While many world leaders condemned the bombings and expressed their solidarity with Belgium, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday blamed Europes porous borders and lax security for the attack.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks in the departure hall of Zaventem airport, and a rush-hour metro train, killing more than 30.

Prosecutors said the blasts at the airport, which serves more than 23 million passengers a year, were believed to be caused by suicide bombers.

Turnbull waded into the global debate about protecting borders, reassuring Australians that our domestic security arrangements are much stronger than they are in Europe where regrettably they allowed things to slip.

That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems theyve been having in recent times, he said in Sydney.

Authorities in London, Paris and Frankfurt responded to the attacks by stepping up the number of police on patrol at their airports and other transport hubs. Airlines scrambled to divert flights as Brussels airport announced it would remain closed on Wednesday.

Police dog handlers speak to travellers as they patrol at St Pancras international railway station in London after Eurostar train services were suspended on the Brussels route after the attacks in Belgium on Tuesday. (AP)

Two terrorists who enter the terminal area with explosive devices, this is undoubtedly a colossal failure, Pini Schiff, the former security chief at Tel Avivs Ben-Gurion Airport and currently the CEO of the Israel Security Association, said in an interview with Israel Radio.

In the United States, the countrys largest cities were placed on high alert and the National Guard was called in to increase security at New York Citys two airports.

A United Nations agency was already reviewing airport security following the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt by a makeshift soda-can bomb in October last year. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for smuggling the bomb on board.

Read | Brussels blasts put focus back on Belgian capitals terror hotbed

But despite attacks like a suicide bomb at Moscows Domodedovo airports arrival hall in 2011 that killed 37 people, there has been less attention focused on how airports themselves are secured.

It strikes me as strange that only half of the airport is secure. Surely the whole airport should be secure, from the minute you arrive in the car park, said Matthew Finn, managing director of independent aviation security consultants Augmentiq.

Checkpoints

The relative openness of public airport areas in Western Europe contrasts with some in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where travellers documents and belongings are checked before they are allowed to enter the airport building.

In Turkey, passengers and bags are screened on entering the terminal and again after check-in. Moscow also checks people at terminal entrances.

Israels Ben Gurion Airport is known for its tough security, including passenger profiling to identify those viewed as suspicious, bomb sniffing devices and questioning of each individual traveller.

In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where authorities are on high alert for attacks by Somali-based al Shabaab militants, passengers have to get out of their cars, which are then searched, at a checkpoint a kilometre from the main terminal.

But adding checks such as bag X-rays at terminal entrances could themselves create a potential target, one analyst said.

Any movement of the security comb to the public entrance of a terminal building would cause congestion, inconvenience and flight delays, while the inevitable resulting queues would themselves present an attractive target, said Ben Vogel, Editor, IHS Janes Airport Review.

Read | Images of Brussels attack suspects released, death toll crosses 30

Large numbers of uniformed police officers and National Guard troops dressed in battle fatigues and carrying rifles patrolled New Yorks John F Kennedy International Airport. Several US carriers - Delta Air Lines Inc, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc - said they cancelled or rerouted flights as a result of the Brussels attacks.

At mid afternoon, authorities at the Denver airport evacuated two levels on the west side of the main terminal after several packages that appeared suspicious were spotted near ticket counters, airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

Denver police, FBI and US Transportation Security Administration officers converged on the airport, but the packages were ultimately deemed to pose no threat, and the terminal was fully reopened within two hours.

Several airlines were affected by the scare, including American Airlines, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways, the airport said.

The US flag is seen flying at half-staff over the White House, behind the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson after US President Barack Obama ordered the lowering in honour of the victims of the attacks in Brussels. (AFP)

World must unite

US President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff in memory of the victims in the Belgium attacks.

The State Department said an undetermined number of US citizens had been injured in Brussels but none were killed. Three Mormon missionaries and a US Air Force member and his family were among those hurt.

The Obama administration also was expected to impose tighter security measures at US airports following the Brussels Airport bombings, which occurred in a public hall outside of the security check area.

US representative William Keating of Massachusetts, senior Democrat on a House subcommittee on terrorism, said the suicide bombings illustrated the difficulty of protecting soft targets outside tightly controlled security cordons.

Read | Brussels blasts: Shocked world leaders express solidarity with Belgium

The targets arent going to be just getting on the plane itself, but the airport in general, he said in a phone interview.

Obama addressed the attacks briefly in a speech in Havana on his historic visit to Cuba, vowing to support Belgium as it hunts for those responsible.

This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism, Obama said.
Authorities in Brussels said they were still searching for a third airport bombing suspect they after two brothers were identified as the suspected Islamic State suicide bombers who targeted the airport and a metro station in the city.

Belgian media earlier reported Najim Laachraoui, 24, was arrested by a special unit on suspicion of involvement in the two bombings on Tuesday. The report, however, was later withdrawn.

The report said Laachraoui was believed to be the man wearing a cap in the picture of three suspects released by Belgian authorities on Tuesday. Earlier, his DNA was found on explosive materials used in the Paris attacks of November 2015.

Read: 2 Brussels suspects identified as brothers, Paris attacker link found

State broadcaster RTBF, citing a police source, named the two suspected bombers as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, both residents of Brussels and known to the security services for organised crime.

Ibrahim blew himself up at Zaventem airport, while his brother Khalid was the suicide bomber who targeted the Maalbeek metro station. Ibrahim is believed to be the man in the middle of the photo of three suspects released on Tuesday.

Over 30 people were killed at the airport and the metro station, and some 260 others were injured in the two attacks.

The Bakraoui brothers were also linked to the Paris attacks of November 2015 that killed 130 people, RTBF reported. Using a false name, Khalid had rented an apartment in the Forest borough of Brussels, where police hunting key suspect Salah Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week.

Abdeslam was arrested on Friday and reports have suggested that Tuesdays bombings were carried out in retaliation.

State broadcaster RTBF, citing a police source, named the two suspected bombers as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, both residents of Brussels and known to the security services for organised crime. (DR/Interpol)

Khalid was also linked to a hideout at Charleroi that was used by terrorists while preparing for the Paris attacks. The brothers were also linked to the terrorist cell of which Abdeslam was a member.

Read: Ukraine leader says cant rule out Russias role in Brussels attacks

The three suspects, including the Bakraoui brothers, were captured by security cameras before they struck at the airport. The Islamic State claimed responsibility hours after the three blasts.

Brussels police searched a house in the north of the city late into Tuesday night, turning up another bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making chemicals in an apartment in the borough of Schaerbeek.

Local media reported authorities had followed a tip from a taxi driver who might have driven the bombers to the airport.

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

The Brussels blasts also fuelled political debate about how to combat militants.

Read: Children thought fireworks as blood, smoke covered Brussels victims

We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world, said US President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for the nomination to succeed Obama in Novembers US election, suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks.

The Islamic State warned of black days for those fighting it in Syria and Iraq. Belgian warplanes have joined the coalition in the Middle East, but Brussels has long been a centre of Islamist militancy.

About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities.

(An earlier version of this story quoted the Belgian media as saying that the third Brussels attacks suspect had been arrested. The story was modified to remove this information after the local media withdrew the report.)
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim neighbourhoods in the US must be intensified following the deadly bombings at Brussels, while rival Donald Trump suggested torturing a suspect in last years Paris attacks would have prevented the carnage.

Echoing Trumps earlier statements, Cruz said the US should stop the flow of refugees from countries where the Islamic State militant group has a significant presence. The Islamic State took credit for the attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens Tuesday and wounded many more.

We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalized, the Texas senator said in a statement.

Trump praised Cruzs plan as a good idea that he supports 100 percent in an interview with CNN. The Republican front-runner also intensified his past calls for the US to engage in harsher interrogation techniques, arguing that Belgium could have prevented the bombings had it tortured a suspect in last years Paris attacks who was arrested last week.

Well, you know, he may be talking, but hell talk a lot faster with the torture. ... Because he probably knew about it. I would be willing to bet that he knew about this bombing that took place today, Trump said.

Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the US, said nothings nice about techniques such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning. He added, Its your minimal form of torture. We cant waterboard and they can chop off heads.

Republican Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said earlier Tuesday the Brussels plot was probably already underway before the suspects arrest and that his apprehension may have sped up its execution.

When reminded that international law prohibits torture, Trump responded: Well, I would say that the eggheads that came up with this international law should turn on their television and watch CNN right now, because Im looking at scenes on CNN right now as Im speaking to you that are absolutely atrocious.

Speaking Tuesday afternoon in New York, Cruz praised the citys police departments former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighbourhoods, called for its reinstatement and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

New Yorkers want a safe and secure America, Cruz said. New Yorkers saw first-hand the tragic consequences of radical Islamic terrorism.

After the 9/11 attacks, the New York Police Department used its intelligence division to cultivate informants and conduct surveillance in Muslim communities. In a series of articles, The Associated Press revealed the intelligence division had infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and investigated hundreds. The program was disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.

Trump said the city had the finest surveillance of the whole radical Islam situation that there is. He joined Cruz in blaming the citys mayor, Bill de Blasio, for ending it.

He took it down and he knocked it out and that was a terrible mistake, said Trump, adding: We can be nice about it and we can be politically correct about it, but were being fools, OK?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the calls for surveillance, saying it sends an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties.

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand. He said he strongly disagrees with calls for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims.

That would be unconstitutional  it would be wrong, Sanders said.

Imam Abdisalam Adam, the board chair of Dar Al-Hijrah Riverside Islamic Center, a mosque in a Somali neighbourhood in Minneapolis, said putting more scrutiny on Muslim communities is not a way to keep the country safe.
US Republican candidate Ted Cruz showed some fight with a win in Utah after front-runner Donald Trump swept to victory in Arizona on Tuesday. Cruz win gave hope to establishment Republicans who fear Trump would lead the party to ruin in the presidential election.

On the Democratic side, favourite Hillary Clinton routed challenger Bernie Sanders in Arizona to stretch her advantage in the race for her partys presidential nomination.

Sanders, however, won contests in Utah and Idaho to bolster his case that he still has a chance despite Clintons big lead. The nominating battles in Arizona and Utah, plus the Democratic contest in Idaho, were overshadowed by attacks in Brussels in which at least 30 people were killed and raised security concerns among US voters.

Trump helped himself in Arizona with a hardline anti-immigration message and tough talk on Islamic militants to easily defeat Cruz, a US senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

Trump had the backing in Arizona of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of the most prominent supporters of a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The win furthered Trumps argument that he will eventually win the Republican presidential nomination and that the party should rally around him. He won all of Arizonas 58 delegates.

Cruz, though, won big in Utahs caucuses, giving hope to those Republicans who fear Trumps proposal to deport 11 million illegal immigrants and build a wall on the US border with Mexico would guarantee a Democratic victory in the November 8 election.

Cruz appeared to be on track to win all of Utahs 40 Republican delegates. Since the states 40 delegates are awarded proportionate to the popular vote, he needed to win at least 50% of the vote to take all the delegates.

He appeared to benefit from Mormons who dominate the Republican vote in Utah. They did not take kindly to a Trump attack on native son Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who has led the anti-Trump opposition.

Democratic hopeful Sanders said his Utah and Idaho victories were powered by young people and working-class Americans who support his political revolution.

These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests, he said.

Sanders is looking for wins in many of the six Democratic contests this week. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington will vote on Saturday. Clinton will keep adding to her delegate total even if she is not the winner in a given state because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally in all states.

Tuesdays Republican contests were the first since U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out a week ago after Trump drubbed him in his home state.

Kasich is the only other candidate still in the race, splitting the anti-Trump vote with Cruz.
The family of an Indian Jet Airways employee wounded in the Brussels attacks and whose image was pictured on newspaper front pages around the world will soon fly out to join her, a relative told AFP on Wednesday.

Three bombs ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on Tuesday, leaving over 30 people dead and more than 250 wounded, including Jet Airways employee Nidhi Chaphekar, a flight attendant from Mumbai.

A haunting photograph of a dazed Chaphekar covered in debris, that surfaced soon after two massive suicide blasts hit Zaventem Airport, became one of the most widely published images of the bombings.

In the photo, also shared by millions on social media, the mother of two is pictured in the tattered remains of her yellow Jet Airways jacket, missing a shoe and with blood running down her face.

Depending on when the next earliest flight out of the country is, my brother and I will be leaving by tonight or tomorrow morning, the 40-year-old flight attendants brother-in-law, Nilesh Chaphekar, told AFP by telephone.

We havent been able to speak to her directly yet. All we know is that she is in stable condition now, he said, adding that it has been a very traumatic experience.

Jet Airways said that both Chaphekar and another employee who was also hurt in the blasts, Amit Motwani, were both recovering well and that it had made arrangements for both families to fly to Brussels.

Based on latest updates from #Brussels, our colleagues Nidhi and Amit are recovering well. We look forward to welcome them home soon, the airline posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear when the employees were expected back in their homes in Mumbai, Indias financial capital.

Many online websites have criticised the publishing and sharing of Chaphekars photo, saying that her privacy should be respected.

Its sad how insensitive media & SM (social media) is being, in broadcasting @jetairwayss injured crew members photo. Respect her privacy please!!!, tweeted Indian actress Gul Panag.

Separately, an Indian employee of Infosys is said to be missing in the aftermath of the attacks, the Bangalore-based software firm said on Wednesday.

We are trying to reach one employee with whom we have not been able to connect, the IT outsourcing firm said in a statement.

Infosys said it was in touch with the missing workers family and authorities in the Belgian capital in an attempt to locate the employee.
The deliberations held by South Asian countries at the Idyllic Nepalese town of Pokhara last week have yet again showed how India-Pakistan rivalry continues to impede the cause of regional integration.

After scuttling a long-awaited motor vehicle agreement, Pakistan clamped down on the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) satellite project  a venture that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced at the 2014 Nepal SAARC summit as Indias gift to South Asia.

SAARC is not a forum for taking up bilateral issues anymore. It doesnt discuss issues like Kashmir. It has, instead, become a forum where bilateral nagging issues between India and Pakistan stall regional projects and ideas, a South Asian diplomat said on the condition of anonymity.

The satellite project was meant to help countries in the fields of education, health and emergency communication during disasters. Pakistan, however, felt that it could be an attempt by India to access information on its vital installations and resources.

An Indian official involved with the project said that the allegation was unwarranted. One can raise a political objection to anything. This is exactly what has happened here. Its not as if countries like Bangladesh or Sri Lanka didnt raise what they thought were genuine concerns. We engaged them on these issues and allayed their doubts. Pakistan was simply not interested in the project.

Read: Pakistan throws spanner in SAARC road connectivity plans again

As Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project, it cannot be called a SAARC satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite, said external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

Thanks to the issues between India and Pakistan, two of its largest economies, SAARC remains one of the least integrated groupings in the world. The intra-regional trade in goods of the association  founded in 1985  accounts for 5% of the total trade, as opposed to 26% among ASEAN (South East Asian) countries. Less than 10% of the regions commerce is conducted in the SAARC Free Trade Area.

The SAARC satellite project is the second in recent times to have gone the sub-regional way, after being projected as a signature venture for the subcontinent.

After Pakistan refused to join the South Asian road connectivity initiative under the SAARC rubric, India bypassed the neighbouring country by forming a separate pact with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

The Pokhara talks were held in the run-up to the SAARC summit in Islamabad later this year.

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Britains Prince Harry says he will extend his trip to Nepal by another week to help rebuild a school damaged by the devastating earthquake last year.

The 31-year-olds official engagements ended on Wednesday, but according to a statement from the British embassy here, he will stay back to help a charity comprising of military veterans involved in post-disaster work.

I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon, he said at a reception organized at the embassy on Wednesday to mark the end of his official visit which began on Saturday.

The team Im joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake. I am grateful to have this opportunity.

The media wont be permitted to attend the event but the statement says that the school is located in central Nepal where the students are still studying in makeshift tents made of tarpaulin and tin. By providing a proper school for the children of this remote village, and repairing basic services such as hydroelectric turbine we will be able to make a real difference, said Simon Clarke, director of field operations of Team Rubicon UK.

The fourth in line to the British throne will stay in camps during the course of the next six days and will leave Nepal at the end of the month.

During his visit, Prince Harry took stock of the reconstruction work and interacted with those affected. He also met families of British Gurkhas and indulged in trekking, jungle safari and rafting.

Read: Nepal hopes Prince Harrys visit will revive quake-ravaged tourism

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39-year-old Sukhvir Badesha has been charged for murder in connection with domestic violence that led to the death of 61-year-old woman in Surrey.

The incident, which happened over the past weekend, also left a 35-year-old woman injured.

The deceased has been identified as Darshun Badesha in the court registry documents in possession of HT. Although police has not confirmed the relationship between the suspect and the slain victim, it is believed that she was his mother.

Neighbours said that the dead woman lived with her son. The incident followed an altercation in the family. The suspect has been charged with second degree murder, aggravated assault and uttering threats.

He is now expected to appear in the Surrey provincial court for bail hearing next month.
One of the attackers in the Brussels suicide bombings was deported last year from Turkey, and Belgium subsequently ignored a warning that the man was a militant, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Erdogans office identified the man as Ibrahim El Bakraoui, one of the two brothers named by Belgium as responsible for the attacks that killed at least 31 people in Brussels on Tuesday and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Belgian officials did not respond to requests for comment.

In previous cases, officials have said that without evidence of crime, such as having fought in Syria, they cannot jail people deported from Turkey. Among such cases was Brahim Abdeslam, one of the suicide bombers in Paris in November, who was also sent back to Belgium from Turkey early last year.

Erdogan told a news conference that Bakraoui was detained in the southern Turkish province of Gaziantep near the Syrian border and was later deported to the Netherlands. Turkey also notified Dutch authorities, Erdogan said.

Read | 2 Brussels suspects identified as brothers, Paris attacker link found

A Dutch government official said Erdogans comments were being carefully looking into, but that they could not yet say if El Bakraoui had been in the Netherlands.

One of the attackers in Brussels is an individual we detained in Gaziantep in June 2015 and deported. We reported the deportation to the Belgian Embassy in Ankara on July 14, 2015, but he was later set free, Erdogan said.

Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter.

Read | Brussels attacks: Manhunt on for IS suspect, police issue wanted notice

Erdogans office confirmed that Bakraoui was deported to the Netherlands. It said he was later released by Belgian authorities as no links with terrorism were found. It was not clear when Bakraoui was handed over to Belgian authorities.

Erdogan initially said Bakraoui was deported in June. His office later said he was detained in June and deported in July.

The attacks in Brussels came just days after a suspected Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbuls most popular shopping district, killing three Israelis and an Iranian and wounding dozens.
Excess fertilizers and raw human waste spell trouble for Lake Erie. New research suggests that in order to eradicate the problem, large-scale changes need to be made to current agricultural practices.

The issue is phosphorus runoff from farms and nearby watersheds feeds an oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the lake, as well as toxin-producing algal blooms, such as the 2014 event that contaminated the drinking water of more than 400,000 people near Toledo, Ohio, for two days.

This study follows a goal established last month by U.S. and Canadian governments to reduce this contamination by 40 percent from 2008 levels. Multi-institution computer modeling led by researchers at the University of Michigan revealed that meeting this goal requires the widespread use of strong fertilizer-management practices, significant conversion of cropland to grassland and more targeted conservation efforts.

"Our results suggest that for most of the scenarios we tested, it will not be possible to achieve the new target nutrient loads without very significant, large-scale implementation of these agricultural practices," said Don Scavia, lead author of the study and director of the Graham Sustainability Institute. "It appears that traditional voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs would have to be implemented at an unprecedented scale or are simply not sufficient to reach these environmental goals, and that new complementary policies and programs are needed."

After consulting with agricultural and environmental experts, researchers created a list of potentially effective cropland management practices, including various options for fertilizer application, tillage operations, crop rotations and land conversion.

Researchers then created 12 scenarios that were each tested using six computer models. The watershed models, for example, tested the ability of each scenario to achieve the proposed 40 percent phosphorus-reduction target. Each scenario addressed both the total amount of phosphorus, known as TP, and the amount of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) - the form of the nutrient that facilitates toxic algal blooms.

"The most promising scenarios included widespread use of nutrient management practices - especially subsurface application of phosphorus-based fertilizers - along with substantial conversion of cropland to grassland and extensive use of buffer strips," explained Jay Martin, study co-author from Ohio State University.

However, seven of the 12 management scenarios did not meet the 40 percent reduction goal. One of the five capable scenarios - scenario 6 - requires taking nearly 30,000 acres of cropland out of production and putting more than 1.5 million acres under strict conservation regulation. This, researchers say, is equivalent to impacting more than 6,300 farms, as the average farm is about 235 acres.

"While there may be a temptation to select one model based on 'superior performance,' there is no one way to evaluate model performance," said Margaret Kalcic, study co-author from the University of Michigan. "Instead, we chose to use multiple models because together they represent the range of reasonable representations of the real world."

In other words, improved conservation requires the right mix of land and water management practices, deployed in the right place and amount. Even still, reducing phosphorus runoff is no easy feat, and meeting federal-imposed goals has proved difficult for other troubled areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay.

A full report, titled "Informing Lake Erie Agriculture Nutrient Management Via Scenario Evaluation," can be found online.

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In a partnership between two corporate giants that is set to make TV viewing in the United States a lot better for consumers, Amazon launched the Amazon Cable Store, a dedicated landing page that allows customers to order Comcast's Xfinity cable, Internet and phone services through the e-commerce giant's website.

Sources, who have opted to remain anonymous, stated that the deal between the two giants was first explored about a year ago, when Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and the company's cable division's president Neil Smit visited Silicon Valley.

During the visit, the Comcast executives met with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, resulting in the idea of selling Comcast's services through the e-commerce giant's web store. Smit described the meeting in a previous interview.

"They helped us in our thinking about how to simplify the experience and just make it clean," he said.

Analysts stated that the deal between the two companies seems to be mutually beneficial. Through the agreement, Amazon would be taking a fee for each successful transaction that is completed in the Cable Store. Comcast, on the other hand, would benefit from Amazon's stellar reputation in customer service.

Comcast gained notoriety for being one of the least ranked companies in America when it comes to customer satisfaction. Through the years, Comcast has attempted to repair this image, but the stigma of being a company that bares its fangs to customers frequently has never really disappeared.

Through the deal with Amazon, customers who sign up for Comcast's Xfinity services through the Cable Store would enjoy numerous benefits, one of which is a dedicated, special customer service hotline that is separate from Comcast's infamous call centers.

"We're partnering with a company that's so good at the customer experience," Smit said. "I think that's really what excites me."

A dedicated hotline that promises no headaches is but the tip of the iceberg as the Amazon-Comcast partnership promises far more for its future customers, such as gift cards and other exclusive online offers.

Despite only being partnered with Comcast for now, the Amazon Cable Store seems designed to offer deals from other cable companies as well. Charter Communications Inc., for one, has already announced that it is currently in discussions with the e-commerce giant about a possible retail partnership.

If that happens, and more cable providers partner with Amazon, acquiring and maintaining TV, Internet and phone services in the United States would never be easier.

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In a situation that could mean someone in DelMarVa (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) is behaving viciously toward bald eagles, Delaware state officials are investigating the deaths last weekend of eagles in Delaware's Sussex County in the second case of questionable eagle death in the Chesapeake area in only two months.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's forensics lab made a determination in late February that more than a dozen eagles found dead on a Maryland farm on Feb. 20 "did not die from natural causes." The federal resource officials are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in that case.

In Delaware, officials with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) are asking for the public's help regarding any information about sick eagles seen near the town of Dagsboro.

One of the eagles in the weekend case was found dead on Saturday. Resuscitation efforts for three other eagles by Tri-State Bird Rescue failed. The three birds that died had been found with other disoriented eagles in a farm field in Sussex County, maybe a mile from where the earlier Delaware dead eagle was found.

From the group of disoriented eagles, three flew away before their health could be checked by Tri-State Bird Rescue. For this reason, the DNREC police are asking for any public tips on eagles behaving erratically in the area. "We don't know how many eagles may have been affected, so we are asking the public to notify us immediately should they see birds that appear sick," noted Sgt. John McDerby with the natural resource police.

In addition, five birds from the group were taken to Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark. Two of them remain under observation there.

While U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agents are already involved in the Maryland cases, the federal agents will join the Delaware investigation by Monday. "This is an active investigation and we do not know what has caused the eagles to become sick and die," said McDerby. "We're also asking people not to attempt to capture or handle any eagles they encounter on the ground. These eagles will already be distressed so handling them could cause additional injuries to the eagle and possibly to anyone trying to help them."

If anyone has information about injured or ill eagles, please report it to the dispatch center at the Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police, 800-523-3336. Members of the public with any information regarding the eagles are also urged to contact Delaware's Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police call 24-hour Operation Game Theft hotline at 800-292-3030. The calls will be kept confidential by the DNREC.

Bald eagles no longer have Endangered Species Act listing, but they have federal protection under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. There are maximum fines under these acts of $100,000 and $15,000 respectively. Imprisonment of up to one year is also possible.

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The effects of cannabis use have been heavily debated over the past few years as individual states within the U.S. have been slowly legalizing the medicinal use of the substance. Although some studies have found that marijuana can have a therapeutic effect on people with different health conditions, a new study suggests that smoking too much weed can end up hurting one's social and financial status.

"Our research does not support arguments for or against cannabis legalization," said lead investigator Magdalena Cerda at the University of California, Davis, Health System. "But it does show that cannabis was not safe for the long-term users tracked in our study."

For this research, the international team, which included Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffitt at Duke University, set out to examine the long-term effects of excessive and persistent marijuana use. The researchers looked at data on 947 out of 1,037 people from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. The participants were born from 1972-1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand. All of the participants were tracked from when they were born and to the age of 38. There were a total of 11 follow-up examinations.

After assessing cannabis use and dependence, the researchers found that 173 participants, or 18 percent, could be categorized as marijuana dependent, and 140 participants, or 15 percent, could be grouped as regular cannabis users in at least one time frame within the study.

The researchers found that people who smoked weed at least four days a week over several years were more likely to have a lower social class than their parents. This group of smokers tended to have lower-income jobs that were considered to be less skillful and less prestigious. They were also more likely to have money, work and relationship problems.

"Our study found that regular cannabis users experienced downward social mobility and more financial problems such as troubles with debt and cash flow than those who did not report such persistent use," Cerda said. "Regular long-term users also had more antisocial behaviors at work, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, and experienced more relationship problems, such as intimate partner violence and controlling abuse."

The researchers added that these social and economic problems remained even after they factored in variables, such as IQ (intelligence quotient), criminal history, socioeconomic problems in childhood and depression.

"These findings did not arise because cannabis users were prosecuted and had a criminal record," said Caspi. "Even among cannabis users who were never convicted for a cannabis offense, we found that persistent and regular cannabis use was linked to economic and social problems."

When the researchers compared cannabis use to alcohol use, they found that the effects from both drugs were generally the same with one exception: cannabis use had a greater negative effect on one's finances.

"Cannabis may be safer than alcohol for your health, but not for your finances," Moffitt said.

"Alcohol is still a bigger problem than cannabis because alcohol use is more prevalent than cannabis use. But, as the legalization of cannabis increases around the world, the economic and social burden posed by regular cannabis use could increase as well," Cerda added.

The study's findings were published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

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While malaria affects almost 500 million people each year, there are various species of the malaria parasite that can affect other animals, such as birds, bats and other mammals. A new study by the Field Museum of Natural History sheds light on the evolution of these unique malaria species in an attempt to further our understanding of the origins of human malaria.

"We can't begin to understand how malaria spread to humans until we understand its evolutionary history," said Holly Lutz, lead author of the study. "In learning about its past, we may be better able to understand the effects it has on us."

In order to better understand the different malaria species, Lutz and her team collected blood samples from hundreds of East African birds, bats and other mammals and examined them for parasites. After pinpointing malaria, they sampled the DNA of the parasites and sequenced it in order to reveal the mutations in the genetic code tied to malaria. Using this data, the team was able to determine the relationship between different malaria species.

The team used large samples and made sure to take DNA for a variety of species of bats and birds in order to create the most complete evolutionary picture of malaria as possible.

"Trying to determine the evolutionary history of malaria from just a few specimens would be like trying to reconstruct the bird family tree when you only know about eagles and canaries," Lutz said. "There's still more to discover, but this is the most complete analysis of its kind for malaria to date."

The results revealed that that malaria parasite originated in bird hosts and then made its way to bats, followed by other mammals. However, Lutz stresses that bats are not responsible for this process.

"It's not that bats are spreading malaria - we get different species of malaria than they do, and we can't get it from them," she said. "Instead, by looking at patterns of mutations in the DNA of the different malaria species, we're able to see when it branched off from one host group into another. It started out as a parasite in birds, and then it evolved to colonize bats, and from there, it's evolved to affect other mammals."

The team hopes that their findings will help scientists better understand how malaria evolves in order to better treat the devastating disease.

"Malaria is notoriously adaptive to treatment, and its DNA holds a host of secrets about how it's able to change and evolve," Lutz said. "Having a better understanding of its evolutionary history could help scientists anticipate its future."

The findings were published in the March 12 issue of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

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The Hawaiian Islands have been known as a place with only one endemic (native, restricted to one region or area) land mammal, in all the brief geologic history of this archipelago. That mammal is the Hawaiian hoary bat.

Now new fossil findings say that another and very different type of bat lived along with the hoary bat for thousands of years. It went extinct a short time after humans' arrival on the islands, says the new research.

The new bat is called Synemporion keana. Its remains were first found in a lava tube more than 30 years ago. Scientists have been threshing out its place in the tree of life since then.

"The Hawaiian Islands are a long way from anywhere, and as a result, they have a very unique fauna--its native animals apparently got there originally by flying or swimming," noted Nancy Simmons, a paper co-author and curator-in-charge at the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Mammalogy. "Besides the animals that humans have introduced to the islands, like rats and pigs, the only mammals that we've known to be native to Hawaii are a monk seal, which is primarily aquatic, and the hoary bat. So finding that there actually was a different bat--a second native land mammal for the islands--living there for such a long period of time was quite a surprise."

The new bat first turned up when co-author Francis Howarth at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu found bat skeletal remains in a lava tube in Maui in 1981. Howarth, Alan Ziegler and other colleagues later found other bat remains on four other islands.

"The initial specimens included skeletons embedded in crystals on the lava tube wall and thus were likely very old," said Howarth. "Ziegler eagerly guided me through the bat collection at the Bishop Museum to identify the bat and show me features to look for in order to find additional material for study."

Ziegler, and later Simmons, investigated the bat's place in the tree of life. The new extinct species appeared in the islands' fossil record about 320,000 years ago. It was a surviving species until at least 1,100 years ago, or possibly a good deal later. Synemporion keana was a kind of vesper, or evening bat. So far, many of its features have have only distinguished it - scientists have not been able to identify possible relatives. The team hopes that working with the ancient DNA from the fossils will help them to glean more information.

"This extinct bat really is something new, not just a slight variation on a theme of a known genus," said Simmons. "The new bat contains a mosaic of features from taxa seen on many different continents. At some point, their ancestors flew to Hawaii, but we can't tell if they came from North America, Asia, or the Pacific Islands - they really could have come from anywhere based on what we know now."

Human colonization of the islands, and the arrival of non-native species following those people, may have contributed to the bat's extinction. "It seems possible that the reduction of native forests and associated insects after human colonization of the islands contributed not just to the extinction of plants, birds, and invertebrates, but also to the extinction of this endemic bat," said Howarth.

The finding was published in the journal American Museum Novitates .

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Burkina Faso's president announced he will continue on as leader despite calls from both the head of the opposition as well as the public for his resignation.

Protesters took to the streets of the capital Ouagadougou on Thursday, looting and setting fire to government buildings and a hotel, the BBC reported. At least one person has been killed in the riots sparked by President Blaise Compaore's attempt to amend the constitution to allow him to extend his 27-year rule.

On Friday, opposition leader Zephirin Diabre urged locals to continue the "pressure by systematically occupying public spaces" to let the president know he is not wanted, despite Compaore's calls for negotiations.

"The opposition has said and will say again that the precondition for any discussion relating to a political transition is the departure, pure and simple and without condition, of Blaise Compaore," Diabre said according to the BBC.

The demonstrations came the same day the nation's parliament was dissolved and military officials announced a "transitional body [would] be put in place in consultation with all parties," the BBC reported.

Burkina Faso's constitution limits presidents to only two terms of five years each. Compaore, who won two extra terms beyond the limit, would have been allowed to run in the 2015 elections if his amendment was accepted.

Compaore abandoned his plans to amend the constitution but said he will stay on until November 2015, the end of the 12-month transitional government. He told Reuters on Friday he believes the situation- the worst the poverty-stricken country has seen since he first came to power in 1987- can be solved through talks.

But protesters made it clear they want Compaore to step down immediately, raising concerns his refusal could send the West African nation into turmoil.

Demonstrator's occupied the capital's main square, Place de la Nation, and the army headquarters. Parliament, a hotel in Ouagadougou and the houses of several politicians were also set on fire, the BBC reported.

At the army headquarters, a standoff allegedly occurred with an angry crowd, which was heard shouting, "Fulfill your responsibilities or we will do so ourselves."

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
No mama, no papa and no Uncle Sam.

The words surged out of the speakers and spread across the crowd.

They are the words that were waiting on the lips of each survivor and those prepared to honor them.

Marchers, give me your attention, said Brig. Gen. Timothy Coffin, the White Sands Missile Range commanding general. Hear their cry, in their own words We are the Battling Bastards of Bataan. No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam. No aunts, no uncles, no nephews, no nieces. No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces and nobody gives a damn. Let our cry be known, we all give a damn.

On March 20, over 6,000 men, women and children journeyed to White Sands Missile Range to honor the sacrifice of those who suffered as World War II prisoners of war.

No mama, no papa and no Uncle Sam has echoed as a strong reminder for the survivors and families of the thousands affected by the capture of American and Filipino forces on April 9, 1942.

Approximately 75,000 men and women were forced to march 65 miles through the scorching heat of the Philippine jungles. History would remember it as the Bataan Death March.

Most who stopped were killed and those who kept going were taken to prison camps under continued torture and forced labor.

The Bataan Memorial Death March honors a remarkable group of World War II heroes, the brave soldiers responsible for the defense of the Philippines, said Erin Dorrance, the White Sands Missile Range chief of public affairs. The conditions they encountered during combat and the aftermath were horrific.

The Bataan Memorial Death March was established in 1989 to commemorate the lives of those who suffered one of the most tragic events of WWII. Each year, the number of marchers has grown with this year hosting over 6,600 participants.

We have visitors here from around the world who are gathered here to honor (our veterans and survivors of Bataan) said Coffin.

Whether they are active duty or civilian, from New Mexico or Germany, every participant joined together to show support for the survivors and those who were lost during horrific events following April 9, 1942.

The youngest participant was ten years old and the oldest was ninety-eight -- all spanning from different backgrounds and nationalities.

We have marchers here covering nine decades, said Coffin. That is the history of our past, the foundation of our strength and the foundation of our future.
News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits.

Tuesday, October 25, 4:30  7 p.m.

Orr Area EMS Open House

Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798.

Orr Fire Hall

4540 Lake St., Orr

Tuesday, October 25, 12  6 p.m.

Essentia Health Job Fair

Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org.

901 9th St. N., Virginia
Are OTAs really such a dastardly menace?

You'd think so judging by how many big US chains are forming mergers to gain strength from scale to keep the OTAs at bay.

But are they actually a win-win opportunity? Isn't it worth paying the commission to get exposure on sites that get 76% of all bookings?

The key to success is knowing how to increase bookings on your own site during the entire research journey while taking advantage of OTAs reach and advertising budget. After all, people visit a lot of sites before they make their final decision. They are open to being persuaded with the right content.

Source: Fiz

A complicated journey

A customer's research journey is very complicated and fragmented. An Expedia Study found that American holiday package buyers visit travel sites 38 times before booking. Other studies have revealed that 80% of consumers read up to 12 reviews on average before making a booking.

In a test Google found that a subject had 419 separate research 'moments' over a two month period on their path towards making a booking:

Travel Trends Photo by Fiz

What the Expedia Study also revealed is how the OTAs have begun dominating this research journey with their aggressive advertising budgets. Four out of five booking paths include an OTA, while 49% of people visit OTAs during the research and consideration stage.

But the OTAs don't have it all their own way. Over half of customers will also visit supplier sites before reaching a decision. In fact, in this very informative Pebble Design post it was also revealed that 20% of direct bookings come from people that first found you on an OTA.

This 50/50 split is surely worth harnessing? After all, every direct booking means more revenue, more data and more loyalty for you.

Where hotel sites fit into the journey

The typical research process of a traveller is:

Check the OTAs for hotel options Compile a shortlist of the ones with best reviews, photos and facilities Visit hotel websites for ways of differentiating and to build confidence in the overall offer Either book direct or on the OTA if their confidence is won

So what confidence building information are people looking for?

They've already seen photos of your rooms and a list of your facilities, so it's the experience and total package that you offer that they're checking out.

As Darrell Wade from Peak Adventure Travel said in a Skrift interview: "The traveling public is constantly looking for a deeper level of immersion into the destination they are traveling to. People want to see, touch, feel, smell, understand and get highly personal with their destination."

They want to "enhance perspective".

A survey by Ipsos Mori for TripAdvisor into the emotions that motivated travel decisions found that this criteria of 'enhancing perspective' was the main driver of destination choice. This is a trend most hoteliers are seriously lagging behind, with most thinking a 'sense of harmony' was the main motivation:

Tripadvisor mismatch of travel motivations Photo by Fiz

The demand for 'experiential' travel was backed up by Google research, which assessed that:

"Today's travelers are turning to the web to be inspired and take actionand the brands that help them at those moments will win hearts, minds, and dollars."

Google has also stated that the most popular travel searches are 'What to do in 'destination'' and 'where is 'destination''.

And in a ultra recent commentary from Google (who have themselves recently launched Destinations in search) their industry head for travel, Anna Sawbridge, advised that travel websites can improve their user experience by focusing on the "see, think, do, core framework".

As the framework" expounds, different visitors have different needs, which can be defined as:

See  these are specific groups of travellers that can be associated with a certain demographic or parameter.

Think  they are only at the inspiration seeking stage but are not ready to book.

Do  people actively looking to book with you. They've already done specific buying intent searches for flights and travel information to your destination.

Care  these are your loyal customers that need looking after. They booked with you before and are back for more.

So the evidence is mounting that people are looking for information on experiences and what memories they may gain by staying at a hotel. They have a lot of questions about the local attractions, tourist hotspots and cultural delights.

They have lots of important questions the OTAs don't answer - but you can.

OTAs sell with reviews. You sell with experiences

A key to the OTAs success has been their heavy investment in presenting reviews in user friendly and prominent format. It's a valuable differentiator in the decision making process.

You can do the same in how you present the experiences around your location. You can do this manually by creating content about local restaurants, museums, spas and other local places of interest. Or you can do it automatically with a curation tool like Fiz.

Fiz uses a special algorithm to source and collate crowdsourced tips and reviews, social media updates, photos, opening times, events and more to create attractive interactive maps, carousels and image collections you can place on your website.

This content enables you to quickly answer the vital questions of their research journey on the experience your hotel has to offer, and increase direct bookings as a result.

Use OTAs as a billboard

A smart strategy is to take advantage of the advertising reach and scale of the OTAs. Use them as a 'billboard' to draw in traffic to your website. This makes it a direct traffic generator for your website because, as mentioned, over half of OTA users visiting your OTA listing will also visit your site before booking.

OTAs are only part of their journey. It's on your website where you can go beyond what the OTA can show about the holiday experience you have to offer. By showing that your offer includes more than just the best room price (which many hotels now guarantee with tools like Triptease) and is a gateway to experiences and memories, you can make OTAs a win-win for both direct and commission sales.

As Pebble Design recommend, a healthy goal is to aim for 30% of bookings from OTAs and 30% direct. If you're getting less direct and more from OTAs, then maybe you need to improve the experience you promote on your website - which is what you can do in minutes with Fiz.

As Hyatt's CMO Maryam Banikarim said in a recent Skift interview, "There are benefits for booking direct so we're very interested in having a direct relationship with our customers...at the same time, we do want to partner with OTAs because in the end, you just want to be seamless for your customers. We're very focused on being where our customers are, and we want to make it easy for people to partner with us just like everybody else."

Sources

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/travel-trends-4-mobile-moments-changing-consumer-journey.html

http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/how_consumers_move_between_travel_sites_across_their_decision_making_journe

http://info.advertising.expedia.com/travelerattribution?utm_campaign=hotelmarketing.com

https://blog.returnpath.com/travel-news-round-up-january-8-22-2016/

http://www.pebbledesign.com/insights/finding-the-balance-between-otas-and-direct-bookings

http://www.trustyou.com/miscellaneous-fr/path-to-travel-purchase?lang=es

http://culture.oasiscollections.com/go-local-the-new-local-obsession-in-travel

Matt Ambrose

Fiz

Fiz
Worldhotels has welcomed 13 new hotels in South America and in Europe to its global portfolio in the first three months of 2016. The new additions are comprised of six hotels in South America and seven in Europe  and include hotels in new Worldhotels destinations.

Worldhotels expands for the first time into the destination of Ecuador by joining forces with the Oro Verde Hotel Group, a luxury hotel chain with properties located in the most important cities of the country. As part of the agreement, five Oro Verde Hotels have joined Worldhotels' global network: Hotel Oro Verde Cuenca, Hotel Oro Verde Manta, Hotel Oro Verde Machala,Hotel Oro Verde Guayaquil and the Unipark Hotel in Guayaquil. Another strategic partnership with Elite World Hotels in Istanbul will bring two more additions: the Elite World Business Hotel as well as the Elite World Europe Hotel, whereof both hotels are located in Istanbul.

Further new affiliates include Hotel Morrison 114 in Bogota, Columbia; Hotel Prealpina in Chexbres, Switzerland; Hotel de la Rose in Fribourg, Switzerland; Hotel Christiania Teater in Oslo, Norway; the Bohinj Park Eco Hotel in Bohinjska, Slovenia and the Courthouse Hotel London. The sister property Courthouse Hotel Shoreditch will follow in joining Worldhotels with its estimated opening in April.

All hotels share their trust in Worldhotels' distinctive business model, which offers independent hotels and local hotel groups the exposure and commercial strength of an international chain, whilst leaving them full operational freedom. In addition to that, the hotels rely on Worldhotels' global sales office footprint to help them expand their international reach.

"We are excited to welcome these high-quality additions into our group", says Geoff Andrew, Chief Operating Officer at Worldhotels. "We are strategically developing our portfolio to add new key destinations and reinforce destinations with high potential."

About WorldHotels Collection

WorldHotels Collection is a privately held hotel soft brand within the BWH Hotel Group global network. Founded by independent hoteliers dedicated to the art of hospitality, and celebrating its 50th year anniversary in 2021, WorldHotels offers one of the finest portfolios of independent hotels and resorts around the globe, expertly curated to inspire unique, life enriching experiences that connect people and places. WorldHotels is comprised of four unique collections, each with its own personality and style to appeal to the needs of today's traveler. The collections include: WorldHotels Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted. For more information visit WorldHotels.com.
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Holiday Inn Express & Suites Halifax - Bedford Hotel Opens

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) today announced the opening of the newly-renovated 113-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Halifax-Bedford hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This hotel joins the Holiday Inn Halifax Harbourview and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Halifax Airport hotels already nearby.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) today announced the opening of the newly-renovated 113-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Halifax-Bedford hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This hotel joins the Holiday Inn Halifax Harbourview and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Halifax Airport hotels already nearby. Located near major attractions including the BMO Centre, IBM Innovation Centre, Canada Games Centre, World Trade & Convention Centre, Bayer's Lake Park and Mount St. Vincent University, this hotel is expected to become a top choice for business, sports, government and leisure travellers in the Halifax area.

Jennifer Gribble, Vice President, Holiday Inn Express Brand, IHG, said: "Holiday Inn Express is one of the most widely recognized lodging brands in the world, and we're pleased to add this hotel in the Halifax-Bedford area to our family. The Holiday Inn Express brand continues to expand its presence in the Canadian market, delivering a special kind of hospitality that makes guests feel at home the moment they walk through the door."

The Holiday Inn Express brand is the smart choice for travellers seeking a hotel that will help them rest and go while staying productive, delivering exactly what they need and nothing they don't. The 2,425 Holiday Inn Express hotels worldwide offer a simple and efficient stay through the uncomplicated yet personal service travellers expect from the brand.

The hotel was renovated using the brand's new design solution, which was created to meet the evolving needs of the brand's target guest who is looking for a simple, smart travel experience. The design features an appealing combination of fresh, energetic and engaging elements, creating a distinctive style that is evident at every touch point of the Holiday Inn Express brand experience.

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The hotel features an indoor heated pool with an 80 foot waterslide, whirlpool, 24-hour fitness center, 24-hour business center and 2,000 square feet of meeting space that can comfortably accommodate up to 250 people. Guestrooms feature contemporary styling, comfortable queen, king-sized or two queen beds, a sitting area with a lounge chair and an in-room coffee machine featuring complimentary Smart Roast 100% Arabica coffee.

For guests' comfort, the spacious newly-renovated rooms are equipped with fridges and microwaves. The hotel's 22 suites also have a separate living room with a pullout sofa.

The complimentary Express Start breakfast bar offers a full range of breakfast items, including a variety of healthy options: Oikos yogurt, whole wheat English muffins, Kellogg's breakfast cereals, Quaker oatmeal flavors in cups and a toppings bar for yogurt, cereal and pancakes. Additionally, the breakfast bar continues to offer a wide variety of other hot and cold options including a rotation of egg and meat selections, biscuits, fruit, the brand's proprietary cinnamon roll and Smart Roast coffee.

Anil Taneja, President, Palm Holdings said: "In each room, we wanted to provide our guests with a fresh and inviting atmosphere by featuring natural colours and a contemporary style that blend together perfectly. We are excited to be one of the first in Canada to showcase the Holiday Inn Express brand's new design. As with many of Palm Holdings' hotels, we expect this to be an award-winning hotel and a preferred accommodation supplier in the Halifax region."

The hotel, located at 980 Parkland Drive, Halifax, Nova Scotia, is 15 minutes from Halifax Stanfield International Airport and downtown Halifax. The property is owned by Palm Holdings and managed by Palm Hospitality.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants announced this week that Nick Gregory - a 25-year company veteran who began his career as a Kimpton doorman before rising through the management ranks - has been named senior vice president of hotel operations.

In his new position, based out of San Francisco, Gregory will be responsible for developing and evolving operational strategies that focus on increasing profitability while maintaining Kimpton's high guest-satisfaction scores. Most recently prior to this role, Gregory served as Kimpton's regional vice president of operations for the Northeast and Florida, where he was directly responsible for the operations, sales and marketing initiatives, human resources and finance and revenue management for all 17 properties in the two regions.

Gregory initially joined Kimpton as a doorman for Kimpton's Hotel Vintage in Portland in 1991 a time when Kimpton was just beginning to expand beyond its home base of San Francisco  and began a geographic journey paralleling the company's growth. Over the next three decades he moved across the country several times, filling various management roles in Chicago, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and California. Seven years after Gregory was first promoted to general manager in San Francisco he moved into the role of director of operations, which he held for five years before transitioning to the regional VP level.

"Nick is a longtime champion of our Fortune-awarded workplace culture and has built his career here from the ground up," said Kimpton CEO Mike DeFrino. "I'm lucky enough to call him a confidante and a friend; I can't wait to see how we continue to flourish under his thoughtful leadership."

According to Gregory, who recently relocated to San Francisco with his wife and three dogs, "I look forward to stepping into this new role at Kimpton and continue the partnership with a company so close to my heart. I've been fortunate to be able to grow my career under the guidance of amazing leadership, and I'm excited to be a part of the next evolution while helping to nurture the independent spirit and fantastic entrepreneurial culture we're so well known for."

San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is a leading collection of boutique hotels and restaurants and the acknowledged industry pioneer that first introduced the boutique hotel concept to the United States


Google Just Upped the Penalty for Not Having a Mobile-Friendly Hotel Website

Just when you thought you had mobile marketing covered, Google announced the forthcoming release of an update that will increase the importance of maintaining mobile friendliness. In May 2016, Google is expected to release another mobile-friendly algorithm update, further punishing sites that are not deemed mobile-friendly.

Google Mobile-Friendliness Algorithm Update 2.0 is the Issue

Last April, Google released its Mobile-Friendliness Algorithm Update, the most impactful change since the rollout of Google Panda in 2011. This update gave preferential rankings to those sites deemed by Googlebot to be mobile-friendly and punished mobile-unfriendly sites in Googles mobile search rankings.

Google assesses whether or not a site is mobile-friendly on a pass/fail basis. If a site satisfies its front- and back-end requirements, it receives a passing grade and can earn higher rankings on search engine results pages. The search giant started using mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal on mobile searches to ensure users receive the best possible results, whether they are searching via mobile, tablet or desktop device.

If a hotel website is not easy to use on mobile, Google will penalize the site even further by ranking it lower on its mobile search pages. This upcoming update could result in non-mobile-friendly sites ranking even lower than they have been.

As a reminder, the criteria Google uses to deem a website mobile-friendly include:

Avoiding software not common on mobile devices, like Flash

Incorporating readable text without zoom

Sizing content to the screen to eliminate scrolling

Placing links far enough apart to be selected and tapped easily

Ensuring quick page load speeds

New criteria for the Mobile-Friendly Update 2.0 are expected to include Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). AMP HTML and AMP JavaScript components make better use of resources and ensure static content pages render faster in the mobile environment.

Google is expected to make AMP a ranking factor in the relatively near future, meaning pages utilizing AMP and cached in Googles AMP cache could earn higher rankings than other content pages  even those pages deemed mobile-friendly by the search engine.

Google offers a number of tools to help hoteliers ascertain their sites level of mobile-friendliness. Google Search Console also highlights mobile usability errors that sites can correct for enhanced mobile search visibility. When a site satisfies both front- and back-end requirements, it receives a passing grade. This means that the site may earn higher rankings on search engine results pages as Google tries to provide users with relevant, helpful, and usable sites via organic search.

Why is it Important to Hoteliers?

At the recent HSMAI Digital Marketing Strategy Conference in New York, Google announced that nearly 60% of searches in 2016 already happen via mobile devices/smartphones.

According to Google Research, nine out of ten people are cross-device Internet browsers and researchers, using multiple devices sequentially (moving from one device to another at different times). Smartphones are by far the most common starting point for sequential activity: 65% of users start their research on a smartphone and 60% continue on a desktop device. As an example, 55% of users use multiple screens sequentially when researching pricing information in travel.

This upcoming algorithmic change grows out of a continuing trend toward mobile-friendliness:

Searches on mobile devices for hotels increased by more than 27% year-over-year (Google)

52% of millennial business travelers book on their mobile devices (Skift)

By 2018, mobile is expected to account for 35 percent of online bookings (World Travel Market)

We clearly see the results of this age-defining shift from desktop to mobile and tablet devices across our hotel client portfolio: more than 20% of online bookings and roomnights are generated from non-desktop devices (smartphones + tablets), while nearly 50% of web visitors and over 44% of page views come from tablets and mobile devices. The mobile channel contributes directly to additional 30%-40% bookings via the voice channel (HeBS Digital Research).

If a hotel website is not accessible via mobile, travel planners will simply visit another hotel site. This lost opportunity costs hoteliers organic search visibility, website traffic, and direct online revenue. If your property does not meet the mobile-friendliness guidelines, now is the time to get in front of the problem. The greatest room for growth in the digital space is the mobile channel  smart hoteliers are capitalizing on this in 2016 by achieving mobile-friendly compliance.

What do HeBS Digitals Digital Marketing Experts Recommend?

Googles announcement of the Mobile-Friendliness Algorithm Update 2.0 in advance of the May 2016 rollout gives hoteliers ample time to make the updates necessary to meet the search engines new mobile standards.

At HeBS Digital, were thankful to be a Google Partner agency. To ensure our clients are delivering the best search results to prospective customers, our team of digital technology and marketing experts work proactively to deliver flexible website technology and SEO practices that comply with Googles stringent and often-evolving requirements.

Here are some priority action steps:

Website Technology Audit:

Audit whether your property website technology platform and content management system (CMS) are engineered to comply with the latest Google Update. Using industry-leading technology as the backbone of your hotel website is the best way to ensure your site stays compliant with Googles mobile-friendliness requirements.

For example, HeBS Digitals award-winning website technology platform, used for all of our clients websites  the smartCMS v7  meets Googles mobile-friendliness guidelines by default. Thanks to our strategic partnership with Google and advance notice of the upcoming Google Mobile-Friendliness Algorithm Update, our team of digital technology and marketing experts worked proactively to ensure the smartCMS v7, was properly engineered to comply with Googles new very stringent requirements, including the expected AMP ranking factor.

The smartCMS technology provides flexibility and responsiveness so that when algorithmic updates occur, our team of programming, development and organic search experts can act immediately to roll out up-to-the-minute automatic updates to ensure mobile-friendliness, even as Googles requirements evolve. Each of our client websites has passed the Googlebot test and is fully compatible with this major Google update even before this next algorithmic update takes effect.

SEO Technology Audit:

Performing an SEO audit of your website, including a full audit of link structure, re-sizing of images, reconfiguring design elements, or replacing Flash with crawlable, search-friendly code, allowing the Googlebot to crawl pages fully, is vital to ensure your website complies with Googles mobile search requirements.

User-Centric Content & Website Design:

In addition to running your hotel website on an adaptable and mobile-friendly CMS technology, remembering to create and display content with the user in mind is critical. Googles emphasis on mobile usability should only reinforce the importance of designing and developing websites and creating content that benefits the user and serves a valuable purpose.

Website Download Speeds:

Audit your websites download speeds, especially on mobile devices. Slow mobile download speed is killer of mobile usability and a big no-no, according to Googles latest Mobile- Friendliness Algorithm Update.

Make sure your website is hosted in the cloud with built-in redundancies and load-balancing, and utilizes CDN (Content Delivery Network) platform enabling distributed content delivery of the rich media content. All of these dramatically increase download, improves user experience and conversions, and improves search engine rankings that are increasingly dependent on fast download speeds.

For example, here at HeBS Digital, our hotel clients websites enjoy lightning-fast cloud hosting and CDN (Content Delivery Network) download speeds  two to three times faster than the industry average. This can result in better user experience, better conversion rates, and better search engine rankings.

Other Recent Copy & SEO-related Articles by HeBS Digital Experts:

About the Author and HeBS Digital

Megan Harr is a Senior Copy + SEO Specialist at HeBS Digital. Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital is the industrys leading digital technology, full-service hotel digital technology and marketing, website design and direct online channel consulting firm based in New York City (www.HeBSDigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel digital marketing and website revenue optimization, as well as a range of industry-first digital technology applications. The firm has won more than 300 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, including two Platinum Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digitals direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digitals consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.
The Grammy-nominated duo were recently put up for for another Blues Music Award

Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin with The Guilty Ones have announced two upcoming dates which will see them perform at Dublins Whelans (April 12) and Belfasts The Empire (April 13).

The Alvin Brothers, founders of seminal LA punk-roots band The Blasters, will play a mix of material from The Blasters back catalogue as well as offerings from both of their own solo careers.

The set will also see them perform music from their joint LP, Common Ground, and their most recent follow-up album Lost Time.

Spending four weeks at #1 on the Americana Music radio chart, Lost Time has garnered rave reviews worldwide, while 2014s Common Ground earned the brothers a Grammy nomination.

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In December, the brothers received a Blues Music Award nomination for Traditional Blues Male artist; their second blues award nomination.

Tickets for both the Dublin and Belfast dates are on sale now from the usual outlets.
She's no stranger to the awards but this year, Deirdre O'Kane is going to shine onstage as the host.

O'Kane has been a regular at the awards, garnering 6 nominations since the IFTAs were established back in 2003. Now the Academy have instilled their trust in her as they announce her as the host of the 2016 IFTA ceremony.

O'Kane has remained at the forefront of Irish film, television and comedy and she still draws audiences in wherever she goes. Her performance as Christiana Noble in 2014's biopic Noble is the pinnacle of her career so far as she was lauded with worldwide praise and admiration. She is known to others as Debra Moone in Chris O'Dowd's much loved Moone Boy and amidst all this activity has travelled nationwide performing stand-up comedy.

In the Press Release, CEO Aine Moriarty celebrated the news saying; The Academy is delighted to introduce Deirdre O'Kane as the host of the 2016 IFTA Film & Drama Awards. Not only is she one of Ireland's most successful stand-up comedians but also an acclaimed dramatic actress, as she indelibly proved last year with her IFTA win for her mesmerizing performance in Noble. In what has been a phenomenal year for Irish film and drama, we look forward to a great night of acknowledgement and celebration of this work and some great fun too with Deirdre at the helm.

O'Kane too relished the opportunity and expressed her pride and joy; What an honour to be asked to host the IFTA Awards especially on such a fantastic year for Irish film and drama. All the success abroad in this golden year means that it is especially important to recognise and reward these accomplishments at home and I am delighted to be a part of such a prestigious and significant event.

It will be a night of celebration in the incredible year that Irish cinema has achieved. Among the nominees O'Kane will be giving out the gongs to include Saoirse Ronan, Ben Cleary, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Greene, Lenny Abrahamson, Barry Keoghan, Domhnall Gleeson...the list goes on!

The 2016 IFTAs will taken place on April 9 at Dublin's Mansion House. It will be broadcast the following day at 9pm on TV3.

To read a complete list of the 2016 IFTA nominees, click here.
The gig follows increased diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US

The Rolling Stones are set to play their first-ever gig in Cuba this Friday (March 25).

Ahead of the show, the group have released a video message to fans, speaking of their excitement at playing the "historic" gig.

Their message to fans in the newly-released video (watch below) reads as follows:

"Hello Cuba, we are very excited to be coming to play for you. We have performed in many incredible places, but this concert in Havana is going to be a historic event for us. We hope it will be for you too. Thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful country. We hope to see you all on March 25 at Ciudad Deportiva."

The gig was confirmed recently after much speculation following a Cuban news network posting the news on their official Facebook page.

An article in Granma confirming the show then followed this. Granma is the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, in their article they claim that the show "will open the doors for other great bands to arrive in Havana."

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This will be The Rolling Stones first show in Cuba and it is seen as another positive step that the country is taking towards lifting tensions that have existed between them and the United States since the 1950's.

The Stones are not the only band to ever play in Cuba, The Manic Street Preachers famously played Havana in 2001 and our man Stuart Clark took the trip over to see the historic occasion take place.

We searched our archives to find his review of that show and you can read it here.
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Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-03-23 Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/> TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW No. 55/16 23.03.2016 [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Organizations protested against Akinci's participation in Nevruz celebrations; Akinci: "I cannot see the entire Kurdish people as PKK [02] The Belgian Ambassador met with Akinci [03] Bozkir: Total fight against terrorism is necessary [04] Kalyoncu: Issues regarding the judiciary and electricity are discussed within the debates for the "economic protocol" to be signed with Turkey [05] The 2016 budget of the "Bayrak radio television corporation" is 59 million TL [06] Atun made a call to the Greek Cypriot side to set free the circulation of goods and services throughout the island [07] Sucuoglu on the occupation regime's tourism [08] A cooperation protocol between the Research Centres of Yale, Marmara University and "YDU" [09] Erdogan expressed condolences to the Republic of Cyprus over the FlyDubai jet crashed [10] Davutoglu calls on CHP to take clear stance against terror, thanks MHP for its support [11] Turkey's Energy Minister visits China to improve ties in energy sector [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Organizations protested against Akinci's participation in Nevruz celebrations; Akinci: "I cannot see the entire Kurdish people as PKK" Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (23.03.16) reports that 25 civilian organizations have described as "big misfortune" the fact that Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, self-styled prime minister Omer Kalyoncu and some so-called ministers had participated in Nevruz celebrations held last Sunday in occupied Trikomo area. Holding Turkey's and the "TRNC's" flags [Translator's note: The breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus], the organizations protested yesterday in front of Akinci's office. A statement was read out by Tuncay Ozkarasahin, chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Youth Initiative. Afterwards they met with Akinci, who told them that "we are all against terrorism either this is the PKK or the Islamic State", adding that he thinks that people should peacefully live together regardless of their origin. "Excuse me, but I cannot see the entire Kurdish people as PKK. I participated in this activity last year as presidential candidate and this year as president. There is nothing wrong in this. [?]" Akinci said that he chatted with the people in the celebrations for the coming of spring and the wakening up of the nature and danced for a couple of minutes. He added: "There was absolutely no flag and slogan when we were there. After we left, it is said that a group of young people with flags and slogans came. We did not see anyone. If some slogans were shouted after we left and these are contrary to the law, the justice and the legislation, the state has organs which will prosecute this. They will do whatever is necessary". Recalling the terror attack in Brussels, Akinci said that terrorism has no nation, religion and language and can be everywhere, adding that terror is an enemy of peace and humanity, but we cannot identify it with communities. "There were people at the place I went. I did not go to the PKK", he noted. Speaking during the meeting, Ozkarasahin said he was also there at the celebrations and saw "state officials" in a cortege identified by PKK's symbols and flags something which saddened him. "When you were dancing yellow, green and red colours were there around you", he told Akinci noting that these are the colours of the PKK. Upon this remark, Akinci replied: "What shall we do? Shall we prohibit the colours as well? Where have colours been prohibited until now?" (I/Ts.) [02] The Belgian Ambassador met with Akinci Turkish Cypriot daily Haberal Kibrisli (23.03.16) reports that the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Greece and Cyprus Luc Liebaut visited yesterday afternoon the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. The meeting took place following the terrorist attacks in Brussels. The Belgian Ambassador replied to reporters' questions about the attacks after meeting with Akinci. Akinci in his turn expressed his condolences to Liebaut and to the families of the victims. (AK) [03] Bozkir: Total fight against terrorism is necessary According to Turkish daily Sabah (online, 23.03.16), Turkey's European Union Minister Volkan Bozk?r said that a total fight against terrorism is necessary in the wake of the attacks that targeted the airport and subway in Brussels, where most EU institutions are located. Speaking in a live interview at the Turkish broadcaster A Haber, Bozk?r said that the attacks may have been carried out by the Daesh terrorist organization in a retaliatory manner following the recent operations that targeted Daesh linked figures in Brussels, including the Paris attacks perpetrator Salah Abdeslam. "We offer our condolences to the families of the deceased and wish quick recovery to the wounded," he said. Underlining that the militants constitute the core of the Daesh terror organization, Bozkir claimed that if Turkey's accession process was not slowed down, neither terror nor illegal migration would have increased to such dimensions, and now the EU understands this fact. Stating that all terror organizations feed from the same sources, Bozkir said that now it is time for all countries to adopt a common stance against terrorism. Bozkir said that Turkey has long warned the EU regarding the economic crisis, refugee issue and terror; in exchange that EU fought terror organizations that may harm itself but overlooked other terror groups. "When [Revolutionary People's Liberation Party?Front] DHKP-C's leader was out in the open in Belgium for years, no precautions were taken despite our warnings," Bozk?r said, claiming that there is no difference between PKK, Daesh or DHKP-C. "Waving of PKK flags in Brussels when tens of funerals were being held in Turkey following a terror attack upset us but this struggle really has to be carried out totally. Brussels is a multicultural city. And it proves once again that international solidarity is essential," he added. [04] Kalyoncu: Issues regarding the judiciary and electricity are discussed within the debates for the "economic protocol" to be signed with Turkey Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (23.03.16) reports that self-styled prime minister of the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, Omer Kalyoncu has said that the "economic protocol" between the regime and Turkey will be signed in one way or the other adding that now they are discussing issues related to electricity and judiciary. Replying to questions yesterday after meeting with Emine Dizdarli, the regime's so-called ombudsperson, Kalyoncu noted that the sides' preparations regarding these issues have been completed and their views will be submitted to "the places concerned". Pointing out that they are expecting Turkey's views, Kalyoncu said that they have submitted their own views and the discussions will be concluded soon. Referring to the issue of the connection between Turkey and the occupied area of Cyprus with electricity cables, Kalyoncu noted that the world is exerting efforts for entering into an interconnected system with the aim of achieving security of supply and pointed out that this process could be developed in the "country" as long as they are reasonable on this issue. Arguing that the important thing is the cost of electricity, Kalyoncu said: "It can come from Israel to us and from us it can easily go to Turkey. There is such a development". (I/Ts.) [05] The 2016 budget of the "Bayrak radio television corporation" is 59 million TL According to illegal Bayrak television (online, 22.03.16), the 2016 "Fiscal Year Budget" of the "Bayrak Radio Television Corporation" (BRTK) was approved at the general assembly of the so-called parliament on Monday. The "parliament" in a majority vote approved "BRTK's" 58 million 950 thousand Turkish Lira 2016 Budget. With its approval, the 2016 "Budget" came into force as of 1st of January 2016. [06] Atun made a call to the Greek Cypriot side to set free the circulation of goods and services throughout the island Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes (23.03.16) reports that self-styled minister of economy, industry and commerce Sunat Atun argued that a free circulation of goods throughout Cyprus should be done with the Greek Cypriot side prior the Cyprus settlement. He made a call to the Greek Cypriot side to liberate mutually the trade. Atun explained that in order to make easier the negotiation process, they should set free mutually the movement of services and goods in the island, adding that they should revive the economy of the island. Atun also said that the Greek Cypriot economy needs a solution as bad as the Turkish Cypriot economy. Atun made the statement during a meeting with members of the Board of Directors of the All Bureaucrats and Businesspeople Social Solidarity Association (TUMBIAD), who are currently in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus for a series of contacts. Speaking during the meeting, the President of TUMBIAD Ufuk Bilgetekin said that the aim of their visit is to evaluate and look into investment opportunities in the "TRNC". (DPs) [07] Sucuoglu on the occupation regime's tourism Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (23.03.16) reports that so-called minister of tourism Faiz Sucuoglu, in exclusive statements to the paper, condemned strongly some social media sites in the occupied area of Cyprus for publishing unbiased reports aiming to cause panic in the "country" about bomb threats, especially right after the bomb attacks in Turkey and some other countries. Sucuoglu called the social media to stop the publication of these unbiased reports and warned that these might affect negatively the tourists visiting the occupation regime, while, at the same time, as he said, they cause panic and discomfort to the people. Pointing out that Cyprus is a safe place, Sucuoglu referred also to the occupation regime's tourism and said that the charter flights in the "TRNC" goes well. He added that 5,000 tourists have arrived in the "TRNC" last week with charter flights. Referring to their ties with Turkey, Sucuoglu explained that they continue having contacts with Turkish officials and tourist operators. He went on and said that he held a phone conversation last week with Turkey's Minister of Tourism Mahir Unal and added that the latter expressed his intention to visit the "TRNC" very soon. Sucuoglu also explained that tourist' operators and hoteliers from Turkey and especially from Antalya will be visiting the "TRNC" the next days in order to discuss ways on how to persuade the tourists who postponed their trips to Antalya, to visit the "TRNC". (AK) [08] A cooperation protocol between the Research Centres of Yale, Marmara University and "YDU" Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes (23.03.16) reports that a cooperation protocol was signed among the member of the Yale University, Yale Genome Centre, Dr Kaya Bilguvar, the member of the Medical Biology Department of the Marmara University Dr Can Erzik and Dr Nedim Serakinci, "president of the genetic and cancer research centre" of the illegal Near East university in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus for a mutual exchange of information and academic publishing programs. (DPs) [09] Erdogan expressed condolences to the Republic of Cyprus over the FlyDubai jet crashed Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (23.03.16) under the title: "He expressed his condolences to the Greek Cypriot administration", reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a written statement issued by the Press Office of the Turkish Presidency, expressed his condolences to the Russian people over the FlyDubai jet crashed last week. In his message, Erdogan sent also his condolences to all the countries that had victims, including the "Greek Cypriot administration", as the Republic of Cyprus is called, writes the paper. (AK) [10] Davutoglu calls on CHP to take clear stance against terror, thanks MHP for its support According to Turkish daily Sabah (online, 23.03.16), Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the main opposition CHP to keep 'a clear attitude' in fighting terror instead of clinging to 'baseless remarks' about the government prior to thanking the MHP for its support Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday that "terrorism is not just a problem for the government but a problem for Turkey and the opposition must act in a certain manner in sharing this burden". Speaking at the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting, the Prime Minister said that Turkey is a country that has fought terrorism for 40 years and called on the opposition to be transparent in their attitude against terrorism. Davutoglu criticized the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu's remarks that targeted the government and his party, saying that "Kilicdaroglu has a very typical and predictable attitude towards terror attacks. We have yet to get a clear picture from him regarding his attitude towards the terror issue. What we hear in the wake of terror attacks is just baseless, AK Party criticism". He said that the CHP, along with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serve the aims of terrorists with the statements they make. Davutoglu also claimed that the CHP's statements have only caused people to panic instead of evoking confident, inspiring words. He also indicated that the CHP goes hand-in-hand with the Gulen Movement whenever an operation is launched against the movement. The Prime Minister also thanked the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahceli for his support against terrorism. Davutoglu concluded: "They [the MHP] have set a good example for what kind of an attitude must be adopted during such times. I took a break during the Cabinet meeting and they said: 'We have come to declare our support. You should not further postpone the meeting, our support is with you'. This is what we want to see from the opposition." [11] Turkey's Energy Minister visits China to improve ties in energy sector Turkish daily Sabah (online, 23.03.16) reports that Turkey's Energy Ministry is looking for alternative sources to cover the country's energy demands. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak begins a four-day visit to China to meet with investors in the fields of renewable and nuclear energy. An important agenda topic for the China visit is nuclear power. Albayrak will visit the city of Weihai and examine the Chinese national State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation's CAP-100 Nuclear Plant (a so-called "third-generation" Nuclear Plant). Albayrak said that the Chinese energy sector has a broad technological infrastructure for nuclear energy, coal-based thermal power plants as well as solar and wind energy and that Turkey will hold strategic talks with the Chinese authorities to cooperate on Turkey's third nuclear power plant, a coal-based thermal power plant and the production of solar and wind energy. Explaining that energy in Turkey's coal fields varies between 1,300 and 2,000 calories, Albayrak said that current technology enables the production of electricity by transforming low-calorie coal. "We will view China's super thermal technology from this perspective," he said. Citing Turkey's growth rate as progressing at 3% to 4%, he said: "The increase in our electricity production is moving at this level. However, Turkey needs more installed power. Within the next 10 years we need to produce new capacity of 50,000 megawatts. During this period $100 billion worth of investments will be on the table." He also said that despite the troubled and difficult atmosphere in the area, Turkey's appetite for new investors is still ongoing. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio (DPs/AM) Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-23 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Aegean Airlines announced the cancellation of every flight to and from Brussels after the attacks [02] Two ferries with 260 refugees and migrants docked at the port of Piraeus on Wednesday [01] Aegean Airlines announced the cancellation of every flight to and from Brussels after the attacks Aegean Airlines announced on Tuesday that no flight of the company will be operated to and from Brussels since the airport of the city will remain closed after the terrorist attacks. According to the announcement of the air carrier, the rebooking/reissue fees are waived for ticket modifications and full refund will be granted in case of cancellation, for all passengers holding tickets to/from Brussels with ticket issuance date on/before 21st of March , initial travel date on/before 31st of March and new travel date on/before 31st of May. For modifications/cancellations we kindly ask you to contact at 801 11 20000 or (+30) 210 6261000 (from a mobile phone or from a location outside of Greece). Aegean flight A3620 which departed from Athens International airport at 8:30 on Tuesday with final destination the Brussels Airport, has landed at Dusseldorf airport. [02] Two ferries with 260 refugees and migrants docked at the port of Piraeus on Wednesday Two ferries carrying 260 refugees and migrants from islands of the Eastern Aegean Sea docked at Piraeus port early in the morning on Wednesday. "Ariadni" ferry arrived with 241 refugees from Mytilene and another 9 from Chios. Eight autobuses were already waiting at the pier for "Ariadni" in order to transfer the refugees and migrants to a temporary hosting centre in Pieria Region. Also to the port of Piraeus docked the ferry "blue star 2" with 10 refugees and migrants from Rhodes, Karpathos and Kos islands. According to the latest counting of the authorities, the number of the refugees and migrants installed at the facilities of the port of Piraeus raised to 4,700. Due to the increased needs, the army will start from Wednesday to provide food to the people living in the passenger stations and the other premises of the port, and the authorities also installed more water facilities. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-23 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] PM Tsipras expresses concern for NATO's effectiveness in Aegean in call to Stoltenberg [02] EU justice and security ministers to meet in Brussels on Thursday [03] BoG governor: Greek banks' capital position particularly strong [01] PM Tsipras expresses concern for NATO's effectiveness in Aegean in call to Stoltenberg Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday had a phone contact with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. According to sources, Tsipras conveyed to Stoltenberg the government's discontent that NATO's action has not produced the expected results, and the refugee flows continue unabated from Turkey. During the telephone conversation, the Prime Minister stressed that the neighboring country needs to adhere to its commitments under the agreement on NATO activation and the terms of the EU-Turkey agreement. [02] EU justice and security ministers to meet in Brussels on Thursday BRUSSELS (ANA-MPA/C. Vasilaki) - The European Union's justice and security ministers along with representatives of European institutions will convene for an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Thursday, according to an announcement from the Dutch presidency. The meeting is being held after a request by Belgium and has been scheduled at 17.00 (Greek time). [03] BoG governor: Greek banks' capital position particularly strong Greek banks' capital position is particularly strong, Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras said, addressing an event organized by the National Bank of Croatia in Zagreb. In his address, Stournaras added that actions taken so far in the non-performing loans issue will further improve banks' capital position and stressed that banks in the Eurozone have improved their capital adequacy rates to around 14 pct currently, from around 8.0 pct in 2008. He underlined the need to review an existing bank supervision framework in the coming years and stressed that challenges ahead lied with completion of a Banking Union. Another challenge was increased burdens on banks to adapt to a new regulatory framework as a demand for greater transparency is accompanied with higher costs. Another challenge is to widen the supervision field as banks have activities in a number of sectors, such as securitization, repos, collateral management and derivatives. Stournaras stressed that another challenge was the role of the central bank as a lender of last resort for the banking system. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
op industry commentator has hit back at major organizations, saying many are hiding the real face of women at work and opting for a babes-only approach instead.Management columnist Lucy Kellaway argued that many companies claim to value women at work and celebrate their diversity but still use unrealistic images that fail to reflect that.Even McKinsey, which has recently put out a report called the Power of Parity, falls into this trap, she states, pointing to two images included in the study.One features three professionals stood in a row with only their legs visible  while the two men are wearing identical suit and shoe combos, the slim woman is in stilettos and what can only be assumed is a short skirt, considering that no fabric is visible in the image.The second image shows a flawless model-esque business woman, carrying a phone in one hand and a toddler in the other.The subliminal message here is that you can juggle and have it all but only if youre a total babe, bemoans Kellaway. This idea that you need to be a babe to be a working woman is not only a lie, its completely naff, she adds.According to Kellaway, companies can reinforce their own equality and diversity strategies through their corporate material.If a company wants to show that it really values women and wants to prioritise action in the gender equality landscape, it will show pictures of them in which they dont always look cool or gorgeous, she stresses. They just look like professional women at work.LUSH is one such organization which was long championed a similar initiative  the global cosmetics retailer always uses real employees in all of its promotional material and advertising campaigns.HR professional Elisia Gray oversees Trans-Tasman recruitment for the organization  she told HRM that the companys approach empowers employees and even helps attract talent.I do feel like a lot of our employees were attracted that way, she stressed. Diversity is something that we need  the best staff would be a representation of the community that theyre in.
Rotorua Chamber of Commerce has apologised over an inappropriate renaming which saw one womens business group dubbed the Bikini Club.We certainly didnt intend to offend and we didnt intend it to be demeaning in any shape or form, said CEO Darrin Walsh. We were really just looking for a fun name.The controversial renaming occurred when the Chamber attempted to revamp its Women in Business sessions which were struggling to attract attendees and had failed to secure a sponsor.Unfortunately, the appeal of those events has fallen away, Walsh told HRM, so we reviewed it and we wanted to come up with a name that was fun because we want the events to be fun, invigorating and vibrant, he continued.Walsh revealed the moniker had been suggested  and eventually chosen  by an all-female panel but admitted he too hadnt seen anything wrong with it.The name was suggested, I ran it past a few members and basically I had no complaints, he said, adding that it was only once the name was put through communications that he realized something was wrong.We immediately retracted it, apologised to our members and said we had it wrong, he said, revealing that, personally, hed actually only had four complaints so far.The plan now, he told HRM, is to let members of the group choose the name themselves.Weve had a few suggestions already, he said, listing a number of options including Mana Wahini, Athenas and Goddesses Networking.
A "concerned Alberta mother" is protesting Alberta's LGBTQ guidelines for schools in the form of a cringe-worthy rap.

"This is just a fender-bender all over sex and gender, can we pick another issue than to change our bathrooms for a few," the mom, who goes by the name M.H. Wiebe, raps in a YouTube video posted March 8.

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"I am a concerned mother of three  keep male and female washrooms where our children can pee."

Her rhymes didn't impress everyone.

Alberta mom's children die of embarrassment forever & ever https://t.co/9TzN9Ae6wf  Jason Hooper (@JasonH00per) March 22, 2016

She goes on to suggest transgender children are unnatural. And claimed that there are very few  "six, perhaps 13"  transgender kids in the province, adding that she feels the issue of catering to trans children is not worth pursuing.

But her claims don't really hold up.

Some studies suggest as many as one in 200 people are transgender, according to Trans Pulse, an Ontario-based trans research group, which would mean about 20,000 Albertans may identify as transgender.

My names MH Wiebe and Im here to rap A bunch of misconceptions and a lot of craphttps://t.co/PXM8qnTWLL#yikes#ableg#LGBTQ#abed  Janis Irwin (@JanisIrwin) March 22, 2016

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At the end of the video, Wiebe says her rap is asking parents to "say no to Bill 10," but she might have her facts a bit twisted. Bill 10, which was passed in March 2015, allows students to create gay-straight alliances in schools. It doesn't make specific mention of transgender students or bathrooms at all.

The province's LGBTQ guidelines, on the other hand, is a document released by Alberta Education in January. It addresses the right of transgender students to choose the bathroom they use.

The guidelines address a range of issues, and were intended to help school boards draft policies to help LGBTQ students feel safe and accepted.

'Family Should Know'

Comments on Wiebe's video are disabled, but her message directs viewers to a website titled "Family Should Know."

The site, registered anonymously in February, urges parents to protest the province's guidelines by contacting their MLA, Education Minister David Eggen, Premier Rachel Notley, their child's school and Alberta's official opposition party.

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The site suggests the guidelines open school washrooms up to "boys, girls, and adults of any age and sexual orientation" and put children at risk of "sexual violation"  claims that have been disproven within the province's guideline document itself.

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Doug Ford was his brothers keeper.

My heart is ripped out. I loved Rob so much I took care of him and protected him from the day he was born, his older brother Doug told CP24.

I miss him so much he was my best friend.

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Rob Ford and his brother councillor Doug Ford huddle during debate at City Hall in Toronto on Nov. 13, 2013. (Photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford died of a rare form of cancer Tuesday. He was 46.

The Ford family released a statement earlier in the day confirming the death with heavy hearts and profound sadness.

A dedicated man of the people, Councillor Ford spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto, it read.

Doug, a former city councillor, stepped into his brothers place in 2014s mayoral race after after Robs cancer diagnosis forced him to drop his campaign.

You put us on the map

The flag at City Hall was lowered to half mast while people gathered at the base of a big Toronto sign to write tributes to the late mayor.

You put us on the map. This city will always have a part of you, read one message in chalk. Another: Your kind spirit will be missed. You fought a good fight.

Toronto is reeling from Fords death, said current Mayor John Tory.

Friends and supporters of Rob Ford gather at Toronto's City Hall to pay tribute to the former mayor in Toronto on March 22, 2016. Ford died Tuesday at age 46 after battling cancer. (Photo: Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

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In a statement, Tory said he and Ford had known each other for many years and put politics aside to laud his sometimes political foe.

Ford spoke his mind and ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had, Tory said.

He was, above all else, a profoundly human guy whose presence in our city will be missed.

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Most nightmares involve freakish monsters and sinister clowns that would keep anyone up at night.

But if you ask the federal Conservatives, their bad dream consists of $113 billion in that the Liberals plan to borrow over the next five years.

The opposition party issued a statement Tuesday that called the freshly-tabled federal budget a "nightmare scenario for taxpayers who will be forced to pick up the tab for today's Liberal spending spree."

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"This budget puts taxpayers on the hook for out-of-control Liberal spending that will lead to more waste and mismanagement," Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose said.

"The Liberal election pledge to borrow a 'modest' $10 billion per year has been cast aside and in its place a shocking $30 billion is being borrowed this year alone.

"Canadians gave them an inch, and they're taking miles."

Ambrose took particular issue with the "absence of anything resembling a jobs plan to help Canadians find work."

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She said that's "particularly troubling" for people who work in the oil and gas industry  who are now reeling from oil prices that are well below what they were last year.

The Liberal budget projects shortfalls of $29.4 billion this year, $29 billion in 2017-18, $22.8 billion in 2018-19, $17.7 billion in 2019-20, and $14.3 billion in 2010-21.

Altogether, that's a shortfall of $113 billion in five years  somewhat less than an expected $150 billion that TD Bank predicted earlier this month.

The bank said it could take over a decade to re-balance the budget, though Finance Minister Bill Morneau said it could be done in another five years.

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"Once you're running deficits it's very easy for them to run larger than you anticipate."

Morneau told reporters that the deficits should give Canada a "growth rate that's going to put us in a continually strong fiscal position."

But some experts aren't so sure.

"The real problem is the fact that the government doesn't have the money to pay for all the new initiatives," Craig Alexander, vice-president of economic analysis with the C.D. Howe Institute, told The Canadian Press.

"The cautionary note is the fact that once you're running deficits it's very easy for them to run larger than you anticipate."

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The woman who was abused as a child by Stephen Harpers former bandmate Phillip Nolan broke her silence Tuesday.

You might have read about my secret, wrote Anna Cote in the Globe and Mail. For a long time, it was my secret alone. Then, suddenly, it wasnt, she said about media coverage of the case.

In 2014, Ottawa police charged Nolan with five counts of sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation of a minor.

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Nolan, who taught music to Grade 7 and Grade 8 students, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of sexual interference that involved a teenage girl for incidents dating back to 1990 and 2000.

Phillip Nolan, far right, who formerly played drums in the band that often accompanied former prime minister Stephen Harper, was sentenced to two years in prison in January. (Photo: Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Cote was 13 when her then-29-year-old teacher sexually abused her.

The former teacher told a doctor that he and the middle school student just hit it off, the court heard during his trial.

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But the judge disagreed. Sexual abuse does not happen because a teacher and his student hit it off, Justice Ann Alder said, continuing, He befriended the victim, he manipulated a 13-year-old child.

Nolan was sentenced to two years in jail in January.

Cote wrote she was moved to speak out because she no longer wants to propagate the idea that survivors should be ashamed.

The abuse began when Nolan saw her upset in the hallway one day, and gained her trust by comforting her, she said. She hid her story for half her life.

Even if I had wanted to talk, I didnt have the words, only feelings of confusion and discomfort.

Even if I had wanted to talk, I didnt have the words, only feelings of confusion and discomfort, Cote wrote in the Globe. She said she hasn't been defined by her abuse as she feared she would be and is moving on.

I can now acknowledge how it has affected me and stays with me, she wrote. With that acknowledgment has come strength.

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After visiting a refugee camp in Lebanon, Mohamad Fakih, CEO of Paramount Fine Foods, felt it wasnt enough just to sponsor a couple of Syrian families to Canada.

"Thats cutting a cheque, but we can do more by [making a] real, hands-on effort," he said to the Huffington Post Canada.

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On Monday he announced on CBCs Metro Morning that hes committing to hiring Syrian refugees across his franchise. "Every store would try between three to five [refugees] by the end of the year," Fakih said. And with over 20 locations open in Ontario with more to come, thats more than 100 potential new hires.

Fakih is the first to admit itll be a challenge, but one, he says, is worth it. "It will require 10-15 per cent more training than a Canadian employee but our team is excited because they feel like theyre doing something good," he said.

"They come with a lot of knowledge, education and experience. If we really take our time to communicate with them, Im sure a lot of Canadians can learn from the Syrians," he said.

"Now theyre in Canada and we need to support that. The bottom line is get these people on their feet. We can try to employ them and they pay taxes then theyre an asset," he said in the same interview.

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Ryerson University, as part of their partnership with Lifeline Syria, contacted Fakih requesting help to pay the salary of a human resources specialist who would connect job-ready Syrians to employers.

Volunteers at Ryerson are committing to get Syrians job ready by helping them write resumes, train them on labour laws and posting ads. The HR rep will then match the job seekers with employers in their database based on expertise.

Paramount Fine Foods' CEO Mohamad Fakih stands with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his restaurant earlier this year.

Fakih this week hired a refugee as an assistant manager. "He was a hotel manager back home, so hes not lacking in business experience. He needs training on anti-racism law, labour law, how to deal with the consumer -- whats right, wrong, offensive," Fakih says -- things that are already part of Paramounts training, just an elongated version of it.

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Now hes calling on other businesses, big and small, to do the same. "Put your name on list of how many employees youre committed to taking."

According to Fakih, having the list of potential employers first is important because the workforce is ready to be matched up. He started by reaching out to his own personal network. "Some of my friends say 'yes we are looking' and some say 'not right now.' But Im already receiving lots of emails."

As for why he wanted to take on this initiative? "Thats what people did for me when I arrived to Canada," Fakih said. "I feel like I owe Canada a lot. And youre never big enough in business to forget about the community."

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Earlier this year the big three national carriers (Bell, Telus, Rogers) announced a fee hike on their cellphone plans, and blamed it, in part, on the falling Canadian dollar.

The hikes, however, dont affect plan prices in Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The reason? The three provinces have regional wireless carriers  Sasktel in Saskatchewan, MTS in Manitoba and Videotron in Quebec.

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The regional carriers offer rates lower than the national average, thus forcing the national carriers to either compete or get out.

This is something Canadians have known for a while, going so far as to create a black market for the cheaper prairie plans.

Even though Canadians, in general, pay some of the highest fees in the world, Canadians living outside the above three provinces are definitely getting the shorter end of the stick.

The lack of competition is going to continue to increase prices. We need real competition here, not competition with spotty coverage that eventually gets acquired by the big three carriers, Tanvir Toor told the Huffington Post Canada.

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Toor is the founder of Sphere, a Vancouver-based online cellphone trading company, that put together the infographic below. It shows just how much the presence of a fourth carrier changes cellphone plan prices across the country.

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If the most recent Fashion Weeks have taught us anything, its that the question of diversity is one the fashion industry is having trouble answering.

Spring 2016 shows saw only 797 of 3875 bookings go to women of colour, compared to 32 per cent of models of colour seen walking in last months fall 2016 shows. And this is frustrating because our inability to diversify the business is old news  especially since some people on the inside have seemed so consistently unwilling.

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Balenciaga's fall/winter 2016 fashion show.

In a recent interview with Teen Vogue, Naomi Campbell spoke out about her own experiences with stylists who were ill-equipped to work with women of colour  and hers were similar to the testimonies of Jourdan Dunn, Nykhor Paul, and Leomie Anderson, whove talked about experiencing the same thing.

"When I was younger, I encountered this same issue," Campbell told Teen Vogue. "I would be backstage at shows and there would be stylists who didnt have any experience working with black models. Its disappointing to hear that models of colour are still encountering these same issues all these years later."

And in that same piece, activist Bethann Hardison hit the nail on the head: "If you dont have models of colour [being booked for a show], theres no point in practice."

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Admittedly, theres been glimmers of hope: model Kayla Scott has sung the praises of diversitys raised profile in general, as well as how awesome it was to see an almost all-black cast in Yeezy Season 3.

Models at Yeezy Season 3.

Lauren Wasser made her runway debut at Chromat's show during New York City Fashion Week.

The thing is, its super easy to write and to talk about diversity, but then to throw up our hands while saying "do better" without creating any demand for it or offering any solutions. The progress weve seen in recent seasons has been cool, yes, but the fact that its still news  the fact that its a huge deal to see a transgender model on the runway or to see a fashion show populated by mostly models of colour  only points to the fact that diversity is still a novelty.

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And as long as diversity is a novelty, its not a way of life. And thats a huge problem. It still sends the message that if youre not a white, cis, skinny, and abled person, youre "other." But an industry based on individuality and self-expression should be exactly where we obliterate these types of norms  it should be a space where individuality is championed and where it is celebrated and where anyone who has issues with it are asked to educate themselves (or to please leave).

Ashley Graham walks the runway at H&M Studio AW 2016 show in Paris.

And its up to us, as consumers of fashion, to raise the bar by demanding more. Its easy to get away with something if youre not being questioned, so its our job to question the industry and to question loudly. Its important to ask why all models look the same. Its important to boycott a brand if you feel theyre ignoring diversity for the sake of a damaging mandate. And its important to champion the work of models whove created space for even younger, burgeoning models who are looking to break into an industry famous for keeping doors closed.

Weve learned that being loud heeds results, and without raising hell, we become complacent. Its easy to sit and complain because a task seems daunting, but in the case of diversity in fashion, the task is not: instead, its telling an industry whose very survival relies on our approval that were unhappy with the way its doing business. And if were unhappy, the business itself should be. It should be straight-up scared. (Mainly since our unhappiness means that we might give them our money anymore.)

Savage! #nyfw #stevieboi #slay #fw16 #blackandwhite #runway A photo posted by Laith Ashley [De La Cruz] (@laith_ashley) on Feb 14, 2016 at 7:46am PST

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So while we may celebrate the slow progress of fashions relationship with diversity, we can still ask for more. In terms of ushering in more types of models who hail from all backgrounds, theres no such thing as being too greedy  we should want to see everybody, and we should be vocal about it. And true, we may not all have a designers ear, but we do all have a platform built on 140 characters (or any other platforms you may have  I dont know you guys), and through those things we can usher in change. There is space for every person in fashion. So lets remind fashion of that, constantly.

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Tuesday's federal budget introduced changes to employment insurance (EI) that will help all Albertans  except people from Edmonton.

The changes make it easier for unemployed workers to claim EI, and extend the period during which they can receive benefits.

They apply everywhere  except the provincial capital, where residents will have to obtain EI just like they did before, Global News reported.

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Edmonton Mayor frustrated by exclusion

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the changes target people who need EI most, but the exclusion still has Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson concerned.

I can surmise that it has something to do with the fact that our employment numbers are a little bit better than the rest of the province, The Edmonton Journal reported him saying.

I will want to get confirmation that if our numbers shift, if the economy deteriorates, that we will become eligible.

Edmonton unemployment rate below provincial average

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Edmonton MP Amarjeet Sohi said the city has been left out because it simply hasn't been hit as hard by the slump in oil prices as the rest of the province  but things could change if the capitals economy worsens, 630 CHED radio reported.

We will continue to monitor this, Sohi said. If the situation changes, if Edmonton sees the layoffs to the extent that other regions have, we will revisit this plan.

Notley 'disappointed' by federal government's decision

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told CBC News that shes disappointed at Edmontons exclusion and said she plans to look at what it takes to qualify for EI with the changes in place.

We will keep a sharp eye on the state of job losses in Edmonton and we will continue to push very aggressively for changes if the situation worsens, she said.

Parts of Saskatchewan also omitted

The EI changes affect 12 regions across Canada where unemployment rate increased by two per cent or more over the past year.

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The benefits will also omit parts of Saskatchewan that have been hit hard by the downturn in oil.

"Thats a first concern that well want to raise, that theyve missed a big part of Saskatchewans oilpatch in this particular initiative, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said.

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On a recent episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the 58-year-old daytime host spoke to one Canadian about how Canucks really feel about the idea of Americans coming over.

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Proud Canadian Guy LeBlueBlah (seriously, it doesn't get any more legit than this) of the real Canadian Bureau of Immigration told DeGeneres while he understands the U.S. is currently experiencing political discourse, we Canadians want nothing to do with it.

And if you want to know what our "non-bananas' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has to say about all of this, during a global town hall hosted by The Huffington Post Canada in March, Trudeau simply said, "Cape Breton is lovely all times of the year."

Watch the hilarious clip above.

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A familiar crisis has returned to an Ontario First Nation.

Sixteen children have been airlifted from the community of Kashechewan to receive medical treatment for mysterious skin lesions. Pictures of affected kids, including a five-month-old baby who recently underwent heart surgery, were shared widely over the weekend.

Here is another one this niece just survived an open heart surgery not to long ago and now this she doesn't deserve this kind of life. Come on people do something make noises and share. Posted by Derek Stephen on Friday, 18 March 2016

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Still the same problem from a month ago Posted by Derek Stephen on Saturday, 19 March 2016

Immediate steps have been taken to get medical care for the children, according to Health Minister Jane Philpott. A team from the northern community of Moose Factory has been assigned to go door-to-door in Kashechewan to identify any new cases.

In question period on Monday, Philpott was adamant that the rashes and sores are not caused by the reserves water. But the communitys former chief is still skeptical.

I cant rule out water yet until I know whats causing these issues, Derek Stephen told CTV News.

A full review needs to be done of our facilities, our infrastructure, and also our environmental impacts, said Stephen, whose baby niece has been affected by the unknown condition.

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I cant rule out water yet until I know whats causing these issues.  Derek Stephen, former Kashechewan chief

Stephen said repeated floods and sewage back-ups in recent years have contaminated the reserves land and the grounds have yet to be properly cleaned.

This is where our kids play, Stephen said. I think the whole community is contaminated.

The children's health crisis in Kashechewan has brought a renewed urgency to its water issue, which has been simmering for over a decade.

State of emergency

Kashechewan is a Cree community upstream from James Bay and home to about 1,900 people. The closest urban centre is Timmins, 400 kilometres away.

Its one of the number of northern Ontario First Nation communities that declared a state of emergency last month over what local leaders called a suicide epidemic. A dire shortage of medical supplies has also been cited.

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The Northern Ontario reserve of Kashechewan is seen in this undated handout aerial photo. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

The declaration called on governments to meet with First Nation leaders and draft a plan to ensure communities have access to safe, clean drinking water. Its nothing new that many First Nations across Canada still face water issues  and aboriginal leaders arent the only ones calling for more government action.

Last year, a CBC news investigation found that water advisories have been issued for two-thirds of all Canadian First Nations communities since 2005.

Today, there are 135 active water advisories issued for 86 First Nations communities across the country (excluding British Columbia).

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United Nations pressure for solution

Earlier this month, the United Nations called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address ongoing water issues, calling it a matter of human rights.

Trudeaus commitments to aboriginal peoples were front and centre in his governments first budget released Tuesday, which set aside $8.4 billion for indigenous programs over five years. The historic funding includes $2.6 billion earmarked for education.

What does a $2.6 billion commitment to First Nation education look like? It means no more rain pouring into classrooms... Posted by Charlie Angus on Monday, 21 March 2016

The budget specifically addressed water infrastructure on reserves with almost $2 billion allocated to end boil-water advisories  a pledge the prime minister promised to achieve by 2021.

Proposals sitting in government offices

Ten years ago, Kashechewan residents were forced to leave their homes over similar concerns over mysterious rashes.

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In 2005, high E. coli levels caused an outbreak of serious skin lesions and a quarter of Kashechewans population had to be evacuated, according to APTN News.

Since the 2005 crisis in our community all the government has done are repairs and quick fixes, Stephen, former chief, told the network in an interview Tuesday.

There are numbers out there, proposals that are sitting in their offices to do permanent replacements for the water plant and infrastructure, he said.

A water treatment plant was built in 1995, but its intake pipe is downstream from the communitys sewage lagoon. Its a structural flaw which means tides from James Bay push dirty water back and forth across the intake, according to CBC News.

In response to the 2005 crisis, the military delivered a water purification unit  the same one used on missions by the Canadian Forces for natural disasters and humanitarian crises overseas.

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This is our drinking tap water that's our infants, children, adults, and elders drink and bath and shower with daily. Posted by Derek Stephen on Monday, 21 March 2016

Last year, rising floodwaters forced Kashechewan residents from their homes for the fourth consecutive year. The Toronto Star reported 350 people were still living in the Kapuskasing hotels and apartments they were placed in the previous year when the new evacuation order was called.

The evacuations cost the First Nation $20 million every year.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Jordon/Flickr

Saskatoon students marked the International Day to Eliminate Racial Discrimination on Monday with a silent protest to remember Canada's missing and murdered indigenous women.

There is a lot of racism and a lot of missing and murdered aboriginal women," student Jessica Mcnab told The Saskatoon StarPhoenix. "We just wanted to try and stop it.

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Grade seven and eight students from St. Mary's School held posters with messages against violence, and photos of missing and murdered women.

Students researched the stories of missing women and girls

Twelve-year-old Keenan Kakakaway, one of the school's students, researched the story of Susan Duff, who went missing at age 12 over 30 years ago in Penticton, B.C.

"It's really sad that this happens to girls," Kakakaway said, in an interview with CBC News. "That's why we're all here. To make a change."

Other schools took to social media to express support for the protest.

We stand with students from Saskatoon's St. Mary's School who took to the hallways of the University of... https://t.co/BgcqeQBdLj  UVic NSU (@UVICNSU) March 23, 2016

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Its important to give them a voice back, so their families will be happy, student Khyle Refuerzo told Global News.

The event was hosted at the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre on the University of Saskatchewan campus. The centre was built to reflect First Nations traditions and serve as a meeting place for aboriginal and non-aboriginal students in the community, according to The Globe and Mail.

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It wasn't long ago that Stefan Jagsch attended an anti-refugee rally where migrants were labelled "lawless primates" and "invaders."

That was before two Syrians pulled him out of a car after it hit a tree last week, The Associated Press reported.

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Jagsch, a member of the German National Democratic Party (NPD), which has anti-immigrant positions, was driving between the towns of Budingen and Altenstadt when his car hit a tree, leaving him "seriously injured," reported Der Spiegel.

Two Syrian refugees pulled Jagsch out of the car and gave him First Aid before police arrived, the dpa news agency said. The refugees were gone by the time officers were on the scene.

Jean Christoph Fiedler, who leads the party in Germany's Hesse area, said the Syrians "likely performed a very good, humane deed," according to a German report quoted by The Guardian.

The NPD is known as an extremist party that has been called one of the "scariest far-right parties" in the European Parliament.

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It has campaigned on anti-immigration policies, using slogans such as "the boat is full" and "National Socialism." Such positions have gained it a neo-Nazi label.

But anti-refugee sentiment has also boosted the NPD's popularity in parts of Germany, even as the government has tried to ban the party.

The NPD took 10.2 per cent of the vote in municipal elections in the area where the crash happened, and much of that had to do with its anti-refugee rhetoric, The Guardian noted.

In a Facebook post, Jagsch said he wasn't conscious at the time of the crash so he couldn't confirm whether Syrian refugees had helped him.

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Dos refugiats sirians socorren el politic neonazi de l'NPD Stefan Jagsch despres d'un greu accident de transit pic.twitter.com/DGrR2FVEth  Roger Suso (@eurosuso) March 22, 2016

However, two Syrian refugees told firefighters that he was conscious. They were in the area because two vans with 16 refugees stopped by the crash site before medical help arrived.

Jagsch was reportedly in hospital on Tuesday and is "doing well," according to Fiedler.

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Teachers who dip into their own wallets to buy school supplies are finally being offered an extra token of support from Ottawa.

Tucked inside the Liberals 269-page budget tabled Tuesday is a proposal for a refundable tax benefit for eligible teachers and early childhood educators who buy materials for their classrooms with their own money.

If they keep their receipts of school supply purchases, they'll be able to claim up to $150 in credit  or 15 per cent of expenses up to $1,000.

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A B.C. classroom after and before teaching supplies. (Photo: Submitted)

Jack Aubry, a finance department spokesperson, confirmed to The Huffington Post that teachers are eligible for the tax credit whether or not they applied for the existing Canada employment amount.

The new benefit only applies to the purchase of eligible supplies such as paper, glue and paint for art projects, games and puzzles, and supplementary books.

The Canada employment amount, introduced by the Tories, allows educators to claim up to 15 per cent back on up to $1,127 in expenses, proof of purchases not necessary.

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... this credit does not solve the problem of chronic underfunding.  Heather Smith, CTF president

The move fulfills a Liberal election pledge made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a former teacher who taught math, drama, and French.

A Canadian teachers union praised the budget presented by Finance Minister Bill Morneau as progressive  but added the possible $150 return isn't enough.

Teachers consistently spend from their own pockets to enhance the learning environment for children, said Canadian Teachers Federation president Heather Smith in a statement Tuesday.

Unfortunately, not all materials purchased by teachers appear to be covered. While this credit does not solve the problem of chronic underfunding of elementary and secondary education, it recognizes some of the contributions made by teachers.

Look how teaching supplies make a difference in classrooms:

B.C. Public School Classrooms See Gallery

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The average teacher shells out nearly $530 on school supplies every year, according to the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. Money from parent advisory committee fundraisers also helps pay for materials, and parents have been asked to help foot bills as well.

Teacher: Sterile rooms dont motivate kids

Some teacher, however, spend thousands of dollars throughout their careers to make their classrooms vibrant and amazing places to learn.

In a HuffPost blog published during B.C.s 2014 teachers strike, Ashley D. MacKenzie said some people have called on teachers to stop buying supplies for their students  but she said the practice is huge for students.

I've bought posters and decorations because I find bland rooms unwelcoming. Sterile, the teacher wrote. And I don't want to spend my days in a room that doesn't stimulate or motivate me.
Thank you to everyone who came an supported our show last night. Our hearts are VERY full  And a special shout out to the entire #teambrunette who kicked butt and really held the day together to make it amazing @rjpugsley @alushalusha @swansam @courtfads @macamatics you guys are a serious dream team!!! And thanks for the  @tobruckave 

A photo posted by Brunette Showroom (@brunetteshowroom) on Mar 19, 2016 at 11:38am PDT
FLORENCE CASSISI via Getty Images French far right Front National (FN) president Marine Le Pen speaks at a press conferenceA in Quebec City on March 20, 2016. Le pen criticised Canada's immigration policy, in paricular the opening of doors to Syrian refugees. A / AFP / Florence Cassisi (Photo credit should read FLORENCE CASSISI/AFP/Getty Images)

The leader of France's far-right Nationalist Front party, Marine Le Pen, better known for spewing racist, xenophobic vitriol against France's Muslim population and being the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, is apparently visiting Canada this week -- yes, the "Devil's Daughter" herself. It might be worth getting a good ol' fashioned exorcism by the time the week is over to rid ourselves of the memory this visit ever took place.

Before our collective Canadian souls sound anguish at this frightening development, it must be clarified that Madam Marine is gracing us with her charming presence under the auspices of a European Parliament trade delegation of which she unfortunately happens to be a member.

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Visiting Canada on a European Parliament membership technicality with no federal or provincial parties willing to engage given her bigoted views (and possible stench of sulphur) has not prevented her from criticizing Canada's policies on immigration and multiculturalism. The terror attacks in Brussels have only added more ammunition to a sharp tongue already loaded with nationalist, nativist and jingoistic diatribe.

This is all part of a calculated political game.

Yet the irony is not lost on anybody. How can somebody who's carved out a political career by exploiting fear of minorities have the gall to lecture Canada on its multicultural fabric? Then again, Le Pen is an anomaly crusading for a bygone pre-World War brand of European nationalism that has largely evolved beyond its most reactionary core.

Yet, history repeats, and the combination of ongoing terrorist attacks, large influx of Syrian migrants and a declining economy is proving to be a fatal mix of which demagogue politicians like Le Pen will be the ultimate benefactors. The party won 27 per cent of the share of the vote in the last regional election and only failed to win a regional council due to collusion between opposing parties.

This is all part of a calculated political game. In our world of 10 second sound-bites, five-second attention spans, media impressions, aggregated news feeds, Facebook likes and YouTube views, the more provocative the story, the greater the coverage. Keep your face on the camera and good things are likely to result. Like Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Le Pen knows this well and exploits it to full effect.

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However, Madam Marine's tricks of the trade did not pan out in Canada as she would have likely hoped, but this is her own doing. She was not paying attention when Canadian voters resoundingly rejected Stephen Harper's vision that sought to turn Canada into a warped Republican utopia of hatred, division. She never heard Justin Trudeau emphatically proclaim how "a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian" regardless of ethnic background. More importantly, she has never lived to see how Canada's brand of multiculturalism and culture of mutual respect and tolerance contradict her claim of a multicultural society rooted "in conflict."

Her extremist views have fallen on deaf ears because she is the very antithesis of what this country stands for. We as Canadians are all the better for it.
Bloomberg via Getty Images Wind turbines sit in the North Sea at the London Array offshore wind farm, a partnership between Dong Energy A/S, E.ON AG and Abu Dhabi-based Masdar, in the Thames Estuary, U.K., on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. The London Array, east of London, has 175 Siemens turbines and a capacity of 630MW. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The city of Ouarzazate, Morocco, is no stranger to Hollywood. With scenic desert vistas, Ouarzazate has provided backdrops for Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Game of Thrones. Now Ouarzazate is rolling out the red carpet for the biggest star of all: the sun.

Morocco is building the world's largest solar power plant in Ouarzazate. Already, half a million solar panels are already operating. When the project is completed in 2018 the plant will produce at least 580 megawatts of energy, enough to power one million Moroccan homes. The government plans to meet 42 per cent of the country's electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020.

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Renewable energy offers unparalleled opportunities for nations around the globe to dream big. Investments in wind, solar, water and biomass energy can reduce national climate footprints while simultaneously creating jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

A newly-released study from Stanford University in California claims Canada could realistically meet 100 per cent of our power needs from renewable sources by 2030. The switch would create more than new 700,000 jobs at home and save Canada $107 billion a year by reducing pollution-related health problems, say Stanford researchers. What are we waiting for?

While the use of renewable energy is on the rise in Canada, we have yet to see our governments present a truly grand vision like Morocco. Here are a handful of the clean megaprojects around the world that inspire us -- and hopefully our leaders, too.

Race to the Sun

Pakistan wants to exceed Morrocco's accomplishments and claim the record for the most enormous solar farm. In the Cholistan Desert in eastern Pakistan, 400,000 solar panels are already generating 100 megawatts of energy. It's the first stage in a US$46 billion partnership that has Chinese contractors helping build the facility. When the solar farm is completed in 2017, it's expected to produce twice as much electricity as Ouarzazate.

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Sadly, India's vision of producing 100 gigawatts of electricity from solar farms and rooftop-mounted solar panels by 2022 has been temporarily derailed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). India's requirement that a percentage of solar panels be manufactured locally, in order to create jobs and reduce poverty, is an illegal barrier under international trade agreements, according to the WTO.

Winds of Change

While Morocco and Pakistan compete for the sun, the U.K. aims to own the wind. U.K. company, Dong Energy, announced in February it will build the world's largest ocean-based wind farm off Britain's east coast. In the next four years, 174 massive wind turbines in the English Channel will provide enough electricity to run one million homes -- three per cent of U.K. households. It's an awesome step in the right direction. The U.K. government is investing US$200 million in the project, which is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.

Earth Power

In February 2015, Kenya switched on the biggest-ever geothermal power plant, using the immense heat below the earth's surface to power turbines producing 280 megawatts of electricity. Thanks to the new power source, 5,000 more schools will now have power.

Riding the Wave

Last year, Australia switched on the world's first commercial energy plant powered by ocean waves. As a series of underwater buoys bob in the currents, the motion drives pumps that, in turn, power turbine generators with high-pressure water. The project is part of a US$3 billion plan to generate at least 20 per cent of Australia's energy from renewable sources by 2022. As a side benefit, after the sea water passes through the turbines it goes to a desalination plant where it's transformed into fresh, drinkable water.

Thanks to our rich bounty of waterways, our country has become the second-largest producer of hydroelectric power after China. But we also have three oceans and vast quantities of sun-drenched and wind-swept space just waiting to be tapped. Canada, it's time to dream big on renewable energy.

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Brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger founded a platform for social change that includes the international charity, Free The Children, the social enterprise, Me to We, and the youth empowerment movement, We Day. Visit we.org for more information.

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It's been over 24 hours since the passing of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford was announced. As with any high-profile political death, there's been an outpouring of condolences from all facets of the political spectrum.

Stephen Harper remembers Ford for his courage and love for Toronto.

John Tory called him "profoundly human", which I guess is as good an epitaph to which any of us ought to aspire.

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Tom Mulcair said "[age] 46 is far too young to lose a loved one."

And it's in that designation -- Rob Ford as loved one, as father/husband/brother, as "man" -- we run the risk of not having some very important conversations. When someone we dislike passes away, we far too often revert to muted resignation. We purse our lips, dip our heads, and maybe mumble a few innocuous words of remembrance. It feels cheap to assail a dead man, especially when they're survived by a mourning family.

So let's not assail Rob Ford The Man, but we should take a good hard look at Rob Ford The Gimmick.

In the world of pro wrestling, a performer has a character to play, or "gimmick", when they come to the ring. These roles run the gamut of variety and taste. Dentists, barbers, Mounties, accountants, wizards, porn stars, American patriots turned Iraqi sympathizers and back again.

Yeah, wrestling is weird and sometimes really stupid, but it can also offer moments that no other art form (yes, art form) can hope to touch. It can truly amaze.

Over time, depending on the fan reception of a wrestler's character, the line separating person from persona can get smudged as the performer begins to "live the gimmick", so to speak. One needs to look no further than Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea giving testimony at his own trial in a du-rag to see that living the gimmick is alive and well in wrestlers.

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One of the best examples of this is "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (real name: Steve Williams). He spent the early and middle parts of his career toiling away under the guise of numerous characters to varying degrees of success. From the stoic Ringmaster to one half of cocky tag team the Hollywood Blondes, no persona really stuck until he became "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a beloved beer-swilling, tough-talking, redneck son of a bitch (his words, not mine). He now hosts a candid podcast and has his own craft beer.

The man once known as Steve Williams is now Stone Cold, and perhaps always has been Stone Cold. Wrestling personas sometimes have a tendency of reflecting a performer's true character and vice-versa. For more on this, read about the life of wrestler Jake Roberts and try to tell me where Aurelian Smith Jr. ends and "The Snake" begins.

"He was, at times, monstrous. He needed help. He seldom received it."

Gimmicks aren't exclusive to the wrestling world. Politicians put on personas in an effort to get votes and harbour support, all with the help and hindrance of the media. They can become larger-than-life characters, ironically impossible to relate to on a human level. They perform on stages. They're lionized on our money like the Monopoly guy. They are drawn as cartoons published online and in newspapers virtually every day.

It's through this lens that we should be able to look at Rob Ford and drop the niceties.

The gimmick, which perhaps resembled his true nature all too closely, was one of a deeply flawed, troubled man in a position of untenable power and celebrity. He was abusive and a true embarrassment. While Ford seemed to give little regard to his own health and well-being, it's the stories of DUIs, police house calls, and belligerent disregard for the safety of others that shouldn't be overlooked.

He was, at times, monstrous. He needed help.

He seldom received it.

Yes, there were positive aspects of Ford's gimmick. The love for his community and constituents seemed real enough, but that kind of positivity only cements a legacy so firm. In neglecting his faults, we run the risk of giving rise to even more abrasive personas.

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(Enter Donald Trump, the self-aggrandized king of gimmicks, and no stranger to the world of professional wrestling.)

For the sake of the victims he bullied and abused, as well as those who still hold the mayor's office in high regard, we can't forgive that Rob Ford's legacy is a pockmark on the city of Toronto.

The unfortunate difference between pro wrestling and politics is that the latter is real fucking life. Politicians have power and influence. Their gimmicks carry true consequence. At a certain point, a line of our own gets smudged. We cease being spectators and become part of the show.
Hero Images via Getty Images Smiling family traveling in airplane

"Keep going, kids." Says the weary adult as their child optimistically looks at the business class seats on their way to the way, way back of the plane. As they pass the front section, past the premium or preferred economy seats, the spacious exit row seats, and find themselves in the last row, middle seats, not even together they wonder "why does this always happen to me?"

Experienced air travellers know all the tricks and tips to secure the best seats on the plane. Now, I'm not talking about paying thousands of extra dollars for business or first class seats -- anyone with a bit of money can do that -- but more how to score the best in the economy section, at little or no extra cost.

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The "best" seat of course is a personal choice; some prefer the aisle, others the window (I've yet to meet a person who prefers the middle seat), most like the front of the plane over the back, but not all. My personal preference is aisle, close to the front, but not the bulkhead because you can't store a bag under the seat in front of you.

Exit rows are an appeal for some, while it makes others nervous. It is important to note that exit row seating will not be given to children, those who require a seat belt extension, or those with physical disabilities that would not allow them to perform the required functions in case of an emergency. An extra benefit to exit row seating (besides extra legroom) is you normally board before the rest of the plane, giving you plenty of time and opportunity to score coveted overhead bin space.

But how can you figure out what the seat configuration of your plane is, before you've booked your flight? You can check out sides such as Seatguru.com; once you've booked your flight, you will be given the opportunity to review the seat options of your particular plane. Many planes are three across either side of the aisle, but smaller flights can see one seat on one side, and two on the other, while larger flights can see a middle section of seating as well.

Many airlines offer premium economy which, for a fee of anywhere from $15 - $50 typically, you can reserve and pre-book the first few rows in economy, as well as the exit row seating. Others, like Air Transat, offer "plus" seating which gives you food and beverages as well, but these costs can run into the hundreds of dollars.

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If you're a frequent flier and have accumulated miles or credits, check to see if you can redeem these for an upgrade.

Otherwise, you'll have to wait until 24 hours before your flight departure time to check in online, and select a regular economy seat. And don't kid yourself; many people (perhaps myself included) set timers to go on to the airlines' site at exactly 24 hours before their flight time. Waiting even five minutes can cost you that seat.

Many experienced fliers who are travelling with a companion will book the window and the aisle seat, leaving the middle seat open. This is less likely to be booked by another passenger, than if they had left either window or aisle open. Should the middle seat become booked, there's a 99.9 per cent chance that person will switch with either of your seats, still allowing you to sit together.

If you are trying to book seats together, but others have beaten you to it, you can always consider registering with Expertflyer.com. For $0.99 per request, you can ask for email alerts should a particular seat, or general type of seat become available on your flight. It covers most airlines -- Air Canada and WestJet included.

If your travel dates are flexible, try to travel mid-week to avoid the weekend, or Monday morning and Friday afternoon rush. The Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa and Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton corridors are a nightmare beginning and end of week, and even beginning and end of day. Book midday if you can on these busy business travel routes. Also, be aware that many business travellers are savvy to seat selection strategies and likely have "status" with the airlines' frequent flier programs, so your options will be limited right away.

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But what if all of your efforts are in vain, and you're still not in an optimal seat or separated from your travel companions? Flight attendants are most likely not going to help you solve your dilemma, although you can let them know that you are interested in switching. Most airlines will suggest you have to wait until the flight is in the air, or at least until the cabin doors are closed. You cannot switch to an upgraded seat unless the airline allows you to pay for it on the spot.

Don't assume others will automatically switch seats with you; they may have specifically chosen that seat for comfort, personal or superstitious reasons (many people don't want row 13, for example). Ask politely and if they turn you down, look for other options.

And one more thing; if you should end up getting the middle seat, common airline etiquette dictates that you "own" both arm rests. Fellow passengers may not subscribe to this, but if you are in a window or aisle seat, keep this in mind for your struggling middling companion.

Kathy Buckworth's "How She Travels" segment can be heard on "What She Said" on Sirius/XM Canada Talks, Channel 167. Check out her travel blog here.

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Rene Johnston via Getty Images TORONTO, ON - JAN. 18: The RCMP red surge arrives at the Metro Toronto Convention Center for the day's activities surrounding the color funeral for a fallen Toronto Police officer. Sgt. Ryan Russell was struck and killed by a stolen snowplow early on Wednesday morning last week, leaving behind his wife Christine and two-year-old son Nolan. (Rene Johnston/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Yesterday, the first budget of the Liberal government was tabled at the House of Commons and released to the public.

Amid several new programs targeting the middle class and infrastructure funds announced, the government also put some money to tackle what they called "Counter- radicalization". These tasks will be conducted by the Co-ordinator of the office of the Community Outreach and Counter- radicalization. For this, the office will receive $3 million dollars this year and up to $10 million dollars in the next years.

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The details about this program are still unclear but what do the government mean by counter-radicalization? Who will be targeted? Or is this another fishing expedition among some already targeted communities trying to gather more information about them and add to the prevailing sense of surveillance?

Immediately, after 9/11 attacks, the Arab and Muslim communities started receiving the "visits" of RCMP officers and CSIS agents asking them about their opinions on the Middle-East, about their religious beliefs, about their friends and what they know about them. Some of these "visits" were conducted at the workplace. At that time, no body spoke about radicalization, as if it was assumed that the targeted individuals came to Canada already "radicalized." The Muslim community was perceived on the "bad" side of the fight. They were always considered as not doing enough.

After, the Maher Arar case became public and the Public Inquiry conducted by Justice O'Connor, things took another turn, nationally and internationally. The Public Safety department started a new initiative called "the Cross Cultural Round Table on Security". I don't how efficient this initiative was and how many terrorist attacks it has prevented but it was undeniably a PR tool to build bridges with some handpicked members of the Muslim Community. The new picture became: the Muslim Community was invited to the table. But, the perception remained: Muslim Community doesn't do enough.

On the ground, young people didn't pay attention at all to these political moves. They were busy on their smartphones or laptops hearing and watching other stories.

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How is a new office of "counter-radicalization" is going to speak to la arge portion of disenchanted youth? The budget doesn't tell us how.

After the arrest of the Toronto 18, the focus of Security and Intelligence community seem to have shifted to the "radicalized youth". At that time, they were called the "home grown terrorists". Youth who grew up in Canada and seemed to have slipped under the radar of the Muslim community and the spying and police agencies. Youth, who former Prime Minister Harper mentioned last year in one of his speech as "whether they're in a basement, or whether they're in a mosque or somewhere else". The Conservative government even launched a national counter-radicalization program in 2014 to stop the number of Canadian youth joining ISIS.

So the question today that the Liberal is trying to answer "how can we talk to that the Muslim kid before he goes to his basement or his Mosque?"

And obviously, the reply comes with a "counter-radicalization" officer. The name changes and the philosophy of racial profiling remains the same.

It is indeed this targeting that would make some of the young Muslim or new Muslim feel that they are not connected to their community leaders or to their mosques. It is this feeling of alienation that is problematic. Simply, they don't recognize themselves in this picture. So they would listen more to other leaders on the Internet. It is this obsession and all the media sensationalism that we created in our societies about Islamic terrorism. An office of counter-radicalization will become another tool of stigmatization or another tool to allow some self appointed leaders of the Muslim community to speak about their views on the radicalization. The biggest concern is that this sort of initiative will become another spying program on the Muslim people where suspicion and rumours will become facts.

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Yesterday's attacks in Brussels were conducted by Belgian citizens. Paris attacks in November were conducted by French citizens. Without justifying the killing of innocent people, we have to accept that many of these attackers grow up in marginalized communities filled with poverty, unemployment and a powerless sense about the injustice in the Middle-East. They didn't relate to their country of birth, they related more to violent speeches of leaders in Iraq and Syria. The meaning of belonging and identity are obviously being hijacked by globalization.

One common sentence heard many times from mothers of young people who had joined the ISIS fighters in the Middle East is " I didn't see this happening." Why an office of "counter-radicalization" would see it happening? It is unclear for me.

In the past decades, there were always ideologies that attracted young people. These ideologies used degrees of violence. Young Canadians were not exempt from them. Canadian joined militants groups in Franco's Spain, in Castro's Cuba or in Mao's China. They were not many and no office of counter radicalization was created.

Today, it is ISIS who is speaking to these youth. We should offer an alternative to that discourse.

Our role, as a society, is to offer hope, acceptance, opportunities, justice, and dreams to our youth. We have to offer new horizons for them. More spying, more security and more scrutiny won't be the solution.

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Edward Smith/EMPICS Entertainment General view of Starbucks Coffee in central London

Like bringing coal to Newcastle. That is what came to mind when I read that Starbucks was set to open its first Italian location in Milan in early 2017. Better off trying to introduce something they don't have much of in Italy and could really use -- screen windows and clothes dryers come to mind.

They've got an awful lot of coffee in Italy already, and they love and drink it in their own style: typically, espresso gulped down quickly, served not with a cruller, but a cornetto or biscotto.

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Coffee in Italy is not something you nurse: you can add a dash of foamy milk and make it a macchiato; add some water and call it Americano; you can have a cappuccino (not after noon, though); you can even have a corretto, an espresso with a shot of grappa or brandy.

But you don't take unreasonable amounts of time with it or order it in sizes. And a big frothy drink with flavoured syrup and whipped cream? Well, non si fa. It isn't done.

And you don't walk down the street drinking it. Italians usually walk down the street carrying their cell phones in one hand, screaming "ti sento malissimo" ("I can hardly hear you"), as they juggle purses and man-purses and shopping bags with the other. Seriously, their addiction to cell phones makes us North Americans look like amateurs.

(If I ever write my book about Italy, it is going to be called Ti Sento Malissimo.)

And if it isn't a phone they are carrying, it will be an ice cream (cone or cup), at least in the warm weather. Italy is probably the only country where one routinely sees groups of well-dressed men standing around outside having intense discussions about politics, madly gesticulating and screaming about taxes and strikes, as each of them polishes off a gelato.

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While Starbucks has followed a rocky path in Europe, what I noticed the last two times I visited Paris was that Starbucks seemed to be very popular with a young demographic.

So a big non si fa came to mind when I considered the idea of Starbucks in Italy. That is, until I thought about the power of the brand, something not to be trivialized.

During my last extended stay in Italy -- just over a year ago -- I was studying at a university in a small city in Umbria, approximately mid-calf on the boot. A precious item I had brought from home was a plastic Starbucks cup, the kind that can accommodate the larger drink sizes. I knew I would need some caffeinated support as I ducked Vespas and Fiats and weaved my way through winding and steep cobblestone streets.

I also knew that takeout coffee -- a portare via -- is an oddity in Italy. If you ask for it, chances are you will get your coffee in a small Styrofoam cup with no lid, handed to you by someone who has sussed out -- if they hadn't already from your appearance and accent -- that you are foreign.

At my local bar, I occasionally saw Italians drink a coffee on-site and then take another with them, but such occurrences were rare.

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Most mornings I walked to my classes with my Starbucks cup in hand and, invariably, I would be stopped by Italians -- younger ones -- asking me excitedly where I had got it. Had a Starbucks opened? Had my answer been "si," I am certain they all would have rushed there in a flash. Once in my classes -- full of students from every continent -- I would be barraged with the same eager questions.

The experience made me think of another place I once called home, France. When the first Starbucks opened in Paris, over a decade ago, doomsayers were out en force.

And while Starbucks has followed a rocky path in Europe, what I noticed the last two times I visited Paris -- in 2014 and 2015 -- was that Starbucks seemed to be very popular with a young demographic. Virtually every Starbucks I visited was bustling with younger French people and yes, with foreigners searching for familiarity (and WiFi).

But the crowds that I saw in various Parisian Starbucks were primarily made up of French young professionals, and -- in the just-after-school hours -- teenagers. The latter like feeling cool, of course, emulating American celebrities they see carrying Starbucks on the big and small screens.

As in North America, Starbucks in Paris is not cheap, but it has architecture, pastries and coffees that reflect local tastes while adding to the local colour.

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Adding to the local colour in Italy will depend on selecting locations carefully. I suspect that Milan -- by Italian standards a very cosmopolitan city, popular with tourists and fashionistas -- is a great place to begin.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has said that a trip to Italy in the 1980s was an inspiration to him, and that he is approaching this Italian adventure with "with great humility and respect."

I would like to recommend he also approach it with a mind to adding phone-recharging nooks in every Italian Starbucks.

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EyesWideOpen via Getty Images GURUVAYUR, KERALA, INDIA - DECEMBER 03: Indian elephant in the Annakotta Sanctuary with legs in chains, which is dedicated to the Sri Krishna Temple on December 03, 2011 in Guruvayur, Kerala, India. (Photo by EyesWideOpen/Getty Images)

Stories of torture, neglect, exploitation, frustration, devastation and untimely deaths of people and elephants coming out of Kerala are disheartening. Between January and mid-March Kerala has witnessed more than 216 stampedes, with three elephants and five people dead, including four mahouts and a lady -- a replica of 2015 and aligned with previous years. But people are always surprised when elephants or people die.

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Satyanarayanan was beaten to death after his musth cycle

Photo Credit: Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF), Kerala

Recently, a 20-year-old elephant named Choppi Kuttysankaran killed his first mahout. This elephant was in his annual musth cycle (when bull elephants are in heat). But still, a government vet allegedly issued a fake fitness certificate. Choppi Kuttysankaran was starved and deprived of water. So he became frustrated, and ran amok for three hours crossing railway tracks, cutting through congested traffic, and causing panic.

The temple authorities violated Supreme Court orders that spell out, elephants can be only paraded from 8 AM to 11 AM and 4 PM to 8 PM. Of all the places, you'd expect religious institutions to follow the laws of the land. But sadly, more than 22 temples unlawfully paraded several elephants in the wee hours for three consecutive days.

Choppi Kuttisankaran ran amok in the wee hours

Photo Credit: HATF

It's no secret that these "religious institutions" exploit wounded elephants. But how cruel is it to parade a sentient being with glass pierced into his feet? Even this disabled elephant was granted a fitness certificate and forced to limp. Another wounded and blind old bull, Tripayaar Ramachandran, was paraded despite his disabilities. The state government orders that prohibit such abuse are violated with impunity.

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Tripayaar Ramachandran has a pus-infested foot

Photo Credit: HATF

During festival season elephants are transported in trucks, forced to stand bare feet on the steaming hot metal platform. People there don't seem to realize that it's necessary to provide some degree of comfort for these hard-working elephants that fetch them so much money. They illegally paraded a 78-year-old celebrity elephant Guruvayur Padhmanabhan, rented out for a whopping 2,000,000 Rupees (over $33,000 USD) per day - all under the guise of culture and religion.

Celebrity elephant Guruvayur Padhmanabhan

Photo Credit: HATF

In their quest for material wealth people seem to have become blinded by greed, and are oblivious to the unfathomable pain and suffering of the embodiment of Lord Ganesh. Is it surprising that these elephants unleash their wrath and run amok, killing people and destroying properties? One elephant became so sick and tired of the torture that he caused property damage of five million Rupees (approximately US$83,000), and destroyed 27 vehicles during a six hour rampage. This elephant named Olarikkara Kalidasan has allegedly killed five people in the past. He was tortured for his "misbehavior" in a secret location.

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Olarikkara Kalidasan caused colossal property damage

Photo Credit: HTAF

This tiny state on the southern tip of India houses the largest number of captive elephants in the nation - 601 of them, private citizens illegally owning 289 elephants. Recently the state government legitimized their illegal activities by issuing ownership certificates, turning a blind eye to the plight of the suffering elephants, and flouting the same laws that they created.

Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same things over and over again, expecting a different outcome," which pretty much sums up Kerala's situation.

Meantime a disturbing trend is emerging in Kerala. According to the Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) secretary, baby elephants are being kidnapped from the wild and exploited under the guise of eco-tourism in government run camps.

Take a look at the innocent five month old calf below. He was ripped apart from his family from the Mannarapara forest area and brought into the Konni camp so people can be amused. Mr. Venkitachalam says,

"Whenever a new elephant calf is admitted, a minimum of 2000 tourists a day visit the Konni Elephant Camp to watch the spectacle. The main reason they're keeping these elephant calves is to spin money from tourists who visit the camp. Ninety per cent of these elephant calves die due to faulty method of keeping them inside enclosures."

This five month old calf was allegedly kidnapped from the wild

Photo Credit: HATF

The HATF Secretary claims, every year they capture baby elephants for the government camps, bringing the total number of calves in Konni camp to four.

People flocking to see the baby elephant

Photo Credit: HATF

Yes, the state of affairs in Kerala looks grim and there seems to be no end in sight. But I think there are reasons to be optimistic. This year at least four temples decided to replace elephants with human dragged chariots for festivals, some temples have begun using faux elephants, and even the Kochi airport in Kerala has installed elephant statues.

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Garuda Vahana at Parthasarathi Temple in Kerala

Photo Credit: HATF

In the past decade, awareness campaigns have been sprouting across India, and people are beginning to take animal cruelty more seriously now than ever before. The Kerala media is writing more stories, although the status-quo controls the content to a certain degree. Ongoing court battles are resulting in landmark Supreme Court rulings in favor of elephants. Collective voices and fearless whistle blowers are risking their lives, speaking out against the atrocities on social media.

In the grand scheme of things though, a vast majority of the 7.3 billion humans are disconnected from the cyber space, and largely disengaged from crimes against nature and wildlife. Even well-meaning people are mired by their day-to-day existence, and they need to be educated.

The "Gods in Shackles" documentary will awaken them to understanding the long term ramifications of their ignorance. Please CLICK HERE TO DONATE to our outreach campaign, and help us bring this epic documentary into the world so we can expose and end the sad plight of Kerala's elephants.
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Whenever Premier Christy Clark is asked about her climate change plans, she touts the success of the policies put in place by her predecessor Gordon Campbell in 2008. However, Clark won't be able to ride on Campbell's "climate leader" coattails for much longer.

That's because British Columbia's carbon pollution is going up while five other Canadian provinces are bringing their greenhouse gas emissions down. According to the latest projections from Environment and Climate Change Canada, B.C.'s emissions will climb from 64 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2005 to 72 megatonnes in 2020. The province's legislated emissions target for that year is 43.5 megatonnes.

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It's time for B.C. to step up and shift the province's emissions trajectory in the right direction.

Meanwhile, Canada's Second Biennial Report on Climate Change forecasts that emissions will fall in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador between 2005 and 2020. Emissions will stay flat in Prince Edward Island and the three territories over that period.

Since taking over the premier's office in 2011, Clark's lack of action on the climate file has taken the province in the wrong direction. In 2013, Clark froze B.C.'s internationally lauded carbon tax for five years. She continues to champion the development of a liquefied natural gas industry in the province that will make meeting these targets more difficult if not impossible.

It's time for B.C. to step up and shift the province's emissions trajectory in the right direction. Clark's government can shed its "climate laggard" status by increasing the level of ambition for the forthcoming Climate Leadership Plan, due to be finalized later this spring. This week is the last chance to have your say during the current comment period for the plan.

Here are four ways the government could make good on the promise of the Paris Agreement and Vancouver Declaration, and deliver the courageous Climate Leadership Plan we need. (For more details, see the Pembina Institute's submission on the plan.)

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1. Implement all of the Climate Leadership Team's recommendations

In May 2015, Clark set up the Climate Leadership Team, made up of experts from the business, academic, and environmental communities, and representatives from the B.C. government, First Nations, and local governments. The province released the team's report in November.

The 32 recommendations of the Climate Leadership Team collectively represent the baseline for an acceptable plan to get B.C. on track to meeting its 2050 targets. In fact, to date they represent the only plan B.C. has to achieve that goal. They include positive steps such as increasing the carbon tax by $10 per year starting in 2018 (with targeted support for emissions intensive, trade exposed sectors as well as low income, northern, and rural residents), reducing methane emissions from the natural gas sector, powering the electricity grid with 100 per cent renewable energy, setting greener building standards, and transitioning to zero-emission vehicles.

On February 29, Environment Minister Mary Polak made a key observation in the legislature. "I'm not aware of any modelling with respect to reducing GHG emissions that would show a pathway to getting to 2050 targets, such as the ones that we've signed on to, without having an increasing carbon price, be that cap-and-trade or carbon tax," Polak said during a debate.

2. Act quickly to broaden the carbon tax to cover all emissions

While the Climate Leadership Team recommends broadening the carbon tax to include all accurately measurable carbon emissions in 2021, this can be done earlier. That's because the reporting infrastructure for these sources is largely already in place. It's worth noting that the cost of abatement is low for sources of non-combustion emissions.

3. Rethink the development of an LNG industry

B.C. should not proceed with the development of an LNG industry unless the government can demonstrate a credible path to meet the Climate Leadership Team's recommended 2030 target and the province's legislated 2050 target. Contrary to claims by the B.C. government and project proponents, LNG is not a climate solution because of inadequate policies in B.C. and importing jurisdictions to prioritize renewable energy, energy efficiency, and methane reductions.

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One project, Pacific NorthWest LNG near Prince Rupert, could account for 75-108 per cent of the emissions allowed under B.C.'s 2050 target. Clearly, LNG and associated upstream gas development risks making the province's -- and Canada's -- climate targets impossible to attain.

4. Fix methane emissions reporting

Methane emissions from the natural gas sector represent a major gap in B.C.'s climate policy framework. Evidence suggests that methane emissions could be substantially underreported in Canada. The government can address this issue by undertaking an objective, fact-based and statistically valid analysis of methane emissions from B.C.'s natural gas sector.

Time for action is now

Realizing a Climate Leadership Plan that lives up to its name will require input from businesses, organizations, local governments, and people like you. The deadline for public input is Friday, March 25 at noon.

So please take a moment to tell the government that you want to see a courageous plan that incorporates and goes beyond the Climate Leadership Team's package of recommendations, and commits to strengthening the carbon tax and reclaiming "climate leader" status for B.C.

Stephen Hui is the communications lead for British Columbia at the Pembina Institute, a non-profit think-tank that advocates for strong, effective policies to support Canada's clean-energy transition.

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The five things you need to know on Wednesday March 23, 2016

1) BRUSSELS BLOODBATH

David Cameron is chairing an early Cobra meeting this morning. And the breaking news from Brussels is that the airport suicide bombers were brothers called Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui. The man on the run is named as Najim Laachraoui. Two British casualties at the airport are not thought to have critical injuries, but there are fears for David Dixon a man missing since yesterday.Its just waiting, which is heartbreaking his partners sister told the Today programme.

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The awful events of yesterday will form a sombre backdrop to the final PMQs before the Easter break. Both the PM and Jeremy Corbyn will have to reflect that, but that doesnt mean normal politics is on hold.

At least PMQs is more than 24 hours after the event. Yet within minutes of the news of the appalling murders yesterday, some Brexiters had pounced to try to score points about the EU referendum. It wasnt just Allison Pearsons tweet about Remainers dare to say we are safe in the EU, retweeted by Farage. It was also UKIPs Mike Hookem saying this horrific act of terrorism shows that Schengen free movement and lax border controls are a threat to our security.

Too soon? You betcha. Yet it reminds me of a conversation I had with one Brexit minister a few weeks ago. He said that there were two big events that could tip undecided voters towards Out: a big new migration crisis or a terrorist attack.

The timing was crass but to be fair to the Brexiters, many were just expressing anger at the oft-repeated No.10 line that security and terrorism was a reason for staying In. Indeed Downing Street yesterday while showing distaste at the way some linked the atrocities to the referendum, went out of its way to stress this was a shared threat across Europe, that our security services were working closely with Belgium and that the PM had signed a statement reaffirming European values.

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Our newspapers cover the events of yesterday with some superb reportage. The Telegraph points out the two airport explosions, 30 seconds apart, suggest that anyone who ran away from the first would have run straight into the full force of the second. The Sun says the timing of the attack - 9:11 am local time - may have been chosen as a reminder of New York's 9/11 atrocities. The Independent has an impressive front page pic of passengers walking along underground tracks in very dim light. "Darkness in the heart of Europe.

2) TRUMP CARD

Donald Trump was being Donald Trump on ITVs Good Morning Britain today and the main story seems to be him claiming Muslims just arent doing enough to shop terror suspects. I would say this to the Muslims, in the United States also: when they see trouble they have to report, and they are not reporting it. They are absolutely not reporting it. Thats a big problem.

Trump who was interviewed by his friend Piers Morgan (surely Morgan should have used his friendship to actually ask some tough questions?), was allowed a free platform to say whatever he liked, without any real challenge on the detail or on policy. "I am not anti anything, I'm just common sense, I say it like it is, Trump said.

Morgan echoed this, saying Trump was refreshing because he didnt speak in soundbites and just tells it how he sees it. And its true that it would be crazy to ignore the appeal Trump has to many ordinary Americans (and Brits). But journalism isn't stenography, and there was no questioning of the many flip-flops, inaccuracies and confusion of Trumps various positions. Maybe tomorrows extracts will be different. Yet I couldnt help wondering how much better a TV event it would be if Andrew Neil was let loose on Trump.

Assistant Secretary General from the Muslim Council of Britain Miqdaad Versi was a calm, thoughtful contrast to Trump, pointing out that the guys who did the Brussels bombings had been drinking, smoking, and suggested they were more part of a criminal community than a Muslim community. He added that more than 1,000 tip offs to the police had been made by Muslims in the UK. He cited stats that 90% of Muslims would report suspicious activity. Trump, however, may focus on the 10%.

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3) THE OSBORNE IDENTITY

When is an apology not an apology? When its a Budget Day re-run by George Osborne. Yesterday, the Chancellor was suitably sombre as he reflected on those murdered in Brussels. He then said he was sorry that IDS had quit and paid tribute to his work in Government. Osborne said: where we have made a mistake, where we have got things wrong, we listen and we learn (note the royal we).

But that was as contrite as he got. He never said sorry for his own arbitrary welfare cap level, nor the PIP cuts plan. In fact, he then went on to make a dogged defence of the rest of his plans. And before long, thanks to well-orchestrated support on the Tory benches, it was as if we were in a time warp to last Wednesday and his original Budget statement. What was really striking was the way Osborne (a bit like Boris) revealed he has only really one gear - and in his case that gear is marked attack.

As the Sun reported, away from the attempted tribute to IDS, one ally of the Chancellor had branded his departed Cabinet colleague a self-indulgent prick. Some Osbornites even joked that Boris Johnsons ski trip at the weekend was a spot of Alpine toothache (Major famously disappeared during the downfall of Margaret Thatcher in November 1990, citing a sore wisdom tooth)

Wes Streeting finally nailed Osborne down on the definitive Crabb statement on Monday that the Government will not be coming forward with further proposals for welfare savings. Osborne replied: That is exactly the position set out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and agreed by me and the Prime Minister. That one sentence - it wasnt may not or dont have plans to, it was will not - means that there is now zero wriggle room for the Treasury on going back for new welfare cuts this Parliament.

David Anderson also had one of the best questions of all: if it was so easy absorb the 1bn a year U-turn, why on earth did Osborne propose it in the first place and frighten the life out of seriously disabled people? John McDonnell did well in the chamber yesterday, but the real rave reviews from Labour MPs came after Angela Eagles wind-up speech last night. No wonder some around Corbyn are twitchy (see below).

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Osborne appears before the Treasury select committee tomorrow, but Boris appears before the committee today and already its being billed as a Prime Minister test. The Mayor yesterday did a decent job after Cobra of setting out the London terror situation after Brussels. But will he resist knockabout mode when grilled on the detail of Brexit today? Hell have to do better than he did on Marr.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

Watch this skiers gravity-defying first-person video of a descent of the Matterhorn.

4) LIST TICKLE

The Timess Sam Coates has a cracking tale, revealing that Jeremy Corbyns political secretary Katy Clark has drawn up a list of every Labour MP - ranked in terms of their loyalty to the leader.

There are 19 MPs listed in the core group i.e. most loyal Corbynistas. There are 56 in the core group plus, described by one Labour source as his outer circle. A further 72 are listed as neutral but not hostile, 49 are core group negative and 36 are hostile. 17 people are missing from the list.

But its whos on each list that catches the eye. Chief Whip Rosie Winterton and Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan are both listed as hostile (knowing Khan, he may now put that on his election posters). So too is Luciana Berger. And in the negative group are Hilary Benn, Angela Eagle, Jonathan Ashworth, Lucy Powell and Alan Johnson.

Shadow whip Conor McGinn this morning tweeted his own tart response to the revelations: "I'm one of the 17 Labour MPs not on 'the list'. Can't work out whether that means a first class ticket to Havana or the train to Siberia..." That will tickle many of his colleagues in the PLP, I suspect.

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Team Corbyn say the list doesnt come from them but it seems like a pretty fair reflection of the suspicions of those around the leader. And if Cameron does want to indulge in any knockabout in PMQs today, this is a gift.

So too may be the Times story that left-winger John Tummon, who once referred to ISIS as having progressive potential, has been accepted back into the Labour party. Would Cameron dare deploy this one today? There was genuine anger on Labour benches yesterday when two Tory MPs got up in the Budget debate to attack McDonnell for his IRA links.

5) CRABB COURT

Stephen Crabb is rapidly finding out how big a task he has at DWP. Hes known for his amiability, but the Welshman will need more of the steeliness he showed on Sunday night to weather the inevitable criticism in coming months.

The Mirror has cleverly spotted that in his in-tray is a rather tricky court case - which means he will be taking on his own constituents in court in order to force them to pay the discriminatory and unlawful Bedroom Tax.

Under his new role at the DWP Mr Crabb is leading a Supreme Court appeal against Paul and Susan Rutherford from his Pembrokeshire constituency who won a case on behalf of their severely disabled grandson Warren. We now have the ludicrous scenario where Stephen Crabb is taking his own constituents through the highest court in the land, Rachel Reeves tells the paper.

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The Work and Pensions Secretary is also appealing a legal challenge victory by anonymous rape victim who was forced to pay the bedroom tax on their police-installed panic room.

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I would normally begin my address or letter by greeting people using the Islamic greeting of peace but since you have chosen to declare war on all of us it would be wrong of me to extend this sacred greeting to you.

After observing the carnage you have caused in Brussels, Paris, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries across the globe no one is in any doubt that you are a bunch of cowards whose only expression is violence. You have not won the hearts and minds of anyone; rather you have become the enemy of humanity.

I write to you as a British European Imam expressing my disgust and dismay at what you are doing across Europe, the home of millions of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and people of other faiths and no faith.

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Let me tell you unambiguously that there is no Islam in your actions, there is no God in your terrorism and your actions do not represent any Muslims from any background.

If you are doing this to go to heaven, I have bad news for you. You should know that you are nothing but murderers, and in Islam a person who kills innocent people will never even smell paradise, let alone enter it.

You have created a state of terror, directly contradicting Islam, which calls upon every true Muslim to live a peaceful life and spread peace at every minute of their existence. You have chosen to create fear through inhuman and barbaric attacks on innocent men, women and children. You are nothing but terrorists.

You claim to follow the words of God but in the Quran killing innocent people has been compared to taking the lives of the entire humanity. Causing trouble and civil strife has been termed as being worse than killing. You have chosen to both kill and cause strife. Which word of God do you follow? In fact you do not even care about the words of God.

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You claim to love the blessed Prophet and follow him. He said, "Extremists are doomed", however, you propagate and practice extremism. The blessed prophet warned against extremism as a curse and advised all his followers to remain balanced. You do not love the Prophet and you do not follow him either. Which Prophet do you really follow? Please do not insult the blessed Prophet Muhammad by associating your heinous crimes with him. He was the Prophet of mercy and you are the agents of evil.

In Europe today thousands of Muslims have arrived as refugees escaping terrible persecution, dictatorship and subjugation. They have found peace, security and freedom here in Europe. In Muslim countries there are many Muslims but very little Islam, however, in Europe there may be smaller number of Muslims but a lot of Islam. That is why so many Muslims prefer to live here. Your terrorist activities are not going to change that.

Muslims in Europe have found their home and they have accepted the European people as their friends, neighbours and fellow citizens. If you hate Europe so much please do us all and yourself a big favour - instead of living in Europe, just hand back your European passports and leave. Go to a country where you will be happy. Stop killing innocent men, women and children around the world.

As a proud European Muslim, let me tell you one simple truth, the future of Europe and Islam are intertwined in an emerging shared and pluralistic narrative that we have worked very hard in creating. You are not part of this inclusive vision. Your terrorist ideals will be destroyed one day and you will be doomed in this world and certainly in the Hereafter.

My faith and the faith of billions of Muslims around the world are based on fairness, justice, kindness and compassion. However you have no religion and your extremist ideal are based on murder and mayhem. Your ways are Devils ways.

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Islam has nothing to do with the mass murder, terror and brutalities that are happening around the world today. More Muslims have lost their lives at your hands, inspired by your extremists ideology. Your actions have destabilised nations and destroyed the prospect of peace in the world today. We are all united against evil of extremism and terrorism as well as dictatorship and despotism. I believe violence can never bring peace but it only breads more violence.
Last week's National Apprenticeship Week was full of discussion. We heard about the productivity gains of hiring apprentices, and concerns around the gender divide. We celebrated the amazing things apprentices have achieved, and heard from business leaders who are pledging to create more apprenticeships.

But the one thing that's front of mind for businesses is the levy, which will help to fund the Government's ambitions of three million apprenticeships by 2020.

When it comes into force in a year's time, all employers with a pay bill over 3m will have to contribute 0.5% of that bill towards the levy - which the Government says will raise 3bn for apprenticeships.

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But what do businesses think about the levy?

At the start of the month, City & Guilds ran a conference on its recent Making Apprenticeships Work report. It brought together 150 top British employers to discuss exactly what they think about the Government's apprenticeship plans.

Unsurprisingly the levy and Government targets were a hot topic. When we polled the attendees, nine in 10 employers said the target of three million apprenticeships was arbitrary and had no relevance to their businesses. A similar number of employers wanted it to be linked to sectors hit by the biggest skills shortages. And over half (53%) said the levy would not encourage them to take on more apprenticeships.

Businesses want apprenticeships to work for them. It's as simple as that. But naturally they're concerned about the cost and impact of the levy. As an employer of apprentices myself, I understand their worries. So what does the Government need to do to put our minds at rest?

Firstly, the Government must put quality at the heart of its apprenticeship policies. The good news is, the Government has already made progress. Last year it announced an employer-led governing body to oversee apprenticeship standards and guarantee quality.

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Secondly, it needs to communicate information about the levy effectively and clearly to businesses. Plus, the levy needs to be easy to engage with, as too much bureaucracy can put businesses off hiring apprentices in the first place. Since the near-silence on the levy in last week's Budget, the Government has released more information on how it'll work in practice, yet questions still remain about how SMEs will fare in the new system. We can expect more details to come later in the year.

Finally, the Government has to continue showcasing the business and economic benefits of hiring apprentices. Our research showed that the net annual business benefits of training an apprentice in the UK in 2013/14 was 1500 per annum. And research from the Cebr showed that for every 1 spent on apprenticeships, the economy gains 21. If we want to motivate businesses to take on apprentices - and not be put off by changes to the system - they have to understand why they're so valuable.
"How do you know?"

A question that made me stop dead in my tracks and filled me with shame as all the blood rushed to my face - thank goodness we were in a dark room and my cranberry-colored face was not very visible.

I was in a tiny dorm room a few weeks into my freshman year of college, having one of my first real sexual experiences with a partner. Like many first-time, in-a-dorm-room-bunk-bed sexual experiences, it was not going very well. My partner, probably as nervous as I was, was fumbling quite a bit and I thought to myself, "Okay, I should show him, or else this could go on for far too long." But as I whispered, "Uhh a little more like this" and tried to show him with my hand, he asked the above question with an incredulous, accusatory tone followed closely with a "What? Do you... masturbate?" The final word dripping in disbelief.

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I felt ashamed, embarrassed, tiny, and wrong as I stumbled on six words at once and eventually let out a response that amounted to an "uhhh... hrrmm... errrrr..." before, unfortunately, my partner simply shook his head and went back to what he was doing before - which, for clarification, resembled someone using sandpaper on splintered wood.

I was at a university known for its liberal academics and perspective, interacting with someone who had, just minutes before, discussed progressive politics with me, yet he could not believe that I, a young women - clearly interested in engaging in sexual activity - masturbated.

And, unfortunately, my experience is not an anomaly. In my personal and professional conversations with women about their sexual experiences, women proudly owning their own sexuality and knowing their own bodies and sexual responses in an intimate way is often, at the very least, overlooked, and at its worst, rejected, looked down upon, or punished. We are socializing young women - in school, professionally, and, in this case, sexually - to not trust themselves and their knowledge and experience and instead, to defer to the knowledge and experience of the men around them - whether it's their fellow students, colleagues, or sexual partners.

In my case, this fumbling 18-year-old boy was supposed to know exactly how to touch me, while I, the person who had lived in and experienced this body for 18 years, was supposed to have no clue.

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Seems a little ridiculous, right?

When people ask me why I think women's sexual pleasure is so important to focus on, especially when "there are so many more important things to be focusing on and trying to change," I think back to that moment in a cramped dorm room - a moment I know many other women also have to look back to - where I felt so much shame for knowing my own body and, despite being told by society not to, trying my best to ask for what I wanted. And I realize, yes, I focus on women's sexual pleasure, but the discrepancy in our society between women's sexual pleasure and men's sexual pleasure is just a tiny symptom of the larger problem of how we socialize men and women to view themselves, each other, and the unequal dynamics of our interactions.

We are taught that men are sexual beings and cannot control themselves and women are demure, have self control and are only sexual for men's pleasure. Sex is over when men orgasm, and sometimes women are lucky enough to orgasm, but a lot of times they aren't. Sex is something we - men, women and everyone in between - are not supposed to talk openly about but is shoved down our throats at every turn by the male-centric media.

Enter OMGYes, an interactive women's sexual pleasure research site, with personal and candid stories from women themselves, explicit demonstrations, and simulations, that I have helped develop for the past year. I hope to encourage women to truly own their own sexuality and explore their own bodies in a way that society never encourages them to do. Then, women can use that explicit experience of self-exploration and knowledge of their bodies and pleasure to navigate their sexual experiences. They can feel confident in asking for and telling their partners what they know feels good - and what does not. I also want it to encourage partners of women to really understand the importance of trusting a woman's knowledge of her own body, her own pleasure, and her own experience and to learn from her what feels good.

When it comes to the experience of gender inequality, while there are huge systemic, institutional issues at play, sexual pleasure is a supremely personal experience. So, inherently, the gender inequality of sexual pleasure is one we can begin to overcome at the level of personal experience as well.

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With at least 30 people killed in Brussels and hundreds injured, and with dozens injured in Istanbul only a few days earlier, the world yet again watches, helpless in horror at the cruelty of the perpetrators and silent in mourning the innocent victims.

What will the response be after these latest attacks? Most people, no doubt, will mourn quietly, saddened at yet another human tragedy, for the spirit of humanity in general is always one of compassion and fortitude, even in the worst of times. However, on the other side of the coin, social media has already demonstrated that rationality will probably not be the only response. 'Keep the refugees out!' certain people may cry. 'No peace until Islam is gone!' they may scream. 'We told you this would happen,' they will retort. Individuals such as Katie Hopkins and Donald Trump have already used the attacks to further their own agendas of creating fear and panic.

Perhaps governments will react in the way they did when Paris was under attack a few months previously. Whether good or ill-intentioned, whether simply due to being gripped by fear or as an excuse to obtain more power, the authorities were given temporary permission to search anyone's house without a warrant, for people to be put under house arrest without trial, and for any website to be blocked. In the days after the Paris attacks, Muslim mothers with young babies were cursed and abused in the streets, mosques and restaurants owned by Muslims were vandalised and young Muslim girls were physically harmed.

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Or worse, perhaps the Brussels attack will fuel further civilian deaths in the Middle East through increased bombing raids. We cannot, and should not fight terror with terror. We forget that if we continue dealing only with drones instead of democracy, then soon enough the wars we fuel will reverberate back to us like a devastating echo, or even stronger.

After each attack, each time a brutal terrorist group commits atrocities, the same questions are asked, same accusations levelled. Some seek to demonise an entire group - rather an entire belief system that has existed for over a millennium - for the actions of a few. Each time an attack is committed, the rift in our society grows silently stronger, the division in our communities grows ever worse, the thread that binds us all, as citizens, as human beings, gets ever thinner.

'Why are not more Muslims speaking out?' some people may angrily inquire. To them I respond, 'they are.' They speak out not only when an attack occurs, but in fact constantly. Just three days prior to the Brussels attacks the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community held its annual Peace Symposium, attended by Muslims and non-Muslims from all walks of British life; politicians, soldiers, teachers and other dignitaries. The keynote speech was delivered by Mirza Masroor Ahmad, spiritual leader of tens of millions of Muslims worldwide. His speech painted a picture of Islam very different from that of terrorists:

"When Allah the Almighty is the Provider and Sustainer of all people and the Gracious and Merciful - how could it be that He desired for those who believed in Him to mercilessly murder, violently oppose or harm His Creation in any way? Of course the answer is that it is not possible."

Islam is not to blame for 'Islamic State'. The Prophet Muhammad quite literally spoke out against terrorism centuries before it even existed. "Religion is very easy," he said. "You should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded."
On Thursday, a remarkable event occurred in student politics: university students and high-profile allies protested openly against the NUS, and in favour of free speech. The protestors called on the NUS to facilitate open debate instead of censoring speech. Evidently not everyone agreed on how to achieve this goal - with some signs stating that we should "reform, not scrap, no-platform policies", a concession which I and many others would be unwilling to make - but, as Peter Tatchell himself said during a speech at the protest, it's fine to disagree, and actually have a debate on issues and how to best achieve goals.

By contrast, the continued expansion of no-platform policies to include feminists such as Julie Bindel, and efforts by student unions to no-platform pioneers of feminism such as Germaine Greer over her views on transgender issues, even when she isn't scheduled to discuss them, betrays an increasingly self-righteousness by the student far-left. Not only is disagreement on the "wrong" issues immoral, but it negates your right to talk about anything. The quest for ideological purity has recently devoured ex-Muslim Maryam Namazie - who identifies as a Marxist and a feminist - with Feminist and LGBT Societies at Goldsmiths passing motions of solidarity with the Islamic Society members trying to intimidate her during her talk there, and even Peter Tatchell himself, who was no-platformed by an NUS LGBT Officer for his opposition to expanding no-platform.

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A post on a website supporting the Green Party (of which Tatchell is a member) justified such a no-platforming because Tatchell has had the nerve to criticise homophobia in Islamism, and Jamaican Dancehall music (a topic also recently explored by Reggie Yates in Extreme UK) while being white. Never mind that universities have, for instance, hosted Islamist speakers who do call for the execution of LGBT people - what matters isn't the substance of the criticism, but the person making it.

Perhaps the worst recent example of both of these positions has been the recent NUS LGBT Conference; although the motions would have been submitted some time before both the protest and the no-platforming of Tatchell, one motion in particular stands out as exhibiting both the sanctimony of efforts to both justify and deny the censorious nature of no-platform at the same time and as identifying the very worst of far-left identity politics - and how the movement is eating itself.

The motion itself - Motion 408, entitled "Defending Safe(r) spaces and No Platforming" - somehow managed to combine the two. The motion appeared to have been written in response to Spiked's second year of Free Speech University Rankings - which showed a number of universities being downgraded (including a sadly well-deserved downgrade of my current university, Exeter, from Green to Amber) - mainly led by Student Unions rather than Universities themselves. While I'm sure criticisms could be made of Spiked's methodologies (not least because it's a recent project), there is no attempt at constructive criticism whatsoever - the rankings are simply described as "vile" (I personally would say that mobs throwing chairs at an event in KCL, or besieging the Oxford Union with the support of the SU are closer to such a description but, as I said, people can disagree).

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The substantive justification for no-platforming, however, is more of what we've come to expect. We're told, for instance, that no-platforming - when SUs put a blanket ban on certain speakers or groups regardless of who invites them - "isn't censorship", an argument as disingenuous as that made by Bill Donohue when he debated Christopher Hitchens; upon listing several acts of media self-censorship induced by mass boycotts from the Catholic League, Donohue stated that this wasn't coercion since the government wasn't involved (at 7:40-8:20). Such narrow definitions of censorship are common among groups seeking to restrict others' expression, but simply don't stand up; nobody, for instance, would entertain the idea that other rights, such as to equal treatment, ended where government involvement also so ended.

We are then told that it is to protect minority groups, a misanthropic statement that presupposes that something as simple as the knowledge of the presence of a speaker anywhere on campus (or in the city in the case of Marine Le Pen) is enough to "trigger" certain groups of people. The idea that people can simply choose not to attend an event - or, if they're feeling braver, go and actually challenge a speaker and ensure that critical voices are heard - is evidently lost on the Conference majority, who paternalistically speak in the name of all LGBT students and regulate what they are allowed to see or hear (with such regulation, oddly enough, continuing not to reach to Islamists and their apologists such as CAGE, whose leaders continue not to condemn stoning and are backed by homophobic preacher Haitham al Haddad).

After condemning the idea of ending no-platform, the motion inexplicably decides to blame gay men for alleged undercurrents of misogyny and transphobia in LGBT+ Societies on campus and push for the abolition of gay men's reps in LGBT+ Societies. This isn't the first time that the LGBT Conference has used its alleged national voice to condemn part of the very group that it supposedly speaks for. Last year, we were treated to the surreal spectacle of the Conference condemning white gay men for allegedly "appropriating black women" with such condemnation justified on the grounds of how "privileged" said people were; this year, the same arguments are used to resolve to campaign for the outright abolition of gay men's representatives. What the NUS don't realise when they sweepingly declare gay men (whether narrowing it to white men or not) as "privileged" is just how privileged they themselves are in being able to make such a statement. I would invite the proponents of both motions to go to Russia and then get back to me on "white gay privilege", or go to parts of the world where homosexuality is still persecuted, and tell the gay men facing eviction, imprisonment, or - in some cases - death purely on account of their sexuality that they, too, are privileged.

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Meanwhile, as gay men were being condemned as too privileged and campaigns initiated to remove their representation in universities, no motions this year condemned the homophobia of, say, throwing gay men off buildings in ISIS territory; Russia's anti-"gay propaganda" laws; or the Ugandan government's anti-gay policies. For an organisation which spends so much time grandstanding on foreign policy motions (complete with the obscene snap vote unanimously condemning the bombing of ISIS in Syria, an idea so unpopular in Exeter that it failed without a vote), it's interesting that the NUS's LGBT Conference would rather attack part of its own community than such regimes. Yet this is where we now stand with far-left identity politics: LGBT Conferences condemning white gay men is commendable (such that it was repeated in Women's Conference last year), but condemning a group that throws gay people off buildings is considered "racist" by members of the NEC, most notably current Presidential candidate Maalia Bouattia.

The sheer sanctimony of it all was, however, matched only by its predictability; it's what many have more or less come to expect from the NUS, and gives little hope to those who would think that the voices of Tatchell, Namazie, and the NUS's fellow students for whom they allegedly speak will convince them to alter, let alone repeal, their no-platform policies. Yet surely there must finally come a breaking point where the NUS becomes so self-discrediting that its claim that it represents the "definitive national voice of students" put to bed once and for all by ordinary students. Protesting against its no-platform policies is a good start, but it cannot be the end of the battle - not least when a considerable proportion of LGBT students have yet again been told that they are "too privileged" to matter to the NUS, by their own LGBT Conference no less.
I woke to a text message yesterday that ominously read: Brussels. I knew it wasn't a good sign.

Logging onto the internet, news was breaking about a series of explosions at Brussels' Zavantem airport. Shortly after, further news broke about an explosion at Brussels' Maalbeek metro station.

Having been undertaking research in associated issues for more than sixteen years, while I continue to be shocked by the scale and level of the atrocities committed I'm rarely ever surprised by them. That sounds harsh, sorry. Worse though, I was even less surprised that there had been attacks in Belgium.

A quick look at recent history in Belgium gives credence to this.

For example in May 2014, Mehdi Nemmouche opened fire at the Musee juif de Belgique (Jewish Museum of Belgium) killing four people.

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In January 2015 following the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, Belgian police carried out a series of raids in Verviers, Schaerbeek, Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Vilvoorde, and Zaventem. Killing two suspects while seriously wounding another, Belgian authorities later suggested that the two killed had been planning to attack those selling the next edition of the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

On 21 August 2015, a shooting and stabbing took place on board a Thalys train shortly after it crossed the border from Belgium into France. On its way from Amsterdam to Paris, the attack was committed by Ayoub El Khazzani, a 29 year old Moroccan man who had boarded the train in Brussels. Reports suggest that El Khazzani had been profiled by the Belgian authorities.

Fast forward to November 2015 and in the wake of the co-ordinated attacks on Paris, a five day security lockdown was imposed on Brussels by the Belgian government. Closing shops, schools and the public transport system, the lockdown was in response to information acquired by Belgian authorities about a potential imminent terrorist attack by individuals affiliated to Islamic State. Around 20 raids subsequently took place across the city resulting in just fewer than 40 arrests being made. While around 30 were subsequently released without charge, terrorism charges were filed against four men.

Then just a few days ago, the arrest of Salah Abdesalam - a Belgian-born French national who is alleged to be personally involved in last November's terror attacks in Paris - would have surely raised concerns about possible retaliatory attacks.

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There is another reason however why I wasn't surprised by yesterday's attacks.

Just over a year ago, I was in Brussels with a Belgian-based colleague to meet with various different stakeholders about a research project we were overseeing that was investigating the experience of Muslim women in five European countries. One of the meetings was held near the Maalbeek metro station.

After the meeting, we left the building and headed into the Metro station. My colleague was a visibly recognisable Muslim woman by wearing a hijab (headscarf). I of course have quite a substantive beard. Somewhat out of the blue, we were suddenly confronted by a visibly agitated and angry man who began shouting at us. Having never experienced anything like this, it took me a while however to realise what was going on.

With him becoming increasingly angry and getting closer to my colleague's face, I eventually hurried us away and out of the station. Visibly shaken, my colleague asked if I had understood what he had been saying. Given that I don't speak French she explained that he'd been shouting about Muslims and Islam not being welcome in Belgium before going on to suggest we go back to the Middle East before rounding off with comments about Israel getting it 'right'.

Having walked down the street with many visible Muslim women in Britain - and indeed working on a university campus where visible Muslim women are part and parcel of everyday life - I had never experienced anything similar to this. Yes, such attacks do indeed occur in Britain - as indeed my own research highlights - but these are thankfully rare and occur in relative isolation.

What made the Brussels incident all the more shocking therefore wasn't just the venom, spontaneity and public nature of it all but the fact that as we walked away, the look on the faces of those either witnessing the incident or merely passing by seemed to suggest that they too felt somewhat similar to how the perpetrator did. Stating that this was a place where there were clear tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims is something of an understatement therefore.

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Which is unlike how it is here in Britain.

I say this because I truly believe that in Britain, the looks on the faces of those witnessing a similar incident would be vastly different from how they were in Brussels. I have no doubt about this.

Because of this, I also believe that it is unlikely that a similar attack will happen here in Britain. Not impossible I hasten to add but rather unlikely. And that is because here in Britain, those tensions just do not exist in the public way they clearly do in Brussels. Here in Britain, there is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are integrated and part of who 'we' are.

I am not naive enough to think that we don't have similar tensions here in Britain or that there aren't a mindless handful of individuals willing to commit heinous atrocities in pursuit of their adopted ideology: far from it. I'm also not naive enough to think that Britain is some multicultural utopia where all is well with the world and we all get along with each other irrespective of our differences. Again, far from it.

However, I do believe in today's Britain more people are beginning to understand that those wanting to divide us are not only a tiny minority but more importantly, are not the same as the vast majority of British Muslims. If you want evidence of this, remind yourself of the uniquely British put down, 'you ain't no Muslim bruv'.
Airports are a funny place. For someone who doesn't like flying that much there is something about the buzz and excitement at the airport that has always appealed to me. Families with eager and excited children rolling their little trunkies around across the polished airport floors. Their faces beaming with thoughts of the holiday that awaits them. People flying to meet their loved ones or families in far, far lands. Or people just eager to get back home after their long and hectic work trip. With images like these running through my head I have been thinking about those who were present at the airport in Brussels this morning. They must have fallen into those categories too like any other airport. Similarly those packed in the Brussels metro, commuting to work, I can only compare to the London Underground and how busy it is at that time. Ordinary people going about their lives.

As the death toll rises and my heart sinks further I am dreading the moment when the details of those killed in this heinous, heinous crime will emerge. When we will have faces to replace those numbers. No please, I don't want to know as this will only be more agonising. As a mother, my first instinct is let there be no children, but then I think let there be no husbands or mothers or fathers or daughters or sons. Why? I ask, and then my grief turns into anger. A few years ago when an atrocity like this happened the first thought that came to my head was please let this not be in the name of Islam or perpetrated by Muslims but unfortunately this thought does not come to me anymore. Regrettably this fact is substantiated only in a matter of time.

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Grief and anger are the two emotions sensible and caring people all across the planet will feel today but whether you believe me or not, as a Muslim my anger and grief is twice as much as others. Because these acts are carried out in the name of my religion and my faith. The same faith that has instilled in me so much compassion for humanity leads my grief for the loss of innocent lives to be more immense. Allah says that shedding the blood of one innocent person is like shedding the blood of humanity.

Why do they do it in the name of Islam? I do not have the answer to this question, indeed, Islam does not have the answer to this question either.

My Allah is the Lord of all the worlds, He is not just the Lord of Muslims. My Allah is Gracious and Merciful and Benevolent. His grace and mercy and benevolence are for the whole of humanity and all creation not just for Muslims. Muslims who think otherwise are utterly misguided. My Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches me to pick thorns or obstructions from pathways and walkways so they do not cause injury or harm to travellers, how can followers of that Prophet cause carnage and bloodshed to innocent travellers going about their way? The Prophet (peace be upon him) was given the name Mercy for Mankind and if you study his actions, his words and his life you can see it for yourself.

No amount of injustice, cruelty or discrimination carried out against Muslims anywhere in the world justifies these acts of terror. Bloodshed does not justify more bloodshed. Religious clerics all over the world should take responsibility and stop misguiding people in the name of Islam. The true teachings of every religion promote peace. It's our responsibility as the followers of a religion to practice those teachings. Similarly it is the responsibilities of the governments around the world to uphold the highest standards of justice not just within their own countries but also in relation to the other countries. That is the only way we can establish peace in the world.

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Only this past weekend, the worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad gave a historic keynote address at the annual peace symposium held by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community UK. This event was held at Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden south London and was attended by many non-Muslims including members of Parliament and other dignitaries.

Speaking on the subject of extremism and terrorism Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

In the very first chapter of the Holy Quran, it is stated that Allah the Almighty is the 'Provider and Sustainer of all the worlds'. He is the Gracious and Ever Merciful. Thus, when Allah the Almighty is the Provider and Sustainer of all people and the Gracious and Merciful - how could it be that He desired for those who believed in Him to mercilessly murder, violently oppose or harm His Creation in any way? Of course the answer is that it is not possible.

(http://www.pressahmadiyya.com/2016/03/muslim-leader-calls-for-media.html)

He further said:

At a time of worldwide conflict, we should remember the basic principle that it is better for all forms of evil and cruelty to be suppressed and for all forms of goodness and humanity to be endorsed. In this way, evil will not spread far, whilst virtue and peace will spread far and wide and adorn our society.

(http://www.pressahmadiyya.com/2016/03/muslim-leader-calls-for-media.html)

As the events of this shocking morning in Brussels unfold, our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives in these barbaric acts and their loved ones left behind. I can't imagine what must be going through their minds. I also hope and pray that humanity stands together to fight the evil of terrorism and this does not cause division in society.

#prayforbrussels

#prayfortheworld
Until now, we have been spared a major attack on Belgian soil. Sadly, the sickening events of 22 March abruptly changed that. Brussels now joins the growing list of European cities that have been targeted for mass casualty attacks: Madrid, London and Paris.

But this week's slaughter wasn't just an attack on Belgium. Maalbeek metro station, where so many innocent men, women and children died, is a key transit hub for the European district. We now know at least 40 different nationalities were caught up in the attacks. This was a strike at the heart of Europe.

More than ever, it's clear we are facing a European challenge. If we are to defeat those who wish to harm us, we need more than rallies and calls for solidarity; we need collective European action to improve security and deliver effective counter-radicalisation strategies across Europe.

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If we are to succeed, we must first acknowledge the scale of the challenges we face and address the root causes of these attacks. What drives our young people to want to blow themselves up in our airports and metro stations?

We know that modern terrorist cells are well organised, very mobile and autonomous. They may not be under a central command, but they are all inspired by the so called Islamic State. As long as IS and their twisted ideology continue to flourish, their agents will continue to attempt to recruit and train vulnerable European youth and we will never be fully secure.

It's clear that across Europe, we must do more to exchange best practice and expertise in counter- radicalisation. We must also do much more to improve integration and tackle the poverty and unemployment which prevails in so many communities. People who have no hope of employment and little opportunity are much easier to recruit.

We must also club together to do much more to tackle the instability and conflict on Europe's doorsteps ;in Syria, Iraq and Libya. For too long, Europeans and their political leaders have failed to make progress on building a European defence capability. The assumption was always that the Americans and NATO would protect us. But while we scaled back our defence capabilities, we have discovered the US has had its own agenda. President Obama switched US priorities from the Middle East to Asia. The intervention we have seen hasn't been consistent and Europe is now paying the price. We are the recipients of an uncontrolled flow of refugees, an aggressive Russia on our doorstep and barbaric terrorist attacks, yet we do not have the means to deliver a collective response to these challenges. We must face the fact that finding a political solution to the Syrian war is a European responsibility and that only a strong European coalition can deliver a political solution to this conflict.

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The other area where we urgently need to do more is to improve the coordination of anti-terrorism and intelligence gathering itself. After every recent terrorist atrocity in Europe, our leaders have admitted the exchange of information between national intelligence services could have been improved. This was very much the conclusion of the Paris attacks last year, yet when it's time to take those decisions, leaders argue that mandatory sharing goes too far.

I believe the mandatory exchange of operational intelligence is vital. In fact, I believe there should be a European intelligence service which will collect data and set up operations in all 28 Member States. Theresa May, the British Home Secretary made it clear that UK intelligence agents have been helping the Belgian services in is recent operations. This kind of cooperation should be expanded and is a vital way to raise standards and share expertise. If terrorists don't respect national borders, why should our intelligence agencies?

EU leaders have been obsessed with creating a European system for the collection of flight passenger data, called "PNR". Tragically, this proposed instrument still contains no European database, but is a collection of 28 national databases. Data is only exchanged when a country requests it and only flights are covered. PNR information is therefore of little use if we want to break up Franco-Belgian terrorist cells.

At each step, the reluctance of EU leaders to reach European solutions has been startling. It's a cliche to call it 'gross negligence', but it starts to look like that; we still have no European Border and Coast Guard, limited European intelligence cooperation and no European defence capability.

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The European Union was able to adopt a European arrest warrant after 9/11 which will now be used to extradite Salah Abdeslam to France. Was this a violation of national sovereignty? To an extent it was, but every European has become safer because of it. Some sovereignty was pooled, but security has been enhanced.

The attacks in Paris and Brussels are our 9/11. It is now more important than ever to leave the rhetoric about increased coordination behind us and take real action at European level.
The Great Mosque of Brussels stands proud in the capital of Belgium, as well it might. For the site was a gift by then Belgian King Baudouin in 1967 to the Saudis.

The 1960s saw large numbers of Moroccan and Turkish people arrive in Belgium as guest workers, and the House of al Saud were keen to help provide a place for worship. King Faisal gifted not only the Great Mosque itself, but a pledge of secure cheaper oil supplies to Belgian companies.

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The traditions and teachings it brought with it came from a very specific strain of Islam, and today the Great Mosque of Brussels is said to remain a centre of Saudi-funded Wahhabi preaching and Salafism.

How much contact the perpetrators of the latest atrocities in Brussels had with the mosque we don't yet know; we do, however, know that they had links to Isis and Isis have claimed them as their own. The Saudis claim they run the kingdom along the tenets of Wahhabi teachings, whilst Isis contend it has deviated from the supposedly true path

Previously the Saudi director of the mosque has said that no-one connected with the so-called Islamic State would be allowed in. But what we do know is that Isis claim radical Wahhabism as the ideological engine of their monstrous movement. Saudi Arabia, of course, rejects accusations that it has had anything to do with the rise of the so-called Islamic State.

In the maelstrom of the Middle East, one nation state's state-sponsored Wahhabism is simply another would-be caliphate's fanatical beliefs. The question is whether the presence of centres of Wahhabi teaching provide fertile ground for the seeds of radicalisation.

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As early in the refugee crisis as last September, the Saudis reportedly offered to build 200 new mosques in Germany to facilitate the new Syrian refugees. They were supposedly to have been accompanied by Saudi-supplied and financed preachers, and madrassas (faith schools). These reports were later denied by the Saudis themselves, but significantly in the meantime Merkel's allies rejected the offer - saying that Germany needed "solidarity with refugees," not "a cash donation".

Of course, Berlin only had to look at what free Saudi mosques, preachers and mosques have done to radicalise Bosnia, once a centre of mild and mellow observance of the Islamic faith. Or the Germans could have looked at Pakistan, dramatically radicalised by the myriad Saudi-funded mosques and their preachers, often from an early age in madrassas that have replaced much of Pakistan's more secular schols, and similarly in Afghanistan, and today beginning to sweep through Bangladesh.

None of this is new to the British government. No two countries on earth know what's been going on better than the US and Great Britain. In return for massive defence contracts both countries have enjoyed guaranteed oil supplies since the notorious pact signed on Valentine's Day 1945 by President Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia aboard a US destroyer on Bitter Lake in Egypt.

In return for guaranteed oil supplies, America pledged never to interfere with or become involved with Saudi Arabia's internal affairs. Thus the West has been unable to act on what many see as the interface between the kingdom and its radical Wahhabi clerical leadership.

As Europe scurries after the alienated, radicalised, often criminalised, people who pose this very immediate threat to our cities and way of life, has the moment come for our own governments to confront our relationship with the Saudis, even as that country tries to confront its own threat from Isis?

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Many in Britain, and indeed Belgium, would claim that we need to pursue a new course that will refuse all compromise with a regime that allegedly fosters the export of practices which so many Islamic scholars condemn as an abuse and contortion of a precious faith which brings so much succour to so many.
Cheap Easter chocolate often comes at a price, but do you know what that price really is? In the Ivory Coast children are being sold into slavery or kidnapped to work on cocoa plantations because of our insatiable desire for cheap sweet stuff. While it may be more costly, choosing child slave labour free chocolate helps farmers, children and if often tastier too.

How can you be sure to choose ethically this Easter without becoming an expert? Well luckily there are several chocolate brands making their own chocolate from the bean using ethically sourced cocoa - and they are readily accessible.

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Image Credit: Green and Blacks

Green and Blacks is probably one of my two main go-to brands of chocolate in the supermarket along with Divine. While they did not release anything new to the market for this year, they do have eggs and they source their chocolate from the Dominican Republic, an area free of child slave labour. Not only do they source this chocolate ethically and at a fair price, they also reinvest in the area, helping farmers raise the next generation of cocoa trees, improving fermentation facilities and building educational facilities. Green and Blacks have several eggs available including a Tasting Collection egg which has miniatures of their bars as well as an egg. Despite the take-over by Cadbury's and then my Kraft who hived it off into Mondelez, Green and Blacks remains true to its founders principles.

Image Credit: Divine Chocolate

Another ethical chocolate company making their chocolate from bean to bar is Divine. This is probably the most ethical of all companies as the company not only buys its beans from a Ghanaian co-operative, but is also 45% owned by the farmers themselves. So they benefit by getting paid fairly and immediately for their beans (unlike too many other farmers), by getting their beans weighed fairly (which doesn't always happen), by getting training and information, and by being part owners of the company. Divine is probably the most ethical chocolate on the market this Easter and it is available not only in supermarkets but also Liberty London and other upscale shops. There is no more ethical way to help cocoa farmers make a decent living than to buy Divine chocolate.

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Image Credit: Godiva Chocolate

One surprise bean to bar chocolate maker, buying beans from Costa Rica, Ghana and elsewhere - but not the Ivory Coast - is Godiva who turned 90 this year. It is a little known fact that Godiva make their own chocolate from the bean to use in their chocolate eggs, truffles and everything else. Chef Jean created a beautiful limited edition egg from their ethically sourced beans (as in, they are child slave labour free beans), designing a beautiful lacy egg for this Easter in one of the only ethical chocolate makers to produce something really new for 2016. He also created a brand new filled chocolate for the core Godiva collection reflective of this spring time - it is a dark chocolate square with rounded corners hiding a half rose, half raspberry ganache. I wanted to hate it but I loved it. Chef Jean also explained that none of their chocolates contain preservatives and instead of alcohol they control the moisture levels. For those sensitive to chemicals in chocolate looking for an alternative, or those who wish to ensure their chocolate is free of child slave labour, Godiva is an excellent option.

Image Credit: Hotel Chocolat

Last but not least, I'm a huge fan of the work Angus is doing with Hotel Chocolat and I hope the recent round of funding enables him to do more. His Rabot 1745 chocolate is absolutely Ivory Coast chocolate free and is an excellent, high quality chocolate. He pays farmers direct, as well as growing his own, and is working on being more than fair. The chocolate is ethical, delicious, high quality and I buy it for myself often. This egg pairs different origin dark chocolate with filled chocolates so is really only for the dark chocolate lover. Please do note that some Hotel Chocolat chocolate in other products is sourced from the Ivory Coast but I hope from farms with no child slave labour.

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The shutting down and silencing of ideas is on the rise within our student unions and across our campuses. The language of the NUS's 'Safe Space' policy effectively gives our student unions the green-light to 'no-platform' arbitrarily. Censorship, wrapped up in language of liberalism and inclusivity, has embedded itself in our university campuses and communal psyches of our student unions. The fundamental principles of the Enlightenment, of free inquiry and open discussion, are under threat.

But it's easy to miss all this if you're not involved in the bubble of student politics. You may have heard the phrase 'safe space' bandied about before; read something somewhere about blurred lines, or sexist greeting cards, being banned by righteous students. It all seems rather harmless, or even amusing to us onlookers.

On paper, 'safe space' policies sound caring, utopian, almost cuddly in their inclusivity. University of Bristol Students' Union for example say "The principle values [adopted from the NUS' 'safe space' policy] are to ensure an accessible environment in which every student feels comfortable, safe and able to get involved in all aspects of the organisation free from intimidation or judgement".

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But try and enforce this code and these principles, and you'll soon find it's fraught with hypocrisy and contradictions. Put simply, nowhere can be a 'safe space' for all. Take for example the introduction of gender-neutral toilets (GNTs), something that is supported by the NUS. While GNTs may be welcomed by many transgender students, they could be offensive to certain religious or cultural groups. So whose sensitivities takes priority in this 'safe space'? Should we point-score on someone's identity to find out whose feelings are more valid and important?

If I want to wear my shirt with an image of the Prophet Muhammad on it, I will be banned from most student unions, because my shirt may offend some Muslims. And as I've argued before, if I am barred from a union for wearing the wrong t-shirt, it is not a safe space for me?

If we are to ban all images of the Prophet Muhammad, for the benefit of the religious-Right and fundamentalists, where do we go eventually go with this? Should homosexuals be banned from student unions, because their presence may offend religious fundamentalists? Should we ban people from taking the God's name in vain, as it may violate a religious conservative's safe space?"

As so often with calls for censorship, there is the spectre of mission creep -- one ban on one form of objectionable speech can easily lead to further demands to outlaw other speech. The net that surrounds what is defined as 'problematic' speech gets thrown further and further, until debate is trapped and choked.

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If our unions truly want fight what they see as bigotry, then they need to tackle these ideas head-on. The current wave of no-platforming and censorship does nothing but create a further disconnect between our campuses and the beliefs of our wider society.

What will happen when these mollycoddled students, who after the graduation leave their 'safe space' and find that there is a whole world of people out there who do not share their exact beliefs and values? What will they do when they hear 'problematic' tunes on the radio, or a copy of The Sun blows into their path?

The 'Safe Spaces' concept, in its very essence, is not about challenging or defeating views you do not like. It is about the self-indulgence and self-preservation of your own world-view. By attempting to create 'safe spaces' through censorship, our student unions have created the type of environment they set out to destroy. In the name of 'safe spaces', pro-Israel students have had their meetings raided by anti-Israel activists. In the name of 'safe spaces', LGBT and Feminists societies have expressed support for thugs who attempt to intimidate human-rights campaigners.

Safe Space and No-platform policies are in essence pessimistic and defeatist. Their advocates see mainstream society as something to be feared and to be disengaged from. Our student unions are not challenging or defeating prejudice in wider society, they are simply cowering from it. And in doing so, they are letting down most the minority students they claim to be fighting for.
Upon checking into the Henn-na Hotel near Nagasaki in Japan, guests are greeted by an impeccably dressed, well mannered, multilingual receptionist who recognises them on sight. She's incredibly efficient at her job, she's always on time and has no problem staying late without overtime pay. In fact, she never asks for any pay at all. Why? She's a robot.

The Henn-na opened last summer billed as the world's first robot hotel. After completing check-in, guests encounter robot porters to carry their luggage, facial recognition software that allows them access to their rooms and robot-operated cloakrooms to store their belongings.

This is, supposedly, the first glimpse of the future, the pinnacle of high-class living. Robots on hand to take care of us and efficiently run our households. The same predictions are also being made of our industries, but these do not carry the same idealistic optimism that domestic advancements hold.

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The Henn-na's receptionist represents many of the fears surrounding the growing impact of robots on our workplaces. The past year in particular has seen the publication of a number of reports - most recently from the World Economic Forum - which suggest that, over the next ten years, as many as five million 'human' jobs will be performed by robots, causing widespread speculation as to the role humans will play in any future workplace. If indeed there are any roles left.

There's little doubt that the world is becoming more technologically savvy than ever before. Just last week a super-computer outsmarted the world champion of the strategy game 'Go', beating him in four games out of five. But the reality of what a robot is, is very far from the image such inventions project. My research, conducted with my colleague Mary Lacity, focuses on the impact Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has had on organisations so far, and attempts to provide perspective on the bigger picture of automation and the future of work.

The key finding is that, for automation to be used effectively, it must be guided by human intelligence. Robots have limitations. Though the Henn-na's receptionist could check you into your room, she's not particularly skilled at idle chit-chat. She can't, for example, look at the map you pass over the desk and help you find your way to the nearest train station. These humanoids currently exist as one-of-a-kind prototypes programmed for a limited number of functions. And, whilst the DeepMind computer from Microsoft may have learned enough moves and patterns to wipe the floor with its human competitor in the "Go" tournament, its capabilities are severely limited in any other area besides this one particular board game. Both lack the ability for free-thinking intelligence and independence. In short, they are not human.

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For the majority of companies, robots exist as software or hardware which can perform routine service tasks such as transferring and organising data, with greater efficiency than human staff. RPA software is becoming increasingly commonplace in organisations as a virtual workforce, collating and logging data, and running most - if not all - of an organisation's back office.

For employers, the benefits of using RPA instead of human staff include significant cost savings, faster processing (a study of an organisation within London's insurance market, showed that data which previously took two days to process, took only 30 minutes using RPA), less error and a massively increased output.

Though this sounds like an argument in favour of headcount reduction, another key finding from our research is that, to integrate RPA systems effectively, they must be guided by human intelligence. The possibilities for any type of automation or robot are set by human will and imagination - something which AI is a long way off replicating - ensuring humans remain in control of the workplace.

Back at the Henn-na, guests will be disappointed to learn that there's no team of droids flipping pancakes for breakfast. There's a human kitchen staff. But this is the best way forward. Rather than reducing workforces, employers should combine their human and robotic staff as both are most effective when working together. With RPA handling those repetitive, unsatisfying data processing tasks, human employees are free to focus on the human-intensive roles that require skills robots cannot replicate - innovation, meaningful customer contact and building relationships.

Going forward, the key is to define those areas where human workers really are irreplaceable. Jeremy Tipper, Consulting & Innovation Director at global talent acquisition and management provider Alexander Mann Solutions agrees that AI has the capacity to change the future workplace beyond recognition which will result in employers looking for a different set of skills in their employees.

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"It's quite possible that AI could virtually eliminate most administrative tasks in many industries, leaving us with a new focus on inter-personal - as opposed to technical - skills as individuals move away from managing 'the machine' to managing relationships", he says.

Contrary to today's worst fears, robotics could facilitate the rise, not the demise, of the human "knowledge worker", but managers need to prepare staff for the unavoidable changes to their current jobs, enabling them to upskill, specialise and re-train where necessary.

Advances in cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, mobile connectivity and social media will accelerate the exponential data explosion we are experiencing, making automation necessary to help organisations cope. But it also opens up opportunities for growth. Looking to the future, we found that for every 20 jobs lost through automation, approximately 13 new ones could be created. Some of these were related to technology, but most were about technology amplifying and enhancing human attributes and strengths.
On 23 June 2016, the UK votes in a referendum on whether to stay or leave the European Union (EU). At the present time, opinion polls suggest the result is too close to call but this situation is promoting intense consideration of the impact of the UK leaving the EU (BREXIT).

One issue to consider is that of public services and the potential impact of BREXIT on UK public services. Clearly, there are many factors, which need to be considered when thinking about the impact of BREXIT such as the economy, security, energy etc and it would be unwise to focus, just, on any one of these issues when making a decision to vote. Hence, in considering the impact on public services, one also needs to consider the other impacts alongside. Some thought about most or all of the issues is desirable, including, of course, the interplay between them. For example, the impact of BREXIT on the UK economy will affect the public finances, which fund public services.

In considering the impact of BREXIT on public services, we have to recognise that the term "public services" is extremely wide. However, perhaps the main public services which are recognised as being of greatest importance by the general public would be the following:

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Health

Education

Local government

Criminal justice

Welfare

National security

In undertaking an analysis of the impact of BREXIT on public services (or any other issue), one needs to bear in mind the considerable levels of uncertainty which will exist whether the UK leaves or stays in the UK. Some key uncertainties include:

The impact on the UK as a trading nation is very uncertain since we have no idea what future arrangements with the EU might look like

The ongoing impact of the migrant crisis is uncertain and consequently the potential impact on the EU is also uncertain

The implications for future regulation of wide areas of life is uncertain

The future of economic growth in the Eurozone economies which is currently very sluggish and may worsen

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The long term future of the migrant crisis currently affecting Europe and the potential accession of Turkey to the EU

Hence, any statement, by anyone, about the future of the UK inside or outside the EU needs to be treated with caution because much of what is being said is dependent about assumptions that are being made about the situation with or without BREXIT.

In looking at the impact of BREXIT on public services I have focussed on the following four main themes

1.Regulation

2.Public service policy

3.Demand for public services

4.Resources to deliver public services

Regulation

An EU regulation is a legal act of the European Union that becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives, which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law. Nevertheless, one might argue that the impact of regulations and directives is broadly the same.

The EU has an extensive regulatory involvement in the affairs of member states in a huge variety of areas including:

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Procurement

Environment

Employment

Energy etc etc

This is perhaps the most heated area of debate about the role of the EU with people complaining about so-called Eurocrats imposing regulations on the UK concerning such arcane matters as the "straightness of a sausage". Many of these stories are, of course, folklore.

If the UK left the EU then, clearly, in legal terms it would be free from the EU regulatory regime. Perhaps three key questions can be posed concerning the impact of BREXIT on the regulatory regime in the UK

1.What would be the impact on the UK, both positive and negative, of being released from the EU regulatory regime?

2.Would the UK substitute its own regulatory regime in place of the EU regime? Would that domestic regime be more or less burdensome?

3.As part of new trade arrangements with the EU, would the UK be required to conform to, at least, some of the existing EU regulatory regime?

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Regarding question 1, huge claims are made for the likely savings to UK businesses of being released from the EU regulatory regime but maybe these figures need to be taken "with a pinch of salt". Others see the loss of EU regulation as having negative impacts since they see regulation from unelected Eurocrats as protecting us from our own democratically elected governments who may want a looser regulatory regime (e.g. environmental protection). This view is understandable provided one recognises that, sometime in the future, the EU might introduce regulations, which one disagrees with, but one has no means of influencing what is being done.

Regarding questions 2 and 3, I would suggest that the answer to both questions would be yes, at least to some degree - governments love regulating what we do. However, the extent to which BREXIT might provide a less regulated environment is one of the big uncertainties already referred to above.

Public service policy

This concerns the role of the EU in relation to public service policy formulation. To a large extent policy formulation in relation to public services is a nation state role and the EU has only a limited involvement in a supporting capacity. For example, in relation to education, Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Community states that the EU:

"Shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States, through actions such as promoting the mobility of citizens, designing joint study programmes, establishing networks, exchanging information or teaching languages of the European Union. It also contains a commitment to promote life-long learning for all citizens of the Union".

Similarly, health policy and the organisation, financing and management of healthcare is predominantly a national responsibility of member countries. However, the EU also undertakes some health-related activities, in particular, by supporting co-operation between member states in order to protect and promote public health. This clearly makes sense since viruses and bacteria don't recognise national borders.

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However, outside of the main policy dimension European Union law has a major impact on many public services. Most of this impact comes from laws not specifically designed as public policy interventions but in relation to employment, procurement and environmental roles etc described above.

However, this should not be taken to mean that the policy role of EU is negligible, static or will remain unchanged. The EU has taken a growing role in setting EU-wide targets for some public services and published EU-wide policy papers. I suggest it would be naive to think anything other than that the EU will try to take stronger role in relation to public services policy under the banner of "ever closer union". Whether, within the EU, the British would be able to opt out from a growing EU involvement in public service policy remains to be seen.

Demands for public services

If one had to summarise the main drivers of demand for public services they would probably be the following:

Population size

Population structure including the ageing of the population

Socio-economic situations and trends

Technology creating demand for new services

Many of these will remain the same whether the UK is in or out of the EU but the one that will be affected concerns the growth of the population through immigration to the UK.

Recent ONS projections suggest that the population of the UK will grow from 64 million in 2014 to 69.8 million in 2027 and 74.5 million by 2039. Well over half of the annual population growth is caused by immigration and the dominance of immigration is projected to increase as time goes on.

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Clearly such population growth whether it be indigenous or through immigration will increase demands for public services especially health, education and housing. Some will argue that these increased service demands will be counteracted by the economic growth (and hence additional public finance to fund public services) generated through having a larger working population but, I suggest, this is a contestable assertion, which rests more on hope than evidence.

What must be emphasised is that the population projections mentioned above were prepared prior to (and take no account of) the current migrant crisis in the EU. Moreover, it is likely that this migrant crisis represents much longer-term phenomena than currently expected. Waves of migrants from Africa and Asia can expected to try and enter Europe for many years to come as a consequence, of war, civil strife, natural disasters and climate change,

Having stronger control on immigration should enable the UK to keep downward pressure on immigrant numbers (and hence public service demands) while allowing the controlled immigration of key workers needed to boost economic growth. Thus, the key question is whether greater control over immigration can be exerted by being outside the EU than inside the EU especially in the context of the migrant crisis and the possible accession of Turkey to the EU. This is a strongly contested issue but on balance, I suggest that BREXIT is likely to allow the UK to avoid the scale of immigration that could destabilise public services. Once again, this whole issue is clouded with uncertainty.

Resources to deliver public services

This section concerns the resources (financial and human) that are needed to operate the range of public services. There are four issues considered

Economic growth - economic growth provides the means for government to generate additional tax revenues to fund the growth in public services needed to meet increasing demands. The greater the level of growth in GDP, the more funds can be made available for public services. Thus, one impact of BREXIT on public services concerns the impact of BREXIT on UK economic growth. This is an extremely complex question involving issues of trade agreements, reduced bureaucracy on business etc and both sides of the debate claim that their approach is best for the British economy. As already noted, the problem here is the almost complete uncertainty about what sort of trade arrangement the UK could negotiate with the EU after exit and the economic situation in the rest of the EU. While the EU is a big market for the UK, the current reality is that it is a very stagnant market will little prospects of healthy economic growth in the near future. Indeed the migrant crisis is likely to damage EU economic prospects still further

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EU funding - all EU countries make financial contributions to the EU budget and receive funds back in the form of EU spending in their country. Inevitably, some countries are net contributors while others are net receivers. In 2015, the UK made a contribution of 13 billion to the EU and received back some 4 billion thus making us one of the larger (along with Germany, France and Italy) net contributors. However, it could be argued that this is a false figure since the UK's contribution to the EU is discounted by 5 billion as a consequence of the actions of the Thatcher government in the 1980s. There has already been some pressure from other EU countries for this discount to be terminated thus making the UK an even larger net contributor,

It could be argued that leaving the EU would mean that the UK would gain 9 billion per annum by no longer having to make such contributions and this money could be used by the UK government to fund additional public services. While this may be true, the reality is that the amount involved, while large, represents but a small percentage of the UK's 700 billion of public spending

EU grants - EU expenditure in the UK largely comprises grants made to various organisations in a wide range of areas including: agriculture, science, education and training, regional development, transport etc. Clearly, BREXIT would mean the end of such grant aid in the UK. One might argue that this shouldn't matter since the UK government could make such grants available using the funds, which are currently contributed to the EU. While this is true in theory there are a million reasons why it might not happen. This is a concern of many, and very recently, there were strong concerns expressed by UK research scientists that BREXIT might lead to an overall loss of science research funding to the UK. A particular area of concern surrounds EU grants for regional development and certain areas of the UK (e.g. Wales, Scotland, and the North East) are heavily reliant on EU development grants to help their regional economies. There seems a high probability that, following BREXIT our London-centric government would not maintain the level of regional grant aid needed in these areas and funding would be diverted to the South East as always seems to happen.

Access to Skilled Human Resources - many public services rely strongly on skilled professionals (e.g. doctors, nurses, teachers etc) who have come to the UK from other countries. Leaving aside the questionable morality of recruiting such staff from countries which can ill-afford to lose them, the question is whether BREXIT will affect the availability of staff to UK public services. The answer here must surely be no. While BREXIT would bring an end to the free movement of labour between EU countries, the UK would be free to have an immigration system (a points system) which allows entry to people from any country who bring the skills that the country needs.

Conclusion

It is truism to say that a decision about BREXIT is a very difficult decision and the most difficult decision faced by UK citizens since 1975, the time of the last EU referendum. In fact, it is even more difficult. I am one of those who feel that we were completely mislead in 1975 in voting for what was supposed to be a"European Economic Community" not an entity which has become involved in all aspects of public life and whose borders now reach to the Middle East and Asia. Nevertheless, we are where we are and we now have to recognise that withdrawal from the EU in 2016 will be much more disruptive that it would have been in 1975.
Fairfax Media

UPDATE: Cory Bernardi has confirmed that he was behind an email to a Melbourne mum criticising LGBTI program Safe Schools.

The email, which was sent to Pia Cerveri, linked the Safe Schools Coalition to "bondage clubs and adult sex toys".

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The Senator however says an email The Huffington Post Australia reported on Wednesday was fake and did not come from him.

@shalailah@JoshButler the email being used by Josh Butler today is a fake. He has been conned.  Cory Bernardi (@corybernardi) March 23, 2016

Cerveri told HuffPost Australia on Tuesday she contacted Bernardi through a form on his website about his opposition to the Safe Schools program, and received a reply from bernardi.office@aph.gov.au that was signed off with "CB".

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The email, signed off with Bernardi's initials "CB," tells Cerveri "you clearly haven't got any idea what is in the program." The email goes on to describe Safe Schools as promoting "unhealthy ideas at such an early age" and claims the information provided on the Safe Schools site can be used "to find more about bondage clubs and adult sex toys."

"This is what the safe schools materials encourage. If you think this is ok then I worry for your children," the email continues.

"Inform yourself properly and then get back to me. Your opinion will carry more weight then."

Late on Tuesday evening, HuffPost Australia received an email purportedly from the same address via our corrections submission form, that contained a defence of his original position.

After multiple attempts to verify this email with his office, his spokeswoman said she was unable to get in contact with Senator Bernardi.

But the Senator has said in a Twitter message that he did not write the email.
Barcroft Media via Getty Images SURAKARTA, INDONESIA - MARCH 22: Activists hold banners during a rally marking the World Tuberculosis Day on March 22, 2015 in Surakarta, Indonesia. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is the second most deadly disease in the world after HIV / AIDS. These bacterias spread through water particles in the air that move because of cough, sneeze, or spit. PHOTOGRAPH BY Solo Imaji / Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read Solo Imaji / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Imagine being accepted into medical school with the dream of studying medicine to change people's lives, only to leave as a patient.

Imagine being a vibrant, energetic young woman ready to take on the world, only to have yours shattered by the discovery of a lump growing on your neck.

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Sadly, there's no imagination or creativity at play for Lusiani 'Lusi' Aprilawati as she reveals her harrowing but inspirational story. Lusi could no longer ignore her declining health and symptoms, and was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at just 26 years of age. From there, her world spiralled into a blur of terror -- from being asked publicly by a lecturer at medical school how she contracted the illness, to sweating so profusely she became incredibly self-conscious in public, to being left with the mental images of the yellow discolouration left on her bed sheets night after night.

Soon enough, Lusi left medical school and, while her dream of pursuing medicine may have crumbled, her resolve to help others remained. Today, Lusi is an Indonesian TB survivor and activist working to shift policy and drive the type of change she knows will assist others with TB. Her passion was evident as she addressed members of the Australian Parliament last week.

As a fellow TB advocate working for decades to assist in highlighting issues surrounding TB, Lusi's story is one of many sad tales and experiences I've heard. Just last week, RESULTS Australia hosted an event at Parliament House to launch the Australian TB Caucus. In a heartening cross-party move, over 80 Parliamentarians signed up to join the Caucus. After all, TB is not an illness that can be silenced by political borders, nor is it a problem for developing countries to tackle without the support of countries such as Australia.

What still amazes me (and not in a good way) is that so many people know so little about an illness that poses such a deadly threat and ranks alongside HIV as the world's deadliest infectious disease, killing an estimated 1.5 million people each year (60 percent of them in our region). In fact, most Australians think TB has been eradicated when in truth it's raging in our own backyard and having a major impact in both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

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Alarmingly, around one third of the world's population has latent TB, meaning they're infected but not yet ill with the disease or capable of transmitting it. TB is caused by bacteria (mycobacterium tuberculosis) that commonly affect the lungs. It is both curable and preventable, and is spread throughout the air from person to person. Whenever someone with TB coughs, sneezes or spits, they unintentionally send their germs into the air. From here, one must inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.

To complicate matters further, multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), commonly called 'ebola with wings' by experts, is a growing health threat serving to increase the cost, complexity and length of treatment. Globally, 3.3 percent of new TB cases are diagnosed as MDR-TB with the majority of cases surfacing in Asia. Of particular concern to Australia is the migration of the disease in the neighbouring PNG region, leading experts to express concern about a direct risk to Australia's health security. Our trade, business and tourism ties with neighbouring countries are cause for particular alarm.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has set a target to rid the world of TB by 2035. And while this is an ambitious target, thanks to the great work of organisations such as The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, this goal is achievable.

The Global Fund is the largest source of international funding for tuberculosis and malaria. Thanks to its work, 8.2 million people have received treatment in the Indo-Pacific since 2002. In other words, it has been the real game changer in enabling TB sufferers such as Lusi to access free treatment, advanced diagnostics and lab facilities, in turn strengthening overall health systems. Later this year, the Global Fund will be seeking further commitment for the 2017 to 2019 period at its 2016 replenishment meeting. It's time for Australia to lead the way in terms of TB prevention and treatment by pledging a commitment of $300 million to the Global Fund as part of an overall increase to the Australian Aid budget.
Today is National Puppy Day, when Donald Trump reminds us that he is not only a good little boy, he is the BEST little boy. Trump threatened to "spill the beans" about Ted Cruzs wife, Heidi, though if pressed, hell probably insist he was planning to upturn a can of Hormel in her general vicinity. And Paul Ryan delivered a speech on our souring political conversation in front of a group of interns and if they could run to the Fracking industry reception in Cannon and grab a few dozen sliders, thatd be great. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016:

CONVENTION PLANNERS BRACING FOR WORST - Anna Palmer "The campaign headlines alone -- featuring tense protests and fistfights, and a front-runner warning of riots -- are cause enough for concern. Add two major terrorist attacks abroad in four months into the cauldron, including Tuesdays bombings in Brussels, and its not hard to imagine the potential for chaos at the Republican National Convention this summer. Still, convention organizers and security officials say theyre ready to execute a plan that was in the works before fisticuffs broke out regularly at Donald Trumps rallies. Numerous officials involved with convention planning told Politico theyve been preparing meticulously for months, mapping out every contingency. An array of law enforcement agencies, from the Secret Service to the Department of Homeland Security, are involved, in concert with the city of Clevelands own efforts to keep the event safe. The security blueprint already took into account worst-case scenarios, from mass riots to terrorist attacks, among other possible crises. The convention is expected to draw some 50,000 attendees, along with potentially tens of thousands of protesters." [Politico]

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BRUSSELS AFTERMATH LATEST - "Belgian authorities on Wednesday stepped up the manhunt for a key suspect in the worst terror attacks in the countrys history, as news emerged that they had previously been warned about another suspect by the Turkish government.... Officials believe a fourth suspect, whose image was captured on CCTV at the airport, was able to escape and are continuing a nationwide manhunt for him that started on Tuesday. Police conducted raids across the country and asked the media not to report any specific details of the searches. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkish authorities had caught Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, last year near the Syrian border. Turkey deported him to the Netherlands and warned both Dutch and Belgian authorities that the man was a foreign fighter, according to Erdogan." [HuffPost]

BUT IS IT GOOD FOR THE CRUZ? Presidential criticism edition - Igor Bobic: "President Barack Obama slammed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday for the presidential hopefuls statements that he would empower law enforcement to 'patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods' in the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Brussels. 'I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance, which, by the way, the father of Sen. Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free,' Obama said during a press conference in Argentina, referring to his historic trip to Cuba earlier this week. He said the proposal 'makes absolutely no sense' and goes against basic American values." [HuffPost]

DELANEY DOWNER - Ugh, millenials and their hoverboards and their poser jihad. Kurt Eichenwald: "These European attackers are not like the Al-Qaeda members of old -- the radicalized adherents to fundamentalist Islam. Many of these new age killers were small children when the World Trade Center fell in 2001 and have spent much of their lives watching major wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Syria. Their knowledge of Islam is quite limited; they are more like jihadi hipsters than dedicated Islamists, or what some experts in the intelligence community call 'jihadist cool.' They celebrate what the Dutch coordinator for security and counterterrorism called 'pop-jihad as a lifestyle.'" [Newsweek.com]

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Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

CONGRESS DOES PUPPY DAY - Paige Lavender and Amanda Terkel report: "Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is a well-known dog enthusiast who shares photos of pups on Instagram with the hashtag #StewMeetsDogs. Loving dogs is a 'bipartisan experience,' he said. 'Dogs make people happier,' he added." Heartwarming. [HuffPost]

PAUL RYAN NOT AT ALL INTERESTED IN BEING GOP NOMINEE - Matt Fuller: "Assembled Wednesday in a committee room full of congressional interns -- and reporters -- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) rebuked the disagreeable tone of politics in the 2016 race and even criticized his own use of divisive rhetoric in the past. From his familiar perch in the Ways and Means room, Ryan told the crowd of interns that, in this space, members used to hold themselves to a 'higher standard of decorum.' 'We treated each other with respect,' Ryan continued. 'We disagreed -- often fiercely so -- but we disagreed without being disagreeable.' Ryan said he spoke in the past tense only because he no longer serves on the Ways and Means Committee. 'But it almost sounds like Im speaking of another time, doesnt it?' he asked. Ryan's entire speech was an indirect repudiation of the 2016 race. Without naming names -- something he said he wouldn't do during a question-and-answer session after the speech -- the speaker didn't leave much to the imagination as to whom he was most directly referring...Ryan also reflected on some of his own divisive contributions to American politics. Specifically, Ryan criticized his use of the words 'makers and takers' to describe people on government benefits, an admission he has made previously." [HuffPost]





Today in the Daily Caller.

KASICH NOT GIVING UP ON THE DREAM - Sure, he was beat yesterday by a guy who dropped out, but he's changing the tone! Dave Weigel: "A chorus of Republicans, from hard-core supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to nervous establishment figures like Mitt Romney, is telling Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) to stop campaigning and let voters consolidate behind a single Not-Trump candidate. Kasich's response: Thanks, but you don't know what you're talking about. 'When we get to Pennsylvania, we get to New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island -- let me tell ya, if I drop out, Donald Trump is absolutely going to be the nominee,' Kasich said after a town hall in the suburbs of Milwaukee. 'I'm not out here to stop Donald Trump, but I can tell you the reality of it. I don't believe Sen. Cruz can come to the east and win. I mean, if you take a look at what we've done so far, in Vermont I almost won. In Massachusetts I finished second. In Ohio I won by 11 points. In Michigan there was a lot of early voting, just like there was in Arizona, by the way. But with the late deciders, I won overwhelmingly.'" [WaPo]

SPLIT SCOTUS HEARS ABORTION CASE - Cristian Farias: "The Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious groups want the Supreme Court to free them from the governments requirement that they sign a form to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage to the women who work for them. Without the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the bench, the court on Wednesday heard their pleas in a contentious hearing  likely to be evenly split along ideological lines  where the groups claim to religious freedom was pitted against the Affordable Care Acts requirement that female employees have wide access to contraceptive services. The four liberal justices came down strongly on the side of the federal government, which means that the final outcome will once again depend on Justice Anthony Kennedy. The centrist judge, who is Catholic, appeared conflicted during the hearing by the burden the nuns and other religious groups face in objecting to providing coverage." [HuffPost]

The science is clear, though: "The case, Zubik v. Burwell, challenges the provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires employers to cover birth control for their female employees or opt out if they have a religious objection. The Little Sisters of the Poor, along with several other groups of religious conservatives, morally object to birth control because they believe it is the same as abortion. They argue that the laws accommodation for religious groups, which asks the employer to fill out a form stating their objection, does not suffice to protect their religious freedom The science is clear on birth control: it works by preventing the sperm from fertilizing the egg. Even emergency contraception, which women can take for up to 72 hours after sex to prevent pregnancy, works before fertilization happens and therefore is not the same as abortion." [HuffPost's Laura Bassett]

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SWEET HOME(WRECKER) ALABAMA - "Here's the story: On Tuesday, the two-term governor [Robert Bentley] fired the state's top cop. That same day, the now-fired top cop told AL.com that Bentley had been having an affair with one of his top advisers. And he said he could prove it. The governor has denied affair rumors in the past, calling them 'ridiculous.' But he hasn't been able to shake that over the past year, whether in unsubstantiated blogs or in the halls of Alabama's capitol. There has been a rumor swirling he was having an affair with his chief adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. (Mason is married, but Bentley's 50-year marriage officially ended this fall, an abrupt ending that Bentley has said shocked him.)" [WaPo]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a boy meeting a fawn.

THE WAY WE ___ NOW - Funny, the GOP has been swiping the vote for years. Brendan Klinkenberg: "Tinder is launching a new 'Swipe the Vote' feature on Wednesday for everyone using the app in the United States, to help people figure out which candidate to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Swipe to Vote works a lot like regular Tinder, except instead of helping you hook up with a romantic liaison, you end up with, say, Donald Trump. Its the apps first official foray into politics. Tinder built the tool after some overzealous Bernie Sanders fans began using it for a different tactic: openly campaigning for their candidate. That got people banned, but it also indicated that there was a place for politics on a dating site. So, like any good tech company, it adapted to its users behavior." [BuzzFeed]

COMFORT FOOD

- A look at the prosthetics in "Game of Thrones."

- A look at gender neutral pronouns.

- Historical figures with photoshopped tattoos.

TWITTERAMA

@logandobson: Lion Ted Cruz is the mane opposition to Trump at this point. Probably a point of pride. Feline pretty good about it.

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@jonward11: 3 weeks ago, Paul Ryan said, "I hope this is the last time I need to speak out on this race."

lol



@SimonMaloy: DELI GUY: whaddaya want

JEB: hello sir, what are my options

DELI GUY: well, we got a shit sandwich, and a shit sandwich with rabies

JEB: hmm
A voter prepares to mark an absentee presidential primary ballot for Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire.

When I created the Interfaith Ambassadors at the University of Florida, our university's first forum for weekly interfaith discussions, I was prepared for a number of difficult subjects to come up.

One of those such topics is the Israel-Palestine conflict, inexorably intertwined with our faith communities. As someone who has over a dozen family members living in Israel, who has lived in the country for six months, and who has devoted a greater part of his academic career to studying the region, I can say without a doubt that I have a personal stake in the Jewish homeland. And yet I cannot deny the pain, anger and frustration my Muslim friends feel whenever the conversation is brought up.

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Which is why I feel the need to interject on a story that has seemingly gained traction on social media: That Bernie Sanders, the only Jewish candidate in the race (and the only Jewish person ever to win an American primary) declined an invitation to AIPAC Policy Conference because he does not support Israel.

Some see it as a victory lap; finally there is a candidate not beholden to the Jewish lobby! Someone who understands the "excessive" human rights violations which our government turns a blind eye to!

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Others see it as another example of the "self-hating Jew"; Bernie Sanders does not have any pride in a country that was created specifically to protect the Jewish population. You can see in this video below that it's actually a make-it-or-break-it issue for some voters.

Showing weakness of leadership instead of strength #BernieSanders runs away instead of speaking at #AIPAC Not buying his excuse!  Jill (@NooneOfan) March 21, 2016

Neither narrative speaks to who Bernie Sanders is -- the truth is, Senator Sanders is somewhere on the spectrum between Chuck Schumer (a devout Israel supporter) and Dianne Feinstein (a vocal Israel critic). All three are Jewish.

Bernie Sanders lived in Israel and volunteered on kibbutz (a shared Jewish living community) Sha'ar HaAmakim in 1963. In 2014, Senator Sanders cast a vote in favor of funding Operation Protective Edge, the Israeli weapons defense program against Palestinian missiles, along with every single one of his Senate colleagues.

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"I work tirelessly to advance the cause of peace as a partner and as a friend to Israel," Bernie noted in his Salt Lake City speech the same day as candidates addressed the AIPAC crowd. "But to be successful, we also have got to be a friend not only to Israel, but to the Palestinian people."

This attitude is much, much more in line with what the average Israeli thinks. Bernie Sanders is pro-Israel because he is not satisfied with the status quo. And newsflash? Neither are Israelis.

But you wouldn't think that based on what the candidates said at AIPAC. I think this speaks to a broader problem within our candidate class that being pro-Israel means forcing yourself to Israel's far right policies as possible, ignoring the tremendous diversity of opinions and policies in the country.

When asked if he was a Zionist by Vox's Ezra Klein, he responded "Do I think Israel has the right to exist? Yeah, I do. Do I believe that the United States should be playing an even-handed role in terms of its dealings with the Palestinian community in Israel? Absolutely I do."

While Israel's national security should be at the forefront of any Middle East policy conversation (something that the BDS movement struggles to cope with), it's also crucial to understand that Israelis, generally, don't want to live in a state of existential crisis, and genuinely want to find a peaceful solution.

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In recent years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement has steadily advanced a poisonous culture of hate and anti-Semitism in our country. Across college campuses and in churches, in labor unions, academic institutions and in shareholder meetings of American Corporations, they have sought to demonize the State of Israel, with the eventual goal of destroying it.

Yet, what many do not realize is that the BDS agenda threatens not only the Middle East's one democratic state; it threatens the entire democratic world, and the U.S. is in the eye of its storm. The tie that binds together the radical leftists and radical Islamists driving forward the BDS Movement is a common hatred for the U.S. and for the Western values and freedoms that America, Europe and Israel share. Indeed, BDS leaders publically call for the destruction of the very society that protects their right to free speech.

Don't believe me? Let's look at exactly what the most senior BDS leaders have to say about the United States.

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BDS leaders hate America's leadership role around the world. In an op-ed for the International Socialist Review titled "Palestine, BDS, and the battle against US imperialism," Purdue University professor Bill Mullen, one of the BDS leaders who lobbied the American Studies Association to adopt a boycott of Israel, writes, "We can build a still-stronger BDS movement beginning in the name of Palestinian freedom and ending in a permanent blow against American empire."

BDS leaders hate America's democracy - and have even called for violent attacks to overturn our democratic system. During a rally against the Iraq War in San Francisco, Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian - one of the primary BDS leaders in the U.S. and the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine - issued a call to action that was nothing short of inciting violence against the American people, saying: "Are you angry? Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada [armed struggle] in this country? ...and it's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here...They're going to say [that] some Palestinian are being too radical; well, you haven't seen radicalism yet!"

BDS leaders despise our military, and support attacks on our troops. At that same rally, Bazian explicitly stated his support for attacks on American troops in Iraq saying, "The occupation is a source of tremendous violence against Iraqis. I think we've got to support the resistance; we've got to say that we support attacks against the occupying forces." Bazian went on to call for an all-out assault on America: "[W]e in this movement [should] support the resistance against American imperialism by any means necessary."

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BDS leaders hate our justice system and disparage the work of our police officers. During the racially charged Ferguson, Missouri, riots, BDS leaders eagerly breached their alleged Israel-focused mandate and reveled in the opportunity to attack the US justice system and police security forces. Brazenly exploiting the tragedy, the BDS Movement released an official statement accusing the US justice system of "racism, racial discrimination and disenfranchisement." They also condemned police forces for "unbridled violence," "militarized attack[s]," and "dehumanization" of the Ferguson community.

They hate our capitalist system and seek to dismantle the global economy. Among BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti's most egregious edicts, is a call to overthrow the American economic system. "Opposing the imperial militarization and savage capitalism in this country," Barghouti said, "directly benefits the peoples of the world, including the Palestinians."

How do we respond? We must no longer limit our perspective and debate on BDS to its repercussions for Israel alone. BDS is not Israel's problem, or a Jewish problem; it is a problem for every American who values democratic freedoms.

History shows that what starts with the Jewish people never ends with the Jewish people. Radical Islam and the radical left are targeting Israel now, but --evidenced by their own statements -- their bigger target is the Europe and the United States.

Today, this hate movement is after Israel. But tomorrow, they're coming for the entire Western world and our way of life. Today, Brussels, Paris and Europe may have reached a point of no return, but in America we must stop them before it is too late.
While Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was bringing thousands of delegates to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) national conference to their feet the other night, a very different event took place just a couple of miles away where a theatrical adoption of Israeli author David Grossman's moving novel "Falling Out of Time" had its US debut.

Grossman is a leading voice in Israeli culture whose book describes the mourning process he went through after the death of his beloved son Uri in combat in the Second Lebanon War of 2006.

While Trump wowed large sections of the AIPAC crowd with cheap slogans designed to appeal to their basest pro-Israel sentiments, Grossman's play, which was presented at Theater J at the Jewish Community Center of Washington DC, reminded those lucky enough to be present of the real costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the failure to find a peaceful solution. (AIPAC later apologized for Trump's ad hominem attack on President Obama.)

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"We lost our son Uri in a war, so we know intimately how there is a kind of nationalizing of the one who died when it is a fallen soldier," Grossman said in a program note. "And so the book is also an attempt for me personally to reclaim this loss from the national, from the collective and to make it my private loss again.

"We, the Israelis, have this tendency to glorify and idealize soldiers who fell in war. Maybe because the country feels guilty for sending these young people to their deaths without really trying with all its might to achieve peace - really trying as strongly as it makes war to make peace."

The previous evening, in a public discussion, Grossman talked about how Israelis had lost the ability to feel the pain or even to hear the voices of their Palestinian neighbors.

"We come from a country so immersed in pain and wounds that nobody has the energy to see or feel the wounds and pain around us," he said.

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In Israel, Grossman is facing public pressure for his refusal to see the conflict in black-and-white terms and his insistence that peace with the Palestinians is both possible and necessary. Recently, a small but vocal group, Im Tirzu, criticized him and other prominent writers, actors and artists as "foreign agents in the cultural world."

The contrast in the atmospheres at the AIPAC conference and at Theater J could not have been greater. At AIPAC, a demagogue appealing to the worst aspects of our nature, won rapturous applause for a series of bombastic, simplistic, inaccurate, slanderous and insulting statements. To be sure, many delegates, including dozens of rabbis and other communal leaders, boycotted the speech or sat on their hands and refused to applaud. But the fact remains that Trump was received by many as a hero.

At Theater J, the mood was somber as the audience was brought deep into the pain of a man who lost his son to a conflict which has gone on for far too long and who yearns for peace. Like many bereaved parents, both Israeli and Palestinian, Grossman does not seek justice - for there is no justice - or revenge - for there can be and should be no revenge.

He seeks a future in which no-one else will have to suffer as he has suffered.

In the Biblical Book of Kings, chapter 19, we read how the Prophet Elijah fled the wrath of a king and sought safety in a cave in the desert. He experiences a mighty wind, and then an earthquake, and then a fire - but we're told that the Lord was not in any of these. And then he hears a still, small voice - and that was the voice he needed to listen to.
If you child is running a fever, there's no mystery what to do. You make the child rest and take every necessary step to bring the child's fever down. Entrusting Florida's waters to reckless and ignorant elected officials is exactly the same as parental malpractice. It is like locking a child in a car parked at a mall parking lot while the parent goes shopping.

There is only one excuse for forgetting to take care of our waterways: that the campaign funders and politicians voters elected want it that way.

The mainstream media are filled with talking points like this: "State wild officials could not pinpoint the reason for the deaths of the fish recently." Bullshit. The massive, horrendous, shocking and sad fish kills happening in and around the Indian River Lagoon represent the political corruption infecting the state of Florida.

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Here are a few examples: regulations to provide numerical standards for mercury and sulfates in Florida waters? Never happened.

Regulation to allow local government to stop phosphorous and nitrogen pollution in Florida waters? State legislature and Gov. Rick Scott voted, no. Protection of coastlines from massive overdevelopment? Absolutely not. Support for the U.S. EPA to regulate contaminants and enforce against violations in Florida? No.

Blame the Florida legislature, its leaders like Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam, Florida Representative Matt Caldwell, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, Senator Joe Negron, to start. Blame the most clueless, radical governor in Florida history -- the anti-people governor Rick Scott who never addressed a problem that he couldn't visualize from 30,000 feet in his private jet, or, if he did then just slammed the window shades shut.

There is no need for science to tell us what's wrong with Florida's waterways and the cascade of destruction from Florida Bay stretching north along both coasts. We know exactly what is wrong: voters who don't care, don't vote, or vote for candidates and incumbents who represent institutionalized corruption.

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Who is responsible for the tragedy of Florida waters? Voters who keep returning to office at the county, state and federal level, politicians who are paid to misrepresent the truth. Voters who elect politicians in the pocket of powerful industries and trade associations that routinely make a mockery of democratic processes: Associated Industries of Florida, run by former Jeb Bush ally Tom Feeney, spewing dark money into negative advertising like algae blooms. The Florida Chamber of Commerce. The Florida Farm Bureau. In 2013, 58 business organizations in the state of Florida signed a letter to the US Congress against the EPA's regulation of nitrogen and phosphorous contaminating state waterways. Killing off the EPA itself is a central platform of the GOP.

Every dead fish in Brevard County should be picked up and deposited on the doorsteps of citizens and taxpayers who did not vote, who voted for politicians funded by special interests like Big Sugar, who voted for elected officials who refused to make government work to protect rivers and waterways through tough pollution standards. One dead fish for every lobbyist in Tallahassee and two dead fish for every voter who supported elected officials who tolerate the revolving door between government regulators and the regulated. Three dead fish for every member of the governing board of the state's water management districts, and four dead fish for every voter who returned to office the governor who put those governing board members in place.

Five dead fish for every biologist who feared retribution if he or she spoke against his or her supervisor, afraid to shine the spotlight on pollution. Six dead fish for every voter who supported politicians that cultivate the atmosphere of fear and intimidation in environmental agencies like the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The pollution starts at the top in the executive branch of government and spreads out in a toxic stream as vast as the pollution spreading from Lake Okeechobee. There is no mystery, why. We don't require scientists sifting through diseased tissue of dead manatees and dolphin. There is just one cause: politicians elected by Florida voters. There is only one way out: at the polls in November.
The coworking craze is infiltrating American work life in a big way. According to a report from the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, reported on recently in Inc, since the first coworking space opened in 2005, the number of coworking spaces in America has gone from 1 to 781 as of 2014, and is likely even higher now. More importantly, that trend isn't showing any signs of slowing down. In just one year, between 2012 and 2013, the number of spaces increased by 83 percent and coworking memberships increased 117 percent in that time.

As the coworking revolution takes hold, it will have a big effect on the landscape of the future workplace. While coworking companies are beginning to garner a lot of attention, there are also new spaces echoing coworking concepts that are popping up with increased frequency: in hotel lobbies, corporate atriums, and even local YMCAs. As technology and corporate cultures allow workers to be more mobile, the integration of these types of spaces will expand at a rapid rate. Forward-thinking furniture companies must respond with new types of furniture, expanded purchasing options, and innovative sales strategies.

Coworking spaces need affordable, attractive, ergonomic furniture choices with multiple purchase options to avoid running through a lot of capital at the outset, and furniture companies need the security to know that any risk taken to get a company outfitted with furniture won't come around to bite them if not successful. There is still a bit of a gap from what the coworking trend needs from the contract furniture industry.

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Jerome Chang, owner and architect at Blankspaces in Los Angeles, sees the true value in contract furniture and leveraged his knowledge of the industry when he opened his first coworking location in 2008. Chang says, "Then, I was the only coworking space that put a strong foot forward for needing real contract furniture. Most were going Ikea or West Elm. As coworking takes hold, there is a growing need to differentiate with the look, feel, and function of the space."

Rebecca Brian Pan describes her experience with furniture buying after opening up several coworking spaces including her most recent endeavor, Covo, "There is one company, Turnstone, which specifically targets coworking and alternative workspaces. They are at a more reasonable price point and have much faster turnaround than most contract furniture. But that is the only contract option I'm familiar with, assuming they upgrade from Ikea or West Elm, which means a lot of coworking spaces have the same furniture and look. It is difficult to connect coworking operators with the more creative contract furniture providers who want to have these conversations and forge new paths forward. The market is still so nascent, it's hard for furniture providers and coworking operators to find one another."

According to Liz Elam, Founder of Link Coworking in Austin, "After you figure out the rent, the second most expensive investment for a coworking operator is the furniture. The industry is so used to going after the corporate world they rarely focus on the emerging trends like Coworking. Right now, you typically cannot get a lease until you've been in business for three years. Since coworking is an industry that is pushing the boundaries of how people choose to work we will also challenge the furniture industry with how to facilitate these new ways of working."

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Henricksen, one of the largest and most successful dealerships in the country, is one furniture dealer who is answering these calls from the coworking community with fresh, new ways of thinking. For example, in recent years, they have partnered with Catapult in Chicago. Catapult describes their business as a unique cross between an incubator and a coworking space, with a peer-selected community of talented, ambitious, like-minded entrepreneurs. What differentiates their concepts from traditional coworking spaces is that the goal is to get tenants to leave: that is grow, prosper, and leave. As these companies leave, they need furniture. Russell Frees, EVP & Principal says, "When I first heard about Catapult, in my head it sounded like a great idea, but they wanted a lot for free. It was a great vision, but they had no track record. It was a total leap. In a business like ours you can only take so many leaps. But we did, and it has paid us back tenfold. Not just in financial rewards and business, but in networking opportunities and our ability to evolve our business model."

Frees explains, "Here's why it's a big risk: a lot of these entrepreneurial companies don't want to or cannot pay for the furniture in advance. They request financing over the term of the lease. We are already at really low margins because they are comparing contract grade furniture to product in China or Ikea. But they NEED contract grade furniture if they want it to last and keep looking good." Just like the old adage, no one ever washes a rental car, Frees points out that in these new coworking and coworking-like concepts, people are leasing or temporarily using space. At the end of the day, those people are not going to be as careful and gentle on furniture as if it were their own. The quality of furniture needs to be robust enough to withstand people beating on it... a lot.

Because of their early risks to help Catapult get set up, Henricksen now has a solid and very innovative partnership with Catapult. When companies outgrow Catapult, a rep will meet with them. Typically their initial ideas of budgets are not something that any contract furniture dealer can meet. That is always the struggle. Henricksen has to educate them on the value proposition. They also have to create robust lease, lease to purchase, and payment plan options to meet evolving needs. Dealers must understand the need to get complex expenses off the balance sheet, which in turn allows them to depreciate the product efficiently over time and focus investments in the core of the business, but there is still a premium. If you are going to lease over five years, the overall cost will still be a bit more over the life of the product. Forward-thinking dealers like Henricksen understand these complexities and are also open to working with each company to devise personalized financing arrangements. This can include payment plans as they are growing the first few months out of the coworking space.

Frees also describes another innovation in the furniture buying process. Building management companies are getting more innovative, as they have realized it is becoming a huge market to buy furniture and wrap it into the rental lease. Many companies don't want to deal with coordination with a general contractor and hassles of a build out. This is becoming another innovative way in which smaller companies can finance their furniture needs. Frees says, "There are a couple of dealerships in Chicago that are doing it well through their connections. What we have done is gone to manufacturers, negotiated unbelievable prices based on volumes we believed would happen, and they have." Together with the building, Henricksen presents options within a limited finish scope, still allowing choices in design for their space. If they select choices outside the negotiated package, Henricksen simply communicates those price changes to the building management, who adjusts rent accordingly.

On the topic of coworking, Frees says, "I get that there is some frustration with us as an industry. I don't believe we are the most forward-thinking industry all the time. If they are not connected to the right company to help them realize their vision, it can be a bad experience. The right dealership who gets the bigger picture will help them achieve their goals. There are a lot of really good contract dealers out there that want to have these conversations. It is all about raising the bar of how people see us as the contract furniture industry."
Syria - Aleppo

With the Syrian cease fire tenuously holding, and UN-brokered negotiations underway in Geneva, President Putin's surprise partial withdrawal of forces makes it clear that the Russian establishment has not forgotten the lessons of the Afghanistan quagmire. After almost six months of heavy bombardment, the rebels are weakened and government forces have regained the upper hand. But Moscow understands the continuing deployment of hardware comes with heavy costs, and in the complicated swamp of the Middle East soft power costs less and offers greater potential benefits.

The Russian establishment, witnessing President Obama promulgate policy based on diplomatic engagement rather than military engagement, is well aware that the Syrian civil war is fueled by complex ethnic and sectarian divisions involving several regional players, and that an external actor like the Russian Air Force cannot end it without negotiations. Military intervention is also costly, putting further stress on Russia's already weak economy, and could not be sustained indefinitely. So when Assad declares his intention to retake total control of Syria, Russia lets him know that he cannot rely on Russian air power forever, warning against attempts to achieve total victory. UN Ambassador Churkin: "If they proceed on the basis that no ceasefire is necessary and they need to fight to a victorious end, then this conflict will last a very long time and that is terrifying to imagine."

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Still a Major Player

Geopolitically, Russia may no longer be even a mini Soviet Union; but Russian military might have stymied the opposition, prevented the Syrian regime's defeat, and rid some areas of rebels and terrorists. By partially withdrawing its air forces now, while keeping its military bases and maintaining its commitment against Da'esh (ISIS) and Nusra Front (al-Qaeda's Syrian franchise), Russia forces both the regime in Damascus and the rebels to take the Geneva negotiations seriously. It puts pressure on Saudi Arabia and Turkey (which act through their rebel proxies) and also on Iran (which supports the Syrian government) to negotiate, while Russia's tactical alliance with Iran remains intact. Moreover, in making itself available for anti-terrorist collaboration with the US while still supplying weapons and training to Syrian military personal, Russia reaffirms its continuing support for the regime, and by keeping its bases shows it could return if necessary.

All options remain open: Although the Iranian Foreign Minister declared a federated Syria with its implication of redrawn borders could mean a possible "Armageddon" and another thirty years of war, Russian representatives have nevertheless prospected even the idea of a Syrian federation, including the need for elections after a new constitution is written. Russia and TurkeyRussia's staunch support for the Syrian regime has effectively ended the Turkish project of establishing a dependent state within Syria. Moreover, by sustaining the idea of a federal Syria, Russia has met the aspiration of Syrian Kurds for autonomy, sticking another thorn in Turkey's side. With the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey, relations between the two countries deteriorated drastically. Yet for security and economic reasons, Russia needs better relations with neighboring Turkey. Having solidified alliances with both the Syrian establishment and Syrian Kurds, Putin would be now ready to negotiate with Turkey, where Erdogan has isolated Turkey by his policy of support for extremists in Syria, using the migrants as a tool to pressure Europe, and distancing Turkey from European norms of civil rights and freedom of the press.

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Russia and Saudi ArabiaRussia's bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia have hit rock-bottom. Russia's main problem with Saudi Arabia regards security and the Saudis' financial and ideological connections with extremists in Syria and elsewhere. Yet Russia needs Saudi collaboration to withstand the blows to its economy from the oil price crash. Although the multiple conflicts in the Middle East and adjoining region spring from geopolitical competition and are not inherently religious in nature, still sectarian divisions are used as levers. Russia would improve its image with Sunni Muslims; even though the majority of Russian Muslims are aligned with and loyal to the Kremlin, they are always prone to influence by the Wahhabist ideology emanating from Saudi Arabia. Anti-Russian groups inside the territory of the former Soviet Union (especially in the Caucasus and Central Asia) are usually linked to Saudi Arabia, which considers them as a geopolitical tool. Putin clearly opposes ideological extremism and its related non-state proponents.

Russia and IranRussia is Iran's tactical ally, but beyond the fight against terrorism of Daesh (ISIS, IS) and similar groups their interests in Syria could diverge. Putin sees Iran under President Rouhani improving relations with the west, specifically after the nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). As the Russian Middle East expert Georgy Mirsky told The Washington Post: "A few years back, I heard one of our diplomats say: 'A pro-American Iran is more dangerous for us than a nuclear Iran'." This unofficial mindset of many in the Kremlin is increasing as Washington and Tehran begin to improve relations. Certainly the Russian establishment knows the democratic soul of Iran looks westward, and fears it. Russia also sees that on the Syrian battle field Iran and the militias linked to Iran, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah, are very effective in supporting the Syrian Arab Army. By holding open the door toward Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Putin lets Tehran know it aware that its alliance with Iran is a marriage of opportunity.

A Skilled Geopolitical GamblerRussian intervention in Syria has already yielded some important results. Putin moved when the Syrian rebels supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia were on the verge of reversing the balance of power. Da'esh (ISIS) and like-minded extremist groups were hitting their peak of expansion, despite the bombing by the international coalition headed by the US. Europeans feared terrorism and the wave of refugees flooding in. The international community generally welcomed the Russian intervention, hoping the US-led coalition and the Russian-led coalition (Iran, Iraq, Syria) could collaborate to halt the tornado of terror that they saw spreading around the world: Sinai, Paris, San Bernardino, Ankara.

By playing the role of indispensable partner in the fight against terrorism as well as guarantor of security, Putin has also distracted attention from his Ukraine problem. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was able to flex its muscles, deploy and test major new hardware on air, sea, and land, launch missiles from the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean, and deploy the latest generation of fighters and experimental new tanks.

For Putin, who considers the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century, the invitation by the Syrian regime was an opportunity to demonstrate Russia's strength without violating international legal norms. It sent a message to Russia's competitors and, by demonstrating the effectiveness of new weaponry, to his arms clients. Moreover, Russia has kept all its competitors, including Iran, from the rich European oil and gas market, preserving its position of quasi-monopoly, using energy as a geopolitical tool. The intervention boosted Putin's popularity at home, overshadowing any potential opposition. It also gratified Putin's ambition to have a say on international stability and security. Indeed, the Syrian cease fire was agreed on and imposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. There was even a kind of selective US-Russian collaboration, with the US acting in East Syria and Russia acting in West Syria. As Mr. Lavrov declared on March 14, 2016: "We are ready to coordinate our actions with the Americans, because Raqqa is in the eastern part of Syria, and the American coalition is mainly ... acting there".

The Balance of Power PrincipleDespite the collapse of the former Soviet empire and despite its weakened economy, Russia still covers a broad territory with vast underground riches and a large military arsenal. Putin likes to remind the international community of these factors, to underscore Russia's indispensable role for the maintenance of world order and security. So Czar Putin of the glacial eyes and coldly calculating mind, after re-establishing the balance of power in Syria, protecting Assad but forcing him to negotiate, now makes it clear to all players and competitors that in the framework of these new realities he, statesmanlike, would promote negotiations with the final end of ensuring Russian national interests. This is skillful diplomacy that for the sake of international stability and security even Obama could appreciate.

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Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin proposes increasing the cigarette tax and expanding the sales tax to a variety of services that are currently exempt as a way to close an estimated $900 million hole in next year's budget during her State of the State address, Monday, Feb. 1, 2016 in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Activists have fought hard for many years to get back his freedom. Prayers were answered when Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin granted Yarbrough executive clemency on March 18, 2016.

Several years ago I wrote about Larry in a piece titled "How Three Joints and an ounce of Coke Got an Oklahoma Grandfather Life without Parole." Behind the scene many individuals fought hard for Larry meeting with Governor Fallin and asking her to show compassion for Yarbrough. Mark Faulk did a moving documentary about Larry which showed the injustice of his case. And his lawyer Debbie Hampton fought tooth and nail for Larry never giving up hope.

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Larry Yarbrough has never had a single write-up during his incarceration. He has received commendations from the Department of Corrections and nonprofits for training guide dogs for the blind and disabled. He and his wife Norma are still married after 41 years. They have five children and 13 grandchildren, ranging in age from 9 months to 19 years. Before his incarceration, Larry and Norma owned and operated a popular BBQ restaurant in Kingfisher where he was known for giving back to his community. Upon his release, Yarbrough's daughter, Lanita, and her husband plan to open a BBQ restaurant in Pittsburgh, CA for Yarbrough to run.
By AYESHA KHAN for Architectural Digest.

Around since antiquity, stilt houses have been found by archaeologists in almost every part of the world, from arctic climes to Fijian waters. Built up off the ground, these ingenious homes serve a variety of practical purposes, such as keeping out floods, vermin, and ice. Today the world's luxury waterfront hotels count stilt houses among their finest accommodations, offering easy access to placid seas and teeming marine life. From the warm waters of Belize to the islands of Polynesia, these stunning overwater villas are certainly prime choices for the bucket list.



Photo: Courtesy of the Four Seasons Bora Bora

Four Seasons Bora Bora

Each of the resort's 100 overwater villas employs the sustainable thatched-roof architecture of Polynesia, woven from the leaves of the indigenous pandanus tree by local craftsmen. Interiors by San Francisco-based firm Bamo incorporate volcanic stone masonry walls and merbau timber columns. Local inspirations include traditional body tattoos stylized into textile patterns as well as mother-of-pearl accents on walls and light fixtures. From $1,117/night; fourseasons.com



Photo: Courtesy of Laucala Island

Laucala Island, Fiji

For the two-level, two-bedroom overwater villa, interior designer Lynne Hunt was challenged to create a dwelling that appeared to be hewn from its surroundings. The result: a space anchored by a private pool carved from the cliffside and decorated with driftwood lamps, root cocktail tables, rain tree vanities, coral and sand walls, and Pacific Island-inspired fabrics. A series of watercolors depicts the island's flowers, and a whimsical "jellyfish" chandelier, made with the local magi magi coconut thread, floats from the airy thatched ceilings above. Carpets were custom created for every space and draw inspiration from the coral, sand, and water that dominate the island. From $8,800/night; laucala.com



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Photo: Courtesy of Per Aquum

Per Aquum, Huvafen Fushi, Maldives

The 44 overwater villas at this Maldivian resort are a veritable gallery of some of the world's most noted modern designers: Lighting is by Artemide and furnishings include signed Frank Gehry bentwood chairs. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping retreat here is the 3,500-square-foot, two-bedroom Ocean Pavilion, complete with a fiber-optic-lit infinity pool that begins in the living room and flows out to the terrace overlooking the Indian Ocean. And if that isn't enough, the master bedroom features a Kohler infinity-edge bath that fills from the ceiling. From $2,108/night; minorhotels.com



Photo: Courtesy of Angsana Velavaru

Angsana Velavaru, Maldives

True to their name, the 34 InOcean villas are located at the edge of a reef, half a mile out to sea from the main island. They range in size from 1,900 to 3,000 square feet and feature living spaces that pour onto terraces complete with private infinity pools. The colorful thatched-roof dwellings even have their own areas for private spa treatments (after all, the Thai brand is renowned for its stunning spas). From $1,555/night; angsana.com



Photo: Courtesy of Song Saa Private Island

Song Saa Private Island, Cambodia

Song Saa owner Melita Hunter made the most of the sustainable resources on this quiet island in Cambodia. Boards from old fishing boats, driftwood from nearby beaches, and salvaged wood from factories and warehouses were all used in the construction of the resort. Furnishings and artifacts were created in conjunction with local craftsmen, supporting the economy of a once-desolate corner of the country. But this conscientious design doesn't for a moment skimp on luxury--beds are oversize, and villas come with their own pool decks and outdoor showers. From $840/night; songsaa.com



Photo: Courtesy of Cocoa Island by Como

Cocoa Island by Como, Maldives

Designed to resemble the traditional dhoni boats used by local fishermen, the island's bi-level villas, made of New Zealand pine and Kajan thatch, have interiors that resemble the colonial houseboats of nearby Kerala, India. Eschewing a more traditional rustic feel, Singapore-based designer Cheong Yew Kuan used glossy teak floors, clean lines, and a minimalist blue-and-white color palette to decorate the modern structures. Bedrooms on the second floor offer elevated views of the lagoon through gauzy drapes, while baths feature double-ended tubs backed by mirrored walls. From $1,000/night; comohotels.com

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Photo: Courtesy of Cayo Espanto

Cayo Espanto, Belize

Devised by Los Angeles-based Darrell Schmitt Design Associates, this overwater villa offers a most enchanting feature: a glass floor that gives guests views of the marine life below. Windows can retract into walls to create an open-air pavilion from which to enjoy Caribbean breezes. All furniture was designed by Schmitt, and the coastal-cool all-white color scheme features bed linens from Yves Delorme. From $1,495/night; aprivateisland.com

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Image: Court. Stock Photo. Pixabay.com

It's no secret that corruption is rampant in most countries in the former Soviet Union.

What usually comes to mind when we think of such graft is monetary gain: an official getting a bribe in return for his signature on a building permit, for example.

But corruption in the region doesn't always involve a money payoff.

The reward can also be a prize in an academic, music, sport or other kind of competition -- or even a beauty-pageant crown.

A friend who teaches at the highly regarded Kazakh Turkish Girls School in Almaty gave me a firsthand account a few years ago of corruption in an academic competition there.

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In addition to teaching Kazakh and Turkish, the school has what most educators agree is Kazakhstan's premier English-language-skills program.

My friend, whom I'll call Ali, had the best English student he'd had in years. He was sure she would win the national high school competition for best English speaker.

To take part in the national competition, a student first had to win a top prize in a regional competition.

Ali watched his student with pride as his student blew away the other contestants at the regional event.

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His pride turned to shock when the judges awarded first place to a girl who Ali said "couldn't even string two English sentences together."

It was obvious that the winner's family had bribed the judges.

The normally mild-mannered Ali protested so vehemently about the miscarriage of justice that the judges actually reversed themselves and awarded the gold medal to his protege.

It was a pyrrhic victory, however. The incompetent English speaker won the much more important national competition, with his student coming in second. This time Ali's protest failed to reverse the blatant bribery that had occurred.

The worse part of what happened, he told me, was how cynical his student became after being deprived of an honor that was rightfully hers. She asked why she had bothered to study so hard when a fistful of cash could ensure that the top prize would go to a lazy student.

At first glance, you might wonder why someone would bother trying to fix what in the former Soviet Union is called an Academic Olympiad.

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It doesn't take long, however, for you to realize that students' victories in national competitions can lead to admissions at top universities and full-ride scholarships. And those plums, in turn, can assure a student of having a good career upon graduation.

In the past several years news accounts of rigged music competitions have popped up in a number of former Soviet countries.

A prime example was the Aram Khachaturian International Violin Competition in Armenia's capital of Yerevan in June of 2015.

Twenty-five students from 17 countries took part. The awards generated howls of protest. Two of the five prize winners were students of competition judges and a third was a student of the event chairman's mother.

There have been allegations for decades that the Russians, and the Soviets before them, have cheated at the Olympics. I'm not talking about doping, which the Soviets and Russians have wholeheartedly embraced. I'm talking about bribing judges in competitions where evaluations of athlete performance is subjective.

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Most of the time, suspicions of competitions being rigged in favor of Russian athletes can't be proven. But sometimes evidence of bribes does surface -- such as in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A few months after the competition, in August of 2002, Italian police arrested an ethnic-Uzbek Russian mafia figure on allegations that he used bribes to fix Olympic skating events.

U.S. prosecutors alleged that Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov conspired to have Russian and French judges award gold medals to each other's teams.

"The disclosures reignited the international controversy that flared in February, when a French skating judge said she was pressured to cast a deciding vote for a gold medal in pairs skating to the Russian team, even though many experts believed the Canadian pair of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier had deserved to win," the Los Angeles Times reported.

American prosecutors alleged that Tokhtakhounov's motivation for fixing the events was to curry favor with the French skating team that he could parlay into an extension of his French visa.

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Usually the goal in Olympic jury rigging is more sweeping than something as mundane as obtaining a visa extension.

The Soviet Union, and Russia after the break-up of the USSR, have used Olympic victories as propaganda tools as a way to try to show the world the superiority of their systems.

Sometimes jury rigging in the former Soviet Union is so blatant that it's almost comical.

That was the case in the 2006 Mrs. World competition in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The first thing that occurred to stack the deck in favor of the Russian competitor was that Russian immigration officials refused to grant visas to 20 of the competitors from other countries.

Thirty-six of the 37 competitors who were allowed to show up didn't realize until the end that they had had no chance to win the crown.

When the smoke cleared, the winner was Russian ballerina Sofia Arzhakovskaya, who was by far the youngest contestant at only 18 years of age.

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Her husband, 50-year-old Sergei Veremeenko, co-owner of the Russki Ugol mining company, had obviously plunked down a hefty chunk of money to stay on the good side of his beautiful young wife.

When other contestants asked the jury chair, David Marmell, how much Veremeenko had given him to rig the competition, Marmell tried to joke it off, saying he had needed a "couple of bucks."

Marietta Shipindell, the 2005 Mrs. World, was one of those who failed to see the humor in it. She vowed that she would do everything she could to make sure Russia never got the competition again.

Although the jury rigging shocked those contestants who were from outside the former Soviet Union, it didn't shock those living in the region. That's because fixing beauty pageants is common there.

Why would you pay a bribe to assure your girlfriend or daughter a beauty crown?

In some cases, it's a simple matter of a briber trying to make a loved one happy.

Beauty-pageant victories offer payoffs far beyond feel-good rewards, however: A crown can open the door to a lucrative acting or music career.

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Those of us who live in the former Soviet Union know from hard experience that in any given competition in the region -- academic, music, sport, beauty or whatever -- the fix may be in.

So we've learned to take competition outcomes with a grain of salt.

If you're coming in from outside to take part in a competition in the region, I have a simple piece of advice for you: Buyer beware.
The Bermuda Triangle, so named in a 1964 story in America's first pulp magazine, the infamous Argosy, has long been controversial. Its existence as a center for sunken ships and downed airplanes has never gained official traction: the U.S. Navy doesn't recognize it, nor does the U.S. Board on Geographic Names even list it as a place.

But that, of course, hasn't stopped amateurs and some real researchers from studying and speculating about the area. This week, Bermuda Triangle fans might be seeing a breakthrough: Norwegian scientists announced they had found new evidence to support an old theory--that oceanic flatulence was behind some of the shipwrecks.

Newly-found craters off the coast of Norway suggest the sea's potential for enormous blowouts of methane gas, the scientists said, adding some credence to an idea that has been floated before. The theory is that gas bubbles rising to the surface could sink an unfavorably-positioned ship, some scientists have speculated, though a proven case of that happening has never been recorded.

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Skeptics have long held that there is a simple explanation for the phenomenon: the area is one of the most highly-trafficked shipping routes in the world, in addition to being the site of numerous tropical storms and the Gulf Stream, which can cause sudden changes in the weather. The latest evidence isn't likely to stop true believers in the supernatural, though, or even Steven Spielberg, who explained in Close Encounters of the Third Kind that aliens were in fact behind the disappearance of Flight 19.

Read more amazing stories at Atlas Obscura!

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"Said Rabbi Judah the Prince, '[God says:] So great is the virtue of peace among the Jews, that even when they are idolatrous, if peace reigns among them, I cannot hurt them.'" (Midrash Rabbah)

When, back in the middle ages, a Jewish convert to Christianity brought his grievances against the Jews to Pope Gregory IX, his complaints led to the famous Disputations of 1240. Four rabbis were forced to stand trial in defense of the Talmud against Nicholas Donin's accusations.

The rabbis roundly won the dispute, but the repercussions were disastrous: The Talmud was condemned, and on June 17, 1244, twenty-four wagons loaded with manuscripts of the Torah and the Talmud were thrown into the fire, burnt in the streets of Paris.

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Betrayal of this sort ranks at the very bottom of human vices. The idea that a member of the "tribe" would fuel the flames of anti-Semitism which gave the Jews -- always at the mercy of the church -- no peace, is, arguably, an irredeemable offense.

Nowadays, such activity often takes place under the guise of politically correct pretenses. Possibly those who make common cause with Israel's enemies believe that we are secure enough to sustain this kind of internal rupture. Perhaps they think that fidelity to family is an irrelevant value in these progressive times. Or maybe they don't even feel themselves part of the family.

But this chilling insouciance toward the fate and future of the Jewish people bespeaks a failure on the part of the community as well. For if we are responsible for one another, then we are responsible for our kin who stand apart from the community, disconnected from and indifferent to the wellbeing of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. We are responsible for this failing that exposes us and endangers our security.

The Megillah does not tell us this explicitly, but some commentators derive from Haman's words to King Ahasueros a climate of disunity among the Jewish people: "There is a certain people scattered and divided among the nations. . . ." -- a condition, say the sages, that put the Jewish people at a constitutional disadvantage, making them susceptible to Haman's scheme of Jewish annihilation.

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We don't know the nature of the disunity among the Jews during that period of Jewish history, but to be sure, it was not about the community's unwillingness, as some complain, to entertain disagreement. The Jewish people have a long tradition of fierce polemics. The Talmud itself is a rarefied repository of contentious debate and theoretical wrangling between Israel's great sages. Two Jews, three opinions, and hair-splitting is a thriving Jewish pastime. But only when we argue with one another for the sake of Heaven.

Whatever may have divided the Jews during the Purim saga, Esther, the Megillah indicates, assessed the situation and quickly discerned her people's weakest link that Haman hoped to exploit. In her response to Mordechai upon learning of Haman's plot, she says: "Gather the Jews and fast for three days . . ." Fasting would not be enough. The Jewish people, she told Mordechai, must come together and repair the fissures that weaken us against our enemies.

When we are motivated by a love for the transcendent values of God, Torah and the Jewish people, our differences bolster us in the face of assault. But there is no such love among Jewish activists who work to punish and demonize Israel on the world stage as our enemies look on gleefully. When stabbing Jews has become a free sport that no longer makes headlines, and questions about Israel's right to exist are bandied about as a legitimate issue for debate, we are right to feel outrage.

We are right to be ashamed that there are Jews who choose to remain silent, right to be appalled that some would go so far as to lend a hand to our enemies. Our disquietude is not without cause. Still, Mordechai's promise to Esther echoes with comforting resonance: were she to remain silent at this time of crisis, he promised, "deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place." We believe this to be true today as well, but we cannot ignore the disunity that diminishes us as a nation. We must reach even those on the far periphery who have lost their sense of place and belonging within the family of Israel. This may be our greatest challenge today.

Today, we need to support Jewish leaders who nurture Jewish unity and pride wherever Jews feel threatened or alone. Especially on college campuses where anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activism now run rampant, these efforts are critical and have inspired many Jewish students to identify proudly, and speak out fearlessly. With dedication and commitment, it is possible for us to achieve, as Esther did in her day, a positive reversal in the life of our people.

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For the full scoop, click here for a new report, and here for an interactive map.

Did you know that two looming trade deals, if passed by Congress, would newly empower 45 of the world's 50 largest corporate climate polluters to "sue" governments in private tribunals over policies that keep fossil fuels in the ground?

Or that these two deals would give this new power to corporations currently fracking on our public lands, drilling for oil off our shores, and operating dirty pipelines across the country, undermining fights against fossil fuels from coast to coast?

These are among the alarming findings of a new report and interactive map, released today, that reveal the climate roadblocks posed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- the controversial pending trade pact between the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim countries -- and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - a broad pact under negotiation between the U.S. and the European Union.

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In January, TransCanada -- the company behind the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that President Obama rejected last November -- made clear that this trade deal threat is real. The company announced it would use the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to ask a private tribunal of three lawyers to order the U.S. government to pay more than $15 billion as "compensation" for the pipeline rejection that avoided increased climate disruption.

Today's report shows for the first time that the TPP and TTIP would more than double the number of fossil fuel corporations that could follow TransCanada's example and use unaccountable tribunals as a backdoor way to challenge U.S. policies that keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Like NAFTA, the TPP and TTIP would empower foreign corporations to take on the U.S. government in tribunals not accountable to any domestic legal system, in which lawyers -- mostly corporate attorneys -- act as "judges." There, the corporations could use the trade pacts' broad foreign investor rights to demand compensation for U.S. fossil fuel restrictions that they saw as "arbitrary" or contrary to their "expectations" of a stable business environment.

Law firms specializing in this "investor-state dispute settlement" (ISDS) system are now explicitly advising corporations, including fossil fuel firms, to see ISDS as a "tool" to "prevent" unwanted policies, as threats of costly ISDS cases can chill policy proposals.

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The TPP and TTIP would be the first pacts to allow the world's largest polluters -- including all of the eight largest private greenhouse gas emitters outside of the U.S. -- to wield this "tool" against U.S. climate policies. That includes BHP Billiton -- one of the U.S.'s largest foreign investors in fracking, Shell -- the U.S.'s largest holder of federal leases for oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters, and BP -- the U.S.'s largest energy investor, with fossil fuel investments across 46 states.

No previous trade deal has given such broad rights to corporations with such broad interests in maintaining U.S. fossil fuel dependency. By handing ISDS rights to these and more than 100 other foreign fossil fuel firms, the TPP and TTIP would pose a major threat -- unprecedented in the history of such pacts -- to U.S. efforts to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Here are a few examples.

A "Right" to Frack?

Communities and environmental organizations are pushing to ban the dangerous practice of gas and oil fracking in states from California to Pennsylvania to Colorado. But the TPP and TTIP would allow corporations fracking in these three states, plus nine others, to use ISDS to try to prevent, or gain compensation for, any new fracking restrictions.

Indeed, the two deals would grant ISDS rights to more foreign fracking firms than all 56 existing U.S. trade and investment pacts combined.

This is not a hypothetical concern. Lone Pine, a gas company in Delaware, is currently using NAFTA to launch an ISDS case against Canada for a fracking moratorium in Quebec, claiming that the moratorium revoked its "valuable right to mine for oil and gas under the St. Lawrence River."

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A Lifeline for Offshore Drilling?

To avoid a repeat of BP's disastrous 2010 oil spill and Shell's ill-fated attempts to drill in the Arctic, coastal communities and activists are calling for a halt to all new offshore drilling and a cancellation of existing Arctic drilling leases.

But the TPP and TTIP would newly empower oil and gas corporations with more than 10 million acres' worth of U.S. offshore drilling leases - including BP and Shell - to use ISDS threats to resist momentum against offshore drilling. These firms control one out of every three acres off the U.S. coastline that is covered by an active drilling lease. In the Arctic, they control 85 percent of the leased area.

A License to Pollute Public Lands?

To limit climate-disrupting emissions, more than 400 environmental organizations, leading members of Congress, and both Democratic presidential candidates have called for restrictions on oil and gas extraction on U.S. public lands. But the TPP and TTIP would move in the opposite direction.

The deals would give ISDS rights to corporations with leases for oil and gas drilling on over 720,000 acres of U.S. public lands. Fossil fuel corporations from Australia to Spain would gain the ability to threaten to bring costly ISDS cases if the U.S. government barred the renewal of their leases.

A Tool to Defend Dirty Pipelines?

TransCanada has made clear that the ISDS threat looms large for efforts to block fossil fuel pipelines that risk spills and climate emissions. The TPP and TTIP would newly grant ISDS rights to corporations that own tens of thousands of miles' worth of dirty pipelines in at least 29 states.

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If given access to ISDS, these firms would gain a new way to counter opposition to their pipeline expansion plans, which include a controversial 800-mile gas pipeline across Alaska and a project that would pump more fracked gas through the Northeast.
Alan Mulally, outgoing chief executive officer of Ford Motor Co., speaks during a town hall meeting in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., on Monday, June 23, 2014. Mulally said he'll continue to advise his successor, Mark Fields, and remain in touch with the company after he steps down next month. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images

From the media and comments online, much that is written about leaders these days seems to be negative: They are incompetent, arrogant, unethical, greedy -- the list goes on and on.

No doubt there is a great deal of anger and cynicism in the population, whether it is coming from employees, shareholders, or voters. When things go wrong in our lives, we are quick to place the blame for our ills on our leaders, and expect our leaders to fix them.

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Are we justified in doing so? Or are we externalizing our problems by blaming our leaders? Is it time to accept responsibility for our lives and take action to make things better?

External Atmosphere Turns Negative

We live in a highly imperfect world, filled with violence, income inequality, lack of jobs, corruption, ill health, and defective products. As much as we would like to eradicate these ills, there are no easy solutions leaders can apply to make them disappear.

Meanwhile, political leaders are fanning the flames of anger and distrust in order to gain popular support. Their words are intensified by the 24-hour media cycle with every outlet looking to gain viewers by highlighting the urgency of these ills. This negative atmosphere brings out the worst in us, not the best.

These approaches are to no avail. All we are doing is further dividing the country between rich and poor, conservatives and liberals, free traders and protectionists, hawks and doves. The next President will be no more able to eliminate these problems than the last two have been. Blaming the media doesn't solve anything because their entire incentive structure is built on giving the people the stories they want and thus earning higher ratings.

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In business, activist investors assault corporate boards with simplistic, short-term solutions to break up companies, leverage their balance sheets, or buy back stock by cutting investments required for their strategic success. These investors can find something to criticize in every company. Shareholders often give them the benefit of the doubt in order to see near-term bumps in stock prices.

Cost of Toxic Leaders

Toxic leaders create cynical environments that bring out the worst in people and drag everyone down. Like malignant tumors, negative attitudes spread throughout organizations until everyone is playing "the blame game" and avoiding responsibility for the problems they create. Once this happens, organizations are on their way to self-destructing, creating in their wake enormous harm for employees and shareholders alike. At this point, the organization is no longer able to sustain itself and begins to unravel. That's what happened to Sears, General Motors, Lehman Brothers, Kodak, and other victims of politics, cynicism, and short-term thinking.

Bringing Out People's Best

For authentic leaders, the challenge is the opposite: To bring out the best in people. It is to see their potential, empower them to take responsibility for their actions, and work together to make things better for all people. That's what great political leaders like Ronald Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Nelson Mandela have done in years past. It is what today's leaders in business, health care, nonprofits, academia, and yes -- in politics -- need to do to bring us together to make life better for all people and to ameliorate our ills.

Building something comes with a multitude of trials and tribulations, yet the best leaders find ways to celebrate progress. As I highlight in my newest book, Discover Your True North, recent scientific research shows that positive approaches to empower people is a must-have leadership trait. By and large, the leaders I know personally are doing just that. They are doing their best to empower people to grow, contribute, and live happy and meaningful lives. To use the words of author Adam Grant, they are "givers," not "takers."

This approach is consistent with the positive psychology movement pioneered by psychologist Martin Seligman. The three aims of positive psychology are:

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Building human strength Making the lives of people fulfilling Nurturing the talent that resides in all of us

In his book

Focus

, Daniel Goleman describes multiple experiments demonstrating the impact of positive interactions with employees. One experiment showed employees perceived negative feedback more favorably when it was delivered in warm, supportive tones. When good news or positive feedback was delivered in negative tones, employees left the discussions feeling poorly, instead of feeling elated by their successes. Seligman's research shows a 3:1 "positive-to-negative" statements ratio is necessary for healthy professional relationships.

When organizations hit roadblocks, people naturally get upset, and often their anger shows, but that doesn't resolve anything. As Positive Intelligence author Shirzad Chamine says, there is an inner, often unconscious dialogue going on between your "sage" and your "saboteurs." As leaders recognize this dialogue, they will be alert to avoiding negative or attacking responses that sabotage healthy relationships. By inquiring rather than directing, leaders can find opportunities embedded in the challenges their organizations face. They also build more effective relationships with colleagues who count on them to help solve problems, not just assign blame.

Positive Leadership and Teamwork Turned Around Ford

Navigating severe challenges requires strong, courageous, and authentic leaders dedicated to bringing out the best in people and empowering them to peak performance. That's what Alan Mulally did at Ford Motor.

On his first day as Ford's CEO in 2006, Mulally asked to tour Ford's famous Rouge plant where Henry Ford created the Model T. Mulally was informed by one of his top executives, "Our leaders don't talk directly to factory employees." Ignoring that advice, he went to the plant immediately to talk to first-line employees.

Mullaly also set up mandatory weekly management meetings, termed the business process review (BPR), for his top executives to get to the root cause of Ford's long-standing problems. He quickly discovered that Ford's problems went way beyond financial losses: the culture at Ford was broken and in need of massive transformation. He observed, "Ford had been going out of business for 40 years, and no one would face that reality."

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In response, Mulally developed One Ford, an initiative based on "focus, teamwork and a single global approach, aligning employee efforts toward a common definition of success." He started by redesigning internal meetings. As described in American Icon, meetings had become "arenas for mortal combat" in which employees practiced self-preservation, trying to identify flaws in each other's plans instead of recommending solutions to their problems.

Mulally reframed these meetings from negative to positive, fostering a safe environment where people had open and honest discussions without fear of blame. Instead of attacking executives for their problems, Mulally encouraged collaborative approaches to problem solving. He noted, "If you have a common purpose and an environment in which people want to help others succeed, the problems will be fixed quickly."

Mulally introduced a "traffic light" system to weekly BPRs in which executives indicated progress on key initiatives as green, yellow, or red. After four meetings in which all programs were labelled green, Mulally confronted his team, "We are going to lose $18 billion this year, so is there anything that's not going well?" His question was met with stony silence.

The following week, North American President Mark Fields showed a red indicator that a new vehicle launch would be delayed. Other executives assumed Fields would be fired over the bad news. Instead, Mulally began clapping and said, "Mark, that is great visibility." He asked the group, "What can we do to help Mark out?" As he frequently told his leaders, "You have a problem; you are not the problem."

Mulally describes his leadership style as "positive leadership--conveying the idea that there is always a way forward." He says a critical part of positive leadership is "reinforcing the idea that everyone is included. When people feel accountable and included, it is more fun. It is just more rewarding to do things in a supportive environment."

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With determination and positive leadership, Mulally created a culture of effective problem solving and teamwork. As a result, his team triumphed to keep Ford out of bankruptcy, reversed market share losses with improved designs and quality, brought jobs back to the U.S. from overseas plants, and restored profitability by becoming cost competitive with foreign producers.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas and 2016 presidential candidate, pauses while speaking during the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 21, 2016. The presidential race will take a detour from domestic sniping today as Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Trump's two Republican opponents converge on Washington to address the key pro-Israel group. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Another week, another Islamophobic assertion from the Republican presidential race. This time it was Ted Cruz, calling for increased security in "Muslim neighborhoods" in the wake of a tragedy in Brussels.

By Muslim neighborhoods, forgive me for thinking he means Dearborn, Mich. (even though, as I've explained before, Muslims only make a portion of the Arab Americans in Dearborn).

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So, here's my message to Teddy-boy: The only protection Dearborn needs is protection from politicians like you! Dearborn is a model America should be following, not fearing.



"Dearborn is a model America should be following, not fearing."



Just think, here in Dearborn we have Muslims, Christians and Jewish persons praying together and living in harmony. We have a thriving business sector and several international corporations who have either their headquarters or a major facility here. We also have the best sweets, no matter what Rush Limbaugh says.

If the rest of the world looked like Dearborn, there'd be no terrorism.

Think about it: What is the cause of terrorism?

We saw terrorist groups explode after the civil wars in Iraq and Syria. We've seen the government instability in the Middle East, sometimes caused by our own country's interventions, creating a security and governance vacuum. Radical terrorist groups made up of unemployed youth use religion and racial superiority to justify their horrific actions, not unlike how the Klu Klux Klan used those same techniques to grow after the American civil war.

The truth is that instability and unrest causes terrorism. Stability, harmony and mutual respect creates peace. If the rest of our world behaved and looked like Dearborn, groups like ISIS would be so marginalized that they wouldn't be able to garner support.

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However, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and other conservative's recent statements have raised new questions about whether or not they are exacerbating domestic terrorism problems in the United States. Hate crimes (the politically-correct term our media and government use to describe terrorism caused by non-Muslims) have been rising against Muslim, Sikh and Arab Americans as the rhetoric on the right heats up.

Since we know that these hate crimes essentially amount to sectarian terrorism in the United States, we need to start taking a hard look at what kind of responsibility politicians have for the Islamophobic rhetoric they use. If someone gets beaten up or killed today for being Muslim, and the killing was inspired by these kinds of statements, don't you think Ted Cruz bares some of the blame?



"Let's scale the cliff of our indifference and have a real talk about a way to not just 'fight terrorism' but to actually create a more peaceful world."



America needs to rally together and stand against this kind of rhetoric. It's not just unconstitutional: it challenges our most basic spiritual feelings of human togetherness.

We need to build bridges, not walls.

Let's scale the cliff of our indifference and have a real talk about a way to not just "fight terrorism" but to actually create a more peaceful world. Let's talk about how instability and intolerance creates violence, and how we can counter that with tolerance and togetherness.

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What do Supreme Court and the North Carolina legislature have to do with an Easter egg? More than you think.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for a case called Zubik v. Burwell, another case challenging the Affordable Care Act requirement that employers provide insurance coverage for contraception to their employees. The Obama administration has created a work-around for religious groups with objections to the mandate: mail in a simple form or letter, and the government takes on the responsibility of ensuring that women get their coverage through a third-party insurer.

But now, several dozen religiously-affiliated nonprofit employers are arguing that even filing the form violates their religious freedom.

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If the plaintiffs in the case win, hundreds of thousands of women could lose insurance coverage for contraceptives. This would include students, faculty, and workers at religiously-affiliated schools, universities and hospital systems. If their employers or schools decide they object to providing contraceptive coverage based on their religious beliefs, employees and students are stuck paying out of pocket.

The pill alone can cost up to $600 per year. Staying financially afloat is already a struggle for many working families, and being able to decide whether or when to get pregnant is crucial for the financial stability of all Americans. Not to mention the fact that basic reproductive healthcare, including contraceptives, can make an enormous difference in a woman's overall health. For some women, access to contraceptives is literally a matter of life and death.

The plaintiffs in Zubik may be the latest to try denying critical healthcare to women and their families in the name of religion. But for me, an ordained United Methodist minister and occasional theology professor and preacher, I cannot help but think first of the women who struggle every day to keep themselves and their families healthy in lean financial times. The women for whom an unplanned pregnancy could mean a lost job, physical risk or devastating financial expense.

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Right now, as Christians around the world celebrate Holy Week, we must remember that the Christ story reminds us to look for God first among those on the margins. Holy Week should challenge the idea that many people of faith can uncritically support a notion of "religious liberty" that results in deep harm to those whose livelihoods are already vulnerable, whose lives are already precarious.

That's also why my faith tells me that God is likely hanging out in North Carolina, where this week the state legislature has called a special session -- at a cost of $42,000 per day -- for the express purpose of overriding a Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance. The city ordinance ensures that folks in need of a restroom can perform this basic human need in dignity and privacy regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. It would also prevent business owners from refusing service to LGBT customers -- a protection against discrimination that 64 percent of North Carolinians already support.

I believe the faith of the Zubik plaintiffs is real, but I also believe that the God of Holy Week also calls us to stand for justice for the vulnerable women and their families who would be harmed by a ruling for the plaintiffs in Zubik. Likewise, this God that Christians meet beyond the cross on Easter leads me to hope that the Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance stands despite the best efforts of hateful and fearful political opposition, for it affirms that all persons are worthy of dignity and justice in a community.

Despite nasty efforts to legislate discrimination and stand between women and the basic healthcare they need -- in the name of religion, no less -- the persistent hope of Easter threads itself in and through this especially contentious Holy Week.

Along the way towards Easter, Christians walk with Jesus as he is put on trial and executed for being a radical. Christ pointed followers to a God of Hope -- for inclusion, for dignity, for whole and healthy bodies. After Christ's death comes resurrection -- the ultimate assurance that justice and mercy win.

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Oh, and that Easter egg? It's an ancient symbol of fertility. Easter eggs signal new life after a long winter. It is not too late for our own lawmakers, leaders, and jurists to renew their own hope in justice and mercy for the marginalized and vulnerable among us.
President Obama recently announced new steps to advance equal pay including a proposal that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in partnership with the Department of Labor collect and report summary pay data by gender, race, and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees. This is a giant leap toward identifying and ultimately rectifying wage inequities. But before we get into the implications these data will have for wage equality, let us first explain why these data are crucial for advancing our understanding of wage dynamics.

Social psychology research provides context for understanding why collection and reporting of these data represents real progress in identifying and rectifying potential sources of wage inequity. For simplicity, we will focus on gender-based inequity, though the same logics apply to race and ethnicity. We, as a society, hold implicit beliefs about gender that inherently conflate men with wealth. For example, our research shows that when a job description notes that the majority of job holders are female that job description is judged to have a lower average salary than the exact same job description that notes the majority of job holders are male. Because we implicitly assume men are associated with higher wealth, when we observe pay disparities among individuals, our minds often subconsciously accept any gender differences, and this is so whether or not other factors (education, experience, negotiation opportunity, etc.) actually support the disparity in pay. That is, we fall back on our buried associations of men with wealth so that our minds make excuses that allow us to mentally compensate for differences and in effect perceive disparities as equitable. This phenomenon whereby we rationalize the appropriateness of differential individual salaries for men and women should be neutralized when we have the opportunity to observe large-scale aggregate data. If more micro-level trends prove to be larger aggregated differences, it will be harder for our minds to mentally compensate.

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As currently proposed, pay data would be reported across 10 job categories and by 12 pay bands, and will not include the reporting of individual salaries. This new reporting will not only shine light on hard numbers that document disparities in pay, but the evaluation of aggregate, not individual, data will not be as susceptible to implicit beliefs that explain away the gap.

Moreover, the current proposal of tracking across job categories and pay bands appears to recognize that the biases of which we are speaking are-- for the most part-- implicit, subconscious and automatic. Upon announcement of Obama's plan, many individuals and businesses were up in arms about the proposed new reporting claiming it would be an undue burden and wasted effort that would reveal no reliable information. We suspect that reaction can stem, in part, from some fear of prosecution. But, these new steps are not necessarily intended to trap companies, accusing them of overt discriminatory wage practices. The underlying assumption is that we have overcome overt discrimination. What is still at play are implicit biases associating levels of pay with gender, race and ethnicity. Until we have the opportunity to see large-scale hard numbers demonstrating the downstream effects of these latent biases it will be hard to acknowledge them, discover their magnitude, and correct for them. Understood in this context, the collection of summary pay data is being undertaken not to point the finger at anyone or any company but rather to allow us a society to take a hard look in the mirror and discover the extent to which all of us--men and women, executives and employees--might be complicit in perpetuating a system grounded in implicit bias.

Recognizing that the collection of the summary data will provide opportunity to reveal and analyze the outcome of hidden biases, what remains in question are the implications of the findings. Of course, we must wait until the numbers are in, but based on theory and research we can reasonably speculate on what the data might tell us.

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Implicit biases are likely to contribute to greater pay disparities when objective metrics of performance are less readily available. For example, pay disparities would be exacerbated in upper versus entry, or even mid-level, positions because subjective measures feature more prominently in evaluation at the managerial and executive levels.

Though it will be a complicated task to match comparable jobs, aggregate data of this sort will provide opportunities to compare not only pay within companies and industries but as importantly across companies and industries. This will lead us to identify where wage equity is most lacking and bias more prevalent, as well as to highlight industries and organizations with the most successful pay practices and model recommendations based on their characteristics and experience.

The pay reporting requirement holds the promise to reveal and begin to erase implicit bias. The process of reporting will bring more transparency and greater accountability locally that likely will lead to efforts to correct inequities from within. And, at a much larger level, analysis of this aggregate pay data holds the promise to further societal-level understanding, accountability and correction. So, yes, show us the money! But let's not stop there, why not take the lead of Intel and disclose publicly diversity statistics to shine the light on not just pay inequities but hiring and promotion as well.
Hands to heaven

Isn't it absurd that, as the fossil fuel era comes to a close and one of the world's largest coal companies stares down the barrel of bankruptcy, the New South Wales (NSW) Government introduces draconian laws which could send everyday people to jail for peacefully protesting against the damage wrought by the coal and gas industry?

Isn't it also absurd that the companies who will benefit most from these laws are the same companies who are responsible for the planet's rapidly rising temperatures? And that these laws will mean protesters face fines in excess of those faced by fossil fuel companies for breaches of environmental and health regulations?

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And isn't it absurd that NSW's new anti-protest laws were introduced in the hottest month the planet has ever experienced, just as the northern hemisphere hit two degrees of warming above normal for the first time ever -- a milestone we promised not to breach for another 84 years, a milestone that could spell the end of entire small island states, precious ecosystems and civilizations?

Indeed, something is deeply wrong in the state of NSW when all of this is allowed to take place.

One could be excused for wondering who the Baird Government thinks they were elected to serve: the people of NSW or the big polluters?

As the fossil fuel industry crumbles into disrepair, here is a Government attempting to fine and even jail those who seek to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.

A Government that plans to slap $5500 penalties on farmers, health professionals and traditional owners who take action to protect us all from the scourge of coal and gas. A scourge the Baird Government has comprehensively failed to deal with. This is now a Government that would jail grandparents, faith leaders and Pacific Islanders who try to stop coal companies digging up our backyards and exporting pollution and climate change to the world.

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Throughout history, peaceful protest has played a pivotal role in securing social and environmental justices. From the civil rights movement to the battle to save the Franklin, when Governments have failed to lead, ordinary people have stepped in to do it for them at critical moments.

The threat posed by climate change and the fossil fuel industry's plans to dig up and burn more coal, oil and gas than our planet can safely handle presents us as with another critical moment. In fact, one could argue this is our greatest historical moment, given all of humanity's future depends on how we respond to the crisis that climate change presents.

Viewing Baird's laws against this backdrop demonstrates how draconian they really are - laws which empower police to shut down peaceful assemblies, search and destroy private property and fine those who protest on business property; laws which threaten to put those who take peaceful action to halt mining operations in jail for up to 7 years. That's a harsher penalty than that handed out for stalking or drink driving.

Were it not for the brave people who are now being targeted by these laws, big mining companies would long since have destroyed many of the places we love most. Those who protest against this dystopian and unjust future should be celebrated as heroes, not thrown in jail or fined more than the companies who are fuelling it.

From May 7-8, hundreds of Australians will come together in Newcastle to peacefully protest against the export of vast quantities of coal pollution flowing through the world's largest coal port. This is coal that must be halted if the world is to avoid devastating global warming. It is coal that is leaving our shores and contributing to health and environmental crises in developing countries.

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The protesters in Newcastle will be joined by thousands of people taking action at some of the world's most dangerous fossil fuel sites across 13 countries and 6 continents, from Nigeria and Germany to Indonesia and the Philippines.

In Australia, this will be the first major test of NSW's new laws. But, already hundreds of Australians have signed up to participate. They are not deterred by these draconian measures.

These people are the 21st century's equivalent of Rosa Parkes, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi. They deserve our praise and reverence not prison sentences and fines.

Democratic governments are elected to serve and protect their people. NSW's new laws do exactly the opposite. They protect the interests of a handful of dying and destructive companies and they run roughshod over our democratic right to peacefully protest and protect the places we love.

If the Baird Government is serious about serving the NSW people, they will revoke these laws immediately. If the Baird Government was serious about tackling the greatest moral challenge of our time, they would never have introduced these laws in the first place.

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John Dominic Crossan closes the main text of his 1994 book Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography with the question: "How many years was Easter Sunday?" His conclusion: accounts of a literal, bodily Resurrection are not present until, at best, the very end of the first stratum of historical Jesus material (Mark, in the early 70's CE, roughly four decades after Jesus's death) and at worst not until the second. This means that it took at least that long for belief in a literal resurrection to become ingrained in Christianity, which suggests that it didn't actually happen.

You might be thinking that Paul, who is our earliest source for the life of Jesus, mentions the resurrection, and while that is correct, a careful reading shows that Paul is never referring to a bodily resurrection.

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Understand that we are talking about Jesus the man; a man of flesh, "of dust," as Paul put it, a man just like anyone of us. Keeping that in mind, consider what Paul actually wrote about the risen Jesus, as well as what his student Luke wrote in the book of Acts, presumably from memory of things Paul had told him.

In 1st Corinthians, Paul counts his experience among many other experiences of the risen Christ to other disciples, implying no difference in the form of the experience, which he described to Luke as "a light from heaven" (Acts 9:3). Then in that same letter, he comments on the nature of the risen lord: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." (1 Corinthians 15:44, emphasis mine). He continues to draw a sharp contrast between the natural and spiritual body, and then finishes by insisting "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven." (15:49).

Paul experienced the risen Jesus both as a great light and as an audition, but not as a physical man. He implied that the rest of the resurrection appearances were of the same nature. He spoke of a spiritual body, distinct from the natural, physical body. It almost sounds as if, while certainly insisting upon the truth of the living Christ (as opposed to the crucified Jesus), Paul means something else than a walking corpse, an empty tomb.

Granted that all evidence of a literal bodily resurrection comes from later sources, and that I'm convinced belief in the supernatural is in no way a prerequisite to being a Christian or following Jesus, I submit that it is not only possible, but reasonable and quite possibly even correct to find meaning in Easter without believing that a man literally rose from the dead. Let me explain.

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I have no problem saying "Christ is risen" (or Christos anesti when I'm with the Greek side of my family) when I celebrate Easter, but that is because I understand and hold in reverence the power of metaphor and parable. When I affirm the resurrection, it means not that I believe in lich Jesus (not zombie Jesus; never zombie Jesus), but rather that I believe in the living Christ; that is, that the transformational power of Jesus is still available to anyone who seeks it.

Of course, most Christians believe this (or something similar to it), but I submit that this idea is not just a Christian affirmation but the true meaning of Easter.

Rising from the dead is a legend, a miraculous deed, a magic trick. Whether or not it really happened, its numinous quality is derived from the conviction of the believer, just as prayer's effects on healing can be mostly chalked up to the placebo effect. That is not an indictment, by the way; whether you understand religion's positive effects scientifically or supernaturally, they work.

But what I'm talking about is a specific historical event and what came after. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, and the magnificent (and dangerous) vision of the Kingdom of God that he taught was supposed to go with him.

But it didn't, and the answer to the question of why lies not in any miraculous deed, but in the genius of Jesus's program itself.

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The Kingdom of God was never a religious domain meant to be led by Jesus (Jesus never claimed to be God), nor was it ever about Heaven. The Kingdom of God is a socio-political program of nonviolent resistance to the world's injustice that, mind-bogglingly, was created in one of humanity's most inhumane and unjust societies.

The Romans, led by Pilate, and the Jewish authorities (the chief priests, scribes, and the elders), led by Caiaphas, misunderstood Jesus's program at its most fundamental level. They understood that it was nonviolent; that is why Jesus's followers got away. But the men who crucified Jesus understood him against the matrix of apocalyptic expectation personified by Jesus's own mentor, John the Baptist.

But John was dead and God had done nothing. Jesus's thinking evolved, and he began a paradigm shift from expectant eschatology, where humanity waits for God's intervention, to collaborative subversion, where humanity fights against its own injustice in God's name. And this is an idea that is bigger than any one man, even the man that founded it.

That's what Easter is. Jesus may be dead, but his program lives on. Christ represents not a man, but an idea, and that idea cannot be killed, not by all the nails the Roman Empire could muster.
For women it's the Holy Grail. Finding clothes that flatter your body is a quest that never ends. Short-waisted, long-waisted, big bust, small bust. We've all got issues. We get older and the issues just evolve. More accurately, expand.

The years add pounds and inches exponentially. In my case, it doesn't help that I had two mastectomies due to breast cancer and my reconstruction failed.

Try shopping when you're both flabby and a flattie. My current issues include no breasts, ribs that protrude, underarm flab, a muffin top that sticks out further than my chest. And that's just the issues above the waist.

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12 years since I gave up wearing fake boobs, I'm now an expert on finding flattering flat fashion. I can walk into a store and instantly zero in on potential winners: loose tops, waterfall cardigans, shawl collars.

This was an unappreciated skill until I joined Flat and Fabulous, a group of women who all face the same challenge. Members post pictures on Facebook of what they wear, vintage finds, looks that work.

I guarantee they won't top my recent fashion foray at the Eileen Fisher store in Los Angeles.

A woman (who I'll call Tara and who is way too young to be an Eileen Fisher customer) is at the counter ahead of me. That's how I learn about a program called Green Eileen: the company will buy any used item for $5 and recycle or resell it.

Tara's boss has sent her in with an enormous shopping bag filled with Eileen Fisher. The boss lost a lot of weight and her clothes are now too large. (The poor woman, right? Let's not even go there.)

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Anyway Tara is lifting items out of the bag to show Anna, the sales associate at the register. And that's when I spy the black short-sleeved sweater with sparkly thread, barely worn, perfect for southern California and my long list of issues.

Now this is not Filene's Basement or Goodwill or Best Buy on Black Friday. This is an upscale boutique a few doors away from the Ivy, a popular celebrity restaurant. I consider the potential embarrassment (briefly) before I ask to try on the sweater. It's a perfect fit.

But my offer to buy (even in a multiple of $5) presents a dilemma, since the sweater doesn't belong to the store or to Tara. It belongs to the very mysterious, very thin boss.

Tara is very professional. She gets her boss on the phone, describes my desire to shop her closet (by now I've picked out a second sweater), and explains that I'm a survivor, not a suspicious character.

The boss makes an immediate executive decision. She tells Tara to tell me to donate the money I offered her to a breast cancer charity.

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It's a done deal.

I chose Metavivor, which allocates 100% of its donations directly toward research for Stage IV breast cancer, the only breast cancer that kills. Those women have far more serious issues than fashion, and this research is desperately needed yet typically ignored by other charities.

I wanted to thank her personally, but I never did learn the name of Tara's boss, or what she does. All I know about her is that even if she isn't fashion forward, she is forward-thinking.

So thank you, Mystery Shopper, for paying it forward, and for making the best fashion statement ever.
In the wake of the ISIS terrorist attack in Brussels, some U.S. politicians are already calling for a ban of refugees and immigrants from countries in which ISIS controls territory. Rather than justifying a refugee ban, this latest attack should act as a reminder why the United States should take the lead on welcoming those fleeing ISIS terrorism. Accepting refugees is clearly important from a humanitarian standpoint, but it is also good for America's national security.

While there is no evidence that any Syrians were involved in the Brussels attack, we know that the threat from refugees to the United States is entirely overblown. Since 1980, when the U.S. began its modern refugee program, the U.S. has accepted almost three million refugees, including hundreds of thousands from the Middle East, and not a single one has carried out an act of terrorism in the United States. But the logical question is, why take any risk at all? Here are five reasons turning away refugees would actually make America less safe.

1. Refugees undermine ISIS recruitment. The U.S. has killed over 20,000 ISIS fighters in its air campaign, and yet the group's size has been largely unaffected, hovering between 25,000 and 30,000 fights. This means that the only thing keeping the Islamic State alive is recruiting new fighters to its black flag. Its recruitment of foreign fighters from the West focuses on the grandeur of its "caliphate." Refugees, however, carry a very different message: that the supposed divine kingdom is a fraud and disaster, a total failure.

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One escapee from the Islamic State told the New York Times, "People heard good words from them but didn't see anything good come out of it." Another said, "We thought they wanted to get rid of the regime, but they turned out to be thieves." Refugees warn of foreign fighters who might be tempted to join the terrorist organization. One refugee resettled in the United States said, "Before the war, life in Syria was heaven on Earth... safe and secure... After that, we were targeted, so we had no choice but to leave." There's never been a better anti-ISIS ad than that.

2. Accepting refugees deprives ISIS of resources. The Islamic State's army relies on a population to exploit. "Islamic State takes in more than $1 million per day in extortion and taxation," the New York Times reports. It finds that "a broad consensus has emerged that its biggest source of cash appears to be the people it rules." A huge number of people are fleeing its state to avoid the extortion. It's one reason that ISIS hates the refugees who leave its pseudo-state. "ISIS would not let us leave," one told the Times. "They said, 'You are going to the infidels.'" Making the "infidels" more attractive than ISIS is the key to winning this fight. Fortunately, many are escaping. "So many people are migrating," one ex-ISIS resident said, "ISIS wants to build a new society, but they'll end up alone." Good.

3. Refugees counter ISIS propaganda about the United States. ISIS propaganda portrays the West as an anti-Muslim cabal. Muslims fleeing ISIS territory are told that they "will be forced to convert to Christianity, in exchange for money or citizenship." Accepting refugees refutes this narrative. In the process, it undermines the Islamic State's credibility and bolsters America's reputation in the region. It flips the narrative. Instead of the anti-Muslim violent crusaders, the United States becomes a safe haven for fugitives from a terrorist regime. One Syrian who was resettled in the United States told the Las Vegas Sun that despite their initial perception, "When we came here, we liked it."

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4. Accepting refugees undermines ISIS's strategy. ISIS has said that its attacks on the West are specifically intended to "compel the Crusaders to actively destroy the grayzone themselves," forcing western Muslims to "either apostatize... or [emigrate] to the Islamic State and thereby escape persecution from the Crusader governments and citizens." They want America to overreact and reject potential Muslim allies. Arguing that Muslim refugees fleeing ISIS-held areas should only be accepted by Muslim countries, as Ted Cruz says, or deporting those the United States has already accepted, as Donald Trump has promised to do, would appear to verify the ISIS narrative, rather than rebut it.

5. Accepting refugees provides the U.S. with valuable intelligence against ISIS. In 2014, a U.S. intelligence official told the Los Angeles Times that Syria was a "black hole." That's changing, largely due to Syrian refugees. Former-CIA intelligence officer Patrick Eddington explained last year that Syrian refugees from these areas are "the single best source of information on life inside ISIS controlled territory." In fact, Syrian refugees have already handed over huge amounts of information on ISIS military inventory, leaders, and finances.

Americans should not view Syrian refugees as enemies, but as assets to our cause. The U.S. has much to gain by accepting them and much to lose by rejecting them. Humanitarianism is an important reason to accept refugees, but foreign policy is no less significant.
On Monday evening, March 21, I arrived in Brussels from London, where there had been news reports of possible multiple terrorist attacks.

It was quiet in Europe's capital as we proceeded to our hotel, just a stone's throw from the heart of the European Union's key institutions. The following day, together with my Brussels-based AJC colleagues, we were scheduled to meet with three EU commissioners (the equivalent of U.S. Cabinet officials), two of whom deal with terrorism and extremism, as well as Belgium's Minister of Interior, who is responsible for internal security and domestic safety.

Those meetings never took place. On Tuesday morning, March 22nd, I went to the nearby park for some exercise. Just after 8 a.m., it became filled with the sirens of police and other emergency vehicles, as well as military trucks, all racing in one direction. It was clear this wasn't a fire or low-level crime. The activity continued, indeed intensified.

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By the time I returned to the hotel and turned on the television, there were reports of an attack at Brussels Airport, with only fragmentary information about its nature and the number of victims.

It wasn't long before news arrived of a second attack, this time at the Maelbeek subway station, a short walk from our hotel and in the very heart of the EU's governance structure.

Now the official vehicles were moving in various directions, with more and more ambulances joining them. And heavily-armed guards appeared in front of our hotel, together with an army truck or two.

Reports arrived of total and partial lockdowns in the city. No one knew if other attacks were coming, but the possibility couldn't be precluded, of course.

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As the day unfolded, the grim news emerged. Thirty-four people were killed in the two attacks, hundreds were injured, and at least one killer was reportedly still on the loose.

ISIS claimed credit for the assaults. Many believed it was linked to the recent capture of the long-sought mastermind, Salah Abdeslam, of the terrorist carnage in Paris in November.

And it wasn't long before attention turned to Belgium itself and whether the country was particularly "ripe" for such terrorism.

After all, it was less than two years ago that four people were killed in an attack on the Jewish Museum of Belgium. Last August, the Brussels-Paris high-speed train was the target of another jihadist incident, only foiled by the courage of three fast-acting American passengers and others. And in November, Brussels was on lockdown because the Paris attacks appeared to have been hatched in the Belgian city.

Moreover, some analysts point to Belgium's large Muslim community and the creation of "parallel societies" in neighborhoods like Molenbeek. A combination of radical ideology and failed integration patterns creates the potential for Islamist recruitment and support.

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Indeed, as the Belgian Minister of Interior told us in earlier meetings, the country, per capita, has one of the highest, if not the highest, numbers of "foreign fighters" in Iraq and Syria of any European nation. And those who return to Belgium may well pose a clear and present danger. Given the number of people required to provide full-time surveillance, it becomes practically mission impossible to keep a constant eye on all of the returnees.

And last but by no means least, there are reports that Belgium has had serious difficulty mounting a sophisticated counter-terrorism strategy, including adequate intelligence capabilities, equal to the nature of the threat. The country's deep divisions along linguistic lines; the multiple levels of federal, regional, and local government; and some archaic laws (such as no police entries into homes after 9 p.m.) make a difficult job to begin with that much more challenging.

Plus, and this is true not just for Belgium, a certain complacent mindset that believes "it can't happen here" has further complicated the picture. And this even as Europe has now seen a spate of deadly terrorist attacks from Britain to Bulgaria, Denmark to France, Belgium to Spain.

Europe has laudably achieved so much in the postwar era. From a blood-soaked continent, it forged a new era of peace, prosperity, open societies, and the triumph of "soft power" within its expanding borders. The Kantian notion of "perpetual peace" seemed so tantalizingly close.

But now Europe needs to face up to a new reality which is likely here to stay. It must continue to aspire to its lofty goals, of course, while, at the same time, confronting unflinchingly the lurking threats.

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Denial of the problem's magnitude, long a favorite approach in some countries, is no longer a strategy. Nor is idealistic dialogue with the death-affirming ideologues on the other side a strategy. Rationalization of murderous behavior -- along the lines of "What choice do poor, forlorn people have?" -- is not a strategy. Nor is delusion that this is only about people with "legitimate" grievances a strategy. Finally, disregard for failed acculturation models is not a strategy, either.

For literally 20 years, in a spirit of abiding friendship, AJC has been traveling throughout Western Europe to advance discussion on the "three i's" -- immigration, integration, and identity -- as necessary priorities for increasingly multicultural societies. At the very same time, we have repeatedly highlighted the threats to Europe's commitment to the protection of human dignity, including rising anti-Semitism and the menace it poses not only to Jews, but to the very fabric of democracy itself.

I could write a book on these countless meetings, but suffice it to say that many were resistant to facing the evolving reality, preferring instead to bury their heads in the sand. Needless to say, that didn't do the trick.
FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2014 file photo, police tape marks where the media is set up, in Dallas. Amid the national focus on deadly police shootings, records show scores of Dallas officers remain on the job despite being punished for serious offenses such as theft, excessive force and lying. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

When a Waterloo police officer shot my unarmed 22-year-old son Derrick in the back of the head and killed him in 2012, city officials knew just how to push the incident through the criminal justice system.

A controversial expert witness helped justify the killing before the local grand jury. No ballistics testing was done. The officer, who chased my son away from a nightclub before killing him, was not disciplined, even after giving inconsistent statements to local and state investigators.

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Well-timed newspaper coverage, with leading investigative details, allowed readers to conclude my son got what he deserved. After all, he had a gun. Few cared that he dropped the gun -- for which he had a permit -- before he was chased to his death. Racist internet trolls had their fun: just another black thug dead in America -- or despicable words to that effect.

With my son dead, and no good answers as to why, I wanted the truth about what happened that terrible night. An investigation by my lawyers -- Mel Orchard, Tom Frerichs, and Noah Drew -- led to a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Waterloo. As our lawsuit alleged, we found that:

 contrary to the city statements to the news media, Derrick posed no threat to the shooting officer or anyone else,

 an eyewitness who was live reporting the event to police dispatchers asked why my son was shot since he never turned toward the officer or pointed anything at the officer,

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 the official investigations misrepresented the gunshot wound trajectory and the body position of my son,

 12 of the 16 city police officers who reported to the shooting scene had body microphones the city later claimed "malfunctioned" or were intentionally turned off during and after the shooting,

 the audio recorder in the car of the police supervisor at the scene inexplicably "malfunctioned" after recording part of the supervisor's conversation with the shooting officer,

 the findings of the Waterloo police department shooting review board were drafted by the department's internal affairs division before the board was even convened,

 the shooting review board meeting was not recorded, in violation of department regulations, except for the vote that found the officer's actions "reasonable."

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Our investigation and lawsuit provided a grim look at our justice system. I learned that Iowa has one of the nation's highest incarceration rates of African-Americans, and far too many allegations of excessive force by police. And I learned from a groundbreaking Washington Postinvestigation, that while black men represent six percent of the U.S. population, we make up nearly 40 percent of those who killed while unarmed. That startling reality cannot be blamed on city budget problems, bad parenting, or other societal excuses, regardless of what cable TV news talking heads would tell us.

Nearly three years after Derrick died, the city of Waterloo approached my lawyers and requested to settle our family's lawsuit. We agreed to do so -- with a condition that city officials agree to meet about possible police reforms. So far, that meeting has not happened.

The lawsuit settlement, believed to be the largest in Iowa history for a police shooting, will not bring back my son, but it may raise awareness of what is wrong with law enforcement in Iowa and around the nation. I hope Derrick's death can be a catalyst for change in Waterloo and other American cities.

As a career member of our nation's armed forces, I respect police officers and the challenges they face. But I also believe in accountability. Cities -- from mayors and councils to police chiefs and command staffs -- must be held accountable for police officers that escalate violence instead of preventing it. We also must find ways to better support and train our good police officers.

Until that happens, in Waterloo and elsewhere, I will continue searching for purpose in the senseless death of my son.

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SRINAGAR, INDIA - JUNE 27: Kashmiri protesters displaying the flags of ISIS during a protest against alleged desecration of Jamia Masjid by police personnel yesterday after Friday prayers, on June 27, 2015 in Srinagar, India. Clashes broke out in several parts of downtown Srinagar on Saturday against the alleged desecration of Jamia Masjid by government forces yesterday. Reacting very sharply against police action, Auqaf Jamia Masjid, which functions under Mirwaiz, called for a shutdown in Srinagar followed by Geelani, Malik and Shah. (Photo by Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz demonstrate an incredible level of ignorance when it comes to terrorism and foreign policy. Their incessant complaints about political correctness and "Islamic terrorism" come off as whiny and oblivious when, in the same breath, they are unable to differentiate between Muslims and Muslim extremists.



Responding to the Brussels attack, Ted Cruz suggested that police needed to "patrol Muslim neighborhoods" to prevent attacks on U.S. soil. He earlier recommended "carpet bombing" ISIS as a viable counterterrorism measure. Trump agreed with the need to "secure Muslim neighborhoods," went further in recommending a temporary halt on any Muslims entering the country, and doubled down on "going farther than waterboarding" to extract information.

These policies should sound absurd to anyone serious about dealing with a group like ISIS. They also disregard all facts related to the Paris and Brussels attacks, to which they are allegedly responding. The most cursory understanding of the problem in Europe suggests that these are precisely the types of policies that increase recruitment and resistance to cooperation with authorities. Salah Abdelsalam -- the 10th Paris attacker that Belgian police recently captured -- apparently continued living in Brussels for four months without detection. Sure, members and sympathizers of ISIS helped him hide from authorities. This is not surprising. What is alarming is the lack of leads from within the Muslim communities in which he resided.

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How could Abdelsalam, and others, operate openly in these neighborhoods even as one of the world's most wanted terrorists? The answer is no secret. Both France and Belgium (along with other European states) have severely isolated Muslim communities who deeply distrust authorities. They mostly live in isolated enclaves and their European hosts do little to promote national integration. And right-wing European parties, such as the National Front in France, have only intensified the divide by using harsh language that disparages Muslim (and other) immigrant communities. Both Cruz and Trump are actively using language and promoting policies that will push the U.S. in this direction. In fact, there is little difference between Cruz/Trump rhetoric and Marine Le Pen's invectives (She even comes off as more reasonable at times).

For instance, Cruz's idea of "patrolling Muslim neighborhoods" is tantamount to presuming guilt until innocence can be proven. Preemptively targeting Muslim communities prevents authorities from building healthy relationships that would increase the likelihood for cooperation. The proposal is meant to patrol Muslim neighborhoods simply because they are Muslim, not because of the presence of actionable intelligence.

Should authorities patrol conservative neighborhoods in case they are inspired by the likes of Eric Rudolph or other violent anti-abortion extremists? Of course not. Meanwhile carpet-bombing, aside from being tactically ineffective against a group like ISIS, would surely lead to large numbers of civilian casualties... the precise reason that it is regarded as a war crime and is no longer considered by any reasonable statesmen. The mere suggestion that the U.S. should pursue a carpet-bombing strategy illuminates a blatant disregard for Muslim lives.

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As you might expect, Trump fares no better. The idea of banning Muslims from entering the United States is nothing short of discrimination. He certainly espouses draconian immigration policies in general; but an outright Muslim travel ban, though to be fair is still underspecified, would be unprecedented. It's not a matter of political correctness. It is true that radicalized Muslims have perpetrated horrific attacks. It is not true that all Muslims are suspect. In fact, Muslims have disproportionately suffered because of ISIS's brutality, facing the most direct effects of the group's cruelty.

While Western nations understandably mourn French and Belgian casualties, they overlook the hundreds of attacks that take place with increasing regularity in Syria and Iraq, as well as in Libya, Lebanon and Turkey. In fact, ISIS has brutally killed thousands of Muslims, not to mention the injured and displaced. According to the Global Terrorism Index, in 2014, nearly 10,000 Iraqis died in terrorist attacks. 10,000! In one year. In one country. Trump's proposed ban on Muslim travel would target ISIS's biggest victims and would again sow distrust and lessen Muslim willingness to share valuable information with authorities.

Finally, torture is, of course, unconstitutional. But that's not the point. Trump's argument rests on the premise that national security concerns must sometimes supersede civil liberties (not unlike the Bush administration Justice Department's rationale). Fair enough. The argument can be reasonably applied to policies such as warrantless wiretapping. But when it comes to torture, it's hard to find a better way to feed into the ISIS narrative of Western hypocrisy. Would Trump publicly advocate torturing a white supremacist conspiring a massacre? Unlikely. In fact, ISIS has been known to provoke Western countries into reacting in ways that specifically disenfranchise Muslim communities as a means of facilitating recruitment. If the U.S. is going to use "enhanced interrogation" methods, it should at least be kept under wraps. Propagating torture as a matter of policy is, frankly, stupid.

Heightened vigilance is certainly warranted and necessary at this time. There is no question that Europe is under assault, with an uncertain future. The U.S. should learn from Europe's mistakes vis-a-vis its Muslim communities, rather make the same ones. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump's proposals are counterproductive and meant to feed into instinctive fears that translate to bigotry. Rejecting policies that single out the Muslim community for patrolling, carpet-bombing, banning, and torturing is not a matter of political correctness. It's just foolish.
A recent New York Times article by Tammy La Gorce portrayed the long-term open marriage of the actress Mo'Nique and her husband Sidney Hicks. The couple maintains that it works for them, despite the criticism and disbelief they often encounter. La Gorce's article quoted my views about open marriage -- what it means, and whether it "works," from a psychological perspective. Because my views contrasted sharply with some of the others cited, especially those of Helen Fisher of the Kinsey Institute, I'm elaborating on them here.

First, the open marriage is just the current version of what became more visible during the early '70s because of the book, The Open Marriage, and the popular movie, "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice." Overall, it's part of a much broader shift, or evolution, underway today. It's towards a sense of greater freedom to create and be open about different forms of intimate relationships; ones that people define for themselves as desirable and satisfying.

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Increasingly, men and women seek to create and maintain an intimate relationship that they experience as fulfilling and meaningful. And that they define, themselves; not by others or conventional norms. How their relationships evolve down the road, over time, is something they will assess and judge for themselves. And we can see what the evidence shows.

It's wise to suspend judgment, especially about psychological health, when views about the latter are contaminated by ideology or shared values and norms. As you grow through the adult years in today's changing, increasingly diverse society, a broadened perspective enables you to realize that life can be complex; and can work differently for different people.

For example, Kim (not her real name) a divorced woman in her 40s, explained to me that she maintains a satisfying relationship with a man who also has a lifelong, supportive connection with a woman who is the mother of his three children. They find it works for them, given their life circumstances. And we can judge them from our own perspectives and life choices...or observe and respect what works for them.

To understand why some men and women may choose different kinds of relationships -- and the open marriage is just one variety -- we need to see them within that larger context; the variety of ways that people explore different kinds of emotional and sexual relationships. And that includes evolving views about what defines "family," as well as couplehood.

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Take polyamory, for example, in which people have multiple partnerships at once with the full knowledge of all involved. There's even an annual conference about polyamory, now, and research finding that some polyamorous people report feeling energized by their multiple relationships; they say that good feelings in one translate to good feelings in others.

The open marriage is now usually described as a consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationship. And some recent research finds that up to 40 percent of men and up to 25 percent of women in a monogamous relationship said they would switch to a CNM if they lived in a world where everyone had open relationships. In fact, the research finds a continuum, along which some people are completely monogamous, others are completely nonmonogamous, and many more are somewhere in between.

Many couples prefer permanent cohabitation, rather than marriage, and may refer to each other as one's "husband" or "wife," despite no formal marriage. And they are comfortable maintaining this form of relationship while raising children. They may view marriage as not so much a path to happiness but simply a legal contract "that doesn't innately legitimize a commitment" -- and which they don't need.

Some even suggest that polygamy will become increasingly accepted as a form of relationship in our society; that it will become the next frontier in marriage and family law. The reasoning is that if states are able allowing two men or two women to wed, then the next step could be decriminalize marriage between one man and several women.

How people define their families is yet another dimension of evolving relationships, as people's intimate partnerships impact what "family" really means. The family has become increasingly more diverse, ethnically, racially, religiously and in what couplehood looks like within them, according to new studies.

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Critics of such shifts and experimental forms of relationship they reflect are frozen within an ideological or personal viewpoint. For example, consider Fisher's comments in the New York Times article. She asserts that open marriages "...never end up working long-term;" that the reasons are "biological," and that "open marriages establish all kinds of unworkable rules for what is and isn't allowed. "They're people who want it all: to preserve their deep attachment to one partner and have romance with others. But what they don't tell you is that our brains don't do that very well."

However, there's no evidence at all for Fisher's assertions, as the relationship columnist Dan Savage explained in detail in his recent essay about the Times article. Assertions like Fisher's are simply personal and ideological convictions masquerading as science.

Returning to that Times article, Mo'Nique and Mr. Hicks say they believe they have the foundation for a union that will last. "Defining what makes a marriage work is like asking one's interpretation of success," Mr. Hicks said. "It's defined a different way by every person you ask." Mo'Nique said: "For us, it's defined by openness and not fear. What we have is real and honest."

Their comments reflect the actual experiences of people. They highlight the importance of understanding and learning from the psychological and social experiences of what people are actually doing. And, being open to what those experiences reveal over time about the range of relationships that can support positive lives and wellbeing among people in our continuously evolving world.
If you want your kids to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies, you may need to tone down your negativity about this Halloween tradition.
Back dropped by a monument depicting Cuba's revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara, U.S. President Barack Obama listens to the U.S. national anthem during a ceremony at the Jose Marti Monument in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 21, 2016. "It is a great honor to pay tribute to Jose Marti, who gave his life for independence of his homeland. His passion for liberty, freedom, and self-determination lives on in the Cuban people today," Obama wrote in dark ink in the book after he laid a wreath and toured the memorial dedicated to the memory of Jose Marti. (AP Photo/Dennis Rivera) - Puerto Rico OUT

Predictably, conservatives are outraged over President Obama's visit to Cuba, particularly the fact that he took a photo in front of a mural of Che Guevara. In response to the backlash some have pointed to the fact that Republican presidents have taken photos in front of memorials of communist revolutionaries in the past:

The hypocrisy runs deeper than this, however. One tweet stated "Finally, our POTUS is able to honor the mural of a racist, terrorist, mass murderer who oversaw concentration camps." Newt Gingrich questioned if Obama was endorsing Guevara. Based on all of the social media outrage over this, one would think Republicans have not had a history of doing the same thing. Anyone familiar with America's foreign policy history would know there is no shortage of examples of presidents supporting unsavory figures, and many of these examples come from Republican presidents.

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Ronald Reagan seemed to have made it a habit of supporting oppressive leaders and war criminals throughout Africa. Joseph Mobutu was one of Africa's most notorious dictators. Mobutu came to power following the overthrow and murder of the democratically elected Patrice Lumumba. Mobutu ruled for more than 30 years. During this period of time he plundered the Congo's treasury. By the time he was overthrown, the Congo was one of the poorest nations in Africa and Mobutu was one of the Africa's richest dictators. Reagan described Mobutu as "a voice of good sense and good will." President George H.W. Bush invited Mobutu to Washington and praised him as "one of our most valued friends."

Reagan also supported Jonas Savimbi, an Angolan rebel who waged a civil war against the Angolan government. This civil war resulted in the deaths of more than one million people. Despite the various war crimes that Savimibi committed, which included targeting civilians, Reagan invited Savimibi to the White House and described him as a "freedom fighter." Today Reagan is praised as a conservative hero. His history of supporting African war criminals and dictators is conveniently brushed aside.

During George W. Bush's war on terror, Gaddafi was considered an ally of that war, with the Bush administration actually describing Libya as a "model" for other nations to follow. This was during a time when the British government was actively assisting the Libyan government in suppressing and torturing dissent. Where was Newt Gingrich's outrage over the Bush administration praising Gaddafi?

The conservative outrage over Obama's photo in front of Che Guevara's mural is an example of selective outrage from a party that has had a history of supporting people with more blood on their hands than Che Guevara did. This outrage, I think, is also part of the larger problem of confronting America's own complex foreign policy and the unintended consequences of those policies. For those who care to remember, the Cuban Revolution overthrew Fulgencio Batista. Batista's regime was a corrupt and repressive one, yet he had the support of the Eisenhower administration for the good portion of his rule. Eisenhower was a Republican.

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"... I feel lucky to have been able to pursue my dreams and I hope that my contributions will in some small way lead to a sustainable world of peace and prosperity." -- Jeff Skoll

If you're looking for cinema, and television, with a conscience, look no further than Jeff Skoll's Participant Media. The former president of eBay, multi-billionaire and philanthropist Skoll has managed to do what few others have ever done: put his money where is mouth is. Or rather, place it on a big screen near you, and upon your TV sets to inform, encourage, educate and make the world a better place.

Since its inception in 2004, Participant has been responsible for such life-changing titles as An Inconvenient Truth, The Kite Runner, Citizenfour, He Named Me Malala (along with favorite Abu Dhabi company Image Nation) and now the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 2016 Spotlight. And those are truly just skimming the surface of their catalogue of work.

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But not complacent to simply stop at great cinema, Participant has dipped, full-heartedly as is their custom of course, into television and Pivot TV is the resulting channel. Devoted almost entirely to content that is guaranteed to make the viewer a better, more informed citizen of the world, Pivot TV explores in a real, hands-on way the statement Skoll made about creating "a sustainable world of peace and prosperity."

And that's where Truth and Power, Pivot's latest documentary TV, comes in. A ten-part series, which will air its final episode -- "Drones & Privacy" -- on Friday, March 25th, at 10 p.m. Eastern Time, Truth and Power is a provocative show, questioning just how our lives have changed in the age of technology. Narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who adds a real, down-to-earth aspect to the episodes through her easy-going tone, Truth and Power had me question everything about my life, from the statements I make on Twitter, and how they can be misinterpreted, to where I choose to travel for work and leisure. Truly.

During the recent Berlinale I was excited to sit down with Pivot TV's own Belisa Balaban, their EVP of Original Programming and executive producer on Truth and Power along with filmmaker Brian Knappenberger (The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz), who also served as executive producer on the series. It was a talk that changed the way I look at the world around me.

What bring a series like Truth and Power about, I mean, what inspired you?

Brian Knappenberger: I'm inspired by stories of people who are sort of taking up arms against these kinds of abuses. Trying to fight basically these abuses of power and these things they see as broad institutional failures. That's what is inspiring, these are people who are socially conscious, who are participating, that care about these issues and want to fight. They're natural underdog stories...

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And cinema is all about the underdog. Anything cinematic appeals to us because of the underdog aspect.

Knappenberger: Absolutely and these are not necessarily fair fights, when you've got someone who is an activist, who cares about an issue going up against these institutions that are much greater and much more powerful. That's the core inspiration, those personal stories that let us talk about the abuses of power and investigate those ourselves.

What was Pivot TV's and Participant's involvement in the series?

Belisa Balaban: We were on from the very beginning. We had acquired Brian's film Internet's Own Boy which really explored some similar issues because Aaron Swartz was an activist working in the same area. And really around that time we started talking with Brian -- lets do a show where we can go into a different topic every week, because he has amazing contacts and relationships in the world. 'Anonymous' will talk to him, people will talk to him and trust him, who won't talk to other journalists and filmmakers. We just thought this would be our take on an investigative news show. So we're the company that did Citizenfour and here at Berlinale we also have Alex Gibney's film Zero Days so these issues of privacy and security in the modern digital age are very important. We feel they are important for an informed citizenry.

What has been the public's reaction to Truth and Power?

Knappenberger: Fantastic. Really amazing actually and huge discussions started. We put some of it online and that sparked a huge discussion.

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So you're using the good of the internet while talking about its evils, you're really going full circle!

Knappenberger: Yeah, because any technology has good and bad, promise and peril. Any technology is empowering for sure and can be a tool for activists and revolutionaries. But it quickly becomes adopted by powerful entities that use that same tool against those people. There is the good and the bad of all technology and the way that the activists and the revolutionaries can continue is by continuing to innovate. And coming up with new things. That's where this caldron of innovation, democratic action happens.

Do you think that filmmakers at their core are activists?

Knappenberger: Some filmmakers are. I think that in the information age looking for the truth has become a kind of activism. Because there is a battle over information now and control of the narrative. Controlling the narrative and controlling the story in our modern world. This is a battle to control that story. So if a filmmaker is coming from that position of the underdog, the citizen, the average user of technology then he becomes inherently an activist if that's his perspective. I think typically in oppressive situations art has become a way of expressing and fighting back.

Is Participant's vision a form of activism?

Balaban: That is the reason the company exists, to have a social impact. To give people the information they need, to be informed citizen and inspire them to do something to change their world for the better. That is Jeff Skoll's vision and why we work there. At the same time, we attract wonderful artists and we support their vision and there is a range of point of views reflected in the work that we have across the company, on the film side and TV side. But we believe that knowledge is power and that's the truth and power side of it. To be more informed is to be more powerful. And to be more informed about the power structures makes you a greater participant in your own democracy.

Why do you think in the US we're now becoming so afraid, of so many things? I used to always believe we were the freest country in the world, but now freedom has become almost a luxury... Why do you think that is?

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Balaban: That's the great question. I mean, look at our national election debate right now, it's so polarizing and there is a lot of fear. I guess every generation feels that they live in scary times. Our generation is no different. But why is freedom a greater topic now, I don't know... But I do believe that people are becoming more aware of the fact that knowledge is power and information about your citizenry is power and we're becoming more informed that power structures are seeking to keep themselves strong by taking advantage of what you don't even know you're complicit in.

Knappenberger: I would go further. I would say that in the last fifteen years there have been these sort of parallel tracks we've been on, on the one hand there has been this explosion of technology and how we communicate. We communicate in a very different way than we did fifteen years ago. And at the same time, there has been this war on terror which has just seized us with fear and anger in the US. These things happened at the same time and have created this caldron which is brewing a potential threat to our civil liberties. I think what's key is how have power structures exploited those fears. In other words, terrorism is not a big threat to the United States. That may be a controversial thing to say, and you're not going to hear it on the Republican debate stage. But only 45 people have died from anything related to a terrorism cause since 9/11. Forty-five. It's a soft problem, however it is. So the fact that it's continually being used in order to exploit us and to leverage potential abuses of power, more excuse for war all these things that feed money into this system... that's a problem. A citizen can't participate in democracy unless they know what they are doing, or they know what they are acting on, or they know what's important. That's the fight, what do we prioritize. What's important to us as citizens. That's the battle you have to fight in order to be a good citizen.

French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb told me, when I interviewed him recently, that he believes peace should be taught in schools, to help heal our world. What is your solution?

Knappenberger: I think we continue to make good stories as storytellers, that's what we can do. Continue to fight the nonsense, not take, but question the prevailing sentiments, questions power I guess. That's one part of it for sure.

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Today I have the opportunity to interview Emilie Kao, co-founder and Executive Director of Kids World, who has just posted a blog titled "War of Dreams" noting the importance of providing a human rights-based alternative to individuals considering violent jihad.*

1.Emilie, Brussels just experienced a tragic terror attack and more than 30 innocent civilians are dead. Isn't there a contradiction between wanting to fight terrorism and urging greater respect for the human rights of Muslims?

No, Ed that's a false dichotomy. We can protect the innocent by focusing our ideological strategy on increasing dialogue about ideas within Muslim communities. Human rights are the infrastructure for those dialogues. Only when all people, regardless of sect, gender or age, can seek out the truth and speak out about what they believe, can that society advance towards pluralism and peace. I would argue that the freedom of Muslims to dialogue is absolutely fundamental to their ability to promote peace and to support alternatives to radical jihad. This is the most effective long-term security strategy. Ideas are the roots, behaviors the fruit. The problem with approaches to security that actually silence certain groups according to their identity (in this case Muslims) is that injustice and exclusion always radicalize. That's why the Western voices that are calling for exclusion of Muslims are so dangerous and counter-productive.

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2.You talk about the right to an education and the right to freedom of religion, but isn't religion, especially Islam, what often keeps children, especially girls, from getting a liberal education? Isn't it what also channels them towards violent jihad?

There is a difference between supporting the right to education and endorsing all forms of education. I don't endorse the right to teach violent jihad. But, I think the way to connect these dots is to see that the freedom to learn about all ideas, including religious ideas, allows children to search for truth. A real faith can only be found through genuine searching and that only happens when one has the freedom to search for the truth. This is what my old boss Seamus Hasson at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty meant when he described "the right to be wrong." If you care about your own ability to seek the truth, you also have to care about the right of other people to seek the truth, even if you end up thinking that they're wrong and they end up thinking the same about you.

When I was at the Becket Fund, I accompanied a French Muslim girl to the United Nations in Geneva to share her story before the Human Rights Commission (now the Council). Cennet Dogannay was 15 years old at the time and attending a public high school. France had just enacted its ban on all religious symbols in the public square. School officials told that her headscarf was overtly religious and that she had to remove it to continue attending class with other students. Being a Muslim girl who wanted to remain modest according to her religious beliefs and a teenager, she came up with the ingenious and drastic solution of shaving her head. The school let her back in, but she was exposed to ridicule and contempt throughout and had to spend significant time in isolation from other classmates. Banning peaceful expressions of religious belief and preventing people from following their consciences to fight against violent extremism is so counterproductive. Cennet said of her treatment, "I respect the law but the law doesn't respect me."

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I empathize with France's revolution and their profound distaste for religious institutions controlling the state. This history is what gave birth to their policy of laicite (radical secularism). But in response to the massive influx of Muslim migrants, they adopted policies that stigmatize an entire group according to their religious identity. It's been an unwise choice.

3. Isn't there also a danger of going too far to the other side and loosening one's laws to allow the infiltration of Muslim values at the expense of corrupting traditional philosophical and belief systems in the West that are the foundation for rule of law and human rights?

Yes, that is a real danger. France erred because it conflated peaceful behavior with threatening and violent behavior. They should have focused not on Cennet's Muslim identity, but on whether her actions posed a threat to society, which they didn't. The introduction of ideas and behaviors that will actually weaken human rights protections is something that governments must firmly oppose. British Prime Minister David Cameron has bravely identified the dangers of radical, violent Islamist ideology to their country's Judeo-Christian culture and system of law and rights protections. However, Britain's Parliament has permitted separate Shari'a courts for Muslims in which women are treated as inferior and unequal. The principle of impartiality should be applied across the board. Religious people should not be treated as a suspect class because of their beliefs. But, neither should ideas and acts that undermine safety be exempt from scrutiny because they are rooted in religious beliefs. The yardstick should be whether the ideas or actions pose harm to the citizens of the country.

The Coalition fighting radical jihad should avoid either radical secularism or ill-fated compromises in the name of multiculturalism that endanger the vulnerable. Radical inclusion of all peaceful ideas, beliefs, and religions avoids both errors.

4. Isn't it true that President Obama's refusal to call Daesh "Islamic" is a huge strategic error that has prevented us from treating the threat of radical Islam with enough seriousness and aggressiveness?

The Coalition absolutely needs to address the role of Daesh's religious ideology/political theology (Jihadi-Salafism). Reading Mein Kampf gave leaders during World War 2 strategic understanding of Hitler's aims. Leaders today bear a duty to understand the political theology of "Caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in order to predict and thwart Daesh's genocidal and territorial ambitions. Nazi ideology was a monumental danger to Jews and other minorities, including Germans who opposed Nazism. Similarly, violent jihadist ideology is an existential threat to religious minorities, to women and children, and to Muslims who oppose Daesh. We have a duty to scrutinize the ideology of violent jihadist groups to protect the innocent, many of whom are Muslim.

At the same time, government leaders should tread very cautiously in their public comments about orthodoxy (the validity of religious interpretation), especially when they address religions they themselves do not follow. Both President Obama and President Bush acted with noble intent to protect American Muslims by caling Daesh "un-Islamic" and Islam "a religion of peace," but they crossed a line. Law and its enforcement are the appropriate realms for presidents, governors and mayors. But orthodoxy is the realm of religious scholars, theologians, and clerics. The state has a duty to prosecute violent acts done in the name of religion and to prevent the spread of violent religious ideologies (e.g. Saudi textbooks containing violent Salafi-Wahhabi rhetoric). But governments should respect the autonomy of religious groups by allowing religious leaders to decide what is or is not "orthodox." The founders of the United States established this country as a land where they could be free from governments establishing the terms of religious orthodoxy.

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5. Aren't Muslims going to see a U.S-led call for human rights as disingenuous and a cover for the real purpose of controlling the global oil supply?

There are always going to be people who distrust our intent, but that is not a reason to avoid making human rights central to our message and the plumbline for our behavior.

It's true that we've supported oppressive dictatorships from the Mubarak regime to the Saudi and Iranian royal families and this seriously undermines our support of human rights. Citing human rights as a reason for our fight against violent jihadists will face skepticism. But, we should do it because it's right and wise. It's consistent with our own international legal obligations and it's strategic. Many have criticized our efforts to Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) as too negative. They point to things like the State Department Twitter feed which urges Muslims to "Think Again, Turn Away." People are starting to realize the need for a positive message. The former coordinator of U.S. counterterrorism communications acknowledged that Daesh has an advantage because the positive narrative is "always more powerful." But their message is positive largely because of appearance. They have fighters "dressed in black like ninjas, brandishing cool flags, and fighting for their people." The message of human rights is positive because of substance, that every individual should have opportunities to pursue their dreams. We need to strengthen that message and contextualize it for Millenial Muslims and deliver it in channels where they already receive information.

6. Why can't we focus on addressing the ideology of violent jihad after we defeat Daesh on the battlefield? The U.S. didn't come up with a Marshall Plan for Europe until after World War 2. Why is this urgent?

It's not often that Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani agree on something, but both have recognized that "ISIS is not only a terrorist group, it's a wrong ideology." Therefore, "it cannot be destroyed by bombs." As Turkish scholar Ziya Meral writes, Daesh answers the greatest philosophical question of all..."why live?" We can't offer an effective alternative to a metanarrative like jihad just by offering "jobs." Many Daesh recruits in the West had jobs, but they gave them up for the spiritual goal of making hijra (pilgrimage) to the Caliphate. That's not just a dream of a higher salary and nicer car. Daesh speaks to the soul, not just the bank account. The U.S. Government doesn't need to speak to the soul. But it needs to promote freedom of thought, conscience, and religion so that people can have access to different ideas and make their own decisions about truth.

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Defeating Daesh on the battlefield is like pulling one shoot off the weed. To eliminate the weed, the Coalition, the governments of the region, and civil society (especially religious leaders) must address the underlying issues. One of the most fundamental problems in the Middle East is sectarian prejudice that leads to discrimination and injustice. Ironically, this is also at the root of misguided Western responses that seeks to deny human rights to Muslims on the basis of their religious identity.

The best antidote to both forms of exclusion is "radical inclusion." In a climate of terror, it is so easy to react with anger towards those threatening us. The anger is justified, but when our response mirrors the problem, we actually feed it.

7. Finally, why would human-rights-based countries like the US and France be attractive to potential radical jihadists when they produce political leaders like Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, who want to exclude Muslims from their countries, even though they might be considered "radical inclusive" societies? Isn't there an issue of not practicing what we preach?

Leaders like Le Pen and Trump who preach exclusion based on identity are not attractive to Muslims. They alienate Muslims who are fighting against violent jihad and they fuel the anti-Western narrative of Daesh. One of the reasons why Daesh has grown so much faster than al-Qaeda is due to the unparalleled success of its global recruitment efforts. Key to Daesh's ability to recruit more Muslims from more places it the establishment of the Caliphate which allowed it to surpass al-Qaeda in its spiritual legitimacy. One of the most appealing aspects of the Caliphate is that it hearkens back to the glory days of Islam during Mohammed's time and subsequent caliphates that lasted for over 1300 years. The end of Islam's status as a world power is largely associated with the rise of Colonialism. Daesh appeals to Muslims by promising that they can avenge the humiliation of Colonialism through attacks on the West. When leaders like Le Pen and Trump feed anti-Muslim prejudice, they actually reinforce what Daesh tells Muslims-- the West is against you and therefore you should be against the West. When we fail to see the battle within Islam, between violent jihad and its peaceful alternatives, we fall right into the trap of groups like Daesh.

Thanks, Emilie for these insightful comments.
Who says honeymoons have to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip? Healthy, long-lasting couples know that traveling together keeps relationships strong over time. Reconnecting with the world outside the walls of your home has a way of reconnecting people too. Who knows? Maybe a second honeymoon will be the first of many.

Why take a second honeymoon?

Whether married couples choose to call it a "second honeymoon" or not, a romantic trip together without the kids is a rising trend in travel. Why do couples plan second honeymoons? The reasons are as complex as varied as each married couple, but there are a few that emerge over and over.

Romantic travel commemorates big events on that long winding road of marriage. Lana Byal has been designing private journeys for couples at Elevate Destinations since 2013. "Couples traveling together later in life really run with the idea of a second honeymoon," she says.

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"There's always a reason to celebrate the marriage as if it were only a few days old. Marriages are full of endings and new beginnings. Anytime you can step away and re-engage with each other is important to staying connected and enjoying uninterrupted time together."

Below are just a few kinds of second honeymooners out there. Do any of these sound familiar? If so, you may be due for a second honeymoon.

The newly empty nesters. They pretend to be sad and lonely as they pack their bags for a big second honeymoon. Sun, surf, and sand -- sans the college-age kids.

The soon-to-be grandparents. It's official: they're grand-pregnant! They go see a bit of the world before all the joys (and duties) of grandparenthood set in.

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The retirees. They've taken a bow and exited the stage of their career, and now newly minted retirees can finally act on the travel dreams that accumulated faster than they annual paid time off. They go abroad. They've earned it.

The anniversary. Whether it's their 5th wedding anniversary or 50th, they go big and go abroad. A second honeymoon is worth its weight in bronze, silver, and even gold.

The second marriage. Second weddings tend to have a different style than the first, reflecting a more mature set of tastes. Second honeymoons should reflect the same.

Making up for first-time flops

Although it may be hard to admit, very few first honeymoons are all lollipops and rainbows. Is your own honeymoon mishap memory bubbling up? Fret not! Anything that wasn't quite right about a first honeymoon is also a reason to do it all again, only better.

Recently, Lana put together a second honeymoon-style trip to Costa Rica. The couple took their first honeymoon there way back when, but did it on a shoestring. This time, they wanted to revisit some of their favorite spots, but amplify it with amazing and romantic ecolodges (like the stunning Pacuare Lodge) that either didn't exist or that they couldn't afford in their 20s.

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What often goes wrong the first time around?

Too low-budget. Weddings are seriously expensive. Think in the ballpark of $30k on average in the United States. Newlyweds are hit with the cost of a honeymoon at the same time they're trying to pay for wedding venues, tailored dresses, catering, and a truckload of booze. It's no surprise that corners get cut on the travel line item. But they soon find out there's very little romance to red-eye flights, long layovers, and cut-rate all-inclusive mega resorts on crowded beaches.

Too cliche. The "best package deal" points many toward a mass tourism destination close to home. Maybe that off-the-shelf beach honeymoon worked back then, when youthful travel standards were lower. For a second honeymoon, there's room to get a little more creative. Go somewhere farther-flung, wilder, and a little less visited -- especially if some of your time and money constraints have lifted since then.

Too much pressure. The term "honeymoon" is often used figuratively to mean the breezy, exciting, passionate front end of a relationship. That's a lot of pressure loaded into the concept of a honeymoon. Trying to force passion and romance can lead to some spectacularly cheesy honeymoon fails. Combine that stress with the fatigue of having survived the front lines of a wedding, and the result is a trip that may not have been such a "honeymoon" after all.

Tips for Second Honeymoon Success

The professional travel designers at Elevate Destinations have put their heads together to come up with truly first-class second honeymoon destination ideas. Here are their most valuable tips, paired with trip suggestions to match.

Get active together. There's something surprisingly sexy about working up a sweat outdoors in a foreign place. Choosing an active adventure means you can work toward both relationship goals and fitness goals at the same time. Once you've earned an incredible view in some remote corner of the world, you'll see each other breathless and endorphin-doped, and fall in love all over again.

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Suggestions: Hike an Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru or explore the trails of Chilean Patagonia

Give back together. Couples that engage in pro-social behaviors together are statistically more likely to stay together over time, says science. Translation: when giving back through a volunteer experience on vacation, everybody wins. It's easier than ever to incorporate volunteering and local communities into a honeymoon-style trip.

Suggestions: Jungles, beaches, farms, and service in Belize; lake islands and local communities in Nicaragua, or combine service and safari in South Africa

Immerse yourselves in nature. A gossamer bed net draped over the bed can be surprisingly romantic, especially when combined with a symphony of animal sounds deep in a rainforest. A second honeymoon is the perfect pretext for a bucket-list African safari, where rare wildlife encounters become too common to count! Sharing these experiences far-removed from distractions like Wi-Fi will bring out both the passionate and the nurturing animal instincts in couples of any age.

Suggestions: Spend time helping exotic species in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, track gorillas in their native habitat in Rwanda, or take in the surreal landscapes of Namibia

Go farther. Already did the sun and sand thing in Mexico or the Caribbean? A beach-themed second honeymoon is a chance to really spin the globe and discover tiny island destinations that make for more secluded, and grown-up honeymoon settings.

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Suggestions: Discover the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles, sample the Indian subcontinental spice of Sri Lanka, or see what's so special about the beaches and islands of Mozambique

Add surprises and 'first time' moments. We're not talking about lacy lingerie or other things (although little surprise gifts certainly don't hurt!). We're talking about really unique experiences. Think more outside-the-box than the standard couples' massage or fancy restaurant. Open yourselves up to high-romance excursions that are unique to a place and promise a 'first time' moment for your trip.

Suggestions: Hot air ballooning over the golden spires of Myanmar, or get busy in the kitchen with a culinary tour of Morocco.

Hire a trip designer. This is the number one piece of advice for discerning second honeymooners. If you've ever hired a professional to tailor your clothing, build a website, landscape your yard, or even cut and style your hair, then you get it. It pays to work with a skilled designer who will craft a seamless trip, minus the blooper reel of the first honeymoon.

"Once people know that trip design services like Elevate Destinations exist, it changes the way they travel," says Lana. "They skip the guesswork of the chaotic online booking marketplace and come straight to us. They don't look back."
I am a supporter of COLAIE. COLAIE stands for "Circle of Local Ambitious Innovative Entrepreneurs". With many supporters, financial institutions, investors and sponsors like the new Swiss magazine "Project Luxury and Art", COLAIE's aim is to bring investors and innovative entrepreneurs together and help them to enable innovations to happen faster in the world of finance. COLAIE and "Project Luxury" both start in June. Have innovations turned into a "Luxury Project"?

Constructive critique and free thinking are aspects of a sound culture, which we need to cultivate in the traditional world of finance while looking for outside-of-the-box solutions, as it will help us to understand innovation as a necessity. When following some of Moira Forbes' interviews, one will discover that many of her interviewees have an innovative mind-set. One might tend to say that women's mind-sets are more innovative for an industry which was built by men, and maybe this is the reason why they can innovate more naturally. Anna Wintour encourages young students to avoid becoming specialists, which is also one of the five characteristics of being an innovator, according to the book "The Innovator's DNA".

Banking evolved based on values and principals over a long period of time, which makes the adoption of new thinking, unhindered creativity and new approaches particularly challenging. Tunnel views were useful in a different, past era, but are no longer in a rapidly changing world. We need to allow ourselves to become more curious, and not only when it is in harmony with our values and principals from the old days. The world of finance has to deal with many unnecessary limitations, with some of them being the following:

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Behavioural finance demonstrates what human biases are, but although there is proof that mindfulness enables better decision making, it is avoided in day-to-day banking in order to be seen as professional.

In day-to-day banking, innovations are viewed with suspicion, as they point to an unusual and maybe unnecessary change and therefore it is preferred to use the term "project" instead. A project means a necessary change and is sometimes an extended solution of what we already have and know.

We avoid, for instance, the term creativity at work and instead use other words like outside-of-the-box thinking, which is basically the same. Terms like "intuition" are often associated with not proven assumptions and are considered not appropriate for business.
Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects the guard of honour following his arrival in Harare where China and Zimbabwe are scheduled to sign various economic deals in agriculture, energy and infrastructure development December 1 2015. China's President Xi Jinping started a five-day visit to Zimbabwe and South Africa, with African concern over the impact of the Chinese economic slowdown set to dominate the agenda. Xi will be the most prominent global leader to visit Zimbabwe for many years as veteran President Robert Mugabe, 91, is widely shunned by Western powers. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)

In their new book "Continental Shift: A Journey Into Africa's Changing Fortunes," South African authors Kevin Bloom and Richard Poplak embarked on 14-country odyssey across two continents over a span of five years to report on Africa's changing economic, political and social landscapes.

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What they discovered along the way was that China's role had become pivotal in so many of the African countries they visited. The Chinese presence in Africa, they observed, "is the defining phenomenon of our time."

Bloom and Poplak don't advocate that China's ever-expanding engagement across the continent is either good or bad for Africa. It's neither, it's both, it's complicated. What isn't in dispute, though, is that China is changing Africa either through new infrastructure, more trade, imported labor, corruption and in countless other ways.

The two journalist-authors join Eric & Cobus -- in the podcast above -- to discuss their new book and their perceptions of China's role in Africa's "continental shift."
Just a few scant hours ago, Marvel's Netflix Luke Cage cast a key villain, and already the Hero For Hire has a major new ally to balance the scales. Simone Missick has been cast in the role of Marvel's Misty Knight, a super-powered detective in her own right, and potentially our first link to Netflix's Iron Fist series.

Deadline reported news of Missick's casting, clarifying that the "Missy" described in casting calls as "a woman with a strong sense of justice" actually referred to Misty Knight. In the comics, Misty is noted as an exceptional NYPD detective who loses her arm to a bomb blast, and is granted a super-strong bionic replacement from Iron Man himself, Tony Stark.

Not only that, but the character goes on to found her own detective agency in "Nightwing Restorations" alongside the deadly Colleen Wing, and eventual finds herself romantically involved with Danny Rand, better known as Iron Fist. The character has also clashed with Steel Serpent in the comics, whose presence was foreshadowed in Netflix's Daredevil series, and will likely play a role in Iron Fist.

Thus far of Netflix's Luke Cage, we know that Mike Colter will first debut the character in an unspecified number of Jessica Jones episodes (already seen to be super-durable as well), before headlining his own series in 2016. Alfre Woodard will play the villainous "Black Mariah," alongside Sons of Anarchy vet Theo Rossi as "Shades" Alvarez, while Marvel menaces "Diamondback" and "Cottonmouth" have also been rumored to appear. Rosario Dawson has also been confirmed her reprise her go-between character of Claire Temple, who herself originated in Marvel comics as a love interest of Luke Cage.

Cheo Hodari Coker will showrun the third Marvel Netflix drama, believed to be beginning production in the near future. Who else should we expect to join Luke Cage before its 2016 debut?
It takes a lot of nerve for the head of a huge teaching organization known to have an overwhelmingly white membership to play the diversity card against another teaching organization that has 50 percent teachers of color, yet in the crazy world of education politics, it happened.

No one these days seems immune to capitalizing on a hot headline, even when their decision to do so reveals such stunning hypocrisy that for a moment, it seems they couldn't have really just 'gone there.'

Randi Weingarten is not just the president of the American Federation of Teachers. She's also one of the primary reasons that presidential candidates, particularly Hillary Clinton, are totally tongue tied on the debate stage when any substantive topics about k-12 education are raised.

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It's no secret that Randi isn't TFA's biggest fan but she did just appear on a panel with Howard Fuller, African-American school choice advocate and former superintendent, during TFA's 25th anniversary celebration. Ironically, that panel was to talk about education and poverty and Weingarten described her goals this way:

My purpose was not to debate Fuller; it was to have a conversation about a path forward, to end the ridiculous debate in reform circles that poverty and greater economic issues don't matter, and to debunk the notion that individual teachers can do it all.

Fast forward a few short weeks, and she is doing anything but having a conversation about a path forward, at least not on social media.

But Randi made a miscalculation, at least by any decency standards, when she began to run with news of Teach For America's (TFA) staff reduction.

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Cue the snark. Build the glass house. Randi has taken to Twitter and tweeted three separate times about her "concern" about Teach For America's recent decisions.

The elimination of the diversity office is a particularly surprising and disappointing turn for @TeachForAmerica. https://t.co/XttvGgM008  Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) March 22, 2016

Teach For America has decided to eliminate their national diversity office. They have already succeeded in reaching 50 percent teachers of color within their program--an unprecedented achievement--and have opted to work more collectively and locally to continue to lead on the issue of getting more teachers in classrooms who look like and share experiences with the students in the seats.

So what has Randi's organization been doing on diversity? What do their metrics look like? Who is their national diversity officer? Who serves on their national diversity team? According to Think Progress and the Shanker Institute, 18% of the American teaching force are people of color, compared to 50% of TFA corps members. When I tried to track down more specific numbers about AFT's own diversity, it turned out to be an impossible task. They are certainly not touting their numbers; on the contrary, it seems they intentionally making them hard to track down.

Randi Weingarten has made the calculated decision to feign concern and question TFA about its commitment to diversity when her own organization has a pathetic record on the very same issue. She uses her power as AFT president to oppose alternative licensure programs which means she herself plays a significant role in the blocking of access to teaching credentials for graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and tribal colleges.

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Randi cannot refute the fact that Teach for America has been a leader not only on teacher diversity and inclusion work, but also on infusing culturally responsive pedagogy into its training; and through that process of evolving, the organization has recognized that diversity work happens best through partnerships with communities.

Does she deny that diversity and inclusion looks very different depending on the geographic location and the demographics of the population? Does she deny that what works in the Mississippi Delta may be different from best practices on the south-side of Chicago or the Navajo Nation in New Mexico?

Rather than accept that this move by Teach for America reflects a belief that these differences are essential, beautiful, and important, she has chosen to demagogue their announcement and rile up her troops without providing any context, statistics, or basic honesty. As a seasoned politico, Randi knows that it is precisely this kind rhetorical red meat that riles up her most extreme members and followers.

Certainly no one is pretending that local control of anything is a panacea; but TFA has made a decision based on what they see in the field and their track record on the issue certainly has earned them the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.

Perhaps a bit of reflection back to her teaching days is what's in order. Surely she remembers the common practice of telling students to stop worrying about others and instead, focus on themselves.

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So Randi, let's try that. Rather than impugn the only teacher preparation that is, quite literally, knocking it out of the park when it comes to diversity and inclusion, take some time to clean up your own house, where the vast majority of teachers look nothing like most of the children they teach.

And while you're at it, get that website updated with some actual numbers.
In response to growing anti-Muslim hate crimes, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter in Washington state held the first ever pilot event that educates Muslims on how to approach questions from the media. With the rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric, especially in the wake of elections, CAIR-WA found it necessary to teach Muslims how to effectively answer questions that are centered around Muslim communities.

"We want Muslims to be able to tell their stories about their lives, their dreams, their hopes and contributions. To convey to the American public that they to are a part of the American fabric, and deserve the same opportunity as all Americans to build a better future for their children and families, and to give them the ability to share that," Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of CAIR-WA, said.



Last year, CAIR offices nationwide received daily reports of hate crimes targeting American Muslims and those who are perceived to be Muslim. Many mosques have been vandalized, burnt, and many Americans, even those thought to be Muslim, have been shot or beaten.

There has been an increase of anti-Muslim hate crimes within the past 6 months, just in Washington state alone. According to a community-based survey, 80% of American Muslim youth have reported being targets of harassment, often times even in front of teachers and school administrators.

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Bukhari said: "Hate speech leads to hate crimes. When hate speech and conspiracy theories against an American minority are constantly spread publicly and go unchallenged, they foster an atmosphere that causes hate crimes."

CAIR- WA felt compelled to counter this growing issue and felt a need to educate Muslims on how to deliver key messages out to the public about Muslims and Islam. Arsalan Bukhari, and retired public relations consultant Steve Boyer, combined their expertise and after conducting extensive research, developed CAIR's first media training for American Muslims.

"This is a pilot that we hope that can go nationwide. It needs to. The nation is at a turning point. Diversity is one of the greatest things about the United States, and American Muslims have not yet been fully recognized as part of that diversity. They are the last cornerstone, but to get there they need to be able to tell their stories," Boyer said.

Boyer spent several extended periods working in Saudi Arabia as a public relations executive. He found CAIR to be the perfect opportunity to continue his involvement with the Muslim community, and to utilize that knowledge. Boyer is a longtime Republican and hopes to strengthen the relationship between Muslims and Republicans.

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"The broad scope of the [Republican] party is highly tolerant of Muslims, and that's been shown over and over by leaders like Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, John Kasich, in particular who has been really out front on this, and Marco Rubio. What needs to happen is for those people who have the kind of broad view of the Republican party and what it needs to embrace, including American Muslims, to have control of this election and really recapture the soul of the Republican Party and not let it be taken over by the racist bigotry of Donald Trump's campaign," Boyer said.

Earlier this month, Lacey, WA councilman Jason Hearn posted anti-Muslim remarks on his private Facebook account. The post was leaked, and the local newspaper picked up the story the following morning. Residence of Lacey did not take it lightly and pleaded for him to apologize. The interfaith community gathered in support for local Muslims, and the local Muslim community invited the councilman to visit their mosque.

Rokaih Vansot, a Lacey resident, was one of many Muslims that spoke out about the incident. Vansot and her 12 year-old son, who spoke to the councilman, attended media training after reaching out to CAIR-WA about the situation. Within an hour of training, they were able to successfully get their point across to the councilman.

"When Arsalan offered to provide the training, I ran with it, and he provided the training here two times and it was a good response from our community as well. It's helped me a lot, and taught me that as Muslims we have rights as well and we shouldn't be afraid to voice it. We have over 500 Muslims in Lacey, and inspired by our faith, we give back to our society everyday," Vansot said.

Zahid Chaudhry and his wife were also among the group of Lacey residents that felt displeased by the words of the councilman. They attended the media training so they could learn ways where they could better combat verbal hate-speech. Chaudhry is an American Muslim veteran who served as a soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). He planned to serve for life until the end of his career before he sustained an injury that left him wheelchair bound while in service.

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"Over 28,000 American Muslims serve in our nation's armed forces, and many have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I served before and after 9/11, and I started off in the National Guard because I believed in serving the community and living out my Muslim values that we should participate in the community we live," Chaudhry said.
A woman sticks plastic butterfly decorations near peace messages at a makeshift memorial on the Place de la Bourse (Beursplein) in Brussels on March 23, 2016, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed 31 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD (Photo credit should read KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)

This time it's in Brussels, after Paris, London, Madrid and many other cities beyond Europe, that a new round of victims challenge us: "What did you do to protect us?" Their legitimate calls take me back 21 years to the aftermath of the Saint-Michel Metro attacks in Paris, on July 25, 1995. Under the title "The Recipe For A Bomber," I wrote the the following for the Liberation.

We must ruthlessly hunt down the bombers. Our police and justice authorities have been doing so with determination, and we thought, for a time, that the network responsible for these crimes had been dismantled. But to prevent new networks from popping up and rendering obsolete the success of our police officers, we must now urgently get to work dismantling a new foe: not just those who make the bombs, but the conditions that create those who place them.

I concluded on a sentence that seems just as relevant today as it did then: "In Paris or Algiers [and today in Brussels or elsewhere] that investigation leads nowhere but to the les banlieues -- the suburbs."

We can't just follow our guts and denounce the barbarity of the other. We must demand of our brains that we acknowledge a little bit of our own barbarity in order to emerge from the deadly impasse that faces us.

The best and most urgent way for us to express our sympathy for the victims is the same today as it was then: to arrest and punish the bombers. Those who will once again carry out this mission deserve our respect and our heartfelt encouragement. But the importance and centrality of this task should not make us ignore the other crisis we face, one that is even more urgent. Despite the years we have spent talking about it, this crisis has remained a low priority for our decision makers. If we do not want the efforts of those who seek to protect us to fail, we must stop the powerful machine that creates the bombers themselves. Depriving criminals of their nationality? And why not inflict a more severe sentence of depriving them of any progeny! But how to do it ?

Should we reform others or reform ourselves?

We have been talking too much, for too long, and we have gone astray. Our leaders all follow the same path: from The Paris Institute of Political Studies to The French Academy, from Parliament to Matignon, they follow the same advice and the same markers (jihad, Salafi Shari'a, etc.) of one culture and one religion ... the Other! In a situation where our guts have a dangerous propensity to take control of our brains, the French Ministry of Research had the happy idea of mobilizing its officials and creating new research posts in the discipline of Islamic studies! And this error, which was both flagrant and widely shared, went completely unnoticed. Believing that knowledge of Islam is the key to help us to understand and overcome a world of dysfunction carries an exceptionally perverse bias: it prevents us from even thinking about, and facing the responsibility of, the majority of our society, i.e. non-Muslims.

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In the political fabric of each of our European nations, like those in the Middle East, non-Muslims have come out on the right side of domination. The day we decide to accept the explosions of hostility that hit us for what they are, that is to say, to acknowledge our inability to establish a mutually satisfying relationship with the (Muslim) world of the Other, we must acknowledge that we are deeply involved in this great dysfunction. And if we go to the end of our capacity for reasoning, we will be convinced that if the victims of Brussels require that we reform the world that left them to die, we must at least partly reform ourselves.

To stop the machine that makes the bombers, we must must accept it is elsewhere than in Molenbeek or Rakka, Mosul or in Saint Denis, that this machinery is in full swing. And that instead of factories, our suburbs near and far are rather the recipients or the targets of our "bombs" of all kinds. The forces that create the bombers are not found in the suburbs. They can be found first in the spheres of government that make decisions based on elections, not on reason. They are in each of us when we let grow the rifts that tear us apart. And they are in the places where our bombs have caused untold deaths in the last two decades.

We can't just follow our guts and denounce the barbarity of the other. We must demand of our brains that we acknowledge a little bit of our own barbarity in order to emerge from the deadly impasse that faces us.


Tokyo Tower from Zojoji Temple, Tokyo. Photo by Gail Nakada.

If you're lucky enough to visit Tokyo during cherry blossom season, you don't want to waste a moment of precious time. Why? Because you never know when a spring storm will sweep in and blow those perfect pink blossoms away. It happens nearly every year.

Plan your photo itinerary like a local with this guide to Tokyo's best cherry blossom spots.



Rent a rowboat and glide beneath the blossoms. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Cascading blossoms along the Imperial moat

Chidorigafuchi is an only-in-Japan cherry blossom experience. Blossoms cascade in waves from a thousand trees along the grassy sides of the slopes above the moat. Breathtaking may be a cliche, but it doesn't even do justice to the beauty of this place.

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A thousand trees line the banks of the Imperial moat. Photo by Gail Nakada.

The slopes are opposite a promenade that is also lined with cherry trees. The walk parallels the winding moat for blocks. Follow the crowds, then turn around and follow them back so you don't miss any of it. At night, the trees on this side of the moat are illuminated until around 9 p.m. Those on the slopes are not, so keep that in mind.



Expect crowds. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Rowboats are available for rental at 850 yen an hour. There will be a line.



And more crowds... Photo by Gail Nakada.



Access: The easiest station to start from is Kudanshita Metro Station, Tozai, Hanzomon and Toei Metro lines. Kudanshita is very near Yasukuni Shrine (also famous for blossoms but many of the trees are obscured by rows of food and drink stalls). The moat is across the big, busy intersection, you will see the walls from the exit. If you start here, follow the moat-side promenade to your right. Just keep walking, it goes on for a long way. You will see the stairs down to the boat rental area about halfway along.



Zojoji Temple is the place to get your blossoms-plus-Tokyo Tower shot. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Cherry blossoms and Tokyo Tower

Japanese descend on Zojoji Temple at this time of year for that perfect shot of cherry trees and Tokyo Tower. This is also a great spot for blossoms with traditional temple architecture.

For that photo of Tokyo Tower, walk directly toward the main temple but before you reach it, go to the smaller temple on the right. There is a gate to rows and rows of little Jizo guardian statues. Go through the gate and walk down the narrow path. Turn around for the blossoms-plus-tower shot.

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The main hall at Zojoji Temple. Photo by Gail Nakada.

For photos of the trees with temples, you will need to move around the grounds. There are no trees directly flanking the huge main hall.

Zojoji was a favorite of the powerful Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan for over three centuries. Super Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu believed Zojoji's Black Amida Buddha statue helped power him to victory in unifying feudal Japan. See it in the temple to the right of the main hall.



Get creative at Zojoji for shots of blossoms and temple architecture. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Access: Onarimon Station, Mita Metro Line, A4 exit, five minutes. Hang a U-turn and cross the street directly in front of you (the corner with the park entrance). Walk straight ahead along this street. You will pass the Tokyu Hotel set back on the right and a restaurant. Keep going across the next street. From there, you can't miss the entrance to Zojoji.



Tokyo SkyTree from the Sumida Riverwalk. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Cherry blossoms and Sky Tree

Japanese love SkyTree tower and for them, SkyTree plus cherry blossoms is a must-have shot. It's also easy to get from the Sumida Riverwalk. This riverside promenade of a thousand trees - yes, a thousand! - is across the street from Asakusa Station. Combine it with a visit to Asakusa Sensoji Temple. (FYI, there are no big stands of cherry trees in Sensoji Temple.)



During cherry blossom season, the Riverwalk is a favorite for special famiy photos. Photo by Gail Nakada.

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You will have no trouble grabbing that perfect shot of towering SkyTree in the distance framed by blossoms. In the evening, lanterns are lit all along the route until about 9:30. Romantic. Beautiful. Go.



A photo here has become a must for wedding albums. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Access: Asakusa Metro Station, Ginza Line. Take Exit 1 (there is an elevator and stairs). Bear to the left a little to get to the busy intersection. Cross at the busy corner with the bridge in front of you. That is the Sumida River. Enter the walk and go to the left for views of SkyTree.



Ueno is everyone's favorite cherry blossom destination. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Cherry blossoms at Ueno Park

Although many foreigners say they prefer Shinjuku Gyoen Park for cherries, Ueno is the place to get that iconic shot of crowds and cherry blossoms.

Also, Shinjuku Gyoen closes at 4 p.m. Ueno is beautifully illuminated with traditional lanterns once the sun goes down and stays open until late.



Be sure to include night viewing in your itinerary. Photo by Gail Nakada.

Don't miss the chance to walk (and take photos) beneath clouds of blossoms softly illuminated by paper lanterns.

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Access: Ueno Station is served by a number of JR lines as well as the Ginza subway. The most convenient access is from the JR lines right at the top of the hill directly across from the park.(If you take the Ginza metro line, you will need to walk up the hill on the left side of the street, there is an elevator next to the stairs outside.)

From Ueno JR, take the Koen or Park Exit. Cross the street and bear to the right for a few yards then left along the main walkway that goes between the museums-- on your right - and concert hall - on the left. Everyone is heading that way too.
By Barbara Friedberg, Contributor

Predicting the stock market is no easy task. "Buy low" is great advice, but how do you know if a low stock won't go lower? Nevertheless, for investors looking to buy low, oil stocks are beckoning, with prices at their lowest level since the 1990s.

"Just like real estate was a good buy for the right investor in 2009-2010, so is oil and gas investing for the right investor now," said Tom Wheelwright, CEO of ProVision Wealth, tax reduction expert and Rich Dad Advisor. "The right investor is one who has a solid wealth strategy and knowledge of oil and gas investing."

Before examining the underpinnings of why oil stocks are likely to be the best investment this year, it's important to review a few basic investing concepts.

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The fundamentals of investing recommend looking for companies or industries that are selling low and are likely to go up. Unlike corporations  whose growth is driven by increasing corporate profits  commodities, such as oil and natural resources, are driven by other factors. Commodity prices are largely driven by supply and demand. If there is excess supply, prices will fall, and when supply tightens and more consumers are chasing a smaller availability of the commodity, prices tend to rise.

What's Caused the Drop in Oil Stock Prices?

In the past few years, U.S. domestic oil production has nearly doubled, according to The New York Times. That's great for consumers  as gasoline prices continue to fall, that means more money in your pockets and less into your tank. This is not great news for oil producers.

The impact of excess oil supply is far-reaching. Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Algeria are losing customers in the U.S. oil markets, and they're actively seeking additional revenue in Asia and other parts of the world, according to The New York Times. Other oil producers are continuing to fight for customers as well, including Russia, Canada and Iraq.

As oil supplies increase, the oil sellers are forced to lower their prices. When the oil suppliers drop their prices, their profits decline  along with their stock prices.

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With declining demand, companies that previously made great profits are forced to cut exploration and production, shutting down more than 65 percent of their oil production rigs. This has led to many corporate bankruptcies and the loss of jobs for 250,000 workers. While consumers are enjoying record low gas prices, oil stock prices have plummeted.

6 Reasons Why Oil Might Be the Best Investment of 2016

If you lacked any additional information other than the fact that the oil industry is known for its boom and bust cycles, you might consider investing in oil stocks during this period of cheap oil stock prices. Unless there is a fundamental decline in the demand for oil, this year might be a record opportunity to benefit from a rebound in oil stock prices, potentially making oil stocks the best investment in 2016.







1. Oil Supplies Are Shrinking

The decade-low oil prices have knocked competitors out of the field, leaving fewer market participants selling oil. Furthermore, lower oil prices are leading to declining oil exploration. Wood MacKenzie consulting firm found 68 large oil and natural gas projects across the globe that are in limbo. These projects have a value of $380 billion. Additionally, the suspended projects cut oil production by 2.9 million barrels a day.

More dwindling oil supplies are reported by RBC Capital markets. This research tallies that an additional 356,000 barrels of oil per day were either cancelled or delayed by OPEC countries last year. The study suggested that this year will continue the trend of lowering oil production. The declining supply of oil is likely to cause an increase in the price of oil  and subsequently oil stocks  this year.







2. The Pros Are Betting on Oil This Year

Shailesh Kumar of the Value Stock Guide, a value investment advice service for high-net-worth clients, recently took a position in the oil industry stocks. He discussed recent research from the International Energy Agency Oil Market Report, which stated that oil demand is expected to peak at 96.5 barrels per day during the second half of 2016.

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With the current supply at approximately 97 million barrels per day, supply and demand will be approaching market equilibrium, which should put upward pressure on current prices.







3. OPEC Countries Are Feeling the Pain of Low Oil Prices

OPEC countries and non-OPEC countries alike are being hurt by low oil prices. Shailesh explained that the OPEC countries were hoping to get U.S. shale producers to cut back, which would allow the OPEC countries to increase their market share and increase prices. This would lead to higher oil prices, profits and better oil stock performance.







4. Russia May Help Make Oil Stocks the Best Investment This Year

Russia, along with OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar, announced a plan to freeze oil production at current levels this year, according to The New York Times. "Even a small reduction in production can deplete the oil inventory very rapidly so the prices can ramp up very quickly if an agreement to cut production is reached," said Shailesh.

This should lead to more inactive rigs, lower supply, decreasing oil inventories and finally higher oil prices. As the oil prices go up, so will oil stocks.







5. Demand for Gasoline Is Growing

Demand for gasoline continues to rise. This month demand is up 10.5 percent over the same period last year, according to energy expert Jay Hatfield, co-founder and president of InfraCap, the company behind AMZA, an energy master limited partnership (MLP).

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He continues to forecast gasoline demand to increase over 700,000 barrels per day. This growing demand, combined with declining U.S. oil production is likely to lead to increased profits and higher oil stock prices.

6. The U.S. Is Allowed to Export Oil

The U.S. recently lifted a 40-year ban on U.S. crude exports, according to The Wall Street Journal. If all goes as planned, this opportunity could eventually grow the demand for U.S. oil and further boost oil stock prices. If U.S. producers broaden their customer base, there's a strong likelihood of higher profits leading to increased oil stock performance.

Read more: 20 Things to Do in a Falling Stock Market
I was walking through a market in Havana when I saw him kicking back, relaxing and absorbing life with a guitar next to him that accentuated his swagger.

"Hola senor, mi nombre es Ibrahim. Puedo tocar tu guitarra? Hello sir, my name is Ibrahim. Can I play your guitar?

Without a word, he nodded, motioned for me to sit next to him, and handed me his guitar.

Sitting in silence, I wrapped the strap around my neck, warmed up with a couple of scales, and began to play my first song.

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"'Fade to Black,' Metallica?"

"Si, senor, es mi cancion favorito." Yes sir, it's my favorite song.

After watching me play for a few minutes, he broke the silence to ask where was I from and how long had I been playing for.

I'm a Pakistani-American studying at Boston University, and I just started playing the guitar a year ago.

And how could I speak Spanish? I've been learning it since elementary school.

"Bueno," he asked me to play more songs and a couple of minutes in, we drew a small crowd who gathered around to see two musicians from different parts of the world harmonize through music.

At the end of my song, we were applauded and approached by a teenager dressed from top to bottom in all white.

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"Tocas la guitarra muy bien." You play the guitar well.

"Gracias, mi amigo. Tocas tambien?" Thank you, my friend. Do you play as well?

"Si," he nodded, and added that he's a musician who combines freestyle rap with the acoustic guitar.

Blown away, I urged him to show me what he can do.

Yet when he asked me to give him a beat, I froze; I've never experimented with hip-hop before -- I didn't even think it was possible on the guitar!

Sensing my nerves, he proceeded to teach me a couple of hip-hop chord progressions.

And there we were, having just met a couple of minutes ago, jamming out on the streets of Havana with me on the guitar as he freestyled uninterrupted for 10 minutes.

When we finished, we high-fived, congratulated each other and rejoiced over how awesome making music felt.

"What's your name? And how long have you been rapping for?" I asked him in Spanish.

"Sergio," he replied and added that he had only been rapping for a year.

"A year!?" Amazed, I told him how talented I thought he was and how someday, I hope to be just as good as him.

Brushing my praise aside, he said that I played well and implored me to show him what I could do.

Despite my nerves, I cleared my throat, stretched my fingers out, and began to sing and play "All of Me" by John Legend.

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By the time I arrived at the chorus, he shook me in excitement exclaiming,

"Conozco este cancion!" I know this song!

Ecstatic, I urged him to sing along with me; I even put my hat out in front of us and told him we could make some spare change.

But he didn't know the English lyrics. In fact, he told me that he had just started learning my language a few months ago.

Sensing my disappointment, he proposed that we try to translate the song into Spanish.

When I agreed, he ran to a street vendor, bought a notebook and returned ready, with pen and paper in hand, to translate John's song word for word into Spanish.

But we didn't have much success. My Spanish is not that good.

So instead, I taught him "All of Me"'s chord progression so that I could sing while he played along.

And there we were, back at it again; A Pakistani-American singing an American pop song while his newly-made Cuban friend strummed along on a stranger's guitar.

After we finished and I was preparing to leave, Sergio remarked how much fun he had and that I was the first American he had ever met; and that someday he hoped to visit my country and play music for my people -- a dream I expressed as well.

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We exchanged emails, promised to stay in touch, and as he bid me farewell, I found myself walking away smiling.

I might look different, speak a different language, hail from a different country, and see the world from a completely different perspective than he does. But none of that mattered to Sergio; what mattered is that we both share a common passion for music.

And that passion brought together a Pakistani-American and a Cuban onto the streets of Havana to make music.

A week after my trip, I'm back in Boston, reading the news about Obama's visit to Cuba, and I find myself thinking,

"We're not all that different from the Cuban people -- Sergio is just like me; the Cubans are just like us."

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This article was originally posted on Inverse.

By Jessica Swarts

Sometimes, two-dimensional food can look so good that I consider teleporting myself into the television to eat it. Luckily, instead of concussing myself by diving head-first into my home electronics, opportunities to eat these cartoon treats are growing by the day.

Check out this menu:

'Bob's Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers'

If there's one thing we can look forward to --outside of the usual ridiculousness of the Belcher family -- it's the Burger of the Day. Runny Out of Thyme, Chard to a Crisp, and Fig-eta Bout It are just a few of the clever pun-tastic selections that you can order at the restaurant.

And on March 22, you can start making them yourself. Cole Bowden, blogger and creator of the recipes within the book, started the "The Bob's Burgers Experiment," which is a blog dedicated to replicating the Burgers of the Day.

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Loren Bouchard, creator of Bob's Burgers, heard about blog and teamed up with Bowden to create Bob's Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers.

Reptar Bar

As a kid, not only did I want adventures and to do what a baby's gotta do, but I also wanted one of these bad boys. One, because Reptar is amazing; and two, they turn your tongue green!

A solid two decades after the show ended, the weekly YouTube and Rocketjump cooking show Feast of Fiction, which makes fan-requested items from fictional worlds into real meals, actually made a Reptar Bar. They even produced the same packaging as the show for everyone to download and print out.

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But even if Reptar Bars don't excite you, Feast of Fiction has a ton of other options, with over 100 episodes. If you want a Nuka Cola Quantum from Fallout or Kronk's Spinach Puffs from Emperor's New Groove, they've got you covered for anything in between and beyond.

'Eating Ooo'

Come on and grab your friends, because this fan-made cookbook has all of the fixings of the fantastical Land of Ooo in Adventure Time, including Jake's bacon pancakes and the Everything Burrito. There are also cute character-inspired creations, like making Gunther with eggs and olives.

Because this book is also not officially associated with the show and is strictly fan-made, there are a lot of cool fanart pieces scattered throughout the pages, so even if you don't pick up the book for the food, you can still appreciate the artwork.

Anything from The Simpsons

At Universal Studios in Florida, if any place or food from Springville made your imaginative tongue salivate, then head over to Universal Studios and pop open a Duff beer at the brewery or Moe's Tavern. Or, if you have a sweet tooth, drool over one of Lard Lad's donuts that Homer is known to eat continuously. It's all there, from Krusty Burger to Kwik-E-Mart.

Krusty Krab

I'm sure most people who have watched SpongeBob Squarepants have also yearned to try Krabby Patties - and now you can! Although this may be a little difficult location-wise, there is still a restaurant in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, designed to look exactly like the Krusty Krab from Bikini Bottom.

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This restaurant is actually called Salta Burger and it's located on the West Bank. It opened up two years ago in July and is still open - and hopefully for a while longer.

So hopefully these options are, indeed, as tasty as they look. I sure think so!

MORE FROM INVERSE:
As all the world knows by now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not let the Senate consider any nominee for the Supreme Court until "the American people" have voiced their opinion on the matter by choosing a new president.

I have news for Senator McConnell and his fellow Republican senators. When the American people re-elected Barack Obama as president in 2012, they authorized him to nominate anyone he chose to fill a vacancy on the court -- right up to his final day in office. The Constitution nowhere limits this power to the first three years of a president's term. If it had, President John Adams could never have appointed John Marshall in the very last weeks of his term, after Jefferson had been elected to succeed him, and we would have lost one of the finest justices the court ever had. Also, in stating that nominations to the court must have the "advice and consent" of the Senate, the Constitution gives senators a job. It does not give them the right to do nothing at all about presidential nominations.

For this reason, all Republican Senators -- above all McConnell -- should ponder what Chief Justice John Roberts declared just ten days before the death of Antonin Scalia. Even though Roberts is now considered a traitor to conservatism for upholding the Affordable Care Act, he was appointed by President George W. Bush and can hardly be classified as liberal or part of the left wing of the court. At worst he is imperfectly faithful to conservative orthodoxy. But what he said is perfectly faithful to the principle of an independent judiciary: a court answerable not to political pressure but only to its own collective judgment of what the Constitution allows or forbids.

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Noting that all three recent additions to the court -- two of them nominated by President Obama--have been "extremely well qualified" for it, Roberts lamented that all three were confirmed "strictly on party lines," rather than judged by their qualifications -- meaning, I assume, their experience of the law, their understanding of the Constitution, and their capacity to judge.

In this light, McConnell's refusal to consider President Obama's nominee exemplifies political partisanship on steroids. The sole reason for his obstruction has nothing to do with the superb qualifications of Judge Merrick Garland, nothing to do with the voice of "the American people," and everything to do with political calculation. Fixated on the conservative Republican base, McConnell is betting that he and his fellow GOP senators have more to gain than to lose by holding out as long as they can against any nomination that might tilt the court leftward.

Does this make any sense? Quite aside from his political perversion of the confirmation process, quite aside from his abdication of senatorial responsibility, Senator McConnell fails to understand that once a nominee is confirmed, he or she is no longer owned by any political party, which is why judges like Roberts himself sometimes refuse to play the parts initially assigned to them. When David Souter joined the court in 1990 after being nominated by the first President Bush, everyone thought he would join its conservatives, but he ended up voting with its liberals nearly all of the time. On the other hand, if I were a Democratic Senator considering Judge Garland for the court, I would not be happy with his 2010 vote to allow unlimited contributions to Super-Pacs , thus upholding the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case. But in spite of that vote, I could hardly contest his qualifications.

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In 1997, when President Bill Clinton nominated Merrick Garland for the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, he was not only confirmed but highly praised by a number of Republican senators including Orrin Hatch of Utah, who declared, "I believe Mr. Garland is a fine nominee. I know him personally, I know of his integrity, I know of his legal ability, I know of his honesty, I know of his acumen, and he belongs on the court."
The Supreme Court announced this week that it will review a design patent case that dates back years between two giant tech companies, Apple and Samsung. The policy issue in question in this case isn't just an inconsequential corporate patent licensing squabble, but rather it hits at the future of innovation policy in the modern age and its ultimate outcome will have a tremendous lasting impact on innovators, small businesses and consumers alike.



It's no secret that smartphones are a frequent source of distraction for teenagers. One doesn't have to look far to find a young person with his nose buried in Instagram or exchanging Snapchat messages. However, a recent The Wall Street Journal article depicts a more constructive development in smartphone use. According to the piece, high school students actually prefer to complete their assignments on smartphones, rather than using a PC or laptop. Why? Young people are typically more familiar with their smartphones' interface and appreciate the devices' portability. And with a widening array of applications like Flubaroo, which offers customizable assignments and quizzing with grading in real time, smartphones can help ease the workload for overextended teachers.

This trend might be due in part to the relative affordability of smartphones. One educator estimated that 90% of his students had a smartphone, including many from lower-income households. Today's generation of smartphone-wielding students are not only becoming more engaged with their education, but they are also on the front lines of an important technological shift in our society and economy.

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America's education system is in the midst of an exciting and dynamic revolution, aided in part by broadening access to technology. As smartphones become more pervasive in schools, they can help foster success among students and even encourage greater diversity in the tech sector, where it is sorely lacking. Last year, the Department of Education reported that graduation rates for black and Hispanic students increased by nearly four percentage points from 2011 to 2013; yet, these two groups, as well as minorities with limited English proficiency, still experience graduation rates below the national average.

But the tremendous pace of advancement and disparity leveling progress that is reshaping our schools and communities through technology could slow if innovators are hesitant to create connected products and devices in the future. And this is why the Supreme Court did the right thing in accepting the Apple-Samsung design patent case.

Since 2012, Apple and Samsung have been engaged in litigation over patents. Apple has pursued claims for damages and even an injunctions over Samsung, based on infringement claims on patents that the Patent and Trademark Office have deemed invalid, stating that they were mistakenly granted in the first place.

In another high-profile case that the Supreme Court will now hear arguments on in the fall, Apple seeks damages for design patents covering common shapes like a rounded rectangle. Even though these patents only cover relatively minuscule portions of the device's design, a lower court awarded Apple damages equal to total profits earned from the infringing device based on a misguided interpretation of an antiquated design patent statute. Modern devices used in classrooms today rely on hundreds-of-thousands of patents as will devices of the future. Total profit awards will do nothing to connect the unconnected or under-connected in America. Rather, awarding total profits for design patents - unlike the way that damages are awarded for all other types of intellectual property - will only deter innovation and raise costs for consumers.

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Just as I believe Internet access is a great equalizer in our society, so too is access to smartphones. Technology leaders should find ways to knock down the barriers that restrict access to technology; not erect new ones putting litigation over innovation. In reviewing the Apple-Samsung case, the Supreme Court took an important step toward ensuring the digital future for millions of Americans isn't slowed by old laws that have no place in the 21st century world. A better path forward is to reign in absurd damage awards to help ensure young people have access to the learning tools of tomorrow.
Parkinson's disease is ugly.



Today I can actually see the Parkinson's.

Over the years, his shakes often appeared commonplace and easy to ignore, like one would dismiss a stutter or nervous tick. But lately the Parkinson's has moved into his mind and given rise to a dementia that exists in a clear form to see. And this disease which is slowly killing such a strong man, my father and best friend, is toxic in nature.

Parkinson's poisonous corrosion lives in my dad's blank eyes, its ugly debilitating rust reflects in his sloping body language. Some of this is absurd, like how he's convinced his wife of 47 years (my mother) is having a lesbian relationship with our nursing aide Marie.

Some of this is heartbreaking like when he confuses me for his dead brother.



One thing is for sure: All of this is ugly.



In fact, getting old is often ugly.

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Moreover, the way we treat the elderly is often uglier.

There exists rampant neglect from family members and rotten apples in nursing homes. And politicos who connive ways to cut Social Security and Medicaid to a point that millions of elderly live in poverty and may very well seriously face the concept of death panels in the near future.



The fact that we are living longer should not be a burden but a blessing. We must always remember the sacrifices and love that our parents and forefathers gave to us unconditionally as not only humans but also Americans. It was the Greatest Generation that allowed for American Exceptionalism to truly prevail in the 20th century and even if those values are currently in jeopardy, under no circumstances should we turn our back on those who came before us.

We must never fall victim to distractions, greed, addictions or anything that would allow us to live in neglect of the elderly, no matter how difficult and trying the circumstances.



My father is a street smart New Yorker of eighty-seven years, a veteran of the Korean War, and watching him slowly decay into the abyss of this deterioration is completely bittersweet. But I know I'm not the only son dealing with this passage and I know my father is not the only senior.



We should not only strive to create a safe and secure environment for our elderly, but we must do everything to make sure they experience quality of life. Without socialization, stimulus and activity, there is almost no reason to exist and there are too many elderly out there with no quality of life.

So finding ways for seniors to interact with others, like in Adult Day Care centers, should be priorities for caretakers and leaders. This is very much an in-your-face issue. And we must respect and carry awareness of this issue. This is also a direct call to sons and daughters across the nation, many of whom are too pre-occupied with their own lives to keep a focus on their parents and grandparents.
I had the fortune of spending a few days in Punta del Este during the summer, which normally goes from December until March. I had been here off-season and this was a completely different experience. What a gorgeous place to spend the summer!

I visited with a few local friends, so I got many recommendations that could work for you if you are planning on going for the first time.

A post shared by Joanna Riquett (@joanacronica) on Jan 18, 2016 at 3:14pm PST

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1. Avoid the city

If you can afford it, avoid the city of Punta del Este and head over to the little towns of Jose Ignacio, Manantiales neighborhood or La Barra. This is because the city itself doesn't have much to offer other than the same touristy experience than any other coastal city. On the other hand, the little towns just 20 or 30 minutes away from it are wonderfully crafted for a community of well-off individuals that don't mind spending some bucks to enjoy a very relaxing and beautiful setting.

2. Choose a hotel

We stayed at Hotel Mantra which is one of the most known hotels in La Barra. A cute hotel but not very modern in its architecture, compared to other competitors around that have some great architectural designs. However, they offer many facilities to go to the beach, spend the day at the spa or the pool or even have a crazy night at the Casino.

3. Try the restaurants

Eating out every day will leave a hole in your pocket because the prices are a bit high, but these places I tried are great:

O'Farrell Restaurant in Manantiales. Created by Pamela and Hubert O'Farrell, this place has found the perfect balance between the texture and flavor of each dish. The paella I ordered was magnificent, really tasting the flavors of each ingredient and a rice cooked to perfection.

Fish Market, also in Manantiales, has lots of fresh seafood and a great environment. Perfect for lunch.

A Nutella, banana, strawberry crepe at Crepas is a good idea for an afternoon snack.

For lunch or dinner in Jose Ignacio, La Huella is a favorite of locals and visitors alike. There's always a line so be prepared to wait, even if you make a reservation.

A post shared by Joanna Riquett (@joanacronica) on Jan 18, 2016 at 3:16pm PST



4. Go to the many beaches

There's no shortage of beaches to choose from in Punta del Este and surroundings. The beaches are divided by brava or mansa, which are terms to describe the current: strong or low. Some of the classic beaches in La Barra are Montoya and Bikini, and a place families like to go with their kids is La Posta del Cangrejo.

I also enjoyed time at La Juanita, discovered a new and very attractive beach restaurant called La Susana, and I was told about a hidden gem called Balneario de Buenos Aires which is still not very visited for its lack of infrastructure. If you are comfortable roughing it a little, then you'll have a beach entirely for yourself in the middle of the most visited place by Uruguayans, Argentinians and Brazilians in the summer.

5. Activities you can try

The best thing you can do in Punta del Este is to spend the day at the beach. The people watching is terrific and you can spend long hours under the shade (or sun) reading a book, taking sporadic swims or trying to guess the stories of the people nearby. You can also walk around the little towns because they are beautiful, with carefully designed places that grab the attention of any passerby. Go to the boutique stores and the galleries, which also offer a very interesting selection of handmade premium products and good art. I also saw a group horseback riding at the beach during sunset and it looked like an amazing plan, but I didn't have enough time to try it. Bars and Clubs are mostly located in La Barra where the majority of kids stay, and the night goes late. I also heard New Years here is bonkers!

6. Prices and currency

Punta del Este is expensive. Especially the towns nearby, the prices can be to the roof. However, if you rent a house with your friends, you can prepare meals at home and eat out on special occasions. At the moment, 1 dollar gives you 30 Uruguayan pesos, so it's kind of hard to make an automatic conversion when you are looking at food or clothing prices, but many restaurants and store also take USD so if you don't have pesos at the moment, you can solve with your dollars.

7. Transportation

Rent a car. There are no taxis in the towns nearby, plus you want to be able to move in between places until you find the spot you like. There's a zero alcohol tolerance policy, so be careful with drinking and driving. To get to Punta del Este from Buenos Aires, for example, you can choose to fly in or take the ferry, BuqueBus, to Montevideo, rent a car there and drive 1.5 hours to Punta. If you decide to fly, it's still convenient to rent a car.
Bernie Sanders supporters appeared thrilled when they learned he'd turned down an invitation to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Monday. Donald Trump passed up a debate appearance and Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and John Kasich cleared their schedules to speak to 18,000 people inside Washington's Verizon Center.

Snubbing AIPAC requires a degree of courage in American presidential politics. Sanders is fighting for his political life in the campaign. He hasn't taken money from the kind of large donors that AIPAC coordinates. He could not match the other candidates' fervor for Israel.

So perhaps he could afford not to go, which sent a symbolic message. But Sanders also delivered an actual message by text after the conference organizers wouldn't allow a video hook-up. He also delivered the speech in Salt Lake City.

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A strong Sanders supporter who is an equally strong critic of Israel's occupation of Palestine might be disappointed in what he said. He couldn't bluntly call Israel's presence an occupation, instead describing it as "what amounts to the occupation of Palestinian territory."

What amounts to? In other words, Israel really doesn't mean to occupy this land. This just happened on its way to building ever increasing settlements.

Sanders also takes the very safe line of calling for an Israeli and Palestinian state.

Oslo is Over

The senator from Vermont castigated Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for threatening to leave the Oslo Accords, which the two-state idea is based on. Abbas made this threat last September at the U.N. General Assembly. There isn't an analyst with a pulse who thinks Abbas was serious.

But Oslo is already dead, as dead as the two-state solution. It died in May 1999, when its five-year interim period ended, after which Israel should have withdrawn and a Palestinian state should have been created.

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The continuation of this interim period, having now lasted another 17 years, has led to charges by Palestinians and others that Abbas and his Palestinian Authority are mere collaborators with Israel's continuing occupation.

Pulling out of Oslo now would blow up the PA, cost Abbas his job and throw security fully in Israel's hands. But it would be the necessary step towards creating a single, democratic state, which is the only solution left.

Everything else at this point, including defending Oslo and two-states, is hot air that supports the status quo allowing Israel to continue the piecemeal conquest of the West Bank.

Sanders did call for an end to Israeli "disproportionate responses to being attacked." But he didn't condemn the two massacres in Gaza in the past seven years as he condemned Hamas rocket fire into Israel, which Palestinians say are acts of resistance.

Syria and the Gulf

On Syria, Sanders appears to accept the Western view, if not propaganda, that Russia wasn't really hitting ISIS, but only anti-Assad groups. Yes Russia hit those groups, but to bolster Assad's army as the major ground force (with the Kurds) to defeat ISIS and al-Nusra Front (Al Qaeda).

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Sanders repeated his refrain that the Gulf Arabs need to do more to defeat the Islamic State. Somebody must have gotten to him, because he's added to his position the line that he's not asking Saudi Arabia to "invade" Syria. That is exactly what it sounded like that Sanders had been calling for.

Saudi Arabia has already been too involved in Syria, sending in well-armed jihadists to overthrow the government, inspired by the war cry of fanatical Wahhabi preachers. An invasion by Saudi Arabia, threatened with Turkey last month, would be the worst possible move, threatening a much wider war.

Though mildly supporting Palestinian rights and criticizing Israel, the feisty crowd at AIPAC would have savaged Sanders, compared to how they showered love on Clinton and Trump.

The packed arena had a circular stage set up in the middle that appeared to purposely mimic the major parties' nominating conventions. It was as if AIPAC was saying they are the ones doing the nominating.

Clinton and Trump Pump the Crowd

Both Trump and Clinton mounted that stage to express fierce loyalty to an Israel that they essentially said could do no wrong. Their talking points could have been written by Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Clinton lashed out at critics of Israel who promote boycotting Israeli goods. She promised to increase military aid to Israel, which already stands at $3 billion a year, and more than $100 billion since 1962. She vowed to stop a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set a deadline for the end of Israel's West Bank occupation--something the Oslo Accords already did.

In a half-hour speech she only uttered the word "Palestinian" ten times, and mostly in connection with "terrorism." Clinton briefly called for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. She said the word "settlements" only once, in passing reference, saying, "Everyone has to do their part by avoiding damaging actions, including with respect to settlements." Nothing more was said.

With his typical bombast, Trump said no one had studied the Iran nuclear deal as he had, and that his "number one priority" is to dismantle it.

He also said he would not allow the Security Council to impose a settlement in Palestine. "An agreement imposed by the United Nations would be a total and complete disaster," he said. "The United States must oppose this resolution and use the power of our veto, which I will use as president 100 percent."

Trump only used bellicose language toward Palestinians. He cited the killing last week of an American in Israel by "a knife-wielding Palestinian."

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"You don't reward behavior like that. You cannot do it," he said. "There's only one way you treat that kind of behavior. You have to confront it."

That sounds like a recipe for more bloodshed. Compared to this rhetoric Sanders' speech was reasonable. He called on Israel, for instance, to stop stealing Palestinian water and for the Gaza blockade to be lifted. Perhaps Sanders is holding back his real views on Israel and Palestine, fearful that he could not withstand the attacks of the Israel Lobby and a pro-Israel corporate media.
In May, 1970 President Richard Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell, then sitting on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created when Abe Fortas resigned under fire. Carswell's record on the District Court (the trial level court) on which he sat before the appellate court was pretty shabby -- including a monstrous reversal rate of nearly 58%, not to mention a disturbing civil rights record and opposition to feminist issues. One wonders, actually, how he made it to the Fifth Circuit bench. In any event, when defending Carswell against claims of "mediocrity," U.S. Senator Roman Hruska, a Nebraska Republican, famously said: "Even if he [Carswell] were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Frankfurters, and Cardozos."

Pretty much everyone was offended by Hruska's insulting comment, and it was recognized for its colossal stupidity. Fortunately, Carswell's nomination was rejected by the Senate and, parenthetically, Harry Blackmun, Nixon's replacement appointee, was confirmed -- although anti-abortion proponents would ultimately come to loathe Blackmun (a Harvard alum) for his majority (pro-choice) decision in Roe v. Wade.

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But let's look at the issue raised by Hruska. Yes, we want our judges to be representative -- meaning, we want women and minorities, rich and poor, Republicans and Democrats to be fairly represented on the courts, Supreme Court and lower. But "mediocrity"? Is that what Ian Millhiser, who wrote an Op Ed in The New York Times on March 20th following Judge Merrick Garland's nomination by the President, was talking about when he wrote "[a]lthough the apparent consensus that Supreme Court justices must have gone to Harvard or Yale is a relatively recent development, there's always been a strong thread of elitism running though the legal profession's highest reaches." Millhiser goes further: "... elite credentials cannot teach a judge what it means to seek shelter in the law, or how it feels to be a victim of discrimination." Putting aside whether I agree with Millhiser's statement (as I surely believe certain Justices, and lower court judges, sitting today have been the victims of discrimination in their lives), is Millhiser saying that a less gifted intellect, who attended a lesser school, who has a less extensive record of achievements, is a more worthwhile candidate for the Supreme Court?

Yes, there seems to be nowadays, a dire concern that every justice currently sitting on the Supreme Court (including Judge Garland if he is confirmed) attended either Harvard or Yale Law School (asterisk for Justice Ginsburg who transferred to Columbia from which she finally was graduated). Millhiser -- in his "King v. Burwell Explained in 3 Minutes "-- certainly makes the point no less than twice in his discussion of Obamacare. Almost as if we hear Senator Hruska crying out from his grave -- "Who's going to ably represent the mediocre?"

Taking Hruska and Millhiser to their (il)logical extremes, how far do we go to make sure all of the people are represented by our justices? Do we really want our judges and justices to be more fairly representative of our society based on characteristics such as intelligence? I mean, do those who, for whatever reason, have no more than an eighth grade education deserve a justice on the Supreme Court who attended a law school advertised on the back of a match book? Or one who barely got through law school because he might better understand the plight of a litigant? Just how far do we go? Do we want a member of an extremist group so that they can better understand an "unorganized militia"? Perhaps we want justices who have been incarcerated so that they can better appreciate the serious problems in the prison system and empathize with inmates? Yes, the "e-word": President Obama got into hotter-than-hot water when he used the term "empathy" to describe Justice Sotomayor as one who could see life through the eyes of those who come before the courts; the conservative right concluded the word meant "activist," so that an empathetic judge would not apply the rule of law.

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Yes, it's true, each of the current Supreme Court justices are overachievers. And they all attended the elite of the elite schools. But Justice Sotomayor, the first Hispanic, got there through the South Bronx, and Justice Ginsburg worked for the ACLU and represented feminist causes way before its time. And putting Millhiser's statements about a lack of understanding of discrimination to its proof, Justice Thomas, the second African-American Supreme Court justice, got to Yale through affirmative action, a program he now curiously disdains.

Now, it is true, indeed, that if you're a criminal defendant whose case has come to court, you probably -- rightly or wrongly -- will want to appear before a judge who hails from a similar background to yours, who looks more like you, who has gone through similar life experiences that might somehow be at play in your case. And Harvard and Yale should not be the barometer -- there are many fine graduates of many fine non-Ivy schools and many excellent judges (including those who sat on the Supreme Court) did not go to Harvard and Yale. Clearly, the best and brightest graduates of non-Ivy schools may indeed be the best and brightest, period. So, a non-Ivy graduation should certainly not be a disqualifier. Why, then, should overachievement -- often typified by having graduated from Harvard or Yale Law School -- be a disqualifier? How can that be? Being smart doesn't mean you don't have life experience, and going to elite schools doesn't mean you lack empathy.

Having said that, given the highly political nature of Supreme Court confirmations nowadays, is it so far-fetched to believe that if (the unquestionably qualified) Merrick Garland, just nominated to the Court by the president, had attended a law school other than Harvard or Yale, the president's detractors would add that surely bent arrow to their "we won't confirm" quiver?
In January we learned that 2015 was the hottest year on record. And, as if that wasn't frightening enough, we found out on Saturday that February was the warmest month in recorded history. Clearly, our climate is changing and action needs to be taken to address this critical issue.

Few global leaders have met this challenge with more urgency and determination than Pope Francis. The Pope's 2015 encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si, galvanized a new level of awareness on the moral necessity of addressing the climate crisis, challenging the communities of science, ethics, justice, economics, and religion to imagine new ways of protecting our planet based upon compassion and environmental knowledge.

To explore this issue, the directors of several organizations dedicated to fighting climate change--among them the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Urban Green Council--have joined forces with Cooper Union's Department of Public Programming, the International Center of Photography, and the Poetry Society of America to present a free public event, Our Common Home, at the Cooper Union in New York City this Thursday, reflecting a focused desire to bring disparate conversations together.

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This open gathering includes a range of diverse voices to reflect on the significance of the Pope's letter--among them Mary Evelyn Tucker, senior lecturer and research scholar at Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Divinity School; David W. Orr, professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College; and Arthur Lerner-Lam, professor and deputy director of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Woven within these presentations, artists, poets, writers, and educators -- including Marie Ponsot, Andrew Sullivan, David Turnbull, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Scott Chaskey, Joy Harjo, and Timothy Donnelly -- will contribute their own inspirational responses. The works of esteemed photographers, including Sebastiao Salgado, J. Henry Fair and James Balog, will be projected throughout the event to observe the important ways in which visual art investigates and influences our perceptions of the world.

The perspectives shared at Our Common Home will offer a multifaceted and holistic path forward in protecting our planet. This is a monumental task, but it's also one that we avoid at our own peril.

Our Common Home is free and open to the public. The event will take place on Thursday, March 24, at 7:00 p.m. in The Great Hall of The Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St., New York, NY 10003. We hope you'll join us. Visit www.poetrysociety.org to register your attendance.

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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 2: Anti-abortion advocates stand in protest outside of the Supreme Court, March 2, 2016 in Washington, DC. On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt case, where the justices will consider a Texas law requiring that clinic doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals and that clinics upgrade their facilities to standards similar to hospitals. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard one of the most important abortion rights cases in decades, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. At first blush, some LGBT folks might think that abortion rights have little to do with them. After all, gay men and lesbians don't get "accidentally pregnant" -- to quote a term used in some anti-marriage equality lower court decision of the past decade. However, LGBT rights and reproductive freedom have long been closely intertwined. At stake in both movements are individuals' fundamental freedoms to control their own bodies and to decide for themselves the paths their lives will take. LGBT people should care about women's right to safe and legal abortion not only because it's the right thing to do but because our two movements depend on each other.

Our first experience of the connection between the two movements came nearly 30 years ago when we participated in an LGBT direct action group, called "Queer and Present Danger," that was part of the first and only shut down of the U.S. Supreme Court. The action was organized to protest the Court's notorious Bowers v. Hardwick decision that upheld the constitutionality of so-called "sodomy" laws that criminalized intimate sexual activity between persons of the same sex. Our group got along so well that we decided to keep working together on other pressing issues, such as HIV/AIDS and abortion rights. At the time, during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, LGBT activists were pressing the Reagan administration and the federal government to end their neglect of people with HIV/AIDS. "Operation Rescue," a well funded right wing anti-choice group that blockaded Planned Parenthood and other clinics serving women, was also in high gear. In 1988-1989, Operation Rescue held hundreds of blockades with thousands of arrests of their members. We took part in numerous actions regarding HIV/AIDS and in "clinic defense," where we worked to ensure access to women's clinics despite the presence of Operation Rescue. We saw no separation between these two human rights struggles.

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The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes the connection as well. Until the Supreme Court held in 1973 that women have a fundamental constitutional right to make reproductive choices for themselves, 46 states had laws interfering with a woman's right to have a safe and legal abortion. Until the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision finally overturned Bowers v. Hardwick in 2003, states could imprison LGBT people for sexual intimacy. Some states even put people in jail for simply touching another person of the same sex in a sexual way. Without these decisions, the government today would still be able to exert extraordinary control over the bodies of LGBT people and women.

Recent Supreme Court decisions in favor of constitutional freedoms for LGBT people rest on prior legal victories for reproductive freedom. The Supreme Court's Lawrence decision relied heavily on language from a key abortion rights precedent, when it stated:

[M]atters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the [Constitution].... At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State....It is a promise of the Constitution that there is a realm of personal liberty which the government may not enter.



That language comes verbatim from Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, which among other things invalidated a law that required a married woman to notify her husband before having an abortion. In Casey, the Court stated that what a woman experiences by having a child "is too intimate and personal for the State to insist, without more, upon its own vision of the woman's role, however dominant that vision has been in the course of our history and our culture. The destiny of the woman must be shaped to a large extent on her own conception of her spiritual imperatives and her place in society."

The fiercest opposition to both the LGBT and reproductive freedom movements comes from conservative Christian political forces. These groups seek not only to raise money and gain political power off these issues, but to impose their personal religious and moral views on everyone through law. LGBT and reproductive choice supporters have fought side by side in efforts to defeat right wing ballot initiatives. Moreover, with respect to both matters, the Supreme Court has held, quoting the Casey decision:

The issue is whether the majority may use the power of the State to enforce ... [their moral and religious] views on the whole society through operation of the criminal law. 'Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code.'



As the Court stated in its 2015 marriage equality decision,

The idea of the Constitution 'was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts.' This is why 'fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.'

In this year's abortion rights case before the Supreme Court, the reproductive freedom movement is drawing upon one of the key elements responsible for the recent successes of the LGBT movement: coming out. In 2014, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg attributed the "remarkable change" in lesbian and gay rights over recent years to the willingness of gay and lesbian Americans to "say who they are." The power of LGBT people coming out and telling their personal stories has been and continues to be integral to achieving and maintaining LGBT and marriage equality.

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In Whole Woman's Health, over a hundred women lawyers who have had abortions filed their own "coming out" brief, telling the Justices their stories as to how the freedom to decide for themselves what happens to their bodies was vital to their lives and well being. Among those women are prominent women in the LGBT rights movement, such as Susan Sommer, Director of Constitutional Litigation for Lambda Legal, and Judy Appel, Executive Director of Our Family Coalition. One woman who filed the brief explained:

I am the daughter of a teenage mother who is the daughter of a teenage mother. I had an abortion when I was 16 years old and living in rural Oregon. I believe that access to a safe, legal abortion broke the familial cycle of teenage parenthood and allowed me to not only escape a very unhealthy, emotional[ly] abusive teenage relationship but to ... work for one of the nation's most storied civil rights organizations...



And become a lawyer.

"I often tell people ... that access to a safe, legal abortion saved my life."

The Supreme Court will likely issue its decision in Whole Woman's Health the last week of June, on or near the first year anniversary of last year's landmark marriage equality decision. The success of the two movements will remain vital to the lives of all women and LGBT people.
In the wake of a controversial decision this month to drop the felony intimidation charge against David Joseph Lenio - a 29-year-old White Nationalist who tweeted threats last year to shoot up a grade school in Kalispell, Montana, and "put two in the head of a rabbi," then retrieved a weapons cache - the Investigation Discovery channel will premier the next installment of "Hate in America," which explores the growing movement of strong-man worshiping populists, nativists, and armed anti-government militants across the country through the lens of Montana's Flathead Valley.

In "Hate in America: A Town on Fire," which premiers Thursday, March 24 at 8/7c, Emmy Award-winning journalist Tony Harris introduces America to this beautiful valley nestled outside Glacier National Park. Here's a one-minute preview video, featuring my interview with the producers on the David Lenio case:

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Armed and Ready April Gaede

This majestic mountain setting attracts many gun-owning libertarians who rightly cherish the freedom of speech without which our liberties would perish. In addition, it has attracted a small community of anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists who, like Lenio, envision a white homeland in the Pacific Northwest called Cascadia and a local white community called Pioneer Little Europe (PLE), which has its own dark underbelly. The PLE's chief cheerleader is armed-and-ready April Gaede, a notorious white supremacist and rifle maker who interacted with Lenio on Twitter several months before he loaded up his van to move from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Kalispell, Montana. Gaede declined the producers' invitation to interview her.

On December 30, 2014, the day he arrived in Montana, Lenio tweeted several times that he felt so angry at being economically disadvantaged that he wanted to "shoot up" a grade school in Kalispell. This short-order cook and snowboarder who falsely claimed to be destitute and homeless but who is actually the son of influential banker Remos Joseph Lenio, who co-founded the private investment bank Tillerman & Co. of Grand Rapids, blames a Jewish conspiracy for his sense of being disinherited from his economic birthright. He bragged that, in retaliation for his supposed life of poverty, he could kill more people than the 20 school kids and six adults who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012.

Specific Threat to 'Kalispell, MT Elementary School

Here is one of his tweets from the day he arrived in Kalispell, threatening Kalispell school children and teachers: "I David Lenio am literally so indebted & #underpaid that I want to go on a sandy hoax style spree in a kalispell, MT elementary #school 2014." There are only five elementary schools in Kalispell.

From then until his arrest six weeks later, he obsessed about mass shootings and terrorist attacks - which he invariably claimed were hoaxes and false flag operations perpetrated by Israel or the federal government.

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By February 12, 2015, Lenio was calling for the rise of a new strongman to lead a White supremacist movement in fixing the American economy, stating that he was prepared to go down in a hail of bullets while killing Jews. "USA needs a Hitler to rise to power and fix our #economy," he tweeted, "and i'm about ready to give my life to the cause or just shoot a bunch of #kikes ..."

Calling for a Chapel Hill-Style Mass Shooting of Jews

Lenio also seized on the February 10 murders of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to call for a Chapel Hill-style mass shooting of Jews in retaliation for those murders and for his sense of economic disempowerment. On February 13, he tweeted: "I think every jew on the planet deserves to be killed for what kikes have done to our #dollar and cost of living Killing jews > wage #slave." He added, "Best way to counter the harm #jewish #politics is causing is #ChapelHillShooting styling [sic] killing of #jews til they get the hint & leave."

"I bet I could get at least 12 unarmed sitting ducks if I decide to go on a killing spree in a #school," he tweeted on February 12. "Sounds better than being a wage slave."

The same day, he tweeted, "What do you think costs more in most U.S. cities? A gun with enough ammunition to kill 100 school kids or the security deposit on an apartment," he tweeted. Then he wrote: "What would I rather do? Be a #wage slave for the rest of my life or tell society fuck you & do your kids a favor by shooting up a #school?"

'I Bet I'd Take Out At Least a Whole Classroom'

Two days later he expressed a desire to emulate the shooting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina - in which a White man was arrested and charged with fatally shooting three Muslim students - Lenio wrote: "I bet I'd take out at least a whole #classroom & score 30+ if I put my mind to it #Poverty is making me want to kill folks #mental health."

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One crosses the line between free speech and true theats when one goes beyond scapegoating and conspiracy theories to threaten the indiscriminate shooting of 30+ school kids and teachers, as well as threatening to put two bullets in the head of a rabbi (of which there are only two in the Flathead Valley) to salve a sense of economic grievance and to advance White supremacy. There is also reason to believe that Lenio planned to put his murderous ideas into action.

Police found that on February 15, just after I reported his threats to law enforcement, Lenio had retrieved a cache of rifles and ammunition from his storage locker. He also had a loaded semi-automatic handgun with him in his van at the time of his arrest - along with extra ammunition clips and jugs of urine.

The First Amendment protects unpopular, crude, and controversial speech. But First Amendment protection is not absolute. Certain speech acts, such as extortion, false advertising, and true threats which would make a reasonable person fear violence and take precautions are not protected. Nor should they be.

In the Lenio case, the threats resulted in a nationwide effort involving FBI, police, and sheriffs from three states. Flathead County schools contacted every parent to let them know that the schools had enacted a security plan to respond to the Twitter threats, and extra police and sheriff deputies were deployed to guard the schools. When parents received the calls, they were scared for their kids, as any parent would be. And, for the first time ever, the Flathead Valley's synagogues hired security guards.

In an opinion piece for the Flathead Beacon, a Flathead Valley newspaper owned by Maury Povitch and Connie Chung, Rabbi Francine Green Roston and I wrote: "Each of us writing this piece knows what it is to be threatened by Lenio. One of us (Francine) is one of only two Flathead Valley rabbis and has kids in the local schools. Lenio tweeted to the other of us (Jonathan) to ask where his kids go to school. Lenio crossed the line between hate speech and hate crime." However, we presciently titled our op-ed "David Lenio Reloaded?" because the justice system was already bending over backward to show Lenio undue leniency unlike other defendants.

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In the "Hate in America" series produced by NBC's Peacock Productions for the Investigation Discovery channel, former CNN news anchor and Emmy-winning journalist Tony Harris teams with the noted civil rights advocacy organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), to showcase stories from the organization's files, including the David Lenio case, which SPLC's HateWatch has reported in detail.

Lingering Questions

Why did the justice system give David Lenio preferential treatment by releasing him into the custody of his wealthy banker dad without bail in July 2015? Why did the authorities fail to act when Lenio violated his release conditions at least 348 times in August 2015 even though 37 other Flathead County Detention Center residents had been rearrested for violating their release conditions? Why did the prosecutor and judge keep delaying the trial and finally agree to drop the felony charge of intimidation against him without any meaningful conditions? And what could be the significance of those jugs of urine in Lenio's van? Those are topics about which I plan to write more extensively in the future.

The same week Lenio received a deferred prosecution, a 24-year-old, mentally ill transient in Oregon (who actually was homeless, unlike Lenio, who merely pretended to be, while enjoying expensive snowboarding jaunts in the nearby resort in Whitefish) got 18 months in prison for making Facebook threats against unnamed police officers. However, in the Oregon case, the offender, Timothy Loren McCoy Fleming, didn't possess a real, working gun; he had an inoperable pellet gun. In contrast, Lenio had fetched a working semi-automatic pistol and a working semi-automatic rifle along with a busted bolt-action rifle and spare ammunition clips after making his threats specifically against a Kalispell grade school as well as threats to put "two in the head" of a rabbi, in a Montana valley where only two rabbis reside.

Meanwhile, here's an Investigation Discovery channel finder. Don't miss "Hate in America: A Town on Fire" this Thursday, March 24, at 8/7c. Also, don't miss the opportunity to visit Montana's Flathead Valley. It really is a lovely place, and the liberty-loving people there should not all be judged by a few White supremacists like David Lenio or by the head-scratching actions (or inactions) of prosecutor Ed Corrigan and Judge Heidi Ulbricht.

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For any attorneys reading this, bear in mind that Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan ran unopposed. It might be time for him to experience retirement or a least a primary challenge. Most Montana voters - including law-abiding and responsible gun owners - would agree that the lives of grade school kids and religious leaders are worth protecting by keeping guns out of the hands of a dangerous man. If Ed is not up to doing his job, then who is? Our kids deserve better.
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 14: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to his supporters during a rally at the PNC Music Pavilion on March 14, 2016 in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/ The Washington Post via Getty Images)

During Monday night's The Young Turks' live coverage of the CNN town hall, the main host, Cenk Uygur, took a few minutes to bemoan the lack of response by Bernie Sanders' campaign team, who the network has tried to 'ask a hundred times' to set up an interview with the candidate.

Uygur, Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola and the other co-hosts have made TYT one of the only major news channel that has consistently and objectively argued for the Vermont senator's positions during this election cycle, and has repeatedly exposed failings in his opponents' past policies and decisions.

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Today, The Young Turks is the largest online news network in the world, with over 2 million subscribers, over 60 million views per month and almost 2.5 billion views during its ten-year lifetime. The show airs live on YouTube every weekday and has a large, progressive audience, almost mirroring the one voting for the Vermont Senator in this election.

Uygur has extensively covered the Senator during the past decade, praising his progressive policies in Vermont and echoing his positions on campaign finance reform and wealth inequality long before the mainstream media ever mentioned these words. He also called for him to run for president years before the general public knew that he existed, and predicted a Bernie Sanders revolution when other news channels were refusing to even include his name in their survey polls.

It is understandable that Sanders currently prefers to address the mainstream media audience that is not yet inclined to vote for him, but there is only so much you can repeat on the same major television networks, particularly when they regularly attempt to portray you as a dangerous radical leftist.

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Sanders has, so far, done better than Clinton with millennials, but he has yet to reach the heights of President Obama's incredible run for office, which brought out record numbers of young people to the polling stations.

It is therefore critical for the Senator to reach out to his loyal supporters and to address TYT's young audience, whose presence is felt on the Internet more than any other demographic.

It puzzles me that in an age where online social media has influenced political events at unforeseen levels, Sanders' campaign still refuses to engage with the largest online news source of them all.

Bernie Sanders not appearing on TYT is the equivalent of a staunch conservative not appearing on Fox News. It just doesn't make sense to avoid your base and it has to change before it is too late.

It should be noted that Senator Sanders has spoken to Cenk Uygur before-- only this time it was in 2011 on MSNBC:

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I wear my excitement to be a University of California student about the same way the Belltower rings at 7 AM to wake me up for my morning classes every day: loud, proud, and almost to the point where it is cringe-worthy. A year ago, I received the news that I was going to be a student at the University of California, Riverside, followed by the adventures of choosing a major, getting involved with student government, and trying to understand how I can make $30 worth of Dining Dollars last for the remaining six weeks of the quarter.

One of my favorite parts of being a University of California student is the focus on social justice issues built within the content of what we learn. My introductory class to macroeconomics created conversations about the impact of Social Security and the Baby Boomer generation, the pharmaceutical industry and its monopolies, and the history of college tuition within the United States. "Politics of the Underdeveloped World", a course that I took in the fall, created dialogue regarding totalitarian states such as North Korea and the intersectionality of issues between the regime and social conditions, as well as free speech and controlled content. As a student, I feel genuinely more informed about the issues than what I did as a high school student.

Among one of our more progressive initiatives was mandating that students within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) take an Ethnic Studies class as a graduation requirement, in order to encourage better understandings between cultures. The courses, which range from Chicano Studies to Native American Studies in Comparative Perspective, are an intentional effort in facilitating dialogue between groups, understanding the intersectionality of issues that different races face, and innovating peacemaking solutions for generations to come. As students are exposed to the history that public high school classes conveniently forgot, they are given a new perspective to take for their professional endeavors.

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However, there is more that we can do to prepare our students for professional excellence.

Ethnic studies courses break students out of their comfort zone to understand the cultural complexities behind each race, but environmental sustainability courses force students of all backgrounds to understand the complexities that our human activity has done to the earth and its resources. Both are necessary not only for choosing the right career with companies that value both the people and the environment, but for being citizens of an interconnected, globalized world.

A required environmental studies course is especially relevant for students within the University of California system, as California is home to a variety of different environments with their own unique set of circumstances and issues that should be understood. From our agricultural production to the sight of natural nightmares such as earthquakes, the current drought, and sites like the Salton Sea, it is clear that the attitude of sustainability has been lost over time and is recently being rekindled. Our environments are so extreme that one could go to the beach in the morning, ski on the mountains at night, and come back to the Los Angeles cities at night for a party. Without a solid understanding of the current issues our state faces, we are preparing students to perpetuate the same unsustainable practices that we spend taxpayer money towards preventing.

It can be argued that an environmental sustainability course would not be applicable to all majors, which is a notion that I firmly reject. We need all minds to be geared towards sustainability, to use their passions and skills to end the systematic degradation of the little blue dot we call home. We need artists to inspire action within their different mediums as much as we need engineers to craft sustainable public transportation. We need journalists to bring attention to the reality of the climate change epidemic just as much as we need public health providers to cure those who have been affected by the physical effects of the heating of the earth's atmosphere. When the earth suffers, we all suffer, thus we all must develop a keen sense of awareness about the scientific truths behind environmental issues, the intersectionality between social justice and sustainability, and the way in which we could all be changemakers in our community.

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In which I continue my quest to find out how expert educators are viewing the new assessments their students are taking. In previous columns, I shared reactions to Smarter Balanced and PARCC. Today I report on two Alabama schools about to take ACT Aspire.

Last year was the second year Alabama students in grades 3 through 8 took the ACT Aspire, which is a test that purports to map whether students are on track to be prepared for the ACT exam. ACT, of course, is one of the exams colleges use for admissions decisions.

Aspire is thus quite different from the other "new generation tests" -- Smarter Balanced and PARCC. Both those tests were explicitly developed to test whether students are mastering the grade-level standards spelled out in Common Core State Standards. And a recent study by the Fordham Institute found that they do a pretty good job of it.

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But because ACT Aspire is not linked to a set of standards in the same way, it is much more difficult for teachers to be confident that they are preparing their students. "It is now more difficult to determine if we are on the right path," is the way Melissa Mitchell, principal of George Hall Elementary School in Mobile, Alabama, put it.

George Hall serves mostly African American students from a low-income part of Mobile and was recently recognized as a National Title 1 Distinguished School. Its results on the ACT Aspire last year were comparable to or better than the rest of the state.

But when I visited a couple of weeks ago, I found no sense of complacency.

The school's boundaries have recently been changed, and many of George Hall's students were sent to other schools. The school now has many students completely new to the school. This means that the students have a lot to catch up on -- and George Hall's teachers know it. Their new students haven't been exposed to previous years of the school's many thoughtfully developed units on motion and energy, the planetary system, the human circulatory system, and other science topics -- not to mention the units on American colonial history, the Civil War, and Westward Expansion.

Without the vocabulary and background knowledge developed in those kinds of lessons, they may very well be caught flatfooted when they are confronted on the ACT Aspire test by a reading passage that could be on any topic in the world.

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This puts children who arrive at school with little academic background knowledge at a distinct disadvantage, and that describes students at George Hall.

The same is true at nearby Dr. Robert W. Gilliard Elementary School, where Debbie Bolden is principal. Bolden had been assistant principal of George Hall during what Mitchell refers to as "The Transformation," when it went from being one of the lowest performing schools in Alabama to one of the highest. Bolden went to Gilliard to try to lead the same kind of improvement. It's been seven years, and the school is, she says, on the right path. "Teachers are teaching, students are learning. Students receive quality instruction."

However, she too is worried about the students who haven't been in Gillard for very long. Like many high-poverty schools it has a very transient student population -- of last year's 110 fifth-graders, only 15 had been at the school since kindergarten.

The transience makes it difficult to build the kind of loyalty and dedication that would help the kids take the ACT Aspire seriously. "At the very beginning of the test, we told students [as required by the testing instructions] that 'This test will have no bearing on your grades,'" Bolden said, adding that students often feel as if the test has no effect on their future.

And yet Alabama is considering whether schools can be labelled failing on the basis of one administration of ACT Aspire. Even when, as happened last year, a computer tool that educators had been told would be available to students -- a cut and paste function -- wasn't there, and all of a sudden the test, which is billed as an assessment of reading, writing, and math, became a test of whether students could type. Many students couldn't, and Bolden believes the school's test results reflect that.

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This year, students at Gilliard are learning to type.

But the core of instruction at both Gilliard and George Hall is pegged to Alabama's state standards, which are very similar to Common Core State Standards.

Both schools have been focused on ensuring their students are mastering state standards. Even though ACT Aspire is not directly linked to the standards, Bolden is confident that "if we teach the standards, the students will do well on the test."
Expat divorce (the term I will use to describe the breakdown of a primary relationship while on an expat assignment) bears many similarities to non-expat divorce. However, there are unique features that make it even more challenging. In the coming weeks, I will explore these challenges and ways people can better cope with them in a five-part series. Part 1 focuses on what makes expat divorce different.

Almost a decade later, Lily vividly recalled the morning when her husband told her that he was leaving. An ethnic Chinese woman, Lily was in her early forties when the bottom fell out of her life. She had met her husband Luuk, a Dutch expat, ten years earlier in Hong Kong, the city of her birth. She had followed him on his two subsequent overseas assignments -- to Budapest, Hungary and then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. By this point they had three young children and were on the second year of a four-year stint. Then over breakfast on morning, Luuk informed her that he was leaving her for another woman, moving out of their common home and going back to the Netherlands.

Like most people facing divorce, Lily experienced confusion, shock and devastation. However because of her expat situation, she also faced immediate, very hard decisions. Foremost, she had to figure out whether to stay in Ethiopia with her three children or follow her soon-to-be-ex husband back to the Netherlands. Going back to Hong Kong was not an option: She had been away for many years and had few family members or friends there.

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Ethiopia had become home for Lily. She had a good life in Addis and many close friends who tried to convince her to stay there with her children and let her husband leave alone. But there were many practical difficulties with that. If she were to stay, she would have to move out of their current home. She would also have to take her children out of the international school they were attending. Both were sponsored by her husband's employer. Lily was not working and had no financial resources of her own.

The only option that seemed feasible was to go to the Netherlands and stay with relatives of her husband's until she figured out what to do. That is what she did, and the months that followed were the worst of her life. She had no family close by, no friends and no support. She was not familiar with the Dutch legal system. She did not know her rights or how to fight for them. Her husband, more knowledgeable of the system, as a local, and able to afford competent legal representation, managed to get the divorce very much in his favor. Lily could only afford a state-appointed lawyer and ended up with no alimony, minimal child support and no share of common assets. "Nobody listened to me." Lily spoke Dutch, but wasn't fluent.

After the divorce, she had to work two, and sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet. "I had to live with my husband's relatives for quite a while because I could not afford my own place. I had no money and no job. I had nothing. I spent my days agonizing. Sleepless nights. I was lost."

Lily's case is hardly unique or extreme.

Divorce is hard in general, for a variety of reasons -- financial, emotional, practical -- and the challenges multiply when children are involved.

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Expat divorce is even harder.

Some of the reasons for this are obvious. Expats experience the usual challenges of divorce more intensely, mainly because the support system they would have had at home isn't there. If you are living in your home country when your marriage breaks down, you have resources for dealing with the practical implications. If you move out and need a place to stay, it is likely that your parents, extended family or friends will be able to help. If you need cash to tide you over or help moving to a new place, these people are usually there for you. They are also the ones who refer you to contacts that can provide legal advice and help you with the process of separation or divorce. You also speak the language, which gives you access to information about the practical and legal implications of divorce. Finally, friends and family provide an even more valuable resource: emotional support. They are the people you call up when you are not feeling well, when you need someone to talk things through or just to cheer you up -- no matter what time of day (or night) it is.

As an expat, you often lack that kind of support.

Yves, a French expat, experienced this when he and his wife, also French, decided to end their marriage while on posting in Southeast Asia. "As expats, we did a lot of socializing, but most of the relationships we formed were superficial," Yves describes. "We didn't have any true friends. Our family and true friends were back home, 12,000 kilometers away. We had to stay up late at night to be able to connect with them. We could not spontaneously fly home for the weekend. While Skype and email were great, we ended up feeling isolated at such a difficult time and had no way of diffusing the tension or looking for solutions."

Legal and jurisdictional questions also can be much more complex when you live in another country. Juliana and her husband, both Brazilians living in Austria, had a hard time figuring out what the legal framework was for their divorce when they separated. "There are government-sponsored agencies and websites that specialize in helping people who go through divorce," Juliana said, "but they are addressed to Austrian couples or those where at least one is Austrian. We were both foreigners who did not get married in Austria, so there was no provision for us. Even friends of mine who were lawyers could not point me to the right information. Eventually I had to hire a lawyer to do the research for me."

Other practical difficulties with expat divorce include what happens to residence and work permits after the breakup. If you are living at home, you can simply go out and get a job. Trailing spouses in expat situations often have no legal way to do that. They may be classified as "dependents" and therefore not allowed to work; or their residence permits, visas and work permits may be linked to their partner's.

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These are only some of the reasons why many expats either do not divorce or wait until they return to their home countries before they start the process.

While there are no figures yet for divorce rates among expatriates, it is believed that they are lower than the general divorce rate. The reason is that, given the severity of the consequences, both short- and long-term, many expatriates choose to stay in unhappy, unhealthy marriages because leaving them is so much tougher.

In the next part of this series, I will explore a fundamental, but perhaps less obvious, reason why divorce -- and relationship breakdown in general -- is particularly devastating for expatriates.
When Speaker Paul Ryan walks out onto his balcony on the west side of the Capitol, he has the breathtaking view of the National Mall sweeping to the west, lined with the monuments to America's greatest achievements.

As the Chairman of the State of Iowa Norman Borlaug Statue Committee, I had the opportunity to experience this thrilling sight as we planned the unveiling of the seven foot bronze likeness of Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and our country's greatest agricultural scientist, which took place in Statuary Hall on March 25, 2014, the exact 100th anniversary of his birth on an Iowa farm.

Straight ahead, I could see the Washington Monument, the symbol of our prevailing in the Revolutionary War and our first president's leadership as we threw off colonial rule. Directly to the south is the Jefferson Memorial, honoring the Virginian who served as our third president and wrote the Declaration of Independence. Along Constitution Avenue is the National Archives, which houses both that Declaration and the Constitution, the two documents that undergird the longest lasting democracy in human history.

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At the far end of this broad expanse is the Lincoln Memorial, the enduring tribute to President Abraham Lincoln's historic role in emancipation, ending slavery and keeping the Union intact through victory in the Civil War. Between Washington and Lincoln is the World War II Victory Monument, commemorating the unprecedented accomplishment of "the Greatest Generation" in prevailing in a two front war in the Atlantic and Pacific.

The National Air and Space Museum brings attention to extraordinary American innovation in the 20th century, first on the part of the Wright Brothers in carrying out the first manned airplane flight in history and then only six decades later NASA placing humans on the moon.

As I stood there, I thought to myself that surely most Americans would include all of these historic events on any list of America's greatest accomplishments. But, there are other significant memorials and monuments as well.

Reflecting the contemporary challenge of civil rights is the imposing statue of Martin Luther King, jr. the martyr who gave his life to bring equality and justice to black Americans. The new African American Museum will commemorate the tortuous path that the descendants of the first Africans who were brought to North America have had to follow as well as their definitive contributions to American culture. As such, it will be the latest extension of the imposing Smithsonian Institute on the Mall, which catalogues our history and place in the world.

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Also on the Mall are the Korean War and Vietnam War monuments honoring the valor and sacrifices of American military personnel in those difficult struggles and which, in the case of the latter, I participated. The National Holocaust Museum ensures that our national attention will always include and reflect the impact of the genocide that took the lives six million Jews.

But as my gaze spanned all of these incredible edifices, I noticed that there is one extraordinary American achievement which has no monument or national recognition - our country's amazing food production and the underlying pageantry of American agriculture. It is an egregious omission.

In the 10,000 years since the first farmers in Mesopotamia - almost certainly women - planted the first wheat seeds, human beings have strived to produce enough food to sustain all the members of their community. No country has ever succeeded in the way that America has.

Indeed, the combination of highly productive hard working farm families, the greatest ever assemblage of agricultural research scientists on the campuses of land grant institutions, the technological advances and innovations of American agribusinesses, and the programs and policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its extension agents, have all combined to produce crop yields and food production unrivaled in the world.

The bottom line is that in the past 60 years, America, through its domestic farm efficiency and foreign assistance programs led "the single greatest period of food production and hunger reduction in all human history."

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And yet, this achievement is little recognized outside the relatively small American agricultural community, and all too often the availability of food at quite cheap prices is taken for granted.

As I stood there, I took some solace that with Borlaug's statue ensconced in the U.S. Capitol, it would serve as a symbol of our extraordinary agricultural attainments. But it still seemed that a monument on the National Mall was missing.

So, at a recent White House conference on Raising the Profile of Agriculture, I proposed several additional steps related to Norman Borlaug's legacy that could further advance understanding of our great national achievement in agriculture, and, at the same time, provide the inspiration we need as we confront the greatest challenge our country and the world has ever faced: sustainably and nutritiously producing enough food to feed the 9 plus billion people who will be on our planet by 2050.

As we celebrate the 102nd anniversary of his birth, consider the following:

- Borlaug, the Iowa farm boy who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as Father of the Green Revolution and for bringing greatly increased wheat production to India and Pakistan as they faced imminent mass starvation, has been described as the, "Man who has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived."

- On the base of his statue in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol is the statement, "The Man Who Saved A Billion Lives." On the front are replicas of his Nobel Peace Prize medal, Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom. In all the history of our country, there are only three Americans who have received those three highest awards: Martin Luther King, Jr. And Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, both of whom have monuments honoring them on the Mall; and that farm boy from Howard County in northeast Iowa - Norman Borlaug;

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- Borlaug is arguably, in terms of life achievements, the single greatest graduate of the American land-grant university and college system, since it was created in 1862 when Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act providing federal land for a system of universities which would conduct agricultural research and extension and train engineers to build roads and support infrastructure.

- He is not just an American icon. Statues of Borlaug have been erected by farmers in Mexico and scientists in India. His last words "Take it to the farmer" was the theme of the Ugandan National Agricultural Fair. And, most extraordinarily, the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran held a special ceremony to celebrate the centennial of his birth.

- Borlaug was the founder of the World Food Prize Foundation that I currently lead. He created it in 1986 with the goal that it might come to be seen as the, "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture." Each October, on or about World Food Day (October 16), we welcome about 1,200 participants from 60 countries to Des Moines as we: hold our Borlaug Dialogue international symposium; present our $250,000 award;and gather 200 high school students and their teachers at our Global Youth Institute. This October 12-14, we will celebrate our 30th anniversary.

Given all of the above, I believe Norman Borlaug offers the opportunity to raise the profile of agriculture in America and inspire the next generation to pursue education and careers in agricultural science and STEM related subjects. To this end, I recommended at the White House that the following take place:

- Establishing March 25, the anniversary of Borlaug's birth in 1914, as the permanent date for National Ag Day, when traditionally farm and agriculture related groups, including FFA and 4-H, descend on Washington;

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- Encouraging all land grant colleges and universities to offer an entry level class entitled BORLAUG 101 on the history of food and agriculture;

- Urging those same institutions of higher learning to inaugurate or expand a World Food Prize Youth Institute on their campus, with a goal of reaching into every high school in their state, to motivate students to study STEM subjects and become engaged in 21st century challenges such as climate volatility; water scarcity; biotechnology; enhanced nutrition; and sustainability; and

- Making a public call to place a monument on the National Mall or Capitol grounds dedicated to honoring all those who made American agriculture and food production one of the greatest achievements in the history of our republic.

Such a monument could include Borlaug, with his links to several land-grant universities, but might also honor such other historic American figures as: George Washington Carver, the legendary African American agricultural scientist; Jessie Field Shambaugh, the woman school teacher whose after school clubs grew into 4-H; agribusiness pioneer and Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace.

Most significantly, any monument should also include a pioneer farm family, representing the thousands and thousands of families that have, over multiple generations, diligently worked the soil and built the foundation of America which enabled our country to endure and prosper and feed so much of the world. In that same regard, key crops and farm animals would somehow need to be represented.

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America has rarely been so bitterly divided politically, with the presidential and Supreme Court nomination processes exacerbating differences. And yet, in the midst of this acerbic division, Norman Borlaug and his legacy of combating hunger offer a rare opportunity to bring politicians, educators, business executives, NGO leaders and farm, agriculture and commodity group representatives together around a common objective - the creation of a monument to that one great American achievement that is not yet honored on our most important national place of recognition.
Luckily, on our second full day in Varanasi it stopped raining so we were able to wander outside to the famous Ghats. All the must see's and must do's are always great but for me, it's observing the local people in their everyday ways that really wins my heart over. No matter how rich or poor, skinny or fat, pretty or ugly, nice or mean one might be, seeing them in their zone is what helps me understand a culture on a whole new level.

As we were walking around, I did just that (obviously in a way that didn't get me hit by a car, trip over a goat, step in cow poop, etc.). I tried to capture a few images that might help you envision what we are seeing:

A shoe repair man...

Just two buddies watching people people watch...

A true balancing act...

Prayer circle...

A man focused on everything and nothing...

The infamous Cobra music player...

And my favorite of all, just chillaxin...

Once we approached the main Ghat, Dashashwamedh, we stood at the top of the stairs and just watched as this is the main artery to the heavily beating heart. Some people were getting their heads shaved on a random step, some were getting their beards trimmed, some were begging for money, some were performing morning Hindu rituals, some were asking "want boat ride, very very cheap", some were minding their own business (always love these kind of people).

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We took about an hour or so walk along the Ghats and as mentioned before, there are hundreds of them, all having steps that lead down the Ganges River. The Ghat that touched us the most was the cremation ghat, as you can imagine. This was an extremely powerful, out of body, surreal, eerie experience. There are only two in total, Harishchandra and Manikamika, and both operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, rain or shine, cold or hot. It is a true moment of where you're willingly face to face with death. Piles of firewood line the shore and the fires continually burn one body at a time. The process that we witnessed is as follows:

They bring the body down on what looked like a handmade wood stretcher. The deceased is dressed in new clothes and covered with flowers and garlands, which I'm sure have all been blessed. While the family members start to build the pile of wood, the body lies partially in the Ganges River, waiting for their final step in reaching Moksha. Once the pile of wood is perfectly formed, they put the body on top then add more wood, eventually covering everything except for the feet and head. The chief mourner, who is usually the oldest son (not sure what they do if there are no sons), walks five times around the body to represent the five elements of life - fire, earth, water, air and ether. He sprinkles Ganga water across the body, puts some sandalwood on it and then lights the fire. To burn a body, about 360 kg of wood is needed and the cremation lasts for three hours, give or take a few. This isn't for everyone to see as it definitely gives you the chills but we thought, when in Varanasi...

Something we noticed was that only men were down by the body during the cremation ceremony. We later asked Mayur why this was and learned that women are too sensitive (say whatttt? that can't be true) and when one cries, the soul of the deceased will cling on to them and it could interrupt their reincarnation process. Wow. Families don't view dying as a sad thing here. Instead they view it as a positive and hope their relatives make it to Nirvana. I'm still trying to comprehend it all. I have a few photos, which I later learned was not allowed, but to be respectful to the family and the deceased, I will not post.

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Wherever you go in Varanasi, whether it's the main street or random back alleys or the Ghats, there are animals everywhere. Eating, sleeping, chilling, trying to survive. Since this is such a holy city, killing the animals for food isn't an option so they multiple by the minute and there's really no where for them to go.

Goats all over the place...

Cows all over the place...

And even some pigs...

At night, we walked to a restaurant called Shree Cafe, which was back towards the main Ghat and had yummy food for only 350 rupees (a little over $5). Can't go wrong. Well, I take that back. You can go wrong since this is India and food sickness is quite common. But I think we are good for now.
CLEVELAND, OH - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to a gym full of supporters at Cuyahoga Community College during an election night rally in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday March, 8, 2016. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

It has been a bizarre election year. Donald Trump is poised to become the Republican's presidential nominee despite his blatant sexist and racist rhetoric and weird obsession with Fox News reporter, Megyn Kelly. Meanwhile, on the other side of the political aisle, history is being made with Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman ever to come within striking distance of a presidential nomination. Big primary wins last week were a major step forward for Hillary but pundits, instead of acknowledging this accomplishment, told her to smile and commented on her "shrill" voice.

As sexism reared its ugly head in this last week's news cycle, on Meet the Press the roundtable delved into how gender might play into a Clinton v. Trump showdown. Although journalists expressed that mudslinging around gender would not be tolerated in a general election season, I'm not so optimistic.

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As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is true for sexism in politics (and other realms) and although not as blatant today, this is one of those things which has been around for an eternity and an insidious "ism" that is persistent in our world.

"Sexism, unlike in the 1950's, has become more subversive in its nature. Most folks are not comfortable making overtly sexist statements about others, rather, they rely upon suggestive language," said Jeremy T. Goldbach, Ph.D., LMSW, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California School of Social Work and author of the Diversity Workshop: A Guide to Discussing Identity, Power and Privilege. In order to decipher whether the language being used is sexist, Goldbach suggests approaching it through the lens of whether someone would be willing to use the same language when describing a man who holds similar opinions.

There are other female politicians who have faced sexism. In 2008, Sarah Palin was criticized for accepting the vice presidential nomination while she had a young son with special needs at home. Donald Trump earlier this year famously mocked Carly Fiorina's appearance. You can go back even further in history to find other examples.

Eleanor Roosevelt, like Hillary Clinton, endured much scrutiny, and yes sexism, for her prominent role in politics in the 1930s and 40s. As I watch CNN these days and read excerpts of No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin it's easy for me to draw comparisons between Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt.

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The similarities between these First Ladies has been well-written about in news articles and books. Both were given prominent public roles in their husband's administrations. Eleanor was the eyes and ears of Franklin and toured the country to report back on public work projects and visited the most poverty stricken areas of our country during the Great Depression. Hillary was handed the task of leading healthcare reform and Bill was famously quoted saying, "When you elect me, you get 'two for the price of one.'"

Both First Ladies have had a major impact on world politics with Eleanor's work as an appointed delegate to the United Nations and drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Hillary's roles as U.S. Senator and Secretary of State. The parallels in their personal relationships and personas are also eerily similar with their husbands' extramarital affairs, their workhorse approach to their jobs and their aloof styles, which was the opposite their husbands' larger than life personalities.

Eleanor and Hillary were vilified for their outspoken roles and mocked for their appearance, which suggests sexism. Critics of Eleanor Roosevelt once said she should stay home with her husband and a 1940 campaign button circulated that said, "We Don't Want Eleanor Either." It's striking that today we remember Eleanor Roosevelt as a pioneer and revered as an American icon. This view may only be possible because the passage of time has softened harsh memories. Hillary will hopefully be remembered for breaking the mold of presidential politics and for things such as her 1995 speech at the United Nations Fourth World Congress on Women in Beijing declaring human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights.
American student Otto Warmbier, center, is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. North Korea's highest court sentenced Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student, from Wyoming, Ohio, to 15 years in prison with hard labor on Wednesday for subversion. He allegedly attempted to steal a propaganda banner from a restricted area of his hotel at the request of an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

On the Revocation of White Privilege in North Korea

"That's what the hell he gets. Good for him!" My mother had uttered those words in her typical matter-of-fact tone one morning as she watched the news. "He" was Michael Fay, an 18-year-old from Ohio who had confessed to vandalizing cars in Singapore, and was subsequently sentence to six lashes from a rattan cane. I was in sixth grade and all I could imagine was how horrible the pain would be. My mother was unmoved at the thought, remarking, "He earned that."

I thought about my mother's words a few days ago while watching video of 21-year-old Otto Warmbier, another man from Ohio who last week was convicted of subversion for stealing a propaganda banner in North Korea, and sentenced to 15 years hard labor. Just as in Fay's case, I was shocked by the severity of the punishment. I've tried to imagine spending a decade and a half performing what the North Korean state deems hard labor and I can't. But I'm not 11 anymore, and now, my mother's callous reaction to Micahel Fay's sentence is my reaction to another young white man who went to an Asian country and violated their laws, and learned that the shield his cis white male identity provides here in America is not teflon abroad.

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As shocked as I am by the sentence handed down to Warmbier, I am even more shocked that a grown man, an American citizen, would not only voluntarily enter North Korea but also commit what's been described a "college-style prank." That kind of reckless gall is an unfortunate side effect of being socialized first as a white boy, and then as a white man in this country. Every economic, academic, legal and social system in this country has for more than three centuries functioned with the implicit purpose of ensuring that white men are the primary benefactors of all privilege. The kind of arrogance bred by that kind of conditioning is pathogenic, causing its host to develop a subconscious yet no less obnoxious perception that the rules do not apply to him, or at least that their application is negotiable.

Headline after headline has highlighted that Otto Warmbier is a student. His LinkedIn profile states that he is majoring Economics with a minor in Global Sustainability and is a Managing Director of an "alternative investment fund." A man reared in this country who studies the globe as a part of his higher education curriculum must have been at least passingly aware of the notoriously strained relationship between the United States and North Korea. Surely he had read the stories of Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller, other white American men arrested in North Korea for "petty crimes" who were subsequently sentenced to hard labor.

Yeah, I'm willing to bet my last dollar that he was aware of the political climate in that country, but privilege is a hell of a drug. The high of privilege told him that North Korea's history of making examples out of American citizens who dare challenge their rigid legal system in any way was no match for his alabaster American privilege. When you can watch a white man who entered a theatre and killed a dozen people come out unscathed, you start to believe you're invincible. When you see a white man taken to Burger King in a bulletproof vest after he killed nine people in a church, you learn that the world will always protect you.

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Coming from a country filled with citizens who lambaste black victims of state sanctioned violence by telling us that if we obey the law, we wouldn't have to face the consequences, Warmbier should've listened. If he had obeyed North Korea's laws, he would be home now. In fact, if he had heeded the U.S. Department of State's strong advisement against travel to North Korea, he would be home right now. And if Eric Garner is to be blamed for his own death for selling loose cigarettes or if Sandra Bland is dead because she failed to signal when changing lanes, then Otto Warmbier is now facing a decade and a half of hard labor because he lacked both good judgment and respect for the national autonomy of a country which has made its hatred for and vendetta against America unequivocally clear.

And while I don't blame his parents for pressuring the State Department to negotiate his release, I wonder where they were when their son was planning a trip to the DPRK. Didn't they impress upon him the hostile climate that awaited him? Didn't they rear him to respect law and order? Did they not teach him the importance of obeying authority?

What a mind-blowing moment it must be to realize after 21 years of being pedestaled by the world simply because your DNA coding produced the favorable phenotype that such favor is not absolute. What a bummer to realize that even the State Department with all its influence and power cannot assure your pardon. What a wake-up call it is to realize that your tears are met with indifference.
When I attend a movie screening, I go in as a writer, but also a fan of movies. I take with me a notebook even though the theater is often too dark to write anything legible. Notes are taken throughout the entire movie so I can write a review that will not only entertain you, but help you decide if you want to spend $13 on a movie ticket. Tonight, the notes for my Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice review left me confused trying to decide if Zack Snyder's version of two emotionally conflicted heroes at war was a disappointment or a success.

I've felt since the beginning when the movie and cast were announced that you just can't take an actor with 20+ years of baggage, both in his public life and in movies, and turn him into Batman. It's too big a role, and every time Batman is on screen, I thought to myself: "Oh, there is Ben Affleck pretending to be Batman. When he's finished, let's ask him how Matt Damon is doing." It's not to say he didn't do a good job in the role, except that he didn't. Coming off as robotic and angry rather that heroic left me expecting more.

Affleck's Bruce Wayne, portrayed primarily as sad and self righteous, was more believable. Wayne's interactions with Jeremy Iron's Alfred, the comedy relief in this broken heroes tale, help soften the character. We're reminded Bruce is an orphan left with a broken heart. His need to right Gotham's every wrong is how he copes with pain. After 30+ years, it's unlikely Bruce will settle down and take his own happiness into consideration. Affleck does a good job evoking this.

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While in Africa chasing a story, Lois Lane is, as usual, in the face of danger, and Superman must come to her rescue. After doing so, he is accused of putting the Nairobi village at great risk and harming innocent people. There is some truth to the story, but it certainly isn't air tight. He has become accustomed to such finger pointing and tells Lois that the woman he loved was in danger, and he was able to save her life. This, in his opinion, is justification for his actions. Now the question is asked if Clark Kent can be in love and still act as Superman?

Amy Adams' Lois Lane was boring this time around. Snyder's direction caused her to play the "strong woman with a drive for answers above all else" act, which depleted her character's ability to show warmth and humanity when it was needed most.

An indignant Superman is the way Henry Cavill chose to portray the character throughout the majority of the movie. He attempts to follow the rules and laws of this planet until they hinder him from performing what he believes is his duty. Unfortunately, there are millions who are challenging him on this very issue. The main theme in Batman v. Superman is "Is Superman a god among men?" "Can Superman claim destruction in the name of protection?" "Can you be all powerful and all good?"

Alter ego Clark Kent comes off as a desperate journalist trying hard to prove Superman is doing the right thing. Sadly, the people around Clark have heard enough of his Superman justification, and his reporting on the topic has been called puff by Bruce Wayne. While this would be exasperating Cavill's performance left us wanting more.

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Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is feisty, fun and powerful. Diana Prince is well aware of her alter ego, but handles the secret with great care. Her short, but curious, interaction with Bruce Wayne is enough to reintroduce her magical sword to battle after a long time in hiding. Gadot's Wonder Woman is nothing like the version we watched as children. Her limited screen time doesn't offer much chance for criticism, but in my opinion, she was on point. Finally, another female superhero you'll be proud to know.

Villains: A Necessary Evil In A Movie Lacking Strong Heroes

And let's not forget the movie's villains. Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, has found a large amount of Kryptonite. His plan is to create a weapon to be used against Superman and those who could come from Krypton to do us harm, like General Zod's small army had done in Man of Steel.

In a scene where he chats with senators about his plan, Senator Finch, played by Holly Hunter, comments "for Homeland security?" to which he answers "No. For planetary security." The Kryptonite plot only thickens as Luthor is granted access to top secret information and locations where no evil genius should be poking around.

Jesse Eisenburg's Lex Luthor stole the show. His mumbly, stuttering, tic-filled demeanor gave us a look into the intricacy that is Luthor's sick mind. Eisenburg's ability to make you uncomfortable each time he fills the screen means he's doing his job and doing it well.

I've gone on and on about Callan Mulvey's role in Dawn of Justice. It was confirmed over a week ago he'd be playing Anatoli Knyazev, a Russian villain, but not much else was released. Even after a year of secrecy, we would still have to wait until the movie was released.

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Luckily, we get a big helping of Knyazev soon after the movie begins. He has numerous appearances throughout the film in one form or another, and in each scene, Mulvey delivers just the right amount of nefariousness. I was pleased to see him get the amount of screen time he did. I feared his character would be fleeting and that wasn't the case.

Doomsday is an unwelcome surprise at the end of the film. I don't mean unwelcome as the super heroes are upset to see him, but that the character lacks any ability to interest us. He was created with the body of General Zod and the blood of Lex Luthor, which is confusing even as Luthor rants on explaining it to Superman. He grows inside a pod and into a gigantic hideous monster that is nearly impossible to kill. The problem is he's a one-dimensional CGI creation. He is but a vicious dog unleashed to create havoc and bring together the movie's heroes. Still, it would have been helpful if we'd been given a few minutes to know him before he began ripping up the city. He is the villain in the final battle, but really offers nothing to the film.

The fight scenes are disappointing due to Zack Snyder's inability to create an action-packed, grandiose battle that comes across as at all believable. Although CGI distracts from the characters fighting the battle the good news is you probably won't care since it's still spectacular.

Although there is a lot to say about Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice that is "A+" material, it's still a fun movie that holds your interest. Another plus is Batman v. Superman is kid friendly. There is no sex, the violence is flashier than it is bloody or even upsetting and foul language isn't out of control if there is any at all.

Spend the $13 on Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice because it will entertain you. Just don't expect to walk away with much else.
I almost choked on my dinner the other night when a girl walked into the restaurant without any pants on.

"Oh my God, that girl is half naked!" I whispered to my friend.

As the girl came closer, however, it turned out she was wearing hot pants. Teeny, tiny hot pants.

"Who would wear those hot pants in public?" I hissed in disgust.

Upon further gawking, we realized that Hot Pants was actually wearing snug-fitting, flesh-colored jeans.

"Who would ever choose to wear a piece of tight, flesh-colored clothing?" I demanded when suddenly, from the depths of my memory, I recalled this picture:

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That's me.

Wearing a snug-fitting, flesh-colored turtleneck.

When I was fourteen, I traveled to Norway and while shopping for souvenirs in Oslo, I spotted a clothing store. Curious to see if Norwegian clothing was different from American clothing, I peeked inside. There weren't many differences, but there was a sale so I browsed the racks looking for something in my size. All I found was a plum-colored slip dress and this turtleneck. Once stateside, I wore the two pieces together with motorcycle boots and a teddy bear necklace. (Because I was a sexy beast.)

Eventually, I mustered up the courage to wear the turtleneck on its own with a pair of jeans and when I made it through the day without any comments I thought I was home free. It wasn't until a couple months later that a classmate told me that he thought I looked topless in the shirt when he spotted me from a distance.

Rule: High school girls who have already been gawked at enough for their bodies do NOT under any circumstances want to appear half naked to their classmates.

So with that, I donated the birthday suit to Goodwill.

Moral of the story

Eyelids. Thighs. Raw chicken. It is acceptable for these items to be flesh-colored.

Jeans? Shirts? Any other article of clothing? Please, put some clothes on.

Oh, wait... you're wearing clothes?
Human kind is poised on the launch pad of the most exciting, transformational age of space exploration since the orbiting of Sputnik started it all, back in 1957. Despite the forces that are unleashing a race to the stars unlike any we have seen, the subject of space exploration and utilization has been conspicuously absent from the U.S. presidential campaigns.

Why is this?

Space Exploration, particularly human spaceflight, has heretofore been inextricably intertwined with politics. Political/ideological competition between the United States and the Soviet Union fueled the race to put a human into space, in order to score Cold War victories by demonstrating technological superiority. The Soviets scored early and often, with several victories, including Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin's flight.* Not to be out-done, the United States declared a new finish-line -- saying that it would win the race to land humans on the Moon, which was accomplished in less than a decade -- one of the greatest political accomplishments and engineering feats in human history.

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The Soviets responded by flying the first space stations, the Salyut series. We countered with Skylab, and upped the ante significantly, developing the Space Shuttle. The Soviet Union felt compelled to develop its own shuttle, Buran -- and the challenge was beyond them, driving the space program of the USSR to its knees. After just one unmanned demonstration flight, of an incomplete vehicle, Buran was relegated to museums and boneyards, never to fly with a crew, never to fly again.

Since the first tentative steps toward partnership with the Apollo-Soyuz flight, and graduating to the Shuttle-Mir program and now the International Space Station (ISS), a political approach of collaboration over confrontation worked to build social, cultural, and economic bridges between the super powers, surviving even the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Cooperation between former foes continued, and still continues, although China changed the political and technical calculus in 2003, becoming only the third country in the world able to launch astronauts into space. China's requests to join the ISS program over the years were rebuffed several times by the U.S., even though our Russian, European and Canadian partners publicly voiced at least some support for the idea. There were speculations that China's entry into the human spaceflight club would spawn a new space race and give the U.S. program a shot in the arm.

But it didn't happen. In fact, quite the opposite. The United States retired the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011, and has had no independent means of launching astronauts into space since. The U.S. buys seats aboard Russian spacecraft -- thanks to the partnership that has withstood the collapse of the Soviet Union, the advent of the European Union, and the rise of China. This will hopefully change soon, as SpaceX and Boeing approach the first flights of their Dragon and Spaceliner spacecraft, which will carry the first commercially procured astronaut flights from U.S. soil, sometime around the end of next year.

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Still, there is a bittersweet truth. Since the beginning of the Space Age there have always been only two countries capable of launching humans into space. It is still true. Tragically, the U.S. is not one of those countries.

U.S. leadership in space, quite simply, has eroded. While there is no country that can muster the overall capability in all sectors of space as remarkably as can the United States, there are any number of countries that can do some things as well, or better.

Twenty years ago, 75 percent of the world's launch capability was manufactured in the U.S. Today, less than 25 percent is. Fifteen years ago, 75 percent of the world's satellites were manufactured in the U.S. Today, less than 20 percent are.

Why haven't our elected officials noticed this erosion? Or, if they do recognize it, why don't they talk about it publicly? The answer is that we have been so used to being the leader in space, for so long, that we take it for granted. We assume, without considering the evidence, that it is still true. Why make it a political issue? Don't worry! Be happy!

This is dangerous. While the U.S. has a vague idea of someday sending astronauts to Mars, sometime in the next 20+ years, China, Russia and Europe are planning, with firm schedules, to send their astronauts to the Moon in the next decade. Shouldn't we, the United States, lead this effort? If not leading, shouldn't we at least appear to be relevant?

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While many positive things have been accomplished in space in the past decade, we believe that one of the most ill-considered comments to color our discussion, has been "Been there, done that," pertaining to human lunar space exploration. Though not intended this way, it flippantly discounted a unique American accomplishment and a unique body of knowledge that the U.S. can bring to the human experience, and the great human adventure.

There are numerous technical, operational and programmatic reasons for the U.S. to go back to the Moon, as part of the effort to send astronauts to Mars. But, recognizing that politics motivate and drive all decisions, the warning klaxons should be sounding loud and clear to our politicians.

Other spacefaring nations will go to the Moon, with or without us. There aren't just two space nations playing anymore, there are dozens. If we don't lead that effort, another nation or nations will. This is important, as it partially reflects our overall position in the world. Losing that position would be a blow to our international prestige. We worked hard as a nation to achieve and to maintain leadership in space. It would be more than a shame to simply let it slip away.
Last night, my high school sweetheart and husband of 32 years, asked me if I was up for a "Date Night." It had been an exhausting day, but I mustered a marginally enthusiastic, "Sure! But, let's have a stay-at-home date night. Won't that be fun? The kids all have plans, so it'll be just the two of us!" Within minutes, we were dressed and headed out to a restaurant. Apparently, I couldn't sell him on my proposed 'evening in,' dining on Lean Cuisines and Skinny Girl Moscato.

Not long after, we were nestled into a secluded booth, in the bar of a popular restaurant not far from our home. The place was veritably humming with the vibe from a crowd of our area's Beautiful People at every age and stage of life.

Once we were comfortably seated, my perspective on the evening started to shift. It'll be entertaining to relax with a cocktail, catch up on one another and engage in some frivolous "people watching," one on my favorite pastimes. I was actually glad we had decided to go out, after all.

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When our drinks arrived at the table, we tipped our glasses to one another, took a big long sip and let the troubles of the day melt away...

Gazing out on the crowd and seemingly apropos to nothing, my husband mused, "I'll probably die before you, but if for some reason you die first, I don't think I'll go too young on my second wife. I'd probably consider a woman in her late 40s, but I find women in their 50s equally attractive!"

Isn't it invigorating to realize that, after over 30+ years of marriage, your mate can still stun you speechless?

Perhaps because the bar was dark and my face was illuminated solely by a small candle on our table, he couldn't see my astonishment. So, he continued on, animatedly describing my ideal replacement...

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"She will, of course, have to be intelligent, amorous and energetic. It would be a plus if she were a bit of a Susie-Homemaker type too!"

A little about Me (Wife # 1):

-- I'm 52, which is the new 40, by the way.

-- I exercise daily.

-- I wear my seatbelt regularly.

-- I don't drink in excess.

-- I don't smoke at all.

In short, I really hadn't planned on dying anytime soon.

But now, squirming in this dimly lit neighborhood bar, sipping my $15 martini, the desire to stay fit and healthy has taken on a whole new meaning. It seems my WIDOWER-TO-BE has great expectations, and has even tweaked out some pretty lofty requirements for his second wife. What's even more disconcerting, is that I think I'm actually feeling jealous of his post-mortem back-up wife.

Let's re-cap the REQs for wife #2:

This saucy little number in her late 40s or 50s, with above-average intelligence, is up for big fun in the boudoir, just as soon as she pulls her cupcakes out of the oven and scrubs one more potty!



Perhaps I should be ashamed to admit this, but I woke up this morning with a brand new lease on life. My will to live is stronger than ever, and it wasn't even weak to begin with. I jogged around the block a few times, did 20 pushups, 50 jumping Jacks, scheduled an overdue mammogram, a colonoscopy and a heart scan. Then I ducked into my local grocers for some vitamins, orange juice and and a can of SPF 80 sunblock.

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I'm definitely "in-it-to-win-it" now. I'm not taking any chances. My SUCCESSOR sounds positively "TO DIE FOR!"

Originally published on:

http://agingersnapped.com/http://agingersnapped.com/

Earlier on Huff/Post50:
We opened our eyes, once again, to yet another brutal terrorist attack. This time, an airport and a subway station in Brussels were blown to bits by radicals who believe that their actions are mandated by their God and that we--the infidels--need to be eliminated in order for their mission to be accomplished. It's a God of hate, not a God of love. A God who most of us don't understand.

But what the terrorists don't understand is that for every drop of blood shed, a thousand tears fall. These tears are filled with love, empathy and a drive to forge ahead, to continue into another nightfall, another sunrise, and welcome another day in spite of the fear that encompasses us all.

In writing this article, I Googled, "Why ISIS Does What It Does" to try to find something that would make sense to me. That would explain why three men--perhaps more--could walk into an airport with the sole purpose of killing people--and themselves--in the process.

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The closest I could come to an explanation is this passage from a March 2015 Atlantic article by Graeme Wood titled, What Isis Really Wants:

"Our ignorance of the Islamic State is in some ways understandable...We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of--and headline player in--the imminent end of the world."

When your goal is to be a conduit to the apocalypse, love is nowhere on your radar. But that doesn't mean that it's not in the air.

After the attacks in Paris in November, the people of the city took to social media with the #PorteOuverte, meaning "Open Doors," people offering other people refuge when officials ordered all streets evacuated. Love won that day.

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Love was Tweeted from one end of the city to the other:

I have room for stranded people near chatelet. Tell me if you're in need, #PorteOuverte. I have a home on 18th, I speak english and french #PorteOuverte #PortesOuvertes #PorteOuverte If you need a place to stay tonight in the 18th we can host a few people, clean bedding, tea, and internet if you need it!

Doors were opened. Beds were made. Tea was poured. Arms were extended. Love conquered hate as people worldwide bowed their heads and opened their hearts to the families of those lost and to the city who lost a piece of its joie de vivre that day.

And in the shadow of the Brussels attack, the slogan #JeSuisBruxelles (I am Brussels) rose from the ashes.

Offers of assistance were shared. Flowers were laid on the city streets and under banners. Free hotel rooms were offered to families and friends of the victims. "Brussels Lift" was created to help connect "people who need to travel with drivers who have empty seats." Offers of #ikwillhelpen (I want to help) were posted. Two figures embracing and in tears--one in red, white and blue representing the French flag, and the other in red, gold and black for the flag of Belgium--was drawn by Plantu, the well-known cartoonist for the French newspaper, Le Monde. Facebook reactivated its "safety check" feature. As the rest of the world said, "We are one" and "Pray for Belgium."

Love. Won.

So on a day like this when it's so easy to hate, we must swap violence for benevolence and remember to march forth with hearts full of piety. Love is the only thing that will overcome the evil that is infused in those trying to take peace, freedom and a sense of well-being away from us all.

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My hand is open. Open yours. Together we will persevere. In love.

___________________
President Obama is America's first "fully functioning, Self-determining" President in Havana, Cuba.

By President Barack Obama going to Cuba with First Lady Michele Obama and his daughters, Malia and Sasha they demonstrate what a "fully functioning, Self-determining" family can be. This is especially true given the relentless negative backlash the Obamas have dealt with during their years in the White House. Having the confidence and grace to go to Cuba as a family unit to speak peace is a clear point of demarcation in American politics and a lesson for parenting. The Obama's stopped the U.S. insanity towards Cuba. Parents need to stop the insanity towards children.



The Obama Family is exporting Peace.

As a parent, I was beyond proud seeing two intelligent, beautiful young First daughters step out of Air Force One. These two young ladies have been the shining examples of what being responsible is. Our First Daughters have never created any public scandals for their parents, our First Family or America as a Nation. This reality in itself indicates the Obama's have raised fully functioning, Self-determining children. Our children get to see their peers representing the United States of America in a classy way speaking peace worldwide. This is parenting by example.

President Obama's trip to Cuba is the line of demarcation for all people.

President Obama's trip to Cuba sets him apart from all other presidents before him since the U.S. embargo on Cuba was set in place. No other President dared to act against the financial and violent Cuban-American lobby that kept the failed US policies against Cuba in place by any means necessary. These anti-Castro lobbyists have conducted terrorist attacks here in the United States as well as high-jacking and exploding planes with civilians. To this day, these terrorists live free in Miami protected by politicians and civilians in America, not the middle-east, but here in Florida to be specific.

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But in the face of the 50-year-old stagnant destructive beliefs of lobbyists who have financial strangleholds on politicians that keep the U.S. Embargo on Cuba in place, Obama took actions only a mindful voter in today's political arena would do, he decided to transform US-Cuba policies with actions. Obama has embraced the same mindful distinctions required to raise fully functioning, Self-determining children to transform US-Cuba policies. Teaching children it's wise to change your mind after fifty years of failure is one of the biggest gifts we can teach our children.



What are fully functioning, Self-determining distinctions?

(1)To be a fully functioning person requires you to be able to practice the "5-A's". This means you can have a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime, about anything, anyhow and stay in the conversation. My two elementary school daughters will add you must do the 5-A's without throwing a tantrum. Way too many adults throw tantrums when they don't get their way.

(2)To be a Self-determining person means you have the capacity to learn new information, reconsider your positions and then change your mind and take new actions. Simply said, you make decisions based on what's best for the future, not a reaction to your past. You own "What hooks you? Is you." You become responsible for your reactions to what hooked you that have nothing to do with serving what's possible.

(3)Lastly, it requires you to honor your own words and the impact they have on others no matter what with respect for everyone involved. Breaking promises has become a way of life for too many parents, hence children.

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President Barack Obama is demonstrating all three distinctions by transforming our US-Cuba relationships.

Presidents Barack Obama, Raul Castro, and the 5-A's conversations.

President Obama is committed to conversations that normalize all relationships between the US and Cuba. This in itself proves President Obama thinks of what's best for everyone beyond the few who do nothing to end the failed embargo. Therefore, President Obama is engaging with Cuba's Raul Castro, in Havana, Cuba, in person, now. Obama is not waiting another fifty years.

The tantrums are coming from people who hate the Castro's at everyone's expense. Ironically they hate the Castro's so much they don't even care the only people they have hurt for the last half century are Cubans in Cuba, Cubans in America, and Cubans around the world. It's simple, if you cannot practice the 5-A's in an area of life, you are dysfunctional in that area. You are teaching the children around you to be dysfunctional.



President Obama is Being Self-determining.

For the last five decades the world has seen US-Cuba policies be high-jacked by a few people who simply have not resolved their emotional issues with the Castro brothers, hence they go crazy pushing anything that is anti-Castro. They cannot discuss anything positive towards Cuba hence they cannot have a functional or equitable conversation when it comes to normalizing relationships with the Cuban government.

These pro-US embargo against Cuba people claim they want what is best for Cuba. I assert that:

"If you want what is best for the Cuban people, you do what Cuban's in Cuba want. Cuban's want America to end the U.S. embargo now." Luis Moro

President Obama as a functioning adult creates solutions.

President Obama learned new information about Cuba. He then reconsidered it all and changed the positions formally dictated to past Presidents by a small Cuban anti-Castro lobby. Obama is not being hooked by the anti-Castro haters. Rather President Obama took his entire family to Cuba so the world could see world peace is possible right now. Today.

Now Obama is engaging with Cuba to create a new peaceful future for all.

By going to Cuba, President Obama is demonstrating that he has the fully-functioning, Self-determining skills to evaluate all facts, opinions, and options about Cuba, then make decisions that are consistent with what is best for the whole of the planet. At the very least American citizens can now take new actions that may alter the course of the failed 50-year old US policies and laws against Cuba. Our children do not need to live in the fear mongering past of anti-Castro haters.

President Obama honored his word with me.

When I first met then Senator Barack Obama while he was running for President of the United States in 2008 I shared with him how I spend my life lobbying against the failed U.S. policies towards Cuba. I even supported financially and campaigned for long time friends U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and U.S. Congressman Albio Sires with the hopes of them having a change of mind by seeing the decades-old US embargo on Cuba is not working.

My friends did not budge or even consider the possibility of lifting the US embargo on Cuba as an option. So I then simply followed a new path and focused on electing the a mindful voting candidate, then-Senator Barack Obama, that had the sense to say...

"Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is insanity." President Barack Obama -- paraphrase Albert Einstein quote

This simple, yet direct principle is all I need to know if a politician or person is a mindful voter. Many of us knew we needed a mindful voting politician to transform our US-Cuba polities. We believed Barack Obama would be the one.

So when Senator Obama shook my hand, looked me in my eyes, and said he never understood why we have these policies and he will do something about it. I knew I would do my best to elect him President of the United States. Our "Elect Obama Now" Campaign was instrumental in producing the most-early voters in the history of elections.

The following month after first meeting Obama I was invited to lobby our US congress and Senators to vote against the US embargo. My invitation came by way of Mavis Anderson of the Latin American Working Group. Mavis and her team are undeniably one of the hardest working, consistent humans rights organization in Washington, DC pursuing peace and justice in Latin America.

My value to the Latin American Working Groups extraordinary effort with so many people lobbying our political leaders was the history-making movie I made in Cuba, Cuba's Love and Suicide, the movie, which I personally gave to Senator Obama, his staff, and all the politicians our group met in the Senate and Congress. Cuba's Love and Suicide was the first time many politicians and their staff in the halls of Washington DC would actually see the real Cuba with their own eyes and experience the negative impact the failed US embargo on Cuba has on the Cuban people. The Cuba Film proved it was time to forgive. As world-renowned therapist Ira Israel states. When we forgive. That's where the freedom comes in.



Soon after another life long friend Vivian Lesnick Weisman finished her documentary, The Man of Two Havana's. This documentary revealed the facts and betrayals by the Cuban-American politicians who literally high-jacked and purchased votes in DC to maintain failed policies against Cuba. Her film highlights the heroic bravery of her father Max Lesnick who stood up against the U.S. Embargo on Cuba during a time where Cuban's here in America literally bombed his Replica Magazine offices and threaten his life and his family's life as their entitlement because of their anti-Castro hate. Hate only creates violence.



Obama is stopping the hate insanity.

Even in the face of decades of deceptions, lies and political vote buying, now President Obama did not become another President who continued the hate insanity of failed US Policies against Cuba. Teaching our children to not be haters is fundamental to creating peace on earth.

From my personal experience with Obama, he simply listened to all sides then made his own conclusions. Obama and his team are fully functioning, Self-determining (or fully formed, self-actualizing as some like to call it) enough to engage in any conversation, with anyone, anywhere, anyhow, about anything with the goal of "creating a-world that works for everyone, with no one left out" as Werner Erhard first declared.



What's next after Cuba? We Speak Peace Worldwide.

President Barack Obama has set the stage for a peaceful relationship between the people of Cuba and The United States of America. This possibility of peace will continue to expand to all people around the world. With the education available today, there is no reason to live a disempowered life. We can all speak peace. You and I simply declare "We Speak Peace"

An aspect of being a fully functioning, Self-determining person is you can actually create, start and engage in conversations with your enemy not knowing the answers, but with just one side committed to peace. One side that is determined to have both sides committed to peace. All you have to do is declare I Speak Peace for yourself. At which point you can practice the 5A's with anyone and stay conscious enough to embrace your personal emotions, set them aside, and focus on what is truly good for yourself and the whole of humanity.

World Peace is possible and there's a growing movement of mindful voters committed to speaking peace and creating world peace as a reality. But it will require all of us being fully functioning, Self-determining people declaring and generating We Speak Peace.

As a parent, I focus on creating a future where Air Force one represents peace everywhere she lands. I want future leaders like Malia, Sasha, my daughters Kylie and London, your daughters and sons speak peace as their lifestyle choice.



President Obama set the Peace stage with Cuba.

Now is the perfect time in history for our generation to be mindful voters and elect politicians who speak peace. The test if a politician speaks peace is simple. Are they for peace with Cuba or do they want to continue the failed 50-year old policies. Let's see if they visit Havana, Cuba seeking peace or continue hate that has produced nothing. Which do you want for your children? A leader who creates Peace. Or a leader who continues to perpetuate hatred. As Albert Einstein would tell you. Stop the insanity. Start Speaking Peace.

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I Speak Peace.

Luis Moro


Photo by Allison Shelley for Lutheran World Relief

By Rick Peyser and Nikki Massie



Lunel Calixte is a coffee farmer living in Carice, in northeast Haiti. Up until the 1980s, coffee was a good source of export income for Haiti, but recently, climate change and crop disease have created major challenges. Lunel says his family has grown coffee as far back as he can remember. But lately, his family has struggled. "At one point we had to cut the number of meals we eat to one," Lunel said. He also had to pull his kids from the quality school they were attending in favor of a less expensive, lower quality education.

Lunel's story is just one of many smallholder coffee farmers around the world who are struggling to make a living. But why do coffee farmers struggle so much?

Globally, there are approximately 25 million farming families growing coffee. Most of these families farm on small plots of land and live in poverty. This is mainly because the supply chains--all the steps from the farm to the final product--involve many people like processors and exporters.

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Unfortunately the farmer, who does most of the work, receives a disproportionately low amount of the profit made from the final product. Coffee farmers also often tend to rely on that single crop to support their families, leaving them vulnerable to a variety of shocks, including changes in the climate and global market.

As a result, coffee farming families tend to lack access to sufficient nutritious food all year, clean water, education for their children, medical care, and more. Another big problem is that farmers who grow these crops are aging (with the average age in the mid-50's) while young people are migrating to urban centers where they see better economic opportunities. These things all threaten the sustainability of coffee, which has the potential to be a lucrative and sustainable source of livelihood for many farmers.

Addressing these issues will take the coordination of various stakeholders--not only coffee farmers, but their cooperatives, non-governmental organizations and local/national governments--to address the factors we can control. These include:

diversifying crops on coffee farms to create more income and food security

working with cooperatives to provide better technical services to their members

helping farmers and cooperatives improve their processing of coffee and getting them involved in more parts of the agriculture value chain, so that they can capture more income from their coffee crops

Ground Up, a coffee & cocoa initiative of Lutheran World Relief, is helping coffee and cocoa farmers address the basic challenges they are facing and enabling them to move out of poverty. We're partnering with other community organizations, governments and corporations, like the Starbucks Foundation, and providing technical assistance that helps farmers generate more income from their crops in sustainable ways and helping farmer cooperatives develop greater capacity to meet the needs of their members.

As a part of this initiative, LWR is working with Lunel Calixte and other Haitian coffee farmers through our local partner, RECOCARNO, a federation of coffee producers. Together, we are helping farmers diversify their crops - for food security, additional income and for coffee tree shading - as well as helping farmers quickly identify and treat crop diseases, like leaf rust.

Our hope is that, by maximizing earnings from their crops, coffee and cocoa farmers will ultimately leave poverty behind. We also hope to help farmers diversify their sources of income to reduce their dependency on a single crop and market prices that are set thousands of miles away. By helping farmers to create additional sources of on-farm income, they are then able to improve and invest in their own productivity and livelihoods without external support.
As violence increasingly permeates rallies for Donald Trump in stride with the speaker's unrelenting animus against women, Muslims, Mexicans, and protesters, analysts have scrambled to interpret the source of his disturbing power. Cogent economic and political interpretations have been offered. However, deeply irrational group behavior also needs to be analyzed in terms of what we know about collective regression. The behaviors seen in Mr. Trump's rallies demonstrate that both leader and followers often seem to operate in a realm dominated by raw emotion and fantasy.

When large groups confront leaders with frustration, anger, and longing, different responses are possible. Effective leaders can draw on a repertoire of strategies to answer urgent group feelings. For example, they can demonstrate real understanding, give voice to the group's sense of urgency, and propose realistic courses of action. In short, they can acknowledge powerful feelings while also pushing back against them by offering something more in exchange. Sadly, for some leaders, riding the crowd's waves of emotion may feel intoxicating, and fuel a need for power and acclaim.

Group members may at times set aside their own individual "brakes" on aggression as they identify with a leader who not only permits or encourages "bad" or angry feelings, but who also makes expressing them "fun". In such a group setting, there can be immense enjoyment in briefly sharing "badness" in the guise of playful irreverence with others in the crowd. Stand-up comedians often add to their popularity by initiating brief suspensions of what is usually considered to be polite speech. However, for groups under the sway of a wilfully or unintentionally exploitative leader, this temporary suspension of civility can be whipped up into something more dangerous.

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Donald Trump engages with the crowds who come to see him with an initial sense of "play": "We have fun here at these rallies, don't we?" Many of his followers express relief at "hearing someone who talks straight", unlike the careful, "doctored- sounding" speech of some seasoned establishment politicians. However, the sense of relief and fun push into increasingly dangerous territory ("Really, enough of this political correctness! I am going to say it like it is!") into something more ugly. ("These protestors would never have been allowed to do this back in the day. They would have been beaten up so badly they would never have dared to protest again!") Such utterances, along with Trump's suggestions that he will pay the legal bills of anyone who roughs up a protester, are blatant appeals to an undercurrent of sadism that can co-exist with, but is quite different from anger regarding accumulated social inequalities or injustices.

Rene Kaes, a psychoanalyst who is an expert in irrational organizational behavior, observes that groups must learn to accept that members share different as well as overlapping ideals, goals and history. To accept difference means realizing that all group members are people with their own individual motivations and life stories. Once this basic realization is shared, it becomes more difficult to project group members' fantasies onto others. When it is not, groups become increasingly irrational, seeking unrealistic uniformity. When Trump labels people as "protesters", "Mexicans", and "Muslims", he encourages dangerous projective fantasies onto dehumanized 'others.'

Trump's recent requests that his followers raise their right arms to salute him constitute a further invitation to irrational crowd behavior. In a perversion of our political pact as a democratic nation, Trump's followers are being asked to pledge allegiance to a magical leader who promises to fulfill their frustrated fantasies. This leader will make us "strong", will stand up to those whom he classifies as our enemies. By encouraging followers to identify with his prowess, his gutsiness, his financial and political daring, they are made to feel more powerful.

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In this appeal to fantasy, Trump draws on several psychological sources, some universal and others specific to his followers' particular life experience. He rebuffs the hard-won efforts of women, African Americans, Latinos and gays to gain rights and recognition when he speaks, with a wink and a nod, about those who "weaken us". Among these, according to Trump, are women with their "bleeding "menstrual flows, African- Americans who whine about needing protection from excessive scrutiny and prejudicial treatment by police, and economic slackers who are seeking what has been rightfully earned by others. The insults are intended to provide former members of the middle class, who have felt left behind by diminishing American household incomes over the last 15 years, with a target for their rage. This approach feeds aggressive fantasies about "these other people" who have reportedly received preferential treatment that lead to ordinary Americans suffering unfair economic losses.

Trump also appeals to mythical "memories" that stir up very specific emotions. "No one would have gotten away with protests like this...". Such reminders of a purer or unsullied past are common among leaders who appeal to to universal longings for simpler times, but also to those voters who nurture anger related to specific historic traumas . Stirring associations to the Confederacy - a time when stalwart rebel ancestors nobly repelled Yankee (federalist) invaders seeking to dictate an alien way of life - stokes a mythic nostalgia among some Southern voters for a time when "everyone knew his place" in society. This kind of nostalgia has been described by psychoanalyst -diplomat Vamik Volkan in his study of nations that have, in generations or even centuries past, undergone devastating defeats in war. Collective memories of injury, humiliation, and rage are passed down for generations. Such "chosen traumas", as Volkan calls them, are easily accessed by descendants when they are evoked by current, often unrelated traumas that revive similar feelings of humiliation and loss.

Rather than focusing on practical solutions to pressing current problems within our nation, Donald Trump seems content to stoke intense emotions and regressive fantasies among his followers. In this way, Trump offers a perverse form of leadership, one that encourages a child-like flight from reality rather than inspiring shared aspirations for the practical solutions that our democratic republic desperately needs.
Two years ago, agents from the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) State Security kidnapped my father in Dubai, where our family was on vacation. I was just 16-years-old and had no idea what would happen to him. No one did. 550 days later, we found out that the UAE government accused my father, Salim Alaradi, of supporting terrorism in Libya. This meant that, if convicted, my father, a Libyan-born Canadian citizen, could receive the death penalty.

The UAE's State Security built their case against my father by torturing him. They forcefully extracted "confessions" from him that have been proven to be a sham. There is no further evidence except these pages upon pages of forced confessions. Knowing that their case against him was unraveling, at the peak of the trial the prosecutor abruptly downgraded the charges from assisting terrorism to sending supplies to Libyan groups, and collecting donations without the UAE government's permission.

Much of the media called this downgrading a positive development, but is it really? This change by the prosecution is further confirmation of how hollow the case against my father really is. Why would they downgrade the charges if State Security was so confident that my father "confessed" to his crime? Why would they change their tune now since they were so sure of my father's guilt? One would think that after 550 days of imprisonment, torture, mistreatment and denial of justice that the prosecution would at least know what kind of case it wanted to pursue against my father. This recent alteration is just more proof that my father's case has always been political and that the UAE's State Security needs to be reigned back into the realm of law and order. Lawyers are confirming that this sudden change of events is only an attempt by the prosecution to force a guilty verdict and to deprive him of his innocence and freedom at all costs.

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My father was charged along with several other Libyan men, and a few of them have already been released from the UAE's notorious secret prison system while several others were acquitted just last week. As a result of the acquittal in an identical case, the State Security's prosecutor realized that unless he downgrades the charges, my father and the other defendants will be acquitted as well. This is a move that breaches due process and amounts to an obstruction of justice.

The State Security knows that its reputation and authority is on the line here, as it has already become a black mark on the UAE's image. Numerous international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have routinely criticized the State Security's conduct. Successfully convicting my father of a crime would help the State Security justify its impunity, thus preserving whatever is left of the its claim to being the legitimate protector of the UAE's national security. Although UAE judges acquitted several defendants in a similar case last week, the prosecution is still hoping that these judges will buy into this new move in the case of my father.

My father has become a pawn in this political game. He is a Canadian citizen, a businessman, and the father of five children. He has a lot to live for and the UAE's State Security is willing to ignore these realities, all for the sake of petty politics. Despite the downgraded charges, my father remains unjustly persecuted and his freedom unfairly taken away by a foreign government. And even though the Canadian government has assured us that they've brought up my father's case to the UAE in high level talks, my hope is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will find it within himself to do the right thing and step in personally to call for justice.

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His voice is critical to my father's freedom, as it is the only sure way of raising the profile of this injustice in a way that'll yield an adequate response from the UAE government. I have tried to get the Prime Minister's attention multiple times, all to no avail. I have made a video on Youtube (it has received thousands of views) and have spoken directly to the UN about my father's plight.

Instead of getting a response from the PM, I recently saw a "selfie" on his Twitter page that showed him posing with the UAE's Ambassador to the UN. Seeing this really tore me apart, as I thought of my father, a man who, along with many other Canadians, has been tortured by the UAE's State Security agents.

My family and I put a lot of hope into the Liberal Party's promise for "Real Change," but we've yet to taste any of it. My father's case represents the kind of blatant injustice that should anger anyone who takes Canadian values seriously. As the global representative of these values, Prime Minister Trudeau has a civic duty to speak out on behalf of my father, a Canadian citizen, and anyone else who suffers under similar circumstances.
One of the reasons animal cruelty is so shocking is because these atrocities stand in stark contrast to the values of our culture and communities. In January, that cruelty reached a horrific scale during our rescue of nearly 700 animals -- many showing signs of severe neglect -- in Raeford, North Carolina.



These animals were kept on more than 100 acres at an unlicensed facility self-described as "'North Carolina's most successful no-kill animal shelter." It was called The Haven. But it was anything but.

On that broken-down property, nearly 350 dogs, more than 250 cats, and 47 horses, along with exotic birds and farm animals, lived in filthy kennels and cages, outdoor pens and paddocks, some without protection from the elements.

Their medical issues included open wounds, respiratory disease, kidney failure, emaciation, and many more debilitating and painful conditions that had gone untreated. We also found dozens of burial sites.

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Working with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Hoke County Sheriff's Office, we transported the animals to temporary shelters for medical care and assessment. By the time we were done counting, it was the largest companion animal cruelty case in ASPCA history.

But as horrific as this story was, the North Carolina community refused to let it end there.

During a scheduled three-day adoption event for the adoptable dogs and cats that began on March 18, nearly 3,500 people showed up from across the state and farther.

Cars jammed the lot, and overflow traffic was diverted to an adjacent lot. By 9:45 the first morning, at least 300 people were in line, and groups of 50 were ushered into a large tent where they filled out adoption applications. A loud bell rang out for each completed adoption.

Ultimately, all 524 adoptable animals went home with new families in just under 12 hours across two days -- a clear testament to the community's deep compassion and determination to right a terrible wrong. Some of these animals were old, while others required medication or had special needs. The remaining animals will be placed with our national network of animal welfare agencies, as well as our ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center, to best prepare them for adoption.

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Thousands of people driving many miles to rescue animals in need is not simply a community looking to help; it's a community connecting their humane values to the enormous value of animals, and committing to saving their lives.

We did our part by waiving adoption fees and providing free spay/neuter surgeries, microchips, and vaccinations. Members of our ASPCA Field Investigations and Response, Legal Advocacy, Anti-Cruelty Behavior, and Veterinary teams were also on hand to help answer questions about animals' temperaments and medical histories, and to ensure strong matches.

But ultimately, the weekend wasn't about our rescue work. It was about other rescuers -- like James Farrow and his fiancee Jessica Zavala of Lemon Springs, who adopted the first available dog, a red mixed-breed pup named Bentley. And Kim and Stewart Kruger, who adopted the last available cat, Avocado, as a gift to each other in honor of their twelfth wedding anniversary. Between Bentley and Avocado were 522 other stories of once-victimized animals, now given safe homes and new lives.

Communities standing up for animal welfare like this represent one of the strongest sources of hope for animals in danger and in crisis across the country. If such an outpouring of compassion can happen here -- at the site of one of the most deplorable acts of animal neglect on record -- it can happen anywhere.

The best way you can prevent animal neglect and abuse is by supporting your local shelter through adoption, volunteering, or contributions. The ASPCA turns 150 years old this April, but your role in animal rescue has never been more important than it is right now.

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(FILE PHOTO) In this composite image a comparison has been made between former US President Richard Nixon and his serving Secretary of State William Pierce Rogers. ***LEFT IMAGE*** UNSPECIFIED - 1971: American President Richard Nixon giving a press conference in 1971. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) ***RIGHT IMAGE*** WASHINGTON - 1969: United States Secretary of State William Pierce Rogers (1913 - 2001) testifes before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, DC, MArch 28, 1969. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, the drug policy field was set ablaze with Harper's magazine front page story, "Legalize It All: How to win the war on drugs," a cutting narration of U.S. drug policies, past and present, and a call for reform to legalize drugs.

Up front and center was a previously overlooked quotation from former top Nixon advisor John D. Ehrlichman, who died in 1999, but admitted in an interview in 1994 that the administration's "War on Drugs" was actually a reprehensible scheme to target anti-war protesters and African Americans.

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He says, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

Although this is startling news for some, the Drug Policy Alliance, partners and allies have been working for decades to increase public awareness of the disproportionate application of drug laws and the inhumane mass incarceration of Black and Brown communities, to push for criminal justice reform on multiple fronts, to recount the current racial disparities in marijuana prohibition and enforcement, like New York City, and cases of justification for police brutality like that of Ramarley Graham, but also noting that arrest disparities still exist in legalization states like Colorado.

This is all very telling that institutional racism is stitched into the fabric of the drug war and beyond, and its damaging influence has outlived Nixon's appalling legacy. The Harper's story goes on to say, "Nixon's invention of the war on drugs as a political tool was cynical, but every president since -- Democrat and Republican alike -- has found it equally useful for one reason or another. Meanwhile, the growing cost of the drug war is now impossible to ignore: billions of dollars wasted, bloodshed in Latin America and on the streets of our own cities, and millions of lives destroyed by draconian punishment that doesn't end at the prison gate; one of every eight black men has been disenfranchised because of a felony conviction."

The Drug Policy Alliance and our allies in the movement to end the drug war have long known that U.S. drug policies have been inherently racist and discriminatory. Last year, DPA gathered our allies in a Black Lives Matter National Town Hall to work on drug policy with a clear understanding of not only the racist history of the drug war but that work in racial equity must be a key tenet in dismantling it.

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On April 17, the eve of the UN General Assembly's Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS), scholars and activists will participate in a one-day symposium and strategy session that highlights the connection between the global drug war and racial injustice.

Brought together by the Drug Policy Alliance, and Columbia University's Center for Justice and Center on African American Politics and Society, we are inviting our local, national and international allies to join Dr. Carl Hart, Erica Garner, Mayor Svante Myrick, Deborah Small, Ethan Nadelmann and hundreds of the nation's leading advocates from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. for this unprecedented collaboration. It is free and open to the public. Those wishing to attend, can register here.

45 Years ago, Nixon launched the war on drugs, but really, it is a war on people. It's time to end it, and start repairing the harm done to millions of families and communities.

Melissa Franqui is communications coordinator at the Drug Policy Alliance(www.drugpolicy.org)
Eight years ago, while President Barack Hussein Obama was but a first-term senator from Illinois seeking the Democratic nomination, I was presented with a series of strange emails. The emails were an alarming mix of pseudo-Biblical prophesies of imminent doom to the United States of America, her allies, and to the entire global community should Mr. Obama become the leader of the free world. Several of these emails went so far as to name Mr. Obama as the Antichrist, the eschatological Biblical personality who would woo the masses and then usher the world into unprecedented pestilence and destruction.



In this current presidential election season, to the amazement of many, Donald J. Trump appears well on his way to securing the Republican nomination. Throughout his campaign, if he could offend someone, he has. He has appeared to mock the other-abled, labeled Mexicans as rapists, and proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country. Trump has even suggested a national registry of all Muslims eerily similar to the registration of Jews in Hitler's Germany.

Still, his political momentum has not waned. In fact, it appears to increase with each insult leveled at another group or personality. Most recently, he has invoked as a national threat the possibility of riots should he not receive the Republican nomination.

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What could possibly be the appeal of a presidential candidate who is an unrepentant demagogue, racist, and islamophobe? How is it that Trump has so easily discarded Republican opponents with legitimate records of public service when he possesses none? I believe the answer is found entangled in the emailed propaganda I read eight years ago.

For every Antichrist, there must be a Christ. After the Antichrist, comes a Messiah to redeem the land and to save the people from the wrath. In the peculiar space that is the fringes of Christian fanaticism and pseudo-Biblical prophecy, Trump is as God.

Whiteness and deity have long been married in the West. From Michelangelo's 1512 fresco of a white and white-bearded God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to American artist Warner Sallman's 1941 Head of Christ, a deity possessing European features has been the most prevailing image of the Christian God for over 500 years. In an interview concerning his 2012 book with Paul Harvey, The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America, Edward J. Blum offered that the image of a white Christ trumped Scripture for the Ku Klux Klan and was readily employed to justify their racial violence. Blum stated, "The belief, the value, that Jesus is white provides them an image in place of text."

If Obama be conceived as the Antichrist, for those gathering in rallying mass in support of Trump's presidential bid, Trump is much more than a presidential candidate. In Trump, they see a national savior, a kinsman redeemer, one who now comes to reclaim and to restore America to its supposed former glory. Trump is a white Christ formed in the image of white supremacy, a prophet of American exceptionalism.

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And like an evangelistic revival, Trump comes preaching the white gospel of supremacy. His singular sermonic topic is "Make America Great Again." This is a coded message for taking control of an increasingly diversifying nation and returning it to a time where, in Trump's own words, "You know what they used to do [to protestors] like that when they got out of line? They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks."

As such, Dr. Ben Carson, Senator Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, and Senator Mario Antonio Rubio never stood a chance at securing the Republican nomination. Although they are Republicans, they are wholly other: an African American and two Latinos. While they, too, can, and have, preached the gospel of white supremacy, they can never be the white Christ.

In this peculiar presidential election season, race is as God. Trump is without any meaningful text. He has not presented any substantial policy or platforms. Honestly, he does not need to. People are not voting for Trump as much as they are voting for the image he reflects.

A multitude of political commentators did not initially take Trump's campaign seriously. They believed that Trump would find little appeal among the American electorate. However, the writing for a successful campaign had long been written on the wall. It began long before a self-avowed Christian and Ivy-league graduate of interracial parentage was castigated by birthers and islamophobes - among whom Trump was and is still counted - as a Kenyan-born Muslim. It began when this black man, our president, was called the Antichrist, the very personification of evil in the world.

This Holy Week began with Palm Sunday which commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem. It remains to be seen if Trump will have his own triumphant entry come this November. For some, the political stage has been set for a white Messiah.

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People light candles in the shape of a heart outside the stock exchange in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

When the train lost power, I immediately thought mechanical failure. When the security, metro staff, and police instructed us to evacuate, I thought it was just a precaution. It was after all just one hour ago that bombs had detonated at Brussels Zaventem airport. When I smelled the smoke, my New York mind was telling me it was just a track fire. It wasn't until I reached the street that the reality began to set in.

As we were ushered through the streets by police, I looked around. In the shadow of the European Commission on Rue de la Loi, I would not describe the scene as chaotic, or pandemonium, but a controlled sense of urgency. Some scenes you might expect to see in a Hollywood movie, and others that you never imagined you would see in real life.

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Evan Lamos/EurActiv, via AP

We continued walking by, as some began staring into their mobile phones and speaking with security workers in hopes to learn more about what had transpired. There were paramedics and other first responders attending to injured citizens on the sidewalk, police working to block off ordinarily bustling streets, friends, sisters, cousins and all diverse types of people working together to usher their neighbors out of the smokey entrance of Maelbeek station. Something terrible had infiltrated the Brussels Bubble.

"Though it is an extremely rainy city by some standards, I do not believe it is possible to steal the sunshine from the heart of Brussels."

The terror threat levels had been high since the Paris attacks of November 13. During my walk home through criss-crossed streets with my ears decoding the symphony of sirens, I realized that it doesn't seem to matter how much they tell you in the news, or how "prepared" you believe you are.

When something terrible like this happens, how ready can you actually be?

We may never know the answer to that question, I most certainly will not. But through my observation there is one thing I know for sure. Though it is an extremely rainy city by some standards, I do not believe it is possible to steal the sunshine from the heart of Brussels. This is a city so full of life and energy, driven by people from all over Europe and even the world.

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The Belgian people have been so welcoming of me and my family, so glaringly compassionate and active in my community, and so understanding of the clumsy French and non-existent Flemish skills of foreigners like myself. If there is a place and a people that can come together in a tragic time like this, it is Brussels, and it is the Belgian people.
CAIRO, March 6, 2016 : A number of Egyptian political activists organize a sit-in at downtown Cairo's Journalists Syndicate calling for the release of revolutionary activists jailed by Egyptian police, Egypt, March 6, 2016. (Xinhua/Meng Tao via Getty Images)

This article could not be published in Egypt. At least that's my understanding of the gag order a judge, Hesham Abdel Meguid, imposed on reporting or commenting on the criminal case against independent civil society organizations in Egypt after meeting with President Sisi and his senior intelligence and security advisors.

So much for judicial independence from the executive branch.

Strangely, Sisi seems to believe that suppressing reporting about the case, which is an outrageous violation of the Egyptian Constitution and of international human rights treaties, will help protect Egypt's image abroad.

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I have bad news for President Sisi. Gagging the press tends to make people think that there must be something to hide, and in this case they would be right. The Egyptian government is in the process of wiping out the independent human rights movement in Egypt. This movement has developed slowly over the past 30 years, sometimes under difficult circumstances and always in the face of a restrictive legal environment.

Pressure has been mounting on independent civil society activists in Egypt for months--with death threats driving activists into exile, arbitrary travel bans, raids on NGO offices, threatened asset freezes, and the resuscitation of Case No. 173. That's the so-called NGO Foreign Funding Case, which resulted in sentencing 43 Egyptian and foreign employees of human rights and democracy promotion organizations to prison in 2013 and closing the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, Freedom House, the International Center for Journalists and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Now the same investigation, driven by security and intelligence agencies, is on the verge of presenting charges against some 37 independent civil society organizations, including Egypt's most active and prominent human rights organizations: the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, and the United Group. All of these groups have been targeted in recent weeks.

This severe escalation of the threat against independent civil society organizations, coming at a time when activists fear not just prosecution and imprisonment, but also abduction, disappearance, and brutal treatment in secret detention centers, prompted Secretary of State John Kerry to express concern about the situation last Friday evening.

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This was a welcome change of tone from Kerry--who has been studiously ignoring the disastrous course of events in Egypt for years--but it will not be enough to save Egypt's beleaguered human rights community. That will require a stronger reaction from U.S. policy makers, including from President Obama, and tangible policy steps from Congress and the administration. They should give notice to the Egyptian government that shutting down independent civil society will carry a cost--such as withholding foreign assistance, including an annual $1.3 billion in military aid.

Some may object that withholding foreign assistance to protect Egyptian civil society might harm U.S. security interests. The opposite is true.

Over the past year the administration has been promoting a new global initiative to counter violent extremism. The CVE initiative, which promotes a preventive, civilian centered approach to combatting terrorism, comes out of the recognition that traditional, security-centric hard approaches to combatting terrorism have not worked and are insufficient to prevent the emergence of new terrorist threats. The preventive CVE approach depends on safeguarding space for independent civil society organizations to operate and express their views.

Egypt's ominous steps to obliterate its human rights community run directly counter to Obama's CVE strategy, which has been supported by over 120 states, including in theory--although obviously not in practice--the government of Egypt. The U.N. Secretary General has launched his own Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism which also emphasizes the vital importance of independent civil society in the endeavor.
I am a Muslim.

I don't generally wear that fact on my sleeve, and I try not to write too much on the subject.

Not anymore, and not in any big way.

It's important to me, it informs every aspect of my life and identity--but there are better folks than I who may pull apart the great nexus of poverty, ideology, instability, and war that have come to define the Western understanding of our faith.

I'm just a random guy on the internet--basically that guy you kind of know that occasionally posts on your timeline.

But when I was a younger man, a younger Muslim, and a younger journalist (if you can call what I'm doing journalism, I suspect you can't--but that is perhaps another blog for another day); I tried on occasion to "defend" my religion.

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Or deen, as the word is rendered in the Arabic language. A word that is a more encompassing idea than mere religion; a word that touches on worldview, lifestyle, and the psychology of the Muslim.

My desire to champion Islam--the sort of Islam that reached into my darkest days and restored my sense of self--has cost me a few premature grey hairs and more than one sleepless night. It even caused me to join the U.S. Army, at 18, in the hopes of showing a kind of mindful patriotism--that effort didn't pan out, nor have all the others.

I'm not that bright, nor that convincing, and I am no Atlas that the world might rest on my shoulders.

At some point in the last decade, I gave up my crusade. Or jihad. Whichever word draws the eye most sharply to the emotions I am struggling to convey.

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I contented myself with the notion that if I could prove to my friends and colleagues that I might be a fair and decent man, their opinion of our world--our ummah--might in some way improve. Or at least grow more nuanced.

I still believe that, and that is my struggle now.

I offer you the perspective of the layman, not of the Imam or alim, just a Muslim guy in New Orleans--riding the streetcar to the grocery store or arguing with the metermaid.

When a terrorist attack happens now--whether it is in Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, or Ankara--I no longer take to social media to charge head first into the onslaught of virtual Ted Cruzs.

I've gotten in the habit of taking a walk instead, and reading the Qur'an.

This is my meager contribution to the war effort; nothing to be compared to the sacrifices of those Muslims staring across a firing line at ISIS's henchmen in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, and elsewhere.

But this is a war not just of bullets and bombs, but one most chiefly of thought--and every inch of intellectual ground devoured by the enemy is one less inch my brothers, sisters, and I have to stand on.

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This is what I read this morning; it gave me solace in a way I can't quite explain. I hope it informs you, a little bit, of who we are and how we are feeling.

From the second chapter of the Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah;



"There is a type of man whose speech about this world's life may dazzle you, and he calls on Allah to witness about what is in his heart; yet he is the most perverse of enemies. When he turns his back, his aim is to spread discord through the Earth, to destroy the people's wealth and to kill their children--but Allah loves not his evil." 2:204-205.

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Allah loves not your evil.
In his essay "The Idea of Europe", George Steiner, the pre-eminent writer and cultural philosopher, writes about how Europe is made up of coffeehouses, how cafes are its essential markers.

"In the Milan of Stendhal, in the Venice of Casanova, in the Paris of Baudelaire, the cafe housed what there was of political opposition, of clandestine liberalism... Danton and Robespierre meet one last time the Procope. When the lights go out in Europe, in August 1914, Juares is assassinated in a cafe. So long as there are coffeehouses, the 'Idea of Europe' will have content."

When the news of the bombings here in Brussels first arrived, I instinctively reached for my bag to head to my most frequented cafe. It is there that I will answer all the messages I see piling up, from concerned loved ones in cities as far off as New Delhi and New York. I will tell them that I am alive, and so is Peter, my partner, that we are both "safe". I would only use those inverted commas in my head when considering that four-letter word, a word that means everything and nothing these days. And yes, of course we are staying indoors, don't worry, I will lie.

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That is exactly what I do -- head to my cafe. Fifteen minutes in, the barista girl with the familiar face who draws flowers and hearts with milk foam on my cappuccino, tells each customer, in a tone that implies apology but betrays something else, that they are closing for the day. "A cause de l'attentat" -- due to the attacks," she says. I am horrified. More than I should be at this announcement of the cafe closing. It is as if she has just told us that this Idea of Europe, we're closing it now. It won't work today. Try coming back tomorrow to see if it's all still here.

I try hard not to think of George Steiner and his words.

Back home, I am on social media, as is everyone else I know. The memes appear a bit too quickly -- the Belgian flag overlay, Tintin in tears, fries arranged to show a defiant middle finger to the attackers. Even Manneken Pis, Brussels' little peeing boy mascot, shown peeing on a bomb to diffuse it. Were we that prepared for something like this to happen? Or is it just that some people are very quick with graphic design? I wonder because it just feels like it is happening more quickly than it should. We were doing this for Paris just four months ago.

Ah, social media! That great echo chamber where, in times like these, we tell people with beliefs exactly like those of ours how terrible it is that there are people who have other beliefs. Other beliefs that involve murdering people going to work in the metro or boarding a flight, people with everyday hopes and dreams. Yet how comforting it is to be on Facebook right now, as if we're all trying to say, "These attacks? No matter. Humanity survives. Here's proof. In words and images."

More concerned messages, calls. TV channels playing the stories in a loop and the count of the dead and injured inching up by the quarter hour. I can't reach Peter on the phone but we text -- thank heavens for these luxuries that technology affords us.

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A friend from Amsterdam text to check in. He thinks this is bound to happen in Holland as well. His resignation makes me want to cry, given he is one of the more life-affirming and fearless people I know.

I try to ward off thoughts of the aftermath. The havoc this will play on our ideas of freedom and security, and why we can't have both, entirely. The voices that will appeal for a police state and for being wary of the Other, now much louder and falling on more vulnerable ears.

When Peter comes home at an unusually early hour, we decide to head out for a walk. A few hundred other people have had the same idea and are all gathering at the Bourse, the two-hundred year old building in the heart of Brussels, which is soon to be turned into a beer museum. There are candles, flowers, flags, TV cameras and enough defiance to offset any fear.

We don't usually hold hands on the street -- public displays of same-sex affection are less common here than in a place like New York City -- but today we break the unspoken rules. Two defiant homos on the main square, in a community mourning ritual to grieve for people we didn't know, but could have. Lives lost too soon, that shouldn't have.

As night falls, and there is the shadow of a light rain, people start to head home, and we do the same. On the unusually deserted street leading up to our building, a young man on a bike stops us. He fishes out two pieces of paper from his bag. We exchange puzzled looks with this stranger and then, looking at the paper, realize that we are looking at a poem he has written about what just happened. This evening, he is going to bike around town sharing this with anyone he can.

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This stranger says something in French, which I don't entirely understand, partly because I am still staring at his poem and partly because this is all still a bit too surreal. Just before he pedals off, he gives me a look, a look held ever so slightly longer than normal, in these not normal times. A look that, to be understood, does not require that we speak the same language.

A look that reminds me, vaguely, of a Rumi quote. Something to do with wound and light.

"The wound is the place where the light enters you."

Looking at this stranger's poem, I decide I will head back to my cafe tomorrow morning.
It wasn't long ago that we were Paris, standing in solidarity against terrorism when it happens in one of the most beautiful, pristine, impeccable places that we can think of. If Paris -- the city of locks and towers and baguettes and love, a place for Americans and Europeans to escape to, a symbol of an idyllic world -- can be violated, then we lose our security. We lose our presupposed safety. We lose a part of our developed world.

And now, with Brussels, our Western world is threatened again. If they can get Brussels, they can get you. You, in a restaurant, in a subway, in your home. These are places we are used to. These are countries we have been to. These are deaths that matter.

Because it's easy to show solidarity with cities to which we find similarities. It's human nature - if someone hurts a person unrelated to you, you are unlikely to care. If someone hurts your classmate, you are more likely to care. That classmate is like you in some way - be it in location, socioeconomic status, or the fact that you know their name and they know yours. There is familiarity.

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But one day before Paris, there was a suicide bombing in Beirut that killed 43. One day after Paris, a bombing in Nigeria killed over 34 people. In 2016 mass terrorist attacks have murdered people in Nigeria and Turkey. Over 800 were killed in one chemical attack in Iraq. But Nigeria and Turkey aren't a part of our world, and we're used to violence in Iraq.

These things do not register with us in the same way that Paris or Brussels do, either because we do not hear the name of the country enough, or we hear it too often associated with violence. It is as if we only pay attention to those places familiar to us in some positive light. It is as if these are the only places where death matters.

I do not ask that we post a new hashtag for each of the hundreds of attacks that happen each year. I do not ask that we minimize the horror of Paris or Brussels, or the suffering of those affected by the attacks. I do not ask that we cease standing united against terrorism.

I simply ask that we pay attention.

The violence that occurs often in the Middle East matters not despite, but because of its frequency. The violence that occurs in Cameroon matters even though many Americans cannot place Cameroon on a map. The violence in Peshawar matters and keeps happening over and over - but we do not pay attention.

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I ask you not to pray for every country, but to be conscious of those attacks that occur worldwide. I ask international news sites to report incidents worldwide and to place articles on the front page if hundreds die, not if hundreds die in a country we were hoping to travel to for summer break. And I ask you to read, to stay informed.
Peter Matthiessen's life and work spanned continents, cultures and controversies. A renowned historian, CIA spook and celebrated author, he is the only writer ever to win a National Book Award for Nonfiction ("The Snow Leopard," 1979) as well as for Fiction ("Shadow Country," 2008).

Many writers consider Mattheissen one of the finest practitioners of the craft in the last half-century. Born into the East Coast establishment, Matthiessen ran from it, and in the running became a novelist, a C.I.A. agent, a founder of The Paris Review, author of more than 30 books, a naturalist, an activist and a master in one of the most respected lineages in Zen.

As early as 1978, The New York Times referred to him as a "throwback," because he always seemed to be of a different, earlier era, with universal, spiritual and essentially timeless concerns.

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Mattheissen was born in New York 89 years ago this week. He studied at Yale and at the Sorbonne in Paris, and in 1951 he co-founded "The Paris Review." His early novels didn't sell well, and Matthiessen returned to New York and worked as a commercial fisherman until the late 1950s, when he began writing non-fiction for magazines.



Mattheisen with a snow leopard kitten. Mountain Magazine photo



He traveled and published the book Wildlife in America in 1959. His lifelong interest in ornithology informed much of his life's work. By the time of his death, Matthiessen was recognized as one of America's best nature writers, but his real love was fiction.

His non-fiction books included "Cloud Forest: A Chronicle of the South American Wilderness," (1961) and "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," (1983) and "Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark,"(1971). His novels include "Far Tortuga," (1975), "In Paradise," (2014) and "Shadow Country," a combination of his Watson Trilogy -- "Killing Mr. Watson," (1990), "Lost Man's River," (1997) and "Bone by Bone," (1999) -- that won the National Book Award in 2008.

"I like to be out there on the edge with people who, as I say somewhere, haven't got time to be neurotic," he once said.

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His work inspires reverence from other writers. Naturalist and writer Rick Bass describes Mattheissen as "one of my greatest literary heroes. Like so few writers in the world, the quality of his work has been matched by the extraordinary length of his career. The older he gets, the better he gets, and he started out very good. The breadth of his mind--his curiosities and passions--has led him to wildly different subjects, in fiction and nonfiction, with the result that wonderfully varied tribes of readers claim him as their own."

Perhaps that's what attracted him to the fraught topics of some of his books: "At Play in the Fields of the Lord," for instance, which focused on clashes between religions and government in the Amazon jungle and prominently featured the use of the hallucinogen Ayahuasca, or 1983's "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," which detailed the FBI's attacks on the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.



Exploring Papua New Guinea, 1961. Mattheissen is third from left. Second from left is Michael Rockefeller, a videographer on the expedition who never returned. Photo by Eliot Elisofon, Peabody Museum, Harvard College.

A number of lawsuits followed the publication of "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," which resulted in a decade-long delay for the book's paperback edition. He described the book as being "written for a cause."

"All of these advocacy books contain good stuff," he said, "but I had to work on them especially hard because, from a literary point of view, they came from the wrong place."

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Matthiessen explained to "The Paris Review" what it is like to work both sides of the fiction / nonfiction divide:



"I am a writer. A fiction writer who also writes nonfiction on behalf of socialand environmental causes or journals about expeditions to wild places. I have written more books of nonfiction because my fiction is an exploratory process -- not laborious, merely long and slow and getting slower."





"Hands folded" photo by Konchog Norbu

He was passionate about his Zen practice:

"I've been a Zen master for nearly 50 years. I had Japanese teachers for a long time and then a terrific teacher named Bernard Glassman, who is probably the most respected Zen teacher in America. And he started working with poor people, people with AIDS, people who were discriminated against, as part of our practice. We started these street retreats. We purposely chose people who were really up against it, most in need of help, so that took us into the shelters, flophouses. And finally it just seemed that the only way to really do this was to live on the street."

"We started in New York. And we wouldn't shave, put on old clothes. We didn't fool anyone for a second, but they appreciated the effort. And what they really appreciated was that we wanted to look 'em in the eye like this and talk to them, as if they were people and not some stuff on the sidewalk. I remember I heard a woman say, 'You know what we are to you people?' She said, 'We are like a piece of Kleenex that somebody's blown their nose into and thrown on the rainy sidewalk. Who wants to pick that up?'

"So we began with that and now Bernie has this organization called Zen Peacemakers and they go to troubled spots all over the world. We went to South Africa, Rwanda, Palestine, Israel."

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Little is known of his work for the CIA. He was apparently recruited by the CIA during his time at Yale and continued working for the agency during the Paris Review period. This has been documented and acknowledged but never explained by Mattheissen.

Said James Salter in a remembrance for the "New Yorker,"

"There were aspects of Peter that faced elsewhere -- his spiritual life, his solitary travels, the intimate side of his past, that you knew only by chance or from reading his books."

OurPaths is a virtual scrapbook for collecting life stories. Build your own at OurPaths.com.





SOURCES:
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a rally Monday, March 21, 2016, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Having been involved in politics for many years, it seems to me the 2016 race for the Democratic nomination is more the norm than people seem to think. Compared to the fight in the Republican Party it is downright mild.

With Hillary's big win in Arizona, many are doing the math involved in accumulating the delegates (2,382) needed for a Democrat to win the nomination and coming to the conclusion Bernie Sanders won't be able to get them. There are 4,051 pledged delegates to be won in the primaries and caucuses and 712 given superdelegate status by the Party. Looking at the primaries and caucuses still to be held, he has close to zero chance of achieving that Holy Grail. Because of that, many are calling for him to leave the race, but that decision will only be made by him.

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Elections bring out the passion in people. Candidates and their supporters can't do the 24/7 work needed to run if they aren't passionate and often find themselves working purely on adrenalin. Despite what the media, is reporting there is equal amounts of passion for both Clinton and Sanders. Like in love and war, it isn't unusual that passion for a political candidate can sometimes lead to less than logical thinking. It can lead to not seeing the good in the other candidate or denigrating them simply as a way to support your own choice. I recently wrote a column questioning the knowledge of history, or lack of it, of some of Sanders' young supporters and got pilloried for it. The fact there were some really complimentary things in the column about Sanders got lost and the column was seen as condescending. Maybe it was and maybe my passion for my candidate contributed to that.

In 2008 there were clearly hurt feelings on the part of many Clinton supporters, myself included, who felt someone came out of nowhere to win the nomination. But then politics is like that. Someone with charisma can come along, run an amazing campaign, grab the headlines and passion of voters who may have never heard of them before, and end up winning against someone who initially seemed to have all the cards. It is what makes politics so exciting to those of us who are political junkies. In 2008 that happened for Barack Obama. Many of us supporting Clinton accused his supporters of drinking the 'Kool-Aid'.

In 2016 things have changed and the person who came out of nowhere to grab headlines and passion is falling short. Sanders supporters face the same issues Clinton supporters did in 2008. As the primary continues the number of delegates needed for their candidate to become the nominee is looking more and more impossible to reach. In 2008 Clinton didn't end her campaign but kept going until June. She kept winning primaries and caucuses but was never able to close the delegate gap with Obama. He needed superdelegates to win the nomination.

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It was in June Clinton gave her passionate speech officially suspending her candidacy at the National Building Museum where she said, "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it," the former candidate continued. "And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time." She held on to her delegates to the convention.

Then at the convention in Denver after meeting with her delegates, of which I was one, she asked us to join her in support of Obama. Hillary then went on the floor of the convention to urge the vote be unanimous for Obama. She went on to speak about the need to unite the Party and why we all needed to support Barack Obama for the good of the nation. It wasn't an easy speech for her to give or for her supporters to hear after they had worked their heart out for her.

So those of us who passionately support Hillary need to remember things correctly as we begin to suggest to supporters of Bernie Sanders they move toward supporting her and uniting the Party. In 2008, as it was becoming clearer in the days leading up to the convention Obama would be the nominee, there were Hillary supporters who formed groups like PUMA, which stood for Party Unity My Ass, saying they would never support Obama. While having already written a piece for the Washington Blade prior to the convention saying it was a 'time to heal' my heart was still with Hillary at the convention as reported in an interview I did with the Washington City Paper.

So many like me understand how difficult it will be for passionate Bernie Sanders supporters to put down their posters and move toward uniting the party. Political campaigns get passionate and you want your supporters to be passionate and passion is hard to turn off on a dime.

I am convinced Bernie Sanders, when the time is right, will do what Hillary did for Obama and not only endorse her but work hard for her and ask his supporters to do the same. The time for that may just not be quite right yet.
Hands raised to answer the questions

The Common Core State (ha!) Standards have seen better days. By now, actually, they really ought to be dead -- stabbed in the back by their former politician BFFs, torn up by a constant barrage of criticism, knocked about the sconce by angry parents, repeatedly done in by their own deep flaws, and just generally bearing a whole lot of slings and arrows (plus, of course, all the problems that happened to them because of bad implementation).

Now they just shamble around the education landscape, broken and twisted and barely able to stumble in any direction, but absolutely unwilling to lie down and die. The Core is now a zombie, a walking dead policy. And the signs are everywhere.

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We still get a steady trickle of teacher-written pieces about How The Core Made My Classroom Awesome! Here's an interview from Louisiana with two teachers who love the Core very much. Rhea-Claire Richard and Bailey Debardelen teach fourth grade in the Lafayette Parish, where the whole staff is "past the point of opposition" and "All of our teachers love Common Core." The two do admit that at first teachers were resistant, but they blame that on teachers' fears that students and teachers would not be able to live up to rigorous standards and not, say, a concern that the standards were amateur hour junk.

Have we found at last a colony where the Core roams whole and happy? Not likely -- look at this explanation of how Lafayette handles the ELA standards.

I see rich discussion in my classroom. I see deep thinking about what they're reading or concepts that they're learning, and I see that they are able to form their own validated opinions based off of what they read. They can articulate their thinking using evidence, and I'll give you an example. One of our old GLEs used to be "identify a main character in a story." That's a very low-level thinking standard to just identify something, whereas now, I may ask my students, "How do the actions of the main character affect the plot of the story?" Well, they're going so much deeper. They're having to look at the author's craft, how the author wrote what they did and why they chose the words they used.

Here's the thing. "How do the actions of the main character affect the plot of the story" has nothing to do with the Fourth Grade Literacy Standards. It's a perfectly good question. It was a perfectly good question under the old standards, and it's a perfectly good question under the Zombie Core, and it would be a perfectly good question if Lafayette Parish threw all the standards out the window. There isn't a reason in the world to think that any set of standards, and most especially not the zombie core, would be needed to prompt a teacher to ask this question.

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The two are being interviewed to argue against Louisiana's threatened jettisoning of the Zombie Core, and Debardelen has this to say:

I think that within our school and within the four walls of my classroom and Rhea-Claire's classroom, there are aspects of the Common Core that I don't feel like I will ever stray away from.

In other words, these two (who are relative newbs) will do what all professional educators do -- they follow their own best judgment and ignore whatever paperwork instructions they've been handed. They didn't need the core to think of good ways to teach, and they won't lose those ideas if the core goes away.

This is what we're seeing again and again and again. Teachers have "adapted to" and "adjusted to" and "become numb to" the zombie core by simply using their own best professional judgment and disregarding everything about the core they don't like (and are allowed to ignore). Experienced teachers know how this works. The easiest way to "align instruction" to a set of standards is to do what you were going to do anyway and check off whatever alignment paperwork your district has given you to play with. And for every local teacher, the only version of the core that you really need to understand and acknowledge is the version that your district adheres to, which is probably the original core with a few fingers and toes chopped off.

While that process is knocking some of the flesh off the zombie core, states help out by chiseling off the common core brand name, or by rewriting portions of the standards into some other messy version. In some part of the zombie core's remaining brain matter, it thinks fondly of the days when states had to promise not to change a word of the standards and add no more than 15 percent of new material. That very quickly became, "Do whatever you want. Nobody will stop you."

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And testing has chewed several organs out of the zombie core's guts. Core fans can talk all day about how the core promote critical thinking; they may be full of it, but there's no point having that argument because the Big Standardized Tests don't have the faintest breath of critical thinking anywhere on them, and if it's not on the test, it doesn't matter. Every part of the zombie core that isn't on the test has been reamed out and discarded.

What are we left with? A shambling tattered husk that some still call common core, but has long since its identity and only vaguely resembles its original ugly self. Folks like the Lafayette teachers or the many groups still trying to make a buck from the core can all praise the core, but they are talking about a memory, a phantom, a tottering doddering hollowed-out hulk that nobody really, truly embraces. Zombie core can still cause some damage and hurt people, but mostly it stumbles along in slow steady decay, looking less and less like its early self and more and more like a slow monster searching for brraaaaaaainnnss. Maybe there will be a final kill shot, or maybe it will just keep wasting away into nothingness. Either way, the zombie core is on its last brittle fleshless legs.
These questions originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answers by Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader and Congressman (R-CA), U.S. House of Representatives, on Quora.

A: The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate a judge to the Supreme Court when there is a vacancy. The Constitution also gives the U.S. Senate the advice and consent power over that nominee. I agree with Senator McConnell's decision that, so close to a national election, this decision should be left to the people.

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...

A: I'd say Steny Hoyer. While we don't often see eye-to-eye on the issues, at the end of each week you'll find us debating one-on-one on the House Floor over the issues to be considered by Congress. We've been doing this since I first became Majority Leader in 2014.

...
Sooner or later you will have to choose--do you take an action that is painful, or do you suffer an even worse consequence by doing nothing?

In your business, it could be the choice to discontinue a key product or service. Apple is famous today for regularly killing products to make room for what's next. Imagine the difference if Nokia had been able to overcome the emotional difficulty of focusing its resources on what was best for the company as a whole rather than trying to support too many products with too many resources.

In your life, it could be the decision to leave a good job to move to a different place or start a business without the certainty of success. The stories about individuals who leave their status quo existence to pursue a dream are motivating. The "I can do it so you can, too" stories also tend to gloss over the moment when the person looks in the mirror and asks, "What was I thinking?"

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Sometimes, the choice is one of life or death. For Basil Alexander, that was the day his arm was caught in a machine at the local mil with no one was around to come to his aid. The young husband and father made the difficult decision to take his own arm rather than lose his life.

These choices--even the ones with clear life and death consequences--require courage to look past the immediate pain to a possible future. They are a combination of logic and emotion ... of head and heart.

Alexander certainly had to wonder if cutting off his own arm would save his life or only prolong his death. His head told him that doing so was his only chance, but it was his heartfelt desire to be there for his family that pushed him to act.

Likewise, Apple's decision to pour resources into the still new Macintosh at the expense of the popular Apple II no doubt caused some leaders to wonder if the company had mortgaged its future on a bad idea. It was a bold move that required clear thinking about where the industry was headed. But it was motivated by a sense of purpose that comes from the heart.

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What Happens Next Makes All the Difference

The world doesn't stop once the choice to change is made. The courage to act is pointless without the resilience to persist through to success.

Reviews for the original Macintosh computer were not completely positive. It was panned for being under-configured, and Bill Gates said, "Anybody who could write a good application on a 128K Mac deserves a medal."

The company showed its resilience by introducing the Macintosh Plus in 1986. It was a vision of things to come as resilience and persistence have transformed into continuous innovation that has made the Macintosh the only computer brand in continuous existence for over 30 years.

It works that way in life, too. Basil Alexander needed to support his growing family in rural East Texas. Today, workers compensation and disability payments would help. Those programs didn't exist in the 1920's. Alexander demonstrated his persistent resilience by tying a coat hanger wire to the stump of his left arm, tuning his guitar to an open E major chord, and touring as the only one-armed guitar player.

Research conducted by HeartMath shows that the heart and head are in constant two-way communication. The head generates solutions, and the heart provides an emotional connection that creates the "why" for moving forward.

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Apple's "why" is framed in the beginning words of its vision: "We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products."

So what is your "why" that comes from the heart and drives persistent resilience?

Basil Alexander's success ended in unfortunate tragedy. Alexander traveled 75 miles from his home to a talent contest in Dallas, Texas in 1933. Afterward, he called his wife to tell her that he had won $2,000 and accepted a ride home from a man he met at the contest. Basil Alexander, my grandfather, never arrived, was presumed murdered, and never seen again. His family's persistent resilience is a story for another time.
Hundreds of Detroit teachers and others protest near Gov. Rick Snyderas office Thursday, April 30, 2015 in Lansing, Mich. Steve Conn, head of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said Snyderas proposed overhaul of the district announced Thursday is causing the union to adraw a line in the sand and fight.a Classes were canceled in 18 Detroit schools after teachers failed to appear on the same day as Snyderas announcement. (AP Photo/David Eggert)

In January, hundreds of Detroit teachers staged a "sick out," closing down more than 80 Detroit schools and launching protests outside courtrooms, at the North American International Auto Show, and on the city's streets. They did so knowing that teacher strikes are illegal in Michiganand that their jobs could be in jeopardy -- but the safety of their students mattered to them more than their paychecks. Detroit's schools aren't just in disrepair: they're intolerable, unacceptable environments with dysfunctional cooling and heating systems, plumbing problems in the restrooms, mold, leaks, and crumbling roofs, floors, windows and doors.

It is easy to recognize the extreme situation in Detroit as something that has to change. But it would be a mistake to think the problem of unsafe schools is confined to that city. Across all 50 states, students are going to schools that are in dire need of repair and are failing to create environments that are healthy and safe for our kids and the teachers and administrators that support them.

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The U.S. Green Building Council's 2016 "State of Our Schools" report, an in-depth state-by-state analysis of data on investment in school infrastructure, has found that the way we currently fund our school facilities is inherently and persistently inequitable. Millions of students around the country are learning in dilapidated, obsolete and unhealthy facilities that are obstacles to their success and well-being. The annual shortfall in the funding needed to keep our schools healthy and safe? $46 billion That's how bad the problem is.

K-12 schools represent the nation's second largest category of public infrastructure, with two million acres of land and more than 7.5 billion gross square feet. The reality is that states and school districts don't have sufficient funds to take care of existing facilities, let alone build new ones. We're going to need enough quality school construction to house the additional 3.1 million students who will join American public schools over the next decade.

Where do we get the money? Currently, state support for schools varies widely and frequently leaves local districts solely responsible for their schools' -- and pupils' -- well-being. Right now, 12 states provide no direct funding or reimbursement to school districts for capital investments, and another 32 provide only up to 37 percent of capital funding needs. Only six cover the majority of costs.

That means that there are only six states where each school district has the same opportunity to help its students. In the other 44 states, low-income districts often watch helplessly as their schools become increasingly run-down, contributing to a vicious cycle of downward mobility. How can we teach our kids about fairness and equality when the very buildings that they're sitting in are unequal? It's clear that the current state system isn't working. And the federal system isn't contributing much either.

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It's been more than 20 years since the federal government completed the last comprehensive federal assessment of school facilities. Even though K-12 schools are the largest public building sector in the U.S. after highways, there is no current dataset at the federal level to show our track record of investing in our schools. The federal government provides almost no capital spending for school facilities, and across all agencies and departments, does not employ a single person to ensure that school facility conditions are adequate and equitable.

How can we justify this? How can we pretend that underfunding our schools doesn't affect our children's future? Research shows that poor school construction affects our children's vision,concentration, and even their breathing. Half of our nation's schools have problems with their indoor air quality , which can play a huge role in the 14 million days of school a year that American students miss annually due to asthma. Up to 65 percent of asthma cases in school-age children could be prevented by cleaner indoor air.

How can we expect students to learn if they can't even breathe?

The state of our nation's schools is a challenge we must address. Communities across the country are doing their best, but they need additional support and funding. We need to make sure that we all understand the implications of continuing to underfund American schools. We need the federal government to step up and give us a clear picture of where we stand. And we need to come together, senators and superintendents, investors and community change-makers, to create new funding solutions that can work in schools across the U.S -- new solutions that will bring us and our children forward.

Here's the truth: if we want to be able to say that we care about our children's health and education, we must address the state of the buildings that they learn and live in for hours every day. The Detroit teachers are right. Our children deserve better. So let's do better. Let's build schools that keep our kids safe and healthy, that help them learn, that let them thrive.
In Part One of this journey into a two-week trial for which I sat on the jury, we learned the adventurous tale at Santa Monica Superior Court of the opening statements and the plaintiff's side making its case. The estimable Judge Lawrence Cho presiding. You can read the whole thing here. The short version is that the case concerns a woman who was sitting on a chair bought at Cost Plus which broke. She suffered broken bones, had two surgeries, a great many doctors' appointments and physical therapy, and claimed to be suffering from CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome), a rare, but known debilitating and incurable form of chronic pain. Cost Plus admits liability, but the two sides couldn't reach a settlement.

Part Two

The Defense Strikes Back

The defense for Cost Plus only had two expert witnesses. Both very eminent. Both reviewed all the depositions that had been given and all the medical records. And both had examined the plaintiff, though just once. In one case, the examination took an hour. In another, it was only about eight minutes.

Both defense medical experts had the same conclusion, that the plaintiff did not have CRPS. While they each said they wouldn't ever claim a person did or didn't have pain, they each felt that none of the records they saw or exams they performed showed any instance of CRPS, which requires certain, specific symptoms to be present. And it requires these symptoms to appear within a certain time period after a trauma occurs. (The trauma is usually an injury, but it can also be a surgery.) And for both defense witnesses, they felt that the plaintiff wasn't experiencing the pain she was claiming. And if she did have CRPS - which they did not see - it could only have come from an elective surgery she chose to have later.

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The plaintiff's rebuttal was basically - you only examined the patient once, and briefly. Your exams occurred within days after she had had pain management treatment. These other doctors were almost all her treating physicians, not just expert witnesses being called to make a judgment. Most of them saw the plaintiff numerous times. Since her doctors were all eminent medical experts in the field who either diagnosed CRPS, or saw symptoms of possible CRPS, does that mean they're all wrong, and you alone are right?

The defense witnesses did have responses to all these question, not especially compelling ones, but did have answers. And they both felt, yes, I'm right and they're all wrong. But what was most pronounced in the cross-examination is what I referred to before, when the plaintiff counsel's heated reactions stood out.

For both defense witnesses, when the plaintiff's attorney began his cross, he was...well, I think the common expression is "spitting bullets." He started loud and got louder as he went on, almost yelling it seemed. Belligerent towards the witnesses (one of which, he not only knew personally, but had sent clients to for treatment), and getting louder all the time, to the degree that you felt if this went on at the same pace his head might eventually explode. Several things set him off, but the most was the suggestion by the second defense witness that his client was lying and couldn't be trusted. This went on until the defense counsel cried out his objection about how opposing counsel was actually yelling and badgering and acting inappropriately.

Both times the judge (most understandably) agreed, and admonished the plaintiff counsel to tone it down. The attorney apologized, explained how emotional this was and promised to do better. He still remained emotional for a bit both times, though eventually would calm down to an even-keel and continued calmly the rest of the way, if pointedly. (He also got the doctor who had written in a report that the patient's word was untrustworthy to acknowledge that it was an inappropriate choice, and retracted it.)

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Needless-to-say, it added a wee bit of spark to the proceedings.

It also allowed him to get across his point to discredit the witness, which he did. Actually, it's almost fair to say the witness discredited himself. This was widely agreed in the jury deliberation. More on that later.

He also drove home a point with the first defense witness. The witness was very accomplished as, I believe, an orthopedic surgeon and scholar. But he'd only studied CRPS 27 years before in medical school, and in the subsequent period, only had dealt with 25 cases of CRPS out of 40,000 patients. By contrast, the CRPS expert for the plaintiff handled two CRPS cases a month, every month, for years. He saw as many cases of CRPS in one year as this remaining defense witness saw in his 27-year career.

Additionally, he refuted the defense suggestion that even if CRPS existed, it had to have only come from an elective surgery the plaintiff had, by repeating testimony from his CRPS experts that CRPS cannot occur from the cosmetic surgery she had.

And so the week ended, with only final arguments in sight before the case went to the jury for deliberations.

Coming back from the weekend, from the moment we walked into the courtroom on Monday, ready for final arguments, it was clear that things were different. The room was packed. (One of the jurors commented to me, "If I knew it'd be this crowded, I would have dressed nicer.") Whereas during the trial, there were usually only about five to seven people watching, now almost every seat was full, close to 30. Most seemed to be lawyers - either that or it was the best-dressed group of courthouse visitors in the world.

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The plaintiff counsel's final arguments were quite long, probably about 90 minutes. Very detailed with PowerPoint visual aids to reiterate his points. He acknowledged that there would be computer glitches, and there were. Like a list that began with #1, and for its second point became #5. And not realizing that when you click the remote to move the slide, you have to point it at the computer, not the screen. It was all just straight graphics, except at one point there was a single, slight "animation" - when the Scales of Justice, filled with plaintiff evidence, tilted. "It's like we're Pixar," he quipped.

We also found out the total amount they were asking for. The past and future "pain and suffering" was around $3.75 million, so together with past and future medical costs the total was about $8.2 million.

Needless-to-say, the defense counsel's final arguments disagreed. Fairly vehemently. Their suggestion was in the $27,000 range.

Well, okay, so that's why the two sides didn't settle.

Over the weekend, and before final arguments began, I began to do my pondering and had various thoughts. I really wasn't completely set in my mind, but was leaning to voting in favor of the plaintiff. There were some questions and uncertainties, since all pain, but notably chronic pain and especially CRPS is so subjective, but the weight of 15 highly-knowledgeable people most of whom actually were attending physicians carried more weight for me than two high-end experts who examined her for an hour and eight minutes respectively and had attendant question marks with their testimony. Yes, they also reviewed the records, but so did the attending doctors on the other side.

It would be one thing to say, "I see zero evidence of CRPS," which is a fair-enough observation to make. But when so many other people said that they did see evidence of it, some considering their evidence to be symptoms, and some seeing enough to actually diagnose it, then having that many "seeing" it was substantive. Especially since the exams where it didn't seem to appear were done soon after the plaintiff was on treatments for pain management and might well have had the pain more under control at those time.

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Through the trial (and final arguments) there was a question about why it didn't seem to be diagnosed for 15 months. But when the expert in CRPS had testified earlier, he explained that he was in the midst of doing a study about CRPS during its first year, and he noted that it's incredibly difficult to find participants since most people aren't diagnosed with CRPS for over a year, even though CRPS is there. In fact, in the two months they've been trying to find subjects who qualify for the study, they've thus far found...zero. He said that's because usually either no one is looking for CRPS yet, or because doctors see the symptoms but see them as related to something else. (Yes, there's pain in the shoulder, but there was shoulder surgery, so of course having pain there is to be expected. That must be what the pain is. Only later, when the normal shoulder pain should have disappointed, and other CRPS symptoms keep showing themselves, do evidence of CRPS become more clear.)

Did the plaintiff, in fact, have CRPS? I didn't know for certain, though it seemed likely. Did even if not CRPS, did she at least have some sort of chronic pain? I didn't know that either, though I did think that was probable. And if it was CRPS, when did it occur? I had no idea to that either, though if it existed, then it probably occurred early on, likely from the chair collapse, and got exacerbated by her first surgery. But ultimately, the details of the case and realities of her life made it seem to me that for this all to be a "scam" would take an effort far too convoluted for far too long - two necessary surgeries and over a hundred doctors' appointments and physical therapy sessions, and (importantly) make her less available to her young children, especially one with a terminal illness than one would think reasonable to consider. Was it possible that there was no CRPS or chronic pain? Sure? Was it probable? I was leaning toward not. Especially since the only burden of proof for there to be CRPS, or just chronic pain at all is 51% likelihood, not certainty or beyond a reasonable doubt. But I was curious what the other jurors were perceiving it all.

And then, in the end, which was the core of the trial, if she indeed did have CRPS, then how much money was she due? Not just for the medical treatments past and future, but pain and suffering. And for that, I really had no idea, though did have some thoughts. For that, however, I wanted a closer look at the documentation of the "life plan" that had been prepared by the plaintiffs.

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Mixed into my thinking about all this was a reality I felt I had to recognize about products in general. Not that it necessarily had a direct bearing on the case, but it still impacted what was being dealt with. We know, after all, that some products seem to have a particularly high level of responsibility when being built with special care for safety. Cars, guns, power saws, lawnmowers, electrical wiring, things like that. But for other products, like constructing a chair, while craft and attention to detail is important, it isn't the kind of item that one considers central to causing $8 million worth of injuries. What I mean is that a chair that fails isn't a case of thoughtless attention to a person's life-safety, but a pure accident. Especially when there isn't a record of countless chairs made by the company failing. Ultimately, as I said, that isn't a factor to be considered during deliberation. And if the costs needed are in fact such that they do total that much, then so be it, I would be absolutely fine awarding it, if that's what is actually required. But believing something is a pure accident, rather than gross negligence - even if it wasn't something we had to decide - was still something I felt hovering over the case in my mind. And I remained as curious as every to hear other jurors' experience and views on all this.

Tomorrow: The exciting conclusion as we go inside the jury room for deliberation, and then post-trial conversations with the lawyers for both side, as well as the plaintiff.

*
Have you ever wondered how to achieve higher SAT scores?

I had the pleasure to interview Shaan Patel, founder of Prep Expert (formerly known as 2400 Expert SAT Prep), and winner of ABC's Shark Tank. Mark Cuban signed a deal with Shaan just in time for the release of the new SAT.

Big changes abound for the new SAT, and many are beneficial for incoming college students.

Shaan, I love a great story. Please tell me a bit about your background:

My parents immigrated to the United States from India in the mid-1980's. Before I was born, they landed in Chicago, in hopes my father could work as a pharmacist-transferring his pharmaceutical degree. However, the requirements to work as a pharmacist in Chicago were not equivalent to those in India. Therefore, they moved to Las Vegas and purchased a budget motel. I grew up in my parent's motel and attended local urban public schools, which had a dropout rate of 40 percent. As a young child living in a budget motel, I observed many parents who struggled on a daily basis. I also noticed how many students lost opportunities. Following my father's work ethic, I knew I had to work hard to succeed and to give back the way my parents gave to me.

People called me a genius. I never considered myself a genius; I was and still am motivated and determined to succeed.

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Please tell me about your personal SAT experience. How did things transition for you from high school valedictorian to becoming a student at Yale and USC?

My plan was to do my best on the SAT so I could get into the university of my choice. My career goal was, and still is today, to become a physician. I needed a very high SAT score to achieve this mission. The first time I took the SAT, I received a score of 1760. After hours of studying in the library, preparing and identifying patterns for the test, I was able to improve my score from 1760 to a perfect 2400. I was admitted to the most prestigious universities and I won nearly $250,000 in scholarships. I also met the President of the United States. In addition to my work as an entrepreneur, I am currently an MD/MBA student.

Congratulations on your success. Please tell me about the motivation behind your first SAT prep book.

I wanted to give back and help other students. Living in a motel, I knew I could make a difference. Many students who stayed in our motels, dropped out of school to work at casinos on the Vegas Strip. I knew these kids were capable of much more and deserved a chance to rise out of poverty. Before I created 2400 Expert SAT Prep, I tried to sell an SAT manuscript to over 100 agents and publishers; and the manuscript was constantly rejected. However, I never gave up. I piloted a few SAT prep courses in Las Vegas, which resulted in an improvement of 376 points. At first, the courses were challenging to fill, but as word of mouth spread about the increase in test scores, parents began contacting me with requests to build more courses. McGraw-Hill noticed what I was doing and offered me a book deal. Although they originally rejected my first manuscript, they published my first SAT prep book, SAT 2400 in Just 7 Steps.

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SAT 2400 in Just 7 Steps has sold over 20,000 copies and has been a #1 bestseller on Amazon for SAT Prep.

You are a big fan of Shark Tank. How did the idea to propose your book and courses to the Sharks arise?

Actually, my roommates at Yale told me I should apply, and I decided to try out. I stood in line for nine hours, among hundreds of other entrepreneurs. A few weeks after the first meeting, Shark Tank called me with a request to send in an eye-catching and creative video pitch. After the video, they invited me to participate in the show.



Please tell me about your experience with Shark Tank and working with Mark Cuban.

It was an overwhelming experience. The initial recording was approximately one hour and thirty minutes. Out of that time, 10 minutes of air-time is actually played out on television. I closed a deal with Mark for $250,000 in exchange for a 20 percent equity stake in my test-prep company. Since working with Mark, the company has expanded into 20 new sites throughout the country. We have grown both online and offline.

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Working with Mark is nothing less than amazing. As busy as he is, he takes time to make himself accessible through various means. I can drop him an email or text him through his Cyber Dust application. He is very responsive. He also set me up with a supportive team to make sure our site didn't crash when the show aired. His accounting team takes care of our numbers and books while his business team provides vast marketing and strategic advice for growth. I am very lucky and grateful to have a partner like him.

Shaan, what is one of the best things you've personally experienced with your company?

When students contact me to let me know they were admitted into their desired university, and it was due to the services we provided. There is nothing more spectacular than knowing we are making life-changing differences for young adults, and for our future.

Thriving SAT scores: Further Information

Shaan, can you give us some helpful tips for students who are about to take the new SAT?

Yes, as you know, many students took the redesigned New SAT on March 5th. For the first time in over a decade, the College Board made major changes to the SAT, including going back to a 1600-point scale (instead of 2400).

SAT Scores: Last Minute SAT Prep Tips for the New Test

SAT General Strategy: Don't Flip Back & Forth - Most students approach standardized tests by circling the correct answer in the test booklet, flipping to the answer sheet and bubbling in the answer, and then returning to the test booklet to tackle the next question. This is not the most efficient approach because it wastes time and interrupts the flow of the test. To save time and decrease interruptions, only flip to the answer sheet after you have answered an entire page of questions in your test booklet. For example, if there are five SAT questions on one page of the test booklet, don't flip to the answer sheet to bubble-in answers until you've circled the correct answer to those five questions on that page of the test booklet first. In addition, answering an entire page of SAT questions will increase your confidence to tackle the next page of SAT questions.

SAT Math Strategy: SAP - Substitute Answers in Problem - You can avoid algebra altogether on the SAT Math section when there are variables in the question and numbers in the answer choices. Simply plug in the numbers from the answer choices back into the original algebraic equation to see if the problem works out fine. This strategy is especially effective on the new radioactive decay and exponential growth problems on the New SAT.

SAT Reading Strategy: BOSS - Build (Your) Own Simple Solution - This is the key to unlocking the SAT Reading section. Create your own answer before looking at the answer choices. In order to avoid peeking, cover answer choices with your hand. BOSS solves the biggest problem associated with the SAT section: selecting enticing, but incorrect answer choices. Imagine going on a treasure hunt without knowing what the treasure looks like. If you don't know what you're looking for, then it's hard to find the right item. Similarly, reading through answer choices without knowing what you're looking for can make it hard to find the right answer. BOSS is like having a picture of the treasure!

SAT Writing Strategy: COP - Cross Out Prepositions - Grammar errors are almost never in prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases only distract you from grammar errors. You can remember many prepositions by thinking of anything a squirrel can do to a log (ex. in, on, out, under, etc.). To quickly identify writing errors, cross out prepositions. By focusing on the simplified sentence that does not contain prepositional phrases, you will be able to identify grammatical writing errors more easily.

For example, let's examine the following sentence: "Until it is managed by a new, more effective, and more understanding administration, the teachers will continue to strike." The pronoun mismatch error between "it" and "teachers" becomes much more apparent when you ignore the prepositional phrase "by a new, more effective and more understanding administration." "Until it is managed, the teachers will continue to strike."

SAT Essay Strategy: Essay Templates - Although the essay section is technically optional, many competitive colleges will require students to submit their New SAT score with the essay. The New SAT requires students to write an analysis essay based on an argumentative passage that they read. To have a competitive advantage over other students, develop a pre-formed essay template that will work for almost any argumentative passage you read on test day. Templates will not only help you write unbelievably powerful essays, but also save you a lot of time other students would waste on test day. SAT graders can't score your essay lower even if they know you're using a template because the SAT is a standardized test. Because the SAT is a standardized test, essay graders must give standardized scores. This means that if you write an essay that is very similar to a perfect-score essay, then you too must get a perfect score. Otherwise, the scores would no longer be comparable, which would ruin the whole point of a standardized exam.

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Here is the template for the introduction paragraph that we teach at Prep Expert:

"In [Article Title], [Author Name] synthesizes a compelling dissertation that [Passage's Key Point]. Although some detractors may believe [What Detractors Believe], the arguments set forth in the article dismiss such romantic critics as excessively dogmatic in their provincial ideology. One of the broader notions presented in the essay is that [Major Idea in Article]. [Author's Last Name] deftly delivers a cogent argument to sway his/her readers by [3 CREW SAID Tools]."



Here's how a student could use our introduction essay template when analyzing a passage about the humanities:

"In "The Enduring Value of a Humanities Education," Jane Smith synthesizes a compelling dissertation that knowledge relating to the humanities is indispensable to the progress of society. Although some detractors may believe the advancement of education strictly focused on technology is key to national development, the arguments set forth in the article dismiss such romantic critics as excessively dogmatic in their provincial ideology. One of the broader notions presented in the essay is that an education in the humanities magnifies a person's versatility to be a productive member of society. Smith deftly delivers a cogent argument to sway her readers by citing prominent authorities, implying broad repercussions, and using stark contrast."



The above represents just 5 of the 100 strategies that we teach in our New SAT courses at Prep Expert (formerly 2400 Expert). You can sign up for our SAT classes in 20 cities and online at prepexpert.com



For more information, please visit www.prepexpert.com (use coupon code ROBYNSHULMAN to receive $210.00 off the price of any SAT course). You can also call 1-877-345-PREP for more information.

For more interviews with innovators and Shark Tank winners, please see EdNews Daily or follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Cybercriminal, hacker China flag background.

The results coming out of recent primaries demonstrate clearly that voters favor strong presidential candidates who will stand up for American workers and fight to keep us safe. As Democratic and Republican candidates shift their attention to upcoming contests they will all want to show voters how strong they are in standing up to China, Russia and other powerful regimes that don't share American values.

President Obama has stated publicly that communist China is a "global free rider." China profits on the back of American hard work and innovation. At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping and communist leaders sanction cyberattacks against the United States, stealing our trade secrets, weakening our national security and job hacking American workers. Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai defends job hacking and these indefensible attacks against American workers.

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In 2015 alone, over 3,300 American aluminum workers lost their jobs as a result of China job hacking. Thousands of U.S. aluminum jobs remain under threat as the Chinese government continues to provide illegal subsidies to state-owned aluminum producers such as -- interest free loans, free government land, debt forgiveness and subsidized energy costs. This has resulted in the price of aluminum collapsing. Alcoa Aluminum was founded in my former congressional district in the town of New Kensington. The research center that has developed innovative products from beverage cans to auto and aeronautical parts that are lighter and more resilient than anything in the market place were discovered there. Yet New Kensington is now practically a ghost town. High crime, drug use and prostitution are now rampant where American dreams and American jobs once flourished.

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) recently called for an in-depth U.S. government study to examine illegal Chinese subsidies. Such a study will take 18 months or longer to complete. While this is a step in the right direction, thousands of hard working American aluminum workers, can't stand idly by for 18 months as China continues to destroy the U.S. aluminum industry.

There are a wide range of possible trade remedies available to help save thousands of American aluminum jobs, that will have an immediate impact. Our government needs to stand up for American aluminum workers and explore all short-term solutions that will solve the problem.

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President Xi Jinping and the political elite in Beijing have responded to this price collapse by doubling down on Chinese aluminum production. As the Chinese economy continues to slow down, domestic aluminum producers have ramped up production by over 70 percent in the last four years alone.

Worse still, American national security interests are now under serious threat. Many Americans are unaware that high purity aluminum is one of the key components that is needed to make U.S. military hardware. In late 2015, the last remaining U.S. high purity aluminum smelter announced that it was reducing production by over 60 percent and 400 hard-working Americans lost their jobs.

Have our political leaders failed to realize that if this facility closed we would be relying solely on China or a Middle East regime to provide us with much needed high purity aluminum? The United States could soon be relying on communist China to produce the high purity aluminum that forms the skins of our fighter jets and goes into the body armor that is used to keep our troops safe. Is it in the best interests of American national security to be relying on communist China or a Middle East regime for a precious metal that we need to produce our exclusive military hardware?

China's economic slowdown and financial mayhem is fostering a cycle of decline and increased uncertainty across the globe. In the last few months, the aspirational communist regime constructed man made islands in the South China Sea. Now, China is aggressively asserting itself in a region through which more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped annually.

In February 2016, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of these disputed islands in the South China Sea. The influential Chinese state-run newspaper the Global Times said that the United States was "circling to contain" communist China and that China's military has ways of stopping such patrols. The government run newspaper argued that China needs to spend more on its armed forces and build up strategic strength to counter the United States.

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Time and time again, Chinese actions indicate that it wants to become a militaristic superpower with a strong grip on the flow of $5 trillion worth of trade in the South China Sea. As the Chinese economy continues to slow down and internal political stability forces the government to crack down on human right activists we should ask our presidential candidates' one simple question. Does it benefit U.S. national security interests to become reliant on communist China for precious metals needed to produce military hardware that helps us to promote democratic values in the South China Sea?
CUBA - SEPTEMBER 12: A Cuban doctor looks the crystalline lens of a patient at the Pando Ferrer Eyes Hospital, a model hospital in its specialty, in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, September 12, 2006. (Photo by Diego Giudice/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

President Obama's visit to Cuba this week once again focused the eyes of the world on the island nation. After the initial rapprochement in 2014, several major U.S. outlets highlighted the country's health care system, unique to the Third World, and one which, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, "has solved some problems that ours has not yet managed to address." Sound heretical? Not to those who have studied it.

Cuba's health performance

Cuba, a country of 11 million people, has achieved health outcomes that are the envy of the Third World. It has one of the lowest infant and young child (under age 5) mortality rates and longest life expectancies in the Americas, outperforming the U.S. on all three of these indicators (although the maternal mortality rate is still considerably higher than that in rich countries). This year, Cuba also became the first nation in the world that, according to the World Health Organization, had eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. How has a Third World country, subjected to decades of economic sanctions, accomplished this?

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Part of the answer lies in the post-revolutionary government's establishment of a comprehensive, universal health care system -- structured around primary and preventive care -- with a network of physicians, nurses and home health workers generally living in the same community as their patients.

To ensure adequate staffing for this initiative, the government invested heavily in medical education, which resulted in Cuba having nearly three times as many physicians per capita as the U.S. This also enabled the country to send a self-reported total of 130,000 of its own health professionals to provide low- or no-cost medical care to patients in other Third World countries, with nearly 37,000 working in 70 countries as of 2008. Cuba was among the first to respond to the past year's Ebola epidemic, sending more doctors to Sierra Leone than any country besides Great Britain.

The country's universal vaccination programs eradicated many previously commonplace childhood and tropical diseases, including polio, measles and diphtheria. Many of the vaccines, as well as other medications, are manufactured by a domestic pharmaceutical industry that was developed, in part, in response to the U.S. embargo. This biotechnology sector employs about 10,000 people and manufactures most of the medicines used in the country, including 33 vaccines, 33 cancer drugs, 18 drugs to treat cardiovascular disease and seven drugs for other diseases. At one point, Cuba was the leading provider of pharmaceuticals to Latin America and also supplied medicines to several Asian countries. Its medical infrastructure is also relatively advanced, with 22 medical campuses and academic journals in all of the major medical specialties.

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Much of the progress made in improving the well-being of the Cuban population also traces back to policies independent of the health care sector, including universal education, guaranteed nutrition, clean drinking water and modern sanitation. Perhaps more important were the Cuban government's egalitarian economic policies that dramatically reduced the wealth inequalities that had existed prior to the revolution. An extensive body of research shows that income inequality is closely associated with, and likely a critical determinant of, population health, and Cuba is no exception.

The U.S. embargo

What makes Cuba's health advancements all the more remarkable is that they were achieved under more than five decades of a stifling economic embargo. In 1962, three years after the Cuban revolution, the U.S. instituted the embargo to cripple Cuba's economy, in the hope that the pain inflicted on the Cuban people would spur them to overthrow the government. (The embargo was just one of several methods employed by the U.S. to do away with the Cuban government; the Kennedy administration-initiated terrorist campaign "Operation Mongoose" was another - which makes the Obama administration's touted removal of Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror grotesquely ironic.)

In a comprehensive 1997 report documenting the impact of the U.S. embargo of Cuba, the American Association for World Health (AAWH) observed that it was "one of the few embargoes of recent years ... that explicitly include[d] foods and medicines in its virtual ban on bilateral commercial ties." The report found that the tightening of the embargo during the 1990s had resulted in shortages of drugs, water treatment supplies and food, leading to malnutrition and waterborne diseases, among other problems. The AAWH concluded that "[a] humanitarian catastrophe [resulting from the embargo] has been averted only because the Cuban government has maintained a high level of budgetary support for a health care system designed to deliver primary and preventive health care to all of its citizens."

Amnesty International followed the AAWH report with its own 2009 analysis of how the embargo had affected the "economic and social rights" of the Cuban people. The report documented numerous instances in which Cuba was unable to import a range of medical supplies, including HIV and psychiatric medicines, vaccines and syringes, medical devices, diagnostic equipment, condoms, and pediatric nutritional products.

The U.S. has long been isolated from the rest of the world on its policy towards Cuba. Every year since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly (188-2 was last year's tally) in favor of a resolution calling on the U.S. to end the embargo. Nevertheless, the New York Times could still claim in an editorial last year that it was not the U.S. but Cuba that suffered from a "beleaguered international standing."

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Pressure to privatize?
SALT LAKE CITY - MARCH 21: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at West High School at a campaign rally on March 21, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Republican and Democratic caucuses are March 22. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)

Nobody cares how well a politician does at the ballot box when he or she is running for an office unopposed. What matters is how a politician performs in contested primaries and general elections, as when it really matters -- like it will, for instance, this November -- you can be certain of a contested election.

With that said, let's make an important observation: Bernie Sanders has tied or beaten Hillary Clinton in a majority of the actively contested votes this election season.

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You doubt it? Okay, let me explain.

Bernie Sanders has terrible name recognition in states where he hasn't advertised or campaigned yet; meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has universal name recognition everywhere. Realizing this, the Clinton camp pushed hard to rack up the early vote in every state where early voting was an option. They did this not primarily for the reason we've been told -- because Clinton performs well among older voters, and older voters are more likely to vote early than other age demographics -- but rather because they knew that early votes are almost always cast before the election season actually begins in a given state.

That's right -- in each state, most of the early primary voting occurs before the candidates have aired any commercials or held any campaign events. For Bernie Sanders, this means that early voting happens, pretty much everywhere, before anyone knows who he is. Certainly, early voting occurs in each state before voters have developed a sufficient level of familiarity and comfort with Sanders to vote for him.

But on Election Day -- among voters who've been present and attentive for each candidate's commercials, local news coverage, and live events -- Sanders tends to tie or beat Clinton.

In fact, that's the real reason Sanders does well in caucuses.

It's not because caucuses "require a real time investment," as the media likes to euphemistically say, but because caucuses require that you vote on Election Day rather than well before it.

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Consider: in North Carolina, Hillary Clinton only won Election Day voting 52% to 48%. Given the shenanigans in evidence during the live voting there -- thousands of college students were turned away from the polls due to insufficient identification under a new voter-suppression statute in the state -- it wouldn't be unfair to call that 4-point race more like a 2-point one (51% to 49% for Clinton).

Consider: on Super Tuesday 3, because early voting is always reported first, Clinton's margins of victory were originally believed to be 25 points in Missouri, 30 points in Illinois, and 30 points in Ohio. Missouri, which doesn't have conventional early voting, ended up a tie. Illinois ended up with a 1.8% margin for Clinton (after being a 42-point race in Clinton's favor just a week earlier) and Ohio a 13.8% margin.

Any one of us could do the math there. And yet the media never did.

Consider: in Arizona yesterday, the election was called almost immediately by the media, with Clinton appearing to "win" the state by a margin of 61.5% to 36.1%. Of course, this was all early voting. CNN even wrongly reported that these early votes constituted the live vote in 41% of all Arizona precincts -- rather than merely mail-in votes constituting a percentage of the total projected vote in the state -- which allowed most Americans to go to bed believing both that Clinton had won Arizona by more than 25 points and that that margin was the result of nearly half of Arizona's precincts reporting their live-voting results. Neither was true.

In fact, as of the time of that 61.5% to 36.1% "win," not a single precinct in Arizona had reported its Election Day results.

Indeed, more than two and a half hours after polls closed in Arizona, officials there had counted only 54,000 of the estimated 431,000 Election Day ballots.

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That's about 12%.

So how did Bernie Sanders do on Election Day in Arizona?

As of the writing of this essay (2:45 AM ET), Sanders was leading Clinton in Election Day voting in Arizona 50.2% to 49.8%, with just under 75,000 votes (about 17.3% of all Election Day votes) counted.

So imagine, for a moment, that early votes were reported to the media last rather than first. Which, of course, they quite easily could be, given that they're less -- rather than more -- reflective of the actual state of opinion on Election Day. Were early votes reported last rather than first, Arizona as of 2:45 AM ET would have been considered not only too close to call but a genuine nail-biter. In fact, only 400 or so Election Day votes were separating the two Democratic candidates at that point -- though the momentum with each new vote counted was quite clearly in Sanders' favor.

So the question becomes, why does any of this matter? Does the point being made here -- that Bernie Sanders is as or more popular than Hillary in both all the states he won and many of the states he didn't -- gain Sanders a single delegate? Does it move him one inch closer to being President?

No.

What it does do is explain why the Clinton-Sanders race is a 5-point race nationally -- just a hair from being a statistical tie, given the margin of error -- despite the media treating Clinton's nomination as a foregone conclusion.

What it does do is explain how Clinton is "beating" Sanders among American voters despite having a -13 favorability rating nationally, as compared to Sanders' +11 rating. That dramatic difference is possible because in favorability polling, pollsters only count voters who say they know enough about a candidate to form an opinion. That eliminates the sort of "early voters" who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton before having much of a handle on who Bernie Sanders is.

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And what it does do is explain why Sanders outperforms Clinton against Donald Trump in nearly every state where head-to-head general-election polling data is available. While some of this is undoubtedly due to the fact that Sanders beats Clinton by between 30 and 40 points among Independents -- itself a major warning sign for a Clinton candidacy this fall -- the rest is explained by the fact that when voters come to know Bernie Sanders as well as they already know Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they tend to prefer him to these two by clear margins.

The Hillary camp, and Hillary supporters, are justly excited about how their candidate is performing in the delegate horse-race. The problem is that that excitement is quickly becoming the sort of arrogance that will in fact endanger Hillary's candidacy for President. Both she and her team -- including all her millions of supporters -- should consider the fact that Hillary does not, outside the deep-red Deep South, do particularly well among voters when they're given any other reasonable alternative. The fact that early voting statutes and media reporting of elections in America favors the maintenance of the illusion that Hillary remains popular when voters become familiar with other credible options does not excuse ignorance of the reality; certainly, it won't help Democrats in November.

And given that a demagogue like Donald Trump is the likely Republican nominee, that's a scary thought for many Americans. Sanders voters should want -- and most do want -- a Clinton campaign that understands its weaknesses sufficiently to ameliorate them in a general election, should Clinton be the Democratic nominee. Right now that's clearly not happening, and the national media is unfortunately enabling the persistence and expansion of these troubling blind-spots.

Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about super-delegates. These are folks who are supposed to be supporting whichever candidate has the best chance of winning in November. We already know, per head-to-head general-election polling, that the better candidate to run against Donald Trump is Bernie Sanders; however, many super-delegates (and most of the media) dismiss general election polling this early on, even though Sanders' commanding lead over Trump is clearly statistically relevant. (This is especially true given that his name recognition lags well behind Trump's.)

But what about the argument, implicitly being made to super-delegates now, and likely to be made to them explicitly in Philadelphia this summer, that Bernie Sanders has, broadly speaking, out-performed Hillary Clinton in Election Day voting? Given that Election Day voting in the spring is the very same sort of high-information voting that will occur in November, you'd think super-delegates would be quite interested to know that, in live voting, Bernie Sanders beats Hillary Clinton more often than not.

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John Krasinski, Hank Azaria and Claire Danes in Dry Powder.

Photo: Joan Marcus

There's not much theatrical electricity to be found in an evening of talk about leveraged buyouts, outsourcing and offshoring, is there? Or is there? Sarah Burgess's Dry Powder is altogether crackling, allowing us to cut through the jargon and delve into an engrossing power-play as a pair of corporate raiders battle their way through a financial tug of war. Which is more like a battle of the gladiators, but that seems to be the point.

Dry Powder is not, as you might suspect, another one of those contemporary dramas about affluent Manhattan husbands trying to adjust to life with their toddler sleeping in the next room. The term is mergers & acquisitions slang for cash or marketable securities kept fluid, so that you can instantly pounce on the next big deal that comes along before your competitors discover it. Kind of like keeping a household reserve fund stashed in the cookie jar, if your cookie jar is big enough to hold hundreds of millions.

Rick (Hank Azaria) is a corporate raider of the worst type. While the Messrs. Trump and Romney are not nowadays as chummy as Damon & Pythias, say, Rick can be seen as a slash-pillage-and-fire combination of the two. (He even uses Bain Capital--Romney's old firm--as a consultant.) Rick broke away from the M&A department at Goldman to form KMM Management with deal-finders Seth (John Krasinski), who is hungry, and Jenny (Claire Danes), who is hungry and brutal. Their high-flying firm implodes when they fire thousands of employees of a supermarket chain they have just bought on the same day that Rick throws himself a million-dollar engagement party with real elephants. Only one elephant, Rick keeps pointing out; but any way you shovel it, it is bad optics. Now, investors are fleeing--with all that dry powder.



Sanjit De Silva, Claire Danes and John Krasinski in Dry Powder.

Photo: Joan Marcus

Opportunity waltzes in with Landmark Luggage, which Seth's friend Jeff (Sanjit De Silva) is willing to sell for "491 at twenty percent equity," which works out to "only 98.2 out of the remaining dry powder." (Playwright Burgess's language is written in shorthand jargon, and throws off constant sparks.) Dry Powder turns into a morality play, or an immorality play, and it's not difficult to guess whether the buyout will ultimately turn into a morally-bankrupt sellout, principle-wise.

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The cast is top grade, and quite a coup for a young playwright's first work at a major theatre. Azaria, who has won five Emmys or so for "The Simpsons," returns to the New York stage where he previously starred in the original Broadway cast of Spamalot. He is massively good here as the master of his universe; brilliant, powerful and rapacious. If someone is looking to do a grand revival of Angels in America, here's your Roy Cohn. Danes matches him. Mostly a creature of television, she brings to the stage the same laser-bright intensity and danger that she demonstrates in "Homeland." Danes also has appeared locally, in the 2007 Roundabout production of Pygmalion, but that was tame--acting-wise--compared to Jenny, who storms and attacks "with a hawk on her shoulder."



Krasinski, from "The Office" and elsewhere, does well as the equally rapacious but not-quite vicious enough Seth. De Silva--who doesn't have the household name status of his castmates--nevertheless turns in an excellent performance as the laid-back exec from California, looking to protect his luggage company and his employees.

Amping up the electricity of Burgess's script is director Thomas Kail, who lately did that other show about the guy on the ten-dollar bill. (One suspects that by this point in time, Kail has amassed his own personal cookie jar-full of dry powder. And deservedly so.) The play--and the performers--crackle throughout, although if Kail & Co. plan to continue past the Public they might want to do some trimming as Seth lags, somewhat, during the final half hour.

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A woman lights a candle at a memorial for victims of attacks in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

I am at a loss for words with the terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels. Our thoughts most certainly go out to the victims of this tragedy, but this magnifies our necessity to mobilize and engage communities across differences to change minds and hearts that constantly immerse themselves in ignorance and hate for the "other".

Terrorism spares no one and does not carry an incentive for the betterment of mankind. This news, unfortunately, is being seen by the world as another day in our interconnected paradise. For a world that seems to be drawing itself closer through technology and investment, it seems to simultaneously be dividing itself for every day that passes.

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In processing the aftermath of these evil acts, it is no surprise for inner "click-tivist" within all of us to begin sharing articles and photos, even changing the filters of our profile photos on social media platforms. How far does it go for people to actually invigorate a sense of responsibility before they simply become posts and Tweets on a never ending news feed? And what happens when the coverage of such events my the mainstream media seem to undermine its impact solely based on its geographic location?

Currently two different countries are mourning. But some among us are standing with one and ignoring and normalizing the other. This phenomenon was also found when the attacks in Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris took place in November.

Facebook, in its changing policies, fell into controversy for not having a filter on photos for the Paris attack and allowing people to check in for safety, but not in other cities that had terrorist attacks around the same time.

Most certainly, I got responses to this -- many of solidarity and sorrow, but also of apathy and disregard.

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"Well, to be honest, the lives of people in Europe matter more to the United States than those in the Middle East."

"Because this happens every day in the middle east and we let it into our home. That's why."

These statements speak volumes about a level of dehumanization that is dangerous for our transforming world. These are statements that tell me that we are showing that some lives matter and are worth more than others. This is a problem that accompanies the heinous acts that tremble our daily lives and disrupt our realities, reminding us of how impermanent we really are. How does one work against such rhetoric and before it develops into violence? This answer came to me as I continued to learn what it meant to be an interfaith activist.

In my work with communities and colleges across the country, I came across the same problem that prevented understanding, let alone a conversation that should begin bridging gaps:

1) The fear of difference prevents association and willing to hear different views, and

2) Assumptions from direct experience or exposure create not only prejudice, but to place our own existence, let alone our values, on a higher pedestal, justifying our reasons to discriminate.

We continually forget that attacks claimed by Da'esh (Islamic State) do NOT represent the principles and practices of the entire Muslim faith. Our first lesson: Do not assume the worst of a stranger who you do not know or understand. In a world that places judgment on everything, you must be sure to understand what circumstances and contexts a person comes from to do or think the way that they do. This does not mean that if people share a faith that they will see their faith the same way; this is why interpretation and theory into practice matter.

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Lesson two: If you do not understand something about a faith tradition different from yours, just ask. Understanding a faith does not just come from seeing what a few practitioners do; it comes from studying their religious texts, their histories, and how certain ideologies came to exist. The American Muslim community has led many efforts in condemning Da'esh, informing people about Islam and Muslim in America, and advocating that Muslims value life and love over fear and hate mongering.

Lesson three: Do not go on this learning path alone. It is essential that we each transform our mindsets to understand communities better, but walking on this path alone makes this process longer and more pain staking. If we make spaces that are safe for people to respect each other while they learn about each others' perspective, it becomes more susceptible to build a relationship between people.

And lesson four: If you really want to do something about, do not underestimate your potential. You can be one person, a group, or an entire community working to understand people and work with them to solve common problems. Your condemnation and solidarity mean so much more when you step out into the real world and commit to a solid plan of action. Visiting a place of worship or meeting with adherents, hosting discussions and lectures that dispel misconceptions, and doing donation drives (money, blood, resources) for victims of such attacks makes for a more meaningful and sustainable change that we need in our world.

This example of charity is also being followed by communities within Belgium, such as that by a small Sikh community near the Brussels airport that has opened its door with food and shelter and their gurudwara (Sikh temple).

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The pain being experienced around the world says so much about those who seek to divide and destroy us. But even more about how we don't invest in our own unity and mobilization, let alone our own awareness.


Taking a bottom-up approach changes everything.

Speaking with the Chief Information Officer of the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) is like being in the audience of a startup company pitch competition. Dino Miele expresses himself with a youthful enthusiasm that instantly hooks you onto his dream of dramatically improving education. For Miele that means giving every student the opportunities, the support, and the resources to discover their own path in life. It's a bold challenge, and one that educators, governments, and private organizations around the world are working to solve. DSBN is a school district of 88 schools in St. Catherines, Ontario with over 43,000 students, making even internal change a large task.

It's such a great undertaking because no one has figured out how to personalize education for the masses. There is no end to barriers blocking this dream: funding, student engagement, professional development, socio-economic variance, teaching styles, curriculum differences, and so on. Miele thinks that his team is on the right track to crack the case, and have the results to prove it:

If you give students the tools to understand their learning, their behavior changes. Then they start to engage cognitively, and think critically. And that is personalization.

It started with the 2013 Niagara Connect Conference. Miele and the organizers realized that regardless of education level, subject, or background, teachers have a wide range of problems with common threads. This led them to an idea for changing the way the education world would connect to the community around them. In Miele's words: "We said 'can you imagine a place where teachers from different disciplines or different schools and levels break the silos between each other, and where non-profit, profit companies and startups come in to help them break those silos with technology to improve their daily work?' And that's the ihub."

ihub is the DSBN solution to increasing student engagement with technology. It's a research and innovation hub where students, educators, and private organizations all work to progress towards education at an individual level.

Class, take out your computers

When computers entered the classroom in the late 1980s, they were primarily used for computer science and business classes without regard for other disciplines. From there, computer labs were introduced, with basic education programs in game-based learning environments for math and english. This is called substitution learning, where a computer replaces the teacher for a particular lesson or subject. The technique of learning was still the same, but the means of accessing it had changed. It wasn't until the last 5-10 years before technology began to impact student engagement, and that's a big deal. Teachers are forever struggling to keep their students engaged with learning material, but new applications of technology could be changing that.

Miele describes the "ABC's" of effective student engagement with technology: academically, behaviorally, and cognitively. "If you give students the tools to understand their learning, their behavior changes. Then they start to engage cognitively, and think critically. And that is personalization."

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There is of course a fine line between engaging students with technology and distracting them. Classroom teachers are finding it more and more common that students are becoming distracted in the classroom with shorter attention spans and easy access to smartphones. According to Miele, the answer to this balance is in the availability of resources and opportunities for students. DSBN creates a "hybrid environment" for students and staff to get access to technology tools in a controlled environment. They make a variety of tools available (including Apple, Microsoft, and Google) for students to gain exposure to different industry tools and skills.

It's by providing these varied opportunities that students can discover for themselves what interests them, and start diving deeper into their learning. There are notable success stories already, including one student who found an interest in photography and now runs his own studio post-high school. It is evidence of the ihub program having a positive impact on growing the local economy.

The onus is then on the teachers to ensure that students use the tools available to them effectively and assist in achieving learning objectives.

Where's the "On" button?

Teachers come in all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of comfort with technology. When the principal at a school tells their staff that they should be using new technology, some teachers jump right on board. Others avoid it completely. Typically this is due to a fear of changing workflows and processes, or a lack of time to make the switch. Regardless of whether that technology was intended for use by a student or staff, it is the teacher that must learn to use it.

It's not about the technology, it's about transparency.

However, the intended audience for technology in education is typically not the teacher. In almost all cases edtech companies target the student, personalizing the experience to their use. Miele thinks that the focus needs to be not only on the student, but also on their teachers. "We need ongoing professional development to help the teachers scale the technology to where it needs to go. It's not about the technology, it's about transparency -- it has to be invisible."

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This is where DSBN gets sneaky. They gamify professional development using classroom devices as incentives. It's a concept called an "earn it" program where teachers must attend professional development workshops to earn devices for their classrooms. Technology champions become mentors to other teachers, increasing tech adoption. It's this "culture of learning" that creates the foundation of DSBN's approach with ihub -- the community.

All hands in

The secret to ihub's early success is the value placed on community, and open collaboration between the many stakeholders in education. By including private organizations, higher education teachers, K-12 teachers and students in the program, it incentivizes all parties to participate. Students gain easy access to private organizations as job opportunities, and Edtech companies gain exposure to test the market and grab early adoption of their platforms. Teachers get to use all of the edtech products for improving their instruction, and district administrators are encouraged by the development of their staff best practices.

It seems like a shooting star story to hear about this wonderful community of education stakeholders all helping each other, but this model of intrapreneurship can be created at any school or district. Miele has some sound advice to administrators looking to make tech a more prominent part of education. "The first step is to listen to your students and teachers. Ask them what their needs are, they can help with the decision making. Your knowledge and expertise can guide them to the best tools that fit their needs." He cautions, however, to understand the problems that districts are looking to solve, rather than adding technology for its own sake.

For Miele and ihub, the next step is to scale to the rest of Ontario and beyond. He dreams of a day where their learnings can be used as actionable resources for districts everywhere. It's an intriguing case study for successful edtech implementation, and time will tell whether it truly is the key to personalized education.


Courtesy of Shutterstock



During my time working for the Singapore Tourism Board, I learned that Singapore is most infamous among U.S. travelers for banning chewing gum. However, I also quickly learned there is a lot that makes this tiny country a worthy addition to your next Southeast Asia adventure.

For the History Buff



Even though Singapore just celebrated 50 years as an independent country in 2015, it has a rich history that dates back to its days as the ancient trading post Singapura in the early 1800s. Since then, it has been occupied by the Japanese, colonized by the British, joined forces with Malaysia under the Federation of Malaya, and then expelled from the Federation shortly after. As a nation left on its own with few natural resources, Singapore's success story was an unlikely one; but in just 50 years, Singapore managed to launch itself from a third-world country to a first-world country with one of the most competitive economies in the world.

Take one (or all) of Journeys' Original Singapore Walks, especially the Changi WWII and Secrets of the Red Lantern tours. The company's founder, Jeya, was a military historian with a personal interest in Singapore's history, and he repurposed his research into these fascinating tours. Other favorite destinations for history buffs include the National Museum of Singapore and Kranji War Memorial.

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Kranji War Memorial



For the Culture Connoisseur



Strategically located at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, and a meeting point of sea routes, Singapore has always been a hub for people of all backgrounds to cross. It's no wonder that Singapore is a melting pot today, comprised of Chinese, Eurasian, Indian, Malay and Peranakan cultures. Even though Singapore is a very Westernized country, visitors can explore the various ethnic neighborhoods to get a flavor of each, whether in Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam for Malay culture or Joo Chiat/Katong for Peranakan culture. Other cultural destinations include Haw Par Villa theme park, the Peranakan Museum and the Sultan Mosque.



Kampong Glam



For the Foodie



Your belly will never be empty when in Singapore -- the locals won't allow it. Singapore's melting pot of cultures manifests in its local cuisine. Upon landing, my first to-do was always to head directly to a hawker center (open-air food court) and get a plate of Hainanese Chicken Rice, such as at Tian Tian Chicken Rice in Maxwell Food Centre. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this dish, a plate of rice, sliced up chicken, ginger paste and chili sauce. Singapore's version is an adaptation of the dish early Chinese immigrants from Hainan brought over, with a local Cantonese twist. Other must-eats include Chilli Crab from No Signboard Seafood, Laksa from 328 Katong Laksa and Roti Prata from Mister Prata.



Food from Singapore



For the Aimless Wanderer



Explorers who prefer to skip sightseeing checklists can wander through the charming neighborhoods and blend in with the locals. Go to Haji Lane and browse boutiques in the colorful shophouses -- be sure to stop in Soon Lee to check out clothes and jewelry from local designers. Grab breakfast and fresh fruit from Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre, then stroll through the Tiong Bahru neighborhood and poke your head in shops and cafes scattered among the art deco-style estates. Hang out at the coffee shops in Jalan Besar and marvel at how hipster culture made its way across the sea from Brooklyn to Singapore.



Haji Lane



For the Nature Lover



Singapore's land area is only 276 square miles, smaller than Rhode Island, but over half of it is covered in greenery, including 300 parks and four nature reserves. Explore Southern Ridges, 6 miles of connecting parks including Henderson Waves, the Forest Walk and Canopy Walk. Other top-of-the-list activities are biking through Pulau Ubin and hiking through Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, where you might even bump into a family of monkeys.

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Pulau Ubin



The biggest takeaway from my time at the Singapore Tourism Board and multiple visits to the country is that Singaporeans are a passionate, kind-hearted bunch. They love shopping, they love eating, and they really love their country. Most of all, they enjoy sharing their country with visitors, so don't be afraid to just ask a local for suggestions.

Learn more about Singapore and book hotel and vacation deals there on our Singapore Featured Destination page.
Let's call this an ALERT BLOG. One that could save a life!

"Am I A Health Advocate"? was the title of a previous blog I posted highlighting the responsibilities associated with being an effective health advocate for the loved one in your care. These responsibilities included:

 Familiarizing yourself with your loved one's current health condition

 Understanding your loved one's physical and emotional needs

 Ensuring the doctor's recommendations are being followed

 Reviewing the list of medications and possible side effects

Given what I just experienced, I now realize I left out two important responsibilities:

 Don't assume anything

 Ask health care professionals as many questions as necessary until you fully understand and are satisfied with the answers

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I want to relay a personal story that recently occurred. You have heard me mention my mom, Vivian. Vivian is a young 87 years old and although she's in good physical shape, unfortunately, from time to time she experiences cognitive issues that are brought on by clinical anxiety. When this occurs, Vivian needs outside support to navigate through a normal day. As a result, my mom lives in an assisted-living complex. It is a beautiful facility with a full-time medical staff on premise, prepared meals and a host of activities for the residents. Naturally, all these services result in a fairly hefty monthly bill. On top of that, because Vivian takes quite a few medications, she (correctly) decided to pay an additional fee for a medication management service to ensure she takes her prescriptions as ordered by her physicians.

Two months ago, Vivian was experiencing one of these difficult periods and was hospitalized for several weeks in an effort to find the right combination of medications that could help her. Happily, when my mom was discharged from the hospital, she was feeling great and was eager to return home.

A couple of weeks later, my mom contracted a virus and ran a temperature high enough to result in a trip to the emergency room, where she was admitted, treated and discharged two days latter. Now, this is the important part: When Vivian was admitted, my sister spoke to the ER doctor, provided a list of medications and carefully reviewed mom's medical history, including all the details of her recent stay at another hospital. Consequently, the attending doctor had all the crucial information he needed regarding Vivian's recent medical history.

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Three days after being discharged from the hospital, I visited my mom and noticed she was unusually tired. Initially, I chalked it up to an 87-year-old going through a difficult few days and I assumed she just needed time to acclimate. However, the level of her tiredness made me a little uncomfortable so I went to see the nurse. And, this was when I unearthed some startling news: There had been a major medication screw-up by the hospital and a complete lack of diligent follow-up care at the assisted living facility!

The assisted living nurse told me that my mom was now prescribed THREE Ativan a day, which was tantamount to a full-time tranquilizer regiment. The real kicker was that the medications she was prescribed during her extended hospital stay -- the medications that stabilized her anxiety and cognitive issues -- had been discontinued...cold turkey. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

I had three simple questions:

1. Who authorized these medication instructions?

2. Did the hospital review the medication changes at the time of discharge?

3. Why, especially given that my mom pays for medication management services, didn't anyone at the assisted living home review the medication instructions from her latest hospital discharge and why didn't they question this dramatic medication change, especially after a short two-day hospital stay?

I received three completely unacceptable answers:

1. The hospital admitted that someone did not transfer the complete provided medication sheet into her electronic medical record.

2. The medication changes were not discussed at the time of her discharge.

3. The assisted living facility said it was not responsible for reviewing medication lists from hospitals and then comparing them to prior medication lists.

All of the answers infuriated me, but I was particularly enraged by the assisted living facility's response, which I found to be incredibly irresponsible, especially considering my mom pays an incremental fee for medication management. Hey, news flash...forget corporate responsibility: what about the concept of providing "good ol' quality care?!"

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I am raising this topic because medication errors are much more common than you might think, and as a family caregiver, you need to take charge of this process. Leah Binder's September 3, 2013 Forbes http://www.forbes.com article, The Shocking Truth About Medication Errors, estimates one million medication errors are made in hospitals resulting in 7,000 deaths per year.



Thankfully, taking charge of this medication process is not as daunting as it may sound. It's simply a matter of asking the right questions at the right time and ensuring the answers you receive are satisfactory.

I've outlined several steps to take to help avoid situations like the one Vivian experienced:

1. Always have two copies of your loved one's updated list of medications, including brand and generic name, dose strength, and the number and times of day the medication is taken.

2. If your loved one is admitted into a hospital, provide a copy of medication information to the admitting physician and ensure that the list is correctly inputted into their system (Don't worry about appearing difficult! You are doing your job). If you are not satisfied, do whatever is necessary to make certain that medications are inputted correctly.

3. At the time of hospital discharge, bring the same medication list you provided the hospital at the time your loved one was admitted and ask the hospital discharge representative to carefully review the medications the patient has been taking during the hospital stay, the prescriptions they will be leaving the hospital with, and any differences between the post-discharge medication list and the pre-admission medication list.

4. If there are any differences between those two lists, ask why these changes have been made and request that this information be inserted into the hospital discharge instructions.

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5. If your loved one lives in an assisted living facility, review the hospital prescription list with the nursing staff and review any differences between their pre-existing and new lists. If there are differences, have the nursing staff call your loved one's primary care physician to review and approve any medication changes and adjustments that have taken place. (Remember: a primary care physician will call any of your loved one's medical specialists on their behalf. The primary care physician can be viewed as your medical team QB). Personally call the primary care physician to ensure that all medication issues are understood and addressed.

6. If your loved one lives on their own or with a family member, call your loved one's primary care physician to review changes and ensure all adjustments made in the hospital are understood and addressed.

Bear in mind: An educated family caregiver and patient are appreciated by the vast majority of physicians. You have every right to drive the process that keeps your loved one safe and healthy! Holy Absolutely, Batman!
Pablo Picasso, in one of his more famous quotes said "Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up."

But Picasso did not envision a future where tech and coding would be so prevalent and important. A large number of these types of jobs require computer science skills in equal part to arts. In these jobs you can stay as an artist, using technology as your canvas and Javascript, Python, and other computer languages as your paint. It is a medium that Picasso never envisioned, and it is allowing practical, tech-tistic innovations previously unknown. Without creativity, technology would not be usable.

In our previous blog post,we wrote about STEAM learning (science, technology, engineering, arts and math, which was previously STEM), and how STEAM initiatives are widely accepted as building the skills of the future.

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STEAM skills will be necessary for a large number of the jobs in the coming years, even in jobs that have historically been non-technical. The US Department of education reports that the number of STEM jobs in the United States will grow by 14% from 2010 to 2020, growth that the Bureau of Labor Statistics terms as "much faster" than the national average of 5-8% across all job sectors.

This means that a lot of future jobs will need to be filled with a workforce that is educated in STEAM. These employees with need to have both technical and artistic skills.

These STEAM careers that combine technical and art skills are already all around us! Brands like Nike,Samsung and Google commission programmers to create marketing publicity installations.

Molmol Kuo is an artist who worked with code to create a three dimensional illuminated map installation for Nike. This structure visualized thousands of people's Nike+ runs around New York, London and Tokyo.

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Kuo also used creativity and code to make another marketing tool for Nike called Paint With Your Feet. The software used data from participants' runs, including speed, consistency and running style, as "paint," and was printed onto a physical canvas as user generated artwork, making their run artistic code.

Samsung similarly used coded art installations to market its products, including the launch of its Galaxy S6 Edge this past spring.

Samsung phones were coded to function as pieces in an "instrument" that was used in a press concert by Little Dragon, a popular electronica band from Sweden.

Luisa Pereira, self-described creative technologist, worked on this project. Pereira was originally a programmer who loved the tech world, but wanted more of a traditional arts component in her job. She decided to develop her career into what she describes as "creative technologist." Pereira has worked on a variety of installations, one of the most notable being Strings, for Google. This structure that was showcased at Google headquarters in California, was a giant stringed musical structure that people could walk into.

Pereira is also a teacher of computer science. "There is always a magical moment when they realize that they can make their own technology," she says of her students. "There is always an element of creativity when you are working at solving any problem."

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Our own User Interface Designer here at Vidcode, Leandra Tejedor, uses creativity to code and design the Vidcode site. The biggest challenge for her was how to figure out how to create an intuitive coding environment for users who have never coded before. "How do we balance good design with functionality and making sure it is intuitive, how [do we] create this live coding environment."



Innovation comes from new ideas, which spurn new companies, and products.

One of these products is Dance Watch, an app created by software engineer Catherine Elder. The app,easily installed on any android watch and phone, actually incorporates human movement as code; a user wearing their programmed watch has only to do a dance move from a popular song (as long as it is recognized on the app), such as jamming out and doing the hand wave from Beyonce's "Single Ladies". As you are bopping and grooving, the app inputs the movement as code and your Spotify starts playing the Beyonce hit.

The app was both coded into existence, and uses the human coding input to run. "Creativity helps you find real-world applications [to coding,]" says Elder, who also says that "Single Ladies" is her favorite song on the app.

Innovation and start-up companies are by definition creative pursuits, and start-ups are a major driver of the economy, as well as a major driver of innovation.

In an interview with McKinsey, Kiran Prasad, VP of engineering at Linkedin said , "It's definitely a balance of art and science, and probably more art than science," in response to the question "What big shifts do you foresee as data and technology start to change the landscape of talent management?"



There are countless jobs and industries that use coding and computer science, and these are all creative in different ways. Some are creative in the way art is, some are creative through their problem solving, and many are creative in other ways. These careers allow room for the child artist we all once were, and put it to practical use as adults.
By MADELEINE LUCKEL



Photo: Courtesy of Emily Ratajkowski / @emrata

Your 20s can be hard. There's more than enough to worry about besides decorating your apartment. Dorm dwelling, after all, certainly doesn't prepare you to choose the right sized kilim rug--or better yet, chaise longue. So let the experts advise you on how to nail your 20-something apartment with style and grace. After all, having a beautifully decorated oasis while you're out crushing it is probably exactly what you need. Here, interior designers and industry veterans weigh in on both the essential apartment items and the little (and big) extras that will truly take it above and beyond.

"Space is usually at a premium cost for 20-somethings, therefore stylish double-duty furniture is a must. For a sophisticated look, use a single mattress banked with toss cushions as a daybed that can be converted into a bed for overnight guests. Also, get an expandable dining table that can be used as a desk surface as well."

--Philip Mitchell, interior designer

"A good Dutch oven from a brand like Le Creuset. You can cook everything in one of these--spaghetti sauces, risottos, stir-fry--or even a roasted chicken! It also looks great on the table when serving family style.

--Kate Arends, Wit & Delight

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"A queen bed. A twin bed in your 20s does not seem optimistic. Also, good glassware is essential. It doesn't have to be expensive--in fact, CB2 makes one of my favorites. The rest you can wing. Enjoy the ride."

--Miles Redd, interior designer

"Good bedding, like Restoration Hardware's linen sheets, and a butterfly chair--which is iconic and movable. Also, most rentals are a horrible shade of institutional beige. A fresh coat of white paint--and halogen light bulbs--are game-changers."

--Patrick Mele, interior designer



"Curtains. After you have the essential furniture pieces, curtains are the next best way to express your design style."

--Young Huh, interior designer

"A wine glass set. Gone are the days where mismatched glasses are okay. Skip using the decanter for alcohol and fill it with your mixers instead. Nothing looks worse than juice cartons on your bar. Also, an amazing candle is one of the best affordable luxuries you can get for your home. Remember that good environments tap into each of the senses, and scent is always key."

--Alex Reid, head designer of The Studio at One Kings Lane

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"It's all about love--you're never too young to buy at least one thing you adore for your home. Whether it's a piece of art, a tiny sculpture, or a piece of furniture, start to surround yourself with things that excite you. Your interests and eye will start to develop and grow from there."

--Samuel Amoia, interior designer and furniture-maker

"A quality mattress, a full-length mirror, and a cashmere throw!"

--Benjamin Vandiver, interior designer

"Get one good piece of furniture every year. My first decent purchase was a Barcelona coffee table--it made all my hand-me-downs look better."

--Emily Summers, interior designer

"I think every 20-something needs an item that's a good reminder of where she came from and another item that's a good reminder of where she's heading. For me, the 'where I came from' piece is a family heirloom, a painting from my late great-uncle. The 'where I'm heading' piece is a set of vases from one of my favorite ceramists, Gambone--every time I look at them, I'm reminded to follow my passions."

--Justina Blakeney, designer, author, and lifestyle blogger

More from Vogue:

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By Renee Bock

All new parents know the pleasure of looking at a newborn. We also know the fear: What if something is wrong? Parents spend time wondering and worrying about their baby. You ask yourself, will she walk on time? Play like other kids? At the start of a child's life parents navigate the milestones mostly on their own and it can be scary.

As children grow, there are so many areas of development that we hope are on track. We wait for children to crawl, walk and run. As we return to work, we also often turn over a great deal of daily monitoring to others. This makes it essential for parents to communicate openly and frequently with pediatricians, caregivers and teachers. Working as a team ensures concerns are addressed. But even today as awareness of child development grows, pitfalls to identifying issues remain.

Fortunately, every state provides early intervention services free for parents. Unfortunately, families are fearful and often don't know what is available or how to obtain services. Parents usually turn to their pediatrician for help, but your doctor doesn't see your child on a daily basis. And unless there is a diagnosed medical issue, doctors may not seek services. Many take a "wait and see" attitude, assuming development will solve problems. You can lose precious time when infants or toddler with malleable brains would be helped most.

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But there's a lot that parents can do to make sure their children are developing on schedule. Certainly, there are many developmental checklists and question and answer forums available online. Zero to Three's Developmental Milestones includes a side bar where parents can ask questions and The Centers for Disease Control also provides useful materials .

But it's even more important to trust your gut. And to ask questions of the person seeing your child on a daily basis: your caregiver or teacher. Be proactive about calling teachers, and seeking out your center's director if you have concerns. Questions might include:

1) How's my child's language development? Do you think he understands what he's hearing? Does she use enough words? Can you understand him?

2) Should he be walking already? When should I be concerned?

3) How come my child cries from loud sounds, doesn't like to play with sand? Etc.

As you can see, anything you're concerned about is worth asking.

Caregivers and teachers are there to encourage evaluation based on parent concerns or their own knowledge. Daycare and school personnel can help parents navigate early intervention bureaucracies, move forward with evaluations, and work with therapists to help children. Teachers can do baseline research based assessments, and observe children closely with developmental milestones in mind.

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Through observation, teachers develop deep ways of:

Knowing. By looking and listening teachers know children better, and can support children and parents.

Understanding. Teachers think about what they see and share understandings with parents. Teachers see children in social and learning contexts.

Identifying.

Teachers use research based assessment tools to check milestones and share results with parents. Assessment results often spur a move to evaluate.

By sharing information, teachers and parents can reduce worry and take action to support children. With so many services available, why not take advantage of them? There is nothing to lose. A child -- even a baby -- who gets the right support will likely meet goals faster than you'd imagine, preparing them for school, for friendship and a happy life.

More from Well Rounded NY:

This piece was originally published by Renee Bock on Well Rounded NY. Renee Bock is a dedicated early childhood educator, who is currently the Chief Academic Officer at Explore+Discover, a social learning center in Manhattan that is committed to setting the standard for infant and toddler care and education. Renee has more than a decade of experience in the field and holds a Master's in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College in New York. She has three sons, Ariel (15), Raffi (14), and Shaya (12). She can be reached at rbock@explorediscover.net.

Please share your opinion below! For more original content, check out Well Rounded NY.

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I stood there unable to speak after I grasped what the Vesna Skare, Personal Assistant of Croat president, Franjo Tudman, had just said. "I told you that you were crazy; I shouldn't have listened to you. The president is so angry - he refuses to give you an interview, not now and not in the future. You must leave the office and never come back," she said with a menacing look in her eyes.

I walked out of the office broken hearted and sat down on a bench in the public park not far from the Croatian Presidency in the heart of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It was the summer of 1991 when Serbia had declared war against Croatia immediately after the latter broke away from the Yugoslav Federation. The Serbo-Croatian war was my first assignment as a war correspondent. I began coverage from the Serbian side; then weeks later moved to the Croatian side.

It was obvious at the time that military developments were not going favorably for Croatia. At that point, I made a request for an interview with President Tudman. I was utterly grateful to God when Tudman didn't only agree to my interview request but also set our appointment just two days after another very important interview in Zagreb I had confirmed, which I thought of as both career and life changing. I have always been a big fan of the fine arts, especially Naive painting.

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One of my favorite artists in that field was Ivan Lackovic (January 1, 1932- August 29, 2004). The story of Lackovic's life, career, and fame was one so ideal that many of us enjoy listening to, then making a "too good to be true" kind of statement. Lackovic was born to a poor peasant family in the village of Batinske, near Kalinova in the northern part of Croatia. After finishing primary school, he worked as a child laborer in fields and forests. While toiling himself to make a living he taught himself to paint, first with water color and later, in the early 1950s, with oil. After moving to Zagreb in the late 1950s he took a job as a post office worker, then left in 1968 to become a professional painter. From that time until the 1990s, Lackovic became a world figure in fine arts, especially in naive painting. His works and masterpieces are embraced by more than a hundred prestigious museums all over the world. Even before arriving Croatia, I only dreamed of an encounter with my favorite artist, let alone an interview with him.

Yet, as the old Arabic saying:" Oftentimes, the wind doesn't always carry your sails in the right direction", my happiness was short lived. The day before meeting President Tudman, his personal assistant called to let me know the appointment had been postponed for two days. I felt very frustrated with the bad luck of this delay as the rescheduled date conflicted with my meeting with the great artist. While Ms. Skare explained that the reason for postponing was due to unexpected talks with the European Troika mediating a cease fire, I was telling myself that there was no way to reschedule my meeting with the artist since he rarely gave interviews for the media.

Immediately, I ran to Ms. Skare's office and explained the situation. All I wanted her to do was to get the President to push the appointment to the day after my meeting with the artist. We argued back and forth about this although she knew I was right about Lackovic's attitude towards the media and that he wouldn't reschedule. Finally, and with great difficulty, she went into the president's office and came back within two minutes. I was horrified when I saw her trembling with anger and then began blaming me for requesting that she ask the President to move his appointment forward. It was obvious the President was very upset by my request, and she asked me to leave the office immediately and never come back.

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Funny how things can move from one extreme to another; one moment you are flying high thinking you are about to achieve a big journalistic scoop by interviewing a Head of State and the next, you are kicked out on the street.

Two days later I was being led through the home of the great artist. The second floor was used as a huge atelier where Lackovic spent most of his time. The moment I stepped in, I found a crowd of artists whose every name is a heavy weight in the fine arts world, some of whom were being mentored by the great Lackovic. Unlike what I expected, the artist was so welcoming and cheerful. I had no idea until now how Lackovic came to know my experience with President Tudman.

"You know I don't waste my time with journalists since few have an appreciation for the arts," he said addressing his fellow artists. "Yet this young journalist forced his respect onto me; he chose to keep his appointment with me - an artist - over an appointment with the President," he continued talking to his fellow artists before he turned to me.

"Are you frustrated because your appointment with the President was cancelled?" he asked me with a big smile on his face.

"Actually, I didn't choose your appointment over his; I just refused to ask you to change the time we had agreed to meet. I was then immediately chased out of the President's office," I told Lackovic.

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"Let me assure you, that you chose right. With all due respect, who is Franjo Tudman? He is just a President who is going to stay in office only for a while and then go. Mr. Ghanem, you chose right and by doing so you have gained my respect" he said while patting my shoulder.

"However, you still seem to be frustrated. Do you still want to interview the President?" he asked.

"Indeed! But how? The instructions were given to never let me get close to the President's office," I told Lackovic.

"I'll take care of this," after which he picked up the phone and had a short conversation, in Croatian, then turned to ask me: "When would you like to see the President?"

"Anytime," I said while in disbelieve.

"Anytime is not specific enough. Give me a day and time," he said impatiently and I did before he ended the phone conversation.

"Sir, is this a joke? Did you just say that you got me an appointment with the President? Were you on the phone with Ms. Skare, the PA of President Tudman?" I bombarded the artist with questions.

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"With all due respect, when I want to get an appointment with the President, I talk to him directly, not through his PA," Lackovic said while laughing loudly.

"What did you tell him?" I asked

"I told him he couldn't treat a respectable young journalist the way he did, just for the mere fact that he is smart enough to prefer an interview with an artist over an interview with a President. Then, I asked him to receive you as soon as possible," he told me in a way as if he had done something with great ease.

"Yehia, you did something that most, if not all, your fellow journalists wouldn't do; you sided with the artist. The least the artist can do is to side with you. It's time for the President to learn that art will outlive him, as it has leaders and kings throughout history. Son, you did great!" he told me before asking me to begin our interview.

Three days later, and as I was stepping into the office of the President, he lambasted me by saying, "Did you go complain about me to Lackovic?"

"I swear to God I didn't, and I don't know how he learned about what happened," I answered fervently.

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"Anyway, even if you did, you went to the right man. Let's get this interview over with to keep the artist happy," the President said with a rare ghost of a smile on the corner of his mouth.

For many years afterwards, I remained in constant contact with the great artist who has proven to me that great artists are, no less, great humans. Yet there is another story that was never told of the great Lackovic....
By Linda-Ann Akanvou

After a long civil war, Burundi seemed on the path to recovery until April 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term. Since then, the country has become immersed in a deep social and political crisis. For the past year, Human Rights Watch has documented violence and abuses perpetrated by both government and rebel forces. The African Union and international agencies need to rethink their policies towards African leaders that disregard constitutions and their responsibilities for the well-being of the people they represent. If ignored, the Burundian crisis could create a major regional crisis with heavy humanitarian, economic, and political costs.

The 13-year civil war that ended in 2005 left at least 300,000 people dead. With a GDP per capita of $286 in 2014, Burundians were already among the poorest people in the world. The same year, the country ranked 184 out of 186 in the Human Development Index. Even before the 2015 crisis, reports indicated that living conditions were deteriorating for most Burundians. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 247,581 new Burundian refugees have been identified in neighboring countries since the beginning of April 2015, the majority in Tanzania and Rwanda. The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its concern about conditions in Tanzania's Kagunga village, where the original population of 11,382 has increased to over 90,000 since April.

The economic consequences of this crisis have deep implications for the country and region at large. The government recently estimated that the "insurrection" cost at least $32.7 million in material damage. Half of the country's budget comes from foreign aid and one of its main financial backers, Belgium, has already threatened to withdraw aid if Nkurunziza remains in power. The East African Community (EAC), comprising of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi, has undertaken projects to boost the region's economy, such as a railway connecting the region's main cities. Yet if the Great Lakes region is perceived as unstable, potential long-term investors would keep a distance. The crisis in Burundi is not only losing any economic attractiveness it may have gained in the last decade, but is also impeding the development of the region.

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Have the AU and the international community failed to protect civilians?

Article 4 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union says that the AU has the "right to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity." The same article states that the "respect for democratic principles, human rights, the rule of law and good governance" is one of the AU principles. In concordance with the act, in December 2015 the African Union's Peace and Security Council unequivocally condemned the violence in Burundi and pledged to send a 5,000-strong peacekeeping force. Following this declaration, President Nkurunziza warned the AU that its plan to send peacekeepers to Burundi would be treated as an invasion. At the end of its summit on January 31, 2016, the AU decided not to send troops but instead to "negotiate" with the government. After negotiations, President Nkurunziza agreed on February 26 to allow the deployment of 100 human rights observers and 100 military monitors to Burundi.

The agreement that has been praised as a step toward stability and peace is in reality evidence of the AU's weakness vis-a-vis its members. Although the deployment of observers may prevent the situation from deteriorating, this case clearly shows the limited ability of the AU to respond effectively to crises. As an organization that on paper seeks the well-being of its population, the AU has not done enough in this crisis to prove its commitment to its principles. Acting tough toward Burundi would have set an example and demonstrated that the AU is committed to protecting the population of Burundi if the state fails to do so. AU action could have encouraged the United Nations and the international community to take strong measures as well.

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The manipulation and modification of constitutions is not a problem isolated to Burundi, nor is it unusual in Africa. In the last two decades, leaders in Algeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, and Gabon modified their respective constitutions to either allow the outgoing president to run for an extra term or to completely abolish term limits. These constitutional changes often resulted in the deaths and displacement of hundreds of people.

The AU must balance the need to intervene with respect for the sovereignty of states, and African leaders should be held accountable for the damage they inflict on their people in their search for power. A fundamental principle of modern constitutionalism is that nobody, regardless of his status in society, is above the law. The African Union must strive to enforce this principle.
Ramesh Lalwani

The ordeal for an 11-year-old tribal girl from Madhya Pradesh, who was brutally raped last month, seems to have just begun. The young girl has already been punished twice  once for keeping quiet about the rape, by being raped again, and the second time for fighting back. The second time around, she received 23 injuries, according to medical officers who treated her.

It was in early February when the girl's 24-year-old neighbour, Shankar Lal Yadav, allegedly raped her the first time. She kept quiet about the assault she was scared by his threats, she later told her rescuers. Later that month, Yadav allegedly raped her again when her parents were out of town on work. This time she fought back, which only resulted in almost two dozen injuries that Yadav allegedly inflicted on her body parts with a blade. A gash on her face and severe head injuries knocked her unconscious.

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She was later found by her relatives in a farm outside her village in Hoshangabad district, 10 kilometres away from Itarsi city. She was rushed to the city's government hospital, and then to Kamla Nehru Hospital in Bhopal, where she regained senses only a day later. Police investigation has confirmed rape.

After spending over two weeks in hospital, recuperating from her physical injuries, the girl's return home cast fresh wounds. She was reportedly scorned and boycotted in her village, forcing her father to send the child to a shelter home.

They have spoiled the life of my youngest daughter. I have five more daughters, and for their safety and the safety of my youngest daughter, I have to send her to a shelter home, her father told Hindustan Times.

"They have spoiled the life of my youngest daughter"

The girl's ordeal is not just a result of gender discrimination, even though victim shaming is extremely common in India. The girl also belongs to a "lower" caste in a community which is predominated by Yadavs, who are from a "higher" caste.

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Despite reassurances from the local police, the family is reportedly living in mortal fear of being ousted by the community.

Nobody wants to allow [her] to live in the village, a relative of the victim reportedly told 'Gauravi', which is the country's first one-stop government crisis centre for women. "[She] is being treated as a culprit. Every day, people curse the family members. They are being pressured and threatened to throw [her] out of the village."

"Instead of (sympathising) with her, villagers are cursing her just because of her caste. Our team visited the place and witnessed it, said Sarika Sinha, who is a member of 'Gauravi'.

I cant explain the level of exploitation."

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MANJUNATH KIRAN via Getty Images India's bowler Suresh Raina(2R)celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman during the World T20 cricket tournament match between India and Bangladesh at The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on March 23, 2016. Bangladesh is chasing a target of 146 runs scored by India with a loss of 7 wickets. / AFP / MANJUNATH KIRAN (Photo credit should read MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images)

India survived a mighty scare before pulling off an incredible 1-run victory over Bangladesh in a nerve-wracking low-scoring thriller to keep their semi- final hopes alive in the ICC World T20, here tonight.

Defending a modest 146, India looked down and out for the better part of the match before pulling their acts together in the final two overs to restrict Bangladesh to 145 for 9.

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It was a piece of inspirational act by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who took his right gloves off when Hardik Pandya came in to bowl the last delivery with two runs required.

Pandya bowled a fuller delivery wide off Shuvagato Hom who missed it and Dhoni caught it with only his inners on.

As Mustafizur started sprinting from the other end, the 34 plus Indian skipper beat his younger opponent in a short sprint to whip off the bails to lead to an unbelievable finish as the entire Chinnaswamy Stadium erupted in joy.

It was a perfect Holi gift for the fans by the Indian team, who now have four points and are up in the second position in the table with a match left.

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Credit should also be given to Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled six magnificent deliveries in the penultimate over when Bangladesh needed only 17 off 12 balls.

When Hardik Pandya (2/29) was handed the ball, pacers Ashish Nehra, Bumrah, and spinners Ravindra Jadeja (2/22) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/20 in 4 overs) had already finished their quota and Dhoni was hardpressed to choose his options .

The dangerous Mahmudullah got one off Pandya's first delivery and Mushfiqur Rahim smacked the next through covers for a boundary bring the equation down to 6 from four balls.

To everyone's horror Rahim then played half scoop off the next ball on the pads which was just out of Dhoni's reach as equation became 2 off 3 balls. Off the next ball, Rahim mistimed a pull shot to get out as it became 2 off 2 balls.

With Mahmudullah on strike, he mistimed a pull off another full toss which was pouched brilliantly by India's beat fielder Jadeja.

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With 1 needed for tie and 2 to win, it was the inspirational Dhoni, who brought smiles with his daredevilry and innovative thinking.

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ap People comfort each other after being evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday March 22, 2016. Authorities locked down the Belgian capital on Tuesday after explosions rocked the Brussels airport and subway system, killing at least 13 people and injuring many more. Belgium raised its terror alert to its highest level, diverting arriving planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe tightened security. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

The Morning Wrap is HuffPost India's selection of interesting news and opinion from the day's newspapers. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.

Essential HuffPost

90-year-old Noel De Souza who grew up in Secunderabad and studied in Pune's Wadia College, has been a part of Hollywood for more than six decades, making him the oldest person of Indian origin working in the industry today.

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Timely help from noted actress Rekha facilitated the Congress party retain its old electoral 'war room' in Lutyens Delhi, which it was at the danger of losing after the Narendra Modi government wanted to evict the bungalow's present resident and Telangana MP Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu. BJP insisted that Rapolu was not entitled to that particular accommodation.

After the appalling news that a woman allegedly killed eight puppies of a stray dog by dashing them against boulders in Bengaluru has ignited a debate about revisiting and revising the animal rights laws in India.

Noting the difference between the font sizes for the names of Dr BR Ambedkar and Narendra Modi on the foundation stone unveiled by the Prime Minister himself, social media had a gala time on Tuesday. A students' group of The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras called the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle (APSC), tweeted out the photo first.

Main News

Belgium was struck by the worst attack in its history on Tuesday as terrorist explosions ripped through the main airport and a train station in the capital, leaving over 34 dead and more than 200 injured.

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Prabhat Singh, a journalist based in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, has been booked under the IT act and sent to judicial remand in Jagdalpur for allegedly sharing 'explicit material' on WhatsApp and Facebook. Singhs arrest comes on the heels of the arrest of other local journalists Santosh Yadav and Samaru Nag, whove been held since July last year.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rejected the Opposition's demand for withdrawing the order on establishing the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), stating there was no ulterior motive to protect the corrupt or to weaken the Karnataka Lokayukta.

New Zealand cruised into the semifinals of the ICC World Twenty20 series with a comfortable 22-run win over Pakistan on Tuesday. NZ opener Martin Guptill set the tone by scoring 80 runs in 48 balls, continuing their dream run in the mega event.

Off The Front Page

A Delhi girl who had been missing for the last eight years was found when the police typed her name in their database on computer and hit 'enter'. The girl's family, who had been running around police stations finally found that their daughter had been moved from shelters and homes since they last saw her; and that her records were documented in the police database.

A 44-year-old woman from an affluent family, caught for travelling without a ticket, chose to go to jail for seven days instead of paying a fine of 260, saying the authorities should first arrest and recover the loan dues from liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

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Twenty parents of students studying at St. Joseph's High School in Mumbai have gone on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the fee hike and other indiscriminate charges levied by the school.

Opinion

Positioning a half-baked student activist mouthing cliched socialist rhetoric as a challenger to PM Modi and the Sangh Parivar amounts to ballooning in cloud cuckoo land, says Madhu Purnima Kishwar in her column in The Indian Express."The Sangh Parivars politics and the Modi governments performance have many serious flaws. However, Kanhaiyas pathological hostility is purely ideological rather than a product of serious engagement with issues or keen observation of facts expected of a PhD scholar. Clearly his mentors at JNU have turned Kanhaiya into a well-indoctrinated, robotic political activist, not a serious scholar or even an astute political observer," she writes.

Within a fortnight of the recently announced Union Budget, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, earmarking 8,000 crore for it, with the aim of providing five crore subsidised LPG connections to women of poor households (Below Poverty Line) in the next three years, writes Abhishek Jain in The Hindu. "Thus, the scheme is well-targeted to address the crucial impediment of a high upfront cost, which has limited the transition towards LPG use in poorer households," he writes.

In a reminiscing column in The Hindu, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, professor of history and politics at Ashoka University talks about how 85 years ago this day, on 23 March, 1931, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were on a train from Delhi to Karachi. "Congress' annual sessions used to be memorable but the Karachi Congress was to be more than memorable  it was going to be momentous," he writes. "But now, can India, on the eve of elections to several States, expect from Congress a testament as foundational to its future as a Democratic Republic as its 1931 Bhagat Singh-inspired Resolution was for the attainment of Swaraj," he asks.

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Reno County sees a spike in drug and alcohol overdoses during October

The 27 overdoses through Oct. 21 is an average of more than one a day, the highet average since officials began tracking the data real time.
Centene has been given approval by the California Department of Managed Health Care for its takeover of Health Net. The insurers $6.3 billion acquisition also needs approval from the California Department of Justice, but passing the first hurdle is a major development for the deal and saw Centenes shares rise 4 per cent Tuesday. The deal is expected to close in shortly after DOJ approval.Centene and Health Net announced a merger agreement in July 2015 that would create a leading diversified multi-national healthcare enterprise, extending Centene's offerings in government programs, including Medicare Advantage and programs offered through contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the commercial exchanges.Global insurer Marsh is warning that lower oil revenues could mean energy firms reducing their risk management investment, leading to potentially higher numbers of major incidents.The firm analyzed historic data and found that insured losses in the global upstream energy sector reached a peak in the 1980s, shortly after the price of Brent crude oil fell from US$35 to US$15 per barrel. In the late 1990s, this cycle occurred again when the price fell below US$10 per barrel and again in the years following the 2008 slump, when the price fell from more than US$100 to US$32 per barrel.While western sanctions remain on insurance for Iranian oil tankers, Japanese firms are not subject to the same restrictions. Tokyos International P&I Club has announced that it has raised its default coverage for Iranian tankers to $580 million, from $80 million, and may be enough for shipping firms in the region to start carrying Iranian crude again.US insurance companies are not able to underwrite the shipments, meaning that the raised limit from International P&I will still be far below the $7.8 billion standard coverage for the shipments.
Tony Stewart to Bring His Tour to Lebanon Valley in August

WEST LEBANON, N.Y. - For more than 30 years, fans have seen some of the best 410 Sprint Car drivers race around the high banks of Lebanon Valley Speedway with blistering speeds. In 2016, fans are encouraged to purchase tickets early to witness the first ever appearance of Tony Stewarts All-Star Circuit Of Champions on Aug. 21.



Lebanon Valley Speedway has offered race fans a major 410 sprint car race each year going back many years. Typically, those events ran under the (World Of Outlaws) Sprint banner. In the summer of 2016, sanction names may change for the event, but action will remain red hot with a breath of fresh air courtesy of the Arctic Cat All-Star Circuit Of Champions.



When I was in Alabama visiting a race last spring, Tony Stewart asked me if Id consider it at Lebanon. I thought its time for something new, a change one could say, and we agreed to give it a shot, Lebanon Valley owner Howard Commander said.



Stewart acquired the ASCoC Sprint Series in January of 2015 when he struck a deal with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour. It was a concept forged during meetings to build a super speedway back in the late 60s, but in 1970 became one of the first and oldest traveling winged sprint tours in the United States. Stewart is the fourth owner of the ASCoC Sprint Tour, following Bud Miller (1970-79), Bert Emick (1980-2002), and Webb (2003-15).



Fans can expect to see familiar faces, surprise drivers, super fast speeds, talents they may not have witnessed before, and a diverse field of skills battling it out for the $7,000 to win top prize. Theres also a healthy $1,000 to start so making the 24-car starting field will be challenging to all drivers, with qualifying spots at a premium.



While a comprehensive list of drivers making an appearance is being formed some skilled winged warriors who competed in the ASCoC Sprint Tour last season include Dale Blaney, Cody Darrah, Chad Kemenah, Tim Shaffer, Sheldon Haudenschild, and popular PA sprint driver Ryan Smith to name a few.



One name that will be on hand for sure is Stewart, who will make his first visit back to Lebanon Valley Speedway since mid summer in 2014. Stewart has made frequent visits to the Valley in the past to compete; however this trip he will be in an officials capacity for his highly successful grass roots sprint series.



Dont miss out on the final race of the Northeast swing for the ASCoC Sprint Tour at Lebanon Valley Speedway Aug. 21. Tickets are available now for this historic event, which will give fans time trials, heat races, B-Main, dash, and an eye candy A-Main thatll make your mouth water.



Also included on the card that evening will be the stars and cars of the 358 Small Block Modified division. Bragging rights will be on the line in a 24-lap showdown that should include some high bank heavy hitters, such as Kenny Tremont, JR Heffner, Wayne Jelley, Brett Haas, and Jason Herrington to name a few.



Prices are $25 general admission, $27 reserved seating, $44 VIP climate controlled tower, $7 for children, $30 for the pits with a license, and $35 for the pits without a license.



To obtain tickets in advance of August 21, 2016, please contact speedway offices at 518-794-9606, 518-794-9965, or visit the website at lebanonvalley.com. Lebanon Valley can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.



All-Star Circuit Of Champions Sprint Tour can be found at allstarsprint.com or through social media on Facebook and Twitter.



Please note the annual infield pit party will again take place in turns 3 and 4 with parking for pick-ups, Sprints will pit on the drag strip as normal, and no mufflers will be on the race cars, so be prepared and bring ear protection if needed.
Ciccolo Judge OKs Prosecutor's Request for Delay

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  It could be up to two more months before the U.S. Attorney's Office is ready to file additional charges against an Adams man suspected of sympathizing with the so-called Islamic State in Syria, or ISIS.

Federal Magistrate Judge Katherine A. Robertson has granted a request from the government to continue a status hearing in the case of the United States vs. Alexander Ciccolo scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Last week, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz filed a motion asking for the delay citing "multiple levels of review both locally in the United States Attorney's Office in Massachusetts and at additional levels within the Department of Justice."

The government's motion also stated that Ciccolo's counsel assented to the request to exclude the next 60 days from the federal Speedy Trial Act clock.

Ciccolo was arrested on July 4, 2015, and has to date only been charged with count of weapons possession and an alleged assault on a prison nurse. He has pleaded innocent to both charges.

But the government filed a lengthy report in support of its request to withhold bail that paints the picture of a potential domestic terrorist with ISIS sympathies and aspirations to commit mass murder.

At subsequent hearings, the government has asked for more time as it develops its case, and Robertson has granted the requests. In February, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Regan told Robertson he was "pretty confident" the government would be ready to move forward on March 23.

As of Tuesday afternoon, a 2:30 hearing date was on the docket in Robertson's courtroom.

The government's March 18 motion seeking an extension notes that it has provided Ciccolo's attorney, David Hoose of Northampton, with "over 1,000 pages of discovery, including disks of

hard drive images from three computers."

The government argued that by sharing the evidence with the defense team, pretrial progress continues to be made, even though no "superseding charges" have been filed.

United States vs. Ciccolo
Exclusive: Rahul Dravid a Very Good Communicator, Over Time India Will See Benefits of Him as Head Coach - John Buchanan

'He Just Asks How The Ball is Coming From The Wicket...': Virat Kohli Enjoys Batting With Suryakumar Yadav
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MONTREAL, 23 March 2016  The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has expressed its strong condemnation of yesterdays terrorist bombings in Brussels, stressing its deep condolences for the victims of the tragic assaults and its solidarity with the people and Government of Belgium.

The Council President and Secretary General of the UN agency also expressed their continued concern over the persistent willingness of terrorist groups to target international civil aviation facilities and operations.

These attacks were an affront to peace and liberty, stressed ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. The civil aviation community remains determined to keep our global network and its billions of passengers safe from terrorist threats, and we are deeply saddened today in the aftermath of these cowardly assaults against innocent civilians and travellers. Our hearts and sympathies today are with the victims and their families and the people of Belgium.

Our agency deeply regrets that civil aviation operations and facilities continue to be considered as valid targets by terrorist groups worldwide, commented ICAO Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu. While the devices at Zaventem airport were detonated in public, landside airport areas which are not protected by civil aviation screening standards and related procedures, threats to international passengers at any stage in their journey are of tremendous concern to ICAO and the entire air transport community.

ICAO maintains security provisions for both airside and landside terminal areas. These are presently undergoing review through the agencys Aviation Security Panel and Committee on Unlawful Interference, and will be subject to final review and adoption by ICAOs 36-State Governing Council.

Any new or amended guidance will be fully supportive of ICAOs strategic objective to maintain a practical balance between the needs of effective and sustainable security measures and an unobtrusive travel experience for passengers.

Effective, sustainable security in public spaces poses complex challenges, President Aliu remarked. Aviation confronts these with close cooperation and monitoring, data sharing and risk analysis, and perhaps most importantly by sustaining a culture of constant vigilance in the face of evolving threats. Our network brings peoples and cultures together today on over 100,000 daily flights, and terrorist acts of this nature must not be permitted to threaten aviations ability to connect the world and its peoples.

ICAO has established an effective regulatory framework which provides reasonable balance between security and passenger facilitation, added Dr. Liu. As the current review phase now moves to the Committee on Unlawful Interference, which meets on this topic next month, ICAO and its Council will assure that all relevant aspects of this framework are thoroughly analysed and adjusted if needed.

-30-

Resources for editors: ICAO Security and Facilitation Website

Contact:

Anthony Philbin

Chief, Communications

aphilbin@icao.int

+1 (514) 954-8220

William Raillant-Clark

Communications Officer

wraillantclark@icao.int

+1 (514) 954-6705
We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
Free vehicle checkups, emergency response teams, games and two times the points on Robinsons Rewards Cards. These are the assistance and surprises that Chevron Philippines, Inc. (CPI), marketer of Caltex with Techron, is offering motorists in strategic Caltex stations along major highways north or south of Luzon during the Holy Week.

In partnership with Toyota Motor Philippines, Isuzu Philippines Corp., and the Manila North Tollways Corp., Caltexs motorist assistance program which runs from March 23 to 27, 2016 will provide mechanics on-duty for free vehicle check-ups, ambulances on stand-by, and Red Cross volunteers. The participating stations are:



Caltex Mamplasan at South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Southbound, Brgy. Mamplasan, Binan, Laguna

Caltex SLEX Northbound Km. 22 SLEX Northbound, San Antonio, San Pedro, Laguna

Caltex North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Southbound, San Felipe, San Fernando City, Pampanga

Caltex Station at NLEX, Malinta Valenzuela City

Fun surprises also await the travelers, including a pick-a-prize promo at the Caltex Mamplasan SLEX station southbound, Caltex SLEX Northbound Km.22 station and the Caltex NLEX Station in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Robinsons Rewards Card (RRC) members who fuel up at participating Caltex stations will also earn two times the points corresponding to their purchase during the same period. The double-point benefit can be enjoyed by cardholders at the above-mentioned stations, as well as in the following:



Caltex National Highway, Bantay, Ilocos Sur

Caltex Session Road/DPS, Baguio City

Caltex McArthur Highway, Brgy. Udiao, Rosario, La Union

Caltex along E.Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay Junction Tagaytay (beside Mang Inasal and BDO)

Caltex Station, NAIA Road, Paranaque City

By fueling up in any Caltex station, motorists get the five benefits of Caltex with Techron which are maximized power, better fuel economy, clean engine, smoother drive, lower emissions, and reliable performance.

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Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) kicks off the month with Hondas EGGciting Surprise Campaign for customers who will inquire, reserve, and purchase a brand new Honda vehicle from March 8 to March 27, 2016.

Qualified customers will be entitled to a discount coupon worth up to Php 100,000 on top of all ongoing dealer promotions, and Hondas exclusive offer to loyal Honda customers.

To avail of this EGGciting offer, qualified customers will draw a special Easter egg. Each egg consists of a corresponding EGGciting Surprise discount coupon worth Php 5,000 up to Php 100,000. Customers will only be entitled to one (1) coupon, which can only be redeemed until the end of the month.

Customers may also check out and test drive Honda vehicles at SM Mall of Asia, and avail of this EGGciting offer from March 10 to 16, 2016.

March 2016 promo consists of Low Down and All-in Bundle Package for the City, Mobilio, HR-V, CR-V, Brio, Brio Amaze, Jazz, and Civic.

Hondas exclusive offer to loyal Honda customers consists of a Php 15,000 cash discount, Php 5,000 worth of accessory voucher, and Php 5,000 worth of preventive maintenance discount offered to customers and/or relatives within first consanguinity and affinity.

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Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI), organizes multiple Honda Emergency Assistance Teams (H.E.A.T.) across the country to offer on-site road assistance to all motorists this coming Holy Week. This annual program will be participated by twenty-four (24) Honda dealerships nationwide as part of HCPIs public service and road safety advocacy.

This activity will run on March 24 and 26, from 8:00 am to 5:00pm and again on March 27 from 8:00 am to 12:00 nn. All offered services will be available for both private and public vehicle owners. Honda will provide free diagnostic system check-up, free 18-point check-up, free emergency assistance and travel advisories. Other affordable services are also available such as preventive maintenance, light to medium repair, change oil, tune-up, brake service, windshield treatments. Customers may also purchase genuine Honda lubes, parts, and accessories. In addition, Honda will have roving teams to provide emergency roadside services. Roving teams can be contacted through 0995-6647486, 0995-6647488, and 0995-6647489.

H.E.A.T. will be located in the following sites:

H.E.A.T. is made possible in cooperation with Unioil, Emicor, Denso,Kenwood, SAVI, Motolite, Bridgestone & Goodyear.

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Some say walang forever. For Hyundai, 3 years of warranty are not enough; even 4ever isnt enough. Walang 4ever, because with Hyundai, theres something even better: a 5ever, with Hyundais 5-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty coverage.

Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai automobiles in the Philippines, once again pushes boundaries when it comes to giving Filipinos the most brilliant motoring experience possible. This is especially true in the area of warranty programs.

In 2007, HARI redefined the standard of after-sales and warranty coverage when it introduced the 5-Year Warrantyan industry first that broke the boundaries of the usual 3-Year warranty offered by most brands.

Fast forward to 2015, HARI went on to surpass its own warranty program by launching another industry first: the 5-Year Warranty program with Unlimited Mileage coverage.

Hyundai owners can now drive all they want without fear of losing the after-sales security within their warranty period on account of excessive mileage because the previous 100,000-kilometer cap on the warranty clause has been removed. This upgraded warranty program is testament to the high quality of Hyundai cars, while giving Hyundai owners added value and greater peace of mind.

Under HARIs 5-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty program, items such as the cars electronics or components related to electrical systems, powertrain, DCT (dual clutch transmission), and body and paint are covered for 5 years with unlimited kilometers. Car batteries are covered for two years (24 months) or 40,000km; audio system: two years (24 months) or 50,000km; and suspension system: five years or 100,000km. Parts warranty coverage is also included for one year (12 months) or 20,000km.

Moreover, with the additional two years, customers get huge savings on costs incurred for parts replacement on the four and fifth years of car ownership. For parts or components that tend to break down during the said period, the 5-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty covers replacement costs. Coverage however is granted if the owner strictly adheres to the provisions of the warranty program, especially those stipulated for regular Preventive Maintenance Service (PMS) check-up and use of Hyundai Genuine Parts.

The advantages do not end there. Backed by support from HARIs 40-strong nationwide dealership network that offers comprehensive after-sales, genuine parts, and customer relationship assistance at every strategic location, youre guaranteed to receive Hyundais signature care right where you are.

With the promise of great value to the customer, the implementation of the 5-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty program meets if not surpasses its own record in breakthrough warranty coverage. HARIs 99% rating in warranty claims and approval more than meets the criteria to deliver this game-changing warranty program to Hyundai owners in the Philippines.

We see its what customers want. Gusto nila pang-matagalan. The Unlimited Mileage Warranty program is proof to our untiring commitment to open new possibilities for the customer and the industry. It is our pride to once again be a pioneer in providing a new, value-filled car warranty program, said HARI President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

The 5-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty program covers all Hyundai cars bought from an authorized Hyundai dealer from December 1, 2015 onwards. Visit a Hyundai dealer near you to know more about the 5-year Unlimited Mileage Warranty.

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Imperial Valley News Center

The United States Condemns the Terrorist Attacks in Brussels, Belgium

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "Todays abhorrent attacks in Brussels are an assault against the Belgian people and the very heart of Europe. Our thoughts are with all those in Brussels, including the injured and the loved ones of those who were killed, and with the first responders and security personnel who are working tirelessly to keep Brussels safe.

"The U.S. Embassy in Brussels is making every effort to account for the welfare of American citizens in the city, and in the days ahead we stand ready to provide whatever support the Belgian Government may require. As I made clear this morning in a conversation with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, the United States stands firmly with our ally Belgium and with all of Europe in the face of this tragedy. Attacks like these only deepen our shared resolve to defeat terrorism around the world."
Imperial Valley News Center

Governor Brown Issues Statement on World Water Day and White House Water Summit

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued the following statement regarding World Water Day and the White House Water Summit held today:

On World Water Day - as Californias drought stretches on - were reminded that no matter where you live, access to water is not guaranteed. With todays Summit and the Federal Action Plan, the Obama Administration is confronting this reality and planning for the future.

Todays White House Water Summit focused on water challenges throughout the country, including Californias drought, and ways to build a more resilient water future. Ahead of the Summit, the Obama Administration released a Presidential Memorandum and Federal Action Plan that aim to bolster long-term drought resilience in the United States by setting drought resilience policy goals, directing specific drought resilience activities to be completed by the end of the year and permanently establishing the National Drought Resilience Partnership as an interagency task force responsible for coordinating drought resilience, response and recovery efforts.

These efforts complement the states updated California Water Action Plan, released earlier this year, which lays out the actions that must be taken to protect water supplies for people and the environment and to fix the states critical water resource problems.
Imperial County Department of Social Services Hosts Open House of New Mobile Office

El Centro, California - Earlier today, the Imperial County Department of Social Services (ICDSS) hosted an open house for their new Mobile Office highlighting ICDSS efforts of Reaching Out to Our Community at the County Administration Center parking lot in El Centro. The Imperial County Board of Supervisors took a scheduled break from their regularly scheduled board meeting to visit and tour the Mobile Office and learn about the extensive services that will be provided from the unit to residents in outlying areas of the county.

This is a giant step in providing the residents in the outlying areas of Imperial County with services from the Department of Social Services, said District 1 Supervisor John Renison. The idea here is to go to where the greatest areas of need are and provide assistance to the residents of Imperial County that are limited in their ability to travel great distances to obtain much needed County services.

Its wonderful to see the outstanding product that we have here today, stated District 5 Supervisor Ray Castillo. The Mobile Office will advance the Countys efforts to increase access to vital services and programs that will improve the quality of life for our residents while strengthening community partnerships.

The Board, County staff and members of the public took the opportunity to tour the new unit that includes a comfortable waiting area, an ADA accessible restroom and two workstations that will be staffed by experienced program technicians who are able to complete eligibility determinations, process benefits applications and changes to active cases, and receive documents for Medi-Cal and other Social Services programs in remote locations. The Mobile Office will also enable ICDSS staff to supplement current outreach efforts and can be utilized as a disaster response vehicle to efficiently respond to impacted areas throughout the county in the event of an emergency.

Through the support of our Countys leadership, we are proud of this accomplishment to implement a mobile office and demonstrate our commitment to efficient and effective use of resources, said Social Services Director Peggy Price.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of a mobile vehicle to increase access points and provide on-site services to communities in outlying areas who have difficulty accessing services.

For more information about the ICDSS Mobile Office, please contact Peggy Price, Director of Social Services at (760) 337-6884.
The Pioneering Life of Programmer Ethel Marden

Washington, DC - Over the course of its 100-plus year history, NIST has had some colorful characters who were also pioneers in their fields. For computer scientist Karen Olsen, one who stands out was Ethel Marden. In the 1950s, Marden wrote programs for the nations first internally programmed digital computer: the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC).

For 13 years, SEAC was a valuable tool used by various government agencies to do everything from accounting to checking calculations for the hydrogen bomb. It led to several innovations, including electric typewriters and the digital scanner, which was used to create the first digital image.

Marden at the helm of the SEAC.

Marden inspires me because she and I are both computer scientists, but I was also intrigued that she and her husband lived in a McLean, Va., home designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright that was perched on top of a cliff above a stretch of rapids on the Potomac River, says Olsen. She set a world record for scuba diving, crossed the Atlantic with her husband in a sailboat, was an airplane pilot, and lived to be 100 years old.

Marden is also credited with being the one who successfully lobbied NIST to allow family-friendly part-time and flex-time work schedules. Marden, who worked at NIST from 1948 to 1971 and passed away in 2012, was a vibrant character, as was her husband, Luis, a globe-trotting National Geographic photographer/writer. He pioneered underwater color photography in collaboration with oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and discovered the sunken wreck of the H.M.S. Bounty (the 18th-century British ship portrayed in the movie Mutiny on the Bounty).

In a 2001 interview about working on SEAC, former NIST computer programmer Genevie Hawkins Urban paints this picture of her colleague:

Ethel Marden taught many of us how to program the computer, but she also taught us many of the finer points of life. She instructed us in scuba diving; she herself was an avid scuba diver and held the womens world record in 1954 for a depth of 165 feet. She showed us how much fun riding in her MG could be, how to open an English muffin so that all the crevices would be there to catch the butter, which wines were good and which to serve with various foods, how to properly serve brandy to get the full aromaindeed, all the little things that create the good life. The Mardens unveiled their Frank Lloyd Wright house design in 1951, and there were daily reports of the compromises or non-compromises between architect and client. It was 1956 before we had a picnic on the cornerstone.

In 1983, Marden was interviewed about her involvement with the SEAC. She spoke of the excitement and dedication of the NIST researchers who worked on the groundbreaking project:

Every day when we went into the office, I think all of us went in with joy in our hearts because we loved our work. We were doing something nobody had done before and we were all excited about our work  Many, many nights, engineers would be there all night. There was no question of payment for any overtime. The group never wanted or asked for overtime pay. [The] motivation is hard to understand unless you have worked in a pioneering environment where you feel youre developing something new and exciting and can hardly bear to leave it to go home.

In another oral-history interview after she retired, Marden said, I admire anyone who has done something for the first time  anyone who has been a pioneer in something.

Olsen applies that inspirational quote to NISTs mission today: As did Marden, I feel NIST is on the brink of new technologies, she says. We have the capability to be pioneers.
Special Coordinator Merten Travel to Brazil

Washington, DC - Haiti Special Coordinator Kenneth Merten will travel to Brazil, March 22-23, to review multilateral efforts in support of strengthened democratic institutions and processes in Haiti, in the lead-up to the completion of the electoral process, with elections on April 24 and a new president seated on May 14.

The visit will highlight the important role that the Government of Brazil has played in Haiti, including significant commitments to peacekeeping, institution-building, and support for Haitian migrants in Brazil.

Special Coordinator Merten will meet with senior Brazilian government officials and other international partners engaged with the United States, as well as the government and people of Haiti, on a range of shared priorities. As partners in Haitis future development, officials from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will also have an opportunity to exchange views with Special Coordinator Merten.
President Obamas Call with Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium

Washington, DC - President Obama spoke today by phone with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to offer his condolences on behalf of the American people following todays horrific terrorist attacks in Brussels.

The President reaffirmed the steadfast support of the United States for Belgium, and offered any assistance necessary in investigating these attacks and bringing those responsible to justice. The President reiterated that the United States stands together with the people of Belgium, as well as NATO and the European Union, and once again pledged the full cooperation and support of the United States in our shared commitment to defeat the scourge of terrorism.
Inflatable Halloween Pumpkin Twice the Size of a House Rings in Spooky Season
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In a significant essay entitled "Mourning and Melancholia", Freud writes of "the work of mourning", meaning the psychic process whereby a cherished object is finally laid to rest, as it were buried in the unconscious, and the ego liberated from its grip. Until the work of mourning has been accomplished, Freud argues, new life, new loves and new engagement with the world are all difficult if not impossible. This is the explanation of the state that used to be known as melancholia  as he sees it  a kind of willed helplessness in which the world is seen as alien and unmanageable.

I am not, in general, persuaded by Freud's psychology. But in this matter, it seems to me, he was on the right lines. We lose many things in our lives. But some losses are existential losses. They take away some part of what we are. After such a loss, we are in a new and unfamiliar world, in which the support on which we had depended  perhaps unknowingly  is no longer available. The loss of a parent, especially during one's early years, is a world-changing experience, and orphans are marked for life by this. The loss of a spouse can be equally traumatic, as is the loss of children, who take with them into the void all the most tender feelings of their parents. Such losses leave us helpless, and even if we find a way of healing the wounds that they make, the scars will remain.

Religions, laws and customs all provide for the ritual mourning of beloved people. But there are no clear precedents for the work of mourning when what is mourned is a nation, a civilisation or a place. And if it is true that Richard Strauss was mourning, in Metamorphosen, the Germany that he had known and which had been destroyed by the Second World War, then there is an added problem that he must certainly have encountered, which is the great difficulty we all have, in mourning what we condemn. The work of mourning, as Freud conceived it, is a work of redemption, in which the lost figure is blessed in the memory of the one he leaves behind. All funeral rites and all elegies for the dead are designed to highlight the virtues and to minimise the vices of the departed person. Mourning is a process of reconciliation, a work of forgiveness, in which the dead person is retrospectively granted the right to die. But what if the departed person cannot be forgiven? What if his vices are an immoveable obstacle to all attempts to accept him? Then mourning becomes impossible.

Culture news in pictures Show all 33 1 /33 Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures 30 September 2016 An employee hangs works of art with "Grand Teatro" by Marino Marini (R) and bronze sculpture "Sfera N.3" by Arnaldo Pomodoro seen ahead of a Contemporary Art auction on 7 October, at Sotheby's in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 29 September 2016 Street art by Portuguese artist Odeith is seen in Dresden, during an exhibition "Magic City - art of the streets" AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 Dancers attend a photocall for the new "THE ONE Grand Show" at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany REUTERS Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A gallery assistant poses amongst work by Anthea Hamilton from her nominated show "Lichen! Libido!(London!) Chastity!" at a preview of the Turner Prize in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A technician wearing virtual reality glasses checks his installation in three British public telephone booths, set up outside the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The installation allows visitors a 3-D look into the museum which has twenty-two paintings belonging to the British Royal Collection, on loan for an exhibit from 29 September 2016 till 8 January 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 An Indian artist dressed as Hindu god Shiva performs on a chariot as he participates in a religious procession 'Ravan ki Barat' held to mark the forthcoming Dussehra festival in Allahabad AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Air Power', 1984, is displayed at the Bowie/Collector media preview at Sotheby's in New York AFP/Getty Culture news in pictures 25 September 2016 A woman looks at an untitled painting by Albert Oehlen during the opening of an exhibition of works by German artists Georg Baselitz and Albert Oehlen in Reutlingen, Germany. The exhibition runs at the Kunstverein (art society) Reutlingen until 15 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 24 September 2016 Fan BingBing (C) attends the closing ceremony of the 64th San Sebastian Film Festival at Kursaal in San Sebastian, Spain Getty Images Culture news in pictures 23 September 2016 A view of the artwork 'You Are Metamorphosing' (1964) as part of the exhibition 'Retrospektive' of Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo at Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The exhibition runs from 25 September 2016 to 1 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 22 September 2016 Jo Applin from the Courtauld Institute of Art looks at Green Tilework in Live Flesh by Adriana Vareja, which features in a new exhibition, Flesh, at York Art Gallery. The new exhibition features works by Degas, Chardin, Francis Bacon and Sarah Lucas, showing how flesh has been portrayed by artists over the last 600 years PA Culture news in pictures 21 September 2016 Performers Sean Atkins and Sally Miller standing in for the characters played by Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell during a photocall for Tim Burton's "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children" at Potters Field Park in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A detail from the blanket 'Alpine Cattle Drive' from 1926 by artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is displayed at the 'Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum for Contemporary Arts' in Berlin. The exhibition named 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Hieroglyphen' showing the complete collection of Berlin's Nationalgallerie works of the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and will run from 23 September 2016 until 26 February 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A man looks at portrait photos by US photographer Bruce Gilden in the exhibition 'Masters of Photography' at the photokina in Cologne, Germany. The trade fair on photography, photokina, schowcases some 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries and runs from 20 to 25 September. The event also features various photo exhibitions EPA Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A woman looks at 'Blue Poles', 1952 by Jackson Pollock during a photocall at the Royal Academy of Arts, London PA Culture news in pictures 19 September 2016 Art installation The Refusal of Time, a collaboration with Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh and Peter Galison, which features as part of the William Kentridge exhibition Thick Time, showing from 21 September to 15 January at the Whitechapel Gallery in London PA Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Artists creating one off designs at the Mm6 Maison Margiela presentation during London Fashion Week Spring/Summer collections 2017 in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Bethenny Frankel attends the special screening of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary Edition release on Blu-Ray and DVD in New York City Getty Images for Walt Disney Stu Culture news in pictures 17 September 2016 Visitors attend the 2016 Oktoberfest beer festival at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany Getty Images Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Visitors looks at British artist Damien Hirst work of art 'The Incomplete Truth', during the 13th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled 'The World, Europe and Ukraine: storms of changes', organised by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation at the Mystetsky Arsenal Art Center in Kiev AP Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Tracey Emin's "My Bed" is exhibited at the Tate Liverpool as part of the exhibition Tracey Emin And William Blake In Focus, which highlights surprising links between the two artists Getty Images Culture news in pictures 15 September 2016 Musician Dave Grohl (L) joins musician Tom Morello of Prophets of Rage onstage at the Forum in Inglewood, California Getty Images Culture news in pictures 14 September 2016 Model feebee poses as part of art installation "Narcissism : Dazzle room" made by artist Shigeki Matsuyama at rooms33 fashion and design exhibition in Tokyo. Matsuyama's installation features a strong contrast of black and white, which he learned from dazzle camouflage used mainly in World War I AP Culture news in pictures 13 September 2016 Visitors look at artworks by Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo during the exhibition 'Glossiness of Uncarved Jade' held at the exhibition hall 'Manezh' in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than 200 paintings by the Chinese artist are presented until 25 September EPA Culture news in pictures 12 September 2016 A visitor looks at Raphael's painting 'Extase de Sainte Cecile', 1515, from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence during the opening of a Raphael exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia. The first Russian exhibition of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino includes eight paintings and three drawings which come from Italy. Th exhibit opens to the public from 13 September to 11 December EPA Culture news in pictures 11 September 2016 Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd perform during Otis Redding 75th Birthday Celebration - Rehearsals at the Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Georgia Getty Images for Otis Redding 75 Culture news in pictures 10 September 2016 Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Singers at the Last Night of the Proms 2016 at the Royal Albert Hall in London PA Culture news in pictures 9 September 2016 A visitor walks past a piece entitled "Fruitcake" by Joana Vasconcelo, during the Beyond Limits selling exhibition at Chatsworth House near Bakewell REUTERS Culture news in pictures 8 September 2016 A sculpture of a crescent standing on the 2,140 meters high mountain 'Freiheit' (German for 'freedom'), in the Alpstein region of the Appenzell alps, eastern Switzerland. The sculpture is lighted during the nights by means of solar panels. The 38-year-old Swiss artist and atheist Christian Meier set the crescent on the peak to start a debate on the meaning of religious symbols - as summit crosses - on mountains. 'Because so many peaks have crosses on them, it struck me as a great idea to put up an equally absurd contrast'. 'Naturally I wanted to provoke in a fun way. But it goes beyond that. The actions of an artist should be food for thought, both visually and in content' EPA Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures

Germans after the war felt this about their country. The Germany that we know from art, music and literature  the Germany of the Gothic cathedrals and the gingerbread cities, of Durer and Grunewald, of Luther's Bible, of Goethe, Schiller, Kant and Hegel, the Germany of the romantic poets and of the greatest continuous musical tradition that the world will ever know  that Germany had been poisoned in people's thoughts by Hitler. It would have been easier to deal with the memory of the Hitler years if they had been imposed on Germany by some alien power which had sought to obliterate this great nation, as the Mongols obliterated the civilisation centred on Baghdad, or as the Chinese are at this moment obliterating Tibet. But it was not like that. The Nazis proclaimed themselves heirs to German civilisation. Hitler was not just a madman: he was an aesthete and an intellectual, like Stalin and Mao; he emphasised in all his speeches the history and achievements of the German people; he invoked the art, music and philosophy of Germany as justifications for his cause and objects of his pride. And the Germans followed him on his path of conquest, sharing his triumphs and forced very soon to share his disastrous defeat. Although their music was not destroyed by the war, their cities  the greatest cities in Europe  were reduced to rubble, their civilian population exposed to the horrors of blanket bombing and the rapine of the Soviet Army, and the noses of the survivors rubbed in the unspeakable reality of the Holocaust. Their country was destroyed, but it was impossible to mourn it.

Two psychoanalysts, the husband and wife pair Margarete Nielsen and Alexander Mitscherlich, reflected on this situation in a book published in 1967  Die Unfahigkeit zu trauern  the Impossibility of Mourning. The Germans could not grieve for their dead and at the same time accept the guilt that their dead had incurred. Even the heroic self-sacrifice of the German armies on the Russian front could not be given as a proof of virtue. All were guilty  guilty not only for the insane destruction of their country, but also for the crimes against humanity and civilisation that had been unleashed by the Nazis. The world insisted that the Germans accept their guilt. Hence the world denied them the relief of mourning. Their dead lay unburied in their conscience, like Polynices outside the walls of Thebes. As in the Antigone of Sophocles, piety called for mourning while politics forbade it.

Exactly what were Strauss's feelings in the matter I do not know. The generally accepted story is that he composed Metamorphosen on hearing of the destruction by bombing of the Munich Hoftheater, where so many of his artistic triumphs had been celebrated. The words "in memoriam" appear in the score at the point where he quotes from the funeral march of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, and some have interpreted this as indicating that the piece is a memorial to Beethoven.

As with all such speculations, I believe we should step back from the composer's biography and ask ourselves, instead, how we might attach a meaning to this great masterpiece. Nielsen and Mitscherlich were fundamentally right concerning the difficulty that modern Germans find themselves under, when it comes to mourning for their dead. But Strauss's music invites a more general mourning, and one that we too can share. It is contemporary with another work of mourning by a German artist, the extraordinary novel Dr Faustus by Thomas Mann. Music is the theme of Mann's novel, which paints the hair-raising portrait of a modern composer who lives under a Faustian pact with the devil, and whose mission is to "take back the 9th Symphony".

Scruton says: 'Eliots Waste Land invites us to accept that we live at the end of things and can yet rejoice that we know this and what it means' (Rex) (Rex Features)

Mann's work too was written in response to the destruction of the German cities. It is a work of despair; but like Strauss, Mann believed that, even in despair, art can bring a message of reconciliation. By showing the spiritual truth of our times, art redeems that truth, incorporates it into the ever-flowing history of consciousness. We can lose everything; but if we are still conscious of that loss and what it means, then there is something that we have not lost. All is not lost, if art remains, to show that all is lost. That is the message of Dr Faustus, and for people of my generation this message marked out Mann's novel as the companion piece to Eliot's Waste Land: those great works of art were invitations to accept that we live at the end of things, and yet can find cause to rejoice in the fact that we know this, and know what it means.

Strauss's work is a work of music: but it is also about music, in something like the way that Mann's novel is about music. Mann's hero tries to remake German music in defiance of itself: his theories (loosely based on those of Schoenberg) involve a rejection of tonality. The idiom of harmony and counterpoint, based on the triad and the scale, is, for Adrian Leverkuhn, Mann's composer hero, an exhausted idiom, incapable of capturing the Mephistophelian negation that has now taken up residence in the heart of our civilisation. Tonality must be defied, if music is still to have a meaning. Strauss, by contrast, defies the defiance. In all his late works he tells us that rumours of the death of tonality are exaggerated. We can mourn our lost civilisation in its own musical language.

Metamorphosen is a tribute to the stringed instruments that emancipated Western music from the human voice. Violins, violas and cellos have the inflections of the human voice without the pollution of speech. They are the voice itself, disembodied, transferred to the imaginary space of music and there endowed with a soul. It is the melodic, not the percussive, aspect of the strings that Strauss exploits: none of the instruments plays pizzicato throughout the piece. The work was initially conceived as a string septet. Later Strauss reworked it for 23 solo instruments, bringing to the fore its contrapuntal character.

This contrapuntal organisation is telling us something, not about music only, but about the nature of our civilisation in general and Ger-many's contribution to it in particular. If it is not too pompous a way of putting it, Western civilisation is itself a contrapuntal achievement. It arose through the contest and conciliation of many voices, moving freely and independently, but harmonising through law and custom, without the need for any enforced unity or control from above. This fact had been noticed by the philosophers of the Enlightenment, and in particular by Adam Smith in Scotland and Schiller in Germany. Ours is an order arising out of freedom, a form of collective adjustment and conciliation. And it is this that had been jeopardised by the fascist and communist dictatorships of the 20th century, which sought to impose a new and conscripted unity on the people, organised by a single Party under a single command. And, just as regimentation had destroyed the civilising process in Germany, so had it destroyed German music, imposing the artificial order of serialism on what should have been the spontaneous singing of the human voice. In Metamorphosen Strauss was celebrating a lost form of social order, with a contrapuntal texture that recalls the 40-part motet Spem in alium by Thomas Tallis. Polyphony of this complexity always points the listener in a religious direction. And Strauss's work is no exception. In mourning our civilisation, it tells us, we are also turning towards God. Not that Strauss was a believer: only that he understood the religious need of human beings, and answered to it in his music.

The reference to the stumbling theme of the Eroica slow movement is not the only allusion contained in this piece. The second subject takes off from the lament of King Marke, in Tristan and Isolde, over the faithless Tristan. You can read a lot into this. Tristan and Isolde have been taken far beyond the daylight world of social order, into a darkness from which there is eventually no return. Marke is grieving not only over the loss of his friend and his wife, but over the destruction of everything by a force that erupts uncontrollably into human affairs from another region, the region where death and sacrifice are the ruling principles. Yet his grieving leitmotiv has a supremely human tenderness  it contains an offer of forgiveness, of the kind that only a parent can make, and at the same time a recognition that the two lovers lie beyond the reach of forgiveness, in a world where the voice of duty is silenced, and death reigns supreme. Just such a world was Germany at the end of the Second World War.

Those features are worth noting, I think, since they serve to emphasise the very metaphysical character of Strauss's lament. Like Thomas Mann, he is reaching for a kind of absolute mourning, one that passes beyond the grief for this or that beloved object, to embrace the loss of everything significant, even the loss of significance itself, as we might put it, the loss of loss. Only this can embrace the enormity of what the Germans had undergone, and the enormity of their own crime in dragging the rest of Europe down with them into the abyss.

Cross purposes: religions, laws and customs all provide for the ritual mourning of people, but not of peoples (Alamy)

For this reason it is impossible to understand this work merely as an elegy. An elegy is a way of accepting the loss of some precious thing. It rejoices in the fact that the precious thing was given. If it is sad, it is with an accepting sadness. An elegy says: this we were given, and it is gone, but we should be grateful for it, and try to live up to its memory. We in England are very familiar with elegiac music. We too suffered loss, but loss of a very different kind, in the First World War, which took away the social order, the pastoral way of life, and the noble aspirations of the English, and dumped us suddenly and brutally in the modern world. Much of our modern music is an invocation of things of which we are bereft. Works like the Cello Concerto of Elgar, the Fifth Symphony of Vaughan Williams, and the Concerto for Double String Orchestra by Tippett, invoke our lost pastoral homeland in a spirit of tender regret. They offer us a manageable sadness, which is also an encouragement. Something of all that remains, they say: something to live up to, material to re-forge and recast in a renewed attempt at living rightly. I hear this in the later works of Vaughan Williams, and especially in his Pilgrim's Progress. By mourning what we have lost, we also regain it, in another and transmuted form. So the elegy tells us.

I once wrote a book entitled England: an Elegy. I was aware when writing it that I was emphasising the good, not the evil, that my country had stood for. But I felt entitled to do so, not merely because the good in my view outweighed the evil, but also because I was embarking on a legitimate work of mourning, just as Elgar had embarked on such a work in his Cello Concerto. Elegies are attempts at reconciliation and redemption, works of mourning in the sense intended by Freud. Strauss's Metamorphosen is not, in that sense an elegy. It is a work de profundis, which looks back to what has been lost as the returning traveller looks at the bombed-out remnants of his city, in which not a survivor can be found. It is a work without hope, and without any promise for the future. Yet for all that, it is a great work of art; and one that still speaks to us.

'Confessions of a Heretic' by Roger Scruton (Notting Hill Editions, 14.99) will be published on 28 March
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An Oxfam shop is begging people to stop donating copies of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Looks like the erotic novel may have been a blockbuster hit, but unsurprisingly, not the instant classic owners are desperate to keep pride-of-place on their bookshelves. The charity bookshop in Swansea, South Wales, has reached Fifty Shades of Saturation; telling hopeful donors of the E.L. James book, "Please - no more".

They've been inundated with "literally hundreds" of copies; so many, in fact, they've managed to construct a book fort. Oxfam worker Phil Broadhurst stated (via The Mirror) that the store has turned into a "retirement home" for unwanted copies of the original novel and its sequels.



"We appreciate all the donations," he continued. "But less Fifty Shades and more Sixties and Seventies vinyl would be good. There are a lot of people obsessed by Fifty Shades of Grey, we get people bringing in new copies coming in all the time. Enough is enough."

Truly, the words of a distressed man faced with an utterly unconquerable force; the shop has now been forced to hand them over to a separate warehouse owned by Goldstone Books from which they can either be sold online or recycled.

No one tell the makers of Fifty Shades Darker; with the film still reuniting cast members Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan to return the kinky misadventures of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey to screens in 2017.
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The Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios plan to boycott the US state of Georgia if a religious liberty bill widely deemed as 'anti-gay' is passed.

The legislation allows faith-based organisations to deny services to those who violate their "sincerely held religious belief" and preserves their right to fire employees who fail to accord with such beliefs. The controversial bill has received an enormous backlash, labelled by many as an open door to legally-sanctified discrimination by local businesses.

Variety reports the company intends to take dealings elsewhere "should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law." It's a move which may have surprisingly large repercussions on the local economy; Georgia has become a hub for film and television production thanks to generous tax incentives, hosting the likes of The Walking Dead and several of Marvel's own blockbuster productions.

Captain America: Civil War was shot in the state last summer, with production currently taking place there for Guardians of the Galaxy 2; filming at Pinewood Studios just outside of Atlanta.

"Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law," a Disney spokesman stated.

The decisive move follows the MPAA, which represents major studios, already condemning the legislation as "discriminatory"; and it'll yet to be seen if other production companies follow Disney's suit.
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So, there is to be a fifth Indiana Jones film. Sadly, the much-loved movies dont represent the average day at work for most archaeologists, but there is more truth to Indys swashbuckling adventures than you may think. Crystal skulls do exist, the Nazis really were (very) keen on archaeology, and the worlds museums are full of artefacts taken from unsuspecting tribal peoples. Here are some of the more surprising things the films got right.

1) Crystal skulls and holy grails

Some of the artefacts featured in Indiana Jones are not as ridiculous as you might think. Crystal skulls (made from Quartz), as featured in the fourth film, do exist  theres even one in the British Museum. Unfortunately, they are probably 19th-century forgeries, rather than original pre-Colombian  or alien  artefacts.

And while we have never found it, at least nine countries, including Ethiopia and Egypt, are rumoured to be the location of the lost Ark of the Covenant, the wood and gold chest central to Raiders of The Lost Ark and rumoured to contain the stone slabs etched with the Ten Commandments.

The Holy Grail, featured in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and which supposedly featured at the Last Supper and caught the blood of Christ during the crucifixion, is even more of a mystery. It does not actually appear in literature until the early 12th century, in a legendary tale of Joseph of Arimathea, in which the grail is sent for safe-keeping in Britain.

Real or not, however, all of these legendary artefacts do reveal a truth: that many archaeologists have a personal holy grail. It is probably not an actual artefact  it is objects' relationships with other things, people or structures that actually allow us to interpret the lives of past cultures. We do not aim to collect objects, we aim to answer questions about how and why human societies change. That is our Grail quest.

2) Nazis and nationalists

Nazis were the villains of both Raiders of The Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, which again isnt far from the truth. For the Nazis, archaeology was central to proving their arguments for Aryan superiority. Nazi research missions under the guise of the Ahnenerbe were dispatched to a surprising variety of places in order to demonstrate the influence of Aryan migrants in prehistory, including Poland, the Andes and Tibet.

Culture news in pictures Show all 33 1 /33 Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures 30 September 2016 An employee hangs works of art with "Grand Teatro" by Marino Marini (R) and bronze sculpture "Sfera N.3" by Arnaldo Pomodoro seen ahead of a Contemporary Art auction on 7 October, at Sotheby's in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 29 September 2016 Street art by Portuguese artist Odeith is seen in Dresden, during an exhibition "Magic City - art of the streets" AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 Dancers attend a photocall for the new "THE ONE Grand Show" at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany REUTERS Culture news in pictures 28 September 2016 With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A gallery assistant poses amongst work by Anthea Hamilton from her nominated show "Lichen! Libido!(London!) Chastity!" at a preview of the Turner Prize in London REUTERS Culture news in pictures 27 September 2016 A technician wearing virtual reality glasses checks his installation in three British public telephone booths, set up outside the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The installation allows visitors a 3-D look into the museum which has twenty-two paintings belonging to the British Royal Collection, on loan for an exhibit from 29 September 2016 till 8 January 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 An Indian artist dressed as Hindu god Shiva performs on a chariot as he participates in a religious procession 'Ravan ki Barat' held to mark the forthcoming Dussehra festival in Allahabad AFP/Getty Images Culture news in pictures 26 September 2016 Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Air Power', 1984, is displayed at the Bowie/Collector media preview at Sotheby's in New York AFP/Getty Culture news in pictures 25 September 2016 A woman looks at an untitled painting by Albert Oehlen during the opening of an exhibition of works by German artists Georg Baselitz and Albert Oehlen in Reutlingen, Germany. The exhibition runs at the Kunstverein (art society) Reutlingen until 15 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 24 September 2016 Fan BingBing (C) attends the closing ceremony of the 64th San Sebastian Film Festival at Kursaal in San Sebastian, Spain Getty Images Culture news in pictures 23 September 2016 A view of the artwork 'You Are Metamorphosing' (1964) as part of the exhibition 'Retrospektive' of Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo at Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. The exhibition runs from 25 September 2016 to 1 January 2017 EPA Culture news in pictures 22 September 2016 Jo Applin from the Courtauld Institute of Art looks at Green Tilework in Live Flesh by Adriana Vareja, which features in a new exhibition, Flesh, at York Art Gallery. The new exhibition features works by Degas, Chardin, Francis Bacon and Sarah Lucas, showing how flesh has been portrayed by artists over the last 600 years PA Culture news in pictures 21 September 2016 Performers Sean Atkins and Sally Miller standing in for the characters played by Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell during a photocall for Tim Burton's "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children" at Potters Field Park in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A detail from the blanket 'Alpine Cattle Drive' from 1926 by artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is displayed at the 'Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum for Contemporary Arts' in Berlin. The exhibition named 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Hieroglyphen' showing the complete collection of Berlin's Nationalgallerie works of the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and will run from 23 September 2016 until 26 February 2017 AP Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A man looks at portrait photos by US photographer Bruce Gilden in the exhibition 'Masters of Photography' at the photokina in Cologne, Germany. The trade fair on photography, photokina, schowcases some 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries and runs from 20 to 25 September. The event also features various photo exhibitions EPA Culture news in pictures 20 September 2016 A woman looks at 'Blue Poles', 1952 by Jackson Pollock during a photocall at the Royal Academy of Arts, London PA Culture news in pictures 19 September 2016 Art installation The Refusal of Time, a collaboration with Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh and Peter Galison, which features as part of the William Kentridge exhibition Thick Time, showing from 21 September to 15 January at the Whitechapel Gallery in London PA Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Artists creating one off designs at the Mm6 Maison Margiela presentation during London Fashion Week Spring/Summer collections 2017 in London Getty Images Culture news in pictures 18 September 2016 Bethenny Frankel attends the special screening of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary Edition release on Blu-Ray and DVD in New York City Getty Images for Walt Disney Stu Culture news in pictures 17 September 2016 Visitors attend the 2016 Oktoberfest beer festival at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany Getty Images Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Visitors looks at British artist Damien Hirst work of art 'The Incomplete Truth', during the 13th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled 'The World, Europe and Ukraine: storms of changes', organised by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation at the Mystetsky Arsenal Art Center in Kiev AP Culture news in pictures 16 September 2016 Tracey Emin's "My Bed" is exhibited at the Tate Liverpool as part of the exhibition Tracey Emin And William Blake In Focus, which highlights surprising links between the two artists Getty Images Culture news in pictures 15 September 2016 Musician Dave Grohl (L) joins musician Tom Morello of Prophets of Rage onstage at the Forum in Inglewood, California Getty Images Culture news in pictures 14 September 2016 Model feebee poses as part of art installation "Narcissism : Dazzle room" made by artist Shigeki Matsuyama at rooms33 fashion and design exhibition in Tokyo. Matsuyama's installation features a strong contrast of black and white, which he learned from dazzle camouflage used mainly in World War I AP Culture news in pictures 13 September 2016 Visitors look at artworks by Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo during the exhibition 'Glossiness of Uncarved Jade' held at the exhibition hall 'Manezh' in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than 200 paintings by the Chinese artist are presented until 25 September EPA Culture news in pictures 12 September 2016 A visitor looks at Raphael's painting 'Extase de Sainte Cecile', 1515, from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence during the opening of a Raphael exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia. The first Russian exhibition of the works of the Italian Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino includes eight paintings and three drawings which come from Italy. Th exhibit opens to the public from 13 September to 11 December EPA Culture news in pictures 11 September 2016 Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd perform during Otis Redding 75th Birthday Celebration - Rehearsals at the Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Georgia Getty Images for Otis Redding 75 Culture news in pictures 10 September 2016 Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Singers at the Last Night of the Proms 2016 at the Royal Albert Hall in London PA Culture news in pictures 9 September 2016 A visitor walks past a piece entitled "Fruitcake" by Joana Vasconcelo, during the Beyond Limits selling exhibition at Chatsworth House near Bakewell REUTERS Culture news in pictures 8 September 2016 A sculpture of a crescent standing on the 2,140 meters high mountain 'Freiheit' (German for 'freedom'), in the Alpstein region of the Appenzell alps, eastern Switzerland. The sculpture is lighted during the nights by means of solar panels. The 38-year-old Swiss artist and atheist Christian Meier set the crescent on the peak to start a debate on the meaning of religious symbols - as summit crosses - on mountains. 'Because so many peaks have crosses on them, it struck me as a great idea to put up an equally absurd contrast'. 'Naturally I wanted to provoke in a fun way. But it goes beyond that. The actions of an artist should be food for thought, both visually and in content' EPA Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures Culture news in pictures

Perhaps most telling are the works of Gustaf Kossinna, whose book German Prehistory: A Pre-eminently National Discipline set out the archaeological justification for the annexation of Poland. Kossinna based it on the supposed presence of Germanic peoples there during prehistory, and while he died before Hitler came to power, he was active while the territorial negotiations at the Versailles conference after World War I were taking place.

So Indiana Jones fighting Nazis is an honourable and historically accurate portrayal, even if the modern battleground against nationalist pseudo-archaeology has now shifted to Twitter.

3) The Thuggees and the cult of Kali

A rather strange mish-mash of ideas in the Temple of Doom did have some basis in fact, although very loosely interpreted. The Thuggees, led in the film by the sinister Mola Ram, were a notorious criminal fraternity, suppressed by the British in colonial India. The films mistreatment of Kali is rather more obvious, however. Despite popular iconography  the fangs, red eyes and penchant for blood  this Hindu goddess is generally revered as more than just a destroyer and is a rather more nuanced force than the one represented in the film.

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4) That belongs in a museum

This quote, from The Last Crusade, possibly is the most famous line spoken by Indy  and the most problematic for archaeologists and museums. It reinforces the idea that Western academics have a right to excavate and display the worlds cultural treasures. Indeed, major national museum collections, from the British Museum to the Louvre were founded on this very belief  but, in a post-colonial world, this attitude has become hotly contested.

Do artefacts belong in museums? Or do they belong to the people from whom they were taken? What if those artefacts were removed more than a century ago, from a tomb built 4,000 years ago, from a place now occupied by people who have no relationship with the original inhabitants? These are the ethical questions museums must struggle with. For example, debates over the return of the Parthenon (or Elgin) Marbles to Athens from the British Museum are long running; Cambridge students recently voted to return to Nigeria a bronze cockerel which was removed in 1897; and artefacts even became embroiled in geopolitics when Egypt severed ties with the Louvre Museum over the return of Ancient Egyptian remains.

What is certain is that each claim for repatriation must carefully be weighed on its own merits. Indiana Jones didnt always appreciate this.

5) A life of romance and adventure

Archaeology really can be adventurous. Maybe not adventure of the poisoned darts and jumping over chasms variety, but the moment when you unearth something really exciting, anything from a sarcophagus to a 10,000-year-old worked flint nodule (depending on your interest), is the reason archaeologists stay in the business.

Of course, occasionally it can be dangerous, too. Just consider Lord Carnarvon and the Curse of Tutankhamun  practically an Indiana Jones plot device.

Personally, I am still waiting to be offered a course in basic whip-handling, and I own a trilby rather than a fedora  perhaps a little more Time Team than Indiana Jones. But while we now avoid sacrificing our students to angry sun gods  even if only because of the health and safety paperwork  if a new major Hollywood movie is a reflection of the central place of archaeology in our cultural consciousness, then I think we should all be pleased.

One final point. The drinking competition in Nepal in Raiders of the Lost Ark? Maybe not in the Himalayas, but from personal experience  that was dead accurate.

Ben Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology & Heritage, Department of History, Politics & Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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Alden Ehrenreich, Taron Egerton, and Jack Reynor: take the advice of your elders. Harrison Ford has warned the young actors auditioning for Han Solo in the planned Star Wars spin-off, "don't do it."

Making a surprise appearance on Ellen, to support his buddy Chewbacca's promotion of The Force Awakens' imminent digital and Blu-Ray release, Ford joked about the franchise's seeming disloyalty to its actors.

Even though it's been revealed he's been pushing for Solo's death for the past 30 years, he quipped; "first, you know, it seems like everythings going swimmingly, and you put in 25, 30 years, and they just they just let you go. And they show you the door: Were done with you, thanks very much.'"

After Ellen referenced to the upcoming origins story as featuring a "new Han Solo", Ford also chipped in; "Not a new Han Solo, a  a  young. Its worse than that, its a young Han Solo.



"Don't do it" may not be the most practical advice, but Ford's a man eminently comfortable enough with his own legacy to play around with it; as much as cynics may begrudge his burgeoning paychecks, the man's clearly having a ball all the way to the bank, unlike the grizzled reluctance of some of his compatriots.

In fact, the actor's so at peace with his own comfortable position in life, he's perfectly happy to poke fun at the reported 23M paycheck he received for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. With a twinkle in his eye and a victorious cheer, he teased that he earned "a little bit more" than the $1,000 a week paid to him on the first Star Wars film.

Ford was recently confirmed to be returning to the role of Indiana Jones for a fifth outing; though even he seems a little clueless as to what exactly those plans entail.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray 18 April.
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Five films into the Step Up franchise, and it's easy to forget the grand romance that started it all.

On screen, and off screen, Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum make for an enviable couple of ultra-talented dancers. Having met on the set of 2006's Step Up, the pair eventually wed in 2009; recently facing off in epic style on Lip Sync Battle.

The duo will now make their return to television with an upcoming dance competition on NBC, says The Hollywood Reporter. The six-episode series will see Dewan Tatum take on the role of regular judge and mentor, with Tatum dropping in for the occasional appearance. Both will also executive produce the show.



Details are slim, but the hourlong episodes are being described as a "fresh take" on the increasingly tiresome dance competition format; so expect something very, very different from So You Think You Can Dance or Strictly Come Dancing.

Dewan Tatum can elsewhere be seen in her recurring role as Lucy Lane on CBS' Supergirl; Tatum's current slate sees him join the X-Men universe for 2017's Gambit solo film, alongside Sony's pitched Jump Street/Men in Black crossover.
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Looking back over the last five seasons of Game of Thrones and youll notice there have been some pretty huge battle sequences.

Game of Thrones season 6: Everything we know so far

Notably, in the fourth season, one episode that took place entirely at the Wall entitled Watchers on the Wall - the one where *she* gets killed by Olly - was the shows most expensive so far.

However, the upcoming season six looks set to top even that bombastic, Giant-filled event. According to writer-producer Bryan Cogman, the shows biggest action sequence yet is just around the corner.

Its definitely the biggest [action sequence yet], Cogman told EW. Weve always wanted to get to a place  story-wise and budget-wise and time-wise and resource-wise  where we would be able to do a proper battle, with one army on one side, one army on another side.

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According to the report, the battle will see Hundreds of human soldiers on one side of a field, another army on the other side, and then there is a clash that is highly tactical, yet character-driven, and shown from start to finish.

Who could an army of humans be fighting? Likely, they'll be facing off against the White Walker army we saw at the end of season five.

In other Game of Thrones news, the showrunners have said the upcoming season will be the best one yet, while Liam Cunningham revealed more information about that mic drop moment from the trailer.
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We're not sure how many times the name Negan has been mentioned since The Walking Dead returned from its mid-season break, but whatever the figure, we lost count long ago.

Such is the villainous character's popularity in the graphic novels that the writers decided to shun the surprise of his inclusion by announcing that Negan would indeed be joining the series.

In fact, much of the sixth season's latter half has been spent building up to his introduction which will inevitably arrive in next month's season finale.

Fuelling the excitement even further, The Walking Dead's showrunner Scott Gimple has explained why Negan is considered one of television's greatest ever villains. Here's what he said in full:

"The worst kind of bullies in high school, and junior high, and elementary school, and kindergarten, pre-school, and the womb were the bullies that were funny. That was the worst because the bullies that were funny were show-people. Im not going to say show men because there are a lot of girl bullies in school, too. They were funny and yet they were awful And Negan is the ultimate version of that bully. And he is an incredible strategist. He can often appear capricious. He is pure id. He is this force of nature. Hes charismatic. A lot of villains on shows and comics and everything, its like, Oh theyre the villain that you love to hate. I think Negan is the villain that you hate to love. But you just love him. And he does some horrible things, but he has a reason for them."

Merge this with what executive producer David Alpert said:

We want [people who dont know Negan] to get into conversations with their friends like, "ah, thats nothing" and the friends who have read the comics be like, Oh, you just dont know. You just dont know.'"

Jeffery Dean Morgan will be playing the antagonist, and readers of the show's source material are a little worried: Negan's comic book introduction sees the death of a major character, so it's fair to say that we'll be saying goodbye to a beloved character very soon.

The Walking Dead's season finale will air in the UK on FOX at 9 PM on 4 April. The show's most recent episode received a fan backlash following the surprise death of a particular character.
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Google is about to launch its Android Pay system in the UK, it has said.

The company will release the cashless payment system in the next few months, according to a blog post. Like Apple Pay, it will let people buy things by just tapping their phone on the contactless card reader, as long as their handset is compatible.

When the feature comes out, it will be accepted everywhere that takes contactless payments as well as in apps. That will include journeys within the Transport for London network.

Users set up the system by entering their card and personal details, which are then stored in the phone. Future purchases can then be made just by placing the phone on the reader and using a fingerprint scanner to check that the payment is being made by the phones owner  a system that has been said to be far more secure than pin-protected card payments.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Google said that it had made deals with many of the UKs biggest banks, including Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds and others. But there were some notable omissions, such as Barclays  which originally held out from Apple Pay, too  Santander and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Android Pay is just one of a range of payment systems looking to allow people to use their phones as their wallets, and get rid of payment cards. That also includes the already-launched Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, which can only be used on Samsungs devices and doesnt yet have a UK release date.

Googles own service was first released in September in the US, and hasnt rolled out beyond that. The UK release date will make it likely that the UK becomes the second market to get the system.
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Google is reportedly working on a third-party keyboard for iOS with built-in search features.

As The Verge claims, Google's keyboard would work like a replacement for the stock iPhone version, and is filled with features like web and image search, GIF support, and gesture-based typing, similar to the already popular swipe keyboard apps (like Google's Android version).

The keyboard has reportedly been tested by Google employees (or 'Googlers') for the last few months, although it's unclear whether the company plans to release it to the public any time soon. We've contacted Google to find out.

Recommended Read more How artificial intelligence became a hot UK export

A keyboard with a built-in search feature would obviously help Google make money, since figures suggest that people don't do Google searches on their mobiles nearly as much as they do on desktop.

Without these search pages on which to sell ads, Google would lose money, and as the mobile internet becomes bigger and bigger, the problem will get worse. Sticking a search button on a mobile keyboard could reverse the trend.

Third-party keyboards aren't the most glamorous things in the world, but they've proved lucrative - Microsoft bought British predictive text company SwiftKey for a huge $250m (177m) in February this year.

Obviously Google is the mega-corporation in this example, not the small London startup. But the SwiftKey deal shows that users are interested in better keyboards, and advances in gesture input and predictive text which can benefit disabled people are of real interest to tech companies.

If Google's plans ever come to fruition, you might soon have one more keyboard to cycle through when trying to find your emojis.
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Changes proposed to Frances famously inflexible employment laws by French president Francois Hollande have prompted an outcry among students and unionists and even the barricading of schools by pupils. But among the raft of changes to working practices is the liberating notion that employees should have the right to disconnect: to ignore emails from employers during evenings and weekends so that time with friends and family is not affected by work distractions or feelings of guilt.

Limited interventions of this sort have been put forward in Germany and France before, but this is the first proposal that the right be enshrined in law.

There is much to like about it. First, it recognises the massive impact the widespread use of smartphones and tablets, Wi-Fi and high-speed mobile internet has had on our working lives. In as much as work emails, diaries and contacts are on a smartphone in our pocket, to some extent we are never truly out of the office. The proposal seeks to counter this in legislation, not to leave it to corporate custom and practice.

Recommended Read more Long working hours will take their toll on junior doctors

Second, the proposed legislation acknowledges the considerable research that suggests that we need to psychologically detach from work regularly, or risk becoming exhausted and losing our creativity.

Third and most importantly, it makes the employer at least partly responsible for managing this intrusive technology and its effects on employees. There is a recognised paradox, whereby technology allows flexibility over when and where we work, but at the same time acts as a leash that chains us to our (virtual) desks. For too long this has been seen as something employees themselves should manage.

The research into work-life balance my colleagues and I have conducted suggests that achieving the right balance has become another life crisis. It is one that is fed by endless media articles and self-help books, and one that is almost certainly unresolvable by the individual as so much of the pressure comes from bosses and colleagues at work. What weve found is that there needs to be respect for individuals chosen work-life boundaries at all levels within organisations.

So congratulations to the French for taking this particular taureau by the cornes. But is their proposed approach through new legislation the right answer?

wongstock/shutterstock.com

As far as it goes

There are three ways digital media and mobile technology have affected our lives that isnt acknowledged by legislation, which is concerned only with time spent connected to work. In our research weve sought to highlight the creeping effects of digi-housekeeping: those endless technology maintenance tasks that we engage in  updating software, syncing devices, fighting technical problems  which often takes place outside of office hours and doesnt appear on time sheets. None of this is accounted for by legislative approaches.

Nor does legislation address the way in which the use of social media for work may intrude into our privacy. When we blog and tweet for our employers, are we exploiting our personal identities for their ends? Are these additional tasks, and the need to maintain our digital presence online, causing us anxiety and increasing our workload without any formal recognition of the effort involved? These sorts of activities go beyond a concern with just maintaining a time boundary between work and life. They represent new tasks required to maintain our digital work lives.

Whats more, because the French legislation presumes an employee-employer relationship, it entirely ignores the anxieties of the self-employed, as those taking part in our research told us. While those working for themselves have always had to work hard, social media has put added pressure on them to be constantly online and accessible to maintain their business. We need more imaginative interventions that will address the needs of specific groups such as these.

What are 21st century working lives like?

The French legislation is important primarily because it makes clear the responsibilities of employers and organisations. However, its also rather a blunt-edged tool that doesnt appreciate the intricacies of our online lives. Legislation like this enforces a strict work-life boundary that may be a thing of the past.

Our research collaborators kept video diaries that captured the complex circumstances of todays workers in a more revealing way than traditional surveys can do. These video diaries suggest we might be making sense of our lives in radically different ways in the 21st century. We distinguish between online and offline lives rather than work and non-work hours, and we think more about how we prioritise time, rather than how we divide it.

To support flexible working, we may need flexible legislation that is based on other considerations than time alone, including where and how we work best. Its very unlikely there will be a one-size-fits-all solution; researchers and policymakers are going to have to find more creative 21st century solutions for this very 21st century problem.

So the French governments move to formally recognise the distraction caused by unfettered technology is welcome, but limited. To improve upon it, we need to understand much more fully the complexities of contemporary digital online lives, what boundaries people now find important, and how the law can best support them.

Gillian Symon, Professor of Organisation Studies, Royal Holloway

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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Alzheimers disease affects women worse than men, new researcher has suggested.

Women with the form of dementia see their cognitive abilities decline more dramatically than men at the same stage of the disease.

Language skills and memory are also impacted sooner in women than in men, according to a review of previous studies.

In the UK, women make up two-thirds of the 850,000 people living with dementia, a condition which Alzheimers is a form of. Dementia is the leading cause of death in women over 80-years-old, and the third for men in this age group.

Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire believe that the drop in the level of the hormone oestrogen after women experience the menopause may affect how the disease develops.

Men being more likely to work than women due to traditional gender roles may also mean that men have greater cognitive reserve, while the influence of a gene linked to Alzheimers could also be to blame, according to the research published in the World Journal of Psychiatry.

Professor Keith Laws of the School of Life and Medical Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire, who lead the study, said the findings could play an important part in understanding the risk factors, progression and treatment of the disease.

For instance, genetics are hard to change but easier to screen, cognitive reserve is modifiable and with more women working, the next generation may suffer less. It is therefore fundamental that we continue to identify the role of sex differences to enable more accurate diagnoses and open up doors for new treatments to emerge.

Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia Show all 6 1 /6 Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia Moderate, regular exercise Last year, a study found that walking briskly for 30 to 40 minutes a day, three times a week, was all it took to re-grow structures of the brain linked with cognitive decline in later life. Researchers have also said statins, designed to help those with heart conditions, may play an additional role in protecting the brain from dementia. Getty Images Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia Quit smoking A review of studies relating smoking and dementia found that (when you remove studies funded by the tobacco industry) smokers have a significantly greater risk of dementia. Getty Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia Protect your head A variety of observational studies have shown that professional boxers and war veterans are at greater risk of dementia due to repeated concussion and traumatic head injuries. Rex Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia Puzzles and crosswords In 2010, studies suggested people who do puzzles and crosswords may stave off dementia for longer. However, the same study also found they may experience a more rapid decline once the disease sets in. Crosswords and Puzzles from The Independent can be solved here Getty Images Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia A healthy lifestyle Dr Laura Phillips of Alzheimers Research UK says a healthy lifestyle is best for preventing dementia: Eating a balanced, healthy diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, and keeping blood pressure and weight in check. Getty Six ways to help reduce the risk of dementia A Mediterranean diet Research has suggested that a Mediterranean diet  rich in fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds  may reduce the risks of dementia. However NHS Choices has rpeviously warned some of the media coverage of this diet may overstate its benefits. Rex

Commenting on the studys theories for why women decline faster than men, Dr James Picket, head of research at the Alzheimers Society and not involved in the study, said: These need to be explored in greater depth so we can understand if there are ways we can address the particular needs and experiences of women with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

Dr Laura Phipps, from Alzheimer's Research UK, added: "Dementia is the leading cause of death in women in the UK, and it's important that researchers understand the symptoms experienced by both men and women as this may help improve diagnosis, support and treatment in the future."

The findings come after a study found that a daily nutritional drink could improve the memory of those with very early, or prodromal, Alzheimers disease.

Fortasyn Connect, which fatty acids, vitamins and other nutrients, appeared to reduce brain shrinkage in some areas of the area of the brain which deals with memory.

Additional reporting by PA
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The World Health Organization is still waiting for its members to stump up another $4 million to tackle the growing threat from the Zika virus, WHO chief Margaret Chan said on Tuesday.

The more we know, the worse things look, Chan told a news conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva. In less than a year the status of Zika has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications.

Zika has been linked to thousands of suspected cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect, in Brazil, and a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

A pattern had emerged with initial virus circulation followed about three weeks later by an unusual increase in Guillain-BarrA cases, then foetal malformations as pregnancies of infected women come to term, Chan said.

Zika has not been proven to cause Guillain-Barre or microcephaly, a condition characterised by unusually small heads in babies and linked with developmental problems. However, there is growing evidence that suggests a link to both disorders.

The WHO and its American arm PAHO have asked for $25 million to fight Zika and have received $3 million, and are now in an active discussion over the next $4 million, said Chan, who called the funding situation pretty serious.

She said she would shift money across the WHO budget as far as possible, but 80 percent of WHO's money was earmarked for specific causes.

WHO's strategy director Chris Dye said many, many millions of people had been exposed to the mosquito-borne virus, which has spread through most of the Americas in the past six months.

The latest medical studies suggested that perhaps 1 percent of infections would lead to severe neurological disorders, he said.

If we just take that as an approximation, we know already that there are thousands of cases in just one part of Brazil, so the expectation across the Americas as a whole is many more thousands of cases.

Brazil has confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. It is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.

Reuters
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A milestone is how it has been dubbed. Royal Bank of Scotland has finally bought out the Governments so-called dividend access share (DAS), which gave taxpayers first call on any payouts.

The 1.2bn deal clears the way for the bank to restart dividends to all shareholders (which would still include the Government for as long as it keeps taxpayers invested), although it probably wont happen until 2017 and may take even longer depending on how the banks numerous legal difficulties are resolved.

Now bear with me because some people will tell you this is good news. The DAS buyout advances the process of RBS becoming a more normal bank. It makes the business more attractive as an investment proposition and ought to make it easier for the Government to sell off its remaining 73 per cent stake. The line that an awful lot of people would dearly love to draw under the scandalous mismanagement and then bailout of the bank has moved a little closer.

But heres the thing: with the shares languishing at less than half break-even point (500p), taxpayers are currently exposed to a thumping loss. Even were the Government to wait until the shares do rise to that point, the sheer length of time during which capital that could have been used for other purposes has been tied up in RBS means we would still be facing a considerable deficit.

Given that there would be no RBS without government intervention, you might very well think that the taxpayer should have first call on any capital distribution from RBS until the states capital distribution to RBS has been paid back, and with interest.

Had a commercial partner been found to rescue RBS, we wouldnt be even having this debate. However, because it was the government that had to step up with taxpayers funds  a government wary of nationalising RBS  the bank got very preferential terms. Its shareholders at the time of the bailout, who had been facing obliteration, got to keep a piece of the pie, albeit a small one.

Given all that, a consequence of those favourable terms ought to be that the DAS remains in place until taxpayers are no longer out of pocket. That would be a milestone and something to celebrate. At that point a line could finally be drawn under the affair. Unfortunately that is not going to happen. The DAS has been sold because it furthers the aims of this Government and the management of RBS. Taxpayers ought to be quite cross about that. I know I am.

The online gaming tables could turn against 888

Look at the revenue line of online gamings 888 and youll see a company in good health. Average daily revenue is 20 per cent higher than it was a year ago and 888 has added customers at a decent clip.

Look at the earnings, however, and a different picture emerges.

The UKs decision to impose a 15 per cent charge on bets regardless of where they are placed has removed much of the benefit to internet gambling companies of setting up shop in tax havens  Gibraltar, Malta and the like. And the UK is not alone, with 888 warning that it might be forced to declare a taxable presence in other countries. The tax-lite gambling party is coming to an end.

Faced with the need to do something about all those disappearing earnings, companies have been getting together so they can cut their cost bases, at a previously unseen rate. It was the driver behind the mergers of Ladbrokes and Coral and of Betfair and Paddy Power.

Of course 888 tried to join the Bwin.party but was busted out by rival GVC. The aftermath of the failed bid battle is another hit to those earnings I mentioned.

William Hill had earlier rolled the dice on taking over 888, but wouldnt put enough money down to make the bet worth while for 888s shareholders.

Their holdings have done rather well since, but its still a fair bet that 888 will be at the takeover tables before too long. Now 888 is setting a sprightly pace, but with more and more countries seeing gambling as a cash cow for their cash-strapped exchequers, tax will become an increasingly heavy burden to shoulder. And when its competitors have bedded down their deals, theyll be snapping at its heels too, if they arent already.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

After dark pools, investors may try the water at the LSE

Usually the London Stock Exchange only goes dark in the event of IT chaos. Not any more. The exchange is experimenting with switching the lights off for a couple of minutes at midday, with the aim of tempting back big investors with large blocks of shares to trade. With the exchange briefly going dark, these investors can, potentially, buy or sell those tranches without the market moving against them. Of course, it only works if theres someone on the other side of the trade who has also put in an order in the dark. And the volume of deals done on the first run-through of the service was hardly earth shattering.

Still, dark pools  share-trading venues that allow investors to do this at all times  have recently been causing a lot of controversy amid suggestions that at least some might not be as dark as has been claimed. EU rules may be on the way, which could also push business back towards traditional exchanges  especially traditional exchanges that can offer a workable alternative.

And London appears up to that challenge.
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Saudi Arabia has said it will freeze oil output next month regardless of whether or not it can reach an agreement with Iran.

A delegate made the announcement ahead of the next meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on April 17, when representatives including those from Iran and Saudi Arabia are expected to discuss cutting production to stop the oil price from falling again.

There is agreement from many countries to go along with a freeze, said the delegate. Why make it contingent on Iran?

This marks a turnaround for the kingdom, which had previously said any deal was contigent on Iran taking part.

Iran has increased oil production since the lifting of sancations in January. Officials have shown no interesting in restricting output.

Saudi Arabia's decision to go ahead with the freeze with Iran was quickly branded meaningless by critics who said that it was the only country with the ability to increase output amount Opec countries anyway.

Amongst the group of countries [participating in the meeting] that were aware of, only Saudi Arabia has any ability to increase its production, said Neil Atkinson, head of the IEAs oil industry and markets division, at an industry event.

The oil price has recovered slightly since January, when it was trading around $30 a barrel, but is still 65 per cent off its June 2014 peak.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

The fall in oil revenues has wreaked havoc in countries where the economy is reliant on oil. Saudi Arabia is seeking $6-8 billion in loans from international lenders and cutting public spendings and local subsidies to try and close the $100 billion deficit that opened up in its finances in 2015.

The 300 largest global oil and gas companies have witnessed their stock market value falling $2.3 trillion, or 39 per cent, since the oil price began to slide in the summer of 2014, according to analysis by the Financial Times.
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Teachers will march in Westminster this evening to protest against the Governments announcement to convert all schools into academies by 2020.

The demonstration, which is being organised by the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, will be staged outside the Department of Education.

Its about working with parents and working with teachers to make the schools as best they can, as opposed to taking another few steps further towards a completely privatised education system, explained Andrew Baisley, a secondary school maths teacher and secretary for Camden NUT.

Im absolutely convinced thats the direction were going in.

Mr Baisley, who teaches in Camdens Haverstock School, is helping to coordinate the protest, which will begin at the Westminster Cathedral at 5pm.

The march was swiftly organised in response to Chancellor George Osbournes Budget announcement that all state schools in England would be converted into academies by 2020.

Currently, 2,075 out of 3,381 secondary schools in England are academies, along with 2,440 of 16,766 primary schools.

Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets Show all 13 1 /13 Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets web-brazil-riots-ap.jpg AP Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-1.jpg Reuters Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-10.jpg EPA Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-5.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-6.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-9.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-8.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-7.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-12.jpg AP Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-4.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-2.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-3.jpg Getty Images Rios class war: Brazilian teachers take pay protest on to streets brazil-teachers-11.jpg Getty Images

Mr Baisley, who has been teaching for over 20 years, has several concerns about the decision both from a parental and professional perspective.

This is the most profound change to education in our lifetimes, and its all very wrong. Its cutting parents out, its removing professional qualifications and its creating a totally different type of school.

Im very worried, and I think everyone should be very worried.

However, officials insist that parents and educators should have confidence in the plan.

Pupils are already benefitting hugely from the academies programme and thanks to our reforms more of them than ever before are going to good or outstanding schools, meaning more parents can access a good school place for their children, a Department for Education spokesperson said.

Every parent deserves to know their child is getting an excellent education, and it is disappointing that the NUT and ATL are taking this approach.
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Donald Trump has claimed British Muslims are absolutely not reporting suspected terrorists.

The Republican frontrunner was interviewed by Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain and was asked what he would say to British Muslims, given the inflammatory claims he has made about the religion during his presidential campaign as well as his controversial pledge to ban Muslims from he US.

I'm just saying there is something with a radicalised portion that is very bad and very dangerous [...] I would say this to the Muslims and in the United States also when they see trouble they have to report it, he said. They are not reporting it. They are absolutely not reporting it and that is a big problem.

Trump's remarks echo claims he made yesterday, following the attacks in Brussels, where he said we're having a problem with Muslims and also called for mosques to be surveilled by authorities.

Trump's quotes were challenged by the Muslim Council of Britain who told GMB they were just not the case. Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary-general of the organisation said: If you look at London we have a much more integrated society here. We have over 90 per cent of British Muslims who would report someone. If anything were to happen if they knew of anything that was happening in the UK they would report it. There is a very strong Muslim community in the UK. He also said extremists who have perpetrated past attacks don't share the typical views of a traditional Muslim in society.

Many of the places these people were being harboured were seen as criminal areas in general. How much is this due to being a Muslim community or just a community of criminality. We have to try to not conflate the two together.

The Brussels attacks which took place on Tuesday morning in a city airport and metro station have killed at least 31 people and injured at least 198. The country is currently in its second day of mourning.

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man carries an injured person in Brussels Airport, after explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Travellers get to their feet in a smoke filled terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man speaks on a mobile phone in Brussels Airport, after the explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A police officer stands guard as people are evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People stand near Brussels airport after being evacuated following explosions that rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after an attack in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers gather near Brussels airport in Zaventem, following its evacuation after blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People are evacuated from the scene after two explosions were heard at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Brussels Airport after evacuation In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the airport area after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers comfort each other as they are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People react as they walk away from Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services attend the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Injured people at the scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Zaventem airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A view of the scene after the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The view of the Brussels airport after the explosion PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport Getty Images

Isis have claimed responsibility for the attacks. Speaking about the terrorist group, Trump pledged that should he become US President he would hit Isis so hard you wouldn't believe it and I would get the people over there to put up their soldiers because it's about time that somebody did it.

Elsewhere in the interview Trump also defended his controversial pledge for a temporary ban for all Muslims attempting to enter the US but maintained he is not anti-Muslim. I'm not anti-anything, I'm just common sense, he claimed.

He also re-iterated his belief that Syrian refugees fleeing war should not be allowed into the US. The Syrians, I don't want them coming in. I don't mind helping to build a safe zone in Syria, but we can't take people in who are undocumented.

More than half a million people in the UK signed a 'Ban Donald Trump' petition after he demanded a block on Muslims entering the US and claimed parts of London were so radicalised police were afraid for their own lives, which also saw an extraordinary intervention from the Metropolitan Police, Boris Johnson and David Cameron who all disputed the claims.

Despite situations like the petition, which actually crashed the government website at one point given the sheer amount of people signing it, Trump said people shouldn't fear him becoming President as he's just a normal person.
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The world of male modelling can hardly be noted for its diversity of bodies. While high couture is ruled by slender androgynous adolescents, the high street is dominated by muscular Ken doll silhouettes.

But this is finally changing. At long last, the body positivity movement is picking up steam in mens fashion. In the same way that we have seen increasing numbers of female curve models break into the mainstream, their male counterparts are now doing the same.

Just last week IMG Models signed Zach Miko, a New York-based model who is 6 foot 6 with a 40-inch waist. In doing so, the prestigious agency inaugurated a new term for big and tall  brawn  a phrase that is likely to get increasing airplay in the next year. In symbolic terms, booking Miko is a significant step forward and may encourage other agencies to follow suit.

Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Show all 5 1 /5 Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Zach Miko, IMG IMG Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Zach Miko, IMG IMG Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Claus Fleissner, Curve Model Management Tilman Schenk Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Claus Fleissner, Curve Model Management Silvana Denker Plus Size male models changing the fashion industry Claus Fleissner, Curve Model Management Silvana Denker

Bruce Sturgell, the founder of popular fashion blog Chubstr, is leading the way in the male plus-size movement in the US. Launched back in 2010, the American site is one of the first of its kind. I've always been a bigger guy, and finding clothes that fit has generally been a pain, Sturgell tells The Independent. I spent an afternoon at the shopping mall, trying to find clothes that fit, and I left empty-handed. I was frustrated by the entire situation, so I decided to head to Tumblr to complain about it.

From a young age, many men are told that if they aren't aspiring to be the muscular body builder type, they are less worthy <p>Bruce Sturgell</p>

Once on Tumblr, Sturgell found other similarly embittered men venting their frustrations. I started talking about brands that didn't carry extended sizes, but should, and I started sharing photos of looks I had created that I liked, he says. I realised there was the need for a real brand to address this, and Chubstr.com was born. Our mission is to help men of size find, create, and share their style with the world. In exposing the public to a range of body images, the site rebuffs and rectifies the misconception that men of certain sizes simply arent interested in fashion.

In Sturgells view, its damaging for men to only be exposed to one body type. They see less worth in their own, he reflects. The majority of the bodies we see on television, in magazines, and in clothing stores don't look like us. When we put together photo shoots for Chubstr and feature plus size male models, our readers respond positively. Sturgell argues this is because people want to see someone who has a similar body shape sporting the clothes they may buy.

On top of this, he also argues it can often be more difficult for men to speak openly about their body image than women. From a young age, many men are told that the if they aren't aspiring to be the muscular body builder type, they are less worthy. As chubby kids, they get picked on, yet they're told to be silent and shrug it off, he tells me. Those things stick with men just as they would women, and make it more difficult to speak out about body issues, in turn, affecting us for the rest of our lives.

Chubstr (Chubstr)

The fashion industry might have long turned a blind eye, and even actively disregarded, people of size but Sturgell is adamant that things are finally starting to look up. With agencies like IMG Models kicking off their Brawn division for plus size male models and signing Zach Miko, doors are opening, he says. I think we'll start to see bigger men featured in more US media. As far as high fashion, I think change will take longer, and we'll only see that with certain fashion brands. Overall, I do think we'll see positive change in the future.

And let's face it, for too long, men of a certain size and above have been hidden from the public domain and pushed to the sidelines. Despite the fact that the average American man has a 39inch waist and the average British man has a 37inch waist, mens fashion has only promoted one body shape. While womenswear designers have come under increasing pressure to represent the female body in all its forms in recent years, menswear has continued to remain bizarrely exempt.

My career started last year due to a coincidence. Ive always loved fashion but did not see myself as the model type of guy. <p>Claus Fleissner</p>

Still in its nascent stages, the mens body-positivity movement remains far behind the equivalent womens movement, which has seen the likes of Ashley Graham and Tess Holliday gain increasing traction in recent years. To put this into context, in the UK there is not one plus-size agency for men. You have to go as far afield as Germany to track one down. According to Mona Schulze, the owner of Curve Model Management in Hamburg, there are three agencies that specialise in plus-size male models in Germany. Curve Model Management is the biggest of the three and currently has 30 active male models on its books.

For some men, Ken can be equally as damaging as Barbie <p> </p>

We started Curve Model Management five years ago, as we noticed an increasing focus on plus size models, Schulze tells me. We researched the market and found out that not a lot of agencies had specialised on this segment only. It was the perfect timing, as the market for both men and women has been growing constantly since then. Sculza says she doesnt have a good explanation for why the British male scene lags behind Germanys, but she argues that the rest of Europe will follow as well, "as its a big market with a lot of potential.

Claus Fleissner is one of the leading plus-size male models in Germany. Like many, he never envisaged himself going into modelling. My career started last year due to a coincidence, he says. Ive always loved fashion but did not see myself as the model type of guy. To his great surprise, the 37-year-old was asked to join an all-female cast and take part in a fashion show for the Plus-Size Fashion Days in Hamburg while working as a content manager. Fleissner was immediately scouted by Schulze. My first model job was just two weeks later. So you could say that I kind of slipped into the business by chance, he reflects.

Living in Frankfurt, Germany, Fleissner works a nine to five for a plus size online shop and a number of other brands and writes a plus size male fashion blog called Extra Inches. Like Sturgell, Fleissner thinks its imperative a diversity of male body shapes are celebrated. There is such a wide range of bodies! Were not clones! Everyone is different, he exclaims. Fortunately for Fleissner, the plus-size model scene in Germany appears to be rapidly growing.

More and more women and men are starting to see themselves as the type that can be a model. Its a new awareness of their own bodies and a new attitude, he explains. For me, it's all about seeing life as it is and people the way they are. Why not have a big guy like me presenting brands in high fashion. It already worked fine with Beth Ditto doing a runway for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Nevertheless, Fleissner also draws attention to the obstacles facing plus-size models. Some people think they are not real models, but just plus-size models. Thats not nice because we also need to take care of our bodies. We need to be in shape and be healthy because modelling is a tough business.

It goes without saying that the evolution of the male plus-size movement helps to address mens body image issues. While body image is a problem most of us associate with women, a recent YouGov survey found 31 per cent of British men arent happy with their body image. In the same way that women are plagued by glossy Beach Body Ready images, men are also surrounded by photos of glistening, ripped male bods. In other words, for some men, Ken can be equally as damaging as Barbie.

However, it finally seems that certain parts of the fashion industry are realising they have a social responsibility to represent people for all their shapes and sizes. While it is hard to know exactly what future direction the male plus-size movement will take, things seem to be moving slowly, but surely, in the right direction.
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Two British citizens have been convicted for plotting to kill soldiers, police officers and civilians in a series of Isis-inspired moped drive-by shootings in London.

Tarik Hassane, 22, and physics undergraduate Suhaib Majeed, 21, were arrested in September 2014 after they bought a gun.

They planned to shoot their targets from a moped in a series of drive-by shootings.

Hassane, who had returned from studying medicine in Sudan, identified Shepherd's Bush police station and the Parachute Regiment Territorial Barracks in White City as possible targets.

An image posted to Tarik Hassane's Twitter profile appearing to show his student ID for a Sudanese university

Midway through the trial at the Old Bailey, Hassane admitted conspiracy to murder and preparation of terror attacks.

Majeed, a student at King's College, denied the charges and was convicted on Wednesday.

Two other defendants, Nyall Hamlett, 25, and Nathan Cuffy, 26, were acquitted of terror charges.

Commander Dean Haydon, from Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, said, according to the Daily Mail: "This is about acquiring a moped, acquiring a firearm, silencer and ammunition and, in broad daylight, targeting police officers, the military and members of the public and making good their escape.

"That is a real concern to me and certainly a real concern to SO15 Counter-terrorism Command.

"It draw parallels in a way to Paris: the attackers in this case were intent on murder, intent on using a firearm, intent on causing fear, stress, disorder in a particular part of west London, and they werent prepared to hang around - leaving the public and police concerned about whos really committed the attack."
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A Briton missing in the aftermath of the Brussels terrorist attacks texted his family to say he was safe following the airport bombing but then boarded the Metro train that was blown up killing at least 20 people.

David Dixon, 51, an IT programmer originally from Hartlepool who now lives in the Belgian capital, was unaware the city was under attack until he was told by his aunt. Ann Dixon sent her nephew a text message from her home in County Durham asking if he was alright after hearing about the airport explosions early on 23 March.

He travelled into Brussels on the Metro every day and after we'd texted he must have gone straight out and got on the Metro that was attacked. It was only an hour later when that bomb went off, she said.

Recommended Read more Briton David Dixon reported missing after Brussels attacks

Mr Dixon, a father of one, replied telling her he was fine and safe but the familys relief turned to horror just over an hour later following the blast at the Maalbeck underground station. He was travelling to work but did not arrive at his office and has not been heard from since.

His partner, Charlotte Sutcliffe, has been carrying out a heartbreaking search of the citys hospitals in the hope of finding him, but to no avail. The couple have been together since they met at university and have a seven-year-old boy, Henry.

Brussels attacks victims Show all 11 1 /11 Brussels attacks victims Brussels attacks victims CONFIRMED DEAD: Adelma Tapia Ruiz Ms Tapia, 37, was from Peru and had lived in Brussels for six years. She was at the airport with her husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin four-year-old daughters, Maureen and Alondra. They were checking in to fly to New York to visit Ms Ruizs sisters when the blast struck. The death of Ms Tapia was confirmed by the Peruvian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and her brother Fernando Tapia Coral has told Peruvian radio that she had planned to return to Peru later this year. In a Facebook post, Mr Tapia called her death incomprehensible in a Facebook post. Her husband and children survived, but it has been reported that one of her daughters was injured by debris Brussels attacks victims CONFIRMED DEAD: Leopold Hecht Mr Hecht was a young Belgian student working towards a qualification in law at Saint-Louis University in Brussels. The university confirmed in a Facebook post that he was one of the victims of the Maelbeek metro bombing Brussels attacks victims CONFIRMED DEAD: Oliver Delespesse Mr Delespesse, 36, was confirmed dead in the metro bombing by his employers Wallonie Bruxelles Federation, an organisation which represents French speakers in the region. One of his colleagues, Olivier Dradin posted a tribute on Facebook: "I wanted to pay tribute to him and to his family and to all the other victims" Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Sasha Pinczowski A brother and sister from New York, who were at Zaventem to fly back to the US at the time of the blasts, are also missing. Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were on the phone to their family when the phone went dead, according to Dutch media. Ms Pinczowski studied business and had previously completed an internship at the UN Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Alexander Pinczowski A brother and sister from New York, who were at Zaventem to fly back to the US at the time of the blasts, are also missing. Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were on the phone to their family when the phone went dead, according to Dutch media. Ms Pinczowski studied business and had previously completed an internship at the UN Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Aline Bastin Ms Bastin, 29, a former employee of the European Chemical Industry Council, was on the metro at the time of the attacks. Her friends have launched an appeal on Facebook for news of her whereabouts Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Raghavendran Ganesan Mr Ganesans brother has set up an appeal for information on the whereabouts of his sibling, who was on the metro at the time of the attacks. He wrote on Facebook that he had spoken to the Indian embassy, who were still searching for Mr Ganesan Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Sabrina Fazal There has not been word of Ms Fazal, a 25-year-old Belgian student, since yesterday morning. She would have been on the metro at the time of the attacks, on the way to the Haute Ecole Galilee in central Brussels, where she is studying Brussels attacks victims MISSING: David Dixon The family of Mr Dixon, a computer programmer from Nottingham, has not heard from him since he left for work yesterday morning. He is believed to have been on the metro at the time of the blast. Its just waiting, which is heartbreaking, the sister of Charlotte Sutcliffe, Mr Dixons partner, told Radio 4s Today program. His friend Simon Harley-Jones told the BBC that Ms Sutcliffe had been driving around hospitals in the hope of finding him Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Bart Migom Mr Migom, 21, was on his way to Athens, but never arrived. He was texting his girlfriend, Emily Eisenman, from the train to Brussels airport however she haven't heard from him since the attacks. His cell phone rings, she said but there is no answer Brussels attacks victims MISSING: Justin and Stephanie Shults An American couple who lived in Brussels are among the missing, their family have confirmed. Justin and Stephanie had just dropped Stephanies mother, Carolyn Moore, off at the Brussels Airport when the blasts occurred. Mrs Moore, survived the attack, but the couple has not been found

Mrs Dixon said: As soon as I heard on the news about the explosion at the airport I thought of David and I texted him to ask whether he was alright. It was a relief when he texted back soon afterwards and said he was safe and fine. He said he hadnt even realised that there had been bombs going off at the airport, I guess its because he was getting ready to go to work.

He told me I was the first person who had let him know. He travelled into Brussels on the Metro every day and after wed texted he must have gone straight out and got on the Metro that was attacked. It was only an hour later when that bomb went off.

No one has heard anything from him since and of course we are desperately worried. Our hope is that he's injured and has been taken to hospital and that hes going to be OK.

 London's monuments light up for Brussels

Mr Dixon first worked for British Airways when he moved to Brussels with Ms Sutcliffe, before moving to car manufacturer Toyota.

Ms Sutcliffes sister, Marie, said that Charlotte had been round hospitals in the hope of finding him, while friends were putting out messages on social media asking for anyone who has seen him to contact her.

Understandably she is very, very distressed, Marie told the BBC. Not everybody has been identified yet, of the injured, so its waiting for that process to happen. Everybody is struggling with communication there, or they were yesterday, with phones being down and there being a lockdown.

When she was at the hospital, she had an interview with the police so theyve got all the details now. Its just waiting. Its heartbreaking and very worrying.
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Theresa May is to face a parliamentary investigation after an immigration tribunal ruled that the Home Office used unscientific hearsay to deport thousands of students from Britain.

In a damning verdict that could open the doors to thousands of deported students returning to the UK and claiming compensation, the tribunal found that the Home Office had failed to prove students had cheated in English exams before detaining them and removing them from the country. The ruling centred on a test case of two students who had taken an English language test set by ETS, a US firm contracted by the Home Office.

The American firm was appointed by the Home Office after ETS claimed its voice recognition software had already detected thousands of fraudulent language tests, a source close to the deal told The Independent. This weeks ruling comes after the BBCs Panorama programme exposed fraud by students taking language tests set by ETS at one site in east London in 2014. The language tests are part of a system designed to require immigrants to prove their English is up to the required standard.

Recommended Read more Meet the skilled workers Theresa May wants kicked out of Britain

In response to the Panorama programme, the Home Office revoked the licences of around 60 educational institutions across the country in what migrant charities described as an over-reaction.

The scandal also prompted hundreds of dawn raids by Border Agency officers. These led to the detention and removal of thousands of international students and migrants the Home Office claimed had obtained English certificates through fraud.

However, the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) heard that the Home Offices evidence had multiple frailties and shortcomings and that Home Office witnesses had no scientific expertise in the voice recognition software at the heart of the fraud.

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The tribunal ruling said: Apart from the limited hearsay evidence there was no evidence from the protagonist in this saga, the ETS organisation. The Secretary of State has not discharged the legal burden of establishing that either appellant procured his [English language] certificate by dishonesty.

The tribunal also heard that the Home Office was entirely reliant on information from ETS, which did not present any witnesses at the hearing and was subject to a litany of criticism by an independent voice recognition expert. ETS did not respond to requests for comment.

Keith Vaz MP, the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said his committee would be launching an investigation into the Home Office contracts process as a result of the judgment. He told The Independent: This is a devastating verdict on ministers and officials at the Home Office. It is clear that there are many innocent people who speak impeccable English who have been denied their right to remain in the UK because of the [over] reaction of the Home Office.

Lisa Matthews, a co-ordinator at campaign group Right to Remain, welcomed the ruling. She said: All too often, the Home Office acts unjustly and even unlawfully with impunity and those affected simply do not have recourse to challenge them in the courts.

A Home Office spokesperson said: We are disappointed by the decision and are awaiting a copy of the full determination to consider next steps including an appeal. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.
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David Cameron is refusing to act on the "premature sexualisation" of Britain's young people, Labour has said.

The number of under-16-year-olds sharing explicit images or texts - known as "sexting" - has significantly increased over the last two years and shows that PSHE must be compulsory, said Labour's education minister Lucy Powell.

Freedom of Information requests to the police by the party found a 1,200 per cent increase of under-16s "sexting" and an increasing number using hook-up app Tinder.

Ms Powell said young people were being put at risk of exploitation in relationships and "sinister corners of the internet" through a lack of education on those issues while at school.

"Youngsters are being pushed into adult territory well before they are ready," she said.

"Sexting among children is skyrocketing, they are easily straying into sinister corners of the internet leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, and shockingly children as young as 13 are starting to use dating and hook-up apps."

Ed Miliband's former acting chief of staff, Lucy Powell, is now shadow education secretary under Jeremy Corbyn (PA)

Around one in six children are now accessing Tinder, and almost half of those children are aged 15 and under, according to Labour's research.

The government's current guidance to schools has also not been updated since "before the smartphone generation were even born" in 2000, said the party.

Ms Powell said a recent decision by the Department of Education to not make PSHE compulsory - announced by Secretary of State Nicky Morgan but reportedly pushed by David Cameron - was failing young people.

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The decision went against Commons Education Committee advice, which argued that PSHE would reduce the number of young people experiencing and carrying out abusive sexual behaviour.

'Sexting' which involves an explicit image is itself illegal. A young person is regarded as producing and distributing child abuse images and risks being prosecuted, even if the picture is taken and shared with their permission.

Ms Powell said: "It is only right that there is dedicated time in the curriculum for providing young people with the information and knowledge that will help to keep them healthy and safe."

"Yet time and again the Tories have refused to make Personal Social Health and Economic education, the subject that could act as the vehicle for this information, compulsory for all state-funded schools."

Sex and relationships education is compulsory from age 11 under the national curriculum. But it is not compulsory in academies, which the government announced last week every school would be converted to by 2022.

A rape occurs on UK school premises more than once every academic day, and at least a fifth of sexual offences at schools are committed by children.
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Leaflets sent out by Zac Goldsmiths mayoral campaign to British Indian voters risked a stereotypical and patronising approach to winning the ethnic minority vote, a Tory councilor has warned.

Mr Goldsmiths campaign was this month accused of racially profiling voters with Indian sounding names by sending them a cringeworthy leaflet that played up to stereotypes of the ethnic minority community.

Some householders received notices that claimed Sadiq Khan was a threat to their family jewellery and suggested he supported a ban on the Indian Prime Minister from coming to the UK.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper Binita Mehta said the approach would turn off prospective voters.

Not all British Indians are fans of Modi  I have my reservations  nor do we particularly care about the current Prime Minister of the country our grandparents are from, she said.

In pursuing the suburban Indian vote  it must be recognised that a blanket approach can seem stereotypical and patronising, and will certainly turn people off.

I hate to have to say this but obviously we BMEs are much more sophisticated than these targeted letters suggest.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. 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She said she hoped her partys candidate for Mayor still won the contest, however.

Ms Mehta is a councillor in the London Borough of Watford, where she represents the Park ward. She works as a communications consultant.

Many people who have received the letter took to social media to vent their frustration, describing it as "weird" and "very wrong".

Most polls show Sadiq Khan with a slight lead over Mr Goldsmith in the contest to become the next Mayor of London.

The two candidates also face Ukips Peter Whittle, the Greens Sian Berry, and the Lib Dems Caroline Pidgeon.
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American Muslims are joining the effort to tackle historical flooding in Louisiana - a crisis that has rocked the state and forced at least 20,000 people to leave their homes.

The charity Islamic Relief USA said it was providing 60 qualified volunteers to assist in the emergency response efforts and was coordinating with the American Red Cross. But for the first time in the five years the charity has been responding to disasters in the US, it said some people made them feel unwelcome - a development they believe could be a result of the increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric voiced by a number of senior Republican politicians.

Earlier this month, the federal government declared the situation in Louisiana to be a major disaster, a move that allowed the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide federal disaster assistance in recovery efforts.

The federal government has declared a state of disaster in parts of Louisiana (AP)

Virginia-based Islamic Relief USA said that in addition to providing the 60 volunteers, the charity was proving financial aid and was preparing to partner with other organisations, including Catholic and Southern Baptist, to try and reach as many people in need as possible.

It is of outmost importance that we respond to a disaster of this magnitude in a rapid and effective manner, as a large number of people will be in immediate need of assistance, said Hani Hamwi, Islamic Reliefs disaster response team manager.

It is our duty to help our neighbours in need, and we will do everything within our capacity to make sure that aid is given to those most affected by the floods.

Christina Tobias-Nahi told The Independent the charity chose to respond to the comments that have been made by the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz - comments many have described as being anti-Muslim - by their work. Mr Cruz has called for extra policing of Muslim communities, while Mr Trump has said there should be a temporary ban on Muslim migrants entering the US.

"We respond by our actions. We are a humanitarian organisation and we are limited in the extent to which we can respond to the rhetoric. But we stay true to our beliefs and show who we are and what our religion tells us to do," she said.

The charity has worked with the American Red Cross in numerous previous disaster relief efforts across the United States. In 2014, it signed a national Memorandum of Understanding with the American Red Cross, the first formal partnership of its kind between the charity and a Muslim response organisation in the country.

The federal government has declared a state of disaster in parts of Louisiana (AP)

Since its inception in 2011, its disaster response team has deployed to two dozen major disaster situations in the United States and has trained and certified more than 2,500 responders. But Ms Tobias-Nahi said that for the first time in five years, its volunteers in Louisiana had this week faced a negative reaction from a small number of the people they were trying to help.

"In some counties we went to, we were not well received. It surprised us. People generally know we are an organisation going to help. That is what we are there to do. But there were some people who said they did not even want us there," she said.

Asked why she believed this had happened, she said: "Possibly because of the rhetoric."

Ms Tobias-Nahi said the volunteers in Louisiana had even discussed whether it might be better, or safer, if they withdrew. In the end, they decided to stay.

"We are going to stay," she said. "We hope [those people] will change the impression they have of us."
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As part of his historic 48 hour visit to Cuba, Barack Obama delivered a powerful speech to the Cuban people in which he said both the US and Cuba needed to move on from the past.

He said that while Havana was located only 90 miles from Florida, to "get here we had to travel a great distance over barriers of history and ideology, barriers of pain and separation". The choice of location for Mr Obama's speech was not selected randomly; it was the same stage where Calvin Coolige, the last sitting US president to visit Cuba, spoke 88 years ago.

This is a transcript of Mr Obam's speech provided by the White House:

Barack Obama joined 55,000 to do the wave at a baseball game (AP)

Thank you. Muchas gracias. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

President Castro, the people of Cuba, thank you so much for the warm welcome that I have received, that my family have received, and that our delegation has received. It is an extraordinary honour to be here today.

Before I begin, please indulge me. I want to comment on the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Brussels. The thoughts and the prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium. We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally, Belgium, in bringing to justice those who are responsible. And this is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality, or race, or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can  and will  defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.

To the government and the people of Cuba, I want to thank you for the kindness that youve shown to me and Michelle, Malia, Sasha, my mother-in-law, Marian.

Cultivo una rosa blanca. In his most famous poem, Jose Marti made this offering of friendship and peace to both his friend and his enemy. Today, as the President of the United States of America, I offer the Cuban people el saludo de paz.

Havana is only 90 miles from Florida, but to get here we had to travel a great distance  over barriers of history and ideology; barriers of pain and separation. The blue waters beneath Air Force One once carried American battleships to this island  to liberate, but also to exert control over Cuba. Those waters also carried generations of Cuban revolutionaries to the United States, where they built support for their cause. And that short distance has been crossed by hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles  on planes and makeshift rafts  who came to America in pursuit of freedom and opportunity, sometimes leaving behind everything they owned and every person that they loved.

Like so many people in both of our countries, my lifetime has spanned a time of isolation between us. The Cuban Revolution took place the same year that my father came to the United States from Kenya. The Bay of Pigs took place the year that I was born. The next year, the entire world held its breath, watching our two countries, as humanity came as close as we ever have to the horror of nuclear war. As the decades rolled by, our governments settled into a seemingly endless confrontation, fighting battles through proxies. In a world that remade itself time and again, one constant was the conflict between the United States and Cuba.

I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas. I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people.

I want to be clear: The differences between our governments over these many years are real and they are important. Im sure President Castro would say the same thing  I know, because Ive heard him address those differences at length. But before I discuss those issues, we also need to recognize how much we share. Because in many ways, the United States and Cuba are like two brothers whove been estranged for many years, even as we share the same blood.

We both live in a new world, colonised by Europeans. Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners. Weve welcomed both immigrants who came a great distance to start new lives in the Americas.

Over the years, our cultures have blended together. Dr Carlos Finlays work in Cuba paved the way for generations of doctors, including Walter Reed, who drew on Dr. Finlays work to help combat Yellow Fever. Just as Marti wrote some of his most famous words in New York, Ernest Hemingway made a home in Cuba, and found inspiration in the waters of these shores. We share a national past-time  La Pelota  and later today our players will compete on the same Havana field that Jackie Robinson played on before he made his Major League debut. And it's said that our greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, once paid tribute to a Cuban that he could never fight  saying that he would only be able to reach a draw with the great Cuban, Teofilo Stevenson.

So even as our governments became adversaries, our people continued to share these common passions, particularly as so many Cubans came to America. In Miami or Havana, you can find places to dance the Cha-Cha-Cha or the Salsa, and eat ropa vieja. People in both of our countries have sung along with Celia Cruz or Gloria Estefan, and now listen to reggaeton or Pitbull. Millions of our people share a common religion  a faith that I paid tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in La Cachita.

For all of our differences, the Cuban and American people share common values in their own lives. A sense of patriotism and a sense of pride  a lot of pride. A profound love of family. A passion for our children, a commitment to their education. And that's why I believe our grandchildren will look back on this period of isolation as an aberration, as just one chapter in a longer story of family and of friendship.

But we cannot, and should not, ignore the very real differences that we have  about how we organize our governments, our economies, and our societies. Cuba has a one-party system; the United States is a multi-party democracy. Cuba has a socialist economic model; the United States is an open market. Cuba has emphasized the role and rights of the state; the United States is founded upon the rights of the individual.

Despite these differences, on December 17th 2014, President Castro and I announced that the United States and Cuba would begin a process to normalize relations between our countries. Since then, we have established diplomatic relations and opened embassies. We've begun initiatives to cooperate on health and agriculture, education and law enforcement. We've reached agreements to restore direct flights and mail service. We've expanded commercial ties, and increased the capacity of Americans to travel and do business in Cuba.

And these changes have been welcomed, even though there are still opponents to these policies. But still, many people on both sides of this debate have asked: Why now? Why now?

There is one simple answer: What the United States was doing was not working. We have to have the courage to acknowledge that truth. A policy of isolation designed for the Cold War made little sense in the 21st century. The embargo was only hurting the Cuban people instead of helping them. And I've always believed in what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the fierce urgency of now  we should not fear change, we should embrace it.

That leads me to a bigger and more important reason for these changes: Creo en el pueblo Cubano. I believe in the Cuban people. This is not just a policy of normalizing relations with the Cuban government. The United States of America is normalizing relations with the Cuban people. And today, I want to share with you my vision of what our future can be. I want the Cuban people  especially the young people  to understand why I believe that you should look to the future with hope; not the false promise which insists that things are better than they really are, or the blind optimism that says all your problems can go away tomorrow. Hope that is rooted in the future that you can choose and that you can shape, and that you can build for your country.

I'm hopeful because I believe that the Cuban people are as innovative as any people in the world.

In a global economy, powered by ideas and information, a countrys greatest asset is its people. In the United States, we have a clear monument to what the Cuban people can build: its called Miami. Here in Havana, we see that same talent in cuentapropistas, cooperatives and old cars that still run. El Cubano inventa del aire.

Cuba has an extraordinary resource  a system of education which values every boy and every girl. And in recent years, the Cuban government has begun to open up to the world, and to open up more space for that talent to thrive. In just a few years, we've seen how cuentapropistas can succeed while sustaining a distinctly Cuban spirit. Being self-employed is not about becoming more like America, its about being yourself.

Look at Sandra Lidice Aldama, who chose to start a small business. Cubans, she said, can innovate and adapt without losing our identityour secret is in not copying or imitating but simply being ourselves.

Look at Papito Valladeres, a barber, whose success allowed him to improve conditions in his neighborhood. I realize Im not going to solve all of the worlds problems, he said. But if I can solve problems in the little piece of the world where I live, it can ripple across Havana.

Thats where hope begins  with the ability to earn your own living, and to build something you can be proud of. Thats why our policies focus on supporting Cubans, instead of hurting them. Thats why we got rid of limits on remittances  so ordinary Cubans have more resources. Thats why were encouraging travel  which will build bridges between our people, and bring more revenue to those Cuban small businesses. Thats why weve opened up space for commerce and exchanges  so that Americans and Cubans can work together to find cures for diseases, and create jobs, and open the door to more opportunity for the Cuban people.

As President of the United States, Ive called on our Congress to lift the embargo. It is an outdated burden on the Cuban people. It's a burden on the Americans who want to work and do business or invest here in Cuba. It's time to lift the embargo. But even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize their potential without continued change here in Cuba. It should be easier to open a business here in Cuba. A worker should be able to get a job directly with companies who invest here in Cuba. Two currencies shouldnt separate the type of salaries that Cubans can earn. The Internet should be available across the island, so that Cubans can connect to the wider world  and to one of the greatest engines of growth in human history.

Theres no limitation from the United States on the ability of Cuba to take these steps. Its up to you. And I can tell you as a friend that sustainable prosperity in the 21st century depends upon education, health care, and environmental protection. But it also depends on the free and open exchange of ideas. If you cant access information online, if you cannot be exposed to different points of view, you will not reach your full potential. And over time, the youth will lose hope.

I know these issues are sensitive, especially coming from an American President. Before 1959, some Americans saw Cuba as something to exploit, ignored poverty, enabled corruption. And since 1959, weve been shadow-boxers in this battle of geopolitics and personalities. I know the history, but I refuse to be trapped by it.

Ive made it clear that the United States has neither the capacity, nor the intention to impose change on Cuba. What changes come will depend upon the Cuban people. We will not impose our political or economic system on you. We recognize that every country, every people, must chart its own course and shape its own model. But having removed the shadow of history from our relationship, I must speak honestly about the things that I believe  the things that we, as Americans, believe. As Marti said, Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.

So let me tell you what I believe. I can't force you to agree, but you should know what I think. I believe that every person should be equal under the law. (Applause.) Every child deserves the dignity that comes with education, and health care and food on the table and a roof over their heads. I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear  to organise, and to criticize their government, and to protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly. And, yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections.

Not everybody agrees with me on this. Not everybody agrees with the American people on this. But I believe those human rights are universal. I believe they are the rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world.

Now, theres no secret that our governments disagree on many of these issues. Ive had frank conversations with President Castro. For many years, he has pointed out the flaws in the American system  economic inequality; the death penalty; racial discrimination; wars abroad. Thats just a sample. He has a much longer list. But heres what the Cuban people need to understand: I welcome this open debate and dialogue. Its good. Its healthy. Im not afraid of it.

We do have too much money in American politics. But, in America, it's still possible for somebody like me  a child who was raised by a single mom, a child of mixed race who did not have a lot of money  to pursue and achieve the highest office in the land. That's whats possible in America.

We do have challenges with racial bias  in our communities, in our criminal justice system, in our society  the legacy of slavery and segregation. But the fact that we have open debates within Americas own democracy is what allows us to get better. In 1959, the year that my father moved to America, it was illegal for him to marry my mother, who was white, in many American states. When I first started school, we were still struggling to desegregate schools across the American South. But people organized; they protested; they debated these issues; they challenged government officials. And because of those protests, and because of those debates, and because of popular mobilization, Im able to stand here today as an African-American and as President of the United States. That was because of the freedoms that were afforded in the United States that we were able to bring about change.

Im not saying this is easy. Theres still enormous problems in our society. But democracy is the way that we solve them. That's how we got health care for more of our people. That's how we made enormous gains in womens rights and gay rights. That's how we address the inequality that concentrates so much wealth at the top of our society. Because workers can organize and ordinary people have a voice, American democracy has given our people the opportunity to pursue their dreams and enjoy a high standard of living.

Now, there are still some tough fights. It isnt always pretty, the process of democracy. It's often frustrating. You can see that in the election going on back home. But just stop and consider this fact about the American campaign that's taking place right now. You had two Cuban Americans in the Republican Party, running against the legacy of a black man who is President, while arguing that theyre the best person to beat the Democratic nominee who will either be a woman or a Democratic Socialist. Who would have believed that back in 1959? That's a measure of our progress as a democracy.

Mr Obama is hoping that baseball diplomacy can help build links between the two countries (AP)

So heres my message to the Cuban government and the Cuban people: The ideals that are the starting point for every revolution  Americas revolution, Cubas revolution, the liberation movements around the world  those ideals find their truest expression, I believe, in democracy. Not because American democracy is perfect, but precisely because were not. And we  like every country  need the space that democracy gives us to change. It gives individuals the capacity to be catalysts to think in new ways, and to reimagine how our society should be, and to make them better.

Theres already an evolution taking place inside of Cuba, a generational change. Many suggested that I come here and ask the people of Cuba to tear something down  but Im appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up, build something new. (Applause.) El futuro de Cuba tiene que estar en las manos del pueblo Cubano.

And to President Castro  who I appreciate being here today  I want you to know, I believe my visit here demonstrates you do not need to fear a threat from the United States. And given your commitment to Cubas sovereignty and self-determination, I am also confident that you need not fear the different voices of the Cuban people  and their capacity to speak, and assemble, and vote for their leaders. In fact, Im hopeful for the future because I trust that the Cuban people will make the right decisions.

And as you do, Im also confident that Cuba can continue to play an important role in the hemisphere and around the globe  and my hope is, is that you can do so as a partner with the United States.

Weve played very different roles in the world. But no one should deny the service that thousands of Cuban doctors have delivered for the poor and suffering. Last year, American health care workers  and the US military  worked side-by-side with Cubans to save lives and stamp out Ebola in West Africa. I believe that we should continue that kind of cooperation in other countries.

Weve been on the different side of so many conflicts in the Americas. But today, Americans and Cubans are sitting together at the negotiating table, and we are helping the Colombian people resolve a civil war thats dragged on for decades. That kind of cooperation is good for everybody. It gives everyone in this hemisphere hope.

We took different journeys to our support for the people of South Africa in ending apartheid. But President Castro and I could both be there in Johannesburg to pay tribute to the legacy of the great Nelson Mandela. And in examining his life and his words, I'm sure we both realize we have more work to do to promote equality in our own countries  to reduce discrimination based on race in our own countries. And in Cuba, we want our engagement to help lift up the Cubans who are of African descent  whove proven that theres nothing they cannot achieve when given the chance.

Weve been a part of different blocs of nations in the hemisphere, and we will continue to have profound differences about how to promote peace, security, opportunity, and human rights. But as we normalize our relations, I believe it can help foster a greater sense of unity in the Americas  todos somos Americanos.

From the beginning of my time in office, Ive urged the people of the Americas to leave behind the ideological battles of the past. We are in a new era. I know that many of the issues that Ive talked about lack the drama of the past. And I know that part of Cubas identity is its pride in being a small island nation that could stand up for its rights, and shake the world. But I also know that Cuba will always stand out because of the talent, hard work, and pride of the Cuban people. That's your strength. Cuba doesnt have to be defined by being against the United States, any more than the United States should be defined by being against Cuba. I'm hopeful for the future because of the reconciliation thats taking place among the Cuban people.

I know that for some Cubans on the island, there may be a sense that those who left somehow supported the old order in Cuba. I'm sure theres a narrative that lingers here which suggests that Cuban exiles ignored the problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba, and rejected the struggle to build a new future. But I can tell you today that so many Cuban exiles carry a memory of painful  and sometimes violent  separation. They love Cuba. A part of them still considers this their true home. Thats why their passion is so strong. That's why their heartache is so great. And for the Cuban American community that Ive come to know and respect, this is not just about politics. This is about family  the memory of a home that was lost; the desire to rebuild a broken bond; the hope for a better future the hope for return and reconciliation.

For all of the politics, people are people, and Cubans are Cubans. And Ive come here  Ive traveled this distance  on a bridge that was built by Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. I first got to know the talent and passion of the Cuban people in America. And I know how they have suffered more than the pain of exile  they also know what its like to be an outsider, and to struggle, and to work harder to make sure their children can reach higher in America.

So the reconciliation of the Cuban people  the children and grandchildren of revolution, and the children and grandchildren of exile  that is fundamental to Cubas future.

You see it in Gloria Gonzalez, who traveled here in 2013 for the first time after 61 years of separation, and was met by her sister, Llorca. You recognized me, but I didnt recognize you, Gloria said after she embraced her sibling. Imagine that, after 61 years.

You see it in Melinda Lopez, who came to her familys old home. And as she was walking the streets, an elderly woman recognized her as her mothers daughter, and began to cry. She took her into her home and showed her a pile of photos that included Melindas baby picture, which her mother had sent 50 years ago. Melinda later said, So many of us are now getting so much back.

You see it in Cristian Miguel Soler, a young man who became the first of his family to travel here after 50 years. And meeting relatives for the first time, he said, I realized that family is family no matter the distance between us.

Sometimes the most important changes start in small places. The tides of history can leave people in conflict and exile and poverty. It takes time for those circumstances to change. But the recognition of a common humanity, the reconciliation of people bound by blood and a belief in one another  thats where progress begins. Understanding, and listening, and forgiveness. And if the Cuban people face the future together, it will be more likely that the young people of today will be able to live with dignity and achieve their dreams right here in Cuba.

The history of the United States and Cuba encompass revolution and conflict; struggle and sacrifice; retribution and, now, reconciliation. It is time, now, for us to leave the past behind. It is time for us to look forward to the future together  un future de esperanza. And it wont be easy, and there will be setbacks. It will take time. But my time here in Cuba renews my hope and my confidence in what the Cuban people will do. We can make this journey as friends, and as neighbors, and as family  together. Si se puede. Muchas gracias.
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The US government has issued a warning to Americans planning travel to Europe - saying that terror groups are continuing to plan attacks throughout the continent.

In a warning that was rare in its scale, the State Department said people should exercise vigilance when in public places or when using mass transportation.

The State Department alerts US citizens to potential risks of travel to and throughout Europe following several terrorist attacks, including the March 22 attacks in Brussels claimed by Isis, said the warning.

People gather at Bourse square to pay tribute to the victims of the terror attacks that occurred earlier in the day, in Brussels, Belgium, 22 March 2016 (EPA)

Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

At least half-a-dozen US citizens were injured in the attacks that left more than 30 people dead in Brussels on Tuesday morning.

European governments continue to guard against terrorist attacks and conduct raids to disrupt plots, the warning added.

We work closely with our allies and will continue to share information with our European partners that will help identify and counter terrorist threats.

Officials have launched a huge search for those involved in carrying out and planning the attacks, which targeted an airport and a subway station. It is believed that two of three attackers killed themselves using suicide vests, while a third escaped.

Anti-terror raids have taken place across Belgium. Isis has said it was behind the attacks.

(Getty Images)

An online statement from the group said the locations were carefully selected and warned of worse to come for Crusader states allied against Isis.

Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said police were seeking a man wearing a hat and light-coloured jacket.

He said searches were taking place in several parts of the country, adding that an explosive device containing nails, chemical products and an Isis flag were found in an apartment in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels.

The attacks came just days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last years Paris attacks which were also claimed by Isis.

This is a day of tragedy, a black day, said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. I would like to call on everyone to show calmness and solidarity.
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Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios have announced that they will no longer film in Georgia if the state approves a pending anti-gay law.

State legislatures recently passed House Bill 757, which includes a religious liberty measure that would allow individuals, businesses and government entities the right to discriminate against gay citizens and other groups. The legislation is currenty on the desk of Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, who must sign or veto the bill by May 3.

Both Disney and Marvel have used Georgia as a production hub for high-profile projects, and Marvel has recently begun filming Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at Pinewood Studios, located just outside of Atlanta.

"Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law, a Disney spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that tax incentives have attracted major filmmaking studios to Georgia. The film and television industry has brought 120 films to Georgia over the last seven years and is responsible for more than 79,000 jobs and roughly $4 billion in wages in the state.

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin applauded the studios shortly after the boycotts went public.

We applaud Disney and Marvel for standing up for fairness and equality by sending a strong warning to Governor Deal, Griffin said.

Its appalling that anti-LGBT activists in Georgia are trying to pass legislation creating an explicit right to discriminate against LGBT Americans. We urge other studios, major corporations, and fair-minded Georgians to continue speaking out and urging Gov. Deal to veto this heinous piece of legislation sitting on his desk.
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The Republican presidential race has reached a new low, with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz trading Twitter threats and insults about their wives as they waited for results from the latest contests to decide the partys nominee.

Before the Utah caucuses  one of a number of states to hold votes on so-called Western Tuesday  an anti-Trump super PAC [funding body] released a Facebook advertisement featuring Mr Trumps wife, Melania posing naked for a 2000 GQ magazine cover. The caption on the image said: Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.

Responding to the attack Mr Trump threatened Mr Cruzs wife Heidi in a tweet. Be careful, lyin Ted, he warned, or I will spill the beans on your wife! Mr Cruz replied by pointing out that the ad had not come from his campaign, tweeting that Mr Trump was classless and a coward.

It was unclear exactly what beans Mr Trump could spill regarding Ms Cruz, a senior investment manager at Goldman Sachs. Ms Cruz said she was unconcerned by the threat, telling reporters in Wisconsin: Most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality.

In New York, Mr Cruz said Mr Trumps tweet about his wife was gutter politics. He added that Mr Trump tries to attack and bully people but should know that spouses and children are off-limits. Continuing on that theme when speaking to CNN, Mr Cruz said: If Donald wants to get in a character fight hes better off sticking with me, because Heidi is way out of his league.

Heidi Cruz said most of what Trump says has no basis in reality (Getty) (Getty Images)

As for the political results from Tuesday, Mr Trump racked up 58 more delegates from Arizonas contest, but Mr Cruz maintained pressure on the property mogul, romping to victory in Utah with 69 per cent of the vote. That was way beyond the 50 per cent threshold required to claim all of the states 40 delegates.

Senator Cruz of Texas also received a boost from an unlikely quarter: the former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who endorsed Mr Cruz a month after suspending his own White House bid. For the sake of our party and country, we must overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee this fall, Mr Bush wrote in a Facebook post.

Mr Bushs endorsement is the latest sign that top Republicans are uniting behind the ultra-conservative Mr Cruz, once considered a bitter antagonist to his partys establishment, but now their last, best hope to defeat the billionaire front-runner. What were seeing all across the country is the momentum is with us, Mr Cruz told CNN. You want to talk about a broad coalition, ideologically diverse  that covers the entire spectrum of the Republican Party.

Mr Trump nonetheless increased his delegate lead on Tuesday, and now has 738 towards the 1,237 majority needed to claim the Republican presidential nomination before the partys convention in July. So far Mr Cruz has just 463 delegates.

 Trump on terror

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton maintained her lead over Bernie Sanders with a comfortable win in Arizona, the biggest prize of the night. But like Mr Trump, she had less luck elsewhere on the electoral map. Mr Sanders trounced the former Secretary of State in Utah and Idaho, picking up a total of 57 delegates to Ms Clintons 51 from the three contests. Yet he still trails the Democratic frontrunner by more than 300.

In spite of the adverse arithmetic, the Vermont Senator signalled his intention to fight to the end by campaigning this week in California, which votes on the very last day of the primary season in June.

Recommended Read more Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton win the big prize in Arizona

Tuesdays results were overshadowed by events in Brussels, not least because three Mormon missionaries from Utah were injured in the terrorist attacks on the Belgian capital. Following the bombings, Mr Cruz said the US ought to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalised. Mr Trump advocated the torture of terrorism suspects, telling ABC News he would try to expand the laws to go beyond waterboarding.

Speaking in Seattle, where she was campaigning ahead of Saturdays Washington state caucus, Ms Clinton criticised the responses of her Republican rivals. The last thing we need are leaders who incite more fear, she said.
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Raising the stakes in an already bitter battle, Donald Trump threatened Ted Cruz's wife in a cryptic tweet, saying he would "spill the beans" on her.

Mr Trump appears to be referencing an advertisement done by the Make America Awesome Politcal Action Committee -- not Mr Cruz's campaign -- that showed Melania Trump posing naked with the words "Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

Mr Cruz responded shortly after, saying that his team had nothing to do with the ad. He warned Mr Trump that his wife is off-limits.

It is unclear exactly about what Mr Trump could "spill the beans" on Mr Cruz's wife, Heidi, but the Republican front-runner has shown he will strike opponents with low-blows. He and Mr Cruz have engaged in increasingly aggressive rhetoric as the Republican field has been whittled down.

As seen in the above tweet, Mr Trump has taken to calling Mr Cruz "lyin' Ted", which Mr Cruz has encouraged all non-Trump voters to coalesce around him.

Follow @PaytonGuion on Twitter.
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President Barack Obama has acknowledged that the United States lost the trust of Argentina with its initial backing of the countrys military coup 40 years ago, while reiterating a promise to declassify all of the Pentagon and US intelligence documents connected with the period.

Closing old wounds  such as those around the coup that ushered in the 1976 to 1983 dictatorship  became the main focus for President Obama at the start of a two-day visit to Argentina. That also included offering encouragement to the new centre-right government of President Mauricio Macri, who has taken action since being elected to discard the economic and foreign policy priorities of his predecessor, Cristina Kirchner de Fernandez, that often put Buenos Aires at odds with the US.

Im impressed because he has moved rapidly on so many of the reforms that he promised, to create more sustainable and inclusive economic growth, to reconnect Argentina with the global economy and the world community, Mr Obama said a joint press conference alongside Mr Macri.

Mr Obama, whose wife Michelle has joined him on the trip, was expected to face scattered protests in Buenos Aires and also during a visit to Argentine Patagonia over Americas part in what he called the dark period of the military coup and the dirty war that followed in which 30,000 people were disappeared.

To many Argentinians who lost family and friends in that period, the presence of Mr Obama on Argentine soil on the 40th anniversary of the coup appeared insensitive. The timing of the visit is a provocation, said Miguel Funes, 39, a member of Ms Fernandezs Front for Victory party. Yet there seemed to genuine excitement in the capital at the arrival of Mr Obama with thousands lining its boulevards as the presidential caravan of limousines made its way from the US ambassadors residence to the presidential palace. Mr Obama laid a wreath to victims of the dirty war at the National Cathedral a few steps away from the palace.

Michelle Obama delivers a speech at the Metropolitan Design Centre in Buenos Aires (Getty)

Mr Macris drive to forge a new image for his country and discredit his predecessor has also led him into the dark tangle of Alberto Nisman, a former prosecutor who was found dead early last year just hours before he was due to give Congress details of what Mr Nisman believed had been an attempt by President Fernandez to cover up Irans role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires. Ms Fernandez has denied Mr Nismans accusations.

The contention of the last government that Mr Nisman had had taken his own life has been challenged since Mr Macri took office and this week a court ruled that the current investigation be moved to a high federal court that has the jurisdiction to handle potential political murder cases.

The attack in Buenos Aires 21 years ago killed 85 people and wounded hundreds more. It stood as the most deadly terror attack in the Americas until 9/11.
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Republican and Democratic presidential candidates delivered sharply contrasting responses to the deadly terrorist attacks that shook Brussels, with the GOP contenders fiercely criticising President Obama's national security policies and voicing support for a more aggressive posture, and the leading Democratic hopeful's campaign warning against advocating torture or bigotry.

The reactions, coming on a day when three more states will hold nominating contests, mostly mirrored the input the candidates have offered in response to previous attacks, such as the massacre in Paris last fall. They contained little in the way of policy specifics and they also raised the possibility of deepening fault lines between and within the two political parties.

Recommended Read more US presidential candidates condemn the Brussels attacks

Senator Ted Cruz issued a written statement arguing that the US should empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalised. Later, Cruz's campaign said that law enforcement agencies should target terrorism like it does threats from gangs and human trafficking.

We know what is happening with these isolated Muslim neighborhoods in Europe. If we want to prevent it from happening here, it is going to require an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes, Cruz spokeswoman Alice Stewart said.

Speaking with reporters in Washington, Cruz accused GOP front-runner Donald Trump of wanting to withdraw the United States from NATO.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

NATO should join with the United States in utterly destroying ISIS, Cruz told reporters, using an acronym for the Islamic State, and I would note that NATO is ready to act in a way that our president is not.

Trump has not said that the United States should withdraw from NATO, but he questioned U.S. involvement in the organisation and said in an interview with The Washington Post editorial board that it may need to be diminished in the future.

On Twitter, Trump sought to belittle Obama, who spoke about the Brussels attacks from Cuba, where he is making a historic visit. President Obama looks and sounds so ridiculous making his speech in Cuba, especially in the shadows of Brussels. He is being treated badly! Trump tweeted.

Trump also tweeted that he has proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody, adding that he hopes voters in Arizona and Utah, the two states holding Republican and Democratic contests on 22 March, would support him. In addition, Idaho Democrats are holding caucuses.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, speaking on MSNBC, said Obama ought to return home to coordinate a response to the attacks with foreign leaders.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks at a Brussels airport and metro station which have left more than 30 dead.

In a statement, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said: These terrorists seek to undermine the democratic values that are the foundation of our alliance and our way of life, but they will never succeed. Today's attacks will only strengthen our resolve to stand together as allies and defeat terrorism and radical jihadism around the world.

 Europe on high alert after Brussels attacks

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a similar statement, saying: Today's attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIS. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.

A tweet from Clinton's account voicing some warning  but without mentioning the attacks  said: We can be strong and smart without advocating torture or bigotry. We will not let fear dictate our foreign policy. It was not signed -H  an indication she did not directly write it.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, shot back against Cruz's statement about patrolling Muslim neighborhoods.

It's really beyond belief that you have one of the leading presidential candidates calling for law enforcement to target religious communities totally based on the fact that they are of a particular faith, he said. In normal times, this would be the sort of thing that would disqualify someone from running for dogcatcher, much less president of the United States.

David Weigel contributed to this report

Copyright: Washington Post
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Hillary Clinton has said the Brussels bombing is evidence that the fight against Isis is far from finished, and has described how Donald Trumps foreign policy would make the US less safe.

Ms Clinton, in a speech to Stanford University, lambasted her rivals policies and "inflammatory rhetoric", including demonising Muslims, building walls on the US border, advocating torture like waterboarding and the desire to pull out of an alliance with Nato.

If Trump gets his way, it will be like Christmas in the Kremlin, she said. It will make America less safe, and the world more dangerous."

Her comments echo those of Ted Cruz who said earlier the same day that Mr Trump's foreign policy would make Isis "dance in the street".

She said her three-point plan on counter-terrorism, revealed last year, included being ahead of the curve technologically as building walls would not detain Isis.

We need to work with the brightest minds of Silicon Valley to more effectively track and analyse Isiss social media and map jihadists' networks online, she said. When other candidates talk about building walls around America, I want to ask them - how high does the wall have to be to keep the internet out?"

The Democrat, who gained a strong victory in Arizona this week, warned against carpet bombing populated areas into oblivion or "stumbling into another costly ground war in the Middle East.

Proposing that doesnt make you sound tough, it makes you sound like youre in over your head, she said. "Slogans arent a strategy. Loose canons tend to misfire. What America needs is strong, smart and steady leadership to wage that struggle."

She did not rule out further airstrikes or foot soldiers in Syria and Iraq, but also stressed the need for diplomatic solutions.

As a senator in New York during the 9/11 attacks, she said the fight against terrorism is a "personal" one as she said she saw the devastation caused by an attack that was "well prepared and executed".

While Mr Trump wants to end his alliance with Nato, Ms Clinton countered: Nato in particular is one of the best investments America has made.

"From the Balkans to Afghanistan and beyond, Nato allies have fought along the United States, sharing the burdens and sacrifices.

As Ted Cruz has also made headlines for suggesting surveillance of Muslims should continue in New York, Ms Clinton voiced the NYPDs concerns about demonizing 1,000 Muslim police officers and said it risked alienating the moderate Muslims around the world that are needed as allies.
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Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has called for surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods in the U.S. to be intensified following the deadly bombings on Brussels' airport and subway.

Echoing his rival Donald Trump, Cruz said the U.S. should stop the flow of refugees from countries where Isis has a significant presence. Isis took credit for the Brussels attacks that killed dozens on Tuesday and wounded many more.

"We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," the Texas senator said in a statement.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned Cruz's call for surveillance, saying it sends "an alarming message to American-Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties."

Trump, who spoke to Fox News as developments in Brussels were unfolding, said he had warned about such attacks. "Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime, and now it's a disaster city. A total disaster," he said.

 From Paris to Brussels - Terror Timeline

In December, following attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, Trump called for a temporary and conditional ban on Muslims coming to the United States. He described Brussels as a "hellhole" because of its radical elements and their connection to the Paris attacks.

Both Cruz and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton criticized Trump for saying Monday that NATO "is costing us a fortune" and the U.S. should diminish its role in the coming years. Cruz said the suggestion of withdrawing from NATO is a "pre-emptive surrender."

Speaking to CNN, Clinton called NATO "the best international defense alliance, I think, ever." She reasserted her view that the U.S. should embrace, rather than alienate, Muslim communities, saying "we want them to report it; we want them to be part of protecting the United States."

 Trump on terror

Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, campaigning in Arizona on Tuesday, said boosting national security and protecting civil rights must go hand-in-hand. He said he strongly disagrees with calls by some Republicans for heightened domestic surveillance of Muslims.

"That would be unconstitutional - it would be wrong," Sanders said.

Asked about Cruz's comment, none of a half-dozen conservative House Republicans meeting with reporters on Tuesday criticised him and most spoke of the need to keep the country safe.

"Nearly every neighborhood is patrolled. That's what local law enforcement does," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who has endorsed Cruz. He said he didn't know specifically what Cruz was referring to.

"We need to do everything that makes good common sense, that's in the best interests of national security, but obviously it needs to be done in a way that's consistent with the Constitution," said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Associated Press
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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump further cemented their leads in their parties presidential races last night, with the Democratic and Republican front-runners both winning comfortably in Arizona, the biggest prize on a night of primaries named Western Tuesday.

Once again in this tumultuous campaign season, there were long lines at voting locations in Arizona and Utah, where both Democrats and Republicans went to the polls, as well as for the Democratic contest in Idaho.

Ms Clinton secured around 60 per cent of the Democratic vote in Arizona. Mr Trump, meanwhile, beat his closest rival by more than two-to-one, claiming some 47 per cent of Arizona Republicans to Ted Cruzs 23, with Ohio Governor John Kasich bringing up the rear on a mere 10 per cent.

The Grand Canyon states 75 Democratic delegates are divided proportionally between the candidates, but Mr Trump takes all 58 Republican delegates, which are awarded on a winner-takes-all basis.

Both front-runners had less luck elsewhere on the electoral map. Mr Cruz looked set to romp to victory in the Utah caucuses with almost 60 per cent of the Republican vote, way over the 50 per cent threshold required to claim all 40 of the states GOP delegates. Mr Sanders appeared to have trounced Ms Clinton in Utah and Idaho, though the Democratic delegates in both states were distributed proportionally, preventing the Vermont Senator from eating into Ms Clintons lead.

The days results were overshadowed by events in Brussels, not least because three Mormon missionaries from Utah were injured in the terrorist attacks on the Belgian capital. Following the attacks, for which Isis claimed responsibility, Mr Cruz said the US ought to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalised.

Mr Trump said he 100 per cent agreed with the Texas Senators suggestion, reiterating his plan to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the US. He also advocated the torture of terrorism suspects, telling ABC News that, as President, he would reintroduce waterboarding. I would try to expand the laws to go beyond waterboarding, the billionaire said.

In pictures: US Elections 2016 Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: US Elections 2016 In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters after rival candidate Hillary Clinton was projected as the winner in the Nevada Democratic caucuses Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes photos with workers at her campaign office in Des Moines, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, second from left, prays before lunch with supporters at Drake Diner in Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland Governor. Martin O'Malley, speaks during a campaign stop in Waterloo, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks, as his wife Jane OMeara Sanders looks on, at a campaign event at Iowa State University Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speaks at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at a campaign event at Fireside Pub and Steak House in Manchester, Iowa. Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum visiting supporters at a house party in West Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Ted Cruz campaigns at Greene County Community Centre in Jefferson, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Senator Rand Paul speaks during a Caucus rally at his Des Moines headquarters in Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Jeb Bush speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa AFP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin introducing the arrival of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 A portrait of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders at his campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Campaign badges on sale ahead of a Trump rally at the Ramada Waterloo Hotel and Convention Centre in Waterloo, Iowa Getty

Speaking in Seattle, where she was campaigning ahead of Saturdays Washington state caucus, Ms Clinton referred to the attacks in Brussels, sharply criticising the responses of her Republican rivals. The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear, she said. What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong; its dangerous... We see people running for President of the United States who are literally inciting bigotry and violence.

Mr Trump and Mr Cruz also traded personal insults online, after an anti-Trump super PAC released a series of Facebook advertisements in Utah, featuring a 16-year-old image of Mr Trumps wife Melania posing naked for a magazine cover. Responding to the ad, Mr Trump threatened in a cryptic tweet to spill the beans on Mr Cruzs wife, Heidi. Mr Cruz replied by pointing out that the ad had not come from his campaign, and accused Mr Trump of being classless and a coward.

With her win in Arizona, Ms Clinton once again proved her ability to pick up votes in a heavily Latino state, even though Mr Sanders had campaigned hard there. In spite of the adverse arithmetic, The Vermont Senator signalled his intention to fight to the end by campaigning last night in California, which votes on the very last day of the primary season in June. Speaking in San Diego, he assured his supporters that his political revolution was ongoing.
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Malcolm Turnbull has blamed the weakness in European security for the Brussels terror attacks.

At least 31 people died and more than 200 were injured following two explosions at Brussels Airport and one at Maalbeek Metro station.

Terror group Isis claimed responsibility for the attacks and on Wednesday morning, Belgian police were searching for one of the suspects named as Najim Laachraoui.

Following the attacks, the Australian Prime Minister sought to reassure people in Australia that the country had much tighter security than Europe but he admitted he could not guarantee there would not be a domestic terrorist attack.

The country's threat level is to remain unchanged at probable.

Speaking in Sydney about border arrangements in Europe, he told ABC television: There's been a real breakdown in intelligence. If you can't control your borders, you don't know who's coming or going. Regrettably they allowed things to slip and that weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they've been having in recent times."

Europe has for all intents and purposes no internal borders, so people can travel within Europe as they wish, and their external borders have been very porous."

"So Europe has a security challenge or a security problem that is different to Australia. We're assisted by our geography, of course, but we also have very strong border protection that our government has maintained.

 Video shows immediate aftermath inside Brussels airport terminal

However, Bill Shorten, leader of the Australian Labor Party said criticising Belgiums security and "telling the Belgians what they did wrong within 24 hours" of the attacks was "premature".

ABC.net.au reported that Mr Shorten said: For me, today, is about recognising that people have lost their lives  innocent people have lost their lives. No doubt the hard questions will be asked in coming days.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Security has been tightened around airports across Europe and Asia in the wake of the attacks.

In Belgium, Brussels Airport is to remain closed on Thursday.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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The Brussels bombings were the worst terrorist attack in Western Europe since the attacks in Paris last November.

Because of this, the continent has been on high alert ever since. But its not the only area of the world to be struck by terrorism.

There is no internationally accepted definition of the word  no minimum number of causalities needed; no particular method of violence; no specific time or place.

Instead, most agencies tend to make the classification based on intent or motive. According to the FBI, international terrorism includes violence that is intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or government.

The UN states that terrorist attacks violate human rights and the rule of law.

Regardless of how the act is defined, numerous terrorist attacks have taken place between the bombings in Paris on November 13, 2015 and the events in Brussels earlier this week.

From bombings in Beirut to a hotel attack in the Ivory Coast, this video highlights just a few of the very many.
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A luggage handler has emerged as a hero in the Brussels attacks after witnesses told how he pulled seven wounded people to safety.

Alphonse Lyoura, an airport baggage security officer at Zaventem Airport in Brussels, did not flee the scene when two bomb blasts erupted in the departures area on Tuesday but began to help the injured, according to the BBC.

After hearing the first bomb explode while he was wrapping bags, Mr Lyoura stayed where he was and heard another explosion about two minutes later.

 Video shows immediate aftermath inside Brussels airport terminal

He said he saw people whose legs were destroyed in the blast or had sustained awful injuries.

"I helped at least six or seven wounded people. We took out some bodies that were not moving. It was total panic everywhere," he told Agence France Presse.

"I saw people lying on the ground covered in blood who were not moving."

"At least six or seven people's legs were totally crushed. A lot of people lost limbs.

"One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg."

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man carries an injured person in Brussels Airport, after explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Travellers get to their feet in a smoke filled terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man speaks on a mobile phone in Brussels Airport, after the explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A police officer stands guard as people are evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People stand near Brussels airport after being evacuated following explosions that rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after an attack in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers gather near Brussels airport in Zaventem, following its evacuation after blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People are evacuated from the scene after two explosions were heard at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Brussels Airport after evacuation In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the airport area after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers comfort each other as they are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People react as they walk away from Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services attend the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Injured people at the scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Zaventem airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A view of the scene after the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The view of the Brussels airport after the explosion PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport Getty Images

His actions were applauded by witnesses otherwise appalled by the actions of suicide bombers who killed at least 30 people and injured dozens more in the Belgian capital.

A Twitter user quoted famous late US television personality Fred Rogers who once said to look for the "helpers" during terrible events.

"'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' Thank you Alphonse," she wrote.

Another said: "Alphonse you've just exposed their failure. If one of us still selflessly help others, they haven't won. They will never win."

One Twitter user said terrorism showed "who the real heroes were".

"Terrorists create heroes. The hero doesn't care about your religion, the hero is just a good human being."

Pictures of Mr Lyoura showed him in his fluorescent uniform with blood stains on his trousers and on his hands.

He told AFP he heard Arabic shouting before the two bomb blasts. The attackers have been identified as Khalid and Brahmin el-Bakraoui by Belgian broadcaster RTBF, and Isis has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

A second bomb exploded at Maelbeek metro station about one hour after the first explosion at Zaventem Airport.
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The identities of some of the victims of Tuesdays bomb attacks in Brussels have begun to emerge.

Two Belgians, a Peruvian woman, and an unidentified Moroccan woman were the first to be publicly confirmed dead.

A British man, David Dixon, and an American brother and sister are among the people known to be missing from the Belgian capital, one day after the blasts at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station killed more than 30 and injured an estimated 250 people.

Adelma Tapia Ruiz

Ms Tapia, 37, was from Peru and had lived in Brussels for six years. She was at the airport with her husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin four-year-old daughters, Maureen and Alondra. They were checking in to fly to New York to visit Ms Ruizs sisters when the blast struck.

The death of Ms Tapia was confirmed by the Peruvian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and her brother Fernando Tapia Coral has told Peruvian radio that she had planned to return to Peru later this year.

In a Facebook post, Mr Tapia called her death incomprehensible in a Facebook post. Her husband and children survived, but it has been reported that one of her daughters was injured by debris.

Leopold Hecht

Mr Hecht was a young Belgian student working towards a qualification in law at Saint-Louis University in Brussels. The university confirmed in a Facebook post that he was one of the victims of the Maelbeek metro bombing.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Olivier Delespesse

Mr Delespesse, 36, was confirmed dead in the metro bombing by his employers Wallonie Bruxelles Federation, an organisation which represents French speakers in the region.

David Dixon

The family of Mr Dixon, a computer programmer from Nottingham, has not heard from him since he left for work yesterday morning. He is believed to have been on the metro at the time of the blast.

Its just waiting, which is heartbreaking, the sister of Charlotte Sutcliffe, Mr Dixons partner, told Radio 4s Today program. His friend Simon Harley-Jones told the BBC that Ms Sutcliffe had been driving around hospitals in the hope of finding him.

Berit Viktorsson

Ms Viktorsson, a 64-year-old Belgian woman, was at Zaventem to travel to Sweden, but is now missing. Her family put out an appeal on Facebook calling for any sightings of Ms Viktorsson, or information on which hospital she may have been taken to.

Aline Bastin

Facebook

Ms Bastin, 29, a former employee of the European Chemical Industry Council, was on the metro at the time of the attacks. Her friends have launched an appeal on Facebook for news of her whereabouts.

Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski

A brother and sister from New York, who were at Zaventem to fly back to the US at the time of the blasts, are also missing. Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were on the phone to their family when the phone went dead, according to Dutch media. Ms Pinczowski studied business and had previously completed an internship at the UN.

Raghavendran Ganesan

Facebook

Mr Ganesans brother has set up an appeal for information on the whereabouts of his sibling, who was on the metro at the time of the attacks. He wrote on Facebook that he had spoken to the Indian embassy, who were still searching for Mr Ganesan.

Patricia Rizzo

The Italian Foreign Ministry has said it is 'very likely' that Ms Rizzo, an Italian national, is one of the victims of the attack. The Embassy is in touch with the family for identification procedures. She worked for an EU agency and usually took the metro at the time of the bombings.

Sabrina Fazal

Facebook

There has not been word of Ms Fazal, a 25-year-old Belgian student, since yesterday morning. She would have been on the metro at the time of the attacks, on the way to the Haute Ecole Galilee in central Brussels, where she is studying.

The Foreign office has set up a helpline (+44 207 008 0000) for anyone in the UK concerned about family or friends in Brussels
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Belgium must improve its security instead of just eating chocolate and enjoying life, an Israeli minister has reportedly said.

Yisrael Katz, currently serving as both minister for transport and intelligence, made the comments in an interview with Israel Radio shortly after a number of bombings in Brussels which are believed to have killed at least 31 people and injured more than 200 others.

On Tuesday, terror group Isis claimed responsibility for two explosions at Brussels Airport and one at Maalbeek Metro station.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Mr Katz said of the terror attacks: If in Belgium they continue eating chocolate and enjoying life, and continue to appear as great democrats and liberals, and not decided that some Muslims in their country are [organising] terror, they wont be able to fight them.

Nava Boker, of the Likud party, said: Belgium must close its borders immediately, eject from itself inciters and stop Muslim immigration into the country.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for political unity to defeat terrorism, US News reported.

In a speech delivered via video link to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference in Washington, he said: The chain of attacks from Paris to San Bernardino to Istanbul to the Ivory Coast and now to Brussels and the daily attacks in Israel, this is one continuous assault on all of us.

The only way to defeat these terrorists is to join together and fight them together. Thats how well defeat terrorism: with political unity and with moral clarity.
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Two brothers have been named by local media among the bombers behind the terrorist attacks that killed more than 30 people and injured 250 more in Brussels.

Belgiums state broadcaster RTBF has named Khalid and Brahim, also known as Ibrahim, el-Bakraoui as two of the suspected Isis militants who blew themselves up amid crowds at Brussels Airport and on a train at Maalbeek station.

Both were originally reported to have died in the departures terminal but new Belgian reports alleged that Brahim killed himself at the airport, while Khalid was on the Metro.

An alert was put out for the pair following a police raid in the Brussels suburb of Forest last week where two men escaped as a gunman battled with officers before being shot dead.

 Brussels airport bombing

Belgium's federal prosecutor named the el-Bakraoui brothers as the hunt continued after police lost the suspects in a chase over rooftops.

A Kalashnikov, book about Salafism and Isis flag was found alongside a large quantity of ammunition in the flat, which Khalid was suspected of renting under a false identity.

Khalid was wanted on suspicion of terror offences, Belgian media reported, and was previously jailed for nine years after shooting at police during a robbery.

His brother was imprisoned in 2011, a year later, for car-jackings, La Libre reported.

Police are still hunting a third suspected accomplice pictured with one of the suspected bombers on airport CCTV, named by La Derniere Heure newspaper as Najim Laachraoui.

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man carries an injured person in Brussels Airport, after explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Travellers get to their feet in a smoke filled terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man speaks on a mobile phone in Brussels Airport, after the explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A police officer stands guard as people are evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People stand near Brussels airport after being evacuated following explosions that rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after an attack in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers gather near Brussels airport in Zaventem, following its evacuation after blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People are evacuated from the scene after two explosions were heard at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Brussels Airport after evacuation In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the airport area after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers comfort each other as they are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People react as they walk away from Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services attend the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Injured people at the scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Zaventem airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A view of the scene after the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The view of the Brussels airport after the explosion PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport Getty Images

Under his alias Soufiane Kayal, the 25-year-old had been wanted for months as a suspect bomb-maker linked to the Paris attacks after his DNA was found alongside that of the terrorists who carried out the massacres at a safe house where traces of explosives and suicide belts were found.

He rented one of the hide-outs, in Auvelais, where the cell prepared for the massacres that would kill 130 people in the French capital.

Laachraoui was picked up in Budapest by Salah Abdeslam, possibly making his way back from Syria, on 9 September alongside Mohamed Belkaid, the 35-year-old Algerian killed by police in Forest on 15 March.

The net has been tightening on the remaining accomplices following Belkaid's death and Abdeslam's eventual arrest on Friday and there was speculation that Tuesday's attacks were either an act of revenge or the fulfilment of plots Abdeslam claimed had already been hatched.

The airport explosions, followed little over an hour later by another blast at a Metro station, left at least 31 dead and 250 wounded.
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Here are the latest updates:

We will bring you the latest updates as we get them

Are you in Brussels? Contact us on @independent to send us pictures and video or share your account of what happened

Brussels has been on the highest level of terror alert since November's Paris attacks and has seen several operations in recent weeks linked to the hunt for Salah Abdeslam, who was caught on Friday.

The identities of some of the victims of Tuesdays bomb attacks in Brussels have come to light, with a Peruvian woman, Adelma Tapia Ruiz, the first to be publicly confirmed dead.

A British man, David Dixon, is among the people known to be missing from the Belgian capital one day after the blasts at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station killed more than 30 and injured an estimated 230 people.

A Moroccan woman has also been formally identified as a victim of the metro station attack by Moroccan diplomatic sources, according to Belgian media.
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One of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June last year and deported to the Netherlands, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

President Erdogan said Turkey warned both Belgium and the Netherlands he was "a foreign fighter".

He did not name the attacker, who he said was detained at Turkey's border with Syria at Gaziantep.

President Erdogan said: "Despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism."

An official in the Turkish president's office later said the attacker deported from Turkey was Brahim el-Bakraoui.

Earlier reports suggested el-Bakraoui was deported to Belgium, but this was later corrected to the Netherlands.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

At least 30 were killed and over 200 injured in a series of bomb attacks targeting Brussels Airport and the Molenbeek Metro station.

Shortly after 8am on Tuesday, two explosions killed at least 11 people at Brussels Airport.

Around an hour later, an explosion at the Maalbeek Metro station killed around 20.

One of the suspects captured on CCTV moments before the airport attack is still at large.
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There are many reasons why Belgium has become a hotbed of radical Islamism. Some of the answers may lie in the implanting of Saudi Salafist preachers in the country from the 1960s.

Keen to secure oil contracts, Belgiums King Baudouin made an offer to Saudi King Faisal, who had visited Brussels in 1967: Belgium would set up a mosque in the capital, and hire Gulf-trained clerics.

At the time, Belgium was encouraging Moroccan and Turkish workers to come into the country as cheap labour. The deal between the two Kings would make the mosque their main place of worship.

Brussels already had the perfect place. An oriental pavilion designed by Belgian architect Ernest Van Humbeek had been built in the capitals Cinquantenaire park in 1879, but was falling into disuse. The 1967 deal gave the Saudis a 99-year, rent-free lease. The pavilion was refashioned by the Saudis, opening in 1978 as the Great Mosque of Brussels, as well as the seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium (ICC).

Although the mosque was treated as the official voice of Muslims in Belgium, its radical Salafist teachings came from a very different tradition to the Islam of the new immigrants. Today, there are around 600,000 people of Moroccan and Turkish origin in Belgium, a country of 11 million.

The Moroccan community comes from mountainous regions and rift valleys, not the desert. They come from the Maliki school of Islam, and are a lot more tolerant and open than the Muslims from other regions like Saudi Arabia, says George Dallemagne, a Belgian member of parliament for the centre-right CDH, an opposition party. However, many of them were re-Islamified by the Salafist clerics and teachers from the Great Mosque. Some Moroccans were even given scholarships to study in Medina, in Saudi Arabia.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Mr Dallemagne says the Salafist clerics have tried to undermine attempts by Moroccan immigrants to integrate into Belgium. We like to think Saudi Arabia is an ally and friend, but the Saudis are always engaged in double-talk: they want an alliance with the West when it comes to fighting Shias in Iran, but nonetheless have a conquering ideology when it comes to their religion in the rest of the world, he said.

Mr Dallemagne has sponsored many resolutions in the Belgian parliament aimed at loosening ties with Saudi Arabia, and reducing the Salafist influence in Belgium. We cant have a dialogue with countries that want to destabilise us, he says. The problem is that it is only recently that authorities are finally opening their eyes to this.

Recommended Read more How cartoonists reacted to the Brussels attacks

The mosque has sought to send a strong message opposing the latest attacks, with Mohamed Ndiaye, one of the centres imams, releasing a statement in the aftermath: We would like to express our deep sorrow over the Paris attacks. Our thoughts are with the people of Paris and the victims families. Other officials have also come out to repeat the message that Islam is a religion of peace and has nothing to do with the terrorists of Molenbeek.

But the mosque remains a concern for the Belgian government: in August, a WikiLeaks cable revealed that a staff member of the Saudi embassy in Belgium was expelled years ago over his active role in spreading the extreme so-called Takfiri dogma. The cable  between the Saudi King and his Home Minister  referred to Belgian demands that the ICCs Saudi director, Khalid Alabri, should leave the country, saying that his messages were far too extreme, and that his status as director meant he should not be preaching anyway.

This article was first published on 23 November 2015
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A suspected Isis bomb maker believed to be part of the terror attacks that killed more than 30 people in Brussels is still on the run, authorities have confirmed.

Najim Laachraoui was captured on CCTV at Brussels Airport with two suicide bombers, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said. The suitcase he was wheeling through the terminal on a luggage trolley carried the largest explosive charge but did not go off and was deactivated by the army.

Two more suitcases left at the address the trio were picked up from in a taxi were found to contain explosives, nails and screws, suggesting a far larger death toll was planned.

One of the men has been identified as Brahim el-Bakraoui, whose brother Khalid is reported to have blown himself up at Maalbeek Metro station, while the name of the third man pictured on the left is unknown.

Airport CCTV shows the suspects, including the suspected surviving attacker, right (Belgian Federal Police)

The taxi driver who transported them reportedly told investigators they had wanted to take five cases to Brussels Airport but only had room for three.

The remaining luggage was found at a flat in the Brussels suburb of Schaerbeek alongside bomb-making equipment and and Isis flag, officials said.

La Derniere Heure had earlier quoted anonymous police sources saying that Laachraoui had been detained by armed police on Wednesday morning, but later backtracked on its claims.

"Contrary to what we announced, the man arrested in Anderlecht is not Najim Laachraoui," its website read.

 The world mourns for Brussels

Journalists from De Tijd and EenVandaag subsequently claimed the arrested man, who has not been identified, was found at a pizza restaurant but the report has not been confirmed.

A suspicious pizza order allegedly alerted police to Salah Abdeslam's wherabouts last week, while empty pizza boxes were also found littering hotel rooms used by the Paris attackers to prepare for November's massacres.

Laachraoui is believed to be the only suspect remaining on the run following Tuesday's attacks, where brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui died in bombings at Brussels airport and Maalbeek Metro station.

Under his alias Soufiane Kayal, the 25-year-old had been wanted for months as a suspected bomb maker linked to the Paris attacks after his DNA was found alongside that of the terrorists who carried out the massacres at a safe house where traces of explosives and suicide belts were found.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

He also rented one of the hide-outs, in Auvelais, where the cell prepared for the massacres that would kill 130 people in the French capital.

Laachraoui was picked up in Budapest by Salah Abdeslam, possibly making his way back from Syria, on 9 September alongside Mohamed Belkaid, the 35-year-old Algerian killed by police in Forest on 15 March.

The net has been tightening on the remaining accomplices following Belkaid's death and Abdeslam's eventual arrest on Friday and there was speculation that Tuesday's attacks were either an act of revenge or the fulfilment of plots Abdeslam claimed had already been hatched.

The airport explosions, followed little over an hour later by another blast at a Metro station, left at least 31 dead and 250 wounded.
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The attacks in Brussels, which killed at least 31 people and injured more than 200, have led to international condemnation of terrorism.

Media outlets have been reporting on the events since the news broke and following every update. Images showing the world standing in solidarity with Brussels have been widely circulating.

On Google News, typing in Brussels attacks generates more than 18 million results.

But, as reported by MIC, this is a stark comparison to the reaction following a deadly attack which took place in Turkey just over a week ago.

A car bomb exploded near a bus stop in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, killing at least 37 people on 13 March. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks claimed responsibility for the attack which injured more than 70 people.

But on Google News, searching for this attack - Ankara car bomb - brings up fewer than 400,000 results.

Such a disparity in coverage and reaction has led some people, such as Facebook user James Taylor, to call upon the world to show more solidarity with Turkey.

In a post that has now gone viral and been shared more than 120,000 times, Mr Taylor, who has lived in Ankara for 18 months, said: It is very easy to look at terror attacks that happen in London, in New York, in Paris and feel pain and sadness for those victims, so why is not the same for Ankara?"

"Is it because you just dont realise that Ankara is no different from any of these cities?

He then referenced a phrase that spread widely on social media following the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015 and the Paris terror attacks in November.

You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara?

In pictures: Ankara bombing Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Family members and relatives grieve for victims of a car bombing outside the forensic morgue in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Men hold Turkish flags over the coffin of a car bombing victim during a commemoration ceremony in a mosque in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Feyza Acisu one of the victims who was killed in an explosion cries during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Murat Gul one of the victims who was killed in an explosion pray near the coffin covered with Turkish flags during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion, the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Turkish police secure the area as scenes of crime officers search the area after an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of victims who were killed in an explosion mourn in front of forensic medicine institution in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing People carry an injured person on a stretcher at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of people wounded in an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, react as they arrive at a hospital to see their loved ones In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers are seen on a bus at the explosion site in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing A burning car after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services attend the scene in central Ankara's Kizilay Square In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services help an injured person following after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing The wreckage of a bus and a car are pictured at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic services and firemen work around burnt out taxi vehicles after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing At least 27 people were killed and 75 wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack according to Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar Getty In pictures: Ankara bombing Medics carry an injured person at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara AP In pictures: Ankara bombing The bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizilay. The news channel said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb AP In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing A destroyed bus is seen in the street after an explosion in Ankara EPA In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters

The social media reaction to Brussels, in comparison to Ankara, has also been criticised.

On Wednesday, two suicide bombers involved in the Brussels attacks were named by local media as brothers Khalid and Ibrahim, also known as Brahim, el-Bakraoui. Police are also searching for suspect Najim Laachraoui, according to local media.

Terror group Isis claimed responsibility for the two explosions at Brussels Airport and one at Maalbeek Metro Station on Tuesday morning.
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No 4 Rue Max Roos is a non-descript, shabby block of flats, with nothing to suggest its significance in the terrible events which have unfolded in Brussels.

On 23 March, the building was not sealed off; there were not even police officers in the vicinity. This, however, was the place from where jihadists set out with murder on their minds just 24 hours earlier.

At a fifth-floor flat they made the suicide belts that claimed 31 lives at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek Metro station on Tuesday morning. The alert to the police came from a taxi driver who picked up three men whose behaviour had made him suspicious. They had complained because the luggage  which the cabbie was not allowed to touch  would not fit in the boot and then refused to carry any with them on the back seat. One bag had to be returned inside.

That bag, armed police discovered when they went into the building on Tuesday afternoon, contained a nail bomb and detonator. Also stored were enough chemicals to make 50 kg of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) an explosive of great lethality.

Outside, in the bin, was a laptop that provided crucial insight into the mind of one of the bombers. I dont know what to do, I am in a hurry, being searched for everywhere, not being safe, if it drags on it could end up with me in a prison cell next to him, 30-year-old Brahim el-Bakaraoui had written. He had died in the attacks, as well as his 27-year-old brother Khalid.

The him in the note is Salah Abdeslam, the fugitive from the Paris attacks last November, who was arrested in Molenbeek last Friday. Abdeslams lawyer had stressed his client was providing information to investigators. He is of prime importance for this investigation. I would even say he is worth his weight in gold. He is collaborating, he is communicating. He is not maintaining his right to silence, said Sven Mary.

 A look at Molenbeek, the small Belgian suburb home to some of the worlds most dangerous terrorists

News of Abdeslams collaboration with the authorities had caused deep concern among some. We have heard of some people who may fall under suspicion moving out of their homes, said an official of an Islamic welfare group. In Molenbeek, in particular, there is worry that the police would be heavy because the place has become associated with trouble.

Schaerbeek does not have such a reputation. The area is more affluent, relatively mixed and its Muslim population of largely Turkish and Kosovar Albanian antecedent is not viewed as terrorist recruitment fodder.

Police officers carry out searches in a building in Schaerbeek (Getty) (Getty Images)

There were just one or two Muslim names among the dozen renting the apartments at No 4 Rue Max Roos. John Valderrama, from Colombia, had a flat on the fifth floor, but he had seen only one person using the bombers flat. Another resident, 36-year-old Erdine  who did not want his family name published  thought four men stayed there. He had seen two of them carrying bags out of the building at around 7.30 on Tuesday morning to a taxi. The driver tried to put the bags in the car, but they would not let him touch the bags, he said.

Marwan Ataya, who is of Lebanese descent, watched from down the street on Tuesday afternoon as armed police moved in. We can no longer say that it was like watching a movie, because we know that violence now in Belgium and France is very real, he acknowledged.  But I am surprised they werent discovered. I heard they were there for a month. Schaerbeek is not Molenbeek; if people saw something suspicious here they would tell the police. We are not afraid to speak up.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Salah Abdeslams family home is on the central square in Molenbeek, facing the municipal hall. On Tuesday afternoon his brother Mohammed was asked if Salah was involved in the days attacks. He drove away saying he would be in big trouble if he said anything at all.

Yesterday a woman who ran a nearby shop and had been previously friendly with the media pointed towards the Abdeslam house and said:  I am very scared to speak now. I have young children, these are very bad times.

In the house a young man, Ayoub, did not think the times were that bad, shrugging off the increased police presence in the area. But, he pointed out, he had not been able to find work for four years, and did not have much hope of that changing.

A retired civil servant who lives in Molenbeek blamed the authorities for giving impunity to extremism. My family came from Morocco, just like most people here. We have seen how people were allowed to spread a poisonous form of what they claimed is Islam, he stated.  We tried to point out the danger, how young people without jobs or prospects were being targeted, but we have had people in high places, mayors, who were terrified of being accused of racism.

How does this leave Belgiums Muslim community? At the Grand Mosque of Brussels, which is also the headquarters of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Belgium, an official, Ezzedine, was in despair: It is nothing but a catastrophe. Of course, we Muslims feel we are being blamed for the actions of a few people. The feeling is apocalyptic. I dont know how this kind of violence can be stopped. I only wish I knew.
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Belgian media is reporting that at least two people suspected of being involved in the deadly attacks in Brussels may be at large.

On Tuesday morning, there were two explosions at Brussels Airport. Shortly after, there was a third explosion at Maalbeek Metro Station.

Terror group Isis claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least 31 people and wounded up to 270 others.

Two suicide bombers at the airport have been named as Ibrahim, also known as Brahim, el-Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui.

Brahim's brother, Khalid, has been named as the attacker who blew himself up Maalbeek Metro station.

Here is what we know so far:

Suspects

The second suspect believed to be on the run, who has not been identified, was filmed on CCTV cameras at Maalbeek Metro station carrying a large bag alongside Khalid el-Bakraoui

Of the three men captured on CCTV at the airport, two are known to be dead: Brahim el-Bakraoui (centre of image) and Najim Laachraoui (right of image)

It was initially thought that Laachraoui was on the run. There were also reports that he had been detained on Wednesday morning, but the person arrested was not him

Police are continuing to hunt for a third unidentified airport attacker (left of image)

Thursday

Salah Abdeslam's lawyer has said his client did not know about the Brussels attacks

Belgium's interior minister Jan Jambon and justice minister Koen Geens have offered to resign over revelations they were warned about one of the attackers. Prime Minister Charles Michel has rejected the offers

Passenger flights at Brussels Airport are suspended until the end of Sunday

The number of Britons injured has risen to six, according to Downing Street. Four have been discharged from hospital

Concerns remain for the whereabouts of 53-year-old David Dixon

What happened on Wednesday?

Suspects

Belgian media has named two suicide bombers involved in the attacks in Brussels as brothers Khalid and Ibrahim, also known as Brahim , el-Bakraoui .

Brahim el-Bakraoui  Brahim el-Bakraoui, from Belgium, was one of the airport suicide bombers, according to federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw. Brahim left a will on his computer found in a bin in the neighbourhood of Schaerbeek

Brahim el-Bakraoui, from Belgium, was one of the airport suicide bombers, according to federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw. Brahim left a will on his computer found in a bin in the neighbourhood of Schaerbeek Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, from Belgium, blew himself up on a metro carriage at Maalbeek station

Belgian authorities have said several other people who may be linked to the attacks are still on the loose

Victims

The first victim of the attacks has been named as Adelma Tapia Ruiz, a 37-year-old from Peru who was killed at the airport

The Moroccan Embassy in Belgium confirmed to The Independent that a Moroccan woman died in the attacks

Saint-Louis University in Brussels has said student Leopold Hecht died at the metro station, according to Sky News

The Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles, a government organisation, has said one of its employees, Olivier Delespesse, was killed on the metro

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Wednesday

15kg of TATP explosives were found in the house which the suspects left from for the airport, says prosecutor

British man David Dixon is reported missing following the attacks - he is thought to have been on the metro at the time of the explosion

Four Britons are among those injured, says Downing Street

Three days of national mourning has begun - a minute's silence was held for the victims at midday local time

Brussels Airport is closed. It is to remain closed on Thursday

Brussels Metro Network is partially open

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged the EU parliament to authorise a passenger name record (PNR) covering Europe. He later said EU nations would "have to invest massively in their security system"

Neil Basu, of the UK Counter Terrorism Policing Network, said police and intelligence agencies were working hard to foil a similar attack in the UK

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blamed "weakness in European security"

Queen Elizabeth said she was "deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of life and injuries after the terrorist attack in Brussels"

The football match between Belgium and Portugal, scheduled for next Tuesday, has been called off

What happened on Tuesday?

Brussels Airport

Shortly after 8am local time, two explosions were heard minutes apart in the departure hall of the airport.

Belga news agency reported that shots were fired and shouts in Arabic could be heard before the explosions

People could be seen fleeing the airport as smoke rose from the terminal building

An eyewitness said: "It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed. There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere"

 Brussels airport explosion

Officials have urged people to stay away from the airport

Brussels Airport has also told people to avoid the area, and it has cancelled all flights. It is expected to stay closed until about 6am on Wednesday

At least one Kalashnikov assault rifle was found in the departure lounge, according to a European security official

Florence Muls, the airport communications manager, has defended the security at the site, adding that the airport does not have the ability to impose controls at the terminal entry

Maalbeek Metro station

About an hour after the airport blasts, there was an explosion at Maalbeek Metro station, which is close to a number of EU institutions

A photo from VRT showed that a train carriage was struck by the blast

The entire Metro system in Brussels has been shut down

Reaction

Eurostar has suspended its services to Brussels-Midi station

The public transport system in Brussels has been closed

The European Commission has told people to stay at home or inside buildings. All EU institutions are on alert level orange

David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister, will be holding a COBRA meeting following the attacks in Brussels

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Belgium had again been "hit by cowardly and murderous attacks"

French President Francois Hollande said: "Terrorists struck Brussels, but it was Europe that was targeted"

Heiko Maas, Germany's justice minister, said it was "a black day for Europe"

People around the world have been showing their solidarity with Belgium with images of Tintin, the character created by Belgian cartoonist Herge, circulating on Twitter

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Additional reporting by agencies
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A family are desperately searching for a brother and sister from New York who were phoning home during the Brussels attacks when "the line went dead".

Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski rang their mother from Zavantem Airport to say they had arrived safely - but have not been heard from since the phone line cut out during the explosions on Tuesday.

The pair's mother and friends have posted messages across social media requesting that emergency and hospital workers get in touch if they have information, according to the New York Post.

"Their mother is worried sick since she can't get hold of them since this morning when they were checking in at Zaventem airport," wrote friend Mafalda De Andrade Vasconcelos on Facebook.

Alexander Pinczowski is being searched for by his girlfriend and mother (Facebook/Karen Van Suijdam)

The siblings, who are residents in New York and were visiting their father in the Netherlands, were reportedly checking in at the American Airlines desk in the airport.

Reports have said the airport bombs went off near both the American Airlines and Brussels Airlines check-ins.

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A private security guard helps a wounded women outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Wounded people receive assistance by rescuers outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Rescue workers treat victims outside the Maelbeek underground station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Passengers waiting to be evacuated from the train between Arts-Lois and Maelbeek In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency services and police work around a metro station after an explosion in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A woman is evacuated in an ambulance by emergency services after a explosion in a main metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A Belgian soldier stands guard outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Belgian police officers stand outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Belgian policemen and a soldier carrying an injured person after an explosion at the Maelbeek Metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A view of the train after the explosion in Maelbeek station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station People receive treatment as emergency services attend the scene after an explosion in a main metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Maelbeek Metro station after an explosion on a train in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Passengers walk on underground metro tracks to be evacuated after an explosion at Maelbeek train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A victim receives first aid by rescuers, near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Firefighters arrive at the scene near Maalbeek metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency workers arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency rescue workers stretcher an unidentified person at the site of an explosion at a metro station in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Police seal off the area at the scene of a blast outside a metro station in Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency personnel are seen at the scene of a blast outside a metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency personnel are seen at the scene of a blast outside a metro station in Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Belgian police and emergency staff arriving in the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, which has been evacuated after an explosion at the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Smoke rising from the Maalbeek underground, in Brussels, following a blast at the station close to the capital's European quarter Getty Images In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station People are evacuated from the Schuman station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station The scene outside the Maalbeek underground in Brussels after the explosion

Ms Pinczowski graduated from Marymount Manhattan College, reportedly speaks five languages and was recently working as a production intern at the Chelsea production and design company Shiraz Events, according to the New York Post.

"She was very determined and fun. She was a pleasure to have around," said Florecia Sadler, a producer at the company.

Ms Pinczowski's brother's girlfriend was also asking for people to help find the two siblings.

The first bomb went off in Zaventem airport at about 8am local time, or 7am British time with another following a few minutes later. Together the bombs are believed to have killed at least 11 people.

One hour later a third bomb was detonated at Maalbeek Metro station, leaving about 20 people dead and dozens wounded.

Two of the bombers have been named as Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui and a third fugitive being searched for by police has been named as Najim Laachraoui.
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Accusations of hypocrisy have surrounded the reaction on social media to the bomb attacks in Brussels, which many contrasted with the response to similar terror attacks around the world.

In the wake of the explosions, people took to social media to share cartoons in solidarity and the term #JeSuisBruxelles trended for much of the day on Twitter.

Across Europe, monuments such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were illuminated in the colours of the Belgian flag out of respect for the victims. In Brussels, thousands gathered to create an improvised memorial using chalk to write messages of respect and defiance.

However, many pointed out the differences in the way people reacted to the Brussels attacks in comparison to those in Ankara.

At least 31 people were killed and 200 injured in the attacks on Brussels. An attack in Ankara last week left 36 dead, another in February killed 28 and an attack last October killed 107.

Governments were also criticised for the way they reacted to the attacks.

Following the bombings, the Belgian flag was flown at half mast above Downing Street, prompting Yasmin Ahmed to ask, in an article for Indy Voices: Why didnt Downing Street raise the Turkish flag after the atrocities in Ankara?

 Brussels residents unite

A spokesperson for Number 10 told The Independent: As a mark of respect for those who died in Belgium today, the Prime Minister has asked that all Departments lower their Union Flag on Tuesday 22 March. No10 is also flying the Belgian flag.

As the Prime Minister made clear today, the attacks in Belgium could just as well be attacks in Britain or elsewhere. We need to stand together against these appalling terrorists and make sure they can never win."
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A Brazilian doctor has reportedly won the right to examine the bones of one of Nazi Germany's most notorious physicians.

Dr Daniel Romero Muniz has opened the bag containing the bones of Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor responsible for torturing thousands of Auschwitz inmates, for the first time in 30 years, according to the Mail Online.

Known as the "Angel of Death", Mengele was a German SS officer who also performed deadly human experiments on prisoners.

He fled to South America after the war and, although designated a war criminal, evaded capture for the rest of his life.

However, his remains were identified as lying in an anonymous Sao Paulo grave in 1985 and, despite offers to collect them, his family never did.

'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested Show all 5 1 /5 'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested 'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested pg-31-nazi-1-reuters.jpg Reuters 'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested pg-31-nazi-2-epa.jpg EPA 'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested pg-31-nazi-3-epa.jpg EPA 'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested pg-31-nazi-4-ap.jpg AP 'Most wanted' Nazi war crimes suspect arrested pg-31-nazi-5-rex.jpg Rex Features

Now Dr Muniz, a professor of medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, reportedly plans for the bones to be donated to students to learn from.

"[Mengele's] bones will be a really good example for our students to learn from," he told the Mail Online.

"They will be used to help train new doctors and will be particularly good for those students who are studying post mortem examinations."

Mengeles had a stroke while swimming off the Sao Paulo coast in 1979 and was found by a retired policeman.

The lettering 'Arbeit macht frei' (work makes you free) at the entrance of the memorial site of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

German authorities later linked a letter he sent to his family in Germany to him, and after exhuming his grave kept his bones in a bag at the Sao Paulo Police Legal Medical Institute morgue for more than 30 years.

The bag was first opened again by Dr Muniz in front of TV cameras on the weekend of March 19 this year, and his ribs, humerus, ulna and radius on the medical table.

Some 15 to 20 million people were killed by the Nazis, who came to power in 1933 and ended with the Second World War in 1945, according to research carried out by Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum.

This increased previous estimates of some 12 million people being killed, at least half of them Jewish.
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Najim Laachraoui, the suspected Isis bomb-maker involved in the brutal terrorist attacks on Brussels that killed at least 31 people, is believed to have been involved in the Paris attacks carried out by Isis in November last year  possibly as the bomb maker.

Newspaper La Derniere reported Laachraoui has been arrested in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht by the Belgian Federal Polices Counter Terrorism and Swat Unit, but the federal prosecutor did not confirm the arrest and the claim has since been withdrawn.

Laachraoui was known to police

Laachraoui is understood to have graduated from a Catholic high school called the Institut de la Sainte-Famille dhelmet in 2012 after studying electro-mechanical engineering. Just two years after graduating he was the subject of an international arrest warrant.

He was involved in the Paris attacks

The day before the Brussels attacks Belgian police had launched a manhunt for Laachraoui and appealed to the public for any sightings of the 24-year-old. His DNA had been found in apartments in Auvelais, south Belgium, and Scharbeek, a district of Brussels, which had been used by the Paris attackers. The DNA of the man wanted in connection with the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was also found on the premises.

 most likely as the bomb-maker

His DNA was also found on two of the suicide belts used in the Paris attacks  one from the Bataclan theatre attack and one from the Stade de France attack. He is believed to have made the bombs.

Police also found traces of TATP, an explosive now thought of as a signature material for Isis in Europe, in the Shaerbeek property.

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A private security guard helps a wounded women outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Wounded people receive assistance by rescuers outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Rescue workers treat victims outside the Maelbeek underground station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Passengers waiting to be evacuated from the train between Arts-Lois and Maelbeek In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency services and police work around a metro station after an explosion in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Rescue teams evacuate wounded people outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A woman is evacuated in an ambulance by emergency services after a explosion in a main metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A Belgian soldier stands guard outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Belgian police officers stand outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Belgian policemen and a soldier carrying an injured person after an explosion at the Maelbeek Metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A view of the train after the explosion in Maelbeek station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station People receive treatment as emergency services attend the scene after an explosion in a main metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Maelbeek Metro station after an explosion on a train in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Passengers walk on underground metro tracks to be evacuated after an explosion at Maelbeek train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station A victim receives first aid by rescuers, near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Firefighters arrive at the scene near Maalbeek metro station In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency workers arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency rescue workers stretcher an unidentified person at the site of an explosion at a metro station in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Police seal off the area at the scene of a blast outside a metro station in Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency personnel are seen at the scene of a blast outside a metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Emergency personnel are seen at the scene of a blast outside a metro station in Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Belgian police and emergency staff arriving in the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, which has been evacuated after an explosion at the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station Smoke rising from the Maalbeek underground, in Brussels, following a blast at the station close to the capital's European quarter Getty Images In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station People are evacuated from the Schuman station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels metro station The scene outside the Maalbeek underground in Brussels after the explosion

He was using the alias Soufiane Kayal

Laachraoui had been using a fake Belgian identity under the name of Soufiane Kayal. It was this name that was used to rent the house in Auvelais, and it was this identity which was handed to police at the Austria  Hungary border when a Mercedes was stopped and checked on 9 September last year. Laachraoui was in the car with Abdeslam at the time.

He travelled to Syria

Laachraoui is known to have travelled to Syria in 2013. In September 2015 he travelled to Budapest twice with Abdeslamn and Mohamed Belkaid, who was shot and killed in the Belgium raid that saw Abdeslam captured.
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Children in one of Greece's refugee camps have written messages of sorrow and sympathy to those affected by the Brussels attacks.

Photographs taken at the Idomeni camp on the border with Macedonia showed children with messages of support - including "Sorry for Brussels" - written both on their bodies and on cardboard placards.

It comes after three suicide bombs left at least 31 people dead in the Belgian capital.

Many of the refugees at Idomeni from Syria and Iraq are fleeing Isis, the same Islamist terrorist group which claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels.

The Idomeni refugee camp, which sprung up in the village in 2014, is now thought to contain more than 12,000 refugees fleeing the breakdown of their home countries to build a new life in Europe.

Conditions at Idomeni are comparable to "Nazi concentration camps", according to Greek interior minister Panagiotis Kouroublis, following the closure of all borders to refugees in Macedonia.

Two of the Brussels suicide bombers have been named as Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui and a third fugitive being searched for by police has been named as Najim Laachraoui.

The identity of a third suicide bomber caught on CCTV at Brussels airport remains a mystery.
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Four international aid organisations have followed UNHCR in refusing to work in new refugee detention centres on the Greek islands, in protest at the unlawful implementation of the EU-Turkey deal.

Save the Children said it would no longer be providing assistance to refugees at any of the five refugee hotspots it was operating across the Greek islands, due to fears they would now be used to hold migrants for indefinite and unlawful periods of time, since the deal came into force on Sunday.

Recommended Read more More refugees arrive on Greek islands despite new deal with Turkey

The Norwegian Refugee Council also said they would no longer be providing assistance at the Vial registration centre on the island of Chios.

Under the deal, all migrants arriving to the Greek islands will be returned to Turkey, unless they have a successful claim of asylum. The centres on the five Greek islands had previously been open  where refugees could come and go before receiving the required paperwork to leave the island.

Asylum applications, interviews, and assessments could take weeks, or even months, and the result is that asylum-seekers are, and will, be placed in unlawful detention, said Kirsty McNeill, director of policy for Save the Children.

 'Sorry Brussels', say refugees

Their decision followed an announcement the previous day by MSF to suspend its activities in the former registration facility at Moria, on Lesvos, now also a detention centre, citing concerns that Turkey could not be safe place for return.

We dont want to have our role used to help expel people en masse to target in a blatant breach of their human rights, Constance Theisen, MSFs humanitarian affairs officer, said.

Meanwhile the International Rescue Committee echoed the UNHCR in saying it would no longer provide transport for refugees to the Moria facility in protest at its new use.

Recommended Read more Refugee deal sparks chaos on Greek islands

We cannot knowingly participate in the transportation of some of the worlds most vulnerable to a place where their freedom of movement is in question, Panos Navrozidis, the IRCs Greece country director said.

The European Commission has said that, under the deal, asylum seekers will be held in open registration centres, but there has so far been no sign that will be implemented.

A spillover site at the Moria facility packed up, after the last of its residents agreed to enter the detention facility following orders by police.
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The letter addressed to the English teacher began gently enough: You are Ziarmal, son of Mohammed Zaher, from Khvajeh Khan village. After a few meandering sentences it delivered a shatteringly blunt conclusion: The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the military committee have decided to execute you.

It was one of the night letters used by the Taliban to disseminate threats to any Afghan deemed to be an enemy. Government employees, human rights activists, sub-contractors working for foreign companies and even teachers are among the most common recipients.

Last year, after fleeing thousands of miles from his homeland, the teacher who was the target of that death threat made a temporary new home in a leaking UK Aid tent overlooking Athens. Mr Zaher, from Baghlan province, is among thousands of Afghans trapped in one of the states refugee camps  unable to go forward, because Greeces neighbours have closed their borders to them, and too frightened to return.

Recommended Read more Aid groups end activities in Greece over refugee detention centres

Now, he faces a new threat: that the hardening attitude of the European Union to refugees arriving on its shores will end up with Afghans like himself being forcibly returned.

Earlier this month a confidential EU foreign service document came to light discussing a need to begin returning large numbers of Afghans to their home country.

It set out the need for a common definition of safe areas within Afghanistan, to be adopted by all member states when considering asylum claims, and suggested that while as many of 60 per cent of Afghan claims are accepted more than 80,000 persons could potentially need to be returned in the near future.

 Afghan refugees pushed to return home

For Mr Zaher, such a suggestion is chilling. He is clear that he didnt want to leave his homeland behind or end up in the Schisto refugee camp where he is now sheltering, but he had no choice.

Because of the Taliban, Afghanistan became like a tent for me, it was too small, he said. Where could I go, where could I work? Wherever I went, I was in danger.

Mr Zaher, 28, became an English teacher immediately after leaving school and over a period of six years rose to become the head of a small, mixed school in his local village. But from the beginning the Taliban threatened him, insisting he stop educating girls and stop teaching a Western language.

One day, the Taliban came to the school with their guns and searched the school. They asked, What language are you studying? Which book are you teaching to the students and to the girls? And they told me girls arent allowed to come to school. He told them they should take this up with the government, adding: Take your guns and start your wars. Their reply was: Goodbye, we will see you again soon. He is in no doubt what that meant. This was a warning. They were threatening me.

Soon Mr Zaher received his first letter from the Taliban, warning him that if he didnt stop teaching and join them they would kill him. He was reluctant to abandon his profession but his father persuaded him to leave and he found a new career, working as a sub-contracted safety manager for the US Army. But from there his problems only increased.

 Afghan teen refugees fear deportation

The Taliban tracked him down and he received a second letter stating that, as he now worked with Americans, he was an American informant and had been sentenced to death.

The work soon dried up. Mr Zaher found himself jobless and unable to return to his family. But while staying with relatives in Kabul the Taliban caught up with him again. The Taliban called me and said: You ran away from Baghlan and we know you are in Kabul. We have people in Kabul, where can you escape, where can you run to?

The final straw was the murder of his father by the Taliban. Unable to continue life in Afghanistan, Mr Zaher decided to make the 2,000-mile journey to Europe, beginning four months ago and ending up in Greece within the past few weeks. His story is far from unique.

 ISIL suffers setbacks in eastern Afghanistan

Ratib Faqiri, 34 and from Logar province, also found he had little choice but to become a refugee, after working for 10 years as a transport manager for the US logistics company Supreme Group, which subcontracted for the US Army. My job for Supreme was very nice, he said. $1,000 salary a month, which is very good for Afghanistan. I bought two cars. But I sold everything to come [to Europe].

My town was full of the Taliban, and all my neighbours knew I worked with Americans. The Taliban sent me a warning letter and they said: We have seen you with Americans and if you want to live, leave this company.

Recommended Read more Isis and the Taliban are brutally carving up modern Afghanistan

Sometimes I would leave work at 9 or 10 oclock but I was afraid to go home. I would check the time and if it was 10 oclock I would call my wife, and then I would sleep at the office or at the American embassy.

When Supreme Group ended its operations in Afghanistan, Mr Faqiri found himself without work and at greater risk. The Taliban said to me Now this company is gone, if you dont join us, what will happen to you? This was a warning. I was afraid and so I ran away to [Europe]. Only my mother and wife are left in Afghanistan. His journey to Greece also took months.

Of the 148,000 refugees to arrive in Greece in the past three months, more than a quarter are from Afghanistan. Whilst originally accepted as refugees, Afghans are increasingly being seen as economic migrants fleeing poverty, rather than war or persecution, and therefore not afforded the same rights and protection as refugees.

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Austria, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia have all closed their borders to Afghans. As a result, many thousands now find themselves trapped. Greeces own asylum system is dramatically understaffed and unable to process the huge number of asylum claims being lodged. It can take years for a decision.

The leaked EU document is seen by many as a threat to their safety. I thought in Europe there would be respect for me, but there is no respect for Afghans, said Mr Zaher.

He finds the notion that Afghanistan is safe and so Afghans are merely economic migrants insulting. This is the wrong opinion of Afghan people, that they come to Europe only for work, he said. Yes, I want to work, yes, I want to earn money, but Id rather have a job in Afghanistan  it would be better for me. But I cant go there, I am in danger. I am not an economic migrant!

With all borders out of Greece now closed to Afghans, the options for them are bleak. Either exploit the smugglers routes over the mountains into Macedonia, a route that is both expensive and dangerous, accept voluntary repatriation to an unstable Afghanistan, or remain in limbo.

Mr Zaher realises that ultimately his fate is not up to him. We dont know what to do now. We are confused, he says. What we should do? Where do we go? Albania? Turkey? Afghanistan? We dont know. This choice belongs to the European countries. Whatever decisions they make decides my future.
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As news emerged of explosions in Brussels on Tuesday morning, terror experts across Europe could mostly agree at least on one prediction: This will not be the last attack.

After the July 7 bombings in London in 2005, Europe and Britain in particular were prepared for terrorism to become the new normal on the continent. That fear did not materialize  until recently. As the frequency of attacks in Western Europe has risen, so has the number of casualties.

Peter Neumann, a researcher who focuses on Islamist terrorism, has been particularly vocal about warning that Europe may have to accept the fact that terror attacks could become increasingly common.

"Whatever arrests will be made in the coming days  we should not assume that the threat will consequentially be over," Neumann told the German TV channel ZDF. "It's a risk which will accompany us for years if not a generation. To a certain extent we will have to get used to a constant terror threat, just like Israelis have done."

 From Paris to Brussels - Terror Timeline

European newspaper front pages on Wednesday reflected such sentiments, implying that Tuesday's attacks may become part of a long chronology of attacks  with more still to come. "Stay strong," Belgian daily Le Soir's headline read. French newspaper "Liberation" simply wrote "Brussels. 22 March 2016."

There are several factors which could explain why Europe's terror threat has kept rising rapidly in recent months. Isis's sudden rise and a slow response by European security agencies allowed thousands of homegrown radicals to travel to Syria and Iraq. Many of them have since returned  some without ever being registered, questioned, or sentenced to jail.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Europe has been slow to respond, partially because the Schengen treaty which allows freedom of movements within much of the continent. But intelligence sharing between various agencies has also caused headaches. Even today, Europe lacks a joint database for Isis fighters.

Former French intelligence chief Alain Chouet told the New York Times that information was rarely passed on  among other obstacles. "We even didnt agree on the translations of peoples names that are in Arabic or Cyrillic, so if someone comes into Europe through Estonia or Denmark, maybe thats not how we register them in France or Spain," said Chouet.

Apart from that, standards for counter-radicalization programs in Europe differ dramatically: Whereas Britain's Channel program for individuals vulnerable of being radicalized is considered a leader of its kind, some other large European Union member states still lack national equivalents.

 Monuments pay tribute to Brussels

Such difficulties have made it easier for terror groups like the Isis to plan attacks with the declared goal of raising the number of Western recruits and creating societal tensions within Europe. That is why an increasing number of experts have urged Europeans to fight radical extremism  but to also acknowledge that not all attacks will be stopped.

"Everyone knew it would happen. And today it happened," a participant in a Brussels memorial on Place de la Bourse was quoted as saying by the TV channel RTL on Tuesday evening.

"The attacks were predictable," he said, waving a Belgian flag to commemorate the victims.

 Washington Post
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Isis has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, The Associated Press has learned.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West.

Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Paris attacks claimed to have entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Show all 27 1 /27 Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels. Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris Getty Images Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels AP Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims Brussels tributes Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange AP

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks  this time for a man seen on security footage in the airport with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders

"Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: So what if he was arrested? 'We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,"' said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Salah Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Isis fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Ms Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

"The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening," she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but he'd signed up as an Isissuicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, Isis described a "secret cell of soldiers" dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks."

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving IS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

"The difference is that in 2014, some of these IS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training," he said. "Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now."

 Shocking attacks in Belgium

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but Isis has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these "external operation" units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the IS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

"This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria."

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

"To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape," said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Mr Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

"Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days," Mr Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be a Brussels resident with a degree in mechanical engineering  the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material, although Laachraoui has not been publicly linked to the latest attack.

And Laachraoui, like the unidentified man seen wearing a white jersey at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.

Associated Press
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Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are poised to claim a symbolic victory by retaking the ancient city of Palmyra from Isis.

The jihadist group horrified the world by seizing the Unesco world heritage site last May and proceeding to blow up some of its most treasured monuments.

With the help of Russian air strikes and fighters from the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, Syrian government forces are said to be just over a mile from the town.

In Lebanon, Hezbollahs television station broadcast footage purportedly showing troops advancing in a single file through the desert landscape that surrounds the city. Helicopter gunships buzzed overhead.

God willing, within a few hours we will enter and secure the town, one officer told the Syrian channel Ikhbariya TV, as soldiers chanted in support of President Assad. The station was broadcasting live from a road reportedly on the outskirts of Palmyra, which is known as Tadmur in Arabic.

Among Syrians, the city is perhaps most notorious for Tadmur prison, where thousands of critics of the current president and his father Hafez al-Assad have been imprisoned during the four decades of their combined rule.

 Palmyra temple destroyed

After seizing the city, Isis performed a series of stunts designed to gain maximum attention in the West. It destroyed many of the citys Roman relics, including the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and Arch of Triumph.

The group beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, an 82-year-old scholar and expert on the historic site, and strung up his mutilated body in the main square, allegedly because he refused to reveal the location of hidden antiquities. It killed dozens of Syrian soldiers and dissidents, using the Roman amphitheatre as a grim backdrop.

The offensive came as US Secretary of State John Kerry travelled to Moscow in the hope of securing a breakthrough in efforts to end the war in Syria, which has killed at least 270,000 people and forced 11 million from their homes. Russias President Vladimir Putin announced last week that his military intervention in Syria had achieved its goals and promised a partial withdrawal of his troops from the country.

However, the decision, which came as a fresh round of peace talks got underway in Geneva, has not delivered the immediate pressure on President Assad that Western diplomats had hoped to see.

UN led talks have crawled along at a painfully slow pace, with the Syrian government delegation refusing to discuss the central issue of a peaceful political transition.

On Thursday, Mr Kerry is scheduled to meet President Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in the hope of tackling the question of Mr Assads future.

Collaboration between Washington and Moscow delivered a ceasefire agreement that has defied expectations by significantly reducing the level of violence in the country.

The truce excludes the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra as well as Isis and has allowed pro-government troops to press on with offensives such as the one in Palmyra. Mr Putin has also made clear that Russian support for assaults on those groups will continue.
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A Turkish gold trader at the centre of a corruption scandal that engulfed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been arrested in Miami and charged with laundering millions of dollars.

Reza Zarrab, also known by the name Riza Sarraf, was accused in 2013 of bribing senior ministers from Turkeys ruling party with cash and lavish gifts as part of a scheme to bypass US sanctions on Iran.

On Saturday, the 33-year-old was arrested while on holiday in Florida with his wife and daughter. The arrest was made public late on Monday night when US prosecutors unsealed an indictment that charged him with fraud, money-laundering and sanctions-busting.

The arrest threatens to reopen a case that reached right into Mr Erdogans inner circle and to tarnish the party that he founded. It will also deepen existing tensions between Turkey and the United States. The US attorney in charge of prosecuting the case, Preet Bharara, became an overnight sensation after tweeting that Mr Zarrab would soon face American justice in a Manhattan courtroom.

Mr Bharara was bombarded with messages of support from Turkey, where opponents of the government have increasingly turned to social media in the face of a crackdown on critical news outlets. Mr Zarrab, an Iranian-born Turkish citizen, was detained and charged in Istanbul in 2013 in a huge corruption case that posed the biggest challenge to Mr Erdogan, the man who has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade as Prime Minister and then as President.

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Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The allegations centred on a claim that Mr Zarrab was using a loophole in US sanctions on Iran to buy oil and gas in exchange for gold. The businessman, who owns a private jet and is married to a Turkish pop star, was accused of bribing senior ministers in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in order to facilitate the transfers.

The gifts were said to include a $37,000 piano, a $350,000 watch and millions of dollars in cash. Mr Zarrab was allegedly able to call in favours from ministers that ranged from the release of an impounded plane to a request for a police escort to help him escape Istanbuls notorious traffic jams.

The allegations exploded into the public domain in December 2013 with a string of high-profile arrests. Three cabinet ministers resigned after their sons were implicated. Mr Erdogan decried the investigation as an attempt to overthrow his government by supporters of his ally-turned-enemy, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. He ordered a huge purge of police, prosecutors and judges. All charges against Mr Zarrab and those linked to the government were dropped. Mr Erdogan later described the businessman as a philanthropist whose work had contributed to the country.

Lawyers for Mr Zarrab said that the US investigation had absolutely no link with the 2013 scandal. Mr Zarrab has not yet entered a plea. His lawyer told the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet that the latest accusations against him can all be explained. He is next due in court at the start of April.

The indictment accuses Mr Zarrab of using a global web of firms to hide the fact he was conducting transitions for or on behalf of Iranian entities.

Mr Bharara has earned a name for himself as someone willing to tackle the big beasts of Wall Street, as well as corrupt politicians. The backlash against him began within hours of the announcement of Mr Zarrabs arrest. The pro-government newspaper Sabah used Twitter to share a doctored photograph that supposedly showed him collecting an award from a charity linked to Mr Gulen, the Presidents arch-foe.

Recommended Read more Turkish president wants to be able to label journalists as terrorists

Ryan Gingeras, an academic who has written a book on organised crime in Turkey, said that American prosecutors undoubtedly understood the political stakes. The indictment alone will raise tensions between Ankara and Washington, he said.

Nigel Kushner, an expert on Iranian sanctions at the firm W Legal, expected US authorities to seek to prosecute the widest possible network of offenders. In these types of situations, one or two whistleblowers will likely play ball in order to obtain reduced sentences or fines, he said. This will give the US authorities the evidence to help pursue others. The US will want to send a powerful message. This will likely not be limited in scope.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), predicted that all the dirty laundry will come out. He said: Many people wont sleep a wink tonight.
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Watching David Cameron tear Jeremy Corbyn apart in the House of Commons is reinforcing the brash confidence of Conservative MPs that the 2020 general election is as good as won. Some despairing Labour MPs agree. If Labour really has lost the will to win, when the Conservatives hold their next leadership election, they will be choosing someone who could be prime minister until 2025 or beyond.

Under current party rules, Conservative MPs will whittle down the list of contenders to a shortlist of two, handing the final choice to the party membership. Until just over a week ago, it seemed self-evident that those two names would be George Osborne and Boris Johnson.

The Chancellor was what might be called the Establishment choice. He could expect to have the larger number of MPs behind him. His selling point would be reliability. Boris Johnsons would be showmanship, and while his support in Parliament might look shaky, he could reasonably hope that the huge gamble he took by joining the Leave campaign would be rewarded by a predominantly anti-EU membership.

But how that has changed in one extraordinary week. Mr Osborne has suffered a humiliation unmatched by any chancellor in recent memory in being forced to renounce a major part of his Budget only 48 hours after delivering it. Though his Tory colleagues turned out to support him on 22 March, and the following day Mr Cameron praised him for having delivered the fastest-growing economy in the G7, there is no question but that he is seriously damaged.

And at a time when Boris Johnson ought to be motoring ahead in the leadership scramble, several of his recent appearances, particularly one yesterday before the Commons Treasury Committee, have shone a light on his inconsistency and the joviality which can give the impression that he is not serious.

There arent any good economic arguments for staying in the European Union, he told his startled audience yesterday. Yet as recently as February he was writing in The Daily Telegraph that the single market is of considerable value to many UK companies and consumers.

Less than two weeks ago he declared: We can strike a deal as the Canadians have done. Yesterday he said: I dont want to imitate the Canadian deal. In October he was totally in favour of people being able to make their lives in another country. Yesterday he blamed uncontrolled immigration from the EU for driving down wages. The Treasury Committees Tory chairman, Andrew Tyrie, accused him of presenting a very partial, busking really, humoresque approach to a very serious question.

With the two biggest beasts licking their self-inflicted wounds, others lurk in the bush. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, is the most successful female Conservative politician since Margaret Thatcher. The Business Secretary Sajid Javid and the recently promoted Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb have good back stories. The Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has not ruled herself out, either. And if those campaigning to leave the EU band together to get one of their own on the shortlist, there is the Justice Secretary Michael Gove, the Employment Secretary Priti Patel, or the former Defence Secretary Liam Fox to choose from.

We dont yet know when the leadership race will begin in earnest; Mr Cameron does not look like someone in a hurry to go. He may have decided that the Conservatives would maximise their chance of success by entering the 2020 election under a brand new leader, but there is time for a new favourite to emerge.
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Isis was quick to claim responsibility for bombings at two major transportation hubs in Brussels on Tuesday that left at least 30 people dead.

With attacks like these, the group is seeking to sow fear among its enemies, maintain itself as the forerunner in the global jihadi brand war with al-Qaeda, and maintain the veneer of organisational vigour and vitalism it established with its stunning victories in Syria and Iraq in 2014.

But while the Brussels bombings may have wreaked carnage, they have failed to replicate Isis' triumphalism of 2014. Although not an intuitive conclusion, the attacks are in reality indicative of the groups growing decline and desperation.

The imperative of now

Motivations behind the bombings are likely to be found in the tactical and strategic strains currently being exerted on Isis and its wider global network.

The recent arrest of Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam in Brussels was likely seen as an existential threat to Isis-linked cells inside Belgium. The perception of a breach may have driven planners to accelerate operations, for fear that the European authorities could employ critical intelligence gained from Abdeslam to disrupt future attacks.

Recommended Read more Our reaction to the Brussels bombings versus Ankara is worrying

Such a ticking clock may explain why the terrorists opted for a crude dual-bombing in place of a more sophisticated and co-ordinated hybrid assault similar to that undertaken in Paris in late 2015.

At a broader level, the attacks may also be linked to the immense pressures placed on Isis by an array of local, regional and international actors. Collectively, the actions of Russia, the US, Iran, Turkey and many other players have translated into a loss of around one-quarter of the groups territory over the last year.

Kurdish and Iranian-backed Shi'a militias have, in many cases, actively routed the group from its territorial holdings over the last year. Thanks to Iranian and Russian backing, the Syrian army is also exerting increasing pressure on Isis. The Syrian army has made recent advances in areas such as Tabqa and Palmyra, signalling a significant shift in the regimes willingness and capacity to combat Isis.

All this has served to dispel much of Isis mystique and the viability of its mission. In 2014, the groups emir, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, could point to Isis many and exceptional successes to make the case that it was clearly on track to establishing its Islamist utopian ideal. Such apparent evidence in turn allowed the group to garner legitimacy, support, and recruit new members.

Today, such successes are few and far between. Some are now questioning whether Isis will even be a significant insurgent player in the Syrian conflict by 2017.

Terror, weakness and desperation

As Isis stunned the world with its blitzkrieg across eastern Iraq in 2014, there was little need for it to conduct attacks outside the Middle East. Its apparent success and superiority over its local rivals was more than enough to draw large amounts of external support and recruits for its cause.

But as Isis has weakened over the past two years, its popularity and freedom of action have become increasingly constrained within its immediacy. In such circumstances, insurgent groups often seek to strike outside their own borders as both a punitive measure and a demonstration of strength to potential supporters.

Recommended Read more The Brussels attacks expose the failures of Belgian society

This was precisely Somalian terrorist group al-Shabaabs logic when it assaulted Kenyas Westgate mall in 2013. This story echoes much of what Isis is experiencing now.

Under increasing pressure from an African Union occupation force that included large contingents from the Kenyan army, al-Shabaab found itself pushed from its seat of power in Mogadishu into Somalias south. Unable to mount a serious offensive on the occupiers, the group opted to strike in Kenya itself. This sent a message that Kenya could not expect to safeguard its own territory as long as it engaged in such perilous dalliances abroad.

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man carries an injured person in Brussels Airport, after explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Travellers get to their feet in a smoke filled terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man speaks on a mobile phone in Brussels Airport, after the explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A police officer stands guard as people are evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People stand near Brussels airport after being evacuated following explosions that rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after an attack in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers gather near Brussels airport in Zaventem, following its evacuation after blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People are evacuated from the scene after two explosions were heard at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Brussels Airport after evacuation In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the airport area after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers comfort each other as they are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People react as they walk away from Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services attend the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Injured people at the scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Zaventem airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A view of the scene after the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The view of the Brussels airport after the explosion PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport Getty Images

As pressure has grown on Isis, it has become increasingly inclined toward this strategy  from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon to Turkey to France, and now Belgium.

We can only expect more such attacks as Isis continues to decline and lash out. Some will invariably foil the various security establishments arrayed against them.

But, it is crucial to remember that this type of terrorism is aimed atsowing discord, chaos, suspicion and divisiveness among the multicultural societies it targets. In doing so, IS is seeking to create the conditions in which its message finds more willing supporters among those disenfranchised by such division.

This article first appeared in The Conversation
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Some years ago, when I was just about to cross the threshold from my 20s into my 30s, I started working with a young woman who proclaimed herself not a feminist. I was surprised. Why would a young woman entering a male-dominated industry define herself as anything but a feminist? Her answer seemed promising, but was in fact rather telling: at her stage in life, men and women were indeed equal. They had an equal shot at the jobs and an equal pay packet in return for securing them. The gulf between men and women at work doesnt emerge until a few years later.

And, lo, a few years later she told me she had been wrong. By this time she had reached her own late 20s, and had witnessed the trajectory of her slightly older female colleagues careers plateau while the men rocketed skyward. The young men to whom shed been a contemporary had been promoted faster and championed more aggressively. The motherhood penalty begins long before a woman has children  and regardless of whether she wants them or not. At its worst, its not only regressive but dangerous.

According to research published this week, three quarters of pregnant women and new mothers experience discrimination at work. Seven in 10 bosses say a woman should have to declare whether shes pregnant when applying for a job, and one in four  a quarter of British businesses, that is  say they should be able to ask if a woman is planning to become pregnant. To do so, let us not forget, is illegal.

Recommended Read more This is the list of astonishing successes the EU achieved

It goes on: one in 10 is discouraged by their employer to attend antenatal health checks, a practice that can threaten the health of the mother and unborn child; one in nine lose their job as a result of having a child. With more new fathers taking extended paternity leave, these practices should be long dead. But theyre flourishing: the percentage of woman who report discrimination related to pregnancy or motherhood is dramatically up from only 45 per cent a decade ago. No wonder the birth rate is on the decline.

That this is unacceptable in modern Britain, as Caroline Waters, deputy chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which was responsible for the study, said yesterday, is in no doubt, but the solution leaves a lot to be desired. These attitudes amount to a collective writing-off of hundreds of thousands of working women as bored mums desperate to be at home or broody potential parents just waiting to get knocked up. And, in response, all weve got is a toothless select committee inquiry, which will take months to hear evidence on womens experiences when their voices are already deafening. A report will follow, making recommendations that will be quietly shelved due to the latest priority of a fickle government (whatever its stripes).

The law as it stands is not working. Employers are ignoring it, and employees are too frightened to use it. Cuts to legal aid mean its hard, even in a case of discrimination, for women to find representation if they wish to launch a case. The sheer stress of such a move  on top of being a new parent, mind  puts most people off; they need an income, and they dont want to be marked out as a troublemaker. Countless managers break these rules daily and yet they feel no consequences.

Waiting for government to act is a futile exercise. Perhaps women should fight back themselves? Naming and shaming those organisations who failed to pay the minimum wage (admittedly with government help) is leading to a change in attitudes and standards, and the same could be done here. Social media platforms make it easier than ever to share stories of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, anonymously and with the benefit of warning other women away from hostile working environments. A central database sharing evidence about good and bad practice, just like those that compare salaries anonymously, could be compiled. For until employers feel the consequence of their illegal actions, the motherhood penalty will be paid by us all.
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Everything about the referendum campaign so far has been dispiriting. The Brexiteers, with gleeful support from much of the media, continue to peddle their myths about the costs and iniquities of the European Union. The analysis is all about what they inflict upon us, and what we are failing to wrestle back from their corrupt, sclerotic fingers. The InFacts.org website is doing impressive work exposing the falsehoods and distortions, but there is no let up.

On the other side, there is overwhelming support for Remain  from the business, educational, scientific, military and security communities (including Nato), young people, the political party leaders  even world leaders, for heavens sake  yet the outcome is still in the balance. How is this possible? Partly, its explained by a general revolt in Europe against trusted elites (mirroring the Trump phenomenon in the United States). The lure of Brexit also reflects the parlous state of the EU itself, and the sense that it is spinning out of control.

Europes travails have triggered a fear of contagion, and an illusory belief that Britain might insulate itself from danger if only it could take back control. This week brought a tragic example. After the bombings in Brussels, the reaction of swashbuckling Brexiteer Allison Pearson on Twitter  at once inappropriate and utterly illogical  was to say and Remainers dare to say were safer in the EU. And that chant has now been taken up with enthusiasm by the whole Ukip claque.

Brexiteers tend to be passionate about their cause, which they mistake as a patriotic one. Most of those making the case for Europe, by contrast, are lukewarm  motivated more by fear than enthusiasm. Remember WB Yeats? The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity.

I have no doubt that Britain would be poorer and less secure outside the EU. But that is not what will drive my own vote.

My vote will reflect my conviction that the European Union has been one of the great achievements of my lifetime, and that we would be fools to squander it. The world wars of the 20th century were the culmination of centuries of bloodshed, as the nations jockeyed for supremacy. The European Union was conceived to break the destructive cycle, recognising the independence of the separate nations, but also seeking to represent common interests through common democratic institutions.

And the experiment has been an astonishing success. It cemented democracy and market economies in Greece, Spain and Portugal after their dictatorships. It provided the basis for economic growth in Western Europe, including economies such as Irelands and Portugals that had been very backward. It eliminated debilitating border obstacles all over Europe: we forget that before the introduction of the Single Administrative Document, a lorry needed 70 different forms and stamps to travel from UK to Italy. It established the freedom to travel, live and work freely throughout the Union. It provided an anchor for the countries emerging from Soviet dictatorship. It provides (still) the basis for stability in the Balkans  the ambition to join the EU is what restrains destructive nationalism in Serbia, and the Serbia/Kosovo Agreement, brokered by the EU, still holds.

Above all, perhaps, the EU has been a pillar of rules-based, democratic, liberal market internationalism and human rights  which is why Vladimir Putin would be so delighted if Britain pulled out, and why Russia gives financial support to parties such as Frances Front National.

Of course there is much that is wrong with the EU. The euro project has gone very badly awry. The migrant crisis is imposing unprecedented pressures. But we should surely be facing such problems in a spirit of generosity and solidarity  both with our partners, and with wretched refugees and resourceful economic migrants who had the misfortune not to be born, as we were, in safe, rich, well-governed democracies. There must be a better course than to return to the dark days of barbed wire, border posts and mutual suspicion across our continent.

I have just been rereading the prescient article on the United States of Europe that Winston Churchill wrote for The Saturday Evening Post in February 1930:

Nationalism throughout Europe, for all its unconquerable explosive force, he wrote, has already found, and will find, its victorious realisation at once unsatisfying and uncomfortable. More than any other world movement, it is fated to find victory bitter.

He was right  as the subsequent world war was to prove. At that time, in the early 1930s, Churchill saw a different destiny for Britain, as an imperial power. But he came to support our application for membership of the new European institutions  and he would have had no truck with the Brexiteers quasi-religious veneration of theoretical sovereignty. As he said in the House of Commons in 1950, in response to the Schuman Declaration which launched the whole EU project:

We are prepared to consider and, if convinced, to accept the abrogation of national sovereignty, provided that we are satisfied with the conditions and the safeguards  national sovereignty is not inviolable, and it may be resolutely diminished for the sake of all men in all the lands finding their way home together.

I would be delighted if voters in June could show that sort of Churchillian resolution.
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The Donald has once again reared his head, this time in an interview with Piers Morgan on ITVs Good Morning Britain. After being called out last year for his lie about no-go areas in the UK by the Chief of the Police, he claimed today that Muslims are sheltering terrorists and not reporting suspected terror cases to the police.

The problem with Donald Trump - other than the fact that his statements on Muslims seem to be a classic case of political fear-mongering: conflating issues of terrorism, criminality, refugees and migration to gain votes with no regard to its consequences - is that he seems to makes claims based on very little real evidence.

 Trump says British Muslims are absolutely not reporting suspected terrorists

Lets break this down into some simple questions and answers: do British Muslims condemn terrorism? Do British Muslims report terrorism when they see it? Can British Muslim communities do more?

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Do British Muslims condemn terrorism?

If you find yourself asking this question, you may have failed to look for the answer. Muslim communities across the UK have and will continue to condemn terrorism unequivocally. See, for example, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) website for a list of such statements. In fact, the MCB even issued a full page advert in the Daily Telegraph to underscore this point.

Recommended Read more Brussels attacks show just how desperate Isis has become

It is also important to ask why Muslims should be confronted on the street, as seems to have happened in Croydon, to explain Brussels. Many Muslims wonder why they should have to respond on behalf of the acts of murderers in other parts of the world.

Do British Muslims report terrorism when they see it?

According to Neil Basu, a senior counter-terrorism officer on BBC Radio 4, Donald Trump is wrong when he asserts that Muslims are not reporting enough. Richard Walton, the Scotland Yards former anti-terror chief actually praised Muslims in London for coming forward to help the fight against extremism, explaining how we have had increasing support from the Muslim community. The National Police Chiefs Council states that there have been hundreds of tip-offs directly from the community or faith leaders in the last six months. And according to a BBC Comres poll, 94 per cent of British Muslims said that if someone they knew from the Muslim community was planning an act of violence, they would report them to the police.

Recommended Read more Our reaction to the Brussels bombings versus Ankara is worrying

We have to face that challenges remain: how can we know that someone is a terrorist? We know that the Paris attackers and the people who were arrested last week drank, smoked and owned bars. We know that these individuals operate on the fringes of society and online  how do mosques find out about these small number of individuals?

Can British Muslim communities do more?

Almost definitely. As can we all. We should all work harder to build stronger communities, to reach out to those outside society and to challenge criminality where we see it.
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When the Brussels airport suicide bombers woke up on Tuesday morning they were confident of three things. When they took their bombs by taxi to the check-in zone, they would face no obstacles. They would find the area crowded with passengers checking in for Philadelphia and beyond. And they could, therefore, expect to murder many innocent strangers and chalk up another victory for jihadism, spreading fear and suspicion at the heart of Europe.

Airports are the most visible symbols of the freedom to travel, which is why the attack at the Brussels airport terminal has a higher profile than the even bloodier Metro bombing this week. They are naturally cosmopolitan places thronging with a diversity of people with luggage. From a terrorists perspective, this signifies both an opportunity and a target.

Recommended Read more Muslims like me are asked the same questions after terrorist attacks

While officials at the entrances of stores, theatres and cultural attractions around Europe routinely search visitors bags and backpacks, transport hubs are largely immune to this extra layer of personal scrutiny. Bringing guns or explosives into a crowded, confined airport is all too easy.

Just 12 hours before the attack in Brussels on Tuesday, I arrived at Munich airport for a flight to London. I went straight to the passport and security checkpoint, where I queued for around 20 minutes along with perhaps 60 other passengers. The following morning, I imagine we all realised how vulnerable we had been at that moment.

As the weak spot of aviation security comes under scrutiny, with demands for additional checks at the entrance to airport terminals, airport managers were quick to respond. Additional security measures such as checks on persons and goods entering airport landside spaces could be disruptive and actually create new security vulnerabilities, said a spokesman for ACI Europe, the airports' trade association. By displacing the gathering of passengers and airport visitors to spaces not designed for that purpose, such measures would essentially be moving the target rather than securing it.

 Video shows immediate aftermath inside Brussels airport terminal

A cynical traveller would say that the airports see a threat to their earnings from landside shops and restaurants. But it is true to say that aviation security generates more than its fair share of unintended consequences.

In July 2014, Homeland Security in Washington DC ordered enhanced security measures in the coming days at certain overseas airports with direct flights to the United States. The immediate effect at Manchester airport was to create implausibly long queues. Individual travellers took the rational decision to show up hours early to reduce the risk of missing their flights, which collectively created massive crowds and presented a tempting target for terrorists.

The answer lies in smarter management of passenger flows, especially at the security checkpoint. The two variables are the number of channels that are staffed, and the rate at which passengers arrive. The first is within the control of the airport, the second is not. But it could be.

Recommended Read more Brussels attacks show just how desperate Isis has become

At Montreal airport, passengers are tempted by an offer to book your priority passage through security. Free service. The deal is this: if you undertake to reach the security checkpoint at a specified time - determined by the airport - you are guaranteed fast-track service. Queue-jumping works for the airport because it can regulate the flow of passengers and deploy staff appropriately, while every passenger would love to speed through security - and not hang around for ages in an uncontrolled area.

When I tried the service, I was given a civilised slot 75 minutes before the departure of flight BA94 for Heathrow. All I had to do was time my run.

Agreed, such a system might not work perfectly in Britain, given the vagaries of motorway congestion and public transport - but it is still better than the anarchic model we currently have. And unless the whole aviation community gets smart, then the politicians will come wading in with all manner of unexpected consequences.
Once again nature has demonstrated the huge difference between theory and practice as far as farming is concerned. When conditions are not right, as was the case up until last week most of what the "experts" say goes straight out the window. The secret I guess is to make the best of whatever conditions nature sends our way.

Luckily for me the current fine spell arrived just in time. With my supply of silage running low, getting two pens of cattle out in mid March was a great bonus - however it will be some time before I forget the miserable few months which we have just experienced.

I suppose what I found most frustrating was waiting week after week for the ground to dry. I rely on slurry a great deal as fertiliser for silage, but just when the ground appeared to be drying out, the rain would return again.

Eventually I did succeed in getting my tanks half empty but it was quite a battle. Unfortunately when the fine weather eventually arrived it was too late to spread lime on the grazing fields.

While I was feeding my cattle on some of those miserably wet mornings I couldn't but feel very glad for the major advances in farm mechanisation.

Sitting in the air-conditioned cab of my 10-year-old tractor (1- years means "new" as far as cattle farmers are concerned) feeding the cattle in the slatted shed, I thought of the hardship endured by farmers down through the years.

Feeding bales of hay to cattle sheltering behind ditches and hedges as the sleet and rain poured down wasn't very pleasant. Before that it was a case of having to tackle-up a horse and dray car and load it with loose hay which doesn't sound that appealing either.

In spite of all these advances we still have plenty to worry about. Concern continues to grow amongst beef finishers that this year could turn out to be a disaster. Interestingly in-spite of the disappointing prices being paid for beef, the trade for replacement cattle remains very firm.

Even though I continue to survive with cattle farming as my sole income, I have often found the cattle business to be little more than a glorified lottery, however there are some basic truths which never seem to change.

When you're buying-in stock you are always competing with a ringside full of potential buyers. On the other hand when it comes to selling your finished animals, in the absence of a live export trade there are only a small handful of processors to whom you can sell your stock and they decide the price they will give you.

In what appears to have become an annual ritual these processors are perhaps justifiably accused of not paying enough for our beef cattle, however rather than blaming them for everything, a cattle finisher could look a little closer to home.

For instance controlling input costs and the price they pay for fancy type store cattle might be a good place to start.

Of course we all know that when you go out to buy cattle you cannot dictate the price you pay. You may feel that it's total madness, but you have little choice but give whatever price the market dictates on that particular day.

Emotional state

But what are the main factors which dictate the price which I and other cattle farmers pay?

Aside from the panic buying with seems to occur each spring when grass starts to grow, confidence or lack of confidence can be a major issue. When the price of beef rises everybody seems to be out buying stores. On the other hand in a falling beef market, even at far lower prices, buyers for store cattle can be few and far between.

Last year the value of sterling had a huge effect on the price of cattle. While it may have had a positive effect on the price paid by the processors, we must not forget it also affected the price of store cattle. At the moment farmers are quite right to be very concerned about the likely consequences which a reversal in the value of sterling could have on their profit margins this year.

There is also a very interesting psychological side to buying at an auction.

An article published in the Harvard Business Review titled 'When Winning is Everything' highlights an adrenaline-fuelled emotional state called "competitive arousal".

This is the single-minded pursuit of victory which can blind a person to the true costs of a deal. The article also argues that the presence of an audience at an auction, particularly one that's highly engaged such as at a mart, increases this psychological arousal.

It's only fair to expect that farmers like all other business people are not immune to this phenomenon.

How many times have we seen two buyers get "stuck" into each other and set what is probably a record price for the 'nice type' of a bullock which they both fancy.

The reality is that the real consequence of a glorious "win in the ring" is a much reduced profit margin. After all every extra euro paid for a bullock is a euro less in profit at the end of the year

The only certainty however is that human nature guarantees that this is a phenomenon which will never change and thank God for that I can hear people who sell store cattle, saying.

As if to highlight how really strange the beef business is, during a recent episode of UTV's farming programme Rare Breed - A Farming Year, a beef tasting trial carried out in a fashionable Dublin restaurant found that beef from a Friesian animal came in ahead of meat from both Angus and Hereford animals.

If you excuse the terrible pun it really would give you food for thought!

John Heney farms at Kilfeacle, Co Tipperary
Dairy farmers are being urged to budget for a milk price of 28c/l over the next five years.

And Teagasc expert John Donworth says the expectations are that the milk price for 2016 will mirror the low milk price of 2009, hovering at around 23 or 24c/l.

"In 2009 it turned around quickly but I don't expect any turnaround until next year," said the Teagasc regional manager for Kerry and Limerick.

Teagasc is advising farmers to budget for 28c/l over the next five years in the hopes that the price trough this year would be offset by future rises.

However, he warned there were stark differences in earnings between the top third and the average producer.

"There is a gap in the milk price of around 3c/l between those who are doing things right and the average co-op supplier. That works out at around 150 a cow - which is enough for a decent repayment," he said.

Cork-based agricultural consultant Mike Brady said his company was working off a price of 26c/l for 2016 and an average 30c/l base price for the following four years.

"You'd nearly need a PhD to work out the milk price at the moment as there are so many different co-ops, winter milk prices and fixed price schemes," he said. "It is the human bit that is important - can a farmer take the heat if the pressure comes on."

Credit crunch

Mr Brady said he had expected a credit crunch this spring but the milk price did not slump as much as expected.

He added that major cashflow difficulties may not emerge until early 2017, following 12 months of low prices.

This sentiment was echoed by the banks, as AIB's Pat O'Meara said they were reviewing the short-term price but were working off a 30c/l base price over the five years. "We are not seeing as much requests for support as we would have expected," said Mr O'Meara.

However, he said with lower prices farmers may not be able to build up a "buffer zone" for year end and early 2017.

Bank of Ireland's Sean Farrell said they were working off an estimated average milk price of 30c/l and they feel the price will recover but it will be very late this year.

He said they haven't seen signs of serious difficulties yet but farmers may feel pressure when the March milk cheque lands in April with low solids.

Mr Farrell urged farmers to contact them if they think they are going to have financial difficulties in advance and there were options such as overdrafts, stocking loans or changes to repayments.

Mr Brady urged farmers not to cut back on the essentials such as fertiliser and proper feeding of cows.

Talk of cutting back on vaccinations to save costs was "reckless", he added.
We are in grave danger from the imminent arrival of a bewildering new range of pests and diseases. Year round rises in temperature have already facilitated an increase in the numbers of insects that prey on our trees.

The Pine weevil for example will consume five times more bark at 20C as opposed to 10C. Likewise, the Leaf miner moth which arrived in Ireland in 2014 thrives on warmer climates. The Pine processionary moth similarly prospers in milder climes as do a host of others but perhaps the biggest threat to forestry may be from future storms.

These were just some of the issues raised during a recent conference held at Farmleigh House where Coillte brought together national and international forestry and environmental experts to discuss the threats posed by climate change.

The frequent storms and serious flood damage that are now part of a normal Irish winter make tackling climate change a matter of urgency. But first agreement has to be reached on what specific actions to take.

The facts relating to global warming are quite scary but at least international agreement has now been reached towards making some attempt to cooperate in dealing with the issue.

It is well known that forestry can play a large part in reducing our carbon emissions, but perhaps less well known is the massive difference timber use can make. For instance, replacing one cubic metre of concrete or red brick with the same volume of timber can save one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions.

Amazing technological developments have also taken place in the ways we now make use of wood and laminated timber products are being used for the construction of buildings like skyscrapers throughout the world.

These laminated sections have a strength that surpasses steel and given their inherent flexibility, their use can make buildings much safer in areas at risk such as earthquake zones than those constructed traditionally. Modern timber buildings are surprisingly fire resistant and overall safer than conventionally built structures as well as having excellent energy saving properties. On average, building a house in timber instead of brick reduces total carbon emissions by 10 tonnes.

A nine-storey building containing 29 apartments for mixed residential use was recently built, entirely of timber, in only seven weeks in Hackney, London. Examples like this can be found in major cities worldwide, but of course this leads us back to urgent need for more trees.

In Ireland, over a million hectares of land with limited value for agriculture could be planted for forestry but until Irish landowners make the change from more traditional farming practices, this land will in essence lie underused and wasted. Creating more forests will only happen if the land availability problem is solved.

If we can plant 8,000 ha per annum, we will sequester 3.4-4.4 million tonnes of CO2 per annum and that is before the biomass and forest products benefits are taken in to account.

The overall message from the conference was quite simple. More trees are needed worldwide but especially in Ireland where we import so much of the biomass required for power generation and alternative heating systems.

Reading through the presentations at the Farmleigh conference encouraged me to study further and it was quite startling to discover just how long the threats of environmental destruction have been known about but little seems to be have been done to prevent it.

In recent years, deforestation in Indonesia reached almost three million acres and Norway has already donated one billion dollars towards replanting some of this area.

Rain forests

They have also donated a similar amount to Brazil. It has been finally accepted that the clearance of rain forests in South America for example can affect the climate in countries thousands of miles away but then this has been known about for at least 200 years.

Simon Bolivar, who led a revolution against the then Spanish rulers in South America in the early 1800s eventually became president of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (which was named after him), was one of the earliest to realise the environmental damage caused by the destruction of tree cover and campaign against it.

He died at the age of 47, having ultimately failed in his efforts to create a union of South American states and halt the clearance of so much irreplaceable wilderness.

Perhaps we now need a new Bolivar to champion the cause of rescuing planet earth before we finally manage to destroy it.
The rollout of training begins this month for farmers who have signed up to the six-year commitment of the 300m Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).

Around 26,500 farmers are participating in the BDGP, with their combined herds coming to 542,000 cows - 41pc of the suckler herds in the country, and over half of the suckler cows.

Every farmer will receive an invitation two weeks prior to the Teagasc courses which are obligatory before October 31, 2016 for participating farmers. Participants will be paid 166 on the day of attendance, provided they have stayed the whole day.

Pearse Kelly, head of Drystock Knowledge Transfer Department at Teagasc, said it is important for farmers to attend. "There will be no more than two, maximum three opportunities to attend a course in each general area," he said.

The rationale underpinning the BDGP, and the basis for European co-funding of 168m for this programme, is the potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the agricultural sector.

So, how do the figures stack up, and what impacts can be expected on the emissions front?

To take a best case scenario, the Agriculture Department has stated that the potential GHG reduction is around 86,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually by 2020.

This figure is based on 4.4pc of marginal abatement potential from the suckler herd.

The climate mitigation benefits will begin immediately and are projected at 1.9 million tonnes (Mt) CO2 by 2030 or 235,000 tonnes of CO2 annually in 2030.

This latter figure would represent about 12pc of marginal abatement from the suckler herd in 2030. So, the potential for abatement is considerable.

Elsewhere, the Bord Bia Sustainability Report 2015 states that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture could be reduced by 6pc if lower-performing beef and dairy farms were brought back in line with the national average.

In this context it is interesting to look at the bigger picture provided in the 2015 report, 'Ireland's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections, 2014-2035' from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The figures and projections on which the EPA based its analysis here are provided by Teagasc.

The EPA states that agricultural emissions amounted to 19.04 Mt CO2 equivalent per annum in 2013, and are projected assuming hitting targets in Food Harvest 2020 to be 19.49 Mt in 2020 or 19.33 under the best case scenario, and 19.08 Mt, or at best 18.93, in 2035.

These projected figures are based on a reduction of the beef herd by 7pc between 2013 and 2020 and a contraction of around one-quarter in the total beef herd by 2035.

Paul Crosson from Teagasc explains that the reason the emissions reduction projected from the national suckler herd is not reflected in the overall agricultural emissions projections is that the overall figure includes the increase in production predicted from other enterprises, in particular dairy.

The current EU target for Ireland is to reduce emissions from the non-Emissions Trading Sector (ETS) - of which agriculture contributes about 45pc - by 20pc on 2005 levels by 2020. Ireland is currently on target to achieve 9pc instead of 20pc.

According to the EPA projections, agriculture as a sector is set to contribute just 2.67pc of the savings projected by all the other sectors - such as energy, industry, services residential and transport - by 2020.

The 2030 targets will be distributed among EU member states this year under so-called 'effort sharing'.

Under new rules to be introduced from 2020 to include emissions from land use, land use change and forestry, the carbon sink is to be allowed as an offset to agricultural emissions. Ireland is expected to negotiate hard for land use classification measures to effectively mitigate the targets.
Dawn Meats is keeping a close eye on the Brexit referendum campaign in the UK as the company holds concerns about the impact of an exit, according to the firm's boss Niall Browne.

Mr Browne said strong efforts were underway with Bord Bia, the Agriculture Department and Meat Industry Ireland (MII) to try and open new markets, including China and the US.

However, the Dawn CEO said in the event of the UK leaving the EU, their farmers would be "negotiating from scratch" which would be a major concern for them.

"We're obviously watching it very closely, we'd be concerned about the outcome," said Mr Browne who was one of the judges at a recent UCD Agri-Food debate.

"But we also see there are a lot more opportunities for Irish beef in the rest of Europe. So we've a big UK business and a big Irish business, we feel that whichever way the vote goes thre will be as much opportunity as challenges."

Mercosur

Amid warnings Mercosur discussions are picking up pace, Mr Browne stressed the world trade agreements currently being discussed such as the South American deal and TTIP can have a major impact on trade.

Mr Browne said more consolidation was needed within the meat industry, as the firm claimed its move to buy a 49pc stake in France's second biggest beef producer Elivia has worked well.

It comes as ABP Group and Fane Valley Co-op recently confirmed their proposed 50:50 joint venture with Slaney Foods will be assessed by the EU merger watchdog.

"We would say there needs to be consolidation in the meat industry in order to compete with the bigger players around the world. Businesses need to be bigger and stronger," he said. "We continue to see more of that throughout Europe."

Last year saw the world's largest meatpacker, Brazil's JBS, buy Northern Ireland's poultry producer Moy Park in a 1.32bn deal.

On the issue of heavier carcasses, Mr Browne said they had flagged up that they wanted carcasses below 420kg over four years ago.

He said there would be no change on that and they were following "what the market wants". Overall he said some markets were still recovering slowly from the recession.
Dovea, joined up with Teagasc and Irish NGO Vita to support cattle improvement in Eritrea.

Calves from Irish bulls are expected on the ground in Eritrea later this year after more than 2,000 AI straws from Dovea Genetics animals were sent to the African country.

Dairy and beef semen supplier, Dovea, joined up with Teagasc and Irish NGO Vita to support cattle improvement in the country by supplying the straws to the National AI Centre in Eritrea.
Voting in IFA elections begins next Tuesday. In addition to the presidential contest, farmers will be asked who they want as deputy president. The three candidates for deputy outlined their final pitches to Martin Ryan.

Pat farrell, Kildare beef farmer

The "lack of farm incomes" and the desire of IFA members "to see the organisation put back together" were the key issues from the IFA election hustings for suckler and beef farmer, Pat Farrell.

"The levies continued to come up and we have to see what can be done about them because the farmers are not happy with them," added the Kildare and West Wickow IFA chairman as the campaign enters the final week.

If elected deputy president he "would hope to be able to influence delivery on the main issues".

"Before the recession we were exporting 8bn in farm produce. Now we are doing 11bn but the farmers share appears to have got evaporated - now is the time for us farmers to get our fair share out of that," he claimed.

The former environment chair farms full-time with his wife, Caroline, their family of four children, and his brother, Tom, on the Laois side of Athy.

"I am sure that IFA can influence delivery on the key issues - it's the main reason why I am going for the position. We can't continue to survive at 25c/l for milk, and 3.90/kg for beef when Teagasc says it's costing 4/kg to produce. Those prices are not sustainable," he said.

Pointing to a recent example where "the potatoes in a small plastic bag were costing less than the whole bag" he sees a role for the deputy president to get the message on the farmers' share of the retail market to consumers.

Describing his ambition to become a "reforming deputy president", he wants farmers' votes "to finish the job I started" - a reference to the fact that he was one of the four in the IFA executive council who put forward a motion of no confidence in former general secretary, Pat Smith, in January 2014.

Within the reform of the IFA structure he wants the commodity committee to be given more power and more meetings between the national chairmen and the board of the IFA. He also wants a separation of the role of the general secretary, who Mr Farrell said "must be a man to put farm incomes first".

He also claimed that his "whole ambition will be to protect the single farm payment and try to have it increased because the last time was the first time the Minister came back with less money".

At the end of his term he would like to be judged by "what I delivered and hopefully I will be able to deliver for all commodities".

'IFA is seriously damaged. That's why I decided to run'

Rchard Kennedy, Limerick Dairy farmer

Dairy and beef farmer, Richard Kennedy is in no doubt as to the main issues concerning farmers coming to the end of the election hustings.

"The return of trust and credibility of the organisation is the main concern for most farmers. Farm incomes are a very big issue, but most people realise that unless we can get back the trust and credibility to the IFA we won't be able to deliver on any of the other issues.

"It is seriously damaged. That is why I decided to run in this campaign," said the former chairman of the IFA national dairy committee who farms at Clarina.

"I would not have come back, after being off the national council for five years, unless I felt totally committed to restoring the trust that is required in the organisation to go forward," said Mr Kennedy, who also ran for the presidency in 2009.

The Limerick man was also president of Macra na Feirme in the 1980s and he has served on the Irish Dairy Board, the National Dairy Council and in the umbrella farming group at EU level, COPA. Mr Kennedy was Limerick County Chairman from 1996-2000, and he is a board member of Pallaskenry Agricultural College, and is current chairman of Limerick Agricultural Show. His wife, Helen, has been chairperson of Limerick IFA Farm Family Committee for the past four years.

On the need for reform in the IFA he said that the Con Lucy report was "a good start", but that it needed to go further.

"We need to have someone look at the cost of governance within the association and we have to get transparency," he said.

He believes that IFA members must understand and know where the money is going.

"On the other hand our members have to realise that if we want to have the organisation that we need, we must have the best people working for us and we have to pay them the going rate," he said.

"I am heartened by the number of people who are coming out to meetings but under the surface people are very hurt over what has happened. They feel betrayed because they never expected that it could have happened in IFA," he added.

Asked how he would like to be remembered after two years in office, he replied "that I have made an honest effort to achieve what I set out to do".

'I know how much of a struggle farming has become'

Nigel Reneghan, Monaghan poultry and beef farmer

Farmers' anger over "Bord Bia, levies, farm inspections and prices" is the message that Monaghan's Nigel Reneghan has carried away from the election hustings over the past seven weeks.

"As a poultry and beef farmer myself I know how much of a struggle farming in Ireland has become, especially for the younger generation of farmers who often find that despite working 12-13 hour days, supporting a family on farm income is barely a viable proposition," said the IFA's poultry chairman.

Mr Reneghan also keeps up to 80 head of beef animals, mainly Angus, on the farm at Clontibret. His wife, Bernice is actively involved, along with the older of their six children.

"All farmers, both full-time and part-time, need a strong, united and effective national organisation to represent them more than ever," he said, pointing to his efforts to unite poultry producers as an example of how the organisation can deliver.

"I am not going to promise farmers that I can control prices, because I can't, but I would hope to support the president in his role on farm incomes for the benefit of all farmers," he added.

On the issue of IFA levies, the Ulster man's solution is that "IFA Telecom has 13,000 members generating almost 600,000 a year profit. If we had 50,000 members using IFA Telecom it would replace the levy income and we can walk away from the levies and get on without them if they are a concern to farmers".

He is adamant that IFA must face up to transparency in the organisation and that includes wages being paid.

"People who work for the organisation should not look on it as a job for life if they are not performing for farmers. The president and deputy president is replaced every four years I believe that the staff should equally be in a situation where their performance is reviewed every four years," he said.

"We are a voluntary organisation to better farmers and the officers are elected for a maximum of four years to do the best possible job to influence income for farmers - that's what I want to do," he said.

"I find it hard to accept that half the Teagasc budget is going to pay pensions - it's costing 67m annually out of the Teagasc budget of 135m.

"That cost should be carried by the government to allow Teagasc use the funds to appoint additional office and advisory staff to help farmers with farm schemes and inspections on the ground," he suggested, noting that this would be a core objective if he sits on the Teagasc Board as deputy president.

He hopes to be judged at the end of his term on his performance, and he believes he can deliver on farm income because of his extensive negotiating experience.
If you haven't heard of someone who made the switch from manual to robotic milking you are living a sheltered life.

Put simply, the cows come to a milking robot two to three times per day, lured by the prospect of access to feed during the milking and/or fresh grass post milking.

What started out as a handful of farmers in Northern Ireland is now becoming a steady trickle of "robotic converts" across the island.

As is the human condition, usually news of the switch to the dark side is greeted with a good dollop of scepticism that stems mostly from a fear of the unknown. For good measure, there's often the accusations (invariably outside Mass of a Sunday morning) that the farmer in question must be either a) lazy, b) have more money than sense or c) both.

But is it lazy to want to increase labour productivity? Or to want to get a robot to do the milking work so that you can keep bringing in an off farm income? Or, as robotic milking specialists Lely claims is possible, to want to increase production by 10 to 15pc? The answer, of course, is no.

Proponents of robotic milking argue that the system allows farmers to control many factors on an individual cow basis; factors that cannot be controlled in a conventionally milked herd.

The likes of Lely, DeLaval and Fullwood Packo will argue that their robots allow farmers to focus on the cows that need him/her the most, and all without having to actually manually milk the cows twice a day.

Each of these manufacturers offer management programmes capable of showing a quick overview on the performance of the herd, along with a host of optional extras depending on how deep your pocket is.

The Lely system

When it comes to robotic milking, the market leader in Ireland right now is the Lely Astronaut A4 robot.

Prices start at about 120,000 depending on specification level for a single robot set up that is capable of milking 60 or 70 cows three times per day.

The first robot is the most expensive to fit because it is like the mothership, featuring the main vacuum and cleaning system that is actually capable of supplying a second unit, if desired, as the herd grows.

For those who need it, the twin robot setup is where things get interesting in terms of payback efficiency.

This is because the second robot can be fitted for around 80,000, making for a total investment of around 200,000 but increasing the system capacity to a 140 cow herd milking three times per day at peak.

It is a self-contained system with a modular design that gives the option to expand.

Lely claims the A4 Astronaut robotic milking system is now a real option for all sizes of farms, ranging from a 60 cow herd upwards. One Irish farmer currently has four robots installed for his herd.

But according to these figures, is it fair to argue that a robotic milking system best suits the 120-plus size herds? "Not necessarily," says Larry Banville from Lely dealer Donohoe's of Enniscorthy. "We are seeing a lot of farmers with 60 or 70 cows fit one robot and then leave the option of adding a second at a later date when the herd has expanded.

"Farmers are usually cautious and start with one robot to keep the outlay manageable. If things go well and the herd size expands it is easy to add a second robot in five years' time.

"We have installed 31 farms around the South Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford areas with robots now. We have even had two start up dairy operations with about 60 cows install a robot; there's a myth that it is only big established farms who are looking at robots as a viable option."

What about costs and payback time? And is the investment too risky and the payback time unrealistic at a time of volatile milk prices in the post quota era? Mr Banville doesn't think so, and he says Lely have crunched the numbers to let farmers have an idea of the daily costs involved.

"If you work the costs out over a 10-year loan payback period for a 70 cow herd, a farmer installing one robot for 120,000 will pay about 40 per day back over the life of the loan.

"The payback gets more efficient in a twin robot system. For example, the 120-cow herd needing two robots will pay back about 70 per day for ten years on a loan of 200,000."

Interestingly, Mr Banville says there is now a growing trend of young farmers with third level degrees and off farm jobs - teachers with farming backgrounds being the prime example - installing a robot. He has noticed another trend whereby older farmers who are ready to retire are enticing their sons into taking over the dairy business by installing a robot. This takes the manual labour and time requirements out of the milking.

Tradition

"A lot of the time the son has a good off-farm job and wouldn't be particularly interested in carrying on milking if it meant being tied to the farm morning and evening, but a robot is a sweetener for him because it drastically cuts labour requirements.

"It's a win-win situation; the tradition of milking cows continues on the family farm, the father is happy to have a succession plan in place, while the new generation get to maintain an outside interest and income with an off farm job."

In terms of the outlook for robotic milking in Ireland, Mr Banville thinks we are now seeing the beginning of something big.

"We are expecting a multiplier effect in terms of the interest in installations," he says. "South Tipperary is a good example, where one farmer starts off and then another goes for it, then before long you have 12 or 13 farms with robotic milking within a few miles of each other.

"At Lely we expect to reach 100 installations by the end of 2017 through a mixture of established farmers and new entrants.

"In our experience financing the robots hasn't been an issue for farmers because there is a clear payback plan," adds Mr Banville.

"We expect the new Glanbia loan program to be used by a number of our customers this year because it suits farmers by linking repayments to the milk price."

Brendan Hayes' verdict on robotic milking

The good

Hugely labour saving, no need for milking staff

You get your life back outside of milking the cows

Tighter calving interval thanks to the heat detection system

Cows are much more docile

No need to run a bull with the cows as they are isolated for AI after heat detection

Milk from cows with high SCC is diverted for calf feeding

Improvement in herd husbandry

The investment can be used against tax write off

The bad

Cows are always coming to the yard for milking; this can be an issue if you are driving a tractor on farm roadways

The grazing block needs to be well organised to ensure cows get fresh grass after milking

Payback can be challenging if milk price stays down

Training the cows for the first 10 days requires patience

"I never know what time it is anymore," says Brendan. "My life revolved around morning and evening milking before I put the robots in!"
In order to write this week's article I have ran in from the lambing shed.

Things are busy at the moment as about 70pc of the ewes which conceived to first service have lambed in the last four days. So while activity is starting to slow down a little on the lambing front there is ample work to be completed in terms of looking after newborn lambs and lambs which are slow to suckle, and setting up for year two of Connie Grace's large scale grazing study.

Meghan Murray is a US exchange student who is playing a blinder in terms of looking after the weak lambs, but was left very frustrated this morning when a lamb she had cared for over the course of three days was lain over by its mother. I think we can probably all sympathise with that situation.

The second and third year students are once again a key element of the lambing season at Lyons, and they all come with different levels of experience and different skills and invariably all quickly find a niche in the team.

We are certainly well provided for in terms of labour, but when one takes into consideration all the extra research activity that goes on, all these people are very soon fully employed.

Again this year we are recording data for the Sheep Ireland, Central Progeny Test Programme. This involves recoding lamb birth weight and gender, lambing difficulty, lamb vigour and mother ability.

All lambs are tagged shortly after birth and Frank Fagan from Sheep Ireland is helping out with the tagging during the days as well as getting stuck into all the other activity. A paper and electronic record of all cross-fostering is also required.

In addition to this we collect ewe weight and body condition scores on all ewes which lamb.

With most commercial farms the objective is to get ewes and lambs out to grass as quickly as possible after lambing.

This is somewhat complicated at Lyons as we are enrolling many of these ewes and lambs on to research projects for the remainder of the year.

The largest of these is Connie Grace's multi-species grazing study which forms part of the SmartGrass project, funded by DAFM.

When animals are forming part of a research trial we cannot just allocate them on an ad-hoc basis to the different treatments. Each treatment needs to be balanced in terms of the animals which are allocated to it.

So we need to consider the ewe age, breed, body weight, body condition score, gestation length, lamb sire breed, lamb gender and lambing difficulty in allocating animals to treatments.

In order for the science and research to stand up to scrutiny we cannot bias the experiments, either consciously or unconsciously in any way.

This is all very achievable, but it just means we cannot decide that because the sun is shining we turn out all ewes, it is very structured.

Mentioning the sun, at the time of writing the upturn in temperature and the dry weather is very welcome.

Grass growth is quite good on the experimental platform at about 15kg DM per ha, and ewes are going out into covers of 1300kg DM per ha.

To make matters even more interesting we had a camera crew from Irish TV in the lambing shed on Tuesday, March 15. I understand this programme is due to be aired tomorrow.

This is not something new for us and I think it is very important for the public to get an understanding of agriculture and how their food is produced.

It is also of interest to other farms to see how things are done, I for one enjoy the increase in farming related programmes currently available.

In fairness to the team from Irish TV, they didn't interfere with what we were doing and didn't mind when people had to run away from an interview to pull the membranes off a newly born lamb's head or the like.

Likewise I stressed to the students that they shouldn't 'perform' for the cameras, and the minute-to-minute action on the farm was more than interesting enough.

By the end of the day we had even persuaded the host, Alan Brereton, to get his hands dirty and deliver a set of twins!

Dr Tommy Boland, lecturer in sheep production and ruminant nutrition, Lyons Research Farm, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Newcastle, Co Dublin
ACC Bank quit the Irish market in late 2013, withdrawing day-to-day bank services such as deposit and current accounts

Capita Asset Services has concluded contractual negotiations to take over management of the loan book activities and legacy banking services for ACC Loan Management.

The new arrangements were effective from the beginning of March with more than 160 ACC Loan Management workers transferring to Capita.

ACC Bank quit the Irish market in late 2013, withdrawing day-to-day bank services such as deposit and current accounts.

The bank, whose parent company is Dutch lender Rabobank, outsourced part of its loan book to Capita.

Robbie Hughes, chief executive of Capita Asset Services and Capita Country Manager (Ireland), welcomed the completion of the negotiations. "It gives me great pleasure to announce the completion of this agreement.

"We have worked very closely with our colleagues at ACCLM over the last two years and I would like to take the opportunity now to welcome them to Capita," he said.

"This deal is the latest in a series of transactions... which underpins our continued investment in this market."
Brexit is probably the single biggest risk facing the economy, the fastest growing in the euro region.

Ireland's largest companies are beginning to feel the effect of Britain's debate over whether to remain in the European Union, and it may be a taste of what's to come for the rest of the nation.

Concern about the outcome of the UK referendum in June has helped push the pound down 10pc against the euro since November.

About 60pc of Irish companies selling goods overseas are already affected.

"Sterling has deteriorated and that's tough for Irish exporters," Richard Pym, the English-born chairman of AIB, said in an interview in Dublin this month.

"Upon Britain leaving EU, one would anticipate that sterling would come under pressure again."

Brexit is probably the single biggest risk facing the economy, the fastest growing in the euro region.

The question is over the EU's integrity, according to Guillermo Hermida of CaixaBank Asset Management in Madrid.

Cracks in the bloc would undermine investor confidence in its weakest members, the so-called peripheral nations, he said in an interview in the Spanish capital. That would include Ireland.

Permanent TSB, a bank that's still trying to recover from Ireland's financial crisis, said this month that concern about Britain's membership in the EU is hampering its efforts to sell 2.4bn (3bn) of UK loans. "Brexit risk has caused me to slow down the process because I think we're on the wrong side of the line," Jeremy Masding, the bank's chief executive, told analysts. "I want to wait until I see what the result of the referendum is and then see how the markets react."

Irish-listed Dalata Hotels, which operates in London, Manchester and Leeds as well as in Ireland, warned this month that the UK might generate less revenue as sterling slides.

Ryanair gets about 27pc of its sales from the UK and will be the biggest Irish loser along with drinks company C&C and agricultural products company Origin Enterprises, according to securities firm Investec.

"We don't think it would have an immediate impact on our business," Ryanair's chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

"In the medium and longer term, it would create some uncertainty if Britain were outside of Europe."

It's not all bad news for Ireland, with Dublin presenting an "obvious choice" for financial companies seeking to relocate following a UK exit from the EU, the NTMA said in a presentation last week.

"Estimates suggest some 6bn of FDI might be attracted to Ireland in the case of Brexit," the debt office said. (Bloomberg)
EU flags fly at half-mast outside the European Council building in Brussels yesterday. Photo: Bloomberg

Global shares largely recovered their early losses yesterday evening in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Brussels, but travel and leisure stocks were badly affected.

Air France-KLM Group, Ryanair and hotel operator Accor slipped 3.3pc or more, dragging travel and leisure shares to the worst performance on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

But by late in the afternoon, stocks overall had managed to recover from sharper losses and bonds and gold eased back from their earlier highs.

The ISEQ was little change at the close, down just 0.04pc, while the FTSE and CAC 40 actually recorded slight gains.

Analysts had believed the market jitters would be short lived.

"So far we are holding up pretty well with some emphasis on safe haven," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois.

"It looks like the market impact will pass pretty quickly, depending on follow-up obviously. If we see additional attacks in coming days, that changes the equation."

But overall, concern about attacks in the capital of the European Union overshadowed reports on the Eurozone economy.

Manufacturing and services in the region expanded more than estimated, while German business confidence improved for the first time in four months, data showed.

The market reaction came as a survey found that business activity across the Eurozone has risen at its fastest pace since late last year, with Germany posting solid growth.

But France continues to stagnate.

The flash Eurozone Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which tracks changes in business activity across the region, rose from 53 in February to 53.7 in March.

But despite the rise in March, the average PMI reading for the first quarter of the year was 53.4, the lowest quarterly trend for a year.

The upturn in March was led by services, where business activity growth revived from February's 13-month nadir to reach a three-month high.

Chris Williamson, Markit economist, said the Eurozone saw renewed signs of life at the start of spring.

"The March PMI showed a welcome end to the worrying slowdown trend seen in the first two months of the year, putting the region on course for a 0.3pc expansion of GDP in the first quarter," Mr Williamson said.

"The German economy looks to have expanded by 0.4pc in the first quarter, but France remains close to stagnation despite seeing a return to growth in March."

German investor confidence rebounded from a 16-month low after market turmoil calmed and the European Central Bank announced fresh euro-area stimulus.

The ZEW Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months ahead, advanced to 4.3 in March from 1 in the previous month.

Economists predicted an increase to 5.4, according to a Bloomberg survey. An earlier report showed German business confidence also rose.

The ECB this month announced interest-rate cuts, more bond purchases and a potential subsidy to lenders in a renewed bid to quash the threat of deflation.

Bank-led equity sell-offs have eased, reducing the risk that lenders will pull back and choke off a fragile recovery.

"We saw some stabilisation in the equity and other financial markets help improve sentiment," Ralph Solveen, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said before the report. (Additional reporting agencies)
Dublin-based technology business NewsWhip is doubling staff numbers and moving to new offices.

NewsWhip has relocated its Irish base to a four-storey Georgian office on Merrion Square.

The company was founded in 2012 and plans to double staff numbers to 50 before June 2016. The new jobs are a mix of sales and technical roles, with openings for machine learning specialists, product designers, front end and Java engineers, and account managers.

NewsWhip's technological platform, Spike, monitors digital media and identifies important events and stories based on what the company calls social velocity - a measure of how many new online interactions stories get in real time.

The Irish company's products are sold to businesses that want to track the spread of news and information online.

NewsWhip was founded by Paul Quigley and Andrew Mullaney. Clients include news companies like the BBC, 'The Guardian' and the 'Washington Post', international brands including Intel and MasterCard, and marketing, ad and PR agencies such as Edelman and OMD.

Sportswear giant Reebok installed NewsWhip's technology in its new global brand newsroom in Boston, where staff can monitor international reaction to the company's own advertising content and keep up with other relevant material. "Although we're very much an internationally-focused business, our technology was developed and will continue to grow from our Dublin base," said chief executive Paul Quigley.
Anonymous has released a new video in which it declares that it will continue its efforts against ISIS in a bid to help put an end to terrorism.

Anonymous has released a new video to inform the world that it is intent on doing its part in the war against ISIS.

Anonymous released the video in the wake of the attacks in Belgium stating "Our freedom is once again under attack." The masked person in the video says that the group will strike back against them.

Following November's attacks in Paris, Anonymous went on the offensive. According to the video, the group silenced thousands of Twitter accounts associated with ISIS, and has "hacked their electronic portfolio and stolen money from the terrorists."

"We have laid siege to your propaganda websites, tested them with our cyber attacks, however we will not rest as long as terrorists continue their actions around the world," the person adds. Anonymous plans to continue to attack ISIS websites and Twitter accounts, and says it will continue to steal Bitcoins, a form of digital currency.

The video continues, "We defend the rights of freedom and tolerance. To the supporters of Daesh, we will track you down, we will find you, we are everywhere and we are more than you can imagine. Be afraid."

"When they killed innocent civilians in Belgium, they hit everybody in Europe. We have to fight back."

The video adds that everyone can contribute to the group's efforts. But it doesn't necessarily have to involve hacking. "But you don't have to hack them, if you stand up against discrimination in your country, you will harm them much more than by hacking their websites. The Islamic State cannot recruit Muslims in Europe if they are accepted and included in the society. So we want all of you to stand together against discrimination," the message concludes.
The Dark Hedges near Armoy, Co Antrim, a location made famous by Game of Thrones. Photo: Northern Ireland Tourist Board/PA Wire

Montalto Lodge in Ballynahinch is the scene for Disney's latest musical, The Lodge.

Disney's new musical The Lodge will be shown in autumn. Photo: Disney

Disney is following in the footsteps of Game of Thrones and looking to the Irish landscape in creating what it hopes will be a successful follow-up to its High School Musical franchise.

The musical is titled The Lodge and is set on the 400-acre Montalto Estate at Ballynahinch in County Down.

Some scenes are also being shot in Castlewellan and Tollymore Forest near Newcastle.

The 10-part series tells the story of Skye, a 15-year-old city girl who goes with her father to live in a rural holiday lodge following the death of her mother.

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The Lodge has a cast of 22 and 67 crew, of whom 46 are from Northern Ireland, including local producer Raymond Lau.

In a statement, David Levine, the director of programming for the Disney Channels in the UK and Ireland said: Northern Ireland has a great production pool and up until now it has been mostly known for swords and dragons.

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Disney Channel is bringing songs and dancing  we have a great, talented cast who can not only act but sing and dance and we have original songs.

The project represents another huge opportunity for the Northern Ireland production community, which is developing a global reputation, especially as a location for science-fiction stories.

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Whatsapp BANBRIDGE, NORTHERN IRELAND - SEPTEMBER 28: A film set is constructed for the Game of Thrones fantasy television series as filming for season six continues on September 28, 2015 in Banbridge, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Ridley Scotts new film Morgan, starring Kate Mara, is being made at Galgorm Castle, Ballymena. The same location has been used for The Frankenstein Chronicles, a television series starring Sean Bean.

Ben Wheatley, the director of High Rise, spoke to Independent.ie about why he chose Belfast as a filming location for some scenes of his dystopian thriller.

Ireland is where a lot are looking now because theres so much on offer and such a big welcome to crews and productions.

And because of Game of Thrones and Star Wars and the success theyve had, its risen to the top of the list in Europe.

Video of the Day

The Lodge will complete filming before the summer, and will be shown first on the Disney Channel in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It is then expected to be screened on the channel elsewhere in Europe.
Making a Murderer's defence lawyer Dean Strang will return to Ireland to give a public discussion on the systematic failures in the US criminal justice system and the broader implications of Steven Avery's case.

Mr Strang, along with Jerry Buting, worked on Steven Avery's defence during his trial for the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach in the Netflix docu-series Making A Murderer.

The series has been praised by viewers for highlighting the flaws in the American justice system and that's exactly what Mr Strang will discuss when he visits Galway's Black Box Theatre in September.

The lawyer, who is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on several charity boards, including the Wisconsin Innocence Project, will also discuss the far-reaching implications of Avery's case.

This will be Strang's second public appearance in Ireland after he was a guest on The Ray DArcy Show in January.

And while some 412,000 people tuned in to watch the exclusive interview, many were left disappointed with its general tone, and said it was a wasted opportunity to quiz the lawyer on his own personal feelings about the conviction or the finer details of the case.

Fans of the series hope that they will get more of an insight into the case when Mr Strang returns to Ireland.

A Conversation With Dean Strang takes place in the Black Box Theatre on Sunday September 24. This is a 'Roisin Dubh presents...' event.

Tickets are 35 and go on sale on Friday at 9am. Tickets are available through Roisin Dubh's website, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Roisin Dubh.
Writers Marina Carr, Rachel Fehily, Hugo Hamilton, Joseph OConnor and Thomas Kilroy on the landing of Kilmainham Gaol. Pic: Marc O'Sullivan

Oscar nominated Emma Donoghue is among the renowned authors to have paid homage to the leaders of the 1916 Rising in a landmark new theatrical production.

In what promises to be one of the cultural highlights of the 1916 celebrations, the thoughts of the signatories of the Proclamation will be reimagined in the historic surrounds of Kilmainham Gaol next month.

Presented by UCD and Verdant Productions, 'Signatories' will pay homage to the iconic patriots in the prison where they were executed 100 years ago.

Eight of Ireland's most celebrated authors, including Ms Donoghue and Frank McGuinness, were commissioned to pen monologues commemorating the seven signatories, as well as nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell.

Chilly

Speaking at the permanently chilly prison in the capital yesterday, Tony Award-winning director Patrick Mason urged audiences to "wrap up warm" for the unique stroll through Irish history.

He explained: "It's a promenade production so the audience moves through the space and they meet these figures.

"It threads through from Elizabeth O'Farrell in the GPO to Joseph Plunkett who was the last to be executed in the stonebreakers' yard.

"The challenges [of staging the piece at the museum] are quite different - this needs a certain kind of bravura. But the great magic of this place is that there is something which can't beat being here."

Taking place on the actual centenary of the Easter Rising, almost 1,000 people will get the chance to catch the atmospheric show.

Playwright Marina Carr confessed she had to hit the books before imagining the events of 1916 through the eyes of signatory and poet Thomas McDonagh.

"I hadn't a clue. I knew the poem 'Lament for Thomas McDonagh' by Francis Ledwidge, but that's all I knew about him - that he was shot," she joked.

"My Irish history is dreadful, so I had to have a big swat up and loved it.

"I absolutely fell in love with Thomas McDonagh. He was just such a charismatic man. I had a fantastic time writing it."

Stepping into the shoes of the executed revolutionary, Love/Hate actor Stephen Jones conversely told how he was in his element.

"Funny enough, from a past life I have a history degree from UCD, so I had a fairly decent recollection of the whole time period.

"I've done it once or twice before where I've played characters based on real people and you just have to find your own way into it.

"In Marina's piece, he's talking about how he's going to miss his family and how he's leaving them with nothing," continued Red Rock star Jones. "So you just try and associate anything you can in your own life with those feelings.

"Although you want to get it right, you've got to forget the history books, and remember he was just a guy."

* 'Signatories' runs from April 22-May 5, starting with three days at Kilmainham Gaol and then moving to the Pavilion Theatre, Civic Theatre and National Concert Hall. Ticket bookings from www.ticketmaster.ie
999 emergency call operators will stage a second 12-hour strike in Navan in two weeks time as part of their campaign for a living wage and trade union recognition.

The Communications Workers' Union (CWU), which represents the call centre workers, confirmed that the industrial action will take place on Thursday, April 7 at the Navan call centre in Co Meath.

Union members across all three emergency call centres (ECAS) in Ballyshannon, Dublin and Navan will also be withdrawing extra duties outside of their contracts of employment for one month from April 8 to May 8 inclusive, CWU said.

The additional duties include designated lead call centre operators who have additional duties for the delivery of the national emergency call service during their shift.

Despite a 12-hour strike which took place on Thursday February 25 last - the day before the general election  BT/Conduit Global are continuing to refuse to meet with the CWU or concede a living wage of 11.50 per hour for 999 call operators, the union said in a statement today.

CWU General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick, has called on BT/Conduit Global to avoid an escalation of industrial action by engaging directly with the CWU.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: BT/Conduits intransigence during this dispute and their recklessness towards the 999 call service has forced our members into taking further industrial action just to achieve minimum acceptable standards in their workplace.

Its beyond belief that two profitable multinational corporations are unable to find the money to give low-paid workers who do an important and stressful job an extra 50 cent per hour. These corporations engage constructively with unions in their operations elsewhere yet are refusing to respect the wishes of workers in the 999 call service here to be represented by their union, the CWU.

He added: This action can be avoided if BT/Conduit engage constructively with the CWU. We have told BT/Conduit that we are prepared to deal with them directly or under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. We hope they take us up on that offer.

Conduit Global has said it "strongly regrets" the decision by the Communications Workers Union (CWU) to take industrial action.

"Conduit Global's employees have represented themselves in successfully driving continuous improvement during recent rounds of consultation."

"In light of the resolution of so many concerns, it appears that the CWU is choosing to place its own interests over critical public services. The majority of the 999 employees are not members of the CWU and are instead committed to direct engagement with us, and to the safety and security of Irish citizens."

"We strongly urge the CWU to recognise the positive steps that have been taken and reconsider its decision to take industrial action."
GARDAI are investigating after a man in his 50s was shot dead this evening.

The incident happened in Ratoath, Co Meath at approximately 7.45pm.

It is understood that the man was in a car when he was shot, and that he died at the scene.

It is understood he was shot several times.

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Two cars - a BMW and a Saab - were found burned out a short distance away in the Cairn Court estate.

The man was a well-known criminal, and had in recent years been heavily involved in cigarette smuggling.

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In 2002 he handed over the keys of a 4m business premises in Dublin to the Criminal Assets Bureau.

He had also been hit with a multi million euro tax demand by the Criminal Asset Bureau after a three-year probe.

The man was an associate of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch.

It is understood he had been living in Ratoath with his family for more than a decade.

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It is not yet known if the shooting has any connection to the ongoing gangland feud between the Hutch and Kinahan criminal groupings which claimed two lives in Dublin earlier this year.

Gardai had previously established that the 57-year-old had properties in Spain and split his time between his base there and home in Co Meath.

He recently conducted an interview with the Sunday World where he claimed that a well-known criminal had attempted to extort cash from him.

During that same chat he denied having any involvement in a gangland shooting in the capital.

Gardai and paramedics remain at the scene in Meath tonight.

"Gardai can confirm that a male in his 50s has been pronounced dead at the scene of tonights shooting in Ratoath," a garda spokesman said.

"The scene has been preserved for a technical examination by the Garda Technical Bureau and Dr. Michael Curtis from the State Pathologists Office has attended the scene. The body remains at the scene.

"A post mortem is scheduled to take place tomorrow at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

"Anyone who was in and around The Old Mill housing estate in Ratoath, or the Fairyhouse Road this evening and who may have seen anything unusual or suspicious, is asked to contact Ashbourne Garda Station on 01-8010600, The Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station."

Forensic investigators have arrived at the scene and are examining the car.

Gardai are conducting door-to-door enquiries in what locals describe as a quiet estate.

Cllr Damien O'Reilly, a Fianna Fail councillor in the Ratoath Municipal District, said: "The whole community is very shocked by this murder. We are shocked that inner city gangland violence appears to have spread to this suburban area of County Meath.

"It's appalling that a life has been taken in this way in Ratoath.

"This is an extremely quiet village with a well-settled community which has the second-highest proportion in Ireland of professional people living here. It's terrible. The shooting took place in an estate which has a large amount of children," he said.

Fine Gael Councillor Gerry O'Connor said "My thoughts tonight are with the family of the poor unfortunate person who has been shot dead. There is enough killing going on in the world without it happening on our own doorsteps.

"No one deserves to have their life ended like that."

"The people of Ratoath, Dunshaughlin and Ashbourne will be very saddened and shocked by this killing. There is no history of serious crime in this area and what has happened is totally out of the ordinary," he said.

Earlier this week, a BBC documentary claimed that the Kinahan and Hutch gangs are currently in negotiations

A source within the Kinahan group told the Spotlight programme that negotiations are currently in process between the two rival factions.

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Gardai believe close associates of slain gangster Gary Hutch, who was murdered in Spain last September, were behind the brutal Regency Hotel shootings in which David Byrne was murdered.

The Kinahan cartel hit back and murdered innocent taxi driver Eddie Hutch, the brother of 'The Monk'.
A mother, whose three children are in State care, has been allowed only four hours every year in which to visit them, the High Court has heard. Stock Picture

A mother, whose three children are in State care, has been allowed only four hours every year in which to visit them, the High Court has heard.

The time spent with them would be curtailed to short periods at Christmas, Easter and on their birthdays, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys was told.

The judge has granted the mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, permission to challenge the Child and Family Agency's decision to limit her access.

The children, who range in age from four to 10 years, were placed in long-term state care by the District Court in October 2014.

The mother was afforded four hours supervised access to each child per year.

The woman can now challenge the care orders and a decision of the Child and Family Agency which refused to grant her more access to her children. The agency said further access was contrary to the wishes of her children.

The woman represented herself in court and was opposed by the agency.

Judge Humphreys said she had made out an arguable case on several grounds to challenge the agency's refusal.

One of the grounds was the agency's reliance on the alleged views of very young children as the sole basis for the decision to refuse additional access.

The judge said it was clearly arguable that it was not proper for the agency to put forward the views of young children as a basis to restrict the mother's access to four hours per year.

He said the agency "sought to retreat from this as a basis for the refusal to grant additional access" by telling the court its decision was based on the opinions of social workers as to the best interests of the children.

Judge Humphreys said the provision of reasons by public bodies must be carried out with integrity. He said the court had delegated to the agency the function of determining access.

He said the woman should not be precluded from her challenge because she had sought, and had previously been refused permission in a similar application, by another judge of the High Court.

The action will return before the courts in the coming months.
The scene of the collision today.

The scene of the accident.

The scene of the accident today.

The cyclist, aged 39, was rushed to St Jamess Hospital with multiple leg injuries following the collision.

A female cyclist been rushed to hospital after being hit by a truck while cycling in Dublin city.

The incident happened at Grand Parade in Dublin 6, at the junction of Charlemont Bridge, shortly after noon.

The cyclist, aged 39, was rushed to St Jamess Hospital with multiple leg injuries following the collision.

It is understood that the cyclist's injuries are serious but not life-threatening and that she was conscious when emergency services arrived on scene.

Dublin Fire brigade dispatched paramedics and a fire appliance to the scene.

A technical and forensic examination of the scene has been completed by garda forensic collision investigators and the road has been reopened to traffic.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses.
More than four-in-10 principals admit that official guidelines on student well-being are not being adequately implemented. (Stock image)

Second-level principals say ongoing staffing cuts in their schools are hitting mental health supports for students.

More than four-in-10 principals admit that official guidelines on student well-being are not being adequately implemented - and they blame austerity measures, including a ban on promotions.

Schools have lost an average of six middle management posts each since 2009 as result of the moratorium on filling of jobs such as year heads and class tutors, whose responsibilities include student attendance, student engagement and monitoring students at risk.

According to a survey commissioned by the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), 82pc of principals said that the moratorium had undermined pastoral care structures, with 43pc stating that it interfered with implementation of the well-being guidelines.

The guidelines, which were published by the Department of Education in 2013, provide advice on addressing issues of mental health promotion and suicide prevention among second-level students.

ASTI president Maire Ni Chiarba said the well-being of young people was a major public health concern and supporting students required more than procedures and guidelines.

"It requires adequate 'human' resources at school level. The very resources which students need to support their well-being have been greatly diminished in schools," she said.

Ms Ni Chiarba said that as well as the moratorium, increased workload was reducing the amount of time teachers had for vital non-teaching work including supporting students with difficulties.

According to the survey, teacher workload has increased across a number of areas with, for example, 78pc of teachers saying they have more administrative duties to complete compared with last year.

The findings also highlight relatively low levels of job satisfaction among the 1,749 principals and teachers surveyed with 55pc saying they are "very" or "quite" satisfied with their job, down from 77pc in 2009, while 28pc of principals are considering early retirement,

On a brighter note, the survey found an increase in the proportion of second-level teachers in permanent, full-time jobs - up to 75pc, compared with 70pc in 2014, although still below the international average of 85pc. This follows changes on foot of an expert group report on fixed-term and part-time employment in teaching.
The problem with common sense is that it's not that common at all.

In fact it is an endangered characteristic inside the chamber of Dail Eireann where the "showboating" and "waffle" is reaching precedented levels.

Yes, that's right the new Dail is as bad as the last one.

Many of the faces have changed and the numbers are different but the pantomime is the same.

In Easter week the country is under attack from vulture funds picking on the carcase of the Celtic Tiger who we were led to believe had performed a 'rising' of its own.

The hospitals are overcrowded and rural Ireland is flat out trying to stay open for business.

And everybody has a mandate to talk about it but not to govern.

Yet despite all the angst and unease over the fact TDs can't be seen to be doing their jobs since the election stalemate just 20 (12pc) of them were actually present as the debate on housing chucked along yesterday evening.

TDs said their bit and made a quick, polite exit, happy in the knowledge that they've got their names on the Dail record.

It was the Independent Alliance's John Halligan who rightly asked: "What is the point in our being here at all if we are just going to talk about homelessness, unemployment, agriculture and migration and do nothing about them, and not even be in a position to vote on them or make a decision on them? What is the point?"

He called for some common sense to be brought to the House. The new Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail tried but was met with a wall of Sinn Fein TDs keen to make water charges the most important issue.

First Gerry Adams interrupted to complain that the schedule was limited to the migration crisis, agriculture and a four-hour debate on housing. His sudden lack of knowledge about Dail rules infected Pearse Doherty, Aengus O Snodaigh and David Cullinane before eventually Mr O Fearghail sighed that their leader had "adequately" made the point.

Fianna Fail's Micheal Martin smelled a rat, claiming Sinn Fein were guilty of "serial misleading" in an attempt to put down a marker. "Under no circumstances, will we stand around and watch the amended Standing Orders or new Dail reform being exploited for political show-boating in the House," he said, adding that the "procedural wrangling" was wasting everybody's time.

Mr O Snodaigh mumbled: "That was some waffle."

Politicians change but sadly the Dail doesn't.
Mr Kenny told the Dail he intends forming a new coalition and within three months of that he would publish a 'Housing Initiative'

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is finally promising to appoint a Cabinet Minister for Housing, if he leads the new government.

Moving to win more support for a minority coalition, Mr Kenny has also pledged to publish a housing crisis plan within three months of taking office.

Mr Kenny said this "housing initiative" would be based on the outgoing government's jobs plan which cut unemployment. He also promised to appoint a senior minister responsible for housing issues and he urged all political parties and other interested bodies to collaborate.

"The nature of the crisis will require a collective approach and I would hope that the design of this new initiative will be informed by input from all Oireachtas members and other stakeholders interested in working for solutions," he said.

Fianna Fail's environment spokesman, Barry Cowen, was scathingly critical on the outgoing administration's efforts. "This Government has failed miserably on housing," he said.

Sinn Fein TD Dessie Ellis said hundreds of families had been rendered homeless since the general election on February 26 while the bigger parties "played footsie under the table" about government formation.

Making her maiden speech in the Dail, Fianna Fail Kildare South TD Fiona O'Loughlin said the homeless problem was one of the biggest crises to confront the State in recent history.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly said the election was over and it was time to adopt a more cooperative approach based on facts. He said that as recently as 2012 talk was of an over-supply of housing after the property bubble.

Mr Kelly robustly defended his own party's record on housing, publishing a major plan in October 2014 with ambitious targets.

Meanwhile, despite its future being in jeopardy following the general election, Irish Water is proceeding with its expansion plans. The utility wants to spend 85m building specialist treatment centres to deal with the sludge coming from sewerage treatment plants.

A by-product of treating sewerage, sludge can contain microbiological and chemical contaminants and must be properly treated prior to disposal. Almost 900 million litres of this sludge is produced every year.

A plan to be published today, proposes upgrading 30 plants already in place to provide between 20 and 30 new facilities and develop six new larger 'sludge hub' centres.

Almost all the sludge is spread on agricultural land as fertiliser, with a small amount used to produce renewable energy.

Producing electricity would save 2.5m a year, with disposal savings of 2m.
Independent deputies, from left, Denis Naughten, Dr Michael Harty, Mattie McGrath, Noel Grealish and Michael Collins who met with the Fianna Fail negotiators at Leinster House yesterday. Photo Tom Burke

The so-called Rural Alliance has ruled out striking local deals as part of any government negotiations with Fine Gael.

The five deputies make the pledge following a two-hour meeting with Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Government Buildings.

The group said that the meeting was about building trust with Fine Gael with the view to forming a Programme for Government that could last for five years. But they refused to give any indication as to their voting intentions ahead of of April 6.

The TDs involved in the loose alliance are Denis Naughten (Roscommon), Mattie McGrath (Tipperary), Dr Michael Harty (Clare), Noel Grealish (Galway West) and Michael Collins (Cork South West).

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr McGrath ruled out agreeing local deals for their constituencies.

What will be the point of any of us doing a local deal. We are ruling out that, because what would be the point if we havent a programme for the Dail, alongside the Dail reform in a partnership arrangement that can deliver stability in the Dail, he said.

Mr Naughten, seen as the defacto leader of the alliance, said that the issues that need to be addressed are the same across all constituencies, particularly those outside of Dublin.

He cited infrastructure, jobs, health, roads and rural decline among others.

Its the exact same in Donegal, Kerry, Cork, Tipperary, Roscommon, Clare, Galway - theres no difference in it, he said.
Mr Kennys office was last night drawing up official invitations that will be sent out to up to 16 TDs to invite them to 'structured discussions'. Pic Steve Humphreys

Parish-pump sweeteners will not be offered to Independents in an effort to secure their backing for Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, Fine Gael TDs have been assured.

Mr Kenny and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney conceded at a meeting of the parliamentary party last night that there would be no 'Dart to Dingle' type deals with individuals during the negotiations aimed at building a minority government.

Instead they will make a series of policy promises in five key areas: health, housing, homelessness, rural affairs and disabilities.

"They made the point that there are too many Independent TDs to be engaging in auction politics and that the talks will be more policy driven from here on," said a source.

Mr Kenny's office was last night drawing up official invitations that will be sent out to up to 16 TDs to invite them to "structured discussions".

The first meeting is scheduled for 10am today after five rural Independent TDs said they want to "intensify discussions" with Fine Gael in the hope of forming a government "in the national interest".

Michael Collins, Noel Grealish, Michael Harty, Mattie McGrath and Denis Naughten issued a joint statement saying that having met with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail over the last 12 days. They believe Mr Kenny is "seriously determined to form a government" and his party "is in the driving seat".

The announcement is a serious blow to Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin who faced criticism at a meeting of his parliamentary party yesterday.

A number of newly elected TDs, including Lisa Chambers and Anne Rabbitte, hit out at what they described as the lack of communications within the party.

It was noted that most TDs learned of the Fianna Fail team which is leading the negotiations for government through the media.

It was claimed that the party leadership had gone to ground while Fine Gael was allowed to repeatedly attack them in the media for not engaging in government talks.

Mr Martin was also criticised for not appointing a female voice to the new all-party committee on Dail reform. The party has put forward Darragh O'Brien, Thomas Byrne and Eamon O Cuiv.

And Sligo TD Marc MacSharry complained that "unelected people" in party headquarters were making too many decisions.

The party's environment spokesman Barry Cowen was also forced to defend the controversy which erupted in the days after the election surrounding the party's position on water charges.

Shortly after his party meeting, Mr Martin met Tanaiste Joan Burton to discuss the Labour Party's position on the next government. A source said the meeting was cordial but no assurances were sought and none were given.
A NUMBER of people have been taken to hospital and others have been arrested after a 'mini riot' broke out during an animal rights protest at a circus this afternoon.

Gardai have confirmed that six people were arrested after the incident at Belly Wein Circus which is currently based on the Greenhills Road in Tallaght, Dublin.

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At least five ambulances attended the scene while officers were forced to intervene between the sides.

Photographer John Rooney (24) was at the event and he described how protesters clashed with workers.

"At roughly 2pm around 15 people arrived. The protesters entered the property and they were talking to a woman there.

"That's when it all happened."

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The scene at Circus Belly Wein today, Photo: John Rooney The scene at Circus Belly Wein today, Photo: Justin Farrelly. The scene at Circus Belly Wein today, Photo: Justin Farrelly. The scene at Circus Belly Wein today, Photo: Justin Farrelly. / Facebook

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Gardai from Tallaght were called to the scene and six people, all believed to be from central Europe, were arrested for public order offences.

Officers are investigating if a baseball bat was used during the clashes.

The circus is currently based near the Cuckoo's Nest pub off the Greenhills Road in South Dublin.

Senior sources have confirmed that nobody was seriously harmed during the incident.

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But at least three people were brought to Tallaght Hospital with injuries.

Mr Rooney was one of those injured, and he received treatment at the scene this afternoon.

Circus Belly Wien worker Amanda Renz has claimed an elderly lady and children were knocked to the ground during the melee. The worker also said stones were thrown and vehicles were damaged in the incident.

She said: "I think this is Syria with all the people fighting. This is not good for Ireland, this is shame for Ireland."

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Ms Renz, from Germany, claimed the circus has been at the spot for a month. In spite of the melee Ms Renz confirmed that there will be shows tomorrow.

"We do not mind protests, peaceful protests are good. We do not think this was peaceful."

Ms Renz said those arrested had since been released.

Another worker Nadja Scholl (30) said her three-year-old son got pepper spray in his eye during the clashes.

Protester Peter Greene explained that they gathered at the site after spotting pictures of elephants grazing in a nearby field online.

The 58-year-old from Jobstown said: "I was here with a small group to halt animal cruelty."

He claimed that they were standing outside the temporary premises and when they moved inside "all hell broke loose".

"It was very, very serious."

Local councillor Dermot Richardson (Ind) attended the scene shortly after the clashes. He said: "This circus needs to move on. There is no benefit to anyone here".

Superintendent Peter Duff from Tallaght garda station appealed for anyone with information about the incident to contact them at 01666600.

Animal rights group ARAN have called for calm over the clashes.

In a statement the group also demanded emergency government intervention to ban the use of animals in Irish circuses.

"Ireland is now being used as a dumping ground for international circuses that have had to move as a result of bans coming into play in Austria and Holland where Circus Belly Wien / Renz International were previously based."

ARAN said 13 Irish towns and cities have passed motions to ban animal-act circuses using public land.
The hero who rescued a baby during Buncrana's drowning accident has called for all slipways around our coasts to be cordoned off to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, while a vehicle accident investigator said it was "crazy" that cars have access to piers.

The joint funeral will take place for members of the Daniels/McGrotty family in Derry City tomorrow.

Sean McGrotty (46), his two sons Mark (12) and Evan (8), and the boys' granny Ruth Daniels (59) all died in Sunday's disaster.

Mrs Daniels' daughter - Jodi-Lee (14) - also died when the family's Audi slid on algae on the slipway and went crashing into the sea.

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Bystander Davitt Walsh, who had gone to the pier with his girlfriend for a walk, has been hailed a hero after he was able to swim out and rescue Mr McGrotty's infant daughter Rionaghac-Ann.

But yesterday, as the remains of those who died returned home to Derry, the pier and slipway in Buncrana remained accessible to the public.

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Mr Walsh (28) said slipways should only be accessible to boat owners.

"I really do think that something needs to be done. That algae is just lethal. We slipped on it as we went down," he said.

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"It's grand for locals as they know the dangers posed by the slipway and how dangerous it can be. But visitors are simply not aware of this. All that needs to be erected there is a barrier which can easily be opened and closed to prevent cars going down it.

"The slipway is like a skating rink because of all that algae and those poor people didn't stand a chance because they didn't know the area."

The office manager, from Kerrykeel in Co Donegal, swam into the water to rescue four-month-old Rionaghac-Ann.

He had gone to Buncrana with girlfriend Stephanie Knox for an evening stroll and got caught up in the tragedy.

A large metal gate at the entrance to the slipway remained jammed open yesterday.

Local people say they haven't seen it closed in many months.

Liam Cotter, a consultant motor engineer assessor, told the Irish Independent that it was "crazy" that vehicles were allowed onto piers around the Irish coast. He warned that modern cars, with central electronic systems, give motorists and their passengers "no chance" once they come into contact with water.

It is understood that gardai are expected to ask Audi engineers from Germany to examine Sean McGrotty's Q7 vehicle.

Electrics

They will want to find out why the boot of the car was open when the vehicle was taken from the water by the emergency services on Sunday night. "Once any vehicle comes into contact with water it is potentially disastrous and unfortunately it was in this tragic case," said Mr Cotter.

"But we have a situation in this country where slipways and piers can be driven onto and people will do it, often innocently, like in Buncrana."

He said that based on what he knows so far about the tragedy, it would appear the electrics in the car cut out very quickly, closing windows and possibly locking the doors.

Donegal County Council wouldn't say when the last maintenance took place at Buncrana pier. A spokesman said: "Once the facts surrounding this unfortunate tragedy are established, the council will review them and determine if any specific measures need to be taken. Until these facts are established Donegal County Council will not be in a position to offer further comment".

The slipway on the other side of Lough Swilly at Rathmullan - used by a ferry during the summer - was almost completely algae-free yesterday.

It is a more modern facility, completed two years ago.
Dublin Zoo has welcomed eight new arrivals - however they are not of the cuddly variety.

Dublin Zoo has welcomed eight new arrivals - however they are not of the cuddly variety.

The pack of eight grey wolves are settling into their new home having arrived in Ireland from Osnabruck Zoo in Germany two weeks ago.

The alpha male, alpha female and their six off-spring will be introduced to Dublin Zoo's existing wolf pack over the coming weeks.

Grey wolves - which can actually be any colour from black to white - once lived in the forests of Ireland. However, they were hunted and their habitats destroyed so that the last wild wolf sighting was in Co Carlow in 1786.

Leader of Dublin Zoo's animal care team, Ciaran McMahon said the new pack are "comfortable" and "remain close at all times".
A WOMAN and a young girl who fought through suffocating black smoke to escape a fire at their Dublin apartment block are still in hospital being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.

There were dramatic scenes when the blaze took hold in the MacUilliam Lane complex in Tallaght on Monday night. Residents were forced to escape down ladders that neighbours had propped up against the walls after hearing screams of terror.

The blaze spread after a couch being stored in the ground floor stairwell caught fire.

"The smoke just filled up the landings and the vent in the roof didn't open. The lights also went out and you couldn't see your hands in front of your face," said local David Conlon.

As the landings filled with toxic smoke, families opened their windows and shouted for help.

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Across the road, neighbours heard their pleas. "It was absolutely shocking. The smoke was pouring out of the building and you could hear children screaming 'we're going to die up here'," said Janet Quinless, who lives across from the apartments.

"We were running with blankets and cardigans and water to help them. Everybody just went into action mode."

One family who came down the ladder was Paul Lockhart, his wife Ciara and children Henry (1), Liam (5), and Megan (11).

"The smoke was just too bad. There was no other way out," he said.

Jenna O'Connor crawled down the stairs and found two young girls on her way.

"We had to feel our way down. One of the little girls burned her hand on the hot metal railings," she said.

Malicious

Oaklee Housing Trust, which manages the properties, said a malicious fire was started in the ground-floor stairwell.

Oaklee Housing Trust is an approved housing body that provides social housing and works in conjunction with South Dublin County Council.

A spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said it has met with the residents.
A murderer who escaped from an Irish jail is still on the run - almost 20 days after he vanished.

Fredrick Lee (51) disappeared from Shelton Abbey Prison in Co Wicklow almost three weeks ago.

But prison sources have revealed that he is still at large. It is believed that Lee, who was found guilty of murder in Leeds Crown Court in 1994, is still in Ireland.

The Irish Prison Service have appealed for Lee to hand himself over to authorities.

One insider explained: The longer he stays away the more difficult it will be for him when he does return.

He was housed in an open prison but when he is recaptured he will be returned to a closed jail. He has put his whole release process back months and possibly years.

Lee was jailed for life after he was found guilty of murder in 1994. He was repatriated to Ireland four years later.

The Irish Prison Service said that Lee was present at the prison on Friday, March 4 at 6am but was reported missing at 7.30am.

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Shelton Abbey is an open prison, but a spokesperson for the Prison Service said it was not unusual for prisoners serving long sentences to be relocated to such prisons towards the end of their terms.

"Absconsions from open prisons nowadays are rare," the spokesperson added.

"The prisoners transfer there on the trust that they obey the rules and they get a more open routine as well as a more open style prison."

Lee is described as 5'9" with brown hair and brown eyes.

A 24-year-old man who walked out of the open prison almost a year ago is still on the run.

Martin Connors was serving a two-year sentence for killing his brother when he walked out of Shelton Abbey Open Prison in the early hours of April 29 last year.

It was understood at the time that gardai have been working on the theory that the Wexford town man has been hiding out in the south-east of the country, where he is being helped by some of his close associates.
Fingal County Council is now considering buying some of the controversial Tyrrelstown properties where renters are being faced with being put out because the homes were taken over by the Twinlite company.

Acting Environment Minister has told the Dail that the local authority had been in talks with the developer on the matter and a resolution could yet be reached.

He welcomed the attendance of Tyrrelstown residents, who were following the debate from the public gallery, and proposed that certain models of rent controls be implemented.

Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he would appoint a minister for housing if returned to government and would also introduce a housing initiative within four weeks which would form part of a new annual action plan on housing.

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Fingal County Council today confirmed it is in talks with the developer of the Tyrrelstown properties.

We had an approach from the developer a number of weeks ago. Fingal indicated they were interested in purchasing some houses in the development if the developer was open to that, said Margaret Geraghty, director of housing in Fingal.

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The housing association, with our support, has been in contact with the developer and further discussions should be allowed to happen.

At this point in time contact with the developer is ongoing. The asset is still for sale. Fingal County Council has not walked away from this situation. We are open to purchasing a number of units in this development and finding some resolution if the developer is open to that and everything else is in order, she told RTE radio.

Meanwhile, efforts were continuing today between Fine Gael and a number of Independents in negotiations aimed at building a minority government.

Enda Kenny and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney conceded at a meeting of the party last night that there would be no Dart to Dingle type deals with individuals but instead they will make a series of policy promises in five key areas: health, housing, homelessness, rural affairs and disabilities.

They made the point that there are too many independent TDs to be engaging in auction politics and that the talks will be more policy driven from here on, said a source.

Mr Kennys office was last night drawing up official invitations that will be sent out to up to 16 TDs to invite them to structured discussions.

The first meeting was scheduled for 10am today after five rural independent TDs said they want to intensify discussions with Fine Gael in the hope of forming a government in the national interest.

Michael Collins, Noel Grealish, Michael Harty, Mattie McGrath and Denis Naughten issued a joint statement saying that having met with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail over the last 12 days, they believe Mr Kenny is seriously determined to form a government and his party is in the driving seat.

Negotiations

The announcement is a serious blow to Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who faced criticism at a meeting of his parliamentary party yesterday.

A number of newly-elected TDs, including Lisa Chambers and Anne Rabbitte, hit out at what they described as the lack of communications within the party.

It was noted that most TDs learned of the Fianna Fail team which is leading the negotiations for government through the media.

It was claimed that the party leadership had gone to ground while Fine Gael was allowed to repeatedly attack them in the media for engaging on government talks.
Ms McDonald said her party were being treated unfairly year after year but the White House incident had brought the situation 'to a head'. Photo: Tom Burke

Sinn Fein's Mary-Lou McDonald has become the latest figure in her party to complains about security in the US.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was delayed by the Secret Service heading into a White House reception last week. Mr Adams bizarrely likened his treatment to that of iconic civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks, claiming Sinn Fein would not sit at the back of the bus for anybody.

Then Martin Ferris got held up by airport security in Boston.

Now McDonald claims she was subjected to "heavy-handed and very invasive" security searches while travelling home from the United States after the St Patrick's Day festivities.

The party's deputy leader described the treatment of Sinn Fein members by the US authorities as "almost off the wall".

Mr Adams has said that while he accepts the apology offered by the Secret Service for his detention in the White House, he does not accept their explanation that it was due to an administrative error.

He now plans to write to the White House to complain, while Ms McDonald said she will meet US Ambassador to Ireland Kevin O'Malley.

"We represent absolutely no threat to anybody and I think they know that," she said.

Ms McDonald said her party was being treated unfairly year after year but the White House incident had brought the situation "to a head".

"The administration in the US is well aware that Sinn Fein and the leadership of Sinn Fein over many years have been architects of the peace process, are a force for good, for positivity, for democracy.

"And whereas stringent security is defensible, singling people out, it seems to me simply on the basis of your political view, is not an acceptable thing to do," Ms McDonald said.

Asked if a meeting with Ms McDonald had been scheduled a spokesperson for the US Embassy told the Irish Independent: "The Ambassador is currently travelling but he meets regularly with leaders across the political spectrum."
The President of Ireland has described the recent terror attacks in Belgium as a "cowardly" assault on the citizens of Europe which attempt to distill "fear" amongst innocent people.

Michael D Higgins was speaking as he opened a book of condolences at the Belgian Embassy in Dublin, where he was joined by the Deputy of Mission Agnes Scheers and the French Ambassador to Ireland Jean-Pierre Thebault.

Before signing the book of condolences with his wife Sabina, the President stood for a minute silence as a mark of respect for the 34 people who were killed in yesterday's terrorist attacks in Brussels.

President Higgins said that people now had to react "effectively but sophisticated" in the wake of Europe's most recent terror related incident, while also calling for solidarity.

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"I think the whole purpose of actions like this, as cowardly as it is directed at civilians seeking to go about their business and lives in Europe...is to sow such fear and to dislodge that kind of life," Mr Higgins said.

"Like all terribly destructive acts of terrorism against civilians it has no serious end purpose other than the creation of fear that will dislodge people.

Expand Close Agnes Scheers, Deputy Head of Mission, Belgium Embassy pictured with President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina as they arrived to sign the book of condolances at Ballsbridge today. Picture: Colin O'Riordan / Facebook

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"We have to be very careful now, to make sure that the response is not just effective bit sophisticated in analysing how all of us together in Europe can act in solidarity with care for the best Defense of the people of Europe, and for the Europe we have wanted," the President added.
Louise James kisses son Evan McGrotty after he and his brother Mark (behind) collected their medals for the Walled City Marathon mini race last May from Mayor of Derry Elisha McCallion. Photo: Margaret McLaughlin

Surrounded by people and yet almost completely alone, Louise James stood at her gate to welcome home the remains of the lights of her life.

It had only been two days before that her family had left the bungalow, their entire focus only on spending a carefree sunny spring day together amidst the glorious panorama of Lough Swilly.

Now all Louise had left was her four-month-old baby, Rionaghac-Ann, the sole survivor of the worst disaster in many years to befall the Inisowen community.

It was shortly after midday that the long and winding procession of five hearses slowly made its way up the hill at St Eithne's Park.

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Whatsapp Louise James carries her son Evans remains into their home. Photo: North West Newspix

The modest housing estate is built on the very last outposts of Derry city as it begins to peter out into the rolling green hills of the countryside. The coffin of her beloved partner, Sean McGrotty (49) - who had "lived for the wains and wee Louise" - was first to be taken into the house. Louise was calm and authoritative as she walked in the wake of those who carried him.

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The little white coffins of the two boys, Evan (8) - who suffered from muscular dystrophy - and Mark (12), were next. Each coffin was heartbreakingly feather-light and each time, Louise herself insisted on being amongst the party that carried them in their arms.

Expand Close Sean, Louise, baby Rioghnach Ann, Evan and Mark McGrotty. / Facebook

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In the depths of her despair, her courage was immense.

Throughout her ordeal, as she brought home the remains of each individual she had loved and cherished above all others, she maintained a luminous calm strength that was almost supernatural.

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Nobody could even begin to imagine the pain and devastation she endured. She had told parish priest Fr Paddy O'Kane that was she was "lost, destroyed" and that Rionaghac-Ann was her only reason to continue.

The next white coffin was that of her teenage sister, Jodie Lee (14) - described by her school principal at St Mary's College as a "quiet, hardworking and beautiful young girl who was always smiling".

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Again, Louise insisted on helping to carry her inside, and outside the bungalow, Jodie Lee's teenage friends burst into wails of desolation, comforted by their mothers.

Last came the coffin of her darling mother, Ruth (59), described by neighbours as "a lovely, hardworking woman who had loved her style".

The undertaker quietly asked Louise if she was able for this but, once again, she was determined and taking her place amongst the coffin bearers, lifted its weight onto her shoulder and huddled together in small knots of grief, the neighbours and friends wept.

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Their faces were blank in disbelief, the shock at what had occurred only slowly beginning to sink in at the sight of the swathe of coffins.

"Heartbreaking," whispered an elderly lady in anguish.

And then the family were left alone with their close friends to mourn their loved ones in private.

The horror of the tragedy in Buncrana has left the two communities numb with grief.

In the early morning, the scene at Buncrana pier was quietly visited by fire brigade personnel who had taken part in the rescue and recovery operation, in an attempt to begin to process their own private thoughts.

A middle-aged woman was there before them, lost in grief as tears rolled down her face. The night before, a counselling session had been held for members of the Lough Swilly RNLI crews who had taken in the rescue - many of whom have children of a similar age to those who died.

A book of condolence had been opened at the Church of the Holy Family where the funeral will take place tomorrow, while at St Eithne's school, where the two boys had been pupils, bunches of daffodils had been tied to the railings, along with a small, neatly written note in a child's handwriting, saying: "Evan, you had a smile to light up everybody's day."
After a jam-packed few days sightseeing around Irelands capital, celebrity pooch JiffPom jetted out of Dublin yesterday with a first class ticket on Aer Lingus.

The A-list dog lapped it up with fans on a St. Patricks Day visit to Ireland where he visited Trinity College, Butlers and Grafton Street.

The celebrity dog, who is a regular on Hollywoods party scene, has previously starred in Katy Perry music videos and is on the guest list of some of Tinsel Towns most exclusive events including Februarys Rolling Stone party in San Francisco.

The Pomeranian, who has more than 2.2m fans on Instagram alone, has been developed into a Snapchat star and attracted Irish fans to the city centre yesterday where they had the opportunity to meet him.

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Those who joke at the pups quick rise to fame in Los Angeles need only have a look at JiffPoms Snapchat, where his management have documented his luxurious trip home to Los Angeles with Aer Lingus, where he was videoed happily lapping up the A-list treatment in his own business class seat.
Rashel Winn pictured with her father Eric (right) and her husband Seamus on her wedding day

The father of a woman battling cervical cancer has thanked the public who raised more than 45k in one week which allowed him to fly to Ireland to be at his daughters side.

Eric Winn, the father of award-winning Dublin barista Rashel Winn, flew to Dublin from Seattle on Monday thanks to funds raised by the citys coffee community who were touched by her story.

Rashel (28) was diagnosed with cervical cancer in April 2015 and her last week her father revealed that her condition was deteriorating following an infection.

Eric expressed his gratitude to the hundreds of people who donated to Rashels campaign, which will go towards supporting specialist treatment in Chicago.

Its been incredible. The outpouring of support that Rashel has been receiving has left me speechless.

Im so proud of the life shes created here and the love that has been displayed by everyone who knows her.

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The funds raised will go a long way to relieve the burden and worry about the financial side of things. Its been phenonomenal.

Eric admitted that Rashels battle with the disease is every parents worst nightmare but his family is taking every day as it comes.

To be a parent watching your kid go through this, it is unimaginable and horrible. You think you would die, but now I find myself in the midst of it.

Right now, we hope that Rashel might be well enough to travel on Friday, where the specialist team at North Western Memorial are waiting to admit her. Its given us, and her husband Seamus, hope, he said.

Eric commended the generosity of local businesses such as 3fe on Grand Canal Street in the city, who donated all coffee proceeds towards Rashels campaign on Friday.

Speaking last week, owner of 3fe Colin Harmon revealed that the campaign was one his business was happy to support.

Rashel is one of the most charismatic and warm people I've ever met and after a few mails back and forth we've decided to do something for her that will hopefully help in the coming weeks and months, he said.

Speaking of his daughters illness, Eric Winn urged the parents of teenagers to be forthcoming when it comes to the HPV vaccine, which he believes is life-saving.

We want to raise awareness about the HPV vaccine. I feel certain that if Rachel had gotten this as a teenager she would not be in this situation. She has teenage twin sisters who will certainly be getting the vaccine because as a family we cant face this again.

The fact is you can go without it and hope it doesnt happen to your daughter or you can take action.
The PCP revolution is about to widen significantly to include potentially thousands of people buying a used car.

The move is likely to shake up the market as it brings cars costing 13,000/14,000 into the PCP net - effectively for the first time on a major scale.

Up to now PCPs (Personal Contract Plans) were only available for new-car buyers - with the exception of a few nearly-new used vehicle deals.

That is about to change with one major finance company now starting an across-the-board PCP drive for most cars with 131-reg plates or younger. Significantly, the PCPs will be available through all franchised dealers and virtually every independent used-car dealer.

Behind the development is First Auto Finance Ireland. Based in Dublin, it is the business partner of Close Brothers Motor Finance in Ireland. The latter company claims to be the third largest provider of finance in the UK. First Auto was established five years ago and now employs 40 people, all from motor finance backgrounds.

In response to queries from 'Independent Motors', First Auto Finance managing director Frank Donnellan said the new plan is aimed at buyers looking for fresh, well-minded three-year-old cars - or those of more recent vintage.

He claims the 8.9pc APR means monthly repayments will be lower than traditional financing methods.

Key details include:  The minimum deposit for a PCP deal is 10pc - but it can be much higher.

* The deals run for 36 months.* Cars that qualify will have a maximum 75,000km on the clock at the start of the PCP period and 125,000km tops at the end.

Trade-ins can be used as full or partial payment of the deposit. A guaranteed minimum future value is worked out in advance as is the case with new cars. And the same options apply: You can buy the car outright, hand back the keys and walk away, or use equity in the vehicle to buy a newer one.

Mr Donnellan said his company solely look after the finance; every other aspect of the transaction will be similar to a customer buying from a dealer.

"Cars will be traded in with the dealer exactly the same as buying and trading in. Our route to market is through motor dealers. We are seeing cars coming back off PCP. They are in good condition, well minded (and) were well looked after."

While he agrees they are not the only ones in the used market - Bank of Ireland Finance announced a specific deal some time ago - he stresses: "We are the only ones making PCPs available across all brands."

Asked if the mileage bands might be too restrictive for some, he said they are fixed for now but "it is something we may have to look at as it evolves". They will probably look at it in the future but as of now it stands: 75,000km to 125,000km.

"The whole area of credit is freeing up," he says. "Consumers are much more confident than they have had for the last five to seven years." His company had been getting a stream of enquiries on nearly-new cars which helped prompt the initiative.

PCPs have radically changed the way new cars are bought and there are expectations this latest intervention will have major implications for secondhand buying.
Statistics, figures and . . . statistics. Last week we reported that Hyundai were the most 'looked-up' brand in Ireland according to a report of Google volumes by carwow.

Well, Toyota were on quick as you like to point out that Google Trends (as opposed to Volume) puts them ahead of Hyundai in Ireland.

You know what they say about statistics.

***

Here are a couple of Irish case studies from a new report on people buying, or trying to buy, cars abroad. Take heed and beware.

The customers turned to ECC Ireland for assistance (part of the European Consumer Centres Network which covers 30 countries).

An Irish buyer, interested in a second-hand car at a UK dealership, paid a 1,000 deposit and then transferred the balance of 35,620. That's a lot of money.

However, the dealer refused to release the car. Why? Because the buyer presented an Irish passport. This is crazy stuff, but it's official.

The dealer refunded the consumer and stated that "the reason for not completing the sale of the (car) is because (the consumer) paid the funds from a bank in southern Ireland".

The report, unsurprisingly, says: "The consumer felt discriminated against and expressed his dissatisfaction due to the losses incurred as a result of processing bank transfers as well as the travelling expenses, such as flights and accommodation."

Following the intervention of the Irish and British ECCs, the dealer agreed to reimburse these expenses, as well as paying compensation for the inconvenience.

"In total, the consumer received a payment in excess of 2,000." Strange. Weird. As was this: "The dealership also agreed to retrain its staff to avoid similar situations in future, and to sell a car to the consumer if so requested."

Here's another one. An Irish person intended to buy a car via a website claiming to be operated by a car auctioneer based in the UK.

He paid 8,000 by bank transfer but no car was delivered. It subsequently emerged the website had been registered just months before the transaction and used graphic materials and vehicle specifications from another site, and that there were other irregularities in connection with its own content and advertising channels.

The matter was referred to the police (Action Fraud). According to the police, they had received reports from 40 victims on that fraud.

So the old warning of Buyer Beware applies when buying at home - or especially abroad.

***

I remember when Nissan introduced their 'curry hook' on the dashboard of an Almera hatchback.

It was March 1996 and we all delighted in espousing its virtues (the hook's - not so much the Almera, though it was a great old workhorse) because it was a handy way of keeping bags of anything upright. Especially takeaway food.

***

Opel, or should I say Vauxhall, have gone to the dogs altogether.

They've only gone and put a Corsa in the hands - sorry, paws - of a dog to test their latest Advanced Park Assist technology.

No, it's not April Fools yet. They sat Gerty the Boxer in the car while its system detected and then parked in a slot. Reportedly people passing by on Wimbledon High Street took a lot of interest.

What next?
People bring flowers and candles to mourn at Place de la Bourse in the centre of Brussels. Photo: AP

A group of passengers stranded in Brussels after the attacks were told by Ryanair they must pay 6,000 if they wanted to get home.

The 28-strong party had been invited to the Belgian city by UK Labour MEP Afzal Khan, but after the explosions at Brussels Zaventum airport and the city's metro, which left 34 dead, decided it was safest for them to return to Manchester as soon as possible.

They had flown into Brussels South Charleroi Airport with the low-cost airline on Tuesday morning and were due to return tonight, but after arriving at a city on lockdown attempted to change their flights - only for Ryanair to tell them it would cost an extra 6,000 (7,640 approx.).

Bill Esterson MP brought up the issue in the House of Commons yesterday:

I have been contacted by a number of my constituents who are in Brussels, who travelled there [yesterday] and are trying to get home, as I'm sure many others are as well.

"They have been told by the airline Ryanair that it will cost them 6,000 to be brought back to this country.

"I wonder if, through you, Mr Speaker, I can ask ministers if perhaps they might intervene and suggest to Ryanair and other carriers that all efforts are made to help those who want to come back to this country in a reasonable way."

A spokesperson for Ryanair said the group had paid 20/25 each for their return fare and when they arrived at the check-in desk asking to move their flights forward by a day they were required to pay 60/76 each for a change fee and 154/196 each to cover the difference in fare.

The reason for the upgrade is that there were only 28 seats remaining [on the flight], the spokesperson said.

This group declined to accept this change offer as is their right and we look forward to welcoming them on their scheduled flight from Brussels Charleroi.

The spokesperson added:

We regret any inconvenience caused to this group but our priority [yesterday was] re-accommodating our disrupted Brussels Zaventem passengers, and all other passengers are free to avail of our change facility in the normal manner.

Meanwhile, UK Councillor Chris Webb said that the service the group, which ranged in age from 18 to 80, received was absolutely atrocious.

This is a stressful situation as it is. Obviously it doesnt compare to the tragedy of the lives lost. But all I want is for us to get a flight home, he said.

Cllr Webb spent two hours on the phone to a customer service representative but to no avail.

The leader of the St Helens council, Councillor Barrie Grunewald was also part of the group and described their treatment as utterly disgraceful.

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Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The explosions in Brussels are sickening and shocking, even if we residents sensed that they were coming.

In the wake of Novembers attacks in Paris, it seemed that the whole world discovered that Belgium was a breeding ground for radical jihadism. The security lockdown in Brussels that famously followed those attacks was not just an admission of the links between the perpetrators of the Bataclan and Stade de France massacres and Belgium. It was also a public declaration that Brussels was a target  and that the citys luck could not hold forever.

Brussels had, until now, escaped lightly, by the crude arithmetic of death-counts. Four people were shot dead at the Jewish museum in Brussels in May 2014, but the incident faded quickly from the public memory, partly because the alleged perpetrator was picked up very shortly afterwards in Marseille.

After that, the drama moved elsewhere, though generally with a link to the Belgian capital. The weapons used in the Charlie Hebdo attacks had come from Brussels. The man who was overpowered on a Thalys high-speed train in France had links to Belgium. In Verviers, an old industrial town in the east of Belgium, the security services shot dead jihadists who, it was said, were planning attacks on those who distributed Charlie Hebdo. The dead men, it transpired, came from the Molenbeek suburb of Brussels. Since these recent attacks, a picture has emerged of how terrorist networks put down roots in Belgium  a country with the unenviable record of the highest relative numbers of people going off to Syria to fight and then return home.

This relatively modern development came on top of older Belgian problems  corruption and nepotism in public service (resulting in a lack of confidence in the police and the judicial system); the fragmentation of police forces and city government; and tolerance of low-level criminality.

Belgiums long-running tensions between different language groups complicate any attempts to improve public administration. The trend of the last 30 years has been to devolve power down to the three regions  Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, francophone Wallonia in the south, and the bilingual Brussels region in the centre  but that leaves Brussels underfunded to address the pockets of poverty where Islamic radicalism breeds, and the federal government short of staff and money to tackle, for example, radicalisation in the prisons. It doesnt help that the political culture in Belgium is overly respectful of the various layers of authority  boroughs, regions, federal government  and the linguistic divisions between them. In hindsight, one can see the federal or regional authorities should have stepped in long ago to sort out Molenbeek, but that goes against a deeply ingrained tradition of respecting local power-bases.

Effective counter-terrorism, on the other hand, requires efficient liaison between all arms of the state, gathering good intelligence and convey it to the right place. Belgium has some good technology and some highly skilled people at the centre, but they sit on top of a pyramid, whose base is low-skill and low-tech.

The arrest of Salah Abdeslam was a moment of rare public success for the Belgian security services. They had caught alive one of the alleged participants in the Paris attacks  albeit after four months of delay  with every prospect of bringing him to trial.

The country breathed a collective sigh of relief  and basked just a little in that congratulatory phone call to Prime Minister Charles Michel from President Barack Obama. The capture of Abdeslam clearly put Belgium in the frontline, but could not in itself redress the countrys longer-term problems or reduce Brussels vulnerability to attack. Brussels residents are not accustomed to a terrorist threat. These attacks will prove a brutal awakening. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
Premium

John Downing Opinion Pension reforms are dicey territory  but grand plan by minister Heather Humphreys just might win through

Pension system changes all across the western world have a great propensity to infuriate those most feared by politicians: the grey brigade. And when the oldies take to the streets, they usually play for keeps.
Another explosion shatters the morning commute of a major European city; the railway concourses of Antwerp and Paris echo to the clatter of army boots; the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and France slam shut once more in the hope of stopping terrorists.

While all immediate thoughts go out to the people of Brussels today, the reality is that this latest terror outrage delivers a triple blow to Europe and its cherished notions of open borders, free movement, tolerance and free speech.

Political leaders will call for courage from the public to resist turning inwards, to refuse to allow the terrorists to divide and rule us, but the failure yet again to prevent a major attack makes such calls ever harder to heed.

Firstly, the sight of European borders closing again puts another dent in Schengen, the no-borders agreement that facilitates European cross-border trade and travel, but - as the public well understands after the Paris attacks - the free movement of terrorists too.

Just four days after the capture of the main Paris attacker, Salah Abdeslam - a belated victory, as it seemed, for Franco-Belgian security - the jihadist Hydra sprouts another head, commits another atrocity.

No one underestimates the difficulty of stopping random terror attacks on the open street from committed suicide attackers, but these outrages took place at an airport and a metro station - controlled spaces where travellers should expect to feel safe.

Secondly, if - as happened after Paris - it emerges that those responsible for these Brussels attacks were among the migrants who were "waved through" into Europe in the last 12 months, attitudes to migration and multi-culturalism risk hardening still further.

More immediately, while these attacks are likely to drive up public support for the EU-Turkey deal to deport migrants from Greece back to Turkey, they will also undermine a key component of that agreement.

Namely, that Turkey agreed to take back the migrants in exchange for visa-free travel to Europe for Turkish tourists and businessmen.

France and Spain were already openly dubious about the wisdom of this quid pro quo; these attacks are likely to render the idea still-born, both practically and politically.

The EU-Turkey deal was always a long shot, but given the closure of the Balkan Route had already choked off numbers, there was a faint chance that a display of determination to deport migrants back to Turkey might have sent the message to the refugees not to bother coming.

With these attacks, the chances of success for the deal become more remote, building further pressure on Europe and Greece over migration at a time when Europe, for the sake of its credibility and unity, desperately needs a deal - however legally dubious and ugly - to stick.

Lastly, looking still further towards the dark horizon, these attacks are likely to sow yet more seeds of doubt in the minds of British voters on June 23.

Downing Street had hoped to make security a key plank of the campaign to remain in the EU, but on days like yesterday, the very phrase "European security" sounds like a bad joke.
I went to Berlin last week and expected on my return to see progress made on a new government. But far from it: the shadow boxing continues and Fianna Fail's Billy Kelleher sounds terrified by his own party's mandate and by having to take any responsibility. The 'cute hoor' dithering has become tiresome and, quite frankly, the resistance of Fianna Fail to going into a coalition with Fine Gael is not only selfish and dangerous, but not at all in the national interest.

While I was in Berlin, at an international political conference, I had to explain to curious inquirers about why we still have no government. Such a torturous process was well understood: my listeners come from political systems where often complex coalitions are assembled. However, such alliances are done on ideological grounds - or do not happen because of an ideological divide.

My foreign inquirers did not understand how a government could not be formed because the two parties are basically in consumer competition with each other - and nothing else. They were baffled, given both parties are centrist, either slightly to the right, or left, but very much centrist. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are both national movements, and effectively the same. And despite the growing international issues, with a terror and refugee crisis in Europe and a Brexit possibility looming, these two main parties still cannot create a government - because they have to preserve their own identities, party jobs, perks and local allegiances.

Fianna Fail is particularly responsible in this regard. It is putting party before country, despite all the patriotic blather, and doing what is patently not in the national interest. Ordinary Fianna Fail members may be against a Fine Gael coalition but the general public is not and surely that matters more. Yes, Fianna Fail said during the election it wouldn't go into government with Fine Gael. But it shouldn't have, just as it shouldn't have said it would abolish Irish Water - another rash promise it is trying to retreat from.

All the reasons Fianna Fail offers against a coalition are bogus. For example, that Enda Kenny shouldn't be leader and Taoiseach in such an arrangement. Why not? He got more votes than Micheal Martin. Or that Sinn Fein would then dominate the Opposition - as if Fianna Fail or Fine Gael should be allowed to shape the Opposition as well.

So what - let Sinn Fein have the opposition space. It may end up staying there. Clearly, Fianna Fail is afraid to form a government in case it becomes unpopular. Or, worse still, the government might actually work and the public will like it so much they'll want Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to stay together - and maybe even merge.

The other shibboleth is that Dail and Seanad reform should come first. Really - before the formation of a government? And where's this Seanad reform anyway? Would it be Micheal Martin stuffing the second chamber with his 'almost TDs' and political has-beens. The volte-face on this issue has been truly astonishing, just a week after Martin's grand announcements on political reform. Clearly, it is business as usual for Fianna Fail and cynicism has won the day.

Just as it has on the broader issue of a coalition. And, sadly, we sort of go along with this game.

Indeed, such is our apparent reverence for the whole intrigue of the 'political process' - as opposed to our utmost concern for what is good for the country - that we are expected to be concerned that Fianna Fail might suffer seat losses after such an arrangement, and the party will lose its identity.

Who cares? We want a government and a stable economy and country. We've had enough politicking.

We were promised a new way of doing things and a so-called democratic revolution after the crash. And it was Fianna Fail that presided over that crash.

Surely, the least Fianna Fail can do now, for recompense, and in return for being allowed back by a forgiving electorate, is to get over its party pride and self-preservation and go into a national government that will steer the ship of State in what are very troubled times. And while the two big parties hang back like wallflowers at a country dance, the smaller parties enter into discussions and show the way in political maturity.

But as Denis Naughten - the new de facto leader of the rural TDs -has said, how can they do a durable deal when the big parties are hanging back?

As a diplomat in the US in the early 1990s, I got fed up trying to explain Ireland's strange situation of being a Republic but not having divorce and family planning, or a proper division between church and State.

I also got fed up explaining how Ireland was a neutral country but was still pro-American and allowed the US military to refuel at Shannon.

Now, I am fed up explaining why Ireland can't have an obvious government coalition because our two main parties have their origins in our Civil War and because they field politicians with competing personal ambitions, perks and allowances.

We have moved on and the people want a government that makes the most sense.

So, just get on with it.
Brussels is the most international city in the EU. It's the heart of Europe. It welcomes people from every part of the world as international politics and business play out on a daily basis. Thousands of Irish people live here, working in the public and private sectors. It's a place where students hang out and genuinely feel a common European identity.

Yesterday's attacks have unnerved and undermined the natural confidence of this city as a place where deals are made - and hope, just sometimes, can be restored.

Europe's capital was rocked to its core yesterday as innocent people lost their lives to terrorism.

Given the pre-Christmas terror alert and the arrest last week of Europe's most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam, there was an expectation that something terrible could happen. But that threat did not deter people from getting on with their lives. Yes, people were conscience of the security, seeing the army on the streets, but nothing prepares you for an unprovoked attack in the civilian population.

It's virtually impossible to stop a lone suicide attacker from detonating a bomb. The metro station at Maelbeek and the airport in Brussels were the easiest of all targets for the terrorists. A crowded place where people gather, as they try to catch a train or airplane, is such an everyday occurrence in this city as people move about.

As someone who travels through Brussels airport every week on my way to Dublin, sometimes twice a week, it's unimaginable to consider the panic that ensued yesterday. For those of us who use the airport so frequently - it's a bit like a big bus station. Our journeys to and from the airport are planned to maximise time. The departure area, where the shooting and bombing occurred, is part of our weekly travel routine.

It takes just 80 minutes' flying time between Dublin and Brussels. Every day six flights go from Dublin to Brussels and visa-versa. Thousands of Irish people are in the airport every day. You regularly bump into people you know. Yesterday those flights from Dublin were diverted to Amsterdam as Brussels airport became a no-go area.

Maelbeek Metro station is a stone's throw from where I work. It's next to the EU Parliament, and is one stop away from the EU Commission and the EU Council. The detonation of that second bomb on the Metro line sent a clear message to all EU citizens. The metro became a place of carnage, death and injury.

Innocent people going about their daily lives represent the new frontline for extremists. Innocent people murdered and injured because they want and believe in a Europe at peace.

In the EU Parliament yesterday, everyone was shocked by the brutality of these latest attacks. As colleagues enquired about the safety of staff and loved ones, there was also a defiance that those responsible cannot destroy the progress that Europe has made.

Freedom of movement and the opening of borders represents the greatest success of the EU. Young people traveling and working across the EU is a demonstration of EU rights and freedoms. Yesterday's attacks in Brussels, as in Paris last year or in Madrid and London previously, cannot be allowed to create a 'fortress Europe'.

We must be supportive of the security decisions that are in place or to come. But we must also support the basic freedoms that all Europeans enjoy. In doing that we can defeat those that offer nothing but death and a new war between civilisations.

As an Irish person who is privileged to represent my country here in the EU Parliament - we must all stand with Belgium and with the EU.

Brian Hayes is a Fine Gael MEP
The media and many political commentators, displaying serious collective amnesia, are, lemming-like, calling for and demanding a 'stable' grand coalition between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

They seem to have taken an extremely forgiving attitude and have forgotten that both these parties wreaked enduring financial and social havoc on the Irish people in recent times.

Fianna Fail was responsible for the unprecedented devastation and destruction of the economy, which forced the country into a hugely embarrassing bail-out and loss of sovereignty, resulting in the permanent loss of control of our affairs to strangely named foreigners.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael, cushioned with its own world-class salaries and pensions, made the 'hard' decisions and displayed a total lack of empathy when foisting unequal, unjust and unnecessarily brutal austerity on the most vulnerable: the aged, the young, the sick, the disabled and their carers. As is its wont, the party pandered to its support base, big business and the well-off, and despite being festooned with hugely paid advisers and handlers, ensured its inevitable demise in displaying the same incompetence, secrecy and cronyism, layered with the traditional arrogance and innate political naivety.

Both parties, during the election campaign, conveniently managed to air-brush from discussion and debate their greatest political and social crime: the abject capitulation to the bully boys and girls in Europe and their slavish and crass acceptance on our behalf of private bank debts of 64bn to be paid by future generations in perpetuity, as well as their pathetic rush to pay the bond holders in full.

Together they ensured that all of this private gambling debt was shouldered by a totally innocent Irish people to protect the failed euro, the EU itself, bankers and the German and French banking systems.

The combined and direct result today is an Irish society divided and broken, most notably evident in the unprecedented and harrowing levels of our young and not-so-young citizens taking their own lives.

The physically and mentally debilitating effects of extreme debt, negative equity, poverty, forced emigration, broken homes, and homelessness, and now multiple evictions at the hands of vulture funds, is a lasting testimony to both parties rightly rejected outright by the electorate in 2011 and 2016.

Those clamouring for a 'stable' government of the terrible twins should be careful what they wish for. The result would be more of the same, a coalition of undoubted and doubly proven incompetence, arrogance and cronyism, which if they quickly didn't tear each other asunder through infighting and petty jealousy, would have the numbers to drive a right-wing agenda to the ultimate detriment of the ordinary citizen.

Surely given our recent history, we don't need more of the kind of destructive monolithic stability we have all experienced to our cost. There is much precedence here and abroad for successful and fair, long-lasting minority governments, ruling openly by general consensus instead of diktat, with a strong opposition to keep manners on the dominant party.

John Leahy

Cork

Rehabilitation in prisons

Once the new government is formed, the most urgent task must surely be to confront, with greater acuity, determination and clarity of purpose, the plague of crime that afflicts our country.

Our present justice system is weakened, if not fatally flawed, as a result of the minimal shared awareness of the end it is intended to serve.

This ambiguity of purpose is particularly evident in our prison system where the cost of incarceration runs at over 70,000 per prisoner; the figure for Portlaoise high security prison is around 155,000. The courts and prisons command a far greater share of available resources than do the various crime-prevention programmes that seem to be providing greater value for money.

Prisons have become academies of crime as inmates are provided with little by way of opportunities or motivation to make a fresh start once sentences are served. Being often locked in their cells for 23 hours a day does little to nurture healthy interests.

What a difference it would make if every offender left prison with just a single lawful enthusiasm!

Politicians are wary about encouraging activities that are therapeutic or educational, fearing the ritual wrath of the tabloid press that caricatures humanitarian gestures as propagating the myth of the criminal as a political rebel - a latter-day Robin Hood, motivated by the gallant quest to redistribute societal resources.

There are numerous possible purposes to be served by the judicial system. Prevention of crime would seem to be the obvious starter. In this respect the impact of deviant subcultures that are nurtured by the social deserts created by the clearance of inner cities to the suburbs needs to be acknowledged.

The criminal justice system in Sweden is an excellent example of thinking beyond conventional wisdom. It is the only country where rehabilitation lies at the heart of the penal system, going against the universal trend to ramp up political emphasis on punishment.

We have turned our backs on the principle that we send convicted offenders to prison as punishment, not for punishment.

Philip O'Neill

Oxford, England

Delay forming new government

It is interesting to hear some politicians quoting 'straw polls' at doorsteps and how "people did not want that previous government, that Taoiseach, that party'', etc.

Being a 'lay' voter, I thought an election was meant to elect representatives to form a government. So what's keeping those who were elected from doing just this?

Could it be that the electorate by default is asking politicians, 100 years after 1916, to grow up?

Elected representatives, please respect the democratic wishes of your people (not door-step straw polls) and put a government in place, now.

Terry Malone

Co Meath

In view of the lack of urgency by political parties to form a government, I propose that all politicians' pay be reduced by 50pc from May 1.

In addition, all allowances, including the 'leadership' allowance and the 'turning up and hanging around' allowance, should be suspended and only restored when the government is formed - and only to those who made genuine efforts to establish the new coalition.

John P Masterson

Carrickane, Co Cavan
Kathryn in the Self Portrait dress on The Voice of Ireland. Picture: Kyran O'Brien

Kathryn in the Self Portrait dress on The Voice of Ireland. Picture: Kyran O'Brien

Kathryn Thomas in the Self Portrait dress on The Voice of Ireland. Picture: Kyran O'Brien

Kathryn Thomas has joked about her "Judy Finnigan moment" after wearing a revealing dress on The Voice of Ireland.

The RTE presenter turned heads on the first live show in a navy dress by Self Portrait from BT2 that had cut-out panels to show off her toned midriff. But the popular presenter's choice of ensemble hit a bum note with some viewers as they remarked in their droves on her risque outfit.

One said that her dress was "not appropriate for family viewing" at 6.30pm while another said she had "too much flesh showing".

Another went a step further and said: "What's the story with the ill-fitting dress and the Sharon Stone hair?"

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However, Kathryn has laughed off the criticism, and said that it doesn't bother her after 10 years of being in the public eye.

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"There was a fear that my dress was going to go south, that I was going to have a Judy Finnigan moment," she said referring to UK TV host Judy Finnigan's wardrobe malfunction at the National Television Awards in 2000 when she accidentally exposed her bra.

"Maybe there wasn't enough for the dress to hold on to. That could have been it."

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She said while the comments on social media didn't affect her, she thought it was inappropriate to attack her team.

"I think when people have a go at you on Twitter, I just get more defensive for the people I work with because at the end of the day, I won't go out in anything that I'm not comfortable in," she said.

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"I loved the dress, I loved the hair, I loved the make-up and if some people don't like it, they don't like it.

"You're never going to please everybody all of the time and if you did, it would be sort of boring."

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She told TV3's 7 O'Clock Show how she "loved" her Sharon Stone hair.

This year sees Roxanne Parker taking over the role of show stylist and is responsible for dressing Kathryn, Una Healy and Rachel Stevens. But despite the comments on social media, RTE confirmed it didn't receive any official complaints about the ensemble.

Speaking about the reaction to her dazzling outfit, Kathryn told the Herald how this Sunday's dress will be "just as fab - but with a higher neckline".

She recently finished filming Operation Transformation and was straight into fronting the live Voice of Ireland programmes. Once filming ends next month, she'll head down to Kerry to oversee some of her Pure Results bootcamp courses at Parknasilla. She's running an Easter detox weekend from April 1 as well as a Singles' week in May for fit-loving singletons.
From vintage to designer, slinky to tea-length, these are the go-to shops for the perfect dress.

1. Aibheil of Adare

What: The gorgeous Paloma Blanca label is just one of the trump cards at Ann Gilvarry's stylish bridal boutique. Keeping good company with labels like Pronovias, Enzoani, Maggie Sottero, Mikaella, Anna Kara and La Sposa this is a bastion of high style in the serene setting of Adare. With an up-to-date website brides can browse the extensive offering before a visit, a smart way to focus for your appointment. Look out for quirky headpieces including birdcage veils and some head beading. Appointments are required, except on Saturday July 2, their next sale day.

Where: Adare, Co Limerick.

See: adarebridal.ie; (061) 396026.

2. Alice May Bridal

What: One of the country's newest boutiques, Alison Daly's carefully curated selection of bridal labels has seen Alice May Bridal win immediate fans from fashion-forward brides. With Dublin area exclusivity on Catherine Deane, Willowby by Watters and Tara Keely, they also stock Nicola Ann and Raimon Bundo's elegantly embellished gowns. Five minutes from Enniskerry, the luxurious shop has lots of room for a comfortable shopping and fitting experience, with parking outside the door. Bridesmaid dresses from Dessy and Jenny Yoo are stocked alongside bridal headpieces, veils, shoes, bags, jewellery and belts. Appointments can be booked online too, which is a smart touch.

Where: The Kilternan Gallery, Enniskerry Road, Kilternan, Co Dublin.

See: alicemay.ie; (01) 295 0006.

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3. Amarra Bridal

What: Amarra Bridal's collection is quite classic, stocking big sellers like MGNY by Mori Lee and Justin Alexander. Slinky silhouettes, lots of lace and beautiful detailing permeate the collection which also features the streamlined tailoring of Ronald Joyce's Victoria Jane collection. With one of the best selection of bridesmaids' dresses around, you can choose from all the Dessy group's popular lines, including Dessy to After Six and Lela Rose and the versatile Jenny Yoo collection.

Where: The Avenue, The Whitewater Shopping Centre, Kildare.

See: amarrabridal.ie; (045) 432 148.

4. Amore Mio

What: Wedding dresses are just one part of the draw to Mariam O'Donovan's popular Killaloe boutique where she stocks a mean line of over 35 labels including occasion wear, bridesmaids' and flowergirl dresses. The collection has broad appeal and includes gowns from labels like Justin Alexander, Ronald Joyce and Allure Bridal. Mariam's known for her gorgeous accessories too, especially headpieces, and shopping here is a fun and relaxing experience.

Where: Church St, Killaloe, Co Clare.

See: amoremio.ie; (061) 622 333.

5. Archive 12

What: Stylist Claire Leese's Archive 12 is an Aladdin's cave of vintage loveliness. Started in 2014, the New York loft-style boutique stocks original and unique vintage wedding dresses and handmade flower crowns. Each dress is one of a kind, carefully chosen to appeal to the modern bride. All the collections are original vintage with Minna Bridal arriving exclusively in store in April. With dresses from the Edwardian era through to the 1970s, Leese finds 1960s tend to be good sellers. It also has a range of accessories, cover-ups and veils, and a bespoke service making handmade flower crowns for the bridal party to suit your colour palette.

Where: Conway Mill, 5-7 Conway St, Belfast, Co Antrim.

See: archive12.com; (048) 7968 336 123.

6. Bridal Bliss

What: There's a definite theme of romance running through the rails of Bridal Bliss in Cork. Serving Munster brides for nine years, Rachel McAuliffe and Mona Holden's contemporary store stocks a selection of irresistibly romantic labels like Allure, San Patrick, Essense of Australia, Stella York and Madison James. A collection of veils, jewellery and headpieces have been carefully chosen to complement the glamorous range.

Where: 4 Kilnap Business Park, Old Mallow Rd, Cork.

See: bridalbliss.ie; (021) 439 6822.

7. Barnardos Bridal Rooms

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What: Before you make any assumptions, Barnardos does not sell second-hand wedding dresses. With locations in Wexford and Dun Laoghaire, these dedicated bridal boutiques only stock brand new wedding dresses donated by some of Ireland's top bridal retailers, wholesalers and designers. You can snap up a serious bargain knowing the proceeds are going to Barnardos children's charity to help vulnerable children. Prices start at 250 (amazing value for a new dress!) and the shopping experience feels as special as it does in any privately run boutique. As with all wedding shops an appointment is necessary.

Where: 8 Upper George's St, Dun Laoghaire and 11a Selskar St, Wexford.

See: barnardos.ie/bridal; (01) 280 1246 and (053) 912 2679.

8. Belladonna

What: When a bridal salon stocks over 14 designers, amongst them names like Jesus Peiro, Charlotte Balbier, Pronovias and Novia D'Art, you know shopping here will be a thrill. That's the case at Galway's Belladonna, a spacious, elegant boutique where west of Ireland brides have huge choice, both with brands and budgets. Dresses start at 900 and go up to 4,000, they stock sizes up to 32, and they have lots of great events and sales throughout the year.

Where: Centrepoint Liosban, Tuam Road, Galway.

See: belladonnaglaway.com; (091) 755 139.

9. Ciara Bridal

What: Jo Flood and Paula Comiskey run Ciara Bridal which has been dressing brides for an impressive 33 years. Don't be fooled by the compact exterior: the shop may look small but it stocks 10 designer labels, including the popular Ronald Joyce and Remy Couture and the elegant Sadoni, which is exclusive to them. With a good range of headpieces and veils, brides can enjoy a 10pc off any new orders until the end of March.

Where: Powerscourt Centre, South William St, Dublin 2.

See: ciarabridal.ie; (01) 671 1545.

10. De Stafford Bridal

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What: Synonymous with stylish brides, Kathy De Stafford creates beautiful wedding dresses and also stocks an impressive selection of labels at her three stores. Based in Dublin city, Howth and Nenagh, her shops offer an eclectic mix of glamorous choices, including Inbal Dror's fairytale creations (exclusive to Howth), Novia D'Art (exclusive to Tipperary) and Herm's Bridal whose pretty designs are available at her Exchequer Street store. Her eponymous dresses are her best sellers and there's a lovely selection of accessories to complete your big-day look.

Where: 21 Exchequer St, Dublin 2; 48 Kenyon St, Nenagh, Co Tipperary; Boyd House, Howth, Co Dublin.

See: destaffordbridal.ie; (01) 679 8817.

11. Dirty Fabulous

What: Even the name is sassy and Dirty Fabulous does a mean line in sassy frocks. Kathy Sherry and Caroline Quinn stock a huge vintage bridal collection from the 1920s to the 1970s, with 1950s tea-length dresses a speciality. Many are designer or lovingly handmade with superb tailoring, ranging from short and flirty to full-length lace. Most of the ever-changing collection are original vintage, making them completely unique. The dynamic duo is launching their own vintage-inspired dress collection soon and you'll find perfect period pieces to accessorise the look.

Where: 21 Wicklow St, Dublin 2.

See: diartyfabulous.com; (01) 611 1842.

12. Lilac Rose Bridal

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What: Lilac Rose's eclectic collection is cleverly chosen to appeal to all tastes. From the romance of Rosa Clara Soft (exclusively stocked here) to the fabulous tea-length gowns of Lou Lou Bride, Charlie Brear's understated designs to the opulence of Eliza Jane Howell's dresses, it offers great choice and style. The thoughtful accessory offering includes Rachel Simpson shoes, headpieces from Willow & Wild, Sharon Galvin and White Ivy headpieces, as well as veils, shrugs and stoles. There's a sample sale coming up on March 26 with up to 70pc off at this Limerick boutique.

Where: George's Quay, Limerick.

See: lilacrose.ie; (061) 419 338.

13. Little White Dress

What: A shopping trip to Castleknock's Little White Dress is guaranteed to make fashionistas weak at the knees. The international, mostly exclusive, collection reads like a who's who of fabulousness: Temperley London, Belle & Bunty, Vicky Rowe, Anna Campbell, Elizabeth Stuart, the list goes on. Hollywood glamour and boho chic permeate much of the swoonsome collection, which is underpinned by LWD's team's motto: "We don't stock any dresses that we wouldn't be dying to wear ourselves." A true treasure trove of high-end gorgeousness.

Where: First floor, Exchange House, Main St, Castleknock Village, Dublin 15.

See: littlewhitedress.ie; (01) 824 8000.

14. The Courtyard

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What: For red carpet glamour, brides should make a beeline for Kinsealy where celebrity favourites Caroline Castigliano and Badgley Mischka gowns are waiting to be admired. Exclusively stocked at this luxurious boutique, they're in good company with San Patrick and Private Collection By TM Couture, a capsule collection designed specifically for The Courtyard. Spacious and stylish, the store delivers top customer service and caters for bridesmaids with Badgley Mischka and TM Couture dresses.

Where: Kinsealy, St Olave's, Co Dublin.

See: thecourtyardprive.ie; (01) 803 8152.

15. Ophelia Bridal

What: Aoife O'Broin's lovely Drogheda store knows how to get the best from any dress. With an end-to-end service where all alterations are carried out in-house by their own seamstress, they're experts at bespoke design changes too, if you fancy tweaking something to make it a once-off. With nine years' experience, they stock beautiful brands like Luna by Rosa Clara, La Sposa, and Essense of Australia, alongside a top selection of bridesmaids' dresses like Watters, WT00, Belsoie, Sorella Vita and True Bride. We like their shoe offering too, and comprehensive accessory selection.

Where: Farney Villa, Dyer St, Drogheda, Co Louth.

See: opheliabridal.ie; (041) 980 1778.

16. Myrtle Ivory Bridal Couture

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What: Fashionista brides flock to Marina & Meghann Mills' city centre boutique. The mother and daughter duo have a keen eye for all things chic and their pretty shop numbers style maven Amy Huberman and Rosanna Davison among its satisfied customers. (Both wore Stephanie Allin, see page 28.) Other great designers include Claire Pettibone, Ines Di Santo, Romona Keveza, Amanda Wakeley and the super stylish David Fielden. Expect a special shopping experience and a treasure chest of dazzling accessories to finish off your look.

Where: 3 Anne's Lane, Dublin 2.

See: myrtleivory.com; (01) 675 3519.

17. McElhinneys Bridal Rooms

What: With traditional service, a great reputation for customer service and large choice of brands and price points, the family-run McElhinneys has been serving customers since 1971. The large store can fit out the bride and her mum (they'll stop selling bridesmaids dresses this year). The bridal offering extends to 10 designers including best-seller Pronovias, and Atelier Pronovias, Justin Alexander, Ronald Joyce and Mori Lee. They have exclusivity on the glamorous Hayley Page collection and slinky Julie Vino dresses and a great range of accessories. Weekend appointments can book up to six weeks in advance.

Where: Ballybofey, Co Donegal.

See: mcelhinneysbridalrooms.com; (074) 913 1217.

18. Petticoat Lane

What: In the pretty village of Hillsborough you'll find Petticoat Lane, a luxurious bridal store run by mum and daughter Denise Patterson and Katie Larmour. Stockists of Ian Stuart's seductive range, you'll find a great mix of styles and labels including Emma Hunt, Hayley Paige, Enzoani, Charlei Brear and Tara Keely's impossibly glamorous gowns. Outfits for the whole bridal party, from mums to maids to flower girls, can be found here, alongside expert service and attention to detail.

Where: Hillsborough, Lisburn St, Co Down.

See: petticotalanebridal.co.uk; (048) 9268 9974.

19. Ruben Bridal

What: Pretty as a picture, Ruben Bridal is a charming Kildare boutique catering exclusively for plus-size brides since 2007. Run by Catherine McCann and Janet Wall they stock sizes 16 up to 32 with five different labels, including the popular Venus Bridal. All alterations are carried out in store by Janet, ensuring a relaxed and attentive shopping experience. Bridesmaids' dresses are stocked in all sizes and there's a selection of pretty accessories on sale too.

Where: 1 Whitehaven, Calverstown, Co Kildare.

See: rubenbridal.ie; (045) 485 489.

20. Sharon Hoey

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What: A Dublin favourite, Sharon Hoey not only designs gowns but also stocks some of the sexiest bridal names around. We're talking Jenny Packham, Sassi Holford, Blue Bridalwear, Lambert Creations for starters, as well as her eponymous best-selling label. Brides can choose from 13 designers in the Georgian setting, including Suzanne Neville, Eliza Jane Howell, Augusta Jones, Rembo Styling, Marylise, Modeca and Elbeth Gillis. With a full range of veils designed by Sharon, and many beautiful headpieces, the whole collection is a delight.

Where: 6 Lower Merrion St, Dublin 2.

See: sharonhoey.com; (01) 676 2772.

21. The Attic Bridalwear Boutique

What: A lovely new shopping experience in Limerick city, Orlaith Carroll is a fashion designer and her sense of style shines through in her choice of stock at this glamorous, year-old venture. A graduate of LSAD, she has worked with top designers Alexander McQueen and Derek Lam, and will be adding her own bridal collection to the rails this year. In the meantime, you can peruse gorgeous gowns by Elbeth Gillis, Anna Georgina, Herm's and Margarett.

Where: 8 Roches St, Limerick.

See: theatticbridalwearboutique; (061) 314 655.

22. The Bridal Corner

What: One of the longest running wedding shops in Ireland, the pros at The Bridal Corner in Glasnevin know a thing or two about dressing a stylish bride. Stocking an eclectic mix of labels, including Essense of Australia, Enzoani, Allure Bridal and Benjamin Roberts, they manage to cater to all tastes and styles, from the classic bride to someone looking for a slinky and chic little number.

Where: 1 Prospect Avenue, Hart's Corner, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

See: bridalcorner.ie; (01) 882 8083.

23. The Bridal Outlet

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What: The choice of gowns at The Bridal Outlet is vast. The 2,000 square-foot store stocks an impressive 17 labels offering something for every budget and body shape. Margaret McMahon has been running the business for 14 years and lists Margaret Moreland (designed and made in Ireland), Justin Alexander and Mori Lee amongst her best-sellers, alongside international labels, Lusan Mandongus and Eddy K and vintage favourite Lou Lou. Stocking a wide range of accessories, including shoes and lingerie, brides can get tricked out head-to-toe here with ease. Their annual sale on Sunday April 3 sees up to 70pc reductions off stock wedding dresses.

Where: 9 Abbey Business Park, Baldoyle Industrial Estate, Dublin 13.

See: bridaloutletireland.com; (01) 839 5358.

24. Marian Gale

What: Donnybrook's smart boutique is synonymous with occasion wear and debs dresses but the long-running shop also stocks a strong selection of contemporary bridal gowns. From slinky silhouettes to lace confections and beautiful tailoring, the collection is romantic and eclectic. Despite the swanky postcode Marian's gowns are very affordable and there's a fabulous collection of colourful gowns that are perfect for bridesmaids.

Where: 8a The Mall, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

See: mariangale.ie; (01) 269 7460.

25. The Town Bride

What: Dressing brides for 20 years (including yours truly!) this atmospheric Powerscourt Centre stalwart offers a relaxed and personal service from Colm and his crew. Their best-selling label is White Rose Bridal and they've a strong offering of international brands including Oronovias, Ladybird and Richard Sherman, a label renowned for its dramatic trains, and Private Label's impressive tailoring. Bridesmaids can choose from the Sorella Vita's on-trend collection and wedding favourite Kelsey Rose. With dresses from 850 the boutique has a reputation for impeccable in-house alterations and attention to detail.

Where: 1st floor, Powerscourt Centre, South William Street, Dublin 2.

See: thetownbride.ie; (01) 677 0991.

26. The White Gallery

What: For four years Rachel Morgan has been dressing some of Ireland's most glamorous brides. The White Gallery in Co Down is packed full of A-list style with gowns to make you swoon. Everything she stocks is high-end, with all nine designers exclusive within Ireland to her boutique. From Laure de Sagazan to Yolan Cris and Maison Floret to Divine Atelier there's huge choice for luxe-loving ladies. Bridesmaids and flower girls are catered for too with chic accessories from the likes of Luna Bea and Eliza & Vale. Saturday appointments book up six-to-eight weeks in advance (late evenings Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) and there's a Halfpenny London Designer Day coming up on April 16.

Where: 14a Upper Burren Rd, Burren, Warrenpoint, Co Down.

See: thewhitegalleryboutique.co.uk; (0044) 7565 221 331.

27. The White Room

What: It's hard not to be impressed with The White Room's bridal offering. Frances McElwain has built up a great brand over 12 years, that currently stocks 11 exciting labels. Our favourite (and their best-seller) is Jesus Peiro, the Spanish design house renowned for edgy silhouettes and sublime tailoring. With best-sellers like Pronovias, Mikaella Bridal, Paloma Blanca, Rembo Styling, Charlotte Balbier, Enzoni and Daalarna Couture there's a dress for every bride and budget. There are five private fitting rooms and appointments are 90 minutes, which is a little longer than the norm. There's a sample sale starting March 31 and the Jesus Peiro Preview 2017 collection is now in store.

Where: 3D Lough Sheever Corporate Park, Robinstown, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.

See: thewhiteroom.ie; (044) 934 7661.

28. Tracy Bridal & Evening Wear

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What: In business for 26 years Tracy Gilmore is quite the expert in pleasing brides. With nine labels to choose from you'll find a good mix of classic and romantic styles at this large Galway store. Think big-sellers like Justin Alexander, Sincerity, Lillian West, Maggie Sottero, Sottero Midgley, Ronald Joyce and Victoria Jane. Strong on customer service Tracy Bridal also has a good offering for bridesmaids, namely True Bride, Mark Lesley, Ronald Joyce and Corizzi.

Where: Bohermore, Galway.

See: tracybridal.com; (091) 380 660.

29. Vintage Pearl Bridal

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What: Located in a beautiful Georgian building in Galway's West End, Vintage Pearl offers brides a fun, relaxed experience. Owner Michelle Burke looks after all her brides, with one-to-one consultations that take you through her lovely collections. Alongside vintage-inspired designs by Latvian designer Katya Katya Shehurina, French designer Cymbeline, and 1950s-inspired tea-length dresses by House of Mooshki, she also stocks original vintage wedding dresses. Rachel Simpson's 1920s-inspired shoes, veils, headpieces and accessories by Emmy McCormick complete the offering.

Where: 34 Eglinton House, Dominick St, Galway.

See: vintagepearlbridal.ie; 086 868 1499.

30. White Willow

What: The stock in Kenmare's White Willow has been brilliantly selected to deliver impressive choice to modern brides. From boho to vintage to contemporary styling, savvy owner Kate Cremin has selected a smart mix of top brands like David Fielden, Caroline Atelier, Rembo Styling, Lizzie Agnew, Johanna Hehir, and Ella Rose. Add in a good selection of accessories and bridesmaids' dresses and this lovely boutique punches well above its weight.

Where: 1st floor, Henry St, Kenmare.

See: whitewillowkenmare.ie; (087) 786 2340.
Donald Trump greets Alicia Watkins  the blogger who was given a job by the billionaire  in Washington. Photo: Reuters/Jim Bourg

BILLIONAIRE Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton were hoping to boost their delegate leads over party challengers for the presidential nomination last night, as the 2016 race for the White House moved to states in the West.

Arizona and Utah featured contests for both parties, while Idaho Democrats hold presidential caucuses, all of which will determine if Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich can blunt the growing sense of inevitability around both party front-runners.

It has been, especially on the Republican side, the most chaotic political season in decades.

"I have more votes than anybody," Mr Trump boasted on the eve of the votes, as he courted sceptical Republican officials in Washington. "The people who go against me should embrace me."

Ms Clinton looked beyond Mr Sanders and instead sharpened her general election attacks on the billionaire Trump. "We need steady hands," she said, "not a president who says he's neutral on Monday, pro-Israel on Tuesday and who-knows-what on Wednesday because everything's negotiable."

Mr Trump's brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in heavily Mormon Utah, where preference polls suggest the ultra-conservative Cruz has a chance to claim more than 50pc of the caucus vote - and with it, all of Utah's 40 delegates. If Cruz fails to exceed 50pc, the delegates would be awarded proportionally based on each candidate's vote total.

Mr Kasich hopes to play spoiler in Utah, a state that prizes civility and religion. A week ago, the Ohio governor claimed a victory in his home state, his first and only win of the primary season. But Mitt Romney, a Mormon and the Republicans' 2012 presidential nominee, is telling his fellow Utah voters that Mr Cruz "is the only Republican candidate who can defeat Donald Trump".

Mr Trump appears to be in a stronger position in Arizona, which will award all of its 58 delegates to whichever candidate wins the most votes.

Anti-Trump Republicans are running out of time to prevent the billionaire businessman from securing the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the nomination. In primary voting and caucuses so far, Trump has 680 delegates, Cruz has 424 and Kasich has 143.
Rob Ford, the populist and scandal-plagued former mayor of Toronto, died yesterday, his family announced in a statement.

Beloved and ridiculed during his tumultuous political career Ford (46) came to international attention in 2013 in the wake of drug and alcohol abuse scandals.

He defied calls to resign from office, but withdrew his re-election bid for mayor the following year after a cancerous tumour was discovered in his abdomen. He ran for city council instead, and was elected overwhelmingly.

John Tory, Ford's successor as mayor, said he was saddened by the news of his death.

"His time in City Hall included moments of kindness, of generosity to his council colleagues and real efforts to do what he thought was best for Toronto," Mr Tory said in a statement.

"He was, above all else, a profoundly human guy whose presence in our city will be missed."

Ford was a conservative who ran for office with the promise to cut government spending in order to ease the burden on taxpayers.

He made international headlines in 2013 when a series of videos surfaced of him appearing highly inebriated. One particularly damaging video appeared to show Ford smoking crack cocaine.

He initially denied using drugs, but eventually admitted that he had smoked crack in "one of my drunken stupors".

The scandals continued to spiral, with another video appearing to show a drunken Ford making threats of violence.

Ford apologised for his drug use and for the apparent threats, but insisted that he was not an addict.

He refused to resign from office despite the city council voting overwhelmingly to ask him to step down.

He finally took a two-month leave of absence beginning in April of 2014.

He had been in treatment for a rare and aggressive form of cancer called pleomorphic liposarcoma. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Muslims were failing to report suspicious activity and they must do more to help prevent attacks such as those that killed at least 30 people in Belgium.

"When they see trouble they have to report it, they are not reporting it, they are absolutely not reporting it and that's a big problem," Trump said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday on Britain's ITV television.

Trump is the front-runner in the race to be the Republican candidate in November's presidential election. He has made a series of hugely controversial statements during his campaign that have boosted his popularity with supporters who see him as someone who speaks uncomfortable truths, but have outraged millions both in the United States and around the world.

Trump, who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, said it was "a disgrace" that one of the suspects behind last November's attacks in Paris had been found after a long manhunt by police in an area of Brussels where he lived.

"He was in his neighbourhood where he grew up and nobody even turned him in and supposedly this is retribution for that. It's a disgrace," he said.

Trump said there were signs that an attack by suspected Muslim extremists in California in December, which killed 14 people, could have been stopped.

"A lot of people in the community knew they were going to do it because in their apartment they had bombs all over the floor ... and they didn't report them," he said.

"I don't know what it is. It's like they're protecting each other but they're really doing very bad damage. They have to open up to society, they have to report the bad ones
One of the most famous High Court judges in England and Wales has retired - and her pet dog took pride of place in courtroom tribute.

Senior members of the judiciary paid tribute to Mrs Justice Mary Hogg at a ceremony in courtroom number four at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Wednesday - as her Norfolk Terrier Mr Chough sat next to court clerk.

Mrs Justice Hogg, 69, is stepping down after spending more than 20 years as a judge in the Family Division of the High Court.

She is a member of one of Britain's most famous legal families and one of the longest-serving High Court judges in England and Wales.

Her father and grandfather, both titled Lord Hailsham, served as Lord Chancellor. Her brother is former Conservative minister Douglas Hogg.

Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division of the High Court - and the most senior family court judge in England and Wales - led tributes to Mrs Justice Hogg.

He also said Mrs Justice Hogg had been known for her ''canine companions''.
Prince Harry has announced he will extend his trip to Nepal

Prince Harry is to extend his trip to Nepal by six days to help rebuild a school damaged by a devastating earthquake last year.

The 31-year-old said he will work with a charity group in a remote village, but would not give the location.

He made the surprise announcement at the end of what was to be a five-day official visit, during which he visited earthquake-damaged heritage sites, temples and a camp where people made homeless by the April 2015 earthquake are still living.

Harry arrived in Nepal on Saturday on his first trip to the Himalayan nation.

He is the first member of the Royal Family to visit Nepal since it abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008.

Harry said: "The people I have met and the beauty of this country make it very hard to leave. Thankfully however, I'm not leaving just yet!

"I will be spending the next six days in a remote village with a charity called Team Rubicon.

"The team I'm joining will be working with a community to rebuild a school damaged in the earthquake."

Nearly 9,000 people were killed and one million houses damaged by the earthquake. It also damaged Nepal's tourism industry, which drew foreign tourists to visit Hindu temples and trek mountain trails.

Harry said he had wanted to pay his respects to the many who died, and also show that the country is "open for business and has so much to offer".

"I hope that everyone back home who took an interest in the tour can see that Nepal is a country that you really have to come and visit," he said.

According to a Kensington Palace statement, Harry will help rebuild a school where students have been studying since the earthquake in makeshift classrooms made of poles, tarpaulins and tin.

The temporary facilities provide little defence against difficult weather conditions, it said.

Team Rubicon is a US-based disaster response group that combines the skills of military veterans with first responders.

Harry served twice with the UK military in Afghanistan before leaving the army in 2015.
The bomb maker behind the Paris terror attacks is a key suspect in the Brussels atrocities.

Belgian Najim Laachraoui (24) is a suspected Isil commander who made the suicide bombs used last November.

He is one of Europe's most wanted men who gave police the slip last year when he returned from Syria.

Last night, it was suggested he may be the mystery man at the centre of a dramatic manhunt for one of the suspected bombers who targeted Brussels Airport.

Of the three men caught on CCTV, two are believed to have blown themselves up but a third, who was wearing a white shirt and hat, remained at large and was the focus of a series of raids in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels.

Laachraoui grew up in Schaerbeek and had set up at least one bomb-making factory there in the weeks before Paris. It is thought he was the mastermind behind the latest outrage after suggestions the same kind of explosive - dubbed "Mother of Satan" - was used in the attack on the Belgian capital's transport hub.

An Iraqi intelligence source claimed the attack, which had been planned by Isil for three months, was shifted to Brussels and brought forward after the arrest of fellow Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam on Friday.

Police moved on the Schaerbeek district hours after the attacks and discovered a bomb containing nails, chemical products and an Islamic State flag at one address.

Factories

There was also reports that the local train station had been cordoned off but police activity focused on a block of flats on Rue Max Roos. A heavily armoured police truck has blocked off the residential street while a helicopter hovered over head.

Laachraoui figures on a list of Belgium's anti-terror service, Ocam, which contains around 100 names of residents of Schaerbeek, including several who have died in Syria and others who have returned. After returning from Syria, he is believed to have set up bomb- making factories in the district and another part of Belgium.

But he may be only one of several expert bombmakers who have been sent to Europe by Isil, investigators saying they have no idea how many are here.

A former Catholic schoolboy and electromechanics student, Laachraoui was stopped by police in September last year, weeks before the Paris attacks, as he made his way across Europe from Syria. He was in a car with Abdeslam on their way from Budapest to Brussels when they were stopped. But police waved them on after they convinced officers they were tourists on a trip to Vienna.

Because they were travelling on false identities, police were unaware that an international warrant had been issued for him in March 2014 under his real name.

Laachraoui was only publicly identified as a Paris suspect on Monday and Brussels was targeted less than 24 hours later. He had left Belgium for Syria in February 2013 where he received terror training before returning to Europe posing as a refugee.

He was picked up in Budapest in September last year by Abdeslam and taken to Brussels. He was also given the fake identity of Soutane Kayal which he then used to move across Europe.

Under his fake identity, Laachraoui rented a house in Auvelais, near the central Belgian city of Namur, used by some of the Paris killers, and at another suspected hideout in the rue Henri Berge in Schaerbeek.

Laachraoui's DNA was later found on two of the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks. It was also found in the addresses raided in Schaerbeek and Auvelais.

Laachraoui was already suspected of recruiting others to fight in Syria and was linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud - the Belgian mastermind behind Paris.

He was recently tried in absentia for involvement in a network of Belgians who left for Syria, in which the prosecutor called for him to be handed a 15-year prison sentence for persuading several of his friends to join the ranks of Isil. The verdict will be pronounced in May. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
A migrant child walks in front of a police cordon during a protest demanding the opening of the border between Greece and Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. Photo: AP

A refugee set himself on fire yesterday in protest against the closure of Macedonias border with Greece, as the EU plan to stem the influx of refugees descended further into chaos.

The man ran through the encampment at Idomeni before other refugees doused the flames and he was taken to hospital. Police said his injuries were not life-threatening.

The border was closed this month, blocking the Balkan migration route along which a million refugees passed last year.

Around 12,000 asylum seekers remain camped in the mud in the desperate hope that the frontier might reopen.

The EU scheme to staunch the exodus of migrants and refugees from Turkey looked increasingly unworkable last night. The UNs refugee agency suspended some operations in protest against the detention of asylum seekers.

The UNHCR said that reception centres on Aegean Islands such as Lesbos had been turned into grim detention centres. It said it would no longer transport refugees by bus to the centres.

Punished

The majority of arrivals here are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. People should not be punished for seeking safety, said Boris Cheshirkov, a UNHCR spokesman on Lesbos.

The agency fears Greece lacks capacity to process asylum seekers in hotspot centres. UNHCR is not a party to the EU-Turkey deal, nor will we be involved in returns or detention, said Melissa Fleming, the agencys spokesman. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres also said it would suspend all its activities in the camps.

The EU agreed with Ankara last Friday that migrants arriving on the Greek islands will be sent back to Turkey. Deportations are meant to start on April 4. But hundreds of extra personnel promised by Brussels have yet to turn up and the situation on the ground is chaotic.

The main refugee camp on Lesbos was described by aid groups as resembling a prison.
Najim Laachraoui is a suspect in the Brussels Airport bombing and has links to Salah Abdeslam

Brussels bomb suspect Najim Laachraoui is still on the run after the blasts which killed at least 34 people and left around 200 injured, including four Britons.

La Derniere Heure quoted anonymous police sources saying that Najim Laachraoui had been detained by armed police on Wednesday morning, but later backtracked on its claims.

"Contrary to what we announced, the man arrested in Anderlecht is not Najim Laachraoui," its website read.

Journalists from De Tijd and EenVandaag subsequently claimed the arrested man, who has not been identified, was found at a pizza restaurant but the report has not been confirmed.

A suspicious pizza order allegedly alerted police to Salah Abdeslam's wherabouts last week, while empty pizza boxes were also found littering hotel rooms used by the Paris attackers to prepare for November's massacres.

There was no immediate confirmation of the arrest from Belgian authorities but the country's federal prosecutor announced a press conference within minutes of the reports.

Laachraoui was captured on CCTV at Brussels Airport with two suspected attackers, pushing a luggage trolley while wearing a distinctive white coat and hat.

He was believed to be the only suspect remaining on the run following Tuesday's attacks, where brothers Khalid and el-Brahim Bakraoui died in bombings at Brussels airport and Maalbeek Metro station.

Under his alias Soufiane Kayal, the 25-year-old had been wanted for months as a suspected bomb maker linked to the Paris attacks after his DNA was found alongside that of the terrorists who carried out the massacres at a safe house where traces of explosives and suicide belts were found.

He also rented one of the hide-outs, in Auvelais, where the cell prepared for the massacres that would kill 130 people in the French capital.

Laachraoui was picked up in Budapest by Salah Abdeslam, possibly making his way back from Syria, on 9 September alongside Mohamed Belkaid, the 35-year-old Algerian killed by police in Forest on 15 March.

The net has been tightening on the remaining accomplices following Belkaid's death and Abdeslam's eventual arrest on Friday and there was speculation that Tuesday's attacks were either an act of revenge or the fulfilment of plots Abdeslam claimed had already been hatched.

The airport explosions, followed little over an hour later by another blast at a Metro station, left at least 31 dead and 250 wounded.
A woman and children sit and mourn for the victims of the bombings, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels (AP)

Policesaid they were looking for this man, who is suspected of taking part in the attacks at Belgium's Zaventem Airport

Belgians have begun three days of mourning after 34 people were killed and 270 others injured in the Brussels airport and Metro bombings.

The country remained on high alert as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up.

Several people who may be linked to the attacks were still on the loose and the country's threat alert remained at its highest level, meaning there was danger of an imminent attack, said Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium's terrorism threat body.

As government offices, schools and residents held a moment of silence on Wednesday morning to honour the dead, the mood was defiance mixed with anxiety that others involved in the attacks are still at large.

Belgium's federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw identified two of the Brussels attackers as brothers - Brahim El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, who targeted the Metro.

Investigators raided the Brussels neighbourhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a bin on the street including a note from Brahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison.

A taxi driver who took Brahim El Bakraoui and two others to the airport led investigators to an apartment where they found 15 kilograms of TATP explosives, along with nails and other materials used to make bombs, Mr Van Leeuw said.

He said authorities do not know the identities of two other people pictured with El Bakraoui in a surveillance photo from the airport that police are circulating.

Two were suicide bombers, the prosecutor said. The other was a man in a white jacket and black cap who fled before the bombs went off, leaving behind a bag full of explosives. That bag later blew up, but no one was injured.

Meanwhile, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said one of the attackers was caught in Turkey in June last year and deported to the Netherlands.

An official in the Turkish president's office later said the attacker who was deported from Turkey was Brahim El Bakraoui.

Turkey said it warned both Belgium and the Netherlands that he was a "foreign terrorist fighter".

The official said Dutch authorities later allowed him to go free because Belgian authorities could not establish any ties to terrorism.

Islamic State (IS), which was behind the Paris attacks, has also claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing sources it did not identify, said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Abdeslam was arrested on Friday in the Brussels neighbourhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on November 13. Those attacks killed 130 people.

A Belgian official working on the investigation said it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack.

Authorities are also still looking for a suspected accomplice of Abdeslam, Najim Laachraoui, whom they have been searching for since last week. It is not clear if he has any connection to the Brussels attack.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official told reporters, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought - and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The airport and several Brussels Metro stations remained closed on Wednesday, and authorities said the airport would remain closed at least through Thursday, forcing the cancellation of 600 flights each day.

Security forces stood guard around the neighbourhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

In the afternoon, thousands of people gathered at Place de la Bourse in the centre of downtown Brussels - including dozens of students chanting "stop the war" - in solidarity with those killed.

"In Belgium, it's not every day that we show solidarity politically," said Fanny Nicaise, 24. She came out with some friends just to see and be with others. "It's important that you aren't alone in your sadness."

Belgians paid homage and lit candles, the mood almost buoyant as people wrote on the ground with big sticks of chalk, drawing peace signs and hearts.

As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.

"It's a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world," French prime minister Manuel Valls told Europe-1 radio.

Mr Valls also urged tougher controls of the EU's external borders.

"We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism ... that spreads in some of our neighbourhoods and perverts our youth," he said.

Belgian officials have confirmed that Brussels airport will remain closed at least until Saturday.

Airport spokeswoman Florence Muls said the date was pushed further back because authorities want to maintain a security perimeter until late on Friday to continue their investigation into the attacks.

In Agentina, President Barack Obama has declared that fighting the Islamic State group is his "No 1 priority" and has pledged that the United States will pursue the jihadist group until it is destroyed.

He said: "I've got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat ISIL and to eliminate the scourge of this barbaric terrorism that's been taking place around the world."

He added: "The issue is, how do we do it in an intelligent way?"

US Secretary of State John Kerry has, announced he is travelling to Brussels on Friday to talk with European officials about fighting terror.
Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Injured people are seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport. REUTERS

Authorities in Belgium are searching for a man pictured at the Brussels airport with two apparent suicide bombers after 34 people were killed and more than 200 injured in Tuesday's terror attacks.

The manhunt comes amid growing suggestions that the bombings of Zaventem airport and the Brussels Metro were the work of the same Islamic State (IS) cell that attacked Paris last year.

IS, which was behind the Paris attacks, also claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings.

Belgium is in the midst of three days of mourning, and government offices, schools and residents held a moment of silence on Wednesday morning to honour the dead.

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They marked the moment in a mood of defiance mixed with anxiety that others involved in the attacks may still be at large.

Police conducted raids overnight and circulated a photo of three men seen at the airport wheeling trollies that presumably contained explosives-filled suitcases.

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Belgian state broadcaster RTBF identified two of the attackers as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, and said they are believed to have blown themselves up.

According to the report, which did not say who its sources were, Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

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Brahim El Bakraoui, one of the airport suicide bombers, left a will on a computer found in a bin in a Brussels neighbourhood, according to Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw.

The note read: I do not know what to do. I am on the run, people are looking for me everywhere. If I give myself up I will end up in a prison cell."

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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The note - described by Belgian authorities as a will - was left on a computer found in a rubbish can in a Brussels neighborhood.

Mr Van Leeuw told reporters that investigators raided Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a bin on the street including a note from Brahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison.

The prosecutor also said one person detained in one of the raids remains in custody and is under questioning.

One of the men pictured at the airport is at large. Authorities have not identified him, but Belgian newspaper DH reported that he might be Najim Laachraoui, whom Belgian authorities have been searching for since last week as a suspected accomplice of Abdeslam.

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Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official said, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made.

Abdeslam was arrested on Friday in the Brussels neighbourhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on November 13. Those attacks killed 130 people.

A Belgian official working on the investigation said that it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought - and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Belgium's justice minister said on Wednesday that the country will remain at its highest terrorism threat level until further notice. That level means there is a threat of an "imminent" attack.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed on Wednesday.

Security forces stood guard around the neighbourhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.

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"It's a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world," French prime minister Manuel Valls told Europe-1 radio.

Mr Valls, who planned to visit Brussels later on Wednesday, urged tougher controls of the EU's external borders.

"We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism... that spreads in some of our neighbourhoods and perverts our youth," he said.

The Paris attackers were mainly French and Belgian citizens of North African descent, some from neighbourhoods that struggle with discrimination, unemployment and alienation.

In its claim of responsibility, IS said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the Metro.

IS warned of further attacks, issuing a statement promising "dark days" for countries taking part in the anti-IS coalition.

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Mr Valls said on Wednesday that big events, be they sports or cultural, must not be put on hold for fear of attacks.

He said that includes the Euro2016 football tournament, a month-long event being held in France that starts in June.

Meanwhile, the Belgian football federation announced that it was calling off an international football friendly match against Portugal next week because of the attacks.

The Brussels airport announced that it will remain closed to passenger flights for at least another day, right up to the start of the busy Easter weekend.

Airport officials said they would have to cancel some 600 flights each on Wednesday and Thursday.

Prosecutor Mr Van Leeuw later added that investigators have found 15 kilograms of TATP explosives at the house from which the suspects in the attacks left for the airport.

He said a cab driver who took the three suspects to the airport led authorities to the house in Brussels.

Mr Van Leeuw said a special squad found the explosives inside the house, along with other chemicals that are commonly used to make bombs.

Meanwhile, dozens gathered for a moment of silence outside the European Commission, hoping to show solidarity with the victims and be with their fellow citizens in a time of crisis.

Among them was Alessandro Prister, 56, who works for Eurocontrol. He said that he "felt it was my duty to show solidarity with all the victims" and to offer testament that this kind of attack should never happen again.

Mr Prister was saddened that such things could happen in Brussels and said: "I couldn't be in any other place today."

Expand Close This CCTV image from the Brussels Airport surveillance cameras made available by Belgian Police, shows what officials believe may be suspects in the Brussels airport attack on March 22, 2016 / Facebook

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Belgian media which earlier reported the arrest of the prime suspect in yesterday's bomb attacks in Brussels said the person detained was not Najim Laachraoui.

La Libre Belgique newspaper said another person had been arrested. DH, which first reported the story, also said the man detained in the Anderlecht district had been misidentified.

Bomb-maker Laachraoui is also suspected of having played a "decisive role" in the Paris terror attacks, French media has reported.

He is an accomplice of Paris terror suspect Salah Adbeslam, who was arrested in Brussels on Friday.

Laachraoui is a suspected Isil commander who made the suicide bombs used in last November's Paris terror attacks and travelled to Hungary with recently captured prime suspect Salah Abdeslam.

A Belgian national, Laachraoui is arguably Europe's most wanted men who gave police the slip last year when he returned from Syria.

Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure said Laachraoui is the third man pictured in a CCTV image taken at Brussels airport.

Yesterday prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said two of the three suspected "probably" committed a suicide attack, while the third is "actively sought".

Khalid, under a false name, had rented the flat in the Forest borough of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

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Investigators found after that raid an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later.

Both brothers have criminal records, but have not been linked by the police to terrorism until now, RTBF said.

Earlier this week, Belgian prosecutors said that DNA evidence had identified the 24-year-old as being one of the accomplices of Salah Abdeslam, who was involved in the Paris attacks which killed 130 people at sites including the Bataclan Theatre and Stade de France last November.

The DNA of Laachraoui, who used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayal according to French newspaper Liberation, is reported to have been found on "several explosive belts", as well as a house in Auvelais and one in Schaerbeek which was used to prepare explosives and hide Abdeslam, French media reported.

Laachraoui grew up in Schaerbeek and had set up at least one bomb-making factory there in the weeks before Paris. It is thought he was the mastermind behind the latest outrage after suggestions the same kind of explosive - dubbed "Mother of Satan" - was used in the attack on the Belgian capital's transport hub.

An Iraqi intelligence source claimed the attack, which had been planned by ISIS for three months, was shifted to Brussels and brought forward after the arrest of fellow Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam last Friday.

Police moved on the Schaerbeek district hours after the attacks and discovered a bomb containing nails, chemical products and an Islamic State flag at one address.

Factories

A former Catholic schoolboy and electromechanics student, Laachraoui was stopped by police in September last year, weeks before the Paris attacks, as he made his way across Europe from Syria. He was in a car with Abdeslam on their way from Budapest to Brussels when they were stopped. But police waved them on after they convinced officers they were tourists on a trip to Vienna.

Because they were travelling on false identities, police were unaware that an international warrant had been issued for him in March 2014 under his real name.

Laachraoui was only publicly identified as a Paris suspect on Monday and Brussels was targeted less than 24 hours later. He had left Belgium for Syria in February 2013 where he received terror training before returning to Europe posing as a refugee.

He was picked up in Budapest in September last year by Abdeslam and taken to Brussels. He was also given the fake identity of Soutane Kayal which he then used to move across Europe.

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Under his fake identity, Laachraoui rented a house in Auvelais, near the central Belgian city of Namur, used by some of the Paris killers, and at another suspected hideout in the rue Henri Berge in Schaerbeek.

Laachraoui's DNA was later found on two of the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks. It was also found in the addresses raided in Schaerbeek and Auvelais.

Laachraoui was already suspected of recruiting others to fight in Syria and was linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud - the Belgian mastermind behind Paris.

He was recently tried in absentia for involvement in a network of Belgians who left for Syria, in which the prosecutor called for him to be handed a 15-year prison sentence for persuading several of his friends to join the ranks of Isil. The verdict will be pronounced in May.

A manhunt was under way last night for Laachraoui , now confirmed as the third member of a team of attackers responsible for bringing carnage to Brussels airport yesterday, as the Belgian capital suffered a string of bombings by jihadists that left 34 dead.

Belgium shut down its airports and train network in response to the attacks and stepped up security at its nuclear power plants. The Belgian authorities warned against all travel to its capital.

Days after the Belgian authorities ended their four-month hunt for the Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, a new pursuit began as police issued a CCTV image of three men pushing heavily laden luggage trolleys into Brussels Airport shortly before its departure hall, crowded with travellers, was devastated by two explosions at 8am.

The discovery of an unexploded suicide vest at the international hub led to speculation last night that Laachraoui may have pulled out of the assault at the last moment.

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An hour after the attack, a third device detonated on a train at the central Maelbeek metro station, killing 20 and injuring more than 100.

As a European capital once more became the scene of choreographed murder, Isil claimed responsibility for the atrocity. Brussels had been living in fear of such an event since it emerged that the city had been the base for the attacks on Paris last November.

There was speculation that the attackers may have been prompted to strike swiftly because they feared police may be closing in on them, after the revelation on Monday by Abdeslam's lawyer that his client was "collaborating" and "communicating" with police. Pieter Van Ostaeyen, an expert on Islamic radicalism in Belgium, said: "These guys acted because of last week, the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. They needed to kill immediately before they would be identified. It is not in retaliation over the capture. It is rather that their cover might have been blown."

The Belgian Prime Minister acknowledged that fears of further attacks on home soil had come true.

Kalashnikov

A sombre Charles Michel said: "What we feared has happened. In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."

After a day in which Brussels, the base of the institutions of the EU as well as the headquarters of Nato, was put in lockdown, federal prosecutors confirmed last night that raids in the Schaerbeek area of the city had led to the discovery of an explosive device containing nails, chemical products and an "Islamic State" flag.

At least one Kalashnikov - the weapon used by the Paris attackers - was recovered from the attack on the airport. Doctors treating the injured said they had recovered nails from survivors, suggesting the bomb or bombs had been packed with additional shrapnel.

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Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said two of the three men in the CCTV photo had "very likely committed a suicide attack".

But questions were being asked about the timing of the attack and whether it was linked to publicity surrounding the arrest of Abdeslam in a shootout on Friday.

Ministers and officials were barely able to conceal their relief at the capture of the Belgian-born jihadist, who appears to have spent the four months since participating in the bloodbath hiding in his native city. One minister tweeted: "We got him."

But revelations from prosecutors that they believed the jihadist may have been plotting further attacks and confirmation from his lawyer that his client was co-operating with investigators led to concern that the killings were the work of members of the same or a linked jihadist cell who believed security services were close to tracking them down.

Mr Van Ostaeyen said yesterday's bombs followed the same logic of previous attacks: kill as many people as possible, without discrimination.

He added: "I'm afraid that the police are just a few steps behind. They were very convinced that they stopped something big last week. And Isis probably wanted to show they can hit the heart of Europe at any time."

Witnesses described hearing shouts in Arabic and gunshots moments before a heavy detonation blew out windows at the airport, bringing down a rain of ceiling fittings and water from ruptured pipes on the bodies of passengers who had earlier been queuing at check-in desks.

The bombing at Maelbeek station took place some 100 metres from the headquarters of the European Commission. Dazed and injured commuters spilled out on to the streets in scenes reminiscent of the 7/7 attacks on London.

Within minutes of the assault, the Belgian capital was placed in a state of lockdown with all public transport suspended and workers ordered to remain in their offices and pupils in their schools. Security was also tightened at Belgium's nuclear power plants.

Meanwhile, a small number of terror suspects based in Ireland are being "monitored closely" in the wake of the Brussels terror attack.

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Threat

The Government has said an attack here is "not likely" but we cannot consider ourselves "immune from the threat".

Taoiseach Enda Kenny ordered an emergency meeting of the little-known National Security Committee yesterday to assess the risk to Ireland from terrorists.

The committee is chaired by the Secretary General of Department of the Taoiseach, Martin Fraser, and includes the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Mark Mellet, and Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan, as well as officials from several other government departments.

Security was stepped up at airports across the globe yesterday. In Britain, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, told the Commons home affairs select committee that Britons should be "alert but not alarmed", and disclosed steps to boost security at ports and airports.

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Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, announced 1,600 additional police officers would patrol air terminals and other key sites.

Thomas de Maiziere, his German counterpart, also revealed security measures would be increased at "critical infrastructure" and along the country's borders. Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands followed suit and New York intensified policing at its three main airports, bridges, tunnels and on public transport.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs has advised that Irish citizens planning travel to Brussels are "advised to delay non-essential travel until the situation has stabilised".

For more information on the Department's advice, see here
THE BELGIAN authorities were warned one of the Brussels killers was a terrorist - but he was allowed to walk free, Turkish officials have said.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, one of the suicide bombers who killed 14 people at the airport, was caught in June at the Turkish-Syrian border and was deported to the Netherlands.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The two men on the left are believed to have blown themselves up while the man on the right is being sought by police. Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire Ibrahim (left) and Khalid El Bakraoui, and Najim Laachraoui (right) Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire Najim Laachraoui: One of Europes most-wanted men. Getty / Facebook

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Whatsapp The two men on the left are believed to have blown themselves up while the man on the right is being sought by police. Belgian Federal Police/PA Wire

The Turkish authorities said it warned Belgium and the Netherlands he was a "foreign terrorist fighter", but the Dutch authorities allowed him to go free because the Belgian authorities could not link him to terrorism.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism".

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Prosecutors said at least 31 people were killed and 270 injured in the three suicide bomb attacks at an airport and metro station in Brussels on Tuesday morning, and the death toll could rise.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Adelma Tapia Ruiz has been named as the first victim of the Brussels bombing Injured women are seen in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium, after explosions were heard Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP) Passengers at Brussels Airport this morning Firefighters and first responders stand in front of the damaged Zaventem Airport terminal in Brussels on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Frederic Sierakowski, Pool) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Adelma Tapia Ruiz has been named as the first victim of the Brussels bombing

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who is also known as Brahim, and his brother Khalid both died in the coordinated blasts along with a third suicide bomber, whose identity is not known.

A massive international manhunt has been launched to hunt down the fourth attacker, who has been named in reports as 24 year-old Najim Laachraoui.

Dubbed "the man in white", he was pictured with two of the men at Zaventem Airport shortly before the blast and left a bomb carrying the "biggest charge" which failed to explode.

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French media said he is also linked to the Paris terror attacks last November which saw 130 people killed and many more injured in strikes across the capital.

Reports said his DNA was found on explosive belts found at the Bataclan theatre and the Stade de France following the killings.

As security services continue to comb the country hunting for the killer, it emerged that Ibrahim El Bakraoui left a note in a bin.

In the testament, found on a computer dumped in a bin in the Schaerbeek area in Brussels, he told how he was "on the run" and did not "know what to do".

Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a press conference: "We have found a written testament by Brahim El Bakraoui in which he said: 'I don't know what to do. I'm in a hurry. I'm on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up then I'll end up in a cell.'"

Mr Van Leeuw said two people were arrested on Tuesday night.

One person has been released, but the other, arrested in Schaerbeek, is being questioned.

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He said two of the dead attackers had criminal records, but this was not related to terrorism.

The prosecutor said the death toll from the attacks was 31. He warned this could rise in the coming days and widespread reports indicate it has already reached 34.

Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh, has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks and issued a statement in Arabic and French which threatens other countries in the anti-IS coalition with "dark days", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

As it entered a second day of mourning, Belgium held a minute's silence in memory of the victims, while Downing Street said it was concerned about a missing British national.

The family of David Dixon, who is originally from Hartlepool but was living in Brussels and has been missing since the explosions, are said to be "desperately" searching for him.

Transport terminals across the UK and Europe have boosted security in the wake of the atrocities, and Belgium's main airport is to remain closed until at least Thursday night.
Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Here is how events unfolded on Tuesday as Brussels was targeted by terrorists.

*At around 7am a double blast hits the city's Zaventem Airport. Passengers are evacuated and within the hour police say at least one person has been killed. People are advised to stay away from the airport.

*About an hour later, during the morning rush hour, a bomb explodes on a subway train at Maelbeek Metro station.

*Reacting to the news from Brussels, Prime Minister David Cameron says he is "shocked and concerned by the events in Brussels", adding: "We will do everything we can to help."

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Belgian emergency vehicles arrive at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images Passengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Flags being put at half mast outside European Commission Credit: Twitter Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers board a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images Firefighters arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images People are evacuated from Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions in a hall of the airport. AFP PHOTO / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUTDIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

*French President Francois Hollande holds an emergency meeting. The Brussels attacks come days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, suspect in the Paris attacks of November last year in which 130 people were killed.

*Mr Cameron announces he will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee in response to the attacks.

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*Just before 9.15am it is announced that London Gatwick airport has increased its security following the Brussels explosions.

*Around 20 minutes later Eurostar says it has suspended services to or from Brussels Midi station.

*Within an hour the UK's most senior counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley says police forces across the UK have increased their presence at key locations as a precaution in the wake of the attacks.

*The Belgian prime minister Charles Michel says: "What we feared has happened, we were hit by blind attacks."

*At midday Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who attended the Cobra meeting, tells reporters there may be a British casualty. Within the hour Downing Street confirms a Briton was injured at the airport in Brussels.

*By early afternoon the death toll is said to have reached 34. As the day continues the number of people injured rises to almost 200.

*US President Barack Obama sends a message of support to the people of Brussels, saying: "We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world."

*Around 3.30pm, more than eight hours after the first blasts, the Islamic State terror group claims responsibility for the attacks, saying their members detonated suicide belts.

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* Around 4.30pm an official says a third bomb at Brussels airport has been deactivated.

* Less than an hour later Belgian police issue a CCTV picture of a man who is suspected of carrying out the attack at Brussels airport.

* By 5.30pm, eyewitnesses in the Schaerbeek district in north-east Brussels reported a major police operation focusing on the train station. They reported a cordon being put in place and anti-bomb vehicles at the scene.

* Later, at 5.45pm, prosecutor Eric van der Sypt confirmed two suicide bombers died in the attack on the main airport in Brussels and a third was being "actively" sought.

* The Belgian prime minister Mr Michel held a press conference to confirm there will be three days of national mourning.

* King Philippe of Belgium says he and Queen Mathilde "share the pain" of all those who suffered in the attacks. In a televised address to the nation, he calls on Belgians to stay "confident" in the face of terror.

* Shortly after 6pm, prosecutors confirm the discovery of a new explosive device containing nails during a specialist search. Chemical products and an Islamic State group flag are also found in the raid.

* As night falls on Belgium, at 6.50pm, prime minister Mr Michel lights a candle during a vigil at Place de la Bourse, the city's stock exchange building.

* Afterwards, Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren tells reporters the suspects "came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags". He adds: "They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it did not explode."

* The Government announces it will hold a minute's silence at 11am (GMT) on Wednesday.

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* Early on Wednesday morning Belgian state broadcaster RTBF names the two suicide bombers who struck at Zaventem Airport as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, from Brussels.

* The third suspect, who is being actively sought by police, is named by local media as Najim Laachraoui. The 24-year-old is also suspected of being responsible for the bombs used in the Paris massacre in November after his DNA was found on suicide belts used in the Bataclan theatre and the Stade de France.

* Shortly before 10am on Wednesday, local media in Belgium reports that Laachraoui has been arrested in Anderlecht.

* At around 10.30am Downing Street says it is concerned about one missing British national following the Brussels attack, adding that four Britons had been injured, three of whom are in hospital.

* A No 10 spokesman says they are no longer advising against travel to Brussels, but British nationals in Belgium should remain alert and vigilant.
Adelma Tapia Ruiz has been named as the first victim of the Brussels bombing

The first victim of the Brussels attacks which killed more than 30 people has been named by officials.

Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37, was killed in the bombings at Zaventem Airport. A spokeswoman for Peru's foreign ministry, Benilda Babylon, named her as the first confirmed victim of the attacks which struck the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

Fernando Tapia, Ms Tapia Ruiz's brother, told Peruvian radio station RPP that his sister was at the airport with her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin four-year-old daughters Maureen and Alondra, who also have Belgian nationality.

He said the others were unhurt because they had left the area where the explosions occurred, moments before the bombs detonated.

Expand Close Law student Leopold Hecht (20) / Facebook

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He said his sister was due to catch a flight to New York, where she was meeting their sisters, and she had planned to return to Peru this year.

Law student Leopold Hecht has been named as a victim of the massacre after succumbing to his injuries.

Expand Close Adelma Tapia Ruiz has been named as the first victim of the Brussels bombing / Facebook

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Whatsapp Adelma Tapia Ruiz has been named as the first victim of the Brussels bombing

The 20-year-old's family and friends had appealed for information after he went missing. Leopold was at the Metro station at the time of the third explosion in the city on Tuesday morning.

His university confirmed the news on Facebook this afternoon, prompting hundreds of tributes to the young man.
Soldiers and policemen patrol at Brussels' North station, on March 23 2016, one day after the attacks on Brussels airport and at a metro station

Extremists behind the Brussels attacks have warned of more strikes against anti-Islamic State allies after bombers killed at least 34 people and wounded scores of others.

The back-to-back bombings of Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek underground station again laid bare Europe's vulnerability to suicide squads.

IS later warned of further attacks, issuing a communique promising "dark days" for countries taking part in the coalition against the terror group.

Bloodied and dazed travellers staggered from the airport after two explosions - at least one blamed on a suicide attacker and another apparently on a suitcase bomb - tore through crowds checking in for morning flights.

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About 40 minutes later, another rush-hour blast ripped through a train carriage in central Brussels as it left Maelbeek, in the heart of Belgium's capital.

Authorities released a CCTV photo of three men pushing luggage trollies in the airport, saying two of them apparently were suicide bombers and that the third, dressed in a light-coloured coat, black hat and glasses, was at large. This morning, Najim Laachraoui has been arrested in Anderlecht, according to local media reports in Belgium.

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire

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The two men believed to be the suicide attackers were wearing dark gloves on their left hands, possibly to hide detonators.

In police raids across Belgium, authorities later found a nail-filled bomb, chemical products and an IS flag in a house in the Schaerbeek neighbourhood.

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, who is believed to be on the run. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, who is believed to be on the run. Federal Police/PA Wire

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In its claim of responsibility, IS said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the station, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. A small child wailed and commuters used mobile phones to light their way out.

The government said at least 11 people were killed at the airport and 20 on the tube. Later, a security official said the overall death toll had risen to 34.

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire

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European security chiefs have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that IS was actively preparing to strike. The arrest on Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November 13 attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some were still on the loose.

"In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity," said Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, who announced three days of mourning in his country's deadliest terror strike.

Expand Close Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

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"Last year it was Paris. Today it is Brussels. It's the same attacks," said French president Francois Hollande.

Shockwaves from the attacks crossed Europe and the Atlantic, prompting heightened security at airports and other sites.

Expand Close People bring flowers and candles to mourn at Place de la Bourse in the centre of Brussels. Photo: AP / Facebook

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Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, shut the airport throughout Wednesday and ordered a city-wide lockdown, deploying about 500 soldiers onto Brussels' largely empty streets to bolster police checkpoints. France and Belgium both reinforced border security.

Justice and interior ministers from across the 28-nation European Union planned an emergency meeting, possibly for Thursday morning, to assess the fallout. The station blast was beneath buildings that normally host EU meetings and house the bloc's leadership.

Medics said some victims lost limbs, while others suffered burns or deep gashes from shattered glass or suspected nails packed in with the explosives. Among the most seriously wounded were several children.

The bombings came barely four months after suicide attackers based in Brussels' heavily Muslim Molenbeek district slaughtered 130 people at a Paris nightspots, and intelligence agencies had warned for months a follow-up strike was inevitable. Paris fugitive Abdeslam was arrested in Molenbeek.

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A top Belgian judicial official said a connection by Abdeslam to Tuesday's attacks was "a lead to pursue".

Abdeslam has told investigators he was planning to "restart something" from Brussels, said Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders. He said authorities took the claim seriously because "we found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels".

While Belgian authorities knew that some kind of extremist act was being prepared in Europe, "we never could have imagined something of this scale," Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon said.

Zaventem airport officials said police had discovered a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an explosives-packed vest abandoned there, offering one potential lead for forensic evidence. Bomb disposal experts safely dismantled the explosive device.

American intelligence officers are working with their European counterparts to try to identify the apparently skilled bomb-maker or makers involved in the Brussels attacks and to identify any links to the bombs used in Paris.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible," US president Barack Obama said, ordering American flags lowered to half-mast until Saturday.

Belgium's king and queen said they were "devastated" by the violence, describing the attacks as "odious and cowardly."

After nightfall, Europe's best-known monuments - the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain - were illuminated with Belgium's national colours in a show of solidarity.

Meanwhile, the US military said it had launched an air strike in Yemen against the branch of al Qaida responsible for the attacks in France that killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in January.

A tribal member at the site said about 40 people were killed or wounded in the Brom Maifa district.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the mountain training camp was being used by more than 70 terrorists belonging to al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemeni security officials and a witness said the air strike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al Qaida militants about 47 miles west of the terror group's stronghold city of Mukalla.

"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," Mr Cook said.

"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al Qaida and denying it safe haven."

Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally-recognised government.

A Peruvian woman was identified as one of those killed in the airport bombings.

The country's Foreign Ministery named her as Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37.

Her brother Fernando Tapia told Peruvian radio station RPP that his sister was at the airport with her Belgian husband Christophe Delcambe and their twin four-year-old daughters Maureen and Alondra, who also have Belgian nationality.

He said Mr Delcambe and the girls were unhurt because they left the area where the explosions occurred moments before the bombs detonated.
Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

1) Manhunt still on for world's most wanted man

The prime suspect in the Brussels bombings, Najim Laachraoui, is still at large following earlier reports that he had been arrested in the city's Anderlecht district. Local media said another person had been arrested and that the man detained had been misidentified.

Police and prosecutors have been declining all comment but will hold a news conference at noon GMT.

The Isil commander made the suicide bombs used in last November's Paris Terror Attacks. He had recently traveled to Hungary with captured prime suspect Salah Abdeslam.

A Belgian national, the former Catholic schoolboy and electromechanics student gave police the slip last year when he returned from Syria. Laachraoui grew up in Schaerbeek in Brussels and had set up at least one bomb-making factory there in the weeks before Paris.

Two suicide bombers who carried out the attacks in Zaventem airport and at the Metro were Brussels residents and brothers Khalid (Metro) and Brahim El Bakraoui (airport) who were known to the police for crime, the RTBF public broadcaster said.

A third man involved in the airport attacks is now being hunted for.

2) Travel safety in (and in and out of) Brussels

Belgium remains on its highest threat level after yesterday's terror attacks. While restrictions on public transport across the country have now been lifted, Belgian citizens have been urged to remain vigilant. A limited number of metro stations are operating with some lines replaced with an M-bus. Railway stations re-opened yesterday afetrnoon.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Irish citizens to "exercise extreme caution" in Belgium but no restrictions have been placed in travel. Eurostar is operating a normal service today but passengers are asked to allow an hour for check in due to enhanced security.

Brussels Zaventem Airport is to remain closed until at least Thursday night with the situation to be evaluated as the day progresses but Brussels Charleroi is open. All Ryanair flights scheduled to operate to/from Zaventem today will now operate to/from Charleroi. Aer Lingus flights between Dublin and Brussels have been cancelled today.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Adelma Tapia Ruiz has been named as the first victim of the Brussels bombing Undated handout photo of an appeal circulated by friends and family concerned about David Dixon, a Briton who has gone missing in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks. Handout/PA Wire / Facebook

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3) Death toll - and known victims

At least 34 people have been killed and over 200 injured in the bomb attacks that hit Zaventem airport and the Metro yesterday morning. Fourteen people are reported to have been killed at the airport and 20 in the explosion on the Metro.

The first victim of the Brussels attacks which killed more than 30 people has been named as mum-of-twins Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37. A spokeswoman for Peru's foreign ministry, Benilda Babylon, named her as the first confirmed victim of the attacks which struck the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, friends on social media have been appealing for information on the whereabouts of David Dixon and asking anyone with information to contact his partner Charlotte Sutcliffe.

4) Security in Ireland ramped up for centenary celebrations

The bombing atrocities have forced the gardai to step up their war on terror on two fronts in the run-up to the Easter 1916 commemorative events. Garda Special Branch, and associated units, were already on high alert as they monitored the movements of dissident republicans to prevent any attempt to disrupt the centenary commemorations.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Belgian emergency vehicles arrive at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images Passengers wait, on March 22, 2016 near Brussels airport in Zaventem , following its evacuation after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Flags being put at half mast outside European Commission Credit: Twitter Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers board a bus as they evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers are evacuated from Brussels airport, on March 22, 2016 in Zaventem, after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured as twin blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport.AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images Firefighters arrive at a security perimeter set near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images Passengers evacuate the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016, after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 21 people, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY MONASSETHIERRY MONASSE/AFP/Getty Images A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images A police officers sets a security perimeter near Maalbeek metro station, on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the EU institutions caused deaths and injuries. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNANDEMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images People are evacuated from Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, on March 22, 2016 after two explosions in a hall of the airport. AFP PHOTO / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUTDIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images An armed policeman secures the access to the terminal area of the Frankfurt Airport, on March 22, 2016, in Frankfurt, western Germany. AFP PHOTO / DPA / Boris Roessler / Germany OUTBORIS ROESSLER/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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The National Security Committee (NSC) met yesterday morning to review the impact of the attacks on security here. The threat level in this jurisdiction remains at moderate level, raised from low to moderate in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris. ecurity measures in place at airports and other possible areas for attack are being reviewed and, where necessary, are being reinforced.

5) International reaction - who is saying what

* "Those b******s' are at it again" - Rugby legend Ronan O Gara

* "A lot of people in the community knew they were going to do it because in their apartment they had bombs all over the floor ... and they didn't report them" - Donald Trump

* "We will never let terrorists win" - David Cameron

* "I think the whole purpose of actions like this, as cowardly as it is directed at civilians seeking to go about their business and lives in Europe...is to sow such fear and to dislodge that kind of life" - President Michael D Higgins

* "The whole of Europe has been hit" - Francois Hollande
The financial cost to the aviation and hotel sectors could run to hundreds of millions of euro

Airlines and hoteliers will be among the businesses most immediately affected by the Brussels terror attacks.

The financial cost to the aviation and hotel sectors could run to hundreds of millions of euro.

While investors in airlines such as Ryanair and Aer Lingus owner IAG saw their shares decline on the back of the horrific events yesterday, the impact also feeds through the financial performance of the carriers.

Following the Paris attacks last November, Ryanair said it noticed weak bookings immediately after.

Air France-KLM said the Paris attacks cost it 70m in lost revenue.

"It is extremely difficult to determine the impact of such an unprecedented event," said analyst Jack Diskin of Goodbody Stockbrokers regarding yesterday's events in Brussels.

"However, historically speaking, travel flows to major European cities are resilient. In the case of last November's Paris attacks, Air France noted a progressive recovery in its bookings within two months, following a temporary slump in tourism traffic into Paris."

Also, because it's the centre for EU institutions and not as big a tourism destination as Paris, the impact on air traffic to Brussels might not even be as stark.

Aer Lingus owner IAG noted that its so-called group passenger unit revenue - a key measure of an airline's performance - in the last quarter of 2015 when the Paris attacks occurred was 3.7pc lower.

Immediately following the Paris attacks, Aer Lingus was reporting cancellations of up to 50pc on flights to the city.

A spokesman for Aer Lingus said yesterday its flights to Brussels today are cancelled. The airline is offering money back to passengers booked to fly to Brussels between yesterday and March 31.

Apart from the airlines, hotels will also be bracing for a financial hit. A January report from research firm MKG showed that French hoteliers could lose up to 270m between last November and this month as a result of the Paris attacks.
The attacks in Brussels highlight fears that fugitive terrorists have been shielded by a criminal underworld network that keeps police at bay in the city's immigrant quarter of Molenbeek.

The inner-city suburb has already gained notoriety as the district where at least three of the Paris attackers grew up, and also as an area where weapons and drugs are easily available.

It was also the home of Salah Abdeslam, the alleged "fixer" to the Paris terror network, who was arrested at a flat there last weekend, having apparently managed to stay on the run in Belgium for four months since the atrocities in November.

Following his detention on Friday, sources close to the investigation said that despite the massive anti-terrorism probe launched since the Paris attacks, police had still found it difficult to carry out investigations in Molenbeek due to teams of "spotters" or lookouts employed by local gangs.

"Spotters warn local gangs of approaching police cars, even if they are unmarked, by whistling or text messages to their mobile phones," said Jean-Paul Rouiller of Expect Consulting, a security firm specialising in counter-terrorism.

Abdeslam is thought to have spent most of his time on the run in an apartment in the Brussels suburb of Foret, but moved back to Molenbeek in the wake of a raid last Tuesday that led to the arrest of an alleged accomplice, Mohamed Belkaid.

Traces of mobile phone calls that Abdeslam then made to a network of criminal contacts enabled police to find his new hideout.

Claude Moniquet, a former intelligence agent who heads the European Centre for Strategic Intelligence and Security in Brussels, added: "There is a sort of clannishness in the area that is stronger than anything else. He (Abdeslam) benefited from this."

Molenbeek is located close to Brussels city centre, and is home to a Moroccan population that makes up around 40pc of its 100,000 people.

While its Victorian terraced apartment blocks are a far cry from the sprawling housing estates in the troubled migrant "banlieus" of Paris, it has nonetheless acquired a bad reputation in recent years thanks to links to terrorists, some of whom have pre-existing histories with local criminal gangs.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, Belgium's interior minister Jan Jambon admitted that "we don't have control of the situation in Molenbeek at present" and said the authorities needed to "clean up" the area.
Relatives have been informed but formal identification has not yet been carried out

A 42-year-old man has died after his hang glider crashed into marshland at a nature reserve.

The man was found by Coastguards at the Medmerry Nature Reserve in Earnley, West Sussex, following the accident at 5.10pm on Tuesday but he was confirmed dead at the scene by paramedics.

Relatives have been informed but formal identification has not yet been carried out, according to Sussex Police.

A force spokesman said: "The death is being treated as a tragic accident.

"The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and the British Hang Gliding Association have also been informed.

"We understand AAIB will be leading on the investigation into the cause of the crash."
Irish people in Brussels spoke of how they cheated death after the terror attacks.

Thousands of Irish people live and work in the Belgian capital and many of them were in the city's Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek metro station yesterday.

Luke Mac an Bhaird (22), a student from Galway studying in Belgium, was waiting to board a flight home when the bomb went off in the airport.

"People were sprinting past me, shouting 'there's a bomb, you've got to run'," he said. "It was so surreal. I got up quickly and started moving with the crowd."

As chaos ensued and airport staff desperately tried to evacuate passengers from the building, many of them were forced out on to the tarmac to escape next to the airplanes.Some passengers were afraid more blasts were imminent.

"We were at the tunnel that leads out to the runway and people started shouting and telling everyone to run again.

"When we got back out onto the tarmac, it was still terrifying because people were still shouting at us to run, so we didn't know what to do. We could only assume the worst."

He said he "wasn't far from the blast".

"When the staff started shouting the words that should never be shouted at an airport - 'there's a bomb' - everything kind of went slow motion. I realised the severity of it and that I just needed to follow the orders."

Ross Elwood, a policy adviser to MEP Deirdre Clune, had just left the Maelbeek station on his way to work in the European Parliament when the second explosion happened.

"The bomb had gone off at the airport and I was listening to the reports when I got on to the metro. I noticed it was very quiet on the train.

"Rush hour on the metro is about 8.30am and before that it is quiet so I did think to myself 'I don't think they'll do it now'.

"The first I saw was when there was smoke coming from the train station."

Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly said an intern from his office was caught up in the blast. "She was in the station when the bomb went off," he said.

"She could feel her face alight and she has burns on her face. Then the lights went out and she had to make her way out."

His party colleague Mairead McGuinness said yesterday's events brought her back to the troubles in Northern Ireland.

"Because Ireland has had a bit of trouble, it does resonate. We are all stopping in the corridor saying how terrible it is and none of us have an answer.

"I am from Ardee (Co Louth), near the Border, and it has brought me back to those times of hearing the bombs going off and bodies being thrown all over the place."

Publican Seamus McCarthy, from Galway, has lived in Brussels for more than 12 years and said the city had been left "paralysed" by the terror attack.

"With the experience of Paris, I was pretty sure that after the airport there was a strong possibility of more bombs; we knew there would be something more happening quickly. There is also a lot of anger in people living here as well as frustration. Hopefully we can get back to normal soon."

The Department of Foreign Affairs said there had been no Irish casualties but warned people travelling to Belgium to exercise extreme caution.
Passengers are evacuated from the train in a tunnel near Maelbeek metro station. Photo: @evanlamos/Twitter/PA

It was, until the carnage, like any other busy international airport on a busy Tuesday morning. Passengers queuing at the check-in desks in Zaventem Airport's international departures hall had noticed nothing untoward. Neither had the baggage handlers, airline staff, cleaners or restaurant workers.

Then, just after 8am local time, a shout rang through its main Departure Hall 1 on the airport's third level. Perhaps nobody quite realised its significance. But a voice screamed something loud and in Arabic. And immediately after, all hell broke loose.

"I heard a man shout some Arabic words. I didn't see him. He was behind me. I just heard the words. I don't speak Arabic so I don't know what he said," recalled Alphonse Youla, an airport worker, still in shock at his astonishing escape, his hands covered in blood. He thought too he had heard a gunshot before that, possibly as a further signal to sound the attack.

Anthony Deloos, a baggage handler, heard the first bang and at first thought a billboard sign had collapsed. A colleague told him to run for it. "Twenty metres from us we heard a big explosion," said Mr Deloos, "I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe."

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Grant and Denise Matthews, heading home to Belfast after a weekend away in Bruges, had been using the electronic passport scanner.

"There were kids behind us charging around," said Mr Matthews, a veteran of the Territorial Army Medical Corps.

"We checked through with our passports, walked five seconds on and then bang."

His wife Denise said: "It was a strange sound, like a whoosh, then a bang, and then dust and the ceiling came down. A man was on the floor, his leg just a mess."

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The bomb had exploded some 30 yards behind them. "Twenty seconds earlier we would have been right in the middle of it," said Mr Matthews.

The first bomb had gone off, according to early reports, at American Airlines' check-in desk, although the airline was quick to deny it had been targeted. Later reports suggested the first explosion was at aisle eight at the desk used to check in outsize baggage.

A CCTV image released by Belgian security services showed three men pushing baggage trolleys through the departure hall shortly before the blasts. Two of the men, clad in black, had gloves on one hand only, with a suggestion that they somehow masked the explosives' triggers. Certainly, nobody seemed to notice the men mingling with the other passengers.

Pavel Ohal, travelling with his wife, was keeping an eye on his two-year-old son as he queued with their passports and tickets in his hand.

Expand Close Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire / Facebook

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"We were standing in the line to check in. There was a huge explosion, and people fell down all around me, and my papers blew out of my hands. I turned around and there was a fire on the floor, and small fires all around, and a lot of very badly injured people. My son was cut in the head when the ceiling came down."

About 10 to 30 seconds after the first blast, a second explosion echoed through the building, close to the Starbucks cafe at the entrance to the departure hall.

Anybody racing for the exit after the first blast would have run straight into the second.

According to Mr Youla (40) the airport worker who had begun his shift four hours earlier, the second explosion was "a massive explosion, much bigger than the first".

Tears welling in his eyes, he added: "It was a horror. I saw at least seven people dead. There was blood. People had lost legs. You could see their bodies but no legs."

His account would tally with later reports suggesting that one bomb was much larger and hidden in a suitcase, indicating the first explosion may have been from a suicide bomber detonating his explosive vest - perhaps to deliberately force a stampede towards the bigger bomb.

Samir Derrouich, who works at an airport restaurant, said: "The two explosions were almost simultaneous. They were both at a check-in desk. One was close to the Starbucks. It was awful. There was just blood. It was like the apocalypse."

Dries Valaert (30), who was waiting for his boarding pass for a flight to Berlin, said: "There was a first blast and then 10 seconds later a second explosion. It was a big blast, the ceiling went down. It was just 30 metres from where I was. I saw people down on the ground and I just went running. I jumped over the security fences towards the departure gates as I thought it would be safer.

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"My first intuition was to get out in case there were attackers with guns. I saw a woman around 18 years old with a hole in her hand with blood pouring out and a man with an injured ankle and two people down. There was lots of panic. People were running all over the place.

"The explosions were just behind the service desks, they were blown towards us. To me it is the most realistic possibility. I don't think it was someone with a suicide vest."

The blasts were hugely powerful, sending shockwaves through the terminal building that shattered windows, ruptured the metal pipes and sent ceiling tiles crashing to the floor. Those passengers who still could, ran for their lives, the debris of glass, pipes and tiles raining down upon them.

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene," said Zach Mouzoun, who had arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the explosion. "It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed. There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

Another eyewitness, who would give his name only as Dimitri, said he had heard what he thought was gunfire. "I heard two loud noises, like shooting. Then right away we heard this big explosion," said Dmitri."We just started running. Someone said they heard him shout something in Arabic and they started shooting before this big explosion. We left everything and just started running."

Likened to "apocalyptic scenes, with blood and dismembered bodies everywhere", photographs from inside the building showed bodies covered in blood, lying amid the debris.

Video footage showed a smoke-filled hall with passengers cowering on the floor, amid discarded luggage, screams ringing out across the cavernous hanger. For all the world it looks like a battlefield. Black and white ceiling tiles covered the floor and a thick layer of dust covered those.

Bits of wood and metal debris was torn apart in the main hall of an airport that handles some 60,000 passengers a day, equivalent to 23 million a year. Seemingly, only a giant modern bronze sculpture that stands in the middle of the departure hall properly survived the blasts.

Video footage taken on mobile phones from outside the terminal showed passengers and staff fleeing for their lives.

The bombs were designed to cause maximum carnage. A hospital spokesman would reveal a few hours later that the bombs appeared to have been packed with nails to inflict indiscriminate damage.

Marc Decramer, a manager at the Gasthuisberg hospital in Leuven, said the hospital was treating 11 people with serious injuries, three of them in critical condition.

Mr Decramer said the wounded had "fractures and deep cuts caused by flying glass and nails".

As the police, security forces, ambulance and fire crews raced to the airport in Zaventem, about seven miles from the centre of Brussels, what they didn't know was that the terrorists were preparing to strike a second time.

On this occasion, they would hit at the heart of the city, close to the European Union institutions that has transformed Brussels into the emblematic capital of Western Europe.

Some 79 minutes after the Brussels Airport attack, reports filtered through of a bomb on the Metro at Maelbeek station, 400 yards from the EU's headquarters.

A train had just pulled into the station at 9.19am, thought to be heading west when a suicide bomber struck.

Photographs taken at street level showed smoke pouring out of the ground.

It only gave a hint of the terror and chaos down below.

"We are being evacuated from the back of the Metro," tweeted Evan Lamos and with it he posted a photograph of a smoke-filled tunnel and passengers climbing from his train to walk along the tracks to safety.

A huge bomb had gone off inside a train carriage.

A survivor, who gave his name only as Nizier, told local journalists of the horror after leaving a hospital, having been treated for his injuries.

"I saw a burned baby, a burned pregnant woman," he said, adding that the bomb exploded on the platform of the Maelbeek metro station, just one stop from the European Commission and EU Council buildings at Schuman metro station.

He recounted seeing a flash that was followed "by total panic".

"There were so many injuries. It was horrific. I'm in shock," said the businessman, black soot still visible on his lower lip.

And it seemed like an "eternity" before they managed to leave the station, he added.

Alexandre Brans (32), who was wiping blood from his face, said the bomb had gone off at the height of rush hour.

"The metro was leaving Maelbeek station when there was a really loud explosion. It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people on the metro," said Mr Brans.

Another witness, who was not identified, said: "The lights went off, there was panic given what happened at Brussels airport.

"The doors of the train were forced open to get off the train.

"There was a lot of smoke. We left via Maelbeek station. The glass doors were blown out. The explosion must have been enormous."

Black smoke and clouds of dust billowed from the station entrance, while more than a dozen people lay on the pavement outside with bloodied faces, being treated by emergency services.

As the toll of the dead and injured mounted, the hunt began for the attackers. Reports suggested one body had been found at the airport with a kalashnikov rifle and unexploded suicide vest at his side. A third unexploded bomb was found at the scene and destroyed in a controlled explosion.

The CCTV footage of three men pushing trollies through the airport was being widely circulated in French and Belgian media.

The two men, wearing black, had blown themselves up in the terror attack; the third man, seen wearing a hat, had left the nail bomb in the suitcase behind and then fled the airport. He is said to be at the centre of the manhunt.

Back at the metro, an eyewitness had claimed to see a suspicious man, driving off fast in a red Volkswagen. At 11am, as hundreds of troops and police flooded the streets of Brussels, two suspects were arrested a mile from the Maelbeek metro station. They were surrounded by armed police and made to kneel on the pavement as they were captured. Last night it remained unclear how - if at all - they were involved in the attack.

As evening drew in, Brussels remained in lockdown. The airports were shut and the train stations closed. Politicians said Belgium was at war. After a day of murder and mayhem, it was a feeling shared by the local population. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
A Russian court has convicted a Ukrainian army officer of complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists, in a judgment condemned by human rights groups and Ukraine's allies. Photo: Depositphotos

A Russian court has convicted a Ukrainian army officer of complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists, in a judgment condemned by human rights groups and Ukraine's allies.

Nadia Savchenko, a helicopter pilot, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for directing a mortar strike that killed Anton Voloshin and Igor Kornelyuk as they covered the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Ms Savchenko, who denied the charges, burst into a Ukrainian national song after the verdict was read out.

The Iraq war veteran has been hailed in her homeland as a national hero.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that she had received an "unfair" trial.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko called on Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, to honour a promise to release Ms Savchenko and said he would be prepared to release two Russian citizens in exchange.

Mr Putin's spokesman said the Kremlin could not yet comment in detail on the proposal.
A Belgian soldier speaks to a police officer outside Brussels Central Station as people are allowed in small groups of ten to reach the station in order to take their commuter train following attacks in Brussels. Getty Images

Blood stained the streets around the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels yesterday as EU officials, Belgian office workers and tourists came to grips with the latest terror attack to rock Europe.

A blast ripped through the metro stop at the heart of the EU quarter just over an hour after two explosions shattered the departures hall at Brussels airport, where people were travelling for the Easter holidays.

Irishman Joe Hennon, a former environment spokesman at the European Commission, was on a metro right behind the one that got blasted.

"It stopped and the lights went off," he said. "It wasn't clear what was happening but knowing about the airport attack I suspected the worst. I got off the train and left the station [one stop before]," he said.

He described a stampede of hundreds of people "gripped by some type of panic" coming towards the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters from the direction of Maelbeek, just minutes after the blast.

"There is always the feeling in Brussels that something could happen sometime," Mr Hennon said.

"You think you are a target because of the presence of the EU and Nato."

As the manhunt continued for the suspects, Brussels went into lockdown for the second time in four months.

Police, ambulances and army personnel filled the streets while EU institutions, schools and businesses in the area were shuttered, with people still inside advised not to venture out.

Steffen Van Roosbroeck, a spokesman for the Flemish Christian Democratic Party (CD&V), which has its offices right by Maelbeek metro station, described the frightening sequence of events.

"Suddenly the building started shaking, so people knew something was happening," he said. "There was smoke coming out of the entrance to the subway," he added. "We opened our doors for the victims until the security services arrived, and afterwards our building was evacuated."

Makeshift hospitals for the victims were set up at the Thon Hotel beside the metro station and in the staff canteen at the Commission's humanitarian aid directorate on the Rue de la Loi.

Further up the road, officials working at EC headquarters and at the European Council - which hosts regular summits of EU leaders - were put on high alert and told to stay inside.

In the late afternoon, people were told it was safe to go outside, schoolchildren were let out and public transport restarted, but a series of raids across the city raised tensions once again as the manhunt escalated.

An EC spokesman said there was "no indication this was a terror attack on the EU institutions", but many who work there described an atmosphere of trauma, fear and suspicion because the blasts hit so close to home.

People in the city centre left condolence messages in chalk on the Boulevard Anspach, a newly pedestrianised avenue that cleaves the city centre in two.

Kevin McMullan, a Dublin native who has been living in Belgium for almost 30 years and who works in the area, described a sense of eeriness akin to last November's Paris attacks.

"It feels like deja vu," said Mr McMullan, a spokesperson for city centre concert venue Ancienne Belgique.

"People are still a bit in shock, they are trying to grasp what has happened.

"There is a lot of solidarity. People are trying to help each other out."
A manhunt is underway in Brussels for bomb suspect Najim Laachraoui.

Last night he was pictured on CCTV footage in Brussels Zaventem airport alongside two suicide bombers who are believed to have detonated themselves in a suicide attack in the airport's departure lounge.

Here is what we know about Laachraoui:

1. A Belgian national, Najim Laachraoui is 24 years of age.

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, who is believed to be on the run. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men thought to be connected with the Brussels attacks, who is believed to be on the run. Federal Police/PA Wire

2. Laachraoui is a suspected Isis commander who is understood to have made the suicide bombs in last November's Paris terror attacks.

3. He has been listed as one of Europe's most wanted men who gave police the slip last year when he returned from Syria.

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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4. A former Catholic schoolboy and electromechanics student, Laachraoui grew up in Schaerbeek in Brussels city centre and had set up at least one bomb-making factory there in the weeks before Paris.

5. Laachraoui figures on a list of Belgium's anti-terror service, Ocam, which contains around 100 names of residents of Schaerbeek, including several who have died in Syria and others who have returned.

Expand Close Undated handout CCTV stills issued by the Belgian Federal Police of one of three men believed to be connected with the Brussels attacks. Federal Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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6. A brush with the law: Laachraoui was stopped by police in September last year, weeks before the Paris attacks, as he made his way across Europe from Syria. He was in a car with Abdeslam on their way from Budapest to Brussels when they were stopped. But police waved them on after they convinced officers they were tourists on a trip to Vienna.

7. Laachraoui was only publicly identified as a Paris suspect on Monday and Brussels was targeted less than 24 hours later.

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8. He was already suspected of recruiting others to fight in Syria and was linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud - the Belgian mastermind behind Paris.

9. He was recently tried in absentia for involvement in a network of Belgians who left for Syria, in which the prosecutor called for him to be handed a 15-year prison sentence for persuading several of his friends to join the ranks of Isil. The verdict will be pronounced in May.

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10. Laachraoui was picked up in Budapest in September last year by now-arrested Abdeslam and taken to Brussels. He was given the fake identity of Soutane Kayal which he then used to move across Europe. Under his fake identity, Laachraoui rented a house in Auvelais, near the central Belgian city of Namur, used by some of the Paris killers, and at another suspected hideout in the rue Henri Berge in Schaerbeek.
Spain's acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy gives a speech at Barcelona's airport in memory of the victims of the Germanwings plane crash (AP)

A plaque has been unveiled at Barcelona's airport in memory of those killed when a Germanwings plane was flown into a mountain by its co-pilot while en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

Spain's acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy, regional Catalonian government president Carles Puigdemont and victim association representatives attended the ceremony outside Barcelona's Terminal 2 on the eve of the accident's first anniversary.

All 150 people aboard were killed in the crash on March 24 last year. Most of the victims were German or Spanish.

Families, rescuers and aviation officials are to attend an anniversary ceremony on Thursday in Le Vernet, France, close to where the plane crashed.

In a speech, Mr Rajoy highlighted the excellent co-operation between French, German and Spanish authorities in the days following the tragedy.

He said that investigations into the crash were helping bring about measures to avert similar tragedies, adding that the "best way to honour the victims is the commitment to preventing this type of tragedy happening again".

After the ceremony, wreaths were laid at the foot of the plaque.

The ceremony was attended by French and German embassy officials, members of the Association of Victims of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the Alps, and representatives of Spanish police forces and emergency services that helped victims' families after the crash.
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, left, shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during a news conference in Moscow (AP)

Russia has accused the Ukrainian government of dragging its feet on implementing last year's cease-fire agreement.

Although the cease-fire between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces has largely held, none of the political elements - including calling a local election there - has been implemented.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who was hosting his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow, told reporters that Kiev's inaction is the main stumbling block to a peace settlement in the east.

He said Germany had floated an idea of holding an election in the rebel-occupied territories this summer but Kiev said "no".

Fighting in Ukraine's industrial heartland, which has close ties to Russia, has killed more than 9,100 people and left large swathes of land under rebel control.

Germany, France and Russia have mediated talks between representatives of the government and separatists at talks in Minsk, Belarus, which resulted in a broad cease-fire agreement.

"Minsk-2 cannot be reviewed, and we should resist attempts to undermine it," Mr Lavrov said.

Kiev insists it cannot hold a vote there because it cannot guarantee security for election officials.

Rebels in their turn have said they will not allow Ukrainian right-wing parties to run, which the Ukrainian government says makes the election impossible.

Mr Steinmeier urged both sides to comply with the partial withdrawal and warned of a possible escalation.

Both Mr Steinmeier and Mr Lavrov appeared to be in a jovial mood, and Mr Steinmeier said they both pledged to "look for ways to overcome the differences that stand in our way to find a solution" for eastern Ukraine.
Amy Davis Latham

By Independent Mail

The Anderson County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's help with finding Amy Davis Latham.

Latham has been missing since early Sunday.

A resident of Smith Street in Pelzer, she is described as white, age 55, 5-foot-8, 140 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Latham is required to be on auxiliary oxygen for health reasons. She also suffers from other medical disorders and is without her necessary medication.

Anyone with information concerning Latham's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the Sheriff's Office at 864-260-4400.
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By Frances Parrish of the Independent Mail

The School District of Pickens County is shifting several principals around as the result of a school board vote last week to close two elementary schools, officials said Wednesday.

Paula Alexander will continue as the principal of Hagood Elementary School for the 2016-17 school year. Carlton Lewis will remain at Ambler Elementary School next year.

Donna Harden, the current principal of Holly Springs Elementary School, will be the new principal at Pickens Elementary School. Holly Springs will close at the end of the current school year. The students there will attend either Ambler or Hagood starting next school year.

Allen Fain, the current principal at Pickens Elementary, will be the new adult education director for the county school district. Next school year, Fain will work with current adult education director Mary Gaston, who plans to retire at the end of next year.

Melissa Terry, the current principal of A.R. Lewis Elementary School, will assist other principals with the merger process, but the school district has yet to determine her role for next school year. A.R. Lewis Elementary will close at the end of the current school year. Students there will attend Hagood in the future.

Follow Frances Parrish on Twitter @frances_AIM
South Carolina Senate District 4 candidates spoke Thursday in Anderson. The candidates are: Rockey Burgess (top left); Willie Day (top right); Mike Gambrell (bottom left); and Tripp Padgett.

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

State Rep. Mike Gambrell of Honea Path and Williamston Town Councilman Rockey Burgess will meet in an April 5 runoff after collecting the most votes in Tuesday's Republican primary for the vacant South Carolina Senate District 4 seat.

Based on unofficial results, Gambrell collected 46 percent of the votes and Burgess received 32 percent.

Gambrell received more votes than Burgess in each of the three counties in the sprawling district. But Greenwood attorney Tripp Padgett topped both Gambrell and Burgess in his home county, which led to the runoff.

Although Padgett won two-thirds of the votes in Greenwood County in his first run for office, he attracted little support in Abbeville and Anderson counties and finished in third place in the primary, with 14 percent of the overall votes.

Anderson resident Willie Day came in fourth with 6 percent, followed by Williamston resident Mark Powell with 2 percent.

Voter turnout in the primary was about 8 percent.

Gambrell, who is the chairman of the Anderson County delegation to the state Legislature, said he was pleased with the outcome of Tuesday's voting.

"To get 46 percent in a five-man race, I can't be displeased with that," he said while walking out of the Civic Center of Anderson, where the votes cast in the county were counted Tuesday night.

Burgess said he was excited to make the runoff. He said finishing second in Tuesday's voting was a successful accomplishment for a "no-name candidate."

"I am very pleased with where we are," Burgess said in a telephone interview. He vowed to campaign "relentlessly" in the two weeks before the runoff.

The winner of the runoff is not expected to face any opposition in a May 17 special election for the seat that Billy O'Dell held until he died in January with a year left in his term.

Vote counting Tuesday at the Civic Center ended with drama. Gambrell was within less than 300 votes from capturing the majority that he needed to avoid the runoff with one precinct left uncounted. That precinct was from a polling place in Honea Path.

When the ballots from that precinct were finally counted after 9 p.m., Gambrell came up 210 votes short of winning the primary outright.

Visit scvotes.org to see county by county voting results.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
A still frame from a dashcam video shows the encounter between Seneca Police Lt. Mark Tiller and Zachary Hammond behind the Hardee's restaurant in Seneca.

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By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail

A judge ruled Tuesday that there is no reason to keep private a trove of emails from a public relations firm hired by the city of Seneca in the wake of the fatal police shooting of unarmed 19-year-old Zachary Hammond.

The firm, Complete Public Relations of Greenville, was hired by Seneca to handle media requests that came from throughout the country and even several international news outlets.

Hammond's parents are suing the city's police department, police Chief John Covington and the officer who shot Hammond, Lt. Mark Tiller.

Seneca attorneys had asked that many of the emails between the PR firm and the city's attorney, Michael Smith, be kept private because of attorney-client privilege. The city had argued that there were private discussions, including confidential advice, in those emails.

Federal Magistrate Kevin McDonald wrote, in an order signed Tuesday, that he had reviewed the emails and found nothing beyond normal public relations tasks such as monitoring press coverage, giving general media strategy and responding to Freedom of Information Act requests.

"The documents are not protected by the attorney-client privilege as the communications were not made for the purpose of obtaining legal advice," McDonald's order says.

The public relations firm will need to turn over emails and other documents to Hammond's attorneys by the end of the week, according to the judge's order.

A deposition of Tiller is also expected Friday, after his attorneys were unsuccessful in seeking a three-month delay of the deposition when they said in court filings that he could be indicted by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Tiller, who is on administrative leave, will not face state charges in the shooting, according to previous statements by the 10th Judicial Circuit solicitor's office and the state attorney general's office.

Hammond was shot and killed during a botched drug sting July 26, as he attempted to drive out of a Hardee's parking lot and his wheels come near Tiller's feet.

Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM
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By Liz Carey

South Carolina ranks among the top 10 states in the country for tornado activity, 20 years of National Weather Service data shows.

Looking not just at the number of tornadoes in a state but the number of tornadoes per 10,000 square miles, The Weather Channel's Greg Forbes issued a report last week that placed South Carolina eighth on the list of states for tornadic activity between 1991 and 2010.

Tornadoes that develop in the fall from encroaching tropical systems are largely behind the Palmetto State's high numbers ? especially in the central plains region.

South Carolina averages 8.9 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles. At No. 1, Florida had 12.3 tornadoes per square mile. After Florida came Kansas (11.7), Maryland (9.9), Illinois (9.6), Mississippi (9.2), Iowa (9.2) and Oklahoma (9.0). After South Carolina, Alabama (8.6) and Louisiana (8.5) rounded out the top 10.

"South Carolina is a state that has mountains on its west side and the Atlantic Ocean on its east side," Forbes said in his report. "In the right situation, in the central part of the state, there can be a bit of a convergent zone for tornadoes."

Since the 1950s, South Carolina has seen 894 tornadoes that resulted in 60 deaths.

Last year, two tornadoes hit South Carolina during a national outbreak on April 27 that left more than 320 people dead across the country. The storms devastated parts of Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.

In November 2011, a tornado measuring an EF2 on the enhanced Fujita scale hit York County. EF2 tornadoes have three-second wind gusts of 111 to 135 mph, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Locally, a tornado touched down in the Pendleton-Townville area in 2009, but no major damage was reported.

Sixty mph winds on Hartwell Lake last year also cut down a line of shoreline pine trees near the dam and destroyed playground equipment at Singing Pines Recreation Area.

Pat Tenner, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said the Anderson area can expect a slight chance of showers today and tomorrow, but there won't be a chance of storms until later in the week. Temperatures will continue to top out in the low 80s through Tuesday, with lows in the high 50s. Chance of rain will hover around 20 percent, Tenner said.

Showers and thunderstorms may return on Friday, Tenner said. With highs in the low 70s and lows around 57, the area has a 40 percent chance of precipitation.
By Abe Hardesty of the Independent Mail

Unlike those across the nation, South Carolina real estate agents were busy in February. And few places in the state were busier than the Anderson area.

In a month that saw sales of existing homes fall by 7.1 percent nationally, South Carolina Realtors reported an increase of 11.8 percent.

The Anderson area sales figures numbers were up a robust 12.1 percent as compared to February 2015, and up 9.4 percent over the January 2016 totals.

Realtors in the Western Upstate  Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties  closed on 277 homes in February, 30 more than the previous year. Among the 16 geographic regions of the South Carolina Realtors Association, only Pee Dee (14.3) posted a higher percentage of improvement.

The numbers did not surprise Terri Anderson, broker in charge/partner with Western Upstate Keller Williams.

"The market is strong and staying strong," she said. "We are in a very desirable area of the south, one of the top retirement areas, and jobs are plentiful. That, along with new construction starts, signal a healthy recovery in the housing market for our area."

Anderson points to a shrinking days-on-market figure as a reliable indicator of long-term health.

"Days on market are falling because inventory is selling quicker, as there is more demand. It wasn't that long ago we were in a buyer's market, and now it is a seller's market," Anderson said.

The average DOM in the region, 92 days, is among the lowest in the state. It fell by 17.9 percent from February 2015, the second-highest drop in the state.

In seven regions of the state, the average days-on-market is more than 150 days.

Robert Mixon of Lake Life Realty, who sells homes in all three counties, was a little surprised that national sales fell, because the market here remains strong.

"The inventory is dramatically down. When houses go on the market, they're selling quickly," Mixon said Tuesday.

That has fueled a seller's market.

"In our area, we're seeing houses go for the asking price or higher," he said, calling the phenomenom an indicator of a strong market.

Charleston and Greenville, with an average days-on-market of 72 and 73, respectively, remained the hottest cities for home sales. Beaufort is the only other city where homes are selling faster than in the Anderson area.

Nationally and locally, inventory is lower than normal as the housing market enters the traditional spring buying season.

As compared to a year ago, the February inventory in South Carolina was 20.5 percent lower. It was 25 percent lower for condominiums and 20.6 percent for single-family homes.

The limited number of houses on the market have pushed prices higher in some regions across the country. The median national home sales price was $210,800 in February, a 4.4 percent annual increase from a year ago.

In South Carolina, the average sales price in February was $167,500, $10,500 more than in February 2015.

Nationally, median sales prices are forecast to rise 4 percent in 2016, meaningfully faster than wages.

Follow Abe Hardesty on Twitter @abe_hardesty
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By Independent Mail

Three Anderson residents face prison time and will be required to pay more than $40,000 in restitution to the victims of their mail theft ring, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Tim Cain of Anderson on Tuesday sentenced Shannon D. Ashworth, 33, Wendy D. Sisk, 45, and Danny Buford, 47, for conspiracy to commit fraud, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said in a news release. Cain sentenced Ashworth to 60 months in prison, Sisk to 24 months and Buford to 18 months, as part of a plea agreement. The three also were ordered to collectively pay more than $40,000 in restitution and will be placed on supervised release after they serve their prison terms.

Postal inspectors, with help from Anderson city and county law enforcement agents, uncovered a ring of more than 20 people, organized by Sisk, that stole checks and personal information from mailboxes, forged checks and made fake IDs, Nettles said. Ashworth and Buford stole mail and cashed checks across the Upstate.

Most of the fraud was conducted in an effort to get money to buy methamphetamine, Nettles said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office prosecuted the trio.
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By The Associated Press

HOLLY HILL, S.C. (AP) - Eight cannonballs found last week in Holly Hill are from the Civil War.

State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry tells The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg that SLED consulted a Civil War expert about the artifacts found in the crawl space of a home March 17.

Berry says the cannonballs were often used in pairs connected by a chain. They were fired at ships and the attached cannonballs would rip through rigging and masts.

A handyman found the cannonballs while doing repairs at the home and police and firefighters were called to the scene.

SLED agents used X-rays to scan the cannonballs and found they did not contain any explosives and were no threat to the public.
CONCORD  U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) recently called a local student at Concord High School to congratulate her on her appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Mary Alexis Lexi Rohrer is the daughter of Michael and Cynthia Rohrer. She is part of the National Honor Society and Beta Club and was selected as a junior marshall for her class. In addition to her academic excellence, Lexi is part of her schools swimming and cross country teams. She has participated in numerous community service activities such as the Cabarrus County Boys and Girls Keystone Club, Young Life and volunteered her time video editing a commercial for her high school.

Lexi is a driven student leader who embodies all the characteristics West Point is looking for in a cadet, said Rep. Hudson. It was an honor to nominate her for the U.S. Military Academy and I was thrilled to call her with the good news of her appointment. I know shell continue to make our community proud.

As Representative of North Carolinas eighth congressional district, Rep. Hudson has the privilege of nominating a limited number of young men and women each year to four of the five service academies.
'Rangoon' team including director Vishal Bhardwaj, actors Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, and a braveheart unit, has just returned from a gruelling three-week schedule of shooting. The Casablanca-like love story is set during the Second World War, and producer Sajid Nadiadwala, managed a coup of sorts by getting permission to shoot in virgin locales of Arunachal Pradesh where the Indo-Burma border was recreated.

According to our sources, the crew was staying in a hotel in Rottung and while the locations are picture-perfect, the living conditions were at best spartan even for the stars. But neither of them complained, even though Kangana is playing a diva of the '40s. Even the nawab, Saif Ali Khan, who was down for a couple of days, soldiered through long drives to and between Pasighat, Rottung and Kibang, sometimes an eight nine-hour journey one way, and long treks through jungles.

Since the sun rises in the east, days dawned early and it was action from 4 am. But they also packed up early, around 4-5 pm, once the light faded. And as there wasn't much to do except for work, everyone would be in bed by 8 pm.

Shahid couldn't skip his workouts as he plays a soldier in the film and needed to be in peak physical condition for the action scenes. He's never been fitter.

'Rangoon' is produced by filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala and the film is all set to release on October 14, 2016.
Chinas domestic oilseed production growth continues to be hampered by limited arable land and recent domestic policies favoring grain production. Chinas total planted area for all oilseed crops is forecast to drop 2 percent to 21.87 million hectares (MHa) and total oilseed production is forecast to decrease by 2.1 percent to 52.7 MMT in MY16/17. The lower forecast reflects an expected decline in rapeseed and cottonseed production -a combined 1.5 MMT-as policy changes and lower market prices reduced earnings in these commodities.

The forecast for soybean production is up slightly, primarily affected by changes in grain policies, while the forecast for peanut production remains stable, responding to high comparative profits. In MY16/17, the total Chinese oilseed consumption forecast rose to 142.9 MMT driven by increasing domestic demand for meats, seafood, and vegetable oils. Additionally, the expansion of the oilseed crushing sector, growth in the feed industry, and advancements in concentrated livestock and aquatic farming are collectively spurring demand and the need for imports. With limited domestic production, soybean and rapeseed imports remain robust with total oilseed imports forecast at 89.2 MMT for MY16/17. Soybean imports could reach 84.5 MMT, up from the estimated 82 MMT in MY15/16, in line with the USDA official March 2016 estimate.

Chinas imports of U.S. soybeans reached 29.7 MMT in MY14/15, up 2.7 MMT over the previous year and accounted for 38 percent of Chinas total soybean imports. Imports from the United States are expected to stay strong at about 30 MMT in MY16/17. However, U.S. soybeans still face fierce competition from South American suppliers. In addition, forecasting Chinas meal and oil use and total oilseed demand continues to be a challenge given the differing data on the domestic area and production for rapeseed and peanuts, soybean use as food and direct use as feed, the production number of different feed and all animal products, and the unknown volume of state reserve of soybeans and vegetable oils.

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The month-long strike at Tata Motors' Sanand plant ended on Tuesday, with workers and management reaching a consensus over the issue of suspended workers following a meeting with state labour secretary Sanjay Prasad. Read More Uber on Tuesday filed a petition in the Delhi high court, accusing Ola's employees of disrupting its business by creating over 93,000 false rider accounts using Uber's platform and using them to register over 4 lakh fake bookings only to cancel them at the last minute. Read More Ashok Leyland Defence Systems Ltd (ALDS) announced on Tuesday that it has tied up with US-based defence contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. to develop combat vehicles for the Indian Army. Read More Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), Indias leading SUV manufacturer, today revealed the name of its new SUV as NuvoSport. To be launched in the 1st week of April 2016, the company also unveiled the images of the NuvoSport. Read More A meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways was held in New Delhi last evening under the Chairmanship of Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss the functioning of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd ( NHIDCL) and the issue of road safety. Read More Ola, Indias leading mobile app for transportation, announced that it has acquired Chennai-based Qarth Technologies Pvt. Ltd., an IIT Madras incubated startup that offers a multi bank IMPS mobile solutions. Read More Maruti Suzuki India is going to start deliveries of its newly launched compact urban SUV, Vitara Brezza, to customers, from March 25, 2016. The vehicles will be retailed from the Company's over 1,800 sales outlets spread across India. (ET)India's online marketplace for pre-owned two wheelers - CredR, has tied up with Honda Two Wheelers India to set up 100 hyperlocal bike exchange Access Points across four of its key markets in the country. (ET)Kentucky sued Volkswagen AG and its luxury units on Tuesday claiming the German automaker's diesel emissions cheating scheme violated the state's Consumer Protection Act. (Reuters)Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car manufacturer, is refunding up to Rs 90,000 to S-Cross customers who bought the 1.6 litre version of the crossover the before the price cut. Maruti had slashed the prices of S-Cross by upto Rs 2.05 lakh in January to push the falling sales of S-Cross. (ET)In line with its 'One Ford' plan, Ford Motor Company is shifting the manufacturing of its popular SUV - EcoSport, for the European markets from its Chennai plant to Romania. The Indian operations will now focus on rest of the world and the North American market. With over 30% growth in sale of EcoSport in Europe, Ford Motor Company has decided to move the production base of the vehicle out of its Chennai plant in India, and move it Craiova, Romania by end of 2017. (ET)Chevrolet Colorado Xtreme, an off-road ready pick-up truck concept has been unveiled at the 2016 Bangkok International Motor Show. The concept is based on the 2016 Chevrolet Trailblazer which was also showcased alongside the Xtreme. An engine hood scoop, bumper skid plates, body cladding and 18-inch full-mud terrain tyres complete the SUVs off-roader looks. (Autocar India)Volkswagen has begun testing its full-size SUV. Essentially, a production version of the CrossBlue SUV concept was shown at the 2013 Detroit Motor Show. Test mules of the new SUV were seen in the US. Volkswagen has cleverly disguised the identity of the new model as the test mules were spotted wearing abnormal front grilles and unknown logos. (Autocar India)
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be leaving on a 4-day official visit to Australia on 28th March, 2016. One of the main objectives of the Finance Ministers visit to Australia is to attract foreign investment in India especially in Infrastructure sector among others. In the first leg of his official visit, the Finance Minister will arrive in Sydney on 29th March, 2016. Thewill be leaving on a 4-day official visit to Australia on 28th March, 2016. One of the main objectives of the Finance Ministers visit to Australia is to attractin India especially in Infrastructure sector among others. In the first leg of his official visit, the Finance Minister will arrive in Sydney on 29th March, 2016.

During his stay at Sydney, the Finance Minister Jaitley will address and have an interactive session at Sydney Campus of S.P. Jain School of Global Management. He will also have a meeting with The Hon. Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will inaugurate the Sydney branch of the Union Bank of India.

Next Day, i.e. 30th March, 2016, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will deliver the Key Note Address at Make in India Conference in Sydney. He will also have a meeting with prominent CEOs of Australia. Thereafter, he will have a bilateral meeting with The Hon. Scott Morrison, MP, Treasurer. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will have an interaction with Indian community.

As a part of the second leg of his Australia visit, on 31st March, 2016, the Finance Ministry Shri Jaitley will depart for the Australian capital, Canberra. During his stay in Canberra, the Finance Minister will have bilateral meetings with Senator The Hon. Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance and Mr. Peter Vergese, Foreign Secretary. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will have a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Australian National University (ANU) followed by an interaction with ANU Economists. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will be participating in K.R. Narayanan Oration at the University. In the evening, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will address the Indian community at a reception hosted by the High Commissioner of India in Australia in which leading members of Indian community from all major cities of Australia are likely to participate.

On the last leg of his Australia visit, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will arrive in Melbourne on 1st April, 2016. During his stay in Melbourne, the Finance Minister will have a meeting with Mr. Peter Coastello, Chairman, Future Fund. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will also participate in Invest in India Round Table Conference. He will also attend a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FICCI and Australia-India Business Council. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will have one to one meeting with CEOs of various companies. In the evening, the Finance Minister will visit the University of Melbourne. He will also meet the Hon. Daniel Andrews, Premier of VIC.

The Finance Minister will depart for back home on 2nd April, 2016 and will arrive in the national capital on 3rd April, 2016 after completing his 4-day official visit to Australia.
In a unique endeavour, the Indian Navy has organised a multi-city ride on the Bajaj V that is aimed at encouraging the Indian youth to join the Navy. A fleet of 15 Naval Personnel on their invincible Bajaj V Bikes have embarked on a Motorbike cum Trekking Expedition across Maharashtra, to spread the message of joining the Indian Navy, conserve water and Go green.



The ride which commences on World Martyrs Day (23rd March 2016) will cover 23 Forts of Chattrapati Shivaji, who was also recognized for his naval capabilities. On the way, the Navy personnel will interact with youth from schools and colleges, to educate and empower them about Indias naval legacy and how they can contribute to fortifying and protecting the nation.



Commenting on the endeavour, Rear Admiral S N Ghormade, Nausena Medal (Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area) of Indian Navy said, We would like to attract enterprising Indian youth to join the Navy. On the occasion of Martyrs Day our team has set out on a Motorbike cum Trekking Expedition to 23 forts in honour of Chattrapati Shivaji. We felt that the Bajaj V was the ideal vehicle for this initiative as it contains the invincible metal of the INS Vikrant and 'V' also stands for victory.



Speaking on the initiative, Sumeet Narang, Vice President (Marketing) said We are glad to partner with the Indian Navy for spreading an inspiring message for the youth to join the Indian Navy. This initiative represents invincibility in many ways-starting with the invincible Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Invincible Indian Navy and the Invincible Bajaj V containing the metal of the Invincible INS Vikrant. We are therefore proud to associate with this Invincible Ride.



This ride was flagged off from the Kohli Stadium at Navy Nagar Colaba and will cover 23 historic forts of Chattrapati Shivaji like Shivneri, Raigad etc. The team will be visiting schools and colleges enroute to inspire the youth to join the Navy. The Chief Guest for the flag off event was Vice-Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Staff Western Naval Command.



The V, with its 150 cc DTS-i engine, is capable of delivering an invincible torque of 13 Nm at 5500 RPM, and an invincible power of 12 PS power at 7500 rpm. With its invincible stand-tall form and high torque performance, the bike promises a proud riding experience to its customers. The deliveries of the bike will also take place today, on the 23rd March to mark the significance of Martyrs Day. Till now The V has received an overwhelming initial response with 10,000 vehicles being delivered across the country today.



The Bajaj V is available in two colours Ebony Black and Pearl White.
Closing bell:

The BSE Sensex ended with a gain of mere seven points at 25,338. The BSE Sensex opened at 25,322 touched an intra-day high of 24,368 and low of 25,156.The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of mere two points at 7,717. The NSE Nifty opened at 7,717 hitting a high of 7,727 and low of 7,671.The India VIX (Volatility) index was up 0.10% to 16.4475.In broader market with the benchmark indices with the BSE midcap and smallcap indices closed with marginal gain of 0.2% each.The Indian Rupee was trading down by 3 paise at 66.74 per US dollar.On the global front, China's Shanghai Composite index closed up by 0.38% and Hang Seng ends marginally lower.In Europe, the FTSE 100 marginally up 0.18%. On the other hand, DAX gained 0.62% and the CAC 40 trading higher by 0.96% each.Hindalco, Idea Cellular, Tata Steel, Bajaj-Auto, Yes Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power and Coal India were among the gainers on NSE, whereas RIL, Lupin, Bank of Baroda, GAIL, PNB, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were among the losers today.Out of 1,797 stocks traded on the NSE, 826 declined and 717 advanced today.At 3:02 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,333 up mere three points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,712 down mere two points.The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.15% at 10,515, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.34% at 10,512.Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj-Auto, Coal India and BHEL are among the gainers, whereas ONGC, Reliance Industries, HDFC, HUL and Lupin are losing sheen on BSE.Some buying activity is seen in metal, telecom, realty, basic materials, industrial and utilities sectors, while energy, oil and gas, IT and FMCG sectors are showing weakness on BSE.The INDIA VIX is down 0.38% at 16.3675. Out of 1,795 stocks traded on the NSE, 783 declined, 731 advanced and 281 remained unchanged today.A total of 17 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 26 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.The Indian rupee opened marginally down by 4 paise at 66.75/$ on Wednesday as against the previous close of 66.71/$. On Tuesday, the rupee extended the downside against the greenback, influenced by month end dollar demand from the importers. Moreover, recovery in US dollar against the basket of major currencies also weighed on the emerging market pack.Thermax slipped 0.62% to Rs.775 on BSE. Around 2lakh shares were traded in a single block at Rs. 775 on the BSE.PNC Infratech zoomed 3% to Rs.500.10 on BSE. PNC Infratechs wholly owned subsidiary  PNC Raebareli Highways  has successfully commissioned the project of two-laning of Raebareli-Jaunpur Section of NH-231 more than 3 months ahead of schedule. PNC was awarded the project for two-laning with paved shoulders from Km 0.000 to Km 166.400 of the Raebareli to Jaunpur Section of NH-231 in the State of Uttar Pradesh under NHDP IV on BOT (Annuity) basis.Kesoram Industries has sold stakes worth Rs. 428.53 crore in several listed companies, including Aditya Birla Nuvo and Grasim Industries, through open market transactions. The shares were acquired by Camden Industries, as per block deal data available in BSE. Stake worth Rs.46.88 crore was sold in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, Kesoram Industries offloaded stake worth Rs.141.42 crore in Century Textiles and Industries. Kesoram Industries zoomed 3.2% to Rs.104.75 on BSE.Page Industries Ltd stock was lower by 7% at Rs. 10772. The Promoter Group reduces stake in company by 2.81% to 49%.Gammon India Ltd stock was higher by 12% at Rs.12.26.The company's EPC arm may be sold for Rs 200-250 crore, says report.Alok Industries cracked 4.6% to Rs. 4.74 on BSE.Just Dial Ltd stock was higher by 6% at Rs. 742. The company has made a post Buy-back public announcement dated March 18, 2016 (the "Post Buy-back PA") for the attention of its shareholders in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of lndia (Buy Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998, as amended.Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd stock was higher by 8% at Rs. 221. The company has received new orders of over Rs. 1,320 Crore.Monsanto India Ltd stock was higher by 12% at Rs. 1805. The board has approved Resignation of C. Ravishankar as Director from the Board of Directors of the Company w.e.f. March 22, 2016 and appointment of Piyush Nagar as an Additional Director of the Company w.e.f. March 23, 2016.Zuari Agro Chemicals has entered into an agreement for availment of Term loan with RBL Bank Ltd (formerly known as The Ratnakar Bank Limited) towards Capex/reimbursement for normal Capex, renovation/up gradation of the Goa Plant & Long term working capital requirements of the Company amounting to Rs. 160 Crore which would be taken in one or more tranches. Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 135.8, up by Rs. 0.5 or 0.37% from its previous closing of Rs. 135.3 on the BSE.United Breweries gained 1.1% to Rs.852 on BSE. Around 4.5 lakh shares were traded in a single block at Rs. 327.45 on the BSE. Heineken buys additional 21 Lakh shares in United Breweries, as per media reports. United Breweries, who was seen as a likely candidate to buy the Kingfisher Airline brand, has said that it is not interested in owning the carrier's label, according to media reports.
Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss the functioning of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd ( NHIDCL) and the issue of road safety. A meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways was held in New Delhi last evening under the Chairmanship ofto discuss the functioning of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd ( NHIDCL) and the issue of road safety.

Through a presentation made on the functioning of NHIDCL, the committee was informed that the company is working to fast pace the construction of National Highways and other infrastructure in the North Eastern states and strategic areas. NHIDCL is currently entrusted with 109 projects in 13 states that include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, West Bengal, A&N Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand. The total length of the projects in 7148 Km and they are at various stages of project development.

Chairing the meeting Road Transport & Highways Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari informed that there is a target to award road projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the North East during the next five years. The Minister also informed that several bridges have come up on the river Brahmaputra, providing relief to a large number of people. Shri Gadkari also informed that there are plans for making 1100 Km all weather road at Rs 12,000 crore in Uttarakhand, of which about Rs 650- 700 crore worth of work has already been awarded.

Regarding road safety, the committee was informed that the Government has set a target for reducing road accident fatalities by 50 % by 2020 and has taken several steps to prevent road accidents. A National Road Safety Policy has been approved, which outlines various policy measures like promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure, enforcement of safety laws etc. The Government has constituted the National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in the matter of road safety. The Ministry has evolved a multi pronged strategy to tackle the problem based on the 4 Es viz Education, Engineering ( both of roads and vehicles) Enforcement and Emergency Care.



Road safety has been made an integral part of road designing, safety audits are being taken up for selected stretches of National Highways, around 700 accident black spots have been identified and remedial steps are being taken at such spots. The threshold for four laning of National Highways has been reduced from 15000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) to 10,000 and about 52,000 km of state highways are set to be converted into National Highways. It is planned to set up model driving training institutes in states and run publicity campaigns in print and electronic media. NHAI provides ambulances at a distance of 50 km on its completed stretches of National Highways. Pilot projects for cashless treatment of road accident victims has been started on Gurgaon-Jaipur, Vadodara  Mumbai stretch of NH 8 and Ranchi-Rargaon-Mahulia stretch of NH 33. The Ministry plans to extend this scheme to road accident victims on North-South corridor, East-West Corridor and Golden Quadrilateral.

Members of the Consultative Committee appreciated the work being done by the Road Transport and Highway Ministry . They also pointed out certain problems in their respective areas, which were noted for follow up action. Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highway, Managing Director NHIDCL and other senior officials from the Ministry were also present at the meeting.
The Reserve Bank of India may call for agencies interests to conduct forensic audits by end of April this year, says an ET report.The audit is to be conducted for 10 defaulters, so as to know if established practices and processes are being adhered to by lenders, at the time of sanctioning loans, accounts of which range between Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore, as per the report.Companies having businesses of mobile technology, shipping, power and roads have been reported to be among the borrowers of those loans.However, the aforesaid forensic audits differ from the forensic investigations which banks conduct, since the latters purview would entail filtering bankss slip-ups, if any, as per the report.The central banks aim behind the audit, is to probe deeper into the level of awareness in banks at the time of sanctioning loans to these companies. Since banks scope of investigations is micro, the reason behind the companys malfeasance remains veiled.Through such moves, RBIs goal of tidying up the Indian banking system, by March 2017 seesm to be heading towards fruition. While sluggish economy and inappropriate policies are responsible for the mounting stressed loans which are impeding funding new projects, RBI is toiling to sieve out the difference between the two, added the report.
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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Lithuania for cooperation in the field of agriculture.



The MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of agriculture production including horticulture, post-harvest management, organic farming, cold chain development and agro processing industry, animal husbandry, dairying and aquaculture etc. The cooperation between the two countries shall be undertaken through biennial work plan to be drawn up mutually to give effect to the objectives of the instant MoU.



It is expected that the MoU would help in capacity building, knowledge exchange between scientists and technicians, exchange of genetic resources, development of appropriate technologies and farm practices for enhancing agriculture productivity at farmer's field.


We all know Holi as the festival of colours where we can pull pranks on one another, throw water balloons at others, and obsess over drinking bhang. But hang on! Theres more to Holi than we know.

Read on as we tell you 7 fascinating legends about Holi we bet you havent heard before.

1. The most famous legend is that of Prahlad and Hiranyakashyap.

iskonbangalore.org

Once upon a time, there lived a demon king called Hiranyakashyap who wanted the world to worship him. But his son Prahlad started worshiping lord Vishnu instead. The angry father ordered his sister Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her slip. It is believed that Prahlad was saved because of his extreme devotion to lord Vishnu while Holika was destroyed. The ritual of holika dahan comes from this legend.

2. The story of Radha and Krishna

citieshub.in

Everyone thinks that Holi is about Radha and Krishna. And well, one legend says that too. It is a widely accepted theory that Krishna applied colours on Radha and the gopis and this prank of Krishnas became a part of the Holi festivities. In fact, thats the reason Holi is shown as a festival that celebrates romance in popular culture.

3. Holi is the celebration of the death of monster Pootana

yvenkat

Pootana was an ogress who tried to kill baby Krishna by feeding him poisonous milk. She was sent by Lord Krishnas uncle Kansa, who wanted to kill Krishna the very moment he was born. In some parts of India, on the eve of Holi, people burn an effigy of Pootana. The tradition is symbolic of the victory of good over evil. It also signifies the end of winter and darkness as epitomised by Pootana.

4. Another popular legend revolves around Lord Shiva and Kaamdeva

templepurohit

Another Holi legend, popular mainly in Southern India, revolves around lord Shiva and Kaamadeva (God of lust). It is believed that Kama's body was reduced to ashes by the force of an angry Shiva's third eye, when he shot a flower-draped arrow at him to disrupt his meditation. On the tearful requests of Kama's wife Rati, the lord restored him, but only as a mental image, representing true love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire comes from this event. Down south, people worship Kaamadev and his sacrifice as Holi. In Tamil Nadu, Holi is known as Kamavilas, Kaman Pandigai and Kama-Dahanam.

5. The story of Dhundhi, the evil witch

Flickr.com/Kara

Once upon a time, there lived a witch named Dhundhi in the kingdom of Raghu. She always troubled children, who were eventually fed up of her. Dhundhi had once received a boon from Lord Shiva where she could not be killed by gods or men, and that she would never suffer from heat, cold or rain. All of this made her nearly invincible. But she had a weakness too. Lord Shiva had cursed her on one occasion and said that she would be in danger with crazy boys around. A priest suggested that after the winter was over, the boys should collect a heap of wood and grasses, set it on fire, recite mantras, clap, laugh sing and dance. This would soon cause the witch to die. Legend has it that on the day of Holi, a few village boys displayed their unity and chased Dhundhi away. This is the reason young boys are allowed to indulge in rowdiness during Holi.

6. The festival of Holi reinforces the power of truth and forgiveness.

Flickr.com/Prashant Ram

Various legends associated with Holi bring to the fore the notion of good winning over evil. Tradition has it that on Holi, even enemies turn friends, forgetting hard feelings that may be present. Thats why the popular saying - Bura na mano holi hai!

7. Even science encourages us to play Holi!

Dharma productions

Holi is said to be the coming of summer. It is believed that during the change of season there's a lot of bacteria in the atmosphere, that can make us fall sick. Thats the reason Holi starts with the Holika bonfire. The heat from the fire helps cleanse the bacteria. Moreover, the fun and energy of the festival helps rejuvenate our body. Most importantly, natural colours are beneficial for the human body. These help our skin, improve our immune system and helps us get rid of diseases.
A recent study done by scientists of Indian-origin has found tomatoes rotten or damaged during harvest to be a rather powerful source of generating electricity.

Namita Shrestha from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Venkataramana Gadhamshetty, an assistant professor at South Dakota, and Alex Fogg, an undergraduate chemistry major at Princeton University, are behind this study that could really help people, especially farmers. The findings of the research were presented at the 251st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society held in San Diego, California.

etrend.sk

Talking about how it all started, Venkataramana said, "The project began a few years ago when Alex visited my lab in Fort Myers, Florida, and said he was interested in researching a local problem, especially local tomatoes grown in our state and the large waste treatment issue,"

Talking about the study, Namita says,"We have found that spoiled and damaged tomatoes left over from harvest can be a particularly powerful source of energy when used in a biological or microbial electrochemical cell." "The process also helps purify the tomato-contaminated solid waste and associated waste water," she added.

publicbroadcasting.net

While the study was done keeping in mind the huge amount of tomatoes that gets wasted every year, especially in Florida which sees about 396,000 tonnes of tomatoes wasted every year. If the study turns out to be successful, it could really help farmers here as well.

"Microbial electrochemical cells use bacteria to break down and oxidise organic material in defective tomatoes," said Namita. The team has developed a microbial electrochemical cell that can exploit tomato waste to generate electric current. The bacteria in the tomato waste trigger an oxidation process that releases electrons which can then be captured in the fuel cell and be used as a source of electricity.

10 mg of tomato waste can result in 0.3 watts of electricity. Although a negligible power output, the researchers believe they can scale up the electrical output by several orders of magnitude with more research in the due course of time. Imagine the possibilities it could provide for our farmers.

With inputs from IANS.
twitter

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone seem totally inseparable! But Deepika Padukone was recently off to the US to shoot for her Hollywood debut xXx, and sadly the couple had to be apart. And now that Deepika is back in the country, seems like Ranveer couldn't wait to meet her lady love!

For the uninitiated, Deepika is currently on a break from xXx's shoot, and she has flown back to India for a friend's wedding. Recently reports suggested that Deepika is currently in Sri Lanka where the wedding is taking place. It looks like Ranveer Singh too has joined her in Sri Lanka.

It all started when a fan recently posted a picture with Ranveer Singh and his fans started speculating that he's in Sri Lanka With Deepika.

[PIC] Ranveer Singh spotted with a fan today. pic.twitter.com/quVBpkcNaP  Ranveer Planet (@RanveerPlanet) March 21, 2016

That's not all, another fan even posted a picture of Ranveer which looked like it was from a wedding.

Even though Ranveer was super busy these days, attending two back to back awards function, he still took out time to catch up with Deepika. These two are always giving us #RelationshipGoals!
The American National Institutes of Health (NIH) has developed a dengue vaccine that proved to be 100% effective in a small trial. The scientists administered the vaccine, known as TV003, to 21 volunteers, and gave another 20 people a placebo vaccine. Six months later, they exposed all 41 volunteers to dengue-2, which is one of the four strains of the dengue virus.

They found that all the 20 people who were given the placebo got dengue, but none of the vaccinated people got the disease!

blessedsource.com

A big step in the battle against dengue.

Dengue, found in the world's tropical and sub-tropical regions, infects nearly 400 million people in more than 120 countries annually. Most survive with few or no symptoms, but more than 2 million people annually develop dengue hemorrhagic fever, which kills more than 25,000 people each year.

"Control of dengue has certainly been a public health priority for many years, but getting there hasn't really been very easy," said virologist Stephen Whitehead of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who spearheaded the development of the vaccine.

The vaccine is a single-dose vaccine, which means people only need to get one injection, and not multiple. It was made from a mixture of four live, weakened viruses targeted to each of the four different strains.

biopharma-reporter.com

If all goes well, the vaccine could be available to us by 2018!

Brazil's Butantan Institute is going to launch a large clinical trial involving 17,000 people to confirm the effectiveness of the vaccine against naturally occurring dengue. Another trial in Bangladesh is scheduled to begin in the next couple of months. If the trial in Brazil goes well, Butantan Institute could have the vaccine widely available by 2018, believes vaccine researcher Dr. Anna Durbin of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

One dengue vaccine is currently licensed, Sanofi SA's Dengvaxia, with Mexico becoming the first country to give it approval in December. But the three-dose vaccine was approved only for use in a limited population  people aged 9 to 45 who live in areas where the disease is endemic, meaning younger children and tourists cannot get it, and questions remain about its effectiveness.

Merck and Co has exclusive rights to the new vaccine in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and the EU and can export it to any country except Brazil, where the Butantan Institute has exclusive rights. Two Indian companies, Serum Institute of India and Panacea Biotec Ltd, will have non-exclusive rights to develop the vaccine for India and for export to a few other countries.

With inputs from Reuters

Cover image via thinkstockphotos.in
United Breweries, a likely candidate to buy the Kingfisher airline brand, says it is not interested in owning the carrier's label.

bccl

"United Breweries owns the Kingfisher beer and water brands, and the airline brand holds no relevance to us," said the company's managing director Shekhar Ramamurthy. The local brewer's Dutch promoter Heineken too has said that it is not interested in buying the Kingfisher airline brand.

Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines, grounded since October 2012, are looking to recover dues worth Rs 9,000 crore through sale of its assets, including the carrier's brand. Companies prefer to own the rights to the flagship brand across categories even if they don't have a presence in certain business segments. This is done to protect the trademark from being used by other players. Among Indian conglomerates, parent brands such as Tata, Godrej and Larsen & Toubro are registered in a host of business areas.

bccl

The Kingfisher airline brand is worth much less today compared to its peak time valuation of Rs 4,100 crore as estimated by Grant Thornton, said brand consultants. This is because the valuation of the brand is linked to its revenue generation. With Kingfisher Airlines no longer in the business, the brand's valuation has taken a beating. Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant promoter of the airline, had named the carrier after the Kingfisher beer brand to promote the drinks business.

"Most of the intrinsic value of the Kingfisher brand lies in the beer business. The last public report lists its worth over Rs 11,000 crore. So, it is a very attractive brand to buy as Kingfisher. However, the Kingfisher airline brand, under its registration, can only be used for the aviation business. Its credibility has taken a huge hit. You certainly cannot recover much money from it," said Ramesh Jude Thomas, president, Equitor Value Advisory, a brand consultancy outfit.

bccl

Mallya had pledged the Kingfisher airline brand as collateral to banks against loans, a practice followed globally. In the past, Walt Disney, Calvin Klein and Daawat brands had been leveraged to raise funds. With United Breweries not interested in the Kingfisher airline brand, a player from the aviation segment could look at it.

"The Kingfisher airline brand can be revived provided it has a new owner with high standing and experience in the air travel space," said Thomas, adding "When it was flying, it had a very decent following and a market share to match."
Muslims in Kota will have to get married without music, the city's clerics have decided.

Terming wedding bands "un-Islamic, indecent and a cause of wasteful expenditure", the city's qazi, Anwaar Ahmad, has said clerics will not solemnise a nikah where DJs and bands are present.

reuters

"If a cleric is found solemnising these weddings, no nikah forms will be distributed to them," Ahmad said.

reuters

Qazis across the state agree that the practice proves to be a financial strain on the poor, but have not endorsed the move. Rajasthan's chief qazi Khalid Usmani said people should be made aware that loud music at weddings are not good, but they can't be denied the right.
Few days back we told you about the Bengaluru woman who is accused of killing eight 15-day-old puppies in front of their mother; now Police has finally arrested her.

Bangalore Mirror

The woman identified as Ponnamma has been charged with cruelty to animals for the attack.

The accused, the wife of an ex-honorary flight lieutenant took the extreme step to "teach the mother dog who was living a drain outside her house with the puppies, a lesson."

Twitter

The gruesome crime which was reported days CCTV visuals form outside of a metro station which shows the brutal killing of three dogs and a puppy by an unidentified man.

Earlier last week, visuals of a BJP MLA mercilessly beating up a police horse had also emerged.

The horse who suffered serious injuries lost its leg in the attack.

BCCL

Animal rights campaigners say in all the three cases even if the culprits are arrested they will walk away with minimal punishment.

Even though cruelty towards animals is a punishable offence in India, activists say the punishment is not adequate.

They say the attacker of the police horse, Shaktiman could walk away with a fine of Rs 50.

Citing the recent incidents animal welfare activists from Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) have decided to push the Centre through AWBI (Animal Welfare Board of India) to pass the Shaktiman Act.

They are also planning to take up the issue with union minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi.

"The Shaktiman Act, should it be passed, will make the offence of killing an animal a cognizable one, compoundable with a drastic rise in the penalty," Suparna Ganguly, animal rights activist, and secretary, CUPA, told the Bangalore Mirror.

Under the existing law there are hardly any convictions of cases related to cruelty to animals. "I have filed several RTIs to get data on convictions but there is no record," Gauri Maulekhi of People for Animals said.
India and Jordan by far the least tolerant countries in the world when it comes to racism. This is according to a survey by World Values Survey which studied 80 countries around the world.

Washington Post

The survey asked respondents in more than 80 different countries to identify kinds of people they would not want as neighbors.

Some respondents, picking from a list, chose "people of a different race." The more frequently that people in a given country say they don't want neighbors from other races, the economists reasoned, the less racially tolerant you could call that society.

retailpackagingmag

According to the survey, English and Latin speaking countries are the most tolerant. People in the survey were most likely to embrace a racially diverse neighbor in the United Kingdom and its former colonies like the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and in Latin America. Scandinavian countries also scored high on the survey.

Amid the ongoing refugee situation European countries had a mixed result on racial tolerance. France was one of the least racially tolerant countries in Europe, with 22.7 percent saying they didn't want a neighbor of another race.

Hindustan Times

With over 40 per cent of the participants saying they would not want a neighbor of a different race, India and Jordan featured on the bottom of the list.

While 43.5 percent of Indians were not in favor the corresponding figure was 51.4 percent for Jordan.

Surprisingly Pakistan ranked way higher than even European countries like Germany and Netherlands

Only 6.5 percent of Pakistanis objected to a neighbor of a different race.

However, when pointed out the disparity in the score of India those conducted the survey clarified that it could be due to three reasons.

First, is an enormous country; anecdotal interactions are not representative of the whole, particularly given that people who are wealthy enough to travel internationally may be likely to encounter some subsets of these respective populations more than others.

Second, the survey question gets to internal, personal preferences; what the respondents want. One person's experiences hanging out with Indians, in addition to being anecdotal, only tell you about their outward behavior.

Third, the survey question is a way of judging racial tolerance but, like many social science metrics, is indirect and imperfect.
The death of a woman on March 17 after she was allegedly contracted HIV infection has stirred up a hornet's nest at Kasganj, where she was given a blood transfusion when she underwent a cesarean section in December last year.

On Tuesday, an FIR was lodged against two doctors concerned. Investigations are on as a sponge and a towel were also found in her abdomen by doctors at SN Medical College Hospital who operated on her recently.

flickr

Prem Kishore, a resident of Naglabulah village in Kasganj, alleged that his wife Kamlesh, 25, died after doctors of a prominent nursing home in Kasganj district allegedly gave her a blood transfusion of eight units of infected blood after a botched caesarean section in December last year when she gave birth to a stillborn.

They also left a sponge and towel in her abdomen.

The piece of cloth and sponge were recently detected after she had to undergo tests at Agra's S N Medical College following complaints of acute stomach pain. During tests, doctors also diagnosed her as HIV positive.

"The piece of cloth was detected in her stomach after she underwent ultrasound at S N Medical College," said Prem Kishore.

Represenatational image / si.wsj

"My wife was pregnant. On December 13, we had admitted her to a private nursing home where she gave birth to a stillborn.

Due to loss of excessive blood, her condition deteriorated, after which the doctors of nursing home gave her a blood transfusion but didn't inform us from where they got the blood," he claimed.

"Seeing no improvement in her condition, we took her to Agra's government hospital in March. There, doctors after conducting an ultrasound, informed us that my wife was HIV positive and there was lump in her abdomen for which she has to undergo a major surgery. When doctors operated, they found a towel and sponge in her abdomen. Later, she died on March 17," he added.

mw2

Kamlesh's family spent around Rs 2 lakh on her treatment by mortgaging three bigah of their land. Prem Kishore said, "What will I do without my wife, how will I take care of my lone child. My future seems to be bleak."

On Tuesday, Prem Kishore lodged a complaint with the Kotwali police station.

Superintendent of police Sunil Kumar Singh said, "An FIR has yet been registered under IPC section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against Dr Geeta Aggarwal and Dr Praveen Aggarwal. After further probe in the matter, other sections will be added. Meanwhile, no arrests have so far has been made."

The doctors of Kasganj nursing home refused to comment on the matter.
The South American nation of Guyana has a sizable Indian population and in 1969 released a stamp dedicated to 'Phagwah' (Bhojpuri for Holi). The stamps depicted Lord Krishna celebrating the festival with gopis and was available in versions of 6, 25, 30 and 40 cents.

Twitter.com

India, on the other hand, does not have a stamp honouring Holi despite the festival being celebrated extensively throughout the country. The only time the India Post came close to representing the festival of colours was for Children's Day in 2002 which was based on a child's painting.

indianphilately.net

While Holi has been represented on the covers of issues from the postal circles of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, they were never really minted into national stamps.

Hindustan Times reached out to the India Post secretary, however, she was unavailable for comment. A senior official said, We have stamps on festivals of India, but I cannot confirm if we have one on Holi. I will need to check.
The deadly attacks in Brussels, that left 34 people dead and several injured, were celebrated in Syria where the ISIS distributed sweets to residents. Taking responsibility for the bombings, the jihadists released images which show the act of terrorism being celebrated with sweets and smiles.

Daily Mail

Bags of sweets and other items were handed out to men and children alike, in the province of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria.

Daily Mail

Every photograph comes with a special ISIS message for their Muslim brethren, that translates to "joy of the blessed attack against the Crusaders in Brussels."

Daily Mail

No women appear in the images but men distributing sweets are seen wearing shoulder holsters.

Daily Mail

Dozens of people have been reported missing or injured in the bombings that went off at the Brussels airport check-in area and a subway station on March 22.

Daily Mail

ISIS have now announced to hit the UK "harder and more bitter", following which security has been beefed up in the country with armed officers stationed at major landmarks including train stations and airports.
Victor travels very often around Kuala Lumpur to sell his Star Wars Lego Collection at flea markets in various locations. The reason for his doing so started when his wife Azra was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.

lifestyle.inquirer.net

A Star Wars fan since childhood, Victor began collecting Star Wars Lego sets 5 years ago. Now it's his last resort to fund his wife's chemotherapy which costs RM (Ringgit Malaysia) 6000 (Approx INR 1 Lakh) per session.

says.com

"At first, we refused chemotherapy and resorted to traditional treatment. However, our lives got more challenging in July when Azra found out she was pregnant. The doctor advised her to have an abortion and to start chemotherapy as it was dangerous for her and the baby", he told New Straits Times.

nst.com.my

Although her insurance covers RM 70,000 (approx INR 12 Lakh) it's not enough for the entire treatment that her doctor has suggested. After selling off his collection of bank notes and Coca Cola memorabilia, Victor is now working to sell of each and every piece of his Star Wars Lego collection in order to raise funds.

His love and sacrifice for his wife is truly inspiring.
Yesterday's Brussels airport saw two brothers blow themselves up, while another attacker was still at large. Now according to unconfirmed reports in the Belgian media, he may have been arrested.

reuters

The suicide bombers were named as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui and the third man is Najim Laachraoui.

Laachraoui's DNA had been found in houses used by the Paris attackers last year, prosecutors said on Monday, adding that he had traveled to Hungary in September with Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Captured on a security camera photograph at Brussels Airport on Tuesday morning beside the El Bakraoui brothers, Laachraoui did not detonate a bomb.

Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, had rented under a false name the flat in the Forest borough of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.

reuters

Belgian newspaper DH said the Bakraoui brothers may have fled the flat in Forest after last week's shootout. In the raid, investigators found an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later.

Both brothers have criminal records, but have not been linked by the police to Islamist militants until now, RTBF said. Brahim El Bakraoui, 30, was convicted in October 2010 for firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle at police and wounding an officer after a robbery in Brussels earlier that year. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

In 2011, his brother Khalid was given a sentence of five years for car jacking.
After the Brussels attacks yesterday, atheist activist and lawyer, Andrew L. Seidel took to Facebook to make his sentiments known.

To everyone who suggests that we pray for #Brussels, more religion is not the answer to this problem. And while those... Posted by Andrew L. Seidel on Tuesday, 22 March 2016

In his post, he called for people not to #PrayForBrussels but instead offer help in the form of donations to notable charities. Believing that religion is what motivates terror attacks, he feels praying will only make it worse.

Facebook/ Andrew L. Seidel

In his post he wrote:

"To everyone who suggests that we pray for #Brussels, more religion is not the answer to this problem. And while those prayers might make you feel good, that's all they are doing. Instead, try donating to a charity, like the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), that actually gets on the ground and helps people. Or donate to an anti-extremist charity the Maajid Nawaz's Quilliam Foundation and help fight what is likely the cause of these attacks. Pray if you must, but in addition to action, not as a substitute, and don't expect much from your prayers. Religion is not the solution, it's the problem.

#PrayForBrussels? Not so much."

As a member of The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organisation supporting free thinking and separation of state and church, Seidel received strong reactions to his post.

Some claimed he was the other end of the spectrum from the terrorists, and that prayers do help

Facebook

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Others felt he couldn't have said it better

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Whether we wish to take the moral high ground or actually physically take to the ground, Seidel believes that the hate mail he received after his post only goes to prove his point.
Effixzzy Boss/Producer Ani Amatosero posted this on instagram

A journalist called me this evening to get my view on the P-Square saga. He asked Ani what can you say about P-Squares problem? And I replied him as I speak to you now sir, I have more problem than P-Square. My phone is down, there is no light and mosquitoes want to finish me here. Fuel na 200 naira per liter that na if you even see am buy. If they like, let them change their surnameswait ohis it me that born them? Is it not person pikin dem be? Chaii English hard sha
The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, General Gabriel Olonisakin on Tuesday inaugurated the Defence Headquarters Independent Committee on Human Rights to look into allegations of gross human rights abuses by the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Inaugurating the Committee at the DHQ in Abuja, Olonisakin said it was necessary to dispel wrongly held opinions that the Armed Forces of Nigeria condones and encourages violation of human rights in their operations.

The CDS, however, said the Armed Forces was not unaware of some isolated cases of human rights violations, adding that such instances are promptly dealt with.

He said: you must have also noted our engagement with Amnesty International, National Human Rights Commission and Civil Society Organizations to put the record straight when the need arises.

The CDS pointed out that: it became necessary to task independent minded individual to examine the conduct of our operations.

According to Gen. Olonisakin, though most of the accusations emanate from the north east in ongoing counter terrorism operations, the focus of the committee should not be limited to north east alone.

He said the committee is required to collate and document written complaints and investigate all alleged human rights violations.

It is also to interface with human rights bodies, recommend sanctions where necessary and advise DHQ on modalities to curtail violations by troops.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Committee, retired Major General Abubakar Mustapha Gana, gave assurances that they will conduct unbiased investigations.
The crisis that threatened the smooth take off of the 8th National Assembly finally seems to be over following the rapprochement between some senators of the All Progressives Congress, who opposed the election of Bukola Saraki as Senate President and those in the latters camp.

The two camps, though members of the same party, on Tuesday shelved their differences and resolved to work together for the first time since the June 9, 2015 election that tore the ruling partys senate caucus apart.

The meeting between the group of senators opposed to Saraki, under the aegis of Unity Forum and the pro-Saraki group under the aegis of Like Minds, which took place at the Asokoro, Abuja residence of Senator Aliyu Wamakko, a former governor of Sokoto State, had in attendance 10 senators  five from each of the two camps.

Tuesdays meeting had in attendance Senators Ahmed Lawan, who was the preferred candidate of the APC leadership for Senate President; Gbenga Ashafa, Kabiru Marafa and Suleiman Hukunyi as part of the Unity Forums team.

One the other side, the Like Minds were represented by Danjuma Goje, Wammako, Sani Yerima, Kabiru Gaya and Adamu Aliero.

Speaking exclusively to PREMIUM TIMES at the end of the meeting which ended around 6.50 PM yesterday, Mr. Wammako said the parley was held to end the crisis that hit the APC caucus following Mr. Sarakis emergence as Senate president.

He said it was high time the senators belonging to the ruling party agreed to work together in the interest of Nigeria and to support President Muhammadu Buhari.

Effectively the meeting has brought an end to crisis in the Senate between APC Senators who now support the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Mr. Wamako said.

Another senator, a member of the Unity Forum, who attended the meeting but asked that his identity not be disclosed, said the meeting had three outcomes and that both sides agreed to have a united APC caucus.

According to the senator, the first outcome was a decision that the composition of Senate committees be reviewed to conform with the Standing Rules of the Senate.

He said an upward review of the number of the committees must follow due process as prescribed by Section 60 of the Senate Rules.

The second point, he said, was that committees should also be reconstituted to favour APC Senators.

He said it was finally agreed that the APC caucus henceforth be loyal to our party and be committed to its objectives.

The number three point is the supremacy of our party, loyalty to our leaders and support for President Muhammadu Buhari, he said.

He added that the the meeting was held in the interest our party and Nigeria.

Asked if the meeting was held to settle the discord that trailed Sarakis emergence as Senate president, the senator said, It is beyond Saraki, adding that there is no crisis between us again.

This man (Saraki) is in court and anything can happen.

So APC senators must come together and unite; otherwise, if anything happens to Saraki in the court PDP senators who are very united may take over the Senate.

And that would be a very great disservice to our party, the President and Nigerians who voted for change.

So, we are now uniting like PDP senators and are settling our differences, the senator said.
An Egyptian arrested at the age of 18 while on his way home from a peaceful protest was ordered to be released on bail after more than two years in prison. Mahmoud Mohamed Husseins release, ordered by an Edyptian court, was confirmed by his brother Tito on Twitter on Tuesday.

My brother has been released on bail, Tito Tarek tweeted, adding the bail was set at 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($113). The US-based Robert F Kennedy Human Rights group, which had acted on behalf of Hussein, also confirmed the release order, describing the moment as a huge victory.

[But] he is not yet physically free, Wade H McMullen Jr, managing attorney at the rights group, told Al Jazeera. The prosecution did not show up to [Tuesdays] hearing. So we will have to wait to see if the prosecution decides to appeal his release. He added there were serious concerns about the state of Husseins health.

While being held at the Tora Investigations Prison, Mahmoud lost a significant amount of weight and his health has seriously deteriorated, he said, before adding that doctors have recommended that Hussein, now 20, receives urgent medical care.
Ekiti Lawmaker, Afolabi Akanni, who has been in detention at the Department of State Services facilities since March 4, was released Tuesday evening.

According to Vanguard, Akanni has now been admitted at a private hospital in Abuja.

The lawmaker is being investigated by the DSS over an alleged forgery during the Peoples Democratic Partys House of Representatives primaries held in Ekiti North Federal Constituency II and an alleged assault on Justice John Adeyeye of the State High Court.

He told reporters that he was released after he collapsed twice in detention.

I am not well. I am sick. I am sick, he told Vanguard when reporters of the newspaper visited him at the hospital.
The Federal Government has assured vehicle manufacturers of patronage and support in governments next procurement process. However, the government has also tasked the producers to increase their local content to 100 percent to enable the industry create a large chain of supporting small and medium enterprises.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who received the management of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria(PAN) Limited in Abuja, yesterday, charged local automobile companies to invest more in research to constantly be in tune with modern realities and also survive intense competition in the larger market.

I know that in the 1980s and early 1990s, Peugeot was a car that most people used all over Nigeria. We are happy that the company was able to help us to develop technology by supporting so many other small and medium small industries that made supplies to it.

We want you to do more than you have done with local content. We believe that his can be much higher than what you attained in the 1990s. We want a situation where progressively, as we industrialize in the country with our iron and steel sector, functioning, and the petrochemicals also functioning, auto companies should be able to source all their components locally, because that is when the nation will benefit optimally from the establishment of their company in Nigeria, not just those who will be working in the factories, but we will have so many small and medium scale industries that will be supplying components to the companies, Onu said.

The capacities that would be built in the country would be enormous. We can as a country transfer those capacities to other sectors of our economy, Onu noted.

He pledged that his ministry would lead the campaign for made in Nigeria vehicles, and encouraged Nigerians to follow suit.

I will like to use this opportunity to call on Nigerians to think and look inwards. We must patronize locally made goods in our country, because that is the only way we can support the industries and encourage existing industries and make them strong. We need it. Other countries have done it, and we should do it. We have a very large market. Nigeria has the largest population, the largest economy and the largest market in Africa.

There is no reason why our automobile industry is not strong.He, however, charged the firms to avoid the mistakes of the past by investing heavily in research and development.

If you look at what happened in the past, it is very clear to us that if our automobile industry had done research and developmental work for a period of time, they would have strong enough to even when government opened up the industry to competition from abroad.

Managing Director of PAN, Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, announced that the company would commence manufacturing of completely knocked vehicles down this year.

He blamed the collapse of the industry in the past on stoppage of patronage by government even as he sought commitments from Federal and state governments to patronize locally made cars.

The collapse was not largely due to inadequate research and development. It was as a result of the reversal of government policies. Auto industries globally have developed as a result of very strong and active government policies. Even in developed worlds today, there are countries where you cannot just go and bring in a car today in. So, it is not a matter of lack of research or investment in research. When we were active in Nigeria and the policy was right, we were able to grow local content to 40%. If that policy remained consistent, we would have achieved up to 70-80% local components.

The petrochemical industry in Nigeria is working today. We are holding that the steel industry will work. Once the two components are working in Nigeria today, we can quickly grow the local content to 70-80%.

There is growing passion and interests from federal and state governments to patronize made in Nigeria vehicles. We are glad with that development and we will work very hard to justify that confidence, Boyi said.
The sum of N350 billion is to be released by the Federal Government into the economy in the coming months as part of initiatives to revive the ailing economy.

The chunk of the money, which is to be disbursed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, will go into the construction sector with a view to mobilizing contractors back to sites of abandoned projects, in the process, stimulating economic activities and creating jobs.

This was one of the decisions reached on Tuesday at the end of a two-day retreat on the economy held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, and organised by the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The retreat, which was declared opened on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari, had its theme as Nigerian States: Multiple Centres of Prosperity.

The NEC also established two committees to implement the decisions reached at the retreat. They are: Implementation and Steering Committee, chaired by Prof. Osinbajo with some governors across the six geopolitical zones as members while the second is the Implementation and Monitoring Committee, chaired by the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.

Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, briefed State House correspondents on the resolutions of NEC. He was accompanied by his Anambra State counterpart, Willie Obiano; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma and the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

According to Adeosun, the N350 billion to be released into the economy will be monitored for strict implementation with safeguards being put in place to ensure that the money is not misappropriated.

In anticipation of the approval of the (2016) Budget, we have virtually lined up about N350 billion which we would be pumping into the Nigerian economy in the forthcoming months.

We explained our rationale and the processes that we have put in place, and safeguards to ensure that this money actually achieves the desired objective which is to stimulate the economy.

We are already discussing with some of the contractors who will be paid these monies and the objective from the overall criteria is how many Nigerians would be re-engaged.

We are specifically looking at contractors who have laid off workers and how many Nigerians they are going to put back to work as a result of this money that we are planning to release and we believe that this would bring significant economic activity, she said.

The finance minister further explained that the retreat dealt extensively with the issues surrounding the drop in national revenue, which has adversely affected the states, especially in payment of staff salaries, even as they are implored to cut the costs of their operations.

Towards this end, she said state governors were encouraged where possible, to rationalise the numbers of commissioners and general political appointees and in addition, put in place cost control measures to be identified and implemented and there was a sharing of best practices from a number of states that could be applied elsewhere.

Mrs. Adeosun added that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has been directed to collaborate with its state counterparts to generate accurate data and boost internally-generated revenue.

While doing this, emphasis will be placed on diversifying revenue sources and revamping agriculture and allied services.

Other resolutions adopted by the NEC retreat was the establishment of national targets for self-sufficiency in various sectors. For instance, a one year target has been set for tomato paste while self-sufficiency in rice is set for 2018 and wheat (2019).

Each state of the federation is to identify at least two crops in which it has comparative advantage and open up feeder roads to optimise the production and transportation of agricultural produce.

Other areas to be focused on by all tiers of government include solid minerals exploitation and increased investment in infrastructure while exploring more the option of Public/Private Partnerships.

On social welfare, the retreat directed the federal and state governments to partner on more effective implementation of the schools feeding and teacher corps training/employment programmes.
Good Friday is observed the Friday before Easter. The Christian holiday, also known as Viernes Santo in Spanish, commemorates the passion, suffering, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. This year, the holiday falls on March 25th. Many Christians will spend the day fasting, praying, repenting and meditating on Jesus Passion story. Good Friday falls in the middle of Holy Week. Maundy Thursday marks the day of the Last Supper and Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some Nigerians may have questioned what Good Friday means and why it is a national holiday. So for the love of informing you, INFORMATION NIGERIA brings you 7 facts that would answer all your curiosity about the day

 There are several theories behind the name of the Christian holiday. According to the Baltimore Catechism, the word good may signify how Jesus death showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing.

 Another theory points to how the word good may refer to a day or season observed as holy by the church in context of the Passion story. The first reference to Good Friday comes from a text written around 1290 that refers to the day as guode friday.

 Good Friday is also one of the two days where Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast. Fasting is defined by eating only one full meal. Catholics also abstain from meat on Good Friday.

 In many parts of the world including Nigeria, Good Friday is a public/national holiday but only recently became one in Cuba  at least for 2012. In March, Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to the Caribbean nation and asked President Raul Castro to make the special day, April 6, a public holiday. Castro reportedly gave the Pope his answer before the pontiff left the country. It is the first time Good Friday has been recognized by the government since religious holidays were abolished in the 1960s. Christmas was reinstated after Pope John Paul IIs visit in 1998. It is unknown if Good Friday will remain a national holiday in Cuba after this year.

 Congregations around the world reenact the crucifixion on Good Friday. In the Philippines, where Catholic fervor blends with indigenous beliefs, some devotees are actually nailed to crosses each year. The Catholic Church has condemned that ritual, but less gruesome reenactments are held in many other countries.

 Good Friday is also known by several other names, such as Easter Friday, Great Friday (in the Russian Orthodox Church), and Holy Friday. Another name was even thought to stem from the German, Gottes Freitag or Gods Friday. Although it may seem odd that such a sad event would be granted a name like Good Friday, Christian adherents believe that Jesuss sacrifice for the eternal life of humanity is ultimately a positive message.

 Many religion scholars believe Jesus was crucified by nails driven into his wrists, not hands. French physician Pierre Barbet wrote a book called A Doctor at Calvary, in which he said humans are able to bear their own weight with the strength of their bones and ligaments within the wrists, but not with palms alone. Barbet posited that if Jesus was nailed only in his hands, he would have fallen to the ground. By the time of Jesuss death, crucifixion had already been practiced for some 600 years and was a detailed procedure designed to be a very painful process for the victim.

If you didnt know, now you do!!!
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, on Tuesday ordered the extension of the deadline for the ongoing revalidation of tinted permit, police character clearance and firearms licence from 18th March to 31st May 2016.

A statement Wednesday by police spokesperson, Olabisi Kolawole, said the extension has become imperative to enable members of the public seamlessly key into the electronic platform initiative of the Nigeria Police Force Central Information System (NCIS).

According to Kolawole, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Arase directed all State Commands Commissioners of Police to ensure that nobody is exploited and extorted on account of revalidating tinted permit, firearms licence, and Police character certificate.

The Force Public Relations Officer, who explained that the revalidation is free of charge, warned that those who are yet to complete their automated licence process are not subjected to unnecessary harassment and embarrassment by Policemen in their respective Commands.
The trial of the National Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh, which was scheduled for today, Wednesday, has again been rescheduled.

The registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, said today that the case will continue on Thursday.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had arraigned Mr. Metuh on a seven-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N400 million.

He was billed to open his defence Wednesday.

The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang had adjourned the opening of Mr. Metuhs defence last Thursday, following an application by the PDP spokesperson for the case to be transferred to another judge.

The application, filed by Mr. Metuhs lawyer, Emeka Etiaba, SAN, listed 16 reasons Justice Abang should not be allowed to hear the case.

But the judge vowed to continue hearing the case pending the decision of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta.

Also rescheduled to Thursday, was the case against former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd).

The ex-defence chief is standing trial on a 10-count charge ranging from misappropriation of N1.1 billion meant for the Nigerian Air Force while he was Chief of Air Staff.

The charges were also brought against against him by the EFCC.

Mr. Badeh has been remanded in Kuje prison despite being granted bail since March 10.

The court was supposed to hear an application filed by Badehs lead counsel, Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, urging the court to reduce the stringent conditions attached to the ex-CDSs bail.
Punch

Kuku, who was to be arraigned before Justice Mamman Kolo of the FCT High Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja was, however, absent in the court.

Vanguard

Kuku, who was to be arraigned before Justice Mamman Kolo of the FCT High Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja was, however, absent in the court.

The Sun

FEDERAL Government, yesterday, said it would stop at nothing to fish out the masterminds of the violence in the Rivers State bye-elections which claimed the life of corps member, Samuel Okonta.

Thisday

President Muhammadu Buhari last night held a meeting with the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu and the caucus members of the party.

Daily Times

After much delay, the 2016 Budget was finally laid on the floor of the two chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday ahead of its passage. At the Senate, the budget was laid but the chamber adjourned to today (Wednesday) after sitting for only 20 minutes. The adjournment was as a result of the death Musa Baba, a member of the House of Representatives from Nasarawa State, who died on March 17, 2016 aged 50.

Guardian

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun on Tuesday in Abuja, said that N345 billion was shared among the federal, states and local governments as revenue for February 2015.

Daily Trust

National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a panel to investigate the violence that resulted in the killing of Nigerians during the last Saturdays national and state assembly rerun elections in Rivers State.

National Mirror

Apparently frustrated by the failure of security agencies to arrest former Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday removed Tompolos name from the criminal suit it filed before a Federal High Court in Lagos for alleged N45.9bn fraud.

Leadership

After bouts of buckpassing on alleged errors in the 2016 budget estimates, the Senate is set to pass its version of the Appropriations Bill, before proceeding on its Easter recess.

The Nation

Troops have killed 58 Boko Haram fighters in the latest military operation in Borno State, spokesman of the Army Col. Sani Usman, said yesterday

Tribune
Two North Korean military units are fighting on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syria conflict. Asaad Al-Zoubi, the head of the Syrian oppositions High Negotiations Committee delegation, told Russian news agency TASS that North Koreans have committed troops to the civil war. According to Al-Zoubi, the two units are called Chalma-1 and Chalma-2.

The Syrian delegate provided the information as he attended Syria peace talks at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva. Al-Zoubi added there are fighters from Iran and Afghanistan fighting on behalf of Assad. Russias Sputnik International also confirmed the Syrian representatives statement on North Korean soldiers in the Middle East, and quoted Al-Zoubi as saying the North Korean troops are fatally dangerous during an explanation of the presence of foreign troops in the Syrian civil war.

The civil war has continued for five years, and the opposition and the Assad regime are at odds regarding the details of a peace negotiation. But Pyongyang maintains friendly ties with the dictatorship in Damascus, and Russia has supported Assads rule. North Koreas presence in the Middle East conflict is unprecedented, but the two countries have cultivated military ties for many years.

North Korea has been a staunch ally of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, opposed by the Islamic State, and Pyongyang helped Syria build a nuclear facility destroyed by an Israeli air raid in 2007. Last September Syria dedicated a park to former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.

UPI.
Although there is nothing fundamentally wrong in manipulating the media, especially when such is aimed to achieve a common good of the society. At least it is also done even in the advanced countries of the world, but such has always been to restore hope in government or humanity, to reduce fear or anxiety on the citizens and to effectively use the mass and new media to reorient the general public towards certain habits or imbibing a culture that can enhance humanity and create a serene atmosphere of order and tranquility for development and for governments policies and programs to thrive. In Nigeria, even though the government hasnt been able to use the mass and new media to effectively educate the populace about its programs and policies except during political campaigns and electioneering periods. Certain individuals and groups in the society who realizes the potency of the media has always formed the habit of manipulating it not only to distort facts and instill negative values and mentality in the general public but also to paint a false picture of certain individuals, groups or segments of the country.

The media hype generated by the story of an alleged abduction of a teenage girl, Ese Oruru, from Bayelsa state is one of many instances in which the media has allowed itself to be used to distort facts and give false impression about a certain religion and segment of this country. The facts that more than 70 percent of the Nigerian population reasons with their hearts rather instead their brains has also made them an easy prey to the antics and manipulation of certain people whose negative propaganda is further made easy considering the fact that majority of the so-called educated in this country are actually semi-literate.

It is unfortunate that the North and the Islamic religion has become the whipping child and a scapegoat as far as underage or teenage marriage is concerned in Nigerian today. The fact that incidences of child marriage or child bride is not limited to a particular zone of this country as was been recently painted by mischief makers is a fact that we must all embrace if the campaign against pedophilia, child marriage and all forms of child abuse is to record a meaningful and an appreciable level of success. Human rights advocates and activists would do this country a lot of good if they viewed the menace of underage marriage from the perspective of culture rather than that of religion as it is currently perceived. Underage marriage is an unfortunate cultural practice which is as old as human existence in Africa, long before the advent of religion. Therefore it is a cultural practice which has gained roots across the nooks and corners of Nigeria. Hence, it is would be myopic and unfair to adduce the prevalence of child marriage to a particular religion or part of the country.

The part of the Ese Oruru alleged abduction saga which Nigerians and off course the media has unfortunately turned deaf ears to, is the fact that the parents of the said teenage girl failed to play their roles as good parents and guardians to their daughter. Although proper parental care and moral upbringing is generally lacking in majority of the Nigerian homes, the fact that Eses parents are as guilty as charged is obvious in this case. The bible says; bring up a child in the way he should go and when he grows up he will not depart from it It is however out of place to sympathize instead of blaming these parents for not properly discharging their parental roles and even prosecuting them for child abuse and child labor, Nigerians with the help of a segment of the media deliberately turned deaf ears on this very crucial and fundamental aspects only to mischievously and unfortunately turned a story of two love birds into that of abduction and kidnapping of sort.

Some persons have alleged that the Emir of Kano and the Sultan of Sokoto has their hands in all of these. Allegation making the rounds is that the two most revered northern traditional and religious leaders had promised car gifts and houses to northern youths who marries and converts Christian girls from the Southern part of the country into Islam. The question is that comes to mind is, if Northern youths were actually promised cars and houses to marry and convert Christian girls into Islam, why arent the rest of the youths doing it considering the high level of poverty and youth unemployment in Nigeria today? Wouldnt it have being an opportunity for northern unemployed youths to make themselves richer by simply marrying and converting southern Christians if these promises were actually made to them by our revered traditional rulers? Indeed, this allegation was only a ploy by enemies of progress and mischief makers to further give the north and Islam a bad image and create unnecessary tension in this country. But what would anyone really gain by tarnishing the religions of others and painting a segment of the country as bad and evil? The time for all Nigerians to call a spade a spade in order to ensure harmony, national cohesion and peaceful coexistence is now. We must not give in to the antics of enemies of this country whose main motive is to destabilize and create chaos and disharmony in our nation.

Hussain Obaro[email protected]08065396694ilorin
The President of Living Faith Church worldwide aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has tasked the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on the need to be more sensitive to issues that affect ordinary Nigerians, saying things had not been working well.

The founder of one of the largest Pentecostal churches in the world also traced the present socio-economic challenges bedeviling the nation to systematic failure and called for an end to the blame game.

Oyedepo made these views known in his country home of Omu Aran, Kwara State, at the fifth founders day celebration of Landmark University, one of the two private Christian universities established by the clergyman.

According to him, Our problem is a systemic problem not political or leadership problem and we must find solution to it. Nigeria will not go down the drain, we will proffer solution to it.

The present administration should be more sensitive to issues that affect ordinary people, because things had not been working well.

Bishop Oyedepo expressed dismay that Where we are today is not where we should be. The effect of the forex has a lot to do with small scale industries and that is where the bulk of Nigeria employment is, adding Anybody can make mistakes but if people in the authority are not sensitive to the cry of the people, we would keep making more mistakes.

The Chancellor of Landmark University and Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, said it is his understanding that it is never late to be right, counselling those in positions of authority to make an informed review of any decision they made but later discovered not to be right.

What am saying is that things have not been working and we are all aware of it. There is no point pointing accusing finger. Each individuals in the country also have a lot to play to recover the dignity of our nation, Oyedepo said.

He, however, stressed that, The challenges have been with us for many years, it didnt just happen now. Government should be sensitive on issue that affect everybody.

We have been fighting over the issue of power for many decades now. Government should have its priority. They should itemise the fundamentals that can move Nigeria forward and commit to it.

He noted that We dont have to have the resources, if we have the platform for investors to come in because they are more in touch with the issues.

Look at the present fuel problem. It used to be black market but now we have black stations and they have the right to sell at any price because they are private marketers but the government still need to come out and take a decision on it.

Oyedepo also said, Solution should not be only thinking, we should go beyond thinking to reasoning, logical, rational and analytical reasoning by identifying the issues and proffer possible way out of the problem.

Nigeria problems is all about cost effective solution that will come out of sound reasoning. Remember the people in government are from us. So, we are all in government since they are not foreigners. So each one of us has a role to play. Private bodies should be allowed in all other areas of the country just like we have in the education sector.

He further said that Nigerians need to take responsibility of our challenges and find solutions to them because we have nowhere else to go. We should not sit down and cast blames.

We have to be committed in finding the solution and stop the blame game even though government has a major role to play, each one of us also has roles to play. People will not listen to a critique but a consult who are thinking value addition taught. We learn from other nations efforts in solving problems.
A Sydney girl, 16, will face court on terror financing charges which carry a maximum penalty of 25 years jail. She is accused of sending thousands of dollars to the so-called Islamic State group in Syria through a Western Union money transfer, reports say. The girl and a male accomplice, 20, who allegedly gave her the money were arrested in raids on Tuesday.

The pair allegedly met in a park on Tuesday to discuss a plan to send money to Syria that day, reports said. They had reportedly developed a sophisticated facilitation path of wiring funds and had competed successful transfers before. The man, named by media as Milad Atai, was also arrested during Australias biggest counter-terror raids in September 2014.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said the man was still under investigation over the death of police accountant Curtis Cheng, who was gunned down by 15-year-old Farhad Jabar. Police have reiterated concerns over extremists targeting young Australians. [It is] disturbing that we continue to deal with teenage children in this environment, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters on Tuesday.

BBC.
Tyga is in it again with yet another landlord. TMZ reports that the landlord of the space he rents for his clothing company, Egypt Last Kings Clothing, is furious after finding the place in a state of disrepair and has sued the 26-year a old rapper for being a nightmare tenant. Tyga is said to have caused $75000 worth of damage to the property.

Tyga  who is a fan of Egyptian history and design  reportedly painted the doors and ceilings black with Egyptian symbols and there were ink stains all over the floor. That landlord is seeking redress for damages to the property and five months of rent owed by the rapper.

Only last month, there were reports his landlord was seeking to evict him from the $4.8million home he rents currently. It is claimed the star pays $40K-a-month in rent on the six-bedroom property which comes with a rooftop jacuzzi, swimming pool with fountain, cinema and wine cellar.

Looks like Tyga has a thing for getting into trouble with landlords. Last august he was ordered to pay $70,000 to the owner of his former Calabasas property following a dispute over rent payments.

The judge ruled against the star after he failed to appear in court, although he had claimed that he was trying to buy the house.

Two months before, he was ordered to pay $80000 to the owner of a different Calabasas home on which he owed $124000 in rent.
The UN refugee agency pulled out staff on Tuesday from facilities on Lesbos and other Greek islands being used to detain refugees as an international deal with Turkey came under further strain. Greece began arresting everyone arriving in boats from Turkey after the agreement went into effect on Sunday. They are being held at European Union-supervised registration centres known as hotspots, in what Greek government officials describe as compulsory supervision.

Under the deal, detained refugees will be sent back to Turkey, which in return will receive additional EU financial aid and join an EU resettlement programme for Syrians and others fleeing war. The international medical humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also said it suspended its activities at the hotspot known as Moria on Lesbos island.

We made the extremely difficult decision to end our activities in Moria because continuing to work inside would make us complicit in a system we consider to be both unfair and inhumane, said Marie Elisabeth Ingres, MSF head of mission in Greece. We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalised for a mass expulsion operation, and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants.

The UN agencys spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in Geneva it is concerned that the EU-Turkey deal is being implemented before the required safeguards are in place in Greece. Greece does not have sufficient capacity on the islands for assessing asylum claims, nor the proper conditions to accommodate people decently and safely pending an examination of their cases, said Fleming.

Aljazeera.
A US air strike has killed dozens of fighters from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in a mountainous region of Yemen, the Pentagon says. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the target was an al-Qaeda training camp that was being used by more than 70 fighters. Tuesdays air strike was the most recent US attack on AQAP in Yemen.

Last year, the US military killed several of the militant groups leaders with drone strikes. Since late January 2015, AQAP has lost a number of high-profile figures in US drone strikes  including leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi, religious official Harith al-Nadhari, ideologue and spokesman Ibrahim al-Rubaish along with lower ranking figures.

Mr Cook said the attack demonstrates the US militarys commitment to defeating al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven. The Pentagon did not disclose the location of the camp. However, Yemeni security officials told the Associated Press that the air strike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al-Qaida militants in the southwest part of the county near AQAPs stronghold city of Mukalla.

BBC.
The leaders of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East have reaffirmed that the target of 10,000 megawatts of electricity set by President Muhammadu Buhari is feasible.

The president had while declaring open the National Economic Council retreat in the State House, Abuja on Monday, said that his administration had set a target of 10,000 megawatts of electricity over the next three years.

The APC spokesman in the region, Osita Okechukwu, while reacting to the presidents remarks, lauded Mr. Buharis commitment to improve Nigerias power supply situation, which has defied previous administrations.

Mr. Okechukwu told State House correspondents yesterday at the end of the NEC retreat: We appreciate Mr.

Presidents total commitment to put full stop to the butt of jokes and laughing stock Nigerians make over incessant power cuts, high electricity bills, obsolete power equipment and failure of the electricity privatization exercise.

It is our candid view that the target is achievable. For instance, given federal, state and local support and baring bureaucratic bottleneck, our study shows that the South East zone alone can generate 3,000 Mega Watts within the stipulated timeline set by Mr. President.

In sum, we maintain that the 10,000MW of electricity target is achievable, not only because of the political will of President Buhari, but because of the abundance of natural resources, Okechukwu said in a statement.
With ransomware attacks on the rise, most of the focus is on the importance of a robust backup strategy and whether or not to pay the ransom. But this is also a good time to double down on the security basics since having a proper patch management strategy can make a difference.

Over the past few months, several popular exploit kits have incorporated ransomware into their attacks. These kits rely heavily on vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight to deliver ransomware such as Cryptowall, AlphaCrypt, and TeslaCrypt, according to a recent Recorded Future analysis. The researchers found that three recently patched flaws in Flash and one in Silverlight are key in-roads for Angler, Neutrino, and Nuclear exploit kits to infect victims with ransomware.

Patching recent vulnerabilities can significantly blunt the impact of ransomware delivered by exploit kits, wrote Recorded Future's Scott Donnelly.

Recorded Future found that Angler began targeting a remote code execution flaw in Silverlight (CVE-2016-0034) to drop TeslaCrypt on user systems back in February. Microsoft patched the critical Silverlight vulnerability as part of its January security release, and at the time noted it was under limited attack. It took only a few weeks for the flaw to be added to Angler and used in broader attacks.

Adobe patched both Flash Players heap buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2015-8446) and integer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2015-8951) back in December, and the type confusion vulnerability (CVE-2015-7645) in October. The integer overflow and type confusion bugs were under limited, targeted attacks, Adobe said at the time. The Flash flaw updated in October has been linked to the Pawn Storm cyber espionage campaign targeting foreign affairs ministries.

Angler, Neutrino, Magnitude, RIG, and Nuclear exploit kits have incorporated at least one of the above-named Flash vulnerabilities. So far, Angler appears to be the only one targeting all three, Recorded Future said.

Several municipal medical and police computer systems have been targeted by ransomware in North America and Europe over the past few months. Poor patching and overwhelmingly disappointing security hygiene put local public safety and government computer systems at risk, Donnelly said.

Dont let the bad guys in

Exploit kits rely on outdated and vulnerable versions of software to launch drive-by-download attacks. Victims dont need to click on anything to download the malware -- the exploit kit on the website probes the system to identify vulnerable software and launches the appropriate exploit.

These attacks succeed because there is a lag time between when security updates are released and when the updates are applied. The kits dont need to resort to zero-days because the window of opportunity is sufficiently wide and the number of victims large enough. Some of the more advanced exploit kits, such as Angler, are very prompt about incorporating exploits and frequently have new exploits within weeks, if not days, of a vulnerability being publicized.

Angler has also been behind several recent malvertising ransomware campaigns, where malicious ads displayed on legitimate sites (such as MSN and multiple media outlets) redirect users to sites serving up exploit kits. Keeping the operating system up to date and staying on top of patches for popular software such as Web browsers, Flash Player, Silverlight, and Java prevents exploit kits from executing drive-by download attacks or malvertising campaigns from succeeding.

There are several good business reasons for delays in applying patches. Downtime can be a problem, and each patch has to be tested to make sure it is compatible with other installed applications. All of this is time-consuming, and IT teams have to prioritize which ones to deploy first.

Patching vulnerabilities has real business impact because patching may cause downtime and incompatibility. Prioritizing patches is therefore essential to a successful patch management program, Donnelly said.

Patches to prioritize

Recorded Future recommended patching the three Flash vulnerabilities as well as Silverlight right away, along with eight other Flash flaws heavily used by exploit kits in 2015. Though it was patched in February 2015, the use-after-free vulnerability in Flash (CVE-2015-0313) was the most frequently used flaw by exploit kits in 2015. The third- and fifth-most-used Flash flaws were immediately added to exploit kits after the attack against Hacking Team and the resulting leak of Flash zero-days (CVE-2015-5119, CVE-2015-5122). Ensuring Flash player is up to date ensures exploit kits cant exploit the remaining flaws (CVE-2015-0359, CVE-2015-3113, CVE-2015-0311, CVE-2015-3090, CVE-2015-0336) to deliver their payloads.

Uninstalling rarely used software is a good idea, as it reduces the attack surface. But for many enterprises that still rely on popular software such as Flash, Java, and Silverlight, that isnt an option. They need to update frequently to stay ahead of the exploit kits.

Ransomware utilizes many different attack vectors, including spam messages with malicious attachments, phishing emails with suspicious links, and websites offering booby-trapped files for download. Exploit kits happen to be only one method. Stay on top of patches, and reduce the danger of a ransomware infection. Thats one fewer scenario where the enterprise has to deal with an extortion demand.
Developers who rely on NPM, the JavaScript package registry created by the Node.js ecosystem, experienced a shock earlier this week when a small package removed from NPM unexpectedly caused many others to stop working.

The episode underscored the fact that dependencies between NPM modules remain an unsolved problem -- and legal pressure on software developers can have repercussions far beyond the obvious.

How the chain broke

Developer Azer Koculu, with dozens of modules registered in his name on NPM, stated he had been advised to rename his module named " kik " after receiving a note from a lawyer at the company that makes the Kik mobile messenger product. (The makers of Kik have since published their discussion of events.)

Disgusted with the way the owners of NPM appeared favor Kik and no longer wanting to share his work there, Koculu removed -- "unpublished" -- all of his modules from NPM.

"[I] apologize ... if your stuff just got broken due to this," he wrote. Koculu suggested that those who relied on dependencies with one of his modules point instead to a version now hosted on GitHub.

Unfortunately, many people weren't able to take that advice immediately. One of the missing modules, left-pad , with a mere 17 lines of code, was required by numerous major JavaScript projects, such as Babel. Without left-pad , those projects no longer installed from NPM.

The left-pad module on NPM was eventually "un-unpublished" and assigned to a new owner (developer Cameron Westlake). Dependent projects once again became installable. But the damage had been done, and for many NPM users the episode served as a reminder that NPM has fragilities that need addressing.

The damage(s) done

Two big issues have reared their heads in the wake of these events. First, copyright and trademark challenges in the software world can do immediate and widespread damage.

Few provisions exist for dealing with a package that suddenly goes missing from a public software repository. It's typically left to whoever installs the software to deal with extraordinary circumstances -- such as when a repository is taken offline by a spurious DMCA request.

This leads directly into the second issue: Package handling on NPM is fraught with long-standing limitations. Developer Resi Respati noted several limitations in his analysis of the left-pad case, chief among them the way the NPM namespace is global -- all packages share the same namespace and are registered on a first-come first-served fashion. (GitHub, by contrast, employs a username/project namespacing system.)

Unpublishing a package in NPM frees up its name for someone else to use, meaning there's no guard against another package of the same name sneaking in and doing something untoward. A discussion is currently under way, to add signing and certification to Node.js package handling, but has yet to produce a working solution.

Picking up the pieces

At least one project exists as an alternate way to perform package management for Node. The ied project proposes several changes intended to solve some of the issues described above. Packages are identified by their SHA-1 checksums, not merely by a package name, which guarantees that packages are unique and can't be confused with (or arbitrarily substituted for) each other. Semantic versioning is also supported, so a specific version of a package can be fetched.

Unfortunately, it isn't likely these improvements will find their way to a larger audience -- not so long as most Node.js and JavaScript developers continue to depend on NPM as their default.

The design of the early Internet assumed that trust exists between all parties, an assumption that was fine for a closed-ended, academic environment. But as the Internet went public, that assumption has turned into a time bomb, as criminal attackers learned to leverage obsolete protocols or exploit limitations in existing ones.

In the same way, many of the unquestioned assumptions about how NPM works -- and, more generally, how public software repositories work -- may have their biggest tests ahead of them.

[Edited to add Kik's note on Medium about the incident and to clarify the tone of the communication.]
Triple Digit Hog Rally Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT Lean hogs extended their rally into the weekend with another $0.20 to $2.10 gains in the front months. December was up the most on Friday, but is still a $1.40 discount to Feb. Through the week, December... HEZ22 : 89.125s (+2.41%) HEJ23 : 93.850s (+0.78%) KMZ22 : 98.000s (+1.16%)

Cotton Limits the Weeks Pullback with Friday Strength Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT Cotton futures traded in a wide 413 point range from +253 to -160 (Dec). At the close the front months were 32 to 173 points in the black. December closed the week at a net 402 point loss, having spent... CTZ22 : 79.13s (+2.24%) CTH23 : 78.55s (+1.67%) CTK23 : 78.15s (+1.44%)

Wheats Closed Mixed on Friday Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT CBT SRW futures ended the last trade day of the week with 1 to 1 1/2 cent gains. For the December contract that meant a net 9 cent loss for the week. KC futures pulled back by 1/2 a cent to 2 cents on... ZWZ22 : 850-6s (+0.18%) ZWH23 : 869-4s (+0.17%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.8533 (+0.24%) KEZ22 : 948-2s (-0.16%) KEPAWS.CM : 9.0581 (-0.16%) MWZ22 : 961-4s (-0.10%)

Nov Beans Held under $14 Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT The Friday session ended with soybean futures 3 1/4 to 4 cents higher with November options having expired. Nov soybeans spent the week in a 41 1/2 cent trading range and ended 11 3/4 cents higher from... ZSX22 : 1395-4s (+0.29%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.5026 (+0.29%) ZSF23 : 1404-4s (+0.32%) ZSH23 : 1411-6s (+0.28%)

New Contract High for Dec Cattle Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT Cattle added another 62 to 75 cents to the upside on Friday, with December printing a new life of contract high of $152.50. Dec gained a net $4.65 for the week. The weeks cash trade picked up on Thursday... LEV22 : 150.475s (+0.47%) LEZ22 : 152.425s (+0.49%) LEG23 : 155.525s (+0.44%) GFV22 : 175.275s (-0.17%) GFX22 : 178.350s (+0.45%)
The past decade has seen fierce battles between teachers unions and leading education funders. Lately, though, there are signs that this polarization may be giving way to a more constructive era.

At Inside Philanthropy, weve mused about a ceasefire in the ed wars. Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, describes whats happening as a possible reset in K-12 philanthropy.

Weingarten, who leads a union with 1.6 million members, has long been a familiar and outspoken figure in education debates. Shes often used scorching language to describe certain ed funders like the Broad and Walton foundationsand still does, saying they are out to decimate public education. Yet Weingarten also sees an important role for philanthropy in improving schools and has worked closely with a number of foundations over the years, most notably Gates, which funded AFT projects to the tune of millions of dollars until 2014.

Do you mind if Im really blunt with you? Weingarten asked, when I called to get her take on the state of K-12 philanthropy. I smiled because, in fact, its hard to imagine Randi Weingarten being anything other than blunt. Her hard-hitting style has made her a reviled figure among some ed reformers, who view her as embodying an obstructionist, self-interested unionismand a hero in other quarters, including among many teachers who see their profession as under attack by a plutocratic cabal.

In other words, Weingarten herself has a been key figure in the recent polarized period. Which is why its notable that shes hopeful that this era may now give way to something else. Specifically, Weingarten sees more funders looking to find collaborative ways to improve education that engage teachers, parents, and communitiesafter a long period that focused on top-down strategies that pushed school choice and test-based accountability, leading to epic clashes between unions and ed reformers.

Weingarten says shes had three life cycles with philanthropy since becoming a top union leader, first as president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York starting in 1998 and then as head of AFT since 2009.

During her early years at UFT, Weingarten worked closely with foundations on different education efforts. There was lots of engagement. But such collaboration became much rarer after new reform funders like Walton and Broad emerged on the scene, as well as various hedge fund philanthropists, and teachers unions were cast as devil incarnate. In Weingartens view, the ed reform crew tried to strip teachers of any agency, of any voice, of any seat at the table.

Yet even through the worst of a period marked by the rise of Michelle Rhee and Waiting for Superman, the AFT still had a relationship with the Gates Foundation, which gave the foundation over $10 million in grants for work on teacher development, before the union stopped taking such funding in 2014, because of distrust among its members toward the foundation.

Today, Weingarten sees a third cycle in AFTs relationship with philanthropy emerging, pointing to some real conversations about how to actually get the voices of teachers involved. And I welcome it. Even if you disagree on certain things, if you believe in children, youll find a lot of common ground.

Weingarten and I talked about the direction that Mark Zuckerberg and Laurene Powell Jobs are taking in their philanthropy, with both billionaires embracing a less polarized approach to improving schools. (Zuckerbergs defection from the hardline reform cabal after Newark has been particularly notable.)

Related: Can a New Focus on Learning by Funders Move K-12 Past the Ed Wars?

Weingarten is especially hopeful about whats happening at the Gates Foundation, which she sees as shifting away from a top-down managerial approach. The foundation came to see that what they did didnt work and it created huge polarization, she says.

Last year, in an interview with Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, Bill Gates himself expressed disappointment with the impact of his foundations huge investments in K-12. Theres no dramatic change, he said.

Weingarten cites the recent appointment of Bob Hughes as the head of K-12 at the Gates Foundation as a major sign that a new day may be dawning there. As Inside Philanthropy recently described, Hughes is known for his collaborative style and ability to bring together lots of different stakeholders in efforts to improve education.

Related: A Few Things to Know About the New K-12 Education Chief at Gates

Hughes is coming to Gates from his long-time post as head of New Visions for Public Schools in New York City, where Weingarten got to know him well as head of UFT. Bob Hughes and I worked together for years and years and years on New Visions. Weingarten says that Hughes has always had real respect for the voices of teachers, and she see his selection by Gates as an acknowledgement that you have to work with people constructively to change schools...They have picked someone who understands the change process.

Hughes takes his position at Gates on June 1, so well have to wait and see how much change is really coming to the foundations K-12 funding.

While Weingartens analysis of whats happening at Gates, and in ed philanthropy broadly, tracks with what were seeing in our reporting at IP, theres a strong told-you-so theme in her comments that perhaps will turn out to be premature.

Certainly theres been no about-face at Walton and Broad, which are both doubling down on charter schools. As weve reported, Walton recently pledged to spend $1 billion over the next five years to expand charters, while Broad is leading an ambitious, half billion dollar effort in Los Angeles to move 50 percent of that citys kids into charters.

Related:

Weingarten remains as critical as ever of these funders. Broad and Walton are still fighting the fight, she says. And their strategy is to destabilize and decimate public schools. More specifically, Weingarten says that because these reform funders lost this push to regulate teachers and schools by test schools, they are now pushing a strategy to supplant public schools with charters.

Strong words, as usual, from the AFTs Randi Weingarten. Clearly, the ed wars aren't over quite yet.
UC Davis Health System recently received a total of $38.5 million in gifts and pledges to support the UC Davis Eye Center and the Center for Vision Science. The funds come from nonagenarian Ernest Tschannen, an engineer turned real estate investor who still walks six miles every day. The pledge includes an outright gift of $18.5 million to the UC Davis Eye Center, which will be renamed the Ernest E. Tschannen Eye Center. The remaining money will support research on the optic nerve and glaucoma.

There are at least two noteworthy parts to this story.

The first is the common theme of gratitude we talk about often at IP, particularly when it comes to health-related philanthropy. In 2000, Tschannen noticed that his eyesight was failing him. He was referred to the UC Davis Eye Center where he underwent eye surgery to improve his vision and manage his glaucoma, a disease that damages the eye's optic nerve and can result in vision loss and blindness when untreated.

These positive experiences at the Eye Center led to big philanthropic gifts for UC Davis. Tschannen gave $25 million and then an additional $1.5 million to advance research on the optic nerve and to help find a cure for glaucoma and other eye diseases. The funds helped in recruiting and hiring researchers as well.

How's many millions for gratitude? Nice, right?

Another part of this story involves Tschannen's strong ties to Sacramento. Born in 1925, Tschannen grew up in a small town in Switzerland. One of his early jobs was delivering bread after high school and guarding the Swiss border during World War II. Tschannen immigrated to Canada and then the Midwestern U.S. to pursue a career in engineering. Tschannen actually ended up making a killing in another industry, though real estate investment and his net worth was once estimated at $75 million.

Tschannen eventually moved to the Sacramento area, and developed strong associations in the region. Besides big support of UC Davis, he's made significant contributions to American River Parkway Foundation, Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway and other Sacramento-based organizations. The outdoors and civic space seem to be other pet causes for Tschannen, which again goes back to how critical receiving good treatment for his sight was and is.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson recently dedicated Feb. 16 as Ernest E. Tschannen Day in honor of the philanthropist's 91st birthday. Johnson said that "throughout the course of his life, he has committed a majority of his earnings to make Sacramento a city where all citizens basic needs are met."

Finally, I should mention that Tschannen has no kids and has never married. We often talk about donors who start thinking about what kind of legacy they want to leave, and this is likely at work here, too. In Tschannen's words, I have realized great success in the United States, and so my primary goal in life now is to give back to the country that gave so much to me."
@LAPS4MD Oshawa, Ontario Canada  March 22, 2016  The motorsport-focused charity effort Laps for Muscular Dystrophy (Laps 4 MD) is excited to announce the addition of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) in the USA to their list of charities they will be supporting in 2016. This marks a great opportunity for American racers, teams and their fans to join in support of Laps 4 MD at race tracks and special events across North America.

With growing support for Laps 4 MD across Canada and now the USA, supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association gives US racers the opportunity to make a difference in communities across America. Supporters of Laps 4 MD in the USA donate $1 for every lap they lead benefiting the MDA. The MDA is fighting every day to free individuals  and the families who love them  from the harmful effects of muscle-debilitating diseases so they can live longer and grow stronger.

In 2015 Laps 4 MD entered the US racing scene with Canadas Best Racing Team who currently competes in the Trans Am Road Racing Series. In 2016 Laps 4 MD added Loashak/Stark Racing who also competes in the Trans Am Series to their list of supporter based in the USA. Laps 4 MD is also supported in the USA by Ron Keith, Brain Kleeman, Kevin Parlett, Jessica Bacon, along with Justin Laxton, Grant Brown, Dallas Rice, Evan Posocco and Rakoske Family Motorsports.

Laps 4 MD has many supporters racing across North America to help improve the lives of those affected by Muscular Dystrophy. Launching into the US by supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association is a huge step in growing support of the efforts of Laps 4 MD in 2016. This will enable Laps 4 MD to have achieve its goal to have a positive impact on the lives of those living with Muscular Dystrophy across Canada & now the USA.

To keep up-to-date on Laps 4 MD throughout the year visit; www.laps4md.blogpsot.com,www.facebook.com/Laps4MD, and on www.twitter.com.Laps4MD and www.instagram.com/Laps4MD

For more info on the Muscular Dystrophy Association visit: www.mda.org

To join in support of Laps 4 MD in Canada or the USA visit: http://laps4md.blogspot.ca/p/contact_22.html
When rising political star Li Keqiang talked privately with Clark Randt, former U.S. ambassador to China, back in 2007, the future Chinese premier reportedly admitted that he didnt regard gross domestic product as an accurate gauge of his countrys economic growth. Electricity use and rail freight were better indicators, said Li, then Communist Party boss for northeastern Liaoning province.

The premier, who has criticized the way that China gathers and interprets economic data, suggesting that local officials might be fudging the numbers, recently named aide and confidante Ning Jizhe head of the National Bureau of Statistics. This move comes as Chinas growth story faces mounting international skepticism: GDP expanded by 6.9 percent in 2015, the slowest rise in three decades, but some Wall Street investors believe the real rate is even lower.

Nings mission: Sharpen statistical methods and mitigate interference in data collection across Chinas 34 provinces, special administrative regions and self-administered municipalities. Previously deputy chief of Chinas National Development and Reform Commission, he spent many years as a senior researcher at the State Council Research Office and served as adviser to Li from 2013 to 2015. Nings predecessor at the statistics bureau, Wang Baoan, was arrested after only ten months on the job for alleged corruption during his former role as a Finance vice minister.

Ning, 60, has a doctorate in economics from the prestigious Renmin University of China and is one of the few senior economists to hold the post, which in the past went to political appointees from the Ministry of Finance and the Peoples Bank of China. At the State Council Research Office, he helped Premier Li to double-check statistics, sending teams to the provinces to ensure that the bureau was doing its job properly, according to sources who are familiar with him.

His appointment shows how serious Li is about improving data collection, says Shen Jianguang, Mizuho Securities Asias Hong Kongbased chief economist for the region.

In a recent report Shen explained that the growth statistics for various Chinese industrial sectors add up to less than the governments GDP total. He also noted variance and inconsistencies in the numbers and the possibility that industrial value-added data was inflated. However, Shen refused to comment on the level of inaccuracy, saying only that there are some data issues as in other countries.

Investors have long questioned the reliability of Chinese GDP statistics, but some observers think the country is understating its economic expansion.

Chinas data-gathering process mostly meets global standards, and charges of fabrication are misinformed, according to a 2015 study by New Yorkbased research firm Rhodium Group. The survey, commissioned by Washington-headquartered think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reported that Chinas economy is larger than official figures show, with the service and real estate sectors underrepresented.

Theres anecdotal evidence that Beijings GDP math falls short by a long shot. An attorney with a major Chinese law firm based in Shanghai says he and his colleagues spend most of their time helping Chinese corporate clients to set up offshore accounts to escape taxes, which can be as high as 50 percent for individuals and 25 percent for companies.

Tax mitigation is a core part of the corporate law practice of many Chinese law firms, the attorney adds. Although theres no official tally, some analysts believe that up to 30 percent of Chinese commercial activities are unaccounted for due to tax avoidance.

Mizuhos Shen says Ning will push for changes that make Chinese GDP statistics more precise: I think he will make a difference. Just dont count on Chinas underground economy to show up in the numbers.
Pension funds and faith-based groups can take on the likes of ExxonMobil on carbon risk, but the task is difficult without management support.

For Vermont state treasurer Beth Pearce, the shareholder vote on greenhouse gas emissions at Exxon Mobil Corp. last May was pretty disappointing. After resounding victories on climate-related shareholder resolutions at three of Exxons European rivals, support from the broader investor community failed to materialize when votes were tallied at the companys annual meeting in Dallas.

Pearce and others who regularly file shareholder proposals on climate dont give up easily, however. Were hopeful well get better results this time around, she says. Its an important issue, and were going to continue to make our case.

Pearce has reason to believe things will be different this year. Theres the momentum from the Paris Climate Agreement. Exxon seems particularly vulnerable on the subject: New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman  and now possibly the Federal Bureau of Investigation  is looking into whether the company lied to investors and the public about causes of climate change. Moreover, the Exxon resolution Vermont signed onto this year is the same as proposals that garnered nearly 100 percent shareholder approval at Londons BP, the Hague, Netherlandsbased Royal Dutch Shell and Stavanger, Norwaybased Statoil last proxy season.

The proposal, filed by the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Church of England, asks the company to annually assess and disclose how falling demand for fossil fuels, the result of global efforts to keep the planets warming trend under 2 degrees Celsius, could potentially affect its business.

So, if essentially the entire shareholder voting base at three European oil companies could be persuaded to support the proposal, shouldnt one expect a strong showing at Exxon? And isnt this question especially noteworthy, considering that many financial institutions and mutual funds have holdings in oil companies on both sides of the Atlantic?

Dont bet on it. The reason: The proposals at the European companies had the support of management, and the boards at BP, Shell and Statoil urged shareholders to vote for them. Exxon shows no signs of such support. In fact, in a proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm asked the regulatory agency not to take punitive action should Exxon omit such a resolution from the ballot. (A spokesman for Exxon declined to offer comment beyond that contained in the companys public correspondence on the proposal with the SEC.) On March 23, the SEC rejected Exxon's request, allowing for the inclusion of the proposal on the ballot. Shareholders will now vote, however, many will follow management's lead and vote no.

[Management support] makes a big difference for a lot of investors, including ourselves, says Michelle Edkins, who leads the global corporate governance team at BlackRock in New York, the worlds largest asset management firm and one of the top ten institutional holders of both Exxon and Chevron Corp. We would only vote for a shareholder proposal on an issue like climate risk disclosure if we thought that management was not doing an adequate job of addressing the risk underlying the disclosure request and we consider it to have the potential of near-term material financial impact on the company.

A representative from Malvern, Pennsylvaniabased Vanguard Group said in an e-mail that its mutual funds, which hold top positions in BP, Shell, Exxon and Chevron, wouldnt necessarily vote the same way for the same proposal at different companies. She stresses that they dont always vote with management, and each case is analyzed individually. In general, though, the company considers corporate and social policy issues ordinary business matters, according to its web site. And the funds will typically abstain from voting on these proposals, unless they have a significant, tangible impact on the value of a funds investment and management is not responsive to the matter.

Instead, these firms prefer the direct-engagement approach. To really push for change at companies where they have a relatively long history of not paying heed to shareholder proposals, you need direct engagement, Edkins says. While a companys successful, sometimes it can be very hard to register some of these messages with management.

Investors have been urging Exxon to confront the threat of climate change in one way or another for decades, but the company has regularly rejected shareholders requests and dismissed their concerns. According to a story by the nonprofit InsideClimate News, Exxon appears to have actively campaigned against last years proposal to set companywide goals to lower greenhouse gas emissions brought by Montclair, New Jerseybased Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment, which represents 40 Catholic groups that have pension funds with significant holdings in Exxon. In the end, the resolution garnered less than 10 percent of the vote at Exxon.

This year shareholders have filed more than 60 climate-motivated resolutions with U.S. oil and gas companies, according to Bostonbased nonprofit sustainability advocacy group Ceres. And carbon asset risk proposals continue to move the bar at certain companies. The board at Calgarys Suncor Energy is recommending shareholders vote for a resolution similar to that presented to Exxons.

I have been hearing from investors that enough has changed this year  whether its the sustained low price of oil, or the success of the Paris negotiations, or the New York attorney general investigation, which I think really woke people up  that climate change has become a much more high-profile financial issue, says Andrew Logan, the director of the oil and gas and insurance programs at Ceres. It will be an interesting test come spring as to whether concern has shifted enough for investors to change their behavior.
Lloyds of London announced pre-tax profits were down 30% compared with last year as reduced margins in underwriting and lower investment yield hit the business.Pre-tax profit hit $3.9 billion (2.1bn), compared with $5.6 billion (3.0bn) in 2014 but gross written premium increased 6% to $50 billion (26.7bn) compared with $47.4 billion (25.3bn) last year.In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Lloyds CEO Inga Beale , explained the two reasons for the hit.Weve taken a double hit from reduced margins in underwriting and lower investment yield, Beale said. On the investment side we saw a dramatic reduction in 2015 that was a massive hit to earnings.Higher claims saw the combined ratio rise to 90%, from 88.4% last year, as the explosion at the Chinese port of Tianjin and claims in the energy sector hit the business.Lloyds chairman, John Nelson, said that the market last year was one of the toughest for many years and in that climate the results remain sound.Each year brings a unique set of challenges, requiring determination, innovative thinking and solutions, Nelson said.This year has been no different.In a market undeniably tougher than seen for many years, we have had to demonstrate our ability to adapt and take action. In these conditions, these results are creditable and a tribute to the continued skill and professionalism of the Lloyds market underwriting community.Beale continued that the Lloyds market is needed now more than ever as a diverse range of risks continue to have their presence felt the world over.Lloyds is pursuing its strategy to deliver risk solutions to a fast moving world. Business looks to the Lloyds market to underwrite policies too complex for others to handle. Protection from cyber-attacks, terrorism and climate change are needed now more than ever.
Cyclists given access to insurance products and services and other benefits
Some family members of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims in Connecticut are cheering the recent committee passage of a bipartisan, federal mental health bill thats moving through Congress.

Much of the legislation, known as the Mental Health Reform Act, updates grants for various mental health-related initiatives. That includes grants for early childhood mental health intervention and treatment programs, telehealth child psychiatry efforts and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and initiatives.

The Senate Health Education Labor and Pension Committee advanced the bill last week. The panel does not have jurisdiction over funding the bill.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, one of the bills co-sponsors, said he hopes money will be found for the legislation, based partly on input from Connecticut patients and advocates.

Murphy appeared in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 18 with the Newtown families.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Connecticut
Northwest Bank, based in Warren, Pennsylvania, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement, effective April 1, to acquire Best Insurance Agency Inc., an employee benefits and property/casualty insurance agency in Butler, Pennsylvania. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Best Insurance Agency currently has 11 full-time employees, 10 of whom will join Northwest Bank. Rick McClean, the agencys corporate treasurer, will be retiring after 43 years of service. Best Insurance Agency principals Don Best, Carol Best McClean, Mike Reese and Ray Rosenbauer will continue to operate from their current Butler location as representatives of Northwest Bank.

In its 100th year, Best Insurance Agency has provided personal and commercial insurance to individuals, families and businesses in Butler and the surrounding area.

The acquisition would further enhance Northwest Banks insurance brokerage business which provides personal and commercial lines including property/casualty, life and employee benefits. Northwest Bank launched its insurance brokerage division in 2010. In 2015, the division had $7.9 million in revenues.

Northwest Bank, which is owned by Northwest Bancshares Inc., operates 181 community banking offices in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Maryland. Founded in 1896, Northwest Bank is a financial institution offering personal and business banking products including commercial and small business loans, cash management services, oil, gas and mineral management services, employee benefits, investment management, insurance and trust. Northwest has $8.95 billion in assets and 2,186 employees.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Pennsylvania
Ship insurers have stepped in to help plug a shortfall in cover for transporting Iranian oil resulting from the fact that U.S. reinsurers are still restrained by Washingtons sanctions, according to officials involved in the initiative.

International oil and shipping companies have been eager to boost business with Iran since international sanctions related to its nuclear program were lifted in January, but securing proper insurance cover has been among the stumbling blocks in recent weeks.

The insurers move will benefit Iran as it seeks to further ramp up production and exports. An Iranian official said on Tuesday that exports had risen by 900,000 barrels per day to 2.2 million bpd in the past two months.

That creates a need for cover that U.S.-domiciled reinsurers cannot fill as they remain barred from trading with Iran under separate U.S. financial sanctions that remain in place.

The gap in third-party liability insurance and pollution cover for vessels has been addressed through this weeks initiative by the International Group of Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs, which brings together leading marine insurers owned by shipping clients and reinsured internationally.

The International Group has created a fall-back of $500 million additional coverage per ship for Iranian oil at no extra cost to the members, the Japan P&I Club said on Tuesday. This raises the default insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil to $580 million per ship from $80 million.

Mike Salthouse, deputy global director with the North of England P&I Association, told Reuters: We have produced a sticking plaster to tide us over.

Nonetheless, the wider financing problems faced by Iran  as international banks still remain wary of dealing with it  are still expected to have an impact.

For even a routine claim, I expect it to be quite difficult to process the payment for Iran, Salthouse said.

Because sanctions are enforced so robustly, everyone is acutely aware of their obligations and there is a huge amount of caution in dealing with anything Iranian.

Although $580 million coverage is still less than 10 percent of the normal liability coverage of $7.8 billion per ship, Asian shippers such as China, India and South Korea, and some shippers in Europe, may find that enough to transport Iranian oil, an official with Japan P&I Club said.

Japanese shippers, however, are more risk-averse and may continue to use the governments special sovereign shipping insurance to import Iranian oil until normal P&I coverage becomes available again, industry officials have said.

Tokyo stepped in to help its oil importers after Western sanctions imposed over Tehrans disputed nuclear program curbed the ability of private insurers to provide tanker cover.

(Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Mark Trevelyan)

Related:

Topics USA Energy Reinsurance Oil Gas
Brit Ltd., the global specialty insurer, has launched a Lloyds consortium for commercial general aviation.

Now quoting business, the consortium is being led by Brit with capacity also being provided by Kiln, Hiscox, Apollo and Pritchard, and is the only Lloyds consortium set up purely for commercial general aviation. The consortium is unique in the aviation space in being able to offer a 100 percent placement solution in Lloyds, Brit said in a statement.

In response to market demands for increasing efficiency, the facility allows brokers to fully bind through just one underwriter, with Brit as the lead member.

The consortium will write hull risks of up to $10 million, covering liabilities of up to $150 million. The commercial general aviation class covers a wide range of specialty business, from firefighting helicopters to regional aircraft carriers. The consortium is broadly global in the general aviation risks it writes, a company spokesman said.

We are seeing increasing appetite for efficiency from both brokers and underwriters and launching this consortium enables us to deliver on this demand, commented Matt Langmead, divisional director of aviation at Brit.

Were proud of the consortiums differentiated approach, particularly in streamlining the binding process through one underwriter. This is especially attractive for a complex class, such as commercial GA, where Lloyds ability to write specialty business is already a strong advantage, he added.

In a competitive market, we believe it is essential to respond effectively to the needs of both brokers and our underwriting peers to create more efficient ways of delivering solutions, according to Matthew Wilson, group deputy CEO and global specialty CEO.

This consortium is a great example of this, demonstrating not only our strong capabilities within the aviation space but also our willingness to work with the market to develop offerings that truly add value in a changing and competitive landscape, Wilson went on to say.

Source: Brit

Topics Commercial Lines Excess Surplus Business Insurance Aviation Lloyd's
A southwest Missouri woman has been awarded $20.6 million in damages after federal jurors found that a company exposed her to a toxic chemical that left her with permanent disabilities.

The Joplin Globe reports that a jury hearing Jodelle Kirks case announced $13 million in punitive damages and $7.6 million in actual damages. At issue is the conduct of FAG Bearings, which is a subsidiary of Schaeffler Group North America.

Kirks attorney told jurors the company dumped trichlorethylene, also known as TCE, on its property and that the known carcinogen seeped into the ground, nearby creeks and private wells.

The Silver Creek woman was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis in 2002 when she was 14. FAG previously has blamed two other companies for the contamination.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Missouri
It may be surprising to some that a former governor and head of National Security started an insurance company focused on cyber risk, but Tom Ridge, president and CEO of Ridge Global says it shouldnt be.

While the world is focused on physical security, even at an early stage in the security space we saw the internet being used for economic and radical espionage, Ridge said.

Cyber security vulnerability has only grown since Ridge left his job with the U.S. government in 2005. Ridge said that fact and his experience motivated him to start a managing general agent that offers services around cyber response, cyber education and yes, cyber insurance. The company launched in 2014 and in January added three new cyber insurance products designed to integrate with the cyber resiliency services offered by Ridge Global.

Everyone realizes they are vulnerable  but I think there should be a greater sense of urgency with companies. Our job is to help them with that, Ridge said.

Ridge served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1995-2001. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, President George Bush tapped him to be the first-ever assistant to the president for Homeland Security. In 2003 Ridge became the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and served in this role until 2005.

He says his experience working for the federal government and in general consulting roles has shown him that companies are looking for an integrated solution to the problems they have around cyber security.

Risk officers large and small all realize they have a problem and are still trying to figure out what their solution should be, he said. I really wanted to build something that I thought had value not only for my team but to add to the safety and security of other companies. I saw insurance as a gateway to these other services.

Ridge Global created the new cyber insurance products and services to be tailored to those in state and local government, energy and healthcare companies, as well as professional organizations. The coverage is broken down by size of the organization: Enterprise Plus for those with revenue greater than $2.5 billion; Enterprise for those with revenue between $50 million and $2.5 billion; and Professional for those with revenue less than $50 million.

The coverage is available through Lloyds of London Syndicates with limits up to $50 million for large organizations, and up to $10 million for the smaller risks.

Ridge says insurance coverage is just one aspect of how his company is working with clients  Ridge Global also offers educational and risk assessment tools. He said he wanted to build a company that can handle integrated risk.

The ultimate goal for me was to become a trusted advisor for companies in certain areas where there is a high-value risk, Ridge said. We are doing it in a way that will establish the relationship with insurance and then offer the other tools that reduce risk.

To aid him in those efforts, Ridge hired a team of insurance professionals with experience in internet security, insurance, and risk management.

One of the things I learned from my career in government is to understand what you know and what you need to know and learn, and fill the gap with really talented people, he said.

One such person on the insurance side includes Adrian Scott, who joined the company as executive vice president and chief underwriting officer. He is responsible for leading the development of Ridge Globals underwriting protocols and heads the day-to-day operations of the Ridge Global insurance underwriting teams. Scotts career with insurance spans 25 years, including positions with QBE, Valiant, Aon and Marsh.

Scott says Ridge Global is more than just an MGA offering cyber risk insurance and utilizes its other services to establish clients cyber risk and educate them on how to address that risk.

In this world we are in now with cyber, all the aspects that have to come together havent been fully integrated or embedded into the normal course of buying insurance, and it has to all come together, Scott said.

Ridge said clients dont fully appreciate that their connection to the internet is vulnerable, and that education piece is crucial to risk management. Ridge Global partnered with NAVEX Global, which offers software, content and services such as online training and educational tools for organizations and their employees to reduce their cyber risk.

Ridge said the company will expand its cyber education portfolio and is working with a major university on that effort, as well as offering new technology tools to customers and clients.

We are always looking for other resiliency tools to offer clients as to try to reduce their risk exposure and expand our platform. We are not standing still, Ridge said.

Related:

Topics USA Cyber Insurance Wholesale Training Development
Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese.

Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa.

Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista.

E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa  ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta.

A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito.
Bill Ackman has seen better days. His high-flying hedge fund, Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd., was once the envy of money managers everywhere, boasting a 40% return for 2014 (the S&P returned 13% the same year). However, due to the implosion of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and his battle with Carl Icahn over Herbalife Ltd (HLF), Pershing Squares returns have been severely diminished: The fund posted a YTD return of 15.8% as of September 30, 2018, - 4.0% for 2017, and -13.5% for 2016, thus grossly underperforming the market.

In October 2018, CNBC reported that Ackman's Pershing Square Capital made a$900 million bet on Starbucks.

It was reported in February 2018, Ackman exited his entire $1-billion short bet against Herbalife. The fund faced a wave of redemption from institutional investors like the Blackstone Group and many asset managers like JP Morgan are no longer recommending it to clients, reported the Wall Street Journal in April.

Here is a brief look back at the best and worst highlights of Bill Ackmans investing career.

Hits

Municipal Bond Insurance Association Inc. (MBI)

One of Ackmans biggest successes came even before he founded Pershing. In 2002, 36-year-old Ackman was one of the first investors who noticed something was amiss in the billions of dollars worth of credit default swaps (CDS) against mortgage-backed collateral debt obligations (CDOs) that MBIA was as a counterparty to (Ackman's thesis).

Ackman acted on his hunch by purchasing his own credit default swaps against MBIAs own debt, as well as shorting the companys stock, betting that the insurer would go into default due to its CDO exposure. After five years of slugging it out with MBIAs management, Ackmans persistence paid off as the bond insurers shares and debt ratings plunged during the 2008 financial crisis.

The Wendy's Company (WEN)

Wendys was one of Ackmans first successes at the helm of Pershing. In 2004, Pershing took a large stake in the fast-food chain and successfully pressured management to spin off its Tim Hortons brand (a veritable religion in Canada). Ackman would later exit his position at a substantial profit, though Wendys stock price would underperform in the post-spinoff, without the presence of its fastest-growing unit. (For a comparison, read about Burger King, Tim Hortons and Restaurant Brands International.)

General Growth Properties Inc.

The greatest bet of Ackmans career, and arguably one of the best hedge fund trades of all time, was Pershing Squares turnaround of troubled mall operator General Growth Properties from the brink of bankruptcy, netted the hedge fund a whopping $1.6 billion return on a $60 million investment.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP)

In 2011, after Pershing acquired a 14.2% stake in CP, a fierce proxy battle between the CP Board and Ackmans hedge fund ensued. Eventually, Pershing emerged victorious, afterward installing a new CEO and revamping the companys business strategy. As reported by the Financial Post, the results were a dramatic increase in CPs stock from $49 per share to $220 per share from September 2011 to December 2014. In 2016, Pershing sold its 6.7% stake valued at approximately $1.45 billion.

Misses

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.

Unless youve been living in a cave, you would be well aware of Pershing Squares nightmarish position in the troubled pharmaceutical company, Valeant. Originally entered at around $180 per share, Ackmans massive 8.5% stake in the company has been thoroughly smashed, following accusations of channel stuffing/fraud levied against Valeant. The company is battling a host of challenges, including management mishaps, horrible earnings and guidance slashes, shady conference calls, and the possibility of covenant breaches leading to technical defaults on the companys debt.

On March 13, 2017, it was reported that Pershing Square had sold its entire position, taking a loss of more than $3 billion. But that wasn't the end of the story for Valeant.

Target Corporation (TGT)

Even the most bull-headed investors have to throw in the towel sometimes. While Ackman ultimately triumphed in his proxy battle at CP rail, the results were starkly different when Pershing attempted to take over five board seats in the second-largest discount retailer in the United States. Unable to convince shareholders, which mostly consisted of his peers in the Wall Street institutional investment community, that him and his choice of board members were the right people for the job, and faced with staggering losses in a fund he specifically set up to invest in Target derivatives, Ackman eventually was forced to throw in the towel (Source: Barrons).

Borders Group

Another misstep in Ackmans career was his activist position in the now-defunct Borders Group. After taking a stake in the bookseller in 2006 and boosting his holdings in 2008, Ackman entered into loan agreements as Borders tried to find a buyer for itself. Even after pledging a $960 financing for Borders to take over Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS), which ultimately went nowhere, Borders declared bankruptcy in 2011, losing Pershing Square hundreds of millions (WSJ).

Herbalife Ltd. (HLF)

Perhaps the biggest trade associated with Bill Ackman is his conviction short of health supplement company, Herbalife Ltd. (HLF). Arguing that the company was a pyramid scheme, with an intrinsic value of zero, Ackman entered into a short position worth $1 billion in 2012. The trade has been chronicled at length by almost every financial news outlet even to this day and was famous for an on-air argument between Ackman and Carl Icahn on CNBC, who (amongst other major hedge fund players) had taken a long position in the stock. In the weeks following his short position, Ackman saw Herbalife's shares plunge around 60 percent, but the company has proven remarkably resilient and has rebounded to its pre-short levels, thus costing Ackman millions in borrowing fees, and paper losses. As of February 28, 2018, Ackman has reportedly exited his entire short bet on Herbalife.

The Bottom Line

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is both celebrated and derided for his confidence and tenacity when it comes to making big bets on a handful of positions. His all-or-nothing approach has led to some of the greatest, most prescient calls in the investing world  and some of the biggest busts.
Vanguard Equity Income Fund Investor Shares (VEIPX) and Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund Investor Shares (VDIGX) are two reliable Vanguard mutual funds that specialize in investing in predominantly domestic equities of companies that pay regular dividends.

While having somewhat similar investment objectives, these two funds differ on several fronts. First, each has different exposure to sectors, numbers of holdings, management styles, and investment selection processes. Second, Vanguard Equity Income Investor Shares tend to focus more on large-cap value stocks, while Vanguard Dividend Growth Investor Shares holds a variety of large-cap stocks.

Key Takeaways Dividend funds are mutual funds that focus on buying stocks with attractive dividend yields.

Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund Investor Shares and Vanguard Equity Income Fund Investor Shares are two dividend mutual funds that have similar objectives.

However, the two funds differ in many respectsthe number of stocks held, asset allocations, and stock-picking methodologies.

Like many Vanguard mutual funds, Vanguard Dividend Growth Investor Shares and Vanguard Equity Income Investor Shares have been reliable, low-cost vehicles for longer-term investors.

Investment Objectives

Donald Kilbridean industry veteran who has advised the fund since 2006 and has more than 20 years of investment management experiencemanages Vanguard Dividend Growth Investor Shares. Kilbride prefers a concentrated portfolio of around 50 stocks of companies with strong competitive advantages. In February 2022, the fund held 42 stocks.

Vanguard Dividend Growth Investor Shares holds companies with consistent dividend growth and does not necessarily own stocks that currently have above-average yields. In fact, the fund stays away from companies after dividend yields spike, which may signal upcoming dividend cuts. The result is a 30-day SEC yield of 1.44% Donald Kilbride may, at times, look for stocks that have respectable payout ratios, which can sustain dividend growth going forward.

Vanguard Equity Income Investor Shares, on the other hand, tends to focus on stocks of high-yielding companies with low valuations, but promising growth prospects. This has led Morningstar to classify the fund under the large value category for its distinct emphasis on holding undervalued equities.

The fund typically holds a much larger number of stocks with lower price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios. The total number of stocks in the portfolio is 192.

Michael Reckmeyer and Michael Hand of Wellington Management advise Vanguard Equity Income Investor Shares, as well as Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group's Sharon Hill. The fund focuses on higher-yielding dividend stocks, with a 30-day SEC yield of 2.17% as of February 2022.

$3,000 The minimum amount for initial investments into Vanguard Dividend Growth Investor Shares or Vanguard Equity Income Investor Shares mutual funds.

Sector Exposure

These funds also differ in their sector allocations based on their investment selection processes. The largest sector allocations in Vanguard Dividend Growth Investor shares are:

Industrials (20.5%)

Health care (19.9%)

Consumer staples (17.2%)

Vanguard Equity Income Investor Shares, on the other hand, favors:

Financials (21.6%)

Health care (16.1% allocation)

Consumer staples (14.1% allocation)

Investment Performance

When it comes to investment performance, VDIGX has outperformed over longer periods of time. For the 10 years ended Jan. 31, 2022, the fund generated an average annual return of 13.94%, while VEIPX posted a 12.87% return. Over the last three- and five-year periods, VDIGX generated annualized returns of 18.37% and 15.82%, respectively. VEIPX's returns for the same periods were 15.06% and 12.4%, respectively.

VDIGX is a three-star rated fund by Morningstar, while VEIPX is rated four stars. For their five-year performance period, both funds are rated four stars. VDIGX's expense ratio comes in at 0.26%, while VEIPX's is 0.28%.
In a widely anticipated European summit to be held in Brussels on Thursday, June 28, and Friday, June 29, 2018, 27 European leaders will meet to discuss a wide range of topics including migration, security and defense, and reform of Europe's economic and monetary union.

In the summit's shadows, an escalating European Union/U.S. trade war, unfinalized Brexit negotiations and a new populist government in Italy add further uncertainty to the mix. Most analysts and market commentators are divided on Europe's outlook. Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX Strategy at BK Asset Management, told CNBC, "The flashing light is still very much yellow, and investors should take caution as far as European equities go." (See also: 6 Buying Opportunities for Italys Financial Crisis.)

Other investment managers are more upbeat on the Europe story. In reference to FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS) data that showed the Eurozone economy growing by 2.5% in 2017, Michael Bapis, partner and managing director at the Bapis Group at HighTower Advisors, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" program, "They had the best economic growth in a decade last year, and that hasn't gone away."

Investors who have a view on Europe can use these four exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to play European equities and the euro currency on either the long or short side. (See also: Top 4 European Stock Mutual Funds.)

Launched back in 2000, the iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF attempts to provide similar returns to the MSCI EMU Index. The fund invests the majority of its assets in securities that make up the underlying index. These are large- and mid-capitalization stocks from developed European countries that use the euro as their official currency. The ETF's top five holdings  Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT), SAP SE (NYSE: SAP), Siemens AG (OTC: SIEGY), Bayer AG (OTC: BAYRY) and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (OTC: LVMHF)  account for 11.84% of the portfolio.

The iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF has a massive asset base of $11.41 billion and charges a 0.49% annual management fee that is almost double the category average of 0.26%. As of June 2018, EZU has a disappointing year-to-date (YTD) return of -3.04% but has performed better over the longer term, with five-, three- and one-year annualized returns of 7.63%, 4.12% and 4.59%, respectively. The fund also pays a 1.95% dividend.

The ProShares UltraShort FTSE Europe ETF, formed in 2009, seeks to provide investors with two times (2x) the inverse performance of the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. The benchmark index consists of large-, mid- and small-cap developed market European stocks. EPV invests its assets in derivative products, such as swaps, to provide leveraged returns.

The ProShares UltraShort FTSE Europe ETF has assets under management (AUM) of $19.19 million. The fund's heavy use of derivative products and lack of comparable products to short European equities help to justify its high expense ratio of 0.95%. EPV has a 4.23% YTD return as of June 2018. Short-term traders should use caution when trading EPV; just 7,554 shares change hands each day. (For more, see: Ways You Can Short Europe.)

Created in 2005, the Invesco CurrencyShares Euro Currency ETF is designed to provide a cost-effective way to realize gains in the euro, relative to the U.S. dollar. The fund holds physical euros in a deposit account, therefore accurately reflecting the euro/U.S. dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate. FXE is highly liquid, with an average daily dollar volume of $36.84 million.

The Invesco CurrencyShares Euro Currency ETF has $274.77 million in net assets and charges an annual management fee of 0.40%. This is right in line with the category average of 0.41%. As of June 2018, the fund has returned 3.62% over the past year, but it is down 2.88% YTD, reflecting broad U.S. dollar strength.

Launched in the midst of the Great Recession in 2008, the ProShares UltraShort Euro ETF seeks to provide twice (2x) the inverse daily performance of the euro spot price versus the U.S. dollar. The fund uses a variety of derivative products to gain short exposure and provide leveraged returns. EUO trades roughly 200,000 shares a day, which offers ample liquidity for both traders and investors who wish to speculate on euro's direction or hedge the currency component of a European stock portfolio.

The ProShares UltraShort Euro ETF has an asset base of $186.11 million and charges investors a 0.95% annual fee. EUO has a five-year return of 3.55%, a three-year return of -2.57% and a YTD return of 6.93% as of June 2018. The ETF rebalances daily, which may distort the fund's performance over the longer term. (For additional reading, check out: 5 Economic Reports That Affect the Euro.)
The embargo on U.S. trade with Cuba was put into place in 1960 and, after a brief thaw under one president that promptly refroze with the next, there it stays today.

That said, for many years the travel embargo has had so many holes in it that plenty of U.S. citizens have gone back and forth, and at least three commercial airlines are ready to transport them there.

As for other types of commercial activities, other countries long ago seized the opportunity to cash in on Cuba's famous cigars and rum.

That complicates the question of what opportunities U.S. businesses might find in Cuba when and if the embargo actually ends.

Key Takeaways The Cuban embargo remains largely in place six decades after the revolution.

The travel ban is riddled with exceptions that permit Americans to visit Cuba.

Many international firms do business in Cuba (but can't sell those products in the U.S.)

Recent Events

In 2015, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would ease restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba. The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm by cigar aficionados, rum drinkers, leisure travelers, and some, but by no means all, Cuban ex-pats.

Soon after he was elected, President Donald Trump said that he would roll back that agreement if Cuba did not agree to further concessions. Yet, by the end of his term of the start of 2020, no substantive action has been taken and the restrictions on travel and commerce remain largely in place.

"Largely" means that there have been small official jabs from time to time that are apparently meant to warn Cuba that the U.S. could get tough if it wanted to. For instance, at the end of 2019, the administration ordered a halt to U.S. flights to Cuban destinations, except for Havana.

In July of 2021, however, the Biden Administration imposed new sanctions on Cuba following the Cuban government crackdown on demonstrators in the streets in Cuba protesting the shortages in medicine and food resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Bidens policy was being framed by Senator Robert Mendez, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the son of Cuban immigrants. Mendez has, in the past, been critical of the Obama Administrations softer line on Cuba.

Follow the Money

The reality is that Cuban products are already widely available in Europe and other parts of the world. If and when the United States becomes a more active trading partner with Cuba, it is likely that the same European multinational corporations that distribute Cuban products to the rest of the world will control the distribution of those products in the U.S. as well.

To understand the potential opportunities for investors, it is helpful to know a bit of history and have some insight into how big business works in Cuba now.

A Brief History

Before Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, an enormous percentage of the Cuban economy was under the control of U.S. corporations. U.S. companies even dominated the island's utilities and railroads. They also controlled a significant portion of its natural resources, including its sugar, cattle, tobacco, timber, oil, mining, and farm industries.

The British company Imperial Tobacco has exclusive rights to distribute Cuban cigars worldwide, though they can't be sold in the U.S.

Cuba's new communist government nationalized all of these assets, claiming them in the name of the Cuban people. The US retaliated by slapping a trade embargo in place in hopes of toppling the Cuban government.

Six Decades Later

After the passage of six decades that saw the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and the passing of the torch by Fidel Castro to his brother Raul, it is clear to all parties that the trade embargo did not achieve its purpose.

Today, many argue that the embargo makes no real sense and that ending it will not only make U.S. consumers happy but also will further the goal of bringing a greater level of freedom to citizens of the island nation.

Big Business, Communist Style

The Revolution may have freed the island from the dominance of U.S. business interests, but even communists like to make a profit. Accordingly, the Castro government long ago entered into agreements with European-based multi-national firms to distribute Cuban products, including its famous cigars and rum.

British company Imperial Tobacco, which trades on the London stock exchange under the ticker IMT, has exclusive rights to distribute Cuban cigars worldwide (except in the U.S.) via a tangled web of corporate entities that includes a 50% ownership of Corporacion Habanos, the Cuban governments tobacco company.

Habanos, as it is known in Cuba, controls its brand by entering into limited and carefully controlled distribution agreements in each country in which it does business. If you light up a Cuban cigar anywhere in the world, a portion of the profits flows back to Imperial Tobacco.

Rum Doings

Cubas rum business weaves a similarly tangled web. When Castro took over, rum makers including Bacardi Limited and Jose Arechabala S.A. were thrown out of the country.

The French entered the fray when Pernod Ricard, which trades in France as RI.PA, joined forces with Cubas state-run Cubaexport and began selling the storied Havana Club brand of rum, formerly produced by Jose Arechabala.

(Bacardi produces a rum with the same name in Puerto Rico, using a recipe from the Arechabala family, for sale only in the U.S.)

U.S. Demand

So, the opportunity for distributing the most familiar Cuban products in the U.S. may be long gone. But that doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities, both in goods imported to the U.S. and goods exported to Cuba.

There's still one big hurdle if you're a stickler for following rules set in the dim past. Reasonable estimates place the total value of U.S. assets seized by the Cuban government at somewhere in the $7 billion range. U.S. law requires that money to be repaid before the trade embargo can be lifted.

It is highly unlikely that the Cuban government will hand over the cash, though theres always the possibility that some other arrangement could be made that would open the door to new business.

The Tourist Status

On the tourism front, Americans were already making their way to Cuba via Canada, Mexico, Europe, and other countries that have flights headed to Havana long before President Barack Obama lifted the travel embargo in 2015.

To this day, there are exceptions to the ban for university groups, academic research, journalism, and professional meetings. Travel to Cuba by performers and athletic competitors are okay, too. Family visits are permitted. Humanitarian visitors are allowed. In short, just about anybody could get to Cuba on one or more of those exceptions.

At this point, U.S. cruise ships are not permitted to stop in Cuba, but commercial flights from the U.S. are offered by American Airlines, JetBlue, and Southwest airlines. U.S. passports are still welcome in Cuba, no problem.

Cuban Opportunities

Cuba's tropical beauty has an obvious allure to travelers, but the country offers the possibility of profit for more mundane enterprises. Food, clothing and agricultural implements are all potential Cuban imports. The islands aging infrastructure badly needs to be updated, which should present opportunities for construction firms, purveyors of cement and other building materials, engineers, architects, and home builders.

Just South of Florida

Real estate agents are also likely to be in demand as Americans seek second homes or retirement homes in a sunnier part of the world. Automobile sales are another possible opportunity. Shipping companies would make money and generate jobs, particularly in the southern portion of the U.S., as an increasing number of products are delivered back and forth between the two nations.

In addition, large and mid-sized businesses and entrepreneurs both on and off the island are likely to identify profitable niche opportunities for everything from seafood to suntan lotion if renewed relations create opportunities.

When Will This Happen?

Just when will all sanctions be lifted and trade relations normalized? Most experts agree it wont be anytime soon. Economic ties can be slow to develop, the politics relating to Cuba are complex, and businesses may be cautious about entering into relationships with a country known for nationalizing assets, however long ago. In the meantime, Cuba's forbidden fruit will continue to tantalize its northern neighbors.
Occasional recessions, market crashes, and COVID-19 notwithstanding, there is little doubt that life has improved steadily in recent decades. Products and services that were once the province of the rich became widely available as living standards rose. No business better exemplified the democratization of services than the airline industry. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) were at the forefront of that movement. Here we will take a closer look at that segment of the industry.

The Changing Face of Air Travel

In the old days, flying was a luxury experience. Airlines primarily catered to the affluent and business travelers. Flyers were a pampered lot, plied with food and wine. In those days, flights were seldom full. One could stretch out on the adjacent empty seat and enjoy a nap in the hushed passenger cabin.

Air travel grew in popularity, with the industry offering more flights and lower fares after deregulation, As the passenger traffic swelled, air travel's cachet faded just as low-cost carriers arrived, pushing fares even lower. It now costs extra to secure more leg room or glass of wine in a business or first-class section of the cabin. All too often, air travelers have been forced to put up with long delays, overcrowded flights, lengthy security procedures and noisy cabins.

The Rise of Low-Cost Carriers

While many bemoaned the decline in quality, the number of complaints was not exceptionally high compared to the greater number of air travelers. That was because airfares dropped substantially after adjusting for inflation. Consumers have always known that you get what you pay for. Paying cheap fares for no-frills air travel was a bargain accepted by the majority of air travelers. Those who pined for the glamour days of flying always had the option of paying more for first class.

Deregulation

Pioneers including Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) ushered in mass air travel in the U.S. during the 1970s. In that same decade, the deregulation of the U.S. airline industry accelerated the widespread use of low-cost carriers. The 1978 Airline Deregulation Act partly shifted control over air travel from the government to the private sector. That led to the termination of the once all-powerful Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) in 1984.

The CAB previously had an iron grip on critical aspects of the U.S. airline industry. It controlled the pricing of airline services, agreements between carriers, and mergers within the industry. Airlines were only able to compete on tangible factors, such as food, service quality, and cabin crew. Their hands were tied concerning the most crucial consideration for most consumersticket price.

The Results of Deregulation

The liberalization of the airline industry yielded spectacular results. The number of U.S. air traveler enplanements soared from 205 million in 1975 to a record 927 million by 2019. Adjusting for inflation, the average price of a domestic round-trip ticket in the U.S. fell from $566.10 in 1990 to $367.34 in 2019. That's a decline of about 35%, but the drop mostly took place between 1990 and 2005. Airlines also went from filling about 54% of seats in 1975 to using 85% of their seating capacity in 2019.

Around the World

The low-cost carrier revolution spread worldwide between 1990 and 2020. The LCCs came to Europe in the 1990s and Asia in the 2000s. Flagship national airlines still exist in most countries. Italy even renationalized Alitalia during the coronavirus crisis. Low-cost carriers had been making progress for years. However, the extreme stress of dealing with the coronavirus put their survival at stake, especially in newer markets.

Why Low-Cost Carriers Soared

The success of low-cost carriers before 2020 can be attributed to many innovations and developments since the 1970s.

The Point-To-Point Model

Many large airlines were quick to adopt the hub-and-spoke model after deregulation. In that model, a major airport becomes the hub, and other destinations become the spoke. However, LCCs abandoned that system in favor of the point-to-point model.

The hub-and-spoke system allows airlines to consolidate their passengers at the hub and then fly on to their ultimate destinations (the spokes) in smaller aircraft. That boosts the percentage of seats filled, which helps to drive down fares. Furthermore, the hub-and-spoke system increases the number of possible destinations. However, it also has some drawbacks, such as the high costs required to maintain such a complex infrastructure. The hub-and-spoke system also imposes longer travel times on customers who must transit through the hubs. Finally, it is vulnerable to cascading flight delays caused by hub congestion.

The point-to-point system, on the other hand, connects each origin and destination via nonstop flights. That provides substantial cost savings by eliminating the intermediate stop at the hub, which gets rid of costs related to hub development. The point-to-point system also reduces total travel time and enables better aircraft utilization. Limited geographical reach is the major constraint of the point-to-point model. Unfortunately, direct flights are not economically viable for many city pairs.

Discount Pricing

The higher efficiency and better fleet utilization of LCCs, coupled with their reduced costs, enable them to offer significant airfare discounts. Ticket pricing is now the biggest competitive factor for airlines. Most consumers want to reach their destinations quickly and economically, and are willing to give up in-flight food and entertainment to save money. This drive for economy also extends to business travelers as companies increasingly clamp down on travel costs.

Technology Adoption

The widespread adoption of ticketless travel and Internet distribution has been a boon for LCCs. It decreases the need for complex and expensive ticketing systems used by legacy airlines to handle their complicated pricing structures. The emergence of the internet as the primary medium for booking tickets has dramatically increased the transparency of ticket pricing. That works in favor of the low-cost carriers because of their lower fares.

Fleet Uniformity

A significant benefit of the point-to-point model is that LCCs can use a single fleet type. They frequently do not have much variability in passenger demand between the major city pairs that they serve. Traditional carriers often need larger planes to carry passengers between hubs, and smaller ones for flights to the spokes. The fleet uniformity of low-cost carriers leads to lower training and maintenance costs.

Motivated Staff

Several LCCs prided themselves on the high motivation levels of their employees. They motivated employees with competitive compensation, incentives like profit-sharing, and a strong corporate brand identity. Additionally, most LCCs tend to fly shorter routes. That means employees might only be away from home for a few hours, as opposed to a couple of days or longer for long-haul flights. More time at home can also be good for morale.

Pandemic Symptoms

Fewer Flyers

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically cut demand for air travel. According to Airlines for America, the number of commercial flights globally declined about 75% between March and May in 2020. At the same time, U.S. passenger airlines reduced flights by 74% domestically and 93% internationally. Even worse, the number of passengers on a typical domestic flight fell from a range of 85 to 100 to just 10. However, the average number of passengers rebounded to around 30 by the middle of May. It was clear airlines could not long operate under those conditions.

The Bailout

In March 2020 the airline industry secured nearly $60 billion in U.S. government funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, saving the industry from bankruptcy. However, there were strings attached that have significant consequences for potential investors. The airlines had to agree to forego layoffs, stock buybacks, and dividend payments. The dire situation for airline earnings was already highly unfavorable to buybacks and dividends, so those restrictions mattered little. The prohibition of layoffs, on the other hand, limited the companies; flexibility in adapting to a dramatically different business environment. Nonetheless, the aid represented a significant win for the airlines and their employees.

Buffett Departs

Legendary investor Warren Buffett sold in 2020 all the airline stocks owned by his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A). Berkshire Hathaway's holdings were in the larger airlines, including a substantial stake in the large low-cost carrier Southwest. Buffett's company paid $7 billion to $8 billion for its stakes in the airlines, but they were worth closer to $4 billion when sold amid the COVID-19 pandemic, marking a rare loss for Buffett and his firm. "I don't know that three, four years from now people will fly as many passenger miles as they did last year," Buffett said. "You've got too many planes."

Startup Success Stories?

The economic environment after the pandemic could be extremely favorable to new entrants in the low-cost carrier space. Fear of the virus is likely to decline dramatically under most scenarios, unleashing repressed demand. The industry's contraction during the pandemic promises to leave many older planes on the market, along with additional gates and take-off slots at some airports. That, in turn, could lower startup costs for new low-cost carriers. New LCCs would also be free of the massive debt and restrictive agreements with governments weighing down the incumbent carriers.

The Biggest LCCs in the U.S.

While startups seem likely to emerge in the future, large established low-cost carriers are not going away. The top U.S. low-cost carriers are listed below.

Southwest Airlines Co.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (LUV) began operations in 1971. It became the largest U.S. carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded and also operated the world's largest fleet of Boeing aircraft. Southwest had a 17.7% share of the domestic U.S. air travel market in the 12 months through October 2021, just behind American's 18.5%. As of Feb. 8, 2022, Southwest had a market capitalization of $27.2 billion.

JetBlue Airways Corp.

JetBlue (JBLU) launched in 2000 and grew to become one of the largest U.S. passenger carriers by focusing on some of the top U.S. travel markets. JetBlue differentiated itself by offering the most legroom in coach class, as well as free TV and broadband Internet service on its flights. JetBlue had a 5.3% share of domestic U.S. air travel in the 12 months through October 2021. The company had a market capitalization of $4.9 billion as of Feb 8, 2022.

Spirit Airlines, Inc.

Spirit (SAVE) has operations in the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean. The airline's strategy is to offer an unbundled, stripped-down "Bare Fare" and charge customers for options like baggage, seat assignments, and refreshments. Spirit launched its initial public offering in May 2011 and had a market capitalization of $2.8 billion as of Feb. 8, 2022. Spirit matched JetBlue with a 5.3% share of the domestic U.S. air travel in the year through October 2021. On Feb. 7, 2022, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines parent Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. (ULCC) announced the two companies planned to merge in a deal valued at $6.6 billion. The combined airline would be the fifth-largest in the U.S.

Allegiant Travel Co.

Allegiant Travel (ALGT) is the parent company of Allegiant Air, which was founded in 1997. Allegiant focuses on the U.S. domestic market, flying passengers from small and mid-sized cities to top holiday destinations like Las Vegas and Honolulu. Allegiant Travel had a market capitalization of $3.2 billion as of Feb. 8, 2022.

The Bottom Line

Whether one calls them low-cost carriers or LCCs, budget airline stocks are risky investments. However, high risks sometimes give investors high returns. While the stocks have already rallied impressively from their 2020 lows, the rebound in air travel as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides may drive additional gains for the shares of low-cost carriers.
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Press Release

IPU increasingly worried by reduced space for political expression

Lusaka/Geneva, 23 March 2016

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has today expressed deep concern at the shrinking space for political expression across the world.

In a series of decisions adopted on the violations of the human rights of parliamentarians at the conclusion of its 134th Assembly in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, IPU deplores the widespread silencing of political opposition.

In Cambodia, the Organization underlines long standing and serious human rights concerns in a case of 12 opposition Members of Parliament (MPs).

Most of the MPs are either in prison or facing charges of treason or insurrection linked to issues of freedom of expression or assembly. Two of the MPs were badly attacked by anti-opposition protesters last year as they left parliament. To date, no-one has been held accountable. Sam Rainsy, the opposition leader, was forced abroad to avoid imprisonment.

IPU deeply regrets that no progress has been made on these cases in Cambodia, despite a mission to the country by IPUs Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians earlier this year.

The Organization calls on all branches of government and political parties in a polarized political environment to work together to ensure full respect for parliamentary immunity and the right of an MP to speak freely.

The decision on the Cambodian cases was one of several concerning 70 MPs in seven countries adopted by IPUs Member Parliaments today.

Decisions on cases in Malaysia include calls for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to be released from prison following new information that his trial and subsequent conviction were not based on legal considerations.

IPU is, nevertheless, pleased by assurances that Anwar Ibrahim would receive medical treatment by a doctor of his own choosing.

The Organization, however, remains concerned by Malaysias amended Sedition Act and Peaceful Assembly Act which have been used against 19 other MPs exercising their right as parliamentarians to speak and assemble freely.

Violations of an MPs right to freedom of expression and assembly also underpin most of the other cases on which IPU adopted decisions today.

In Thailand, the trial for Jatuporn Prompan, prosecuted for his role in an illegal gathering during a state of emergency in 2010, has still not been completed six years after he was charged.

The failure to resolve the assassination in 1998 of Mongolian MP Zorig Sanjasuuren, widely regarded as the father of democracy in the country, and the recent illegal detention and torture of his widow, continues to be of serious concern for IPU. The Organization is urging Mongolian authorities to see that justice is done.

Elsewhere, IPU reiterates its profound concern at the situation of 34 MPs and former MPs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the political developments in the country ahead of upcoming elections. The DRC has the highest number of cases before IPUs Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, all concerning violations of the freedom of expression, the absence of due process, the arbitrary revocation of an MPs parliamentary mandate, and parliamentary immunity.

IPU is particularly concerned about the health of two former DRC MPs, Pierre Jacques Chalupa and Eugene Diomi Ndongala. The latter has been in jail for three years following a trial widely considered to be deeply flawed. The Organization is renewing its calls for both men to receive medical care, and for Chalupas right to Congolese nationality to be recognized so that he can travel abroad to receive the necessary treatment and then return home.

A follow-up mission by the IPU Committee is being recommended to help resolve the cases more speedily. An IPU mission to the DRC was last carried out in 2013.

Other decisions adopted by IPU included cases in Fiji and Guatemala. Human rights missions to Venezuela and the Maldives are also planned.

IPUs Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, which works to protect or seek redress for MPs whose rights have been abused, is currently working on cases involving 281 MPs in the world.

Photos from the 134th IPU Assembly are available on Flickr for free use.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It works to safeguard peace and drives positive democratic change through political dialogue and concrete action.
On last Monday, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has affirmed full support from Egypt for the unity and sovereignty of the Iraqi state on the entire territory.

In a meeting between in Cairo between Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Abdel Fattah El Sisi reiterated Egypt's commitment to support all efforts to restore security and stability in Iraq in the face of current challenges and attempts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people.

Accompanied by a team of delegation including the Iraqi national security and agriculture ministers, Iraqi president participated into the meeting.

Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef said that Sisi and Masum underlined the two countries' keenness to strengthen bilateral relations and upgrade them to wider horizons in various political, economic and cultural fields.

The Iraqi president expressed his sincere appreciation to Egypt for its efforts to support Iraq's stability and strengthen efforts to contain the current crisis in the region. He praised Egypt's pivotal role as a fundamental pillar of security and stability in the Arab world and supportive of the Arab unity and solidarity.

Masum also hailed the national role played by the Egyptian Armed Forces in securing the country and fighting terrorism and terrorist organizations. President of Iraq expressed his country's aspiration to activate agreements signed with Egypt to enhance cooperation between the two countries in various fields and provide more opportunities to benefit from the Egyptian experience, especially in the fields of industry and agriculture.

Sisi said that Egypt is ready to strengthen cooperation with Iraq in various fields, whether industry or agriculture as well as infrastructure, construction and housing areas. The two presidents agreed to activate bilateral working mechanisms, especially the joint commission between the two countries.

The meeting also tackled the latest developments on the Arab arena.



| Soruce: SIS | By S.Seal
In the month of February, oil exports from northern Iraq nearly halved due to ongoing outage of a pipeline to Turkey, wiping $350 million off the cash-strapped Kurdistan region's revenues as it battles Islamic State.

The autonomous region of Iraq is almost entirely dependent on revenue from its exports through the oil pipeline to Turkey, which has been idle for nearly three weeks, reducing flows to an average of 350,067 barrels per day (bpd) last month.

Ministry of Natural Resources said that after allocating $70.9 million for producers, the region was left with just $233 million in export revenue.

Heavily in debt, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been struggling to meet the payroll as global oil prices plunge, stoking public discontent when its forces are battling Islamic State.

Athanasios Manis, a research fellow at the Middle East Research Institute (MERI), a Kurdish think-tank, mentioned that the present financial position of KRG is unsustainable.

Manis said it would be difficult for the KRG to carry out the necessary structural reforms unless it received external financial assistance to "stabilize its macro-economic environment". European ambassadors and Iraq's World Bank representative met with Kurdish officials on Monday to discuss how the international community could help the region through the crisis.

It is a rude awakening for the Kurds, who enjoyed an economic boom until 2014 when the Baghdad government slashed funding to their region in a still unresolved dispute over how to share revenue and power.

War with Islamic State and an influx of people displaced by violence in the rest of Iraq have only increased the strain, which a decade of mismanagement and corruption put the region in a weak position to deal with.

The Kurds began ramping up independent oil sales last June in an effort to plug the gap, but low energy prices meant the region was still running a multimillion dollar monthly deficit even with exports at a peak of 600,000 bpd in January.

Carrying crude from fields in the Kurdish region and Kirkuk to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, the pipeline has been idle since Feb. 17 as a result of "circumstances" inside Turkey, the ministry said, without elaborating.

Turkey's energy ministry said on Feb. 27 it was repairing the pipeline, and an industry source based in the Kurdistan region told Reuters on Sunday the work would be completed "in a day or two".

The pipeline runs through Turkey's restive southeast, which has seen the worst violence since the 1990s after a two-year ceasefire between the government and Kurdish militants broke down last July.

Turkey has accused the Kurdistan Workers' Party of blowing up the pipeline, but the militant group denies it.



| Soruce: Reuters | By S.Seal
According to a statement by Ministry of Education of Iraq, countrys representative of UNICEF claimed that he has pledged to increase educational assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kurdistan Region.

Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF representative, met with the Kurdistan Regional Governments (KRG) Education Minister, Pshtiwan Sadiq on March 7th 2016.

Education ministry of Iraq announced, UNICEF reaffirmed its pledge of assistance to establish and rebuild schools and provide refugees with materials needed for studying.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said more than 3.1 million Iraqis have been displaced since January 2014 due to violence in the country and the conflict against the Islamic State (IS). Nearly one-third of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are in the Kurdistan Region.

With the help of UNICEF, the Kurdistan regional government has opened 53 schools since the massive influx of refugees began to enter the relatively safe Kurdistan Region.

Education ministrys statement further revealed that the schools cost $25 million USD and over 400 additional schools have been reconstructed at a cost of $2.5 million USD.

The Japanese government approved a new package of humanitarian and stabilization support for Iraq in January 2015. The package includes $105 million USD for reconstructing devastated areas inside Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.

KRG officials have repeatedly called for the international community to increase assistance for the region, which is currently facing an economic crisis. The KRG blames the crisis on a number of factors including the fight against IS, a significant decrease in the price of oil and an influx of displaced Iraqis settled in the region.

The global slump in oil prices, fight against the Islamic State (IS) and an influx of Syrian refugees and displaced Iraqis have added more pressure on the KRGs economy.



| Soruce: NRTTV | By S.Seal
Mr. Adil Abd Al-Mahdi the minister of oil participated in the Sulaimani Forum which was held for the period from 16 to 17 of March 2016 and attended by Many Iraqi, Arab and foreign politicians.



Mr. Abd Al-Mahdi During the second day schedule confirmed on the necessity of the endorsement of the law of oil & gas which organizes the relations between all the parties, he also confirmed on the necessity of concluding a new contract with Kurdistan province to resume the exportation through Ceyhan port in Turkey.



Mr. Abd Al-Mahdi talked also about the financial dues of the international companies during the licensing rounds, as well as the commitment of the government to provide 12 billion dollars of the budget of 2016. He confirmed also on the necessity of reducing the production costs of the companies to the minimum level.



Mr. Abd Al-Mahdi referred to the oil prices drop and its effect on the incomes to the federal budget. He said that the economic crisis demands some correction steps in order to confront it and pass over it.



It is worthy to mention that the Sulaimani forum organizes many activities to discuss the political and economic situation in Iraq in the region, as well as the world.



| Soruce: Iraqi Ministry of Oil |
A group of staff members at the New York Irish Consulate are seeking to negotiate with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs regarding the lack of US Social Security payments made by the Irish government on their behalf.

The six women in question worked at the Consulate on Park Avenue for between eight and 35 years and have amassed over 100 years of service at the Irish governments New-York base. Yet, no Social Security payments have been made by their employer on their behalf and they have been excluded from the US tax system.

The consulate's employees were told that, although they are recognized as employees of the Irish government, they would be treated as independent contractors and were advised to file their tax returns with the IRS as such. Despite this, however, the group alleges that they were never issued with the form 1099s that all independent contractors should receive from their employers, allowing them to declare their earnings with the IRS, and were never in receipt of payslips, which they are legally entitled to receive under New York state law.

The staff in question are also local and not diplomatic staff, meaning they work with the Irish Consulate in New York permanently and are not appointed to the office on a contractual or short-term basis.

The six employees are now collectively seeking to bargain with the Dept. of Foreign Affairs under US industrial-relations law and negotiate social security payments and compensation for the alleged missed payments.

Potentially, the Irish government is treating them the same way an abusive employer treats illegal aliens, claims the groups legal advisor, New-York attorney-at-law Shane Humphries.

Staff are looking to take this case because for many years  some of the women have been working there for over 20 years  the Irish government has failed to give them the option to pay into social security.

The alleged failure by the Irish government to make social security payments for these employees will result in a greatly reduced amount of funds available to them once they retire.

They were told initially told that as they are Irish and working in the Irish consulate, they don't have to pay taxes, Humphries told IrishCentral.

However, he believes that they are legally required to pay taxes and entitled to social security payments being paid by their employer.

What happens is that some get grossed up salaries so then you can then pay taxes as independent contractor, he explained, but theyre not independent contractors, theyre employees, and theyre entitled to have social security payments deducted from their pay and their employers  the Irish government  to match it so they will have a livable pension.

As it stands, upon retirement the employees will receive a 400 a week pension from the Irish government, the same figure as the Irish state pension, which will also be taxed, despite the fact that many of these employees may not retire back to Ireland.

The problem can also not be rectified by the Irish government simply beginning to pay social security payments on these employees' behalf in the future, continues Humphries, as the years of nonpayment mean they are already significantly behind, especially as some in the group are close to retirement age. He believes the onus falls on the government to compensate the six employees in New York for the lost payments during their time in the citys consulate.

They have neglected their employees and what the ladies want to do is exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act to bargain collectively with the Irish government, said Humphries, and the first step in that is for the Irish government to appoint a representative to undertake that negotiation. To this point the government has refused and tried to ignore their request.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has declined to speak on the issue stating: "The department does not comment on the circumstances of individual employees.

"As is standard across the mission network, the department complies fully with local labor law requirements in the US."

Humphries first became involved as the groups legal advisor last October when he wrote a letter to Brian Flynn at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Since then, former ambassador Oliver Grogan has been appointed to complete background fact-finding on the issue, a task Humphries believes is simply another stalling static on behalf of a department which, he alleges, already has the facts of the case.

Humphries told IrishCentral that since the issue was first brought to light by the Sunday Independent last weekend he has been contacted by two former employees of the Dept. of Foreign Affairs who claim they quit their positions due to their treatment as Irish government employees in the US.

Humphries also says that, although the practice may not be widespread in Irish consulates in America, it has been brought to his attention that there may be employees in the San Francisco Consulate who are also working for the Irish government as independent contractors.

At the moment, there are these six employees in New York and 100 years of combined service there. There may be another eight or ten around the country so in terms of the number of people it's not huge but to the ladies in question it is because their pension and their ability to live a half decent life on retirement is at risk.

All theyre doing is asking the Irish government to do the right thing and appoint a negotiator on this side of the Atlantic.

Humphries informed IrishCentral that the New York office of Hogan Lovells is acting as facilitators for the Irish government in the case but when he contacted them he was told that meetings with Oliver Grogan would have to be organized with the former Ambassador himself.

Hogan Lovells was contacted by IrishCentral but did not wish to comment.
Thus far in his campaign, Donald Trump has accused a number of countries of stealing jobs from the US: Mexico, India and China especially.

Now, he has included Ireland in that category.

In a wide-ranging, and at times rambling, interview with the Washington Posts Editorial board, Trump said: Other countries are outsmarting us by giving them advantages, you know, like in the case of Mexico. In the case of many other countries. Like Ireland is, youre losing Pfizer to Ireland, a great pharmaceutical company that with many, many jobs and its going to move to Ireland.

The remarks came in response to a question from Fred Hiatt, the Washington Posts editorial page editor, about whether Trump believed there are disparities in law enforcement.

Trump instead turned to the subject of other countries taking American jobs, saying:

Ive read where there are and Ive read where there arent. I mean, Ive read both. And, you know, I have no opinion on that. Because frankly, what Im saying is you know we have to create incentives for people to go back and to reinvigorate the areas and to put people to work. And you know we have lost million and millions of jobs to China and other countries. And theyve been taken out of this country, and when I say millions, you know its, its tremendous. Ive seen 5 million jobs, Ive seen numbers that range from 6 million to, to smaller numbers. But its many millions of jobs, and its to countries all over.

Mexico is really becoming the new China. And I have great issue with that. Because you know I use in speeches sometimes Ford or sometimes I use Carrier  its all the same: Ford, Carrier, Nabisco, so many of the companies  theyre moving to Mexico now. And you know we shouldnt be allowing that to happen. And tremendous unemployment, tremendous. Theyre allowing tremendous people that have worked for the companies for a long time, theyre allowing, if they want to move around and they want to work on incentives within the United States, thats one thing, but when they take these companies out of the United States.

As the Washington Post noted in an annotated transcript of the interview, Trump did not get the story quite straight with Ireland.

In November, in what is known as a reverse inversion, Allergan, a smaller, Dublin-based pharmaceutical company that most notably produces Botox, acquired Pfizer, the US-based pharma giant behind Viagra and Lipitor. The $160 billion merger created what is now the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

The merger will see Pfizer move its corporate headquarters to Dublin, which will allow it to take advantage of Irelands cushier corporate tax rate and save an estimated $1 billion each year.

Many US lawmakers, including President Obama, have criticized Pfizer, Apple and other massive corporations for using Ireland as an unpatriotic loophole to escape paying higher US corporate tax.

That, rather than the loss of jobs, had been the main criticism surrounding the Allergan-Pfizer deal. As this Forbes article pointed out, the merger is not likely to result in major job losses, and the majority of the companys work force will not be based in Ireland.

Trump has previously highlighted Irelands allure as a tax base for large corporations, vowing that he will entice them to return to America by lowering corporate taxes.

Were not going to be losing our companies, he said in his post-Super Tuesday victory speech. Our companies are leaving our country rapidly, whether its Carrier air conditioning, whether its Ford, whether its Eaton  Pfizer  great company   theyre going to Ireland and theres so many more.

Watch the video here:

In that same speech, he also maintained that it would be no sweat for him to change the US corporate tax rate: If I sat down with a few of the senators or a few of the congressmen, you could make a deal on that in 10 minutes if you knew what you were doing.

At the time of the Pfizer-Allergan merger Hillary Clinton also spoke out against the practice of corporate tax inversions, saying in a statement:

For too long, powerful corporations have exploited loopholes that allow them to hide earnings abroad to lower their taxes. Now Pfizer is trying to reduce its tax bill even further.

This proposed merger, and so-called inversions by other companies, will leave U.S. taxpayers holding the bag. As President, I will fight to reform our tax system to reward growth, innovation, and job creation here in the United States. We cannot delay in cracking down on inversions that erode our tax base.

Do you think Trumps suggestion that Ireland is stealing jobs from the US holds any weight? Do you believe hed be able to change the corporate tax rate that easily? Share your thoughts in the comment section, below.
Fresh from this years Oscar hype for her role in Brooklyn, there is no rest for our honorary ambassador Saoirse Ronan.

The Carlow native is is currently starring in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible and decided to pop in to have a chat with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
Irish Counsellors say they are receiving an increasing number of calls from people suffering the effects of "digital shame".

The term applies where people regret what they say or post online, often when tired, upset or after consuming alcohol.
999 call operators in Navan are to go on strike again in a row over pay and conditions.

Workers will not answer emergency calls for a 12-hour period on Thursday the April 7.

However, other 999 call centres in Dublin and Ballyshannon are expected to operate as normal.

Conduit Global, who run the service, have said they strongly regret the decision by the Communications Workers Union to take industrial action.

They have also accused the CWU of choosing to place its own interests over critical public services.

Update 12.45pm: CWU general secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick, has called on BT/Conduit Global to avoid a serious escalation of industrial action at the 999 call centres by engaging directly with the CWU.

He said: BT/Conduits intransigence during this dispute and their recklessness towards the 999 call service has forced our members into taking further industrial action just to achieve minimum acceptable standards in their workplace.

Its beyond belief that two profitable multinational corporations are unable to find the money to give low-paid workers who do an important and stressful job an extra 50 cent per hour.

These corporations engage constructively with unions in their operations elsewhere yet are refusing to respect the wishes of workers in the 999 call service here to be represented by their union, the CWU.

This action can be avoided if BT/Conduit engage constructively with the CWU.

We have told BT/Conduit that we are prepared to deal with them directly or under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. We hope they take us up on that offer.
President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US relations with Latin America's dictatorships in the 1970s damaged its image in the region, but said he hoped the release of long-classified documents about Argentina's "dirty war" would rebuild trust.

Mr Obama made the comments on the eve of the 40th anniversary of a military coup that would lead to one of the most brutal regimes in Latin American history.

Ahead of his visit, last week the Obama administration announced it would declassify thousands of CIA, FBI and other internal documents that could shed light on one of the South American nation's most painful chapters.

"I don't want to go through the list of every activity of the United States in Latin America," Mr Obama said, answering a question about his presence during the anniversary. He then noted that fighting communism was a focus of America's foreign policy in the 1970s.

"One of the great things about America, and I said this in Cuba, was that we engage in a lot of self-criticism," said Mr Obama, standing next to Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Mr Obama arrived to Argentina early on Wednesday after an historic visit in Cuba. The two-day visit comes as Mr Macri has gone to great lengths to repair relations after years of antagonism by the previous administrations.

Mr Obama has made no secret of his preference for Mr Macri over his left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez.

Later Mr Obama planned to hear from young Argentinians at a town hall meeting in what's become a hallmark of his trips abroad. Joined by first lady Michelle Obama, the president was to be feted by Mr Macri at a state dinner in the evening, marking the first such visit by a US president in nearly two decades.

Despite efforts to keep the focus on the future, Mr Obama's visit has been clouded by a renewed look at Argentina's past and questions about America's role in the Argentina's 1976 military coup and the dictatorship that followed.

"On this anniversary and beyond, we are absolutely determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Mr Obama.

In another gesture directed toward the victims of Argentina's "Dirty War," Mr Obama planned to visit Remembrance Park in Buenos Aires on Thursday. Argentina's government estimates some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared under force during the crackdown on leftist dissidents, though activists say the number is as high as 30,000.

Mr Obama's visit to Argentina, like his visit this week to Cuba, aims to bolster his efforts to keep the US focused on economically important regions like Latin America and Asia, even while dealing with pressing security concerns in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Update 5.55pm: The Irish flag to be flown at half-mast tomorrow and Thursday "out of respect for those who lost their lives in Brussels and following the tragedy in Buncrana".

Update 5pm: Senior United Nations officials have strongly condemned today's terrorist bombings in Brussels, extending condolences to the victims and their families while expressing solidarity with the people and Government of Belgium.

A statement issued by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said the despicable attacks today struck at the heart of Belgium and the centre of the European Union.

The Secretary-General hopes those responsible will be swiftly brought to justice. He is confident that Belgium's and Europe's commitment to human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence will continue to be the true and lasting response to the hatred and violence of which they became a victim today, it added.

Also reacting to the terror attack, the President of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, said he is horrified.

We have in the last week seen atrocities in Turkey, Ivory Coast and now in Belgium. It must be condemned in the strongest terms, Mr. Lykketoft said in a statement.

Acts of terrorism are unjustifiable regardless of their motivation and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes on of the most serious threats to international peace and security. Acts of terrorism have no place in the modern world and only serve to strengthen the resolve of governments the world over to find and prosecute the individuals responsible, he added.

Meanwhile, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said it is deeply shocked by the tragic attacks perpetrated today.

This is not an attack on Belgium, it is an attack on us all and sadly these tragic events remind us again that we are facing a global threat that needs to be addressed globally, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

Update 1.40pm: The National Security Council will meet this afternoon to review Ireland's security arrangements following the Brussels attacks.

The council includes the Garda Commissioner, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, and the heads of four government departments.

Update 1.25pm: Authorities tell people in Brussels to stay where they are, bringing the city to a standstill.

In Paris, France's top security official said the country was immediately reinforcing security at airports, train stations and metros.

Update 12.55pm: President Michael D Higgins has told Belgium's King Philippe of the sympathy of the Irish people "at this most difficult time".

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the attacks and the tragic loss of lives in Brussels today," he said. "These attacks strike at the fundamental right of all to live in peace.

"These actions must not undermine the will of all Europeans to live and work together."

President Higgins expressed his "sincerest condolences" to the families of all those bereaved and affected by the bombings.

"All of our thoughts are with the people of Brussels at this time of tragedy," he added.

Update 12.05pm: Minister for European Affairs Dara Murphy TD has expressed his horror at news of this mornings explosions in Brussels.

I was deeply saddened and horrified to hear the terrible news coming from Brussels this morning of multiple explosions and reported loss of life in Europes capital.

My thoughts are with those affected, the people of Brussels, and with the large Irish community in Brussels and Belgium.

"The Consular Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in conjunction with the Irish Embassy in Belgium, are working with the local authorities.

"Anyone with concerns for family and friends can contact the Consular Division of the Department on +353 1 418 0200.

Irish citizens in Brussels or Belgium are being advised to exercise caution and closely follow the instructions of local authorities.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs will be updating its guidance in consultation with the Authorities as this situation unfolds."

Update 11.45am: Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services at the airport, said the first explosion took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight baggage. He and a colleague said second blast hit near the Starbucks cafe.

"We heard a big explosion. It's like when you're in a party and suddenly your hearing goes out, from like a big noise," Mr Deloos said, adding that shredded paper floated through the air as a colleague told him to run.

"I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe," he said.

Tom De Doncker, 21, check-in agent intern, was near the site of the second explosion.

"I saw a soldier pulling away a body," he said. "It felt like I was hit too" from the concussion of the blast.

Update 11.25am: Ryanair have issued a statement saying: "Brussels Zaventem Airport is closed until 6am tomorrow and as a result, all of our remaining Brussels Zaventem flights have been cancelled.

"Flights to/from Brussels Charleroi are running, although with some delays at the airport. Customers due to travel to/from Brussels Zaventem today should check the Ryanair.com website for the latest information. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims."

Update 10.44am: Associated Press has quoted Brussels police spokesman Christian De Coninck saying there were deaths at Maelbeek.

"There are victims, serious injury, people have died. I have no idea yet on the numbers of injured or dead," he is quoted as saying.

Walking in darkness along metro tracks in Brussels - video via Jennifer Dassy of @RTBF LIVE: https://t.co/xmlDcDTtcW pic.twitter.com/yQkWA6epV0  Mark Frankel (@markfrankel29) March 22, 2016

Update 10.35am: Anthony Barrett, 50, who works for the Wales Audit Office was in his room in the Sheraton Brussels Airport Hotel when the blast occured.

"I looked at the window and could see people fleeing the terminal building," he said.

"Police began evacuating the airport and there were multiple casualties. At one point, I counted 22 people being stretchered into ambulances."

"I could see armed police were taking cover behind a number of parked cars. I don't know if they had a suspect cornered."

Update 10.12am: The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has increased its security setting for Belgium.

"Any Irish citizens in Belgium should exercise extreme caution and closely follow the instructions of the local authorities," it stated this morning.

Update 10.05am: Ryanair have released a list of cancelled flights due the Brussels attacks, you can view them here.

You can also view a list of diverted Ryanair flights here.

Update 10am: Aer Lingus is offering free changes and refunds to anyone travelling to Brussels today.

#Brussels flights cancelled for Tuesday 22 Mar

EI 631 BRU-DUB

EI 638 DUB-BRU

EI 639 BRU-DUB

Free change/refund online or via +353 1 886 8989  Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) March 22, 2016

Update 9.32am: Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told BFM television that the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with blood from victims.

"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said.

"There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere."

"We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene."

UPDATE PHOTO Main hall of Brussels airport after the blast. live coverage: https://t.co/xejEmy28Qm pic.twitter.com/819IjV5rSM  AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) March 22, 2016

Update 9.22am: Near the entrance to the Maelbeek subway station, not far from the headquarters of the European Union, rescue workers set up a makeshift treatment centre in a local pub.

Brussels blasts: Another explosion target a metro station near EU headquarters https://t.co/ycSZeaNmgO  FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) March 22, 2016

Dazed and shocked morning travellers streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.

"The metro was leaving Maelbeek station when there was a really loud explosion," said Alexandre Brans, 32, wiping blood from his face.

"It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro."

First responders ran through the street outside with two people on stretchers, their clothes badly torn.

Update 9.11am: Belgian broadcaster VRT is reporting that at least 13 people have been killed and 35 severely injured in the airport blasts.

#Belgium federal prosecutor confirms 13 dead to Belgian radio.  Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) March 22, 2016

Update 9am: An Associated Press reporter has said that several people were injured in explosion at Maalbeek metro station.

Update 8.24am: It is now being reported that an explosion has been heard at a Brussels metro station close to EU buildings.

Another photo of #Brussels metro blast.. the Maalbeek station was targeted soon after explosions hit airport pic.twitter.com/3fSAbEe01z  Tayyab Khan (@TayyabYounis) March 22, 2016

Just arrived at Schuman station after walking on the tracks. pic.twitter.com/4xc0YCQmIv  Evan Lamos (@evanlamos) March 22, 2016

Update 8.07am: Belgian authorities have confirmed that at least one person has died in today's explosions at Brussels Airport, the BBC has reported.

Update 7.56am: The BBC has reported that the Belgian fire service has told local media that there are several dead and wounded.

Update 7.40am: Sky News Middle East correspondent Alex Rossi said people were "dazed and shocked".

"The word is definitely two explosions.

Passengers that are still located in other area's in the airport are asked to remain calm and wait for further information.  Brussels Airport (@BrusselsAirport) March 22, 2016

"The thinking here by everybody is that it is some kind of terrorist attack although that hasn't been verified by anyone here at the airport.

There have been 2 explosions at the airport. Building is being evacuated. Don't come to the airport area.  Brussels Airport (@BrusselsAirport) March 22, 2016

"No word too of casualties. Don't know how the explosion took place, the method if you like. But it certainly seems Brussels airport has been targeted in a terrorist attack.

"We are all being moved out of the airport now towards the emergency exit.

"There is a great deal of confusion here. Certainly there are a number of very upset, as you might imagine, very frightened people."

He added: "There are fears that there might be other attackers."

Authorities have released the following emergency number for anyone seeking information about relatives in the area: (+32) 02 506 47 11.  FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) March 22, 2016

Update 7.35am: The incident came as the Belgian capital was on a state of high alert following the arrest of Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam in the city last week.

Sky News Middle East correspondent Alex Rossi, who was at the airport en route for Tel Aviv, told the channel: "I could feel the buildings move."

According to reports the incident centred on an American Airlines desk in a departure hall.

Belgian media were reporting several casualties.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said one of the attackers was caught in Turkey in June last year and deported to Belgium.

Some 34 people were killed and 270 others injured in the bombings at Brussels airport and Maelbeek metro station yesterday.
The campaign to bring in energy investment comes at a crucial time for the north African Opec producer as it tackles lower revenues and stagnating production.

Algeria, a key gas supplier to Europe, is also in talks with EU officials on holding a summit in Algiers in May that will discuss energy investment opportunities in Algeria as EU leaders look to diversify from Russian gas.

The switch to bilateral deals follows two energy bidding tenders that failed to attract much interest. A bid scheduled for last year was cancelled because of low crude prices.

Direct negotiations are a more efficient, less expensive, a faster, and a less bureaucratic approach, the Sonatrach source said of the talks.

The source did not give details of the other firms and ENI declined to comment.

The stakes being sold are expected to leave Sonatrach the majority holder as Algerian law dictates.

The 20 fields, which the source said Sonatrach took over from state hydrocarbons agency Alnaft in September as part of the streamlining process, include oil and gas fields across the centre and south of the country in places such as Ouargla and Adrar provinces, and Illizi near the Libyan border.

As part of the campaign, Sonatrach chief Amine Mazouzi will travel to China at the end of the month for meetings with Chinese oil companies Sinopec and CNPC, which are already operating in Algeria.

Algerias energy potential is not in doubt, but oil executives say tough terms on production-sharing contracts, bureaucracy and other problems make the country less attractive.

Reforms to open up the and gas sector to foreign investment in 2005 were reversed a year later, adding a windfall tax and more Sonatrach control, when oil prices were high and Algerias reserves were in good shape.

Security is also a factor after the 2013 attack on the In Amenas plant run by BP and Statoil with Sonatrach in which 40 oil workers died.

BP and Statoil on Monday said they were reducing staff in Algeria after rockets hit another gas plant last week.
We travelled to the Portuguese capital for a short break and were taking a tour of the city after dusk.

They have two important monuments there, one dedicated to the famous explorer Vasco da Gama, the other a giant statue of Christ with outstretched arms, which is located above the city.

The striking feature of both iconic Portuguese sites was that they were bathed in green light, displaying solidarity with Ireland ahead of St Patricks Day.

It says something about a nations spirit of community and friendship to do something like that  allow two of its most important features to be associated with another nations identity.

Portugal, you may remember, was lumped in to the acronym Pigs during the Global Financial Crisis to describe the economic crisis besetting Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain.

It was invented by some clever clown in investment banking working from London and was gleefully seized upon by parts of the Irish media and commentators therein.

It was an ignorant, sneering, and disgusting term then, and is even more outrageous now as we can carefully analyse what actually happened in 2008 and after.

The rich irony is that Pigs was created as a term by the same system that foisted a debt-fuelled mania upon financial markets worldwide.

It was global investment banks that devised the esoteric financial instruments that allowed scandalous volumes of debt to be written off by institutions and individuals in many markets, and that egregious behaviour was especially pronounced in smaller economies that were structurally incapable of managing any subsequent turbulence.

There is no way you can attribute the debt frenzy that gripped Portugal as being a function of the rapacious greed of its citizens.

Any analysis of the data, with an accompanying series of anecdotal meetings with people who live there, will show it as clearly as it appears in Ireland, Spain, and even Greece.

Instead, you have to explore the lofty environs of the richest financial institutions on the planet to find traces of how entire countries have been left with fractured financial and political systems.

In Lisbon, it is clear that the political problems thrown up by the financial crisis are significant.

Hard left communist parties have high visibility there, as they do in Spain.

Much of that can be tied back to history, when strong anti-capitalist movements existed in both countries, but they have been reignited by the recent financial and economic crisis.

The hard decisions taken in that country, in a similar vein to Ireland, have thrown up political consequences that challenge the working of a true democracy.

It will take years for Portugal to extricate itself from this economic predicament.

Unlike Ireland, its economy is narrowly based, with tourism and agriculture having relatively high shares of output.

Its foreign direct investment levels are low compared to Ireland, hindered by relatively high corporate tax rates and language barriers that keep its appeal limited for mobile investors.

Yet none of that should detract from the rich history of an economy that was once a trading powerhouse.

Its colonial influence has dissipated, although connections to economies such as Angola and Brazil remain strong.

Both of those are now struggling as energy markets have capsized, plunging Brazil into recession and weakening the recent strength of its African ally.

For Europe, it is important that economies such as Portugal recover and help build a more cohesive eurozone.

The strong liquidity policy instruments introduced by the ECB in recent months are designed to assist that process.

In Lisbon, you can see evidence of that as the construction sector helps advance the capital of a population of 10.5m people.

As Portugal shows solidarity towards Ireland we too should be strong allies of this important so-called peripheral economy as it strives to recover a level of economic normality.

Joe Gill is director of corporate broking at Goodbody Stockbrokers. His views are personal.
Seen as the first major examination of the potential economic effects of an all-island economy, the Modeling Irish Unification report  undertaken by Canadian consultancy KLC and University of British Columbia academics, who have carried out similar reports on German and Korean unification  suggests significant long-term improvement in the economies of both the North and the Republic resulting from unification.

Its publication is set against the backdrop of continuing debate around Irish economic growth and the looming Brexit referendum.

Report contributor Marcus Noland noted: Northern Ireland is falling ever further behind the Republic in terms of economic development and said future relations between North and South potentially could become more problematic due to the possibility of the UKs withdrawal from the EU.

The North would particularly benefit from unification  with its exports initially rising by 5% and long-term GDP per capita increasing by 4%-7.5%  after adopting the euro and the Irish tax system; while the Republic would benefit from barrier-free access to the Northern market.

The North would also see greater openness to foreign direct investment, the authors note, and diminished trade barriers between it and other eurozone members.

It would see improved economic development and salary levels while the Republic would benefit from improved economies of scale for investment.

Lead researcher Kurt Hubner said the study points to strong positive unification effects.

While these effects occur in a static global economic environment, under ideal political conditions, they underline the potential of political and economic unification when it is supported by smart economic policy, said Dr Hubner.

GDP in the Republic could rise by 30m to 152m in the year of policy implementation. In total, Irish unification could boost all- island GDP in the first eight years by as much as 35.6bn, the report concluded.
A similar claim is in the offing at Bus Eireann.

Last February, the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) wrote to Dublin Bus telling it the Luas operation would be an appropriate comparator by which the role of bus driver would be measured. It said it had been eight years since bus workers had received a pay increase and that, during that time, ordinary everyday costs have risen.

At that point, the union said the pensionable rate of pay for both Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann drivers is 32,547, while for Luas drivers the rate is 42,247. NBRU said that, when other pay aspects were taken into account, the gap in pay is in the region of 3,000 to 4,000.

However, the demand for parity with Luas workers was lodged in advance of last weeks proposed deal between Transdev, the operators of the Luas, and its staff, which will see pay increases of up to 18.7%.

While the Luas workers are being balloted this week on the terms of that deal, the NBRU has said its demand from the bus companies will have to increase in tandem with whatever the Luas drivers finally get.

The pay increase bus drivers are demanding will also have to include the 6% increase which, the union says, was not paid as part of the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement.

The Labour Court is likely to make a recommendation based on the positions taken by the driver representatives and Dublin Bus.

NBRU general secretary Dermot OLeary said that if the recommendation was not acceptable, the union would have to look at balloting for industrial action up to strike.

A spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said the company will be making a submission to the Labour Court today which will outline in full our companys position.

Meanwhile, on the train network, where a pay claim of up to 25% has been lodged, the next flashpoint looks likely to be early April, when Irish Rail is to implement a 10-minute Dart service.

Sources have indicated the prospect of industrial unrest over the pay claim might be pushed further down the tracks if the roll-out of the more frequent Dart service on April 10 does not go ahead.

The rail company has said it remains in an extremely difficult financial position and in relation to the union opposition to the Dart frequency increase, it said: We will only emerge from this by ensuring our business can grow in line with demand and through meeting our customers requirements.

We will review how best to proceed to ensure we can meet those requirements at the earliest possible opportunity.
Families facing eviction from their homes in Tyrrelstown yesterday marched on Leinster House before attending a debate on the housing and homeless crisis in the Dail.

Speaking in the Dail, Mr Kenny said a new housing initiative similar to the Action Plan for Jobs would be rolled out within four weeks of his party re- entering power.

He said it is imperative that a new Government take immediate action on housing.

Mr Kenny said: It is my ambition that after forming a stable government that it would introduce a new housing initiative within four weeks.

Similar to the jobs initiative the previous government introduced within 100 days of taking office to deal with the major unemployment crisis, this new housing initiative will be designed to tackle this crisis. It would also be my intention to appoint a new Cabinet-level minister for housing to take the lead on the development of the initiative, Mr Kenny said.

AAA-PBP TD Ruth Coppinger said emergency legislation is needed to give security of tenure to all tenants or home owners whose houses have been bought up by non-bank investment funds.

These funds have been buying property on a large scale unhindered and encouraged by the government and it is now time for the government to act. To be very clear, 100 families in Tyrrelstown would mean up to 200 adults and potentially 400 or 500 children leaving the area.

It is completely untenable that people would be forced to move out of their community where they attend school, play GAA, and take part in daily life, she said.

Tyler and Jayden Murphy, from Tyrrelstown, during yesterdays protest in Dublin.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly told the Dail that the local authority in Fingal has attempted to purchase the houses in Tyrellstown. Fingal County Council and housing association have been in touch and have been working on trying to purchase those units. And I dont want to get into too much detail on that. But the facts are that activity did take place and it wasnt like they didnt try. I want to put that on the record and I know that the chief executive did that with his own councillors.

Lucy Teslaru and her daughter Aura Eva were among the families are facing eviction from their homes after a vulture fund moved to sell the development they are living in.

We got a letter a few weeks ago which said in two months time I have to leave, she said as she attended the Dail. Last week I go a second letter, and in the second letter it said we could stay until we find another place. But its extremely difficult to find another place.

She now fears she will have to leave the area where she works and where her daughter goes to school. Her 12-year-old daughter said: Thinking about moving into homeless accommodation is scary.

Fianna Fail housing spokesman Barry Cowen said vulture funds, which are subject to no regulation, are threatening up to 47,000 homeowners throughout the country. It is a well-known fact that the outgoing Government failed miserably in its efforts to deal with housing, he told the Dail.
The assessment of threat levels followed a day of drama in the Belgian capital and as the National Security Council met to examine the potential threat facing Ireland.

In a statement released as the Brussels death toll continued to rise and amid a notably increased security presence around Leinster House  including a Garda helicopter  a spokesperson for the Department of An Taoiseach said an attack on Ireland is possible, but unlikely.

However, the spokes- person confirmed that a small number of people living in Ireland are being closely monitored by gardai and security personnel due to fears they may take part in an attack.

We cannot consider that we are immune from the threat. It remains the case that an attack here is assessed as possible but not likely. The level of threat is kept under constant review by An Garda Siochana and all appropriate measures will continue to be taken.

The activities of a small number of people based here and whose behaviour may be of concern will continue to be monitored closely.

Late last year, gardai confirmed up to 40 Irish citizens have travelled to North Africa and the Middle East to fight with Islamic State.

After an early-morning cabinet meeting yesterday, caretaker Taoiseach Enda Kenny ordered the National Security Council  which consists of the secretary generals of the departments of An Taoiseach, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and the chief of staff of the gardai  to meet to assess the threat facing this country.

While the group concluded that there is no immediate threat and decided against increasing airport security, there was a noticeably increased Garda presence outside Leinster House.

Meanwhile, large parts of yesterdays Dail proceedings saw party leaders condemn the Brussels attacks before a minutes silence for those who died.

While confirming no Irish citizen is known to have died or been injured by the events in Belgium, Mr Kenny said the numbers who have lost their lives are substantial and the horrific incident cannot be repeated.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the bombings are an attack on all of us and strike at the very heart of European people and the European Union.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams condemned the attacks in the strongest possible terms, while leading Independent Alliance TD Shane Ross said he wanted to express his utter revulsion over the incidents.

Acting Tanaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton said while the attacks fly under the flag of religion, they are political in nature.

Anti-Austerity Alliance-People before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the purposes of the attacks would appear to be an attempt to divide people and creation a situation of racism in western countries.

Speaking yesterday from the European parliament in Brussels, Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes said officials had been told to stay indoors, well be here for the foreseeable future, while Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan urged Irish citizens in Belgium to take extreme caution.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the attacks are another dreadful reminder of the savagery of terrorists. Noting the dark history of this island she added: We have to bear in mind that an attack on our European neighbours is an attack on us all.
A verdict of misadventure was returned at Limerick Coroners Court yesterday into the death of Jason Morrissey, 25, of Church St, Toomevara, Co Tipperary.

Efforts to revive him in the early hours of December 27, 2014, failed.

In 2012, Morrissey had received a total of 18 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to unlawfully killing another man with one punch, and other offences. His 14-year sentence for manslaughter was reduced to 10 years on appeal in 2014.

Prison officer Timmy Ryan checked, through a cell spy hole, on Morrissey around 4am. He did not see Morrissey breathing and raised the alarm.

Aidan OMahony, assistant chief officer, said he opened the cell and commenced CPR. There was froth on Morrisseys mouth and ambulance medics, who arrived, continued the procedure.

In reply to Barry Ward, counsel for the Irish Prison Service, Mr OMahony said in order to open a cell door, two keys were needed. Prison officers had one key and the assistant chief officer held the second master key as a security measure.

Mr OMahony said prisoners were locked down around 7.30pm and remained in their cells until 6.30am. Cells were checked every hour but, on that night, there had been about 17 checks.

A nurse, Sean Carey, said Morrissey was cold and foam was coming from his mouth. He started CPR and called for a defibrillator. He kept working on the prisoner for about 20 minutes until ambulance medics arrived.

Deputy State pathologist Margot Bolster said an autopsy showed Morrisseys lungs were heavy and congested. Toxicology tests found four different drugs: Heroin, methadone, and two benzodiazepines.

While the quantities of each, on their own, would not have been fatal, a combination of all four would be. Dr Bolster said death was due to aspiration of vomit.

She informed his family, who attended the hearing, the deceased had slipped into a coma without suffering. The jury returned a verdict of misadventure.

Inspector of Prisons Michael Reilly published a report on Morrisseys death and deemed all appropriate checks and actions had been taken by staff.

Meanwhile, in a separate inquest, an open verdict was recorded after an angler died after falling, and drowning, in the Shannon River.

When the body of Nicholas Lyons, 34, from St Itas St, St Marys Park was recovered, a mark was found on his jaw.

Limerick City coroner John McNamara said there was some concern about the circumstances.

Toxicology tests showed Mr Lyons was considerably intoxicated and had tranquilisers taken with alcohol. This could have led him to fall into the river.

State pathologist Marie Cassidy said death was consistent with drowning. Drink and medication were contributory factors. Prof Cassidy said she could not exclude a jaw injury which could have been caused by a blow, a punch or an impact.

Gardai were satisfied there had been no foul play but the coroner stated: Clearly, without any doubt, Nicholas Lyons did not intend to die that night.

Because there are some concerns, I think the most appropriate verdict is an open verdict. There are some questions unanswered.
The gang, led by a notorious criminal, numbers around 15 people and centres around an extended family.

Garda sources said it has been operating for around 20 years and involves generations of the same family.

This gang is one of the most prominent travelling criminal gangs in the country, said a Garda source.

In yesterdays operation, led by gardai from the south east region, more than 80 members took part in nine co-ordinated searches.

It included a number of specialist national agencies, including the Criminal Assets Bureau and Revenue.

In a statement, a Garda spokesman said that the search operation was the result of an intelligence-led investigation in the Waterford and Wexford Divisions.

The spokesman said gardai were targeting an organised criminal gang operating nationally and in the south eastern region.

The operation has over 80 gardai taking part in a total of nine co-ordinated searches with the assistance of the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, Garda Air Support, and officers from Revenue Custom and Excise, said the spokesman.

He added that property, believed to have been stolen, worth in the region of 75,000 was recovered and two arrests were made.

It emerged that the gang is considered to be one of the countrys seven biggest travelling gangs.

This gang systematically targets two or three places in a country and returns home, said a garda source.

These are professional thieves who are gainfully employed travelling the length and breadth of the country, robbing old people, jewellers, committing burglaries, and amassing a fortune.

He said the gang is led by an individual involved in crime for some 20 years and comprises an extended family, involving sons, wives and nephews, who are from the Travelling community.

Gardai number the gang as having about 15 members, as well as hangers-on.

The source said these gangs were becoming more and more forensically aware and that it was very difficult to catch them.

This operation is part of a hit list drawn up by CAB, focusing on these seven gangs.

In addition to the gang hit yesterday, they include three gangs in west Dublin, an international gang based in Limerick, as well as a gang in Galway and the Midlands.

CAB boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Eugene Corcoran, told the Irish Examiner in January that the activities of these gangs had become a particular menace and a primary focus for Garda operations.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland claims a moratorium on school middle-management posts is undermining supports. The union commissioned a Millward Brown poll of 1,749 teachers and principals. 82% of principals said the moratorium undermines pastoral care structures. Some 40% of principals said Department of Education guidelines on student mental health are not adequately implemented.

Schools have lost an average of six middle-management posts (known as posts of responsibility) since 2009, the union said. These posts are focused on student pastoral-care structures and include year heads and class tutors, whose responsibilities, typically, incorporate student attendance, student engagement, and monitoring of students at risk.
As evidenced in Co Mayo with the success of the Great Western Greenway, there is a tourism spin-off for parts of the country where jobs are scarce.

Negotiations with landowners have been successful in Mayo and along the route of the Great Southern Trail, in Co Limerick, for instance, but serious difficulties have arisen which are halting progress in other areas, including Co Kerry.

A proposed South Kerry Greenway along a disused railway line on the Ring of Kerry, from Glenbeigh to Caherciveen, has been hailed as worldclass and something that will outshine the Mayo greenway. However, 23 landowners are not happy and some want the greenway rerouted.

Kerry County Council has already secured 4m for the 32km greenway and county chief executive Moira Murrell has warned money could be lost if progress is delayed. The greenway would give a boost to an emigration- hit area. It would be a real shame if it is lost.

Parts of the route runs along a hillside, commanding spectacular views of Dingle Bay, the Skelligs and the mountains of the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas. An old railway bridge into Caherciveen, still in fairly good condition, would also be used and the greenway would end at Renard, from where the ferry departs for Valentia.

The council does not want to change its county development plan to allow the route move away from the old line at certain locations: were the plan to change, other landowners would have to be dealt with, which might create further problems.

Also, plans to extend the Great Southern Trail along a 50km stretch of another disused railway line from the Kerry/Limerick border, near Abbeyfeale, to Fenit, outside Tralee, are facing strong opposition from farmers, some of whom claim rights to the CIE-owned line. All of which is leading to frustration among walkers and people in tourism.

In contrast, despite the very wet, winter, Waterford City and County Council has continued to press ahead with a 48km greenway along another old, CIE-owned railway line from the city to Dungarvan. The full greenway through the Deise is due to open in the summer. Failte Ireland is promoting it.

Great Southern Trail chairman Liam OMahony is concerned theres no apparent impetus by Kerry County Council to extend the trail through north Kerry. Thus, the opportunity to have Irelands longest greenway (90km) at the doorstep of Kerry and Shannon airports is being lost and so is the spinoff to local businesses, he says.
AS IMAGES of the explosions in Brussels saturate the media, our thoughts naturally turn to the victims and their families. Coming in the wake of the November attacks in Paris, the images from Brussels suggest a frightening vision of the future. Security and insecurity will surely increase.

But what can we do? What constitutes a measured and effective response?

The Irish Research Council is funding a pilot project, which I co-ordinate, that aims to develop answers to these questions. Resilience and Security Tactics (RESET) aims to better understand the behaviours and responses of members of the public, and emergency responders, during terrorist attacks.

Of course, thankfully, terrorist attacks are rare events and, for countries like Ireland, the threat level is low. That said, EUROPOL, the European police agency, warns that terrorism in Europe is likely to increase in the future.

Recent attacks often show a particular pattern: the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the active shooter attacks in Bataclan are designated as Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attacks (MTFA).

The sickening fact is that the more these attacks happen the more we know about how to react. By looking closely at such attacks, from Norway to Nairobi, we see various motivations, actions and reactions, but we also see some similarities. We are also struck by a simple fact. It takes time before emergency services and armed responders arrive: At least 10 minutes, and in a terrorist attack, even 10 minutes can be an enormous amount of time.

Our research is about the anthropology of 10 minutes. The simple fact is that we know very little about how people behave in that brief but intense period of time.

Security experts and analysts study MTFA and seek to understand the extraordinary violence involved in attacking innocent civilians using, essentially, weapons of war. The impact of a bullet fired from an assault rifle is devastating, and victims will often die from bleeding.

RESET works with St John Ambulance as a partner in order to analyse emergency responder preparedness. We are thinking about potential ways to enhance training and the basic kit available in emergencies. However, when an MTFA occurs, responders face a number of problems.

For example, the area is not yet secured, and the possibility of a secondary attack exists. From a research point of view, then, we must understand what happens before the cavalry arrives. This brings us to human behaviours and responses.

During marauding attacks, people panic, freeze, hide, attempt to save each other, and even behave as ordinary heroes. As we watch these kinds of horrific events unfold in the media, who among us hasnt wondered: How would I behave?

We may wonder, but we also hope that we will never know the answer to that question.

Extreme events such as terrorist attacks also provide a window onto human behaviour under the most extreme circumstances. But, from our pilot study of events such as the Breivik massacre in Norway and the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, it is clear that simple discussions of crowd behaviour are insufficient.

Rather, we note crowd-like behaviour and individuals who break expected baselines; we also see numerous actions and reactions that seem to be culturally coded. Our role as our project continues will be to tease out these issues from available reports, interviewing survivors and responders as appropriate, and running workshops and exercises to gather together a sense of what good practice might be.

It is precisely during the moments in which shocking images of terrorism fill our newspapers and TV screens that we must summon moderation and reason. We should not summon evil demons and permit dangerous reactions that might threaten civil liberties. Terrorism is, after all, the result of human actions and, by focusing on human responses, we can be better prepared and more resilient.

Ireland has a potentially unique role to play here. We are a neutral country, yet our defence forces have carved an international reputation. An Garda Siochana have significant counter-terrorism experience. Memories of attacks still live on in state and non-state services, and the island of Ireland still experiences terrorism.

Graphic shows location of attacks.

We can gather this expertise together to help better prepare responders and members of the public across Europe. Perhaps the first lesson is that after terrorists strike, we often react through the prism of security services. Our project aims to find ways to put safety first.

Mark Maguire is head of the Maynooth University Department of Anthropology. Resilience and Security Tactics (RESET) is funded by the Irish Research Council
At 10.35am, acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed condolences to the families bereaved in the wake of the Buncrana drownings, and those who had suffered as a result of the Brussels bombings. It puts things into perspective and context, he concluded.

He was followed by the other party leaders and a few independent TDs. The feelings expressed were genuine and heartfelt. When the last of those sentiments were voiced, everybody quickly popped back into the bubble. The following half hour provided a window into the kind of political culture that is unlikely to just float away on a resolution to reform the Dail.

Mr Kenny told the House that he had two amendments to the order of business as originally scheduled for the day. That order had included statements on the EU summit and a council of agriculture ministers meeting, to be followed by a few hours on the matter of housing and homelessness.

Now, he said he wanted to include provision for non-party deputies to get their tuppence worth in and to increase the time on the domestic matter to four hours. It was as if a perfectly functioning government and the order of business was a filler for a slow day, wrapped up in statements to a chamber where half a dozen deputies might take the bare look off things.

This suits Fine Gael. The party wants breathing space to either woo independents or hope that pressure might accumulate at Fianna Fails door to enter a grand coalition. As of now, the latter option is whistling past the graveyard.

Mr Kennys late, late respect for the views of non-party deputies is directly attributable to his desperation to cling to office rather than exit in ignominy.

Opposition leader Micheal Martin was in compliant mood. He just suggested there should be proper co-ordination and consultation about any change to standing orders.

Mr Martin is currently engaged in perfecting a balancing act that should be requisite study for circus performers. He must give Fine Gael enough rope to govern in a minority capacity, but not enough to allow Sinn Fein claim that the big two are really de facto governing.

There is also the matter of extracting his party from the pledge to abolish Irish Water, largely because nobody in the country has come up with an alternative that wont involve biting off the States nose to spite its face. That stuff is all very well unless you have to be accountable. All of this must be achieved while fashioning an image of responsible statesman who will only bring down the government in the national interest on a matter of the gravest import.

Next up was Sinn Fein. The party had a fair to middling election, but is now cheesed off that Mr Martin wont clear off into government and free up the main opposition bench. Gerry Adams wanted a motion on the abolition of water charges and Irish Water to be included in the days business.

There are bombs going off in Brussels. The wretched of the earth are being washed onto the shores of Europe. People in this country live in increasing fear of losing their homes , yet Mr Adams is more concerned with a tactical manoeuvre to flush out Mr Martin. Four Sinn Fein deputies got to their feet to argue over the standing order, which was a dry run for the kind of filibustering we can expect in the absence of a grand coalition.

The party has signalled that it has no interest in attempting to implement its election promises by entering government, so instead it hopes to further its appeal by perfecting designer anger. In the current environment, there may be profit in this approach, but it will do absolutely nothing for the poor old national interest, not to mind the people the party purports to represent.

Independent TD John Halligan was one of the few to strike a genuine note.

We need to bring some common sense, he said. We have spent the last two years discussing housing and migration. I have a couple who will be added to the homeless by April 6 [the day of the next Dail sitting)] Whats the point if were going to talk about it and not make any decisions on issues affecting very many people in our country. I think its disgraceful.

As for the smaller parties, theyre a mixed bag too. The Social Democrats appear petrified to go into any government, and scared to say theyre not going to support any government.

The AAA/People Before Profit dont care whos in government as long as they can talk about water charges. The Independent Alliance is gearing up for a split that may end up leaving Shane Ross taking on the role of a political corpse.

Meanwhile, the Green Party have a unique approach to government in that they want an opportunity to implement some of the policies on which they ran their election campaign. Imagine? A party that wants to actually fulfil its promises.

Thats how things went yesterday in the bubble. One element of the much-touted Dail reform is to ensure that more voices are heard in the House. Too many were heard yesterday. Everybody wants reform but not on any terms that might rein up opportunities to chase cheap political capital at the drop of a hat.

If this is a taster for whats to come under a minority government, lock up the shop, batten down the hatches, and hope that the country can continue to run smoothly without a functioning executive.
The intolerance, the religious bigotry, the violence, the childish absurdity of black-or-white Sharia law and the vile subjugation of women by extreme  and that adjective is always necessary  Islam are an affront to the values we hold dear and, twice in the last century, made almost immeasurable sacrifices to defend.

Yesterdays savage attacks in Brussels are just the latest expression of that incoherent hatred channelled into coherent campaigns of terror, of planned but random killing, in pursuit of a political cause. That cause is entirely dependent on the oxygen of publicity generated by the latest bloodbath inflicted on ordinary people guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without that oxygen and the justified expressions of outrage, some of it extreme  and, right on cue up steps the odious Donald Trump  the disaffected and disinterested of the French banlieues or the semi-ghettoes like Molenbeek in Brussels might have a very different relationship with radical Islam. They would be, as many Europeans are to Christianity, aware but uncommitted, passive, and largely inactive.

The casual murder of unknown passers-by will never deliver a political victory but the real impact comes from our reaction, the public attention those murders secure, and the response of the political community are the real targets. Yesterdays victims are, tragically and heartbreakingly, little more than collateral damage in a terror campaign that has become the norm in continental Europe and an increasingly savage norm in many parts of Africa.

This new normal, intended to intimidate and cower, just proves how very impossible it is for any community or city to completely terror-proof itself. Intelligence work, no matter how deep and effective, cannot guarantee that the next suicide bomber sent by IS to wreak havoc in a European city will be intercepted. No amount of police work can neutralise the next Cherif and Said Kouachi before they launch another massacre. Determined bombers and killers, as our own sad history will confirm, will get through any net and to pretend otherwise is stupid and dangerous.

It is appropriate, and wise, though to try to assuage rather than antagonise the rage behind these atrocities. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that over the many, many decades  at least as far back as the 1917 Balfour Declaration in modern times  western countries policies towards the Muslim world have been constructive. Indeed, they have been counterproductive. So too have many of the policies in European countries where social assimilation was seen as an option rather than an obligation. This issue, a challenging one that cannot be avoided, will become ever more pressing as more and more Islamic refugees arrive on our shores looking for sanctuary we must provide. That refuge cannot be offered without an acceptance by refugees that European society is based on civil law and not religious law. Those who seek refuge here must freely accept that non-negotiable principle or else return to their homeland where religious zealotry has created a kind of armageddon.

It is time to to take a far harder look at the role Saudi Arabia plays in promoting radical Islam. Its oil, and our addiction to it, gives them latitude that has been misused. Nothing has threatened the stability and modernisation of the Arab world, and the Muslim world at large, more than the billions and billions the oil sheiks have spent over the last four decades destroying Islamic pluralism  the Sufi, moderate Sunni, and Shiite versions  and imposing puritanical, anti-modern, anti-women, anti-Western, anti-pluralistic Wahhabi Salafism. Thousands of Saudis have joined IS and Arab Gulf charities have supported these Sunni jihadist groups  IS, al-Qaeda, the Nusra Front  because they are the ideological children of the intolerant Wahhabism promoted by Saudi Arabia in mosques and madrasas from Morocco to Pakistan to Indonesia. Saudi Arabia cannot expect to be so indulged indefinitely  even by their Western allies who join them in multibillion-dollar arms deals.

As we deal with the shock of yesterdays Brussels atrocities we must prepare for the next attack on our way of life. There must be, in Europe, a two-pronged approach; first, a humanitarian one that offers genuine comfort and shelter to refugees and, second, prepare a security response that if  when  it is needed will be decisive. The grander objective, however, must be changing the environment in the Middle East that creates such hatred, violence, and intolerance.
The official said Iraqi officials had told European countries about the plans but Brussels was not part of the plans at the time.

He says IS militants changed the operation and moved it to Brussels because of the detention of Salah Abdeslam  the Paris attacks suspect arrested last week in Brussels.

Another senior Iraqi intelligence official said Daesh [IS] was behind this operation and it was planned in Raqqa two months ago and there are three suicide attackers who will carry out another attack.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity since the investigation was ongoing.

Intelligence officers described the attacks as sadly expected both as a revenge for the arrest of Europes most wanted man but also because jihadists were aware he could betray them.

Intelligence officers said they would have been concerned as Abdeslam twice pulled back from killing himself by triggering a suicide vest  once in Paris and then on the day of his arrest.

This showed a weakness, a desire to live which would have been played on during questioning, said an anti-terror specialist quoted by the Daily Mail.

He was not a man showing inner strength and the capacity to withstand interrogation, this meant that if those involved in todays attacks were known to him they believed they had to activate their plans before they too were arrested and their weapons seized.

Abdeslam is being held in a Belgian high-security prison, with France seeking his extradition so he can stand trial for his alleged role in the attacks that killed 130 people.

The 26-year-old Frenchman was arrested Friday after being run to ground by investigators in the same gritty Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels where he grew up. Much remains unclear about Abdeslams movements in the four months he managed to elude authorities multiple times.

Were still far from completing the puzzle, Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw acknowledged.
Alphonse Youla, 40, who works at Zaventem Airport luggage security, said that before the first bomb went off, he heard a man shouting something in Arabic.

Then, the tiled ceiling of the airport collapsed. I helped carry out five dead, with their legs destroyed, as if the bomb came from a piece of luggage, he told reporters, his hands covered in blood. Its from the people I carried out.

The federal prosecutor told a news conference one of the two explosions was likely to have been caused by a suicide bomber. A Belgian TV station reported that one of the bombs at the airport contained nails.

Flemish language broadcaster, VTM, interviewed Marc Decramer, of the Gasthuisberg hospital in Leuven, who said the hospital was treating 11 people with serious injuries, and three of them were critical. Mr Decramer said the wounded had fractures and deep cuts caused by flying glass and nails.

Passenger Paolo Saraca Volpini said an airport announcer spoke over the public address system about a quarter of an hour after the blasts, his voice breaking with emotion, and said in several languages we are experiencing an attack and asking people in Terminals A and B to stay where they were.

One passenger, who had cleared the security checks when the bombs went off, said that after the explosions, passengers inside the airport panicked and started running in search of shelter.

People were taking cover in shops and where they could. We managed to get on the plane, but it did not take off and then we were escorted out to busses to leave, said Sylwia Czerska.
Mr Ford rode into office on a backlash against urban elites. He cast an image sharply at odds with Canadas reputation for sedate, unpretentious politics.

His tenure as mayor of the countrys largest city was marred by revelations about his drinking problems and illegal drug use. He was repeatedly videotaped and photographed while intoxicated in public.

Nevertheless, after losing that office he was later elected by a landslide to a City Council seat, a job he held until his death.

One after another, his statements and actions became nightly fodder for TV comedians and an embarrassment to many of the suburbanites he championed.

Among the more notable: n Knocking over a 63-year-old female city councilor while rushing to the aid of his brother, councillor Doug Ford, who was insulting spectators in the council chamber; Threatening murder in a profane, incoherent rant captured by video; Swearing and slurring his words, calling the police chief a derogatory name, and trying to imitate a Jamaican accent in a different video.

However, his popularity continued. Even after a scandal broke about Mr Fords use of crack, hundreds of people lined up for dolls of the mayor, signed by Mr Ford himself.

As he sought a second term as mayor in 2014, Mr Ford was diagnosed with a rare cancer just two months before the election date.

Malignant liposarcoma in his abdomen forced him to do what months of scandals could not  drop his bid for re-election. He underwent a series of aggressive chemotherapy treatments.

With heavy hearts and profound sadness, the Ford family announces the passing of their beloved son, brother, husband, and father, councillor Rob Ford, earlier today at the age of 46, a statement from his family said.

A dedicated man of the people, councillor Ford spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto.

Current Toronto mayor John Tory said in a statement that the city is reeling with this news. He was a man who spoke his mind and who ran for office because of the deeply felt convictions that he had, said Mr Tory.

The international spotlight fell on Mr Ford in May 2013, when the Toronto Star and the US website Gawker reported the existence of a video that appeared to show the mayor inhaling from a crack pipe.

He denied the existence of the video but later backtracked when police said that they had obtained it. Although he became the subject of a police investigation, Ford was never charged with a crime.

According to police interviews, members of Mr Fords staff accused the mayor of frequently drinking, driving while intoxicated, and making sexual advances toward a female staffer.
British chancellor George Osborne has repeatedly refused to apologise over his partys attempt to introduce 1.3bn (1.64bn) a year cuts in disability benefits as he said the cost of abandoning the policy could be absorbed because public spending was under control.

The chancellor admitted the now-shelved cuts had been a mistake and said he had listened to and learned from concerns about the changes to the personal independence payment.

However, he stressed that the public finances had to be brought under control to protect people who would be crushed by a collapsing economy. Mr Osborne defended his record as he responded to Iain Duncan Smiths explosive resignation from the cabinet over cuts to the welfare budget.

Opening the final day of debate on the budget, Mr Osborne said he was part of a compassionate, one-nation Conservative government determined to deliver social justice and economic security and repeated his mantra that we are all in this together  a claim challenged by Mr Duncan Smith in his resignation letter.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell called for Mr Osborne to quit and said his behaviour calls into question his fitness for the office he now holds or, in a reference to the prospect of a future Tory leadership battle, any leading office in government.

Mr Osborne was challenged by a series of MPs to say sorry to the disabled people who feared losing out as a result of the now ditched plans to cut personal independence payments.

Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie told him: You have made a welcome U-turn, but shouldnt you now acknowledge that was a mistake that you should say sorry for?

Mr Osborne replied: I have made it clear that where weve made a mistake, where weve got things wrong, we listen and we learn. Thats precisely what weve done.

Former work and pensions secretary Mr Duncan Smith stormed out of the government on Friday, complaining that he was again being forced to make cuts to the most vulnerable while Mr Osborne was handing tax cuts to the better-off, which risked dividing the country.

Mr Osborneadmitted they had argued over Treasury cuts to welfare spending in the past but praised the former work and pensions secretary for being part of the team which has delivered a fairer society for all.

The reforms to personal independence payments had been due to save 4.4bn from the welfare budget by 2020.

The government has ruled out a further raid on welfare to pay for the cost of the U-turn and Mr Osborne said the public finances could absorb the lost savings.

The head of the Office for Budget Responsibility Robert Chote said following the decision to cancel the payments cuts, the government was now set to exceed its own welfare cap by 4bn.
Burma Blaze Tears Through Mandalays Mingalar Market

More than 200 shops were destroyed and many partially burned in a powerful blaze at Mandalays Mingalar Market.

MANDALAY  More than 200 shops were destroyed and many others partially burned in a powerful blaze in Mandalays Mingalar Market on Tuesday.

According to a statement by the City Municipal Department, some 480 shops are located in the main building of the three-story market, and half were completely razed. The fire broke out after the market closed Tuesday evening, preventing vendors from saving their goods.

Despite the heavy deployment of fire brigades, the fire continued to gain intensity, resulting in firefighters on-site categorizing it as a sever Level 7 outbreak.

According to Mandalay Divisions Central Fire Brigade, seven firefighters as well as one Red Cross volunteer sustained minor injuries and have been hospitalized.

We estimate about 65 percent of the entire market was destroyed, according to our initial investigation. However, we are still looking into the cause of fire, the percentage of shops and apartments that were burned and the exact amount of goods that were destroyed, said Than Zaw Oo, a divisional officer with the Central Fire Brigade.

While Mingalar market was turned into a three-story market venue in 1996, most of the shops are still on the ground and first floors, with the second floor primarily used for parking lots, offices and apartments for the municipal departments staff.

Chief Minister of Mandalay Ye Myint visited the market place on Wednesday along with Mayor Aung Maung and called for a speedy clean-up process so that the market could be reopened as soon as possible. The mayor told The Irrawaddy that a temporary marketplace nearby would be opened once the investigation team had made the proper arrangements.

If the building is still in good shape and secure enough, we will re-open the market after minor renovations and cleaning. If not, we will have to think about rebuilding or major restoration work for the safety of the shop owners and their customers, Aung Maung said.

Yet these shop owners are worried about a potentially time-consuming rebuilding process and how this might drive up the cost of securing a venue to sell their goods. When a market is rebuilt in Burma, contractors often sell back the new shops at higher prices.

Weve lost everything wed invested. We will not be able to buy back the new shops after theyve been rebuilt. We dont want to rebuild the market if well only suffer as a result, said Thwe Thwe San, whose grocery store was lost in the fire.

In February, The Irrawaddy reported the loss of over 300 homes due to a fire in Tenasserim Divisions Palaw Township and the displacement of over 1,200 people after a blaze tore through Namhsan Township in northern Shan State. In January, more than 1,600 shops were destroyed in a blaze in another Mingalar Market, in Rangoon.
Burma Locals Embrace the Heat at Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda Festival

Locals gather at Shwe Sar Yar Pagoda to celebrate the annual pagoda festival and pay respect to the Shan princess of legend, Sao Mon Hla.

MANDALAY  Despite scorching heat, Mandalay locals gathered on Tuesday at Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda, about 15 miles southeast of town, to celebrate the annual festival of the centuries-old pagoda.

The annual festival of Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda is one of the biggest pagoda festivals in Mandalay Division and thousands of people travel from around the country to partake. It is held for most of the month of March, with the busiest day falling on the full moon day of Tabaung, according to the Burmese calendar, which comes on Wednesday this year.

Street stalls selling local snacks and clothing lined the street leading to the pagoda, which was covered with a cloud of dust. Many vendors sold the festival trademark, colorful handmade necklaces with leafy beads, woven from dried palm fronds.

Almost every festivalgoer wore these signature necklaces, while children could be seen holding golden fish toys, also woven from palm fronds.

At nearby Na Daung Kya stream, people of all ages took a dip, to relieve their tiredness and take a break from the heat.

The legend of Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda, which rests on the bank of Na Daung Kya stream, a Myitnge River tributary, is a link to Pagan era, during which King Anawrahta ruled the Pagan Dynasty.

According to legend, Sao Mon Hla, a Shan Princess who later become a queen and wife of King Anawrahta, crossed a stream that flowed into the Myitnge River, on her way back to her birthplace, Sae Lant village in Northern Shan State.

One of her earrings, which enshrined a relic of the Buddha, dropped into the stream and dozens of golden sparrows appeared and encircled the spot where the earring fell. The stream received the name, Na Daung Kya, which translates to the earring fell into.

Sao Mon Hla built a small pagoda near the riverbank, preserving her earrings and the Buddha relic, with its facade facing east toward her birthplace in Shan State. When King Anawrahta heard the news, soldiers were dispatched and ordered to kill Sao Mon Hla if the facade of the pagoda faced east, and to set her free if it faced west, where Pagan is located.

Sao Mon Hla heard the news, and in order to save herself, made a solemn wish and used her emerald shawl to turn the pagoda to face directly between east and west.

The legend says that the princess was set free after the soldiers saw that the pagoda wasnt facing Shan State, and the pagoda was named Shwe Sar Yan, which translates to encircled by golden sparrows.

Some believe Sao Mon Hla, who passed away at her home near Hsipaw, along with her brother, became spirits who protect the Pagan-style pagoda to this day. There is a small memorial palace near the pagoda, which has a statue of Sao Mon Hla and her brother. Some people believe it is a shrine for the spirits and that if they make offerings, the spirits will bless them.

Paying respect to the spirits of Sao Mon Hla and her brother at Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda has drawn more visitors than other pagoda festivals.

There is a local saying about this festival that says one may not accomplish paying tribute to the pagoda, especially during the festival, until enjoying a dip in Na Daung Kya stream, wearing a palm frond necklace, and paying respects to the spirits of Sao Mon Hla and her brother.
Commentary Dangerous Path Toward Religious Extremism

Sanitsuda Ekachai explores whether the sentiments of Burmas Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha could gain traction in Thailand.

Ma Ba Tha is known across the world as a racist Buddhist organisation. Its work fans the flames of hatred and violence against Muslims in Burma, particularly the Rohingya in Arakan State. Its most prominent leader is Ashin Wirathu, dubbed the bin Laden of Buddhism for his violent, religious extremism.

Last month, Ma Ba Tha, or the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, received an award in Thailand for being an outstanding Buddhist peace organization. The firebrand monk attended the ceremony and received a red-carpet welcome by members of the Thai clergy.

Does this mean the clergy endorses militant Buddhist nationalism?

No Thai monk would openly admit to that. But shared Islamophobia and the clergys current push to make Buddhism the official state religion point to a dangerous precedent.

The questionable award first became public last week when a Facebook post by academic Somrit Luechai showed Ashin Wirathu at the award ceremony which was presided over by an elder from the Supreme Sangha Council.

Other pictures from Ashin Wirathus Facebook page showed The Face of Buddhist Terror, as the controversial monk is dubbed by Time magazine, receiving a hearty welcome at the Dhammakaya Temple and Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya University.

Mr. Somrit strongly condemned the award being given to a militant monk whose campaigns of hate have triggered mass killings of Rohingya Muslims. He also named Dhammakaya and Maha Chula as collaborators in the ceremony which he described as an abuse of Buddhism and an endorsement of hatred and violence.

Maha Chula is at the center of the clergys campaigns to make Buddhism the state religion and another supporting Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn, also known as Somdet Chuang, to become the next supreme patriarch.

Since Somdet Chuang and the centers links with the highly controversial Dhammakaya Temple are public knowledge, Mr. Somrits posts immediately triggered an online outcry and concerns that Dhammakaya would lead the country toward religious extremism.

Maha Chula, Dhammakaya, and the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY) quickly came out to distance themselves from the controversial monk, albeit unconvincingly.

A Dhammakaya spokesperson denied organizing the World Buddhist Outstanding Leader Award on Feb. 23, which took place at AIT Auditorium. The temple also denied inviting the militant monk to Dhammakaya, saying he was there to attend the Maka Bucha ceremony. Photos from Ashin Wirathus Facebook page showed he was not treated as just another ordinary visitor.

Maha Chula adopted a similar line, denying both involvement with the award and having extended an invitation to Ashin Wirathu to visit the Buddhist university, insisting the monk was there on his own to meet Burmese students. Photos from his Facebook page also showed a hearty welcome from a group of monks who sported a banner that read We love Wirathu.

The award was actually organized by a group called World Buddhist Leaders Organization, chaired by Dr. Pornchai Pinyapong who is also president of the WFBY. But the award was not for Ashin Wirathu, he insisted. It was for peace organisation Ma Ba Tha for its outstanding achievements to protect Buddhism in Burma.

Ma Ba Tha, a peace organization? Does he pretend not to know Ashin Wirathu is the face of that organization?

According to Dr. Pornchai, Ma Ba Tha succeeded in pushing for a set of laws that promote religious harmony in Burma. They include a law prohibiting Buddhists from marrying people of different religions (read: Islam); the law on monogamy (read: to stop Muslim men from having multiple wives and too many children); and the law forcing some women (read: Muslim women) to space pregnancies by at least three years.

At present, he said poverty forces many Buddhist parents to sell their daughters into marriage with men of different religions (read: Islam again). The laws designed by Ma Ba Tha then protect Buddhist women from facing hardship and violence when marrying non-Buddhists, he added.

I reread his explanations several times and still failed to understand why the laws that reflect religious paranoia and racial hatred, portending to prevent an Islamic invasion, are viewed as fostering religious harmony, and why the organization propagating such oppression is considered peaceful.

The WFBY must really admire Ma Ba Thas work. Last year, it reportedly donated over one million baht (nearly US$28,500) for the organization to build two radio stations with the aim of spreading its message to a wider audience. Ashin Wirathu was reportedly present to thank the Thai delegation personally for the donation.

The organizer also praised Ma Ba Tha for setting up schools nationwide to teach youngsters about the traditions of Burma and Buddhism.

Whether we agree with Ma Ba Thas ideology or not, it is a fact that it is a very powerful organization.

Anti-Muslim sentiments spewed by Ma Ba Tha and Ashin Wirathu have been so fierce that even Burmas democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi chose to keep silent amid the Rohingya massacres. Her party did not even dare field any Muslim candidates.

Here in Thailand, the clergy are so weak that their nomination for the next supreme patriarch can simply be ignored by the government, as can their proposal for a state religion.

They only have themselves to blame. Temple corruption, monk misconduct, luxurious lifestyles and the total inefficiency of the Sangha Council have resulted in declining public faith in the clergy, which is aggravated further by their meddling in divisive politics.

The positive side to the clergys downgrading is that while they strive to become as powerful as Ma Ba Tha, it will not be possible for them to become as destructive. Although the clergy tries to find scapegoats for its own problems by blaming other religions, any moves by the clergy to strengthen its own power through ultra-nationalism will always be tamed by opposing forces that do not exist in Burma.

We need to avoid the lethal mix of ultra-nationalism, racism and religion currently spreading across Theravada Buddhist countries. What can save us from this destructive militancy is not the clergys wisdom, but its own weaknesses.

This article originally appeared in the Bangkok Post. Sanitsuda Ekachai is Bangkok Posts former editorial pages editor.
Interview Corruption Is A Hindrance to National Development: Ministerial Nominee

The Irrawaddys Htet Naing Zaw interviews Kyaw Win, who has been put forward by the NLD to serve as Burmas new Planning and Finance Minister.

Kyaw Win, slated to be Burmas next Planning and Finance Minister, was born in Labutta Township in Irrawaddy Division and graduated with a degree in economics before embarking on a 20-year career with the National Planning Ministry in 1972. He then transferred to the Internal Revenue Department, where he remained for over six years before resigning to embark on work as a business consultant. He also served as a senior lecturer at the Myanmar Computer Company, Ltd. Kyaw Win spoke with The Irrawaddy about his new role, his political affiliations, and his expectations as a government minister.

When did you join NLD?

The NLD has an economic committee. I have been an advisor to that committee for a year and a half.

Why do you think the NLD has appointed you as a minister?

The NLD leadership has a policy to put the right man in the right position. I think I am assigned because I deserve it.

What ministerial position will you be assigned?

I think it will be the National Planning and Finance Ministry.

What reforms have you thought about initiating when you assume the ministerial position?

I am familiar with the operation of the Planning Department and the Internal Revenue Department and know their strong and weak points. I will carry out reforms accordingly. Since corruption is more likely to happen in those ministries, I have to handle that first. As corruption serves as a hindrance to national development, I have to give extra attention to it. At the same time, we have to change the mindset of civil servants, boost their morale and motivate them to serve the countrys interests. We just cant neglect them because they have faults. They have a big role to play in order to operate the ministry. So, we have to effectively turn them into good civil servants. If so, we will be able to make certain progress toward our goal.

Will you have to bear greater responsibilities since you have to manage a merger of two formerly separate ministries? What difficulties do you expect?

I dont think there will be much difficulty. However, we have to change the management system to be able to work effectively and broadly for the country. I will not just give instructions, but go down to the ground level and try to learn what is happening there. I will satisfy the needs on the ground.

Will you try to amend the outdated laws?

I have to. Some laws need small changes and some need big ones. We have to amend the laws for the benefit of the country and also to meet modern times in this age of globalization. A law cant be in force forever once enacted. We have yet to improve the banking sector as well as the capital market.

There are permanent secretaries at ministries. They worked under old systems. What will be the difficulties in cooperating with them?

Well make them understand that well cooperate with anyone today, whoever they are, and whatever they did in the past. They have big roles to play. Well value such staff. We will assign them roles to play, and devolve responsibility. We will fulfill all of their requirements. If we can do that, it will be good for all of us.

If they only support a cause or a party or an organization and do not think much about the interests of the people and the country, we will split with them if necessary. It all depends on them, their personal attitude. We will not leave anyone behind. We will bring them along with us for the sake of the country, for the sake of the people.

What do you want to tell the people?

I was elected as a peoples representatives to the Parliament because they trust in us, and now I am assigned a minister position, and I am proud of this. I will turn 68 tomorrow and I am proud to fulfill this duty at 68 years old. Ive prepared to serve the country and the people, using the expertise and experience from my entire life. I will devote all my time to the country, to the people.

This article was translated by Thet Ko Ko.
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016 (11:31 am) - Score 891

As expected the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed a new Gaining Provider Led (GPL) solution as their preferred option to make switching Mobile Network Operators (O2, Three UK, EE or Vodafone etc.) easier for consumers.

According to Ofcom, 2.5 million people who changed mobile provider in the last 18 months say they experienced at least one major problem during the process (38%). Top among these issues were difficulties contacting their current provider (11%), trouble cancelling their service (10%) or keeping their phone number (10%) and one in five mobile switchers (20%) even claimed to have temporarily lost service.

Unsurprisingly a lot of consumers dont switch because theyre concerned about the process. Meanwhile consumers who wish to swap to a different mobile network currently have two potential avenues and the one you take depends upon whether or not you intend to keep your phone number (i.e. take port it with the service).

The Current Processes Option 1: A switch which includes a number port requires the customer to obtain a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) from their current provider (the Losing Provider LP) and give this to their new provider (the Gaining Provider GP), who initiates the transfer. Ofcom calls this a Losing Provider Led (LPL) process or donor led. Option 2: A switch without a port requires the customer to organise the stop and start of the old and new service themselves. Ofcom refer to this as a Cease and Re-provide (C&R) arrangement. Essentially this is just like taking out a new service and contract for the first time.

By comparison todays proposal states that Ofcoms preferred option is to replace this with a Gaining Provider Led (GPL) solution, which is similar to the approach taken with fixed line broadband and phone providers. A GPL fix would put all of the power into the hands of your new provider, thus youd only need to contact the new provider and theyd automatically handle everything on your behalf.

The regulator is however still consulting on a second option, which would simplify the existing process of obtaining a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) and allow consumers to request their PAC by text message or online (this is in addition to the current approach of calling the operator directly over the phone or walking into a retail outline).

Sharon White, Ofcoms CEO, said: It is unacceptable for people to be missing out on better mobile deals because they fear the hassle of switching, or are put off having had a poor experience in the past. We want mobile customers to benefit from speedier, simpler switching, making it easier for them to vote with their feet and take advantage of choice in the market.

Todays proposal includes an additional measure to prevent the customers old operator from deactivating their SIM card until their new provider has put the service / SIM live, which should reduce the risk from a temporary loss of service. On the other hand it might create some headaches for the billing department, depending upon how efficiently the system can be implemented.

As part of that Ofcoms new system will also be designed to try and avoid overlapping bills between the two old and new contracts (i.e. double paying), which it achieves by requiring the new provider to inform the customer about their notice period and offer them the chance to defer their switch by up to 30 days.

Apparently providers would be required to start the clock ticking on any notice period from the date that the PAC is requested. Ofcoms consultation on all of this will be open for responses until 1st June 2016 and a final decision is then expected during the autumn of this year.

One other advantage of using a GPL approach is that this could in theory make it easier for consumers to swap between providers that bundle in broadband, phone, TV and mobile services as they would all be using a similar method.
Vodafone At Home Statement



While we believe Vodafone At Home provides great service and value for money to customers, the residential phone and broadband market in the UK is not a strategic focus at the present time. After assessing the whole market, we chose Plusnet as the provider that can best support Vodafone At Home customers in the future. Plusnet are a specialist home phone and broadband provider and offer award winning service.

Telecoms operator Vodafone UK has decided to give up on its aging fixed line '' broadband ISP service, which largely vanished from their website earlier this year ( here ). At the time Vodafoneand we even heard credible reports pointing to a revival alongside an IPTV product but this has not come to pass.Instead the At Home service, which offered BT-based download speeds of up to 8Mbps alongside "" usage (FUP) and anytime calls with line rental for 25, consistentlyand was rarely given much publicity.has now informed Vodafone's remaining At Home subscribers that they will instead be migrated onto PlusNet UK, specificallypackage. This offers a similar price and features, albeit with a 60GB usage allowance instead of an "" one.Theand Thinkbroadband notes that a detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page has been setup, which should help to answer any common queries that existing customers might have.It's interesting to note that mobile operators, specifically those that have tried to enter the fixed line broadband market (e.g. Vodafone, O2, Orange), have all had problems. Vodafone failed to evolve and promote its product, while Orange suffered due to general service / support woes.So far only O2 has managed to build up a good reputation but recent price hikes, especially for legacy customers, and a lack of superfast broadband has resulted in a decline as users slowly migrate to rival providers. It will be interesting to see whether mobile-only operators still dominate in ten years time.
7 Predictions on How NFV and SDN Will Mature

451 Research, in its Q4 2015 Software-Defined Infrastructure report, found an increase in spending on software-defined technology in more than two-thirds of enterprises.

The survey, which InformationWeek said is based on 900 responses from North America and Europe, used an expansive definition. Software-defined infrastructure (SDI), the story said, includes everything software-defined: from networking to storage to other elements.

The story says that 21.3 percent actually have an SDI in place. Of those with a partial implementation, VMware, with 66.3 percent, clearly is winning. Cisco is the next vendor in the pecking order with 39.2 percent and Microsoft is third at 28.1 percent.

Perhaps SDIs salad days are almost here. Virtualizing anything is a significant challenge and, since these networks are mission-critical, will be tested and retested until they are proven to be beyond bullet-proof. That process is well under way:

About 40 percent of survey respondents were doing pilot or proof-of-concept projects. In addition to the virtualization of hardware resources, getting to a software-defined infrastructure includes automation of server, storage, and networking provisioning for end users, an ability to scale out the infrastructure elastically, and a more policy-driven approach to management.

BizTech offers a story that has a lot of definitions. It describes what software-defined networks (SDNs) are, the advantages they offer and what the accepted models are.

The piece points to two approaches: the imperative SDN and the declarative SDN. The former is a centralized controller or controller cluster that uses a protocol such as OpenFlow to exert SDN functions throughout the network. The declarative model is decentralized and seems more complex: The story says that policy is centralized, policy enforcement isnt. This approach is implemented by the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and the OpFlex protocol.

Organizations can ease into SDNs. In an article for Network World, analyst Zeus Kerravala, who runs his own research firm, discussed implementation with Jean Turgeon, who is Avayas Vice President and Chief Technologist for World Wide Software-Defined Architecture Sales. Kerravala, who counts Avaya among his clients, talked about what an organization should do as it executes a shift to SDN. Commentary is offered on each step. In short, Turgeon said that companies need to simplify their environment, deploy and enable network edge automation and enable open orchestration.

Transitioning to SDNs is one of the most complex things an enterprise can do. Its a long and hype-filled process. In that way, its similar to network functions virtualization (NFV). Moving to an SDN structure involves changes to what, in essence, is the organizations bloodstream. The benefits at the end of the road for many companies will make the work and risks worthwhile, however. The key is to take the trip deliberately and carefully.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
In June last year, Telstra bought Brisbane based Neto, a cloud-based e-commerce solution that allows small to medium-sized retailers and wholesalers to establish quickly an online end-to-end store. iTWire covered it here.

Netos new point of sale solution closes the loop for retailers, allowing them to manage all sales channels from one single platform. The online platform supports both Windows and Apple iOS-based terminals means retailers can now accept physical sales at multiple locations with cash or card payments at the point of sale.

Seamless integration means omnichannel retailers can centralise back-end systems, as well as connecting with CRM and ERP software to provide a single overview of revenue, inventory and cash flow for easy management of accounting and tax obligations.

Sensis Research reveals 66% of Australian retailers still mostly conduct business within their local area. Neto co-founder, Ryan Murtagh, said the innovative new offering allows growing retailers to take the first steps towards reaching a much broader and potentially global audience by providing them with the complete platform and tools that they need to sell online.

The Neto Digital Commerce Platform can track inventory and sales across multiple locations and is updated in real-time to account for sales made through a physical store, a retailer's online store and even their eBay store. It also integrates with leading shipping carriers, such as Australia Post eParcel, enabling easy fulfilment for all orders, Murtagh said.

Retailers of all sizes are coming to understand that the online and bricks-and-mortar experience needs to be unified - both for the customers benefit and their own. Our new solution is a turnkey service that is affordable to businesses of all sizes. This is the critical first step for Australian retailers that would like to establish a presence online, and equally, its an opportunity for retailers to bring digital commerce innovation to their physical stores, he added.

Further enhancing a retailers reach, the Neto solution effortlessly links into social media, allowing retailers to directly reach out to their customers. The Neto platform also features powerful social features, including customer reviews, discounting and coupons, and deep analytics to help retailers understand at a glance what parts of their business and product lines are performing.
Nintex is making it possible for business analysts and people working in business units to complete workflow automation projects with little or no involvement by the IT department.

The basic pitch is that Nintex allows users of Office 365, SharePoint, Salesforce.com, Workday and other systems to easily and easily automate workflows and document generation tasks, taking data from and feeding it into these systems.

How easily? The claim is that the Nintex "low/no code" approach means business analysts and even people with process expertise but no special IT knowledge can develop workflows without the assistance of developers. Anyone that can use SharePoint can use the Nintex platform, according to co-founder and senior vice president of corporate development Brett Campbell.

How quickly? Organisations taking the SaaS option can be up and running in 20 minutes, he said (the software is also pffered for on-premises use), but that's to the point at which workflow development can begin.

"If you can drag and drop, you're up and running," said vice president of APAC sales Brian Walshe.

The company's pitch to CEOs is 'pick a process, any process, and we'll have it running in four days.' That offer is made in the knowledge that most projects can be completed in just two days, he said.

Good CIOs realise their role is to enable business activities, not block them, said Walshe. Consequently, IT departments see Nintex as a great tool as it allows departments to automate their own processes - which they already understand - with little or no involvement of IT staff.

Furthermore, Nintex is regarded by IT as a credible vendor, Campbell said.

The typical customer has more workflows than they think, observed Walshe, and some important workflows are not documented but exist only in one employee's head. Using the Nintex platform - which covers workflow, forms, mobility, connectors to applications and repositories, and document generation - helps identify processes and formalise and automate them.

"Until you do the first one, you've got no frame of reference," he said. But as soon as one project has been completed, customers realise what else they can do with the platform. And completing each workflow, each "bite-sized chunk" of the bigger picture, means more people in the organisation see the benefits of workflow automation.

The company's focus is moving beyond human-based processes. "IoT [is] our next big push," Campbell told iTWire.

It's one thing to gather masses of data and then analyse it, but how do you ensure the correct actions are taken? Walshe gave the example of a report that a bearing in a lift mechanism has reached a temperature that suggests it will soon fail. Pre-emptive maintenance is required, but there are typically manual processes to allocate the job to a particular engineer with the required skills, and making sure he or she has the necessary parts and any special tools needed for the job. Even if an organisation is only able to automate 5% of such actions, the potential benefits are still huge, he said.

Nintex customers in the UK are saving 400,000 ($744,000) or more a year by applying the platform to such situations, Campbell said. The project costs are rapidly recovered, and the organisations in a position to quickly and easily automate additional processes.

Local customers include Braunton Capital, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, and Industry Fund Services.

The company was founded in Melbourne and although its head office has moved to Seattle, Nintex's largest development centre is still in Melbourne.
Increasing levels of complexity, compliance, and regulation of document storage and retrieval has driven Hyland OnBase growth well above industry averages.

Hyland, creator of OnBase grew at an accelerated pace in 2015  17% revenue and 24% software growth significantly exceeding the overall industry growth rate predicted by Gartners Forecast: Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2012-2019.

Hyland is the creator of OnBase, a single enterprise information platform for managing content, processes and cases. Since 1991, it has enabled more than 14,900 organisations to digitalise their workplaces and fundamentally transform their operations.



OnBases enterprise information platform has experienced broad adoption with the company achieving double-digit growth in the North America, Europe and Asia; and in the industry segments of healthcare, banking, insurance and the public sector.

iTWire interviewed Bob Dunn, Country Manager, Australia and was introduced to the exciting topic of document storage and retrieval. While you may think the topic is a little dry, it is really interesting. It is not just about storage but the complex issues of what to keep, and what not  and how to ensure that you can access almost anything ever written in an organisation.

"The market is responding to our exclusive focus on content and process management, our unmatched pace of innovation and our unwavering commitment to customer success," said Bill Priemer, president and CEO of Hyland. As we enter our 25th year in the enterprise information management space, we have cultivated an unparalleled reputation for enabling organisations to operate with more agility, efficiency and effectiveness."

To accommodate the global demand for its products and services, Hyland is planning to hire several hundred employees in 2016 to add to its current workforce of more than 2,100.

Our market share gains are being driven by a growing team of dedicated professionals who maintain a relentless focus on helping our customers and partners succeed, said Ed McQuiston, vice president of global sales and marketing at Hyland. Organisations want to work with a vendor that is thriving, responsive and forward thinking. In our industry, we are clearly that vendor."



Hyland was named one of Fortunes 2016 Best Companies to Work For  dust off your CV now and head to its Careers website.
Only 42% of cyber security professionals use shared threat intelligence, even though 97% believe it improves their organisation's security posture. You cant beat the bad guys unless you help the good guys to win.

You have to do more than think about it. Intel Security (McAfee) conducted 500 interviews with security professionals in a wide variety of industries and regions to understand their views and expectations around cyber threat intelligence (CTI) sharing. The report found that awareness of CTI is very high and that 97% of those who share CTI see value in it. However, the report also found that theres a conflict between users willingness to receive CTI and their willingness to share it, with most wanting to receive it (91%), however far fewer (63%) are very likely or only somewhat likely to share CTI.The research also found the following:

72% of survey respondents using shared CTI ranked malware behaviour as the data they are most willing to share, followed by URL reputations (58%), external IP address reputations (54%), certificate reputations (43%), and file reputations (37%)

Respondents perceive the greatest barriers to cyber threat intelligence sharing are corporate policies (54%), industry regulations (24%), and a lack of information on how it would be used (24%)

CTI is about sharing. McAfee Global Threat Intelligence (GTI) provides insight into attack volumes that its customers experience. In Q4, 2015 customers saw the following attack volumes every day:

On average 47.5 billion queries per day.

More than 157 million attempts were made (via emails, browser searches, etc.) to entice our customers into connecting to risky URLs.

More than 353 million infected files were exposed to customers networks.

71 million potentially unwanted programs attempted installation or launch.

55 million attempts were made by customers to connect to risky IP addresses, or those addresses attempted to connect to customers networks.

Security professionals have relied primarily on signature and behavioural-based to block a threat. Both methods are effective but what about particularly complex threats, some of which have yet to be discovered?

How do you stop zero-day attacks that slip under the radar? That is where cyber threat intelligence comes into play. CTI goes much deeper than just a list of IP addresses with poor reputation scores or hashes of suspected bad files.

CTI is evidence-based knowledge of an emerging (or existing) threat that can be used to make informed decisions about how to respond. It provides the context around how the attack takes place, identifies indicators of attack (IoA), indicators of compromise (IoC) and potentially the identity and motivation of the attacker.

Security practitioners and security technology can use CTI to protect better against threats or to detectthe existence of threats in the trusted environment. Expectations are high that integrated CTI will significantly improve system and network security.

Intel Security says for CTI exchange to work effectively, established technical standards for sharing information are critical. There have been multiple efforts to try to settle on a single format for sharing cyber threat intelligence but most were focused on a specific area, such as incident response.

In 2010, MITRE, under the direction of and with funding from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), began development of a threat information architecture with the goal of producing a representation of an automatable cyber threat indicator. This was the first effort to focus specifically on creating an automatable, structured representation of the cyber-threat lifecycle, related message format, andexchange protocol. The effort produced three specifications:

DHS worked to transition the development and ownership of specifications to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). OASIS has created the OASIS Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) Technical Committee (TC).

The CTI TC created subcommittees for each of the specifications, as well as an interoperability subcommittee. OASIS will develop, maintain, and release all future versions of STIX, TAXII, and CybOX.Intel says CTI is gaining traction within the security industry as a way to combat advanced threats.

The use of CTI will become a critical component of organizations defences as structured, enriched data will allow organizations to respond more quickly, with a better view of the cyber event landscape.

The full report is here. It has some interesting statistics (on page 33 onwards) on malware, mobile malware, the rise of OS X malware, ransomware and more that are too lengthy to reproduce here.
The new CompTIA Channel Standards program, available at no cost, was announced at the CompTIA annual member meeting of top IT industry executives.



These standards will provide channel partners and channel companies with blueprints for best practices within the IT channel and undoubtedly lead to a stronger, healthier industry as a whole, said Nancy Hammervik, Senior Vice President, Industry Relations, CompTIA.



The introduction of CompTIA Channel Standards is a testimony to the larger role CompTIA and its members play in advancing the IT industry and inspiring minds around the world to do more, learn more and be more.





Hammervik said, as the next evolution of CompTIAs well-regarded Trustmarks program, the CompTIA Channel Standards were developed in collaboration with IT professionals, industry thought leaders, and technology experts. They include an extensive library of principles and best practices for improving the relevance, quality and consistency of service delivery within the IT industry, and are designed to help businesses and IT professionals alike establish specific performance requirements for continual process improvement.Moheb Moses, director, Channel Dynamics, and ANZ Community Director, CompTIA, said CompTIA exists to help channel companies achieve high business performance. Formalising these standards gives businesses in Australia and New Zealand a benchmark to assess their own performance, helping them continue to innovate. They also provide a reference for customers to ensure they are getting the best service.The first in a series of CompTIA Channel Standards is the IT Solution Provider Standard - available this month, the new IT Solution Provider Standard provides channel partners with a systematic guide to becoming a trusted IT advisor, outlining business practices for the core operational, management and delivery functions of an IT services firm. Included in the written documentation and training is a standards workbook providing an overview of best practices for each standard.Moses said that throughout 2016, CompTIA will introduce additional Channel Standards focused on managed services, managed print services, cybersecurity and cloud computing.CompTIA Channel Standards are available to CompTIA registered users, premier members and non-members at no cost.Were making these important tools available to everyone as a guide for process improvement and differentiation, Hammervik said.By taking an open book approach, CompTIA is empowering the IT channel with the knowledge and ability to see an immediate and positive change in their business that will spread throughout the industry and extend to the customers they serve.
Property Connect (ASX:PCH) has started trading after it successfully raised A$2.5 million as part of a reverse takeover by Conquest Agri. It first traded at $0.06 per share, a 20% premium to the equity raising price of $0.05.



Property Connect has developed the LiveOffer technology, designed to create an easy, fair and transparent system under which potential tenants can make an offer on a rental property.



Property Connect Founder and CEO Timothy Manson believes that the company is well-placed to become the industry standard platform in the real-time leasing transaction space and says it will initially target the vast US multifamily apartment market with additional real estate sectors and markets anticipated to follow.





According to Manson, the company is targeting organisations with more than 5,000 properties (multiple communities) under management and has agreements in place for LiveOffer with groups accounting for more than 100,000 apartments under management.The LiveOffer technology provides renters with the ability to easily adjust the rent paid, move in date and lease term and assists leasing agents to secure optimal market driven terms on each property.We believe the platform has global application and look forward to expanding on our current offering while also monetising LiveOffer this year, Manson said.Listing on the ASX is an important milestone in the companys development and we look forward to delivering a technology platform that will allow property managers to optimise the leasing process and maximise property value.Manson said Version 2.0 of LiveOffer, being developed by property management software development company Apmasphere, is expected to be launched in Q2 CY2016. Apmasphere is headed by Ray White director Ben White along with tech entrepreneur Ashley Renner.Under the partnership between Property Connect and Apmasphere, Property Connect will be granted an exclusive right to market and distribute Apmaspheres Halo Platform to the US multifamily market. The Halo Platform is a cloud-based property management system that offers users a range of services and workflows to improve performance and collaboration with clients.Manson says proceeds from the capital raising will go toward system development, marketing, key staff hires and working capital as Property Connect gains traction in the US market.
Global ICT solutions provider Dimension Datas Australian arm has announced the appointment of Ed Phillips as End-user Computing Business Unit General Manager and Nathan Vandenberg as Data Centre Business Unit General Manager.

Phillips has been a key member of Dimension Datas leadership team since joining the business in 2010 and most recently held the role of NSW Solutions Manager.

As the General Manager of end-user computing, Phillips leads Dimension Datas enterprise mobility and workspace productivity strategies - critical enablers for digital transformation. He will work with clients to realise the benefits of a modern user-centric workspace, including end-user experience and environmental sustainability, as well as efficient service delivery options. A key part of his role will be to help clients quantify and address the implications that transformation projects have on IT infrastructure, security, compliance and governance.

Vandenberg was the National Manager for Dimension Datas Data Centre Business Unit, and led a team of sales people, architects, consultants and engineers responsible for expanding the data centre business.

As the Data Centre Business Unit General Manager, he will work with organisations to deliver business outcomes through optimisation of the design, implementation and management of all aspects of data centre infrastructure, from storage and virtualisation to back-up and recovery. Vandenberg replaces Peter Prowse who was promoted to the global role of Group Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.

Since 2010, Ed has played a critical role in educating and navigating our clients through a disruptive time in the technology industry, said Rodd Cunico, Dimension Data Australia CEO. The wave of digital transformation initiatives sweeping Australia relies heavily upon rethinking not just how technology enables the end-user to work differently, but also requires an attitudinal shift to ensure organisations boost their innovation and productivity credentials. Eds expertise will be an invaluable resource to our clients looking to make this shift.

When Nathan joined Dimension Data six years ago, it was clear he would be a future leader within the business, Cunico said. One of the top competitive issues facing organisations today is the need to become an agile, digital business. Nathan understands the journey our clients are taking, and that optimising IT muscle in the data centre not only overcomes complexity and reduces cost, but is a critical aspect in a successful transformation.

Dimension Data's focus areas include network integration, security solutions, data centre solutions, converged communications, customer interactive solutions, Microsoft solutions and a range of professional, consulting, managed and support services. In 2010, the company was fully acquired by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.
Before joining Davidson, Brendan was the General Manager of Peoplebank Victoria for more than 10 years and prior to that held several senior management roles for employment companies.



He has more than 20 years experience in the employment industry and just over 15 years specialising in the technology sector.



Davidson Technology is part of the Davidson Group, which has offices across Australia and New Zealand with services including consulting & HR solutions, corporate, executive, projects and operations and technology. Damien Ross, along with his father Graeme Ross and business partner Gary Lorden, established the Technology and Digital recruitment business of ITCOM in 2006  subsequently the Davidson Group acquired ITCOM.





Davidson Technology is beautifully positioned in the marketplace. Kavenagh said. I like that it is all hands on deck and the team are genuinely wanting to perform at a high standard and make a difference for customers.I am looking forward to working with a new team, with new ideas and a different way of doing things.Ross said, We believe Brendan will be a fantastic, cultural fit for our business, and will also bring the skills and experience to enhance our overall offering to the Australian and New Zealand technology markets and make a significant contribution to Davidson in this next phase of growth.
The new CEO has 20 years international experience with Capgemini and a Masters in Mathematics.

Capgemini, a leading global provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services announced the appointment of Nicolas Aidoud as Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand.

Aidoud currently serves as CEO for Prosodie-Capgemini, a subsidiary of the Capgemini Group. He succeeds Deepak Nangia who take on the role of Chief Customer Officer for Asia Pacific and the Middle East and assist the Executive Chairman in expanding Capgeminis footprint in this region.

As CEO of Prosodie-Capgemini from 2012 to 2015, Aidoud led the commercial synergies with the Group and was instrumental in boosting Prosodie-Capgeminis international development. More recently, he was also responsible for the Digital Customer Experience business in Europe and driving its double-digit growth in the region.

Aged 45, Aidoud holds a Masters in Mathematics from Paris Dauphine University. He first joined Capgemini Consulting, the Capgemini Groups strategic consulting arm, in 1996, becoming associate director in 2006. In 2006, he was appointed CEO for France of Carat, an independent media consulting and advertising agency. He returned to Capgemini in 2010 to head up the development of new offers. In June 2012, he was given responsibility for Prosodies international development.

Aidoud said, I am honoured and excited to lead Capgemini in accelerating our growth in the region. In an environment where most of the business transformations are driven by IT innovation, we will be drawing on our unrivalled mix of global capabilities and deep region expertise to drive greater impact for our clients.

We are delighted to announce Nicolass appointment to lead Capgemini Australia and New Zealand into the next phase of continued transformation and growth as we enter into an increasingly digital and cloud-enabled market. Nicolas has demonstrated a track record of strong leadership and deep industry knowledge to lead Capgemini Australia and New Zealand into the future, said Paul Thorley, CEO for Capgemini Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

With Deepaks leadership, we have built strong foundations in driving our portfolio growth and we thank Deepak for his many contributions in positioning Capgemini as a global leader in technology services and business transformation in the Australia and New Zealand market, added Thorley.

Capgemini employs more than 180,000 people in over 40 countries. It creates and delivers business, technology and digital solutions for enterprise level clients.
Oracle has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Hewlett Packard Enterprise, claiming it was part of an illegal scheme to sell Solaris support services to Oracle customers.

The case involves an area of the tech industry known as third-party maintenance and support, in which customers buy support services from a third party for less than they would normally pay their primary vendor.

Oracle has brought several lawsuits against such providers, and last June it won a judgment against a third-party vendor called Terix that required the smaller firm to pay Oracle $58 million.

In its lawsuit Tuesday, Oracle claims that HPE partnered with Terix to sell Solaris support services to joint Oracle and HPE customers, and that HPE did so despite knowing that Terix's business was illegal.

Oracle says it learned of the alleged conduct while litigating its case against Terix.

HPE -- known then as simply HP -- sold support services to Oracle customers that included software support by Terix despite knowing that Terixs software support included Solaris Updates that Terix had no lawful right to provide, Oracle says in its complaint.

A spokesman for HPE said the company doesn't comment on ongoing legal cases.

Oracle wants a jury trial to determine monetary damages. Its lawsuit, filed in the federal District Court in Northern California, accuses HP of copyright infringement, intentional interference with contracts and unfair competition.

The case is reminiscent of one Oracle brought several years ago against another rival, SAP, over the German company's dealings with third-party provider TomorrowNow.

In that case, SAP had purchased TomorrowNow and later admitted that the company had illegally downloaded vast amounts of Oracle support materials. After a long legal fight, SAP paid Oracle about $360 million.

The link between HPE and Terix is less direct. Oracle describes Terix as a "partner" and a "contractor" to HP. If the case makes it to trial, the jury will have to decide whether HPE was aware that Terix acted illegally, and if so to what extent HPE might be liable.

Oracle contends HPE knew full well what Terix was up to.

It says HP's goal was to offer multivendor support to customers with mixed HP and Sun Solaris environments. HP enlisted Terix for the software portion, Oracle says, including providing updates for Oracles Solaris OS.

Oracle claims HP must have known Terix was acting illegally because HP has the same type of license and support policies for HP-UX. It says HP provided the services despite HP employees raising concerns about the legality of Terixs conduct to HPs legal department.

Theres no love lost between Oracle and HPE, and its hard not to picture Oracle's chairman, Larry Ellison, rubbing his hands together with glee when his lawyers told him HPE might be implicated in Terixs misdeeds.

Once close partners, Oracle and HPE became rivals when Oracle bought Sun six years ago, and the relationship has devolved ever since.

When Mark Hurd was forced to resign as HP's CEO, Ellison called it the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs. He was even more merciless in mocking Hurds replacement, Leo Apotheker.

HP and Oracle are still tangled in a lawsuit over Oracles decision to stop developing software for Itanium, a chip HP depends on for some of its servers. Ellison called Itanium a dying platform, and HP sued his company for breach of contract.

That case is ongoing, and the companies now have another battle to litigate as well.
A third jury trial in a patent dispute between Samsung Electronics and Apple in a court in California has been postponed, pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court of the principle for the award of damages for infringement of design patents.

The third trial in the case that dates back to April 2011 had been set for March 28 to reassess the damages to be paid by Samsung on five products that were earlier found to infringe certain Apple patents and dilute its trade dresses, which refer to the overall look and feel of the product. An appeals court had struck down the damages on trade dress dilution relating to these devices, as the court decided they were not protectable.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld damages for utility and design patent infringements by these products. In general, utility patents protect the way an article is used and works, while a design patent protects the way an article looks, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The third trial was called to recalculate the damages payable by Samsung.

The Supreme Courts decision to hear an appeal on the procedure for calculation of damages is significant because Samsung is questioning whether it has to pay as damages all the profits from the sale of infringing products even though the patented designs are only minor features of the product. A number of tech companies and industry trade groups are supporting Samsung on this issue.

Samsung has already paid up US$548 million conditionally in damages out of a total award to Apple of $930 million by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The third jury trial was to reassess the remaining $382 million in damages. Samsungs challenge in the Supreme Court, if successful, would impact $399 million in damages.

The Supreme Court partially granted Samsungs petition, limiting itself to the question: Where a design patent is applied to only a component of a product, should an award of infringers profits be limited to those profits attributable to the component?

Samsung asked the district court to stay proceedings including the damages retrial until the decision of the Supreme Court. All three of the design patents at issue in the 2016 damages retrial are also at issue in the Federal Circuit opinion that will be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote District Judge Lucy H. Koh in her order late Tuesday.

The question of the proper measure of damages for these design patents is central to the 2016 damages retrial, as design patent damages make up the bulk of Apples damages claims, Koh added.
Sales and marketing increasingly rely on digital tools to achieve their goals. IT leaders have the opportunity to support these functions by enhancing CRM tools. Delivering social media capabilities to CRM platforms is an excellent way to help these groups. Effective solutions, however, require more than a technology connection.

CIOs and their staff need to build process and people strategies to ensure tools are used effectively. In many areas, the build it and they will come approach is going out of fashion. Social media, despite its popularity with the general public, still requires a strategic approach if these channels are to be used effectively for sales and marketing ends.

Currency, correctness, consistency and completeness are the key factors needed for CRM success, says John Oechsle, CEO of Swiftpage. Swiftpage offers several CRM products including the popular Act package. Act is popular with professionals that use a book of business approach to their business such as financial professionals at Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

Data completeness is a major challenge to execute in todays CRM. Completeness includes logging every interaction whether that meetings, calls or social media, Oechsle adds. Data management processes and tools smooth the process of gathering and using information effectively. IT has the opportunity to contribute as data subject matter experts and discover the root causes of poor data. Without that IT insight, sales managers are reduced to reprimanding individual sales professionals.

The B2B case for marketing automation

Successfully selling to large companies requires organization and coordinating multiple stakeholders. Dan Radu, the founder of Marcomator, a marketing consulting firm in Toronto, helps B2B clients improve their sales and marketing processes. Radus work involves implementing Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot and other services. Before CRM adds value, it is important to understand both the buyer persona and the sales process, Radu says.

[Related: How IT supports sales at 3 large companies]

Without marketing automation and integration, sales representatives will not know what content, white papers or emails a lead has received. That means either manual tracking is needed by the sales representative or they head into sales meetings with flawed information, he says.

Recent research by Gartner found that chief marketing officers are forecasted to become major spenders on marketing technology. That means technology decisions may occur independent of the CIO. A proactive IT organization still has much to add to the process of selecting and evaluating CRM vendors, says Radu. If the organization already has extensive marketing activity in email and social media, improving CRM functionality is likely to yield significant benefits.

Improving CRM: analytics and process improvement opportunities

Low adoption rates are the single greatest threat to CRM effectiveness, Swiftpages Oechsle explains. If sales staff perceive CRM usage as something extra, its unlikely theyll use it. ITs role is to understand sales processes, work on usability and make CRM available on multiple devices, he says. Historically, a number of CRM vendors have done well at connecting with senior company leadership and less well at connecting with front line sales staff. That also contributions to the adoption gap.

Distinguishing between signal and noise in social media is becoming easier. Applications such as Relevance Logic categorize social media content into categories such as favorable or unfavorable. Consumer products company Unilever used CrowdFlower to monitor the effectiveness of marketing and advertising for the launch of its Dove Men+Care line of products. In Unilevers case, CrowdFlower successfully identified positive and negative sentiment for 95 percent of consumer content.

Evaluating social media content for action is an emerging best practice for CRM. Barclays, a large UK bank, used Sentiment Metrics, to monitor the launch of PingIt, a mobile banking app to transfer money. Barclays took the process a step further: diagnosing the reason for negative comments. Customers complained about the inability to transfer funds to users under the age of eighteen. These complaints highlight a process improvement opportunity and allow the companys customer service division to swing into action.

[Related: What the hell is the difference between ad tech and marketing tech?]

Additional improvement opportunities may be found by understanding the sales process. Many sales professionals are already using social media to do their work. That prompts the question: how can IT make that process easier and more productive? Time spent manually updating spreadsheets, managing status updates by hand and other processes take away from direct engagement with prospects and customers. Using business process modelling and business analysis methods offer an excellent starting point for IT managers getting started.

Managing CRM effectively: governance considerations

Managing social media from a governance standpoint still matters when in the CRM context. The best approach is to simply reiterate that existing codes of conduct and professionalism apply across the board. Building on that starting point, what else is needed? Armed with a process and systems view, IT leaders have several points to contribute including data quality and information security best practices. High profile data breaches such as Targets 2013 incident show that protecting customer data in all locations remains important.

Building the CMO and CIO relationship

In 2015, Fortune reported that marketing technology is expected to become a $100 billion plus category by 2025. Known as martech (marketing technology), this growing set of services has great potential to increase revenues and profits. Reactive CIOs and IT managers may find themselves left out of the conversation if they do not engage their marketing peers early and often.

Developing a relationship with the organization`s chief marketing officer (CMO) or equivalent leader is the next step forward. This connection will ensure that IT is involved in martech discussions at an early stage. After all, internal IT departments have great insights to offer when it comes to integrating CRM and other technologies into an organization`s technology portfolio. If IT is left out of the picture, there is potential for inefficient spending, technology governance problems and poor implementation.

As marketing technology rises in prominence, invest time in studying the trends. Publications such as PeerSphere magazine (from the CMO Council), Adobes CMO.com, Advertising Age and the CMO Survey are helpful resources. Data science, big data and analytics are all trends that marketing and technology leaders are excited to leverage. By better understanding the marketing department`s needs, IT will continue to stay relevant and thrive.
A HOOKED on Classics music spectacular is being held in Bishop's Stortford to raise money for the Helen Rollason Cancer Care Charity Appeal, St Clare Hospice and other local charities.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Louis Clark will be at the Bishop's Stortford College fields, on Saturday, July 1.
No matter the longevity or expertise, marketers still commit certain mistakes when working with freelance writers - one of which would be the lack of providing feedback, according to Business2Community.

In 2015, a Contently freelancer on two accounts for B2B software companies that were both new pretty new to publishing was there. The writer's pitches and topics contained such impressively sharp ideas that were always on brand and had one client raving about her. The company told them to look for more writers just like her who can offer such quality service.

Later that week, something peculiar happened. The second client asked for that same supposedly astounding writer to be removed from the company's account. "She's just not getting what we're trying to do," a contact stated. For the most obvious reasons, that feedback caused confusion to the account manager.

Questions sparked up. How can the same freelancer who perfectly nailed the expectations of one company flop at another? According to B2C's Brian Maehl, the answer is pretty simple: "The first client was willing to give honest feedback to the writer; the second client expected her to turn in near-perfect drafts on the first try." As an account representative who worked with the same companies, Maehl would know. He saw marketing departments holding back when it came to relaying candid feedback, resulting to brushing away minor problems and just ask for help from the new writers instead.

Although that certain kind of approach may seem appealing from a short-term perspective, marketers are just creating more work for themselves. By redundantly bringing in more writers, the marketers are turning their backs on promising creative talent just because they weren't able to do some things right. Instead of training them further, new writers enter and it is basically starting from scratch.

"Brands aren't always able to successfully articulate what exactly they want. Look for tangible things that can be addressed, and try to avoid stringing together subjective adjectives," Danny Broderick, a managing editor, says. Giving feedback may be difficult and can at times bruise some egos, but in most relationships, being honest and open are most beneficial.
A study published last week in the Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera could provide some clues connecting a rare hybrid butterly and climate change.

Researchers who initiated the study discovered a possibly new butterfly species that is said to have evolved from two different species in Alaska. Furthermore, this new butterfly could provide clues about the pace of climate change.

The new Alaskan butterfly species, Tanana Arctic, or Oeneis tanana, is said to be the results of the mating of two different butterfly species before the last ice age, the study states. These species are the Chryxus Arctic and the White-veined Arctic.

The butterfly is not only rare but also happens to be an important piece as it could provide information about North American Arctic's geological history. To add, the Washington Post reported that new Alsakan butterfly species can also serve as a "sort of canary in the coalmine when it comes to current and future environmental changes" as butterflies are considered to be environmental indicators, including clues about climate change.

"This butterfly has apparently lived in the Tanana River valley for so long that if it ever moves out, we'll be able to say 'Wow, there are some changes happening,'" University of Florida lepidopterist Andrew Warren said in a release. "This is a region where the permafrost is already melting and the climate is changing."

The Tanana Arctic can be found in the Tanana-Yukon River Basin's aspen and spruce forests. This area also happens to be one of the areas that were not glaciated during the last ice age that took place about 14,000 to 28,000 years ago. Furthermore, the study states that these basins "formed the southeastern limits of Beringia, an area considered a refuge for plant and animal life during the Ice Age and may have once formed a landbridge connecting Asia and Alaska."

Discovering the Tanana Arctic was not an overnight thing for the researchers. In fact, this species has eluded researchers for many years due to the butterfly's striking similarity with Chryxus Arctic. The confirmation about the new species only happened "when Warren was examining the butterflies at the Florida Museum of Natural History and noticed distinctions between them."

The Tanana Arctic, when compared to the Chryxus Arctic, is larger and darker. Other distinctions of this new species include its unique DNA sequence and white specks that are found underneath its penny-colored wings.
By considering the numbers, Spotify is currently beating Apple and Tidal. The streaming service provider boasts that its numbers of subscribers has now grown to more than 30 million. As the company plans to expand abroad in more countries, these numbers are expected to increase even more.

Daniel Ek, the firm's chief executive, announced the record-breaking feat as an addition to his comments on President Obama's historic visit to Cuba, the country's long-time communist adversary.

"We have 30 million Spotify subscribers, but none of them are in Cuba ... yet. So cool to see Cuba opening up!" the Swedish entrepreneur tweeted.

Even in the face of increasingly effective rivals, Spotify members managed to grow in numbers. Being the current leader in the on-demand music streaming, it is not so surprising that its subscribers has now grown to millions upon millions.

The music streaming service provider managed to pass the 20-million mark in June 2015. That means, the company has acquired 10 million fresh paying clients in just nine months.

But Apple Music, its nearest rival, also collected 11 million new subscribers in January this year. This figure shows that the two streaming services are relatively neck-to-neck in the race during the same time period.

With this competitive rush, Spotify doesn't have any choice but to fend off the challenges made by Apple and Tidal, as well as other upstarts. As it is, an increasing number of albums are coming in late or not at all.

Well-liked artists such as Adele and Kanye West have locked up album deals with Spotify's competing services. These firms are not releasing their albums on their streaming platforms as well.

One way Spotify has attracted these millions of subscribers is its strategy of giving free access to listeners just as long as they are willing have advertisements along with the music.
Brussels is on edge after three deadly terrorist explosions hit the city's main international airport and its subway station on Tuesday, killing atleast 34 people, NY Times reported. (Mar 22).

The subway station, of the two locations to have been hit, is near the headquarters of the European Union.

Officials believe that at least one of the two airport blasts were set off by a suicide bomber.

14 people were killed at the airport and 20 at the subway station. In addition, there were many wounded - 92 at the airport and 106 at the subway station.

The afternoon then saw ISIS claiming responsibility for the attack through Amaq, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic State. Amaq issued a bulletin claiming that the blasts were carried out using explosive belts and devices.

"We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened," Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium said he had been fearing just this.

He called the attacks "blind, violent, cowardly," and asked the people on Twitter to avoid movement as authorities get ready to counter the possibility that there may be more violence.

World leaders have responded to the attacks. David Cameron, Prime Minister of Britain called an emergency meeting of ministers. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Foreign Minister of Germany said that the attacks were in fact an attack at the heart of Europe. Pope Francis has also expressed his condolences.

President Obama, on his historic three day visit to Cuba, spoke from Havana and expressed his solidarity with the victims of the Brussels attacks. He used the even to appeal for world unity regardless of nationality, race or faith. He also vowed to defeat anyone threatening the safety and security of the people in the whole world.

The attacks followed very closely the capture, on Friday, of Europe's most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam. He is the only one to have survived the 10 men who are believed to have been involved in the ISIS Paris attacks on Nov. 13, which killed 130 people.
The FBI has called out Apple, previously, to aid them in unlocking a terrorist's iPhone 5C. However, Apple has claimed that it violates user privacy and security even though it was a federal request. According to CNET, FBI has now spoken out and told Apple that they no longer need the company in helping them open up, the known terrorist and San Bernardino shooter, Syed Farook's iPhone 5C. It was Apple's CEO Tim Cook that stood in the way of their mission.

For quite a while, the FBI has been coordinating with Apple on seeing their goal through but a sudden revelation on Monday revealed that they were able to coordinate with an outside party's help that can provide FBI investigators a way to get into the phone and access data.

This left Apple powerless on the issue. Now, Ed McAndrew, a former federal cybercrimes prosecutor and current Washington, D.C-based lawyer at Ballard Spahr, said that Apple might have less power to keep the FBI out of its customer's phones. Since the federal government has approached another party, that leaves Apple on a stand-still.

"The government is not saying they're going to stand down, they're not agreeing at this point that this case is moot," McAndrew said. "This suggests that Apple's participation may be diminished and that they may have less control of this process."

The government's move now leads to many questions. McAndrew explained that,"This has the potential to undermine the security of Apple's devices," Other questions include: "Who is this outside party? A hacker? A cyber-forensic investigator? A security researcher?"

JNH has previously reported that Apple has already released the latest iOS update that will boost encryption. While the company is working over-time to secure the devices, the government is trying to find a way to decrease encryption.
Yusen Logistics, a leading third-party logistics provider, announced the start of construction of a logistics center near Celaya, Mexico, to meet the growing demands of its domestic and international automotive customers.

The company celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato, on March 11, 2016. Kunihiko Miyoshi, Chief Regional Officer of Yusen Logistics Americas Region, presided over the event, which was attended by officials and representatives from the Guanajuato governors office and the office of the Celaya mayor.

The automotive industry is growing at a tremendous pace in Mexico. In recent years, a number of major auto manufacturers invested in large assembly plants in the Bajio area. This is bringing many Tier 1 and Tier 2 auto suppliers into the region as well, said Miyoshi. Our Bajio Logistics Center is in an ideal location to support the logistics needs of these companies and positions us as a key service provider, building on our existing strengths and capabilities. We look forward to serving our automotive customers as well as supporting the local community.

The 53,820-square-foot warehouse is strategically located on a 17-acre site in the world-class Amistad Industrial Park in the Bajio region, one of the largest automotive clusters in Latin America. The industrialized area offers access to a highly-developed road and rail network, and strengthens Yusen Logistics global capabilities to offer automotive supply chain solutions to OEMs, as well as Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, conducting business in Mexico.

Building the logistics center is an important milestone for our company, said Jordan Dewart, the newly-appointed President of Yusen Logistics (Mexico) S.A. de C.V. This investment demonstrates our commitment to meet the growing logistics needs of the markets we serve. Yusen Logistics global reach gives us a clear advantage in the Mexico automotive market.

Services include just-in-time scheduling, domestic truck, rail and intermodal transportation, international freight forwarding, project cargo, import/export services, warehousing and value-add services, and trade compliance.

The warehouse, slated to be operational by the end of 2016, will feature 10,764 square feet of office space, 10 dock doors, a large trailer yard and an ocean container depot. There is room for expansion, including the capacity to double the amount of warehouse and office space and add a cross-dock facility with 30 dock doors.

Last year, Yusen Logistics (Mexico) S.A. de C.V. launched an Automotive Logistics division in Celaya, Mexico, and established a customs office in the Mexico City Airport, as well as a cross-dock office for air exports outside the airport. The company also arranges significant U.S./Mexico cross-border rail and trucking for its customers and partners with its affiliate, Yusen Logistics (Americas), which operates a 100,000-square-foot warehouse in Laredo, TX.

About Yusen Logistics

Yusen Logistics is a global logistics and transportation provider that delivers custom supply chain solutions through one of the largest air, ocean and land transportation networks. We have over 475 offices in 40 countries, with more than 20,000 employees at your service. Combining our services gives you greater control over your supply chain. For more information, visit www.yusen-logistics.com.
WASHINGTON  The Obama administration stepped up security at major transit hubs across the country after Tuesday's airport and subway bombings in Brussels, as top U.S. intelligence officials warned of the risk for copycat attacks at home. President Barack Obama vowed to help Belgium track down those responsible for the deadly explosions.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson stressed there is no "specific, credible intelligence" pointing to a similar plot in America, but he said the Transportation Security Administration would deploy additional security at major airports and rail stations in different cities. Officials also reviewed additional security measures for travelers from Belgium, among more than three dozen countries whose citizens generally don't need a visa to enter the U.S.

The attacks in the Belgian capital underscored the growing threat posed by the Islamic State group on both sides of the Atlantic. The bombs in Brussels' airport and subway locked down the European Union's capital just a few months after attacks shocked Paris and San Bernadino, California.

"We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible," Obama declared in Havana, where he was closing his historic, three-day visit. The attack immediately overshadowed events on the island, with Obama addressing the tragedy at the top of a keynote speech to the Cuban people and again at an exhibition baseball game.

"The world must unite," Obama said after offering his condolences in a telephone call with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. "We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world."

Several Americans were injured, including an Air Force officer and his wife and four children who were at the airport. The service member is stationed at Joint Force Command Brunssum, in the Netherlands, but the military wouldn't identify him by name. Officials said he was a lieutenant colonel.

Mormon church officials, meanwhile, said three of its missionaries from Utah were seriously injured in the blasts and were hospitalized. They were identified as Richard Norby, 66, of Lehi; Joseph Empey, 20, of Santa Clara; and Mason Wells, 19, of Sandy. They had been serving in Paris and were at the airport with a fourth missionary who was on her way to an assignment in Ohio.

Following the attacks, U.S. European Command announced new prohibitions on unofficial military and Defense Department employee travel to Brussels "until further notice." Official travel to the NATO hub in the city now requires approval.

Secretary of State John Kerry, accompanying Obama in Cuba, said in a statement the U.S. was working to determine the status of all Americans in Brussels. The embassy there issued a statement telling U.S. citizens to stay where they are and "take the appropriate steps to bolster your personal security."

In the United States, the Homeland Security Department said it could further enhance security measures "as appropriate, to protect the American people." It urged Americans to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities.

Johnson said last week that officials were monitoring world events while evaluating whether to raise the nation's security posture or issue another bulletin via the government's National Terror Advisory System. A bulletin was issued in December after American-born Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in San Bernardino.

The administration has described the couple as radicalized Muslims inspired by the Islamic State and other extremist groups, but hasn't linked them to any terrorist cell or network.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said the threat of copycat or lone-wolf attackers may get worse as the Islamic State faces increased military pressure by the U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria.

"In terms of targets, this may be one of the most dangerous phases," Schiff told The Associated Press shortly after being briefed on the attacks. "ISIS is facing pressure on the battlefield and they are suffering defeats. To enhance their prestige ... they feel the need to lash out at Western targets."

Schiff said it was unclear how closely the Islamic State's leadership in Raqqa, Syria, would have been involved in planning for such an operation. While the group has helped supply and train fighters who've returned to Europe with terrorist intentions, he said the attackers operate with "significant, real autonomy when it comes to when and where to attack."

The early indications, he said, suggest the perpetrators were of North African background and may have been Belgian or French citizens.

Intelligence agencies have been bracing for months for possible attacks in Belgium, especially since last week's arrest of accused Paris attack conspirator Salah Abdeslam, a Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent.

Schiff said the Brussels plot probably was already underway before Abdeslam's arrest. But his apprehension by authorities may have sped up the plan.

Investigators are still trying to determine how closely to connect the explosives and detonating mechanisms used Tuesday to those involved in last year's bombings in Paris that killed 130 people  for which no bomb-maker or bomb-making facility has yet been identified.
Plugged In Thomas Content offers insight on changes in the world of energy, climate change and efforts to build a greener economy. SHARE

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One of Wisconsin's new coal-fired power plants will meet stringent restrictions on mercury pollution under a settlement of litigation between the utility, the state and environmental groups.

Wisconsin Public Service Corp. of Green Bay had objected to the stringent limits state regulators set formercury pollution from the Weston 4 coal plant near Wausau.

Weston was the first coal plant built in the state since the 1980s when it opened in 2008. Milwaukee-based We Energies then built two new coal boilers as an expansion of its Oak Creek power plant. Those opened in 2010 and 2011.

Under Wisconsin law, newer coal-fired power plants like Weston 4 are required to limit mercury emissions to the maximum degree achievable. Based on testing done at the plant, regulators at the state Department of Natural Resources set a limit of 0.8 pounds per trillion British thermal units.

WPS had contested the limit, hoping for a far less stringent requirement for the facility. The utility has now agreed to those limits.

"We support the DNR's efforts to maintain protective permit limits," said Elizabeth Wheeler, a lawyer for Clean Wisconsin. "Coal plants are Wisconsin's No. 1 source of mercury pollution, and until they can be replaced with clean energy sources, their toxic emissions must be controlled."

In their settlement, Clean Wisconsin and Sierra Club agreed not to seek even more stringent limits for the coal plant.

The Weston coal plant is located just outside Wausau in Rothschild.

Health effects from exposure to mercury include severe neurological disorders in infants exposed during pregnancy. Children exposed to mercury may suffer from developmental problems and damage to the kidneys and digestive system, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. Wisconsin has issued fish consumption advisories for all inland lakes because of mercury and other contaminants.

The settlement was negotiated after the parent company of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. became a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group, formerly known as Wisconsin Energy Corp.

We are pleased that this settlement ends all legal challenges to the continued safe, reliable and environmentally responsible operation of an important energy resource for our customers," WPS spokesman Kerry Spees said.


Politically, Wisconsin has been slow to embrace Donald Trump, and Hillary Clintonas 17-point loss to Barack Obama in the stateas 2008 primary marked a low point in her last run for president.

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Wisconsins presidential primary is shaping up as a wide-open, high-turnout, stand-alone battleground that poses a late challenge to both front-runners, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

For Trump, the state should be a demographic match made in heaven, rich in the kinds of rural and blue-collar voters who have flocked to his campaign in other primaries.

But politically, Wisconsin has been slow to embrace the in-your-face New York developer. Polls show Trump with high negatives among GOP voters in the very region that typically decides Republican primaries, metropolitan Milwaukee.

His soft polling numbers have encouraged Stop Trump activists and Trumps two remaining GOP rivals to make a stand here.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are both launching their Wisconsin campaigns with visits Wednesday  13 days before the April 5 primary.

Theyre all playing in Wisconsin  hard, said former Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Kasich supporter. Wisconsin is crucially and critically important  to see if the Donald is going to have the momentum, is Cruz really going to be able to compete with him and, in the Kasich campaign, do we have a path forward?

Trump told reporters Monday, I hope to do well in Wisconsin. But he also conceded, there will be some (states) we dont win as he tries to rack up enough delegates to avoid a contested convention.

On the Democratic side, Clintons 17-point loss to Barack Obama in the states 2008 primary marked a low point in her last run for president.

Wisconsins mostly white electorate, open primary, progressive streak and history of turning out young voters make it friendlier turf for rival Bernie Sanders than most of the states that have already voted this year.

Talking to reporters last week, Sanders strategists twice referred to Wisconsin as a big showdown. Campaign manager Jeff Weaver said it was one of the upcoming states where were going to have to do very well and I think we will do very well.

Clinton campaign spokesman Yianni Varonis said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton is committed to Wisconsin and will have an active campaign.

But with its imposing delegate lead, the campaign hasnt said whether Clinton will spend significant time in the state in the next two weeks. Her daughter, Chelsea, campaigns here Thursday.

Some very big unknowns loom over Wisconsin.

One is turnout. Wisconsin will be the 34th state to vote, and Trump and Clinton are both in command of their races. Will that dampen turnout, or will voters here jump at the chance to have their say?

If the very bullish turnout projection by state election officials pans out  40% of voting-age adults  all bets are off. It would be Wisconsins highest presidential primary turnout in 36 years and the highest of any 2016 primary except New Hampshire.

Then theres the states open primary. Since Wisconsinites dont register by party, there are no barriers in either contest to independents or crossover voters from the other party. In the states 2012 GOP primary, only 59% of the voters were self-described Republicans, according to exit polls. In the states 2008 Democratic primary, only 62% of the voters were Democrats.

One more wild card: Wisconsin is the only primary on either side for the next two weeks (three states have Democratic caucuses Saturday). Its the first time since the opening rounds in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that candidates will be fighting over a single state for any length of time.

For Trump, blue-collar Wisconsin lines up nicely in some regards. He has repeatedly won the votes of whites without college degrees this year. That group made up 56% of the vote in Wisconsins 2012 Republican primary  a higher figure than in any state that has voted so far this year, according to exit polls.

Its white, its lower-education. Its lost industrial jobs. I mean, good gosh, said Ken Goldstein, a political scientist at the University of San Francisco who previously taught at the University of Wisconsin. Is there any reason to believe (Trump) shouldnt do well in Wisconsin? Or is Wisconsin not like everywhere else?

The states open primary and election day registration rules could also work in Trumps favor.

I think it nets out to be a favorable state for him, says GOP pollster Gene Ulm, who surveys frequently in Wisconsin. Its an open primary, and for first-time voters its easy to do. There will be a whole bunch of new voters coming in. Theyre not going to be from the North Shore. Theyre going to be very blue-collar.

But demographics dont always decide. In a poll last month by the Marquette Law School, more Republican and GOP-leaning voters had a negative view of Trump (47%) than a positive one (42%). Compare that to the winner of the 2012 primary, Mitt Romney, who scored far better in Marquettes pre-primary poll that year (55% favorable, 23% unfavorable).

Trump has his best numbers in northern Wisconsin and his worst in more populous southeastern Wisconsin, the GOPs geographic base. If either Cruz or Kasich can dominate there, they could easily capture the statewide vote, which brings 18 of the states 42 delegates. (Of the other 24, three go to the winner in each of the eight congressional districts).

A traditional candidate would appear to have no shot in Wisconsin with negatives like Trumps. But he has defied convention all year, buoyed by an intense core of support. Some GOP strategists think Trump could survive his weakness in metro Milwaukee if Cruz and Kasich divide the vote there, and the front-runner wins big in the north and west.

With the prospect of a contested convention very much alive, every delegate could matter.

I think were going to have huge turnout, says Thompson. And I think Wisconsin is such a unique state that any one of the three can win.

The Democratic race doesnt offer the same level of drama: Clinton can lose Wisconsin without much damage to her daunting delegate lead.

This is kind of a last chance to make a statement against the front-runner, says Democratic pollster Paul Maslin, who is based in Madison. I would suspect (Sanders) has a decent chance of winning Wisconsin, (but) I dont think it matters.

In 2008, 86% of the Democratic primary voters were white, a population mix that benefits Sanders because of Clintons huge edge with African-Americans.

Madison will turn out in large numbers for Bernie. Milwaukee will probably go for Hillary, but probably not by a huge margin, says Democratic consultant Thad Nation of Milwaukee.

The states open primary could also help Sanders, who has done far better with independent voters than with self-described Democrats.

Nation points to the general anger (among Democrats) about everything thats been going in this state, especially for the last six years under Gov. Scott Walker and a Republican legislature.

Its a place where the message of change is very, very powerful right now, says Nation  a climate he thinks benefits Sanders.

In January and February polls by the Marquette Law School, the Democratic race for president here was a toss-up.

Graphic: How front-runners have fared

Follow Craig Gilbert on Twitter @WisVoter
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Even as the GOP presidential candidates debated Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels ahead of Wisconsin's primary, two of them found time to squabble over their wives.

A super PAC's ad featuring racy photos of Donald Trump's wife Melania drew social media sparks from him and his main rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, with the billionaire real estate mogul threatening Heidi Cruz on Twitter.

Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

Campaigning for her husband Wednesday in Waukesha, Cruz dismissed those comments and sought to refocus the debate on larger issues. The ad with images of Melania Trump did not come from the Cruz campaign but from an independent group opposed to Trump, she pointed out.

"As I said, you probably know by now that most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality," Heidi Cruz told reporters.

Ted Cruz, who received an endorsement Wednesday from Jeb Bush, responded to Trump with his own tweet.

Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016
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Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., whose bankruptcy in 2008 helped launch the financial crisis, claims Glendale's Guaranty Bank owes it $26.4 million for allegedly selling it defective mortgages during the housing bubble.

But Guaranty, which sued in federal court in Milwaukee last spring after Lehman asked for the money, contends Lehman is not justified in seeking that much under terms of a previous settlement.

Lehman responded to Guaranty's lawsuit last month by requesting that U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Pepper in Milwaukee either dismiss the lawsuit or move it to New York, where other legal action involving Lehman's bankruptcy, including a claim against Guaranty, is being heard.

The judge is now considering Lehman's motions in the case.

Guaranty, which was hit hard by the housing crisis, has been striving since the Great Recession to return to sustained profitability. Guaranty posted a $4.1 million loss in its fiscal year 2015, which ended in September. The company had a $231,000 profit in 2014.

The Wisconsin bank has sold its wholesale mortgage unit and taken other steps in its effort to improve its financial condition. Its capital levels have improved, but are still short of standards required by regulators.

With assets of about $1 billion, Guaranty is the 16th biggest bank based in Wisconsin.

Doug Levy, chief executive of Guaranty, said Tuesday he could not comment on the litigation.

Guaranty argues that it had a deal with Lehman going back to a 2010 case in which Lehman sued Guaranty and demanded the bank pay for loans it sold Lehman that allegedly breached loan-purchase agreements.

Guaranty contends that under settlement terms of the 2010 case, Lehman is limited to seeking repayment of what Lehman has distributed to creditors, not the full $26.4 million in Guaranty mortgages that Lehman sold to third parties.

Guaranty asserts that Lehman is asking for the full amount of the mortgages in question, even though in some instances Lehman has paid less than the full amount  or zero in one instance  to those who have claims against Lehman in connection with the mortgages it sold.

The bank states in its lawsuit that Lehman is seeking "an amount substantially in excess of Guaranty's maximum liability."

Guaranty also is asking Pepper to decide whether the statute of limitations has expired on Lehman's claims. Guaranty's last loan sale to Lehman took place in 2007. Lehman says the statute of limitations doesn't apply because its settlements with creditors over the loans in question took place in 2014.

The lawsuit by Guaranty was filed in May 2015, but last month, Lehman responded by asking that it be dismissed. If a dismissal is rejected by Pepper, Lehman is requesting that Guaranty's lawsuit be transferred to federal court in New York. That's where officials overseeing the bankruptcy  one of the biggest in U.S. history  are familiar with similar cases involving Lehman as well as the type of argument Guaranty is making, Lehman contends.

"The bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York is uniquely positioned to decide this case, and such a ruling will thwart the piecemeal litigation and forum shopping attempted by Guaranty," attorneys for Lehman stated in a court filing.

But Guaranty says the parties had agreed in the first settlement that the "exclusive venue" for any dispute arising from that settlement would be U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Lehman also contends Guaranty violated a confidentiality agreement from the 2010 settlement by revealing some terms of the settlement when the bank filed its lawsuit against Lehman last May.

An attorney representing Lehman declined to comment on the case.
John Molina, chief financial officer of Molina Healthcare, talks with Wisconsin employees Wednesday at the companys new offices at 11200 W. Parkland Ave. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Five years after entering the Wisconsin market by buying a small health insurance company, Molina Healthcare employs 300 people in the Milwaukee area and generated $261 million in revenue from premiums last year in the state.

Molina, which recently moved to new offices at 11200 W. Parkland Ave. in Milwaukee, insured 98,000 people in Wisconsin last year.

And though the company won't release current numbers until later this year, Scott Johnson, president of Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin, said enrollment in its health plans is "dramatically higher" this year.

Molina, based in Long Beach, Calif., has seen equally dramatic growth companywide.

It reported revenue of $14.2 billion in 2015, up 46% from $9.7 billion in 2014 and more than triple its revenue of $4.5 billion in 2011.

That growth is projected to continue: Raymond James & Associates projects revenue of $17.1 billion for Molina this year.

Molina, which operates in 11 states and Puerto Rico, specializes in contracting with state governments to manage the care of people covered by Medicaid, receiving a set fee each month to cover the cost of their care.

It also sells Medicare Advantage plans in some states and provides administrative services for Medicaid programs.

The company was founded in 1980 by C. David Molina, an emergency physician who later opened clinics in low-income neighborhoods. David Molina died in 1996, and three of his children now are among the company's executives.

J. Mario Molina, also a physician, is the company's president and chief executive. John Molina, a lawyer, is the company's chief financial officer. And Martha Molina Bernadett, a physician, is executive vice president of research and development.

The company went public in 2002, and the Molina family directly or indirectly owned about 26% of the stock as of Dec. 31.

Part of its recent growth has come from its expansion into health plans sold on the marketplaces set up through the Affordable Care Act.

The company has aggressively priced its health plans sold on the marketplace  lowering its rates, for instance, in 2014  and is among the health insurers with the largest market share in the Milwaukee area.

Molina also has focused its marketing on people with incomes below 250% of the federal poverty threshold  $29,700 for one person this year  who are eligible for additional cost-sharing subsidies under the law. They have accounted for a disproportionate share of the market.

Molina has not disclosed whether it is making money on its marketplace plans. But Johnson said the company has learned to operate under much lower profit margins than other health insurers because of its focus on Medicaid programs.

Molina had a net profit margin of 1% last year, up from 0.6% in 2014. Its goal is to have a net profit margin of 1.5% to 2% by the end of 2017.

It reported net income of $143 million, or $2.57 a share, for 2015, up from $62 million, or $1.29 a share, in 2014.

Raymond James projects earnings of $3.48 a share for Molina this year. The investment company's analysts, though, expect Molina stock to perform in line with the overall market, in part because of the risks associated with the company's expansion into new markets.

Molina health plans now cover an estimated 3.9 million people, up from 3.5 million last year, 2.6 million in 2014 and 1.9 million in 2013.

The company's aggressive growth is likely to continue, both throughout the country and in Wisconsin. Molina plans to expand into new counties in the state, Johnson said. It hopes to enroll more people in its specialized health plan for people covered by Medicare and Medicaid. And it plans to bid on state contracts that would combine medical care and long-term care for people who are severely disabled or elderly.

Each new market will bring risks. But Johnson said they are markets the company knows and understands.

"This is something that Molina has been doing for 30 years," he said.
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A three-alarm fire Tuesday at an apartment building on Milwaukee's south side sent one person to the hospital and displaced others, a fire department official said.

Two firefighters were treated for exhaustion battling the blaze, reported shortly before 5:30 p.m. at 5634 W. Oklahoma Ave., Deputy Fire Chief Terry Terry Lintonen said.

Firefighters encountered heavy flames, smoke and heat inside the two-story building, where they fought the fire and searched for possible victims, Lintonen said.

The fire spread from the first floor to the second floor of the building, destroying two apartments on each floor, he said.

One resident who was having trouble breathing was taken to a hospital, and the two firefighters treated for exhaustion were not, Lintonen said.

Power was shut off to the building, which was equipped with working smoke detectors, and the fire was declared under control shortly after 6:30 p.m., according to Lintonen.

No damage estimates were available Tuesday night and the fire was under investigation by the Milwaukee Fire Department and Milwaukee Police Department, Lintonen said.
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No new deaths caused by the Elizabethkingia bacteria have been confirmed in Wisconsin within the past week, although five more people infected by the outbreak have been reported to the state Department of Health Services.

The source of the outbreak still has not been identified, and state and federal health officials say they don't know when it will end.

"It could go on for weeks or months or longer," said Julie Lund, a spokeswoman with the state health department.

Since the outbreak began in Wisconsin in November, there have been 17 deaths with confirmed infections, and one death related to a possible infection, according to the health department, which updates statistics on the outbreak every Wednesday.

The total number of infections tied to the bacteria rose to 59 this week. Cases have now been found in 13 counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Jefferson, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sauk, Sheboygan, Washington, Waukesha and Winnebago, which is the latest to have a case.

Elizabethkingiabacteria typically are not harmful and are found throughout the environment. Several strains of the bacteria exist. The strain causing the outbreak in Wisconsin is called E. anophelis.

Elizabethkingia infections are rare, and outbreaks are even rarer. The outbreak in Wisconsin is the largest known outbreak of E. anophelis.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with the Department of Health Services to find a source of the outbreak.

"How long this problem will last is going to ultimately depend on what the source is," Michael Bell, a CDC doctor, said in an email.

The Department of Health Services said in a statement Wednesday that the agency and CDC are "reasonably certain" that groundwater is not the source. The agencies have been collecting samples from private residences and health care facilities as they try to determine a source.

Most of the people who have become sick are over age 65 and have at least one serious, underlying health condition causing a compromised immune system, such as cancer, diabetes or kidney disease. The infection gets into the bloodstream, causing sepsis in the most severe cases. No children have been infected.

Last week, a death in Michigan was linked to the Wisconsin outbreak.

Crocker Stephenson of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
The first female four-star general in the Air Force, retired Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, signs an autograph Wednesday after speaking at the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs medical center. Credit: Meg Jones

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As Janet Wolfenbarger stepped off the bus taking her to the U.S. Air Force Academy, she saw the sign that said simply: "Bring Me Men."

Wolfenbarger was in the first class of women entering the Air Force Academy in June 1976 when the military finally allowed females to apply to the service academies. On the ramp leading to the cadet training area was the sign, adapted from an 1893 poem.

"You have to appreciate the irony," Wolfenbarger, the Air Force's first female four-star general, said Wednesday at the Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee. "Those were the first words I saw when I arrived" at the Air Force Academy.

Wolfenbarger, 57, spoke at the Milwaukee VA as part of its Women's History Month commemoration.

The Ohio native retired last year after 35 years in the Air Force and is now a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, a group that Wolfenbarger hopes some day will no longer be needed because gender will not be an issue in the military. That day may take a while to come, she said, noting that the defense secretary's recent announcement opening all military jobs to women will take time to be felt throughout the armed forces.

"It's going to be a huge culture change," said Wolfenbarger, who pointed out that 99% of Air Force jobs have been open to women for many years. "It's going to take some years to get through that culture change."

Wolfenbarger, who said she was speaking her own opinions and not representing the military, thinks all jobs should be open to women as long as gender-neutral physical standards are established.

That way "there's no artificial reason for not giving everybody a fair chance at competing," she said in an interview after her speech. "Those standards will be applied to both women and men. It will be about having the right people in the right fit for the right careers."

Every branch of the military has had a female four-star general except the Marines and the number of senior staff members who are female is growing in the armed forces. Just in the past week, President Barack Obama appointed the first female head of combat command.

Wolfenbarger said that when she entered the academy, the military could discharge anyone who became pregnant and many jobs were closed to women, a process that started changing when most cockpit jobs in the Air Force were opened to females in the 1990s.

After graduating from the academy in 1980, she spent most of her career in the support side of the Air Force, moving up in the ranks and accumulating stars. She directed the B-2 bomber program, monitored the F-22 Raptor program and commanded the Aeronautical Systems Center's C-17 Systems Group. Her last job was leading the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where her father, who flew B-47s and KC-135s, had been stationed.

She met her husband, retired Air Force Col. Craig Wolfenbarger, in the military. If both are in uniform in the same place, military protocol calls for him to offer the first salute. Their daughter is a high school senior who plans to attend the Air Force Academy's prep school this summer.

She knows she's a trailblazer, but Wolfenbarger never wanted to be singled out for her gender. Instead, she tried to work hard and focus on her mission. She worked alongside men who didn't think women had a place in the military knowing there was nothing she could do to change their minds except by performing her job to the best of her abilities, she said.

Wolfenbarger is in favor of changing the Selective Service requirement of all males registering for the draft at the age of 18 to include women, although it will take an act of Congress to change the law.

"I think we're going to find we have a whole segment of our population that will now be allowed to demonstrate that they are capable to be tapped. The future of our country is more secure because we're not excluding a certain segment" of the population, Wolfenbarger said.
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Two men who are facing federal charges stemming from allegations they bought stolen iPhones and sent them overseas will be allowed to move to Sacramento, Calif., while their case proceeds, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Younis Mohammed Al-Jayab, 24, and Samer Mohammed Al-Jayab, 19, are brothers of terrorism suspect Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23.

And while the cellphone charges against Younis and Samer are not related to terrorism counts faced by Aws, the brothers have been branded terrorists in Milwaukee, according to Michael Steinle, attorney for Younis.

The brothers' landlord evicted them and they cannot work in their uncle's store out of fear the business may be closed by officials, Steinle said. "They have been black labeled in this community."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Kanter argued against letting the brothers move to Sacramento, questioning where they would get the money to fly back to Milwaukee for court appearances.

Steinle said the family would support the brothers. Younis Mohammed Al-Jayab added he had a wholesaler license that would allow him to work in Sacramento.

In granting the request, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Jones said he saw no flight risk or risk to the public.

"This case has nothing to do with terrorism. It is a stolen cellphone case. There is no whiff of a crime of violence in this case. I feel badly that in the current times that you have been painted in that way. That is not fair to you," Jones said.

Also charged in the case is the brothers' cousin, Ahmed Waleed Mahmood, 22. He has not sought to move from Milwaukee.

The cellphone case will be delayed because of an order declaring some of the evidence classified. Defense attorneys will have to get a security clearance to view discovery. Kanter declined to say what information is classified.

It appears there is evidence in the stolen phone case that crosses into Aws Al-Jayab's terrorism case, Steinle said. But he stressed there still was no indication that terrorism was an element of the stolen cellphone case.

By moving to Sacramento, Younis and Samer Mohammed Al-Jayab will be able to live with their father, an Iraqi refugee living there. Their brother, Aws, who is facing a charge of lying to federal agents, lives in Sacramento. Aws Al-Jayab remains in jail as his case proceeds. He was indicted last week in Chicago on the charge of providing support to terrorists.

Aws Al-Jayab is a Palestinian born in Iraq who emigrated from Syria to the United States as a refugee in October 2012, residing in Tucson, Ariz., and Milwaukee.

In early November 2013, Al-Jayab was in Milwaukee and after months of planning, traveled to Chicago, where he bought an airline ticket to Istanbul, Turkey. He then made his way to Syria and fought alongside terrorist organizations, court documents show.

Aws Al-Jayab returned to the U.S. in January 2014, and settled in Sacramento. Authorities say he lied about his overseas travels, claiming he was in Turkey to visit his grandmother. Authorities have said they have no indication that he planned acts of terrorism in the United States.

In the cellphone case, undercover FBI agents sold Younis Mohammed Al-Jayab, Samer Mohammed Al-Jayab and Mahmood 32 new Apple iPhones, a laptop and a television, together valued at $21,500, court documents said.

Some of the items were shipped overseas, to Romania and Cyprus, court documents say.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students make their way to class last fall. Milwaukee attorney Matthew Flynn argues that Gov. Scott Walker is destroying the University of Wisconsin System. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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There is a difference between a conservative and a vandal. What Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature are doing to the University of Wisconsin is not conservative. It's an act of destruction.

My father was a tenured professor of Spanish at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for 34 years. I know the value of strong statutory tenure for attracting and retaining world-class faculty

Walker has launched an attack on the University of Wisconsin that can be described only as vandalism. He initially tried to change the mission statement of the university to make it, in effect, a job training arm of Wisconsin business. He had to back off in the face of universal outrage. He then pushed through legislation to eliminate statutory tenure in the University of Wisconsin System. What remains is so-called "fake tenure," which is subject to the will of the Board of Regents.

Tenure had been a strong factor in creating a university that is continually ranked among the top 50 in the world. Unlike Walker's very deep cuts to funding for the University of Wisconsin, which also hurt the university, there was absolutely no financial benefit to undermining tenure and changing the mission statement.

The average person doesn't fully understand how tampering with tenure has and will continue to injure the university. As new regents are appointed to reflect Walker's intellectually impoverished world view, you will find that conservative academics will be increasingly retained, and more independent academics will be dismissed. In the future, this could include historians who are deemed to have an "incorrect" view of history, scientists who want to engage in stem cell research, as well as a broad range of other scholars in English, philosophy and the social sciences. The best faculty will no longer choose to come to the University of Wisconsin. Some have already left.

In the future, if Walker stays in power, you will find regents further revising fake tenure to cleanse perceived intellectual deviates. Our state, which is of average size, population and wealth, will no longer have one of the greatest universities in the world.

One thing that had puzzled me about the attack on the University of Wisconsin is this. Walker went into office with strong support from the Wisconsin business community. Putting aside all of the other issues that I've listed, the University of Wisconsin has strong support in the Wisconsin business community. There are a number of prominent businessmen I know who are proud of their UW alma mater and have given a lot of money to it.

How could responsible and decent businessmen, some of whom I know personally, have permitted all of this to happen without speaking privately to Walker and telling him to knock it off?

What I discovered was disturbing. A number of Wisconsin businessmen, supporters of Walker, did speak to him privately. They did tell him that the University of Wisconsin was off limits to this kind of tampering.

But Walker has ignored his Wisconsin business supporters because he has acquired wealthier patrons. Out-of-state billionaires have meddled in Wisconsin government, including but not limited to the Koch brothers, who are far wealthier and far more powerful than the people who got Walker elected in the first place. I was reminded of the song in Evita: "Goodbye, and thank you Magaldi." When Wisconsin businessmen went to Walker to say "knock off the tampering with the University of Wisconsin," it was too late. He had gone on to be the consort of wealthier men.

The few Republican legislators who on principle object to this injury to the University of Wisconsin are threatened with a primary opponent. Faced with the loss of their salary and status as legislators, they succumb to the pressure.

One hundred years of bipartisan statesmanship produced in our state the cleanest government in the country and one of the greatest universities. In five short years, Walker has changed the culture of the state, and injected the potential for corruption into our government by replacing honest civil service requirements with cronyism and favoritism, and by continuing to try to sneak changes into open records and disclosure laws with little debate or opportunity for comment.

But the attacks on the University of Wisconsin are the clearest form of vandalism. The psychology of a vandal includes self-hatred for his own lack of accomplishment, finding nihilistic beauty in destruction, and a strong urge to destroy the accomplishments of others. If the voters in this state don't rise up to replace Walker in 2018, and the Republican majority in 2016, they will have submitted to the destruction of 100 years of accomplishment.

Matthew J. Flynn is a Milwaukee attorney.
Prescription painkillers should not be a first-choice for treating common ailments such as back pain and arthritis, according to new federal guidelines designed to reshape how doctors prescribe drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin. Credit: Associated Press

Gov. Scott Walker signed a series of bills Monday aimed at curbing abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin. Pushed in large part by state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) as part of his HOPE agenda, the bills were among the best things the state Legislature did in the session just ended.

The signing comes nearly a week after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new guideline designed as an "urgent response" to rein in the prescribing of opioids for chronic pain. With more than 165,000 overdose deaths and a quadrupling of narcotic painkiller prescriptions in the last 15 years, there can be little doubt of the need for urgency.

Multiple federal, state and local efforts already are underway to address heroin and opioid addiction, as the Journal Sentinel noted in a Monday article. Federal and local authorities announced last month that Milwaukee was chosen to take part in a new $2 million comprehensive strategy led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to prevent opioid misuse, heroin abuse and violent crime.

Good choice: Heroin and prescription drugs combined for 608 overdose deaths in Wisconsin in 2013, according to a state report last year, and overdoses from all drugs now kill more people in Wisconsin than traffic crashes. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, who supports the HOPE bills and has launched a Dose of Reality campaign at the Department of Justice, has called heroin abuse the "biggest challenge that we've faced in law enforcement in public safety in a quarter-century."

Nygren, the co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, has used the story of his daughter Cassie's fight with heroin addiction to focus attention on the broader problem and help pass a series of 17 bipartisan bills since 2013. He has dubbed the effort the HOPE agenda, which stands for heroin, opioid prevention and education.

Lawmakers from other states and both parties have been contacting Nygren about Wisconsin's proposals, learning about efforts here through groups such as the Council on State Governments, the National Council on State Legislatures and the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Journal Sentinel reported.

The signing of the bills comes at the same time as a report that says white adults made up roughly two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in the past four years in Milwaukee County, the Journal Sentinel reported Monday. And although much of the public discussion about heroin and other drugs has centered on young people in their teens or 20s, almost half of all drug overdose deaths in the past four years were adults between ages 30 and 59, according to the new analysis issued from the office of Milwaukee Common Council President Michael Murphy.

"We need to look at what the data are telling us and tailor public policy to the population we need to be targeting," Murphy said in a news release.

Murphy  who organized regional summits where the problem was labeled a "public health crisis"  said it's a multifaceted issue affecting everyone.

"When you crunch the numbers and chart them on a map, you see that this isn't just an isolated phenomenon," he said in a news release. "Every neighborhood in every city and every suburb is at risk, and unless we work together across jurisdictions to address this epidemic, the problem will continue to grow."

Murphy is right. Authorities need good data and need to target policy measures effectively.

Nygren has started that job at the legislative level, and congratulations to him, the state Legislature and Schimel, for pushing the bills the governor signed Monday.

But it is only a start, one that will require a coordinated strategy from all levels of government. Here's hoping that will all come together quickly.
In Wisconsin, owners of Class A liquor licenses (typically liquor and grocery stores) cant sell alcohol past 9 p.m. Credit: Getty Images

Drinking at home alone combines two of life's great pleasures: imbibing alcohol and not having to talk to other people.

But there's an added benefit, in that having a drink at home doesn't require getting in a car and driving anywhere. But one of the most puzzling state laws still on the books provides a disincentive to staying home and enjoying a relaxing cocktail.

In Wisconsin, owners of "Class A" liquor licenses (typically liquor and grocery stores) can't sell alcohol past 9 p.m. If you have a friend coming over and need him or her to swing by the store to get something, or if you have a busy day and forget to make a grocery store run, you're out of luck. If you want to buy a drink, you either have to get in a car and drive to a bar, have a drink, and then drive home, or set up a Prohibition-style gin distillery in your bathtub.

In fact, it was just weeks after Prohibition ended in December of 1933 that the 9 p.m. limit made its way to the Wisconsin law books. In January of 1934, the Wisconsin Legislature rushed into a special session to figure out how to deal with newly legalized alcohol sales. The bill's author, Sen. Harry Griswold, included the 9 p.m. restriction in the very first draft, and there's scant evidence it was ever seriously debated. By contrast, the Senate spent hours arguing over whether bars would be allowed to lure customers with free food (popcorn was allowed, peanuts were deemed the Devil's legumes and banned.)

In the subsequent 82 years, many other parts of the liquor license bill have been challenged or eliminated. For instance, the original bill prohibited granting alcohol licenses to "non-Americans." In Milwaukee, women were prevented from serving drinks, and aldermen debated an outright ban on dancing in bars. Selling alcohol was also prohibited on election days, for fear people might vote while inebriated. (Undoubtedly such a ban today might significantly reduce Donald Trump's ballot share.)

A primary problem with the general 9 p.m. prohibition is that it usurps local control; voters in Wisconsin's nearly 2,000 municipalities should be allowed to decide when and where they should be allowed to slake their thirsts. Ironically, local control was the main hang-up in the 1934 bill  Gov. Albert Schmedeman favored a statewide council to grant liquor licenses, but legislators opted to allow municipalities to do so. Yet the top-down statewide 9 p.m. rule stood, as did requiring bars to stop selling liquor at 1 a.m. (since changed to 2 a.m. on weekdays, 2:30 a.m. on weekends).

In fact, bars (Class "B" license holders) have another built-in advantage over home-drinkers; in its 1979 session, the Legislature passed a little-known loophole that allows bars to sell prepackaged beer and wine for off-premise consumption until midnight. So in limited cases, the opportunity to buy alcohol for home drinking is already available, with as-yet no adverse consequences. Why grant this right to bars, but not liquor and grocery stores?

Undoubtedly, Wisconsin's taverns would resist any move to allow people to buy liquor past the artificial 9 p.m. deadline; if people were allowed to drink more of what they wanted at home, fewer may venture out to bars.

But that might not necessarily be a bad thing, as it will allow people more flexibility to enjoy themselves in the comfort of their own company, and in safer environments. When the liquor licensing law was written, it was still very much unknown what effect the flood of legal alcohol would have on Americans; as Griswold said prior to his bill's introduction, "every possible means should be provided to encourage temperance on the part of the liquor-consuming public."

But in the past 82 years, the world has settled into this alcohol thing. As George Saintsbury said, "It is the unbroken testimony of all history that alcoholic liquors have been used by the strongest, wisest, handsomest, and in every way best races of all times."

Christian Schneider is a Journal Sentinel columnist and blogger. Email cschneider@jrn.com. Twitter: @Schneider_CM
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Madison  Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg accused state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley of an ethical lapse and Bradley called her opponent hypocritical as the two debated for the last time Wednesday in the race for the high court.

The candidates also revealed sharp differences over having taxpayers fund the campaigns of justices  with Kloppenburg for it and Bradley expressing skepticism of the idea.

The election for a 10-year term on the Supreme Court is April 5.

Kloppenburg criticized Bradley for discussing a recent Supreme Court decision because the losing party has asked the justices to reconsider their ruling. Kloppenburg brought it up at a Madison Rotary Club forum at the Inn on the Park as she argued the state needs to change how it handles ethical complaints against justices.

"She's talked about that case when there's a pending motion for reconsideration in that case," Kloppenburg said. "Our judicial code of conduct prohibits any justice from talking about such a case, and because of the way ethical complaints are handled against justices right now, it's likely that nothing would come of such an ethical lapse."

Responded Bradley: "An allegation of an ethical lapse, it simply isn't true whatsoever."

Later, Bradley noted Kloppenburg has criticized her for receiving judicial appointments from GOP Gov. Scott Walker and has argued the court needs to change its ethics rules on when justices must step aside from cases because of political spending. But Kloppenburg also sought judicial appointments and remained on a case involving a group that spent heavily against her in her 2011 run for the Supreme Court, Bradley said.

"There is a theme of hypocrisy running through my opponent's campaign," Bradley said. "What's good for her is not good for somebody else."

Kloppenburg acknowledged she sought appointments from GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Democratic President Barack Obama, but said she didn't get them because she lacked political connections. She was elected to the Madison-based District 4 Court of Appeals in 2012.

Kloppenburg's allegation against Bradley was over her willingness to discuss a 4-3 decision last month that found that evidence seized when police entered a room without the owner's permission could be used because the police officers were checking on someone's safety.

Bradley wasn't on the court when the case was argued, but she said she helped decide it to avoid a 3-3 split that wouldn't have resolved the case.

"The people would be deprived of a decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court," Bradley said Wednesday. "So I elected to participate in those cases, doing my job for the people of Wisconsin so they can get a decision."

The man who lost the case has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the decision, arguing that Bradley's participation in the case violated his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection.

Kloppenburg argued judicial ethics rules prevent Bradley from talking about the case because it is pending.

Kloppenburg said the state needs to change how it resolves ethics complaints against justices. Now, a justice's colleagues are the ones to decide such cases, and that has resulted in cases not being resolved.

The high court deadlocked 3-3 in 2010 on whether Justice Michael Gableman had violated the ethics code with a campaign ad. A complaint against Justice David Prosser has gone unheard because so many justices have declined to participate in the case because they witnessed his 2011 physical altercation with Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. (Ann Walsh Bradley and Rebecca Bradley are not related.)

Kloppenburg said the court should hold hearings to determine how to change the process for handling such ethics complaints.

Public financing. Kloppenburg said she would support having taxpayers fund the campaigns of judicial candidates so they would not have to raise money from private donors.

Such a system was in place for Supreme Court races in 2011, when Kloppenburg ran against Prosser, but it has since been scrapped.

Bradley said that race showed public financing gives "an even more outsized voice for third-party interests."
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Washington  U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin was one of five Republicans in Congress who traveled to Cuba as part of President Barack Obama's historic trip that ended Tuesday.

"There's a long way to go on this journey, but I do think the president is doing the right thing in having this conversation start," Rbble said in an interview Wednesday. Ribble has supported measures in Congress to ease some of the long-standing restrictions on U.S. engagement with Cuba.

"But I want in it done in the correct way...you start to do this incrementally," said Ribble, who said he doesn't believe the country's historic hard line on Cuba has worked and he was "cautiously optimistic" that more engagement can lead to improved conditions and a more open society in Cuba.

The lawmaker said of the trip: "The Cuban people were very, very anxious to talk with us when we were in the city. They were always coming up to us thanking us for being there, thanking us that President Obama decided to address the Cuban people directly...The reception was positive.

"We did have a meeting with the dissidents so we had a chance to hear their side of the story. Some people think that the president is so gung ho on this that we're not taking into consideration human rights issues...But those were parts of the discussion the entire time."
Inflation is a top issue for voters, but politicians' solutions could make things worse

Voters have shifted their top priority from abortion to their wallets, but candidates are limited in what they can do about rising prices.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (center) may step in and try to mediate a feud between state Sen. Chris Larson and Sen. Lena Taylor, Milwaukee Democrats.

Daniel Bice No Quarter SHARE Audio Watchdog columnist Daniel Bice asks state Sen. Chris Larson about his interaction with Sen. Lena Taylor.

Here's something you don't do if you're running for Milwaukee County executive and want to make mental health reform a major plank in your platform.

You don't suggest a political foe is unstable by sarcastically asking that individual while entering the Senate floor: "Did you take your meds today?"

But that's what state Sen. Chris Larson, who is challenging County Executive Chris Abele on April 5, did in a brief but charged talk with state Sen. Lena Taylor earlier this month. Larson also suggested that Taylor is nearing the end of her tenure in the Legislature.

Word of the exchange quickly spread in Milwaukee's black community  Larson is white and Taylor is black  and on social media.

On Tuesday, Taylor issued a statement saying she was offended by Larson's remarks as the two were entering the Senate floor on March 15.

"During the conversation, Senator Larson made several offensive comments, which were overheard by others," Taylor said. "I was stunned by both the disrespectful content of his statements and that his words had quickly made their way to both social and local media.

"I appreciate the words of encouragement I've received from those in the community who have reached out to me during this unfortunate situation."

Larson repeatedly brushed aside questions about the incident on Tuesday evening.

"It was a private conversation," Larson said after a Glendale hearing on the Estabrook Dam.

Apparently, not that private.

Larson continued: "We are in conversations and looking to resolve this as soon as possible so we can move forward and do what's best for everybody in Milwaukee County."

So did Larson ask Taylor if she is still taking her meds and suggest that her Senate career might be over soon?

He's not saying.

"We're going to have a conversation," Larson said. "We've been in conversations to sit down. We've been in conversations since earlier this week to sit down and make sure things are resolved between us."

He noted that U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, an African-American leader in Milwaukee who is backing Larson, may help try to mediate the dispute.

But will Larson apologize for what he said?

"It was a private conversation between Lena and I," Larson said, repeating his talking point.

Several individuals, led by former Ald. Michael McGee Jr., have confronted Larson and his campaign manger to ask if the senator will apologize, even posting videos of their unsuccessful efforts on Facebook.

Though Taylor and Larson are both Milwaukee Democrats, they have not gotten along in years. When he was Senate minority leader, Larson removed Taylor from her post on the powerful Joint Finance Committee  a subject that came up in a recent Abele-Larson debate.

But their relationship hit a new low with their chat earlier this month.

Sources close to Taylor say the two got into a heated discussion while they were approaching the Senate chambers.

Some in Taylor's camp say Larson called her "crazy," although others dispute that. Taylor is well-known for her sometimes abrasive, sometimes exuberant personality.

But the sources said Larson asked something like, "Did you take your meds today because it's going to be a long one?" He then encouraged Taylor to enjoy one of her last legislative sessions, and she responded with a similar quip.

It's widely believed that Taylor will face a challenge in her re-election bid this fall. Her most likely foe  state Rep. Mandela Barnes, a Larson ally  has not yet said whether he will run.

In a lengthy statement issued Wednesday, Larson accused Taylor of starting the fracas by yelling at him, though he wasn't specific about what was said. He also said he has repeatedly attempted to meet with her but added that Taylor "has remained unavailable."

Larson added that he believes the incident is being used as a "political distraction" in the county exec's race.

Abele was quick to go on the attack, saying it was the job of public officials "not to mock but to empower" on the issue of mental health.

"Senator Larson's threatening remarks to an accomplished African-American woman... are offensive and astonishingly out of touch," Abele wrote via email.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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On March 10, I posted on the humiliation heaped on Vice President Joe Biden by the Israeli government of far-right Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Biden went to Israel intending to help kick off indirect negotiations between Netanyahu and Palestine Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Biden had no sooner arrived than the Israelis announced that they would build 1600 new households on Palestinian territory that they had unilaterally annexed to Jerusalem. Since expanding Israeli colonization of Palestinian land had been the sticking point causing Abbas to refuse to engage in negotiations, and, indeed, to threaten to resign, this step was sure to scuttle the very talks Biden had come to inaugurate. And it did.

The tiff between the US and Israel is less important than the worrisome growth of tension between Palestinians and Israelis as the Israelis have claimed more and more sites sacred to the Palestinians as well. There is talk of a third Intifada or Palestinian uprising.

As part of my original posting, I mirrored a map of modern Palestinian history that has the virtue of showing graphically what has happened to the Palestinians politically and territorially in the past century.

Andrew Sullivan then mirrored the map from my site, which set off a lot of thunder and noise among anti-Palestinian writers like Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic, but shed very little light. (PS, the map as a hard copy mapcard is available from Sabeel.)

The map is useful and accurate. It begins by showing the British Mandate of Palestine as of the mid-1920s. The British conquered the Ottoman districts that came to be the Mandate during World War I (the Ottoman sultan threw in with Austria and Germany against Britain, France and Russia, mainly out of fear of Russia).

But because of the rise of the League of Nations and the influence of President Woodrow Wilsons ideas about self-determination, Britain and France could not decently simply make their new, previously Ottoman territories into mere colonies. The League of Nations awarded them Mandates. Britain got Palestine, France got Syria (which it made into Syria and Lebanon), Britain got Iraq.

The League of Nations Covenant spelled out what a Class A Mandate (i.e. territory that had been Ottoman) was:

Article 22. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory [i.e., a Western power] until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory.

That is, the purpose of the later British Mandate of Palestine, of the French Mandate of Syria, of the British Mandate of Iraq, was to render administrative advice and assistance to these peoples in preparation for their becoming independent states, an achievement that they were recognized as not far from attaining. The Covenant was written before the actual Mandates were established, but Palestine was a Class A Mandate and so the language of the Covenant was applicable to it. The territory that formed the British Mandate of Iraq was the same territory that became independent Iraq, and the same could have been expected of the British Mandate of Palestine. (Even class B Mandates like Togo have become nation-states, but the poor Palestinians are just stateless prisoners in colonial cantons).

The first map thus shows what the League of Nations imagined would become the state of Palestine. The economist published an odd assertion that the Negev Desert was empty and should not have been shown in the first map. But it wasnt and isnt empty; Palestinian Bedouin live there, and they and the desert were recognized by the League of Nations as belonging to the Mandate of Palestine, a state-in-training. The Mandate of Palestine also had a charge to allow for the establishment of a homeland in Palestine for Jews (because of the 1917 Balfour Declaration), but nobody among League of Nations officialdom at that time imagined it would be a whole and competing territorial state. There was no prospect of more than a few tens of thousands of Jews settling in Palestine, as of the mid-1920s. (They are shown in white on the first map, refuting those who mysteriously complained that the maps alternated between showing sovereignty and showing population). As late as the 1939 British White Paper, British officials imagined that the Mandate would emerge as an independent Palestinian state within 10 years.

In 1851, there had been 327,000 Palestinians (yes, the word Filistin was current then) and other non-Jews, and only 13,000 Jews. In 1925, after decades of determined Jewish immigration, there were a little over 100,000 Jews, and there were 765,000 mostly Palestinian non-Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. For historical demography of this area, see Justin McCarthys painstaking calculations; it is not true, as sometimes is claimed, that we cannot know anything about population figures in this region. See also his journal article, reprinted at this site. The Palestinian population grew because of rapid population growth, not in-migration, which was minor. The common allegation that Jerusalem had a Jewish majority at some point in the 19th century is meaningless. Jerusalem was a small town in 1851, and many pious or indigent elderly Jews from Eastern Europe and elsewhere retired there because of charities that would support them. In 1851, Jews were only about 4% of the population of the territory that became the British Mandate of Palestine some 70 years later. And, there had been few adherents of Judaism, just a few thousand, from the time most Jews in Palestine adopted Christianity and Islam in the first millennium CE all the way until the 20th century. In the British Mandate of Palestine, the district of Jerusalem was largely Palestinian.

The rise of the Nazis in the 1930s impelled massive Jewish emigration to Palestine, so by 1940 there were over 400,000 Jews there amid over a million Palestinians.

The second map shows the United Nations partition plan of 1947, which awarded Jews (who only then owned about 6% of Palestinian land) a substantial state alongside a much reduced Palestine. Although apologists for the Zionist movement say that the Zionists accepted this partition plan and the Arabs rejected it, that is not entirely true. Zionist leader David Ben Gurion noted in his diary when Israel was established that when the US had been formed, no document set out its territorial extent, implying that the same was true of Israel. We know that Ben Gurion was an Israeli expansionist who fully intended to annex more land to Israel, and by 1956 he attempted to add the Sinai and would have liked southern Lebanon. So the Zionist acceptance of the UN partition plan did not mean very much beyond a happiness that their initial starting point was much better than their actual land ownership had given them any right to expect.

The third map shows the status quo after the Israeli-Palestinian civil war of 1947-1948. It is not true that the entire Arab League attacked the Jewish community in Palestine or later Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. As Avi Shlaim has shown, Jordan had made an understanding with the Zionist leadership that it would grab the West Bank, and its troops did not mount a campaign in the territory awarded to Israel by the UN. Egypt grabbed Gaza and then tried to grab the Negev Desert, with a few thousand badly trained and equipped troops, but was defeated by the nascent Israeli army. Few other Arab states sent any significant number of troops. The total number of troops on the Arab side actually on the ground was about equal to those of the Zionist forces, and the Zionists had more esprit de corps and better weaponry.

The final map shows the situation today, which springs from the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank in 1967 and then the decision of the Israelis to colonize the West Bank intensively (a process that is illegal in the law of war concerning occupied populations).

There is nothing inaccurate about the maps at all, historically. Goldberg maintained that the Palestinians original sin was rejecting the 1947 UN partition plan. But since Ben Gurion and other expansionists went on to grab more territory later in history, it is not clear that the Palestinians could have avoided being occupied even if they had given away willingly so much of their country in 1947. The first original sin was the contradictory and feckless pledge by the British to sponsor Jewish immigration into their Mandate in Palestine, which they wickedly and fantastically promised would never inconvenience the Palestinians in any way. It was the same kind of original sin as the French policy of sponsoring a million colons in French Algeria, or the French attempt to create a Christian-dominated Lebanon where the Christians would be privileged by French policy. The second original sin was the refusal of the United States to allow Jews to immigrate in the 1930s and early 1940s, which forced them to go to Palestine to escape the monstrous, mass-murdering Nazis.

The map attracted so much ire and controversy not because it is inaccurate but because it clearly shows what has been done to the Palestinians, which the League of Nations had recognized as not far from achieving statehood in its Covenant. Their statehood and their territory has been taken from them, and they have been left stateless, without citizenship and therefore without basic civil and human rights. The map makes it easy to see this process. The map had to be stigmatized and made taboo. But even if that marginalization of an image could be accomplished, the squalid reality of Palestinian statelessness would remain, and the children of Gaza would still be being malnourished by the deliberate Israeli policy of blockading civilians. The map just points to a powerful reality; banishing the map does not change that reality.

Goldberg, according to Spencer Ackerman, says that he will stop replying to Andrew Sullivan, for which Ackerman is grateful, since, he implies, Goldberg is a propagandistic hack who loves to promote wars on flimsy pretenses. Matthew Yglesias also has some fun at Goldbergs expense.

People like Goldberg never tell us what they expect to happen to the Palestinians in the near and medium future. They dont seem to understand that the status quo is untenable. They are like militant ostriches, hiding their heads in the sand while lashing out with their hind talons at anyone who stares clear-eyed at the problem, characterizing us as bigots. As if that old calumny has any purchase for anyone who knows something serious about the actual views of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, more bigoted persons than whom would be difficult to find. Indeed, some of Israels current problems with Brazil come out of Liebermans visit there last summer; I was in Rio then and remember the distaste with which the multi-cultural, multi-racial Brazilians viewed Lieberman, whom some openly called a racist.

End/ (Not Continued)
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TeleSur

The Vermont senator called himself a friend and partner of Israel but called for an end to occuption of Palestine.

After Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders decided against attending the American Israel Public Affairs Committees annual conference, he outlined his views on the Palestine-Israel conflict and the wider Middle East via video, calling himself a partner and friend of Israel but not shying away from criticizing one of the United States closest allies.

To my mind, as friends  long-term friends with Israel  we are obligated to speak the truth as we see it. That is what real friendship demands, especially in difficult times, said Sanders.

I am here to tell the American people that, if elected president, I will work tirelessly to advance the cause of peace as a partner and as a friend to Israel.

Sanders then addressed the need to help Palestinians given the challenges they face. But to be successful, we have also got to be a friend not only to Israel, but to the Palestinian people, where in Gaza unemployment today is 44 percent and we have there a poverty rate which is almost as high, Sanders explained.

A week after Israel appropriated huge tracts of land in the occupied West Bank, Sanders joined the United Nations and the European Union in criticizing Israels expansion of settlements, saying it undermines the peace process and Israeli security.

It is absurd for elements within the Netanyahu government to suggest that building more settlements in the West Bank is the appropriate response to the most recent violence. It is also not acceptable that the Netanyahu government decided to withhold hundreds of millions of Shekels in tax revenue from the Palestinians, which it is supposed to collect on their behalf, Sanders said.

The Vermont senator also called for an end to the economic blockade of Gaza and a sustainable and equitable distribution of precious water resources so that Israel and Palestine can both thrive as neighbors.

Peace has to mean security for every Israeli from violence and terrorism. But peace also means security for every Palestinian. It means achieving self-determination, civil rights and economic well-being for the Palestinian people, said Sanders.

Peace will mean ending what amounts to the occupation of Palestinian territory, establishing mutually agreed upon borders, and pulling back settlements in the West Bank, just as Israel did in Gaza  once considered an unthinkable move on Israels part, he added.

In contrast, Hillary Clinton attended the AIPAC conference and praised the deep emotional connection the U.S. shares with Israel.

The Democrat front-runner made it clear she would not remain neutral in the Israel-Palestine conflict and would invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S. as one of her first moves in the White House.

Clinton also criticized the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, telling Netanyahu: Dont let anyone bully you, or shut down debate  especially in places of learning like college or universities.

Sanders was the only presidential candidate to skip AIPAC this year, which hosts more than 18,000 pro-Israel advocates and lobbyists.

Via TeleSur



Related video added by Juan Cole:

CNN: Bernie Sanders: U.S. should be even-handed with Israel . . .
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

1. Stop calling Daesh the Islamic State. They are manipulating you. They arent a state and they arent Islamic. If some fringe cult took over some villages in Mexico and called itself The Vatican, then committed terrorism, would journalists blithely say on air Today, the Vatican killed 39 and injured 200 with a bomb belt? People in the Middle East hate this small desert fringe, and they term it Daesh, not Islamic. They should know.

2. Call the terrorists Muslim if you have to characterize them, not Islamic or even worse, Islamics. There is no such thing as Islamic terrorism. The word Islamic has to do with the ideals and verities of the religion of Islam, and is analogous to Judaic. There are Muslim criminals and Muslim terrorists, just as there are Jewish criminals and Jewish terrorists. But there are no Judaic terrorists, and there arent any Islamic ones either. But it is all right just to call them terrorists or cultists.

3. Stop suggesting that there is something wrong with Muslims that they keep producing terrorists. All the major world faiths produce violent people. In the Rwanda genocide of the 1990s, Christian Hutus murdered between 500,000 and 1 million other people, and the Christian churches were deeply involved in enabling this slaughter. Indeed, Christian missionaries had played a sinister role in importing the idea of racial divides and racial hierarchies into Rwanda in the first place. That the American mass media have virtually ignored sanguinary episodes such as the Rwanda killings and the central role of the Christian churches in them in itself helps create an image of Muslims as unusually violent. If you only report on Muslim violence, then that is what people will think.

4. Call terrorism terrorism no matter who commits it. When Basques blew up a gas station in Madrid, the US press did not report it, much less terming it terrorism. In terms of sheer numbers of attacks, terrorism more often looks like that in Europe than it looks like Brussels on Tuesday.

5. Muslims are a sixth of humankind and hail from all sorts of backgrounds, ethnicities, and languages. There are 40 million Chinese Muslims. There are 23 million Russian ones. Ethiopian Muslims and Senegalese Muslims have little in common despite being African, and neither has much in common with Bangladeshi Muslims. To tag all of them with the actions of some violent Brussels slum-dwellers of North African heritage is weird. It is exactly like assuming that all American Christians want to kill Tutsis, just because Hutu Christians did.

6. Show some basic humanity and sympathize with Muslim victims of terrorism (and they are the main victims nowadays). It is right that we show solidarity with the Brussels victims and that we say we are Brussels. But why arent we Istanbul or Beirut or Baghdad when those cities are blown up by Daesh?

7. Recognize that most Muslims actively despise Daesh and similar violent cults. There are only like 30,000 Daesh fighters, and thats in an area with lots of armed groups. They dont like Daesh and wont join it. Half of the population routinely flees if Daesh takes over. (There is a little propaganda trick Islamophobes play with these statistics, saying that even if 2% of 1.6 billion Muslims actively supported Daesh, that would be a lot of people. But this trick is easily refuted by reality. Almost no one has gone to fight for Daesh, in statistical terms. If 600 Britons went to Syria out of 3.6 million British Muslims, that would be .016% support. Moreover, people who tell pollsters they think well of Daesh mostly have no idea what it is they are just falling for point #1 above, hearing that it is Islamic and so it might have a positive connotation for them until they actually meet it.

8. Show your Muslim neighbor (or even more likely in the US, physician) some love. Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) does these horrible things to get people of Christian heritage to be beastly to the Muslims in their midst, spreading hatred and anger and a sense of victimization. Daesh is hoping to use *you* to drive other Muslims into their arms. They want to make you a recruitment officer. They want you to hate and they want you to fear. There is only one way to combat this tactic of sharpening contradictions. Refuse to hate and refuse to be afraid. Bend over backwards to be nice to Muslims. Theyre human beings, just like you, but they are being stalked by very dangerous people. Not all those dangerous people are even of Muslim heritage. Some 40% of Daesh suspects arrested in the US have been converts from other religions. And some of the dangerous people are US presidential candidates like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
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Kamal al-Ayash | (Niqash.org) |  

Getting from Turkey to Europe was a cakewalk compared to escaping the [so-called] Islamic State-run city of Fallujah, says one Iraqi. Fleeing families must cross a reservoir, in a ten-passenger boat, on an active battlefield.

Life had become impossible in the city of Fallujah, Hamid Abu Ziad says. So we made up our minds and decided to escape from the city.

But this was far from easy. The city is surrounded by members of the Iraqi army and the volunteer Shiite Muslim militias, as well as members of the extremist group known as the Islamic State, who have controlled the city since early 2014.

Abu Ziad made arrangements to travel from the city to a kind of no-mans land on the northern outskirts of Fallujah. Then we spent several days hiding in the orchards around the town of Albu Shejel together with several other families. It was a nightmare because the place was being shelled continuously. But we had to wait for the right opportunity to cross to the other side of the canal. It was dangerous but it was the only way to take a step toward safety.

Abu Ziad is talking about an area known as Ibrah, located in Albu Shejel, in the Saqlawiyah district  its about ten kilometres northwest of Fallujah. Ibrah is divided into three areas, with one dedicated to ferrying people across the canal, another for livestock and a third for food supplies. But all of the crossing points are being targeted, firstly, by the Islamic State, or IS, group, who are trying to prevent people from leaving Fallujah and, secondly, by the armed forces fighting against the extremists.

At the Thar Thar crossing, families put the young, old and less able on the boat and then everyone else swims behind it.

So getting across is far from easy. Crossing the Thar Thar canal is the most dangerous part of the journey, Abu Ziad explains. Id been having nightmares about it.

But he and his family managed to do this and after nine more days, they made it to the relative safety of Baghdad.

Although dozens of families are getting out of Fallujah every day, crossing the Thar Thar reservoir at Ibrah, there are no official figures on how many arrive on the Habbaniyah side, which is mostly controlled by the Iraqi government, daily. People living near the crossing point say the escape route has changed a lot since people started using it because of military operations against the IS group in the adjacent Khalidiya area.

Hashem Abu Ahmed, a man in his 60s, talks about how he got stuck in Fallujah after visiting his recently bereaved daughter there; she had lost her husband and two daughters after their car was caught up in a bombing raid as they tried to flee the city. It took Abu Ahmed, his daughter and her remaining child three months to get out of Fallujah.

We had to follow this route even though its very dangerous and thats where I lost my son-in-law and grandchildren a few months back, he says.

Whats happening at the Ibrah crossing doesnt seem very different to whats happening with refugees trying to get to Europe, Abu Ahmed adds. Families take a boat across which is on a sort of pulley system and is pulled across the water by someone by the rope on either side. The boat can only carry ten people at a time and sometimes the IS fighters are on the Khalidiya side and they turn people back, he told NIQASH.

Some families put the old and young and less able on the boat and then swim behind it to ensure that everyone crosses at the same time and that they dont waste any time.

Additionally the Ibrah crossing is only the first obstacle on the escapees route to relative safety, elsewhere in Iraq. After getting over the water, the displaced families need to get through checkpoints, over the Bzebiz bridge and traverse another contested area near the city of Ramadi. The people leaving come up with all kinds of justifications for their travels whenever they are stopped by IS fighters, and they have many different methods of travelling too.

Mazen al-Halbusi, a former hospital worker, is another local who escaped Fallujah recently. In a journey that took him 13 days, he managed to get to Baghdad. From there he set out for Europe.

And actually the trip from Turkey to Europe was a lot easier than getting out of Fallujah, he told NIQASH. I was trying to avoid getting killed and I saw a lot of death on my way to Baghdad. Whereas during the journey through Europe [as a refugee], I felt as though I was on holiday! I was taking pictures of the nature and of the beautiful places and the waves on the sea. None of that journey made me as afraid as the trip from Fallujah to Baghdad.

Via Niqash.org



Related video added by Juan Cole:

BBC from last fall: Inside Iraq Camp For Refugees Who Escaped ISIS: Part 1 | ABC News
Vancouver, Canada / TheNewswire / March 23, 2016 - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an Early Works Agreement, which augments the previously announced Letter of Intent with a wholly owned Canadian Subsidiary of BHP Billiton Ltd.

The Early Works Agreement advances and provides the framework for funding by BHP Billiton of certain permitting, procurement and logistics activities by Aston Bay in preparation for a Summer 2016 exploration program that includes some drilling. Negotiations with respect to a proposed Definitive Agreement are ongoing. See the Company's news release of January 28, 2016 for more information.

"This agreement provides a platform for advancing the 2016 exploration agenda in parallel to the negotiation process for the Definitive Agreement," said Benjamin Cox, CEO of Aston Bay. "We are pleased to be working with BHP Billiton in the planning process."

Qualified Person

The content of this news release and the technical information that forms the basis for this disclosure has been prepared under the supervision of Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., who is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and a Director of and Consultant to Aston Bay.

About Aston Bay Holdings

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the 395,118-hectare (976,357-acre) Aston Bay Property located on northwest Somerset Island, Nunavut. The Property hosts the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc prospects, where historic drilling has confirmed the presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Benjamin Cox, Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (360) 262-6969

For further information about Aston Bay Holdings Ltd or this news release, please visit our website at www.astonbayholdings.com.

About BHP Billiton

Further information on BHP Billiton can be found at: bhpbilliton.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. In the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

We seek Safe Harbor.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES

OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
A judge for the Brazilian Supreme Court [official website, in Portuguese] on Tuesday upheld a ruling [press release, in Portuguese] blocking former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking a ministry post. Last weeks order blocking the appointment came shortly after [JURIST report] he was sworn into the position. A full decision on the issue is expected when the full court convenes next week. Lula was charged JURIST report] earlier this month in connection with money laundering and misrepresentation of assets involving a giant graft scheme at Petrobras. However, a Supreme Court ruling late Tuesday that the matter be sent to Brazils highest tribunal has essentially eliminated [WSJ report] the chance that he will be immediately arrested. Some contend that Lulas cabinet appointment was meant to make him harder to investigate [AP report] or prosecute, a claim current President Dilma Rousseff denies.

Brazils political establishment has been in turmoil as many powerful politicians including former presidents have been recently brought to the center of embarrassing corruption investigations. Also in March, Brazils Supreme Court unanimously authorized [JURIST report] the corruption charges against member of Congress Eduardo Cunha to proceed. Eduardo Cunha was implicated in the Petrobras scandal. Rousseff herself has been implicated in that very same scandal and has been at the center of impeachment proceedings [JURIST report] for months. She spoke against the accusations against her earlier this week, stating that she will take legal action [JURIST report] against the senator who made statements against her for defamation. More than 100 individuals and 50 politicians have been arrested in connection to the Petrobras scandal.
[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Monday requested a postponement [motion, PDF] of a hearing scheduled for Tuesday to determine whether Apple must comply with an order to unlock the San Bernadino shooters iPhone. The DOJ stated that they may have another method to unlock the shooters phone and therefore would not need Apple to comply wit the order. They asked for a postponement in order to test this new method.

In a separate case this month a judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a DOJ request to order Apple to disable the security of an iPhone that was seized during a drug investigation. At the end of February Apple filed [JURIST report] a brief in the US District Court for the Central District of California in opposition of the US governments request for the company to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter, Syed Rizwan Farook. Counsel for Apple called the case unprecedented after the DOJ filed [JURIST report] a motion to compel Apple to unlock the encrypted iPhone. In response to the legal conflict, Apple asked [JURIST report] the US government to create a panel of experts to discuss issues of security versus privacy. These developments came after Apple refused the initial court order to assist the government in unlocking the iPhone from one of the San Bernardino shooter. The court order required [JURIST report] Apple to supply software to the FBI to disable a self-destruct feature that erases phone data after 10 failed attempts to enter the phones password.
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback [official website] signed into law on Tuesday a religious freedom bill [materials] that allows religious student organizations to base acceptance on sincerely held religious beliefs. Senate Bill 175 [text, PDF], known as the post secondary religious freedom bill, would allow student organizations to assert religious beliefs as a reason to not accept or to dismiss members. The bill states:

No postsecondary educational institution may take any action or enforce any policy that would deny a religious student association any benefit available to any other student association, or discriminate against a religious student association with respect to such benefit, based on such associations requirement that the leaders or members of such association: (a) Adhere to the associations sincerely held religious beliefs; (b) comply with the associations sincerely held religious beliefs; (c) comply with the associations sincere religious standards of conduct; or (d) be committed to furthering the associations religious missions, as such religious beliefs, observance requirements, standards of conduct or missions are defined by the religious student association, or the religion on which the association is based.

The controversial bill took over a year to pass because many were afraid that it would be used to discriminate [Wichita Eagle report] against LGBT students.

The Georgia state legislature [official website] on Thursday approved a bill [text, PDF] to allow [JURIST report] faith-based establishments, including churches, schools and other organizations, to refuse service or employment to same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs. LGBT rights, as well as freedom of religious practice, remain controversial issues in the US. At least 19 states have enacted some variety of religious freedom laws, most modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act [text] signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1993. The Kentucky Senate recently approved a bill [JURIST report] allowing businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians based upon their religious beliefs. Earlier this month Missouri lawmakers approved a proposal [JURIST report] to provide similar religious protections to individuals and businesses in opposition to gay marriage.
A national gun rights group has filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] challenging Montanas campaign finance law as a violation of free speech. The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) [advocacy website], a Virginia-based organization that wishes to send mailings to Montana voters, filed the suit in the US District Court for the District of Montana [official website] last Friday. They claim that Montanas new law that every mailing sent to a citizens home that includes the name or image of a candidate for political office constitutes an electioneering communication and requires the sender to register as a political committee and report monies spent on mailings is unconstitutionally broad and violates freedom of speech [AP report]. The rights group wants to be able to send mailings outlining various candidates stances on gun regulations without being subject to the restrictions and regulations placed on candidate-supporting entities.

Montanas campaign finance laws have long faced legal scrutiny. In October 2012 the US Supreme Court [official website] rejected a challenge [JURIST report] to limits on the political contributions that donors can make to candidates running for Montana state offices. Montanas campaign finance law [MCA  13-37-216] limits the individual contributions to gubernatorial and lieutenant governor candidates to $500 and contributions to candidates for other statewide offices to $250. Earlier that month the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] had temporarily stayed an injunction [JURIST reports] that blocked Montanas campaign finance law. In June of that year the Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] Montanas century-old campaign finance law known as the 1912 Corrupt Practices Act [PPL backgrounder] as invalid under the Supreme Courts 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission [JURIST report]. The Supreme Courts decision overturned a ruling [JURIST report] by the Montana Supreme Court [official website] that upheld the Corrupt Practices Act.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Tuesday partially dismissed [opinion, PDF] the lawsuit of a nurse challenging the National Security Agencys (NSA) [official website] bulk collection of cellphone metadata. The lawsuit, ruled on by a three-judge panel, was brought by Idaho nurse Anna Smith, who sued the government in 2013 claiming the NSAs controversial bulk collection program violated Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. The judges dismissed this claim, finding that the replacement of the USA Patriot Act with the USA Freedom Act [texts], which prohibits any further bulk collection of tangible things after November 28, 2015, made her claim moot. Smith also argues that her records are being illegally retained by the government and should be destroyed, a claim the court remanded to the lower court to determine whether it is also moot.

Data collection and government surveillance continues to be a contentious issue world wide. In February the US Department of Justice filed a motion to compel [JURIST report] Apple to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters. Earlier that month, the Intelligence and Security Committee of the UK Parliament released a report [JURIST report] outlining its concerns with the proposed Investigatory Powers Bill than plans to expand data collection and Internet spying. In January the Ontario Superior Court ruled [JURIST report] that police orders requiring telecommunications companies to hand over cellphone user data breached the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. In November the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order allowing the NSA to continue compiling telephone records of a California-based law firm, just one week after a federal judge ruled [JURIST reports] against the part of the agencys surveillance program involving the bulk collection of domestic phone records.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC) [advocacy websitew] released a report [text, PDF] on Tuesday with recommendations on reforming the criminal justice system in Ohio [ACLU press release]. The report details six headlines of focus: limit harsh, automatic punishments; prioritize rehabilitation; release innocent people from jail; decriminalize poverty; limit collateral consequences; and reform community control. Steven JohnsonGrove, the deputy director of OJPC, spoke on the negative financial impact Ohios mass incarceration problem has on other fields that influence the criminal justice system:

The $1.7 billion spent to operate the state prison system each year is money that should be used to enrich our communities. Every dollar used for funding prisons is a dollar not spent on crime-survivor services, schools, addiction treatment, mental healthcare and other services that keep people out of the criminal justice system in the first place.

The organizations explained that Ohio needs to make substantive changes to the system while also addressing these underlying policies that contribute to the mass incarceration and other problems.

As the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] calls for reform in state courts, the treatment of prisoners and prison reform [JURIST podcast] have been matters of ongoing concern in the US. Earlier this month the DOJ urged state court systems [JURIST report] to stop using procedural routines and hefty fines to profit off poor defendants [press release]. Last month the Supreme Court of California ruled [JURIST report] that Governor Jerry Brown can put his plan to ease prison overcrowding on the ballot this November. In January the US Supreme Court ruled that a landmark decision banning mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles should apply retroactively [JURIST report]. In August the DOJ reached a settlement [JURIST report] with Los Angeles prisons on mentally ill inmate care. In May Human Rights Watch released [JURIST report] a report stating that mentally disabled prisoners experience unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force at the hands of prison staff across the US. A federal court in February 2015 approved [JURIST report] a settlement agreement between the Arizona Department of Corrections and the American Civil Liberties Union in a class action lawsuit over the health care system within Arizona prisons. Also in February 2015 rights group Equal Justice Under Law filed suit [JURIST report] against the cities of Ferguson and Jennings, Missouri, for their practice of jailing citizens who fail to pay debts owed to the city for minor offenses and traffic tickets.
Two human rights groups on Tuesday called for the US, the UK and France to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia due to accusations and evidence that the weapons are being used in attacks against Yemen. Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] specifically addressed a letter [text, PDF] to US President Barack Obama [official profile] asking him to cancel a $1.29 billion arms deal [AFP report] with the Government of Saudi Arabia [official website]. AI researchers have spent time in Yemen since March 2015, finding both unexploded U.S. bombs and identifiable fragments of exploded U.S. bombs among the ruins of Yemeni homes and other civilian objects [AI press release]. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] also addressed the concern over arms being sold to Saudi Arabia [HRW report]:

For the past year, governments that arm Saudi Arabia have rejected or downplayed compelling evidence that the coalitions airstrikes have killed hundreds of civilians in Yemen.  By continuing to sell weapons to a known violator that has done little to curtail its abuses, the US, UK, and France risk being complicit in unlawful civilian deaths.

HRW went on to detail multiple arms deals, attacks that have been committed, and the failure to investigate or acknowledge evidence of the actions.

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen has sparked significant international concern. Last week UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein criticized the Saudi Arabian coalition forces in Yemen for the more than 3,000 civilian casualties [JURIST report] resulting from the conflict in just the past year. Earlier in the week UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned [JURIST report] that the use of cluster bombs by the Saudi-led coalition against neighborhoods in Yemen may amount to a war crime. In January the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said [JURIST report] that the civilian death toll in Yemen had reached nearly 2,800. Also in January the UN World Food Programme appealed to all the parties involved in the Yemen conflict to allow the safe passage of food [JURIST report] to the city of Taiz. In October Amnesty International called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes surrounding the destruction of a hospital [JURIST report] run by Doctors Without Borders [advocacy website] in Yemen.
The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments [cay call, PDF] Tuesday in two cases. In Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax Free Trust, consolidated with Acosta-Febo v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust [SCOTUSblog materials], the court is considering whether federal bankruptcy law preempts a Puerto Rico law intended to allow the commonwealths public utilities to restructure their debts. The issue before the court is whether Chapter 9 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code [Cornell LII materials] preempts a Puerto Rico statute creating a mechanism for the commonwealths utilities to restructure their debts. Puerto Rico argued [transcript, PDF] that Congress, in creating Chapter 9, defined the term state to include Puerto Rico, except for the purposes of determining who may be a debtor under Chapter 9. This simply means that Puerto Rico is outside the scope of Chapter 9 and therefore in light of Chapter 9s 1984 amendment, Puerto Rico is categorically precluded from passing through the gateway into chapter 9. Therefore, as Congress has excluded Puerto Rico from Chapter 9, they are not subject to Chapter 9s preemption provision. Respondents in turn argued that Congress created clear textural provisions stating that Puerto Rico is viewed as a state except for one singular purpose in Chapter 9 of defining who may be a debtor. Respondents further argued that to deem Chapter 9 otherwise would be to give Puerto Rico the power to write their own municipal laws on such matters, which no state has possessed since 1946.

The court also heard arguments in a case dealing with whether a courts dismissal of an inmates Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) [Cornell LII Materials] bars a parallel Bivens claim. In Simmons v. Himmelreich [SCOTUSblog materials], the court is considering the issue of whether a final judgement in an action brought under Section 1346(b), which dismissed the claim on the ground that relief is precluded by one of the Federal Torts Claim Acts exceptions to liability [Cornell LII materials], bars a subsequent action by the claimant against the federal employees whose acts gave rise to the FTCA claim. Petitioners argued [transcript, PDF] that when an FTCA action is dismissed under Section 2680, the resulting judgment triggers a bar on a Blevins claim for two reasons. First, the bar applies to any FTCA judgment and a 2680 dismissal counts as such a judgment. Second, a 2680 dismissal implicates the bars core purpose, which is to protect the government from the burdens and disruptions associated with multiple lawsuits over the same subject matter. Petitioner further argued that the purpose of the FTCA is to allow the claimant to make the decision of whether to sue the government or the responsible employee directly, but to allow the government to avoid litigation over the same facts twice. Respondent argued that language within the FTCA is inherently ambiguous but Section 2680 has a clear shall not apply directive that clearly states that other provisions of the Act (FTCA) shall not apply, which includes the judgment bar. Therefore, a judgment under 2680 does not apply to other sections of the FTCA and cannot bar a Bivens claim.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday in Sturgeon v. Frost [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that an Alaskan hunter may use his hovercraft in a federal preserve, holding that the Ninth Circuits interpretation of the statute in question is inconsistent with both the text and context. The court was tasked with determining whether National Park Service (NPS) regulations applied over Alaska law where John Sturgeon was not allowed under NPS regulations to use his hovercraft while Section 103(c) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act [official text] allowed such activity. In order to reach a determination, it was necessary to determine whether the land in question was actually within the boundary of what is referred to as public land for the purpose of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The Supreme Court began by criticizing the approach used by the lower court and it further addressed how there was a distinction between public and non-public lands. However, the court did not address the remainder of the arguments.

In January the court heard oral arguments [JURIST report] in the case. The question presented was [w]hether Section 103(c) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 prohibits the National Park Service from exercising regulatory control over State, Native Corporation, and private Alaska land physically located within the boundaries of the National Park System. The case specifically addressed whether the NPS could restrict a moose hunter from using a hovercraft on shallow park waters. Sturgeon argued that he has the right to use his hovercraft to get to his favorite moose hunting spot because the rivers in Alaska are not federal lands under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had ruled [opinion, PDF] in favor of the NPS, affirming the lower court decision.
The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that employees may pursue their class action claim against the company. Workers at a pork processing plant in Iowa filed suit against Tyson alleging that denying them overtime compensation violated the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). Specifically, the employees work requires that they wear protective gear that varies from day to day. The employer compensated some employees for the time spent donning and doffing protective gear and did not keep track for the responsibilities. The workers also sought the certification of their state and FLSA claims as a class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and as a collective action under their FLSA claims. The corporation objected to the certification of both classes and argued that the variety in the times and the protective gear that the workers wore was too dissimilar to be resolved on a classwide basis. The workers attempted to prove their damages by providing [ NYT report] an expert witnesss statistical inferences from hundreds of videotaped observations of how long it took workers to get ready. Justice Anthony Kennedy, delivering the opinion of the court, stated that statistical proof was sufficient and that workers should not suffer because the company failed to keep records.

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments [JURIST report] in the case in November on whether differences among plaintiff members can be ignored for the purposes of a class action lawsuit when damages will be calculated that presume all class members are identical. Earlier this month, Guest Columnists Evan M. Meyers and Paul Geske of McGuire Law, PC discussed [JURIST op-ed] the implications of the courts recent decision in another class action law suit, Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez [JURIST report]. Another class action suit currently before the court, Spokeo v. Robins [JURIST report], asks whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm and who therefore could not otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court, by authorizing a private right of action based on a rare violation of a federal statute.
Rita Izsak-Ndiaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, said [press release] Monday that at least 250 million people worldwide face appalling and dehumanizing discrimination based on caste and similar systems of inherited status. Presenting a report [materials] to the UN Human Rights Council, Izsak-Ndiaye stated that the stigma from caste follows individuals throughout all aspects of life including access to justice, education, housing, political participation, and work. She said that girls and women are subject to bonded labor, forced marriage, harmful cultural practices, and sexual violence due to caste systems that lack and create a culture of impunity. The expert asserted [UN News Centre report] that communities frequently retaliate against individuals who attempted to challenge limitations or unlawful consequences from caste systems. Izsak-Ndiaye did state that there have been some positive developments such as constitutional guarantees, legislation and dedicated institutions to overcome caste-based discrimination.

Along with caste-affected individuals, civilians and children in worldwide conflicts are also at-risk groups. In February Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict released [JURIST report] her annual report on the situation of children in conflict zones from December 2014 to 2015. Also in February Human Rights Watch said [JURIST report] that hostiles in eastern Ukraine had damaged or destroyed hundreds of school, many of which were being used for military purposes. In addition, UN human rights experts in Nigeria urged [JURIST report] the government to guarantee the safety of areas liberated from Boko Haram. A recent raid resulted in more than 90 individuals, primarily women and children. Also, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, expressed [JURIST report] utmost alarm at the worsening situation in Syria and said that parties were constantly sinking to new depths attacking women, children, the sick and the elderly. In Flint, Michigan, children were poisoned [JURIST commentary] by drinking lead-laden tap water causing brain damage. In August, the UN reported [JURIST report] that the number of women and children being hurt or killed in Afghanistans war against the Taliban have risen by 23 and 13 percent, respectively.
[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur Michael Frost [official profile] urged [press release] Honduras on Friday to protect human rights defenders and their families in light of the recent deaths of prominent activists. Frosts plea follows last Tuesdays murder of Nelson Garcia, a leader of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations Honduras [official website, in Spanish] (COPINH). Garcia was shot by unidentified gunmen after attempting to intervene in a forced eviction in Rio Lindo. Less than two weeks prior, COPINH founder Berta Caceres [backgrounder] was shot in her home for opposing the ongoing Agua Zarca dam project. These recent losses have highlighted Honduras status as the most dangerous country for human rights defenders, and Frost has advised the government of its obligation to prevent further killings. Furthermore, Frost has called for the immediate condemnation and investigation of these murders. FMO, a major financier behind the Agua Zarca dam, has reportedly suspended [press release] all activities in Honduras to pressure the government into investigating human defender killings. Lacking faith in a Honduran-led investigation, Caceres family plans [IBT report] to visit Capitol Hill this week to discuss a possible third party investigation handled by the Obama administration. US ambassador James Nealon [official profile] has already stated that he would offer embassy resources to Honduras to launch a proper investigation.

Honduras has been experiencing unrest throughout the country for some time now. Last November a UN human rights expert urged [JURIST report] Honduras to address internal displacement caused by organized gang violence and a failing criminal justice system. UN human rights expert Victoria Tauli-Corpuz expressed [JURIST report] concern about the situation faced by the indigenous people of Honduras, specifically in connection with their land and natural resource rights, their lack of access to justice, education and health, and the general environment of violence and impunity affecting their communities. In October Honduran Congressional Vice President Lena Gutierrez began her trial [JURIST report] for her role in the nations recent medical sale scandal. The charges include falsification of public documents and fraud against the government by drug sales to the Ministry of Health. In June thousands of protesters marched [JURIST report] in Honduras on calling for the resignation of President Juan Hernandez and demanding an independent investigation into his role in an ongoing corruption scandal.
[JURIST] The UN Working Group on mercenaries on Tuesday urged [press release] the government of Ukraine to bring accountability for any human rights violations committed by foreign armed actors since conflict began in 2014. The working group has claimed that many volunteer and paid men and women from professional or independent militia groups are responsible for rights violations. Human rights expert Patricia Arias stated, [w]hat is particularly concerning is that with the diverse array of foreign armed actors who joined the conflict, reports on human rights violations by these individuals have not been properly investigated or brought to justice. While some prosecutions have taken place the UN Working Group is calling for more bad actors brought to justice.

Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict since the annexation of Crimea [JURIST backgrounder] in March 2014. Last month Russia filed suit [JURIST report] against Ukraine over Ukraines default on $3 billion in bonds. A Ukrainian official said in January that the nation plans to sue Russia [JURIST report] in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] on claims of financing terrorism. In August a Russian military court sentenced [JURIST report] two Ukrainian activists to substantial jail time for the charge of conspiring to commit terror attacks. Last March the EU committed to stand by its policy of refusing to recognize Crimeas annexation [JURIST report]. Last February Russian liberal political activist Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back four times [BBC report] in the middle of busy downtown Moscow. Nemtsov was openly politically opposed to Russias annexation of Crimea and its role in Ukraine.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday released a 4-4 opinion [opinion, PDF] in the case Hawkins v. Community Bank of Raymore [SCOTUSblog backgrounder]. The case addresses[JURIST report] the role of spouses as guarantors in credit applications. In this case, Community Bank of Raymore asked for a guaranty to support the creditworthiness of PHC, a development company, and its two members, Gary Hawkins and Chris Patterson. The bank requested the guaranties come from the members wives, Valerie Hawkins and Janice Patterson. When a dispute arose, Valerie Hawkins and Janice Patterson challenged the validity of the guaranties, claiming that they violated Regulation B and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) [text, PDF]. The question turns on statutory interpretationwhether Valerie Hawkins and Janice Patterson are considered direct applicants for lending purposes, a prerequisite to ECOA protection. In August 2014 the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit [official website] affirmed [opinion, PDF] the ruling of the US District Court for the Western District of Missouris [official website] grant of summary judgment in favor of Community Bank. The Supreme Courts opinion only states, [t]he judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.

This is the courts first equally divided opinion since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia [JURIST report] last month. Last week US President Barack Obama [official website] nominated Chief Judge Merrick Garland [WH materials] of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] to replace him. Scalia was the longest serving member the court, having been appointed by Ronald Reagan and confirmed in 1986. He was one of the more conservative justices and authored many noteworthy decisions, including District of Columbia v. Heller [JURIST report], in which the court ruled that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the District of Columbia from banning private handgun ownership. Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on March 11, 1936. Before being appointed to the Supreme Court he served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The 37th Bangkok International Motor Show got underway this week at the Impact exhibition centre near the old Don Muaeng airport on the outskirts of Bangkok. Tony Pugliese reports for just-auto

The event organiser, Grand Prix International, said one of the key focuses of the local automotive industry at the moment is compliance with global technology standards  as it looks to maximize global market opportunities.

The automotive industry itself is clearly cautious on the short-term prospects for the local market, with Federation of Thai industries expecting a fourth consecutive year of decline this year  of around 5-6% to 750,000-760,000 units. These views are mirrored by some of the largest vehicle manufacturers, including Toyota  which accounts for around one third of the total market.

Toyota at the show had little on offer to attract new interest in the market, other than the Hilux Revo  a specked-up version of the countrys best-selling model. Several important new models launched last year were on display, however, including various body-types of the Hilux, the new pickup-based Fortuner SUV and the face-lifted Yaris sub-compact car  which was also launched last year. Its main show-piece was the C-HR hybrid SUV concept.

Similarly, Mitsubishis stand featured models mainly launched launched year, including the new Pajero Sport SUV which went on sale last August and the Triton pickup truck, launched almost a year and a half ago. Isuzus centre-piece was its pickup based SUV, the MU-X, launched almost a year ago.

Mazda displayed its face-lifted CX-5 SUV, launched in the local market in February, the all-new CX-3 launched last November and the new MX-5 roadster launched in December.

More upbeat sentiment came from Honda, which showcased the 10th generation Civic compact passenger car that went into production at a newly-built production facility earlier this month. Also making its debut was a face-lifted version of the Accord, while the new BRV compact SUV  launched in November, was also displayed prominently.

The new 1.5L Ford Focus made its Thai debut at the show, with deliveries scheduled to start in June. It will also be exported to other markets in South-east Asia, as well as to Australia and New Zealand. Hyundai showcased its facelifted Grand Starex and H1 minibuses  imported from Indonesia.

Subaru launched the all-new Forrester SUV, which it mainly imports from Malaysia. It hopes to sell 3,000 of these in Thailand this year, lifting overall annual sales to around 8,000 units.

Nissans main news was the launch of its Nismo high-performance brand to help lift the brands overall image in the country. The company showcased the 600-horsepower Nismo GTR model, but unfortunately for Thai speed enthusiasts it will not be made available locally. A Nismo version of the Almera will go on sale in Thailand, however, complete with spoilers and other body variants. But unfortunately again for Thai speedsters, the car will have to retain its original engine as the Almera is an eco-car.

Chinas SAIC group, which operates in Thailand under the MG brand, launched the new GS compact SUV  fitted with an all-new 2.0L aluminium turbo-charged engine. It hopes to sell 1,000 of these in Thailand this year, competing had on with the Mazda CX-5. A 1.5L version will be launched later this year. The company has set itself an overall wholesale target of 13,000 units in Thailand this year, and 10,000 retail sales.

Luxury segment continues to grow

While automakers in the high-volume segments are downbeat about the prospects of an imminent domestic market recovery, luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW are a happier bunch.

Mercedes-Benz sold a record 12,800 passenger vehicles in Thailand last year, which according to the company accounts for around 52% of total luxury segment sales. General manager for marketing, Atch Bunyaprasit, expects the luxury segment to continue to expand in 2016  albeit with single-digit growth.

The company launched the new E-Class model, fitted with a newly-developed 2.0L diesel engine, and expects to begin local assembly of this model within a year. Petrol versions, which are in short supply globally at the moment, will be launched as they become available. Also launched at the show were the GLS SUV and the AMG A45 and C63 coupe models.

New excise duties introduced at the beginning of the year in Thailand, based on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, have helped to make the latest luxury models cheaper in Thailand, says Khun Atch. The E-class range is expected to be the main driver of growth in Thailand this year  despite being available only as a CBU import.

Mercedes also displayed the locally-assembled S500e and C350e plug-in-hybrids for the first time.

Sales of plug-in hybrids also have been incentivized by lower taxes. Kuhn Atch said hybrids now account for around 45-50% of S-class and C-class sales in the country and are expected to eventually account for a similar proportion of new E-class sales once the full model range is available.

BMW was more cautious about the prospects for the luxury segment, but director of sales and marketing Lars Nielsen said the he expects the overall segment this year to be at worst unchanged from last year.

The brands main launches at the show include the M2 performance saloon, for which there is a 10-month waiting list, the 330e hybrid executive saloon and the 730Ld diesel model. BMW also launched two limited edition models to celebrate its centenary anniversary.

The Mini Coupe S convertible, imported as a CBU, was also launched at the show helping to strengthen a line-up which includes the ageing Countryman model.

Toyotas Lexus division launched the new RC200T, while Volvos centrepiece was its XC90 plug-in hybrid SUV.

At the exotic end of the market, Porsche launched its new 911 model, Aston Martin brought in the stunning DB11 and Lamborghini its new V10-powered Huracan.
A rose to ... compassion, which is among the most endearing of human characteristics. It allows us to put ourselves in anothers place. For too long Nebraskas political leaders have ignored that voice inside them that says, People are in need of help. Were talking about the multiple times that our states lawmakers have rejected attempts to expand Medicaid using federal funds to pay 90 percent of the expense.

This year, lawmakers face yet another opportunity in LB1032 to expand Medicaid so that the estimated 77,000 Nebraskans without health insurance can afford it. Gov. Pete Ricketts and some other leaders point to the risk of runaway costs if Nebraska expands, especially if Uncle Sam reneges on his commitment to assist with the Medicaid costs. However, politicians worries seem insignificant balanced against the need to answer our neighbors calls for help.

Many low-income, working Nebraskans cannot afford medical care or health insurance. Some of these same people leave unpaid bills at the doctor or hospital. As a result, people who pay their own bills are taxed when health providers must pass along the cost of serving nonpayers.

LB1032 would erase the hidden tax by helping the uninsured. Additionally, it would protect health care providers against uncollectable medical bills.

Nebraskans are a caring and generous kind. Must we continue denying help to the low-income working families among us?

Where is the compassion?

A raspberry to ... road construction season and its delays, hassles and confusion. We all appreciate new, well-engineered and constructed roads and streets, but we dislike detours, barricades and reduced speed limits.

That being said, this is a good time to remind ourselves of the need to drive carefully in construction zones. The need for cautious driving in those areas became tragically apparent this week after a Lincoln man working in a construction zone in northeast Nebraska was struck and killed.

Caution is necessary for several reasons, especially because workers may wander into driving lanes and put themselves in danger.

It is important for motorists to slow down so they have more time to scan the zone ahead. Lanes may be narrower. Turns might be sharper. Exits and warning signs may be confusing.

All of this points to the need to slow down, obey speed limits and give workers a brake in construction zones.
I just saw on the news a report of a 30-year-old man who killed his mother and grandmother in Council Bluffs, Iowa. His mother made it known publicly that her son was mentally challenged with schizophrenia more than a year ago.

Also shown was the mentally ill son totally confused why he was getting arrested. His now deceased mother worked trying to get help for the mentally challenged. Nebraskas prior governor closed three of the four state-funded mental facilities while he was in office. From what I heard the money that was to be saved from closing those facilities was to go to help the mentally ill, but who knows where that money went. I have written some to the Nebraska senators to try to get new bills introduced to get funding for long term facilities.

More than 35 percent of the people we have in our jails/prisons are mentally ill and not getting the help they need. So instead of funding the jails as much we could be funding facilities to be getting help for these mentally ill people.

In my own experience with this issue the few facilities that are in Nebraska will help out as long as the insurance will pay. I feel that we need to have the long-term facilities in order to monitor the medications assigned to the patients and to make sure those meds are working. We have limited facilities in Nebraska but need more.

Please write your senators and plead to get more long-term state funded facilities.

Mary Holmes, Omaha
FILE - In this 2014 file photo, award-winning concert pianist Vadym Kholodenko, poses with his wife Sofya Tsygankova and daughters Nika, 4, and Michela, at their home in Fort Worth, Texas. Benbrook Police Cmdr. David Babcock said Monday, March 21, 2016, that police have served an arrest warrant on Tsygankova, the estranged wife of the Ukranian pianist Kholodenko for capital murder in the deaths of the couple's two young children. (Joyce Marshall/Star-Telegram via AP, File) MAGS OUT; (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST); INTERNET OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
Wathiq Bilbeisi enjoys a lentil soup in Orange County's "Little Arabia" neighborhood in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, March 23, 2016. He discussed remarks by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz that advocated for increased surveillance of Muslims in the U.S. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
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On September 14, 2006, I was in the midst of a 218-consecutive-day hospitalization. What began as a scheduled C-section that April, resulted in a massive infection that nearly killed me. By Autumn, I was receiving physical therapy in the large hospital gym when I was raced back up to my room for my trach to be suctioned. This was not an uncommon occurrence. I was used to the process, and while unpleasant, in the past I had always been able to gasp for air. This time was different though, as my airway was suddenly completely blocked. I couldnt breathe at all! Sheer panic surged through me, as I heard the nurse call for the emergency response team. Weve got a patient coding.

My nurse was incredible. She remained completely calm and kept reassuring me that I would be able to breathe soon. My eyes darted all around, in desperation and panic. Once again, I heard the emergency response team stampeding down the hall (a sound I had become all too familiar with). The team gathered around as my nurse worked with the suctioning device to try to unplug the mucus that had blocked my airway. For a moment, the plug was released, I could breathe, then, the suction device lost its grip and my airway was once again blocked. This went on for what seemed like forever. I kept thinking that this would be a terrible way to die. After all, I had been through, to choke to death on my own mucus would really suck. I was also repelled by the disgustingness of it all. I was no longer human. I was nothing but a machine that kept breaking down. The doctors and nurses were digging around with a suction device, as if I were a shoddy toilet with malfunctioned plumbing. Thats what I was, an old toilet that was ready for the dumpster. Finally, they successfully suctioned out the mucus plug, and I could breathe.

I collapsed in a heap of total despair and exhaustion. The doctor looked at me: Lisa, we are going to need to send you back up to the ICU so that you can be more closely monitored.

At that point, I knew enough to know that I did not want to go back to the ICU. I looked at the doctor straight in the eye and began to weep. Unable to talk, I mouthed to him, Please, let me stay here, please, I dont want to go back there.

The doctor softened and said, OK, I will allow you to stay on the regular floor. But we cant have you keep coding like this. If you code again, you will have to go back to the ICU.

He spoke to me like I was a child throwing food from my highchair on purpose; as if I was intentionally plugging up my trach with mucus! Yes, this whole thing is just a fun little game I made up. I love creating all this mucus so you can come running and vacuum it out of this lovely hole in my throat. This is more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Then I began to worry. Yikes, I hope its OK that I am not going back to the ICU, that seemed a little too easy, all I did was cry a little, and the doctor changed his mind? It was then that I began to realize my case was extremely peculiar. There were no black and white, definitive answers to my care. I lived in a land of various shades of ambiguity. Every decision that was made could take me on a wide variety of twisted roads, each with a completely different outcome. My doctors were not Gods; they could only make the best choices they could, because my case was unlike any other they had seen before. I was an enigma. The doctors were pioneers, traveling with me through this unchartered territory.

The scenario you just read, is simply a fleck of dust on a vast globe of patient experiences. During my long-term health battle, the above description was my norm. I was fortunate to have had a heroic medical team that reeled me back from the brink of death multiple times. It is due to their empathy and devotion to my case that I am alive today. Even with the outstanding care I received, I still encountered more than a few medical staff members who behaved callously and ebbed away at the tiny morsels of my dignity that remained.

Nobody is perfect, and everyone has their less-than-stellar moments in any profession. This is why it is critical that medical professionals receive continuing medical education in empathy training, patient-centered care, and patient harm prevention. Since my remarkable recovery a decade ago, I have dedicated my energy to propelling this cause forward. I travel the country, offering a patients perspective on health care and am often told by doctors that this is the first time this issue has been presented on since his/her ethics class in medical school.

With all the new patient-centered care buzzwords flying around, I am shocked to learn that this topic is still being marginalized. If we truly want to put patients in the center of care, we must learn from a patients perspective. As a life-long chronic patient, I embrace the digital advancements weve seen in medicine. Yet, all the technology in the world cant make up for human empathy. Now more than ever, we must give credence to the patients voice.

Lisa Goodman Helfand is founder, Patient Perspective Consulting and the author of Does This Hospital Gown Come With Sequins? She blogs at Comfortable in My Thick Skin.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
(Kitco News) - The mining industry is not known for its acceptance of innovation; however, one company is hoping to change that after creating what could be the first regulated equity crowdfunding platform for the sector.

Since the start of the week, Red Cloud Klondike Strike along with the first two companies to embrace crowdfunding -- Banyan Gold Corp (TSX.V: BYN)and Radisson Mining Resource (TSX.V: RDS)-- have embarked on a cross-Canada tour to promote the innovative idea.

The trailblazers have been excited to promote the website that could ultimately be a game changer for a sector that has been starved of investment capital for many years.

Through the platform, Canadian investors can access financing deals offered by mining and resource companies. Unlike unregulated crowdfunding websites, investors would receive shares of the company.

I believe we are the first to create this type of website and that is a bit daunting but I believe this is going to be the future of financing, not just in the mining sector but in all sectors, said Chad Williams, president and chief executive officer of Klondike Strike.

In the future, I think we are going to see that crowdfunding will be a viable way for companies to raise money, added Hubert Parent-Bouchard, director of finances at Radisson.

This is a revolutionary event and opens the door for almost any Canadian to directly invest in a mining project, said Mark Ayranto, chairman of the board of directors for Banyan. I dont know if this will completely replace traditional financing but it enhances what is already in place.

Mark Haywood, CEO of Banyan, added that Klondike Strikes crowdfunding platform could be on par with the creation of gold-backed exchange-traded funds, which he added completely changed the marketplace.

Williams described his crowdfunding website as democratization of the financial sector.

Before only a handful of people got access to these sweetheart private placement deals. What we wanted to do with Klondike Strike is open up every single financing deal to all Canadian. It is not just the Bay Street or Wall Street elites getting these deals, he said.

In the last few years, Williams continued, Canada has loosened its regulations for accredited investors, the ones with enough capital to participate in private financing deals. He added there are still regulatory and jurisdictional issues that investors still have to contend with; however, Klondike Strike makes the process simpler for investors. After filling out an application, investors will automatically be categorized and provided with the investment opportunities they are eligible for.

Williams added that they envision making Klondike Strike a global crowdfunding platform but due to U.S. regulations, they are focusing on Canadian companies for now.

Although there are only two companies currently featured on the website, Williams said they will be expanding the offerings, highlighting deals for lithium, base metals and even streaming opportunities.

Having struggled to raise capital for several years, mining companies, ware quickly embracing the new funding venue, Williams said.

We have a lot of projects in the pipeline so investors should watch the site because the deals will be coming fast, he said.

Williams admitted that Klondike Strike will have an uphill battle to address some of the skeptical investors, who dont trust crowdfunding websites; however, he added they are confident they will attract investors with their easy to use platform and high level of transparency.

One key to winning over investors is the fact that before any deal is offered on the website, Williams explained that it goes through a rigorous evaluation process. Red Cloud, the team behind Klondike Strike, has a total of 90 years of experience in the mining industry.

I dont think we will every totally be able to eliminate fraud in the sector but by evaluating every proposal, we hope to greatly reduce the chances, he said. The key is going to be transparency. In this day and age, if you are not transparent, the Internet will completely destroy you.

Williams added that they have a lot of confidence for the first two companies currently available on the platform.

It was just by chance that the first two companies on the platform are gold companies but we think the properties have great potential and there are solid management teams in place to move the projects forward, he said.

Radisson Mining is currently developing its OBrien property, located in the Abitibi region in Northern Quebec. The property is located in the heart of one of the most productive gold mining camps in Canada, where three mines are already currently operating.

Red Cloud has a great reputation for only supporting the best projects. To be Red Cloud approved, you know your project has merit, said Parent-Bouchard.

Parent-Bouchard added that they are hoping the exposure through the platform will allow them to raise the capital needed to continue to develop the project.

Banyan Gold is currently developing its Hyland gold project in the Yukon, which has the same mineralization as Nevadas gold fields.

I think 10 years from now, we will be proud to say that we were one of the first junior miners that turned to crowdfunding, said Haywood.

By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com

Follow me on Twitter @neils_C
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are seeing strong selling pressure and hit a three-week low in morning U.S. trading Wednesday, as worldwide investor and trader risk appetite has up-ticked on this day. Also, the key outside markets are in a bearish posture for the precious metals today, as the U.S. dollar index is higher and crude oil prices are weaker. April Comex gold was last down $27.20 at $1,221.40 an ounce. May Comex silver was last down $0.515 at $15.37 an ounce.

There has also been some near-term technical damage inflicted in gold Wednesday, as the price uptrend on the daily bar chart has been negated, which has set off some chart-based selling pressure, including sell stop orders being triggered in the gold futures market.

World stock markets stabilized Wednesday, with European stock markets recovering after selling off in the immediate aftermath of the Brussels terror attacks Tuesday. U.S. stock indexes were pointed toward slightly higher openings when the day session begins.

In overnight news, the German government auctioned a 30-year bond Wednesday that fetched a record low average yield of 0.94%. Thats an indication of the keener risk aversion that European investors are exhibiting at present. German government debt is considered to be the safest asset among most European bond investors.

The U.S. dollar index trading higher Wednesday as the greenback bulls are having a good week, after prices hit a multi-month low last week. Meantime, Nymex crude oil futures prices are weaker in pre-U.S. trading, but still trading above the key $40.00-a-barrel level. There are early technical signals that crude oil prices have at least put in a near-term bottom, if not a major market low.

U.S. economic data due for release Wednesday includes the weekly MBA mortgage applications survey, new residential sales, and the weekly DOE liquid energy stocks report.

(Note: Follow me on Twitter--@jimwyckoff--for breaking market news.)

Wyckoffs Daily Risk Rating: 3.0 (Trader and investor market risk aversion is not significantly elevated today.)

(Wyckoffs Daily Risk Rating is your way to quickly gauge investor risk appetite in the world market place each day. Each day I assess the risk-on or risk-off trader mentality in the market place with a numerical reading of 1 to 5, with 1 being least risk-averse (most risk-on) and 5 being the most risk-averse (risk-off).

Technically, April gold futures bulls still have the overall near-term technical advantage, but have faded recently amid choppy trading that has negated a price uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at this weeks high of $1,260.90. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is closing prices below solid technical support at $1,200.00. First resistance is seen at $1,226.00 and then at $1,230.00. First support is seen at $1,210.00 and then at $1,200.00. Wyckoffs Market Rating: 6.5

May silver bulls and bears are back on a level overall near-term technical playing field amid choppy trading. Silver bulls next upside price breakout objective is closing futures prices above solid technical resistance at last weeks high of $16.17 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $15.00. First resistance is at the overnight high of $15.935 and then at this weeks high of $16.04. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $15.275 and then at $15.165. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.

By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com

Follow me on Twitter @jimwyckoff
(Kitco News) - Mining-industry officials are welcoming a number of measures included in the Canadian budget released this week, including one that extends a tax break for exploration companies.

The Liberal governments first budget, released Tuesday, projects a C$29.4 billion deficit this year, with more to come in future years. The plan projects deficit spending of more than C$100 billion over the next few years.

Representatives of mining organizations reacted positively to those portions that that affect their industry.

Budget 2016 makes appropriate investments to enable the continued sustainable development of Canada's mining sector," said Pierre Gratton, president and chief executive officer of the Mining Association of Canada.

Bob Schafer, president of the Prospectors & Developers Association, said the budget adopts a holistic approach to resource development, with support for innovation, financing, Aboriginal and community consultation and northern economic development."

In particular, mining-industry officials cited the governments renewal of the 15% mineral exploration tax credit until March 2017. It had been slated to expire at the end of this month. The government estimated that this will cost the government federal revenues of C$20 million over the 2016-17 to 2017-18 period.

Given this is a challenging time for junior mining companies, the government proposes to support their mineral-exploration efforts by extending the credit for an additional year, the budget document stated.

This sends an important signal to investors that the government understands the importance of Canada's junior mining sector," said Andrew Cheatle, executive director of PDAC. "The METC helps to fund exploration activities that lead to the discoveries that could become the mines of the future."

PDAC also pointed to a commitment to pursue measures ensuring that costs associated with environmental studies and community consultations will be considered as Canadian exploration expenses. PDAC has advocated for this since 2013.

PDAC and MAC also welcomed C$1 billion in spending over four years to support clean-technology development in industries including mining, as well as C$120 billion over 10 years for infrastructure investment.

"Innovation is central to strengthening the environmental performance of the industry and preparing for a low-carbon economy," Schafer said. "Key investments in infrastructure can unlock the mineral potential of Canada's northern and remote regions and PDAC looks forward to working together with the government on their innovation and infrastructure development agenda."

The budget also includes C$8.4 billion in spending for programs to benefit Canadas Aboriginal people over the next five years. Of this, C$2.6 billion is for education.

"Mining is proportionally the largest private sector employer of Indigenous Canadians and is actively implementing over 265 agreements with Indigenous communities across Canada," Gratton said. "MAC members recognize that Canada's Indigenous peoples are key partners. Today's investments will increase the ability of Indigenous Canadians to participate in, and benefit from, the opportunities offered by mineral exploration and mining development.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
(Kitco News) - One Canadian junior mining company hopes to set an example that organic growth can be a successful model in the industry.

At the start of the month, Goldsource Mines (TSX.V: GXS) announced the first pour at its Eagle Mountain project in Guyana, a small country in the northeastern portion of South America. In less than two years, the company has gone from releasing its preliminary economic assessment to being on the verge of commercial production.

The company managed to meet its aggressive 12-month construction deadline on time and on budget. In a telephone interview with Kitco News, Ioannis Tsitos, president of Goldsource, credits the completion of the companys goals to the boards commitment to a phased-production schedule.

When you have a smaller company, I think it would be irresponsible to go out and try to get a financing deal for $130 million for a big project, he said. For a small company like Goldsource, it would have been impossible to raise that money through equity.

Instead of going into debt, the company focused on starting out small with its initial construction costs coming at $5.1 million.

Tsitos explained that the board plans to reinvest the free cash flow back into the property and not have to go into debt. Currently, Goldsource has only $1 million in debt. He added that the company is also expecting to see some cash flow in its first-quarter earnings as a result of its initial gold sales.

In its first phase the company is looking to mine 1,000 tonnes per day of at-surface, soft rock, which is expected to produce between 5,000 to 6,000 ounces of gold within the first year. As the company sees increased capital from its gold sales, it expects to ramp up production in the next three to four years to about 4,000 tonnes per day for total gold production of around 35,000 ounces per year.

Because of the mineralization of the property, Tsitos said that the company will be able to keep costs down and expect to see total costs range between $500 and $600 per ounce.

Although we are starting out small, we have the potential to be a good medium-sized mine, he said.

While this organic growth model isnt a fit for all projects, Tsitos said that he hopes the Eagle Mountains development become another options for junior mining companies that are struggling to raise the capital. He added even bigger companies could have benefited by organically growing their deposits.

Many mining companies are writing down projects because they went into too much debt trying to get major production right at the start, he said.

Looking at the market, with gold prices hovering above $1,200 an ounce, which is the companys target in its PEA, Tsitos said officials should be on target to move forwards with second development phase next year.

I feel confident that gold will remain in a range, he said. I dont think we are in a bull market but I also dont think gold prices will fall to $900 an ounce. The market right now is in a spastic mode, reacting more to sentiment and not fundamentals, which will create some volatility.

According to the companys PEA, the Eagle Mountain project has 188,000 indicated ounces of gold and 792,000 of inferred ounces. The mine life is expected to be around eight years.

By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com

Follow Neils Christensen @neils_C
(Kitco News) - Gold prices hit a three-week low in U.S. trading Wednesday morning and famed market watcher Dennis Gartman says Venezuelas dire economic situation may be weighing on the metal.

In his Wednesday edition of The Gartman Letter, the known investor said, [T]here is news that Venezuelaa country that is obviously in very, very serious financial straits has been an aggressive and consistent seller [of gold].

The yellow metal had risen 1.2% in the previous session, when investors sought "safe-haven" assets after deadly bomb attacks in Brussels. Wednesday morning, spot gold fell more than one percent to its lowest level in a week.

According to data released by the Swiss customs department on Tuesday, Venezuela has exported 11 tonnes of gold to Switzerland in February 2016  which equates to about 443 million Swiss francs ($456 million) worth of gold.

Apparently, Venezuela sold $500 million of gold from its reserves in February and has sold at least that same amount thus far in March this from data compiled by our friend, Mr. Russ Dallen, at Latinvest, Gartman wrote.

He continued, Venezuela has been selling gold since mid-year last year, but the pace of its sellingas evidenced by the decline in its official reserveshas accelerated of late. The recent run-up in prices has given the Central Bank there and the lunatic government in Caracas a wind-fall that they have apparently not been willing to pass up.

India has returned to the gold market after two weeks of striking against it, noted Gartman. However, any support from India has been offset by Venezuelan selling. The fact that gold could not hold its Brussels Effect strength is dismaying. We shall hope that gold/EUR can and will hold above 1100/oz.

By Daniela Cambone of Kitco News; dcambone@kitco.com

Follow me on Twitter @DanielaCambone
The Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club on Seabeck Highway.

By Christopher Dunagan, Special to the Kitsap Sun

After a year of legal battles, Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club has filed an application  under protest  seeking an operational permit for its shooting range on Seabeck Highway.

After filing the application, the club asked Judge Jay Roof of Kitsap County Superior Court to lift his injunction, which prohibits the club from allowing anyone to shoot at the range. Under Roof's original order, shooting is prohibited until the club files a complete application under the county's shooting range ordinance, adopted in September 2014.

Kitsap County officials say the club's application, submitted last week, is far from complete, lacking many of the details required by the ordinance. County attorneys are scheduled to argue in court Thursday that the temporary injunction should remain in place and should be made permanent until the club complies with the ordinance.

As part of the proceedings, Roof must confirm his original finding that Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club is subject to the shooting range ordinance. Attorneys for the club insist that the ordinance does not apply, because the club maintains certain rights as a nonconforming use, also known as "grandfathering."

Marcus Carter, executive officer for the club, said keeping the injunction in place would "continue to financially damage the club, endanger the citizens of Kitsap County and serve no legitimate purpose, since the club has complied with this court's order," according to his written statement filed with the court.

"As a result of the injunction," the statement continues, "many individuals have been forced to shoot on public lands without safety controls or procedures."

In its legal response, the county acknowledged the club's effort in filing the application but said the document was not complete, because it was missing much of the essential information needed to assure people's safety, including details about containment of bullets on the property.

"KRRC's application is incomplete in many ways," David Lynam, the county's deputy building official, said in a written declaration. "Most significantly, KRRC did not provide any document or material to demonstrate how projectiles will be physically contained for each range and/or bay that the application identifies as being in use ... .

"Adequate physical containment requires an appropriate combination of overhead baffles, impact berms, and side walls and berms," Lynam said. "There is nothing to keep a projectile onsite if that projectile were to be aimed above the impact berms, some of which are only as high as six feet, according to the application material."

The club failed to fill out separate "range data sheets" for each of the shooting ranges/bays used to assess risks, Lynam said. The club also failed to provide a required "safety fan diagram" to show the possible direction that bullets can fly from each of the shooting positions. Only two diagrams were provided for the 14 ranges/bays.

"The safety fan diagrams that are provided are incorrect," Lynam continued. "For example, the fan diagram for the rifle range shows complete containment of bullets even though this range does not have a berm on the right hand side."

Other missing information includes dimensions, orientation of shooting areas, vegetation and major lighting, he said.

During Thursday's hearing, Roof is expected to rule on the adequacy of the application and whether the injunction against shooting at the range should remain in place.

A ruling in a separate lawsuit limits the club to the type of firearms and how they are used at the range until the club receives a conditional-use permit that spells out what is allowed. That ruling is under appeal.
ARLA SHEPHARD BULL/SPECIAL TO THE KITSAP SUN



The Pacific Northwest Salmon Center plans to restore the water wheel south of Belfair Elementary School. The salmon center plans to tear out a culvert that serves as a barrier to salmon swimming upstream and reroute the existing salmon channels.

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By Arla Shephard Bull, Special to the Kitsap Sun

BELFAIR  The proposed park at Sweetwater Creek in Belfair might need additional toxic waste cleanup.

The site still remains on the state Department of Ecology's confirmed and suspected sites list for toxic cleanup, despite efforts to clean the site from 2003 to 2007.

The Salmon Center received notification in 2008 that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had closed its file on the site after cleanup efforts, and reports indicated the property was no longer a hazard. But the Department of Ecology never removed the site from its list.

Port of Allyn Commissioner Jean Farmer brought the matter to the attention of the port at a special meeting Monday. The port is considering purchasing the property from the North Mason School District to partner with the Salmon Center to build a park and trails at the site.

"The bottom line is if we're going to put a park there for children, everyone in this room wants to make sure it's safe," Farmer said. "I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that Department of Ecology says this is an open site."

The property, with site identification No. 11787, is listed as "Awaiting Cleanup" in Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program, with a note that it has suspected petroleum-gasoline contaminants in groundwater and confirmed petroleum-gasoline soil contaminants above cleanup levels.

The Salmon Center completed an assessment on the property in 2005 with EPA grant funding, which revealed there were as many as six underground storage tanks on three properties, including two properties across the street from the Sweetwater Creek site, said Mendy Harlow, executive director of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.

The assessment's results automatically qualified the site for an EPA Brownfields cleanup grant for $123,200, Harlow said. Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused properties where there might be environmental contamination.

The salmon nonprofit hired the now-defunct consulting firm Alkai Consultants from Silverdale in June 2005 to oversee the cleanup, while TNT Excavating removed two underground storage tanks.

For the next year, the Salmon Center monitored groundwater wells quarterly at the site to assess contamination and found elevated levels of arsenic, though the levels were below the average amount found in soil throughout the state from natural and man-made causes, Harlow said.

The Salmon Center received a final sign-off and confirmation from EPA that the terms of the grant had been completed and no additional work was needed in January 2008.

Harlow told port officials that she assumed the work was complete in Ecology's eyes as well and that the Salmon Center did not think to check with Ecology because its grant had been with the federal government.

"I was very surprised to learn that Ecology had not closed it out," she said. "Sometimes federal agencies and state agencies don't communicate about what's happened."

Last fall, after a new manager took over the Toxic Cleanup Program list, Ecology asked for a status update from the site's listed contact, Shawn Williams, owner of Alkai Consultants.

Williams informed Ecology he had not been involved with the site since 2008, according to a memo in Ecology's files on the site.

In December, Ecology officials sent Harlow an email informing her that the site would be removed from its voluntary cleanup program and would remain on Ecology's Confirmed & Suspected Contaminated Sites list.

"I didn't think anything of the email because the work had been nearly 10 years ago," Harlow said. "It's easy to re-enroll in the voluntary cleanup program. It would probably involve soil sampling. When we are able to move forward with this project, we can then move forward with Ecology."

The Salmon Center would obtain grants to fund the cleanup of the site, if needed, Harlow added.

The North Mason School Board will consider a proposal to surplus the Sweetwater Creek site at its April 21 meeting, which would then allow the district to transfer the property to the Port of Allyn.

The nonprofit is up against a May 2 deadline to submit a grant application for Washington Wildlife and Recreation Funds and has already collected more than $200,000 in donations for the project.

The project would restore the water wheel near Belfair Elementary and create a park with solar-powered restrooms and a half-mile accessible trail that would carve out a new channel for fall chum salmon.
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By Rachel Seymour of the Kitsap Sun

POULSBO  The city has appointed Shawn DeLaney as the public safety director in place of the police chief who resigned last week.

DeLaney, a former deputy chief with the Poulsbo Police Department, started with the city Monday and met with the entire police department Tuesday.

Mayor Becky Erickson made the decision to appoint DeLaney to the temporary position since Police Chief Al Townsend resigned a week ago, according to City Councilman Ed Stern. Erickson is out of the office handling a family emergency.

DeLaney served at the department's deputy chief before taking a voluntary incentive package to leave in 2010, along with eight other employees. The buyouts were offered to avoid layoffs.

Delaney was hired by the city in 2008 from the same Visalia, California, police department where then-Police Chief Dennis Swiney had worked.

Before bringing DeLaney back on, Erickson and the city's human resources manager, Deanna Kingery, asked for Deputy Chief Andreas Pate's opinion.

"I thought it was a great idea," Pate said. "I trust him."

Pate was a sergeant during the time DeLaney was the deputy chief, and Pate said he looked up to DeLaney as a mentor.

"He brings experience and knows the department already," Pate said.

It is uncertain how long DeLaney will be with the city and the details of his employment are being worked out, according to Kingery, although he will be paid about the equivalent of the former police chief whose salary was set at $125,197 this year. While DeLaney likely will not have optional benefits, such as vacation or health insurance, according to Deborah Booher, the city's finance director, he will be eligible for unemployment and Medicare.

DeLaney was not available for an interview for this article.
SHARE Katie Connell, left, and Jessica Ramsey had been friends since sixth grade. Ramsey and another friend, Lindsey Hill, want to have a bench installed at Lakeshore Park as a memorial to Connell.

Katie Connell, the Knoxville native who died in January in a California BASE-jumping accident, was terrified of commercial flying. "If they just had parachutes on here, I'd feel a lot better," she told her friend, Lindsey Hill, during a Delta flight they took together last year.

"She loved music, she loved God, she was an avid runner, an adventurous person  very determined," Hill said, describing the friend she'd known since eighth grade. "She learned how to play the electric guitar for my wedding, because she wanted to play "Stairway to Heaven" for me. It took her about six or eight months, but she did it. She took lessons. And she kept playing classic rock songs."

Connell, 30, still called Knoxville home even though she was working as a traveling nurse, a profession that suited her better than her first brief career in logistics. Her latest assignment was in Ventura, Calif., which allowed her to indulge her love of BASE jumping. BASE is an acronym for the four types of structures from which jumpers "exit": Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth. It differs from sky diving in that it uses different equipment, the jumps are shorter, and jumpers carry only one parachute rather than two.

Katie, who was experienced as both a sky diver and BASE jumper, died in January after landing from a BASE jump off the Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, Calif. As she landed on the beach, waves overtook her and pulled her out to sea. A BASE-jump flight instructor who was with her that day, Rami Kajala, saw the situation and tried to save her. He died a hero in the process. His body was found a week later, but Katie's body has never been recovered.

Hill and another close friend of Connell's, Jessica Ramsey, are determined not to go on without a remembrance to their friend.

"All my memories are linked to her in some way," Ramsey recalled. "I caught myself tonight just wanting to call her. It's so sad."

When Connell was about 20, she started walking at Lakeshore Park. Pretty soon, she was running rather than walking, a sport she continued nearly every day for the rest of her life.

"She's the one that got me going to Lakeshore," said Ramsey, who continues to visit the Park with her daughter nearly every day. "'Come run Lakeshore with me,' she'd say. I'd answer 'no, but I'll walk it with you.' In a word, our friendship was just fun."

Walking Lakeshore after Katie was gone got Ramsey thinking. She called Hill and together they decided that, since Katie's body wasn't recovered, they wanted to do something to honor her memory, a memorial of some kind. A bench at Lakeshore with her name on it would be perfect. Preferably, located near the amphitheater when the renovations are finished.

"This will be such a good thing, because we want her spirit to live on there. It certainly does for me. As our families grow, we can say, 'Let's meet at Katie's bench'," explained Ramsey.

"Katie grew up here; she went to Rocky Hill [Elementary], Bearden Middle and West High School. Her parents and brother and his family still live here. It's something that would mean a lot to all of us," Hill said. "We want her to be a part of that park, and of Knoxville, and this is a way to do that."

Ramsey learned that a memorial bench costs $10,000. They've started a fundraising drive and are two-thirds of the way to their goal. When the bench is installed, they hope to gather all the donors at the bench for a group photo and walk the park in her honor.

If you'd like to donate, you can visit crowdrise.com/lakeshorebenchforkatie/fundraiser/katieconnell
randall brown/special to go knoxville The Swans capped off the 2015 Big Ears weekend with a grand finale of noise.

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By Randall Brown of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson returns to perform at next week's Big Ears Festival in a collaboration with composer Philip Glass, also returning for his second visit. It brings to mind a collaboration that Anderson did years ago with beat writer William S. Burroughs on a song called "Language is a Virus (From Outer Space)." The phrase came straight out of Burroughs' writing, and was apparently something he might just mention conversationally.

I've been familiar with this infectious tune for years, but I gleaned that last tidbit of information from the Internet, which has its own way with viruses, digital or intellectual. The Internet also reminded me that it was evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins who first bandied around the idea of memes. A meme, as he presented it, is a "unit of culture"  an idea, belief, or even a behavior  that could evolve and mutate, like a virus. These days, the word "meme" has itself evolved to mean "a photo with words added to make it funny." Thus, the theory is proven.

A popular method of helping language evolve is to abbreviate the heck out of long phrases to make them easier to carry around. Case in point: "fear of missing out" has been summarized nicely by the word "FOMO," which is a key idea to be aware of when it comes to music festivals like Big Ears. My advice for those attending is to consciously inoculate themselves against a case of FOMO.

I had two bands at the top of my "must see" list the last time I went to the Bonnaroo festival. Whatever else happened that weekend, I wanted to see these two acts. When the schedule came out, I learned they were both playing at the same time. Oh, cruel fate! I had to set FOMO aside and be happy with just one band's amazing set.

Another wrinkle in FOMO develops at Big Ears. Many of the acts are not household names, unless your household is avidly into minimalist contemporary classical ensembles. Adventurous festival goers have opportunities to fall in love with artists, or even styles of music, that they didn't even know existed. The fear of missing out on something sublime  FOMOSS?  can be overwhelming.

The Swans are a veteran ensemble from a strain of "deep alternative" music where fans of noise, Goth, punk and "other" cross paths. Some pals and I traveled to Atlanta to see The Swans once in Ye Olden Times of the late 1980s. We didn't have the benefit of the Internet back then, so we didn't realize that the concert venue was a bar with a 21-and-older age restriction. Our gang of 19-year-olds stood on the street for a few minutes listening to the sound check tease us from inside the club, and accepted that we just had to drive back home.

The band performed at the Bijou Theatre on the last night of the 2015 Big Ears. I hadn't followed The Swans closely in the years since my earlier attempt to see them, but I was still curious about their live show. Legend had it they were something to behold. I had scratched them off my itinerary, though, by the end of the weekend. My son and I had seen and heard more than our fair share of beautiful music that weekend, and it seemed like time to tuck our ears back in to normal size.

We were walking back to the car right past the Bijou, and decided to give The Swans a quick listen, just for posterity's sake. We stepped into an almost physical wall of sound coming from the crowded stage. The band was applying a full-volume rock sensibility as it capped off the weekend of unique and varied musical offerings. It was one of the most intense presentations I'd ever seen and heard.

So my advice is to put FOMO out of your mind. There is no way to see and hear it all. Instead, absorb the meme of diving into a magical musical realm that materializes in Knoxville once a year, like some kind of Brigadoon. You might later hear tales from friends about the greatest performance in the history of the world. Rest assured that the ones you were able to catch were also the greatest.

---

Randall's picks

Big Ears 2016

The 2016 Big Ears Festival will manifest in downtown Knoxville and the surrounding area Thursday-Sunday, March 31-April 3. Performances will be presented at venues from the venerable Tennessee and Bijou theaters to the newly realized Mill & Mine and amongst the trees at Mead's Quarry. For info, visit www.bigearsfestival.com.

The Vibraslaps

It's a good Friday for fun music when The Vibraslaps launch their 2016 schedule at 9 p.m. Friday at Scruffy City Hall, 32 Market Square. This supergroup of Knoxville music vets includes Paul Noe on vocals and guitar; Jim Rivers on guitar and keys; Chuck Watt on bass and vocals; and Eric Nowinski on drums. Their specialty is "slightly obscure" covers from the 1960s through today, with an emphasis on the early days of MTV and 1980s alternative hits. Did I mention Chuck Watt will be there? Chuck Watt, people!

Writers in the Library

Poet, writer and critic Marilyn Hacker will visit from Paris to read from her work at 7 p.m. Monday, March 28, in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of the University of Tennessee's John C. Hodges Library. The free event is part of the university's Writers in the Library readings series. Hacker is the recipient of the National Book Award, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and the Lambda Literary Award, among others. She is a Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets. For info, visit www.lib.utk.edu/writers.

Funny Ears Fringe Festival

The Funny Ears Fringe Festival will again coincide with Big Ears, featuring some of the most adventurous sounds and art from the Knoxville area March 31-April 1 at Scruffy City Hall, 32 Market Square, and Preservation Pub, 28 Market Square. Performers will include the Little War Twins, Hudson K and more on Thursday, March 31; Blackwater Mojo, Skunk Ruckus, Nick Lutsko and the Puppet People and more on Friday, April 1; Zigadoo Moneyclips, Opposite Box, Daniel Planet and more on Saturday, April 2; and comedy by Eric Sorgel and Dan Alten on Sunday, April 3.
Eugene Levy stars in "Schitt's Creek," airing at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on the Pop channel.

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By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times

Eugene Levy, of "SCTV," "American Pie" and the films of Christopher Guest, was waiting at the old Culver Hotel in Culver City for his son and collaborator, Dan, to arrive.

"It's the fashionably late thing they (young people) really take to heart," Levy said.

The Levys, 69 and 32 respectively, are the co-creators and costars of "Schitt's Creek" (8 p.m. Wednesdays on Pop), an exceedingly funny situation comedy of Canadian origin that also plays in the United States.

Its second season began last week; a third has been ordered.

Dan arrived. "You look sharp," he told his father, who was wearing a suit the son had picked out for him. Dan also looked sharp, in a more casual way, and more genuinely stylish than his fashion-defined "Schitt's Creek" character, whose tastes are more cutting-edge than classic.

The series focuses on the Rose family, defrauded of their fortune and forced, by their own inability to frame a better option, to live in two connecting motel rooms in a monetarily worthless town they happen to own. (Eugene's Johnny Rose, the father, had bought it for his son, Dan's David, as a kind of gag gift; they were that kind of rich.)

It's a familiar idea on paper, but in execution it has a life all its own.

It was not long before the Levys were competing against each other in the best actor in a television comedy category at the Canadian Screen Awards.

The series and its cast would go on to sweep the TV comedy categories, with father besting son.

There were awards too for Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy's frequent castmate and fellow comedy icon who plays Johnny's wife, Moira; for Chris Elliott as Mayor Roland Schitt; for Emily Hampshire, who plays David's dark, deadpan, antagonistic soul mate, Stevie; and for the show itself.

Annie Murphy, who plays Dan's sister, Alexis, and Jennifer Robertson, who plays Roland's wife, Jocelyn, were also nominated. (Dan's actual sister, Sarah Levy, is also on the show, as the town waitress, Twyla.)

Is there anything in their own relationship they've transferred to their characters?

"Our relationship?" Eugene asked. "There's not much of a relationship, I'm afraid to say."

"Yeah, it's a shame," Dan said, laughing. "Obviously you're at an advantage when you're writing a family dynamic and you've experienced the dynamic. I know where we can take the character of Johnny  a lot of the time it's just how far can we take the character of Johnny before I get an email from my dad reading the notes at the end of the night saying, 'You know, I have a problem with how far you've taken Johnny.'"

The younger Levys were not discouraged from following their father into show business.

"I've read about actors trying to prevent their kids from getting into it," Dan said, "and I think that's from what they themselves experienced in the industry. And I feel like you didn't have those kind of traumatic experiences."

"No, I didn't," Eugene said. "I was lucky. Horrible experiences meaning you're sleeping on the floor blowing dust balls away from the crumpled-up shirt you're using as a pillow :"

"I think that's just college," Dan cut in.

"  that was actually fun."

Dan had appeared as an MTV Canada host for some years before he worked with his father in an improvised spoof of a "Super Sweet 16" episode that "I did for my actual 26th birthday  the first time I had ever acknowledged who my dad was."

"It was fun," Eugene said, "because he was doing very well, not trying to be funny, just playing the premise of the scene  which is what a good improvisation is."

"But you were tentative about this," said Dan, meaning the series.

"I can't say I was tentative about it," Eugene said. "I was excited about the prospect of working with Dan, but this is a different animal. This isn't like sketch work, this is creating a character you want the audience to be emotionally involved with  it's a character-driven show, but you've got to have the audience with you. Otherwise when you hit your first bad joke, you lose them and that's it. What I didn't know was, as an actor, could he create a character that has that kind of depth to it?

"Making the pilot, I would go up to him and say, 'I think you have to speak up.' 'Why?' 'Well, because it's hard to hear, and they're probably having a tough time miking you.' We'd do another take, and it was kind of the same."

Then came the first episode, and "he just popped right out of the gate," said Eugene, very much the proud papa.

"It was like, pow! It happened."
By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

MAYNARDVILLE  A former Knox County Schools security officer accused in the deadly shooting of his neighbor has rehired the attorneys who won him a mistrial last year.

Attorneys Tommy Hindman and Scott Lanzon are back at the side of Kevin Waggoner, 44, and on Wednesday asked for a new trial date in the second-degree murder charge the former school resource officer faces in the September 2013 shooting death of neighbor Michael Woodby.

8th Judicial District Judge Shayne Sexton at a hearing Wednesday set a new trial date in the case for Aug. 2.

A Union County Criminal Court jury last year deadlocked, forcing Sexton to declare a mistrial. A majority of the panel favored conviction, although an exact vote has not been released.

Hindman, whose firm had been hired by Waggoner, later announced he was withdrawing from the case, and Waggoner asked Sexton to appoint him a taxpayer-funded attorney. Sexton had set an April trial. Hindman notified the court he had been hired anew and on Wednesday asked for a delay, which the judge granted.

There was no question Waggoner fatally shot the 45-year-old Woodby. He admitted it. The issue for jurors was whether he was justified in doing so. Waggoner, who was working for Knox County Schools at the time, claimed he killed Woodby because Woodby attacked him and his adult son with a walking stick.

8th Judicial District Attorney General Jared Effler and prosecutors Graham Wilson and Tyler Hurst countered forensic evidence belied the claim and presented witnesses who testified Waggoner had a history of violent engagement with neighbors in another state where he and his family lived before moving to Union County.

The Waggoners and the Woodbys lived across from each other on state Highway 370. For nearly three years, the families have been at odds, so much so they could not agree even on what started the feud.

The Waggoner family filmed and recorded the Woodbys every move outside their home. Kevin Waggoner, testimony showed, had a cache of digital voice recorders, too, cataloging his own thoughts and phone calls, police radio traffic and his family's conversations. But authorities found no recording of the night of the shooting, although Kevin Waggoner made sure to keep a recorder by a police scanner so he could, in his own words, record "the DOA"  dead on arrival  code.

More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel.
SHARE Retired Maryville attorney Roy Duncan Crawford Sr., sits in his dinning room in 2010, talking about his time in the Army during the Korean War. Crawford served as an enlisted man during World War II, and later as an officer in Korea. Crawford died Sunday, March 20, 2016, at age 94. J. MILES CARY/NEWS SENTINEL

By News Sentinel Staff

Funeral services will be held Saturday for Bronze Star recipient and Blount County native Roy Duncan Crawford Sr.

Mr. Crawford died Sunday at age 94.

The lifelong Maryville resident, whose family roots in Blount County trace back to the Revolutionary War, was remembered for a life of service to his community and country.

Mr. Crawford was a veteran of World War II and later the Korean War, where he earned the Bronze Star Medal during the monthlong Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in 1951.

"It was quite a thrill to know that we had taken that hill. But it came at a terrible price," Mr. Crawford told the News Sentinel in 2010. "I was lucky. Anyone who came out of that was fortunate."

He returned home to attend the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating in 1948. Mr. Crawford served as the city attorney for Maryville from 1966 until his retirement in 1999.

He also served in the state Senate from 1961 to 1966, representing Blount and surrounding counties.

"He had this tremendous commitment to public service," his daughter, Mary Crawford, said.

Mr. Crawford was a graduate and longtime supporter of Maryville College, where he met Dorothy Jobes, the woman who would become his wife. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in February.

Mr. Crawford served as an enlisted man with the Army in World War II and saw service throughout the European theatre.

He was married and working in his father's private law practice when his Tennessee National Guard unit was activated in 1950.

As a young lieutenant with a wife and six-week-old son at home, Mr. Crawford deployed to Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division, 3rd Artillery Battalion, 23rd Regiment. He served as a forward artillery observer  one of the most dangerous combat assignments of the war.

Mr. Crawford was awarded the Bronze Star but, through a paperwork mistake, failed to receive it. With the help of U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., of Knoxville, the oversight was rectified and the medal was presented to Mr. Crawford during a special ceremony at the Blount County Courthouse in 2011.

Mr. Crawford is preceded in death by his daughter, Serena Crawford; and his son, Roy Crawford Jr., who died in February.

Survivors include his wife and daughter, Mary Crawford; and grandchildren Elizabeth and Alex Robertson.

A funeral service is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at New Providence Presbyterian Church, followed by a receiving of family and friends. A private burial will precede the service.
SHARE Justin and Stephanie Shults. Justin and Stephanie Shults.

By Staff and wire Reports

The brother of a Gatlinburg man missing in Brussels said the family was given conflicting information about the safety of his brother and sister-in-law and now doesn't know their status or whereabouts.

Levi Sutton wrote on his Twitter account Wednesday afternoon that his mother had heard from the U.S. State Department that Justin Shults and his wife, Stephanie, had been found in a Belgium hospital. The couple had been missing since deadly terrorist attacks there Tuesday morning.

But at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sutton removed those posts and tweeted that a social worker in Brussels told his mother she had received bad information.

"My mom just received a phone call from a social worker in Belgium who is helping Stephanie's mom," he wrote. "She informed my mom that someone ... gave my mom incorrect information."

Sutton said he was asked to remove earlier posts from social media.

"This is exactly what we were trying to avoid and now I've told friends and family members things that weren't true," Sutton wrote. "Obviously we just want Justin and Stephanie to come home."

The couple were at the airport Tuesday morning to drop off Stephanie Shults' mother, Carolyn Moore, who had been visiting the couple in Belgium.

Moore turned to wave goodbye and they waved back, then the bomb exploded and knocked Moore to the ground, Stephanie's cousin, Larry Newsom, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She searched but could not find them in the chaos.

Moore has stayed in Brussels and Shults' father is on his way there to check hospitals, Newsom told the AP.

"We hope they've just been helping people, which is very much their nature," he said. "But we can't believe they wouldn't have checked in. It's very concerning that we're a day out and we don't know where they are."

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker on Wednesday said he's been in close contact with the family and the State Department and offered a statement on the family's behalf.

"At this time, neither Belgium nor U.S. officials have confirmed that Justin and Stephanie Shults have been located. We are thankful for the outpouring of love and support we have received at this difficult time and ask for prayers for Justin and Stephanie," the statement said.

Justin's grandfather, Bobby Shults of Sevierville, told the AP that he has been watching news reports constantly, hoping for an update on the couple.

"We haven't been told anything," he said. "We would like to be told something. We'd just like to know what's happening."

Sutton spoke to NPR's "Here & Now" program Tuesday, describing the chaos and uncertainty.

"My brother and I grew up in Gatlinburg, Tenn., which I think has a total of maybe 1,300 or 1,400 residents, and like you said, you hear and see these kinds of things on the news all the time, but you never imagine that it would ever affect you personally like this," he said. "It's very hard. Not knowing is definitely the worst part of this."

Justin Shults attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he met his wife, Stephanie, a Lexington, Ky., native. The couple had the opportunity to live in Brussels for three years, Sutton said on the program.

"They really are very genuine, sweet kids," Newsom told the AP. "They've invited all kinds of people from our family to visit them. They say, 'Oh, come see us in Belgium, it's wonderful. You can take the train anywhere.' They're that generous. They wanted their family to come experience what they've experienced."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SHARE Maryville College French student Marie Lamblin sits in the International House at Maryville College. Her sister was at the airport when the bombings in Brussels occurred Tuesday. (CAITIE MCMEKIN /NEWS SENTINEL) French student Marie Lamblin stands in the International House at Maryville College on Tuesday. Her sister was at the Brussels airport when Tuesday's terrorist attack occurred. (CAITIE MCMEKIN /NEWS SENTINEL) Related Coverage Couple with Tennessee connections missing in Brussels

By Lydia X. McCoy of the Knoxville News Sentinel

MARYVILLE Within minutes of learning about Tuesday's terrorist attacks at the Brussels airport, Marie Lamblin's emotions went from panic to relief as she learned her sister  who arrived at the airport shortly beforehand  while shaken up, was OK and uninjured.

"I read that it was in the airport and I knew that my sister was coming back today," said Lamblin, who is a senior at Maryville College. "So I panicked and called my friend. Then I got a message from my mom and she said that she was not injured, she was safe back home and they were driving to spend the day with her."

Lamblin's 23-year-old sister, Claire, had just arrived at the airport with her boyfriend and best friend after a weekend trip to Berlin.

"They landed about 7:45 (a.m.) and they had taken their luggage, and at 8 (a.m.) there was the first explosion and a few minutes later the second one," Lamblin said. "Her boyfriend wanted to go to the restroom, and that's what saved them. They were under a false roof ... with false panels and it fell on them. But they were headed toward the elevators, which is where the big windows and the glass ceiling is, and that fell and the windows blew out so  I'm not sure they would have been alive if he hadn't gone to the restroom."

Lamblin said she talked to her sister via Facetime shortly after talking with her mother.

"She was a mess. When she saw me she started crying, and I asked her if she was fine and wanted to tell me what happened," Lamblin said. "It was kind of hard to follow at first because she was sobbing."

Lamblin said she told her sister that she was lucky to be alive and home safe, but she realizes that it will take some time for her sister to heal from the experience. While Claire Lamblin escaped the attacks with no physical injuries, there are mental ones she will have to work through.

"She was not hurt  she did not have to go to the hospital (or) the emergency room," Marie Lamblin said. "She told me she saw the blood and she saw the glass and that keeps repeating. She told me she's a completely different person and she has to repeat that fear and those memories now."

Tuesday's attacks, Lamblin said, made her realize that terrorists can strike anywhere.

"When the Paris attacks happened (in 2015), I was here, but nobody that I know was really affected," she said. "Now that my sister almost died, I realize that it can happen to anyone and it can happen anywhere, too. ... It can happen to anybody and they (terrorists) don't care; they just want to kill people, and they don't care who these people are."

Lamblin said her sister asked her to share the story.

"She wanted people to know how horrible it is, and she wanted to pay tribute to the victims, too," Lamblin said.
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By Dave Boucher, The Tennessean

NASHVILLE  Every teacher in the country would need to undergo a criminal background check before they could be hired, under provisions in federal legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

The legislation is intended to stop teachers who've committed violent or sexual acts against children from finding their way into other classrooms. In addition to the checks at hiring, districts would need to "periodically" re-check their teachers. Those districts could, but are not required, to share the results of those checks with other districts where the teacher is looking to work.

"This is increased due diligence, it is increased vigilance. It is a way for parents to have another confirmation that their children are going to be safe within the walls of that school, once they drop their children off at that school," Blackburn said.

The Brentwood Republican's measure comes on the heels of USA TODAY NETWORK and Tennessean investigations into teacher background check systems nationwide. That reporting found Tennessee is one of 11 states that require background checks for hiring, but allows local districts to conduct those checks. Although state law requires first-time teaching applicants to submit to a background check from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, sometimes checks aren't happening or pertinent information isn't discovered through the process.

The Tennessean specifically found several teachers with long track records of inappropriate behavior who were allowed to continue teaching. For more than 20 years, James Aaron Swafford faced allegations of inappropriate relationships with children, at one point being fired for striking a student, and yet he was able to continue teaching in Tennessee after admitting to sending love letters to a 16-year-old girl while teaching in North Carolina.

The state Board of Education's disciplinary system, to some degree handicapped by state law, doesn't bar teachers who've committed sexual or violent acts from teaching in the future.

In Swafford's case, an administrative law judge overruled the state board's rejection of Swafford's attempts to have his teaching license reinstated, noting Tennessee law doesn't mandate a revocation in the event the teacher committed an inappropriate act in a different state.

Blackburn's bill requires any district receiving federal funding  so, all districts  to conduct background checks. Those checks must include searches of state criminal and child abuse registries, an FBI fingerprint check and a search of the National Sex Offender Registry.

While these checks can certainly find if someone was convicted of a crime in the past, the USA TODAY and Tennessean investigations found multiple examples of teachers being allowed to resign instead of facing criminal prosecution. In Swafford's case, in the face of two separate accusations of sending love letters to minors, Swafford was allowed to resign. His name still doesn't appear on any sex offender or criminal registries.

"What we think this (bill) will help to do is that when you're going in to these state registries and fed registries, if there is someone who regularly changes districts, that will be a red flag to itself, but it is going to require that they continue to go through these checks," Blackburn said, when asked whether her legislation addresses teachers allowed to resign instead of facing sanctions.

"You're going to see the districts with a mandate to say look, we have to exercise this check."

Districts in Tennessee are not required to check a prospective teacher's personnel file before hiring that person. In one recent case, Metro Nashville Public Schools hired a teacher even though that person had a file full of accusations of inappropriate sexual contact with students.

There's also no requirement that districts keep personnel files. Although some districts had Swafford's records from more than 20 years ago, others said they had already destroyed them, making it impossible in one case to see if there was additional information that led to Swafford's firing from one district.

"It will be incumbent upon the personnel directors for these school systems to go in and check those personnel files. Because now anybody applying to that district is going to have to go through these background checks," Blackburn said.

There are no penalties in the bill if districts fail to meet the background check requirements, and no additional funding offered for the checks. But Blackburn said districts will save money by conducting more thorough checks initially, as opposed to dealing with unsavory teachers after they are hired.

Blackburn said she believes the bill's prospects are very good, with the earliest chance for passage coming at the end of the year.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, center, takes questions about a deannexation bill during a Senate committee hearing in Nashville on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Strickland is joined by Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, left, and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero. (Erik Schelzig/AP)

By Richard Locker of the Knoxville News Sentinel

NASHVILLE  The mayors of Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga presented a united front against the deannexation bill in a state Senate committee Wednesday, warning it could destabilize cities' finances and hurt recruitment of new businesses.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke sat together at a witness table before the State and Local Government Committee to voice their objections to a bill that would allow residents of areas annexed into cities since 1998 to call referendums for deannexation  and then separate from their cities if approved by a majority of voters in those areas.

Editor's note: A transcript of Rogero's testimony can be found at the bottom of this article.

But in his questioning of the mayors, Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, said some residents want to leave cities they were annexed into against their will, without a vote, and he likened annexation to forcible takeovers of one nation by another.

"When you think of a city going out and, just on its own, taking land from someone else  to me that's almost like Russia going in and taking Poland and adding it to the Soviet Union," Green said. "I really see those as pretty close. When people don't want to be brought into the city and are forcibly brought in so the city can have a better tax base, I find that egregious. And that's a big part of why this bill is so emotional for a lot of people right now."

Rogero said Knoxville officials have identified about 500 residential properties that could leave the city under the bill's provisions.

"They represent about $600,000 a year in property taxes. That is the equivalent of about a penny and a half on our property tax rate  very small compared to our friends in Memphis, but certainly not insignificant," she said.

The Knoxville mayor said she supports some provisions of the bill  such as requiring approval of residents for city-initiated deannexation and authority for cities to annex territory not contiguous to their existing borders  which she said could benefit economic development.

"But I am troubled and frankly very confused by the sections allowing elective deannexations in a handful of specific cities. The obvious question is why  why these five cities out of more than 300 in the state?" she asked.

The version of the bill approved by the House on March 14 limits deannexation to Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Kingsport and tiny Cornersville in Marshall County, where the bill says annexations over the past 20 years were "the most egregious."

"The language in the House bill indicates they were chosen because of 'egregious annexations,' but it offers no detail or evidence of what constitutions 'egregious,' " Rogero said.

The committee is holding the bill over until at least next Tuesday when lawmakers will hear testimony from supporters. That means the full Senate likely won't vote on the bill until at least March 31.The committee chairman, Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said it's not clear that a bill will win Senate approval. He said it's likely to be a close vote in his committee and on the Senate floor.

---

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero's testimony on the deannexation bill in the Senate State & Local Government Committee, Wednesday, March 23, 2016:

As mayor of Knoxville I have many questions and concerns about the bill before you. There are elements of the bill that we have no objections to and one that we very much support. For example, the proposed changes to de-annexations initiated by municipal governments dont cause us any worry. We would never de-annex without consultation with the affected property owners and our counterparts in county government. We also support the provision that would allow non-contiguous annexation. That could be helpful for future economic development.

But I am troubled and frankly very confused by the sections allowing elective de-annexations in a handful of specific cities. The obvious question is why  why these five cities out of more than 300 in the state. The language in the House bill indicates they were chosen because of egregious annexations but it offers no detail or evidence of what constitutions egregious.

And I have to say the issues Im going to talk about, whether its statewide or those five cities, still apply. But I can only speak for Knoxville and I can assure you every annexation in our city potentially affected by this bill was conducted under the existing laws and the standard legal procedures at the time, and all of them are within the urban growth boundary, established at the direction of this state legislature and negotiated and approved by Knoxville City Council and Knox County Commission.

In addition, the vast majority of these annexations in Knoxville were completed through agreement between the city and the property owners. In fact, our largest annexation, Kingston Woods -- they actually came to the city  this was before me  and they were concerned about another potential development that was going to occur and they asked the city to annex them. And the city actually ended up being able to stop that development they didnt want. They chose to come in. We annexed them. So it was actually, we helped them out.

Now the legislature has since made changes to the annexation statutes (requiring approval by annexed residents). And Knoxville though had not conducted an annexation by ordinance for more than a decade before you even made those changes. We have instead focused on growing redevelopment of our urban core areas and reinvesting in the city from the inside out. So because of that we actually dont hear from angry property owners who are in the city now. Theres no groundswell of support in Knoxville for this bill  at least not by those who are actually affected residents.

And those who you may hear from that live outside of the city, youve already made sure we cant annex them anyway, even though we hadnt done that or tried that when we could over the last decade. So when we asked the House sponsor to identify a local aggrieved resident, the name we received back was somebody who does not own property in the city and was never annexed.

If were going to start going back and retroactively undoing any historical action contradicted by some later change in the law, were all going to have our hands full. The only beneficiaries will be all of the lawyers who will be hired by every local government in the state just to keep track of the shifting legal landscape.

In Knoxville, we have identified about 500 residential properties that potentially could be affected by this bill. They represent about $600,000 a year in property taxes. That is the equivalent of about a penny and a half on our property tax rate  very small compared to our friends in Memphis but certainly not insignificant.

Many of those properties have changed ownership  and this may answer your question Senator Green  since they were annexed. Many people bought houses who werent part of the original  so even if you come in later, you buy into the city and then some of your neighbors might be able to vote to take you out. So somebody may have wanted in, like in Kingston Woods, and so many years later, new people are there and they decide they want out. So its not necessarily the same people that youre even dealing with. But many people have bought houses knowing and expecting that they were within in the city of Knoxville and would receive city services such as street paving and repair, police and fire protection, trash and brush pickup, and neighborhood codes enforcement. So now some of them could involuntarily be forced out of the city by a vote of their neighbors, and they will at least face uncertainty for the time this bill is in effect. So imagine if you were trying to sell a house in one of these areas and you had to disclose to potential buyers that they may or they may not be in the city depending on whether current or future neighbors decide to call for a referendum sometime in the next three years.

Theres also the increased burden of those who remain in the city. The reality is these kinds of de-annexations could create donut holes in our service areas and would likely not produce any cost savings to the city. If we have to run a garbage truck down a street, we dont save a lot of money just because it doesnt stop at every single house. And when it comes to emergency response, dispatchers in our 911 (center) are likely to just send everyone -- city and county responders alike -- rather than waste precious time trying to figure out what houses are in which jurisdiction. If a house is on fire outside the city but its surrounded by houses inside the city, our fire department is still going to need to be there to protect the surrounding properties anyway. Lots of duplication.

The bill allows cities to capture a share of general-obligation debt incurred when any de-annexed properties were within the city. But bonded debt represents only a fraction of our investment in our neighborhoods. We have paid for street lights, storm-water utilities, street paving, sidewalks, crosswalks, stop signs and every crucial infrastructure out of operating and capital budgets, not through debt. Such investments have added to the property values of these property owners. So how do we recoup those costs?

To truly calculate the investment by the city in any given neighborhood over a period of time would require a huge amount of work by our finance department and it would be a much larger number than the per capita share of our general- obligation debt.

There are many other problems with this bill, including who would actually have standing to bring a referendum or a vote in an election. The bill says eligible voters, which suggests that renters in an apartment complex could de-annex a property against the wishes of the actual property owner.

I would conclude with these two points: something that has not been widely considered is the potential impact on state-shared sales tax. As you know, that is distributed on a per capita basis to cities across the state, so a loss of population for any city means a reduction in those funds. It also means that proportionately, more of those funds would flow to the other cities not affected by this bill  one more way in which it is fundamentally capricious legislation.

Finally, all of the properties in question are already paying county property taxes. These are all residential. So theres no new revenue to county government if any of the properties are de-annexed  but there would be a new net cost to the county in the provision of services -- for law enforcement, codes enforcement, et cetera, that would no longer be provided by the city. So for local governments, this is the opposite of a win-win. Its really a lose-lose for both of us.

Questions and answers with committee members:

Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville: How likely do you think it would be that the residents would exercise this new right if given this right to de-annex?

Mayor Rogero: Its hard to say because people, for example in Kingston Woods -- they chose, they wanted to come in. But 10 or 12 years later, you have people benefitting from all those investments; if they see that they could still have all these investments there but they could vote themselves out of having to pay the taxes, then that might be attractive. I dont know how many would, but its bad policy to have in affect.

Sen. Norris: Is it your position that county taxes would have to increase to offset the increase in services?

Mayor Rogero: No, no, I doubt that. What will happen is if they voted to de-annex, they are already paying their county taxes and those would likely stay the same. Although the county -- theyve been very reluctant to raise taxes in the county -- they have to figure out how to produce those extra services. But they definitely would not be paying the city taxes yet theyd have all the benefits of having been in the city. They will have to figure out how to do that in the county.

Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville: I must tell you that none of the complaints that Ive heard have come from Knoxville. Kingston Woods, was there a vote?

Mayor Rogero: I wasnt there. My understanding is that they came to the city, to the mayor at the time, they asked for it, they had petitions and the city worked with them to stop what would be this bad development. So it was still a vote of City Council.

Sen. Green: It wasnt a vote of the people?

Mayor Rogero: No but it was their choice to come in.

Sen. Green: Do you have any idea of the debt they would owe you if they go out?

Mayor Rogero: I cant say that. It would take some time for us to figure that out based on all those years. We havent done those calculations but thats only a fraction of what weve invested in the area.

Sen. Green: Im just seeing it as a barrier to de-annex if theyve got to come up with cash to pay you back.

Mayor Rogero: It may be, but again, so then why pass this?

Sen. Green: Some people are ready to leave because they never had any vote in the first place. Thats why we pass the legislation. When you think of a city going out and just on its own, taking land from someone else -- to me thats almost like Russia going in and taking Poland and adding it to the Soviet Union. I really see those as pretty close. When people dont want to be brought into the city and are forcibly brought in so the city can have a better tax base, I find that egregious. And thats a big part of why this bill is so emotional for a lot of people right now.

Mayor Rogero: Remember, it was legal. The legislature at the time considered that to be legal and thats what cities did.

Sen. Green: I understand that but this group here, this body now finds it very offensive.

 Transcribed by Richard Locker
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I'm a pastor, a mother and a proud Tennessean. Throughout my service to the church and my community, I have seen the ongoing struggle against bigotry and discrimination unfold into slow but steady movement toward love and inclusion.

In the past few years, we've witnessed significant advances in the acceptance and rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, including celebrating their national legal right to marry. At the same time, we've also seen growing visibility of courageous individuals in the transgender and gender expansive community  including many transgender young people  who are sharing their powerful stories with the world.

I view these advances in equality and understanding as part of the greater journey toward justice that God exhorts us to take. In Micah 6:8, the prophet asks, "What is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

This legislative session, our state legislators considered House Bill 2414, and a companion measure in the Senate, which targets transgender students in public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as those attending our public universities. The bill would require transgender children and young people to use bathrooms and facilities inconsistent with their gender identity, subjecting them to bullying and, potentially, even physical harm.

Thanks to the work of the Tennessee Equality Project, the Human Rights Campaign and others, including countless fair-minded Tennesseans who spoke out, House Bill 2414 has been tabled for now. But we must work diligently to keep it from advancing in the future.

A transgender member of my congregation, when facing fear and discrimination, would call to mind Psalm 139:1, 13-14: "O Lord, you have searched me and known me. For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." God created her and made her as she is, and has known her true self always.

As a person of faith, I believe that we all bear the divine image of God, something fundamental to our dignity and humanity. Transgender people are no less bearers of the image of God, and they, like all of us, desire to bring their full and authentic selves  in mind, body and spirit  into every space they occupy, be it our churches, our homes or our schools.

It is the work of the church to create the beloved community where all people are fully known and fully loved. It is the work of our governmental institutions to ensure that the fundamental rights and safety of all people are protected. It is nothing short of cruel and un-Christian for our elected officials to willfully ignore the well-being of our transgender youth by attempting to advance this discriminatory measure.

My faith, like all other faiths, compels me to love my neighbor as myself and to treat others as I would like to be treated. Does forbidding someone, including our children and young people, from using the restroom or facility consistent with their gender identity express our love or our fear and disdain?

As 1 John 4:18 reminds us, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." We cannot let our fear outshine our love, and we cannot claim to be loving while we seek to put others, especially children, in the way of harm and fear.

This is why I encourage all people of faith to ask state legislators to heed the warnings by medical, child welfare and educational professionals who are speaking out against this discriminatory and harmful bill. The children and youth of our state deserve better.

The Rev. Laura Bogle was born and raised in Blount County, and has been serving as minister of the Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Maryville since 2012.
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The board overseeing the Tennessee State Museum will hold an open meeting to discuss the future search for an executive director after all.

Tom Smith, a Nashvillian who chairs a museum board committee on "succession planning," recently informed members that a previous decision to hold a closed meeting had been reversed.

The reversal is a victory for transparency in government and should lead to a better decision-making process.

Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe deserves credit for bringing the matter to the public's attention. Ashe, who serves on the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission as well as the board of directors for the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, has been vocal in his criticisms of the closed-door meeting.

The succession planning committee initially announced the public would not be able to attend its March 28 workshop. After Ashe and the media objected, Smith notified the board of the changes. The meeting now will last four hours instead of the eight hours initially planned. The board also will get an update on efforts to build a new state museum building.

"We are retooling the session to take out the items related to all museum personnel and instead just have a session related to strengths we envision in a new executive director," Smith wrote to board members.

A former U.S. ambassador to Poland, Ashe welcomed the change.

"I'm glad it's been reconsidered and now at least this part of the process is transparent," Ashe told the News Sentinel.

The museum's executive director, Lois Riggins-Ezzell, has been in charge of museum operations since 1981. A performance audit produced last year raised concerns that the board did not have a succession plan in place for her eventual retirement.

Ashe has criticized the museum's management as well, alleging bias against East and West Tennessee artists because a majority of the artwork purchased in recent years for the permanent collection has come from Middle Tennessee artists. He also has suggested that a replacement for Riggins-Ezzell be at work by the end of 2016 to help guide construction and organization of the new museum.

Mark Cate, the former chief of staff to Gov. Bill Haslam who now heads up the museum construction effort, will brief the panel on the project's progress. The 130,000-square-foot building will be located near the Tennessee Capitol and the Bicentennial Mall.

The project is estimated to cost $162 million, with $42 million to be raised from donations to go along with $120 million in state appropriations. A separate non-profit organization, the Tennessee State Museum Foundation, is in charge of the fundraising operation. To date, Cate has not released information about gifts to the project. Groundbreaking for the new museum is scheduled for April 6.

The museum commission has a duty to collect, preserve and exhibit artifacts of cultural and historical importance on behalf of the taxpayers. The museum's role and its reliance on public funding for much of its work means that all Tennesseans have a vested interest in its operations. Smith's change of plans restores transparency and accountability to the process.
3:45 p.m. March 23, 2016

Medical equipment company to pay $646 Million for criminal and civil violations







NEWARK, NJ  The United States largest distributor of endoscopes and related equipment will pay $623.2 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims relating to a scheme to pay kickbacks to doctors and hospitals. A subsidiary of the distributor will pay $22.8 million to resolve criminal charges relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Latin America.



Olympus Corp. of the Americas (OCA) was charged in a criminal complaint for making kickback payments to induce purchases paid for by federal health care programs. OCA has entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that will allow it to avoid conviction if it complies with the reform and compliance requirements outlined in the agreement.



For years, Olympus Corporation of the Americas and Olympus Latin America dropped the compliance ball and failed to have in place policies and practices that would have prevented the substantial kickbacks and bribes they paid, said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. It is appropriate that they be punished for that. At the same time, the deferred prosecution agreement takes into account the companies cooperation and commitment to fully functional corporate compliance.



OCA has agreed to pay a $312.4 million criminal penalty and an additional $310.8 million to settle civil claims under the federal and various state False Claims Acts, the largest total amount paid in U.S. history for violations involving the AKS by a medical device company.



Olympus Latin America Inc. (OLA), a subsidiary of OCA, will pay a $22.8 million criminal penalty for violations of the FCPA.



The criminal complaint against OCA, which OCA agrees is true, charges that OCA won new business and rewarded sales by giving doctors and hospitals kickbacks, including consulting payments, foreign travel, lavish meals, millions of dollars in grants and free endoscopes. For example:



OCA gave a hospital a $5,000 grant to facilitate a $750,000 sale;



OCA held up a $50,000 research grant until a second hospital signed a deal to purchase Olympus equipment;



OCA paid for a trip for three doctors to travel to Japan in 2007 as a quid pro quo for their hospitals decision to switch from a competitor to Olympus; and



a doctor with a major role in a New York medical centers buying decisions received free use of $400,000 in equipment for his private practice.



These and other kickbacks helped OCA obtain more than $600 million in sales and realize gross profits of more than $230 million.



The criminal complaint alleges that the improper payments happened while Olympus lacked training and compliance programs. Unlike other medical and surgical products companies, Olympus did not create the position of compliance officer until 2009 and did not hire an experienced compliance professional until August 2010.



OCA will be required to adopt several compliance measures to remedy its problems:



OCA must enhance its compliance training and maintain an effective compliance program;



OCA must maintain a confidential hotline and website for OCA employees and customers to report wrongdoing;



OCAs chief executive officer and board of directors must certify annually that the program is effective; and



OCA must adopt an executive financial recoupment program requiring executives who engage in misconduct or fail to promote compliance to forfeit up to three years of performance pay.



In the civil settlement, Olympus agrees to pay $310.8 million to the federal government and the states to resolve claims that Olympuss payment of kickbacks caused false claims to be submitted to federal health care programs Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE, and thus violated not only the AKS but also the federal and various state False Claims Acts. The federal share of the civil settlement is $267,288,323, and Olympus will pay $43,512,053 million to participating states that contributed to the falsely claimed Medicaid payments at issue.



The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by John Slowik, the former chief compliance officer of OCA, under the federal and various state False Claims Acts. The acts permit whistleblowers to file suit for false claims against the government entities and to share in any recovery. Slowik will receive $44,102, 573 million from the federal share and $7 million from the state share of the civil settlement amount.



OCAs Miami-based subsidiary OLA was charged with FCPA violations in connection with improper payments to health officials in Central and South America, and OLA entered into a separate three-year DPA. According to court documents, OLA implemented a plan to increase medical equipment sales in Central and South America by providing payments to health care practitioners at government-owned health care facilities. These payments included cash, money transfers, personal grants, personal travel and free or heavily discounted equipment. The primary method to deliver these illicit benefits was through training centers, nominally set up to educate and train doctors, but which OLA used to provide benefits to pre-selected practitioners. OLA and its conspirators paid nearly $3 million to practitioners to induce the purchase of Olympus products and recognized more than $7.5 million in profits as a result.



Olympus Latin America admitted to bribing publicly employed health care providers and hospital officials across Central and South America so that it could illegally win business and sell its products, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bitkower. OLAs illegal tactics in Central and South America mirrored Olympuss conduct in the United States. The FCPA resolution announced today demonstrates the departments commitment to ensuring the integrity of the health-care equipment market, regardless whether the illegal bribes occur in the U.S. or abroad.



OLA has agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $22.8 million, retain the same compliance monitor as for OLA (Mr. Mackey) for a period of three years and implement a number of compliance measures.





Source: FBI

Published March 23, 2016
By Choi Sung-jin



"The Korean economy has attained remarkable results, but some people are writing it off as a failure by distorting major indicators with parochial viewpoints," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said Monday.



It was his first major counterattack against the political opposition and other critics.



"The government has struggled hard to reinvigorate the economy despite difficult circumstances, and the businesses and people also joined forces and shared pain with strong trust in the government's policy. As a result, we have achieved results recognized by the world," Yoo said at an economic ministers' meeting.



He cited as examples Korea receiving the highest sovereign credit rating of Aa2 from Moody's last year and attaining the highest economic growth rate among the 13 member countries of the "20-20" club (those with per capita income of $20,000 or more and a population of more than 20 million).



"All this notwithstanding, some are instigating economic failure theories, putting a damper on economic sentiments and dashing cold water on the efforts of the public and business corporations," said Yoo, who is also deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.



It was rather unusual for the soft-spoken technocrat to reply to criticism, economic watchers said, suspecting Yoo's move was related to the upcoming parliamentary elections.



Critics said, however, that with most economic indices worsening and concerns mounting about the Korean economy following the Japanese example of entering into "two lost decades," Yoo's remark was unjustifiable self-defense and far-fetched sophistry.



Commenting on the record-high youth unemployment rate of 12.5 percent in February, for instance, Minister Yoo acknowledged that the government had a sense of infinite responsibility and felt sorry for the people.



He quickly came up with self-excuses, however, saying, "The overall employment rate has remained at the highest level since the onset of this administration. The high jobless rate of young people is due to the structural problem of our labor markets," passing the buck to the opposition party that refused to pass the government's labor reform bill.



Critics point out that Yoo's recent remarks are full of contradictions.



For instance, Yoo tried hard to find a few positive indicators while all major indices, including those related to exports, consumption and investment, were falling, saying, "Some dose of optimism was necessary to prevent negative sentiments from spreading further."



The critics said it was all but impossible for people to remain optimistic when their real income and purchasing power had stagnated over the past five years. It was not a matter that a few encouraging comments could change.



Yoo also attributed most economic problems to legislative gridlock and the resultant delay in industrial restructuring. But opponents point out that restructuring could not be carried out just by revising a few laws, nor was the ongoing slump due mainly due to delayed restructuring.



They cited the fact the government had tightly formulated this year's budget, meaning it was not doing what it could to stimulate the economy, and was blaming the political opposition.



President Park Geun-hye, who had blamed the National Assembly and opposition parties for the economic crisis, recently confounded the public by also saying she found some positive economic factors.



Her change of tone and her economic czar's mimicking of his boss seem to be aimed at the forthcoming election in mind, the critics said. Yet voters knew that economic sentiment could not improve with just a few words, and that a few legal revisions could not give them jobs.




By Choi Sung-jin



Hyundai Heavy Industries marked its 44th founding anniversary on Wednesday. A day before the shipbuilder's birthday, however, its two top managers, Chairman Choi Kil-seon and President Kwon Oh-gap, talked about the crisis facing their company - and the industry.



They said Hyundai Heavy's backlog orders had fallen to their lowest level in 11 years, possibly leaving the dry dock empty in the not so distant future.



"We must sober up, join our forces and revive the company," they said in a message to employees. "We must struggle hard to survive."



Choi and Kwon acknowledged that the company had gained too much weight and become insensitive to changes. "Now we should stop pretending everything is going right nor try to avoid the reality," they said. "We should admit the reality as it is and tide over this crisis with united efforts."



The top managers disclosed several problems, such as idle docks, losing ship owners' trust about quality, and ill effects from excessive order receipts and undue price cutting. A series of contract cancelations has also led to poor cash flows, with banks' reluctant to extend fresh loans. To sum up, the company had little work remaining and nobody was coming to its rescue, they said.



"We must start with the company's operation and practices that were set during the industry's boom," they said. "We have to overhaul the rotational awarding system and change labor-management agreements from the ground up."



The managers cited the examples of its two domestic competitors, pointing out that unionized workers at Samsung Heavy Industries were working to receive orders from shipping companies, and the union at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering had decided to refrain from industrial action.



The situation is little better at Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding, however. Chung Sung-lip, CEO of DSME, recently told reporters, "Everybody knows the domestic shipbuilding industry is facing threats from Chinese and Japanese competitors. But few are trying to work more than they were assigned to."



At a shareholders' meeting, Samsung Heavy CEO Park Dae-young, also said, "It is urgent to strengthen fundamental competitiveness for survival."



The "big three" shipyards suffered a combined loss of 8.31 trillion won ($7.22 billion) last year, and there is little possibility of improvement this year, either. Order receipts this year stopped at 85,700 compensated gross tonnage, just 5 percent of a year ago. Backlog orders fell to 28.44 million CGT, 40 percent of the recent peak of 71.4 million CGT in August 2008.



A big reason for the setback is low international oil prices, which force oil majors to put off placing orders for offshore plants, thinking there was no need for deep-sea exploration for the time being, industry experts said.



"Orders normally rush in between March and June, but the drought of new orders may continue for some time this year," an industry executive said.




Hanwha Life Innovation Center head Kim Dong-won, center, participates in the Boao Forum's Young Leaders Roundtable in Hainan, China, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Hanwha Group



By Yoon Sung-won



Kim Dong-won, second son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn and head of Hanwha Life Innovation Center, discussed the company's new growth engines at China's Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), the group said Wednesday.



Kim was invited to the Young Leaders Roundtable as one of its official panelists, meeting with heads of Chinese financial institutions and insurers to discuss financial technology, or fintech, and future growth engines.



"The advancement of mobile and artificial intelligence technologies will not change the core values of human relationships," Kim said during a roundtable discussion about the definition of distance, Tuesday. "The development of advanced technologies should be based on fundamental philosophies about societal happiness."



Kim became the second Korean to join the session, following ex-lawmaker Hong Jung-wook in 2010. Kim's elder brother Dong-kwan, chief commercial officer at Hanwha Q CELLS, was chosen as a young global leader at the Davos Forum in 2013.



Earlier in January, Kim visited the Davos Forum in Switzerland where he made a lasting impression on the global industry and met with business leaders including Oliver Samwer, founder and CEO of Europe's largest Internet firm Rocket Internet.



Tuesday's session was also attended by Dubai International Finance CEO Arif Amiri of the United Arab Emirates, NetEase founder and CEO Ding Lei, Alibaba Group's financial subsidiary Ant Financial CEO Eric Jing, The Information founder and CEO Jessica Lessin and Eurasian Resources CEO Benedikt Sobotka.



Before the session, Kim met with Jing to talk about the future of fintech and discuss joint business ventures in the Southeast Asian fintech market. Ant Financial has provided Alipay and expanded to crowd funding, mobile asset management platforms and Internet banking. Its corporate value is estimated at $60 billlion.



On Wednesday, Kim met with Anbang Insurance Group Chairman Wu Xiaohui and shared views on the future of the Chinese insurance market and strategies for rapidly aging societies. In 2004 Wu established the Chinese insurance company, which is now one of the country's top five.



Earlier on Monday, Kim signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese real estate development company Yida Group to collaborate on support for startups.



Under the agreement, Hanwha Life and Yida Group will upgrade their respective startup-nurturing programs in diverse sectors including fintech, Hanwha said.



Yida Group has pushed for investments in Chinese startups through a subsidiary and has established eight startup centers in major Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai. It has already boosted more than 100 startups so far.



Under the agreement, startups under Hanwha's support will be able to benefit from Yida's market and investment channels in China.
By Nam Hyun-woo



Mirae Asset Securities said Wednesday that it will not take part in a consortium for a bid for Hyundai Securities.



An official at the major brokerage house said Wednesday that it will not engage in bidding for a 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities after reviewing an investment proposal from LK Partners, a private equity fund.



"Mirae Asset decided to drop its bid for Hyundai Securities after considering the issue from a broader point of view," said the official. "The company is concerned that its acquisition bid may bring excessive competition to the industry."



With Mirae's pullout, KB Financial and Korea Investment Securities are expected to vie for the acquisition of Hyundai Securities.



The move came after Mirae Asset became the top player in the industry after agreeing on the purchase of a 43 percent stake in KDB Daewoo Securities last week.



Mirae has been pursuing an expansion strategy to make inroads into the global market, saying its acquisition of the Daewoo firm is a steppingstone for global expansion.



An industry insider, who asked not to be named, said Mirae Asset has been seeking to become a securities firm with a net worth of 10 trillion won. Mirae's acquisition of KDB Daewoo Securities will raise its equity capital to some 8 trillion won. If it bulks up further by snapping up Hyundai Securities worth 3.2 trillion won, it can compete with Asia's leading securities firms, such as Nomura Securities worth 21 trillion won.



The company has been reviewing the proposal from LK Partners until two days before the deadline, saying its decision will be determined at the very last moment. This move has created a complicated outlook on the acquisition of Hyundai Securities, said to be one of the biggest securities firms currently up for grabs.



Hyundai Merchant Marine is the primary owner of the 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities, with the remaining shares held by minor shareholders. For this largest stake, six entities showed their intent to place a bid, with expectations that Korea Investment Holdings and KB Financial Group would be major contenders.



As the outcome of Mirae Asset's review of Hyundai Securities is pending, concerns were sparked about the possibility that a heated competition would inflate the latter's price, as well as woes that other firms may lose their ground under Mirae Asset's dominance.



The price of the share is expected to hover around 400 billion won to 700 billion won, with the company's market cap reaching 1.6 trillion won.



Market watchers say such issues may have come as a burden to Mirae Asset.



"The company was just reviewing the investment proposal and it seems the market is overreacting," said the Mirae Asset official.



"We will concentrate on the smooth acquisition of Daewoo Securities."




By Kim Jae-won



Creditors of Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) are likely to roll over part of the shipper's 4.8 trillion won debt, on condition that the company reduce its payments to ship owners, helping the cash-strapped company stay afloat, creditors said Thursday.



Korea Development Bank (KDB) said that creditors will approve the self-rescue plan by the embattled shipping unit of Hyundai Group next week, as the shipping company is negotiating with ship owners to cut fees for renting their ships. The state-run KDB leads a group of creditors including Woori Bank.



"HMM could post profits of 400 billion won if it could cut the fees by 20 percent," said a KDB spokesman. "With this approval, creditors want to show that they will take responsibility for the company."



The announcement came amid HMM's struggle to pay back its debt, hit hard by low demand in the global market due to sluggish economic growth. The shipper also suffers from high ship rental fees as they struck the deal a few years ago when demand was high.



HMM said it is renegotiating rental costs with ship owners in Europe and Japan.



"We have had meetings with ship owners from the U.K., Greece and Japan since February," said an HMM spokesman. "The talks are going smooth, though it is too early to disclose the results."



If HMM's self-rescue plan is approved, the shipper's maturing debts will be rolled over and partly rescheduled. The company applied Monday for self-rescue measures which need approval from its creditors, in a bid to get its business back on track.



In a regulatory filing, Korea's second-biggest shipper said "it filed for co-management with its creditors" to improve its financial footing and thus its business. The latest measure came as creditors are seeking to help the cash-strapped shipper tide over its worsening liquidity situation.



Earlier this month, HMM decided to push for a capital reduction aimed at improving its financial health. Hyundai Group has been working to salvage the affiliate, one of its key units, which has been in the red for years due to a decline in freight rates and global trade.



Last year, HMM posted 253.5 billion won in operating losses, with its capital significantly eroded.




Park Sol-mi, from left, Park Shin-yang, Kang So-ra and Ryu Su-young show their thumbs up at the press conference for "My Lawyer, Mr. Joe," Wednesday. / Yonhap



By Park Jin-hai

Seasoned actor Park Shin-yang returned with KBS's new court drama "My Lawyer, Mr. Joe," breaking a near five-year hiatus since his latest drama "Sign."

KBS which is currently enjoying explosive ratings with the mega-hit drama "Descendants of the Sun" after years of battling against the advances of the cable channels, hangs high hopes on to the 47-year-old versatile actor.

"The drama is about the world of lawyers and full of confrontations and greed. Not only did the script look interesting to me, but I also thought that it might be a good chance to tell a great story to the viewers," said Park who joined KBS for the first time with the drama during the press conference at Times Square in Seoul, Wednesday. "Although it deals with the law, it will not be just about court stories."

"My Lawyer, Mr. Joe," an adaptation of the webtoon with the same name, is a human drama, which features Park Shin-yang as Mr. Joe, a lawyer who stands up for the poor. Joe, who once had power and reputation as a star prosecutor, loses everything at once after he becomes a whistle-blower of a corruption case in the prosecutor's office. He then begins to defend innocent people and takes a stand for true justice.

The drama also stars Kang So-ra, Ryu Su-young, Park Sol-mi, and Kim Dong-jun of K-pop boyband ZE:A.

Kang So-ra will act as big firm lawyer Lee Eun-jo who starts to learn, while she works with Joe, that a good lawyer is not always the winning lawyer, but one who fights for justice.

The 20-episode drama is directed by Lee Jung-sub of "Healer" and penned by Lee Hyang-hee of "War of Money."

Lee, understanding that KBS has struggled for years in the Monday-Tuesday drama slot, said he strived to diversify how to depict each scene. "Compared with the cable channels, KBS has limitations on expression. Thus I strived to go beyond the old directing practices and am trying new things in featuring character in the scenes," he said.

"It is more about humanity. Joe is a man in his 40s who lost everything and begins his life from scratch. Other lead characters also struggle with the way they strive for their own happiness and dreams after their ordeals."

"My Lawyer, Mr. Joe" will air every Monday and Tuesday on KBS2 at 10 p.m. from March 28.
The aging population and subsequent cut in the labor force could bring down South Korea's growth rate to the 1-percent level in 20 years, an expert said Friday.

According to government data, Koreans aged 65 or older accounted for 12.2 percent of the total population of some 50 million in 2014, with the ratio to shoot up to over 30 percent by 2040.

"Starting next year, the number of the economically active population aged 15-64 is forecast to begin diminishing, and it will continue to go on the decline by up to 2 percentage points each year starting in 2020," said Lee Jae-joon, a researcher at the Korea Development Institute, during a symposium in Seoul earlier in the day.

The demographic shift then is projected to bring down the country's GDP growth rate from the current 3-percent level to around 2 percent in 2020, and further to the 1-percent level in the 2030s, he noted. In 2014, the Korean economy expanded 3.3 percent.

"Even if more elderly land jobs to the level seen in advanced economies, it would not be enough to turn the tide as the portion of the population aged over 65 is forecast to surge too fast," he said.












By Chung Ah-young





A record number of Koreans aged 50 or over are either working or searching for a job, government data showed Tuesday.

According to Statistics Korea, the economically active population aged 50 and older stood at 10.11 million in the third quarter, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier.

This is the first time that the number of economically active 50-somethings and older has breached the 10 million mark, it said.

The economically active population refers to the number of people aged 15 to 64 who are either employed or actively seeking employment. The total economically active population reached 27.1 million in the third quarter.

Analysts say the figure reflects tight household finances and a bleak job market that leaves older people competing with younger jobseekers for low-paid, precarious positions.












A local court on Wednesday sentenced the 56-year-old man, who attacked the top U.S. envoy to South Korea last year, to an additional 18 months in prison for assaulting prison staff.



The Seoul Central District Court found Kim Ki-jong guilty of hitting a prison officer and a surgeon when he was denied the right to go to a hospital for his ankle injury. The staff rejected Kim's request as the injury was treatable in jail, prosecutors said.



Kim is currently serving a prison term for attacking U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert with a knife at a function in Seoul in March last year.



"The defendant denies the allegations and only emphasizes the legitimacy of his (action), without showing any remorse," the court said.



In September, the same court sentenced the 56-year-old to 12 years in prison on a string of charges, including attempted murder.



The attack left Lippert with deep gashes that required more than 80 stitches.



The case is pending at a higher court in Seoul, following the prosecutors' appeal. (Yonhap)




South Korea will improve its monitoring infrastructure on the Zika virus as the country has confirmed its first case, the government said Wednesday.



The government and the ruling Saneuri Party agreed during an emergency meeting to strengthen the monitoring of passengers returning from Zika outbreak countries and share related information between health authorities.



On Monday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the country's first Zika virus case. A 43-year-old man tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus after traveling to Brazil between mid-February and early March.



The government said it will first work with the country's three major mobile careers to adopt a so-called "smart quarantine system" by the end of this year to effectively prevent the influx of the disease.



Under the system, a text message will be automatically sent to a passenger entering the country who has been to a country with known Zika outbreaks.





S. Korea to launch mosquito control drive to prevent Zika infections Nearly 1,400 pregnant women, families cancel trips on Zika virus fears 1st Zika case hits Korea 'Korea lags far behind in research of Zika virus' "The government has mulled over (adopting the system) since last year's MERS outbreak," Health Minister Chung Chin-yeob told reporters following the meeting.



Chung said that the government currently works with the No. 2 mobile carrier KT and plans to join hands with the two others.



Also, the government and the ruling party agreed to push forward with a system allowing airport authorities to automatically monitor the temperature and symptoms of passengers.



The government will also send text messages to doctors across the country, as the mosquito-borne illness can pose a serious health threat, especially to pregnant women and unborn babies.



These countermeasures were drawn up during the meeting attended by Chung and the chief of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as ruling party lawmakers.



The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus outbreak a global emergency after it was first discovered in Africa, and has spread to parts of Asia and Latin America, including many Caribbean countries.



In Asia, China and Japan have reported a few confirmed cases.



Local health authorities, meanwhile, say that there is no immediate health threat at present, since the virus is mostly transmitted through mosquito bites. In South Korea mosquitoes don't become active until the summer months. (Yonhap)




The possibility of a Zika virus transmission in South Korea is very slim, despite the first confirmed case of a South Korean patient infected with the mosquito-borne virus, the health authorities said Wednesday.



The patient, a 43-year-old Korean man, had a mosquito bite during his business trip to Brazil between mid-February and early March and was confirmed to be infected with the virus after returning home on March 11.



"The patient hasn't donated blood and hasn't been bitten by a mosquito since his arrival," said an official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP).

"There is a slim possibility of the virus spreading to others via mosquito during the winter when mosquitoes are inactive."



Zika, first discovered in Africa, is mostly transmitted by mosquitoes and has spread to parts of Asia and Latin America, including many Caribbean countries.



The virus, while rarely fatal, can survive in the blood stream for days, and poses problems for pregnant women and their babies. But there are currently no vaccines available at present.



According to the CDCP, the patient was discharged from a hospital in Gwangju, some 329 kilometers south of Seoul, after a few days of treatment.



The CDCP official said the doctors let him go home as they had not found any problems or symptoms.



"But quarantine officials and doctors will look closely at him to check for any development of possible complications," the official said. "We're also monitoring the patient's family."



Despite the first confirmed Zika case, the CDCP maintained the alert level at the current "attention" status, citing that the Zika virus is less contagious and has a relatively low fatality rate. (Yonhap)




Roaming records to be used as preventive measure



By Lee Kyung-min



The government plans to use travelers' roaming records to fight infectious diseases like the Zika virus, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Wednesday.



Health Minister Chung Chin-yeob said the ministry would introduce the "smart quarantine system" by the end of the year.



The announcement came a day after Korea had its first confirmed case of the Zika virus.



Under the system, health authorities, with the help of airport and immigration authorities, plan to track travelers' mobile phone roaming histories and to text guidelines about infectious diseases to people who visit high-risk countries and enter Korea via a third country.



"So far, those who have visited a country where an infectious disease was rampant were excluded from government monitoring if they returned to Korea after a stopover in a third country, thus adding to the rapid spread of the disease here, such as Middle East Reparatory Syndrome (MERS)," Chung said during an emergency meeting with the ruling Saenuri Party officials at the National Assembly in Seoul.



"If they use roaming services, however, we can learn which countries they have visited. And most people use the services these days."



Talks are being held with the nation's second-largest mobile carrier, KT, and the ministry plans to have SKT and LG Uplus participate by the end of the year.



The ministry is also considering creating a database of passengers' travel histories and health information such as body temperatures upon arrival in Korea.



Related authorities and medical institutions will also strengthen cooperation to share information for early detection of infections.



The measure follows claims that the government did not share information about suspected MERS cases with medical staff during last year's MERS epidemic, failing to provide timely, proper direction.



Meanwhile, the ministry said that the further spread of the Zika virus is unlikely for now, because mosquito activity remains low until late May.



The first Zika patient in Korea has been released from Chonnam National University Hospital.



"He did not need to be quarantined because the virus is not airborne, but we had him hospitalized and monitored him as he was the first case," a hospital official said. "But after consulting with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we decided to let him out as his symptoms, including rash and fever, all subsided."



The man tested positive for the virus after traveling to Brazil between mid-February and early March. The hospital is keeping the man's wife under observation because the virus can be transmitted through sex.




By Yi Whan-woo





Rep. Cho Yoon-sun

Rep. Cho Yoon-sun caused a stir after declining the ruling Saenuri Party's offer for candidacy in the general election following her loss in a primary last week.

The ally of President Park Geun-hye turned down the party's offer on Monday to run in the election without a primary as its candidate in Yongsan, central Seoul.

The response came a day after she suffered a narrow defeat in a primary against Lee Hye-hoon for the Seocho A constituency.

Rejecting the offer, Cho, a former senior secretary for political affairs, said she did not want to turn her back on Seocho residents.

"It is a betrayal to the Seocho residents who supported me if I run in Yongsan," she told reporters.

The major parties face criticisms from their respective mainstream factions for reassigning election districts for high-profile nominees who lost in the primaries.

The parties also have reversed their decisions to drop political heavyweights from their nomination lists and allowed them to make their parliamentary bids in the constituencies they currently represent.

Those controversial nominees include Reps Moon Hee-sang and Baek Kun-ki of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, a Park loyalist in the Saenuri Party, who served as the deputy prime minster for social affairs and education minister.

"Under such circumstances, Cho's decision to reject the nomination was quite unusual," said Choi Chang-ryul, a political professor at Yongin University.

Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said "Cho's decision was righteous although it is not seen as common in Korean politics."

Choi dismissed speculation that Cho took into account the possibility of defeat in Yongsan against Rep. Chin Young.

A former health and welfare minister under President Park, Chin defected from the Saenuri Party and joined the MPK, Sunday, after failing to win a nomination.
By Kang Seung-woo



North Korea threatened to kill President Park Geun-hye, Wednesday, warning that its military was ready to turn Cheong Wa Dae into a "sea of fire" in retaliation for joint military exercises being conducted by South Korea and the U.S.



The threat is the latest in a series of bellicose rhetoric against Seoul and Washington over the past weeks.



They appear to be aimed at urging its people to show allegiance to its leader and solidifying Kim Jong-un's dictatorship internally, observers said. However, military officials and analysts here say that the North won't be able to take military action while South Korean and U.S. troops are conducting drills.



"The powerful large-caliber multiple rocket launching systems of the invincible Korean People's Army (KPA) artillery units are highly alerted to scorch the Cheong Wa Dae in a jiffy. Once their buttons are pushed, it is bound to be reduced to a sea in flames and ashes," said the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) in a statement, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).



"What North Korea warns is not hot air. It will be clearly proved by the miserable end the U.S. and the Park group will meet while going reckless."



The North's latest saber-rattling came after Seoul and Washington on Monday conducted exercises involving precision attacks targeting Pyongyang's leadership in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.



Criticizing the drill, the CPRK said, "This is a thrice-cursed provocation to the dignity of the supreme leadership of North Korea and intolerable hideous confrontation action."



After being slapped with new sanctions by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), March 2, the repressive state started military provocations such as launching short- and mid-range ballistic missiles in breach of UNSC sanctions.



In addition, the statement came as the defense ministry expects the Kim Jong-un regime to deploy a new 300-millimeter multiple launch rocket system in the near future, estimated to put U.S military bases in Pyeongtaek and Osan, Gyeonggi Province and South Korea's Gyeryongdae military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province within range.



"We had already declared that all the dens of the enemy in South Korea, including Cheong Wa Dae are the primary targets of the ultra-precision strike means of the Strategic Force of the KPA ready to go into action," the CPRK said.



In response to the North's latest threat, the South Korean government condemned its hostile Northern neighbor for warning of attacks on President Park, urging the country to stop the rhetoric.



"We will never condone the North's threats against President Park and our people," unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said in a briefing. "North Korea should immediately end its vulgar and despicable acts."



He added that the South Korean military will sternly and relentlessly respond to any additional provocations by the North.



Chang Yong-seok, a senior fellow at the Institute for Peace and Unification affiliated with Seoul National University, said, "The North had no choice but to protest the joint exercise against its leadership, but the statement is more like strengthening Kim's grip on power rather than taking military action against the South."




Seoul National University (SNU) has founded a diversity council in an attempt to create a better environment for minorities on campus including women, foreigners and the disabled, Wednesday.

SNU is the first university to set up such an official organization directly under the university president.

The idea of the council, proposed by female professors at the university, started from concerns that women are underrepresented on the faculty. Of the 2,075 SNU professors, only 302, or 14 percent, are female, falling short of the government recommended proportion of 20 percent.

"The discussion was initially focused on improving gender equality, but expanded to foster the understanding of minorities and protect their rights on campus," a school official said.

Comprising 15 professors, foreign and Korean students and community members, the council will conduct research and publish yearly reports on ways to enrich diversity. It also plans to manage public awareness campaigns.

"The council will pursue gender equality and help foreign professors and students integrate with campus life. This can be a good example for other schools," the official said.

The council chairwoman, life sciences professor Roe Jung-hye, said she hopes the council will lay the groundwork for equality on campus.
South Korea and Japan are in talks on holding summit talks between their leaders in Washington next week, a news report said Wednesday.



The two sides are coordinating the meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit set for March 31-April 1, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.



Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office, did not make any immediate reaction to the report.



The meeting, if held, would be the first since December when Seoul and Tokyo produced a landmark deal on resolving the issue of the Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II.



Under the deal, Japan formally apologized for its past actions and offered 1 billion yen (US$8.9 million) in reparations. South Korea agreed to end the dispute once and for all if Japan fully implements the deal.



Park has vowed to make the utmost efforts to help victims restore their honor and heal their scars.



South Korean victims are dying off. In 2007, more than 120 known South Korean victims were alive, but the number has since dropped to 44, with their average age standing at 89.



Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for the Japanese military during the war. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910-45. (Yonhap)




By Frank Ching

The shock announcement that China and Gambia have established diplomatic relations raises the specter of a return to the cross-straits diplomatic rivalry via checkbook diplomacy that prevailed before Ma Ying-jeou became the island's leader in 2008.

During the eight years of Chen Shui-bian's presidency, nine countries abandoned Taiwan, withthe last one, Malawi, doing so weeks before Ma was swept into office in a landslide. Malawi was following in the footsteps of Macedonia, Liberia, Dominica, Vanuatu, Grenada, Senegal, Chad and Costa Rica. Only one country, the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, moved in the opposite direction during that period.

The reason for these diplomatic switches was economic. Some countries, such as Malawi, switched sides multiple times, depending on whomadethe better offer.

Such contests came to an end after Ma announced a diplomatic truce and China accepted.

The first test came within months of Ma's inauguration when a new president, Fernandu Lugo, was elected in Paraguay, the only South American country that recognized Taiwan. Lugo had said during the campaign that he wanted to establish relations with Beijing, but this did not happen.

The following year, El Salvador's president elect, Mauricio Funes, declared that he was considering the establishment of diplomatic relations with Beijing.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry then made public its lack of interest in establishing ties with El Salvador. At a press conference, a spokesman asserted: "Despite the absence of diplomatic ties, the Chinese people have friendly feelings towards the Salvador people, and we are willing to carry out friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas with Salvador."

In 2013, Gambia announced that it was severing relations with Taiwan. But there was no corresponding announcement from Beijing on establishing diplomatic ties. Gambia, it seemed, had not received the message that breaking ties with Taiwan would not result in the establishment of ties with Beijing.

For more than two years, Gambia was in a very special place, diplomatically: It had no relations with either Taiwan or China.

The announcement by China and Gambia on March 17 came like a bolt from the blue. In a joint communique, the two countries announced that they were restoring diplomatic relations.

Gambia said that it recognizes "only one China in the world" with the government of the People's Republic of China being "the sole legal government," while "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."

China, on its part, pledged to support Gambia in its effort to "develop the economy."

This is the second time for China and Gambia to establish diplomatic relations. They first established diplomatic ties in 1974 but those were suspended in 1995 after Gambia forged relations with Taiwan. Since then, China has become the world's second largest economy and Taiwan is unlikely to be able to compete in any renewed game of checkbook diplomacy.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry disclosed that it was Gambia that proposed the re-establishment of diplomatic relations and that this was "in the interests of the Gambian people."

Beijing asserted that with the renewal of diplomatic relations, Gambia "naturally becomes a member state" of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China's platform for dealing with African countries. President Xi Jinping announced 10 cooperation plans at a summit in South Africa lastDecember , including investing $60 billion in Africa. Gambia is now in a position to benefit.

China's Foreign Ministry, evidently well aware of Gambia's needs, said China could cooperate on such projects as "agriculture and fishery, processing and manufacturing, facilitation of investment and trade, infrastructure, development of human resources," all of which "will bring real benefits to the people of the two countries."

Why did China decide to establish ties with Gambia after having waited two years? The most likely explanation is the imminent departure of Ma and his replacement as president by Tsai Ying-wen, the Democratic Progressive Party leader who, so far, has refused to accept the "one China" concept or the formula developed by Ma's party, "the 1992 consensus."

Significantly, the day after the Gambia announcement, China's state-owned Global Times newspaper published an editorial headlined "Cross-Straits diplomatic truce' still holds."

Beijing's action, the editorial said, shouldn't be interpreted as a sign that the mainland will restart a "diplomatic war" with Taiwan. But, it warned, the DPP should not provoke Beijing. If it did so, "it might trigger an all-out confrontation with the mainland."

The meaning couldn't be clearer. Taiwan had lost Gambia in 2013, so China's action now is not a major blow. But the Gambia gambit warns of what lies in store for Taiwan if Tsai strays from her predecessor's cross-strait policy.

Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based freelancer journalist. Contact him

Frank.ching@gmail.com.
China on Wednesday sidestepped a question on whether it would respond to a possible move by the United States to set up bilateral talks on the deployment of an advanced missile defense system to South Korea.



In the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test and launch of a long-range rocket this year, South Korea agreed to engage in talks with the U.S. that can lead to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in the country.



China has long voiced concerns about the deployment of the THAAD system in South Korea, arguing that it could undermine its own national security interests.



Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told reporters in Washington that the U.S. hopes to talk with China and address its concerns about a THAAD deployment in South Korea, according to Reuters news agency.



When asked whether China would hold talks with the U.S. about the THAAD issue, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman replied, "One thing is clear, the THAAD issue is not a technical one."



"We know the danger of having such a system. While pursuing one's own security interests, one should take into consideration the others' security interests," Hua said.



"We hope that all parties can act with caution and not do anything that may hurt China's security interests," Hua said.



China's logic is that the powerful radar of the THAAD battery could target its own territory if it is deployed in South Korea. Both Seoul and Washington officials have dismissed such concerns, saying the U.S. missile shield is defensive in nature and focuses on North Korea's missile activities. (Yonhap)




By Yi Whan-woo

North Korea tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on March 16, two weeks after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) imposed its latest sanctions in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests in January and February, respectively, according to an online U.S. newspaper.

Citing defense officials, the Washington Free Beacon reported Tuesday that a "pop-up" or "ejection test" of a KN-11 missile was carried out.

It said last week's test took place from a canister at the Sinpo shipyard on North Korea's east coast. The site is where a KN-11 missile is under development along with the new Sinpo-class submarine that can carry ballistic missiles.

Both the U.S. and South Korean governments refused to verify the report.

"We're not going to comment on matters of intelligence," U.S Department of Defense spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban was quoted as saying by the Beacon.

"It's a matter of intelligence and we can't confirm whether the report is true or not," Ministry of Defense spokesman Moon Sang-Gyun said, Wednesday.

If confirmed, the test will be in violation the UNSC's Resolution 2270 approved on March 2.

This imposed the toughest U.N. sanctions on the Kim Jong-un regime for defying previous rounds of U.N. resolutions.

The latest SLBM test comes after the reclusive state test-fired a KN-11 missile on Dec. 21 from a submerged vessel in waters near Sinpo. Pyongyang also failed in an underwater release test of a KN-11 missile on Nov. 28.

An SLBM equipped submarine would make it more difficult for South Korea and the U.S. military to detect a missile attacks in advance.

Since March 2, North Korea has carried out a series of both short- and mid-range missile tests, in an apparent show of anger over the UNSC's punitive measures.

Kim also hinted at carrying out another nuclear test and long-range rocket launches.

The Seoul government said Monday that Pyongyang was capable of conducting its fifth nuclear test "at any time."
By Kim Ji-soo

The Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun" is currently all the rage, to the point that President Park Geun-hye finally commented on it at a presidential office meeting Monday. In a meeting with her senior secretaries, Park said that "Descendants" is contributing to promoting Korean culture to the world; and by prompting interest in Korea the drama is leading to more foreign visitors to travel here.

Park also noted how one piece of good cultural content can create economic and cultural value that will translate into tangible results such as more tourists and the revenue they bring, which falls neatly into the "creative economy" paradigm the administration is promoting.

As a drama, "Descendants" itself is a feel-good fantasy storyline putting actor Song Joong-ki, portraying a special warfare soldier, and actress Song Hye-kyo, a doctor, contemplating whether to fall in love or not is fun. The two leads, with their milky, still-innocent looks despite being in their 30s, are hitting new highs in ratings. It helps that the drama is co-written by star writers Kim Eun-sook and Kim Won-seok, and portions of the drama were filmed in the relatively unknown but beautiful southern Greek island of Zakintos.

Note that while Song Hye-kyo hit "hallyu" stardom earlier, Song Joong-ki is a newfound star in the drama. The 30-year-old Joong-ki returned from the military last May, and chose the mega-drama to show that he may have what it takes to rise to become the Asian "Tom Cruise." His presence will no doubt make up for the void created when top hallyu male actors Lee Min-ho and Kim Soo-hyun are expected to enter their military service.

Having shot past the 30 percent ratings mark last week, the drama is expected to break its own records in the near future. In China, it has hit 1 billion cumulative views on online video platform iQiyi. Products labeled "Song and Song"  the two lead actors are affectionately dubbed "Song-Song" couple  featured in the series are selling like hot cakes.

From the Tom Brown knit sweater Song Joong-ki wears in the drama to the cosmetics promoted by Song Hye-kyo, the Laneige BB cushion, anything the two use in the drama doesn't spend much time on the shelves before customers grab them up. Reportedly the sweater is nearly sold out since it first went on sale on March 14 on Chinese shopping mall www.11street.com.cn . Song Hye-kyo's Laneige BB cushion saw sales jump tenfold from March 14 to 20.

The fun effect aside, Koreans are relishing with relief and national pride that hallyu, borne of the creative DNA of Koreans, is not dead. Despite the seemingly other abnormalities in Korean society, there is joy in finding that hallyu remains constantly popular. Oddly enough, the feverish popularity of the drama has been translated according to different nations. The Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has urged his citizens to watch the mega-hit Korean drama, rich in its patriotism factor. On the other hand, the Chinese government is attempting to gain some control over its popularity as the Chinese Ministry of Public Security recently posted a warning on Weibo about the harmful effects of watching "Descendants of the Sun," a couple divorcing or a man undergoing plastic surgery to regain his wife's heart.

But visit or eavesdrop on conversations at a neighborhood hair shop, where women like to gather and gossip. Korean women can be heard saying that the drama including the heartthrob good-looks of actor Song Joong-ki and the innocent beauty of the 30-something actress Song Hye-kyo "heals" them.
A series of bomb blasts caused carnage and chaos in Brussels on Tuesday, killing at least 34 people and injuring more than 200 others.

At 8 a.m. two explosions occurred in the departure area of Brussels Airport. About one hour later, another blast rocked the Maelbeek Metro Station in the heart of the city, leaving 20 dead and injuring 100 others  10 seriously.

The attacks in Brussels came four months after those in Paris that killed 130 people and left Europe and the rest of the world with heightened fears about terrorism once again.

The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the latest acts of murderous violence. Belgian police are reportedly carrying out raids across the country to capture a man believed to be on the run following the attacks.

Terrorist concerns about Brussels, which is located in the heart of Europe, have been all the more realistic, particularly in the wake of the arrest of key Paris attack suspect Saleh Abdeslam last week. A number of Belgians have travelled to the Middle East to join the IS, also known as ISIS, and other terrorist groups.












Guess who has been ignored in party nominations

As the political parties were winding down their nomination processes for the April 13 parliamentary general elections, one thing was clear: voters again find themselves at the bottom of the priorities' lists of the ruling Saenuri Party or the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK).

Few would have expected the situation to come to this hopeless point. Simply put, serious thought should be given to the unthinkable  import Donald Trump from the U.S. to whip up the status quo. By all appearances, the chance is that somebody like him appears to be long overdue in Korean politics, which needs to cure its chronic illnesses such as feudalism, big egos and sleight of hand.

After all, peeling away layers of vulgarity and puerility, what boils down to the Trump phenomenon is a popular rebellion against the establishment that, here and in the U.S., has been engrossed in self-preservation and self-interest.

For starters, Saenuri has not just delivered on its promise to reflect the public's strong desires for change by introducing a bottom-up nomination or a "closed primary" in which candidates are to be selected through a survey of supporters.












Models promote SK Telecom's Enjoy Mobile Korea event at Incheon International Airport. The company said it will provide selected foreign travelers with unlimited voice calls, text messages and up to 5 gigabytes of data for five days on free Samsung smartphones. / Courtesy of SK Telecom



By Yoon Sung-won



SK Telecom said Wednesday it has teamed up with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Samsung Electronics to provide free telecom services to foreign tourists visiting the country.



As part of the Enjoy Mobile Korea promotion, the telecom company will select foreign tourists who apply for unlimited voice calls, text messages and up to 5 gigabytes of data available for five days. The tourists will also be able to borrow the latest Samsung Electronics smartphones free of charge.



"Enjoy Mobile Korea is expected to boost satisfaction of foreign tourists visiting the country and contribute to vitalizing the tourism industry here," SK Telecom Executive Vice President Yoon Won-young said in a statement. "We will cooperate with companies in diverse areas to promote this as a platform to exhibit Korea's leading content and services."



SK Telecom received the first round of applications between March 15 and 20 and chose from 250 out of 2,500 applicants planning to visit Korea. In particular, more than 70 percent of the applications were Asian tourists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the company said.



Samsung Electronics will provide them with 300 Galaxy Note 5 devices for free, and KTO provides tourist information such as must-see locations, accommodation and popular restaurants through its Visit Korea mobile application preinstalled on the smartphones.



The telecom company said it will select about 250 foreign tourists every week, expecting to benefit more than 12,000 through the promotion. Interested applicants can access a dedicated website at emk.visitkorea.or.kr. Once chosen, they can pick up a smartphone at the SK Telecom roaming center on the first floor of Incheon International Airport.
Models try Galaxy S7s and S7 edges at a "Galaxy Lounge" in Shinsegae Department Store, Seocho, southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics



Company plans Tizen availability for 2015 TV models



By Kim Yoo-chul



Sales of Galaxy S7 smartphones have exceeded earlier expectations, said a senior Samsung Electronics executive Wednesday. He expressed hope that the handsets, available in flat and curved models, will help the world's top smartphone manufacturer expand its global market share.



"Samsung is satisfied to see good sales of Galaxy S7," Ko Dong-jin, head of the company's mobile business division, told local reporters. "Yes, the initial shipment numbers are looking good."



The remarks came on the sidelines of Ko's participation in the weekly meeting with top executives of Samsung Group affiliates in Seocho Samsung Tower, southern Seoul.



The mobile boss, however, remained tightlipped about how many S7s have so far been sold since the devices became available for preorder on March 11.



Market analyst said that sales and preorders of the S7s have exceeded earlier forecasts in China, Europe and India. Specifically in Europe, it is said that the company saw a 250 percent increase in combined preorder sales.



Samsung is aggressive with promotional campaigns in the United States, the home turf of its chief rival Apple, as Samsung has a contract with AT&T, a leading U.S. telecom selling the Galaxy S7 there.



AT&T launched a "one-plus-one" campaign, in which customers buy one Galaxy S7 and receive a free Galaxy S7 edge.



Samsung Electronics' total smartphone export volume last year was 51.45 trillion won, down by 15.19 percent from the previous year's 60.66 trillion won. The rapid growth of Chinese companies has been blamed for the decline of Samsung's smartphone sales.



CounterPoint Research, a market research firm, said the company was the sixth in rankings in China, the world's largest smartphone market, with a 7.7 percent market share.



Meanwhile, the company's television chief Kim Hyun-seok said they plan to install its latest Tizen software in last year's models.



"It's possible for 2016 Tizen software to be used in 2015 Samsung TVs. We are considering it," Kim told reporters after the meeting.



The Samsung-developed software is being used in all Samsung's premium TVs. One of the key features for Samsung's 2016 TV models is an integrated content platform based on the Tizen software.



Samsung Engineering's plans to sell the company headquarters in Sangil-dong, eastern Seoul, have been stalled, according to its CEO Park Choong-heum.



"No buyers have approached us," CEO Park said. "I think this is because the buildings are too big."



As part of heavy cost-cutting efforts, Samsung Engineering decided to sell its headquarters composed of two buildings. The monetary value of the buildings is estimated at a few billion dollars.
Months of planning and two weeks of flying and working side-by-side, came to an end for the participants of the 22nd iteration of Exercise Cope Tiger 16, during a closing ceremony, held here March 18.



Cope Tiger is an annual multilateral aerial exercise supporting regional peace and security by improving readiness and multi-national interoperability between the Republic of Singapore Air Force, Royal Thai Air Force and U.S. Air Force.



In addition, trilateral civic assistance programs conducted during Cope Tiger 16 helped to promote good relationships between the three countries forces and Thai communities near Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base.



The closing ceremony was co-officiated by U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Micheal Compton, Air National Guard assistant to the commander with Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Republic of Singapore Air Force Brig. Gen. Hoo Cher Mou, chief of air force; and Royal Thai Air Force Air Chief Marshal Treetod Sonjance, commander-in-chief of the air force.



During the ceremony, Sonjance thanked all the participants and credited the success of the exercise to their hard work.



Exercises Cope Tiger is good opportunity for all participants to exchange experiences and learn new tactics, Sonjance said. The exercises allowed us to enhance our operational efficiency and defense relations, helping maintain stability in the region. I hope this exercise has created a long lasting good will and friendship between all the participants.



The 220 U.S. personnel participating in the exercise worked together with approximately 1,850 service members from Thailand and Singapore. The multilateral exercise involved a combined total of 87 aircraft and 48 air defense assets from the three participating countries.



Over the course of the exercise, Airmen from the 67th Fighter Squadron Kadena Air Base, Japan, flew 136 sorties. They were supported by Airmen from the 67th Aircraft Maintenance Unit from Kadena Air Base, Japan, who delivered a 98.5 percent mission effective rate for the 12 F-15 Eagles during the two week exercise.



Lt. Col. McFarland, 67th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander, and Chief Martin, 67th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron command chief, are tremendous leaders and their unit reflects a shared commitment to excellence, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Arthaud, 67th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron exercise director. "The fighter pilots and maintainers performed miraculously as a team and a family to represent the USAF and PACAF exceptionally well!



Additionally, Arthaud talked about the importance of Exercise Cope Tiger.



Flying training exercises, such as Cope Tiger 16 are essential to developing air combat experience for our young Airmen through realistic training scenarios while operating in a deployed environment, said Arthaud. This shared experience is the cornerstone of multilateral combat readiness enabling combined interoperability during overseas contingency operations. Ultimately though, the greatest effect of Cope Tiger 16 is sustaining the relationships we share with the RTAF and RSAF, two key partner Air Forces, and our combined resolve to support the stability and security of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
The damage done to public health by the British ex-physician Andrew Wakefield, who was stripped of his license for falsifying a study linking the MMR vaccine (for measles, mumps and rubella) to autism, has been incalculable. Wakefield's claims have been conclusively discredited everywhere but in the fever swamp of the anti-vaccine movement -- and now in the glamorous environment of the Tribeca Film Festival.

The festival, which was co-founded by Robert De Niro in 2002, has placed a film purporting to defend Wakefield and accusing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a cover-up on its program this spring. The film is called "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Conspiracy." Its director: Andrew Wakefield.

[UPDATE 2: TheTribeca Film Festival has canceled its showing of Andrew Wakefield's documentary "Vaxxed," following widespread condemnation of its plans. In an emailed statement, Robert De Niro, the festival's co-founder, said: "My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family. But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for." De Niro, who earlier acknowledged that he was responsible for placing the film on the festival schedule and defended it for contributing to a "discussion" of the purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism, now says "we have concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program."

As my colleague Steven Zeitchik reports, the festival's publicity for this film endorses its conclusion that "vaccines do cause autism" and treats the controversy in pure Hollywood style: "The most vitriolic debate in medical history takes a dramatic turn when senior-scientist-turned-whistleblower Dr. William Thompson of the Centers for Disease Control turns over secret documents, data and internal emails confirming what millions of devastated parents and 'discredited' doctors have long-suspected." You would think it's the second coming of "The China Syndrome."

How on earth did this documentary full of antivaccine lies ... get into Tribeca?  David "Orac" Gorski, pseudoscience debunker

But it's nothing of the kind. Wakefield's work, and the "conspiracy" theory of Thompson, have been thoroughly debunked.

Let's be absolutely plain about this: There is absolutely no evidence of any link between the MMR vaccine and autism. In a 2014 survey of scientific studies covering 1.26 million children, researchers stated bluntly that "vaccinations are not associated with the development of autism or autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, the components of the vaccines (thimerosal or mercury) or multiple vaccines (MMR) are not associated with the development of autism or autism spectrum disorder." That's just one example of the many studies finding no link. Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that was used until 1999 in the MMR vaccine.

Here's the background on Wakefield, the Thompson "whistleblowing" case, and the consequences of anti-vaccine pseudoscience.

Oncologist and scientific watchdog David H. Gorski, who blogs under the nom de plume "Orac" and has been following the Wakefield and Thomson sagas for years, raises the pertinent question: "How on earth did this documentary full of antivaccine lies ... get into Tribeca?" (See the accompanying trailer.)

The answer may have much to do with Hollywood's taste for anything that promotes drama and controversy, no matter how irresponsible. "Tribeca, as most film festivals, are about dialogue and discussion," a Tribeca spokesman told Zeitchik. "Over the years we have presented many films from opposing sides of an issue. We are a forum, not a judge." As Zeitchik observes, documentaries on controversial topics aren't unknown to the film festival circuit -- Sundance, for instance, gave exposure to Gabriela Cowperthwaite's Blackfish, about animal abuse at Sea World, and to Davis Guggenheims Waiting for Superman, about public education in the United States. But they were independent filmmakers; not directors making movies about themselves.

[UPDATE: De Niro on Friday issued a statement defending the screening of "Vaxxed." He said, Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED. I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for a conversation around the issue. Grace Hightower is De Niro's wife.

[Deconstructed, the statement seems to indicate that De Niro wants to have things both ways. He says he's not "anti-vaccination," but to assert that examining "all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism" requires giving a platform to the most notorious and discredited critic of vaccination in the autism community, Andrew Wakefield, is tantamount to taking an anti-vaccination stand. De Niro, like the anti-vaccination camp, treats the supposed link between the MMR vaccine and autism as an issue still under discussion. In the scientific and medical communities, it's not; extensive studies have established no link, whatsoever.]

That hand-waving in favor of "dialogue" can shield a lot of damaging mischief. It's the same sentiment that was behind Katie Couric's decision to give equally irresponsible conspiracy-mongers about HPV vaccines a platform on her syndicated daytime show in 2013, exposing their science-free viewpoints to millions of viewers. Couric soon acknowledged her misstep, recognizing that children's health and even lives are at stake when parents are encouraged to doubt the efficacy and safety of vaccines. (We're not even talking about starlet Jenny McCarthy, whose claims about the links between the MMR vaccine and autism are merely ignorant.) This trend to casual, uninformed skepticism about common vaccines underlies the surge in measles cases in recent years, as is shown by the chart below.

Measles outbreaks were conclusively tied to unvaccinated people. (Los Angeles Times graphics)

Wakefield's contribution to the anti-vaccine movement began in 1998, when he published a paper in the distinguished British medical journal the Lancet purporting to find links between the MMR vaccine and developmental disabilities in 11 children. Wakefield was later found to have committed "serious professional misconduct" in connection with the study and other activities by British medical licensing authorities, who labeled him "dishonest," "unethical," and "callous" and stripped him of his license in 2010. The Lancet retracted the paper that year. Wakefield relocated to Texas, where despite being discredited, he was lionized as a hero of the anti-vaccination movement.

----------

RELATED READING:

The toll of the anti-vaccination movement, in one devastating graphic

Katie Couric puts the anti-vaccination movement into the mainstream

Jenny McCarthy: Anti-vaxxer, public menace

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Then came the Thompson affair, which Gorski calls "the central conspiracy theory of the antivaccine movement." Thompson, a CDC researcher, was co-author of a 2004 study that, like every scientifically rigorous study in the field, found "no significant associations" between the MMR vaccine and autism. In 2014, the data used in the paper was "reanalyzed" by an anti-vaccine crusader named Brian Hooker. After torturing the data at length using statistical techniques that have been widely questioned, Hooker claimed to have discovered a correlation between the vaccine and autism in African American boys in the study group, but no other sub-group. Hooker's paper was picked apart by experts, and was retracted by its journal four months after its publication.

Hooker meanwhile reached Thompson, who said during a lengthy series of taped conversations that he thought some data that should have been published was left out of the report. Thompson has since been labeled a "whistleblower," but whether he's actually accusing his colleagues or the CDC of fraud, as the anti-vaccine lobby clams, hasn't been very clear. In a 2014 public statement, Thompson said "statistically significant information" was omitted from the 2004 paper, but he says he's in favor of vaccinating everyone, that "reasonable scientists can and do differ in their interpretation of information," and that he was not "aware that [Hooker] was recording any of our conversations, nor was I given any choice regarding whether my name would be made public or my voice would be put on the Internet." Interestingly, while Hooker appears in the trailer for Wakefield's movie, Thompson does not, except via a recording of his voice.

Map of preventable measles outbreaks in 2014, showing first-world outbreaks in the United States and Britain. (Council on Foreign Relations) (Michael Hiltzik)

The phenomenon that Wakefield kicked off in 1998 continues to reverberate worldwide, but especially in Britain and the United States, where anti-vaccine sentiment suppressed measles vaccinations for more than a decade. Among the consequences are measles outbreaks in first-world countries where the disease should long ago have been eradicated. The accompanying map, from the Council on Foreign Relations, shows the toll in 2014; an interactive version, which can display cases of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases from 2008-2015, can be found here.

Careless actions such as those of the Tribeca Film Festival don't contribute to "dialogue and discussion," as the festival's PR would have it; they just spread misinformation and pseudoscience and undermine public health. No one would say that Wakefield's film should be suppressed. But the question is whether it deserves to be shown under the imprimatur of a respected cultural institution -- or if that institution, the Tribeca festival, is sullying its own reputation by giving Wakefield a platform.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog.

UPDATES:

1:57 p.m., Mar. 25: This post has been updated with a statement by Robert De Niro.

5:13 p.m., Mar. 26: This post has been updated with Tribeca's decision to cancel the showing of "Vaxxed."
Explanations abound for the consistent decline of organized labor in the United States, especially in the private sector. But one important factor is the ability of employers to engage in union-busting almost without restriction.

Limitations on employers' activities exist, theoretically, but they've been enforced only spottily and are rife with loopholes. The Dept. of Labor finally has moved to close one loophole, created way back in 1959. This is the ability to hire anti-union consultants, familiarly known as "persuaders," without reporting the arrangements. The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, otherwise known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, required these deals to be reported only if the consultants were speaking directly with employees, but not if their influence reached the workplace floor indirectly, via intermediaries.

I come from a very dirty business.  Former professional union-buster Martin Jay Levitt

In the opinion of a close observer, that was one of the "enormous, gaping errors in the law that have left room for a sleazy billion-dollar industry to plod through." The words come not from a union official, but a former union-buster  Martin Jay Levitt, whose 1993 book "Confessions of a Union Buster" should be required reading for every rank-and-file employee in the country. Thanks to the loophole, Levitt wrote, "I never filed with Landrum-Griffin in my life, and few union busters do."

Thanks to the new Labor Dept. rule, that dodge ends as of July 1. The goal is to make sure that when employees interested in organizing with a union are confronted with scripted arguments from supervisors or fellow employees, they know who wrote the script.

Union representation has been on a long slide, due in part to anti-union activities by employers. (BLS) (Michael Hiltzik)

"Workers often dont know that their employer hired a consultant to manage its message in union organizing campaigns, including by scripting speeches by managers, talking points, letters, and other documents," the Labor Dept. says in an explanatory note. "Consultants may also direct supervisors to express specific viewpoints that dont match those supervisors actual views as individuals  something workers may find relevant in assessing the information they receive from their supervisors."

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez cited the "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" from "The Wizard of Oz" in lecturing employers about the rationale for the new rule. "If you believe in what an outside expert drafted for you to say to your employees, if you were willing to pay the outsider to help you say it, then open the curtain and reveal who scripted the message and managed its delivery."

Over the years, these hidden persuaders have polished their techniques and their pitch. Typically, a company facing a union organizing drive arranges captive audience meetings characterized as "information sessions" at which the message delivered to employees is that unions are divisive, protect underperformers at the expense of hard workers and are just businesses that only want their dues money but don't really care about their welfare. But, of course, the choice still is the employees'.

A FedEx employee appears to be reading from a union-busting script at a company meeting

In recent years, many of these sessions have been exposed by workers who record them on their smartphones and posted the results. A typical session at FedEx can be heard in the recording here; for this and other such recordings, see this 2014 compilation by Dave Jamieson of the Huffington Post.

These meetings, of course, are only part of the union-busting arsenal. According to a 2009 survey of union elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, the labor-oriented Economic Policy Institute, "workers were forced to attend anti-union one-on-one sessions with a supervisor at least weekly in two-thirds of elections, ... employers used supervisor one-on-one meetings to interrogate workers about who they or other workers supported, and in 54% used such sessions to threaten workers."

That's not all. "Employers threatened to close the plant in 57% of elections, discharged workers in 34%, and threatened to cut wages and benefits in 47% of elections."

The union-busting business was the brainchild of Nathan Shefferman, an industrial psychologist and "efficiency expert" who hung out his shingle in the 1940s and developed a panoply of subtle and unsubtle anti-union techniques, including "the administration of opinion surveys, supervisor training, incentive pay procedures, ... job evaluations, and legal services," some of which masqueraded as mere management consulting. He also connived with union officials for the latter's own profit, including Teamster President Dave Beck, who went to prison (briefly) for racketeering in 1959.

That was the same year that President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Landrum-Griffin Act, which superficially looked like a fair-labor-practices law  it gave union members expanded access to their unions' finances, for instance  but "gave labor consultants glee," wrote Levitt, by forcing financial disclosures from unions and their officials without balancing regulations of management consultants.

In this atmosphere, Levitt became a disciple of Shefferman's methods. As he detailed in his book, his career in professional subterfuge eventually drove him to alcoholism, once he understood that "a union-busting campaign left a company financially devastated and hopelessly divided and almost invariably created an even more intolerable work environment than before." He renounced the business and turned to advising unions and speaking to union conferences, at which his first words would be, "I come from a very dirty business."

The Labor Dept.'s new rule will at least shine one more light bulb on that business.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog.
When it comes to batteries, homeowners apparently dont need as much energy storage as Tesla Motors thought they did.

Tesla Motors says it will concentrate only on developing its 7-kilowatt-hour Daily Powerwall battery, which is intended for everyday use but also has backup power capabilities.

Last April, the Palo Alto-based company announced that it would produce two batteries: the $3,500 Tesla Powerwall, intended to store 10 kilowatt-hours of backup power, and the smaller, $3,000 Daily Powerwall battery.

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The batteries make the most sense for homeowners with solar panels, since excess energy generated by their systems can be stored for use during the night or on cloudy days. That backup power option would allow connected appliances, lights or computers to run during outages.

But the need for more storage is less obvious. Under so-called net energy metering policies, rooftop solar owners can sell power they dont use back to the utility companies.

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Tesla said it never produced the 10 kilowatt-hour batteries.

We have seen enormous interest in the Daily Powerwall worldwide, Tesla said in a recent statement. Due to the interest, we have decided to focus entirely on building and deploying the seven kilowatt-hour Daily Powerwall at this time.

The news was first reported by Greentech Media.

The move toward batteries for daily use, especially this early in the production process, is a good one, said Cosmin Laslau, senior analyst at research firm Lux Research.

He said backup power is not a great value proposition in a well-established grid system, where power outages happen infrequently and briefly.

I think that one of the original hypotheses was that we could sell batteries just for backup, and Tesla probably gave it a better shot than anybody out there, Laslau said. And the market responded with, Its not good enough to look at backup alone.

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He said Tesla will likely integrate increased backup capabilities into a revised version of the battery that the company plans to launch later this year.

Already, several big businesses and utility companies are buying battery storage. In April, Tesla said it was conducting test programs with retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., and Amazon.com Inc.

For more business news, follow @smasunaga.

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When the FBI said it couldn't unlock the iPhone at the center of the San Bernardino shooting investigation without the help of Apple, the hackers at DriveSavers Data Recovery took it as a challenge.

Almost 200 man hours and one destroyed iPhone later, the Bay Area company has yet to prove the FBI wrong. But an Israeli digital forensics firm reportedly has, and the FBI is testing the method.

FULL COVERAGE: Apple's fight with the FBI >>

Finding a solution to such a high-profile problem would be a major feat  with publicity, job offers and a big payday on the line. But, in fact, the specialists at DriveSavers are among only a few U.S. hackers trying to solve it. Wary of the stigma of working with the FBI, many established hackers, who can be paid handsomely by tech firms for identifying flaws, say assisting the investigation would violate their industry's core principles.

Some American security experts say they would never help the FBI, others waver in their willingness to do so. And not all of those who would consider helping want their involvement publicized for risk of being labeled the hacker who unhinged a backdoor to millions of iPhones.

The FBI has done such a horrible job of managing this process that anybody in the hacking community, the security community or the general public who would openly work with them would be viewed as helping the bad guys, said Adriel Desautels, chief executive of cybersecurity testing company Netragard. It would very likely be a serious PR nightmare.

RELATED: What it means for Apple if feds have found a way to crack shooter's iPhone

Much of the security industry's frustration with the FBI stems from the agency's insistence that Apple compromise its own security. The fact that the FBI is now leaning on outside help bolsters the security industry's belief that, given enough time and funding, investigators could find a workaround  suggesting the agency's legal tactics had more to do with setting a precedent than cracking the iPhone 5c owned by gunman Syed Rizwan Farook.

Some like Mike Cobb, the director of engineering at DriveSavers in Novato, Calif., wanted to be the first to find a way in. Doing so could bring rewards, including new contracts and, if desired, free marketing.

The bragging rights, the technical prowess, are going to be considerable and enhanced by the fact that it's a very powerful case in the press, said Shane McGee, chief privacy officer for cybersecurity software maker FireEye Inc.

Altruism could motivate others. Helping the FBI could further an inquiry into how a husband-and-wife couple managed to gun down 14 people, wound many others and briefly get away.

Another positive, McGee said, is that legal liability is low: While unauthorized tampering with gadgets has led to prison time, it's legal as long as people meddle with iPhones they own  and the court order helps too.

But top security experts doubt the benefits are worth the risk of being seen as a black sheep within their community.

Hackers have said they don't want to touch the San Bernardino case with a 10-foot pole because the FBI doesn't look the like good guy and frankly isn't in the right asking Apple to put a back door into their program, Desautels said. The assisting party, if ever identified, could face backlash from privacy advocates and civil liberties activists.

They'd be tainted, Desautels said.

The unease in the hacker community can be seen through Nicholas Allegra, a well-known iPhone hacker who most recently worked for Citrix.

RELATED: FBI should know within 2 weeks if terrorist Farook's iPhone can be unlocked without Apple's help

Concerned an FBI victory in its legal fight with Apple would embolden authorities to force more companies to develop software at the government's behest, Allegra had dabbled in finding a crack in iPhone 5c security. If successful, he hoped his findings would lead the FBI to drop the Apple dispute.

But he has left the project on the back burner, concerned that if he found a solution, law enforcement would use it beyond the San Bernardino case.

I put in some work. I could have put more in, he said. But I wasn't sure if I even wanted to.

Companies including Microsoft, United Airlines and Uber encourage researchers and even hackers to target them and report problems by dangling cash rewards.

HackerOne, an intermediary for many of the companies, has collectively paid $6 million to more than 2,300 people since 2013. Boutique firms and freelancers can earn a living between such bounties and occasionally selling newly discovered hacking tools to governments or malicious hackers.

But Apple doesn't have a bounty program, removing another incentive for tinkering with the iPhone 5c.

Parole agents use a Cellebrite and a laptop to check a sex offenders mobile phone, thumb drives and laptop for pornographic material during a sweep in April 2014. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Still, Israeli firm Cellebrite is said to have attempted and succeeded at defeating the device's security measures.

The company, whose technology is heavily used by law enforcement agencies worldwide to extract and analyze data from phones, declined to comment. The FBI has said only that an outside party presented a new idea Sunday night that will take about two weeks to verify. Apple officials said they aren't aware of the details.

Going to the FBI before going to the company would violate standard practice in the hacking community. Security researchers almost always warn manufacturers about problems in their products and services before sharing details with anyone else. It provides time for a issuing a fix before a malicious party can exploit it.

EDITORIAL: Leave iPhone hacking to the FBI

We've never disclosed something to the government ahead of the company that distributed the hardware or software, McGee said. There could be far-reaching consequences.

Another drawback is that an iPhone 5c vulnerability isn't considered a hot commodity in the minds of many hackers, who seek to one-up each other by attacking newer, more widely used products. The 5c model went on sale in 2013 and lacks a fingerprint sensor. Newer iPhones are more powerful and have different security built into them. Only if the hack could be applied to contemporary iPhones would it be worth a rare $1-million bounty, experts say.

The limited scope of this case is why many hackers were taken back by a court order asking for what they consider broadly applicable software to switch off several security measures. Instead, experts wanted the FBI to invest in going after the gunman's specific phone with more creativity. In other words, attack the problem with technology, not the courts.

If you have access to the hardware and you have the ability to dismantle the phone, the methodology doesn't seem like it would be all that complex, Desautels said.

Two years ago, his team tried to extract data from an iPad at the request of a financial services company that wanted to test the security of the tablets before offering them to employees. Netragard's researcher failed after almost a month; he accidentally triggered a date change within the software that rendered the iPad unusable. But Desautels said cracking the iPad would have been possible and trivial for someone with more time and a dozen iPads to mess with.

The same, he imagines, would be true for an iPhone. The FBI, though, has said it had exhausted all known possibilities.

Taking Apple to court generated attention about the problem and stimulated creative people around the world to see what they might be able to do, FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to the Wall Street Journal editorial board Wednesday. Not all technical creativity resides within government, he said.

The plea worked, grabbing the interest of companies like DriveSavers, which gets about 2,000 gigs a month to retrieve photos, videos and notes from phones that are damaged or belong to someone who died. But despite all of the enticements in the San Bernardino case, they've worked to unlock an iPhone 5c only intermittently.

They've made progress. Cobb's team can spot the encrypted data on an iPhone 5c memory chip They're exploring how to either alter that data or copy it to another chip. Both scenarios would allow them to reset software that tracks invalid password entries. Otherwise, 10 successive misfires would render the encrypted data permanently inaccessible.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Swapping chips requires soldering, which the iPhone isn't built to undergo multiple times. They have an adapter that solves the issue, and about 300 old iPhones in their stockpile in case, as one already has, the device gets ruined.

Had they been first to devise a proposed solution, DriveSavers absolutely would have told the FBI because their method doesn't present extraordinary security risks, Cobb said.

But whether it would want to be publicly known as the code cracker in the case, Cobb said that would be a much bigger, wider conversation to ponder.

paresh.dave@latimes.com

Twitter: @peard33

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6:17 p.m.: Updated with comment from FBI Director James Comey.

The original version of this article was published at 4:01 p.m.
Heres how Amanda Seyfrieds art world wish  to be transformed by Los Angeles artist Mark Ryden into a caricature-on-canvas with blood trickling down my throat and me holding a dead cat  came true. And where you can view the pop surrealist painting this weekend.

In a 2011 W magazine interview, Seyfried leaked the tidbit that she wanted, more than anything, to be Rydens artistic muse. Ryden picked up on the hint and painted the new work, Amanda, in his Eagle Rock studio last month.

Ryden created the painting specifically for the upcoming Cat Art Show L.A. 2: The Sequel, which opens at downtown L.A.s Think Tank Gallery this Thursday. The group exhibition of more than 125 paintings, sculptures and photographs by 70 international artists was created and curated by the cat lady of the art world, Susan Michals.

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The exhibition also includes a giant black-and-white limited-edition print created by London-based photographer Rich Hardcastle in collaboration with Ricky Gervais. The piece, Routine Mischief, features Gervais in a furry cat costume and is a subtle nod to the Golden Globes hosts love-hate relationship with Hollywood.

----------

For the record

8:09 a.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly described Ricky Gervais as an Oscars host. He hosted the Golden Globes.

----------

Also on view: work by 95-year-old cat photographer Walter Chandoha; a wide-eyed Margaret Keane-like cat portrait, Soft Kitty, by Rydens wife, Marion Peck; work by the L.A.-based art duo Cyrcle; a photograph by The Walking Deads Norman Reedus shot in a Russian prison and depicting two inmates and a cat; a self-portrait by tattoo artist-model Kat Von D with her hairless cats; and a signature cat cake by artist Scott Hove, who collaborated with street artist Banksy on last years Dismaland exhibition.

Its a celebration of cats and a great opportunity to expose people to art with cats as a vessel, says Michals, whos also a journalist and the creator of CatCon L.A. Its a great combo platter of art  we have artists like Ryden, who is world-renowned, and Simon Tofield, who created the cartoon Simons Cat, which has over half a billion views on YouTube. What I see in cats, they have these quixotic and unpredictable personalities. For a creative person  a painter, sculptor or writer  theyre a natural source of beauty and inspiration.

Michals, who has a Maine Coon named Miss Kitty Pretty Girl, produced the cat art show with Daniel Salin, who also produced Banksys 2006 street art exhibition Barely Legal on downtown L.A.s skid row.

As for Seyfrieds vision for her Ryden reinvention, the actress added in W: Its morbid and fun and dark, obviously, but I love that.

Heres a sneak peek of some works in the upcoming catastic show, which includes a lecture at 2:30 p.m. Saturday led by photographer and author Paul Koudounaris about great cats throughout history.

Cat Art Show L.A. 2: The Sequel opens at 8 p.m. Thursday and runs Friday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Think Tank Gallery. www.thinktankgallery.org



Follow me on Twitter: @debvankin

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It should be common knowledge that Kent Nagano, who arrived in California this week amid his first U.S. tour as music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, is one of the worlds most imaginative and important conductors.

He headed the Berkeley Symphony for three decades and served as Los Angeles Operas first music director. And hes just begun his first season as music director of the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic (which will make news next year when a new Herzog & de Meuron-designed hall opens).

Yet Nagano is inexplicably absent from the guest conducting lists of major American orchestras or opera companies. Readers suffer too; his 2014 book appraising the current musical situation has been published only in Germany as Erwarten Sie Wunder! (Expect the Unexpected).

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Now, as further unexpected insult added to injury, no venue in Los Angeles or Orange counties has shown interest in booking Nagano and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, which arrived in Palm Desert on Tuesday. The troupe heads to San Diego (Wednesday) and Santa Barbara (Thursday) before continuing on to Northern California.

Nagano has had other notable orchestra and opera appointments in France, Germany, England, Sweden and Russia. Born in California of Japanese heritage, Nagano has an avid following in Asia and is married to Japanese pianist Mari Kodama.

But where Nagano can be heard is on a series of outstanding recordings with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal over the last decade.

These include a Beethoven symphony cycle, Mahler recordings with German baritone Christian Gerhaher (Das Lied von der Erde is a must) and Unsuk Chins phenomenal Violin Concerto, all of which show the Montrealers to be in gorgeous shape.

The latest are two seemingly less significant releases on the Analekta label revolving around Saint-Saens. Expect the unexpected. For one thing, there is Montreals orchestral sound, which has acquired a burnished and near mystical warmth under Nagano.

For another, there is Analektas showcase recorded sound, the finest Ive heard of an orchestra in some time. If you have the equipment to play hi-res digital files, you can find them (at remarkably reasonable prices) on the Analekta website.

Each release features a famous, and over-recorded, Saint-Saens Third  the Symphony No. 3 and Violin Concerto No. 3. But Nagano places each score in an unusual context. The symphony, which features organ, is surrounded by recent works for orchestra and organ by Samy Moussa and Kaija Saariaho that Nagano commissioned for the OSM.

A 31-year-old composer from Montreal, Moussa is a dazzling colorist, and his A Globe Itself Unfolding glowingly immerses the organ in an ocean of orchestral sonorities. Saariahos Maan Varjot, which the Los Angeles Philharmonic performed in 2014, explores cooler and harsher but highly original organ/orchestra colors. The soloists are the orchestras emeritus organist, Olivier Latry, and its resident one, Jean-Willy Kunz.

For a survey of Saint-Saens three violin concertos, Nagano relies on the OSMs suave young concertmaster, Andrew Wan. What is unexpected here is that the little-known first two concertos are worth the excavation for their melodic freshness and verve, while the third, a virtuoso showpiece, sounds just as fresh when played with reserve and class.

Sonically, Naganos refinement stands in considerable contrast to the more brightly colored and detailed OSM sound that previous music director Charles Dutoit made famous in a series of spectacular Decca recordings produced in the early digital age. But Decca has now signed the orchestra again, and the first release with Nagano is a find: an obscure French opera, LAiglon (The Eaglet), jointly composed by Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert.

Thanks to its overt French nationalism, the opera, which focuses on the hopes of Napoleons son to escape the Austrian court and return to France, was suppressed after its Opera de Monte-Carlo premiere in 1937. The Nazis got the point.

The score is uneven. Honegger was the better composer, while Ibert proved the more operatically engaging. Iberts dances are lighthearted and his music for the Eaglets death scene is touching. Honegger supplies substance and revolutionary fervor. The Eaglet (sung by Anne-Catherine Gillet) is a soprano role, as is that of his lover, Therese (Helene Guilmette), which gives their encounters an innocently becoming brightness even if they are always farewells.

Deccas engineers expect the expected in their attempt to revive on record the crystalline OSM sparkle of old. Thats not entirely inappropriate, given the quantity of sparkle that LAiglon supplies and the careful attention Nagano pays to telling details. But this orchestra no longer needs Dutoits brilliance. Nagano has taken it to less obvious, more ethereal realms.

mark.swed@latimes.com
Batman vs. Superman? The greatest gladiatorial match in the history of the world? There must be some mistake.

Arent these two men friends and colleagues, fellow fighters for truth, justice and the American way? Dont they share a deep and intuitive understanding that, to borrow a line from another determined crusader, the weed of crime bears evil fruit?

Not exactly.

It turns out that that sunny vision of superhero camaraderie is a product of an earlier, more innocent era, a time before the brooding darkness that engulfs and energizes Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

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As directed by Zack Snyder, the two-hour, 33-minute Batman v Superman does go on too long and lingers more than it should, as Snyders Man of Steel did before it, on its climactic action set pieces.

But the director, a strong technician whose slam-bang emphatic, occasionally operatic style seems made for comic book adaptations, has been well-served by an adept script co-written by Chris Terrio (an Oscar winner for Ben Afflecks Argo) and David S. Goyer, which raises a number of interesting issues.

Goyer wrote on all three of Christopher Nolans Batman films, and the spirit of that trilogy (Nolan and his partner Emma Thomas are executive producers here) is the key to its success in the creation of a despairing, decaying Batman (convincingly played by a committed Affleck) who is flailing for purpose after years on the job.

In this, Batman v Superman consciously refers back to the Caped Crusaders modern origins, the 1986 appearance of Frank Millers somber and ominous graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which repositioned Bob Kanes 1939 creation as a contemporary figure of almost existential torment. Miller is the first person thanked in this films credits, and that is not an accident.

Terrio and Goyers script shrewdly places this figure in a suspicious world that resents the fact that no deed, however good, is without its collateral damage, a world that casts a cynical eye even on pure-hearted heroes like Superman (Henry Cavill, once again a model of modest strength).

In this world, the Man of Steel is considered an unwelcome alien, occasionally greeted by signs reading This Is Our World, Not Yours and Earth Belongs to Humans. In this world, obviously, there are strong echoes of our own.

One of Batman v Supermans deft notions is to position Gotham, Batmans home base, and Metropolis, Supermans headquarters, as two cities facing each other across a bay, a comic book universe equivalent to Oakland and San Francisco.

1 / 2 In the first film appearance of Batman, Lewis Wilson, right, donned the cape and cowl, alongside Douglas Croft as Robin, for 1943s 15-chapter serial Batman. A sequel, Batman and Robin, followed in 1949, with Robert Lowery portraying the Caped Crusader. (Archive Photos / Getty Images) 2 / 2 Ben Affleck as Batman, left, faces down Superman (Henry Cavill) in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Affleck likely will suit up as the character in future films in the franchise. (Clay Enos / AP)

With a multi-focus plot that is filled with twists, Batman v Superman begins with not one but two different flashbacks, the first being the classic one of a young Bruce Wayne watching in horror as his loving parents are murdered by a criminal in front of his eyes.

The second flashback references the end of Man of Steel, with Superman fighting off the invading Kryptonian legions of Gen. Zod (played by Michael Shannon). But its seen from the vantage point of Batmans alter ego, Bruce Wayne, who watches helplessly from street level as an alien weapon slices through the Wayne Enterprises building in Metropolis like an intergalactic Vegomatic and cripples loyal employee Wallace Keefe (Scoot McNairy).

The films present is 18 months after that attack, with the world still getting used to Supermans seemingly unstoppable presence and a big hunk of his ancestral nemesis Kryptonite discovered in the Indian Ocean.

What the world doesnt know is that Supermans alter ego is mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, perennially under the thumb of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) and still very much in love with co-worker Lois Lane (Amy Adams), the only person who is in on his secret.

When a rescue of Lois leads to some of that collateral damage, Superman runs afoul of the U.S. Congress, specifically Sen. Finch of Kentucky (a welcome Holly Hunter), who pointedly insists, Were so caught up with what Superman can do, no one has asked what he should do.

Sharing the senators distaste is perennial Superman nemesis Lex Luthor, here played by Jesse Eisenberg as a twitchy tech billionaire, frustrated because hes not in control of the world and sure that it is not possible for someone to be both all powerful and all good.

And then there is Bruce Wayne/Batman. With Wayne Manor now a crumbling wreck, he can be found in a Mies van der Rohe-ish lake house, still attended by the loyal Alfred (Jeremy Irons), who waspishly reminds him hes too old to die young.

Decades of fighting crime have left Wayne discouraged and grizzled (cant a man this wealthy afford a decent shave?) and turned him into the kind of vigilante that straight-arrow Clark Kent finds abhorrent. And Wayne, for his part, still broods about all that Superman-related damage. And so it begins.

The two men, or at least their alter egos, first come face to face at a glitzy party thrown by the conniving Lex. There, Wayne meets the alluring Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), a mysterious presence who means it when she tells him, I dont think youve ever known another woman like me.

Well be hearing more from Diana Prince later, and from lots of other folks as well, as Warner Bros. is deeply involved with a whole series of movies based on the DC Comics universe. While the Marvel universe, now owned by Disney, is glib and sunny, its a nice echo of Warners past as a home to gangsters and gritty melodramas to find its DC world operating very much on the dark end of the street.

------------

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

MPAA rating: PG-13, for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality

Running time: 2 hours, 33 minutes

Playing: In general release

kenneth.turan@latimes.com

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Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Zack Snyder talk superhero smack down

Gal Gadot feels so good playing Wonder Woman, thanks to her daughters princess obsession
Director Randall Miller, who pleaded guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass following the death of crew member Sarah Jones on the set of the film Midnight Rider, is being released from jail in Georgia after serving just over a year in custody.

Miller had been sentenced to serve up to two years in connection with the death of assistant camera operator Jones, 27, who was killed Feb. 20, 2014, when a train crashed into a set on a trestle during the first day of filming of Midnight Rider. At least six other crew members on the film, a biopic of Southern rocker Gregg Allman, were injured.

The case drew widespread attention in the film industry, serving as a rallying cry for crew members demanding safer conditions on movie sets. For many observers, it evoked memories of an earlier accident on the set of the 1982 film Twilight Zone: The Movie in which star Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed by a helicopter that crashed into them during filming. In that case, director John Landis and four others were tried and acquitted on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

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Sometimes the only way to get people to pay attention to safety is to show them the consequences will be grave if they dont, Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School, told The Times last year. Its almost like you have to remind every generation of filmmakers you dont get to take this risk with peoples lives.

Though released from jail, Miller remains under a 10-year probation barring him from serving as director, first assistant director or supervisor with responsibility for safety on a film production.

Twitter: @joshrottenberg

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One Direction famously hated being referred to as a boy band. But if the term didnt fit the mega-popular British group that recently went on hiatus, the problem  at least from the outside  had less to do with the word boy than with the word band.

Here was a musical outfit, originally assembled on the British edition of The X Factor, that always seemed to view its music as an afterthought. Not that its records werent great  most of them were. But you never got the sense, even (or especially) at its winningly offhand stadium gigs, that the work of writing and singing and playing was of much concern. Far more important was choosing the right pair of skinny jeans or telling the perfect joke to crack up the other guys onstage.

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Far more important, that is, to everyone but Zayn Malik. A year after he quit One Direction (which likely led to the remaining four members hitting pause), this 23-year-old singer has become the first of the bunch to release a solo record. And listening to Mind of Mine, due Friday, it seems clear that Zayn left not because he couldnt handle the pressure of global stardom, as he intimated at the time, but because he wanted to get serious  really serious  about music.

A moody, deeply textured R&B album with vibe to spare, Mind of Mine sounds as if it was designed to showcase the effort and inspiration that went into it. Where 1D aimed to charm, Zayn wants to impress; instead of goofy puns, hes dealing in intricately voiced piano chords. (So many fancy chords here.) About half the time, he convinces you hes made the right choice.

Theres more to Zayns new identity than legit musician. You need look only at the magazine covers hes posed for lately to know that hes getting in touch with his steamy, lover-man side, a quality hed never have been able to explore in 1D, given the groups tween-heavy fanbase. And like all former tween idols, hes eager to be seen as a grown-up, which is one reason he drops so many F-bombs here.

Theres also the intriguing matter of his Muslim faith, a true rarity in Western pop that he seems to acknowledge in one track, Flower, with a lovely vocal melody sung in Urdu.

But mostly Mind of Mine emphasizes signs of complexity: the elaborate synth swirls that float through She, for instance, or the careful layering of soft-funk guitar lines in Bordersz, one of several cuts co-written and produced by Malay, whos best known for his work on Frank Oceans Grammy-winning Channel Orange album.

Even when Zayn strips down the music for Fool for You, a relatively spare piano ballad, he fills the space with ornate vocal runs, flexing a skill for which there was never much use in 1D. Basically, youre unlikely to hear a more detailed album this year, and certainly not from whichever of Zayns former bandmates goes solo next.

All that fine-tuning doesnt mean that Zayns music comes out utterly unique. As was true with 1D, the influences here are remarkably easy to spot, be it Ocean (in the dreamy Its You), Miguel (Truth) or the xx (Drunk). Prince hangs over the whole project too, detectable in everything from Zayns falsetto to his stylized renderings of song titles: PiLlOwT4lK and BeFoUr and so on.

In 1D, though, the bands copycat moves (aping songs by Journey, the Who and others) felt in keeping with its take-the-easy-way approach. On Mind of Mine youre hearing how hard Zayn is trying to get inside the music that moves him, to understand and reproduce its virtues.

With 18 tracks on the deluxe edition, the album can wear you down with all its finely wrought sophistication, even when Zayn is singing about taking your clothes off. No One Direction record could ever be described as a slog, but thats what Mind of Mine becomes by the trippy Lucozade, in which he recounts sipping an energy drink while blazing on that newfound haze.

Hearing those words, you might find yourself needing a smoke break yourself, even as you admire Zayns commitment to his work.

------------

Zayn

Mind of Mine

(RCA)

mikael.wood@latimes.com

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When it comes to food thats identified with a specific culture, does a chefs ancestry have to match whats on the plate?

My name is Evan Kleiman, and I am not Italian. I am, however, a veteran of the Italian restaurant scene and a chef who specializes in cooking Italian food. So this is hardly a new question for me. Rather its one Ive been thinking about since my early 20s, when my fluency with both the Italian language and la cucina italiana made many Italians I met think I was a creature from another planet. (This was the 1970s.)

I spent the 80s and 90s making simple Italian trattoria food at my Angeli restaurants here in Los Angeles and writing Italian cookbooks. The only folks who seemed to be disturbed were purveyors of very fancy Italian food. They wanted to run as far as possible from memories of la cucina povera; Id been looking for a grandmother my whole life. And I had found her in kitchens all over Italy.

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Occasionally, a regular customer would drag an Italian friend to Angeli, and Id get that dreaded question  How is it possible that you know how to cook this food?  asked in tones equally aggressive and disbelieving when they realized I wasnt from the homeland. But then Id chat them up in Italian and share stories of my informal sessions interning with grandmothers, and they would relax and continue eating.

Every time Ive been questioned about my ability to channel my inner nonna, Ive simply shrugged and said that its what Im meant to do. (My mother, on a trip we took together in Italy once, turned to me and said: Youre different here. Its like you belong.)

Comments around culinary carpetbagging have  again  been gathering momentum lately. Its a natural progression, as the second-generation children of immigrants move into kitchens as a choice to express something personal; they want to own the authenticity of their own culinary pedigree, and many of their parents or relatives or friends opened restaurants to survive when they first arrived. Often the food served was Americanized to be accepted by a wider audience.

This discussion is as much about identity as anything else. But that idea of identity is a slippery thing; sometimes a persons culinary identity isnt related to relatives. Thus, the grumbles about Pok Pok chef Andy Ricker, a non-Thai from Vermont, making Thai food. Valid, vital issues revolving around race and class, poverty and power are deeply embedded into these discussions.

But cooking is personal. And what makes a cook, and what that cook decides to express on the plate, is complicated  and it doesnt rely solely on where you or your people are from. Its a multilayered gestalt that involves personality, individual influences and a nearly pheromone-based attraction to a set of flavors and textures that is as ephemeral as the love between two people.

I learned how to make minestrone and ravioli from my chosen grandmothers  not borscht and kreplach from my actual one, who I was never fortunate enough to know. Maybe when the chef in question is of some general European descent and is making food of another European culture, theres less questioning. I only know that in my case, I was besotted with Italy, bathing myself in the deep comfort and sense of belonging I found in its culture and cuisine. If someone had suggested I should transfer all that passion to a more ethnically appropriate Eastern European country  or Israel  I would have been devastated.

Who knows why a boy named Andy Ricker from Vermont felt as if he belonged in the streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand, and needed to express it by cooking the food. Or why Rick Bayless, from a fourth-generation Oklahoma restaurant family, showed up as a teenager in Mexico and felt at home. Why did I, a 17-year-old girl from Silver Lake, prefer to be helping old ladies in Perugia roll out pasta instead of dancing at the town disco?

But there it is, that connection of the soul to a food culture and place  despite names and grandmothers, actual or imaginary. I would say this is not cultural appropriation, but boundless cultural appreciation, fueled by curiosity as much as the heart and made notable by the occasional cook who has the ability to be fluent in food.

Kleiman ran Angeli Caffe for 27 years. Shes the longtime host of KCRW-FMs Good Food.

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How did Easter get here so fast? Some of us are still trying to remember to write 2016 on our checks, and already were inundated with chocolate bunnies and neon jelly beans. Perhaps youve planned the day out, perhaps not. Regardless, we can help, whether it involves recipe ideas or brunch suggestions. Even projects, like homemade Peeps.

And if pastel eggs arent enough of a sign that spring has, well, sprung, theres all that great seasonal produce to be found in the markets right now. This week, we focus on green garlic.

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Also, Michael Cimarustis new seafood place opens this week. Yes, Cape Seafood and Provisions will be opening its doors so you too can cook like the master -- or at least have access to many of the same ingredients.

Finally, you really must try the roasted squash from Moruno, the new restaurant at the Original Farmers Market. It works equally well as a savory dish or sweet treat. Yum.

 Noelle Carter

Everything you need to help you plan Easter -- at home or out

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Weve compiled a list of everything you need to know to tackle Easter this year. This includes recipes, project ideas and more. Dont worry, we also have a primer on hard-boiled eggs, and what to do with the leftover eggs after Easter. And if the whole thought of cooking just stresses you out, weve got plenty of ideas about where to eat out to keep your holiday as simple and worry-free as possible. Unfortunately, we cant help with the sugar overload from eating too much candy. Youll just have to sleep that one off.

Great recipe ideas for all the green garlic showing up at farmers markets

Green garlic. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

It looks like the garlic bulbs you find at the grocery store, but with the plant attached. Were talking green garlic, an immature -- and more delicately flavored -- version of standard garlic. Use it much like you would green onions, thinly sliced and added raw as a garnish, or lightly cooked and added toward the end of a recipe. We have plenty of recipe ideas to inspire you.

Michael Cimarustis sustainable seafood shop opens this week



Michael Cimarusti at his new Cape Seafood and Provisions. (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

If you love fish, youre no doubt a fan of chef and seafood guru Michael Cimarusti, following him from the Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles to the opening of Providence, and then Connie & Teds. He took over the space that once housed Lindy and Grundys butcher operation in the Fairfax district and has converted it into Cape Seafood and Provisions. Cape is finally opening today, offering not just the same kinds of fish Cimarusti uses in his restaurants, but provisions too. And we have hundreds of tested recipes to inspire you with your catch once you get it home.

Youll want to try the roasted butternut squash recipe from Moruno

Roasted butternut squash with dukkah is served at Moruno. (Christina House / For The Times )

Riding the crest of the roasted vegetable wave turning up everywhere, newish restaurant Moruno includes a rather stunning dish on its menu: roasted butternut squash with dukkah, an Egyptian condiment including nutty sesame seeds and cashews spiced with cumin, coriander and Aleppo pepper. Its a showstopper of a dish if you order it at the restaurant, but its just as easily made at home, with the perfect combination of sweet and savory notes. Its like dinner and dessert all rolled into one.

Pair your favorite Easter candy with wine

We all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to Easter candy. Maybe its Peeps. Perhaps its the Reeses peanut butter eggs, or classic jelly beans. Regardless, doesnt everything taste better with wine? Now you can have your sugar fix and toast it, too.

Love cooking as much as I do? Follow me @noellecarter

Check us out on Instagram @latimesfood

Counter Intelligence: Sign up for Jonathan Golds weekly newsletter

Check out the thousands of recipes in our Recipe Database.

Feedback? Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.
A panoramic view of the 88th Academy Awards nominees' class photo at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

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Erik Wexler has been named chief executive and senior vice president of Providence Health & Services, Southern California, the Catholic hospital system said Wednesday.

He replaces Karl Carrier, who came out of retirement to serve as interim chief executive of Providence Southern California two years ago.

Wexler most recently served as chief executive of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcares Northeast region, which has medical centers and hospitals across Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

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Prior to that, Wexler worked for Nashville-based Vanguard Health Systems and LifeBridge Health System in Baltimore.

Providence operates six hospitals in Southern California, including Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Providence St. Johns Health Center in Santa Monica.

The Renton, Wash., nonprofit runs 34 hospitals across California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Montana.

Mike Butler, Providences president of operations and services, cited Wexlers experience serving large, diverse and dynamic communities.

We are committed to serving more people in Southern California, especially the poor and vulnerable, he said in a statement. Eriks leadership style and experience are just what we need to lead this effort on behalf of our Los Angeles communities.

In an interview, Wexler said he wants to capitalize on Providences current use of technology in making healthcare more easily accessible. He said the health system already uses apps that help patients make appointments or view their medical records.

The hospitals run some of the best electronic medical systems in the country, so I think what theyre already achieving is outstanding, Wexler said. The question for us is how do we take what looks like the future for connectivity between patients and the community and deploy that.

Wexler will start at Providence on May 2.

Providence said Wexler also will work with fellow Catholic hospital system St. Joseph Health, based in Orange, to continue the plan proposed in July to form a new, joint company. The two health systems are working with the state attorney generals office on the deal, and Providence said it hopes to complete the review and approval process this year.

For more business news, follow @smasunaga.
Im Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Terror in Brussels

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Belgium has been described as ground zero for Islamic State networks in Europe. That assertion was proved true yesterday when at least 30 people died and scores were injured in the Belgian capital after terrorists set off bombs at Brussels Airport and the Maelbeek metro station. Islamic State has claimed that its soldiers of the caliphate are responsible for the attacks, which came four days after a suspect in Novembers Paris massacre was caught in Brussels with a large cache of weapons. Here is our full coverage.

Molenbeek: Jihadi Capital or Black Sheep of the World?

It is a teeming working-class neighborhood in the heart of Belgiums capital. It sits across a canal from a trendy neighborhood. Salah Abdeslam, accused in last years terror attacks in Paris, grew up here and was captured here. Many jihadists have called it home. But its advocates complain the neighborhood is being demonized, and a deputy in the Brussels Parliament worries about it becoming the black sheep of the world.

The Voting: Who Won?

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rolled to big victories Tuesday in Arizona, bolstering each candidates case for their partys nomination. But Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Utah caucuses, the days other contest, and took all 40 delegates and slowed Trumps progress before his lead becomes insurmountable. And Sen. Bernie Sanders notched wins in the Utah and Idaho caucuses.

Prisons With No Bars. Why Not in the U.S.?

Baz Dreisinger, an English professor who teaches college classes to inmates in New York, spent two years visiting prisons in nine countries to study penal reform. She went to Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, Jamaica, Australia and Norway, whose open prisons have no bars. I think that a lot of people dont realize how the U.S. in many ways invented the modern prison system, said the author, who is discussing her book today at the Central Library in downtown L.A.

A Diner Spends Big on Sushi, but Leaves a Cold-Blooded Tip

At a Studio City sushi joint on Sunday, a 46-year-man shelled out $200 but was kicked out when he displayed a small snake to other diners. Defiant, the reptile enthusiast returned with a much larger snake  a 13-foot python  and sent customers fleeing, witnesses say. Turns out it was not his first reptile-related incident. There was that unpleasantness with the Gila monster lizards some years back...

CALIFORNIA

 The L.A. City Council approves a pair of towers near the Hollywood Palladium.

 A jury acquits in the corruption case against a former council aide and his wife.

 Long Beach aquarium plans a $53-million expansion.

NATION-WORLD

 Belgian police have identified two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Brussels Airport as brothers who had police records but until now had not been linked to terrorism.

 In the Middle East, condemnation and finger-pointing after the deadly Brussels attacks.

 President Obama goes to the ballpark in Cuba.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

 Sarah Palin will become a pretend judge on TV.

 Margot Robbie will star as figure skater Tonya Harding in the I, Tonya biopic.

BUSINESS

 David Lazarus: Airlines are scuttling bereavement fares.

 Time Warner Cable lowers the price of its Dodgers channel.

SPORTS

 Will soccer eclipse baseball in Cuba?

 UCLAs Dan Guerrero: Were not all about a coaching carousel.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

 Journey to Jihad. (The New Yorker)

 The Violent Remaking of Appalachia. (The Atlantic)

 Should parents of children with severe disabilities be allowed to stop their growth? (The New York Times)

ONLY IN L.A.

For years, the raucous parties at Danny Fitzgeralds Hollywood Hills homes were a sore spot with neighbors. They complained of the noise, of a lion, even an elephant. Fitzgerald says he tried to make nice with neighbors, and blamed a real estate agent who rented his lavish properties to a hard-partying crowd. This week, Fitzgerald sued a Saudi prince who rented his Weidlake Drive home last August. Fitzgerald claims the prince left behind $86,000 in property damage. Among the incidents alleged in the complaint: A party with more than 800 people, featuring strippers dancing on kitchen countertops. Here I am putting my reputation back together and then he just destroys it in one month, Fitzgerald says.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
It happened in April 2013, at an event held at a park near Mission Bay.

When city employee Stacy McKenzie learned that the newly elected mayor, Bob Filner, was in attendance, she decided to introduce herself. That led to what she described in court Tuesday as two uncomfortable encounters with Filner, who later resigned from his position amid a flurry of sexual harassment accusations.

McKenzie told a San Diego jury that shortly after she introduced herself, Filner asked her on a date, which she found disturbing. Moments later, after she moved away from him, the mayor approached her from behind and put her in a chokehold, she said.

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He pressed his body against hers, she said, and stroked her left arm.

He said, Isnt she great? Isnt she great, McKenzie said during a civil trial in San Diego Superior Court. She said Filner told two coworkers who were standing with her, Im going to be mentoring her. Im going to make her employee of the day. What do you think?

At one point, the mayor let his arm  the one that had been hooked around her neck  drop slowly, so that his elbow rubbed one of her breasts, McKenzie testified. The mayor noticed when her face began to turn red, and she told him he was embarrassing her.

He laughed; he thought it was funny, she said. I felt violated. I felt really small and insignificant.

McKenzie, who has worked for 35 years as a district manager in the city parks department, filed the lawsuit against Filner, 73, more than two years ago, alleging sexual battery and sexual harassment in the workplace. She is also accusing the city of San Diego of failing to prevent the harassment.

Her lawyer, Manuel Corrales Jr., told the jury in his opening statement that the evidence will show that Filner had an abusive management style and that he could do misbehave with impunity as mayor. Corrales said the city had an obligation to do something when they were told that Filner was acting inappropriately.

They failed to stop him, he said.

Attorney George Schaefer, who represents the city and the former mayor, acknowledged that Filners behavior in the park with McKenzie was unprofessional  even creepy, as the plaintiff had described it  but he disputed whether Filner actually touched her breast.

This is a straightforward case, Schaefer said, adding that the evidence would call into question whether Filners behavior rose to the level of sexual battery and sexual harassment in the workplace under state law.

Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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Leaks are common in Californias natural gas storage fields and are often left untreated for months, according to a survey taken after the massive leak in Aliso Canyon.

The survey of the states 12 storage fields found 229 faulty valves, flanges and leaky wellheads and a 230th leak at an abandoned well. Most leaks were minor. Eight were deemed hazardous.

The state Public Utilities Commission ordered the statewide survey after the major leak near Porter Ranch last fall displaced thousands of families and vented an estimated 5.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

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The findings included leaks that gas companies said they were aware of but had not yet fixed. Most have been plugged since the review was conducted in mid-February, said the PUC, which regulates gas storage fields.

As a result of this survey and the mandatory remedial action taken there are no immediate or probable future hazards in California related to gas leaks, the PUC said in a statement posted on its website. The agency would not provide details about the leaks.

Sixty-six leaks were reported at Southern California Gas Co.s Aliso Canyon storage field, where a well blowout in October forced nearby residents to leave their homes for up to four months. The well was not permanently sealed until Feb. 18.

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Southern California Gas representatives did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday.

The gas companys report to utility regulators also mentioned two other leaks not included in the survey. One was native gas seeping from the ground at its storage field in Goleta in Santa Barbara County.

Natural gas also was found leaking at an abandoned well in Aliso Canyon. Neither the utility nor state gas regulators responded Wednesday to requests for information on that ongoing leak, but a state official confirmed the identity of the leaking well.

Records reviewed by The Times showed that the well is Porter 50A, drilled in 1983. State files show it has been leaking off and on since 2008.

Southern California Gas has repeatedly tried to seal the leaks, including plugging holes with cement in 2011. But the well was found leaking again in early 2015 when tests showed significant corrosion to well casings. State files show the company tried to plug the well in May 2015. By February, leaks were again detected.

In a separate review, the South Coast Air Quality Management District scoured the Aliso Canyon field with infrared cameras in December, spotting 15 wells with what it characterized as minor leaks.

The regional air district reported that all those leaks were later repaired. The agency did not release details of the findings requested in January by The Times under the states public records act.

The survey for the PUC raises questions about the ability of the natural gas industry to comply with proposed state regulations that would require daily monitoring for leaking gas. It is industry practice to allow minor leaks to persist as long as 15 months without repair.

Natural gas contains methane, which if released to the air contributes to warming of the atmosphere. Environmental organizations say the leaks are not acceptable.

We would like to see a long-term commitment to phase away from natural gas in many of its current applications, similar to the way we see people move away from coal, said Jennifer Krill, executive director of Earthworks, an environmental advocacy organization.

In the meantime, we feel like, yes, there should be zero tolerance for leaks, Krill said. There should be no leaks. There should be on-site detection.

An executive order in January by Gov. Jerry Brown required the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources to mandate daily inspection of gas storage well heads with detectors such as infrared imaging.

Separately, the state Air Resources Board is drafting regulations that would require equipment in gas fields, where most of the leaks in the February survey were reported, to be checked for leaks every three months.

Eight of the leaks reported in the February survey were classified as safety hazards. They were found in storage fields operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The utility company said six of those were fixed by the time the report was made public, and the remaining two, both on wellheads, were awaiting repair but no longer emitting gas.

None of those leaks were in well casings, said PG&E spokesman Nick Stimmel. Some of the 84 leaks found at PG&Es three storage fields had been identified previously and their repairs were included in existing maintenance schedules, he said.

With the daily inspections that are now required, Stimmel said, We would have found these leaks as part of our regular safety work.

Only one storage field in the state reported no leaks: Lodi Gas Storage near Acampo.

Twitter: @paigestjohn

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A California agency overseeing judges discipline censured a Los Angeles County judge Wednesday, saying he had abused his authority and mistreated a defense attorney.

The Commission on Judicial Performance issued a six-page public admonishment of Judge Patrick E. Connolly of the Compton Courthouse.

Judge Connolly, the commission wrote, violated his duty to respect and comply with the law.

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The discipline stemmed from a 2010 mayhem and assault trial, which Connolly presided over, according to a case summary included in the admonishment.

During the proceeding, defense attorney Freddie Fletcher told the judge that someone in the audience told him theyd seen the prosecutor shaking her head slowly, perhaps trying to coach the testimony of the witness on the stand, according to the commission summary.

Connolly, a former gang prosecutor who has served on the bench for seven years, told Fletcher hed take up the issue at a later time. The judge warned Fletcher that if the allegations werent true, he may, in fact, have grounds to hold the defense attorney in contempt.

The commission -- composed of three judges, two attorneys and six members of the public -- found that Connolly later contacted a judge in Long Beach to get information about another possible contempt case involving Fletcher.

That move, the commission wrote, was improper and made it seem that the judge was conducting an independent investigation into Mr. Fletchers conduct, and was embroiled in the matter and biased against Mr. Fletcher.

The commission wrote that Connolly admitted that his contact was improper embroilment.

The judge eventually scheduled and postponed multiple hearings on the issue, requiring Fletcher to come to court although Connolly hadnt actually filed contempt charges against Fletcher -- a serious misuse of the judicial office, the commission wrote.

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Reached for comment Wednesday, Connolly said, Im on vacation in Ireland. He declined to comment further.

Fletcher said he never sought out a complaint against the judge, but said the commissions decision gave him some relief.

I was, in fact, the victim, he said. It was a really bad thing when it happened. It consumed all my time.

The admonishment vindicates my decision to not file a complaint against Judge Connolly and to rely on my faith that his abuse of authority would be exposed and meet the consequences it deserves, said Fletcher, who is currently defending himself against pending disciplinary charges from the State Bar of California in an unrelated case.

The state commission privately reprimanded Connolly in 2010 for using profanity in his chambers during discussions with attorneys.

For more news from the Los Angeles County criminal courts, follow @marisagerber

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The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan Tuesday for two residential high-rises next to the Hollywood Palladium, setting the stage for a protracted legal battle with the politically active nonprofit group next door.

On a 12-0 vote, the council backed a zoning change, a height district change and other approvals for the Palladium Residences, two towers expected to rise as tall as 30 stories on Sunset Boulevard near a Metro Red Line subway stop.

Representatives of Crescent Heights, the projects developer, said the councils actions will ensure the preservation of the Hollywood Palladium, the Streamline Moderne concert venue that opened in 1940. The planned complex will positively change the landscape of Hollywood, by putting housing on top of surface parking lots, which is exactly where it belongs, said Palladium lobbyist Steve Afriat.

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Backers of the $324-million project have argued for months that it would provide much-needed homes in the middle of a regional housing crunch. But opponents with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which occupies the 21st floor of the office tower next door, say the complex is too tall and too dense for its location.

We intend to exhaust every legal avenue, including filing suit, to stop the Palladium towers, said foundation President Michael Weinstein, who called on Mayor Eric Garcetti to veto the councils decision.

The foundations executives have made the Palladium project part of a larger fight over growth and development citywide. Working with its allies in the Coalition to Preserve L.A., the AIDS nonprofit has been gathering signatures for a ballot measure to prohibit approval of mega-developments like the Palladium. The measure is being targeted for the March 2017 municipal election.

Hollywoods major boulevards already have structures that are similar in size to the Palladium project, said Edward Campbell, a lawyer with the firm Nixon Peabody, who has real estate clients that do business at City Hall. What sets the Palladium project apart, he said, is that it will have homes, not offices.

I dont feel like its particularly out of sync with the neighborhood, he said.

The foundation and its allies say the Palladium Residences would do little to address the need for affordable housing in L.A. But Leron Gubler, president and chief executive of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, contends that adding hundreds of apartment units would make a difference to the region.

Los Angeles has one of the worst housing shortfalls in the nation, Gubler said last week. This is the type of project that we need to close that gap.

Councilman Mitch OFarrell, who represents part of Hollywood, said in a statement that 37 of the projects apartments would be set aside for people at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Rents in those units are expected to range from $400 to $1,000 per month, depending on the size.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation brought dozens of supporters to the hearing, many of them wearing red T-shirts with the message Speak Out. However, city lawmakers did not allow public testimony on the project, saying a lengthy hearing had already been conducted this month.

Backers of the Palladium Residences have sounded increasingly unhappy with the opposition from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has assembled a legal team to challenge the project. The nonprofit has retained the law firm of Robert P. Silverstein, which successfully overturned the citys approval of a Target shopping center and the 23-story Sunset and Gordon apartment tower, both in Hollywood.

Afriat, the lobbyist, said after Tuesdays vote that Weinstein is using the nonprofit as his personal piggy bank in the Palladium fight.

Its outrageous that theyre spending AIDS Healthcare Foundation money, money that was given to them to provide support services to people with AIDS, so that the executive director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation can preserve his views, Afriat said.

Weinstein said the Palladium fight is not financed by grants or donations to his nonprofit. The group, he said, runs various businesses that make money on their own, including a pharmacy. Were at liberty to spend that money any way that we wish, Weinstein added.

I have a right as the chief executive of a very, very large organization thats headquartered here, as much as any private corporation, to take a position on civic issues, he said.

Follow @DavidZahniser for whats happening at Los Angeles City Hall

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Transgender women fleeing abuse in their home countries who seek asylum in the United States have been sexually assaulted, denied medical care and held in indefinite solitary confinement in prison-like detention facilities, according to a report released Wednesday.

In essence, many transgender women have simply traded one set of abusive conditions for another, says the report released by Human Rights Watch and a coalition of immigrant rights organizations.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

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Some of the mistreatment described by detainees occurred after the Obama administration released new guidelines in June aimed at preventing it, the report found.

The 68-page document, called Do You See How Much Im Suffering Here: Abuse Against Transgender Women in U.S. Immigration Detention, comes at a time of mounting criticism against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials treatment of female transgender detainees.

Jennifer Elzea, an ICE spokeswoman, said the agency will review the report, stating that the agency is committed to providing a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all those in our custody, including those individuals who identify as transgender.

The study is based on 28 interviews with transgender women, mainly from Mexico and Central America, who were held from 2011 to 2015 in facilities across the country  mostly in Southern California. The detainees said they were unnecessarily strip-searched by male guards, denied HIV medication and were ignored by immigration officials after reporting sexual assault by other detainees.

The majority of transgender detainees are housed at the Santa Ana Jail. In the report, 12 respondents had spent some time at the facility  the only one in the country that has an area exclusively housing transgender women in immigration detention.

Although the unit is seen as a better alternative to housing transgender women in all-male facilities, the reports authors said the Santa Ana guards mistreated the detainees. Invasive strip searches, frequent lockdowns that involve cell confinement for up to 24 hours a day and inadequate medical and mental health services are the norm, the report stated.

Several transgender women told Human Rights Watch that they were unable to access their HIV medications for periods ranging from two to three months after entering detention, including one transgender woman who was held in Santa Ana.

A transgender woman from El Salvador, identified in the report as Linda F., said Border Patrol agents confiscated her HIV medication when she was apprehended in South Texas in May.

When I saw the doctor, I told her that I was missing my medication and that I felt something strange in my body, she said in the report, adding that it took two months for officials to provide her with her drugs.

Amid increased criticism of the Santa Ana facility, City Council members in January rejected an ICE contract proposal that would have expanded the number of transgender immigrant detainees at the location.

In Texas, a 23-year-old transgender woman from Honduras named Monserrath told the reports authors that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and verbally harassed by male detainees and guards during her 2014 stay at a detention center in Pearsall.

Monserrath, who fled her home country after she was beaten and threatened with death, said she was sexually assaulted by a male detainee while showering. After reporting it to officials, she said a guard threatened to place her in solitary confinement. Monserrath was eventually granted asylum in May.

Immigration detention can be a difficult experience for anyone. But it is often particularly harmful for transgender women due to the abuse they have previously endured, the report said.

The new allegations follow a host of others included in a letter sent to ICE by members of Congress in July. The letter highlighted nearly a dozen cases of suspected neglect, including the 2012 pneumonia death of a Mexican immigrant named Fernando Dominguez.

An inspection report that year by the Department of Homeland Security said that Dominguez received an unacceptable level of medical care at a detention center in the San Bernardino County city of Adelanto, and that his death could have been prevented.

Last summer, ICE abandoned a plan to detain transgender immigrants exclusively at Adelanto after mounting opposition from immigrant rights activists, who said detainees would be at risk of receiving subpar medical care, citing past allegations of medical neglect at the facility.

They also argued that Adelanto was too far from the population centers in Southern California, where there is easier access to attorneys.

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Twitter: @thecindycarcamo

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Two more Southern California hospitals have been attacked by hackers who infiltrated their computer systems with ransomware and demanded payment to unlock the data, officials said.

Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino and Desert Valley Hospital of Victorville, both part of Prime Healthcare Services Inc., had their computer system compromised on Friday by a cyber attack. The cases are now part of an ongoing FBI probe, bureau spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

According to sources familiar with the ongoing investigation, the hackers got into one of the hospitals computers and then spread a malware program that encrypts the data on computers. The hackers then demanded a ransom, typically in a cyber currency, to unlock the servers, according to the sources.

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A similar hack occurred this year at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, and the hospital paid about $17,000 in bitcoins to get the keys back to its computer servers.

Fred Ortega, a spokesman for Prime Healthcare, acknowledged the attack and said that in the latest attacks, nothing was paid and no patient or employee data was compromised at either Desert Valley or Chino Hills medical facilities. He said technology specialists were able to limit the attack.

The hospitals, he said, remain operational, and the majority of the operations continued as managers took steps to restore the systems to full functionality.

This is similar to challenges hospitals across the country are facing, and we have taken extraordinary steps to protect and expeditiously find a resolution to this disruption, Ortega said. Chino Valley is a 126-bed community hospital, and Desert Valley is a 148-bed acute care facility.

Institutions including a Boston-area police department, a Maine sheriffs office and an Arizona newspaper have fallen victim to ransomware attacks in recent years. Law enforcement officials and cyber security companies say they are seeing an uptick in these cyber attacks on both private businesses and public institutions.

Though some like the hospital case make national headlines, many attacks occur without any publicity  and with the victims ultimately agreeing to pay. Often, businesses conclude paying the ransom is the quickest and most efficient way to get their data back.

FBIs Eimiller said the bureau does not recommend paying a ransom.

The malware locks the victims computer to prevent access to the data or starts to spread the virus to the institutions computers and shuts them all down. The goal of these hackers, said security expert Phil Lieberman, is not to steal data but to merely lock it in place and take away the key.

For SoCal crime & investigations follow me on Twitter @lacrimes.

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University of California regents said Wednesday that anti-Semitism has no place on a college campus but declined to issue a broad condemnation of anti-Zionism as a form of discrimination.

Instead, they unanimously approved a report on intolerance that decried only anti-Semitic forms of the political ideology, which challenges Israels right to exist in Palestine.

The move reflects the regents struggle to balance their desire to combat intolerance with their commitment to protect free speech. The report provides no sanctions for anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist speech, but calls on educators to challenge bias.

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Israel advocacy groups had pushed for a broad censure of opposition to Zionism, which they said was needed to protect Jewish students from hostile attacks. Last year, a Jewish fraternity house at UC Davis was defaced with a Nazi swastika and students at UCLA questioned whether a Jewish sophomore should be disqualified from serving on a campus judicial panel because of her religion.

But free-speech advocates said the original, broader version of the statement would have illegally restricted the right to criticize Israel and its actions. If the regents had approved it, they would have become the first governing board of any major U.S. university system to condemn the rejection of Zionism.

Without a doubt, this is one of my proudest moments as a UC student, said UCLA undergraduate and Bruins for Israel Vice President Arielle Mokhtarzadeh, who traveled from Westwood to address the regents.

But Liz Jackson, an attorney with Palestine Legal in Oakland, called the statement absurd and said reports of widespread anti-Semitism on campus have been grossly exaggerated. She said her organization has documented many more cases of suppression of students advocating for Palestinian rights, including 76 on California campuses last year.

The issue has sharply divided students and faculty throughout UC and prompted a flood of dueling petitions, letters and articles since the intolerance report was released last week. UC President Janet Napolitano said she had received roughly 1,000 emails about the matter.

At a packed board meeting here, Regent Norman J. Pattiz suggested that the statement be modified to address concerns raised by the UC Academic Council and others.

The council, which represents faculty across the 10-campus system, sent the regents a letter saying the unamended statement would harm academic freedom and cause needless and expensive litigation, embarrassing to the university, to sort out the difference between intolerance on the one hand, and protected debate and study of Zionism and its alternatives on the other.

Students and faculty who attended the meeting made passionate arguments for both sides. Several of them cited their family histories as Holocaust survivors or as Palestinians living under Israeli occupation of their traditional lands.

Omar Zahzah, a UCLA graduate student in comparative literature, told regents his relatives were forced from their homes with the creation of Israel in 1948. He said the original statement was an attempt to silence the voices of those advocating for Palestinian rights.

Is there no place for us? he asked the regents. Are our stories and our struggles  simply meant to be built over, forgotten?

But Abraham Avi Oved, a student regent whose parents were born in Israel, said the statement unequivocally embraces the 1st Amendment while protecting students who have been called Zionist pigs or been told that Zionists should be sent back to the gas chambers.

Charles F. Robinson, the boards general counsel, told regents that the revised statements were lawful on their face as they did not impose a ban on any speech or behavior or provide a basis for sanctions against any UC member.

The drive for the UC statement was led by the Amcha Initiative, a group that combats anti-Jewish bias on college campuses. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, the groups director and a lecturer at UC Santa Cruz, said campus demonstrations against Israeli policies and calls for the university to divest from firms with financial ties to Israels military have created blowback for Jewish students.

Rossman-Benjamin said supporters of the intolerance statement  including major American Jewish organizations, former UC President Mark Yudof and more than 4,000 UC students, faculty, alumni, parents and donors  had no intention of suppressing free speech. Rather, they aimed to raise awareness of how anti-Israel activities have led to harassment and hostility toward Jewish students, she said.

Students have complained about such campus actions as mock military checkpoints set up by Palestinian-rights activists during Israel Apartheid Week and comments by a professor about Israeli airstrikes.

But both the U.S. Department of Educations civil-rights office and a federal judge have dismissed complaints by Jewish UC students that such activities have created a hostile climate and violated their educational rights.

In the university environment, exposure to such robust and discordant expression, even when personally offensive and hurtful, is a circumstance that a reasonable student in higher education may experience, the civil-rights office said in 2013.

The new report was prepared by an eight-person group representing regents, students, faculty and administrators. It includes a contextual statement that accepts a link between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

Opposition to Zionism often is expressed in ways that are not simply statements of disagreement over politics and policy, but also assertions of prejudice and intolerance toward Jewish people and culture, the statement says. Anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.

But the statement also asserts that 1st Amendment principles must be paramount in guiding responses to acts of bias, including harassment, threats, assaults and vandalism. In addition to Jewish students, it includes concerns raised about bias directed at Muslims, African Americans, immigrant-rights supporters and the LGBT community.

The regents did not specify the kind of speech that would be considered out of bounds. But Rossman-Benjamin said any call for the destruction of Israel ought to be included.

Mokhtarzadeh, the UCLA student, said she would regard comparisons of Israelis to Nazis or of Gaza to concentration camps as unacceptable bias.

If confronted by such speech she said she would first try to talk with students to dissuade them from making such comparisons. But if that didnt work, she said she would report the speech to administrators and hope they would condemn it.

Reem Suleiman, a 2014 UCLA graduate whose grandparents were forced from their home in Haifa in 1948, said the amended statement was better. But she and others remained uneasy over whether it would be used by Israel advocacy groups to shut down efforts to share Palestinian views.

Zahzah said that fear was quickly realized Wednesday, when someone in the crowd called him an anti-Semite when he asked regents if the Palestinian story would be snuffed out on campuses.

But Zahzah said he would not be cowed into silence. The only thing to do is continue speaking out about the treatment of Palestinians under Israel.

Dianne Klein, UC spokeswoman, said the report on intolerance was not university policy but reflected regents expression of their belief in tolerance and disapproval of anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination. She said she hoped it would prompt more education and nuanced conversations.

The counterbalance [to anti-Semitism] is more talk, she said. This is what a university is about. People should be exposed to new talk and new ideas.

For more education news, follow me @TeresaWatanabe

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A Vallejo woman and her boyfriend claim their civil rights were violated when Vallejo police went after the couple and called her kidnapping a hoax instead of helping them, according to a federal lawsuit.

Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn say the Vallejo Police Department and the city destroyed their reputations through an outrageous and wholly unfounded campaign of disparagement, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

They were forced to move out of town, according to the lawsuit.

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The Vallejo police attacked Denise and Aaron when they were most vulnerable, the couples attorney Kevin Clune said in a statement. By taking the all-too-common approach of blaming the victim, Vallejo made an already tragic situation infinitely worse. Vallejo must be held accountable for its egregious misconduct.

The Police Department and city did not respond to requests for comments.

Nearly a year ago, Huskins was kidnapped from the couples home in Vallejo. But instead of looking for Huskins kidnappers, Vallejo police focused their investigation on Quinn and his actions, according to the lawsuit.

Quinn told police that Huskins had been forcibly taken from the home sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. on March 23. Quinn said that he was bound and drugged, that his eyes were covered with goggles and that headphones playing prerecorded instructions were placed over his ears.

Quinn told police he later awoke to find Huskins, his belongings and his car missing. A voicemail message demanding two payments of $8,500 was left behind, according an unsealed federal affidavit by the FBI. He immediately called police.

As an investigation of Huskins disappearance was launched, Quinn voluntarily provided blood samples to police. He also provided passwords so that authorities could double-check his email activity.

Two days later, Huskins was dropped off at her familys home in Huntington Beach. Authorities arranged a flight for Huskins to Northern California to interview her.

But when she never got on the plane, police grew suspicious and said the kidnapping appeared to be an orchestrated event, a wild goose chase and a waste of police resources.

The couples attorneys insisted the kidnapping was real.

Four months later, the FBI announced that they had found Huskins kidnapper -- Matthew Muller, a Harvard-educated former attorney.

The FBI met with local law enforcement and determined there were similarities between Huskins kidnapping and a home invasion robbery on June 5 in Dublin, Calif.

While [Vallejo Police Department] focused on unsubstantiated theories and ignored evidence, Huskins endured unimaginable terror and a violent assault, according to the lawsuit.

Huskins and Quinn said the department has yet to provide evidence to justify why Huskins kidnapping was believed to be a ruse.

The lawsuit specifically names two Vallejo police investigators, Lt. Kenny Park, who called the kidnapping a hoax, and Det. Mathew Mustard, who interrogated Quinn.

The lawsuit alleges the Police Departments investigation was misguided, and instead of focusing on finding the true perpetrator  and protecting the community from a violent predator, defendants attacked plaintiffs and plaintiffs families, created a destructive nationwide media frenzy through public statements accusing plaintiffs of faking Denises kidnapping and rape and rubbed salt in plaintiffs fresh wounds in the days and weeks following the attacks.

The couple is seeking a monetary judgment for the distress they suffered, according to the lawsuit.

For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA.
The Senate majority is in play, with Republicans defending twice as many seats as Democrats this fall to retain control of the chamber. The current split, 54-46, means Democrats need to pick up at least four seats to seize the majority, assuming the party also wins the White House and a Democratic vice president could break the tie. They'd need five seats if a Republican is president. Unlike in 2014, the math favors Democrats because Republicans are defending 24 seats in the fall, including several in blue states that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. Voters are notably restless. But senators can sometimes ride waves distinct from the national mood, in races more dependent on home-state conditions. Here are some of the seats most at risk.

REPUBLICANS

Kelly Ayotte | New Hampshire

(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: In one of the true toss-ups, the race is expected to be an epic battle between Ayotte and Gov. Maggie Hassan, two of the state's most popular politicians, according to the Cook Political Report. Ayotte, first elected on a tea party wave, is seeking a second term as a more moderate Republican, but faces criticism from Democrats for being too conservative for swing state.

Roy Blunt | Missouri

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

How the state voted

2008: McCain 2012: Romney

Outlook: Blunt, a seasoned lawmaker, is favored for another term in the Show Me State, which leans increasingly Republican. But Democrats will try to put Missouri in play with resources behind Jason Kander, the youthful secretary of state.

John Boozman | Arkansas

(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: McCain 2012: Romney

Outlook: Arkansas appears increasingly out of reach for Democrats, even though Boozman showed early signs of vulnerability. But he handily dispatched primary challengers and Cook puts the race in the "solid Republican" column. That tough environment isn't stopping Democrats from making a run with former U.S. Atty. Conner Eldridge in the state that gave the country Bill Clinton.

Richard Burr | North Carolina

(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Romney

Outlook: Ever since President Obama won North Carolina in 2008, Democrats have refused to give up on the Tar Heel State despite repeated losses there. Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is popular enough at home but faces a decent challenge from Deborah Ross, a former state senator and ACLU official, in what promises to be a costly and contested race.

Charles E. Grassley | Iowa

(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: Grassley is so popular in Iowa that his tradition of visiting all 99 counties, dubbed the "full Grassley," is now requisite practice by others hoping to achieve his stature. The 82-year-old would have been a shoo-in for a seventh term if not for his pivotal role blocking Obama's Supreme Court nominee as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The entrance of former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge makes the race "worth watching," Cook said.

Ron Johnson | Wisconsin

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: It's do-over time. Johnson, a conservative businessman first elected on the tea party wave, will face the former senator he ousted, Russ Feingold, a progressive stalwart. Expect money and resources to flow in what will become a defining battleground not only for White House, but control of the Senate.

Mark Kirk | Illinois

(Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: Kirk is perhaps the Senate's most vulnerable Republican. A conservative willing to buck party leadership, Kirk rebounded after suffering a serious stroke during his first term. He faces Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a former Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost her legs after being shot down during the Iraq War. The race will be an intense, and costly, battle of compelling personal narratives and hardball politics. Obama's popularity in his adopted home state is one reason Kirk often splits from his party. He has been among the few Republicans to support giving the president's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland a confirmation vote in the Senate.

John McCain | Arizona

(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: McCain 2012: Romney

Outlook: McCain, who turns 80 this year, shows zero signs of slowing down, despite attacks from the tea party right and Democratic left. He is favored to win a sixth term but faces a potentially strong challenge from former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, if Democrats decide to invest the resources to try to make a play.

Rob Portman | Ohio

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: In a state that is famously hard to predict, Portman faces former Gov. Ted Strickland in what promises to be a battle royal. But Portman is a likable senator, a moderate conservative by contemporary standards, and may prove tough to defeat. Strickland brings strong experience but also criticism as "Retread Ted" for his tenure. Expect a long and tough race.

Patrick Toomey | Pennsylvania

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: Toomey, a conservative in a swing state, should be easy enough to beat. But the Pennsylvania race is a reminder that candidates matter. Democrats are struggling to unite behind several possible challengers, including former Rep. Joe Sestak and Kate McGinty, a former aide to Vice President Al Gore. Until the internal battle is sorted in the April 26 primary, Toomey will have an easier time, but the race favors Democrats.

Florida (open seat)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: Florida will be a costly battleground for control of the Senate. Marco Rubio's seat is up for grabs after he decided not to seek reelection, and the race to replace him has erupted in a wide-open primary contest that won't be decided until Aug. 30. Stay tuned. It's bound to be one to watch at every step.

DEMOCRATS

Michael Bennet | Colorado

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: Bennet's decisive 2010 win as a Democrat amid a tea party wave was so notable that "Bannock Street," where his successful campaign headquarters was located, became the moniker for a national Democratic Party project to increase turnout. This year, reelection should be difficult for him. But so far, Republicans have not yet settled on a challenger, with a primary set for June. 28.

Nevada (open seat)

How the state voted

2008: Obama 2012: Obama

Outlook: The open seat gives Republicans their best chance for a pick-up, but not without one last fight from Sen. Harry Reid, who is retiring after 30 years. The Democratic leader tapped former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto as his replacement on the same day he announced he was stepping down. She faces Rep. Joe Heck, a medical doctor and Army reservist. He has a strong resume but a more middling performance in Congress. And now Heck faces a surprise challenge from Sharron Angle, a hard-right former tea party lawmaker who lost to Reid.

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Jeb Bush endorses Ted Cruz

I am endorsing @TedCruz. Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has shown he can unite the party. https://t.co/znDl9GrNZC  Jeb Bush (@JebBush) March 23, 2016

Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz in the GOP presidential race Wednesday, arguing that he was the best candidate to take on the partys front-runner, Donald Trump.

For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies, Bush said in a statement released early Wednesday.

Bush and Cruz make for odd political bedfellows.

Bush, the former governor of Florida, was the presumed GOP front-runner when he entered the race last summer with an enormous fundraising edge, expected to capture the support of establishment Republicans. Facing an angry electorate who disdained his familial relationships to the last two GOP presidents  his brother and his father -- Bush never caught on. He dropped out of the race in February after disappointing finishes in the early-voting states.

Cruz, the Texas senator, is a tea party firebrand who has alienated his Republican colleagues in Washington with his intransigence.

Many speculated that Bush would endorse Sen. Marco Rubio before that candidate dropped out of the race earlier this month after faring poorly in their shared home state of Florida. Bush is ideologically and temperamentally more aligned with Rubio, his one-time protege, than with Cruz.

But its not surprising Bush decided to cast his support behind Cruz as part of a growing GOP effort to stop Trump.

The business-mogul-turned-reality-television star relished needling Bush and his family throughout the campaign, labeling Bush as low energy and accusing his brother, President George W. Bush, of failing to keep the nation safe from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and lying about his decision to invade Iraq. The attacks continued long after Jeb Bush was an afterthought in the GOP presidential race.

Bush is arguably more aligned with Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- the other candidate still standing in the GOP nomination contest -- but Kasich has failed to showed viability at the polls aside from in his home state. Bush pointed toward electability in his statement endorsing Cruz.

Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, Bush said. Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential.
When Donald Trump said in February that he hoped to be a neutral party in the century-old dispute between Israelis and Palestinians, he probably had no idea what he was wading into. He doesnt know a whole lot about foreign policy, and to an ordinary person, a neutral arbiter no doubt sounds like a good thing to have in a conflict between two intransigent enemies.

And it is, if what Trump meant was that the United States should be an honest broker working to build trust between the parties and injecting a measure of reason into an extraordinarily emotional debate. Thats exactly the role the U.S. should play.

But in the cynical world of American political campaigns, you just dont say such things about the Israelis and the Palestinians. Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz know that well, and thats why they blasted Trump at a meeting Monday of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

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America cant ever be neutral when it comes to Israels security or survival, Clinton said. Because in Israels story, we see our own, and the story of all people who struggle for freedom and self-determination.

Let me be very, very clear, Ted Cruz told AIPAC. As president I will not be neutral. America will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel.

But did Trump really say something so wrong? It is absolutely true that the United States has a long-standing alliance and a strong bond with Israel. The U.S. (and this page) support Israels right to live safely and securely within well-defined borders, free from suicide bombers, defended from enemies. There is no reason the U.S. shouldnt articulate those positions or reassert its long, close cultural, political and strategic relationship with Israel.

But that should be matched by strong support for a fair, equitable two-state resolution to the conflict. The problem with the no neutrality pledge is that it inevitably privileges the Israeli point of view over the Palestinian point of view at the negotiating table. It makes it more difficult for Palestinians and their leaders to trust the U.S. It reflects and entrenches an American reluctance to criticize Israel when it builds new settlements, uses disproportionate force or seeks to muzzle its detractors. It means the U.S. is too often seen by the world not as an honest broker but as Israels lawyer.

Four years ago, candidate Mitt Romney said, We will not have an inch of difference between ourselves and our ally Israel, and that if he had a question, Id get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say, Would it help if I say this? What would you like me to do?

Thats ridiculous. American presidents must remain independent and make their own decisions for the good of the country they lead. If they disagree with Israeli leaders, they must feel free to say so, just as they must be free to criticize Palestinian leaders if they encourage or condone violence against Israelis or dont live up to their agreements.

Donald Trumps foreign policy ideas are usually simplistic, if not ignorant. But even a stopped clock....

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Last week, a UC Regents working group released a proposed set of Principles Against Intolerance, created in response to a series of anti-Semitic incidents on UC campuses. On March 23, the Regents will vote on whether to officially adopt those principles. Controversially, the document not only condemns anti-Semitism, but also anti-Zionism.

We asked UC faculty members to argue for and against the statement. Read the opposing view here.

----

As a professor at UCLA since 1969 and a witness to the rapid deterioration of our campus climate, I believe the working groups statement is a genuine attempt to deal with a lingering problem that has caused Jewish students and their allies a great deal of agony, interfered with their studies and severely tarnished the reputation of our university system.

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Some critics, including the Los Angeles Times editorial board, object to the statement because it conflates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism.

Thats not the case. A careful reading reveals that exactly the opposite is true; the statement explicitly separates the two issues, saying: Anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.

The statement, in other words, condemns anti-Zionism not because it closely mimics anti-Semitism, but on its own terms  and rightly so.

Anti-Semitism targets Jews as individuals; anti-Zionism targets Jews as a people. Anti-Semitism would deny Jews equal standing as human beings; anti-Zionism would ban Israel from equal membership in the family of nations.

If we examine anti-Zionist ideology closely, we see that its aims are: to uproot one people, the Jewish people, from its homeland, to take away its ability to defend itself in sovereignty, and to delegitimize its historical identity. It is racist and fundamentally eliminationist.

Existing UC guidelines opposing anti-Semitism are grossly inadequate in curbing the current wave of anti-Jewish hostilities on campuses, which by and large are directed not against those who practice their religion but against those suspected of supporting Israel.

Zionism sustains the lives, creativity, dignity and identity of millions of peace-seeking and war-weary human beings.

For instance, the words Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber were found on a bathroom wall at UC Berkeley in March 2015.

Anti-Jewish factions on UC campuses and elsewhere defend themselves by saying: I love Jews, it is only the Zionist Jews that I hate. But thats a hateful cliche, and a nonsensical one. Theyre attempting to separate Jews from the defining symbol of their historical identity, which is impossible.

Another line of attack against the working groups statement is that it will harm free speech. Again, thats not the case.

The 1st Amendment protects anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and white supremacist speech; nevertheless, its socially unacceptable to vent racist views publicly. Just so, the UC regents have not banned anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or white supremacist speech, and do not propose to ban anti-Zionist speech; rather, the regents rightly want to make it clear that the latter is beyond the pale of civil discourse.

So if the regents adopt the principles against intolerance, they wont officially restrict free expression. But, and here is an important distinction, they will send a message to the community that anti-Zionism, like Islamophobia and other hateful ideologies, has no place, culturally, at the University of California.

Some critics object to comparing Zionophobia with Islamophobia, as I have, arguing that Zionism is a political belief while Islam is a religion. In the modern court of ethics, however, religion does not have a monopoly on human sensitivity. That is to say, religions are not entitled to a greater protection from discrimination than other identity-forming narratives, including those based on race, gender, national origin or historical lore.

On UC campuses today we find a glaring imbalance: Islamophobia is considered a great sin, while Zionophobia is considered politically cutting-edge, almost cool, like Maoism in the 1960s.

The regents report now reminds us that Zionism has a moral dimension to it that goes beyond political opinion. Zionism sustains the lives, creativity, dignity and identity of millions of peace-seeking and war-weary human beings. To assert that Israel should not exist is, then, not merely controversial, like asserting that the income tax should not exist; it is also thoroughly annihilating and thoroughly inappropriate on UC campuses.

Judea Pearl is Chancellors professor at UCLA, specializing in artificial intelligence and human reasoning. He is the president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, named after his son.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Tuesdays terrorist attacks in Brussels raise two key questions: Were they related to Salah Abdeslams arrest last week and, if so, how?

It seems unlikely that the attacks were revenge for the capture of Abdeslam, the top suspect in last years Paris attacks, because not only was he a relative nonentity in Islamic State circles but also a symbolic liability to the brand: Here is a man who reportedly walked away from a martyrdom operation, leaving his colleagues to do all the dirty work, so to speak. In other words, he isnt someone whom any other militant is likely to have sacrificed himself for. In fact, it is probable that, after Abdeslams arrest, he would have been regarded as a threat to the wider network of terrorists in Belgium.

The nature and scope of his relationship with this network are unclear, but without it or the wider criminal milieu in which it is intricately embedded, Abdeslam wouldnt have been able to evade capture for so long. When he was captured, police found stockpiles of weapons at the flat where he was hiding.

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Speaking of the arrest, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said that Abdeslam was ready to restart something in Brussels  because we have found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons, in the first investigations and we have found a new network around him in Brussels. For the moment, he said, we have found more than 30 people involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris, but we are sure there are others.

According to Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization in London, the Brussels attack suggests the existence of a broad terrorist network  already primed and ready to attack, long before police caught up with Abdeslam. This seems plausible. But its also plausible that its mobilization Tuesday was directly related to Abdeslams arrest. In fact, it may well have been the impetus for it, pushing the network to expedite its plans in order to preempt any heat from investigators, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with whom Abdeslam has apparently been cooperating.

It is possible that rather than scattering or shutting down the [terrorist] cell with which Abdeslam was associated, his capture accelerated the [attack].

Abdeslams network may have decided it had a choice: Either attack at a time of its own choosing, or wait for a climactic showdown with the security forces, where the costs to civilian life would be limited. The networks leaders seemingly chose the first option, perhaps reasoning that it would generate greater publicity, and greater torment and pain.

On the evening of Abdeslam capture, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel announced, Tonight, we are celebrating a victory. Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon echoed this. I think its a big blow, because [Abdeslam] is one of the most wanted foreign fighters in Europe, he told CNN. Belgian security chief Jaak Raes was similarly sanguine, telling VTM News on the same day that it was of the utmost importance that Abdeslam was captured alive, because we can now try to reconstruct the entire scenario  [and] learn lessons from the information that is gleaned.

Siobhan OGrady, in a Foreign Policy article titled Capture of a Paris Ringleader Could Lead to Intelligence Bonanza, paraphrased Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer and director of special projects at a security-intelligence firm in New York: The priority in the immediate aftermath of [Abdeslams] arrest will be finding out what the Islamic State has planned next.

Skinner also told her that the downside to Abdeslams dramatic capture  is that other members of the militants cell would have immediately heard about it and will now try to scatter or shut down.

No one yet knows exactly who perpetrated the attacks, how they did it, or why. But it is possible that rather than scattering or shutting down the cell with which Abdeslam was associated, his capture accelerated the violent denouement the cell had long been planning. It is a common argument on the left that killing terrorists is counterproductive, serving to further radicalize the communities in whose name they proclaim to act. But it now seems that capturing terrorists may also have dark, unintended consequences, dangerously raising the stakes for those in the wider terrorist network and for their potential victims.

Simon Cottee is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent in Britain and the author of The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

MORE FROM THE OPINION SECTION:

Ignore Cruz and Trump  scapegoating Muslims is an un-American response to the Brussels attacks

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In an attempt to keep prying public eyes away from how prison systems obtain execution drugs, states across the country have dropped veils of secrecy over the procurement process, refusing to identify its lethal-injection drug sources under the argument that the providers deserved privacy because they were part of the execution team.

No, they arent.

A Missouri judge on Monday tossed out that states secrecy protection by drilling into the obvious: Just because you buy execution drugs from a pharmacy doesnt mean the pharmacy is part of your execution team.

Under Missouri law, people who administer or provide direct support for the administration of the lethal chemicals in an execution are shielded from being identified publicly. That means prison guards, nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists or others in the execution chamber and involved in the execution.

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Missouri, which is appealing the judges decision, sought to extend that definition of the execution team to include the people and businesses that supply the execution drugs. There may be defensible reasons for not identifying the people directly engaged in the execution itself, including protection against potential retaliation. Though its problematic that part of the impetus is to hide the identities of medical professionals taking part in executions to protect them from disclosure to professional organizations, such as the American Medical Assn., which see such participation as a violation of professional ethics.

But hiding the identities of the pharmacies is political, a desire to protect the businesses from public protest, and thats an insufficient reason to keep any government record secret.

Over the last few years, as opposition to the death penalty has grown, pharmaceutical companies have withdrawn their products for use in executions, or stopped making them altogether, to avoid running afoul of European proscriptions against exporting drugs to be used in executions. So states have gone to absurd lengths to find alternative sources, including Missouri sending a corrections officer with $11,000 to neighboring Oklahoma to score some pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy not licensed to sell drugs in Missouri. Officials in Texas, Arizona and Nebraska turned to a shadowy importer to try to sneak the drugs in from India.

This is what states like Missouri are trying to hide: their own questionable actions in trying to fulfill death sentences. In fact, Oklahoma has halted its executions after it was discovered the state had used the wrong drug in at least one execution and was about to use it in another controversial case. Oklahoma has an execution-secrecy law, and one of the men killed with the wrong drug had sought to delay his execution so he could challenge the constitutionality of the states drug of choice. Turns out he may have had a point.

There are a lot of reasons the death penalty should go. Broadly, no state should be given the right to kill its own citizens. From a more practical standpoint, its an expensive process, serves no deterrence nor judicial goal, is state-sanctioned vengeance rather than justice, is applied unequally and disproportionately against people of color, is handed down in a judicial system too easily gamed by unscrupulous investigators and prosecutors (not to mention politicking judges), and it is at heart a barbaric act.

And capital punishment has become so contrary to American societal norms that here in the land of the quick buck, even the business world has turned its back on the practice.

But, to our shame, its still on the books in 31 states and within the federal and military court systems. If execution by lethal injection is a defensible exercise of government power, then it ought to be conducted as transparently as possible - especially given our history of not only botching the convictions, but also the executions.

Follow Scott Martelle on Twitter @smartelle.
To the editor: Whether you agree with it or not, President Obamas visit to Cuba is truly historic, the first by a U.S. president since 1928, opening up doors to a country just 90 miles from the U.S. that has had frigid and acrimonious relations with us since it declared itself communist in 1961. (This is a historic visit and a historic opportunity, President Obama says in Cuba, March 20)

Though Obama has been much maligned by many in the U.S., in addition to reopening relations with Cuba he has accomplished such important things as becoming our countrys first African American president, establishing a historic nuclear deal with Iran, instituting our countrys first universal healthcare system and appointing our nations first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman, Huntington Beach

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..

To the editor: Obamas trip to Cuba is a commendable effort to change the relationship of the two historically hostile countries.

Many critics of his administration think he should emphasize human rights violations, such as the 2 million-plus people behind bars, the thousands of people rotting in jails who have not been convicted of anything but are too poor to make bail, the continued existence of the death penalty, the unarmed black men and women who are killed with impunity by police, the existence of for-profit prisons, the unequal penalties for blacks convicted of a crime versus whites, the thousands of women who are being deprived of their reproductive rights, the legacy of slavery and the 30,000 people deprived of their right to life every year because of gun violence.

Yes, Obama should bring up these human rights violations with the Cuban leadership.

Sam Platts, Sylmar

..

To the editor: I was struck by Cuban defector Leonid Castros words that closed this article. He said that in Cuba, prices get higher but salaries dont. (President Obama is coming to Cuba today. So why are so many Cubans leaving? March 19)

He may find thats exactly the same complaint many Americans have about the United States. The American dream may not be easy to achieve, as there are many U.S. citizens who are not even living it.

Vickie Casas, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday sought to position herself as the only candidate equipped to deal with international terrorism at a time her Republican rivals are calling for police monitoring of American Muslim communities, rethinking of Americas alliance with NATO and carpet bombing in the Middle East.

In tone, in body language and in the content of her speech at Stanford University, Clinton drew a stark contrast with Republicans Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, whose remarks in the wake of the Brussels bombings she labeled as incendiary and dangerous.

The speech offered a preview of the approach Clinton plans to take not just toward terrorism but also toward either of the Republicans in a general election matchup.

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The remarks came on a day when Clinton and her Democratic rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, were in California, a delegate-rich state where both campaigns intend to fight fiercely for votes, even as Clinton is on track to have the nomination largely sewn up by the time the states voters go to the polls in June.

In keeping with the state of the Democratic race, Clintons attention was not Sanders when she stepped onto the podium to talk about terrorism. Instead, she focused on the Republicans.

We need to rely on what actually works, not bluster that alienates our partners and doesnt make us any safer, Clinton said.

We face an adversary that is constantly adapting and operating across multiple theaters, she said. Our response must be just as nimble and far reaching. We need to reinforce the alliances that have been pillars of American power for decades.

Clinton said Cruzs remarks about carpet-bombing the Islamic State militants into oblivion were reckless and demonstrated that he was in over his head.

Trumps call to use torture in the fight against terrorists puts our own troops and, increasingly our own civilians, at risk, she said. And Trumps call to reevaluate Americas relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would reverse decades of bipartisan leadership and send a dangerous signal.

Clinton also used the speech at Stanford, which is deeply connected to Silicon Valleys technology companies, to put the industry on notice that she expects more help in combating terrorism.

Although the FBI may have found a workaround in its dispute with Apple over unlocking an encrypted phone used in the San Bernardino terrorist attack, more disputes are certain to come, she said. She called for a national commission on encryption that would seek solutions to protecting privacy while giving law enforcement the tools it needs to tack down terrorists.

Impenetrable encryption provides significant cybersecurity advantages, but it may also make it harder for law enforcement, Clinton said. ISIS knows this.

The speech overall set out in detail a message that Clinton has telegraphed in campaign appearances -- her claim that she is the lone experienced hand in the race, the only candidate equipped to lead the country through dangerous times and hold together the international alliances crucial to maintaining Americas dominance in the world and keeping its citizens safe.

Clinton spoke in a calm, measured tone, seemingly designed to create an image of statesmanship in contrast to her GOP rivals, whose blustery comments after the Brussels bombing grew increasingly provocative with each cable news interview.

Republicans, however, remain confident that foreign policy remains a major weakness for Clinton, who was secretary of State under an administration that has failed to contain Islamic State, also called ISIS.

Just watched Hillary deliver a prepackaged speech on terror, Trump tweeted. Shes been in office fighting terror for 20 years - and look where we are!

Clinton mapped out a strategy for containing Islamic State that relies on bolstering the NATO alliance, stepping up support for allies in the Middle East and redoubling efforts to use technology to combat terrorism.

For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations have understood our alliances have made us stronger, she said.

Allies extend our reach, share intelligence, provide troops, she said, slamming Trumps plans to insist that U.S. allies pay the cost of American backing. Turning our alliance into a protection racket would reverse decades of bipartisan leadership and send a dangerous signal to friend and foe alike, she said.

In recent interviews with the Washington Post and CNN, Trump has said that the NATO alliance costs America too much money. As president he would reevaluate the financial arrangements, he said.

Clinton said such an approach would delight Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is eager to divide the alliance.

If Mr. Trump gets his way, it will be like Christmas in the Kremlin, she said. It will make America less safe and the world more dangerous.

Clinton said the call by Trump and Cruz for surveillance of American Muslim communities suggests they have a fundamental misunderstanding of where the dangers lie.

These Americans are a crucial line of defense against terrorism, she said. They are most likely to recognize the warning sign of radicalization.

She quoted New York Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, who said Wednesday that Cruz doesnt know what the hell he is talking about.

For more on Campaign 2016, follow @EvanHalper.

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Terrorism again collides with the 2016 campaign

Clinton wins Arizona primary; Sanders takes Utah and Idaho caucuses

Hours after Trump wins Arizona, Jeb Bush endorses Ted Cruz
Terrorism roared into the presidential campaign again on Tuesday, dividing it familiarly: Donald Trump played to fear, a trailing Republican candidate tried to out-Trump Trump, and the rest of the field offered proposals that were sober and yet unlikely to make Americans feel safe as chaos played out on their television screens.

If past terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino offer any guide, Trump and Hillary Clinton will benefit from the assault in Brussels, to the detriment of challengers whose path to success narrowed further with Tuesdays primary results. Their stances Tuesday outlined the general-election battle to come.

Trump won Tuesdays Republican primary in Arizona largely due to his anti-immigration positions  both his tough stance against those in the country illegally, mostly from Mexico, and his vow to ban Muslims from entering the country.

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The horror in Belgium gave him an opportunity to suggest, in several television interviews, that he had been prescient about the threat of terrorism and to press again the idea that he alone could provide the strength the nation needs to fight it abroad and at home. He once more advocated the use of tactics that the U.S. government considers to be torture.

Clinton succeeded in Arizona, as she has in other states, by arguing that she has the experience to step into the role of commander in chief while pushing liberal domestic policies. She, too, had an opportunity Tuesday to highlight her time on the world stage  and she quickly scheduled a Wednesday speech on Islamic State and counter-terrorism.

The attacks in Brussels seemed most likely to hurt Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican John Kasich. For both men, the rise of foreign policy as a voter concern is risky.

Foreign policy has been a weak point for Sanders; his foreign policy speech Monday focused mostly on Israel, not how to deal with Islamic State. Throughout the campaign, his passion has been reserved for domestic proposals. His biggest foreign policy discussion has involved Clintons 2002 vote giving President George W. Bush the authority to wage war in Iraq.

Kasich, the Ohio governor, is fighting for public attention as he pushes his late challenge to Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; the overwhelming coverage of explosions in the Belgian capital meant less focus on the presidential campaign overall, and Kasich in particular.

He, too, has emphasized his domestic credentials both in Ohio and, earlier, as a member of Congress. On treatment of immigrants and Muslims, he also has presented a more moderate face than Trump or Cruz.

The Texas senator, the Republican closest to Trump in delegates, worked Tuesday to hone a Trump-like message. He asserted in a statement that it was time to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized  a controversial path that national security officials describe as counterproductive to their goal of winning the cooperation of Muslim communities.

A statement put out by his campaign said that political correctness had caused America to surrender to the enemy  language that mimics Trumps regular broadsides.

The impact of the terrorist attacks on the general election is highly unpredictable at this point, dependent in part on whether more occur and how, by November, voters judge President Obamas handling of the threat. While Clinton has been more statesman-like in her response to the attacks so far, she risks some damage from her close association with the president if the issue becomes a telling one in the general election.

Diving swiftly into a foreign policy debate on the heels of a terrorist attack can be politically risky, as 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney found with scorching criticism of his early comments on the Benghazi attacks that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others. But there was little hesitation Tuesday.

Clinton seemed to have the general election in mind, offering remarks that were measured in tone. The comments by Trump and Cruz, aired in multiple interviews, may have been meant to rouse Republican voters, but their vehemence suggested that the outlines of the general-election debate were also being laid.

Trump has benefited politically from terrorist attacks; his calls for banning Muslims from entering the country and his negative characterizations of those in the country illegally has dovetailed with voter concerns about terrorism that ran high before the Paris and San Bernardino attacks late last year and have only escalated since. And as fear has risen, voters have gravitated not to the candidate with the most foreign policy experience but to the one who talked the toughest.

Trump made clear Tuesday he has not abandoned that approach. Throughout the day, he cast the United States as foolhardy for refusing to torture captured terrorists. In one interview, with Fox and Friends, he said that immigrants with ISIS-generated passports were coming into our country, theyre coming in by the thousands.

Look, I think we have to change our law on the waterboarding thing, he told CNNs Wolf Blitzer, referring to one tactic the U.S. has deemed torture. We have to change our laws and we have to be able to fight on an almost equal basis.

When Blitzer pointed out that one alleged terrorist arrested last week was cooperating with Belgian authorities, Trump replied that he may be talking, but hell talk a lot faster with the torture.

In keeping with much of his campaign, what Trump forwarded Tuesday was less specific proposals than chest-pounding.

We are going to be very strong. We are going to be very vigilant and were going to be very tough, he said during an interview on NBCs Today show. Were not going to allow this to happen to our country. If it does happen, were going to find the people that did it and theyre going to suffer greatly.

Clinton, who issued a statement Tuesday calling for resolve and for the U.S. to stand with allies in a united fight against terrorists, cast the Republican front-runner as fear-mongering.

Yes, there are people who are understandably worried and scared. Absolutely, she said in an interview with MSNBC. And is it the responsibility of leaders to help people understand what can be done to allay their fears? Yes. I dont think we want to be inciting more fears. I dont think we want to be playing to peoples concerns so that we turn against one another.

I think we have to have a slow, steady, smart, strong response and we dont need to be panicking... Thats what Ive been advocating. Thats what I believe I am best equipped to do.

She returned to that theme in a speech Tuesday night in Seattle, where she said the next commander in chief must provide leadership that is strong, smart and above all steady.

The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders that incite more fear, she said. It will not keep us safe.

The nomination battles will go on for two more months, through the final big primaries in June. The debate over how to keep the country safe will endure much longer, through the general election in November and beyond.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter: @cathleendecker . For more on politics, go to latimes.com/decker.

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Californias June primary just became crucial in the race for the White House

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Live coverage from the campaign trail
A thousand miles to the west, Donald Trump was winning another primary on his march toward the Republican nomination, but in a conference room outside St. Louis on Tuesday night, a dozen Republican voters voiced doubts.

Trump terrifies me, said Cassandra Westerhold, 33, who was the New York moguls strongest critic in the group.

Others, though less emphatic, voiced similar worries. This should not be reality TV, said Cherri Crenshaw, 48, who voted for Sen. Ted Cruz in Missouris primary this month. The president has real responsibilities.

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Concerns about Trump from the assembled voters  six men, six women, among them a retired engineer, a teacher, a sales manager, a homemaker  were widely shared. But even among his detractors, few voiced much enthusiasm for the stop Trump efforts being pushed by some Republican establishment figures.

And their worries about Trump did not track with those that currently preoccupy Washington.

Foreign policy?

Hell learn, several said.

Unrealistic promises?

Most in the group said they didnt expect Trump would really build a wall on the Mexican border. Thats not the point, they made clear.

Instead, most said they admired Trump as a tough guy in a dangerous world. And while even several of his backers worried about his potential to divide the country, they also valued the fact that with every impolitic remark, Trump shows that hes not a member of a political elite whom they blame for allowing the country to change in ways they find disturbing.

Politicians in Washington are now freaking out about Trump winning the nomination, said Gail Capelovitch, a 57-year-old data specialist. They have nobody but themselves to blame for putting Donald Trump in the fast lane.

Why not support Trump, she added. Given what weve had the last 20, 30 years, why not?

The focus group was convened as part of a yearlong project on voter attitudes sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, which allowed reporters to watch the session. The 12 participants largely mirrored the GOP electorate: All were white, their average age was around 50, seven had graduated from college, and several spoke openly about how their religious faith shaped their political views.

Of the 12, about half voted for Trump in Missouris primary, in which he narrowly defeated Cruz.

Most, whether they voted for Trump or not, said they would definitely support him as the Republican nominee against Hillary Clinton, whom they unanimously despised.

Evil, power hungry unethical and deplorable were among the adjectives that rushed out when the groups moderator, the veteran pollster Peter Hart, asked for one-word descriptions of Clinton, the former secretary of State.

Not all were persuaded, however. At least three, all women, harbored reservations about Trumps character that left them undecided about what to do if he were on the ballot in November, even against Clinton. That, too, mirrored polling that has shown a significant percentage of GOP voters, particularly women, uncertain about whether they could back Trump as their partys nominee.

The reasons that members of the group offered, both for supporting Trump and for doubting him, did not center primarily on policies, but on attitudes.

Like many Republican voters, they expressed a strong sense of nostalgia for a bygone era, regarded the country as having gone badly off course and blamed a political class  including their own partys leaders  that they view as quarrelsome and ineffective.

Leave it to Beaver isnt realistic, said Anthony Casalone, 33, referring to the late-1950s sitcom that has become an iconic representation of white middle-class life in the Eisenhower era. But, he added, that time was a better time . Things were in a better place.

Members of the group struggled to think of anything the government does that they consider helpful to them or their families. Those programs that do benefit them didnt always register as government.

That disconnect that became clear when 69-year-old Joe Glass, a retired engineer, lauded Medicare as the best thing Ive had in my entire life only minutes after saying that the only worthwhile government program he could think of was a St. Louis County effort to remove dead trees from the streets near his home.

Indeed, much of what they like about Trump is his distance from all aspects of governing.

Hes different, hes not more of the same, said Jeremy Seavey, a 37-year-old software engineer. He doesnt have a vested interest in his political career, Seavey added, noting that win or lose, Trump would still have his companies.

Under President Obama, the country has gone so far wrong that most people would like to wipe the slate clean, and just start fresh, said Joyce Reinitz, a 61-year-old elementary school teacher. I believe thats what Donald Trump represents to a lot of people  a fresh start.

Trumps bluster and willingness  sometimes even eagerness  to offend liberal sensibilities served for these Republican voters as proof of his distinctiveness, even as it stoked their concerns about how he might behave in office.

He comes across as someone who is very decisive, said Gabrielle Ritter, a 39-year-old stay-at-home mom with three kids. His attitude, she said, is, Throw it at me, I can take anything, and that appeals to voters who are disillusioned and fed up.

On the other hand, she said, as president, you still have to play ball with other people. Unlike a business executive, a president cant sit at a boardroom table and say Im the president; were doing it.

Politicians tell you what you want to hear, said Steve Berman, 59, who was among Trumps biggest fans. Hes not a politician, and his willingness to say things at times that offend people provides the evidence, Berman said.

Whatever he says, he means. And I believe him, Berman said. But, he added later, If anythings going to get him in trouble, itll be his mouth.

Moderating his words, as Trump has tried to do in some appearances recently, could help him quiet the doubts some of the voters expressed. It could also, however, reduce his appeal, they indicated.

Filter it just a bit, said Crenshaw, when asked what advice she would give Trump. If hes president, hes representing the United States. He needs to show some dignity and have a presence about him thats respectable, she added. I wouldnt want it to be a joke.

On the other hand, said Glass, I dont want him to change his personality because then hes just going to be another politician.

Twitter: @davidlauter

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Washington establishment gets a full day of Donald Trump

Clinton takes on Trump and Cruz in Stanford speech on terrorism
Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz in the GOP presidential race Wednesday, arguing that he was the best candidate to take on the partys front-runner, Donald Trump.

For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obamas failed policies, Bush said in a statement released early Wednesday.

Bush and Cruz make for odd political bedfellows.

Bush, the former governor of Florida, was the presumed GOP front-runner when he entered the race last summer with an enormous fundraising edge, expected to capture the support of establishment Republicans. Facing an angry electorate who disdained his familial relationships to the last two GOP presidents  his brother and his father -- Bush never caught on. He dropped out of the race in February after disappointing finishes in the early-voting states.

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Cruz, the Texas senator, is a tea party firebrand who has alienated his Republican colleagues in Washington with his intransigence.

Many speculated that Bush would endorse Sen. Marco Rubio before that candidate dropped out of the race earlier this month after faring poorly in their shared home state of Florida. Bush is ideologically and temperamentally more aligned with Rubio, his one-time protege, than with Cruz.

But its not surprising Bush decided to cast his support behind Cruz as part of a growing GOP effort to stop Trump.

The business-mogul-turned-reality-television star relished needling Bush and his family throughout the campaign, labeling Bush as low energy and accusing his brother, President George W. Bush, of failing to keep the nation safe from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and lying about his decision to invade Iraq. The attacks continued long after Jeb Bush was an afterthought in the GOP presidential race.

Bush is arguably more aligned with Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- the other candidate still standing in the GOP nomination contest -- but Kasich has failed to showed viability at the polls aside from in his home state. Bush pointed toward electability in his statement endorsing Cruz.

Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, Bush said. Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential.
Bernie Sanders brought his campaign for the White House to San Diego Tuesday, electrifying more than 10,000 supporters who had stood for hours in a line a mile long to hear him speak.

The late-night rally at the bayfront San Diego Convention Center had a rock-concert atmosphere typical of many of Sanders events and the crowd exploded when the Vermont senator took the stage more than three hours after the doors opened.

Sanders touched on familiar campaign themes of getting big money out of politics, combating climate change, ensuring universal health care and making public colleges and universities tuition-free.

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He gave shout-out appeals to numerous groups, saying his campaign was listening to young people, disabled veterans, senior citizens, Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, women, gays, unauthorized immigrants and the economically disadvantaged.

Sanders pledged to make the rigged economy fair and redirect much of the spending on wars to address problems at home.

Together we are going to change the national priorities of this country, he shouted, his voice going hoarse. Together we are going to invest in our communities. Together we are gong to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and create millions of jobs.

He also lashed out in familiar fashion at various foes, including the billionaire-class, Wall Street, pharmaceutical companies, the Walmart-owning Walton family, vote-suppressing Republican governors, Donald Trump and, on campaign finance, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

He said the country is living under a corrupt campaign finance system, which is undermining American democracy because billionaires spend to elect those who represent the wealthy and the powerful.

Sanders said his campaign was about pursuing an economy that works for all of us, not just the one percent.

The rally capped a tumultuous day on the international and political stage, following the terrorist attack in Belgium, a primary election in Arizona and caucuses in Idaho and Utah.

Sanders paused well into his speech to address the tragedy in Europe.

I think I speak for everyone in expressing our condolences for the people of Brussels, he told the now-hushed audience.

Sanders said the United States will help crush and destroy ISIS. He said the U.S. will stand with allies and defeat the terrorist group. He add that the coalition must be led by the Muslim nations themselves with our support and the support of other powerful nations.

The fight, he said, is for control of the soul of Islam

We can win that war and destroy Isis without getting the brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces into a perpetual war in the Middle East, he said. He reminded his supporters he had opposed the war in Iraq, which he called a mistake.

Sanders made no mention of his loss to Clinton in Arizona earlier in the day, but he predicted success in Idaho and Utah, where returns had not yet been tallied.

He also said the June 7 California primary will be important in the weeks ahead of the Democratic convention.

In early June, California, the largest state in our nation, will have a major role to play in taking this country forward, he said. If there is a large voter turnout, we will win California.

Before Sanders arrived, the party atmosphere of the rally became briefly somber when the results in Arizona flashed up on a video screen tuned to a news channel.

No problem waiting

Otherwise, his backers seemed thrilled to be part of the Sanders movement, even while waiting hours outside the convention center.

Oscar Varela, 26, of Sorrento Valley was roughly in the middle of the line after getting to the convention center about 1:30 p.m. He was in high spirits wearing a blue Sanders shirt and holding a Love Trumps Hate sign.

He became an American citizen in September, immigrating from Mexico, and is voting in his first U.S. election for Sanders.

Varela said he appreciates that Sanders does not seek contributions from large donors. That sends a message of authenticity to the people, he said.

Sleepless in San Diego

Wearing a bow tie and dancing to amuse his friends, Gavin Smith, 19, said he did not mind he was near the back of the convention center line and remained hopeful he would get in.

The line is endless ... There is no end to the Bern, Smith said.

Cynthia Lee, 33 of Lemon Grove, was standing in line outside Joes Crab Shack with a pink Feel the Bern T-shirt and had pink hair to match.

She said she got to the Convention Center at 4 p.m. but wish she left earlier.

Im in love with (Sanders). Hes very honest, she said. ". . . Since yesterday, I couldnt sleep.

 How does the delegate process work, and why do we hear so much about them during the election? We broke down the process for you using Peeps. Track the delegate race and see also: The Iowa caucus explained using gummy bears For more, go to latimes.

Stumping for Trump

About six supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held signs and engaged Sanders supporters in conversation at an area west of Embarcadero Marina Park.

They held signs that said Make American Great Again and Bernie Likes Nickelback.

Gaege Turnbow, 18, of Kensington, said the reactions ranged from respectful debate to people shouting obscenities at them.

Weve had several people accuse us of being KKK members, said Trump supporter Michael Valley, 18, of El Cajon.

Turnbow said they disagreed with Sanders economic policy.

Nothing is for free. His plans arent feasible, he said.

The last word

Patrick Foley was the last person in a line that twisted for approximately a mile through the Embarcadero park.

Latinos for Bernie, Foley shouted.

He said he was was drawn by Sanders fiscal policies, particularly his plans to reduce the risk banks pose on the economy, and their influence on government. He also said he, like Sanders, wants to see students graduate with less, or no loan debt. But most importantly, Foley said, Sanders has been steadfast in his message.

Hes been consistent all his life and never flip-flopped. Foley said.

At 68-years-old and one of the oldest in the line to get into the convention center, Foley said he could relate to Sanders.

We grew up in the 60s. Were products of the 60s, Foley said, before noting that he was once arrested in South Carolina for protesting.

ALSO:

Californias June primary just became crucial in the race for the White House

Live election results

Live coverage from the campaign trail
Im Christina Bellantoni, and if one thing is clear after votes were cast on Western Tuesday, its that no one is giving up.

Caucus victories in Utah and Idaho and people standing in line in Arizona many hours after polls had closed bolstered Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters, who see the next contests as favoring their candidate. But Hillary Clinton, after her large Arizona win, continued to turn her attention to Donald Trump and the general election.

Speaking Tuesday night in Washington state, which holds caucuses Saturday, Clinton said some of the Republican candidates are literally inciting bigotry and violence. She said, especially in light of the terror in Brussels, that her rivals stances on national security are dangerous.

Appearing in San Diego with an eye on Californias June 7 primary, Sanders told voters directly he aims to win the Golden State.

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In early June, California, the largest state in our nation, will have a major role to play in taking this country forward, he said. If there is a large voter turnout, we will win California.

After his caucus wins, Sanders was even more pointed as he thanked supporters for large margins and turning out in droves.

The impressive numbers of young people and working-class people who participated in the process are exactly what the political revolution is all about, he said in a statement. These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests.

Still, the numbers are on Clintons side. She has 1,675 delegates when you include the state officials and local party activists known as superdelegates.

Perhaps this sign from a Clinton supporter in Seattle says it all.

As for the Republicans, both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz took home large wins  but Trumps delegate lead is growing ever-larger.

Dont worry about trying to do the math yourself. Our data team broke down all of the results from the night and is tracking each and every delegate.

And here are detailed results from Arizona, Idaho and Utah.

GOLDEN STATE STUMPING

The battle for comes to California today, with Sanders planning an evening event at the Wiltern in Los Angeles and Clinton giving a national security speech at Stanford University, where her daughter graduated in 2001.

Our team will be all over both events, so keep an eye on Trail Guide and follow @latimespolitics.

MINIMUM WAGE SHOWDOWN

The odds of an increase to Californias $10-an-hour statewide minimum wage went up considerably late Tuesday afternoon. State elections officials confirmed that an initiative filed by a healthcare workers union gathered more than enough signatures to be placed on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot.

So what happens next?

Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers reports that lawmakers hope to negotiate a truce on the issue and have the initiative withdrawn from the ballot, but it wont be easy. Labor and business groups are sharply divided, and all eyes are on Gov. Jerry Brown to strike the deal.

TYRA BANKS HOSTING SENATE FUNDRAISER

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris will appear at the home of Matt and Yasmine Johnson on April 10 for a Senate campaign fundraiser. The maximum donation is $2,700. Among the other names on the invitation: Tyra Banks, William Briggs, Rebecca andTroy Carter, Antoine Fuqua, Maria and Jeff Harleston, Heidi Hertel and Greg Hodes, Mai and James Lassiter, and Darrell Miller and Craig Susser.

Craigs Restaurant is doing the catering for the event.

WHY XAVIER BECERRA WAS HANGING OUT WITH DEREK JETER

President Obama wasnt the only one in Cuba this week.

Sarah Wire caught up with the seven members of the California congressional delegation who also took the trip.

TODAYS ESSENTIALS

 The conversation on the Republican side of the race somehow veered to talk about the candidates wives Tuesday. If you missed it, Lisa Mascaro explained earlier this year how Heidi Cruz is her husbands not-so-secret weapon.

 Mission accomplished? Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettis top homelessness advisor leaves his post after 18 months, saying he made a major impact.

 The White House water summit focused on California.

 A jury Tuesday acquitted a longtime Los Angeles lobbyist and former L.A. City Council aide accused of corruption, rejecting charges that he and his wife participated in a scheme to help an elected water board member siphon thousands of dollars in public money for personal use.

 Sarah Palin is about to be a judge  on a reality television show.

LOGISTICS

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In 1894, a pregnant house cat escaped from a lighthouse on Stephens Island, New Zealand. She had her kittens in the wild, where they went feral. Within 13 months, a native bird species known as the Stephen Islands wren was nearly extinct.

Its a story often cited as an extreme  and by some accounts exaggerated  example of the damage that invasive mammals can do to delicate island ecosystems.

But the plot is hardly unusual. On islands where native species evolved with no natural predators, intruders like rodents, feral cats and goats can quickly outcompete or even eat the locals.

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Islands are home to 15% of the worlds terrestrial species, but they represent 61% of recorded extinctions, experts say. Invasive species usually were a factor.

Now a new study is making the case for a tried-and-true method of staving off this island extinction crisis: Get rid of the invasive mammals.

We spend billions of dollars a year on conservation  but you can help a lot of the worlds biodiversity by removing these invasive animals, said study leader Holly Jones, a conservation biologist at Northern Illinois University. In terms of gain per dollar spent  its a pretty darn good return on investment.

Jones led a team of 29 scientists who reviewed hundreds of mammal eradication projects on 181 islands. In 251 such efforts over several decades, 236 native species got a boost when the uninvited guests were removed from the habitat. Only seven species suffered after the invasive species were removed, according to results published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 / 6 A Scripps murrelet chick, formerly called Xantus murrelet. The tiny seabirds population, which nests in the cliff caverns of Anacapa Island, rebounded after invasive rats were removed from Californias Channel Islands. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 6 An adult Scripps murrelet. The bird is no longer a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection after the invasive rats that ate its eggs and chicks were eradicted from Anacapa Island. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 6 The island night lizard, a nocturnal reptile found on Santa Barbara, San Nicolas and San Clemente islands, was threatened by cat predation and habitat loss from goats and sheep introduced to the island. After the invasive mammals were removed, the International Union for Conservation of Nature removed the lizard from its Red List. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 6 An island fox on San Nicolas Island. During a threeyear program to remove feral cats from the island, Navy officials and environmentalists had to be careful not to catch the fox by mistake. (Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 6 A feral pig on Santa Cruz Island. The pigs caused concerns about damage to ancient Chumash burial sites. (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 6 A young bald eagle to be reintroduced to Santa Cruz Island. When DDT nearly wiped out the islands bald eagle population, golden eagles arrived and ate invasive pigs and native island foxes. (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

This paper is a story of hope, said co-author Nick Holmes, director of science for Island Conservation, a nonprofit organization that uses this approach to try to prevent extinctions. Heres an intervention that we can see an impact within a lifetime. Its a reason to celebrate.

The study looked back on eradication projects since the 1970s and 80s, when some of the first techniques were developed for removing invasive mammals. The study also included a 1925 effort to remove the feral descendants of the Stephens Island lighthouse keepers cat, which came too late for the wren but aided the recovery of the fairy prion bird and a nocturnal reptile called the tuatara.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

An earlier version of this post said visitors to Anacapa Island, Calif., must unpack their luggage in rodent-proof rooms. New Zealand uses rodent-proof rooms, and both use tracking tunnels and bait stations around landing zones.

------------

The analysis includes the eight countries with the most eradications  New Zealand, Australia, Ecuador, Seychelles, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Mexico. Cases in these countries represent 82% of all invasive mammal eradications around the world.

Of the 236 species that benefited, 62 started out as endangered or vulnerable and 20 others were categorized as near threatened under the International Union for Conservation of Natures Red List. Four of those 62 improved enough to qualify for down-listing on the organizations endangered list.

Among them was the island fox of Californias Channel Islands, which had been listed as critically endangered. Feral cats were competing with island foxes for food.

On San Nicolas Island, scientists, the U.S. Navy and Island Conservation painstakingly trapped and relocated the islands cats, and by 2012, the island was seemingly cat-free. In addition, the National Park Service and the Nature Conservancy removed feral pigs from Santa Cruz Island. The foxes bounced back, and officials are now considering removing the island fox from the federal endangered species list.

A Scripps murrelet chick, formerly called Xantus murrelet. The tiny seabirds population, which nests in the cliff caverns of Anacapa Island, rebounded after invasive rats were removed from Californias Channel Islands. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

On nearby Anacapa Island, the Scripps murrelet  a tiny, rare sea bird  was a candidate for listing on the federal Endangered Species Act. Black rats, which got there by stowing away on ships, were eating the birds eggs. Rat removal began in the early 2000s, and the murrelets numbers rebounded almost immediately.

Ten years later, another bird considered long gone reappeared on the island: the endangered ashy storm-petrel.

There were a few cases where efforts backfired, including times when native birds of prey experienced temporary population declines due to eating poisoned rats.

There were also examples where native birds had come to rely on the invasive rabbits and baby goats for their food. Once the intruders were gone, some of the bird populations became permanently smaller, Jones said.

While the study highlights the importance of removing harmful invasive species from islands, its just as important to make sure the interlopers dont come back after multi-million-dollar eradication efforts, Jones and Holmes said.

On the Channel Islands and those around New Zealand, for example, officials take strict biosecurity measures to prevent invasive species  especially rats  from hitching rides onto the islands. In New Zealand, visitors must unpack all their belongings in rodent-proof rooms and on some islands, including Anacapa, pass by rodent tracking tunnels and rat traps when they land.

Holmes said the results should encourage similar projects on other affected islands.

Theres thousands of islands that we know have threatened species and continue to have invasive mammals, he said. If we want to prevent these species from going extinct, we have to do these interventions in pretty quick clip.

Follow me on Twitter @seangreene89 and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

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Despite objections from the defendants lawyer, an Orange County judge ruled Tuesday that a Costa Mesa man can be held for trial on murder charges related to a hit-and-run crash last year that killed a 2-year-old and her grandmother in Irvine.

Its a dangerous route that were going down, your honor, attorney Gary Pohlson told Superior Court Judge Douglas Hatchimonji as he argued that his client should only be charged with manslaughter.

Pohlsons client, Alec Scott Abraham, 21, originally did face manslaughter charges, but after Abrahams arrest at a Costa Mesa park the day after the June 10 crash, the Orange County district attorneys office upgraded both counts to murder.

If convicted, Abraham could face up to 30 years to life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

On Tuesday, prosecutors argued that the increased charges are justified because Abraham knew his reckless driving could kill someone and he decided to continue anyway.

How could he not know? prosecutor Mark Birney said before describing excessive speed and reckless swerving that authorities allege led to the crash.

According to law enforcement, Abraham was driving a Ford Mustang more than 60 mph in a street race on westbound Alton Parkway in Irvine when he veered around stopped traffic and blew through a red light at Barranca Parkway without braking.

The Mustang broadsided a Chevrolet Cruze, killing its 54-year-old driver, Katherine Hampton of Lake Forest, prosecutors say.

Hamptons 2-year-old granddaughter, Kaydence, who was seated behind Hampton, died four days later at a hospital, according to authorities.

The crash seriously injured Hamptons daughter and 7-year-old grandson, who also were in the car, police said.

Abraham, who is in custody with bail set at $1 million, sat in an orange jumpsuit Tuesday as Irvine police officers and traffic investigators took the stand to lay the framework of the prosecutions case during the four-hour hearing.

According to the officers testimony, one witness told them that Abrahams vehicle went screaming by her before slamming into the Cruze.

Police said another witness saw Abraham frantically searching his wrecked car before taking a bystanders cellphone and fleeing the scene.

The witness, a nurse, checked on the Cruzes driver and found no pulse, police said.

Pohlson agreed that the case is tragic, but he said more is needed to justify charging Abraham with murder.

The defendant must be aware of the risk he is creating, he said.

But prosecutors allege Abraham was warned about reckless driving by officers who previously pulled him over for speeding and other traffic violations.

Investigators said they quickly identified Abraham as a suspect in the hit-and-run when they found four traffic citations with his name on them in the wrecked Mustang.

Birney contended that acquaintances who saw Abraham drive recklessly also warned him of the danger.

Repeatedly hes told hes an idiot, the manner in which he drives hes going to hurt someone. And he did, Birney said.

On the stand, Irvine police Officer Garrett Gales described interviewing Abrahams co-workers at a Toyota dealership in Huntington Beach.

Some of them said they watched Abraham burn rubber before pulling out of the business driveway, Gales said. Others said they heard him brag about running red lights and speeding, Gales said.

Gales also described a video that one of the co-workers turned over to police. He said Abraham had texted it to a group of friends in November 2014.

It appears to be shot on a cellphone from inside a car that looks to be the same black Mustang, Gales said. The video shows the 55 Freeway in front of the Mustang and then pans down to the speedometer showing about 90 mph.

As the engine grows louder, the camera alternates between the road and the dashboard, showing the speedometer continually increasing until it maxes out at more than 140 mph.

Gales said the camera then turns to show Abraham filming while driving.

The driver then yells something to the effect of Woo and then the video ends, Gales said.
Karen Galstian was awaiting sentencing for his role in a bank fraud scheme when he made the deal with Verizon Wireless about a year and a half ago.

He claimed  falsely  that his Glendale-based rideshare company Toro Ride was poised to expand nationwide, having just received $20 million from investors, and he needed phones for his drivers.

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Under false pretenses, Verizon agreed to sell him more than 30,000 iPhones which typically sell for more than $500 each for 99 cents each in connection with a two-year contract, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

However, federal officials said most of the phones were actually sold to companies that resell electronics overseas. More than 11,000 of them were activated in countries such as Vietnam, Iraq, China and Saudi Arabia.

Within six months, Galstian raked in $13 million.

Verizon eventually caught on and stopped doing business with him, according to court records.

This week, the Chatsworth man was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for his role in the two schemes, the second of which involved defrauding Bank of America out of $689,000. In January 2014, months before making the deal with Verizon, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in that case.

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Last November, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with the Verizon case.

Galstians attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to federal officials, Galstian used some of his profits to pay monthly payments to Verizon, which allowed him to order additional iPhones, as well as to buy several properties, including a penthouse condominium in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, and a Mercedes-Benz S550.

He also wired roughly $1.5 million to his wife, who used the money to purchase gold nuggets, according to federal court records.

As part of his plea deal, Galstian agreed to forfeit assets obtained through the scheme, including properties in Northridge, Sherman Oaks, Tujunga and Las Vegas.

The agreement also calls for him to pay $17 million in restitution to Verizon, which gave him more than $19.4 million worth of phones, and more than $200,000 in restitution to Bank of America, officials said.

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Conor Grennan never wanted to volunteer abroad. He wanted to impress people.

I wanted to tell people I wanted to volunteer, but I didnt actually want to volunteer, Grennan said to a gymnasium full of students at Edison High School in Huntington Beach last week.

But he did it anyway. In 2004, a 29-year-old Grennan traveled across the world for a two-month stint as a volunteer at a rural Nepalese orphanage.

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While his trip began as a way to show off in front of a woman he had a mega-crush on, it soon became something else.

After a while, I really fell in love with these kids and grew to love the life of the village, he said. I liked them so much that after two months of being there, I went back a year later.

As he recounts in his 2010 book, Little Princes, Grennan then spent the next several years not only working with Nepalese orphans, but also embarking on the heroic  and perilous  mission of reuniting trafficked children with their families.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

March 24, 10:50 a.m.: An earlier version of this post said the title of Conor Grennans book was Little Princess. The correct title is Little Princes.

-------------

This year, hundreds of Huntington Beach high schoolers shared in Grennans adventure as they read Little Princes, this years selection by the local nonprofit HB Reads.

Since 2008, HB Reads has encouraged reading by choosing one book per year for something of a citywide book club. The group also buys 40 books for each of the eight high schools in the district and hosts an author talk at one of them.

Previous HB Reads selections, which are required to have a theme of diversity, include Three Cups of Tea: One Mans Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time and They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan.

Grennans talk Friday detailed his time in Nepal, the complex political climate that resulted in child trafficking, and the somewhat accidental way he searched for  and ultimately found  these lost kids. Along the way, he founded Next Generation Nepal, an organization dedicated to reconnecting trafficked children with their families.

Grennan, who now lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children and serves as dean of MBA students at New York University Stern School of Business, also encouraged students to volunteer more  even if their motivation is initially selfish, like his once was.

People will constantly tell you that you should be volunteering for the right reasons. Dont listen to them because it doesnt make any sense, he said, noting that he got a hot wife out of the process.

Think about why you should do it for yourself, how its going to make you richer or more attractive to the opposite sex or the same sex. Richer and better off  all these things will come to you if you volunteer.

If you go out there and you bring a kid back to their family, do you think that parent  they thought their child was dead  do you think that parent thinks, Oh, I hope he was doing it for the right reason. He doesnt care!

Grennan added a caveat.

The amazing alchemy that happens is that once you start doing it, your motivation happens to change, he said. Then you really do care about the orphans. But dont think about that for now.

Fred Provencher, president of HB Reads, said the group tries to select books that high school students will be able to connect with, and that Little Princes stood out for this reason.

This was a book where the author was fairly young and did something that everyone would like to do, he said.

Provencher said he enjoys hosting author talks for high school students, because its fun to see these kids read and be exposed to books.

And he knows students appreciate it too.

One of the high school students sitting behind me said, Oh, I thought this was going to be boring, he recalled, laughing. They werent saying it to me, obviously, but they were probably thinking, Oh geez, were going to another assembly, and they end up with this author who really speaks to them.

Nubia Velasco, a 17-year-old who attends Marina High and is co-president of the schools book club, said she could relate personally to Grennans book because she is also planning a trip abroad where she will work with children at an orphanage.

I listened to everything he said, I read the book, and now Im going to apply it to my trip, she said. I especially like that he said we need to let go of our culture, because I know thats something I need to do to totally immerse myself.

Tristan Tellier, a 15-year-old at Marina High School and also co-president of the book club, said Little Princes has motivated him to follow in Grennans footsteps.

It makes me want to travel more, he said. It makes me want to volunteer more.
Brussels Airport will remain closed at least through Friday after deadly terrorist attacks in which two bombs exploded in the airports departures hall.

The Islamic State claimed credit for Tuesdays attacks that killed more than 30 people and injured more than 260 in bombings at the airport and at a metro stop in the Belgian city.

The airport closure in Brussels comes during one of the busiest travel times throughout Europe. Holy Week, which started March 20, culminates Sunday on Easter.

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Americans traveling in Europe should avoid crowded places and be particularly careful about their safety during religious holidays and at large festivals or events, according to a U.S. State Department alert issued Tuesday.

A blown out window in the terminal at Brussels Airport on Wednesday, a day after two suicide bombers set off explosives in the departures hall. (Yorick Jansens / Associated Press)

Airport officials in Brussels havent returned to the departures area because of the ongoing investigation, a statement on the airports website says. Until we can assess the damage, it remains unclear when we can resume operations.

Flights to and from Brussels are being diverted to other European cities or rescheduled.

Travelers who have tickets to fly in, out or through the airport this week should check with their airline to find out the status of their flights. Some airlines are waiving change fees for those who want to postpone travel to Europe and issuing refunds for canceled flights.

The nations carrier Brussels Airlines will rebook or refund tickets free for fliers affected by the airport closure, even if theyre holding nonrefundable tickets.

United Airlines updated its policy by waiving change fees and differences in airfares for those who want to rebook travel to Brussels through April 12 (assuming the airport reopens by then).

Fliers who were heading to Brussels may opt to fly in or out of Amsterdam, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany, London, Luxembourg or Paris. The change fee will be waived for those who want to postpone until after April 12, but fare change costs may apply.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines also offer passengers an opportunity to change their ticket without penalty.

Regarding other parts of Brussels, public transportation isnt fully operational and some streets in the city remain closed because of police activity.

The State Department tells Americans traveling in Europe to be prepared for additional security screening and unexpected disruptions while theyre overseas.

The agency also recommends signing up with the Smart Travel Enrollment Program, or STEP, to receive up-to-date travel alerts and warnings from the State Department.

The Europe Travel Alert expires June 20.

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At least 30 people died and more than 100 others were injured following three explosions Tuesday in the Belgian capital  two in Brussels Airport and one at Maelbeek metro station, near several European Union institutions. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, attributing them to a security group from the soldiers of the caliphate.

Heres what we know so far:

The bombs went off in Brussels Airport, then the metro station Read more

Around 8 a.m., two bombs exploded at Brussels Airport, sending terrified travelers fleeing across baggage carousels and floors littered with splintered glass and crumbled ceiling tiles. Both explosions, which struck the departure hall on the third level, were believed to have been carried out by suicide bombers.

About an hour later, another bomb exploded, this time at the Maelbeek metro station, near the political hub of the city and close to European Union offices. Witnesses said they saw about a dozen people lying outside on the sidewalk.

Islamic State said it is behind the attacks

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the explosions, attributing them to a security group from the soldiers of the caliphate. It warned ominously of more attacks: What is coming is worse and more bitter, God permitting.

The group issued a statement saying its attackers chose the sites carefully and were wrapped in explosive belts and carrying explosive canisters and machine guns.

Thanks be to God for his accuracy and success, and we ask God to accept our brothers among the martyrs, the terrorist group said.

At least 30 people were killed Live updates

Officials reported that 20 people were killed at the station and 14 at the airport, although they acknowledged that the numbers were provisional. Well over 100 people were injured.

The State Department said it was unaware of any Americans who had died in the attacks. Belgian authorities did not immediately identify any of the dead.

Mormon missionaries were among the injured Full story

Among the seriously injured were three Utah men who had been in Europe to serve the Paris mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The men, identified by church officials as Richard Norby, 66, of Lehi; Joseph Empey, 20, of Santa Clara; and Mason Wells, 19, of Sandy, were at the airport to accompany a French missionary who was on her way to Ohio.

A U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel stationed at Brunssum, the Netherlands, and his family also were injured in the airport attack, according to the Air Force, which did not give details about the injuries.

U.S., other countries stepped up security Full story

U.S. cities stepped up security measures, especially at airports and in transit systems. The Department of Homeland Security said no credible threats have been detected against U.S. targets.

Airports including those in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Miami and Philadelphia put security staff on heightened alert. New York National Guard troops were deployed to John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports, and state police stepped up patrols at major train stations in Manhattan.

Officials in France said the government deployed more than 1,600 police throughout the country and toughened security in the Paris subway.

LAX airport police officers with automatic weapons patrol near the Tom Bradley International Terminal on March 22, 2016. A terrorist attack in Brussels has put law enforcement on high alert in Los Angeles despite no specific threats. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Police identified three of four bombing suspects Full story

One of the suicide bombers at Brussels Airport has now been identified as Najim Laachraoui, whom police had been seeking in connection with the Paris terrorist attacks.

Two others were identified earlier Wednesday as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, a pair of Belgian brothers. Khalid died in the bombing in the subway station, and Brahim blew himself up in the airport.

Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said the pair had lengthy criminal records but not related to terrorism. Brahim El Bakraoui, identified using fingerprints, was the middle of three men captured on surveillance video walking through the departure terminal shortly before the explosion.

Investigators found a laptop in a nearby waste bin containing a statement by Brahim.

It said: I dont know what to do, I am in a hurry. I am on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up, I will end up in a cell.

Khalid (L) and Ibrahim (R) El Bakraoui, the two Belgian brothers identified as the suicide bombers who struck Brussels on March 22, 2016. (Interpol Handout)

One suspect is still on the run

The third man seen in the airport photo, wearing a hat and light jacket, was still being sought.

There were conflicting reports late Tuesday that he might be Najim Laachraoui, who is believed to be linked to the November Paris attacks. But a U.S. official confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Laachraoui died in Tuesday's bombing. The identity of the suspect who is still at large remains unknown.

A security camera photo released on March 22 by Belgian authorities shows three suspects in the attack at Brussels Airport. (AFP/Getty Images)

Police had put out a wanted poster for Laachraoui earlier in the week following the capture of Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam, and he was described as one of Abdeslams accomplices.

Special correspondents Christina Boyle, Erik Kirschbaum and Sheldon Chad contributed to this report.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

For more on the Brussels attacks, follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini

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For months, Salah Abdeslam was Europes most-wanted man. He was accused of helping plot the horrific November terrorist attacks carried out by a team of well-organized militants beneath officials noses in Paris.

But when Abdeslam was finally captured last week, he wasnt caught with his alleged Islamic State associates in Syria. He was captured where he grew up, practically in plain sight of his hunters  in Brussels working-class, largely Moroccan neighborhood of Molenbeek St. Jean.

Abdeslams capture and Tuesdays bombings of Brussels airport and a rail station are already raising questions about the quality of Belgiums national security, which is seen as weaker than some of its European counterparts.

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Live updates: Terrorist attacks in Brussels >>

The latest events are also reinforcing outsiders suspicions of Molenbeek as the jihadi capital of Europe, or something similar to how Los Angeles viewed Little Tokyo in 1941: a den of dangerous outsiders nestled in the heart of a great and imperiled city.

Molenbeek isnt a suburb, unlike the teeming banlieues that are home to many Paris immigrant communities. It sits in the heart of Brussels, across a canal from a trendy neighborhood of bars and cafes. A large number of its residents are not newcomers, but native Belgians, many of Moroccan descent, often wearing veils or other traditional clothing.

 The Brussels attacks were precipitated by the arrest of a man who was believed to be a mastermind of the Paris attacks in November.

Over the weekend, a customer in a cosmetic store described Molenbeek as toujours bien, cest le calm, Zen  always fine, calm  as others in the shop emphasized that the neighborhood was a place of hard workers who led good lives and stayed out of trouble.

Its image from the outside is more fraught. A French writer recently joked that officials should consider bombing Molenbeek instead of Islamic States self-declared capital of Raqqah. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz raised the specter of a Molenbeek in the U.S., saying Tuesday that we need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

Belgium leads European countries with the largest number of fighters per capita leaving to join Islamist militant groups in Syria and Iraq, according to a January report from the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, a London think tank.

Many would-be jihadists have hailed from Molenbeek, including a few of the attackers who killed 129 people in Paris in November.

Molenbeeks residents have also included Ayoub El Khazzani, a Moroccan national who was subdued by two off-duty U.S. servicemen and other passengers after launching an attack on a train from Amsterdam to Paris last year; Mehdi Nemmouche, who killed three people at a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014; and several members of a jihadist cell broken up during a police raid in Verviers in eastern Belgium in early 2015.

Molenbeek residents and advocates have complained about being demonized for the actions of a few.

The trouble is the root causes and not the trees, said Jamal Ikazban, a deputy in the Brussels Parliament and the leader of the opposition on the Molenbeek Council. He said he worries about Molenbeek becoming the black sheep of the world.

Were in the same boat, Ikazban said. I meet people in Brussels and Molenbeek in tears for what has happened. They are afraid.

After World War II, Belgium needed workers to help rebuild the country and work in its coal mines, and in the 1960s, Belgium formalized immigration agreements with Morocco and Turkey; many Moroccans settled in Molenbeek.

But several generations later, their descendants have not assimilated  nor have they been welcomed  the way some third- and fourth-generation immigrants often have in other countries. As one third-generation Belgian city bus driver put it, When I go to Morocco, I am not Moroccan there, and I am not Belgian here.

1 / 33 A woman lights a candle in the area of the explosion at the Maelbeek subway station in Brussels, Belgium. (JULIEN WARNAND / EPA) 2 / 33 Belgian soldiers gesture for vehicles to keep clear as they patrol near a Brussels court building where Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was expected to appear. (Peter Dejong / Associated Press) 3 / 33 A Belgian police officer and soldier guard a Brussels court building where Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was expected to appear. b (Peter Dejong / Associated Press) 4 / 33 A police officer stands guard outside the Council Chamber of Brussels during investigations into the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks. (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 33 A woman and children sit and mourn for the victims of the bombings at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) 6 / 33 Hundreds gather at Place de la Bourse in Brussels to mourn on Wednesday evening. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) 7 / 33 Brussels Airport workers and relatives pay tribute to the victims of Tuesdays attacks. (Philippe Huguen / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 33 Police leave after investigating a house Wednesday in the Anderlecht neighborhood in Brussels, one day after Tuesdays deadly suicide attacks. (Peter Dejong / Associated Press) 9 / 33 Soldiers and police carry out checks at the Central Station in Brussels on Wednesday, a day after blasts hit the Belgian capital. (Patrik Stollarz / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 33 Police carry out checks at the Central Station in Brussels on Wednesday. (Patrik Stollarz / AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 33 A man reacts as people gather to observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Brussels airport and metro bombings, on the Place de la Bourse in central Brussels. (PATRIK STOLLARZ / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 33 People gather in Brussels to pay tribute to the victims a day after deadly terrorist attacks struck the city. (Aurore Belot / AFP/Getty Images) 13 / 33 People gather around floral tributes, drawings, candles and notes in front of the Bourse of Brussels on Tuesday (AURORE BELOT / AFP/Getty Images) 14 / 33 A woman writes a message on the ground as people leave tributes at the Place de la Bourse following todays attacks in Brussels, Belgium. (Carl Court / Getty Images) 15 / 33 Police officers conduct searches inside the North station (Gare du Nord - Noordstation) on Tuesday in Brussels. (NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 33 A security camera photo released on March 22 by Belgian authorities shows three suspects in the attack at Brussels Airport. (AFP/Getty Images) 17 / 33 An unidentified traveler lies on the ground in a smoke-filled terminal after an explosion at Brussels Airport on Tuesday. (Ralph Usbeck / Associated Press) 18 / 33 An injured man lies on the floor waiting for aid at Brussels Airport. (Ketevan Kardava / Associated Press) 19 / 33 Smoke fills the terminal at Brussels Airport, where a pair of explosions killed at least 11 people. (Ralph Usbeck / Associated Press) 20 / 33 Brussels commuters climb out of a Metro subway car after an explosion at the Maalbeek station. A series of coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels Airport and the Metro station with dozens killed. (AFP/Getty Images) 21 / 33 Police and rescue teams set up outside the Maelbeek Metro station in Brussels. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) 22 / 33 Special police secure the Brussels city center as Belgium raised its terror alert to its highest level on Tuesday. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) 23 / 33 A victim receives first aid from rescuers near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels after an explosion. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) 24 / 33 A man with bloodstains on his sweater leaves Brussels Airport following explosions. (Dirk Waem / AFP/Getty Images) 25 / 33 People stand near Brussels Airport after being evacuated. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert / Associated Press) 26 / 33 Passengers are evacuated from Brussels Airport after explosions. (John Thys / AFP/Getty Images) 27 / 33 Soldiers block the access to roads close to a metro station in Brussels after a series of apparently coordinated explosions in the city. (Philippe Huguen / AFP/Getty Images) 28 / 33 A victim is evacuated after a explosion in a main metro station in Brussels. (Virginia Mayo / Associated Press) 29 / 33 A woman is evacuated in an ambulance after a explosion in a Brussels metro station Tuesday. (Virginia Mayo / Associated Press) 30 / 33 People are evacuated from Brussels Airport on Tuesday following explosions. (Dirk Waem / AFP/Getty Images) 31 / 33 A Belgian police vehicle drives past passengers who are evacuating the Brussels Airport. (Jonas Roosens / AFP/Getty Images) 32 / 33 People walk away from Brussels Airport on Tuesday after it was rocked by explosions. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert / Associated Press) 33 / 33 All flights were canceled at Brussels Airport after two explosions rocked the main hall. (AFP/Getty Images)

High unemployment and disenchantment have helped incubate a generation of restless young men who are drawn to Islamic States calls for fighters, experts say. Belgiums involvement in the U.S.-led military coalition against Islamic State has also made it a target, and experts have wondered whether Belgiums security forces are up to the task.

Belgium sits at the heart of Europe and hosts the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but a linguistic and cultural divide has cleaved the country in half since its birth in 1830, often making national governance difficult. Dutch speakers live in the region of Flanders to the north. French speakers live in Wallonia to the south.

Youve obviously got a patchwork and balkanized police structure to begin with, which reflects the broader political picture of the country, said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. Youve got a question of political will, a question of capability, a question of capacity.

Purported Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who hailed from Molenbeek, traveled back and forth between Syria and Belgium, where he claimed God had chosen him to terrorize the crusaders waging war against the Muslims. Abaaoud also boasted of buying weapons and setting up a safe house in Belgium.

All this proves that a Muslim should not fear the bloated image of the crusader intelligence, Abaaoud said in an interview published in Islamic States in-house magazine, Dabiq, in February 2015, about eight months before the attacks on Paris.

My name and picture were all over the news, yet I was able to stay in their homeland, plan operations against them and leave safely when doing so became necessary, said Abaaoud, who died in a police raid after the Paris attacks.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon has complained about the fragmentation of Brussels police departments and said agencies have a tendency to hoard information for themselves.

Brussels is a relatively small city, 1.2 million, Jambon said at a Politico conference on extremism in November. And yet we have six police departments. Nineteen different municipalities. New York is a city of [8 million]. How many police departments do they have? One.

Times staff writer Pearce reported from Los Angeles and special correspondent Chad from Brussels.

Twitter: @MattDPearce



MORE ON BRUSSELS

Hunt is on for Brussels bombings suspect; Islamic State warns of more, worse attacks

Middle East countries respond to Brussels attacks with anger and finger-pointing

What we know about the Americans injured in the Brussels attacks
The deadly attacks on Brussels brought swift condemnation across the Middle East, but some countries seized the moment to criticize the West for adhering to policies that they said had planted the seeds for such acts of terrorism.

Syrias embattled government, locked in a five-year fight against rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad, said the attacks confirmed anew that terrorism has no borders.

The attacks, a source with the Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying, represented the inevitable result of wrong policies and sympathy with terrorism to achieve certain agendas and legitimizing it by describing some terrorist groups as moderate, the spokesperson said.

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In Syria, Western countries have helped prop up rebel factions, especially those operating under the oppositions Free Syrian Army, while describing them as moderate groups that seek to overthrow Assads government while rejecting Islamic extremism.

The Syrian government considers the rebels to be terrorists who do the business of Assads international and regional enemies, especially Saudi Arabia, which has provided money and weapons to the opposition.

Syria renews the call to [rein] in the behavior of the countries that sponsor [terrorism] and force them to stop giving any form of support to the terrorist groups to preserve regional and international peace and stability, the source said in a veiled dig at Saudi Arabia.

The sentiment was echoed by Assads regional allies, Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, both which have dispatched thousands of fighters to bolster the Syrian governments flagging troops.

FULL COVERAGE: Terrorist attacks in Brussels>>

Hezbollah issued a biting statement, saying the exacerbation of the danger of the takfiri terrorist groups, which no place in the world is safe from its evil and crimes, crimes that are derived from its black venom toward humanity.

It blamed the takfiri bombers and the regional and international forces that stand behind them for the terrorism erupting around the world.

Hossian Jaber Ansari, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the repetition of the blasts, shootings and suicide attacks underscored that terrorism is a common threat throughout the world and that it is necessary that comprehensive and integrated confrontations against the ominous phenomena of terrorism and its economic, financial and ideological foundations be carried out.

Saudi Arabia recently came under fire for what are seen as its links to extremist groups, including Al Qaeda and Islamic State. Critics point to government adherence to a strict, austere interpretation of Sharia or Islamic law known as Wahhabism. The doctrine, which includes harsh punishments that include crucifixions, amputations and beheadings, has also been applied by the Islamic State in areas under its control.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubair said in a tweet Tuesday that the terrorist acts in Brussels and other countries around the world will only increase our unity to counter terrorism and eradicate it.

It followed a tweet in February when Jubair responded to growing criticism of Saudi Arabias policies, saying that Saudi Arabia has long been a target of terrorism; accusing the Kingdom of being lax against terrorism is irresponsible and utterly wrong.

The Egyptian government condemned the attack, calling it an appalling incident.

On social media, the bombings were condemned and celebrated.

Never will the West be able to stop the explosives of Muslims from burning them by Allahs will, said a statement on Asfourah Mutatarifah, a pro-Islamic State channel on the secure messaging application Telegram, according to the jihadi watchdog SITE Intelligence Group.

And we remind them again today is not like yesterday. Today, for every oppressed Muslim is a vengeful wolf. And for every blood drop spilt from Muslims at the hands of crusaders, rivers of blood will be shed from these very crusaders in turn.

Bulos and Hassan are special correspondents

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MORE ON THE BRUSSELS ATTACKS

Hunt is on for Brussels bombings suspect; Islamic State warns of more, worse attacks

Make French fries, not war! Mourners in Belgium remind terrorists of Europes spirit

How the Paris and Brussels attacks could be connected
With sirens wailing, heavily armed soldiers patrolling street corners, rail stations closed and tight controls in place at border crossings, this country felt gripped in a state of war.

Yet at an impromptu candlelight vigil in Brussels city center, there was a surreal state of serenity as thousands of mourners gathered to remember the 34 people killed in the countrys worst terror attack. And some arrived with a spirited message of hope: Make French fries, not war!

Faites des frites, pas la guerre was one of the hundreds of the messages in a variety of languages that mourners from around the world scrawled in chalk onto the square in front of the Brussels stock exchange, where everyone from ordinary people and the prime minister paid tribute in the hours after the twin attacks that shocked the country and Europe.

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People hold each other at a makeshift memorial in front of the stock exchange at the Place de la Bourse. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP/Getty Images)

The light-hearted call for more French fries  a delicacy that Belgium says it proudly gave to the world  instead of war epitomized the improbably upbeat sentiment at the square on Ansbach Boulevard in front of La Bourse, where there was also sorrow, some tears, lots of embraces but also some smiles, some laughter and a palpable sense of resilience rather than resignation.

Im here because Im really touched about what happened today, said Philippe De Wulf, a 36-year-old city worker who attended the memorial, where there were some politicians but -- mercifully -- no speeches.

We always thought this wouldnt happen to us. I think its important that were here together to share are grief and show that we will always say no to terror attacks. We can never accept this, De Wulf said.

Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had stopped by the square earlier in the day. They seemed to simply soak up the atmosphere of solidarity and sorrow for a few moments before leaving.

Eric Thomas Anderson, a 40-year-old aeronautics student from Orange , felt a need to join the tribute. On Monday he arrived in Brussels for the first time in his life for a seminar Tuesday and was planning but leave Thursday but will now stay indefinitely  and not only because the Brussels Airport has been closed until Wednesday.

I just wanna be here, said Anderson, who like the others seemed oblivious to the chilly early spring temperatures. Im going to stay through the weekend. Its a somber mood here but a good one too. Ive heard a lot of people talk about solidarite. I think all of our leaders need to use that word more often. We need more solidarity, and less of the us versus them conflict.

Felicia Lynch, a 22-year-old from Texas who was on an Easter break from teaching English in Spain, went to the gathering after getting stranded in Brussels when her 8 p.m. flight to Venice was canceled.

I think its so beautiful that everyones coming together and showing their support for each other, she said. The people dont seem too worried. They seem really strong here. They have this view: You can do this to us but were not going to fear you. Its really powerful.

Some of the slogans written in chalk on the square included: Hate is a tool of power, I cry for my city but I know we are strong, and Chocolate, beer and love are better for humanity than hatred  a reference to Belgiums popular exports.

Audrey Pierre, a 23-year-old student, was busy writing a long message in chalk arguing that religion shouldnt be abused by terrorists and used as an excuse for such violence.

I came here tonight for the families of the victims, she said. Im Belgian and its important for me to be here tonight. Its so sad.

Her boyfriend Sofian Ahchini, 29, said he was devastated that his beloved Brussels had been targeted for the terror attacks.

Its hard to believe this happened in Brussels, said Ahchini, a city organizer whose parents came from Algeria and Morocco. This kind of thing doesnt happen in Brussels. It feels like a movie from America or France. Theres no aggressiveness in Belgium. The people are normally just so happy here. Its just unbelievable.

David McAllister, a German member of the European Parliament and close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, was among those who felt an urge to mill among the mourners. He said the attacks struck close to home -- he travels through the Brussels Airport every week and his secretary gets off at the subway stop that was attacked.

Its a special atmosphere, were all shocked and very sad and frightened, said McAllister, who came to the square in front of the stock market after leaving his office at 8 p.m.

This was an attack on the heart of Europe today. As we all stood united together with France after the Paris attacks, Europe will now unite with Belgium. Well stand together in Europe because our values are stronger than the hatred and the violence.

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent
Even as it is being welcomed back into the international community, Iran is continuing to violate the most basic civil and political rights of its people and needs continued monitoring, advocates who are pushing for greater freedoms in the Islamic Republic contend.

The activists, including dozens of international human rights groups, insist Iran has continued a disturbing pattern of abuses including increased executions and decreased opportunities for women.

To force change, they have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to renew its agreement with a special rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, to continue monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in the country. The council could vote Thursday or earlier to extend monitoring.

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The accusations come on the heels of the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, including the United States. The Obama administration says the agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and in return for Tehrans cooperation, international sanctions on Iran have been lifted.

Several of the activists suggested that enthusiasm over the nuclear deal and prospects of future trade with Iran are causing the international community to turn a blind eye to Irans human rights violations. Since sanctions were lifted in January, foreign business delegations have flooded Iran and multibillion-dollar deals have been brokered.

Although this is some progress on the surface, we dont see any dramatic change toward democracy, said Maryam Faghihimani, an Iranian advocate for womens rights, entrepreneurship and the right to education. On the contrary, we see a lot of backward movement with regards to human rights issues and violations in Iran today.

Women stand in line at a polling station during the parliamentary and Experts Assembly elections in Qom, Iran, on Feb. 26, 2016. (Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press)

President Hassan Rouhani has remained largely mum on human rights. While addressing the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in October, for instance, he focused on the nuclear agreement and underscored Irans commitment to fighting terrorism, but made no mention of improving human rights.

In his latest report to the United Nations, Shaheed acknowledged that Iran had taken some strides toward reform, such as granting criminal suspects the right to an attorney. But such safeguards, he said, are not always implemented.

The number of executions last year, for instance, accelerated and reached its highest level in two decades  966 prisoners put to death, Shaheed said in his report. He expressed particular concern with the number of juvenile offenders executed and fundamental flaws in the administration of justice.

Other violations include restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, the arbitrary detention of journalists and political and civic figures, discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, and violence against women and the suppression of their rights, advocates said.

Darya Safai, an Iranian womens rights advocate who was invited to Geneva by the independent monitor U.N. Watch to address the Human Rights Council, said womens rights are deteriorating by the year. Safai said the decline has been particularly dramatic since Rouhani, the architect of the nuclear deal, took office in 2013 on a platform of moderation and prudence.

Speaking from Geneva, Safai said that since Rouhani took office, a 50% quota had been imposed on the number of women studying at higher education institutions. Before Rouhani, 67% of students at universities were women, Safai said.

Women in Iran make up only 12% of the workforce, lagging behind even those of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Safai said as many as a half a million women had lost government administrative jobs since Rouhani took office.

Women face some surprising restrictions  concerts featuring female musicians are often canceled and women are barred from attending volleyball matches, Safai said.

Analysts have said Rouhani, who is up for reelection next year, is unlikely to push for controversial social change, such as expanding rights for women.

If Irans [special rapporteur] mandate is not renewed  despite its ongoing widespread, gross and systematic abuses  this would only be a result of Tehrans political influence and backroom deal-making, said Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch.

For more news on global sustainability, go to our Global Development Watch page.

And follow me on Twitter: @AMSimmons1
The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terrorist cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, the Associated Press has learned.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. Officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed to have entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered more or less everywhere.

Live updates: Terrorist attacks in Brussels >>

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But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capitals airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesdays attacks  this time for a man seen on security footage in the airport with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslams path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: So what if he was arrested? Well show you that it doesnt change a thing, said French Sen. Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

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The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldnt be happening, she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesdays attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but hed signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a secret cell of soldiers dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency that said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks.

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving Islamic State while others were kicked out of the terrorist group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

The difference is that in 2014, some of these [Islamic State] fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training, he said. Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. Its more about the rhythm of terror operations now.

Similar methods had been developed by Al Qaeda but Islamic State has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these external operation units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the Islamic State stronghold in Raqqah, Syria, or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesdays attacks, Abdeslams arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution, said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether theyre logistically linked ... theyre probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria.

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape, said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization in London.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days, Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be a Brussels resident with a degree in mechanical engineering  the bomb maker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material, although Laachraoui has not been publicly linked to the latest attack.

And Laachraoui, like the unidentified man seen wearing a white jersey at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had a good night on March 22 as he secured several dozen new delegates in his bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Arizona Primary Night

Sanders has been campaigning hard in Arizona leading up to Tuesday's primary, even with Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., providing support on and off the campaign trail. But Arizona appeared to still favor rival Hillary Clinton with a comfortable margin.

Although not all precincts have filed in their numbers, Clinton secured a significant lead to be called the winner in Arizona. With 85 percent of the precincts reporting, as of 5 a.m. EST, Clinton received 58 percent (233,028 votes) to Sanders' 40 percent (162,360 votes). With 75 pledged delegates at stake, Clinton is projected to win at least 43 delegates, while Sanders will win 27 delegates.

On the Republican Party field, unlike the Democrats' race, it was a "winner take all" election, where the GOP candidate with the most votes automatically wins all 58 delegates. Donald Trump, as expected, won all 58 delegates after receiving at least 47.1 percent of the vote (249,611 votes), based on 85 percent of the reporting precincts. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, placed second with 25 percent (133,191 votes), ahead Ohio Gov. John Kasich's 10 percent. Due to the "winner take all" primary, Cruz and Kasich did not win delegates.

Utah Caucuses

Traveling a bit north to Utah, it was a great night for Cruz and Sanders.

In the Democratic field, 33 pledged, and proportional, delegates were at stake and Sanders will win most of them. Sanders easily crushed the Utah caucuses with 79.1 percent support, while Clinton received 20.4 percent.

For the Republicans, Utah's 40 pledged delegates are proportional unless a candidate secures 50 percent or higher. Cruz managed to win all 40 delegates as a result of winning 69.1 percent (119,637 votes) with nearly 85 percent of the precincts reporting. Kasich placed second with 16.9 percent (28,818 votes) and Trump attracted 14 percent (23,858 votes).

Idaho Caucuses

Idaho also conducted caucuses but only for Democrats -- Republicans held their Idaho primary on March 8.

Sanders also, easily, won and is expected to win most of the state's 23 pledged delegates after winning 78 percent of the vote. Clinton trailed with 21.2 percent, and she lost every county except Lewis County -- 50 percent to 48 percent.

"I am enormously grateful to the people of Utah and Idaho for the tremendous voter turnouts that gave us victories with extremely large margins," said Sanders in a statement. "The impressive numbers of young people and working-class people who participated in the process are exactly what the political revolution is all about. These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests."

Delegate Count

The delegate count has seen various estimations across several media organizations. According to CNN, Clinton still maintains a lead with 1,229 pledged delegates and 482 superdelegates. Sanders is not too far behind in the pledged delegate count with 912, while he also has 27 superdelegates. A Democratic presidential candidate must reach 2,383 delegates to clinch the party's nomination.

In the Republican Party race, Trump's estimated to have 741 pledged delegates, Cruz with 461 and 145 for Kasich. The GOP doesn't have superdelegate rules. A GOP candidate requires 1,237 to clinch the party's nomination.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
In the wake of the Brussels attacks, Donald Trump did not let the opportunity slip past to rehash two of his more contentious arguments: to be very tough on the borders for those entering the United States - particularly the Muslim people, and to allow torture during terrorist interrogation.

Trump Urges Americans to be More Vigilant and Smart

"Look at Brussels. Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place... Now it's a disaster city, a total disaster," Trump said on Tuesday. "We have to be very careful in the U.S. We have to be very, very vigilant as to who we let into this country."

Trump said that he has come to know Brussels as one of the finest, most beautiful and safest cities in the world, but it has deteriorated in recent years. It has become a "catastrophic" and "very dangerous city. He said that Brussels today is a total mess. He doesn't want the United States to follow suit and that is why he is asking Americans to be more vigilant and smart.

Do you all remember how beautiful and safe a place Brussels was. Not anymore, it is from a different world! U.S. must be vigilant and smart!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2016

The GOP frontrunner also reiterated the need to use whatever means possible in order to gain necessary information from terrorists in custody like Salah Abdeslam, who is a suspect in the Paris attacks. "Waterboarding would be fine, and if they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding," he said. "I am in the camp where you have to get the information and you have to get it rapidly."

The Presidential Candidates' Also React to Brussels

Trump's rivals for The GOP nomination also weighed in on the Brussels attack. Ted Cruz highlighted that the incident is not just an isolated one, but signifies a war against radical Islamic terrorism. John Kasich, meanwhile, said, "I would have talked more about the battle against the civilized world, clearly I would be coming back home to gather the leaders, the heads of state, and put together teams of people to figure out why we have these vulnerabilities."

Hillary Clinton offered her thoughts and prayers to the people of Belgium, particularly those who had been killed and injured in the attack. She also expressed her optimism that the terrorists behind the attack won't succeed in trying to subvert the "democratic values" of the people.

These terrorists seek to undermine the democratic values that are the foundation of our way of life. They will never succeed. -H  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 22, 2016

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, called the act "barbaric" and also expressed his deepest condolences to the victims and their families, as well as the local residents from the city.
It might be time to retire the dumb blonde myth as scientists conclude there is no truth behind the sentiment in a new study.

Research Shoots Down 'Dumb Blonde' Stereotype

The study included 10,878 Americans from data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), which is a national survey conducted among people between the ages of 14 and 21 back in 1979.

The participants took the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), an exam that the Pentagon uses to determine the intelligence of recruits. Five years later, they were all asked to identify their natural color.

Jay Zagorsky, author of the recent study and a research scientist at the Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) of The Ohio State University, didn't include the African-American and Hispanic participants to remove the ethnic and racial factors from the findings.

It was discovered that white women with a natural hair color of blonde had an average IQ score of 103.2, higher than the 102.7 of women with brown hair, 101.2 of those with red hair and 100.5 of those with black hair.

Smart Blondes on the Rise?

As well as having a higher average IQ, blondes are also more likely to be part of the highest IQ group and less likely to be part of the lowest bracket, according to the study. However, Zagorsky explained that although the average IQ of the blonde participants were higher, the figures and the gap weren't statistically significant.

"I don't think you can say with certainty that blondes are smarter than others, but you can definitely say they are not any dumber," he revealed, adding that another reason why fair-haired women could have developed more intelligence was because they grew up in homes with access to more reading materials and intellectual stimulation.

Danger of Stereotypes

In his conversation with The Ohio State University News, Zagorsky also cautioned that perpetuating the stereotype of blondes being less intelligent than their peers can have negative implications in real life.

"Research shows that stereotypes often have an impact on hiring, promotions and other social experiences," he pointed out.

A previous report from Latin Post highlighted "human Barbie doll" Ashton Clark who is a picture-perfect vision of the famous blonde doll. The 22-year-old University of Tennessee student is determined to be known for more than just her looks though, as she is currently working as a clinical psychology research assistant with plans to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology.
The Ebola virus has plagued West Africa in the past few years and a recent death indicates the possibility of a flare-up spreading in Guinea. A total of five people have died in southeast Guinea since March 17 and an estimated 816 people who have come into contact with the Ebola victims are set to be quarantined as a precaution.

Recent Ebola Flare-Up Raises Concern

According to Fode Sylla Tass, the spokesman for National Coordination of the Fight Against Ebola in Guinea, the latest death was a man in the Macenta prefecture, which is around 200 kilometers from the Korokpara village where the four other Ebola deaths occurred. The victim visited Korokpara village recently and had contact with the other patients. His burial in Makoidou was executed without sanitary precautions.

The spokesman added that there was panic in among the Makoidou community upon learning of the Ebola-related passing of the victim.

"When the villagers realized that the test conducted by our health teams on the man were positive, they all fled into the bush," Tass shared on Reuters.

The 816 people who were confirmed to have direct contact with the Ebola positive victims will be quarantined for 21 days in their own residences.

West Africa's Ebola Outbreak

The panic is understandable as West Africa saw at least 11,300 deaths from the dangerous virus since 2013. It's considered the worst Ebola outbreak on record and Guinea was among the worst-hit countries out of all those affected, recording 2,500 fatalities from the disease. This particular outbreak reportedly sprung from Guinea, where the first death was recorded back in December 2013. Liberia and Sierra Leone were similarly devastated by the epidemic as well.

Guinea had already been proclaimed as Ebola free back in December 2015, although the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned the people of potential flare-ups in the country. The two other worst-hit countries Liberia and Sierra Leone were also afforded the same status, and WHO announced the entire West Africa region was free of active transmission of Ebola in January.

The Ebola-free status of a country is confirmed after two consecutive incubation periods lasting 21 days each wherein there are no new infections emerging within the area. Sierra Leone had a single death from the virus after the declaration in January, but was once again declared free of the virus this month.

Transmission of the Deadly Virus

The dead victims are one of the most significant modes of transmission of Ebola as traditional burial practices in the region require close contact with the corpses. Sexual transmission has also been proven as a way to transmit the disease.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a historic settlement on Monday regarding a claim against a Louisiana-based realty company that was accused of discriminating against Americans by hiring foreign H-2B workers.

Realty Company Rejected U.S. Workers

The DOJ found that Barrios Street Realty Inc., based in Lockport, Louisiana, unfairly rejected American applicants for sheet metal roofing and laborer jobs in order to hire foreign nationals through the H-2B work visa program.

DOJ Settlement Terms

Under the settlement, the company agreed to compensate the U.S. applicants it discriminated against and pay $30,000 in civil penalties. Barrios also agreed to a three-year ban on participating in the temporary work visa program that it used to solicit foreign workers as a condition to settle the claim.

"Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers in hiring," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, in a statement. "The department is committed to identifying and combating discriminatory hiring preferences that impede the ability of U.S. workers to compete equally for employment."

DOJ Investigation

After launching an investigation in December 2014, the department determined that the company either failed to consider or rejected 73 American workers who applied for sheet metal roofing and laborer positions. The realty company then applied for H-2B workers to fill these positions.

In addition, the department concluded that Barrios falsely claimed it was unable to attract and hire qualified U.S. citizens to fill the positions. This was due to the company's "hiring preference for temporary foreign workers under the H-2B visa program." The H-2B visa program grants U.S. employers the right to hire foreign nationals to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.

According to the DOJ, the company and its agent Jorge Arturo Guerrero Rodriguez "engaged in a pattern or practice of citizenship status discrimination in hiring against U.S. citizens."

The settlement also states that "Barrios Street Realty agrees that its actions would constitute valid grounds for debarment ... and meet the criteria as a willful and substantial violation and that Barrios waives the applicability of the debarment process under the regulations."

The government will contact U.S. applicants who were passed over for jobs at the company from July to December 2014 and sent a form that will help determine who is qualified to for compensation that will be paid for through a $115,000 back pay fund, according to the terms in the settlement. Those who qualify will either receive the entire backpay they are owed or a prorated portion of it, if the claims exceed $115,000, states the settlement.
Donald Trump is in favor of the U.S. completely closing its borders in the wake of the deadly Brussels' airport attacks that left at least 34 dead and more than 200 injured.

"I would close up our borders," the 2016 Republican front-runner recently told Fox News. "We are taking in people without real documentation. We don't know where they're from or who they are."

Such fiery rhetoric hardly comes as foreign territory for Trump. Just last year he called for a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. following a similar terrorist attack in Paris. He has also vowed that if he is elected he will re-institute such tactics as water-boarding in interrogating suspected terrorists.

Trump Wants to Bring Back Waterboarding

"I would use water-boarding," Trump said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "And I would try to expand the laws to go beyond water-boarding."

Later, Trump also called for authorities to be allowed to conduct greater surveillance of mosques in the U.S.

"You need surveillance," he said. "You have to deal with the mosques, whether we like it or not. These attacks ... they're not done by Swedish people, that I can tell you."

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton was quick to find fault with much of Trump's logic and vowed approach to things.

"Torture's not effective," she said of his call for the return of water-boarding. "That's like an open recruitment poster for terrorists."

As for all his closing the borders suggestions, the former Secretary of State added, "That shows a lack of understanding for how our system does work."

President Obama Share His Thoughts

Speaking in Havana on Tuesday, President Barack Obama also weighed in on all the recent carnage and what he sees as an appropriate course of action.

"The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium," he said. "We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible. This is yet another reminder that the world must unite."

Meanwhile, Trump was at least partly joined in his call for sealing the border by GOP challenger and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

"We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence, Cruz wrote in a lengthy Facebook post that also called for law enforcement being allowed to "secure and patrol" Muslim neighborhoods.

In a previous sweeping indictment, Trump charged Brussels residents had "coddled and taken care of" Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam prior to his arrest.

"When they see trouble they have to report it," he told talk show host Piers Morgan. "They are not reporting it. They are absolutely not reporting it and that is a big problem."
Former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for president on Wednesday morning.

Bush Calls Cruz "Consistent, Principled Conservative"

Coinciding with the results of the March 22 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, which saw Cruz win the Utah caucus with 69.2 percent of the vote, earning him all 40 delegates, Bush said the Texas senator has shown voter appeal and the ability to win primary and caucus contests.

"Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, including yesterday's Utah caucus," wrote Bush in a Facebook post, adding that the stakes in the 2016 election are high, and Americans must overcome the "divisiveness" and "vulgarity" of fellow Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

According to Bush, a Trump candidacy will result in the Democrats, likely Hillary Clinton, winning on Election Day this November.

"That is the only way we can reverse President Obama's failed domestic and foreign policy agenda, and turn our country around. Republicans can win back the White House and put our nation on a path to security and prosperity if we support a nominee who can unite our party and articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential," Bush wrote.

Cruz said he was honored to earn Bush's support and acknowledged the former candidate's track record as Florida's governor.

"Governor Bush was an extraordinary governor of Florida, and his record of job creation and education innovation left a lasting legacy for millions of Floridians," said Cruz. "His endorsement today is further evidence that Republicans are continuing to unite behind our campaign to nominate a proven conservative to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, take back the White House, and ensure a freer and more prosperous America for future generations."

Cruz's Quest to 1,237

On March 23, Arizona and Utah held Republican contests. In Utah's contest, Cruz overwhelmingly won, while Trump placed third, falling behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Utah's 40 delegates could have been allocated proportionally, but the state allows a candidate to sweep all 40 delegates if he or she receives a minimum 50 percent of the vote. Since Cruz received 69.2 percent, he secured all 40 delegates, and Trump and Kasich received none.

In Arizona's primary election, Cruz lost to Trump. The businessman won Arizona with 47.1 percent of the vote, while Cruz attracted 24.9 percent, and 10 percent went to Kasich. Arizona's Republican primary is a "winner take all" election, where the first place winner, in this case the victorious Trump, gets all 58 delegates.

Based on projections from RealClearPolitics, Cruz is still behind Trump in the delegate count. Trump has 739 delegates, Cruz has 465 and Kasich has 143. A Republican candidate must secure 1,237 delegates to win the GOP's nomination.

According to the latest Monmouth University national poll, conducted between March 17 and March 20 with 353 likely Republican voters, Trump leads with 41 percent to Cruz's 29 percent. Kasich is not too far behind with 18 percent.

The next Republican contest takes place in North Dakota, as a caucus, on April 1.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
In a message to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., Puerto Rico Education Secretary Rafael Roman Melendez further made the case about the commonwealth's debt crisis and the impact on children's education.

A "Deteriorating" Fiscal Crisis

According to Melendez, Puerto Rico's economic problems are "deteriorating at a very rapid pace," and it's taking a poll on children's health and safety.

"The programs I oversee are in distress as there is simply insufficient cash to address the needs of 379,818 children that attend public schools in Puerto Rico," wrote Melendez, noting that the children are the island's only hope to rescue the commonwealth's troubles. "Washington must act soon to avoid a preventable and irreparable harm to their development and wellbeing."

Acknowledging that his role, as secretary of education in the island, is to ensure children are given development opportunities particularly in social and educational skills. However, children are paying the consequences as a result of the congressional inaction, such as payments for classroom services, transportation, breakfast and lunch food supplies, "which are often the only meals some children consume during the day, as close to 58 [percent] of Puerto Ricans live in poverty."

Melendez also highlighted that Puerto Rico's special education program has also been affected, which comprises of 40 percent of public school students. He explained payment delays have occurred to service providers who provided disability therapies.

Illness Concerns and Impact

The education secretary also warned about the Zika virus' spread across the commonwealth. According to Melendez, more than 249 reported cases of the Zika virus have been made including over 24 pregnant women. He noted mosquitos are using septic tanks as breeding grounds and unfortunately many schools use septic tanks for wastewater services.

But Zika isn't the only health dilemma. Influenza is also on the rise. Melendez wrote that the Puerto Rico Department of Health is reporting an average of 1,300 cases of influenza every week, but the island is unable to maintain germ-free environments due to insufficient funds.

"Puerto Rico has some of the best teachers out here, to the point that stateside programs drive recruitment efforts in the island every year. And our teachers are fully committed to making sure all students receive the quality of education and care they deserve," wrote Melendez, later adding, "The crisis is also affecting their wellbeing; it hurts to see that the dreams and hopes of both teachers and students are jeopardized because of the poor policies of the past in Washington and Puerto Rico, as well as the greed of unscrupulous lenders."

Melendez concluded his letter by urging Ryan to remain committed in finding a comprehensive solution to Puerto Rico's crises.

Ryan's Puerto Rico Commitment

Puerto Rico' has been calling for the "tools" to help restructure its liabilities; these "tools" include the same Chapter 9 bankruptcy rights as the 50 U.S. states. Garcia Padilla has said on numerous occasions that the island is not requesting a bailout to solve its more than $70 billion debt.

Last December, Ryan said provisions addressing Puerto Rico's financial crisis was excluded in the omnibus spending bill, but he gave select lawmakers the task submit recommendations solving Puerto Rico's debt. During a press call from Washington, D.C. on March 16, Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he's been meeting with congressional lawmakers on Capitol Hill ahead of Ryan's March 31 deadline.

The governor is hoping for legislation that will give his government a "broad" restructuring framework and address the faltering health care system affecting the island's 3.5 million U.S. citizens. According to the governor, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Zika virus may affect up to 20 percent of the territory's population by the end of this year. Garcia Padilla said the Zika virus is the latest issue of the island's worsening humanitarian crisis.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
A pro-gun activist mother who was accidentally shot by her son faces misdemeanor charge for putting the gun on an easy access location, authorities said Tuesday. It was reported this week, that the said mother was accidentally shot by her toddler son while at their pick truck back seat.

According to Fox News, Jamie Gilt, 31 years old from Jacksonville, North Florida, told the authorities that her 4 year old son shot her in the back, with her 45-caliber handgun. The toddler, who was sitting in the back seat of their pickup truck, fired a shot at her while she was sitting in the driver's seat.

Gilt is being hospitalized and is in stable condition. Her son was also not hurt during the incident and brought to family members. Investigators are determining if she could be charge for allowing a minor access to a firearm.

After an investigation, an affidavit to charge Gild was filed in the Putnam County Sheriff's office, on Tuesday, by local prosecutors. Gilt faces second-degree misdemeanor, CNN News reported. Penalty for the said charge carries up to 180 days of imprisonment, according to Capt. Gator DeLoach.

DeLoach explained, though they support citizens to own weapons, however, he said, "Gun owners needs additional responsibility of ensuring children do not gain unintended access to a firearm in hopes of preventing tragedies like this."

The incident happened a day after she posted a photo on her Facebook page, which promotes Second Amendment rights called Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense, according to the Daily Mail. The post says, "Even my 4 year old gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22." She also believes she has the right to protect her family using her gun if anyone threatens them.

It was reported that Gilt was driving to pick up a horse from a relative when the said incident happened. On March 9, a Putnam County sheriff's deputy was on patrol when he noticed a truck stopped partially in the travel lanes and a woman in the driver's seat motioning for help. The only other occupant in the vehicle was the boy, who was not hurt over the incident.
NY LIVE: 2017 Subaru Impreza Sedan, Impreza Hatch

Mar 23, 2016, 2:53am ET

The new Impreza is a heavily toned-down version of the Impreza Sedan Concept

Subaru has introduced the long-awaited 2017 Impreza at the New York Auto Show.

Brand new from A to Z, the fifth-generation Impreza is a heavily toned-down version of the two Impreza concepts that were introduced last year in Tokyo and in Los Angeles, respectively. Its front end is characterized by more realistic-looking lights that replace the concept's sharp LED units, and a hexagonal grille with wing-like inserts. Out back, both the sedan and the hatchback models feature sharper tail lamps than their predecessors.

The Impreza Sport model benefits from 18-inch alloys, gloss black trim on both ends, body-colored rocker panels, black cloth upholstery with red stitching, and a specific instrument cluster. More importantly, it offers better handling thanks to a firmer suspension and a torque vectoring system.

Subaru has put a big emphasis on making the Impreza much nicer inside. That means you can expect to find higher quality materials, niceties such as contrast stitching, and an eight-inch touch screen that runs Subaru's Starlink infotainment system. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility is standard.

Power comes from a 2.0-liter direct-injected flat-four engine that makes 152 horsepower. All models regardless of trim level get Subaru's Symmetrical all-wheel rive system, though transmission options remain largely unconfirmed. All we know at this point is that higher trims receive a CVT with seven pre-programmed virtual "gears."

The 2017 Impreza is much more rigid than the 2016 model because it's built on a new modular architecture called simply Subaru Global Platform (SGP) that will eventually underpin the Forester and the Outback. Switching to the SGP platform promises to make the Impreza more comfortable, to reduce body roll by 50 percent, and to lower the center of gravity. Finally, the increased use of high-tensile strength steel improves energy absorption in the event of an accident by up to 40 percent.

Subaru's EyeSight suite of driving aids has been expanded to include adaptive cruise control, automatic pre-collision braking, and a lane departure warning system. Buyers can also order the Impreza with a novel reverse automatic braking technology that warns the driver if he or she is about to hit an obstacle while backing up, and automatic applies the brakes if necessary.

Built in Indiana, both the hatchback and sedan variants of the 2017 Subaru Impreza will go on sale nationwide later this year. The lineup will be broken down into four trims called base, Premium, Sport, and Limited, respectively. Impreza off-shoots like the Crosstrek and the WRX STI won't be revealed for at least another few months.

Live images by Brian Williams.
NY LIVE: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime

Mar 23, 2016, 11:40am ET

Toyota Prius plug-in is more efficient for 2017.

Toyota has unveiled its latest Prius Plug-In model at the New York auto show. The new version of the fuel-efficient hybrid will be marketed as the Prius Prime.

Based on the latest Prius model, the Prius Prime adds a bigger 8.8 kWh battery pack that allows for better fuel economy and a greater overall EV range. According to Toyota, the Prius Prime can cover up to 22 miles on battery power alone at speeds up to 84mph.

No changes have been made to the Prius's standard 1.8L gas engine, but Prius Prime remains highly efficient when running in hybrid mode, returning 120 miles per gallon equivalent. Toyota says that's about 26 percent better than the outgoing Prius Plug-In. Given that level of efficiency, the Prius Prime can cover more than 600 miles between fill-ups.

The Prius Prime can be fully charged via a standard household outlet in 5.5 hours. Upgrading to a 240V source cuts that charge time in half.

Inside the Prius Prime offers 2+2 seating and a greater level of standard features than the regular Prius. Standard equipment in the Prius Prime includes an 11.6-inch multimedia screen with navigation, color head-up display and Toyota's Safety Sense P, which includes lane departure warning with steering assist, pedestrian detection and radar cruise control.

The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime will arrive in dealer showrooms this fall. Pricing will be announced closer to the vehicle's on-sale date.

Live images by Brian Williams.
In a shocking video played in a Lehigh County courtroom, an Allentown man shows a police detective how he shook his infant son several times, and then threw the child on a bed, leading the baby to hit his head on a wall.

For the child's mother, the video went against everything Jeremiah Bauza told her about what led to the three-month-old's concussion and other injuries last May.

"Why? You could have just called me. I defended you!" Kaitlin Rivers yelled at Bauza as she wiped tears from her face.

Rivers said Bauza told her the baby was injured after falling off the bed, and she defended Bauza against the abuse claims. The child was taken away from both parents, and spent months in foster care before being placed in the custody of Rivers' mother.

"I lost five months, something I can never get back," Rivers said of her son. "Do you know how much this messed me up?"

Bauza was in court Wednesday to be sentenced, after previously pleading guilty to aggravated assault for abusing his baby son.

Rivers said she is thankful the baby recovered, and is a happy and healthy 1-year-old now. She asked the judge to limit Bauza to supervised visits with the child until he is 7 years old.

"I'm not going to make it so easy for you," Rivers said to Bauza. "I hope he takes this experience and learns from it, and becomes the best father for his son."

Bauza will have time to learn, after Judge Robert Steinberg sentenced him to 20 months to 59 months in state prison.

"The state (prison) is the only place for him. This is reprehensible," the judge said.

The judge viewed the video before sentencing.

"You treated your son like a rag doll ... and threw him against a wall, " Steinberg noted, later adding, "You are his parent. You have a duty to provide and care for your child and you failed miserably."

Steinberg said he could not enter custody orders, and would leave that to the judge handling Bauza's custody case. The judge, however, did order Bauza have not contact with his son until a custody order is entered.

Detectives got involved after the baby was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township on May 22 with a bruise on his eye and symptoms of not eating, as well as being fussy and lethargic, police said.

Doctors determined the baby suffered a concussion, according to court records, that was consistent with a "high velocity impact."

Bauza, the baby's father, told investigators that on May 20 the baby spent the night with him, became fussy and started to cry, records say. Bauza said he shook the baby back and forth several times, then threw the child on a bed, where the baby's head hit a wall, records say.

Bauza said he put the baby in the bed and left the room, records say.

He apologized for his actions in court on Wednesday.

Bauza had worked a 14-hour shift and was exhausted when he agreed to watch the baby so Rivers could go to an interview.

"My actions aren't justifiable in any way," said Bauza. "It happened out of frustration and tiredness which is not an excuse of any kind."

Bauza said he wants to move forward and be in his son's life, and has enrolled in the GED program and anger management classes while in jail.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
An Allentown man accused of punching and biting a 1-year-old boy now faces possible trial on charges stemming from the alleged abuse.

Israel Lopez-Carmona, 32, was in court on Wednesday for his preliminary hearing on charges of child endangerment, aggravated assault and simple assault.

Lopez-Carmona waived the hearing, sending the case to Lehigh County Court. He remains in Lehigh County Jail on $200,000 bail.

Defense attorney Al Stirba declined to comment following the hearing.

Jennifer Mosko, the boy's mother and Lopez-Carmona's girlfriend, was also charged after the boy's injuries were discovered. The couple lived together in the first block of East Susquehanna Street in Allentown, and Mosko allegedly witnessed the abuse and did not report it.

Mosko waived her preliminary hearing earlier this month, and her bail was lowered.

Police said the child was examined in December by doctors, who found multiple rib fractures and bruises on his cheeks and forehead.

In an interview Jan. 29 with detectives, Mosko admitted seeing Lopez-Carmona bite her son on the cheeks and thigh so hard that he left marks, police said.

Mosko reported she also witnessed Lopez-Carmona punch her son in the back so hard that he lost his breath, police said.

The mother said she had multiple conversations with Lopez-Carmona, usually in text messages, asking him to be gentle with the baby, and "how they could hide his bruises on his face," police said.

Lopez-Carmona reportedly admitted to biting the boy, hitting him and squeezing him, and discussing with Mosko how to cover up the bruises, police said.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
saucon valley generic 7015.jpg

Saucon Valley is switching to all-day kindergarten next school year (lehighvalleylive.com file photo | MATT SMITH)

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The Saucon Valley School District is joining the full-day kindergarten trend spreading across the Lehigh Valley.

The school board voted 7-2 Tuesday night to only offer full-day K for the 2016-17 school year.

Directors Ed Inghrim and Linda Leewright voted against the program change.

Saucon's current half-day program has 126 students enrolled and 39 students are in an extended day program for at-risk students. Teachers report there are more students in need than available seats.

A growing number of Lehigh Valley school districts are adding universal full-day kindergarten programs as part of a push to have children reading on grade level by third grade, a key marker of student success.

Inghrim would prefer to see Saucon offer both full-day and half-day kindergarten classes. He notes that children start school with different skills and abilities.

Southern Lehigh School District is piloting a full-day program but also offering half-day classes and Inghrim thinks that's better than Saucon's "one-size fits all approach."

Out of 92 kindergarten registrations in Saucon Valley, 77 parents said they prefer full-day kindergarten, 12 like the current system and three had no opinions, Superintendent Monica McHale-Small said. It isn't fiscally responsible to operate a half-day program with only 12 students, she said.

Inghrim theorized parents like the childcare savings that come from a full-day kindergarten program but he doesn't think taxpayers should be picking up the tab.

Saucon Valley doesn't need to hire new teachers to add a full-day kindergarten program, existing teachers will be moved from other elementary grades.

But Director Ralph Puerta does not expect the program to come at no cost, he said.

He is puzzled by the district thinking it needs to spend $108,000 on a new bus.

McHale-Small explained that currently there is no mid-day kindergarten bus run. A.m. students get a ride but their parents pick them up at lunch. Afternoon kindergarten students are dropped off by parents and take the bus home, she said.

The buses are currently quite full and its unlikely there's space for all of the kindergarten students, she explained.

Director Jack Dowling questioned how the kindergarten program will handle students whose energy starts out strong but fizzles out as the day goes on.

Kindergarten teacher Jennifer Campbell, who piloted Saucon's full-day K program 11 years ago, admitted September is a rough month as students adjust to the school day. But come October kids hit their stride.

Teachers plan complex lessons for the mornings and give all the extra play time and social development in the afternoon.

Play is a major part of learning for young kids and the longer school day will allow deeper play, Campbell said.

Bethlehem Area added a universal program this year while Allentown and Parkland school districts are starting universal full-day kindergarten next year. Easton Area wants a universal program but only had the funding to add March, Paxinosa and Cheston elementary schools this school year.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Franklyn Hutchison IV

Franklyn P. Hutchison IV

(Courtesy photo)

Franklyn P. Hutchison IV isn't charged with killing his girlfriend.

Nor do police accuse the 23-year-old West Easton man of moving or mutilating her dead body.

So there's no basis for him to be charged with abusing her corpse, according to his attorney.

Police found Brianne Miles' body dead July 10 at the home in the 200 block of Spring Street she shared with Hutchison. She died from a drug overdose, police said.

Hutchison was in the apartment with the corpse for at least two days before a neighbor complained about a strong odor coming from the apartment and Hutchison dialed 911.

Defense attorney Chris Shipman argued Wednesday he can't find another case where someone was convicted of abuse of a corpse simply because he failed to report a death.

Northampton County Judge Michael Koury said he could. He cited the case of Clarice Smith. She was convicted of abuse of corpse after her 3-year-old daughter's body was found in a Philadelphia high-rise apartment in 1987 by maintenance men after Smith moved out.

Koury said Smith was convicted at trial and her conviction was upheld on appeal.

Shipman argued in that case Smith had a duty as a parent to report her daughter's death. The child starved to death due to Smith's neglect. In Hutchison's case, he isn't charged with causing Miles' death and has no duty to report her death any more than a passerby on the street has a duty to report the sighting of a body slumped over in an alley.

"He did not bring about her death. His obligation to report it is different," Shipman said.

Koury appeared to disagree with Shipman.

"That's a little different than being someone who slept on a futon with the corpse for three days," Koury said.

Koury said the law does not allow anyone to treat a corpse "in a way that would outrage normal family sensibilities."

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen said it was clear to Hutchison for days that Miles was dead. He admitted to police he knew as much but did nothing. He lied to neighbors, saying Miles was asleep.

Allowing the body to decompose constitutes abuse, she said.

"Judge, you have to see the photos for yourself," she said. "They're horrific."

The attorneys will submit written briefs and the judge will rule on Shipman's motion to dismiss the charge after that. Hutchison is also charged with making false reports to police and possession of drug paraphernalia.

His trial is scheduled for July.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Mountmellick Community School's entire transition year has joined forces to organise a ladies day out that will be one to remember.

The 47 TYs, led by teachers Patty Conroy and Amanda Coughlin, will hold a ladies 'fashion and beauty extravaganza' in the Heritage Hotel on April 10, featuring top Irish fashion names and enviable goodybags and prizes awaiting the lucky 300 ladies attending.

The students formed an event management company called BeauTY School, and used every ounce of their persuasive skills to enlist names like TV3's Xpose presenter Aishling O'Loughlin as host, RTE celebrity make-up artist Aimee Connolly to do a tutorial, and Laois fashion designer Heidi Higgins to showcase work.

On top of that they won support from national and local businesses to sponsor it, including Image magazine, Clarins and Bare Minerals.

Everyone was superb. They used every connection they had, and learned how to format marketing letters, follow them up with calls, and cold call, said Ms Conroy.

There were jobs to suit everybody she said.

While it is a ladies day, with female students and their mothers modelling, the lads have been brilliant on the phone, and selling tickets, packing the bags, and will usher on the day, she said.

The day begins at 11am, with the make-up tutorial, followed by the fashion show, then a hair tutorial by A&A Hair Studio, who will take a mother from the audience and restyle her.

The Heritage will serve a tasty afternoon tea.

Guests will each get a giftbag worth 20, packed with goodies and vouchers.

Lots of spot prizes also throughout the day, including a 500 hamper of hair products from A&A.

Preparation for the show had its roots in a mini company which made 1,600 profit last Christmas selling cribs and bird boxes.

Each student had invested seed money of about 10 into that at the start of the year. They got back half of the profit, the other half was turned into a rolling investment into BeauTY School, We expect to make a profit in the thousands of euros. Half will go to events in the current TY programme, and half of it into next years, in the form of scholarships for students, explained Ms Conroy.

She thanked local businesses, including Jack and Cecil Carter for supplying sound.

The support of the local community, as usual for Mountmellick, was absolutely fabulous, they were behind us 100 percent. It's going to be a great day, she said.

Limited tickets available 30 from the school or any TY student. Call 057-8624220.
This month marks the 100th anniversary of a famous Dublin labour dispute in which trade unionists led by Jim Larkin took on employers and others in power.

This month marks the 100th anniversary of a famous Dublin labour dispute in which trade unionists led by Jim Larkin took on employers and others in power.

The dispute was not just about wage levels but about the right to be a member of a trade union.

The struggle has led to focus on many outstanding characters of the time including Jim Larkin and James Connolly.

Lesser known, but key, was Sligo born,William Partridge, trade unionist and editor, a trusted aide to both Larkin and, later, in the Citizens Army, James Connolly.

Partridge, who fought for what he saw as justice, died in 1917 at the young age of 42 after being jailed at Lewes, UK. Constance Markievicz gave the oration at his funeral

The era holds a special interest for long time Leixlip resident, Brian Foy, from Elton Court, Williams grandson.

Williams daughter, Eileen, married Brains father, Kevin Foy, a founder member of Rathfarnham credit union.

In July this year, Brian and his wider family gathered in Inchicore for the unveiling of a memorial plaque at the house where William and his family lived.

Brian never met his grandfather but has documents including copies of Williams beautiful handwriting.

William served as a Labour councillor on Dublin city council but he faced hardship following arrest during the bitter dispute of 1913, which led to the tram drivers going on strike on 26 August. He had bottle, said Brian of his grandfathers courage in his fight for justice and improved living conditions.

William is a subject of a biography by Hugh Geraghty and features in Padraig Yeates book, Lockout -Dublin 1913.
Earlier today, in a post publicising the Lib Dem Europe Policy Paper I mentioned Charles Kennedys speech in the Europe debate at the party conference, Glasgow, Autumn 2013.

You can watch the speech here:

As a Parliamentary Candidate in 2001 and 2005 I was as proud as one can be to stand for Charles Kennedys Liberal Democrats.

* Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party's representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.
Yesterday the SNP revealed their tax plans for Scotland. They were, to be honest, the plans of a Government thats cosy with being the Establishment, not of an insurgent movement wanting to bring change. Youd have thought, after all their moaning about the 50p rat being reduced to 45p, that theyd have put it straight back up but, no. Having said that you could argue that we could have done the same thing given that we were forced into it by the Tories in coalition in exchange for the raising of the tax threshold for the lowest paid. However, in our defence, our Scottish plans for a zero rate for the lowest paid will involve tax rises for the richest.

The SNP plans not to raise the higher rate tax threshold  but thats it. Other than that they will keep tax rates where they are. They wanted powers but when they are given them, they choose to tinker around the edges rather than use them for good. The cuts they have lumped on local authorities make their assertion that they are anti austerity sound hollow.

Over at the Scottish Lib Dems website, Katy Gordon, our lead candidate for the West of Scotland, has given her analysis of the SNPs proposals compared to ours.

Im glad Nicola has confirmed that Scotland wont follow George Osbornes sneaky tax cut for higher earners that would increase the tax threshold for the 40p tax rate. So now with Liberal Democrats, Labour and the SNP all agreeing on this, it is only Ruth Davidson and the Tories who seem to support rewarding the better off. But the SNP again failed to live up to their claims to be a progressive party by refusing to use the new powers to increase income tax to raise the money to make Scotland the best again. In fact, in guaranteeing not to increase anybodys tax bill, they are far closer to the Tories than they like to pretend. Todays announcement by the SNP is a feeble response to the pressing need for more investment that our public services need. In fact, I find it quite odd that the SNP are so dead set against using the new powers they have always demanded. Anyone would think they are scared to use them in case more people realise we dont need independence to transform Scotland into a better place Where is the bravery and boldness that you need in a government? While the SNP fiddle at the margins, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have made distinct political choices to make our country the best again. Ive been so proud to promote our plan to put 1p on income tax to pay for the transformation of education in Scotland. Income tax is the most progressive tax and it really frustrates me that the SNP wont use it. They seem to prefer to blame Westminster for everything, but wont lift a finger to use the new powers to make a difference. Ive been so pleased at the reaction to our education plans on doorsteps from Paisley to Helensburgh, Giffnock to Milngavie. The public are not daft. They tell me about the lack of college places, the endless fundraising they do to pay for school textbooks, the juggling of childcare. Our 1p on income tax will put 475 million into massively increasing pre school childcare, introduce a Scottish Pupil Premium to help close the attainment gap,

* Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary in print, on air or online.
Lib Dems love facts and figures  and evidence-based policy  so I thought Id do some digging of my own to see how the #LibDemFightback is looking in the run-up to Mays elections. While we only have opinion polls to guide us for the devolved assembly elections, there have been dozens of council by-elections already in 2016.

This year, up to February 19th, Britain Elects calculated that Lib Dems stood in 17 first and second-tier council by-elections across the country where the party had contested the seat last time around  fewer than the Conservatives or Labour (26 and 21 respectively), but half again more than UKIP (11). However we were the only ones with a positive average swing  +4.2%, versus average swings of -0.97% for Labour, -1.26% for the Conservatives, and a wince-inducing -8.06% for UKIP.

Since then, by my count, we have stood candidates in ten out of thirteen by-elections, gaining two, holding two, losing none. Seven were in wards where Lib Dems stood last time  these averaged a +11.73% swing (the only fall was in Whissendine (Rutland), where we were the prohibitive winners with 65.1% of the vote, despite a -0.7% swing). In the three where we stood anew, we netted 4% in Bloomfield (Blackpool), 8.4% in Ashby-de-la-Launde (North Kesteven), and a stonking 46.5% in Alderholt (East Dorset)  an 8-vote near-miss to the Tories at the first attempt.

What does this tell us? Well, three things leap out at me.

First, Tim Farron was about right when he said that where we work, we win is true again. Local teams, with some support, have results to be very proud of. The stand-outs were our two gains: Sutton (Cambridgeshire), with 52.5% of the vote on a +19.8% swing, and Aylsham (Broadland), a win with 48% on a 17.1% swing. Others are heartening too, including in Faraday (Southwark), where an upbeat campaign placed second to a prohibitive Labour lead, a good position to build upon. The same can be said of our Hutton (Redcar and Cleveland) team who came a clear second to a large Conservative lead. And of course, Alderholt (East Dorset) showed that a standing start can have a good chance of winning at the first attempt.

Second, spectacular swings are quite achievable  seven achieved double digits, Studley with Sambourne (Stratford-on-Avon) (+24.1%) and Hutton (Redcar and Cleveland) (+10.1%) being the highest and lowest of these. Many of these are partly due to other parties not standing, to be sure  but this merely underlines the importance of always standing a candidate (conversely, where we dont, we risk gifting similar swings to our rivals).

On the other hand, very often our vote has remained virtually static or fallen. Results of 4-8% are not uncommon, in line with our share in opinion polls. This is not to impugn local parties working hard in difficult wards, but as Mark Pack has said if that really is our votes floor, we should get used to results like this where local activists can often only fight a ward or two at a time. It should be in those one or two wards that we should look for signs that the #LibDemFightback is taking hold  and if the results so far are anything to go by, something positive is happening.

* John Grout is a Lib Dem activist and lives in Reading.
Libya is in crisis. After the removal of the brutal dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has unfortunately disintegrated into a state in little more than name, without the stability and leadership of any government. The country is being held back and fragmented through tribal infighting and most worryingly Daesh has established strongholds around Libya, including the cities of Sirte and Sabratha and even in areas surrounding Benghazi.

It is reported that the vast majority of Daesh fighters based in Libya are not Libyan nationals and the movement does not have roots within the country. Daesh is deeply unpopular with Libyan citizens and they have struggled to motivate and indoctrinate Libyan citizens.

The American military are currently conducting airstrikes on Daesh targets within Libya. The Secretary of State for Defence has personally authorised the use of RAF Lakenheath to allow these airstrikes to be launched from within the United Kingdom. The UK Government has been coy on what role, if any, our military will take to support the US military in their fight against Daesh in Libya, however the likelihood of the UK Government committing to military intervention in Libya is increasing.

In recent weeks, a new Libyan Unity Government has been formed, and this government has the opportunity to invite Western allies to support the Libyan Unity Government to cement their control, bring stability to the country and degrade the strongholds Daesh currently hold. This means that any decision to seek support for UK military intervention in Libya could be imminent.

In PMQs last week David Cameron confirmed that if the UK Government was to state the case for military intervention in Libya, it would be subject to a vote in the Commons. I am therefore writing today to gain a perspective from Lib Dem members on this issue. Following the concerns expressed by some members of the lack of discussion with MPs on the partys decision to support military intervention against Daesh in Syria, I would welcome comments or suggestions ahead of a vote, which could be called in the near future.

* Tom Brake was the Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington from 1997 to 2019.
This morning, Caroline Pidgeon took part in LBCs first mayoral debate alongside UKIPs Peter Whittle, the Greens Sian Berry, Tory Zac Goldsmith and Labours Sadiq Khan.

I know Im not unbiased, but if I had listened as an undecided voter, Id have thought that Caroline would be the best Mayor. She had facts to back up what she was saying, she understood the key transport, housing, policing and childcare problems and talked like a Mayor. This is in contrast to her Labour and Conservative opponents, who sound more like Stadtler and Waldorf from the Muppets every time I listen to them.

Zacs pitch boiled down to: Im a Tory so I know how to talk Tory to other Tories, vote for me. and Khans was Im not a Tory, vote for me. Neither of these inspire any sort of confidence.

Caroline talked about building houses and making sure the workforce has the sufficient skills to deliver, of making sure the lowest paid can get to their work with cheaper fares before 7:30 am, of investing in cleaner taxis & making them affordable for taxi drivers, of building cycleways. It was all good, solid practical stuff.

You can watch the whole thing in these two videos. Enjoy.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
A FORMER antiques dealer on Nicholas Street in Limerick city has been elected to fill Maurice Quinlivans Sinn Fein seat on the local authority.

John Costelloe, a 50-year-old father of four, spoke this Monday in the council chamber of his delight in claiming the seat, following Mr Quinlivans election to the Dail.

It has been a long, hard road for me to get to this point. Im honoured and humbled. Id like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Maurice Quinlivan, who has been a rock of steel for me. He has shown fantastic leadership in the area.

This role is completely new to me. Limerick is on the cusp of a wave, and we can all work together for our city, he said at the meeting.

He told the Limerick Leader: Ive been called a lot of things in my day, but Ive never been called a councillor. I have been approached by a lot of people in my area about being a councillor, and Ive worked on the ground with Maurice for a long time. I dont want to be a cog in the wheel, I want to be a major player in the wheel. So thats why I put myself forward at the convention.

Cllr Costelloe said two of the biggest issues in the city which concern him are the housing crisis and the suicide epidemic. While hes from Emmet Place, off OConnell Avenue, he says theres northside blood in my veins.

The outgoing councillor wished Mr Costelloe the best in his role, and said that he has enjoyed his time on the council  five years with the old city council, and two years on the joint authority.

He added that he will miss the council, paid tribute to its staff, and said he believes that Sinn Fein have been a positive influence on the council.
AS OUR kids gleefully dodged the water jets on the paving, we admired the contemporary bronze sculpture and historic architecture overlooking the park.

We strolled on, stopping for a snack at an outdoor market and arrived at a sunny square where the cafes spilled out onto the pavement and an array of shops and galleries waited to be explored.

Sounds idyllic, doesnt it? We were not in an historic town in the heart of Italy. We were in Clonakilty, an Irish town that has been transformed by the actions of its town architect, Giulia Vallone.

It came as no surprise when The Clonakilty 400 Project won the Public Choice category of the RIAI Irish Architecture Awards in 2014.

The Limerick Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society was honoured to host a talk recently by Ms Vallone, senior executive architect at Cork County Council.

Vallones presentation, Towns for People  Civic Stewardship through Public Spaces, was the second in our series of talks focusing on the reinhabitation of Newtown Pery.

She believes that in order to bring people back to live in our towns and cities, we must create vibrant places that citizens are proud of. This needs to be done through urban design and place making.

Through her role as town architect, Vallone has reinvigorated Clonakiltys town centre, making it a place, which favours people over cars, with a sense of community on the streets.

Emmet Square had become run down with anti-social behaviour and was seen as a problem by residents. The redesign, which is now open to the public day and night, is a centre for social activities and as a result the residents have seen a significant increase in properties values.

Why have we no city architect in Limerick? was the first question asked by a member of the audience. Vallone enlightened us that only two counties in Ireland, Cork and Mayo have a dedicated architectural department, providing urban design, and heritage conservation services through project brief development, design, planning and procurement.

As part of the RIAI election manifesto, they have called for an architect responsible for every town. In an article in the Irish Independent, last year, the former president of the RIAI, Robin Mandal, urged councils to put architects at the heart of the decision-making process before the pace of development returns to normal.

He said, With an architect there, you will have somebody who understands the history of places, how materials work, how the environment looks, how things function.

In Limerick we now have an opportunity. We have a new amalgamated council with a focus on Limericks economic recovery.

A vital part of this the new council must be the establishment of a dedicated architectural department. Like the town architects of Cork and Mayo, the city architect needs to be actively involved in the planning process as well as being a lead designer of public spaces.

An architectural department empowered to make decisions that will shape the city, will ensure the principles of good design and planning are implemented.

By making urban design and place making a key function of the City and County Council, it will be the first step in creating a city where people will want to live, where investors will want to do business and where tourists will want to visit.

The Limerick Irish Georgian Society continues its spring lecture series with Architectural Historian Judith Hill on April 12.

- Ailish Drake is director at Drake Hourigan Architects and Chair of the Limerick Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society.
THE University of Limerick, Limerick Institute of Technology and Mary Immaculate College have made excellent progress in terms of its objectives, according to a national report by the Higher Education Authority on system performance findings.

The report said that these institutions showed an excellent capacity to benchmark progress through robust self-evaluation, and an excellent ability to learn from past successes and failures.

The three Limerick institutions are placed alongside another 14 educational bodies in the excellent category.

However, three institutions which did not meet the agreed performance level now face a potential funding penalty.

These are Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Dundalk Institute of Technology and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin.

A further six were found to be merely adequate in their progress against key objectives. They include Athlone Institute of Technology; Dublin Institute of Technology; IT Tralee; IT Blanchardstown; IT Tallaght; and Letterkenny IT.

Professor Michael A Hayes, president of Mary Immaculate College, said they are delighted to be placed within the excellent progress category.

Following a period of extremely challenging times, with the sector witnessing significant cuts to funding and staffing levels, this assessment brings very welcome news.

The college has emerged from what proved to be a most trying period in a stronger position than any it has enjoyed over its 117-year history.

The future of MIC as an autonomous, independent institution within the higher education landscape is assured, said president Hayes.

The report by the HEA is on foot of the recommendation of the Hunt Report (2011), that future funding for third level institutions should be related to performance. The HEA then introduced an annual performance evaluation sys-tem, outlining what was expected from the higher education sector under key headings, including meeting skills needs, equity of access and excellence in research, and knowledge exchange.

In 2014 each institution entered into an agreement with the HEA regarding which of the national objectives they would focus on, given their strengths and mission with these agreements providing metrics to assess performance.

Each review was assessed in the first instance by the institution itself before being submitted to the HEA for review in addition to being assessed by an international panel of advisers.
A MARRIED couple were acquitted of assault charges after a judge ruled the State had not proven their actions were intentional or reckless.

Throughout a contested hearing at Limerick District Court, Anne Prendergast, aged 52, and Cecil Prendergast, aged 51, both of Ceol Na Habhann, Caherconlish denied assaulting Hannah Wosniak at a pub in the city centre during the early hours of December 2, 2013.

In her evidence, the alleged injured party, who is originally from Poland, said she was struck in the face and chest during an incident at the pub around 1.35am.

She said she was standing and chatting with friends when she brushed off Mrs Prendergast, who was at the bar counter with her husband.

Judge Marian OLeary, who was shown CCTV footage from the pub, was told words were exchanged and that a scuffle erupted before security staff intervened.

Ms Wosniak alleged Mr Prendergast struck her in the face and that she sustained a 14cm laceration after Mrs Prendergast scraped her across her face with her nail.

Being cross-examined by solicitor Sarah Ryan, the alleged injured party agreed the pub is a well-run premises and that her friends were asked to leave following the incident.

Ms Ryan put it to the witness that she had been very aggressive on the night and she accused her of being a troublemaker.

I didnt do it to myself, replied Ms Wosniak.

Garda Elaine Cusack said both defendants made cautioned statements on March 9, 21014. While they admitted there had been shouting and roaring, both denied hitting Ms Wosniak.

Judge OLeary was told a medical report acquired by the alleged injured party was not admissible in evidence and that staff and management at the pub declined to make statements to gardai in relation to the incident.
May 2, 2021, 7 PM

A recent report from the United States Postal Service's Office of Inspector General indicates that large senders of political mail are not satisfied with the Postal Service's slow delivery rates. The amount of revenue at risk could be as much as $38 milli

By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent

Every four years, the United States Postal Service counts on a surge of political mailings to fill its mailbags.

This year expectations are high, with postal officials hoping for as much as $1 billion in added revenue, more than double the level of 2012 political mailings.

But the Postal Services Office of Inspector General is throwing cold water on those estimates, saying that some mailers are so upset with how slow the mail has become that they are questioning the value of political mail.

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The inspector general noted that its surveys have found issues with the flow of mail as a result of plant consolidations, and that those problems are raising issues with the people who would be using the mail in the fall elections.

Fully three-quarters of the mailers with whom the inspector general checked voiced those concerns, according to the report titled Political Mail Strategy.

The word one mailer used to describe current mail conditions was abysmal.

When Government Executive, a Washington-based magazine, contacted U.S. Mailing House in San Diego, an unnamed sales director put it this way:

The equipment is old ..., the official said, and added unfavorable comments about postal employees.

And this is from a company that delivers four truckloads of mail a day to the USPS.

What was surprising about the latest inspector general report was that Cliff Rucker, the Postal Services vice president for sales, agreed there is a risk to revenue if operational issues are not addressed.

Rucker noted that the USPS has created a political mail strike team to deal with the issues.

We recognize that operational issues, if or when they occur, could create barriers to customers considering or planning on using political mail, he said.

We believe the Postal Service, especially operations and delivery, well understand the importance and impact of political mail not only to the revenue stream, but to the Postal Service brand.

The report suggested that the amount of revenue at risk this year may be $38 million, a relative small number for an agency that deals in budgets in the billions.

But with the Postal Service facing a $2 billion revenue loss this year from the end of emergency postal rate surcharges, the loss of even a small portion of once dependable mail is hardly welcome news.
Mar 22, 2016, 10 AM

Mint panes of 100 of the 1961 8 Gen. John J. Pershing stamp (Scott 1214) are becoming scarce and are selling in the $18-to-$20 price range.

By Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Just over 100 years ago on March 8-9, 1916, Mexican general, revolutionary, and sometime bandit Pancho Villa ordered an attack by 500 troops on Columbus, N.M., and nearby Camp Furlong where four troops of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment were stationed.

The invading Mexicans burned the town and killed eight cavalry troopers and 10 citizens of Columbus. The Mexican force suffered 67 killed, 13 mortally wounded and five captured before retreating back into Mexico.

In response to the raid, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered 10,000 American soldiers under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing into Mexico on a punitive expedition to capture or kill General Villa. The American force located and defeated General Villas main army group, but it was never able to catch the wily general himself.

The United States entry into World War I on April 6, 1917, brought the expedition to an end. General Pershing went on to command the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I.

On Nov. 17, 1961, the United States issued an 8 Gen. John J. Pershing definitive stamp (Scott 1214). For many years before being assigned its present number, this stamp was listed in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers as Scott 1042A, and some sellers still list it under that number.

The 2016 Scott U.S. Specialized catalog values a mint never-hinged single at the catalog minimum of 25 and a mint plate-number block of four at $1.

You can still occasionally find mint multiples and blocks of this issue in discount postage offerings, but mint panes of 100 are becoming scarce.

Some dealers will pay face value ($8) or a bit more for mint panes of 100, and they are selling in the $18-to-$20 price range. If you collect in this format, now is a good time to look for a mint pane of 100 of the Pershing stamp.
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Long-hidden annotations in a Henry VIII-era Bible reveal the messy, gradual process of the Protestant Reformation.

The handwritten notes were just discovered in a Latin Bible published in 1535 by Henry VIII's printer. There are only seven surviving copies of this edition, which features a preface by the king himself. The version with the annotations is in the Lambeth Palace Library in London.

"This Bible at first glance seems like a blank copy, so nothing interesting there, and very clean, which is the opposite of what we want it to be," said Queen Mary University of London historian Eyal Poleg, who is writing a book on the history of the Bible in England and who uses handwritten notes in Bibles to learn about how they were used.

But a closer look revealed that heavy paper had been glued over the margins of the Bible, hiding writing beneath. That writing would turn out to illustrate the Reformation in a nutshell. [See Images of the Annotated Bible Printed by Henry VIII]

Religious history

The 1535 Bible was published in a transitional time for religion in England. The Protestant Reformation was in full swing. Possessing an unlicensed translation of the Bible in English was a crime punishable by death. English scholar William Tyndale had nevertheless been working on a translation from Hebrew and Greek since the 1520s, a feat that earned him an execution by strangling in 1536. (Translating the Bible had long been dangerous work. John Wycliffe was the first person to attempt a full English translation, in the 1380s. At least one of his followers was burnt at the stake, the fire lit with manuscripts of the English pages. Wycliffe himself died of natural causes, but his bones were later removed from consecrated ground, burned and cast into the river by the order of the Roman Catholic Church's Council of Constance.)

The Latin title page of the 1535 Bible. (Image credit: Copyright Lambeth Palace Library)

Only a few years after publication of the 1535 Latin Bible, Henry VIII showed signs the Church of England was moving away from the authority of the Roman Catholic Church  called the English Reformation. He was already on the outs with the Roman Catholic Church after the dissolution of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, had declared himself the supreme head of the Church of England, and was well on his way toward dissolving England's monasteries, a process said to have funded Henry VIII's military campaigns. [Family Ties: 8 Truly Dysfunctional Royal Families]

Poleg's discovery of the annotations written during this period was mere happenstance. He was at the Lambeth Palace Library in order to examine one of the two 1535 printed Latin Bibles there. But he accidentally ordered the wrong one. While he was waiting for the librarian to retrieve the version he'd meant to order, he took a closer look at the volume in his hands. In the margins of one page, he noticed something odd.

"I saw there was a very small hole, and a few letters were peeking out," Poleg told Live Science. Someone had pasted heavy paper over the margins.

What lies beneath

Poleg had to figure out how to see beneath the pasted-on paper  as removing the sheets would damage the original pages below. He used a light sheet, essentially a thin, paper-sized lamp that can slide under a page and illuminate any writing that might be hidden. The light sheet let him see that there was writing below the glued-on paper. It also let him see watermarks dating the paper to about 1600. But the printed text on the backside of the page showed through, too, making it impossible to read the handwritten notes.

"That's where I got stuck for about six months," Poleg said.

Finally, he turned to Graham Davis, an X-ray specialist at Queen Mary University of London's School of Dentistry. Davis took two long-exposure images of the pasted-over pages, one with a light sheet underneath the pages so that the annotations could be seen, and one without a light sheet. He then wrote a software program to virtually "subtract" the printed text, leaving the annotations behind. Suddenly, the hidden words were readable.

Transitional time

The annotations turned out to be tables of lessons, which are liturgical notes explaining which part of the text to read on particular days throughout the year (Advent, Easter and so on). The surprising discovery was that these tables of lessons were printed in English.

Further study revealed that the tables of lessons were copied from the "Great Bible," the first authorized English translation of the book, commissioned by the king's secretary Thomas Cromwell. The Great Bible was printed in 1539. The annotations were made at some point between then and 1549, Poleg said.

The presence of these English scribbles in a Latin book reveals how the Protestant Reformation happened on the ground, so to speak. By 1539, Henry VIII had issued legislation requiring all liturgy be given in English, not Latin. But "how people actually prayed, we don't know enough about that," Poleg said. "And this Bible tells us something."

"A lot of it is grayscale," he said. "It's not about going against Henry, or either Latin or English, but it's both Latin and English, both trying to do something they knew before, but not going head-to-head with legislation or the reigning monarch."

Other covered-up scribbles on the Lambeth copy of the Bible were less religious in tone. On the back page, Poleg found a handwritten promise by a Mr. James Elys Cutpurse of London to pay 20 shillings to a Mr. William Cheffyn of Calais. If Cutpurse (slang for "pickpocket") didn't pay, he'd be sent to the Southwark prison of Marshalsea.

Poleg tracked down Cutpurse's history and learned from a Londoner's diary that he had been hanged in July 1552. That means the handwritten promise had been made before then. Thus, the Bible tracks 17 years of tumultuous Reformation history in one document: It started as a royally decreed book, the first printed Latin copy of the Bible in England, then became a study guide on the shift from Roman Catholic Latin to Protestant English, and finally moved into secular hands, its use becoming more like a religious "talisman" than a liturgical text, Poleg said.

"Henry's breaking the religious establishment and their books are moving out of the church to all sorts of places," he said.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
Vasco da Gama's uncle, Vicente Sodre, ignored advice from the locals about impending strong winds. His ship, which was part of five-vessel squadron, became unmoored and sank in a bay, on an island off the coast of present-day Oman.

Marine archaeologists think they've discovered a lost Portuguese ship from explorer Vasco da Gama's fleet off the coast of present-day Oman, more than 500 years after it sank in a deadly storm.

A team led by David Mearns, of the U.K.-based Blue Water Recoveries, first located the shipwreck in 1998 using archives and historical documents as a guide. After recent underwater excavations and careful analysis of more than 2,800 artifacts, including cannonballs and rare coins, the researchers are now fairly certain they have found the nau Esmeralda, the doomed ship commanded by da Gama's uncle.

Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama found a sea route to India in 1498, becoming the first European to reach Asia by sea and ushering in an era of Portuguese imperialism. Da Gama secured a monopoly on the valuable spice trade, terrorizing coastal cities and vessels along the way. (In one infamous story, da Gama torched a pilgrim ship carrying more than 300 Muslimsincluding women and children returning from Mecca.) [See Photos of the 500-Year-Old Shipwreck]

During da Gama's second voyage to India (1502-1503), his uncles Vicente and Bras Sodre were in charge of a five-ship squadron. They had specific instructions to provide military cover for friendly trading states on the west coast of India and to disrupt Arabic shipping along the route, Mearns told Live Science, but they disobeyed their orders and instead went to the Gulf of Aden, where they carried out a campaign of piracy.

After sacking and killing everyone on five Arab ships (and keeping much of the loot for themselves), the Sodrebrothers needed to make repairs. They took shelter in a bay at Al-Hallaniyah, the largest of the Khuriya Muriya Islands, located about 28 miles (45 kilometers) off the southern coast of Oman.

"They were friendly with the Arabs [on the island] and trading with them maybe too friendly with their wives, it seems from the archives," Mearns said.

The Portuguese ships were anchored in a bay that was protected on all sidesexcept the north. When the local fishermen knew there was a strong wind coming from the north, they told the Portuguese sailors to get on the other side of the island. But, believing their iron anchors to be strong enough to withstand the storm, the Sodre brothers didn't heed the warnings. The wind came, and the ships' moorings were torn away.

Bras Sodre's ship, nau Sao Pedro, ran hard aground, but Vicente's ship, nau Esmeralda, sank in deeper water, killing him and everyone else on board. [The Top 10 Intrepid Explorers]

Another captain from the squadron recounted the disaster in great detail in a letter to the Portuguese king, and the story has been retold in many histories.

"It was a very rich and well-told story, which is great for archaeology," Mearns said. "You usually don't have that luxury."

That story led Mearns to the northeastern coast of Al-Hallaniyah in 1998. During the initial investigation, he said he found more than 20 large stone cannonballs sitting right on the surface of the seabed. Mearns and his Omani partners then conducted more thorough archaeological surveys and excavations in 2013, 2014 and 2015. They found hundreds of artifacts, including copper-alloy barrels, a number of stone shots, gold coins, West African and Asian ceramic pots and stone beads, he said.

To examine some of the shipwrecks' corroded artifacts, the team turned to high-tech methods. They used CT scanning to identify two silver coins: the Manuel indio, minted in 1499; and the real grosso, minted sometime between 1475 and 1479. Portuguese King Dom Manuel I ordered the indio to be struck after the return of da Gama's first voyage to India, specifically to be used in trade with India. As there is only one other known indio in the world (housed at the National Historical Museum of Brazil), this coin has reached legendary status in the coin-collecting world, Mearns and his colleagues wrote.

CT scans were also used to get a better look at a bell (which was wrested from under a boulder in shallow water) and found that it was inscribed with the numbers "498." The researchers suspect that perhaps the "1" eroded from the manufacture date of 1498; that would chronologically fit with Sodre's squadron, which left Lisbon in 1502.

"It's very possible that that could be the oldest ship's bell ever found in the world," Mearns said. "And it was found less than 100 meters [328 feet] off a shoreline, in a depth of water that you could have snorkeled to. As small as the world is, there are still places left to explore."

The findings were published online March 14 in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
The world's largest aircraft, some 65 feet (20 meters) longer than the world's biggest passenger airliner, is just about ready to leave its hangar near London and take to the skies.

At 302 feet (92 meters) long, the hybrid Airlander 10  which mixes tech from airplanes, helicopters and airships  even dwarfs the largest passenger airliner, the Airbus A380 (also called the Superjumbo), and boasts a weight of 44,100 lbs. (20,000 kilograms), according to its maker, Hybrid Air Vehicles in Cardington, England.

In addition to its gargantuan size, the prototype hybrid vehicle (which looks like a massive blimp) has endurance on its side: The Airlander 10 is designed to reach altitudes of up to 20,000 feet (6,100 m) and stay aloft for five days when manned and up to two weeks when unmanned. [Huge Airship: See Photos of the Building of the Airlander 10]

The aerodynamic shape of the helium-filled hull provides 40 percent of the hefty vehicle's lift, according to company officials. Air-filled bags called ballonets in the hull can be inflated or deflated to change the craft's altitude. In addition to remaining buoyant, the Airlander will be able to cruise through the air at up to 91 mph (148 km/h), propelled by its four 350-horsepower, V8 diesel engines, said Hybrid Air Vehicles.

(Image credit: Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd.)

In the latest developments, engineers attached a series of parts to the Airlander's hull, including a massive lower port fin that had to be lifted up by a crane and four turbocharged diesel engines. The payload module, where passengers or cargo will sit, was also fitted beneath the hull and behind the cockpit.

"It's really quite a special machine to fly," said test pilot David Burns, as reported by CNN. "The view from the flight deck is excellent because of the large windows and the airship characteristics, flying at a fairly lowish altitude."

The Airlander 10 could be used for diverse missions, its functionality resting on two qualities: "It can stay in the air for days and even weeks carrying a lot of weight on an ultra-stable platform," Chris Daniels, head of partnerships and communication at Hybrid Air Vehicles. "And it also has the versatility to land and take off from pretty much any surface, including water, carrying up to 10 tonnes [about 22,000 lbs.] of cargo."

With its "ultra-stable platform," the Airlander 10 could be used for search and rescue, patrol and surveying. "This may be coastguard duties, academic research or perhaps a Wi-Fi platform for rock festivals," Daniels told Live Science in an email. "The second use is either passenger flight (think safaris and luxury tourism) or for cargo to remote regions where there aren't good roads or railways, or perhaps an airport doesn't exist."

Before reaching its lofty goals and offering rides to commercial passengers, the Airlander, which reportedly cost $35 million to produce, will complete ground tests and then 200 hours of test flights, according to CNN.

Editor's Note: This article was updated with additional information on how the Airlander 10 will be used.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
A live Sumatran rhinoceros has been captured in the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, a region where these critically endangered animals were thought to be extinct.

A single camera-trap image and telltale footprints found in 2013 had previously revealed that Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) still survived in Kalimantan, which makes up the southern 73 percent of Borneo. But this is the first time in 40 years that humans have found a live rhino there. Conservation groups estimate that fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos are left in the wild, most of which live on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, located west of Borneo.

"This is an exciting discovery and a major conservation success," Pak Efransjah, the CEO of the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) in Indonesia, said in a statement. "We now have proof that a species once thought extinct in Kalimantan still roams the forests, and we will now strengthen our efforts to protect this extraordinary species." [A Crash of Rhinos: See All 5 Species]

Protected regions

WWF researchers captured the elusive rhino, a 4- or 5-year-old female, in a pit trap on March 12. The rhino was in Kutai Barat in East Kalimantan. She's now being held in captivity pending a transfer to a protected forest about 93 miles (150 kilometers) away.

The female Sumatran rhino, thought to be 4 or 5 years old, is expected to be transported from her temporary enclosure to a protected forest about 93 miles (150 km) from where she was captured. (Image credit:  Ari Wibowo / WWF-Indonesia)

Along with the Javan rhino, Sumatran rhinos are barely hanging on in the wild. According to the International Rhino Foundation, they went extinct in Vietnam in 2010 and in Malaysia in 2015. Sumatra boasts three protected national parks where small populations of Sumatran rhinos still survive. Habitat loss, poaching and logging all threaten the animals, and the remaining populations are fragmented.

In Kutai Barat on Borneo, scientists have tracked and identified 15 surviving Sumatran rhinos, but the March 12 capture of the young female is the first physical contact they've made with the animals. WWF-Indonesia and other members of the Sumatran Rhino Conservation Team hope to transfer at least two other Kutai Barat rhinos to the protected forest nearby. The goal is to create a new Sumatran rhino sanctuary on the island to prevent the last of the species from disappearing from the area.

"This is a race against time for rhino conservation," Efransjah said. "Providing a safe home is the only hope for the survival of the Sumatran rhino for many generations to come."

Endangered rhinos

There are five rhinoceros species throughout Africa and southeast Asia. The Javan rhino is the most threatened, with only 63 left living in the wild in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park, according to the WWF. Most Sumatran rhinos also survive only in three national parks in Indonesia.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers that the greater one-horned rhino is "vulnerable" to becoming endangered In India and Nepal. There are more than 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos in the wild, up from fewer than 200 a century ago, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

In Africa, conservation efforts have brought back the southern white rhinoceros from the brink of extinction. Around 20,000 survive in the wild. The other white-rhino subspecies, the southern white rhino, however, is extinct in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss. Only three northern white rhinos still survive in captivity, and none are capable of reproducing naturally. Scientists are now trying to develop in vitro fertilization technology to save that subspecies.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
Forwarders say transit times decreasing fast with 11 days already feasible from eastern China and new markets opening up to Middle East and Mediterranean

European forwarding and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are continuing to expand rail services between Asia and Europe to new markets in the Middle East and southern Europe as well as rapidly improving transit times, with 11-12 days already feasible from eastern China to Europe.

A spokesman for DB Schenker told Lloyds Loading List that speeds to Europe from multiple destinations in Asia were consistently falling as customs became more efficient and delays less frequent.

Transit time is decreasing fast, he said. When we started with Chongqing-Duisburg in 2012, there was a terminal-terminal time of 19 days. Nowadays we calculate at 12 days on the same route. Similar trends can be observed on all the usual rail lanes on the Trans Eurasian corridor.

The company currently offers services from across China as well as multimodal connections from and to Korea, Japan and Vietnam, but new southern routes are also gradually being developed. We have already started to do this and will follow the further development of the One Belt  One Road initiative to the Middle East and Black Sea regions, he said.

DHL, which expects growth on its rail services from Asia to Europe to expand by around 2-3 times over 2015-2020, is also looking at new routes and improved transit times. Zafer Engin, who heads up DHLs Value Added Services division in China, told Lloyds Loading List that tests had shown that transit times from eastern China to Europes borders of 11 days were already feasible, and more gains would be possible if trains moving through China could be speeded up.

The company is now also exploring routes via Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. We feel there is market interest in this route, he added. China to Turkey is achievable, the Turkish government just needs to complete a 75km section of rail between Turkey and Georgia. At the moment we transfer by truck, but we need a cross-border rail connection which will be finished soon.

From Turkey we can truck within 6-12 hours to the Balkans, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria. We also see Azerbaijan as having good potential. We can do China to Baku in around ten days.

Engin added: Another promising lane is to Iran which will be a prime market from China. A trial train has already been run. As I understand it, we just need political alignment on border and transport documents and the governments are already working on it, so this will be a promising market in the near future.

DB Schenker sees rail door-to-door lead times and costs as a perfect fit between air and ocean being half the price of air freight but twice as fast as ocean, according to the spokesman.

He said that the imbalance in eastbound and westbound traffic was also now decreasing. The imbalance is not that big for DB Schenker, because we have significant automotive volumes eastbound.

Like DHL, DB Schenker is forecasting an accelerating expansion in rail volumes between Asia and Europe. This will provide a welcome boost to the groups rail portfolio after its European rail freight unit, DB Cargo, booked major losses in its latest results.

Our target is to continue the exceptional growth rate of the past and to triple our volumes on the Silk Road routes, said the spokesman. Further development of rail infrastructure on the Chinese Silk Road and better co-ordination between railways would further fire demand, he said.

The issue of border procedures and decreasing transit times are subjects involving railways and international railway organizations, he added. DB-driven initiatives like the unified CIM/SMGS railway bill, the General Terms and Conditions TransEurasia and further digitalization of operations, documentation and customs will support the general idea of the New Silk Road initiative.
News / Education

by Collin Nyabadza

It's true when they say, 'children learn better through real life experiences. A young and dynamic school head in Tsholotsho District made sure that the students at his school got to experience that. Mr. Muziwandile Dube is the Head of Samahuru Secondary School in Tsholotsho District, with a deep passion for seeing his students going on to do well in life. He strongly believes that given equal opportunities to their city counterparts, students in rural secondary schools have the capacity to enroll at some of the nation's top tertiary institutions.In a bid to motivate his students, Mr. Dube last Sunday 21st March, 2016 organised an educational trip for students at his school, to Solusi University's Graduation Ceremony. He took along 38 students and three teachers, one parent representative and the school clerk. This may seem a minor thing, but such trips help to broaden the children's horizons, especially for the majority of them who due to lack of resources at their homes rarely venture outside the area where they live.Samahuru Secondary School is situated 180 Kms away from Bulawayo. They are lucky in having a Head of Mr. Dube's calibre as he is deeply passionate about seeing the school develop and the children excelling. The children were excited about this trip as they were able to see for themselves where they would end up if they continued working hard in class. Together with his staff, Mr. Dube has also introduced monthly awards to excelling students in the school in a bid to motivate them to take their work seriously. After the success of this trip, Mr. Dube and his staff would like to take their students to the magnificent Victoria Falls.In the meantime, one of Mr. Dube's wishes is to see his school construct a modern science laboratory in an effort to complement the government's efforts of stepping up the teaching of Science subjects (STEM) in the Zimbabwean school curriculum. Samahuru Secondary School has a student enrolment of 210 made up 135 girls and 75 boys and a total staff compliment of 13 teachers made up of 6 female and 7 males who are all eager to see their school develop.Donors willing to assist in this project are free to contact him at: muziwandiled@yahoo.com Cell: +263715478047/+263775458720
The husband of a Co Longford mother-of-three who passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas has spoken of the overwhelming support he has received since her passing.

Francis Courtney paid tribute to the huge groundswell of support that has come his way following his wife, Maureen's sudden passing three months ago.

Maureen, who was a teacher at St Joseph's National School in Longford town, died on December 20 last.

A native of Aughmadoo, between Killoe and Newtownforbes, news of her sudden death was made all the more poignant given her youngest child, Francis, was born less than two weeks earlier.

Now, barely three months on, her beloved husband, also named Francis, remembered his late wife and issued a heartwarming 'thank you' message to all those who have rallied around his family in the interim.

It's definitely not easy with three young kids, it is tough but when you are getting the support I am getting from family and friends it's been a huge help, he candidly put it.

Just people coming up saying something is a great comfort.

Francis was speaking as preparations continue ahead of a special benefit night that's due to take place in memory of his late wife.

The occasion, which is set for the Longford Arms Hotel on April 4, starting at 8:30pm, will feature a whole host of leading performers including Declan Nerney, Mick Flavin, Aftermath and Brave Giant.

Francis admitted he never envisaged the response that the event has received, not just from Drumlish where Francis and Maureen set up home, but from right across the county.

I am completely taken aback, he confided.

Martin (Mulleady) and the committee had mentioned about organising something but I had no idea it would have taken off the way it has.

It really has been overwhelming, the support I am getting from the people of Drumlish, Killoe, Dromard and the whole of the county.

Francis heaped praise on his employers, Cameron, from whom he is on compassionate leave.

He admitted that despite the tragic events of December 20 last, he and his three children, Amy (4), Katie (2) and Francis (three months) are more than holding their own.

They are doing great and have bounced back really well, he said.

The two youngest are still very young and don't know a lot and my oldest one, though she is four, she has no problem talking about her mummy.

In a touching remembrance of his late wife, Francis recalled the time they first crossed paths.

She worked in the Longford Arms when she was in college and that was where we first met as it happens. She served me the dinner one day and that was that, he added.

But in a remarkable display of strength and empathy to others who have lost loved ones, Francis said the past three months have taught him a lot.

There are other families affected by tragedy as well and you have to think of people like that.

The support I am getting from the people of Drumlish, Killoe, Dromard and the whole of the county, even the US and the UK the amount of people that have called and continue to call it really has helped me so, so much, he added.

Tickets for the Benefit Night on April 4 are on sale locally.
The son of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds is celebrating this week after his horse, Mall Dini, landed a huge win at Cheltenham, writes Liam Cosgrove.

Philip Reynolds 14/1 shot scooped the Pertemps Hurdle on the third day of the festival who outbattled the Philip Hobbs trained Arpege DAlene by three quarters of a length.

It was an emotional Reynolds who afterwards attributed the win to his late father.

He got me into racing at a very young age, he said.

He used to bring us to Galway when it was a three day meeting and that was our summer holidays so that was where it started.

Mr Reynolds was similarly wholesome in his praise for relatively unknown Galway based trainer Patrick Kelly.

Its incredible, Ive dreamt about this for so long.

Pat Kelly trains five horses in a tiny village, this is what racing is all about, he added.
Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com

Columnists Press Releases
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

Budiriro residents in Harare have reportedly complained that the Harare City Council has resorted to dispossessing them of their properties over the debts they owe the local authority.Harare Residents Trust revealed that residents of Budiriro reported that their properties are being taken by City of Harare over debts."The same is happening in Hatfield where reports say water disconnections are rampant. Water is a right, and residents should not be punished for council's poor management of resources," said the trust. "Residents are paying for the whole bill. At what level is the council claiming that a person has not paid a bill for water when their bills are composite, covering fixed water, refuse, sewer, property tax and water consumption."The HRT said it will continue to urge residents to pay only what they can afford, and have put all irresponsible Councillors who are failing to represent the residents on notice that they will have to change their behaviour ahead of the next election."Residents cannot continue to elect people who do not utter a single word in defense of residents when the officials present their figures for endorsement," said the trust.
News / National

by Melissa Mpofu/Walter Mswazie

It is no secret, Alick Macheso's latest offering  Tsoka Dzerwendo released on Monday is the most sought after album, but it seems those outside Harare are being starved.While the idea of flooding the album on the market at $1 per copy was to try and curb piracy, Macheso just may have shot himself in the foot as his team seems to have failed to distribute the album well.Though the capital city, where over 100 000 copies are said to have been sold on the first day of release seems to have been oversupplied, this has not been the case in the Midlands, Matabeleland, Bulawayo and Masvingo provinces where Macheso also commands a huge following.As a result, pirates have acted swiftly and are selling pirated copies of Tsoka Dzerwendo. Macheso's original street album comes in silver with track written and black. The pirated copies of his $1 copy are either coming in the form of an MP3 disc with various albums or in different colour with his picture on the cover.A quick survey on Monday and yesterday revealed that the silver copy of the album was almost non-existent in most places, even though 40 000 volunteers had been reported to have been enlisted by Zimbabwe Red Cross Society to sell the album across the country.Efforts to get a comment from Macheso, his management and the Red Cross Society were fruitless as Macheso's camp did not answer our calls while Red Cross public relations manager, Takemore Mazaruse simply refused to answer questions related to Macheso, referring them to the Macheso camp.But a call to the Red Cross office in Bulawayo showed that the album was indeed available but was probably holed up at their offices.Asked where the album could be purchased, a lady from the Bulawayo Red Cross office said they had plenty at their office with some being sold on the streets. Asked where about on the streets, she said their volunteers had no fixed points as they were mobile before assigning one volunteer to deliver copies to this reporter.It however emerged eGodini had been one of their key points of sale. Questioned how many copies were sold on Monday, one of the official vendors said above 200. He however highlighted that business had been slow yesterday.In Masvingo, it seems the discs were delivered late Monday night and were immediately hoard by piracy "hawks" who are reselling them at $2 to $2.50 to unsuspecting fans."The disc vendors have caused an artificial shortage of the album here as they apparently purchased thousands of discs from Macheso's agents so they resell them at a premium price," said a disgruntled Macheso fan in Masvingo.A vendor, Emmanuel Nyadenga who plies his trade at Pick n Pay Supermarket said he was selling Macheso's album for $2 because of demand.He justified his act saying he could not resist the "temptation" after many people approached his stall requesting for the album, even before it was released."I'm taking advantage of the demand the new album has created since its release on Monday."Most official agents have run out of copies and we thought of capitalising on that because we bought the discs in numbers. We're not pirating, but only selling the discs at a premium price," Nyadenga said.Another vendor who operates from ZB Bank, Lawrence Manhanda said he was selling the discs at $2.50 each. From over 100 copies which he had bought for resale, he was left with 20 by yesterday afternoon."When people realised that Masvingo had also received its quarter, some of us had already bought the discs from Macheso's agents that also include Red Cross Society of Zimbabwe which is in Mucheke suburb."Instead of people complaining, they should praise us for being more enterprising because we've managed to exploit the system to our advantage without depriving Macheso of the potential revenue," said ManhandaSome pirates could not care less as they stuck to their old ways of buying one copy, pirating and repackaging it for their own benefit.These are the ones selling their copies for a dollar while some are even selling for 50 cents.Macheso's official agents in Masvingo confirmed they had run out of stock, leaving fans at the mercy of greedy vendors.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka has accused the ruling Zanu PF for abusing the State institutions of the police and army in a desperate bid to scuttle his boss' three-day tour in Mashonaland East over the weekend.He said the ruling party went to great lengths to instill fear in the people particularly at Kotwa growth point in Mudzi and at Mutoko growth point where President Tsvangirai addressed rallies last Friday."At Kotwa, the army had earlier warned people not to attend the meeting while a food distribution function was organized near the venue of the rally to sway starving citizens from the MDC meetings. In any case, the food was brazenly being distributed in a partisan manner as Zanu PF party cards were a requirement at the food distribution function presided over by party functionaries," Tamborinyoka said."At Mutoko, officers from the Central Intelligence Organization also intimidated people and put up a poster of Robert Mugabe at the venue of the meeting. The police said they would arrest anyone who removed the poster, hastily stuck up by intelligence officers just before President Tsvangirai's scheduled meeting."He said despite this desperate bid to intimidate the people, the residents of Kotwa, Mutoko Hwedza and Chivhu where the President held his rallies were resolute that no amount of intimidation would work in 2018."At Kotwa and Mutoko, some residents listened to the MDC leader from shop verandas as they feared reprisals from Zanu PF officials if they chose to listen to Tsvangirai. While the people of Mashonaland East remained resolute and unstinting in their support for change, it was clear that the fear factor is strong in the province. Zanu Pf as a party remains keen on harvesting from the fear they planted in the province in 2008," he said."Mashonaland East is the home province of Itai Dzamara and Cephas Magura, an MDC supporter brutally slain in Mudzi while President Tsvangirai was attending a SADC summit in 2012. Despite the overt fear implanted in the people and the intimidation by State security agents particularly in Mudzi and Mutoko, Zimbabweans in Mashonaland East said they will bury the ghost of fear by voting for change in 2018."
The US military killed dozens of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in an airstrike yesterday that targeted a training camp in western Yemen. While the US military claims that the strike will deny AQAP safe haven, the air campaign waged by the US against the jihadist group since 2009 has done little to halt its advance.

The US military confirmed it targeted the training facility in a statement released on March 22 on the Department of Defenses website.

The camp was located in the mountains, and was being used by more than 70 AQAP terrorists, the statement, which was attributed to spokesman Peter Cook, notes.

We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield, Cook continues. This strike deals a blow to AQAPs ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al Qaeda and denying it safe haven.

More than 50 AQAP fighters are reported to have been killed and 30 more are said to have been wounded, Reuters reported. The strike is said to have taken place as the AQAP fighters were lining up for dinner.

While the strike may have killed and wounded scores of AQAP fighters, it likely will do little to deny AQAP safe haven in southern Yemen. Since going on the offensive last year, AQAP controls at least eight major cities and towns in southern Yemen, including the provincial capitals of Hadramout (Mukallah), Abyan (Zinjibar), and Lahj (Houta). AQAP has been administering governance in many of the areas it controls. [See LWJ reports, Al Qaeda seizes more territory in southern Yemen and AQAP provides social services, implements sharia while advancing in southern Yemen.]

The US has actively targeted AQAP leaders, operatives, and fighters in multiple airstrikes since 2009, but it has not halted AQAPs advance in the south. Although AQAP has lost several key leaders in American drone strikes since early 2015, this has not slowed al Qaedas guerrilla war. Among those killed was AQAPs emir, Nasir al Wuhayshi, who also served as a top official in al Qaedas global organization. Not only has AQAP continued to gain ground, it also quickly introduced new leaders to serve as public faces for the organization.

The US airstrikes have also not stopped AQAP from striking in the West. AQAP has been behind multiple plots to attack the US and the West. Most recently, in January 2015, two AQAP fighters raided the headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in the heart of Paris, and killed 12 people. AQAP has also provided key technical support to al Qaedas other branches, including Shabaab in Somalia and the Al Nusrah Front in Syria.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Revelations that Zimbabwe People First's leader Dr Joice Mujuru will seek a coalition with MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai for the upcoming 2018 elections confirm how she has been working against President Mugabe since her time as Vice President, analysts have said.Over the weekend, a senior member of Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First party told the media that despite public denials, Dr Mujuru was poised for a power sharing deal with Mr Tsvangirai, culminating in a ploy that has been in the works since 2007 and which was initiated by Dr Mujuru's late husband, Retired General Solomon Mujuru.Rtd Gen Mujuru had already begun working with Mr Tsvangirai ahead of the March 2008 general elections.According to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, Gen Mujuru believed that President Mugabe would lose the elections and he had pledged to support Mr Tsvangirai.In the same cable, Mr Tsvangirai told then US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr James McGee that he had spoken to Gen Mujuru who had since realised that support for Simba Makoni, who had - at the instigation of the Mujurus - launched his Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn party, was thin and it was better to support him (Tsvangirai) as an alternative to President Mugabe.The Mujuru cabal then went around Zimbabwe telling Zanu-PF supporters to vote for a Zanu-PF councillor, National Assembly member and Senator, and then Tsvangirai for president culminating in the split of the Zanu-PF vote in favour of Tsvangirai who led President Mugabe in the first round of the presidential contest before losing the run-off.In an interesting development yesterday, former United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray - who succeeded McGee - told an online news site that Dr Mujuru "is pragmatic enough to work with the MDC and has the intelligence and ability to find ways to work effectively with the international community".Mr Ray tipped Dr Mujuru for leadership saying he did "believe she sincerely had the best interests of the country at heart", leading observers to conclude that the US was the power behind PF.Analysts queried why the Americans were keen to commend Dr Mujuru to the Zimbabwean voter, saying Mr Ray's utterances proved that Dr Mujuru had all along been a Western Trojan horse.Dr Mujuru, just like several characters causing a ruckus in Zanu-PF today, was exposed by WikiLeaks after nocturnal meetings with the American envoy while President Mugabe was out of the country where she sought the backing of the US government.Dr Mujuru met Mr Charles Ray secretly at one of her properties on December 16, 2009 in a meeting that was arranged by Mr David Butau.In the meeting, whose cables were released by WikiLeaks, Dr Mujuru told the US ambassador that the "Zanu-PF old guard" was giving way to young blood that included her.Dr Mujuru, according to the cable said: "Let's work together."Political analyst and Midlands State University lecturer Dr Nhamo Mhiripiri yesterday said Dr Mujuru's alliance with Mr Tsvangirai confirmed how she had long drifted from the liberation ideology of Zanu-PF towards "liberal" or "moderate" politics which put the country's interests at stake.He noted that Dr Mujuru's politics was informed by expediency and desire for short-term gains."We expect Zimbabwean politicians to understand what is at stake. If you are liberal for the sake of some benefits, are those benefits substantive? If they are not, people will reject and opt for such radical positions as indigenisation," he said.He noted that Dr Mujuru's predication of her fortunes on wooing the MDC-T and the West would expose Zimbabwe to the whims of the Western nations who would exploit the country."It is not just about donor funds, as the country would lose at the end," he said.Political analyst Mr Elton Ziki said that Joice Mujuru was true to her treacherous streak which gave birth to the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn project and the "Bhora Musango" stratagem which sought to see President Mugabe losing presidential polls in 2008.He also noted that the People First project had the fingerprints of the US."If we look at how long it took from the time Joice Mujuru was removed from Zanu-PF to the time she formed People First you can see that she could not have done this without the backing of the Americans."We already know from the WikiLeaks that Joice Mujuru was making tea for Charles Ray and this shows us that the Americans took time to talk to her and assure her that they would be able to fund her which is why she came out with so much confidence."In return Joice Mujuru is being used as an agent to push the interests of the USA and ensure the return of their influence in our economy if she is elected," he saidBut Mr Alexander Rusero, another political analyst, felt that Dr Mujuru's proposed coalition with Mr Tsvangirai would not bear any fruits considering the latter had also been rejected by the Zimbabwean electorate."I think there's too much unnecessary anxiety in Zanu-PF and in the media concerning Joice Mujuru. She can meet anyone, (including) Morgan Tsvangirai, but that does not mean their coalition will win the day," he said.He added that the US had identified a niche in Dr Mujuru and sought to abuse her liberation struggle credentials.
A Visit to Alsisar Palace in Rajasthan

A slice of Shekhawati floats in the air; the charm of havelis, cenotaphs, stepwells strewn around and the mighty Alsisar Palace standing against the backdrop of a struggling sun amidst the monsoon clouds.When Raja Shekha established the Shekhawati region in the 18th century, he made it a tax free zone for commerce and trade and invited rich merchants of the erstwhile Marwar belt of Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kota and even Jaipur to settle and establish business in the Shekhawati region. Many of these merchants, the Goenkas, Piramals, Birlas, Poddars, Agrawals and the Khetans settled in this tax free state with a condition that they would be ready to provided financial help when the state asks or requires, thus setting the base of a thriving business and cultural center of Rajasthan. In the 19th century when these merchants moved to and prospered in new commercial centers of Bombay, Gujarat and Calcutta, they sent money back home and build grand havelis to tell their families and villagers of their prosperity. And as more merchants moved out, more havelis and cenotaphs were built. And thus a never to die' Shekhawati was born.The story of Alsisar is a bit different. Alsi and Malsi were two sisters. Unable to bear taunts aimed at his sisters who went to draw water from the village well, Thakur Nawal Singh decided to dig his own well. He dug through the night until he struck water. Alsi settled at this sar (water source) and the place came to be known as Alsisar and the village where Malsi settled became Malsisar.Alsisar keeps its soul in its palace which stands in the center of the village as a royal guardian. A massive arched gateway, protected by a wooden door welcomes the visitor who are then led to a massive courtyard. On one side of the courtyard is the main baithak or durbar hall, where all the trade related meetings used to happen. The rich frescos with intricate gold leaf work done on them, the stinted glasses depicting various scenes from Lord Krishna's life, heavy chandeliers bought from France and heavy work done on the Belgian glasses; all create a fine play of luxury in unison. There was a screened off latticed windows, above the durbar, for women to look at the proceedings of the durbar. The grandiose of the durbar looked like a leaf taken from a lavish Bollywood movie set in historical times.On the other side of the main courtyard is the men's palace (Mardana Mahal) and as one moves inwards towards the women's palace (Zanana Mahal), basically been led from one courtyard to the other, one comes closer to the artifact of the renaissance Shekhawati has seen. The best of the elaborate frescos and gold leaf work is seen in the Zanana Mahal.And being in palace, isn't the only thing one can do in Alsisar. Set off for a village tour and you will be amazed by the richness of architecture in the village. Shekhawati stills lives in its past, and decades or centuries old temples, cenotaphs, wells are still the main landmarks in the village. There are havelis which have been restored and converted to schools. There are havelis which are now abandoned and looked after by a caretaker, but these weave a story for us, they tell a tale of the era when this region was a strategic trade point. These random havelis are emblematic, existing as symbols of lost pleasure, wealth and easy life. Today they are dwelled by pigeons, grasp for some fresh air to live their rich past in their present, but they still pull you. Alsisar has uniquely positioned itself as less touristy but more restored of Shekhawati villages. Many of these havelis are now been restored by the present Thakur Gaj Singh ji and will be converted into more usable form than just exist as symbols.And a rugged landscape of Alsisar with its mud-dunes, charming panoply of frittered trees, rocky terrain dotted with acacias and every unutilized piece of land flowered with sunflowers; never fails to mesmerize the travelers. What's better than to go for a desert safari to acquaint oneself with the hardships of life in this scorched belt as one gets close to women dressed in their traditional dresses laden with bangles struggle to get potable water from far off or men walking languorously with their camels or camels walking aimlessly down the road, pulling their carts with their frustrated owners behind them wearing an air of pessimism. The safari jeep takes you through narrow muddy roads or sometimes through fields (where once roads existed), but every bump looks inviting; the inescapable melody of the landscape, calls of gazelles from some hidden corners, hoots of owls, a carpet of wild sunflowers and the optimism in the maize plants planted on the slopes. And then the jeep takes you to a hillock; step down and breathe in the moment, the magnetic beauty of the nothingness of the arid landscape is before you. Your chauffeur will lay down a table for you to sip in the most memorable coffee of your life.It seems that in Alsisar there's always something more to be offered. Traveling here is a shift in perspective, landscape is tricky and amazing and constantly changing, there's value in nothingness, centuries old cultural panorama, incredible tales, the colorful tuk-tuks dressed like princess and the long forlorn acacia trees  everything commands an inviting charm in unison and then a palace standing as a royal guard of this historical cultural and natural vista.Alsisar is around 250 Kms from New Delhi. You can get down at Churu railway station, Alsisar is 40 kms from there and you can get a taxi from the station at a rate of Rs 1000. If you are coming from Delhi, you can get down at Saddalpur that will save you an hour.Alsisar Mahal offers rooms starting from around INR 3500 a night. Apart from being historic, Alsisar Mahal has options unparallel in Shekhawati. Imagine fresh pizzas being served to you in a roof top restaurant, a discotheque with all the elements you can list and an unique lounge based on the concept of World War II.You can plan a trip to Shekhawati belt from Alsisar, it should take 2-3 days to cover the entire belt.Alsisar Mahal also doubles up as a venue for three days of music, art and food festival in December. Magnetic fields (as it is called) promises to bring the newest Indian sounds and music from world over with 30 DJs and parties that promises to be none other. It wears a different hue these 3 days, brighter enough to beat the charm of our metros. Bonfires in the wild, camping like vagabonds, a taste of regal life in the palace, workshops from local artists and artisans and a grand display of culture and cuisine, Magnetic fields has set an unmatchable scale.Written by Aakash Mehrotra,Photo credits Mohit Goel
Top 5 Reasons to Visit Botswana

If that's not enough to get you interested, here are a few more reasons you should visit Botswana for your next adventure1. THE DELTAStands for Bio-Diversity: The Okavango Delta is home to one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems in Africa. Between the Botswana government's protection of the area and thriving wildlife tourism, the area has remained pristine and undisturbed. Thousands of plant species, hundreds of bird species and countless mammals, from aardvark to zebra (and the big 5, too!), make this one of Africa's premier wildlife viewing areas.2. CHOBE NATIONAL PARKElephants Galore: Ever wonder where the largest concentration of elephants in the world might be? Wonder no more. Chobe boasts the largest number of elephants recorded anywhere with a population of around 70,000 animals. Add to that the gorgeous Chobe River, where massive numbers of animals congregate in the dry season (which you can enjoy viewing by boat!), and you have an winning destination.3. VICTORIA FALLSThe Smoke That Thunders: Okay, okay  we know Victoria Falls is NOT in Botswana, but it's very proximate, and it's definitely a must see' if you're anywhere near it. Given that it's the biggest curtain of falling water in the world (1.5x wider and 2x higher than Niagara Falls!), and that its spray can be seen from up to 30 miles away, we thought we ought to mention it here! It's also chockablock with activity choices and fantastic lodging.4. THE ACTIVITIESGet Your Feet Wet: There's no end to the types of activities available for travelers in Botswana. Day and night game drives, walking safaris, boating safaris (both in mokoros (canoes) and pontoon or cruise boats), Tiger fishing, birding, whitewater rafting, swimming in a tiny pool on top of the world's largest waterfall (measured by size, not height/width) and bungee jumping (okay, for those last few we're talking about the Falls again!)  there is literally something for everyone. We even offer a special elephant interaction activity  ask your safari specialist for details!5. EXCLUSIVITYLuxury Reserved For You: Botswana has made a mission of keeping many of their tourist areas (especially in and around the Delta) low density, including granting private concessions to camps for exclusive operation. That means a limited number of vehicles at wildlife sightings and very rare encounters with other tourists (other than those in your vehicle and occasionally those in your camp). It gives travelers a bigger sense of being in the wild.Visit website:
News / National

by Staff reporter

A HARARE man has unsuccessfully attempted to evict his wife through the courts after she accused him of being impotent.This matter came to light at the Harare Civil Court on Monday when Simbarashe Chingonzo made an application for a protection order against his wife, Fungai Chitima, whom he said was "a stubborn liar".Chingonzo told the court that Chitima was often untruthful and that he had never really loved her as it was Chitima's sister who arranged their marriage."She is a liar. I cannot stay with her anymore and I pray that the court orders her to leave my house," Chingonzo said.The court also heard that Chitima and her relatives always threatened and insulted Chingonzo, saying whenever the former ever falls sick, they would make him suffer."She told me that my manhood does not function, while her relatives promised to kill me if Chitima dies before I do," Chingonzo said."At one time when we had a dispute, she brought her mother, who pretended to be her aunt and I later discovered that they had lied to me."In her response, Chitima said Chingonzo was actually the one who had accused her of barrenness four months into their marriage."I later went for traditional treatment and as we speak, I am pregnant," Chitima said.Chitima further told the court that after telling Chingonzo of the pregnancy, he began talking about evicting her from their matrimonial home."He says that my pregnancy is a mistake and that he wants me to go back to my parents' house," Chitima said.Magistrate Barbara Mateko dismissed the application, saying Chingonzo was trying to abuse the court."In your claim, there is no evidence of abuse at all, but it is clear you do not want to take responsibility of the pregnancy and, therefore, your application is dismissed," the magistrate said.
News / National

by Staff Reportee

A 20 year old Harare man - Tawanda Zhuwawo was arrested for fondling a passer-by's breasts as punishment for not greeting him.Zhuwawo pleaded not guilty to indecent assault when he appeared before Mbare magistrate Gladys Moyo.Prosecutor, Gerald Date said that on March 12, the complainant was talking a walk when Zhuwawo suddenly grabbed her hand.Zhuwawo is alleged to have held the complainant close and fondled her breasts and asked her why she had not passed greetings to him as a she was passing by.He then tried to advance to the complainant's private parts but she managed to fight him and avoided his advances.The complainant's relative who was passing by saw her crying for help and when he went to check he found Zhuwawo in the act and fought him off the complainant.Zhuwawo was then dragged to the police and arrested.
News / National

by John Mukumbo

The nationwide campaigns by the main opposition political parties in the country should send clear message to the governing revolutionary party ZANU PF that the time of back-biting and unnecessary vote of no confidences against party cadres is carried out with due care. With the reports that the MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his counterpart Dr Joyce Mujuru of the ZimPF are on the ground seeking political support from the electorate should also make ZANU PF to take this move seriously and create unity instead of division with the party.Dr Ignatius Chombo, the revolutionary party's Secretary for Administration made it clear recently in Chinhoyi while addressing the ZANU PF supporters that due process should be taken in coming up with vote of no confidences against party members. He called for party members to carry out through investigations before one is voted out. Dr Chombo went on to discourage some party members from carrying out no confidence votes against members on the grounds of "frivolous and unsubstantiated", claims as that could turn out to be counterproductive.So ZANU PF should take Dr Chombo's advice seriously and start preaching unity for its members and call for all unresolved problems to be compromised for the betterment of the revolutionary party. While it is necessary for the revolutionary party to take disciplinary action against those suspected and alleged to be on the wrong side of the revolutionary party's guiding principles and ideologies but the exercise should be taken with care to avoid unnecessary disunity in the party. ZANU PF is a bigger institution than some individuals' interests hence it should not be used by few individuals who are there to settle their political scores against their preferred and supposedly adversaries.Recent developments in the revolutionary party where vote of no confidences have been put even on senior members of the party cannot help unity to prevail. It should be noted that unity within the revolutionary party is very critical especially when the opposition front is now talking of a coalition to take head on the mighty ZANU PF in the 2018 harmonized elections. It is the same time again in which the revolutionary party, ZANU PF should be seized with the full implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) so that the 2013 harmonized election manifesto is fulfilled.ZANU PF should not afford to waste its time on dealing with who should take this and that political position while the economy is deteriorating at an alarming rate. The electorate is closely monitoring developments taking place in the ruling party with keen interest. The electorate needs to hear and see the ruling party carrying out meetings that would come up with some strategies to fix the economic malaise not political bickering that has nothing to bring food on people's tables. It is not the good time for ZANU PF to have its time consumed with political issues that end up dividing the party instead of creating unity.Disciplinary action against some rowdy elements in the ruling party is most welcome but those targeted should be given opportunity to appear and defend themselves in front of the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC). Such a move would dispel the notion that the revolutionary party is dismissing its members from the party without apparent reasons.The emergency of opposition political parties like the ZimPF complimented by the one powerful MDC-T has been seen by those dismissed from the revolutionary party as finding a sanctuary to revive their political aggrandisements within such political parties, The ZimPF has of late been leading the pack as preference of where the disgruntled members from the revolutionary party get accepted without problems. So ZANU PF should come up with some means to avoid a situation where the party destroys itself by such vote of no confidences which are hurriedly applied to a means to satisfy some few individuals' interests in ZANU PF.As a way of avoiding a backlash from the dismissed individuals in the coming 2018 harmonized elections, ZANU PF should have some due processes in carrying out vote of no confidences against some suspected rowdy elements within the party as espoused by the Secretary for Administration, Dr Chombo. Doing such a move would result in those with proven cases dismissed and those mistakenly accused of wrong doing spared.Currently the revolutionary party has been allegedly infiltrated by individuals who are fond of making sure that their personal interests are catered for in the expense of building a strong base of ZANU PF. Some of the vote of no confidences that have been carried out throughout the country seem to have been instigated by malice and jealousy thereby confusing the electorate.However the ZANU PF National Disciplinary Committee led by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko should be commended for its diligent handling of such cases brought against it. Recently the NDC cleared the three Members of Parliament from Mashonaland East who were alleged to have been working against the revolutionary party's principles and ideology by supporting ZimPF led by Dr Mujuru. The three MPs Tendai Makunde(Murehwa North), Felex Tapiwa Mhona(Chikomba Central) and Washington Musvaire(Maramba Pfungwe) were said to be seriously involved in campaigning for the ZimPF but investigations by the NDC revealed that it was only different of opinions with those who came up with such allegations against the trio which caused all the hullabaloo.Cde Lawrence Katsiru, the Mashonaland East Provincial Secretary for Administration told the Dailynews recently that he was currently going around the province correcting the bad image that the trio was being accused of. Such a move carried out by the NDC could be a tip of an iceberg. There could be a lot of individuals who were wrongly accused of doing things against the party resulting in their dismissal. As such the NDC need to be complimented for that and it should make sure that all the cases before it are handled well without favour and prejudice. The case against the three MPs from Mashonaland East could stand out as a case study to what would follow.For that reasons the revolutionary party could create and maintain unity and peace in the party by giving the suspected rowdy elements some opportunities to defend themselves in front of the NDC like what the Mashonaland East trio did. Those dismissed from the revolutionary party could have been wrongly accused of supporting ZimPF or may have been accused of any sins which they did not do just because the accusers could have been having some bones to chew against them. So the revolutionary party should take Dr Chombo's advice seriously so that people are not dismissed for the sake of their accusers who would be seeking to satisfy their political interests.It should be made clear that the party is bigger than individuals hence it should not be destroyed by few individuals for the sake of making sure that their interests are fulfilled in the expense of the revolutionary party's unity of purpose.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) marked the opening of the Seaways 58th navigation season, with the transit of Canada Steamship Lines Thunder Bay through Lock 3 on the Welland Canal. The ship, carrying a load of road salt, will be replenishing stocks depleted by ice storms which repeatedly struck Eastern Canada over the winter.



We certainly welcome the warmer weather. A return to an opening in the third week of March provides our clients with the opportunity to move cargo in a timely manner, and make the most of the navigation season said Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the SLSMC.

Allister Paterson, President of Canada Steamship Lines, served as the keynote speaker at the opening. Its an honour for CSL to be opening the Seaway this year with Thunder Bay, one of our state-of-the-art Trillium Class self-unloading Lakers. Like her five sister ships, this vessel is part of a new generation of vessels in the Lakes that are more energy efficient, environmentally-friendly, reliable and safe said Paterson.



The ongoing investment in new vessels by a variety of Seaway carriers underscores our customers faith in the future of the waterway said the SLSMCs Bowles. In parallel with our customers investments, the Seaways award winning modernization program is now well-over 50% complete, with Hands-Free Mooring operational at eight of the Seaways locks. We are making steady progress in bringing about gains in efficiency and safety for all concerned, ensuring a highly competitive transportation system for years to come.



K+S Windsor Salt ships the majority of the production coming from its Ojibway Mine in Windsor via the Great Lakes / Seaway System.

Francois Allard, Director Marine Distribution for K + S Windsor Salt Ltd., said: Not only is the Seaway transportation system the most cost-effective way to reach our markets, it also minimizes our impact on the environment. The Thunder Bays transit from the Ojibway mine to Bowmanville takes almost 1,000 truckloads off Ontario highways. Its important that all levels of government continue to invest in infrastructure along this waterway and we applaud the modernization of the lock system.



The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System continues to be an environmentally sustainable, vital route for commerce in the global supply chain, said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. The Great Lakes region, North Americas Opportunity Belt, is a thriving and influential destination and the Seaway System connects this region to the world. Businesses are choosing to move their cargo through the Seaway System because of the economic benefits, safety, and reliability of our waterway, and its direct access to the heartland of North America.



In terms of the outlook for 2016, the SLSMCs Terence Bowles noted that a lower Canadian dollar may spur more Canadian exports this year. The combination of a rebound in Canadian manufacturing activity, a solid U.S. economy, and the prospect of more trade with Europe brings about several catalysts which may boost Seaway tonnage, said Bowles.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Former Chronicle editor, Geoffrey Nyarota has backed David Coltart in challenging Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to sue him.Mnangagwa has been irked by Coltart's new book that puts him at the heart of the Gukurahundi atrocities.In his autobiography, Coltart highlighted the inflammatory remarks that were reportedly made by Mnangagwa in 1983, that appeared to urge the North Korea-trained Fifth Brigade to escalate their operations in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces - resulting in the death of many innocent people.Mnangagwa served as State Security minister at the time of what later came to be known as the Gukurahundi massacres.However, the VP has always denied responsibility for the mass slaughter of mainly Ndebeles during that time.Nyarota, who was editor of the Chronicle at the height of the atrocities, said Mnangagwa would be ill-advised to sue.Below is his fill statement:
Terex Port Solutions (TPS) received an order for six diesel-electric Terex rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTG) from Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling Co. (ACCHCO), Egypt. The machines will be operated inthe Alexandria Container Terminal and the El-Dekheila Container Terminal ofthe countrys main port, Port of Alexandria. When the cranes are commissioned in November 2016,they will join the more than 20 Terex RTGs already in operation in Egypt.



Cranes from TPS will contribute to sustainable growth

All six RTG cranes will be manufactured at the TPS facility in Xiamen, PR China.Maurizio Altieri, General Manager of this TPS facility, is delighted with the recognition received from ACCHCO:

We are honoured by the trust that this important port operator haslaid in our technology. ACCHCO is Egypts leading container handling company, and the fact that we will contribute to their two terminals sustainable growth, is an endorsement of our product and service portfolio.



Reliable technology is important to Egypt

Terex RTGs have been operating in the Port of Alexandria since 2003. They are part of an infrastructure with huge impact, explained Ashraf Salman, Minister of Investment of Egypt: More than 60% of Egypts foreign trade is handled through the Port of Alexandria. It is thereforecrucial for our countrys economy that the fleet is based on the most reliable technology, such as the RTG cranes from TPS. Admiral AlaaEldinMamounNada,Chairman and CEO ofACCHCO, pointed out: Terex RTGs have the reputation of being highly productiveand offering competitive total cost of ownership. This is why wehave nowopted for this technology. With the six cranes we will significantly enhance the efficiency of our operations.



Three new machines per terminal to stack 1-over-5 containers

Each of ACCHCOs two terminals will receive three RTGs. All machines are equipped with eight wheels, provide a maximum lifting capacity of 40 t under spreader and can stack standard containers 1-over-5with a hoisting height of 18.1 m.With a span of 22.5 m, the three cranes for the Alexandria Container Terminal cover six container rows and a lane for terminal trucks. The El Dekheila Container Terminal will receive one machine with the same span and two cranes with 26.5 m span that cover sevencontainer rows and a trucklane. All new machines offer up to 45 m/min hoisting speed, a maximum gantry speed of 130 m/min and a trolley speed of up to 60 m/min.
Brexit Defiance of the EU

The UK media is out in force to scare Brits from voting to leave the European Union. Thursday June 23: Date of the in/out referendum is set for the vote. Just the notion that an actual plebiscite will take place on such an important issue, is encouraging. Proponents of exiting the EU are natural allies in the struggle to promote national populism. The long and distinguished history of England has an opportunity to show the world that the voice of the people can register a resounding repudiation against the technocrats of an unelected European Union.

So it is refreshing to hear from a City of London bank remarks that run contrary to the official pleas to stay within the EU. Britain could BENEFIT by leaving the EU, says Barclays: Bank believes worst effects of a Brexit would be felt in Europe is a rare statement of what is best for England.

The report by Barclays experts added that Britain could become a safe haven from a disintegrating Europe, giving investors shelter from problems with the euro.

If politics in the EU turned for the worse, the UK may be seen as a safe haven from those risks, it said. But the bank also warned that if the referendum favours exit, it could lead to the collapse of the EU itself.

Analyst Philippe Gudin said: The referendum is generally seen as a UK issue when it is better seen as a European issue.

He warned that the political and institutional aftershocks of a leave vote were far greater than the economic fears.

Mr Gudin added that if Britain voted to quit, it would encourage other EU member states to think about leaving amid the migration crisis.

Even the Queen has no interest in her country remaining in the defunct, corrupt, and completely inept European Union. But before rejoicing that common sense has returned to the British Isles, the warning from the Banksters flagship publication, The Economist A background guide to Brexit from the European Union wants you to believe that all other options are negative.

Broadly, there are five models to choose from. The first is to join the European Economic Area, a solution adopted by all but one of the EFTA states that did not join the EU. But the EEA now consists of just one small country, Norway, and two tiddlers, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The second option is to try to emulate Switzerland, the remaining EFTA country. It is not in the EEA but instead has a string of over 20 major and 100 minor bilateral agreements with the EU. The third is to seek to establish a customs union with the EU, as Turkey has done, or at least to strike a deep and comprehensive free-trade agreement. The fourth is simply to rely on normal World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules for access to the EU market. The fifth, preferred by most Eurosceptics, is to negotiate a special deal for Britain alone that retains free trade with the EU but avoids the disadvantages of the other models, but it would be extremely hard or even impossible to negotiate this in an atmosphere, post-Brexit, that would hardly be a warm one.

In their normal and innumerable way, the Economists are playing the same game as they did on countering the nationalistic sentiment during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. The class society that is Britain has the upper crust ready to condemn an exit vote. House of Lords warned EU will punish UK if it votes for Brexit is another expected insulting notice.

Stop for a minute and ponder such a warning. The Lords of the Crown are saying that they prefer their privilege within the EU super elites, and fear that ordinary Brits might take measures to liberate themselves from the bureaucratic regulatory dictates of unelected continental overseers.

Any protracted doubts should be dispelled when the granddaddy of central banks chimes in. Bank of England Intentionally Strangles UK Economy to Discourage Brexit moves to applied economic coercion prior to the upcoming vote.

When Bank of England Governor Mark Carney claimed in recent testimony that Brexit could severely harm the British economy, anti-EU legislators called his remarks unacceptable and asked for his resignation.

But Project Fear, as anti-Brexit forces call it, remains ongoing.

 Prime Minister David Cameron recently released a video warning that a pro-Brexit vote would have a negative impact on markets and real estate values.

 A pro-Brexit vote would collapse the value of the pound by 14-20 percent, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

 Morgan Stanley has suggested that British stocks could lose up to 20 percent of their value with an EU exit.

 Financial firms like HSBC have suggested that jobs could move out of the City to countries like France if Britain takes its leave from the EU.

Political pressure from the other side of the pond from Obamas Plan To Visit London To Lobby Against Brexit Infuriates British Lawmakers has MPs asking, Why should President Obama tell the U.K. whether we should be part of a European superstate or a sovereign nation?

Nervous panic among the transnational elites is evident whenever their private economic playground is threatened. Brexit represents a tremendous prospect to start the necessary and inevitable breakup of the European Union.

The total breakdown of the EU from the mass migration into their territory is undisputed proof that a superstate is unrealistic. Countries need to reclaim their own unique identity and cultures. Economic trade will naturally flow between and among nations when each benefit from the transactions.

Under the present EU system, the technocratic regimentation is starving the native populations. Advancing, the Brexit referendum, especially during a time of great political turmoil increases the prospects that Brits will want to exit the failed multicultural experiment. Prosperity is within reach with the separation from Brussels. The Bank of England has never demonstrated any concern for the populace interest. Send a message to the City of London that the Union Jack needs to fly over the UK and be hauled down from the Berlaymont building.

Source: http://www.batr.org/corporatocracy/032316.html

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News / National

by Stephen Jakes

An official with the Zimbabwe People First party, Methuseli Moyo has challenged Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to learn to accept responsibilities considering the fact that it was clear he had a hand in the Gukurahundi which killed over 20 000 in the 1980s.Government through the Korean trained fifth brigade pounced in Matabeleland and Midlands killing people believed to be supporters of Joshua Nkomo and his PF Zapu.Mnangagwa is said to be having a hand in the masacres but he has vehemently denied the claims."Emmerson Mnangagwa must learn to accept responsibility for his words and deeds. He denies his role in Gukurahundi. Denies his role in the Tsholotsho Declaration. Denies his presidential ambitions and leadership of Lacoste," Moyo said.
A judge in Patrick County Circuit Court on Tuesday found Travis Dylan Hazelwood, who is charged with first-degree murder of Larry Gilliam and use of a firearm in committing a felony, not guilty of both charges by reason of insanity.

Judge Martin F. Clark Jr. said the matter is now a civil matter and that Hazelwood will undergo a mental evaluation. Clark scheduled a subsequent court hearing for May 23 at 2 p.m.

Patrick County Commonwealths Attorney Stephanie Vipperman previously explained that if a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI), he is committed to Central State psychiatric hospital for a 45-day evaluation, and then, if recommended by the hospital, the court could order that he be released with conditions, released without conditions or continue to be confined in a state psychiatric hospital, with a review every year for five years and after that a review every two years until he is released.

Vipperman pointed out that both the psychologist for the defense and the psychologist for the commonwealth are of the opinion that Hazelwood was legally insane at the time of the offense. Vipperman has said she has thoroughly reviewed the evidence.

With no evidence or expert to disprove Hazelwoods insanity, I was left with no other course of action. I therefore conceded his NGRI plea, Vipperman said.

The law is what it is, Vipperman said in court Tuesday.

Clark called it a difficult case and said now there is no legal accountability, no reckoning.

I am bound by the law, he said. He added that Vipperman has done everything she can.

Vipperman said in a news release: The principle behind the NGRI plea is that Virginians (through their legislators) believe that the law should not punish defendants who committed a criminal act for reasons beyond their control as a direct result of a mental disease. It is a matter of law that someone who meets the criteria for insanity be committed to an institution as opposed to prison. I am bound to uphold that law. I am also bound ethically as a lawyer to conform to the requirements of the law.

Conditional release is monitored by the local community service board, which may request a revocation of the conditional release at any time for noncompliance with the plan, Vipperman said.

She also said that state institutions are very different from public hospitals. They have high levels of security, including maximum security at Central State Hospital in Petersburg, which is akin to jail/prison.

Prosecutors I spoke to who previously handled NGRI pleas in murder cases recalled institutional commitment periods ranging from 10 years to life in their specific cases. The indefinite and unknown commitment period is what is frustrating to the Gilliam family and myself about this plea, Vippeman said.

This has been a difficult time for all involved in this case, but it has been especially difficult and painful for Charles Larry Gilliams wife, sons, sisters and those who knew and loved him. Several members of the family have voiced their concerns and disappointment with the legal process and NGRI plea. The family has continually questioned why their loved one was killed, Vipperman said.

She added: My hope is that Hazelwood will remain committed for an extended period. My promise to the Gilliam family and our community is that I will never stop fighting he remain committed in a state institution as long as I am the commonwealths attorney in Patrick County.

According to a summary of the commonwealths evidence that Vipperman read in court, on Dec. 31, 2014, at 10:54 a.m.., Brian Hazelwood (defendants father) called 911 to report that Larry Gilliam had been shot near 70 Boaz Lane (in Patrick Springs). Travis Hazelwood had been rabbit hunting with Gilliam, Brian Hazelwood, David Knowles and William Collins (defendants grandfather).

Travis Hazelwood told officers that he shot Gilliam, according to the summary of evidence. Hazelwood stated to officer(s)  he had placed a bomb in his grandpas house yesterday but removed it; I shot him  he had put a bomb in my house and has been threatening my family; and that Hazelwood said he shot him in the back because he had been making threats against him and had put a bomb in his house. Hazelwood also told officers he shot him on purpose and Yes, I meant to kill him.

Hazelwood also told an officer that he shot him in the back from about 10-15 feet away.

Officers found spent 16-gauge shotgun shells in Travis Hazelwoods pockets. Knowles and Brian Hazelwood took the 16-gauage shotgun from Travis Hazelwood.

Dr. Jennifer Melerski, psychologist for the defense, and Dr. Leigh Hagan, psychologist for the commonwealth, both diagnosed Travis Hazelwood with schizophrenia, according to the summary of commonwealths evidence.

(I) can say with certainty that, on the day in question, he suffered a separation from reality marked principally by paranoid delusions which are not attributable to alcohol/substance abuse, Hagan stated.

Melerski stated: His symptoms included those of significant mood impairment as well as a thought disorder with psychosis. His ability to communicate during the current assessment and police interrogation was significantly impaired with symptoms of poverty of thought, possible thought blocking, and disorganization to the extent that he was not capable of putting together logical trains of thought. He gave multiple nonsensical explanations for his behaviors, all of which were paranoid in nature. He expressed the belief that he and his family were in danger, at times imminently.

Melerski also stated: He was described by others in the time period prior to the alleged offense as having impaired sleep, poor appetite, poor hygiene, inability to care for himself, social isolation, and paranoia. He articulated beliefs to each of his immediate family members that he and his family were in danger from non-existent threats. He articulated delusions of reference  that the radio and television were talking about/to him. He was viewed to be both depressed, angry and exhibited extreme and uncharacteristic moods and behaviors. He also was reported to have made nonsensical statements, including in response to benign stimuli, such as a Christmas gift from his sister.

The summary of commonwealths evidence also said that both psychologists were of the opinion that because of this psychotic disorder, Hazelwood acted upon paranoid and delusional beliefs when he shot Gilliam. Hazelwood believed that another man (in fact, not Gilliam) who has been serving a prison sentence had planted a bomb and was threatening Hazelwood and his family and Hazelwood believed that Gilliam was that man. Hazelwood also believed that the victim was a bad person and had engaged in plots and schemes to unlawfully take land and a home belonging to Hazelwoods grandfather. In Hazelwoods mind, he had to kill the victim to save his family.

Gilliam was 63 and of Claudville. Hazelwood, of 528 Old Mill Road, Patrick Springs, was 19 at the time of the incident and now 21.
Planting a tree is hard work, said second-grader Glenn Stovall, but worth the trouble.

Glenn was one of the 800 students from across the area who are planting 400 black willow saplings around Philpott Lake. The tree-planting was part of the Streamside Trees in the Classroom program sponsored by the Army Corps of Engineers and Dan River Basin Association. It is a unique environmental education program in which students learn about the importance of streamside vegetation, referred to as a riparian buffer, mainly for the positive impact it has on water quality.

We had to take care of ours a lot, Glenn said, as he pointed to his 12-inch tall sapling near the edge of the lake at Goose Point Park.

He and two classmates started with a hole right here, he said, pointing to the ground. You had to put some dirt right here. You hate to dig some of this up with a rock and put (the sapling) in there.

Then we tested to see if it would be steady enough, he said. Lots of times it was falling, so we had to move it up. Then we stomped (the ground around it) a lot. We pulled to see if it worked and it did  the little sapling stayed in its new spot in the ground.

Glenn was part of the group of Patrick County second-graders who planted trees and participated in other activities Tuesday at the lake. Students from Martinsville will plant trees on Thursday, and Franklin County students will plant in April.

Before they planted their saplings, they tended them for several weeks in their classrooms. The second-graders received their bare cuttings three weeks ago, said teacher Kristen Welsh.

I watered it every Monday, Aaliyah said. It was just a stick in the beginning.

Those sticks were put into water with rooting hormone, Welsh said. I was skeptical they would do much growing before wed get to plant them, but theyve grown a lot, she added.

When leaves first were spotted growing on the sticks, students were screaming with cheers, Christa said.

Theyre really excited about the tree tending and planting, Welsh said. The trip also was a treat for the kids, she said: Its nice to get out of the classroom and have a break like this, even though theyre still learning.

She added that the experience was good on another level as well: A lot of them didnt even realize that this (park) was here.

Officials from the Blue Ridge Soil & Water Conservation (BRSWC), the Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Cooperative Extension also participated.

Stations were set up in areas around the picnic shelter to demonstrate lessons and provide activities. The BRSWC had a demonstration to show about the importance of soil and water.

Kathy Smith and Allen Jackson of BRSWC used a dirt baby as a fun way to teach them (children) about the importance of soil. Grass seed is dropped into the toe of a stocking, and then the stocking is filled with dirt and knotted at the bottom. The stocking is cut about 6 inches from the knot. Turned with the seed-side up, a face is decorated onto the top, and the bottom stocking, below the knot, hangs down into a cup of water.

The stocking soaks up water, allowing grass to grow from the seeds. Later, the grass can be planted in blank patches in a lawn; just cut away the stocking below the grass.

Kyle Peer, a Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent and the Superintendent of Reynolds Homesteads Forest Resources Center, was invited  to help teach the kids how to properly plant a seedling, he said.

Jason McGhee of the Virginia Department of Forestry said the Streamside Trees program is a good opportunity to reach a lot of kids at once  about protecting quality with forests and protecting watersheds.

The black willow trees the children planted have no problem surviving in wet areas. They are interesting trees because you can cut them (branches) off and plant them directly into the soil, and in a suitable environment, the branches turn into real trees. Youre able to get a lot of seedings in the ground with them.

The Streamside Trees in the Classroom program was started four years ago, and this years had the most students involved yet, said Dan LaPrad of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The program is funded by the National Park Foundation Transportation Grant, said Krista Hodges, DRBAs education manager.

The rest of the students who will participate will be fourth-graders: on Thursday, from Martinsville schools, with mentoring from Joel Bunns students at Magna Vista High School; April 4, students from Franklin County at Jamison Mill; and April 6, Franklin County students at Salthouse Park; and April 8, Franklin County students at Calloway Elementary School.

Bunn was one of the organizers of the program, Hodges and LaPrad said. He helped write the Streamside Trees in the Classroom manual, and his students have mentored the younger children.
The Henry County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved part of a revised request for carryover funds from the Henry County School Board.

Last month, Henry County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jared Cotton requested action on several items regarding the fiscal year 2016 carryover funds. The carryover amount totaled $1,075,991, of which the supervisors agreed to release $725,491 toward construction of Bengal Tech at Bassett High School.

The school board also requested the use of $350,000 toward other items, on which the board of supervisors deferred action until the presentation of the fiscal year 2017 county budget.

On Tuesday, Cotton presented a revised request to use the $350,000 on other items, including an additional $130,500 toward Bengal Tech and $220,000 toward paving projects at Axton Elementary and Rich Acres Elementary.

The supervisors approved the additional $130,500 toward Bengal Tech, because the project is on a tight timeline.

However, the supervisors deferred action on the other requests until presentation of the fiscal year 2017 budget, which is anticipated to be extremely tight.

Shortly before voting on the issue, Ridgeway District Supervisor Ryan Zehr asked Cotton if capital improvements are generally factored into the school budget.

We have limited funds available during the year for capital improvements, so we try to save on purpose so that we can have some funds to spend on projects like paving or roofing projects or a project like Bengal Tech, Cotton said.

Zehr said that he also has received feedback from community members asking if Henry County Schools will potentially expand vocational education in the future. Cotton said that the school system currently is working to expand those offering.

Weve partnered closely with Patrick Henry Community College to offer some additional courses, Cotton said. Were also hoping that when Meadowview Elementary School opens, our current CCL (Center for Community Learning) site will become a vocational center and we can move some of our programming over there and expand. Weve already had some conversations about expanding our nursing program, for example, as well as other programming.

Also at the boards 3 p.m. meeting, the supervisors:

-Approved program documents for the Smith River Small Towns Business District Revitalization Project.

The Smith River Small Towns Business District Revitalization Board held its first meeting March 3, and the board reviewed and approved the Business District Revitalization Project Program Design/Guidelines and the Business District Revitalization Project Program Income Plan. Both documents required approval by the board of supervisors in order to meet guidelines established by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (VDHCD).

-Approved a resolution regarding signature authority of the Henry County Sheriffs Offices jail inmate fund.

Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry asked the board to approve a resolution which would update the funds signature authority, allowing specific law enforcement personnel to more effectively conduct day-to-day transactions relating to the fund.

The fund is comprised of cash on inmates of the Henry County Jail at the time of their arrest and contributions to them from their family members. The funds can only be used for the health and welfare of specific county inmates.

-Awarded a contract to Watch Guard Video Inc. of Allen, Texas in the amount of $120,380 for the purchase of 24 in-car camera systems for the Henry County Sheriffs Office. Funds for the purchase are included in the fiscal year 2016 capital improvements plan budget.

-Awarded a contract to GCS Electronics Inc. of Martinsville for the purchase and maintenance of a new Avtec Scout radio dispatch console system at a cost of $106,968 annually for six years. The radio will be used by the Martinsville-Henry County 9-1-1 Communications Center.

The award is contingent upon available funds in the 9-1-1 Center fiscal year 2017 operating budget. The 9-1-1 Center is funded jointly by the city of Martinsville and Henry County with the county serving as the fiscal agent.

-Approved an additional appropriation of $4,227 from the U.S. Department of Justice SCAAP (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program) grant. According to Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry, the grant will be used to improve the camera system inside the Henry County Jail.

-Approved a resolution in honor of the Ridgeway District Rescue Squad, which on April 16 will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The resolution will be presented to the squad at 10 a.m. on the day of the celebration event.

-Approved a proclamation establishing April 2016 as Fair Housing Month in Henry County.

The countys grant contract with the VDHCD require that for each grant year that a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project is active, the county must conduct one activity that promotes fair housing.

-Hear a monthly report on delinquent tax collection efforts from Henry County Treasurer Scott Grindstaff.

According to Grindstaff, as of Feb. 29, his office has collected 92.64 percent of 2015 personal property taxes and 90 percent of 2015 real estate taxes.

-Heard matters presented by the public.

Toby Deal of the Horsepasture District had requested time on the boards 3 p.m. agenda to discuss road issues and business license fees.

Deal said that in the late 1980s, he held several meetings regarding road access into Martinsville, and he recommended the county investigate the construction of new roadways which would cut down on driving times between the city and county. Such new roads would be a boon to the local economy, he said.

Deal also recommended that the minimum tax that businesses pay in the county be increased, as the current minimum of $30 is too low and a small increase could provide extra revenue for the county.

-Received informational items, including the county administrators report.

Ridgeway District Supervisor Ryan Zehr asked Henry County Attorney George Lyle to provide him with an outline of the responsibilities of different local authorities as it pertains to restoring properties where methamphetamine has been manufactured. Zehr said that he would like the information so that he can more accurately answer questions from area residents.

Horsepasture District Supervisor Debra Buchanan said that she will be holding a Horsepasture community meeting at the Horsepasture Ruritan Club at 6 p.m. on April 12. The meeting will be attended by Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry, Deputy County Administrator Dale Wagoner and Virginia Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Lisa Hughes.

Henry County Administrator Tim Hall said that the deadline to purchase and affix county decals is April 15. He added that the paving project in the county administration building parking lot should be completed soon.

-Approved accounts payable.

-Reviewed monthly financial reports.

-Entered closed session to discuss appointees to the Blue Ridge Regional Library Board, the Planning Commission, the Henry-Martinsville Social Services Board and the Patrick Henry Community College Board; pending legal matters; acquisition/disposal of real estate; and as-yet unannounced industries.

Following closed session, the board appointed Bernice Scales of the Horsepasture District to the Blue Ridge Regional Library Board for a term ending June 3, 2019, and Richard Reynolds of the Horsepasture District to the Planning Commission for a term ending March 31, 2020.
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From 1937-45, China became one of the main theatres of the Second World War. This entangling of China in World War II raised the country out of its subjugation on the world stage, such that at the Wars conclusion China was given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Only 4 years later the immense Chinese revolution was finally completed, freeing China from imperialist domination. The war's violent dragging of China onto the world stage had effected a thoroughgoing internal transformation of China. In this article we examine the war and its effect on China, the role of the Chinese ruling class in the war, and the strategy and tactics of the Chinese Communist Party that led the revolution of 1949. [Editor's note: this was originally a 10 part serialised article, which has now been combined into a single article.]

All this time was required to produce the philosophy of our day; so tardily and slowly did the World-spirit work to reach this goal. What we pass in rapid review when we recall it, stretched itself out in reality to this great length of time. For in this lengthened period, the Notion of Spirit, invested with its entire concrete development, its external subsistence, its wealth, is striving to bring spirit to perfection, to make progress itself and to develop from spirit. It goes ever on and on, because spirit is progress alone. Spirit often seems to have forgotten and lost itself, but inwardly opposed to itself, it is inwardly working ever forward (as when Hamlet says of the ghost of his father, Well said, old mole! canst work i the ground so fast?) until grown strong in itself it bursts asunder the crust of earth which divided it from the sun, its Notion, so that the earth crumbles away. Hegel, Philosophy of History

In the dead of night on 8th July 1937, a unit of the Japanese Army opened machine gun fire on Chinese troops stationed around the Marco Polo or Lugou Bridge in Wanping, now a suburb of Beijing. The shots were fired in retaliation for the apparent (but not actual) kidnapping or killing of a Japanese soldier by the Chinese.

But by the end of the night, the bridge was back in Chinese hands and both sides swiftly came to a gentlemanly agreement to prevent anything like this happening again. However, the high-minded intentions of the peace-loving Japanese and Chinese Generals notwithstanding, by the very next day hostilities had not only recommenced but increased, beginning an unavoidable slide to all out war. How can an insignificant little skirmish quickly resolved have been allowed to start a war?

The Israeli occupation of Palestine has familiarised the contemporary reader with the principle that imperialist occupations have an insane logic of their own. The contradictions and injustice of the occupation are precisely the fuel for further encroachments and oppression; each act of resistance or even miscommunication a justification for defensive assaults on the occupied. The Japanese occupation of China after 1931 was no different, and it was just such a mistake which sparked the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45, which was to be the Pacific theatre of World War II, claiming around 32m lives, the vast majority Chinese civilians.

With a similar unconscious necessity, this entangling of China in World War II would raise the country out of its passivity and subjugation on the world stage, such that at the Wars conclusion China was given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. But this violent dragging of China into world relations could not be achieved without effecting a thoroughgoing internal transformation of China. China could only match the tasks of modernity by throwing off all its accumulated baggage and mess from the past, and thus its modernisation and active participation in world politics meant the long overdue Chinese social revolution.

The accidental spark known as the Marco Polo Bridge or Lugouqiao Incident is possibly the best example of necessity expressing itself through chance one could imagine. Crossed wires, mutual stubbornness and minor (or not so minor) outbreaks of verbal or actual hostilities are inherent in imperialist occupations, and of course they are always the responsibility of the imperialists. As the only point of connection between free China and the key city of Beijing (not then Chinas capital), the taking of the Marco Polo Bridge was naturally an immediate aim of the Japanese occupation of China, which was in reality a one-sided war ongoing since 1931 [see http://www.marxist.com/chinese-comminist-party-1927-37-part-8.htm].

Chiang Kai-shekFor that reason the Japanese had been patrolling the bridge every night with the kind permission of Chiang Kai Shek (the dictator of China), on the condition that the Japanese only inform the Chinese each night of their plans. For one reason or another, on the night of 8th July 1937 this communication failed to take place, leading the Chinese troops to interpret the maneuvers as an actual attack, who as a result fired their weapons (ineffectively). When a Japanese soldier failed to return with his squad, it was assumed he was killed or kidnapped, leading ultimately to the Japanese attack.

Japan had its own reasons for using this pretext, which was an inevitable outcome of six years of occupation and exploitation, to further invade and enslave the profitable regions of China. But in addition to its main motivation of greed, several authors contend [see Guillermaz 1968, p287 and Eastman, Nationalist China During the Sino-Japanese War 1937-35] that a major cause of the Japanese aggression after this incident was the appearance of growing Chinese resolve to resist Japan as realised in the Guomindang governments new alliance with the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]. They wanted to strike before the Chinese had time to mobilise.

The likelihood of this as a factor demonstrates the inseparability of the twins of the Sino-Japanese war and the Chinese revolution - as we have previously shown this resolve and unity came not from Chiang Kai Shek and his Guomindang. It was instead a product of the powerful impetus amongst the Chinese masses towards launching a revolutionary war against the Japanese invaders, an impetus that was fast propelling the CCP to the power it would finally take in 1949. Therefore, before we look at the eight years of war, we will examine this second unlikely alliance between the two nemeses of the Chinese revolution, the Guomindang and the CCP. This alliance to defend China was struck in the months before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident under revolutionary pressure. As Marxists we are naturally most interested in the perspectives and justification for the alliance that the CCP elaborated around 1937, in order that we can compare this with the actual history of the war and its aftermath.

The CCPs Opportunist and Nationalist Perspectives in 1937

As explained previously, the CCPs perspectives for the Chinese revolution and war with Japan had been changed under Moscows orders in late 1935 in the direction of opportunism. The first major fruit of this perspective was the alliance struck with Chiang Kai Shek at gunpoint in late 1936. Why a revolutionary party, finding itself in possession of the defenceless dictator responsible for killing thousands of its own members, would then sign a deal with him on terms favourable to his regime, is analysed in our above linked article. Such a choice of action should in itself be enough to condemn the new perspectives of the CCP.

What followed was a rapid degeneration of the partys programme along nationalist lines. National unity between the CCP and Guomindang was preached; talk of socialism was relegated, in its place the CCP promoted democratic reforms to be introduced by the Guomindang at its leisure; property, including of the landed kind, was not to be touched; rural soviets and the independent Red Army were to have their names changed and placed under Guomindang leadership.

Outlining to party members his new perspectives, Mao stated that

the democratic [i.e. not socialist] revolution (will) transform (itself) in the direction of socialism. There will be several stages of development in the democratic revolution, all under the slogan of the democratic republic, not under the slogan of the Soviet...We maintain that socialism will be reached through all the necessary stages of the democratic republic...To maintain that the bourgeoisie should be eliminated because of its transitional nature and to accuse the revolutionary groups of defeatism and collaboration with the bourgeoisie are Trotskyite words with which we cannot concur. The present alliance between the bourgeoisie and the revolutionary group is a necessary bridge to socialism. (Mao, speech to the National Conference of the CCP, 1937, our emphasis)

We have already explained at length why the perspective of a necessary bourgeois democratic stage to the Chinese revolution was utterly false, as was proven concretely in 1927. For now, it is sufficient to point out that the very man whose personal dictatorship of China proved in practice the falseness of this perspective, was the man whom the CCP was here allying with as the embodiment of the present alliance between the bourgeoisie and the revolutionary group. If Chiang Kai Shek obliterated his previous alliance with the CCP and all hopes for a democratic stage to the revolution in 1927 by staging a violent coup, why rekindle that alliance only ten years later, during which time he had done nothing but strive for the physical liquidation of the CCP?

Of course, what had changed since 1927 was the invasion by Japan. But it was elementary to anyone in the CCP that Chiang Kai Sheks dictatorship was the primary obstacle to fighting Japan, since he had pursued a policy of total capitulation to the stronger Japanese forces, concentrating instead on eliminating the CCP. Thus the Japanese invasion only further increased his criminality. Nevertheless, Mao argued that these policies must be carried out only with the consent of the Guomindang [i.e. of Chiang Kai Shek], because the Guomindang is at present still the largest party in power. (Mao, Urgent Tasks of the Chinese Revolution since the Formation of the KMT-CCP United Front, 1937). Well, it was the only party in power, because China was a one-party dictatorship! It is not an exaggeration to say that at this stage, the CCP was transforming itself into the chief prop of Chiangs dictatorship.

Such a perspective requires the substitution of the reactionary nationalist ideology of national unity at all costs for one of class struggle. It is no surprise then, that at the same time the CCP, in a public statement only one week earlier than Maos above remarks, claimed that the aggression of imperialist Japan can only be overcome by the internal unity of our nation...all our fellow-countrymen, every single zealous descendent of Huangdi [Chinas first emperor] must determinedly and relentlessly participate (CCP Public Statement on KMT-CCP Co-operation, 1937, our emphasis). To clear up what was meant by all countrymen, Mao stated it is a united front of the whole nation...of all parties, groups, classes (Mao, op cit., our emphasis).

The ideology of the CCP was at this time, under Maos leadership, drifting away from Marxism and internationalism and emphasising nationalism above all else. According to Brandt, Schwarz and Fairbank, Mao answered to the question whether the Communists are Chinese first or Communist first, with Without a Chinese nation there could be no CCP. The implication is clear - we are nationalists who use Marxism only insofar as it is useful to achieve national ends. This compares very unfavourably with Marx and Engels statement in the founding document of Marxism that the workers of the world have no country. Maos biographer Schram believes that for Mao himself, the alliance of all Chinese for the salvation of their country was not merely skilful tactics; it was a value in itself. (Schram, Mao Tse-Tung, our emphasis). The same author points out that the main content of political work [by the CCP at this point] both within the army and among the population was to preach national revival, to stimulate national consciousness (ibid).

Defenders of the Party will argue that this emphasis merely reflected the concrete reality of fighting a war of national liberation, and that tapping into the national feeling to fight Japan was a revolutionary act, the first step on the road to social revolution. But the task of Marxists in preparing the masses for socialist revolution would in these circumstances be to elevate the national consciousness of the workers to class consciousness. This should not be hard to do given that the bourgeois nationalist party with which they were now in alliance, which was the only serious bourgeois party in China, had been practising a complete national sellout to the Japanese by refusing to fight them.

This is further underlined by the fact that the Guomindangs new pledge to fight Japan was only won against their wishes and under revolutionary pressure from below. Contrary to Maos claims, the invasion did not make possible the alliance of all classes, instead it revealed the traitorous complicity of the ruling class in that invasion. To this should be added the general fact that, since the end of the Opium Wars, the Chinese bourgeoisie had always sacrificed the wider nations interests in favour of the imperialists for a share in the latters profits. The lesson for China was that, along with all other capitalist countries, it was not one nation to be united but a class divided nation.

The perspectives outlined for the party by Mao in 1937 cut across the very real tendency for the CCP to gain support at the Guomindangs expense (being rightly seen as the only force prepared to stand up for the oppressed Chinese). The new programme worked to lower the masses consciousness of the need for the overthrow of Chiangs dictatorship.

This is clear from the extraordinary historical revisionism in the Guomindangs favour which we find in Maos justifications for the alliance. He explained that as a result of the co-operation between the two parties on major policies, the Great Revolution of 1925-7 was successfully guided[!!] to the point where we were able to achieve, within two or three years, the revolution for nationalism, democracy, and peoples livelihood (Mao, op cit.). For those unclear on exactly what happened in the revolution of 1925-7, please see our series of articles here:http://www.marxist.com/90-years-of-the-chinese-communist-party-part-one.htm. For the aftermath of this successful revolution, please see our subsequent series of articles: http://www.marxist.com/chinese-comminist-party-1927-37-part-1.htm. Suffice it to say here that the revolution of 1925-7 was wrecked because of this alliance, and its product was twenty two years of dictatorship, the virtual breakup of the nation into warlords fiefdoms, and the continuing domination of the country by Japan and the West. One can hardly imagine a less successful revolution.

This revisionism was followed up with poetic praise for Chinas dictator and his apparent role in freeing China, If [the Guomindang] do not consent [to our offer of an alliance to fight Japan], then...Japanese imperialism will not be defeated[but] the more intelligent members and leader of the KMT will certainly not allow this to happen. (Ibid).

No wonder then that Roosevelts personal envoy to Chiang Kai Shek Patrick Hurley did not believe that Mao and his comrades were real Communists (Schram, op. cit.), and that Molotov had told him that the Chinese were radish Communists, red on the outside, white on the inside! (Harrison, The Long March to Power).

The alliance between the bourgeoisie and the revolutionary group in Practice

Mao in 1946Given that Chiang Kai Shek described the Communists as Chinas disease of the heart as opposed to the mere skin disease that were the Japanese, the second attempt at mixing the oil and water of the Guomindang and CCP would require a special recipe concocted to meet Chiangs tastes. This can already be seen in the above quoted historical revisionism of Mao in which he paints the Guomindangs history in bright colours. At this time Mao also predicted a brilliant future for the Guomindang, and praise[d] its great leader Chiang Kai Shek (Schram, op cit.), whom Mao also especially hope[d] would take up the task of reform (Mao, op cit.).

The concrete application in policy was of subordination to the Guomindangs political programme and leadership, under the one precondition that the Guomindang remain committed to fighting the Japanese - though that too was predictably violated, as Mao admitted in 1945 that 64% of the fighting against the Japanese and 95% of that against Japanese puppets was carried about by the much smaller CCP forces (Mao, Chinas Strategy for Victory).

This meant in practice that the CCP publicly pledged that it

abandons all its policy of overthrowing the KMT by force and the movement of sovietization, and discontinues its policy of forcible confiscation of land from landlords...abolishes the present Soviet government and practices democracy based on the peoples rights in order to unify the national political power...abolishes the designation of the Red Army, reorganises it into the [Guomindang controlled] National Revolutionary Army, places it under the control of the Military Affairs Commission of the National government, and awaits orders (CCP Public Statement on KMT-CCP Co-operation, 1937, our emphasis)

For any who still believe that in making such statements, the CCP was merely maneuvering to gain legality and breathing space for itself, or to tap into any feeling for national unity without actually surrendering independence from the Guomindang, it must be noted that these public pledges were accompanied by a drive from Mao and the CCP for a common political programme for both parties (Mao, op cit.). In the same document of 1937 Mao argues for the need for co-operation between officers and men in the army, without in any way putting forward concrete demands regarding the character of the army, the election of officers or any other social or progressive content whatsoever. Such a position, when coupled with the offer of abolishing the Red Army, the Soviet political bases and for a common political programme acceptable to the Guomindang dictatorship, could only mean supporting the domination of rank-and-file peasant soldiers by the corrupt Guomindang officers.

We have argued in our previous series on China that such a strategy of political alliance with the Guomindang may indeed have been cleverly engineered to gain the party greater organisational breathing space; but as we showed, this only reveals a complete degeneration for a Marxist organisation. In the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels stress that The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. As we argued previously, the point is that they publicly declared they were [following the Guomindangs orders]. They publicly supported and propped up the Guomindang bourgeois dictatorship. They deflected popular anger away from Nanjing, and thus made themselves incapable of mobilising the masses for a political overthrow of the regime.

This is borne out by the fact that little was gained in the way of recruits or influence from within the Guomindang. CCP members doing entry work in the Guomindang were generally isolated and for the moment served mainly in intelligence work (Harrison, op cit, p350).

It must be understood that this inversion of priorities, of sacrificing the duty to raise the class consciousness of the masses for organisational gains, flows from its abandonment of its urban working class base for a strategy of using the countryside to win power militarily and independently of any mass class mobilisation. This thinking is revealed in a Party meeting in August 1937 in which a compromise was reached whereby the CCP accepted Guomindang military leadership and the "suspension of the political commissar system", but "would keep real control under the CCP". "Zhang Wentian proposed and won approval for, first, following nationalist orders in Shanxi and assigned areas in order to gain nationalist confidence... Then expanding into other areas." (Harrison, op cit.).

In September 1938 Mao reported to the CCP Central Committee that to subordinate the class struggle to the present national struggle to resist Japan - that is the fundamental principle of the united front (Ibid). [I]n September and November he sent pledges of support for Chiangs leadership (Ibid), as did Zhou Enlai according to Chiang himself. He even accepted in advance two limitations similar to those which Chiang had imposed in 1926 [and which aided his coup and subsequent slaughter of Communists] on the activity of Communists in the Guomindang: a complete list of Communist Party members who joined the Guomindang would be handed over to the latter, and Guomindang members would not be recruited into the Communist Party (Schram, op cit.).

Finally, we can add to this that the party publicly promoted in its Manifesto on the Current Situation that it was not only cooperating with the dictatorship under the special and dire circumstances of the war, but also that it is determined to cooperate [with the Guomindang] for national reconstruction after the successful conclusion of the war (Harrison, op cit., our emphasis). There can be no doubt that the CCP was in this time guilty of out and out opportunism and a complete abandonment of any Marxist, class based perspective for the war and Chinas future. All this was justified under the tag united front. Let us therefore compare Maos United Front with the classical United Front worked out by Lenin and Trotsky in the Third International.

Lenins United Front

The starting point for the united front tactic of Bolshevism is political independence. We mean by this not necessarily refusing to work with or in other parties and tendencies, but only steadfastly committing to a truthful Marxist analysis, irrespective of this or that trend or pressure. In fact, the Bolsheviks were always independent, in the sense that they never compromised in the defence of their revolutionary programme, policy and theory (Woods, Bolshevism). As Trotsky said on behalf of the leadership of the Communist International in 1922,

In order to summon the proletariat for the direct conquest of power and to achieve it the Communist Party must base itself on the overwhelming majority of the working class. So long as it does not hold this majority, the party must fight to win it. The party can achieve this only by remaining an absolutely independent organization with a clear programme and strict internal discipline.

The question of all questions for Marxist parties is how to help the working class become conscious of this programme and its necessity, in other words, how to unite the maximum possible number of proletarians around a revolutionary programme. It is the role of the united front tactic to bridge the gap between Marxists and their programme on the one side and the working masses on the other, many of whom will be involved in and loyal to non-revolutionary organisations.

Now, it is a rather difficult and clumsy discussion to compare the united front tactic as worked out in the Communist International under Lenins leadership, with Maos purported united front with Chiang Kai Sheks Guomindang, since none of the conditions for the former apply to the latter. In particular, the united front is not operable outside the context of working class organisations. It has no purpose other than to raise the need for unity amongst workers and to reveal that the chief obstacle to that is the erroneous reformist leadership of many workers organisations, such as the Social Democracy.

Only those who cannot think dialectically imagine that a united front of different political forces requires the denial or suppression of those differences. On the contrary, it opens up a broader and more equal platform for the fighting out of those forces, within the confines of and in relation to certain agreed common aims. A common campaign allows all forces of that campaign to debate with one another as to the best means to achieve the campaigns ends, and of course to debate the real causes of and solutions to the issue at hand.

Hence the fact that in the Communist Internationals formulations for the United Front tactic to be employed under different circumstances by different sections, it was expressly stated that

any sort of organizational agreement which restricts our freedom of criticism and agitation is absolutely unacceptable to us. We participate in a united front but do not for a single moment become dissolved in it. We function in the united front as an independent detachment. It is precisely in the course of struggle that broad masses must learn from experience that we fight better than the others, that we see more clearly than the others, that we are more audacious and resolute. (Trotsky, On the United Front, 1922)

It is self evident that the logic of these two united fronts is diametrically opposite. The united front of Marxists is a clear and carefully chosen political programme advanced to raise the revolutionary consciousness of the working class, and operates only in the context therefore of workers organisations. The demands and political content of the call for a united front must be framed in relation to the workers real problems and their solutions; thus the programme has an educational content. It is not so much about necessarily achieving unity in action, although that would be desirable, especially if under the instigation of the Marxists:

A policy aimed to secure the united front does not of course contain automatic guarantees that unity in action will actually be attained in all instances. On the contrary, in many cases and perhaps even the majority of cases, organizational agreements will be only half-attained or perhaps not at all. But it is necessary that the struggling masses should always be given the opportunity of convincing themselves that the non-achievement of unity in action was not due to our formalistic irreconcilability but to the lack of real will to struggle on the part of the reformists. (Ibid)

Maos United Front with Chiang Kai Shek, on the other hand, has a directly contrary logic. Mao was indeed correct to centre the CCPs programme around the need for a war to be waged against the Japanese occupation. Given that there were no mass organisations of the working class in China at this time, there was no basis for a united front proposal to fight Japan, since workers were not loyal to reformist leaders. However, if we allow ourselves the luxury of imagining the Guomindang was a mass workers organisation, then it would have been necessary for the CCP from 1931 onwards to place the demand on it for a united front to fight Japan. This call could then be filled with a Marxist content - in other words, its concrete points would be that such a war should be organised by the workers organisations involving such weapons as a general strike, occupations of Japanese owned factories and the formation of a workers militia responsible to the trade unions etc.

There can be no doubt that such a call, if energetically campaigned for in the cities amongst the working class, would have gained an enormous echo and helped the CCP to rebuild in urban centres. It would not matter from this point of view if the proposal were rejected by the other party; the CCP would have made its point and would have advanced class consciousness thereby.

Precisely because the Guomindang was not a democratic workers organisation with a real base, but was instead a bourgeois party under the direct control of the state apparatus, the CCPs offer of unity with it could have no such character. It would be useless and absurd to fill the proposal with a revolutionary class content, for the Guomindang represented a different class and was already detested by workers. That is why the proposal lacked any programmatic content. It served no educational value for workers and can only have alienated them from the CCP - which had up till 1936 regained a degree of respect from workers for being the only organisation willing to fight Japanese imperialism and for its unjust suppression by the Guomindang. At a stroke, the alliance with Chiang Kai Shek served to destroy much of this.

Maos sole justification for the alliance was that it rallied a greater number of people to fight Japanese imperialism because armed invasion by Japanese imperialists has brought about changes in class relations in China, thus making imperative and making possible the alliance of all classes (Mao, Urgent Tasks of the Chinese Revolution since the Formation of the KMT-CCP United Front, 1937, our emphasis). If that were the case, the Guomindang would have not spent the first six years of the occupation co-operating with the Japanese to fight the CCP. Why was the proposal for the alliance made before the intensification of the occupation after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and why could the Guomindangs hand in this alliance only be won on the basis of literally holding a gun to Chiang Kai Sheks head, if the invasion had made possible and natural an alliance of all classes? As argued above, a far better way to rally greater numbers to fight would have been to consistently make an appeal to the working class for a general strike and the formation of urban workers militias like in Shanghai in 1927 to overthrow the Japanese and the capitulationist dictatorship of Chiang, and to organise militias in the cities to cripple the Japanese.

We will see in the course of these articles that there is no evidence that the unity of these two parties ensured a stronger resistance. Japan maintained its occupation and got what it wanted from China throughout the war until it was defeated by the US in 1945, and a class based mobilisation of strikes in the industries the Japanese were profiting from would have been far more effective. We will also see how, far from changing the class relations and somehow bringing the bourgeoisie into solidarity with the workers, the rotten Chinese bourgeoisie only intensified its plundering of the nation and used the oppression of the Japanese as an excuse to economically and politically crush the working class. Unfortunately, the CCPs alliance with the bourgeoisie only aided the latter in doing so.

The CCPs Direct Participation in the Regime

A Marxist organisation must be extremely flexible in its tactics. Any opportunity to reach a bigger audience with its ideas should be considered. That can even mean, in conditions of dictatorship or political repression, forging temporary alliances with liberals to gain political freedoms or changing the language of ones publications to get it past the censor - but always under the condition that the fundamental revolutionary ideas and programme are not thereby violated. Indeed, the more the party understands correctly the necessary political programme for building socialism, the more confident it will be of applying this flexibly without selling out.

After the CCPs mistaken alliance with Chiang was made, there were many more legal openings for the party to take. The question is, did they skilfully use these to advance a socialist programme to the working class?

One such political opening was the convening of the Peoples Political Council in 1938, which is comparable to the Dumas formed under the Tsar in Russia, but without even the slither of democracy the Dumas represented. In the workers elections to the Shidlovsky Commission in 1905, the Bolsheviks rightly participated in the early stages, despite the sham democracy the elections represented. This is because for the first time in Russian history it afforded the working class a limited opportunity to express itself politically and organisationally, and so by participating the Bolsheviks linked themselves and their programme with the masses, gained a larger audience for their ideas and in turn themselves learnt from the working class.

However, there was a strict political limit placed on this tactic which was that there could be no democratic liberal intrusions into the politics they put forward. Instead, they used the opportunity of the elections to denounce the Tsarist regime and the idea of a peaceful, liberal democratic reform of it. At no point did the Bolsheviks use the elections to seek careers for themselves nor did they entertain any illusions in reforming the regime from within. In some cases they ran in the first round of elections, to gain a hearing, only to boycott the second round. In genuine bourgeois democracies, Marxists would participate in Parliament under certain conditions, but again would in no way seek to sow illusions in its democratic nature as the true voice of the people, but would instead simply use it as a soap box for revolutionary ideas.

Given the CCPs perspectives of national unity with the Guomindang dictatorship, it is not surprising that when these legal openings for the CCP did arise after 1937 they did precisely the opposite of the Bolsheviks up to 1917. The Peoples Political Council was a mere consultative assembly formed by Chiang in 1938 to appease demands for democratic reform without threatening his own rule. Several leading Communists were invited (not elected) by Chiang to participate in this body. Given that this body had no democratic legitimacy or independence whatsoever, it is elementary that the CCP should have denounced this move and demanded instead a real Constitutional Assembly. Instead they participated in the council which they used chiefly not to address the masses with revolutionary ideas but to develop alliances with the liberals, both within and without the Guomindang, who also sat in this council. One can only imagine the spectacle this presented to the Chinese workers enduring the twin evils of occupation and Guomindang dictatorship as well as ruthless exploitation and poverty made constantly worse by hyper-inflation. The effect would not be dissimilar to that of the discrediting of social democracy in contemporary Western society in the eyes of the working class.

In total contradiction with this was Lenins method, which always warned most sharply against alliances and illusions in liberalism, the nice face of the regime of capitalist dictatorship, the most dangerous of advisers are those liberal friends of the workers who claim to be defending their interests, but are actually trying to destroy the class independence of the proletariat and its organisation. (Lenin, The Liberals Corruption of the Workers, 1914)

At the same time, Zhou Enlai was invited to attend the Guomindang National Executive Congress...he was even appointed Deputy Minister of Political Training in the army, maintaining the post until 1940, though its attributions were entirely honorific (Guillermaz, op cit., our emphasis). In other words, the leading Communist Zhou Enlai accepted political and moral responsibility for the bourgeois Guomindang dictatorship without even gaining the consolation of a little control of the army!

It is interesting to note that at exactly the same time as this, the Stalinists in Spain (along with the Anarchists) were participating in another bourgeois government to save the country from the threat of fascism. In both cases the tactic led to the negation of any effective working class based resistance to fascism, whether foreign or native.

Finally, the CCPs self-debasement in favour of liberalism was completed when it enthusiastically lent support to the US governments proposals for liberal reform in China in 1944, taking the opportunity to flatter the American imperialists at the same time by heap[ing] lavish praise on the American democratic tradition (Schram, op cit.) - despite the fact that at this time, as previously and as they would do in the civil war after Japans defeat, the US continued to arm and support the Guomindang against the CCP. Just before they agreed a project with US General Hurley for liberal democratic reform (on terms agreeable to US imperialism of course), the CCPs Liberation Daily wrote that: Democratic America has already found a companion, and the cause of Sun Yat Sen a successor, in the Chinese Communist Party and the other democratic forces (quoted in Schram, op cit.).

This reveals the full extent of the CCPs descent into opportunism in the late 1930s on the eve of the war that would decide Chinas fate and put all political and class forces to the test. With this understanding of the programme of the CCP and the alliance of political forces, we must now evaluate the playing out of the Second Sino-Japanese War not only so that we can better understand the background to the peculiar revolution of 1949, but also so that we can understand what could have happened had the party had a Marxist programme and leadership.

The Sino-Japanese War

If the Japanese leadership had not planned the Marco Polo Bridge Incident which sparked the full-scale war, they didnt let that show. By October, only three months after the war started, the Japanese had already reached the most westerly point of the entire war.

They succeeded in totally destroying Chinas air force in only a few weeks, which enabled them to mercilessly bomb civilians for the remainder of the war with no threat to themselves, like shooting fish in a barrel (Guillermaz, op cit. pp287). Between 1939 and 1941, the temporary capital of free China, Chongqing, was bombed 268 times, with 4,400 being killed in the first two raids (Eastman, op cit.). Within a year Japan had effectively taken control of all the lucrative areas of China it desired - that is the industrially developed and agriculturally productive North and East of the country. In a number of key battles that were all over by the end of 1938, the Japanese brutally crushed any hopes of an effective Guomindang led resistance.

Losing 15 of 18 Provinces

We have argued that a far more effective means of fighting the Japanese would have been to organise a revolutionary war of resistance by mobilising the hundreds of millions of Chinese workers and peasants on a socialist programme to make the occupation impossible. Given that the CCP sacrificed this perspective for one of collaboration with the militarily stronger but politically reactionary Guomindang, it is our duty to honestly assess the calibre of this fighting force with which the CCP had allied at such great political cost.

Evidently, the Guomindang did not match up well to the Japanese since it only took the latter twelve months to achieve all it wanted - the control of North and East China and the total destruction of the Chinese air force. The anti-Japanese united front for which Mao argued so vociferously failed spectacularly to defend China. But how and why?

Part of the reason for Japans rapid success was Chiang Kai Sheks cruel contempt for the Chinese people. Despite Chiangs nationalism, these hundreds of millions never entered his plans as Chinas greatest force for resistance. Anticipating the war he argued in 1935 that even if we lose 15...of the 18 provinces of China proper, with Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces in our control we will definitely beat any enemy (quoted in Eastman, op cit.). Instead of spending the period from 1935 onwards to prepare the masses in the 15 other provinces to make the Japanese occupation impossible, he sacrificed those millions to Japans tender mercies with barely a fight.

The key northern cities of Beijing and Tianjin were taken with ease by Japan in only a few days in late July 1937 thanks to Japans already existing military occupation of Manchuria. Immediately after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japan was able to mobilise 160,000 troops in Northern China in only a few weeks. The vital southern city of Canton (now Guangzhou) fell without a fight in October 1938.

The most graphic application of Chiangs policy of sacrificing the majority of China to the Japanese was his scorched earth policy in which he took the trouble to kill and destroy Chinese people and industry on behalf of the Japanese in order to make their occupation less feasible. For example, in November 1938, as the Japanese were approaching Changsha, capital of Hunan province, it was decided to set fire to the entire city to make its occupation strategically pointless and costly. Tragically, in their haste they started the blaze before everyone had evacuated, so not only was this historic city destroyed but so were the lives of 2,000 of its inhabitants.

A much worse incident had already taken place in June of 1938 on the Yellow River at Kaifeng, Henan province. Retreating from encircling Japanese forces, the Guomindang commanders hit upon the idea of destroying the entire valley behind them by diverting the great river in order to halt the Japanese. It worked rather too well, flooding 4-5,000 whole villages and leaving over two million homeless, destitute and without crops and food (Eastman, op cit.). Guillermaz even claims that millions of Chinese peasants died from the loss of harvest. It was a funny kind of national united front against Japan when the nationalists were often responsible for more death and destruction of Chinese than were the Japanese.

The Invasion of Shanghai and the Nanjing Massacre

Despite the policy of retreat and self-sacrifice (or rather, the policy of sacrificing the Chinese masses on their behalf), there were some instances of determined Guomindang led-fight backs and even victories in the early days of the war, however these often only sparked off a more vicious Japanese assault for which the Chinese were not prepared.

Only one month after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Japanese found a pretext for invading the lucrative city of Shanghai when a Japanese lieutenant was killed by a Chinese guard in August 1937. The Japanese lost no time in seizing the excuse for an invasion with a front line of troops formed outside the city in a couple of weeks. Feeling that to lose Shanghai without a fight would be too politically humiliating, Chiang moved in roughly 300,000 soldiers to the city to fight the 200,000 of Japan (Guillermaz, op cit. p291). However despite not only their numerical superiority but also their enormous home advantage, the Guomindang army lost the battle with around 270,000 killed and by November were retreating from Shanghai.

History shows that an occupying force, even one of tremendous technical superiority, can have enormous difficulties in winning a war in a large city if its inhabitants are united in fighting against the occupation. Every building becomes a war zone, a potential hiding place for snipers and bombs, every citizen a potential soldier. It is therefore testament to the Guomindangs fear of and hostility to their own people, as well as their general ineptness and corruption, that they failed to hold Shanghai or make the Japanese occupation of it particularly difficult despite the fact that the latter had not even made plans to invade this far south. As Guillermaz points out (referring to later battles), the Japanese action was helped at a political level by the unpopularity of the nationalist troops who, underfed and undisciplined, laid waste countryside already hit by severe famine.

Had the CCP spent the decade since 1927 rebuilding a base in cities like Shanghai, campaigning against the bourgeois dictatorship of Chiang Kai Shek and for the need to wage a revolutionary war with Japan, they could have mobilised the working class of Shanghai (their original stronghold along with Canton) for a general strike and urban guerrilla warfare against this Japanese invasion.

But worse was to come from this defeat, for Chinese forces retreated in such a way as to give the Japanese open access to Nanjing, the then capital of free China, failing even to use the deliberately constructed concrete fortifications outside the city, which the Japanese entered on 13th December 1937. This was when the defenceless population suffered the infamous rape of Nanjing in which up to 300,000 civilians were raped and massacred, for which one of the chief perpetrators Prince Asaka was never tried. The methods of killing included burying alive and burning alive with kerosene (Eastman, op cit.).

The Guomindang government fled Nanjing and set up a temporary command in Hankou (now part of Wuhan) before reestablishing the national government in Chongqing, which would remain the capital until the end of the war.

The Character of Chiang Kai Sheks Military

If war is a continuation of politics by other means, than it is no surprise to find the Guomindangs army was as corrupt, inefficient, inept and exploitative as was his political tutelage.

We have already explained the reasons for the corruption and degeneracy of Chiangs regime. In summary, despite being a so-called party of national unity and modernisation, because in coming to power it had to base itself on Chinas weak and corrupt bourgeoisie in order to defeat the working class-led revolution, the party sunk into the worst backwardness. It abandoned itself to the most reactionary forces, in particular landlordism and warlordism, since those were the ones who were allies against the CCP.

Thus Chiang maintained his power by balancing between, flattering and bribing the archaic local warlords and the most corrupt speculative capitalists. His regime had to be one of corruption because its power base was an inherently corrupt class. He had no independent power to unite the country, and so it actually became more divided into competing warlord fiefdoms than before. Frequently, when his power loomed too large above those of his lords, they would forge alliances against him, and he would have to bribe one or the other with promises of political influence. Chiang very much resembled a feudal king or chief thief sitting uneasily atop many lesser thieves.

Given that Chiangs power was based on that of local warlords, it is unsurprising that such corruption and disunity found its sharpest expression in the military and the war against Japan.

Many Chinese commanders were hesitant and cowardly. Most of them had enjoyed regional autonomy too long to risk their lives and power merely at Chiang Kai Sheks command. Governor Han Fuju, for example, ignominiously abandoned Shandong province to the Japanese, although he, in contrast to most, paid for his disregard of Chiangs orders with his life. He was executed in January 1938...It was not, however, a united, national army, but a coalition of armies which differed in degrees of loyalty to the central government as well as in training, equipment and military capabilities...Long Yun, governor of Yunnan, for example, resisted central government encroaches upon his provincial power...Governor Yan Xishan, commander of the Second War Zone in North China and vice chairman of the Military Council, ruled his native Shanxi as an autonomous satrapy. He prohibited units of the Central Army from entering his war zone...since 1941, Yan had even maintained close and amiable relations with the Japanese. (Ibid).

Eastman points out that from non-Central Chinese armies, 12 generals defected to the Japanese in 1941, 15 in 1942 and 42 in 1943, taking with them around 500,000 troops who were now used against the Guomindang and, in the main, the CCP! And of course we cannot leave out the most infamous of all desertions, that of Wang Jingwei, who in 1927 was trumpeted by the CCP as the leader of the Guomindangs left wing and a reliable ally for the Communists. In 1938 he deserted the Guomindang and by 1940 was installed as the leader of Japans puppet Reorganised National Government of China based in Nanjing.

As with all gangster politicians, Chiang demoted or minimised the influence of the few generals with actual talent since they posed a threat to his power with their independent ideas and incorruptibility. The others were promoted precisely because they were mediocre or came from powerful warlord backgrounds but typically with no idea how to fight a modern war - nor the desire to do so. The epitome of this was reached when in 1944 Roosevelt demanded that Chiang place the US general Stilwell in full command of the war effort since Chiang and his commanders could not be relied upon, and instead Chiang sent Stilwell back to America, understanding this as a mortal threat to his own power. Stilwell was replaced by General Wedemeyer, who quickly drew the same conclusions and hit the nail on the head when he described Chiangs commanders as incapable, inept, untrained, petty...altogether inefficient.

Class exploitation in the Military

What they lacked in talent, determination and unity, they made up for in the art of exploitation and cruelty for their own troops. All males between 18 and 45 were subject to military conscription, however

recruitment was left in the hands of the local gentry [again revealing Chiangs complete dependence on these anachronistic classes and lack of any real national state apparatus], which meant that al the relatively well-off families escaped conscription. Consequently the poorest and physically weakest sections of the population found themselves herded into primitive depots, and then had to cover several hundred or thousand kilometres on foot to join their units. Out of 1,670,000 men conscripted in 1943, 750,000 never reached their destination. (Guillermaz, op cit., p302, our emphasis)

In many cases peasants were simply rounded up without any formal conscription process taking place. Guillermaz quotes General Wedemeyer on the realities of conscription, Conscription comes to the Chinese peasant like famine or flood, only more regularly - every year twice - and claims more victims. Famine, flood, and drought compare with conscription like chicken pox with the plague.

Eastman adds more horrific details to the treatment of peasant conscripts,

Frequently the recruits were tied together with ropes around their necks. At night they might be stripped of their clothing to prevent them from sneaking away. For food, they received only small quantities of rice, since the conscripting officers customarily squeezed the rations for their own profit. For water, they might have to drink from puddles by the roadside - a common cause of diarrhoea. Soon, disease coursed through the conscripts bodies. Medical treatment was unavailable, however, because the recruits were not regarded as part of the army until they had joined their assigned units...Within a month [of General Wedemeyers appointment] he realised that the soldiers were too weak to march and were incapable of fighting effectively, largely because they were half starved...An American expert, who in 1944 examined 1,200 soldiers from widely different kinds of units, found that 57% of the men displayed nutritional deficiencies that significantly affected their ability to function as soldiers.

Unsurprisingly, not only did millions of soldiers die from starvation and disease - more than from fighting the Japanese - but in many cases over half the soldiers in a given unit would desert - sometimes to the CCP, others just fled in desperation. It is genuinely not an exaggeration to say that during the Sino-Japanese war, the most fearful and directly harmful enemy of the Chinese people was their own Guomindang government (and the class it represented).

This is the reality of the regime established by Chinas successful bourgeois revolution of 1927. It is undeniable proof that the Chinese bourgeoisie, to the extent it even existed, was incapable of taking society forwards or even holding it together. This was a rotten, bedraggled and crisis ridden regime ripe for the overthrow. We believe we have shown enough evidence of corruption, cruelty, ineptness and disunity to prove that the CCPs about-face and silencing of all anti-Guomindang propaganda was profoundly wrong. The united-front was clearly a farce because the Guomindang could not even hold together its own army to fight Japan, not to speak of the way it ran the economy and exploited the working class (more on that soon).

And yet despite finding itself unable to organise an army worthy of the name, it did manage to keep one generals forces well fed and trained - those of General Hu Zongnan, because it was his troops that in the early 40s - whilst the united front was still being practiced by the CCP - that were charged with containing the CCPs forces in the north. At times in the war Chiang committed as many as 500,000 of his best troops to blockading the CCPs bases, especially after the Guomindangs treacherous role in the New 4th Army Incident, which will be explained in part III. Throughout the war Chiang deliberately held back the anti-Japan war effort in order to save his forces for a future struggle to wipe out the CCP. This fact says everything about the sincerity of the Guomindangs alliance with the CCP to defeat Japan.

The united-front was always a fiction dreamt up in Moscow and imposed onto the Chinese reality, because for Stalin the CCP was not an agent of the Chinese revolution but a bargaining chip in his negotiations with Chiang Kai Shek. This is underlined by the fact that the USSR signed a treaty of nonaggression [with Chiang Kai Shek] on August 21, 1937, sent aid of about $300m to the Nationalists, and stationed as many as 500 military advisors and pilots with them, though none with the Communists, so far as is known. All this aid reportedly led Mao to query in December, 1937, If so much could be given to Chiang Kai Shek, why could we not get a small share? Why indeed.

The Literal Bankruptcy of Chiang Kai Sheks Regime

The same ossified, fractured approach to the war effort was the defining characteristic of Chinas economy in this period. Social and economic life was choked by an intolerably corrupt, short sighted and grasping bureaucracy taking advantage of the absence of a strong capitalist class able to control the state. This state of affairs, already firmly entrenched by the ten years of Chiangs rule before 1937 fed off itself in a vicious circle; the dead end of Chinese capitalism and all pervasive corruption it caused only further encouraged those with the ability to fleece the state, workers, peasants and anyone else to do so with abandon.

Faced with a Japanese blockade of what was already an extremely sickly economy, the government increased its issuance of currency over 700 fold from 1937 to 1945; as a result average prices rose over the same period by a multitude of 2,395! There are a number of reasons why price rises were around three times as high as the increase in currency; the main one was most likely the huge decline in industrial output after Japan took possession of the most productive cities, meaning that supply could not meet demand. Industrial production fell to below 12% of the prewar level. As well as the loss of factories to Japan, within Guomindang controlled China 82% of factories folded due to a particularly short-sighted boom in 1939-40 (Eastman, op cit.). Farmers in turn started to hoard grain as they had lost confidence in the currency, the resulting lack of grain naturally caused this staple commodity to rise in price, worsening the inflation.

Additionally, during the 1930s the rural economy suffered under the iron fist of Chiang, who imposed compulsory labour onto the peasantry that benefited the rich landowners, and the brutality of this experience forced them into striking (Bianco & Lloyd, Peasant Movements, Cambridge History of China volume 13, p290). Agricultural production worsened still thanks to the Japanese invasion, especially from 1942 onwards, further impoverishing both rural and urban workers (Myers, The Agrarian System, Cambridge History of China volume 13, pp267-9).

Indeed the effects of this on the working class were devastating, as wages failed to rise by anything like this amount, a fact which Eastman perversely celebrates as the one success of Chinas hyper-inflation, the consequences of inflation were not all negative. During the eight years of war, for example, real wages of workers rose only during 1938; thereafter, to the benefit of employers, they declined. The destitution of the working class is always a silver lining for the capitalists when enduring a crisis!

With rampant inflation came rampant speculation, which had always been the chief vice of Chinas capitalist class (see the above linked article), diverting investment from productive activity: investors made substantially larger profits simply by storing the cotton than by chancing long term investment in mills that processed cotton (Ibid). 86% of liquid capital went into speculation as opposed to real investment in 1944!

Thanks to all this, from 1937-45 industrial workers real wages fell by more than half! Roughly the same figure applies to rural workers, although farmers who owned their land only saw their incomes fall by around 20%. But extraordinarily, the real wages of civil servants, university workers and professors and soldiers all fell by around 90%! (Ibid). The poverty of soldiers, professors and civil servants is explicable by the governments austerity drive to counter the costs of inflation on war expenditure, and in the case of the civil servants also gives an insight into why corruption became so rampant.

We apologise for the lack of a discussion of the CCPs analysis, propaganda and political intervention regarding this dire economic situation and class exploitation, but thanks to its alliance with Chiang Kai Shek and its absorption in rural and military survival, the CCP said and did little or nothing about this state of affairs. Consequently it failed to make political headway amongst urban workers, students and professors.

Rapidly spiralling prices, which the government had failed to anticipate, forced a reaction. In 1941 it started to scratch around for tax revenue to pay for the war. Thus it fell back on the hated likin tax (again, please see above linked article), one of the most economically depressing taxes possible, as well as other ingenious taxes like the contribute-sandals-to-recruits tax, the comfort-recruits-families tax, the train-antiaircraft-cadres tax, and the provide-fuel-for-garrisoned-troops tax! (Fairbank & Goldman, China: A New History, p314).

For the same reasons the government also pursued a harsh austerity agenda. Through measures like holding down the wages of government employees during extreme inflation and cutting back on government support for industry, the government actually reduced its real expenditure during the war by more than three quarters, despite having to feed a huge army! Although, as we have seen, it barely fed the soldiers if it could help it.

Bureaucratic Capital

Far from uniting the working class with the bourgeoisie, the rigours of the war revealed the bourgeoisies rotten, self-serving and venal characteristics, preferring as it did to use the chaos of war to speculate and hoard, driving millions to starvation. Wartime, more than any other, demands the superiority of a collective plan and unified effort to overcome what are profoundly social questions. Such an effort and coordination was far beyond the capacities of a class raised on a diet of usury and easy money.

Whereas the planned economy of the USSR was able, despite all its bureaucracy, to move the key war industries in a short space of time from European Russia to behind the Urals, the anarchic Chinese capitalists failed in their equivalent task. Despite the governments bribery of guaranteed 5-10% profit rates for 7 years, plus low interest rate loans and free factory sites for capitalists who moved their factories into the interior far away from the Japanese, only 120,000 tons of equipment ever got moved, far less than both what was available to be moved and what needed to be moved. [M]ost industrialists and financiers felt little or no personal involvement in the cause of Chinese resistance...They did not allow patriotism to dull their business instincts. (Eastman, op cit.). And yet the CCP remained wedded to this patriot class right to the end of the war.

Indeed the failures of the capitalist class in the war forced the government to play the leading economic role long before the CCP nationalised the means of production after 1949. By 1942 the state controlled 17.5% of all factories, 70% of all capital, 32% of workers and 42% of horsepower (ibid). This tendency towards statisation of Chinese capitalism is important to note for the later discussion on exactly why - contrary to their stated aims and perspectives - the CCP proceeded to expropriate capitalism after taking power. It also forms important evidence in our argument that the alliance with the bourgeoisie was totally unjustified for it lacked the capacity to and interest in taking China forwards.

Of course, this had been obvious ever since the bourgeoisie backed Chiang Kai Shek to become the dictator of China. His autocracy was the political expression of the same inability of Chinese capitalism to develop the productive forces that forced the government to play an increasingly large economic role. The terms of the CCPs deal with Chiang was that his regime would gradually reform itself into a democratic one in which the CCP could legally participate, and yet in 1939 the Military Affairs Commission, chaired by Chiang, arrogated to itself all administrative functions of government, making Chiangs control direct for every aspect of Chinas life.

Chiang Alienates the Imperialists

Given the basket case of China under Chiang Kai Shek, the British and American imperialists were in 1939 giving serious thought to forging an alliance with Japan, which they correctly estimated as being so much stronger than China that it might be worth abandoning the latter. The British, perhaps understanding how rotten and unpopular Chiangs regime was, even wanted to wait to see if Wang Jingweis Japanese puppet regime in Nanjing might manage to be more popular than that of Chiangs before choosing whether to back China or Japan. However these designs were scuppered by Japanese intransigence with regard to British and American interests in China (Akira Iriye Japanese Aggression and Chinas International Position, Cambridge History of China volume 13, pp525-6). The imperialists had no concern for the plight of the Chinese masses under the heel of Japan and only sided with China to protect their narrow interests there, and in the hope that China could be used in an American dominated post-war setup to contain Russia and grind Japan and Germany into the ground.

With China apparently an important inclusion in the schemes of the imperialists, the egotistical Chiang began to fantasise that this had elevated China into one of the worlds great powers. In reality Chinas lying prostrate in the face of Japanese imperialism meant that it required the American and British imperialists, who were concerned about the Japanese threat to their interests only, to fight the battle on its behalf. We have already seen how the Chinese capitalists were not prepared to lead the fight themselves, economically or militarily. Chiangs foolish delusion that having the US fight on his behalf (whilst he concentrated on the CCP) would mean the future elevation of China at the hands of the US led to increasing frustration from the US, to the point where they refused Chiangs government a $1bn loan and considered supporting the CCP more (which they saw as the better fighters, and not really Communists anyway).

Chiang Kai Shek was a miserable, grasping and lazy leader only ever interested in the preservation of his own power. He staffed his army with incompetent generals simply because they were loyal, and concentrated his best troops not against Japan but the CCP. As disastrous as this was for the Chinese ruling class, they could have it no other way, for they had not the means to effectively resist Japan without arousing the masses to military activity, the last thing they wanted. Chiangs cowardice and preference for passivity in the war by banking on the US to fight on his behalf, and his determination to get the maximum for his regime from the US with the minimum disturbance to his kingdom, is the true political expression of a capitalist class born too late and with no role to play.

The CCP at war

For twenty two years after 1927 the comrades of the CCP knew of no state other than constant war. Physically liquidated from the cities in 1927-8, they fled to the countryside, where they suffered one extermination campaign after another by the Guomindang, forcing them to embark on the Long March in 1934. This exhausting state of affairs brought the party to near extinction (it certainly was enough to destroy its Marxist programme), a big factor in its forging an alliance with Chiang Kai Shek in 1936 to gain breathing space. And yet no sooner had this truce been signed when Japan launched an all out war with China, a war whose secondary motivation for the Japanese (after the exploitation of Chinese industry and raw materials) was the extermination of the communist threat.

Throughout this new and higher stage to the struggle, it must be noted that the CCPs successes and survival owed themselves to its politics and not its military. Despite its erroneous support for Chiangs dictatorship the party continued, at least to some extent, to be seen as the only genuinely anti-Japanese and anti-landlord force in China.

Beneath the surface of shoddy deals the CCP cadres continued to organise the peasants and dish out something resembling revolutionary ideas of a way out from endless poverty and exploitation. Of course, this was nothing as compared with what the party could have done had it retained political, revolutionary independence from the loathed Chiang regime. However it was something and that was enough to distinguish the CCP from the rest. In many cases the objective necessity for an independent left wing party was forced onto the CCP by events themselves.

The Expansion of the Red Bases through Political Work

Throughout this war the CCPs headquarters, as agreed with Chiang, remained where they ended up after the Long March, in Yenan (now known as Yanan; we will use Yenan as this is the form of the name most closely associated with the CCP), Shaanxi province, north west of Chinas population centres.

Our thesis is that the CCPs strength lay in its political role as apparent liberator of the peasant masses and leader of the anti-Japanese and anti-Guomindang movement and not in its armed struggle. This is backed up by the fact that when the CCP concentrated not on fighting the Japanese or Guomindang, but concentrated on consolidating its bases, implementing its (admittedly somewhat mild) land reforms and recruiting and training cadres, it significantly expanded its membership and areas under its control. The Red Army fought no major battles for more than two years after late 1937, and its most rapid growth came during this period of relative calm, with the recruitment of up to 400,000 men into the Eighth Route Army and 100,000 into the New Fourth Army by 1940 (Harrison, The Long March to Power, p294).

Although the CCP forces managed to expand massively during the war, they were always playing catch up with the much larger and better equipped Japanese and Guomindang forces - in 1937 the Guomindang had around 1.5m troops in total, and the Japanese roughly 600,000, whereas the CCP had at most 100,000 - all of whom were worse equipped. The CCP expanded significantly, as the above figures suggest, but never nearly enough to catch up with the also expanding forces of their enemies.

The CCPs one advantage would always be its independent political role and ability to inspire its own troops and the wider peasant population with its propaganda and land distribution. During the years 1937-9, when it fought no major battles, its military forces increased not through military victories but through political expansion and recruitment. Without any battles taking place, the [Guomindang] government watched its rivals steady military and territorial expansion far outreach the three divisions of the Eighth Army and the eighteen districts in the Pien chu laid down by the agreement of September 1937...The population under communist control was to increase almost a hundredfold in eight years (Guillermaz, A History of the Chinese Communist Party 1921-49, p345). Between 1937 and 1940, the party membership increased from 40,000 to 800,000!

Thanks to its political influence the CCP managed to expand into areas far away from its headquarters in Yenan, setting up new soviet bases without military invasion. For example, it managed to recruit the remnants of anti-Japanese militias formed in the western Shandong province so that by 1943 the CCP controlled an area with 15 million inhabitants with a 500,000 strong militia (Harrison, op cit. p302). According to Guillermaz, from 1937 onwards the CCP even managed to maintain a force of up to 50,000 behind Japanese lines (Guillermaz, op cit. p308). Their effectiveness is proof of the military advantages the Red Army enjoyed thanks to its political basis, The teams were organised on the three in one principle - they were to fight as troops, to do political work on behalf of the government but to act like the common people in ordinary times. Military and political struggles thus went hand in hand...The armed work teams would appear or disappear unexpectedly in the very heart of the enemy occupied areas. Their whereabouts were known to the people all the time, but the enemy could never find them.

Naturally such political successes were profoundly uncomfortable for the Japanese and Guomindang alike, and therefore each square mile and military division gained by the CCP was pregnant with military conflicts. It is in fact not quite true that the CCP fought no battles whatsoever between 1937 and 1939, for in September 1937 Lin Biaos 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army distinguished itself in a joint strike with the Guomindang on Japanese forces at the Battle of Pingxingguan in Shanxi province, capturing 1000 weapons and 100 vehicles and inflicting around 500 casualties on the Japanese (Ibid, p308). A similar, smaller scale success was achieved shortly after nearby. These were however ultimately insignificant and involved few CCP forces.

They did however allow the CCP to establish the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei military zone on the basis of these victories, since Guomindang officials had left the area with the Japanese defeat (Harrison, op cit. p299). Out of this zone the CCP managed to form the Chin-Cha-Chi Border Region government, which involved a great many local residents in its administration who were not in the CCP. This government was very successful in organising the peasant masses of this region into womens, youth and self-defence organisations, and in educating them and establishing medical facilities, and consolidated itself by recruiting disaffected Manchurian Guomindang troops and commanders who had disobeyed Chiangs orders (we mustnt forget that the Japanese had long established a colonial regime in Manchuria, to which Chiangs regime had completely acquiesced, causing Manchurians to be much more sympathetic to the CCP than most).

It was strong enough to resist the Japanese counter-attack which involved the burning to the ground of this governments capital in March 1938. Following the capture of another region further to the south by other CCP forces with the aid of local activists, the CCP was able in July 1941 to establish a much larger government linking these two and other bases in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Hunan provinces, despite intense Japanese attacks (Ibid, pp301-2). These successes caused not only frictions with the jealous Guomindang but were part of the cause of the complete breakdown of relations between the two parties, more of which later.

The Conditions Behind CCP Lines in the Sino-Japanese War

There were however severe economic and military difficulties implicit in this strategy of forming politically independent rural bases. We have analysed at length the economic and political realities of such rural submergence in our previous series of articles ( http://www.marxist.com/chinese-comminist-party-1927-37-part-4.htm) , (http://www.marxist.com/chinese-comminist-party-1927-37-part-5.htm), and later in this series we will look more closely at the limitations of the peasant movement and how this conditioned the opportunist programme on which the party rose to power.

Nevertheless it should be pointed out here that the new administrative systems [of the newly conquered areas] had great difficulty in gaining a foothold and their power was precarious right to the end. As the region was important both strategically and politically, the Japanese felt obliged to purge it from time to time. Cleaning up campaigns...acted as a deterrent to the inhabitants, who as far as possible avoided taking part in elections, with the risks they involved (Guillermaz, op cit. p311).

In a moment we will take a look at both these attacks and others from the Guomindang. Before we do so, we must note that the effect on the CCP of having to maintain a viable administration responsible for leading the economic life of millions of peasants and landlords etc. Generally, the rural areas most revolutionary were those most densely populated and fertile, for these had the highest, most exploitative rents. The logic of taking administrative and military responsibility for certain areas, against constant attacks from two militarily stronger powers, politically consumed a party which had already lost all trace of proletarian politics and obliged it to seek solace in non-revolutionary areas and layers of the population (see Bianco and Lloyd, Peasant Movements, in The Cambridge History of China Volume 13 p324)

The CCPs forces had therefore to be constantly replenished by new recruits. Its survival depended on the fine quality of its cadres and its strict discipline (Ibid, p328), and yet these cadres were regularly being killed or absorbed in the tasks of bare survival. True, its effective propaganda conducted by ordinary people among other ordinary people who were their fellow-countrymen, in the language of their region or even their profession, could not fail to succeed among the Chinese (Ibid, p335), and thus furnished a regular supply of new faces. However, this propaganda was limited in scope by the shackled political programme of the CCP we have discussed above.

The rapid turnover in membership and the influx of rural recruits lacking any political experience in organisations of their own (unlike the working class, who have experience in trade unions), led Mao in 1937 to decry the tendency towards warlordism in the Eighth Route Army, many of whose members have become unwilling to submit strictly to Communist Party leadership, [and] have developed individualistic heroism (quoted in Guillermaz, op cit. p329). Mao therefore stressed that the Red Army must oppose the danger in which the military does not obey the political and that the army must be one led by the proletariat (Ibid, p329). But that was exactly the problem - thanks to Moscows shortsighted strategy, to which Mao adapted so well, the party had long ceased to have any relation to the proletariat, and the army could in no way be led by anything other than the largely petty bourgeois individuals at the top of the CCP.

These very problems, inherent not only in submerging the party in a rural environment, but even more so in attempting to establish on that basis an alternative government under constant siege, were to lead in the early 1940s to the Zhengfeng or Rectification Campaign as the party leadership struggled to keep control of this band of roving-rebels. In this campaign around 10,000 were killed and was the precedent for the Cultural Revolution more than twenty years later.

The Hundred Regiments and Three Alls Campaigns

The CCPs enormous gains in northern central China described above were as mentioned causing serious concern amongst both Japanese and Guomindang leaders. Their fears were proved correct when the CCP launched its biggest and most successful (unless we count its consequences, as we shall see) military campaign of the entire war period, ending its period of peaceful advance. This is known as the Hundred Regiments Campaign, and it lasted from August to December 1940 and involved 400,000 CCP led troops against roughly 290,000 Japanese. The fighting spanned five provinces in northern central China.

It is difficult to assess the damage inflicted by the CCP onto the Japanese forces, as both sides claimed (and still claim) wildly divergent figures. There is no doubt however that the initial battles were an enormous success for the CCP, with tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers killed and much of the Japanese military infrastructure destroyed. The ability of the CCP armies to fight head on a far more well equipped and trained imperial army is testament to the incredible growth of CCP forces from their political work and organisation, as well as their tactical nous.

Nevertheless the true results of this military adventure once again underline the futility of the strategy of armed rural struggle and further justify our contention that the CCP should have stuck to clandestinely recruiting workers in the cities with socialist propaganda. For ultimately the CCP was and always would be powerless in the face of the Japanese army, which maintained complete freedom of action at a strategic level (Ibid, p332).

This harsh fact was proven by the Japanese counter-attack to the Hundred Regiments Campaign, which was aptly named the Three Alls Policy - standing for kill all, burn all, loot all. Since the Japanese imperialists managed to so succinctly sum up the character of their invasion of China, I think it is only reasonable to suggest that their entire invasion of China and other countries be known by this name.

There was a calculated purpose behind such an indiscriminate strategy of literally killing, burning and looting everything within areas associated with the CCP, which, as with all ultra-reactionary and counter-revolutionary campaigns, was to punish the masses for daring to pose a political challenge to the status quo and to traumatise them into never doing so again. In particular, the aim of this campaign was to drain the water from the Communist fish (Harrison, op cit. p301) - in other words, to so effectively massacre the rural poor that the CCP could have no social basis in this region. According to Mitsuyoshi Himeta the death toll of this vile campaign totalled more than 2.7m Chinese.

This campaign devastated the CCP in northern central China, and the CCP would not launch another campaign of any significance against Japan for the remainder of the war. Although the CCP did manage to recover their influence in the region around three years later, this was tellingly achieved through political action and propaganda, not military offensives. Not only would it have been possible, it would have been easier and far more effective to carry out this political propaganda had the CCP concentrated on work amongst the urban proletariat and, having won influence this way, among the rural poor. This would have freed the party up both politically and organisationally to campaign for the need to paralyse the Japanese occupation with strikes and for a government of the workers to carry out a revolutionary war against the Japanese.

Guomindang Betrayals

As if to underline the fact that the CCP had fallen into an opportunist trap by accepting the Guomindangs proposal for Zhou Enlai to be Deputy Minister of Political Training in early 1938 (as discussed in Part I), a few months later the very government in which leading Communist Zhou Enlai was now a minister dissolved a mass organisation [in Hankou] suspected of having strong communist sympathies. The Guomindang then rebuffed communist overtures towards forming a new inner block (Guillermaz, op cit. p348).

These (entirely inevitable and predictable) traitorous actions should have been taken as a sign that the Guomindang was planning an attack on the CCP. No quantity of overtures and second-rate ministerial portfolios could protect the CCP from the Guomindang, which only lulled the CCP into a false sense of security. In the spring of 1939, 300 CCP guerrillas were allegedly slaughtered in Shandong province by Guomindang forces (Brandt, Schwartz & Fairbank, A Documentary History of Chinese Communism, p240).

What the communists represented both to the poor and the rich was in itself enough to invite repression. CCP speeches were sufficient to whet the peasants appetite for land and freedom, but proved unable to put that genie back in its bottle when the CCP line changed. Nor for that reason could such acquiescence ever convince the Guomindang and the ruling class of the CCPs loyalty, especially when it had armed layers of the peasantry. Beneath the surface of the alliance the Guomindang was always maneuvering and strategizing to inflict mortal blows on the CCP. Different tendencies and factions within it proposed different ways to deal with the CCPs continuing popularity, including dissolving its bases in different provinces by dictat. Local armed clashes with the CCP began to increase and certain generals from Chongqing [the seat of governmental power since late 1938] were plotting with the Japanese to attack the CCP (Guillermaz, op cit. p315).

These tensions were caused by the very objective forces which the CCPs political allegiance with the Guomindang made it incapable of anticipating, explaining or consciously leading. Despite the formal alliance, these contradictory forces operated in and through these two parties because of their conflicting class bases. The political successes the CCP scored, particularly in Shanxi and around the western ends of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers as described above, by basing themselves on the peasant masses, made inevitable the Guomindangs betrayal of their alliance.

Rising tensions led to more numerous skirmishes until the barely suppressed conflict exploded in the New Fourth Army Incident in 1941 in precisely this geographical area. This was already presaged by the Pinzhiang and Zhukou Incidents in June 1939, in which the Guomindang raided the New Fourth Army and executed CCP members and their families (see Harrison, op cit. p305 & Kataoka, Resistance and Revolution in China: The Communists and the 2nd United Front, p233).

The New Fourth Army Incident

In June 1940 an agreement had been reached between the two parties that the CCP could keep its newly conquered bases in the northern part of central China, i.e. north of the Yellow River, so long as it abandoned the peasants of central China in between the two great rivers. Chiang could not tolerate the success of the CCP in this area and here attempted to exploit the CCPs opportunist policy. On the basis of this agreement, Chiangs representatives showed active hostility to CCP forces in the central China region they had now been ordered to evacuate (Schram, op cit. p218). Because of this, as they were leaving the area the CCP forces successfully attacked Guomindang troops encountered on the way.

This caused Chiang to hasten his demand that the CCPs New 4th Army evacuate the entirety of the area south of the Yellow River. For one reason or another, despite the vast majority of the army meeting the deadline, the 9,000 strong HQ force had failed to cross the river in time and in January 1941 it was ambushed and wiped out by the Guomindang. Following this, the Guomindang demanded the dissolution of the remainder of this strongest of CCP armies. This the CCP refused to do and the ensuing strengthening of the army ended the farce (though not officially) of CCP/Guomindang allegiance.

From a revolutionary point of view, we cannot help but conclude that the New Fourth Army Incidents taking place was a good thing precisely because it brought the infamous national united front to an ignominious conclusion. This is proven by the fact that following this incident the CCP continued its meteoric rise throughout China, so much so that arguably no single event in the entire Sino-Japanese war did more to enhance the Communists prestige vis- a-vis the Nationalists than the destruction of the New Fourth Army headquarters while it was loyally following orders (Johnson, Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945, p140).

Once again we can see that the CCPs gains came not from military successes - indeed in this case its biggest success came from a defeat - but from its political role as the (perceived) opposition to a capitulationist government. In this case the objective forces, which required (and rewarded) such an opposition, were so strong that they were imposed onto the CCP against its will.

Interestingly, Mao, who was evidently under pressure from left wing critics inside the CCP, felt the need to explain that the New Fourth Army incident did not prove that the allegiance with the Guomindang was a mistake (see Mao, Conclusions on the Repulse of the Second Anti-Communist Onslaught, May 1941). He argued that the war with Japan meant that the primary contradiction of Chinese society was not a class one but a national one. In Maos article On Contradiction, he reveals his highly mechanical interpretation of dialectical materialism, whereby different contradictions supplant one another whilst remaining entirely unaffected and self-contained, like billiard balls knocking into each other. He uses this to justify the opportunism of allying with the Guomindang, for according to him the primary contradiction now being between China and Japan, the internal class contradictions of China are effectively negated. A real understanding of dialectics would teach the direct opposite - that Japans exploitation of China would happen through Chinas class system, making the two inseparable. The New Fourth Army Incident is merely one in a long list of examples where the Chinese ruling class proved that the dynamic of the Sino-Japanese war was the class struggle.

There is one final betrayal of their alliance by the Guomindang we ought to mention. In the remote province of Xinjiang the CCP struck a similar alliance with its warlord Sheng Shicai (who was not in the Guomindang) as its national alliance with Chiang. However, for the very same reasons as the New Fourth Army Incident, namely the CCPs gains in Xinjiang (along with Moscow ceasing to butter-up Sheng with arms), Sheng turned in 1942. He joined the Guomindang and arrested 600 Communists, many of which he then executed, including Maos brother.

And yet flying in the face of reality the CCP continued to articulate a thoroughly acquiescent and frankly liberal line with regards to the Guomindang. One would expect and hope it would use its repression at the hands of the Guomindang as the political justification for the need to overthrow the Guomindang to liberate China from both imperialism and its stooge the Chinese ruling class. Instead the leadership demanded in March 1942 only legal status for the CCP and the recognition by the government of its war efforts, including the request for more troops. Proving the utter failure of the attempt since 1936 to ally with the Guomindang, even these demands were rejected.

It is very interesting to note that the character of these demands is not only exclusively bourgeois-democratic, lacking a single social demand, but also in its demands for political liberty refers only to the CCP, not the Chinese working class and peasantry. There are no demands for political liberty or a constituent assembly. More than a decade of isolation in rural armed struggle found its expression in the CCPs inward looking demand for CCP, not Chinese, freedom.

When the Sino-Japanese war began in 1937, the CCP had already been an exclusively rural party for almost ten years. As we pointed out previously, this was an improvisation born out of the partys confusion at Chiangs power grab. By 1935, when Mao became the undisputed leader of the party, this improvisation and temporary retreat had been transformed into the partys raison detre.

The Peasants Sans CCP

According to Bianco and Lloyd, the revolutionary decade of 1922-31 saw no significant increase in all types of peasant disturbances - from theft of landlords property to local uprisings. The fluctuations that do occur seem only correlated to particular years in which there happened to be a good or bad harvest. Furthermore, the type of action taken remained in its traditional form - riots or petitions - and rarely if ever escaped a purely local horizon. Furthermore, they contend that in any case the total number of disturbances remain extremely small (Bianco and Lloyd, Peasant Movements, in The Cambridge History of China Volume 13, pp278-9).

The peasants, without the CCP would, quite simply, never have conceived the idea of a revolution thanks to their parochialism which overrode distinctions of class. The typical village, to which peasants narrow horizons and allegiances were restricted, was a  socially heterogeneous community that villagers sought to protect against attacks from outside. This is attested by the frequent incidence of vertical movements resembling wars between different peoples rather than social warfare. As in a national war, the natural enemy is not the privileged member in ones community but the foreigner (Ibid, p302).

Bianco and Lloyd give many examples of movements in the early 1930s, around the time the CCP was embedding itself in this milieu, which were based exclusively on opposition to new taxes, not rent, and thereby could unite peasants and landlords, with the latter more often than not initiating and leading the movements. The character of such movements, more common than those aimed against rent and landlordism, are not progressive since they aimed to preserve local privileges in the tax system, chiefly to the benefit of the local landlords. Indeed, sometimes the wrongs against which the taxpayers rise up are purely imaginary. They suspect any project of fiscal reform...allow[ing] themselves to be incited into a revolt, which is harmful to their own interests, by a handful of large landowners practicing tax evasion on a large scale (Ibid, p284).

Throughout these movements, what is notable is the lack of a questioning of landlordism by its peasant victims: the principle of paying rent is almost never called into question (Ibid, p278). Along with hostility to new tax codes, most peasant disturbances were strictly local in the sense that they pitted one village or Xien against another. So one group of peasants, led by their landlord, would frequently fight those with the same conditions of poverty in a neighbouring village, because the latter had, say, dredged rivers to improve their crop, which threatened to flood the other village.

These conflicts, which Bianco and Lloyd argue should be known not as peasant but as rural disturbances due to their vertical social character, frequently had an extremely violent character. They were spontaneous, chaotic and unplanned explosions of rage with no political perspective attached to them. They were not prepared and the rebels do not appear to have had a strategy nor is there any discernable progression in the forms taken by the resistance. There was no fundamental questioning of the principle of tenancy, simply a protest against sudden changes in the status quo (Ibid, pp274-5). Instead of landlords or even local government leaders being attacked, it was usually their underlings, who were more visible to the peasants. Bianco and Lloyd insist that we cannot even speak of a rural movement (other than the CCPs army), only local flare-ups of fury.

The theory of Marxism has always explained that the peasantry can be an important ally of the revolutionary working class but can never politically lead. It must be led by a more organised and homogenous urban based class. This evidently applied to 1920s and 30s China, to the extent that Maos talk of the Sinification of Marxism due to Chinas special rural conditions and revolutionary peasantry must be rejected entirely. According to the evidence, the peasants themselves hardly ever take up arms offensively with a view to improving their lot.

The apparent peasant basis of the 1949 revolution is therefore an outcome not of peasant revolutionary initiative and elan, but of the CCPs dogged hiding out in its mountain fastness. The peasant revolts had nothing in common with the CCPs Red Army, which latter had a national political character that the former lacked entirely. They were generally conservative, more interested in rising up to maintain old privileges, against local rivals or the mysteries of the governments vicissitudes. They were not inspired by any overall vision of society nor questioned the bases of its organisation (Ibid, p303). It was precisely this parochialism and passivity that suited the CCP, because in the rural backwaters they were hard to find and suffered no danger of ambitious revolutionary demands from the politically passive peasants the Soviet bases administered. The rural submersion of the party was ideal for launching a military struggle but not a social and revolutionary one.

Wearing the Peasants Coarse Garb

As we shall see, the CCPs approach in the countryside resembled the discredited strategy of the Russian Narodniks of the 19th Century. It is a profound irony that the Chinese offshoot of the Communist International should repeat the mistakes of the Russian forefathers of the Bolsheviks, when it was precisely the learning and overcoming of these mistakes that produced the Russian Marxist organisation that in turn gave birth to the Communist International!

When Peng Pai, before he joined the CCP, experimented with a Chinese Narodnism in the early 1920s, he was initially, just like the Narodniks, rejected by the peasants as a strange outsider with grandiose and unrealisable goals. He found that he had to change his clothes and speech and enticed and entertained [the peasants] as a conjuror and magician, taught the children a song of his own composition, had them listen to a gramophone he had brought along, and put on a puppet show (Ibid, p308) in order to get them to take seriously his ideas of liberation.

Ten years later, the CCP found itself having to perform similar routines each time they settled in a new rural location. Because of the completely rural base of the party, the CCP was obliged to send any workers or intellectuals it recruited in the cities to the countryside. Whereas in the cities they would have been able to carry out political work quite naturally, Mao explained the requirements of their work in the countryside: they should enthusiastically go to the villages, exchange their students clothes for the coarse garb of the peasants, start willingly from the bottom...help awaken the peasants...and fight for the completion of the extremely important task in Chinas democratic revolution - the rural democratic revolution (Mao, < On Coalition Government<, April 1945).

Despite these efforts, the CCP leadership regularly found that the organisations of peasant liberation and awakening they had set up, when left on their own, frequently pursued policies quite different from the Party line and resented the directions of outsiders, whatever their politics (Harrison, < The Long March to Power<, p312). It is quite clear that the contradiction between the self-appointed leadership of the rural revolution in the CCP and the peasants themselves was never overcome. This relationship is in stark contrast to that of a Marxist organisation and the working class, since the aim of the former is always to win the confidence of the workers not by dressing up as them but by being part of and giving voice to the already existing class struggle. Marxists recruit, and themselves often are, workers. They do not parachute in members from elsewhere to occupy and administer workers districts!

Indeed the CCP sent vast swathes of its recruits away from the cities in which they were recruited, thus negating any potential they may have presented for building a permanent urban working class base for the party. They used the legal openings gained through the allegiance with the Guomindang not so much to begin building in the cities but to set up within them Communist Liaison Offices to facilitate the emigration of volunteers to Yenan (Guillermaz, A History of the Communist Party 1921-49 , p348). Peng Shuzi, an early leader of the CCP before being expelled for Trotskyism, stresses that the CCP did everything possible to encourage the most active elements of the working class to leave the struggle in the cities and join the peasants in the countryside. It was for precisely this reason that while the CCP considerably increased its armed peasant forces during the Resistance War, its influence remained extremely weak among the worker masses of the cities (Peng, The Causes of the Victory of the Chinese Communist Party over Chiang Kai-Shek, and the CCPs Perspectives).

The environment into which these workers and urban intellectuals were taken was one of extreme poverty and backwardness. As with the pre-Long March bases in Jiangxi and especially the Jinggangshan, Yenan made an effective base precisely because it was so barren and therefore hard to penetrate and considered strategically irrelevant by the Guomindang. Here CCP comrades, including leaders, were forced to live in caves carved into the cliffs. The area at the time had an estimated 60% infant mortality rate, 1% literacy rate, the death of up to 2.5m people (one-third of the provincial population), and the migration of another half-million in the catastrophic famine of 1927-30 (Harrison, op cit., p310).

Because the Guomindang suspended its subsidy of $100,000 per month (part of the united front agreement) in 1940 due to the above discussed breakdown in the alliance, the CCP was obliged to increase the tax burden on the Shaanxi population it was occupying, especially of the peasants (Ibid, p316). In other CCP bases inflation rose to even higher than in Guomindang controlled areas, but this failed to take place in Yenan as the economy was largely a barter one!

As described in more detail our previous series, the bare struggle to survive in these remote conditions absorbed the partys attention to the detriment of its political and theoretical development - although it must be said that the biggest obstacle in that respect was not the rural conditions but the non-revolutionary programme. As a result the number of leaders with 
News / News

by Stephen Jakes

A political analyst Allan Wenyika has said President Robert MUgabe has been known for destroying any political party that he saw a threat to his rule since 1980 but has failed to destroy the Morgan Tsvangirai led MDC-T which has survived 17 years of vilification and suppression because he sees it as no threat to him."All political parties that were a real threat to Mugabe's rule were all destroyed completely. Zanu Ndonga led by the late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and ZUM fronted by Edgar Tekere all got annihilated because Mugabe doesn't share power with anyone. Yet the MDC-T party led by Morgan Richard Tsvangirai survived for over 17 years. Why" Wenyika said."It is because the party, under Tsvangirai, could never be a real threat to Mugabe's stranglehold on power. In fact Mugabe promoted the idea that Tsvangirai was a threat, knowing very well that the dude was just an empty peasant vessel in a suit."He said when he somehow won in 2008, he was asked by Mugabe to go to Botswana and let Mugabe deal with the mess."Of course, a brown envelope must have been delivered to Morgan for a safe passage and comfortable stay. Upon returning the dude was promised heaven on earth in exchange for becoming a ceremonial prime minister without any real executive powers," he said. "All he would have to do was put on a suit and pretend to be fighting Mugabe from within the GNU. And everything went according to plan."Wenyika said Tsvangirai was so grateful to Mugabe that he had to say this about his benefactor; "He's committed to this transition, once that transition is done, he is committed to ensure we have a peaceful election," Tsvangirai said. "That will restore his legacy as the founding father of the nation as well as the liberator, rather than the villain he has come to be associated with.""What else could he say about the man who had made him live large for nothing other than selling out the revolution of foolish Zimbabweans. He could now even pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobola for women he didn't even intent to marry. He could now traverse the globe with women of his choice doing nothing and getting paid for it," he said."To keep the brown envelopes coming, and to maintain residence in a state house for all the remaining days of his life, all he had to do was remain as his party's leader and pretend to be fighting Mugabe. His supporters loved him and would never doubt him."He said but now with serious disturbances in Zanu-PF, Tsvangirai's deal with Mugabe is facing its greatest threat."Let's brace for very interesting times ahead. Less than 24 months to go," he said.
Grinder, sub, hoagie, hero - however you call it -- we want to know where is the best place to get a sandwich for our next Best Of Mass contest.

We're looking to find places with fresh-baked rolls, a plethora of Italian meats and cheeses to pick from, crisp veggies and sauces that make your heart sing. The shop that makes the toasty mozzarella and meatball foot-long that you dream about. The bahn mi sandwiches from that tiny market near your office or the storefront start-up using all organic ingredients and taking orders from a smartphone app.

No chains are allowed -- we're all about the corner store that makes sandwiches big enough to feed an army, the cash-only, mom-and-pop shops that have been around forever and that must-visit deli where old friends demand to go when they roll into town after being away for a decade.

Our scope for this contest will be Western and Central Massachusetts. We're considering grinder shops from Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire Counties with a second contest in Worcester County.

Use the comments section below to describe your Western Mass. pick and tell us what makes it so great. Give us the name, address and city, too. (Want to nominate a Worcester grinder shop? Do so over here.)

We'll be taking nominations for both contests until Monday, March 28, at noon. Once we have your nominations, readers will get a chance to vote for their hometown favorites by county then support them in a Top 10 Western Mass.-wide vote. One last vote will determine the People's Choice winner and which four finalists Food editor Sarah Platanitis will visit to make her pick for the overall contest winner.

Keep up with the latest from the Best Of Mass Grinders contest at masslive.com/bestofmass.
WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Travel agents at AAA Pioneer Valley don't have any customers in Belgium at this time.

But they do have the means to check through AAA national office and its European partners, said Sandra Marsian, AAA Pioneer Valley's vice president for marketing and public relations.

It's just one way, not necessarily through AAA, that travelers are staying connected and safe, she said.

Terrorist detonated bombs Tuesday at the Brussels airport and at a center-city transit hub. As of Wednesday, the casualty toll stood at 31 dead and 270 injured, according to the New York Times.

Marsian reported Wednesday that AAA customers are still booking European travel, including a couple that booked on Tuesday a trip to Paris.

Others are choosing destinations believed to be more safe, including stateside or trips to the Canadian Rockies.

"Everyone has a different comfort level," Marsian said.

But she did offer some tips:

Travel insurance: Travel insurance policies cover the cost if travelers cancel a trip up to 30 days following a terror attack or natural disaster, she said.

The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program or STEP program: Offered for fee by the U.S. Department of State, travelers can sign up and provide their itineraries at www.travel.state.gov.

Once signed up, the State Department said travelers will receive the most current information and updates, including Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts. Signing up also makes it easier for State Department staff at consulates and embassies abroad to locate and assist Americans in times of trouble.

The State Department has issued its own European Travel alert with the following suggestions in addition to the STEP program:

Follow the instructions of local authorities, especially in an emergency.

Monitor media and local information sources and factor updated information into personal travel plans and activities.

Be prepared for additional security screening and unexpected disruptions.

Stay in touch with your family members and ensure they know how to reach you in the event of an emergency.

Closer to home, security precautions are not altering operations at Bradley International Airport, said Connecticut Airport Authority spokeswoman Alisa Sisic. The airport doesn't comment further on changes to its security protocols.

Amtrak said Tuesday that it would increase security onits trains , along its tracks and in its stations.
Live 155 Development.jpg

Peg Keller, Housing Planner for the City of Northampton; Peter Serafino of HAPHousing; Lt. Governor Karyn Polito; Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz; and Michelle McAdaragh of HAPHousing gather at an event at the Tribune Apartments in Framingham, where affordable housing funds from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development were announced.

(Photo Provided )

NORTHAMPTON -- HAPHousing has recently been awarded affordable housing resources by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, to be used for HAP's Live 155 development at the Northampton Lodging site downtown, according to a news release.

The awards were recently announced at an event at Tribune Apartments in Framingham, a historic 53-unit complex for the elderly that also received funds for building rehabilitation and is part of a $21 million grant statewide for affordable housing. Live 155 will consist of 70 studio and one-bedroom apartments and 2,800 square feet of retail space on Pleasant Street.

The cost for construction of the building is estimated at $14 million. The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation provided HAPHousing a $1.6 million acquisition loan and an $800,000 pre-development loan.

The City of Northampton had awarded $300,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and $150,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to the project. Easthampton Savings Bank has been selected as the construction and permanent lender for the project. HAPHousing plans to commence building demolition and construction in September and complete the project in late 2017.
real living realty national award.jpg

Robert Molta (Broker/Owner, Real Living Realty Professionals), Alan Anderson (VP of Strategic Services for HSF Affiliates LLC, serving the Real Living Real Estate Network) and Robert Lareau (CFO, Real Living Realty Professionals).

(Photo Provided)

Real Living Real Estate, which is majority owned by Home Services of America, A Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate, has honored its 2015 national award winners.

As a company, Real Living Realty Professionals ranked No. 3 in the nation for homes sold under the Real Living franchise.

Robert P. Molta, owner and president of Real Living Realty Professionals said in a news release:

"We are very proud of all of our Sales Associates. Based on reports through MLSPIN and CTMLS, in 2015 our company has sold or participated in the sale of over 1,000 properties totaling approximately $240 million dollars throughout Western Mass and Northern Connecticut."

Real Living Realty Professionals had several of their top producers rank in the top 100. For total number of homes sold nationally, Brenda Cuoco ranked number 28, Tanya Vital Basile (47), Jennifer Wilson (50), Suzanne Moore (64) and Deborah Deschamps (69). Ranked by gross commission income, Brenda Cuoco was ranked 12th, Jennifer Wilson (14) and Dave St. Laurent (99). Ranking in the Top 50 Teams was The Denise DeSellier Team, which was recognized nationally as the #3 team for homes sold and number 9 in gross commission income.

Real Living Realty Professionals Sales Associates also received many high level awards from Real Living Real Estate. The Diamond Medallion, includes Agents with a minimum of $250,000 in gross commission income (GCI) or a total of 60 residential units sold.

Those honored with the Diamond Medallion included The Denise DeSellier Team, Jennifer Wilson and Brenda Cuoco. The Emerald Medallion award criteria consisted of $180,000 in gross commission income or a total of 40 residential units sold. The Emerald Medallion honorees included Suzanne Moore, Meghan Lynch, Dave St. Laurent, Barbara Foley, Deborah Deschamps and Tanya Vital-Basile. The Sapphire Medallion award winners had a minimum of $110,000 total GCI or 30 residential units sold. Those winners included Rebecca Kingston, Paula Smith, Rose Misischia, Kimberly Diamond, Angela Mancinone, Karen Sierakowski and Kimberly Allen.

The Ruby Medallion winner were those with a minimum of $70,000 gross commission income or a total of 20 residential units sold. Those recognized were John Michon, Lorraine Moore, Leslie Brunelle, Cheryll Phillips, Roberta Johnson, Priscilla Harman, Crystal Kane, Eve Crampton, Pam Mitchell, Patricia Joaquim, Joyce Hough and Stephanie Lepsch. Real Living Realty Professionals prides itself on superior customer service. As a franchise, Real Living has a customer satisfaction rating of 97 percent.

The company recognized three agents who personally received a customer satisfaction rating of at least 97 percent with the 360 Service Diamond Elite Award. Those agents were Brenda Cuoco, Tanya Vital-Basile and Joyce Hough. Five agents were honored with the 360 Service Diamond Award, for receiving a 95 percent customer satisfaction rating. Those agents recognized were Jennifer Wilson, Meghan Lynch, Pamela Mitchell, Angela Mancinone and Cheryl Malandrinos.
Looking for ways to get in on Easter fun this year? A handful of Western Massachusetts organizations are hosting children's Easter egg hunts this weekend. Here are eight places children can hunt for Easter eggs this year.

Hampden

West Springfield will host its annual Easter egg hunt at Mittineague Park on March 26. The hunt, which is for West Springfield residents ages 7 and under, will feature an appearance by the Easter Bunny at 9:45 a.m. The hunt itself will begin at 10:30 a.m. For more information, visit wsparkandrec.com.

Holyoke's Spring Celebration and Easter Egg Hunt will take place on March 26 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. In addition to an egg hunt, the celebration includes face painting, pony rides and craft stations. For more information about the celebration, which costs $2 to attend, visit holyoke.org.

Chicopee will host their annual Easter egg hunt at Szot Park on March 26 at 10 a.m. The hunt, which is for children age 10 and under, will cost $5 and requires participants sign up in advance.

The Zoo in Forest Park will host their annual Easter Eggstravaganza on March 26. Weather permitting, the Springfield egg hunt will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The celebration, which is also the opening day of the park, costs $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, $4 for children ages 5 to 12, and $2.50 for children ages 1 to 4. For more information, visit the zoo's Facebook page.

Hampshire

The EGGstravanza Egg Hunt in Look Park this year will feature over 10,000 eggs this March 26. The event, which will stagger egg hunts by age, will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free to attend, and vehicle entry to the park is free from 12:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit northamptonma.gov.

South Hadley's Buttery Brook Park will host their Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Hat Parade on March 26. The day will start with the hat parade at 11 a.m., followed by the egg hunt at 11:30 a.m. For more information, visit butterybrookpark.com.

The Belchertown Recreation Center's Easter egg hunt will take place on March 26 starting at 10:30 a.m. The hunt, for children 10 and under, costs $4 to attend. For more information, visit the Belchertown Recreation website.

Franklin

Turners Falls will host their 11th Annual Peter Cottontail's EGGstravaganza on

Saturday, March 26. The Easter egg hunt, which begins at 1:00 p.m., will take place at Unity Park. For more information, visit the Montague Parks & Recreation Facebook.
newfound.jpg

New Found Glory

(John Davisson)

The 2016 Vans Warped Tour will come to the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford and the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Mass. with a lineup that includes bands like New Found Glory, Reel Big Fish, Sum 41, and Less Than Jake.

The tour comes to Hartford on July 10 and Mansfield on July 13.

The complete lineup is available through VansWarpedTour.com. Tickets are also available through the site.

The festival started as The Warped Tour in 1995 and added the Vans title sponsorship the following year. The tour promoted ska and punk in the early days and has morphed to include metal and its extended sub-genres.

The Warped Tour has a long history in Western Mass starting with its 1995 debut at the Northampton Airport. The event moved to the Three County Fairgrounds and featured bands like Staind and Shadows Fall on the local stage with headliners like No Doubt, Bad Religion, and Deftones.
A look inside East Longmeadow's Center Square Grill

The seared Georgia's Bank diver scallops are served over sweet corn and asparagus risotto then finished with a lemon-thyme beurre blanc sauce.

(Sarah Platanitis | MassLive)

Looking to eat out on Good Friday with family and friends but not sure where to go? Here are a handful of suggestions to check out, with menu highlights and specials.

Panjabi Tadka - 1688 Main Street, Springfield

This hidden gem in Downtown Springfield has wonderful veggie-friendly appetizers and plates. Top picks to fill your belly: An order of crispy samosas, the nine-spice vegetable korma, aloo gobi or veggie biryani then finish with a few bites of sweet kheer rice pudding. Friday lunch hours from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with dinner hours from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call 413-732-1453.

Max Burger - 684 Bliss Road, Longmeadow

What...a burger place on a meatless list? Max Burger's menu has vegetarian chili with corn tortillas and aged cheddar, a slew of salads, a house-made quinoa sunflower seed veggie burger, yellowfin tuna tacos and spicy Buffalo shrimp. Open Friday from 11:30 a.m. from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. No reservations but you can put your name put on a waitlist. For more information, call 413-798-0101.

Center Square Grill - 84 Center Square, East Longmeadow

CSG has noteworthy menu options to look at, from petite mason jars filled with buttered lump crab with garlic crostini, Wild Mushroom Burgers, Pesto Papparedelle and their house Grilled Cheese melted together with French triple creme, Vermont cheddar and Swiss with a side of tomato bisque. Friday hours are 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information or to make reservation, call 413-525-0055.

Captain Jack's Roadside Shack - 228 Northampton Road, Easthampton

Captain Jack's is open again after a long winter's nap. Take your pick of the fresh fish and chips, whole belly clams, scallops, fish sandwich or - the fan favorite-fish tacos. Picture two grilled flour tortillas, filled with fried, fresh Gloucester Pollack with a vinegary slaw, chipotle mayo and cilantro. The chowder will be specially made on Good Friday sans bacon-free. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more info, call 413-203-5367.

Moshi Moshi Japanese Restaurant - 4 Main Street, Northampton

Sushi on a meatless day sounds about right, doesn't it? Share a bowl of edamame while you figure out the menu - there's so much to choose from! We recommend fresh slices of salmon and tuna sashimi, Yellowtail collar hamachi kama with grated daikon, vegetable shumai, the spicy kimchi udon or the super colorful caterpillar roll. Save some room for mochi ice cream and say hi to Sam and Kimy. Friday hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations recommended for four or more people, call 413-586-5865.

Have a favorite place that you like to go? Help us add to the list by telling us where you go and why in the comments below.
Massachusetts geographic bee Chicopee - On Friday, April 1, Elms college will welcome 100 students of elementary school age through eight grade and their families from across the state as the Massachusetts Geographic Bee comes to campus for the first time. The winner of this statewide competition will move on to compete in the National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C. in May, where the grand prize is a $50,000 college scholarship.

Each year, thousands of schools in the U.S. participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to inspire students to be curious about the world. The National Geographic Bee sponsors competitions in every state as well as the final nationwide contest.

In the morning, students will then be split up into individual competition rooms on campus, where the field will be winnowed to the top 10 finalists. The event will culminate in a session that will run from approximately 1:15 to 2:30 p.m., when the finalists will compete in Veritas Auditorium in Berchmans Hall. At that time, the Massachusetts State Geography Bee winner will be chosen, that child will go on to the National geography Bee, May 22 to 25. The finalist portion of the event is free and open to the public.

The state winner will receive $100, a copy of the book "The National Parks," and a trip to Washington D.C. to represent Massachusetts in the national finals, which will be held at National Geographic Society headquarters. The national winner will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the society, as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands to experience geography firsthand through close encounters with the unique landscapes and wildlife of the islands.

Throughout the day, geography-related stations will be set up on campus for competitiors, family members and the general public to visit. EarthView, a large inflatable globe that people can go inside, will be installed in Berchmans Gym, as will a large world floor map from National Geographic.
Opinion / Columnist

Who can ever forget the legendary brave and wonderful exploits of Robin Hood and his band of men, which we read when we were children, and how he was so hurt by the manner in which the rich exploited the poor, such that he ended up organising his men to rob the rich so that he could give to the poor?Well, in Zimbabwe the opposite is equally true, we have a band of people who apparently survive by robbing the poor to give to the rich - who get richer everyday, whilst the poor get poorer.The Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel), the now defunct steelmaking giant situated in Redcliff, is a classic example of how those in power can reach rock-bottom in their brazen inhumanity, leaving them without a shred of self-respect - as a few people have turned a whole community of over 70 thousand people into paupers.The once vibrant state-owned steelmaking giant used to be the pride and joy of the whole of Zimbabwe, as it was the backbone of the entire Southern African region, however, corruption and gross mismanagement of the company by both management and those in government, led to its closure in 2009.A 2007 commission of inquiry into the state of affairs at Ziscosteel exposed gross mismanagement and corruption that also included very senior government officials, but, due to cronyism, their names were never released.Whilst those involved in the mismanagement and corruption where allowed to get away with looting millions, if not billions, of dollars from the company, the poor workers - some of whom had faithfully toiled at the company for nearly half a century - were left literally without a cent.Those that retired or were retrenched at Ziscosteel's closure were never given any terminal benefits, whilst those that remained at the company are not been paid their salaries.Recently the government - through the Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa - announced the sending of the remaining employees to a mandatory 6-month leave, and yet these workers are not being paid their salaries.How does the government think these people are surviving?If Ian Smith had done something similar to them during the colonial days, would that not have been just cause to launch the liberation struggle, as it would have been the clearest sign of cruelty and evil?Those in authority - including those in Ziscosteel's management, who are still receiving all the perks from the company and enjoy a semblance of a lavish lifestyle, without caring at all about the suffering of their subordinates - have again clearly shown the folly of sitting back and trusting those in power to do the right thing.It is time that those who are owed by Ziscosteel stood up for their rights, and fight for what is rightfully theirs.This government-owned company can not be left to ride roughshod on the people who sacrificed and gave their all for it, only to have a few people benefit from this sweat and tears, whilst the rest are left to scrounge for a mere morsel to eat.This same happened to dismissed employees of another government-owned company, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), but these workers stood their ground by encamping at the company's head offices for weeks until their demands were met, through a court order that compelled the GMB to pay these workers all their outstanding salaries, or else the company's properties would be attached.Similarly, Ziscosteel's past and present workers need to rally together to make sure that they are paid all their outstanding pensions, salaries, and all other benefits.All legal and constitutional means must be explored and exploited to ensure that the company is made to take responsibility for its actions.The government, as the owner, has also further revealed itself to the whole world for who they really are - an uncaring, exploitative, oppressive group of people who make Ian Smith and Cecil John Rhodes look like heroes and saints.If nothing is done as a matter of urgency, an economic, social, political, and health disaster is imminent in Redcliff.Today, it is more than a mystery as to how the people in this town are surviving, as they strive - by any means possible - to make ends meet.However, in spite of all their commendable efforts, they can never really manage to make a decent living worthy of a human being.Most children in Redcliff are not attending school, as their parents can not afford the fees demanded.As a result, there is a community in Zimbabwe, that has been forced by the looting powers-that-be to be a breeding zone for an uneducated generation.The poverty that this community had been forced into has also led to very poor service delivery by the local authority, as Redcliff residents can not afford to pay their rates and other charges.This has led to garbage being uncollected for long stretches of time, leading to a potentially lethal outbreak of hygiene-related diseases, such as typhoid fever, cholera, and other diarrhoea.To make matters worse, the town experiences monthly water disconnections by the city of Kwekwe - which supplies the small town with water - due to a ballooning debt, which is reportedly just over US$1 million.This debt will continue to increase, as long as the people of the town are not able to pay their water bills to the Redcliff municipality.In fact, some families were left homeless in 2015, when they were evicted from their homes as a result of their failure to pay rentals to the Redcliff municipality.The municipality of Redcliff should understand the plight of the residents, and strive to come to a workable agreement as to the way forward, without resorting to any draconian measures, which will only exacerbate the problem.Serious hunger has also gripped the small town, with numerous families going without a nutritional meal for days, especially in the suburbs of Rutendo and Torwood.Already, cases of nutrition-related problems are being reported in the town.Many people in Redcliff are dying due to diseases, that would otherwise have been easily treated, if the people had been paid their dues and could afford medication - but even the company medical aid scheme has been closed off to the workers.The business community in Redcliff is also feeling the pinch, as most people cab not afford to buy anything, as a result, most businesses have either closed shop, or moved away.It is very clear that this small town, established in 1948 is a ticking time-bomb in Zimbabwe, where urgent government intervention is needed.If the government does not seriously attend to these problems bedevilling this Ziscosteel community, it only has itself to blame should the situation get out of hand. Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist and commentator, writer, and journalist. He writes in his personal capacity, and welcomes any feedback. Please call/WhatsApp: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana@gmail.com
Opinion / Columnist

The historic unity accord signed between Zapu and Zanu PF in 1987 is here to stay forever. Neither Dumiso Dabengwa nor any other ex-Zapu member has the power to abolish or even put an iota of amendment on it. That accord is like a will that nobody can change when the owner dies. That accord has owners.In the same vein, the Unity accord can only be changed or abolished by those who put their signatures on it, namely the late Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo and President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. If there is anyone who think the accord must be abolished, they must raise Dr Nkomo so that he ratifies the abolition. Apart from that, the only option left is to ship out and leave the unity intact.In view of the above, it is therefore, utter nonsense for some mischievous boys in Bulawayo who masqueraded as ex-Zipra war veterans, to tell the nation that they have broken away from both Zanu PF and Zimbabwe Liberation War Veteran Association (ZNLWA). It is equally gibberish for them to tell us that they have appointed Dumiso Dabengwa as their patron. In the first place, Dabengwa is not Zapu. He left Zanu PF as an individual. That is the reason why the likes of Cdes Joseph Msika, John Landa Nkomo, Simon Khaya Moyo, and many other ex-Zapu bigwigs remained within Zanu PF.Dabengwa went on to form a replica of the original revolutionary Zapu to deceive some gullible war vets like those who have recently launched the so called Zipra war veterans association. Theirs best qualifies as a burial society. We have one war veteran's welfare association that will advance the interests of bonafide war veterans. I doubt that the members of that club are real war veterans and it will be a shame for Dabengwa to associate with spurious elements just for political expediency. These are criminals who are bent on causing disharmony within the country. Despite our economic challenges, we have been enjoying peace in this country, which is even envied by other countries across the globe.What the bogus ex-Zipra freedom fighters doing is only a gesture of grave insolence for Father Zimbabwe, Dr Nkomo. The late liberation icon had a dream of seeing a united Zimbabwe working together for prosperity. Dabengwa is good at deriding fellow ex-Zipra ex-combatants whom he accuses of being sellout or bogus freedom fighters. He would do well if he tells the nation this time around about the authenticity of the boys who have launched this separate war vets association.President Mugabe created a whole ministry to deal with the welfare of the former freedom fighters. Ironically, that ministry is led by a former Zipra commander, Colonel Tshinga Dube. The minister recently called on the war veterans to unite for it becomes easy for him to deal with a united constituency. It is yet to be seen if Dube's ministry will recognize this association.Dabengwa is struggling to put his party on both feet. It is therefore outlandish for these boys to expect that Dabengwa has the capacity to look after their welfare. For their information, their newly appointed patron himself is itching to rejoin Zanu PF. If they are indisputable war veterans, they must come back to their senses and go back to ZNLWA whose patron has the welfare of ex-combatants at heart. The creation of a ministry is manifestation of that love.
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Senator Jon Tester announced today a donation of 25 computers to five rural schools across Montana. The computers will be used by students from all around the state to help prepare them for a 21st century economy.

"As a former teacher, I know the important and innovative role technology can play in the classroom for students and teachers alike," Tester said. "I am confident Montanas educators will put these computers to good use."

The schools receiving computers, spanning across the state, are:

 Eureka Public Schools

 Elysian School in Billings

 Elder Grove Elementary in Billings

 Augusta Public Schools

 Heart Butte Elementary

Tester secured the computers for Montana students through the United States Senates Computers for Schools Program. The program integrates technology into classrooms by sending surplus computers to public schools across the country.

Tester also supports strengthening Montanas education system and increasing opportunity by reducing the testing burden on students and teachers, boosting Pell Grants, and decreasing student loan rates. He introduced a bill http://www.tester.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3897 to remove the annual testing requirement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and replace it with fewer federal tests.
Some residents and interest groups have long pushed for a city-run broadband network, saying it would help reduce access inequality.

The mayor reiterated the position he formed after a city-commissioned study released last summer showed it would cost between $480 million and $665 million to build out a municipal-broadband network across the city. That price tag is less than previously estimated, but the mayor said it was still too much to be feasible.

"When I came into office, I was very excited about the possibility of municipal broadband until the study came back and indicated it would be literally the largest tax increase in Seattle," Murray said Monday at the conference, co-hosted by the nonprofit Next Century Cities and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

by Rachel Lerman, The Seattle Times

Full Story: http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Public-Private-Partnerships-Expand-Internet-Access-Seattle-Mayor.html
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 23, 2016

Geoffrey Hinton, known as the godfather of deep learning -- the tech that helped Google's AlphaGo beat a master at Go -- said the most powerful machines are about a million times smarter than the human brain, and becoming more sophisticated each year.

Hinton, who splits his time between working at Google and the University of Toronto, earned a PhD in AI from Edinburgh in 1978.

While Google uses AI in its search engines to learn how to return smarter query results, Hinton predicts it still will take more than five years before machines possess human-level abilities. Start with search engines and move the technology into android-looking robotics.

The robotics use many of the technologies required for smarter search engine queries, such as artificial intelligence and natural language processing.

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On Wednesday at Google's GCP Next 2016 Cloud conference, the company demonstrated its cloud vision API that recognizes objects, labeling and categorizing them. It also detects faces, and languages. The technology identifies landmarks and returns latitude and longitude. It uses the same vision learning technology in Google photos.

That reality of improving AI for search as engineers improve AI for robotics could come sooner than later. David Hanson, founder of Hanson Robotics, explained in 2009 at the Long Beach Ted conference how robots will learn how to have empathy, not just sentience. The keyword being "learn," gaining knowledge by interacting with humans similar to the way the search engine gains knowledge from queries.

Hanson, who worked as an imaginer at Disney, built a series of small robots intended to facilitate research, and entertain as a companion, among other functions. At another 2012 Ted Conference in Taipei, where he urges an open-source movement to rally developers, Hanson said it would take robots to achieve "human-level brilliance" between 2027 and 2032.

At South By Southwest, Hanson unveiled Sophia, a lifelike robot capable of 62 facial expressions since first activated in April 2015. The robot, which is both creepy and remarkable, uses a combination of Alphabet's Google Chrome voice-recognition technology and other software that helps Sophia process speech, hold a conversation, remember interactions and become smarter over time.

Hanson also works with Intel and IBM to explore using some of their respective technologies.

It turns out that human-looking robots may not be the best thing for society. A study published in the International Journal of Social Robotics reveals when robots look like humans, the similarity blurs boundaries, undermining human uniqueness.

Androids raised the highest concerns for the potential damage to humans, followed by humanoids and then mechanical robots, per the study. How does this technology affect the future use of search technology?
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, March 23, 2016

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced new labeling requirements for immediate-release (IR) opioid pain medications including a boxed warning about the serious risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death.

Black-box warnings are the most stringent the agency can require, and they have been found to get doctors' attention and influence their prescribing decisions, writes Rob Stein for NPR.org.

On a conference call with reporters following the announcement, however, FDA commissioner Robert Califf admitted that doctors do not always pay close attention to labels, reports Maggie Fox for NBCNews.com. But Califf said the FDA was limited in what it could do. The FDA does not regulate the practice of medicine.

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The new requirements are for fast-acting versions of opioids, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine, which are intended for use every four to six hours for serious acute pain. Ninety percent of all opioid prescriptions are for these fast-acting, or immediate-release, formulations, NPRs Stein reports.

Specifically, the requirements affect 87 brand-name drugs and 141 generics, Sabrina Tavernese reports for the New York Times. Similar 2013 requirements for extended-release opioids, which are often seen as a bigger addiction risk because of their potency, affected 34 products.

Here's how the warning will play out for consumers, writes CNNs Nadia Kounang. When a patient gets his or her prescription filled, the bottle should have a notification indicating there is a black-box warning for the drug. The consumer would need to go to the manufacturer's website for details.

In addition, pharmacists are encouraged to provide patients with a medication guide  consumer-friendly language explaining the risks of the drug, Kounang continues.

Opioid addiction and overdose have reached epidemic levels over the past decade, and the FDA remains steadfast in our commitment to do our part to help reverse the devastating impact of the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids, Califf says in a release about the new requirements.

Yesterdays announcement comes as pressures have mounted in Washington for officials to take action on what increasingly is being spotlighted as a public health crisis after being in the shadows for years.

No other medicine routinely given for a non-fatal condition kills so frequently, [Centers for Disease Control] director Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters in a separate conference call Tuesday hosted by the White House. We have seen a four-fold increase in prescribing associated with a four-fold increase in deaths, NBCs Fox reports.

And increasingly, people who develop a dependence on prescription medications, whether taken on doctors orders or obtained illicitly, turn to cheaper street heroin to forestall painful withdrawal symptoms.

Heroin-related deaths jumped 39% from 2012 to 2013, and the longer-term trends are equally disturbing: from 2002 to 2013, the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Katharine Q. Seelye reported for the New York Times in a guide to the drug's spread and impact last October.

Many say the FDA needs to do more, and it has been criticized as too willing to approve the painkillers and too slow to fight their abuse, Lenny Bernstein reports for the Washington Post. Last month Califf himself called for a sweeping review of its policies.

In February, 41 officials from various state and municipal health departments, as well as some academics, presented a petition to the FDA urging they issue black-box warnings about the potential dangers of taking opioid painkillers with benzodiazepines  anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium and Xanax, as Brady Dennis reported for the Washington Post.

Doctors will prescribe opioids to a patient with acute pain, along with a benzodiazepine to treat muscle spasms. Or benzodiazepines for a patient with an anxiety disorder, along with an opioid to treat chronic pain, Brady writes. Taken together, they can depress the respiratory system and result in death.

A year-old opioid initiative within the Department of Health and Human Services is focusing on three priority areas: informing opioid prescribing practices, increasing the use of naloxone (a rescue medication that can prevent death from overdose) and expanding access to and the use of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) to treat opioid use disorder.

Some localities are taking bolder measures to prevent deaths. Ithaca, N.Y., yesterday issued a 64-page plan to combat the citys heroin addiction that includes a provision for a supervised injection facility, reports Julianne Peixoto for WBNG.com.

A lot of folks have been looking for and waiting for ideas to actually help to solve this epidemic instead of just arresting people, forcing them into treatment and then watching them fail again and again, says Ithacas mayor, Svante Myrick.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, March 23, 2016

As a Belgian citizen who grew up flying out of Zaventem airport on a regular basis, yesterdays terrorist attacks in Brussels felt like a punch to the soul.

In the wake of the Paris attacks last year, we have witnessed evidence of increased terrorist activity around the world and increasingly so in Western countries. Yesterdays attacks will redirect focus in the presidential race on national security and religious tensions.

Presidential candidates immediately addressed the attacks. Some took the opportunity to go as far as to call for police-state tactics. Others took a measured approach, warning against a rise in religious discrimination.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement that called for empower[ing] law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized. Views of this sort are clear and worrying evidence of the rise of xenophobic and religious tensions in the United States.

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This fervor among the electorate is embodied in the passionate support for Donald Trump. It came to prominence with the Tea Party, which helped push Ted Cruz into office.

Cruzs advocacy for blatant police-state policies has received significant backlash. Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, explained: In normal times, this would be the sort of thing that would disqualify someone from running for dogcatcher, much less president of the United States.

Donald Trump took to Twitter to address the Brussels attacks. Bashing President Obama during his historic trip to Cuba, the GOP front-runner tweeted: President Obama looks and sounds so ridiculous making his speech in Cuba, especially in the shadows of Brussels. He is being treated badly! Adding that he, Trump, has proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody, without adding much evidence to support the claim. He also used the opportunity to advocate increasing the use of torture.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich was more modest in his response, but still took a shot at President Obama, saying that he should return home to stay abreast of developments and in contact with European allies.

Democratic candidates took a different approach, calling for unity and solidarity.

The Hillary Clinton campaign tweeted: We can be strong and smart without advocating torture or bigotry. We will not let fear dictate our foreign policy. A statement that clearly included an attack on the GOP front-runner.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders sounded the most respectful of all, releasing a statement, which read: Todays attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIS. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.

Issues of national security and religious radicalization will continue to be central to the 2016 cycle. They will become increasingly so if we endure more attacks, like those in Brussels and Paris, before November 8.
by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, March 23, 2016

Audience measurement firm Quantcast and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) on Wednesday announced a partnership that will offer programmatic and real-time advertising training and education resources to 4As members. The program is the first of its kind for the 4As.

The announcement, made during the 4As Transformation Conference in Miami, comes as adland is rapidly losing talent and confronting ongoing problems of diversity, inclusion and gender bias. Compensation issues and lack of advancement plague the industry, and talent has migrated to ad-tech companies, startups, publishers and high-profile brands like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Programmatic media, a growing part of the media mix thats projected to reach $27 billion this year, requires a variety of new skills that need to be cultivated by agencies, publishers and marketers. Publicis Groupe has rolled out a programmatic training program and others are addressing the talent gap. Thats a good thing.

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Quantcast and the 4As will offer customized training and education on programmatic advertising, where media professionals, audience and data analysts are needed. The new 4As Programmatic Workshop features content from Quantcasts existing industry training program called the Real-Time Advertising (RTA) Academy. The curriculum and content will be specifically tailored to the interests of 4As members. A self-paced curriculum, the workshop comprises four video modules and short quizzes. Its free to 4As members.

We believe strongly that better understanding of the landscape, challenges and opportunities of programmatic will lead to accelerated adoption industry-wide, Quantcast CEO Konrad Feldman told RTBlog via email. Quantcast and the 4As will work with association members in North America and the Interactive Advertising Bureau in the U.K,. and is seeking more collaborations with partners in the U.S. and around the world.

The target audience for the training? Agency professionals and brand marketers, but Feldman said its really anyone within a marketing organization that wants to learn more about the programmatic space. There arent any specific skills required to take the workshop, as it serves to provide an overview of the landscape and get people familiar with the tools and technology.

Quantcast has trained some 3,000 individuals who work at agencies, ad-tech firms and brand marketers. Its RTA Academy launched in 2013, developed from Quantcasts annual Quantathon for employees that addressed programmatic and real-time knowledge gaps.

More education on programmatic and real-time marketing and media is needed. Any moves like this by industry organizations, ad-tech firms and others are steps in the right direction.
by Sara Guaglione , March 23, 2016

Michael Monroe will join The Atlantic as vice president of marketing and head of Re:think, The Atlantics creative marketing group, The Atlantics senior vice president and publisher Hayley Romer announced today.

Re:think drove 60% of the companys advertising revenue in 2015.

Monroe joins The Atlantic from Forbes, where he was vice president of marketing. He oversaw print and digital campaigns for clients like AT&T and Mercedes-Benz. He first joined Forbes in 2006. Also, he was also director of integrated marketing at Conde Nast from 2010-2013.

Monroe will begin with The Atlantic next month.

Atlantic Re:think has produced sponsor content for global brands and found innovative ways to use native advertising, like the live 3D art experience for Qualcomm and the interactive feature on presidential couples for Netflixs House of Cards.

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In 2015, Re:think increased native content pieces by 100%, with work for clients like Boeing, Cathay Pacific, Allstate, E*TRADE and Finlandia.

Romer also announced that Sam Rosen, who helped build and lead Re:think over the past two-and-a-half years, is launching a new initiative responsible for brand engagement and loyalty, while also developing different revenue streams for The Atlantic.

In his new role, Rosen will build a new division dedicated to developing novel ways to attract and engage new Atlantic fans, turn existing fans into loyalists, expand the brands footprint, and diversify revenue streams, according to the statement.

Rosen is also leading the companys new brand campaign, which Publishers Daily reported on earlier this month.

This is the first time in eight years The Atlantic is launching a brand campaign. Its currently being developed with Wieden+Kennedy and will launch later this spring.

The advertising campaign will be connected to the concept of The Atlantics most recent editorial project, A&Q, which aims to challenge popular answers to pressing questions by taking some of the most frequently posed solutions to consequential matters of policy, and complicating those answers with more questions.
by Sara Guaglione , March 23, 2016

Bloomberg.com launched a new digital series called Hello World today, hosted by technology writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, Ashlee Vance.

Hello World isnt about Google or Facebook or Apple  its about taking a fresh look at the explosion of technology all around the globe, and an exploration of the subcultures rewriting the rules within different regions, per the company.

CA Technologies is the sponsor of the series. Ads on the Hello World page will include banner ads, preroll and Supported by CA Technologies call outs.

Keith Grossman, U.S. head of sales at Bloomberg, told Publishers Daily via email that Hello World will appeal to audiences interested in technology and travel.

Hello World is the first show to build Snapchat footage into a show or series, according to the statement. Snaps from Vance and other members of the crew will feature in the series, along with live shots from the field, giving a visceral sense of being along for the ride.

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The digital tech travel show will air a new episode once a month. Each episode will explore a different country and look at the ways in which the local culture and surroundings have shaped their approach to technology.

Airing today, the first episode features Vance traveling to New Zealand to explore an exoskeleton that helps people walk again and an AI baby.

In the second episode, Vance interviews the founder of Spotify in Sweden. Later in the series, Vance goes behind the scenes with Richard Branson when he introduces his new spaceship, Virgin Galactic.

The first episode of "Hello World" will re-air on Bloomberg TV this Friday. On TV, CA Technologies will own all commercial space (120 seconds) within Hello World, Grossman said.
by Larissa Faw , March 23, 2016

Ad fraud, ad blocking, sexism, transparency concerns. It may seem like the ad industry is in turmoil, but if the business is so troubled, why are so many people coming into it? That question was posed by Publicis Groupe's Rishad Tobaccowala during a Wednesday morning session on the future of advertising at 4As Transformation Conference in Miami.

It was a rhetorical question that Tobaccowala answered this way: "It is because it is a growth industry. We need to stop being so insecure. And our clients need to stop being so insecure."

Tobaccowala was joined by Annalect's Scott Hagedorn and GroupM's Rob Norman on a panel moderated by Financial Times' Matthew Garrahan to discuss the future of the industry and what to do about a generation that seems intent on avoiding advertising.

Agencies thrive on change, says Hegedorn. "We are not encumbered by the past and we are able to adapt quickly. Interesting time to think of branding where brands can become less one-dimensional."

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Yet transformation may not be as radical as commonly perceived, says Tobaccowala. "The real impact of what we are seeing today happened 10 years ago."

In 2007, two key events occurred that would help to radically transform consumer communications: Apple came out with a smartphone and Facebook transitioned from desktop to mobile. And now, says Tobaccowala, "you are seeing the impact."

Everyone is connected to everything, but "human beings don't deal with too much change." "Interactions are better, but more isn't necessarily better." Tobaccowala likens ad targeting to throwing a bunch of spears. "It will kill them to send all of these messages."

Millennials are more brand-conscious than anybody, but brands cant just rely on traditional ads, says Tobaccowala. "You can give them a great experience [as opposed to simply selling them something]." He adds that advertising isn't only about sending messages to people." There are two parts: plumbing and poetry. Both need to work collaborating in order to be effective.

The constant chatter about the death of TV may also be overstated. Just look at Trump, says Tobaccowala. He was built by TV. And then when competitors went on TV to attack him, it boosted his popularity. Plus, "TV is video and people are spending more time on video than ever before." The only real shift is an abundance of riches in terms of channel options where you once had "four colors but now have 15 colors, but why is it a bad thing?" he asks.

Yet although people actually love to watch video, they don't love to watch forced views, says Norman. "There are more formats than ever before, but we are taking liberties with patience and attention." The industry made mistakes in ad load with content and amount of data cost, he says. The industry was clumsy with tracking, and there is clear demand to better organize inventory. "There is demand on advertisers and agencies to create value not irritation," says Norman.

Another problem is that over the past 10 years the pendulum swung to marketers feeling a need to drive more efficiency rather than focusing on just effectiveness and thus divorced effectiveness from marketing, says Hagedorn. This is what is driving ad blocking, but he predicts it will flip back to its previous pattern in the near future.

"It is clear the sophisticated has gotten ahead of the granular part of the business," says Norman. He says that the industry needs to rethink commonly held assumptions, such as the ideal length of ads. "It may be time to take the zero out of the 30-second video and create new narratives that can be assembled out of fragments."

The industry is in an unprecedented position to be at the forefront of a fractured world and be able to put it back together again to define what the brand and experience is about, they say. "We have a front row seat for the disrupters and disruption," says Norman.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, March 23, 2016

This week brought more evidence connecting social media and depression, although as always it should be noted that correlation does not necessarily prove causation, meaning its not clear that social media is actually causing depression. Nonetheless, the link still points to a potential relationship in which social media may enable, worsen, or extend depression.

The study, titled Association Between Social Media Use and Depression Among U.S. Young Adults and published in the journal Depression and Anxiety, surveyed 1,787 adults ages 19-32 about their social media usage and emotional wellbeing. Respondents answered questions about their use of major social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and LinkedIn.

According to the study, authors at the University of Pittsburgh, the survey found that respondents used social media on average for 61 minutes per day, and visited social sites an average of 30 times per week. In terms of emotional wellbeing, over a quarter of respondents were deemed to have a high number of indicators for depression.

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Mores specifically, the study revealed that respondents who check social media most frequently were 2.7 times as likely to report indicators of depression than respondents who checked least frequently. Meanwhile respondents who reported spending more time on social media were 1.7 times more likely to be depressed than people who spent less time.

The authors were careful to note that the connection doesnt necessarily imply causation, as people who are already depressed may simply use social media more than people without depression. By the same token, the habit of turning to social media could conceivably contribute to prolonging or deepening depression, by establishing cyclical, self-reinforcing behavior patterns.

As noted, this is just the latest in a series of studies showing a connection between social media and depression in young people. Previously a study carried out by the UK Office of National Statistics found that children ages 10-15 who spend more than three hours a day on social media were significantly more likely to experience mental health problems than those who spent less than three hours on social media (27% versus 11%).
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, March 23, 2016

Gawker may have lost the first round in its legal cage match with Hulk Hogan, but it still has one powerful weapon  itself. Following the eye-watering $140 million verdict handed down by a Florida jury on Monday, Gawker founder Nick Denton naturally turned to his own publishing platform to present the other side of the story.

In his scathing 1,700-word essay, Denton noted that the legal drama is just beginning: Gawkers lawyers are already appealing the decision, pointing to a number of omissions in the first trial which, when rectified, they believe will ultimately allow the gossip site to prevail.

Emphasizing the verdicts chilling effect on publishers, Denton urged readers to set aside the image constructed by the prosecution, pitting the salacious and unprincipled gossip site against a hapless celebrity whose privacy it violated. It reminded them that the case, however tawdry, is actually a contest over First Amendment rights.

Turning to the evidence, Denton disputed one of the central claims of the prosecution, namely that Hogan (real name Terry Gene Bollea) was unaware that he was being videotaped when he slept with Heather Clem, the wife of his friend, radio shock jock Bubba Clem.

The basis of their argument that Hogan had a reasonable expectation of privacy. According to statements, Bubba made to the FBI, Hogan was aware that Clem had wired his bedroom to record his own sexual encounters, and that he would be recording Hogans encounter with his wife.

However, Gawkers lawyers were barred from presenting this evidence to the jury.

Denton also claimed that Hogans lawsuit wasnt intended to seek redress for the publication of the sex tape at all, but actually prevent publication of another video in which he is heard using racist language. Here, Denton pointed to another piece of evidence, a text message from Hogan to Bubba Clem after the publication of the sex tape, reading: We know theres more than one tape out there and one that has several racist slurs were told. I have a [pay-per-view special] and I am not waiting for anymore surprises.

Denton notes that this and other evidence contradicts Hogans testimony during the trial that he was unaware of the existence of the other tapes.

The Gawker boss also asserts that Hogan and Bubba staged a sort of sham lawsuit, in which Bubba accepted responsibility for violating Hogans privacy. Even though Hogan was actually aware of the taping  and promised not to testify to in the trial (Clem cited his right not to incriminate himself under the Fifth Amendment.)
by Larissa Faw , March 23, 2016

WPP CEO Martin Sorrell broke his silence today about the resignation of J. Walter Thompson Global CEO Gustavo Martinez after the agency's chief communications officer Erin Johnson filed a sex harassment lawsuit.

Sorrell addressed the Martinez affair and other issues in an interview that was conducted by author/journalist Ken Auletta Wednesday afternoon via videoconference at the 4As Conference in Miami. Sorrell was originally scheduled to appear in person but had to change plans due to a conflict.

For now, Sorrell said, he is standing by Martinez and stressed during his 4As talk that the charges in Johnsons lawsuit are only "alleged."

"Whether you believe Gustavo or not has yet to be determined in the court of law. But in the court of public opinion, he has been judged and found guilty. It was in the interest of the company that he be replaced," said Sorrell, adding that the decision to resign was mutual.

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Sorrell said that Johnson requested to be placed on leave, but added that she is welcome to come back. "Whether she wants to come back is up to her."

The WPP chief said he takes offense with the chatter that this alleged sexist and racist behavior is pervasive at WPP, though he believes the industry and his holding company need to do a better job of integrating its workforce. "LGBT, transgender, Hispanic, all are unacceptably low," he says.

Sorrell also disagrees with his rival Maurice Levy, CEO Publicis Groupe, who claimed during his keynote speech at the 4As Tuesday that Martinez's alleged behavior was more of a one-off. "I disagree violently with that admission. Maurice has the habit of ignoring the facts in getting to his opinions."

Moving to other topics, Sorrell said he "does not see the point" of the Association of National Advertisers' investigation into allegations of agency rebates or kickbacks saying it is "not the right thing." He said that WPP is addressing these concerns internally.

"In the case of media buying, programmatic and online, we have changed [our] approach," he says. When it comes to premium inventory, WPP decided to switch to an opt-in basis and clients are now able to define the inventory and then decide whether to participate or not. This meant tearing up all of the old contracts and giving the option to clients to sign on to new ones.

He believes more focus needs to be on the "tension" between "technology companies masquerading as new media owners" like Google, Facebook and others. There's no transparency with the algorithms and these shops work on margins that can be 50% to 100%, much higher than WPPs own 15%-17% margins. He points out the significant investment WPP makes with Facebook and Google, yet they are directly competing with his agencies.

Sorrell said he feels his company is positioned for the future given its embrace of technology and its heavy investments in data management and content development.

Unprompted, the British citizen also offered his thoughts on the upcoming U.S. Presidential election. Donald Trump will not win the election he asserted because the nature of the people are changing significantly," adding that multiculturalism and the youth vote will play a key role in the political outcome.

"What we call the new mainstream [is] now the mainstream. They are in the majority. From a practical point of view, the growth in the U.S will come from the new mainstream."
Childhood cancer survivors have long been concerned about their future ability to reproduce. New research published in The Lancet Oncology puts some of these worries to bed but at the same time confirms others. Share on Pinterest Survival rates of childhood cancer are now better than ever. Today, more than 80% of children with cancer survive into adulthood. This is, of course, a true triumph for medical science, but not the end of the road. With the steady improvements in cancer therapy, there have been changes in its methodology. As the disruptive effects of radiotherapy were slowly uncovered, chemotherapy has risen in preference for the treatment of childhood cancers. Previous studies have found that some types of chemotherapy drugs, especially alkylating drugs, can negatively impact fertility. However, the effects of newer drugs, such as cisplatin and ifosfamide, have not been fully investigated in regards to their influence on reproduction in later life.

A fresh look at chemotherapy and fertility The research team, led by Dr. Eric Chow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, used data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) to investigate this question in detail. The CCSS followed children who developed cancer before the age of 21 and survived for at least 5 years. These individuals came from 27 institutions across the US and Canada between 1970-1999. The researchers measured the rate of live births in 10,938 male and female cancer survivors and compared the sample to 3,949 of their siblings. They then investigated the impact of 14 commonly used chemotherapy drugs on their reproductive rates. (The team did not use individuals who had undergone radiotherapy to their pelvis or brain.) By the age of 45, 70% of female cancer survivors had given birth, compared with 80% of the sibling group. For male survivors, the story is less positive: 50% had fathered a child, compared with 80% of the sibling controls. In the males, as the doses of alkylating drugs (including cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide and procarbazine) and cisplatin increased, the chances of fathering a child decreased. This falls in line with previous research that has demonstrated a drop in sperm count and testicular volume with chemotherapy.
A disorder that causes the individual to fly off the handle unexpectedly, as in road rage, has been significantly linked with toxoplasmosis, a parasite commonly associated with cat feces, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Share on Pinterest People with IED are prone to sudden anger. Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) has been defined as recurrent, impulsive, problematic outbursts of verbal or physical aggression that are disproportionate to the situations that trigger them. Up to 16 million Americans are thought to have IED, more than the total number for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia combined. Toxoplasmosis is a common and generally harmless parasitic infection that is passed on through the feces of infected cats, contaminated water or undercooked meat. It affects around 30% of all humans but is normally latent1. Research has revealed that the parasite is found in brain tissue, and it has been linked to a number of psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and suicidal behavior. Researchers from the University of Chicago, led by Dr. Emil Coccaro, have been looking for more effective ways to diagnose and treat IED and impulsive aggression.

22% of subjects with IED tested positive for the parasite In the current study, the authors evaluated 358 adult Americans for IED, personality disorder, depression and other psychiatric disorders and gave them scores for traits such as anger, aggression and impulsivity. They also screened for toxoplasmosis using blood tests. Fast facts about toxoplasmosis Around 60 million Americans are thought to have toxoplasmosis

If a woman catches it just before or during pregnancy, it can be dangerous for the baby

For those with a weakened immune system, there are medications to treat it. They then classified the participants into three groups: approximately one third had IED, one third were healthy controls with no psychiatric history, and one third had received a diagnosis for a psychiatric disorder but not IED. The purpose of the last group was to enable the team to distinguish IED from other psychiatric factors. Findings showed that 22% of those with IED tested positive for toxoplasmosis exposure, compared with 9% of the healthy control group and 16% of the psychiatric control group. The psychiatric group and the healthy group had similar scores for aggression and impulsivity, but the group with IED scored far higher on both counts than either of the other two groups. An association emerged between toxoplasmosis and impulsivity. However, when the team adjusted for aggression scores, this association became non-significant, indicating a strong correlation between toxoplasmosis and aggression. The authors point out that the findings do not mean that toxoplasmosis causes IED, or that people with cats are more likely to have the condition. It simply reveals a relationship.
They selected these particular participants because they had provided daily saliva samples  from which cortisol can be measured  and had also conceived again while taking part in the larger study.

For the study, Christine Guardino, a postdoctoral scholar in psychology at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), and colleagues analyzed data from 142 female participants of a Community Child Health Network study that was investigating how chronic stress affects new parents and their babies.

This abnormal pattern of cortisol has also been linked to the progression of cancer, hardening of the arteries, and other diseases, explain the researchers, whose latest work finds it may also predict the risk of having a baby with lower birth weight.

But some people experience much smaller levels of decline during the day  a pattern that has been linked to chronic stress and having a history of trauma, say the study authors, who describe the pattern as a flatter diurnal cortisol slope.

When we experience stressful and traumatic events, our bodies release a hormone called cortisol. Typically, cortisol levels are highest when we get out of bed in the morning and reduce as the day progresses.

A babys weight at birth is linked to the mothers pattern of stress hormone before she even becomes pregnant, say researchers writing in the journal Health Psychology.

When the researchers analyzed the relationship between the womens inter-pregnancy cortisol patterns and birth outcomes, they found those with a flatter diurnal cortisol slope tended to have lower birth weight babies, as Dr. Guardino explains:

We found that the same cortisol pattern that has been linked with chronic stress is associated with delivering a baby that weighs less at birth.

Every year in the US, over 300,000 babies are born with low birth weight, which is weighing less than 2.5 kg (under 5.5 lbs), putting them at higher risk of dying in infancy, developmental problems and life-long health conditions, including cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.

Maternal cortisol plays an important role in the development of the unborn child, and levels can increase two to four times during a normal pregnancy. But should levels become abnormally high, they can reduce blood flow to the fetus and deprive it of much-needed oxygen and nutrients.

Abnormal levels of cortisol in pregnancy can also affect a childs response to stress later in life, says Chris Dunkel Schetter, a UCLA professor of psychology, who also worked on the study.

While the link between cortisol during pregnancy and fetal development was known about before, the authors believe their study is the first evidence that a womans cortisol pattern even before conception may affect the weight of her baby.

Prof. Dunkel Schetter says the study adds to evidence about the importance of pre-conception health, and she urges women considering having a baby to plan well in advance and ensure they are healthy and aware of the effects that everyday stress can have. She concludes:

Women should treat depression, evaluate and treat stress, be sure they are in a healthy relationship, be physically active, stop smoking and gather family support. All of the things that create an optimal pregnancy and healthy life for the mother should be done before getting pregnant.

The researchers found that the mothers in the study were affected by stress arising from a range of sources, from financial difficulties and relationships with family and neighbors, to major life events, including death of a family member and incidents of violence and racism.

In a recent article, Medical News Today explains how friendships can improve health and well-being, and how simply having a good friend around during a negative experience may reduce stress.
Many patients who have a common medical device known as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) are unaware that the device can be deactivated to prevent painful shocks in their final days of life, according to two studies scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

The Heart Rhythm Society and the European Society of Cardiology have issued recommendations encouraging physicians to inform patients about the benefits of deactivating an ICD when death is near, yet recent studies show that up to 31 percent of people with an ICD receive shocks in their last day of life. Two new studies add further evidence that doctors are not consistently implementing these recommendations, which the authors said may reflect a reticence to engage in difficult discussions about end-of-life decisions.

"When you reach the stage of palliative care, sometimes the ICD doesn't have a role in caregiving anymore," said Dilek Yilmaz, M.D., a Ph.D. fellow in cardiology at the Heart and Lung Center of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and lead author of one of the studies. "If a person is dying of a terminal cancer, for example, the ICD is not going to prolong their life, but it is fairly likely to cause pain in their last hours and prevent them from having a peaceful death."

ICDs are battery-powered, surgically implanted devices used to prevent sudden death in people with certain conditions, such as sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation, that put them at risk for life-threatening heart rhythms. If the device detects a dangerous heart rhythm, it issues a shock to restore a normal heartbeat. ICDs are extremely common, with 10,000 implanted each month in the United States alone, according to the American Heart Association.

The device can be deactivated using a computer in any cardiologist's office, with no need for additional surgical intervention. Because ICDs do not maintain the heart rhythm on an ongoing basis like a pacemaker does, deactivating the device does not actively hasten death. However, if a patient experiences a dangerous heart rhythm - a common occurrence during the natural course of death from any cause - a deactivated ICD will not intervene to rescue the patient.

"These shocks are often much more frequent on the patient's last day than any other day of their life," said Silvia del Castillo, M.D., a cardiologist at Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada in Madrid and lead author of the second study. "I think it's cruel in many cases to leave the ICD on until the very end, and when doctors don't provide enough information about deactivation or delay that conversation until the final hours, it undercuts the patient's right to make their own decisions."

The two studies, conducted independently in the Netherlands and in Spain, revealed similar patterns. Study authors said the situation in the United States is likely to be similar, as well.

For the study conducted in Spain, del Castillo and her colleagues surveyed 243 patients with ICDs during clinic visits at three Spanish hospitals. While most respondents showed a high level of understanding about what an ICD is and what it does, far fewer demonstrated a clear understanding of the option to deactivate the ICD or what would happen if it were to be deactivated. Sixty-eight percent assumed shocks were inevitable in the presence of an abnormal heart rhythm, and 21 percent incorrectly believed that deactivation would lead to immediate cardiac arrest. Just 38 percent were aware that they could decide to deactivate their ICD after consulting with their doctor, and only 37 percent knew that ICD deactivation is ethically appropriate and recommended by major scientific societies.

In the study conducted in the Netherlands, Yilmaz and her colleagues surveyed 328 patients with ICDs during a patient educational symposium. Although 73 percent were aware that their ICD could be deactivated, just 12 percent had consulted with their doctors about the matter. Neither of the studies revealed trends in terms of factors such as gender or level of education playing a role.

Both study authors attribute the findings to communication gaps and cultural challenges around end-of-life planning.

"As doctors, we are focused on healing the patient and saving lives," del Castillo said. "It's hard to talk about death and to explain that this therapy that can save their life now could be harmful to them later. Because we have a hard time talking to patients about this, in the end doctors often make the decision about ICD deactivation alone or with the family, instead of with the person who should be the real decision-maker, the patient."

The best time to begin the conversation about ICD deactivation, according to the studies' authors, is around the time when the ICD is being implanted, which is often many years before a patient's death. Then it can be mentioned again during follow-up visits or when someone receives a terminal diagnosis.

"These shocks are painful for the patient and also painful for their family to witness," Yilmaz said. "As a doctor, if you don't even discuss it with your patient, you could be denying them the opportunity for a peaceful death."

Because many people spend their final days in hospice or under the care of a medical team that does not include their cardiologist, there is often no opportunity to deactivate an ICD before death unless the patient or the patient's family has previously been made aware of that option and decides to actively pursue it. This context underscores the need for cardiologists to inform patients of the option of deactivation and its benefits early on, the researchers said.

del Castillo's study was funded by the Victor Grifols i Lucas Foundation. The Leiden University Medical Center Department of Cardiology receives unrestricted research and fellowship grants from Medtronic, Biotronik and Boston Scientific.
Xbox Kinects could be used in the future to assess the health of patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis.

Normally found in the hands of gamers rather than medics the Microsoft sensors could be used to assess the respiratory function of patients.

Researchers at the Institute of Digital Healthcare, WMG, University of Warwick and the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) have developed a method of using the devices. The system consists of four Kinect sensors which are capable of quickly creating a 3D image of a patient's torso. This enables physicians to measure and assess how a chest wall moves. In tests it has proven to be as accurate as a patient breathing into a spirometer - the current method used - but providing additional information about the movement of the chest, which could help in identifying numerous respiratory problems.

The project lead, Dr Chris Golby at the Institute of Digital Healthcare, said: "We have developed a low-cost prototype which provides a more comprehensive measurement of a patient's breathing then existing methods."

Share on Pinterest Three-D scans taken by the system, and how respiration is detected

Image Credit: University of Warwick

Their work is detailed in their paper Chest Wall motion Analysis in Healthy Volunteers and Adults with Cystic Fibrosis using a Novel Kinect-based which is published in Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing.

Spirometry is the technique most commonly used treat to lung diseases including chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways. It requires a patient to take the deepest breath they can, and then exhale into the sensor as hard as possible, for as long as possible. However it has significant limitations as it doesn't allow doctors to assess how different areas of each lung function. It can result in inaccurate readings of some patients' breathing such as older people and children, and those with facial abnormalities or muscle weakness are often unable to form a tight seal around the mouthpiece.

Dr Golby said: "For patients who report to A&E a quick and low-cost method of chest wall motion assessment is required. There are some conditions that doctors can't detect or assess using spirometry such as collapsed lung segments or respiratory muscle weakness. However our prototype allows physicians to make accurate assessments.

"It is also potentially very useful in assessing changes in respiratory physiology that occur during exercise. This is in contrast with existing systems which rely on data from one viewpoint."

Babu Naidu, Chief Investigator, Thoracic Surgeon at HEFT and clinical scientist at the University Birmingham said: "'A 'game changer' in screening, diagnostics, monitoring therapy and providing bio feedback the Xbox can be used in any condition affecting breathing."

Respiratory diseases kill one in five people in the UK and cost the NHS more than 6billion a year. However the proposed system consists of software and four Kinect sensors each of which cost just 100.

Professor Theo Arvanitis, Head of Research at Institute of Digital Healthcare, WMG, said: "With this and other technologies developed here we hope to innovate in e-healthcare and translate these advances into clinical practice."

The academics trialled their prototype initially using a resuscitation mannequin, then on healthy volunteers and adults with cystic fibrosis. As the Kinect has an infrared beam it allowed them to measure changes in distances across the chest wall. The system uses four sensors which allow measurement of movement from more than one viewpoint. Using off-the-shelf and bespoke software they were able to create a 3D image of a patient's chest wall.

The University of Warwick team are now planning to develop their prototype further using Microsoft's new version of the Kinect, working with cystic fibrosis and other respiratory conditions.
MU researcher says residency programs should include flexible scheduling, daycare, peer-to-peer support.

"Residents with children are juggling multiple roles as medical trainees, physicians and parents," said Laura Morris, M.D., a primary care physician at MU Health Care's Family Medicine-Callaway Clinic in Fulton, Missouri, and assistant professor of clinical family and community medicine at the MU School of Medicine. "Residency is a time of competing demands as trainees attempt to balance work roles as learners and clinicians with personal roles as parents and partners. These conflicts can cause both positive and negative outcomes on their families and residency experiences."

Morris and her colleagues conducted focus groups with family medicine residents who also were parents. She asked the residents to discuss how parenting during residency had affected their well-being and how they perceived their roles as parents and physicians. Morris said the participants described both positive and negative outcomes from their decisions to become parents during residency, yet overwhelmingly supported greater scheduling flexibility at work.

"Participants described negative residency experiences, such as being required to bounce back and forth between working days and nights, and the uncertainty of when and how to access sick leave," Morris said. "Participants also described feeling guilty for multiple reasons during their residencies, including not being able to offer more support to their spouse."

Morris said her study highlights the need for more residency programs that support parents, and believes residency programs should offer certain services to residents to help ease their load.

"Residency programs that are supportive of physician parents should ensure policies for parental leave are well publicized and equally applicable to male and female residents," Morris said.

"In addition, these programs should explore the possibility of offering paid parental leave or on-site day care, as well as creating ways for residents to share parenting information and resources with each other."
Bystander CPR and defibrillation increased for cardiac arrests at home and in public.

Statewide efforts to equip family members and the general public with the know-how and skills to use cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the home or in public coincide with improved survival and reduced brain injury in people with sudden cardiac arrest. The data, collected over a five-year period, is scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

The statewide program, part of the HeartRescue Project, trained family members and bystanders to recognize the signs of sudden cardiac arrest, quickly call emergency responders, and use CPR or AEDs. The study is the first to separately track the effects of such interventions on cardiac arrests in public places and private homes.

"Survival is notoriously worse in private homes, where the majority of cardiac arrests occur. Little is known about whether broader efforts to teach people to recognize cardiac arrest and act quickly also impact home cardiac arrests, where the bystander is typically a family member," said Christopher B. Fordyce, M.D., co-chief fellow at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and lead author of the study. "What's interesting about this study is it's the first time a statewide intervention has improved both public and residential cardiac arrest outcomes."

The researchers analyzed 8,269 cases of cardiac arrest between 2010 and 2014 collected from the North Carolina Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival. In 2010, bystanders administered CPR in 61 percent of public cases and 28.3 percent of in-home cases. In 2014, the rate of bystander CPR rose to 70.6 percent of public cases and 41.3 percent of in-home cases. The rate of AED use in private homes by non-EMS first responders (police, firefighters, etc.) also rose from 42.2 to 50.8 percent over the same period. There was not a statistically significant increase in non-EMS first responder AED use in public places, which Fordyce attributes to timely defibrillation by EMS.

While the researchers did not directly compare survival rates and neurological outcomes with whether individual patients received bystander CPR or defibrillation, they did find increases in both over the duration of the study. The rate at which cardiac arrest patients survived until their discharge from the hospital rose from 10.8 to 16.8 percent for public cardiac arrests and from 5.7 to 8.1 percent for cardiac arrests in the home. The rate at which patients only suffered minor losses in brain function or regained it fully increased from 4.9 to 6.1 percent at home and from 9.5 to 14.7 percent in public.

"The absolute rates are small, but the relative changes were pretty large," Fordyce said. "That's only over five years, so if we continue to educate the public, we can continue to improve outcomes."

Prior studies have shown a correlation between bystander-initiated CPR and survival rates for cardiac arrests that occur outside a hospital. A 2015 study of the same HeartRescue Project initiatives in North Carolina, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests more than doubled when bystanders used both CPR and an AED before emergency medical services arrived.

The area from which the cases of cardiac arrests were drawn is a collection of urban, suburban and rural counties that account for approximately a quarter of North Carolina's population but included all EMS agencies. Thus, the researchers were able to analyze every cardiac arrest in the sample area from 2010 to 2014.

There are more than 420,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the United States each year, according to the American Heart Association. Fordyce said the results of this study were encouraging, but considering how low the absolute survival rates are, there is still room for improvement. Future research in this area could include interventions such as deploying AEDs into more private homes when cardiac arrests occur and using mobile technology to notify nearby citizens trained in CPR who can initiate this care quickly.

There are several resources related to CPR and AED training available from the American College of Cardiology at CardioSmart and from the HeartRescue Project.

"You can do something," Fordyce said. "You don't have to just call 911 and stand while your loved one is on the floor. Start chest compressions immediately. Your actions actually make a difference."


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Export of Banned Drugs

http://cdsco.nic.in/writereaddata/SO%20705%28E%29%20TO%201048%28E%29%20DATED%2010-03-2016.pdf

An expert committee was framed by the Central Government in 2014 to classify the drugs into rational, irrational and those that needed further evaluation. Based on the responses and assessment of the products, the drugs have been banned. The banned list includes analgesics, antibiotics and cough syrups while some of these drugs are also sold over-the-counter (OTC).Some of theinclude very popular drugs such as Pfizer's Corex syrup, P&G Vicks Action 500 Extra, Piramal's Saridon, Glenmark's Ascoril, Abbott's Phensedyl and Alembic 's Glycodin cough syrup.To view the full list of banned fixed dose combinations as of March 2016, click here The Delhi High Court had questioned the government on the sudden imposition of ban on combination drugs that have been on the market for the last 20 years. After the ban was announced, various pharmaceutical companies and Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association have threatened to go on strike if the ban on some of the combination drugs is not canceled.The ban imposed on drugs is likely to cause a huge loss of nearly Rs.1000 crores to the pharma industry. However, the annual loss may go up to Rs.10,000 crores if more drugs are banned. Therefore, many pharmaceutical companies have taken the legal route.Fixed dose combination drugs are used worldwide to improve patient compliance, but because of inconsistent drug laws in the country, hundreds of such medications have entered the market only with the approval of state regulatory authorities, but not central authority.But for companies like Unichem laboratories, Geno Pharmaceuticals, the State Government has given the power for marketing, distribution and sale of drugs. Therefore, High Court has sent the notification to the State Governments to take action on them instead of the Drug Controller General of India.The Pharma companies claim that the decision on sudden ban of drugs was made by the Government without issuing any prior notice. Sanjay Jain, Government lawyer stated that "Commercial interests are not larger than public health".The Central Government has also stated that it is necessary to prohibit the manufacture, sale and distribution of these drugs for the benefit of the public.Many fixed dose combinations are unsafe and even dangerous. Side effects of these drugs mostly go unreported since patients do not return to the doctors for consultation.The Health Ministry also feels that fixed dose combination antibiotics are causing anti-microbial resistance and the usage could even result in organ-failure. The objective of regulatory authority is to ensure that only safe products should be available in the market. Evidence from research papers and studies have shown that certain FDCs are irrational combinations and may involve human risk, hence safer alternatives that are available should be used.The Drug Control Department also said that the banned drugs are not to be consumed in India, but if the importing country has no objections, then drug controller cannot stop their export. The 344 drugs are now being diverted to African countries or SAARC countries except Pakistan and Afghanistan.Source: Medindia
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Dr Eric Chow from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA and colleagues used data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) which tracks people who were diagnosed with the most common types of childhood cancer before the age of 21 and treated at 27 institutions across the USA and Canada between 1970 and 1999, and who had survived at least 5 years after diagnosis.In this study, they examined the impact of various doses of 14 commonly used chemotherapy drugs on pregnancy and livebirth in 10938 male and female survivors, compared with 3949 siblings. The study specifically focused on survivors treated with chemotherapy and who did not receive any radiotherapy to the pelvis or the brain. By age 45, 70% of female cancer survivors became pregnant, compared to over 80% of siblings. For male cancer survivors, the figure was 50% compared to 80% for siblings. In male survivors, the likelihood of fathering a child generally decreased as cumulative exposure to alkylating drugs increased. High cumulative doses of several alkylating drugs (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, procarbazine) and cisplatin were linked with a significantly reduced likelihood of pregnancy (table 3). The findings are consistent with previous studies which have suggested that men who have undergone cancer treatment with these drugs have lower sperm count and reduced testicular volume. The authors point out that the ifosfamide dose threshold above which male cancer survivors are significantly less likely to father a child is far lower than the dose judged to be high risk in current guidelines (25000 mg/m vs 60000 mg/m).In female survivors, only busulfan and high doses of lomustine were directly linked with lower likelihood of pregnancy (table 3). Overall, female survivors were still less likely to conceive compared to siblings but the effect was much smaller compared to men. However, in women, the difference was more pronounced for those who delayed pregnancy until they were aged 30 or older, possibly because chemotherapy exposure might accelerate the natural depletion of eggs and hasten menopause.The authors note that their study relied on self-reported pregnancy and livebirth, and that up to a quarter of pregnancies can be unrecognized by women. Although their findings are consistent with others in the field, their study did not account for other factors such as marital or cohabitation status, the intention to conceive or length of time attempting to conceive. While the total number of survivors in the study is large, the number of patients who were exposed to individual drugs varied significantly. So, while the overall conclusions of the study are consistent with previous research studies, more research is needed to estimate the exact risk of some less commonly used drugs.According to Dr Chow, "We think these results will be encouraging for most women who were treated with chemotherapy in childhood. However, I think, we, as pediatric oncologists, still need to do a better job discussing fertility and fertility preservation options with patients and families upfront before starting cancer treatment. In particular, all boys diagnosed post-puberty should be encouraged to bank their sperm to maximize their reproductive options in the future. The current options for post-pubertal girls remain more complicated, but include oocyte and embryo cryopreservation."Commenting on the implications of the study, Professor Richard Anderson from the University of Edinburgh, UK and Dr Hamish Wallace from the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, UK said that this report will enable more accurate counseling of patients about their individual risks. They write, "Awareness is needed of the risk of loss of fertility in male patients treated with alkylating drugs and cisplatin, and for pretreatment referral to fertility services. Semen cryopreservation is fairly straightforward, although substantial gaps remain in its provision and accessibility. Appropriate technologies need to be developed for prepubertal and peripubertal boys in whom semen cryopreservation is not possible. For girls and young women, the data are generally more positive, but emphasize the need for accurate identification of the relatively small proportion who are at high risk, to avoid subjecting those at low risk to what might be invasive procedures."Source: Eurekalert
On March 17, 2016, the Iranian news agency Gam News reported that former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Gen. Saeed Qassemi, who is a member of the Ammar Headquarters think tank that advises Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that Iran should annex Bahrain. He made the statements at the March 16, 2016 "Two Hundred Years of Resistance against Imperialism" conference in Bushehr.

It should be noted that in 2007, Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the Iranian daily Kayhan and an associate of Khamenei, stated similarly that Bahrain is an inseparable part of Iran and should be restored to it; see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 379, Tension in Iran-Bahrain Relations After Kayhan Editor Claims Bahrain Is Inseparable Part of Iran, August 3, 2007. Iran-Bahrain relations have been tense for years; see also

Inquiry and Analysis No. 972, Iran Calls On Shi'ites In Bahrain To Topple Their Country's Sunni Aal Khalifa Regime, May 29, 2013.

The following are excerpts from Gen. Qassemi's statements:



Saeed Qassemi (Source: Mehrnews.com)

"One of our demands is to annex Bahrain to Bushehr province... Bahrain is a province of Iran that should be annexed to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The land of this country [Bahrain] belongs to Bushehr province. It was separated from Iran in difficult times in the past."

After praising the IRGC members who had, on January 12, 2016, arrested 10 American sailors from two small U.S. naval craft that had strayed into Iranian territorial waters, Gen. Qassemi added: "During the course of its history, England attacked Bushehr province four times... If they [the British] intend to establish a consulate in Bushehr, they will have to cross over the bodies of our people."

He also said: "Today's infiltration [of Iran by the West and the U.S.] is coming not through the window but through the main entrance. Following [the February 26, 2016 Majlis and Assembly of Experts] elections [in Iran], people who shake hands with Saudi Arabia, England, America, and Israel [and justify this by] saying that this is what the public wants, entered the Majlis..."[1]

Endnote:
The March 22, 2016 terror attacks in Brussels triggered a wave of condemnation from all Arab and Islamic countries, which stressed their opposition to terrorism. However, the condemnations and articles in the Arab press also highlighted the attempts, on the part of every country and every regional bloc, to place the blame for the attacks on their respective opponents in the region, while accusing the West of supporting this particular opponent.

Thus, for example, the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, and Hizbullah, both stated that the terrorism afflicting Europe was the same terrorism that is targeting Syria. They said that the responsibility for the spread of global terrorism lies with Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, as well as with the U.S. and the other Western countries that support them. On the other hand, the Saudi press and opponents of the Assad regime accused Iran and the Assad regime - in addition to the West, for turning a blind eye to their actions.

Meanwhile, articles in the official Egyptian press blamed the main opponent of the Al-Sisi regime there - the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) - as well as European countries that they say have supported the MB in recent years despite Egypt's warnings. The Palestinian press, for its part, blamed the West for encouraging global terrorism by supporting Israeli policy and by failing to implement international resolutions on the Palestinian issue.



"Europe" and "Middle East" attempt to unload the "ISIS" bomb (Al-Watan, Qatar, March 23, 2016)

Following is a review of these reactions:

Syrian Regime And Hizbullah: Europe, U.S. Responsible For Brussels Attacks - Because Of Their Support For Turkey, Qatar, And Saudi Arabia, Which Sponsor Terrorism

The Syrian regime, which regularly accuses the U.S., Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar of supporting the rebel groups fighting it, held the same parties responsible for the Brussels attacks. Syrian regime spokesmen and mouthpieces claimed that the attacks in Brussels and worldwide were the result of the "misguided policy" of the U.S. and European countries that support the terrorism that is fostered by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Israel.

Thus, for example, an official Saudi Foreign Ministry source said: "The attacks in Brussels, and before that in Paris and elsewhere around the world, once again illustrate that terrorism has no borders, and that such attacks are the inevitable result of the misguided policy [of the West] and of [its] solidarity with terrorism. This is aimed at actualizing specific agendas and legitimizing terrorism by defining several terrorist organizations [i.e. Syrian opposition organizations] as moderate, although they ultimately emerged from the takfiri Wahhabi ideology..."[1]

'Ali Nasrallah, a columnist for the official Syrian daily Al-Thawra, attacked Europe for its tolerance vis-a-vis countries that he said support terrorism, chiefly Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He mentioned Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Naif's recent visit to France - during which French President Francois Hollande awarded him the Order of Lgion d'Honneur for his regional and global efforts fighting extremism and terrorism - and called on the French people to "not allow their president to harm their homeland's legacy and sell France's honor to the Wahhabis." He added: "They must immediately prosecute him [Hollande] for shaming the French decorations of honor by pinning them to the robe of Saudi extremism... Additionally, all the parliaments in Europe must prosecute their own governments for [their] policy of tolerance towards [Turkish President] Erdogan's Muslim Brotherhood regime...

"The blasts in Brussels are a ringing shout that calls to Europe to awaken from her slumber... They are a direct continuation of the terrorism that has targeted the Syrians, shed the hearts' blood of the Iraqis, and harmed many peoples in the region and the world. This terrorism would not have spread had its organizations and its supporting entities not received an American green light, and not received Western incentives that spurred and encouraged the Israelis to place their knowhow at the service of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, in order to intensify the strength of Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Al-Nusra, and ISIS..."[2]

Similarly, Hizbullah issued a statement blaming the Brussels attacks on "regional and international forces" that support terrorist groups, hinting at Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and also blamed the Western countries that support them: "The responsibility for these crimes, that target city after city around the world, lies with the attacks by the takfiris, as well as with the regional and international forces that stand behind them and provide them with doctrinal, moral, and material support. These attacks reaffirm the danger of these terrorist groups, and show that the fire that has burned Europe as well as the rest of the world is the same fire that was set by certain regimes against Syria and other countries in the region. Unfortunately, the entire world knows the source of this danger and who funds it - yet, despite this, the superpowers continue to support and defend the countries that sponsor and export terrorism."[3]

Saudi Press, Assad Regime Opponents: Iran, Assad Regime Are Responsible For Global Terrorism

On the other hand, the Saudi press blamed the Saudi enemies, Iran and the Assad regime, for the attacks, and blamed as well the Western countries that were allegedly turning a blind eye to Iran's support for terrorism.

In its editorial the day after the attacks, the official Saudi daily Al-Riyadh accused Iran, writing: "...The war on terrorism requires not only hunting down the terrorists in Iraq and Syria, where they are located, but also looking for those who afford them safe haven on their soil, and for those who spark the fire of sectarianism and aid the terrorist militias. [These militias] ceaselessly fan the flames of hatred among sectors [of the population], and push both the Syrians and the Iraqis to behave in extremist ways, after their countries were destroyed. This happened and is still happening, in both Iraq and Syria, which are in fact controlled by Iran's agenda. This is the same Iran whose cooperation with Al-Qaeda was proven in recently published American documents, and which explicitly adopts the activity of the terrorist organization Hizbullah. Failure to confront [Iran] will force the region to deal in future with difficult scenarios and ongoing terrorist attacks, like the ones in recent days in Istanbul and Brussels."[4]

Randa Taqi Al-Din, a columnist for the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, accused the West of turning a blind eye in years past to reports that the Assad regime, and Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki, were collaborating with terrorist organizations, and that this is one reason that these organizations now pose a global existential threat. She wrote: "Undoubtedly the West, and particularly the U.S., have seen how, right under their noses, Nouri Al-Maliki transferred ISIS activists from Iraq to Syria, and later Bashar Al-Assad released them from his prisons and used them, to the point where ISIS is now his partner in burning and destroying Syria and threatening the world. This threat has become a true existential one."[5]

Syrian regime opponents supported by Saudi Arabia and Qatar also blamed the Brussels attacks on the Syrian regime, launching the Twitter hashtag in Arabic "The Brussels Attacks Are An Assad Product." Syrian Al-Jazeera anchor Faisal Al-Qassem tweeted: "Do you remember the threats by Bashar Al-Assad's mufti, Ahmad Hassoun, to send suicide bombers to Europe? Has Bashar Al-Assad finally begun carry out Ahmad Hassoun's threats?"[6]

Syrian artist Hossam Al-Din Malas likewise tweeted his accusations against the Syrian regime: "Have you forgotten or ignored the source of terrorism?! Listen to the threats made by [Mufti] Al-Hassoun regarding attacks targeting European cities." In another tweet, he also blamed the West for the spread of terrorism: "It is the world that rewards Iranian terrorism and signs commercial deals with it that is responsible for the growth and spread of terrorism."

Egyptian Press: Europe Was Burned By Terrorism Due To Its Embrace Of The MB

The Egyptian press blamed the Brussels attack on the Egyptian regime's greatest domestic enemy - the MB movement - as well as on European countries that support it. Articles in the Egyptian press on the attacks linked ISIS terrorism to the MB and argued that the European countries that embraced the MB had ultimately been burned by it, because the MB is "the ideological hotbed for all extremist takfiri organizations."

Thus, for example, the editorial of the official Egyptian daily Al-Ahram stated: "These deadly attacks confirm that the Egyptian view was correct. For a long time, [Egypt] warned that terrorism would spread to the heart of Europe, and that the West's [flagrant] disregard of the war that Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries had for years waged against terrorism does not mean that the fire of terrorism would spare it...

"For many years, some European countries have maintained ties to extremist religious groups, embraced their leaders, and allowed them freedom of action and freedom of movement on their soil. These countries thought that they could use these organizations for [their own] political interests in the Middle East, and [believed] in the delusion that these organizations would defend the West from the evil of even more extremist groups.

"However, time has shown that the religious organizations embraced by the West, chiefly the [Muslim] Brotherhood organization, are the ideological hotbed for all extremist takfiri organizations... and that the presence of such elements on European soil has enabled them to attract young people to their radical ideology and to recruit them to carry out acts of terrorism.

"Egypt has repeatedly demanded the formulation of an international strategy to deal with terrorism, which would tackle all extremist organizations and ideas, without exception... This is what Egypt is [also] doing now. Will anyone heed the call?"[7]

Similarly, Egyptian journalist Mu'ataz Bellah 'Abd Al-Fattah penned an article titled "Brussels Pays the Price" in the Egyptian daily Al-Watan, in which he claimed that Europe was reaping the poison fruits of its leniency towards extremists: "The tree of terrorism only grows in the forests of extremism. Those who fight terrorism without fighting extremism will lose both wars... This is how Western countries operate when they allow extremism to blossom in their midst, on the pretext of freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, and the right to political asylum. Then they are burned by the fires of those who carry out extremist actions on their soil.

"For political terrorism, the adoption of political Islam is necessary, but not sufficient... The problem is that the West fails to realize that it is sheltering extremists, and it is then burned by the fire of terrorism, and does not hold itself accountable for that..."[8]

Palestinian Editorial: Western Support For Israel Encourages Global Terrorism

The Palestinian press included articles hinting at Western responsibility for the Brussels attacks because of its support for Israel. In its editorial the day after the attacks, the East Jerusalem-based Palestinian daily Al-Quds argued that the West, with its support for Israel and its "destructive policy," was encouraging ongoing global terrorism:

"The reasons for these contemptible terrorist actions are: the double standard employed by many countries that claim to champion democracy and human rights regarding certain peoples, chiefly the Palestinian issue, and the U.S.'s blind pro-Israel bias; the world's failure to take practical steps to force Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories; the failure to implement the international resolutions regarding the Palestinian issue; and the continued support of many countries for Israel's destructive policy. All these encourage global terrorism. The Western world, particularly the U.S. and Britain, should deal with the real causes [of this terrorism] rather than [merely] with its results, or else it will threaten not only Europe, but the entire world as well, and then no one will be safe from it..."[9]

Endnotes:
Fans worldwide eagerly awaited the release of Batman Vs Superman and well, it looks like the wait did end well. The movie opened in American theatres two days ago and the reviews have since been flowing in. Lets keep it shortthe movie is on its way to probably be the biggest hit of 2016. Dont believe us? Here, people went pretty berserk on Twitter.

I haven't felt this giddy after watching a movie since The Avengers. Goosebumps. Everywhere. Need to talk about it ASAP. #BVSPremiere  Rodrigo Mariano (@Dragonsfoe) March 21, 2016

#BVSPremiere standing ovation after a gut wrenching emotional cliffhanger. best superhero action ever. best SH film in at least 5 years  Norma Snutsak (@comissionerleon) March 21, 2016

Might be the best superhero movie ever in my book. #BVSPremiere  Kendell B. (@kburton23) March 21, 2016

So lucky to have been at the #BVSPremiere last night and I still can't believe how amazing it was. Not good. Not great. Amazing. #BvS  Tom Nolan (@ThatsMrTomNolan) March 21, 2016

Still not over the #BVSPremiere. Still so giddy. Im totaaaaallllyy going to be seeing this again  Mariam Chubinidzhe (@marchubz) March 21, 2016

Lots to process and think about, but overall BvS is an excellent movie #BVSPremiere  Ben Kahn (@BenTheKahn) March 21, 2016

Ultimately, #BatmanvSuperman is for fans. Go see it on Friday. As I've said, I was grinning from start to finish. A really great experience.  Josh Wilding (@Josh_Wilding) March 23, 2016

And to everyone who doubted Ben Affleck as the new masked crusader, PLEASE read these tweets.

And damn Gal Gadot is ? and Ben affleck is the definite batman. Can't wait for next November. #BVSPremiere  Rodrigo Mariano (@Dragonsfoe) March 21, 2016

Ben Affleck clearly shutting a lot of mouths and garnering fans in droves!

Affleck's Bruce Wayne may be the best on screen to date. #BatmanvSuperman #BVSPremiere  Patrick Guaschino (@Pat_JG) March 21, 2016

So Ben Affleck is my favorite Batman now.. #BVSPremiere  Kendell B. (@kburton23) March 21, 2016

The movie hits Indian theatres on March 25 and well, after reading all these tweets the anticipation is surely going through the roof!
In what can potentially prove to be a landmark decision, Delhi government might allow pubs and restaurants to run business 24/7. Dont jump the gun just as yet! The catch is that the Delhi governments proposed excise policy for 2015-16 will open the gates for 24-hour restaurants and bars inside hotels and motels. Yes, only bars and clubs inside the premise of a 5 star or above hotel will be benefited.

 Facebook

Under the new policy, the annual 24-hour excise license fees for bars and clubs inside hotels and motels will be slashed by 45-60 per cent. The policy is also likely do away with licenses needed to serve alcohol, tourism license, police registration and fire clearance. The policys sole purpose is to encourage the bars and clubs inside top class hotels to run nonstop for 24 hours a day.

 Facebook

As per the recent government survey, there are about 150 restaurants and bars in hotels that are five-star or above and about 300-350 such joints in motels in Delhi. The 24-hour license, before this policy, used to cost a whopping 40 lacs per year. Looking at the liberty being given to such properties, restaurant owners who are not yet covered under this policy, like the joints in Hauz Khas and Connaught Place, many owners have approached the government collectively. The time to shut down for these joints still remains a strict 12:15. Too early to get excited, we reckon!
Innovation

Humans, animals and the environment  our health is all connected

Why the One Health approach is important now more than ever
Bay Area law enforcement agencies are stepping up their presence on Tuesday at airports and transit centers after deadly bombings at an airport and metro train station in Belgium reportedly killed at least 34 people and injured dozens of others earlier today.

The San Francisco Police Department has deployed extra officers at San Francisco International Airport, the Port of San Francisco, and at San Francisco Municipal Railway stations following the explosions at Brussels Airport and the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.

Were asking the public if they see something, say something and to report any suspicious activity, Esparza said.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement that city public safety agencies have reported to him that there is no known threat to San Francisco but that the citys police remain on heightened alert.

We stand with the people of Brussels and all of Belgium and stand strong against intolerance. We pray for the families of the victims of these senseless acts of violence, Lee said.

Oakland International Airport has also increased its visible security presence, according to airport spokeswoman Keonnis Taylor, although she said she couldnt talk specifically about any security measures.

President Barack Obama pledged the U.S. will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally, Belgium, in bringing to justice those who are responsible.

And this is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality, or race, or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism, Obama said.

The Islamic State group has taken credit for the two bombs that exploded at the Brussels Airport on Tuesday morning. About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a subway train near the European Union headquarters, according to European media reports.

Bay Area transit systems have also stepped up their security in response to the attack. BART police have beefed up their presence throughout the entire transit system, according to police Lt. Aaron Ledford.

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency officials said they have been consulting with federal intelligence partners, who have told them there is no known threat in the U.S.

Regardless, law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County are on heightened alert, VTA officials said.

The Belgian airport remains closed and has not announced an expected time to reopen. Belgian emergency officials announced at about 5 p.m. local time that public transit was resuming, but lines at train stations were very long.

California and Bay Area politicians swiftly responded to the attacks with sorrow, sympathy and solidarity.

California stands with the people of Belgium on this difficult day and we extend our prayers and condolences to all of those impacted by this latest round of terrorist assault, Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement.

State Attorney General Kamala Harris also offered her thoughts and prayers to the victims of the attack and their families.

These senseless acts of violence are an attack on all of humanity, and we will stand with Brussels until those responsible are brought to justice, Harris said.

Other local politicians called for action against the terrorists apparently responsible.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer said, My thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones in these horrific attacks and all of the injured. We stand with the people of Brussels and all of Europe as we join together to defeat these cowardly and barbaric terrorists.

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell said the attack bears the signature of the Islamic State group.

They clearly are determined to plan and strike our allies across Europe, but have also demonstrated a reach that inspires lone wolves to attack us at home, Swalwell said.

We must not live in fear and should go about our regular activities, but our military must continue to pound ISIS in Iraq and Syria while our law enforcement and intelligence communities aggressively investigate all threats and leads at home, Swalwell said

Copyright  2015 by Bay City News, Inc.  republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
As the spring house-hunting season approaches, tight inventory and rising prices are casting a lengthening shadow over the plans of starter homebuyer across the United States. And guess where the crisis is most pronounced?

Oakland.

Thats right. According to a new Trulia report on the 100 largest U.S. metro areas, Oakland is as bad as it gets when it comes to buying a starter home. The rest of the top five, in order, are Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento.

Compared to the rest of the nation, the Bay Area is taking the biggest hit, said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist for Trulia, which released the quarterly price report titled, House Arrest: How Low Inventory is Slowing Home Buying.

Of the top 10 U.S. metro markets showing the sharpest decrease in starter home affordability since 2012, nine are in California. The report defines a starter home as one thats priced in the bottom third of all homes in the market  where first-time buyers often look. Similarly, Trulia defines starter homebuyer as those whose household incomes fall in the lower third of the income distribution for a given metro area. In the Oakland metro area, that means an income of $52,700 and under; in San Jose, of $64,900 and under; in San Francisco, $62,000 and under.

Here are three snapshots of whats happening in our own region:

In the Oakland area  where the tech boom has spread, driving up prices  the typical buyer of a starter home would have to spend 69 percent of household income to afford a 30-year fixed mortgage, with 20 percent down. Thats 29 percent more of the income than would have been needed in 2012. The median price of a starter home in the Oakland area is $374,000, according to the report.

As bad as that sounds, consider the plight of San Jose starter homebuyer, who would have to spend 87 percent of household income to afford a mortgage  27 percent more than in 2012. The median price in the San Jose metro area is about $586,000.

Finally, San Francisco metro buyers would have to pay a whopping 110 percent of household income to afford a starter home mortgage  25 percent more than in 2012. The median San Francisco metro price is $714,000. Im proud to be from the Bay Area and to see how much economic activity is here and how much technological advancement, said McLaughlin, who grew up in San Joses Berryessa district and moved two years ago from San Francisco to Oakland. At the same time, Im ashamed by how those in the middle and lower income brackets are essentially becoming locked out of the housing market. Given the demand in pricey markets like the Bay Area, a new phenomenon is growing: When it comes time to move, middle-tier homeowners increasingly find themselves looking down the housing ladder toward houses priced in the lower third of the market, McLaughlin said. Heres an example: Say a worker who owns a comfortable place in more affordable Contra Costa County suddenly must move close to a new job in San Jose. He or she may wind up downsizing because of the increased cost of housing. Or someone who is moving into the Bay Area from another market  even from Sacramento, McLaughlin said. Normally they might want to buy a four-bed, three-bath house for the family. But they get there and they cant afford it. Again, they downsize, sometimes dramatically. As those middle-tier buyers move down the housing ladder, it exerts pressure on prices in the bottom third of the market, intensifying the competition for first-time buyers. Trulia reports that of the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S., 95 have shown a decrease in the number of starter homes since 2012. Of the 10 metro areas showing the biggest decline, all are in the West and South. Salt Lake City tops the list: In four years, the number of starter homes there has plummeted from 1,243 to 151. Thats an 88 percent drop-off. The report cites three reasons for falling inventory in the starter home and mid-tier trade-up categories:

Investors snapped up foreclosed homes during the recession and converted them to rentals.

A larger share of lower-priced homes remains underwater compared to higher-tier homes. Their owners therefore are less likely to sell and take a loss.
Jumping into one of the fiercest tech industry battles in recent memory, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the five-year-old patent fight between Apple and Samsung  raising the stakes in a case that has centered on claims the South Korean tech giant copied the iPhone to build its own smartphone empire.

In a brief order, the justices announced they will consider a key part of Samsungs appeal of its loss to Apple, a 2012 verdict that eventually forced the maker of Galaxy smartphones and other popular devices to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The Supreme Court is likely to hear arguments in the case during the next term that starts in October.

The justices, in deciding to take the case at last Fridays closed-door conference, agreed to hear one of two questions posed by Samsungs appeal: how damages should be assessed for patent violations when the technology involved is just one of many ingredients that go into a device like an iPhone. The Supreme Court indicated it would not be reviewing a second issue raised by Samsung involving the law surrounding design patents, which were in play in the trial because of findings that the iPhones basic look and feel had been duplicated.

For Apple, the high courts decision solidifies a finding that Samsung copied some iPhone technology, but threatens to further stagger the Cupertino companys relentless legal campaign to prove Samsung mimicked Apples smartphones and tablets. The appeals courts have repeatedly stripped away many of Apples early triumphs in the federal court fight, and losing in the Supreme Court on the damages issue would essentially force Apple to send money back to Samsung.

Apples win (in the first trial) may be secure, but the amount of damages it is ultimately awarded is likely to be significantly reduced, said Brian Love, a Santa Clara University law professor.

Tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Hewlett Packard Enterprise had urged the Supreme Court to take up Samsungs appeal of its patent loss to Apple over the copying of iPhone technology, warning that the outcome against Samsung will lead to absurd results and have a devastating impact on companies because of the implications of how patent law is applied to technology products such as smartphones.

Legal scholars also had pushed the Supreme Court to tackle the damages question.

This is an area of law that has not kept up with the modern world, and I hope they will fix it, said Mark Lemley, a Stanford University law professor who urged the Supreme Court to review Samsungs appeal. I am hopeful that we will bring the law of design patents a bit more in line with the economic realities of the smartphone era.

The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals last year rejected Samsungs arguments in a ruling largely backing Apple  leaving the Supreme Court as the only legal option left for Samsung to try to overturn the adverse jury verdict. Samsung maintains that a three-judge Federal Circuit panel erred when it left intact a jurys 2012 verdict that the South Korean companys smartphones and tablets infringed Apples design patents.

That part of the verdict  which has been pared from an original $1 billion judgment  accounts for the $548 million in damages Samsung still had to pay Apple from their first trial. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rebuffed Samsungs effort to stall paying Apple until the Supreme Court appeal was resolved, forcing Samsung to provide the money to Apple in December.

Koh is scheduled to hold yet another retrial on remaining damages issues on March 28, with perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars still at stake. But that trial may now be scratched with the Supreme Court set to address legal uncertainty surrounding how to assess damages in the evolving smartphone industry. Koh on Monday indicated she will quickly consider Samsungs request to put that trial on hold while the Supreme Court hears the broader appeal.

In the Supreme Court appeal, Samsung suggested it would be repaid the money it already has sent to Apple if it prevails on the damages question. That question could guide the tech industry on the value of design patents for products such as the iPhone, which Samsung maintains involved such basic features as rounded corners and colorful icons that they were irrelevant to consumer choice and profits.

Samsung warned the Supreme Court that companies such as Apple should not be entitled to a windfall for basic patent designs, but Apple has countered that its iPhone features were vital to establishing its pre-eminence in the marketplace. Other tech leaders have largely sided with Samsung on the issue thus far, expressing concern about being unfairly punished by being forced to relinquish profits for one design in products that may have dozens of patented ingredients.

The Computer & Industry Communications Association said it was breathing a sigh of relief that the Supreme Court agreed to hear the issue. The misinterpretation of this law by the Federal Circuit could have disastrous effects on innovation, Matt Levy, the associations patent counsel, said. The lower court could green light a new breed of design patent trolls that use design patents to threaten companies entire profits.

Samsung appealed a San Jose jurys August 2012 verdict that it violated Apples patent or trademark rights in 23 products, such as the Galaxy S2 smartphone, as well as originally about $930 million in damages awarded to the iPhone maker. The case, known as Apple I, was the first of two trials between the feuding tech titans.

Another federal jury later found Samsung copied iPhone technology in more recent products but awarded $120 million in damages, a fraction of what Apple sought. A federal appeals court in February overturned the verdict in that second trial, handing Samsung its most important legal win to date.

Apple is considering whether to appeal that ruling.

Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz
Its too soon to talk about how police might have better used technology to stop the Brussels attacks Tuesday.

So much is unknown.

What is clear are the searing images looping on cable and websites: People running from the Brussels airport and staggering outside a Metro stop.

Mayhem. Death. Destruction.

No. Not again.

Its hard not to feel that anything and everything should be done to stop terrorists, even if that means giving up some of our freedoms.

Each attack is a painful jolt. It changes us, including how we collectively feel about technology and security.

But then I remember thats exactly what we are debating in the Apple-FBI iPhone case  our right to privacy vs. national security concerns.

I still believe that tech companies shouldnt be forced to break their own encryption or be required to leave a little back door in the coding for the government to enter whenever it wants.

Doing so is a violation of something fundamental.

As Tim Cook, Apples CEO, put it at a company event before the Brussels attacks: For many of us, the iPhone is an extension of ourselves.

That was Monday.

I was happy then to hear the governments announcement that it would try, on its own, to break open the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers. If the FBI doesnt need Apple to create a vulnerability in its software, something that could weaken all iPhones, then the fight is over. Or is it?

This isnt about Apple and the FBI. This is about all of us, said Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The governments decision to try to crack the phone on its own after Apple pushed back shows that we can stand up to the FBI and force it to think a lot harder. Thats good news for everyone who has a phone.

At least temporarily.

Apple surely is interested in the governments workaround, if it succeeds, and even if it doesnt. The company might even fix the security hole in the next software update.

But that three-way game between tech companies, governments and hackers has been going on for a long time. If the FBI succeeds, it just kicks the can down the road. The issue still roils. Before long, Apple or Google or someone else will be back in court fighting over the same questions.

But now, Brussels.

The attacks make this more than a law school debate. It makes it real and horrible.

Technology is always at the ready to solve our problems. It can track the spread of the Zika virus or bring together a community of sleuths to solve a crime.

It makes the world smaller, and even a bit warmer. Some people learned about the attacks Tuesday when they received a notification from Facebook reporting that their friend, acquaintance, co-worker in Brussels was OK.

But despite all our gadgets, technologys promise falls short. The best algorithms cant target madness or know what the deranged are going to do next. But even if devices hold peoples secret dark desires and plans, where do free societies want to draw the line?

Each attack increases the sense of urgency that we need to do something.

Congressional leaders have drafted bills or are talking about bills on both sides of the issue. California has a new Assembly bill banning default encryption on all smartphones.

After Brussels, expect more bills, proclamations and beatings of the chest.

Grieve, yes. But lets be careful that our sorrow and rage over Brussels doesnt drive what is the best for society going forward. Fight the good fight, but dont force companies to weaken or break their technology, dont erode civil liberities. I still want to live in a free society, even after Brussels.

Contact Michelle Quinn at 510-394-4196 and mquinn@mercurynews.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/michellequinn.
Bay City News Service

Bay Area law enforcement agencies are stepping up their presence this morning at airports and transit centers after deadly bombings at an airport and metro train station in Belgium reportedly killed at least 31 people and injured dozens of others Tuesday.

The San Francisco Police Department has deployed extra officers at San Francisco International Airport, the Port of San Francisco and MUNI stations following the explosions at Brussels Airport and the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, police spokesman Albie Esparza said.

Were asking the public if they see something, say something and to report any suspicious activity, Esparza said.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement that city public safety agencies have reported to him that there is no known threat to San Francisco but that police remain on heightened alert.

We stand with the people of Brussels and all of Belgium and stand strong against intolerance. We pray for the families of the victims of these senseless acts of violence, Lee said.

Oakland International Airport also has increased its security presence, according to airport spokeswoman Keonnis Taylor, although she wouldnt talk specifically about security measures.

Bay Area transit systems have also stepped up their security in response to the attack. BART police have beefed up their presence throughout the entire transit system, according to police Lt. Aaron Ledford.

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency officials said they have been consulting with federal intelligence partners, who have told them there is no known threat in the U.S.

Regardless, law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County are on heightened alert, VTA officials said.
The historic visit of a sitting U.S. president to Havana will almost surely hasten the day when Cubans are free from the Castro governments suffocating repression.

President Barack Obamas trip is the culmination of his revamping of U.S. policy toward Cuba. One outdated, counterproductive relic of the Cold War remains  the economic embargo forbidding most business ties with the island nation  and the Republican-controlled Congress wont even consider repealing it.

But Obama has been able to re-establish diplomatic relations, practically eliminate travel restrictions and weaken the embargos grip.

The United States first began to squeeze the Castro government in 1960. It should be a rule of thumb that if a policy is an utter failure for more than 50 years, its time to try something else.

I say this as someone with no illusions about President Raul Castro, the spectral but still-powerful Fidel Castro or the authoritarian system they created.

Hours before Obamas arrival, police and security agents hauled away members of the Ladies in White dissident group as they conducted their protest march; this time, U.S. network news crews happened to be on hand to witness the crackdown.

I wrote a book about Cuba, and each time I went for research I gained more respect and admiration for the Cuban people  and more contempt for the regime. Those 10 trips convinced me that the U.S. policy of prohibiting economic and social contact between Americans and Cubans was, to the Castro brothers, the gift that kept on giving.

I saw how the menace of an aggressive neighbor to the north was used as a justification for repression. Wed love to have freedom of the press, freedom of association and freedom of assembly, the government would say, but how can we leave our beloved nation so vulnerable?

Most of the Cubans I met were not fooled by such doublespeak. But they did have a love for their country, and their nation was under economic siege.

There are those who argue that Obama could have won more concessions in exchange for improved relations. But this view ignores that our posture of hostility did more harm to U.S. interests than good. Relaxing travel restrictions for U.S. citizens can only help flood the island with American values. Permitting such an influx could be the biggest risk the Castro brothers have taken since they led a ragtag band of guerrillas into the Sierra Maestra mountain range.

Why would they now take this gamble? Because they have no choice. The Castro regime survived the collapse of the Soviet Union  and the end of huge annual subsidies from the former Eastern bloc  but the Cuban economy sank into depression. Copious quantities of Venezuelan oil, provided by strongman Hugo Chavez (who was Fidel Castros protege), provided a respite. But now Chavez is gone and Cuba has no choice but to monetize the resource it has in greatest abundance, human capital.

It is possible that Raul Castro will seek to move the country toward the Chinese model: a free-market economic system overseen by an authoritarian one-party government. Would this fully satisfy those who want to see a free Cuba? No. Would it be a tremendous improvement over the poverty and oppression Cubans suffer today? Absolutely.

Fidel Castro will be 90 in August; Raul is just five years younger. At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will see whether Castroism can survive without a living Castro.

And, did you see the rapturous welcome the president and his family received in Havana? Cubans seem to have a much more clear-eyed  and hopeful  view than Obamas shortsighted critics.

Eugene Robinson is a syndicated columnist.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Confronting doubts about the depth of his knowledge of world affairs, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump delivered a sober speech to a pro-Israel crowd, outlining for the first time the team of foreign policy thinkers advising his campaign.

In a lengthy interview Monday with the editorial board of The Washington Post, Trump outlined a distinctly non-interventionist approach for America in the world. It came with doubts about the benefits of the countrys decades of foreign engagement, including its role as an anchor of NATO.

I do think its a different world today, and I dont think we should be nation-building anymore, Trump told the newspaper. He stressed instead the need to invest in infrastructure at home.

At what point do you say, Hey, we have to take care of ourselves?  he said. So, I know the outer world exists and Ill be very cognizant of that. But at the same time, our country is disintegrating, large sections of it, especially the inner cities.

Trump has largely avoided the nitty-gritty of policy details during his campaign, focusing instead on boldly stated goals and declining to say whom he counts among his advisers  despite repeated promises to do so. The billionaire businessman said last week in an interview with MSNBC that his primary consultant is myself.

His newly announced team, chaired by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, includes Keith Kellogg, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Walid Phares and Joseph E. Schmitz  a group with varying degrees of foreign policy experience.

During the Post interview, Trump stumbled when questioning the U.S. role in assisting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and arguing other members of NATO should be doing more.

Theyre not doing anything. And I say: Why is it that Germanys not dealing with NATO on Ukraine? Why is it that other countries that are in the vicinity of Ukraine, why arent they dealing? he said. Why are we always the one thats leading, potentially the third world war with Russia?'

In fact, since the Ukraine crisis erupted more than two years ago, the Obama administration has refused to provide the new, pro-Western government in Kiev offensive military equipment to use against Russian-backed separatists. Ukraine is not a member of NATO and has only received defensive materiel from the U.S. and its allies.

And while a February 2015 ceasefire helped reduce the worst of the violence, Germany and France spearheaded that mediation effort. The United States wasnt directly involved.

Trump has also drawn concerns from Jewish leaders for saying he would attempt to be neutral in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He worked to soothe those worries Monday in a major speech before the annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington.

In a speech delivered from prepared remarks and a teleprompter  a rarity for Trump, who has panned Democrats for using the device Trump stressed that he is a lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel.

Trumps remarks largely focused on Iran, calling the deal reached between the Islamic nation and several world powers catastrophic for America, for Israel and to the whole Middle East. The deal is aimed at keeping Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

But he also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said he would reject any attempt by the United Nations to impose conditions on either side during future peace talks. He stressed that each side in any deal must give up something.

It will only further delegitimize Israel, he said of a peace accord imposed on the two sides. It will be a disaster and catastrophe to Israel. Its not going to happen, folks.

While Trump assured the crowd that he didnt come here tonight to pander to you about Israel, saying, thats what politicians do, he did note that in 2004 he served as the grand marshal of the 40th Salute to Israel Parade in New York.

It was a very dangerous time for Israel and frankly for anyone supporting Israel. Many people turned down this honor. I did not. I took the risk and Im glad I did, Trump said.

He also ended his speech by announcing that his daughter, who married a Jewish man and converted to Judaism, is about to give birth. My daughter Ivanka is about to have a beautiful Jewish baby, he said.

Outside the venue Monday evening, anti-Trump protesters gathered to voice anger over his brash political rhetoric and his attendance at the conference. But there was no mass walkout of AIPAC attendees or other any other demonstration inside the hall, as some had planned.

He was followed on stage by rival Ted Cruz, who opened his speech by pointedly noting Trumps use of the term Palestine. Although the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in 2012 to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state, the U.S. does not currently recognize the Palestinian territories as an independent state and the Texas senator didnt miss the chance to take a dig at the front-runner.

Perhaps to the surprise of the previous speaker, Palestine has not existed since 1948, said Cruz.

-

Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper contributed to this report.



Follow Jill Colvin on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/colvinj
British Airways suspending flights to Azerbaijan

British Airways will cease flights on the London-Baku route from May 1 2016, the companys Baku office told Trend on March 15.The last flight on the London-Baku-London route will be executed on April 29.The company called the fall in demand and commercial inexpediency as the reason for the suspension of the London-Baku flight.The company did not exclude the possibility of resuming flights in the future.Currently, British Airways carries out flights between the two cities six times a week.
The Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, met at the Foreign Ministry today with the Venezuelan Ambassador to Athens, Farid Fernandez.



During the courtesy meeting, which took place in a friendly atmosphere, Messrs. Xydakis and Fernandez reaffirmed the excellent level of bilateral relations as well as the exceptional level of cooperation, which can be further expanded via mutual visits.



Additionally, Mr. Fernandez conveyed a message of support from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro regarding the difficult time Greece is going through.
It's been nearly 11 months since Gov. Rick Snyder first called for a rescue package for the Detroit Public Schools, which has been under state financial management for seven years, is burdened with operating debt and may start to run out of money in April. The legislation would not directly allocate much of the funding, for now leaving that to legislators during the annual budget process.

Lawmakers largely have agreed with the Republican governor's plan for the district's 46,000 students to attend a new district, while the old one would exist for tax-collection purposes to retire $515 million in debt. But majority Republicans and Democrats have been at odds over details, such as how quickly an elected school board will be handed decision-making authority and whether to create a commission that can open and close traditional schools and independent publicly funded charter academies.

The main bill, passed 21-16 in the Republican-controlled Senate and sent to the GOP-led House, calls for electing a new school board in August. The nine members' terms would begin once election results are certified, and they would hire a superintendent. A commission of state appointees created to review Detroit's finances in the wake of bankruptcy would oversee the new district's budget until the debt is repaid and other conditions are met.

"I acknowledge that these bills will not alone transform DPS, but they are critically necessary to begin putting this district on a more positive financial path," said Sen. Goeff Hansen, R-Hart.

The legislation also would create of a seven-member education commission  fully appointed by Detroit's mayor  to make recommendations about the location of current and future schools and to determine the fate of proposed and some existing publicly funded charter academies.

Any new charter or traditional school could not open without the panel's approval unless it would replicate a school given an "A'' or "B'' on a new grading scale that would be based on factors such as state standardized test scores and students' improvement over time. "F''-rated charters would close, while the commission would recommend to the state's school reform officer the potential closure or another form of intervention for traditional schools with an "F'' grade.

Snyder has touted the commission as a way to get a handle on complaints that charters are opened and closed with little overarching coordination, but it was not initially included in the Senate bills because of opposition from pro-charter interests. Under the bills, the commission would have three charter representatives (including one parent), three representatives for traditional schools (including one parent) and one member with expertise in school accountability systems.

Snyder has proposed shifting $72 million annually for a decade from Michigan's settlement with tobacco companies toward bailing out the district and starting a new one.

At his request, the House last week approved a $48.7 million stopgap measure to ensure teachers and other employees are paid the rest of this academic year. The Senate could also pass that stopgap measure this week, but the House would have to wait to take up the larger restructuring package until after returning from the Legislature's spring break.
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PIGEON  Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker High School sophomore Madison Hubert has been invited to attend the prestigious Washington Journalism and Media Conference, which is taking place in July at George Mason University.

Hubert is attending as a national youth correspondent. During the six-day event, she will be networking with prominent journalists, media representatives, chief executive officers of media companies, national media figures and distinguished scholars. She will attend a private press briefing with a deputy White House press secretary and panel discussions with political journalists and media company leaders. Other activities are scheduled, as well.

Im really excited, Hubert said. This is kind of surreal. I never wouldve expected something like this to happen.

Hubert was nominated by Laker High School staff for this opportunity.

Hubert received notification of this nomination and she was invited to send in a writing sample and school-related information.

She was selected based on the nomination, her academic excellence and her interest in journalism and media.

While at the conference, she will be completing various assignments and will be writing a blog about her experiences, she said.

Im interested in investigative journalism and politics, she said.

Hubert said classes at Laker High, including creative writing and English, enticed her to go into this field. Creative writing teacher Laurie Britt said Hubert has a knack for descriptive writing, and in journalism, being able to describe will be an important skill.

This opportunity will open doors for her, Britt said. Madison is not afraid to ask questions and not afraid to try new things. Shes going to pick (the journalists) brains. Theyre going to remember her after she leaves.

Britt said Hubert will be able to get her feet wet in the journalism field and the conference will broaden her horizons, especially being from a small town.

This conference will be a great benefit to Madison. Im excited for her, she said.

Hubert is in the process of fundraising to attend this conference. If interested in donating, visit https://www.gofundme.com/fgrujc3w. You can also go to the website gofundme.com and enter Madis Journalism Conference D.C.
The Republican-led school aid panel voted Tuesday to eliminate the M-STEP. It was administered for the first time last spring after replacing the longstanding Michigan Education Assessment Program, or MEAP.

Republican Subcommittee Chairman Tim Kelly says lawmakers and state Superintendent Brian Whiston are interested in a "computer-adaptive" test for which results can be distributed to teachers and parents sooner. He says many schools already are using an assessment developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association, so using that could cut the hours students are being tested.

The panel concurred with Gov. Rick Snyder's proposed funding increase ranging between $60 and $120 per student in the next school year.
Tribune Staff Reports

PIGEON  Cooperative Elevator Co. has hired Scott Gordon of SunOpta Inc. as its new chief executive officer.

He will start as CEO effective May 9, said Kurt Ewald, board chairman of the co-op.

Scott Gordon brings a wealth of senior management experience in the agriculture and food sector and, just as important, he comes with a deep appreciation of what makes up our successful farmer-owned cooperative, Ewald said. Scott will build on the great work of our members, managers and employees during the transition period and provide strong leadership to support the future growth of Cooperative Elevator Co.

In a short video released Monday, Gordon said his first priority upon taking over will be to spend time with the people of the area in order to better understand and learn the business through them. In his first 30 days on the job, he said he will also be focused on meeting with the companys employees and members to gain further understanding.

Cooperative Elevator Co. is well-positioned to build on the incredible success achieved during its first 100 years in business, and I look forward to leveraging the existing platform and entrepreneurial spirit that has driven this business to where it is today, Gordon said. Thanks to the drive and innovation shown by the Cooperatives members and employees, we are closely aligned with the marketplace and ready to seize new opportunities.

Added Gordon: Im very excited to serve you as your new CEO and become part of the community.

Gordon has served in multiple senior management roles with SunOpta, with headquarters in Ontario and Minnesota, beginning in 2001. In 2014, as division president of the Ingredients Group for SunOpta, Gordon led the divestiture of the business to Canadian Harvest LP, a subsidiary of J. Rettenmaier & Sohne Group. Following the divestiture, Gordon served as general manager of Canadian Harvest, responsible for overseeing sales, finance, operations and research and development, having transitioned with all 100 SunOpta Ingredients Group employees.

Prior to serving as division president at Sunopta, Gordon served in senior leadership roles, including as vice president and assistant vice president of operations, having joined the company as an acquisition and project manager.

Gordon started his agribusiness career in 1997, leading a major seed plant expansion and research center development projects in Australia and North America for DuPont-Pioneer.

He will be taking over as CEO of Cooperative Elevator for interim CEO Mike Wehner, who is the vice president of finance and board treasurer for the company.

Im excited to join a world class team at Cooperative Elevator Co., Gordon said. The companys success has and will continue to be dependent on the excellent teams of managers and employees that serve customers every day, and you couldnt ask for a better group of people to lead.

The local elevator company is a co-op of more than 1,100 farmers, mostly in the Thumb.
GOSHEN  A man who shot and wounded another man outside the You You Asian Restaurant and Bar in the Town of Wallkill because he
Almost 100 people mostly from Haiti who were rescued from an overcrowded boat off the Florida coast had no food or water for...
The head of the Defense Department's military community and family policy office is resigning her post and taking over as assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs on April 4, she announced today.

Rosemary Williams, who spent 25 years as a broadcast journalist, said she sees the public affairs job at the VA as a way to help service members and their families move from active duty into the VA's care. Families get lost in that transition period, she said, as they learn about services and help from a delay-riddled VA, but are no longer leaning on the DoD for assistance.

"As you know, VA is always under tremendous public scrutiny and their ability to improve both internal and external communications is essential," Williams told Military.com. "The expectation from [VA officials] is that I will use my relevant experience and expertise to give VA a lift in their transformational efforts through an integrated outreach, engagement and awareness strategy. I am like a madwoman saying 'integrated' wherever I go these days. We have to get better at communicating available resources and their relevancy to the folks who need them."

Both the deputy assistant secretary of defense position and the VA job are political appointments, and those who fill them traditionally resign at the end of a president's administration. New appointees likely will take over both the DoD position and Williams' new VA job early next year when a new U.S. president is sworn into office.

Williams took the reins of the military family policy office in July 2013 -- a tumultuous time in the DoD as sequestration was hitting the department and massive budget cuts were in the works. Despite threats of sweeping cutbacks, Williams has been the public face of protecting military family programs from downsizing. Although some small cuts have been made, such as the elimination of a program that provided families with free memberships to a babysitter website, other programs -- such a free counseling through Military OneSource -- remain safe and may soon see expansion.

Known for her frank, off-the-cuff update emails, Williams is largely beloved by families and advocacy groups. While DoD officials are sometimes seen by the community as a roadblock, Williams has developed the reputation of a partner, military family advocates said on background.

Williams said she is most proud of her office's efforts to tackle issues of service member family violence through a two-year, department-wide review that recently closed, and landing permission early last year to market military family programs online through paid advertising, an effort that took a major cultural shift within OSD.

But she wishes she were able to complete an ongoing attempt to expand free counseling services and resources provided through Military OneSource from 180 days after military separation to a full year.

"Our community really needs that cushion of support," she said. "There will always be this gap, large or small, that the community will fill. I strongly believe that the VA can lead the effort to knit together the net to help catch our veterans, their families and survivors, as they navigate transition into the civilian world."

No information has been released on who will replace Williams in the DoD family policy office.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.
Two brothers who had ties to the ISIS cell that carried out last November's attacks in Paris reportedly carried out Tuesday's suicide bombings that rocked Brussels. A third suspect has been arrested.

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing a police source, reported that Khalid and Ibrahim El-Bakraoui blew themselves up in a subway train and in the departure hall at the city's international airport respectively, killing at least 34 people and injuring at least 250 others.

The broadcaster had previously reported that both brothers had attacked the Zaventem airport. In light of the corrected report, the identity of a second black-clad airport suicide bomber was not immediately clear.

Belgian media reported that a third Brussels airport attacker, Najim Laachraoui, 25, has been captured. According to the DH newspaper's website, he was arrested in Brussels' Anderlecht district.

He had been named as the third man seen in CCTV footage alongside two other suspected bombers, both of whom killed themselves in the Tuesday morning attacks.

At least 14 others were also killed when the blasts ripped through the airport's departure hall. Laachraoui reportedly fled the scene after his bomb failed to detonate.

RTBF reported that Khalid El-Bakraoui, 27, rented an apartment in the Forest section of the city that was raided by authorities March 15. In that raid, a police sniper killed a man identified as Mohamed Belkaid, 35, an Algerian with links to ISIS. Authorities also reportedly found an ISIS flag and a Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition, as well as several detonators that may have been meant to be used in Tuesday's attacks.

The March 15 raid led to Friday's arrest of Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam after one of his fingerprints was discovered in the raided apartment. Politico Europe, citing a senior Belgian official, reported that Abdeslam was supposed to take part in Tuesday's attacks. The report did not specify what role Abdeslam would have played.

Over the weekend, Belgium's Foreign Minister disclosed that Abdeslam had been preparing further attacks, saying the suspect was "ready to restart something from Brussels."

The Guardian also reported that one of the El-Bakraoui brothers had rented a safe house in Charleroi, Belgium, that was used by Paris attackers Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Bilal Hadfi as a rendezvous point prior to the attacks that killed 130 people in the French capital. The paper also reported that one of the brothers had provided weapons and ammunition to the terrorists who attacked the Bataclan concert hall on that deadly night.

Laachraoui is thought to have built the suicide vests used by the Paris attackers, according to a police official who told the Associated Press that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of them and in a Brussels apartment where they were made.

DH reported that in October 2010, Ibrahim El-Bakraoui, 30, was convicted of shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during an attempted robbery. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. In February 2011, the paper reported, Khalid El-Bakraoui was sentenced to five years' probation in connection with a string of carjackings.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Brussels joined the list of places Wednesday where U.S. troops can't go without a general's approval and the advice from the command on what to do if caught up in an attack came down to this: "Run, hide and then fight if necessary."

The warnings came after an Air Force lieutenant colonel and four members of his family were injured in the nail-laden bomb attacks Tuesday on Brussels' Zaventem international airport and at the Maelbeek stop on the Brussels subway near the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of the European Union.

Air Force spokesmen said they could not immediately give an update on the conditions of the officer and his family members due to privacy reasons but initial reports said the injuries don't appear to be life-threatening. The service said that the officer was assigned to Joint Force Command Brunssum, a NATO command in the Netherlands which provides support to the mission in Afghanistan.

Tuesday's attacks claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, killed at least 31 and wounded more than 260, according to Belgian Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw, but he warned that the list of casualties could grow.

Addressing the Corps of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the Brussels attacks and the injuries to the Air Force family would not deter the U.S. from its commitment to destroy ISIS.

The terror bombings were "a grim reminder of how serious are the dangers we face, the dangers civilization and our country face," said Carter, who cited "the military family that was affected by these attacks."

Carter said the Pentagon will "do everything we can" to protect the Air Force family injured in Brussels and all military families against future attacks. He added that "no attack, no attack, will shake our resolve to accelerate" the campaign to defeat the extremist group.

All the service branches, the Defense Department and the State Department renewed and tightened travel restrictions and warnings on the ISIS threat throughout Europe and in Turkey for U.S. citizens and the more than 60,000 U.S. military personnel in Europe, with special emphasis on the upcoming Easter holyday weekend.

"The recent attacks that we have seen in Brussels and Turkey really highlight that we are facing a significant and persistent threat throughout the theater," said Robert Balcerzak, deputy chief for anti-terrorism for U.S. Army Europe.

The response of troops caught up in a terror attack "really depends on the situation," Balcerzak said in a statement. "In the event of an active shooter, the DoD stresses to run, hide and then fight if necessary. Perhaps most important -- if host nation or U.S. security is responding, be very cooperative with the law enforcement and careful you do not make yourself a suspect."

Shortly after the Tuesday attacks, U.S. European Command put an indefinite ban in effect on travel by military personnel to Brussels "as a precautionary measure to keep personnel and families safe."

"Specifically, unofficial travel to Brussels (leave, liberty, and special pass) is prohibited until further notice," the command said. "Those on official travel or emergency leave to Brussels will also require the approval of the first General/Flag Officer in the traveler or sponsor's chain of command." Similar restrictions were already in effect for travel to Turkey.

For those personnel assigned to NATO headquarters at Mons south of Brussels, the latest restrictions came on top of increased security that was already in place following the terror attacks in Paris last November.

One family member told Military.com that stronger gate security, altered access points and added security patrols are visible, but otherwise "life is going on as usual." Other changes have also been put in place, she said, such as a decision to move both an annual school prom, traditionally held in a nearby chateau, to the base club as well as the annual high school graduation ceremony.

Periodic travel restrictions have become the norm for military personnel in Europe in recent years to lower the risk posed by terrorism following incidents in which U.S. personnel were targeted or found themselves caught up in a terrorist act.

In 2011, an attack on a group of Airmen at the Frankfurt airport in Germany killed two troops, and last August an off-duty airman traveling by train to Paris was credited with the help of two friends with subduing a gunman.

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the USAREUR commander, said, "The reality of these attacks highlights the need for us all to be vigilant. I urge everyone to be aware of their local security situation, listen to AFN [Armed Forces Network] or local news outlets and ensure you are signed up for [the emergency communications system] AtHoc with your local garrison so that you may have the latest updates.

"If you see something that you think is suspicious, there are many different vehicles you can use to report," Hodges said. "iReport is a downloadable app that you can get on your smartphone which would make a quick way to report any suspicious activity, or you can go online to any one of the USAREUR webpages to iWatch -- it's the same mechanism."

The travel alert put out to all U.S. citizens by the State Department after the Brussels attacks warned of the "potential risks of travel to and throughout Europe."

It said, "Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation. U.S. citizens should exercise vigilance when in public places or using mass transportation."

In addition to avoiding crowded places, U.S. citizens should "exercise particular caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events," the alert said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.
MINDEF Website is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance from 23 October 2022 0000hrs to 23 October 2022 1200hrs.

Updates will be posted on the MINDEF Facebook and Twitter pages during this period.

For NS-related queries, please contact NS Call Centre at 1800-3676767 (or +65 6567 6767 from overseas).

For MINDEF website-related queries, please contact digitalmedia@defence.gov.sg.

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The Dodgers announced that Andre Ethier has suffered a broken leg, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The fractured right tibia will sideline the outfielder for 10-14 weeks. Luckily, the outfielder will not require surgery.

Ethier, 34 in April, slumped to a .249/.322/.370 slash line in 2014 but rebounded in a major way in 2015. Last year, Ethier slashed .294/.366/.486 with 14 homers across 445 plate appearances, primarily as a platoon bat. After he restored his value, the Dodgers received trade interest on Ethier this winter, including some bites from the White Sox. With a crowded outfield, the Dodgers probably could have afforded to part with the two-time All-Star, but Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi shot down that talk in February, referring to Ethier as a really important part of the team. Indeed, after his bounce-back campaign, the Dodgers were looking forward to seeing what Ethiers left-handed bat could do in 2016. Now, theyll have to wait until the summer to find out.

For his career, Ethier has a strong batting line of .286/.359/.464 across ten seasons for the Dodgers. He has two years remaining on his contract and is owed $38MM, including a modest buyout on an option for 2018. Aside from Ethier, the Dodgers have outfielders Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Scott Van Slyke, Trayce Thompson, and Enrique Hernandez on the 40-man roster. Ethiers 10-and-5 rights kick in next month, but Zaidi has publicly said that he is not concerned about that happening.
NEW YORK - Low gas prices be damned, Hyundai Motor America revealed Wednesday three electrified and hybrid model cars, underscoring its dedication to low and zero-emissions vehicles in the American market.

Hyundai is calling its new Ioniq line-up the first of its kind in the world, as it offers three distinct electrified powertrains on a single, dedicated vehicle platform.

The new models, unveiled at the 2016 New York International Auto Show, include the Ioniq Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and Electric.

The Ioniq Hybrid and Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid both have a new, 1.6-liter direct-injected, Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine with about 104 horsepower. It comes with a six-speed, double-clutch automatic transmission.

The Ioniq Hybrid has a battery with 1.56 kWh capacity, positioned under the rear seat.

With the gas engine and electric power, the Ioniq Hybrid's total horsepower output is estimated at 139 hp.

The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid, meanwhile, has an 8.9 kWh lithium-ion battery, which gives it an all-electric driving range of more than 25 miles. It has a 4 kWh electric motor combined with the 1.6L gasoline engine.

And the Ioniq Electric has an all-electric range of 110 miles, derived from a 28 kWh lithium-ion batter. It has about 120 hp.

"Ioniq will attract an entirely new group of eco- and efficiency-oriented buyers in the U.S. market," said Mike O'Brien, vice president of Corporate and Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "With outstanding powertrain flexibility, design, connectivity, and advanced technologies, Ioniq meets the needs of a large and growing group of buyers needing a highly efficient, low-emissions vehicle without compromise to their daily lifestyles."

Press preview days for this year's New York auto show are March 23 and 24.

The 116-year-old event at the Jacob K. Javits Center will then open to the public from March 25 to April 3. More information: www.autoshowny.com.

David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.
2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk

2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk

(A.J. Mueller)

NEW YORK - Jeep is expanding the Grand Cherokee lineup with Trailhawk and Summit models.

The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brand will show off the new SUVs at the 2016 New York International Auto Show Wednesday.



Grand Cherokee Trailhawk

The Trailhawk name first appeared on the Grand Cherokee as part of the annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah in 2012.

It found its way onto a production vehicle with the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, billing it as the most off-road capable of the four trim levels available. It was also on the off-road trim level of the 2015 Jeep Renegade.

With the 2017 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, off-road features include Jeep's Quadra-Lift air suspension, skid plates and an anti-glare hood decal.

The Grand Cherokee Trialhawk has 10.8 inches of ground clearance, red tow hooks, and standard 18-inch Goodyear Adventure off-road tires, with 20-inch ones available.

2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit

Grand Cherokee Summit

While the Trailhawk model is geared toward off-roading, the Summit is the most luxurious model in Jeep's full-size SUV line-up.

The dashboard, center console and door panels are all wrapped in Nappa leather, and the seats furnished in Laguna leather.

It has much of the latest technological advancements, such as auto-folding power mirrors, headlamp washers, blind-spot detection, forward collision warning and adaptive cruise control.

For the first time on the Grand Cherokee, the Summit model will have lane departure warning and parallel and perpendicular park assist.

"With our new Trailhawk and Summit models, Jeep Grand Cherokee becomes even more capable and more luxurious," Mike Manley, head of Jeep Brand for FCA Global, said in a release. "Our Cherokee and Renegade Trailhawk models are among our fastest selling and most sought-after models, and we are following that successful formula to provide consumers even more legendary Jeep 4x4 capability for Grand Cherokee - the most awarded SUV ever."

The two new Grand Cherokee models will arrive at dealerships this summer. Pricing has not been announced.
NEW YORK - With a plug-in electric powertrain, Toyota's new Prius Prime, unveiled Wednesday morning in New York, is expected to get a manufacturer's -estimated 120 miles per gallon equivalent or more.

The car has not been rated by the Environmental Protection Agency yet, but Toyota said its new car will get the highest MPGe of any plug-in hybrid on the market as of February 2016.

With an 8.8kWh battery pack, the Prius Prime will have an all-electric range of 22 miles, about twice as much as its predecessor.

It will come with a supplied cord and can be plugged into a standard household outlet and fully charged in about 5.5 hours. A 240V power source fully juices it up in about half that time, Toyota said.

An 11.3-gallon gas tank will give the Prius Prime a respectable total driving range of about 600 miles.

The 2017 Prius Prime is 2.4 inches longer, 0.6 inches wider and about an inch lower than its predecessor. To help with efficiency, it has an aluminum hood, carbon fiber on the rear hatch and high-tensile strength steel in other parts.

Toyota said the car has automatic grille shutters that help reduce drag by closing when airflow to the radiator is not needed.

The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime will arrive at dealerships in the fall. Pricing has not yet been announced.

Toyota also revealed an updated Highlander SUV Wednesday.

Press preview days for this year's New York auto show are March 23 and 24. Several new cars and trucks are expected to be unveiled from brands such as Lincoln, Acura and Nissan.

The 116-year-old event at the Jacob K. Javits Center will then open to the public from March 25 to April 3. More information: www.autoshowny.com.

David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.
The technology industry is driving job growth in metro Detroit, according to several new reports that also give insight into Michigan's place in the 6.7 million employee national industry.

Nationally, tech payroll topped $708 billion in 2015, according to a report by nonprofit CompTIA. During that same year, the number of jobs grew 3 percent to 6.7 million.

That job growth comes as the US unemployment shrinks, reaching 5.3 percent at the end of 2015. At the same time, educators increasingly point to STEM - or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - as curriculum for future job prospects. One example of that: The new Dow/Michigan State University STEM education center in Midland.

Here are five things to know today about technology jobs in Michigan:

1.Michigan has carved out nation-leading tech specialties thanks in large part to the auto industry.

Michigan ranks 12th in the nation in tech employment, coming in just 3,000 jobs fewer than number 11, Georgia, according to CompTIA's report. (The top three are California, Texas and New York).

Yet Michigan ranks in the top 5 for employment in two sectors: Engineering services and R&D testing labs. Changes in the auto industry, particularly around development of driverless cars, positions Michigan well for still more growth in both of those sectors, said Tom Kelly, chief operating officer of Automation Alley.

"Detroit is extremely relevant again," he said, citing the need to develop and then build the autonomous vehicles. "... (We) can play a significant part in history in the next 10 years."

Strengths in California's Silicon Valley include software and application development, Kelly said. It's a strategic play for automakers like Ford and General Motors to be close to that and set up R&D offices in California as they race for driverless car technology - but also smart to keep engineering centers in Michigan, he said.

2. Automation Alley predicts Southeast Michigan will outperform Silicon Valley in revenue, R&D investment and hiring in 2016.

Think we're always trailing Silicon Valley? Not so in those categories this year, according to an annual survey by Automation Alley of top tech executives in both Southeast Michigan and Silicon Valley. According to survey respondents in Southeast Michigan:

99 percent said they expect revenue growth this year.

83 percent expect R&D spending increases

82 percent will hire this year.

"The tech companies we interviewed were much more optimistic than our brethren in Silicon Valley," Kelly said. "People were excited about the ... jobs implications."

This is the first time that Automation Alley produced a forecast with the regional comparisons, Kelly said.

Officials expected to find results would show that Michigan had some catching up to do. Instead, "We were shocked that it was an across-the-board positive response."

3. Ann Arbor is one community benefitting from tech jobs.

Tech hiring is among the top three sectors driving Washtenaw County to record employment levels, with corresponding gains in real wages. The other top jobs producers are the health care and restaurant catering sectors.

"Since 2009, Washtenaw County job growth has outstripped the nation's and the state's," said George Fulton, economics professor at the University of Michigan and co-author of an annual economic forecast for the county that was released on March 22.

The area provides just one example of what it can mean to a community to grow tech jobs. Many of those jobs are clustered in the city's downtown, which gives them proximity to the U-M campus - and they're increasing retail sales and commercial occupancy.

Another area that shows economic growth from a tech job cluster is Detroit, which attracts "a lot of young talent," Kelly said.

Tech-related job growth from 2010-2015 in Ann Arbor includes:

61.6 percent in computer systems design.

188.9 percent in data processing, hosting and related services.

30.1 percent in testing labs.

11.8 percent in physical, engineering and biological research.

35.6 percent in computer and electronic product manufacturing.

"The success of Washtenaw County in creating jobs in these (tech-related) industries has been a major contributing factor to the county's economic prosperity over the past several decades," Fulton wrote in the report, co-authored with Donald Grimes.

4. Pay for tech jobs outpaces other industries.

The average annual wage among the top five jobs categories in Ann Arbor in 2014 was $91,741, compared to $53,206 for all workers in Washtenaw County. The average tech wage in Michigan was $84,800, compared to $48,400 for the average private sector wage.

Nationally, the average tech wage was $105,400 in 2015 - up 1.2 percent from a year earlier.

These jobs, said Kelly, represent the career path of the future for a middle class lifestyle in Michigan.

Typical pay for a programmer in Michigan's Automation Alley communities is $110,000, said Kelly. At that rate, he said, "in Southeast Michigan ... you can live like a king."

He's comparing that to Silicon Valley, where the same person might make the average $184,000 per year, but face housing costs of 400 percent more. A $1 million house in Silicon Valley might cost $200,000 in Southeast Michigan, he said.

According to CompTIA, the state ranks 22nd for the average tech wage. Even in that middle ground, Michigan has something to offer, Kelly said: "The standard of living and quality of life in Southeast Michigan can be fantastic."

5. Some jobs are growing faster than others. Some aren't forecast to grow at all.

If you're looking to choose a career based on likelihood of finding a job, these fields are the most likely to see increased demand from 2014-2024:

Web developers, 26.6 percent

Biomedical engineers, 23.1 percent

Computer systems analysts, 20.9 percent

Software developers, applications 18.8 percent

Information security analysts, 17.9 percent

Computer and information systems manager, 15.4 percent

Some jobs will see decreased demand during that time, including:

Computer programmer, - 8 percent

Broadcast technicians, - 6.3 percent

Industrial engineering technicians, - 4.5 percent

Aerospace engineers, - 2.3 percent

Electronics engineers (except computers) - 1.4 percent

Meanwhile, here are Michigan's leading tech job categories as of today:

Mechanical engineers, 36,800

Industrial engineers, 21,800

Computer user support specialists, 20,900

Software developers, applications, 16,300

Computer systems analysts, 14,400

Who's filling these jobs? And are we producing enough graduates for Michigan's tech jobs of the future?

"We're pulling from all over the world," Kelly said of Southeast Michigan businesses. And universities are turning out about 10,000 STEM graduates per year.

The US has some catching up to do for the future jobs, he said, but Michigan doesn't lag the rest of the nation.

What this state has to do, he said, is keep the graduates here once they take a job. That will come from diversifying the employer base so that there's ability to migrate from job to job as situations change, without prompting a multi-state job search.

Paula Gardner covers business for Mlive.com. She can be reached by email or follow her on Twitter.
FullSizeRender[24].jpg

The unemployment rate is falling in Michigan, prompting more 'help wanted' signs.

(Paula Gardner)

Fewer people are seeking work in Michigan than they are across the U.S. for only the second time since August 2000, according to data released today by the state.

Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in February, compared to 4.9 percent for the nation.

The state also showed a net gain of 32,000 people employed in Michigan during February.

A year ago, Michigan's unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, according to state records. It peaked in June 2009 at 14.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Michigan had 4.313 million payroll jobs last month, an increase of 91,000 from 2015.

In the state's largest labor market - the Detroit-Dearborn-Warren statistical area - the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, with the number of jobs growing by 31,000 year-over-year.

State officials said the data indicates a sound labor market for Michigan.

"Individuals have been entering or reentering the state's workforce at a good clip recently as payroll jobs continue to grow," said Jason Palmer, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, in a news release.

However, even as employment grows, Michigan still hasn't regained the number of jobs lost since its peak employment in spring 2000, according to a recent report by George Fulton and Donald Grimes of the University of Michigan.

"By the end of 2018, we are forecasting that the state will replenish 73 percent, or about three in four, of the number of jobs lost from the spring of 2000 to the summer of 2009," they wrote.

Fulton and Grimes made that remark in an economic forecast for Washtenaw County, released on March 22. In that report, they note that the Ann Arbor area has an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, and that the county already exceeded the number of jobs lost during the recession.

A look at the auto industry forecast suggests ongoing recovery for Michigan: Fulton and Grimes expect light vehicle sales to reach 17.8 million this year, then to hold at a record 18 million in both 2017 and 2018.

"Detroit Three" market share, they said, should climb from 43.6 percent in 2015 to 44.2 percent this year, then hold at 44.5 percent in 2017 and 2018.
Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

Wait, what's going on?

Consumers Energy is closing its seven oldest coal plants in April 2016, which the company says will allow it to further invest in wind and other renewable energy sources. Once the seven plants close, Consumers will switch to the natural gas plant it purchased in 2012 in Jackson.

The "Classic Seven" include:

J.C. Weadock Generating Plant in Bay County's Hampton Township (7 and 8)

B.C. Cobb plant in Muskegon (4 and 5)

J.R. Whiting plant near Luna Pier (1,2 and 3)

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

When it's happening

The "Classic Seven," while without an exact shutdown date, will cease operating by April 15 at the latest. Once they shut down, the switch will be made to the Jackson Gas Plant, 2219 Chapin St.

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

Why it's happening

While the move will allow Consumers to continue its pursuit of renewable energy, the closures will help meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards by April's deadline.

"No one wants to see it shut down, but we get it," Tim Haut, a site production engineer at the J.C. Weadock plant, said March 11, 2016.

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

Expected environmental impacts

Consumers Energy is touting the move for its ability to reduce the company's carbon footprint by 25 percent, reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulates by 40 percent, and reduce its water use by 40 percent.

With two-thirds of our coal fleet shutting down, seven out of 12 coal plants, now is the time for Lansing policymakers to update Michigans energy law and ensure customers have reliable, affordable and sustainable power going forward, Dan Malone, senior vice president of energy resources, said in a press release.

Don't Edit

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Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

The Jackson Gas Plant

The former Kinder Morgan power plant and DPC Juniper was scooped up by Consumers Energy in 2012 and saved the company nearly half a billion dollars. Consumers had been planning to build a $700 million natural gas-fired plant in Genesee County.

Company officials said the plant will allow them to replace the power from the seven coal plants while allowing Consumers to focus on renewable energy.

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

What company officials are saying

The following slides include quotes from an MLive exclusive sit-down with soon to be President and CEO of Consumers Energy, Patti Poppe, and a press release featuring Dan Malone, the company's senior vice president of energy resources.

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

Patti Poppe, vice president of distribution operations, engineering and transmission

The soon to be President and CEO of Consumers Energy had this to say in an exclusive MLive interview:

"The employees of those plants, many of them, actually stayed longer, they couldve retired and wouldve retired, but for the fact that we were taking those plants and operating them through April, they stayed longer to make sure we could close out those plants and they could hand off the power generating fleet better than they found out," she said. "I just think that speaks to the caliber of people we have on our team. They really do feel like they made a promise, and theyre going to keep it."

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

Dan Malone, senior vice president of energy resources

We honor the men and women that have worked at our Classic Seven coal plants, which have powered Michigans industrial growth, kept the lights on in our homes, and made amazing human and business contributions to their host communities, Bishop said in a Consumers press release. "These plants have a long track record of running safely, productively and efficiently. In fact, Whitings Unit 3 recently set a company record by operating continuously for 679 consecutive days, the sixth longest run for a U.S. power plant.

We purchased the Jackson Gas Plant at one-quarter the cost of a new plant to replace the power from the Classic Seven and continue to invest in wind and other renewable energy sources. This ensures Consumers Energy has the power necessary to serve its customers affordably and reliably, with cleaner sources of energy.

"However, significant concerns remain about the ability of out-of-state energy marketers to serve their customers in Michigans partially deregulated market. As Michigan and other Midwestern states shut down their coal plants, the surplus power on which these marketers rely to meet their customers needs will dry up."

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

The B.C. Cobb Generating Plant in Muskegon

The B.C. Cobb plant operated in Muskegon for the better part of six decades. The plant required a 1,000-foot-long lake freighter for its deliveries of low- sulfur Western coal. The last delivery occurred in November 2015, when the James R. Barker of the Interlake Steamship Company delivered 58,000 tons of coal.

"This is a bittersweet occasion for us," Consumers Energy Vice President Energy Supply Operations Tim Sparks said in November 2015. "Cobb is unusual in that it is our only plant in our fleet that has to take coal by lake vessel for all of its coal that it burns throughout the year. For this reason, the final boat is a milestone as the plant heads toward the end of its run, which will end in April 2016."

The plant sits on 300 acres of land on the banks of Muskegon Lake where it meets the Muskegon River. The plant once had a staff of more than 100, but shrunk to 67, officials said in November. Of the remaining employees, they will reportedly retire or take on different positions within the company.

Don't Edit

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Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

The J.C. Weadock Generating Plant in Bay County's Hampton Township

The J.C. Weadock Generating Plant has been a fixture in Bay County for more than 75 years. According to a recent Bay City Times article, most of the 49 remaining employees at the plant will take a position next door at the D.E. Karn plant, with another 15 or so set to retire.

Once Weadock's units shut down, the site will go into the "cold and dark" phase, which includes removing all energy sources from the plant, demolition and then restoration, according to Consumers spokeswoman Mary Kulis. This phase has an expected completion date of 2021, according to Kulis.

Don't Edit

Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

The J.R. Whiting Generating Plant near Luna Pier

One of the oldest -- and smallest -- coal-operating plants has produced electricity on the shoreline of Lake Erie south of Monroe since 1952. The 119 employees of the plant help maintain a wildflower meadow and are involved in protecting the American lotus blossom, which just happens to be the state's symbol for clean water.

Unit three at the Whiting plant recently set a company record by continuously operating for 679 days, which happens to be the sixth-longest run by a plant in U.S. history.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Phoenix, Ariz.-based Knight Transportation announced it will create 87 new jobs and invest $574,000 at its first Michigan branch at 555 Fourth St. NW.

"The new branch will house the company's 'solutions team,' focused on leveraging all of Knight Transportation's capabilities and technology to create an efficient high service solution for their customers," according to a news release issued on Wednesday, March 23.

The 25-year-old company has become one of North America's largest and most diversified truckload transportation companies since it was founded as a family-owned business.

The publicly-traded company now has more than 5,000 employees in 24 states and operates more than 35 branches. The company's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KNX.

"When selecting a site for our new office we felt it was important to locate in a city with a vibrant and growing economy that provides access to a highly skilled work force," said Senior Vice President Mike McClelland in a news release.

Knight Transportation will locate at 555 4th Street NW.

"The Grand Rapids community and surrounding area gives access to some of the most distinguished colleges and universities and also gives our employees a great place to live."

West Michigan Works! has offered Knight $140,000 in workforce development funding as the company begins its hiring process. The agency also is prepared to provide a variety of assistance services, from pre-hire screening to on-the-job training programs.

Knight was recruited to Grand Rapids by The Right Place Inc. and Indiana-based Ginovus, one of the nation's leading site selection and corporate relocation firms.

"West Michigan's unique geographic location requires special attention to freight movement in and out of the region," Birgit Klohs, President and CEO of The Right Place, said in a news release.

"Strengthening the logistics and supply chain network in West Michigan creates a more competitive environment for the region's manufacturing companies. The addition of Knight Transportation will further enhance West Michigan's freight network," Klohs said.

"We view working in collaboration with both the regional and state economic development organizations to be critically important in our site selection process," said Leslie Wagner of Ginovus.

"Both The Right Place and Michigan Economic Development Corporation were extremely helpful in working to ensure that we had all of the needed information throughout the decision making process."

The city of Grand Rapids also is considering a property tax abatement to provide support for Knight's investment in a warehouse on the city's Northwest Side.

"The city is grateful that Knight Transportation has found Grand Rapids an ideal place to accelerate its business forward," said Economic Development Director Kara Wood.

"The strong partnership between the city, The Right Place, Inc., the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and West Michigan Works! all came together in an effort to make this project possible."

Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.
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A diner at the Corner Bar in Rockford picked up the lunch tab for military personnel in the restaurant on Wednesday, March 23. (Courtesy photo)

ROCKFORD, MI -- Dozens of soldiers ate for free Wednesday at a suburban Grand Rapids restaurant when another diner quietly picked up the tab for the military members.

A person eating at the Corner Bar in Rockford asked to talk to the manager when he saw more than 30 uniformed military personnel file into the popular downtown restaurant.

The patron, who had one request, said he wanted to pick up the tab for the entire group of up to 40.

"The person who took care of the bill was clear that he didn't want any attention," said John Vanaman, the restaurant's general manager. "He said he wanted to remain anonymous."

Determined to keep that promise, Vanaman wouldn't even say if the generous patron was a familiar face at the eatery, known for its selection of hot dogs and a hot dog-eating contest.

The bill was an estimated $200. The man left a 25-percent tip, said Vanaman, who also discounted the bill 20 percent.

"That was totally cool of the guest," Vanaman said.

The full-time soldiers were training at the Belmont Armory. They are among 100 Michigan National Guard soldiers from around the state taking part in a three-day training for logistics and maintenance that ends Friday, March 25, said Lt. Col. William Humes, public affairs officer for the Michigan National Guard.

Lisa Watson, who was dining with a friend when the soldiers came in for lunch, didn't realize what had happened until after she saw the Corner Bar's Facebook page shortly before 1 p.m. The Comstock Park resident is just out of shot in the posted photo.

"I thought it was awesome because I'm a big supporter of those who serve," Watson said. "It really speaks volumes about the people in Rockford."

The diner at the Corner Bar picked up this bill and a smaller one for military personnel who had lunch at the Rockford restaurant on March 23, 2016. (Courtesy photo)

Shandra Martinez covers business and other topics for MLive. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez.
CHICAGO -- The popular HopCat craft beer bar is eyeing its first Chicago location in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The Grand Rapids-based chain has set its sights on 2577 N. Clark St., the boarded up former location of Italian eatery Vapiano that closed in 2014, reports DNAinfo.

The deal hinges on approval of a liquor license and a zoning change that would allow for a larger restaurant on the site, the site reported.

Last year, parent company BarFly Ventures announced plans to open 30 HopCats across the Midwest, financed with $25 million from a Texas lender.

Barfly, which launched in 2008 in downtown Grand Rapids, opened its eighth location in Omaha, Neb., last weekend.

The Chicago location is less than 5 miles from Breakroom Brewery, which is in a legal fight with Mark Sellers, owner of Barfly Ventures.

Sellers filed a $180,000 suit last year against Aaron Heineman, of Chicago, alleging the woodworker took payment but never delivered two bars for the opening of HopCat Detroit in December 2014.

Heineman recently opened the BreakRoom Brewery in Chicago in the same location as his building company, 2925 West Montrose Ave.

Court records indicate HopCat was awarded a default judgment plus attorney fees in the case against Heineman. The Heineman Bar Company closed in November 2015, the business noted in a Tweet.

Shandra Martinez covers business and other topics for MLive. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez.
Firstronic.jpg

Firstronic LLC, a company that makes electronic circuit boards, announced it will invest $1.85 million in new equipment and add 50 new jobs to its operations at 1655 Michigan Street NE.

(File photo | Mlive Media Group)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Firstronic LLC, a company that makes electronic circuit boards, announced it will invest $1.85 million in new equipment and add 50 new jobs to its operations at 1655 Michigan St. NE.

The expansion will be assisted by a $200,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the city of Grand Rapids, according to an announcement by The Right Place Inc. on Wednesday, March 23.

The expansion builds on a 2013 project in which the company created 110 new jobs after a $2.45 million expansion.

The $200,000 grant will support Firstronic's investment in automation technology and employee training efforts to increase capacity and efficiency at its Grand Rapids facility, according to the Right Place announcement.



"The demand for our superior quality manufacturing services is increasing at a very fast pace," Firstronic CEO John Sammut said in the news release.

"However, with that demand comes increased pressure to locate manufacturing abroad, specifically in China and Mexico," Sammut said. "With assistance from The Right Place and their partners, we are able to ensure that we will also continue to increase our investment and job creation here in West Michigan," he said.

"And, since manufacturing jobs can be transformative, we aren't simply creating jobs. We are also helping the employees we hire add additional skills over time," Sammut said.

Firstronic has operated at the Michigan Street NE plant since 2001, when its parent company bought a vacant building.

"The trend to locate manufacturing operations near your customer is moving further up the supply chain," said Bill Small, vice president of technical services, The Right Place, Inc., and regional director for the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center - West.

"With no expected slowdown in this trend, it is critical for us to ensure that our companies, like Firstronic, can continue growing and investing in West Michigan."

Firstronic is hoping to fill several open positions and will begin hiring for this latest investment later in 2016. Applicants can visit the company's online careers area of its website at: http://www.firstronic.com/Careers.html.

Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.
Four Winds Dowagiac

Nicole Grabovac, of Hartford, works at one of the gaming tables during the April 2014 opening of the Four Winds Dowagiac.

(Al Jones | MLive File)

KALAMAZOO, MI - The owners of the Four Winds Casino Resorts in Michigan plan to build their fourth gaming facility in South Bend, Ind., as well as a new tribal village.

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of South Bend announced Wednesday that they have reached two intergovernmental agreements that will allow the construction of a new casino and a new residential village there.

The project is expected to cost millions and construction work, as well as long-term jobs, are expected to put hundreds of people to work. But no monetary estimates were provided.

And there were no estimates of the size of the casino or what housing and other facilities are to be included in the tribal village.

The Pokagon Band is already the owner of three casino resorts -- the nine-year-old Four Winds Casino New Buffalo, the five-year-old Four Winds Casino Hartford, and the three-year-old Four Winds Casino Dowagiac.

"The Pokagon Band has been in this region for hundreds of years and the Tribal Village in South Bend will help preserve our legacy for future generations," John P. Warren, chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, said in a press release.

He thanked South Bend Mayor Buttigieg, other city officials, supporters of the Michiana Pokagon Alliance, the Pokagon Gaming Authority Board of Directors, and members of the Pokagon Band's tribal council "for working to move this process forward."

In the release, Mayor Buttigieg said, "These are historic agreements for the City of South Bend with the region's original inhabitants that will infuse

millions of dollars into the economy and create hundreds of new jobs. It is

extraordinary to reach an agreement that will not only support the economy, but also provide much needed funding for community projects, local organizations and our schools."

According to information provided by the tribe, the agreements allow for the restoration of the Pokagon Band's homeland in the South Bend area and the development of the tribe's 166-acre site there as a home for a tribal village and a Four Winds Casino.

The site is located between Prairie Avenue, U.S. 31, and Locust Road in South Bend. The first agreement will enable the city to provide sewer and water services to the development site, according to a press release. The second agreement involves payments in lieu of property taxes by the Pokagon Band to the City of South Bend, community development initiatives, and other terms and conditions.

According to the release, "The Pokagon Band offered to work with the city on these agreements in the spirit of mutual cooperation and to further demonstrate its long-term commitment to investing in the City of South Bend and its residents."

Warren said in the release that the tribe believes the Local Agreement and the Water and Sewer Agreement "establish important understandings between our governments that will serve as a bridge to greater cooperation and economic opportunity for Pokagon Citizens, the City of South Bend and area residents."

MLive writer Al Jones may be contacted at ajones5@mlive.com. Follow me on Twitter at ajones5_al.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Everywhere they went, from the U.S. Capitol to the Library of Congress, they turned heads and received warm welcomes.

Thirty-one original "Rosie the Riveters," the women who went to work in American factories producing munitions and war supplies critical to the Allied victory during World War II, took a whirlwind tour around the nation's capital on Tuesday, receiving thanks for their service to celebrate Women's History Month.

Michigan's original Rosie the Riveters pose for a photo in front of the U.S. Capitol on March 22, 2016.

The special honor flight from Michigan to D.C. and back was made possible by the Ford Motor Co. Fund and the Yankee Air Museum in partnership with Talons Out Honor Flight, and in coordination with the offices of U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Candice Miller, both congresswomen from Michigan.

The majority of the Rosies honored, most of them now in their 90s, worked at Ford's Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti during the war in the 1940s.

They and their family members, who came from several cities in Michigan for the honor flight, began their trip early Tuesday, flying out of Detroit Metro Airport.

When they arrived at Reagan International Airport, they were greeted by a large crowd, with much fanfare, flags waving and people singing.

"Thank you" was often repeated as people lined up to shake hands with the Rosies, who wore red cardigans.

Variations of that scene repeated throughout the day.

The Rosies were shuttled across the Potomac River into D.C. by a police-escorted caravan of buses. They posed for pictures on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with Michigan's representatives in Congress before attending a luncheon where they were honored inside the Library of Congress.

Dingell and Miller both thanked the Rosies for being part of the Arsenal of Democracy during WWII and opening doors for women.

"The country was never the same for what you did for us, going into the workforce and opening the doors wider for us," Dingell said.

The Rosies signed autographs for members of Congress on Rosie the Riveter posters as they left the James Madison Memorial Building.

They then visited the World War II Memorial, where they were once again welcomed by a large crowd, before making two more stops at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

There was music playing and people swing dancing as they arrived at the airport to fly back to Michigan, where a homecoming ceremony awaited them.

The honor flight came after more than 2,000 women, including 43 original Rosies, gathered at the former Willow Run bomber plant in October to take back the Guinness world record for the largest gathering of Rosie the Riveters since WWII.

The Rosies were humbled to be honored on Tuesday. In interviews during the trip, some shared their stories of doing their part for the war effort.

"I was just somebody who came down from up north to work in the bomber plant so that I could have some money," said Virginia Basler, who worked at the Willow Run plant from 1943 to 1944 and, at the age of 92, still lives in Ypsilanti.

"I was 19, I think, when I came down, and I worked there until I was 21, and then I joined the Coast Guard. That was the end of my bomber days," she said.

Rosie the Riveters sign autographs for members of Congress on March 22, 2016.

"When I worked, I worked in the fuselage, so I had to make holes for Rosie so she could put the rivet in. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had a job."

Basler, who was stationed in D.C. during her time in the Coast Guard, said being honored on Tuesday was "just a wonderful thing."

With 3.5 million square feet of factory space and an aircraft assembly line more than a mile long, the Willow Run plant produced 8,685 B-24 Liberator bombers.

About 42,000 people worked at the plant, including 15,000 women. That included Rose Will Monroe, the inspiration for the Rosie the Riveter character that became a patriotic symbol and an icon of the feminist movement, famously pictured wearing a bandanna and flexing her muscles under the slogan: "We can do it!"

Ypsilanti Mayor Amanda Edmonds, Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo and Superior Township Treasurer Brenda McKinney joined the Rosies on Tuesday.

"What a great testament to where our nation has come to that we're finally recognizing their contributions," Edmonds said.

"It's our history. It's our foundation," Stumbo said of what the Rosies symbolize.

"A lot people came to work in the manufacturing industry. They came from the south, black and white, and all worked together. It really started and provided the foundation of the Ypsilanti area community. I'm very proud of it and very proud of what the women here have done. It's an amazing experience. They laid the foundation for us to work in an industrialized nation. We stand on their shoulders."

Dorothy Norton, 91, who lives in Chelsea, said she worked from 1943 until the war ended as a secretary at the War Manpower Commission office in downtown Ypsilanti where people, many of them coming to Michigan from the south, were hired to work at the Willow Run bomber plant.

"Some of them, amazing enough, couldn't read or write," she said. "They would teach them out at the plant if they couldn't -- enough to do their work."

As she made her way to the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, she reflected on what it means for the Rosies to be recognized.

"I always realize that what we did here isn't nearly as much as all of the service people going out there, but we were glad to do it," she said.

Mallie Mellon, 96, said she and her husband made the move from Kentucky after hearing on the radio that workers were needed at factories in Michigan.

Mellon, who now lives in Belleville, said she got a job as a riveter at the Briggs plant in Detroit in 1943.

"I was a riveter, and then I was a burnisher," she said. "It was a little tool that you polished the hole where the rivets went in. So, I did both."

She said it felt good to be honored on Tuesday.

"You know, when I worked on those wings, I never thought it'd be like this. So, we're getting paid back," she said with a smile.

Helen Kushnir, 90, who worked as a riveter at the Chrysler DeSoto plant during WWII, said she's gotten a lot of awards and plaques over the years, but none of that compares to how she felt as the Rosies were honored on Tuesday.

"I think the tear-jerker was at the airport," she said. "That was just overwhelming. I cried. Those little kids and the boy scouts. I just couldn't believe it."

Frances Masters, 94, stands at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 2016. "It gives me chills," she said. "I feel like I should still be working to fight this enemy. I would do it tomorrow if I had to."

Kushnir, who lives in Dearborn, took the stage during Tuesday's luncheon to suggest a revision to the popular "we can do it" slogan on Rosie the Riveter posters.

"I propose that we get a new poster that says, 'We Rosies did it.'"

Marilyn Nowak, who grew up in the Ypsilanti area and went to Lincoln High School, recalled how she got a summer job as an installer of hydraulic tubing at the Willow Run plant after graduating high school in 1943.

"Well, before I graduated, the bomber plant had already been built and tons of people were getting jobs there. So, when I was a senior, instead of taking home ec, they had us take drafting. We learned how to read a blueprint," she said.

"So, then I went to the bomber plant and got hired right away. We called it the war effort, and it definitely was the war effort, and everybody from little kids on up, we did everything we could."

After leaving Tuesday's luncheon at the Library of Congress, Nowak, who is 91, shared her thoughts on the Rosies being honored.

"This is a wonderful day, and I never dreamed that it would be this magnificent, really," she said.

Frances Masters, 94, said she worked at the Willow Run plant for a few years during WWI and took the bus from Detroit to Ypsilanti every day.

"It took us an hour to get there. I had two other sisters working there, but they passed away," said Masters, who lives in the New Baltimore area now.

"I did small parts and the rivets," she said of her job at the plant. "At times, where the bombs come out, I was right in the middle with the big air gun putting rivets in, and I enjoyed working there. I worked for a purpose -- to win the war."

Masters reflected on that Tuesday as she stood at the World War II Memorial next to the engraved quote: "Women who stepped up were measured as citizens of the nation, not as women. This was a people's war, and everyone was in it."

"It gives me chills," she said. "I feel like I should still be working to fight this enemy. I would do it tomorrow if I had to."

Milan resident Laura Eglinsdoerfer, 91, recalled meeting her husband, Edward, while they were working together at the Willow Run plant in 1944.

It started with an exchange of glances and grins as they passed each other one day, and soon they started eating lunch together.

"We ate our lunch every day outside," she said.

In 1945, they got married. Together, they raised nine children, and last year they celebrated their 70th anniversary.

Edward was waiting for Laura at the airport when she got back from her trip to D.C. on Tuesday night.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.
Mark Schlissel u-m president

University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel responds to a question during an interview in his office in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Jan. 9, 2015.

(The Ann Arbor News File Photo)

The University of Michigan is updating its student sexual misconduct policy as part of an effort to make the process of investigating those incidents more transparent.



The revised policy was announced Wednesday morning in a letter posted by President Mark Schlissel on his university website.



"The changes are designed to make our policy more clear and help students better understand the choices available during each part of the process," Schlissel wrote. "We want it to be supportive of the needs of our students, while ensuring fairness and due process for all involved."



The policy will be made available on April 6, and will go into effect on July 1.

In his letter, Schlissel acknowledged efforts have been ongoing for more than a year to look at sexual misconduct issues on campus. The university expanded training for student groups and employees as well as sought feedback on how to improve the policy.



"I greatly appreciate the engagement of many students, faculty and staff in this very important work. I am committed to providing the safest possible environment for all members of the University of Michigan community," Schlissel wrote.



Changes in the policy include:





Expanding the definitions of unwanted conduct to include gender-based harassment, intimate violence and stalking, with a clearer picture surrounding consent. It will also further define affirmative consent along with force, incapacitation and coercion.

Defining employee responsibility and their obligations for sharing information about suspected sexual assault or gender-based harassment.

Further details on how the university will share information with law enforcement.

Procedural changes to ensure a fair process and enhance transparency of the process for claimants, respondents and witnesses.

In a report on

other policy changes were announced surrounding clarification of policies and procedures in various situations. The policy will also consider prior sexual contact between the parties as part of the investigative process.

"These are very complex issues. We were assisted in our work by U-M faculty and staff experts, and our students, as well as external experts," Schlissel wrote. "While no policy on a subject as difficult as this will ever be perfect, I hope that the changes we have made will help us better address the issue.

"A single instance of sexual or gender-based misconduct or any form of interpersonal violence is one too many."

The policy will be known as the "University of Michigan Policy and Procedures on Student Sexual and Gender-based Misconduct and other forms of Interpersonal Violence."

The university will also launch an awareness campaign in the next month to share information and encourage survivors to seek support.

Matt Durr is a reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at mattdurr@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.
BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay City teen accused of breaking into a house and assaulting a person there has pleaded guilty to a felony.

Sean P. McPeak, 18, on Friday, March 4, appeared in Bay County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree home invasion. The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

In exchange for his plea, the prosecution is agreeing to dismiss a count of first-degree home invasion. That charge is a 20-year felony. Court records also indicate the prosecution has agreed to recommend McPeak be sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act.

The act allows a judge to place a defendant between the ages of 17 and 24 in jail or on probation without a conviction. If the defendant successfully completes the terms of the judge's sentence, he or she avoids having a criminal record.

McPeak's charges stem from an incident the afternoon of June 24 in the 100 block of 32nd Street in which police received a 911 call of a home invasion. The caller, Benjamin Link, told officers he came home and saw a red BMX bicycle in his yard. He then saw his house's back door was open, went inside and saw McPeak in his living room.

Link asked McPeak what he was doing there, and McPeak yelled to someone unseen that Link was home, according to court records. McPeak then punched Link in the face, and Link responded by grabbing his assailant's neck, he told police.

They fell to the floor and scuffled, but McPeak managed to get up and run outside. He tried jumping the fence's gate, but Link grabbed him and threw him to the ground, he told police. McPeak got up again and ran to the fence on another side of the yard, only to be yanked down by Link again, Link told police.

McPeak eventually got up yet again, finally jumped the fence and pedaled off on his bike, Link told police.

"He's lucky I didn't think about grabbing my shotgun when I came in," Link told police, according to their reports in court records. "I would have blown him in half."

Link told officers that McPeak's brother lives a few houses down and that he went there looking for McPeak, to no avail. He theorized McPeak was in his house to steal his medical marijuana crop. He added that he did not see another person in his house, court records show.

Police went to McPeak's brother's house. He told them McPeak wouldn't have stolen anything from Link, adding that Link came to his place waving a pipe and yelling for McPeak. Link went so far as to strike McPeak's brother's finger with the pipe, he alleged to police.

Police spoke with Link again, and he denied hitting McPeak's brother with a pipe, saying they only exchanged words. He also told them he had discovered a bottle of about 120 Vicodin pills was missing, court record show.

McPeak later called 911 to speak with police. He met with them and said he rode his bike to Link's house and walked into his house about a foot after finding its back door open. He said he was yelling for Link, thinking loud music might have kept Link from hearing him. The next thing he knew, Link came storming at him and grabbed him by his neck, McPeak told police.

"He had both of his hands around my neck," McPeak told officers. "I was scared and in self-defense I punched him in the face."

McPeak denied having anyone else with him and said he did not steal anything, according to court records. He also said he wanted to press charges against Link.

Police ended up arresting McPeak.

Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran is to sentence McPeak at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, April 25.
DETROIT, MI -- Officials on Tuesday announced the creation of the Detroit Promise, offering tuition-free community college to every student who graduates from any high school in the city -- public, private or charter.

Here are the details on how Detroit high school students can apply:

Where?

Students can apply at DetroitScholarshipFund.com. Applicants who've already applied through that website through a previous, smaller version of the program do not need to re-apply.

Who is eligible?

All students who live in the city, graduate high school after spending their junior and senior years in Detroit and get accepted to Wayne County Community College, Macomb Community College, Oakland Community College, Henry Ford Community College or Schoolcraft Community College are eligible.

There is no grade-point-average requirement.

Deadline:

Current high school seniors must apply by July 30, 2016.

What else is required?

All applicants must also apply for federal financial aid by June 30.

Students must also participate in student academic success activities outlined by the community college they choose. That could include orientation sessions, study groups and classes on academic success.

The scholarship also offers tuition for any necessary remedial courses.

Who is paying for it?

The Detroit Promise is initially being funded by private donations gathered by the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation.

In 2018, local tax captures from an existing, 6-mill education property tax will begin contributing to the fund.

Officials did not immediately release specific fundraising goal figures, but said three major charitable foundations, including the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, have made million-dollar pledges to the fund, and that the tax captures will raise an increasing amount of matching funds -- "$2 million, $3 million and $4 million a year," said Mayor Mike Duggan.

"That's how we can tell you today that it doesn't matter today if you are in tenth grade or in third grade, we can promise you that when your time comes, at least your first two years are going to be paid for because you graduated from school in the city of Detroit," Duggan said.
FLINT, MI -- The state's emergency manager law needs to be reviewed following the Flint water crisis, according to the governor-appointed task force charged with investigating the city's water woes.

The task force's final report, released Wednesday, March 23, placed a bulk of the blame for the city's water crisis at the feet of state agencies charged with protecting the public's health.

But task force members also said state-appointed emergency managers running the city failed to protect Flint's residents.

The task force stopped short of calling for a repeal to the controversial measure.

"I said it before, I think the law has value," said Gov. Rick Snyder, who was in Flint on Wednesday to help present the report. "Overall, can it be improved? I'm always open to that discussion and I appreciate (the task force's) recommendations, and I look forward to talking to the legislature about that at some point in the future."

The issue of who approved the switch has been a contentious one, with Flint officials saying they never voted to do it and state officials claiming the emergency manager, who was appointed by Snyder, was just following the will of the people when he signed off on the switch.

However, the task force concluded the decision to change the city's water supply was made by former Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz, not locally-elected officials.

They added that other future emergency managers, Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, refused to switch the city back to the Detroit water system despite growing complaints about the quality of the city's water supply.

The task force concluded that the emergency managers charged with overseeing the state's financially -distressed cities do not have, nor are they supported, with the expertise to oversee non-financial aspects of city government, and that practices can be improved to better ensure that protection of public health and safety is not compromised.

Three recommendations were made by the task force regarding the state's emergency manager law, including a review to identify measures to compensate for the loss of checks and balances, consider alternatives to the current emergency manager approach and ensure proper support and expertise to effectively manage the city.

Alternatives proposed by the task force included engaging local officials on key decisions, an ombudsman function in state government to ensure local concerns are a factor in emergency manger decisions and an opportunity to appeal the decisions made by the emergency managers.

However, Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said more needs to be done to fully understand why the crisis happened to ensure it will not happen again.

"The report confirms the what and the how, but we still need to know why these failures happened," Ananich said. "Until we fully understand why state-controlled entities, including the DEQ, the DHHS and four emergency managers, didn't protect people, we cannot ensure this kind of tragedy will not be repeated."

Snyder's office says it is currently reviewing the recommendations, but the governor said the idea of providing the emergency managers with subject-matter experts "makes a lot of common sense."

The report also points to a local emergency financial assistance loan executed by the Flint emergency managers on April 29, 2015.

Treasury officials, through the loan, precluded the city's return to the Detroit water system without prior state approval.

"The Governor's own hand-picked task force totally contradicts his testimony before Congress last week, placing responsibility for the Flint Water Crisis squarely with him, his emergency managers, and his administration," said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon. "This report confirms a critical finding that the Governor's administration used the emergency manager agreement to prevent Flint from switching back to clean Detroit water, even after repeated warnings of lead and Legionnaires' Disease and demands by Flint City Council and Flint residents that the city return to Detroit water."

The governor, last week in front of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, conceded that it was a "fair conclusion" to say the state's emergency manager system failed Flint in handling its water crisis.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-New Jersey, questioned Snyder on how the state-appointed emergency managers handled the city's water crisis.

"Did that emergency management system fail under your leadership in this matter," Coleman asked, eventually demanding a yes or no response from the governor.

"In this particular case, with respect to the water issue, that would be a fair conclusion," Snyder said.

Flint has a long history of emergency management due to its poor financial condition.

Ed Kurtz was first appointed as the city's emergency manager in 2002, following the recall of former Mayor Woodrow Stanley. Kurtz eventually ruled the emergency was over in 2004.

The city re-entered emergency management in 2011 when Snyder appointed Michael Brown to oversee the city under Public Act 4.

Voters rejected the state's emergency manager law during a referendum on the November 2012 general election ballot.

However, Republican lawmakers reestablished the practice in Public Act 436, which went into effect March 28, 2013, following a lame-duck legislative session and being signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. The new law expanded the emergency manager's power to cover all conduct of local governments, including finance and governance issues.

The managers placed extensive limits on the powers of the city's elected officials.

Flint remained under multiple emergency manager until January 2016, when a state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board was put into place. The RTAB remains in place.

The legality of the state's emergency manager law is currently being challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
FLINT, MI --The U.S. Department of Labor announced up to $15 million in grants to help provide temporary jobs to assist with Flint's water crisis recovery.

Initially, $7.5 million under the National Dislocated Worker Grant program will be released to help fund various jobs including delivering water, water filters, replacement cartridges and lead-testing kits to Flint families. The funding will also provide career and training services.

City of Flint councilman Eric Mays says he is hopeful that the grant will help residents eventually become gainfully employed.

"Well, on the surface it sounds great," said Mays who has been advocating for employment for Flint residents. "I hope we can have direct input on it. Open and honest discussion when and if the grant is received. I look forward to working out the details on how it's applied to community."

The National Dislocated Worker Grant provides resources to states for unexpected events causing job losses. Officials say about 400 temporary jobs will be created through the grant.

"National Dislocated Worker Grants are an important why that the federal government can assist workers, business and entire communities as they recover from crisis," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez in a March 23 press release. "The investment announced today will help the people of Flint repair the physical damage and care for their neighbor, while also helping put area works back on track to sustainable careers in and around the community they love."

The press release also said additional funding up to the $15 million may be made available as Michigan shows a need for financial assistance.
The new governments likely choice for the role of Minister of Planning and Finance is a lower house member of parliament for Dagon Seikkan township, a business consultant and a little-known member of the partys economic committee.





One of 18 new ministers proposed by the president-elect to parliament yesterday, 68-year-old U Kyaw Win has also worked in the ministries of finance and planning and as a senior lecturer at the Myanma Computer Company training institute, he told The Myanmar Times yesterday.

His curriculum vitae, made public by the National League for Democracy, shows that he holds a masters degree and a PhD from a college in the United States called Brooklyn Park University.

Or so it seemed. The claim was abruptly put to bed after a Facebook user with the account name Win Thu posted a picture of the future finance ministers official CV, together with links to a New York Times investigation. The post was quickly shared nearly 500 times.

The New York Times revealed last May that a Pakistan-based software company called Axact had built a fake universe of more than 370 academic websites, including one for a Brooklyn Park University, and had scammed hopeful academics across the world out of tens of millions of dollars.

Asked yesterday evening whether his degrees were bogus, U Kyaw Win said that they were.

I am not going to call myself Dr any more, as I know now that it is a fake university, he told The Myanmar Times.





He has penned a number of articles on economics and finance in journals and business magazines under the names M Kyaw Win and Dr Kyaw Win.

I tried to contact a university in California in 2005 but I failed to get in. Later in 2008, I joined an online course at Brooklyn Park University. I started to study for a thesis but did not complete it. The PhD on my CV is not a real qualification.

In reality, he has never studied in the US. He worked for the department of planning for more than 20 years and for another seven in the department of finance, he said.

The list of ministers submitted by President-elect U Htin Kyaw to parliament did not specify which ministries they would oversee, but U Kyaw Win confirmed that he has been put forward for the finance and planning role. An official announcement is expected today.

In addition to the two false degrees, U Kyaw Wins official resume states that he was born in 1948 in Labutta township, Ayeyarwady Region, studied basic higher education in Pathein and graduated with a bachelor of economics from Yangon Institute of Economics.

He served in the planning department from 1972 to 1997 and the Revenue Department from 1992 to 1997, and has since served as an economic adviser to the party.

Asked about his plans for the economy if his nomination is approved by parliament, U Win Kyaw said he would develop the economic sector according to [the NLD] manifesto adding that it is too early to announce reform priorities.

We know which reforms need to be made and we will make sure that our policies materialise, he said.

The party outlined a range of economic reforms in its election manifesto last year, based on five pillars  fiscal prudence, lean and efficient government, revitalising agriculture, monetary and fiscal stability, and functioning infrastructure.

It describes reducing wasteful spending and privatising appropriate state-owned enterprises in an open and transparent way, running a transparent budget and cleaning up the taxation system  targeting tax evasion and corrupt officials.

Property rights will be respected, the agriculture sector will be modernised, farmers will be granted full production freedoms and foreign companies will be invited to farm virgin land.

According to the manifesto the Central Bank of Myanmar will also be dramatically restyled as a genuinely autonomous institution and the financial sector will be liberalised.

U Han Thar Myint of the NLDs economic committee said he believes the new minister can enact effective policy across the industry. We have seen that his personality is honest and reliable, he said.

Other officials from the finance ministry said yesterday they were not familiar with U Kyaw Win, whose career to date has been spent out of the limelight. U Zeya Kyi Nyint, director general of the Internal Revenue Department, said yesterday that he had not heard of the new finance minister.

Anyway, I think the change is positive, even though we dont know anything about the organisational structure [of the finance ministry] under the new government, he said.

A former general manager at state-owned Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) who asked not to be named questioned whether U Kyaw Win will be able to manage the ministry with authority, given his former positions as a junior official. Nevertheless, the NLD has deemed him suitable, he said.

I hope we will see some remarkable changes in the financial sector over the next five years, he added.

There are 11 departments and state-owned financial institutions with a total of over 20,000 staff under the Ministry of Finance, while the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development (MNPED) has six departments.

Ministry spokespeople said earlier this week that these numbers will change this coming April, as the departments are likely to be reorganised.

Permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance U Maung Maung Win said change is inevitable.

Either way, we had already planned to extend our capacity and restructure the ministry.
Foreign investors have turned their attention to multi-million-dollar projects in Myanmars healthcare industry after being shut out for years, encouraged by the countrys growing base of customers with money to spend.





Rising disposable income, a budding middle class and opportunities to target a market that currently relies on overseas medical care are enticing foreign companies to do business in the country.

They face a huge opportunity because we are still in a very primitive stage of healthcare, said Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry vice president U Maung Maung Lay.

The opportunity is also very new. Until 2014, foreign investors were restricted from providing backing for medical facilities.

The Ministry of Health has since liberalised the gravely underfunded sector, approving international investment into private hospitals, clinics, diagnostic services, the private production of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and private medical and health-related education institutions, according to a recent report by UK Trade and Investment.

Regional neighbours Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand  whose private hospitals the analysis firm BMI Research anticipates will represent the largest share of market entrants  have hopped into the healthcare sector since it was liberalised.

A major new entrant is Parkway Healthcare Indo-China, a subsidiary of Malaysias IHH Healthcare Berhard, which started building a US$70 million hospital in Yangon in January.





Parkway holds the majority stake in the joint venture consortium behind the plan, while Macondray Holdings  incorporated in Singapore  takes a 10.5pc share. Two Myanmar-registered firms split the rest.

Myanmars long-term income growth potential and gradual emergence of a middle class, coupled with the rapid influx of foreign tourists and expatriates, are expected to bode well for private healthcare providers like IHH, the company said in a press release.

Indonesias Lippo Group signed up for a $420 million joint venture with First Myanmar Investment (FMI) to build 12 hospitals in the future, according to Oxford Business Group.

Thailands Thonburi Hospital Group and Bumrungrad Hospital have both moved into the market  and more players may be on the way, especially from Myanmars southeastern neighbour.

Due to the geographic proximity, Thailand-based healthcare providers are expected to be the most active in expanding into this frontier market, said a BMI Research outlook from January.

The influx of private healthcare providers into Myanmar will continue, creating positive spillover effects for both medical device and pharmaceutical firms.

The flood of foreign attention has not been welcomed by all, however.

The IHH Healthcare hospital has been the cause of controversy in Myanmar, as students as well as medical professionals have rallied against the development.

Meanwhile, the National League for Democracy said in its manifesto its first priority would be improving and expanding basic healthcare provision. Other aims included reducing out-of-pocket spending on medical treatment  which often costs more at private hospitals. The manifesto also said the NLD would permit lawful openings of private hospitals and clinics in order to augment public health.

Prior to continuing to pass legislation that makes it easier for international companies to build hospitals in Myanmar, people should think about the strategys potential for improving access to care for the average person, said Yangon-based American Board of Family Medicine physician Dr Christoph Gelsdorf.

Does a rising tide lift all ships in this situation?
The Danish government is funding a four-year project in Rakhine State and Tanintharyi Region to help improve the lives of local fishermen and conserve marine resources, according to officials.





The project is expected to start in early 2017, and will take place in five communities in Rakhine State and five in Tanintharyi Region, said U Soe Thet, an official from the Dawei Fisheries Department.

The central Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock is still working on the design, and the Myanmar government and Danish authorities must give their final approval, he added.

Fishing is the second-largest contributor to employment opportunities and income in the primary sector after agriculture, providing direct employment to millions of people, said Henning Nohr, development counsellor at the Danish embassy in Yangon.

Small-scale artisanal fishermen and their families are among the countrys poorest and most vulnerable groups, Mr Nohr said. The sector generates employment opportunities among women and in several predominantly ethnic areas [which we] also identified as key areas for Danish support.

Large-scale offshore operators and small-scale inshore fisheries are putting the fishing sector under increasing pressure, he added.

The current practice of increasingly intensive fishing is unsustainable, and will not solve the challenge of improving livelihoods in coastal communities, Mr Nohr said. U Soe Thet said the Danish-funded projects focus was less on investment and more on raising awareness among fishermen. This would help improve guidelines on conversation and sustainability to international standard, he said.

Though the Department of Fisheries has already improved conservation in some areas and implemented restrictions for fishing, we need to check whether the people on ground are following [these regulations] across different areas and seasons, he said.





The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock or regional fisheries departments set regulations on restricted fishing areas, but the project aims to allow local fishermen to set their own regulations which fisheries departments can then approve, said U Soe Thet.

It will also help local communities improve how their fishing industry functions. This will include working on handling, processing and transport, which in turn will improve the quality of goods and mean better prices for middlemen and local markets, said Mr Nohr.

The project will work with the local private sector on quality assurance and access to national, regional and international markets, he added, and where possible will link up with existing or planned national efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Myanmar National Airlines has received three of the 10 Boeing aircraft it has agreed to lease from GE Capital Aviation Services, and the state-owned carrier plans to almost double its fleet and triple its carrying capacity in the next few years.





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The national carrier received the first of the Boeing 737-800s in June last year, and the third just a few weeks ago, a spokesperson for GE said.

GE Capital Aviation Services expects to deliver two aircraft a year between 2015 and 2020.

MNA already boasts a fleet larger than the next two largest airlines combined. In addition to the three new Boeing aircraft, MNA runs two ATR72-600 turboprops, two Embraer jets and six other smaller turboprops with between 11 and 16 seats per plane.

This gives it a total carrying capacity of just over 900 seats  of which over half is provided by the three new Boeing 737-800s.

In addition to seven more Boeing aircraft, MNA also has five more ATR72-600s on order, which would take its total carrying capacity to just over 2700, according to information provided by MNA.

The only other Myanmar airline that offers regular international routes is Myanmar Airways International.





That carrier operates four Airbus A320 that give it a total carrying capacity of 720 seats, although it may add more Airbus aircraft to its fleet next year, Aye Mra Tha, MAIs head of marketing and public relations, said.

The pending Boeing and ATR deliveries would take MNAs fleet to 25. MNA will use its new aircraft for flights to Chengdu and Shanghai, which are expected to start later this year. MNA already flies to Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

MNAs efforts to bolster its fleet are part of a wider revamp of the national carrier, which includes a corporatisation process that will eventually see it operate as a private company.

Although the firm is increasing its international routes the vast majority of its flights are domestic, and its resurgence represents steep competition for other local carriers.
The third LGBT photo competition &Proud is calling for submissions to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAH) on May 17.





All amateur and professional photographers who are willing to portray LGBTs in an optimistic light are welcome to the photo competition.

The best photos of competition will be displayed during the &Proud photo exhibition from May 7 to 15 alongside some of the best photos of LGBT subjects in the ASEAN region. The first-place prize is worth K300,000, and runner-up will take home K150,000.

We plan to invite two professional judges from the international photography community as well as two well-known LGBT leaders from the local scene. We didnt divide amateurs and professionals because we want everyone to contest, said Jeewee van Rooij, a member of the event organising committee.

The photo competition &Proud will also offer K100,000 for the sexiest, proudest and funniest selfies  two winners total  and the deadline to enter both photo contests is May 1.

Contestants must have permission from subjects and adhere to all the competition rules, which can be found on the &Proud website.

Ven Rooij said people were surprised at the excellent photos of LGBT community members from optimistic angles, and in general, at the way Myanmar people have focused on LGBTs work and rights at the last two &Proud photo competitions.





There are many great shots from professional photographers but actually, some normal people have also taken great snapshots that depict their genuine views on LGBTs and a willing mind to accept them, he said. Now, I feel more people from Myanmar are interested in LBGTs.

For photo submissions and more enquiries, contact [email protected].
Its not just one idea  its a competition of ideas.





In hopes to increase awareness about social enterprises, the two-day Steps of Youth conference began today at 9am in the Strategy First Institute on Pyay Road.

Over 100 participants between the ages 18 and 25 will join in the competition, which is hosted by six young entrepreneurs from Japan and Myanmar.

Weve arranged to bolster awareness about social enterprises run by youth because youth are the future of our country, said Ma Hnin Thiri Han, a 23-year-old second-year MBA student from the Yangon Institute of Economics. We want youth to learn about social entrepreneurship and join in the business field to support the people.

Its a burgeoning field in Myanmar, which does not yet have an official business licensing framework for social enterprises despite countless operations already in practice. Proximity Design, an award-winning social enterprise based in Yangon, relies on a local-foreigner partnership to operate its business; the arts and crafts store Pomelo recently underwent seismic overhauls because its legal foundation was murky at best.

This morning, the founder of Strategy First Aung Chit Khin will join the founder of the Sunflower Art Social Enterprise Daw Phyu Ei Thein to give a seminar on the basic concepts and frameworks of social enterprises.

Aftwerward, attendees will have a chance to brainstorm creative and innovative ideas about businesses they could form and methods to benefit the public. After splitting into teams, the conference-goers will prepare business models with the help of mentors. Each team then presents their plan before a panel of judges, who will select eight teams to compete in the final round, which requires English presentations to judge Aung Tun Thet, the current economic adviser to President U Htin Kyaw.

This is the first time in Myanmar that we are focusing on young people, Ma Hnin Thiri Han said. We faced a lot of difficulties arranging this event. But we are happy that the number of competitors are more than we expected, and we have plans to arrange similar events in the future.





The winning three-person team will have a chance to visit Japan and attend Slush Asia, one of the biggest entrepreneurial conferences in Asia, in May. The conference bills itself as a key player in showcasing the evolving startup scene in the upcoming years and attracts global tech juggernauts such as Google and Facebook.
A network of local NGOs has called for improved coordination of aid and relief to tens of thousands of displaced people in Kachin and northern Shan states.





Many of the displaced people have been in camps for more than four years, as renewed fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Tatmadaw broke out in June 2011.

The Joint Strategy Team (JST), a network of nine organisations, said that the protracted displacement was causing unrest, straining relationships with host communities and increasing incidents of violence against women.

It said that the needs and desires of IDPs should be considered when formulating humanitarian strategies and engaging in peace negotiations.

U Gum Sha Awng, program manager with Metta Development Foundation  one of the nine groups involved in the JST  told The Myanmar Times that relief strategies were not as coordinated as they could be.

We want humanitarian relief and response to have a more integrated approach rather than multi-sector strategies that stand alone. Right now, basic needs such as food are critical, as are protection and security, he said.

Speaking at a conference yesterday in Yangon to launch a new JST strategy for humanitarian response covering the period 2016 to 2018, U Gum Sha Awng said the availability of food was a key concern for IDPs, as international assistance has shifted toward cash grants rather than food assistance.





They are concerned that cash grants alone are not going to be enough to purchase, for example rice, as market rates increase. Women are also the main providers of food in the home, and there is concern of reprisals within the family if there doesnt appear to be the same amount of food, he said.

The JST in a statement said it was acutely aware of the difficult conditions IDPs faced as they languished indefinitely in temporary camps.

IDPs must be supported according to their circumstances and the decisions they make now and in the future. Deciding if or when to return, or stay in the camps, should be done only by IDPs informed and careful self-assessment. Humanitarian organizations must support and accompany this process with full respect for IDPs informed decisions, the statement said.

In Pictures: Kachin IDP camps see in 4th year

The spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Myanmar, Pierre Peron, agreed IDPs needed to be at the centre of decision-making about their own futures.

International and local NGOs work closely together in coordination on these matters of response. Local NGOs have been and continue to be at the heart of the response in Kachin and northern Shan states, he said.

The large majority of IDPs, according to a protection assessment presented yesterday, said they feared for their safety in case of return to their homes as they believed landmines surrounded their villages.

Mr Peron said that the concerns about landmines were valid and also of concern to the UN.

Myanmar is in the top bracket of countries of casualties to landmines and injury rates from landmines, yet this is one of the few countries in the world in 2016 where landmines continue to be placed in conflict areas and where civilians live, he said.

Priorities for IDPs, according to the study, included safety and protection, adequate shelter, access to livelihoods and the ability to acquire paid work. They also said that they believed the risks of violence were high, particularly in relation to increasing gender-based violence against women.

Speaking at the conference yesterday, Ma Sai Nu Pan, an IDP living in Hpan Khar Kon Camp in Bhamaw/Bhamo, said protracted displacement was placing immense pressures on host communities and IDPs.

People look at us, the IDPs, and they think we are just enjoying a free ride, but thats not true. We are constantly living in fear and insecurity and we dont want to depend on hand- outs, she said.

Since civil war broke out in Kachin State in 2011, more than 120,000 people have been displaced, with over 110,000 living in 167 camps. In Shan State, conflict has intensified in recent months, bringing with it a new wave of IDPs.

For Ma Sai Nu Pan, the uncertainty of prolonged displacement is a source of constant anxiety.

There is such a long way to go even now, she said. But it seems never-ending that we will be in limbo.
Myanmar will have cause to celebrate World Tuberculosis Day tomorrow, as health organisations start attacking some of the most difficult-to- cure forms the disease with two new drugs.





Myanmar falls among 27 countries worldwide characterised as having the highest burden of tuberculosis cases. The curable bacterial infection kills about 1.5 million people per year globally, according to international health organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which also said Myanmar sees about 9000 new multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases annually.

MDR-TB, and a more extreme form, extremely drug-resistant TB, are very difficult to cure as they do not respond to front-line treatment, and require a cocktail of medicines administered for two years. The chance of a cure is only 50 percent, according to MSF.

The governments National TB Program and MSF, also called Doctors Without Borders, will begin administering two new drugs to about 20 people in Myanmar.

The new medicines, bedaquiline and delamanid, are the first permitted to be added into the TB treatment mix in more than five decades, and present an alternative for patients who have developed a resistance to other drugs or suffer from intense side effects, said MSF.

The drugs received conditional approval from the World Health Organization for use in combating MDR-TB in 2014.

Although we need to be prepared that these drugs might come too late for some of our patients who have suffered from the disease for a long time already, there is increasing evidence showing the value of these new drugs in treating drug-resistant tuberculosis, said MSF endTB implementor Dr Khin Nyein Nyein in a statement. Adding bedaquiline and delamanid to our medical toolbox of potentially effective drugs allows us to create individualised regimes that offer DR-TB patients the best possible chance to survive.

The endTB program aims to provide access to the two new drugs to 2600 MDR-TB patients in 16 countries by 2019.





MSF said in a press release that it would start by administering either delamanid or bedaquiline in Myanmar  backed by global health organisation UNITAID  to 10 DR-TB patients who are co-infected with HIV. The statement added that the Myanmar Ministry of Health is buying bedaquiline for a similar scheme. International advisers will be accessible for support.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is to take four ministerial positions in the new government, with the National League for Democracy intending to make up one-third of the proposed 18-member cabinet and hand key portfolios to allied politicians and technocrats.





A list of 18 proposed ministers read out to the Union parliament yesterday began with the name of the NLD leader, putting an end to months of speculation since last Novembers elections over whether she would join the government she is barred by the constitution from leading, or remain outside the executive as an MP and head of the party.

The cabinet list submitted by President-elect U Htin Kyaw did not specify each ministers portfolio. However what appeared to be a party memo posted on social media indicated that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would take four of a total of 21 ministerial positions  foreign affairs, education, electric power and energy, and head of the office of the president. She is the only woman listed in the cabinet.

NLD senior official and spokesperson U Win Htein confirmed last night that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would take the four posts.

She will be the foreign minister mainly. If she wants to share the duties she has in other ministries with qualified people, she can assign them, U Zaw Myint Maung, another party spokesperson, was quoted as saying by AFP.

Who's who: Inside Myanmar's new cabinet

As foreign minister, the NLD leader will also have a seat on a powerful 11-member security council where the military is in a majority.

On the list of 18 are three lieutenant generals appointed by the Tatmadaw as ministers of home affairs, defence and border affairs. The cabinet also includes six current NLD MPs, six technocrats, two members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, and the vice chair of the Mon National Party, Naing Thet Lwin, a wealthy businessman who appears destined to head the newly created ethnic affairs ministry.





With only one ethnic minority politician and one woman in the cabinet, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis line-up would appear to fall short of the government of national reconciliation she had promised.

U Kyaw Win, an NLD MP who has worked as a business consultant and bureaucrat, was expected to head Planning and Finance, one of the new mega-ministries to emerge from the government downsizing announced by the president-elect this week. In a first hint of controversy over the selection, he admitted last night that degrees listed on his official party profile were fake.

Significant in terms of power-sharing, the two USDP members named on the cabinet are close allies of former Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann who was ousted by hardliners as USDP chair last August in an internal party coup and has developed good relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

I think U Shwe Manns support is one of the reasons for my selection, said U Thein Swe, a USDP MP chosen as minister of labour, immigration and population.

The appointment of a former member of the military junta  U Thein Swe served as minister for transport under then-senior general U Than Shwe  to this key portfolio is certain to come under international scrutiny for the ministrys role in resolving the citizenship issue hanging over the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State.

Expert opinions: Myanmars next government

Former USDP MP Thura U Aung Ko also made it on the list and as former deputy minister for religion he appeared set to head the newly merged Ministry of Religion and Culture.

U Pe Myint, a noted writer, appears lined up for minister of information, with decisions needed to be taken on the future of state-owned newspapers and liberalisation of the broadcasting sector.

MPs welcomed Daw Aung San Suu Kyis decision to take a post in the government to be headed by her proxy president, even though under the countrys complex rules on division of powers established by the former junta she will be required to renounce her seat in parliament as well as leadership of the NLD and party activities.

U Ko Ko Naing, a USDP lawmaker and also an ally of Thura U Shwe Mann, was positive about the line-up.

If she takes the position of minister for the presidential office, then she could work closely together with the president and vice presidents. If she takes the position of the foreign minister, she would have a chance to participate in the National Defence and Security Council, he said.

MPs from ethnic minority parties also welcomed the developments.

Daw Chin Ngaik Man of the Zomi Congress for Democracy said she believes the new NLD-led government would make better progress in the peace process.

The formation of the ethnic affairs ministry is very good. I hope national reconciliation would be built better by the new government among ethnic people, including Bamar. I hope the loss of ethnic rights should be restored in the conflict-torn areas of the country, she said.

U Hla Moe, a medical doctor and MP for Aung Myay Tharzan township of Mandalay, said his leader had prepared the party for her absence over the next five years by handing over the leadership to senior members.

She has already set a good foundation and principles for the party and the party will go on its course more quickly, he said. There is no need to worry for the party.

U Ko Ko Naing said that practically speaking Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can still play a role in party activities without a danger of impeachment.

She can still control party activities somehow by taking a behind-the-scenes role. As the parliament has an NLD majority, there is no possibility of impeaching her even if she would publicly attend party events, he said.

However U Win Htein said the secretariat formed last month made up of himself, U Zaw Myint Maung, U Nyan Win, U Han Thar Myint and U Win Myint will take the leadership role in the party,

Daw Khin Saw Wai of the Arakan National Party said, Im very glad to see such a cabinet team which could lead to national reconciliation. The decision of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to lead Foreign Affairs implies she will not play a role in party activities, but we will wait and see the way she decides to go.

While some commentators asked how and why Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would cope with four ministerial positions, MPs unaccustomed to questioning their leader seemed to think this would be no problem and that a division of responsibilities with other officials could be worked out later if necessary.

Political analyst U Sithu Aung Myint said the NLD leader would face challenges in dealing with major issues left unresolved by the outgoing government, such as unpopular energy projects that were agreed with Chinese companies and then suspended.

But she will lead these sensitive ministries courageously. This is a good leader, he said.
Take a look inside the National League for Democracy's new proposed government with insider profiles of the party's 18 candidates for ministerial posts:





Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Minister of Foreign Affairs; Presidents Office; State Counsellor)

The National League for Democracy leader needs little introduction. Has vowed to rule above the president, and with a reported four portfolios will hold a fair chunk of executive power. The only woman in the cabinet, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won the Pyithu Hluttaw seat of Kawhmu in November.

U Aung Thu (Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock)

A former rector of Yangon University, U Aung Thu served as a government officer for several decades before retiring in August last year to contest the election. He won a seat in the lower house for Yangons Latha township. He has worked in several universities across Myanmar, including a professor of mathematics at Taungoo University. Under his tenure, Yangon University boosted its cooperation with international educational institutions and expanded undergraduate teaching.

U Thant Zin Maung (Minister of Transportation and Communication)

A retired general manager of Myanmar Railways, U Thant Zin Maung holds a masters degree in mathematics from Yangon University. He also served as a lecturer at the university before joining the state-owned rail firm. More recently, in November 2015, he won a seat in the Pyithu Hluttaw for the NLD in his hometown of Monywa.

Thura U Aung Ko (Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs)





A retired military officer and the former deputy minister for religious affairs until he contested the 2010 election, Thura U Aung Ko got a promotion under the NLD. The central executive committee member of the USDP is close to former Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann, and also sat next to the NLD leader in the previous session of parliament when he represented Kanpetlet, Chin State. He was born in 1948, and served the Tatmadaw from 1969 to 1997. He was also briefly the deputy minister of the now-defunct Ministry of Science and Technology.

U Ohn Win (Minister of Natural Resources and Environment)

Currently listed on the advisory board of the Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development, a non-profit, U Ohn Win counts among his credentials a stint as a professor at the University of Forestry, Yezin. He received his masters of science in watershed management from the Colorado State University in the US and has specialised in hydrology, soil conservation, climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation. He is not an NLD member.

U Pe Myint (Minister of Information)

Formerly a doctor with a degree from the Institute of Medicine, U Pe Myint changed careers after 11 years and received training as a journalist at the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation in Bangkok. He then embarked on a career as a writer, penning dozens of novels. He participated in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 1998, and was also editor-in-chief of The Peoples Age Journal. He was born in Rakhine State in 1949.

U Thein Swe (Minister of Labour, Immigration and Population)

Another central executive committee member of the USDP and ally of Thura U Shwe Manns, U Thein Swe formerly served as the ruling partys spokesperson. Under the military government he was the minister for transport. He contested and won a seat in Pyithu Hluttaw in Ann township, Rakhine State.

U Win Khaing (Minister of Construction)

A mechanical engineer by training, U Win Khaing serves on the Myanmar Investment Commission and is the founder and chair of United Engineering Group, an oil, gas and logistics company. He graduated from the Rangoon Institute of Technology and joined Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise in 1976 before heading to the USSR for training in 1981. He was elected as the president of the Myanmar Engineering Society in 2011 and is a fellow of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations.

Naing Thet Lwin (Ministr of Ethnic Affairs)

One of the cabinets elder statesmen, Naing Thet Lwin, an ethnic Mon, was born in 1940. Entered politics in 1958 and joined the Mon Development Party three years later. In 1988 he led a Mon anti-government movement and was a co-founder and vice chair of the Mon Democratic Party, running for a seat in Mawlamyine in the 1990 election. Since then he has developed extensive business interests, including rubber, fisheries processing, food exports and hotels.

Dr Myint Htwe (Minister of Health)

This is Dr Myint Htwes second round of service at the Ministry of Health where he previously worked for 17 years before leaving in 1994 to join the World Health Organization. He held various positions, including director of program management and regional advisor at the WHO until retiring in 2010. According to his CV, he studied at Institute of Medicine 1 and attained a masters in public health from the Institute of Public Health, University of the Philippines as well as a doctorate in public health from Johns Hopkins University in the US. He is a member of the Myanmar Academy of Medical Science and vice chair of the Liver Foundation. He is not an NLD member.

U Than Myint (Minister of Commerce)

U Than Myint became a member of the NLD in 2012 and joined the partys economic committee. He holds a bachelors in economics from Yangon University, and a masters and doctorate from Pacific Western University in the US, according to a profile submitted by the party. His international experience includes time as a civil servant and in the UN, neither position specified. He won a seat last year in Hlaing Tharyar, where he is involved in a group that offers free ambulance service.

U Win Myat Aye (Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement)

Has a long history in the medical field. A paediatrician by training, he is described as a retired professor and child specialist. During his career he served across the country, including in Yangon, Magwe and Sagaing. His final post was at Magwe Medical University, from where he retired in June 2015. Won an Amyotha Hluttaw seat in Bago, where he grew up, in last years election. Also has an extensive history of volunteer work.

U Khin Maung Cho (Minister of Industry)

Born in Meiktila in 1950, U Khin Maung Cho holds a bachelors in engineering in mechanics. His CV lists him as executive engineer at automotive company Super Seven Stars, the authorised distributor of Kia cars.

U Kyaw Win (Minister of Planning and Finance)

Much of U Kyaw Wins resume, and especially his academic profile, is in dispute. Born in Laputta in 1948, his CV suggests he graduated from Yangon University with a bachelors in economics and attained a masters in business consulting and a PhD from Brooklyn Park University, which he admitted is not real. His CV also lists a degree from the Global Academy of Finance Management, which claims to offer specialised certifications, some for a fee. U Kyaw Win served in the Planning Department and then the Revenue Department until 1997, when he became the NLDs economic adviser. In the 2015 election he won a Pyithu Hluttaw seat in Dagon Seikkan township.

U Ohn Maung (Minister of Hotels and Tourism)

His involvement in the tourism industry dates back to the socialist era, when he ran the only guesthouse beside Inle Lake. In 1988 he was a leader of an anti-government movement and joined the NLD the following year as township chair. Contested a seat in the 1990 election and like so many of his colleagues was sent to Insein Prison the following year. Handed a 10-year prison term, he was amnestied in 1992 and turned his attention to the nascent tourism industry. In subsequent decades he launched a number of successful hotels, including Inle Princess Resort. He rejoined the NLD in 2012.

U Myo Thein Gyi (Minister of Education)

Director general of the education ministrys Educational Research Bureau, U Myo Thein Gyi, was also formerly in charge of the Department of Basic Education 1 and the Department of Higher Education. He has been heavily involved in curriculum reform and was on the Comprehensive Sector Reform task force, which was involved in drafting last year's the controversial education law, which sparked contentious protests in Yangon and Bago Regions. U Myo Thein Gyi was one of two later additions to the cabinet, after the Ministry of Education was originally assigned to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi along with three other ministries.

U Pyae Myint Htun (Minister of Electricity)

U Pyae Myint Htun was another last-minute inclusion to the National League for Democracy government's cabinet, as he new Ministry of Electricity, created out of the combination of the Ministries of Energy and Electric Power, was originally assigned to party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Lt Gen Sein Win (Minister of Defence)

The incumbent minister for defence, taking over from U Wai Lwin when he retired to contest last years election. Before that he headed air defence. Graduated in Officer Training Schools 54th batch. According to the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies, Lt Gen Sein Win has been outstanding at science and technology since he was young. He is described as cool and calm, and has a reputation within the military as a very professional soldier.

Lt Gen Kyaw Swe (Minister of Home Affairs)

Graduated from Defence Services Academy batch 22 and later served as a principal of the institute. Served as commander of Southwest Region Command, based in Ayeyarwady Region, during Cyclone Nargis. A former head of Military Affairs Security, he was also the minister for border affairs.

Lt Gen Ye Aung (Minister of Border Affairs)

Hailing from DSA batch 23, Lt Gen Ye Aungs first major post was as head of the regional operation command in Tanai, Kachin State. Later became commander for Central Command based in Mandalay and the military judge advocate general. According to Tagaung, he was close to Thura U Shwe Mann in the past but is now a reliable person for Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

This article has been updated to reflect the addition of two ministers, for the Minsitries of Education and Electricity, which were originally assigned to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Experts, analysts, and advisors weigh in on the National League for Democracy's selection of cabinet ministers for the next government, revealed yesterday.





Ko Myat Thu

Chair, Yangon School of Political Science

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is taking positions as head of four different ministries. She will set policy in the most important areas.

The NLD government has reduced the numbers of ministries and ministers. But there is a problem with capacity because most directors from the previous government are from the military. So the NLD needs first to make administrative reforms and that will be a major challenge.

Another challenge is the constitutional barriers. The military controls three ministries, and Home Affairs runs the administration of the whole country.

I ask why the NLD appointed Thura Aung Ko as minister for religious affairs and culture, and U Thein Swe as minister for labour, immigration and population. They held important posts in the previous government and the USDP. Myanmar has experiences of religious conflicts, and illegal immigration is a sensitive issue. I deduce that the NLD will avoid taking responsibility for these sensitive problems, and I am concerned these sectors will not improve.

U Yan Myo Thein

Political analyst

She [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] has taken four ministries and that will be a weight. But as minister of foreign affairs she will be on the National Defence and Security Council to make important decisions. She will have more time to discuss national reconciliation with the Tatmadaw.





I also think the three generals appointed by the commander-in-chief for the three ministries can work well together with The Lady. They have previous experience in meeting with her and these generals have moderate opinions in the army. They have influence on the army. Thats why I think the future of military and civilian relations will be better in the next five years.

Mann Nyein Maung

CEC, Karen National Union

I believe the new government will make improvements for the country as the people want because they have been elected by the people. And also I think the new government will carry out the peace process in continuity with the previous government.

But the new government leaders need to deeply understand the ethnic people, so we have mutual understanding. We negotiated with former generals who were our enemies during a long civil war, but we cleared up hostilities across the table so we could shake hands and built trust. Those groups which did not sign the ceasefire are brothers, so we all have responsibility to involve them in the peace process.

Who's who: Inside Myanmar's new cabinet

Ko Mya Aye

88 Generation and Open Society

First the new government must show goodwill toward the country. They cannot do everything people want in five years. One thing I want is the government to care for the people.

I want to ask the government to release all students, political prisoners from the prisons. I want the country without political prisoners.

U Ko Ko Hlaing

Former adviser to President U Thein Sein

The ministers need to keep the reform process moving continuously. Most important is that they have strong political will, the peoples support and enough funding.

Another important aspect is the relationship between the Tatmadaw and the NLD. I think they will work with mutual respect. They have begun business like relations, and I hope the situation will improve relations between them.
Two expensive flyovers budgeted for Yangon should be scrapped amid criticism over the portion of public funding dedicated to the projects, a parliamentary committee said yesterday.





The outgoing region government earmarked K32.2 billion (US$26.1 million) for the bridges, slated for the junction of Kabar Aye Pagoda and Parami roads, and North Okkalapa junction.

But yesterday the parliamentary Finance, Planning and Economic Committee said the incoming National League for Democracy-led government should review and possibly cancel the two projects.

The committee would like to revise the budgets of the two flyovers and the related ministry must conduct a review with our advice, said Daw Sandar Min, chair of the committee and an MP for Seikgyi Khanaungto township. She added that a report submitted to Yangon parliament yesterday encouraged MPs to scrutinise whether the expenditure is merited and whether the projects will really improve the citys entrenched traffic problems.

The flyover funding represents nearly 10 percent of the total Yangon Region 2016-17 budget of K336.21157 billion and 75 percent of capital expenditures.

Previous flyover projects have been controversial, with some hluttaw representatives questioning whether the benefits were worth the high cost. Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint said last year that no more should be built because they are expensive and have little long-term impact on traffic flows.

Daw Sandar Min said the proposed flyovers will be thoroughly investigated and cancelled if they will not substantially improve the citys gridlock congestion. The NLD has made it clear they retain the right to call off any projects approved by the last government but not yet implemented.

U Kyaw Zeya, secretary of the parliamentary committee and an MP for Dagon township, suggested yesterday that the budget for the flyovers should be re-allocated for building roads in townships with poor accessibility.





If we look at the capital expenditures, the money is mostly used to build flyovers instead of in important sectors benefiting the people, he said.

Union Solidarity and Development Party MP U Tin Win told The Myanmar Times that reallocating the budget is a prerogative of the next government.

The outgoing government created a proposal for the next government to use when their term started. And we undertook this activity with the people in mind, he said.

Previous flyover projects in Yangon  including at Hledan, Bayintnaung, Shwegonedaing and Myaynigone junctions  have been slammed for being commissioned and approved with a lack of transparency.

The Finance, Planning and Economic Committees report also found that Yangon City Development Committee accounts for 65 percent of the region governments expenditure, taking a K220.4 billion chunk of the budget.

The committees report about the Yangon Region budget will be discussed in parliament on March 24.
The Myanmar Veterinary Association says it will lobby parliament to halt a planned development on state-owned land in Insein township.





The 94 acres in question are within the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Institute, part of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department. The land is slated for a wholesale market construction project.

The project is being developed by a body called the Myanmar International Cooperation Agency, which in recent years has reportedly taken over the leases of dozens of Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development sites.

U Htay Aung from the Myanmar Veterinary Association said yesterday that he was angry that the institutes land was slated for development. He said any projects should be deferred until the new government takes office.

We will submit an official objection letter. We will push to stop the transfer of this land to MICA and to stop it being used for anything that is not veterinary-related, he said.

We have a duty to protect this land. We want it to be kept under our department and any projects should only be implemented under the new government term  We want it to be used for an office of the veterinary association and a veterinary council clinic.

Last month, Eleven Media reported that MICA had signed a contract with Golden Dragon Construction to develop the market, with the project valued at US$62 million.

The company has reportedly been set up by the government, but its ownership and management structure remains unclear. There is no record of it on the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration directory.





Ministry permanent secretary U Khin Zaw yesterday defended the plan for the Insein township site, saying MICA had been formed based on suggestions from experts, consultants and partner organisations, such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Approval was received at a Union government meeting on August 28, 2014, he said.

He said profits from the project would be placed into a government account opened by MICA. The government would also earn income from leasing state-owned lands to MICA, he added.

He said the project would be transparent, with the account will be audited monthly by MICA, while its annual budget will be audited by external certified public accountants. A report will be submitted to the Auditor-Generals Office and the Ministry of Finance each year, U Khin Zaw said.

But U Kyaw Htin, chair of the Myanmar Livestock Federation in Mandalay, said the best way to ensure transparency and clear the air over the projects would be to debate the issue in parliament.

MICA was not formed by a decision of the previous parliament, he said.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
Readers of this column know that Donald Trump stands a very good chance of becoming the next president of the United States.





It was made clear back in early January when the implications of a Trump presidency on this region were discussed.

The topic was ridiculed by some people who felt it was silly to waste time evaluating a scenario that could not possibly come true. And despite layers of egg on their faces, they still insist a Trump presidency is inconceivable.

In fact, Donald Trump reflects all that is good  and bad  about America. He is a smart and determined populist, who is a great campaigner and will do well against his likely opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Regrettably, his castigation by sanctimonious critics in the establishment verges on the nonsensical.

In The New York Times last week, the normally sane David Brooks wrote, Trump is perhaps the most dishonest person to run for high office in our lifetimes.

Well, yes, David, if we exclude Richard Nixon, Jacques Chirac, Ferdinand Marcos, Mahathir Mohamad, Hun Sen and Uncle Tom Cobley.





In this regard, it is intriguing to note how critics who react with anguish to Trumps candidature often merely shrug when some of this regions wayward leaders are mentioned.

For instance, think of Malaysias Prime Minister Najib Razak and his alleged theft of mountains of public money, and of Thailands bumbling dictator General Prayut Chan-o-cha and his illegal usurpation of power.

Or think of Bruneis Hassanal Bolkiah and his plan to introduce sharia law and bring in judicial punishments like the amputation of limbs and the stoning to death of women.

These are the leaders that people in this region should worry about, not Mr T.

Worriers might also note that Daw Aung San Suu Kyis stance toward Muslims differs only in rhetoric from Trumps, and that the anti-Vietnamese racism of most Cambodians makes Trumps Mexican slurs seem mild.

It also needs to be kept in mind that Trumps bombast is designed to maintain his profile over a virtual two-year campaign and that he has already begun to moderate many of his positions.

For instance, he has dropped plans to emulate former President George W Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and order troops to flout laws against torture and the killing of family members of terrorists.

Likewise, his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the US has been ameliorated and he now says hell admit previously cleared good ones and subject the rest to rigorous scrutiny.

In reality, such a policy is little different from that already practised by many Western nations  and Muslims know it.

Last week, Farouk Shami, a noted Palestinian-American, said Trump was merely reaching out to ordinary voters who, ever since 9/11, have been conditioned to oppose Islam and non-white immigrants.

Shami said that Trumps remarks about Muslims and Mexicans was only campaign talk and will soon be softened. Indeed, Shami is urging Muslims to vote for Trump, who, he claimed, will be a great president.

He may be right. Certainly, governments in this region need to start thinking about what having a President Trump in the White House will mean for Southeast Asia.

On balance, it could be beneficial, irrespective of how his protectionist changes to Americas trading practices and his beefing up of an already bloated military worry some people.

As The Washington Post recently reported, Trumps unorthodox campaign is causing growing anxiety over how US trade, military and diplomatic policies would change if he were elected president, according to ambassadors from six continents.

Of course, whenever settled establishment figures like ambassadors, academics and pre-millennial journalists are challenged by an outsider they are invariably overcome by growing anxiety.

In fact, it is precisely because he makes such people anxious that Trump appeals so strongly to the average citizen in the street.

As David Brooks wrote last week, Trump voters are a coalition of the dispossessed. They have suffered lost jobs, lost wages, lost dreams. The American system is not working for them, so naturally they are looking for something else.

And it is not something that ambassadors in plush residences across six continents would know about.

Actually, it is not Trumps proposals but rather current US trade policies that are anxiety-inducing because they are subtly imposed on this region, including the latest US-driven Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), to help American jobs and industry.

Recently, Munir Masjid, chair of Bank Muamalat Malaysia, noted that ASEAN is already the top destination in Asia for US foreign direct investment and is Americas fourth-largest export market.

That situation is not going to change under a go-ahead businessman like Trump, even if he does kill the TPP.

As Munir said, businesses are agnostic  they dont care who is in the White House as long as they encourage business.

Incidentally, Hillary Clinton, the great liberal hope, has also, like Trump, come out against the TPP and said that she wants to keep the military strong.

Of course, beefing up US troop levels in the Asia Pacific, especially the South China Sea, is a goal fervently desired by most ASEAN states.

However, although he admits that the region views Chinas bellicosity as a threat, Munir, like many other establishment figures, just cannot resist whacking the crass and bellicose Trump.

If there was a President Donald Trump, one shudders to think what is likely to happen [in the South China Sea], said Munir. There might just be more than a sailing by or an overflight. And then  who knows?

Well, hang on, it takes two to tango. Does that mean ASEAN should just let Beijing do as it wishes?

Clearly, it should not, and with that in mind, the regions leaders better start cultivating Mr Trump or else they too will be left with egg on their faces.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

After releasing his last album titled "Azonto Pandemic" in 2012, multiple award winning hip-life artist,C-zar has explained why he went into the wilderness for 4 years and now back with a song titled 'Sorry'.

'Sorry', which is a single track but the title of his yet to be released album, features Luther and was engineered by Nero Steger.

C-zar is credited with five albums namely,"Afei na Maba (2000),Sumsum Sofo(2003),Araba Lawson(2006),Mercy Lokko(2008) and Azonto Pandemic(2012)"

According to C-zar, the reason behind his success in the music scene is simply because he doesn't release songs in a haste.

He spoke with Dj Murphy Lee of Sunyani based Storm Fm via telephone:

"Being in the wilderness didn't mean I was only eaten and sleeping..hahaha.... Oh,you know that when you doing music and you take a break to learn ,it helps you to produce great songs. If you remember Bandana now called Shatta Wale,he also went into the wilderness for several years but he is now out and being regarded as the hottest artist currently in Ghana. That is music ,you need to sit down and analyse so many things before you release...that is why I have won awards and has never flopped in my career",C-zar told Dj Murphy with much humor.

Stressing on his latest single;'Sorry', C-zar indicated that,its the title for his 2016 album which he would release the songs on the album one after the other in every three months.

Known in real life as Augustine Osei Owusu,C-zar advised musicians not to be in a haste to release songs.

Kindly listen to 'Sorry' below

http://www.ghanandwom.com/c-zar-sorry-feat-luther-nero-steger-prod-by-nero-steger/
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Gospel musician Patience Nyarko last Saturday organised a float through some principal streets of Accra to launch her award-winning second album titled 'Wafom Kwan'.

The float kicked off from Mallam Junction through to Kasoa, Odorkor, Kaneshie and ended at the Madina market.

At every point of the float, the musician got off the truck and performed to the crowd, mostly traders, who came out to witness the launch and also bought copies of both the audio and video CDs.

She thrilled the crowd with an overwhelming live performance of her peace song titled 'Wafum Kwan', which is also the titled track of the album.

It attracted a large number of her fans, church members from some other churches in the metropolis, her management team and a section of the media.

In an interview with BEATWAVES, Patience Nyarko hinted that my fans are the people who listen and enjoy my songs, so I decided to meet, perform and interact with them.

The 'Wafom Kwan' album, which has attracted musician two nominations 'Best Gospel Song and Best Gospel Artiste' in this year's Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), comes after a successful release of her debut album 'Me Kasa Ama Ewurade', which shot her to fame in 2013.

Patience Nyarko also used the occasion to advise the youth to desist from engaging in any election violence.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Hiplife artiste Wisa Greid of 'Ekiki Me' fame, for the second time, narrowly escaped a bench warrant ordering his arrest by an Accra Circuit Court.

This was because neither his lawyer, manager nor the accused himself was in court when the case was called for hearing.

The trial judge, Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, as a result, issued a bench warrant for the immediate arrest of Wisa, known in private life as Eugene Ashe.

Wisa Pops Up

However, a few hours after the warrant had been issued, the hiplife artiste and his lawyer, Jerry Avenogbor, dashed into the courtroom while gasping for breath and pleaded to have the case recalled, a request the trial judge did not take kindly.

In the view of the judge, it was a sign of disrespect to fail to honour the agreed time of 8:30 for the hearing only to show up in the court hours later without any excuse.

She stated that it was rude not only in court practice but in all facets of human endeavour to disrespect time.

Escape

Adjin-Doku noted that anything that happened to Jerry also happened to Wisa, warning the accused that even if his lawyer was absent from court, he had no excuse to be late.

The trial judge, however, rescinded the bench warrant after Jerry had assured the court that never again would such an incident occur.

He argued that there had been a number of occasions he had also waited for the prosecution when they failed to come to court early.

The case was adjourned to April 7.

Trial Stalls

The business of the day could not be continued.

The case investigator, Detective Chief Inspector Edward Adjei Odame, who was being cross-examined by the defence lawyer, could therefore not be cross-examined.

.

He had been answering questions bordering on the controversial video recording allegedly capturing Wisa rubbing his manhood against the back of his female dancer on stage at the Accra International Conference Centre.

This was after the video which was tendered as evidence through the case investigator was admitted in the trial.

Charges

Wisa Greid is standing trial for allegedly showing his manhood during a live performance on December 24, 2015 during the 'December 2 Remember' event at the Centre.

A video of the artiste stripping and rubbing his manhood against his female dancer on stage was put on social media, compelling his management to apologise for what it described as the artiste's 'rash and irresponsible behaviour.'

He is currently on an GH8,000 bail with one surety.

[email protected]

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson


The Deputy Minister for Tourism Culture and Creative Arts, Dzifa Gomashie, has paid a visit to the family of the late, Bishop Bob Okala, known in private life as, Samuel Kwadwo Buabeng, at his residence at Amasaman in Accra.

Last Thursdays visit, was to mourn with the family of the veteran comedian, who reportedly collapsed on stage during a show at Koforidua, and died later at the Koforidua Regional Hospital early Sunday, March 12.

The deputy minister, who in the early 90s, worked with the late entertainer, was accompanied by producer of the popular Key Soap Concert party, Anastasia Agbeyagah.

Speaking to the family, Madam Gomashie said, it was a real tragedy to come to terms with the news that the man who brought so much joy to Ghanaian homes is no more.

She was particularly dejected that, within a short period, several members of the creative arts, have died at a time when the industry was growing and being given the right attention and recognition.

She prayed that Okalas death, ends any bad news hovering around anyone in the industry.

She said in the past, the industry did not have a ministry, but now same cannot be said and wished that those who have paid their dues over the past decades, would live to see and contribute in whichever way to its growth.

According to the deputy minister, it is regrettable that, the likes of Rev. Eddy Coffie, president of the Ghana Actors Guild, Solomon Sampah, Nkomode and now Bob Okala, within a short period of time, are no more around to entertain Ghanaians. Nkomode who died on February 5 this year, is also yet to be buried.

Both Bishop Bob Okala and Nkomode, used to fiercely contest for Who Is Who in the Key Soap Concert Party show, thrilling Ghanaian watchers and fans with very hilarious stage comedy.

While, Bob Okala, who was 62 years, is believed to have died from heart attack, Nkomode, is said to have died from a tumor-related illness.

The deputy minister, a veteran actress, inspired the family to stay united, especially at this difficult time and trust in the Lord.

Madam Dzifa, presented boxes of bottled water as tradition demands and an undisclosed amount of money to Bob Okalas widow, Madam Yaa Serwaa.

Bob Okala, was among some entertainers, who reenacted the Gold Coast police performance during Ghanas 59th Independence Day Celebrations at the Black Star Square in Accra.
Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United Nations said Tuesday it has closed its military liaison office in Dakhla, Western Sahara at the request of Morocco and withdrew three military observers posted there.

It was the latest twist in a running dispute between the world body and Morocco, which was angered when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently referred to the "occupation" of the disputed territory.

The three observers were transferred Monday to Ausserd in the western part of the Moroccan-controlled territory, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said. Rabat had given them 72 hours to leave.

Haq said the Moroccan request was "the first request directly targeting the military component."

The Moroccans on Sunday expelled most of the civilian experts attached to the UN mission in Western Sahara -- more than 70 people who were sent to the Canary Islands or sent on leave in their home countries.

"It is making the direct dialogue with the Royal Moroccan Army more difficult," particularly in monitoring a ceasefire, he said.

The UN mission, which has about 500 civilian and military personnel, was established in 1991 to monitor the ceasefire and prepare for elections in Western Sahara.

But Morocco, which annexed Western Sahara in 1975, has resisted an election and instead proposes self-government under Moroccan sovereignty.

Diplomats say the United States is pressing for a Security Council statement that calls for a lowering of tension and resolving the dispute, without taking sides.

France, meanwhile, is intensifying efforts to reopen a dialogue between the United Nations and Rabat.

When it took up the issue last Thursday, the Security Council was unable to arrive at a consensus, and left it to member states to make efforts on their own to try to patch up the dispute.
From: George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Special Correspondent in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Abidjan, March 22, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday arrived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast for a day's Africa Chief Executive Officers' Forum taking place in the Ivorian capital.

President Mahama who was received at the airport by Prime Minister Kablan Duncan is accompanied by Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Communications and Mr Prosper Bani, Minister of Interior and Casel Ato-Forson, Deputy Minister of Finance.

President Mahama would also meet other business leaders during his stay.

The Africa CEO forum is the foremost platform for CEOs and officials of African international companies to share experiences and ideas, expand their networking systems and find new financial partners in the continent and beyond.

They also use the forum as the vehicle or driving force in the development of the African private sector, learn from the best practices of fast-growing companies in the continent, and promote their companies within the African continent and beyond.

Since the first CEO forum edition in 2012, it has become the flagship forum for African investors and their partners to fine-tune their development agenda in the continent.

More than 800 participants, made up of 500 CEOs from the African continent, 100 bankers and investors, 200 high profiled African and international personnel are attending the 2016 edition hosted by Groupe Jeune Afrique in partnership with the African Development Bank and rainbow unlimited.

It is the first time the forum is hosted by an African country since its inception in 2012.

GNA
Accra, Mar. 22, GNA - A five-member delegation from Togo led by Mr Payadowa BOUKPESSI, Ministere l'Administration territorial de la Decentralization et des Collectivities Locales has paid a courtesy call on Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

The delegation is in the country to learn and familiarize themselves with Ghana's decentralization and local governance systems which they intends to replicate in Togo.

Mr BOUKPESSI said Ghana is noted for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections and Togo has always followed Ghana's electoral systems with keen interest.

He expressed their country's decision to revamp its local election system by emulating Ghana's shining example.

Mr BOUKPESSI said Togo and Ghana share common traditions and culture and what is done in Ghana can be done in Togo, especially in terms of decentralization system.

He pledged his country's commitment to maintain the good bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Alhaji Dauda said the two countries are marginally the same in terms of cultures and traditions and that the delegation was at the right place and pledged the Ministry's support for them.

He said Ghana has a well-developed local government system as well as a good decentralization system and pledged his Ministry's support to assist them to revamp their local system.

He said Ghana district assembly system is being coordinated by the regional coordinating council's whiles the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development have oversight responsibility of all the assemblies and regional coordinating councils.

The Minister also elaborated on the operations of Ghana's Electoral Commission, and the administration and operation of the District Assemblies Common Fund.

GNA
Tumu(U/W), Mar. 22, GNA - Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton Vl, Paramount Chief of the Tumu Traditional Area, has called on political parties to conduct all their activities devoid of insults and confrontations.

He said his traditional council would not tolerate any party or person who wants to disturb the peace and tranquillity the people have been enjoying over the years.

Tumu Kuoro, who was addressing the chiefs and people at a durbar to mark this year's 'Paari Gbielle' festival in Tumu on Saturday, urged political parties to rather contest each other on ideas, with the use of decorous language.

The festival was on the theme: 'Unity in diversity; a key to development'.

Kuoro Kanton likened party politics to a journey one intends to embark on and once there are many routes to the destination, one has to make a choice as to which route to take to his or her destination.

'Choosing a preferred political party should not mean Ghanaians should be at each other's throats because of differences in political persuasions', he said, adding that: 'Choice is inevitable in life'.

Speaking on the theme, Kuoro Kanton said developmental challenges of Ghana should not be left in the hands of government alone.

He called on sons and daughters of the district to remain united and combine resources to initiate the needed development programmes and projects to alleviate the poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance concerns.

'It is only through our collective efforts that we can bridge the developmental gap of our area', the Tumu Kuoro said.

On development projects, he said, the people in area were happy that a Midwifery Training School has been established in Tumu, and its products were already providing health services to people in various parts of the country.

He pleaded with government to consider adding the General Nursing Programme to the School to enable it produce more qualified health personnel.

Kuoro Kanton pleaded with government to make funds available for the completion of the Tumu-Navrongo Highway road.

The traditional ruler also drew the attention of the government of the Tumu-Jeffisi-Wa and Tumu-Wahabu-Wa Highway roads, which he said were in deplorable conditions.

Kuoro Kanton said roads in general in the Sissala East District were in deplorable conditions even though the area was noted for high production of cereals and other food crops.

He appealed to government to subsidise farming inputs to help boost food production and incomes of the people.

Kuoro Kanton also appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to institute a pricing mechanism policy just as had been done for cocoa to protect farmers from unscrupulous middlemen.

The festival, though an agricultural one, was initiated to give thanks to Allah and their ancestors for providing them a bumper harvest in the previous year.

It was characterised by musketry, drumming and dancing, and was attended by indigenes of the Sissala community from Burkina Faso, the Vagla clan in the Northern Region and the Kassina clan in the Upper East Region.

GNA
Dr Zanetor Rawlings

23.03.2016 LISTEN

Incumbent Member of Parliament for the Klottey Korle Constituency is jubilating over the dismissal of a motion brought before the High Court by Dr Zanetor Rawlings.

Nii Armah Ashitey believes Tuesdays verdict is a prelude to the biggest court defeat awaiting Dr Rawlings in the NDC battle to bear the flag of Klottey Korley constituency in the 2016 elections.

The daughter of the ex-first family wanted the case challenging her election dismissed by the court. Her lawyers argued the case brought by the incumbent MP was premature and had to be thrown out.

But the court presided over by Justice Kweku Ackaah-Boafo disagreed insisting there is prima facie case to answer by Dr Rawlings. The court awarded cost of 2,500 against the respondents for wasting the courts time.

Background of case

Nii Armah Ashietey and Nii John Coleman, sued the National Democratic Congress (1st Defendant), Dr. Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings (2nd Defendant) and the Electoral Commission (3rd Defendant) alleging that Dr Rawlings was not eligible to contest the Klottey Korle primaries held in November 2015, because she was not a registered voter with the Electoral Commission.

Article 43(9)(a) of the National Democratic Congress states

A member shall not be qualified to contest primaries for any Parliamentary seat if he is disqualified under national electoral laws from contesting for any parliamentary seat.

As part of the guidelines issued by the NDC for its Parliamentary aspirants ahead of the 2016 elections stated that the person must

1. Be a card-bearing member of the party who has paid party membership dues

Article 94 (1) (a) of the 1992 Constitution also states

(1) Subject to the provisions of this article, a person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament unless 

(a) he is a citizen of Ghana, has attained the age of twenty-one years and is a registered voter.

.

Nii Armah Ashietey insists Dr Rawlings is not a registered voter and should not have been allowed to contest the primaries.

Nii Armah Ashietey

But on January 25, 2016, Counsel for the 2nd Defendant, Lawyer Godwin Edudzie Tamakloe (supported by Ms. Sanja Morrison) filed an application requesting the Court to throw out the case brought by Nii Armah Ashietey.

Lawyer Edudzie among other things raised issues of capacity and forum against the plaintiff but the court insisted the plaintiff had the capacity to sue and was in the right court.

The judge then dismissed the application, describing it as misconceived and unmeritorious. He said the application failed both on procedural grounds and on merits.

Shortly after the ruling Dr Rawlings filed another motion seeking to have the case thrown out, this time claiming the case was premature but the court accused Dr Zanetor of wasting the courts time with frivolous motions.

Speaking to Joy News after Tuesdays verdict, an excited Nii Armah Ashitey said the verdict is clear and incontrovertible but accused Dr Rawlings of trying to delay the case.

I am happy. If you come to court and you ask for something and you get it, you are happy. They have their strategy to delay the case so that when the EC opens registration she will go and register but that will not cure the defect.

He said the case is a done deal for him.

At the time she went for the primaries she was not a registered voter. She should not have been allowed to contest. Now that the court is saying i have a case, what has to be proved now is whether she is a registered voter. But luckily the EC has already stated that she is not a registered voter, he stated.

But Dr Rawlings is not giving up just yet. She described the verdict as sound, but added she is rather concerned with dealing with the real life situations affecting her people.

I think the judge made a sound decision and i am not here to challenge what the judge has said. We are going to be here again on the 4th [April] and we will see how things go, she said.

-myjoyonline


23.03.2016 LISTEN

President John Dramani Mahama has condemned the terrorist bombings in the Belgian capital, Brussels, describing it as cowardly attack on innocent people. Twin blasts hit Zaventem airport this morning and another explosion struck the Maelbeek metro station an hour later. President Mahama in a tweet called on Ghanaians to stand resolute in solidarity with Belgians following this act of terror. Suicide bombing in Brussels. Another cowardly attack on innocent civilians. We stand in solidarity with Belgium. We would not be intimidated.

Over 30 people confirmed dead At least 31 people were killed and many seriously injured in attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station. Twin blasts hit Zaventem airport at 07:00 GMT, killing 11 and injuring 81, Belgium's health minister said. Another explosion struck Maelbeek metro station an hour later. 20 people were killed, Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said. Belgium has now raised its terrorism threat to its highest level. The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive in the Paris attacks, was seized in Brussels. Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel called the latest attacks blind, violent and cowardly, adding: This is a day of tragedy, a black day I would like to call on everyone to show calmness and solidarity. European Council president Donald Tusk said: These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence. The airport and the entire public transport system in Brussels are closed.

 citifmonline


GOVT PAYS ECG GH180M AS DEMANDED BY MCC

As demanded by the Millennium Challenge Compact II, the government of Ghana has begun settling its indebtedness to struggling power distributor the ECG  although the full complement of debt is undergoing an audit.

CASHEW INDUSTRY NEEDS BIG PUSH

The Africa Cashew Alliance (ACA) has urged government to create an enabling environment and policies in the cashew industry to enable it realize its objective of local value addition through processing.

UNION CALLS FOR PROBE INTO NEAR-SINKING OF NANA BESEMUNA

The Maritime and Dockworkers Union (MDU) of the TUC is calling for investigations into the accident on the Volta Lake that caused the near-sinking of the vessel Nana Besemuna.

NPP FIGHTS BACK OVER SA SECURITY CAPOS

The NPP says the BNI is overly exaggerating its report on the arrest of the three South African security capos who are providing training for its security details in the country.

ZANETOR THROWN OUT

An Accra high court yesterday struck out a motion filed by lawyers for Dr Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings to dismiss a suit challenging her eligibility as the Klottey Korle Constituency parliamentary candidate for the ruling NDC.

SCRAMBLE FOR ECG; COMPANIES INTERESTED IN CONCESSION JUMPS TO 42

The number of companies that have expressed interest in the private sector participation (PSP) in the ECG has jumped from 33 as of the end of 2015 to 42 companies at March 2, 2016.

TERROR THREATS: GHANA GAS TIGHTENS SECURITY

The Ghana National Gas Company has in the wake of terror threats alert in the West African sub-region, has met with some key security heads in the country to assess threat levels and map out plans and strategies to enhance a collective protection of the nations premier gas infrastructure.

3 SA NATIONALS ARE NOT SECURITY THREAT  NPP

The NPP has rubbished claims by some operatives of the ruling NDC and newspaper reports which suggest that the activities of the three South African nationals pose a security threat.

TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS BOOST SECURITY OVER RISING TERROR THREAT

Following reports of recruitment of young people into the swelling ranks of terrorists groups such as ISIS, coupled with the threat of terrorist activity in the sub-region, the Vice-Chancellors Ghana has revealed intentions to boost IT surveillance on the campuses of public universities.

ARRESTED SOUTH AFRICANS WERE TRAINING NPP SECURITY MEN  NPP

The NPP has confirmed the 15 people being trained by three South African ex-police men are part of its security detail, but denied links to any treasonable movtive.

20,000 MINORS REGISTERED IN 2012

A senior research fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Kwesi Jonah, has revealed that an estimated 20,000 under age persons managed to register in 2012, despite monitoring of the registration process by political parties and civil society organisations.

DEVELOP YOUR FULL POTENTIAL - NDUOM

President of Groupe Nduom (GN) Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has charged Ghanaian youth to develop their full potential in order to harness opportunities that would be made available to them by the right leadership.
There are many things that make us a bit safer that one takes for granted that are the direct result from law suits and election petitions. But whats the purpose of having a lawsuit or election petition which doesnt result into any positive changes. Besigye went to court in 2001 and 2006 and now we have another one in 2016, but we are so likely to find ourselves with similar loopholes in 2021.

Law suits have provided incentive for a lot of safety improvements, and that is good. It becomes a problem for one to argue that you did everything you could to prevent something from happening yet the same problems resurface every time you do something. If you build a six-foot high fence, and someone climbs over, gets in your pool and drowns, then obviously the fence didnt work. But for us, we do nothing in Uganda even if someone points out that A led to the rigging of B..A will still be around several years later.

The point is going to court should always result in some positive changes, but in the case of Ugandas so many election petitions, we have turned out to be a laughing-stock globally several times. I bet a muzungu seeing the Mbabazi petition on TV said:There they go again doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. This is the classic definition of stupidity.

For instance, there was a guy who won a judgement against a bicycle manufacturer. He was hit by a car while riding at night without a light. The suit was based on the fact that he had no warning that he needed a light at night. Now the bike company has a warning on the bike. I think the article was in bicycle mag years ago.

Garbage trucks used to not beep, until there were too many expensive cases with plaintiffs who were crushed garbage men.You can look it up in Bock Industries.

Even the lawsuit over McDonalds selling hot coffee makes more sense than Ugandas election petitions, as some people might not have realized that the coffee was hot enough to cause serious burns and that it didnt have to be that hot.

Counsel Byamukama has been the star of the show

McDonald had had several thousand small claims (and a few fairly large ones,with confidentially agreements as part of the settlement) previously for scalding due to excessively hot coffee.

You see, coffee has to be brewed around 180-190 degrees. The coffee makers at McDonalds had routinely had their temperature regulators disabled so that the brewing could take place at 205 or thereabouts.This allowed them to extract more coffee from the beans, and use cheaper beans.

There had been scaldings of kids where a cup had inadvertently knocked over. Some serious facial scarring had occurred and McD paid for it.However, they still continued the practice of disabling temperature regulators.

Then, this woman goes through the drive through and gets a cup and places it between her legs. Not all cars have cup holders. This turns it into a foreseeable occurrence.

Next, she spills the cup in her groin while wearing sweat pants. This allowed the scalding liquid to stay in contact with her genitalia for a long period,thus resulting in serious burns(she ended up looking like that lady black recently released from Luzira), not just a scalding, that required reconstructive plastic surgery.

Granted she was not too bright, but there is no IQ test to buy coffee under the circumstances she did. It was foreseeable that there would be a spill of extremely hot coffee in a car.

The jury heard that McDonalds had this long history of claims, and that they had done nothing to prevent more. Since the state allowed for punitive damages,the jury hit McDonalds in the pocketbook, right from where the decision making process came.Now, McDonalds has better coffee, and it is not as hot as it had been.

And heres the delightful bit.The jury decided the amount of the award (which was later reduced) by considering the profit McDonalds makes on coffee.Something like their profit from coffee sales for a day. McDonalds made a marketing decision to make more money on their coffee; when that decision caused damage to someone, the jury thought that they should lose some of that extra money they were trying to make.To me, it showed good, fair thinking on the jurors parts. (There are those who argue otherwise; I dont dispute them, though I disagree with them.)

They changed the way. All temperature regulators must be connected and, now disconnecting one is ground for firing. Remember, McDonald had paid on thousands of claims before. The issue is not what happened to the woman, but what the potential was for future injury. Since many of the prior victims were kids, the jury ruled for punitive damages. Punitive damages are the little guys ways at making big corporation blink.

Counsel Kiryowa Kiwanuka addresses compilation of National Voters Register, use of national ID Vs voters card, alleged illegal Museveni nomination, late delivery of polling materials on polling day, tallying and declaration of results.

But in Uganda, Besigye went to court again in 2006 but i bet he wasnt even paid anything after that case. Hopefully, Mbabazi will make some money out of this one if the judges brains go awol again, as expected, and rule in favour of Museveni and the Electoral Commission.

There should be an immediate public discussion and engagement after the final ruling by the judges, and eventually a political decision that a fence more than 66 is safe, less than 56 is dangerous and in the middle we will give it to the jury. Whatever Mr. Bart Katurebe and his team come out with on 31st March, society should be able to say, this is the kind of dangerous thing for our elections and this is what we need to do to prove you are taking adequate measures against rigging.

These things should be written down, discussed to death in the legislature, radio stations, and social media, and finally written into law so that everyone knows the rules.
I have said this before in a previous column a while back, that the key operatives of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) needed to stop behaving languidly like a bunch of pregnant women in their advanced stages of labor and prepare to battle it out, square-inch-for-square-inch with the Talensi Terrorists otherwise known as the Azorka Boys of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). At long last, it appears as if common sense and fair play are beginning to reign in the Akufo-Addo camp.

I am, however, quite a bit disappointed that the three retired South African police officers, allegedly picked up by agents from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), formerly the Special Branch of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), were only in the process of training some diddly 15 (fifteen) NPP operatives for crowd control and the protection of the 2016 presidential candidate of the party (See Were Training Party Security Not Mercenaries  NPP Starrfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 3/22/16).

I really dont see any problem here, because the leaders of the New Patriotic Party reserve the inalienable right to the provision of trustworthy security detail, which our currently highly politicized Ghana Police Service cannot be wisely counted upon to provide. Besides, as Mr. Perry Okudzeto indicated the other day, the three retired South African police officers have been duly licensed and/or registered to ply their trade of training security guards and crowd control party agents in Ghana. In other words, Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis, Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe Naidu and Captain Mlungiseleli were in the country legally.

As of this writing, the Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress has yet to explain to the nation at large how it came about that a Mercedes Benz truck was able to cross Ghanas southeastern border with Togo, at Aflao, innumerable times with an estimated cache of some 100,000 (one-hundred-thousand) clips of munitions or bullets without the accompanying necessary guns or pistols to shoot these bullets. Who has the guns and where are they stashed up? To-date, no government official, notably either the Minister of the Interior or Defense, has explained to the nation what Ghanaians ought to make out of this massive and illegal importation of bullets whose origin of shipment remains a mystery.

Put another way, the leaders and supporters, and sympathizers, of the New Patriotic Party have reasonable cause to worry about their safety and security within the country. Personally, though, I feel more self-defense training experts ought to have been flown in from South Africa to train at least 15,000 NPP supporters and activists to man many of the polling stations around the country so as to ensure that, in the words of Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, the General-Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Nana Akufo-Addo and at least a full-half of the Ghanaian electorate are not taken for a ride come Election 2016. We also vividly remember President John Dramani Mahama planting hundreds of soldiers from the Ghana Armed Forces in the Akufo-Addo stronghold of the Eastern Region, in the lead-up to Election 2012, to clearly intimidate voters in the region. Mr. Mahamas divisive policy agenda for the region has also been quite clear for even the most optically blighted to witness the same.

The South African connection is also quite interesting if only because it was from the erstwhile Apartheid South Africa that President Nkrumah was widely known to have imported Nazi-trained toxicologists and other Eastern-European torture specialists to generously afford special treatment to the most ardent opponents of the Convention Peoples Party, notable among them Dr. J. B. Danquah. In essence, it is quite refreshing to learn that a Captain Koda, described as Nana Akufo-Addos head of security, should fly in some South African security experts to wisely and constructively prepare the countrys most significant opposition leader and his supporters and sympathizers to level up the electoral playing field.

The NPP leaders ought to signal their Indemnity-Clause protected bloody opponents, in no uncertain terms, that they mean business. As long as these South African security experts operate in the country above board or legally, there ought to absolutely be no cause for alarm. Boosting the private security cordon around the most prominent New Patriotic Party leaders would definitely not compromise or jeopardize our greater national security system or apparatus. To be certain, it would actually enhance the general security climate in the country.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government's Development Finance Institution, this month announced the opening of OPIC's first-ever West Africa and Central regional office, located in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire .

To recognize the office's opening, OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield is traveling to Abidjan and Dakar, Senegal with a group of international CEOs on a business development and investment mission to explore the increasing opportunity in the region. With a growing economy and need for investment in power, infrastructure, water, agriculture, and other development sectors, OPIC's ability to spur private investment throughout West Africa arrives at a critical time.

OPIC is the U.S. Government's development finance institution. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds, when commercial funding cannot be obtained elsewhere. Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers.

This is an exciting step for the growth of OPIC's regional presence, said Littlefield. As a recognition of mounting investment momentum and rich development impact opportunity across the region, this OPIC office builds a bridge for a strong U.S. business presence in a dynamic investing environment. OPIC's Cote d'Ivoire regional office is the start of an important chapter for this Agency and for lasting development throughout West Africa.

OPIC has long supported private investment in impactful development throughout Africa, recently in the form of agriculture modernization in Senegal, water infrastructure in Ghana, and coffee production in Rwanda.

The opening of a dedicated regional office in Abidjan signals both OPIC's commitment to sparking new investment in this critical region and a recognition of the increasing private sector interest in West and Central Africa as an exciting investment destination.

The Managing Director of OPIC's West Africa office is Subha Nagarajan. Businesses and investors interested in partnering with OPIC in the region should visit www.opic.gov.
The African Union Commission Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has called on political stakeholders and the general public to calmly and patiently wait for the results of the presidential elections that took place in the Republic of Congo on Sunday, 20 March 2016.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission equally urges the Government of the Republic of Congo to immediately re-establish telecommunication lines to the general public, which the Minister of Interior and Decentralization ordered to be blocked on 20 and 21 March 2016. Mobile telephone connections have remained blocked during and after the elections, affecting general communications as well as creating anxiety around the results of the elections.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission takes the opportunity to congratulate the people of Congo for peacefully and orderly turning out to vote in the elections. She stresses the need for peace and tranquility to reign as the official proclamation of the election results is awaited by the National Independent Electoral Commission.

The AU Commission Chairperson reiterates her call on the citizens and political actors in the Republic of Congo to respect the election results, the will of the people, and when necessary use orderly and lawful channels to seek non-violent resolution of any elections-related disputes.
The AU Commission, in collaboration with the Government of Canada and Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (IOF) Office in Addis Ababa, the 21 March 2016 organized the conference debate of the Fridays of the Commission under the theme: La Francophonie and Agenda 2063: Synergies promoting Development. The conference is aimed at presenting the main objectives of both the economic strategy for La Francophonie and of Agenda 2063. The conference gathered IOF experts, AU staff, Diplomat, Economic development stakeholders, Civil Society Organizations, Members of the academic core, Students, and Media.

Speaking on behalf of H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma Chairperson of the AUC H.E Dr. Anthony. M Maruping AUC Commissioner for Economic Affairs Department underscored the importance of the theme of the meeting the economic strategy for la francophonie (OIF) and Agenda 2063 synergies promoting development noting that it plays a great role in highlighting the relation between the economic agenda of la francophonie and AU Agenda 2063. H.E Commissioner Maruping also noted that the meeting provides a mechanism for regional coordination especially with Regional Economic Communities, the OIF and the government of Canada.

H.E. Mr. Philip Baker, Representative of Canada to the AU underscored the relevance of implementing La Francophonie's mandate to further strengthen the relationship between the AU and Canada. In addition, Mr. Baker pledged the full commitment of Canada towards the realization of this mandate by providing technical, financial and human resources to secure investment in Africa providing job opportunities for the women and youths cross boarder trade, economic investment and particularly women economic power. Furthermore, H.E. Mr. Philip Baker wished everyone a fruitful dialogue and to reflect on what is at stake for Canada and the AU towards the sustainable development of Africa.

Mrs Cecile Lequile Folchini speaking on behalf of H.E. Mr. Malik Sarr, Permenant Representative of the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) to the AU and UNECA highlighted some key aspects that were considered during the commencement of the La Francophonie mandate. The strategy aims to assist La Francophonie members, and the least developed African countries in particular, to advance towards greater economic growth and development, fight poverty and inequality, protect the environment and preserve cultural heritage. Mrs. Folchini reiterated the urgent and immediate improvement of democratic processes and strengthening the rule of law, governance, human rights and equality between men and women. Mrs. Cecile concluded with It is in that light that I challenge all of us to propose solutions to support the economy because it is in the heart of development, also to build a solidarity that is lived and shared by all.

The first strategic thrust is to promote the economic center inclusive economy, seeking equity, and reduce social inequities, social participation, promotion of peace and respect for the diversity of languages. Strengthen the negotiating capacity and French negotiation and decision making; promote the use of French in all legal areas particularly in economic areas.

Dr. Rene Kouassi, director Economic Affairs AUC in his closing remarks emphasized on the implementation of the strategies. He asked the question of how to implement the two strategies, there are several risks involved. Such as financing and Resources, the issues of conflicts, epidemics, floods, deflation that may compromise the work being done. These two agendas however, seek to assist Africa. If the two agendas are implemented Africa will practice prosperity.

Furthermore, he added that on the 30th of March, in light with the 2016 Conference of Ministers of Finance, another Session of the Conference Debate in partnership with Save the Children will be held in order to monitor the evaluation.

H.E. Mr. Mohammed Idriss Farah representative of the Republic of Djibouti of the African Union in his closing remarks thanked the embassy of Canada for giving Djibouti the chance to take part. He expressed that when talking about language, it is the leaders of tomorrow that are being trained. He further stated that visa is a major issue that should be raised in such forums. He acknowledged all the stakeholders and members for giving Djibouti the chance to give the closing remarks.
A 17-year-old student of the Hwereso Junior High School near Ejisu in the Ashanti Region was Tuesday butchered after having been raped by a 25-year-old man.

Her assailant, named as Adongo Akanyire Azure, who also inflicted machete wounds on the deceased's mother, later committed suicide at the Boankra Inland Port by allegedly drinking a poisonous substance.

Narrating the horrific incident to the Daily Graphic, the Ejisu Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Laear Baman, said around 12 midnight yesterday, the police had a call that Azure had killed a young lady after raping her.

He said the police went to the scene and saw the victim with a machete wound in the chest lying in a pool of blood.

Incident

He said according to the victim's mother, they were in their room when Azure broke in holding a machete, a knife and a hammer, saying that he knew he was going to die and that before his died he would have to kill somebody.

Just after the woman asked him who his assailants were, he changed the discussion and insisted that if they did not allow him to sleep with the young lady, he was going to end their lives.

When Azure realised that the young lady was reluctant, he threatened to kill them, and so out of fear she offered herself.

Immediately after having sex with the girl, Azure used the machete to cut between the breasts of the young lady and asked her mother and another lady in the room to turn and face the window, after which he started inflicting knife wounds on the mother of the deceased.

The woman pushed the door open and started shouting for help, while Azure pursued her.

When he realised that a number of people were rushing to the scene, he abandoned his mission and fled.

Manhunt for assailant

Mr Baman said the police rushed the injured mother to hospital and mounted a manhunt for the culprit.

He added that the search led them to the culprit's room where they retrieved the bloodstained machete.

When the police were on their way to deposit the body of the young lady at the morgue, they were informed that a body of a young man had been found at the Boankra Inland Port.

The police commander said they found Azure's body which had some whitish foam emanating from the mouth and nose, indicating that he might have taken a poisonous substance.

He said the two bodies had been deposited at the Juaben Government Hospital for autopsy, while the girl's mother is receiving treatment.
Adongo lying dead

23.03.2016 LISTEN

RESIDENTS OF Hwereso near Boankra in the Ejisu/Juaben municipality of the Ashanti Region Tuesday woke up to the disheartening news of a 25-year-old man having allegedly raped and killed a 17-year-old junior high school (JHS) girl before committing suicide.

Adongo Azure, wielding a machete, a big hammer and a sharp knife, was said to have forcibly had sexual affair with Azumah in the presence of the teenager's mother and siblings at about 1:00 am on Tuesday.

The rapist, during the act, allegedly butchered the girl before inflicting serious cutlass wounds on the mother of Azumah, one Comfort Apaka, after which he fled the crime scene to commit suicide by drinking poison.

Madam Comfort Apaka's sister-in-law, who was in the same room with the deceased, was also attacked by the rapist with a machete subsequent to his callous act.

Azumah

The deceased, a final year student of Hwereso M/A Junior High School, was purportedly killed in a horrific manner.

While we were fast asleep, the known attacker, Adongo, knocked on our door and when the mother opened the door, he burst into the room and closed the door, Ama Emelia, survivor of the attack, narrated.

.

The Ejisu Divisional Police Commander, Chief Supt Laar Baaman, who confirmed the report to DAILY GUIDE, said the lifeless bodies of Adongo and Azumah had been deposited at the Juaben Government Hospital for autopsy.

He corroborated what Emelia had said and added that Adongo had claimed that someone wanted to kill him and so before he died, he too needed to kill someone.

He then demanded that in order to spare the lives of Comfort Apaka and her children  who were then looking frightened  he (Adongo) should be allowed to have carnal knowledge of 17-year-old Azumah.

Comfort Apaka, according to Chief Supt Laar Baaman, consented to Adongo's demand so he (Adongo) started the act in the room and in the process of the criminal act, stabbed the girl in the chest with a machete, killing her instantly.

Adongo, who was then thirsty for blood, attempted to cut the head and hand of Comfort Apaka with the machete but the woman and her other children managed to leave the room and raised an alarm.

The police were called to the scene but by the time they arrived, Adongo had left. The police then took pictures at the crime scene to assist in their investigations.

There were no visible injury marks on Adongo's body so the police chief suspected that he (Adongo) decided to end his life by gulping a poisonous substance.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr. & Ernest Kofi Adu Kumasi
23.03.2016 LISTEN

An Accra Circuit court has ordered the Attorney-General (A-G) to file a response to the submission of no case filed by lawyers for the four Yemenis being tried for possessing fake passports in Ghana.

The court presided over by Aboagye Tandoh held that the A-G ought to file its response by April 1.

This, the judge noted would pave the way for the court to take a decision on the case in respect of the no case on April 7.

This was after Joshua Sackey, a State Attorney representing the A-G had told the court that he was yet to confer with the substantive prosecutor in the case, ASP Stephen Adjei because he was only handed the docket on Monday afternoon.

As at the time (9:40 am) of leaving the court yesterday, the accused persons who were being held by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) had not been brought to court.

The accused persons are Esmail Yahya Zeyad aka Evra Allerson; Waleed Ahmed Yahya aka Debuchya Allard  all students  and Gaafar Eissa Yahya Amer aka Ciro Carlos, businessman and Eissa Yahya Amer.

Dominic Owusu Sekeyre, lawyer for the four on March 9, 2016 filed for no case insisting state prosecutors had failed to establish a case against the accused persons.

The lawyer contended that in the case of Ciro Carlos, he had a genuine passport and that on arrival at the Airport, he was going for a visa which was allowed under the 1992 Constitution.

In the case of the three others, Sekyere indicated that the prosecution had again failed to establish a case of forged document against them because they had genuine passports.

The defense lawyer further argued that the three who had no visas ought to have been sent back in the next available flight.

.

According to the prosecution the four on November 24, 2015 forged official document being the Republic of France Passport Number 04417928.

They are facing an additional charge of possessing fake Emergency Entry Visa.

The accused persons were arrested by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra last year with different names in their French passports on board Ethiopian Airline Flight ET 920

While undergoing immigration arrival procedures, Evra Allerson; Ciro Carlos and Debuchya were found with French passports with different names.

A further search on them revealed that all the accused persons had Yemeni passports. When the French passports with different names were examined they found them to be fake.

When they were quizzed they claimed one Abdulai Mohammed in Yemen as the one who secured them the French passport and gave them a phone number to call a certain Mohammed in Ghana on arrival.

Accused persons were to transit in Ghana and continue to France to Istanbul in Turkey.

A further examination of their Yemeni Passport indicated that Allerson and Carlos had travelled several times to Djibouti before their trip to Ghana.

The accused persons have variously denied the offence.

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson

[email protected]


23.03.2016 LISTEN

Richard Kwadzo Ewusie, a teacher at Jacobs Preparatory School at Abeka, a suburb of Accra, has been hauled before an Accra circuit court for negligently causing harm to a pupil's right eye while flogging another pupil.

The edge of the cane is reported to have hit Edward Pobi Abrokwah's, right eye.

According to the prosecution led by Detective Inspector Judith Asante, the victim's eye has now been totally damaged.

Ewusie, who appeared before the court presided over by Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, denied the charge and was admitted to bail in the sum of GH10,000 with one surety.

He is expected to reappear on April 20, 2016.

Earlier, the teacher was charged with causing harm but the police dropped the charge and substituted it with negligently causing harm.

D/Insp. Asante said the victim is a junior high school student in Form 2 while the complainant, King Isaac Abrokwah, is a farmer resident at Agogo in the Ashanti Region.

.

She stated that the accused is a teacher in the school the student attends.

The police officer said on June 23, 2014, at about 9am, Ewusie, who was teaching the victim's class, asked the students some questions but they were unable to answer them correctly.

Detective Inspector Asante indicated that in the process of flogging one of the pupils sitting next to the victim, the tip of the cane hit the right eye, causing him severe pains. She added that the victim reported the incident to the head teacher of the school who gave him (victim) a painkiller.

She stated that the victim later reported the incident to his parents and he was sent to a hospital known as Sight for Africa at Darkuman also in Accra, for treatment.

The prosecution said later the victim was referred to the Agogo Hospital for further treatment but after examination the medical doctor declared the victim's eye as totally damaged.

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson

[email protected]


Head of Corporate Communications at Afriwave Telecom Ghana Limited, Donald Gwira, has called on all stakeholders in the telecoms ecosystem and all well-meaning Ghanaians to join hands and work towards a successful Interconnect Clearinghouse (ICH) service delivery.

Afriwave is the company licensed by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to provide the ICH services in Ghana, and the chairman's call comes on the heels of the passage of the law backing the implementation of ICH services in Ghana.

Parliament recently passed Electronic Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2016 into law, giving the implementation of the ICH a legal backing.

The law however reduced the scope of the ICH by removing the originally intended exclusivity and also of the right to offer tax revenue assurance services to the state.

But a grateful Donald Gwira said "thank God for the eventual passage of the Bill despite the challenges it had to go through."

He indicated that the numerous benefits that will accrue to the industry from a successful implementation of ICH services in Ghana far outweighed the challenges.

Gwira expressed joy that the process has gone through a full review culminating in the issuance of the ICH license by the NCA and now the passage of the Bill by Parliament to back it up.

"Now that ICH is the law of the land, it is time everyone moved on and focused on efficient service delivery," he said.

Donald Gwira stated that Afriwave is capable of implementing the full ICH classes of service in Ghana and that the entire country and sub-region would soon reap the benefits of the ICH.

In the words of Gwira, "Afriwave has implemented the key infrastructure to offer the services listed as Phase1 of our ICH service delivery several months ago. If not for the challenges, we would have fully implemented the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of our services offering by now."

He said Afriwave possesses the technical, financial, and operational skills set for a seamless ICH service delivery to the industry. He asked all stakeholders to come together to ensure the successful implementation of this project.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Coming events, they say, cast their shadow and if recent recognitions that have been accorded His Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama, is anything to go by, then one can only say that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a party is heading for a resounding victory in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Indeed, the recent appointment of His Excellency, the President, as Co-Chair of the United Nations Eminent Persons for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and last weeks award of a doctorate degree to him by the Aberdeen University of Scotland all point to one distinguishing quality about the President  exceptional leadership. The international community puts you on a unique pedestal and such recognition does not only project your good image to the outside world but also goes to demonstrate how capable Ghanaians are in managing our affairs.

This is a man who has demonstrated through his transformational leadership style that Ghana, even in the midst of global economic hardships, can turn its fortunes around for the citizenry.

Your Excellency, we the entire leadership of the Young Cadres Association (YCA) of the NDC on behalf of all members, wish to congratulate you on this feat of being made a Doctor of Laws by the Aberdeen University. We, as a group will always be at the forefront of trumpeting the good leadership you have exhibited, both home and abroad, and which has earned you this fame in the international circles. We believe that, with the current internal wranglings going on in the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) which is as a result of poor leadership in that party, you can only rest assured that victory will be your portion in the up-coming elections.

Your charm, courage, dignity, patience and captivating manners are all qualities that others seek in their leaders but which they may never find. Of course Ghanaians are not blind to the numerous projects which your government through your leadership has embarked on which have even earned you praises from no mean a person than a founding member of the NPP, Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, who has likened you to Dr Kwame Nkrumah. So after six decades of searching for the second Nkrumah, we are glad to note that Africa has finally found him in you!

If indeed, we are to aggregate your good works in the area of developments in the midst of the prevailing harsh international economic turbulence as well as the negativity and sabotage from internal forces like the NPP, we can only see you as matchless in the whole of Africa.

Dr John Dramani Mahama, Ghanaians are proud of you and we the Young Cadres will want to once again express our profound gratitude to you for the unmatched leadership you have offered this country since assuming the reins of power. God bless you.

Long Live Ghana

Long Live the NDC

Long Live YCA

Signed:

Bright Botchway

(General Secretary, YCA)

0249999145
Five years after oil production, the misuse of the Ghanas oil revenues and the lack of transparency and accountability in the award of oil blocks among others are denying Ghanaians the full benefits of the oil resource.

The 2014 Auditor- Generals Report has made damming revelations of financial irregularities at the state oil corporation, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

According to the report, the GNPC in 2013 advanced US$50 million to the Ministry of Finance, an amount which was expected to be repaid in three months but has not been paid back.

This revelation was confirmed by the 2014 report of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) which said at the request of the MoF, the GNPC gave an amount of US$50 million to the Ministry of Finance as advance.

The said advance was expected to be used to fund components of the Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure Development Project.

PIAC which is mandated by law to oversee the management of petroleum revenues pointed out that The quantum of GNPCs utilised funds would have been more than 50 per cent of its allocated funds in 2014 and the accumulated funds in excess of US$230 million but for the advance payment made to the MoF.

The Committee is on record to have bemoaned the manner in which revenues accruing to the oil sector were spread too thinly over a wide range of projects, diluting its impact, instead of being utilized on only a select few.

The Auditor- Generals report disclosed further that the GNPC failed to audit its partners in oil operations, a requirement imposed on it by the Petroleum Agreements signed with the partners.

Further checks have revealed that in 2013, GNPC applied US$31 million of its share of oil revenue to repay a loan facility taken from French multinational bank, PNB Paribas, which was incurred at the instance of government in respect of oil lifting since 2009.

It will be recalled that some Members of Parliament raised issues about GNPCs use of US$41 million to support crude oil purchase by VRA through a bank in Ghana.

The findings have raised disturbing concerns about GNPCs seriousness of becoming a major operator in the oil sector as envisaged in its strategic plan.

Governments strategy for the GNPC which is derived from the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA)

is to invest in the Corporation over a period of 15 years to build its capacity to drill oil.

Government is required by the Act to cede up to 55 per cent of Ghanas net receipts from oil production, to the GNPC which it has been doing religiously. Industry experts have expressed concerns about the use of allocations made from oil revenues and captured within the national budget.

The development comes on the back of recent calls on government to cut budgetary support to the GNPC and other state owned enterprises. Energy expert, Dr Steve Manteaw and representatives of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at a recent forum contended that the continuous reliance of non-performing state owned enterprises on governments subvention was a drain on the economy.

According to Dr Manteaw, the situation where we put GNPC on the national budget feeding it like a baby

which never grows must cease.

Following the findings of the Auditor-General, Think-Tank, Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has

accused the GNPC of becoming a slush fund for government and called for a probe into GNPCs finances to establish the corporations financial requirements.

ACEP further called on Parliament to amend to GNPC Law 64 to bring the corporations activities under

parliamentary scrutiny, including approvals of loans, budgets, and use of resources.

GNPC by these irregularities is demonstrating that it has no capacity to spend the oil money allocated it from Ghanas share of oil revenue, Executive Director of ACEP, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam said in a

statement.

According to him, GNPC should have the capacity to raise financing to drill and discover oil but if they are not using the money to build their capacity to be able to produce oil and are now a finance institution granting loans, then what happens to their core mandate?

The Corporation is giving the money out as loans and to cover any other expenditure that government

deems fit, he alleged.

Economist with the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Mark Evans was disappointed over

the findings, warning it had dire implications for the countrys oil sector.

"Everybody wants GNPC to drive Ghana's oil and gas industry and not to allow wastage and corruption to open a black hole for petroleum revenues. Achieving this requires governance reforms: PNDC Law 83 must be revised to clarify GNPC's mandate, improve transparency and create robust oversight mechanisms," he stated. According to him, the Institute had sometime last year raised issues over GNPCs published accounts, pointing out that the accounts were far from satisfactory in terms of transparency.

"NRGI and Fat-Africa raised a concern that GNPC's published accounts were below the required standards and their investment strategy offered little clarity about its plans. GNPC's work remains worryingly opaque and the list of concerns is mounting, Evans noted.

He said there was a worrying lack of appetite for governance reforms, suggesting that government and parliament must shape a clear vision for GNPC, clarify its mandate and make it more accountable."
23.03.2016 LISTEN

When I decided to write this piece, I prayed to God to give me a sign that he is still here with us. Remember Criminals In Cassock? It was a piece I wrote a few weeks ago concerning religious charlatans who have literally bewitched some people in this country and reaping from the sweat of the good people of Ghana. I wrote that piece to support Mr. Rawlings who ruthlessly took on self-acclaimed Bishop Daniel Obinim and Reverend Kumchacha.

If that piece were to be a product that I took to the market, I would have withdrawn it and replaced it with this one. The truth is that unless we seize these so-called men of God and march them to Pantang or Ankaful Psychiatrist Hospital for treatment we will wake up one day to hear some bad news. We don't have to wait for the worse to happen before we start talking about it. If a man of God can pull a man's manhood in the full glare of the congregation in his attempt to heal the person of impotency and also stump the stomach of a pregnant woman all in an attempt to heal, then something is wrong with the brain of the man of God.

Obinim (I will never glorify this guy with the title of a Bishop because he is not one) said he could turn into a snake and that he once turned into a lion while Jesus Christ also turned into a tiger. In his moment of total madness he hired some gullible artist to draw his picture to make him look like an angel with angelic wings to march. He told his poor congregation that Jesus Christ made him an angel and asked him to go out there to heal people. When this fake man of God had a brash with Rev Owusu Bempa, he threatened to kill him using one of his so-called angelic wings.

Listen to the charlatan and confident trickster: Even as I am talking to you now, I am flapping my angelic wings behind me. The Lord wants to destroy Owusu Bempah through me. Tell Owusu Bempah that I am waiting for him and I am here until 10pm. I will prove to Owusu Bempah that I, Obinim, have received power from Jesus Christ to do His work in Ghana. Today, I will prove to Ghanaians that I am an angel. I want Owusu Bempah to come here today to challenge me that I am not a true man of God using the power Jesus Christ gave me and that I am using occult powers and that I took occult powers from someone called Yaw Appiah. I want him to come and show me those powers. Every day you mention my name; Obinim has done this, Obinim has done that. Is anyone asking why all these attacks on me? I have been advised to ignore and I have ignored them. Then you, Owusu Bempah, start talking about me and say I am fake and I practice occultism. Look, Owusu Bempah if you do not respect yourself, I will bring you down today.

Seriously we need to do something NOW to stop this crook from cheating the poor and ignoramuses. Sadly, you see people who are supposed to know better falling prey to this self-acclaimed angel of God. As for yours sincerely, I am not deceived by his pretenses of piety because I have seen his king before. My cherished reader, do you remember the story of Jesus Christ of Mantukwa? This was another crazy fellow who gathered some women, children and men, brainwashed them and transported them all the way from Aflao in the Volta Region to the Brong Ahafo Region. This criminal took them to a thick forest and established his church with his wife who calls herself Mary Jesus. Jesus Christ of Mantukwa told them they were in the forest to wait for the second coming of Christ, as if Jesus will descend from heaven and settle in the forest in Brong Ahafo Region! Children were not allowed to attend school and they were treated like sub-human beings. It was Anas Aremeyaw who exposed the whole madness before the security forces could move in to liberate the poor followers of Jesus Christ of Mantukwa. Before the liberation, many teenage girls were impregnated in the forest by Jesus Christ of Mantukwa and his fellow brainwashed men of God. Children who were liberated were malnourished due to the bad quality of the food they ate in the forest.

And have you also forgotten about Jesus Christ of Dzorwulu? This was also another mad man who established his church at Dzorwulu and made his congregation to drink his urine. People waited at his doorsteps every morning and begged him to urinate for them to collect the urine because he made them to believe that when you did drink his urine, you will be cured of any disease. When his church members wised up and realized that the man was fake, he jumped through one of the windows of his church and has never been heard of again. These wolves in sheepskins do not know that those who commit evil in the name of Jesus blaspheme the name of Jesus and on Judgment Day they will have to answer to the Almighty God for such a blasphemy. These are people who abandon every value except the will to make money and live luxurious lifestyles, all in the name of Jesus.

In his moment of devilish trance, Obinim shamelessly took Reverend Sam Korankye Ankrah to the cleaners and used unprintable words against the fine gentleman for calling him a fake man of God. He did not spare Rawlings when the former Head of State commented on his behavior Thankfully, when he took the battle to the doorsteps of Afia Swarschnigger, he smelled pepper. This was a Man of God who lured his fellow pastor's wife to a hotel, had sex with her and used filthy words to describe the private part of his own wife, Florence Obinim. Can you imagine a man of God and his cohorts rushing to a radio station, armed with crowbars to kill the host? When I saw him in handcuffs the day he was sent to court, I thought that will go a long way to make him sober but sadly the situation has become worse. Just take a close look at how he has bleached the whole of his body, coupled with his use of bad grammar and wrong pronunciation of English words and you will side with me when I say the man needs deliverance rather than him delivering anyone.

.

To be fair to this fake called Obinim, he is not the only one in this church business. We have a whole lot of them out there, deceiving and killing people softly. These days, instead of some of these church goers visiting the hospitals and other health facilities to seek cure, they prefer to visit these so-called men of God to be cured. The sad aspect of this canker is that the illusive cure they seek continues to be illusive, no matter how long they attend the churches. Monies which could have been used to buy drugs are given to these crooks. Men of God are supposed to preach to win souls for Christ but these criminals capitalize on the ignorance of their congregation to make money. When the Lord Jesus Christ went about curing the sick, we never heard him calling people to meet him in Jerusalem, Canaan or Capernaum to be healed. In fact, he never advertized that people should come to him for a cure.

If you watch their congregation you will realize that about ninety percent of members of their church are women. Many of these women go there to look for husbands. Some go there to buy Anointing oil so that they could get pregnant. As for the young guys all what they go there for is to get visa to travel abroad as if that place is an embassy. Instead of going out there to work for money, they spend about six days in the week to sit in these churches thereby, contributing nothing to the economy. When you calculate the man-hours lost in revenue to the state, you will understand what I mean.

In his revolutionary days, Mr. Rawlings did something which was laudable but sadly only few people remembered what the man did. Rawlings and his fellow revolutionaries looked around and saw the sprouting of mushroom churches where people spent a whole lot of their time, fasting, singing, dancing, praying and looking for miracles. When students and soldiers were in the bush evacuating cocoa beans for export to help the country earn foreign exchange for the development of the country, these church goers and their pastors were busy praying. So Rawlings, the revolutionary, issued a fiat closing some of these churches so that each and everyone will get involved in nation building.

In the early seventies, Comrade Fidel Castro also did the unthinkable to the amusement of all Cubans and Christendom for that matter. Christmas was fast approaching but sugar cane, the main source of income for the island country were getting rotten on the fields and needed to be harvested or the country risked losing foreign exchange which the country relies on for development since Cuba was facing biting sanctions. Fidel Castro ordered that Christmas should be postponed that year so that everyone could take part in the harvesting of sugarcanes. Cubans obeyed and that year Christmas was postponed so that they could harvest their sugarcanes. That was the first time Christmas was postponed in the world.

I am yet to see a president who will be bold enough to sanction these mushroom churches and their pastors who are out there to steal the people in the name of the Lord. I know any attempt to do this will be met with the usual refrain: touch not my anointed. The question one may like to ask is: who in the first place anointed Obinim and the other charlatans and quacks in cassocks? We read of Saul anointing David in the Bible but we never heard of any prophet anointing Obinim. No wonder he is being described as a freelance Bishop. Abodam!!!

Eric Bawah


23.03.2016 LISTEN

The story about Ghanaian ladies languishing as it were, in Kuwait and other countries in the Gulf States is not new.

It is known especially in the Islamic communities in the country from where most of the victims of the ordeal originate, after falling victims of mouth-watering advertisements on radio stations.

The advertisements are too juicy to prompt sneers about their sincerity. It does not take too long for the victims to cross the Rubicon by which time it is too late to retrace their route back home.

Even worrying are the amounts of money they have to cough out to agents who demand these before they are processed for the foreign menial jobs.

Many have been brutalized and sexually abused by their owners and masters who consider them as nothing but slaves who have little or no rights  a mindset they have acquired from their ancestors. This racist-steeped mentality is the reason why all who go to these parts of the world to work under the Arabs live to regret their decision.

While the situation is worse for the ladies, the gentlemen also have their harrowing stories to narrate.

Last year DAILY GUIDE published a story about a Ghanaian driver who was murdered and his remains dumped on the Saudi desert. The Foreign Affairs Ministry was alerted about the development but to date the good people of Ghana have not been informed about what its response has been so far.

.

We were excited therefore when the Gender Minister promised to intervene to have those suffering repatriated to Ghana  a wish they have always dreamt of since arriving in the countries of bondage.

We have learnt about how as soon as these persons land and handed over to their owners, their travel documents are seized and kept by agents who would not release same to them under any circumstances.

When these persons as they are won't to do decide to return home, it becomes near impossible to do so; their travel documents not in their possession.

Here is therefore asking the authorities to regulate the recruitment of Ghanaians to such countries, especially the Gulf States.

A nasty picture of a Ghanaian lady who was forced into prostitution in a foreign country went virile last year. We have learnt about how house owners turn their libido on their Ghanaian ladies who cannot turn down the sexual overtures of these lusty men, sometimes sex-starved idiots. In some instances, these slaves become sexual slaves for others in the family also.

When the wives of the landlords eventually discover what has been going on, they are attacked physically and abused.

We have learnt about how the Ghanaian envoy to Saudi Arabia, with added responsibility for the Gulf States, had to travel to Kuwait to respond to the distress call of some Ghanaian ladies.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Major Chris Hazis (Rtd), WO Denver Dwayhe Naidu (Rtd) and Captain Mlungiseleli Jokani (Rtd)

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) says the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) is overly exaggerating its report on the arrest of the three South African security capos who are providing training for its security details in the country.

The three men, Major Chris Hazis (Rtd), 54, Warrant Officer (WO) Denver Dwayhe Naidu (Rtd), 39 and Captain Mlungiseleli Jokani (Rtd), 45, were picked up at the El Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region on Monday.

A statement issued by the NPP and signed by its Director of Communications, Nana Akomea, placed on record that The presence of the three men in Ghana is not for any act that can be said remotely to threaten the country's security.

Known security details belonging to the NPP's presidential and vice presidential candidates were being given routine training by these security experts specialised and licensed to offer VIP protection. Indeed, the two personal drivers of the candidates, as well as the official photographer of Nana Akufo-Addo, were part of the 15 persons undergoing training, which took place on the premises of a well-known, licensed Ghanaian security company.

The BNI had claimed, The trio, all ex-police officers, were engaged in training fifteen young men in various military drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response manoeuvres to raise security issues, given the heightened security awareness in the country following some terrorist attacks in the sub-region.

Strangely, there was no weapon found on them, despite the claim that they were training the NPP security detail on weapon handling.



BNI's Claim

The BNI further claimed that a comprehensive report on the operations of Superlock Technologies Ltd (STL) was found in the possession of Hazis, which contained a detailed profile of all the workers of STL  past and present  and went on to identify key staff members, giving an assessment of their strengths and vulnerabilities with the view to possibly compromising them so as to get them commit acts that will tend to favour a particular party in the 2016 elections using the STL security infrastructure. Images of all workers of STL were also contained in the document.

Even though it has indeed been established that they were brought into the country by Delta Security, a private security firm, to train the security details of the NPP flagbearer and his running mate, it has also emerged that no weapon (firearms and ammunitions) were found on them at the time of their arrest or during any of their training sessions.

The three, who are with the Unified Risk Solutions  a private security consultancy firm in South Africa  were said to be training the NPP security members in various crowd control drills ahead of the 2016 general election.

They were arrested at their hotel while the ex-Gitmo detainees who were held for terrorism, Mahmud Umar Muhammad bin Atef and and Khalid Muhammad Salih al-Dhuby, walk free men in Ghana courtesy President Mahama who claimed he was showing compassion to the former Guantanamo Bay detainees.

But the issue has since been played out by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the face of recent backlash received by the government over the Gitmo detainees.

The initial claim was that the South Africans were brought into the country by the head of Nana Akufo-Addo's security, Captain Edmund Koda (Rtd). But it has emerged that they were brought in by Delta Security, owned by Captain Acquah who also owns the Capitano Hotel.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Captain Acquah was invited by the BNI yesterday to assist in the investigations.



Doubts

.

This is what has compelled the NPP to rubbish the claims of the state security apparatus  BNI.

Acting National Chairman of the party, Freddie Blay, cannot fathom how the presence of three ex-South African police officers in the country to train personal security details of the flagbearer and his running mate could raise security issues or pose a threat to national security.

In an interview with DAILY GUIDE, he said It's not something that should excite anybody; it's nothing that should raise feathers. Bringing in or inviting people who are experts or those who know and have knowledge about training individuals to be in the position to protect the leadership of our party, particularly the presidential and the vice presidential candidates and indeed the leadership of the party, is important.



Facts On File

That, he said, is because The accoutrements they were using in training did not include any guns; no real weapons were used. The trainers had their equipment for the training, including paint guns sent in by air cargo and cleared by Delta Security, and the BNI people are aware of that and the bit about they having detailed profile of staff of STL and all that was made up.

He told DAILY GUIDE, It was just to sex up the report to make it seem as if that was what was happening.

To me, it's not only reckless, but it is pure mischief; that's what I'm saying. It's not good for security authorities to be in bed with the propaganda wing of any government of the day; it doesn't help. It spoils their image. Segments of the society become very apprehensive of whatever they want to do.



Protection For Executives

It has also emerged that Hazis, who is the leader of the team, was recently in Ghana for two weeks to offer protection to executives of Facebook and Microsoft who were visiting the country.

That was part of reasons Mr Freddie Blay insisted, They are professionally VIP protectors; they know how to train people for high-profile assignments. In 2012, they were here. They are not from ISIS; they are South African gentlemen who have been in the police.

For you to say that the NPP has brought in people who will endanger the state security, you are sexing up that report. They are joining hands; they are lending hands, fuelling the propaganda machinery of our opponents and it makes us very nervous dealing with the state security.

NPP's Defence

According to the NPP's statement, The three South Africans arrived in the country on business visas. Training of personnel in VIP protection is part of their business and, therefore, no deception was intended.

The party was alarmed by the fact that what was still under investigation could be leaked to a state-owned newspaper as well as pro-government newspapers to help the NDC score cheap political points, insisting, It is our firm conviction that the security agencies, if they are to enjoy the confidence of the people, must always be seen to be non-partisan and professional in the discharge of their constitutional mandates.

The NPP wondered why a radio host called Mugabe of Montie FM, a pro-government radio station, would state that the party's standard bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, would die before June this year but the security agencies and authorities had not thought it wise to arrest him, even though it threatens the nation's security.

The party has therefore emphasised, We in the NPP will not take any chances, whatsoever, with the security of our leaders.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu


Dr Henry Kofi Wampah

23.03.2016 LISTEN

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, says there is no reason for him to resign his position following the arrest of a British narcotics drugs baron, David McDermott, who is married to his daughter.

He called the bluff of those calling for his resignation and said he had already made up his mind to see out the rest of his contract at the Central Bank.

When journalists took the opportunity at the Monetary Planning Committee Meeting in Accra on Monday to find out about the Governor's intentions following the arrest of the fugitive son-in-law, he said My son-in-law is my son-in-law; it has nothing to do with me being Governor of the Central Bank.

He added, I have made a statement on that and that should be enough for you. My term will end this year and I will let you know when I'm going so thank you.

Dr Wampah, in a news release recently, confirmed that David McDermott is married to his stepdaughter, Ramona Wampah, and sources say they live in the plush Bruma Hills, Accra and that the fugitive has been in Ghana for about three years.

David McDermott

The British drug lord is linked to a 71 million cocaine deal in the UK before running to Ghana for safety, marrying Ramona Sunu who later adopted Wampah's name. Ramona's father is still alive, DAILY GUIDE has learnt.

There are reports that the 42-year-old British of Ormskirk, West Lancashire, who is on the wanted list of the United Kingdom authorities, entered Ghana with a fake Ghanaian passport under the name, David Smith, until he was finally arrested on March 11.

.

Dr Wampah also confirmed that the fugitive has been working in the mining sector since he arrived in Ghana.

David McDermott has been known to me as a worker in the mining sector and has been living in the country with Ramona since their marriage some three years ago. Until I received information about his arrest, I had absolutely no knowledge about David being a fugitive of the British government, even though the fugitive has been on the British wanted list for about two years.

Open System

Some security analysts have wondered what immigration status allowed the fugitive to work in the mining sector and what background checks were done prior to granting that immigration status.

They also raised issues about how the wanted fugitive was able to secure a Ghanaian passport and travelled to Ghana and how the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) could not do a thorough check on the background of a white man holding a Ghanaian passport.

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) said on its website that McDermott is suspected of being a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in a conspiracy to import and supply cocaine which was seized from a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks. He is also wanted for conspiracy to blackmail.

The process that will lead to the extradition of the fugitive has commenced but his lawyer, Victor Kojogah Adawudu, a leading member of the ruling NDC team of lawyers, appears not to be happy and has criticised the security agencies for trampling on the fugitive's rights.

He did not understand why the security agencies prevented him from meeting his client, three days after the arrest, telling Joy FM that Ghana is a country of laws so good governance and respect for human rights should be the hallmark.

He claimed the fugitive was sent to the court without what he called the necessary legal representation, insisting, he has been incommunicado and adding, This Kangaroo mentality by state prosecutors must stop.

It is so sad. Due process must be followed, he stated and confirmed that the fugitive's wife was pregnant and needed to have access to him.

By William Yaw Owusu


23.03.2016 LISTEN

He is a funny man, this Dr. Kwesi Aning of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center. The man with the big mouth, literally and figuratively speaking, ought to be aware by now that other than the key operatives of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), including his best friend and homeboy, Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, nobody really takes this so-called Research Director who does absolutely no meaningful research geared towards the healthy development of the country seriously (See NPP Defense on SA Security Training Absurd  Aning Starrfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 3/23/16).

For those of our readers who may have so soon forgotten it, it was the same Dr. Aning who recently asserted publicly that the marauding Fulani cattle herdsmen who have been running rampant and riotously destroying cultivated farmlands, mostly in the Eastern and Asante regions, ought to be afforded carte-blanch or free rein to rape and murder our rural women farmers because these Fulani cattle herders provide greater economic value to the country than their victims. He did not use exactly the preceding words, but Dr. Aning strongly implied it. Maybe somebody ought to have reminded him that the Akan are a very idiomatic people who appreciate the deeper structures of language than he fathoms.

The Kofi Annan Centers Research Director has yet to release or publish any research-related facts and figures clearly indicating that, indeed, the Fulani cattle rustlers and pathological rapists are of far greater economic significance to the development of Ghana than our own indigenous food and cocoa farmers. To be certain even as I write, the Buhari government of Nigeria, where a remarkable percentage of these Fulani herdsmen originate, has announced that it intends to drastically curtail the movements of these unconscionable Darwinian human predators. And so just what makes Dr. Aning believe that he can collude with the Mahama/Amissah-Arthur constitutional dictatorship to tie the hands of the members, supporters and sympathizers of the countrys main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on their backs, while the Mahama/Amissah-Arthur Posse royally raped them politically and constitutionally with reckless abandon?

Then also, what makes the Kofi Annan Institute dean believe that the members and citizens who constitute the main opposition New Patriotic Party have absolutely no right to measured self-defense of their inalienable human rights, interests and aspirations? Now, let the Mahama government and the Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), whose security establishment recently caused the arrest of the three retired South African policemen, currently in the country to professionally upgrade the quality of the security cordon or network built around Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr.-Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2016 Presidential Candidate and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, respectively, explain to the nation precisely what danger is posed by the laudably prescient decision by the leaders of the countrys main opposition party to prepare the partys members, supporters and sympathizers for their own collective self-defense in the lead-up to Election 2016.

In Talensi, for example, then-Mahama Defense Minister Mark Owen Woyongo staunchly and publicly defended the barbaric application of violence against supporters of the NPP by the NDC-sponsored Azorka Boys militia group. Well, what is significant to note here is that Dr. Aning is not asking why President Mahama never disbanded and/or absorbed his Azorka Boys into the countrys security apparatus in 2013, after his party had been voted into government. Instead, the Kofi Annan Centers Research Director would have Ghanaians believe that Messrs. Akufo-Addo and Bawumia are not responsible and forward-looking leaders because they have not told the nation how they intend to disband their private security apparatus once the New Patriotic Party has been voted into power.

Dear reader, I told you that this Kwesi Aning boy may very well be morbidly afflicted with a mild case of mental retardation.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Introduction

This is a continuation of our last two articles on the grounds for Schengen visa refusals. In todays article, we will consider the ground that the consulate will refuse you a visa if you are found to present a risk of illegal immigration or if the consulate is unable to ascertain yourintention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa.

How does the consulate assess that you present a risk of illegal immigration?

Generally, you may be considered a risk of illegal immigration if the consulate finds that you are using the travel purposes such as tourism, business, study or family visits as a pretext to permanently settle illegally in the territory of the Member States.

The consulate may create profiles of applicants presenting a specific risk according to local conditions and circumstances. This may be donetaking account of the general situation in the country of residence,applicants coming from a particular country or a part ofa country, politically unstable areas, high level of unemployment and wide-spread poverty. In addition, consulates may create profiles on the stability of the applicants socio-economic situation. However, consulates are required to consider each application on its own merits irrespective of the profiles they have drawn up.

For example, the Netherlands Embassy in Accra may draw up profiles of applicants from Ghana providing similar and particular set of documents to the consulate which are found to be generally unreliable or false. Therefore, if you present any such document falling within the profile, this may cause the consulate to doubt your intention to return even though your application will nonetheless be assessed on your own circumstances.

How does the consulate assess your intention to depart the Schengen territory?

The consulate will consider a number of factors in assessing your intention to leave the territory of the Member states. These factors are interrelated and no one factor may be considered weightier than the other. Again different socio-economic situationsof applicants may present divergent aspects and conclusions. For example, an unemployed applicant may benefit from a very stable financial situation whiles a well-paid applicant may consider illegal immigration for personal reasons. It is for the consulate to assess all relevant factors to come to a conclusion as to whether or not you intend to leave the territory before the expiry of the visa.

Some of the factors includefamily links or other personal ties to your home country, marital status, employment situation and level of salary, if employed. In assessing your income, the consulate will not onlylook at the level of income that is paid to you but also the regularity of the income. These include income from employment, self-employment, pension, and investment. Again, the consulate may assess not only income paid to you but income received by any spouse, children or dependant.

The consulate may also assess your social status in your home country. In doing so, they will considerwhether you hold an elected public office, or an NGO representative, or a member of a profession with high social status such as a lawyer, medical doctor, university professor, etc.However, it is important to stress that the stated professions are not definitive of high social status. In fact, social status may differ from one location to the other. It is for you to demonstrate that your circumstances are such as to be accordedrespectable social status.

Another consideration that may count in your favour is the ownership of real estate or what we commonly call a house

Factors that may cause the consulate to doubt your intention to leave the territory.

Some of the factors that may cause the consulate to doubt your intention include previous illegal stay in the Member States, previous abuse of social welfare, a succession of different visa applications presented for different unrelated purposes, and doubts on the credibility of the person inviting you.

To be continued

By Emmanuel Opoku Acheampong
NANA ADUTWUMWAA, who represented her mother, Nana Yaa Achia, the Goaso Queenmother at a public function at Goaso on Tuesday, suffered humiliation as she was sacked from the programme midstream.

Sounding furious, she accused Nana Bosompra, the Goaso Paramount Chief, for ordering her embarrassing sack from the programme which was in connection with government's cocoa spraying exercise in the area.

Nana Adutwumwaa, said she had been representing her 96-year-old mother at events for the past seven years, adding, the chief accused her of being a New Patriotic Party (NPP) member thus ordering her to be taken away.

She said in an interview with the Don of Otec FM in Kumasi that she earlier resisted the directive and this resulted in policemen being ordered by the Goaso chief to bundle her into a car.

I was sitting on the dais with other important dignitaries because my name was boldly written on the programme when some officials of Cocobod came to tell me that the Goasohene says I am an NPP member so I should leave the event.

I vehemently resisted by telling the officials since Nana Yaa Achia, the Goaso Queenmother's name is on the programme as an invited guest, I won't leave. Then suddenly some policemen appeared, bundled me into a car and sped off.

.

Nana Adutwumwaa who was sound and safe, said she was at the programme firstly as the Goaso Queenmother since she represented her mother and secondly, she was to benefit from the cocoa spraying exercise.

Aside the humiliation she suffered, she stated that she did not benefit from the distribution of cocoa inputs and the cocoa spraying exercise, saying the chief was wrong to treat her in that manner.

She contended that since the cocoa spraying exercise was a national exercise, she would report the chief's attitude to President Mahama.

Reacting to the allegations on the same platform, Nana Bosompra revealed that all that Nana Adutwumwaa peddled about him were false.

He said, traditionally, Nana Adutwumwaa is not the Goaso Queenmother therefore it was wrong for her to dress and pose as such at that important function.

Nana Bosompra stated that Nana Aduwtumwaa's sacking from the programme had nothing to do with politics.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


Prof Kuupalo interacting with the students

23.03.2016 LISTEN

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) Medical School has inaugurated a new community-based experience and service (COBES) site at Assin Kushia in the Assin North Municipality of the Central Region.

The site is the second in the country after that of the Eastern Region.

The site would help students from level 200-500 spend four weeks in some selected communities in the country to ensure effective healthcare delivery.

The medical students would eat, drink, do everything with the community members and learn from the community in general.

Sixty-five students, made up of 29 males and 36 females, were sent to Assin Kushia to stay in the community for four weeks as they provide the people with basic medical treatment as part of their studies.

The medical school also seeks to help the students learn some culture and diseases that affect the people in the area and how best they can seek early medical treatment when they are sick.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chancellor of the UCC, Prof D.D. Kuupalo, mentioned that the university took the decision to roll out the programme after a consultation with the paramount chief of the area, Ehunabobrem Pra Agyinsem VI.

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Prof Kuupalo promised to send nursing and physician assistants into the community as a way of ensuring good health among the people.

He appealed to the community members to see the students as their children and help them achieve their aim to enable them to return to the community after their programme.

That, he said, would help reduce the exodus of doctors to other European countries for greener pastures.

Co-ordinator for COBES, Dr Sebastian Eliason, revealed that most students have never been to villages before, and as a doctor entering a village is very important. Our students would learn about leadership, governance and health seeking behaviour of the people, learn about the environment, sanitation, healthcare and political system.

He advised the community members to desist from consulting spiritualists instead of going to the hospital for medical treatment, calling on them to change their behaviour.

From Sarah Afful, Assin Kushia

Email:[email protected]


Executives of NPP Boys and Girls Youth Wing during the inauguration ceremony

23.03.2016 LISTEN

NPP BOYS and Girls Youth Wing at Ohwim Amanfrom in the Bantama Constituency in Kumasi, has vowed to campaign to win more votes from the NDC for the NPP in November.

The group, made up of about 250 staunch members of the NPP who are mostly based at Ohwim Amanfrom and other areas in Kumasi, have consequently appealed to the NPP leadership to send them to NDC strongholds to campaign.

We are passionately appealing to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP presidential candidate and other top members of the party to send us to areas deemed as NDC strongholds across the country.

We are determined to snatch more votes from the ruling NDC, who have mismanaged the country, so that the NPP would win the elections without sweat, Emmanuel Osei Bonsu, Chairman of NPP Boys and Girls, stated.

He was speaking during the official inauguration of the group at Ohwim Amanfrom in Kumasi on Sunday. The event was hugely attended by NPP supporters and sympathizers.

Osei Bonsu stated that his group's prime target is to campaign across the length and breadth of the country, from now to November, to attract the needed votes that would secure political victory for the NPP.

According to him, his group would visit areas such the Volta Region, New Edubiase, Ejura Sekyeredumase and all other areas that the NDC thinks it has the upper hand and we shall campaign to reduce their votes in those areas.

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Edward Ofosuhene, Organizer of the NPP Boys and Girls Youth Wing, stated that his group would work to rekindle the spirit of NPP members that have lost hope so that the party could record a first round victory.

Mr. Kusi Boafo, admonished the NPP Boys and Girls group to eschew back-biting and unite as one people so that their vision of helping the NPP to increase its votes and win the upcoming polls, would become a reality.

The event attracted NPP bigwigs like Akwasi Kyei, the Ashanti Regional NPP Communications Director, Adomako Barfi and Daniel Okyem Aboagye, the NPP parliamentary candidate for Bantama, among others.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
Tony Elumelu

23.03.2016 LISTEN

Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced the selection of the second set of 1,000 entrepreneurs for the 2016 cycle of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP).

Launched in 2015, TEEP is the largest African philanthropic initiative devoted to entrepreneurship and represents a 10-year, $100 million commitment.

The programme is to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs and add $10 billion in revenue to Africa's economy.

Over 45,000 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries applied. Successful candidates represent 53 African countries and diverse industries, led by agriculture and ICT.

The highest number of applicants came from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon.

Tony O. Elumelu, Founder of TEF said, In TEEP's first year, we spent over $8 million of our $100 million commitment, with $5 million going directly to entrepreneurs as seed capital and the results have far exceeded our expectations.

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We have funded entrepreneurs, established networks and helped extraordinary people take control of their destiny.

He said the 2016 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs will become a generation of newly empowered African business owners, who are the clearest evidence yet that indigenous business growth will drive Africa's economic and social transformation.

Over the next nine months, the 2016 cohort will receive intensive online training, networking and mentoring that provide a tool kit for success and sustainability.

They will also participate in the three-day Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum later in the year- the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurial talent.

Parminder Vir OBE, CEO of The Tony Elumelu Foundation said: We saw phenomenal success with the first cycle of TEEP. The success stories of the TEEP 2015 alumni are a testament to the transformative power of the programme we have built.

Through TEEP, we are proving to the next generation of entrepreneurs that their ideas can change their communities, their countries and their continent.

By Cephas Larbi

[email protected]


The abandoned taxi

23.03.2016 LISTEN

A taxi driver was Saturday night shot dead in his vehicle at Tantra Hill, near Lumba Down, by some gunmen in Accra.

The body of the taxi driver, yet to be identified, was discovered in his Hyundai Elantra with registration number GW 5426-14 by the police.

An eyewitness account indicated that the gunmen were three in number.

The witness, (name withheld), who also lives in the area, narrated to DAILY GUIDE that around 11:30 pm on Saturday, he heard some gunshots and so he came out and stood at a distance to find out what was happening.

At a distance, we saw the men who were three in number, struggling with the taxi driver in an attempt to collect the ignition key from him.

During the struggle, we heard another gunshot and so we immediately called the police for assistance since nobody could go close to them to find out what was happening; they were all armed.

After some time, we saw that they had carried the victim from the driver's seat to the back seat, and sat in the car.

By then the police patrol team was close and so upon seeing the police, the men sped off in a Hollywood style, the eyewitness narrated.

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According to him, the gunmen later abandoned the vehicle together with the taxi driver at a distance and jumped into a nearby bush.

He said when the patrol team got to where the vehicle was abandoned the assassins had fled, leaving the taxi driver, who is not known in the area, at the back seat dead.

A close examination of the body indicated that the victim was shot in the chest hence, he was bleeding profusely from the chest, the eyewitness claimed.

The witness said, personnel from the Mile 7 district police command later came to the scene to pick up the body and took away the vehicle.

The body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital for autopsy.

Meanwhile, the police have called on the public to assist them locate the family of the cabbie.

A statement from the Public Relations Office of the Accra Regional Police Command has directed the car owner to also contact the nearest police station.

([email protected])

By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey


Gregory Afoko

23.03.2016 LISTEN

Barring any last minute hitches, 52-year-old Gregory Afoko is expected to be hauled before an Accra High Court (Criminal Division) today over the alleged murder of Adams Mahama, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The arraignment of the farmer who is a brother to Paul Afoko, the suspended National Chairman of the NPP, follows about eight months of committal proceedings at an Accra Central Magistrate Court presided over by Worlanyo Kotoku.

Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the case which is due to be heard today has not yet been assigned to any court.

The paper further learnt that the prosecution may go to court today to renew the remand warrant of Gregory, especially when a jury was yet to be composed to hear the case.

At the last sitting at the Magistrate Court, state prosecutors led by Matthew Amponsah, a Chief State Attorney, presented 17 pieces of evidence to the court to indict the farmer.

Exhibits

Charged with conspiracy to murder and murder, the much awaited bill of indictment was read to Gregory who said he had nothing to say and would rely on his statements to the police.

The state exhibits include the investigation caution statement of the accused dated 22nd May, 2015, further statements dated 28th May and a charge caution statement of 25th November, 2015.

The others are the post-mortem report of the late Adams, dated May 25, and the medical report of the wife of the deceased, Hajia Zenabu Adams.

Evidence

The prosecution also paraded the gallon containing residue of the acid which was poured on the late Adams, a carpet in the car the deceased was using at the time of the attack, the pair of shoes used by the deceased, a sample of the seat in the deceased's vehicle and a foam from the vehicle.

State prosecutors further submitted among others, the trousers of Afoko, the forensic report issued by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) on the substances retrieved from the crime scene and the medical report of the accused person dated May 26, 2015.

Fight On

Ekow Ampah Korsah, lawyer for Gregory, had hinted that his client would fight the evidence as put out by the prosecution's bill of indictment.

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He said the prosecution's version of the case was not the truth, indicating that it could not stand the test of scrutiny at the high court.

Alibi

Israel Ackah, a member of the defence lawyers, stated that in the course of the trial, they would file for alibi.

He said Gregory intended to call one Linda Agana and John Afoko.

Ackah maintained that three other witnesses, namely, Musah Issah, David Afoko and one Mr Adjene, were expected to be called.

Facts

Afoko is standing trial for intentionally and unlawfully causing the death of Adams on May 20, 2015 at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region after an acid bath.

According to the A-G, Afoko must be charged for conspiracy to murder and murder while one Issah Musah, a member of the NPP who was alleged to have on May 19, 2015 solicited and procured the deadly acid which he gave to the other two suspects who in turn poured the acid on Adams, must be freed.

Asabke Alangdi, the third accused, has been on the run together with his wife, leaving behind their one-and-half-year-old baby.

According to the police charge sheet, Gregory, after his arrest, was asked to lead the police to the house of his accomplice, Asabke Alangdi, but he rather took them to the father's house. Police later located the house of the second but the suspect had got wind of their presence and absconded with his wife leaving behind their baby.

A gallon, which contains some of the substance, and a plastic cup were retrieved at the scene for forensic examination, the charge sheet added.

The police have revealed that a post-mortem examination was conducted on the body of the deceased and the Pathologist gave the cause of death as shock lungs and extensive acid burns.

[email protected]

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson


23.03.2016 LISTEN

Stars From All Nations (SFAN), a premier network of young entrepreneurs in Ghana, is set to host its third Future Executives Business Breakfast Meeting (FEBBM) on Saturday, March 26, 2016.

This year's edition of the Future Executives Business Breakfast Meeting will provide the platform for discussion between stakeholders such investors, young professionals and young entrepreneurs.

There will be a panel discussion on the topic, 'Understanding Student Entrepreneurship' and headlined by Akua Banning, Manager at iSpace, Dzifa Amantem of Dzifa.com and Raindolf Owusu, CEO of Oasis WebSoft.

The event would be moderated by Elizabeth Patterson, founder of Girls Edu Ghana.

This third edition of meeting will focus on student entrepreneurship and encourage students to think of solving their problems through entrepreneurship.

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The programme is also designed to teach students to translate their passion into a business or career that can create jobs while pursuing their courses.

Dr. Patrick Awuah, Founder & President of Ashesi University said, We must believe that these kids are smart, and if given the skills and opportunities they need to engage the real world, magic will happen.

He said the forum was borne out of the need for like-minded individuals to meet, exchange useful information and share best practices.

It consists of a panel segment and opportunity presentation segment and a segment for unveiling unique opportunities for the youth in Ghana, Dr. Awuah said.

Thomas-Chris, Founder of SFAN said, Looking at the geographical dividends, despite tremendous improvements in business practices in Africa, the challenge lies in integrating the youth into the workforce.

Obviously there is a big disconnect because in as much as the economy is expanding and domestic demand is increasing, job creation is not, hence the growing youth unemployment rate in Africa.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Namibia's High Commissioner to Ghana, Charles B. Josob, has called for the strengthening of bilateral trade between Ghana and Namibia.

Mr. Josob made the call during the 26th Independence Day celebration of the Republic of Namibia on Monday in Accra which coincided with the first anniversary of the establishment of the Namibian High Commission in Ghana.

He said that trade between Namibia and Ghana remains at a very low pace and level.

The envoy stressed the need for both nations to expand their trade frontiers in line with their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said it is our intention and we have already started engaging in other areas of cooperation with a focus on tourism, aquaculture, mining, as well as the service sectors.

Mr. Josob stated that I believe that cooperation in these areas will enable our two countries to address common challenges such as unemployment and poverty that many of our people still face.

We must engage in these areas in our effort to make sure that nobody is left behind in line with our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to him, Namibia is looking forward to importing goods from Ghana such as textiles, gold, coffee, nuts and timber, just to mention a few.

He intimated that Namibia is in the process of searching for alternative markets for Namibian fish, beef, beverages and other meat products.

The High Commissioner was optimistic Ghanaian and Namibian businesses can give meaning to this commitment.

He indicated that Namibia intends to send students to study in Ghana, adding that it also has a keen interest in the Ghanaian Judicial system, as well as the operations of the Ghanaian Students Loan Trust Fund.

Investment Confab

He urged Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of Namibia's upcoming International Investment Conference scheduled from 12-13 May 2016 under the theme, 'The Journey Towards Prosperity for All.'

Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mahama Ayariga said that the establishment of the Namibian Embassy in Accra last year created an avenue for both nations to strengthen their bilateral relations.

According to him, both nations have recognized the need to strengthen bilateral trade, pointing out that Ghana is willing to collaborate with Namibia in the field of tourism.

In attendance at the event held at the Accra City Hotel were dean and members of the diplomatic corps, traditional leaders and the media.

BY Melvin Tarlue
23.03.2016 LISTEN

African countries have been facing various challenges since independence and one of these major dilemmas is defining the relationship between religion and politics. At independence, African countries inherited multiple faiths, political religions that seek to control state formation and structure.

This challenge is evident in the controversies that have trailed the introduction and implementation of sharia law in places like Nigeria and Somalia, the violent reactions to religious differences in Sudan and Central African Republic, the ongoing campaign against islamic extremism in Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Cameroon and in the North of Africa, the heated debates and fierce opposition to the enactment of legislations and policies that protect the human rights of persons particularly those human rights mechanisms that are deemed by some segments of the religious establishment as violations of the dictates and dogmas of their faiths.

Drawing from my experiences growing up in Nigeria and years of keenly following the use of religion for political ends or the use of politics religious ends in countries across the region, this piece highlights how mixing of religion and politics undermines secularism and the realization of Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB) and human rights broadly. I propose models, not a model of secularism because the situation of religion and politics in Africa is not homogenous and often differs from country to country, sometimes within countries to warrant recommending just a model of secularism that may apply to over 52 countries in the region.

On the Taboo Word Called Secularism

Though overtly or covertly contained in the constitutions of various states across the region, the term secularism often evokes sentiments of opposition and hostility in political debates because of certain misconceptions. First of all, the term secularism is widely perceived as a western imperialist ideology, a neo colonialist device that is used to extend the sociocultural influence of the west to the rest of the world. Thus, as former colonies, countries within the region particularly those that for some reasons consider themselves as ideologically, culturally or religiously opposed to the West view the idea of secularism with suspicion.

This is particularly the case in muslim dominated communities where some segments consider anything western as sinful, prohibited and haram. Another widespread misconception is that secularism is incipient atheism and that the campaign for a secular state is a campaign to make atheism the state religion. Thus religious folks think that a campaign for secularism is a campaign that is not in the interest of their faiths. These prevailing notions have constrained the secular space and hampered efforts to adopt and adapt models that protect human rights as illustrated in the following examples.

The Rights of LGBTI persons

The use of religion for political ends has been very visible and pronounced in the debate on the human rights of homosexuals. In Nigeria and Uganda for example, religious politicians and political religions have rallied against the recognition of the human rights of gay people using teachings that are contained in their scriptures and traditions as the bases of the arguments against the rights of homosexuals. Christian and Islamic religious leaders campaigned and mobilized in support of the anti gay marriage bill that was later passed into law in Nigeria and in Uganda, local Christian evangelical groups with the support of their counterpart organizations in the US campaigned in support of the anti homosexuality bill which was passed into law but was later repealed.

I attended in 2007 the public hearing organized by the Nigerian lawmakers to solicit public opinion on the anti same sex marriage bill that was then going through the legislative process. Religious leaders who were at the event spoke in support of the bill and implored the lawmakers to pass it into law without delay. I can still recall the contribution of an Islamic scholar who attended the event. He said categorically that there was no debate on homosexuality under sharia law and by extension under Islam; that the penalty for homosexuality was death. He suggested that the few homosexuals in the country be rounded up and killed in order to protect the heterosexual majority. The model of secularism that is suitable for Nigeria must protect sexual minorities from being persecuted and executed as suggested by this Islamic scholar and other acclaimed spokespersons of Allah and the Ummah.

This model of secularism must protect the rights of muslims who believe that gay people deserve dignified treatment despite the provisions in the Quran, Hadith or sharia law and those who are critical of Islam based phobia and Islamic homophobia. This model of secularism must be one that has both local and international dimensions because local religious groups that campaign to make their religious dogmas state policies sometimes receive enormous moral, material, and financial support from their evangelical counterparts in the US and Europe and their Islamic allies in Asia and the Middle East. This is not to infantilize the agency of Africans on this issue but to acknowledge that there is a transnational dimension to the religious politics of Christianity and Islam in Africa that deserves critical attention.

In addition, the international aspect of the model of secularism should ensure that Nigeria or any other African country where this religious politics applies does not cave into pressures, and champion or support the homophobic agenda of international organizations like the OIC and other religious or quasi-religious blocks that are used to undermine state protection of LGBT rights at the UN.

Furthermore, another issue that shows how mixing religion and politics undermines human rights is the enforcement of blasphemy laws. The existence of laws that criminalize insulting religions is antithetical to democratic values and human rights protection. Blasphemy laws are incompatible with FORB. The recent case in Nigeria highlights the contradictions that are embedded in these legislations and the fact that blasphemy laws are the most lethal weapons against religious liberty.

In June last year, a sharia court in Kano Northern Nigeria sentenced 9 members of the Tijjaniya sect to death and in January this year, a leader and preacher with this sect, Abdulazeez Dauda was also sentenced to death by hanging. These persons reportedly claimed at a religious gathering in honour of Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese founder of the Tijaniya sect, that "Niasse was bigger than Prophet Muhammad". Sharia court judges in Kano interpreted this statement as an insult on prophet Muhammad and an offence that was punishable by death!

Nigeria needs a model of secularism that could protect the rights to free speech and FORB of all muslims of all sects including those who believe that prophet Muhammad is greater than the leaders of the sects and those who think that the leaders of their sects are greater than prophet Muhammad and those who think as a matter faith or fact that Muhammad is not by any measure a great prophet or a prophet. This model of secularism should serve as a bulwark against islamophobia and any attempt to muzzle free speech and express and deny the basic human rights of those who manifest religions and beliefs that could be interpreted as insulting Prophet Muhammad, or a defamation of Islam or any religion.

Lastly, the handling of witchcraft related abuses also shows how mixing religion and politics hampers effective protection of the rights of women and children. Witchcraft is a religious belief that some human beings have the power to harm others through magical means. Espousing such a notion is consistent with exercising FORB and freedom of expression. However beyond expressing such notions, believers take actions that deny alleged witches their rights to life and to freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Religious groups have lobbied for the recognition of witchcraft as an offence. Accusations of witchcraft have led to serious human rights violations. African states have demonstrated limited political will in tackling egregious human rights abuses of persons suspected of engaging in witchcraft despite enabling provisions in the existing law because of concerns over offending African religious sentiments or concerns over losing the support of powerful religious establishments.

The recent case of a 4 year old girl in Nigeria who was reportedly accused of witchcraft and subsequently was abandoned by the family demonstrates the scale of the indifference of the state regarding the rights of persons suspected to be witches. The girl was picked up in a state where the child rights law that provides for the protection of children from accusations of witchcraft is in force. However the government has been reluctant in prosecuting witch hunting pastors and churches that fuel these accusations.

In Malawi the government has been unable to enforce existing laws on witchcraft accusation that are often misinterpreted and used by local magistrates to sanction and penalize accused persons not their accusers. In Ghana, the government is shutting down the witch sanctuaries where accused persons seek refuge instead of adopting more proactive measures to tackle witchcraft accusations that turn innocent individuals into refugees in their own land.

The main issue is that state actors do not want to be seen tackling a belief that is widely perceived to reflect African values and tradition (whatever that means) or to be prosecuting an anti religion, anti god or atheistic agenda of secularism.

Nigeria, Malawi and Ghana need models of secularism that effectively legislate against witchcraft accusations and protect children and elderly women from related abuses. African countries need models of secularism that promote and protect FORB and at the same time sanction and penalize those who perpetrate human rights abuses in the name of religion or belief in witchcraft, in the name of Christianity, Islam or any religion, belief or ideology.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Are you planning to go to East Africa now or in the future? Whether its just for a short visit, for a business trip or even for a long time stay, this part of the African continent is absolutely hospitable. With always smiling faces, East Africans will make you feel at home, treating you with kindness and gentleness. If not for the value you add to their countries GDP, I would confidently say that humanity is a value among the people of East Africa.

When visiting such hosts, isnt it only helpful to know a bit of their local language? Furthermore, you will impress them; make them want to interact with you more while getting amused by your rib-tickling accent. Luckily, East Africa shares a common language, Swahili; and Jovago.com will help you learn some of the most common Swahili words that will go a long way in making your visit to East Africa a memorable one.

Jambo/Habari

Greetings are key in any kind of communication. Jambo or Habari are Swahili words meaning Hello. Usually, Habari is used when greeting people of an older age or same level and status and they can reply with the word Salama. On the other hand, Jambo is used to greet young people and they can reply with the word Jambo. It is very Important to greet your elders with the word Shikamoo as it shows more respect and they can reply with the word Marhaba. When you greet someone in their local dialect, it is not only courteous but also helps warm their hearts to open up to you.

Ahsante

Thank you. You are probably going to receive an act of kindness, a gift or even some service from your local hosts. Say ahsante or even better, ahsante sana; meaning thank you very much. It is a polite expression showing you acknowledge what they have done for you.

Karibu

This is to mean welcome. So, if someone tells you ahsante (remember this means thank you), then tell them karibu. And they will be in awe of your Swahili knowledge.

Pole

This simply means am sorry or just sorry. It comes in handy especially in the event of a misfortune or an accident. However small it may be, such as tripping on someone or dropping their item, say pole. They will appreciate that you feel sorry about it.

Tafadhali

When asking for something or for assistance, we usually start by saying please. For instance, please show me the way. The Swahili word for please is tafadhali, which is also used to mean excuse me.

Jina langu ni

You are in one of the East African countries. Your hosts dont know you and they will for sure ask for your name. You just go like, jina langu ni Josephine. Meaning, My name is Josephine.

Jina lako ni nani?

Once you tell your name, continue the conversation and ask them what their name is. Jina lako ni nani? to mean, What is your name?

Chakula

Oh, everyones favorite. Food. You hear this word chakula and you know its time to fill up the bellies. Dont we all look forward to that? Remember, your safari will be more memorable if you try as many local delicacies as possible. Chakula is one of the uniting factors among the East Africans.

Hatari

You may be taking a stroll or enjoying game viewing in some of East Africas best tourist destinations; when you notice signs written Hatari!! This means there is impending Danger!! and that you should be cautious about your movements. Do not ignore, take caution.

Kwaheri

Every journey has a beginning and an end. After a fantastic stay with your hosts, it is time to depart. Can be heart breaking, but you have to leave anyway. Say goodbye. In Swahili, say kwaheri.

In Jovago , we believe your stay in East Africa will be one of a lifetime. And that these basic Swahili words will make your interactions easier. As the good tourist you are, take initiative to learn as much of the local dialects as possible. When you visit again, they will come in handy.
The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura, welcomes the conviction of former Congolese rebel leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba by the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 21 March 2016 for rape as a war crime and crime against humanity.

I commend this landmark decision of the ICC and its contribution to overall efforts toward the fight against impunity for violations of international criminal law including sexual violence, as a war crime and a crime against humanity, Special Representative Bangura said.

This judgement sends a strong signal that no political or military leader is above the law and no woman or girl beneath it. Prosecuting such crimes could deter potential perpetrators and therefore should be seen as a crucial aspect of prevention. Ms. Bangura noted.

These atrocities were committed in the Central African Republic from October 2002 to March 2003 by a contingent of Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) troops. Mr. Jean-Pierre Bemba was acting as a military commander with effective authority and control over the forces that committed these crimes.

By applying the principle of command responsibility, the ICC has built upon precedence set by the International Criminal Tribunals in recognising sexual violence as an international crime. The ICC is sending a clear and unambiguous message to military commanders, reminding them of their obligation to prevent and punish such crimes committed by their troops, or face the consequences.

This conviction clearly demonstrates to the survivors of sexual violence that the international community is on their side. It also reminds perpetrators that when serious sexual violence crimes are committed, it does not matter who you are, or where you are, we will go after you and get you, Special Representative Bangura reiterated.

I acknowledge the resilience of survivors of sexual violence crimes committed by the MLC troops as well as the unflinching quest for justice by those who testified during the trial. It is imperative for the international community to also prioritise reparations for the survivors, their families and communities, and that those who were affected are aware of the justice that has been rendered. Ms. Bangura added.
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Ghana yesterday joined the rest of the world to commemorate the 2016 edition of World Water Day.

This years World Water Day theme 'Better Water, Better Jobs', focuses on the central role that water plays in creating and supporting good quality jobs.

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March as the first World Water Day.

Twenty three years later, World Water Day is celebrated around the world every year, shining the spotlight on a different issue.

As part of activities to mark this year's celebration, the Water Resources Commission (WRC), in collaboration with the Forestry Commission, organised a tree planting exercise among some selected schools in Accra.

Participating schools included the Asia Mills Primary and JHS, Ayalolo 1 & 2 Primary, Accra Presby Primary, Akoto Lante JHS, among many others.

A statement from the WRC said, The current situation where parts of the country experiences acute water scarcity requires strategic investment in water-efficiency and sustainable water management. This will provide great prospects for partnerships between businesses, water experts, community based organisations and policy makers to design projects and policies on a win-win basis for jobs and water improvements.Making these investments will strategically catalyze economic growth, develop local industries, and create more jobs for the people.

Consequently, any agenda to attract direct investment including particularly from the private sector to create sustainable water jobs, should also aim at meeting the demands of existing businesses and communities for high quality water and security of supply.

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Nestle

Commenting on the World Water Day celebration, Nestle Central and West Africa pledged its commitment to ensuring the provision of clean and safe drinking water in cocoa-growing regions across the sub-region.

It said, More than 280,000 people in the cocoa-growing regions of Cote d'Ivoire now have better access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, thanks to our work with the IFRC. We've been working with the IFRC since 2002 and renewed our partnership for five more years in 2014 to improve sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in cocoa-growing communities in Cote d'Ivoire and in Ghana.

We've included a module on water management in the 4C (Common Code for Coffee Community) training we give to farmers as part of the Nescafe Plan. It helps them avoid wasting water by monitoring how much they use, avoid polluting water by using local materials and simple techniques, and preserve water quality by urging them to protect natural water resources on farms.

We've reduced water consumption by 26 percent per tonne of product across our operations since 2010. One way we did this is by installing a connection between our food manufacturing facility in Agbara, Nigeria and the Nestle Waters plant near the site, which enabled us to use surplus water from Nestle Waters' deep well at our other sites. This saved us 100,000 m3 of water each year.

As a signatory of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) pledge, Nestle indicated in a statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of its Ghana branch that it is making sure that every Nestle employee has access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene of an appropriate standard in the workplace. We first used the self- assessment tool in 2014 at our factory in Douala, Cameroon. By the end of 2015, 95% of our sites in the region had completed WASH self-assessments. We aim to assess 100 percent of our sites in CWAR by early 2016.

It continuedLocal schools are benefiting from Nestle Waters' partnership with the Project WET Foundation in Nigeria to develop hydration-teaching modules, which looks to raise awareness about the importance of proper hydration for children. We're also continuing to deliver healthy hydration modules through the Nestle Healthy Kids programme in Ghana and Nigeria.

BY Melvin Tarlue


23.03.2016 LISTEN

Ebenezer Arthur, an operator of car rental business in Takoradi, has accused the Western Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Reuben Asiwoko of allegedly conniving with the chief of Mempeasem in the Central Region to steal his car.

According to the businessman, the Regional Crime Officer, who was mandated to enforce the law, had allegedly collaborated with the chief to swindle him.

Addressing a press conference in Takoradi, Mr Arthur explained that the chief of Mempeasem, Nana Nyame IV about three years ago entered into an agreement to buy his Nissan Murano vehicle with registration number WR 390-11 at a cost of GH30,000.00.

Mr Arthur indicated that the chief took possession of the car on September 9, 2013 with a promise to make full payment promptly.

He indicated that the chief later informed him that he wanted to pay for the vehicle with seven plots of land by a roadside at Mempeasem and he agreed.

Ebenezer Arthur told journalists that when he decided to develop the land, he realized that the tracts of land had already been sold to another person.

I got to know that the chief had sold the land to someone else when I visited the area to start something on it. I therefore approached the chief and Nana Nyame apologized and assured that he will give me another land, he noted.

Because of what happened earlier, I told the chief that I do not need the land and so he should pay me with cash and all this while, the vehicle was with the chief.

Ebenezer Arthur pointed out that instead of making payment, the chief went into hiding and so he reported the case to Supt Asiwoko.

.

The chief was later arrested and the vehicle was impounded on April 1, 2014 but the car was at the mercy of the weather, he said.

He indicated that the police began investigations into the case and that the crime officer sent his 'boys' to come to me for money to travel to the chief's area.

The businessman alleged that after a while someone in the chief's area told him (Ebenezer) that he had seen the chief driving the Nissan Murano vehicle in the area.

So I quickly went to the police headquarters and lo and behold my vehicle was nowhere to be found and so I contacted the crime officer who could not give any tangible reasons for releasing the vehicle to the chief, he stressed.

The angry Ebenezer Arthur told the media that he suspected foul play and travelled to the national police headquarters in Accra to report the case after which the Western Regional Crime Officer was summoned to the national headquarters.

In the presence of some other senior police officers, the regional crime officer was reprimanded and asked to assist me get my car but since then I have neither received my car nor the money, he asserted.

I suspect that the crime officer is hiding something from me. Why should my car be released to the chief when the crime officer knows that Nana Nyame IV has not paid for the vehicle? Now I can't locate the chief and his phones have been switched off. I even hear he has been destooled, he told the media.

Supt Asiwoko told DAILY GUIDE that I will not speak on this issue. I am not interested. If he had seen the need to organize press conference, the police have not got the time to react.

He added that we, in the police, are governed by rules and regulations and the rules do not allow me to talk on the matter, I don't need to talk about it, he can go ahead and accuse me.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi


23.03.2016 LISTEN

Drama unfolded in an Accra Circuit Court yesterday when state prosecutors discharged a middle-aged woman who was being tried for robbery.

The quick U-turn by the prosecution follows comments by George Asamaney, lawyer for the accused on Friday that Mary Kumabu, trader aka New Town Madam had been dragged to the court to be persecuted.

Asamaney said: It is clear that in this court of law, sometimes we do things that ridicule the whole judicial process in the country.

The lawyer urged the court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, to grant bail to his client.

He stated that she has not taken part in any robbery, the accused person is even sick, this is travesty of justice; this is not right.

However, hours after the comments by the lawyers, the prosecution, led by DSP Kweku Bempah, withdrew the earlier charges of conspiracy to rob and robbery and substituted it possession of stolen property.

The prosecution said that Madam New Town on March 17 this year took possession of 300 cartons of Princesse Sardines worth GH31,500 and 150 cartons of tiger head batteries valued at GH21,750, which belonged to Santhosh Kumar.

She denied the charge and was granted bail in the sum of GH100,000 with two sureties, one to be justified.

DSP said the complainant was an employee of White Lane Company Limited who was in-charge of the companys Madza Truck with registration GT 6687-11.

.

He said at about 4:30 am on the fateful day, the complainant was asked to deliver the said items from Odorna to a customer at Assin Praso and that about two kilometres before the Weija Toll Booth, a taxi overtook the complainant and told him that his back door was opened.

DSP Bempah stated that the complainant parked along the road and came down only to realize that the rear door was intact.

He said when he was returning to take his seat, four armed men from the taxi suddenly attacked him and struck him with some implements.

He noted that another 207 Mercedes Benz mini bus also parked behind the complainants truck and two men came to join the four and forced the complainant into the 207 mini bus amidst beatings and drove him towards Gomoa and finally diverted to a bushy area.

The police officer said the gang stripped the complainant naked, tied his hands with his singlet and threw him into the bush after robbing him of his Samsung mobile phone and the cash.

When the armed robbers left, the complainant managed to untie himself and went to a nearby town where he was given some clothing to wear.

DSP Bempah said Kumar was contacted, adding that a tracking device installed in the truck led the police to the house of the accused where some of the items were found in her Rexton private car with registration number GT 6110-14.

[email protected]

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson


23.03.2016 LISTEN

Three Nigerians- Cynthia Jonathan, 21, a student and Chioma Odo, 25, a hairdresser and Choice Amaka, have been arrested by the Tamale Police for allegedly trafficking one Angela, a lotto operator to Tamale in the Northern Region to engage in prostitution.

A source revealed that Jonathan Okoro, the boyfriend of Cynthia Jonathan, told the victim that he was a spare parts dealer in Tamale and that he would marry her if she agrees to follow him to the city to assist him in his business.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that when the victim arrived in Tamale, she was told by the suspects that she was going to engage in prostitution.

The Northern Regional Police spokesman, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, said the victim was given a target of GH6,000.00 to meet and that if she pays the money she would be set free.

The victim was tasked to charge GH50 for short time and GH150 for a whole night.

ASP Ebenezer Tetteh indicated that the victim refused the offer and was assaulted by the accused persons, who forced her to work and pay that amount.

According to him, the victim was forced to have sex with some men for three days and the money which amounted to GHC200 was taken by the suspects.

.

He said the victim narrated her ordeal to a good Samaritan at the Victory Cinema in Tamale where prostitution takes place, adding that the person led her to the police station to report the case.

She later led the police to arrest the suspects and after investigations they were charged with the offence.

They were arraigned before the Tamale Magistrate Court, presided by Anthony Essah and charged with conspiracy to commit crime to wit human trafficking.

The accused pleaded not guilty and have since been remanded into prison custody to reappear on the 31st March, 2016.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Okoro, the boyfriend of Cynthia Jonathan, is currently on the run and efforts are being made by the police to apprehend him.

From Eric Kombat, Tamale


Niamey (AFP) - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, re-elected for a second term in a controversial weekend poll, on Wednesday proposed forming a unity government with the opposition which boycotted the vote.

"I am ready to put in place a government of national unity with the opposition in order to face the threats facing the people of Niger," he said in an interview with AFP.

"There is not just a security challenge, there are other challenges including economic and social development. All these challenges need a sacred union."

Issoufou won 92 percent of the vote in Sunday's run-off election in the impoverished but uranium-rich West African country, which was marred by low turnout in the face of the opposition boycott.

His sole challenger Hama Amadou, imprisoned since November on shadowy baby trafficking charges, was flown to France for medical treatment just days before the second round.

The electoral commission said Amadou won just seven percent of the ballots cast.

- 'Jolt of energy' -

Issoufou, who took office in 2011, campaigned on pledges to bring prosperity to the country and vowed to prevent further attacks by jihadists in its vast remote north, and Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists to the south.

"The security challenge requires a national jolt of energy and needs all Nigeriens to pull together, including those from the opposition," Issoufou told AFP.

"We need a broad front so we can respond to the concerns and aspirations of our people," he said.

"I am prepared to discuss and debate with everyone, with political parties -- from the majority or the opposition -- and with civil society."

Issoufou, who is due to be sworn in early next month, warned that nations such as Niger were "fragile" and faced serious threats to their security.

"It's an historic moment. We must not underestimate the grave threat against our country's very existence as a nation.

"We are determined to organise ourselves, to unite, to equip our security forces, to pool our resources with neighbouring countries and beyond.... This is a global threat that requires a global response."

He said there was nothing "contradictory" about pursuing security at the same time as development in a country where 76 percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.

"Experience has proved that the three things are linked -- security, development and democracy."

- 'Nothing without security' -

Issoufou said it had been a mistake to "disengage" from security issues as part of structural programmes by organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"That was an mistake. The proof today -- our countries are too weak to defend themselves, any development is impossible.

"Because if there is no security, there is no agriculture, no infrastructure. Nothing can be achieved without security. Investing in security is not throwing money out of the window as one might have thought in the 1980s and 1990s."

Referring to Niger's latest ranking in the Human Development Index, he also pledged to continue efforts to improve agriculture, food, education, health and access to water.

Niger holds the lowest place on the comprehensive Human Development Index drawn up each year by the UN Development Programme.

"We are making progress with a six percent average growth rate over the past five years. My goal is to reach seven percent during my term in office.

And he pledged to double from five to 10 years the average time Nigeriens attend school, ensuring that the "maximum number of Nigeriens go to school and stay there for the maximum length of time".
23.03.2016 LISTEN

A joint convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the United Nations yesterday reached several villages in the region of Al Houleh, north of Homs, to deliver food, medicine and water supply equipment for more than 70,000 people.

People in Al Houleh have been facing severe hardship for a long time, said the ICRC's head of office in Homs, Majda Flihi,who led the ICRC team into Al Houleh. They are farmers but they cannot farm anymore. They have livestock but it cannot be fed properly as peoples fields have now become front lines.

The 27-truck convoy carried food, equipment to repair the water supply and medical aid to support the overstretched medical facility operated by SARC in the village of Kafr Laha. An ICRC team of water engineers also worked on trying to improve the state of boreholes which provide the only steady supply of clean water. A second convoy, planned for the coming days, will bring generators and technical equipment to ensure the water supply.

As in all besieged places in Syria, civilians are trying to survive on meagre resources. They are in need of regular food supplies, medicine and other kinds of aid. We need regular access regardless of the situation on the ground, said Ms Flihi.

Al Houleh has been under siege since 2012 and has been the scene of heavy fighting for months. The recent lull in fighting has allowed humanitarian organizations to access the area.

Last week, another joint convoy from the ICRC, SARC and UN delivered food and hygiene items to more than 60,000 people living in the besieged areas of Madaya, Zabadani, Foua and Kifraya.
Abidjan, March 23, GNA - A major way in which African countries can sustain their economies is by changing the character of their major export crops and minerals into finished goods for export, President John Dramani Mahama has stated.

Changing of the character, he explained, entailed the establishment of processing factories to absorb the growing supply of raw materials in the agriculture and Minerals industries.

President Mahama stated this when he addressed participants of the Fourth African Chief Executive Officers'(CEO) Forum, held in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast.

The session, which opened, on Monday, is the foremost platform for CEOs and officials of African international companies to share experiences and ideas, expand their networking systems, and find new financial partners in the continent and beyond.

They also use the forum as the vehicle or driving force in the development of the African private sector, to learn from the best practices of fast-growing companies in the continent, and promote to their companies within the African continent and beyond.

The President argued that value addition would create more jobs for the teeming Ghanaian youth and sustain industry on account of persistent falling commodity prices in the international markets.

He said much as African countries were making some significant impact in industrialisation and processing, most of the states were still import-dependent and suggested that countries should leverage themselves in areas that they were comparatively superior.

On partnerships and integration in the sub-region, President Mahama called for vigorous intra-trade that would create an impetus for them to specialize and step up production in their areas of specialisation.

He explained that language, currency and tariff differentials had over the years stifled intra-trade and commerce, saying that the current harmonisation of external tariffs would pave way for high volumes of trade partnership among African countries.

He said most West African countries had the political will to speed up trade links and appealed to the private sector to take advantage of the available opportunities to create more links in the coming years.

On energy generation, President Mahama said industrialisation and economic growth hinged on energy and urged the Economic Community of West African States to invest heavily in hydro and solar energy to supplement their existing capacities.

Ivorian President Alassane Quattara said his country was liaising with other West African countries to make them self-reliant shortly.

The relationship, he said, would need frequent sharing of ideas and experiences in trade, commerce and industry to reduce overdependence on the developed world.

President Quattara said the forum would create an opportunity for most companies to spread out to other African countries and beyond.

Since the first CEO forum edition in 2012, it has become the flagship forum for African investors and their partners to fine-tune their development agenda in the continent.

More than 800 participants, comprising 500 CEOs from the African continent, 100 bankers and investors, 200 high profile African and international Very Important Personnel are attending the 2016 edition, hosted by Groupe Jeune Afrique, in partnership with the African Development Bank and Rainbow Unlimited.

It is the first time the forum is hosted by an African country since its inception.

President Mahama is accompanied by Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Communications, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, Minister for Petroleum, Mr Prosper Douglas Bani, Minister for Interior and Alhaji Baba Kamara, Security Advisor.

By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Special Correspondent, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Loho (UWR), March 23, GNA - Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, on Wednesday joined the people of the Upper West Region, to launch the Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound Policy and inaugurated 64 CHPS Compounds in the Region.

The ceremony took place at Loho in the Nadowli-Kaleo District.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) constructed the CHPS Compounds which were dotted all over the 11 districts in the Region, and the inauguration of the Loho CHPS Compound was a symbolic one.

Government and JICA funded the projects to the tune of 989 million Japanese Yuan.

Vice President Amissah Arthur, who inaugurated the CHPS Compounds on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, said bringing basic health care to the doorstep of Ghanaians, especially those in underserved and hard-to-reach communities, was a key priority of Government and a critical strategy in its efforts to change lives and transform Ghana.

He said that was because government recognised that inequality in accessing health care existed in Ghana and therefore prioritised efforts aimed at bridging such equity gaps across Ghana.

The objective, Vice President Amissah Arthur said was to ensure that majority of Ghanaians obtained health services without suffering any difficulties, including geographical and financial access, an integral part of the Health Sector Medium Term Development Plan 2014 to 2017.

Vice President Amissah Arthur said the need for a well-trained and motivated health workforce at all levels of the health system could not be overlooked and that within that context, government made it a point to structure the CHPS programme to make it an effective first-level of health service delivery in Ghana.

On the CHPS Policy, Vice President Amissah Arthur said it was a policy that would guide health programming and investment at the community level.

He said about 16,000 Community Health Officers had been trained and were delivering essential health services in some of the more than 6,000 demarcated CHPS zones in Ghana.

He announced that government was collaborating with stakeholders such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DfID), Korea Foundation for International Health Care (KOFIH) and philanthropists to constructed CHPS Compounds to cover 1410 CHPS zones in deprived communities.

The district assemblies had also responded to government's directive to construct two CHPS Compounds a year which was also accomplished.

Vice President Arthur said government's commitment to the CHPS Compound concept, led members of the executive to take a voluntary 10 per cent salary cut in support of a fund dedicated to CHPS Compound construction.

He announced that government had committed resources to the construction of an additional 1,000 CHPS Compounds in deprived communities throughout Ghana this year.

Vice President Amissah Arthur directed the Ministry of Health and its agencies to immediately disseminate the CHPS Policy while ensuring that all CHPS activities were done in strict compliance with the Policy Document.

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - Mr Edgar Maokola-Majogo, acting President African Cashew Alliance (ACA), on Tuesday said Africa was the largest producer of raw cashew nuts in the world with an estimated annual output of 1.2 million metric tons.

He said out of this output only about 15 per cent was currently processed in Africa while the bulk was exported to be processed abroad, thereby limiting the benefits of employment, investment, government revenues and foreign exchanges in Africa.

Mr Maokola-Majogo made this observation at a press conference in Accra after a two-day Executive Committee and Advisory Board of the ACA meeting, in Accra to deliberate on the implementation of strategies aimed at developing the cashew industry through increased value addition throughout the value chain.

He said the ACA would be completing its first decade of promoting the cashew industry in Africa with its international partners and was determined to chart a new course for the African cashew industry that would guarantee its global competitiveness and increase its local value addition.

He said ACA has been able to bring cashew to a prominent position as a commercial crop in Africa and with the promotion of the industry by the Alliance, Cashew is now generating interest in producing countries that were diversifying their economies.

Mr Maokola-Majogo noted that one of the major objectives of the ACA was to promote local processing of raw cashew nuts in Africa, to encourage employment and reduce poverty among the farming communities by enhancing their income.

'It is estimated that 25 percent increase in raw cashew nuts processing in Africa would generate over $100 million in household income thereby improving many of the rural families and the ACA acknowledges the bold initiatives of government to promote the industry by encouraging and supporting local processing of cashew in the country'.

He said the ACA would continue to partner with government, local and international stakeholders to support the industry through technical assistant, access to market information, business advisory services, sustainable quality assurance and food safety.

He said they would also continue to advocate for polices that would increase the production and processing of African cashew that meets international best practices, attract the needed investment into the industry and contribute to the development aspirations of producing countries.

'The cashew sector in Africa is still at its nascent stage and would need the corporation and support of all stakeholders including the government to ensure that it achieves its full potential and contributes to the national and regional economies,' he noted.

GNA
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Mar. 22, GNA - The three northern regions are still vulnerable in terms of improved living standards despite progress in poverty reduction interventions being undertaken in the area, a new research finding has revealed.

The survey, which focused on households' economic well-being, involving expenditure and poverty, however, showed that expenditures have increased while poverty prevalence has declined from the baseline.

It revealed that the prevalence of poverty levels in the region at the time of survey was, 67 per cent.

'The continuous investment in education is therefore very important in helping reduce poverty risk in the North', Dr Vincent Amanor-Boadu, a Senior Lecturer at the Kansas State University, USA, who presented the findings of the survey explained.

The survey dubbed: 'Population-based Survey on Poverty and Nutrition in Northern Ghana' was carried out in 2015 within the SADA region of Ghana, excluding the SADA area within the Volta Region.

The results of the survey, announced recently at a Conference organised by USAID in Accra, follows a first survey on poverty and nutrition levels, undertaken in the North, in 2012 by USAID-Monitoring, Evaluation and Technical Support Services (METTS) in collaboration with Ghana Statistical Services, University of Cape Coast and Kansas State University.

It forms part of the Feed the Future programme, a US Government's Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative, an approach to achieving its commitments in the reduction of poverty and enhancing nutritional status in developing countries, such as Ghana.

The survey further revealed that the gap between the top and the bottom quintiles had increased and, therefore, policymakers could help in poverty alleviation by facilitating the enabling environment while individuals do their part by enhancing their education and investing in the education of children in the region.

Dr Amanor-Boadu explained that while Ghana has been successful in meeting its poverty-reduction Millennium Development Goals, the northern regions were experiencing much higher poverty levels and that had triggered a focus by most development agencies, including USAID, in the region.

The survey, therefore, tracked intervention in investments' performance using a number of indicators.

According to the survey, income, production and leadership were areas that needed the most intervention to help influence households' nutrition and food security outcomes.

It revealed that women with a higher degree of disempowerment have a significantly lower health status, and for women categorized as obese, the production and leadership domains were found to be the areas of priority for directing policy interventions to enhance empowerment of women and ultimately influence their health.

Mr Andy Karas, Representative of the USAID Mission, described the data as evidence based data that would help drive decision on households, food security, nutrition and well-being of the people in the north.

'It gives instructive information on how and which areas of development need to be targeted while informing public policy with opportunities to the private sector, especially in the SADA Zone'.

Mr Brian Conklin, Deputy Director of Economic Growth Office, USAID, said there was some good news about the findings of the survey which revealed that there has been 19 per cent drop in poverty in the region.

However, he said, there was the need to work to improve level of education and health status as the bedrock of improved living conditions of the people.

Mr Conklin also emphasized on the need to forge partnerships, especially with the private sector, to bring about transformation in the region.

Nana Osei Bonsu, Chief Executive Officer of Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), said in order to address low agriculture production, the private sector needed to be supported with technical skills, and farm management practices to help manage post-harvest loses.

GNA
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Mar. 22, GNA - Leading media development and free expression organisations in West Africa have called on governments in the region to prioritise safety of journalists and access to information.

'We call on all governments in West Africa to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment for journalists, media professionals and associated personnel to perform their work professionally without attacks and undue interference'.

This was contained in a communiquA issued at the end of the Conference which was organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), in March this year.

At the just ended West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance, held in Accra, participants deplored the continuous attacks on journalists within the region and the impunity for which such crimes were committed.

Participants also noted with concern that many more countries in the region were yet to pass the Right to Information laws to guarantee access to information for citizens.

Governments that were yet to adopt Right to Information (RTI) Law, were also urged, to prioritise processes for the passage of such laws to guarantee access to information for all citizens.

It called on journalists unions, all media owners, managers, editors, journalists and media development organisations in the region to take steps to improve professional standards among the media.

The Conference brought together representatives from freedom of expression and media development organisations from 15 West Africa States, ECOWAS, UN agencies, diplomats and other civil society stakeholders with the aim of identifying key challenges in the areas of freedom of expression and the role of the media to promote good governance, regional integration and peace in West Africa.

The Conference was carried out with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), fesmedia Africa, the Embassy of the United States of America and Global Partners Digital.

GNA
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Mar. 22, GNA - A delegation from Zambian's Ministry of Local Government and Housing has paid a courtesy call on National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) to interact with officials there.

The 11-member delegation was led by Mr Frank Kunda, Principal of the Local Government Training Institute in Zambia who described the visit as an important event that would help in the exchange of ideas and experiences among Ghana's NALAG and her Zambian counterpart.

Mr Kunda said Zambia has a partnership with Ghana's Local Government Training Institute which was supporting his country's Local Government Training Institute in the area of capacity building and curriculum development.

'That is why we have embarked on this week-long trip to Ghana to build capacities and to call on NALAG as well'.

On how the Zambian local government operates, Mr Kunda said there were lots of similarities in governance administration in both countries, but said Council members and Chief Executive Officers of Zambia's Local Council were elected.

He said traditional authorities in Zambia were also included in the governance and many of them are elected as assembly members.

He advised that both countries need to work hard in ensuring maximum participation of the people in governance at the local levels.

Ms Agnes Naa Mamoo Lartey, General Secretary of NALAG and Ms Rita Odoley Sowah, Municipal Chief Executive of La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly who is the new Treasurer of NALAG, with other officials received the Zambia counterparts and briefed them on how Ghana's system operates.

Ms Lartey said the visit was critical because it would help in experience sharing and interactions among the two bodies.

She said the issues of traditional rulers and elected assembly members in Zambia's local governance were worth considering, but said Ghana, also has other ways in which it involve traditional rulers in governance.

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - Internationally recognized television and radio host Anita Erskine has been honoured with the Legendary Award at a brunch in Sierra Leone.

The event was dedicated to bringing together inspirational women to uplift and celebrate them.

A statement issued in Accra by Ms Catherine Irwin, an Event Officer at the One Event said the award, recognized Anita's extensive experience in the broadcast industry as well as her efforts in providing a platform for the advancement of women across Africa and in the Diaspora through television.

In the statement Anita said 'I'm inspired by stories of incredible women achieving great things every day,' adding that 'to have my efforts in the broadcast industry recognized at such an important event bringing together so many successful women is truly humbling.'

Anita took the opportunity to recount her experience expanding more than 20 years in the media industry and reflecting on the peaks and valleys she had overcome to end up where she was now.

She expressed gratitude for the opportunity to use her voice and her platform to champion the rights of women and to inspire them to fight for their dreams.

'The more we showcase and celebrate these store of successful women entrepreneurs, the more young girls will see these stories and be inspired to create their own success, paving the way for a brighter future,' she added.

She was honoured alongside Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, Investment Director for IDEA-UK, a real estate and infrastructure Development Company with a portfolio of projects in Sierra Leone, Randa Said Swaid, Managing Director of Sierra Leone's first interiors and design retail outlet, City Plaza, as well as Kumba Blessing Dugba, a highly recognized national wedding planner.

GNA
Sunyani, March 23, GNA - The Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies have been entreated to position themselves to ensure the effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve its set targets.

Alhaji Mohammed Kwaku Doku, the immediate past president of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the end of the Authority's 19th biennial national delegates' conference on Thursday in Sunyani.

The conference was on the theme; 'Localising the Post-2015 Agenda: The Role of MMDAs in the Effective Delivery of the SDGs in Ghana'.

Alhaji Doku who is the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Asunafo North in the Brong-Ahafo Region, implied the MMDAs must build their capacities in the areas of research, training, effective resources mobilisation and allocation, monitoring and evaluation.

He said building the capacities of the Assemblies also meant 'we should adopt innovative ways of resource mobilisation, particularly scaling up our internally- generated funds (IGFs), instead of over-reliance on the central government subvention to survive'.

Alhaji Doku said this was because as agents of development, residents within the jurisdiction of the MMDAs were looking up to the MMDAs and not the central government or any other person for their socio-economic security and survival.

He said the MMDAs responsibilities to ensure the achievement of the SDGs required of the assemblies the need to embark on effective dissemination of information about the SDGs through community sensitisation and education for the populace to own the programme to see to its successful implementation.

The SDGs are a new, universal set of goals, targets and indicators that UN member states will be expected to use to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years.

They are a follow-up and expansion on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed by governments in 2001 and were due to expire at the end of 2015.

Among the goals are; Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture, as well as ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

Others also are; To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and ensuring access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all.

GNA
Akyawkrom (Ash), March 23, GNA - Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) - the local chapter of Transparency International, has identified institutional weaknesses as a major obstacle to the fight against corruption in the country.

Mrs. Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the Executive-Director, said the situation where majority of anti-corruption institutions lacked the required logistics, capacity, human personnel and support to efficiently tackle the problem was unhelpful.

'The adequacy and effectiveness of these anti-corruption agencies, crucial to the fight against corruption, still remain to be seen as corrupt practices continue to plague our country', she added.

Mrs. Ofori-Kwafo was opening a three-day workshop on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and social media to monitor and report corrupt practices and other forms of impropriety, at Akyawkrom in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality.

The programme is part of the Accountable Democratic Institutions and Systems Strengthening Project of the GII, sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The workshop brought together civil society and non-governmental organizations, the media and community-based organizations, drawn from Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Eastern Regions.

The goal was to empower them with the skills and knowledge to identify and use the ICT tools and social media platforms to monitor and report all forms of unethical and inappropriate conduct.

The expectation is that the expansion of the citizens' social mobilization effort could help promote good governance.

Mrs. Ofori-Kwafo said the multi-faceted nature of corruption required innovative ways to appropriately deal with, and urged the participants to take advantage of knowledge acquired to join the campaign against the social evil.

Dr. Rasheed Dramani, Executive-Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), a civil society organization, asked everybody to be bold to expose corrupt practices.

GNA
Paul Afoko

23.03.2016 LISTEN

He says madness has invaded the party, that is, Ghanas main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), the very party of which he was the National Chairman until his well-deserved indefinite suspension by the party leadership, to wit, the NPPs National Executive Committee (NEC), last year (See NPP Now Party of Madness  Afoko Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 3/23/16).

And so it ought to be clear to all by now, including Mr. Paul A. Afoko, of course, that it was because of his great nonesuch wisdom that had made him imperiously envisage himself to be the only sane wise man in the New Patriotic Party that got him deservedly booted out of party headquarters. The rest of the mad fools had come to the inescapably accurate conclusion that Mr. Afoko and his other two musketeer collaborators simply no longer belonged among the top-echelon membership of the party.

And so isnt it rather farcical for him to claim that he is still the substantive National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party? Well, he has also been mischievously touted as the NPPs first-ever elected chairman of northern extraction, almost as if to imply that his legitimate and deliberate removal as party chairman also symbolizes the rejection of the northern-descended leadership of the party. What those who expediently play up this aspect of Mr. Afokos regional identity conveniently fail to address is that it was highly respected NPP elders and leaders of northern descent like the nonagenarian Mr. C. K. Tedam who led the righteous move that culminated in the indefinite suspension of Mr. Afoko, whom Mr. Tedam, the veteran northern political pioneer and legendary educator, bitterly described as insufferably rude and grossly disrespectful of his elders, incorrigibly presumptuous and pontifically dictatorial in his dealings with the rest of the partys leadership.

We must also significantly point out that Mr. Afoko is also the first northern-descended National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party whose flagrant leadership irresponsibility led to the acid-dousing assassination of Mr. Adams Mahama, the first-ever NPP Regional Chairman to be so savagely and unconscionably slain in the history of the party. Mr. Afoko also scandalously betrays himself as one who is woefully incapable of thinking critically and logically. For instance, Mr. Afoko claims that in suspending Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe from the party, the NPPs leadership has also roundly rejected both the electoral support of the longtime ardent Akufo-Addo detractor and that of the Nyaho-Tamakloe Family, as if to imply that the entire membership of the Nyaho-Tamakloe Clan has been blindly and unreservedly voting NPP since the inception of the countrys Fourth Republic.

Even if such decided poppycock were true, it would still defy common sense and logic. But what is even more important to observe here is the fact that Mr. Afoko is predictably too dishonest and disingenuous to extend the same logic to justifiably encompass the fact that Mr. Gregory Afokos acid-dousing assassination of Mr. Adams Mahama automatically implicates the entire Afoko Family and Clan. Now, my dear reader, couple the preceding paralogia with the fact that the suspended NPP National Chairman had abortively copped an alibi for his indicted brother and prime suspect in the dastardly assassination of Mr. Mahama, shortly after the inexcusably barbaric slaying of the latter hit the national news headlines, and give us your take.

In other words, why would Mr. Paul Afoko implicate the entire Nyaho-Tamakloe Clan in the reprehensible political misbehavior of only one member of the Nyaho-Tamakloe Clan, and yet refuse to be reckoned to be complicit in Mr. Gregory Afokos midnight acid-slaying of Mr. Adams Mahama? Even more farcical is the fact that the man who proudly claims to be passionately and pathologically a Kufuor-Kyerematen factionalist, also wants the rest of the party membership and the nation, at large, believe that he has what it takes to rally the various shades of ideological leanings behind Akufo-Addo for a 2016 presidential election landslide win. As somebody reminded yours truly recently, has anybody noticed how the incessant leaking of confidential headquarters memos and other affairs almost came to an immediate halt with the condign suspension of the Three Musketeers?

No wonder then that the Bolga street toughie has so irredeemably convinced himself that he is the sole sane member among the executive echelons of the countrys main opposition New Patriotic Party. Could have fooled me, Bio-Atinga!!!

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
23.03.2016 LISTEN

Owing to recent misinformation, confusions, and public uproar regarding genetically modified foods in Ghana, the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) in partnership with the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), have organized a training workshop in Agricultural Biotechnology and Risk Management for some journalists in Accra.

The one-day training workshop came off on Tuesday, March 22, 2016; bringing together scientists and experts in the agricultural field, and sought to accurately educate media practitioners on issues of biotechnology and Biosafety in order that decisions by policy makers are well understood by the journalists and rightly disseminated to the public.

The workshop also aimed at sensitizing stakeholders on genetic modification, Biosafety and best parties in genetic modification (GM) research and development; addressing myths surrounding GMO introduction in Ghana, and also showcasing the capacity of Ghana to do safety assessments, to conduct regulatory trials and Biosafety research.

Training necessary

Delivering the keynote address, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Authority, Mr. Eric Okoree, said the training was very important so that the media practitioners would be equipped with accurate information and knowledge on issues of agricultural biotechnology.

He decried the extent at which misinformation had affected decisions taken by stakeholders concerning the issue under discussion, and the public, leading to agitations and worries.

Also, the Biosafety Act has been confused with the Plant Breeders bill as a result of misinformation, Mr. Okoree said, adding that such atraining would help avoid perpetuating of such misinformation.

He urged the journalists to be very attentive for the discussions, to do more research on the issue and presents the facts in an objective manner.

Genetic modification (GM) explained

Taking turn to explain biotechnology and genetic modification (GM) and its production cycle, the Director of the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI), Prof Kenneth Danso, said in GM, genes are what are moved from one organism to the other and not fluids or the organism itself.

Therefore, genetic modification enhances direct transfers of hereditary material (genes) from one organism to another, controlling pests, diseases and weeds at the same time making the plant beneficial and cost effective.

Diseases control in GM/perceived risks

Prof Danso stated that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or plants are known to best control some diseases and pests in themselves. For example the Sigatoga disease in plantain and banana plants.

Others are Cape St Paul disease in coconut; the bollworm infection in cotton crops and the African Cassava Mosaic Virus in cassava.

However, there are perceived risks, especially health wise in genetically modified crops; the common risks being allergies and toxicity.

Research has shown that allegins are not limited to GM plants but are found in many plants species such as peanut.

Both non-GM and GM may contain chemicals that may raise health concern, Prof Danso stated.

Prospects of GM in Ghana

Introduction of genetic modification in Ghana will go a long way to yield positive results, the Professor averred.

These include: higher yields to ensure food security, higher economic benefits thereby reducing poverty in farmers, production of crops with enhanced nutrition, reduction in the use of chemicals making the crops environmentally friendly.

Others are mitigation against climate change as well as the drought tolerance capability of the GM crops. Interestingly, these benefits meet the advantages of the sustainable development goals (SDG) to which Ghana is working towards.

Risks communication

Presenting ways of effective risks communications to the public, Mrs. Linda Asante-Agyei,a senior journalist with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and an executive of Science and Technology Communication of Ghana (SaTCOG),urged journalists to do more research on the issues to enhance dissemination of accurate information.

She cautioned journalists on the use of sensationalism in reporting on issues such as genetic modification and the use of inappropriate pictures which more often than not tend to scare and misinform the public. For example using the picture of a tomato with features like those of humans.

Mrs. Asante-Agyei also encourage journalist to develop keen interest in science reporting as that would positively influence their reportages on the issue.

Endeavour to present both sides of the story, the facts of the story and get the right persons to speak on the issues, she advised and urged journalists to make themselves available for training on issues and to the public for question and answers.
The Police have shot two men who formed part of a five-man gang that robbed a Forex bureau around the Obetsebi Roundabout near Kaneshie in Accra.

According Graphic Online's Enoch Darfah Frimpong who was at the scene of the robbery, the robbers fled the Forex bureau near Kaneshi after committing the robbery, but a policeman on duty chased them and shot two of them at the Royal House Chapel where they had attempted to seek refuge.

The two were injured and have been sent to the hospital, according to our reporter.

Graphic Online also understands that the police grabbed three other members of the gang who tried to escape.

More to follow
The Police have shot two men who formed part of a five-man gang that robbed a Forex bureau around the Obetsebi Roundabout near Kaneshie in Accra.

According Graphic Onlines Enoch Darfah Frimpong who was at the scene of the robbery, the robbers fled the Forex bureau near Kaneshi after committing the robbery, but a policeman on duty chased them and shot two of them at the Royal House Chapel where they had attempted to seek refuge.

The two were injured and have been sent to the hospital, according to our reporter.

Graphic Online also understands that the police grabbed three other members of the gang who tried to escape.
On Easter Sunday morning at Abbas House in Hixson, the people who gather to celebrate Resurrection Sunday will experience a "reflective and triumphant worship experience built around the triumph of Easter."



"The celebration begins with baptism, a picture of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It will be followed by music chosen with the victorious power of Christs Resurrection from the grave at the center of the worship," officials said.

Dr. Ron Phillips, senior pastor of Abbas House, will conclude his Easter-focused series with the message, The Triumphant Adequacy of Easter.



The public is invited to participate.

Every family will receive the gift of a leather bound book, What the Bible Says to the Believer.Since 1979, Dr. Ron Phillips has been senior pastor of Central Baptist Church, now known as Abbas House. His weekly television program, Ron Phillips from Abbas House, blends "solid biblical exposition with a simplicity anyone can understand." He is a writer with a weekly blog and has authored more than 30 books including Everyones Guide to Demons & Spiritual Warfare, A God-Sized Future, Unexplained Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, The Hiram Code, and The Power of Agreement, which he co-wrote with Abbas House Senior Associate Pastor, Dr. Ronnie Phillips Jr.What we believe as a church can be summed up in the story of Easter! Jesus is God's son. He died on the cross for our sins and three days later He rose again. We also believe that anyone who considers this to be true, asks for forgiveness from their sin, and surrenders their life to Him, will be saved. We believe in the Trinity, meaning God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe in the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. To learn more about Easter, Jesus and what it means to be a Christian, join us Sundays at 9:15 am for Bible study groups, 10:30 am for Worship, and Wednesdays at 6:33 for Worship, officials said.

Abbas House is located at 5208 Hixson Pike, just north of Northgate Mall.
Last year on April 30th, Accra hosted an international conference on the theme: Love and Tolerance: Peaceful Co-existence in Diversity, which attracted reputable local and international scholars with diverse background.

Organized by the Ghana-Turkey Co-operation and Development Association (TUDEC), the Great Volta Foundation Dialogue Centre and the Fountain Magazine, in collaboration with the National Peace Council, the conference stressed that peaceful co-existence is possible only when people learn to accept, embrace and respect one another in spite of their religious and racial differences.

The key objective of the conference was to create a platform for discussion among local and international participants, pointing out the necessity for the promotion of personal and social dialogue, as well as inter - faith and inter-ethnic dialogue for mutual understanding. It also sought to encourage participants to see dialogue as the first option in any dispute and the urgent need to strive to understand the concept and relevance of love and tolerance.

The atmosphere at the conference hall at the end of the event was one filled with the spirit of love, friendship and belongingness as people went about talking, greeting one another and exchanging pleasantries all in the name of peace. At the end of the program participants and invited guests talked about how important the conference was and requested for a copy of the presentations that were given by the various speakers.

As a result of this demand, TUDEC in collaboration with the National Peace Council came out with a book containing a comprehensive version of all the speeches that were delivered during the conference in April. The book was launched on Tuesday 22nd March, 2016 at the Labardi Beach Hotel.

The occasion was graced with the presence of Hon. Rashid Pelpuo, Minister of State designate for Public Private Partnership (PPP), the Chairman for National Peace Council Most. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, Major General OB AKWA-commandant of the Kofi Annan Peace Training Center and a host of other dignitaries.

The chairman for the occasion, Maj.Gen. Obed Boamah Akwa in his speech congratulated the eminent Prof. Emmanuel Asante for editing such an important book, which is a veritable compendium of precepts and principles coming from a wide range of equally eminent personalities. He mentioned the role Most Rev Prof.Asante plays in Ghanas governance structure is well acclaimed and is yet another feather in his cap.

He further mentioned that with barely 199 days away from national elections, issues that are uppermost in the minds of all well-meaning Ghanaians, and indeed the international community, is that we go through our elections peacefully and thereby maintain our enviable track record. He is of the opinion that the book being launched has an important contribution to make towards this desirable goal, if only people will acquire, read, assimilate and apply its abiding precepts.

He concluded by saying that the greatest contribution we can all make towards the peace and development of our beloved country, and for global peace, is to own a copy of the book.

The spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Armiyawo thanked the organizers for the special invitation to give his remarks on the conference. He emphasized that we should always make sure that whatever happens in matters of dialogue, we can still find a small space that brings us together. He talked about how God had created all of us differently as an expression of His own wisdom.

Mr. Yusuf Temizkan, President of TUDEC emphasized how important it is that institutions, organizations, scholars and clerics must be given the platform to talk about issues pertaining to love, tolerance and peace whenever they can so such messages can prevail in the heart of every man in order for us to have a peaceful world that we can all cherish and be proud of.

He talked about how the team decided to recreate the presentations delivered at the conference last year in such a manner that people from all walks of life could have something to hold on to; a little book that would last for years so that even their grandchildren and for some of them, their great grandchildren would also have the opportunity to read and learn a thing or two from. He thanked everyone present for having made time out of their busy schedules to take part in the book launch.

Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante speaking at the launch of the book said the book contains a collection of various addresses that were presented by clergy and that it involved nine main addresses.

The first touches on the fact God created us so that we will know each other and live in peace. The second touches on the need for people of diverse religious persuasions to tolerate one another and commit to the project of peace.

Third stresses on the fact that tolerance and love is crucial for societal and community living, whereas the fourth talked about the liberative power of education as propounded by the Hizmet movement.

All the other addresses dwelled on education, Tolerance and love. He stated that the ideas that are expressed in the book are bigger than the size of the book itself.

All the speakers emphasized that love, tolerance, dialogue and education are key to peaceful co-existence. They stressed the need for peace actors to ensure the sustenance of peace in society and called on religious leaders to create platforms from which grievances emanating from religious disagreement could be settled.
The NHIA has upgraded its system for identifying the poor to an electronic platform, which makes indigent targeting and registration more scientific and evidence-based.

The new electronic system minimizes the element of human arbitrariness and discretion in identifying who is classified a poor person and, therefore, eligible for free NHIS registration and enlistment onto other government social protection programs.

Under this system, enumerators are sent out into the communities in particular districts to assess the poverty levels of households. The enumerators take the households through prepared standardized questions on a personal digital assistant (PDA) after which assessments score, indicating their eligibility or otherwise is generated. If a household qualifies, chits are issued to the entire household for free NHIS registration.

The enumeration system is linked with a complex but informative and interactive dashboard at the backend which provides administrators of the scheme real time information on the activities, location and speed of the enumerators. According to the Chief Executive of the NHIA, Nathaniel Otoo, once information from the field is inputted into the PDAs, validation of the data is done in real time, which reduces system gaming to almost zero.

The GPS-enabled system affords the NHIA an opportunity to see where each of the enumerators in a particular district are. The system has been developed based on the poverty targeting guidelines from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and is part of efforts to have a common poverty targeting tool for all social protection programs in the country.

So far, ten districts across the country in Ashanti, Greater Accra, Volta, Upper East and Eastern are benefiting from the new system at varying stages. The NHIA has a plan to incrementally cover all districts in the country with this identification system, Mr. Otoo said.

The system is certainly cost-effective as it ensures that the rightly qualified persons as much as possible are those benefiting from the NHIS and other government social intervention programs. The new approach to identifying the core poor promises to address concerns that coverage of the poor under the NHIS is low and arbitrary.

This initiative was showcased in October, 2015 when President John Mahama, together with the World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, launched the Poverty in a Rising Africa report at Mantse Agbonaa in Accra. According to the report, a better measurement of poverty was needed, because data gaps made it extremely difficult for policy-makers to target programs for the poor.

Indeed, the ongoing review of the NHIS instituted by His Excellency, the President of the Republic, among other things is seeking to make the NHIS more pro-poor than it is currently, and the introduction of this electronic platform will go a long way to improve targeting and indigent identification and registration. The project is being undertaken with technical support from the Health in Africa Initiative of the World Bank Group.
Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, Rev. David Robertson, has apologized to President John Dramani Mahama for the embarrassment he went through as a result of the gay rights protest that was staged by MPs during his recent visit to Holyrood.

The Free Kirk Moderator described the behavior of the MPs as rudeness and discourtesy and for refusing to applaud Mr. Mahama after addressing the Scottish Parliament because of Ghanas policies on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).

In a publication carried by The Herald (www.heraldscotland.com) on March 22, 2016, the Scottish church leader singled out Tory leader, Ruth Davidson for criticism, insisting that she had not behaved in a manner against Chinese representatives during a recent, despite China banning images of homosexual couples in the national media.

The leader of the Scottish Conservative Party refused to clap for the President and made her opposition public.

In my view her actions, along with those of Patrick Harvie and some other MSPs, were rude, childish, hypocritical and indeed came with more than an alarming tinge of racism, that comes from the moral superiority of the white liberal elites, who just know that they are at the top of the progressive evolutionary tree.

Ms Davidson belongs to and supports a party which gave a State welcome to the Chinese leader, whose policies on LGBT issues are not that much different from Ghana. For example the Chinese only this year banned images of homosexual couples in the Chinese media.

Would the Tory leader object to the Chinese visiting the Scottish Parliament? Did she make representations to the British Government about the Chinese being given a State welcome to the UK last year? If not, why not?

Why protest about Ghana and behave in such a rude and ignorant manner? I am all for standing up for principle, but not what it is selective and hypocritical, Mr. Robertson was quoted as saying by the www.heraldscotland.com.

The Dundee-based minister added that the politicians action had actually backfired in Africa, with one campaigner stating Ghana did not need a white saviour complex.

He continued: One LGBT activist in Ghana wrote about the harm their actions had done. But that is the trouble with our moralistic politicians.

Not only do they want to impose their particular morals on their own people, they are so convinced of their superiority that they feel they have a right to impose them on the whole world. Liberal Colonialism is alive and well!
A severe rainstorm on Tuesday night hit Brekum College of Education, causing severe damage to books and other school property.

The worst affected buildings were the boys and girls dormitory blocks, assessment office and a school clinic.

Books, office equipment and stationery, the cost of which is yet to be estimated, were also destroyed after the rainstorm ripped off the roof of some buildings.

Principal of the College, Prince Yeboah Marfo told the Adom News Christian Ofori Kumah that the authorities were considering closing the school temporarily.

He appealed to National Disaster Management Organisation and the general public to come to their aid.
Folks, news reports about the arrest of three South African combatants engaged in activities considered as inimical to national security are still spreading wild.

The three, Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis, 54, (Rtd), WO/ Denver Dwayhe Naidu, 39, (Rtd) and 45-year-old Captain Mlungiseleli Jokani (Rtd) were arrested at the El-Capitano Hotel, at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region, while training fifteen young men in various military drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response maneuvers.

The NPP hierarchy has been doing overtime to explain issues, even muddying their own political waters with inconsistencies and plain lies.

A lot of people have come out to condemn the NPP's choice of weapon for political contention. I want to add my voice to say that the happening really exposes Akufo-Addo's desperation and political mischief or immaturity. I truly pity him.

Elections are not won through such measures but through a carefully worked-out political mobilization process to win the minds, hearts, and thumbs of the electorate.

What will equipping security details or vigilantes of the NPP with military-style skills fetch for Akufo-Addo at the polls if all that is happening only ends up reinforcing the poor opinion about him as a violent, intolerant and unrepentant rogue politician bent on using every means to be in power?

Granted that the leading figures of the NPP even need protection, should that protection not be given by the orthodox and legitimate national security apparatus as happens in other countries?

Given the NPP's penchant for street demonstrations and acts bordering on hooliganism, vandalism, and plain mayhem, does giving military-style skills to its operatives not endanger life in the country?

Given the fact that such characters can be easily misused at the polls or to cause selective sabotage when Akufo-Addo loses the elections again, aren't we justified to conclude that bringing in such ex-combatants is an orchestration to endanger Ghana in the long run when everything goes against the NPP?

And why have documents on the STL and its personnel as part of the arsenal for training those NPP operatives? What has the STL got to do with the NPP's intended training for crowd control?

Folks, no one should sit down to be cajoled by Akufo-Addo and his gang. Whatever defence the NPP is putting up is bogus. More harm will be done by it; and Akufo-Addo's own defence of the issue makes him all the more a scarecrow to the people.

Ghanaians are peace-loving and will go where they know they can find a leader to protect them. Akufo-Addo is really lost in his own schemes.

Beyond this point is the urgent need for the government to retool the national security apparatus and ensure that all resources are used to strengthen and improve operations.

Rumours have it that the BNI moved to arrest these South African ex-combatants, acting on a tip-off from someone probably in the NPP's own camp, which raises eyebrows and questions the efficacy of the BNI's own network.

What has become of its own personnel, especially the District Officer for the Agona Swedru area? How come that he couldn't know of what was happening at that hotel? How about the assignment involving hotel checks that such personnel are to do periodically to alert national security of happenings at such places?

Folks, the exposure of the NPP's clandestine moves calls for better measures to safeguard limb and property in the country. All that is happening in other countries to threaten national security has been the result of political dissatisfaction and the misguided stance of characters like Akufo-Addo who deceive themselves that they are the legitimate rulers and should be so endorsed by means other than the polls.

The Ghanaian authorities must act properly. I recall very well that in the late 1990's, the NPP made moves to establish a private army. At least, I was privy to information about that move, especially with the deep involvement of the late Major Courage Quashigah. Whatever happened now seems to be channelled into the vigilante groups being formed by the NPP all over the country. Folks, the danger is real and must be confronted.

Meantime, Paul Afoko says the NPP is nothing but a political camp of madness. Yes, it is; and I agree with him. Howe would they be feeling, and what would they be doing, if it were Akufo-Addo and not Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey who had died? Politics means more than this muscle-flexing. Tweeeeeeeeaaaa!!

I shall return
Cairo (AFP) - The United Nations and global rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty urged Egypt on Wednesday to drop a renewed investigation of rights activists that has also strained ties with Washington.

Since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the authorities have led a crackdown on all forms of dissent -- not just Morsi's supporters but also liberal and rights activists.

Rights groups have regularly accused Egypt's security services of carrying out illegal detentions, forced disappearances of activists and torture of detainees.

"NGOs who have played a valuable role in documenting violations and supporting victims will see their activities completely crippled if this continues," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"This will stifle the voices of those who advocate for victims," he said.

Rights group also raised the alarm.

"Egypt's civil society is being treated like an enemy of the state, rather than a partner for reform and progress," Said Boumedouha, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme, said in a joint statement issued by 13 global rights groups.

It said that in recent weeks the Egyptian authorities have questioned several human rights workers, barred them from travel and also attempted to freeze their assets.

"The authorities should halt their persecution of these groups and drop the investigation," the statement said.

Five months after the fall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egyptian authorities began an investigation into the funding of local and foreign groups that led to the closure of five international groups, the statement said.

The United States and other European countries condemned the move and evacuated several citizens who were threatened with arrest.

Under Egyptian law, human rights groups operating without legal registration or accepting foreign funding could be jailed for life. Life imprisonment in Egypt amounts to 25 years.

"The Egyptian authorities have moved beyond scaremongering and are now rapidly taking concrete steps to shut down the last critical voices in the country's human rights community," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that there was a "deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt in recent weeks and months".

His Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry brushed off the criticism, saying the authorities supported civil society in the country.

"But there are laws in all countries to organise and guarantee that the organisations carry out their responsibilities based on the rules they were founded on," he said.
Ghanas celebrated Consultant Breast Surgeon and President of Breast Care International,(BCI) Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai has won the coveted 2015 CENTURY INTERNATIONAL QUALITY (ERA), award, (Diamond category), at an impressive ceremony in Geneva.

The citation accompanying the award singled out Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addais personal commitment to quality and excellence, at the Peace and Love Hospitals, of which she is the CEO.

This particular award spelt out ERA - Excellence, Responsibility and Awareness.

President of the Geneva-based BID Group ONE, Jose E. Prieto, presenting the award, commended Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai as an icon of commitment to leadership, technology and innovation, making her a model for others in her sector; and the BCI for focusing on continued improvement of management, and maintaining leadership in the Health sector and community.

BID Group One, presents international quality awards to leaders from a wide range of industries and sectors.

The award scheme recognizes exceptional achievements in total quality management and innovation.

Multiple local and international award winner Dr. Wiafe was grateful to God for the honor, and dedicated the award to breast cancer survivors, staff of Breast Care International and Peace and Love Hospitals, and the good people of Ghana, promising to sustain the tenets of quality and excellence.
Government has set up an inter-ministerial taskforce to crack down on illegal recruitment agencies which export young Ghanaian ladies to Arabian countries as house helps only to be maltreated and sometimes killed.

The taskforce which includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Labour and Employment also has, as one of its core duties to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Arabian countries who make use of these house helps to treat them with dignity.

The taskforce has become necessary following many reports of dehumanizing treatment meted out to Ghanaians who render services to their hosts in countries like Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

A typical example is the story of the 21-year-old Amina who was reportedly gang raped and left pregnant in Saudi Arabia last year.

Amina, like many others, were promised destiny-changing salaries, agreements and conditions of services by some of these fictitious recruiting agencies before leaving the country.

Eventually when they return, if they are lucky, their destinies truly change but to the worse.

Labour Minister Haruna Iddrisu told Joy News the abuse and maltreatment of Ghanaians have gone on for too long and the time for government to act is now.

According to him, the taskforce will work to streamline the activities of the recruiting agencies in the country and to ensure that they abide by the service regulations.

The minister said over 200 recruiting agencies exist, many of which have not registered with the Labour office which makes their operations illegal.

He added the police and the immigration service which are part of the taskforce will begin to fish out these illegal agencies and take action against the owners.

At the moment, the government has been able to sign the MOU with Jordan with the protective clauses that Ghanaians whose services are exported are treated with dignity.

Haruna Iddrisu said efforts are being made to sign same with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, countries notorious for the maltreatment of Ghanaian house helps.

"For every other country now, our policy decision is to negotiate an MOU, sign onto the MOU and ensure there are clauses that protect them for instance medical care, the right to be repatriated back decently and to have access to have airline back when their services are no longer required," he said.

He said he has charged the "Chief Labour Officer to advertise the known 22 agencies that are accredited and licensed by government and any person dealing with any other entity which is not known to us will do so at his own risk and peril," he stated.
Upper Dixcove (W/R), March 23, GNA - Mrs Kate Opoku, the National School Health and Environment Coordinator (SHEP) for the Ghana Education Service, has said the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in schools concept was paramount in ensuring children remained in schools.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities continued to be critical element for sustainable development in schools across the country.

Mrs Opoku said this at the launch of the (WASH) project for the new oilfield, Tweneboah, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) at Dixcove in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region.

The project, covering the six coastal districts in the Region is being implemented by the Opportunities Industrialisation Centres International, in partnership with the Ghana Education Service.

In all, 31 schools comprising 10,000 school children and teachers would be provided with WASH facilities, as well as menstrual hygiene management and hygiene education.

Mrs Opoku said the Ministry of Education strategic plan was to improve WASH in schools by 2020, to improve sanitation facilities and promote lifelong health among beneficiary communities.

She said such health interventions would equip school children with basic health knowledge, attitudes and skills vital for their physical, psychological and socio-economic well-being.

Mrs Opoku expressed gratitude to the TEN projects partners for complementing government's effort by creating healthy school environment, to increase school attendance and quality education.

Mr Richard Quaicoe, a representative of the TEN partners, said the partners were putting together interventions that would improve the lives of people in their operational areas.

He said the TEN initiative was also in line with the United Nations General Assembly's recognition for the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as human right that was essential for the full enjoyment of life.

Nana Hima Dekyi IVX, Chief of Upper Dixcove, said some needless deaths experienced by families due to diarrhea diseases could have been avoided with understanding of WASH saying the intervention as appropriate to save the lives of children.

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - The co-winner of 2015 Tigo Digital Change-maker competition, Ms Josephine Marie Godwyll, has embarked on empowering children with skills in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to help them utilise it as a learning tool.

In partnership with Tigo Ghana, the country's leading digital lifestyle brand, an initiative called 'Diggie Fair' was held for over 150 students aged between five to 15 years from the True Love School at Agyrigano in Accra.

Children were exposed to various activities including digital cinema, virtual reality show, robotics and digital art. Volunteers including Tigo staff also engaged the children in a discussion on how mobile technologies work.

'For this first fair our theme is 'leading children to unlock the mysteries of digital technology. We want to shape the mind-set of children to see ICT as a tool for solving problems and not just for playing games,' said Ms Godwyll, a young social entrepreneur who runs an organisation called 'Young At Heart Ghana'.

She expressed the hope to champion a revolution of digital literacy and creativity among Ghanaian children through workshops, digital innovators clubs and fairs to expose children to concepts like robotics, programming, and art with computers.

'The Tigo Digital Change-maker competition has given me the needed boost in realising my dreams of helping children appreciate and enhance their ICT skills.

'I can only imagine what the next generation will be able to achieve and the problems they will be encouraged to solve using ICT as a tool, but it all depends on exposing them to its utility at an early age,' Ms Godwyll.

A trained Geomatic Engineer, Marie Godwyll was introduced to the computer and its functionalities at an early age of five, and she strongly believes her interest and ability to creatively utilise digital tools as an engineer were harnessed right from her childhood.

GNA
The City Council on Tuesday afternoon took the unprecedented step of using its subpoena power to direct District Attorney Neal Pinkston to appear before the council next Tuesday.

Councilman Chris Anderson said the council had never used the subpoena power before, but he said it was justified in this situation.

He said, "A key partner is missing from our meeting today. That has raised a lot of issues and questions. I, for one, would like answers."

Police Chief Fred Fletcher was also critical of DA Pinkston, starting his presentation by saying, "I will do my presentation in person instead of sending a letter to you."

He said of the district attorney, "We have waited at the table a long time for us to show up."

Chief Fletcher said, "We want to work with him." He said it was "not productive" not to have the DA working with all local law enforcement.

He said prior DA Bill Cox had worked closely with the VRI effort, but he said DA Pinkston "has steadfastly evaded us."



He also said, "We are absolutely not interested in pointing fingers or playing the blame game. Too often our officers are used as scapegoats."



Mr. Pinkston earlier Tuesday issued a letter critical of the city's Violence Reduction Initiative and saying he planned to launch a separate anti-gang effort with law enforcement.

Councilman Anderson said the council had invited DA Pinkston to the VRI session weeks earlier, but he had said he had another obligation.

The councilman said, "Clearly, he will only engage with us if we compel him to."

No member of the council opposed the subpoena to be issued through the city attorney's office.

Chief Fletcher defended the VRI or "focused deterrence" effort, saying it is being used in a growing number of cities. He said Birmingham is moving to VRI after shooting up to 90 murders. He said Chattanooga is holding at between 27 and 30 murders and he said his officers are on track to gather in some 1,000 weapons off the streets this year.



He said his department had moved away from "stop and frisk" and also did not support "over-policing" that he said had brought unrest and problems elsewhere.

Chief Fletcher said focused deterrence was not the only tool by the local police. He said, "We are not a one-trick pony."

DA Pinkston later Tuesday said, "To intimate I have not been at the table to discuss ways to reduce gang violence is not only offensive but doesnt reflect the course of events throughout the inception of the VRI. I have been supportive of City Halls initiative and the men and women of the Chattanooga Police Department every step of the way.

"We have actively attended every meeting we have been asked to attend in addition to consulting officers on ways to improve their cases. We have no control over the types of cases you are bringing us to prosecute.

"The concerns I delivered to the City Council at their request are not new. These are issues I have discussed with the law enforcement community as well as members of the Initiative even as the Initiative was being constructed. For any partnership to be effective and successful, all viewpoints must be considered and ongoing concerns must be addressed.

"It's appalling that privately Chief Fletcher told me last night that if he were me he wouldn't appear at the City Council meeting either, yet today he bashed me publicly for not attending. That's not my idea of how partners support each other.

"Finally, as to returning phone calls, I did not return a recent call from Mayor Berke but previous phone calls were returned yet the Mayors staff would not indicate to my staff or myself what they wanted. In addition, they also told me the times I would need to be at City Hall. I would never call either of you with such a tone and expect to be treated in a respectful manner.

"I have no doubt the VRI can be successful, but you cant pick and choose the parts to follow. Each part must be followed. As Chief Fletcher has said, It's important to use each tool in the toolbox. Thats what I would like us to be doing."



Paul Smith, city public safety coordinator, said those involved in VRI "are doing an outstanding job." He said a team visits crime victims and their relatives and offers to provide services and other help.

He said "call in" meetings have been effective, saying that officials tell gang members "their level of exposure and ask them to put their guns down."

Paul Green of Hope for the Inner City that has the main VRI contract with the city, told of that ongoing program, including a Father to the Fatherless effort.

Federal prosecutor Chris Poole said his office is very willing to take on gang cases and has been helped by the city providing a prosecutor. He said there have been 143 prosecutions started in two years.

Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said he appreciated the work of those involved in VRI, but he asked, "Is this a rah rah cheering session for VRI, or are we going to talk about the facts of VRI?"

He said in his district, "We see violence every day on the streets in broad daylight so it's hard to understand how wonderful the program is."

Councilman Larry Grohn said he had tried repeatedly to get information about VRI, but has been rebuffed even though he filed Open Records requests.

Both Councilman Russell Gilbert and Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz said the "revolving door justice" in which there often seems to be little consequences for getting caught, are main problems.

Juvenile Judge Rob Philyaw stressed the need for strict curfews.


Pwalugu(U/E), March 23, GNA - Eight hundred and thirty recruits of the Community Policing Assistants drawn from the Northern , Upper East and Upper West Regions are currently undergoing training at the Police Training School at Pwalugu.

Out of the total number of recruits, 365 are from Northern Region, 313 from Upper East Region and 152 from Upper West Region; 726 are males whilst 104 are females.

The trainees were recruited by the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and are expected to undergo six weeks training in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Investigation, Traffic Management, Community Policing, Basic Office Safety, Human Rights, Basic Security Tips, Physical Training and Foot Drill.

They are expected to complement the efforts of the security agencies in fighting crime in their respective regions.

At an open ceremony held at Pwalugu, Mr Fritz Baffour, Member of Parliament and the Chairman of the Select Committee on Defence and Interior, said security and stability was necessary for the development of the country.

He said government under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) had recruited a considerable number of the youth in the country to complement the efforts of the security agencies to help maintain peace and security.

'Your recruitment is not about families, brothers or sisters. Your recruitment is about the stability and the welfare of the country. You must therefore demonstrate honesty, integrity, determination and dedication towards your work after the training', he said.

Mr Albert Abongo, the Upper East Regional Minister, said Government was committed to the welfare of the youth and had revived the YEA programme as one of the key interventions of addressing the unemployment challenges facing the youth in the country.

He said the security models made up of the community police, immigration and the prison service, would offer jobs to 10,000 youth in the three regions of the northern part of the country.

He urged the beneficiaries of the programme to take advantage of the interventions to help contribute meaningfully to national development as well as sharpen their job skills.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Victor Aduse-Poku, the Director of the Police Training School, said the Community Policing Assistants would support the security agencies clamp down crimes in the society.

Mr Roger Abolembisa, the Regional Director of YEA, said fire prevention assistants, prison service assistants, youth in PWDs, trades and vocation models, youth in agric, community teaching assistant and general sanitation, were some of the modules that would be implemented this year.

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - President John Dramani on Wednesday called on service providers in the telecommunication industry to institute measures that would churn out better services to their customers.

He said in the changing world communication order, it was only quality that could sustain industry, business and commerce in the competitive market.

President Mahama, who was inaugurating the new headquarters of the MTN communication company, urged the organisation to also establish centres that would promptly resolve challenges of customers.

The ultra-modern facility can accommodate of 800 workers and their partners.

It also has a modern gym facility, media and training centres and staff babies centre to facilitate their stay while their mothers worked.

President Mahama said government would continue to provide entrepreneurial skills that would benefit both public and private sectors and called on the management of MTN to take advantage of the opportunity.

He said in order to spur businesses on; government would establish nine regional innovation centres and an Information, Communication and Technology park in Tema.

The President urged the management of MTN to use their newly acquired 4 G network to support other technologically-based companies to maximise profits and create more jobs for Ghanaian youth.

He also commended the board and management of the telecom company for announcing to offload between 30 and 35 percent of their shares to the Ghanaian public.

Mr Ebenezer Asante, Chief Executive Officer, said his outfit currently had 128 Service Centres nationwide in line with growth of their services and expansion customer base.

He gave the assurance that MTN would continue to play a significant role in Ghana's development.

"Over the years, we have made some significant contributions. We consider our value chain of our operations, made up of our partners and the plethora of suppliers who work with us and all the people they employ."

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - A head porter who is accused of having anal sex with a seven-year old boy at Community 18 on Wednesday appeared before an Accra circuit court.

Nicolas Dzifanu, 20, charged with defiling a child, has pleaded guilty.

The court, presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, has remanded Dzifanu into a remand home until April 6.

Prosecuting, Detective Kofi Atimbire said the victim's mother was the complainant.

According to Inspector Atimbire, the accused person lives with the complainant at Community 18. On March 3, this year, at about 1900 hours, the complainant wanted to bathe the victim but could not find him.

Prosecution said the complainant, therefore, searched for the victim until midnight. While searching for the victim, the accused person's grandmother alerted the complainant that she heard the accused person conversing with the victim earlier.

Based on that information, prosecution said the complainant walked into the accused person's room to ascertain the whereabouts of the victim where she met the accused having anal sex with the victim and she raised the alarm.

Dzifanu was apprehended and escorted to the Baatsona Police Station where the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) gave a medical form to send the victim to the hospital.

When the complainant brought the medical report endorsed by a medical officer, the accused was charged and during interrogation he admitted the offence.

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), in collaboration with the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council, has supplied 1,250 waste bins to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

The bins would be distributed to the 10 AMA sub-metros in Accra.

Mr Sam Ayeh-Datey, the Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director, made this known in a statement which was copied to the Ghana News Agency.

He directed all traders selling along the streets within the Central Business District to provide their own waste bins to be collected at the close of work.

Mr Ayeh-Datey said with the introduction of the Polluter Pay Principle, the AMA, in collaboration with the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), had distributed 124,921 waste bins to residents in the sub-metros.

'The AMA wants to take this opportunity to advice all residents to register with the ESPA in their respective jurisdictions and obtain a free bin,' he said.

Mr Ayeh-Datey said the AMA had taken some precautionary measures to ensure that the people were alive to their civic responsibilities.

He said effective awareness creation such as the house-to-house campaigns for collection of refuse and the promotion of hygiene were important and urged the residents to take advantage and register to improve environmental hygiene in the communities.

Mr Ayeh-Datey appealed to the communities that were benefiting from the distribution of the free waste bins to be more proactive to the current unhealthy practices associated with indiscriminate defecating and dumping of refuse into drains.

GNA
Accra, March 23, GNA - An Accra circuit court on Wednesday sentenced Christian Sarpong, a driver, to 11 years imprisonment for possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority.

Christian pleaded not guilty to the charge of possessing three slabs of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp but after full trial was found guilty by the court.

The court, presided over by Mr Abogye Tandor, said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused person and, as such, sentenced him to serve as a deterrent to others.

He said in sentencing, the court took into consideration the four months the accused had already spent in custody.

The court ordered that the exhibits should be destroyed by the investigator in the presence of the court registrar.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu, told the court that on November 24, 2015 at about 1130 hours, the Tesano Police had a tip off that a truck loaded with charcoal had some dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp concealed on board and parked at Achimota Charcoal Station.

He said upon the tip off officers were quickly dispatched to the area but could not trace the said loaded truck, however, the convict was spotted with a travelling bag and his demeanor prompted the police to confront him and find out what the bag contained.

The prosecution said after searching his bag, the police retrieved three slabs of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp. He was arrested and sent to the police station for investigations.

Chief Inspector Adu said upon interrogation, Christian claimed ownership of the substance and said he was going to sell them to someone at Santana Market but could not lead the police to the supposed buyer.

GNA
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March of Dimes kicks off its biggest fundraiser at the Tennessee Riverpark off Amnicola Hwy on Saturday, April 30 to provide a "fighting chance for every baby."



Hundreds of families and business leaders will join together in the March of Dimes annual March for Babies. The event is presented by Pediatrix Medical Group and is the nations oldest walk fundraiser honoring babies born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive. The Event Chair is Brian Green, of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tn. Media Sponsors for March for Babies are Sunny 92.3 & News Channel 9.



This year Tim and Vanessa Tripp are serving as the Family Teams Chairs for the Chattanooga walk. Having had twins Olivia and Sean who were born premature, Tim and Vanessa are advocates for the research that the March of Dimes funds that helped save their lives. Now five, the Tripps twins serve as evidence they said of how important the March of Dimes mission is to combat the challenges that come along with prematurity that give every baby a fighting chance.



Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with the walk kicking off at 9 a.m.

"Participation in March for Babies will provide a fun and rewarding day for the whole family including a kids zone with face painting and balloons, music, fun kids inflatables, carnival games, refreshments, aerobics, contests, and local mascots," officials said.

To register for the free event, visit www.marchforbabies.org.



Funds raised by March for Babies in Tennessee help support prenatal wellness programs, research grants, neonatal intensive care unit family support programs, and advocacy efforts for stronger, healthier babies.



"The most urgent infant health problem in the U.S. today is premature birth. The March of Dimes is committed to preventing it by funding research to find the answers to problems that continue to threaten the health of babies.



"Each week in the state of Tennessee, 240 babies are born prematurely or 1 in 8, which is the equivalent to 11 kindergarten classes. Nationally, that number is 1 in 9 that are born prematurely.



"In Tennessee every week, 14 babies die before reaching their first birthday. In 2015, Tennessee earned a grade of D from its premature birth rate of 12.5%.



"Nationally, more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely and 120,000 babies are born with a birth defect each year.



"Birth defect have been the leading cause of infant mortality for the past 20 years, accounting for 1 in 5 infant deaths," officials said.



To donate, visit www.marchofdimes.com/tennessee, or call 423-402-8772.
Who do you think supplies a lot of Australia companies with milk and other dairy products/facilities?

Think back to 2015, what was a defining industry within equities? Dairy. And even though it sounds silly, baby formula was on top. Of course, it doesnt sound silly when you factor in demand. And not to mention constant profit increases for various companies within the industry.

While many analysts believed baby formula wouldnt be a topic for 2016, its still persisting. Super star of 2015, Blackmores [ASX:BKL], are only just starting their baby formula debut. Blackmores and Bega Cheese [ASX:BGA] decided last year that it was their turn. And they intend to capitalise on this explosive market.

Where is this market? Of course it is in China. Demanding Chinese parents want the best for their children. So thats why they buy from the best producers. And they are Australia and New Zealand. Theyre better not only because of perceived quality. Aussie and NZ dairy products dont harm infants.

It seems like the Chinese dairy industry will never live their 2008 scandal down. The scandal involved tainted milk and infant formula. The contents of which had toxic doses of melamine. The end result was six infant deaths. Thousands more across China had to be hospitalised because of the tainted dairy products.

But this incident was nothing new. Four years prior, 13 infants died because of watered down milk. The cause of these deaths was malnutrition. The two events are now just sad reminders. And more importantly, lessons of why many Chinese dont trust domestic dairy.

Fonterra increases profits a staggering 123%

Who do you think supplies a lot of Australia companies with milk and other dairy products/facilities? If you dont know thats OK, because Im going to tell you. Its Fonterra Co-operative Group [NZE:FCG]. In fact, Fonterra can be associated with Western Star butter, Perfect Italiano cheese, Mainland cheese and Ski yoghurt.

Fonterra is also a huge supplier to infant formula company Bellamys Australia [ASX:BAL]. And they are now even supplying Chinese infant formula company Beingmate with their products. Even more recently, this morning, Fonterra reported a 123% profit increase for the first half of the 2016 financial year.

But while net profits were on a high, totalling $409 million, the price of milk has dropped. Chairman John Wilson said the supply and demand imbalance has brought the price down to unstable levels. And particularly in New Zealand, as the strong NZD has also had a negative impact on milk prices.

The low prices have placed a great deal of pressure on incomes, farm budgets, and our framing families, said Wilson. Our priority is to generate more value out of every drop of our farmers milk by focusing on the areas within our control. We aim to efficiently convert as much milk as possible into the highest-returning products.

The low dairy prices are representing a mixed sentiment. Low prices have reduced the cost of ingredients for consumers. And theyve boosted Fonterras profits. But lower milk prices are weighing heavily on farmer-shareholders. Their collective incomes have been cut by billions in the last two years.

This has prompted Fonterra to announce early dividend payouts. Yet it might just be a quick fix to ease farmers cash flow problems. Nevertheless, Fonterra said it would pay an interim dividend of 20 cents in April. This will then be followed by two dividends of 10 cents each in May and August.

Earlier this month Fonterra reduced its forecasted milk price by 6% to $3.90 per kilo. You might be thinking why milk isnt measured in litres. But Fonterra is measured in milk solids. Ok now back to China.

So does this mean China no longer craves Fonterras products? A likely answer to this questions is that current supply has saturated the market.

But this may not be true. The US Department of Agricultures (USDA) Beijing bureau saw 2016 milk powder stockpiles at 89,000 tons. Its the lowest level in four years. And the USDA is also forecasting Chinas whole milk powder imports to increase to 400,000 tons. A 50,000 ton increase from last year.

However sometimes even compelling figures wont sway investors. Instead, pessimism coming out of China will dictate the herds mentality. Yet this could be a good thing. While companies like Fonterra and others are neglected by investors, you might have a better chance to buy a cheap dairy related company.

Harje Ronngard,

Junior Analyst, Money Morning

PS: Investing in dairy related companies for 2015 was a great idea. Investors could have made triple digit returns easily. And just because of Asian demand. The USDA believes this demand will continue into 2016. But there are also other investments that were great in 2015 and have carried over to this year.

Money Mornings Publisher, Kris Sayce, has been scouring the market and looking over price action to come up with great investments still relevant right now. In Kriss report The Three Best Investments in Australia for 2015 and Beyond hell tell you where to start looking.

Through Kriss report youll understand why its time to load up on Australias most hated sector. Kris will teach you in on how you can buy property on the Aussie stock market. To get your free copy of Kriss report, click here.
We have all heard stories about legendary investors. When we read their books, we often get a sense of overwhelming confidence.

Over the last century, countless courageous investors have set out to discover the secrets of the market. While most investors are motivated purely by financial gain in the beginning, they often find themselves on an incredible journey of discovery.

There is no other way around it; stock investing is not a matter of gambling or dumb luck. To build a consistent wealth stream from stock investing requires strengthening the mind as well as building character.

Financial markets are a knowledge-rich field. Complex financial mathematics can give physicists a run for their money. At the same time, that complexity has not helped to reduce volatility. We continue to see repeating systemic meltdowns globally.

We have all heard stories about legendary investors. When we read their books, we often get a sense of overwhelming confidence; as if we are given the green light to do what they have done. It is not until we start to make meaningful losses that we question our methods.

From there, the journey begins.

Soon enough, we ask ourselves a fundamental question  is there really a consistent way to make money from stock investing? If yes, we would like to know how. If no, we would like to know why.

The cornerstone theory in finance should be hard to miss  the efficient market hypothesis. It describes the market as random and unpredictable. It states that winning in the stock market must be a result of luck and cannot be repeated systematically.

Now, that creates a problem for investors who read up on this theory. Does that mean we are just wasting our time playing the market? The fact that nobody has been able to disapprove this theory is all the more discouraging.

And this is when the contradictions start to fall into place.

The counterargument to the efficient market hypothesis is that there are clearly successful investors, funds and banks that are systematically making money from the market. And the academics themselves contradict each other as well all the time.

In the face of growing contradictions, we learn to trust our instincts more than other people. We say to ourselves, I believe there is a way, I just dont know it yet.

Many begin to contemplate the possibility of a seemingly random market, but with an overarching trend or system to govern it. This would undoubtedly give us clues on the magical formula for making consistent gains in the market.

That leads us to Chaos Theory.

The rise of trend investing in a chaotic world

Chaos Theory, a mathematical system between complete determinism and unpredictable randomness, studies phenomena that are random in the short term but are absolutely determinable over the long term.

That has to be itthe perfect explanation for why short term stock prices are unpredictable, but are profitable for successful investors over the long term. In effect, successful investors must have understood the nature of the chaos.

Fractal geometry is the close cousin of chaos theory. It describes the concept of a large shape containing an infinite number of similar shapes under magnification. For example, a triangle that can be made of an infinite number of smaller triangles inside it.

An investor can quickly see the link between fractal geometry and technical analysis or charting. Chartists use geometric shapes to determine their trading strategies. And if you think about it hard enough, the medium term and long term stock charts do possess similar shapes as the short term and ultra-short term stock charts. That seems to indicate chaos in the system.

Without going too deeply into Chaos Theory, just the fact that stocks possess trend behaviour is enough to put investors minds at ease. It confirms that there is at least some form of possible systematic approach to stock investing.

Scanning through hedge fund performances can give you plenty clues about what works and what doesnt. See this latest CBNC news from last week:

The strategy that has been winning the year so far is dictated by computers: systematic hedge funds that surf trends using financial models and algorithms have dominated the lists of the best-performing funds.

It gives us at least two clues. One, there are strategies that tend to work overtime. Two, one of those strategies is trend investing.

As the analyst for Emerging Trends Trader, I can tell you that this piece of news is accurate. Trend investing is a particularly straightforward strategy to learn. However, trend investing is not as simple as just following a trend. Thats likely to see you lose money over time.

At the end of the day, what matters most is still profitability. But in order to get there, investors may very well enjoy the intellectual pursuit that is the essence of their journeys.

Cheers,

Ken Wangdong,



Analyst, Emerging Trends Trader

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: Wealth Eruption: Forget the market downturnthe oil crashand the debtThere are FOUR unstoppable events that could generate huge wealth for Aussie investors. Starting with one play that could make you a potential 1,068% return in the next 24 months(more)
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development has implemented LexisNexis InstantID from LexisNexis Risk Solutions as an added measure to prevent people from fraudulently applying for unemployment benefits.



LexisNexis InstantID, integrated into Tennessees unemployment insurance claims process, helps to confirm the applicants identity before processing their unemployment insurance claim. The program uses identity analytics that combine billions of public records and advanced linking technology to generate a knowledge-based quiz, designed so only the true individual would be able to answer the questions. This process of verifying and authenticating the applicant, called identity proofing, enables Tennessee to know whether the individual filing the claim is truly the owner of the identity.



Since implementing LexisNexis Risk Solutions on Dec. 15, 2015, more than 75,000 claimants have engaged in the identity verification process. Eighty-percent of these claimants passed and were able to submit an unemployment claim. When the system prevents a person from filing, they must contact TDLWD for assistance. Less than half of the 20 percent who fail to answer the security questions actually made contact with TDLWD to correct any issues.



There is the possibility that those failing the verification process, but not contacting us could have been attempting to file fraudulent claims. If that is the case, the potential cost savings for Tennessees trust fund could be as high as $48.6 million, just in the first few months of operation.



By authenticating the identity of our claimants during the initial claims process it reduces the risk of the department making improper payments from the unemployment trust fund, said Unemployment Insurance Administrator Linda Davis. This keeps the trust fund at a higher level and potentially reduces employer taxes.



Unemployment insurance fraud is when individuals knowingly collect benefits based on false information. This may occur when an individual continues to work, but reports they are unemployed, or when someone files a claim using a different identity. When this happens, the fraudulent filing does not show up on the victims credit report and the crime goes unnoticed. The only way a victim would become aware someone has stolen their identity is if they needed to file an unemployment claim of their own and their name was already in the states system.



We felt utilizing the identification verification feature of LexisNexis Risk Solutions was a necessary step toward preventing fraud in the unemployment system, Commissioner Burns Phillips said. So far, the numbers show it has been effective in eliminating potential fraudulent claimants, resulting in major cost savings.



The National Federation of Independent Business nominated the Department and its Employment Security Division for the Unemployment and Workers Compensation 2016 Unemployment Insurance Integrity Award. The NIFB Tennessee director cited in his nomination the significant progress the Department has made in combating fraud and abuse, which has resulted in lower tax rates for Tennessee employers. The organizations director specifically noted in his letter to UWC the LexisNexis InstantID program and how successful it has been in stopping fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.


A 14-year-old testified Tuesday that he and a friend were on their way to a store when they heard gunshots and decided to run back home. But he said as he passed Ocoee Street he looked down and saw "my whole leg was bleeding."

The young witness identified 22-year-old Dominique Cal as the shooter from the porch of his home at 2025 Ocoee on Feb. 21.

He said Cal hollered at them as they ran by, but they could not understand what he was saying. He said Cal then fired at them with a rifle.

Police said that shooting came just after 19-year-old Gary Cross fired shots at the Cal residence, then tucked the gun into his waistband and walked off.

The 14-year-old said the bullet went through his leg. He called his father, who took him to the hospital.

General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom bound charges to the grand jury against both Cal and Cross.

Cal is charged with attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and two gun charges. Judge Statom kept his bond at $100,000 for attempted murder, raised reckless endangerment from $15,000 to $25,000, kept the aggravated assault at $50,000 and kept the two gun charges at $15,000 each.

She kept the bond at $25,000 for Cross on reckless endangerment.

Judge Statom said if Cal makes bond he is not to go within a mile of the home of the father of the 14-year-old. She said if Cross makes bond he is not to go within a mile of the Cal home.

The two were kept far apart in the courtroom.

Judge Statom was shown video of Cross arriving on the scene and firing at the Cal home. A detective said two police officers made a positive identification of Cross.

The detective said no shell casings were found, but officers at the time did not know where Cross was standing. He said a bullet hole was found in the house next to the Cal home. He said it was hard to tell if cracks in brick siding had been made by shots.

It was claimed that Cross is a student at Chattanooga State, but prosecutor Kristen Spires said Chattanooga State officials said he has never attended classes there.


Trevon Johnson, a 17-year-old thug, was just shot and killed in Miami after a 54-year-old female homeowner was notified someone was in her house by her security system. She rushed home and caught our newest Trevon climbing out of a rear window at her house. Words were exchanged and shots were fired. Johnson was pronounced DOA at a nearby emergency room.



As you can surely imagine, the thiefs family is outraged. His cousin Nautika Harris told WFOR: I dont care if she had her gun license or any of that. This is way beyond the law  way beyond. He was not supposed to die like this. He had a future ahead of him. He had goals  he was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.



Then Nautika explained her true feelings: You have to look at it from every childs view that was raised in the hood. You have to understand  how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point of view!



Its no reason she should have waited until I think he walked out in the yard to try to shoot him. If she called the police already, why would she shoot him?



I am telling you, the apocalypse is getting closer!



The police are taking a different view, saying the shooter was simply trying to protect her property.



* * *



REP. LITTLETON WANTS BETTER SERVICE

Mary Littleton, a member of the Tennessee State Legislature from Cheatham County, was having lunch recently with another state representative, Tillman Goins of Morristown, at a Hooters (!) in Nashville when she wrote sorry in the tip line of her $36.36 tab.



That caused Amanda Anderson, her server, to post a picture of Littletons signed receipt on her Facebook page with the message, State representatives are supposed to exhibit class and integrity  this one acted like a child.



Since then the picture has gone viral and will doubtlessly be used by her opponents if the misguided politician ever plans to run again.



Rep. Littleton told reporters the no tip was due to the quality of service but, after the Facebook post went ballistic, the legislator conceded she would have done better to speak to the manager than being held up to much-deserved and wide-spread ridicule. And people like Mary Littleton wonder why politicians are roundly scorned.



* * *



REMEMBER WHAT TEDDY ROOSEVELT SAID

Every day I get a political briefing of sorts on Tennessee politics from the Crockett Policy Institute and the other day it included a quote from Teddy that is delicious food for thought -- "The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."



* * *



I GOTTA SHARE THIS ONE !!



I get gobs of emails and treat them as personal correspondence, which is to say I protect the privacy that is so often invaded by the social media. That said, I must share this note from Tim and Debbie Bittenbender for three reasons. First, it is the very essence of what teaching is all about.

Secondly, it proves vividly that there are far more good souls in the Hamilton County Department of Education than bad, and, third, it almost made me cry. I am very humbled that this was sent to me and take great delight in sharing it:



Roy  I have read through some of you columns regarding the HCDE and issues that the students, teachers, administrators and parents have faced. I would like to provide a positive side of HCDE and special education.



Our son, Andy, will be graduating from Red Bank High School this spring. Andy has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and has been in the Hamilton County school systems since Pre K. I want to express my dear appreciation for a few special people in his life, not many people -- really -- will be recognized given their roles as teachers which help develop and grow our children but also make a difference in their lives.



Mr. Dan Shell, who is the middle school band teacher at Red Bank Middle School, for letting Andy beat on drums and teaching him how to read music. Mrs. Marcie Smith for providing a place for Andy in the Red Bank High School Marching and Concert Band, for giving him a chance to succeed and, in doing so, allowed him to achieve his dream of being in a Marching Band.



Miss Megan Giesel and Mrs. Lisa Taylor for providing the special education services needed for Andy to graduate RHBS with honors (he has a 3.5 GPA).



Nothing is perfect but, in my eyes, these teachers and educators are angels.

Tim and Debbie Bittenbender



* * *



Emails like this make my day. This is why we must all be more involved in the lives of children and this is why a village can indeed raise a child.



royexum@aol.com
SHADERICK SEARCY, 1846-1937: PRIVATE C.S.A.



Shaderick Searcy was a black Confederate soldier. He was a bonded servant of Dr. John Searcy of Talbotton, Ga. When the Civil War began, Dr. Searcy, knowing that both his sons James and Kitchen would go off to war, dedicated Shaderick to become body servant to his two boys.

Both Dr. Searcys sons of Company I of the 46th Georgia Infantry were killed during this conflict. James was killed at bloody Franklin, Tenn. and Kitchen was killed at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain near Atlanta.

Shaderick outlived both his wards and survived the Civil War. He received a pension for his Confederate service and died at the age of 91 in Chattanooga.

It has been long known and accepted that Shaderick was the first African-American to be buried in Chattanoogas Confederate Cemetery. The only evidence that Shaderick was located there was a simple headstone, but it was also recognized that this was only a marker and not the grave site.

During the second week of March, 2016 while restoration of the cemetery was ongoing, the true headstone and final resting place of Shaderick Searcy was discovered.

"Now as Sons of Confederate Veterans we too can honor the memory and the service of this Confederate soldier," said John A. Campbell, N.B. Forrest Camp 3, Sons of Confederate Veterans.




Morningstar's "Perspectives" series features investment insights from third-party contributors. Here, Liontrust Asset Managements Stephen Bailey asks: are telecoms the new equity income addiction sector?

As a manager of a thematic investment process which is built around identifying trends in social, economic and political spheres, it has been interesting for me to note the changing nature of consumer addictions. For any of you with teenage children, one of the most obvious addictions is to data  on mobile phones, tablets and computers. Could you imagine your children giving up their mobile phones for Lent, or switching to a dumb phone of the type we had 20 years ago when a phone was a phone and not a mini tablet? For that matter, could you do without it?

For equity investors, this demand for data translates into a durable stream of revenues for the telecoms operators. While the defensive characteristics of telecoms shouldnt be a surprise to anyone, we think the sectors ability to generate recurring revenues and sustainable growth in dividends is still underappreciated at current share price valuations, which are generally at a discount to the market.

A number of UK and US telecoms groups have developed content-led quad-play offerings; fixed line, mobile, TV and broadband, which offer the prospect of defensive growth in sales, earnings and dividends as well as strong content-led customer loyalty. For this reason, we own BT, Vodafone, AT&T and Verizon within a Global Telecoms macro-theme.

We consider the investment credentials of tobacco to be gradually eroding, so investors would do well to consider telecoms the heir to the title of equity income addiction sector  the beneficiaries of dependence on mobile data consumption. To illustrate the contrast in prospects, consider that while British American Tobacco estimated an industry cigarette volume decline of 2.3% in 2015, Cisco reported that global mobile data traffic grew by 74% over the year.

This changing of the guard should be welcomed on ethical as well as investment grounds. Tobacco is unique in being one of the only businesses where sales growth is inversely correlated with the longevity of its customers.

Is Data the New Tobacco?

There is increasing evidence that this data reliance should indeed be treated as an addiction. Deloittes September 2015 Global Mobile Consumer Survey found that 44% of young people in the UK pick up their phone more than 50 times a day, with 55% doing so within 15 minutes of waking up. I have an 18 year old and 17 year old myself, and I can testify that these estimates may even be conservative.

Deloittes study defined its youngest category as 18yrs  24yrs, so I think we can assume the figures would be even more compelling if the full teenage cohort were included.

The addiction appears just as strong on the other side of the Atlantic, with a survey by The Boston Consulting Group finding that almost a third of adult respondents would rather give up sex than their mobile phones. 46% said they would rather forego a day off work per week. The extent to which this dependence on mobile devices is emotional has been underlined by an Ericsson study which found a 38% heart rate increase in those watching badly buffered video content.

Without wanting to bombard you with statistics, I think it is also worth considering the manner in which this telecoms trend ties in with the housing affordability crisis which this country faces due to the difficulty in young people getting onto the property ladder. The ONS found that in 2013, the number of 20 - 34 year olds living with their parents had increased to 3.3 million  26% of the age group, up from 21% when records began in 1996. As more households become family dwellings for longer, the demand for multi-faceted quad-play telecoms services  available in multiple rooms on numerous devices  should only increase. This not only suggests average revenue per user increases, but a stickier customer-provider relationship.

All the aforementioned trends reaffirm our belief in our Global Telecoms theme, which forms around 20% of our macro-thematic income strategy.

Defensive Growth is Hard to Find

The identification of a sector capable of providing defensive growth in earnings and dividends is all the more valuable given the relative scarcity of this combination in the UK market currently.

When we talk of defensive exposure, it is insulation from the cyclicality of economic and business cycles that we are referring to. But it seems that, in return for this non-cyclical exposure, investors must in many cases be willing to accept low/no growth such as utilities, or long-term sales decline such as tobacco. Alternatively, for a defensive sector capable of achieving moderate growth  such as consumer staples  investors must be willing to pay up for shares on stretched high-teens multiples, which obviously restricts the income yield that is achievable.

If income investors were instead to consider the more cyclical areas of the market, these are rife with dangerous yield traps.

We therefore think there is a strong case for rotation out of some of these traditional income sectors into the telecoms sector. Defensive sectors of the market have traditionally been priced at a p/e discount and yield premium to the market to compensate for a lack of growth dynamics; AT&Ts share price rating of 13.7x 2016 expected EPS and dividend yield of 5% suggests that this is still how much of the telecoms sector is seen.

But we think the sectors growth potential will allow it to repeat the trick of the consumer staples sector such as Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser et al, a few years ago: shifting from a share price discount to a premium as its growth credentials gain greater investor understanding. We benefited from owning a number of these global consumer staples stocks between 2009 and 2013, when the sector was re-rated from value to growth.

We think that telecoms could be the next sector to experience a similar transition. There are reasons to believe that the 70% plus annual growth in mobile global data consumption referred to earlier will be sustained rather than tail off. Cisco estimates that smart devices are only 36% of the total mobile device market globally, but they account for nearly 90% of mobile data traffic. In 2015, it estimates that a smart device generated 14 times more traffic than a non-smart device. As smart device penetration grows from its level of 36%, so too will data consumption  we therefore think that there is huge scope for future growth. Cisco estimates that around two-thirds of devices will be smart by 2020.

While this trend provides a significant long-term driver for our Global Telecoms theme, short term support is also present in the form of the sectors significant non-sterling exposure at a time when Brexit risks are weighing heavily on the pound.

Disclaimer

The views contained herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Morningstar. If you are interested in Morningstar featuring your content on our website, please email submissions to UKEditorial@morningstar.com
In a recent study, UBC geographer Daniel Hiebert uncovered that over a period of five years, Chinese and South Asians have purchased more homes in Canadas hottest markets compared to other foreigners and domestic buyers.



Using information from housing and immigration authorities, Hieberts research found that around 53 per cent of immigrants to Vancouver bought about 100,000 homes in the metropolitan area from 2006 to 2011.



New Chinese immigrants were at the top of all this. Kind of incredibly, their rate of home ownership was 73 per cent, Hiebert wrote in the study, as quoted by the Vancouver Sun.



Meanwhile, 52 per cent of South Asians became homeowners, while South Korean and Filipino immigrants clocked at home buying rates of 51 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively.



Hiebert noted that most of these buyers rely on funneling their foreign capital into Canada to make their purchases.



I think it would be a pretty big stretch for someone to arrive tabula rasa (without a lot of money) in a housing market like Vancouver and within five years be able to purchase a home in this place. That would be really difficult to expect, he said.



The study observed a significant spike in the prices of high-end properties (worth $4 million and above) in the same period, although Hiebert came short of conclusively attributing a direct connection between the developments.



Various quarters have pointed at the increased prominence of foreign real estate investors as a major factor driving up housing costs in Vancouver and Toronto, but federal authorities and government agencies said that more data is required to confirm if such a causal link exists.
The Canadian government has promised to dedicate $500,000 for collecting data on foreign ownership, but one leading economist hopes that data wont be used to discourage foreign buyers.One thing they said they would do is give money to statistics Canada to help CMHC get better data on foreign ownership. Having an evidence-based policy is a good thing, Dr. Sherry Cooper, chief economist for Dominion Lending Centres , told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. Were all interested to know what the facts are. Im hoping they dont make measures to discourage foreign ownerships. Thats part of the underpinnings of the strength (of the housing markets) in Toronto and Vancouver.As part of the Liberal governments first budget, Ottawa has promised to spend $500,000 to gather data on  and better understand  the influence foreign money has on the Canadian real estate market.The government said reliable data does not yet exist for this segment of the housing market, which is thought to play a major role in driving up prices in Toronto and Vancouver  the countrys two hottest and, indeed, priciest markets.With respect to housing, Ottawa will support the collection of data regarding foreign purchases of Canadian residential real estate, providing additional funding to Stats Canada, working with CMHC and British Columbia. Evidence-based assessment of the situation is important, Cooper said in a release.The budget contained a number of other monetary promises and changes. However, it was two things Cooper didnt see in the budget that may give brokers cause for optimism.I can tell you that Im relieved that we didnt see two things in the budget that were rumoured; we didnt see a change in the tax treatment of capital gains and stock options, Cooper told MBN. Unlike the PC government or the actions taken in December to tighten credit availability.
WACO, Texas (AP)  A Baylor University educator faced with a student's fussy baby in class after a sitter canceled instead held the infant for the nearly hour long lecture.

KWTX-TV (http://bit.ly/1PrvFjJ ) reports Darryn Willoughby is a body builder  in addition to being an associate professor of health, human performance and recreation at the Waco school.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  The estranged wife of internationally renowned pianist Vadym Kholodenko sought mental treatment the day before their two young daughters were found dead in the family's North Texas home, police said Tuesday.

Sofya Tsygankova is accused of capital murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko.

Vadym Kholodenko called police Thursday after arriving at the family's home in Benbrook, Texas, and finding the two girls, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday.

Tsygankova was kneeling on the floor wearing a blood-stained nightgown and "rocking back and forth," the affidavit says. She had wounds on her wrist and chest, and a butcher knife was found near the home's patio.

An empty bottle labeled with her name and the anti-psychotic drug Quetiapine was found on the kitchen counter, police said. Authorities later learned she had visited a mental health facility the day before.

Tsygankova was first taken to a Fort Worth hospital, where, according to the affidavit, she told police she remembered putting her 5-year-old daughter to sleep and seeing her 1-year-old daughter asleep in her crib. Autopsies are still pending for both girls.

She also told police she remembered taking pills and believed she hurt herself with a knife, but asked the officers if she had done "anything bad" to the girls.

Tsygankova was booked Tuesday into the Tarrant County jail.

Her attorney, Joetta Keene, said she plans to plead not guilty on behalf of Tsygankova at an arraignment hearing Wednesday. Keene declined to comment on the specific allegations of the affidavit.

"This is, no doubt, a very heartbreaking case for everyone involved," she said.

The Ukranian-born Kholodenko won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth in 2013, beating nearly 30 finalists from 12 countries. He and Tsygankova were married in 2010 and filed for divorce last year. Kholodenko no longer lived at the home with Tsygankova and their daughters, but routinely picked up the children from the home in the mornings.

According to the affidavit, Kholodenko had called Wednesday night and spoken to 5-year-old Nika. He and Tsygankova agreed he would pick Nika up the next morning and take her to school.

The girls were buried Monday at a private service. A memorial service was scheduled for Tuesday night.
HOGP

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  The estranged wife of an internationally known pianist has pleaded not guilty in Texas to charges that she killed the couple's young daughters.

Sofya Tsygankova (soh-FEE'-uh sy-GAHNK'-oh-vuh) entered her plea in Fort Worth on Wednesday, one day after she was charged with capital murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko (koh-loh-DEN'-koh) and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko.
Eggcellent Adventure

Natural Grocers Midland, 3116 N. Loop 250 W. Suite 500, is hosting Eggcellent Adventure Easter Egg Hunt and 5 Percent Day, 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Five percent of the stores net sales will benefit Casa de Amigos.

This event is one in a series of Midland Strong fundraisers the store is hosting in response to the economic downturn, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article.

Support groups this week

The Knot Adoption Support Group, 11:30 a.m. today, First Presbyterian Church; Kathy Hagler, Kathy@WTIE.net

Caregiver support, noon today, HospiceMidland 911 W. Texas Ave., 682-2855.

Stroke Support Group meets noon Friday at Midland Memorial Hospital, West Campus private dining room. For more information, call 221-1677.

A confidential peer-to-peer support gathering for combat veterans, Tuesday at Midland College Cogdell Center, 201 Florida Ave.; Steve Cree, 770-7469.

Weekly support groups & hotlines

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Christian Church of Midland, 2609 Neely Ave. 694-8643.

Overeaters Anonymous; 7-8 p.m. Tuesdays and 3-4 p.m. Sundays; B&J Plaza, 206 N. Midkiff Road, Suite 1-D; 553-1031.

survivors of sexual abuse; interactive Bible study to help deal with the consequences of sexual abuse meets Tuesdays. Child care available; House of Hope, 570-5935.

Alcoholics Anonymous  hotline 580-7868.

 Serenity Group, 8 p.m. daily, 3101 N. A St., Building C; 685-3100.

710 Group, 7 a.m., noon and 8 p.m. Wednesdays, 710 Ohio Ave.; 682-8162.

Alpha Omega, 8 p.m Tuesdays and 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, 311 S. Pecos St.

12-Step Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 7:30 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 a.m. Saturdays; 206 N. Midkiff Road; 697-0272.

Narcotics Anonymous  hotline 582-2926.

Laundry Group, 8 p.m. daily and noon Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 104 N. Marshall St.

Xodus Group, 5:30 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 7 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays, 206 N. Midkiff Road.

CODA Group, 12-step program for relationships, 7 p.m. Thursdays, 206 N. Midkiff Road; 697-0272.

La Hacienda Alumni, support group for former patients, 7 p.m. Thursdays, 206 N. Midkiff Road; 697-0272.

Breastfeeding Class, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, MMH. Contact Casey Weems at 221-3283 or childbirtheducation@midland-memorial.com

MH payment options

Midland Memorial Hospital recognizes that our community is facing challenging financial times. Resources are tight and families are having to make important decisions about what to spend money on now and what has to wait.

Realizing health care can be expensive and the increasing deductibles make it hard to manage, the hospital has adjusted its payment procedures. We want to make sure you receive the care you need, when you need it. To find out about the new options now offered to better accommodate your payment needs, call 221-4705.

Source: Midland Memorial Hospital

How sick are you?

Midland Memorial Hospital offers a a nurse triage program 68-NURSE.

The program is designed to help people determine whether their health situation warrants a trip to the emergency room. Midland residents can call the line by dialing 686-8773.

The program is free and available 24 hours a day-365 days a year. Local nurses are available to help you determine the best place to receive care for your situation. 68-NURSE can help you save time and money by directing you to the most appropriate healthcare option, whether its a neighborhood clinic, urgent care center, emergency room  or just staying home.

Contact your Hospital District representative

Midland Memorial Hospital

400 Rosalind Redfern Grover Parkway, Midland, TX 79701

Phone: 221-1111

Website: www.midland-memorial.com

President Russell Meyers 221-1584

Directors  District 1: Dwain Tomlin, District 2: Dorothea Logan, District 3: Tommy Lent, District 4: Cressinda Hyatt, District 5: Alison King, District 6: Joe Kiowski, District 7: Jeffrey Beard
Memory loss is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimers and heartbreaking for loved ones to watch progress. Gone are the details of a first love or a childs wobbly first steps. The achievements of a distinguished 30-year career. And the tall tales of traveling the globe that once had everyone rolling on the floor with laughter.

Scientists had assumed for a long time that the disease destroys how those memories are encoded and makes them disappear forever. But what if they werent actually gone - just inaccessible?

A new paper published last week by the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Nobel Prize-winning Susumu Tonegawa provides the first strong evidence of this possibility and raises the hope of future treatments that could reverse some of the ravages of the disease on memory.

The important point is, this is a proof of concept, Tonegawa said. That is, even if a memory seems to be gone, it is still there. Its a matter of how to retrieve it.

The research, described in the journal Nature, involved two groups of mice. One was a normal control and the other was genetically engineered to have Alzheimers-like symptoms. Both groups were given a mild electric shock to their feet. The first group appeared to remember the trauma of the incident by showing fear when placed back in the box where they had been given the shock. The Alzheimers mice, on the other hand, seemed to quickly forget what happened and did not have an upset reaction to the box.

Their reaction changed dramatically when the scientists stimulated tagged cells in their brains in the hippocampus - the part of the brain that encodes short-term memories - with a special blue light. When they were put back in the box following the procedure, their memories of the shock appeared to have returned, and they displayed the same fear as their healthy counterparts.

Tonegawa and his colleagues wrote that the treatment appears to have boosted neurons to regrow small buds called dendritic spines that form connections with other cells.

The revelations have shattered a 20-year paradigm of how were thinking about the disease, Rudy Tanzi, a Harvard neurology professor who is not involved in the research, told the Boston Herald. He said that since the 1980s, researchers believed the memories just werent getting stored properly.

The technique used in the study - optical stimulation of brain cells, or optogenetics - involves the insertion of a gene into parts of a brain to make them sensitive to blue light and then stimulating them with the light.

In a commentary accompanying the paper, Prerana Shrestha and Eric Klann of the Center for Neural Science at New York University said that the research employed a clever strategy and that the potential to rescue long-term memory in dementia is exciting.

Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimers Society, cautioned that the technique is not something that can be translated into a procedure that is safe for the estimated 44 million people worldwide with dementia just yet.

While interesting, he told the Guardian, the practicalities of this approach - using a special blue light to stimulate memory - means that were still many years away from knowing if it would be possible to restore lost memories in people.

Electrical stimulation of the brain may be one alternative scientists can pursue, according to Christine Denny, a neurobiologist at Columbia University. Nature reported that early trials showed that deep-brain stimulation of the hippocampus may improve memory in some Alzheimers patients.
City Council and the Midland Community Development Corp. officially entered a workforce housing agreement that will provide between four and 34 units of single-family workforce housing. Council passed a measure Tuesday approving the agreement and appropriating $153,000.

The money will be spent in increments of $4,500 per home to help offset the cost of infrastructure and street improvements associated with the project. The units average price ranges from $159,000 to $189,000, according to a city press release.

The homes will be built in the Pueblo del Arroyo subdivision on Elm Avenue, according to the release.

City spokeswoman Sara Bustilloz said that the broad language of four to 34 units was because the developer must build at least four units before receiving funding from the city, and that the goal is for 34 homes.

MCDC to date has invested almost $500,000 in infrastructure improvements in the neighborhood including water, sewer and curb and gutters, according to the press release.

The city voted Tuesday to allow the Midland Police Department to submit a grant application to the Office of the Governor's Criminal Justice Division for body cameras and related storage.

Bustilloz said the grant application asks for $168,750 to equip about 130 officers -- those on patrol duty but not necessarily detectives.

The MPD two years ago turned down a grant for cameras because it would have led to rushed implementation that would have been required under the grants timeline. The cameras would have been acquired without learning about benefits of various features and factors, according to a press release.

Also Tuesday, the council

-- approved plans for the extension of Beal Parkway in west Midland and authorized a request for bids for construction.

The new road would extend Beal to Thomason Drive instead of Anetta Drive, where it currently stops. The projects estimated cost is $2 million.

-- awarded Jones Bros. Dirt and Paving Contractors of Odessa with a $1.9 million contract for the fiscal year 2016 mill/inlay project.

The resulting street improvements include milling existing pavement, repaving the roadway and applying new pavement markings at Midkiff Road between Wall Street and Interstate 20, and Wadley Avenue between Big Spring and A streets.

-- heard a presentation from the Mobile Food Vendors Association and Downtown Midland Management District on a possible site for mobile food vending located on West Illinois Avenue near Big Spring Street.

During a morning briefing session, 15 association members presented ideas in order to have an area designated specifically for food vendors that they said would attract more members and create diversity in services.

Follow Cassie on Twitter at @Cassie_Burton51
HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP)  A fired Texas trooper pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of misdemeanor perjury stemming from his arrest last summer of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was later found dead in a county jail.

Brian Encinia entered his plea during a brief appearance before a Waller County judge as protesters gathered outside the courthouse in Hempstead, about 50 miles northwest of Houston. One held a sign that read: "What happened to Sandra Bland?"

About 20 to 25 protesters yelled "Tell the truth" and "Sandra still speaks," and at one point directed their chanting at Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith who stood nearby speaking with reporters. Bland's arrest captured on a police dash-camera video provoked national outrage and drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Encinia's attorney, Larkin Eakin, said after Tuesday's arraignment that the perjury charge "represents a fundamental misunderstanding of law enforcement procedures." He said Encinia acted properly during the July 2015 traffic stop and subsequent arrest of Bland.

A county grand jury indicted Encinia in January on the perjury charge for saying in an affidavit that he removed a combative Bland from her car after stopping her near Houston for a minor traffic violation so he could conduct a safer traffic investigation.

Video of the stop shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland, "I will light you up!" She can later be heard off-camera screaming that he's about to break her wrists and complaining that he knocked her head into the ground.

Encinia's affidavit stated he "removed her from her vehicle to further conduct a safer traffic investigation," but grand jurors found that statement to be false, according to prosecutors.

Bland, who was in the process of moving to Texas from the Chicago area, was taken to the Waller County jail in Hempstead. She was found hanging from a jail cell partition three days later. A plastic garbage bag was around her neck.

A medical examiner ruled it a suicide. A grand jury declined to charge any sheriff's officials or jailers in the death.

Bland's relatives have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and members of her family were in the courtroom Tuesday.

"I want an opportunity to allow accountability to be shown," said Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, a Chicago-area resident. "I want answers as to what happened to my daughter, but I still want it to happen in God's way."

Cannon Lambert, the attorney for the family, said they met with prosecutors Tuesday and urged them to aggressively pursue the case against Encinia.

"The family wanted to make clear that their expectations are that (authorities) prosecute him fully and seek the mandatory sentence," he said. "The family is in no way interested in a plea, and the family understands they don't have the authority to force the prosecutors to do what the family wants but they wanted them to be clear exactly what the family is seeking."

A judge last week ordered the FBI to allow Bland's family to review a report of the Texas Rangers' investigation into her death. U.S. District Judge David Hittner's order is part of the Bland family's wrongful death lawsuit filed in Houston against Encinia and others involved in her detention.

The FBI had initially declined to turn over the report, contending it was protected under law enforcement privilege.

Encinia's next court hearing is scheduled for May 17. The perjury charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The Texas Department of Public Safety early this month formally fired Encinia over the stop. He can appeal the decision.

Encinia met last month with DPS Director Steve McCraw, but their conversation gave the agency leader no reason "to alter my preliminary decision," according to a termination letter signed by Encinia.

___
Another SXSW has come and gone. Thousands of bands traveled thousands of miles to play short, roughly mixed, 30-minute sets to music fans drunkenly bustling about town checking off their to-do lists in between stuffing their faces with breakfast tacos and Texas BBQ.

So now it's time to reflect on the wild week that was SXSW 2016 and share with the world all the amazing artists that everyone got a chance to see (or didn't see). After all, even without all the corporate inclusion, SXSW is still about discovering new bands, right? Here are some of the top acts we saw throughout the week that you should definitely be adding to your playlists as we enter festival eason.

The Skins

Entourage actor Adrian Grenier's threw an exclusive party at Arlyn Recording Studios on Friday, which showcased some of his Wreckroom alumni artists playing to industry personnel and friends. The highlight of the evening came when NYC rock band The Skins played their non-stop energy driven set to a fully packed venue. The band, also managed by Grenier, has been working closely with Rick Rubin on their debut album, which comes as no surprise that they've successfully mixed rock and hip-hop to make for a sound that pop music hasn't experienced since the early days of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine.

Savoir Adore

Another New York band that's recently coming out of hiding, these pop-rockers falls somewhere between CHVRCHES and St. Lucia with their mix of dance and modern sounding rock songs. They played a handful of set throughout the week, but their set at Baeble Music's day party at Empire Garage was enough to convince all those in attendance that the band will be the perfect fit opening for X Ambassadors on their upcoming tour.

Deap Vally

This power-rock duo from Los Angeles is currently on tour opening for Wolfmother. That's really all you should need to know about their ability to bring the noise and the attitude the two girls produce. They're sexy, but they're not selling themselves out like teenage pop stars- they let the raunchy, octave fuzz pedals and bluesy riffs do that for them. If Joan Jett had a music baby with Jack White, you'd have this fantastic rock band who will be releasing their sophomore LP very soon hopefully. In the mean time get a look and a listen with their latest single, "Royal Jelly".

About as good as it gets @deapvally #sxsw #sxsw2016 #austin A photo posted by Music Times (@themusictimes) on Mar 16, 2016 at 11:11am PDT

Capyac

Capyac is a dance band from Texas whose set could go from ambient electronic to full-on disco-style party at the drop of a beat. While they seem young, it's their blend of genres into their unique style that mixes jazz and soul into their mix of funky sounding dance music that makes them seem years beyond their age. What really catches the eyes and ears with this group is their very casual, and confident persona the band portrays on stage, letting their music do the talking for them. At least that's the way it seemed at the epic dance party they were throwing at the Empire Garage on Tuesday night.

Haelos

This trip-hop sounding electronic trio had more than just a few shows to celebrate during their time in Austin. The band released their first album on Matador Records on Friday and celebrated by playing a fantastic set at the Baeble day party. You could compare them to similar acts like Jungle or Brolin, but Haelos' sound carries a slower, more intimate feel to it.

Miya Folick

We caught Miya Folick early on Wednesday at the Wild Honey Pie/Bumble day party and were blown away by the energy and power from a smaller bodied girl. Her recorded music puts her into the same category with contemporaries such as Julien Baker or WET, but her live show was more of a throwback to the female-lead garage rock bands of the 90s like The Innocence Mission, The Martinis, or The Breeders. In other words they'd fit right in perfectly on the Empire Records soundtrack circa 2016.

Hunter Sharpe

Hunter Sharpe and his band kind of resemble what One Direction could've have been in another lifetime. The band blew the doors off The Sidewinder on Tuesday night, proving that teenage (yes, the band's lead guitar player is only 16) boys should never fail to surprise fans when handed a guitar, a distortion pedal, and teenage angst. This band has everything a label would love in a band- powerful and edgy garage rock songs, charisma, marketability and, of course, hair.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
With only three months into the new year, 2016 is already turning out to be a great time for new music and unforgettable concerts. At the end of June, Lil Wayne, Bryson Tiller, 2 Chainz, Usher and more will headline the Staples Center concerts at the 2016 BET Experience at L.A. Live.

The fourth annual music and lifestyle festival will return to downtown Los Angeles from June 23-26. The upcoming BET Experience is sponsored by Coca-Cola and hosted by BET Networks. The lineup of events will act as a precursor for the performances and surprises scheduled to go down during the 2016 BET Awards.

Earlier this month, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz dropped the highly anticipated collaborative album, ColleGrove, and are expected to perform a few tracks from the project. Fans received an early taste of their music venture after the rappers performed "Rolls Royce Weather Everyday" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and premiered "Gotta Lotta" on Beats 1 Radio.

A photo posted by BET Experience (@betexperience) on Mar 22, 2016 at 7:08am PDT

Dancing and singing aren't the only things in store for attendees of the show. Comedians Katt Williams and Mike Epps will also be joining the festivities and gracing the microphone. Despite his recent run-ins with the law, Williams and Epps are set to hit the stage on Thursday, June 23, with new material to keep fans laughing in their seats.

General tickets for the show go on sale on April 1, while the BET Experience VIP packages are now available for purchase. To find out more details, click here.

BET EXPERIENCE AT STAPLES CENTER SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY, June 23, 2016

7:30 p.m.: Katt Williams and Mike Epps

FRIDAY, June 24, 2016

7:30 p.m.: Usher and Bryson Tiller

SATURDAY, June 25, 2016

7 p.m.: Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz present ColleGrove

SUNDAY, June 26, 2016

BET Awards at Microsoft Theater

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ramble Jon Krohn, aka RJD2, is getting ready to drop his 10th full-length album, Dame Fortune, via his own Electrical Connections imprint. Although the new album isn't due until March 25, the entire LP is available to stream now ahead of its release. Listen below, via Hype Machine.



The 12-track album features guest collaborations with Aaron Livingston, aka Son Little, Phonte, Blueprint and Jordan Brown. Dame Fortune finds Krohn drawing inspiration from Philly soul while developing his classic funk and hip-hop beats.

The veteran electronic hip-hop producer discussed the City of Brotherly Love's influence on the new record in a statement: "Living in Philly provided a context for a lot of soul music that I had liked," he told Rolling Stone. "I didn't have any cultural context for this music that I liked -- it was just music that I had stumbled across as a beat-making nerd."

The crate-digging composer added: "Philly was a place where there were enough people who had the same musical vocabulary that I did, which made the music more than something I had just discovered on my own."

The LP turns out to be pretty politically charged. The instrumental track titled "PF, Day One" stands for "Post-Ferguson" and is a nod to contemporary social unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement. Meanwhile, lead single "Peace of What" is a reference to Main Source's 1991 track "Peace Is Not the Word to Play," according to Complex reports.

"When I hear people talk of peace in America, the discrepancy between our words and our actions can get fatiguing," the producer said about "Peace of What" in a statement. "I was trying to reflect the experience of people I know, which often feels like 'We're not ACTUALLY trying to do anything about this problem in our country,'" according to Rolling Stone reports.

Krohn is on tour in support of the new album, with six U.S. dates left, including a stop in the album's home in Pennsylvania.

Dame Fortune follows last year's collaborative album with rapper STS, STS X RJD2. Krohn's previous solo full-length was 2013's More Is Than Isn't.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
How much would you have to be paid to get a tattoo of 2016 presidential hopeful, real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump on your body? Tattoos are, of course, permanent unless you have a lot of money for painful laser removal. You'd ask for a lot right? How about a year's worth of free country music concert tickets? No, right? Well, one man accepted this offer from a local radio station in Arizona and is pretty happy with his decision.

102.5 KNIX's The Ben & Matt Show held a "Trump Stamp" contest with the grand prize winner receiving a year's worth of concerts for free. Any concert, too! The only price is part of your dignity and a lifetime of Donald Trump on his back. Thinking about it though, Trump might be our President, so this tattoo could mean something a bit different a year from now.

38 year-old Travis Gaarder is the "winner" of this contest. He spoke to Billboard about the experience and whether or not it was worth it.

"The only reason why I did it was for the concert tickets. Any of 'em would do for me," he said. "I just like music."

When asked if the tattoo was worth it, he exclaimed "Heck yeah!"

Also, Gaarder explained that attending a rally for the Republican candidate wasn't on his to-do list, even after getting the tattoo.

"I think I might kind of try to stay away from that," he said.

You can check out photos of the tattoo progress and more in a time-lapse video from the station's YouTube page right here:



Though Travis is adamant that the tattoo was worth it, do you think this is a rip-off? Let us know what you think of this story in the comments section below!

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Speaking with GQ magazine's Dylan Jones in an onstage interview as part of the Liberatum Women in Creativity series, Hole frontwoman Courtney Love addressed the hot-topic issue of the sexism that women in music face. Relating this subject to her decades-spanning career and addressing the recent rise in women speaking out about the music industry's sexism, Love explain how she had to deal with double standards for quite some time.

CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren Mayberry, Charli XCX and many other younger women in music have been very vocal about the industry's problem with sexism, but Courtney Love is happy to explain that it has always been this way, at least for her.

"I always took myself really seriously... but sometimes I'd be at a venue and the guy would call me 'sweetie' or 'honey' when we were doing drums and stuff," Kurt Cobain's widow said, according to Dazed's report on the live interview. "I'd carry the drums in myself so people wouldn't say I was a b*tch...I barely know what it is, but I learned 'Smoke On The Water' so I could go to Guitar Center and play that and not have guys look at me. It was different time - I think girls get taken a lot more seriously now."

According to UPROXX, Love went on to talk more about double standards, but only related the subject of sexism to herself. While it would definitely be great if women in music are taken more seriously nowadays, according to Love, that doesn't really mean much for the sexism issue.

I would rather have her acknowledge the concerns of the women in music that have taken a stand against this double standard and sexism rather than explain that she has had it harder. To be fair, I didn't attend the discussion, but it sounds like she glossed over the topic a bit.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nation's Largest Gay Rights Group Endorses Republican Sen. Kirk Over Duckworth

By Anthony Todd in News on Mar 23, 2016 3:26PM



In a move that has pretty much everyone outside of the Human Rights Campaign headquarters scratching their heads, HRC (the self-proclaimed largest GLBT civil rights organization in America) announced earlier this month that they were supporting Illinois' Republican incumbent senator Mark Kirk over his democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth.

Wait, what?

According to HRC's own surveys, Duckworth has a 100 percent perfect voting record on GLBT issues. Mark Kirk's record has ranged from 39 percent GLBT-friendly to around 88%, with the most recent survey putting him at 78 percent. This hardly makes Kirk the most anti-GLBT individual in the Senate (given that more than 25 senators scored a perfect 0 in their support of gay rights) but it does leave us wondering why HRC would endorse the less-supportive candidate.

Here's a clue: strategy. Kirk is a co-sponsor of the Equality Act, a bill that would add protections for GLBT individuals to Title VII. Kirk was, in fact, the very first Republican sponsor of the Equality Act in the Senate. So it makes a certain kind of sense that HRC would want to help him out in a political horse trade. They did the same thing with the first GOP representative, Bob Dold, who also sponsored the Equality Act, endorsing him on the same day as Kirk. Now that marriage equality is a done deal, the Equality Act is the biggest thing on HRC's agenda, and they want it to pass.

Mark Joseph Stern, writing for Slate, calls this HRC's attempt to play a "long game"in other words, showing that Republicans might be able to win points with this traditionally liberal-leaning constituency if they support gay causes. However, Stern also makes a persuasive case that this is utterly stupid on the part of HRC. Why?

"Everyone knows that the Equality Actand every other piece of pro-LGBTQ legislationcan only pass the Senate if Democrats control the chamber. There is no possibility that Republican leadership will permit LGBTQ rights bills to come to a vote. The Senate map is quite favorable to Democrats in 2016, but their only path to victory involves picking off Republican senators in purple statessenators like Mark Kirk. In other words, HRCs goal of rewarding pro-LGBTQ GOP senators runs directly counter to their broader goal of, you know, passing pro-LGBTQ legislation."

Plus, potential individual donors (as well as shouting people on Facebook who may otherwise put HRC stickers as their Facebook image) are notoriously bad at supporting the long game. This means that HRC may lose the support of many Illinois GLBT individuals and allies, who are firmly in the Duckworth camp and will see this as a betrayal.
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Activist Who Freed 2,000 Minks From Illinois Farm Sentenced Under Obscure Terrorism Law

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 23, 2016 6:41PM



Tyler Lang, left, and Kevin Olliff (aka Kevin Johnson), right. (Photo courtesy supportkevinandtyler.com)

Tyler Lang, who was arrested alongside Kevin Johnson in August, 2013 during a routine traffic stop in Woodford County where police found bolt cutters, camouflage clothing and masks, was sentenced Wednesday. The two men were indicted in 2014 under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law created by the American Legislative Exchange Council and pushed through Congress in 2006 which gave more authority to the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute animal rights activists.

The Tribune reports prosecutors said the pair released more than 2,000 minks from the farm, along with spraypainting the words LIBERATION IS LOVE on the side of a barn, and damaging vehicles. The farm closed as a result of the action, and its owners say they suffered psychologically after the incident.

Johnson was sentenced last month to three years in prison with time served and ordered to pay $200,000 restitution to the farm owners. Lang was also sentenced to a $200,000 restitution payment, along with three months time served, six months house arrest and an additional six months of community confinement.

Both men had already served time under state law and entered into non-cooperating plea agreements to lessen their sentences under the AETA. According to a report from the Guardian published last year, the pair are one of a small but seemingly growing number of people who have been prosecuted under the act for widely-ranging so-called crimesincluding simple acts of protest such as handing out flyers or chalking sidewalks. According to Mother Jones, four protesters in California were indicted for doing just that, but the charges which were later thrown out by a federal judge in 2010.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, along with advocates for Johnson and Lang, said in a statement that the act is an attempt to conjure public fear of the animal liberation movement and chill dissent.

The law, supported by big pharmaceutical and agricultural companies at the time it was authored, attempts to equate non-violent civil disobedience and other activitiesincluding undercover filming of alleged animal cruelty or abusewith terrorism. In 2014, Johnson and Lang called their indictments an attempt to indict an entire movement in the eyes of the public, and a slap in the face to a public that sadly knows what terrorism actually looks like.

Wednesday, the support team for the duo said in a statement that their case should be a reminder that we have to show each other love and support in the face of State repression.
The curtain rose Tuesday on a celebration of Ming Dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu, on the 4th centenary of his death.

Tang was born in Fuzhou in east China's Jiangxi Province in 1550 where commemorative events including the opening of a memorial and research center will be staged throughout the year. An international academic forum will celebrate Tang's life and work with a drama festival in the city highlighting the artist's influence on culture, education and society.

Zhang Hongxing, mayor of Fuzhou, told the press that activities would not be confined to Fuzhou. "The Peony Pavilion", considered Tang's masterpiece, will be staged in Stratford-Upon-Avon, hometown of William Shakespeare, in April. "The Peony Pavilion" tells of a romance between Du Liniang, a daughter of a local official and scholar Liu Mengmei, embodying young people's pursuit of love and freedom.

This year also marks the 400th anniversary of the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, and Fuzhou will be twinned with Alcala de Henares, birthplace of Cervantes. A seminar will also be held in Palo Alto in the United States.

Nick Marchand, arts and creative industries director of the cultural and education section of the British Embassy in Beijing, described 2016 as a "wonderful" year, presenting a great opportunity to put the works of Tang before the global audience.
Someone should sue the President for ...
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London is to hold its first ever Design Biennale with more than 30 countries signed up to take part, it was revealed Tuesday.

Participating nations will present newly-commissioned works in contemporary design and design research.

Nations from six continents are taking part including Indonesia, India, Germany, Mexico, Palestine, the United States, Nigeria, Turkey, Israel, Croatia, South Africa, and Tunisia.

The Biennale's 2016 theme is "Utopia by Design," chosen to mark the 500th anniversary of the philosopher Thomas More's book "Utopia" in London, which explored ideas behind what would make a good society.

Sustainability, migration, pollution, water and social equality are just some of the issues being explored.

Among the projects in the Biennale are Mexican architect and urbanist Fernando Romero's exploration of the potential of charter cities; German designer Konstantin Grcic's installation exploring the psychological roots of utopia; and a proposal for floating cities that could help tackle flooding in Nigeria.

Director of the London Design Biennale, Christopher Turner said: "The utopian impulse allows us to escape the blinkers of the present and dream, telling stories about alternative futures that ask important questions about the world in which we live."

He added: "It will feature some of these provocations, which aim to provoke real change by suggesting inspiring or cautionary futures."

The Biennale takes place from Sept. 7 to 27 at Somerset House in Central London.
Sacramento Capitol Building View Photos

Sacramento, CA  A bill has gained bi-partisan support as it calls for halting contracts with companies that follow another global campaign involving economic sanctions on Israel in regards to the countrys dealings with Palestine.

AB 1552 prohibits California from contracting with businesses that engage in boycotts against Israel. Proponents of the bill seek to end taxpayer funding for a discriminatory Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel. The BDS is a Palestinian backed campaign that advocates increased economic and political pressure against Israel.

Wednesday, co-author of the bill, Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) announced a large group of supporters, including former Assembly Speaker, Democrat John Perez of Los Angeles. Allen stated, The fight against discrimination is a non-partisan issue that unites Californians from all sides of the political spectrum. California and Israel have historically stood together as allies due to our unique bond founded on shared values, a strong bilateral trade relationship, and our unwavering commitment to freedom and democracy. As the seventh largest economy in the world, the nation is looking to California to end discrimination against our key ally, Israel. The time is now to come together behind AB 1552 and join the movement to defeat anti-Semitism and hate speech across our nation.

Allen added that the bill would ensure that the states relationships with trading partners and allies are not undermined by companies in California and abroad.
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It's being reported that China's insurance regulator will likely reject a bid by Anbang Insurance to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

According to report by Chinese financial magazine Caixin, the bid is reportedly above the insurer's offshore asset threshold for overseas investments.

Starwood, owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, on Monday accepted a sweetened 13.6 billion U.S. dollars acquisition offer from rival Marriott International, spurning Anbang Insurance Group's latest bid.

The report also suggests China's insurance regulator "clearly has an attitude of not supporting" Anbang's bid.

In making the suggestion, the report says Anbang's overseas investments have already reached a "red line," which is 15 percent of the company's assets invested overseas.
Utah, Arizona and Idaho are seeing long lines as people wait to cast ballots in one primary and two caucuses.

The results of the three states could help expand Donald Trump's and Hillary Clinton's leads in the Republican and Democratic races. However, it could also give Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders a chance to cut into those leads.

Current Delegates Count

LATEST UPDATES

(All Associated Press updates in Eastern Daylight Time)

11:25 p.m.

Associated Press projects Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic primary in Arizona.

Hillary Clinton has padded her delegate lead after a win in the Arizona Democratic presidential primary.

With 75 delegates at stake, Arizona is the biggest prize of the night in the Democratic race.

Clinton stands to gain more than half of those delegates  at least 40, compared to at least 16 for rival Bernie Sanders.

That means she will add to her delegate lead of more than 300. She now has 1,203 to Sanders' 860.

When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton's overall lead is even wider  1,670 to Sanders' 886. It takes 2,383 to win.

Also voting this evening are Idaho and Utah, with a combined 56 delegates at stake.

__

11:20 p.m.

Associated Press projects Donald Trump will win the Republican primary in Arizona.

Donald Trump has rolled to a victory in the Arizona Republican primary, capitalizing on his anti-immigration stance  a position that's long been popular with GOP voters in the state.

With the win, Trump takes all of the state's 58 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

The billionaire businessman made three trips to Arizona and had the support of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Gov. Jan Brewer  a pair of politicians best known for leading immigration crackdowns.

Trump defeated Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who toured the U.S.-Mexico border over the weekend in a last-minute push for votes.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich did not campaign in Arizona.

__

10:10 p.m.

Donald Trump apparently has no regrets about making a threat against rival Ted Cruz.

The GOP front-runner on Tuesday night tweeted that the Texas senator needed to "be careful" or he would "spill the beans on your wife."

Trump quickly deleted the tweet, but then reposted an edited version a few minutes later.

The change? This time, he called Cruz by the dismissive nickname he uses often: "Lyin' Ted."

Trump appears to be upset about an ad in Utah that uses a photo of his wife, Melania, from a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

The ad wasn't placed by Cruz's campaign, but rather an outside group that's opposed to Trump's candidacy.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."

Trump's campaign didn't immediately return messages seeking comment about the billionaire businessman's tweet.

___

9:40 p.m.

Utah is seeing a frenzy of activity surrounding its presidential caucuses as voters are experiencing long lines, and the Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic.

Lines have been several blocks long at some Republican caucus sites. And the Democratic site crashed about an hour before the start of the party's caucuses.

The site includes information such as the addresses for the 90 physical Democratic caucus locations in the state, as well as guidance on what documents to bring and who is eligible to vote. The party later fixed the problem.

Utah's director of elections Mark Thomas says about 20,000 people started registering to vote online in recent days, with about half of those doing so Tuesday.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney isn't among those waiting in line to take part. He is out of town and voted absentee.

___

9:04 p.m.

The Arizona presidential primary is drawing long lines as people wait two hours in some cases to cast a ballot.

Police have been called to help with traffic control in some places, while one polling place ran out of ballots. Some voters wore wide-brimmed hats or carried umbrellas for shade. Others sat in lawn chairs they brought from home.

Dozens of people were lined up before voting started at 6 a.m. at a central Phoenix polling place, and hundreds were in line there by mid-afternoon.

The lines are the result of Maricopa County  home to metro Phoenix  cutting back the number of polling sites to save money. The county had 200 polling places in the 2012 presidential primary and just 60 this year. It had 700 for the last general election.

The county also mistakenly thought that the popularity of mail-in ballots and independents who can't vote in primaries would require fewer polling places.

___

Upcoming presidential contests
An Embry-Riddle graduate who was killed on her first day as a law enforcement officer will be remembered forever at the university she attended.

A plaque will be placed permanently at the school in honor of Ashley Guindon.

Chris Bonner was one of the faculty members who unveiled the plaque.

Bonner was Guindon's professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Hes a long-time FBI agent from a long line of law enforcement family members, as tough as they come, until he had to come to terms with his proteges death.

"To have her young life cut short, not even finishing her first shift, it's something that is just sad, remarkably sad, Bonner said. Something that you know, I'm still having trouble coming to grips with."

Guindon became a Prince William County officer in Virginia on Feb. 27 and was shot and killed that same day responding to a domestic violence call.

Bonner was Guindon's mentor and counselor at Embry-Riddle while she studied homeland security.

"Sometimes I feel like I kind of talked her into this career. Do I feel a sense of responsibility, I don't know. But you know, certainly she left a special mark on all of us here at Embry-Riddle," said Bonner.

Now Bonner and other Embry-Riddle faculty want to make sure that mark is permanent for other students to see with the plaque. It which contains one of Guindon's own quotes.

It reads: "Live for something rather than die for nothing."

"Students that follow her career path are going to witness her every day when they go in and they see the memorial plaque in her honor, knowing what they could face," said Bonner.

The school also announced the Ashley Guindon memorial scholarship, which will be awarded to students who choose either homeland security or global conflict studies as their career path.
A man posing as a Target Mobile employee walked away from a Target store with 41 cellphones worth $31,000, Flagler County deputies said Tuesday.

Just before 11 a.m. Monday, the man arrived to the Target store at 5100 State Road 100 E. in Palm Coast dressed as a Target Mobile team member, with a black shirt and khaki pants, according to the Sheriff's Office.

A Target employee reported to deputies that soon after the man arrived, she was told that he had portrayed himself as a worker and asked to be let into an equipment room. He was given a set of keys, then got into a cabinet, took the cellphones and left the store, the Sheriff's Office said.

Target surveillance video showed the man leaving the store. Deputies are now looking for Jarmal N. Brown, 26, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, and a 2010 Nissan Altima with Georgia tag QFD3744.

An arrest warrant was issued charging Brown with grand theft and burglary with bail set at $52,000.

Anyone with information on Brown's whereabouts is asked to call the Flagler Sheriff's Office at 386-313-4911 or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-888-277-8477 (TIPS).


OVERTON - Call volumes increased for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service forage specialist Dr. Vanessa Corriher-Olson in Overton, as warm weather has farmers and ranchers looking for proactive ways to control weeds on ranges and pastureland.

At this point and with recent rainfall, annual ryegrass is active and producers want to manage it in Bermuda fields to allow the grass to take off, she said. Theyre asking for recommendations to slow ryegrass growth - or are deciding to increase grazing pressure or harvest it.

Farmers continue to inquire about renovating, or lightly discing, land to allow moisture to get deeper. However, Corriher-Olson said there is limited-to-no comparative research data to show a Bermuda grass production advantage to discing. She said renovation practices should be done during grass dormancy in the winter, with care taken to conserve soil moisture, especially in a drought.

Renovation success is contingent on post-renovation rains.

Keep in mind that anytime we disturb the soil, we are potentially promoting the germination of weed seeds so be prepared for weed control, she said.

Corriher-Olson said there is concern about frost and freezing temperatures that might set back any actively growing Bermuda grass. There were reports of frost conditions March 21 but no subsequent reports regarding damages.

It was hit or miss and I think it was a light frost, in unprotected areas, she said. Frost can set back Bermuda grass, but we would have to have a pretty substantial freeze before there was damage.

AgriLife Extension district reporters compiled the following summaries:

SOUTH PLAINS: Borden County experienced windy conditions. In Cochran County, subsoil and topsoil continued to dry out due to lack of moisture and high winds. Producers continued to prepare for spring planting with chemical applications and listing. Crosby County received a light freeze over the weekend with a low of 31 degrees. Floyd County producers could use some more moisture. Producer were getting fields ready for planting. No rainfall fell in Garza County, and temperatures were near or below freezing with highs near 60 degrees. Rainfall was needed to improve topsoil moisture across the county for spring planting and green-up of warm-season grasses. Producers continued to prepare land for cotton planting in the next couple of months. Range and pastures were mostly fair to good with some green up of warm-season grasses in low-lying areas. As temperatures begin to rise, moisture will be needed for plants to grow. Livestock was in mostly good condition, and light supplemental feeding occurred. Conditions in Hockley County were dry and windy. Spring field work continued. Rust and a few aphids were found in wheat. Lubbock County experienced freezing weather March 19. The coldest minimum temperature was recorded at Abernathy at 23.5 degrees with a sub-freezing duration of six hours. Field preparation continued. Evidence of stripe rust was observed in two wheat fields. Yoakum County received no precipitation. Small grains under irrigation looked good. Oats in the area started to germinate.

PANHANDLE: The region was dry and windy with above-average temperatures most of the week, though a good general rain was still needed throughout the region. Collingsworth County reported dry, windy conditions, which dried out the soil profile significantly throughout the week. A burn ban was enacted to reduce the chance of wildfires due to the dry, windy conditions and fuel throughout pastures. Farmers prepared fields for planting by listing up rows, and putting down fertilizers, pre-plant herbicides and water. Deaf Smith County producers continued field work preparations for spring plantings. The winter wheat crop was actively growing as many producers ran water. Stocker cattle remained on graze-out wheat fields and were doing well. Decisions about what crops would be planted this season were still undetermined in some areas. Ochiltree County pre-plant activity for summer crops was reported. Wheat fields received weed control applications and were fertilized. Wheat will need rain soon but looked good. Producers scouted for insects in the wheat. Stocker cattle were moved off wheat fields to be harvested for grain. Randall County conditions were windy and dry. Rain was desperately needed as planting nears. Corn was expected to be planted within a week to 10 days. Meanwhile, field work continued in preparation for the upcoming planting season.
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking proposals from contractors who can provide humane care for a minimum of 200 wild horses in a free-roaming pasture setting on an annual basis. This is a perfect opportunity to diversify a ranching operation. The deadline is April 29.

Proposals must show that the pastures are located in one of the following states: Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon (excluding west of the Cascade Mountain Range), South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington (excluding west of the Cascade Mountain Range), and Wyoming.

Each proposal must include documentation to support the lands carrying capacity and the contractors required per head/day cost. In addition to providing a quality pasture, the contractor is required to provide supplemental feed during the dormant months. The contracts are for a one-year period, with a renewal option for a four-year or nine-year period.

To review the solicitation: (1) go to www.fedconnect.net ; (2) click on Search Public Opportunities; (3) under Search Criteria, select Reference Number; (4) put in the solicitation number L16PS00305; and (5) click Search and the solicitation information will appear. The solicitation form describes what to submit and where to send it for consideration.

Applicants who have never conducted business with the Federal government must first obtain a Duns and Bradstreet number at www.dnb.com before registering at www.sam.gov/. There is no fee involved in registering with sam.gov.

For assistance, visit www.blm.gov/whb to review the resource page or contact Kemi Ismael, 202-912-7098 (kismael@blm.gov) or Michael Byrd, 202-912-7037 (mbyrd@blm.gov). These contacts can assist with general questions and coordinate a meeting for an applicant with a BLM small business specialist. Contractors may also visit the Procurement Technical Assistance Center website, which provides assistance to applicants for government contracts. Most assistance is free to little charge.

Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, as amended, the BLM manages and protects wild horses and burros while working to ensure that population levels are in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. The current free-roaming population of BLM-managed wild horses and burros is estimated to be 58,150, as of March 1, 2015, which exceeds by more than 31,435 the number determined by the BLM to be the appropriate management level. The BLM is applying population growth-suppression measures and is supporting research to improve existing and develop new PGS tools.

For general questions about the BLMs Wild Horse and Burro Program, please contact 866-468-7826 or wildhorse@blm.gov.
Image taken on Oct. 28, 2015 shows people walking by the stand of the Chinese company ZTE during the "Futurecom 2015," in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [File photo/Xinhua]

Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp will get temporary export license from the US Commerce Department after the agency decided to restrict the Chinese company's exports early this month.

According to a notice published by the Commerce Department Tuesday, it will give a three-month temporarily general license to the ZTE and ZTE Kangxun, one of ZTE's affiliates that are required to observe the export restrictions.

The temporary license will become effective from March 24 through June 30.

On March 7, the Commerce Department announced its decision to impose export restrictions on ZTE Corp and three affiliated entities for alleged violation of US export controls on Iran.

Experts from US and China have warned that the restrictions of the Commerce Department against the Chinese company over trade would hurt American suppliers severely.

ZTE, a provider of mobile devices and telecommunication systems, has been operating in the United States since 1998. It has become the fourth largest smartphone supplier in the country and has built partnerships with many US companies, including major chipmakers such as Qualcomm, Broadcom and Intel. Qualcomm alone could reportedly suffer a loss of nearly $40 million in its quarterly trade with ZTE because of the restrictions.

The ZTE on Tuesday said on its website that it will continue to work with the US government department to be fully removed from the Entity List after the temporary trade sanction relief was provided. The temporary license will help ZTE to continue to fulfill its commitments to stakeholders, said the ZTE.

In Tuesday's notice, the US Commerce Department said the temporary license can be renewed if ZTE Corp. and ZTE Kangxun cooperate with the US government department in resolving the matter.
Wei, a 26-year-old Henan native and new postgraduate from Southwest University in Chongqing Municipality, was recently denied access to a local quality supervision bureau, although her major met well with the criterion of the job.

Satisfied with her qualifications outlined in her curriculum vitae, the employer offered Wei the opportunity of a face-to-face interview.

However, Wei had never expected that she should have been refused by the interviewers simply because they found she is single.

"They flipped through my resume and asked several professional questions, which in my opinion were satisfactorily answered. But they became reluctant when touching on my personal status which has remained single," Wei recalled.

"They smiled and told me that they were not sure whether I would settle down in Chongqing, therefore, they asked me to wait for their notice," she said while taking the remark as a gentle refusal.

Wei is not the only female job hunter who has failed in searching for a job vacancy because of her status as single. On the contrary, there are plenty of young female postgraduates who have been refused job opportunities simply because they are single. The situation has been aggravated after the country's general adoption of the second-child policy.

Chen, a postgraduate in water service engineering at Hohai University in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, still remembers her job hunting experience at port and channel bureau in Tianjin, where her application was denied after the interviewers realized that she was still single. They explained to her that they needed someone who can take frequent business trips.

At last, Chen had little option but to postpone her employment by applying for a Ph.D. at her alma mater.

Xiaochen, a middle school teacher in Beijing's Changping District, was lucky enough to get a job for which she applied. However, she was also stunned by a string of questions concerning her personal life when she told the interviewers that she had a boyfriend.

She said the interviewers asked about the occupation of her boyfriend, his decision on whether or not to live in Beijing, as well as their plans for marriage.

"They sounded like future parents-in-law," she said.

An online poll initiated by Guangming Daily showed that 38 percent of respondents were irritated by the employers' apparent discrimination against the single female postgraduates; 34 percent of respondents couldn't totally attribute the factor of unemployment to women's single statuses.

A human resource manager from the financial sector, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that there is a popular mentality which prioritizes marriage over a decent job, as many young women choose to believe that hard work rarely results in a happy marriage.

"The 30-year-old female singles are much more likely to leave their posts when they get married, which becomes a waste in regard of our employment quotas and training efforts," the HR manager said.

Another HR manager from the pharmaceutical sector also revealed that they had previously hired a postgraduate who announced her pregnancy when they were ready to train her to be one of their core employees.

However, according to the law for the protection of women's equal rights and interests, the employers should not deny access to women, unless those jobs are unfitting to female employees.

Xia Xueluan, a sociologist from Peking University, said that the law for the protection of women's rights and interests should be stipulated more specifically and pragmatically in the long run. It should also carry out policies to cover the costs of employers who employ young female job hunters.

Meanwhile, Su Wenqing, a lecturer from Jinan University, said that the female job hunters should create independent images to convince the employers to view them in a more comprehensive way.
Its all a big misunderstanding. Theyre great guys, but they just dont get each other. But instead of meeting and talking about their differences, and discussing what to do about the alien invasion  oh yes, theres one of those  they get into a dispute that escalates, and goes on and on and on 

Batman v Superman is an insanely long and convoluted action movie, made worse by an air of importance. Its dispiriting and visually bland. A few years ago, director Zack Snyder was the hope of the action genre, whose films Watchmen and 300 were intuitive, striking and psychologically penetrating. But here he settles for making something typical, but in a bigger and more ponderous way.

In the mood to get depressed? Batman v. Superman starts with a flashback to Bruce Waynes parents getting killed, because who could resist that bit of sadness? Then its off to the alien invasion of Gotham City, which has Bruce so upset that he is driving around town like a lunatic, while buildings are getting lasered out of existence. From there, we flash forward 18 months to see Lois Lane witnessing a terrorist atrocity. Having fun yet?

In the lead-up to this film, the casting of Ben Affleck was a subject for controversy. But Affleck is perfect for this incarnation of Batman. The guy exudes moral inexactitude and misplaced certainty. He makes you believe he could really think that Superman is not a nice person. And he counters all expectation that he might preen and charm his way through the role by not smiling once during the entire movie. The audience doesnt smile, either.

In the aftermath of the alien invasion, the government has turned lukewarm on Superman. Officials dont like the idea of depending on Supermans kindness. They want some leverage, just in case he switches sides.

Holly Hunter plays a senator heading a committee seeking to rein in Supermans activities and create some kind of oversight. Meanwhile, businessman Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) reasons that the best way to control Superman is to stockpile lots of kryptonite.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice * Quick take: An empty exercise in destruction See More Collapse

As a senator, Hunter is completely natural and, with the exception of Jeremy Irons as Alfred, she is the only actor unaffected by being in a superhero movie. Everyone else tries to compensate, as though thinking, Im going to ignore this really awful material and act even more.

As Luthor, Eisenberg gives what will probably pass as a great performance  he twitches, raves, talks slow and then fast, and he doesnt wipe his nose even when he needs to  but its all surface, calculated to impress and coming from nowhere.

Hans Zimmers score matches the acting, with music that is portentous and full of unearned meaning. When Superman and Batman finally meet in full costume, Zimmer is practically losing his mind, as though St. Paul and Plato, or Lincoln and Washington, or Jesus and Buddha were finally going to have a sit-down. The music is thundering and cresting, and the world will never be the same. In that moment, try to back up a second and perceive it from a distance. You might get a laugh.

Batman v Superman (the subtitle is Dawn of Justice, which makes no sense) is slow getting started, setting out a number of plot lines. Basically, Lex Luthor is the villain, but because of press reports, Superman and Batman develop a negative impression of each other.

Movies based on misunderstandings tend to be more frustrating than entertaining. There a few things less interesting than watching people carry on stupidly, when everything would be fine if theyd only talk for five minutes. Its even worse when the two participants are supposed to be moral paragons.

Snyder sets his story within our modern world and attempts to fashion a kind of commentary on the media and the current geopolitical situation. What he has crafted instead is a grotesque expression of modern emptiness. A succession of national TV journalists appears here, cheapening their brand, while the story itself is like meaninglessness in search of meaning. Theres an almost spiritual hunger in the hope that a meeting between Batman and Superman might amount to something, but theres nothing there.

And when theres nothing there, what else can you do but blow things up? The scene of destruction are interminable, just a piling on, as if, at a certain point, the right amount of violence will feel like a climax.

It used to be that comparing movies to video games was more metaphorical than literal. But here theres no pretense that what were seeing on screen is anything different from what wed see on a small screen. Its just buildings and people getting hit and disintegrating in silver bursts, and its nothing but depressing.

Running time: 151 minutes
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Russia's air campaign in Syria, mainly in the coastal city of Latakia, has restored security and safety back to the majority of Syrians living under government control.

For much of the Latakians, particularly in the countryside, Russia's help came right on time, as their towns were dangerously threatened by approaching rebels, who executed massacres in Latakia's countryside during a wide scale offensive in 2013.

Throughout Syria's five-year-old conflict, several rebel groups, mainly the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, succeeded in capturing key strategic mountainous locations in the Latakian countryside close to Turkey serving as the rebels' supply route.

Syria's army faced extreme difficulty when attempting to recapture these areas, such as Salma city and the towns of Rabia and Kinsaba beside Turkey, due to the rough terrain of the area.

However, Russia's air force advent into Syria last September, and their presence at the Hmaimim base in the Latakian countryside, supported the Syrian army's recapture of over 90 percent of the Latakian countryside, getting close enough to almost ejecting the rebels from less crucial regions.

"The Russians came right on time as Latakia faced danger," one resident from the town of Saharrifa told Xinhua.

Saharrifa is a predominantly Alewite town in the north of Latakia, inhabited by pro-government residents. Saharrifa is close to Salma, Rabia and also Hmaimim.

People in Saharrifa said they witnessed heavy Russian flights over their town, from which other hotspots could be spotted at a distance.

"The rebels were a mere three kilometers away from us," another resident said.

With the threat so close to home, Saharrifa residents said they were soothed by Russia's intervention.

"We became less anxious when Russia's decided to join the battle against Syria's radical groups. Russia's air force came to fight those terrorist groups. We felt safe as the warplanes were stationed in Latakia," Nizar Skaif, a Saharrifa resident told Xinhua.

Following Russia's decision to withdraw parts of its air force last week, Skaif added: "we continue to feel safe because I believe Russia's airstrikes achieved its goals and repelled the rebels."

Munther Ismail, another Saharrifa resident, said "the terrorists were only three kilometers away from us, and with Russia's support we felt secure once more."

Ismail said that rebel attacks against Latakia and elsewhere have substantially decreased during Russia's six-month-old air campaign in Syria, adding that Russia also managed to seal areas used by rebels to infiltrate the Latakian countryside.

"Russia's military campaign in Syria was extremely valuable to us because we felt safe once more," he said.

Ismail said he is optimistic regarding Russia's withdrawal, "because most of the targets were destroyed, and I trust that Russia can support us once more anytime we need it."

However, the optimism of the adults was not shared by the youth of Saharrifa.

Judi Deeb, an 18-year-old girl, said she wished Russia wouldn't leave after the results they achieved in Syria.

"When Russia first entered Syria I didn't have any positive or negative feelings about their arrival, but after we saw the results they achieved, we became very attached to them and want them to stay longer," she told Xinhua.

"Just like the youth of the Latakian countryside, we grew to love them. We were so impressed by the results they achieved and really wish they would stay longer," she added.

Deeb said when the people in Saharrifa first heard the news of Russia's withdrawal they were a "little afraid but when we heard that they left behind a base and could return whenever needed, our fears abated."

Her cousin, Muhammad Ali, said Russia's decision to enter Syria was as surprising as the withdrawal one.

"We felt good because Russia previously vetoed in favor of Syria, and our optimism was exonerated due to the considerable results achieved by Russia," he said.

"Russia repelled the rebels. We trust Russia's leadership and we thank them for what they did," Ali said.

The Latakian countryside was considered one of the most important Syrian battlefields, and Russia's air force provided crucial support to Syria's army as it recaptured this mountainous region.

Last week, Russia's leadership announced it was withdrawing substantial numbers of its air force from Syria.

Syria's government said the decision was in coordination with Damascus, adding that it was owing to developments achieved on the ground by Syria's army and the currently stable truce.

Analysts interpreted the move as a measure to accelerate a political solution for Syria's crisis, especially since representatives from Syria's government and opposition groups are currently holding talks in Geneva in an attempt to solve Syria's five-year-old conflict.
Where adorable baby otters and fuzzy mountain lion cubs share a home with 200-pound pythons and fierce crocodilians, the Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo has come a long way since its early days hailing automobiles off the highway with the giant yellow sign: SNAKE FARM.

The New Braunfels attraction is hardly the hair-raising roadside stop of past generations.
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Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli met with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in Beijing on Tuesday, vowing to improve China-Russia energy cooperation.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (R) shakes hands with Russian natural gas company Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in Beijing, China, March 22, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Bilateral energy cooperation has continued to progress under the strategic leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Zhang.

Energy cooperation is of strategic and long-term significance in bilateral relations, he said.

He spoke about the construction of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline and the Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, and called on both sides to maintain momentum of the projects, adding that discussions should start on new collaborations and cooperation models.

He said the two sides should expand cooperation in product chain integration, oil and gas equipment-manufacturing, processing services,project construction and oil sales.

Miller said Russia attached great importance to energy cooperation with China and that the east-route natural gas pipeline construction was being promoted, as planned.

Russia is willing to work with China to accelerate the negotiation on the western route program, which would elevate bilateral energy cooperation to a new level, said Miller.
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The Judson Independent School Districts vetting standards and teacher-student procedures were called into question during a meeting with parents Tuesday evening regarding the recent arrests of three former Judson High School teachers accused of separate sex crimes.

Judson High Principal Jesus Hernandez III was joined by district officials and several teachers in the schools cafeteria as he addressed a group of about 50 parents. He said it was sheer coincidence that the arrests occurred within weeks of each other.

Although officials focused on Jared Anderson, who was arrested Thursday on charges of indecency with a child and sexual performance of a child, several parents asked about former Judson teachers Reginald Ardale Johnson, 43, and Matthew John Turner, 34. Both resigned while they were being investigated on separate allegations of sexual abuse.

Officials announced Monday that Anderson resigned last week and that they were offering counseling to students who have been affected either directly or as a result of the arrests.

RELATED: S.A. teacher accused of encouraging teens to perform sex acts at parties

Judson ISD Police Chief Theresa Ramon said none of the alleged incidents occurred on campus grounds, and that the accusations Anderson is facing allegedly involves children that were in his churchs youth organization.

Initially arrested on Jan. 26, Johnson was accused of sexual contact with at least two minors on multiple occasions in apartments in San Antonio and Converse and at the home of one of the alleged victims, according to a warrant.

Turner was arrested Feb. 4 on charges of trafficking a person less than 18 years old and sexual performance by a child, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

RELATED: Ex-Judson employee accused of trafficking homeless underage prostitute

One parent, who only wished to be identified as Cyndi, said she feels that ethics training isnt enough to stop teachers who are involved in similar crimes.

They say theyre improving the vetting process for new teachers, but whats being done about our current teachers? she asked.

Adella Freeman-Wright, 35-year-old mother of two, said people should stop blaming the school administration and that more parents need to be involved in keeping an eye on their students and their activities in school.

RELATED: S.A. teacher accused of sex trafficking had 75 porn images on phone

I place my children in extra-curricular activities because it holds them accountable, she said.
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SAN ANTONIO  A man suspected of using a hidden camera to record female staff members inside bathrooms at a retirement community on the Northwest Side has been arrested.

Juan Edgardo Matos-Cartagena faces a state jail felony charge of invasive visual recording, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The document said that a woman called police on March 14 after finding a pen camera hidden inside of a plant in the womens restroom of Brookdale Patriot Heights, 5000 Fawn Meadow.

A San Antonio Police Department detective picked up the device and obtained a search warrant to examine its contents, the affidavit said.

According to the document, the detective found two videos of women using the restroom on the camera, one of which also showed Matos-Cartagena setting it up.

It is unclear whether Matos-Cartagena worked at the community, but the affidavit said one of the victims had worked with with him for the past nine months. She was able to identify him by name, police said.

He was taken into custody on Monday and later released from the Bexar County Jail, according to jail records.

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
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A man who proclaimed his innocence after his arrest Tuesday is accused of fatally shooting a teenager who was in a vehicle filled with partygoers last week.

Julian Martinez, 18, faces a charge of murder in the death of 17-year-old Amanda Acosta on March 14.

Officer Douglas Greene, a San Antonio Police Department spokesman, said before the shooting, Acosta was at a party in the 200 block of Cavalier Street with her friends when one of them started fighting with Martinez.

RELATED: Teenage girl shot, killed near downtown San Antonio

After the fight, the friend and several others, including Acosta, left the party in a vehicle. Martinez and several others followed the vehicle in another car, Greene said.

On Nogalitos Streets, Martinez allegedly fired two shots at the vehicle Acosta was in, fatally hitting her from behind, Greene said. She was pronounced dead at the San Antonio Children's Hospital.

"Shortly after this incident made the news, we started getting several leads in to our Homicide Unit," Greene said, noting several people who were at the party identified Martinez as the suspect.

Greene said detectives determined they had enough information to arrest him on a murder warrant after interviewing Martinez at the Public Safety Headquarters downtown.

As he was escorted to a squad car, Martinez told press "I'm innocent," continuing to say his name as he repeated the statement.

RELATED: Mother of teen girl fatally shot near downtown San Antonio searches for answers

Asked who did shoot Acosta, he answered God only knows.

Greene said there is the possibility of others being arrested as the investigation continues, but noted detectives feel they have the main suspect.

Acosta would have turned 18 Monday.

"Instead of celebrating her birthday today, family members are enveloped with the sense that they're never going to see their loved one again," Greene said. "We hope that we bring them some sort of peace with the arrest of Mr. Martinez."

Jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA
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New Braunfels Police arrested a man on Monday suspected of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

According to the New Braunfels Police Department, Chase Daniel Laird, 24, was taken into custody at his residence in San Marcos following an investigation that spanned more than a month.

RELATED: Judson High School meets with parents over ex-teachers accused of sex crimes

In a release Wednesday, NBPD said that the 14-year-old made an outcry on Feb. 18 that she had engaged in sexual activity with a man she met online, later identified by police as Laird.

He remains in the Comal County Jail on a charge of sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony.

RELATED: Gang member with San Antonio ties added to Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000, according to police.

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
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Military officials have banned members of the Armed Forces in San Antonio from going to a Leon Valley spa, according to a new memorandum.

RELATED: San Antonio bars and stores on the TABC delinquent list for liquor purchases

The Joint Base San Antonio Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board placed Vip Spa at 6136 Bandera Road on its list of establishments deemed off-limits for military members, according to a March 3 memo.

Also, Recovery Room  a bar at 1139 Harry Wurzbach Road near Fort Sam Houston  has been removed from the off-limits list. The bar previously appeared on the list in February.

RELATED: Records: More than 2 dozen San Antonio residents arrested on South Padre Island during spring break

The board has placed establishments off-limits beginning in 1997, crossing out businesses that have underage drinking, drug trafficking, gang presence or sexual solicitation.

"The establishment of off-limits areas is a function of command used to help maintain good order and discipline, health, morale, safety and welfare of personnel" assigned to or located at Joint Base San Antonio, the March 3 memorandum states.

Base officials also consult reviews with the Better Business Bureau looking for complaints and reports, per the memo.

RELATED: TABC: 87 establishments in Bexar County sold alcohol to minors in 2015

Scroll through the slideshow to see where military members in San Antonio and Texas are forbidden from frequenting.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
Lucy Hermosa Villarreal was sustained by her faith in God.

Active at St. John Berchmans almost her whole life, Villarreal became even more involved in the Catholic church after her husbands death in the mid-1970s.

She was a Eucharist minister, led the adult prayer group and was a former president of the Society of Our Lady of Guadalupe, her daughter Barbara Santellan said.

Leaving her job at Dillards Department Store at the end of the day, Villarreal headed straight to the church, pitching in to do whatever was needed.

Villarreal stayed so busy, her children would call to try to make an appointment to see her, Santellan said.

Villarreal died March 16 at 91.

More Information Lucy Hermosa Villarreal Born: May 27, 1924, San Antonio Died: March 16, 2016, San Antonio Preceded by: Husband Mike D. Villarreal; daughter Mary Helen Perez. Survived by: Daughters Jo Ann Almaguer, Judy Ortiz and son-in-law Mario, Barbara Santellan and son-in-law Daniel; son Michael Villarreal and daughter-in-law Linda; 11 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a great-great-granddaughter. Services: Visitation from 1 to 9 p.m., rosary at 7 p.m., Wednesday at Castillo Mission Funeral Home, 520 N. General McMullen Drive; Mass at 9 a.m. Thursday at St. John Berchmans Catholic Church, 1147 Cupples Road, followed by burial at San Fernando Cemetery II. See More Collapse

Raised on the near West Side as one of nine children, Villarreal was influenced by the nuns at St. Peter-St. Joseph home for children, where she and her siblings were placed after her father died, leaving her mother without a way to support the family.

She got very close to God as a young child  thought about becoming a nun, Santellan said.

Back with her mother by age 8, Villarreal graduated from what was then San Antonio Vocational and Technical High School, marrying her high school sweetheart at 18.

Starting in retail sales at 13, Villarreal eventually got a job at the now defunct Joskes of Texas downtown, working in the French Room, where they sold the more exclusive clothing, Santellan said. She dressed to the nines  high heel shoes, everything matching; she was very fashionable.

Transitioning to Dillards after it bought Joskes in the late 1980s, Villarreal was a consistent top seller, catering to many well-to-do women.

One of her clients arrived from Kerrville by helicopter.

She would pull everything she knew this woman liked  so she could just come in and try on and purchase, her daughter said.

At home, Villarreal focused on her family.

She instilled in us to always stay close to our church, to always put Christ first in our lives, Santellan said. And to always forgive.

As the last of their children left home, Villarreal and her husband became really close, Santellan said. On weekends, my sisters and I would call each other  we wouldnt know where they were; theyd go to Laredo without telling anyone.

When their children protested, the couple told them, Were old enough, we dont need to tell anybody, Santellan recalled. It was if they were on their honeymoon.

In her later years, Villarreal became known for the green van she drove, usually for church-related activities.

We called it the senior citizen van, her daughter said.

mheidbrink@express-news.net
Remember Paul Ryan? The speaker of the House used to be a media darling, lionized as the epitome of the Serious, Honest Conservative  never mind those of us who actually looked at the numbers in his budgets and concluded that he was a con man. These days, of course, he is overshadowed by the looming Trumpocalypse.

But while Donald Trump could win the White House  or lose so badly that even our rotten-borough system of congressional districts, which heavily favors the GOP, delivers the House to the Democrats  the odds are that come January, Hillary Clinton will be president, and Ryan still speaker. So I was interested to read what Ryan said in a recent interview with John Harwood. What has he learned from recent events?

And the answer is, nothing.

Like just about everyone in the Republican establishment, Ryan is in denial about the roots of Trumpism, about the extent to which the party deliberately cultivated anger and racial backlash, only to lose control of the monster it created. But what I found especially striking were his comments on tax policy. I know, boring  but indulge me here. Theres a larger moral.

You might think that Republican thought leaders would be engaged in some soul-searching about their partys obsession with cutting taxes on the wealthy. Why do candidates who inveigh against the evils of budget deficits and federal debt feel obliged to propose huge high-end tax cuts  much bigger than those of George W. Bush  that would eliminate trillions in revenue?

And economics aside, why such a commitment to a policy that has never had much support even from the partys own base, and appears even more politically suspect in the face of a populist uprising?

But heres what Ryan said about all those tax cuts for the top 1 percent: I do not like the idea of buying into these distributional tables. What youre talking about is what we call static distribution. Its a ridiculous notion.

Aha. The income mobility zombie strikes again.

Ever since income inequality began its sharp rise in the 1980s, one favorite conservative excuse has been that it doesnt mean anything, because economic positions change all the time. People who are rich this year might not be rich next year, so the gap between the rich and the rest doesnt matter, right?

Well, its true that people move up and down the economic ladder, and apologists for inequality love to cite statistics showing that many people who are in the top 1 percent in any given year are out of that category the next year.

But a closer look at the data shows that there is less to this observation than it seems. These days, it takes an income of around $400,000 a year to put you in the top 1 percent, and most of the fluctuation in incomes we see involves people going from, say, $350,000 to $450,000 or vice versa. As one comprehensive survey put it, The majority of economic mobility occurs over fairly small spans of the distribution. Average incomes over multiple years are almost as unequally distributed as incomes in any given year, which means that tax cuts that mainly benefit the rich are indeed targeted at a small group of people, not the public at large.

And heres the thing: This isnt a new observation. As it happens, I personally took on the very same argument Ryan is making  and showed that it was wrong  almost 25 years ago.

OK, maybe Im just indulging a pet peeve by focusing on this particular subject. Yet the persistence of the income mobility zombie, like the tax-cuts-mean-growth zombie (which should have been killed, once and for all, by the debacles in Kansas and Louisiana), is part of a pattern.

Appalled Republicans may rail against Donald Trumps arrogant ignorance. But how different, really, are the partys mainstream leaders? Their blinkered view of the world has the veneer of respectability, may go along with an appearance of thoughtfulness, but in reality its just as impervious to evidence  maybe even more so, because it has the power of groupthink behind it.

What were getting instead is at least the possibility of a cleansing shock  of a period in the political wilderness that will finally force the Republican establishment to rethink its premises. Thats a good thing  or it would be, if it didnt also come with the risk of President Trump.

Paul Krugman is a columnist for the New York Times.
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Belgium media has withdrawn earlier report that the terror attack suspect had been detained, BBC reports.

Previous BBC report said Najim Laachraoui, the man suspected of being the third attacker at Zaventem airport, has been arrested in the Brussels district of Anderlecht, Belgian media is reporting, quoting judicial sources.

The third suspect is still on the run after his suitcase bomb - containing the biggest charge at the airport - failed to explode, Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says.

Chinese leaders have strongly condemned the terror attacks in Brussels while extending condolences to the victims and their families.

In his message to King Philippe of Belgium, President Xi Jinping expressed China's willingness to step up security and anti-terror cooperation with Belgium, stressing that the international community should work together to address the root causes of terrorism.

Meanwhile, Premier Li Keqiang sent condolences to his counterpart Charles Michel.

Li Keqiang also reiterated China's stance against terrorism while meeting with leaders from some Southeast Asian countries.

"We want to express condolences to the victims in the attack. Also we want to express sympathy to the families of the victims and the wounded. China, like all the others, is against all forms of terrorism. We are willing to make joint efforts with the international community to maintain world peace and regional stability."

The attack in Brussels led to prime minister Michel cancelling a scheduled trip to China.

Police are still hunting for two suspects, identified as brothers, and who are known to police.

The pair have been identified as Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui.

It is believed at least one of them was among the three suspects seen in a surveillance video at Zaventem airport.

Belgium is observing three days of national mourning for the 34 people killed and more than 200 others injured in the attacks.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the blasts at the airport and at a metro station, and has warned that more will follow.

The attacks sent shock-waves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.
Much has changed in San Antonio over the last 42 years. Credit Communities Organized for Public Service  or COPS  for many of those changes that made lives better, made neighborhoods livable.

In April, COPS  now COPS/Metro  will celebrate its 42nd year. We should put that another way. The city should celebrate the organizations very existence, its continued existence for 42 years.

The organization stepped in where local government wouldnt  until COPS and its community members got on the case.

In those 42 years, COPS has helped neglected communities in San Antonio organize around their own interests  and their own anger. Libraries, drainage systems, senior citizen and affordable housing, sidewalks and curbs have been built. Parks exist where there were none. Bars that were public nuisances have been closed. Services have been delivered.

This happened not because COPS undertook to run programs to deliver these benefits, but because it helped people organize around the notion that they, too, deserved the citys and countys attention.

More on that anger. COPS was formed to channel it. Not the bitter anger that can divide as much as it motivates. Organizers talk about cold anger. Once you identify what a neighborhood or community is legitimately angry about, youve identified what it can coalesce around to get things done. And then social justice gets done.

At one time, some of the citys heavily Mexican-American barrios were angry about flooding that came with every heavy rain. They noticed other neighborhoods, more affluent and connected, had better drainage.

COPS gained a reputation as being pushy. This, of course, was the view held by those being pushed, mattering little at the time that they were merely being urged to do the right thing.

Among its many pursuits, COPS began focusing on living wages in the late 1990s. Texas does not allow cities to set their own minimum wage and refuses to raise the state minimum, which is pegged to the federal wage of $7.25 per hour. This isnt a living wage  its a zombie wage.

Both the city and county agreed  the lowest paid will now be paid $13 an hour. The organization is asking the San Antonio Independent School District to do the same, and it apparently will. These are changes that make differences in peoples lives. But this can be said of all of COPS accomplishments  from drainage to libraries to affordable housing.

The next chapter for the organization can only spell more progress and more attention to those residents traditionally neglected. But it can also mean new bridges. Not the kind cars travel over but the kind that might bind many of San Antonios neighborhoods to overcome what has become a nagging incidence of segregation based on income  the city ranking among the worst in the country in this regard.

COPS organizers are looking for the common ground that might cause San Antonians to see common cause with all of their neighbors. Theyve noticed payday lending establishments in all parts of the city. Is predatory lending one of those binding issues? Theyve noticed that no matter where families live, schools rank high in their concerns. Is quality education across the board one of those issues?

We asked one of the founders, Andy Sarabia, what he thought COPS has contributed to San Antonio.

Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) has been a vehicle which has taught regular, everyday people to learn how to converse, listen and organize themselves around common interests. Together effectively changing the political culture of our beloved city from a Good Government League (GGL) controlled city to one of single member districts, he wrote. Imagine San Antonios ZIP codes 78207 and 78258 working together, crafting an agenda for the future of San Antonio, now that would be powerful.

Whatever this next chapter brings, San Antonio will no doubt be the better for it, though the journey might begin with some institutions kicking and screaming first.

But its clear: When the city begins to think of itself as more than its parts, this, too, will spell social justice.

San Antonio will be indebted and is already indebted for what has been accomplished in 42 years.
My vote for president will be for the person who recognizes that before we continue to expand immigration into our country, we must give priority to the one ethnic group that has been with our country since its inception, that has suffered the injustice of slavery, and that today is not sharing in the fruits of our economic system.

We need to work with the black community to build safe neighborhoods, create award-winning schools, and develop job skills and economic opportunity, ultimately empowering that community to share in the American dream, before we bring in the next immigrants into this country.

Let any political party platform that favors immigration of other minorities above the plight of the 10 percent that helped build this country suffer the consequences of its own hypocrisy.

Paul R. Schaffenberger

Nasty campaign

The Republican presidential campaign has gotten worse. Mitt Romney has dispelled the myth that elephants have excellent memories.

Romney is railing against Donald Trump, though in 2012 Romney lauded Trump for supporting his candidacy. Romney also called for Trump to release his tax returns. In 2012, Romney himself would not release more than two years worth because the rest were set in stone. Dont forget Romneys offshore bank accounts either.

Runner-up Ted Cruz is hoping to be the GOP standard-bearer. Proof the GOP is willing to lower the standards to beat Trump. The Cruz campaign falsely claimed Ben Carson was dropping out in Iowa. It also falsely claimed Marco Rubio dissed the Bible. Cruz has not disavowed any of his evangelical supporters who openly call for executing gays, either.

Joe M. Velasquez

Fears unwarranted

Re: Free tuition  and then socialism, Alan Preston, Opinion, March 6:

It is a real stretch to link free tuition for public colleges and universities to a larger plan by Sen. Bernie Sanders to turn our country socialist. Would Mr. Preston have made the same argument during the late 19th and early 20th century, when our country finally began to establish free public education? Would he object to providing the free stuff at the expense of the private sector? Is he among many conservatives who want government services but do not want to be taxed for any of them?

Mr. Sanders has extended the idea of free K-12 to the college level. While there are problems with the idea, as Mr. Preston points out, fear that it represents the first step toward socialism is not warranted.

Since he opens his essay with a swipe at Mr. Sanders, I never thought so many Americans would be attracted to a Donald Trump or a Ted Cruz.

Jerry W. Moulder

Still overpaid

Re: Pay for the best, Your Turn, March 2:

The letter is a little off base. Even if Sheryl Sculley is good at what she does, she is still overpaid. If she is the best thing since sliced bread, then why did the city of Phoenix let her go? Why havent other cities come after her with even more money?

She is a decent official who does her job and gets paid more than she should. When the city manager earns more than the Texas governor or the president of the United States, we have a problem.

The letter writer also compares the pay of Jonathon Simmons to Sheryl Sculley. Are you kidding me? Obviously, you dont understand the difference between Jonathon Simmons, a Spur employed by a private enterprise, and Sculley, who works for the taxpayers.

Gerald Lopez
The terrorist attacks Tuesday in Brussels, yet another assault on innocents, should strengthen international resolve to root out terrorism wherever it breeds.

There is likely no ironclad method of detecting every act of terrorism planned, but the global community must cooperate more in this regard. Security agencies must not compete with one another. And there is some evidence this is happening.

It is clear in any case that there is not a broad enough coalition of the willing to even fight the Islamic State where it lives in Iraq and Syria. The group claimed responsibility for the bombings.

This is very clearly a case of us and them. And by them, we dont mean all Muslims. We mean the extremists whose deadly ideologies prompt them to spill the blood of innocents. And by us we mean every citizen of every nation, whether it has been attacked or not.

After the bombings  two in the departure hall at Brussels Airport and another at a subway station in the center of the city  speculation focused on possible ties to the arrest last week of Salah Abdeslam, suspected of being the lone survivor of the 10 men involved in the Paris attacks in November.

The response should not be just military action against the Islamic State but efforts that more broadly address the disaffection that turns young men and women into suicide bombers and terrorists. One of the bombings in Brussels was thought to have been carried out by a suicide bomber.

And the United States has a role to play. Not by overreacting and being mired virtually alone once again in a Mideast ground war that breeds more resentment  and terrorists  but by forming that coalition of the willing to do everything it takes within reason to combat terrorists wherever they are.

This requires solidarity.

Just as after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and after the San Bernardino, California attack on Dec. 2, we all became Parisians and Americans, today, we are all Belgians.

But more broadly, these latest attacks mean it is very clearly us and them  civilized society vs. barbarism.
A beautiful Boerne home with a Spanish castle feel has just hit the market and could be yours for just under $1.7 million.

The home, located at 11010 Anaqua Springs, spans 6,748 square feet on 2.04 acres of land and is currently listed at $1,699,900. It has four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, as well as an oversized three-car garage, according to a Facebook post highlighting the property.
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In the prestigious neighborhood of Terrell Hills, magnificent oaks and magnolias shade a private brick lane leading to the historic estate that was once the home of one of San Antonio's most prestigious families.

That piece of Alamo City history, listed on the market for $2.9 million, just sold to new owners.

Edgar Tobin, a graduate of the San Antonio Military Academy and a World War I fighter pilot, purchased the home after his 1926 marriage to Margaret Lynn Batts. They were the second owners of the estate, which dates back to 1908, according to family genealogist and Tobin relative Kaye Fraser.

Click through the gallery for a look inside the spectacular estate where the Tobins once lived in Terrell Hills.

Edgar was the grandchild of Josephine Smith and William Tobin; his family built seven homes during the 1880s and 1890s in the area now known as Tobin Hill. When Edgar returned to San Antonio after the war, he founded Tobin Aerial Surveys.

RELATED: The 9 most expensive streets to live on in San Antonio

When Edgar died in a plane clash at the age of 57, his company was the largest aerial mapping firm in the world. Margaret, already an esteemed civic leader and art patron, took over as chair on the board of her husband's company.

A wealth of San Antonio's fine art and culture is due to the legacy of Margaret Lynn Batts Tobin, the mother of the renowned Texas art collector and patron, founder of the Tobin Endowment, Robert L. B. Tobin.

Margaret served as the president of the McNay Art Institute in addition to serving as the president for the Symphony Society, and she shared her passion for the arts with her son Robert who later gave his extensive collection to the McNay.

When he died in 2000, the New York Times credited Robert with building "one of the most important theater design collections in the country."

RELATED: 27 historic districts in San Antonio

While the Tobin family has not lived on Terrell Road for decades, the home that once entertained the city's most elite residents still maintains its immaculate splendor while indulging modernized luxuries.

The 1.3 acre estate includes an Old Style stone main house, 6,533 square feet,with five bedrooms, a library and a sun room, plus a carriage house and one divine swimming pool.

Until recently, the 1908 home had only three owners. Luxury real estate agent Jason Glast announced the property's sale this week.

RELATED: See the most expensive home sold in San Antonio in 2015

jmscott@mysa.com
Posted on 03/23/2016, 11:00 am, by mySteinbach

The Board of Trustees and the administration of Hanover School Division is pleased to announce that Mr. Andrew Mead has been appointed to the position of Principal at Mitchell Middle School, effective fall 2016.

Mr. Mead joins the Hanover School Division, after having served the previous 14 years in school administration as a Principal and Vice-Principal within the St. James-Assiniboia School Division in Winnipeg. Mr. Mead most recently held the position of Principal at the George Waters Middle School in Winnipeg.

Randy Dueck, Superintendent-CEO of the Hanover School Division commented, We are very excited to have Andrew Mead join our Mitchell Middle School administrative team. Andrew has proven his ability to lead, inspire, and build positive working relationships in school communities, and he is passionate about educating children.
NACS Ideas 2 Go shares innovative ideasboth big and smallfrom convenience retailers across the country. In addition to NACS Magazine articles, since 1994, the Ideas 2 Go video program has featured hundreds of interviews with retailers from nearly every state and five countries. To watch these retailers in action, visit nacsonline.com/ideas2go.

Running a successful convenience store chain can be equated to running a state. Both require a focus on meeting the needs of the customeror constituent. For Texas state Senator Lois Kolkhorst, moving into politics was simply an extension of her desire to give back to the people shed gotten to know through Rattlers convenience stores. We have convenience stores in a lot of the counties in my district, said Kolkhorst, who owns the 14-unit Rattlers with her husband, Jim. I wanted to give back to our state and country, which has given us so much.

A Family Affair

Jims father was an Exxon distributor, so he grew up familiar with the fueling and convenience store industry. My father started in the wholesale business, but Exxon encouraged him to get into the convenience store side of things, which he did in 1992, Jim said.

However, Lois and Jim, who married in 1987, had embarked on other careers before Jim moved back to Brenham, Texas, to run the c-store business for his father in 1994. Because of job obligations, Lois didnt make the transition until the following year when she eventually took over marketing for the stores. Jims fathers retirement in 1997 put them in charge of the business, which then included Kolkhorst Petroleum Company and its convenience stores. The couple eventually rebranded the stores under the Rattlers banner and expanded the chain to 14 locations.

The stores specialize in Friendly. Clean. Texan.the motto Lois said summed up their vision for the chain. Were primarily in rural areas and smaller towns, which is kind of our niche, Jim said. We pride ourselves on having clean locations with nice, bright sites of about 3,500 square feet.

Rattlers offers a standard selection of snack items and has configured its space with higher gondolas to provide a wider variety of products. But the stores are known for their beverages. The chain has a very extensive fountain drink program with flavor shots, but its at the coffee bar where Rattlers excels.

We wanted our coffee to be our destination driver, Jim said. To achieve that, he partnered with Independence Coffee, a Texas micro roast company in which the Kolkhorsts bought an interest. Were not that big into foodservice, but we have a very extensive coffee bar that has Independence Coffee, plus an amazing array of syrups and specialty creams, he said.

The Kolkhorsts recently introduced a loyalty reward program for their customers called Rattlers Rewards, which has proven to be a popular move. For a small to medium-sized retailer, its a little bit unique to offer a rewards program, Jim said. But it was the right move for us, judging by the positive customer reception.

Serving the People

Working in the convenience store industry made clear to Lois her passion for service and instilled in her the need to make a difference in a bigger way. Im a better lawmaker because I know how to run a business, how to make payroll, how to interact with customersI bring a level of expertise to my role as senator that I wouldnt have acquired without Rattlers, she said.

Fourteen years ago, Lois successfully ran for state representative. She served continuously in the Texas House before winning a special election to the Texas Senate in December 2014. Its been a balancing act, she said of her dual roles as legislator and convenience store operator. While Jim handles more of the day-to-day aspects of the business, Lois has stayed very much in touch with Rattlers. We talk daily about whats going on at the stores, and Ill also talk with him about certain legislation and regulatory issues, she said.

Lois tries very hard to keep her lawmaker side separate from her convenience store owner side. One of the top issues for us right now is the tax structure, which funds our schools, among other things, Lois said. I also ensure that state officials understand that our retailers are not only trying to make a business successful, but theyre also collectors of state taxes (sales and fuel, for example).

The downside of being a state senator with a very public business is that at times, people judge Rattlers by a different standard. I think people view our stores more critically than other convenience stores because of my political position, Lois said.

For now, the Kolkhorsts are concentrating on maintaining their busy work schedules. Its a balancing act that is very difficult with two such diverse careers, Lois said. But then again, were partners as well as husband and wife, and we put God first, then family, then our business and careers. Its an order that has served us well over the years.

Sarah Hamaker is a freelance writer and NACS Daily and NACS Magazine contributor based in Fairfax, Virginia. Visit her online at www.sarahhamaker.com.
Lets remind ourselves how we get from Malta to New Zealand and Mossack Fonseca. Heres the fearsome Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who tells us what she was getting up to in late February:

In the afternoon of 22nd February, I uploaded two posts in quick successionThey would have seemed mysterious to everyone but four people: Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Brian Tonna of Nexia BT. Its unlikely that Sai Mizzi Liang, in Shanghai and clearly having already left Malta behind, would have bothered reading them.

Joseph Muscat is the Prime Minister of Malta. Keith Schembri is his Chief of Staff. Konrad Mizzi is Maltas Minister for Energy and Conservation of Water. Sai Mizzi Liang is Konrad Mizzis wife. Brian Tonna of Nexia BT is also Brian Tonna of Mossack Fonseca, (Malta) , and Mossack Fonseca is a Panamanian law firm, memorably characterized in Vice magazine as The Law Firm That Works with Oligarchs, Money Launderers, and Dictators.

Galizias cryptic posts are parts of a booby trap, which is immediately sprung:

The following day, Konrad Mizzi approached Malta Today and gave the news portal a story in which he said he will reveal his ownership of a trust in New Zealand. He did not tell them that the only reason the trust exists is to further conceal the existence and ownership of a company in EU-blacklisted and top-secret Panama. Nor did he tell them that he set up this structure concurrently with the Prime Ministers chief of staff, Keith Schembri, who has exactly the same set-up besides companies (plural) in another secretive offshore haven, the British Virgin Islands. Malta Today then published its story early the day after, on the 24th. On reading it, I immediately reported that Konrad Mizzi owns a company in Panama, and that he lied to Malta Today by concealing key information from them.

Cue anti-corruption demos and governmental paralysis in Malta

Two weeks later another Daphne post, entitled If the Police hurry up, they might be just in time to pick up these bags of documents has an interesting picture of bags of shredded documents that appeared outside Nexia BTs offices:

The bags were later removed by a vehicle bearing the livery of Casco Ltd, a company owned by Keith Schembri, who is also implicated in the scandal.

Thats too much documentation for a couple of New Zealand overseas trusts and a pair of Panamanian companies. Judging by the volume of shredding, Nexia BT and Keith Schembri both think there is quite a bit more to hide than the very recent activities of a couple of Maltese politicians.

Some of what needs to be hidden must be connected to New Zealand, via these overseas trusts and the names of Orion Trust and Mossack Fonseca. The New Zealand overseas trust business, which we took a look at in our last post, is opaque (no public register; sketchy or nonexistent beneficiary disclosures), reasonably large (ballpark estimate: 10,000+ trusts) and lucrative (annual revenues between $20Mn and $50Mn). Some trusts hold a lot of assets: billions of dollars worth, in one rumoured case.

The Malta Independent provides one more New Zealand related data point: the Maltese politicians NZ trusts are operated by trustee company Orion Trust (New Zealand) Limited. The Malta Independent reproduces a letter to Konrad Mizzi from Orion Trust, signed by Giselle Ocampo and Rey Taylor.

With that, its off to New Zealand, where we find out that Orion Trust has been in business since 2009 and that the letter signatory Giselle Ocampo is in fact Giselle Yajaira Ocampo Fonseca. Panamanian Giselle is clearly one of the Mossack Fonseca Fonsecas, since shes also been a director of one of Mossack Fonsecas UK companies, MF (Corporate) UK Limited since 2010.

Her co-director at Orion, trust specialist Roger John Thompson, is one of the principals of Bentleys New Zealand, a branch of the Australian accounting firm. Thompson has another 150 or so New Zealand company directorships. Many of these appear to be trust companies, trustees or nominees; one of them is another Mossack Fonseca company, established in 2012. Bentleys New Zealand, in other words, is somewhere near ground zero of the murky New Zealand foreign trust business.

In a mildly intriguing coincidence, another one of Thompsons companies, Halcyon Trustees, was directed, until just 10 hours after Daphne Caruana Galizia started hares in Malta with her booby trap post, by Geoffrey Cone, whom we met in our last post, providing control-concealing offshore structures to a controversial Slovakian magnate whose companies are now under police investigation.

Mind you, Mossack Fonsecas activities in the super-opaque New Zealand foreign trusts (since 2009, as Orion Trust) should be front and centre of official New Zealand concern. The already-mentioned article entitled The Law Firm That Works with Oligarchs, Money Launderers, and Dictators should offer a clue about the stakes. I commend it to the New Zealand IRD, to the NZ AML authorities, and to anyone else whos interested.

Theres one other little Mossack Fonseca connection in New Zealand, not obviously connected to foreign trusts, that will get special attention in a forthcoming post.
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Paniera Healthcare Clinic has opened at 5039 U.S. 41 E. for low income families. Information: 239-529-5580; paniraclinic@gmail.com

Events

Above Board Chamber of Florida will hold its Spring Fling 5  8 p.m. April 1 at Bayfront Inn Fifth Avenue in Naples. Information: 239-910-7426; www.aboveboardchamber.com

Byron Donalds, a financial adviser with Moran Edwards Asset Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, will host a seminar series titled "Claiming Social Security Benefits has Changed" on the following dates and times in Naples: 2 p.m., April 1, Collier County Public Library, 2385 Orange Blossom Drive; 9 a.m. April 5, Wells Fargo Building, 5801 Pelican Bay Blvd. Information: 239-513-2511

Honors

Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. has chosen Naples orthopedic surgery specialist Dr. Robert Zehr for inclusion in its list of Regional Top Doctors.

To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com.
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The Estero Chamber of Commerce has begun its selection process for its 2016 Annual Scholarship recipients. The chamber will award three $2,500 scholarships to graduating seniors attending school or living in Estero who are continuing their education in any trade, technical school, community college or university. Additionally, a fourth continuing education scholarship may be awarded to a college student who has completed his/her freshman year. Information: www. esterochamber.org/ scholarships

Portal upgrade

KGT Remodeling has upgraded its online client portal. The company has added several new features which will provide secure online access for homeowners to monitor the progress of their home remodeling project plus pay for materials and upgrades as they go. Information: 239-992-2300; www.kgtremodeling.com

Appointments

Curt C. Edwards has joined Sabadell Bank & Trust as senior vice president, director of wealth services in the bank's Naples office.

Honors

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards received top honors at the 2016 FlyerTalk Awards, winning in every category and geographic region of the Drive group. The program was named the Best Rewards Program across the Americas, Europe/Africa and Middle East/Asia/Oceania for the fifth consecutive year. Hertz Gold Plus Rewards also received the Outstanding Benefits recognition globally.

To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com.
Festive cakes and colorful eggs are edible Easter traditions.

Doris Reynolds Let's Talk Food Doris Reynolds is the author of When Peacocks Were Roasted and Mullet was Fried and a four-part DVD, A Walk Down Memory Lane with Doris Reynolds. They are for sale in the lobby of the Naples Daily News. SHARE

Throughout the Christian world, Easter is the most important religious holiday of the year and its commemoration is celebrated with traditional foods.

Marking the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the feast of Easter was well established by the 2nd century, but controversy developed between the Eastern and Western churches over the proper day for its observance. In 325, the Council of Nicaea settled the dispute by deciding that Easter would be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox, making it fall on variable dates each year between March 21 and April 25.

The derivation of the word "Easter" is not clear. During the 6th century, an early English historian connected Easter to "Eostre," an Anglo Saxon spring goddess whose festival was celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox and whose symbols were the rabbit and the egg. Centuries later the rabbit and the egg remain a part of the Easter rituals.

Even sunrise services can trace their origins back to pagan times. Although the tradition came into popular acceptance as the early dawn visit of the women to Jesus' tomb, the sunrise celebrations were also part of vernal equinox rites which welcomed the sun and its power to bring new life.

The use of eggs at Easter is universal. The custom of offering painted and decorated eggs goes back to the 15th century and continues throughout the world. The custom began in pre Christian times when they were a feature of the fertility lore of the Indo European races, and ancient Persians exchanged eggs as gifts at the spring equinox, which for them was the beginning of the new year.

Soon after their conversion to Christianity, northern European races adopted the egg as an Easter food, to symbolize the tomb from which Christ rose. As eggs were forbidden during Lent, they were particularly welcomed by the devout on Easter Sunday.

The decoration of eggs dates back to the earliest Christian times, as does the custom of giving them as presents. Sometimes the eggs were simply colored in brilliant hues. However, the Poles, Ukrainians and Russians decorated their eggs with elaborate designs which inspired Faberge to create jewel encrusted eggs for the Russian imperial family.

The celebration of Easter is marked by feasting throughout Christianity and marks not only the beginning of renewal as personified by the resurrection of Jesus, but the awakening of nature to the coming of Spring and a revival of the earth of its people. Feasts of special foods are prepared for the celebration of this special season.

In France, the celebrants enjoy a paschal omelet, made with eggs that were laid on Good Friday. These delicious omelets are embellished with bacon, sausage or ham to celebrate the end of Lent and the period of abstinence.

Although the omelet is traditional as a first course, each section of France has their own specialties. You might expect grilled suckling pig in Metz. In Touraine, a pie is filled with a mixture of chopped meats and hard-boiled eggs. Crowns topped with eggs are served in Corsica and a kind of French toast called pain perdu in Savoy.

If you find yourself in Russia for Easter, you can expect some delicious cakes to be served. Kulich and pashka are customary sweets while in Germany the Easter cake is Ostertorte, a type of sponge cake filed with a mocha flavored butter and cream and decorated with chocolate eggs. Cake is also a treat in England where simnel cake is served on the holiday.

Greek Easter is considered to be one of the most elaborate, filled with rituals, traditions and good food. On the island of Hydra, the religious and culinary traditions are equally as rich. Like all the Greek islands, Hydra is alive with glorious flowers as spring descends. Wild iris, cyclamen, anemones and almond trees are in bloom. The women and children of the island go into the hills to pick wild greens and bouquets of narcissus to decorate their homes, shops and churches.

During Holy Week, everyone is immersed in preparations for Easter. New clothes are purchased, the houses whitewashed, graves cleaned and adorned with flowers and everyone takes time to dye eggs a deep red and then polish them with olive oil. The aroma of delectable cooking wafts through the spring air as cookies are prepared and the yeasty perfume of tsoureki, the traditional Easter bread, emerges from countless ovens. The bread is flavored with mahlepi, the tiny

hearts of cherry stones.

Holy Saturday is given over to preparations for the midnight feast to break the Lenten fast which begins with the eating of hard-boiled red dyed eggs. The most traditional dish of that meal will be magiritsa, Easter soup, made of lamb's organs and intestines, cooked with rice and herbs.

Here in our country, Easter is truly an international holiday with each family celebrating according to ethnic background, traditions and regional foods. Lamb and ham are probably the most popular, but the practice of dying eggs continues to be universal. Whatever is served, Easter dinner is a celebration of new beginnings, old traditions and marks a season of hope, dedication and a reconfirmation of ideals

Doris Reynolds is the author of "When Peacocks Were Roasted and Mullet was Fried" and a four-part DVD, "A Walk Down Memory Lane with Doris Reynolds." They are available for sale in the lobby of the Naples Daily News. All proceeds from these sales go into the Doris Reynolds-Naples Daily News Scholarship Fund. Contact Doris Reynolds at foodlvr25@aol.com
Antonia's Restaurant & Bar recently closed after operating for decades in Sunshine Plaza on Collier Bouelvard in Golden Gate.

Tim Aten In The Know SHARE Dario and Amanda Gonzalez Zuniga plan to launch Lima Restaurant and Pisco Bar in April 2016 in the former longtime location of Antonia's Restaurant & Bar on Collier Boulevard in Golden Gate.

Q: Did Antonia's restaurant close on Collier Boulevard and Golden Gate Parkway? It's one of our favorite restaurants.

 Frank D'Agostino, Naples

A: The pizza station at Antonia's Restaurant & Bar will be converted to a ceviche station for the new Lima Restaurant and Pisco Bar.

Antonia's permanently closed last week after operating for more than 30 years in Sunshine Plaza at 11681 Collier Blvd. in Golden Gate. The longtime restaurant with an extensive menu of homestyle Italian cuisine had at least two owners over the course of its lengthy run. The most recent proprietor, who owned Antonia's for more than a decade, sold the restaurant to a young Naples couple who plans to switch it up a bit.

Next month, Dario and Amanda Gonzalez Zuniga plan to launch a Peruvian restaurant and bar there.

Lima Restaurant and Pisco Bar will open a short distance south of Inca Kitchen's, a Peruvian restaurant that deservedly found a local fan base seven years ago. Inca's success paved the way for at least a half dozen other Peruvian-inspired eateries in the area, including its own second location that opened in late 2014 in North Naples.

"We want to bring Lima here," said Dario Gonzalez Zuniga, a Peruvian native who most recently has been a chef instructor at Sur La Table in North Naples. "Lima is the gastronomical capital of the Americas and we want to bring this movement to Naples."

The couple, married for only two years, relocated from Atlanta a year ago after they saw the opportunity here to put down roots with a dream of starting a family and opening a restaurant.

"We fell in love with Antonia's Restaurant because it had both history and character, being built in the 1970s, and this meshed with our concept because Lima is a city of fusion between the old and new, from the architecture to the art, from music to food," Gonzalez Zuniga said.

Chef Dario will run the kitchen, putting into practice everything he has experimented with and learned, starting from Le Cordon Bleu in Lima, Peru, where he studied and graduated, to the different cities and countries such as Ottawa, Canada, and Atlanta, Georgia, where he has worked as a chef. The front of the house will be managed by his wife, an American, who previously was the assistant manager at The Wine Loft in Mercato.

Targeted to open April 18, Lima will focus on traditional Peruvian food and Peruvian avant-garde cuisine. The accompanying Pisco Bar will feature more than 20 infused varieties of pisco, a Peruvian spirit made by distilling grapes.

"Lima Restaurant will feature outstanding traditional Peruvian food for lunch following the theme of 'El Mercado'  the market  that will start at 11 a.m. and finish at 3:30 p.m., and we will be offering a variety of lunch specials made with fresh ingredients," Gonzalez Zuniga said.

"El Mercado" is a tribute to the Lima market, a casual, friendly environment where Lima citizens  "Limenos"  shopped for groceries before supermarkets arrived, he said.

"In the beginning, the market's biggest customers were members of the working class, but after the major gastronomical boom of the last ten years, the flavors of Peru have been celebrated worldwide, and the markets gained attention and became well-known as the place to get the freshest, most affordable, and expertly prepared traditional Peruvian dishes," the chef said.

Instead of just offering the dinner menu at lunch, as many restaurants do, Lima's El Mercado menu will provide diners an affordable option for their afternoon meal, Gonzalez Zuniga said.

"At dinner from 5 p.m. until close, we will serve avant-garde Peruvian cuisine with an upscale menu, featuring a variety of dishes influenced by the different cuisines and cultures that have arrived to Lima since the 1800s, which have now been mixed with the Peruvian flavors and ingredients, creating a new and exciting Peruvian food culture," he said.

Peruvian pisco will complement the cuisine and concept. The pisco varieties will be infused in-house with flavors such as aji limo, aji amarillo, basil, ginger and lemongrass. Other alcoholic brands and drinks also will be served, Gonzalez Zuniga said.

"We will offer a tapas menu  small bites  in the bar for the customers that would like to eat a little something while they are enjoying their craft cocktail or beer," he said.

Next season, Lima's chef plans a tasting menu of eight to 10 courses with themes  such as an altitude theme, taking diners on a culinary journey from the sea-level coast up to the highlands and down the other side to the jungles of Peru.

"That's what's going on in Lima and that's what I've been exposed to," Gonzalez Zuniga said. "I think Naples is ready for that."

Know more

Chill out: 4 new ice cream stores in the Naples area

For the latest in local restaurants coming and going, see Tim Aten's "In the Know" columns archived at naplesnews.com/intheknow, and on Facebook at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.
Purim is celebrated with masks, noise makers, and candies and sweets. People wear masks to represent the concealment of God's work when he helped the Jewish people in ancient times. File

SHARE Triangular orange-poppy seed hamantashen cookies are a favorite for the Jewish holiday Purim. Matthew Mead/Associated Press

By John Osborne, Banner Correspondent

Chabad of Bonita Springs and Estero to host 12th annual Purim Banquet

Regardless of faith, all members of the community are invited to don their craziest costumes, slip on their dancing shoes and bring their best appetites to Chabad of Bonita Springs and Estero's 12th annual Purim Banquet & Festivities, which takes place 5:15 p.m. Thursday at 24850 Old 41 Road, Unit 20.

Rabbi Mendy Greenberg said the yearly celebration would include Jewish music, a Purim play and a gourmet kosher buffet dinner highlighted by beef brisket, kreplach  a finger food similar to wonton, with meat tucked into fried dough  and hamantaschen, a three-cornered cookie with fruit in the middle.

Greenberg said he expected around 100 people to attend the event, but hoped for more.

"The event is a community wide program, and all are welcome to join, regardless of Jewish affiliation or background," he said of what he described as "the most joyous day of the year for Jewish people."

To explain that joy, Greenberg recounted the story of Queen Esther of Persia, who by revealing her heritage in ancient times saved all the Jews in her land from a plot by the prime minister, Haman, "to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day."

The name of the holiday  "Purim"  literally means "lots," as Haman had determined the day of the annihilation by drawing a lottery.

Greenberg said it was nothing less than a miracle that the day didn't come to pass.

"Purim is a day for celebrating our salvation, for at no other time in history was every Jew on the planet in jeopardy of losing their lives," he said. "It's a time for thanking God for the mere fact of our survival today. It's an important message because, despite the odds, it teaches us to look inside ourselves and realize what type of energy each one of us possesses."

Greenberg said traditional Jewish music would provide the soundtrack to an event meant to encourage people to see miracles in the natural world, not just the supernatural.

"Jewish music is no different from other types of music, except for maybe the message," he said when asked to explain the particulars. "Usually, traditional Jewish music is composed from prayers or text from the Torah. Our music is what kept the Jewish people through the ages, what kept everyone's spirits, and it really expresses who we are. There are different types of Jewish music, but since Purim is a happy time, the music at the event will stress our joys."

Greenberg said dressing in costume  with prizes awarded for the most innovative humorous  marked another way to stress those joys.

"Purim was a topsy-turvy time, so we dress differently than we do the rest of the year," he said. "Since, instead of being killed, everything was turned upside-down and we survived, we dress to reflect that. Sometimes we don't see miracles all around us because they're in disguise, under our eyes on a daily basis. So dressing in costume reminds us of the deep well of godliness that can be found within nature, not only above nature."

Greenberg said the annual Purim play performed by children was "a really cute thing that people love," but stressed that the celebration was for those of all ages.

"Because Purim is so jubilant and often marked by children's carnivals, there's a misconception that it's a children's holiday, but that's not true," he said. "It's for people of all ages. We try to include children in every way, but it's very much for people of every age."

Greenberg said though discrimination still exists against Jewish people, the United States is mostly tolerant.

"Thank God we live in the U.S.A., because if there's any hatred here it's very subtle," he said. "Globally, Iran has said several times it wants to eradicate Israel, which equates to hating Jewish people, but we don't feel that danger in this country. Here we feel safe."

IF YOU GO

Purim Banquet & Festivities

WHEN: 5:15 p.m., Thursday, March 24

WHERE: Chabad of Bonita Springs & Estero, 24850 Old 41 Road, Unit 20, Bonita Springs

COST: Suggested $18 donation per person

INFORMATION: 239-949-6900 or visit JewishBonita.com
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By Allen Weiss, Citizen Contributor

Should the annual physical exam be eliminated or improved? This question was explored at length with two opposing views in editorials in the New England Journal of Medicine this past fall.

On one hand, the 2013 "Choosing Wisely" campaign sponsored by the Society of General Internal Medicine recommended against preventive examinations in asymptomatic patients (that is, those showing no symptoms). This is old news in that the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination recommended "that the annual checkup, as practiced almost ritualistically for several decades in North America, be abandoned."

About one-third of adults receive an annual physical currently. The content of the "annual" physical is not standardized. Even taking into account the heterogeneity of periodic exams, two large reviews of physical exams showed no reduced morbidity or mortality. Surprisingly and disconcertingly, annual physical exams may actually be harmful. "False positives" arise in asymptomatic people which when further explored or treated actually create problems. Asymptomatic thyroid nodules are an example of this false positive phenomenon.

On the other hand, people's desire to form a trusting relationship with a physician  which has been shown to benefit functional status, patient satisfaction and compliance  is very real as more and more patients seek concierge physicians. The growth of concierge practices locally supports this assumption.

Also supporting the patient-physician relationship is a progressive Medicare policy that covers (under Part B) an annual "wellness" visit with your physician. The visit includes a health risk assessment, personalized health advice and a screening schedule for appropriate preventive services.

There is a challenge facing primary care physicians who are time pressured. One answer is to use a multidisciplinary team-based approach, exemplified by the patient-centered medical home model. In this approach, many of the time-consuming tasks (such as medication renewals, immunizations, screening tests and basic documentation) are completed by non-physician team members and free up the physician to build and sustain a trusting relationship with the patient.

In this improved team-based annual or periodic visit, the physician would review all the information collected by team members, inquire about the patient's life status as pertinent to health and well-being and then review all of the findings. The summation of the visit would include plans for the coming year with objective and measurable goals.

In young healthy adults with health-conscious lifestyles, the interval between such visits might be longer than a year but still short enough to maintain a trusting relationship. Non-physician providers could be very effective in maintaining these relationships. For older patients with multiple medical problems, the team headed by a physician and a shorter interval between visits would be more appropriate.

Payment and practice reforms directed by Medicare, Medicaid and most of the large commercial insurers have the shared federally mandated goal of having 90 percent of payments for value by 2018 and eliminating the current fee for service system which has been in place for decades. This profound change will surely alter the manner in which primary care is practiced.

Turning the annual physical exam into a team-based annual health review represents an opportunity to migrate from a repair shop mentality to prevention. Prevention is clearly better for patients, society, caregivers and even the payers as quality of life improves and costs decrease.

At the end of the day, the traditional annual exam performed by a physician should change with a focus on building and sustaining a relationship, prevention and employing a team with each team member practicing at his/her highest level of training and competence.

Helping everyone live a longer, happier and healthier life is a goal with which we all agree. We are simply debating how best to achieve it.

- - -

Allen Weiss, MD, MBA, FACP, FACR, is the president and CEO of the NCH Healthcare System.
SHARE Author Viola Shipman is a pseudonym for memoirist Wade Rouse, above. "Dimestore" author Lee Smith. Diana Matthews Photography

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

"The Charm Bracelet"

By Viola Shipman

c. 2016, Thomas Dunne Books

$25.99/$29.99 Canada; 298 pages

The jewelry you wear tells a story.

A ring on your left hand, third finger, says to the world that you stood up once and vowed to love and honor. A brightly-colored stone says you were born in a certain month. Sparkles around your neck might tell of a vacation, an apology, or a whim, and in the new book "The Charm Bracelet" by Viola Shipman, the tales of three women are told by the jewelry on their wrists.

For every milestone day that Lolly Lindsay had, she received a special gift.

Her mother started the tradition by giving Lolly a charm for her bracelet one birthday; that charm, like each to come, signified a dream or a wish, and was accompanied by a special poem meant to remind Lolly that she was loved.

Over the years, the bracelet became heavy with metal and memories  the summer before her mother died; the boy she grew up to marry; the best friend she cherished  and when she had a daughter, Lolly started the tradition with her own little girl.

Always a pleaser, Arden was exasperated with her mother.

Even as a child, she was embarrassed by Lolly's free-spiritedness, her sense of style, and by Lolly's idea of what was fun. As soon as she could, Arden moved away from her mother's Michigan home to live a button-down Chicago life that was comforting to her. But now, in the twilight of Lolly's life, Arden felt guilty for not spending more time with her mother  or her daughter.

Graduating with a degree is an accomplishment, but Lauren wished she could tell her mother the truth: She really wanted an art degree, not a business one. Lauren knew that her mother worried about money; Arden, come to think, worried about a lot of things, which was maybe why Lauren was closer to her grandmother. She and Lolly were like two peas in a pod.

Like two charms on a bracelet  one of whom was quietly losing her luster.

There's a basically good premise to the story inside "The Charm Bracelet." Sadly, that story begs  pleads  for help.

Reading this book is rough: names are employed to a frequency that's distracting and pronouns are at a premium. The female characters "jump up and down" a lot and it seems as though somebody's crying more than they're not; as for the male characters, one's a stereotypical Mean dad, one is predictably hunky (do you see where this is going?), and a simple farmer-type is honest-to-goodness called "Clem."

I whined a lot while reading this book and I might have ditched it, were it not for the above-mentioned basically good premise. Author Viola Shipman (a pseudonym for memoirist Wade Rouse) offers a sweet generational-family, cabin-in-the-woods story told through memories and jewelry, which could've been really cute. Alas 

I think that, if you can overlook the flaws and not-so-charm-ing facets, you might really enjoy this mother-daughter-granddaughter story. If those things bother you, though, "The Charm Bracelet" is a gem that's awfully tarnished.

"Dimestore: A Writer's Life"

By Lee Smith

c. 2016, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

$24.95/$37.95 Canada; 224 pages

You never have to darn your socks.

That was a weekly chore for grandma but when you have holes in your socks, you go buy new ones. You don't have to settle for just three channels on TV, either, or just one local grocer, but in the new book "Dimestore" by Lee Smith, you can read about someone who did.

Born in an area of the Appalachians that were so steep that "the sun didn't even hit our yard until about eleven o'clock," Lee Smith grew up in the shadow of both mountains and dimestore.

That was her father's "Five and Ten Cent Variety Store," which he'd owned since Smith was a small girl and that he'd operated with the help of family when he was feeling "kindly nervous." At those times, he stayed in a state mental hospital in another city, far away from home in Grundy, Virginia, population of about 3,000.

Lee remembers those days, but doesn't dwell on them. When either of her parents was hospitalized for mental health issues, she stayed with family  which nearly described everybody in Grundy.

That was back when parents didn't always know the whereabouts of their children for most of the day, and when product deliveries could take hours because "visiting" was part of the package. It was when Saturday nights were spent at the drive-in, listening to bluegrass music before the movie began; and before chain stores replaced locally-owned businesses, including Smith's father's dimestore. It was when neighbors took up the slack when it was needed, because everybody watched out for everybody else.

And yet, Smith was "being raised to leave."

There was life outside Grundy, and her parents wanted her to have it. And she did: College in another town, jobs in other states, marriage, children, and marriage again. She became a published author, a mental health advocate, a grieving mother.

And through it all, in her heart, Smith never really left Grundy.

How could she? It was home, "the perfect  education for a fiction writer."

Inside "Dimestore," there's a little something for everybody.

Fans of author Lee Smith's novels will find introspection here, on reading, writing, and how her novels came together. Most are humorous; some are teary.

Then there are the best parts of this book: Chapters that sparkle and essays about life in a small town so isolated that many of Smith's grade school classmates had never even been outside the county; priceless pages, evoking nostalgia that feels like a homemade afghan or chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven.

As she does in her novels, Smith makes it seem as though we've met her people before, or grew up knowing them as our parents' friends. Even readers raised in the big city will be convinced that they hailed from over yonder.

You shouldn't hesitate to give this book to an Elder, with plans to borrow it back soon. It contains the kind of warmth you need on one of those fays. Yep, "Dimestore" is a pretty darn good book.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. She has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book. Terri lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.
Naples Daily News President and Publisher Bill Barker (back row, far left) stands with the 2016 honorees for the Daily News 25 Over 50 at an awards reception Tuesday, March 22, 2016, at the Hilton Naples. They are (back row, from right of Barker) G. Don Thomson, Dennis Brown, Jaclynn Faffer, Scott Sherman, Patrick Neale, Lisa Lefkow, Ben Nelson, Wilson Bradshaw, Joe Paterno, Margaret Holt (accepting for Karl Williams), Edward Wollman, Vin DePasquale, Walter Jaskiewicz, (front row, left to right) Dudley Goodlette, Harold Weeks, Jackie Bearse, Mary Pat Hussey, Jackie Pierce, Jackie Bennett, Trish Leonard, Samira Beckwith, Eva Zacks (accepting for Karl Williams), Wilma Boyd, Becky Newell, Fritz Sullivan and Joe Mazurkiewicz.

By Eric Staats of the Naples Daily News

They are movers and shakers, but most crucially Tuesday night, they are older than 50.

They are the Naples Daily News "25 Over 50," cheered on by about 250 people at a second annual awards event Tuesday night at the Hilton Naples.

"It's really an honor to come together and shine a light on these individuals that do so much to make this community a great place to live, work and play," Naples Daily News President and Publisher Bill Barker said.

The celebration of age-as-just-a-number continues with a "Zoomer Expo," a consumer show and lifestyle exhibition  everything from hearing aids to home improvement  for baby boomers and seniors set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Hilton Naples.

Tuesday night's "25 Over 50" comprised six CEOs, eight business owners, one university president, four attorneys, three former politicians, four community activists, six philanthropists and 17 board members.

Some honorees' contributions were too big to fit into a single category. Some of them make headlines. Many others toil behind the scenes. They all have left a mark on Southwest Florida.

The honorees came from more than 70 nominations received from Collier and Lee counties. The 2015 "25 Over 50" winners narrowed the 2016 field to 25, based on each nominee's talent, vision and impact.

Even the well-known names on the list had to start somewhere.

Florida Gulf Coast University President Wilson Bradshaw said his worst job was selling TV Guides in the sixth grade.

Bonita Springs Mayor Ben Nelson once had to clean out a giant ditch where a packinghouse tossed its rotten tomatoes.

NAACP Collier chapter President Harold Weeks said his worst job was too long ago to remember, but he hopes to continue his advocacy work in Collier County for a long time.

"Sometimes it's appreciated, sometimes it isn't," said Weeks, 79, a retired firefighter from Massachusetts. "It's all good. Even if I wasn't (honored Tuesday), it wouldn't stop me from doing what I'm doing."

Arthrex engineering manager Scott Sherman, 52, who helped launch Valerie's House for Grieving Families after the death of his wife  the mother of their young daughter  said his volunteer work isn't about recognition.

"You do it to further the cause," Sherman said. "When you get recognized for doing something you do normally, it's surprising."

Jewish Family & Community Services of Southwest Florida President Jaclynn Faffer, who led efforts to start Collier County's first senior center in 2014, said her work is about recognizing the sacrifices of past generations, often forgotten. In two years, the center has grown to serve nearly 1,000 members.

"There's many in this room who help people for whom Naples isn't a paradise," said Faffer, who would say only that's she older than 50.

At 81, Jackie Pierce, a motivational speaker on domestic violence, said 50 is just the beginning.

"Most of us here have flunked retirement, wouldn't you say?" Pierce said.

---

2016 HONOREES

Jackie Bearse, Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation board member

Samira Beckwith, Hope HealthCare Services president and CEO

Jackie Bennett, Angels Undercover founder

Wilma Boyd, Preferred Travel of Naples president and CEO

Wilson G. Bradshaw, Florida Gulf Coast University president

Dennis Brown, Bond, Schoeneck & King senior counsel/managing attorney

Vin DePasquale, The Dock at Crayton Cove and Riverwalk at Tin City owner

Dr. Jaclynn Faffer, Jewish Family & Community Services of Southwest Florida president and CEO

J. Dudley Goodlette, Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce chairman, former Florida state representative

Walter Jaskiewicz, Walt Central Security Agency CEO and founder

Lisa Lefkow, Habitat for Humanity Collier County executive director

Trish Leonard, TLC Marketing and Creative Services president

Joe Mazurkiewicz, BJM Consulting president

Patrick Neale, Patrick Neale & Associates attorney-managing member

Ben Nelson, Bonita Springs mayor and Nelson Marine CEO

Becky Newell, PR and social media consultant, writer, editor, special needs childrens advocate

Mary Pat Hussey, Boys and Girls Club of Collier County chairwoman, trustee member

Joe Paterno, Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board executive director

Jackie Pierce, nationally recognized motivational speaker on domestic violence

Scott Sherman, Arthrex engineering manager

Fritz Sullivan, Sullivan-Tassin president

G. Don Thomson, Henderson Franklin attorney and shareholder

Harold Weeks, NAACP Collier County president

Karl F. Williams, SCORE assistant district director and chairman

Edward Wollman, Wollman, Gehrke & Solomon attorney
SHARE

William Stander, Tallahassee

Executive director

Florida Property & Casualty Association

Legislative miss

With the 2016 session completed, the Florida Legislature has failed to pass a meaningful solution to the assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis that is now rapidly spinning out of control.

Organized and carried out by a handful of vendors and lawyers, this kickback-driven lawsuit-for-profit scheme is already punishing homeowners with higher rates, and threatens to do so for years to come.

Legislation originally filed by state Sen. Dorothy Hukill and Rep. Matt Caldwell would have protected consumers by preventing a handful of vendors and their lawyers from stealing homeowners' insurance policy rights and using them to pad their own pockets. Sadly, these bills died when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla would not allow the bill to be heard.

A news release by state-sponsored home insurer Citizens Insurance stated that water losses in South Florida will drive up rates in the region by (the maximum) 10 percent annually for many years to come. In Miami-Dade County alone, Citizens projects a preliminary 2017 rate increase of 189.6 percent. (By law, Citizens cannot raise its rates more than 10 percent per year.)

It is important to note, of the more than 85,000 lawyers admitted to The Florida Bar, and the nearly 6,000 trial lawyers, 40 percent of all assignment of benefits lawsuits involving restoration vendors in 2015 were filed by just five law firms and 57 percent were filed by 10 law firms. In total, 85 percent of these suits were filed by only 31 law firms.

Now, as a result, even without a hurricane making landfall, property insurance rates are set to skyrocket for all Floridians while a small group of greedy vendors and their lawyers get rich. Florida deserves better.
Spend the afternoon enjoying a wonderful luncheon with friends while shopping at some of Naples specialty shops and designers benefitting the Naples Cat Alliance on Sunday, April 17in a welcoming atmosphere at a private club in Port Royal nestled along the sparkling blue waters of the Gulf Coast from 12:00-3:00pm.

The signature Hats for Cats spring event benefits the shelter and its TNR mission (Trap, Neuter and Release). As the name suggests, guests are encouraged to wear a unique or glamourous hat to be considered to participate in the Best in Category procession. A special gift will be given to the best hats.

The luncheon includes a delicious Mediterranean salad, scrumptious dessert and a chilled glass of wine. Price per person is $75. To register for this event go to www.naplescatalliancealliance.org. For questions please contact Pam at 239-370-2437 or cpamride@comcast.net. All proceeds from the event will directly benefit the cats and kittens at our shelter.

A very special Thank you goes to our title sponsor, Community Electric of Collier, Inc. and to Provident Jewelry for their generous donation for the live auction.

Naples Cat Alliance is the 2014 recipient of the Naples Humane Societys Animal Advocate Award. Please visit our website www.naplescatalliance.org or our Facebook page to see some of the wonderful cats and kittens we have available for adoption and to learn more about NCAs mission.

Naples Cat Alliance is an all-volunteer 501(c) 3 Non-Profit Charitable Organization dedicated to creating a No-Kill Community through Collier Countys official TNR Program. Naples Cat Alliance shelter is located at 7785 Davis Blvd., Suite 104, Naples.

The Port Royal Club is located at 2900 Gordon Drive, Naples. It is a private club; proper dress is required (resort sportswear). Gentleman should wear shirts with a collar and sleeves, slacks or dress shorts. No denim.


Understanding the right all living things have to survive, Bobbie Lee Davenport, president and founder of the non-profit Cypress Cove Conservancy (CCC) is on a mission to raise funds to acquire sensitive lands for preservation. To launch the fundraising campaign and share her passion and commitment, Davenport is inviting environmentally concerned people to attend any or all of her April presentations in Southwest Florida.



Planet Earth Festival, April 2 at Koreshan State Park in Estero and listen to Davenports presentation at 2:30 p.m.

Grab a bite with her at Food and Thought presentation on April 14 at 6 p.m.

RSVP for a wine and cheese reception and presentation at the Arsenault Galleries in downtown Naples on April 20 at 5:30 p.m.



Emphasis of these presentations will be the need to fund acquisition of sensitive lands to further protect and preserve southwest Floridas wildlife and wild lands.



Its obvious that dwindling agricultural acres and high density development are causing our wildlife and their needed habitat to quickly disappear, said Davenport, adding that a CCC crowdfunding site is being launched on March 28 throughStartsomegood.com/cypresscoveconservancy.



One of the groups first efforts goes to the purchase of a 200-acre tract of land that will contribute to forming a necessary wildlife corridor in southeastern Collier County. The project includes opening an educational nature center and beautiful walking trails through the acreage for the public to enjoy.



Lets face it, said Davenport. If caring individuals chipped in periodically even a small amount of money we could raise millions of dollars to keep purchasing parcels and make our vision of land preservation and wildlife habitat a reality. Our vision includes protecting the well fields in the density reduction ground water resource area (DRGR) to ensure clean drinking water for our future.



Contact person, Bobbie Lee Davenport - bleegruninger@comcast.net or call 239-777-0186

Or visit startsomegood.com/cypresscoveconservancy after March 28


Backseat Drivers: Can Logano go all the way this year? Alex Weaver, Mamba Smith, and Kim Coon discuss whether Joey Logano has an advantage with his early lock-in to the Championship 4.
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has come under fire from Dail colleagues after making comments about a former Clonmel mayor and abuse victim.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath has come under fire from Dail colleagues after making comments about a former Clonmel mayor and abuse victim.

After being censured by the Dail Deputy Mattie McGrath this week refused to issue an apology to sexual abuse spokesperson Michael OBrien, a former Fianna Fail mayor of Clonmel and former resident of Ferryhouse and said he had no regrets about the comments he made in Dail Eireann last year.

Last year in the Dail Deputy McGrath complained that Michael OBrien had held a function as mayor to honour the Rosminians, even though this was not true.

Deputy McGrath critiscised Mr.O Brien in the Dail accusing himn of having in the past hosted a civic reception as mayor for the Rosminiaan Order.

It is bizarre that he has made a complete turnaround and is now attacking the same people to whom ,he,when mayor of Clonmel, gave a civi c reception on behalf of the town, he said withbout mentioning Mr. O Brien by name in the Dail .

Those comments led to Mr O Brien writing a letter to Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett asking for the remarks to be withdrawn.

Mr O Brien also sent documentaton showing that he had once hosted a mayoral reception for a single member of the Rosminian Order at the request of two other councillors back in 1993-94 but had never hosted a civic reception for the order in general as Mr.McGrath had alleged.

The Dails committee on Procedures and Privileges had repeatedly asked Deputy McGrath to withdraw his remarks about Mr. O Brien but Mr.McGrath insisted that he meant what he said and that he would not withdraw it.

I respect the way things work in the House but this is a step too far as far as Im concerned.

Its just a kangaroo court, with no discussion of it said Deputy McGrath,

Michael OBrien told The Nationalist that he wanted an apology from Deputy McGrath and was very disappointed that one was not forthcoming.

Michael OBrien said he gave a mayoral reception for a Brother OConnor because two councillors, both now deceased, had asked him to mark the brothers fifty years service to the Rosminians.

Of course I was friendly with the Rosminians, only two of them ever did anything to me, the rest of them did nothing to me.

I did Santa down there, I took boys out on weekends with my own family.

When that reception was given to Bro OConnor there was not one word about abuse at that time, said Michael O.Brien.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether mortgage servicers are boosting profits by prematurely unleashing debt collectors on delinquent borrowers, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The probe is focusing on servicers that are not owned by banks, including Ocwen Financial Corp., the person said. Ocwen, which federal and state authorities have scrutinized for issues including mishandling foreclosures, has said in regulatory filings that the SEC was looking at the industry's use of collection agents and the fees and expenses tied to liquidated loans.

Mortgage servicers get paid to process home loan payments from borrowers. When loans go bad, the firms can write them off and send them to outside collectors. One of the questions the SEC is probing is whether borrowers are getting enough time to make good on their home equity loans once they fall behind, the person said. A servicer may be entitled to a receive a percentage of whatever outside collectors recover, which may be higher than the usual fees it would receive, the person said. Sending loans to collectors prematurely may also cut a servicer's costs.

These collections practices may hurt the bond holders and banks that own the home loans by cutting into their income from the mortgages.

Ocwen and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings are the two biggest servicers that are not banks. Their industry has grown rapidly after financial reform laws spurred big banks to shrink parts of their subprime mortgage businesses, leaving an opportunity for companies like them to acquire assets.

John Lovallo, a spokesman for Ocwen, declined to comment beyond the company's prior public statements.

Ocwen said last year that the SEC sent it a letter saying it was investigating the use of collection agents by mortgage loan servicers. The company said it believes the letter was sent to others in the industry.

The company said last month that it received another SEC letter saying the agency was conducting a probe "relating to fees and expenses charged in connection with liquidated loans and REO properties held in nonagency RMBS trusts." The companys shares fell more than 60% in the days following that disclosure.

Christen Reyenga, a spokeswoman for Nationstar, said in an email that the company has not received any letter from the SEC about these matters.

Fund managers that own mortgage bonds have long complained about conflicts at servicers that are connected with banks, and at those that are not. Many of these problems were exposed during the financial crisis and remain unresolved today, said Alessandro Pagani, a portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co, in Boston, who last month helped lead a group of bond funds seeking to reduce conflicts in mortgage securities.

"Investors are powerless in these deals," Pagani said.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow and the 28 ambassadors of the North Atlantic Council arrived in Vilnius on Wednesday (23 March 2016) to discuss the Alliances adaptation, modern defence, and new security challenges. During their two-day visit, they will hold meetings with President Dalia Grybauskaite, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius and Defence Minister Juozas Olekas.

The North Atlantic Council will visit the Rukla military training area on Thursday (24 March 2016), where Lithuanian and American troops train side-by-side. They will also meet the Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force, Major General Almantas Leika, and the Commander of the U.S. Army Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, to discuss the future of NATOs enhanced forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.

The visit of the North Atlantic Council takes place on the eve of the 12th anniversary of Lithuanias accession to NATO. Since then, Lithuania has made important contributions to the Alliances shared security, including through participation in NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo and by hosting a NATO Force Integration Unit as well as NATOs Energy Security Centre of Excellence.

During the visit the Deputy Secretary General and NATO ambassadors will also watch a military demonstration. They will also visit to the Pazaislis monastery.
Meet meat makers with high hopes

(NaturalNews) Last summer (2013) in London, a couple of European food critics sampled the first lab-made meat hamburgers, testing for taste and texture. The reviews were mixed with some compliments, but without the complete taste satisfaction that one normally gets from cooked animal flesh. The burgers were from lab meats produced at the Netherlands' Maastricht University.Despite the mixed reviews with thumbs up on texture and bite but thumbs down on overall taste, Professor Mark Post, the scientist behind producing the burger, remarked: "It's a very good start. This was just to show we can do it." Regarding marketability, he added that "it will take a while."He explained that the meat was made up of tens of billions of lab-grown cells produced from stem cells from a cow. Google co-founder Sergey Brin contributed $330,000 toward this research. But Maatricht University isn't the only experimental station for Frankenmeat.The scientist's lab used a painstaking step by step approach to culture the serums which grew the cells to create small patches of Frankenmeat that could be patched together into a larger clump, like a burger or steak. There are a few others working on the same project throughout the world.In order to create enough of this Frankenmeat to satisfy any sort of demand, there will have to be a methodology that improves on Maastricht's approach. It appears that 3D printing may be the solution. Modern Meadow, a U.S. company, intends to use 3D technology to print leather and meat They're funded by PayPal founder Peter Thiel, and they intend to advance "the future of humanely sourced meat."This newly burgeoning technology also goes by the names stereolithography and 3D layering. Basically, it involves using a 3D computer image to run a robot-like machine to layer materials accordingly and produce an actual material object.This technology was developed by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the 1990s. A company called 3D Systems was also involved with developing this new technology. Since then, a few others have been granted licenses by those two 3D patent holders to use that machinery their way.Currently there are a few companies using this technology, but mostly for manufacturing plastic, metal or ceramic items.See, instead of ink, the printer nozzles squirt the material of choice, and similar to CT scan technology, layered images are produced from within the 3D image to be reproducedby the "printer," one layer over another until the item is reproduced in the physical world What's scary is how many jobs will be destroyed in the future as this technology is developed. A playable plastic saxophone was created and successfully demonstrated this way recently. The 3D printer material of choice for Frankenmeat will be serum containing reproduced muscle tissue from animal stem cells.The meat makers wish to use this 3D technology to eliminate the need for factory farming and its inhumane animal practices as well as eliminate factory farming's polluting environmental damage runoff from CAFOs (controlled animal feeding operations) and the methane gas produced by the animals grouped together.Not everyone agrees that this proposed venture is a solution to world hunger, including one of the pioneering meat maker scientists who made the first test tube meat at Harvard and now heads SymbioticA labs at the University of Western Australia, Oron Catts.Catts asserts,Others, this author included, thinks the solution should be to simply greatly decrease the demand for eating meat and ban factory farming along with torturous mass murder slaughter houses.
One party wants mandatory vaccination

'Why would we want to track this?'

(NaturalNews) GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is taking a lot of heat from detractors for many of his political statements and policy stances, but one thing that he's committed to doing is governing in a way that empowers, not enslaves or lords over, his fellow Americans.For instance, Trump is a huge supporter of the Second Amendment , and has pledged that the "right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed ... period," according to his campaign website.Trump is also the only current presidential candidate to have spoken out about massive mandatory vaccinations for children, urging the medical community to spread them out over time , and not give them all in one dose, which he also said would lower the incidence of vaccine-induced autism . "Tiny children are not horses," Trump tweeted in September 2014. "I am being proven right about massive vaccinationsthe doctors lied. Save our children & their future."On the other hand, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton backs mandatory vaccination.In fact, if any political party has become authoritarian when it comes to forcing parents to vaccinate their children or face legal and monetary consequences, it is the party of the donkey: the Democrats.In recent months, we've seen the state of California  a state that has remained under one-party rule for decades  pass one of the most restrictive mandatory vaccination laws in the country, where even parents with philosophical and religious objections to vaccines were disregarded.And now, the state of Colorado , also dominated by Democrats, is moving to pass legislation that would created a new database to track children who have not been vaccinated.The measure, which is, at least, facing stiff opposition, moved forward in the Legislature recently, even after Republicans gave it lengthy debate and said that the database would open the door to shaming parents who have, for a range of reasons, decided not to risk their children by mass-vaccinating them,reported.A last-minute mistake means that the Democratic House will once again have to revisit the vaccine measure twice before it gets sent to the Republican-controlled Senate (where it is opposed).As thenoted further:"We're doing absolutely nothing to change that standard," Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver and sponsor of the bill, claimed, according to the. "This is a streamlining bill that takes the burden off our school nurses to collect vaccine exemption forms."Except that opponents of the measure note that government actions like building databases are generally what precede additional bills seeking to require or prevent people from doing something; otherwise, they say, there is no good reason for the government to be tracking said activity.And Colorado Republicans are well aware of that, citing a bevy of opposition from parents who also fear that Colorado health authorities are making a push to make it more difficult to send their kids to public schools without vaccines."There's a lot of people in this state that do not want to vaccinate their children," said Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio. "They have that right."In addition, and because they are suspicious generally of the measure, others questioned the need for a database."How can you guarantee that this sensitive data will be protected?" asked Rep. Lois Landgraf, R-Parker."Why would we want to post this on a website?" asked bill opponent Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock. "The only reason I can think is to publicly shame someone."
Texas will only allow medical marijuana for epilepsy

Endocannabinoid system of the human body is being systematically suppressed

(NaturalNews) Texas Governor Greg Abbott took a step closer toward health freedom recently, when he signed new legislation permitting epileptic patients access to the powerful, healing CBD oil from hemp. Thousands of Texas families who deal with epilepsy will now be given legal access to medical marijuana. This means that these families no longer have to be controlled by a cabinet full of ineffective pharmaceuticals , and can access CBDs without fear of going to jail. CBDs have shown great promise for treating epileptic patients throughout the country, and are also helping patients get off multiple prescription drugs which only complicate their health."There is currently no cure for intractable epilepsy and many patients have had little to no success with currently approved drugs," stated Gov. Abbott. "However, we have seen promising results from CBD oil testing and with the passage of this legislation, there is now hope for thousands of families who deal with the effects of intractable epilepsy every day."Governor Abbott recently met with the legislature and reminded them that he would only support CBD oil for the treatment of epilepsy. He will continue to oppose any other medicinal or recreational use of cannabis More than 20 state legislatures have awoken to the healing aspects of cannabis, and have approved the plant for general medicinal purposes. Texas won't join that list however, because it will only allow cannabis oil to treat one condition at low doses. Cannabis oil has shown promise for treating cancer and PTSD, while freeing people from a long list of pharmaceuticals that they were convinced to take.CBDs are healing plant compounds specially extracted from cannabis leaves; they do not cause patients to get high. Most state licensed medical doctors don't understand how to use CBD oil or when to prescribe it, so there has been some confusion in the medical profession as States begin approving medical marijuana for various purposes.Cannabis is becoming a gateway plant for helping people to realize where healing actually comes from. It's putting pharmaceutical companies to shame, and opening people's eyes to the many natural plant medicines that exist . More people are figuring out that plants produce their own medicines that are designed to workthe body and speak its natural language of healing.Marcy Bingham, who has tried 16 types of drugs for her epileptic son Jacob, is hopeful that she may finally have found the medicine that works. "So many needles, his veins are no good," she said, speaking of how her son has been abused by the medical system. "We've lost all of his veins now."But she is excited that she can finally access what is working for many people. "We're very hard to change in Texas . Very difficult to make change," she said. "It's a huge change and we know that it's going to help kids."One of the systems of the body that is suppressed from science education is the endocannabinoid system. The human body produces its own endogenous cannabinoids. There are receptors throughout the body that respond to two types of cannabinoids: CB1 and CB2. The body also accepts CBDs from external sources; one of those primary sources is cannabis. THC, which produces the high, was designed to naturally fit in the CB1 receptor. The other side of cannabis, cannabidiols, are intended to stimulate activity in both receptors.Instead of binding to the receptor, cannabidiols stimulate activity in both receptors, and change activity within any cells that contain those receptors. They also block the high of THC. These CBDs increase the release of 2-AG, a natural, endogenous cannabinoid. This activates many healing processes throughout the body, including changes in the release of serotonin, and perceptions of pain and temperature. CBDs are known to inhibit the ID-1 gene, which is prevalent in aggressive cancer cases.That being said, it's time for legislatures and governments everywhere to get out of the way and let people access what their bodies were intended to have: CBDs. A free people should not have to get permission (from a government or an MD) to use something that was naturally intended for their cells.
Slow emergency response by Alberta health system could have contributed to the death



Could you fathom being charged for your son's meningitis?

(NaturalNews) Canadian couple, David and Collet Stephan, lost their 19-month-old son Ezekiel early in 2012. When little Ezekiel got ill in February that year, the parents did what they could to help their son get better. Thanks to the family's knowledge of natural medicine, Ezekiel started getting better. Then, just as they thought all was well, things made a turn for the worse. Ezekiel abruptly stopped breathing. The family called for emergency responders and the boy was rushed to the hospital.However, the boy was unable to be revived, and was eventually taken off life support. The cause of death was listed as meningitis. Now, years later,They now face five years in prison. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been investigating the couple for some time, and are now blaming them for the meningitis that ultimately took their son's life. The RCMP asserts that the parents should have taken their boy to the hospital much sooner, and are charging the couple for"The parents knew the child became ill in February [2012]" the RCMP's Corporal Darrin Turnbull stated to the Canadian media. "It wasn't until March 13 when the child stopped breathing that they activated the health system."David told thethat Ezekiel's symptoms were flu-like, and were managed with natural remedies and great care . "We don't always go to the doctor immediately. If it persists we do, absolutely." The family said Ezekiel was doing fine.Ezekiel's grandfather, Anthony Stephan, said, "They didn't see the need at the front end because the boy really wasn't that ill." According to Ezekiel's grandfather, the boy "was playing with his dad. He was eating. Everything seemed good." Then, without warning, Ezekiel stopped breathing. After a year of investigation, the Stephans are being accused of their son's meningitis."What could possibly be worse than the suffering we've endured for the past year?" said the father, speaking out to. "There's nothing in the world that will bring him back. What good could possibly come out of this?"The couple has three other children.David's brother, Brad Stephan, told. "I don't see anybody else getting charged for having meningitis. I almost have to wonder if we don't have an officer somewhere or someone just acting overzealous ... We just feel this is just really over the top and we're not understanding why."David revealed more details about the inefficient emergency response: "It took approx. 40 minutes from the initial 911 call before he was in the care of the attending EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians). When EMT finally arrived, the ambulance was not equipped with the correct intubation equipment for our son, who could not breathe on his own.""We took it upon ourselves to meet the dispatched ambulance halfway on the highway," David reiterated. How might the slow response of the Alberta healthcare system and lack of EMT equipment have contributed to the boy's inability to be revived?"The EMTs who attended have indicated to us that they have been frustrated for some time prior to this tragic event, because they have been after Alberta Health Services to no avail to properly equip their ambulances with the proper intubation equipment for small children, the same equipment needed that tragic night," David Stephan said.Can you fathom what it would be like to see your child abruptly lose his breath and become unconscious?Could you imagine calling for help, only to find out that he couldn't be revived?Could you imagine being charged with your son's death a year later because you didn't reach out to a doctor sooner?Could you fathom facing jail time because you helped your kid but didn't do the things investigators assumed would have helped more?When pharmaceuticals cause the death of a child , how come that drug maker isn't held liable? Home come drug makers don't face prison time for making drugs that cause children to go into anaphylactic shock? Why are vaccine makers allowed to continue poisoning children even after paying $3 billion to American families who have been damaged or have lost children due to vaccines? Where's the prison time for vaccine makers?
Playing both sides

Cellphones and brain cancer

(NaturalNews) For decades, the public relations firm Ketchum has worked vigorously to discredit, destroy and dismantle the organic food industry , sustainable farming practices and environmental activism. Ketchum has been enlisted by some of the world's largest industries to manipulate consumers and government policy, and to infiltrate the opposition in an effort to destroy it from within.Infamous for representing the tobacco industry and clients such as Monsanto , the Clorox Company and Russia's Vladimir Putin, Ketchum has been caught red-handed using illegal and unethical tactics against its opponents.In 2010, the firm was exposed for espionage after it was sued by Greenpeace, which accused Ketchum of using "unlawful means" to gain confidential information from the environmental group.Working in conjunction with Dow Chemical, Ketchum used that information to "anticipate and frustrate" the group's public education campaigns, which at the time were raising concerns about the dangers of chlorine and genetically engineered seeds, according to PR Week For decades, Ketchum has been one of the biggest attack dogs against sustainable, chemical-free farming and organic food, working tirelessly to "debunk" its health and environmental benefits, while promoting large-scale, chemical-dependent farming that has resulted in a monopoly of the world's food supply.But in a surprising about-face, the firm has decided to try and market itself as a promoter of organic food through a new program called "Cultivate." The 20-member, San Francisco-based Cultivate team will represent brands focused on health and nutrition, sustainability and natural and organic food  the very market Ketchum tried to destroy.Its efforts to sabotage organic food may not be over either.As Ketchum sets its sights on the organic food industry, it "remains a key player in PR efforts to dampen demand for organic foods, spinning messages that tell consumers organics are over-priced and over-hyped," writes Stacy Malkan, Co-director of U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) , a non-profit dedicated to "truth and transparency in America's food system."As Malkan points out, Ketchum is the author of a controversial website called GMO Answers, established by the biotech industry to debunk any and all claims made against GMOs and chemical-dependent farming."GMO Answers was created as a vehicle to sway public opinion in favor of GMOs. Soon after Monsanto and its allies beat back the 2012 ballot initiative to label GMOs in California, Monsanto announced plans to launch a new public relations campaign to reshape the reputation of GMOs," explains USRTK."They hired the public relations firm FleishmanHillard (owned by Omnicom) for an at-least million-dollar campaign." Ketchum, first created in 1923 by George Ketchum and his brother Carlton G. Ketchum, became a subsidiary of Omnicom in 1996.The firm has a long history of representing powerful industries, including electronic device makers. After a series of reports released in the early 90s claimed that cellphones may be linked to brain cancer, Ketchum was hired for the industry's defense.The Cellular Telephone Industry Association initially spent $25 million "to fund a major research program through a new entity which was established by their public relations firm Ketchum," according to Source Watch "Lorraine Thelian, the director of the Washington DC offices of Ketchum, found for them the ideal science-for-sale entrepreneur to run the research organization."George L. Carlo was an experienced science lobbyist for Philip Morris and the tobacco industry, who had built his pro-corporate reputation in fighting the battles over Agent Orange and dioxins for the Dow Chemical Company, before establishing his own service firm Health and Environmental Services (along with a number of other pseudo-think-tanks, and societies)."Carlo set up for the cellphone industry, the Wireless Technology Research as a limited liability company, totally controlled by himself and his wife. Over the next few years it spent $27 million of the CTIA's money on research guaranteed not to find anything of health significance."Ketchum has served the biotech industry in a similar fashion, which is why Malkan questions whether the firm's newfound interest in organics is a conflict of interest."Is it a conflict of interest for Ketchum  which has worked to undermine consumer advocates and the organic foods industry  to represent organic companies? We think the answer is yes, and that it would be unwise for organic companies to hire the PR firm behind GMO Answers."
People take to social media to expression shock over censorship

[email protected] cuts away from @BernieSanders as he condemns #TPP. Come on @Comcast, we're not stupid.



@MSNBC cuts away from @BernieSanders as condemns #TPP shldnt b allowed 2 say ur a news chan



Ed Schultz was fired from MSNBC for talking about the TPP. MSNBC also pulls away from Bernie Sanders every time he condemns the TPP



Interview cancelled over Monsanto threat to sue news station

(NaturalNews) Here we go again with people being censored for doing nothing more than expressing their viewpoints  and the attempts to silence people's thoughts don't just involve everyday citizens but even include presidential hopefuls. Not even they can escape the Big Brother do-as-I-want mentality that's seeping deep into every facet of society.A recent example of this involves Bernie Sanders, who has repeatedly been censored for his criticism of Big Pharma, Monsanto , and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement by propaganda networks CBS and MSNBC.During a Boston, Massachusetts, press conference, MSNBC shifted the attention away from Sanders by cutting the camera feed away from him just as he was about to discuss the TPP. "The average American that walks into a store finds it harder and harder to purchase products made in America," said Sanders at the Boston press conference, which you can view in this video . "Now on that issue... I am helping to lead opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership."Immediately following that statement, host Kate Snow said, "You've been listening to Bernie Sanders, less of a press conference, more of a speech. I want to turn back to the Republican side of things."Sanders supporters expressed their dissatisfaction over Snow's decision to cut away from Sanders at the very moment he was going to elaborate on the TPP. They viewed her move as censorship and of blatantly favoring one out-of-touch political candidate over another , taking to social media to make their thoughts known.On Twitter, @cgc26h wrote Comcast owns MSNBC.Interestingly, between 2013 and 2015, it's been found that MSNBC only briefly covered the TPP on two occasions, with the exception of Ed Schultz. He spoke of the TPP while he was still hostingfor MSNBC. Oh, by the way, Ed's no longer with MSNBC, and we can't help but wonder whether it's because he discussed something he "shouldn't" have in the eyes of MSNBC higher-ups and those that control them On Twitter, @kittygonewilde picked up on this and tweeted MSNBC isn't the only media outlet censoring Sanders. According to Sanders, CBS actually canceled an interview with him because the powers that be at Monsanto threatened to sue the network."Monsanto is a very, very powerful corporation. They are one of the leaders in food technology and basically working hard to transform our food system," Sanders said. "Let me tell you a funny story, or not so funny. In my state, a great dairy state, we have a lot of dairy cows. There was an effort to put what was called BGH, bovine growth hormone, which is a stimulant that makes cows produce cows more milk but is unhealthy. I was against that."I'll never forget this. I was invited by CBS, not a small company, to appear on television to talk about why I was opposed to bovine growth hormone. CBS then called me up and said, 'Well, Monsanto is threatening to sue us, so we can't go on with it.' They are very powerful."Talk about working at news stations that are handled like a marionette, controlled as though they're a puppet at the hands of those who dictate what should and shouldn't be said. It's a shame that people on various levels are intimidated into withholding the truth, all because of the massive greed that drives the entire brainwashing process that strives to fuel the establishment's my-way-or-the-highway standards.
"There have been complaints about water at this hospital..."

Genotoxic compounds, flame retardants, respiratory stimulants and more

VA hospital does not seem to be filtering its water

No point in asking hospital officials to respond

This is why I launched EPA Watch in the first place

(NaturalNews) As part of our EPA Watch program that aims to test public water supplies across America for toxic heavy metals and chemicals, I just finished testing a water sample that was collected from inside the VA hospital located at 950 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut, zip code 06516. Click here for the web page of that VA hospital The scientific analysis of the water via LC/MS-TOF, shown below, reveals that this VA hospital's water supply apparently carries a startling array of potentially toxic chemicals.This water sample was sent to Natural News as part of our nationwide EPA Watch program which has already begun testing water samples for heavy metals, toxic chemicals and more. This map shows the geographic origins of water samples we've received so far (and logged into our database). All results from the EPA Watch testing are being posted publicly at EPAwatch.orgBecause we rely on concerned citizens to collect these water samples, we hope that the data presented here serve as an "early warning system" for the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, which obviously needs to conduct its own water quality tests using appropriate scientific instrumentation. (Meaning instruments that are sensitive enough to find these things.)While other water samples we've received under this program are being tested for lead first, this particular sample came with a note that indicated "there have been complaints about water at this hospital."Because I care deeply about the health of our veterans -- yes, I'm a patriotic American who believes in supporting our soldiers and our police officers -- I decided to run this sample through our LC/MS-TOF instrument, which is part of our new, expandedsection at CWC Labs (formerly known as the Natural News Forensic Food Lab), where I am the lab science director. Click here to see all my lab videos This instrumentation separates molecules using liquid chromatography while profiling retention times in an aqueous / organic solvent gradient. From there, the separated molecules are ionized at atmospheric pressure using electrospray ionization, then analyzed viadiscrimination technology in a mass spec instrument, which generates a mass-to-charge ratio spectra thousands of times each second. These data are then compared to extensive databases of documented chemical compounds to achieve matching scores based on accurate mass, molecular composition properties, retention times and molecular charges. (Yeah, I know, it's pretty geek stuff. But this is actually how it works in case you want to know...)Here's a screen shot I took during my analysis run. The middle section of this shot shows the chromatograph results plotted against time. The bottom section shows the mass-to-charge spectra and one of the identified molecular compounds. The right section shows properties of the instrument state, including lenses, nitrogen flow, vacuum strength and so on:The result is afor known pharmaceuticals, toxic chemicals , forensic drugs and other chemicals that are detected in the sample. Note that this is not quantitative analysis but rather a qualitative screening that looks for the presence of thousands of different chemicals . Thus, we cannot derive accurate parts per billion concentrations from these data. We can only accurately state that these chemicals exist in significant enough concentrations to register "hits" on a qualitative screening run.Even so, these chemicals are clearly present in apparent quantities that surprised me. Given that the amount of water used in this sample analysis was only(yes, five millionths of a liter), and that I was seeing many of these chemicals at counts greater than 1 x 10 ^ 4, there is no question that these chemicals are present in the water we tested.Some of the pharmaceutical compounds and chemicals we found in this water sample include: Tri-iso-butyl phosphate , a flame retardant chemical used in industrial products. Spiroxamine , a chemical that has been shown to be part of "genotoxic compounds that show differential cytotoxicity against isogenic chicken DT40 cell lines with known DNA damage response pathways." Doxapram , a central respiratory stimulant with side effects that include central nervous system subconvulsions. Palmidrol , an antiviral chemical that also affects cannabinoid receptors. Netilmicin , an antibacterial chemical that interferes with protein synthesis. Embutramide , a chemical that has been tested to block the function of Ebola virus.As proof that these chemicals were detected, I can list all the m/z ratios for these compounds. For example, Tri-iso-butyl phosphate has m/z of 267.1724, and Tolyltriazole has m/z of 134.0713, and so on. These were all detected in positive mode on the instrument.The obvious conclusion from this chemical screening is that this VA hospital does not seem to be filtering its tap water. If they were filtering the water, all these chemicals would be removed. (Even a countertop water filter can easily remove these compounds.)It also begs the question: Where the heck is the VA hospital getting its water, anyway? Is this the same water being pumped through the public water supply in West Haven? Or is there something different about the VA Hospital water that's somehow more toxic?These are questions that demand real answers.I have not yet contacted the VA Hospital for their response to all this, because frankly I'm tired of being lied to by incompetent government bureaucrats and excuse-makers. There is no point in asking them their opinion on this matter, as they all operate in a never-ending state of total denial and runaway incompetence to begin with.No doubt if any reporter calls the VA Hospital, they will be told that the water quality "meets state requirements." And it may very well do so, in fact, because the government of Connecticut is also totally delusional about its own water supply just like the corrupt officials of Flint, Michigan (and the EPA), where utterly incompetent bureaucratic criminals allowed countless thousands of children to be poisoned with lead while they conspired on all the different ways to prevent the truth from coming out (including staging their own fake robbery of government offices to destroy water quality records).Personally, I don't want to know if it "meets state requirements." I want the damn water we feed our veterans to beIs that too much to ask for soldiers who put their lives on the line? We can't even get them a damn water filter in their hospital ? Are we now running a third world infrastructure in America, where we can't even clean the water that these hospitals are no doubt using to mix drinks and cook meals? It's bad enough that we deny our veterans the quality health care they deserve... do we also have to compromise their health with toxic water at the same time?These results you see here explain precisely why I launched EPA Watch in the first place. Now, thanks to a citizen who went to the trouble to send us a water sample, we have apparently uncovered some shocking details about the water being fed to U.S. soldiers and veterans.And. Imagine what else we'll see as more concerned citizens keep sending us more water samples that we test in the public interest.For instructions on how to send us your own water samples, go to EPAwatch.org and download the chain of custody form that we require to be submitted with each sample.With your help, we will expose even more public safety problems in municipal water supplies all across America. And then maybe... just maybe... some lazy bureaucrats might get off their overpaid asses and do something about it.Until that day comes,. Don't trust any government to deliver clean water to your tap. And most of all,They are utterly incompetent like nearly every other federal agency that has betrayed the American people. Maybe it's time for something totally different in Washington D.C., eh?
Super bright galaxies in the observable universe have been recently discovered by astronomers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst--so bright that no scientific term has yet been coined to describe it.

These "outrageously" bright galaxies have such high intensity of brightness that they have outshined the galaxies previously described as "ultra-" and "hyper-luminous" galaxies, Phys.org website reported.

The group of undergraduate astronomers used a 50-meter diameter Large Millimeter Telescope, or LMT, which is the largest and most sensitive instrument used to study star formations.

LMT is jointly operated by UMass Amherst and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, optica y Electronica. It is strategically located 15,000 feet above sea level on top of the Sierra Negra, an extinct volcano in Mexico.

According to the lead author of the scientific paper, Kevin Harrington, the galaxies are described as "outrageously luminous" among his team for the lack of a precise scientific term that would describe the brightness of the galaxies.

According to a similar report by Science Daily, Harrington explained that astronomers categorize an infrared galaxy as "ultra-luminous," if it has the equivalent luminosity of about 1 trillion suns. When galactic luminosity reaches the equivalent of 10 trillion suns, it is classified as "hyper-luminous."

But there is currently no name for a galaxy that has beyond 100 trillion solar luminosity.

Professor Min Yun, the team supervisor, said the newly discovered luminous galaxies were not expected to be possible based on theoretical predictions. He said these galaxies are too large and bright, well beyond the theoretical limits.

Professor Yun related in a university press release that the newly discovered galaxies may not actually be as big as they may appear because of gravitational lensing effect.

Nonetheless, even if the gravitational lensing effect is factored out, the luminosities of the galaxies are still very impressive. The new discovery is expected to give new insights on how galaxies are formed.

Based on data analyses, the astronomers concluded that the luminosity can be directly attributed to the rate of star formations in the observed galaxies.
Scientists and science enthusiasts know that certain insects, like burying beetles, send pheromones to attract potential mates. It is a surprise to discover, however, that opposite chemical signals can also be released.

According to a report from Reuters, a study published in the journal of Nature Communications described how an anti-aphrodisiac chemical from a female beetle is released during a three-day period. This period is very important for the raising of offspring.

This chemical signal informs the male burying beetle that the female is temporarily infertile, thereby dissuading the male to copulate.

The research aimed to explore how animals change their behavior to favor parenting over sexual activity. The focus of the study was the Nicrophorus vespilloides beetle.

Research leader Sandra Steiger from the University of Ulm said that it was "intriguing" that such mechanisms are present in animals. Such actions put their mating habits and parenting in sync.

A New York Times report said that burying beetles are unique from evolutionary point of view because the males and females cooperate in caring for their young. During the larvae stage of the offspring, the mother stops producing eggs.

Copulation resumes after three days when the younglings have sufficient independence from their parents.

According to the abstract of the study published in Nature, parental care requires high energy and the beetles could not afford to waste energy in mating.

A shared pathway of the pheromone is described in the paper, allowing for reliable sexual abstinence during the three-day critical period of raising the baby beetle.
A Tribe Called Quest musician Phife Dawg has died at age 45.

News of the rapper's passing emerged on Twitter overnight, and Rolling Stone confirmed his death Wednesday morning.

Born Malik Taylor in 1970 in Queens, New York, he died Tuesday from complications resulting from diabetes, his family said in a statement. "Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend. We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of God and family," the statement read. The family did not disclose any other details.

Taylor suffered from health issues in recent years, undergoing a kidney transplant in 2008 to deal with his longtime battle with Type 1 diabetes. "It's really a sickness," Taylor said in the band's 2011 documentary, "Beats, Rhymes & Life." "Like straight-up drugs. I'm just addicted to sugar."

[NATLu002du002dDO NOT USE] In Memoriam: Influential People We've Lost This Year

Taylor co-founded A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, his classmates from Queens. A fourth band member, Jarobi White, left the group after the release of their first album.

The rappers recorded five albums: 1990's "People's Instinctive Travels" and the "Paths of Rhythm," 1991's "The Low End Theory," 1993's "Midnight Marauders," 1996's "Beats, Rhymes and Life" and 1998's "The Love Movement."

Taylor released his only solo album, "Ventilation: Da LP," in 2000. The trio broke up and reunited multiple times following the release of their last album, and they would sporadically reunite for live concerts.

Last November, A Tribe Called Quest reissued their debut album.

The group's performance of "Can I Kick It?" on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" would end up being their last.

As news of Taylor's death spread, fans and friends shared their condolences via social media: [[373212891,C]]

Damn. #RIPPhife one of the greatest to bless the mic  Russell Simmons (@UncleRUSH) March 23, 2016

VIDEO: A tribute to stars who died in 2016

PHOTOS: Stars we've lost in 2016
A secret, cross-border tunnel found in the Southern Californian desert may be the first in California where smugglers built a home for the sole purpose of transporting drugs.

The 416-yard tunnel starts at a cement hole in the living room of a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in Calexico, California, 120 miles east of San Diego, and runs across the border and into the kitchen of an open and running restaurant in Mexicali, Mexico, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said at a press conference Wednesday.

A hole in the floor  covered with tile  leads to a shaft, descending underground. The tunnel is the 12th large-scale operational drug smuggling tunnel discovered along the border since 2006, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Southern California.

We repeatedly see cartels trying to build these tunnels, they spend years doing it, they spend millions of dollars doing it, to create their own private underworld of secret passageways to move drugs unchecked into this country, Duffy said. But for the builders, for the financiers, for the operators of these passageways, theres no light at the end of these tunnels.

Authorities seized more than 1,350 pounds of marijuana smuggled through the tunnel, following the lengthy, multi-agency investigation. The drugs were worth more than $6 million in street value.

Authorities claim the traffickers scouted properties in the area before buying the home, later instructing the contractor to leave a space in the foundation when pouring concrete for what they said would be a "safe."

Once construction on the $86,000 house was finished in December, co-conspirators rented a "walk-behind saw and concrete blade" from a local El Centro business, Duffy said, presumably to create the tunnel exit. Investigators said they believe the traffickers began using the tunnel on Feb. 28, 2016, based on intercepted calls, Duffy said.

While serving a search warrant at the tunnel home, located at 902 E. Third Street, authorities also served two additional search warrants. Officials served a warrant at a so-called "stash house" two miles away, located at 1056 Horizon Street. The drugs were then taken to a warehouse at 260 Avenida Campillo, Suite A, Duffy said, where they were stored before being moved north.

Four people have been arrested in connection with the tunnel and are expected to be arraigned Wednesday or Thursday.

A mother and daughter were arrested in Arizona in connection with the tunnel Tuesday, along with two additional people Wednesday in Calexico. All were charged with various drug trafficking, money laundering and tunnel-related charges.

Joel Duarte Medina was arrested inside a so-called stash house on Horizon Street in Calexico and Manuel Gallegos Jiminez was arrested inside the tunnel residence. Marcia Manuela Duarte-Medina and her mother, Eva Duarte De Medina, were charged in Arizona with multiple charges, including conspiracy to import drugs. Court documents detail how Eva helped move vehicles loaded with drugs between the tunnel home and the stash location. It was not immediately clear if they had attorneys.

Officials said several years ago, they discovered a secret drug tunnel at the residence next door to the Third Street home, though it was not as complete as this tunnel. That residence is now empty.

The recent finding marks the first complete tunnel to be discovered in the area in a decade, as the soil composition makes the land difficult to dig through. The residential neighborhood makes it more difficult to hide smuggling activity, Duffy said.

At the Wednesday press conference, Duffy said the tunnel also marks the first time investigators have seen smugglers buy land and build a house for the sole purpose of hiding the exit to a drug tunnel in California.

More than 75 cross-border tunnels designed to smuggle drugs have been discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, mostly in California and Arizona. In California, most tunnels tend to be in the Otay Mesa region, where warehouses hide typical drug smuggling activities.

Dozens of tunnels designed to smuggle drugs have been found along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, mostly in the Otay Mesa region. Some have been equipped with hydraulic lifts and electric rail cars.

Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has long controlled drug trafficking along the border in California's Imperial Valley, which offers easy freeway access to Los Angeles and Phoenix.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cites from Rome to New York, from Paris to Montreal bathed their iconic buildings in the colors of the Belgian flag, following Tuesday's deadly terrorist attack in Brussels to show solidarity with the people there.

San Francisco was no different. City Hall and San Francisco International Airport were bathed in black, yellow and red lights.

The lights cast a patriotic glow on the many vigils around the globe held for the 31 dead and more than 270 injured with the attackers set off bombs at the Belgian airport and subway during the early morning Tuesday commute. Belgium began three days of mourning to honor all those who suffered. On Wednesday, Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw identified two of the Brussels attackers as brothers  Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, who targeted the subway.

NBC Bay Area

On Tuesday night, hundreds of people gathered outside San Francisco City Hall and held a moment of silence. Then, a group of Belgium scouts sang their national anthem.

Belgian native Liesbeth Dewaele, who now lives in Walnut Creek, said a former co-worker was injured in the explosions. She brought her children to the somber event to color signs and show the Belgians there are people around the world who care about them.

"I hope they won't throw bombs any more in Belgium," said her 7-year-old son, Seth.

Belgian-turned-San Franciscan Corine De Hemptinne said she came to the vigil to be with her community, and was feeling "a lot of grief."

That was a sentiment echoed by all in the crowd, including John Vanloo, who added that together, everyone must "stand strong and hold each other's hand."

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The White House announced Tuesday new steps and billions of dollars in private money to help solve Californias drought.

The focus at Tuesdays Water Summit was on developing new technology and innovation to solve the water crisis in California and improve drought resiliency across the country. More than 200 experts, scientists, policy makers and high tech innovators attended the summit at the White House which coincided with World Water Day.

This new focus follows a six-month-long investigation by NBC Bay Area that exposed an antiquated and outdated water management system in California and showed how other countries, particularly Israel, have already addressed water shortages through new technology rather than relying on the weather.

Nearly $5 billion in private money will go towards the development of new technologies to help solve drought, not only in California, but around the country during the next decade.

The White House also announced another $35 million in federal grants to support cutting edge water science, including $4 million in grants from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Among the projects featured at the summit was the Israel-California Green-Tech Partnership, founded by Bay Area entrepreneurs Aaron Tartakovsky, Mark Donig and Ashleigh Talberth.

Tartakovsky is also CEO and co-founder of the San Francisco technology firm Epic CleanTec, which designs systems to recycle wastewater in large urban structures.

Talberth is CEO of the Israeli consulting firm @t GreenTECH and was previously active in the think tank Next Generation in the San Francisco Bay area.

A lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay area, Donig is a graduate of Stanford and currently a law student at UC Berkeley and a non-resident research fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at IDC Herzliya.

We have a drought situation where 11 of the past 14 years in California have experienced a severe drought and thats not getting any better, said Donig. Unless we find solutions the drought will expand.

At the White House Summit, Israel-California Green-Tech Partnership announced it is teaming with Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator to bring 10 of Israels innovative start-ups to California in an attempt to find new solutions to solve Californias drought.

The LA incubator partnership is expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2016.

Were looking for the best and the brightest of the Israelis to come over to California, said Tartakovsky. Israel has been a world leader in the water sector for a long time. Israel actually is water independent which means if it doesnt rain Israel is going to be OK. And thats the type of approach we want to have in California.

Also featured at the White House Water Summit:

A project to improve weather forecasting for water-management operations put together by the US Army Corps of Engineers, USGS, NOASS and Sonoma County Water Agency

A project to improve identification and monitoring of harmful algae blooms by the University of Michigan, NOAA and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The launch of a water-innovation accelerator by Cleantech Open, based in Redwood City

A multi-year initiative to develop data solutions in the water industry by San Francisco based water-innovation accelerator Imagine H2O

$4 million awarded to four institutions including Public Policy Institute of California, University of Utah, Water Research Foundation at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Clemson University

Change can happen, Tartakovsky said. Innovation can happen. Its been stagnant (in California) for a while. But I think were at the beginning of a water revolution in California and the rest of the country.

To see NBC Bay Areas entire series of reports plus interactive maps, charts and extra interviews, visit our Surviving the Drought feature page.
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is aware of about 12 Americans injured in a series of deadly blasts that rocked a subway station and international airport in Belgium's capital city Tuesday morning.

State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement, "At this time, we are not aware of any U.S. citizen deaths. We must emphasize that a number of U.S. citizens remain unaccounted for and the Kingdom of Belgium has not yet released nationality information for reported fatalities."

He said the U.S. government is "making every effort to account for the welfare of both Chief of Mission personnel and U.S. citizens in the city."

Toner did not identify the injured Americans or provide information on their conditions. At least 31 people were killed and 270 wounded in Tuesday's bombings at the Brussels airport and subway.

NBC News reported Tuesday, citing military officials, that a U.S. service member and four members of his family were among the Americans injured. Their identities have not been released, but one official said their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

According to The Associated Press, an Air Force officer, his wife and four children were hurt at the airport. It's not clear if the Air Force officer is the same service member mentioned in NBC News' report.

Three Mormon missionaries from Utah were also hurt. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement Tuesday identifying the missionaries as 66-year-old Richard Norby, 20-year-old Joseph Empey and 19-year-old Mason Wells.

Church officials said the three men were near the site of an explosion at Brussels Airport and have been hospitalized with serious injuries. They were serving in Paris and traveling with a fourth missionary, 20-year-old Fanny Rachel Clain, of France, who was on her way to an assignment in Ohio, church officials said.

Norby's family said in a statement issued by the Mormon church Wednesday that shrapnel caused severe trauma to his lower leg and he also suffered second-degree burns to his head and neck.

Following a lengthy surgery, he is now expected to stay in a medically-induced coma for a few days. His family said a lengthy recovery is expected.

His wife, Pamela Norby, wasn't at the airport when the explosions happened Tuesday.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said 20-year-old Joseph Empey of Santa Clara and 19-year-old Mason Wells of Sandy were also seriously wounded but have been awake and have spoken to their families.

Empey suffered second-degree burns to his hands, face and head and underwent surgery for shrapnel injuries to his legs, his family said in a statement.

"We have been in touch with him and he is grateful and in good spirits," the family said.

The church's governing body, the First Presidency, also released a statement Tuesday, saying, "Our prayers are with the families of the deceased and injured, including three of our missionaries who were injured and hospitalized. We also pray for the people of Belgium and France as they continue to deal with the uncertainty and devastation caused by the recent terrorist attacks."

Family members of an American couple living in Belgium told NBC News the two are missing. Justin and Stephanie Shults had just dropped off her mother at the airport when two blasts went off.

"Her mom is fine but no one has been able to contact Justin or Stephanie," Justin Shults' brother, Levi Sutton, told NBC News. He added that the State Department told him Tuesday afternoon that the pair were not on any casualty list.

Justin, 30, is originally from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, while 29-year-old Stephanie is from Lexington, Kentucky, but moved to the Belgian capital in 2014, Sutton said. Both work as accountants.

Eleven people died at the airport and 20 were killed at a nearby metro station, according to Brussels' mayor and Belgium's ministry of health. Paris prosecutor said Wednesday 270 people have been injured.

Victims suffered fractures, burns and deep cuts from shrapnel, according to a hospital east of Brussels that treated 13 people. All three bombs detonated Tuesday contained large nails or screws, one of which was shown on X-ray embedded deep in the chest of a victim, according to a photo obtained by the European Press Photo Agency.

Roughly 50 students from the University of Illinois studying abroad near Brussels are safe and sheltering in place, the university said Tuesday. The students are part of two separate study abroad programs in the area.

Four students from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut were also in Brussels at the time of the attacks, three of whom were at the airport, according to the university. All are safe.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for Tuesday morning's attacks. The suspected suicide bombers were named early Wednesday as Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, and his 30-year-old brother Ibrahim.

There is no "specific, credible intelligence" of any plots against the United States like those carried out in Brussels, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday. But as a precaution, the Homeland Security Department is stepping up security at major U.S. airports and rail and transit stations around the country.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hasterts sentencing hearing in a hush-money case has been postponed.

Federal prosecutors asked for the delay because a witness was not available April 8.

U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin rescheduled Hasterts sentencing for April 27. He faces up to six months in prison.

Hastert pleaded guilty last fall to evading federal banking laws.

Hastert acknowledged in a statement he began withdrawing cash in $9,000 increments to avoid his banks questions about earlier withdrawals of as much as $50,000. And he said he knew it was wrong.

I didnt want them to know how I intended to spend the money, Hastert said.

In March, Durkin said ordered an independent medical expert to appointed to look into Hasterts health.

Hasterts lawyer told the judge in January that lab results revealed Hastert had a significant infection on Nov. 3  less than a week after Hastert pleaded guilty to a financial crime. John Gallo said the man once second in line to the presidency also fell at home that day and could not get up. Hastert wound up in the hospital for a spine surgery, treatment for a severe blood infection and stroke.

Gallo said Hastert nearly died and at one point lost function in the lower half of his body. He was released from the hospital Jan. 15.

Hasterts case revolves around a mysterious Individual A, whose identity has yet to be revealed  and who collected $1.7 million from the once-powerful Republican in exchange for silence regarding Hasterts past misconduct. Hastert had ultimately agreed to pay $3.5 million to Individual A. He did so to cover up sexual misconduct with a male student dating to his time as a teacher in Yorkville, sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Hastert withdrew $1.7 million in hush money from bank accounts between 2010 and 2014, handing it over to Individual A. Hastert had ultimately agreed to pay that person $3.5 million.

Hastert illegally structured the withdrawal of $952,000 to evade banks reporting requirements for transactions of $10,000 or more. When the FBI asked Hastert about it, he lied and said he kept the cash in a safe place, according to the plea deal.


Tuesdays terror bombings in Brussels brought new focus to a question which has troubled Americans since 9/11: what is the correct balance between freedom and security?

Terror experts warn that the United States is engaged, along with other countries, in a very real war, against an enemy which recognizes neither battlefields nor conventional targets.

What we need to realize is things have changed in warfare, says Retired Colonel Jennifer Hesterman, a counterterrorism expert. Civilians are now the target.

And, especially in the United States where Americans love freedom of movement, citizens are often very exposed.

The takeaway is that we need to prepare, says Hesterman. Everything that makes us great as a democracy, makes us more vulnerable to this particular enemy.

Hesterman joined other security experts for a seminar Tuesday at the College of Dupages sprawling Homeland Security Training Center, a program beamed to remote sites across the United States. Attendees, ranging from police to business owners, were warned that the world changed after 9/11, and continues to change as terrorists learn from each attack.

A soft target could be a school, a Church, a hospital, says Dr. Michael Fagel, who teaches courses in safety and security. The megachurches we see with 2 or 3 thousand congregants? Those are target rich environments.

So-called soft targets have become the targets of choice for terrorists around the globe. Hotels in Mumbai, trains in Madrid and London, a mall in Nairobi, and cafes in Paris. All have two chilling attributes: easy access, and little or no security.

It could be anything thats inviting to people, Fagel said. Because if its inviting to people, its inviting to the bad guys.

Other nations have clamped down. In Israel, citizens have passed through metal detectors at theatres and shopping malls for years. Check-in procedures at airports can take hours, as each passenger is questioned about his life, his family, and his planned activities while on Israeli soil. But conventional wisdom has always been that Americans would never stand for such onerous restrictions on their freedom.

You really want a free society? says Tom Brady, the Homeland Security Centers executive director. Free comes with a price. And thats where it becomes difficult to protect everything.

A look at the targets in Brussels provides a chilling illustration: an airport and subway, which could have been OHare and the CTA.

Were no different here in Chicago than Brussels, Brady notes. And people need to realize, it could happen anywhere.


The man suspected of shooting an off-duty Chicago cop earlier this week on the Far South Side is a convicted carjacker who was paroled from prison less than three months ago, prompting interim Police Supt. John Escalante to call for more accountability for such violent criminals.

Samuel Harviley, 24, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and robbery in the early Monday shooting of the officer, who was parking his car near his home in Washington Heights after work, said Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman.

In 2012, Harviley, who has a tattoo that says Live Strong Die Hard, was sentenced to nine years in state prison for aggravated vehicular hijacking. He received credit for about a year and a half that he spent in the Cook County Jail and was paroled on Dec. 31.

Harvileys case is a powerful demonstration that state law is too easy on violent criminals, Escalante told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The allegations against Mr. Harviley and his two criminal associates are quite frankly reprehensible, Escalante said in a statement. The fact that a convicted felon and gun offender is yet again out on early-release to torment communities is representative of the types of individuals who are overwhelmingly driving the recent spike in violence.

Time and time again, CPD officers risk their lives to hold repeated guns offenders accountable and we will stop at nothing to continue that promise, but more needs to happen to change the culture of violence and increase accountability.

It was the second time in a week that a felon had shot a Chicago Police officer. On March 14, 29-year-old Lamar Harris wounded three on-duty officers during a brief gunbattle on the West Side before he was fatally shot by the police.

The officers were conducting a narcotics investigation and followed Harris into a courtyard where he shot at them, and at least one officer returned fire, authorities said. One officer was hit in the back, one in the foot and one in his bulletproof vest.

Harris, an admitted gang member, had 43 arrests on his rap sheet.

In 2010, officers heard a call about a man with a gun and stopped Harris as a suspect. Harris allegedly struck an officer in the head and reached for his waistband, dropping a gun, police said.

In 2012, he was sentenced to four years in prison in the case.

Harviley, whose last known address was in the 1000 block of West 87th, is accused of shooting a 49-year-old off-duty officer who returned home from work and was in his car outside his home at 2:20 a.m. The officer didnt notice his attackers until they were standing near the car, police said.

One of the men trained a gun on the officer during the holdup, police said.

He offered the robbers his money and phone.

But he was worried they would find out he was a cop and shoot him. On the seat was a study guide for a Chicago Police Department detective exam he planned to take.

He also thought they would find his service weapon when they frisked him.

Then one of the robbers said: Shoot him, police said. The officer was wounded in his right leg.

The officer rolled and fired at the robbers, and he thought he struck one of them.

Harviley was arrested at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound. The hospital is about 3 miles away from the holdup.

In 2011, Harviley and another man were involved in a carjacking at 12:13 a.m. on July 9 in the 8600 block of South Marshfield, court records show.

The victim parked his Chevrolet Malibu outside a friends home when Harviley and three other men walked up. Harviley pulled out a black revolver.

The victim gave the robbers his car keys and wallet.

The robbers warned the victim not to look at their faces or they would shoot him.

The victim reported the carjacking to the police, who spotted the car and chased Harviley on foot.

He tripped over a tree branch and dropped the gun, court records show. Harviley was carrying the victims cellphone and was later identified by the victim in a lineup, police said.

Guglielmi pointed out that 26 of the 35 people shot in the the city last weekend were on a Chicago Police list of people who are at a high risk of becoming crime victims because of their criminal records and interactions with other people involved in violent crime. One man had been shot two other times since 2012 and had 42 arrests on his record, including a 2010 gun conviction.

This just further illustrates the individuals that are driving the violence, he said.
Just 24 hours could have been the difference between life and death for a Belgian architecture student who traveled to Chicago this week.

Michiel arrived in the city for a school field trip Monday after leaving the Brussels airport one day before two deadly explosions killed several people inside.

I am shocked, the Belgium native, who wished to be referred to only by his first name due to safety concerns for his family, said. One day later and it could have been me.

While his family is safe, Michiel is worried for other classmates who were scheduled to fly out of the Brussels airport Tuesday. Using social media, hes been working to ensure his friends are safe, but hes also concerned for what will happen when he returns.

I was thinking about it today and I am actually a little scared to fly back, he said. Like how its going to be, because the airport is completely ruined. Its going to be very weird to be at the airport where I have left so many times, to be back there.

At least 31 people were killed and scores wounded in two airport bombings and another in the Brussels subway system Tuesday.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks. The terror group's statement said its fighters carried out the bombings with "explosive belts and devices" and that they "opened fire" before detonating their bombs at the airport.

Megan Hilling, a Mizzou journalism student from suburban LaGrange Park, was on her way to work in Brussels when the attacks happened.

On my way to work I was about five blocks away when the attack happened at the Metro station, she said. I wasnt close enough to hear the blast, but the closer I got to Rue De Loi, which is the street that the station is located on, you could just see hundreds of police officers, ambulances, cars all just heading toward the mouth of the station. It was a scary thing.

Dozens of students from the University of Illinois studying in Belgium when the explosions went off were told to shelter in place and avoid public spaces. The school said the roughly 50 students and faculty in the Brussels area are safe and accounted for, and theres no plan to bring them back early.

Belgian police are still searching for a suspect in the attack. They have since siezed a nail-packed bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag in raids.
The lawyer for a Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of a black teenager says he has asked the court to allow the officer not to attend hearings.

Attorney Dan Herbert said after a hearing Wednesday that Officer Jason Van Dyke has received threats of violence and death when he comes to court. Herbert argued his client's family has been threatened, his car has been vandalized and he has received death threats.

"Every single court date he has had threats against him," Herbert said. "Individuals who are with him, his father, have been physically battered. They had their vehicle damaged, somebody smashed their vehicle, we filed a police report. One individual has had to go to the hospital."

Van Dyke is charged with murder in the October 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. He shot the teen 16 times.

"We are still amazed at the appetite, the venom toward my client in this case," Herbert said. "it is truly amazing. He remains public enemy number one."

Also in court Wednesday, two groups asked Judge Vincent Gaughan to appoint a special prosecutor in the case.

"Not only to take over the Van Dyke prosecution, but also to take over investigations with the officers who lied on their reports and may have well lied in front of the grand jury as well," said Flint Taylor with People's Law Office, one of the groups seeking the special prosecutor.

The judge set a May 5 deadline for prosecutors to respond to a request by civil rights attorneys and others to assign the case to a special prosecutor. Herbert says he would be fine with either a special prosecutor or Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's office handling the case.

"Quite frankly, whoever that prosecutor is, we know that my client is going to continue to be public enemy number one, so it doesn't make that much difference to us," Herbert said. "We will be ready to go no matter who is on the other side."
Energy-efficient upgrades to home heating, cooling and water devices are designed to save you money. In fact, utility companies may offer rebates to customers who make the upgrades. Still, property owner Jon Marinas says local utilities have made the rebate application a confusing process.

Marinas owns a condo in Chicagos West Loop. He recently installed energy-efficient LED lighting, a smart thermostat and a tankless water heater to lower his energy usage. Marinas said hes already seeing lower monthly utility bills.

Its important that we try to reduce our carbon footprint, Marinas said.

Marinas applied for $250 worth of rebates from the natural gas and electric companies for installing the smart thermostat and tankless water heater.

Filled them all out according to their guidelines and submitted them, Marinas said.

However, both of his applications were rejected. Marinas said he was told it was due to paperwork errors.

Theyre not making it easy for you to be able to collect, Marinas said.

Marinas said he filed again and continued wait. But he said that did not work either.

NBC 5 Responds contacted both utilities.

A spokesperson for ComEd said the company rejected the $100 smart thermostat rebate because Marinas purchased the device a week before the rebate program started.

Marinas said he installed the device within the rebate programs time frame. He said he also put the date of purchase in the application.

If it was not eligible for the online application, I should have been denied before I even submitted, Marinas said.



Peoples Gas told NBC 5 Responds it discovered a clerical error was made on its end during the processing of Marinas rebate application. It has since issued a $150 rebate check to Marinas.

We are working hard to enhance our customer service and appreciate all opportunities to improve our processes to better serve our customers, wrote Peoples Gas spokesperson Scott Alwin.

Marinas said he hopes utilities step up to the plate to help their customers regarding rebate applications.

Look at their systems, make sure that theyre doing the right thing and make sure that theyre taking care of their clients, Marinas said.

The Citizens Utility Board said it is vital that energy efficiency rebate programs run smoothly, because they are a key tool to help Illinois families keep their costs down.

Efficiency lowers demand, which reduces energy prices for all customers, and efficiency is also good for the utilities because it helps reduce stress on the grid and service outages, said CUB executive director David Kolata.

A ComEd spokesperson said the electric utility has issued $1.7 million dollars in rebates for smart thermostats since October.

Peoples Gas said it has issued 17,128 rebates totaling $7,824,477 since June 2011, when its Home Energy Rebate Program began. Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas customers are also eligible for free energy-saving products and a free home energy assessment. You can learn more about the rebates by clicking on the following links:

www.peoplesgasrebates.com

www.northshoregasrebates.com


Chicagos Willis Tower and several buildings across the city lit up in Belgian flag colors Tuesday night in a sign of support for the nation as they begin to recover from deadly terror attacks that killed several people left dozens of others wounded.

The Chicago skyline joins a long list of buildings showing Belgian colors across the globe Tuesday. The One World Trade Center in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and Dubais Burg Khalifa, the worlds tallest building, also lit up in black, yellow and red.

At least 31 people were killed when explosions rocked a Brussels airport and train station Tuesday morning. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, believed to be perpetrated by suicide bombers, NBC News reported.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDQvGSIocW6

While an ocean may separate us, Chicago and Brussels are united by common values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

Chicago will continue standing with the Belgian people both today and in the difficult days ahead as they move forward in their healing process, Emanuel added.

Landmarks around the world light up with the colors of the Belgian flag in solidarity with #Brussels. pic.twitter.com/PJNa8XtMIs  TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 22, 2016

[NATL] Trio of Deadly Explosions Hit Brussels in 2016, City Mourns
An arrest warrant reveals new details into the investigation of an internationally known pianist's wife charged with the murder of the couple's children, including that she sought mental treatment and was given a prescription for an antipsychotic before her kids were found dead in North Texas.

Vadym Kholodenko, a Ukrainian-born, Cliburn competition winner who plays with the Fort Worth Symphony, arrived at the home of his estranged wife, Sofya Tsygankova, Thursday morning to find her in distress and his children dead, authorities have said.

The arrest warrant added details to the grisly finding: Kholodenko feeling dazed at the sight of his wife "going crazy" and her night gown covered in blood. His children, the document said, were "in bed, and not moving."

After Benbrook EMS took Tsygankova to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment, officers asked Kholodenko to recall what had taken place that morning.

He said he talked with his daughter Nika and Tsygankova the night before and arranged to take the girls to school. When he arrived at the home the next morning, no one answered the door. He entered using his key and found his wife bleeding and in distress in the master bedroom closet. He then found his children dead and called 911.

In the arrest warrant officers described in detail how and where they found the children, that they could find no pulse and that there were signs of rigor mortis.

Officers later discovered linens soiled with blood in a vehicle parked in the garage -- the linens are believed to have come from the master bedroom where Tsygankova was found. Officers described a large amount of blood around the vehicle. A red suitcase was stuffed under the rear bumper, used as a brace to keep a rag stuffed into the vehicle's tailpipe. It is not clear whether the engine had been running.

Police said a brown pillow matching the linens from the master bedroom was found in Nika's room, with a small spot of what appeared to be biological fluid on the pillowcase. Police also said there was a brown pillow, with a small spot of what appeared to be biological fluid, partially resting on Michela's head.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's initial autopsies were "inconclusive" and additional testing to determine how the girls died could take several weeks.

An empty prescription bottle for Quetiapine, filled March 16 for Tsygankova, was found on the kitchen counter. Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia or treat episodes of mania or depression in patients with bipolar disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health.

A large butcher knife was found on the patio with blood on the blade and handle. A cleaver was found on the tub in the master bath  with a large amount of blood on the floor.

Police said three other prescription bottles with Tsygankova's name on them were found next to the knife  the type of drug and how much remained was not disclosed.

NBC 5 News

Tsygankova was booked Tuesday into the Tarrant County jail.

Her attorney, Joetta Keene, entered a not guilty plea on behalf of her client at an arraignment hearing Wednesday morning. Keene declined to comment on the specific allegations of the warrant.

"This is, no doubt, a very heartbreaking case for everyone involved," she said.

Sofya Tsygankova Interviewed at JPS Hospital

At John Peter Smith Hospital, Tsygankova spoke with police and said she thought she committed suicide and that she remembered taking a lot of pills, according to the warrant. At some point during the interview with police she stated that "she didn't want to live."

Police said Tsygankova was then read her Miranda rights, which she allegedly waived. She told police she arrived home at about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday and took custody of the children from her babysitter. The sitter had already put Michela to bed; Nika went to bed at about 9:20 p.m. after speaking with her father.

Tsygankova told police both children were fine when the sitter left and that she was the only person home with them overnight, according to the arrest warrant.

Tsygankova recalled that at some point she went outside with the knife because she "didn't see any future for me and kids."

When the police asked Tsygankova if she knew where her children were, she said she hoped they were with their father. At one point she asked, "Did I do anything bad to my kids?" police said.

She recalled that she thought she put the kids in the car before she hurt herself, but that she was unable to remember any of the details. She "made several mentions of having a bad dream that night, but was unable to elaborate fully," according to the arrest warrant.

She then remembered her husband arriving at the home and asking, "What have you done?"

Anna Grevtseva, a friend of Tsygankova's sister Anna, who lives in Amsterdam, said Sofya Tsygankova had been having a hard time dealing with the divorce had visited the Fort Worth MHMR facility on March 16 and had a history with MHMR.

Benbrook police announced Monday that Tsygankova was to be held on two $1 million bonds for capital murder of a person under the age of 10, a first-degree felony, in the deaths of her daughters.

Tsygankova was discharged from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and immediately booked into the Tarrant County Correction Center. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tsygankova is undergoing a thorough medical and psychological screening and for now will be housed in a medical unit due to her injuries.

Both Nika and Michela were laid to rest in a private ceremony Monday. A public memorial for the girls was held Tuesday at Arlington Heights United Methodist Church in Fort Worth.

Sofya Tsygankova's Arrest Warrant

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Sofya Tsygankova's Search Warrant

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President Barack Obama on Wednesday acknowledged that U.S. relations with Latin America's dictatorships in the 1970s damaged its image in the region, but said he hoped the release of long-classified documents about Argentina's "dirty war" would rebuild trust.

Obama made the comments on the eve of the 40th anniversary of a military coup that would lead to one of the most brutal regimes in Latin American history. Ahead of his visit, last week the Obama administration announced it would declassify thousands of CIA, FBI and other internal documents that could shed much light on one of the South American nation's most painful chapters.

"I don't want to go through the list of every activity of the United States in Latin America," began Obama, answering a question about his presence during the anniversary. Obama then noted that fighting communism was a focus of America's foreign policy in the 1970s.

"One of the great things about America, and I said this in Cuba, was that we engage in a lot of self-criticism," said Obama, standing next to Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Obama arrived in Argentina early Wednesday after an historic visit in Cuba. The two-day visit comes as Macri has gone to great lengths to repair relations after years of antagonism by the previous administrations.

Obama has made no secret of his preference for Macri over his left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez, whose meandering missives were a source of frequent frustration and eye-rolling in the White House.

So Obama was all too glad to see her replaced in December by Macri, who has affably accepted U.S. help with his mission to modernize Argentina's struggling economy.

Obama also heard from young Argentines at a town hall meeting in what's become a hallmark of his trips abroad.

Asked by an audience member whether it's possible to create a "bi-national state" for Israelis and Palestinians, containing leadership from both sides, Obama said he doesn't believe in a one-state solution.

"The only way to settle this issue is to have an Israeli, predominately Jewish, state and a secure, separate Palestinian state, side-by-side," he said.

Obama lamented over his failures to help broker an agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and noted that it isn't going to happen during his tenure.

Joined by first lady Michelle Obama, the president will be feted by Macri at a state dinner in the evening, marking the first such visit by a U.S. president in nearly two decades.

Despite efforts to keep the focus on the future, Obama's visit has been clouded by a renewed look at Argentina's past and questions about America's role in Argentina's 1976 military coup and the dictatorship that followed.

"On this anniversary and beyond, we are absolutely determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation," said Obama.

In another gesture directed toward the victims of Argentina's "Dirty War," Obama planned to visit Remembrance Park in Buenos Aires Thursday. Argentina's government estimates some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared under force during the crackdown on leftist dissidents, though activists say the number is as high as 30,000.

Obama's visit to Argentina, like his visit this week to Cuba, aims to bolster his efforts to keep the U.S. focused on economically important regions like Latin America and Asia, even while dealing with pressing security concerns in the Middle East and elsewhere. Overshadowing his trip were terror attacks Tuesday in Brussels that killed scores and triggered fresh panic in Europe about the spread of violent extremism.

Those distractions notwithstanding, Obama is hoping his final year as president will be one of critical progress for the U.S. and Latin America.

Even as Obama continues struggling with refugees fleeing insecurity and instability in Central America, his administration is working toward a historic truce between Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The U.S. was heartened by the opposition's success in Venezuela's recent legislative elections.

No nation has become a more potent symbol of Obama's efforts to turn a page in Latin American than Cuba. The president flew to Argentina from Havana, where he made history as the first U.S. chief executive to visit in nearly 90 years, in a significant boost for his efforts to normalize ties with the longtime U.S. foe.

To show that the U.S. and Argentina are on a better path, Obama and Macri planned to announce new joint efforts on climate change, energy, and fighting drugs and crime, the White House said.

The last U.S. president to set foot in Argentina was George W. Bush, who attended a regional summit here in 2005 but didn't conduct a formal state visit. Bill Clinton went to meet with his Argentinian counterpart in 1997.

Before returning to Washington, Obama planned to join his wife and two daughters for a leisurely day-trip to Bariloche, a picturesque city in southern Argentina.
A Connecticut resident was among those injured after two bombs went off at a Belgian airport on Tuesday, congressman Jim Himes confirmed.

Congressman Himes of the 4th district said a man from Ridgegield was among those injured in the attacks that killed dozens of people.

"We can confirm that one of Congressman Himes' constituents received non-life threatening injuries in the attack. In consideration of the families privacy concerns, that's all we can release at this point," Patrick Malone, the communications director for the office of Congressman Jim Himes said.

The man was at the Brussels airport when the bombs went off and he suffered from taking shrapnel to his shoulder, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi told NBC Connecticut.

The man is expected to recover but it is not clear if he is still in the hospital, Marconi said.

His family has requested that their identities be withheld from the public.

Belgian authorites are looking for three men suspected of carrying out the deadly bombings that killed at least 31 people. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks and the terrorist group's flag was found during raids.

Three Quinnipiac Univerity students were also at the airport when the bombs went off. They all managed to escape the chaos.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.


Belgium remained on high alert Wednesday, the first of three days of mourning for the victims of the Brussels airport and subway bombings, as authorities hunted for one of the suspected attackers seen on surveillance video with two others who blew themselves up.

Some people possibly connected to the attack may still be on the loose, officials had said. The country's threat alert remained at its highest level, meaning there was danger of an imminent attack, said Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium's terrorism threat body. The attackers killed 31 people and injured 270 others, authorities said.

In what would mark a significant development in the investigation into two deadly terror attacks, the suspected bombmaker in the Paris attacks has been identified as one of two suicide bombers who died in the Brussels airport blasts, two officials told The Associated Press Wednesday night, Brussels time.

The officials, both of whom were briefed on the investigation, said that Najim Laachraoui's DNA was verified as that of one of the attackers on Tuesday, after samples were taken from remains found at the blast site in Brussels airport.

One European intelligence official and one French police official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to divulge details of the Belgian investigation.

Laachraoui's involvement in both attacks is a new sign that they are linked to the same cell of the Islamic State group.

Authorities had earlier been looking Najim Laachraoui, who was believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official told The Associated Press, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Also Wednesday, Belgian prosecutor Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw identified two other of the Brussels attackers as brothers  Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, who targeted the subway.

Investigators raided the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a trash can on the street including a note from Ibrahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison.

A taxi driver who took Ibrahim El Bakraoui and two others to the airport led investigators to an apartment where they found 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of TATP explosives, along with nails and other materials used to make bombs, Van Leeuw said.

NBC News reported that both brothers had criminal records long before becoming involved in the terror cell implicated in Brussels, including recent prison sentences for both  Ibrahim for shooting at police with an assault rifle during a robbery and Khalid for carjackings.

Neighbors Shocked

As government offices, schools and residents held a moment of silence Wednesday morning to honor the dead, the mood was defiance mixed with anxiety that others involved in the attacks may still be at large.

Neighbors of the El Bakraoui brothers expressed shock and bewilderment at what happened.

John Valderrama lived across the hall from the brothers in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, but said he never heard anything suspicious. He said he only saw one person come in or out of the fifth-floor apartment.

He was surprised when hours after Tuesday's attack, police burst into the brothers' apartment, where they discovered a large cache of TATP explosives.

Valderrama says "when I saw them I went 'Whoa!"

Another neighbor, Erdine, said he was about to drive his son to school around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday when he saw two people carrying heavy bags out of the building.

The 36-year-old, who declined to give his last name due to the situation, said he saw a cab driver open his trunk. He says "the taxi driver tried to get the luggage. And the other guy reached for it like he was saying, 'No, I'll take it.'"

Van Leeuw said authorities do not know the identities of two other people pictured with El Bakraoui in a surveillance photo from the airport that police are circulating. He spoke before The Associated Press reported that Laachraoui was the other airport bomber.

Two of those pictured were suicide bombers, the prosecutor said; the other was a man in a white jacket and black cap who fled before the bombs went off, leaving behind a bag full of explosives. That bag later blew up, but no one was injured.

The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, has also claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings.

Foreign Connections

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday one of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June and deported to the Netherlands. Previous reports said the attacker was deported to Belgium.

Erdogan said Wednesday that the Belgian authorities released the suspect despite Turkish warnings that he was "a foreign fighter."

Erdogan did not name the attacker. He said the man was detained at Turkey's border with Syria at Gaziantep and that Turkey formally notified Belgian authorities of his deportation on July 14.

Erdogan said "despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism."

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing sources it did not identify, said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

Abdeslam was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on Nov. 13. Those attacks killed 130 people.

A Belgian official working on the investigation told the AP that it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought  and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed Wednesday, and authorities said the airport would remain closed at least through Thursday, forcing the cancellation of 600 flights each day. Security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.

In the afternoon, thousands of people gathered at Place de la Bourse in the center of downtown Brussels  including dozens of students chanting "stop the war"  in solidarity with those killed.

"In Belgium, it's not every day that we show solidarity politically," said Fanny Nicaise, 24. She came out with some friends just to see and be with others. "It's important that you aren't alone in your sadness."

Belgians paid homage and lit candles, the mood almost buoyant as people wrote on the ground with big sticks of chalk, drawing peace signs and hearts.

As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.

"It's a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday on Europe-1 radio. Valls, who planned to visit Brussels later Wednesday, urged tougher controls of the EU's external borders.

"We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism ... that spreads in some of our neighborhoods and perverts our youth," he said. The Paris attackers were mainly French and Belgian citizens of North African descent, some from neighborhoods that struggle with discrimination, unemployment and alienation.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. IS warned of further attacks, issuing a statement promising "dark days" for countries taking part in the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition in Syria and Iraq.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and had warned that IS was actively preparing to strike.

Valls said Wednesday that big events, be they sports or cultural, must not be put on hold for fear of attacks. He said that includes the Euro2016 soccer tournament, a monthlong event being held in France that starts in June. Meanwhile, the Belgian football federation announced that it was calling off an international soccer friendly match against Portugal next week because of the attacks.

Secretary of State John Kerry is set to travel to Brussels on Friday to express condolences.
The Islamic State group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, officials have told The Associated Press.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed he had entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation  the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks  this time for a man wearing a white jacket who was seen on airport security footage with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

After fleeing Paris immediately after the November attacks, Abdeslam forged a new network back in his childhood neighborhood of Molenbeek, long known as a haven for jihadis, and renewed plotting, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

"Not only did he drop out of sight, but he did so to organize another attack, with accomplices everywhere. With suicide belts. Two attacks organized just like in Paris. And his arrest, since they knew he was going to talk, it was a response: 'So what if he was arrested? We'll show you that it doesn't change a thing,'" said French Senator Nathalie Goulet, co-head of a commission tracking jihadi networks.

Estimates range from 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters trained specifically for external attacks, according to the officials, including Goulet. Some 5,000 Europeans have gone to Syria.

"The reality is that if we knew exactly how many there were, it wouldn't be happening," she said.

Two of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, had no known extremist links until an apartment one of them rented was traced to Abdeslam last week, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF. Similarly, an Algerian killed inside that apartment on March 15 had nothing but a petty theft record in Sweden  but he'd signed up as an Islamic State suicide bomber for the group in 2014 and returned to Europe as part of the Nov. 13 plot.

In claiming responsibility, the Islamic State group described a "secret cell of soldiers" dispatched to Brussels for the purpose. The shadowy cells were confirmed by Europol  the EU police agency which said in a late January report that intelligence officials believed the group had "developed an external action command trained for special forces-style attacks."

French speakers with links to North Africa, France and Belgium appear to be leading the units and are responsible for developing attack strategies in Europe, said a European security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about briefing material. He is also familiar with interrogations of former fighters who have returned to Europe. Some were jailed after leaving ISIS while others were kicked out of the terror group. The fighters include Muslims and Muslim converts from all across Europe.

Fighters in the units are trained in battleground strategies, explosives, surveillance techniques and counter surveillance, the security official said.

"The difference is that in 2014, some of these ISIS fighters were only being given a couple weeks of training," he said. "Now the strategy has changed. Special units have been set up. The training is longer. And the objective appears to no longer be killing as many people as possible but rather to have as many terror operations as possible, so the enemy is forced to spend more money or more in manpower. It's more about the rhythm of terror operations now."

Similar methods had been developed by al-Qaida but ISIS has taken it to a new level, he said. Another difference with these "external operation" units is that fighters are being trained to be their own operators  not necessarily to be beholden to specific orders from the ISIS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, or elsewhere.

In the case of Tuesday's attacks, Abdeslam's arrest may have been a trigger for a plot that was already far along.

"This was not put together as a response to the arrest. However the timing of what has happened over the last few days has maybe hurried up the planning and execution," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Swedish security analyst. "I see the link to the environments either in France or in Belgium. Whether they're logistically linked ... they're probably part of the same batch of extremists that have come out of Syria."

Several security officials have said there is growing evidence to suggest the bulk of the training is taking place in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa.

"To pull off an attack of this sophistication, you need training, planning, materials and a landscape," said Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in London.

Maher has conducted extensive interviews with foreign fighters. The research center, based at Kings College in London, has one of the largest databases of fighters and their networks.

"Even if they worked flat out, the attackers in Brussels would have needed at least four days," Maher said.

The question for many intelligence and security officials is now turning to just how many more fighters have been trained and are ready for more attacks.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official who was not authorized to speak publicly said people from the cell that carried out the Paris attacks are scattered across Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Recently, a new group crossed in from Turkey, the official said.

The latest new name to surface this week, Najim Laachraoui, turned out to be the bombmaker who made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, according to French and Belgian officials. Attackers used an explosive known as Triacetone Triperoxide, or TATP, made from common household chemicals. DNA evidence indicates he died on Tuesday in the suicide attack on the airport, two officials briefed on the investigation told AP.

Fifteen kilos of TATP were found in an apartment linked to the Brussels attackers, along with other explosive material.

The unidentified man seen on security footage wearing a white jacket and black hat at the Brussels airport on Tuesday remains at large, a fugitive link in a chain still being forged.

Dodds reported from London. Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed from Baghdad.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) response to the Brussels terror attacks set off a firestorm on social media Tuesday.

In a statement, Cruz said, "We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

Now, Muslim groups in North Texas are calling on Cruz to retract his statements.

"We request that he reconsider his opinion because that is something which is going to divide people, and this is not how we confront the terrorism," said Suhail Kausar, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Alia Salem, director of the DFW Chapter of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations, made a similar statement:

"As Americans and as Muslims we are deeply saddened by the horrific attacks in Brussels today. Our hearts are with the citizens there but most of all with the victims and their families in this impossibly difficult time. The actions of these violent terrorists do not represent the views or beliefs of the North Texas Muslim Community or the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world. Today's shameless call by Senator Ted Cruz for law enforcement to patrol and secure neighborhoods in which American Muslim families live is not only unconstitutional, it is unbefitting anyone seeking our nations highest office.



"We urge Ted Cruz to retract his call for fascist-like treatment of American Muslims and to offer an apology to all Americans. As Martin Luther King Jr. Eloquently said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that." Do not allow the politics of fear turn us against each other, instead let us learn from our past and join together in the face of tyranny."

Cruz stood by his comments when asked about them by reporters Tuesday.

"If you have a neighborhood plagued by gang activity, it is standard law enforcement to direct more resources to work with the community that is facing gang activity to stop gang members," Cruz said.

Local law enforcement NBC 5 spoke with Tuesday questioned whether stepping up enforcement in so-called Muslim neighborhoods is necessary since they feel they already have a duty to protect all neighborhoods.
Giving people a second chance by clearing their records, that's what a partnership in Tarrant County is aiming to do this weekend.



The idea came out of community meetings in Fort Worth's Historic Stop Six Neighborhood.

The solution is a legal filing that few Texans, who qualify, take advantage of and area leaders hope it will have a major impact on their community.



The partnership is between Fort Worth ISD, Tarrant County Commissioners, the district attorney's office and the L. Clifford Davis Legal Association. The term they're using is "expunction", a legal term that allows someone's record to be essentially made clean.



"It's an opportunity for an individual to have their record completely destroyed," said Crystal Gayden, the current president of the L. Clifford Davis Legal Association.



An expunction is defined as an act of expunging a criminal record. In Texas, new state laws that went into effect in September, far more people qualify for such a legal remedy than those who actually use it.



"Less than five-percent of those who can take advantage of this relief, thats expunctions and non-disclosures, actually do so," said district attorney Sharen Wilson.



Expunctions in Texas apply to those arrested but never charged and anyone whose case has been dismissed or they have been acquitted or pardoned. Non-disclosures apply to some low-level crimes where probation or fines were involved. To know if you quality, you typically have to speak with an attorney.



This Saturday, March 26, at Fort Worth ISD's Dunbar High School on Ramey Avenue, attorneys will be working pro-bono, for free, to first help determine if someone is eligible for an expunction or non-disclosure and then will help them file the paperwork.



One reason so few people work to get an expunction is the cost. Lawyer fees can run as much as $3,500, according to Gayden. And Tarrant County just last week approved reducing the filing fee for expunctions down to $400. The commissioners court will vote on non-disclosure filing fees on Tuesday. The fee reductions don't just apply for the Dunbar clinic, but to everyone from now on.



"We're trying to make it easier," said Commissioner Roy C. Brooks.



Brooks also made it clear that those who can't afford the fees will not be turned away.



"If you are indigent, then you dont have to pay any of these filing fees," he said.



The idea behind the clinic is to get more people in the community working.

Job applications often require acknowledgments of criminal history and criminal background checks. The expunctions could remove issues from some searches and allow these individuals to find work again.



"Our goal is to basically put our parents back to work in this community," said Carlos Walker, Fort Worth ISD Historic Stop Six Initiative Director.



Walker says the inability for people with low-level offenses or mistakes on their records who qualify for expunctions to get jobs kept coming up in community meetings. After Saturday's expunction clinic, the initiative will hold a job fair in May.



"Those who get their records cleared back and they can actually apply for some jobs at that particular time," he said.



As elected and community leaders want to give a second chance to those who might not know they have such an opportunity.



"We want them not to have a record that will keep them from getting a job or a career of their choosing," said Wilson.



The expunction clinic will take place at Dunbar High School at 9 a.m., but leaders say anyone attending should be there by 8:30 a.m.



To make the clinic more efficient, those organizing it ask people attending to bring a photo copy of their driver's license or state I.D., a certified copy of one's criminal background (available at the district clerk's office) and proof of indigent status (if that applies).



For more information, contact the L. Clifford Davis Legal Association at 817-492-0000.
The plan to illuminate Manhattan's One World Trade Center in Belgian colors to show support for the nation reeling from terrorist attacks caused unexpected controversy Tuesday when the 408-foot spire atop the tallest building in the U.S. appeared to display the incorrect hues.

The plan to illuminate Manhattans One World Trade Center in Belgian colors to show support for the nation reeling from terrorist attacks caused unexpected controversy Tuesday when the 408-foot spire atop the tallest building in the U.S. appeared to display the incorrect hues.

Tonight, One World Trade Center will be displayed in black, yellow and red as we stand in solemn solidarity with the people of Belgium, just as they have done for us in the past, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement before the lighting Tuesday.

But the spire appeared to be lit in red, white and blue when it was first illuminated. A Port Authority spokesman said the spire was initially lit at 10 percent white, which was supposed to darken the spire enough to appear black.

After dusk, the lighting was further darkened so the Belgian colors of black, yellow and red were clearly visible, the spokesman said.

Still, some people took to social media to lambaste the apparently incorrect colors. Others, apparently unaware of Belgium's national colors, tweeted photos of the tribute but didn't mention the odd hues of the spire.

Correct Belgian colors were projected on One World Trade Center after they realized they've made a gaffe. #VRTnieuws pic.twitter.com/Zf9P1okHLk  Tom Van de Weghe (@tomvandeweghe) March 23, 2016

After the spire was darkened, Cuomo tweeted a photo of the spire showing the Belgian colors.

Tonight @OneWTC is lit in black, yellow and red as NY stands in solemn solidarity with the people of Belgium. pic.twitter.com/XupRXw4fb2  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 23, 2016

But some weren't convinced.

An aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has feuded publicly with Cuomo a number of times since taking office, accused the governor of doctoring the photo to show the correct colors in a since-deleted tweet.

"Ah, guys, this photo is pretty clearly doctored. #ethics," Rob Bennett tweeted.

A Cuomo spokesperson refused to comment when asked about Bennett's tweet.

A spokeswoman for the mayor's office said that Bennett's tweet was not sanctioned and the city and state are in solidarity in mourning the attacks.

The Durst Organization, which manages the spire, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other city landmarks also paid tribute to Belgium. The Empire State Building went dark Tuesday night, while City Hall illuminated two-thirds of its facade in yellow and red.

The Eiffel Tower, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai were among other landmarks around the world that also displayed Belgium's colors.

[NATL] Global Landmarks Light Up After Brussels Attack
Sen. Ted Cruz borrowed from the movie "The American President" to defend his wife from Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump Wednesday morning.

Trump tweeted a threat Tuesday night to "spill the beans" about Cruz's wife, Heidi, apparently in response to an anti-Trump ad featuring a naked Melania Trump. The ad released earlier Tuesday by Make America Awesome, an outside group opposing Trump's candidacy, included a picture of his wife from a GQ shoot from more than a decade ago and the text, "Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."

[NATL] Highlights From the 2016 Campaign Trail

Cruz denied any connection with the ad or Make America Awesome.

"If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he's better off sticking with me, because Heidi is way out of his league," Cruz said on CNN, stumbling a bit while referring to Trump as "her" in paraphrasing "The American President."

In the 1995 film's climactic scene, Michael Douglas' President Andrew Shepherd defends his lobbyist girlfriend Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Benning) against a rival for the Oval Office.

Free Beacon tweeted this video putting the quotes together for comparison:

Trump tweeted this response to Cruz Wednesday morning: "Lyin' Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted!"

"Most of the things Trump says have no basis in reality, so we are not worried," Heidi Cruz said Wednesday.

Heidi Cruz is an investment manager with Goldman Sachs. She is on leave of absence for her husband's campaign.

Earlier in the campaign, Cruz cracked up voters with a pretty good impersonation of Billy Crystal's Miracle Max from "The Princess Bride" for WMUR-TV's "Candidate Cafe" series.
Police who dismissed a California woman's kidnapping as a hoax akin to the Hollywood movie, "Gone Girl,'' damaged her and her boyfriend's reputations and forced them to move, a lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.



The suit by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, accuses Vallejo police of defamation and infliction of emotional distress and seeks unspecified damages. It names the city of Vallejo and two police officers as defendants.

According to a statement by the couples attorney Kevin Clune, a partner with Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP, Huskins and Quinn were "bound, drugged and terrorized" by Matthew Muller, who broke into their home last March as they slept. He then kidnapped Huskins and raped her, Clune alleged.

During the ordeal, the "terrified couple" sought help from Vallejo police, who discredited and publicly shamed them, Clune continued.

"The Vallejo police attacked Denise and Aaron when they were most vulnerable," Clune said. "By taking the all-too-common approach of blaming the victim, Vallejo made an already tragic situation infinitely worse. Vallejo must be held accountable for its egregious misconduct."



Calls to police and the city attorney's office were not immediately returned. The city has apologized to Huskins and Quinn.



Police waged a "campaign of disparagement'' against Huskins and Quinn following Huskins' abduction last March and created a media frenzy with their "Gone Girl'' theory, according to the lawsuit.



"News outlets across the world likened Huskins to the lead character in the film "Gone Girl,'' and placed Huskins's picture next to that of the lead character, including one depicting the character naked and covered in blood,'' the lawsuit says.



Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Muller  a disbarred Harvard University-trained attorney  with kidnapping Huskins from her Vallejo home.



Muller has pleaded not guilty.



Quinn reported that kidnappers broke into the couple's home, abducted Huskins and demanded money.



Huskins turned up safe two days later in her hometown of Huntington Beach, where she says she was dropped off. She showed up hours before the ransom was due.



After Huskins reappeared, Vallejo police said at a news conference the kidnapping was a hoax.



Police held and interrogated Quinn as if he had "already been convicted of murdering Huskins'' after he reported the abduction instead of pursuing Huskins' kidnapper, according to the lawsuit.

While they were questioning Quinn, they put his phone in airplane mode and did not receive calls from Huskins' abductor, the lawsuit says.



Muller was arrested in South Lake Tahoe in connection with an attempted robbery in Dublin, California, in June. Investigators say they found evidence that linked him to Huskins' abduction.

NBC Bay Area's Rhea Mahbubani contributed to this report.
A week after Pacifica demolished an apartment on a crumbling cliff, city leaders are asking a safety commission to reject an appeal by residents who want to overturn a decision to yellow-tag the property after geologists have cited a clear danger because of the continuous erosion there.

On Tuesday, Pacifica called on the Pacifica Emergency Preparedness and Safety Commission to uphold the mandatory evacuation of the apartments at 310 Esplanade Ave. to "protect resident safety." Last week, city crews took down the neighboring apartment complex at 320 Esplanade.

Worsening conditions on the bluffs beneath 310 Esplanade present a clear and imminent danger to residents, said Pacifica City Manager Lorie Tinfow, who also serves as Pacificas Director of Emergency Services. We are urging the Pacifica Emergency Preparedness and Safety Commission to honor our designation of this structure as unsafe and help us prevent harm and the loss of life that could result from these hazardous conditions.

Pacifica Chief Building Official Mike Cully yellow tagged the apartments at 310 Esplanade Ave. on Jan. 25, and declared the structures uninhabitable after El Nino-related storms caused wave-driven erosion of the nearby bluffs. A yellow-tag designation means residents are allowed to access the buildings only to remove belongings.

The Pacifica Emergency Preparedness and Safety Commission on Wednesday will consider an appeal by some of the tenants who want to remove the yellow tags on their old units.

If the commission sides with the tenants, the city said it will start a new yellow-tag process. If the commission agrees with the city, the tenants' only recours would be to sue.

Gordon King, who has lived in the complex for 15 years, is one of the tenants who want the city to reverse its decision. The 74-year-old retired veteran is working with Pacifica Resource Center to find housing.

King said he has spent much of his fixed income on motels and no one will accept his VA housing voucher.

"The stress point is amazing," King said. "I never thought it was possible that your life could change in one day, and it really can."

Of the households displaced, 14 have found permanent housing, Pacifica leaders said.

The city has also sought outside funding for financial aid to assist evacuees. To date, San Mateo County has committed about $20,000 through Measure A sales tax for security deposits, rent assistance and to help cover motel stays as residents search for new housing. Several residents with Housing Authority vouchers are also being helped by Abode Services. The Linda Mar Safeway has also provided $2,500 in gift cards to displaced residents of 310 Esplanade Ave. and a Pacifica Winter Storms fund has been set up online and continues to accept donations to provide further assistance.

City officials say the appeal filed by Millard Tong, the owner of 310 Esplanade Ave. and the recently demolished 320 Esplanade, Bart Willoughby, a former building resident, and several others ignores years of warnings by the city regarding the bluffs progressive erosion and disregards the findings of a geotechnical expert, officials said.

An independent analysis by Principle Geotechnical Engineer Ted Sayre of Cotton, Shires and Associates, Inc. confirmed the need to yellow-tag the structure, calling the buildings precipitous location on the crumbling bluffs untenable and a clear danger to occupants.

The current combination of over-steepened bluffs combined with the ongoing El Nino storm season results in a high level of risk to certain living space areas on the property, Sayre wrote in a Feb. 17 analysis for the city. Because of this high risk for over-stressing of patios, balconies and foundations, we have recommended that public access be severely restricted.

This is not the first of Tongs buildings evacuated due to coastal erosion. In 2010, Pacifica evacuated and red-tagged the 20-unit apartment building at 320 Esplanade after storm-driven coastal erosion rendered it similarly unliveable.

In July 2015, the city initiated code enforcement action against Tong related to the poor condition of 320 Esplanade. A few months later, in October 2015, the city filed a criminal misdemeanor complaint for violations of the Pacifica Municipal Code related to the condition of 320 Esplanade.

On Feb. 23, Tong pleaded no contest to two charges and was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to cooperate with the citys efforts to abate the dangerous conditions at 320 Esplanade and pay full restitution for the costs of that abatement.

Meanwhile, Tong filed for bankruptcy in March 2015. The city is participating in the case in an effort to monitor available assets and recover any costs incurred at 320 Esplanade, including the cost of last weeks demolition.
Followers of the Twitter account @HiddenCash hunted through Riverside for free money Saturday, days after a search for cash drops left a Southern California park with thousands of dollars in damage.

Bills enclosed in 24 sugar packets were hidden in an empty field at Market and Northbend Streets on Saturday, the account tweeted. Victorious searchers posted photos of themselves posing with cash on Twitter.

Another drop with cash in sugar packets and PEZ dispensers is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles. A final drop in LA, which the account tweeted would be "our biggest ever" will occur at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

People began searching Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Park on Friday night, but the hunt was cut short when the park closed.

On Thursday night, searchers looked for cash hidden in Penn Park in Whittier, affecting traffic and making noise. Police described the scene as "controlled chaos." Photos shared with NBC4 of the park the next morning show trampled bushes, broken branches and littered pathways.

Whittier officials told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that the hunt caused more than $5,000 of damage to the park, which doesn't include the $1,700 in police overtime. The city has not returned a request for comment.

An even more frenzied search happened in Burbank in May as crowds caused what police called a traffic nightmare.

The man behind @HiddenCash was identified in June as Jason Buzi, a San Francisco real estate investor.
It's a bridge that can't handle the weight of a school bus, and yet it's surrounded by a school, a church and a wilderness park in Orange County, and some want it closed.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to keep the "bridge to nowhere" open until May 11.

The temporary Amwa Bridge was built more than 37 years ago in 1979 by the South Orange County Water Management Association on land owned by the county.

Now, decades later after a Mormon church has built a structure on the other side of the bridge, closing it is not an option for community members who want to access a trail, as well as members who need to get to the church.

The big problem: No one wants to take long term financial responsibility if the bridge fails.

Hikers, churchgoers, and students at Wood Canyon School all use the Amwa Bridge because it's the only way in the Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park.

The bridge was only supposed to serve the purpose of allowing workers to move their trucks into the Aliso Viejo plant in 1979. Plant officials now contend the bridge is at the end of its "useful" life and want to close it.

There are cracks and crevices underneath, which engineers say serve as evidence that the tiny former two lane road is no longer safe.

But other stakeholders in the community say the decision to close the bridge off Alicia Parkway and Amwa Road will affect two cities, a school district, and church.

"It's a great resource we have here in south OC, these wilderness parks," Rene Hernandez, a mountain biker, said. "Losing access to this park is a kind of a big deal for people who live down here."

Members of a Mormon church on the other side of the bridge are concerned, as it's the only way to drive to the place where they worship frequently.

"We come to church every morning," Karina Penkethman, church member, said. "We come to pick up kids at a school which is just up the road, so every day, a couple times a day."

The South Orange County Wastewater Authority placed a guard on the bridge to monitor traffic. They cut it down to one lane only. But with the structure's integrity in question, the only solution to that the board thinks is viable is to close the bridge.

"We do see the bridge is used by overweight vehicles and if we don't keep a security person there we're truly concerned that a vehicle over eight tons could cause the bridge to fail," Betty Burnett of the South Orange County Wastewater Authority said.

But church leaders say it's not so simple: Their building is used daily by scouts, recovery groups and nearly 2,000 members.

"It's just we don't want access completely cut off while socwa negotiates a long-term solution with the county," Mark Boud, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said.

Tuesday afternoon, a temporary solution was reached for the "temporary" bridge, keeping it open until early May.

To complicate matters further, Wood Canyon Elementary School officials said the church is also part of their emergency plan where students would be reunited with parents in case of emergency.

The final blow: The cost of rebuilding the bridge is estimated at about $4 million.
A team of robbers pepper-sprayed the shopkeeper of a Malibu watch store, shattered display cases, and made off with thousands of dollars worth of high-end timepieces, authorities said.

The robbers struck the Westime shop in the open air Malibu Country Mart around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Edward Winslow of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which is handling the investigation.

The robbery occurred so quickly some neighboring merchants were not aware what had happened until the Westime shopkeeper emerged in obvious pain.

"I saw him walk out. He was all soaking wet, all red (in the face)," said Noelle Scott, manager of the Letarte shop across from Westime. "It was really scary not knowing what was going on."

Paramedics treated him and appeared to wash out the remaining pepper spray residue, she said.

After detectives completed their on-scene investigation, workers at Westime could be seen attending to the damage.

They declined to comment.

The Country Mart is in the heart of Malibu, near the creek, Civic Center, and the famed Malibu Colony of beachfront estates.

It's believed as many as four robbers were working in concert. Detectives have not released detailed descriptions of them, nor of the getaway vehicle.
Under a fresh cloud of overseas violence, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded wins with their chief rivals on Tuesday and attacked each other's worldviews as the 2016 presidential contest turned into a clash of would-be commanders in chief.

While both front-runners scored victories in the night's biggest prize of Arizona, Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders won caucuses in Utah and Idaho and Republican Ted Cruz claimed his party's caucuses in Utah.

The victories kept Clinton and Trump from dominating another election night, but they both maintained a comfortable lead in the race for delegates that decide the presidential nominations.

Long lines and frenzied interest marked primary elections across the three Western states as the world grappled with a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blasts in Brussels that left dozens dead and many more wounded.

"This is about not only selecting a president, but also selecting a commander in chief," Clinton said in Seattle as she condemned Trump by name and denounced his embrace of torture and hardline rhetoric aimed at Muslims. "The last thing we need is leaders who incite more fear."

Trump, in turn, branded Clinton as "Incompetent Hillary" as he discussed her tenure as secretary of state. "Incompetent Hillary doesn't know what she's talking about," the billionaire businessman said in an interview with Fox News. "She doesn't have a clue."

The back and forth between the front-runners came on a day when voters were eager to make their voices heard in the 2016 election.

In Utah, caucus-goers were dispatched by poll workers to local stores with orders buy reams of paper and photocopy fresh ballots amid huge turnout. The state Democratic Party's website crashed due to high traffic.

In Arizona, voters waited two hours or more in some places to cast primary ballots, while police were called to help control traffic.

As voters flooded to the polls, the presidential candidates lashed out at each other's foreign policy prescriptions, showcasing sharp contrasts in confronting the threat of Islamic extremism.

Clinton  and Trump's Republican rivals  questioned the GOP front-runner's temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish U.S. involvement with NATO.

Addressing cheering supporters in Seattle, Clinton said the attacks in Brussels were a pointed reminder of "how high the stakes are" in 2016.

"We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies," she said. "We can't throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn't and start torturing people."

Cruz seized on Trump's foreign policy inexperience while declaring that the U.S. is at war with the Islamic State group.

"He doesn't have the minimal knowledge one would expect from a staffer at the State Department, much less from the commander in chief," he told reporters. "The stakes are too high for learning on the job."

The debate between the two took a detour late Tuesday night as they engaged in an unusual Twitter exchange about their wives.

The billionaire warned Cruz he would "spill the beans on your wife" after an anti-Trump group ran an ad in Utah featuring a picture of Trump's wife, Melania, from a photo shoot that ran in GQ magazine more than a decade ago.

Cruz shot back with a tweet of his own, saying in part, "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."

Trump's brash tone has turned off some Republican voters in Utah, where early returns suggested Cruz had a chance to claim more than 50 percent of the caucus vote  and with it, all 40 of Utah's delegates.

Yet that wouldn't make up for Trump's haul in Arizona, where he earned the state's entire trove of 58 delegates.

Trump supporter Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, cheered the billionaire's brash style, even as he acknowledged Trump doesn't play as well in Utah as other parts of the country.

"I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but he's human," Brady said. "I don't care."

Arizona's win gives Trump a little less than half of the Republican delegates allocated so far. That's still short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination before the party's national convention this summer.

However, Trump has a path to the nomination if he continues to win states that award all or most of their delegates to the winner. Overall, Trump has accumulated 739 delegates, Cruz has 425 and Kasich 143.

On the Democratic side, Clinton's delegate advantage is even greater than Trump's.

Coming off last week's five-state sweep of Sanders, the former secretary of state entered Tuesday leading by more than 300 pledged delegates. With Sanders standing to win at least 55 delegates to Clinton's 51 on Tuesday, that wasn't about to change.

Neither was Sanders' commitment to carry on.

"These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests," he said in a statement.
Following Monday's announcement made by Cuban President Raul Castro, the Cuban American National Foundation provided a list of 47 verified political prisoners currently supported by the foundation.

This comes after Castro answered an American journalist's question about political prisoners, during a historic press conference in Cuba with President Obama, and why he doesn't release them. He said, "When the meeting concludes, give me a list with the names. If we have those political prisoners, they will be released before tonight ends."

The list was released and CANF said in a statement: "It is our expectation that these political prisoners will be released, unconditionally, by this evening."

"I think it's like a message to the world. 'We will never admit anything. We will never reconsider or we'll never say that we regret what we have done,'" said Juan Adolfo Fernandez, former political prisoner.

Fernandez was a political prisoner in Cuba from 2003 to 2010. He calls Castro's response absurd, "It's a joke. It's a very black humor joke to say there are no political prisoners in Cuba."

Fernandez now works with the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba helping people who have family in jail on the communist island.

The organization is part of the Cuban American National Foundation, which released the list of 47 political prisoners who receive support from the foundation.

The list includes each name of the prisoners, their location, sentence and date of imprisonment:
Tom Hiddleston is definitely James Bond material. He's British. He's sexy. And he can certainly hold his own in action scenes (hello, Loki!).

It's no wonder his name continually pops up as someone who has the chops to replace Daniel Craig as 007. "I don't know honestly if I have a shot, but it's flattering that some people think I do," Hiddleston told E! News Tuesday at the premiere of his new Hank Williams biopic "I Saw the Light" (in theaters on March 25).

Hiddleston's also not convinced that Craig is ready to say goodbye to the iconic character. "I think Daniel Craig has been one of the very best and I bet he does more," he said.

And it turns out Hiddleston knows his James Bond history.

"When I was a child, when I was five years old, I remember very clearly on the BBC, they used to play reruns of the Sean Connery and Roger Moore Bonds every Saturday night," he said. "It was a thrill that my parents let me stay up past my bedtime to watch it. God forbid you got back to school on Monday and you didn't because that's all people would talk about in the playground."

You can get a look at Hiddleston playing a British spy in the upcoming television series "The Night Manager." The six-part series, which premieres on April 19 on AMC, also stars Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki.

PHOTOS: See more from the "I Saw the Light" premiere in Marc Malkin's Instagrams gallery
The Tony-winning revival of Chicago will mark its 20th anniversary on Broadway this November at the Ambassador Theatre, and have planned a series of events and initiatives to celebrate.

The festivities will include a one-night-only concert performance on August 31 in Central Park that's free to the public. The evening will be presented as part of SummerStage -- City Parks Foundations annual free performing arts festival.

Meanwhile over at the Lincoln Center Festival, Japanese troupe Takarazuka will return to New York for the first time in over 25 years to perform an all-female, all-Japanese version of Chicago from July 20-24. Itll be the first time in history that two identical productions of a musical in two different languages will be playing concurrently in New York.

The New York Public Library will also get in on the action, displaying materials from Chicago in an exhibit called Curtain Up!. Opening this October at the Librarys Performing Arts branch in Lincoln Center, the exhibit will also be met with public programs featuring original cast and creative team members.

Speaking of original cast members, Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, James Naughton and Joel Grey -- the revivals four original leads -- are also taking part in the celebration, reuniting for a new advertising campaign.

And if that werent enough, William Ivey Longs Tony-nominated costumes are being revised for the show too.

Chicago features music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with direction from Tony-winner Walter Bobbie.

For more information, visit www.ChicagoTheMusical.com.


Below is a glance at key suspects in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and Tuesday's attacks in Brussels. The suspects are believed to have been part of a cell linked to the Islamic State group, which claims responsibility for the attacks.

___

Salah Abdeslam

The 26-year-old Belgian-born Frenchman is in custody in Belgium after his arrest Friday in a massive police raid. He is suspected of being the logistics man for the Islamic extremists who went on a rampage in Paris on Nov. 13, killing 130 people. Abdeslam is thought to have rented rooms, shopped for detonators and driven at least one of the killers from Brussels to Paris. He was Europe's most wanted fugitive before being captured in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek near his childhood home.

___

Najim Laachraoui

Officials say Laachraoui is believed to have made the TATP-filled suicide vests used in the Paris attacks. A French police official told The Associated Press that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. TATP and other bomb-making materials were found in the search of an apartment in the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek, linked to the Brussels attacks. Belgian police had already been searching for Laachraoui before that as a suspected accomplice of Salah Abdeslam.

___

Abdelhamid Abaaoud

The Belgian-Moroccan extremist is thought to have orchestrated the Paris attacks. Authorities at first believed he had directed the attacks from Syria but later found he had slipped into Europe through Greece. He was killed during a French police raid near France's national stadium outside Paris where three suicide bombers had blown themselves up during the Nov. 13 attacks. French prosecutors said he was traced to an apartment in the Saint-Denis neighborhood of Paris through phone taps and surveillance.

___

Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui

The El Bakraoui brothers were two of the three suicide attackers Tuesday in Brussels. The Belgian prosecutor says Ibrahim, 29, blew himself up at the airport. The other brother apparently blew himself up in the city's subway system. Officials say Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, linking the two attacks.

___

Brahim Abdeslam

The older brother of Salah Abdeslam is believed to have been part of the team that attacked bars and restaurants in Paris on Nov. 13. He blew himself up outside a cafe during the attacks. His former lawyer said the 31-year-old was imprisoned in Belgium for a month in 2010 for stealing identity cards.

___

One of attackers killed at the airport has not been identified, nor has another man in white seen pushing a trolley alongside the two suicide bombers.
For Patty DiRenzo, spreading awareness of New Jersey's Overdose Prevention Act is personal.



DiRenzo's son, Sal Marchese, was 26 when he died in Camden of a heroin overdose in 2010. Police found evidence that another person was with Marchese at the time of his death, but left him in the car and never called for help.



"Somebody was with him in his car, but they left him alone to die," DiRenzo said on Wednesday as she hit the streets in Camden to hand out information cards about the Overdose Prevention Act. "So it's very important to me to make sure that other parents don't endure the pain that we're enduring."



Since her son's death, DiRenzo made it her mission to make sure that what happened to him doesn't continue. She was instrumental in pushing for New Jersey to pass the Overdose Prevention Act, which, like Pennsylvania's Good Samaritan Law, stipulates that if a person calls 9-1-1 to get someone who is overdosing help, they won't be arrested.



Camden County Police Capt. Gabriel Camacho praised DiRenzo's tireless work around awareness and said she turned her son's death from a "tragedy into a triumph."



"It's not a police problem. It's everyone's problem," Camacho said of drug addiction. "And until it's treated as a society problem, people like Miss DiRenzo are doing an amazing job. It's a partnership."



DiRenzo joined Camden County Police officers Wednesday to hand out informational palm cards about the act and spread awareness. She said hitting the streets in Camden, where drug sales and use are rampant, is the best way to spread the word about the law to the people who need to know it most.



"Coming out on the streets where the kids are is the most effective way to do it," DiRenzo said. "This is where we need to be. If it gets through to just one person, then it worked, but I hope it gets through to more than one person today."

Patty DiRenzo is among dozens of people NBC10 interviewed extensively as part of Generation Addicted, our in-depth exclusive look at the tragic epidemic of heroin and opioid addiction in our region and beyond. To learn more about Patty and Sal's story, watch Generation Addicted and see the online report here.
Since 2011, NBC10 and Widener University have partnered for the annual High School Leadership Awards, a program that recognizes high school juniors in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware who exhibit strong leadership skills, academic excellence, and exceptional character. This character can be shown through participation in extracurricular activities, volunteering, and/or demonstrating a positive influence on their peers.



Together, NBC10 and Widener University have honored nearly 600 high school students and provided these award recipients with the opportunity to attend a celebratory breakfast at the National Constitution Center, participate in a leadership experience at Widener University, and receive a $20,000 scholarship over four years if they enroll at Widener University as undergraduates.



Award winners who enroll at Widener University are named Apogee Scholars through the Oskin Leadership Institute, where they will hone their leadership skills to enact positive change on campus and beyond.



High school principals and administrators are encouraged to nominate one junior from their school to be considered for the High School Leadership Award. More information can be found on Widener Universitys High School Leadership Awards website.

Annual Awards Program Timeline

Principal nominations due in November

Nominated student forms due in December

Award winners announced in January

Awards breakfast in March

Leadership experience at Widener University the following fall

Widener High School Leadership Awards

Recent Coverage
Police have jailed a "leprechaun-looking" suspect who allegedly robbed three central Pennsylvania convenience stores while wearing a green wig and wielding a machete.

Lancaster police tell LNP that 19-year-old Jaime Rodriguez held up all three Turkey Hill stores between midnight and 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"I need the money put in the bag" and "I don't want to have to kill you," the thief, who carried a large knife, said during the first heist at a Duke Street store, said Lancaster Police.

Police said they spotted Rodriguez about a block away from the third store -- on New Holland Avenue in Manheim Township -- and subdued him after a struggle, which including using a police dog who injured the suspect. Police said Rodriguez acknowledged committing the heists, two in Lancaster and one in neighboring Manheim Township.

Nobody was hurt in any of the robberies, though police said Rodriguez did threaten to kill one clerk.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Rodriguez who faces a preliminary hearing March 30.
George Mason University sent an alert to its students Monday after two female students reported being raped within a few days of each other, the university said.

One student reported to university police she was raped late March 17 by a male student she knows, according to the university email alert obtained by News4.

Police said the assault happened in a student residence hall or in an off-campus apartment. The victim may have "unknowingly ingested an unidentified drug" before the assault, the alert said.

On Monday, March 21, another female student reported she was raped by a man she met through an online dating app about 1:15 a.m. in her student residence hall on the Fairfax campus. The suspect is unaffiliated with the university, the school said.

No descriptions were given for the suspects.

Police are investigating both incidents and said anyone with information should contact Mason Police at 703-993-2810 or call the anonymous tip line at 703-993-4111.
Prince George's County police say a man who was found dead in a District Heights townhome community had been shot and set on fire.

Officers were called to the 5000 block of Hil Mar Drive about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday where a man's body was found outside of a home.

Police identified the man as 32-year-old Rashaad Garnett Tate.

Tate was shot and set on fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Bob Adams lives in the area and says the incident is unusual for the quiet townhome community.

"I've been living here ever since they built these houses. This is like the first homicide that I'm familiar with over here," Adams said.

No arrests have been made at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (301) 772-492 or Crime Solvers at 1 (866) 411-TIPS.
Presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump came calling again on D.C. Monday.

More than four dozen reporters sat in chairs on the floor of Trumps unfinished hotel at the Old Post Office Building.

It was different from previous visits.

The Secret Service is protecting him now. So reporters and their gear had to show up two hours before Trumps news conference. It was pretty cold and pretty dusty for those of us suffering allergies or head colds.

The news conference was supposed to be about the Trump hotel that Trump says will open in the old 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW space in September. Trump  surprise!  praised his vision, the construction, the people involved, the extra-luxurious fixtures to expect, the shops and restaurants, the new ballroom and the several hundred ultra-luxury rooms and suites.

Then, no one asked about the hotel. No one.

And we were back to the presidential campaign for the next 40 minutes or so as Trump fielded endless questions. The only odd thing that occurred was when someone sitting with the media asked Trump for a job.

And it also was different this time because there were no city officials to welcome Trump to town. At the groundbreaking in 2014, Mayor Vincent Gray spoke on behalf of the city and Muriel Bowser, then representing Ward 4, spoke on behalf of the D.C. Council.

The big news for Trump this week was his appearance before a gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the Verizon Center. Trump has said he would be a neutral person in the debate over the future of Israel and Palestine. However, Trump also has said, There is no one more pro-Israel.

For now, thats a lot more serious of a subject to discuss than the finishing touches on his hotel.

 LGBT issues. The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance has been an active political group in the District since the early 1970s. Each election cycle, it does a candidate questionnaire, as do many other groups. But alliance president Rick Rosendall is known for putting together a strong questionnaire and disseminating the results.

Rosendall sent a letter to all candidates listed by the D.C. Board of Elections for the June 14 primary. (The deadline to submit qualifying petitions was last Wednesday.)

GLAA will rate candidates based on your record and signed answers on LGBT issues, Rosendall wrote, and we will publish your full questionnaire responses on our website along with your rating.

Not every group that vets candidates publishes the results. It would be better if they did.

If you want to play candidate and consider the GLAA questions yourself, take a look at glaa.org/archive/2016/cqprimary.pdf.

 Thats all folks. The District and many other cities are enjoying a boom in population, in part because of the millennials choosing cities over suburbs.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments recently said the District itself could see its population of 670,000 rising to nearly 1 million in 30 years.

But some other voices are being heard on this back-to-the-cities movement. It may be only a classic phase in population shifts.

The Atlantics CityLab recently reported on findings by Dowell Myers, a demography and urban planning professor at the University of Southern California. Myers suggests cities like the District have reached peak millennial. Yes, young people will continue to migrate to cities, but fewer will do so and more will leave for rediscovered suburbs.

Such population shifts have occurred any number of times, but it could come as a shock to cities that dont plan to make themselves hospitable to aging millennials.

Myers presented his study at the University of Texas City Forum.

As Natalie Delgadillo wrote in CityLab: All this could create problems for cities that view the most recent shift toward urban living as a given. Housing could sit vacant and all the air could come out of the businesses that were built to cater to the young people living there. Many cities could suddenly find themselves scrambling to try to make up for population loss or attract people back into urban cores.

The Myers study suggest cities begin planning now to remain attractive to aging millennials. Cities should be getting out ahead of this and thinking about what they can do, CityLab quotes Myers as saying. They need to invest in building more parks and increasing the availability of affordable childcare.

The CityLab article and a link to the study can be found at tinyurl.com/citylab-millennials.

Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4.
A Fairfax County, Virginia, woman is facing $81,000 in fines releated to unpaid tolls on the Dulles Toll Road, WTOP reports.

Sara Hagarty's attorney, David Bernhard, told WTOP his client is accused of not paying about $236 in tolls. Penalties and other fees boost that amount to a whopping $81,325.

A judge recently ruled the fine does not represent an unconstitutional burden, despite a constitutional amendment barring excessive fines. Bernhard has requested that a jury make the final decision.

This is not the first time a driver has racked up a crazy bill on the Dulles Toll Road.

Three years ago, Jason Bourcier was slapped with a $200,000 bill after he ignored the tolls. Bourcier eventually reached a settlement with VDOT, and both parties agreed on a payment plan. Bourcier will be paying VDOT back until hes 87.
A lieutenant with the state Department of Correction is under arrest, accused of assaulting a mailman, pulling a gun on him and shouting racial slurs at him in Waterbury.

Daniel Alvarado, 42, saw the mailman, 23-year-old Roshane Thompson, urinating in a wooded area near his property on Saturday, March 19 and confronted him, according to police.

During the altercation, Alvarado pulled a gun and put it against the Thompson's stomach, police said.

Alvarado handed the gun to his girlfriend, who walked away with it, before the correction officer began hitting Thompson in the face several times, slamming his head into the pavement and shouting racial remarks at him, according to police.

Thompson was found lying on the ground next to his mail truck with a large cut above his right eye. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for a broken eye socket.

Alvarado, who has been employed by the Department of Correction since 2000, was charged with second-degree assault with a firearm, reckless endangerment, carrying a firearm while intoxicated and second-degree bigotry.

He was placed on administrative leave from his job at the Bridgeport Correctional Center on Monday, March 21, according to a Department of Correction spokesperson.

The case was continued.
Should companies have a cybersecurity expert on their board of directors? The federal government seems to think so, and increasingly so do security and risk professionals, although companies would prefer to make that decision without government involvement, according to a sampling of industry pros.

A disclosure bill introduced by the U.S. Senate in December would ask companies to disclose whether they have a cyber security expert or equivalent measure on its board of directors. While no action is required if no expert currently has a seat on the board, the company would need to provide an explanation for how it is approaching cybersecurity.

Many questions still need answered, such as what skills would qualify a board member as a cybersecurity expert.The SEC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology would be given a role in evaluating cybersecurity experts qualifications, but its not clear what those qualifications are. NIST would not comment on pending legislation.
Wham, bam, bam  three more hospitals have been hit with ransomware.

Kentucky hospital hit with ransomware

David Park, COO of Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky, told WFIE 14 News that after attackers copied patients files, locked those copies and deleted the originals, the hospital notified the FBI. The attack happened on Friday after the ransomware made it past the hospitals email filter; by Monday, Methodist officials said their system was up and running.

Brian Krebs reported the hospital had posted a scrolling red internal state of emergency banner on its website. Park told Krebs the hospital hadnt ruled out paying the ransom, but he told WFIE the hospital didnt pay it. The ransom, according to Krebs, was four bitcoins which was equal to about $1,600.

The initial infection was an opportunistic attack that came via spam email about invoices which tricked the recipient into opening the attached file. The ransomware attempted to spread across the entire internal network and successfully compromised several other systems, according to Krebs, before Methodist shut down all of the hospitals desktop computers, bringing systems back online one by one only after scanning each for signs of infection.

Two more California hospitals hit with ransomware attacks

Two southern California hospitals were also hit with cyberattacks on Friday, according to Healthcare Finance. The affected hospitals were Chino Valley Medical Center and Desert Valley Hospital, which are part of the national hospital chain Prime Healthcare Services. The malware attack disrupted servers and resulted in some IT systems being shut down so the infection wouldnt spread.

Prime Healthcare spokesman Fred Ortega said the FBI had been contacted, but refused to say if the malware was ransomware or what ransom was being demanded. Instead, Ortega compared the malware-infecting attack to being similar to challenges hospitals across the country are facing.

How similaras in a similar case such as when Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center was the victim of a ransomware attack and paid the $17,000 ransom in bitcoins? Ortega might not admit the malware attack was a ransomware attack, but an insider source told the Los Angeles Times that it was indeed ransomware; the ransom amount has currently not been reported. Ortega followed up by saying nothing was paid and no patient or employee data was compromised.

Ortega added, The concern now is to let law enforcement do their thing and find the culprit. Besides the FBI, data security experts and the California Department of Public Health are involved in the case.

Prime Healthcare was quick to note that no patient records were compromised. Healthcare Finance mentioned that Prime Healthcare, which runs 42 hospitals in 14 states, has been in trouble over lapses on patient privacy in the past; it paid a $275,000 settlement in 2013 to resolve a federal investigation involving a breach of patient confidentiality  one of Primes hospitals had shared a womans medical files with journalists and sent an email about her treatment to all hospital employees.

Growing threat and big booming business of ransomware

Ransomware is definitely a growing threat, Special Agent Chris Stangl, a section chief in the FBI cyber division, told The Washington Post. This seems to echo an OTA ransomware report about cybercrooks cherry-picking businesses with more valuable data in order to extort the most money. Organizations are often paying the extortion amount. As Stangl put it, Success breeds more activity.

Recently both the FBI (pdf) and Microsoft have issued warnings about the growing threat of Samas ransomware which encrypts files on machines as well as those shared on a companys network.

Ransomware has been around for a long time, but weve never seen a concerted manual effort by hackers to break into a network, hang out for a year, spread to all the machines and then install it everywhere, added Val Smith, chief executive of Attack Research. This is a major shift in effort.

Smith was among the experts blaming recent ransomware attacks on Chinese state-sponsored hackers; he told Reuters that some government hackers or contractors could be out of work or with reduced work and looking to supplement their income via ransomware.
Siblings Carol Schultz and Roger Rudy were young when they lost their brother, Private Harry J. Rudy, in World War II. Neither of them remember him much  Roger was still in diapers  but they cherish his memory and celebrate his bravery every chance they get, even when that chance is over 60 years later.

On April 1, Purple Hearts Reunited is presenting Rudy with his brothers Purple Heart. Harry Rudy, of the 337th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, was awarded the medal after being killed in action on Sept. 19, 1944, off the shores of Florence, Italy.

The medal was originally given to the family, but over the years was lost. Roger Rudy said he is overjoyed to have it returned.

Its hard to describe it with words, its wonderful, he said. Thats a very special medal, and its important to make sure it gets back to the family.

Rudy said hell place the medal with the rest of his brothers belongings  a cigarette case and a rosary  in a display case in his basement along with other family members military items.

Roger Rudy is one of 12 children. Four of his brothers served in the Army, and a fifth later joined the Navy. Harry Rudy is the only one who didnt return.

Rudy and Schultz invited the remaining four siblings to attend the April 1 ceremony. Three of the siblings are from California. Rudys three children will be attending and many more children and grandchildren were invited.

Being a close family, we want them to know of (Harry), Schultz said. This is just going to bring it all back, open the doors again. Its kind of full closure now.

The Chippewa Falls Patriotic Council held a memorial ceremony for Harry Rudy on Veterans Day in 2005 at the Prairie View Cemetery in Lake Hallie. Roger Rudy said he visits the memorial, which is with their parents, at least once a year.

His brothers original burial site is in the Florence American Cemetery in Florence, Italy, Plot A, Row 4.

Purple Hearts Reunited, a 501 (3) non profit, focuses on locating Purple Hearts around the globe and properly returning them to their families. Founder Zachariah Fike, a Vermont National Guard Army captain and Purple Heart recipient, said the organization has successfully returned over 200 medals in just three years, and rescued roughly 7,500.

Fike found Harry Rudys Purple Heart on a military collectors online site.

Fike said he usually finds metals on military collectors websites, but as Purple Hearts Reunited becomes more known, people reach out to him when they recover a lost medal.

It is very important for Fike to see these medals returned to their rightful owners, and he volunteers his time to make sure that happens.

We get an opportunity by these medal returns to tell their story, tell the world who Harry Rudy was, and thats preserving his legacy, Fike said. He sacrificed his life, theres no greater calling.

Since Fike cant travel the country himself, hes set up his own valor guard of veterans in various states to present the military-style medal ceremony.

However, its a tall task for anyone to tackle, and hes always looking for local businesses, organizations and veterans to help him out.

Wisconsin valor guards and Army veterans Michael Brennan and Jason Johns are presenting the Purple Heart to Rudys family.

Brennan, who lost his own son in Afghanistan eight years ago, said hes honored to be a part of the ceremony. While he attended a handful in California with Fike, this is the first ceremony hell be doing in Wisconsin.

It means a lot to me to do the right thing and return these in a respectful manner, Brennan said. The family members may not have been very old when their loved one passed, but these people are going through emotions some of them havent lived through, or maybe havent lived through in years. I know the price of sacrifice and what that feels like.

The Purple Hearts Reunited ceremony will be held Friday, April 1 at American Legion Post 77, 12 E. Spring St., Chippewa Falls. The ceremony is open to the public.
At the Google Cloud Platform developer conference today Google explained its vision of how enterprises will move to and operate more efficiently in its cloud. The vision: Zero-Dev-Ops cloud computing that instead of programming a computer you teach it what it [Googles cloud] wants to know and it learns to give you what you want, according to Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt.

The vision may sound more like a SciFi movie, but it knit together new and recently announced technologies into a coherent explanation.

Google plans to bring its enormous-scale data center know-how learned fulfilling 85% of the worlds searches with open source software in a serverless secure cloud in which it invested $10 billion in capital equipment last year. It has repurposed open source versions of its highly optimized internal systems used to build and operate the seven services such as Maps and Gmail that have more than a billion users.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Cloud Executive Vice President Diane Greene and Alphabet Chairman led with the companys robust security, claimed its provisioning and use of cloud resources was portable and more efficient and less expensive than Amazons, stated a commitment to reduce its customers cost of managing virtualized infrastructure called dev-ops to nearly nothing and emphasized open source software over its cloud products.

The daily reports of corporate data breaches is the reason security was discussed first. Google has the security scale, technical expertise, tools and analytics built into its infrastructure that enterprises and their vendors cant reproduce. If there were just one reason an enterprise should look at moving to the cloud it is security.

Google claimed that its provisioning efficiency only uses the resources needed to meet the workload, neither over-provisioned individual servers nor a contractually provisioned minimum number of servers. Greene claimed 50% better price performance using Googles cloud.

Snapchat growth from 0 to 100 million users without a dedicated dev-ops team was cited as an example of dev-op cost reduction. This presupposes using open source containers and orchestration software based on what Google uses internally. An enterprise moving virtualized server workloads to Googles cloud couldnt achieve these gains without restructuring and rewriting systems.

Google spoke extensively about open-source Docker containers and Kubernetes orchestration software that is an operational advantage and a tactic for competing with market-leader Amazon. Docker containerizes applications with all the libraries and dependencies an application needs to run. Containers have been a Linux feature that was popularized by Docker, the company with the same name. Docker container use by Googles cloud customers is doubling every quarter because they have the advantage of portability and serve as a common unit for test and for continuous deployment.

+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD +

Kubernetes orchestrates the workload of Docker containers in response to the demand. Designed to manage thousands of Docker instances, Kubernetes can spread a workload across a hybrid cloud using on-premise equipment, Googles and Amazons cloud services. Google engineer Ray Tsang demonstrated an impressive feature called rolling-updates through the open source Stackdriver dashboard announced today. Tsang launched an update that replaced Docker instances with new versions and using load balancing that will spread the workload between the Google Cloud and a bare metal Intel based server rack with Kubernetes.

The open source machine learning project Tensorflow and its applications was talked about and demonstrated frequently. A product of Googles long term investment in artificial intelligence, it is a differentiator that will attract customers to its cloud who need machine learning. Available as an application programming interface (API) within Googles cloud, Tensorflow is used to interpret digital and non-digital information such as images, video and voice by teaching it with training data sets. Google Photos was used as an example of how Tensorflow could not only sort and identify subjects with facial recognition but classify them based on activity.

Google has a challenge with new companies and enterprises though. Googles open source, vendor independent cloud with low dev-ops demands should be an attraction to new companies building state of the art applications. Googles marquee customers Spotify and Snapchat are impressive but Amazon has a much more extensive list including Netflix, Airbnb and Uber. Googles challenge in attracting the developers in these agile small companies who already know Amazons cloud is to grab their attention then convince them to take the time to evaluate and learn their offering.

Google clearly understands its challenge with enterprises. Moving legacy systems to the cloud doesnt have the same return or strategic advantages as apps built anew by more agile small companies. Green said that Google would become an applied R&D team to give their enterprise customers a boost.
PHOENIX  The Arizona presidential primary drew long lines Tuesday as people waited hours at polling spots to cast ballots amid heightened interest in the polarizing contest for the White House.

Dozens of people were lined up before voting started at 6 a.m. at a central Phoenix polling place, and hundreds were in line there by mid-afternoon. Other locations had similar waits. Police were called to direct traffic at some locations and at least one polling place ran out of Democratic ballots.

Some voters wore wide-brimmed hats or carried umbrellas for shade. Others sat in lawn chairs they brought from home.

Many people showed up to vote but left after seeing the long line, hoping to come back later with a shorter wait.

I dont think it should take this much effort just to vote, said Kathy Wilson, 75, a Hillary Clinton supporter who had been waiting a half-hour and was still toward the back of the line. With the weather so hot and so many senior people like me, this is getting dangerous to stand in these lines for so long in the sun.

Long lines were expected all day at polling places, Maricopa County Elections Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Bartholomew said.

Lines snaked up to almost every one of the 60 polling sites across the county, with the exception of remote locations such as Gila Bend or Wickenburg. The county cut the number of polling sites for this years presidential primary from 200 in 2012 mainly as a money-saving measure.

In addition, the majority of voters get mail-in ballots, and independents who cant vote make up more than a third of the electorate.

All we can do is thank them for their patience, Bartholomew said of voters enduring the delays.

Only registered Republicans, Democrats and Green Party members can vote in the primary.

Officials said 56 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Democrats in Maricopa County who had requested early ballots had returned them by Monday morning. In Pima County, returns for both parties as of Friday topped 60 percent, and more than 130,000 Pima County voters had cast early ballots.

In Tucson, retired firefighter Ron Huerta cast a ballot for Democrat Bernie Sanders at a library. But he said it was a close call for him because he also likes Hillary Clinton.

Huerta said he likes Sanders policies to regulate big banks and that he hasnt heard Clinton focus on that and other issues that matter to him.

It was close. I think that, like I said, he had better ideas than her. I mean, I havent heard her say anything like dealing with the banks, helping seniors, social security, having the banks pay their fair share, helping the veterans more. I havent heard her talk about that at all, Huerta said.

Lorraine and Donald Maloney, of the northern Arizona community of Cameron, voted for Cruz at a polling site on the Navajo Nation. The longtime Republicans said their beliefs most closely align with Cruz, although they havent heard him specifically mention American Indian affairs.

You dont hear anyone mention the Natives. All these different candidates say theyre going to do this or that for certain people, the Hispanics, the whites, thats the sad part, Lorraine Maloney, 60, said.

Marie Howard, 57, is backing Clinton. The Tonalea, Arizona, resident keeps postcards, an autographed photo and newspaper clippings that remind her of when Hillary Clinton visited the Navajo Nation and the nearby Grand Canyon long before she became a presidential contender.

Shes the only one whos been out here trying to make a difference, Howard said.

Donald Trump has made Arizona a focus of his campaign since last summer, when a massive Phoenix rally showed his strength among, much to the dismay of party leaders. He has focused on border security  a perennial issue among conservatives in Arizona. He and Cruz campaigned here in the leadup to the primary, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich largely focused on the Tuesday primary in Utah in his effort to derail Trumps candidacy.

Sanders made several Arizona stops in the past week, while Clinton campaigned in Phoenix on Monday.

Whoever gets the majority of Republican votes will collect all 58 GOP delegates in Arizona  at least through the first vote at Julys party convention.

The only major poll in the state shows Trump well in the lead, but it was taken before Rubios exit on March 15. The survey conducted March 7-11 by longtime Arizona pollster Bruce Merrill also showed nearly a third of Republican voters remained undecided.

On the Democratic side in Merrills poll, Clinton had a healthy lead over Sanders, but the poll showed a large number of undecided voters.
The following editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday, March 15:

Many Americans find it hard to understand why the United States is involved in a war in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East.

In the face of criticism even from Democratic lawmakers, the best explanation from the Obama administration is that Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, is threatened by the takeover in neighboring Yemen of Shiite rebels backed by Iran. At the other end of the conflict is an unelected Sunni government supported on the battlefield by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have been U.S. arms customers. The UAE lost a fighter-bomber over Yemen on Sunday; Bahrain lost a U.S. F-16 in December.

There is no reason for the United States to have taken sides in this intra-Islamic war. Yemens former authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was pushed out in 2012 after decades in office by a combination of Saudi Arabia, Yemeni elements and the United States. He is now backed by a well-armed militia and is fighting alongside the Shiite Houthis.

Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are taking advantage of the chaos in the country to seize more territory.

The Saudis themselves acknowledge that they have no endgame for the Yemen war. So far some 6,000 Yemenis are estimated to have been killed, including 3,000 civilians. Yemen never had much of an economy, and what little there was has been destroyed. An estimated 56 percent of its people are considered to be hungry.

If Obama would like to end involvement in one of Americas Middle East wars before he leaves office next January, Yemen should be high on the list. It is a pathetically poor country, and the United States has no reason to add to its misery by selling bombs, drones and aircraft to Saudi Arabia to hurt the Yemenis.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the only viable alternative to front-runner Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, Gov Scott Walker said Wednesday hinting at a possible endorsement.

"If you're someone who is uneasy with the front-runner right now, there's really only one candidate," Walker said in a taped interview that aired on WTMJ Wednesday morning. "Ted Cruz is the only one who's got a chance other than Donald Trump to win the nomination statistically, and my friend Gov. (John) Kasich cannot."

Walker's comments come on the same day Cruz and Kasich are hosting rallies in the Milwaukee area ahead of the state's April 5 presidential primary. The governor has not yet made an endorsement and said he will decide after Easter.

Kasich is making a concerted effort to prove he can win contests outside his home state, while Cruz seeks to whittle the race to a two-man contest against front-runner Donald Trump.

Several anti-Trump Republicans in the state have thrown their support behind Cruz, though Kasich has also picked up high-profile endorsements.

Walker also said Wednesday that Republicans shouldn't be wary of an open convention if one of the GOP candidates fail to secure the necessary 1,237 delegates to earn the nomination at the convention in July

"I don't think an open convention's a bad thing," said Walker, later adding that process put Abraham Lincoln on track to the White House. He said if Trump fails to win the needed delegates, he doesn't expect Trump will gather them on the floor of the convention.

The governor also said he expects he will be a delegate at the Cleveland convention.

Trump, whose rallies in recent weeks have stirred protests that have turned violent, has said there would be "riots" if a brokered convention was triggered. Walker downplayed Trump's warning and said if no candidate has enough delegates to get the nomination, "rules are rules" and the party would be expected to follow them to pick a nominee.

Wisconsin is also the only state to hold its primary April 5, making it the first to have a day to itself with both parties voting since New Hampshire on Feb. 9. Early voting here began Monday and ends April 1.

State election officials predict voter turnout could be 40 percent, driven in part by a competitive Republican primary and state Supreme Court race. That would be the highest mark for spring presidential primaries since 1980.

National forces that oppose Trump have signaled plans to mount a stand against him in Wisconsin with significant advertising and other efforts.

Some Wisconsin conservatives who oppose Trump have begun to coalesce behind Cruz, while Kasich has received endorsements from former Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum, and former congressmen Mark Neumann and Scott Klug.
Was Jesus' Crucified Body Dog Food?

Contact: Rick Dack, 763-913-0351



MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., March 23, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- "There are two possibilities with regard to the body of Jesus, leaving aside the Christian stories which say what should have been done. One (is) that the body would've been left on the cross after it was decomposed or eaten by the wild beasts, by dogs or the crows. That is what the Romans would've done left to themselves. Two, if he was buried, are we dealing with some shallow grave? And then we have to imagine the real supreme horror of the crucifixion - the prowling dogs," stated John Dominic Crossan (The Execution of Jesus, Mysteries of the Bible/A&E/History Channel, 1998).



For decades atheistic cable networks have excelled at spreading Bible myths for viewers/ratings. Why no rebuttal from the church? Most Pastors rarely present scriptural/archaeological defense information to their congregation's because they aren't equipped with the right information. That's why weekly church apologetics classes like the "Biographies of the Bible" are so desperately needed, stated Rick Dack of Defending the Bible International (www.defendingthebible.com).



Was Jesus eaten by wild dogs and other animals? It's true that many Roman crucifixion victims were kept on crosses and devoured but it's also true that Jewish law strictly forbade bodies to be left on crosses (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). "The Jewish historian Josephus wrote, "...that the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun" (Jewish War 4) and yet you won't hear this explanation on television because the cable networks aren't interested in the truths of history but the stirring of controversies for viewer-ship," stated Rick Dack of Defending The Bible International (www.defendingthebible.com).



Other Easter media myths you may encounter in 2016

Jesus was shocked about his upcoming death during the Last Supper (The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, History Channel).



Jesus thought he was going to die at Gethsemane (Peter Jennings reporting: The Search for Jesus, ABC).



Satan, not an angel, visited Jesus at Gethsemane (Jesus, CBS).



Barabbas' release by Pontius Pilate is fiction (The Execution of Jesus, A&E / History Channel).



Jesus' words from the cross are unknown (Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Jesus").



Jesus vanished from the cross (Jesus: The Complete Story, BBC/Discovery Channel).



Jesus was placed in the wrong tomb (Secrets of the Dead, PBS).



Jesus was drugged by the Romans to appear dead (Jesus: The Complete Story).

Has your Pastor and Principal provided an apologetic defense of the scriptures? If not, your church and school needs to invite Defending the Bible Int'l. This ministry's "Biographies of the Bible" classes and presentations supply all of the answers you will ever need in defense of the scriptures. These classes also include 3D animations of Bible sites, Hollywood stories of faith, archaeological biographies of Bible characters and more. Check out www.defendingthebible.com for class information on over thirty topics including Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, Daniel, the Nativity, the Resurrection, Acts and more!
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Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia.

Carbimazole Tablets 5 mg Consumer Medicine Information

What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about Neo-Mercazole tablets. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you taking Neo-Mercazole against the benefits they expect it will have for you. If you have any concerns about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Keep this leaflet with the medicine. You may need to read it again.

What Neo-Mercazole is used for Neo-Mercazole contains the active ingredient carbimazole. This medicine is used to treat hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid gland (a condition where the thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone). There are different types of medicines used to treat hyperthyroidism. This medicine belongs to a group of medicines called anti-hyperthyroidism agents. These medicines work by reducing the production of thyroid hormones. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why this medicine has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason. This medicine is not addictive. This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription.

Before you take Neo-Mercazole

When you must not take it Do not take Neo-Mercazole if you have an allergy to: any medicine containing carbimazole any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include: shortness of breath wheezing or difficulty breathing swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body rash, itching or hives on the skin. Do not take Neo-Mercazole if you have had any of the following medical conditions: growth of the thyroid gland downwards from the neck into the chest (retrosternal goitre) serious blood disorder severe liver disorder airway obstruction inflammation of the pancreas (acute pancreatitis) after administration of carbimazole or thiamazole. Do not take this medicine after the expiry date printed on the pack or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. If it has expired or is damaged, return it to your pharmacist for disposal. If you are not sure whether you should start taking this medicine, talk to your doctor.

Before you start to take it Tell your doctor if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes. Tell your doctor if you have had any of the following: mild or moderate liver disorder allergic reaction to thiamazole or propylthiouracil (medicines used to treat thyroid disorders). Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. Neo-Mercazole crosses the placenta and passes into breast milk. Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits of using Neo-Mercazole if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Neo-Mercazole has caused, is suspected to have caused or may be expected to cause an increased incidence of human fetal malformations or irreversible damage. If you could get pregnant, use reliable contraception from the time you start treatment and during treatment. Neo-Mercazole can cause harm to an unborn baby. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell him/her before you start taking Neo-Mercazole.

Taking other medicines Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you get without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines and Neo-Mercazole may interfere with each other. These include: iodine or any preparation containing iodine theophylline, used to treat asthma or breathing problems medicines called anticoagulants, which are used to thin blood e.g. warfarin prednisolone, used to treat allergic disorders, skin conditions, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, lupus, psoriasis or breathing disorders erythromycin, used to treat bacterial infections digitalis, used to treat heart conditions beta-blockers, used to treat heart conditions and high blood pressure. These medicines may be affected by Neo-Mercazole, or may affect how well it works. You may need to use different amounts of your medicines, or you may need to take different medicines. Your doctor and pharmacist have more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while taking this medicine.

How to take Neo-Mercazole Follow all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet.

How much to take Take Neo-Mercazole exactly as your doctor has prescribed. Your doctor will tell you how many Neo-Mercazole tablets to take each day. Be sure to keep your appointments with your doctor so that your progress can be checked. Your dose of Neo-Mercazole may change from time to time according to your progress.

How to take it Swallow the tablets whole with a glass of water. Do not chew the tablets.

When to take it Take your medicine at about the same time each day. Taking it at the same time each day will have the best effect. It will also help you remember when to take it.

How long to take it Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you.

If you forget to take it If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the dose you missed and take your next dose when you are meant to. Otherwise, take it as soon as you remember and then go back to taking your medicine as you would normally. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you have trouble remembering your dose, ask your pharmacist for some hints.

If you take too much (overdose) Immediately telephone your doctor, or the Poisons Information Centre (telephone 13 11 26) for advice, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital, if you think you or anyone else may have taken too much Neo-Mercazole. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. The following are some symptoms which may or may not occur: skin rash fever extreme tiredness.

While you are taking Neo-Mercazole

Things you must do If you are about to be started on any new medicine, remind your doctor and pharmacist that you are taking Neo-Mercazole. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine. If you become pregnant while taking this medicine, tell your doctor immediately. Tell your doctor if, for any reason, you have not taken your medicine exactly as prescribed. Otherwise, your doctor may think that it was not effective and change your treatment unnecessarily. Tell your doctor if you feel the tablets are not helping your condition. Be sure to keep all of your appointments with your doctor so that your progress can be checked. Your doctor may want to do some blood and other tests from time to time to check on your progress and detect any unwanted side effects. Tell your doctor straight away if you develop: fever or abdominal pain, which may be signs of inflammation of the pancreas (acute pancreatitis) fatigue, weight loss and muscle and joint pain, which may be signs of inflammation of the blood vessels (vasculitis). Neo-Mercazole may need to be discontinued.

Things you must not do Do not take Neo-Mercazole to treat any other complaints unless your doctor tells you to. Do not give your medicine to anyone else, even if they have the same condition as you. Do not stop taking your medicine or change the dosage without checking with your doctor. Do not let yourself run out of medicine over the weekend or on holidays.

Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking Neo-Mercazole. This medicine helps most people with hyperthyroidism but it may have unwanted side effects in a few people. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects. Do not be alarmed by the following list of side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you: nausea headache pain in joints stomach upsets skin rashes itchiness loss of sense of taste hair loss. These are the more common side effects of Neo-Mercazole. Tell your doctor as soon as possible if you notice any of the following: abdominal pain rash on the hands and feet facial swelling hoarseness difficulty breathing blood in the urine fever fatigue weight loss muscle pain. The above list includes serious side effects that may require medical attention. Tell your doctor immediately or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you notice any of the following: liver pain, or yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes sore throat, mouth ulcers, high temperature or fever, increased tendency for bruising or bleeding, extreme tiredness The above list includes very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation. You may have to stop taking Neo-Mercazole. Some tests should be performed to check for liver function or bone marrow depression before restarting your treatment. Bone marrow depression causes a reduction in the number of blood cells and reduces the ability to fight infection. If it is not treated as soon as it is detected the condition can become life-threatening. Tell your doctor if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some people. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you don't understand anything in this list. Do not be alarmed by this list of possible side effects. You may not experience any of them.

After taking Neo-Mercazole

Storage Keep your tablets in the bottle until it is time to take them. If you take the tablets out of the bottle they may not keep well. Keep your tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25C. Do not store Neo-Mercazole or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it in the car or on window sills. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep it where children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.

Disposal If your doctor tells you to stop taking this medicine, or the expiry date has passed, ask your pharmacist what to do with any medicine that is left over.

Product description

What it looks like Neo-Mercazole tablets are round, pale pink and are embossed with 'Neo 5' on one side and plain on the other. Each bottle contains 100 tablets.

Ingredients Neo-Mercazole contains 5 mg of carbimazole as the active ingredient. It also contains: lactose monohydrate maize starch sucrose magnesium stearate purified talc acacia iron oxide red gelatin. This medicine does not contain gluten.
While average life expectancy has been rising steadily in most countries over the past century, new research led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that life expectancy declined significantly and rapidly in three countries where policy changes increased access to prescription opioids, alcohol or illicit drugs. Published in BMC Medicine, the study underscores the need for effective substance use policies and public health interventions, and provides key principles to guide policy decisions.

"Our study shows that failed substance use policies can reverse life expectancy trends for large population groups or even countries," says Dr. Jurgen Rehm, Director of Social and Epidemiological Research at CAMH and first author of the study. "On the other hand, we also observed that effective policy changes are associated with substantial gains in life expectancy."

The researchers investigated marked changes in life expectancy linked to substance use and related policies in three countries: the U.S., the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Mexico.

In the U.S., prescription opioids are used in larger quantities than in any other country. Usage started increasing rapidly in the mid-1990s, partly as a result of allowing family doctors to prescribe short-acting opioids such as oxycodone for chronic pain and other relatively common diseases. Non-medical use of these substances and associated harms, including overdose deaths, increased alongside prescription use. From 1999 to 2013, mortality increased by nine per cent in middle-aged white non-Hispanic Americans, despite life expectancy continuing to rise among other U.S. populations, including Hispanic and black non-Hispanic populations.

"Canada is second in the world only to the U.S. in our rates of prescription opioid use, and the rise of prescription opioids in our provinces has also shown to be strongly linked to overdose deaths," cautions Dr. Rehm, who is also Head of the World Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) Collaborating Centre in Addiction and Mental Health at CAMH. Consumption of prescription opioids in Canada rose steeply from 2000 to 2010. "Comprehensive and integrated policies are needed to avoid these harms, and decreasing availability is key. The new guidelines for prescribing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. are exemplary, and we need similar public health-oriented guidelines in Canada."

The study also found that, in the USSR, after years of declines, life expectancy increased by 3.2 years for men and 1.3 years for women from 1984 to 1987 as policy reduced the supply of alcohol. But, between 1987 and 1994, as restrictive alcohol policy was abandoned and alcohol became widely available, life expectancy fell by 7.3 years for men and 3.3 years for women.

"These dramatic cases show that changes in policies -- and ensuing changes in substance use -- can affect life expectancy, not only over the long term, but abruptly," says Dr. Rehm. "The example of the USSR shows that policy changes can lead to positive or negative outcomes."

The researchers outline several key principles as recommendations to guide policy development, including:

Actively monitoring disease burden and mortality attributable to substance use in order to identify and respond when rapid changes in life expectancy occur.

Creating integrated substance use policies that consider public health as a whole.

Decriminalizing substance use, and regulating the availability and affordability of substances.

Among their recommendations, the researchers also cite the need to provide access to treatment and social assistance for heavy users and their families, and to reduce the stigma associated with substance use, which acts as a barrier to seeking treatment. "Substance use disorders are the least treated mental conditions," says Dr. Rehm.
Scientists have documented for the first time how competition among different malaria parasite strains in human hosts could influence the spread of drug resistance.

"We found that when hosts are co-infected with drug-resistant and drug-sensitive strains, both strains are competitively suppressed," says Mary Bushman, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate in Emory University's Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program. "Anti-malarial therapy, by clearing drug-sensitive parasites from mixed infections, may result in competitive release of resistant strains."

Proceedings of the Royal Society B published the research, led by the labs of Jaap de Roode, an evolutionary biologist at Emory, and Venkatachalam Udhayakumar, a malaria expert from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria.

Almost half of the world's population is at risk for malaria, a complex disease caused by five species of Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to humans by 30 to 40 different species of mosquitoes that all behave differently. The current study focused on Plasmodium falciparum, the most common malaria parasite on the continent of Africa and the one responsible for the most malaria-related deaths globally.

P. falciparum has developed resistance to former first-line therapies chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. "We're now down to our last treatment, artemisinin combination therapy, or ACT, and resistance to that recently emerged in Southeast Asia," Bushman says. "If ACT resistance continues to follow the same pattern, the world may soon be without reliable antimalarial drugs."

People infected with P. falciparum often have multiple strains of the parasite - especially in high-transmission areas such as sub-Saharan Africa where infectious mosquito bites occur frequently. Many people have developed partial immunity, making asymptomatic infections common and further complicating control efforts.

The researchers knew from previous work, by de Roode and others, that competition between mixed strains of malaria parasites in laboratory mice are a crucial determinant to the spread of resistance. "In the mouse studies we found that drug-sensitive parasites suppress resistant parasites," de Roode says. "We also found that by clearing these sensitive parasites with drugs, the resistant parasites had a big advantage, growing up to high numbers and transmitting to mosquitoes at high rates. Ever since doing that work, I have wanted to see if the same could apply to humans."

The researchers drew from 1,300 blood samples of untreated children with malaria from Angola, Ghana and Tanzania. They extracted DNA of malaria parasites from the blood samples and used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to determine the densities of drug-resistant strains and drug-sensitive ones. About 15 percent of the blood samples had mixtures of both types.

The results showed that in mixed-strain infections, densities of chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant strains were reduced in the presence of competitors. They also showed that, in the absence of chloroquine, the resistant strains had lower densities compared with sensitive strains.

"The results were really clear cut, which rarely happens in human studies," Bushman says. "We found almost complete consistency between the three data sets."

Currently, Bushman says, the tendency is to use "one-size-fits-all" strategies for controlling malaria but more tailored approaches are needed.

A strategy of mass drug administration might be effective, for example, in a place with a low prevalence of malaria and less likelihood of mixed-strain infections. That same strategy, however, might actually boost drug resistance without reducing the burden of disease in areas where most of the population is infected with multiple strains of malaria parasites.

"The epidemiology of malaria infection is different for different places and different conditions," Bushman says. "We hope that our work will spur development of new strategies to minimize resistance while maximizing the benefits of control measures."

More questions must be answered to guide the development of these new strategies.

"As a first step," de Roode says, "we need to determine if the observed suppression of resistance in humans also results in reduced transmission to mosquitoes."

Another limitation of the current study was that it was focused entirely on blood samples from children that had not been treated with drugs. "We need to find out if drug treatment of people infected with malaria removes competition and gives resistance a boost, as we have found in mice before," de Roode says.
The acclaimed public television documentary series Global Health Frontiers expands to a weekly newsmagazine with four one-hour episodes combining compelling journalism from the leading edges of global health developments with a fast-paced and energetic style. Within Global Health Frontiers newsmagazine format, the programs feature three separate stories, each a short documentary that follows engaging characters through journeys, trials and tests that define the relentless work of global health today. Viewers will witness the unvarnished truth, the successes and failures, and the inspiring tenacity of people who answer the call to meet this centurys defining challenge.

The series premieres on public televisions WORLD Channel Thursday, March 31 with broadcasts of the first episode at 6 pm and 9 pm ET and 11 pm PT (check local listings), with various encores during daytime and overnight. To find local airdates, visit http://www.aptonline.org or visit your local public television station website. To preview series segments, visit http://www.globalhealthfrontiers.org.

Series Sizzle Play

Global Health Frontiers brings television viewers inside the critical work in global health like no other program today, explains Emmy Award-winning veteran news correspondent Gary Strieker, executive producer of the series and former CNN Nairobi bureau chief and global environment correspondent. Pioneers of prevention and change are making advances against infection and pandemics to make them preventable and treatable, and we report their stories with captivating first-person storytelling.

Working with an advisory panel including eminent experts at the Harvard Global Health Institute, the UCSF Global Health Group, and The Carter Center, the stories covered by the series represent a broad range of critical global health issues worldwide:

3/31: VIRUS HUNTERS, CHILD IMMUNIZATIONS, ISLAND FEVER: Tracking potential pandemic hot spots in Southern China; hope for eliminating killer diseases in Moradabad, India; stopping the spread of a deadly virus from mosquitos in St. Georges, Grenada.

4/7: MEDICINE BRIGADES, ASIA LIGHTS UP, AMBULANCE START-UP: Cuban doctors provide Haitis first modern medical care; activists in the Philippines fight Big Tobacco; private enterprise introduces emergency medical care regardless of class in Mumbai, India.

4/14: HIDDEN HUNGER, GOLDEN RICE; LIFE-SAVING STOVES; ELIMINATING MALARIA: Conflict over GMO foods to eliminate childhood nutritional deficiencies; reducing deaths and debilities caused by indoor smoke; a model program in Indonesia has eliminated malaria.

4/21: STUNTED FUTURE, TROUBLE WITH TICKS, SAVING LIVES AT BIRTH: Contamination and malnourishment put 65 million children in India at risk; the battle against Lyme disease in Redding, CT; teaching best practices for better birth outcomes in Guatemala.

The launch of this four-part series is preceded on public television by the Global Health Frontiers documentaries Trachoma: Defeating a Blinding Curse; Dark Forest, Black Fly (river blindness); and the award-winning Foul Water, Fiery Serpent (Guinea worm).
Predictive software can identify risk of dangerous diseases

If an infectious disease outbreak or an attack using an agent such as anthrax were to occur in Chicago, it most likely first will be noticed in emergency rooms throughout the city. Swift identification of the cause of an incoming patients' illness could be crucial to public health and safety personnel being able to intervene in time to save lives.

The emergency department at Rush University Medical Center has developed and implemented state-of-the-art technology to help protect the public during a health crisis: a suite of software tools called Guardian. Developed by Rush emergency physicians and researchers, Guardian can predict the presence of a variety of illnesses in patients arriving to the emergency department , whether they're ordinary flu-like illnesses, emerging tropical diseases such as Zika or Ebola virus, or the effects of biological or chemical agents such as anthrax or sarin.

Reflecting its full name  Geographic Utilization of Artificial Intelligence in Real-Time for Disease Identification and Alert Notification  Guardian can make this assessment up to hours before physicians complete a final diagnose for the patients.

"The Guardian system provides a feedback loop to clinicians," says Dino P. Rumoro, DO, MPH, chairperson of Rush's Department of Emergency Medicine. "If Guardian thinks that a patient whom I think has pneumonia might have anthrax, it could page me and say, 'Have you considered a chest CT scan to look for evidence of anthrax?' That page might be all I need to say, 'You know, that's not a bad idea.'"

Readiness is all

Fortunately, the Chicago area never has suffered a bioterrorism attack and hasn't experienced any deadly infectious disease pandemics in recent years. Health crises don't schedule appointments in advance, though, so Rush is primed to respond if such emergencies occur.

In 2012, Rush opened an expanded, specially designed and equipped emergency department as part of the nation's first civilian-based, chemical and biological advanced emergency response center. Located at the base of the new hospital Tower building that Rush opened at the same time, the 60-bed state-of-the-art facility easily can be converted to handle surges of casualties, and the center's layout and airflow can be controlled to isolate patients and to prevent the spread of infectious agents.

Rush also has a containment suite available for hospitalized patients with deadly infectious diseases and a set of protocols in place to enable clinicians to provide care for such patients without risk to others in the hospital. Rush built the suite and developed its practices in response to the worldwide Ebola outbreak in 2014 after the city of Chicago asked Rush to be part of a network of local hospitals prepared to treat patients with Ebola.

'Make the computer think like a clinician'

Guardian continually runs in the background in Rush's ED, helping to identify at-risk patients and disease trends. As the doctors and nurses enter information about a patient into Rush's electronic medical record, Guardian's analyzes the data in real time.

"We're trying to make the computer think like a clinician," Rumoro says.

Doing it required the development of a computerized algorithm, or decision tree, that sorts through and adds up numerous clinical variables  e.g., patient-reported symptoms, age, past medical history, blood pressure readings, blood test results - before determining whether a patient has a high risk of a certain illness. Some of the variables are assigned a greater weight in the algorithm  just like a physician would place more significance in certain clinical findings than others before making a diagnosis.

The system has become so good at tracking flu-like illness that Guardian identified the arrival of this year's flu season several weeks before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chicago Department of Public Health issued a formal flu warning. "For five years now, we've been out-predicting CDC with public flu reporting by identifying the outbreak weeks before an official public health announcement was issued," says Rumoro, who leads the Guardian development team at Rush.

Born out of disaster

The inspiration for Guardian can be traced to the 1995 heat wave in Chicago that killed 739 people. By the time area hospitals and public health officials realized there was a crisis, it was too late.

"The emergency physicians weren't putting two and two together," Rumoro recalls. "We worked in air-conditioned environments and we got into our air-conditioned cars to go to our air-conditioned homes."

Interested in whether EDs could have predicted the crisis by paying closer attention to heat-related illnesses (e.g., heat stroke), Rumoro worked with a CDC researcher to collect data from 33 area hospitals. The effort came before hospitals had computerized medical records systems, and the researchers had to leaf through big log books manually.

The effort was worth it: "We saw that hospitals started to see an increase in heat-related illnesses one week before the first person died," Rumoro says. "We also found that when there were more than two heat-related illnesses for every 100 emergency room patients, it was a predictor of a heat-related crisis and impending mortality."

Understanding dictation and misspellings

Thus began Rumoro's interest in developing a disease surveillance system that EDs can use to detect emerging health threats. Guardian is the result of more than a decade of work by Rumoro and his research team, which includes PhD experts in statistics, industrial engineering and computer programming. Guardian's development has been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, which resulted in a partnership with Pangaea Information Technologies, Ltd. Panagea is a joint partner in Guardian Health Technologies, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rush.

Guardian is equipped with advanced capabilities, including natural language processing, which enables the system to read the notes that physicians and nurses type or dictate into a patient's electronic health record. As a result, busy ED staff members do not have to take time away from their patients to enter additional data into the record via drop-down menus or electronic forms.

In addition, Guardian is equipped with artificial intelligence, which helps the system continuously improve. "When the system misses a key word, it could be because a doctor misspelled it," Rumoro says. "So we teach the system that this is another possible way to spell this word."

Watching for tropical disease and bioterrorism

Guardian can be programmed to detect almost any type of illness or problem. To date, Rush has used it to identify West Nile virus, meningitis, Zika, flu-like illness, gastrointestinal illness and a variety of biological threat agents.

The program has also proven helpful in tracking potential bioterrorist attacks. During the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, the Rush team programmed Guardian to identify ED patients who might have been exposed to biological or chemical agents.

Eventually, Rumoro hopes to see all Chicago area EDs adopt Guardian to help in identifying and responding to health crises. Until that happens, Rush is using the system for research and public health reporting.

Helping get patients into the hospital, and back home

In addition to predicting disease risk, a new application of Guardian can forecast whether a patient will need to be hospitalized 15 minutes after the patient has arrived in the ED, even though the admission into the hospital may not take place until hours later. The accuracy of this early predictive analytic tool is between 80 and 90 percent and can help to expedite bed placement and patient flow form the ED into the hospital.

Recent work on an extension of this capability into the hospital setting eventually could help Rush and other hospitals better manage patient flow by communicating with floors in the hospitals to determine when a patient will be discharged, making room for a patient from the ED.

"Arranging to discharge a hospitalized patient requires multiple inputs from nurses, doctors and the admitting or patient bed office, that if coordinated could not only reduce waiting times in the ED but also could allow for more precisely scheduled, better planned discharges from the inpatient units," Rumoro says.

To allow for such coordination, Rumoro and his team currently are working to expand Guardian to follow patients though their hospital stay. "Guardian would be able to predict when an intensive care unit patient is ready to move to a less-intensive bed on a medical unit. Or it would be able to say 'This patient is ready to go home tomorrow,'" he says.

"It is not always easy to get a patient admitted to a specific hospital unit for special care, whether the patient comes from the ED, is referred from the outside, or from another place in the hospital," Rumoro continues. "This new Guardian application has the potential to expedite the process, and the financial implications of better managing admissions and discharges is great. The reduction in variable expenses achieved through such efficiency can add to a hospital's bottom line."
Scientists from MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), MSU (Moscow State University), and National University of Science and Technology MISIS provided an overview of the most promising compounds which can be used as medications for prostate cancer. The article was published in the Journal of Drug Targeting.

Image source: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

A team of researchers from the four research centers  Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow State University, National University of Science and Technology (MISIS), and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech)  provided an overview of molecules capable of assisting in the fight against prostate cancer and in the diagnosis of this illness. Also authors compiled a list of the most promising compounds.

Researchers have identified 11 compounds of great promise. All these substances are currently tested in clinical trials. In other words, at the stage of preclinical studies they demonstrated the necessary qualities.

Sometimes researchers spend more than ten years before they can produce a new registered drug from a promising molecule. Initially, the scientists check the substance on cell culture  this gives them a chance to prove that the above substance can actually slow or stop tumor growth. After that, they conduct tests on animals  it is necessary to filter out substances which are effective only in ideal conditions of a test tube, but not in a real organism. Then they perform clinical trials, whereby at the first stage they are only checking the safety - not effectiveness, and whether or not the potential drug reaches the target.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men. Today, the majority of anti-cancer therapies are not selective enough and may have a detrimental effect not only on cancer cells, but on the healthy cells of the body as well. That is why it is so important to develop such drugs that would attack the cancer cells exclusively, which will increase the effectiveness of treatment and reduce the negative impact of therapy on the body as a whole. However, to ensure the drug selectivity, the scientists need some object which is present only in cancer cells - and not anywhere else: a cancer marker.

The well-known marker for prostate cancer is PSA (prostate specific antigen), which is already used in medicine for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. However, for a number of reasons, PSA is considered as an insufficiently precise target. A promising alternative for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer is PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen). In the case of cancer, prostate tissues contain almost 10 times as many of these markers as healthy tissues of the prostate gland. Also, diagnosis by means of this marker can detect the tiniest metastases (secondary distant tumors).

"PSMA is one of the most promising biological targets for the development of new hybrids of selective PSMA ligands with antitumor medicinal substances or molecular diagnostic tools for their targeted delivery to the site of the disease - particularly in the case of prostate cancer,"says Yan Andreevich Ivanenkov, h.D (biology), Head of the Laboratory of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics, a lecturer in MIPT.

Biocatalyst and target

PSMA, known in English language literature as a prostate specific membrane antigen, catalyzes the hydrolysis of N-acetylaspartylglutamate into N-acetylaspartate and glutamate. This precise PSMA function was taken into account in order to compile a list of the most promising substances, which form the basis of drugs used for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Hydrolysis is the chemical breakdown of a compound of organic molecules into other compounds: for example, during hydrolysis of proteins, the latter are split into amino acids.

As the authors of the review article state, all molecules capable of binding to PSMA can be divided into three groups: antibodies, aptamers, and ligands.

Antibodies are proteins synthesized by the immune system. Aptamers are peptide molecules or fragments of DNA/RNA, capable of selectively binding to specific target molecules. Ligands are substances of a rather arbitrary nature which interact with the biocatalist, whereby, as a rule, we are talking about direct interaction with its active center: exactly with that part of the molecule which allows it to perform its main function.

Comparing all three groups, the researchers concluded that ligands are the most promising group. Ligands, in our case, are molecules the size and weight of which are most suitable for synthesizing. Besides, they also have good pharmacokinetic parameters.

Pharmacokinetics: This is a science of transformation of chemical substances in the organism. With regard to drugs, it describes what happens to them after they enter the blood vessels or stomach. Any drug that is accepted for clinical trials must neither break down into useless pieces prior to contact with the target, nor produce toxic effects.

From phosphorus to urea and its derivatives

Historically - and we should emphasize that scientists of the whole world have been searching for the ligands compatible with PSMA since the 1990s - phosphorus compounds were among the first ligands of PSMA, which showed high efficacy on cancer cells. However, their pharmacokinetic parameters were insufficient for the conduct of clinical trials.

Later, compounds with -SH groups have become alternatives to phosphorus-containing chemicals. They demonstrated high bioavailability when taking medication by mouth (oral administration), and also they better penetrated the cell membrane. However, these drugs had insufficient selectivity and metabolic stability. That is, they adversely affected not only cancer cells and, besides, they mutated in the course of biochemical reactions in the body.

New class of ligands needed to be free of the deficiencies of their predecessors. The next candidates for treating prostate cancer were the compounds formed on the basis of urea. Currently, this is the most widely studied type of PSMA ligands.

Urea, also known as carbamide, is used by mammals for the excretion of nitrogen-containing waste from the organism. Apart from this, ureamodifications  nitrosourea and similar compounds  have long been used for chemotherapy, thanks to their ability of blocking DNA replication (synthesis of new molecules) and, consequently, cell division.

It is impossible to give a precise answer to the question of how soon PSMA ligands will appear in the clinic. On average, the development of a new medication can take up to 10 years. Currently, these molecules (as potential drugs for the diagnosis of prostate cancer) are in the first and second phases of clinical trials. However, the fact that the PSMA-diagnostics allows the monitoring of tumor growth and development of metastasis, makes this an attractive target for future developments of drugs. The first results are already there, and they are very promising, Anastasia Aladinskaya, an employee of the Laboratory of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics, concludes.
Scientists from the University of Leeds have solved a 25-year-old question about how a family of proteins allow bacteria to resist the effects of certain antibiotics.

Proteins of the ABC-F protein family are a major source of antibiotic resistance in 'superbugs' such as Staphylococcus aureus, a group of bacteria that includes MRSA.

The findings, published today in the American Society for Microbiology journal mBio, provide the first direct evidence of how this family of proteins 'protect' the bacterial ribosome, the protein makers in cells, from being blocked by antibiotics.

Ordinarily, the ribosome is an ideal target for antibiotics because living bacteria cannot grow without it, but when bacteria produce ABC-F proteins many antibiotics no longer work.

Until now, there has been a longstanding debate as to exactly how these proteins work.

Scientists have been divided in their support for two separate ideas; that the proteins are pumps that remove antibiotics from bacterial cells, or that they interact with the bacteria's ribosomes to stop antibiotics from blocking them.

Fundamental research of this type provides a better picture of the molecular basis for antibiotic resistance. It can offer valuable information that might be used in the future to design antibiotics to bypass antibiotic resistance, when scientists are able to understand more about the properties that allow drugs to enter bacterial cells.

Dr Liam Sharkey, a Fellow in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, who carried out the research, said: "These findings provide the first direct evidence that these proteins directly protect the ribosome. As a result the goal-posts of our research have changed, we can now zoom-in and try to work out the exact details of how this protection is happening.

"Our results suggest that the proteins work by removing antibiotics when they bind their targeted ribosome. It's a bit like the proteins are bouncers at a ribosome nightclub, the bouncer's job is to keep kicking out antibiotics that are trying to get in and cause trouble."

This debate has been not settled until now because of the technical challenges associated with the research and much of the attention of academics in the field has been focused on the idea that these proteins are working as pumps.

The research, which was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and understanding the molecular basis for antibiotic resistance is a key focus of the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology at the University of Leeds. Further progress in this area will be boosted by new state-of-the-art facilities, enabling researchers to better understand life in molecular detail.

A recent 17 million investment in some of the best nuclear magnetic resonance and electron microscopy facilities in the world is now enabling scientists to remain at the forefront of research into complex proteins.

The University of Leeds has played a key role in the birth of structural biology as a scientific discipline, with the development of X-ray crystallography by Nobel Laureates William and Lawrence Bragg in Leeds in 1912-13.

A new academic symposium, the Astbury Conversation, is being hosted at the University of Leeds from 11 - 12 April 2016, to bring together leading researchers from across the globe to discuss the most recent innovations, new techniques and technologies in the field of structural molecular biology.
By Lucy Piper

Researchers have found a more than twofold increase in the risk of death among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who take antipsychotics, particularly typical antipsychotics.

"This medical class needs to be used cautiously in this population", they urge in JAMA Neurology.

Antipsychotics are already known to increase mortality in patients with dementia, and led to the US Food and Drug Administration authorising "black box" warnings in 2005.

The latest findings of Daniel Weintraub (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA) and co-researchers now suggest a possible need to reduce the use of these drugs in PD patients even if they do not have dementia.

In the 180 days after starting antipsychotic treatment, 7877 PD patients aged an average of 76 years were 2.35 times more likely to die than 7877 similarly aged PD patients not taking such treatment.

The patients' medical records were obtained from a Veterans Health Administration Database and those taking antipsychotics were matched to those not for age, gender, race, presence and duration of dementia, PD duration, delirium, hospitalisation, comorbidities and use of nonpsychiatric medications.

Only 7.7% of PD patients in each group had a dementia diagnosis, the researchers note.

The risk of death varied depending on the type of antipsychotic taken, being greatest for first-generation or typical antipsychotics, which collectively were associated with a 54% greater risk of death, compared with atypical antipsychotics.

About 30% of patients were taking typical antipsychotics and haloperidol was the most common, accounting for 3.6 % of all antipsychotics prescribed. This drug increased the risk of death 5.08-fold versus no antipsychotic use.

The most commonly prescribed atypical antipsychotic, quetiapine, which accounted for 66.9% of antipsychotics prescribed, was associated with a still significant 2.16-fold increased risk compared with no antipsychotic use.

"Prescribing typical [antipsychotics] to patients with PD should be avoided", say Weintraub and colleagues.

They conclude: "Given that the incidence of PD is increasing worldwide and that psychosis is very common and distressing to patients and caregivers, the development of informed and improved treatment strategies for this condition remains a priority."

In a related editorial, Mark Baron (Virginia Commonwealth University Healthy System, Richmond, USA) discusses one limitation of the study - vast multisystem contributors to the cause of death, which prevented "clear support for a specific toxic effect".

PD was the main cause of death among treated patients, at a rate of 53.2% versus 38.6% in patients not taking antipsychotics, suggesting these drugs worsen the condition due to dopamine blockade, but the degree to which this contributes to the increased risk of death "has not been addressed adequately", says Baron.

He agrees, however, that "[i]f an [antipsychotic] is to be used, atypical agents with the least potential risk for mortality and the lowest associated risk for worsening parkinsonism should be prescribed."

Licensed from medwireNews with permission from Springer Healthcare Ltd. Springer Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved. Neither of these parties endorse or recommend any commercial products, services, or equipment.
A medley of spices permeates the air as Mahabuba Akhter stands over a hot pan, frying onions and garlic with other ingredients.

Green chili. Ginger. Turmeric. Cardamom.

The scent fills the small kitchen on the first floor of Lynchburg Parks and Recreations Miller Center with an intoxicating aroma that makes the nostrils flare and the mouth water.

It tastes so unique and different from what is typical of American cuisine, doing something radical with flavors, says Allyson McSwain, recreation supervisor for Parks and Rec. Its interesting, delicious, aromatic, healthy and fun.

Indian cuisine has become increasingly popular in the U.S. as the foodie culture has continued to grow, and Akhter, a resident of Charlottesville, has used this opportunity to spread her own knowledge of these eats.

Akhter grew up in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India, about 120 miles from the state capital, Kolkata.

Originally part of the British colonization of India, the province of Bengal was divided in 1947 following the Indian independence movement. West Bengal, made up of a chiefly Hindu populace, became part of India, while predominantly Muslim East Bengal  now Bangladesh  became part of Pakistan.

At the age of 14, Akhters family moved to Bangladesh, where she received most of her education before coming to the United States in 1995 with her husband and two boys.

Over the years, Akhter learned about Bengali-Indian cooking from family members.

I think maybe in 5th grade or 6th grade, I began helping my mother, and my father was very encouraging of whatever I cooked, she says. I think it wasnt good or edible, but he always said it was very good. That was the thing that made me try to cook different things.

While she observed many different family members cook, Akhter says she follows her mothers style the most, allowing herself the freedom to deviate from a written recipe and to let her own creativity shine through.

Like many areas of the U.S., regions in India have vastly different cultures, from the way the residents dress to the cuisine they eat.

In West Bengal, Akhter says, they rely on dul and vath, which she says translates to lentils and rice. Fish serves as the primary source of protein, though other meats are eaten, depending on availability.

They cook with a variety of vegetables, including eggplant, potato, tomato, tyro and young jack fruit, as well as tropical fruits like guava, lichi, tamarind and star fruit.

Milk and sweets also play an important part in Bengali cuisine, so much so that Akhter has considered teaching a class exclusively on desserts.

And, of course, there are the spices.

Actually, before coming [to the U.S.], I didnt have any idea that I could cook anything without any spice, Akhter says. Every kitchen has to have spice, at least some basic spice. It is such an integral part.  People know that spice has lots of benefits, but theyre not born like us  were born eating spice. So, they buy [them] from somewhere and keep them in their cabinet [not using any], because they dont know which recipe to add it to and how much.

On her sons suggestion, Akhter began leading cooking demonstrations at various cultural events around Charlottesville and at the University of Virginias Lorna Sundberg International Center, starting in 2010.

In 2013, she added monthly fundraising events for The Haven, a multi-resource day shelter there, to her schedule, which also now includes demonstrations at community centers and businesses like Whole Foods and even senior centers.

She brings the food and the story behind it to a setting where the participants can employ all their senses to enjoy the full experience, McSwain says.

In her demonstrations, Akhter says, she focuses on healthy and tasty recipes that her students can easily and quickly recreate in their own homes.

I think those who are participating in the cooking class are making friends that way, she says. We are eating together, so we get to have a conversation together. And when you have a cooking class, you are working together, so youre building a kind of interactive family.

Akhter will also host summer classes for Parks and Recreation, including one specifically for children and one that looks at Indian wedding food. She also plans to release her own cookbook sometime this year.

Until then, Akhters chicken curry recipe, and soon a vegetarian curry, can be ordered through Nelson County-based Hunter Gatherer Game Dinners, dinner kits that come with a recipe, all the necessary herbs and spices, a side dish and a shopping list to complete the meal.

People arent used to Bengali food or [they] dont even know about Bengal. I want to introduce people to [it] like they know Mexican food, French food, Italian food, she says. That way they will taste it and then, once a month or once a week, they will cook that; that is introducing delicious Bengali food to Virginia.
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No one came to beaten womans rescue

The Arthur Lok Jack Graduate Scool of Business student was dragged out of her car by the hair by another driver and beaten.

She was beaten by a PH (private- hire) driver who accused her of wanting to damage his vehicle.

As Ramdoolar was beaten repeatedly, cars sped by and persons walked by, minding their own business. Not one person raised a finger to save the screaming, crying woman from kicks and cuffs which rained down from the enraged PH driver. Police theorised that onlookers chose not to interfere as they thought the licks was as a result of a domestic issue.

Ramdoolar claimed she was given a bad drive by the PH driver.

In a fit of rage, he pulled in front of my car, blocking traffic on both sides. He jumped out, pulled open my door, cuffed me several times in my face, then dragged me out my own car by my hair and beat me in the road. The man cuffed and kicked me. I got a burst lip. After the vicious attack, the PH driver got back in his car and sped off.

The vehicle has since been traced and Couva police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a man of Bonne Aventure Road in Gasparillo. Police said the man has since gone into hiding. A photo of the wanted man is circulating online
Jearlean John fired over tone of voice

The statement said, In December 2015, the Board of Directors of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), took a decision to commission an audit into the operations of the HDC.

Ms Jearlean John, Managing Director, was sent on administrative leave on December 17, 2015.

The Board of Directors requested a meeting with Ms John on Monday 21 March, 2016. Subsequent to that meeting, the Board of Directors terminated Ms Johns employment as the Managing Director of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). When Newsday contacted John yesterday, she explained that on Friday last, she was contacted by the HDCs acting corporate secretary and told to attend a meeting on Monday. John asked that the invitation be put in writing indicating the time, date and venue and the agenda of the meeting. A written invitation was sent but no agenda was attached. John said that at the meeting on Monday, she was asked about the rental of a Mercedes Benz and was presented with an invoice.

Its a car, I dont know anything about it, I have never used it, she said. The meeting, she said, lasted no more than ten minutes. Yesterday, John received a letter indicating that her services were terminated.

One part of the letter stated, your reaction, demeanour, tone and manner of communicating with the Board of Directors could only be described as insubordinate and disrespectful, John said as she read from the dismissal letter.

The Board doesnt like my tone, she added. Asked what was next for her, she said, I can work again, when you have this kind of wildness going on in your country, you can set up a stall and start to sell bake and shark. The bake and shark wont complain about your tone, John said.

Asked if she would be pursuing legal action, she said, one step at a time, I am not wilding anybody. John and several top managers were placed on three months administrative leave last December as an audit of the HDC was ordered.

Newly appointed Housing Minister Randall Mitchell yesterday told Newsday he was unaware of Johns firing noting that yesterday was his first day in office and added that, if she was indeed fired, that decision would have been made at the Board level.
Garcia: Bullies taking over schools

While I can safely say that bullying is not widespread in all our schools there are some schools where bullying has taken over and that is what is causing most of the problems, Garcia said during Senate Question Time in reply to a query from Opposition Senator Wade Mark. The minister also outlined his ministrys policy when it comes to errant students.

The Ministry of Education has taken a number of immediate steps to protect the nations children given the increased frequency of violence and gang activity among schoolchildren, Garcia said in reply to a question from Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge. The Ministry of Education has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to violence and indiscipline in schools.

Errant students will not be allowed to continue to disrupt schools.

The ministry intends to remove these students and provide options for placement in alternative programmes along with the necessary guidance and the counselling support.

Principals have been asked to develop critical incident profiles for their schools, especially in high-risk areas. The minister said other measures being implemented included: Reviewing and strengthening the security compliment at high-risk schools and the mandatory use of scanners at school entrances; establishment and maintenance of appropriate and secure perimeter fencing; installation of CCTV and other electronic monitoring and detection devices to provide enhanced security capability; implementation of a system of supervision of all classes along with random searches (no student should be left unsupervised) and introduction of policy guidelines for access to schools, supervision reporting incidents, and suspensions.

Further, Garcia said, The Ministry of Education has engaged and received a commitment from the Teaching Service Commission that all vacancies for the position of principals, vice principals and deans will be filled in the shortest possible time. He said greater student engagement was another strategy being used to address the increased frequency of violence and gang activity among schoolchildren.

In this regard, the Ministry of Education is working with schools to strengthen student involvement in student councils, cadets, scouts, girl guides and other important extracurricular activities, Garcia said. This will be supported by training in conflict management and anger resolution. In relation to bullying, the minister said research done by the Student Support Services Division in the ministry found that the most prevalent forms of bullying in schools  in order of significance  were: fighting when angry, ignoring other students on purpose, being cruel to others when in a state of anger, cursing others, name-calling, and teasing.

The ministry, Garcia said, has implemented a number of strategies to address the issue. These include individual, whole-school activities and inter-ministerial measures. He said a total of 327 workshops, involving 26,180 parents, have been conducted. At the inter-ministerial level, the Ministry of Education has partnered with the Ministry of National Security and the Community Police to closely monitor high-risk students and assist in addressing school violence in students who display highrisk behaviours.

Police youth clubs are also supporting through the engagement of high-risk students. There is also a focus on extracurricula activity and partnership with the Defence Force and the Ministry of Social Developments Family Services Division.
'He Had the Chance to Go in

and Save the Children'
(Newser)  A study delving into the well-being of young people came up with two main findings: that people who live in more densely populated areas tend to be less happy, and that the more socializing one does with close friends, the more satisfied that person says he or she is, the Washington Post reports. But there was one outlier grouppeople with higher IQswho didn't seem as bothered by living in crowded areas as their counterparts, and who were less happy the more time they spent with pals. Now, two evolutionary psychologists say they've analyzed the research and think they know why, and it all ties back to our hunter-gatherer roots. In a study published in the British Journal of Psychology, Norman Li and Satoshi Kanazawa say that what made our ancestors happy tends to still have an effect on modern-day populations.

While a Brookings Institution researcher tells the Post it could simply be that higher-IQ individuals may be "focused on some other longer term objective"which means they could derive more satisfaction toiling on those lofty goals than hanging out with palsKanazawa and Li's theory says intelligent individuals' capacity to deal better with dense populations may link back to our ancestors who lived on the sparsely populated African savanna and adapted to that surrounding. Although your average Joe today may a hard time evolving from that rural-like setting to today's overloaded environment, people with high IQs may be better able to "solve evolutionarily novel problems" and adapt better. As for the smarties' spurn of socialization? They may similarly be able to better adapt to solitary activities that their hunter-gatherer brethren rejected for survival purposes. (Firstborns have higher IQswith a catch.)
(Newser)  Authorities in Florida have arrested a man they say stole a BMW after trying to buy it with a food stamp debit card, the AP reports. According to the Martin County Sheriff's Office, 36-year-old Nicholas Jackson was arrested Friday and charged with grand theft auto. Deputies say Jackson was turned away at the Pompano Beach auto dealership after trying to buy the $60,000 car using his EBT card and a credit card. The suspect allegedly returned the next night and stole the car along with keys from 60 other vehicles. Deputies say they later found Jackson with the car and the keys after he ran out of gas because he didn't have money to fill the tank. (Read more Florida stories.)
(Newser)  Ted Cruz's response to the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday has drawn heavy criticism. The Republican presidential candidate said the US needs "to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods" in order to avoid similar attacks here, the New York Times reports. According to Politico, a Cruz spokesperson added that we need "an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes." Cruz later clarified that he wasn't saying law enforcement should target Muslims, only that police should do in areas "where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism" what they do in areas with a "high level of gang activity." He was unable or unwilling to name any such areas.

Cruz's advocacy of increased surveillance of American Muslim communities received a swift response. Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the proposal is biased, hateful, anti-Muslim, anti-American, and unconstitutional. "Thats really going to be similar to third-world countries and to what happened in Nazi Germany," the Times quotes Awad. "Ted Cruz is a disgrace," Politico quotes Debbie Wasserman Schultz of the DNC. "This is not leadership; it is fear-mongering for political gain." And at least one law-enforcement official isn't onboard either. The statements he made today are why hes not going to become president of this country, Politico New York quotes NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton. We dont need a president that doesnt respect the values that form the foundation of this country." (Read more Ted Cruz stories.)
(Newser)  A library book overdue by nearly 50 years has been returned to a university library in southwest Ohio, the AP reports. The University of Dayton says a former student who borrowed History of the Crusades in 1967 has sent it back with an apology for the late return. The university says James Phillips apparently checked out the book as a freshman before leaving school to join the Marines. Phillips says the book and other belongings must have been gathered from his dormitory room and sent to his parents' house, where they remained until his parents died. Phillips recently found the book in a box of belongings forwarded to him by his brother. University officials say they won't be charging Phillips the late fee that would have been about $350. (Read more overdue book stories.)
(Newser)  A 46-year-old man was arrested Sunday night after he allegedly unleashed a 13-foot python on a sushi restaurant filled with diners, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to CBS Los Angeles, the man finished and paid for a $200 meal at the restaurant then took out a small snake to show his fellow customers. The customers, understandably, weren't as enthusiastic about the man's snake as he was and asked him to take it outside. That's when police say he got upset, left, and returned with a 13-foot python.

The man allegedly said "[Expletive] you guys," dropped the snake on the floor, and walked out of the restaurant. A waitress describes the chaos that followed to CBS: "Everyones eating, so customers are yelling, Get this thing out! Are you crazy!'" A number of customers fled the restaurant. The snake also tried to flee but got stuck near the cash register. The snake was later freed by animal control, and the man was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. The suspect, identified as Hiroshi Motohashi, was previously convicted of selling endangered animals and venomous lizards in 2005. (Read more weird crimes stories.)
(Newser)  No Brussels victim's story will be anything less than a tragedy, as the first publicly confirmed casualtyAdelma Tapia Ruizdemonstrates. A native of Peru, the 36-year-old had called Brussels home for the past nine years and was headed to New York to visit family when the bombs detonated at Brussels' Zaventem airport. Tapia was killed, but the 3-year-old twin girls who were accompanying her survived, as did her Belgian husband, who was seeing his girls off, reports the New York Times.

One of the girls, Maureen, suffered shrapnel wounds in her arm; dad Christophe Delcambe was also hospitalized with injuries. The other daughter, Alondra, was unharmed. Tapia's brother explained that "the girls had been playing, and (Delcambe) followed them out of the gate area when the explosion occurred suddenly," with Peruvian media suggesting this saved their lives. Tapia's Facebook account is filled with family photos and pictures of the girls. (Read more Brussels attack stories.)
(Newser)  After her sister committed suicide last month, Eleni Pinnow took an unusual approach in writing the obituary: "Aletha Meyer Pinnow, 31, of Duluth, formerly of Oswego and Chicago, Ill., died from depression and suicide on Feb. 20, 2016," reads the first line in the Duluth News Tribune of Minnesota. Most would have hidden those details, and Pinnow explains in the Washington Post why she did exactly the opposite. "Depression lies," she writes. "I will tell the truth." In her sister's case, depression told Aletha that she was worthless, not worthy of life and love. "I imagine these lies were like a kind of permanent white noise in her lifea running narration of how unworthy she was."

As the obituary put it, depression "made her innate glow invisible to her," making her unable to recognized how deeply she was adored by her family and friends. After years of enduing this, Alethathe "hilarious, kind, generous, helpful, silly, and loving sister" who worked as a special education teacher for more than a decade and loved her students "with a ferocity that would make a rabid mother bear quiver"ended the torment by taking her own life. Pinnow writes that she's made her sister's story public to help others with depression avoid a similar spiral into isolation and self-deception. "Here is the truth: You have value. You have worth. You are loved," she writes. "Trust the enormous chorus of voices that say only one thing: you matter." Click to read the full piece, or to read the original obituary, which contains information about a scholarship fund in her sister's name. (Read more depression stories.)
(Newser)  A church and daycare center in Seattle's University District were cleared out by the city's fire department, nearby streets were roped off, and hazmat teams descended on the area Friday after "cough-inducing fumes" were noted wafting out of the church's bathroom and someone called 911, MyNorthwest.com reports. "Please use caution in the area," a wary Seattle Fire Department tweet warned late Friday afternoon. Sure enough, responders soon found the "suspicious item"a backpack, which held the smelly offender. Luckily, it was an item the fire department was able to deem "non-hazardous": a broken container of Axe body spray/deodorant, reports the New York Daily News.

Although the brand's "Axe Effect," which is supposed to ensure "guys look, smell and feel great," obviously failed, at least the fire department was able to issue a relieved tweet reporting "no injuries." RT.com notes that it's not the first time an Axe product has caused olfactory turmoil: In 2013, a teen in a Pennsylvania high school was sent to the hospital for a bad reaction to it, while eight students at a Brooklyn prep school were also rushed to get medical care for the same reason that same year. (A mom actually wore the stuff for a week as an experiment.)
(Newser)  One of the two brothers who detonated a suicide bomb in Brussels on Monday was clearly worried about getting caught just prior to the attacks. Authorities revealed a note written by Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, that reads: "Being in a hurry, I don't know what to do, being searched for everywhere, not being safe. If it drags on it could end up with me in a prison cell next to him." The "him" is believed to refer to Salah Abdeslam, the suspected terrorist ringleader arrested last week, reports USA Today. The note was found on a computer that had been dumped into a street trash can outside an apartment building in Brussels, reports ABC News. A taxi driver led police to the building after realizing that he had driven El Bakraoui and two others to the airport on Monday morning.

Also on Tuesday, authorities clarified some confusing earlier accounts of the investigation: They now say that Ibrahim El Bakraoui is the man seen in the middle of two others in a surveillance photo from the airport. On the left is a fellow suicide bomber, still unidentified, and on the right is another suspect, clad in white, who remains at large. Some media reports have identified him as Najim Laachraoui, who is suspected of paying a role in the Paris attacks, but authorities have not officially identified Laachraoui as a suspect in Brussels. Ibrahim El Bakraoui's brother, Khalid, 27, meanwhile, is accused of detonating a suicide bomb on the Brussels subway train. In another development, a Turkish official says Ibrahim El Bakraoui was arrested in June at the Turkey-Syria border and deported to the Netherlands. Turkey then warned both the Netherlands and Belgium that he was a "foreign terrorist fighter," reports AP. (Read more Brussels attack stories.)
(Newser)  Tuesday was another big day in the Election 2016 slog, with both the remaining Republican and Democratic candidates amassing more of the coveted delegates they need to secure a nomination for their respective parties. On the GOP side, Donald Trump won 59% of the delegates that were up for grabs in Tuesday's contests in Arizona and Utah, boosting his total number of delegates to 739, the AP reports. If he keeps up that pace, he'll be able to clinch the Republican nomination for president before the party's national convention this summerhe needs to win 54% of the remaining delegates to reach the magic number of 1,237, which is how many it takes to secure the GOP nomination. Trump's closest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, who currently has a total of 465 delegates, would need to win 83% of the remaining delegates, a nearly impossible task. John Kasich brings up the rear with 143 delegates. The next GOP primary is April 5 in Wisconsin, with 42 delegates at stake.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is closing in on collecting three-quarters of the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination. Bernie Sanders netted more than a dozen delegates after splitting the latest contests with Clinton, but still trails significantly. A total of 131 delegates were at stake Tuesday for the two Dems, and Sanders picked up at least 67, having won big in Idaho and Utah. Clinton will gain at least 51 in Arizona. Thirteen delegates remain to be allocated from Tuesday, pending final tallies. Still, Clinton leads Sanders 1,214 to 911. Clinton's lead is even bigger when including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate they wish. She now has 1,681, or 71% of what she needs to clinch the nomination. Sanders has 937. (Some Democrats want Sanders to wrap things up.)
(Newser)  If you're going to attempt a robbery, you probably won't succeed if your intended victim sees you're using a fake gun, especially if it's all different colors. That's what police say happened to Amanuel Perkins, who's accused of trying to rob a Missouri business with a multi-hued water pistol, KMOV reports. Cops say Perkins tried to pull off what he's now calling a St. Patrick's Day prank at Maplewood's Sole Survivor Leather, scaring the chaps off of the store's proprietoruntil he caught a closer look at the supposed weapon and realized he'd get wet before he got seriously injured.

Officials say the owner pushed the gun away and chased off Perkins, who's now being charged with first-degree attempted robbery. The New York Daily News reports the 18-year-old is being held on $25,000 bond. (A California school offered a firearms buyback for kids' toy guns.)
(Newser)  A 12-year-old girl in Florida is facing misdemeanor battery charges forof all thingspinching a boy's butt in between classes, WKMG reports. According to WFTV, Breana Evans and her friends "were just pinching random people" at Milwee Middle School to see their reactions. She says it's a game a lot of students play. But one boy complained, and Breana was suspended for "socially unacceptable" behavior. The boy told a school resource officer he didn't want to press charges; then his mother got involved. She called police, saying she wanted Breana prosecuted for battery, and the girl was placed in a patrol car and hauled off to juvenile detention.

"I feel like it's just stupid, just a stupid charge that shouldn't have to happen," Breana tells WKMG. Her father, Ray Evans, agrees, telling WFTV the charges are "extreme," "crazy," and "not the American way." "Lord lord lordy, what has this world come to?" he tells WKMG. "Kids can't even be a kid.  She's 12 years old, she was acting like a 12-year-old child." Evans says the boy's mother is being "too overprotective," and her son "might get some friends" if she loosened up about things. A state's attorney for the county says the charges against Breana will be dropped and her record cleared if she completes a 90-day diversion program of classes and community service and passes drug tests. (Another student landed in detention for giving a friend a quick hug.)
(Newser)  A 12-year-old boy who was shaken as a baby and remained in a vegetative state for the rest of his life has died, authorities said Wednesday. Aiden Stein died Sunday at a Columbus hospital. The case drew national attention when his parents waged a successful legal fight to prevent a court-appointed guardian from having him removed from life support. Three doctors had testified that Aiden would never recover. The Ohio Supreme Court eventually ruled that a probate court lacked the authority to allow a guardian to stop the care keeping Aiden alive when his parents hadn't permanently lost their parenting rights.

Four-month-old Aiden was rushed to a Mansfield hospital in March 2004 after his father, 21-year-old Matthew Stein, reported the baby had lost consciousness. Stein was later convicted of felonious assault and child endangerment and spent eight years in prison despite his assertions that he never injured his son. Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page told the AP on Wednesday that it was "unlikely" she'd pursue further charges against Stein. "I would have to look at the reason (Aiden) died," Couch Page said. "But there would probably be a stretch in jurors' minds that he died as the result of what the dad did." It's unclear if a cause of death has been determined. Click for more of Aiden's story. (Read more child death stories.)
Animation Software used by Studio Ghibli gets Open Access!

Films like Spirited Away and Tale of the Princess Kaguya or even the animated series Futurama used the Toonz animation software. The legendary Japanese filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki who used the Toonz Ghibli Edition is now going open-source. This means that it will be absolutely free of cost and can be used by the studios and even by the novice animators.

The software was acquired from Italian Developer Digital Video by Dwango who is a Japanese publisher. Then came up the deal of making the software open-source. Now the focus is on customizing and training but will continue selling the premium version of the software at a competitive price to companies.

Imaging Director of Studio Ghibli Atsushi Okui said that they were happy to hear that the software was now available to everybody and that it contains the Ghibli Edition. He also added that he was expecting a better and effective utilization of the software by people who are inside and outside of the animation industry.

Debuted in the year 1993, Toonz is used to convert hand-drawn and rasterized art into vector graphics. After the required conversion the graphics can be animated in 2D by creating "skeletons" for characters, providing a similar animation workflow to 3D projects.

The aspiring editors can now have access to a production-ready version of the software which used to run for about thousand dollars. The app was first used in 1995 for Princess Monomoke said Studio Ghibli. It was used to combine hand-drawn animation with the digitally painted ones. This was done to reduce the additional stress and also to ensure a continued production of theatre-quality animation. Now that the software is open-source the considerable effort to learn software as deep as Toonz, is made simpler and easier for the aspiring animators. It will be presented officially at Anime Japan in Tokyo, which starts on March 26th.
Android Users Beware! Old Vulnerability hits Again!

Presuming that an old vulnerability that was faced by android phones was fixed has put millions of android phones to risk. NorthBit, an Israeli-based company.

Millions of android phones have been facing an old vulnerability that was thought to be solved.

Israeli explained a fresh way of exploiting a weakness spotted in Stagefright which is Android's media server and multimedia library. This weakness may let hackers get access to data and functions when a user visits a malicious website on different Android versions.

A statement was delivered by NorthBit stating that the key is that the device's defenses are gauged by a back-and-forth procedure before dividing in. When a malicious website is visited a series of events occur. Once such a website is visited it results in the crashing of the Android's media server which results in the transfer of the hardware data of the user to the attacker. Followed by the attack will be sending of video file and then collecting additional security data and finally delivering one video file that actually infects the device using which the user got into the malicious website.

NorthBit said, "The key is back-and-forth procedure that gauges device's defenses before diving in. Visit malicious website, and attack will crash Android's media server, send hardware data back to attacker, send another video file, collect additional security data and deliver one video file that actually infects device".

Prior to this attempts were twice by Google to check the vulnerability following the detection of the original Stagefright flaws by security company Zimperium in early last year. Two weakness were found in the exploit by Northbit.

First aspect is that hackers would have made various versions of 'Metaphor' to hijack each kind of phone on a wide scale. Second aspect is that the company found that the most update version Android, 6.0 Marshmallow, hinders 'Metaphor'. The more recent October patch of Google can obstruct it on a number of older installs also.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave an annoucement that it will now require immediate-release opioid painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin to display enhanced warnings about addiction, overdose and death as a result of misuse of the drugs.

This enforcement came once again in a week due to increasing abuse and misuse of the drugs.

Now oxycodone and fentanyl will now have to have a "black box" warning regarding the risk of abuse, addiction, overdose and death.

"Opioid addiction and overdose have reached epidemic levels over the past decade, and the FDA remains steadfast in our commitment to do our part to help reverse the devastating impact of the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids," Dr. Robert Califf, FDA commissioner, said in a press release. "Today's actions are one of the largest undertakings for informing prescribers of risks across opioid products, and one of many steps the FDA intends to take this year as part of our comprehensive action plan to reverse this epidemic."

The "black box" warnings are the FDA's most powerful, and they're meant to teach doctors as they're prescribing medications to patients.

On top of the boxed warning, the FDA said it will add new information about the danger of opioid use for pregnant women and newborn babies as well as how drug affects the usage of antidepressants and other medications.

In Feburary, President Barack Obama suggested an additional $1.1 billion dollars to broaden treatment for prescription drug and heroin abuse. Obama will be attending the National Prescription Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit next week in Atlanta, NDCP Director Michael Botticelli announced.

FDA is planning to review label requirements as new research is presented on interactions with other drugs, including benzodiazepines.

"The FDA has taken an important step here," Dr. Bruce Psaty, a drug safety researcher at the University of Washington, told the New York Times. "This should help improve prescribing practices in the near term."

The FDA has been criticized for pushing hard enough to stem the opioid addiction crisis, especially by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who tried to postpone Califf's approval to pressure the FDA to do more to fight addiction.

"Today's announced changes to the labels of opioid products will finally reflect what we have known about these drugs for decades - they are dangerous and addictive and can lead to dependency, overdose and death," Markey said in a statement. "It has taken FDA far too long to address the grave risks of these drugs that have claimed the lives of thousands this year alone."

Markey said the FDA has to take action to protect patients. All new opioids should be checked by an advisory committee of apart from experts, for example. Doctors also needs to be educated about how to prescribe pain relief safely, he said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) appeared to have backed down from its standoff with Apple over the controversial access to a San Bernardino attacker's iPhone via hacking. Previously, the feds have been urging the iPhone maker to create a backdoor access so they can tap into the terrorist's smartphone and uncover messages that may help in the terror investigation.

The US Department of Justice recently asked a US magistrate judge to drop the Tuesday court hearing saying that they may have found a workaround without forcing Apple to hack their own security infrastructure.

"An outside party demonstrated to the FBI this past weekend a possible method for unlocking the phone. We must first test this method to ensure that it doesn't destroy the data on the phone, but we remain cautiously optimistic," remarked Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman as quoted by Bloomberg News.

The recent development comes as tension builds over digital privacy war between the US federal government and the Silicon Valley in general. In particular, the jarring turn of events was a temporary respite from weeks of acrimonious Apple-FBI relations. Despite being served with a court order, Apple steadfastly objected to the feds' request of breaking into their own security barriers using backdoor software.

Tim Cook's defiant stand receives support from other tech giants like Facebook and Google in its legal battle with the government. The Apple exec seems to convey the legitimate fears that Silicon Valley has in general over government's purported intrusion on devices 'that has become an extension of ourselves'.

"We need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy. We didn't expect ... to be at odds with our government. But we believe we have a responsibility to protect your data, your privacy. We owe it to our customers," said Cook in a statement as quoted by Los Angeles Times.

Meanwhile, the legal tussle is also splitting public opinion. As reported by Forbes, 51% favor unlocking the iPhone while 38% condemn it in a recent Pew Research Center Poll. Statistically speaking, the results of the survey reveal a highly divided public opinion. Polarizing arguments from both sides of the controversy also adds up to the complexity of the privacy-vs-national-security debate.
On Tuesday, Arizona was taken by Clinton and Trump. Utah was taken by Cruz, while Sanders took Idaho. Most of the voters said that the issues most important to them included the "minimum wage, medical care for veterans and Native American affairs".

Marie Howard, a 57-year-old Navajo Nation resident, supported Hillary Clinton, as she feels that she would get a sympathetic supporter for tribal members, according to washingtonpost.

She has an interesting collection of postcards, an autographed photo and newspaper clippings reminding her of Clinton's visit to her reservation and the Grand Canyon. "She's the only one who's been out here trying to make a difference," Howard said.

She had been among thousands of Navajos who had been moved away from Hopi land in a property dispute between the tribes. She is convinced that Clinton would help those who have been relocated to get federal benefits given for moving off their land.

She also looks forward to Clinton supporting Bernie Sanders' plan to provide free college tuition.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ramirez, a 28-year-old Phoenix resident, said he had felt at first that Donald Trump was a "sideshow." But finally, he liked the concept of getting a president elected without funds from outside.

"I had to put my big boy pants on and say, 'There's more to this guy,'" Ramirez said.

And getting him to be president would mean that his anti-establishment belief would help. "If we need to impeach him, I suspect it would be a fairly short process," he said.

On the other hand, Brandon Perry of South Jordan, Utah, thinks Trump is an untrustworthy TV persona who is only trying to stir people's anger and hate, so that he could get elected.

"My perception of Trump is that he's morally bankrupt," Perry said.

Though he likes John Kasich, Perry feels that he would not be able to win. But halting Trump's advancement is his most important issue, he feels.

There is an ardent Donald Trump supporter, Easton Brady, 19, of Provo, Utah, explaining that not all millennials support Sanders.

While Utah is heavily conservative, Mitt Romney is more popular here.

Yet, Brady likes the billionaire Trump and his brashness, as he finds that the candidates words ring true.

"I think Trump says a lot of dumb things, but he's human," Brady said. "I don't care."
Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were available for pre-order at 7 p.m. UK Time soon after it was announced at Unpacked 2016. By March 11, the phones were available for sale in UK and US.

All the users who pre-ordered their much awaited handset on March 5 got the handsets delivered early, by March 8 and also received a free VR headset as a bonus. S7 in UK is available for 569 and S7 Edge for 639.

Eager fans, before you rush to buy your Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, do remember that their handsets drop in price within the first few months after its launch. Sometimes the price drop may fall well below 21% within three months. Despite this fact, users can hardly wait to see a fall in its price to buy the handset. Within 48 hours of launch, preorders were up by 200%.

The one problem that many users face is that soon after they buy S7, there will be a new handset in the offing, probably S8 down the line. However, the users are now stuck with a two-year contract on their existing handset. For the benefit of its users who like to upgrade with each new iteration, can enjoy special upgrade programme offered by Samsung for 24.58, giving you the access to latest S-series flagship and carry over your monthly subscription to a new handset.

The new Galaxy S7 handsets will receive Google's March security update, applicable to users in UK. This update, 74.38 MB in size, will fix important issues and bugs.

Good news for the Galaxy S-series fans is that not only are the S7 phones waterproof but also has the expandable storage option. The MicroSD slot can expand the phone's memory up to 200 GB and the best part, you will be able to move your apps to SD card! The phone is available in Black Onyx, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium.
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The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.
Mumbai:

The cross-examination of Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack is scheduled to be held on Wednesday.



We informed the court that one of the attorneys of Headley was not well and requested the court to start the proceedings from Wednesday. The court ordered accordingly, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told PTI.



Nikam said Headleys cross-examination will go on for four days. Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the terror attack, will cross-examine.



Headley, who has turned an approver, concluded his week-long deposition before Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.



On February 22, Judge G A Sanap had directed Nikam to contact US authorities for Headleys second round of deposition and inform the court by February 25, after which the dates of his testimony were to be finalised.



Jundals lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan then sought four days to cross-examine Headley. Khan has also filed an application objecting to Headley being made an approver by the court.



Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his deposition how Pakistans intelligence agency ISI provides financial, military and moral support to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 attack. He also said that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.

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Brussels:

Belgium pressed a huge manhunt today after Islamic State bombers attacked Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people and wounding hundreds as jihadists once again struck at the heart of Europe.



Two massive suicide blasts by men with bombs in their bags hit Zaventem Airport, leaving blood and mangled bodies strewn across the check-in hall and sending terrified travellers fleeing.



Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were actively searching for a third man whose explosives did not to go off.



Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.



The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, capital of the European Union, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continents ability to prevent terrorism.



It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam following four months on the run.



Brussels residents held a candlelit vigil in the Place de la Bourse square where they sang songs and waved the Belgian flag, while on social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.



This is a day of tragedy, a black day, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium.



But as Belgium began three days of national mourning today, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the blind, violent and cowardly attacks.



People were just going to work, to school and they have been cut down by the most extreme barbarity, Michel said. We will continue to protect liberty, our way of life.



The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying soldiers of the caliphate had carried out the attacks against the crusader state of Belgium.



Leaders across Europe reacted with outrage, with the EU vowing to combat terrorism with all means necessary on a continent that has been on high alert for months.



The whole of Europe has been hit, said French President Francois Hollande, whose country is still reeling from Novembers attacks.



Landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlins Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of Belgiums national flag in solidarity.



US President Barack Obama vowed to stand with Belgium in the face of the outrageous attacks and ordered US flags flown at half mast, while the FBI and New York police said they would send investigators to help.



UN chief Ban Ki-moon said those responsible for the despicable bombings should face justice, while Belgian King



Philippe condemned the cowardly and odious attacks.



Hundreds of flights and trains were cancelled as Europe tightened security, while the US warned citizens about the potential risks of travelling in Europe and New York and Washington stepped up security.



There were chaotic scenes at Brussels airport after the bombers struck around at around 8:00 am (1230 IST), as plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising from holes punched through the roof of the building by the blasts.



A lot of people lost limbs. One man had lost both legs and there was a policeman with a totally mangled leg, airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.



About an hour after the airport blasts, a third explosion rocked Maalbeek metro station, in the heart of the citys EU quarter, just as commuters were making their way to work.



Paramedics tended to commuters with bloodied faces as the citys normally peaceful streets filled with the wailing of sirens.



Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP at least 14 people had been killed at the airport, while Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said around 20 died in the metro.



Among them was Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, a Peruvian woman who had been living in Brussels for six years and was with her family in the airport when the blast went off, according to the foreign ministry.



More than 200 people were wounded in the two attacks, including four Mormon missionariesthree Americans and one Frenchtwo Britons, two Colombians and an Ecuadoran. France said eight of its nationals were hurt, though it was unclear if this included the Mormon.



Belgian authorities published surveillance images showing the three male suspects of the airport attack. Two had dark hair and were wearing a glove on only one hand, and a third, who is being hunted by Belgian police, was wearing a hat and a white coat.



They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags, Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren said.



They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs exploded. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didnt explode.



Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europes most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels.



Last Tuesday an Algerian IS-linked militant was killed in a shoot-out in the south of the city.



Investigators believe Abdeslam slipped out of the apartment as the gun battle erupted. He was arrested three days later in Brussels gritty Molenbeek district, just around the corner from his family home.

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New York/London:

Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak is being tested by the British troops in the US that allows them to hide from the enemy with soldiers hailing it as a brilliant piece of kit. The invisibility cloak that Harry Potter used to move around Hogwarts undetected may have promising applications in real life particularly when used in the battlefield.



In field trials conducted in the US, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion The Rifles tried using a camouflage sheeting known as Vatec, which allows them to hide even from infrared and heat-searching devices.



During trials conducted at Fort Benning in Georgia, the snipers used the material, which can be molded into shapes to match the terrains, to come-up with hideaways during mock battles, the US-based Tech Times news website reported.



The participants reported that they could not be seen even when other soldiers who acted as the enemy tried to search for them using the latest infrared trackers and heat-seeking devices, the report said.



The material, which was originally developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Illinois, attempts to replicate the special ability of cephalopods such as the octopus and squid to blend in with the environment to evade their predators, it said.



These creatures skin has pigment-rich cells called chromatophores that change colour in response to external factors such as the presence of a predator. Researchers have developed a process that mimics this ability with a technology known as visual appearance modulation.



The material they developed has one side that contains tiny light-sensitive cells that are sensitive to the colours of the environment.



Once colours are detected, electrical signals trigger the top layer to imitate those colours using heat-sensitive dyes, a process that takes place in as fast as two to three seconds.



The colour-changing technology is estimated to be put in use to camouflage military vehicles on the battlefields and allow soldiers to instantly adapt to the surroundings within five years.



Professor Xuanhe Zhao from Massachusetts Institute of Technology was quoted by the British paper Daily Star as saying, I have high hopes for its use in military camouflage.



Corporal Tyrone Hoole, a sharpshooter from 3 Rifles, said, Its a brilliant piece of kit.



Despite the advancements, some physicists are skeptical about the ability of invisibility cloaks to hide objects from all observers.

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Mumbai:

Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today said Tahawwur Rana, his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago, was aware that he was an operative of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).



Headleys cross-examination by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 terror attack, began this morning in the court of Mumbai sessions judge G A Sanap, via video link from the US.



When Khan asked him about Rana, Headley said, Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks.



The 55-year-old terrorist, who has turned approver in the 26/11 case, further said Rana had objected to his association with LeT.



Rana objected to my association with LeT. He did not want me to continue using his office in Mumbai. I conceded his objection and started taking steps to close down the office. This was in July 2008, he said.



However, Headley refused to answer questions about his wife Shazia.



Shazia is still my legally wedded wife. I do not want to disclose Shazias location at present. I do not want to answer any question about my wife Shazia, he said.



He said his wife never visited India and that he had disclosed to her about his association with LeT.



Shazia never visited India. Originally shes from Pakistan. I had told Shazia about my association with LeT. I dont remember when I disclosed this to her, at least not immediately.



When Khan asked Headley what was Shazias reaction to this disclosure, he said, Her reaction to this is between me and her. It is our personal relation. I dont want to disclose whether she objected or not or what she said. I am not going to share what happened between me and my wife.



However, Headley said his wife knew about his plans to change his name.



She knew that I was going to change my name from Dawood Gilani to David Coleman Headley, he said.



When Khan continued questioning him on Shazia, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam took objection to it and said that under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act, the communication between a husband and wife is a privileged one and need not be disclosed.



Headley had earlier concluded his week-long deposition before the Mumbai sessions court through a video-link from the US on February 13.



Headley, who is serving a 35-year jail term in the US, said in his earlier deposition how Pakistans intelligence agency ISI provides financial, military and moral support to terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and how LeT planned and executed the 26/11 Mumbai attack.



He had also claimed that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an allegedly fake encounter in Gujarat, was an LeT operative.

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New Delhi:

Sri Sri Ravi Shankars controversial World Culture Festival organised by the Art of Living (AOL) in New Delhi was surrounded by controversy for its venue being the banks of Yamuna river. An environmental scientist visited the venue of the event on Day 2. Few days later, the scientist Dr Rakesh Kumar wrote a report and argued that the floodplains of Yamuna were not damaged by the event at all. Dr Rakesh Kumar is a director at the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) run by the government.

His report was circulated on March 18 and it was in contradiction of the decision of the National Green Tribunal which said it had caused permanent damage to the floodplains.

The supporters of Art of Living also claimed that a clean chit was given to the festival. Well now, NEERI has distanced itself from the views of Dr Rakesh Kumar, leading to a controversy between the scientist and the supporters of Art of Living.

An email was sent out on March 22 by NEERI acting director Tapas Nandy, in which he said that Dr Kumars opinion "does not reflect the view of" the Institute. In the email, he also said that Kumar was not even authorised to carry out the study.

"The opinion expressed by Dr. Rakesh Kumar is in his personal capacity and his opinion does not reflect the view of CSIR-NEERI. Dr. Rakesh Kumar was not authorised by CSIR-NEERI for the same," Nandy wrote.

"CSIR-NEERI has not carried out any such study at the site in question," the letter added.



Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, a campaign to revive the polluted Yamuna river, raised the questions, which were addressed in this letter.

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Washington:

Top Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have favoured increased surveillance of Muslim neighbourhoods in the US, following the horrific terrorist attack in Brussels that killed over 30 people. The remarks by the two Republicans was immediately slammed by the Democratic party and other think-tanks, who described it as an extremely dangerous rhetoric.



We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence. We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalised, Cruz said in a statement as he joined a similar call made by Trump earlier. Cruz, 45, said todays attacks in Brussels underscores that this is a war. This is not an isolated incident. This is not a lone wolf. This is a war with radical Islamic terrorism. ISIS has declared jihad on Europe and on the United States of America, he said.



In an interview to CNN, Trump reiterated his earlier call for a ban on Muslims entering the country. Youre going to make certain exceptions, and exceptions on heads of state and some of these people and Im not saying we dont do that, Trump, 69, said. But we have a real problem and people dont have any idea whats going on. We have a government thats impotent, a government that doesnt get it, it doesnt understand whats happening, he said.



Trump called for change in law to include water boarding. What I would do is look, to change our law on the water-boarding thing, where they can chop off heads or drown people in heavy steel cages and we cant waterboard, he said. So we have to change our laws so we can fight at least on an almost equal basis. They have no laws whatsoever that they have to obey, he added.



In a statement, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said the remarks made by Trump show that he lacks the temperament of a president. Donald Trumps latest comments are absurd and offensive and clearly show he lacks the temperament and reasoned decision-making we expect from our commander-in-chief, said DNC national press secretary Mark Paustenbach.



This isnt the first time a Republican has made vast generalisations about the Muslim community. Its this type of false and divisive rhetoric that is undermining Americas credibility and is putting our countrys national security at risk, Paustenbach said.

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Mumbai:

Farah Khan will choreograph steps in a song in Jackie Chans film Kung Fu Yoga.



The special Bollywood song in Jackie Chans Indo-Chinese production also stars Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur.



The special number will be shot on a lavish set in Rajasthan and later in Beijing, a statement said.



It was actor Sonu Sood, who has worked with Farah in Happy New Year, who persuaded him (Chan) to do a song by explaining how much Indians love music in their films, it stated.



Kung Fu Yoga is a part of the three-film agreement signed between India and China during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to India last year.



The action-adventure film is set for release this October.

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Kolkata:

Camera trapping has allayed fears of presence of any tiger at Medziphema village in Nagaland where a big cat was killed by locals a few days ago. The forest department, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust had set up camera-traps near the village where the presence of tiger was reported by the locals.



After seven days of camera trapping with 17 units, no evidence of any tiger was found, WCS scientist Dr Varun Goswami, who led the effort, told PTI from Dimapur.



There is a habitat for tigers but very little prey is available. The big cat population has not been officially recorded in Nagaland in over a decade, he said.



Tigers, however, can disperse into Nagaland from multiple directions - the forests of Karbi Anglong towards the northwest, or perhaps, Myanmar to the southeast, Goswami said, adding after interacting with residents of Medziphema it was learnt that tigers occasionally pass through the area.



Tigers can move large distances when they are dispersing. Our long term research shows evidence of tigers travelling up to 300 km or more, said Dr Ullas Karanth, a renowned tiger expert from WCS.



One such dispersing tiger was shot dead by the panicked villagers in self defense on February 29. Two days later, a youngsters walking in a nearby forest had reported catching a fleeting glimpse of a tiger-like animal.

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Brussels:

Belgian state broadcaster RTBF has identified two of the attackers who targeted Brussels as brothers Khalid and Brahim Bakraoui.



The report issued today says the brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism.



REBF says Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment raided by police last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.



World leaders united in condemning the carnage in Brussels and vowed to combat terrorism, after Islamic State bombers killed around 35 people in a strike at the symbolic heart of the EU.



Global landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate were lit up in the black, yellow and red of the Belgian national flag in solidarity.



In Brussels, hundreds crowded into Place de la Bourse in the capital's historic centre to grieve for the dead, while in London fans of Adele lit up the O2 stadium with their phones after the pop star asked them to "take a moment for Brussels".



The European Union vowed to defend democracy and combat terrorism "with all necessary means" after the bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station, only a short walk from the bloc's core institutions.



The EU said the Brussels attacks were an assault "on our open democratic society" at a time when the bloc is already on edge after a wave of jihadist violence.



"This latest attack only strengthens our resolve to defend the European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant. We will be united and firm in the fight against hatred, violent extremism and terrorism," leaders and its institutions said in a statement.



Officials said around 20 people were killed on the metro and 14 at the airport in the rush-hour assaults, which came days after the main fugitive suspect in November's gun and bomb rampage in Paris was arrested in Brussels.



"Our Union's capital is under attack. We mourn the dead and pledge to conquer terror through democracy," the Greek foreign ministry said on Twitter. "Nous sommes tous Bruxellois" -- "We are all citizens of Brussels."



Belgian colours lit up the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and hundreds joined a vigil in support of the Brussels victims. Flags were to fly at half mast in France, a nation still raw from last year's jihadist rampage.



"The whole of Europe has been hit," French President Francois Hollande declared, urging the continent to take "vital steps in the face of the seriousness of the threat".



German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed that "the horror is as boundless as the determination to defeat terrorism" and British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed: "We will never let these terrorists win."



US President Barack Obama branded the attacks "outrageous", calling on the world to stand "together

regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism".



"We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world," he said in Havana.

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Dhaka:

The dreaded Islamic State today claimed responsibility for executing a 65-year-old Christian pastor in Bangladesh, saying the murder was a lesson to others.

Hossain Ali, who converted to Christianity from Islam and working as a pastor at a church, was hacked to death by three motorbike-borne unidentified assailants in the northern Bangladeshi town of Kurigram yesterday morning.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based monitoring organisation, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for killing Ali. In a statement posted on Twitter, IS said the murder was a lesson to others.

A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able to kill the apostate (Ali), who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity, the statement said.

Alis murder came two months after another converted Christian was murdered in western Jhinaidah for which the Islamic State had claimed responsibility. Ali converted to Christianity 17 years ago and retired from government service last year.

We are yet to know who killed him...a tenant in his house went into hiding creating suspicion that he could have been murdered for religious reasons or over family matters as we heard there were some disputes among the family members, a police officer said yesterday, adding that a probe were ongoing.

A local source said Ali was a pastor at a church in the neighbourhood. After the Jhinaidah murder in January, the US-based SITE intelligence group said Islamic State had asserted that it killed the man because he converted from Islam.

Though the Islamic State has taken responsibility for a slew of murders, the Bangladesh government denies the terror groups presence in Bangladesh and attributes the murders to the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). A number of their operatives of the group have been detained in recent months.

There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh over the past six months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners that have killed at least nine persons including two foreigners and wounded more than 100.

Last week a top Shia preacher and homoeopathic doctor was stabbed to death in southwestern Bangladesh in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

A Hindu head priest was hacked to death on February 21 by gun-and-cleaver wielding Islamists at a temple in northern Panchagarh districts Debiganj Upazila.

In September last year, Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was murdered by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, and within five days of that incident Japanese farmer Kunio Hoshi was killed. Both attacks were claimed by IS-affiliated militants.

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Taipei:

Taiwan today gave its first ever international press tour of a disputed island in the South China Sea to boost its claim, less than two months after a visit by its leader sparked protests from rival claimants. Taiping is the largest island in the Spratlys chain and is administered by Taiwan, which sees it as part of its territory.

But the Spratlys are also claimed in part or whole by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei and have been at the centre of escalating rows.

A visit to Taiping by Taiwans President Ma Ying-jeou in January triggered criticism from the United States which described it as extremely unhelpful, as well as protests from Vietnam and the Philippines. But Taiwan remains undeterred in asserting its claim.

We hope that the international community will understand our position in safeguarding our sovereignty in the South China Sea and our effective administration of Taiping Island, deputy foreign minister Bruce Linghu said after the group arrived on the island.

The Philippines is currently in the midst of an arbitration case against China at the Hague over the South China Sea. As part of its case, the Philippines argues that Taiping and other islands are just rocks, a categorisation which helps its broad claims in the area.

Taiwan disagrees, saying Taiping is a fully fledged island, a categorisation which entitles it to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

Its an indisputable fact that Taiping is an island and not a rock. Taiwan enjoys full rights associated with territorial waters, Linghu said.

Our sovereignty claim is firm but we are willing to put aside disputes to jointly develop the region with relevant countries for peace and mutual benefits, he added.

Linghu has previously accused the Philippines of distorting the facts and misinterpreting the law over Taiping during arbitration hearings. A ruling on the arbitration case is expected before May.

As part of efforts to strengthen defence capabilities on Taiping, Taiwan last year inaugurated a solar-powered lighthouse, an expanded airstrip and a pier, all stops on Wednesdays press tour.

Journalists will also be shown other facilities, including a hospital, a temple and a post office. Ma will speak to reporters after the group returns later today.

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New Delhi :

An Infosys employee from Bengaluru has been missing in Brussels since the deadly terror attacks and the Indian Embassy in the Belgian capital was making efforts to locate him. The missing employee has been identified as Raghavendran Ganesh. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Brussels was trying to trace Ganesh.

We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh, Swaraj tweeted. Official sources said Ganesh is an Infosys employee and hails from Bengaluru. Two Jet Airways crew membersNidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwanaiwere injured in yesterdays explosions at Brussels Zaventem airport and Swaraj said they are recovering well. Both Nidhi and Amit are from Mumbai.

I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well, she said. Swaraj said government was coordinating with Jet airways to evacuate Indian citizens. The airport is still not open. This may take some time. We are coordinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens, she said. (Also read. Brussels bombing: Google offers free calls to Belgium and Turkey)

The airline, which has cancelled its flight services to Brussels till tomorrow in view of the closure of the airport following yesterdays blasts, also said its teams are closely working with the local authorities for resumption of operations. Brussels airport serves as the Mumbai-based airlines European hub for its international operations, which is now being relocated to Dutch capital Amsterdam from coming Sunday. (Also read. Brussels attacks: Terror suspect Najim Laachraoui arrested)

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Brussels:

Belgiums federal prosecutor confirmed today that two brothers carried out suicide attacks at Brussels airport and on a metro train that killed 31 people and wounded 270.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew himself up in the check-in hall of Zaventem airport while Khalid El Bakraoui attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, Frederic van Leeuw told a news conference.

RTBF television named the two as Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, saying Khalid last week rented an apartment in Brussels under a false name where police found Abdeslams fingerprints after a raid.

Police arrested Abdeslam, Europes most wanted man, in a dramatic operation in Brussels on Friday that had been hailed as a victory in Belgiums campaign against terrorism.

Khalid is also linked to renting an apartment in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi from where Abdeslam and the other Brussels-based Islamic State jihadists set off to carry out the November 13 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead.

A police source told AFP yesterday that a man in the middle of three men seen on closed circuit television at the airport just before the twin blasts could be Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

Other reports today said one of the brothers, who they did not name, could have been involved in the separate attack yesterday on the Brussels metro station of Maalbeek, which left about 20 dead.

Belgian police earlier today issued an appeal for information about the two men believed to have blown themselves up at the airport.

The police posted several tweets with the caption Terrorism: who knows this man?, showing CCTV close-ups of two men pushing trolleys with suitcases through the airport departure hall.

They gave three slightly different images for each of the two men who the federal prosecutor said yesterday had likely blown themselves up in the attack.

A third man, dressed in a light coloured jacket and wearing a dark hat, who was shown with the two others in a CCTV grab issued yesterday, is believed to have fled the scene and is now the subject of a massive manhunt.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
American ally Saudi Arabia soon to have government evils exposed in heartbreaking documentary

Five bodies hang from a pole suspended between two cranes, a public display which serves as a reminder to those who might contemplate a life of crime.

(Article by Peter Oborne, republished from //www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3502079/Saudi-Arabia-s-kingdom-savagery-DOES-Britain-cosy-butchers.html)

They belonged to a gang of five robbers, all of whom were publicly beheaded before their corpses were hoisted high in the air, where they remained for days.

The gruesome sight is one scene in a shocking documentary to be aired this week which sheds light on life in Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds bloodiest and most secretive countries.

This gruesome sight is one scene in a shocking documentary to be aired this week which sheds light on life in Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds bloodiest and most secretive countries

Five bodies hang from a pole suspended between two cranes, a public display which serves as a reminder to those who might contemplate a life of crime

The film, Saudi Arabia Uncovered, contains harrowing footage of beheadings

The film, Saudi Arabia Uncovered, contains harrowing footage of beheadings. A woman dressed in black is held down at the side of a public road by four Saudi policemen, after she has been convicted of killing her stepdaughter.

She is executed with a sword blow to the neck, as she screams: I did not do it.

We have all heard of the brutality of the Saudi regime, but what makes this documentary so chilling is that we see it on camera.

In another beheading scene, the executioner, dressed in the white robes typically worn by Saudi men, raises his curved sword above his head and brings it down in a single sweep.

Read more at: //www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3502079/Saudi-Arabia-s-kingdom-savagery-DOES-Britain-cosy-butchers.html

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Obama just telegraphed his intentions regarding Hillary Clintons little legal problem

To read more about Hillary Clinton News, please go to Clinton.news for all the latest updates

(Freedom.news) With little fanfare and almost no media coverage, President Obama told the country what he intends to do if the FBI happens to recommend the Justice Department indict Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton over her very improper use of an unsecured personal email server to conduct classified State Department business.

Nothing.

Thats right, the president has made his mind up to give Clinton a pass  not that many political observers thought that this constitutional law lecturer (he was never a professor) was ever going to let the legal system work on its own. Because with Obama its Left-wing politics,  first, last and always.

On St. Paddys Day, The New York Times ran an insider story, reporting that Obama spoke privately to a Democratic National Committee event featuring party donors in Austin, Texas, the previous week. The paper reported:

In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was nearing the point at which his campaign against Hillary Clinton would end, and that the party must soon come together to back her.

Translation: She will never be indicted by his administration. Ever.

The Times provided more evidence of the presidents intentions:

Those in attendance described an urgency in Mr. Obamas tone as he suggested that Democrats needed to come together to prevent an opening for the Republicans, whose leading candidate is Donald J. Trump, to exploit.

And:

But, while he stressed that he was not endorsing either candidate, and that both would make good presidents, Mr. Obama went on to lavish praise on Mrs. Clinton, describing her as smart, tough and experienced, and said that she would continue the work of his administration.

So, there you have it. As has always been the case, our narcissist president is much more interested in preserving his transformation of the country  from a free-market, liberty-focused, national security-minded republic to something resembling Venezuela on steroids  than in the rule of law, ensuring that the nation is protected and secure from threats.

Remember, this is the president who has gone after journalists who are merely reporting on important constitutional and civil rights issues  rights violations that this president and his bureaucracy have routinely committed (which makes you wonder why the mainstream press remains loyal to him and to Clinton).

This is the administration that prosecuted the man who saved Iraq (before Obama lost it again) and shored up Afghanistan before successfully leading the CIA  Gen. David Petraeus  for a fraction of what Clinton is alleged to have done. But then, Petraeus was a military man, someone who was definitely not in the upper echelons of the Democratic club.

At this juncture it isnt clear whether the FBI will even recommend an indictment, perhaps having read, as I did, Obamas message to Democratic donors as a sign of his intention to let Clinton slide. But then, FBI Director James Comey isnt political, so if he feels indictments are appropriate, he may recommend them anyway, which would force both Obama and Clinton to defend themselves  one from the White House on his way out, and the other on the campaign trail against the likely GOP nominee, Trump, who would smell blood in the water.

Cant say Im surprised by Obamas decision, just sorely disappointed. But then, that has happened a lot over the past seven years.

To read more about Hillary Clinton News, please go to Clinton.news for all the latest updates

See also:

The New York Times

Freedom.news is part of the USA Features Media network.

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The Supreme Court is pressuring Massachusetts on their strict stun gun ban, that caused a homeless domestic abuse victim to be thrown in jail

The Supreme Court ordered Massachusetts highest court on Monday to reexamine the states ban on stun guns after a woman claimed the statute violated her constitutional right to bear arms.

(Article by Toni Ann Booras, republished from //dailycaller.com/2016/03/21/supreme-court-orders-mass-to-take-another-look-at-stun-gun-ban/)

Jaime Caetano, who was arrested in 2011 for carrying a stun gun in violation of Massachusetts state law, claimed she carried the weapon for self-defense to protect against an abusive ex-boyfriend, Reuters reports. Caetano was convicted after police found the stun gun in her purse while investigating a shoplifting report.

The states top court affirmed Caetanos conviction in 2015, ruling that the stun-gun ban did not violate the Second Amendment because stun guns did not exist when the Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1789.

While the Supreme Court did not strike down the Massachusetts law or rule on whether electroshock weapons were protected under the Second Amendment, the move was seen as a temporary victory for gun rights proponents. In an unsigned ruling with no dissents, the nations highest court sent the case back to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to be looked at again.

ustices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion saying simply sending the case back to the lower court may not be enough.

If the fundamental right of self-defense does not protect Caetano, then the safety of all Americans is left to the mercy of state authorities who may be more concerned about disarming the people than about keeping them safe, Alito wrote.

Caetanos lawyers argued the Supreme Court has ruled in the past modern weapons are protected under the Second Amendment, according to USAToday. In a 54 ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, the court affirmed an individual right to bear arms. Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February leaving the normally nine-member court short one justice, wrote the ruling.

Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment, Scalia wrote in the Heller decision. We do not interpret constitutional rights that way.

Scalia continued that the Second Amendment extends to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.

Massachusetts highest court had previously decided the constitutional rights affirmed in Heller did not extend to stun guns.

Massachusetts is one of only seven states that ban possession of stun guns, USAToday reports.

Read more at: //dailycaller.com/2016/03/21/supreme-court-orders-mass-to-take-another-look-at-stun-gun-ban/

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U.S. Army to preposition war material, gear in Asia and Europe to in preparation for rising threats

(NationalSecurity.news) The U.S. Army plans to pre-position tons of war stocks and gear in Europe, Vietnam, and other as-yet-unnamed countries to allow for quicker deployment in a time of crisis, some of it in regions where China has long considered its domain, Breaking Defense reports.

Gen. Dennis Via, head of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, emphasized that the bulk of the equipment will be for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief [HADR] operations, not the heavy armor and other warfighting vehicles that are growing rapidly once again in Europe. Nevertheless, the presence of a U.S. Army cache in Vietnam is dramatic, due to the history of conflict between the Vietnamese and the United States. That said, Vietnam has also fought a land war with neighboring China and has had multiple naval clashes, so the prepositioning of stocks and gear there is not likely to make Beijing happy.

As Breaking Defense reported further, during the Cold War the U.S. engaged in a containment strategy with the USSR and China  that is, an encirclement, from their point of view, with large forward-deployed forces stationed at permanent bases in the countries of allies around the world. Today, however, such permanent U.S. presence is difficult, politically, for Washington as well as the governments of other nations who must deal with opposition from their own people to permanent U.S. bases. As such, U.S. deployments overseas are now temporary.

However, if the need arises, temporary tours of duty can turn in to a de facto permanent U.S. presence, simply by rotating American military units in to replace departing units, the current practice involving brigade combat teams in Europe South Korea.

While those temporary deployments involve a great deal of heavy logistical support, even occasional small temporary deployments of troops go much easier with prepositioned materiel.

As Breaking Defense further noted, the Army has two categories of prepositioned equipment  each of which has a different diplomatic implication.

Army prepositioned stocks are go-to-war equipment, Via said, with five sets on land around the world and two mobile on ships. However, he told reporters at the Association of the U.S. Army winter conference in Huntsville, Ala., what is being planned for Asia, as well as potentially for Africa and South America, are activity sets that are more tailored for lower-intensity missions like multinational training exercises and relief operations.

Throughout the Pacific Rim, these will be humanitarian assistance/disaster relief-type equipment and material, so that when you have typhoons and other types of natural disaster  such as the 2004 tsunami  US Army Pacific Command can respond more quickly, Via said. We are looking, for example, at in Cambodia placing a combat support hospital.

In contrast, the Army is moving tons of heavy weaponry and gear into Europe, including as many as 200 M1 Abrams tanks and hundreds of armored fighting vehicles.

At last count, Breaking Defense reported:

[T]he European Activity Set held 87 tanks, 138 M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and 18 M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers. Last month Army Materiel Command also sent 5,000 tons of munitions to European Command  the largest ammo delivery to the theater since World War II.

In fact, the Pentagon has been quietly restocking European garrisons that it once held during the Cold War.

The most recent evidence that the Pentagon considers the likelihood of war in Europe much higher than, say, in the years following the end of the Cold War with [the then-USSR-allied] Russia, is the deployment of U.S. Marine Abrams tanks and heavy artillery in secret caves in Norway.

Any gear that is forward-deployed both reduces cost and speeds up our ability to support operations in crisis, so were able to fall in on gear that is ready-to-go and respond to whatever that crisis may be, Col. William Bentley, operations officer for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, said in a statement last week.

See also:

Breaking Defense

NationalSecurity.news

NationalSecurity.news is part of the USA Features Media network.

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DANBURY - Mayor Mark Boughton was honored Tuesday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors Partner America 2016 program for his work to support small business.

Boughton earned a Small Business Advocate Award during a Tuesday morning event at City Hall.

Mayor Boughton is a leader in this arena, and his tireless work to expand job opportunities and revitalize Danbury through small business development are to be applauded, said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in a prepared statement. We are honored to bestow him with this award."

Partner America is a public-private partnership created by the Conference of Mayors to provide resources small businesses need to thrive, according to a release.

Businesses are the heartbeat of our economy, and we pride ourselves in being a city that encourages business and opportunity, Boughton said in a prepared statement.
Millennials, or at least the stereotypical version of them weve come to know and loathe, do some painfully stupid things -- especially in the workplace.

Before I explain, a disclaimer: Im a semi-millennial. I was born in the early 1980s. I grew up learning new technologies. I wasnt born using them. I understand and use social media, but am not obsessive about it. I could go on, but lets just say that I exist on the cusp of millennials and gen Xers. I get both and yet I dont.

The New York Times published an article this weekend examining the apparent difficulties of millennials in the workplace, using three distinct, and unflattering, personality traits to describe them. As much as Id like to stick up for my quasi-kin, Ive experienced these types of millennials firsthand. Sadly, there is truth to these descriptions, and they illustrate how idiotic the stereotypical millennial can be.

Related: Why Do Half of Millennials Still Live With Mommy and Daddy?

1. They have a sense of entitlement.

Maybe we should blame social media and the Internet. The stereotypical millennial is addicted to immediate gratification -- and its not usually deserved. Straight from their entry-level positions, millennials demand from their employers to be inspired and entertained, to be immediately recognized for their work and made to feel as though they are changing the world.

I dont think I sound like a fuddy-duddy when I say: get real. Employees dont automatically receive these things. You earn recognition. You earn more meaningful projects. You have to go above and beyond what is expected. You dont get awards and high-fives for just showing up.

2. They have a tendency to overshare on social media.

We know that young people have a problem sharing naked pictures of themselves on Snapchat. But workforce-ready millennials apparently also have a problem oversharing their important thoughts on sites such as Medium.

Take, for example, the 2,400-word blistering missive a young woman named Talia Jane wrote about the poor wages paid to entry-level types at Yelp/Eat24, where she worked. She addressed the post specifically to Jeremy Stoppelmann, Yelps co-founder and CEO. Unfortunately, Janes many, many passages about the high cost of living in San Francisco didnt elicit the sympathy she presumably was hoping for. Nor was the very public post appreciated by her managers. (Jane was fired following her anti-Yelp rant.)

Related: 3 New Truths About Millennials and Their Careers

This weekends NYT article talked about Joel Pavelski, director of programming at Mic, a news site created by and for millennials. He told his bosses that he needed a week off to attend a funeral back home in Wisconsin. You can imagine how confused and disappointed they were when they discovered an essay he wrote on Medium describing how he spent his time off building a treehouse -- not attending a funeral. He even started the post this way: "I said that I was leaving town for a funeral, but I lied."

Unlike Jane, Pavelski was given a second chance. But what compelled these individuals to write these public posts? Social media is a wonderful means to communicate ideas, but it can be costly without a filter and a healthy dose of common sense.

3. Frankness verging on insubordination.

The NYT article also highlighted a few situations where entry-level millennials approached their company leaders to say or do things their bosses deemed inappropriate for the workplace. Ive had similar experiences with millennial-age employees that left me to think, "Did they really just say that? To their boss? In public?"

Speaking your mind is one thing. It should be encouraged. But its detrimental without the filter of respect.

Millennial reality check.

It seems that a lot of traditional media have it out for millennials. The Atlantic hypothesized that millennials might be the most narcissistic generation of all time. The New York Post proclaimed that millennials need to put away the juice boxes and grow up.

Related: Millennials Are Suffering From 'Vacation Shame'

In a February article, the NYT suggested that millennials are so lazy theyve stopped eating cereal because they cant be bothered to wash the bowl when theyre done. Just, wow.

These stories, and the descriptions above, feed into the millennial stereotype. Sure, some millennials think and behave this way. But they dont all fit the stereotype. Many understand that big rewards require hard work and sacrifice.

Poor workplace decisions arent the product of one generation. There are plenty of gen Xers who act like idiots, too. Baby boomers arent immune to poor judgement either.

Related:

93% de las millennials en Mexico quiere emprender

Infografia: El perfil de los millennials latinoamericanos

3 Reasons Stereotypical Millennials Are Idiots



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
In Connecticut, a young person cannot purchase alcohol until age 21, but legally can buy cancer-causing cigarettes at 18. Both alcohol and tobacco are addictive, both can lead to major health problems.

So why is one substance OK and not another? It is not enough to reason that is the way it has been. When Connecticut raised the drinking age from 18 to 19 in 1982, and then to 21 by 1985, the smoking age should have risen, too. (The legal drinking age has fluctuated  it was 21 until 1972.) But the change was not necessarily prompted by health concerns; the state raised the drinking age when the federal government linked it to eligibility for transportation funds.

Now the inconsistency can be rectified.

A bill before the Public Health Committee of the General Assembly would increase the legal age for buying tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21. Senate Bill 290 drew considerable, though not unanimous, support during a public hearing earlier this month.

The executive director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets argued that underage smoking would still occur via complicit adults who provide cigarettes. And 18-year-olds are entitled to adult rights such as voting, marrying, and going to war, the argument against changing the age goes. That ignores, however, the proven health risks related to smoking.

An estimated 56,000 children alive today will ultimately die prematurely from smoking related diseases, Robert Brex testified on behalf of the Connecticut Prevention Network. He is the executive director of Northeast Communities Against Substance Abuse. Think about it  56,000 is roughly the size of Meriden or Hamden.

About one in five high school students in the state and 3 percent of middle school students smoke cigarettes. Obviously most of these kids cannot legally smoke, but raising the age to 21 would at least make it harder for them to obtain the tobacco. These statistics also spotlight the need for more education on the health consequences of smoking.

California has passed legislation to increase the age to 21for buying cigarettes as has Hawaii and 121 cities  including New York and Boston  in nine states. A study last year by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 70 percent of current smokers support raising the age.

No wonder  95 percent of adult smokers started before age 21. A lengthy history makes it harder to quit and elevates the risk of cancer, asthma and heart disease, among others.

The practical downside to enacting this sensible legislation is the precarious condition of the states finances. Legislators are looking at an estimated $260 million deficit for this fiscal year and $900 million for the budget year beginning in July. Raising the legal age to purchase tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21 would result in a tax loss estimated as high as $43 million.

That is a lot of money  and illustrates the volume of smoking among teens. But Connecticuts budget should not be balanced on the black lungs of its young people.
Those who love to travel and explore the world know that there are some places that sound better in theory, but not in reality.

A recent Askreddit thread addressed this and posed this question to the Reddit community: "What is one location that really doesn't live up to its reputation?"
OTTAWA, March 22, 2016 /CNW/ - The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is pleased to welcome new progressive measures in the 2016 federal budget that will enhance access to financial assistance and encourage youth employment opportunities. However, this budget does not address the financial needs of graduate students and improve post-secondary educational outcomes for Canada's Indigenous population.

"This government understands the need to make post-secondary education more affordable and support students through experiential learning opportunities", said Viviane Bartlett, Interim Executive Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

Budget 2016 outlines the following commitments to student financial assistance and youth employment:

Enhancing the Canada Student Grant amounts by 50% for low to middle income families, and part-time students;

Increasing the Repayment Assistance Plan income threshold to $25,000 to better reflect the cost of living;

to better reflect the cost of living; Reallocating funds from the Education Tax Credit and Textbook Tax Credit into more effective and progressive programs like the Canada Student Grant and Repayment Assistance programs;

Increasing work integrating learning opportunities to better align students with the needs of employers.

In addition, CASA welcomes the significant investment in the amount of $8.4 billion for Indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, Budget 2016 does not clearly commit to removing the 2% cap on the Post-Secondary Student Support Program for First Nations students, which was a Liberal platform promise. "Improving post-secondary educational outcomes for Indigenous learners and furthering the reconciliation process must be a priority for this government as it moves forward with its mandate", said Bartlett.

Despite today's strong investments in financial assistance, graduate students continue to lack needs-based funding. "Insufficient financial aid for graduate studies is the main driver of drop out rates for these programs", said Bartlett. CASA continues to advocate for an expansion of the Canada Student Grant Program to include graduate and doctoral students.

During the election, the Liberal party pledged to tackle student debt, improve financial assistance, support First Nations education, and enhance youth employment opportunities. "This budget sends an important signal to young Canadians and a sincere desire to make post-secondary education a federal priority", concluded Bartlett.

About CASA

Established in 1995, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization composed of 21 student associations representing 250,000 post-secondary students from coast to coast. CASA advocates for a Canadian post-secondary education system that is accessible, affordable, innovative, and of the highest quality.

SOURCE Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

For further information: Amelie Gadient, Public Affairs Officer, Email: [email protected], Office: 613-236-3457 ext: 224, Mobile: 514-588-6509
By GMM 23 March 2016 - 08:15





Pirelli is sure the new tyre selection rules have succeeded in spicing up F1.

Although the rules are complex, teams and drivers are essentially now allowed to choose three compounds of tyres for each grand prix.

Towards the chequered flag in Melbourne, for instance, it resulted in a fascinating battle between the Mercedes cars on the medium compound and Ferraris Sebastian Vettel on the super-soft.

"This goes to show how the new regulations have helped to open up a number of different approaches to strategy, with nine of the 16 finishers taking advantage of all three compounds on offer and five completely different strategies covering the top six places," said Pirelli chief Paul Hembery.

And an interesting battle could take place once again in Bahrain next weekend, when the medium, soft and super-soft tyres will once again be seen.

That is because while Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have each selected just one medium compound for the weekend, the Ferrari drivers will have three.

It means the Ferraris will instead have two fewer sets of the soft tyres apiece than their silver-clad title rivals, with La Gazzetta dello Sport describing Mercedes approach as "aggressive".
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President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has called for an Africa where visas would no longer be needed to move...

President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has called for an Africa where visas would no longer be needed to move from country to country.Speaking at the African CEO forum, Adesina said he expects not just a liberal visa system, but one where tariffs would not be barriers within countries.Our leaders have to absolutely bring down the walls that separate us, from East Africa to central Africa, to north Africa, to west Africa, Adesina said.We need a wider, open market. We need to make sure that we are not just talking about liberalising visas so that people can move, but we need to be able to remove all the tariff and non-tariff barriers that separate us.Adesina revealed that AfDB had launched the first Africa Visa Openness Index, which shows how Africa remains largely closed-off to African travellers.On average, Africans need visas to travel to 55% of other African countries, can get visas on arrival in only 25% of other countries and dont need a visa to travel to just 20% of other countries on the continent.Having an open visa policy does not require large resources or complex systems. Countries can apply positive reciprocity but also open up unilaterally, Adesina added.And it can be done through a number of smart solutions. As a result of opening up, countries such as Seychelles, Mauritius and Rwanda have seen a big impact on tourism, investment and financial services.Yet Africa largely remains closed, with Africans still needing visas to travel to over half of the continent. These headlines go against the continents goal to truly become one Africa.And still we know that it is the free movement of people, together with the free movement of goods, services and capital, which is the lifeblood that will sustain Africas integration. Visas alone are not the whole answer when it comes to a more robust outlook.This first report of the Africa Visa Openness Index ranks countries on the openness of their visa regimes. The Index aims to be a tool for change, to inform and inspire leaders and policymakers to make visa reforms, simplify visa processes and apply positive reciprocity.The vision for Africa set out in Agenda 2063 and its Call to Action urge the creation of an African passport and an end to visa requirements for all African citizens in Africa by 2018.Nigeria ranked 25 of 52 countries evaluated by the report.
Some All Progressives Congress senators who opposed the election of Bukola Saraki as Senate President, held a rare meeting Tuesday with M...

Some All Progressives Congress senators who opposed the election of Bukola Saraki as Senate President, held a rare meeting Tuesday with Mr. Sarakis key supporters from the same party, casting aside differences that for months polarised the ruling partys senate caucus.The meeting between the anti-Saraki groups so-called Unity Forum and pro-Sarakis Like Minds, had in attendance 10 senators  five from each of the two camps. It took place at the Asokoro residence of Aliyu Wammako, a former Sokoto State governor.Mr. Wamakko confirmed to newsmen that the talks held.The two sides had for months opposed the other, with some members of Unity Group pushing for Mr. Sarakis removal.The two groups emerged in the run up to the election of the Senates principal officers.Mr. Saraki won the top seat in defiance of his party, APCs decision to support his challenger, Ahmed Lawan.Unity Forums most outspoken member, Kabiru Marafa, recently called for Mr. Sarakis resignation in view of the senate presidents ongoing trial for alleged false declaration of assets.Tuesdays meeting had in attendance Mr. Lawan, Mr. Marafa, Gbenga Ashafa, and Suleiman Hukunyi as part of the groups team.One the other side, the Like Minds were represented by Danjuma Goje, Mr. Wammako, Sani Yerima, Kabiru Gaya and Adamu Aliero.Mr. Wammako said the meeting was held to end the crisis that hit the APC caucus following Mr. Sarakis emergence as senate president.He said it was high time the Senators belonging to the ruling party agreed to work together in the interest of Nigeria and to support President Muhammadu Buhari.Effectively the meeting has brought an end to crisis in the Senate between APC Senators who now support the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Mr. Wamako said.This development came ahead of Mr. Sarakis day at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Thursday when the tribunal is expected to rule on his motion for the dismissal of the case against him on grounds of procedural error.Another Senator, a member of the Unity Forum, who attended the meeting but asked that his identity be protected, said the meeting had three outcomes and that both sides agreed to have a united APC caucus.The Senator said the first outcome was a decision that the composition of Senate committees be reviewed to conform with the Standing Rules of the Senate.He said an upward review of the number of the committees must follow due process as prescribed by Section 60 of the Senate Rules.The second point, he said, was that committees should also be reconstituted to favour APC Senators.He said it was finally agreed that the APC caucus henceforth be loyal to our party and be committed to its objectives.The number three point is the supremacy of our party, loyalty to our leaders and support for President Muhammadu Buhari, he said.He said the the meeting was held in the interest our party and Nigeria.Asked if the meeting was held to settle the longstanding Saraki row, he said, It is beyond Saraki. But he added that there is no crisis between us again.This man (Saraki) is in court and anything can happen.So APC Senators must come together and unite; otherwise, if anything happens to Saraki in the court PDP Senators who are very united may take over the Senate.And that would be a very great disservice to our party, the President and Nigerians who voted for change.So, we are now uniting like PDP Senators and are settling our differences, the Senator said.
Apple Inc Monday launched its least expensive iPhone, the $399 iPhone SE, filling a hole in its product lineup with a small-screen model...

Apple Inc Monday launched its least expensive iPhone, the $399 iPhone SE, filling a hole in its product lineup with a small-screen model that targets new customers in emerging markets and fans of smaller phones as the company tries to reverse falling phone sales.The low-key launch, held at the technology companys Cupertino, California campus rather than its traditional splash at a much larger venue in San Francisco, did not wow tech experts or investors.But the new mid-range model was seen as necessary to counter the dominance of cheaper phones running Googles Android system.There are people who want that smaller screen size, said Bob ODonnell of TECHnalysis Research. You do a price cut when you need to drive the market a bit more, though he questioned if the price was low enough to generate significant demand.Apple is hoping the cheaper model will stimulate overall iPhone sales, which it expects to decline this quarter for the first time since it essentially created the smartphone market nine years ago.The new model did not allay investor concerns that Apple, which celebrates its 40th birthday on April 1, has no obvious blockbusters in its pipeline.Apple is so big now that nothing seems to be earth-shaking anymore, and the strategy seems to be turning to offering complementary products like watch bands so they can maintain their sales momentum, said Skip Aylesworth, portfolio manager of the Hennessy Technology Fund.The company showed off new wristbands for the Apple Watch and a new iPad Pro tablet at Mondays event, and a robot called Liam to take apart old iPhones and reuse the materials.
A self-confessed Boko Haram agent, Lawrence Ugwu, has begged a Karu Chief Magistrates Court, Abuja, to forgive his criminal intimidat...

Mr. Ugwu, former staff of Top View Hotel, Abuja, was arraigned on a charge of criminal intimidation contrary to Section 397b of the Penal Code.He pleaded guilty to the charge and promised to be of good conduct by writing undertaking of good behaviour to the court.Mr. Ugwu told the court that frustration led him to using threat of being a Boko Haram agent to extort money from the complainant.The complainant, the management of Top View Hotel, had pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying the management of the hotel has pardoned him.The hotel also begged the court to strike out the case, since it had lost interest in the case.The prosecutor, Ashashi H.P, had told the court that the defendant sent a text message from his handset to the complainant telling him that he is an agent of boko haram.Mr. Ashashi said the text message stated that I am coming tonight to drink Star at the hotel and bomb it.You should get ready for mass burial. I have done it in Emab Plaza some time ago.The Magistrate, Folashade Oyekan, struck out the case following a plea by the complainant.Mr. Oyekan admonished Mr. Ugwu never to allow frustration lead him to committing crime. (NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met behind closed-doors with the leaders of the NUPENG and PENGASSAN at the Presidential Villa, ...

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, briefed State House, Abuja.According to him, the meeting was held to promote peace and harmony in the oil sector.He said: The meeting with the President was basically to review in the oil industry some of the concerns areas that he himself is trying to find joint solutions and share thoughts.Like you know his Excellency has too many constituencies first will be politics, second army and the third will be the oil industry. So matter of this nature touches his heart very much. And this is the first opportunity that the unions have had to spend a bit of time with him as a father.So we shared thoughts, areas of concerns and some solution potentials and agreed to collaborate and work together, he said.Asked to list the concerns shared with the President, the Minister said: I will probably highlight a few areas of concerns. The PIB, the union wants us to obviously work harder than we do and try to get the PIB passed as soon as possible. They are worried about the fuel scarcity issue and want a long time solutions to finally resolve this issue, they are worried about the refineries and are thankful we didnt sell the refineries without looking to work collaboratively with them to see how to make the refineries work.They are worried about the utilization of depots and how best to do that, they are worried about all kinds of logistics issues that plague the oil industry.They are worried about job loss in the sector arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving rough end of the sticks and then try to whittle down staff. And so we are going to be working with the oil majors to ensure that we do not experience the kind of job loss that we are hearing has the potential to occur in the sector, he added.According to him, the President assured of his willingness to work together with them to bring good jobs.The President, he said, also tasked them to be agents of change within the areas they work to ensure they take change on its head and make it happen.A lot of these problems that are on the table were quite frankly there when we came and we are doing the best we can to try and work on it. But we are looking to work collaboratively those were the assurances, he said.On when the fuel queues will disappear, he said: One of the trainings I did not receive is that of a magician but I am working very hard to ensure some of these issues go away.And lets be honest, for the five, six months we have been here, NNPC has moved from a 50 per cent importer of products to basically a 100 per cent importer. And the 445 barrels that were allocated was to cover between 50 and 55 percent importation.So its quite frankly share magic that we even have the amount of products at the stations. We are looking to see how to get foreign exchange input. The president and I discussed extensively on how to get more crude directed at importation.His Excellency will rather have less crude but have individuals in the society suffer less with inconveniences than have more crude and have them continue to suffer. So we are going to put a new model to enable us increase the pace and actually get majors as part of the crew of those to bring in more products so that the NNPC will sort of go back on the capacity of what it use to do and the majors will take over the balance of importation, he added.Continuing, he said: I think if we do that although I dont want to put a time frame but I will expect that over the next two months. Of course you are aware the DSAP programme begins in April so over the next two months we should see quite frankly a complete elimination of this.Our strategy is that whatever is produced in the refineries will not go for sale, we are going to keep them in strategic reserve.Because the key problem here is that there is no reserve anytime there is gap in supply it goes off, he said.According to him, the next couple of months will be dedicated to moving all the products produced to strategic reserve.So that we can pile up reserves in the nation and that will push up the reserves in the nation. Believe me this is giving me and my team sleepless nights and we are working on it and we are committed to making this go away, Nigerians should please bear with us, he pleaded.The National President of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), Igwe Achese said that the union was satisfied with deliberations at the meeting.He said: We had a successful meeting, quite interesting in terms of the emotional attachment of Mr. President on the issue of oil and gas sector and the challenges we are facing as a nation.We tabled the issue of fuel scarcity, the quick passage of the PIB and to see how the sector will bounce back economically and to make Nigerians smile again.Clearly we talked more on the corruption on the oil and gas sector, products allocations; Mr. President has assured that both NUPENG and PENGASSAN will continue to be part of the restructuring that he is going to make to look into these issues and to make sure that scarcity is reversed at our filling stations, he addedOn his part, President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Olabode Francis Johnson said the President was emotionally attached to the oil sector and wanted everything in NNPC to follow due process.He said: We had a very successful meeting with the C-in-C and one of the highlight of the meeting was when he said he created the NNPC and he is emotionally attached to it and that everything that is going to happen in NNPC must follow due process.He said he is concern about what Nigerians are going through and he bears their pains and whatever he is going to do he will do it with their support so that Nigerians can enjoy the benefits of NNPC.As leaders we are very satisfied with what he said, the commitment and the passion he has shown for the industry. PIB is an executive bill; he said all the legal framework will be addressed so that it will be of benefit of Nigerians. He also showed concern for pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft and we know that will support and collaboration he is going to achieve results, he said.
Mr. Akanni Afolabi, of the Ekiti State House of Assembly who became the subject of a death scare in the custody of the Department of Stat...

Mr. Akanni Afolabi, of the Ekiti State House of Assembly who became the subject of a death scare in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS last week has regained his freedom.Afolabi who was freed after 18 days in detention was, however, immediately admitted in a private hospital in Abuja for treatment.The lawmaker was very weak and could barely speak when Vanguard visited him at the hospital even as he kept repeating I am not well. I am sick. I am sick.He was receiving intravenous fluid in the private hospital as at the time of the visit. He, however, disclosed that he was treated for malaria at the DSS detention facility after he collapsed two times.He said his release may not be unconnected with his deteriorating health situation, adding that he was not told by the DSS operatives why he was he held.Afolabi was picked up on March 4 when DSS operatives stormed the premises of the State House of Assembly in Ado-Ekiti.
Members of the Ekiti Kete South-South/South-East Movement have condemned in the strongest terms, what the group described as the reckle...

A press statement by Kehinde Olatunji, the Publicity Secretary issued in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on behalf the group said the careless utterances and odd attitudes of the governor are a disgrace to the people of Ekiti State, not only in Nigeria but also internationally.The group further stated that the said utterances are barrier to the development of Ekiti State and thus, fall short of what is needed in the Ekiti State.Ekiti Kete said the state lacks basic infrastructure and other development projects, yet the governor was busy saying irrelevant things.The group commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Senator Femi Ojudu as his Special Adviser on Political Matters, saying that he made the right pick.The group described the Senator as a man of impeccable character, saying the people of Ekiti State deserve better than what they get now.Ekiti Kete urged Senator Femi Ojudu to rise up and rescue Ekiti State from her present rot under the present government in power in the state.
Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane has bragged about who has the better looks between himself and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.But while Keane acknowledged the Swede's talent, there is one area in which he feels he already has the upper hand over the Swede.I'd like to think I'm better looking than him! He looks like a good player you would be happy to play with, said Keane ahead of Irelands upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia.He's really, really good. I've seen him recently live, done a few Champions League games for television and there's a lot of speculation that he might be going to England.He looks a bit of a character. One you'd want to be in the trenches with. He scores goals as well, a big lad and a big character. Again, he's not shy. Pretty confident. One to watch from our point of view; he's a big player for Sweden and we'd have to keep an eye on him.